Darkness. It was everywhere. Sora saw only a void of pure black as he drifted aimlessly. It felt like he was within a pool ofwater yet he felt no wetness, or coldness. An odd sensation to be sure but not as odd as finding himself on a tropical island in the middle of the day. His home. As he tried to adjust to the sudden flash of light, he looked out toward the water and the form of his best friend…Riku. His eyes widened with horror as he saw a great tidal wave suddenly rise up behind Riku…who turned to him with a sinister expression, reaching out his hand to Sora. Sora didn't know what was happening, but his best friend was in danger. Out of sheer knee-jerk reaction, he ran forward, reaching out to Riku to try and save him from the wave. For his efforts, he was overwhelmed by the mass of water and carried away. With Riku…strangely unabated and still reaching out to him.
Suddenly, the tide seemed to vanish, giving Sora the chance to swim to the surface. As he resurfaced, he gasped for air and looked around to see it was suddenly sunset. On the shore, another of his dearest friends waved at him. Kairi. The boy waved back to her and trudged through the water to reach her. As he reached the shore, he doubled over to catch his breath, earning a small laugh from Kairi. His attention was to the sky when noticing her look there. Something was falling...
It was…himself? That didn't make any sense at all. The next thing he knew, Sora was falling….into the sky. None of what he was seeing made sense. And Kairi…she was STANDING on the air as if she was still on the shore. Before he knew it, Sora was separated from her then falling into the ocean of darkness once more. His descent slowed as he lightly floated down onto…something. Everywhere he looked, there was nothing but a black void. As Sora took one step, light emerged beneath him in an expanding circle. The bits and pieces of the dark that dissolved away turned to pigeons flying away into the sky and the light below him was now a circular platform made of stained glass.
The light from the stained glass illuminated Sora's his full head of brown spiky hair and his fair skin. His blue eyes examined everything below him more closely as the light from it showed his attire consisting of a red jumpsuit with puffy pant legs that had a zipper going all the way in front with a blue belt to hold it together. It was under a black and white overtop coat. He also wore large yellow shoes with black straps and soles as well as white fingerless gloves with silver circles on the back, held by blue straps.
The green stained-glass platform appeared to be a depiction of a fair, black haired woman in a royal blue and yellow, white collared dress holding a bright red apple with a single bite in it. She was surrounded by depictions of little forest dwelling animals with her bow adorned shoes atop the face of a wicked looking hag. The most prominent beings featured around here were seven bearded, except for one, little men of dwarven appearance. Each with uniquely varying expressions on their faces. A most bizarre sight to be sure, not to say that everything else Sora had beheld thus far in the dream was not bizarre in and of itself.
But even more bizarre...was a voice that rang out within the misty abyss around him. The voice itself seemed to bear no real sound. Not any audible indication of who or what may have been speaking, but the words it spoke seemed to resonate clearly within Sora's mind.
"So much to do, so little time... Take your time. don't be afraid. The door is still shut. Now, step forward. Can you do it?"
Sora wasn't sure where that voice was or who it belonged to. They didn't seem to be a threat though, as far as he could tell. With slow and easy steps, he moved to the middle of the floor. Right as he did, three pedestals emerged one at a time in different directions of him. One directly in front, one behind him at his left and one behind him at his right. Each showed a different weapon floating above. They front one was a sword with a yellow curved guard and a red central piece. A black symbol of a trefoil shape but the upper sections being smaller than the bottom piece.
The black shield had the same symbol but colored red, like the lining across the wankel shaped design. The top of the staff was the entire symbol, like a blue gem and connected to the yellow cone onto the green shaft. As Sora looked at each of them, the voice spoke to him again.
"Power sleeps within you. If you give it form, it will give you strength. Choose well."
Figuring there was nothing else he could do in his current situation, Sora thought about which best suited him. A shield could be useful for protection, but he knew they weren't normally meant to fight with. A staff might have been good for bludgeoning though even with the large round piece, Sora had a gut feeling it was meant for something else. Thus he walked toward the sword, hopped onto the pedestal where it floated, and took it in his hands.
"The power of the warrior. Invincible courage. A sword of terrible destruction. This is the path you choose?"
A weapon like this was something Sora was more familiar with using. At least a toy version of it he had since he was a child. While the part of invincible courage was something he liked the sound of, terrible destruction, was not. But his mother once told him, 'Power is only as good or terrible as the person using it'. With that in mind, he looked up and gave a terse nod, silently giving his answer to the voice.
The moment he gave his wordless answer to the disembodied voice, the blade vanished from Sora's hand in a show of bright, sparkling lights. Though it was no longer in his hand, the boy would feel a strange, distinct feeling that he still had it somehow. But that was a question for another time, as the voice spoke again with the disappearance of the two other artifacts.
"You have chosen the power of the Warrior."
The next instant, the stained-glass platform suddenly shattered around him, leaving Sora shocked and confused before falling into the darkness again.
