Wuz up! For those wondering, this is a re-write of 'Pieces.' For those who don't care now you know. Either way, after some feed I came to the conclusion that the story was rush so going to be writing a prologue first meaning I've got eleven chapters stocked and ready. Enjoy!
Prologue One
"Loose Ends"
The heart, what is the heart? Is it the force the guides humans to their dreams? It could be a weapon. Maybe it is a figment of imagination. These are questions that have plagued the worlds since the beginning. Countless men tried to find the answer; however, all they found was destruction. Heartless, those who were consumed by darkness; Nobodies, the empty shells left behind by the consumed; Unversed, the culmination of man's negative emotions; the more man sought to understand the heart the more of these beings were brought into the worlds.
The weapon that could create balance in the world, the Keyblade, chooses its wielder. Countless wielders have come and gone but, in this day and age five still stood. One of them ruled over his kingdom to maintain its peace. Another watched the worlds from his tower making sure the balance was stable.
Three of them lived peacefully on their islands. For a year and a half they had been fighting the man who sought to destroy the balance of the world: Xehanort. Despite the countless hardships and battles they finally stood victorious. One of them, Sora, sat on the beach looking at the sea with his blue eyes. The warm ocean breeze blew through his brown spiky hair. As far as he was concerned only few things were left to end the adventures he had. However, it was fairly obvious that he was not going to get them easily. The story went back almost eleven and a half years to the time when the entire battle first had begun. His goal was to locate and restore three wielders one of whom he shared a piece of. The first thing he had to do was find the other piece.
"Are you sure this is going to work?" A voice said in the back of his head. In a flash golden light the voice appeared. A blond boy with equally blue eyes transparently sat next to him.
"Roxas, why wouldn't this work?" Sora asked looking at the blond.
"There's particular reason it wouldn't. We just can't say for sure." Roxas replied. "Besides, how do you know Vanitas will even cooperate? He sounds like a pretty bad guy."
"Yeah well, if he doesn't cooperate we'll just make him." Sora said with a smile. He relaxed his muscles and closed his eyes listening to ocean breeze. Steadying his breathing looked into the depths of heart searching for someone. He fell into an abyss slowly drifting down into nothing. Then something came into view. A stain glassed image of his younger self gave him a foot hold stopping him. Along with his own image his friends as the Keyblade were visible.
Sora looked around and spoke. "Hey, Ventus, can you hear me?" His voice echoed in the empty abyss repeating the words verbatim.
A small orb of light rose from the center of the platform. "Sora…" It said softly.
"If we're going fully recover your heart, we need all it, even the parts you'd rather not have." He explained.
Ventus remained silent for a moment recalling the events from years past. "I understand. Besides, if I beat Vanitas once, I can do it again." His voice was filled with confidence as he floated to Sora. "Take me into your hand. To catch Vanitas, we need to find what's left him. I can feel it. He used what little power he had left to escape to a place with a high concentration of negative emotions and hid himself inside of someone to recover. It's a surprise he hasn't made a move yet. I'll see if I locate him and send your consciousness there."
"And I'll make sure to bring him back with me." Sora reached out and grabbed Ventus. For a moment Sora felt like he was flying over the ocean. Then he curved skyward and into the atmosphere. It was not long before he reached space. It was blue with auroras floating around it. Countless worlds dotted the sky and passed by Sora as he sped through the vast field.
However, something strange occurred during his trip. His consciousness felt heavy resistance as space seemed to warp around him. Sora pushed and pushed until finally the barrier gave way. What Sora saw then puzzled him greatly. Rather than the deep blue he was accustomed to, he saw empty blackness. Stars dotted his view as he weaved through space. Rather than worlds with visible details, he saw large planets no noticeable traits beyond a major color. He passed by the gas giants known as stars without feeling any heat being but a mere shadow. It was all new to him. He could not help but to wonder if something gone wrong during the transfer.
