Hey everyone! Snowcloud8 here! Thank you for those who read this story. It is a rewrite of an earlier form of my story, but hopefully this one will be more well written. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did writing it. Please be sure to review and subscribe!

Chapter 1: The Real World and the Dream

"Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?
Caught in a landslide, no escape from reality
Open your eyes
Look up to the skies and see..."

She's falling... falling in space, to which there is no bottom. In her dreams, she is always falling and so far, there is no sign of stopping.

The girl opens her eyes to see she is floating in a watery abyss of blurry images and sounds. Her clothes melt away into sea-foam, the colors blurring and obscure her body like watercolors as they form into something new. Time speeds up and she is surprised to find herself encased in a glass box made up of mirrors. She pushes against the reflective prison from all sides, but it does not budge. While she tries and think of another way of escape, she decides to pose and model her new outfit. She can't see the fine details of it, but it is full of color, unlike the grey T-shirt and black shorts she was sporting before.

While the rest of her outfit has changed, she is still wearing her black lavaliere choker necklace. It is one of her most prized possessions. She looks almost like a completely different person. In fact, the more she stares, the more she notices her face doesn't look quite right. Her eyes are not their usual brown color and her chestnut ringlets of hair are long and straight. Placing her hand on the mirror is when she realizes that her hand has touched another hand instead of a flat surface, that she is not looking into a mirror. She is looking at her sister.

As she steps closer to the image, her sister's copy of her outfit suddenly ripples away into her usual navy skinny jeans, grey cardigan sweater, and red converse sneakers. Flecks of unknown colors bristle the edges of her hazel irises as her sister smiles kindly at her before she glances at someone behind her.

Seeing no one in the reflection, tbe girl turns around and sees a flash of silver before the sound of breaking glass is heard behind her. The "mirror" she'd had her hand on begins cracking into chaotic-patterned shards, like thin ice on the verge of breaking, distorting her sister's reflection, making her smile appear malicious and evil before the image turns dark and shatters. Glass erupts everywhere as she screams and cowers over to cover her ears and shield her face, but nothing audibly comes out of her mouth.

The shards cut and splinter through the blackness like shimmering, shooting stars, creating blank, partial tears in the surround space, revealing strange images she has never seen before in the blank crevices. A silhouette of a boy grabbing a young girl's hand... her hand... yelling incoherent words... falling into water... drowning... Before she can look closer, an intense sunset nearly blinds her.

Then everything seems to be moving so fast and feels so vacuumed packed, she feels like she is being sucked down and pulled into the abyss, like a riptide dragging its victim out to the sea to be swallowed. She feels something or someone trying to delay the pull and hears a muffled voice yelling, calling out to her, but the feeling eventually goes away and she is suddenly surrounded by darkness.

She is now at the bottom of the pit. The pressure of the abyss is almost suffocating as she stumbles around to find her way out until she comes across a silver doorway. It is locked with a large silver chain wrapped around the door handles, but somehow she feels like she can break the lock. She raises her arm, feeling something form in her hand and brings it down towards the door like a sledgehammer before she is enveloped in a white blur and hears a loud, growing ring in her ear...

Hoshi... Hoshiyama

"Miss Hoshiyama!" The girl suddenly jolted awake, realizing that it wasn't a sledgehammer or a sword that struck, but the sharp rap of a book against her table. By the sound of the crash, it had to be hardback and at least four hundred pages long. "I understand that Philosophy isn't the most interesting subject," a tight voice fumed above her. "However, that doesn't mean you have to do it in my class."

Ms. Barker, the bane of her existence. Ever since she had been placed in Barker's English Lit I class, that carrot-topped teacher had been after her since the beginning of freshman year, and until now, she had been fortunate enough to only cross paths with the woman only in awkward confrontations of getting caught running through the hallways, which she tried to avoid. Now, however, in her junior year, she had landed a spot in the most strict, by-the-book teacher's classroom in all of Adams Prep School history. Her amber eyes glinted shrewdly underneath her caked on mascara and fake eyelashes as she sneered, "And since you seem so keen on using your desk as a bed, Lila, you may stand for the rest of first period."

Lila bit back an irritably groan of exhaustion and assumed the position. Her cheeks grew warm as she snapped out of her reverie and stacked her chair on top of her desk with the legs pointing up towards the ceiling, hearing a few stifled snickers tittering amidst the heavy fog of a seven am weekday. Why couldn't she have her free period in the mornings instead of 12 pm? She had a longer lunch, but what good would that do when all of her friends -aka art geek acquaintances that somewhat tolerated her presence because she was quiet and didn't throw her food like the jocks- had to leave for next period? She could go out to eat at the local Capitol Lunch and get one of those hotdog with everything on it, including their special sauce, but it's not like they would let her leave campus. Not with her school record.

"Now class, as Lila has so graciously demonstrated, Plato and Aristotle wrote and deliberated much on the subjects of dreams. However one universal concept they did stipulate was the differentiation between dreams and reality, and how some people can never tell the difference between the two. In fact, in Quantum Mechanics, it has been stated that dreams are simply a gateway into alternate universes or time travel, while other scientists and psychologists stipulate the concept that dreams are merely the process of information and memory -that seeing people you didn't recognize in a dream meant that you've seen them briefly passing by and don't recall them. All of this, however, is folly if one presents Plato's concept of dreams and forms on page 247 of your textbooks, that the dreamer may never realize that they are, in fact, inside of a dream, for achieving true wakefulness would mean..."

It was by this point, Lila had tuned out most of the conversation. She didn't care about all this dream crap. How was this useful in any way? What normal person would make a living off of majoring in something as mundane as Philosophy except to teach it to other people? The hours ticked by long and grudgingly, the tension and soreness building in her legs and feet only relieved from the ring of the second period bell. Having already been on her feet, Lila was first through the classroom door, speed-walking out as fast as she was able in the morning. She took a break to sit down on the benches scattered between lockers in the hallway. Her elbows pressed down onto her knees as she held her head in her hands while the rest of the student population walked apathetically on by.

"You fall asleep in class again?" Lila lifted her head up to see her younger sister Kurami giving her a knowing arch of a brow. Well... almost everybody.

"I told you, it's too early for Barker's class. My brain is not functioning at least until 9:30 am," Lila explained. "Who has the memory space to take in dead philosophers and their theories?"

