Re:Another Side

Prologue: The Ending

And I feel the fear in me
And I don't wanna fall asleep

She feels nothing but pain, in her physical being and in her heart, as her body curls up on the hard ground she's fallen to. She can't feel the coldness of the stone structure she was on she couldn't feel the grainy texture nor the sensation of her clothes against her skin... and her eyes provided nothing more than a distorted window to the outside world for her broken mind. The girl's ears, however, seemed to be the most lucid of all her sensory organs. She heard footsteps slowly walking away from her, so slow she swore that time was slowing down with each passing second. Her blurred vision could only make out a black blob in the shape of a man with his back turned to her as he abandoned her body.

Who was that man?

Why is he just leaving me here?

Her thoughts were an unsorted mess as she struggled to stay anchored in reality. She could sense the other side that she was being dragged towards and, while it wasn't clear how, she knew it was a place that she didn't want to be. Her mind clawed and scratched to stay with it, but when her ears picked up the only words she could recall that man saying, her grip on the real world loosened to it's breaking point.

"That should take care of it." His gruff voice spoke.

It was ambiguous, but that's what made it so terrible. The girl not knowing what he meant coupled with her painfully dismayed state of being was pushing her towards the end. She wanted this situation to make sense, but at this point that was just laughably unrealistic. Unable to stay conscious for even a second longer, her eyes sharply fell shut and her body went from tense to limp on the flat terrain she was laid up on.

–

A chillingly blank room was the stage set for this story. The walls, floors and ceiling were all a dull gray, and the few pieces of furniture all followed the same color scheme and had simplistic designs. On the bed, however, was a splash of color in the form of a girl. Her rosy skin, violet hued hair and black coat stood out brilliantly against the backdrop of monochrome. Her eyes were softly shut as she laid flat on her back, presumably sleeping, but none could be too sure yet.

"Did you bring us back a corpse, Xigbar?"

Beside the girl's bed were three men, all wearing the same black attire that the sleeping lady was clad in. The man who spoke had a sour look on his face, which had a deep "X" scar in the center of his features. His blue hair was long and spiky at the top; he wore his hair with some of the lengthy part swept over the front of his shoulders.

"She's just having a deep snooze." The man he addressed – Xigbar – responded dismissively, waving his hand limply to accent his words. His tone then grew more serious, "She'll get up eventually. Just hold your damn horses."

The blue haired man scowled at him, but Xigbar was unfazed. He crossed his lanky arms over his broad chest and smirked devilishly at the other. Xigbar had a scar too, albeit his was more conventional in it's appearance: a jagged mark starting at his jaw and trailing up his hollow cheek and ending at a safe enough distance away from his eye; which was another thing of note, as he only had one of them. The presumably missing or non-functional one was covered in a basic black eyepatch. Like the other man, his hair was long. However, Xigbar's gray streaked hair was pulled back in a sleek ponytail. These two had exactly one immediately visible thing in common physically though... they both had eyes the color of gold.

Between them though was a man that practically dwarfed the two. He as well had gold eyes, but his dark skin was untouched by scars or blemishes. Silver spiky hair fell around his shoulders, with some stands framing his chiseled face. This man hadn't said a word and his face was unmoving as he stared down at the girl in her slumber.

"Mm..."

A small, hushed sound escaped from her and all eyes were fully focused onto her face. Her facial muscles twitched and her purple head lolled to the side, facing away from her observers. She groaned again, but louder and deeper this time, suggesting that waking herself up was a daunting task. She wrinkled her nose and squinted her still-closed eyes in discomfort before they slowly opened up for the first time. Or at least, the first time as far as anyone knew...

"Seeeee I told you!" Xigbar sneered smugly and victoriously at the blue haired man, "Well just look at the time! I'm late for my date with the craps table at Lucky Luxord's!"

The blue haired man's mouth dropped open, a roaring shout ready to pierce the air directed at Xigbar was unexpectedly quieted by the tallest man. He raised one of his large arms up as a sign for the other man to remain silent, and the man obliged.

"Leave us." He spoke in an effortlessly commanding voice.

The blue haired man looked to him, hesitant to go, but he silently bent to the commander's will and took his leave.

The girl felt groggy and woozy, almost as if the room was spinning. She was hardly able to focus on anything those three were saying at all, however her attention was caught when the tall man spoke directly to her in the same dry yet powerful as he did before.

"You seek answers." He murmured, eyes narrowing, "I can give you purpose."

"Ohh..." The girl groaned, weakly smiling stupidly, "Ok."

