Thank you again to all those people who reviewed on the final chapter of my last story, Savior From My Lonesome Self. And I hope you'll enjoy this new story as well.
This time will be different, however, as I don't have any other chapters pre-written, so it may take a bit longer to update at times, but I hope you'll put up with me and be patient.
I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy or anything else like that, just the story is my own.
Enjoy
Chapter 1
The Day That Everything Changed
Darkness.
That was the only way to describe the void. Complete darkness, not a single light in sight for miles.
"The time has finally come." A deep voice rang from within the shadows.
"The boy isn't even at the correct age for it to begin. He's not ready!" Another voice growled irritably.
"Age is of no importance, we need him now and that's that," The other voice stated bluntly. "It is time to awaken... Sora."
Bright blue eyes shot open as the boy they belonged to sprang upwards in his bed from his sleep, breathing heavily with sweat dripping down his neck and toned, shirtless chest. He ran a hand through his bed head of spiky brunette hair and sighed.
"That dream again," He breathed, his eyes tiredly yet nervously looking about his bedroom, as if looking for something out of place.
The bedroom was certainly bigger than most others, the walls were a dark shade of blue with white curtains draped around the window next to the bed which matched the brunette's eyes. Off to the corner farthest away from the bed was the door leading to the rest of the home. Directly across from the bed- more or less in the middle of the distance between the door and the corner across from it- was a large, black and white desk with a small black office chair, a computer and several notebooks.
However, one of the notebooks had a ribbon on it, which caught the brunette's eye. He stood rather shakily from his bed- still groggy from sleep- and made his way over to the desk and picked up the notebook. It was more of a journal really; a diary of sorts according to the card that was attached to it, it read:
Son,
Today you are officially a man, being eighteen is always an adventure and becoming eighteen is only the beginning. I know you've spoken once before how you'd like to look back on old memories you treasure; so I found for you this journal to chronicle your coming memories- or past if you wish.
And by the way, never refer to or let anyone else refer to it as a diary, diaries are girly anyhow.
Happy birthday son.
With love, your father
The teenager- no, adult- smiled warmly at the letter as if he were looking at his own father. He pulled out the small office chair and sat down, taking the ribbon off the journal and opening it to the first page. His father had written a small message on the back of the cover.
Never lose this journal, for it will be the only thing to keep you sane.
The brunette raised an eyebrow in slight confusion. Keep me sane? What does that mean?
He shrugged it off, he could always just ask him later when he came home from work. There was a pencil already inside the journal as well, his father must've written the message last minute. He picked up the pencil slowly and tapped his chin with it in thought.
"Hmm... Might as well write a first entry," He said to himself. "I guess it should be like an introduction though, right?" He thought aloud, seemed about right. He shrugged indifferently and began writing.
July 17, 2012
My name is Sora Hikari. Today is my 18th birthday. Damn right I'm an adult now. I just got this diary- 'scuse me, journal- from my father, Vanitas as a gift. He and my mother, Aerith, actually both work at the same company together; my father designs weapons while my mother designs camouflage for SOLDIER. And I guess today is pretty much the start of my new life as an adult too. Probably means I'll have to start working there with them. Although... I had that weird dream again, the one with the empty voices in darkness.
Sora paused for moment, thinking of what else he could write. Minutes passed and he just sighed in defeat.
"Oh well, I'll just write more later." He sighed again, standing up from his chair and stretching tiredly.
"No getting back to sleep now, might as well get dressed," He finished stretching and raised an eyebrow, running a hand through his hair. "And I have got to stop talking to myself." He sighed.
The brunette was interrupted from his thoughts when a series of knocks came to his door. Sora made his way to the door and opened it to find a girl with bright blue hair with blue eyes to match and in a simple maid outfit. She smiled warmly at Sora with something in her hands.
"Good morning young master Sora," She began, but Sora stopped her by raising a hand. "Please Aqua, you know titles aren't necessary, besides, I'm nowhere near a master." He smirked as the girl known as 'Aqua' laughed a bit.
