Hi. I'm Anonys. This story is based on an idea I had of a person who could visit any world they wanted. Movies, games, books, any story is fair game here. Sorry if it's a little adult-ish sounding, but I've had to read some adult books lately and my writing is reflecting that --. If you see a phrase in italics, that means she's thinking it. Anyway, on to the disclaimer!

None of the characters in this story except Karyn, Jynkal, Amarak, the Council, and the main character belong to me. The others are the property of Squaresoft and the author of Demon Diary (sorry, don't remember her name). Kingdom Hearts doesn't really come into play for another chapter yet. Enjoy.

Chapter I - Demon Diary

"You are the guardian of all worlds," he had said. 'Guardian of all worlds,' such an understatement. How could you call what I do 'guarding'? I go to a world, mess around a bit, finish my job, and leave. Easy, right? No way. I get to start wars, save kings, kill emperors, and chat with dragons all in one day. Sounds fun, don't you think? It has its perks. I've been doing it for nine years now. Ever since I was ten I've been traveling all over the universe doing the Council's dirty work, but I've had it.

Three days ago, Vincent came to tell me of the Council's decision on my request for retirement. They had been reviewing my situation to 'determine my compliance with the required standards.' Apparently a guardian keeps their position for centuries. However, I was a last resort, so to speak, when their last guardian was killed in a Link world. He had been investigating the recent growth of darkness within the world's heart. Let's just say that when he returned, he wasn't really himself. He took the lives of three world guardians and those of all his possible replacements. They were just lucky I was discovered after he was subdued otherwise I'd be dead as well. By the way, guardians are normally guys. Don't ask me why, I just take what I'm given, even if it puts me in a situation where I'm the only female in a male-dominated career. Anyway, they'd recently found a compatible guardian in one of the other Link worlds, sector K-H, I think, who had all the right traits and abilities for my job.

It feels so good now to kick back and relax knowing someone else can do the job. At first I didn't believe Vincent when he gave me the news. After all, wasn't he the one who told me my position would probably last for at least 300 years? Jerk. Ah well, he's just a carrier boy. He doesn't make the rules, he just delivers them.

"What 'cha doin'?" I turned to look at the speaker as I snapped out of my daydream. It was just Jynkal. The little elf was looking at me with curiosity in his eyes. A dragon that had followed him in was perched on the corner of my desk. It regarded me with a calm stillness that gave the impression it was more than it looked to be.

"What do you need?" I asked.

"Nothing," he replied, "but Karyn needs some help with a new spell she's been trying. She almost blew up the Observatory a little while ago. She told me not to say anything, but I just thought you'd like to know." He trotted out of the room, whistling to the dragon to come along.

"Keep an eye on him for me, will you?" I asked it as it turned to follow. It flew off with a quick nod as I put my work away and followed them. – Today's my last day. I'll have to break the news lightly, though. Karyn won't be very happy when her teacher decides to just uproot and leave.

I made my way to the Observatory at the castle's top level. Of course, Demon Lords are required to have a sinister-looking castle somewhere atop a large mountain. I had messed with the rule a bit, though. There was a touch of color on the walls of every room, betraying the evil look on the outside. The color would fade, turning to damp stone whenever another Demon Lord or an unexpected visitor would arrive. It was a safeguard designed to prevent any unwanted company from surprising me. I noticed a dark green ball floating in the air above Karyn's head as I topped the last staircase.

"What do you think you're doing?" I asked as I came to a stop a few feet away from her.

"Trying out a new spell Krayon taught me," Karyn replied sheepishly. The ball above her started to turn a deeper shade of green as it dawned on me what it really was.

"Are you insane? Do you know what that is?!" I nearly screamed.

"Ummm...."

"That is a Transit Ball, you dolt!" I yelled. "You summon demons with those! What was Krayon thinking? Put that thing away before something decides to come through it!" But it was too late.

A dark shadow suddenly appeared on the ground beneath our feet, as if something had crossed the sun. Karyn's Transit Ball disappeared with a whiff of smoke as a dark shape began to rise out of the shadow between us.

"Um, master..." Karyn said.

The darkness started to take form. Round yellow eyes glared out at me below two jagged tentacles as the hunched-over form, now resembling a small child, started twitching. – That's no demon...