After what felt like an hour of ceaseless travel Sora finally closed in on an ocean covered planet. He entered its atmosphere almost shouting in glee that his journey might be coming to an end. It was not long before he reached a city. He was shocked at the sight. The technology it had was astounding to him. The city was lit up brightly with countless lights and attractions. Strangely, everything was still as though time had come to a completely stop. His consciousness passed through buildings as though they were not there. Eventually he reached a boy with dark skin, dreadlocks, and forest green eyes. A pair of headphones was around his neck. The boy was laughing with his friends apparently having a good time. He was the one Sora entered.
Sora found himself on a stain glass pathway that lead into a black abyss. At first he hesitated but then followed it having nowhere else to go. It seemed like the path went nowhere at first since all Sora could see was pitch blackness at the end. But Sora walked on realizing that his target was probably at the end. Slowly his sense of time drifted away in the emptiness. He began to wonder how long he had been in there: minutes, hours, days: it all seemed to escape his mind.
After what felt an eternity, the path began to widen. That's when Sora was able to have a visual on his goal. He began to run following the ever widening stain glass until he reached another platform. He looked and saw what almost a mirror. The face was perfectly identically to his own with the exception of amber eyes rather than blue. The mirror's hair was black instead of brown. From the neck down he was cocooned in black chains that hung from the abyss. "Well, it's been about for two months since I've had visitor. To what do I owe the pleasure, Sora?" He said in mocking tone.
"Vanitas…" Sora said quietly. "I want come with me to help restore Ventus."
Vanitas laughed. Despite being trapped he was thoroughly amused by Sora's request. "Restore Ventus! Are you bullshitting me or what? Why in this or any world would ever want to restore with that bastard? Screw the X-blade. The only thing I'd do if I got out of here is tear him and everything else apart." Vanitas's laughter ceased as thought for a moment and sighed. "That is if I ever get of here."
"What do mean by that?" Sora inquired.
"You heard me. This kid's heart is an impenetrable fortress. As you can plainly see I'm thoroughly tied up. This seal strong enough to hold all of my power in. I can't even summon the Keyblade."
"I'm sure if I just talk to the guy he'll listen to reason."
Vanitas laughed again this time even harder than before. "Who do think this kid is? 'Listen to reason,' are you crazy? He's only fourteen but, he more powerful than me. Hell, he might even be as strong Xehanort if not stronger. The nanosecond he realizes you're down here, he'll tear you apart himself. He's a freaking demon child. Just watching this kid makes being stuck in here less annoying. At least in here I keep my own existence."
"Really, I'd think you'd rather be on the outside doing this yourself instead of having someone do it for you."
"Do it for me? Please this kid already killed thousands on his own terms. He doesn't need me for that. And from the looks of things, you're next."
Sora turned around and saw the blade of a black katana in his face. The boy was holding it in one hand while a smile was planted on his face. "You know, intelligent people would run like hell when they realize their mission was a bust. So, why are you still here, Ventus? Or, is it Sora? I really don't care."
"It's Sora. What's your name?"
"That's none of your business." The boy replied. "But tell me something, why the hell are you in my heart?"
"I came to take him. You see, my friend Ventus…"
"Man, you really don't know how to see through people." The boy walked around Sora but, kept his blade at the neck. "I know about Ventus and Aqua and Terra and how you want to bring them back. Problem is you need my help to do that." He stepped back and tapped his blade on his shoulder. "Tell ya what, I'll consider helping help you, Naminé and all your other friends…" The boy swung his blade creating a gust that sent Sora flying into the darkness. "…if you can find me in person!"
In less than a second after losing sight of the boy and Vanitas, Sora found himself slammed back into his body. His breathing was heavy causing him to clutch his chest in shock. "Sora, what happened?" Roxas asked.
