Kingdom Hearts 3: Naru's Adventure
Chapter One: Of Truths and Dreams
By: Oblivion Unknown
"Has it always been this bright?" The question echoed through the seemingly infinite white. "Or has everything just been tricks of the light?" Someone drifted through the black, a girl with long, brown hair sinking, as if in water. She started sinking faster, but suddenly appeared, standing, at a beach near a cliff, facing away from the ocean.
The girl turned around and saw one of her friends standing in the water, holding a hand out to her. She smiled and stepped closer when all the water surged backwards, returning in a large wave that crashed down upon her and her friend. The force of the wave pushed her back and she kept moving backwards as she reached for her friend, who was drifting away from her, hand still out.
The girl climbed out of the water and looked around. A boy down the way waved and called out to her. She waved back as she ran towards her boyfriend, who happened to be the friend's brother. They were about to kiss when he pointed into the sky. There was a meteor shower! The girl looked closer and spotted something that wasn't a meteor: a person was falling with them.
Looking closer, she saw that the falling person was herself! She stumbled back and started to fall. Her boyfriend tried to catch her, but she continued falling, until she became the girl in the meteor shower, falling into the water far below.
Naru Narusegawa drifted into the ocean, which became oddly brighter, until it turned a steady gray. She turned right side up and landed on some invisible platform. Upon her landing, the blandness lessened as thousands of bats and doves flew from the ground, in a Yin-Yang pattern, revealing a great stained glass floor depicting a man with an olive-green shirt, tan pants, a monocle and Chinese ear cuffs on his left ear. Behind him was what appeared to be vines, or maybe centipedes. Naru would have investigated further, but a voice spoke to her, without bothering to enter her ears first.
'Step forward, can you do it?' The voice seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at all, all at once. Seriously creeped out, Naru silently stepped into the center of the area. Suddenly, the floor began to shake and three black pedestals rose out of the platform. The voice spoke again as Naru turned to look at each pedestal.
'Power sleeps within you,' a shield emblazoned with a stylized "X" appeared above the first platform, 'if you give it shape,' a staff with the same "X" at the top appeared on the next one, 'it will give you strength.' And finally, a black-bladed sword with a red handle appeared on the last.
She walked towards the sword and reached for it. The voice explained, 'The power of the warrior. Invincible courage. A sword of terrible destruction. Is this the power you seek?'
Naru thought a moment before replying out loud, "A sword is Motoko's department, so I don't think so." 'Choose another,' muttered the Voice. Next she approached the shield. 'The power of the guardian. Kindness to aid friends. A shield to repel all. Is this the power you seek?'
"That sounds more like it," replied Naru. The shield abruptly vanished as the voice said, 'Your path is set. Now, what will you give up in exchange?' Naru approached the staff, as it was the only one she had not visited.
'The power of the mystic, A mysterious force. A staff of wonder and ruin. You give up this power?' Naru merely nodded and both the sword and the staff vanished. The Voice whispered, 'You have chosen the power of the guardian. You have given up the power of the mystic. Is this the path you seek?'
"Yes," replied Naru. As her voice echoed through the emptiness, the pedestals collapsed, sinking partially into the platform and it began to break apart, with the pedestals as the origins. The platform quickly broke underneath Naru and she fell through the gray emptiness. Then she spotted another platform, with a different portrait upon it.
This picture was a man wearing all black, including a trench coat. There was a vial of green liquid around his neck and a gun in his hand with the same green substance at the end of it. He had dark hair and a pale face that was void of any emotion. Behind the man was a set of circles covered in dashes that seemed to go in a pattern, and Runes around the edge of the whole platform. She landed near the center of the platform and looked around. On the coat of the man was a strange, white outline that seemed to move around. As she looked closer, it rose out of the ground and looked at her with beady black eyes. She started to back away as more of the shining creatures rose from the ground. They all resembled bipedal rabbits with insectoid antennae.
Naru went to punch one of the creatures and the shield from earlier appeared on her hand, and it smashed the creature into insubstantial light. As the rest ran away, molded into the ground, the Voice spoke again, 'There will be times you have to fight. Keep your light in balance with your darkness.'
She walked around little but suddenly the voice shouted, 'Behind you!' Naru spun and saw several more Shines (as she started to call them) starting to surround her. She attacked with the edge of the shield, destroying each one in, at most, three hits, until there was only one Shine left. It sank into the ground, but unlike before, the ground began to disappear in a shimmering white light. When the light reached her feet she began to sink. She struggled against the smothering intensity of the light.
Naru continued to struggle until she realized the light had dimmed. She opened her eyes to discover herself on a blue platform with three vaguely people-ish outlines on it, and a large translucent door was at the far end. Naru walked over to the door and attempted to open it, but her hand passed right through the handle. She heard a small "clank" behind her and when she turned, she discovered that a small treasure chest had appeared.
