Prologue – Flung from Reality!

The alarm clock sounded as 18-year old Anastasia Stefanova groaned before shutting down with the fist of her hand. She had had another damn nightmare... she needed to knock off with out-of-date pizza before bed.

In her still sleep deprived state, Anastasia, or Anya, roused herself from her slumber as she groggily sat up in bed. She stretched as she yawned, blocking it with her hand.

"Mom, Dad - can you put up some coff- Oh, wait... I forgot. I'm living alone... Crap." Anya swore as she finished stretching her arms. Then she pulled out the sleeves on her greenish-red pajamas with polka dots.

"Right… so now what to do – drink a cup of coffee with breakfast or take a refreshing warm shower… Ugh, what a dilemma." Anya admitted with a sigh.

The one thing that she really dreaded in the whole wide world was decision making. For whatever reason, Anya had an absolutely crippling case of decision paralysis. Even the simplest choices became hours long dilemmas.

Still, all in all, things were very good at the moment – she was currently on summer vacation, mooching off her parents money and most importantly – living alone.

"Living alone has its perks... At least I can some peace and quiet." Anya commented while removing her upper pajama shirt and lower pants.

"What am I going to do today?" Anya wondered to herself after letting the cold morning air wash over her body.

Sniffing different parts of her body, her face froze and she covered her nose. First things first – a shower since she smelled like shit

Anya headed to the bathroom and entered the shower, flipping her long brunette-colored hair before turning on the cool water. The droplets of water touched her body and immediately a sense of relaxation came over her.

She didn't have a clue why but for some reason, showering always made her feel… relaxed. It was as if she was at peace whenever the water flowed around her.

Once that was over, she fixed her hair and slipped on a towel before going to get dressed. First, she slipped on a bra over her breasts followed by panties and then came a red shirt under a white short-sleeved jacket along with a pair of black fingerless gloves with a red stripe on the end. Lastly, she donned a dark grey skirt with red on the bottom with white dots, black leggings that reach her knees and red-white sneakers.

Opening the nightstand by her bed, she took out a very important heirloom - a moon-and-heart necklace before putting it on around her neck. It was a gift from her mom before she and her dad departed for another city due to a high-paying job offer. That necklace had been passed down through the women of her family for generations. Despite enjoying living alone, Anya couldn't help but feel a pang of loneliness.

After getting dressed, she went to the kitchen and started making herself some breakfast along with a cup of coffee. The question of what she was going to do today still lingered in her mind:

Going out for a walk or focusing on trying to get her novel finished which was going very slowly so far. No inspirational ideas had popped in her head nor was she having the motivation to continue. So, what to do…?

"I guess… going for a walk could help out. Not sure how much though…" Anya admitted with a shrug.

Once she had finished eating her breakfast, which was a bowl of cereal, and drinking a nice hot cup of coffee, she left the house and went for a walk while unknowingly sealing her fate.

Anya lived in her home country of Bulgaria, more specifically in Silistra – a harbor town that was slowly undergoing a time of peace and normalization. It hadn't always like that. At the start of the 21st century, the entire country became a victim of the so-called regime of prime minster Boyko Borisov and his band of mafia government hoarders. Times were often hard and many did what they could to survive… this was the life for many people of the Bulgarian country who wanted change and a return to prosperity.

Eventually, Borisov and his rag-tag band of mafia goons enacted many laws that most Bulgarians found wanting. People had enough and decided to protest yet the prime minister didn't give up power. It only made things progressively worse from there on…

At that time Anya was just a little girl who was still growing up and wasn't involved in the whole 'political bullshit' as her parents put it. She just went about her normal life – studying, playing video games, doing sports, going out… and mainly focusing on her novel.

At 16, her parents decided to move out to another city but left Anya behind since she was independent enough to survive on her own. Even though she was still receiving a small amount of money from her folks, the brunette often partook in several odd jobs around town.

One year ago, she decided to drop out of high school and start her dream of becoming a novelist full time… not just to make ends meet but to show the world how deeply her imagination flowed. Most of all – she wanted people to read her books.

Now here she was, walking down the streets and trying to think of new ideas for her first-ever novel. So far, things were peaceful… Borisov and his cronies had resigned some years ago and the economy was recovering slowly even though there was still a lot more to do.

The brunette was currently walking down the road and minding her own business when she overheard a strange noise coming from one of the alleyways.

"Hmm?" Anya wondered as she went to investigate the strange noise though her instincts told her to do otherwise.

As she looked around the alleyway, suddenly a portal opened under her feet and dragged her away.

"Wah! What the hell!?" Anya screamed as she tried to escape yet couldn't...

