"Did you ever think of life before the light?"
"Never. Why?"
"Can't you imagine it? The endless miles of darkness, undisturbed, indistinguishable from everything around it? A warm, tight blanket around creation?"
"Sounds scary."
"No, it's…just…unending-"
Silence. Just silence. The whizzing, screaming, deafening kind of silence. That's what his ears could hear as he awoke in a daze and confused state. Then came the signs of life. Of screaming and shouting. The yelps and fearful screeching of those who are too afraid to fight. The figure could barely hear the voices through the piercing dark.
"What about the keyhole?"
"Let's just get out of here!"
The voices peaked the new soul's interest, as he turned to the direction of the noise. He could feel the cool stone beneath him, hear the sound of boots stomping against pavement, and the sound of webbed feet in a sprint, and smell the copper and an ethereal scent. The silence came back, the darkness still was overwhelming. That's when he heard it. A voice, a singular voice.
"You lazy bum…get up!"
The voice echoed in his skull, and he listened to it. Steadily his eyes opened, transfixed to the ceiling above him. That's when he could feel the tight compression in his chest and in his back. Slowly he rose, sitting up in his position as he felt the pressure in his chest and in his stomach. He dry heaved once, then twice. In the third and final one, he felt it. A course of air bellowed into his chest and out without a shudder. A breath. His first breath.
He scrambled up onto his feet and stared at the room around him, continuing his deep breathing.
The room was full of steam pipes and metal, all of them interconnecting and weaving into this symbol against the wall. Around him was once an enclosed space with old cobblestone revealing this destroyed and crumbling center piece. He felt a looming energy overhead, the low faint buzzing of machinery, and the steady beat that matched his internal marching in his chest. He turned his head to the source, and found a strange shape, with ever changing incandescent colors. The shape felt familiar, as he stared. It looked like a…
A…A...A...
"A heart." The voice erupted out of the silence, as he turned around to face the speaker. Though he did not appear at first, ever so slowly a bleeding door of ever flowing blackness was conceived. What marched out was a man, with tan skin and silver hair, that was hiked into there points along his hairline. Flowing hair that ended between his shoulder blades. His coat of leather was weather black with golden trim, underneath a white vest and slacks. Upon his feet were knee high boots, and upon his chest was the very 'heart' symbol he spoke over. The man's raging flame colored eyes focused on the newly born soul, as he crossed his arms and began to speak again. He seemed confused more than upset, as he took a step forward. "What are you…"
"I don't know…" The new soul muttered, as he glanced up at the tan figure. The tan figure squinted his eyes as he looked upon the new soul. What struck him was…curiosity. This being's aura read similar to that of the Heartless he commanded. Yet…the being appeared humanoid. His silver hair hung loose on his head, swept back due to its weight. The olive skin of the new soul matched his own tone, and even his eyes. This new being's eyes were orange, a dark fiery orange. Just like his own. The new soul let out a sigh, his hands resting on his skull. "What am I?"
"A heart-" The tan figure took a step forward, this step coming to the deafening sound of silence. The step echoed for what felt like eternity. The man's eyes went wide as the new soul began to scream as images flooded his memory. Instances of death, anger, horror and pain. The slashing of a weapon into a colleague's chest, the hand pressing against the skull of a child as green energy consumed their being, the images of a woman in a suit of armor crying as she struck the figure. All these memories seemed to open a mental floodgate and overtake the new soul, who desperately wanted the world to become silent once again.
"Stop! Stop! Stop!" He roared as he clapped his hands over his ears and screamed. The tan figure also began to scream as he took steps back and looked desperately at the boy. As the two pairs of eyes met, there was this internal shift in the equilibrium of nature. This disruption in the natural order. The tanned man squinted his eyes as he stared at this disruptor.
"What are you!?" The man asked, as he raised his fist and summoned a being from the ether. The boy quickly backpedaled, as the dark creature took form and its arms darted to him. Their claws inches from him as the boy crawled away. The boy raised his own arms to defend himself, shades of black overwhelming him as he felt consumed by the tide of a dark wave. The man stared daggers at the boy, up until the darkness took his sight once again…Then light broke.
And out of that darkness, came a ferocious and deadly ball of gloomy flame. The speed and distance of the flame striking the body of the dark creature, which returned behind its master's frame. The tan man squinted his eyes, before growling at the new soul.
