Title: Everything You Can Imagine
Crossovers: The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, The Incredibles, V for Vendetta, A Series of Unfortunate Events, Wicked, Kingdom Hearts, and Kingdom Keepers
Summary: There is a saying that states, "Everything you can imagine is real." There is more truth to this phrase than most will ever know.
Based off of: Kingdom Hearts and the novel Kingdom Keepers by Ridley Pearson
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Violence, weird crossover thingies, etc.
Genre: Action/Adventure/Mystery/Drama
Disclaimer: I don't own anything involved in this story except the original characters. It's a great tragedy, for me and for the entire world.
It has been said, by many people far wiser than I, that, "everything you can imagine is real." Upon reflection, it is easy to note that this is most likely a fallacy (otherwise defined as an erroneous belief; a misleading notion; or, in layman's terms, a lie.) For example, you might believe that there is a large, hairy purple monster in your closet; yet if you were to go look right now, I bet you would find nothing there. If you do, you have my great remorse at misleading you.
The point being (unless you have proved me wrong) that it is impossible for you to simply imagine something and, by power of your imagination, make it exist.
Unfortunately, in this narrative it is my duty to prove that this commonplace phrase is completely true, regardless of whether or not there is a large, hairy purple monster chasing after you as you read this.
How am I going to prove this saying true? By having you read this fanfiction, of course. Then you will understand… then you will truly know…
Everything you can imagine is real.
- Anonymous author
Elvie Bexer was a fairly ordinary eighteen-year-old girl. She was sullen, irritatingly mature, and kind of pretty, depending on whose standards were being used. She was ready to go to college and forget her entire miserable high school career. Most importantly, she was a dreamer who liked to imagine things.
Much of what she imagined tended to be based on other peoples' writings. This is typically known as "copyright infringement," but people like Elvie prefer to call it "fanfiction." Elvie was blissfully unaware of the phrase, "Everything you can imagine is real." It seems strange that she had not heard this adage because, coincidentally, she had it written on a pen, a poster given to her for her birthday, and her high school Writers' Club t-shirt. I consider this a sign from whatever entity created us; Elvie now considers it a freakishly odd fluke.
Anyway, Elvie spent much of her time imagining, and, unbeknownst to her, helping to create many wonderful lands and people whom she knew virtually nothing about, save the characters whom she assisted in fleshing out. When at last all of these many worlds, all loosely linked in a single galaxy, had been created and completed, a great conflict arose.
In every story, as you undoubtedly know too well, there are good forces and evil forces. It depends upon your tastes which side you tend to prefer, but the fact still remains that these two opposite forces exist, no matter which you like best. The thing about good and evil is that they never seem to get along very well, and are always causing problems for each other. Such was the case in the Worlds, created by the imagination of Elvie and many, many others. There were villains and there were heroes, and both were equally powerful. However, their fighting had begun to rip the Worlds apart, and it was decided that a solution must be arrived at, and quickly.
This solution involved poor young Elvie Bexer, who among all of those with great imaginations was elected to represent her kind. She was picked without consent, as is usually the case with Chosen Ones; and she did not find out that she had been chosen, or indeed that there was even a problem, until it was far too late to turn back.
Elvie had been troubled by very odd dreams in the recent past; but never a dream so vivid as the one she was having at that moment. She was waking up very slowly, her eyes blinking heavily, and as her eyelids fluttered open she saw that she was sitting in a strange dark room surrounded by floating hearts. She also noticed, with some degree of numb horror, that she was in the center of a ring of coffins, seven to each side of the circle.
"You are awake, my Lady," a voice said softly from behind her.
Elvie turned and glanced at a strange, hooded being. He or she stood perfectly still, hands folded on the front of his or her robes. The face of the being could not be seen beneath its hood. "Who are you?" Elvie asked blearily. "And why are you addressing me so formally? I'm not a princess or anything."
"I am afraid you have become one, Lady Elvina," the being said.
Elvie grimaced. "Don't call me that," she snapped irritably. Elvina was her full name, and she hated it. She much preferred its abbreviated version.
The being might have been frowning under the hood; Elvie couldn't tell. "What would you rather be called, then?" he-she-it asked.