"Very well, sir," She said, smirking at the 'title' she just said in site of his wishes. "I brought these clothes for you. Your mother made them herself as a present to you." She held up said clothes and handed them to Sora.
He grinned widely as he examined his new outfit. It consisted of a sleeveless shirt, a short-sleeve jacket to go over it, and pants that would possibly only reach his calves and poof out at the bottom.
The shirt was simple, a black v-neck shape with a white rim and at the bottom was a sort of red pocket in the center that was split down the middle like some zip-up jackets you see these days.
The jacket was also black, had a zipper and silver shoulder guards and had pockets with a white rim. The hood was a dark blue-almost black as well- while the inside of the hood was white, hidden under the hood on either side of the jacket yet poking out from the hood were yellow straps that seemed to only be there for decoration.
The pants were just as black as the rest of Sora's new attire, the crotch area was a deep blue with a white rim, there was also a white line around where Sora's knees would be and where it naturally puffed out.
Sora closed with mouth which seemed to had been agape and grinned at Aqua who was still standing next to grinning brunette. "It's...," He began, unsure of what words could possibly express his amazement.
"Awesome?" Aqua suggested, Sora nodded quickly. "Very good then, I also have something else for you, from myself actually." Aqua smiled, laying a hand on her chest as if proving she was the one she referred to as 'myself'. She handed Sora something from behind her back.
They seemed to be merely a couple yellow belts strung together, but at closer inspection it appeared to be four different belts, two of each attached to some kind of large red attachable pockets with large, black X's over the front of them.
"Aqua, you didn't have to get me anything." Sora frowned, hugging the maid in gratitude nonetheless. Aqua hugged the brunette back and merely waved off his protest. "Nonsense sir, I had to do it. You're going to need them in the future."
Aqua began walking away and Sora stared at the pockets in confusion. "I will?" He muttered to himself, suddenly the dark X's on them caught his eye. "Wait, Aqua! What do these X's here mean?" He called out, pointing at the pockets in question. The blue-haired maid merely smiled knowingly at the brunette before walking away once more.
"You'll find out soon enough."
"'You'll find out soon enough', huh? What's with all these riddles today?" Sora sighed as he finished getting dressed for the day. The final touches being the pockets Aqua gave him. They connected to the belt holding his pants up, crossing over each other both in the front and back of his pants and stopped at the pockets which rested on his thighs. The other two belts wrapped around each leg and connected to the other side of the pockets.
Sora admired his accomplishment in the mirror, it was quite a hassle putting the outfit together with all the belts and straps, in fact he even found fingerless gloves hidden within the clothing as well. They were black with dark blue plating covering his knuckles, the plating held onto his gloves by two white straps crossing over each other on either side of his hands and yellow straps around the wrists.
Grinning to himself, Sora ran out of his room and down the many hallways that led to wear his mother, Aerith, could be.
Sooner than later he skidded to a stop in the kitchen, his socks allowing him to slide across the floor for a moment. Sora spotted the familiar head of long brown hair tied in a long braid that was his mother's from where she sat at the table with a cup of warm tea, reading a book peacefully. Her green eyes pulled away from the printed words for a moment and she smiled at the sight of her son.
"Good morning honey, happy birthday." She stood from her seat and hugged Sora as tight as she could.
"Thanks mom, but I uh... can't... breath." Sora choked out, squirming under her embrace. Aerith apologized and released the gasping brunette. "Ooh! You look fantastic in your new clothes! And Aqua did terrific with her pockets as well!" She squealed, Sora laughed and scratched his head in embarrassment.
"Aw mom, thanks, but what's with the shoulder guards and stuff? I mean, I look like I'm fighting for my country or something." He joked.
"Oh Sora, but it's much more than that," She smiled, handing the younger brunette a cup of tea laying on the counter for him. "Today marks a big turning point in your life, things are going to changing and you may not be able to control them, you'll have to be prepared for anything." Aerith said knowingly, as if foreseeing what could possibly happen to Sora for him to need to need armored clothing.
Sora thought about it for a moment and shrugged off his confusion absent-mindedly, taking a big sip of his tea in satisfaction, the warm taste spreading throughout his entire body.
