Here we go, a new fic for Kingdom hearts! Hope it is enjoyable! And I don't own this franchise.
A dark room sat silently in the night, the only noise being the muffled breathing from the sole inhabitant sleeping in a comfortable bed. A tiny digital clock was the only source of light, displaying the red numbers 6:29. The quilt tranquility was shattered was the clock ticked forward to 6:30.
"Good morning!" the clock shouted in an annoyingly enthusiastic voice, "it's gonna be a beautiful day so get you laz-" the alarm was abruptly cut off as a hand shot out from the bed and slapped the snooze button. Groaning, the person slowly rolled over in the bed, reaching up and pressing the light switch, flooding the room with harsh light. Squinting, they pulled themselves out of bed, shuffling over to the door. Heading out to a dark hallway they finally reached the bathroom and turned on the light, staring into the mirror.
The face of a very tired teenaged girl stared back at her. Her long black hair splayed about in a disorganized fashion while her brown eyes seemed to be forcing themselves open. The normal look for a school morning. She spent a few more seconds examining the face in the mirror, it certainly wasn't model worthy, but she was happy of it. Turning away from the reflection, she began the monotonous procedure of getting ready for school.
After a quick shower and a furious tussle with a brush, she emerged from the bathroom, her hair flowing smoothly down her back, and her pajamas gone, replaced by a pair of casual jeans and a red t-shirt. She began heading down the hallway again, not even bothering to turning on the light; she was so used to the path, and headed up the stairs at the end. Entering the kitchen, she wasn't surprised to be met by silence, both of her parents had to head into work early. She prepared an easy breakfast, cold cereal, which was also eaten in silence. Such a huge house, yet it was full of nothing, the thought passed through her mind, a funny irony.
Finally, she left the house, heading towards her school, a place that felt more like home than the empty building she was leaving behind.
"Morning Rui!" the overly cheerful voice cut through her morning haze as she entered the main building of the school, turning her head she was greeted by the smiling face of Kyle, his thick cut short, framing his face. Rui wouldn't call him a friend, she wouldn't see him if he didn't greet her in the morning every few days, yet there was something about his zealous attitude that always managed to bring a smile to her face.
"Morning Kyle," she replied, grinning back, "got any god pictures today?" she asked, indicating the camera around his neck. Kyle always had it with him, taking pictures of anything he found interesting.
"Actually, yeah, come one, I'll show you," seeing little else to do before school started, Rui followed him back outside, "here it is," he announced, waving his arm towards a planter situated directly in front of the building, in it rested a tiny tree.
"That's it?" Rui asked, confused, it didn't look that monumental, "just a tree?"
"Not just a tree," replied Kyle, it was obvious he had expected the exact question, "it's a bonsai tree."
"Oh," realized Rui. As she looked closer she saw that branches of the tree had been shaped to run in intricate patterns, "aren't bonsai supposed to be really old or something?"
"Yeah, people say this tree was hundreds of years before the school was even built, but that's not the best part, come here," Kyle circled around motioning towards Rui to follow, "see, right here, there's a opening in the branches," slightly crouching down, Rui examined the branches and, looking closer, Rui did notice something. The branches curved and flowed around a empty space that resembled…
"It's a keyhole," Rui whispered to herself.
"Yeah, pretty cool huh?" Kyle said to her, "it must've taken years to shape the branches like that," as he finished a loud bell rang throughout the school grounds.
"There's the bell," Rui stated, "I'll see you later," she told him, turning and walking away.
"Yeah, see yah," he called back, and even without looking, Rui could imagine the smile on his face.
Rui had said goodbye to all of her friends and was now headed back home, mutely going over all of the information her teachers had forced on her during her classes, when the bonsai tree popped into her head. For some reason, it seemed important, yet she could not exactly place why. Maybe she would ask Kyle for some of his pictures later…
Finally pushing the thought from her mind, Rui turned her gaze to the ground and continued the walk back home.