As she was fully swallowed by the portal, it closed behind her and left no trace of her existence or the existence of the portal at all. Just like that, Anastasia Stefanova had disappeared from the face of the Earth.


(? – Time… Unknown.)

She was falling through the darkness... yet soon came onto a platform that displayed herself with a strange key-shaped weapon in a halloween-like vampiric style. Her face morphed into an 'awed' one at the sight… how was any of this reveal?

You have power. If you give it form, it will give you strength…

Anya became startled at the appearance of the mysterious female voice. Three weapons were conjured - a sword, shield and staff.

Choose well, my dear.

The voice advised her as Anya began to inspect the weapons.

The first was the sword whose blade was colored silver; the pommel was golden while the handle was completely blue:

A sword of great and terrible power. Is this your choice?

Anya stood in complete silence like a statue but shook her head. No... a sword wasn't the right choice. She walked over to the black shield with red borders and checked it:

A shield to protect all, unbeatable defense. Is this your choice?

Hmmm... interesting. A shield to protect. Maybe this was the right weapon for her… yet she wondered about the rod with the green handle and blue mouse head sitting atop and connected by a disk of sorts:

A staff of strange and mystic power. Is this your choice?

Interesting... both the shield and rod sounded like ideal weapons for her to wield yetwhat to pick... Another dilemma that involved her least favorite thing in the whole wide world – a decision.

"I'll pick the shield." Anya decided at last.

The shield dissolved into light and flew inside her body. That was… unexpected.

Now, what will you give up in return?

She had to give up something in return... Oh, boy. This was one strange place she had found herself on.

Anya thought it over and decided to dismiss the sword since 'great' and 'terrible' were two very different too dissolved into light, but flew off to parts unknown much to the brunette's surprise.

Soon, the platform broke and she had fallen into the darkness again... only to land on another platform - this one depicting a young woman with blonde hair in a white sleeveless dress.

Sometimes you will be called upon to fight. Defend yourself!

The shield appeared in Anya's hands as mysterious black creatures popped onto the platform much to her surprise. She fought them off quickly and without much trouble. So far this was all too easy…

Thankfully, other than being able to submerge into the floor, they weren't all that tough. The brunette took care of them quickly but one had sneaked behind her only to be sensed by her and immediately destroyed.

Suddenly the last of the creatures melted into the ground and the whole platform was swallowed in darkness along with Anya who soon awoke on a new platform... one that depicted three silhouettes and was colored pink.

As she got up and looked around, her blue-colored eyes fell upon a ghostly door of sorts.

She went to open it... yet it didn't budge. Out of nowhere, a crate had appeared much to her surprise. Anya didn't know what to think or do... except for moving it.

As she moved it, suddenly the door became more solid yet still retained its ghostly-like form. Next, a small treasure chest had appeared and she took out the contents, which was a liquid bottle of some sort.

Not sure what it was or if it was useful, Anya pocketed it and the door became wholly solid. She opened it very slowly and light poured out which blinded her completely.

When she blinked away the blinding light, she wasn't on the platform anymore which surprised her. Instead, her destination was a clocktower of sorts where a young woman was sitting and swinging her pink-colored boots. Her entire face was hidden by a white fox mask that had a blue trim while her attire consisted of a pink, hooded cloak that was decorated with light green tassels and covered by a white robe with a light purple shirt and light purple sash.

"What's most important to you?" She spoke with a calm tone.

"O-oh... ummm... I guess... my dreams." Anya answered albeit confused by the question.

"Are dreams really such a big deal?" The woman asked – a motherly smile could be seen on her face.

Anya nodded as the woman continued with another question. "What is ultimate goal?"

"To become a novelist." Anya admitted easily–her biggest dream was to write books about adventure, fantasy and most importantly – romance.

The woman gave Anya a nod before posing a new question. "What is your greatest fear?"

"Hmmm... my greatest fear is... being someone I'm not." Anya explained.

"Is losing who you are really so scary?" She wondered with the smile still there on her face.

Anya nodded before silence overtook both her and the young woman. It went on for a couple of seconds before the masked individual spoke yet again:

"What do you want out of life?"

"Exploring new places - to gain a wider imagination." Anya admitted. This question and the one about her goal were all related to her desire to be a novelist.

"Broadening your horizons, huh?" The woman asked and then faded away much to the brunette's surprise.

You want to become a novelist. You fear becoming someone you're not. You want to explore new places...

"Yeah, that would be me in a nutshell." She joked as the light blinded her again.

