Yay my first fanfic!

I really hope I have the patience to finish this. I've hade this story in my head for a long time. I really thought that opening an account would be easy but NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! The creators of this website just had to make it difficult didn't they? It took me four days just to actually start typing thing! Oh well.

A few notes before the story starts:

1) The story would probably make the most sense to you if you've gotten to Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep. If you haven't I recommend you either play up to that game or watch the videos on youtube to keep up with who the characters are.

2) Most but not all of the Final Fantasy characters appear in the story because It would be too difficult for me to keep up with all of them in addition to the Kingdom Hearts Characters.

3) Organization XIII does not include Axel, Larxene, Demyx, Zexion, Roxas, or Xion. They're good guys in this story. :) Instead they are replaced with other bad guys.

4) Axel and Lea, along with Zexion and Ienzo and Saix and Isa are SIX COMPLETELY DIFFERENT PEOPLE. I just want to make sure people aren't confused.

5) Finally, there will be A LOT of flashbacks. Just warning you.

I do not own the Kingdom Hearts Series.

Okay Here We Go!

Hearts in Twilight

Prologue: Home

Twilight Town. A town in perpetual twilight. A paradise village which one could only come up with in a dream. Built on a hill, the golden town's streets were slanted down with shops running along each one of them. A single car tram ran through the town's main shopping square available to anyone for a ride. On the far side of the shopping square, an opening to an underground series of tunnels stood unattended. Those tunnels lead to different areas around the village.

In another area of town an open sandlot stood for any child's enjoyment. It was also where Struggle Fighting Tournaments tooks place in the fall. Struggle was a fighting competition in which adolescents and adults fought each other with plastic blue bats. The competitors would wear a vest with orbs attached to it and if you could hit your opponents orbs off before they could get yours you would win. Many men, women and children would come watch these tournaments with their families as a way for entertainment.

At the highest point of the town was the Central Train Station. The Station itself was actually a large clock tower with two bells hanging from its sides. Many people would go the top of the tower, sit on the edge of it and enjoy the sunset or beautiful view of the town. Most prefered the actual view from the clock tower than the station itself, which just contained a small one car train. This train lead to the most quiet area of town, Sunset Terrace.

The Terrace was just an area with a few small houses and another tunnel leading underground. A bridge went over a small river-like waterfall. A random alley was at the edge of the Terrace, with a white ball at the far end of it. Another tram ran back and forth between where the alley was and where the arch entrance of a small hill began.

Sunset Hill had a dirt path which lead up to an open space at its top. Only a few items were on the hill with the bright green bushes that outskirted it. Some trash cans, a miniature statue version of the clocktower, and a bench.

On this particular day, Christmas Eve, a little girl with pale shoulder length blond hair in a simple white dress sat on this bench. She had a sketchpad rested on her lap and a yellow crayon in her hand. She was making her finishing touches of her drawing of the sun when another girl called out to her.

"Namine'!"

The six year old girl turned around smiling, revealing her deep blue eyes to her friend. "Kairi what is it?"

The girl called Kairi had short cranberry colored hair which barely touched her shoulders. Her indigo eyes matched perfectly with her dress, which was white with purple flowers around the bottom of it. The girl standing next to her had eye's which were identical to Namine's, but had short black hair that matched the oversized hoody sweater which she also wore as a dress. And while Kairi wore purple crocs, this girl wore basic black converse. This was Xion, Namine's cousin.

"Namine hurry!"

"Your gonna miss the ghost train!"

Namine' closed her sketchpad, put her crayon in the spiral binding, stood up and ran enthusiastically with her best friend and relative to the other side of the hill, where four boys were impatiently waiting for them.

Two of the four six year old boys looked completely alike with short blond spikes for hair and blue eyes. They had the same smile, but two different attitudes. One boy was more relaxed while the other was much more jumpy and energetic. The quiet boy wore a basic yellow shirt, brown shorts and sandles while his twin wore the same thing but with a green shirt. These two boys were known as Roxas and Ventus.

