PROLOGUE
As he slowly opened his eyes, white birds flew past him, and vanished within the haze at that exact moment.
It felt as if the boy was drowning, and then fell into the underworld… at least, that's what he considered it. It all started with he and his friends, swept away by the waves of the ocean, unable to reach out to them, no matter how hard he tried.
Riku…
Kairi…
Where were they?
Before his feet, was a stained glass window, containing an image of a small girl in a red dress, having blonde hair, tied in a ponytail. Surrounding her were several armored characters, almost appearing to be robotic.
"Do not be afraid," a soft voice spoke to the boy, like a whisper, "step forward."
What was going on? Who was talking to him? The boy did what he was told, even with all of the things on his mind, he found that it would be pointless to shout. The sooner this got done, the sooner he would find his friends. As he stepped over, pedestals began rising from the glass.
A magical staff of some kind, a wooden shield with a cross on it, and a massive sword.
"Choose well, your destiny depends on it."
The choice seemed a tad difficult. A staff with magic powers, would be great for ranged combat, but it would be bad if any potential threats had gotten close.
A shield was good for defensive mechanisms, and perhaps bashing someone over the head, but it wasn't the boy's style of fighting at all.
That sword… seemed large, almost impossible to wield. But yet, for some reason, the boy was drawn to it. He found its shape to be familiar. Before long, the boy drew closer towards it, just to get a closer look.
That closer look wasn't good enough though, as the boy placed his hands on the blade, lifting it off the pedestal carefully, just to examine every detail. He didn't even notice the floor beneath him started to shatter, reacting to what he had just done.
Did he make the wrong choice? He kept worrying in panicked rush, wanting to scream as he fell below, but not a single peep came out of him.
This was it, wasn't it? He would die, curiosity had killed the cat… Wait, no. There was a glimmer down below. Another stained glass window? There was no way the boy could make a gentle landing on that, it would break the moment he made impact with it!
Something— or someone, held onto him.
"The power to fight," the voice whispered to him, much closer than before. The boy could have sworn this was a woman, but it was far too hushed to tell. "Your spirit, is that of a warrior. A balanced heart, that will protect himself." Upon being landed so carefully, without making a sound, the boy tried to turn around, to see who had saved him, but they were already gone. "Once you have made this deal," the voice echoed, "you cannot turn back on it, your soul is bound to this fate. It will be constantly in danger by creatures without a heart."
He did not understand, and simply stared at the image depicted on the stained glass. This time, it was of a girl wearing a pink dress, also having blonde hair, and braided sideburns. Her image was surrounded by doves, although, dark creatures were crawling around it.
One slid across the glass, going behind the boy, then taking form. "Be wary of any ambushes," the voice whispered. Out of pure reflex, the boy sword the giant sword at the black creature, having antennae and bright yellow eyes. Without even looking at it, the boy had slain the creature, returning to the floor as a dark puddle.
The other creatures merged with the puddle, a giant hand stretched out, grabbing onto the boy and pulling him down. "Do not let the darkness take over, should you allow such a thing, you will be like those with no heart." The voice echoed, even when the boy felt as if he was drowning again. But that feeling soon stopped, he remained brave, knowing that surely, there would be another window for him.
And he was correct. Down below, was one last stained glass, depicting a feline creature, having purple fur, surrounded by flames and colored stones. The boy stepped forward, unsure what to expect next. The only thing he could predict, was that disembodied voice to speak again.
"The closer you get to light, the greater your shadow will become."
There was a hefty emphasis on that last part, made more unnerving when the boy felt a shadow casted on him. His body trembled, seeing what appeared to be a humanoid monster, having six wings that glowed in the dark, its gaze burning right through him.
"Do not fear me… you have the mightiest weapon…"
The voice was coming from the beast, and the boy soon saw the black creatures crawling all over him, appearing from the shadow that was casted over him.
"You will be the one… to open the door… and when the time comes, we shall meet."
The boy didn't understand. Had they not met just now? Who was speaking? What was happening to him?
What happened to Riku and Kairi…?
_
"Sora?"
He gasped upon hearing his name called out, relieved it was only a dream. The boy looked up, seeing the blue sky and sunlight, beaming down on him.
