Kingdom Hearts: Destiny Unleashed

Author's notes: This story mainly follows the storyline of Kingdom Hearts II and is slightly based off an rpg done with my big sister. I do not own Kingdom Hearts or its characters. Bailey Strife belongs to me and unless given permission, I will not tolerate anyone using her in anything. Please do not steal story in any way, shape, or form. Using the story and replacing Character and Location names is not okay.

Darkness: something that's been around since the beginning of time. We're born from it, and we return to it when we die. That is a known fact. We need darkness to survive.. so why is it so terrifying, sometimes?

Chapter 1: Day One

I stood there as a box was taken from my hands and set down in its right place before I picked up another box and handed it over to be sorted into its own rightful spot in the storage hangar. After a moment, I pushed my messy, sweaty brown hair from my eyes. It was a hot day, and the fact that our air conditioning unit had broken down made nearly everything cling to my skin, and making me feel disgusting. I swallowed dryly, picking up the next box and handing it over before going to get the dolly to grab the next few boxes from the train. The heat coming from the train engine made me reel slightly, but I went ahead to get the boxes, anyway. After I transferred the boxes from the cargo car to the storage hangar, I heard a woman call out

"Your shift is over, Bailey. Why don't you go cool off? You've helped out quite enough."

I looked back at her and nodded, calling out my thanks before sighing and walking out of the station and trying to air out my white and red shirt. I ended up having to take off my half-sleeved hooded vest since that just made the heat even worse. When I got outside, I winced and shielded my eyes at the sun brightly glaring in my eyes. I looked at the bright sunset colors in the sky. This town was always bathed in twilight, even in the middle of the day. I suppose that's why its name is Twilight Town.

I came here about a year ago. Well, actually, it would probably be more of a 'just up and appeared out of thin air' thing. All of a sudden, I woke up to find myself in a hospital room, and the doctors said someone had found me lying in an alleyway somewhere. I can't remember anything from before I came here, just my name and age, but that's about it.

Bailey Strife: Aged 15... Oh, and for some reason, I remembered that I've had a bad past with oranges… which is weird since I love the fruit with a passion.

I tried everything to remember, but it seems that with every new memory I gain, the more the memories disappear.

I managed to rent a small apartment for pretty cheap near the alley I was found in, and I got a job working as staff for the station. It pays pretty well, and sometimes I'm even able to help work on the clock tower that's maintained here, too… Something about gears, grease, and wrenches just seems to make me happy. Not quite sure why, though.

I put some change on the counter of an ice-cream vendor and got a seasalt ice-cream, someone who hangs out at the clock tower recommended it to me, so I figured I'd try it.

I thanked the vendor before walking off, putting my hand in my jean pocket, purposely dragging my black and red shoes on the ground to hear the squeak they made as I took a bite. An expression of mixed emotions planted itself on my face. The ice-cream definitely lived up to its name. It was freaking salty! But it was really, REALLY sweet at the same time. After a few more bites I found myself addicted. It's like one of those things like when you have your hair up for a long time and then when you take it down it feels very painful but soooo good.

… Maybe I should have bought more than one.

"Ha ha, see? Didn't I tell you it was good?"

I blinked and turned to see a blonde-haired boy standing there with a smile on his face, arms crossed over his green vest and black shirt. A girl with brunette wavy hair, an orange and white floral shirt, and khaki capri pants stood next to him, hands behind her back. Beside her was another boy who was a bit on the short side, his black hair held up with a sweatband that matched his red jersey that had 'Dog Street' written on it down the side, blue jeans that looked a little too big for him, and a blue bandana tied around his neck. I smiled faintly as the blonde's smile turned into a grin,

"Oh, hey Hayner… Yes. It is VERY good."

That's Hayner, the neighborhood hot-head. He likes to explore places, and REALLY likes to spar. He seems to have something against a teen a little older than him named Seifer, but I never really knew why. He's two years older than me, but managed to get held back a year and wound up in my class. I think I'm the only one who doesn't tease him for that… at least out loud, anyways.

The girl smiled, leaning forward,

"Are you done with work, Bailey?"

That's Ollete. She's always level-headed, sweet, and smart. She's the one who usually gets everyone to think logically. She's the same age as me and is always at the top of the class. Everyone always tries to get her as a partner for projects since they know she's so intelligent, but funny enough, if they end up slacking too badly, she'll purposely fail the project just to mess with them. It's fun to hang out with her, especially since she's one of the few girls around my age.

I nodded a bit, smiling,

"Yeah, and I'm glad, too. The AC broke down and we haven't gotten the chance to fix it, yet, so I was burning up in there. Right now I was headed home to change out of these sweaty clothes."

The other boy laughed, hands behind his head and smiling, nodding,

"Yeah, we just came from there. It's too hot to make the climb to the clock tower, today, so we're just gonna go hang out at the usual spot."

