Chapter One
Day One
A simple maintenance man named Chuck cursed in the darkness and rain.
"Why in the hell am I up here at three in the morning," he muttered as he clipped some red wires in a breaker box on the roof of a tall building in the city of Midgar. His only answer was the steady fall of rain that pelted off of his parka. "They don't pay me enough to get woken up in the middle of the night and come out here," he spat, rubbing his eyes as water dropped in them. "Being on a roof in Midgar in the middle of a rainstorm is…" Suddenly he quit muttering when he heard another noise, somewhere in the direction of cooling vents. He tensed his body and arced his head so he could hear if anything out here moved.
"Damn birds," he said, wiping the rain from the stubble on his chin.
It was then that another noise drifted down to him, one that was distinctively not a noise made by a bird. In fact, to Chuck it sounded as if it came from a human who was very close. The maintenance man clicked his flashlight off and took a few tentative steps towards the cooling vents. To his surprise, he was able to hear voices from nearby.
"Who in the hell is way up here in a rainstorm?" he whispered to himself. He then swallowed dryly and crept a few more steps towards the vents. Lightning touched down close by and thunder suddenly rolled overhead. After giving his eyes a few seconds to adjust to the lightning strike, he slowly peered around the corner of the large vents. He then gasped at what he saw.
Four figures, dressed completely in black were staring out at the city streets below them. They seemed to be completely oblivious to the rain as drops ricocheted off of their heavy trench coats.
The maintenance man squinted his eyes as he saw one of the black-clad figures creep very closely to the edge of the tall building. His eyes looked down at the mixture of rain, barren streets, and neon lighting. The world below them seemed desolate and empty in the middle of the night.
"How do we know they're in this world?" the one of the men in heavy trench coats then asked his comrades, his shadowed eyes flickering back and forth on the gloomy city streets below.
"We don't," Chuck heard one of the four answered him.
"We know they pass through here at some point soon," a feminine voice emitted from a black trench coated figure that was now walking to the edge herself. "That much is for certain, right?" The man hiding behind the vents then realized that this one was female, probably the only one in the group, by the looks of things.
The remaining three silently nodded their heads in agreement. Chuck then drew his eyes over to the solitary person standing off to the side. He had shoulder length hair that was completely silver. However, the thing that caught his attention was the sash that was pulled over his head at about eye level. He looks blind, the worker mused to himself.
"So how do we go about finding," the blind one started. "Them?" he said as he whipped his hair back.
"We split up," the woman answered him.
"Just the four of us?" the original figure said, turning back from the edge to face his mysterious comrades. The maintenance man quickly ducked behind the vents to avoid being seen.
"I know somebody in this area," the woman answered, oblivious that they were being spied on. "Somebody I met once and he owes me a favor. He will help us track them."
"Who?"
"Cloud Strife," she replied monotonously.
"When did you meet Cloud?" the blind figure asked, pulling his hood up in an effort to shield himself from the driving rain.
"When I was looking for you two," she started. "And when me and you were separated," she continued, turning her attention to the black clothed figure kneeling in the back.
"How much time do we have?" he asked her, apparently aware of this information.
"Two weeks," she replied.
"And if they're not here?" the blind figure asked turning his head slightly.
"We meet King Mickey in three days and go to another world and search there."
"What if we can't find them?" one of the figures asked, pulling forth his weapon, called the keyblade and hiking it on his shoulder. The blade shimmered in the city's neon lights as drops of rainwater broke upon its metal edge.
"Then we try either Spira or Destiny Islands," she answered, pulling for her weapons as well. She unveiled a long, slender sword from beneath her black cloak and a long steel dagger in the other hand.
"Before and after," the blind one said with a knowing smirk on his face.
"Right," she answered. "And remember," she said, with sincerity in her shrouded eyes. "This is a one-shot deal. There is no going back, and failure is not an option. We all know what happens if we can't stop them from breaking into the Seal of Ruin."
Three figures nodded their heads in approval, obviously knowing the consequences of a failed mission.
"Let's go," one figure started, unsheathing his dual keyblades and whipping them in the air ceremoniously. "We meet back here in three days. Good luck."
Chuck then stared in disbelief as he watched the figure turned and casually stepped off the building's edge and plummeted out of view.
"He loves doing that," the figure holding the solitary keyblade said, crossing his arms in front of him.
"Did he jump off a building again?" the blind warrior asked, acting completely oblivious to the disappearance of his comrade.
"Yes," the woman answered, adjusting the hood to her black cloak. "Let's find a safer way down."
"He's going to have to show me how to do that someday."
-----
Day Two
Kairi plopped down on the beach and let the cooling breeze of the ocean air envelope her as she tried to clear her head. She sat her books off to the side and stretched out on the sand, not really caring if the yellow coarse material would get in her clothes or on her skin. She kicked off her sandals and closed her eyes as she lay flat on the beach, pretending she was very far away.