"I don't have time for this." The tan man roared, before he called a bleeding door of ever flowing blackness and walked inside. "Don't expect to see me again…"
Soon after, he was disappearing among the dark. The new soul rested against the floor, laying his head back and letting out a shuddering breath. He looked ahead of him, over the edge of the platform and into the hall. Along the carpeted floor, there were six crystal structures, three on each side of the row. This figure of darkness scurried across the floor, charging through the doors. The new soul rolled onto his stomach, getting up onto his hands and knees.
"Hey, wait!" He shouted, getting onto his feet and jumping off the structure and onto the floor. He walks down the carpeted hall and into the next room. "Wait up!"
The darkness broke into an almost blinding light, as the new soul heard the zipping and shifting of stone as these platforms along the tall tower entered a different corridor. The new soul leans against the wall, his heart beating hard inside his chest. His eyes shutting tight as he feels a pinging sensation in his chest.
"Tied to the darkness... Soon to be completely eclipsed." The voice's words struck true to the new soul…his shut eyes totally eclipsed by the darkness. His heart settles into a steady rhythm as he lets out a gentle sigh."The darkness in people's hearts—that's what attracts them."
"I…I can't…I don't know…anything…" The new soul muttered. "I don't know…anything…"
"There is so very much to learn. You understand so little." The soul presses his hands into his face, roaring in defiance as the voices get too loud. "And darkness was born in their hearts. The darkness spread, swallowing the light and many people's hearts…"
"I will understand. I will learn." The new soul let loose, his hands curling into fists. His eyes staring into the dark behind his eyelids as he could see this figure in a robe, staring back at him. The feeling of dread overwhelmed him. "The Darkness in my heart…will it spread?"
"A meaningless effort. One who knows nothing can understand nothing." The new soul holds his skull as he lets out a roar. And then…a new voice appears. It cuts through the dark, the muffling of the other voices ceases, and it's only their voice that remains.
"What's... What's happening to me? Falling... falling... into darkness." That's when the new soul opens his eyes. He stares up into the ceiling, his heart thumping in his chest as he holds his hand to his heart. That falling and falling into darkness that voice described…it sounded so…familiar. It sounded so new. So recent. The new soul looks at his hand, seeing the creases and calluses on the inside of his hands. The new soul stared curiously as he closed his fist. Feeling it tight and shaking violently in his hand. Feeling the bones pop and struggle to not break under the pressure he put upon it.
"Am I…the Darkness?" The new soul squinted his eyes. "What-Who…am I?"
That's when a new voice spoke out. A silent voice. A soft voice.
"Kuro…your name is Kuro."
"Kuro." The new soul mutters, as he slowly stands up onto his feet. Kuro feels a rush of adrenaline through to his core, and he lets out a shuddering breath. The name felt appropriate, it felt settled. It felt…personal. Kuro nodded as he recognized his name. "Who are you?" He asks aloud, to no one in particular. His .
"Nobody." The voice answers, her voice as delicate as fingers tracing a knife's edge. Kuro glanced down the corridor to the next room, his eyes focusing on the dark as he marches forward. "Nobody who you need to worry about now. You need to get out of here. Leave this dying place."
"Why?" Kuro asks aloud once again, following the path to the next room. Through the cobblestone hall he entered this circular room.
The room was dimly lit by a stained glass window overhead. The intricate weaving circlet of metal and steel holding in place translucent pangs of cerulean, red and clear glass. Kuro entered the room, noticing the large imposing stained windows that circled around the area in thin shaped arrows. Their glass as red and blue as the one from above.
"The river of light has been flowing for some time now…and your presence has…complicated things for people. I can hear them now…they are furious. They are curious. They are…"
Decorating the center of the room was a figure made of gold. Its shape was that of a heart, with these crossed bars affixed to the front of the shape. Surrounding the heart were these decorative swirls and edges of gold, emphasizing and creating this image of the heart bursting forth, these swirls being the sparks and waves of its burst.
"I think your sudden birth is very complicated to the way things are going now. You need to protect yourself…please. For me."
Kuro slowly approached the center of this room, as these shadows beneath him began to swirl and move as if they were sentient. Then, suddenly, the shadows rose.