"I found him, sort of…"
Pieces
"Where the hell am I?" A girl walking the streets of the main island said to herself biting her thumb. Her long dark brown hair was covered by a blue sun hat that also shielded her pink eyes. She warily walked around the town watching and observing everything. They spoke her language but, she had no idea where she was. She pulled out her cell phone and grimaced at screen. "No reception, that's just great." She fingered the touched screen and saw her resources. "My apps are still work but, what I need is a cell phone tower. What kind of back water planet is this?" She pondered.
The girl snarled in anger as she thought about her predicament. "When I find the bastards who sent me here I'm gonna…" She bumped into somebody. She looked up and saw tan skinned boy with orange hair that came up to one point at the edge of his hairline. Compared to him she looked really small. "Sorry about that."
"It's no problem, ya." He said backing up. He smiled and said. "You're not from around here, are you?"
"Nope, I'm from another island." She came up with a quick lie. "I'm visiting some relatives but got lost on the way to the ferry back. Name's Maria."
"Wakka, and that's not what I meant." He said. "You're from another world, aren't you?" He said in a whisper.
"What are talking about?" Maria said feigning a frantic look. "I might be able to get some information out of this guy."
"Don't worry. Sora told me couple of our friends everything about that Xehanort guy and the Keyblade. You can trust us."
"Hey Wakka!" Another voice came from behind. A boy with dirty blond hair ran up carrying a white and blue ball. Behind him was girl with brown that rolled up before falling past her neck. "We were about head over to the other island. Wanna come?"
"Of course." Wakka said with a smile. "Say can she come too? She wanted to meet Sora so…"
"You mean that girl with cell phone?" The blond said.
"Sora's the strongest in the area, right?" Maria asked waving her phone in various directions. This action attracted some attention from people who passed
"Uh, yeah I guess." The girl said. "Why does that matter?"
She stopped focusing on area in particular. The area was the island that Sora was on. "Well then, I suppose I'll be on my way. I've got something important to do on that island."
"Hey," The blond said. "We're offering you ride there. Don't you think it's kinda rude to blow us off like that?"
"Please, the day I blow you off is the day the world comes to end." She taunted.
"And what's that supposed to mean." He said with a red face.
"Tidus, calm down." The brunette said to the blond.
"No way, Selphie!" Tidus walked up to Maria with anger in his eyes. "I bet throwing you into the ocean will teach you some manners."
"Tidus…" Wakka said warily.
"How about I throw a building into the ocean." Maria said stretching her arms over her head. "With you three in it of course."
Pieces
Sora sat on a curved palm tree looking out into ocean. Next to him sat a red headed girl with blue eyes: Kairi. Another boy was leaning against the tree. He had long silver hair and aquamarine eyes that were partially covered by his bangs: Riku. "And that's what happened." He finished explaining his encounter with Vanitas and the boy.
"Well isn't that great." Riku said with a faint grin. "The biggest problem is that we have no idea where this kid is."
"Isn't there some way to track him?" Kairi asked. "I mean, you were able to talk him like that. How far away could he be?"
Sora thought about that for moment. At first he knew where had been but, after that road block he was completely lost. It was a totally new sight to him. He pondered about it for a moment to the conclusion of, "Pretty far away, I guess." He said with a smile.
"Well, that helps." Riku said sarcastically. He looked out at the ocean and squinted his eyes.
"You see something, Riku?" Sora asked looking out as well. At first there was a speck coming from the main island. That speck grew into dot. The dot became a flipping mushroom. The mushroom became a building with a hunk of earth attached to the bottom. Said building and land flew into the blue ocean creating a giant waved that drenched the three on the island and left the sand darkened.
Riku, Kairi, and Sora stood there in utter confusion as Wakka, Tidus, and Selphie pop out of the disturbed ocean. They dragged themselves onto the sand fully clothed and dripping wet. Tidus grabbed Sora by the collar and started babbling, "Girl; phone; building; lasers; arms; throw; it was crazy!"
"Calm down." Sora said removing Tidus from his black jacket. "From the beginning, what happened?"