She wanted to be in Traverse Town, talking excitedly about other worlds with Cid.
She wanted to be in Never Never Land, flying with Peter Pan and the Lost Boys.
She wanted to be with Sora, wherever he was.
Kairi loved Destiny Islands, but at the same time she loathed it. She hated the fact that this island was destroyed, and made whole again when Ansem was defeated. She hated the fact that when this world spontaneously reappeared and all of her friends and family were made undead again, and she was the only one to remember what had really happened because she was off in another world.
Kairi was away, catching a ride with Riku and Sora at the breaking of this world. When everything was made whole again, it was rendered as if nothing had happened to begin with. Her school was sill there, complete with all of the students and teachers who had no memory of darkness destroying this world. Her family was there, completely whole, and were worried sick when Kairi came home two weeks later.
According to the people of this island, Sora, Riku, and Kairi disappeared on the same fateful night that the big storm hit. Their rowboats were found on the farthest outward island, with the teenagers completely missing. Only Kairi had made it back alive. She was obviously not herself, as she kept asking questions like "How did this world come back," and "What happened to that mysterious door," and "What was it like being dead?"
One of her friends from school had found her, unconscious, in the secret area next to what was once a door that only Kairi now remembers.
In the end, she had to make up lies. "The last thing I remember," she had told them, "was going back into that cave with Sora and Riku. I must have fell and bumped my head," she had said, hating herself and the way she felt for lying. Somehow that strayed any more questions and made her own questions more reasonable, as she was clearly "not herself," as the villagers had said. For a while, everyone had thought that she was indeed crazy.
Since her return, it has been a rough two years for Kairi. At times she even doubted herself what was the "Truth." She remembers clearly waking up to being one of the "Seven Princesses of Heart." She remembers Ansem, and his subsequent defeat. She remembers Donald and Goofy helping Sora to close the door to the darkness with Riku and King Mickey Mouse still trapped inside. She remembers going to other worlds in the two weeks after everything had been miraculously put back in its place. She remembers a happy ending for everyone.
Everyone except herself.
How do you fit in with people who have no memory of these things? How do you coincide with people who have never been off this island, much less off gallivanting across other worlds in a gummy ship? In her heart, Kairi knows what the truth is. In her heart, she also misses Sora.
It's kind of funny to her. She has a few friends these days, although not very many that she holds dear. It's kind of hard to hold close friends when you've been through and seen more than anyone your age can comprehend. So many "important" things that her friends talk about completely bore Kairi and slightly get on her nerves. Not surprisingly, she also has a few boys who show interest in her. What is she supposed to say to them?
"No thank you, I'm waiting for Sora to come back from the World of Darkness with Goofy and Donald, who is really a talking duck who walks around with no pants on! And they will be coming in a 'Gummy Ship' that can travel across worlds."
That would be called the most creative rejection in Destiny High School history.
However it wouldn't be creative; it would be true.
That is, of course, if she did indeed feel that way about Sora. That is another issue she has internally battled with since her return two years ago. Kairi felt that Sora was nice, courageous, and pretty much the savior of the world. But he was something more to her, something that she had never really felt before. Sora meant a lot to many people but he meant even more to Kairi. At times, she felt as if she could open her eyes and he would be standing before her, only when she did, there would be nothing and she would be bitterly disappointed. In all honesty, the way she felt about Sora frightened her a little bit.
Suddenly the feel of cool waves trickled on her bare feet and snapped Kairi back to reality.
She opened her eyes to find that the tide had risen, and that she had laid here on the beach for quite some time now.
She slowly rose up to a sitting position, and rubbed her blue eyes as she adjusted to the light. She heard a shuffling to her right and she turned her head that way.
Kairi's pulse quickened and her reflexes shocked across her body as she saw something familiar in her still blurry eyes. Hope shot through her system as she imagined that Sora was casually walking up the sandy beach towards her. She quickly rubbed them more to focus clearly and looked back to the figure approaching her.
Kairi sighed as she gave a look of disappointment to the person walking her way. She had, for a brief moment, thought it was her brown headed friend. True, the figure walking her way was about the same height and build as Sora was the last time they had seen each other. The person walking her way even had a similar hairstyle.
Except his was blonde.
"Hey," the boy said while throwing up his hand.
"Hi," she replied, looking downward, hoping to hide the expression of dejection in her eyes. His name was Incanus, and he was the new guy who just moved to the island a week ago. Already he was quickly making friends and seemed to be the object of many girls' affections. Kairi, however, was not too impressed. There were parts of him that she was attracted to, but most of those were parts in him that reminded her of Sora.
"I'm Incanus," he said, introducing himself.
