Inevitability is a small pet project I've been putting together for a while now. It's never been fully a cohesive story until now, made up mostly of little fragments I've been writing out over the course of a couple years, but what I'm posting here is essentially a rough draft, as I would love some feedback from you all as I put this together. This story will have similarities to classic KH, but it is a completely different universe from that of Sora and his friends. I hope you all enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy writing it. My updates for this may be a bit inconsistent, and if I go a while without updating, please feel free to bug me about it. Knowing people want to read this inspires me to write more frequently. That being said, here is the prologue to the story, and once again thanks for joining me in this project.

Enjoy~

KINGDOM HEARTS: INEVITABILITY

Prologue - Part One

WORLD: LUMENGRAD

People rarely ever see it coming when events approach that will change their lives in a big way. No one leaves their house one morning and expects to be hit by a car, or stuck by lightning, but it happens all the time. Every life is subject to a number of potential catastrophes so astounding that it's a wonder anyone can maintain their cool on a daily basis. But humanity is very good a staying in perpetual denial of the truth of things. I'm not an exception to this. I mean for most of my life I lived like all of the other kids my age. I went to school, I skipped the occasional class, and I procrastinated from my homework. You don't expect everything you know to disappear in a single day, especially not on a sunny one just a week away from the summer recess. Looking back at it now, I really wish I hadn't taken those times for granted. It's been three years since then, and I've already forgotten what certain shops were called, or what my neighbors looked like. I just remember fragments, like a picture book with a bunch of pages ripped out. Admittedly, the average Joe doesn't come through the trauma I've endured completely put together, or alive even. But I'm not what one would call normal. I mean, I swing a giant key at monsters. That should tell you something about my life right there. But hell, I'm getting ahead of myself.

I've been told that writing this might jog some memories in my head, and keep me...well, human. So I'm going to take this back three years to the start of all this and see if this doesn't give me some kind of epiphany. Forgive me if this account is a little jumpy. As my above simile aptly said, I am a screwed up picture book. You will have to bear with me through my own frustrations as I struggle to piece together my own past. This is already my fifth attempt to start this, and it was only on this most recent attempt that I felt like I remembered enough to make this a coherent narrative. With all that said, let's get to this.

The day my life changed started like any other. The skies were blue, the wind was sweet and the people were happy. Then again, Lumengrad was rarely any other way. It was a world that was bathed in light, both during the day and at night. I lived in a small town named Freyvallow. To a lot of the city folk of Lumengrad, I suppose that we would have been considered rather provincial. We had a community center, a school, a few shops, you know. We had monthly festivals where we cooked out, played field games, rode horses, a bunch of fun stuff. Only a few hundred people made their homes there, and most everyone knew everyone else, either personally or by association. Everyone was really tightly knit, and they didn't take it lying down when someone threatened or bullied one of their own. Everyone in that town had a strong heart, and a good soul.

It was midday. My friends and I liked to spend our time in this smallish storage room within the town's only chapel. It was quiet, dark and out of the way. We'd brought pillows, blankets and other cushy things to make the place into a comfortable hideout. Few people knew we went up there, and Priest Rogo tolerated our presence as long as we helped clean up the place after services.

Though our group fluctuated in size now and then, there were three people who served as the core group. There was Everask Dalis, the son of a wealthy banker in Lumengrad's largest city, Helieta. Ev had been the one to start our little group of miscreants and he was in many ways, our leader. There was me of course. I served as the group's go to guy for anything that required rough labor. I guess you could say I was the thug of the gang. I was the fastest, strongest, and most willing to get my hands dirty. Then again, working on a farm will teach you that a little dirt is never a bad thing. Other than Ev and myself there was Avani Coihren, the mayor's daughter and the brains behind the outfit. When Ev and I were small boys, we balked at the idea of having a girl in our group, and it took Avani handing our asses to us in a few contests of wits to make us see that she was the missing puzzle piece for our team. We were all really close, and we went everywhere together. We were family. That being said, they were also terrible gossips.

"So Knoton," Avani said, turning her stunningly grey eyes over to me. Her black hair was glossy, gently tousled and hung down to her shoulders. "Who are you going to take to the Kingsday festival?"

"Take? W-what? Take how?" I replied suavely. As you can see, I had a way with words.

"Don't play dumb Knots!" Everask said, examining his perfectly manicured fingers. He was dressed sharply in a pair of black, hand tailored trousers, a violet vest and white dress shirt. His pampered behind sat in an impromptu throne of cushions, his legs neatly crossed. "We know you've been spending a lot private time with Mindy Marsters." Ev waggled his eyebrows for effect. I, of course, went red as a beet and began to flail slightly.

"N-no! It's not like that! She's just helping me out with my homework is all." Both of my friends threw me skeptical glances.

"You see her every after noon." Avani said, quirking one eyebrow and smiling.

"With no time off on weekends." Ev said, his own smile positively wicked at this point. In order to preserve my composure I attempted to divert the topic to safer waters.

"Well, I, uh, I'm excited to see the royal guard!" I said with perhaps a bit too much enthusiasm. Avani and Ev clearly wanted to pursue the subject of my alleged romantic encounters, but they decided to spare me the embarrassment for the time being. Everask, folded his arms, and harrumphed.

"I could care less if I see them or not. They take jobs away from local knights. Just because they have Holy Blades doesn't make them better than anyone else." Ev then proceeded to pick up a nearby book, a thick tome with various symbols on the front that I didn't understand. "I don't need some fancy tool like that to mend a broken bone, or stop someone from bleeding. I do that all on my own."

