Okay, so I've updated this opening chapter. I think it's much better and flows better, but that's up to you readers to decide.

Prologue

Awakening

"So much to do, so little time… Take your time. Don't be afraid."

There was nothing but darkness: absolute darkness. A boy drifted through the sea of darkness as if he were in water, being swept away by the current. Suddenly, but gently, his feet landed on solid ground. As soon as his sandy-brown boots touched down, a bright light cut through the gloom. At came from the ground beneath him. He looked down with his dreary, green eyes to see that he was standing on a stained-glass platform.

"The door is still shut. Now, step forward. Can you do it?"

The voice rang through his skull. "Umm, okay," he said while trying to shake the sleepiness out of his head. He ruffled up his shaggy auburn hair, and took a few steps forward then stopped. "Why do you want me to step forward…and who are you anyway?" Silence. Before he realized it, three pedestals had risen up from beneath the platform.

Power sleeps within you."

"So, you're not going to answer me are you? Fine, I'll play your little game; this is probably just a dream anyway." He looked at the pedestal in front of him and suddenly a weapon materialized above it. It was a blue shield with red trimming. In the center of it was the red three-circle design.

"If you give it form… It will give you strength."

He looked at the pedestal to his right and hovering above it was a staff with three blue orbs on top of it, matching the design on the shield. On top of the final pedestal, to his left, appeared a sword with a blue handle and yellow hilt. The same three-circle design was set in the middle of the hilt.

"So you want me to pick one of these weapons?" Absolute silence. "I'll take that as a yes," he sighed. He ran up to the pedestal with the sword and jumped on it. He picked up the sword and felt its weight in his hands.

"The power of the warrior. Invincible courage. A sword of terrible destruction. Is this the power you seek?"

"Yeah, I'll keep it," he said to no one in particular. Once he made up his mind, the sword flashed and disappeared with a ping.

"Your path is set. Now, what will you give up in exchange?"

"I have to give up something now? That's not really fair." This time, he didn't bother waiting for a response, and decided to jump up on the platform with the shield.

"The power of the guardian. Kindness to aid friends. A shield to repel all. You give up this power?"

He looked at it for another second and decided that defense was too important. So he put it back and jumped down. He ran over to the staff and picked it up.

"The power of the mystic. Inner strength. A staff of wonder and ruin. You give up this power?"

"I don't really want to give anything up, but I guess I don't have much of a choice." He rolled his eyes. The staff disappeared with aping.

"You have chosen the power of the warrior. You've given up the power of the mystic. Is this the form you choose?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Don't make me change my mind." When he made his decision, the pedestals violently sank back into the platform. He stumbled down and looked around. To his shock and fear, the platform began to shatter around him. "What's…going on?!" he yelled. He fell down with hundreds of shards of yellow glass twirling around him. Even more shocking, he seemed to glide down and landed softly on his feet on another platform. Immediately, the sword materialized in his hand.

("You've gained the power to fight."

He swung it experimentally. It felt pretty natural to him. "This shouldn't be too tough." He looked around and strange shadows began appearing on the platform.

"There will be times you have to fight. Keep your light burning strong."

Strange creatures rose up from the shadows. They were jet black with big, round yellow eyes. They had short, spindly arms and legs and in large hands and feet with big claws. Their heads were massive orbs with two small antennae and no mouth to speak of…or with. They were twitchy and seemed totally uninterested in combat. "What? These things look like frogs. What the hell?" he laughed to himself.

He walked up to the one directly in front of him and decided to poke it experimentally with the sword. The sword went in with very little resistance and small clouds of darkness billowed out of the wound. He pushed the sword in a little deeper and the creature recoiled with a muffled screech. The others froze and stared directly at him. "That wasn't such a great idea."

They twitched slowly toward him and, suddenly, the one he poked lunged at his chest. He swung out wildly in fear and felt the sword connect. When he looked up, he saw the creature look down at its chest before dissolving into the surrounding darkness while the others silently sank into the surface.

"Behind you!"

He looked back to see two shadow creatures rise up from the ground. They stared blankly around, barely noticing his presence. "Oh no, not again," he said angrily. He ran straight for one creature with the sword held out far in front of him. The sword skewered the shadow creature through its chest and it disappeared in a haze of darkness.

The other creature looked directly at him with blank eyes, seemingly searching his features for something. Its eyes locked on to his and he froze. After, what seemed like an eternity, it silently sank into a puddle of darkness that grew rapidly until it enveloped the whole of the platform. The boy took a step back and his foot sank into the darkness. Before he could react, he was already waist deep in darkness. "Ahh! What's going on?"

He struggled as hard as he could, but within seconds, he was on solid ground. The light returned and he was on another platform. At that edge of the platform, a thin beam of light shone on a set of pink doors.

He walked up to the doors and tried to open it, but couldn't touch it. "I guess I can't open it," he said. He looked around the platform and saw a small chest on the opposite side. He walked over to it and tried opening it, but to no avail. Then he noticed a button on the lid. He pushed it and heard a click from behind him. "So that's the trick," he said, as he stood up and walked back toward the door.

He opened the door and a blinding light came forth. He walked through and he was…back home. He looked around in awe. He was in the courtyard of the Tower of Aquila, the Goddess of Thunder. It was the middle of the afternoon yet, the whole area was abandoned. I can't really be home. Aquila Tower would never be so…desolate, he thought to himself.

"Hold on. The door won't open just yet. First, tell me more about yourself."

"Well, let's see," he said dryly. "Well, I'm in my school drama club, a love eating, especially pizza, my favorite color is bluish-green, I'm the drummer in 'Black Leviathan'…"

"That's enough. Talk to them."

