Key Bearer –a Kingdom Hearts fanfiction

Chapter 1: The Dream

Sora was falling. He was falling and falling into an endless blue hole. It seemed like he was never going to stop falling, and when Sora had began to believe that he would just eventually hit the bottom he stopped falling. He landed on his feet, as cats are said to be able to do, and he was not hurt at all. Sora looked at his palms; there was not a scratch on them. He looked down at the rest of himself –still clothed in his red top and pants—and still he could see nothing that had changed.

What is this? Sora thought. Then, Where am I? Sora looked around. He was standing on a colorful platform. All around him there was darkness, and yet here on this small circular platform there was light. There were three statues on the platform. They were small and were octave-shaped; floating on top of each statue was an item. The first statue had a red shield with a black symbol in the middle; the figure reminded Sora a lot of a mouse. The second statue held a sword, flashing silver. The last statue held a blue wand; perhaps something a wizard would use to cast spells.

You are the chosen one, Sora. Chose your destiny. The words came into Sora's head, but it was not Sora who was thinking them. He did not recognize the voice, nor did he understand it. Why was he here? How had he gotten here? How could he choose his destiny?

Curious and uncertain as to what else he could do, Sora walked over to one of the statues. It was the statue with the sword floating above it. He almost put his hand on the handle, but then he thought about what he was doing. Wait a minute… He thought. I don't have to do this! If I fell into this place without dying, then I can certainly leave all the same. So Sora decided to test his theory. He went over the end of the platform closest to him, and held his breath. He jumped, but he was thrown back. Sora did not understand, so he tried again. The same thing happened as before. Sora could not fall off of the platform, no matter how badly he tried and how desperate he was.

Chose your destiny, Sora. You have not much time left. Hurry. The voice said again in his thoughts. Sora was getting annoyed now. How much more of this was he going to have to go through? How much more could he take? The voice in his head was going to eventually make him insane if he did not find a way to shut it up. Sora looked at the sword again. Well, if he could not die falling a great many feet, then certainly he would not die touching a sword.

Sora's hand met the handle of the sword. He gripped onto it, as if he was used to holding a real sword, and Sora could feel the power. It was a funny thing, Sora figured, that he was feeling power in a sword. He knew that in reality you could feel no such thing in a sword, but Sora was certain that here on the platform there was power in the sword he held.

The sword of power. You will have great strength in your fighting skills, and you will advance in skill when you battle. Is this what you seek, Sora? The voice asked in Sora's thoughts. It was strange to still hear the voice; to still know that somehow that voice saw everything Sora was doing, and he was obeying it. Was this sword what Sora wanted? Was it what he seeked? Sora had never really thought about such a matter before. He had never had a steel sword before, either.

Without answering the voice, Sora kept the sword in his grip and slowly took it from its place on the statue. At first Sora thought that it was going to be difficult for him to remove the sword, but he only struggled for a second, and then it was his. Sora kept his attention on the sword. It was so perfect and it did not weigh Sora down, as Sora had expected for it to.

Now you must choose what you will lose, Sora. What is the least important to you? The voice questioned. Sora glanced from his sword to the other two statues. All that was left was the wand and the shield. Which was least important? Weren't they both important? Sora thought hard. If he had the shield that could strength the power he got with the sword, but if he had the wand then he would have a whole different set of skills added on to his fighting skills… Strangely enough, Sora took some to think about his options. No matter the fact that everything that had happened and was happening was too bizarre to be true, Sora took it all in as if his life depending on it.

At last, Sora walked over to the shield. The shield gives you the power of the Guardian. It protects you and your allies. Are you certain that this is not important? Sora thought for a moment longer, and then he was sure. He touched the shield. In a second it was gone. The statues melted into the platform, the sword disappeared from Sora's hand, and then the worst happened… Darkness filled the platform. Sora began to fall again, and this time he was falling into complete darkness.

The next parts of what happened all occurred very quickly. It was like Sora was seeing his life flash right in front of him. He landed on another platform, but there was nothing on this one. No, instead in the middle of the platform was a beam of light. Clueless, Sora walked over to it. That had been a terrible decision. A monster came up from within the platform. It was larger than anything Sora had ever seen, and it was a horrific site. The creature was all black and seemingly without much of a chest. Its chest for some reason or another had a huge space in it where there looked like the shape of a heart had been formed. One minute Sora was looking at the beast, the next minute he was fighting it, and then it all stopped. Everything turned into darkness because Sora was being taken by the monster. Its skin had touched him and now he was sinking into its blackness. Sora could not breathe and he was not able to see much. Everything was going, going… And then it was gone. Sora tried to force the monster's skin –or whatever it was that was grasping him—but he was not able to do anything at all.

The last thing that Sora saw was the monster's chest –its heart-like chest. Then there was nothing…

"Sora? Sora! Hey, come on; wake up!" A young girl's voice yelled.

Sora moved his head to the left. He was alive! Sora opened his eyes and saw Kairi, one of his closest friends. Kairi had short red hair and on this particular day she was wearing a white tank with a purple mini-skirt. Kairi smiled at Sora; she always had a smile that could light up the world. She had moved to Destiny Islands –where Sora lived all his life—just recently. She did not seem to know anything about her past, and if she did she never let on.

"Were you asleep again, Sora? I should have guessed… Well, we've got work to do. Get up!" Kairi pleaded. She grabbed Sora's arm and tried to pull him up, but Kairi was not strong enough to succeed.

"I think I just had the most bizarre dream…" Sora said, though he knew that Kairi wanted him to focus on what she needed him to do. Sora sat up on the beach. Destiny Islands was surrounded by beautiful waters and had lovely sand beaches. It had been Sora's home for fourteen years, and while Sora liked it there he wanted to explore. Sora wanted to other worlds, but he was certain that he never wanted to see the kind of world that had been in his dream.

"You always do. Come on, Sora, let's go! We have to finish the raft so we can leave tomorrow." Kairi reminded him. She, Sora, and Riku had started building a raft so they could leave Destiny Islands and see the other worlds they knew nothing of. The three young teenagers did not plan on telling anyone where they were going –not their neighbors and definitely not their parents. It had been Riku's idea to leave Destiny Islands because he had became even more fascinated with the other worlds once Kairi came to their own world.

"All right, I'm coming. But don't you want to even hear about my dream?" Sora asked, feeling a bit hurt because Kairi was so uninterested.

"Of course, but it will have to be for another time." Kairi replied, and then before Sora could say anything more she was running to her house.