Chapter One
I do not own Kingdom Hearts, nor do I make any profit off this.
- Destiny Island -
Ashley woke up as she heard her mom calling her for breakfast so she quickly went to take a five minute shower, and once she was done she got dressed in her usual outfit, brushed her hair out, silently cursing at how thick it was. She then put her papou fruit hair piece in, and was downstairs as she quickly ate her breakfast. And she was soon at the door, slipping into her favorite boots "Mom, Dad I'm going to go hang out with Gaby OK!?" she called towards the kitchen "Fine but be back by nine!" she heard her dad shout back as he sipped his coffee. She smiled as she opened the door "OK, Love you, see you later!" she called as she closed the door and ran towards her best friends house.
After about a minute or two of running she finally made it to her friends house where Gaby stood on her porch waiting "It's about time you showed up!" she said with a smirk as the two gave a quick hug "Be happy I showed up at all! Now what are we doing today?" she smirked back as she looked at her black haired friend "Well I hear that new Ice Cream place is pretty good, and afterwards we can go shopping or something" Gaby explained as they walked towards said destination.
Ashley smirked as she folded her arms "Oh joy, because you know how much I LOVE shopping!" she laughed as Gaby playfully punched her in the arm. The two friends continued to laugh and joke the entire way the Ice Cream shop. Once inside they ordered their Ice Creams and as they walked out they almost bumped into someone. Ashley looked up as she smiled at the guy "Hey Sora, how are you doing?" she asked looking up at him slightly, she knew Sora from when her and Gaby were nine. Sora, Riku and Kairi were about fifteen at the time and she never really cared about hanging out with older kids so she only really knew Sora as little more then a friend that you'd stop to say hi to before walking away.
Sora smiled down at the two girls "Hey Ashley, Gaby! I'm fine, just figured I'd come and check out the new Ice Cream place..." he smirked as he put his hands behind his head. Ashley swore that sometimes it was so easy to forget he was twenty two, the guy was just so much like a kid. "The place is really good, you'll like it!" Gaby said as her and Ashley quickly stepped aside and let him pass. They then waved goodbye as they walked towards the store "I wonder where Kairi is, I haven't seen her around lately..." Ashley thought out loud as her and Gaby walked towards the store "Yeah, he's pretty much glued to her hip twenty four seven...traveling maybe?" Gaby suggested as the two of them walked into the store. The subject was quickly forgotten as the two of them walked around the large clothing store as Gaby pulled multiple dresses out, trying to get Ashley to try them on "Come on, this one would look cute on you!" Gaby insisted as the two of them stood in front of a rack "No way, not gonna happen!" Ashley said, folding her arms as Gaby relented and put the dress away "I swear you really need to try different outfits!" she sighed, extremely exasperated at her best friend as Ashley smiled triumphantly.
Gaby then spent another hour dragging Ashley through all the different racks, all the while Ashley could have sworn that she saw shadows moving out of the corner of her eye. But every time she looked there would be nothing there. So she quickly shrugged it off as a trick of the light as she continued to be dragged around the store. Finally the two exited the store as the sun was high in the sky, showing it was mid afternoon. Gaby was carrying two different bags while Ashley had a single, tiny bag that held a shiny blue bracelet she thought was cute. "So before my arm gets pulled from the socket where should we go now?" Ashley asked, looking at Gaby who was looking into space "Hmm let's go relax in the park!" she said as the two of them started to race to see who could get there first.
"No fair, I had more weight!" Gaby huffed as she ran up to Ashley who had long since beaten her and was now sitting on a bench waiting. Ashley then stuck out her tounge at her best friend "It's not my problem you can't walk into a store without buying thirty things!" the two of them laughed as they sat there and soon decided to play around on the playground equipment. The park was completely empty except for the two of them. They played around for awhile before Gaby looked at Ashley who had just jumped off the swing "Hey Ash, can you go to the vending machine and get me something to drink?" she asked as Ashley sighed "Fine, but only because I'm thirsty too!" she said before running off towards a vending machine.