The voice calling out to him just now, came from a young girl with short red hair, peering over her sleepy friend. "You lazy bum, Sora! I had a feeling you would be snoozing down here."
"W-wait, no, this black creatures swallowed me up, and there was some kind of winged monster, and I couldn't breathe and— ow!"
Lightly bonking him on the head, the girl laughed. "Are you still dreaming? I'll wake you up if I have to."
"No, it wasn't… at least, I don't think it was. Was it?" The boy, Sora, began wondering aloud, uncertain of what had just happened. "I guess I don't know. It felt… so real. What was that place? It was bizarre." Getting up, the boy dusted off his blue pants and red shirt, brushing the sand off his brown shoes. He rubbed his head, fingers running through his spiky, brown hair.
"Yeah, sure." The girl began wandering over to the shore, smiling. Perhaps now, it was best to change the subject, and forget that horrible nightmare happened. To get it off of Sora's mind, he figured it was best to ask questions about something else.
"Say," Sora spoke, "Kairi, what was your hometown like? Where you grew up?"
"I told you already," the girl, Kairi replied, "I don't remember."
"Nothing at all?"
"Nope."
"Do you ever wanna go back?"
"I dunno, I'm happy here… but I guess I wouldn't mind going to see it."
"I want to see all the lands out there in the world," Sora declared, "and explore every one of them!
"Uh, hey, you guys forgetting about me?" A young man with silver hair approached the two, carrying a large piece of wood. "Sheesh, I must be the only one working on the raft." He then tossed the wood to Sora, who didn't have the time to react for a moment. "Kairi, you're just as lazy as him, c'mon."
She couldn't help but giggle. "Alright Riku, you caught me. We'll all finish it together." Kairi then got into position, preparing to make a run for it. "But first, I'll race you! Ready, go!"
"What?" Sora questioned.
"Are you serious right now Kairi?" Riku groaned, watching the red-haired girl run past the underside of a wooden bridge. Before long, Riku and Sora followed after her, not wanting to lose.
It was just another day on the Destiny Islands it seemed.
—
Later that day, when the sun was setting, the three of them were resting by the tree. The raft was nearly done, and they couldn't wait to set out, more so than others.
"What do you think we'll find? What world will we go to? And why did we end up in this one?" Riku's questions filled most of the conversation, Kairi taking a bit of interest while Sora's reactions were a bit more casual. Kairi decided to counter with a question of her own. "When we get to a world, what will you do?"
"I don't know, I haven't really thought that far ahead."
"Really?"
"Most of my thinking has been about what's out there. What more can be found and why did we
"Yeah. If you never came here, I wouldn't be thinking these things. So thanks."
"You're welcome."
Kairi started to head back home, with Sora behind her. He was stopped by Riku calling out to him.
"Here." A fruit was tossed to Sora.
"A paopu fruit?"
"It's said that when two people share it, their destinies will be intertwined. They will always be a part of each other's lives, no matter what. Come on, I know you want to try it."
"Wha-what?!" Sora tossed the fruit away in embarrassment, and chased after Riku.
_
"Good morning bro!"
Hopping out of the bed, still in his pajamas, Luigi looked over to his brother's room. Bed was untidy, meaning Mario must have gotten up. Usually Luigi was the early bird, but it seemed that Mario had gotten ahead of him for once, yet forgot to make his bed. Pulling the covers back neatly and fluffing the pillows, Luigi made his way downstairs, and to the kitchen.
"Hey, bro, I know you wanted to stop sleeping in, but you forgot to make your bed," Luigi said, "don't-a worry, I made it for you. Just remember next time, alrighty?"
At that moment, Luigi realized he was talking to no one. The kitchen was empty, although breakfast was left there for brother in green, there wasn't a soul in there besides Luigi himself. He figured Mario was just getting the mail, or he had to deal with something urgent at the Princess's castle. No biggie, it wouldn't have been the first time Luigi didn't get involved, and he didn't mind that. Shrugging it off, Luigi sat down, and pulled over the toasted bagel that had been left for him.
