Chapter 1: The Dream
It was a warm summer evening, the sky was a dark purple, the color of midnight. We were just hanging out by our favorite bench that night. We never really did anything wrong, we didn't smoke, we didn't drink, we didn't do much of anything but hang out back then. We were still young, and quite naive, and completely unaware of what was to come. I was the middle man in our group, stuck between my two friends who were living their lives while i was stuck at home just hoping to chill with them on any given day. These two were my greatest friends, and soon to be my greatest a lot of ways both of them brought the best and worst of my personality to light. None of knew at the time, but one day, it was gunna come to bite us all in the ass...hard.
The day it started was on my 17th birthday, June 6th. I was staying the night at Alex's house since it was my birthday. We were in his living room, which of course was a big mess. Then again its hard to have a clean house when you have 4 siblings, each more spoiled than the last. The room was big and it connected to the kitchen as is the case with most houses. He was laying on the couch and i was on the recliner...
Alex: Hey Damion.
Damion: Hey Alex.
Alex: YOUR MOM!
Damion: Damn it! That's the millionth time you have fuckin said that, you have ultimately destroyed that joke forever you fat ass!
Alex: YOUR MOM IS A FAT ASS
Damion: And this is why I get so pissed.
Alex: Calm down I'm just joking...jeez you take everything so seriously.
Damion: No I don't it just annoys me that you have to kill a joke all the fucking time.
seriously for once can we have a joke that you don't say EVERY 5 SECONDS!
Alex: Damn, some one is on his time of the month
Damion: Fuck you. Whats on right now anyway?
Alex: I don't know, nothing goo- OH YEAH MAD TV!!!!
Damion: *sigh* well its better than nothing. I'm gunna go make some leftovers.
Alex: OK FATTY!
Damion: Yeah Yeah
This was a normal conversation for us, when I look back, I realize just how juvenile we really were. I laugh at how drastically things had changed in just a few months. But that's for a later time...
Later that night, I had the dream. The dream that throws you into your destiny and makes you be something you never wanted be.I was sitting in Mine, Alex's and Kenny's favorite hang out...the bench all alone in the rain. I looked up to see Alex standing in front of the playground on the other side of Nelson park with the girl that me and Alex both fell for. Alex was beckoning me, as if he was mocking me, mocking the fact that he had her and I did not. I got up angry, and began running toward Alex and the girl whose name was Taylor. As I ran the world around me began to fade, and before I knew it I was falling into a dark abyss. I was completely calm while I was falling, and there were random thoughts, that seemed put there by someone else going through my head...
...Why am I here...
...is it all just a dream...
...does this life mean nothing...
...is my life just a spec...
...what...am I worth...
I continued to fall into the darkness with these same thoughts floating around me. It was so dark, yet I was completely calm as I contemplated the meaning of what I thought was a meaningless existence. I did, however, question what was going on, why was I falling? Why did my world fade away? Was it because I knew I could never have her? What was going on with me? All of sudden my decent into the abyss slowed greatly, and I turned myself upright. As I looked down, I could see what looked to be a platform made of stained glass. I landed on the platform made of stained glass, and when I looked around I was surprised to see that the image in the stained glass was myself. The image depicted me floating in the air, arms outstretched, surrounded by little circles with bust images of my friends.
Surrounding me was the complete darkness, there was nothing out there in that seemingly lonesome darkness, it was just me and the platform. Once again I was completely serene, nothing was troubling me, not the surrounding blackness, and not the strange platform with my image upon it, not the questions I had buzzing around my head like a swarm of bees. Nothing. Then I received what I believed to be a thought that was not my own, rather someone talking to me through the thoughts in my head...
...The time of your awakening is at hand...
...you will bring about a greater good for those around you...
...or you will usher in a new oblivion the likes of which no one has yet seen...
...the road ahead of you is black...
...the choices will be your own...
...go now decide your destiny...
