The day before my sixteenth birthday.

I remember it well. Just not for good reason.

That's when everything, and I really mean everything, changed.

Back then, I stomped my feet and gave a loud huff. "What do you mean Vander isn't going to be at my party?!" I demanded.

"The negotiations with the Welkins kingdom are taking longer than expected," my father attempted to explain. "They are at a very delicate point in the process, and he can't very well leave in the middle of it all to be here."

I was aware of these facts, but this did nothing to sway me from my tantrum. My tastes were very different when I was younger. I remember I liked wearing pink dresses with frills and ribbons. I wore any jewelry I could whenever I could. I liked my hair long and curly, although I never did it myself. I remember that's what I liked but can't seem to recall any particular dress or accessory as being my favorite. I sometimes wonder if I ever actually wore any of them more than once.

Wasteful. Spoiled. Uppity. Yes, I was all these things. And worse.

"You're just trying to ruin my birthday!" I accused harshly.

"Now, now, Vye," Father attempted again, "you know we'd like him here if that were possible but-"

"If you want him here, then get him here!" I snapped.

"He's halfway across the world," my mother chimed in. "There's just no way we can get him here in time. It's very sweet you want your brother here for your big day, and we all miss him, but it's just not feasible right now."

"Miss him?" I scoffed. "What are people going to say?! The whole kingdom comes for my birthday and my only brother doesn't? I'll look terrible!"

My parents just stared at me with the look of defeat in their eyes.

"W-well…" my mother struggled. "I'm sorry… but Vander just isn't going to be here. We'll make do without him."

"We'll make sure the party is so grand," Father added with a smile, "that no one will even notice he's missing."

I wasn't really satisfied but I waved a hand at them as I turned it leave.

"Fine!" I snapped. "You better put your all into it then!"

I started walking towards the door, leaving my parents to go about whatever else they had been doing.

"We will, we will," father promised.

I was… a very different person back then. I'd like to say I'm better now than I was before, but maybe that isn't my place to say. That doesn't stop me from being shamed of what I once was.

I'm not even sure if I can explain how I got to be that way in the first place. My parents, despite being king and queen of our home kingdom, had never been extremely wealthy. We were well off, of course. It's just more that we kept up the appearance of royalty with the castle and fine belongings. Compared to other kingdoms and places, they really were never that extravagant. At least that's what I've come to learn over the years.

Still, I saw myself as a princess and learned very early on that if I wanted something, my parents would get it. I don't mean to blame them. I just look back and realize how hard of a time they had saying no to me. My actions were still my own regardless of what I thought I knew.

As far as I was concerned, everyone around me had to honor and obey me. My older brother would be the one who would eventually take over the kingdom. I can say I was glad of this. I only saw the throne as being too much work. The only way I would ever end up in any position with real responsibility would be if I married some other prince, and I thought that would be way off in the future. That's how I saw it. I didn't realize how my actions still reflected poorly on my parents and the kingdom. I didn't see how often I totally ignored the chance to contribute. I had opportunities. I just never took them.

All of that would change. The day was so uneventful and yet I remember it so well. I remember the rest of the day just spending my time dreaming of the gifts and the attention I'd be getting the next day. My birthday was the perfect excuse to soak all of that in. It was "well deserved," I thought. Somehow, I justified my greed. I left the planning to my parents. I could have easily done the work myself, but why should I? They were supposed to relish the chance to celebrate my existence. I probably assumed that's what they spent all their time doing, but I think they had other concerns they were actually seeing to.

I had paid so little mind to the build up to that day. It had been going on for so long and I had no idea. Because I didn't care to know.

"Did you hear?" People would whisper. "More people have been reported missing."

"My goodness," would be the response. "How many is that now?"

"Around thirty," the first would say. "And rumors are most of the ones going missing are girls. Young women."

"Oh my," they'd say. "What do you think is going on?"

"Who knows?" The other said. "They have guards out looking but nothing's turned up."

"I've heard people reporting strange creatures," another would say. "Like walking shadows. There have been more and more sightings by the day."

"Really?" Someone would say.

"That can't be real," they would argue. "They're just seeing things because they're nervous."

I can recall hearing several conversations like that. I never paid that much attention to it. I don't even think I considered it to be real.

It had nothing to do with me, after all.

It was someone else's problem. Not mine.

There probably would have been much more I could have been doing with my time had I bothered to do anything. Instead, I would just wander the castle grounds as I searched for something to amuse myself. I watched the guards practicing with their weapons and magic for a while. I pestered the cooks for a snack. Then I likely looked through my clothes to decide on what outfit was going to be the one for my birthday party.

