"Sora, wait!!"
"Don't do it!"
The young boy gazed upwards with wonder at the dark Keyblade in his hands. He turned to his companions and smiled nonchalantly. 'Here goes' he thought to himself as he plunged the weapon into his chest.
Light.
Darkness.
Pain.
My heart…floating beyond my reach…don't leave… me…
Falling.
Plunging into water.
The boy opened his eyes to the deep blue that surged all around him. The water flowed across his skin as he fell deeper and deeper into the abyss of nothing. Deeper and deeper he fell, falling away from the light that shone from the surface.
Slowly, he opened his eyes and righted himself, slowly and sluggishly as if in a dream. He floated down gently until his feet contacted with…ground.
Light flashed around him, erupting from the very ground beneath him. Pale white
doves flapped around him, flying up to the surface of the water, to the light that shined above him. Their soft white feathers rained about him like seraphim as they slowly vanished from sight. The light faded out and revealed the transformation; the floor was now a stained glass floor of a boy…a boy that he felt he knew not so long ago. What was his name?
"Sora…" he uttered softly, staring down with wonder.
As if in response, the shadows of the world around him began to close in around him. As they moved across the floor, little imp-like creatures with black skin and hungry yellow eyes morphed out of the darkness. The boy swung his fists at them wildly, but to no avail. One of the creatures pounced at him, claws extended for the killing strike when suddenly and inexplicably, it stopped. The boy looked around him. Every creature around him had stopped as if someone had pressed a magical "pause" button.
The boy looked around cautiously, slowly bringing his hands down from in front of his face. "Warrior of the Keyblade…" intoned a deep, baritone voice, "stretch out your hand and grasp your weapon"
The boy looked around incredulously. How was he supposed to do that? "Do it!" rumbled the voice, becoming more forceful now.
Timid, but curious, the boy stretched out his hand. In a bright flash of light, a sword-sized key appeared in his hand. The guard was shape like the loop of a key, and encircled the handle that lay grasped in his hand. At the butt was a keychain with a strangely shaped ornament consisting of two small circles attached to a bigger circle, almost imitating ears. The key itself was the outline of a crown.
The voice let out a satisfied rumble. "The Keyblade…" It let out a deep chuckle. "Now," it commanded, " use it to destroy your enemies!"
Time eased itself back into motion, and the beast that was frozen in time plunged down like a hawk. The boy set his face and lifted the key. With a mighty swing, he smashed through the dark creature, scattering it like a wisp of cloud. The other creatures convened on him. Swing by swing, he swatted them all down until nothing remained. Neither light nor shadow seemed to be present.
The voice chuckled again. "Good…you have a truly marvelous weapon," it said with glee, "now, step through the door behind you…"
The boy turned around, and beheld the pristine white door that had suddenly appeared. Tentatively stepping forward, the boy grasped the handle, opened it wide, and stepped through.
He found himself standing on the edge of a forest, right outside of a large mansion, barred by a high wall and a locked gate. He turned and looked behind him. The door was gone.
As he turned around, the boy saw someone step out of a swirling dark portal. This person was clad head to toe in a long, black, leather coat that had a large hood drawn over the face. The person spoke. "Do you want to know?" he said in his familiar baritone voice.
Slowly looking up at this man, the boy nodded. The man stretched out his hand, and before the boy's eyes, the name Sora shimmered in silver letters. The boy looked up at the name with wide eyes.
"You feel nothing. You can feel nothing" stated the man emptily, "Do you want a meaning?"
The boy slowly nodded, and with a gentle wave of his hand, the man sent the letters of the name whirling around the boy's head. Round and round they spun, madly and wildly flashing blue and silver. With a slow thrust, the man stopped the letters, where a golden X hovered in the middle of the rearranged name
The boy stared at them in wonder, silently wondering their meaning. "Roxas…" he said, and the name shimmered gold.
The man lifted his head so that his saffron eyes could be seen under his hood. "A new you…"