"Is he serious?!" Xigbar exclaimed, poking the paper taped to the wall. "As in, no missions at all today or tomorrow?"

Luxord shrugged. "I suppose luck is in our favor today." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a deck of cards. "Would you care for a game?"

"Would I ever!"

~\*/~

Zexion sat on the cold exam chair, his coat unzipped. He sighed, resisting the urge to cradle his heavy head. It was also aching… and hot. He muffled a sniffle, feeling pathetic.

Vexen's examination was punctuated by little hums and muttered comments. At last, the blond lifted up his head and began to look into Zexion's ears. With another murmur, he scribbled something on his clipboard. "Now lie down."

The young man complied without a word. His gaze settled on the ceiling. In the background, he could hear Vexen continuing to mumble things here and there. Zexion blinked… and found himself being awoken by a hand that was gentle yet chilly.

He looked up into the eyes of his fellow scientist, who said, "It's time for you to go back to the spare room and rest. I have gleaned all the information I can from you."

Zexion nodded and stiffly stood. With a yawn, he walked back into the conjoined room and fell back onto the bed. His eyes drifted shut.

~\*/~

Saïx shuffled back into his room, not bothering to even turn on the lights. Still fully dressed, he fell onto the bed and covered himself in the blankets. Memories that had been buried in his memory for so long and had faded from time suddenly seemed to spring to mind now. He remembered the worst time of sickness had been when his best friend had gotten sick with the stomach flu and had then passed all the germs onto him. He also remembered being miserable, stuck in bed for a week.

Thankfully, Nobody were built with sturdier bodies, at least in the realm of fighting. Surely they would be better at resisting illness as well. He sniffled and resisted the urge to blow his nose. Sleep pulled at his eyelids. Of course it would be his fault this time too, he thought before his eyes closed without permission.

~\*/~

Axel allowed himself to be tugged into Vexen's laboratory. He glanced at Roxas and Xion, who were giving him a surprisingly good impression of puppy dog eyes. Heaving a sigh, he leaned against the doorjamb and rolled his eyes. After a moment of hesitation, he said, "Vexen, I'd like you to… examine me."

The Chilly Academic turned, eyes wide with surprise. "Are you quite certain?"

Axel merely nodded slowly, raising a hand to his pounding head.

Vexen blinked. "You must truly be ill for you to come so readily. Have a seat." He shone a bright light into Axel's eyes, causing the headache to spike.

The next few minutes were practically torture, as far as the redhead was concerned. When at last Vexen had finished the check-up Axel felt like he might be dying. If I have to hear Vexen say "interesting" one more time, I'm going to set his coat on fire, Axel mused darkly.

Vexen suddenly stood and tossed his hand half-heartedly. "That will be all. You are dismissed."

"Finally," Axel grunted. He slowly made his way to the door, Roxas and Xion on either side of him. He was going to go sleep for a week. He deserved it. And if Saïx complained… Well, then he'd just have to get over it.

~\*/~

Vexen summoned a Dusk and commanded, "Get me my next subject."

With a bow, the Dusk skittered off into the hallway.

Vexen rubbed the bridge of his nose. If the data he had collected thus far was accurate, two days might not be enough time for rest and recuperation. At this rate, he wouldn't be surprised if the whole Organization became ill. With a sigh, he turned and began to make ready the room for his next patient. It was going to be a long day.

~\*/~

When Demyx strolled into the Grey Area for what felt like the millionth time since RTCing the previous night, he saw Lexaeus, Xigbar, Luxord, and Xaldin sitting at the couches, cards in neat piles on the coffee table. Weird. While many of the Organization members would chill and hang out a bit before leaving for their missions, there weren't usually quite so many of them out so late. Oh, well. "Yo!" Demyx waved.

Xaldin glared at him and smothered a cough.

A huge gust of air whipped through the room, toppling one empty chair and sending the cards and Demyx flying. The group of Nobodies stared longingly at the cards on the floor, before Lexaeus stood and slowly gathered the cards into his large hands.

Demyx stood to his feet and gulped. Well, Xaldin's already ticked. Can't make it worse… probably. With a resigned shrug, he asked, "So, you must've finished your missions really quickly. I mean, it's—what?—10? 11?

Lexaeus grunted, "No missions," and pointed toward a sign on the wall.

"What? Really?!" Demyx's eyes lit up with glee. He ran to check out the note. "Sweet! Well, I'm out!" He ran back to his room, plopped onto his bed and, surrounded by pillows, summoned his sitar. "Awesomeness! No missions at all today or tomorrow! Sasha, get ready for the best time off ever!"

He began to strum its strings and hum, ignoring the twinge of pain in his throat. It had been a long day (and this might be the earliest he'd ever classified a day as long, but any time spent with Xaldin turned out to be long. He had a tendency to ruin any fun. Demyx would never forget the mission they had shared in Neverland a couple of years back).

But that was enough of thinking about his strange co-workers. Life was better when he didn't have to work! He was going to enjoy every minute of it!

"Wait!" Demyx exclaimed, standing atop his bed. A stray pillow fell to the floor. "What am I doing handing around here? If I'm free to do whatever I want, why not, like, spend the day in that water world with all the fish-people?" A grin spread across his face, matching the excitement sparkling in his eyes.

He ran to the small chest in the corner of the room, right beside the window. Muttering to himself, he rummaged around until he found a bottle filled with a peculiar, sparkly-looking liquid. "Aha! Here we go!" He held it up proudly.