These figures were starless night black, with these hanging antennas above their heads and eyes of glowing yellow. To the squinted eye, it would almost appear that these figures were only these moving bulbous glowing shapes. The three of them surrounded Kuro, whose hands rose up to guard from whatever attack they may attempt. His forearms covering his face as his splayed out hands covered his cheeks and ears as well as they could.
"What are these things?" Kuro asked.
"Creatures of the dark…You need to fight." The delicate voice whispered, as her sound became less and less prominent. The silence was returning. Kuro's eyes narrowed as he looked through the openings of his fingers, seeing these monsters move about and circle him. Their hands twitch and shake in anticipation as they prepare to strike.
"I…I don't-" Kuro began to speak, as his voice gets slowly louder and his breath is hitched. A shadow figure approaching him readied its dark claws, before it made its pounce.
"You will fight! Now!" The voice shouted as Kuro's hands moved to defend himself. His hand grabbed the head of the inflight beast, before taking a swift step forward and slamming the monster straight into the chapel's floor. The beast bursted into matter and smoke, the act of violence echoing in the room as the other two continued to circle. A second one jumped, throwing its claws into Kuro's back.
Kuro reached behind his back and grabbed the beast by the antenna. Then, with a swift cocked fist, he slammed it through its chest. As the first one did, this one combusted into smoke and matter. Kuro turned to the last living small creature, hands coiled and his mind focused on destroying this small creature. Kuro's hand raise in fury as he takes a swing. The dark creature bobs out of the way as it sends out a swift slash. The claws make contact and dig into Kuro's thigh. The contact was sharp, and painful. Kuro growled as he got struck, before grabbing the creature's extended arm and hoisting it up into the air.
As the grab is made, Kuro feels this sharp pain erupt down his arm and into the palm of his hand. The creature felt a similar pain, what Kuro could guess was the same pain, as it writhes in pain as well. To quickly finish it off, Kuro cocked his left fist. As he motioned to swing, that's when he heard it.
"Stop!" This voice sounded out immediately. This voice, unlike the one that spoke earlier, spoke in a harsh and quickened tone. The sound of scraping branches on window glass was the sound the beast made, but the word 'stop' is what that sound meant. Kuro froze, just before making contact with the beast. He understood the noise, he could feel it's tremble and it's tone.
"Is…is that you? Monster?" Kuro's voice muttered.
"You…you hear me?" The creature's yellow eyes darted to Kuro's orange, as the two lock stared at one another. Kuro's hand is slightly lowered, as the creature is held in his grasp. The creature's loose hand swings gently as the legs are dangling off of its small waist. "I didn't know if you could hear us?"
"Neither could I?" Kuro mumbles as he stares at the monster in hand. It's eyes jumping from floor to him repeatedly as he is gently lowered to the floor. Kuro gets onto one knee, standing eye level with the creature. "What are you? You…denizen of the dark?"
"My kind are simply known as Shadows. The most common of the Heartless." The creature explained, it's eyes gently lowering as it begins to rub its head. As if it has received the most painful headache. "It's so quiet now."
"What do you mean?" Kuro asked. The silence in the room was present before the two began to speak. Albeit, one sided conversation to any eavesdropping person.
"Your hand…the contact…It…it cut me out of the dark. I feel…I can see…I never have known silence before. It's…it's haunting."
"Explain."
"We shadows are a collective…a single cascading force broken into many different pieces. Our hate…our anger…we all feel it. Our death and our breaths, we feel them together. We all can adhere to it. But now…I hear nothing. I can feel no more. Just…just me. And-"
"And I." Kuro answered, as he crossed his arms and glanced off to the side. The shadow seemed to be as alone as he is, it seems. "Interesting…"
"You must understand…the darkness that we are…it's…its…suffocating." The beast mewled, almost as though it were in pain. "A painful precious feeling unknown to me until the chains around my neck snapped."
"The darkness?" Kuro murmured as he turned to the heart shaped decoration over head. The bleeding abyssal heart in the chamber that Kuro had just left. It's presence, it's aura. It's…
"It's…it's suffocating. And quiet."
The creature turned towards Kuro, his eyes meeting its own as the creature fixated upon the new soul. The creature's charcoal hands reached out, not in an attempt to strike but to be connected. To be touched. To be…approached. Kuro hesitated, before gently taking the creature's hand into his own.
