A/N: Well, here's the first chapter, I guess. As of right now, I have no major plans for this. I just had this idea and had to get it out of my head. If enough people want more, I'll continue it, but not right away. I'd have to start WAAAY at the beginning for it to make sense. Really, I need some time to get Sora to this point.

Anyways, as you're reading this, have the playlist that is in my bio open in another tab, and just let it play. I tried to pace this so that it's just right, but not everyone reads at the same rate. Hopefully, you'll find it close enough to make the chapter feel more alive.

Kingdom Hearts: Crossroads of Destiny

Chapter One: A New Life

Okay. Why am I not dead?

That was Sora's first thought as he opened his eyes. A new world laid before his eyes—one that looked abandoned. Hundreds of rusted-out car husks were lined up on a ruined road, stretching as far as he could see. It seemed to be midday, the sun shining off of the small patches of snow that dotted the landscape between the sparse vegetation. In the distance, there was a wall, possibly a couple hundred feet high and outlining the horizon with a thick, dark stroke.

Well that's inviting.

While he waited for his mind to clear, the events that preceded his arrival returned to him. He had been flying on his Keyblade glider, armor protecting him from the darkness of space. He had been approaching a warphole with the intent to travel through it. As he neared it, however, his glider vanished. He was pulled into the warphole with no control whatsoever, and he ended up directly on a new world. Well, not on, per se. He was in atmosphere, falling to the surface, decked out in his armor, and with no method of slowing his descent.

In short, he was boned.

As he fell, the minutes passing him by, he thought about his life. He regretted not making his feelings for his auburn-haired friend known. He regretted leaving on his own instead of traveling with his friends in a ship. Most of all, he regretted never learning parkour, as that might have given him a slight chance of survival. Sora grimaced as the ground rushed to meet him. He really hoped that his death wasn't painful—dead on impact would be quite preferable to suffering with a broken body, simply waiting to pass on.

Time's up, he thought, a mere moment before impact. He crashed into the cold, hard dirt, going from terminal velocity to zero in the blink of an eye.

The world went black.

Waking up after such a fall, while not impossible, is so improbable that it boggles the mind and raises a multitude of questions. This situation is exactly where Sora found himself now, his mind filled with those questions. Why was he not dead? Even more, why was he uninjured? Most importantly, why was there a floating eyeball hovering in front of him?

Also, was it talking to him?

"It worked!" exclaimed the eyeball.

Am I dreaming? I'd have to be alive to be dreaming, wouldn't I? If I am alive, then this could actually be happening, but there is no way I survived that fall. Maybe I'm in the afterlife, and my guide around the afterlife is this...floating eyeball. That makes sense, I guess...

"You don't know how long I've been looking for you," it continued.

Well, I think I've just died, so probably not long.

"I'm a Ghost. Actually, now I'm your ghost. And you...well, you're obviously not from this world, so I've got a lot to explain."

It's official, I am dead. Apparently my spirit turned into this thing and is prepared to haunt this...wasteland of cars? Wait, did it say 'not from this world?'

"I sense that you are confused. I brought you back to life. You were terribly injured, but at least you hadn't decomposed yet. I was here within minutes of you crashing. I've never heard of a Ghost reviving their partner so soon after death..."

So I was dead. And this thing brought me back to life. And there are more undead people in this world.

Where the hell am I!?

As he thought this, he heard a roar in the distance, and the very sound of it raised the hairs on his neck.

"The rest of the explanation will have to wait or the Fallen might find us. We need to get you inside. Now hold on." As it said this, it floated closer to him before dissolving before his very eyes. Sora looked around in confusion, and a bit of fright. He didn't know this Ghost, but it was the only source of information so far, and possibly the only reason he was alive right now. Better to trust it for now, and question it later.

"Don't worry, I'm still with you. We need to move, fast."

Guess it's inside of my mind now, or something.

