I do not own Final Fantasy IX or Kingdom Hearts.

AN: In the Final Fantasy IX timeline this story takes place 16 years after the defeat of Kuja and Nercon.

Light in the Darkness

Chapter One: Lost Boy

Riku slowly came too, his mind whirling as he tried to recall what had happened. I remember I touched the light…then I fell. But what happened after that? He reached out a hand to push himself up and felt something through his glove. Slowly, hardly daring to breathe he ran his hand over the ground again and felt the same tickling sensation. It can't be…. He drew in a deep breath and the sent of earth an grass filled his nose. I'm…I'm outside. He pushed himself into a sitting position and opened his eyes, but then quickly closed them again against the sun that was painful bright after the darkness from before. He got to his feet and took a deep, willed himself to accept the pain, and opened his eyes. At first he couldn't see anything through the light but gradually it faded as his eyes adjusted and he could see his surroundings.

He was standing in the middle of a grassy field, on his left mountains rose up into the sky he could see a small forest that stood at the foot of the mountains. From somewhere he could hear a muted roar, almost like the waterfalls that used to surround Hollow Bastion. Where am I? He wondered. This isn't like any of the other worlds I'm seen. As he turned in a circle to get his bearings he noticed a glint on the ground near where he had landed, he walked over and discovered his sword lying in the grass. He picked up and swung it in the air a couple of times for practice, then turned and tried to figure of where he was suppose to be going. It said "Unveil the rest of your destiny" but what does that mean? He turned, picked a direction and began to walk toward the forest. At least I'll have shelter there. Better then nothing.

He had been walking for several minuets before he began to notice a tiny rustle in the grass every time he took a step. Riku stopped and tightened his grip the hilt of his sword tighter as he waited for whatever was stalking him to reveal themselves. He didn't know what or who was following him but every ounce of common sense and instant he had was screaming that it wasn't friendly. Suddenly something jumped at him from the side, a streak of blue that he barely caught at the edge of his eye. Reflexes, honed first with a wooden sword then later fighting heartless, took over and he swung his sword in the direction of his attacker. The strike hit home and a screech rang out, Riku paused and looked over at what at attacked him, he paused surprised.

The creature looked almost like a giant squirrel, but it was at least three or four times the size of any squirrel he had ever seen, and its fur was blue! The creature hissed at him and tried to lunge at him again but tripped and staggered blood dripping from the wound in its side. Riku stared at the creature for a moment then looked down at his sword. Crimson blood stained its edge, he watched as a drop rolled off and fell into the grass. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again. This was the first time he had actual spilled the blood of a living creature. Heartless weren't really alive and so they didn't bleed when you wounded them, there would just be a break in the darkness that it was made of.

The squirrel thing had recovered enough to attack again, it jumped at him claws out stretched but Riku managed to jump out of the way. Instinct took over again and he automatically brought his sword down onto the base of the creature's neck, killing it almost instantly. It gave one last earsplitting screech before it collapsed. For a long moment Riku stood there, staring into the lifeless eyes of the creature. When a Heartless was killed the body that it had inhabited would disappear and the stolen heart that had been trapped in it would float away. This was the first time that he had actually seen a real creature die much less killed one. He knew that it would have killed him if he hadn't but he still felt a touch of remorse about its death. For all he knew the squirrel thing was suppose to be in this world while technically he wasn't, he had been sent here. "If you wish to help Sora find the door, you must save the only person who can unveil it." But what door are the talking about? And what do they mean by "the one who can unveil it"? I don't even know what world I'm on and they expect me to help. A hiss brought him back to reality and he whirled around in time to stop another squirrel from leaping at his throat, he brought his sword up and slammed it deep into the creature's side, causing a much more serious wound to it then the one he had only swung at before. Suddenly more hisses sounded and more of the creatures sprang up from the grasses, surrounding him. He glanced around and took a quick count, seven not counting the one he had wounded. The odds weren't good, but he didn't really have a choice to what he wanted, so he got into his fighter's stance and prepared for a long battle.

