Bold: Author notes, chapter titles
Bold/Italics: Disembodied voice
Regular: Speaking, story narration
Italics: Thoughts
Prologue
Fourteen-year-old Sora looked around at her surroundings, very confused. She saw that she was standing on a platform that looked like a stained-glass window depicting a picture of a woman with black hair, snow white skin, and lips as red as a rose. The platform was surrounded by darkness, and in the center there was a circle of light.
"Hello?" Sora called out nervously, playing with the hem of her two-sizes-too-big jacket, looking around. "Anyone here?"
Do not be afraid. Move forward and step into the light.
Sora jumped a little but did as the voice instructed. Oh-kay, listening to a disembodied voice does not exactly speak well for my sanity. But it's not like I'll figure out what's going on by not listening to it, she thought.
As soon as she stepped into the middle of the light it disappeared, and three pedestals rose up, each featuring a different object. The one in front of her had a sword, the one to her left held a staff, and the one on her right a shield.
Choose the power you would like to possess. Choose wisely.
Huh? Okay, I better think carefully about this. Hm… I really want that sword… but I remember Riku always telling me I'm not the type to fight with strength. Well, maybe I should pick the weapon that's kinda like me. The sword is more like Riku because it's strong, and whenever we could get Kairi to spar with us she mostly just blocked everything, like the shield. So…
Sora turned to her left and jumped on the pedestal.
The power of the mystic. You desire wisdom gained through going to new places and seeing new things. Is this the power you want?
Well, I do want to know about new worlds, Sora thought before she grabbed the staff and nodded.
Good. Now pick the power you'll give up in return.
Sora looked between the sword and shield a few times. As fighting with both a staff and a sword didn't make much sense to her, she went up and touched the sword.
The power of the warrior. A sword with frightening strength… Are you sure you wish to sacrifice this power?
Sora nodded and suddenly found herself on a different platform. One with a picture of a blonde woman in a blue ball gown.
There are times when you will have to fight to protect yourself and others.
Sora saw little shadow creatures with yellow eyes. They looked kind of cute, but Sora had a bad feeling about them. This feeling was proven right when one swiped at her leg.
"Ow! That hurt!" Sora said before hitting it three or four times, causing it to disappear. Little green energy balls dropped around where it had been standing.
When you defeat these enemies, orbs will appear that will either heal you or give you Munny. Sometimes they will drop items too.
"So these orbs will help me heal? I'll have to remember that," Sora said, dodging strikes, hitting the 'little buggers' as she was starting to call them and gathering orbs to regain the energy she lost from the hits that got to her. Then she found herself on another platform as soon as she was done. This one had three hearts on it and there was a door on it that was transparent. Sora went up to the door and tried to touch it only for her hand to go through the handle. She was thinking how bizarre it was before she heard a quiet noise. She turned around to see a chest.
"Okay, now things are appearing out of nowhere. I really hope this doesn't get any weirder," Sora sighed out before going over to the box and opening it. Her eyes widened in surprise as the chest in front of her disappeared from her sight. She heard a 'thunk' and turned to see a big wooden crate appear behind her.
"Okay, now what?" Sora asked herself.
Push the crate, then break it. An item may be inside.
"Okay, at least you answered me this time," Sora said. She walked over to the crate and pushed it a few feet before breaking it with the staff. Amidst the broken pieces, she found a potion. After she picked it up, the crate pieces disappeared and a barrel appeared in its place. Sora sighed before breaking the barrel; as the barrel disappeared, the door shone brightly for a few seconds. Sora went up to the door and saw that the door was solid.
Sweet, Sora thought with a smile as she pushed open the door and stepped through.
She found herself on the wooden structure on Destiny Island. She looked around to see Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie around her.
Answer some questions about yourself to learn where you will start.
Dang, this must be part of … whatever I'm in. Why can't this be easy? And what does it mean by 'where I'll start'? she thought as she turned around and went over to Selphie who was sitting on the railing.
