All future is determined.

However, as for it, your will is origin.

Behind the Darkness

The dark figures below her twisted and flickered in the dim light surrounding her victims. There were three of them, all boys, standing in the middle of the darkness.

She smiled, a devilish gleam in her eyes as the creatures paused before their meal. The young ruler raised her hands above her head as those boys looked up. A scared look shone on their faces. She smiled at this too. Then her arms went down and the creatures sprung forth. One of the boys, with silver hair, screamed, "No!!!!"

And the girl realized what she had done as a gloved hand went around her shoulders and tears fell down from her eyes.

And Kamificent woke up with a start, breathing hard and crying. She coughed and tried to dry the tears still falling down her face. She got up and brushed back her red hair, the black streaks showed in a split second of light. The curtains on the windows were drawn closed, but some light seeped through them and onto the floor. The large bed against one of the walls harbored two girls each night. One was Kamificent (mostly known as Kami), and the other was called Restez.

Both girls were as sisters. They had known each other since they were quite young and had spent almost every waking moment together. It was Restez who had known all of Kami's dreams and secrets. Their parents knew each other for so long because of what each of them did, though everyone in this small group had their little secrets. A small ball of fuzz whizzed across the room to meet her as she waltzed into the bathroom. It landed with a squeak and fluttered its tiny black wings.

The young red head scratched the creature behind its gray antennae as it squeaked again and rubbed up against her cheek, its yellow eyes closing instantly. She switched the bathroom light on and walked in, looking over her appearance in the mirror. Her hair had gotten a little ruffled during sleep, but it looked fine. Her pajamas, which consisted of a white t-shirt over a black long-sleeved shirt and light blue, silky, panda pajama pants. She brushed her teeth and went back into the bedroom to get dressed in her normal clothes.

Khaki pants with loads of pockets found there way onto her legs, and a green shirt replaced the white one she had worn to bed. The black shirt she had worn underneath the white tee was now underneath her green shirt, though it was rolled up slightly, revealing her wrists. Kamificent put on her black converse shoes and combed her hair with her fingers before putting on her bracelet, which consisted of a silver chain and a heart with two crosses going through it. She walked back over to the bed she had awoken from only minutes earlier, her green eyes surveying the area.

A curled up lump on the bed rose and fell, as if alive. She smiled at it and sat down, putting a hand on the lump and petting the person beneath the covers. That same person rolled over onto their other side with a slight moan, making Kami's lips curl a little more. She shook the person and after a while, when the younger person would not get up, she pulled the covers off of it.

"C'mon sleepy-head! Get up! We have important duties to uphold!!!" She laughed and walked away and out of the room.

Restez, who had been sleeping only moments before, rose with a groan escaping her lips. She was now officially cold, and the fact that she was wearing thin pajamas did not help the situation. A gray tank top and black pajama pants had been her outfit for the night, and her hair was back in a ponytail. She followed Kamificent's routineof getting out of bed and going to the bathroom, then getting dressed. She had put on a white tank top and a short black skirt. Her black boots came up above her knees, and her gloves went up past her elbows, but the best part of her outfit was her necklace. Like Kamificent's, Restez had a crossed out heart pendant on a silver chain. She put it on her neck and was about to turn and leave when someone burst into the room.

"Lady Restez!!" Shouted the random servant, "Urgent news! Where's Kamificent?"

"Err…" Restez paused. Where was Kami? "I think she left a while ago. I'll go get her and come to the…?"

"The Castle Chapel! That's where everyone is!" And he ran out and down the hallway.

The dark haired girl looked out into the hallway, 'The chapel? But no one's been in there since… since Maleficent.'

Some hustle and bustle sounded from down the hallway as some more servants and guards ran down to the chapel. The young girl watched them, a confused look still plastered onto her face. She ran the opposite direction, looking high and low for Kamificent. That girl could be anywhere, but if it was so urgent that a servant actually burst into her room, then her best friend had to hear the news.

Unfortunately, there had been no sign of Kamificent anywhere. She ran the long hallways and into the library (Kami's usual hang out spot), but Restez just couldn't find her friend. After slumping into a generic reading chair,shelooked around the dimly lit room. They used to play in the library as children. Kami had, of course, always been reading in some corner, never really concentrating on whatever Restez had been doing. And,Restez had been playing in front of Kami with a doll or two that had been specially made for her.

Their parents had been friends for way too long. The girls had met each other when Kamificent's mother had moved into the castle of Hallow Bastion.The redhead'sfather was nowhere to be found, and so her mother had to leave the old place where they had lived. By the looks of Kami at that age, she had been malnourished a little. She was thin and dirty at the time, like a small servant for her mother. In fact, she didn't look a thing like her mother and as the girlsgrew older (and closer) she had grown farther and farther apart from her mother.

Restez's father was the head-honcho of Hallow Bastion. He had run everything that had gone on in the castle, and he knew of all that had happened within its walls. Her mother had disappeared a long time ago, around the time that her father had started the experiments. Restez never understood exactly where her mother had disappeared to, but when Kami came about, they acted like they belonged together. They took care of each other when their parents would not. However, Restez did most of the nurturing.

