Well, would you look at that? It's another fic in less than a week. Hopefully, I might be on a roll. To start with, I have no idea where this story is going, nor how it'll end. What I do know is that it'll be mostly about our lucky gambler and that it'll be, eventually, Luxord/Xigbar (warning there). So, if that's okay with whomever it is that's reading this, then read on, 'kay?

Disclaimer: All Kingdom Hearts characters belong to Square Enix and Disney.

Passion

Chapter One : Pitch Black

What's wrong with this place?

Everywhere he looked, no matter how much he strained to see further, all he could see was darkness. Everything seemed to have been painted black, and it stretched on for as far as he could see.

It scared him, though he did his best to hide it–from whom, he wondered–to be in the darkness like this. And yet…and yet, this place seemed to call out to him, calming him. It was like he both belonged and didn't in this place.

Which brought him to another question; how to leave?

He was laying down on the floor–ground, whatever, it's not like he could see what it looked like, since he was pretty sure it shouldn't be black–flat on his back. He had tried getting up, thinking that maybe, if he walked for a bit, he'd find a place that wasn't completely black, but the minute he'd moved pain shot to every corner of his body. After the pain subsided, he decided it would be better to stay like that. It wasn't like he was in a hurry to get somewhere.

He had opened his eyes and the first thing he noticed was the darkness. After a few moments of contemplating the nature of the place he saw, he began to think about other things. Things like his name, his age, his home, and why the bloody hell is it that the only question he could answer was his name.

Luxord. That was it. The only answer he could find. It was like everything about himself had been sucked away and the only thing left was his name. And it irritated him, because all it did was bring forward a new question; why couldn't he remember?

And exactly where was he going to go next? Not that it would matter if he couldn't think of a way to get up. But surely, there must be a place he could go to. And if there was, why couldn't he remember?

He sighed. This was not helping.

It would probably work better if he could pace around or walk or anything but he could barely curl his fingers, let alone stand up.

He wondered how his voice sounded like. Apparently he had forgotten that too, amongst many other things. He wanted to say something and almost had when it occurred to him what it would mean if he didn't hear anything. Not only would that make him blind–because again, no place could possibly be pitch black, so the only reasonable explanation was that he had somehow lost his sight–he would be deaf too.

Now that, he decided, was too much to handle right now. He was quite proud of the fact that he was still sane after getting this far. It wouldn't benefit him if everything broke and his mind gave in to madness.

He wondered vaguely, how long he had been lying there. There was no apparent way to tell time, so he could only estimate. Figuring that it had been quite some time since he woke up, he wondered if he was hungry. Maybe, since there seemed to be no way of leaving, he would die of hunger. That thought tickled his mind, but he responded by resisting the urge to laugh–surprisingly his mind still remembered what a laugh was–and decided that wouldn't be all that bad. Better probably, than going mad.

He spent another long period of time contemplating his new set of thoughts. Being so deeply in thought, he barely noticed the tingling sensation that began to make its way through his body. It started with just a bit around his head, then spreading out to the other parts of his body.

Eyes widening, Luxord wondered if this was the right time to be panicking. The tingling was getting stronger and stronger by the moment. He had no idea if it was a good thing–since it might mean something good was happening–or a really, really bad thing–since it might also mean something else entirely–.

Suddenly, the darkness seemed more threatening than it was before. It seemed to close in on him, slowly enveloping his mind and body with the emptiness it seemed to represent. Panic started to grip him as he struggled to control the fear that had slowly made its way into his mind. The darkness, having covered more and more of him without slowing down, was making its way up, apparently aiming to completely cover his whole body with that pitch black he was starting to really hate.

Was he going to let it do as it pleased? Most definitely not. Deciding it was better to risk feeling pain than giving in just like that, he struggled against the blanket of darkness. He winced as the pain shot through every part of his body and struggled even harder, pushing at everything he could push against, determination spurring him on.

And then, just as surprisingly as everything had began, the darkness stopped moving. He blinked once, surprised, and let out a long breath he didn't know he had been holding. He pushed himself up to a sitting position. Panting slightly at the amount of energy it had taken do so, he mentally prepared himself for the most definitely more exhausting-and painful-process of standing up.

Breathing in deeply, he braced himself and stood up. The simple act of doing so left him almost breathless, and he only managed to continue standing up using every bit of energy he had left. Not being able to stop the feeling of pride at his accomplishment, he smiled slightly to himself.

Feeling a bit of his strength return, he straightened and looked around. Nothing seemed to be different; everything was still pitch black.

No, that wasn't it. Concentrating harder, he noticed a part of the darkness that seemed to be moving. Hoping that was the way out, and not really seeing anything else that could possibly be done, he quickly made his way towards it.

Upon reaching it, he realized the moving shapes seemed to form an oval of some sort. 'Maybe it's some kind of portal,' he mused, laughing inwardly at the mere thought of such a possibility. But then again, after everything he had just experienced, maybe it was possible after all.

Seeing as how he had absolutely nothing to lose, he stepped into the darkness, ignoring the mental protests of trusting the darkness like this. Who knows where it leads too; it wasn't like he cared, so long as it was someplace painted a different color than the one he had been seeing for so long.

End of 1st chapter

So, what do you think? Reviews are very welcomed as they feed the mind. It might be some time before the next chapter (that is, if you're still interested), so there might be a bit of waiting. Anyways, I really hope people like this and comment on it. Thanks for taking the time to read this!