In the middle of a corridor in a school packed with students, a camera is filming the environment. Judging by the shot, the person behind the camera was rather small as the scene consisted of students with no heads. The corridor was noisy and crowded, it's surprising how the camera was not pushed or knocked by other students. However the camera was jolted as the person behind it had lost eye-sight.

"Guess who?" A male voice said.

"Who could it be? How about my annoying best friend called Ryan?" Another voice answered. This voice appeared to be the one controlling the camera who is female.

The camera turned to face the first voice and indeed it belonged to a male. He was slightly tall as the camera had to pan upwards ever so slightly. He had sandy coloured, messy hair like he had just got out of bed but it was the style these days. He had chocolate eyes and fair skin. He was wearing a simple black jacket, denim jeans and blue converses. He smiled at the camera.

"You still filming for the school's documentary?" He asked.

"What's it to ya?" The female retorted jokingly.

He then grabbed the camera and turned it to the girl in front of him. Her hair was tied into pigtails and was the colour of dark chocolate. Her azure coloured eyes always made Ryan's heart melt. Her pale skin could make anyone worry for her health but she was perfectly fine. She was wearing a purple striped hoodie, blue jeggings and black converses. Around her neck was a silver locket in the shape of a heart. The locket was given to her by Ryan as a birthday present. She was sulking but he knew she was joking.

"Look do we have here? The school's little rebel: Charlie!" He said.

"I am not a rebel, I just forget to do my homework." She replied.

He gave the camera back to Charlie. She shut it off and put it in her pocket on the front of her hoodie. Lucky for her, the camera was small enough to fit and not fall out. She opened her locker and retrieved some textbooks for her subjects.

"Say, you wanna stay round mine and play some Kingdom Hearts tonight?" She offered.

"Sure why not? I'm still going to get the remix anyway." He said.

School finished for the day and everyone was either getting transport or walking home. The two best friends did the latter and talked about the absurd teacher they had for a subject. Along the path there was a small ditch where Ryan had nearly pushed Charlie but pulled her back in time and claimed he "saved" her life. In retaliation she pushed him away and ran rand down the path.

By the time they arrived at Charlie's house, Ryan was breathing heavily as he tried to keep up with her. This gained an insult from her calling him a slowpoke. They ran upstairs and she turned the Playstation 2 on. Her parents were not back from work yet and also they wouldn't mind Ryan's company as they've known him for years.

"I'll do the tutorial in the Station of Awakening while you do Destiny Islands. Yeah?" Charlie asked.

"Sure."

Charlie started a new game and the screen turned white. They waited a while and still nothing happened. The fourteen year-olds dismissed anything strange and concluded that the console was old as well as the game. Not long after Ryan accused Charlie of breaking the game. Charlie stood up and went to the television. As soon as she touched it, the screen and her room itself grew brighter. So bright that the teens had to shield their eyes.

Somehow Charlie was falling. Falling under water. Until, it wasn't water anymore as she could breathe normally. As she was falling, something bright flew into her chest and didn't fly out again. She opened her eyes and flipped her body so her feet were closer to the ground. Or lack off in this case. Soon after she found herself landing on something solid. She looked around to only find the black void surrounding her.

She took a small step and soon regretted it as a light peered through while doves flew from the floor and disappeared into the blackened sky. Her eyes adjusted to the light and looked at the floor beneath her. She gulped. She saw a picture of Snow White and the seven dwarfs from the Disney movie. Her first thought was that she was dreaming and concluded the reason was because she was playing Kingdom Hearts more often than she should.

"Do not be afraid. You still have time. You are not alone, can you face the challenges ahead?" A mysterious voice spoke to her.

Charlie nodded and walked forward. She played the game many times but she didn't consider this voice was female and even then the dialogue was different now. As she made it to the centre of the floor, as if by queue, three trapezoid stones rose up around her. One had a sword, another had a shield and the last one had a staff. Each contained a symbol of Mickey Mouse. 'At least this hasn't changed' she thought to herself.

"The power inside you can be given form…. Choose carefully." The voice advised her.

Charlie scanned across each weapon. She didn't know what was going on, whether or not it's still a dream and if this is going to be important for later. She remembered in the game she would always pick the Dream Sword first as she loved to hack and slash Heartless. However, under the current circumstances, she had to reconsider.

"Well, just to play it safe…." She muttered as she jumped to the shield.

"The power of the Guardian. Kindness to aid friends. A shield to repel all. Is this the power you seek?" The voice said.

"Sure, it's not gonna kill me now, is it?"

"You have chosen your path."

The shield disappeared which didn't surprise Charlie at all. For now, she had to choose something she would give up. She jumped off the stone and waited for the voice to speak to her again.

"Now what will you give up in exchange?"

She looked between the two weapons. She would usually give up the staff as she would never use magic until later on in the game. However, her gut was telling her not to this time. It was strange but should she argue with it? She couldn't risk it. Something was telling her this is an important decision. She decided to go for the defensive this time. She walked to the Dream Sword and grabbed it.

"The power of the Warrior. Invincible Courage. A sword of terrible destruction. You wish to give up this power?"

"Yeah, I'm up for a change of heart." Charlie replied. The sword vanished.

"You've chosen the power of the Guardian. You've given up the power of the Warrior. Is this the form you choose?"

"Yup." She replied bluntly.

All three stones sunk into the ground and disappeared. The floor started to shatter and fall with Charlie along with it. She panicked as gravity decided to work its magic on her. However another platform came closer to her view. This time it was Cinderella. Somehow she landed smoothly onto the floor. Then the shield appeared in her hand. She knew what was coming next.

"You have the power to fight." The voice said.

Charlie began to swing the shield. She thought it was lighter than she first realised and began a few combos. She always figured using the shield in real life would be rather awkward to attack with the way Sora did but she was wrong.

