Darkness. That was what he awoke to. He couldn't feel his body, but he knew that he had some sort of form in this darkness. Who was he? Where was here? Is there something, or someone, that he was forgetting?
So much to do, so little time…
He looked around. Who was that?
Take your time.
Don't be afraid.
Your journey has yet to begin.
The darkness gave way to a shining light. A floor of stain glass formed beneath him, an image of unfamiliar people upon it. There was a boy with blue hair and a girl with red hair, both back-to-back on a blue background. In their hands they each held a weapon of some kind, with the moon silhouetting both of them.
Power sleeps within you.
If you give it form…
It will give you strength.
Choose well.
He stepped forward into the center of the mural. Three pedestals appeared before him: one with a sword, one with a shield, and one with a staff. "Choose one?" he asked to no one. He looked between his options, then went over to the staff.
The power of the mystic. Inner Strength. A staff of wonder and ruin.
Is this the path you seek?
He nodded. The staff disappeared into light within his grip.
Your path is set.
Now, what will you give up in exchange?
He looked between the other two options. "A sword to attack, or a shield to defend…" he said aloud. He went over to the sword.
The power of the warrior. Invincible Courage. A sword of terrible destruction.
You give up this power?
He nodded, the sword disappearing into shadows as the shield faded away.
You've chosen the power of the mystic.
You've given up the power of the warrior.
Let us continue on.
A flight of stairs appeared, and he was compelled to go forward from there. Upon reaching the top, he came across another mural. This was depicted a boy with white hair on a yellow background. He had a particular pair of glasses on, while the background seemed to be covered in fog.
You've gained the power to fight.
Use this power to protect yourself and others.
He looked down to see the staff appear, though it quickly changed into a different form. It looked like a key crossed with a sword.
There will be times you have to fight.
Keep your light burning strong.
Darkness formed on the floor, and soon took the shape of imp-like creatures with yellow eyes. He defended himself, using the Keyblade to defend himself from the Shadows. Keyblade? Shadows? Heartless. He remembered fighting these things before.
They easily went down in a few hits, and soon the Heartless were all defeated. The Keyblade disappeared as well, finished with its use.
Now then, on your journey you will need companions by your side.
Three statues appeared around him.
These are souls from worlds that seek answers.
Choose wisely.
"But what will happen to the others?" he asked. When he didn't receive an answer, he sighed and looked at his options. One statue depicted a dragon, standing tall and proud. It held an air of power to it. The second was that of a fox, posed in the middle of some sort of dance. It had an air of grace about it. The third held a bird, wings outstretched as the wind rose around it. It held an air of speed.
He went to the bird statue and held a hand to it.
The path of speed. Endless Possibility. A bird of skill and ego.
Is this the path you seek?
He thought about it, then nodded. The statue crumbled, releasing two orbs of light from inside. The twirled around him before flying off into the darkness. The other statues crumbled as well, their lights immediately flying away.
Hurry onward.
Another flight of stairs, and at the top another floor. This one was that of a young man with messy black hair on a red background. He held a white and black mask, looking as if he was taking it off or putting it on, blue flames outlining his form.
A door sat at the other side of the room, but it wouldn't budge when he pulled on the handle.
Hold on. The door won't open just yet.
He looked around for the voice again.
First, tell me more about yourself.
What do you want out of life?
A memory came back to him, of a boy looking out into the sunset while sitting on top of a roof. "To broaden my horizons," he replied. "I want to see what is out there, beyond what I know."
What are you so afraid of?
Another memory, this one of a group of friends arguing, the boy clutching his head as they pelted him with questions. "Being indecisive," he answered. "I hate letting people down by not knowing something or being unable to give a straight answer."
What's most important to you?
Once more, a memory, the boy holding a necklace while smiling at another person. "My prized possessions," he answered, clutching the necklace. Was that there before? "Whether that be material things or the bonds I've made with others, I hold what I care about close to me."
You want to broaden your horizons.
You're afraid of being indecisive.
You like to collect things.
Your adventure beings in the dead of night. Your road won't be easy, but a rising sun awaits your journeys end.
The door shined with light, and he knew that it could be opened now.
While you may not remember much, trust in yourself.
Have faith in your friends.
And you will find that answers you seek.
Now go forth.
Your journey begins on the other side of the door.
He reached out for the door, opening it to find light on the other side. He entered into it and went out into a new world.
[***]
Episode 1: Welcome to Traverse Town
When he finally awoke, he was lying in a bed, within a room that he didn't recognize. A bark turned his attention to the door, where a white dog sat there. The door soon opened, and a girl with red hair entered the room, one that he recognized from the mural in his dream. She had red eyes and was wearing some kind of uniform, with a large red bow around her neck and a red armband with the word "SEES" written on it.
