The Prologue: Perpetuality's Deck

"Come on, Ga-ry! Don't be stupid!"

She winced from the hated nickname, redness crawling over her cheeks in her rage, dropping onto the grass. Stubbornly crossing her arms, she turned her head away from the group of boys, closing them to shield blue eyes from view.

"Aw, is Ga-ry sad?" teased a boy, stooping to be eye-level with her as she blinked back tears of anger. "C'mon, give us a challenge. We hate girls who cry so fast."

She looked up from the grass to glare daggers at the boy, hissing through clenched teeth, "My name is Kagari, not Gary! Kah-gar-eeh." She gnawed at her lip, still glowering at the boy.

"Aw, excepting your wittle fwiends to come and save you?" he asked in a mocking child voice, sneering at Kagari. The girl suddenly stood up, before breaking into a run.

"Get back here!" he roared, signaling for his cronies to chase after her. He did the same.

Kagari did not know how long she had run. All she knew was that she was far away from the boys, safe from verbal persecution. A finger tapped her on the shoulder, causing her to shudder and whirl around, only to relax when she saw who it was.

"Dylan…" she sighed in relief.

"Hey, look… Ryou gave this to me. Check it out," answered the brunette boy, pulling something out to hand it to Kagari. It looked like a deck of cards, only smaller. A rubber band was tied around it.

"He did? Oh…"

Kagari pulled the rubber band off to look through the cards.

"Huh? They're just cards with symbols, words, and designs on them…" She began to read.

"The Passion… She has the power to attract all."

"The Ecstasy… Those who befriend her are instilled with delight."

"The Sorrow… He can bring sadness in the blink of the eye."

"The Rage… Dangerous with fury, he is capable of monstrous things when angered."

"The Crave… Her greed has consumed her entirely."

"The Jealousy… He brings forth nothing but envy."

"The Coy… She hides from all and conceals her strengths."

"The Taint. The leader of the Corrupted. He is bathed in his own sins…"

"Find the eight essences of emotion. Destroy them or befriend them, for they each play part of the game. Light will play as the deity of radiance. Dark as the divinity of shadows. Find the two and bring them into the game. You are the Chosen One. Key shall be the guide."

"I don't understand it…" murmured Kagari, turning to Dylan. The boy patted her on the head.

"I'm sure we'll all understand someday. Still, Ryou told me that this strange person wearing a cloak gave it to him. Said that he was supposed to give it to me," explained Dylan, looking slightly peeved by the cards. "Still, why are there only nine? Ryou told me that it's called "Perpetuality's Deck". I know that's not a word, but it sounds like "perpetual", which means eternal. Shouldn't that mean that there is an infinite amount of these cards?"

"Maybe…" offered Kagari, "there are more. They're just not with this deck."

Dylan was silent for several moments. "Yeah… But they make it sound like these things are people. Those emotions… Light, Dark, Chosen One, Key… What are they? Who was the guy that gave them to Ryou, telling him to give it to me? It doesn't make any sense."

"I don't know, Dylan. I don't know…"


The figure, cloaked in the shadows, flexed their fingers, hissing out in a croon.

They smirked.

Everything was going along nicely.

"Let us start the game… Bring Light, Dark, and Key into the game. We shall begin now."


Sora tossed and turned in bed, having a nightmare. That is, until he shot up, wide awake, drenched in sweat.

"What the…? That was the weirdest dream on earth…"

He shook his head, and jumped out of bed, intending to head towards the kitchen and grab a cup of water when he heard screams, crashes, and the sound of liquid striking floors. Alarmed, he quickly ran back to his bedroom, changed in less than a second into his regular outfit (one from KH2) and dashed out the front door.

"SORA!"

He turned, and saw the figures of Riku and Kairi running over, both breathing heavily. They too were in their regular clothes, signaling that they had heard the noises too. "What happened?" asked a wary Kairi, urging the dazed Sora to speak.

"I don't know…" he replied softly. "I heard screams, crashes, and a sound that suggested that blood is falling onto the ground, so I-" He didn't get to finished. Rudely interrupted by another scream, they whirled around to face the most grotesque creatures they had ever seen.

They all had black heads, jet-black all over except for the areas where the eyes and mouth would be. The eyes, instead of having pupils, were plain blood red. The mouths were merely gaping holes. Two horns jutted out from the top of their heads, long enough to look like antennas, but too stiff to look like them at the same time. Their necks were black as well, but their torsos were a fiery red. The strangest thing was that they were actually on fire. Literally. They were burning with live flames, dancing across their body. Both of the creatures' arms looked like regular arms, but gradually, as it came down to the hand, became blades. One arm was a long, arm-length shard of ice, ending as the tip where the hand would be. The other was a vine with many thorns all over, the end of it shaped like a hand, but also had thorns on it. The creatures' legs were both different as well. One was shaped like lightning, the end of the lightning as their feet to support them on the ground. Electric sparks hissed as they burned at the "lightning leg". The other leg looked like a stick that ended in a sharp finish, except for the fact that it was pure white, glowing slightly, illuminating the area around.

As though it were etched into them, a large insignia was carved into their torsos. It looked like an orb, half of it white, the other black. Crossing it were two weapons, one long, slender staff that looked beautifully carved with what looked like runes, but more difficultly drawn. The other was what looked like an extremely long sword, pure black. In the middle, however, was another weapon. The Keyblade.

"Damn…" muttered Riku, taking several steps closer to his two friends. "We're surrounded…" He summoned Way to Dawn, brandishing it carefully. "They don't look weak. They look like they can kill us all in three blows."

"What do you want?" Sora shouted at them. Some of them tapped their "feet" against the ground, as though impatient. Suddenly, an icy cold voice sliced through the air like a sharp knife.

"We bring even more valuable pieces into the game…"

A figure far away enough so that their features were not distinguishable raised their hand into the air, and drew the insignia that had been seen on the creatures in the air, glowing lines appearing wherever they drew. Pushing their whole hand against the whole symbol, it hissed and glowed brightly for several seconds before fading from view.

Sora, Riku, and Kairi felt what seemed like daggers pierce into them, even though there was nothing around them but the monsters, before disappearing. They just disappeared. No pop, no portal, nothing. They just vanished.

"It begins."


Even though the summary says that this is the sequel to KH2, make sure you note that the KH3 teaser clip in KH2 does not apply to this story. Otherwise, it might not make sense. Okay, thanks for reading. Please review!