I remember, the sun was starting to go down and I got the call that it was time for dinner. I started making my way towards the dining hall. Not a care in the world. Only excitement for the day to come.

If only I had known, the party I longed for was never going to happen.

On my way to dinner, I heard the sound of horn being blown outside. I came a stop, looking out some of the nearby windows as I tried to figure out what the sound was. I had never heard that horn before. Since I had never bothered to learn castle protocol, I probably thought it was an annoying sound. However, there were two guards at the end of the hallway. They knew what I didn't. They knew exactly what it was and what it meant.

"An alarm," one said. "Princess Vye!"

I looked towards them as they ran towards me. One of them took me by the arm as they both stood at my sides. They were tense. I was confused.

"We must get to safety," they instructed.

"Safety?" I asked as they started pulling me away. "From what?"

Neither of them answered, likely because they didn't know what it was either. All they had heard was the alarm at that point. We just ran off down the hall in the opposite direction of the dining hall. I didn't understand but at least my confusion made me easy enough for them to drag around.

Not that it would help them.

We had only reached the end of the hallway when a loud boom filled the air, coming from behind us. We briefly stopped and turned around to discover a section of the wall had been knocked down. The thing that had come crashing through it was still there in the hallway.

It was big. Tall and very round. It seemed to be wearing simple clothing aside from the helmet covering its head. The only other metal it had were shackles around its wrists. It wouldn't appear to be dressed for battle, yet it was the most terrifying thing I had seen until then.

A Large Body, I'd later learn it was called.

I'll never forget the feeling of when it lazily turned its head towards us and looked at us with those empty, yellow eyes. It saw me. Saw the guards. Acknowledged us. But it still somehow did not react with any aggression or surprise. We were there. It was there. That was all it knew. All it cared about.

We were prey and I think we all knew it.

The guard holding my arm pulled me behind him as he raised his sword.

"What is that thing?!" He cried.

The other guard stepped forward toward it, also drawing his weapon. The Large Body didn't move, and instead smaller creatures started crawling in through the opening it had left. They were completely black with twitching antenna, but they had the same yellow eyes. They moved together to form a small wave as they rushed in.

Shadows, they are simply called.

"What are those?!" The other guard asked.

The Shadows started swarming into the room, climbing along the floor and even up the walls. The guard standing out in front swung his sword at them as they approached him. He managed to hit some of them, and they disappeared. This did nothing to stop them. He kept swinging the sword and was defeating some, one by one, but it only took a few seconds for him to be completely surrounded by them.

They started to gather around him and climb up his body. Their weight started to restrict his movements. The other guard and I watched in horror as he struggled and kept swinging his sword around wildly in a panic. I couldn't see much of him through the swarm anymore, but I did see one more thing. I saw one of the Shadows reach through his armor and into his chest like it was nothing. The man screamed and then suddenly he disappeared right in front of us. The Shadows fell to the floor as if nothing happened. The guard was gone.

I was frozen in shock and fear. I could only imagine what the other guard was thinking. One Shadow was holding the man's glowing heart. That was all that was left of the guard.

I never saw what happened to the heart after that. The remaining guard panicked and grabbed my arm again. He pulled on me again and we ran.

We didn't get very far. More shadows started dropping down from the ceiling above us. One fell onto me and I screamed as it knocked me away from the guard.

"Princess Vye!" I heard him cry.

More Shadows came up behind me, grabbing my arms and legs and pulling me down to the ground. I briefly saw them start to swarm over the guard. Like the last one, he screamed and struggled but could do nothing as they reached into his chest and took his heart. His body disappeared and only his heart remained.

I screamed in terror and started to cry and struggle. I felt the Shadows crawling all over me, and I could do nothing about it.

"Help!" I shrieked. "Help me! Someone help me!"

I heard loud footsteps. The Large Body had done nothing the entire time but now it made its way over to me. The Shadows got off me long enough that the Large Body could pick me up. It wrapped its large hand around my arms and abdomen and easily lifted me up. Then it just casually turned back around and started walking back the way it had come in.

I kicked and fought but the Large Body didn't seem to notice. It started taking me outside in the courtyard where I heard more screams and fighting going on. Shadows and other Large Bodies were all over the place, fighting other guards and scurrying all over. They were everywhere. We were not prepared for something like this. The guards were doing all they could, but they were overwhelmed.

"Help me!" I screamed again. "Help me! Please!"

My screams blended in with the other victims being attacked by the swarm. I didn't know what was happening. I couldn't know. Nor could I know what was going to happen. The Large Body was just taking me away. As far as I knew, I was about to die like the others.

"Help! Help me!" I kept trying. "Somebody help me! Help!"

