I decided to try my hand at Kingdom Hearts! Hope ya like it...! (And no, I do not own the characters except for those who are mine.)


Kingdom Hearts: Chronicles of Light and Dark

Prologue: A New Story for a New Journey.

[Seven years before the current timeline]

All was dark, save for a few crystals glowing as they grew nearby. The young warrior was lost in a desolate realm of never-ending darkness. "How did I get myself into this?" she demanded of herself as she pushed on through the encroaching shadows. It seemed like so long ago- something about friends having been lost, a promise, and a sacrifice? No, that couldn't have been everything…..Could it? Who was she, anyway? A…..Something starting with the letter "A"? Settling down for a brief respite, she began to talk to herself. Normally this would be perceived as strange, but in light of the maddening silence and solitude, she found solace in hearing any voice- even her own.

"Okay, think," she ordered herself. "Concentrate."

Nothing happened, except the fuzzy images in her head got a little clearer. She remembered two boys- one slightly older than her with chocolate brown hair, and the other a few years younger with dark blond. What were their names? Feeling the sudden urge to check her pocket, she pricked her right hand's pointer finger on something sharp, the painful result of carelessly jamming her hand into her small pockets. Drawing the offending object out of the space, she examined it. It was a star-shaped pendant, blue in color. Cradling it in her hands, she finally remembered. The charm was called a Wayfinder. Her name was Aqua. Her friends whom she quested for were named Terra and Ventus. All three of them wielded unique weapons called "Keyblades", essentially magical, near-sentient swords in the shape of keys. They studied under one Master Eraqus, but were betrayed and manipulated by Eraqus' colleague and fellow Master, Master Xehanort, around the time Aqua herself had become a Master. Xehanort was responsible for all that had happened thus far- Eraqus was dead, Terra's body overrun by Xehanort himself, and Ventus' heart was nowhere to be found, though he seemed to have survived somehow, if his catatonic body was any implication. Even Aqua's current predicament, in a roundabout way, could be traced back to the greed and hunger for power of Master Xehanort. Aqua shook her head dejectedly. She had always been proud of being a good student. How had she forgotten all that? She could only surmise that it was a side effect of being immersed in such deep, primordial, elemental darkness for so long. If her estimate was correct, she had been stranded in that dark place for over three years. Standing, she slowly approached one of the larger crystals, one easily large enough to see her whole body in. Her physical features didn't look much different than she remembered they usually did- she still had the deep blue eyes and fair complexion, but her neck-length blue hair looked unkempt and her curvy figure was covered in bruises and scrapes. As always, she was wearing her signature outfit: sleeveless top, belts crossing her chest with her Keyblade Wielder's Mark in the center, detached sleeves, skirt with bike shorts, kneesocks and armored boots. Nothing was really out of place, though she couldn't help but notice the small rips and tears forming in the fabric from wear and tear.

Suddenly, she heard the sounds of shuffling feet, immediately snapping her attention away from her appearance. Though a break from the total silence she had been experiencing would ordinarily be welcome, Aqua did not enjoy hearing that sound- for it was the sound of approaching Heartless. Abominations born of darkness, Heartless seek to devour the hearts of living beings, and by extension the light that dwells inside. What was worse, any darkness that was in the person's heart sprang up afterward and became a new Heartless, adding to their abhorrent ranks. Being in the Realm of Darkness, as Aqua remembered the place being called, she was at a major disadvantage- this was the home of the Heartless, their dimension. They could appear from anywhere at any time, so she had to remain vigilant. Thankfully, the specific creature that was tailing her turned out to be a mere Shadow- the weakest form the Heartless could possibly take. However, grateful as she was, Aqua began to ponder as she slashed the monster into oblivion with her Keyblade.

"It's usually the big ones that come after me," she thought, "So where are they? I haven't seen any for what must have been days by now!" She decided to be wary of traps until the next time she allowed herself to rest.