"Well done. Use this to protect yourself and those who need it."

Suddenly a Shadow Heartless appeared.

"Sometimes you will have to fight."

Then more appeared and Charlie started to worry. She had never been in a fight before let alone one that could kill her! She started to look for a way out but she couldn't find one! She gulped. She guessed she had no other choice, she must fight!

"Keep a hold of your light. Let it shine through all." The voice said.

Charlie nodded and readied herself. Her position wasn't the same as Sora's as she was standing more upright than him. She charged at the several Heartless and began to attack. She was stronger than she thought! However one sunk into the ground and crawled behind her. It popped up and scratched her.

"Ouch! Why you!"

She turned around and slashed at the Shadow which died soon after. Then once she had finished with the rest she saw the scratch on her arm. She cussed but then she saw green orbs that she was all too familiar with. She went over to them and she instantly absorbed them. She sighed as he wound was healed. Another Shadow appeared behind her.

"Look out!" The voice called.

More surrounded her and she instantly ran out of the way. Now she knew where they all were, she ran at them with full confidence. One jumped rather high and as it closed in on her she struck downwards and it vanished. On the other hand, the remaining Heartless sunk into the ground and the whole platform was covered in darkness! She forgot about this! She struggled to no avail and sunk like she was in quick sand.

She tried to remove the darkness from herself and she woke up breathing heavily. She never wanted to experience anything like that again! She stands up only to find this platform has no princess but is mostly pink. She sees a door which isn't completely solid yet it was still there. She knew she couldn't open it.

Behind her a chest appeared. She ran to it and opened it but nothing was inside. Instead, a crate with stars materialised behind her. She pushed it and was surprised on how light it was. She then smashed it with the shield. A small item popped out and she picked it up. It was a potion. It was rather small and she easily fit it in her jeggings pocket. The door frame magically materialised after that and so did a barrel with stars as well.

She repeated the action with what she had done with the crate earlier but this time there was no item. The doors then solidified and Charlie opened them. Light pierced through that it nearly blinded her. When the light died down, Charlie opened her eyes to find herself in a familiar place. Her school playground and in front of her was Ryan and her parents.

"Now don't get ahead of yourself. Tell me, what are you like?" The voice said.

That crushed her spirit. She had thought she had woken up from this bizarre dream but no, she had to tell this strange voice who she is. Does it really matter? All she wants to do is wake up. Heck, how did she even fall asleep in the first place? She just couldn't remember.

She walked to her mother. She has the same colour hair but with brown eyes and a nice smile. She would always be there for Charlie when she needed her most. Her mother introduced her to make- up and Charlie could always have a nice talk with her.

"What's most important to you?" Her mother asked.

"The people I care for." Charlie replied.

"Is that it?" Her mother said.

She then turned to her father. He had rather a lighter shade of brown compared to her mother. He has the bright blue eyes she has but they were always full of mischief. He would always tease and mess with her. She didn't mind it, actually she rather enjoyed it. She never considered it until now but she was lucky to have such great parents.

"What are you afraid of?" He asked.

"Not being strong enough." She replied.

"Are you really that scared of not being strong enough?" He questioned her.

She sighed and turned to Ryan. They've been best friends since they were little. However, She feels more than that. She loves that she can tell him anything and that he teases her. She thinks that him being protective is cute and she loves his smile. When he gave her the locket, she felt on top of the world.

"What is your goal in life?" Her best friend asked.

"To see new things." She replied.

"Really? Just to see new things?" He said.

"The people you care for are important to you. You're afraid of not being strong enough. You want to see new things. Your adventure begins soon. Your journey may be hard but as long as you keep true to yourself it will be more pleasurable." The voice said.

"I guess so" Charlie replied.

"The day the door will open is both far off and very near."

Everything went white. Suddenly Charlie found herself on a platform with Aurora on it. How did she get here? She didn't know. How come this dream is somewhat following the Kingdom Hearts game anyway? Has she been playing it too much? Suddenly more Heartless appeared and she got into her fighting stance and started attacking. This time she felt herself getting stronger.

A light appeared from the sky, beaming down on the platform. Charlie walked under it and looked up. Then the light moved to the edge and disappeared and revealed stairs of glass panes to the next area. She ran up the stairs, careful of not falling off just to find yet another platform but this one had a picture of Belle. The light was in the centre and Charlie stepped towards it.

"Be careful. The closer you get to the light, the bigger your shadow grows." The voice said.

She looked back to see her shadow and indeed it was huge but something seemed off. The shadow emerged from the ground. Charlie gasped. What was happening?

"Do not be afraid."

It kept growing and growing into a huge monster!

Charlie stepped back.

"And do not forget."

She started to run until the edge of the platform only to see the dark void below. She turned back to the beast. She knew what it was called. Darkside.

She drew out the shield. She knew her tactic for this boss. The monster smashed its hand into the ground. As it called Shadows to the scene, Charlie jumped onto the monster's arm and started to attack its face.

The monster moved and Charlie fell to the ground but landed on her feet just in time. She took out the small Heartless and prepared for Darkside's next move. The boss then conjured up several orbs of energy. Charlie had to time this right. She deflected the orbs except the few times she miscalculated. She defeated he monster and felt like she grew slightly stronger.

The monster feel to its knees and the shield vanished. The Darkside pounded the platform which caused Charlie to stumble. Darkness began to surround her and her heart began to against her ribcage.

"-Do not be afraid." The voice spoke.

The monster began to tremble.

"You hold the mightiest weapon of all."

The darkness continued to take over her.

"So don't forget:"

This is it, she thought.

"You will open the door." The voice spoke for the last time.

For Charlie, this wouldn't be the end. No, it was only the beginning.