"So what do we have planned today?" Sora asked as the two sat at the table. His mother took a small sip of her tea.
"Nothing until your father gets home from work today, we may work at the same place but we still get different days off," She sighed, it always troubled her that the family couldn't have as much time altogether as they wished. "Until he gets home you can wander around town if you like, maybe find a cute girl." She winked and giggled as Sora spat out his choked tea like a hose in embarrassment.
"Mom!" Sora whined, blushing. "Okay Okay, I'm sorry sweetie," She fought back her giggles as Sora huffed in annoyance. "But really, have some fun while you can today." She smiled warmly at the brunette who nodded slowly.
Sora downed the rest of his tea and jumped from his seat. "Thanks mom, see you later!" He grinned as he ran to the door to put on his shoes.
"Oh, wait a minute Sora! I made you these to go along with your outfit as well." Aerith called out as she hurried over to Sora with a pair of big, dark shoes in hand. Like the rest of Sora's new clothes, they were also covered in small belts with a zipper going down the middle. Sora grinned.
"Thanks mom," He hugged his mother tightly, slid his shoes on and rushed out the door. "I'll be back!" He called out.
Aerith stared at the empty doorway and sighed, a small tear escaping her eye.
"Oh Sora, honey, if only that were true..."
"Hey, watch it Sora!" An angered delivery man growled when a familiar brunette came running past him, nearly making the man drop the heavy crate full of fruit he was carrying. One of the fruits went flying out of the crate and rolled to a stop near Sora's shoe.
"Sorry about that Jim." He grinned, picking up the fruit, placing it back in the crate and taking it from the man who sighed in relief and bent backwards to pop his back. Thanking the brunette as he placed the crate on the man's fruit stand.
"It's no problem kid, just be more careful next time, nice duds by the way, Aerith make 'em for ya?" Jim questioned, smirking when Sora laughed and nodded.
"Well I gotta go Jim, see you later!" Sora waved, but felt something fall in his hand, he looked to find it was one of the fruits. Turned out they were dumbapples, judging by the purple color, which was one of Sora's favorite fruits.
"Happy birthday Sora." Jim grinned at the brunette before disappearing behind his fruit stand. Sora smiled and pocketed the fruit and ran off toward the tallest building in the city: the clock tower.
Sora and his family lived in Twilight Town, one of the richest towns in the country- in both import/export, and sights. The sunsets and architecture were truly a sight to see all in its own glory.
The brunette eventually made his way to the clock tower, gazing upon its vast height with a grin on his face. There was once a staircase leading to the top of it, but there was a murder investigation going on inside of it at the moment so the stairs were blocked off.
While the tower was Sora's original target to see the sunset today, there were always other ways to view it, he ran toward the tunnel that was wedged between the tower and a small building.
While the tunnels may be a bit unsettling at times, they were still fun to explore in and a quick way to reach the other side of Twilight Town quickly.
The brunette maneuvered his way through the tunnels, being met with a dirt road leading up to Sunset Hill- another popular viewing spot for the sunset. Sora made his way up the hill just in time to see the bright yellow orb that was the sun slowly disappearing bit by bit below the horizon.
The brunette smiled as he pulled his dumbapple out of his pocket, holding it up to the sky.
"To becoming an adult." He said, lowering the fruit and taking a large bite of it. The sweet taste spread throughout his body, smirking to himself.
Suddenly Sora was interrupted from his tranquility when he could feel the ground shake violently momentarily and loud booms in the distance, causing him to fall to the ground, the dumbapple he cherished flying out of his hand and falling over the cliff down to the train tracks below.
"Ow... what the hell was that?" Sora groaned, rubbing his aching head as he stood up to regain his composure.
Looking over in the direction past the tunnels, the brunette gasped in horror. There had apparently been an explosion; two of them even, and they were big ones too. However, it wasn't the sizes of them that really caught the brunette's attention- it was the locations.
Without a second thought, Sora ran as fast as he could down the hill and back through the tunnels, past the market where his friend Jim had abandoned his fruit stand in a panic.
