Rei: I'm so excited about this story that I'm just going to keep typing and typing. I've never been so stoked before- and that's saying something. :D Keep the reviews coming, please!

Disclaimer- gosh darn it, Kingdom Hearts is NOT mine. So don't make me say it. ;;

Dedication- to Meleiyu and my other two reviewers. :D

Note: I will answer your questions in a direct reply, if you have any. And yes, the titles of the chapters are named after songs from the Kingdom Hearts game. YAY!


Deep Dive- chapter two- Dive Into the Heart

"Speech"

'Thought'

Flash back

Downtown Twilight Town-

Sora's POV

I thought I was a goner for sure, but when I opened my eyes… I wasn't hurt. And I wasn't even in Twilight Town anymore! I was standing on some weird round platform. It looked like it was made of stained glass; and there were girls in dresses on it. It seemed to be glowing in the darkness all around me- which scared me, considering it seemed even darker than the alleyways in Twilight Town. I couldn't see anything else besides the series of platforms and some stairs that I was pretty sure weren't attached to anything I could see, or feel. I was definitely scared now, but I need to keep going. Who knows if that thing is going to show up?!

I tentatively stepped on one of the floating steps, and shockingly, it didn't fall through. Then I put my weight on the others, and they didn't fall. 'How in the world…?' I shrugged and continued forward, taking care that I didn't step into darkness or fall off. When I reached another platform, there were floating weapons on it, with the only light coming from the platform and from the three lights shining down upon the weapons, making them glimmer.

There was a sword with a gold hilt and a ruby in the center in the middle column, surrounded by a staff with a blue head that looked like King Mickey's, and a shield that had his symbol imprinted on there as well. 'Did he leave these for me?' I wasn't sure what to do.

'There are three weapons to choose from.'

I spun around in circles, I couldn't see anyone, but I could hear someone! "Who are you? What do you want?"

'Choosing the sword will grant you strength and bravery, but it can also lead to destruction.'

"Why won't you tell me?!" I was getting frustrated, but I was a little bit interested in what they were saying. If they decide to jump me, I could just take one of the weapons and defend myself…

'Choose the shield, and you will gain valor and dexterity, but it will not protect unless you desire it so.'

The shield's spotlight was brighter than the rest, it seemed to wink at me for a second, which made me rub my eyes and wonder if I was crazy… I mean, I've been having these weird thoughts lately…

'Choose the staff, and you will acquire wisdom and intelligence, but sometimes being too clever will lead you down the road to despair…'

Like is any of this for real or not?

'Choose your power.'

I walked forward, and then paused. Offense… or defense? Brains and magic or strength and more meat on my scrawny figure? I couldn't decide.

Finally, I took a deep breath. 'If I'm going to be attacked again, I need to know how to defend myself so…' I grabbed the hilt of the sword, and it felt so right in my hands- like it was made for me. The spot light faded on where the sword once floated, and the lights on the staff and shield were much brighter.

'Choose- which shall you give up? Give up magic, and you will find yourself with a smaller wellspring to pull your magic from. Give up defense, and you may find yourself being wounded much more easily…'

This time I picked up the staff- I didn't even know how to cast magic, so why would it matter as much? I need to make sure I can defend my back… right? The staff faded in my hands, and the shield disappeared as well. Then, a grand door spawned near the north edge of the circular platform.

'Ahead lies something dangerous.'

I tightened my grip on the sword. 'Dangerous? Is this why I had to choose?' I looked back towards the other platform- but it had disappeared too. Is there no way to get out of this?

'But don't be scared.'

How can I not be scared? I don't even know what's behind that door, and it's driving me crazy…! Am I dreaming? If so, I want to wake up right now.

'You hold the greatest weapon in the world.'

I do? I glanced down at the sword. Sure, it was shiny and really sharp looking, but was it really the greatest weapon in the world?

'Ahead lies something you need.'

'A way to get out?'

'But to claim it…'

I waited for the response, I was getting used to the anonymous voice. Well, it wasn't really a voice- more like a whole bunch of words being streamed into my head… but it sounded like there was a voice speaking to me.

'You will lose something dear.'

What will I lose? I laid a hand over my heart. There was no way I was going to lose this… I have to get back to my parents! And Hayner, Pence, Olette… and Riku.

Swallowing suddenly got harder, but I managed despite it, and opened the door. I couldn't see anything until I stepped through, and my feet met the glass of another platform.

I was only a few feet towards another set of stair cases when I felt the hairs on the back of my neck prickle, and my skin was rippled with goose bumps. I turned around, and was greeted by three pairs of glowing eyes. 'Not those things again!'

I grabbed my sword in my defensive stance that I learned from Riku so long ago, when we mock-dueled as little kids. It worked just fine with my weapon and I wasn't going to lose against these dumb things, so I got ready.

The first attack came with the same springing leap that had nearly got me before I had found myself in this place, and I slashed with my blade in a sweeping arc. The creature was thrown back, with a long gash on its chest, it wailed. The others were afraid of me now, now that they learned not to mess with me. But they didn't want to back off despite their fear.

