Chapter Unknown: A Meeting in Sleep

Massive bursts of dark energy whipped around violently then dispersed, dropping Leila in another white room. She gasped for breath on her hands and knees. The last of her energy was used up and she felt the fatigue setting in. Where was she now?

Looking up she found herself in a round white room with only one door. Chains lit up around the room and in front of her she saw a throne-like chair where a boy sat, asleep.

"This is . . . the heart of this world," she breathlessly stated in wonder, fighting against her fog of drowsiness.

"My darkness must be absolute to make it here," she struggled to crawl toward the boy.

She stopped to rest, looking at the boy more closely, "You look familiar."

He only remained motionless.

"I was searching for answers . . . to where I came from. I thought . . . that if I looked in the past . . . I could find my future," she gasped out.

She looked around as her vision began to go in and out of focus more, "The spell on this place is much stronger here."

She dragged herself to the base of the throne and leaned against it, looking up at the boy and smiling weakly, "You look so familiar . . . You look kind of like that friend of Riku . . . What was his name?"

The pressure of the room was making her consciousness waver. She knew that the darkness in her was being crushed by the immense power of the world's heart. Though, she couldn't help but wonder why this boy was here.

She let out a cough-like laugh, "I guess . . . this is where it ends . . . You don't mind if I rest here a while . . . do you?"

She closed her eyes leaning against the front of the throne, falling asleep. A single memory came to mind; one that didn't seem so important until now. In the back garden of the temple she used to watch the birds. The most common birds were such ugly black ones.

"Why do such ugly black birds always land in this garden?" she would ask the priestess.

But the priestess only smiled and replied, "These are White Ravens Leila and it's true, that people think they are ugly, but they don't see them for their true nature. You see, a White Raven's feathers are black until they fall off, in which case, they turn pure white. There was a legend that once they were beautiful birds that people fought over, so the birds, to protect themselves, hid themselves in black cloaks. People misunderstand these birds often and think of them as ugly, evil, bad luck creatures, but their true nature and beauty is hidden just beneath the surface."

The priestess then took an accessory with a black feather from her hair and offered it to Leila, "This is a feather of a White Raven that hasn't changed yet."

"Didn't you say their feathers change color as soon as they fall off?" Leila asked skeptically, "That's just a normal black feather."

The woman only smiled softly, "If you want to believe so, but I think, it's just waiting for the right moment to show its true nature like the true light inside the deepest darkness."

Leila hesitantly took the feather from the priestess. The light inside the dark huh?

She stayed sleeping, leaning by the throne of a boy she found familiar. The feather accessory she wore in her hair showed signs of gray. A slow line of white seeped along the vain.

True light in the darkness.

What did she mean by that?

Beyond the path without you is a forgotten promise to keep

We may have walked sided by side, but now we go on back to back.

And though our paths may not cross, all paths are connected somewhere.

When I arrive at where you are, we may not appear to be as we were . . .

But we'll make another promise to keep.

Notes: Well that's it for this story. I hope to continue this in a new story starting in another part of the games. I believe this series will be called the Dusk and Dawn Saga.

A note for people who are wondering, Leila had fought her way through the castle in order to go through her memories one more time and try to find the truth behind her origins. She ended up in the heart of the world after finishing every memory she had left.
There are also more mysteries to be had. Where did Leila come from exactly? Where will her story go next? I suppose I could just say these things in a few sentences but then the mystery wouldn't be as fun.

Also, don't forget the concept art I made for Leila. The link is on my homepage and please excuse my horrible drawing skills. I tried to clean it up as best I could and used other work reference to help with the body position concept.

Update 12/10/2016: Story continued in Dream Drop Distance: Bright Black