Entering through the front door, she wasn't very surprised to be greeted by silence; her parents weren't usually home until later in the evening. Walking through the kitchen, she noticed the light on the phone was blinking, indicating that there was a message. Pushing the button, her mother's voice sounded through the kitchen.
"Sorry honey, it looks like I'm going to have to work late tonight, your father too, there should be some leftovers for you in the fridge, love you!" with that the message ended. Rui shrugged and began pulling her homework out of her backpack; this wasn't the first night this had happened, though it was nice to get a message, on some nights her parents forgot to cal at all, though she had learned to stop worrying over such things.
Putting her mind to the work, the time slowly passed as sun set outside. Looking up from the work Rui saw that the first stars had began to appear in the sky. She had always enjoyed looking at them, the distant worlds in the sky. Suddenly, her gaze shifted as she heard a noise, like something shuffling across the floor. Her eyes fell up the path of shadows in the hallway moving cautiously towards it, she couldn't find anything. Shrugging it off as nothing, Rui returned to the table, her gaze once more reaching skywards. But this time, something new caught her attention. She shook her head, sure that she was mistaken, but no, the sky was now one star darker. Rui shook her head, she must be tired, this day was getting weirder and weirder. Deciding to call it a night, she headed back downstairs, feeling her way through the darkness, and collapsed gratefully into her bed. She fell asleep, hoping the next day would be better.
In this world, that day would never come…
Rui awoke, afraid, yet she did not know why. There was no light in her room, not even the subtle red glow from her clock. She quickly got out of bed, her bare feet rubbing the soft carpet of her room. As she headed into the dark hallway, something seemed very wrong. Normally, she had no problem with the dark, but now…it almost felt like it was staring back at her. Hurrying up the stairs she managed to reach a window. She could barely see the outside from the stars feeble light, but she didn't like what she saw. A terrible storm was brewing outside, great gales of wind blasted against the glass, and torrents of rain battered the ground. Taking it all in, the image of the bonsai tree suddenly came to mind, and the need to go to it.
Not understanding why she was doing it, Rui quickly slipped on her shoes and headed outside. Once outside she was amazed to see how dark it seemed, the pathway seemed to disappear a few feet in front of her, and to the side of her…it almost seemed like nothing but darkness was there. Her mind seemed to blank as she began running down the pathway towards the school, and strangely, it seemed like it took no time at all before she was standing in front of the bonsai tree.
Soaked to the skin, Rui stood alone before the tree, and looking around, she saw that that was all there was. The pedestal with tree, and nothing else, the school had disappeared in the darkness. Cold and afraid, Rui stood alone, unsure of what to do. Suddenly, something began to come from the darkness. Yellow eyes blinked on ink-black bodies. They flowed forward in a mass of blackness, intent on only devouring. Rui backed off, unsure of what to do, but she had nowhere to run. The shadows had surrounded her and the tree. Back into a corner, she flailed out her arms in a feeble attempt to ward the creatures off. Her hands passed through them like air, leaving a cold, eerie feeling on her hands. However, it didn't seem that they were interested in her. They flowed around her, towards the tree. One lone creature reached a sharp-clawed hand towards the branches. Suddenly, the keyhole shape in the branches began glowing with a golden light. Rui could only watch in a stunned wonder as the creatures all paused at the powerful light. The shadow at the tree waited for a moment, then shoved it's claw through the keyhole.
A massive burst of darkness flowed out, extinguishing the light and engulfing the creatures. The wave began flowing towards Rui, and there was nothing she could do. Staring it down, the wave engulfed her, tendrils of the darkness wrapping around her limbs, seeking to pull her away. As the wave reached her head, Rui thought she heard something, a voice, calling out to her.
"Rui!" it cried, it's voice full of anguish. The shouted quickly faded as Rui was engulfed, lost to the darkness…
Sorry if this seems too similar to the beginning of the first game, don't worry the story will most certainly diverge in later chapters. Please R&R.