1"Strangers Like Me"
An Original Kingdom Hearts story by Mona
Disclaimer: All Kingdom Hearts characters © Disney and SquareEnix.
A young boy opened his eyes. He looked down at his hands. They were scraped raw. He ached all over. Large, ugly, purple bruises dotted his arms and legs. He looked down at himself. He wore a red jumpsuit, large yellow shoes, and a white hooded jacket. They were torn and faded almost to the point of them being unwearable.
Worse, his mind was a total blank.
Who am I? What is my name? Why am I wearing this ridiculous getup?
He looked around. He was in a circular room. The floor looked like clear glass. The boy looked at his reflection. Bright blue eyes stared at him. His blond hair was in rows of messy spikes.
A tall man stood before him. "You're awake." The man wore a simple black dress shirt and pants. A pair of white shining wings protruded from his back. His face was covered with a cream-colored butterfly-shaped mask. His hair was black, pulled into a ponytail.
"Where am I?" The boy asked. "Who am I? Who are you? Are you some sort of angel?"
"I am Philemon, Keeper of the Astral Plane."
"Astral Plane?" The boy repeated.
"The plane of existence between consciousness and death. Where lost souls converge."
"I'm a lost soul? Am I dead?"
"No, you are not dead. You have lost your memory, and exist only through the ritual of materialization."
"I have no idea what any of that means..." the boy said. "How can I get my memory back?"
"I'm afraid I don't have the power to restore your memory."
"So I'll have to rebuild it from scratch?"
"You will have to create new memories, until the day your chain of memories will be complete."
"Well, that sucks."
"Indeed," Philemon said.
"Please, can't you come with me?" the boy begged.
"I will take you to Twilight Town. However, I cannot stay with you long."
"Why not?" the boy asked. "I'm scared."
"I cannot remain away from this Plane for long." Philemon extended his hand. "Shall we go?"
The boy took it. There was a flash of light, and the two reappeared on a grassy lawn in front of a large mansion.
"Is this my house?" the boy asked. "It looks too old and decrepit to have anyone living there." He turned around.
"This is Twilight Town," Philemon explained. "A metropolis that exists between night and day."
"Um...okay," the boy said, turning back to the mansion.. "Can you show me around? Like, where the candy store is? I'm kind of hungry." No answer. "Philemon? Philemon?"
He spun around. There was only a golden butterfly where Philemon once stood.
"I really am alone..." the boy said. He slumped to the ground, leaning against the wrought-iron gate. "He could have at least told me my name. Without that, I'm unknown. A Nobody."
To Be Continued