Theme: None

o o o

Vexen strode down the pristine halls of the castle, while the newest member of the Organization hurried after him, gawking around at the strange place he now called home. "You surprised us all, Nine." The scientist said, startling the younger Nobody. "We didn't expect you to fare so well against the Superior."

Demyx grinned proudly. "I was just in my element." He quipped, making Vexen roll his eyes. One part of joining the Organization was being able to survive five minutes against Xemnas in battle. The fights took place before the towering Skyscraper of Memory, where it was almost always raining. Saïx, in his blind rage, had nearly lost his footing several times on the slick asphalt, and the constant moisture was definitely a hindrance to Axel's use of fire. No one had expected Demyx to use the rain itself against the Superior, even if most of his 'fighting' had been creating walls of water separating himself from the silver-haired Nobody. Still, he had survived the required five minutes, and was now IX of the Organization.

Now, it fell upon Vexen to introduce the young Nobody to one of the more interesting points of being among the 'higher-ups'. The 'world' they were in forced it's rules upon every Nobody that made it's way there, and only those who had the strongest of wills avoided being turned into one of the strange, lithe Dusks. But they could force their will upon the Dusks, shaping them into specialized Nobody's. "As you work with the ones you choose," Vexen explained as they walked. "They will take on a form suitable to your purposes. And as more enter the castle, those with abilities suited to what you need will automatically join with your group, instead of needing to be recruited from the Dusks. I must warn you, though, that trying to shape them to channel your element will fail. They were all human, once, and like most humans, are not adept at controlling magic. Instead, direct them based on what you can do."

"Okay." Demyx said with a nod as Vexen opened a door. They came to stand on a balcony above a wide, open space that seemed to stretch for miles, with a high, vaulted ceiling. Off to the left, they could see a group of tall, angular Nobody's going through well-structured drills, a black shape before them marking the location of one of the Organization members. Far to the right was another group, the Nobody's all huge, hulking creations that towered over the dark-clad person in their midst. Vexen leaned over the railing of the balcony. "Xaldin, Saïx, a word, please? And bring one of your student's with you."

Two figures, one black, one white, broke away from each group, crossing the wide floor, and ascended the twin staircases that arced up to the balcony. Demyx cautiously eyed the other two Organization members, and the 'student's' behind them. Xaldin's Nobody hovered in the air behind him, blade-like wings flapping to keep it aloft, it's pointed, draconic head looking down at them. Saïx's Nobody stood behind it's master, leaning heavily on a huge, blunt weapon Demyx couldn't name.

"You see, Demyx," Vexen said, motioning at the two Nobody's. "That the Dusk's are highly mutable when subjected to the proper training. Xaldin's Dragoons are very powerful, having trained under his instruction for a long time. Saïx hasn't been working long, and already he has shaped his Dusk's into beings of great strength. Have you come up with a name yet, Seven?"

Saïx's lips curved into a smile that made Demyx feel distinctly nervous. "Berserkers." He replied.

Vexen looked at the hulking creature with a critical eye. "Fitting enough." He stated. "Demyx begins today. I hope the two of you will help him if needed?" Saïx nodded, and Xaldin shrugged, both before turning and heading down the stairs back to their Nobody groups.

Demyx looked nervously at Vexen. "So, what now?"

"This." The older Nobody replied. He raised a hand and snapped his fingers, the tiny sound echoing through the room. In the open space between the Dragoons and Berserkers, Dusks appeared, hundreds of them. "This is but a sample." Vexen said. "Go among them, and pick out the ones that best suit your purpose. They may seem all the same, but each is different from the next, as all people are."

"What if I don't even know my 'purposes' yet?" Demyx asked worriedly.

Vexen shrugged, opening a dark portal. "Then walk among them until you're inspired." He replied, stepping through.

Demyx bit at his lip, looking down at the assembled Dusks, uncomfortably aware that each was looking up at him. "May as well get started." He muttered, walking down the stairs to stand before the creatures.

The Dusks were twitchy things, moving in oddly stilted rhythms. Demyx stared at them, turning over and discarding ideas. Musicians, each armed with a sitar like his? No, he used his to control water, and Vexen had said they couldn't do that. They could hit people with the sitars, but that wasn't Demyx's style. Aquatic Nobodys? No, that wouldn't work, he had legs now, not a tail, and besides, where would he train them? Lost in thought, he found his eyes drawn to a Dusk in the front row. He (she? it?) was twitching like the rest of them, hips and shoulders making figure-eights, but it's movements were more rhythmic than it's companions to either side.

That's what he'd do.

Reaching into the core of his being, Demyx called upon the brilliant blue sitar he'd used against Xemnas. The Dusks had all stopped moving at as the instrument appeared in his hands, watching him avidly, despite their eyeless state. Wondering what Xaldin and Saïx would make of his actions, he began to play. "Dance." He commanded the Dusks over the music. "As well as you can."

The Nobodys obeyed, some of them hesitating before starting to move again. Demyx kept the tune lively and rhythmic, walking among the group. Vexen had been right, like any group of normal people, their skills were varied. Some of them were barely moving at all, looking uncomfortable. Some were moving energetically, but lacked any sort of natural rhythm. And a few were truly dancing, swaying to the music in perfect rhythm, sometimes breaking into a more advanced dance move. He nodded to the best of the lot as he passed, and they fell in line behind him, still dancing.

He picked thirty out of the five hundred or so gathered Dusks. Saïx's group was about eighty Beserkers, and Xaldin had hundreds of the Dragoons, but Demyx figured that starting with a small group was best. He led his chosen Dusks out of the crowd, feeling absurdly like the Pied Piper of Atlantis, then turned back to the main group. "Um," He called out, his fingers stilling on the strings. "You all can go back to where you were, now." As one, they all disappeared, leaving Demyx to wonder where, exactly, they all went. Making a mental note to ask someone later, he faced his new students.

"Amazing, that you've picked all females."

Demyx whipped around at the voice. Xaldin stood just behind him, arms tucked behind his back. "Did you plan that?" He asked, nodding his head at the milling group.

Demyx shook his head. "I just picked the ones with the best rhythm." He said, leaning on his sitar. "How can you tell that they're all girls?"

"You learn the signs after a few years." Xaldin replied. He looked over the group, then at Demyx with a raised brow. "And what were you going to teach them?"

Demyx grinned, looking over the group of his Nobody's. "The best fighters move like they're dancing." He said. "No reason the reverse shouldn't be true." He hefted his sitar back into his arms. "I just have to teach them to dance... violently." Xaldin snorted laughter, stepping back to watch as Demyx started playing again. At least the blond wasn't completely useless, as he had suspected, and suddenly, he wasn't as grumpy about losing that bet against Xigbar on whether the blond would survive against Xemnas.

o o o

This is going to be a series on one-shots, similar to 'Glances at the World's Hero's' I've got going on over in FFVII land. Some of them are randomly produces ideas pulled from the '100 Inspirational words' list (link found in my profile) some are ideas that I started, chose a theme for, and kept going with, some, like this one, lack any theme and are just straight writing.