"That's because you keep playing your video games into all hours of the night. I mean, Mom buys you one Kingdom Hearts game, and suddenly, it's all you will ever play..." Lila began to feel herself disassociate from the conversation, retreating into her own little world. Figures the moment she decided to show a moment of weakness, her sister would repay her by turning it into an argument about everything she was doing wrong with her life by going into "Mom-Mode." Just what she needed while taking a break to dump off her philosophy books and trade them in for her history ones. Joy.

"...-are you even listening?" Lila heard her say as she tuned back into Kurami's constant ramblings on the game.

"Meh," Lila shrugged as she finished shoving her stuff into her locker. Kurami sighed at her vague reaction, but she didn't pursue the matter any further, knowing how old and far back this conversation spanned back. Taking advantage of the silence, Lila posed in front of her locker mirror and began pulling her hair into two pigtails and tied them with green and red ribbons in each tail. The private school they attended was fairly strict on uniforms, but they would occasionally let you get away with small personalizations as long as you didn't vandalize the school uniform itself or wear something inappropriate. Lila's goal wasn't so much as that as she wanted to be a little more colorful, a little more... unique. Anything to stand out and remind people she was her own person and not to be confused for Kurami. She already had enough grievances for being compared to her little sister in Barker's class- not that she cared.

Feeling like she wasn't going to make it to her next class, Lila whipped out her empty R2D2 soup thermos and walked casually into the teacher's lounge.

"Lila, what are you doing?!" Kurami whispered harshly, "You can't go into the teacher's lounge! What if you get caught?"

"Are you kidding? I do this every other day." She then lifted the pot tucked in the coffeemaker and poured the remaining scraps of lukewarm coffee, filling it almost three fourths of the way. She was lucky. Most teachers hardly ever drank as much coffee on Fridays compared to Mondays or Wednesdays. Yet another reason to look forward to the weekend.

"Why?!"

"They won't let me bring my own coffee," Lila shrugged, sticking it inside the microwave for about thirty seconds while she grabbed a small handful of packets and creamers. The teachers never had any milk, so she pulled out a half-pint milk carton she has stashed away inside the refrigerator from lunch-time yesterday and poured the Prairie Farms into her now toasty coffee.

After taking a sip from her thermos, she capped the top of R2D2 and tucked him back into her book-bag while Lila mentally geared herself up for another long, boring school day. Most of the day involved the teacher going on and on about iambic pentameter or the difference between ions and anions while Lila was endlessly day dreaming about being anywhere but made her contemplate who thought their life dream was going to be to spending five hours a week teaching Shakespeare and chemistry by subjecting themselves to rowdy, disruptive high school kids. Granted, while she liked some of her teachers and the subjects they taught, she couldn't help feel her mind wander. After hours of info-dumps later, the bell for lunch rang as Lila quickly started putting away her things, hoping to escape the endless torment.

"Oh, don't forget to do the odd numbers on pages two-hundred and fifty one to fifty three for homework tonight on Introductions to Quadratic Equations and Finite Variables," her math teacher Mr. Venable, causing Lila's whole class to groan. It was an universal concept that everyone hated when a teacher would hand out homework assignments at the last minute. Not only would it put a damper on the evening for those who had pre-existing plans, the homework would be unable to be completed during the time your mind was fresh and could readily ask questions if you didn't understand something. For Lila, it was the latter that always got her goat, and it was the very bane of her existence.

As she shuffled down the hallway, she could heard a voice calling out behind her exclaiming, "Kurami! Kurami!" Lila instinctively turned to see where my sister was, but much to her surprise, she was greeted by a guy's hand landing on her shoulder. He was blonde and a quite a bit taller than she was, his biceps appearing the size of cantaloupes, and Lila couldn't get over the fact of how cute he looked and the close proximity his hand was to her shoulder.

"Why haven't you called me back?" the mystery boy asked her. His sharp blue green eyes seemed to pierce into hers, as if to find a deeper meaning before realization hit him. "Oh! You're not-"

"Sorry. You've got the wrong sister," Lila gave him a tight smile as she shrugged his hand off her shoulder. "I'm her older sister, Lila."

"Oh. My bad. It's just, you two look so alike, I thought you were twins." She couldn't help but give him a perplexed stare. How? She had her hair dyed, curled, and in pigtails!

"We're not, I assure you. I'm born three months before her, and also I'm adopted," Lila recited with a strained expression, having heard this many times before. After the last statement finally registered, the teen backed up awkwardly with an apology and quickly made his exit. Yep. That word was always a guaranteed way to scare them off. It was practically a curse word in her own family, rarely said and a dangerous subject to bring up. After inputting her locker combination, low and behold who should show up next but her 'twin.'

"Hey Lila. How was today's lecture?" Kurami asked at she jogged over to her locker next to hers. Deciding to save that conversation until later, Lila thought back to her classes.

"The usual: Notations this, equations that. Things I could honestly care less about. I stopped listening when Venable started rambling on about things that had nothing to do with the class, like his teaching career and midlife crisis."

Kurami reminded her, "You know he's doing you a favor. Astronauts have to take a lot of math and engineering classes before they are even considered for the space program. Which means you should learn to pay attention more, space case."

"I know... I'll try harder next time," Lila sighed, jerking her bag off the locker hook at the nickname 'space case'. At first, it had been a term of endearment, a testament to her love of astronomy, especially stars, but lately it seemed to be a portion of her identity. No matter how hard she tried, Lila was always drifting off into space during class. Mostly it would inhibit her learning ability, but sometimes, whenever there was a certain time of the day or during a particular lecture she couldn't focus on, Lila would be inspired and draw little things that came to her. Whether it was a bird or a robot made of cheese, it was a stream of creative consciousness that sometimes could ground her focus, depending on the subject matter. Apparently, she was only creative when she wasn't paying attention. Not the most productive things for a future astronaut to be doing, and with mid-terms around the corner, what was the point in even trying?

"So that means not doodling in your notebook." Her gaze followed her like a owl finding a mouse. "Let me see what you did this time..." With a clever grin, Lila gleefully ransacked the inside of her bag and proudly pulled out a red math notebook.

"I drew a picture of a keyblade on one of my post-it notes today. I call it the Rose Blade." The keyblade had a pink diamond handle with a green neck covered in rosebud vines, the key teeth part curling into a heart like two rose leaves.

