Possessions

This FanFiction has been crossposted to my FanFiction . net account, Light Within Darkness. I apologize for the delay in uploading it here on AFF, I was being a lazy bum. If you wish, you may yell at me for it. ^^'

DEDICATION: This story was written in honor of Zemyx Day, and for all the fans of the lovely, amazing, absolutely epic pairing that is Zexion/Demyx. Happy (now belated) 6/9/10, everybody!

On to the Fic!

Possessions

For Zexion, the worst part of being a Nobody wasn't the loss of his heart and subsequent lack of emotions. That was bad enough, in and of itself, but the worst part was how utterly, mind-numbingly boring a Nobody's life was.

When Zexion had been Ienzo, one of the six Apprentices of Ansem the Wise living in Radiant Garden, he'd had no way of knowing just how important emotions were to his everyday life, and to how he remembered events. As Ienzo, he'd woken up in the mornings and felt excited to get to work in the Apprentice laboratories. He'd been passionate about all things scientific, and was eager to discover as much as he could about how the world around him worked. If a project was going well, he was happy; if his work was difficult, he felt annoyed. Now, however, Zexion found it difficult to care at all about the sciences that he'd once loved so much.

The days blurred together into a seamless ocean of black cloaks and dull gray and white walls. In order to keep the passage of time straight in his head, Zexion kept a careful log of each day in a slim black notebook. Sometimes he wondered why he even bothered, as every day was practically identical to the days that had come before it. There was no sun on The World That Never Was, only black, starless night. So Xemnas designated certain hours for the Organization to wake up and go about their business, calling it their "day." During this time, Zexion would go on a mission, either killing Heartless or collecting information on one of the many worlds that the Organization had discovered so far. Then he would return to the Organization's base at the Castle That Never Was, and work in the laboratories with Vexen and Lexaeus. This time, though, the research and experiments contained none of the cheer and lighthearted camaraderie the six Apprentices had shared, right up until the very end. Now, it was all just dull science on the subject of the human heart, something that had fascinated Ienzo but only served to remind Zexion of how much he had lost. Zexion knew that if he could feel, he would hate working in the Castle's labs, which were always cold and damp, not to mention having to listen to Vexen's insane cackling every two minutes.

Zexion took his only pleasure in reading, and visited the Castle's extensive library at every available opportunity. However, even reading wasn't the escape it had once been. Passages in books that made Ienzo's spine tingle with delight, his heart race with anxiousness, or his stomach roil with fear now only conjured up the ghostly memories of such feelings in Zexion. Even the great works of Plato, Aristotle, and Socrates weren't nearly as satisfying as they were when Zexion had a heart.

Nobodies remembered how it was to feel, of course. To Zexion, that only made their fates even crueler. Each passing day, the Nobodies that made up Xemnas's Organization found themselves clinging just a little more to their memories of happiness, excitement, love, and friendship. Even memories of negative emotions like fear and anger were kept close and cherished. These old memories, sweetened and softened by the passage of time, were the reasons behind Zexion's purpose in his current existence. He only wanted to help Xemnas complete Kingdom Hearts so he could get his own heart back, no matter how twisted and strangely evil the man had become now that his heart was gone. Above all else, Zexion wanted to feel again. He wanted to look at a set of test tubes and a microscope and feel that old shiver of excitement down his back. He wanted to walk outside on a bright, clear summer's day and feel happy and full of the kind of hope only bright summer's days can bring.

Most of all, he wanted to be able to find peace and tranquility, to be able to stop searching for the "key" that Xemnas kept talking about, the next heart to capture, the next world to exploit. Zexion wanted to simply lay down and rest, content with himself and with the world, at the end of a long day.

So Zexion remained a loyal servant of the Organization, relentlessly pursuing its goal and serving its every need that he was able to fulfill. Things might have remained that way, too, if he hadn't seen that strange boy. After that, everything became much, much more complicated.


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He was on a reconnaissance mission, visiting a world the Organization had only just discovered. His job was to discover the land's hiding places, its shadows and secrets. It was his duty to find anything that the Organization could exploit, could ravage and use in its constant quest for Kingdom Hearts.

