He had run out of time. The darkness was settling and soon this world would be gone. His enemies now numbered in the thousands. There was no hope for saving this place. The rain fell in a heavy downpour and thunder ripped through the night sky and for several seconds made the shadows dance in the streets. He was almost there. The city was vast and he had been running for hours. The message he was carrying was very important. It alone held the fate of the worlds in its words. The fate of Kingdom Hearts itself was at stake. He had to deliver the message safely.
Ian Moone glanced up at the sky. The rain fell into his green eyes and flowed down his cheeks. It soaked his thick black hair and made his cloak stick to his muscular body. It always happens this way, he thought. And it always did. First the rains came. They were a signal, a warning. It was the world's final cry before its light was snuffed out. It was a way for the world to show that it was in pain and that it was dying. He hated it. He had always felt empathy for a dying world. Ever since he happened upon the strange key he felt as though it was his duty to protect the worlds. Now he felt as though he were failing in that duty.
As Ian ran on through the dark street he could feel them coming to life around him. He felt their malice, their hatred, and their contempt for all life. Their hunger for him was astounding and the sensation of it threatened to overwhelm him as he ran. They followed him through the streets. They were quick, able to move about the shadows effortlessly and without a thought. He knew he needed to be careful. As long as he kept running he knew he would be safe.
He eventually came upon a wide-open square and froze. His hope was suddenly snuffed out as he realized that he was out in the open and therefore susceptible to attack. Staring at the buildings surrounding the square, he now knew that this would not end well. He wasn't sure whether he had enough strength to battle them or not. It seemed, however, as though the choice had left him long ago.
Ian called out to his weapon and lifted his hand as a soft white light began to grow in his palm. This weapon would be his only defense. It was the only thing capable of destroying these monsters. He knew he might not make it out alive, but when the weapon came to him, he swore an oath to the worlds. He vowed he would never let these demons plague the people ever again. He vowed to keep his promise or to die trying, and now it seemed he would get the chance once again to uphold that vow.
The light took shape in his palm and he grabbed the hilt just as the Kingdom Key appeared. It was a simple weapon: a sword shaped like a key. The Keyblade held within it amazing power the likes of which no weapon has ever been able to match. It chose its master based on the strength of his or her heart, and three years ago it had chosen him, and gave him its limitless power.
As he looked at his weapon, he could feel the energies running through it. He remembered the legends: one said its power would save the world while another told of the world's destruction by it. He didn't know which one to believe, nor did he care which one was true. All he knew at the moment was that those creatures were very much afraid of the Keyblade. And so it had come to this: a showdown in the City Closest to Darkness.
Ian turned and faced the street he had come from. Within the darkness, the shadows shifted and twisted about each other and took physical form. He saw dozens of tiny yellow eyes, like embers in a dying fire, staring at him, waiting for him, hungering for him. The Keyblade began to hum and pulled him gently toward the monsters. It wanted them as much as he did. That's part of what made them inseparable. And it was that inseparability that made them undeniably strong.
The first of the shadows made their way into the square slowly, eyeing the weapon that sang with hunger for them. He knew that soon there would be dozens more of them. He needed to work quickly to dispatch as many of them as he could before their ranks grew to an uncontrollable size. He raised the Keyblade in defense and watched the shadows for the first attack.
The shadows lunged at him, their claws seeking to gut him open and steal his heart. The Keyblade Master parried their attacks and managed to cut a few down before leaping back and away from the mob of demons. They clambered after him mindlessly even as their own kind fell to the ground and exploded into black smoke. The two foremost heartless lunged at him. He caught one in midair, slicing it cleanly in half, and then thrust the Kingdom Key into the other's head. The other heartless watched this exchange without the slightest hint of understanding. To them, this was nothing. It meant nothing. They were mindless, blindly following the orders of some unknown master. Their behavior was simply programming, a natural conclusion following the logic of their instincts. They just wanted hearts, and nothing more. That was their purpose.
As he stood there in the rain more shadows rose to take the place of those that fell, their eyes carrying the same hunger. With a quick swing of the Keyblade he decapitated two that rose near his feet. The heartless responded immediately and closed in on him quickly. He had to give them credit: they were incredibly fast. He was barely able to keep up with them, constantly parrying and slicing as shots came at him from all sides. They surrounded him, slashing at him and tearing at his clothes. He slashed down in front of him, killing three or four of the monsters, then brought the Keyblade up and over his head and gutted two more behind him. As soon as he did, however, they came again and again. There was no end.
Could they possibly know? he thought as the possibility washed over him. No. Surely they can't. They couldn't ever. His thoughts were broken as one of the monsters sank its claws into his back, soaking his cloak in his own blood. This seemed to elevate the excitement of the creatures. He swung the Keyblade around him in a wide circle and made some space. He knew the wound would slow him down, but he tried to maintain his momentum and concentration. He needed to deliver this message at any and all cost.
The heartless slashed at him relentlessly, and he parried as many of the shots as he could. He began to grow weary and slow, unable to compete with the monsters' supernatural speed and strength. As he continued to slash through the hordes of demons around him, more rose and pressed in even tighter. He looked up. That was the only way. Gathering his strength to him, he leaped high into the air, slashing at the heartless that began to follow after him. It was almost as if they knew what he was going to do before he did it. Many heartless followed, and he slashed at them as they came, using their dying, exploding bodies to propel him higher and higher into the air. As he soared up over the tops of the buildings that surrounded him, he saw the moon looming over the vast city through a break in the clouds. This world was about to be born, and soon to be filled with many inhabitants. He couldn't let this world be born into the darkness. It needed to have a chance and he would see to that.
The Keyblade Master destroyed the last few remaining heartless and was about to descend when something gleamed in the corner of his eye. He noticed something in the center of the gigantic moon that looked, for all the worlds, like a small hole. He could feel the portal's energy through the Keyblade and knew exactly what it was. It was the world's Keyhole, the gateway to its heart. He noticed the darkness spewing forth from the Keyhole and all of his hopes immediately sank. That explains the rain, he thought. He knew the fate of this world was already sealed before it ever had a chance to flourish. He pointed the Keyblade to the Keyhole as he descended. A light came forth from the Keyblade and shot towards the portal, sealing it forever, cutting the world off from any other, never to be known.
Ian Moone, Master of the Key, landed hard on the ground, back in the battle, back in the insanity that was the heartless. Immediately they wanted him, and immediately he fought, parrying and slashing, trying his best to evade their attacks. He suffered too many damages, however, and he finally knew this was a losing battle. The heartless knocked him back onto the ground with a hard slash to his chest. He couldn't move. He felt the blood leaking from the deep gash. He knew that if he didn't act quickly, his message would never see the light again. With the last moments of his life, he engraved his memories into the Keyblade, knowing that it would seek another master. With spark of brilliant white light, the Keyblade left him and he felt alone lying in the square, surrounded by the darkness. Within seconds the heartless were on him, drawing out his life energy. He watched as his heart, gleaming in a rosy light, burst forth and floated free from his chest, and as the darkness consumed it and transformed it, he felt a part of himself die. He saw the demon grow from his once powerful heart and he knew then that it was finished. His service to Kingdom Hearts was finished. Now it would seek a new Master. As if hearing a silent call, the heartless around him melted back into the shadows and were gone. The rain fell in heavy drops around him as the cold crept into his senses, slowly moving throughout his body. He was soon one with the darkness along with the death of that new world. But his will was powerful and therefore could not remain hidden by darkness, and when he awoke he was much changed and cared very little for the life he had led.