The fight was surprisingly easy once he got into it. The creatures that he fought now were, dispite obvious differences, not that much harder then the Heartless he had fought before and fell easily to his sword. In almost know time at all he had finished off almost all of the creatures and was facing the last two. They were crouched close together in front of him and seemed to be reluctant to attack. They seemed to freeze and seem to sniff the air for a few seconds before one gave a hiss and then both of them took off running in the opposite direction. Riku relaxed and stood up from his crouch, he started to lower his sword but something slammed into him from behind and tossed him face first into the ground! He immediately rolled to the side in an attempt to get away and heard something strike the ground where he had been only moments before. Riku sprang back to his feet and slammed his sword in the direction of his attacker in the same movement, but the creatures managed to dodge and he only hit air. The teen jumped backwards and glanced over at his newest opponent.

It was much larger then the squirrel thing he had fought before, it stood at least waist high at it's shoulder, it's body was at least as long as he was tall and it had a tail that curled up over it's back like a scorpions. It's head was shaped like that of a dragon, with sharp teeth and horns. At least two more of the things were crouched behind the first, all their eyes fastened hungrily on him. With a roar the first charged at him again, talon on one of its feet extended to try and maul him. He stopped the claws with his blade and then slashed the creature across the leg in retaliation. The dragon let of a piercing shriek and hopped back ward, but then recovered and lashed out with it's tail. Riku ducked under the stinger then rushed forward and drove his sword deep into the dragon's chest, killing it almost instantly. He was able to take down the next of the creatures that attacked but he was starting to have trouble with the third. He hadn't eaten in or sleep in a while and he was starting to feel exhaustion creeping up on him. He jumped back to escape the creatures claws but he wasn't quick enough to avoid the thick tail that came hiss over it's head to slam into Riku's shoulder. The stinger bit into his upper arm causing Riku to shout in pain and pull backwards, releasing him from the creature's attack. The dragon fell back after it stung him and began to circle around him, watching his every movement as if waiting for something to happen. Riku kept one eye on the dragon as he checked the wound on his arm. It was bleeding but he was relived to see that it wasn't as bad he had thought it was, he could still use that arm and the wound itself wasn't even very deep. Meanwhile the dragon, tired of circle around him, closed in for the kill.

It must think that it actually hurt me with that strike last time. He realized. Guess I'll have to teach him not to under estimate me. He shifted his sword so that he held it in both hands and waited while the creature rushed at him, but then at the last second jumped to the side and slammed at the creature with a two handed strike. The blow slammed into the creature and tossed it to the side where it lay still on the ground.

After standing still for some time to make sure the creature wasn't going to raise again he allowed himself to relax full and leaned on his sword breathing heavily, tired from the battles.

"You, stop there!" A booming voice rang out from the left side of him. Riku started to turn in that direction but the dragon, which had only been stunned by his attack, staggered up right and rammed into him. The attack knocked the breath out of his lungs and slammed him into the ground so hard he saw could have swore stars he saw stars before blackness overcame him.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"I still do not see why her majesty had to send all out us on such a simple errand!" Captain Albert Stiner in declared in a very annoyed tone as the group of Alexandrian knights and soldiers walked away from the city.

"We should have left at least a few of the knights behind to guard her their majesties and the princess, I just don't feel comfortable with…"

"Stiner are you implying that my soldiers are not capable of taking care of the Queen in our absents?" General Beatrix had been marching in front of the knights but had still heard the comment and had fallen back to speak with the captain.

"No, of course not Beatrix!" The fluster Captain responded. "I…um I'm simply stating that taking almost the entire palace guard to go on a search mission is absurd! Sending a smaller party to assess the situation first would have been a much better idea!" The female General sighed in annoyance and began to explain why so many soldiers had been sent with them.

"First of all Stiner the Alexandrian Guard is fully capable of defending the city. Plus even if someone did decided to attack we aren't that far from the city and could be signaled easily." Beatrix looked Stiner square in the eye to make sure that he received the seriousness of the rest of her statement. "Secondly the light that we saw coming from this direction was almost the same as the light that went off when the portal to Tera was opened."

"You don't mean that…?" Stiner left his sentence unfinished, unwilling to imagine what it could mean. Beatrix nodded to confirm his worst fears.

"It is possible that another portal was opened. That's why we needed so many soldiers to come with us to deal with whatever may have come through the portal."

"But didn't that villain Kuja destroyed Tera? So how would a portal be opened to it then?" Stiner asked in a confused tone.

"Do you remember when Garnet had Dr. Tot research how Garland was able to open a gate to Gaia?" Beatrix asked in reply.

