Kingdom Hearts: A Light in the Darkness

Hi! So, this is my first story. I'm not sure how good it is, but it's something that I've been thinking about for a long time, so I'm going to give it a try. Hopefully it's good!

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, The World Ends With You, any Disney movie or TV Show, etc.

Prologue

Location: Unknown

Eight hooded figures sat around a table, each regarding the others with interest. Suddenly, there was a gust of wind, and a ninth teleported into their midst. A bald old man with a short beard. Master Xehanort.

"Well?" asked one of the figures, a thin man with an air of impatience around him. "How did it go?"

"Shouldn't you know the answer to that?" asked Xehanort with a sly grin as he sat down at the end of the table.

"If I did, I wouldn't be asking you, would I?" the thin man responded.

"I'm afraid the boy won't be joining us today," said Xehanort. "His friends were able to rescue him before I could make him ours."

"I think I remember that," said another of the figures, this one a young woman who looked like she was deep in thought. "It's all…fuzzy."

"That would be the post time-travel memory loss. I'm afraid there's nothing we can do about that."

The woman scowled. "We could always find another way to time travel. I think I heard that that lackey of Maleficent's used some sort of door to-"

"Hold on. Someone's missing. Where's the rabbit?" said a large man who was covered from head to toe in armor, and the only one not wearing a hood.

Xehanort frowned. "He has his own matters to attend to. Actually, I'd prefer if we kept him out of the loop for the most part. He may find some of our activities…objectionable."

"If that is the case, then I don't know why you're even bothering to associate with him!" the thin man suddenly shouted. "I'm beginning to wonder what you've done to get us to trust you to lead-"

BANG!

Nobody at the table flinched, although the thin man looked up in surprise. Another of the hooded figures had a gun pointed in his direction. He had fired, but only as a warning, purposefully missing the man. The two glared at each other, and the thin man could make out the shape of a gas mask underneath the other's hood.

The masked man lowered his gun, and said, with a hint of an accent, "Xehanort has done us a great service, my friend. You would do well to listen to him," He turned to Xehanort and said, "Please continue, sir."

Xehanort raised an eyebrow and said, "Thank you. Now then, I believe that you all know which Keybearer you've been assigned to."

Everyone nodded, and the woman who the armored man had interrupted earlier spoke up. "Speaking of which, that red-headed man – what was his name again?"

"Lea?"

"Yes, him. I can sense him. He's gained a Keyblade of his own."

Xehanort's eyes narrowed. "Has he?"

"Don't tell me that you didn't know!"

"I did sense something different about him. Still, if he does have the Keyblade, then why didn't he use it when he rescued the boy?"

The woman shrugged. "Perhaps he didn't know how to at the time. Regardless, he has one now. Is this going to be a problem?" she asked.

Xehanort smiled. "No. While Lea always has been something of a wild card, he's also easily manipulated if one has proper leverage. And I assure you, that's one thing we have in abundance."

The thin man's eyes widened, and he too began to grin. "And where is dear Saix, if I may ask?"

"With Xigbar," Xehanort responded. "They are currently performing one last check up on our allies, some of whom will be coming here to stay with us."

"Pity," the masked man said. "I rather liked having the place to ourselves. And what of your other selves; the Heartless and the Nobody, to be precise?"

"They will join us eventually," said Xehanort. "But for now, we will have to make do without them."

"Now, the time for scheming in the shadows is over. We've had a year to prepare for this, and I'm quite confident of our chances for success. The time has not yet come for all-out war. We must continue to operate discreetly for the time being. However, our activities will no doubt draw the attention of our enemies, and it is likely that you will each be facing your counterparts very soon. I don't want them dead just yet, so avoid unleashing your full strength. When you can kill them, I'll know."

When Xehanort finished speaking, the eight began to applaud, some more sincerely than others. Once they had ceased, one of the figures, who had spent the whole meeting fidgeting in her seat, spoke up. "Sooo, Norty, were you planning on explaining the whole plan right now, because I've really gotta go."

Xehanort grimaced. If I have to put up with her the whole time, I swear…

Aloud, he said, "Firstly, don't call me that again. Second, no, I'm finished. You can go."

The figure gave a lazy salute as she got out of her seat. "Yes sir!"

"However," Xehanort continued, and at this she groaned loudly. "I would advise you to be cautious. Your counterpart has proven to be a powerful adversary. I attempted to make him one of my vessels, but so far I have failed. I do not believe that he can be turned to our side now."

The girl paused to consider this, then gave a mock bow. "Don't worry, sir," she said. Raising her head, she gave a wide grin. Her eyes briefly flashed red. "He'll pay for his defiance in blood!"

"Remember what I said about not killing him right away."

"Will do." she replied, and with that she vanished into thin air.

The large armored man and the man with the gas mask both got to their feet.

"Mine doesn't even have a Keyblade," said the masked man.

The armored man scoffed. "Is that all? From the looks of the records, mine doesn't even exist."

"Trust me," said Xehanort. "Soon, neither of those will be an issue."

"Perhaps sooner than you think," said the thin man, chuckling. The other two departed without another word.

At this point, only three of those in attendance had not yet spoken. They rose from their seats, and Xehanort observed that they were all the exact same height, although each of them wore different colored robes.

"We are…interested in ours," one of them said. "We sense something in him that we sense in ourselves." At this, the other two nodded.

The thin man looked at them briefly, and then made a dismissive gesture. "Return to the Castle," he said. "I will join you there shortly."

The three bowed. One of them opened up a Dark Corridor, and they filed in.

"I swear," the thin man said. "Next time he shoots at me-"

"You'll deserve it," the woman replied.

"Deserve it? I've done nothing to him. Why on earth does he hate me so much?"

At this she rolled her eyes. "I believe that you have something that needs to be done?"

"I suppose that you're right," the thin man said. "That poor girl…she doesn't suspect a thing." Laughing quietly to himself, he walked through the dark corridor. It closed behind him.

"Where is he now?" Xehanort asked the woman. She snapped her fingers, and they both turned to face the back wall. On it, a large, room-length mirror shimmered. An image appeared of the one they were searching for.

"Traverse Town," the woman replied. "Everything is ready."

"We are about to fire the first shot of the Second Keyblade War," said Xehanort. "We'd better make it count."

The woman snapped her fingers again, and the mirror's image changed again.

"This is Malfria," she said to the soldiers depicted in the glass. "Prepare to engage the Keyblade Master."

And that's the beginning of the story! Who are these mysterious new characters? Why are they working with Xehanort? I suppose we'll find out soon enough.

Review please!