Naru tried to open it, but discovered it to be locked tight. The shield appeared in her right hand as the Voice said, 'Try using this. It should open it right up.' She tapped the top of the chest with the shield and it popped open; then, it faded away and Naru heard a loud "Thump" behind her as a large crate covered in a star pattern appeared. The Voice said, 'Push the crate.'
Naru instantly replied, "That thing's way too big! I can't push something like that!" 'Just try it, it will move.' Naru pushed the crate across the platform, surprising herself. 'Now, destroy it.' Naru complied, breaking it with the edge of the shield, revealing that a small sphere filled with red liquid was inside.
There was a sudden grinding noise behind Naru, and when she looked, she saw that the door had become opaque, maybe even solid. And as Naru reached for the door, it opened on its own and enveloped Naru in darkness. She stepped forward and appeared on the roof of the Hinata House Annex. The Voice said, 'Hold on. The door won't open just yet. First, tell me more about yourself.' Standing around Naru, were Kitsune, Motoko, and Shinobu. Naru walked over to Kitsune to talk to her, but the instant she got close enough, "Kitsune" spoke.
"What's most important to you?" Asked the dream-Kitsune.
"My friends," Naru replied. Which caused the "Kitsune" to reply.
"Is friendship really all that important?" When Naru tried to talk to her again, that's all the dream-Kitsune would say, so she moved on to "Motoko."
"What are you so afraid of?" dream-Motoko asked.
"Being alone," replied Naru.
"Is being alone all that bad?" And just like "Kitsune," that was all Naru could get her to say, so she walked over to "Shinobu."
"What do you wish from life?" asked dream-Shinobu.
"To be strong," Naru answered.
"Is strength truly that great?" Then the Voice spoke again, 'Your friends are your greatest treasure. You fear loneliness. You want to be strong. Your journey will begin at night and the day you close the door is both far off and very near...'
Everything faded out in a wash of white, and as it faded back in, Naru found herself on yet another platform. The picture in the glass of this platform was of a boy in black, the outfit seeming to be a school uniform. Hanging from a chain around his neck was an upside-down pyramid with an eye on it, and his hair was spiky with shades of red, yellow, and black. Circling the boy were strange runes of a sort. Naru stepped forward into a small patch of shadows that seemed to have no origin as the Voice spoke once more.
'The further you stray from the light, the smaller your shadow will be.' Naru looked around at the ground and saw something rising from the ground. It was a colossal humanoid thing made of light with a Three-tiered Crown cut out of its center. Looking at its head, Naru gasped: it had two antennae like hers and even seemed to have hair of the same length. 'But don't be afraid.' Naru ran away, but was quickly stopped by the end of the platform. 'And don't forget...' She turned around to face the creature and summoned the shield to her hand.
'Looks like I'll have to fight this out,' she thought. Naru jumped at the creature, attacking the closest thing she could reach: its wrist. The first move the Grand Shine made was to stab its hand into the ground, and it became surrounded by a swirling light that had Shines crawling out of it. Naru fought them off before she continued with her original battle, only to be interrupted when a beam of bright, golden energy struck her. Looking around, she discovered that the source of the attack was the hole in the center of the creature itself. Naru continued to hack away at the Grand Shine monster until finally the shield vanished. The Grand Shine began falling towards her sinking into the ground as it did.
As the light began to engulf everything, the Voice returned, 'But don't be afraid, You hold the mightiest weapon of all.' Everything began to vanish as the Voice spoke the last sentence. 'And don't forget: You are the one who will close the door.'
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Naru snapped awake and sat up in bed with a gasp. She glanced around and saw, to her delight, her own room lit by the morning sun.
"What a freaky dream..." she muttered. Then she heard someone knock on her door. "Yes, who is it?"
"It's just me, Naru!" someone called. "I wanted to tell you that breakfast is ready!"
"Thanks, Shinobu, I'll be right down!" Naru sighed as she got out of bed and started getting dressed. She had just gotten started when the boy in her dream opened the door to her room.
"Hey Naru, There's something I..." Keitaro's eyes widened. "Sorry! I'll tell you later!" He ran as fast as he possibly could to avoid the coming Naru Punch, closing the door behind him. Naru finished getting dressed and headed for the dining room. As usual, Shinobu had created another delectable meal. Also as usual, Su had hers finished so fast that she managed to eat half of Motoko's plate, but Motoko didn't really care, since she didn't eat very much anyway.