And last, but not least, that's Pence. He's funny and always manages to cheer you up. He's one of the more superstitious types, being really into ghosts and things. One of his bigger obsessions lately is the '7 wonders of Twilight Town'. Apparently some weird things have been going on, on the other side of town that can't really be explained. He's a year younger than Ollete and I, but he's in our class, as well, and manages to keep some pretty good grades.

I laugh a bit, smiling a bit before watching as Hayner and the others waved, heading out,

"See ya later, Bailey!"

I watched them head off before heading to my apartment building. I checked my mailbox in the room where the residents' boxes were kept before heading up the stairs to my apartment. Before I got there, I stopped in front of a door a little ways down the hall from my own, staring at it with a frown on my face. This apartment had belonged to another boy about my age who had arrived a few months after I did. He always used to hang out with Hayner's group, and I had a pretty fun time hanging out with him, too. But, one day, he just up and disappeared, without a word. There was a search going for weeks, but no one could find any traces of him. Hayner and the others have managed to get along without him, but everyone knows they're still all rather depressed about the topic. I frowned as I put a hand on the door,

"Where in the world did you go, Roxas…?"

I sighed before heading down the hall. I stopped in front of my door and got out my keys, unlocking the door and heading inside. I checked my messages on my phone, getting that dreaded one that reminded me to send in my rent pay for the week. I went and got something quick to eat and counted my munny to see how much I'd had before heading into my room.

After I got some fresh clothes on, I ran a few errands, picking up some groceries and dropping off my rent for the week. By the time I got home, it was already dark out. I put my groceries away in their rightful places before pouring myself some milk. After taking a shower, I got changed into my PJs and crawled into bed, sighing in content and exhaustion. I looked up at the moon and stars through my window and looked at them for a while before slowly falling asleep, the lights from the stars showing even behind my eyelids as they slowly drooped to a close.

. . . . . . . . . .

Screams pierced the air as people of all ages were sent scattering. She was woken from these sounds and her eyes widened when the house was tinted orange as flames started to engulf its wooden structure. She got frantic when she couldn't find her older brother. She climbed out of her bed and clutched at her stuffed wolf, running all throughout the house and looking for him, calling out for him,

"Nii-sama!"

When she got outside, she screamed when the house collapsed, everything in it turning to ash. She turned away from the house before her eyes widened when she saw black creatures running around and going after children and adults alike. She tried to back up to the house, but she stumbled forward again when the flames licked at her heels. She jolted upright when she heard a noise beside her, and she clutched at her wolf as she turned, looking to her side and up at the black monster that stood a couple feet taller than her, looking down at her with beady yellow eyes and twitching. She swallowed hard, opening her mouth to cry out, but nothing would escape.

It tilted its head before it lunged at her, and she finally managed to move, stumbling backwards and scrambling to her feet again before running as fast as her little legs could carry her. She heard someone call the thing a 'Neo Shadow' but she just kept running, managing to lose it. She sniffed, tears starting to fall down her cheeks as she saw people disappear and get attacked by the black monsters, houses collapsing to the ground from fire. She turned, holding the wolf close and looking all around,

"Nii-sama! Nii-sama!"

She started to cry, tears soaking into the wolf's fur, but she was quickly startled when she heard some more of those Neo Shadows heading her way, and she quickly scurried to the nearby alley, fitting herself between a gap in a group of stacked boxes, curling up tightly to try and hide herself. She sniffed and hiccupped, not able to stifle her crying completely,

"Nii-sama…! Where are you? Save me, please! Don't let them hurt me...! Cloud!"

At that moment, the boxes were thrown away from her, and she looked up quickly before being engulfed by darkness, and a shrill scream echoed out from where she was, signaling the others in the area that the heartless had gotten yet another one in their invasion. Her wolf fell to the ground and was torn a few times and stained in her tears and in darkness.

She was only 5 years old.

. . . . . . . . . .

In an instant I was woken and I quickly sat up, eyes wide as tears flowed down my face, a good amount of tears having already stained my pillow. I swallowed hard, looking down and noticing that I was shaking. I shook my head rapidly and managed to calm myself down, wiping my eyes and sagging faintly. I looked out the window at the moon that was still high in the sky before turning and looking at the clock; it was 3:48. I sighed and shook my head, staring at my covers.

"I had that nightmare again…"

Did that really happen? Was it possible that it could have been a memory? What in the world were those creatures? Who was Cloud?

I sighed and shook my head once more before flipping my pillow over to the dry side and laying my head back down. For now, I wouldn't worry about that, I would just concentrate on getting some sleep.

The next morning came fairly quickly with no dreams that I could really recall. I frowned and looked up at the sun before sighing and letting my head fall,

"Damn it… I forgot what nightmare I had again… and I was going to try and find out what it was about, too… gah!"

I fell back on my bed with a huff.