From the desk of Elvengirl10.
Greetings everyone. Just wanted to extend a warm welcome to my new story. If you haven't guessed from the title and/or summary, this is a novelization of Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, the sequel game set inbetween Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2, orginally released for the Gameboy Advance, and more recently the Playstation 2 (under the title Re: Chain of Memories.)
Just a word on how this story will run. For the most part, I'll be sticking with the Castle Oblivion floors (the main plot), and not bothering with the world floors, like Agarabah, Olympus Colliseum, and The 100 Acre Wood (Don't really know how I'd make that a full chapter anyway.) Traverse Town, Twilight Town, and Destiny Islands will also be included, mainly because it's plot. If people want World Floor chapters, I might do one-shots to supplement this story, but that will rely on the demand.
Most of the dialogue will be based off of the Chain of Memories manga (published by TokyoPop), the game script I found off of the internet, and Re: Chain of Memories cutscenes. I'm sorry if it sounds rather familer. I'm doing my best to add my own spin on this, but don't expect anything changed to drastically.
Also, I assume you, the reader, have some knowlege of Kingdom Hearts when you read this.
Thanks for taking the time to read this. Sorry if I rambled a bit. Please, enjoy.
-Elvengirl10.
Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts is owned by Square Enix and Disney. Not me.
All hearts lead to the same heart.
"Kingdom Hearts."
A place where the might heart lives.
And where darkness is endlessly deep….
Once upon a time, there were many different worlds. Each world was locked, and they did not intermingle. Three children wanted to escape and see the outside worlds. One day, darkness appeared and engulfed the worlds. Many worlds were engulfed by darkness and disappeared.
And one boy was chosen to save the worlds. The boy and his friends fought darkness and locked many doors.
In another place, a lost friend was about to be swallowed by darkness, but he also had the power to overcome darkness. He lost his body, and his soul was left behind on the other side of the door, and his heart began hovering between light and darkness.
The boy was able to lock the last door with the help of his friend, who defeated the darkness.
After his journey, the boy said goodbye to his friends, and ended up in a strange place far away from home.
Clues for finding his friend on the other side of the door came and went.
But the boy had friends.
And he had hope.
-Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. Manga Volume 1.
Sora woke suddenly. It was late at night, and a large full moon cast its meager light on the strange world that he was now in. Not to far away, Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy Cricket slept, oblivious to their friend's awakening. Sora sighed. How long had it been since they had defeated Ansem, and locked Kingdom Hearts? Since they had locked King Mickey and Riku in the realm of Darkness. He hoped his best friend was alright, and Kairi to, alone on Destiny Islands. He was starting to doubt whether he would see his friends again. What was at the end of this long and winding dirt road? Everything had seemed hopeful when they'd started following Pluto, the King's dog. Now, things just seemed to keep going with no end in sight.
Unable to get back to sleep, Sora decided to walk. With the moon shining down, it was easy to see where the road went, and he didn't plan to stray too far. Before long he came to a crossroad, three paths leading three different ways. The place felt slightly eerie to him, like some thing important had happened there before. Something that he was tied to in a way.
"Ahead lies something you hold dear…."
Sora froze. There was someone behind him. The brown-haired boy turned quickly, ready to attack, or at least demand who it was. But there was no one there.
"But to claim it….you must lose something first…"
Sora turned again. The speaker stood in front of him. Tall, wearing a long black cloak that fluttered in the chill wind that had begun to blow. The face was obscured by a hood. The speaker turned to leave. Sora began to follow, but the cloaked figure seemed to disappear into the night. Strange things were afoot. He had to get Donald and Goofy.
"You're certain he went this way?" Donald asked. He wasn't exactly pleased with being woken up so early.
"I'm positive," Sora replied, heading down the straight path from the crossroads.
"It doesn't look like anyone was here," Goofy said, looking around in the morning light. "Are you sure you weren't dreaming, Sora?"
"No. I remember it perfectly. I couldn't sleep last night, so I took a little walk. When I came to this crossroad, a man appeared and said that something I held dear lay ahead. It's has to be Riku and the King!" Sora sounded excited. Goofy, Donald, and Jiminy looked at each other. They were a little bit skeptical, but if this was an actual lead...
"Alright Sora. We might as well investigate this," Jiminy nodded. Sora grinned, and lead the way down the path.
They had been walking all day, but there had been no sign of Riku and the King, or of the hooded person. Donald and Goofy were starting to lose hope. Sora was fighting not to give into doubt. It had to be this way. They had to be at the end of this path. He wasn't going to give up.
