In which there is Nothing and Everything

*FLASHBACK-*

Xemnas was sprawled on his chair, his fingers drumming impatiently on the seat of his chair while he waited for his loyal subordinates to return. He had been waiting all day and night and so far nothing. When one doesn't have a heart, it gets quite taxing when you do nothing.

When a door opened to the hall finally, he glanced up, expecting to see Luxord who was actually quite efficient in his work. To his surprise, it was Marluxia who arrived first with a small child in tow. Marluxia's fingers were clenched on the boy's arm tightly, and the young one looked like he didn't want to be there.

The boy didn't share any resemblance to Marluxia, who was as feminine and delicate looking as a female. He had the look of an under-fed weakling who hadn't had proper nourishment. Yet as much as he was a sickly looking thing, he glared at the back of his father's head with such a passionate fury that Xemnas felt he had potential to grow to be a powerful young man.

"Sir. Here is my son, as you requested." Marluxia threw the child out in front of himself with such a savage and quick way the boy's face twisted in a moment of pain. Yet his face went back to his previous mix of boredom and annoyance quickly that Xemnas wasn't sure if he had seen the look of pain. "His name is Zack."

Xemnas' lips quirked into a taunting smile. "Zack? What an odd name." Marluxia's eye twitched. "I was not the one in charge of the boy's name, Superior. It was his mother." Nodding in slight amusement, Xemnas examined the boy closer. A shock of light brown hair, dark brown eyes and an air of slightly cruel amusement. There was no doubt about it. This child was definitely Marluxia's and Larxene's.

"He's quick to learn, sir, and he is quite talented with a variety of weapons. He's very intelligent and knows how to work well with others. . . Unlike his mother." Marluxia muttered under his breath and Xemnas looked even closer at the boy. He would be. . . acceptable.

"Hmm. . . Alright. I'll consider it. Let's see how well he interacts with the others. Then I'll decide." Marluxia nodded quickly, and grabbed the boy's arm again. "Move, child." He pushed the young one to the side with him as the doors opened once more. It was Xigbar, with a girl this time. She had short brown hair around her chin with blue streaked through it and warmer brown eyes than the boy. She seemed a lot more calm and collected, with a small trace of interest and fear.

"Sir." Xigbar nodded towards his Superior with a roguish grin. "This is Anne. Had a little trouble finding her. . . That's why it took so long." Rolling his eyes, Xemnas scanned the girl, looking for any signs of physical weakness. She looked pretty strong and capable of herself. Excellent. So far, so good.

"Strengths?" Patting her on the back, Xigbar said, "Well, she's definitely fast. And pretty defensive. But once you get on her good side, she's friendly and likable. She's pretty handy with hand-to-hand contact, as opposed to, say, long-range weaponry." Good contrast to the boy. . . Zack, was that his name?

Xemnas gestured to the side for Xigbar and the girl Anne when the doors opened once again. This time, there were four people in the doorway. Two tall males and two shorter females.

The first girl was taller and thinner than the other, with short brown hair like the other girl and pale blue eyes. She moved a little awkwardly but seemed quite positive and optimistic. The other girl was shorter and appeared to have even darker eyes than the boy and longer dark hair than the others. Instead of the other, she seemed bored and only mildly interested.

Demyx, surprise surprise, was escorting the taller girl and Luxord was with the shorter. They all entered the room, with the girls huddled closer together like they were already close to each other. Demyx grinned at Xemnas and waved.

"Hey, Superior! Got the girl you wanted. Madison's her name, sir. An' Luxord's got the other girl- Sasha, was that her name? I don't remember. Anyways, I'm really hungry. Can we hurry this up?"

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Xemnas merely gestured towards the girl Demyx called Sasha and got right to the point. "So what's her strongest points?" Luxord scratched his head before answering in his British drawl. "Well, she is rather quick, with a good sense of intution. She likes using more of a variety of weapons than just one certain kind, but she's fond of using her sarcasm and sardonic wit as a weapon as opposed to anything else."

He nodded slightly over to Demyx, and the Nobody couldn't stop all the words from pouring out of his mouth. "Madison?! She's so cool! She likes sea salt ice cream and writing! But you probably meant her strengths, sir. She's not particularly fast but her reflexes are good enough. I haven't found a weapon that seems to fit her the best yet, but we'll take care of that soon. She's a little awkward, but she's likable anyways. At least, I like her!"

So this was all of them. The awaited four. Zack, Anne, Sasha and Madison. Each were so different, yet they were all alike. One was filled with cunning, with another showing obvious signs of leadership. The other two were as different as night and day, the day having a optimistic light and the night having a quick use of wit. It was amazing.

But there was something tugging in the corner of his mind. The one girl. . . Madison. No matter how normal or happy she looked, he could sense an inner darkness so immersed deep inside her, perhaps not even she could know of its existence. She was easily the weakest two, and the strongest probably being the boy. She would be their weak link, their Xion.

After all, he mused with a cruel grin lighting his face, there's always shadows in daylight.