He was slightly taken aback. "I haven't even told you my name yet. The name's Urien Gleinwen Branimir. Pleasure to err… meet you, weird voice in my head," he replied dryly. He looked around and saw that the courtyard wasn't as abandoned as he thought. Three of his friends from school were standing there waiting for him: Lani, Arthur, and Mia.

Urien ran up to Lani and she automatically asked him, "What's most important to you? Being number one, friendship, or your prize possessions?"

"That's easy, friendship."

"Is friendship such a big deal?" she replied. He raised his eyebrows and began to respond, but instead, turned on his heel and walked over to Arthur.

"What do you want outta life? To see rare sights, to broaden your horizon, or to be strong?" Arthur asked him.

He thought for a moment. "I want to see rare sights," he replied.

"To see rare sights, huh?"

Urien ran over to Mia. She smiled and said, "What are you so afraid of? Getting old, being different, or being indecisive?"

"Well, that's a toughie. I'm not really afraid of any of those, but, I guess I'd have to say getting old."

"Getting' old? Is that really so scary?" Urien felt like that was supposed to be a joke, but didn't laugh.

"You want friendship. You want to see rare sights. You're afraid of getting old. Your adventure begins at dawn. As long as the sun is shining, your journey should be a pleasant one. The day the door will be opened is both far off and very near."

The tower and courtyard disappeared and Urien appeared on yet another platform. At the center was a strong beam of light. He walked over to it, and when he was bathed in the light, the beam moved over to the edge of the platform. Where it stopped, a winding staircase began. It led to another platform.

As he slowly walked up the staircase, a feeling of dread began to creep within him. In the center of the platform, there was another beam of light. Urien ran up to it and looked up to try and find the source.

"The closer you get to the light, the greater your shadow becomes."

Urien looked back to see that is shadow had indeed grown to massive proportions. It began to rise up like the shadow creatures from before.

", but don't be afraid."

He looked up and saw that it was massive, easily 50 feet tall, and had sharp claws. It had tentacles on its head that covered most of its face. Its eyes were bright yellow, but were almond-shaped, piercing eyes that seemed to see right through him. It had long, pointy, crinkly feet and small, tattered wings on its back… but the most striking feature was the large hole in its chest shaped like a heart.

"And don't forget…"

"Not…good," Urien stammered. He tried weakly to make for the stairs, but they had disappeared. The giant shadow rose up to its full height and launched its fist into the ground. The resultant crash knocked Urien onto the ground and a vortex opened up from the point of impact. Shadow creatures bubbled up from it and slowly jerked towards him. Urien scrambled to his feet and tried to fend them off, but with each one he killed, two more would rise up to take its place. "This isn't working," he breathed. "I have to get the big guy," he said as he smashed the flat of his blade on the head of a creature.

Urien ran toward the massive beast's legs and slammed his blade into its ankle. A huge clang reverberated through his body, and he fell to the ground. He looked up and there was no visible effect: no scratch, no cloud of darkness, nothing. The only difference was a chip broken of the sword's blade. "Damn it," he cursed. "Maybe the hand," he thought as he scrambled back to his feet.

Urien jumped over one of the small, frog-like creatures and ran straight for the monster's hand. He tightly gripped the sword in both hands and hacked at the monster's wrist as hard as he could. A huge stream of darkness gushed out of the wound and the creature recoiled with a screech. Urien fell back and smashed his skull on the ground. Dozens of vacant, yellow eyes stared down at him…and before he could think, he was engulfed in darkness.

He was smothered in cold, satiny bodies. Small, pointy claws groped at his body, ripping into his clothes. Panic gripped him. "Get away from me!" he screamed. For a moment, the creatures hesitated. "Get off!" he screamed again. They stopped and glanced at each other. Without thinking, Urien grabbed the creature standing on his chest and threw it into the darkness. He forced his way back onto his feet and set upon them like a rabid beast.

They fell within moments. Adrenaline rushed through his veins and instinct took over. The massive fiend drove its fist into the ground once more. As the frog-shadow creatures bubbled up, Urien jumped onto the giant's arm. He jumped off of the shoulder, grabbing onto a head tentacle, and swung onto the other arm. He ran the length of the arm and landed on the hand. He turned on his heel, gripped his sword with both hands, and raised it above his head.

He hesitated for a moment, breathing deeply. He gathered all his strength and plunged the sword deep into the behemoth's wrist. A geyser of darkness erupted from the wound, the force breaking the sword clean in two and knocking Urien to the ground. The colossal beast screeched an ear-splitting howl. Urien staggered to his feet only to be forced back to the ground by the force of the beast's fists slamming into the ground. A dark vortex appeared below him and slowly began to suck him under. Pretty soon, his legs would be completely enveloped.

"―but don't be afraid."

He looked up and saw the monster's unblinking yellow eyes burning into him. I fear greater than he had ever known gripped his chest.

"You hold the mightiest weapon of all."

Urien struggled to break loose. He was consumed up to his waist and stretched out his arms in a desperate attempt to escape only to have them swallowed up as well.

"So don't forget:"

Urien tried to rip his limbs free in one final vain attempt to fight the darkness, but to no avail. "Ahhhh—" he began to scream… before the darkness smothered him.

"You are the one who will open the final door."

Okay, so that was the prologue. People who have read it before will notice A LOT of changes. I hope you enjoyed, and PLEASE review. Even if it's two words, that's okay.

This story will be almost exclusively OC. also, most of the worlds will be original as well. If anyone would like to give suggestions for worlds feel free to include it in your review or PM me. Thank you and have a nice day.