There were times when Kamificent would collapse out of nowhere. They had known it to be like a reaction to shocking things. On the other hand, the things that seemed "shocking" to Kami were not all that shocking to anyone else. Restez disregarded the fact that a doctor had told them said condition. She just figured that it was because of what had happened between her and her mother. Kami was perfectly healthy, and the one person who would know that above anyone else would be Restez.

"Do you need some help?" A cheerful voice said from behind her.

She turned her head quickly to discover Yuffie standing behind her. Restez smiled, "Nah. I'm just looking for Kami. Have you seen her around?"

Yuffie shook her head, her short brown hair blowing out a bit, "Not even the smallest sight. You want me to find her for you? She could be around the Rising Falls…."

"No, that's fine, Yuffie. I'll go and get her if she's there." She strode off, leaving the ninja standing in an empty library.

The young girl suddenly thought of a disturbing factor. A small while ago, there were intruders in the castle and all the adults within the vicinity were called to a meeting within the chapel of Hallow Bastion. That was where Kamificent's mother had drawn her last breath. The two girls were sent to their rooms before the death, though they did manage to catch a glimpse of a boy with silver hair walking to the meeting. Kami had told Restez that he was a guest of her mother's and that he would be staying until they had found a better use for him.

For a while, everyone believed that that was the boy's only purpose. But after a very short time, no one really believed anything anymore. That boy, who's name was concealed, had turned out to be more than what he seemed, just like the two girls were more than what they had seemed. Restez walked out onto the platform that led to the Rising Falls. There were many different platforms in this area, and unlike all the other places in Hallow Bastion, it was bewitched to make the water go up, instead of down. A person could even walk across the water once off all the platforms, though it didn't help if that person had fallen down. The water wouldn't cushion their fall.

The Rising Falls had been a site of pure brilliance for many of the inhabitants of Hallow Bastion. It was true that Kami had always found this place to be very calming and she would be down there many times during the day, just relaxing on one of the platforms. Restez had found her there on many occasions though didn't always like to talk about them. The Rising Falls had been a place where Kami could get away, and revealing a secret like that would probably mean Restez's head.

"Kami? Kami are you here?" She shouted, descending on the platforms.

"I'm right here, lovely!" Kamificent called out to her friend. Restez spotted her down on the water, staring at something in the sky.

She jumped down to the red head, "What're you doing down here? Everyone's looking for you!"

"They are?" She looked at Restez, a questioning shine in her eyes.

"Yes! Now c'mon! We've gotta get up to the Chapel." She took Kami's hand and led her back up the platforms and into the castle.

They hurried through the many hallways leading up to the Chapel. Sometimes the girls had to wait for a lift in the lift shop before they could move onto the next floor. It was a very tedious act to try and get up to that room within three minutes, but they managed to make it within that time. When they stepped into the room, neither of them knew what to expect, but there was a rather large crowd waiting for the two girls.

The crowd parted a little to allow them to see what was going on. Kamificent and Restez walked into the circle around some person in the middle. He was lying on the floor, covered in a black sheet of some sort. The crowd, which was discovered to be a bunch of servants, nodded to the two girls as if to tell them to pull back the sheet and look. Restez stepped behind Kami and pushed her forward to pull the sheet off.

She took a deep breath, pulled it off, gasped, and dropped it again. Beneath the sheet, there was a servant who had been a general to Restez's father's army. Kami backed away slowly and the brown haired girl stepped forward to take the sheet off all the way. That servant, whom they had only seen a couple of times, had long silver hair and an even longer blade. If his eyes were open, they would be peering into light aqua eyes.

"Sephi…" Restez whispered, pushing back some of his hair. He sprang to life and grabbed her wrist at her touch. The crowd around them backed off, afraid of what he could do.

"Res… Restez!" He gasped for air. Kami kneeled down with her, "Y-your father! He's gone! The boy killed him! That Keyblade Master killed Ansem!"

The girls looked at each other with fright in their eyes. It had only been a couple of months since Kamificent had lost her mother to the Keyblade Master, and now Restez's Father was gone too. Sephiroth was taken from the room a couple of minutes after his announcement. Kami had guessed that he would be down in the waterways, where most of the prisoners were taken, but that didn't really matter to them anymore. Now, they needed to take care of themselves. Now, they needed to rebuild their parent's creation.

"How are we going to do this, Kami?" Restez said aloud, reading the elder's mind.

"I don't know. But we'll have to try. I mean, how hard could it be. Ansem-san made Steve for me, didn't he? It shouldn't take that long." She nodded to her friend.

"Well, I'm going to get something to eat… it's almost lunch time." Restez muttered and left the Chapel.

Once she was gone, Kamificent looked up at the rose engraved into the stone on the walls, "Oh mom… I hope I can do this without you."

End of Chapter one

AN: Woot! I restarted this whole thing, in case you couldn't tell already. I actually like this a hella lot better than before, so I think I'll keep it. I hope you guys liked this better too. The other version was just getting too complicated and this one might go a little faster. See you all next chapter!!!

Oh! And I almost forgot the disclaimer… I'll put it here.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts (still) though I wish I did. And I don't own converse shoes.