"Of course! I carried that message to the good doctor myself!" The Captain said with pride in his voice.

"Did you ever read the report he wrote on his findings?" Beatrix asked with one eyebrow upraised.

"A…a Captain does not have time to trouble himself with such petty details." Stiner managed to stammer out. Beatrix once again sighed in exasperation.

"In the report Dr. Tot said that from his research and various things that have been written by past generations he has hypothesized that there are in fact many other worlds beside Gaia and Tera. Each of the worlds appears to be sealed off from one another, but the seal can be broken by some strong force. He wasn't able to find out how the other worlds could be reached but he did say that because both Kuja and Garland were interested in the cycle of souls that it must have something to do with where the souls come from in the first place: the core or heart of each world."

"So this new portal might have let in something worse then those two villains!?" The shocked look on Stiner face betrayed the thought that had been plaguing Beatrix's mind since she had first learned of what the light could signal: If Gaia had barely survived Kuja's assault then what would happen if someone even more powerful came along? Would they be as lucky as they were last time and be able to drive him back or would he succeed where the Angle of Death had not and destroy them?

"We don't even know if it was a portal to another world or something else entirely." Beatrix said, as much to reassure the troops as to comfort her self.

"Either way it is our duty as the protectors of Alexandria to investigate! Forward men." Stiner shouted as he began to run forward a few paces, armor clanking as he moved making a racket. Quickly Beatrix put a hand on his shoulder to get his attention.

"Stiner I think it would be better if you and your Knights searched the area thoroughly while I scout ahead with my soldiers. That way we can be sure that we don't miss anything."

"Good idea Beatrix!" The Captain said nodding at her before he turned oh his men. "You heard her men! Start searching for clues now!" Amid a chorus of "yes sir!" the lady General walked over to join her soldiers.

"General?" One of them asked, curious as to why she had chosen to leave half of their force behind.

"If we do encounter something it would be better for us to take it by surprise. Captain Stiner's armor makes enough noise to wake the dead." She told her.

"Oh, I see General." The soldier said trying to hide a grin.

"And soldier?"

"Yes General?"

"You didn't just her me say that, is that clear?"

"Crystal General. crystal."

"General Beatrix?" The soldier she had sent ahead to scout out their route came running down a hill ahead of them. "You might want to see this….?" Beatrix shot a questioning look at her but the solider had already started back up the hill. She shrugged and then followed her back up wondering what had was so interesting, she hadn't given the signal that it was an enemy force and there where no towns in this area.

"What is it soldier?" She asked then stopped and looked down in time to see a boy land a killing blow on a large Serpion.

"He was finishing off another one when I first saw him General. I don't know taught himto fight, but who ever it was must have been really good!" By then the boy had almost won, but he managed to get stung in the process.

"Beatrix!" Stiner called from behind, the familiar clanking announcing the arrival of the Captain of the Knights of Pluto. "What's going on?"

"That." She replied and gestured down at the boy, she couldn't see the last Serpion and assumed that the boy had finished it off. Stiner looked at the boy and his eyes narrowed.

"You, stop there!" He bellowed out. The boy, upon hearing his cry, began to turn toward them.

"Stiner…" Beatrix began but then stopped in mid-sentence when the serpion jumped out the grass and crashed into him, knocking him to the ground. The General let out a curse and broke into a run, pulling out her sword as she moved. She easily out distanced Stiner and when she got within range, she unleashed a carefully aimed climhazzard, the attack blasted it away from it's prey and killed it almost instantly. She sheathed her sword and crouched next to the boy's side. She quickly checked the pulse at his neck then sat back on her hills in relief. At least he's still alive…

"Is he alright?" Stiner called as he jogged over to her side.

"He's unconscious at the moment but at least he's alive." She responded.

"Good" Stiner said with a sharp nod. "He may have seen where the light originated from, he must be questioned!" Beatrix looked and glared at him.

"That was a few hours ago! Unless you think that he's been wandering around in circles since this morning I highly doubt that he saw anything of interest!"

"Then why are we standing around here? We must continue our search!"

"So you want to leave him lying here?" Beatrix asked annoyed.

"Ye…no! I…it's just… we can't abandon our duty to the crown!" Stiner stammer out. "We must complete our mission!"