Eventually, he felt himself upon solid ground again. Upon another stained-glass depiction of a woman of equally royal bearing as the previous one. This one wore a pure white, shimmering gown, a pair of long white gloves, and a thin black choker around her neck. Her blonde hair was held up in a hairband accentuated bun. The rest of the stained glass was adorned by three images of a great castle, a strutting horse, a carriage with the look of a pumpkin, along with depictions of a lord and lady engaging in courtly dancing. And at the bottom, leftmost, and rightmost parts of the glass, were bright, radiant, high heeled slippers made of the purest of glass.
In that instant, the sword Sora chose appeared in his hand. And again, the voice rang through his mind.
"You gained the power to fight. Use this power to protect yourself and others."
In that instant, a most bizarre creature seemed to rise from the princess's gown. It appeared humanoid in appearance, but it was hunched over like a feral beast. A small, diminutive creature with a body of pitch blackness, big, glowing, bulging yellow eyes upon it's spherical, featureless face, and a pair of antennae flitting around like an ant. The moment it saw Sora, its clawed hands flexed with dangerous intent.
"There will be times you have to fight. Keep your light burning strong."
Sora was frightened as it swiped at him and backed away, nearly falling over the edge of the ground. The tiny monster looked ready to strike again and Sora wouldn't give him the opportunity. He ran around it as fast as he could and tried to be within its blind spot. Right as the creature faced him, Sora struck his blade down with both hands grabbing the handle and cleaved through his target.
Instead of cutting through flesh while producing blood like he expected, Sora saw only its body begin vanishing like smoke that quickly evaporated. Sighing in relief, Sora stood again and felt all was well again.
"Behind you!"
The voice surprised Sora and he turned, wondering what it was warning him about. To his dismay, more of the same beasts he slew were crawling about. Trying to keep his distance and fighting them off, Sora was cut up once or twice but managed to hold his own when felling them. There didn't seem to be an end to them no matter how many he took down.
Some of the creatures in the bad flattened to the ground and turned into puddles as black as themselves. They were coating the stained-glass floor like ink. Before Sora knew it, he was surrounded with the substance closing in. He began sinking into it like quicksand. Fear ran through him as he shut his eyes, fruitlessly swatting, and kicking away the strange feelings around him. Sora wondered if this was the end for him until feeling something against his back. His eyes opened and showed he was no longer surrounded by darkness. His heart rate was still faster than normal as he tried regaining himself and looked where he was. It was another new stained-glass floor in the strange empty place.
This particular stained-glass floor didn't seem to have a definite meaning. Or person, like the others. Yet Sora still felt there was some significance to this. What it was however was beyond his understanding.
As he looked back up, he beheld a strange, ornate, double door suddenly fade in onto the platform before him. Not seeing anywhere else to go on this lonely platform, and not willing to wait around for more of those creatures to appear, Sora walked toward the door and grabbed its handles. He was forced to close his eyes as suddenly; a blinding light filled his vision.
When his vision cleared, he was...back home, on the islands. And around him were three of his friends. The sun-kissed skinned, blonde haired boy Tidus, the chipper, side curled brown-haired Selphie, and the tan skinned, orange pompadour toting Wakka. And as he looked around with confusion, the voice once again whispered to him.
"Hold on. The door will not open just yet. First, tell me more about yourself."
Approaching Selphie first while she sat on the fenced ledge of the second story to the makeshift building forged from wooden planks, Sora looked to his friend's adorable grin as she asked, "What is most important to you?"
What Sora considered most important was easy. He always was a compassionate and selfless person and responded with a proud tone, "Friendship. The ties I have with those closest to me."
"Is Friendship such a big deal?" Selphie asked when tilting her head.
Despite his confusion toward her response, Sora didn't say anymore. He wasn't sure WHAT to say to a response like that.
"What do you want out of life?" Wakka asked curiously when Sora came up to him.
What Sora wanted to most of all, for as long as he could remember…. He smiled and looked to the sky, feeling elated. "To see rare sights."
"To see rare sights, huh?" Wakka said, as if he thought the answer was intriguing.
Now, turning to Tidus, Sora approached his sunny disposition bearing friend who asked, "What are you so afraid of?"
Afraid…Sora found himself pausing at this question. He hummed with arms crossed and closed his eyes to ponder. If there was anything that frustrated him most, it was being unable to decide something. He wanted to be sure what the right choice would be since Riku told him he was prone to making bad judgement calls. Not that he would admit it.
That's when it hit him. He nodded to Tidus and gave his answer. "Being indecisive."
"Being indecisive? Is that really so scary?" Tidus asked as though Sora was overreacting.
With the questions answered, the voice once again rang out from the void.
"You want friendship. You want to see rare sights. You're afraid of being indecisive. Your adventure begins at midday. Keep a steady pace and you'll come through fine. The day you will open the door is both far off and very near."
That final bit left Sora with yet another question among the myriad floating about in his head. But one that once again would have to wait as he was once again transported to a circular stained-glass platform. This one bearing the visage of yet another royal woman.
She was surrounded by green vines that looked to be covered in thorns like those of a rose and clad in a purple royal dress that seemed...almost like it was struggling to decide what color it really wanted to be. Blue? Pink? Sora couldn't tell. Her long flowing golden blonde hair was adorned with a gold tiara. Around her face, which seemed almost like she was in a deep slumber, were the visages of three fairies of varying statures. Sora couldn't help but feel that there was some significance with these ladies. But what it was, it added another bullet point to his list of questions.