As Sora began moving, the Ghost continued to talk to him. "We need to get you to the Tower. You probably have no end of questions, and the Speaker and the Vanguard will be able to answer them," it explained. A floating, transparent diamond appeared in his vision. "Head that way."

Yeah, definitely in my head.

He made his way toward the marker, unease towards whatever made that noise fueling his run. He ran for what felt like an hour, the wall in the distance growing and looming ever closer. Finally, he reached the base of the wall, a large opening being the apparent destination indicated by his waypoint. Sora heeded the Ghost's urging to enter through the doorway, finding rusty, steel stairs and suspended walkways. The darkness in this place was almost sickening, his light being attacked at the edges by it. An odd shape appeared in the corner of his vision, completely in focus, leading him to believe that he wasn't seeing it with his eyes, but that it was being pushed into his vision center directly. There was a circle in the middle, and it was surrounded by two tiers of 8 sections each. The top-most section had its outer edge lined in red, though as he turned his head, the red shifted to other sections.

"I just gave you a motion tracker. The red on it indicates that there are enemies in that direction. Bright red means they are roughly on the same level as you, while faded red means they aren't. No idea how many enemies there are though. It could be one, it could be a dozen."

Well, it is more useful than it isn't, so thanks.

Sora continued into the wall, hearing noises that sounded as if there was something crawling through the walls. The noises, in combination with the tight quarters, which made him think of a maintenance area, were making him very nervous. His teeth were on edge and his heart was pounding in his ears so loudly, it felt like the Fallen would hear him. Eventually, he passed through the outer section of the wall and entered a large, empty area. The lights in this area were already working, the Ghost explaining that someone called a Guardian had already passed through, thinning out the Fallen and activating the lights.

"He didn't pass through this precise area, however, so you should still expect resistance. Speaking of, you need a weapon."

Guess I should get my Keyblade out, he thought. That didn't go as well as he had hoped. Try as he might, he could not summon it; he could not call it to his hand.

"I can feel you trying something. I don't know what it is, but it seems to be blocked by a powerful force."

"That's just fucking perfect!" Sora yelled.

"So you can talk."

"Of course I can talk. There just hasn't been a reason to yet. But this is just great. I can't summon my weapon, and I am stuck on this world with no apparent way out, surrounded by an unknown enemy, and am being led around by a floating eyeball."

"I'm a Ghost, actually."

"Alright, fine. A Ghost. That doesn't mean anything to me, so forgive me if I am not blindly accepting what you say."

After this, the Ghost remained silent, obviously not having a response. It knew as little about this person as he knew about it. Instead, it directed Sora to move further into the wall while scanning the environment for any weaponry. After passing through more and more empty corridors, it finally picked something up on its scans—a rifle. The Ghost indicated it to Sora with a small outline in gold. Sora picked it up nervously, not used to using a firearm. Sure, he'd used one before, but that was in a controlled setting, firing at paper targets. Using it in combat was a whole 'nother ballgame.

He examined his new weapon, inspecting it for damage. The holographic sight mounted on top was cracked, but still functional. There were rust spots, but nothing impacting the firing mechanism. A full magazine was loaded, so Sora pulled the arming mechanism, chambering a round. Looking in the nearby containers, he located two spare magazines.

I hope that's enough to get out of here.

As he picked them up, however, they evaporated. He was stunned, and almost felt like crying—he might have needed those to survive. His fears were unfounded, however, when the Ghost chimed in, "Don't worry, I'm just dismantling them until you need them." He breathed a sigh of relief.

They proceeded further into the wall. Sora hadn't caught sight of any Fallen yet, but he could've sworn that he saw something bipedal every time he turned a corner. The red on his motion tracker never strayed from the outline section, but the direction it pointed reinforced his paranoia. One last turn, and he was greeted by darkness. There were no other turns he could take, and the Ghost in his mind told him that this was the only way, but warned him "the Fallen thrive in the dark, we won't," before appearing above his shoulder and shining a beam of light out of its eye. The light brightened the corridor, but it also brightened the figures that were just hiding in the darkness.