"You're not just jealous, Ev?" Avani said slyly. Ev narrowed his eyes at her and pulled a pair of spectacles from his breast pocket, sticking them on his nose. He then pointedly turned his attention to the book he held. I just shook my head at the exchange and didn't get involved. It really wasn't my style to poke at sensitive issues. Avani did it all the time, and more than once she took it too far. This was start to look like one of those times. Everask's older brother was a Knight of Vinculum, an order of powerful people who all wielded Holy Blades. They provided aid to worlds across the InterSphere that extends from defense to agriculture to performance art. It was like a cross between a college fraternity and an international relief organization, but with space ships and magic. Though Everask never said it out loud, I think he was hoping that he would be the one chosen by the order and not his brother. Indeed, Everask's whole family thought it would turn out that day. After all, being part of Vinculum was one of the prestigious, and sought after honors that one could achieve. Some people would give an arm and a leg to join. Unfortunately the process of entry isn't that easy to pin down, and the criteria for each blade is unique. It was like hoping to win a lottery honestly. You have to hope that there is a blade out there that believed you were the best choice for it somehow. I've heard it compared to finding your soulmate more than once. Sometimes it just happens right away, other times it never happens at all. If only they knew what it really meant to get one of those blades. Then they might not be so keen to get one.

Then again, I won't lie and say that I didn't feel the allure of owning one of those blades myself. After all, just holding one made you faster and stronger, among other things. Imagine how much better at farm work I would be with one of those babies juicing me up. Yep, that was the extent of my ambition back then; thinking of ways to improve my productivity at home.

We hung around up there for another hour before we heard a knocking at the trap door that lead down to the hallway below, and by extension to the main area of worship. The door opened and Priest Rogo popped his head in, giving all of us one of his trademark, fatherly smiles. Rogo was on the younger side for a Priest of the Seven Orders. His hair was still completely brown and his face wasn't home to many wrinkles. To the casual outsider he would look like he was in his mid to late twenties, though we all knew that he was about a decade older than that. Rogo was and still is, one of the wisest people I have had the good fortune to encounter.

"Kids, you'll miss the start of the festivities if you remain up here for much longer. I think the town would miss you." Before either of my colleagues could say anything, I stood up and said,

"We'll be right down." Father Rogo gave us a smile, and then descended the ladder again. When the trap door closed, Ev gave a sigh and closed his book. He folded up his glasses and put them back in his pocket.

"I guess we should get going then." He stood up, smoothed out his vest and stowed his book away inside of his backpack. Though he face was passive, his body language was tense. He began to walk briskly towards the trapdoor, but I placed a hand gently but firmly on his shoulder and stopped him.

"We really don't have to go. It's not like anyone would notice in all the ruckus. People would just assume we were there but never saw us." Avani stopped on Ev's other side and nodded at my words looking apologetic.

"Yeah Ev, you and Knots can stay here. After dad gives his speeches, I'll shake some hands and come right back here. They won't care about me after that. We can ride out the festival up here. I can even sneak us in some food." Everask looked between Avani and me. He took a few moments to think about it, but he ended up shaking his head.

"No, it's okay. It wouldn't be right to miss the seeing the King. Besides, it is a healer's duty to be able to perform in the face of difficult situations. This is no different." He placed and hand on each of our shoulders and smiled. "However, thank you. It means a great deal that you'd be willing to do this for me. Especially you Knots. I know this is your favorite time of the year." He then moved past us and began to climb down to the hallway below. "See you guys outside." Everask passed out of sight. Avani gave me a look, shook her head and shrugged before following after Everask. I was about to follow when some instinct convinced me to turn around a look behind me.

There was someone standing there.

They stood in the darkest corner of the room, in a spot none of our dim lights seemed to touch. I remember thinking that something about this person seemed off. You know how when a person stands still they tend to fidget a little, moving around in place to stay comfortable? This person did none of that. It was like looking at a dark statue. I tried to make out their face, but the shadows in the room seemed to be thicker around this person's body, obscuring all but their silhouette. They wore a long coat of some kind, but that was pretty much all I could make out. Oh, and something told me that this person was looking right at me.

"I wanted to see it myself." They said in a voice that was modulated so heavily that I couldn't make out age or gender. It made me think of the sound of metal scrapping on concrete in the form of a whisper. It made my skin crawl and I felt cold sweat drip down my back. I began to back towards the exit.

"See what?" I asked in spite of my fear.

"The beginning of the end." They responded extending a hand forward. A shaft of light from a partially obscured lamp revealed a hand that was not entirely human. Their fingers were too long, the skin purple and black as if bruised, their nails the color of dried blood. I couldn't help it, I screamed out. I reached for a nearby lamp and tossed it at the dark figure with all of my might. It ended up hitting the corner where the shadow had once stood, the spot now clear of any presence as its light shone on the stone of the wall there. My breath was coming out in gasps, and I was pretty sure my heart was beating faster than a hummingbird's wings.

By this point I was scared shitless, so when Avani called up the ladder saying,

"Hey Knots, come on!" I just about jumped clear across the room. My eyes kept flitting back to the corner making sure it was still empty. I tried to convince myself that I'd just been seeing things, but a part of me knew that was just wishful thinking.

"Hurry up Knots! We're going to be late for the opening ceremonies!" Avani called again. I scrambled to my feet and taking one last long look behind me, I climbed down the ladder after my friends.