A/N: Hi! Another story? Yes. This was inspired by the movie Anastasia by The 20th Century. I love this movie with my whole heart, so I thought I'd do a story inspired by it.
Summary: Inspired by the movie Anastasia. The heir to the Strife Family, Roxas Strife, went missing at the age of eight, because of the Strife Family Curse. Roxas, who goes behind the name Ventus, has no memory of his past, or who he was, and goes off to find out, meeting someone on the way. AU
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Kingdom Hearts, nor do I own Anastasia.
There was a time, not very long ago, when we lived in an enchanting world. Elegant mansions, huge parties. The year was two thousand and eleven, and my son, Cloud, was the father of the famous family, the Strife's.
There was a grand ball being held at the Strife home. It was grand, and elegant. Gowns, and tuxes were the main wearing. They were circling around the ballroom, like dradles. Everyone was content with the ball, as they were every year. Smiles and laughter everywhere, not a frown in sight.
Perfect.
There was a woman, in her early fifties, standing gracefully up in the loft. She wore a long crimson dress, with sleeves that went down loosely to her wrists, and red flats on her dainty feet. Here hair was a grayish brown, and was wrapped in a bun, that was covered by a matching beret. Her eyes were a crystal blue, which matched the diamond necklace she wore, which she, unknown to the people, never took off. For it had been given to her by her mother, which was given by hers, and so on.
Even when she spoke, she had a simple elegance to it, "Roxy, darling!" She spoke to a young boy, with honey blonde hair, with a tint of strawberry, that swiped off to the side. He had azure eyes, which struck at people because of the thick eyelashes that framed the blue. She waved to him, her lithe hands were covered with short white gloves.
The boy was dancing with his father, who had similar colored hair to the boys, but his was blonde, that defied more gravity than the boy's. The boy was lifted in the air, and spun around by the father. When the blonde had heard her call, he stuck his tongue at her playfully, and continued to dance with his father.
The woman smiled and laughed a tinkling bell laugh, and turned to sit down in a chair, while she watch the boy dance, and laugh.
They were celebrating the three hundredth anniversary of their family's rule. That night, no star burned brighter than that of their sweet Roxas, the woman's youngest grandson, who begged her not to return to Destiny Islands. So, she had a very special gift made for him to make the separation easier for both of them.
The little blonde boy, ran from the dance, and up the red staircase to the woman sitting in the chair. He saw a glint of something in her hands, but it disappeared like a shooting star. He was very curious of it, and instantly ran to her. Standing tall in front of her, she smiled, and held up a small circular golden case, with a small slit in the side. The boys face lit up with excitement. His hands curled up to his chest, twisting nervously with each other.
"For me?" He gently took the golden case from her. "Is it a jewelry box?"
In the background, a boy with spiky fire red hair, and green eyes, he was gnawing on a succulent red apple, when he was grabbed from behind by a servant.
"Axel!" The boy was lifted in the air, he tried to struggle out of the grip. "You belong in the kitchen!" He was quickly escorted out of the back door. He was successfully unseen by the two, but that didn't mean he was unseen by others.
"Look," The woman ordered gently, and took the bracelet off her hand, and grabbed onto the thin ornament that said Together In Destiny, unbeknownst to the blonde, and stuck it into the slot, twisting it a couple times, before the green top opened, showing a woman and a man dancing in a circle, and faint music sounded from the inside, and the boy's eyes widened.
"It plays our lullaby!" He shouted, surprised. His eyes sparkling, as he grabbed onto one of her dainty hands, gripping it tightly.
"Yes," She replied, still smiling, "You can play it at night when you go to sleep, and pretend it's me singing!" She laid a hand on her heart, and started singing to the song, "On with the wind, cross the sea. Hear this song, and remember," They swayed their arms and bodies to the music.
They started singing together, the boy's voice so beautiful, it left tingles, "Soon you'll be," The woman spun the boy around, "Home with me," She brought him closer to her, singing softly to him, "Once upon a December."
He kneeled to the woman, then stood again, letting go of her hand, to give her back the music box. She quickly gave him the chain, and whispered unto him, "Read what it says."
The kind boy twisted it around and read the words out loud, "Together...in Destiny?" He gasped, eyes hysterically wider than before, "Really? Oh, Grandma!" He spread out his arms so it looked like eagle wings, and hug his grandmother tightly, she chuckled and hugged him back, just as tight.
But, not all could be as perfect as that moment for that little eight year old boy. For there was evil lurking in the darkness, that had come out from it's cave, and crashed the ball, the people turned away from the ugly sight, for they thought they might go blind.
This man smelt of rotting flesh, and decaying acids and bones, it burned their noses, and they dug their faces into the shoulders of one another.
This man had ratty gray hair, striking boney features, and golden eyes. He was tall, and thin, but had small muscles. That showed under his coal black coat.