As the last thought faded into my head, a set of glass stairs appeared before me. At first I hesitated, unsure of whether or not I should go up the stair case, but then again there was no fear that I could think of. So, I began my ascent thinking to myself why am I even here in this place? What is it about this place that seems so serene, so familiar? Not even these glass stairs seem to affect me. Even though floating glass stairs don't exactly come across as SAFE. The stairs seemed to go on forever, and as I walked up the glass stair case, a whole bunch of glowing yellow eyes began to pierce the abyss like darkness. The eyes had a fierce yellow glow, and they were the only thing here that I seemed to be afraid of. I thought to my self What is this all about? Why am I afraid of these strange glowing eyes? They look harmless and serene, yet I feel as if they don't belong... I reached the end of the staircase and arrived onto another stained glass platform with my image on it. Only this time it was mainly just different shades and hues of green. Hmm...I have to admit, I look good in green. In the center of the platform lay three podiums, each containing a different floating artifact. The podium to my left was a large shining Shield, with a golden crown at its center and a silver background. The middle podium contained a brilliant sword. The sword shined brilliantly in the middle of the surrounding darkness, its hilt was made of gold with the same Crown crest only this time the crest was silver. Finally to my right was the podium containing an amazing looking staff. the handle was long and made of a swirling silver and gold pattern. The head of the staff was its great center piece. A golden crown with blade like angle wings protruding from behind it.
As I neared the podiums the thoughts returned to me...
...it is time to choose who you are...
...do you prefer to protect the ones you care about...
...or do you fight with your inner power..
...or do you use your mind to bring forth great power...
...choose...
I walked to the center of the platform where the three podiums stood. Before me were the choices to protect, to fight, or to learn. I made my choice immediately. Hmm...I am a fighter, always have been. So I grabbed the sword from its podium and held it firmly in my right hand. The sword's hilt felt familiar to me, as if I had been wielding it for my whole life. I began to wonder why it felt this way. hmmm...none of this is adding up. I feel as if this sword has been mine since I was born. Why? The same with this place...I feel so at home, and yet so alienated. And those damned eyes...they make me so apprehensive. Again I feel like I know why, but I just can't think of the answer right now. Then the sword vanished in a flash of sparkling light. As soon as it vanished, so too did the other two items, and the eyes began to approach from the darkness. They began to form small bodies as they stepped onto the giant platform, taking on dark shadow like figures. These dark figures started to come towards me, slowly. One by one these creatures surrounded me till there were over 50 of them. I looked around, now even more afraid of these dark shadow like creatures. I think I am about to get an answer to one of my questions... The closest of these shadow creatures leaped at me from the masses. I had nothing else to do but cross my arms over my head in a feeble defense. This is it, I guess it all ends here...NO!!! IT CAN'T END HERE!!! There is so much for me to do! Why should it end here for me!? Then a bright light shined from my right hand and repelled the dark shadow away from me.
As the shadow was knocked away by the light from my hand, it began to fade away like smoke into the dark abyss. I looked to my hand and saw a strange looking weapon, a blade shaped like a key. I had a hexagonal hilt that was deep red and had a black handle. The blade was in the shape of a great sword, and it was loosely wrapped in a deep red clothe, at the end of the cloth was a sharp object that formed three prongs. I had assumed that would be the what unlocked a keyhole on a key. What the fuck is this? Is this some sort of weapon? Then as if I had known it my whole life, I understood what I was supposed to do with it also a name came to my mind. Dark Envy. Before I had more time to question what was going on, another shadow leaped at me. I grasped the blade firmly with my right hand, and slashed diagonally at the shadow, cutting it clear in half. As it faded away, I notice something that shined from its smoky essence. I looked like a shining pink heart, and it rose up a couple of feet in the air, before completely vanishing.
What was that? It was beautiful, and sad at the same time, I wonder why? I didn't have time to ponder. The onslaught began, as the shadow creatures began to attack all at once. As they came at me, I could easily read what they were going to do, they all just jumped at me. As they did, I delivered a series of chops and side slashes, and spinning the blade in my hand expertly in between each slash. Before I knew it, I had defeated all of the shadows, without even having to move from where I stood. How? How the fuck did I do that? Its like I know exactly how to use this crazy thing. I should take note of this weapon, because it could possibly come in handy. I then stood around for a minute, practicing my technique. I swung the blade in a series of slashes, and chops, as well as a flurry of jabs. Then when I stopped and was ready to move on, it vanished from my hand, but I wasn't worried, somehow, I knew It would return when I needed it.
As I looked around I noticed that, once again, a glass stair case appeared. As I walked up this set of glass stairs, I began feeling home sick. At home everything had made sense, where as here, I was confused. I kept asking myself the same questions over and over again, to see if I could find an answer deep within myself. To my dismay, I could find none, and I was beginning to worry about why I could not find the answers. Once i reached the end of the staircase I was on another stained glass platform with my image upon it, this time different shades of red. In front of me this time was not darkness,not shadow creatures, nor was it a podium with a strange artifact on it. No, what lay before me this time...was a large door. It was a truly magnificent door, with perfect designs engraved on its surface and indents to give the designs more realism. In the middle of the door was the now familiar crown crest, and below it was a large key hole. As I stared at the door, the answers I had been looking for came to me. This weapon that I discovered...its called a Key Blade. Those creatures that attacked me...they are known as heartless... Even thinking the name sent shivers down my spine. This place...is called the Station of Serenity. Interesting because I don't see any trains or train tracks. Hmmm...but how do I know this stuff? I have not once come across any of these things throughout my whole life so far. Then Once again the thoughts returned to the sanctity of my mind...