"Oh lord... you and that game!" Kurami sighed before she took a closer look at the keyblade. "But that is pretty cool..." She pointed at the curled leaves. "I like the edging there. Where did you get the idea for it?"

"It just kinda popped into my head..." Lila shrugged. Her heart secretly warmed at her sister's genuine interest and adoration of her piece. It wasn't the first time she had shown her some doodle or another about Kingdom Hearts. Most of the time she would at least she would bother to look at them, even if she didn't approve of her hobbies, but there were occasionally small moments where she could gauge interest in her that made Lila feel like her daydreaming finally paid off. Unfortunately, the moments were just that, small, fleeting. Kurami seemed to illustrate that fact by claiming Lila was obsessed with the game series.

"I'm not that obsessed. I play other games, like Assassin's Creed or Super Mario Brothers, so that's no excuse." The disdain in Kurami's eyes remained unchanged.

"Look, I understand that I like my things, and you like your things; that's just how individuality works. I just don't get why you care so much about this game in particular."

"It mixes role-playing, Final Fantasy, AND Disney characters- plus, the plot-line is beautiful! What's not to love?"

"You're such a dork," Kurami rolled her eyes, ignoring her question as she gave her a 'what-am-I-going-to-do-with-you?' grin.

"Cinderella's in it..." Lila smirked as she nudged her sister's side, almost succeeding in getting a rise out of her by mentioning her favorite Disney character, but whatever interest she generated quickly extinguished as Kurami stuffed her excess books into her locker.

"You're still a dork," she deadpanned, adding finality to it by slamming her locker shut.

"But I'm your dork." Lila held a goofy grin and nudged her in the side with her elbow, still holding onto the notion that there was still a chance for her little sister as they walked outside the school's entrance. Everyone was gathering around their vehicles and were starting the first line of cars leading out of the parking lot. It was when they were close to the Moped that Lila told Kurami the idea that had been bouncing around in her head for the longest time.

"I bet it would be fun to live in the Kingdom Hearts universe... Slaying the Heartless everyday, meeting Disney characters, saving the world. Plus, if we had a Gummi Ship, we could just fly over all that traffic, easy," Lila remarked, crossing her arms. "All that sounds a lot more exciting than doing some stupid quadratic equations and logistics..."

"Yeah, but it's not real. It's just an excuse, an escape to be on your PS2 for twenty four hours straight-"

"That was a good day," she interjected coyly, grinned fondly at the memory of her infamous speed run. A glorious Labor Day dedicated to nothing but clearing the first video-game, living on a pack of Diet Coke, Twizzlers, and a bag of Doritos.

"-and besides, you need to get your head out of the clouds. We've got one more year before we graduate high school and make it out in the real world. You'll be an independent, emancipated adult, and you'll have to find a way of supporting yourself and making connections if you want to be an astronaut."

"Killjoy," Lila frowned.

"I'm serious, Lila. You have to start thinking about what you want to do. Astronauts require a lot of training in math and science, and only a handful of the best people get chosen to be astronauts. What if you can't become one or you rethink about being one? What will you do then?"

"I know that! I've thought about it, I'm just... trying to enjoy what I have now..." she trailed off, straightening the bottom of her skirt. Noting Lila's weakness against confrontation, Kurami sighed and continued with a softer tone.

"I don't mean to be a buzz-kill or anything. I just don't want you to spend your whole life wasting away in front of a video game when you could be out, having fun, making plans for the future. Escaping the problem isn't going to make it go away. Sometimes reality likes to shake things up- are you even listening to me?"

Lila blinked back at her, panicking that she had been caught day dreaming again.

"Yes?" she lied meekly, causing her sister to throw her hands up in the air in surrender.

"Whatever, Space-Case. I give up," she grumbled. "You keep trying to live in your little fantasy land, 'cause none of that stuff is ever gonna happen."

Lila threw her books into the Moped's compartment underneath her black, faux leather seat, thinking that now was going to be the perfect time to divert the conversation towards something else she had been curious about. School started letting people out for lunch around eleven o'clock and traffic was murder to get through the stampede of juniors and seniors eager to get to their cars as soon as possible. At least, the ones that had free period near lunch-time.

The vehicle was a little old and worn and had frayed yellow star stickers on the front, but it could get the job done as well as it could for a sixteen year old with a learners permit. The seat stuck with condensation from the dew built up from the night before. Lila quickly wiped the seat with her bare hand before moving towards her music player, scrolling for some decent tunes.

"Jeez, you don't know when to hurry, do you?" she said irritably, quickly putting on a magenta motorcycle helmet.

"Well, sorry if I want a dry butt," Lila fired back, revving the engine before they sped off towards Capitol Lunch. Just because Lila couldn't go out to eat didn't mean she couldn't use her sister, the student council secretary, as a reason to go out to get her academic supervisor's lunch. Settling for Aerosmith's "Dream On," Lila kicked her Moped into gear as she embarked on what would have been a montage of being honked and yelled at by angry passerby cars and rude pedestrians. However, she adamantly stuck to her side of the road at a relatively safe speed, ranging from barely driving the speed limit to cruising five miles per hour lower. Steady as she went, the highway view of the ocean bay came quickly enough and Lila immediately signaled her lane change towards the exit.

"Oh come on, Lila! Why don't you ever go left?" Kurami asked, irritated that once again, she had refused to take the quick and narrow highway that ran across the bay.

"Scenic route," Lila lied as she moved towards a side-street exit. Truth is she didn't want to go anywhere near the ocean roads, or over any of the water bridges. A weird sort of panic fluttering always erupted, like the weightlessness you feel on a roller-coaster before you get dropped. Lila dropped Kurami at the front of Capitol Lunch and chained her Moped to a nearby tree five minutes later than it would have normally took to get there on the highway. Oh well. It was her bike. Kurami could just get over herself.

Seconds after popping off her helmet, Lila instinctively glanced in the rear-view mirrors at her reflection before throwing up her hoodie and speed-walking to the nearest girls bathroom. She haphazardly threw down her book-bag and ransacked it like a cop padding down a perp for drugs before finding her emergency comb and started pulling at the unwilling curls that cascaded down her shoulders.

