Finding My Adventure
Chapter 1: A Rude Awakening
'Twas a dark and stormy night...Wait a sec, wrong story. Once upon a time... No, that's not right either. Hmm, lets try this.
Ahem.
It started on a Friday. Well, more like Thursday night. I had fallen asleep in my bed with the television on, so you might understand why I wasn't alarmed when there was an odd whooshing noise followed by a thump. No, what woke me was the girls cursing as she righted herself on the bed. And no, not in that way. I rolled over to see what was going on just as she realized she wasn't alone in the room. Well, needless to say I was more than a little shocked to see a strange girl in my room, so I did the only thing I could think of. I screamed like a little girl and tried to scramble away from her as quick as possible. It was only after I reached the lamp on my desk and turned it on that I realized that I wasn't exactly dressed. So sue me, that's how I sleep. Anyway, I immediately blushed then raced to clothe myself. As I was doing this, I determined I would find out exactly what the gosh-darn heck was going on. "What the HELL ARE YOU DOING IN MY ROOM?! Who are you?! What's going..." I broke off as I got a better look at her. At her red hair. Her pink, zip up vinyl dress with white undershirt. Her indigo eyes. "Holy F----ing S—t! Kairi is in my bedroom!"
Before we continue, I should probably tell you a little about myself. I am around 5 and a half feet tall. I have brown, extremely curly hair, and brown eyes. I am a senior in high school, and I love Kingdom Hearts. I even have a stuffed shadow heartless! I even read tons of fanfic(yes, I'm talking about you, DanceKristiDance, Igor Lollipop, Krystal Lily Potter, Rayna Lissesul, Lesser, Star Tours Traveler, Darius Almighty, etc). So you can only image how I felt seeing THE Kairi sitting, bold as brass, right there on my bed. Talk about unreal. "Holy crap. I cannot believe this. It's you, it's really you! Is it? Are you really here?" I was rambling. Why couldn't I stop rambling?! She looked at me with this weird look on her face. Sort of a combination between 'Who the hell is this kid' and 'What the hell is he saying?' Thankfully, she chose that time to speak, "Woah, woah, woah. Slow down. Who are you and how do you know my name?"
"Oh, heh, right. My name's Charles, but my friends call me Chuck. I already know who you are."
"Yeah, about that. How do you know who I am?"
I fidgeted as she asked this. How do you explain to someone that they don't exist? Or does she? Hmm. Damn existential conundrum! Where was I? Oh, yes! How to explain. "Well, Kairi, you kind of, um, don't exist." At this, she raised her eyebrow and waived a hand at herself, as if saying 'Really, I don't exist? Then who are you talking to?' It was a valid point. "Okay, maybe that isn't the best way to say it. Well, you, Sora – and yes, I know about Sora too – as well as Riku and King Mickey, you are all characters in a video game in this world. You're fictional. Or, at least, I thought you were." She gave me that funny look again, then said, "So let me get this straight. I'm a character in a video game?"
"Yep."
"And so are Sora and Riku?"
"Uh huh."
She thought for a moment. "Do you happen to own said video game?"
I was flabbergasted. "Well, uh, yeah. How else would I know about you? Actually, wait here. Don't move." I waived at her to sit on the bed, "I'll be right back." She sat down as I bolted out of the room, running downstairs to get my PS2. I brought it back upstairs into my room and hooked it up. "Okay, here it is." I showed her the boxes for Kingdom Hearts I and II, as well as the strategy guide for KHI. "This is so weird," she mumbled, as she looked them over. I took KHI from her and loaded it up. I gave her the general gist of the game, showing her some of the characters, and asking her if she recognized them. Upon seeing her younger self, she almost shouted. "Oh my god! That's me as a little girl!"