...You now have only one last decision...
...you can open the door and face the truth of who you are...
...or you can walk away, and live your lie...
...I warn you, which ever choice you make, you will have to stick to...
...there will be no second chance...
...if you choose to open the door, you will face great challenges and overwhelming darkness...
...if you choose to leave, you will never learn the truth of your existence...
...now once more...
...choose...
I hesitated this time, unsure of what I should do. After all, the thought of uncovering something much greater than what I had was tempting, and hard to pass up. Yet at the same time, uncovering this truth could be very frightening, and possibly mean the end of me. Can I really go back to my old life, and forget about these questions I have? Should I really open this door, and possibly risk my life? hmmm...there is no way I can live my life with these unanswered questions.I must have those answers, and it seems that to find them, all I have to do is unlock that door! I immediately knew what to do in order to open the door, and this time I did not question why I knew what to do. I lifted my arm towards the door as if pointing a blade at it. Then, in a flash of light, the key blade returned to my hand, answering my call for its unknown powers. I held the key blade there pointing at the door, then I willed the key the open the door, and show me the truth. The key blazed with a magical white light, and shot a beam directly into the key hole. The door then pulsated with the same magical light that had been shot from the key blade, and began to open.
I walked through the door, to find that I was on a stained glass platform again, this time in full multi-color, not monotone. As I stood there in the center of the platform, I was given more thoughts...
...You have chosen the path of your own destiny...
...i warn you...
...your journey is long and harsh, and you will not be able to turn back...
...you will make new friends, and meet old enemies...
...but that will come to you in time ...
...for now it is time to awaken...
...welcome, Key Bearer...
Then the door behind me dissipated in a flash of light, and then the platform I was on started to shake tremendously. The platform shook so badly that I fell to my knees trying to keep my composure. While on the ground I looked around wildly and saw something that would haunt me for the rest of my days. I was so frightened, that even as the platform stopped shaking, I could not get up. Never before in my life did something shock me so profoundly, and nothing would ever again shock me so profoundly. Oh...Shit...I think this might be a bit harder than my last battle...
Directly across from where I stood, rose a giant hand, resembling the appearance of the heartless creatures I had fought earlier. The rest of its body began to rise up slowly onto the platform. What really stood out, was its massive glowing eyes, that seemed to be filled with a dark hunger. In the middle of its chest was a hole in the shape of a heart, as if it was missing its true heart. Its head had a Medusa like appearance and was wrapped at the mouth with a scarf. The giant heartless was at least 500 times larger than the heartless he had encountered before, and it looked more like a giant human shadow than anything else. My vision shook as a silent blood curdling cry broke through my mind and sunk into the depths of my heart. The cry immediately gave away its goal...It...It wants my heart...It wants to devour my heart! I WON'T LET IT!!!!
Its giant left hand then began to come down in a motion that suggested it wanted to squash me like a bug. I pushed myself off the ground and did a roll away from where I was standing, and just barley dodged the giant heartless' hand. I stood up before it could retract it's hand, and slashed across it's wrist. The heartless let out another painful silent cry, and I could tell it was in pain. So...this monster isn't indestructible...I can win this fight, I WILL WIN THIS FIGHT! I then charged at the monster and did a flip onto it's arm. I will not lose to you...heartless...not now, not ever! Little did I know that later I would get a rude awakening. I charged up the heartless' arm, hoping to get a direct hit on it's head, but then it flung me off and I landed on the platform hard. I was crippled for only a second, but that was more than enough time for the heartless to make it's move. It kicked at me with its foot, and I went flying. I had almost flown off the edge, but I was lucky enough to catch the edge of the platform and pull myself up. I guess this guy isn't completely helpless either...O.k. NO MERCY!!!