Maybe pigtails were a bad idea... Lila frowned at the sore bumps on her head from trying to squeeze her helmet on and then fixing them, having to take out and retie her ribbons. One of these days, I'm going to pass that driver's exam so I won't be the only junior without a driver's license. Then I'll keep saving and earn enough money for a car. That way, I will never have to deal with wet seats or having to sneaking off to the bathroom just to brush my hair again. While she tugged a bit on pigtails waiting in line for a hotdog, the conversation they had earlier kept echoing in her head.

"I bet it would be fun, slaying the Heartless everyday, meeting Disney characters, saving the world... All that sounds a lot more exciting than doing some stupid quadratic equations..."

"Escaping the problem isn't going to make it go away. Sometimes reality likes to shake things up."

"Whatever, Space-Case. I give up. You keep trying to live in your dream world, 'cause that's never gonna happen..."

If she had both had known the real effect of those words, she might have never said them...


In a cream white and grey room, a tall man with spiky silver hair was practicing sword techniques on a stuffed dummy. His attire was lightweight, the armor only covering his chest and shoulders. His wrists were braced with armored, finger-less gloves as he whacked away at the fighting dummy with a kendo, bamboo sword. To an outsider, it looked like he was just doing the same movement, over and over, but he was really just honing his aim and practicing his footwork. If you didn't master the basics, you would never be able to learn more advanced techniques.

After a couple minutes, he began picking up the pace and gradually began to move faster and unleash more combos. With one final strike, he knocked an arm off of the dummy and beat it to the floor before the body slowly bobbed back up again. He smiled. That was enough training for now.

Exhausted, he cast away his sword and started rubbing away the sweat and grime acclimating on his forehead and neck. Throwing a towel over his shoulders, he opened a bottle of water and began taking large sips. He made sure to practice these drills every day so that he could get stronger. He could hardly believe that it had been almost a year since he had been training under the King as a knight.

Curious, he set down his water and unsurely reached out, concentrating all his energy into his right hand. He tried to focus on making the object of his desire materialize. What appeared instead was a black, falchion sword. His weapon resembled a large, red and black bat wing, emblazoned with a sharp blue, cat-like eye of darkness on the hilt. Disappointed, his eyes cast down towards the floor.

"Don't worry, Riku. You'll be able to summon a keyblade someday..." He turned in shock, not noticing that his mouse-eared friend had wandered in.

"Your Majesty, I didn't hear you come in."

"Please, Riku. I told you. Enough of the formalities. You can call me Mickey."

"Okay... Mickey," Riku said hesitantly. The name still felt weirdly foreign, but gave him a sort of self reassurance in using it.

"I know you have been trying to summon the keyblade, but don't let failure bring you down. Wounds on our bodies are easy to heal, but wounds in our hearts can take some time."

"But... what if the darkness never fully goes away? I've been here for a year, and I still can't even manage a brief summon. What if I can never use the keyblade? What if I'm not meant to wield it?"

"You may think that, but you are capable, Riku. I've seen it. Anytime I gave you my keyblade, it didn't leave your hand. You're just in a rough patch. We all go through them at one point. You have to find your own keyblade, but keyblades are fickle things. You can't choose them, they choose you. We just haven't found yours yet."

"You sound so sure..."

"I am sure. I know you can do it, Riku. Just have a little faith. What is the point of becoming stronger if you keep beating yourself up on every little mistake? A road less traveled doesn't mean you have to trip over every pebble."

"Wow... that is really philosophical of you, your majesty," Riku smiled.

"Oh gosh," Mickey laughed, gushing humbly at his own memoirs of training under his own master. "But if ya really think you're not making any progress, maybe the answers you're seeking can't be found here training with me. Might as well. I need you to go on an assignment. Actually, the timing couldn't be better."

"An assignment?"


The rest of the day went off without any major issues, managing to make it to her 7th period music appreciation class with her presentation of her in-depth discussion of Yoko Shimomura's expression using piano and strings and recalling past themes and secret Easter eggs hidden within her own music. It was probably the only class that she did pay attention in. For whatever reason, music was what helped ground her focus, and for that, her highest grade was obviously in this class. Too bad music appreciation didn't count towards AP college credits. At least the golden star stickers were nice to see on her reports.

She had just finished listening to the self same artist's album of Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep soundtrack music, when she arrived at home alone. She would have come home with her sister, but...

...

"So I just had an interesting conversation with someone today." Kurami arched her eyebrow in curiosity.

"Oh yeah?"

"Since when did you start dating and not tell me about it?" Lila had relished in watching the pale expression shift to red painted on Kurami's face as she squirmed slightly against the Moped.

"Uh well-" She was cut off when Taylor Swift's infamous "Love Story" blare out of her little sister's purse. Eager for the interruption, Kurami's hand fumbled into her purse before successfully pulling out her cellphone. "Hello? ...Hey, where are you guys?" She answered before she turned all giggly and chatted animatedly with one of her friends on her phone while Lila put on her Moped colored helmet, remembering to adjust her ponytails this time. "'Kay, see you soon." She giggled before flipping her phone shut. Kurami had unlimited texting to match all her unlimited friends. She always was the popular one.

"Aren't you going to get on?" Lila asked, offering her the second helmet.

"Thanks but..." A shiny, red convertible pulled up next to the driveway, a crew of girls that were applying their makeup appearing to be boxed in the seats like tuna. "My ride's already here. Besides, I don't want my hairstyle to get ruined by helmet hair."

And a convertible with its top down is the way to do that?

"Oh... Well, alright. Just make sure to be safe," Lila smiled wanly, slightly intimidated by the fancy car as her pre-owned scooter kicked to life. She was about to take off before adding, "And don't think that this conversation is over! I want details!" Soon after they had taken off in their own separate ways, Lila's head found a different beat to sing other than Kurami's ever peppy and romantic Taylor Swift.

...

Ever since lunch, Kurami had been weirdly avoiding her. But rather than dwell on it, Lila just threw her Moped keys into a ceramic bowl on the side-table and immediately cast aside all thoughts of doing any homework or Kurami's mysterious social life and decided to relax by on her PlayStation 2 while throwing on the nearest clean baggy t-shirt and shorts. Slaying through hoards of Heartless was one of her methods of detoxing after another taxing day at school. The button mashing helped, along with the hack-n-slash combat style the game ran on. Out of unconscious habit, she began singing with the opening theme of Kingdom Hearts and proceeded to dominate against all virtual evil. It wasn't long before she heard the door open downstairs.

