Chapter 1: The Chosen One

She was dreaming. She was remembering her home, the beautiful, idyllic countryside of Little Arcadia. She remembered running through the endless green fields that surrounded the village, stretching off into the distance towards the mountains that surrounded the valley protectively. Playing under the endless sunshine. Every day was another day in an endless summer. Until that day.

Evening had come and the sky had fallen. Burning rocks had come shooting from the sky as the stars winked out, one by one. And then the darkness came.

Creatures of black crawling out of the wreckage, forming from the shadows. Their glowing yellow eyes hungry, the creatures had struck down the defenseless villagers, swallowing them into the darkness and devouring their hearts. A nightmare.

And then, in the last moments, he had saved her.

Before she could remember any more though, a voice called to her. Distant, muffled, as if from beyond a wall. Talking, not to her… perhaps about her? Then a loud grinding noise, as stone on stone. And then, clearly:

"And now… awaken."

Skye opened her eyes. She was lying down on her side, curled up in a ball inside the cushioned stone chest. Sitting up, she looked around, drinking in her surroundings as she let out a yawn, stretching widely. Where was she?

She remembered, vaguely, these stone walls, that long set of stairs. Her brother had brought her here. Her brother…

"Ignis?" she asked suddenly.

"What?" replied a gentle, feminine voice. It was then that Skye realized she wasn't alone. The speaker was a girl with long, platinum blonde hair and clear blue eyes wearing a white sundress. With her was a man in a red yukata with a long red scarf wrapped about his neck. He had spiky blonde hair and squinted as he smiled slyly, giving him a fox-like appearance.

"Who are you? Where's Ignis? And Zan," she added, backing away from them cautiously, though she soon ran out of space as she backed into the edge of the box she was standing in.

"I don't really know who those people are," said the girl, watching her coolly, "but my name is Emeline."

"Riku," said the man, flashing a grin. "Yoroshiku, ne?"

"My name's Skye," she replied, a little hesitantly.

"We thought it might be something like that," murmured Emeline.

"What do you mean? Just who are you two?" she asked in bewilderment. "I don't remember ever seeing you in the village."

"We're from far away," she explained.

"And that's an understatement," added Riku. Catching Emeline's glare, he gave a shrug. "What?"

"Would you not interrupt?" she said irritably.

"Would you not hog the spotlight?" said the prince. "After all those doors you made me open and stone lids and whatnot, how come you're the only one who gets to talk?"

"Because, you don't take things seriously enough," said Emeline.

"And you take things far too seriously," he replied glibly.

"Would you just be quiet?" she requested, low menace in her voice.

"Jus' sayin', fair's fair," he sighed with a shrug, before going quiet. Skye could hear Emeline muttering under her breath, something about "writing him out of the story", before she continued on.

"As I was saying, before I was so rudely interrupted," she said pointedly, glaring daggers at the man in red, who feigned oblivious to her irritation, "we're from far away. A different realm, in fact."

"A different realm?" asked Skye, puzzled. "What does that even mean?"

"There are three realms," she explained. "We are from the Realm of Light. A year ago, we fought in a battle in the Twilight Realm. After that, we ended up here in the Realm of Darkness."

"This is the Realm of Darkness? Isn't that bad?" asked Skye doubtfully.

"Not really," replied Riku with a smile. "Light and dark are two halves of the same coin. Neither is particularly good or bad."

"Besides, didn't you grow up here?" said Emeline. "Did it seem like a bad place to you?"

"Well, no," replied Skye. "Wait, we're in Little Arcadia?"

"That's what the ruins outside said," replied Riku with a shrug.

"Ruins?" said the girl with surprise. She suddenly shot up straight as she remembered. "Oh, my gosh, the village!"

Jumping over the edge of the box, Skye sped past the two travelers and ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time. Riku yelled ineffectually after her to stop, but Emeline only shook her head.

"You idiot," she sighed.

"She was gonna find out anyway," he said defensively.

Emeline only shook her head again then headed up the stairs after the girl.

Skye ran up the stairs, her feet pounding against the stone steps in time with the frantic tattoo of her heart. Was everyone all right? What had happened that night? What were those black monsters that had attacked the village? Where were Zan and Ignis? What did they mean, ruins? As these thoughts ran through Skye's head, she brought her gaze forwards, towards the entrance. The light above steadily grew larger and larger until it filled her vision, and she came bursting out of the dark, stale air of the cave she had been sleeping in and out into the open.

She had awakened to a world changed.

No longer was the peaceful village, the quaint houses and endless green fields. Now there was only destruction and ruin; all around, the crumbled remains of buildings, the burnt ashes where grass once grew. This world was dead.