"Fallen! Find some cover."

Sora looked around quickly, finding some old containers that were roughly chest-height. He ran to one, and crouched behind it, placing its protective barrier between himself and the strange beings. He leaned out, trying to catch a glimpse of the enemies again, and he was quickly on the receiving end of what looked like a blue laser. His armor blocked most of it, but the heat still singed his shoulder.

"Shield. Wrap yourself in light, just outside of your armor. It'll keep you from getting hurt until it runs out."

Sora did just that, feeling a slight drain on his strength before it leveled out.

"I'll explain more later, just know that your shield can only take so much damage, and will recharge when you avoid damage for a time."

Huh, feels like I'm in a game of Halo.

He leaned out again, taking another blast of energy to his shoulder, but it did not hurt this time. He leveled his weapon, taking careful aim at the glowing points that were the Fallen's eyes, the only visible part of them. He squeezed the trigger. Immediately, bullets started streaming out of his gun, the flash illuminating the corridor. He heard a sound like air escaping, followed by a thud. Another question to ask later. He continued picking off the Fallen, killing a total of five before he could advance. The idea of killing made his stomach clench, but he had to if he ever wanted to leave this place alive. Kill or be killed. He knew that, he just didn't like it.

Finally, the sounds of combat died down. He ejected his nearly spent magazine. It evaporated from his hand and was replaced by a completely full one, which he slid into place. Sora moved out of cover, trying to get a closer look at the enemies whose lives he had just stolen. He confirmed that they were bipedal. These ones were vaguely humanoid. Two arms, two legs. However, they had four eyes, and were rather scaly looking.

"Dregs. The lowest caste in Fallen society. Most Fallen, or Eliksni in their tongue, have four arms, but Dregs have theirs removed and the places that they connect are docked, preventing regrowth. They have to prove themselves to have the docking caps removed."

"Interesting. Let's keep going."

Sora moved on, but what he just did finally caught up with him. He bent over, bracing himself with one arm on the wall, pulling his helmet off with his other. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't feel anything other than horror at what he had just done. Enemy, alien, monster or not, he had never taken a life. Heartless didn't die, they were purified. Nobodies just vanished, their essence awaiting the heart so they can be remade into their whole person.

"You can talk to me if you need to," the Ghost said quietly. "You are young. You probably haven't had to fight for your life like that before. I may not be able to fix your problems, but until we get to the Tower, I'm all that's available."

"It's just—I can't—how do people live with themselves? I know that I would have died otherwise, but still..." He gulped. "What do I do?"

"You press on. Deep down, you know that you did not have a choice. Keep it in mind, as this is only the beginning. Don't worry. It may not be a comforting fact, but it does get easier."

Definitely not comforting. Still, I guess he has a point. He? Eh, may as well be, he sounds male.

Sora took the Ghost's advice and pressed on, pushing through more Fallen before finally crossing the vast chasm in the wall. The bridge, of course, was guarded. For the first time, he met something other than Dregs. Vandals, the Ghost called them, and they were tougher. Most seemed to use a weapon that launched a slow moving, but homing, blast of energy. One that he ran across used a high-powered energy rifle that stung even through the shield. Still, he managed to break through, leaving a trail of Fallen corpses behind him.

"You are running low on ammunition," the Ghost said abruptly. "Look."

A readout appeared in another corner of his vision, showing what looked like an outline of his weapon and two numbers. One read "13", and the other was "0". He quickly deduced that he had thirteen rounds in his current magazine, with zero in reserve.

"Look on the ground near the dead. Sometimes, they will drop ammunition. They may not use the same type of weaponry, but I can transform the material into bullets for your gun."