"Hey Mom! How was work?" Lila shouted from her room, not getting up from the awkward stance she twisted herself into on her beanbag due to her immersed game-play.

"Oh, work was exhausting. But it's nice to come home to a daughter who is so attentive of her mother that she can turn away from her video games for more than five minutes." The humorous, dramatic tone of her sarcasm rang guiltily clear as she opened Lila's door. She took that as a sign to pause the game and pay attention. She quickly stood up and hugged her mother tightly, smelling some of the waifs of perfume lingering on her business suit. Her choppy, dark brown hair was combed this time and was less frazzled than it was this morning, now coming down just past her ears like a bob. She was American born, but she had distinct traits of Japanese descent running through her veins. You could see it in her facial features and her tiny, frail demeanor, and even though Lila wasn't technically related to her, she felt like her detached yet elegant air was inherited from her.

"So... how was school?" She pulled away, her hands awkwardly squeezing Lila's shoulders like she was trying to sync over some of her sympathy and stress.

"Fine. The usual. Homework, stuff and things. Kurami got a ride from one of her friends again."

"Again? I hope she's paying them for gas, with all the carpooling she does."

"I wouldn't know. She hardly ever talks about her life with her friends," Lila half chuckled and waved her arm dramatically, unable to get the picture of the blonde guy out of her head. "She probably doesn't think I'll understand how nail polish is a must during summer or whatever."

"She probably just doesn't want you to feel left out if she makes you hang out with her friends." She thought a bit before folding her arms. "What about that one friend of yours, Sarah? Maybe she could come over."

"Mom, that was like, five years ago. She moved, remember?" Lila deadpanned.

"Oh right... Well, what about your other friend, Michelle?"

"She's not my friend, Mom. She was just my lab partner that one time in Chemistry I."

"...Emily?"

"That's Kurami's friend, Mom, not mine."

"Oh... well. Sorry. Forgive me. I haven't had my tea yet." Mom looked away with a weak, chagrin smile before she was saved by the door slam downstairs. "Oh! Speak of the devil!" She looked down the banister and called out to other daughter. "Hey Kurami, how was school?"

"Fine..." Kurami said in disinterest, setting her books on the table and turning the TV onto E! News.

"You have fun with your friends?"

"Yeah. It was fine."

Mom always tried to make small talk with them these days. With work and school, they hardly had time for each other anymore. Soon, it would be off to college, and never seeing each other except for breaks and holidays. It didn't help that she kept such late hours, having to deal with the many kids in the foster care as a social worker. With as much as she had to do, Lila was honestly surprised how her mother could keep going on just four hours of sleep, a cup of coffee, and an English muffin. Lila and her mother stood there for a couple minutes in awkward silence before the former decided to break the tension.

"Umm... can I go back to playing my game, now?" she asked.

"Oh...! Yeah. Sure, honey, go ahead." Soon as her mother stumbled towards the door, Lila quickly nestled back into her pile of pillows on the floor. Her mom wasn't a fan of her videogames, but as long as it didn't get in the way of her studies and cause problems at school, she would normally leave her to own devices. She got average grades at best, and other than falling asleep or daydreaming a couple of times in class, she had no major student records, so most of her evenings were spent in self-indulgent Heartless slaying. Still she could always sense the small amount of pity that rippled off of her mother's retreating back. Poor little Lila. My daughter doesn't go out or have a friend in the world, unlike Kurami, who seems to be out with her friends almost every weekend, she was probably thinking. Despite what her mom's initial impression was about her social life, Lila wasn't friendless. She just hung out with people who were either online or weren't very interested in her hobbies. She was about to un-pause the game before she noticed her mother was still standing there.

"...Mom?"

"Hmm?"

"Did you need something else?" Lila drew out.

"Oh! Well umm... Does Kurami seem... off to you?" Lila tilted her head and hummed thoughtfully for a bit before rocking back and forth.

"Hmm, no, not really. Why?"

"Well, umm, never mind. It was probably nothing...it's just that she seemed... quieter than usual."

"...She did seem kind of put-out this afternoon. I'm sure it's nothing, though," she said thoughtfully, trying to be positive about the situation.

"Well, dinner will be ready in about an hour. I'm thinking about ordering some pizza from Papa John's for dessert. You want your usual toppings?"

"Yep. Sounds good."

"Pineapple pizza it is then."

"Thanks Mom!" Lila grinned, thrilled she was going to have her favorite pizza all to herself. To most people, pineapple on a pizza was super gross, but she had always had a sort of weakness for it. To her, it was both sweet and delicious! As soon as her mother left to order, Lila decided to take a break and briefly log onto her computer and see who was on Skype.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

CalliopeQueen is online.

KingAsshat: That's why the steering wheel for the Wii sucks.

Bakon: You're just angry that I pwned ur ass on Mario Kart.

KingAsshat: THAT RAINBOW ROAD IS RIGGED, I TELL YOU!
Oh hey Callie.

CalliopeQueen: Sup.

kettlecorn: Hey Calliope! Whatcha up to?

CalliopeQueen: Nothing much. Just playing KH.

KingAsshat: Of course you are.

Bakon: How's the 100% completion going?

CalliopeQueen: It's coming along. Trying to find all 101 Dalmatians and complete all the coliseum cups.
Don't judge, King. You still haven't defeated that one Dark Souls boss yet.

KingAsshat: NO!
The stupid armor keeps killing me!

Maverick: Whoa, touched a nerve there.

CalliopeQueen: Hey Maverick! How are you? I haven't seen you in a while. Pretty early for you to be up.

kettlecorn: Yeah. Isn't it like seven am over there in 'Stralia?

Maverick: Ya, mate. I've been working on a term paper since 9 yesterday. Thought I'd see who's on before I turn in.

KingAsshat: Hope that you are sung to sleep by heavenly didgeridoos.

Maverick: -_- Haha. Up yours, mate.

CalliopeQueen: Have I missed out on anything else, besides Matt's failure at life?

KingAsshat: HEY!

kettlecorn: LOLOLOL

Bakon: Not really. We've been playing League off and on. You wanna join in?

CalliopeQueen: Might a bit later. I'm really on a roll in clearing the Hades cup.

Unknown is online.

Unknown has joined the Gamers Club group.

Unknown: The door has opened...

Bakon: WTF?

CalliopeQueen: Who's the new guy? Did someone add him?