As night fell, a large castle came into view. It towered over them on the edge of a cliff, large and intimidating. It seemed fairly new, the brown stone seeming unweathered, and the green roof showed no sign of wear. Behind it, storm clouds gathered.
'He's here,' Sora thought, as he regarded the castle. Without a second thought, he started walking towards the castle. Donald and Goofy followed silently, confused by the actions of their friend. Even so, there was something about this castle that seemed to draw them in.
They opened the door upon a long white hallway. Pillars ran along both sides, but aside from that there was no decoration. At the end of the hallway was a large wooden door, which seemed quite out of place. Nobody else was around.
"You sure we should be barging in like this?" Goofy asked, looking around nervously.
"We have, if we're going to find the King," Donald replied.
"You mean that King Mickey's here?" Goofy said in a shocked manner. Immediately, his nervousness changed to excitement.
"Maybe. Something just told me that he'd be here," Donald nodded.
"That's kinda funny, Donald," Goofy nodded. "Y'see, I was thinkin' the same thing."
"No way. So was I," Sora said, breaking free of his thoughts. "Just one look at this castle, and I knew, they're here."
"Great minds think alike then," Goofy grinned.
"But it can't be coincidence," Jiminy Cricket piped up. "I was thinking the same thing as well."
"Something's going on," Donald said, glaring at the floor. He was immediately suspicious of the castle. "I think we should go check it out."
"Sounds like a good idea," Sora said, turning and heading towards the door.
"Wh-where are you going?" Donald demanded.
"To check things out. What's the matter? Scared?" Sora teased, facing Donald once again.
"Don't be ridiculous!" Donald shouted, following Sora. "C'mon Goofy."
"Alright, but shouldn't we close the door first?" Goofy said, turning to complete the task. He froze for a second. "Sora!"
"What?" Sora asked, and then gasped. Standing in front of the door, blocking their way out was the same hooded figure from earlier. "You!" He jumped back, and at once, the Keyblade appeared in his hands.
"It must be a heartless," Donald said, "I'll take care of it. We'll see how it likes my magic. Thunder!" Donald raised his staff, but nothing happened. "Huh? That's weird. Thunder! THUNDER!" Still nothing. "Um…Fire?! Blizzard…" Still nothing. "Where is all my magic?" Donald cried, shaking his staff as if trying to get some magic out.
"I should think it obvious," said the figure, striding towards them, "The moment you set foot in this castle, you forgot every spell and ability you knew. In this place, to find is to lose and to lose is to find. That is they way of things in Castle Oblivion."
"Castle Oblivion?" Sora asked, looking around. He didn't really like the sound of the name. That was certain.
"Yes….Here you will meet people you know. People you miss…" The figure said, almost persuasively. If his face was showing, it would most certainly be smiling.
"Look, far as I can see there's…." Sora paused. No way. It couldn't… "Riku? You mean Riku's here?"
The figure didn't answer, but something disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Sora was about to say something, when he reappeared behind him.
"Do you wish to find him?" The figure asked, "If you do…" Throwing his hand out in front of him, a wave of petals and black wind hit Sora. Sora threw his hands up to guard himself. It seemed as though the hooded man passed through him.
"What was that?" Sora demanded, holding the keyblade in an attack stance. He ran towards the man, intending to attack, but the figure disappeared in a shower of petals, only to reappear in front of the wooden door at the other end of the hall.
"I simply sampled your memories," the figure replied, "And with them, I made this. The key to reuniting you with those you hold dear." With a flick of his wrist, he tossed a blue card down to Sora.
"A card?" Sora asked, confused.
"Hold the card before you, and the door will open. Beyond it, a new world. Go Sora. To lose and claim anew or to claim anew only to lose…" With that cryptic statement, the figure left once more in the cloud of smoke.
Sora looked once more at the card. If this was truly the way to find Riku, then there was no other choice.
"C'mon. Let's go."
A/N: So, there we go. The next chapter will encompass Traverse Town and it's events.
Regarding updates and when they can be expected. Um...don't expect anything to regular. Basically the new chapter will be up when it is. I am a busy person. I am in first year university. I do have papers to write and reading to do. Obiviously, fanfiction is not to high on the priorities list. And if you want a good chapter, you'll let me take my time and ruminate on it. I will do the work when I have time. I also don't apologize for any of my shortcomings, so please, be patient. Good things come to those who wait.
Again, thank you for reading my story. Please feel free to review or ask questions, or suggest things. You are allowed to criticis me, but don't bother flaming me. If you have the energy to tell me what I'm doing wrong, you have the energy to tell me how to fix it.
Thanks to thesixthturk for looking this over for me, and giving me an opinion. It is appreciated.
Until next time. Thanks again.