Sora look around and saw small, white boxes. When he made contact with one, it vanished, and the the "0" changed into a "90." Knowing that he had more ammunition gave him some more confidence. He searched for some more, listening to the Ghost talk about different types of ammunition: white boxes were suitable for small arms, green for more powerful weaponry such as shotguns, and the large purple blocks contained the proper material to make heavy ammunition.

When he reached the other side of the bridge, he found what looked like a chest made of an old fluid tank. He opened it, and the contents seemed to be glowing, blue cubes. As he touched them, however, they dissolved.

"That was Glimmer. Glimmer is both a currency and a raw material. We use it in the Tower to make everything from weapons and armor to transportation. There was also a data blueprint in there and the materials needed for it."

As the Ghost finished speaking, Sora felt a weight appear on his back. Reaching back, he felt another gun. Swapping it with his rifle, he found himself holding a shotgun.

"How?"

"As a Ghost, I am responsible for maintaining your equipment. Since I can't actually hold anything, I can break things down into data, and then reconstruct it using Light. There's more, but I'll explain when you need to know."

What a strange world.

Sora pressed on, keeping the shotgun prepared, as the corridors were getting narrower, and the turns coming quicker. He was glad he did, as the next time he turned the corner, a Vandal dropped down, holding a small sword in each of its four hands. It charged him, winding up to slice him with his two right swords. Sora braced the shotgun against his shoulder, and fired. The kick of the shotgun sent the barrel skyward, but the blast landed on point, decimating the Vandal. Continuing past the harrowing encounter, he entered a larger room, filled with Fallen. Switching out his shotgun for his rifle, he quickly prepared for a fight.

Aiming carefully, he fired, catching the first two by surprise, but then the rest opened fire on him. He took a few hits before reaching cover, the last one stinging slightly.

"Careful, your shields are down. I am going to add a shield monitor to accompany your motion tracker."

As expected, a bar appeared near the top of his vision. There were four segments to it, the rightmost three of which were empty, and the leftmost was red. As he watched, the the empty bars began to fill, fully filling in about three seconds.

He reengaged the enemy, taking out two in quick succession. He dodged away from his current cover, aiming his movement for a pillar roughly twenty feet away. He saw a vandal take cover on the other side of said pillar, so Sora swapped weapons, readying his shotgun. When he reached the pillar he ducked around it and blasted the vandal in the back. The force of the projectiles launched the six-limbed alien into the center of the room. He got back behind the pillar, just in time as streams of energy launched past him. Leaving his cover on the side he initially entered it, he readied his rifle again. Another three dregs fell dead before him. Now, only three Fallen remained, all vandals, and all using swords. Switching to his shotgun, he closed the distance carefully, and blasted the rest of the enemies to death.

"Good work. I think we're almost out of this."

I hope so. This is getting ridiculous.

"You know, I don't think that Guardian had to travel as far through the wall. We must have gotten quite unlucky."

Sora rolled his eyes, but otherwise did not respond. He gave the pathway his full attention, fully expecting to be ambushed again, but it didn't happen. At the end of the corridor he was in, he could see light, and it didn't appear to be artificial in origin. The sight led him to quicken his pace, suddenly feeling claustrophobic after what felt like hours of close quarters. His suspicions were correct, and he quickly found himself outside again. The chilled wind buffeted him, his armor becoming cold very quickly. He inhaled the fresh air, filling his lungs and expelling the last of the stale air from the wall. Refreshed, he let his eyes roam over the landscape.

His jaw dropped.

Dotted throughout the landscape were towers of balls, as well as warehouses and other facilities, for which he did not know the uses. Also apparent, however, were dropships that looked like strange dragonflies. There were a handful of them in sight of his current location; one, however, was quite close. In fact, it was close enough to notice him and aim its turret.

"I'd recommend moving. That skiff's arc turret is no joke."

"Good idea."