Once I was back on my feet, I charged the giant heartless again, and let loose a combo of slashes on the giants' leg. I was no longer affected by it's cry now that I was prepared for it, and continued to attack. It tried to kick at me again, but this time I was able to dodge and do an ukemi roll to the next leg. I then jumped up and let loose another flurry of slashes to his other leg. This made the heartless stumble, and fall off the platform. Most would think that the battle was won, but something in my heart told me that this was not over, and I was right. The platform shook and, and this time began to tip over. I started sliding down to the other side, and I saw that the giant heartless had grabbed the platform causing it to tilt. I was about to slide down at fall off into the darkness, but I jabbed the key blade into the platform. To my misfortune, I had jabbed my own images face. Oh great, more luck for me right? OH AND, I broke glass! I am starting to wonder if these old bad luck things might have some validity.
As the heartless was using the platform to hang on to, I noticed that it's arms were stretching, and before I could figure out why, the monster gave me an answer. It's arms shot back and flung it like a sling shot, and Its bullet was coming right for me. I put my feet back on the platform, and pushed myself away taking the key blade with me. As the giant heartless passed, I lodged my key blade into one of its arms, and let it carry me to safety. By some weird rule of this station of serenity, the platform righted itself, and I was able to fall down on it safely...or as safely as you can with a giant shadow beast standing right next to you. As soon as I landed I rolled away from the monster, and barley avoided getting crushed by another bug squashing blow. I got up and noticed that It didn't move its arm back, it just let it sit there like an open target for me to strike. However, before I was able to make my move, the ground around the hand lit ablaze with a dark purple fire. I wasn't sure what to think of this until I saw what came out of the fire. The little shadow heartless, had come storming out of the fire and began to attack me. I handled them easily, but they had distracted me from something very important that happened behind me.
Behind me, a dark blue, and black fire erupted in mid air soundlessly as if it weren't even there. From the depths of its dark fire, a man wearing a black hooded cloak walked out onto the platform, and just stood there waiting for something. Of course I didn't notice him at first because I had my hands full with the little heartless surrounding me, but as I was jumping around and avoiding getting hit by the heartless, I saw him standing at the edge of the platform, hands behind his back. Who the hell is that guy? What the fuck? HE shouldn't be here, doesn't he notice the giant fucking beast behind me! I should tell him to get outta here! Before I could yell a warning however, the giant heartless had taken its chance and knocked me away with its hand. Rather then almost falling off and giving these bastards another opening, I slammed my key blade into the ground and let it stop my flight. I then decided it was time to end this catastrophe once and for all. What I had completely forgotten was the man standing on the other side of the platform. Had I seen him I may have been able to prepare for what was to come
I let out a fierce battle cry, and charged up the giant heartless' arm, the one that was stuck to the ground birthing more heartless. It looked like I had a strait shot for the head, but then some bumps formed on the arm of the giant heartless, and turned into smaller heartless with a small pop. I didn't want to waste any more time fighting the small fry, so I went for the big finish. Bad Idea, or at least it would have been good were it not for the hooded guy. I jumped off the giant's arm and put myself in mid air facing its head. I pointed my key blade, ready to deliver the final blow, when all of a sudden, in dark blur, the man in the hood was right in front of me blocking my path. this time I yelled...
Damion: WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING!!!??? GET OUTTA THE WAY!!!!
Rather than get outta the way, he pointed his arm at me with his hand outstretched as if for a high five. I wish it had been a high five, because that would have allowed for a better ending. From his palm, erupted several branches of vines with thorns on them, that encircled me and wrapped me in there sharp thorns, incapacitating me. I fell to the ground, and received some cuts to my back from the thorns that had me wrapped up. The man had vanished and was no where to be seen, but he was the least of my worries. It seemed that I had done enough damage to the heartless to make it faint, and it fell, but I was right under it. NOOOO!!!!! NO THIS CAN'T BE IT!!!! I prepared for the heartless to crush me with its weight, but instead it crushed me in another way. As it landed on me, it was like fazing through a cloud of smoke, only the smoke is being absorbed into your skin, and you can feel it penetrate your heart. I tried my best to fight it, but every move I made caused the thorns to sink deeper into my arms, back and legs. I was struggling hard, and I could feel that the heartless was winning. I...I am going to die aren't I...after coming this far, I am going to die...no...no...NO....NOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!! I WON'T BE DEFEATED!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Then with all my might I pushed against the thorns that had binded me, and pushed until their mighty grip on me broke. Then I willed my key blade to defeat the darkness, to destroy what was left of the giant heartless. The key blade roared with light, and shined so brightly that it blinded me temporarily. When I could see again i was no longer on the platform, but standing right in front of Alex. We were facing each other, me with a grimace, and him with a cocky smirk. As I looked at him in contempt, he raised his arm, and opened his palm. In a flash of light, he held a key blade, and struck me with it. Then I woke up.
...To be continued...