"Oh, you're finally awake!" the girl said. "You're probably confused on why you're here, right?"
He nodded. "Things are a bit fuzzy at the moment. Who are you?"
The girl gasped. "Oh, I forgot to introduce myself! I'm Kotone Shiomi, and this little guy here is Koromaru!"
"Nice to meet you, Kotone, Koromaru," he replied.
He saw a mirror in the corner of the room and walked in front of it, finally seeing what he looked like. Unlike the Hamuko he wasn't human, but instead a bird, more specifically a raven. Most of his body was covered in black feathers, with white feathers around his face, front side, and wings. His eyes were a vibrant purple and he was wearing an ice-blue button-up open over a white shirt, with tan pants and black "shoes" that acted more as coverings for his feet, leaving the talons exposed. He also had a pair of midnight blue headphones around his neck and a purple dragon amulet.
"Huh," he said. "I don't know what I expected."
"We were surprised when you showed up as well," Kotone said. "We actually thought you might have been a Shadow at first, but you didn't have the same aura as they do."
"Gabriel," he said. Koromaru gave a confused noise before he said, "My name is Gabriel. At least, that's the one that comes to mind."
"Well, it's nice to meet you Gabriel!" Kotone cheered. "Why don't we go out into the main room so I can introduce you to the other people here!"
Gabriel followed Hamuko and Koromaru out into the hall and downstairs to the main room. There in the foyer sat a few groups of people, all of them mingling and coming and going from outside. Hamuko brought Gabriel over to a table where a few people sat.
The first had blue hair and a uniform that matched Hamuko's, with a blank look on his face. Across from them sat a boy with white hair, in a different uniform with a popped-up collar. Finally, at the head of the table sat a boy in a white mask with messy black hair, in an large trench coat with red gloves. A black cat-person sat next to him, dressed like a bandit of some kind.
"Gabriel, meet my friends," Hamuko said. "Everyone, this is Gabriel, the boy we found the other day."
"So he finally woke up," the blue-haired boy said. "I'm Minato Arisato."
"Hey there," greeted the white-haired boy. He smiled and shook Gabriel's hand. "My name is Yu Narukami."
Gabriel returned the smile, then turned to the black-haired boy. "And you are?"
"The name's Ren Amamiya, though everyone calls me Joker," the boy replied. He gave a causal wave. "My partner here is Morgana."
The cat gave a nod. "So, you're the kid that everyone's been talking about. Pleasure to meet you."
Gabriel gave a smile. "Thanks for looking out for me while I was asleep. I'm sorry if I caused you any trouble."
"None at all," Yu said.
"If you could tell us about yourself, perhaps we can help each other," Minato said. "After all, you must come from a lost world, just as many others here did."
"Lost world…" Gabriel closed his eyes as a memory came back to him. "Yes, I believe I do come from a lost world. I was a something called a 'Keyblade Wielder' and I would travel worlds fighting Heartless."
"We fought beings similar to the Heartless in our world," Ren said. "We called them Shadows, and we used the power of our Personas to fight off the Shadows."
"We were called here to investigate a disturbance in the world order, but at the cost of not being able to return home," Kotone said. "I brought Koromaru with me, though we all had to leave some of our friends behind."
"We all woke up here in Traverse Town," Yu explained. "It's a world where people with strong hearts end up after their worlds as lost."
"When we all came here, we found out that we all came from different times though we were from the same world," Morgana said.
"Do you miss your home?" Gabriel asked.
"We all do," Ren answered. "But we were assured that once our task here is done, then we'll be able to go home as if no time had passed. There was apparently a group that protected Traverse Town in the past, so we're filling in for them while we investigate."
Minato gave a hum. "Now that I look at him, Gabriel reminds me of some people I've seen around Traverse Town."
"You're right," Kotone said. "Weren't there some bird-like rogues near Fourth District?"
"Think they could be from your world?" Yu asked.
Gabriel shrugged. "Possibly. It wouldn't hurt to check it out."
"They it's settled," Ren said. "Morgana and I will show you the way to the Fourth District and help you track down these rogues."
"You said you're a Keyblade Wielder, right?" Morgana asked. "I've heard rumors of those from around town. Why don't you show us what you can do while we're out there?"
[***]
Getting into Traverse Town proper, Gabriel followed Ren and Morgana around the town, while also showing them what he could do. They climbed up on the buildings, hopping between rooftops with great ease. The innate magic of the Keyblade even allowed Gabriel to quickly run up walls and swing around lampposts.