The brunette skidded to a stop in front of his home- or what was once his home anyway- that was in flames, half of the large building had already been blown away by the explosion. Without hesitation, Sora rushed inside to find survivors; like Aqua, or his mother.
The inside was at least ten times warmer than it was outside; flames were all over the building, engulfing everything in its path at a rapid pace.
"Mom! Aqua! Anyone here?" Sora yelled, running and dodging flames as he went. "Hello?"
The brunette froze in his tracks when he spotted a figure on the ground under the weight of support beams from the house that had fallen on them, the figure sprawled over the ground, completely still. Sora gasped in fear. "Mom!"
He was by his mother's side in an instant, already pushing the debris that had fallen on her and pulling her out of the way to the outside of the house once more, laying her on the cement and turning her over to face him.
"Mom! Mom, please wake up!" Sora cried, squeezing Aerith's hand as tightly as he could. Emerald eyes slowly cracked open.
"Sora, honey, you're okay...," She said weakly, her voice cracking slightly with tears brimming her eyes.
"Mom, what happened? Who did this?" Sora questioned rapidly, whoever did this would surely pay dearly. Aerith shook her head slowly, slowly raising her free hand to touch Sora's face.
"Sora, it's time for you to make the next step," She breathed, she reached into her clothes and pulled out the journal from his father. "Always keep it with you, stay safe. I love you honey...," The hand she had on Sora's cheek then fell limp onto the ground as she breather her last breath; her eyes closed for the last time.
Sora's breath hitched. "Mom. Mom? Hey come on, this isn't funny, wake up," Sora smiled, hoping she would sit up again and joke around about this whole mess. Tears were streaming down his cheeks even more when there was still no response. "Mom! You can't be gone!"
The brunette remained in that position for what seemed like hours, sobbing heavily and holding his mother close to himself. Eventually he finally lay her down, a safe distance away from the still burning home.
He picked up the journal, the leathery texture rough in his hands as he put it in his pocket with a sorrowful expression.
"I have to find dad." he muttered, then realizing where the other explosion had been; the company where his parents worked- where his father had been all day. Looking over to find the building already on fire and slowly collapsing, Sora ran as fast as he could to see if his father was still alive.
Sora reached the now almost completely collapsed building, bodies littering the ground of at least a fifty-feet radius; possibly from people falling or jumping from higher floors that were already completely engulfed in flames and debris.
Nearing the large building, Sora spotted quick movement out of the corner of his eye. Curious, Sora ran after the mysterious figure to find a person who he knew for a fact didn't work here dragging away several weapons and camouflages of wide varieties.
"Hey you! Hold up!" Sora called out, the person stopped dragging the cargo and immediately got into a sort of fighting stance; their dark clothes and hood preventing any identification.
"You're the one who caused all this aren't you?" Sora growled, the figure seemed to pause at the first glance at the brunette but made no move to respond. "You're the reason for the explosions! You're the one who destroyed my home! You're the one who killed my mother!" Sora lunged at the figure in a blind rage, only to be dodged and flipped over and land on his back in one fluid movement.
"Damn it...," Sora groaned, coughing as he sat back up again only to be roughly pulled by to his feet by the collar of his shirt by the figure. "Just who... are you?" He breathed, gritting his teeth.
"Are you Sora Hikari?" The figure asked, ignoring his question once again. Their voice wasn't nearly as deep as the brunette thought it would be, in fact, it actually sounded somewhat feminine.
"And if I am?" He frowned, not liking where this was going.
Suddenly the figure's free hand balled into a fist, pulling back and came back at an alarming speed; punching Sora square in the face.
The force was enough to send him flying several feet, skidding to a stop on his back and gritting his teeth at the sharp pain it caused. He could feel himself drifting in and out of consciousness as the figure then knelt down beside him.
"You're coming with me."
And then everything went black.
Alright, first chapter done!
Sorry if the journal entry thing seemed a bit pointless and stupid, I thought it'd be the only way to talk about Sora's family at all.
And I apologize if this chapter also seemed kinda dragged out, turned out longer than I thought it would.
Anyway, read and review and I hope to see you again come the next update!