AN: Two years ago I started with this story … one year ago I stopped updating because I was completely blocked and had no idea how to proceed with the storyline …
And now I'm BACK! That's right, I'm alive, I'm kicking and I'm a better writer than ever (I hope).
So, without further ado let's begin anew. I will cleanup and rewrite the whole story and for that reason, I deleted it and will now post it refined and cleaned … one chapter after the other. So once more stay tuned and enjoy the story (again).
This story starts kinda after the end of KH 3D and practically covers my version of Kingdom Hearts 3. And just so you know, it will all be written in Roxas' POV.
Disclaimer: I own nothing I used in this story, if I would you could be sure as hell that Roxas would be the main character of Kingdom Hearts 3.
I have gone through many trials,
I was tested – and failed,
I was tainted by the darkness,
no longer I belonged to the light.
The light I once embraced,
no longer accepted me.
The darkness may welcome me,
but without you, it would be hollow.
So when the time came,
for me to decide,
where I would live,
I had chosen neither light nor darkness.
I walk the middle road,
live in the shadows,
walking in the everlasting twilight,
to protect my dreams.
If I have to, I always will
turn my back to the light,
to watch the darkness forever.
This is my burden to carry.
To protect what matters,
I am the Guardian of Dusk.
What am I?
Who am I?
I just … don't know.
Thoughts … like glimmers in the dark. First, it was just a faint glimmer … like the faint beating of a heart. Through faint and still weak … But it was noticeably there and it prevailed.
Where am I? Where do I come from? Where do I go? … WHAT AM I!?
While one thought raced another … they connected somehow. One by one a network of thoughts was created and thus illuminated the formerly empty regions of the mind.
I'm human, am I?
And with this final thought, there was finally light again in a consciousness that had been in the dark for far too long. And thus life started once more.
Somewhere in the fragments of memories I have left, I remember being something different. I don't know anymore, anything slips away from me.
Wait, there is … this name I hear over and over.
Am I Roxas?
I'm falling in the darkness, but I have been here before. Haven't I?
Yes … I remember now. I am Roxas. Number XIII, Key of Destiny, Wielder of Dusk, Nobody of …
Wait, stop right there. I'm not a Nobody, at least not anymore. I merged with Sora, I became whole again. Just because I had no other choice… and maybe a bit because she asked me to do so.
Then why am I still here? Maybe I'm finally fading away now. The last thing I remember is meeting Sora in the Dream Worlds. I gave him my memories, didn't I? So that's the reason, that's why it is so hard to remember. But I still have my memories and I'm still here, so I'm still me, aren't I?
So if I am still me, then why am I fading into darkness? I don't want to fade away, I barely had a life until now and even if this may come over as selfish … I'm not ready to fade yet! I want to live! I want to make friends! God damn it I want a rematch with Sora … and Riku … and whoever else I have fought. I want to eat Sea-Salt-Ice-Cream with Axel! I want to sit down with Naminé and talk things through! And I want to punch that DiZ right in the face!
I still have so much to do! I don't want to fade into the darkness! I WANT TO LIVE!
The hell, I even gave a promise to Naminé that we would see each other again and I haven't been able to see her again after that day at the beach. No, I won't fade away into darkness just like this because after all, she lives in the light. To do what I want to do and to keep my promise to her, I have to keep living in the light.
Even if I embraced the darkness before, there isn't a chance that will happen again. I want to see her again. I want to live again. Even a former Nobody like me deserves a second chance. Don't I? I will not fade away, I will not fall into darkness, not after everything I'm through.
And with that final thought, a will came to be. The will to live illuminated the darkness and once more a being was created. A being unlike any other. This being goes by the name of Roxas … and this is his story.
"I won't allow it!" My scream pierced through the darkness. Suddenly everything jerked. I could feel again. A body, two arms, two legs and a mind to process thoughts.
Slowly I opened my eyes, just to see that I was falling headfirst. While I was slowly descending downwards, I flipped my body. When my feet finally were under my body, I felt that I touched the ground. The ground under my feet was definitely solid, but just like all my surroundings, it was pitch black. Only when I looked upwards I could see a distant light. And from up there I could hear a voice that was like a whisper from far away but somehow it carried to me.
"There is so much to do, but so little time. I hope you learn quickly. Do you remember how to walk? Can you do it?"