"He's almost as good as you, Joker," Morgana said.
"Let's see how he is with combat," Ren replied. The group stopped down near a fountain, where Ren pointed towards some barrels. "Show us what you can do against these barrels."
Gabriel nodded, holding out his hand to summon the Keyblade. Unlike the generic one that he held in his dreams, this one took a distinct form. It was primarily black with a golden design down the middle, the teeth of key formed from black spikes with blue and green accents. A blue and green winged design sat at the top of the handle, with a green guard around it connecting to the bottom of the handle with a black bat design. The keychain was that of a blue 'X.'
"Missing Ache…" Gabriel said. 'Is that its name? Missing ache?' He pushed those thoughts away and focused on fighting the barrels. Gabriel started with a diagonal strike downward, followed by a spinning swipe, and ending with an overhead bash. The barrel bounced after the last hit, so he jumped up into the air and did an aerial combo, which consisted of two diagonal slashes in an 'X' pattern and ending in a somersault attack that slammed the barrel back into the ground, smashing it to pieces.
"Good going!" Morgana praised. "Now then, I've heard that Keyblade Wielders can use magic. Any of that you can show us?"
Gabriel nodded. He took a step back before raising his Keyblade in a defensive stance. "Thunder Dash!" Gabriel shot forward, body covered in electricity as he struck one of the barrels. "Spark!" A ring of crystals appeared around him, keeping the barrel in the air before dropping to the ground. "Dark Firaga!" Gabriel held the Keyblade up and shot out a dark fireball that split into smaller fireballs the homed in on the barrel, burning it to ash.
"Impressive," Ren nodded. "Now then, let's get over to Fourth Street."
The group continued their way through Traverse Town, passing through the district gates until they finally got to the fourth one. This was where the colosseum was, a place for various events to take place in. Just outside of the building, however, trouble was brewing.
"Hold up," Ren said, holding his arm to block Gabriel from moving forward. They quickly moved behind some nearby boxes to see what was up. "Morgana, can you get a read on those Shadows?"
The cat tilted his head. "I sense their presence, but at the same time, they're not like our world's Shadows or Heartless we normally see here."
"Either way, them being here isn't good," Gabriel said. He summoned his Keyblade and ran out to see what was up.
The enemies were strange, as instead of the imp-like Heartless, these monsters looked more like graffiti art come to life. A group of frogs were attacking civilians, with a few wolves running around as well.
In the middle of it all were two bird-like creatures, presumably the rogues that they others had mentioned. The first was a hawk with green feathers and a white underbelly, wearing black and red boots, black pants with a gold design down the sides, black and red racing gloves, a red shirt tied around the waist, and yellow goggles perched on his head. The second one was a purple swallow, wearing a black sport top, white pants with a purple flame design, black sport gloves with gold bracelets, black shoes, an orange bandana on her head, a red jewel around her neck, and yellow-tinted shades.
Gabriel jumped right in to help the two out, using Dark Firaga to ward of the frogs that surrounded them. "Need some help?" he asked.
"We were doing just fine on our own," the hawk said. He pulled out two war fans and swung them at the frogs, sending out gusts of wind to blow them away.
"Not that having backup to get rid of these pests is a bad thing," the swallow added. She used a giant spanner to take a whack at the enemies.
"Alright, let's do this!" Gabriel shouted.
The three birds went to work taking on the enemies, with Gabriel taking the lead in the attack. They went after the wolves first, as they were the fastest and most likely to cause trouble. Gabriel and the hawk went in close with fast attacks, while the swallow supported them with sweeping strikes in the back. Gabriel used Thunder Dash to toss a wolf into the air, which let the hawk go in for the attack.
"Tornado!" the hawk slapped his fans together, creating a whirlwind that kept the wolf in the air while also sucking up the remaining frogs on the ground.
"Sabotage!" the swallow pulled out a device and tossed into onto an enemy, which started glowing before exploding, taking out all of the remaining monsters in the area.
Gabriel let out a relieved sigh. "That looks like the last of them," he said before turning to his newfound allies. "So, are you the rogues that Joker told me about?"
The hawk smirked. "That's us alright," he pointed to himself. "I'm Jet the Hawk, and my partner here is Wave the Swallow. We're the infamous Babylon Rogues."
"Hmm…" Wave hummed, walking around Gabriel. "You like a Babylonian, but I've never seen you before."
"And I don't remember you guys either, so you must not be from my world," Gabriel replied.