Chapter I: Dancing on Raindrops

When I turn into someone else
I know that it can't be beat

The young girl sat on the edge of her bed, hands folded neatly in her lap. Her expression was focused as she tried to remember everything that her commander had told her the night prior.

"Number IX. Xirena." He said deeply, "The Dancer of Dreams."

"That sure is a nice name..." Xirena smiled, sitting up in her bed now, "But I'm not sure where I am or even who I am. Do you know?"

"You are a Nobody and have been recruited into Organization XIII, and I am it's leader: Xemnas." The man continued, his gold eyes looking down on her at a sharp angle as he didn't bother to lower his head to address her at all.

"Oh ok!" Xirena replied with a peppy grin.

Xemnas remained expressionless, but kept his eyes locked on her as long as he could as he turned away from her.

"Tomorrow morning you will report to the round room where you will be formally introduced to the rest of the members." He declared.

The imposing figure didn't wait for a response before he took his leave, but how he did it was very strange. A pillar of what could only be described as darkness appeared in front of him with no warning, causing Xirena to yelp as she had never witnessed this sort of phenomenon before (that she could remember anyway). While she was in her stupor, the silver haired man walked forward with long strides and entered the darkness... disappearing into it. Then, just as quickly as it appeared, the dark portal vanished into nothingness. Xirena couldn't stop staring at the spot where it had appeared, her eyes wide with wary curiosity.

Still sitting on her bed she took in a deep breath, holding for not even a second before sharply exhaling.

"My name is Xirena." She said to herself.

Xirena had been repeating this phrase to herself since she had woken up. It wasn't that she was afraid of forgetting it, but the more she heard herself say it out loud it made it more real with each utterance; and this new "life" that was thrust upon her was the exact opposite: unreal. Xirena received no explanation about what a Nobody specifically is or what the Organization even does yet, and she worried she never would.

The MOST bewildering thing though, was that she remembered nothing of who she was before she woke up in the very bed she was seated on now. Try as she might, Xirena couldn't even find the tiniest fragment of a memory in her head... No precious memories of warmth and delight, none of bittersweet good-byes and none of pain nor sadness either. This lacking in her soul left her confused on how to feel, or maybe she didn't know how to feel about anything happening around her in that moment.

Xirena felt compelled to explore though. She glanced around the room as she slowly rose to her feet, which were clad in knee-high black boots; but the boots were hardly visible under the thick black coat she wore. It's what all the others she had met wore too. All black... coats, gloves, pants, shirts, shoes and every other garment in their wardrobe. The black against her alabaster white skin was quite a noticeable contrast, but hardly what would catch an onlookers attention the most upon first glance. Mingling with highly pigmented pink lips and lightly rosy cheeks were absurd entries to her color palette. Xirena's eyes were a vibrant red like an expertly cut ruby laid out in the sun, catching the light and glittering brilliantly. Her hair was cut into a short bob with swooping side bangs that parted from right to left. Her short mane of hair was equally as note-worthy as her eyes... It was purple, akin to a freshly bloomed orchid in the spring.

She wandered to the adjacent right wall where a desk and chair was situated. On the top of the desk was a notebook with the word "journal" printed on the cover, with a pen beside it. On it's other side was the only item that wasn't monochrome in the entire room: a star shaped charm made of glass, colored purple as if to match her hair. Before Xemnas had left her alone the night before, he noted that "the thing on her desk" was the only thing she had on her when she was found. But, just as expected, Xirena had no idea what it was or what significance – if any – it held. She knew one thing for sure though: it was quite pretty.

She picked it up carefully with one hand and raised it to eye level. It felt fragile, like it would surely shatter if dropped or even just grasped too tightly. Xirena felt a pang in her chest when she thought about the possibility of this trinket breaking, a stab of unpleasant feelings that was completely inexplicable. Xirena, wishing to forget those baseless woes, placed the star back on the desk – careful not to put it near any edges – and continued exploring her room. There was of course the bed and a dresser to keep all her garments in, otherwise the "living" area was bare. There was a small bathroom attached to the room with all the necessary items within, and of course it had the same monochromatic color scheme as the rest of the room. Xirena found it rather boring.

A knock came at Xirena's door suddenly, startling her and shocking her out of her black and white hypnosis.

"Coming!" She called, quickly shuffling to the door that lead out into the rest of the building.