Skye stood there, staring in shock at the transformation her home had undergone, seemingly in one night. She was only brought out of this trance when she heard footsteps behind her, turning to see the two travelers, Emeline and Riku, coming out of the underground stairway.

"Quick, you have to help me," she told them urgently, grabbing their hands.

"That's what we're here for," said Kensuke casually.

"What do you need?" asked Emeline calmly.

Skye just stared at them for a moment. How could they be so calm in the face of such destruction? Such violence? Why weren't they worried at all?

"You have to help me look for my brother, my friends, anyone!" said Skye. "Any survivors at all! I don't know, did you see anyone when you came here? Maybe some people managed to stay safe like I did, who knows. We've got to get looking!"

She turned then and started to run off. She didn't get too far though before she heard one of them, Emeline, call out to her.

"Skye, wait up."

Turning, she found, to her frustration, that the pair hadn't even moved an inch.

"What are you two waiting for?" she demanded angrily. "People could be dying! The attack last night, it was horrible, it was, like, I don't know, something out of a nightmare! How can you just stand there?"

The pair only stood silently as she stomped back towards them, Riku only watching her mysteriously, his red scarf flapping in an errant breeze that stirred the ashes, while Emeline flipped through an old-looking tome. Where had she gotten that from?

"Skye, I know you'll find this hard to believe," said the older girl, looking up from her book to her with a sad gaze, "but there's no one here. Not anymore."
"How can you be sure?" shouted Skye. "Did you look?"

"It is written," said Emeline quietly. "But more than that, what's also written… is that the fall of Little Arcadia… happened a year ago."

"What?"

Emeline watched, clinically observing as the girl dropped to her knees in shock, slumping to the ground. Was this girl really the one they were looking for? She certainly didn't act the part. Nor did she look it, particularly.

Skye had clear blue eyes and long blonde hair, her bangs held out of her face by a pair of hairclips; the rest was tied back in a loose ponytail. She wore a light-blue sweatshirt with detached sleeves. Perhaps it was due to being a year older that it didn't cover her midriff, but Emeline suspected it was just the style. She also wore baggy black shorts with a pair of crisscrossing belts and side-packs over her overly large shoes. A real tomboy, though unmistakably female. Actually, casualness of the shorts and shirt reminded her vaguely of the last one, Kir. Really, why did such awesome power choose such children? The girl couldn't possibly be more than fifteen, sixteen at the most.

Of course, how much of an indicator was age? Emeline herself was only a slender young girl of seventeen, yet had singe-handedly, as Xenthora, anyway, almost managed to conquer the Realm of Light. That was only a year ago, but it seemed like a whole lifetime ago; for her, it was, in a way.

And in comparison, she reflected, there was the idiot she was travelling with: Riku, son of Ansem the Wise, brother of the Seeker of Darkness and Prince of Radiant Garden. In his late twenties perhaps? She'd never asked. And what had he accomplished? As far as she could tell, that list was limited to being a complete and utter pest; the fox-faced blonde was chatty and indiscreet; on top of which, he fancied himself to be witty and clever. Truly an obnoxious travelling companion, though he did have his uses. Besides, if what she'd read was any indication, protecting this girl was more than she alone could handle.

Now, to get this show on the road…

"Everyone that lived here has since moved on," said Emeline, bringing Skye partway out of her shocked state. "They've left, one way or another. They might have fled, or they might have–"

"They're not dead!" said Skye angrily, shaking her head in denial. "They can't be. Zan wouldn't… Ignis wouldn't…"

"I'm not saying they are," said the prophetess calmly. "And if they were close to you, there's a good chance they aren't. Besides, the Heartless don't kill, per se…"

"Heartless?" she asked, looking at them curiously.

"Beings born from the darkness in people's hearts," explained Emeline. "That's what those black things that attacked your village were; hearts devoured by darkness, seeking out hearts to devour in turn."

"So Zan and Ignis might have been taken by those things?" she asked. Emeline nodded.

"By the way," said Riku, offering her a hand up off the ground, "who are those two you keep mentioning?"
"Well," said Skye, taking the proffered hand and standing up, "Ignis is my older brother; he's my only family. And Zan is… my best friend."

Emeline noted the pause in the girl's statement, but chose not to comment on it.

"How would you like to go looking for them?" asked Emeline instead.

"What do you mean?" she replied

"There are many worlds besides this one," said Emeline. "Your friend and your brother may be on one of them. How would you like to come with us and look for you friends?"

"Okay… but what's the catch?" asked Skye cautiously.

"You just have to do what you were destined to do," murmured Emeline mysteriously, opening her book. Pulling a pen out from the spine, she began writing on it, the scratching of the pen upon paper loud in the near-silence of this dead world.

"And… what am I destined to do?"