Coming to a wider path, her worst fears were apparently confirmed when she saw a pair of giant glowing crimson eyes glowering down out of the darkness. However, if it was a trap, it already had prey in it. Upon closer inspection, Aqua found that the giant was fixated not on her, but on a younger girl who was steadily being cornered by Heartless. Clumsily swiping at the Heartless with a battered shortsword, she valiantly battled her foes, though it was apparent that she was about to be overwhelmed by their sheer numbers.

SLASH!

The girl raised her blade in a defensive stance. However, it was in vain, for Aqua had already taken out most of the advancing creatures. It was almost as if she were dancing, for she moved so gracefully in her strikes. Cutting down the last of the small fries, the warrior-maiden turned to the child she just saved.

With as much ferocity as her tired self could muster, she shouted to her charge, "This is no place for children! Get moving while I keep them distracted!"

However, the girl could not. She was too transfixed by the sight of the mammoth Heartless raising a clawed hand to strike the new combatant. Horrified, she frantically tried to warn her new friend, but all she could manage to do was to scream and point at the sight.

Hearing the scream as she attempted to locate the main body of the gargantuan beast, Aqua whirled around. "You again? I thought I told you to leave this—Guh!" she grunted as she was punched by the creature. Luckily, she had already been standing in a defensive stance just in case, but that didn't stop her from being flung into a wall near the girl and dropping her Keyblade at her side, the fingers grasping it opening slightly.

The girl picked up the fallen warrior's Keyblade from the hand that held it, dropping her own nearly-broken weapon where she originally stood. Holding it in her hand, the girl felt stronger- like the blade was feeding her its power. Her strength and courage renewed, she charged at the massive beast. Jumping and dodging to get around the creature's attacks, the young raven-haired child made her way to the twisted face of the abomination. Embedded in the forehead, she saw her true target- a glimmering crystal, crimson as blood in color. Gaining a foothold on the beast's own shoulder, she hacked away at its face as hard as she could when it turned its gaze upon her. Eventually, though she had to regain her perch several times, the inexperienced youth managed to pry the gem from the grasp of the Heartless's forehead- just in time for her more-experienced companion to awaken.

"Ngh," groaned Aqua. That last blow had hurt terribly. She would need to find a safe place to rest, and soon. Attempting to summon her Keyblade into her hand, Aqua was shocked to see that the summoning failed, for it was in the hands of the very child she was attempting to save. "Why….Isn't it coming?" she asked herself mentally. Fearing for the child's safety, Aqua opted to simply draw the Keyblade back to her instead. It was a rather basic feat for someone as talented in the mystic arts as she was, doubly so since, given her preference for magic over direct combat, Keyblade Manipulation was one of the first things Master Eraqus had taught her.

As the strange girl was dragged swiftly back to her, Aqua said gently, "I'll take it from here. That enemy is much too strong for you." Surprisingly, this time the girl obeyed, opting to retrieve her shortsword instead. What Aqua saw next intrigued her even more- the Heartless was shrinking! What had once been a crimson-eyed, hulking monstrosity had been reduced to a simple Darkside, a Heartless type which, while still quite large, was little more than a glorified Shadow Heartless. Turning to the girl and giving an encouraging grin, Aqua declared, "Now you'll see how a Keyblade Master does things!"

And with that, she proceeded to slice and hack the monster, before finally backing up a few steps and uttering one last word:

"Holy!"

At this, a blast of bright light erupted from the center of the Heartless's chest, obliterating it. By then, the girl was all questions. "Whoa! What was that? Did you shoot it? Was that a grenade? Or….Was it magic?"

Dismissing her Keyblade in a flash of light, Aqua chuckled as she replied, "Whoa whoa, slow down! First of all, what's your name? I'm Master Aqua, but you can just call me Aqua if you want."

"Mine's Mei," replied the girl quickly. "So? So? What about my questions?"

