A revised first chapter of my epic-like Kingdom Hearts fanfiction.

I'd rate the story at about PG13 overall, but mature, developed, and complex enough for older audiences. It's a tale of struggle, conflict, loss and love, really all the classic ingredients of an epic action/adventure. But it has quite a few twists, twists on the twists, lies and half-truths and pain and good forced to evil. This one is not for someone who can't deal with failing lights, hopeless dark, and dim greys that can never triumph.

If you really, really hate OC's, this is muchly NOT the fic for you. -;; The main characters are almost all original, with the canon cast more of a back-up crew, and some extras pulled from various Final Fantasies. Sora, Kairi, and Riku don't even appear until far, far into the story, since the first forever is set in the Bastion.

Warnings: (These apply to the ENTIRE fanfic-- much of it doesn't appear until later chapters, actually) Angsting, fratracide, strong female characters, the real side of life, Squiffy, Claerith, some OCOC, SoKairi, RikuOC, eventual implied Seph>OC, minor swearing, PG13-level violence, many OCs, suicide, implied SI, bipolar disorder, minor use of Japanese, general dark/questionable themes

Experimental

Beginnings: Part One

Henbo

Hallow Bastion

Leon swiftly climbs the shelves, only the faintest traces of dust dancing up from under his fingers in the well-tended library, the spines of the books bright even in the muted sunlight. He came to the library often; it was always peaceful and quiet, and a good place to think-- although Yuffie had been catching on to his favorite spot, coming around to annoy him more and more often.

He settles on the top of a bookshelf, back to the wall and one leg dangling over the edge as his mind traces back through old musings; about three years ago, when the Heartless were sealed away: Before that, when life was a struggle to survive; the friends he thought he would never see again, and the lives he couldn't save. Some of the thoughts are grim as his mind replays hearts being lost, friends and strangers and rivals all falling to the same fate. Other thoughts are warmed by fond memories, of a chipper boy who freed those lost hearts, of puppies returning home with happy yips, of reunions and meetings when the worlds were restored.

He had been sitting for quite some time, silent and distanced from reality, when a thump brings his mind back to the real world.

The thump is followed by a high-pitched yelp, a patter of light feet, and the slightest glimpse of a figure between the shelves-- A figure far shorter and skinnier than anyone Leon knows, with masses of silver hair that hides any details from view. But before Leon can call out, the figure is gone.

The only people with silver hair are taller than me, his mind mutters. And Sephiroth never leaves his rooms, and Baralai's hair is short.

So who was that?

"Neko! Imouto! Someone was THERE, you moron!" Takeo glares at his sister, aqua eyes burning in anger. "He might've seen you!"

Neko hisses at Takeo, trotting past him with a toss of her auburn-streaked silver hair. "He was daydreaming, Niichan, he wouldn't've noticed if I yelled in his ear." She pauses at a turn in the secret passage, looking back with cat-like lavender eyes. "And I'm getting sick of all this hiding, of lurking in the shadows like-- like Oni does! They're not evil, not like--" Neko stops mid sentence, growling at nothing. "HIM." With another toss of her hair and a useless attempt to sweep her bangs out of her eyes, she continues through the darkness. Takeo swears under his breath, double-checking the latch on the hidden panel before following Neko.

"Imouto, they may not be like him-- they hate him! But--" He brushes at his own bangs, peering ahead to try and see her, then sighs slightly and summons a ball of blue-white light to his hand. It reflects against Neko's hair, and he picks up speed, only slowing when he's just behind her. "But he MADE us, and since they hate him, they'll hate us, too. So they can't know we're here!"

Neko hisses again, sliding into the niche she's padded to make into a bed, and crouches beside the youngest sister. "Ne, Anzu-chan? You awake?"

The girl sighs and opens her eyes, a sleepy "Neechan?" drifting from her lips. "You're upse'..." She blinks fuzzily, rubbing her eyes as she sits up. "Really upset. What's wrong?"

"Do you think they'd hate us, just 'cause Ansem made us?" Neko scowls at Takeo. "HE thinks so..."

"Some of them maybe... Not the nice people..." Anzu yawns and shakes her head. "The pink lady would be nice. She's nice to the man wh-wh-wh--" The sentence trails into another yawn, then Anzu continues. "She's nice to the man who almost killed her, forgives him for lots..." Anzu yawns a third time.

Neko growls at Takeo. "See? Imouto-chan's never wrong about how people react. So if we go to, um, Aerith, I think her name is, she'll be nice." With a firm nod, she stands and offers a hand to Anzu, who reaches up to grasp it. As Neko pulls Anzu up, Takeo sighs.

"Neko-- my Dreams aren't wrong..."

"Like HELL they aren't. They're always worst-case scenario, and the people are twisted to the worse."

"That's 'cause people are always worst." Neko, Anzu, and Takeo all twitch slightly as their older brother seems to melt out of the darkness, face downcast behind drooping white hair. "They hate what's different, what they can't control. And we're different." He levels a dark look at Neko. "Imouto, you shouldn't have taken the risk."

Neko snarls, but Anzu grasps her arm, a whimper of sadness enough to calm her sister. "Oni..." Blue eyes look up at him, sad and searching. "You don't really believe that. We're just kids... they wouldn't hurt us."

Oni stares broodingly at the ground.

Anzu sighs. "C'mon. We're all unhappy. Let's go to the kitchen." And she reaches out to Oni's hand, catching his fingers and tugging both him and Neko down the passage. "Takeo? Are you coming?" she asks, peering over her shoulder.

The eight-year-old sighs. "Well..."

"The pink lady made cookies-- we could snatch some!"

He perks up. "Cookies?" A smile flits across Takeo's face, and he jogs after them.

Anzu smiles happily as her family cheers up instantly, even Oni looking happier as his eyes flood with cheerful pink.

Translations: Originally, the charries didn't start spouting Japanese until later, but I'm so USED to it by now that they'll use certain words from the start.

Imouto: Little sister-- very informal.

Niichan: Older brother-- pretty informal.

-Chan: Honorific, along the lines of saying "Little", or "Dear", or "Beloved" before someone's name. So Anzu-chan is "little Anzu", or the equivalent. Very familiar.

Neechan: Older sister-- pretty informal.