Sora ran towards the nearest cover he could find, which turned out to be the remains of a centuries-old tank. He peaked his head out, taking in the situation. The skiff, as the Ghost had called it, was hovering about thirty feet above the ground. The hold in the 'thorax' of the dragonfly shaped aircraft opened and suspension seats dropped down, followed by a group of Fallen. He counted six dregs, two vandals, and four red, floating machines that he hadn't seen before.

"Those are shanks. They fire quickly and with decent accuracy, but their attacks are fairly weak. Watch out for them flanking you, though."

"Thanks for the heads up. Guess I'll take them out first."

He shouldered his rifle, aiming at the closest of the shanks. He pulled the trigger. A trio of shots blasted out of the muzzle, streaking towards the shank. All three ended in solid impacts on the chassis of the floating machine. It went down, its power lost, before exploding on the ground. The rest of the Fallen opened fire on him at the same time. Streams or energy traveled at various speeds towards him. He took a few hits, but fired at the shanks three more times, taking down the rest of them before retreating behind his cover again. He glanced at his shield, noting that it was depleted, and his body actually taking damage.

I should be more careful.

He waited for his shield of light to recharge. When they were full again, he ducked out again, this time fully stepping out. He danced to his right, away from the tank while firing his weapon. Two dregs dropped dead. He dipped and dodged around the energy streams, trying to keep his foes from surrounding him. An endless stream of bullets left his gun, downing three more fallen. One vandal and two dregs were all that remained. He ducked down behind a concrete barrier, his shields once again critical. Finally, he leaped over the barrier, surprising the remaining aliens, and quickly gunned them down with his shotgun.

When the last dreg dropped dead, he was suddenly assaulted by a rush of energy. His shield, which had been dropped to half, was instantly filled. A new icon appeared in his vision, next to his weapon readout. It was a square with a pictogram of a cloud in the middle of it.

"What just happened?" he asked the Ghost.

"The enemies that you will face here all consume Light in some way, whether it be something that they eat or a source of power. When you defeat them, this Light disperses. I gather this dispersed Light, and when I have enough, I use it to reinvigorate you as well as grant you new abilities. The more Light I gather and pump into you, the more you attune to it, which means that you can use it in new ways. You seem to be more oriented with Arc Light naturally, so your first abilities will be Arc related."

This mostly went over Sora's head. What he did gather was that he essentially leveled up. He thought about it some more, trying to gather his thoughts.

"First question: what is Arc Light?"

"Light is divided into three different types: Solar, Arc, and Void, which each correspond to a trait of a star. Solar is fire and heat, Arc is electricity and electromagnetic fields, and Void is gravity. You are naturally aligned to Arc."

"Alright. Second question: how do I use these abilities?"

"Channel your light into your left hand."

Sora concentrated on the familiar feeling of his Light. At least, he tried to. Strangely, his Light felt different. Simply touching it raised the hairs on his arms. It filled him with energy, and left his heart hammering. He tried gathering it into his hand, as the Ghost suggested. A trickle of power left him, accumulating in his hand. Now, give it form. He focused it, concentrated it, and a solid object appeared. The new object was shaped like a grenade. He threw it into the open area near him. Soon after, a bolt of lightning struck from a storm cloud that suddenly appeared, floating ten feet above the ground. Where the bolt struck, lesser bolts shot out parallel to the ground. The clap of thunder accompanying it nearly deafened him, so he dubbed the new ability: Thunder Grenade.

He noticed that the icon that signified the ability became transparent before slowly filling up again from the bottom. When he tried to use the grenade again, he felt like he was trying to drink from an empty glass: there was nothing there.

"Yeah, you won't be able to use it repeatedly. I have to gather some ambient Light to recharge it. There are ways to speed it up, however. You just need to find gear that makes it easier for me to do my job. Though, you are a special case—guardians don't have such advanced armor immediately after revival. I think I can modify your armor and imbue the abilities of gear you acquire, but the effect won't stack. Still, you'll be on the same level as the Guardians."