"Well," Aqua started, "First of all, yes that was magic. Holy is one of the strongest spells…"Hearing the sound of shuffling footsteps, Aqua trailed off.

"They're coming again, aren't they?" asked Mei, grimly.

"Well….Yes. Yes, they are," replied Aqua.

Mei sighed. "I guess there's no way around it, then. Looks like we have to….Whoops!" she exclaimed as a crimson flash emanated from the blade of her sword. In the next instant, her beat-up, blunted shortsword was replaced with a Keyblade of her own- black in color, with a semi-circular guard and a single red wing as the teeth, with subtle, intricate red lines etched on the shaft and handle of the blade. On the center of the guard was a design set slightly apart from the lines- a winged heart. There was even a little keychain hanging from the handle, as was the case with Aqua's blade, though Mei's was a crimson wing, like the teeth of her Key.

Once Aqua examined the weapon herself, the reason for Mei's apparent lack of swordsmanship became quite obvious- Keyblades are born of the weilder's heart, and this one had a reversed grip, meaning that, by holding the blade pointed forward, the girl was fighting her nature. Aqua smiled slightly as Mei stubbornly attempted to hold the blade as she had previously.

"I suppose I'll have to train you," mused the azure-haired warrior," But it would be nice to get away from this horde first. Do you know how to get out of here?"

Mei's face brightened instantly. "Of course! Follow me!"

And with that, the two young women dashed off, until the electric lights and small buildings comprising a lonely city appeared.

"C'mon, I'll show you," said Mei, inviting Aqua to come along with her into the city. It wasn't a bustling metropolis or anything of the sort. It was more of a centralized community which had simply grown too large to be called a town anymore.

"What's this place called?" Aqua asked Mei gently.

"It's called 'Edge'," the child replied. "We're not all that imaginative when it comes to naming places around here. If ya look over that way, you'll see why we call it Edge."

Complying with the child's directions, Aqua looked in the direction she was pointing at, and immediately felt a chill sweep over her. It was as if she was staring into the deepest depths imaginable to mankind- the kind of depth that, as one stares into it, one is fearful of falling into it. Aqua was awakened from her reverie by a gentle hand on her arm. Shockingly, she had been so entranced by the void into which she was staring, that she had been walking toward the edge of the path they were walking on without realizing it, running the risk of falling into the void for real.

"You….Okay?" asked Mei warily.

"Y-Yeah," Aqua replied, slowly shaking her head to clear it. "Let's….Let's just get into the city."

As they got closer, Aqua couldn't help but wonder how this city, or any civilization for that matter, could survive in such a place as the Realm of Darkness. After all, Heartless were everywhere, even large ones. Pretty soon, she was able to see just what protected the city: some sort of force field. Visible only from a few yards away, a translucent dome of red light enveloped the small city.

"Bet you're wondering about that, huh?" asked an amused Mei. "We have a big crystal that keeps those things out. If you stick around, you might see something cool later!" she exclaimed. "Not that I have much of a choice," Aqua thought to herself.

About an hour after they entered the city, Mei directed Aqua to the dimly-lit center of the city. What the child had said was true- there was a mammoth crystal, red like the energy shield it supposedly powered, standing erect in the very center of the plaza, thought its glow was waning. All of a sudden, Mei excused herself from Aqua's company, and joined a ring of people at the base of the crystal.

A dignified-looking man, possibly these people's leader, addressed the throng of people gathering in between Aqua and those at the base of the crystal. "Friends, on this joyous occasion, it pleases me to say that all of our Crystal Hunters have returned this year!"

The fact that there was great cheering over this made Aqua feel slightly uneasy- he had made it sound like it was a rare treat for something like this to happen.

"Now that we are all gathered, let the Empowerment Ceremony….begin!"