"Kairi, try to keep it down, please?" I tip-toed to the door to check to see if anyone woke up. "Good, I don't think they heard. Kairi, my parents would likely make some awkward assumptions if they found a strange girl in my room in the middle of the night. While we're on the subject, how did you get into my house?" I looked at her questioningly. As far as I knew, you didn't fall when you beamed down from the gummi ship. She shrugged, "Well, I actually have no idea. One minute I'm with Sora and Riku on the gummi ship, the next I'm falling onto your bed. As to what happened, your guess is as good as mine." Suddenly, I felt very, very tired. Before I passed out, there was something I just had to know. "Umm, Kairi?"
"Yes"
"Can you do magic? I mean, around here, there is not such thing as magic except in fantasy books and the movies. So, could you show me some? Something simple. And definitely not an offensive magic like fire. I don't want my house going up in smoke. That would be awkward explaining." I smirked. "Sorry mom and dad, but this girl from a video game was showing me how to conjure fire balls!"
She giggled. "Yeah, that would be tough to swallow." Kairi thought for a moment, then seemed to make up her mind about something. "Okay, sure. How about reflect?"
"Okay," I said with a shrug.
Kairi held out her hand, and in a flash, summoned a keyblade. Man, I was seriously geeking out.
"Cool, Oathkeeper! So you can wield a keyblade too? I know that at the end of Kingdom Hearts II, Riku gave you one, but I didn't know if that was temporary or not. Oh, right, you didn't play the games." I scratched my head. "Did Sora tell you about his adventures?"
"Yeah. I wish I had been there. After being the damsel in distress twice, though, I swore that I would be the one doing the rescuing from now on." I nodded in agreement, then went on, "So, in the games, there was this part where Riku, looking like Xehanort's heartless, gives you a keyblade to fight with. This is when you guys are in The World That Never Was. Did that happen, or was it just in the games?"
"No, I remember that. Shortly after that Sora and I were reunited. Well, anyway, I'm going to cast reflect. Here I go." Kairi raised Oathkeeper above her head, then brought it down into a guard position, just as she called out, "Reflect!" Just as the keyblade stopped moving, a brilliant shield of what looked like glass materialized out of thin air around her. I knocked on it a couple of times, surprised at how much my hand bounced back. Kairi stepped out of the stance, and the barrier dropped. It was so extremely cool, and I said so, "That was so cool! It was just like in the game!" She scuffed her shoe against the floor, "It was nothing, really. Sora's is much better."
"He's had more practice. Oh, speaking of Sora and 'just like the game', when you and Sora were reunited, and he found out about Riku. If you don't mind me asking, did you kiss? 'Cause in the game it seemed like he just blew right by you and focused on Riku. I mean, he spent something like two years trying to find you, the girl he loves, and he just blows by you?"
Kairi flushed a deep red. You practically couldn't tell the difference between her hair and her cheeks. It was rather endearing. "Um, I don't know about love -" I cut her off.
"Look, Kairi, if a guy is willing to fly from one end of the galaxy to the other just to find you, and then stab himself in the chest to save you, it is a pretty safe bet that he loves you. Anyway, continue." I wave her on.
"Well, if you say so. To answer your question, yes, he did kiss me. And I get what your saying, but if he loved me and never dated anyone else, then what I want to know is how he learned to kiss like that."
I smiled at her, yawning as I said, "You two are very lucky. Well, I should go to bed. After all, if in the morning it turns out that you don't exist, I still have school to go to. I'll set you up in the guest room. If there's anything you need, just let me know."
"Thank you."
"No problem. Anything for a princess of heart," I reply with a wink. I lead her across the hall to the guest room, pointing out the bathroom on the way. "If you need to shower in the morning, it's right in there. Also, there should be a new toothbrush in the drawer if you need it." I made sure there were pillows on the bed, and started to leave the room when I thought of something. "Um, Kairi?"
"Yes?"
"If it's not too much trouble, if you get up before 7:30, could you just hang out in here and keep quiet? I have to get my sister to school, and my mom might not be gone before then, and I wouldn't want them to start asking questions I can't answer. I'll make a short appearance at school and then be right back. Missing one day of school won't kill me."
"Okay. I get it. Goodnight, Chuck."
"Goodnight Kairi," I said as I left the room. I walked across the hall, got in bed, and turned out the light. It was going to be a long weekend.