Bakon: I didn't.

Maverick: Nope.

kettlecorn: Not me.

CalliopeQueen: Matt's probably just trying to scare us again.

KingAsshat: Uhhh no. Sorry guys, it's not me this time I swear.

CalliopeQueen: ...
I don't buy it.

kettlecorn: Yeah! Swear on it. Swear on something sacred.

KingAsshat: Fine. I swear on my pre-ordered Skyrim game.

Maverick: You have the new Elder Scrolls game?!

KingAsshat: Yeah! I've had it for like two weeks now.

Bakon: Dude!

kettlecorn: No wonder why we haven't seen u in a while.

KingAsshat: The hell you guys? I told u about this weeks ago that I was getting it!

CalliopeQueen: Yeah. We just didn't think you would actually buy it legally.

kettlecorn: Ya. I totally thought you were going to hack into the servers and create ur own MOD or something.

KingAsshat: Well I did, but that was during the beta. I can be a law abiding citizen every now and again.

Bakon: Yeah, sure, and you're called Asshat because you don't PK ur teammates for sport.

KingAsshat: That's KING Asshat, thank you very much. Respect the title.

Bakon: Guy gets into the leader board ONCE for team kills, and he suddenly thinks he's king of CoD.

Maverick: How is the game?

KingAsshat: I still think Oblivion is better, DLC wise. Plus the graphics for Skyrim are glitchy as hell. Freaking Bethesda.

CalliopeQueen: Guys, focus! Someone's in our chatroom.

Bakon: Yeah, dude. GTFO

KingAsshat: Creepy ass mo fo.

Unknown: The world has always been connected, but it has needed the right "Key" to unlock it...

CalliopeQueen: Matt, use your hacking skills and do something!

KingAsshat: So u acknowledge that I have skills? -w-

CalliopeQueen: Matt, PLEASE!

KingAsshat: OK, OK, calm down, Lila. I got this!

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Lila waited a few moments, waiting for Matt to work his magic before she saw the line of text that made her sigh in relief.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Unknown has left the Gamers Club group.

KingAsshat: There. Done.

CalliopeQueen: Thank you, Matt.

KingAsshat: np. Glad that weirdo's gone.

Bakon: Not all the weirdos are gone. UR still here.

KingAsshat: Shut up, Bakon. UR just jealous of my hacking skillz.

Maverick: U kno some of the stuff he was saying sounded like ur KH game, Callie.

kettlecorn: Hey ur right! It does sound kind of like something you would quote from kingdom hearts.

Bakon: Or Matt really is trying to freak us out.

KingAsshat: WTF?! I just told u I didn't do it! Besides I just banned the guy! Y would I hack into Skype just to ban myself?

Bakon: probably because you have an excuse to save Calliope~

KingAsshat: ...

CalliopeQueen: You guys are so dumb! D/X

kettlecorn: Awwww u like him!

Bakon: I called it. Checkmate shipping is a thing. Anyone else wanna bet when they'll get together?

CalliopeQueen: I DO NOT! Besides, Sora is the only man I need in my life!

Maverick: lol Callie. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you would prefer kh to be real like that Unknown guy says.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Lila scoffed and leaned back in her beanbag chair. This was such a role-playing cliche. Kingdom Hearts, real? She would've had a better chance at eating her own socks. But hey, it was nice to dream.

Right as she was about to text back, she heard the notification blip and noticed that there was a line of text to her private log. It was Unknown, and his text read: "You are the right Key. Do wish to proceed?"

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

CalliopeQueen: OMG you guys, now he's talking to me on private chat!

Bakon:
W
T
F

kettlecorn: Just block him!

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Trying to take kettlecorn's advice, Lila kept hitting block. Unfortunately, the results weren't great.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Unknown is offline.

Unknown is online.

Unknown: Do wish to proceed?

Unknown is offline.

Unknown is online.

Unknown: Do wish to proceed?

Unknown is offline.

Unknown is online.

Unknown: Do wish to proceed?

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

CalliopeQueen: I keep trying, but he keeps on talking about me being some kind of key for his door!

kettlecorn: Ewww weird.

KingAsshat: Maybe he's talking about a backdoor or a Trojan virus. IF HE SENDS YOU SOMETHING, DO NOT OPEN IT!

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

After trying to block Unknown one more time, Lila was becoming fed up in dealing with him.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

CalliopeQueen: If it gets you out of here faster, FINE!

Unknown: The path is set. Remember, in the brightest of rooms, there is the darkest of shadows, like in the lightest of times, there is the darkest of hours. Neither can exist without the other. Expect both to be on your journey. I expect great things from you, Lila Hoshiyama. Good luck...

Unknown is offline.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Lila stared blankly at her screen, thinking she had not read his message right, but under the dialogue were two words that made her blood run cold: Lila Hoshiyama.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

CalliopeQueen: Guys. This guy KNEW MY NAME!

Bakon: What.

The.

kettlecorn: OMG SO WEIRD!

Bakon: Hell.

Maverick: Want Matt to look into it?

KingAsshat: Don't volunteer me for stuff!

Maverick: Me thinks the gentleman doth protest too much~

KingAsshat: Oh take ur Shakespeare and shove it up ur ass, Hugh Jackman!

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Her friends' crude banter went like this for awhile, and for the most part it kept her calm, but it didn't erase the fact that someone had hacked into Skype and knew her real name. It was almost like the start of some horror movie Kurami liked or those creepypastas she'd been seeing too much of online...

Hoping to relieve some of her nerves, Lila's finger moved over the Start button to take her out of the menu. Then her game decided to make matters worse by bugging out with loud screeching noise, and then everything went dark.

"Nonononononononono! NO! I forgot to save! Please don't wig out on me now! Baby, please!" Lila begged as she shook the gaming console frantically, smacking the top of it to see if it would turn on. She flipped the on/off switch on the back a million times and held down the reset button. Nothing. She even checked to see if the system had accidentally become unplugged. It didn't.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

CalliopeQueen: g2g u guys. My PS2's acting up.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

In the corner of my eye, Lila saw Matt's username pop up as a separate conversation near the bottom of her screen.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

KingAsshat: Seriously tho, do u need my help with the kh guy?

CalliopeQueen: Thanks but I'm fine. I do seriously need to fix my PS2. It froze out of nowhere.

KingAsshat: Ewww good luck.

