Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Kingdom Hearts. Thank you.

Chapter 3: Fading Light

[Setting: Radiant Garden]

The sun starts rising from the west covering the whole city in its glow and warmth. The light enters though my open window in my room, showing its warmth upon my sleeping face. When the sunlight hits my face, I slowly open my eyes, welcoming the light into my eyes and into my body just like every other morning. Today wasn't just an ordinary day because today was the beginning of summer break.

It has been 9 months since Kairi and I met Aqua and Mickey. I haven't seen them again since that day, but I know that in my heart, I will see them again. Since then, I have always been wondering of what other worlds have in store: What do those worlds look like? Are they the same as Radiant Garden? Are the people just as nice and thoughtful as the people of our world? My mind has been looking towards the open sky as of late. Maybe someday I will make it out of this world and go to strange new places, hoping to help any person in need and meeting new people that I can call friends.

Just the thought of traveling to new worlds got me excited with hope. But for now, this town is all that I need right now because this place is where my friends and family lived and I never want to lose them.

Shortly after I showered and got dressed, I walked out of my room and went to the kitchen to enjoy my breakfast. Sitting at the table was my father as usual, but today, he was taking the day off. He didn't really want to take a day off today but he was out of supplies for his shop and the new shipment wasn't going to arrive until later today. Because of this, my dad wasn't wearing his regular workman clothing, rather he was wearing a white shirt with a combination light blue and dark blue over jacket with sky blue jeans and white shoes. My father doesn't get much time off, but when he does, he usually spends much of his free time with my mother and me.

Shortly after I was finished with my breakfast, my father put down his paper and took me outside for a walk around the town. As we were walking, we started to chat about anything that came to mind. As we made it to the open plaza, we stopped at the ice cream stand and we brought two sea-salt ice cream bars. My father told me that he loved sea-salt ice cream and he would eat it every day as a child. But now, since he is busy with the shop, he doesn't have time to enjoy what Radiant Garden has to offer.

After both of us finished our ice cream bars, I looked down on my stick. The stick said 'Winner' on it. I showed my father the stick and he got a big smile on his face because I found a rare Winner stick which entitled me for a free ice cream bar. I was excited when I heard that because I never won anything before.

As my father and I were returning home, we saw my mother rushing out with tears in her eyes, like something was very wrong. My mother doesn't cry that often only when something bad happens.

"Honey, what's wrong?" My father said as he held her in his arms.

"Richard, it's Mrs. Beaumont, she has fallen ill and she can't wake up." My mother said as another tear falls down the side of her face.

"Oh, how terrible." My father said as he comforted her. "I hope that she will be okay soon." Then he turned to me, as I was next to Mom.

"Sky, I think you should go back home." He said in a calm voice.

"But what are Kairi? I mean, she is all by herself." I said.

My mother wiped the tear away from her face.

"Don't worry; she is safely at our house. We better get back." She said.

"Okay." I said as both of my parents and I started to walk back to the house. But what I didn't notice was a dark puddle following me.

When we were home, Kairi was laying down on the couch not looking so good. Her blue eyes were darker than usual and her expression wasn't as cheerful. When my mother saw this, she ran towards her.

"Kairi? Are you alright?" My mother said as she ran up to her.

But Kairi didn't answer back; instead she just sat up and stood still, like a lifeless puppet. My mother felt her head, checking if she has a fever.

"Well, she isn't running a fever." My mother said. "I better go make some soup for you, Kairi. You just stay right there, I'll be right back." Then, my mother walked for the kitchen to make some chicken soup with my father walking behind her.

As she left the room, I walked up to her with a scared expression upon my face.

"Kairi? Are you okay?" I said as I reached out my hand to grab her hand.

But before I could reach her, the black puddle entered my house and rose up right in front of me. This creature was different than the ones that Kairi and I saw just months ago. The creature was small with long feet and fingers, two antennas on its head, and yellow eyes. As I saw the creature, I gave out a cry in fear. The sound of my yell made Kairi snap out of it and she also gave out a cry. As soon as my father heard us yelling, he ran back into the living room and saw the creature.

"Sky, Kairi, look out!" My father said as he raced in to grab both Kairi and me. He grabbed both of us and took us to the kitchen, where my mother was wondering what the screaming was about.

When we entered the kitchen, my mother also gave out a cry when she saw the creature heading for us. In my mind, I was wishing that Aqua or Mickey were here to protect us. The creature stepped closer to us. Just as he was ready to attack, a blade came flying in front of us, destroying the creature dead on. As I looked over my right shoulder, I saw my father with a Keyblade in his hand. This Keyblade had red and white on the shaft along with a square white guard with a black handle, teeth at the end of the shaft that resembled a ring like the ones he makes in the shop and a keychain with a blue bow-tie at the end of it.

