Tolly: For those of you who are rabid Kingdom Hearts fans, I apologize if the events in my story do not exactly correspond with the events in the video game. I can never quite remember the correct order. But this is, after all, Hied's story, not Sora's, so please don't kill me.
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That night, Hied dreamed that the ocean rose and pulled him out to sea. He tried to escape the tide's pull, using demon powers and alchemical ones, but still the water pulled him. Helpless, he fell into the darkness.
As he fell, his body split, becoming the true forms of his two halves. Both were unconscious when they landed.
Hiei woke first, realizing he was laying on something solid and opening his eyes. He saw nothing but blackness above him, and light shining from under him. Standing, he saw Ed laying a few feet away. They were both on a circle that seemed to be made of stained glass, with the image of a young woman on it. When Hiei peered over the edge of the circle, he saw only more blackness.
He looked back at Ed. The young alchemist looked calm and peaceful in sleep. Hiei kicked him awake.
"Ow!" Ed sat up and glared at Hiei. "Hey, we're separated!"
"Don't get your hopes up," said Hiei. "Since we have separate consciousnesses, we are apart only in our minds. This must be a dream."
Ed looked around. "I don't know about you, but I usually don't have dreams like this."
"I don't think the term 'usually' can apply to us anymore, if it ever did."
"Good point." They were both silent for a little while, and then Ed spoke again. "This is a pretty boring dream, if you ask me."
"Don't worry," said a familiar voice. "It's about to get exciting."
Hiei and Ed glared up into the darkness. It was Hollis the Librarian.
"What do you want now?" Hiei snapped.
"Good job, Hollis," said a girl's voice. "You made them mad."
"Autumn," Hollis sounded like he was gritting his teeth. "You're supposed to be on a mission, not spying on Hied."
There was a pause. "Oh," said Autumn. "Right."
"Anyway," said Hollis, now that Autumn was apparently gone. "Where was I?"
"You were about to let us go home," said Ed.
"Be quiet!"
"Well, it was worth a try," Ed said, shrugging.
"Ah, yes," said Hollis. "Now I remember. I'm sure that by now you've met some of the inhabitants of Destiny Island?"
"Yeah," said Ed. "But only those three kids."
"One of them, Sora, has had the exact dream that you two are having now." Hollis continued.
"I suppose he had a baka Librarian in his dream, as well," said Hiei sarcastically.
"Shush." Hollis snapped his fingers and three pedestals rose from underneath the glass platform. Hovering above each of the pedestals was a different object: a sword, a shield, and a staff. "You may each choose one item."
Ed and Hiei exchanged a quick glance, and each took out his own weapon. Ed transmuted his automail into a blade, and Hiei drew his katana. "No thanks," said Ed. "We're all set."
"Are you sure?" asked Hollis. Hiei nodded.
The Librarian sighed, and snapped his fingers again. The glass beneath Ed and Hiei shattered and they fell through the darkness. This time, they fused back into Hied, and landed gently on another glass circle.
Ow…said Ed, rubbing his forehead, which once again featured the Jagan. I hate that feeling.
Hiei agreed. If we ever get home, I'll do my best never to get a limb chopped off, he said with a smirk.
They weren't chopped off. They were…taken.
Taken? I ask again, what happened?
I was eleven years old. I made a mistake, alright?
Hiei almost said more, but then something else caught his attention. What the…?
A creature wriggled out from beneath the glass circle. It was black and ant-like, with glowing yellow eyes.
"This is a Heartless, Hied," said Hollis. "You must learn to fight these creatures in order to complete your task."
Riiiight…thought Ed. Can I get this one, Hiei?
Be my guest.
Transmuting his arm blade, Hied charged at the Heartless and dispatched it easily.
That wasn't so bad.
Watch out, there are more of them, Hiei warned.
If you see them, I see them, remember?
Well, if you see them, attack them!
Every time Ed killed one Heartless, two more seemed to take its place. But he kept going, and finally there were none left.
Not bad for a ningen, said Hiei dryly. With some more training, you could beat Kuwabara.
I get the feeling that wasn't a compliment.
"Very good, both of you," said Hollis. "I must warn you, however: the next step is a different sort of challenge."
"What do you mean?" asked Hied, somewhat apprehensively.
"You'll see," said Hollis, his voice choked with laughter.
Again the glass image shattered and Hied fell to yet another circle. This one had a door near its edge. The Librarian snapped his fingers and the door opened, a bright light shining through.
"Enter," said Hollis. "And I wish you luck."
Oh, no, Hiei groaned mentally. The Librarian is wishing us luck again. The last time he did that, we got fused together.
Are you saying there might be something worse than that beyond this door?
It's possible…but I'm not backing down.
Well, there's one thing we have in common.
Seeing as we are currently a single person, there's no physical way we could disagree. We either go through the door or we don't.
That's beside the point. Let's go.
Hied took a deep breath and stepped into the blinding light.
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Tolly: Sorry to cut it off at this point, but it's the only place it would work. This is a two-part chapter, because otherwise it would be much too long for my tastes.