The central most part of the newest stained-glass platform had a small circle of light. Curious, Sora looked above. There was nothing but a wide ray reaching the sky. If he looked directly under it, perhaps something would happen. As Sora stepped within its boundaries, the light moved. When it left the edge, a trail like makeshift stairs emerged to another section far away.
Sora wasn't sure what this meant but perhaps he could leave this area. He followed the trail and ran to try catching up to the moving ray of light but failed to notice it vanished behind him after setting foot on them. It ended with another stained-glass platform with a maiden in regal looking clothes like almost all the others. This time she had a yellow ball dress exposing her shoulder tops and her brown hair was kept back mostly in a bun but one longer portion going down over her right shoulder. There was a big horned animal like nothing Sora ever saw at the opposite end and facing away from the young woman. Behind them were what looked like household items of a clock, a candelabra, and a teapot but with faces. A rose was at the top, inside a glass case while petals of the same flower were at the bottom. Along the sides, kitchenware decorated the sides of the platform.
The light from the last platform stopped and kept itself at the center. Sora managed to catch up and slowly walked into it then peered up, wondering what caused it in the first place. Would he finally get some answers to what was going on or where he was?
Unfortunately, it seemed answers were not on the menu of this platform either. As once again, the cryptic, soundless voice resounded in Sora's mind. "The closer you get to light, the greater your shadow becomes."
The moment Sora turned around, he saw that sure enough, his shadow had spread far along the ground from where he came from. But it wasn't just greater in size and length. His shadow suddenly began to rise from the radiant, golden stained glass. The shocking display only grew more terrifying as Sora's shadow continued to grow in size. The body of his shadow began to twist and contort, his hands shifted toward long, clawed fingers, his feet turning into thin spiraled streams, and its face shifting into a veil of dark, black, wriggling tendrils that covered its face with only the glowing yellow eyes of those monsters left visible. And lastly, the muscled chest of the monstrosity was a completely hollow with a hole vaguely in the shape of a heart.
"But don't be afraid..." The voice's commands were easier said than done as Sora tried to flee from the shadowy colossus. "And don't forget."
The bridge that brought Sora to the platform he was current on was now gone. He nearly fell over the edge and turned with fear at the monumentally sized monster towering over him. There wasn't anything he could do now but at least try fighting. With his sword held firmly in both hands, Sora prepared to fight.
The giant claw of the shadow monsters hand pulled back into a fist. Realizing what this meant, Sora ran away around it as fast as he could. He felt the ground shake and turned his head, seeing the giant's fist fazing into the ground and making a swirling vortex appear around it. The tinier shadow creatures emerged from it, coming towards Sora in a scurry.
With a momentary breath to collect himself, Sora ran to meet them halfway and sliced through them one at a time before moving to the tree sized arm of the much greater threat before him. With swift and strong strikes as he could make, Sora attacked its claws. Though they seemed to do damage and sliced into its flesh, the monster seemed unfazed. This one was far stronger than the ones before.
Sora jumped away when its arm was reeled back and faced the monster again, feeling unsettled as it stared at him with the unblinking golden eyes. It went to its knees, confusing Sora until he saw a strange glow at the center of the heart shaped hole in its torso. The energy blasted out like a volley of bullets towards Sora. He managed to avoid taking the full hit of the shots though one grazed his left arm, making him twinge in pain. More of the same attack, Sora tried to not get hit until it stopped.
Slow as the movements of this giant shadowy creature were, it was relentless in its assault on the boy. As if it could sense his fear. His confusion. All the negative emotions of his heart and was spurred on to attack.
This time, the creature knelt down and folded its arms forward, then down at its side, pushing out its hollowed chest. A mass of some dark, abnormal energy gathered within the heart-shaped hole, before it jutted its chest out, unleashing a sphere made up of this malicious seeming energy. It homed in on Sora, forcing him to run as another, and then another poured out from the creature's heart-shaped hole in its chest. The moment the creature finally stopped and stood up, it stared down menacingly at the winded and grazed Sora. More and more, it was like it could sense Sora's growing fear and uncertainty, as it reared back its fist to strike at him again.
Preparing for more fighting, Sora held his sword with a tighter grip. To his surprise it vanished in sparks of light. The shock from the loss of his weapon made him vulnerable, and he was nearly punched by the giant fist before jumped back just in time. The giant then got on all fours and started looming forebodingly over Sora, who fell back with his arms as props. As he looked upon the massive monster, his fear surged, paralyzing him where he lay. He realized too late that once again…he was sinking into the darkness.
"But don't be afraid. You hold the mightiest weapon of all."
The voice repeated its confusing words. All Sora knew was that he wanted to get out of this. Out of here. Unfortunately, his legs were bound in the ethereal substance. And as he tried to struggle out, his arms were restrained next as the giant drew closer. Bit by bit, his entire body was consumed, leaving only a look of terror in his deep blue eyes as his vision faded to nothingness once again.
"So don't forget: You are the one who will open the door."