I had nothing better to do, so I took some steps forward. After the third step, I had to close my eyes, because the ground suddenly was engulfed in a blinding light.
When finally, the light subsided and I re-opened my eyes, I could see that I stood on a glass platform … again. But unlike the last go around, this time the picture on the platform was different. On the left side of the platform there was a picture of myself in my organization coat, but with the hood down so I could easily recognize my features. A shiver went down my back when I realized that my eyes had a golden color in that picture. On the right side, there was a picture of myself in my normal clothes, those I had worn in Twilight Town, the same clothes I was wearing right now I noticed.
"Before your journey begins, you have to choose. Do you want to live in the everlasting peace of the light, even if it may not welcome you? Or do you want to embrace the darkness once again, everlasting strength, but it comes at a price you may not be ready to pay. You have the makings for both in you, so choose your way wise."
After the voice finished its little speech, I stood there a bit dumbfounded. This was the first time in my whole life, that I really had a choice of my own. From my time with the Organization, till the fake Twilight Town nearly everything, every choice I ever had, had either been already made for me or I had been calculatedly been groomed to make the decision someone else wanted me to make. My way had been laid out to me by others and I always had to bear the consequences of their decisions.
This time I will have no one to blame, for the consequences, so I had to choose very carefully. It took me some time to figure it out, but when the answer finally came to me, I nearly had to laugh because it was so obvious. And because I was not the first one to make a decision like that. But even through our ways were similar … they were not the same! I will never be anything like him.
"I choose neither the light nor the darkness. I choose the twilight. Yeah, I will stay in the light because that's the place where all my friends live. And I don't care if the light won't accept me, it will only shine at my back. Because my eyes will stay trained on the great Darkness hat keeps threatening the worlds … to keep it in check. I don't care what the price is, I'm ready to pay it. I will stay near the light and fight with everything I got, to keep the darkness away. To guard the light, to keep my friends safe and create a world where I can live out my dreams! I will live in the everlasting twilight at the end of the day. I will walk the Road of Dusk."
When I was done with my little monolog there was only silence and for a mere moment I really believed the voice had left me. But then I heard a faint laugh before the voice spoke again.
"Very well, the choice was yours to make and choose you did. You may go on if you want to see what lies along your way."
After he, because I could clearly make out that the voice was a man, said that between the two pictures a door appeared … coincidently right before me. It was my choice and I will live with it. I opened the door and stepped through without looking back.
When I stepped out of the door, it vanished behind me.
A quick look around to confirm that I stood on a glass platform once more. But it was a different picture again. This time the background was orange and blue, after a closer look I realized it was a setting sun over an ocean. In the foreground, there was a picture of myself and I appeared to be sleeping, I was wearing the clothes I wore right now, but with a few color changes here and there. Furthermore, some kind of metal bracer was on my left upper arm.
Around my head, on the upper part of the glass platform which was the furthest from me, where pictures of my friends.
There where Axel and a girl with black hair who I thought I recognized … but the memories seemed to become unclear and for the life of me, I couldn't tell where I had met her before. Ah, nevermind. Then there were pictures of my friends from the fake Twilight Town, who wouldn't even recognize me if they met me now: Hayner, Pence, and Olette. And finally, the biggest picture was one of Naminé. But somehow she seemed more … angelic than she ever was in my memories. Light blond hair, her, dare I say it, beautiful face and this white dress she always wore, simple and beautiful, just like her. Wait where did that come from?
Since the voice hadn't spoken until now, I took the time to reminisce upon the few times I met Naminé.
The first time was in the fake Twilight Town I think. She was just walking down the street and when we met, she was one of the few people who instantly talked to me like I was a true person. Like I was welcome in her presence and not a total nuisance to everyone. Sad but true, throughout my relatively short life (365 days I still got the number memorized) most people reacted that way when they met me. There were so precious few exceptions. Those are the people I count as my friends.
She greeted me with nothing but hospitality and from the first word she only ever told me the truth. That's something no one ever did for me. And for this courtesy, I will forever cherish her friendship.
When I was at the Station of Awakening for the first time and I was about to be swallowed up by the darkness, she was the one who reached out to me and dispelled the Darkness that tried to swallow me. In many ways she saved me.
The light in my darkness, Naminé.
And before I could really reflect upon that realization, the voice decided to make its presence known again. Guess that will have to wait until later.
