A/N: Just something, that came to me. I wrote most of this in study class when I had nothing better to do. Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy six both belong to Square Enix.

I told them to leave. To forget me. That I would be better off, and as the debris of this tower fell and came to crush my frame, I closed my eyes. Finally. Death's grand relief would take me. I was ready…

I thought death would be a relief. It wasn't. I hoped that there was no afterlife, no eternity awaiting me at the end. There was indeed an eternal abyss waiting for me. There was no fire however, no demons to stab at my flesh. Only darkness. Eternal and mind-crushing darkness. Days turned to weeks. Weeks to months. My senses were dulled. I was nothing but a conscious entity. Existing. That was all I could do. Simply be, for twenty-four hours a day. This was what awaited me for the rest of my existence…

No.

I would not allow it. I would not simply exist. Even life wasn't this bad. I ran. I had no sense of direction. No idea where the hell I was headed. Just the knowledge that I was fleeing. As I fled everything…

So much time must have passed by, but eventually, my deafened senses returned. My hearing first, and as it did, I heard them. The insane wails of grief and pain. Above all though, I heard him. His insane hackle. Kefka. He sounded though he were having the time of his life. He was no longer just insane. He was insanity incarnate. I knew my touch had returned as I slammed into something. It felt rocky, most likely a wall, by the feel of it. My sight returned as I saw what lay above. A light. This was the way out. I had no doubt. I climbed

Baram's voice screamed through my head. Coward I heard him shout. His voice spat and exclaimed various other observations of my existence. I didn't care.

Finally, with a light, I could tell day from night again as it blinked. For nine days and nine nights, I climbed with as much force and speed as I could muster. Many entities tried to pull me back down, but my desire to escape was too great. I fought them off of me.

As I reached the top, and I pulled myself up to freedom, the familiar feeling of a body returned. Hunger. Pain. Exhaustion. I took a step, and fainted. My body succumbing to sleep for the first time in longer than I could remember.

As I slept, I soon remembered just one of the reasons I hated life. The nightmares. The horrible, insane nightmares. My former friend. My deceased wife. All dying over and over. Again and again. An image of me doing it, a demented grin plastered upon my face.

The next time I woke, I was freezing. I felt my naked back against stone. My eyes had more difficulty focusing than I remember. Eventually they did, and I sat up. My body was stiff, and it took time for me to move. I was inside a stone chamber, and there was only one other in the room. A blue-skinned man in black, most notably though would be his hair, which was a burning blue flame. He smirked as he spoke to me. His voice was trusting and comforted my bewildered mind, so of course he couldn't be trusted…

Perhaps I was wrong after all. The man didn't try and pretend that he cared about me. He didn't speak to me as a pair, as to fool me into thinking that he cared for me as a person as those I travelled with last time did. He said he was Hades, and he offered me work, even offered to pay. He simply wanted me to kill his enemies. He informed me of the other worlds. Of the creatures known as Heartless, and of what he wanted from me. To find the worlds heart, and help the creatures take it. First, of course, he needed a test of my skills. A trial. My goal: to take my own world. So be it…

He led me down a hallway, and I was faced with my clothes and blades. I felt…strange. As I approached my mask and put it over my face, I recognised the feeling. A feeling as if I were complete again. I fully dressed, and attached my weapons to my body. The ruthless and murderous assassin Shadow, who would 'kill his best friend for the right price,' had been reborn…

My transportation home was aboard a ship, or to be specific, a pirate ship.

The ship's captain, of course, was a pirate. He wore red and extravagant clothes. A notable feature of the man was his missing hand; in its place was a simple hook. He and I did not talk. Good. Just because I worked for these people, it didn't mean I wanted to associate with them. His crew were smart enough to keep away from me, granted, it was probably because he had turned them into Heartless, but still, it made the trip more pleasant…

We arrived without incident, and as we passed over Thamasa, I felt something strange. What was it? I suddenly thought of Relm. But why? I shook it off. I needed to get me head clear of thoughts that did not relate to my job…

We landed at the dragon's den. Alone I made my way through, dispatching the beasts, turning them to Heartless as I was taught. I continued through the dungeon, deeper into its heart, my Heartless helped me defeat the several dragons. Even the ferocious Kaiser dragon was crushed with enough effort. The dungeon cleaned out, I took to wandering the depths of the cave. It would have helped had I known more about what I was looking for. I only knew that it was some kind of keyhole…

Through careful examination, I spotted it. A section of the wall was miscoloured. I examined it, and knew that it was blocking an entrance. It was far too strong for me to break down, so I called forward a Heartless, a large body, so I'd heard. It smashed the barrier down with ease. I dismissed it as the Heartless finished, as I did with all Heartless. They were too useful. Too convenient. There had to be a catch. My destination was clear. I made my way down the passage. Finally, I ended. A room, but there was nothing of notable worth here. This couldn't be it. I turned around to leave, but before I could take a single step, several of the Heartless spawned. I spun around. Perhaps I had missed something. Clearly, I did. The wall began to light up. The light took shape, and there it was. A Keyhole. A bright light radiated from it.