Shortly after he had first joined the Organization, the Nobodies had just begun to find worlds with strange-looking creatures. Not even the black cloak would help them blend in enough not to draw attention. So, Vexen had experimented with different magic mixtures and scientific research-y stuff to come up with something that could allow the Organization members "to integrate seamlessly into the world and appear as though they fit in with the world's inhabitants," or so he had said. They weren't really in use anymore and hadn't been for about a year or two now. Shortly after perfecting the blend-in liquid, or whatever he called it, Vexen had started to begin creating a stronger spell that worked on all Corridors of Darkness used in the Grey Area, which meant that there wasn't really a need for these tonics.

But since I'm not in the Grey Area… Demyx thought. He held up the bottle and peered into it once more. "It's been a while, but I think the instructions were just to store it at room temperature and to drink it all in one gulp. Well, here's hoping this works!" He tipped the bottle downward and drank the liquid, trying with everything in him not to gag at its horrendous taste. "At least it's better than being turned into a llama…"

With a flick of his wrist, he summoned a Corridor of Darkness. He stepped through and promptly froze in awe. What a beautiful world! Schools of fish of every color and size swam above him and around him. Absently rubbing his sore throat, Demyx lifted his gaze to the ceiling, or what would be the ceiling if he were still in the Castle that Never Was.

Instead, what he saw took his breath away. Above him were miles and miles of sea water. Light filtered from the waves shone down on rocks here and there. Sea anemones and sea urchins littered the sandy floor. And was that a dolphin?

"Hey! Are you new here?"

Demyx yelped and twirled around. It's a—It's a fish person! I've already been seen! Barely containing his nervousness, the Nobody ran a hand through his tawny hair and gulped. "New here?" he laughed nervously, "What in the worlds… uh, world would make you think that?

A young fish-girl swam in front of him. Her eyes were the color of the sea, and she had a green fish tail.

Demyx panicked. Oh, what do I do? What do I say? She's going to know that I'm not from this world!

"I've never seen you before, and I know everyone in this part of the ocean" she grinned. "Are you from a different sea?"

Hand coming up to scratch at the nape of his neck, the Nobody laughed nervously, "Yep. That's… me. Rats. You, um, guessed it so quickly."

"Well, then let me show you around. By the way, I'm Ariel."

He stuck his hand out and shook hers. "Nice to meet you. I'm Demyx."

~\*/~

The room was littered with flower petals. This would typically be seen as a problem, albeit one that looked lovely. However, Marluxia was unsure if he possessed the energy to lift his head to watch them fall.

With a sigh, he rolled over onto his back and gathered the last of his energy to summon one of his Reapers. Understanding the whim of its master, the subordinate Nobody dropped its scythe on the ground and helped Marluxia to his feet.

The Graceful Assassin took a step and crumpled to the ground. His body trembled with weakness.

At once, his subordinate Nobody picked him up and set him on the bed.

Marluxia carefully gave it as slow of a nod as he could, though the action still worsened his headache. The Reaper vanished without a sound, leaving more petals scattered along the ground.

~\*/~

Swimming seemed to come naturally for Demyx, especially with his new, long fish tail, which was the same teal color as his eyes. Maybe it was because of his affinity for water magic? Either way, he wondered how he had gone his whole life not swimming like this.

"Ariel!" A voice shattered the peace and quiet, "Ariel! Oh, where are you?" A red blur dashed through the water in their general direction.

Ariel rolled her eyes. "I'm here, Sebastian," she said.

The creature came their way. When at last it had perched on a rock next to Ariel, Demyx found himself staring at a red crab.

The crab—Sebastian?—cried out, "Ariel, where have you been? Your father has been waiting for you! It's almost time for the concert."

Interest piqued, Demyx leaned in. It wasn't eavesdropping if the crab was right next to him, right? 'Sides, he thought, if he didn't want people to listen, then he shouldn't have been yelling in the first place.

"Oh, Sebastian, I don't want to go to the concert. Today's a perfect day to explore! Daddy should understand that."

The crab sighed, "But, Ariel, you were supposed to be a part of the concert. Mermaids and mermen have come from all over to hear the beautiful music! As it is, we are already missing one of the vocalists and an instrumentalist. We can't be missing you as well as the others."

Demyx cleared his throat and said, "Well, how about we join together? I love to sing, and I've got a sitar I could play."

Sebastian stared at Demyx as if just now realizing he existed. Just when Demyx was sure he'd been found out, the crab nodded. "Yes, yes! Now, both of you get ready. The show starts in twenty minutes."

Ariel cast him a small smile. "Thanks. I know you probably didn't want to spend your time singing and making music here with me."

"No, actually, there's nothing I love more than making music!" Demyx smiled. He was certain Organization members had been lied to. Nobodies had to have hearts. How else could he feel so happy at the idea of playing music in the water with a fish-person—mermaid?—on a day without any missions? Do you have a copy of the sheet music? I'd like to practice a bit before the concert starts." He'd just have to be careful to summon Sasha without anyone seeing. It would ruin the fun if they found out he didn't belong in the ocean.

Ariel laughed, "Well, if you're sure. Come with me."

Demyx twirled around in the water and then swam after her. He was going to get to sing and play instruments with the rest of the fish-people and with actual fish!

~\*/~

Larxene stumbled through the hallway, eyes half-lidded. Her memories of the previous day were hazy, but she had the strange feeling that Demyx had been involved somehow… When her brain started to work again, she'd come up with the perfect punishment for… whatever it was that had happened.

Then her feet fell out from under her. She landed on the ground with a thud. Rose petals drifted lazily to the ground. She gathered them into a fist and stood, all pain forgotten. Her addled brain bounced from thought to thought. Marluxia wouldn't backstab her. They were partners in crime. But why, then? A trap? For who? Revenge for the roses? A prank? She rolled her eyes. The best way to get answers would be to go check on him.

Hey! So sorry for the long wait. Life got in the way... Anyway, here's another chapter! Enjoy! :3

Soli Deo Gloria! :D

~LHDD