Just as Ashley was about to walk back with their drinks she heard Gaby give blood curdling scream. Her eye's widened as dropped her drinks and ran back to her best friend "GABY!" she screamed as she saw her friend backed against a tree, clutching a bleeding leg as a black creature with bright yellow eyes was about to pounce her "GET AWAY FROM HER YOU FREAK!" Ashley screamed in anger as she bolted over and kicked the creature as hard as she could and sent it flying a couple yards away. She quickly turned to Gaby with a worried look "Are you OK!?" she asked as she knelt down to examine the deep gash on her leg before looking at her scared brown eyes "I'm fine but it hurts when I put pressure on...LOOK OUT, THERE'S MORE!" she screamed as she looked up and saw the original creature along with at least ten more surrounded them.
Ashley stood in front of her best friend, Gaby was like her sister and she wouldn't let anything happen to her "Just stay behind me..." she said in a tone that was a mix of worry and anger. "How dare you hurt my friend you bastards!" she screamed at them as one of them tried to pounce her but she had a quick reaction and punched it in the face and soon the creatures started to swarm her. She was holding them off well enough at first but the creatures left many scratches and gash marks. Once she threw one off her back she now stood in the middle of them, clutching a bleeding arm. 'Dammit...I can't keep this up, I'm covered in wounds and my chest has a horrible aching feeling right now...' she thought to herself as she clutched her heart.
Suddenly one of them pounced right at her and she quickly covered her head with her arms but then she suddenly heard the sound of multiple bodies hitting the ground. She then looked up and saw none other then Sora standing there looking around with an extremely serious look on his face. But what was most odd was the silver key in his hands. He then looked at her "That was really brave, standing up to those heartless like that..." he said as he walked over to Gaby, who had passed out "Heartless..."she mumbled before looking up and realizing Gaby was still there and was at her side in an instant "Gaby I wish I could have done more..." she said as tears threatened to fall.
Sora glanced at Ashley as he stared at her for a moment 'Maybe...' he thought as he picked Gaby up in his arms "C'mon lets get her somewhere safe..." he said as the three of them made their way towards the hospital. When the doctors asked Sora quickly told a lie about how a couple of stay dogs attacked them. The doctors bought it and soon enough Gaby's parents came and picked her up, thanking Sora for saving them. Ashley just wanted to go for a walk to clear her head. She didn't need her Dad spazzing out and being mister over protective, so she walked past her house and after awhile she finally made it to the beach where the sun was finally starting to set.
Ashley sat down in the sand and brought her knees up to her chin as she sat there for awhile, thinking about what had happened. "Are you alright?" her head snapped to the right as she saw Sora sit down next to her as he patted her back "No...me and my best friend were nearly killed by those...heartless?" she said as she buried her head into her knees again. Sora frowned as his hands rested on his knees "You really care about your friends don't you?" he asked as he watched her from the corner of his eye "Of course I do, I care about all my friends...but Gaby is like my sister..." she said as she shook her head and stood up to stare at the sunset.
Sora stared at her for a moment before standing up and turned to face her "What if I could give you the power to protect your friends?" he asked in an extremely serious tone, one that Ashley never thought she'd hear from him. She turned to face him "What do you mean?" she asked as she looked up at him. Sora held out his left and the Mysterious Abyss keyblade appeared in his hand. He then grabbed the oceanic weapon by the body and held the handle out to her "If you accept this and they Keyblade accepts you then you will become a keyblade wielder..." he paused as she continued to watch him "But if you do accept it and the blade accepts you as it's wielder then you will have to journey outside this world and help those who need your help..." he said, looking into her brown eyes.
Ashley just stood there dumbfounded before running her hand through her hair "What do you mean? Why would people from other worlds need my help!?" it wasn't that she didn't believe him but it was so much to take in. Sora didn't bat an eyelash as he explained to her the situation and how He, Riku and Kairi agreed to go their separate ways in order to protect other worlds. "So now that you know the whole story, do you think you are up to the challenge?" he asked, still holding the keyblade out to her.