"I know," she replied, still not looking at him. "I'm,"
"Kairi, right?" he said, cutting her off.
"Yeah," said, glancing to him.
"Can I sit down?" he asked.
"Sure," she replied.
He plopped down next to her and leaned back a bit, sharing her view of the ocean. "I've always liked the beach," he said, albeit lamely. "I've always wanted to move out here."
That was an opportune place for Kairi to respond with "Where are you from?" or "Why did you move here?" except only she said nothing. Maybe because she didn't care.
After a few seconds of uneasy silence, Incanus spoke again. "I heard you're crazy," he said with a small smile on his face.
Kairi's cheeks flushed as she opened her mouth to ask him a barrage of questions, mostly pertaining to who would say that and where he left his manners before he moved to the island. However, a sudden and loud splash from nearby in the sea cut her off, and also sent a spray of water that covered her and Incanus both. She quickly turned her gaze to the ocean as a bulky figure of a man appeared out of the waves, gasping for breath.
Incanus, however, looked up to the sky to see where this mysterious man came from. All he saw was clear blue sky and sea gulls.
"Ahhh," the large figure said, giving a deep and obviously manly groan.
"Are you alright?" Kairi hesitantly asked when he floated a few feet towards the beach.
"Blast it," he said stepping out onto the sand while shaking off the seawater. Kairi and Incanus retreated back a step. "I never could swim!"
Kairi gaped at the man before her. He was clad in some strange metal from head to toe that glistened brightly in the afternoon sun. He had a stern, yet still compassionate look to his face, which was the only part of skin that was showing beneath what appeared to be armor.
"Why yes, young girl," he said while bowing down in a courteous manner. "Thank you for your concern. I am physically alright, I just do not know where I am."
"Who are you?" Incanus asked still extremely suspicious of the man who seemingly fell from thin air.
With that the man straightened his back and gave a very formal salute. "I am Captain Adelbert Steiner of the Pluto Knights of Alexandria."
There was a brief silence as Steiner released his salute.
"The what knights of where?" the boy asked, swiping a strand of blonde hair out of his face.
"The Pluto Knights of Alexandria," he answered. "Surely you have heard of Alexandria and it's fine Queen and Princess haven't you?"
"Can't say that I have," the boy replied. "So did you just fall out of the sky?"
"It seems so," Steiner replied. "I was on an Airship and it was attacked by a Black Waltz. Me and the Princess…" he tapered off, as a change of realization shadowed his face like a passing cloud.
"Princess!" he said jumping up and down, his armor rattling heavily. "I have to get back to the Princess! She is alone with Master Vivi and that scoundrel Zidane. Why if this is all of his doing I will have his head!"
"Easy there big fella," Incanus started, turning back to Kairi. "So what are we gonna do about him?" he asked sticking his thumb in the man's general direction.
Kairi had a look of awe and shock on her face and Incanus' words didn't register. She just stood there gaping at the man before her as thoughts started racing through her mind. Suddenly she came to a realization that made her shocked face turn into a gentle smile.
"You're from another world!"
Somewhere, deep within her soul and heart, Kairi found hope in this man.
---------
Author's notes
1-Square-Enix owns it all
2-This is kind of an experiment. I don't know if I'm going to fallow up to this. I guess I will have to see what reviews the story gets and then decide if I'm going to continue. I've already got enough projects and stories to work on as it is!
3-This is a story based upon my theory surrounding the screenshots and hype of KH2. I would tell you what I think of it, but that would spoil this story just a bit. The only things I can tell you about my theory are that the "four figures" I referred to in the beginning, are definitely the Unknowns in Deep Dive. Incanus is a name I referred to the blonde-haired-guy in the movies and screenshots. He's not Sora and he's not in the original game. And he really is not a key player in this story, just a quick reference to the trailer, however Steiner and Kairi are. But that's about all I can tell you of my theory without spoiling this story.
4-Whereas KH went through the Disney worlds and saw many familiar faces there, I'm taking these characters and plunging them into Final Fantasy worlds. If I do decide to continue with this idea, the plot will be an intriguing twist going in and out of places like World of Ruin, Balaam, and Spira (pre-FFX-2, as that story was already colluded and odd as it is anyway!)
5-This, however presents a big problem! Any Final Fantasy player can tell you that Yuffie, Squall, Aerith, Tidus, Selphie, etc, are all wrong! It's cool that they're in KH and all, but if you see them in this story (which I doubt you will) think the ORIGINAL characters, not Tidus and Wakka as the age of ten, nor Aerith being from Hallow Bastion. We all know she is an Ancient in the FFVII world and Sephiroth killed her.
6-The continuation of this story will depend on what you guys think. Tell me if I should continue or not, and this might be a running project for me! Thanks for reading this far.