When she could see again, she was on another platform that depicted a maiden with blonde hair and a purple gown. In her hands, she was holding a rose of sorts. Anya was examining the floor more closely while not even noticing her shadow coming to life, rising off the floor as it separated itself from her.

The closer you get to the light, the larger your shadow becomes.

In cue at the voice's warning, a huge black monster appeared from her very shadow! It had a heart-shaped hole in its torso along with small wings on the back. The glowing yellow eyes were glaring at her from the ground while the tentacles on its head twisted and moved on their own.

Anya's shield came back but she didn't see it at first as she turned around and tried to run away only to realize that there was no escape from this situation.

The only option left was to fight it... and that's what she did. She fought against her shadow. Thankfully, it was easy to discover a pattern and fight around it – turns out the weakness was none other than either the left or right fist.

Anya though had to watch out for its offspring shadows that were coming out from the glass pane along with the orb conjured from its heart-shaped hole. Luckily, she was able to avoid most of those attacks.

Soon, the huge monster was defeated and Anya stood victorious with a small smile on her face – it was surprisingly very easy.

"You fought well." A familiar voice commented behind her.

Turning around, she came face to face with no other than the woman with the fox mask!

"What is all this?" Anya asked.

"A little test of sorts. And you passed it." The woman spoke calmly.

"OK..." Anya replied with a confused brow on her face.

"I can hear the confusion in your voice... so allow me to illuminate you - I'm the one who conjured that portal and brought you here." The woman admitted much to Anya's shock.

"What?! Why?!" Anya demanded.

"To put it bluntly - there is a war coming soon... a war where there will be lots of casualties. The war between the light and the darkness... I know that you never asked for this... but I want to atone... to atone for the mistakes my friends and I made..." The woman admitted.

"I don't get much of a say in this, do I?" Anya asked with a small sigh.

"Well... there's an option of choosing to send you back to your world... I can send you back to live your life normally... but they might find you and your world will be in danger." The woman said with a serious expression.

"Damned if I do, damned if I don't." Anya admitted and sighed yet again.

"Precisely." The woman admitted. Anya did have a choice in the matter... yet she needed to know more about this whole situation.

"So, who are you?" The brunette asked with a raised brow.

"I am Master Ava – a former member of the Foretellers and a Keyblade Master from the fairy tales." Ava replied truthfully.

"Keyblade...? What's that?" Anya wondered while scratching the back of her head.

"A weapon of great power. Once it was used to keep the balance between Light and Dark, but now it is used only to destroy the Dark... and other Keyblade wielders." Ava explained and gave a soft sigh upon finishing.

"Yikes... that's... yikes." Anya shivered in fear. A weapon of great power? Doesn't sound good...

"I hope you will be the one to bring us back to our intended path." Ava said only for Anya to wonder if she heard her correctly.

'Bring us back to our intended path'? As in herself? That was definitely a wrong decision!

"The intended path? Me? Ummm... you've got the wrong person! I'm just a kid - barely reached my 20s!" Anya protested as she raised her arms and began to wave them like crazy yet Ava couldn't help but smile gently.

"You shouldn't underestimate someone simply based on their age." Ava remarked – her tone had a small hint of amusement in it.

"But... I'm just one person." Anya protested again only for the women with the fox mask to shake her head and respond in a calm tone. "Sometimes that's all you need."

With that cleared up, the ground began to shake much to Anya's surprise. What's going on exactly!?

"I'm afraid we're running out of time. Goodbye and good luck, Anya." Ava wished as her body began to dissolve.

"Wait! But... will I see you again?" Anya asked with a hopeful tone.

"It's certainly possible." Ava replied.

"Who... are you exactly... as in a role?" Anya couldn't help but smile again.

"I'm... a guardian angel of sorts." She admitted with a giggle.

"That's the best answer I'm getting, isn't it?" Anya asked with a sigh.

"You'll get more soon... goodbye. I'll meet you in your dreams next time." Ava wished and then faded away.

Anya followed suit and the so-called dream had ended. Moments later, she felt herself waking up. She should have found herself in an alleyway in Silistra... yet it wasn't anything like her town. Instead it was... somewhere else.

Anya got up off the ground, brushed herself off and went to see if she could find out where she was. She had no idea what truly awaited her.


Author's Notes: So... this is basically an idea that I wanted to put to action for a while but couldn't find the time to focus on it... Now that I've begun, say hello to yet another KH tale involving my female self-insert known as Anya. Lots of adventure, romance and action to expect in this... including themes of redemption, revenge, Good vs. Evil, etc.

As usual, I don't own Kingdom Hearts nor its characters - only the story and my self-insert known as Anya! Enjoy reading!