I decided to go on the offensive and struck again at the wounded one, and with a few more cuts, it dissipated in wisps of black smoke. Not giving the others time to escape, I brought them down, and they disappeared too. Breathing in harsh gasps, I found myself needing to sit down for a few minutes. 'I have to stop eating all that ice cream…' I reminded myself again.

Within a few minutes, I felt better, and descended upon the next staircase. Soon I arrived at the very top, and I couldn't see any other platforms- just another ornate door. I was about to traipse over to it when an immense shaking rocked the platform I was standing on. I tripped, and fell, scraping my knee. "Owww!" I heard something make hissing noises from behind me, so I hurriedly got up, and managed to forget about my knee in the space of five seconds when I found myself staring up into the face of a huge dark creature, something you think you'd only see in movies.

It was humongous! It was like a super-sized version of the little guys I found earlier- except this one had a weird braid-like hair do that stuck up at weird angles, big muscular arms, and a huge hole in its chest shaped like a heart. It leered at me, and I felt my heart beat frantically. Clutching the sword, I suddenly felt very small in comparison… except it wasn't a sword anymore. It looked like a giant key… and it had a gold hilt and a key chain with a Mickey head on the end. 'What is this?'

'Don't be afraid…'

I held the key out in front of me. If I wanted to get to that door and escape from this… thing, I'd have to fight it out. Great.

'You possess the most powerful weapon in the world.'

The creature had enough of my inner monologues and decided to thrust its arm out towards me. Jumping, I just managed to move enough to the right so that it completely missed me by a few feet. Rolling forward, I cut at its legs. Immediately it brought down its other arm, and thinking it was going to punch me, I retreated. But it stuck into the platform, ruining the stained glass image, and a purplish-black pool of… darkness? - Formed from around its wrist. Suddenly little shadows appeared from the pool and focused their attention on me. 'Crap.'

'The Keyblade… is your weapon.'

'The Keyblade?' Without having more time to think, I dispatched them as fast as I could, while dodging more blows from the beast. It was huge, but a bit sluggish. I smirked; this could amount to my advantage, if I was careful enough to avoid getting hit.

I went after its arms and slashed wildly. I hit it once, but it retaliated and smacked me back, throwing me to the floor. I rubbed my cheek- I was sure there was a scratch bleeding there now- and stood up. Blood was dripping down the curve of my chin and I hated bleeding all over my clothes…

'I'm not going to take this.' I went for its head, after I managed to grab a hold of its shoulder. Then I struck its head multiple times, and it roared. I was thrown off and managed to land on my feet. Breathing in, I targeted the head once more and hacked off flesh as huge lacerations appeared on its skin. It wailed this time, and I was thrown off for the final time…

I expected to land on the floor, but I didn't. "Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!" I felt myself fly right into the door, and crumpled into a mangled heap. My vision was blinking from white to black… 'No way… if I don't get up… I won't see my friends again!' I managed to get up after a few seconds of struggling, and looked over to the middle of the platform.

The dark creature was gone. Nothing remained of the fight, except the shattered glass of the platform and red splotches where I had gotten wounded upon landing. I managed to glimpse a sparkling piece of glass lying on the ground, and so I walked over to it, and picked it up.

Upon doing so, I cut myself. "Ouch!" A small welt was now present on my thumb. "Wha…?" The glass was shaped like a strange looking heart, and once my blood was on it, the blood slid over the sharp edges and spread all across it. I stared at it. It was now all red, and it felt like the glass heart was alive- like something was pulsing in it. I would've dropped it, but I couldn't bring myself to. Instead, I looked towards the door… now that I worked so hard to reach it, I didn't even have the energy to go over to it.
"The door is the way out of this place."

I wheeled around, whipping up the Keyblade with one arm to defend myself. When I saw who spoke, I blinked. "A… Ansem?" Those orange eyes looked so familiar…!

"Sora." He looked amused; and I felt a mild sense of anger. Stamping my foot on the ground, I yelled,

"What's so funny?!"

"Do you know why you're here?"

"No." How the heck would I know? I'm only a sixteen year old boy! I've never even seen these things before…

"This place, Sora, is the inner recesses of your heart. There is darkness, yes, but on the other side of that door is all your light. This area is the dark side of your heart."

I looked all around. "The… dark side of my heart? Light?" It made no sense at all!

Ansem began to explain it for me with unusually grave-looking eyes. "In every heart, there is light and darkness. But yours, Sora, is almost completely full of light, the essence that the Heartless fear yet covet."

"The heartless? Are those the creatures that attacked me?" At least it made some sense now.

"Yes. The Heartless search for those with darkness in their heart, and take the hearts from them to consume them for food. In doing so, the person whose heart was taken from them turn into heartless, mindless, soulless creatures that only live to satisfy their hunger. There are many forms of heartless, but no matter what form they may take, they are all the same inside."

I stared at him; now I realized that I had heard of those creatures before- but I thought they were a story! Was the Keyblade from a fairytale too? "And the Keyblade?"

"The most powerful weapon, that has the power to free the captive hearts the Heartless take. You are its chosen wielder."