The other two were Sora and Vanitas, their older brothers. They both had longer spikier hair than Roxas and Ventus but were different colors. Sora's hair was a chocolate brown while Vanitas' was a faded black. Like his other brothers Sora had blue eyes while Vanitas had striking yellow ones. They both wore red shorts and sandles, but different colored shirts, Sora white and Vanitas black.

In a nutshell, the four boys were known as the Hikari Quadruplets.

"About time you girls got back," Vanitas commented rudely, "you took forvever to get Namine'."

"We were only gone a few seconds! Why are you so mean?" Kairi shot back.

"That's Van for you," Roxas replied, lying on the ground facing the train track far below them, "impatient."

"I am not impatient!"

"Yes you are."

"Am not!"

"Are too."

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Stop it!" Xion interrupted, stomping her foot. "Stop fighting! You know I don't like when people fight!" She began sniffling.

Namine and Kairi immediately hugged their beloved cousin/best friend, while Ventus stood up in anger. "See what you guys did? You made Xion cry! How could you?"

Van rubbed the back of his head feeling guilty while Roxas joined in the hug."...Sorry" they both mumbled.

Sora, however was busy looking at the tracks below him with wide eyes. A purple train with what appeared to be no one aboard came toward them, going underneath the tunnel in which the hill was on.

"Guys look!" Sora shouted.

The commotion with the other six children immediately stopped once they saw the train go by.

"No way!"

"It's real!"

"Awesome!"

"And there's really no one on it!"

"Come on let's go to the station!"

All seven kids ran as fast as they could to the train station where they knew the train would have to stop. The sole reason they went to Sunset Terrace was to explore the Seven Wonders of Twilight Town, rumors of supernatural occurances around the city. The children thought it was the perfect way to spend Christmas Eve with one another. They had already examined five of the wonders, which turned out to be fake, and had just finish with the sixth one, the Ghost Train Mystery.

Once they reached the station, the children slowly walked up to the train.

"I dare you to touch it" Van told Ven. With a deep breath Ventus walked to the ghost trains door. When his hand was about an inch away from it the door slid open, revealing a man and a young teenage girl. Surprised, Ven jumped back falling on his behind. The teenage girl couldn't help but laugh, while the man simply gave a smile.

"Daddy! Stella!" Namine' jumped with joy. She glomped her father and older sister in a hug. Daddy, better known as Ansem the Wise, was an intelligent man who always wore his white lab coat. His beard and hair were platinum blond and he had large orange eyes. Stella, at thirteen years of age, looked liked an older version of Namine' but with brighter blue eyes and longer hair.

"What you doing here Master Ansem? And why are you on the ghost train?" Kairi questioned.

Ansem and Stella were taken aback. "Ghost train?"

"Yeah Uncle Ansem!" Xion replied, "This is the ghost train!"

"Sorry Xion but this is just the town's new train. There's no such thing as a ghost train" Stella told them, but regretted it when she saw the children's expressions change from excited to sad.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaawe" they all said in unison. They 'awed' again once Ansem told them it was time to go home.

"But we still have to do the last wonder!" Sora begged him.

"I'm sorry Sora but it's getting late and your parents will be worried. You may explore the last wonder another day." At that the children 'awed' for the third time, stepped on the train and headed for home.

XXX

After taking the quadruplets home, the four family members rode the 'Fake Ghost Train' -as Xion called it- home to their Mysterious Tower. The crooked tower was located on the outskirts of Twilight Town on a landmass floating in the sky. The train had to take a magical road to reach it and once Ansem, his daughters and niece got off the train, it magically disappeared.

"Woooooooooooooah," the two six year olds said in amazement. "It's not a ghost train its a magical train! Way cooler than the other one!" Xion shouted enthusiastically. After the children were done fawning over the new train, they headed inside the tower.

XXX

"Ha! Taste the might of my Rock Breaker!"

"Your Rock Breaker has just been destroyed by my magical move Spell Weaver!"

"Oh yeah? Well my Earthshaker has totally overcome your magic!"

"My Rainfell's magic can never run out!"

In the tower's throne room, an eight year old girl with blue hair and a nine year old boy with shoulder length brown spikey hair were fighting with wooden swords. They were pretending to be Keyblade warriors, which they each hoped to be one day. The boy's name was Terra, Xion's older brother and the girl he was fighting with was his friend since kindergarten Aqua.