I kept squirming and struggling. The Large Body just walked. An opening had been created in the wall surrounding the castle when the attack started. The Large Body took be there and left the grounds with me.

There was nothing I could do but cry and scream. I remember complaining in my mind that no one was coming to my rescue and how I didn't deserve to die like this.

The memories are what followed are still relatively fuzzy. I don't know how far the Large Body. I was still panicking and screaming the entire time, so I didn't pay much attention as it was. I was taken quite a distance from the city. There was another swarm of Shadows waiting for us when we arrived at its chosen destination., There were even other creatures I now know are called Soldiers. They allowed the Large Body to pass through them until we reached a small alcove in a cliff wall.

The Large Body suddenly dropped me to the ground. I landed face down and I continued to weep.

"No," a smooth voice said coldly. "This isn't the one either."

I weakly looked up. I couldn't see her very well amongst the shadows, so I think she was wearing all black. The voice was distinctly female. From what I could see of her, she was tall and slender. She was holding a staff in one hand. She either had horns or a horned headdress, it was impossible for me to say which.

"This world has nothing to offer me," the woman complained, sounding rather frustrated. She turned around. "We've wasted enough time here. Dispose of her like the rest."

I still don't understand what she meant or what she was looking for. The woman started walking away and before I knew it was out of sight.

One of the Soldiers jumped on my back. I felt a sharp pain as it reached into my chest to get my heart. I screamed.

Through the fear and through the pain, somehow, I felt it grab onto my heart. I knew it had it.

Before it took it though, it was struck by Lightning magic. It disappeared, defeated.

I don't know if it was the lightning, or if it was the Heartless that did it.

But in that instant that the Soldier had my heart and then was defeated, my heart… broke.

Everything went black and my body went limp.

I couldn't move.

I couldn't see.

I couldn't think clearly at first even.

But I could hear.

I have memories of what happened after this, but a lot of it is hazy. I was basically comatose throughout it, after all. Apparently one of the guards had seen me as I had been taken away. A few of them managed to get away from the castle and pursue us. They continued to battle the Heartless for a while. After they had defeated enough of them, one of them picked me up and carried me back towards the castle.

By the time I was taken back, the Heartless within the city and the castle grounds had been whittled down. It took the soldiers some time to adjust to learning how to fight the creatures, but they managed to find a way. The other part of the swarm I had seen never went to the city so once the main attacking force was delt with, the city was in relative safety again.

Although, there had been terrible losses to get to that point.

My body was taken to my parents. I heard them over me and my mother begging me to wake up. I was aware of them but had no way to let them know. I heard as they had doctors and wizards look over me but weren't able to find a solution. My condition was unexplainable.

At first, that was all I heard. I heard what was happening directly around me. At some point, that changed. I heard things from other places. Sometimes I would hear conversations in other parts of the castle or the kingdom. Sometimes it was things I couldn't identify.

While they had managed to fight off that initial wave of Heartless, they were still around the city. More people were attacked, and I heard their cries as they struggled. I heard the despair of the family members left behind. I heard the guards continue to fight them back to protect the people that were left. I heard councils gathered as they tried to determine what was going on and how to best combat it.

I was in that state for about a month. I couldn't move or speak, but I was still more or less aware of what was going on. It was only a month, but to me felt like much longer.

And then things changed for me again. Instead of just the constant barrage of sounds from around the kingdom, I started seeing memories.

I saw things like my complaining that my new dress wasn't cute enough. I saw when I chased off the few friends I had because they didn't want to play the games I wanted to play. I saw myself scream to my mother how she didn't love me because she had to spend her time with some visiting diplomats instead. I watched myself mock my teachers for teaching me things I didn't care to learn.

I want to say that I learned my lesson on my own. That by replaying all these memories, I saw how I was wrong. Then maybe I came to my own conclusion that I needed to change.

This wasn't the case. I felt so much deep shame right at the start. I didn't have to take any time to learn my lesson. I already knew.

I remember wondering what brought the change and then somehow immediately knowing the answer.

My broken heart. My heart encompassed everything I had been and now it had been altered. I had been altered along with it.

…And so sometimes I worry that I'll change back if it is ever fixed…

I would often see and hear the Heartless. It would happen randomly. Between hearing my caretakers checking on me and replaying my past, I would see the Heartless as they hunted. At first their appearance would frighten and confuse me, and then I started to realize… somehow, I could understand them.

That's the best way I've found to describe it. Heartless don't really think or have words. Anything they "want" is driven purely on instinct or instruction should someone be controlling them. I suppose in a way, their behaviors started to click and make sense to me.