With great enthusiasm she grabbed the doorknob and twisted it, eager to see who had come to visit her. She thought it might be one of the three men that hovered over her the other night because she didn't entertain the idea that anyone else could be there, despite Xemnas telling her she was the ninth member of their organization. This was just one of many details that she found herself forgetful of. With a sweet smile she flung her door open – so excited she was practically shivering with anticipation. The person on the other side, however, didn't seem to share even half of her excitement. It was a man, but none of the ones she had already met. His face looked younger than the others, indicating he was probably closer to her own age range. His skin was flawless and a similar tone to hers with cheekbones that sat high on his face, adding handsome definition to his already attractive form. Stunning green eyes stared down at her, unimpressed with what he saw; his displeasure was further shown by his pursed lips that appeared glossy and pinker than one would expect a man's lips to be. Like Xirena, he also sported an unnatural – for his assumed age – hair color: white.

"Like, you can stop staring now." He said in a voice that had a feminine affectation.

"Huh?" Xirena asked, not realizing she had been gawking at him with her mouth agape.

"I know you were too enchanted by my hotness to speak, girl, it's okay. I get that a lot." He replied, "But I don't swing your way so don't get your hopes up, hon."

Xirena was baffled by this guy. He talked WAY differently than the other men did, and what did he mean by "swinging" anyway? Xirena's expression had morphed from excitement to strained as he spoke, trying to figure out what he was saying.

"I don't... understand..." She admitted quietly.

"Ugh!" He groaned, sounding far more dramatic than necessary, "I KNEW this would be terrible, I just KNEW it. Just because I'm the most in touch with my feminine side here doesn't mean I would automatically get along with a girl. That was SUCH a rude assumption for that homophobic buzzkill to make... I'm going to report that to Xemnas, forcing stereotypes about gays isn't gonna fly with me honey-pie and he deserves to face the consequences for his discrimination. Like, why else would he have chosen me to come get you? He didn't have to say it blatantly but I could tell he was thinking it. 'Send Rex to get the girl! He's gay so they'll get along great!' Newsflash scar-face: it doesn't work like that. I have STANDARDS just like any other person. Ugh. The nerve."

With his tirade at an end, he crossed his arms tightly and his face grew red from his emotional outburst. Xirena blinked and had nothing to say, he had said WAY too many words she didn't know to form a coherent thought to reply with. Thankfully he loved the sound of his own voice and continued the mostly one-sided conversation.

"Whatever." He sighed sharply, "Just whatever... I'm Rexvir, but just call me Rex, uh'kay?"

"Oh ok." Xirena nodded, "I'm Xirena!"

"Fascinating." He sarcastically replied, his words so quick that he almost spoke over her. Rex wasn't keen on this idle chit chat and wanted to get down to business so he could get back to his life, "We're going to a meeting so you can like, meet all the others here or whatever. Not that anyone else but me matters of course."

"Oh... you must be very important!" Xirena said, enchanted by his inflated sense of self worth.

Rex's sour expression curled up into one of smug satisfaction once she made that comment. If anyone were likely to believe Rex's lies more than Rex himself, it would be Xirena, but only because she didn't know any better. Thanks to her compliment he was having second thoughts about this dim girl.

"Y'know maybe you're not so bad after all..." He murmured to himself.

–

Xirena stood on the threshold of a bright white room. She could see from her point that it was circular, which seemed a little odd since all the other rooms she'd seen had been composed of flat planes and sharp angles. From within she could hear Xemnas' deep voice echoing through the round room and out into the dimly lit hall where she merely observed. She couldn't see anyone though, just a round platform in the center of the room circled by tall structures – which were also shades of white and gray of course.

Then, her calling came.

"Number IX."

Xirena knew that number! It was HER number and she remembered that it was hers. Her feet started moving faster than her brain, leading her entrance to be a rather ungraceful sight. She shuffled in awkwardly, coming into full view of the room and slowly looking around. The tall structures turned out to be thrones, and peculiarly they were all of different height. She already knew four of the faces in the room, but there were three others present as well. What was odder than that was that there was more than just one empty seat. Did others exist here but just were late to the meeting? Were they expecting more people after herself? Xirena had no idea, and thinking about it was a little overwhelming. Narrowly avoiding falling on her face she came to a halt in the center of the platform, sight cast upward to see her superior.

Xigbar, the man with the long ponytail and the eyepatch, watched on with a hidden joy. He wanted to laugh loud and hard but he knew that would arouse suspicion – which he surely could talk his way out, but he'd rather not get his time wasted by such an ordeal – so he settled for a devilish grin. Even if he did let out just a small chuckle it wouldn't be noticed, at least not enough to cause any eyebrows to be raised. But no, he remained a silent figure as he watched the initiation of Number IX.