The world Zexion was exploring was made up of a single fishing town at the edge of a great lake. On the outskirts of the town were houses for the fishermen and their families, plus docks and piers for the fishing boats. Zexion didn't linger there overlong, as the place smelled strongly of freshly caught fish, and that practically overloaded his sensitive nose. In some cases, the creatures were being hauled, still flopping and wriggling and gasping for breath, on the docks in nets and crates as burly fishermen yelled and clambered all around. Zexion shuddered at the sensory overloads, and quickly made his way inward.

At the center town, where the fishy smell wasn't quite as strong, there was a thriving marketplace. Wooden stalls lined a cobblestone plaza, the shopkeepers selling all manners of food, cloth, and tools, and other wares. Shopkeepers hawked their wares at the tops of their lungs to passersby, and people haggled over prices right back at them just as loudly. Wincing at how loud and crowded the place was, Zexion turned to leave. But then he smelled something, the faintest of scents wafting along on the breeze to reach his nose. A lesser creature might have missed it altogether, but Zexion's sense of smell was beyond compare. His eyes widen in shock, and in another moment he is off, dashing and weaving expertly among the crowds in search of that tantalizing fragrance.

Zexion smells that unforgettable mix of sweet and salty that can only mean sea-salt ice cream is near. He hasn't ever seen sea-salt ice cream on any world besides Twilight Town and the now long-gone Radiant Garden. Ienzo loved it, but Zexion doesn't touch the stuff. It reminds him too much of the warm, caring amber eyes and gentle hands of a man he once called his master, a man who is now lost to the darkness. Zexion remembers all too well his former master's fondness for the treat, as well. For him to be scenting it, here and now, could that mean…?

Zexion comes to a halt in front of a small fountain at the center of the plaza, and the ghost of shock washes over him. As a Nobody, that's enough to stop him in his tracks.

There isn't any sea-salt ice cream. Instead, there is a young man sitting on the rim of the fountain, his head bent and eyes focused on a wooden, stringed instrument in his lap. He's wearing the russet trousers, scuffed boots, and loose white shirt of a commoner, and his body is all long, lean torso and gangly limbs. The man's hair is dirty blond and goes down to the nape of his neck, a few spikes of it flopping over his forehead and into his eyes. A cap at his feet is half full of copper coins, which Zexion assumes he collects as payment for playing the instrument he's holding.

Zexion almost can't believe that this smell is coming from a boy and not actual ice cream. He's never known a person to smell of sea-salt ice cream before, unless they ate it on a regular basis like Ansem the Wise and, lately, Axel. He takes another careful whiff of the air just to make sure the smell of sea-salt isn't coming from anywhere else. Nope, definitely only the young man-boy, really, Zexion thinks, giving that gangly body another critical once-over.

The boy places his fingers on the strings of his instrument and starts to play, and Zexion is transfixed. The music is simple, only variations of a few notes played repeatedly, but the music nevertheless manages to sound lovely and pure beyond anything Zexion has ever heard before. It reminds him strangely of the lullabies Ienzo's mother used to sing when he was only a little boy. She would sit in her rocking chair right next to the bed and sing in her gentle, soft voice of fairies and castles and brave knights rescuing lovely princesses, as Ienzo's eyes grew heavier and heavier. She sang until he drifted off to sleep.

When his mother died, it was her lullabies Ienzo missed the most.

Zexion doesn't know how long he's been standing there, transfixed, but the next thing he knows the square is almost empty and the sun is setting, coloring the sky a bright turquoise and the clouds cotton candy pink. The boy is standing up and collecting his cap, counting the coins out into a pouch that hangs from his belt.

"Hello," he says, looking up and offering Zexion a smile. His eyes are a gorgeous shade of blue-green, the exact color of the ocean, and there is a lurch at the empty place in Zexion's chest where his heart should be.

"You've been here all day, listening to my music," the boy continues. "Did you like it?"

Zexion doesn't know what to say. After all, it's been years since a being that wasn't a fellow Nobody has spoken to him. He silently curses his sudden lack of words, and finally manages to say, "It was exquisite."

The boy's smile grows even brighter. "Thanks! Not many people have heard a sitar before. I'm glad you liked it." His eyes travel quickly over Zexion's body, taking in the small, slender Nobody in one quick glance. They linger over his steel blue hair and long bangs, which obscure the left side of his face. "I haven't seen you around here before. What's your name?"

"Zexion."