"What's most important to you? Being number one, friendship, or prized possessions?" Selphie asked.
"Friendship," Sora answered without hesitation.
Selphie smiled. "That's good, Sora."
Sora nodded before going over to Tidus.
"Hi, Sora. What are you afraid of? Getting old, being different, or being indecisive?"
"Um… Getting old, I guess," Sora said with a shrug.
Tidus chuckled a bit and asked, "Is getting old really that bad?"
Sora shrugged again before going up to Wakka.
"Hey, man, what do you want out of life? To see rare sights, to broaden your horizons, or to be strong?"
"I wanna see rare sights," Sora said with a grin.
"Good choice, man," Wakka responded with an even bigger grin.
Friendship is important to you. You fear getting old and you want to see rare sights. Your adventure will begin at dawn.
A big flash temporarily blinded Sora before she opened her eyes to see she was back in the dark place again. She was on a platform featuring a woman, thorns, and a dragon. More dark things were on the platform and heading towards her.
"Oh man, not these guys again," Sora said before engaging in battle. Sora defeated them quickly. As she was catching her breath, she saw a path build itself up to a circular lower-like area that Sora guessed led to another platform. Sighing, she walked on. Turns out it was another platform after all. This one had a girl in a yellow dress and brown hair. As Sora walked to the opposite side of the platform, she got an eerie feeling.
Remember, the closer you get to the light, the larger your shadow becomes.
Sora got bug-eyed and stopped. She looked behind her and saw her shadow rise off the ground and take the form of a huge shadow monster that looked to have a scarf wrapped around the lower part of its face and freaky hair. It had yellow eyes like the other things she had fought earlier.
Sora instinctively ran to the other side of the platform out of fear before having to stop to prevent herself from falling off the edge.
"Crud!" she called out. Readying the staff, she turned around to fight the thing out of pure survival instinct.
Sora realized a few minutes into the fight that attacking the thing's legs wouldn't do anything, so she started attacking its arms, the little buggers that the big monster summoned, and the dark spheres that fell from the sky. This strategy seemed to both do damage and keep her somewhat safe.
About halfway through the battle, her staff literally disappeared and she started to sink into the shadows.
But remember, you hold the greatest weapon of all.
Soon, Sora lost consciousness…
…Destiny Island…
Sora opened her eyes and saw a blue sky above. She sat up and saw that she was on the island's beach.
"What a weird dream," she mumbled to herself before laying back again… until she saw Kairi hovering over her with a smile.
"Ack!" Sora yelled up, shooting up and causing Kairi to laugh. Sora sighed. "Kairi, I love ya like a sister, but you take too much pleasure in scaring the life out of me."
"Sora, you lazy bum. I knew I'd find you snoozing out here."
"I'm lazy, really? According to Riku, you're just as lazy as I am," Sora said. Sora was wearing some baggy, tan shorts with pockets over her plain black, one piece bathing suit. She had a red jacket tied to her hips and her favorite yellow sneakers. Her wooden sword lay on the ground beside her.
"Yes, she is. It seems that I'm the only one around here that remembers that we actually need to work to complete the raft."
The girls turned to see Riku in all his silver-haired glory with a log propped over his shoulder. He tossed the log to the side and sat near Sora. Kairi giggled and Sora gave him an apologetic smile.
"Sorry, Riku," Sora said."
"Hey, I have an idea!" said Kairi. "Let's have a race! Whoever wins gets the day off!"
"What/Really?" Sora and Riku said together with raised eyebrows.
"Ready… Set… Go!" Kairi shouted. That was all it took for her friends to get up and run. Riku in the lead, Sora on his heels, and Kairi trailing behind.
As they ran, Sora pushed her uneasy feeling to the back of her mind.
Review please!
(We don't own Kingdom Hearts)
A/N: Sora looks like Xion only with dark brown hair.