CalliopeQueen: Thnx. Same to u and ur armor fight.

CalliopeQueen is offline.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Now feeling a growing panic for something other than a lost file, Lila dove into one of her gaming boxes to look at the PS2 and Kingdom Hearts manuals, and even started looking at the KH online forums for bugs in the game and its system. Neither said anything about a glitch that could do this, not even with a hacked game version. It wasn't a PS3, so it couldn't have the excuse of the system being hacked. Maybe the wires on her PS2 were bad? That would explain why it wasn't showing up on her TV screen, but that shouldn't have taken out the whole operating system. After dealing with the potential loss of her video-game, she sighed with only one thought on her mind.

"That is the last time I ever buy a video-game, second-hand, from GameStop..." Lila grumbled, trying to distract herself from falling into complete despair now that she couldn't play her favorite game anymore. It was a shame too. She was going for one hundred percent completion too, and she had gotten so close, almost two thirds of the way through. At the point of staying positive, she reminded myself that while she couldn't play most of the main series, she still had 358/2 Days on her DS and, as long as she had an uncorrupted game card, she could always get a new game disc or operating system, even if it would cost her a couple more birthdays and shifts at the grocery store and put a slight stunt on saving up for an used car. After feeling a bit overwhelmed in planning extra work hours, Lila turned to look at her clock, which flashed a red neon '9:20 pm.'

Had she really been playing that long? The stars would definitely be out by now, even if the daylight hours were starting to grow shorter. Throwing on her blue and white Adidas jacket, she slipped into her fuzzy, leopard-print slippers and jimmied the two twin French doors next to her closet. The best thing about her room was that it had its own balcony, although the doors stuck a lot because of the moisture. It was chilly out, but in a nice, crispy kind of way. The balcony overlooked our entire backyard, which was a couple of trees and a natural dirt road inclination down a reed covered hill that really needed to be mowed. It led to a nearby, swampy pond that she and Kurami used to skip rocks when they were little, though the algae always got in the way.

Looking up above, Lila smiled to herself at the clarity of the sky. Not a cloud in sight, no overcast tonight. Lucky for her, the light pollution didn't affect the visibility too much where she lived. The waning crescent moon had the appearance of the Cheshire Cat's smile, making the conditions ideal for viewing the Perseid's meteor shower. She gathered some items from her closet and sat down at a small desk with a brown leather journal, a stool, and white telescope on the wooden balcony. One of her favorite pastimes other than gaming was to look at the night sky. She was fascinated by space. The planets, the stars, the constellations; everything about space fascinated her. It reminded her that there's a whole big world out there and that they were only a small part of it. Who knew what lied in the great beyond? Maybe that was why Kingdom Hearts was so appealing to her. There was opportunity, purpose, excitement.

One of these days, I'll be looking at the world from way up there... Lila thought dreamily, charting and drawing some of the stars and constellations. Some scientifically cataloged, others she just made up. She wasn't really sure how astrologists read the sky, but it was still fun to pick out the constellations she did recognize. Cygnus was finally in the sky tonight, shining with a clarity and brightness that only rivaled by the Big Dipper and its southern counterpart, Crux, in guiding sailors home.

Cygnus was the swan constellation, or the Northern Cross, and its Greek myth origins story fascinated her when Kurami had explained it to her. Two friends, Cygnus and Phaeton, constantly competed with each other until one day, the two decided to race each other around the sun. During their race, the sun had burned their chariots, causing Phaeton to crash and become trapped at the bottom of a river under the roots of a great tree. Cygnus tried to swim to retrieve his friend's body, but he couldn't reach him. In Cygnus' plea, Zeus took pity on him and gave him the option of turning into a swan to save his friend, which would result in Cygnus giving up his immortality. Because of his selfless deed, Cygnus became part of the night sky along with his best friend.

Huh... kinda reminds me of Sora saving Kairi in Kingdom Hearts, and Riku helping Sora close the Door to Darkness... Lila hummed to herself, thinking about the parallels between the game series and the myths of the two crosses before the slam of a door jolted her out of her space-case moment. She spied her mother putting dinner out on the patio and, judging by the heavenly smell, it was ready to eat.

I've been out here for a while. Better go eat now before I forget. Lila quickly closed her notebook and forgot all notions of crosses and brotherhood as her feet marched with the pad-pattering of her slippers before knocking on Kurami's door.

"Kurami, dinner!" Lila called, peeking her head into her barren room. Maybe she went out for a walk. She liked to do that at this time of the day. She was one of those kind of people who got really antsy if they had to sit in one place for too long. "Hey Mom, have you seen Kurami?"

"Yeah, I think she went out to the pond to get better reception on her phone. Can you go and tell her dinner is ready?"

"Sure." Not bothering to put on different shoes, since the pond was kind of a short trip and Lila felt really comfy in my house-slippers, she jogged through the vast backyard. Her mother, satisfied with her work, looked at the sky.

"Funny... It seemed clear a bit ago." She thought out loud as dark clouds began covering the starry night sky before she heard her phone go off inside the house. She pulled open the screen door to answer it, unaware that there were growing shadows following her every move with their bright yellow eyes.


Kurami usually liked to hike by the lake, but the sun had already began to set, and it wasn't like her to be walking in the dark. It wasn't until Lila arrived at the boardwalk above the pond that she noticed a shadowy figure standing there.

"Kurami?" Lila called out, but the figure did not turn to answer. The person was cloaked in a dark hooded trench coat, making it very hard to see them during evening hours, but she was almost positive it wasn't Kurami.

"Excuse me, sir, but this is private property. You can't just fish here when you please." Since their house was in a nice neighborhood, it was common for some people to fish from the local lakes and sometimes confuse their pond with the lakefront and beachfront properties nearby. However, despite her warning, the figure still did not move.

"Hey, mister, I'm talking to y-!" Lila reached out to turn the person around, but her hand only met air as she passed right through him. Stumbling from the sudden change in balance, Lila fell face first into the pond. It wasn't too deep, but she was still caught off guard falling into it. Images of dying and incomprehensible things she couldn't explain began flashing in her mind as she screamed and choked on some scummy pond water before thrashing back to surface, bursting out of the water like a spastic, breaching whale.