"I win!" Terra shouted once Aqua fell on the floor.

"No you don't! Just because I fell doesn't mean the fight is over!"

"Alright, that's enough." Terra turned around to see his father, Master Eraqus, walking towards him and his friend from the middle of the three thrones in the room. Eraqus wore his greying black hair in a ponytail and a traditional grey samuri's outfit. His stern brown eyes held much wisdom which he often passed on to his children. "Aqua is right Terra. Just because one is on the ground does not mean they don't have the upper hand."

"How?" Terra questioned.

"I'll explain it to you in your next training session. But right now, it's time for Aqua to go home." At that moment, he summoned what appeared to be a giant key, aimed it at the wall, and shot a beam of magic from it. This created a portal for Aqua to take home.

"Thank you master! Bye Terra, see you at the Christmas party tomorrow!"

"Bye."

Once Aqua left, Terra turned to his father and humbly asked, "Dad, when are we actually going to get our Keyblades? I wanna become a master like you."

"Patience Terra. You, your friends, and sister will be able to wield their keyblade when the time is right."

A Keyblade was mysterious key shaped sword with many magical abilites. Only those with tremendously strong hearts could wield it and about a third of those who lived in Twilight Town did so. Twilight Town was the home to all the Keyblade wielders in the universe. Anyone who had this weapon was free to travel throughout the worlds without the use of a ship. One could transform their keyblade into a form of transportation such as a bike or glider. What a keyblade looked like depended on the wielder's personality. A wielder also had the ability to sense darkness, unless the darkness was in an unreal environment, such as a virtual world.

In order to become a Keyblade Master one needed to take the Mark of Mastery Examination. This test included how well one could defeat another in combat and a display of expertise in magic. If they didn't pass they would retake the exam until they succeeded.

Master Eraqus and his brother Ansem were in charge of training potential Keyblade Masters while their father, the great wizard Master Yensid, ruled over Twilight Town. This made them and their kids the royal family. Currently, Yensid was preparing for annual Christmas festival tomorrow.

"WE'RE HOME!"

Eraqus' speech to Terra was interrupted at the sound of his daughter's greeting. He scooped up Xion in his arms when she ran to him, giving her a comforting welcome home. Ansem carried in Namine', who was asleep in his arms, while Stella walked in behind him.

"Hi Uncle Eraqus, Terra. How was training with Aqua?" Stella asked.

"Ok I guess. I just wanna use the Keyblade already! I know I have to be patient but I'm tired of waiting!" Terra complained.

"Enough Terra!" Eraqus scolded, "There will be no more childish behavior!"

"Calm down uncle! He is a child after all," Stella interrupted. "Besides Terra knows he has to be good before Santa shows up."

"I'm not stupid Stella. I know there's no such thing as-"

"SHHHHHHHH!" His cousin stopped him before he could break little Xion's heart.

Ansem couldn't surpress his laughter any longer. Seeing the commotion before him made him appreciate his family even more than he already had. This puzzled everyone, especially Stella. "What's so funny daddy?"

"Nothing at all my dear. Now children it's time for bed. We have quite the day tomorrow."

"But I don't wanna go to sleep! I'm not...tired." Xion yawned.

"Yes you are. Time for bed. We all have to up early in the morning." Eraqus and everyone else began heading to their bedrooms, retiring for the day. Christmas Day would be exciting and energy sapping so everyone had to have their rest.

Unfortunately, they couldn't be more wrong.

XXX

Xehanort didn't like his brother. No, that was an understatement. He hated him with a passion. Ever since childhood, his parents favored Yensid due to his superior skills in magic. He would be scolded while Yensid got constant praise. He had everything Xehanort didn't: friends, unbelievable power, popularity with the town, etc...

When their parents died, Yensid was given leadership of Twilight Town which Xehanort felt he didn't deserve. Yensid ruled his people with great kindness, while Xehanort felt a complete totalitarianship was needed. And after the birth of his first grandchild, Stella, Yensid ordered his brother to leave the tower since he wanted more room for his new family members. This was the final straw.