Ashley stood there staring at the sand and then looked back towards the town and thought about everyone she cared about and turned to Sora "Yes...I do..." she said, looking him dead in the eye as he smiled slightly 'This girl will be fine...if the Keyblade accepts her that is...' he thought before raising the keyblade again "Then in your hand, take this Key. So long as you have the makings, then through this simple act of taking, its wielder you shall be. No ocean will contain you then. No more borders around, or below, or above, so long as you champion the ones you love..." he recited, remembering how Yen Sid forced him, Riku and Kairi to memorize the Keyblade Inheritance Ceremony's chant.
Ashley stood there with a determined look on her face as she reached out and grabbed the hilt of the Mysterious Abyss and slowly pulled it out of his hand. She held it for a moment before as it gave a quick blue glow. Ashley just stood there before she held the keyblade at her side in comfortable stance and gave it several experimental swings and smiled "So...I'm able to use it..." she stopped and looked at Sora who had a huge smile on his face "Yep but just swinging it isn't going to be enough, I'm going to have to teach you at least two starter spells to get you started..." he explained summoning his own Kingdom Key.
Sora then spent at least a half an hour teaching Ashley the spells "Blizzard" and "Cure" and once they were done the sun had almost completely set, leaving little light left. Ashley stood there huffing as she looked up at a smirking Sora "Not bad for your first time, and now for your mode of transportation!" he smirked as reached into a pocket and pulled out a necklace in the shape of a blue star and put it around her neck as she just raised an eyebrow at him "How is a necklace supposed to transport me anywhere!?" she said, putting her hands on her his as Sora laughed slightly "Focus your magic on the pendent, it'll take over from there..." he explained as he watched her 'It's kinda neat to have a student, I'd like to teach her more but there's just not enough time...' he thought to himself as he saw the pendent start to glow.
Ashley held the pendent in her hand before it gave a dull blue glow and in a flash of light there was a sleek blue glider in front of her as her eyes widened "WHOA!" she gasped as she slowly stepped on it. "There you go, your all set so all I can do now is just wish you good luck!" Sora smiled as he put his hands in his pockets. Ashley just turned to him with a smile "Thank you Sora, and I won't let you or anybody else down!" she said before starting up the glider and then grabbed onto the control panal and pushed a few buttons before it started to hover and took off. As she was flying forward she opened a portal in front of her and she flew into it.
Sora just stood there as he continued to smile before looking at his engagement ring "Kairi...I think you probably would like her...maybe you'll meet her soon..." he chuckled to himself as he summoned his keyblade, seeing several Neo Shadow's behind him "You guys chose the wrong opponent!" he laughed as he charged forward into battle.
- Dive to the Heart -
Ashley opened her eyes and saw that she was standing on a large glass platform 'Wait wasn't I just flying to see what world needed help...?' she thought as she looked around and quickly look notice of the motif she was standing on. On the right side of the large circle there was her, her left leg was propped against the circle behind her and her eyes were closed, almost as if she were asleep. She then glanced at the left side that held the figure of what she thought might be a male but there was no light coming from the figure on the left side so she couldn't quite tell. She then looked in between the two and saw two stars, one was shining a brilliant blue while the other was unlit and black, just like the figure on the left.
She then glanced up to see two white doors that were not there a second ago. One door had a large white castle design on top while the other had several cream colored pillars that had a gold hue around it. She looked how each door had a large keyhole in the middle of it and knew what she had to do. She summoned her Mysterious Abyss and pointed it at the door that had the pillars on it and a thin beam of white light shot out into the keyhole, opening the door "I guess this is it...no turning back now..." she said to herself as she walked into the light filled door.
- Twilight Town -
A young man shot up from bed at the sound of his alarm as he looked around drowsily before putting his hand to his forehead "Dammit...only three more days of summer left...this sucks..." he groaned as he got up and looked out the window.