The Tale of the Lost

PandaShadow

Prologue

A/N: Well then. Hello there. For those of you just stumbling upon this story, you should know that it has been in the works for about six years and, one day, I plan on finishing it. I really do. Even though I keep getting distracted, namely by my original novels that I am writing. Am I biting off more than I can chew? Yes, yes I am.

I've gone through and revised the four chapters of this story that were already present, and I present them to you now. As this is my favorite of all the fan fiction I have ever written, I would like to inform you that it shall be updated with priority to the others I am in the process of attempting to finish.

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. I own only my plot and the original characters, such as Meera, that I have created. I make no profit from writing this story.

A seventeen-year-old, red-haired girl stepped out onto the dark gray balcony outside of her room in Radiant Garden. Her feet were bare on the icy stone, her long black night gown flowing in the slight breeze. She was contemplating a tough decision, though not one that she had never contemplated before.

She gazed down into a small lake in the back area of the castle in Radiant Garden. It shimmered with the reflections from the many, bright stars in the sky. On a normal night, anyone would say that the lake looked majestic, like angels had blessed it. To the girl on her balcony, it looked like a welcoming hole, extending its arms for her to jump inside and be freed of her pain and guilt forever.

The lake itself wasn't large, but it was deep enough for someone to drown in if they didn't care to swim to shore.

She abruptly spun away from the railing of the balcony, taking a cold step back toward the glass door leading into her room. She lifted her pale left hand to her right shoulder, wincing at the memory of the scar that rested there, and the promise that went along with it. She began pacing, trying to decide if she was really doing the right thing. She stopped and placed a hand on her glass door and looked down at the soft, red carpet, remembering how it had felt under her feet only a few minutes ago.

Was she ready to give up that feeling forever?

She could feel her eyes watering as she reminded herself why she had made this decision in the first place. Silent tears rolled down her face as she turned around and placed her hands back onto the dull, stone railing. She had to do it, or people around her would just keep getting hurt. The red-head looked up at the stars and her rolling tears became a downpour, but she remained silent.

"Shamira! NO!" the girl yelled as she saw her only friend fall to the ground, a large gash running across her torso. Tears began to pour out of her gray eyes as she felt her body become numb and fall to the ground. Her fists clutched bits of grass as she sobbed endlessly, even after hearing a chillingly familiar chuckle.

"Have you realized now that I never lie? All that will ever happen to anyone near you is death. They'll try to protect you from me, and they will die. And it will be your entire fault," he punctuated each word in the sentence. "Every single time, it will be your fault. And once I kill everyone with the slightest chance of getting close to you, you will die a slow and painful death by my hand. You remember my promise now, don't you girl?"

She only sobbed harder and clutched her shoulder, remembering the pain. She heard a dark portal opening and knew that he had left. Her sobbing didn't cease, but some of the numbness she had been overcome with ebbed away. She looked up at her friend and Guardian.

"Come here," the Guardian whispered, her silver hair tinted red and tangled. The girl managed to drag herself over to her friend and grabbed her wrist, unable to stop the tears she had been releasing for the past five minutes. Her vision was blurred and she couldn't see Shamira clearly. The silver-haired woman gave her a weak smile. "Don't you ever listen to him. You will always have someone to love you, and you will always have someone to protect you. Never give up… I… believe in y-you…"

"Shamira? Shamira!? No! Don't leave me here! You… you can't leave me!" the red-head yelled, her body wracked with despair. She clung to her silver-haired protector and sobbed her heart out, wishing that someone, anyone, would come help her.

No one ever came.

She knew she had to do it. She refused to cause anyone else to die. She refused to allow him the satisfaction of taking her life. She was able to remember her power, now. She knew, all of those times someone was on the brink of death for her, she had the power to save them. She could have saved them. But she always shut down, forgetting her power, whenever he was near her.

When the girl looked back down into the lake, she had finally made her decision. No more backing out. She carefully lifted her long dress, refusing to look back at her room a final time, and hoisted herself up over the railing. Her knuckles turned white from the death grip she had on the rail, and her heels were the only support she had on the small bit of stone on the outside of the railing. She closed her eyes and, without a moment of hesitation, let go.

And she fell.

It was a very surreal feeling, falling through the air. She felt as though she was dreaming, and in a few moments she would wake up as a young child and start over again. She could feel feathers brushing her face and arms, but she made no move to swat away the birds she assumed were around her.

During her fall, she thought. She thought about how she didn't have a purpose. She thought about her empty heart. She thought about how she was going to die. And she waited for the pain of her body hitting the water at such a high speed. But that moment never came.

There was no splash, no pain, no water, no lack of breathing, only a pair of strong, warm arms around her, keeping her from hitting the water.

"Meera, my god, what the hell were you thinking?"

The red-head slowly opened her gray eyes to look up into a face that held a mixed expression of worry, confusion, and disappointment. She looked away, unable to bear those emotions in his blue eyes.

"Just drop me, will you?" the girl, Meera, asked her blonde savior in the quietest volume she could muster and still be heard. She clenched her eyes closed as she felt his body take in a deep breath.

"Meera, why would you do this? Is it because of-"

"Don't say his name," Meera whispered as she winced, her eyes still closed. "Just drop me, and don't try and save me again. I have no purpose in this world. All I'll ever do is destroy. I cause pain and death, nothing more, and nothing less. The world would be a better place if I was gone," Meera explained in a monotone voice, her volume slightly louder than before.

But no matter how much she could have even tried to beg, the man would not let her go. She sighed but kept her eyes clenched shut. She heard sloshing water and felt his muscles move as he walked away. 'At least I had my aim correct,' she thought sarcastically. He carried her inside the castle and took her back up to her candle-lit room. He sat her down in the soft, wine-colored chair in the corner and stood on his knees in an effort to be at eye-level with her. He took her petite hands in his and began talking.

"Meera, I know you think that getting rid of yourself would be what is best for the people around you, but it isn't something you can decide on your own. There have been many times that I have regretted a decision I made, or how I treated someone. You have to understand that killing yourself would hurt us just as badly as anything he could do," he explained, sternly but quietly. It was four in the morning and he didn't want to wake anyone up, not that his voice was naturally loud to begin with.

"Cloud, that is exactly why I need to go. It's because you care about me. And, anyway, I think you're the only person who really cares. But regardless, I won't let you die because of me. I can't let that happen again," Meera explained, her voice lowering in volume until she was barely at a whisper, to the man she could consider an older brother to her.

"Meera, you can't do this to yourself," he muttered. Meera looked up and stared into his bright blue eyes for about ten seconds before jumping into Clouds arms, sobbing in the comfort of his shoulder. Cloud held her for as long as she needed before noticing her crying had stopped and her breathing was deep and even. She was asleep.

Cloud picked her up and carried her over to her bed, tucked her in, and looked at the time. It was almost morning. He closed Meera's thick, black curtains and left her room, telling everyone in the castle that was awake not to bother the girl. And it was at that moment that he spotted three unexpected, but not at all unwelcome, guests.

A/N: Well, that was fun. I got to make this chapter even prettier than it was before. I think I really like it now. Which is very exciting. For new readers, yes, this chapter is very dark, but the tone of the story gets lighter and more comedic before it gets darker again.

I would like to thank you all for your time, and I hope you enjoy my next revisions and, hopefully, updates.

C. E. Taylor