Act 1

Chapter 2- Awakenings

Gideon:

Gideon awoke on a fairly cold surface. He stood up groggily and stared in bewilderment at his surroundings. He had no idea where he was, for all he could see was the stained glass platform that he was standing on, surrounded by nothing but pitch black.

He looked down at the platform he was standing on and stared at it intently, puzzling what it could mean. Gideon, like most 8 years, was somewhat curious, even though he didn't act on his curiosity since his bashfulness matched his curiosity. He could be brave when it counted, but was rather shy and slightly cowardly otherwise. He had short brown hair and piercing green eyes, a bit of a contrast to his personality.

The image that he saw was of three armored knights kneeling with their keyblades in front of them before a bright and powerful light.

"The path has been placed before you, but what form will you choose?" a mysterious voice whispered. "Wh-Who's there?!" Gideon said in a semi-panicked voice. "Don't be afraid, and don't run away from the light." the voice replied.

"Who are you?" Gideon said to nothing but thin air. Suddenly, three pedestals appeared around the platform. On each of these pedestals lay a weapon. They were a black and red shield, a green rod with a rounded blue top, and a sword with a gold hilt and blue handle.

"Before you lies a choice." the voice continued "You must choose the form you will use to achieve your destiny." "I...I don't understand!" Gideon cried. "Choose" the voice echoed. "Choose, Choose...choose."

Gideon had no idea what to do. "What does all this mean?" he thought to himself. He started toward the three stone pedestals. He picked them up one by one. The staff felt too awkward for him, so he clearly wasn't going to be a huge magic user. Maybe the sword he thought. No good either, it felt too heavy. This wasn't good; it meant he wasn't going to be a warrior. The last option was the shield. He picked it up, and felt a strange power surge through him. Even though it was still a strange feeling, he felt that it was the right weapon.

"So, you have chosen." the voice said, breaking the silence. "Yeah," replied Gideon "but it's only a shield. What good can I do with it?"

"You do not understand." the voice said. "The weapon is not as important as the power it contains. The power you now have is the power of a guardian. You will be a protector of others, and a light in the darkest of moments. Use this power, and you will find your destiny."

Suddenly, shadowy hooded figures emerged from the ground and began darting for Gideon. "Wha-What are those things?!" Gideon cried.

"Your power is an extension of your heart. It is a beacon of hope to all who surround you. Use this power to protect others." The shadows closed in on Gideon. Their claws began reaching for him, but then a light shot forth from the shield. Gideon quickly began hitting the shadows, driving them back. One reached for Gideon to pull him into the darkness, but Gideon jumped and evaded its attack, and proceeded to hit him with the shield. Eventually, all the shadows faded away.

Gideon bent over, gasping for air. That had taken a lot out of him. He was surprised he wasn't dead right now. All of the sudden, the platform disappeared from underneath Gideon's feet, and he fell down into the darkness. Gideon began panicking and flailing his limbs around as he fell, sure that he wasn't going to survive the fall. Then, he stopped falling, and began gently floating down to another platform. This one however, was different.

The image on the platform was just as confusing as the last one. He saw keyblades. Thousands of keyblades standing up in what looked like a dessert. There were four paths pointing to the center of the area, and in the center, stood the same three knights. There was something else strange though. At one end of the paths, one more figure could be seen, but the image was blurry and hard to make out.

"There will be others, who wish to destroy you and crush the power you hold. You must not falter on your path to destiny."

As soon as the voice finished the sentence, another shadowy figure appeared. However, this one was different. He was wearing armor made out of a metal with a darker tint. And he was wielding some sort of weapon. It was a keyblade! The figure lunged for him, trying to strike Gideon with his keyblade.

"Your powers are weak. You are of no match for true power!" the figure said in a booming voice. A blast of dark energy shot from his right hand towards Gideon. He managed to deflect the blast, but the shock brought Gideon to his knees. He couldn't take much more. The figured walked up to him and prepared to make a killing blow. "You are useless. You are not even fit to exist." the armored being cackled. "No..."Gideon whimpered. It was truly over...

"DO NOT FALTER!!!"

Suddenly, as if possessed by a strange force, Gideon dodged the strike. When he stood up, he felt renewed by an unknown energy. And there was something different. He was holding two weapons! In his left, he held the Guardian Shield, but in the other, he was wielding the sword that he could not pick up earlier!

"While you choose the form of a guardian, you have the power of a warrior inside you."

Gideon, using this energy, charged toward the armored figure and swung at him with his blade. The impact his blade had on the figure caused him to fall to the ground.

"H-How?" the figure said weakly, and then disappeared.

Gideon felt relief for the first time in the test. He breathed a sigh of relief as everything around him turned black...

Xehanort:

Xehanort had never felt more bored in his life. "What is the point of such a meaningless test?" he thought to himself. He had picked up some strange sword and was using to fight some unknown beings, but nothing hard had come to face him yet.

Then, Xehanort realized that he was standing on another strange platform. However, he could not interpret the meanings of the symbols he saw. On one end, he saw a heart-shaped symbol etched out in black and red. On the other side, he saw a grey symbol that looked like an upside down and distorted heart.

"Do you know your purpose yet?" a mysterious man in a brown hood and robes said from the side with the black heart. "Do you know the levels of immortality you can achieve?" another hooded man in a black robe said from the other side.

"Wha? Who are you two? Another illusion?" Xehanort said, remaining fairly calm.

"He knows nothing. And one who knows nothing can understand nothing." the brown hooded figure said as he drew a mysterious black blade from his robes and a shadow began to float behind him. "Yes. You must know your place in this universe, and seek the power the universe offers you." continued the black hooded man as red blades of light seemed to emit from his palms.

Then, without warning, both figures began charging at him. Xehanort was taken aback by this move and was not sure what to do. Before he knew it, he was smacked to the ground by blows from both opponents.

"You were right." said the black hood "He knows nothing of the power his heart contains." "He knows nothing of the power of darkness" replied the brown hood. "You must learn the true ways of the universe," he continued "And suffering will be your master." the black hood said, finishing the sentence.

Lightning blasted forth from his hands, which threw Xehanort back to the center of the platform. Xehanort laid on the ground, in extreme pain. He could only see the image in the center of the platform, a keyblade he had never seen before. Could it have been...

"He is truly weak." the black hood said "He is not fit to live."

"RETURN TO DARKNESS!"

"RETURN TO POWER!"

Both began to charge at Xehanort again, and Xehanort, out of fear, close his eyes and swung his blade. He felt the blade make a direct hit, and heard a thump and a clang as his enemies fell to the ground. But, as he opened his eyes, he did not see his hooded opponents...

Instead, he saw an innocent man, lying dead on the ground, his keyblade in his cold and pale hand, blood slowly flowing out of the wound on his head and on to the glass platform.

Xehanort fell to his knees and began to cry. "Wh-WHAT HAVE I DONE?!?!!!!" he screamed at the top of his lungs.

"You are following your destiny." both figures said in unison...

And Xehanort continued to weep as the world faded out of sight around him.