"I'm Elvie," she said, as though introducing herself. Then she paused and said, "What did you mean about me becoming a princess."
The being sighed. "We needed you here to help us find balance," it said. "Good and Evil are warring in our Worlds."
"Aren't they always?" Elvie said, slightly amused. She was starting to think more clearly now, as though she were waking up. But she couldn't be waking up. This was a dream.
"No, Lady Elvie, it is not a dream," the hooded figure said quietly. "This is real."
Elvie blinked. "What?"
"You have been taken from your home because you are one of the Creators," the being explained. "Through your imagination, you have created the Worlds in which we exist, and also endangered them. Now, we have determined that you are best suited to the task ahead of you."
"Task?" Elvie repeated. "What task?"
"You don't believe me."
"No," Elvie said crossly, "I don't."
The being motioned with one hand. "Go," he said. "Look in the first casket."
Elvie did as she was bidden - and gasped.
Lying there inside the casket was the Lady Éowyn, rich gold hair flowing loosely around her shoulders and a gown of pure white covering her. "What - how -?"
"You made her real through your desire for her to exist," the being said simply. "The same is true of the others. You will find Padmé Amidala, Mirage, Christine Daaé, Violet Baudelaire, and Elphaba in the other caskets."
Elvie walked slowly past the other caskets and found that this was indeed so. "Who's over there?" she asked, pointing to the opposite side of the circle.
"The same people."
"How is that possible?" Elvie demanded furiously.
"Each of the princesses must be split into two - one good side, one evil side," the being explained. "It is the only way for each side to begin to see how to live in harmony."
"How so?"
"If people who are normally on one particular side of the spectrum - people who are needed or loved for whatever reason - are seen as the ultimate representation of what each side is, it will be easier for the Keepers to see how things are more complex than good and evil," the being explained.
Elvie stood silently for a minute, trying to take it in. Finally, she said, "There are only twelve of them, then. There should be fourteen."
"Two of those caskets are for two of you," the being said quietly.
Elvie leapt back. "What? No!" she cried out in shock. "You can't split me in half!"
"Unfortunately, we need to split you into four," the being said. "Two of you as you truly are, one of your good side, and one of your evil side."
"Why?" Elvie demanded.
"One of you needs to lead each group of the Keepers - one group the Good, the other the Evil. The other two will work are part of a separate plot. You have played the game Kingdom Hearts?"
Elvie nodded.
"This is something like that. The prize each of the groups seeks are the Chosen Princesses, whole and well," the being said. "Their corporeal forms will remain here in Kingdom Hearts - for that is indeed where you are, Lady Elvie, behind the door - but you will encounter spirit-forms of them often as you travel with each group."
"They aren't all princesses, you know," Elvie pointed out.
"You are not a princess, either," the being pointed out calmly. "It is much more simple to refer to them collectively as princesses."
Elvie glanced at the group assembled around her. "So which side has the good ones and which side has the bad ones?" she asked.
"There is no particular side that has either," the being told her. "They are mixed. It will make it more difficult for the Keepers to find them."
"Which side are they looking for?"
"It is their duty to reunite each half," the being said shortly. "But they must first know which half is which. It will be difficult to tell the difference here. Outside, the differences will be obvious in the most blatant of ways." There was a pause. Then, the being asked, "Will you accept the challenge laid out before you?"
This is only a dream, Elvie. Only a dream. Go ahead, accept the challenge. You can do strange things in dreams.
"If what you say is true," Elvie said slowly, "I guess you need me. I guess I'll do it."
The being nodded in satisfaction. "When you leave this place you will not be able to speak any longer," it warned her. "All the information I have given you is of the utmost secrecy. The Keepers must each discover it for themselves." The being suddenly withdrew a long, strange-shaped sword from beneath its robes. "This is for you," it said.
"A key blade!" Elvie cried ecstatically. "I always wanted one!"
The being seemed to be gazing at her sternly. "You will use it to defend yourself and to close the keyhole to each of the Worlds, nothing more," it warned. "Now, brace yourself. You are to be split."
Elvie gave a tiny scream as the key blade was lifted above her head. "Wait!" she cried, but it was too late. She felt herself rent apart, and then there was nothing but darkness, and falling into the abyss…