Underneath the plate, was a note. As Luigi munched down on bagel, he began reading it over. Gulping down part of his breakfast, his eyes widened, and he nearly dropped what he was eating. "Oh no," Luigi stammered, completely disregarding what he was doing, and getting out of his chair. "I need to inform the princess! If Mario isn't around, then…!" Pocketing the note, Luigi started running out the door, leaving his breakfast behind.
_
By the time Luigi had arrived at Peach's Castle, he saw Princess Daisy standing before him. "Luigi!" Daisy chirped, Peach, Yoshi, Toadsworth, and Toad standing behind her. "I mean, it took you long enough! You and Mario are late!" Her attitude quickly changed, while Luigi remained concerned. "Where is your brother anyway? We were supposed to have an early morning tennis match, to get warmed up!"
Holding up a tennis racket, Daisy huffed, not noticing how worried Luigi looked. "That's-a just it though," Luigi spoke, "Mario left, with this note being the only clue I have, so I thought one of you could understand what this meant." Taking the note out of his pocket, Luigi handed it over to the group.
"I haven't seen Mario all day," Toad said, "what about you, Yoshi?"
"Uh uh!"
"Why, I haven't seen the old bean either!" Toadsworth replied.
Taking the note, Princess Peach glanced over to Daisy. "We can hold off the tennis match for now, Daisy." She said, ready to go back inside of her castle instead. "For now, let's go inside, have some tea, and try to figure what this is exactly about." Daisy pouted slightly, but gave in, tossing the tennis racket aside and following her friend. Luigi, Yoshi, Toadsworth, and Toad did the same.
Sora's curiosity got the better of him. One of his friends told him that a strange door appeared in the Secret Place, a small cave hidden by leaves and ivy. He saw the door, but couldn't open it. While thinking, he got distracted for a brief moment by a carving. The wall was filled with pictures and carvings that were made by the kids over the years, and his attention was grabbed by a certain one. His memories flashed back to when he was little. He and Kairi were carving something on the wall side by side. When they were done, they turned to see that they drew each other.
Sora added a bit more to the drawing now, adding an arm to himself, giving a paopu fruit to Kairi. He was snapped out of his thoughts when he sense another presence. "Who's there?" He turned to see a cloaked man behind him. "This world has been connected. Tied to the darkness. Soon to be completely eclipsed."
"I don't know what you're talking about, but don't freak me out like this…...wait….where did you come from?"
"You do not yet know what lies beyond the door."
"So you're from another world!" Sora got a bit excited at the realization.
"There is so very much to learn. You understand so little."
"Yeah? Well, you'll see. I'm going to learn what's out there!"
"A meaningless effort. One who understands nothing can learn nothing."
Sora, getting annoyed at his words, turn to the door, wondering what was behind it, before turning back to see that the cloaked man disappeared.
What just happened would have to wait, as there was still more to be done for the raft. Sora was resting up with Kairi on the dock. She was finishing up a charm she was making when she spoke.
"You know, Riku has changed."
"How?"
"Never mind…..hey Sora, just take the raft and go now, just the two of us!"
"What?!"
"Just kidding."
"You're the one who's changed, Kairi."
"Maybe…..truth is, I was a little afraid. But I know no matter what happens, I can always come back here, right?"
"Right."
"Thanks. Sora, don't ever change."
"Huh?"
"I can't wait until we set sail. It'll be great."
_
"Dear bro,
Sorry I have to run out like this suddenly, but make sure this message gets to the Princess, Yoshi, and everyone else, okay?
Stars in the galaxy are disappearing, to put it lightly, and Rosalina said it wasn't anyone that we know of. Bowser, Wart, King Boo— none of them are responsible for it, before you go bothering them. I gotta check this out on my own, and I need you to find someone who has the 'key' to all of this, Luigi.
Bring a friend, and find the one who holds it, or else this universe could be in grave danger if that 'key' falls into the wrong hands! There's someone in a place known as Traverse Town, named Cloud. If you find him, he'll point you in the right direction. Ask Rosalina for help too, if you need it.
P.S.
Don't rush out the door after reading, and forget to eat breakfast! You need the energy!"
