Okay, here's Chapter Three. Sorry it took so long to put this up, but it's my first story and I'm a perfectionist. That should justify things.

I'd like to thank RoseZephyr, Kairi159, and Shadowmeld for their reviews. They've given me the confidence I needed to keep going.

Disclaimer: Every time I tell you that I don't own "Kingdom Hearts", a small piece of my soul goes drifting away. Oh look, there goes another one.

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Chapter Three: Exploring the Past

I refused to believe it, but my reflection did not lie: I was a Shadow. But how? How could I be a Shadow? Sure, this revelation explained many things - why people ran from me, why I suddenly became mute, why that man tried to kill me, and why I didn't tire out while fighting him. But it just didn't make sense. A Heartless is created when someone - or something - steals your heart. I've only encountered the Heartless once in my life:

When they appeared in my home city.

Originally, I lived on a planet called Vale in the city of Cyrene. We were an advanced city capable of inter-planetary travel and communication.

One day, we received a message from someone who identified himself as Leon, transmitting from a place called Traverse Town. He warned us about the "Heartless", creatures of darkness that steal people's hearts and take over worlds. At first, we thought it was a joke. And who wouldn't? Creatures who steal people's hearts? A child could come up with something more creative. Then he started sending us all the data he had supposedly gathered. We laughed at the blatant prank.

Twenty-something pages of data later, we realized this was too elaborate to be a prank. These "Heartless" really existed.

In response to this warning, Cyrene increased the number of city guards and regularly sent squadrons out on patrol. A law that had banned unauthorized people from carrying any form of weapon was repealed within two hours, and everyone was carrying a weapon within three. Our city had become a military stronghold.

As the days went by, we stayed on alert. But the days became weeks and still there were no Heartless sightings. Always being on guard was taking its toll on us. We all jumped at the slightest disturbance, and the constant adrenaline wore us out.

Thankfully, we caught ourselves before it developed into mass paranoia. We relaxed our guards a little and went back to daily life, reminding ourselves that we had an army that was trained to handle these situations. Time passed, and we enjoyed the peace.

Then it happened.

Shadows appeared inside the city walls. The alarm sounded and we all went to battle.

At first, we were doing pretty well. We were destroying the Shadows left and right with no casualties of our own. Then their reinforcements came in: Heartless that wore armor, Heartless that were giant in both height and width, Heartless that could fly, Heartless that could create fire, ice, and lightning, and Heartless that could cure the other Heartless. Just to name a few.

We fought with everything we had, but it wasn't enough. We cut them down and cut them down, yet still they came. We didn't have that luxury. What's worse, as people fell to the Heartless, they became Heartless themselves. We didn't stand a chance.

Everyone started evacuating. As I ran to the hanger bay to catch a ship out of there, something hit me on the head from behind. I don't think it was a Heartless of any kind. It was more of a blunt object, like a club or something. Perhaps it was someone trying to ensure they would get on a ship by ensuring that others wouldn't. Whatever it was, it knocked me unconscious.

I didn't know how much time had passed when I woke up. I imagined all of the ships would have taken off, but I refused to believe it until I saw it. I ran to the hangar bay.

By some miracle, there was one left. I hopped in and was about to take off when I realized that there could be more stragglers out there. But I was weaponless and therefore defenseless, so I couldn't go out and look for them. All I could do was wait. So I waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Four hours had passed and no one had come. The longer I stayed, the more likely I'd be found by the Heartless. Reluctantly, I took off and headed for the nearest inhabitable planet.

I hadn't encountered a Heartless before then, and I haven't encountered a Heartless since then. That meant the only time my heart could have been stolen was when I was knocked out during the evacuation. But even if that was the case, it didn't explain everything.

How could I still think rationally? Shadows only had a collective intelligence, if any at all. I could think, calculate, weigh options against each other, and just about anything else I could do as a human!

Why didn't I steal people's hearts? After all, that's what Shadows are supposed to do. Yet I don't even have an inkling of an urge to do that, nor do I know how I would accomplish such a task.

I didn't have an answer to these questions. I didn't even have as much as a theory. But right now, the reasons why things were the way they were didn't matter. Only one thing was important to me.

I needed to find a way to return to normal.

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End Chapter Three

If anyone was wondering how a Shadow gained possession of a ship, now you know.

Please review. Reviews amplify the power I receive from my dark lord. Oh, and they help me become a better author.