"Karyn run!" I yelled. She was frozen, staring at the small creature that had come between us. Her head snapped up to look at me when I called. The creature followed her lead and turned to stare at me, its body twitching as if tiny threads were pulling at it.

"Karyn, get your butt out of here!" I yelled again. This time she reacted. I could hear her footsteps echoing down the stairway. The creature hadn't noticed. It was still staring at me with its bright yellow eyes. The creature's hands were gathered in toward its chest, as if it was cold. The whole set-up gave it the look of an upright insect. The shadow on the floor had disappeared, leaving no trace that it had once been there.

"Now, what are you..." I thought aloud as I called on my powers, casting a spell to scan the creature. – What's this. – A brownish tinge was mixed in with the black of the creature's body. – Brown is human, but the black remains. Black...I've never seen black before.

The creature forgot about me and quickly glanced around the room. It sprinted off down the stairway, the same way Karyn had gone.

"Oh no, you don't!" I called as I ran after it. We passed Jynkal and Karyn in the main hall as the creature raced onward. They backed away as it ran by them. The two of us raced on to the staircase leading to the basement. I called on Flight to give me wings so I could keep up with the creature. I don't normally use that skill, but explanations could be given later (Flight isn't a Demon Lord skill). I was starting to feel fatigued when it ran under one of the doors lining the hallway. I hadn't had time enough to explore my castle fully yet, so by that time I had only a very vague idea where we were. There was no light coming from under the door, so I drew out a light from my power as I released the wings and carefully opened the door.

It was a dusty old storage room, one that was probably once used by the castle's past inhabitants. Considering the fact that all of my servants were walking shades, I didn't need all of the storage rooms in my castle to accommodate for large numbers of servants and guests. The walls of the room were lined with shelves of vials, boxes, and dangerous-looking items that I had already decided to check out as soon as this little problem was dealt with. I looked into a small amber bottle on one of the shelves. A soft blue light was emanating from within it. I picked it up and stared into it, feeling as if I was being drawn into that blue haze. The sudden darkness that accompanied the disappearance of my ball of light brought me back to my senses. – That was close. – A crash came from the back of the room. I set the bottle back on the shelf and drew out another light. I started walking toward the back of the room, making my way around the boxes that were scattered across the floor. I started to see a slight shadow of a deeper black than the surrounding darkness.

"What 'cha doin'?" I whirled around. Jynkal was standing behind me. – Does this kid make a habit of popping up at the most unexpected times, or is it just me? – The dragon was perched lightly on his shoulder, staring into the darkness behind me with its dark eyes violet.

"Hey, what's that?" Jynkal asked as he pointed at the shadow behind me. I saw it in the reflection off one of the vials on a shelf next to me. It started to move further into the room. I slowly turned around, ordering Jynkal, "Leave immediately. Find Karyn and go to Raenef's. If I'm not there by tomorrow ... don't come looking for me."

"Why?" Jynkal asked.

"Eclipse will know what to do," I replied. "Now go!"

The dragon jumped off his shoulder as he ran out of the room. It flew over to me and landed on my left shoulder as Jynkal's footsteps faded down the hallway. We faced the dark shadow that was now huddled in the back of the room.

"Do you know what you're getting yourself into here?" Amarak, the dragon, asked. His voice was somewhat deep, betraying his small, gray exterior. His bat-like wings were folded in close to his sides and his pointed tail flicked back and forth in an agitated motion, much like a cat waiting silently for its prey. His eyes stared straight ahead, now light blue to reflect his fear.

"I don't know, you tell me," I replied, angry now.

"You don't have to be so curt," he said, looking at me with a touch of green in his eyes. "Didn't your mother ever teach you to be respectful to your elders?"

"I'm sure she would have if she'd been around to do it," I replied. "What is this thing, anyway? It looks like a Nithling, but I've never seen one like this before."

"It's like a Nithling, but not quite," he explained. "I saw one of these once, back when I last visited my home world. The Council called them 'Heartless.'"

"I thought you said your world was destroyed?"

"It was," he replied grimly.

"Oh."

"We don't really know what these are quite yet, but make sure not to touch it!" The creature had lunged toward us. Amarak jumped off my shoulder as I moved to avoid it. The creature ran out of the room heading deeper into the depths of the castle. – Here we go again.