After reading that, Peach heard someone's stomach growling, and quickly realized it was Luigi. "Oh, Luigi, didn't you read that last part?" Peach asked, "You should have taken your time, I know you probably thought this was urgent, but you shouldn't have skipped your breakfast."
"S-sorry," Luigi stuttered, "I got worried."
"Hey, considering your brother's sudden disappearance, no one can blame you." Toad replied, trying to cheer him up.
"Soooo, about this little quest you'll be on, Luigi," Daisy wondered, "who are you going to bring with you?"
The hopeful glimmer in her eyes would tell anyone that Daisy wanted to come, but Luigi was always a bit dense when it came to catching on to her implications. Especially since it took him years to figure out that she had a crush on him. "Toad, would you be alright with joining me?" Luigi asked, while Daisy threw down her arms in defeat. "Mario said I should bring a friend along, and you've helped me a lot in the past. Such as when we fought Wart, and a couple of times recently against Bowser, I feel like you would keep an eye out for me."
Toad nodded in agreement, but then, Luigi noticed something moving around in the castle. "What's that over there?" He asked, pointing at a cardboard box that was shifting around, trying to be unnoticed. Daisy rolled her eyes, and with little hesitation, flipped it over, revealing a man underneath.
"Crud, my cover is blown," he grunted.
"Wah!" Luigi exclaimed, "W-who is this!?"
"Well," Peach replied, "he actually has been here for a while, Luigi… Allow me to explain."
—
"So… you and some of your friends just kind of scattered all of the sudden?" Luigi asked the man, his name revealed to be Solid Snake.
"I'm the only one who made it here. I've gotten in contact with Otacon, who is somewhere else out there, but I haven't heard from anyone else." Snake explained, leading Luigi, Yoshi, and Toad down a flight of stairs. Princess Peach always had all sorts of secret compartments and passages in her castle, so it wasn't really any surprise that she had a hidden basement.
"Otacon?" Toad asked, looking up at the taller man.
"An ally who aids me frequently. Not important right now," Snake continued, "what you two should be focusing on, are the demands of that note. And Princess Peach suggested I help you out… Listen, when reaching certain places, you're going to need disguises. That box was the only thing I had, but in your case, it's going to be different."
"Wait," Toad said, digging through a trunk of equipment, sliding a pair of bracers on his hands. "So you're saying while we help search for this 'key' and all, we gotta get new costumes too? Why's that?" He wondered, taking out a shield that was shaped like a mushroom cap.
"Because, you can't let people know where you're from." Snake grunted. It was hard to go over every single detail without causing some kind of paradox. "Look, let me keep it simple, since clearly the Princess didn't make it clear enough. We gotta protect the world's order, according to Otacon. Otherwise, you're going to end up like me, and those two weirdos over there."
Gesturing over to a tiger-striped feline-like creature and a small robot, Luigi and Toad jumped back out of reflex, surprised to see such unusual characters. There was an awkward pause, until the feline creature cleared his throat. He wanted to try to start the conversation, but wasn't having any luck on where to begin. "We lost our ship, and now we're stuck with this piece of junk— no offense to her royal highness— hope you don't mind sharing some space with Clank and I."
Everyone directed their attention to a blocky starfighter of some kind, which appeared to be rather small. "Who knew that Princess Peach was hiding a space shuttle?" Luigi muttered to himself, following Snake and the two foreigners into the starfighter.
—
It was admittedly, rather cramped in the custom starfighter. Yoshi and Snake were curled up in the back. Neither Luigi or Toad had any idea how to pilot this thing, so it was up to to this feline creature and his robotic companion to bring them all to their destination. "Alright, let's get outta this place! Where we headed?"
"Traverse Town." Snake responded, as the starfighter's engines engaged. A hatch in the castle walls opened up, revealing a ramp of some kind. The starfighter started, and began speeding away, flying off the ramp, and then flying into the sky. Luigi started to panic a little, when he saw that they were all leaving their planet.
"J-just what is-a going on!?" Luigi stammered. "Isn't Traverse Town somewhere in the Mushroom Kingdom!?"
"Afraid not, green guy." Snake replied. "Otacon told me that this is a place a bit more out there."