"Huh. Interesting name. I'm Myde." Myde reaches out a hand, tanned and callused from playing his sitar, and Zexion shakes, marveling at the contrast of skin against the fabric of his black glove. "So where'd you come from, Zexion?"

"Someplace…far away," Zexion says briefly. Talking to the locals on the various worlds the Organization visits is generally frowned upon, and divulging information about the Nobodies or the Organization is expressly forbidden. Zexion does not want to risk angering Xemnas. "I really should be going…" he says, turning swiftly on his heel before this boy with the beautiful music and the beautiful eyes makes him say things he'll regret later on.

"Um, OK," Myde calls after him. "Come back sometime, I'll play for you again!"


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Zexion does come back. After he's finished with his mission for the day, he goes to Myde's world and listens to him play his enchanting sitar music for a few hours before he RTCs. If the other Nobodies notice that he is later than usual returning, they do not speak of it to him. They have no reason to care, as long as Zexion continues to report in for a new mission each day.

Although Zexion watches Myde, Myde never sees Zexion. The Nobody is careful to remain out of sight, the hood of his black leather coat concealing his face. He knows it would be dangerous to interact with Myde on a regular basis. After awhile, the boy would start to wonder who he really was and where he was coming from, and that would lead to some very awkward questions. So Zexion hides, on rooftops, in the shadows of nearby buildings, and even among the crowds of people at the marketplace. His powers as a Nobody allow him to weave subtle illusions, so that no one can see him if he doesn't want to be seen.

There are several things Myde does that remind Zexion of what it was like to be happy. The way he concentrates on his sitar as he plays, curling his entire body around it as if the entire universe were reduced to that one musical instrument. The way he stretches his body, his long legs uncurling and his arms reaching toward the sky. When his shirt rides up, exposing just a hint of toned belly, and the way his hair flops into his eyes. The way he smiles and his eyes light up when someone compliments his music and throws a coin into the cap at his feet. Every day, Zexion finds himself waiting eagerly for the time when he can see Myde again. The young sitarist has become his sole source of light in a bleak, emotionless world.

When he goes to bed at night, Zexion thinks of Myde before he falls asleep. He imagines Myde's lithe body naked underneath his own, those exquisite blue-green eyes filled with lust. Zexion thinks of Myde's arms and legs tangled around him as the boy begs Zexion to fuck him senseless. Then, Zexion pictures thrusting into Myde's tight, warm asshole, again and again, until they are both spent and covered in each other's semen.

One night, Zexion finds himself growing hard for the first time since he became a Nobody. He lets his erection strain against his black leather pants for a few minutes, savoring the sensation of being aroused for the first time in three years, before roughly shoving his pants down around his ankles and stroking himself. As he moves his hand up and down his cock, getting a good rhythm going, Zexion can only think of how much more satisfying it would be to be penetrating Myde. When he comes, he comes hard all over the bedsheets, as if his body is trying to make up for all the years of not being able to get it up at all.

Zexion wishes he were able to love Myde. In those hours before it's time to get up and report in to the Gray Room for another mission, he wants that even more than he wants to see the Organization's goals fulfilled and Kingdom Hearts completed.

But Zexion can't. He tries, oh how he tries, but loving someone requires a heart. For Myde, Zexion can only have memories of happiness, pleasure, and excitement. He can only remember the love Ienzo felt for his mother and father, for his fellow Apprentices, for Ansem the Wise. Zexion may not know much of love, but he knows that kind of love isn't the same as what he wants to feel for Myde.

He turns on his side and clenches his hand into a fist against his pillow. Zexion has never desired anyone as fiercely as he desires Myde. The loss of a heart does not, unfortunately, mean the loss of physical need and sexual libido. This was something the Original Six members of the Organization found out very quickly upon becoming Nobodies. The Nobodies do what they can with each other to satisfy their needs, and Zexion has often shared a bed with an Organization member. But now…

Now, he wants someone else.

If Zexion can't love Myde, then the next best thing he can do is possess him. Zexion will have to make Myde his own through alternative means.

The Nobody smirks as the beginnings of a plan form in his mind.


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"Enter," Xemnas said, when Zexion knocked on the door to his office that morning.

"Number VI." Xemnas leaned forward in his chair and folded his arms across his white marble desk. "And what brings you here?"