With that, Mei and those with her at the crystal's base raised the smaller crystals that they held. From the smaller crystals, bolts of what seemed to be crimson lightning jetted out and entered the large crystal in the center. In the brightened light, Aqua could make out the faces of some of the other Crystal Hunters. Some were older, bearded men with swords, axes and and shields. Others, youths both male and female, had bows and quivers strapped to their backs. However, among those gathered, Mei was among the youngest. Just as suddenly as the ceremony began, the smaller crystals died out, leading their bearers to lower them. Several tense moments passed as all present turned their attention to the giant crystal. Finally, its light brightened, to the degree that everything in the town square became illuminated, as well as turned crimson due to the hue of the crystal.

Finding Aqua in the rejoicing crowd, Mei addressed her excitedly, "Didja see that? Wasn't that cool?"

"Uh, yeah," Aqua replied awkwardly. It was certainly a very impressive sight, but it also raised many questions.

"We hold those ceremonies twice every year. People go out and look for what we call Energy Crystals- red ones- to recharge the Guardian Crystal with," Mei explained, sensing her companion's confusion.

Aqua could only assume the "Guardian Crystal" was the monolithic one that was currently glowing brightly in the center of the city.

"This is just my first time, but they pay you for that kinda stuff!" Mei continued excitedly, "And they give you weapons. The more experienced you are, the better the pay and equipment gets!"

"But you're not in it just for the benefits, right?" asked Aqua admonishingly.

"Of course not!" replied the younger girl indignantly, "I wanna help my town, that's all! They even let us keep our crystals from successful Hunts, to remind us of what we do for the city!"

Smiling, Aqua replied, "Good. Now, about finding me a place to stay…..?"

"Oh, you can stay with me!" Mei replied.

"Er, but what about your parents?"

"Dead," Mei replied quietly. "Taken by the Heartless."

"Oh, I'm sorry!" cried Aqua.

"Don't be. I'm gonna hunt down every last one of them until no one can get hurt anymore!"

"That's a big responsibility for such a young girl," replied Aqua, "How old are you, anyway?"

"Eight," replied Mei simply.

Aqua hardly spoke the rest of the way to the girl's house out of sheer shock.

When she awakened from her rest, Aqua approached her new hostess. The child was obviously able to at least handle herself against the smaller Heartless, but there was no way she would survive another Hunt by herself. She needed training, particularly since she obtained a Keyblade of her own. "Hey," said the older girl.

"Oh, hey there," replied Mei. "Didja rest okay?"

"Yeah," replied Aqua, "But I was thinking…..Don't you need someone to teach you how to fight? Especially now that you have a brand-new weapon to use?"

"I know how to fight!" Mei replied defiantly. "Against the smaller Heartless, maybe. But what if I'm not around and you have to fight a big one all by yourself again?"

The younger girl could do nothing but concede the point. "Yeah," she said dejectedly. "But, wait…..What do you mean, 'if I'm not around'? Are you going to leave?" she asked.

"Well, I'll have to leave, eventually," replied Aqua.

"But why?" the child whined, "I thought I….I thought I could have a family again….."

"Whoa," replied Aqua, "You caught me off-guard there…..Um…."

"If you want to leave, then fine!" shouted Mei, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Hold on, kiddo," chided Aqua. "I never said I was going to leave any time soon. Not on purpose, anyway."

Wiping her tears, Mei eyed her warily. "So you'll stay?"

"As long as I can," promised the older girl.

"I don't feel ready to be anybody's 'Mommy' yet, but I'd be alright with you calling me 'Big Sis' or something," she continued, smiling.

"Alright!" exclaimed Mei as she gripped Aqua in a vice-like hug.

Over the next few years, Aqua and Mei trained together as master and student as they bonded as friends and as sisters. Aqua even enlisted as one of the city's Crystal Hunters. First, Aqua taught Mei swordsmanship. It was hard, since Aqua herself utilized a forward-grip style, but her memories of Ventus's fighting style aided her greatly. Next came magic. Mei turned out to be a natural at offensive magic, but had very little talent with defensive and healing magic, like Cure or Esuna. By the time three years had passed, however, Mei was a competent warrior in her own right.