Also on my father's left arm was a piece of light blue armor with a gold button on it. When he got both Kairi and I out of the living room, he quickly rushed back into his room to grab the armor on his left arm.

"Come on, we need to get out of here." My father said as he held his Keyblade in his right hand.

"Richard? What's going on? What was that thing?" My mother shouted to him. Right now, she had lost her self-control.

"Heartless." He said with some fear in his breath. "And I think that there will be more of them soon enough. Now come on, we need to get to the castle."

"Why the castle?" My mother asked.

"Because it's safer there then it is here, now let's go." My father said. As we got outside, Kairi started to run towards her grandmother's house.

"Kairi, where are you going?" My mother asked.

"I need to check up on Grandma." She said as she heads back to her house.

But before she could reach the house, a group of Heartless, similar to the one that my father defeated just a few minutes ago, appeared and stood in front of Kairi. Kairi gave out a loud cry and stood frozen in her tracks in fear. But before any of the Heartless could attack, a voice rang out from behind us.

"Thunder!"

As this voice rang out, 4 rays of lightning bolts came out of the blue and hit the Heartless dead on, making them disappear on impact. My mother came rushing up to grab Kairi away from the Heartless while I turned my head around to see who was helping us. I saw my father aiming his Keyblade up into the sky. Then, he gave another cry.

"Thunder!"

Another ray of lightning bolts came flying down in the exact area where the first attack hit, making the Heartless step back. Then my father grabbed my wrist and pulled me away from them.

"Come on, let's get out of here!" My father said as he kept pulling me away.

Then, my father lifted me in his arms and both my parents with Kairi and myself in hand ran from the plaza towards the castle. I looked behind them, seeing our house and Mrs. Beaumont's house being overran by Heartless and darkness. Then, I looked over towards Kairi, who was crying from the loss of her grandmother.

As my mother and father made it to the flower garden, both of them were winded from running and carrying us, so they stopped and let us down. My father looked a bit more winded than my mother but since he used magic and was carrying me, he used more energy than she did.

"Is…is…every…one…okay?" My father said as he tried to catch his breath.

"We're…okay, honey." My mother said.

"That's…good…to hear." My father said as he regained his breath.

After a few seconds of silence, I grabbed my father's arm.

"Father." I said with fear in my breath and tears rolling down my face. "What were those things?"

"Those things were the Heartless." My father said as he went down to one knee to comfort me. "I'm afraid that they have found a way to enter our world."

"What will they want with our world?" I asked.

"I don't know, son." My father said to me as he reached out his left hand and placed it upon my left shoulder. But in his mind, my father knew that our world was falling into darkness, but he told me that he didn't know because he didn't want me to worry.

Then, I looked at his Keyblade, which was still in his hand.

"Father, why do you have that weapon?" I asked him.

My father stood up and looked down upon me while I looked up upon him.

"I have this weapon because I was a Keyblade Wielder back before you were born." My father explained. "You see, Sky, our family have been the keepers of light since the ancient times. We have been placed in charge of protecting the one thing that gives us light and hope for our world: Kingdom Hearts. A long time ago, our world was connected with the other world and the people of those worlds were bathed in the light of Kingdom Hearts. But over time, people wanted to keep the light for themselves, which created darkness in their hearts. That in turn created a fierce battle between the ones with light and the ones with darkness called 'The Keyblade War.' This battle lasted for a long time until Kingdom Hearts was swallowed by the darkness where it still resides today."

"The world was covered in darkness, never to have light again, but the light found its way into the hearts of children and those children rebuilt the worlds and filling them with their light. Since that time, there have been Keyblade Wielders and Keyblade Masters to keep the balance of light and darkness in check. Your Grandfather was a Keyblade Master, I, on the other hand, was only a Keyblade Wielder. I was going to be a Keyblade Master until I hurt my back during my test which made me hang up my Keyblade. And I believe that someday, you will be a wielder as well."

As he said that, my eyes opened up wide. My father's story was almost exact as Mrs. Beaumont's story about light and darkness. And my father was telling me that someday I will carry on the tradition of my family and protect the world from darkness.

But just as my father was going to tell more about the Keyblade, a small rumble started to shake the ground around us.

"What's that?" My mother cried out.

"I don't know." My father said. "But we better head for the castle for safety."

As all four of us ran towards the steps of the castle, a group of Heartless stopped us. These Heartless were bigger than the ones that we meet a while ago. While they were small, these ones were taller with two longer antennas and longer claws. They also had faint blue veins mainly on their head, shoulders, and legs, boot-shaped feet, and yellow eyes.