"You keep mentioning them. What are Guardians?"

"There is so much I have to explain. Tell you what, keep moving so we can find transport to the Tower. I'll explain while we're flying there. Deal?"

"Deal. So, which way should I go?"

Instead of answering vocally, the Ghost put a new waypoint into Sora's vision. He set off, moving quickly but staying wary—enemies could be hiding anywhere. Despite the ancient-looking building, the terrain here was as desolate and lifeless as that outside the wall. In fact, the appearance of the war-ravaged buildings made it seem even more forbidding. He found himself tightly clenching his rifle, the unease putting him on edge. He forced himself to relax. At least he was outside, so he didn't feel claustrophobic.

I have a feeling that this won't last long.

As if reading his thoughts, the universe confirmed his suspicions. He crested a small hill and saw that the waypoint led him back inside. The building looked large, as if it were meant for working on equipment. He entered through an open garage door, the door itself resting upon a destroyed vehicle—a truck of some kind. He wasn't too familiar with vehicles, having come from a small world with few roads, and the worlds he visited seeming to be pre-industrial, for the most part. It was just a larger vehicle, with a cab that was taller than the rest.

Inside, he found a similar situation as the wall: rusty stairs and walkways. This time, however, the walkways weren't suspended. They rested on their support just a foot or so above ground level. His motion tracker was clear, for the moment, so he moved quickly, trying to find whatever the Ghost was leading him towards.

The seeming abandonment of this place made him nervous. Fallen should have been all over, so where were they?

The corridor ended quickly, expanding to show a room with old computer equipment. Nothing worked anymore, of course. He was astounded by the amount of technology that had gone to waste, and confounded by the idea of something that took this much equipment to run properly, especially since this probably wasn't the only room of its like in the area.

He left the room through a door on the opposite wall from where he came in. Another short corridor later and there was an even larger...room? If he could call it that. There was no roof. The open sky appeared above him, stars beginning to appear as the sun set, out of sight. In the middle of the room, in a tangled heap, was some type of aircraft. The fuselage was a giant mess of rusting metal, and parts were strewn about the room, as if something had scavenged the wreck for anything useful.

"There we are."

"This? We were looking for a wreck? What good will this do us?"

"None in its current state. I'll need a few minutes, but I can fix it. I just need to scan it and reconstruct it from the parts. It'll be just fine when I'm done, barring any missing parts..." he trailed off.

"Alright, so I just have to wait, and probably defend you if my motion tracker is any indication," he growled, noticing that there was red all around him. "Great."

"I'll be fine for the most part. Their weapons won't be able to harm me, but if they grab hold of me, they can absorb my light and kill me. So, just focus on not dying. I won't be able to help you actively while I'm doing this."

Sora glanced around the room, looking for a defensible spot. He found a small room in the corner, probably for observation personnel in the past. Waist-high walls lined it, with wide open windows. A thick column made up the outward corner, and there was a standard-sized door near each wall of the main room. He took cover behind the low wall, waiting for the enemies he was detecting to get closer.

He didn't have to wait long. He looked out at the intruders, and cursed the inaccuracy of the tracker. "There could be one, or there could be a dozen," echoed through his mind.

Maybe even two dozen, he thought. Still, they were mostly dregs, a few vandals and a handful of shanks thrown in. They were also bunched up. Guess I get to try out my new toy.

Sora gathered his light in his left hand and let loose. The grenade landed on the near edge of the crowd of enemies. Some of the smarter ones were able to dive away far enough to evade damage, but the resulting lightning bolt fried ten, and probably hurt a few more. His job made much more manageable, he opened fire on the survivors.

His first shots found a home in the heads of a dreg. Its head burst and a mist escaped. Three of its brethren followed soon after.

The surprise faded, and Sora no longer had the upper hand.

