A/N: It's been many long years since I last updated this story—almost 9 years actually. I was just a freshman in high school when I started this, but strangely, I still remember where I wanted it to go and I don't want to just let it die. I'm going to only play off of KH1 and 2 because it just fits better with the original idea, so expect a lot of inconsistencies. I went back and cleaned up the first two chapters a bit, but I didn't really want to mess with them. I figured I can make up for any vagueness and such with upcoming chapters. I don't like to do this anymore, but since I already started on this path years ago I'll continue it—there's two main characters and each chapter will be from an alternating pov. This one is from the pov of the character in the first chapter. Enjoy!
"I need you to retrieve another princess for me," She said drawing out each word.
I stood before her clad in black, an eye patch covering the eye that revealed my Heartless nature. I could pretend that I was more than this shadow of nothing if I hid the most obvious sign from the world—my round glowing eye. With each step there was a menacing click of her heels on the stone floor as she came slowly toward me from the shadows.
"This one may be more difficult than the last. She resides with a powerful beast and a household of enchanted…furniture," the thought seemed to amuse Her. "Her name is Belle. You will leave immediately. I will send the necessary reinforcements for you."
With a lazy flick of her wrist she opened a portal to Belle's world and I moved to step through it before she stopped me with one long, red stained nail running down my cheek to turn my face toward Hers, "Remember, if you continue to succeed in capturing these princesses I will make sure to find the missing pieces of your heart."
The thought of having a complete heart sent a jolt through me and pushed me through the portal with more purpose. I had already captured one other princess from a gaggle of dwarves for her and this would surely be my second. I couldn't afford to fail.
I was standing beside a large water fountain that marked the entrance to an elegant castle. A darkness seemed to hang over it held back by a warm light. The light must be from the heart of the princess. She said that the hearts of the princesses she required were filled with light, and that she required that light to find the missing pieces of my heart. I never asked what else she needed their hearts for. It doesn't matter to me. The only thing that matters is mine.
Not wanting to make this more difficult by being spotted, I sank into shadow and made my way under the castle doors. A deathly silence hung in the air as if the entire castle was holding its breath. I continued up the grand staircase to the left and found myself in a dark wing with torn tapestries and broken furniture. I rose up out of shadow reaching my limit. I couldn't stay within the shadows for too long before it started to slowly eat away at what was left of my heart.
A strange glow was coming from the room ahead of me, its door left ajar. Quiet as a shadow, I inched the door open just enough to squeeze into the room. The room I found myself in had been almost completely destroyed. Parts of several tables and chairs were strewn across the room and thrown into heaps along the walls. The pictures and tapestries looked as though a terrible beast had shredded them and some of them had been knocked to the floor. Shards of broken mirrors littered the floor, their frames still hanging from the walls.
The only piece of furniture left undamaged was a small, circular table that supported a simple glass cloche. The glow that lead me here came from a single red rose floating beneath the cloche. Its petals were in full bloom on the verge of wilting. Its enchanting glow seemed to pull at me, beckoning me. As I came closer, I reached my gloved hand toward it to remove the cloche shielding it from the world.
RRRRGGGHHH!
A large shadow bellowed from a dark corner that I had overlooked and came barreling toward me. The Beast that She had warned me against. I quickly dropped into shadow and came up beneath him grabbing his legs to bring him to the ground. When he fell the room rattled. Realizing my disadvantage in such a tight place, I darted for the door and sprinted to the stairs.
He had regained his footing and was hurtling after me. At the top of the stairs I pivoted and lunged at his head to bring him down again to buy me time. When he fell back I slammed my elbow into his exposed neck and he let out a strangled wheeze followed by a few drops of blood. I quickly jumped to my feet and hurried toward the other wing. I had to find Belle.
This wing was worlds away from the first one with pristine statues and paintings lining the hall on its left and large windows draped with heavy curtains on its right. I spotted a door at the end of the hall and bolted for it. I could feel Heartless rise up out of darkness behind me to impede the Beast. Her promised reinforcements had finally appeared. I could hear him angrily charging up the stairs already. There wasn't any time to lose.
Bursting through the door a girl with large eyes and brown hair spun towards me, but the wardrobe that she had been staring at did as well. This is what She must have meant by "enchanted furniture".
"Who are you?" the girl asked softly.
"Get back, Belle. I don't like the look of her," the wardrobe said with a deep voice moving to shield her from me.
The commotion in the hall behind grew louder and Beast bellowed in rage as more Heartless appeared to replace the ones he had destroyed. Realizing what was going on, the wardrobe charged at me letting out a battle cry. The thought that this might be a comical moment to anyone else crossed my mind, but my heart wouldn't allow me to see it that way. It was just another obstacle in my way.
I sank into shadow just as it was going to crash into me and its momentum caused it to charge right out the door and into a Large Body Heartless. It fell to the ground and the Large Body belly flopped onto it. Seizing my opportunity, I rose up and made my way toward the princess. Her eyes had grown wider in fright and she moved her hands in front of her as if to shield herself from me.
"Please, don't do this," she pleaded stepping away from me.
Ignoring her, I continued to close the distance between us. I could see the light surrounding her from her pure heart and I summoned the shadows around me to suffocate it the way She had taught me. By enveloping a heart filled with light in darkness you can cut it off from its life force. If I wasn't careful, I could kill her. She reached out to her bedpost for support as she grew weaker clutching at her heart with her hand.
I could see the light in her heart fading and just as it was about to go out I released it and quickly caught her as she fell unconscious. A loud bellow of rage came from the door and I saw Beast standing there ready to charge. Heartless began to rise up around me and I opened a portal behind me hastily throwing Belle over my shoulder. As I stepped into the cool embrace of darkness I looked back. I saw the look of anguish on the Beast's face before the Heartless converged on him preventing his rescue of his princess and I felt nothing.