"Well, I'll explain," said Emeline, finishing her paragraph, "when you have the key."

Before Skye could ask another question, the older girl's hand shot forwards, grabbing her head. There was a surge of power, and then all was darkness.

Skye awoke to darkness. But there was light… from below.

Sitting up, she looked around. Everywhere, nothing but darkness.

She looked down. She was sitting on a giant stained glass window, a round platform. She stood up to get a better look at the picture.

It was a portrait of herself. Behind her were Emeline and Riku. There were other figures, some she didn't recognize, some that she did. Both Zan and Ignis were in the background, but in shadow. Closer to her were a pair of boys, twins by the look of how similar their faces and eyes were. One had a mess of spiky, dirty-blonde hair that shot back from his head, some of it tied off in a ponytail at the base of his neck. He had a wide grin. The other brother, with solemn face, had a mess of lighter blonde hair that curved up and forwards in spikes. Who were they? What did the picture mean?

As she wondered this, a voice, omnipresent and bodiless, spoke.

You will be the last one. After you, for better or worse, there will be no others.

"What are you talking about?" said Skye, calling out into the darkness, looking around for the speaker.

This is the end of an era. Of many eras. And you shall be the key.

At this, there was a spark of light at the center of the platform, a few feet off the ground. The glowing speck grew until it became an all-consuming flash of light. When Skye opened her eyes, there it was: the key.

Floating there was a key, about three-feet long, made of metal. On one end of the long, silver haft was the hefty hand guards, a trapezoid of gold with rounded edges. On the other end were the teeth of the keys, four flat spikes that carved the outline of a crown between them.

The Kingdom Key, Heart of all Keyblades.

Walking forwards, entranced by this weapon, this keyblade, Skye stopped before it. Then, without a second thought, she reached up and grasped the hilt. It fit naturally in her hand, and contrary to her initial beliefs, the weight was comfortable, not heavy or unwieldy.

It was as she was marveling at how perfect the Kingdom Key seemed for her that a sudden chill ran down her back. Spinning around, weapon in hand, she found herself looking up at an enormous titan in black, a muscular demon with glowing yellow eyes that stared down at her from the shadows. There was a giant heart-shaped hole in its chest.

"Heartless…" said Skye, stunned by the sheer size and presence of this monster.

She was brought out of her shock as it lumbered forwards to her, swinging a gigantic fist towards her. She leapt back out of the way, suddenly glad for all the time she'd spent play fighting with, and getting ambushed by, Zan, rather than being a good little girl and playing dolls or something. Another split second reaction kept her mere inches from being smashed again.

"How am I supposed to fight something this huge?" she yelled helplessly, swinging at the enormous hand out of desperation. As if in answer, the keyblade shone with a powerful light, driving back the giant Heartless and causing it to howl in pain.

Taking the initiative, Skye lashed out at its legs, diving to the side when it tried to grab her with a hand. Leaping onto the offending limb, she ran up the monster's arm until she came to its face.

"You want me? Then have some of this!" she shouted before slamming the keyblade, point first, into the darkness of its face. There was blinding flash of light, and then the darkness was gone.

Rather than falling, Skye found herself floating softly to the ground, even as the Heartless, the platform, and the darkness around them faded away into white nothing.

And now, you are the Final Keyblade Master.

Skye awoke once more, surprised to find herself standing. It had just been a dream…

Or had it?

"So you did it," murmured Emeline. "Not that I'd expect any less from you."

No, not a dream.

Looking around, Skye found that it was all still real. The ruins of Little Arcadia, the two strange travelers that had woken her from her sleep in that tomb. And the familiar weight of the keyblade in her hand.

The keyblade.

Skye looked down in surprise to find the weapon grasped firmly in her right hand. Had it really been a dream? What was that vision, that voice?

"What… happened?" she asked hesitantly.

"The Station of Awakening," replied Emeline. "Something that I suspect you should have seen a year ago… but for whatever reason, you didn't. Apparently, you slept through the destruction of your home, which normally would have been the catalyst to your ascendance as the Keyblade Master." She shrugged then. "So, I just triggered it manually. Can't be a Keyblade Master without a key."

"What is a keyblade?" asked Skye, holding up the Kingdom Key and turning it this way and that as she looked at it.

"It's the manifestation of person's heart," replied Riku with an easy smile. "Their own talents, their feelings… so it's unique in every case. See?" At this, he gave a flick of his wrist, a long, metal keyblade appearing in his hand in a flash of light. It had a wooden haft, with an iron blade running down one side. The metal jutted out at an angle towards the end, forming a large titled square at the tip, though rectangular slots were cut out here and there, giving it a key-like appearance. An eccentric-looking sword, but undeniably solid and sharp.

"Hey, how come his looks cooler than mine?" Skye noted with dismay.