—
Dusk came, and Sora looked up at the boat decoration hanging in his room. Speaking of which, he really should have cleaned the place before setting sail, just so his mother would have less work to do. Yet, he didn't have the motivation to do that. Sora couldn't stop thinking about what Kairi had said before.
"I can't wait until we set sail. It'll be great."
Some of the events today actually bothered him a little. The strange character he encountered in the Secret Place, what Kairi had said today, and that dream. Even though it was a dream, it still bothered him. Could it have been connected to that person he saw in the cave?… No, it was probably just some weirdo.
With a sigh, Sora looked out the window. Dark clouds in the night sky… a bolt of lightning? He could have sworn, he saw that just now. His suspicions were confirmed when he started hearing thunder. "A storm?" He murmured to himself, before snapping into a moment of realization. "Oh no, the raft!" Sora jumped out of bed, cracking open his bedroom window. He couldn't hesitate, he had to act now, or else the whole thing would have been ruined.
Just a minute after he jumped out of the window though, there was a knock at his door. "Sora," his mother called, "dinner's ready, come on down!" No response came to her. "Sora? Don't make me come in there!" After a couple of seconds, she opened the door, examining the room, and seeing the open window.
Her son had gone out there, and in this weather, there was no way to find him.
—
Hurrying to the docks, as fast as he could, Sora gasped as he looked at the chaos around him. A dark vortex of some sort was in the sky, one that made Sora feel uneasy. "What is that?" He wondered aloud, jumping over to the docks. He saw two boats, perfectly intact, belonging to Riku and Kairi. "Where are they?" He continued to ask himself, before hearing something behind him.
Riku and Kairi?
No, instead, black creature with antennae rose from the ground. The very same beasts he had seen in his dream. Sora was nearly petrified by the sight of his nightmares coming to life. He had no way of fighting them, so his only option was to run away. "Please," he said to himself once again, "wake me up, please tell me this is just another dream. This can't be real."
Whether this was reality or not, Sora had to find Kairi— or Riku— either of them, but preferably both in the same place.
Running with all his might, Sora rushed past the coastline when he saw Riku standing at the end of one of the docks. But to Sora's worry, Riku was alone. "Where's Kairi? Was she with you?"
"The door has opened."
"What?"
"The door has opened. We can go to other worlds now!"
"Who cares? We need to find Kairi!"
"She's coming with us!" Sora was knocked back a bit at the outburst. "Once we go, there's no coming back. We might never see any of our friends or family again. But I won't let fear stop us. I'm not afraid of the darkness!"
Riku stretched out his hand to Sora, waiting for him to take it. Before Sora could say anything, a portal appeared under them, darkness reaching out to grab them. Sora tried to move, but the darkness held him fast, making Riku's hand just out of reach. The last he saw before total darkness was Riku's smile through the tendrils.
Sora couldn't see anything. He was starting to panic when a bright light broke through. He was back where he was standing, but Riku was gone. And he was holding a strange key-shaped weapon. A single word echoed in his head. yblade…..Keyblade…"
One of the creatures jumped from behind, startling Sora. He swung the Keyblade in reflex and was astonished at the creature disappearing at its touch. Realizing he could now fight, he charged forward, looking for anything to tell him where his friends have gone.
Fighting his way through, he gradually went to the Secret Place, thinking the strange events from before might have a clue. His suspicions were confirmed by a fancy door suddenly being at the entrance. Making his way inside, he found Kairi, but she didn't look too good. Her face looked both weakened and worried. Before words could be said, the original door from earlier opened, unleashing a dark mist carried by an intense wind. Kairi was blown towards, but before he could catch her, she vanished from his grip, before he was blown away as well.
When he landed, he was shocked to see that only a small part of the beach was all that was left, the rest being sucked up into the vortex. The situation got worse with a huge creature appearing, with a heart-shaped hole in its chest. It seemed focused on Sora for some reason, attacking and sending smaller creatures after him. Sora fought with everything he had, proving difficult as the huge creature's only weak spots seemed to be its hands. Luckily, he was able to repel most shots, aiding him greatly.
Sora was able to finally defeat the creature, but was unable to save himself from getting sucked into the vortex. The sandy ground he was trying to grab was the last thing he saw before blacking out.
And that's the Prologue.