Welcome, traveler! This is a novelization of the first Kingdom Hearts, but that does not mean all is familiar. Kingdom Hearts I was a wonderful, beautiful, amazing story, we all agree-but directly copy and pasted, it would make quite the uncompelling book; a crime against a story such as this. Therefore, here, I have done my best to rewrite the story in such a way as to improve what lacked in the original, turning it into a fresh and compelling read, without leaving the source material behind.

This is Kingdom Hearts I, but it's more than what you've known.

I originally wrote this between 2008 and 2011 as a hobby. By now, a decade later, I have also completed Kingdom Hearts II, which together constitute the first two parts in a 4-or-so part series, envisioned long ago. With only KH1, KH2 and CoM in mind, this continuity does not reflect any content of Birth By Sleep or any other following games, excepting what we knew back in 2008 from the teaser at the end of KH2 and the bits of 358/2 days. At the moment, I continue to release at Part 3.

With that said, please, take a seat, grab a cup of your favorite beverage and enjoy this wonderful story that I can only humbly reinterpret. I hope it is enjoyable and, perhaps, brightens your day. Thank you for enjoying this adventure with me!
~Mars

Chapter I: Destati- A Dive to Heart
I've been having these weird thoughts lately.
Like is any of this for real?
Or not?

A young boy floated through darkness, his body weightless, his heart bright.

Slowly, but with gaining speed, he sunk through dark, murky water- or was it air? Was he upright or downright? Was he sinking or rising?

Suddenly, his cerulean eyes opened and there he stood, upon a beach: clear skies, cawing gulls, blossoming greens; over it all, the sun blazed down, forcing him to squint to see another boy standing knee-deep out in the clear blue water, watching the horizon.

Beneath his feet, he felt the slow, uncontrollable retreat of sand with the tide; that familiar sink as the ground was literally pulled from below him. The other boy, silver hair glinting in the sun, stoically watched as the water retreated around him, too, forming a giant wave further out to sea.

As the wave approached, eternally cresting, he turned calmly back to the beach and the boy with the bright heart, and reached out a single hand. Turquoise eyes, flickering behind those silver bangs, pulled at him- that hand beckoned him forward, welcoming him to join his hopeless watchmanship; inviting him out into the deep.

The bright boy stepped forward, yet the water continued to retreat, no matter how he tried to catch it. He dashed to make it, not knowing why, but hoping at least to be washed away with his friend. The wave had crested even higher, yet the invitation remained, unmoved, unconcerned; confident and secure.

As the bright boy stumbled on the sinking, wet sand, he made it close enough to brush the tips of the other's fingers, only for the wave to come crashing down, tossing the bright boy back, head-over-heels.

Coming out of his tumble, he found himself utterly submerged- where was the surface? It was all blue now- was he upright or downright? Sky or water?

The other boy floated a few feet away, arm outstretched, completely unperturbed. His eyes were still a challenge, invitation, and demand, all mixed up in one. The bright boy flailed through the water, trying to reach the other, but the wave's second wind struck him with a current which mercilessly shoved him backwards,away and away, out to sea. Or into a beach that no longer existed.

Then it was upright, downright, into air, through water, and the surface broke again.

Instead of its former blaze, the sun was now setting behind him, painting the clouds with rays of red and pink. He heard a voice call to him from the shore: a young girl waved him in, cupping her shout and bouncing a little on her heels, full of life and movement. The girl's auburn hair blew about her face as she swung her arm to get his attention. Her dark blue, nearly violet, eyes were a joy, invitation and welcome, all mixed up in one.

The bright boy found his footing and waved back, trudging to shore. He was certainly upright now, he knew.

Sloshing out of the water, he leaned on his knees to catch his breath, heaving a sigh upon dry ground. The girl giggled at his exhaustion- it had only been a simple walk in from the ocean, after all.

But her laugh was cut sort, as her jaw dropped open, with eyes entranced by something beyond him. Straightening up, the boy saw the same: meteors were falling, dozens of bright streaks of light across the evening sky.

Yet, something odd struck him, then a bizarre sort of dizziness. One of the meteors was not burning out, rather, it was coming closer. A brief glance to the girl confirmed he wasn't seeing things, no, her mouth, too, was covered in shock.

The dizziness was becoming unbearable, as the boy looked back again: it was a vague star-shape, but flattened out with the momentum of the fall; spiky-brown hair and baggy pants that rippled in the wind fell headlong into his vision-

And it was him.

And what does one say when you see yourself falling from the sky?

He knew, though, he was no longer upright.

The ground released beneath him, now an open, watery mirror to fall through. He tried to yell for help but nothing came out, as the girl looked down to see him slip, just in time to reach out a too-late hand to grab him-

But he had already fallen from the sky and was now returning to it.

Her eyes followed him, arm still outstretched, but even then, she, too, disappeared in a ripple; like a stone thrown into the sky.

The bright boy felt the sensation of wind rushing past him- upright or downright, he could no longer tell.

He probably had never been able to.

Before long, his feet touched down on something solid, once again. Drifted-open eyes studied an empty darkness all around, while beneath him lay a circular, stained-glass mural. Figures were etched into the glass, but he was too close to make sense of the image.

Suddenly, a voice spoke.

"The door is still shut."

He spun around, looking for the source. It was deep, yet it was light. It was hearty, and yet soft. It was kind, yet firm. It was distant, yet in his heart. It was thunderous, yet quiet as the whisper of his mother's goodnight, on a late summer evening.

"You must keep your light burning strong."

No sooner had the voice finished speaking than shadows began appearing upon the glass: living, writhing, and twitching two-dimensional forms.

The shadows began to grow, and as the boy looked on in horror, they took on three dimensions: beady, glowing yellow eyes atop a short body. Their heads jerked around, like animals smelling a meal. Their long claws and twisted feet snapped and snatched at the empty air. The darkness pressed in all around.

"The day you will open the door is both far off and very near."

Suddenly, there was a toy sword in his hand, wooden and familiar. He swung it sloppily at the living shadows, which shrunk back from encircling him.

Swallowing, heart racing, head buzzing, the boy took a ready stance that he had learned from-

Oddly enough, he did not remember who.

Who was he again?

"The closer you get to the light, the greater your shadow becomes."

The shadows continued to twitch and move around him, just out of reach. As they swayed, they bumped into each other. Their borders merged, their edges became fuzzy and they seemed almost to melt together; eyes shifting and moving around blurred masses of twisted darkness, with twitching, murky appendages. Their mass grew and stood taller and taller, broader and broader.

"But don't be afraid..."

The bright boy stumbled back, and the shadow continued to grow and shift, looming over his tiny form, perched on the edge of the stained-glass platform.

"And don't forget..."

The eyes had merged all together into two glowing orbs the size of plates, upon a round head. Two great arms and legs sprouted, while the appendages morphed into long black tentacles where hair should've been. On its torso, the darkness retreated until a heart-shaped hole was formed right through its torso, now towering many feet in the air.

"You hold the mightiest weapon of all."

A great fist of darkness reached out for him, sharpened talons grasping. The toy in his hand was useless, and the boy could only shrink away as the giant hand eclipsed his vision.

It all became darkness again, with no upright or downright, no sky or sea, no sinking or rising.

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

Welcome to the Beginning.
Welcome to Kingdom Hearts.