"Okay, where to start…" Wakka said as he rung out his orange shirt. "Okay, this girl with brown hair and a blue hat bumped into to me over on the main island. She spilled to me she was another world." Sora grimaced at hearing that. He had hoped his fight was over. "Then these two showed up and she asked if you were the strongest on the islands. Then Tidus got mad for being ignored; she said something that made him even madder. That's when things got weird. First threw us into that vacant building on Elis Street. After that she fired some kind of laser from her finger tips, wrapped these magenta arms around the building then chucked it."
"You're kidding, right?" Riku asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I wish I was makin' this up." Wakka replied. "Did you not see the flying building?"
"Anyway, let's go find this girl and end this quickly." Riku said. "I'd like to get back to relaxing."
"Oh, that won't be necessary." All six of them looked up. Maria was above them standing on what seemed to be nothing. Whatever it was under her ceased to exist and let her fall to the sand. She dusted off her hat, placed it on her head and smiled. "Which one of you is Hoshi?"
"Huh…" was general consensus to her question.
"Okay, let me rephrase that. Which one of you is strongest?" She looked at the three Keyblade wielders.
Sora stepped up and summoned the Kingdom Key into existence. It resembled an old fashioned key with a mouse charm dangling from the handle. "That would be me."
Maria's smile grew wider as she looked at the weapon. She covered her mouth a bit before breaking into a full on fit laughter. "You're seriously trying to threaten me with a giant key!" She continued laughing as Sora and the others looked. Her reaction was a first. "But since we're making threats, did you know that palm trees can withstand hurricane force winds."
"What does that have to do with anything?" Riku asked.
"Observe." Maria walked over to a palm tree and tapped it with her arm. She reeled her right leg back and threw one quick kick. The tree bent sharply with its leaves almost touching before it violent snapped and flew into the air. The bottom half remained in the ground. Sora and his friends watched the top half fly through the air and land a good ten feet away from the base. "That's how you make a threat. So I suggest you start talking if you don't want that to be one of your heads." Maria took of her hat and pulled a strange blue crystal that was in the shape of a five point star from it before placing back on. One of the points seemed to have broken out from green circle on the inside of the crystal. "Since you've traveled to other 'worlds,' as you call them, you should recognize this."
"It's called a Star Shard." Riku said. "But how the hell did you get it?"
"I stole it. That's all you need to know. Next question: what does it do?"
"I'm really sick of this." Riku said. He summoned his own Way to Dawn Keyblade and prepared to fight. A red hilt with two wings: one of an angel and the other of a demon on either side of it. The demonic wing connected to a much larger one. Protruding out of the large wing was a small angel's wing spread open ready to fly. At the hilt's bottom was a silver chain with a black heart outline with red and a tri-point attached. "If you wanna know so badly, then make us tell you." Riku raised the weapon in one hand and pointed it straight at Maria.
"Fine by me." In a second she vanished from sight. Riku felt the heel of her foot collide his back before he rolled across the sand. He recovered quickly and saw that Maria had managed to get behind him. Sora swung the Keyblade and missed due Maria jumping on the blade and forcing it into the sand. She delivered a kick to the stomach that caused Sora to release his grip on the weapon and stagger back. Maria took the opening and delivered a right hook to Sora's face sending him flying over the sand. "Bye-bye, Hoshi."
"Don't forget I'm here too." Kairi had summoned her own Keyblade Destiny's Embrace. In her hand there was teal colored hilt of a sword. Attached to at the top it was a long shaft, yellow at the bottom but change to red at the top giving it the appearance of the sunset; the bottom had a red ribbon with a star shaped fruit at the end. On one side of the teal hilt there was what appeared to be crashing waves. On the other side there was vine that curved out like the waves but when it returned to the hilt it crawled up the shaft. When the vine nearly the top it left the shaft and turn into a bouquet of multi colored flowers.
"Kairi, get out of here!" Sora shouted as he stood up. He wiped some blood from his mouth as he looked at Maria. She looked completely baffled.