The Heartless quickly surrounded us, making any attempts to escape futile. My father held his Keyblade in front of him, ready to defend us. Two of them wiggled their bodies and jumped towards my father. When he saw them in the air, he sliced both of them before they could land. Then a few more tried the same maneuver but were quickly defeated by my father's Keyblade. But while Kairi and I were watching him, another Heartless came sliding in behind us and scratched my mother's right arm, making her fall in pain. She gave out a cry and went to the ground. When my father heard her, his eyes widened.

"Elizabeth!" He cried out as he ran towards her side. "You get away from my wife!"

But as he reached her, another group of Heartless came rising up and one of them hit my father in the back, making him fall towards her. When he landed, his Keyblade disappeared in a ray of light and the piece of armor came off of his arm, sliding towards where Kairi and I were.

"Mother, Father!" I cried out.

But it was too late; six Heartless had already surrounded them. Then, a portal of darkness appeared underneath them, making them sink down into the darkness. My eyes were filling with tears of fear as I watched my parents, the ones that have been with me since the moment I was born, disappearing into the darkness. Before they disappeared, I heard my father cry out for me.

"Sky! Get Kairi out of here! Don't worry about us, we will find you again. Remember, we love you!"

As he said that, both my parents sank down into the darkness along with the Heartless that were covering them. Then, the portal of darkness closed as quickly as it appeared, leaving nothing behind. My eyes were gushing out tears of sadness and fear as both of the parents were gone, leaving Kairi and me by ourselves. Kairi was also crying as well, watching them dive into darkness.

After a few moments, I wiped the tears out of my eyes with my right arm and I walked over towards Kairi. Right before I reached her, I spotted the piece of armor that my father left behind. I grabbed it off the ground and held it tight in my hands. This piece was what was left of my family and I was never going to let go of it. I placed it on my left shoulder, as my father did. Then, I walked up to Kairi.

"Come on, Kairi, we better get up to the castle." I said as calmly as I could.

"Okay." She said, still having tears in her eyes.

I still had tears in my eyes as well, but I knew that I had to protect Kairi at all costs. It would have been what my father would have wanted.

So both of us made our way to the castle, hoping that the worst was over. As we reached the top of the stairs, another rumble came across the land. Both of us turned towards the plaza where my parents were swallowed by the darkness and saw hundreds of Heartless covering the plaza, making everyone and everything in their path fall into darkness. The sky also turned towards darkness, making the light of the sun disappear in a deep sheet of darkness.

Both Kairi and I were scared to death when we saw them. I thought to myself that this was the end of us. We held each other tight, ready to be taken into darkness. But suddenly, Kairi's necklace started to glow. She looked down and held it in her hand.

"What's happening?" She said.

"I don't know." I said back to her.

Just then, a ray of light surrounded us as the Heartless headed right for us. But before they could touch us, the light started to make the castle along with the world disappear around us. But before the world disappeared, I turned my head and spotted a man with long white hair and a lab coat watching us with his arms crossed and a small smirch on his face. Then, the light fully covered us and the world was gone.

We were alone again, but this time, we were without our families, our homes, our world. The light started to disappear around us, only to be coating Kairi with a cover of light, leaving darkness to cover me. I turned towards Kairi, who was heading away from me.

"Kairi!" I cried out.

"Sky….." She started to say but she started to faint and her eyes closed.

"Kairi!" I cried out again.

But this time she didn't answer back. But then, she truly disappeared in a ray of light, leaving me by myself. But before I could go anything else, my eyes started to close as well. I could feel the darkness enter my body. I started to forget everything in my life: my family, my friends, especially Kairi but the one thing that I was losing the most was myself. I was falling into darkness.

But before my heart was truly lost, the piece of armor on my shoulder started to shine. Then, my body began to cover in dark blue armor with white patches on my chest and legs along with patches of red and orange on my arms and legs as well. Then, my face was covered with a dark blue helmet with a black mask covering my eyes.

My body slowly fell into the darkness surrounding me. I kept falling and falling with no end in sight until a small ray of light appeared below me and I entered that light. When I went through it, the darkness around me turned into light as the sight of a small town appeared below me. My body slowly lowered into this town and I landed safely onto the ground.

When I landed, the crunching of my armor touching the ground could be heard. Then, as quickly as the armor covered me, the armor disappeared back into the piece from my father, leaving me on the ground alone and unconscious.

"Sky." A voice said inside my head. "Remember that you will always have light within you and the darkness will never take your heart as long as you remember who you are. You are the one that will help him to open the door."

Author's Notes:

And so the journey has begun. Onto Chapter 4.