Ren and Morgana came up to the trio. "You guys did great out there," Morgana complimented. "We were almost tempted to join you, but you three held out on your own."
"So, you're the Babylon Rogues," Ren said. He held out his hand to Jet. "Joker of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts."
Jet stared at the hand, then hesitantly shook it. "You've got feeling about you, kid. Call it thieves' intuition, but I think we'll get along just fine."
"Jet, he's probably older than you," Wave rolled her eyes.
"So Gabriel, are these guys from your world?" Morgana asked.
Gabriel shook his head. "Unfortunately, they're not. The one I'm looking for must be somewhere else." He looked up into the perpetually night sky. "I think that whatever those creatures were might be connected, however."
"Those 'creatures' are called Noise," Wave said, getting everyone's attention. "They started appearing in our world awhile back, but they don't seem to have the world-ending power of the Heartless that everyone around here talks about."
"The Noise took our friend, though, so that's why we followed them here: to find Storm," Jet said.
"Wait so you came here on your own?" Ren asked in surprise. "How'd you do that? Crossing between worlds isn't a simple task."
"Our world has plenty of advanced technology, so we just had to 'borrow' some to cross over." Jet frowned and crossed his arms. "But the device we used broke as soon we got here, so it was a one-way trip. Still no sign of Storm either…"
"So these Noise monsters are starting to appear in other worlds and kidnapping people," Morgana said. "Well then, if Gabriel appeared at the same time as the Noise did, then he might be able to stop them as well."
"True, as a Keyblade Wielder he can more freely travel between worlds," Ren said. "Perhaps it was fate that we found you."
Gabriel nodded. "I was thinking the same thing, actually. If I travel to different worlds and battle the Noise, then I might just be able to find who I'm looking for and restore my memories at the same time."
"If you're going out there, then count me in," Jet said. "They took one of the Babylon Rogues, so the Noise are gonna pay until we get Storm back."
"Yeah, nobody messes with Storm except for us," Wave added.
"Looks like you've got yourself some allies," Morgana said. "Why don't you guys wait until tomorrow before you depart? We can get you all geared up before you chase after the Noise."
[***]
After a good night's rest, Gabriel was ready to head off into the worlds with Jet and Wave at his side. Ren, Morgana, Kotone, Yu, Minato, and Koromaru met the trio in the First District to send them off.
"Good luck you guys!" Kotone cheered, Koromaru barking next to her.
"Stay safe, even in the darkest times," Minato said.
"Don't forget to make friends along the way," Yu added.
Ren and Morgana walked up to Gabriel. "We want you to have this," Ren said, handing over a deck of cards to him. "While you three aren't Persona users, these tarot cards may come in handy."
"If you're ever in trouble, those cards will let you call on our power," Morgana explained.
"Thanks guys," Gabriel said.
"Hey, let's get going already!" Jet called.
"It's not like we're saying goodbye forever," Wave said. "You can have your sappy goodbyes after we find our friends."
Gabriel turned to the Rogues and held up his Keyblade. A beam of light shot out of Missing Ache, creating a portal of light in front of them.
"Hey Gabriel, catch!" Wave shouted. She tossed an object over to Gabriel, which turned out to be a black board with green lines. "If we're going between worlds, we'll need transportation."
"That's an Extreme Gear," Jet explained. "A board that lets you move at high speeds. Wave stayed up all night making that for you, so you better not break it."
Gabriel smiled at his allies, then set down his Extreme Gear and hopped on. He wobbled a bit at first, but quickly found his balance and gave a thumbs up. Jet and Wave got on their own Extreme Gear, and soon the trio raced into the portal and out into the universe, off to face the Noise and explore new worlds.
Author's Note
Finally time for me to do a story in one of my favorite series, Kingdom Hearts! This story is a bit personal to me, as I finally got together everything that I wanted to do for a KH story.
For partners, I went with the Babylon Rogues as the Sonic series was one that I grew up with, and they have some of my favorite designs out of that cast. This being Kingdom Hearts, I gave them alternate looks like how Donald and Goofy have different outfits from how they usual dress.
As for Traverse Town, since Leon and the others are in Radiant Garden, I decided to have another series that I love fill in for their role, that being Persona. I only got into Persona in the last few years, but it's already one of my favorites with great characters.
Finally, the Noise are enemies from another Square Enix game, the World Ends With You. They cast of that game actually appeared in Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance, and I highly recommend you check that game out if you like Kingdom Hearts. If nothing else, check out the rocking soundtrack!
With all that out of the way, I hope you join me next time for the first world this new adventure takes us to!