The rest fired their weapons at him, their glowing blue projectiles streaming towards him. He moved back into cover. He heard a noise that sounded like a combination of a match being struck and a sparkler being lit, followed by something that looked like a spiked club landed a few feet from him, glowing with Arc energy. It seemed to gain power, then pulsed and exploded in a torrent. Having figured that it was probably a grenade of some sort, Sora dove out of the way a moment before it detonated. Now, he was out of cover, and a follow-up grenade ensured that he could not go back to where he had been. Instead, he took cover behind one of the half-dozen pillars that were around the edges of the room.

Once again, he took aim and fired. Two vandals lost their heads, and a shank fell to the ground. Only seven left, now. He glanced at his grenade indicator, and was relieved to find that it was charged. Summoning the ordnance into his hand, he tossed it at four enemies who were close together. They were toast. The remaining three had ducked down, not close enough to be killed by the device, but still near enough to be hurt. While they were cowering from the blast, Sora brought them down with the remaining bullets in his magazine. He reloaded.

A sound entered his ears, and he only just recognized it as something crashing into something else made of metal. A nearby garage door was blown apart and more Fallen appeared. He was too close to get away in time, however. A few blasts caught him as he tried to escape, his shields completely depleting, the burns on his back punishment for not paying enough attention to the motion tracker. Finally, he made it across the room, taking cover behind an identical pillar as the previous one. A furtive glance revealed that there were fewer this time, but that there was a new breed of horror. A taller Fallen was behind the rest, a full helmet on his head and a cape flowing behind him.

"Watch out, that's a captain!"

The Fallen spread out, attempting to cut off any escape Sora could use. The four vandals that entered were using the long rifles, and were already taking aim towards Sora. He dove from cover, running as fast as his feet could carry him. He fired at the nearest vandal, blowing its head open, but he took a blast to the back before he could get back to safety. This process was repeated three more times, until there were only two combatants left: Sora and the captain.

Sora loaded a fresh magazine into his rifle, and was dismayed when he discovered that he only had eighteen rounds left. With no time to gather ammunition, he did the only thing he could think of—he unloaded everything into the captain's head. What he didn't count on was a shield protecting the menace. A glowing, blue aura surrounded the captain when the bullets hit. Blue. Like Arc light.

So, either it's extremely strong or extremely weak to Arc attacks. Guess we'll just have to see.

He threw his grenade, newly recharged, at the feet of the enemy. The shield surrounding him burst, and he was staggered. Sora was quick to act. He ran quickly, almost flying across the ground, while prepping his shotgun. Before he could reach the captain, he managed to recover. Sora found the barrel of a new weapon pointed in his direction, and was surprised to see not blue, but red. The captain had a shotgun of his own, and it was not powered by Arc. He dove to the side, evading the first blast of the weapon. He rolled to his feet, and continued towards his enemy. When he was finally close enough, he took aim with his shotgun and fired, the blast of micro-projectiles catching the captain in the chest. Still, it did not fall. Surprised, but not relenting, Sora blasted the captain two more times, and it finally dropped dead.

"Good work," the Ghost commented. "I've finished scanning the wreckage. I'm gonna begin reconstruction. It should only be a moment."

Sora nodded weakly. That was a tough fight, but something told him that it was only going to get more difficult. After all, everything up to this point felt like it was a tutorial. He grinned at the thought.

I've always wanted to be in a video game.

Sora looked at the Ghost, who was projecting a wire-frame of the aircraft. As he watched, pieces of the wreckage evaporated, and the wire-frame took on a solid appearance. When all was said and done, the wreckage was gone and a new-looking aircraft hovered in the middle of the room.

"It's done. The only thing missing is a warp generator. We won't be leaving orbit, but it should get us home. I'd recommend getting it looked at fully before leaving the Tower, though."

"Great. How do I get in?"

"Oh. Let me transmat you..."

Sora found himself surrounded by light for a moment, then was suddenly in a cramped cockpit. He looked at all of the instruments, hopelessly lost. This was nothing like a Gummi ship. He had some learning to do.