"Superior, sir," Zexion bowed low. "I am sorry to bother you, but I was wondering if I might make a request…?

"You might," Xemnas replied.

Zexion straightened and forced himself to look straight into Xemnas's orange-amber eyes. They were so like Xehanort's, but with a sadistic, inhuman look to them that Xehanort never possessed. "There is a boy, sir."

Xemnas quirked a silvery-white eyebrow. "And?"

"This boy lives in the world Number V discovered last month. With your permission, Superior, I would like to plunge his world into darkness and make him a Nobody."

"Do you think he will survive the change, Number VI? What if this boy becomes a Dusk, rather than a full-fledged Nobody?"

"I believe the boy has a strong heart, sir," Zexion replied. "I have been watching him for several weeks now, and he has shown much kindness to all the people he interacts with. Although he is poor himself, he still gives whatever he can to those less fortunate. He has also shown remarkable talent when he plays music, which causes me to think that he puts his heart into the playing. His heart is quite probably the source of that talent."

"Indeed," Xemnas said slowly. "I have been thinking myself that the time may be ripe for another to wear the Coat. It has been nigh on three years since Saix and Axel joined us, after all…"

After several long moments of quiet contemplation, Xemnas smiled. It was a beastly, dangerous expression, and Zexion had to suppress a shiver down his spine. "Very well, VI. You may release the Heartless into this boy's world. If he survives the loss of his heart, then he shall be worthy of being in my Organization."

Zexion bowed again. "Thank you Superior-"

Xemnas held up a hand to stop the shorter Nobody. "Bear in mind, Number VI, that this boy is to be your responsibility should he become a Nobody. You will be the one who trains him and the one who helps him master his weapon and element. If he should err, you will be the one who takes the blame."

Zexion wasn't expecting this level of control over Myde's future Nobody. It's not an unpleasant surprise, however. It seems that all of the scheming and manipulation he'd done to remain in Xemnas's good graces has finally paid off. So he bows his way out of his Superior's office, eager to turn Myde into a Nobody and inwardly marveling at his good fortune. "Of course. I wouldn't expect otherwise, sir."


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Back in Radiant Garden, Ienzo and the other five Apprentices had created a machine that made Heartless. It provided many of the creatures the Apprentices used in their research on darkness and the human heart. It was also indirectly responsible for the downfall of their world. When the Apprentices had lost their hearts, the explosion of dark energy that had resulted caused the machine to go haywire and create inordinate numbers of Heartless, which consequently escaped from the castle and swarmed into Radiant Garden, devouring the citizens' hearts and plunging the entire world into darkness.

A few months after becoming Nobodies, Zexion, Vexen, and Lexaeus perfected the machine, fixing all the little glitches and increasing its Heartless output tenfold. They were also able to gut the original, large and clunky version of the machine and create smaller, sleeker, more efficient travel-sized versions. By bringing these little machines tucked along in their coats, the Organization was able to have Heartless at their disposal whenever they needed them.

So it was really quite easy for Zexion to release Heartless into Myde's world. He created a Dark Portal that led into the fishing town, then took one of the little machines out of his coat pocket and booted it up. The contraption began to pulse with purple-blue dark energy, and a few seconds later a Shadow popped out. It wriggled its antennae for a second, then, sensing nearby hearts, dove through the Dark Portal into town.

Zexion waited as the machine warmed up and began producing more and more Heartless in earnest. Neoshadows, Large Bodies, Bully Dogs, Pink Concertos, Search Ghosts, Darkballs, Crescendos, and Rune Masters, among many other types, emerged and then swiftly entered the Dark Portal in pursuit of the hearts that lay beyond. After he was certain that he'd created a good sized swarm of the monsters, Zexion shut the machine down and entered the Portal himself.

Myde's world was chaos. The Heartless had swarmed over the sky, blocking out the sun and plunging the land into an unnatural, terrifying night. On the ground, packs of Heartless raced over the cobblestone plaza and into the outskirts of town, hunting down the screaming, panicking townsfolk. Zexion watched impassively as a man tripped and fell, hard, onto the stones near his feet. A nearby Neoshadow pounced on his chest and raked its long, razor-sharp claws across the man's chest. The man shrieked as blood spurted from the open hole where his breastbone used to be, landing among the already copious amounts of scarlet fluid already staining the cobblestones. The Neoshadow snatched away the man's heart as it rose, sparkling like a great ruby, from his chest, gobbling it down before vanishing in a swirl of dark energy.

