Gather Your Bearings
**Two girls awoke at Beast's Castle, only to fined graves, ill will.
What will they choose to do?**
~ Darkness. No wind, just Darkness.
Who am I? Where am I? ~
Blinding flashes of light pounded my head. The pain was insufferable. I couldn't take it anymore. I bit back a scream before I collapsed on the ground next to a gravestone. Laying there on the ground I could only see one thing. Inscribed on the stone was the name "Marie." My vision was beginning to go black when I heard a far-off scream.
I was surrounded by Darkness. No scenery, no sky, no ground. Just pitch black Darkness. Something was wrong…my heart should have been beating rapidly in anticipation of what would come next, but I was unusually calm. I could feel the faintest of beats of my heart against my chest as I took in the absolute stillness around me.
"Well, hello there,"
I spun around searching for the speaker. I was alone. There was nothing but Darkness.
~ Am I going insane? ~
On a second look around I found an area that seemed to be glowing. "Who are you?" I asked suspiciously.
"Axel. A-X-E-L. Got it memorized?" he replied casually taking off his hood to reveal fiery red hair. "But the more important question is: 'who are you?'"
"I'm…" I paused, surprised that I couldn't immediately recall my own name. The name 'Marie' flashed through my mind, "no, that's not right…" In my mind letters started swirling around me. I was getting dizzy trying to watch them when they settled to form a single word, a name: Xiemar. "My name is Xiemar," I replied meeting his gaze.
"Good," he said with a smirk, "In that case, welcome to the World That Never Was," In that instant the Darkness melted away to reveal what appeared to be a huge castle. Slate colored bricks made up the platform we were standing on and as I turned around I saw a glorious heart-shaped moon hung in the sky. "It's amazing, isn't it?" Axel asked as he leaned on the rail next to me and admired the night sky. Shades of purple and blue light littered the sky along with millions of stars.
"Yea, but…what is it?" I asked looking up at him. I watched as something flashed through his eyes before he answered.
He smiled as he said, "It's Kingdom Hearts," When I gave him a questioning look he laughed. "Just like Roxas…Kingdom Hearts is the heart of all hearts. It's what will make us whole."
"We're not whole?" I cried out in shock.
"Nope," Axel replied shaking his head. "We don't have hearts, Xiemar. We don't have feelings," he explained turning to me.
"Oh," was all I could say as I looked down. I was still confused, but I fought the urge to ask more questions and risk sounding like an idiot.
"Come on, I'll show you around," he offered.