The Unopening Door

" I've been having these weird thoughts lately… Like, is any of this for real or not?"

Sora drifted helplessly in what seemed like a sea of darkness. It was cold, dark, and Sora could not breathe. He had recently given up hope on struggling and was exausted. He fell deeper to the abyss below him as if being pulled down by an invisible force.

Then the world seemed upright again. He was standing on a peaceful beach. Before him, standing in the water, was the back of a familiar figure. It was one of Sora's best friends, Riku. Riku turned to face Sora. He gave Sora his signature mischievous grin and held out his hand, as if waiting for Sora to grab it. Sora was glad to see him none the less. He ran into the water to join Riku.

Just as he set foot in the water, it began to move away as if it were afraid Sora would contaminate it. Then, Sora saw the cause of this. A large shadow rose over him and Sora looked up to see a tidal wave that was about to swallow him and Riku. Sora tried to grab Riku's hand to bring back to shore, but the wave enveloped them before he got the chance.

After what seemed like hours, Sora opened his eyes. He and Riku were still alive but were under water not far from the surface. Riku was still standing in the same position as when he was above water, with his hand outstretched and a grin on his face. Sora struggled against the currents of the water around him to reach his friend, but the water continued to hold him back. Finally, Sora could not resist the currents and was pulled away from Riku at incredible speed.

Before he knew it, Sora rose from the water. The water was once again waist-high. He looked around, but Riku was no where to be found. He turned around to see a girl his age standing on the beach, waving. This was Kairi, Sora's other best friend. Sora ran to shore to meet her. When he reached her, he bent over to pant, then looked back at Kairi and gave her a "you try running through water" grin.

Kairi smiled at him, but then something caught her eye. She looked into the sky with a curious look in her eyes. Sora followed her gaze to see what she was looking at. It was a figure falling from the sky. With closer observation, Sora made an alarming realization of what was falling… It was him!

But that didn't make sense! Sora was standing right there with Kairi. As he considered the situation, the whole world seemed to flip. Kairi noticed Sora some how falling over and tried to grab his hand. All of the sudden, Sora was plunging head first into the sea. When he splashed into the waves, he did not slow down, but continued to plunge into the abyss.

It grew dark and cold. Soon Sora could not see a thing. His feet suddenly landed on something solid. Sora looked around to see he was standing on a round platform. He took a single step forward and a flock of doves rose from the platform. As Sora watched the doves disappear into the darkness, he noticed the platform he was on now looked slightly different.It was still round, but now it had a brightly glowing image upon it. It was the image of a woman in a beautiful dress.

" So little time… So much to do," a voice said. Sora looked around for the source of the voice, but saw no one. The voice came again. " A long journey lies ahead of you. Now step into the light."

A beam of light shone down in the center of the platform. The voice must have been talking about this, but should this mysterious voice be trusted?

" Who are you? Show yourself!" Sora demanded. " And where am I?"

" Now is not the time rashness," the voice said in a calm matter. " All your questions will be answered in time. Now step into the light."

Sora had a bad feeling about what he was getting himself into, but he did as the voice instructed anyway. He stepped into the light. Suddenly, he felt a sort of warmth inside him. This was a major relief from the chill of when Sora was standing in the darkness.

Suddenly, the ground started to quake. Three pedestals rose from the platform around Sora. Then, an item appeared on each of the pedestals. One was a long, shining sword. Another was a strong shield with a strange symbol consisting of two small circles and one large circle. The last item was a strange staff, topped with a figure similar to the symbol on the shield.

" Power sleeps within you," the voice said. " If you give it form, you can accomplish great things… Choose wisely what aspect in your life will be the strongest."

Sora looked at the items surrounding him. He thought for a moment. He walked to the pedestal with the sword. He grabbed it. It then that he noticed that on the golden hilt, there was the same circular symbol as the other two items. Just holding this weapon filled Sora with power and desire.

" The skill of the warrior. The power to overcome all. A sword of great destruction," the voice said. " … Is this the power you seek?"

" Yes," Sora said without thinking. The sword suddenly dissolved in his hands.

" Very well," the voice said. " Your path has been set. Now what will you give up in exchange? The chosen power will become your weakness, and the remaining one will be your average skill."

Sora looked at the two remaining items. He assumed that shield stood for defense. He thought he could use that, so walked to the staff and grabbed it from the pedestal.

" The power of the mystic. A light in the darkness. A staff of mystic ruin," the voice said. " … You give this power up?"

" Yes," Sora said.

" You've chosen the skill of the warrior; you've given up the power of the mystic," the voice said. " … Is this the form you choose?"

" Yes," Sora said. The pedestals lowered back into the platform. Then, the platform seemed to shatter beneath Sora's feet. Sora fell down into the darkness.

Sora saw a similar platform approaching below him. He landed gently on his feet. Then the sword appeared in his hand. Sora gave it a might swing and felt the urge to fight.

" There will be times that you have to fight," the voice said. Suddenly, small, black creatures with antennae and glowing eyes emerged from the floor. They immediately began to attack Sora. He swung his sword like crazy. It seemed to be working. The creatures were getting knocked back. They all then disappeared except for one. This one formed a dark circle in the floor then sunk into it. The darkness began to spread across the platform. Sora found himself sinking into the floor until his was once again surrounded by darkness.

Sora panicked. He felt helpless waving his arms around like a fish out of water. Then he felt the ground beneath him. He sat up to discover that he was on yet another platform. This time, there was a large door in front of him. Sora got to his feet and approached it. He tried to open it, when there was a sudden flash of bright light.

He found himself on a wooden structure surrounded by water. The sun was shining and Sora could feel the breeze in his face.

" Wait…" the voice said. " The door won't open just yet. First, tell us a little about yourself."

Around Sora were three people. One was a blonde haired boy a little younger than Sora, the second was a red haired boy a little older than Sora, and the third person was a girl a little younger than Sora. Sora walked to the blonde boy.

" What are you so afraid of?" the boy asked.

" I don't know," Sora said. " Being indecisive, I guess."

" Being indecisive?" the boy said. " Is that really so scary?"

Sora then walked to the other boy.

" What do you want outta life?" he said.

" I guess to broaden my horizons," Sora replied.

" To broaden your horizons, huh?" he said.

Sora then went to the girl.

" What's most important to you?" she asked.

" Friendship," Sora answered immediately.

" You're afraid of being indecisive, you want to broaden your horizons, you value friendship," the voice said. " Your journey begins at dawn. It should be a pleasant one."

" Sounds good," Sora said. With that, there was another flash of light and Sora found himself back in the sea of darkness on another platform. There was a beam of light in the center. Sora approached it.

" The closer you get to the light, the bigger your shadow becomes," the voice said. Sora turned around to find that his shadow had somehow risen from the floor and taken a new shape. It was now a huge, black monster with long hair that towered over Sora. Sora took a step back, then turned and ran. He then remembered that he was on a floating platform and stopped just before he fell. He turned to face this new foe.

" But don't be afraid," the voice said. " And remember…"

The creature attacked. Sora dodged out of the way. He then realized that he had his sword in his hand. The creatures hand came down to the floor just in front of Sora in attempt to flatten him. Sora began to slash at the creatures hand. A few slashes and the creature held its hands to its head as if it were having a horrible headache. It then punch both fists in front of Sora.

" But don't be afraid," the voice said. A large shadow surrounded Sora.

" And remember…" the voice continued. Sora fell back onto the floor.

" You hold the mightiest weapon of all," the voice said. Sora could feel what felt like tentacles wrapping around him.

" Don't forget…" the voice continued. Sora was now completely surrounded by darkness.

" You are the one who will open the door."