He stands on a small beach, looking out over the calm water. It has a desolate beauty,this place, though everything is a shade of gray. Smooth stones ark gracefully over the water, their curves sometimes spiking violently to spear the starless sky. Light mist covers the beach, occasionally reflecting the soft white light shed by the dim white sun,and the only sounds here are that of the gentle surf and lamenting wind.
A figure walks toward him, dressed identically in a long black robe with a hood that completely hides the figure's face. He watches as the figure strides quickly toward him, the portal of blue and black flames dissipating behind it.
"I've been to see him," he states as the figure reaches him. "He looks a lot like you."
"Who are you?" The question came quickly, as if the person behind the hood had been waiting to say it.
Beneath his hood, unknown to the figure, he smiles humorlessly. "I am what's left. Or," He adds, "maybe I'm all there ever was."
The figure shakes its head—in impatience? "I meant your name."
"It is of no importance." The silver fixtures on his robe clink gently as he looks at the water and back at the figure. "What about you? Do you remember your true name?"
The figure hesitates, then says, "My true name…is…"
"Sora?" A girl's voice. Sora's eyes open to a blue sky and turquoise ocean. He lurches into a sitting position at the sound of her voice, but then lies back down on the sand.
"Whoa!" He cries. A pretty face framed by red hair looms above him. The girl giggles as he rolls onto his knees, saying, "Gimme a break, Kai—"
"Giving up already?" A silver-haired boy taunts as he races Sora down the beach. Sora smiles and picks up sped, attempting to impress the red-headed girl behind him.
The sun is setting, bathing the trio and the beach is orange and gold light. Sora and the girl sit on an over-sized palm tree while the silver-haired boy leans against it.
"If there are any other worlds out there," he muses, "why did we end up on this one?"
A simple carving of a boy, girl, and star-shaped fruit rests on a smooth expanse of gray rock.
"This world has been connected." The voice sounds deep, ominous, and comes from behind.
Sora whirls around. "Wha—who's there?" He asks, startled.
"Tied to the darkness…" a tall figure cloaked in black says. Fear blooms in Sora's heart.
It's sunset again, but this time it's just Sora and the girl sitting on the shore. The sun in front of them is huge, yellow, surrounded by a golden halo that sets the clouds aflame in reds and purples and turns the ocean ruby and orange.
"Sora, don't ever change," the girl commands gently as she stands up.
The night feels unnaturally still and heavy. No insects sing, and the sound of the ocean is strangely muted.
"The door…has opened…" The silver-haired boy's words sound strange: halting and dark. He turns around and extends his hand toward Sora, who is frightened to see that even his eyes are wrong: cold and blank.
"What?!" Sora reaches for the hand, meaning to pull his friend toward him, but the hand and the body it's attached to are engulfed in the darkness that twists out from the ground.
"You understand nothing." That ominous voice accuses. It's words send shivers down Sora's spine.
The darkness gathers itself, becomes solid and grows taller and broader until it forms a dark giant with glowing yellow eyes.
It looks straight at Sora.
The red-haired girl is flying toward him, propelled by the dark wind that screams from an open door. "So…ra…" She whispers. He reaches out to catch her.
But she's gone, and the same wind is pushing him farther and farther into the darkness, it's scream drowning out Sora's cry.
Roxas jolted up in bed, awoken by his own gasp. He breathed deeply, attempting to silence his thundering heart, and shook his spiky blonde head.
"Another dream about him," he muttered. Then he reached up to open the window and let in the cool morning air.