Prologue

Darkness...A blank void in existence in which no light is seen. There are sayings, you know, that Darkness can't hurt you, that, like all things, its opposite, the Light, can always defeat it. Well I say what about the other way around? If you can defeat the Darkness with the Light, wouldn't that mean you could defeat the Light with the Darkness? I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks that, but I'm willing to bet I'm the only one who knows it for a fact.

"I'm not afraid of the Darkness!"

Foolish words...Ones I shall never forget, and ones I shall always regret using. The very instant they left my lips, I knew it was a mistake, but I wasn't about to let that get into my way, nor let the evil consuming me know I feared it, even if only in the slightest at that time.

"Open yourself to the Darkness..."

Another foolish thing if there ever was one. But the power...Oh the power in itself was intriguing! Any person in their right mind would gladly hand over what they had for that kind of power had they been in my shoes! You couldn't possibly even begin to comprehend how it felt. The surge of raw energy coursing through my veins, the nearly tangible substance as it flowed through my body. It was paradise...Was paradise.

Its always hardest to tell when someone is lying and when they're not when you're face to face with the problem. I had, at first, joined sides with the Darkness to strengthen myself for my friends. I needed to help them, help Sora find Kairi. What a mistake that had seemed to be! The idea that my best friend had betrayed me was hammered into my brain, and I believed every sour word of it. The thought of Sora not needing me any more filled me with a bitterness I can't even attempt to put into words. I wanted, at that moment, to yell, hit, even kill him. But I couldn't. Something inside of me told me that it wasn't true, yet even still I went along with the evil.

So time went on. I had challenged Sora several times as an innocent kid at mock duels, yet now the hatred flowing through me demanded something a bit more fierce. The first time was nothing serious. It was nothing I couldn't handle, but the second time, my...controller decided he would take things into his own hands. That's when I remember Pretender coming to me. I don't know how it happened, or even why for that matter, but there was an offered comfort in the Keyblade that made me feel less alone. Less superficial you might say, and the hatred I felt for Sora depleted itself.

I'm sure by now you're wondering just where I'm going with this. Well, a good amount of time has passed since these events. No 30 years or anything, mind you, just a couple as far as I know. At the end of it all, Sora saved the Worlds, just like we all knew he would, yet even in his triumphant closing of the Door...Darkness has made itself known once again.

So now here I am. Stuck in a place one can't even describe with words, nor a name. If you've heard of Traverse Town, you'd think this was its evil twin, if cities could have twins that is. Its Dark, go figure, and clammy, and it smells of death and decay. The very walls seem to breathe and its inhabitants are vicious and unruly. Heartless? Not hardly. Lost in the Darkness? Forever.

You don't look for friends in a place like this. You don't look for anything in particular but a way out, and everybody is striving to get there. Have any of us found it yet? I wouldn't be here talking to you if we had. Of course, we meet the Light, but we're to destroy it as quickly as it flickers. Like a ferocious wind to an innocent candle flame. We swarm onto the Light like rabid beasts on raw meat, and we tear it apart just as viciously. Its never a pretty sight, but that, of course, is our way of life. And if we wish to live, we obey.

Well now you know what things are like, here on our side of the Door. The Darkness is no ally of mine, but it is my Master, my keeper, and my strength. Pretender, my weapon, my confidant, my only friend. My mission? Destroy the Keyblade Masters.