Xehanort moved to an abandoned mansion in the forest far away from Twilight Town. While there he and his sons, Xemnas, Sephiroth, and the youngest whom he also called Ansem, plotted revenge. Xehanort showed them and his seven apprentices the ways of darkness and taught them how to control it. He trained them in a Digital Twilight Town where he knew no other Keyblade Master could sense their dark powers growing. He had help from a friend, a sorceress whom he met in his youth named Maleficent, and together they created an ifinity of power creatures. They called them Heartless, Nobodies and Unversed. And after thirteen years of controling these dark powers and creatures, they were finally ready to strike.

At the Christmas Day Festival.

XXX

The Festival was in one word wonderful. Blue and silver streamers connected from building to building covering the town. Game booths stood throughout the shopping square for kids enjoyment. The tram was decorated like a sleigh, being conducted by a man dressed as Santa Claus. Red and green Christmas decorations were on every house making the town look like it was on the North Pole. Twilight Town's Market Street was covered with fake snow (since it never snowed there) allowing people to sled down it. The Sandlot was turned into an ice skating rink with a large twelve foot candy cane colored pole in the center. A children's choir was singing the Twelve Days of Christmas in front of the synthesis shop. People were giving each other presents like there was no tomorrow. And in front of the Central Station, a fifty foot tall golden Christmas tree with a crystal moogle on top of it stood basking in beauty.

Everyone was happy.

Except one person.

Xehanort, his sons, Maleficent and his apprentices were watching the festival from the top of the clocktower. All of them, except for the sorceress and Sephiroth, were hooded in long black coats. The jolliness, laughter and light hearted atmosphere were making them sick. They wanted to end this, once and for all.

"Ha! Those chumps have no idea what's comin' to 'em!" One of the apprentices laughed.

"Patience Xigbar," Xehanort responded, "Do not be excited just yet." At that moment he rose his hand and a bolt of purple lightning struck the sky. Thick grey clouds began to rapidly cover Twilight Town, startling all of its citizens, except children, who thought it was going to snow.

Yensid immediately sensed the great dark presence over the village and told his sons to warn everyone of the danger. But not even the best Keyblade Masters of Twilight Town were ready for what happened next.

Heartless, Nobodies and Unversed began popping up everywhere, destroying whatever came in their path. They attacked helpless citizens with their frightening powers while Keyblade warriors did they're best to protect them. Maleficent began setting fire to homes and shops. Xehanort's oldest apprentice, Lexeaus used his giant tomahawk to create earthquakes in the sandlot. Xaldin made a windstorm so strong it blew away the town's trains. Xemnas and his brother, who named himself Ansem: The Seeker of Darkness, destroyed the Mysterious Tower with their magic while Sephiroth worked with Xigbar to ensure harm to the people. While all this was happening, Xehanort stood at the very top of the clocktower with a sadistic smile on his face.

Eraqus and Ansem the Wise gathered as many people as they could to go to the underground tunnels for their safety. A hidden passage in the tunnels lead to Twilight Town's escape ship, Falcon Peak. Fewer than half the town's population made it on.

Yensid was conjuring up powerful spells to stop the disasters. He managed to stop the windstorm and earthquake, but the monsters he killed would just reappear. He saved as many people as he could and got them to the ship. Xehanort and his group disappeared, knowing Yensid was searching for them and hid in the Digital Twilight Town. With nothing he or the other Keyblade wielders could do to save the town, Yensid ordered a retreat.

Hundreds of men women and children lost their lives. With each death Twilight Town became darker and darker. Soon the buildings began to turn large, abandoned and black. Sunset Hill transformed into what Xehanort would later call the Brink of Despair which was gloomy dead end of a street that reached a cliff. The beautifully illuminated Market Street was now the bleak Fragments Crossing. Central Station's clocktower grew in height becoming the tall black Memory Skyscraper, which had multiple television screens on top of it. As the rest of the town became a denizen of darkness, the Falcon Peak rescue ship took off for an unknown destination, taking the surviving citizens of Twilight Town with it.

Xehanort, once again standing on what was once the clocktower began laughing maniacly. He had finally achieved his dream: becoming the stronger brother and ruler of Twilight Town. No. He always hated that name. He was now ruler of the World That Never Was.