Chapter 1 – Beginnings
10 years ago, Late Afternoon, Twilight Town…
Two boys, each about five years old, play Grandstander in a sandlot near the downtown area. "That's forty-six! Good Job Alec!" shouted Zane, a boy with blue eyes and long, unkempt brown hair. "I guess all that practice is starting to pay off" replied Alec, a boy who also had blue eyes but rather than brown hair had silvery-white hair kept at shoulder length. Alec walked over to Zane and sat down on a bench, setting down the Grandstander bat in his hand. "I think that's enough for one day…" Zane said, "Say Zane, why don't we get some ice cream?" Zane turned to his friend and smiled. "Sure! Race ya!" he replies playfully and takes off, Alec eventually catching up to him.
The two friends now sat at the top of the clock tower, eating ice cream bars. "Wow, this is pretty good!" Zane said as he took a bite out of his ice cream bar, "What flavor did the lady say this was?" Alec paused for a few seconds, trying to remember what the lady at the shop said it was. "I think it was Sea Salt" he replied, "Odd, it's salty, and yet it's sweet…" Zane nodded in agreement then turned forward again, looking at the setting sun. "You know Alec, I wonder, why does the sun set red?" he asked, turning to Alec. "You know, I asked my mom that same question yesterday" Alec replied, "she said that it's because light is made up of many colors, and of all the colors, red travels the farthest, or something like that…" Zane and Alec laughed; neither of them had no idea what Alec was talking about, but they would probably find out when they get older. "You know Zane, you're my best friend" Alec said, "and we'll be that way to the end, no matter what." Zane smiled and nodded. "Yeah, no matter what" he replied as they watched the sunset.
Later that night, the duo walked home through one of the side streets; normally kids wouldn't be out after dark, but Zane and Alec took this route all the time. It went from the clock tower down the main street and through the sandlot before they reached their houses. Normally they were comfortable on this path, but something seemed different this time. Zane and Alec stopped when they heard something like footsteps behind them. "Alec, did you hear something?" Zane asked. "I don't know, let's keep moving" Alec replied as the two kept walking when they heard it again. "Is someone following us?" Zane asked when he turned around and to his surprise, there was nothing there, just their own shadows. "You're imagining it Zane, let's go home" Alec said as they continued, unaware that from their shadows, two pairs of beady yellow eyes were watching them.
They reached the sandlot a few minutes later when Zane heard a rattling sound behind them. "Alec, we're not alone…" he said as he slowly turned around. "Yeah, I know…" Alec replied worriedly as they looked around for the source of the noise. Suddenly Alec looked down and noticed that something wasn't right with his shadow; it looked as if it had two long, jagged antennae growing from the back of its head. "Zane! Look!" Alec exclaimed as it began moving on its own. "Our shadows are moving by themselves!" Zane exclaimed when suddenly they emerged from the ground; two black creatures with long, jagged antennae almost touching the ground and a pair of beady yellow eyes. Suddenly two became four, and four became eight; the two boys were surrounded. "This is bad Alec, very bad!" Zane exclaimed as he looked at the creatures in horror. "You don't have to tell me twice!" Alec replied. The two stood back-to-back, cowering as the first of the creatures lunged at them, its claw high in the air, ready to strike.
Suddenly, the creature seemed to explode and faded away, revealing a person behind it with a long object in his hand. The creatures seemed shocked, and they changed targets, now going after the stranger. Just as one was about to strike him from behind, another man appeared and struck the creature out of existence; he too was holding a long object in his hand. "Guard those kids, I'll tackle the Neoshadows!" shouted the first man as he lunged towards the creatures, while the other one got between the others and the boys. "You made a grave mistake Heartless!" the second man shouted as he held out his palm and launched a glowing ball of plasma at them, destroying two of them in the blast from the impact. The first man, meanwhile, had impaled the last one through the chest, causing it to explode. "That's the last of them…" he muttered.
Alec and Zane stood in awe of the two strangers; they had never seen those creatures before, but the two men seemed to know what they were. "You alright?" the first man asked as he walked over to them. "I guess so…" Zane replied when he looked up in surprise, now able to make out his features; the man looked much like him, only older, and he could make out that the object in his hand looked much like a large key. Alec could make out the features of the other one and noticed that this one looked like him, also carrying a key-like object. "Thanks sir…" Alec said timidly, "who are you?" Neither man responded for several tense seconds before the first spoke up. "I'm Sora" he replied; "Riku" the other one said. Alec and Zane looked at them with curiosity.
"Thanks Sora, Riku, but we must be getting home now" Zane said when the one named Sora rested his hand on Zane's shoulder. Zane looked up and saw he was smiling faintly. He nodded before turning to Riku. "These are the ones, I'm sure of it" he said; Riku nodded and replied, "I was thinking the same thing." They each stepped in front of one of the boys and held out a hand. In Sora's palm was a charm shaped like a star, while in Riku's was one shaped like a black crown. "Take it" Sora said. Zane and Alec looked at the objects hesitantly then slowly took the gifts from their hands and put it in their pockets. "Thanks, but what are these for?" Alec asked. "You'll find out someday, when you're older" Sora said as he turned away, "but until then, farewell. Let's go Riku." He nodded and the two walked away into the night. "C'mon Zane, our mom's must be really mad for us being this late" Alec said. "Oh! Right!" Zane exclaimed as the two ran home. They knew that their parents wouldn't believe their story, but they knew what had happened and that they would never forget it.