All Hearts Return to Darkness

When did this all happen?

When did he fall so easily?

Into the darkness …

What brought about this madness, this insanity?

Our days use to be calm

Day-in, day-out, nothing seemed wrong…

But I was blind, to not of seen it sooner….

I must…. I must do something …

Can I undo what he started?

Or will I plunge as well?

" Sir, you called me?"

A chair turned away from the house messenger with a man sitting in it spoke," Yes, I have a question for you…"
"What is it you want to know…I shall do my best to supply you with an answer" the messenger bowed his head.

" Who is the girl, who has cooked for me, clean my quarters and kept the library in a very organized fashion?"

The messenger looked down as the gears in his head turned, " let see…Oh I know that would be Shina , she has been with us for about-"

"For ten years, she has rid myself of a massive headache, keeping books in alphebetical order by specific subject. " the man answered to his messenger.

"Yes she does seem to work harder than most of the other house keeps here, and she is the youngest as well, many of the other ladies seem to lay a lot of chores on her but no matter how much she seems to get them done. But… Lord Ansem, why are you curious about Shina?"

Ansem stood from his chair, he smiled and said," I would like to have a talk with her, it's not too often that I speak with the ones who feed me and clean up after my mess. I do feel quite awful for leaving my studies out . Send her to me 8 o'clock tonight alright?"

The messenger smiled and bowed his head," I'm sure she will be very happy to hear this, I shall send the message right away"

Ansem smiled and said," I'm sure she will, now I must get back to my studies, I shall call if I need you again"

The messenger bowed then turned to leave…

The wonderful smell of food swept through the castle. The sound of small footsteps, running back and forth through the kitchen were heard.

"Shina! Get over here your stupid food is boiling over!"yelled one of the female housekeepers.

The quickened footsteps ran over to the pot, she grabbed a square piece of cloth and took the lid off. The bubbling over water finally cooled off , the food within the pot unharmed.

" Next time if it does that ether take off the lid or else it will boil over like that, it shouldn't get like that though Alright?" said a cute brown haired girl. She bowed her head politely to the other house keep and went back to the main course of the dinner. She had worked on it for hours so that it would be perfect for Ansem.

As a child Shina always did to the best of her abilities, trying to please her parents, and, they were always proud of her. They always praised her, along with the rest of the people in the village. But when she turned seven years old, her town , her home was destroyed by an imbalance to her world. Her parents were able to get her out of there, but something seemed wrong, most who survived the tragedy had caught a deadly disease . Her parents had been some of the victims of the sickness. So Shina was left by herself, since the other families were occupied with trying to support their family's health . She had to find a shelter, clothing and try to get food , even though she'd go days without eating a bite. In her village though there had been a man who studied magic and other arts his whole life. In the villages time of crisis he had been their salvation, their savior. With his mighty powers he had created a huge castle called Hollow Bastion. He would it's ruler, and he gave all those who did not have homes, like children without parents and such, a place in the castle . where they would be fed and could help around the castles great walls. When Shina heard of this news she ran over to the castle as fast as her legs would carry her. Many of the guards were surprised such a young girl was all alone and by herself. However Ansem was happy to let the child help, though he was unaware of her many talents. He first put her in charge of dusting off different rooms. But as her life went on, some of the other housekeepers became lay and did not wish to help much. Shina Then did their jobs, and it was noticeable on the quality of her work that she was the one soon cleaning all the rooms from top to bottom. She'd spend all night making sure all the rooms were spotless. If ever there was a night where she failed to do so, she would nearly be in tears begging for the forgiveness of the one who used the room, promising them it would be the first one she'd clean the next day. The head of housekeepers moved Shina through the ranks, letting her into the library , into Ansem's study, then to cooking for Ansem himself. She reached this by the age of 12. She had already been a great cook, and being around the kitchen only helped her skills increase.

Finally she had finished the main course, she gave it to one of the cooks to go place it on the table. After she was done she usually went outside on the balcony and look at the sunset before going back in and clean off the dishes and the rest of the kitchen. She slowly zigzagged through the talking house keepers, hearing their usual gossip and such. Right before she made it out of the kitchen she heard

" Hey you know Shina?"

" of course who doesn't, little miss goody goody makes us other keeps seem lazy"

" well cleaning is hard work though"

" that doesn't matter She always shows off…She's a freak I guess that's what happens when your left all alone by your parents"

" hey did you hear that Lord Ansem was working on some kind of new study, the study of human strength? I heard he needed some volunteers for his studies, and would be asking specific people to see him"

" wow I hope I am not one of them, seems kind of scary, I mean have you ever seem Ansem, the looks sourta…creepy"

" maybe we'll get lucky and he'll use Shina, she's a freak enough as it is, she'd be perfect"

The gossip died off after a bit of laughter, Shina looked down and ran out to the banister of the balcony, looking out into the endless sky she whispered to herself

" Am I really that different…I-I, just showing my appreciation for Lord Ansem…and the Housing he's given me as well as food…Maybe their right…." She sighed sadly and looked out into the fading twilight.

Author Notes: Okay first chapter up, I will kind of weave a path for the Ansem Reports so you can get a grasp of where I am at, so far I am introducing the characters. Please I am open for suggestions I want to make this my best work yet. And remember I don't own Kingdom Hearts or the characters… I think that's all Thank you for reading