The Heartless advanced upon it. Violating it. Infesting it. It would take time. Hades said that it could take several hours to complete the process, in that time, a ferocious storm would strike the entire world, and the sky would turn black. So I waited, and waited, and waited. Suddenly though, my body froze. A voice called my name. I spun around. It was so familiar, this woman's voice. As I spotted her blonde hair, My head throbbed, and was consumed with agony. I saw her. My dead wife. But it couldn't be. I closed my eyes. She couldn't be here. She was dead!

'What are you doing?' I heard her voice, and it made my brain pulsate, 'Don't do this. Please Clyde. What about our daughter. Did you forget about her? Please don't kill our world.'

It couldn't be her! She is dead. She died. I saw her die with my own eyes. I was there when they buried her. I was there when she bled to death giving birth to her, our daughter. Therefore, she couldn't be standing there! My eyes opened, and my dead lover was gone, instead replaced with another blonde I knew. Celes. How did she find me? Did she know I had returned? How was it possible? How?

Her eyes widened in shock and surprise. Clearly, she had never seen a Heartless before, but she knew one thing. They needed to be stopped. She begged me to help as she drew her blade. I couldn't allow that. The process could not be interrupted. I drew my blades, watching intently as her body froze and her eyes widened. Really, what more was she expecting from me? Using her shock to my advantage, I charged at her. She narrowly evaded my strike. In all honesty, she couldn't win. In the department of magic, she would over-whelm me. However, now that magic was lost to the world, she was no longer a threat.

That was a strange fact though. Magic. I had seen Hades use magic, but here, the Heartless couldn't use it. Perhaps it had something to do with the world itself. During my pondering, I narrowly escaped a slash of her weapon. What was I doing? I should have been paying attention. No more time wasting. Time for her to die.

I began to push her back. Forcing her to jump as far as the entrance. The expression on her face was one of pure rage. She hated me. How much longer did I need to keep going? The Heartless had been working on the Keyhole for hours. They must have been nearly done. Celes was more difficult than he'd expected. Should he call the Heartless to help? No, he could handle this. Moreover, where the hell was that lazy bastard Hook?

Celes charged forward with her blade outstretched. She stopped, and I couldn't blame her. A voice called her name. I recognised it. Locke. She turned around, surprised. She asked why he followed, told him to leave. I saw my chance. I charged forward and slashed my blade. He called to his lover, and she spun around. Too late. The moment she turned to face me, my blade cut through her throat.

Locke screamed out for her, but it wouldn't do much good. She was dying. Pure and simple. Nothing he would say would change a thing. He ran to her side, dropping to his knees. He whispered to her, tears rolling down his eyes. As I knew it to be, inevitably she died. Her life cut short before her time, all because she had to meddle where she was not wanted, where she could do nothing but die.

His breathing became much more harsh. He looked at me with a desire to kill. Eyes that seemed foreign to him. He took her blade, and charged. I would have thrown a blade, but as I was ready to do so, the sound from behind stopped me. The Heartless were finished. Darkness exploded from the Keyhole. It surrounded me, and slammed into his body, sending him down the way he came.

It was dark, so very dark. A pathway appeared before me, and I took it without hesitation. I ran, and as I did, I heard the ship fly over me. Hook yelled to me to jump on. I jumped to the deck as his ship as it made for the sky, and we left this world, allowing it to be swallowed by the darkness.

Our destination, as Hook told me, was a world called Hollow Bastion. I was met by several strangers, as well as Hades. An old walking sack. A green skinned hag. A sea witch. As well as an uptight old man in black and red with a moustache.

They welcomed me into their little group. Or was it a cult, or a conspiracy? They told me they would pay me in the morning, and that I would be doing the same thing soon enough.

Hades showed me to my room, giving me time to think over my new job. The same thing… It would be boring, and a misuse of my skills, but at least the pay was good.

Elsewhere, though the assassin was oblivious to the fact, a curtain Mouse looked up to the sky in horror as another star blinked out. That settled it. He had to do something. This darkness had to be stopped. It was settled. He went about to write a letter to his good friends, and loyal subjects.

Donald,

sorry to rush off without sayin' goodbye, but there's big trouble brewin'.

Not sure why, but the stars have been blinkin' out, one by one. And that means disaster can't be far behind. I hate to leave you all but I've gotta go check into it.

There's someone with a "Key"—the Key to our survival. So I need you and Goofy to find him, and stick with him. Got it?

We need that key or we're doomed! So go to Traverse Town and find Leon. He'll point you in the right direction.

P.S. Would ya apologize to Minnie for me? Thanks, pal.

Signed - Mickey

XXX

A/N: I'll write two more chapters for this. One from Locke's point of view, and another from Relm's.