They thought he was a holy man, but he was a fraud. Power mad, and dangerous.
The party goers backed away from the smell, creating a path for him, straight to the father, who was furious, and stopped him from going any further.
"How dare you return to our mansion," He spat at the disgusting man.
"What?" He gasped. "I am confident!"
"Confident?" He scoffed. "HA! You are a traitor! Get out!" He ordered the rotting lump of living flesh.
"You think you can banish the great Xemnas?" He curled his fist, and brought it above his head. "By the holy powers vested in me, I banish you!" He spit out the last word, and pointed at the blonde man.
The man, who was named Xemnas, brought out a bottle with neon green light spilling out from it, he rasped, "With a curse!" Everyone in the room gasped, horrified. "Mark my words! You and your family," He gestured to the whole family, "Will die within fourteen days! I will not rest until I see the end of the Strife line forever!" He raised the bottle, and a green mist shot out from it, hitting a chandelier, and making it crash down in the middle of the dance floor. The people screamed, and started sprinting from the ball room.
Xemnas was consumed by his hatred for Cloud and his family. Xemnas sold his soul for the power to destroy them.
He was in the chamber of his room when he whispered to the bottle, "Go... Fulfill your dark purpose," Green figures poured out from the inside, and out the window to wreak havoc, "Seal the fate of Cloud and his family, once and for all."
From that moment on, the spark of unhappiness in the country grew to a flame, that could soon destroy the Strife Family Lives forever.
A statue of Cloud was tied to ropes, and pulled down, breaking it into many pieces, as the people filled the mansion and broke everything in sight, angry for the havoc that descended upon them because of the Strife's.
"Papa!" The small blonde boy called, before he realized he forgot something, "My music box!" He ran back from the way in which he came.
"Roxas!" The old woman called out for her grandson, she ran for him, desperately trying to catch up to the fast boy, "Come back! Come back!"
Roxas crashed into his and his sister's room, and ran towards the doll house that his sister usually played with, and grabbed the music box that he had put in there, the grandmother ran through the door, and closed it quickly, "Roxas!" there was a crashing sound outside the door, and they whimpered. The grandmother quickly grabbed Roxas by the arm, and lead her one way, "Please hurry!"
Out of the wall came the redheaded boy. There was a small opening, he ran towards them, and grabbed them both by the arms, "Come this way! Out the servants quarters!" He quickly guided them through the opening, but because of the force, Roxas dropped his music box.
"My music box!" She tried to get out, but she was pushed back in by Axel.
"Go! Go!" He yelled, then closed the servant door, and as soon as the door was closed, men with pistols barged through the door.
"Where are they, boy?" Axel was frightened, he grabbed the vase that was on a table, and threw it at them, it broke into million pieces. He was quickly cornered by the men, and hit on the back of the head with a gun. He crumpled down to the floor, his hand laying close to the music box.
Outside, the Roxas and his grandmother were running in the snow. Trying desperately to get away.
"Grandma-ma," He cried out when his grip was about to slip.
She grabbed him by the arm then, and said, "Keep up with me, darling."
The passed under the bridge, which held the man named Xemnas. He jumped off the bridge and into the snow. He grabbed onto the foot of Roxas, who screamed out.
"Xemnas!" The grandmother spit out, terrified that even if his name was spoken from her lips, she would turn to dust. She grabbed onto Roxas' shoulders, and tried to pull him away.
"No! Let me go! Please!" He pleaded while struggling to get out of his grip. He just kept screaming please like it was a mantra, but Xemnas didn't listen to her pleads.
"You'll never escape me, child," He growled and kept pulling Roxas' foot, "Never!"
This whole commotion cause the ice to break. Unknown to Xemnas, they were sitting over a frozen lake, and when the ice broke, he fell into the water, successfully letting go of Roxas' foot, and the Grandmother and Roxas got away, leaving him to suffer.
A small bat-like creature flew up in front of him, and called out, "Master!" And watched as Xemnas drowned into the ice cold water.
The train whistled, and Roxas and his Grandmother hurried to catch up with it, "Roxas, hurry!" She said to the panting boy, who was quickly running along side her.
The grandmother was successfully pulled onto the train, but the boy, Roxas, was left running, trying to grab onto her hand, "Grandma-ma!"
The grandmother held out her hand even more, and screamed, "Take my hand!" Roxas grabbed her hand, "Hold onto my hand!" Roxas tried to hold on and keep running.
"Don't let go!" He told her, frightened, but his grip slipped from her hand, and he fell, hitting his head on the tracks, and slowly going unconscious, while the grandmother cried his name as the train disappeared.
He was left there until he woke up. He was wondering around when he was grabbed by an old woman, and taken to an orphanage. All he had left was a simple bracelet.
No memories.