Chapter 1

Rebecca watched as the villagers celebrated their release from the eternal winter. It had been a while ago, but still, monthly, they cheered at the sight of the snow melting and the first blades of grass growing on the ground. She smiled as the little kids joined in, doing non orchestrated dance steps. She drank a little more of the fresh water that had been given to her.

"Okay kids, time to leave," called out a mother from outside the circle. Rebecca sighed, knowing that the kids would probably throw a temper tantrum or cry to stay at the party. But to her surprise, the kids got up with no complaint, except a small girl, who headed toward her.

"Yes?" asked Rebecca.

The little girl motioned to her water. Rebecca smiled inwardly, remembering this little girl. She was Alie, a four-year-old girl who still hadn't spoken. Rebecca handed her some water, and Alie gulped it down. Alie handed her a half empty glass and ran toward her mother. Rebecca headed toward her tent to go to sleep...

Rebecca stood alone, watching the apocalypse happen. All the villagers were running in various directions. Many tents were burning, and some former enlightened tried to douse the flames. But it was all in vain.

Alie ran toward Rebecca, but then suddenly swerved, as a dragon swooped from the sky. Rebecca looked over to were Alie was running, and saw her mother, lying, motionless. Tears ran down Alie's face. Then, another dragon charged toward Alie, and Rebecca tried to move to save her. But she couldn't move...

Her legs seemed to be trapped in concrete, and the immense magical power dulled her senses. The dragon reached it's prey, and smoke started to come out of it's nostrils. Rebecca could have sworn it was smirking. But then a figure rose on the horizon, cape flapping behind them. They waved their hand, and the dragons disappeared. Alie was the only one left standing.

She was suddenly closer to Alie, as the figure walked, or more glided, toward her. Rebecca was still frozen, and couldn't do anything to stop them. Their hood concealed their face, and they pulled an opalescent dagger from their belt. Alie cowered in fear and the figure drew closer...

Rebecca could see their features now, and gasped. The warmth of her power fled her body, and rushed into the other person. The person who had killed so many, destroyed so many dreams... was her. It was Rebecca causing all this chaos.

"Remember!" cried Alie, "Remember, 'Becca!" But Rebecca only smirked, and raised her dagger. "Why can't you remember..." Alie whimpered. Rebecca just froze. The smirk left her face, but then she waved her hand, putting her dagger back in it's sheath, as if saying, "I have no time to kill meaningless people."

Alie sighed, but she sighed to soon. As she walked away, Rebecca raised her right hand, and a dozen pitch black creatures appeared. They slowly closed in on Alie as Rebecca walked away...

"No! Alie!" screamed Rebecca, bolting up in her bed. Her hand bumped against a small package, and she looked that way. It was a small, irregular shaped, brown package. Her hands undid the ties and the paper folded out, allowing it's contents to be seen. There was a small wooden rose, with a multicolored gemstone in the center. The gem sparkled with it's magical purity. Then there was a stack of cards, almost like playing cards, with magical runes written on them. One had the rune for fire, another for lightning, and many others, so Rebecca figured that they were magical cards, as a backup weapon. There was also a note, saying:

Dear Rebecca,

Mother says you'll need these things in the future more than I. I just hope she's wrong, because the use of these items is killing, and also if she's right, that means you'll go away. Please stay by my side, and keep me safe. But mother's never wrong, so I know it's your duty to protect us. Just come back, please...

-Alie-

"Her mother knows about my dreams... and she's the only one in this time who knows... What does Alie mean, 'it's your duty to protect us'? Is it something about the dragon...?"

- - - - -

Kaden walked through the streets of Traverse Town, his shining sword his only weapon against the Heartless. His black cloak, enchanted, protected him from behind. The second district seemed to be clear of Heartless, but you never could know. They seemed to pop out at the slighted movement, drawn by a single heartbeat.

"Kaden!" called Yuffie, in the distance, near the entrance to the hallway to the third district. "Leon's found something strange. We're hoping you know something about it!" Kaden sheathed his sword and ran toward Yuffie, his jet-black hair blowing back in the wind.

"Here's where we found it. Isn't it strange?" Yuffie said, motioning toward the black orb that was in the center of the square. "It isn't Heartless, I'm not sure if it's even matter..." Aeirth continued.

"It appeared out of nowhere," Leon added.

Kaden circled around it, and pulled out a large tome from his bag. "You're right Aeirth, it isn't heartless, or the orb would at least have yellow eyes somewhere. Look closer, can't you see the flickering blue light inside? Let me look in here..." he said, flipping rapidly through the pages.

"Here it is!" he shouted, pointing at a picture of a black orb with a slightly lighter gray in the center. "No it isn't. See, it's gray inside, not blue," said Yuffie. "Yuffie, that's because its in black and white." explained Aeirth.

"Let me explain... This seems to be a 'time gate', of one kind or another..."

"Did the Heartless make it?" asked Yuffie excitedly. "No, Yuffie. It appears when there is something big happening in the space-time continuum. Something with great magical powers is causing havoc, and the space-time continuum is reacting to the strain on it by ripping, like a piece of cloth. Throw a bowling ball at it, it'll rip, maybe be destroyed completely. What I mean is that something is wrong, really wrong. And it has to be fixed, or everything will be destroyed, and time will end... forever."

- - - - -

Done! Finally... For all who didn't know, this is a sequel to my CT fanfic, Dreams of Destiny. Well, review! Review with ideas, with comments, I don't care.