Zexion sniffed distastefully. He didn't think he would ever get used to how downright brutal the Heartless were when ravaging a world. But he hadn't come to watch the creatures work. He needed to find Myde, and fast, so that he could bring the boy back with him when he returned to the World That Never Was.

Despite the copious amounts of blood, carnage, panic, and despair staining the atmosphere, Zexion could still make out Myde's distinctive sea-salt scent. He followed it, twisting and weaving among the fleeing townspeople in order to avoid getting run over. There weren't many situations in which Zexion's small stature came in handy, but he'd be damned if this wasn't one of them.

He found Myde trying to beat back a Turquoise March with his sitar under a shingled awning. The look of panic in the boy's eyes was evident, and his pale, sweaty face meant that he was quickly growing tired. Zexion was tempted to just sit back and let the Heartless attack Myde after he collapsed from exhaustion, but then an errant jet of water the creature shot out hit the awning's main support beam. The awning creaked and groaned, resting on its secondary supports for only a moment before crashing through them to the ground…and Myde's head.

"Run!" Zexion shouted. Unless Myde lost his heart to a Heartless, he would die and his body would not be revived as a Nobody. However, Myde seemed transfixed. He was staring up at the falling awning, mouth open and eyes wide in shock and horror. Cursing under his breath, Zexion summoned his Lexicon in a quick burst of dark power. He cast Fira, and the shingled awning burst into flames, the heat from the spell grazing Myde's cheeks. A coating of ashes falling into his hair.

Not wanting any other accidents to happen, Zexion dove forward and tackled Myde to the ground. He grabbed the Turquoise March, still floating obliviously nearby, around its middle and held it close to Myde's chest.

Myde struggled under Zexion's firm grip, arms and legs flailing. "What the hell's going on here? What are these damn things?" He shouted. "Let go of me! Let go!" His panicked eyes looked up and found Zexion's right turquoise one, the one that wasn't covered by his bangs. "Hey, aren't you-"

Just then, the Heartless shot a powerful orb of water out of its antenna and straight into Myde's chest. The boy screamed as his chest caved in and blood flowed out in rivers.

Zexion winced, shutting his eyes to block out the sight of it. This was nothing he hadn't seen a thousand times before when the Heartless destroyed a world. He'd seen it not two minutes ago with the other man in the plaza.

But this was Myde, and that made it different.

Myde's heart rose out of the ruins of his chest into the air, a bright, glimmering red crystal. Zexion found himself making a move to grab it, but stopped before he actually touched the heart. If it were that easy, he'd have had his heart back long ago. Instead, the Turquoise March snatched the treasure up and vanished.

Zexion felt it as Myde's body went limp and still in his arms. The boy's eyes slid closed as long, thin lines of inky darkness slid over his body, wrapping around and around before enclosing Myde completely in a black cocoon.

Zexion clutched Myde close to him. The darkness tickled at his cheeks and nose, but he didn't care. He wouldn't let Myde die. Not now, not ever. If Myde fell into the darkness, Zexion would pull him back out. Myde was his.

The Nobody thought he heard sitar music playing, circling Myde's body in allegro for just a moment before fading away.

The cocoon faded from around Myde, breaking apart into little pieces before fading away and revealing Myde bit by bit. First his head, followed by his chest (now perfectly reformed, as if it had never been injured at all). Then it peeled away to his arms, and down to his torso and legs.

Myde still lay limp and unmoving. Zexion bit his lip, clutching the boy closer. His fingers dug deep into the torn fabric of the boy's shirt. Myde's chest was uninjured, which suggested that his transformation into a Nobody had been successful. But he still wasn't moving…Had he died anyway?

All of a sudden, Myde sucked in a great breath. His eyes fluttered open, the pupils zooming in and out for a moment before settling on Zexion's face. "Where am I?" He croaked. "W-Who are you?"

Zexion brought his gloved hand up to Myde's chest. Sure enough the place where his heart should be was now empty. Although the boy was breathing, there was no heartbeat to show that he was alive. That he existed at all.

For the first time in three years, Zexion threw back his head and laughed.


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