Suddenly, on the night of Mei's eleventh birthday, Aqua vanished. Mei searched everywhere she could think of, from their house to the training grounds, to even a few of the hunting grounds she usually stalked Heartless on with Aqua. She was nowhere to be found. Returning home, Mei broke down. "Why?" she asked aloud, futilely hoping for an answer. "Why'd you have to leave….?"

When Aqua opened her eyes, she found herself in an unfamiliar place. Over the years, Mei had told her of the other settlements in the Realm, such as Shard, the smallest, which utilized violet crystals, or the Maw, where those referred to as the Shadowed Ones, humans possessed by Heartless rather than having their hearts devoured, resided in tribal packs, but where she currently resided didn't seem to fit any description she could think of. It was just a wide-open plain, desolate as always, with no one to be found anywhere. Wiping a tear from her face, Aqua thought to herself, "Looks like I'm back to wandering again."

[One Year After Sora's Initial Adventure]

The young warrior sighed as she returned home from yet another successful Crystal Hunt."Here's another one to add to the collection," she sighed wistfully, looking at the crystal she held in her hand. Poking a hole in it with a heated needle, she removed the necklace she wore and threaded the crystal on as if it were a bead. "That makes five years, sis," she said, addressing a photo she kept on her desk of her and Aqua sitting together, smiling."When are you gonna come home?" By now, the necklace had ten beads. It was the second one she had ever made, the first being the one with six beads that she had worked on with Aqua. By the time of that Crystal Hunt, she garbed herself similarly to Aqua, though with her own preferences as to color, such as wearing red belts instead of pink ones across her chest, and a skirt that was a dusty red rather than blue. Along with these, she always used her winnings from the Hunts to buy and maintain armor pieces that were similar to Aqua's gauntlets, though hers did not transform into a full suit of armor as she had heard Aqua's once did. The main difference, aside from color and materials, between her and Aqua's outfits was the fact that she usually wore the second necklace, the one she worked on alone. Though she seldom wore it, she always made sure to carry the first necklace for good luck. It was impressively made, with her very first crystal, that one she obtained when she met Aqua, serving as the centerpiece, the focal point.

Feeling a draft, she summoned her Keyblade. Pointing the tip towards her fireplace, she said, "Fire," and a burst of dark flame leapt into the firewood. Her proficiency with offensive magic had increased significantly during the five years Aqua had been away, but she still struggled with healing magic. Feeling a small degree of pride about her blaze, she turned back to her necklace.

Just as suddenly as she had made the flames spring to life, they died out.

"You want to see your sister again, huh?" asked a voice out of the shadows.

Summoning her Keyblade again, Mei sprang to her feet. "Wh-Who's there?" she demanded, "Show yourself, coward!"

A strange, humanoid figure wearing bizarre armor with a helmet covering his entire head at once casually strolled out of his hiding place, hands raised in a non-threatening manner. "Hey, don't worry, I'm not here to hurt you," he said.

"Okay, but who are you?" demanded Mei, still poised to attack, "And how the hell do you breathethrough that helmet? It looks airtight!"

"That's not important right now. Neither is my name. All you need to know is, I can help you achieve your goal- to see your sister again."

Still wary, Mei asked, "Oh yeah? How?"

The stranger produced a strange crystal in his hand, black as the Void itself. "Just squeeze this in your hand. You'll see."

Curiosity and arrogance got the better of the young warrior. She grabbed hold of the crystal, falling into the stranger's trap. As a blinding light overtook her, she heard the strange man offer her one last piece of advice:

"See ya on the other side…..Oh, and make sure to look for someone named 'Sora,' though I'm pretty sure he'll find you anyway!"


How'd ya like it? Reviews are much appreciated, while flaming is not. =)