After seeing them right outside the castle so many times, somehow it just came to me that they wanted me. There were other people within the castle too, and yet they had started completely ignoring everyone else for the most part. When I realized that, I only briefly wondered how I knew that before wondering why they would want me. From what I could tell, the woman I had seen that day was the one who sent them to the city. No other large attack had happened, and I was fairly certain she had left. Whatever she was looking for, it wasn't me. So, she wasn't sending them after me. She wasn't the reason.

Eventually I came to understand even further. It was my broken heart. The Heartless wanted hearts. Strong hearts, weak hearts, didn't matter. All hearts have darkness and that darkness called to them.

Only my heart was cracked.

This allowed the darkness in my heart to call to them more loudly.

In a sense.

My broken heart was a beacon to them. They were driven towards it. They wanted it, even more than they wanted the hearts of those near me.

I thought it was a good thing, in at least some ways. If I was the target, others could be spared.

But there was something else they wanted.

They seemed to be searching for something else. Something they wanted more than even my heart. This was harder to figure out. The Heartless wanted something, I knew. Something bigger than they had taken before.

I kept seeing them go to a place we called the Ancient Gardens. It was a place where the castle had once stood many centuries ago. There wasn't much there. There were ruins left behind of the old castle. A school of mages had taken to studying in the area, and they had kept taking care of the gardens. It was a calm and peaceful place.

The Heartless would go there and somehow, I knew they felt like they were closer to what they wanted. The mages studying there were able to keep the Heartless at bay.

There would still be random Heartless attacks around the city, but many Heartless seemed focused on either reaching me or the Ancient Gardens. I watched them. I tried to figure out what about the Ancient Gardens would call to them so much.

One day the answer came to me. I'm still not sure from where.

I finally opened by eyes. I was awake. I was in my room in my bed, staring up at my ceiling. There was a word repeating in my head.

"The Keyhole…" I said to myself quietly.

There was a woman at my bedside, apparently there to keep an eye on my condition. She twitched when I spoke. She then gasped as I slowly sat up.

"Princess Vye!" She blurted. "You're awake!"

The woman stood up from her chair and ran towards my door.

"I must tell everyone!" She cried excitedly.

I lazily watched as she ran out my door. I heard her start telling someone in the hall that I was awake to and tell my parents.

I knew very well how worried everyone had been about me. But I didn't care at all that I was finally on my way to recovery. I had to move. There was something that needed to be done.

Ancient Gardens needed to be protected.

I had no way to do that myself. I just knew it had to be done.

I slowly climbed out of bed. I was weak from the time I had spent unconscious but fortunately was able to stand, albeit a little wobbly. I still heard the ruckus outside in the hallway but was still ignoring it. I just went to my closet and got out a robe to cover the night gown I was in.

As I put it on, my parents both came into the room. Their eyes both became watery, and they were clearly emotional as they ran over to me.

"Vye!" Mother sobbed. "You're all right!"

My mother embraced me. I managed a weak smile and hugged her back.

"Sorry I worried you," I told her. "But I'll be fine."

My mother kept crying over me. My father came over to join in the hug. When they did eventually release me, my mother immediately took my face in her hands.

"We were so worried!" She wept, tears still streaming down her face. "We thought we were going to lose you!"

"I'm fine," I repeated. I managed to pull away from her and started walking past her. "But now I have some place I need to go."

"Go?" My father asked.

A man I recognized as one of the doctors who had been checking on me entered the room. I ignored him and continued out into the hall with my parents right behind me.

"You just woke up," my mother pleaded. "Let's let the doctor check you. You shouldn't be moving around so much!"

"I know what's been going on," I explained. "I could hear it all. See some of it. I know about the Heartless."

"You do?" My father asked.

"They want the Keyhole," I reported. "We have to protect it from them."

"Keyhole?" My parents both repeated.

I attempted to keep walking, but my body wasn't ready to keep up with me just yet. I stumbled. I fell to my knees. My parents rushed to me again.

"Vye!" Mother blurted.

As I stood again, my father put an arm out in front of me. He gave me the sternest look I think I had ever seen from him.

"You aren't going anywhere like this," he insisted. "Let the doctor check you."

My mind wanted to resist. I had this idea that I needed to get to the Ancient Gardens to make sure they were safe. But my body barely had the strength to stand, and therefore I could not put much resistance as I was led back to my room.

The doctor commenced this check up while my parents and I talked. At one point the captain of the guard came into the room to check on the situation too. I told them that although I had been unconscious, I had seen the Heartless' actions. I knew how people had been lost. How more could be if we weren't prepared. I told them what I knew of the woman outside the city, although no one else had seen anything of her.