"What's with this guy? She has the most magical energy here. Shouldn't he be the one running?" Maria pondered. She took one step that did the work of a hundred ending up by Sora in an instant. She grabbed Sora by the collar and threw him over to where Kairi was. Riku thrust his weapon at her but was dodged, grabbed by the back of the head and forced into Maria's knee. "That oughtta do it."
Riku caught some blood in his hands as he came to the assumption that his nose had been broken. "Y'know, common strategy is to attack the queen before anything else." Maria said as she gripped the Star Shard tight in her left hand and she stepped leaving Riku with a cloud of sand. Sora stepped in front of Kairi and braced for nothing. Before contact was made the Star Shard began to glow catching Maria's attention. She herself burst into light began fly around the sky uncontrollably. "Hey, you piece of shit! Put me down!" She shouted before disappearing into the sky.
"Guess she knows what it does now." Riku said having confirmed that his nose was not broken. Kairi was giving a frustrated look. "Uh, yeah…"
"What was that about?" Kairi asked looking at Sora. "I have a Keyblade too or is it because I'm not 'Master Kairi' like you and Riku?"
"Kairi…" Sora said. "It's just that, I don't want you to get hurt as all."
"We're just gonna go over here, ya." Wakka said pushing Tidus and Selphie.
"Aw, but I wanna see this." Selphie complained.
"Move it." Wakka gritted his teeth.
"If you don't want me to get hurt then train me properly. Enough of these low level spells to shut me up; teach me how to fight for real if you're that concerned!" Kairi touched the fist shaped bruise that had appeared on Sora's cheek. "Seeing you get hurt worries me as much as it worries you."
Riku smiled at the scene and reminisced about his adventures. There was a part him that was disappointed that they were coming to end for most part. After they restored Ventus and solved the Maria issue that would be it. Kairi on the hand would be a different story. On the first of January, which was three days from then, she would return to her home world of Radiant Garden as its princess. It took every argument they had just to hold her that long but, that time would come to an end soon.
Riku did not particularly like the ones who advocated for her return. It was mostly powerful nobles who wanted nothing but to make more money for themselves and saw Kairi as a puppet. Naturally, they wanted one of their own family members to marry Kairi which vexed Riku and Sora to no end. What concerned them more so than that was how Kairi felt. It was painfully obvious she did not want to go. However, it was clear that there was not much of a choice. After Xehanort's defeat, Radiant Garden re-organized its military and was prepared to use force to bring Kairi if necessary.
Was this truly destiny at work? Riku couldn't help but to wonder as looked out into the setting sun. It all felt strange to him. Everything that had happened to him, Ansem, Xemnas, Xehanort, had come to an end. In way he was glad it was all almost over. But, something bothered him. He had this weird feeling in heart. Was it the part of him that wished it weren't over? Or was a gut feeling telling him it wasn't over.
Pieces
Master Yen Sid with his stern eyes and grey beard gazed out into the sky from his tower. The small land mass the tower was build on was surround by an aurora like cloud cover. The stars were twinkling peacefully as they were supposed to. Each stars represented a world and few stars represented an individual person. He could not help but to notice one of those starts was zipping around the sky randomly and without cause. He realized this was probably someone messing a Star Shard though he was not sure who.
There was one thing he was sure of, however. Whoever it was, was the same person who had entered the Realm of Light earlier that day.
Pieces
In the throne room of a gray stone castle sat a sorceress. This sorceress known as Maleficent was waiting on one of her servants to report back. Her amber eyes that stood out against her pale green skin looked down as Pete entered pattered and bruised. He was an overweight anthropomorphic black furred cat wearing overalls with large pockets with a red shirt underneath. On his shoulders were a set of metal guards and on hands fingerless gloves.
His outfit had been heavily damaged by the girl who stood next to him. She was a dark blue haired girl wearing a black hoodie and blue jeans. Among the blue were purple highlights here and there. He hands were stuff in the front pocket before she pulled them out and bowed respectfully. "Good evening, Lady Maleficent. I am Rayn Brandt." Rayn looked at Maleficent and smiled. "I came here looking for job."
