Chapter 15

Where am I? Once again, Leia found herself floating in darkness. Once again, she saw the burning light in front of her. Once again, she heard the dark voice.

Princess. The voice said. Wake up, princess.

Leia floated closer to the light. Something was different this time.

What's going on? As she looked into the light, shapes began to appear. A floating red heart appeared, in the center of the light, and Leia realized that the light was coming from the heart. But then, within the light, a bizarre portal opened up, and the heart was sucked through, and the light went dark. Dark shapes began to appear, from the portal, all coming towards Leia.

No, she thought. Go away.

Leia reached out towards the portal, and using the Force, or at least she think she did, not knowing how things worked in the place she was in, pushed the dark shapes back into it. They resisted at first, but then began to retreat. Within her body, Leia felt something light and burn within her. She felt a new strange power, one that she had never felt before, as she pushed the dark shapes in. Once they were gone, Leia knew what she had to do. She floated closer to the portal and put her hand through. When she found what she was looking for she pulled her had back, and in her grasp was the floating heart. The light came back and washed over Leia, filling her. She stared at the glowing heart in her hand and as she did, it began to float out of her hand and to her. It stopped right in front of her, touching her by her chest, and was absorbed into Leia's body.

What's happening? Leia thought, feeling a power light up inside of her. Her entire body felt warm.

Princess. The voice said again, sounding even more sinister, even louder than before. It is time. Wake up.

Leia awoke in an unfamiliar place, with an unfamiliar presence. She turned to face her capture, and came face to face with a Shadow. She flinched in surprise and reached for her lightsaber.

"Do not be afraid," a voice said. "The Heartless will not hurt you. Not yet anyway."

Leia turned to see where the voice came from, and saw a person dressed in a coat, a hood over his head.

"Who are you?" Leia asked, trying to calm herself.

"My name is Ururl." The dark man said.

"What do you want with me?" Leia asked him.

Ururl chuckled darkly. "Actually, I am not sure myself," He said. "It was not I that brought you here, the Heartless did, though I did not command them to."

Leia remembered what happened on Yavin 4.

"You should have just turned into a Heartless like them," Ururl said. "But for some reason they brought you here, but why? I commanded them to destroy you all, but instead they have brought you here. Most strange."

Ururl stopped talking and stared at Leia, or at least Leia though he was looking at her. She could not tell with the hood over Ururl's face.

"Why don't you take off you hood?" Leia asked him. Ururl jumped a little, as if waking up from a dream.

"Tell me, princess," Ururl asked Leia, ignoring her question. "What do you know of the Darkside?"

"I know that the Darkside is evil," Leia said. "For Dark Jedi and Sith. It corrupts them. No good can come of the Darkside of the Force."

"Really?" Ururl said. "Interesting. But you are ignorant in your beliefs. The Darkside is just as, let us say 'light', as the Lightside of the Force. The dark cannot exist without the light, but it can do all it can do to make the light darker. Now tell me, what do you now of the Heartless?"

"All I know is what Sora told me," Leia said. "They are creatures that somehow feed off the light in people's hearts and turn them into Heartless as well."

"Exactly, you got it," Ururl said. "They feed of the light in people's hearts. Do you know why?"

"No."

"It is very simple, because they are darkness, and wherever there is light, they shall always try to put it out." Ururl sat down on, Leia noticed for the first time, the throne behind him. "And in you, the light is strong. They always try to go after the strongest light. But other lights are just as strong, so what makes you so special? Can you tell me, princess?"

"No, I don't know, and even if I did I wouldn't tell you."

"Pity, but do not worry, I shall find out in time." Ururl reclined in his chair and seemed to fall asleep. Leia, not daring to get up, looked around the room. It was completely dark except for some dimly lit candles, giving off just enough light to let her see all the Heartless in the room. The moved in all the places were the light did not touch, like bugs creeping in the dark. She saw their yellow pale eyes all looking.

Looking directly at her.

Leia shivered.

Ururl suddenly spoke, not moving his body at all. "Yes, I understand now," he said. "Oh, princess, how clever." He stood up, towering over Leia. Slowly he reached for his hood and drew it back, allowing Leia to see his gray face. A dark shadow was cast over it. Dark light flashed from Ururl's eyes, preventing Leia from seeing what color they truly were. "I understand now, princess, oh, yes, I understand."