"You said yourself that you want to keep the worlds and your precious people safe, to fulfill that oath you will be forced to fight. And the power to fight does sleep within you, you just have to give it a form."
Three raised aisles appeared around me, holding a sword, a shield, and a staff.
I remember this, it had happened to me before and thus I knew what I would have to do here. But before I could choose once more I just had to ask one truly important question, it was worth a shot.
"Could I please choose two things this time, I was dual-wielding in my darkest hours, in the hardest parts of my life, so I'm accustomed to it. But even more important …" I had to take a deep breath, because what I was about to say could be pretty hard to explain to an outsider, "I want to protect what better said who matters, but to do so I not only have to shield them. Even more important I must fight against their enemies. Thus please I wish to choose the powers of the warrior and the defender as my own. Whatever it takes this is my plea."
"You humans are all the same. Even if you are granted so much power you still ask for more. But very well, I accept your reasoning, so the power to shield, to protect what matters and the power to attack, a warrior, to be strong when others fail. To gain those two powers you will have to abstain from another power. You cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be is the law of equivalent exchange. For your plea to be granted the great power of the magician will be completely stripped from you. Do you accept this?"
"Gladly" was all I could reply while smiling. The three platforms disappeared and the weapons with them. A light shined in my both hands and soon I grabbed two handles.
In my left hand, I held an overall black Keyblade. The Keyblade had a white handle and a black guard with thin, orange edges that curved around the handle. The guard had two small silver-blackish, rectangular spikes on each of its upper corners. The bottom of the guard is completely black and does not have orange edges. The shaft of the Keyblade is wide and quite thick. The blade was colored in a rich black and adorned with concave, silver edges. There is an orange diamond at the base of the blade, and a thin, vertical line of the same color that lines the middle of the entire blade all the way to the tip. The tip was made up of three silver protrusions that resembled the spikes of the Nobody symbol. The teeth are comprised by two silver-blackish, triangular blades that overlap each other with the overlapping part being one of the spikes and slant downward.
When I looked upon this marvelous weapon the name Dusk's Guardian came to my mind. The keychain was a black sun and it was connected to the blade by the Keychain links that looked like silver notched crosses. Just by holding it I could already tell that this Keyblade represented the power to defend. I will make sure it brings honor to this power.
The Keyblade in my right hand was different from most of the Keyblades I had ever seen. The handle was thin and just long enough to grip it with one hand. It sported a checkerboard pattern of black and white and was surrounded completely by the guard, which was painted with a faded orange color that could have been a pure white in the right light. Each side of the guard sported two silver spikes that pointed diagonally downward. The long shaft was rather thin and the blade had a definite and sharp cutting edge. It was colored in a white and silver combination, however the white color overall dominated. The vanguard was adorned by concave cutting edges. The point where the shaft met the hand guard was marked by an orange jewel. The blade too ended in silver spikes resembling those on the Nobody symbol. These spikes are the only thing that connected the teeth of the Keyblade to the rest of the weapon. The teeth are formed by a white, circular arc lined with silver spikes that looked like Nobody thorns.
A weapon that was build to cut and likely kill, a feature most Keyblades didn't represent. The keychain was a white heart crossed by a gray notched cross that looked like the Nobody emblem's top half. The chain links were heavily stylized versions of the Nobody Emblem. When I looked at this Keyblade the name Light's Burden came to my mind.
When I finally took my eyes away from my newly required Keyblades I saw some black and white spots come to me from the edge of the platform. These were Nobodys, the body left behind when a human's heart was corrupted and taken away. And the reason Nobodys even existed were the Heartless, a heart consumed by darkness and plunged into it till it gains a new form themselves. These were only Dusks and Shadows, not very strong but they make up for it by numbers. Around me there were about ten of each. A piece of cake.
The Keyblades vibrated with power and anticipation in my hands, so without much of a second thought I moved directly forward to the first Heartless and cut right through him. A second strike with the same blade backhanded took care of that nuisance. The moment my black blade struck down this first enemy and thus stopping it from jumping and striking at me, I felt completely in my element. After that, the second and third Heartless fell to the sharp edge of Light's Burden, each precipitated with only one hit, which was quite surprising but none the less welcomed.