"Do I look like an employment agency?" The witch asked. "Why would I allow you, a mere child, to serve me?"
"As the old saying goes 'fight fire with fire.' Or in this case…" Rayn held her left hand. In a flash of black sparks her weapon, a Keyblade, appeared. Hers had a black hilt with raven feathers around it. The shaft was a thick blade colored dark gray at the back and slowly shifting into a dark blue. The "teeth" of the weapon consisted of two horns similar to Maleficent's. "See what I'm getting at."
"I believe, I do." Maleficent purred. "However, that Keyblade alone does not convince me of your worth."
"Understandable." Rayn said spinning the weapon around. "That's why I've prepared a little something just for you." A dark swirling portal appeared next to her and Pete. A bizarre looking creature fell out of it head first in rather comical fashion. Its head was a large elongated skull drastically disproportionate to the rest of its body with a huge under bite and fangs on its lower jaw. Its blue arms, which had red claws on its hands, tried to push it up but were beaten by gravity.
"What is that abomination?" Maleficent watched as the creature scraped across the floor dragging its head. Pete laughed at its pathetic attempt of movement.
Rayn stepped on its back stopping whatever movement it had. "As you can see, it's an utter failure created by an experiment of mine."
Maleficent was intrigued. "And what kind of experiment was this?"
"A fusion of Heartless. My Master hypothesized that if two people could combine their abilities through limits, two Heartless could be fused together as one." Rayn pulled out a laptop, projector, and projector screen from her large hoodie pocket. Pete looked in wonder as she pulled out far more than what should have fit in the pocket. She tapped a few keys on her computer and the projector revealed images and graphs focused on the Heartless. "Based on data gathered on various Heartless, a slew of experiments and sleepless nights of observations, combined with a few illegal events, he came to the conclusion it should be possible to fuse two or more Heartless together to create an more an powerful one. However, we were running on limited resources and very impatient funders so, this…" She pointed the Heartless that was dragging itself across the floor. "…was the best we could produce."
"And just why have you come to me for assistance?"
"Simple really." Rayn returned her equipment to her pocket. "Heartless are few and far in between where I'm from. But you have a vast army of them under your control. Allow me to use them for my work and you'll get what you've striving for these past ten years: Kingdom Hearts."
The look Maleficent's eye proved her intrigue. "Of course that won't be the only reward from our business venture. You see where I'm from power sits at tips of everyday people's fingertips. Abilities that make one's life much easier. I want to go beyond covering worlds in darkness. Let's look to a greater goal shall we: universal domination."
The power hungry look that Maleficent wore grew with excited. For years she had been thwarted by Sora and the Keyblade. Now, the same weapon that had kept her from her ambitions was right in front of her giving itself away to her. She could not turn down such an opportunity. That is why she looked at Rayn with a frightful glee.
Over one year ago, she had tempted Riku with power. However as she, Sora, and Kairi would soon learn, the power of temptation far surpasses that of any weapon.
Pieces
"This," Maria sat on a skyscraper overlooking a large city. She was slightly trembling but not from the chilled air of night. It was the city itself that scared her. More specifically it was the condition it was in. The lights glowed bright preventing the stars from being seen. Down on the streets she could floods of people busily headed to their home or spending time with their loved ones. Standing out among that was what appeared to be a zebra talking with a police horse.
There was one thing that let her know something was definitely wrong. Out on the bay of the city stood a copper statue turned green with time. On its head wore a crown of sorts and in its arms were a torch held high and a copper tablet with date July fourth, 1776 inscribed on it. "…is impossible."
Maria stepped back and looked at the details of the city. A plot of land that was the site of a terrorist attack. A zoo that animals could escape from. A subway station that was beyond what one would call busy. All were familiar yet foreign to her. One thing she was positive of was a fact about the statue. The last time she saw it, it had no head. "Is this really, my New York City?"
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See Ya!
