Radiant Prelude: A Story
Prelude
Yesterday upon the stair
I met a man who wasn't there.
He wasn't there again today
I wish that man would go away.
A dark visitor came to call. The sun had sunk below the horizon by the time he arrived, its radiant glow distorted by the sea. In the distance, the last rays lit the sky aflame, a fiery blaze of red and orange sifting through the clouds. An ethereal glow lit the sea of that distant horizon, muted light dancing through the waves and up to the surface. However, he was miles away from that distant visage.
Where he stood, gloom already prevailed. A patchwork quilt of light lay across the ground, the gift of the obscured moon above. The clouds, which mottled the moonbeams like a thick canopy, hung heavy in the air, dark and foreboding. Patches of darkness hid him from the casual glance, the occasional bits of light seeming to avoid him. Cast alabaster in the moon's twilight, a stone road stretched forward, turning sharply and opening into a small plaza. Two massive doors overshadowed this miniscule space, casting the plaza into complete and total darkness. Ahead of him, the castle rocketed far into the sky, losing itself in the clouds. The stones of the castle looked old; some had fallen away to reveal a maddening maze of pipe work. In the blue-white glow of the moon, these copper pipes turned green and purple, giving the entire castle a sinister appearance. During the day, it would have been beautiful. However, the light often hid the dark that way. Even in daytime, though, darkness lurked in shadows, stalking their host objects from one place to another. In this total darkness, though, there were no shadows. Not the peaceful type, anyway.
The man glanced upwards, hood-obscured face gazing towards the highest spire. Somewhere in that place was his target. Stepping forward, he began to walk towards the plaza, called the Postern by many of the locals. The soft rubber soles of his boots silenced his footsteps, the black, leather of them seeming to absorb the sound. All that could be heard was the faint tinkling song of cold, beautiful steel - the chain that hung around his neck. Fragile yet precious, it was all he had left of his former life. His coat swished lightly, leather on leather; the long coat was old fashioned. It sported five, polished mahogany buttons down the middle rather than metal zippers. Four pockets subtly decorated the outside - two at waist level and two further down near his thighs. Those, too, were adorned with buttons of mahogany, but were not fastened down to prevent quick access. A dark hood covered the man's face, the cowl casting shadows over his features. Only a long lock of black-as-night hair could be seen escaping the shadowy confines. His pants were a dark grey, nearly black, and rendered equally invisible under the cloak. One gloved hand held a rose of purest red, the crimson flower cast a dark shade in the night.
His steps seemed to inspire thoughts of darkness. Each footfall gave way to the next, a smooth transition. And yet, the man did not seem there. Invisible to all but those looking carefully, he walked confidently forward. From afar, a rolling wave of darkness seemed to be approaching the massive doors. The mottled rays of the moon did not shine off the coat as they should have; rather, they seemed to avoid him. Or, perhaps, he avoided them. A wraith, shying from the darkness, was he - a man pained by his very existence. But his mission was set; terrible chaos awaited others if he failed. His stride, though, measured, calculated, and confident, belayed something about his character - he was not used to failure. He would not lie down to die.
He had come to pay a visit. The next of his line would not pass this way for another two years, and by that time, he would be gone. He had to stop this madness now. It ended that night and nothing would stop him. A dark visitor had come to call.
This is the end point. But when did it all begin? Who is the mysterious figure? Perhaps you will find out.
I do not expect this story to generate much interest. That is because it is mostly original. It uses mainly original characters and tries to convey a fairly original message. Please believe me when I say that this is Kingdom Hearts related. I'm trying to tell another story here, but it ties in heavily with Kingdom Hearts. If you enjoy this story, please leave a review. I know I don't have a good track record for finishing the stories I start, but this one is different. I'm nearly finished with Chapter 1 (this was Chapter 0), and it's much longer - it'll probably be 6-8 pages. It will also be fairly short compared to future chapters. I've made myself a promise to finish this story though. So expect more chapters soon.
As for my other stories, please don't judge the quality of writing in them to the quality of writing you see here. Those were written some time ago, before I consider my writing to have gotten "good." In other words, I'm of the opinion that my stories thus far have been cheesy crap full of cliches and overused phrases. But hey; don't let me judge. Feel free to read them yourself, if you want. One of them (Tears of Joy) was revised this past year, and is okay. The other has been a thorn in my side since I started writing it. I did not have a clear idea of what I was doing to the story, so it fell apart at the seams. That won't happen with this story - I have the complete thing planned out. Anyhow, please review and expect the next chapter within three weeks or less. I'll probably post a chapter a month, if possible.