Coughing and sputtering, she quickly doggy-paddled towards the shore, bobbing out of the tangled reeds and algae near the edge of the pond. Crawling onto the mucky shore, she looked like an absolutely terrible mess. She had algae in her hair, was drenched head-to-toe in smelly pond water, her fluffy slippers were now ruined with muck and one was still floating in the pond after it had slipped off her foot, and she was now shaking terribly from the cold and the anxiety of drowning. And all because her hand had phased through some sort of hallucination. Reality had a twisted sense of humor.

Trying to regain composure, Lila began to take deep breathes to calm down the adrenaline shakes that began wracking through her body, making it even harder to hold a broken cattail to try and fish her other slipper out of the pond. After a series of attempts, and going through about three cattails, she managed to push the slipper back to shore, even if she didn't really want it back -that shit was completely stained with algae that no washer could ever get the smell out of- if not for just keeping litter out of the pond, then to avoid going back to the house and try and explain why she had a left a shoe behind in the pond that she shouldn't have been wearing outside in the first place. A grudge was slowly growing towards the universe who had caused her to hallucinate and fall before Lila was overcome with the shaking suspicion that she was being watched.

"Do not venture out at night, lest you fall prey to the creatures of the dark..." She had remembered hearing that saying before, but she had never really taken it to heart. Until now.

Rubbing the grime out of her eyes, she focused on what appeared to be a pair of yellow eyes that were peering out of the far edge of a nearby thicket. Moving closer out of curiosity, the eyes wavered as Lila edged toward the thicket. Before she knew it, a bunch of inky shadows appeared out of the forest wilds. They had no faces, but they had a pair of large yellow dots for eyes, long twisted antennae that curled above them, and were hunched over with spread out, sharp black claws to match their equally dark bodies.

No... It couldn't be! Are those... Heartless?! But, what are they doing here? They're supposed to be fictional! One twitched and lurched out to grab her. Lila jumped back and managed to dodge its attack before running away as fast as she could in her drenched state. Another began to pursue her, causing her to lose a shoe on the way as it lunged and forced her to the ground with a striking swipe to her back. It continued to scratched her, right and left, before she stunned it by whamming her other shoe into the side of its head. She took off in a mad sprint, whipping the slipper blindly at another Heartless' head in a pathetic effort to slow it down.

What the hell is going on?! Why are they here?! Does this mean Kingdom Hearts does exist?!

Normally in any other situation, she would have been thrilled at that revelation, but for now she needed to get somewhere safe. Somewhere where she could try and process all this and not get killed. A sudden realization sent a cold, panic feeling shivering down her spine. It wasn't just her that was at risk. Her mother wasn't aware of the danger, and neither was her sister, who was still out there somewhere. Plans began reforming into how to find Kurami and get her into the house as Lila ran with the blind hope that she had wandered back home on her own, somehow being able to outrun the Shadows behind her. To Lila's relief and anxiety, Kurami was pacing in front of the wicker patio furniture.

"Lila, there you are! I was looking for you!" she greeted her older sister anxiously, as if she was the one who had suddenly left the house with no warning and was the one who had to retrieve her. "Mom moved dinner in the basement. She said her phone got this big storm alert and that it's going to be really bad-"

"Kurami! We need... to... get inside right now!" Lila gasped brokenly, trying to catch her breathe.

"Whoa, what's the matter with you? You're acting like you've seen a ghost. Why are you wet and barefoot and-...oh my god, are you bleeding?" She gasped, pulling back her hand from Lila's back, which was now covered with a few drops of her blood.

"No time! Get inside! NOW!" Lila pleaded, trying to push her sister inside, but she refused to budge.

"Hey, hold on! I try and find you, but you just run off into the woods without telling me. I could have broken a heel trying to find you."

"...Are you KIDDING me right now, Ami!? You are the one who left, not to mention we have worse problems right now than a broken-!" A dark blur zoomed past and tackled a flower pot next to us on the table. The deafening crack splattered a mixture of plant, dirt, and water everywhere. The creature held one of the broken shards its mouth, which were lined with terrifying jagged, black teeth. Kurami screamed out of reflex, causing the creature to turn towards the sound. Kurami and Lila hid behind some of the patio chairs and shoved the back of the chair into the creature's mouth to keep it at bay.

"What the hell is that thing!?" she yelled, trying to shove the chair into its mouth even further.

"It's a Heartless... I think." It looked sort of like a Neoshadow Heartless, something Lila had only seen on missions in 358/2 Days and walkthroughs on Youtube. But this one was... different. Darker and eviler. While it was idle, she threw another chair at it, temporarily stunning it before she grabbed Kurami's arm and yanked her away from it.

"You think?! What the hell is going on?! What's all this stuff about 'Heartless'?" Kurami deadpanned.

"I don't know! I think they're Heartless, bad guys from my game! But I don't know how any of this could've happen! Kingdom Hearts isn't real!" Hiding themselves under some of the bushes near the house, since the entrance was blocked, Lila tried to make sense of things. "Ami, where's Mom?"

"She's safe! She's still inside!" Kurami exclaimed, grabbing her sister's shoulders. "Lila, we need to call the cops!"

"And tell them what? That a bunch of monsters from my video-game have come to life and are trying to kill us!?"

"It's better than freaking nothing!" She pulled her phone out of her back pocket and began punching in numbers before they heard another terrible shriek behind them. The Neoshadow was back on its feet and had brought friends. The sisters both tried to run to the house, but the Heartless were gaining speed. Lila tried to shove Kurami ahead, but she ended up dropping her phone which was quickly crushed underneath the stampeding heartless.

"My phone!" she cried helplessly before Lila kept pushing her to the screen door.

"Kurami, RUN!" Lila shouted as a bunch of Heartless surrounded the terrace. Taking a page from Roxas, Lila quickly picked up a fallen tree branch and began to whack away at the hoard, but it only seemed to stun or pass right through them.

"Girls, what are you yelling about-?" Yukino began before she was cut off by the charging Neoshadow. She had come out to investigate the distressing noises they were making and had slipped past Kurami on her way inside the house. The sound of a plate breaking was heard echoing on the veranda.

"MOM!" Lila cried out, trying to push past the Shadows to get to her while Kurami just stood there in a shell-shocked trance. Tears of frustration began to cloud her vision. Warped images of Heartless, sharp blinding pain, and suffocating pressure filled the next five seconds as time began moving again. Then, everything was bright all at once, and Lila felt her consciousness slip into darkness.