I told them I had been attacked by a Heartless which had caused my condition, but I didn't tell them about my broken heart.

How it was still broken.

How it probably changed me.

How I already knew I didn't want to change back.

I just… couldn't.

"I still don't understand what is so special about the Ancient Gardens," my father admitted after we had covered everything.

"I'm not sure," I admitted with a sigh. "The Keyhole is there. I don't know what that is or what it is for. But the Heartless want it, and that can't lead to anything good. If they find it…" I bowed my head. "Well, I don't know what will happen but… we can't let them have it!"

My father put a hand to his chin as he pondered what to make of this information. He looked over to the captain who took this as a que to speak up.

"Reports from the Gardens are… odd," he shrugged. "The mages haven't had the losses we have. Last report I received, the number of Heartless had greatly increased lately. Their behavior is different in that they aren't attacking anyone and are just exploring the area." He gave me a glance. "Perhaps she is right, and they are looking for something specific. There is still a lot we don't know about the Heartless."

"They will keep hunting until they find it," I added. "They want it more than anything. We need to keep everyone safe, that's true. But it won't mean anything if they find the Keyhole."

Father kept rubbing his chin thoughtfully. The doctor was packing up his belongings now. He instructed me to rest while building my strength back little by little. After giving some more instructions, he left. My father took that time to formulate his thoughts.

"Many years ago," my father began to explain, "before you were born, I met a man who visited our kingdom. I never got him to say where he was from. He said he merely travelled in his search of knowledge. We visited the Ancient Gardens once. He told me that place was connected and that if it was ever tainted with darkness, it would mean the end of our whole world."

My father hesitated as he thought back on that conversation. "I never understood what he meant," he admitted, "but maybe it was this 'Keyhole' he was speaking of."

"So, if the Heartless find the Keyhole," the captain added, "you think it will destroy our world? Really?"

"I can't say this for certain," Father sighed. "There isn't enough information to go off of." He stared at me for a few seconds. "But if Vye… connected with the Heartless and knows that's what they want, it's the best clue we have."

He turned to face the captain. "We are stretched thin as it is," he acknowledged. "But we need to help the mages protect the Gardens. If the Heartless have been increasing, we need to send support."

The captain nodded obediently. "We'll make it happen," he promised.

He started to turn to leave the room. I stood up again to face him.

"Wait," I called after him. "A moment before you go, please."

He stopped and looked at me. I frowned and bowed my head slightly.

"I…" I started. I sighed. "When that attack started, I was in the eastern hallway. There were two guards stationed there. Do you… do you know who they were? What their names were?"

The guard thought about this a moment, trying to think back that far.

"I believe…" he thought aloud, "that would have been… Roperto and… Nathan." He frowned at me. "They were found missing after that attack."

I nodded. "They… tried to protect me," I told him. "But the Heartless… They were taken by them."

My mother went up to me, hugging me again as she noticed my emotions building up. I just stood there, thinking of the first two men who gave their lives to try and save mine. I knew too that I had been drawing in more Heartless towards the castle. How many more had been taken because of me?

I looked up at the captain again. "You don't happen to have scissors, do you?" I asked. "Or a knife? Any blade would work."

The captain glanced at my mother who released me. She shrugged at him. He reached into a pouch on his side and pulled out a dagger. He held it up to me and I took it from him.

I reached back and gathered my hair as much as I could in one hand. Before anyone could stop me, I swiped the dagger through my hair, cutting it short to where it was about chin length.

"Vye!" My mother cried in surprise. "Your pretty hair!"

I looked down at the length of hair I had just cut off.

"I'm sorry," I uttered. "I don't know why I… I just… I just need to start over. I need to grow up. The person I was before… doesn't exist anymore."

I handed the dagger back to the guard. "Roperto and Nathan gave their lives to try and save mine," I said. "I will never forget that. But I won't let it be a waste. I need to become stronger. I need to protect myself and my kingdom."

Mother started stroking the hair I had left. "Vye, are you sure you're all right?" she pressed. "You are acting so strange."

I gave a heavy sigh but that was my only response. I had been this new Vye the whole month I was out. They were only just meeting her. There would have to be an adjustment period.

And yet I gave them no explanation. I don't know what they thought.

I looked back at them. "I need you to find me someone," I announced. "I need someone to teach me. Someone to help me get stronger."

My mother was still confused. "Teach you what?" She asked.

"To fight," I replied, determined. "I will join the fight against the Heartless. Find someone who will teach me."

The captain and my parents glanced at each other again, still confused. I walked away to dispose of the hair.

The old bratty Vye was gone.

The new Vye had things to do.