I glanced at it. Could it really be? Suddenly I heard a noise, when I looked up; Ansem was much closer to me. I took a step back, feeling threatened.

"We need you, Sora. The world of light needs you to take down the Heartless, and the Nobodies."

"What? Why me? And what are Nobodies?" I wasn't sure I liked where this was going…

"Nobodies are the body and soul left behind once the heart of a person is stolen. They lack feelings, though they may pretend to have them. The most common Nobodies are not humanoid in appearance at all. They are not hard to dispatch, so you will not have any major problems defeating them. The ones you need to obliterate are the ones who look like humans… more importantly, the members of the notorious group, Organization XIII.

Organization XIII are looking for the hearts they lost, which by all conclusions should have reached Kingdom Hearts. And we need you to infiltrate the group because you have the power of the Keyblade to vanquish them. This is your task alone."

Organization XIII… Kingdom Hearts… "I don't understand. You want me to kill a whole bunch of people who just want to be complete?"

"They do not die. They are Nobodies. They will simply return to the darkness. And they lost the right to get their hearts back when they surrendered to the darkness."

"But-!"

"They will be not only come after you once they figure out who you are, but also your friends, and family. They will do this so that they may persuade you to work for them."

Some flashes of my parents, Cloud and Squall/Leon, who had been so kind as to adopt me when I was little went through my mind. Images of my best friends, Hayner, Pence, and Olette appeared as well. I even remembered Riku and Kairi, Aerith, Tifa, Rikku… I blinked, and then rubbed my eyes as I had felt a small tear form. I couldn't let them get hurt. Not because of me! I swallowed, and then I agreed. "What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to take that piece of glass you're holding, and then carve a line straight down through it. This will actually split your physical heart in your chest. You will become as though you had a twin, while your actual heart that is your essence sleeps. Essentially, you WILL become a Nobody to dispose of any suspicion Organization XIII might have against you when you are found."

"So… if I do carve that line… will I be killing myself?" The way he described it sounded like suicide! Could I really do that…?

"In a way, but in reality, you won't be. Your heart will be sleeping in a pod, as if it were in suspended animation. But in your new identity, you'll be fine."

I bit my lip. It was a really hard decision… and I still had a few more questions to ask. "Will I be able to change back?"

Ansem nodded. "In time, you will know when your mission is complete… You will come back for your heart, and regain your memories."

I blinked. 'What?! He never said anything about losing my memories!' "My memories?! Why would I lose them?"

Ansem sighed, as if losing patience. Which he probably was. "When you are reborn as a Nobody, you will not remember anything… because the memories are stored in your heart, and you won't have it."

I looked down, with my bangs hiding my eyes, I remarked, "I see. What will happen to my friends, my parents…?"

"They will forget you for a while. Once your mission is complete, they will remember you again, as if you had just gone away for a year."

"A YEAR?!" This was pushing the limit. I have never been away from anyone so long, except for Riku and the others. My grasp on the Keyblade got tighter. "Will it… really take that long?"

"Yes. But you will see, it will be all worth it in the end." He began to fade, almost like he was never there to begin with.

"Wait!" I ran towards him, but he started moving away while he was disappearing. "How will I know when the time is right?!"

"You will feel your heart, Sora, calling out to you. But don't be scared…"

"Wait!" But it was too late. He was already gone.

Swearing, I slammed the Keyblade on the ground. 'Don't just leave me hanging like that…' I felt hot tears prick the back of my eyes. "So this is it, huh? I'll be gone for a whole year… No friends… No parents… Just little old me and this Keyblade." I glared at it. This was its entire fault! I threw it on the ground to express my frustration, but soon after it landed it appeared back in my hand. "Huh?!"

My eyes softened after a while. No, it wasn't the Keyblade's fault. Stuff happens… I sighed. "I guess I'll just have to do what he said." I knelt down on the floor near the door and set the glass heart down. I gazed at it for a while, then steeled myself for what I was about to do.

With one smooth vertical slice of the Keyblade, I had drawn a line through the glass on the surface. I soon felt an immense pain in my chest. "What the…?" The line I had drawn glowed; it was beginning to crack through, and with one short burst of light, it split the heart cleanly in half. Staggering to my feet, my vision faltered as I just barely grasped the handle of the door. I ogled it as I sworn I could have seen my hair blink from brown to yellow locks. But I couldn't focus; the pain that was trapped inside my chest was too much...

"So this is what it feels like… to lose your heart… It sucks…" I opened the door. Blinding light greeted me and I couldn't take it anymore. 'Whoever I become, I hope I'm a good person… Nobody…' were my last thoughts before I fainted into the opening beyond the door.


Rei: Wow. That was only two hundred words shy of the first chapter, I think. xD Ah well. I still loved it. Please honor me with reviews…! We get to see Roxas next chapter. And Xemmy. And Axel. Got it memorized? Hit with a frying pan Man I need to stop saying that… XD And yes, I probably overused the 'don't be scared' and 'you hold the greatest weapon in the world' lines... but I think it was important for emphasis.

remember! reviews:D If you want more. I already have the third chapter done... :P though you must persuade me to post it. Love!

-rei