"And we can't just leave him here either can we?"

"Then what are we suppose to do?" Beatrix stood up a thought for a few moments as she looked at the boy. From the moment she had seen him fighting she had felt that something important was about to happen. And if her instincts where right then he was going to play an important role in whatever it was. She had had the same feeling about Kuja when she had seen him entering the gates of Alexandria and later about Zidane when she had finally meet the genome. The general looked down at the silver-haired boy lying on the grass and felt her stomach twist. If the feeling she got was correct then Alexandria would soon be in danger once again. And if that was true then the least she could do was make sure that this boy wouldn't become an enemy.

"I have an idea Stiner. You can take the force and continue to look for the source of the light, and I'll stay here to make sure the boy is alright."

"But…but Beatrix you can't suggest that I leave you all alone with this ruffian! It would be unwise for you to….." The knight caught the glare that Beatrix sent his way and gulped. "Of course, I am not implying that you are unable to take care of your self."

"Good." The General said nodding. "Now you should get going Stiner. Their Majesties did tell us that they want us to be back in Alexandria before dark."

"Very well, Forward men!!" Stiner clanked off with his knights scrambling behind. Several of her own soldiers turned and looked at Beatrix questioningly.

"Go." She said and waved them on. "I'll catch up to you later."

"Yes sir." Several muttered, saluted her and then turned to go but as they glanced backwards as the ran to catch up with the rest of their forces.

As soon as they were gone the General reached down and cast a Life spell at the boy.

"Get up now." She said and reached down to shake the boys shoulder. At her touch he groaned softly and his eyes flickered open. "Are you alright?"

"I…i..think so. What happened?" He asked as he stood up.

"You were knocked out." She told him. "But you were doing a well before that." The General turned and looked around at corpses that littered the ground. "Who taught you to fight?"

"I taught myself." Was the answered. When Beatrix glanced at him in surprise he shrugged. "I've always been good with a sword."

"I see…." Beatrix looked at him a little closer. For some reason there was something familiar about him thought she couldn't place it…. "What's your name boy?" She asked at last.

"Riku."

"Very well Riku." Beatrix took a deep breath. "What were you doing this far from the city, alone and with out a Chocobo for transportation?" Riku blinked at looked at her. He had no idea what a chocobo was, but he noticed that his questioner seemed to be impatient for some reason. He decided to giver her the truth.

"I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing out here." He said simply. His answer startled the General. She had been raised in the castle and she could tell for a life time of being around lies and deceit that this boy was telling the truth.

"You have no idea what so ever?" The boy nodded. "Were you traveling somewhere?" She asked hoping to jog his memory.

"Actually." The boy smiled sheepishly. "I don't really no were I am right now, could you tell me?"

Instead of answering Beatrix just stared at him, working to keeping her jaw from dropping in shock while her stomach twisted in dread and her mind dregged up a memory that she had been trying to keep in the back of her mind for years….

A younger Beatrix, not yet a General, stood guard at the castle gates. It had started to rain when suddenly she saw a shape coming out of the mists.

"Halt" She stepped forward to bar the way of an elegantly dressed silver haired stranger. "What is your business here?" She demanded.

"Actually I have no clue were her is, I appear to be a little lost. Perhaps you could tell he were I am Pretty Bird?"

"Th…this is the kingdom of Alexandria….."

"Ma'ma?" Beatrix was slammed back into reality by the sound of Riku's voice. She blinked and then looked at him once more. It seemed to strange that a silver haired boy, seeming lost and unsure of what he was suppose to be doing, appeared a few hours after a strange light came appeared. As much as she hoped her instincts were wrong the General had been trusting them for years, and she knew better then to tempt fate. Beatrix sighed.

"Riku, I'm going to take you to Alexandria. It's nearby and we should be able do something with you there."

I hope…. She added silently.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Hello everyone! Long time no update huh? I wish I could say I had an excuse but *shrugs* I don't. I had this thing 75% written but then I got lazy and forgot about it.

Anyway I know that there's not much happening in the chapter but just wait Okay? This was suppose to be longer but I realized that it made a lot more sense if I combined the end of this chapter with the next one. But I don't know when that chapter will be out because I have other stories I'm working on. However I am motivated to write if a particular story gets lots of reviews *hint hint* Thanks for reading.

--Plantress