As Naru sat down next to Keitaro, it was obvious to everyone but Keitaro that Kanako was glaring half-heartedly at her. Naru kissed Keitaro on the cheek, making him blink in confusion. After all, the last time he had seen her, she was dressing and that usually made him go flying. Right after breakfast, Keitaro led Naru to his room.
"Er, as I was going to say earlier..." Keitaro gritted his teeth a second, thinking that a Naru Punch was coming, and continued when one didn't. "There's something fairly shocking I need to tell you: I'm not from this world."
Naru gasped, "What do you mean?"
"I was a foundling, adopted like Kanako, and the note that I was found with didn't even seem to be written by my real parents, from the way it spoke of me."
"D-do you know who wrote it?"
"No. No one could find out. The gist of the letter said that I was stolen from my parents by the Darkness the night before my first birthday. There were a couple of other things on the note I can't quite remember. Something about royalty and destiny."
"If you could go back to your world, would you?"
"Sure I wouldn't mind seeing what could have been, but," he smiled, "I'm happy here, despite the near-daily flights to the moon." Naru and Keitaro laughed while just outside the window...
"Oh, Onii-chan... I-I'll find a way to get you back home. A-and Naru can come, too..." Kanako whispered, sitting just out of sight.
Later that day, after doing some clean up on the ruins of the Forbidden Annex, Naru sank into the Hot Springs with a sigh. She closed her eyes and ducked completely underwater, and when she came back up, she saw a strange figure in a hooded, brown cloak. The face couldn't be seen at all.
"Who are you!" she cried.
"I have come to see the gateway to this world," replied the unknown, with a silky feminine voice. Naru relaxed a hair or two once she realized the stranger was a girl.
"What are you talking about?"
"This world is to be shut away, cut from the darkness. Soon to be completely liberated."
"Wait a sec, are you from another world like Keitaro was? Is there a way we can see his world?"
"You understand so little. And there is so very much to learn."
"I'll learn whatever it takes, and maybe-"
"A meaningless effort. One who knows nothing can understand nothing." Naru turned around as she heard someone coming and when she turned back around, the unknown had vanished into thin air. As Naru blinked in wonder, the rest of Hinata House's female inhabitants came in.
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Meanwhile, at Hearts Castle, on another world...
A young, bright-red-haired lady walked down the halls of the whitewashed castle. It was a daily routine for her: learn the goings-on of the Magic Kingdom, then report to the King. Lina Inverse stopped in front of the tall double-doors of the throne room and knocked three times on the left one, causing a smaller, concealed door to open up. Inside the throne room were the usual things: the throne, the banners depicting the King's crest of a Crown with a key within, the ghost of Old Man Rowdy... Wait a sec.
"What is it Rowdy?" Lina sighed.
"I'm afraid the King's not here right now," the ghost said.
"SAY WHAT!"
"Ssssh, just go get Naga, Gourry, and the Queen. I'll meet you in the library and explain everything there."
"Fine. But this had better not be a repeat of that Spring of Growth trick you pulled last month." Lina grumbled as she stomped off to the gardens where Naga, the druidess in very skimpy clothing, liked to sleep. Lina never could understand that woman.
"Oi, Naga," Lina kicked the blue-haired woman lightly in the side. "Wake up!" Cursing slightly, Lina walked away and drew a circle in the air around Naga with her finger. "Fireball."
Naga blew up. "Holy...! Dammit, Lina, what is it this time?"
"Get off the ground. Rowdy's got somethin' big to tell us."
"Remember-"
"YES. Now, come on. We have to find the Queen as well."
"Find me? What for?" A bright, cheery voice spoke from behind Lina.
"Sir Rowdy has something to tell us Your Highness," Lina bowed. The Queen had reddish-brown hair that reached down to her waist and hazel coloured eyes (A/N: Otherwise, put Tifa Lockheart in a dress). She was accompanied by a tall warrior with long, golden hair and an oversized long sword at his side, this was Gourry. Soon after that, the four of them headed for the library.
"The stars are vanishing again," stated Rowdy, the instant they entered. "But it's different than it was about twenty-five years ago. Instead of 'blinking out' they're going Nova and the King's left to figure out what's up. And, in the meantime, he needs you two," he pointed at Lina and Naga, "to find the new Keybearer and accompany him on his journey."
"Right. We'll take that old Kingdom-class Gummi Ship to Traverse Town and look there," Lina nodded to him. "You can take care of things here, right Gourry?"
"Yes Lina. I'm the one with the Sword of Light!" Gourry replied.
"You know I'm getting that from you someday, right?"
"Whatever. When you get to Traverse Town, look for Justimon, he may be able to help you out."
"Right." Lina grabbed Naga's arm and pulled her to the ship docks, where the Gummi Ship Excalibur was ready to take off.