"Riku, don't confuse her," groaned Emeline, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Well, I suppose since you've already seen…"

Holding out her hand, Emeline grasped her own keyblade, manifesting it in an instant. It was a thin, white affair, like folded pieces of paper, but inlaid with silver vines. The end had three graceful spikes of white lined with silver. The handle was wrapped in silver wire. Light and graceful, it suited her perfectly.

"It's a little different in the Realm of Light," said Emeline. "But here, in the darkness, there's a lot less difference between feelings and reality. As a result, many people can manifest the power of their hearts as keyblades. Keyblades, therefore, are just manifestations of our unique talents. My Paper Finesse has manipulation over paper, able to create it and change its form. Riku's keyblade, King's Steel, is, I don't know, good for bashing things in and getting in the way."

"Ara ara, no need to be filling her head with such lies now," said Riku with an easy grin.

"Your Kingdom Key, on the other hand, is special," said Emeline. "It, with a few others, has the ability to open doorways, lock away hearts, including the hearts of worlds, and most importantly, save Kingdom Hearts."

"Kingdom Hearts?" asked Skye.

"People have hearts," explained Emeline. "In turn, because of people, worlds have hearts. And from that, all worlds are from one heart, the great heart that connects us all: Kingdom Hearts. Encompassing all three realms, all worlds, and all people, Kingdom Hearts is the ultimate source of all life, of all power. And so many people have tried to capture it. But most dangerous of those people, if it can be said to be a person, is No Heart. No Heart is a being that desires Kingdom Hearts. For what purpose or reason, no one's sure. But your keyblade is instrumental in defeating him."

"And… you need me to beat this No Heart?" asked Skye.

"Eventually… things are starting to look that way," she replied. She leveled her gaze at her, her face extremely serious. "Skye. You are the Final Keyblade Master. It is foretold in prophecy. You will be the one to face No Heart in the end."

"What? Me? How am I supposed to do that?" she protested. "How am I supposed to do all these things you're talking about, like saving the world?"

"Not just the world, but all worlds," corrected Riku cheerfully.

"That's even worse!" Skye said, panicking more. Emeline leveled a glare at Riku irritably, but the prince only smiled at her.

"That's why we're here to help you," said Emeline, returning her attention to the girl. "And we still have some time. To prepare, we need to find some things."

"Like what?" asked Skye, struggling to push down her fear.

"There are prophecies scattered about the worlds that talk about this final battle," she answered. "The three of us will search for them. As we do, we'll encounter many challenges, and as a result, I'm sure you'll grow stronger."

"And then?"

"Well, hopefully the prophecies will give us an idea of what else we need," said Emeline.

"Not that a year's worth of work has given us any leads," sighed Riku disparagingly.

"It led us here, didn't it?" said Emeline pointedly. "Besides, we've got some names to work with now. The Master of Nothing, the Prince of Darkness, the Queen of Hearts..."

"That's you, by the way," said Riku, winking at Skye.

"Anyway, while we look, we can help you search for your brother and your friend," said Emeline, giving her a small smile.

"So, what do you say, ojou-chan?" asked the fox.

"It is your destiny," reminded the witch.

"Well…" said the girl. She looked around at the ruins that once were her home. A whole year. She was the only one left. But maybe, somewhere out there, they were waiting for her. Her resolve hardened, she brought her gaze back to the two before her. And then she smiled. "Let's go!"

"That's the spirit," said Riku.

"I think we should look into the Eternal Prophecy first," murmured Emeline.

Zan, Ignis, thought Skye to herself, I'm coming.

Name: Skye
Age: 15
Role: The Final Keyblade Master
Summary: Destined child, chosen of the Keyblade, Skye's now on a quest along with Emeline and Riku to put together the prophecies surrounding the Final Battle. Along the way, she hopes to find her friend, Zan, and her brother, Ignis.

Her design comes from the main character, Orchid, of my previous fanfiction, Black Orchid, another KH fanfic. They're basically the same, characterwise, though I think Skye might be a little more mature? Who knows; I don't exactly have a firm grasp of her personality at the moment, so let's just see how she develops, ne?

Chapter Up: Well, here's the first chapter. I really hope this isn't too confusing for new readers? Well, that's more likely to apply next chapter. Anyway, for you older readers, go back and re-read chapter 1 of Memories of Nobody, specifically the Station of Serenity part. Recognize the last stained glass window now?
Oh, and it's now going to be standard for me to include a little mini-profile at the end of each chapter. Hooray.

Kensuke vocabulator:

Yoroshiku, ne: Nice to meetcha
Ara ara: my, my...
Ojou-chan: little lady (diminutive)

Next Chapter: Daxtin Awakens... in the hands of the Enemy!?