After that, two nobodies fell to a left-right combination attack that felt like I had studied it for hours on end. I truly was born to handle two blades in synch. I lost myself in the continuous throws of battle. I blocked and slashed with my black blade and cut through many foes with my white blade. One after another they went back to where they came from. Sent back to the darkness by my merciless blades. When the last one fell after a scissors-decapitating trick by my now familiar weapons it was once again silent, only my hard breathing disturbed the serene silence.
"These were some of the foes you will encounter on this journey, but there are others out there. Stronger, bigger and with forms you can't even fathom. Let your light shine bright, keep your darkness in check and never forget …"
Suddenly a Darkside appeared before me and at that same moment Light's Burden wavered and then vanished from my right hand. Since I wasn't sure if I could take on such a strong opponent in my present condition, after all defeating these many foes took quite a toll. But when I turned around, to bring some distance between me and this enemy and maybe work out a way to defeat that monster, a Twilight Thorn stood in my path and my black blade started to waver.
"… never forget …"
I made a quick dash to the left to avoid the first strike which was brought down upon me by the Darkside. Thankfully this powerful enemy was rather slow in his movements. I ran to the edge of the platform to buy myself some breathing room, but when I turned around the Darkside already blocked one of my escape routes and the Twilight Thorn quickly covered the other. I had cornered myself. My Keyblade was still clutched tightly in my hands, but I felt it was only seconds from vanishing.
"… never forget, if you want to be a true Keyblade Wielder, you are bound to have dreams …"
While I stood at the edge, the dark abyss behind me and these two beasts closing in, my second and already treasured Keyblade finally vanished. Before I even could make a move to attack. Every attempt to resummon my blades failed regrettably. Now defenseless against those great evils, I took half a step back and now my foot only stood barely on the platform.
"… Embrace your dreams and whatever happens, you always have to protect your honor as a Guardian of Dusk. After all, you don't have to fear …"
The Twilight Thorn and the Darkside both sunk into the ground. Which would have nearly lead me to take a breather, but in exchange for the enemies, now the whole platform was slowly covered in darkness. Slowly but steady the dark tendrils started to creep up my body and tried to pull me to or even into the ground. After a few seconds, my strength was overcome and I was wrestled down, till I lay flat on my back.
"… you don't have to fear …"
The dark tendrils tied my arms and legs, till I couldn't even wiggle around anymore. Darkness covered my whole body, only my head was still free and the darkness already tried to change that fact. I could only look skywards while dark tendrils closed around my neck.
Even after all this darkness going around, there was still this faint light in the sky. Somehow it reminded me of my light, faintly and nearly going unnoticed by most people, but incredibly strong and bright if you take the time to look closer.
My only just reignited thoughts were now only aimed at her, while a lone tear trickled down my cheek. I couldn't see her again. After everything I've been through I still wasn't strong enough to be granted a second chance to live.
"… you don't have to fear because you are not alone anymore."
That were the last words I ever heard from the voice inside me, but he was right. And the moment I realized that a strength welled up deep in me.
"Yeah" I managed to choke out" they may not be here at the moment, but my friends are connected to me. I have connections and people who I wish to meet again and even more important who want to see me again! I won't let them down! I will not give up now, nor ever!"
By now the dark tendrils fled because a light was welling up from inside me and was slowly surrounding me. It covered me in a cocoon of warmth and strength
"And even more important as long as my light, my Naminé, is still out there I will never give up – I will never fall in the darkness." The same moment those words left my mouth the light brightened and engulfed me completely.
When the light subsided my eyes took a long while to recover and grant me the ability to see again. After a minute or so in which I only succeeded in seeing a few shades and forms but nothing clear, I heard a voice from behind me. A painfully familiar voice.
"Have you been in the Darkness for so long that your eyes have grown unaccustomed to the Light? Or is it just your wish to see the dark side of things before you even consider opening your eyes to the light?"
An unbearable anger welled up within me, an anger that fueled my adrenaline and thus sharpened all my senses within seconds. My eyesight cleared and my Keyblades flashed to my hands, ready to be unleashed upon the target of my anger. I whirled around and faced the nemesis of my existence. Ansem the Wise.
AN: That's it, folks. I hope you enjoyed the refined and cleaned chapter 1.
Do not worry my dear readers I'm already working on chapter 2 my friends and I hope with the additions I made you will find this chapter as interesting as I did. Even if it is the second go around.
So stay tuned and have a good time, fellows. Till next time.