The Ghost took control of the ship, and took off out of the building's open roof. He set a course for somewhere far away, and let the ship do the rest of the work. Outside, the ball-towers still dotted the landscape. Sora wondered what their purpose was.

"Those are colony ships. Before the Collapse, hundreds of thousands of people gathered here, hoping to start a new life on a new planet. The Traveler gave us many gifts, including prolonged life, but the greatest of them was the advance in technology that accompanied it. Then, the Darkness came."

This piqued Sora's interest. He fought the darkness in every form, so to find it here explained why he had ended up here.

"The Darkness?"

"I'm sure the Speaker can tell you more, so I'll let him explain. I do believe I promised you I'd explain about Guardians, though." When Sora nodded, the Ghost continued, "A very long time ago, humankind only lived to be roughly ninety years old. Everything changed when they discovered the Traveler. Astronomers had detected an anomaly on Mars, the next planet from the Sun."

Sora sat quietly, pondering everything said. It sounded like this story was millenia old. Outside, he noticed that they had entered the upper atmosphere, clouds preventing him from seeing any landmarks.

"Eventually, a crew of explorers were able to travel there, to find that the planet was in the process of terraforming. They also found the Traveler. A great, ball of machinery and light. It had powers nobody had ever seen before. The crew returned to Earth, sharing their discovery. Meanwhile, the Traveler finished terraforming Mars, then turned its attention to Venus and Mercury. After a few decades, it finally visited Earth."

"Why was the Traveler doing these things?" Sora asked.

"Nobody really knows. Some believe it does these things on a whim. Some believe that it had discovered us and began preparing for our expansion. Whatever the reason, its gifts to humanity were amazing. Centuries of peace, exploration, and invention followed. It was called the Golden Age."

The universe seemed to have a sense of humour, as right as the Ghost had said that, the ship burst through a dark grey cloud to find a wall of sun-lit clouds awaiting them.

"However, the Traveler had an enemy: the Darkness. You'll learn more about that from the Speaker, but suffice it to say that the Darkness brought about the Collapse, and most of humanity was wiped out. They were pushed out of the colony worlds, and the remaining people gathered on Earth. When, finally, the Darkness knocked on Earth's door, the Traveler stepped in, stopping its advance, but being damaged heavily in the process. Knowing that it would not be able to protect humanity further, it gave birth to us Ghosts. We Ghosts are tasked with finding people of significant light, all of which were dead already. We had the power to bring them back to life and give them new powers. These people became known as Guardians. They are the only hope for humanity. The Last City has no other defense."

"So, would that make me a Guardian?"

"No, I don't think so. You seem to be a special case, but I don't know what makes you different. That's just another question we should ask the Speaker."

"I see. This Speaker, who is he?"

"Ask him yourself. We're approaching the Tower."

Sora started. They burst through the clouds, and he was astounded by what he saw. A large city surrounded by huge walls sprawled out for miles and miles. On the wall, spaced evenly, were large towers, probably a quarter mile tall, at least.

"The Tower? But there are so many."

"Once, they were all occupied. But the long years went by, and fewer and fewer Guardians , only one tower remains occupied. Only Guardians live there, and you, I guess."

Their trajectory was leading them towards a tower bustling with activity. As the ship flew over it, a transmat placed Sora on an area overlooking the city. He could see the other towers in the distance.

"Head that way."

Sora followed his Ghost's directions, and ended up in a large room with an odd planetarium-like feature. It displayed a holographic image of a sphere, the same sphere that hovered outside the tower, floating above the city like a watchful parent.

The Traveler.

A man wearing all white and black, with a white, near-featureless mask descended the stairs to Sora's left. Another Ghost hovered near him.

"Greetings. I am the Speaker. You must have no end of questions."

That's that. Please review, as I'd like to improve if I continue it. Let me know if you'd like to see more.

Embrace Chaos