That's when he felt it, the heart beat. The thumping, thumping beating of a heart. Kuro's eyes narrowed, as he got up and stood up. The heart without a body, the wandering spirit of pure instinct in his hand.
"You know the dark, Stranger." The shadow confirmed, it's eyes reflecting an aura of…of pity? No. Sympathy. A feeling the shadow shuddered at when it felt the creeping phenomenon. These overwhelming feelings of sorrow and despair. The Shadow felt sympathy for the stranger. A feeling that it never had to feel before. "I feel lost, and different, Stranger."
"You're lost…just like me." Kuro continued. "Born to circumstances we don't quite understand."
"I think you haven't been here long enough to be lost, Stranger." The creature admitted, as it took a hesitant step toward him. "To be lost is to not find the path you need to follow. But you lack a path."
"What is my path, little shadow?" Kuro inquired, his hands balling into fists as he turns to the huge double doors ahead of him. The stone and metal beckoning him further into the dark. Into the gray. "What is my path if I don't know the way?"
"Perhaps it is a path that only you can make, dear Stranger." The Heartless stated, before walking alongside him. "A path that you carve yourself."
The silence wasn't awkward following the creature's words. It was illuminating, it was comforting. Basking in the warmth of a tensionless air. To not feel…alone.
"What is your name, creature?" Kuro inquired, the creature's claws folding over one another as it squirmed its own eyes. The yellow bulbs brought to a slant, as it peered through the dimly lit room in search of a name.
"We don't have names." The Shadow revealed. "We are not supposed to be-"
"If you were to have a name…what would you call yourself?" Kuro asked, as he looked down at the creature with a puzzled expression. The creature nodded, and let out a giggle. A few chortles that made even Kuro's lips curl to a smile. The sound of it was as quick as the heart this creature was supposed to lack, the tone of it was high, like a shriek of fear.
"I suppose…I would like to be called…Dusk." Dusk told Kuro.
"Then Dusk it shall be." Kuro extended his hand once again. "Kuro."
The paw was taken into Kuro's hand, and given a firm shake before the pair turned towards the huge double stone doors at the end of the hall.
"There is darkness here, Kuro. One that rivals even the most drowning pitch." Dusk explained. As he walked to Kuro's side, the new soul took up Dusk and placed him upon his shoulder. The heartless sat perched, as Kuro walked toward the doors.
"Your kind…will they be indifferent to our presence?" Kuro asked, as they quickly approached the doors.
"I don't believe so. We felt the need to snuff out any light. Even the faintest of it." Dusk explained. "Even yours."
"Mine?" Kuro's hands rested against the stone's handles, his heart banging hard in his chest as he stared into the dark creases and divets in the door. Seeing how the faint gray broke into the deep and entrenched darkness. Kuro shuddered, Dusk noticed. "My…light?"
"However faint…your light is present. It's there…hidden amongst the brushstroke of ebony. That's what drew us to the room initially." Dusk continued with a curious tone. "A strong yet faint light in a dark space. If we weren't so starved for energy in this damned place, we would have sworn you were one of us…"
The thought crossed Kuro's mind as he turned to Dusk. The creature's head bobbed to the size, confused by the look on the no-longer-a-stranger's face.
"Are there…things like me?" Kuro asked. Dusk shook his head. Before eliciting a sigh from its body.
"The only other being I feel could be related to you that I can tell…I'm afraid he left the world not too long ago." Dusk explained. Kuro began to push open the doors. And stepped through.
The chilling air caught him off guard. Then the sounds of whirring machinery. The boundless skies and popping cream colored clouds against an endless blue sky. Kuro breathed in the smell of air, real air. Before he asked one last question.
"His name?"
"The harbingers of light call him Ansem. We simply know him as Master."
"And where can I find this-"
SCRAAAAHHHH
This winged beast's spiraling dive bomb crashed into Kuro and spiked him into the nearby wall. The impact cracking the concrete and stone as Kuro's dazed eyes focus on the beast that struck him.
This winged beast was a draconian in shape and sound, with crimson scales and a tan underbelly. Its wide wings were flapping back and forth, blocking out escape except over there side of the edge, which fell a concrete landing a lower level below. Its three-toed black talon feet slammed onto Kuro's chest pinning him, as its V-shaped head focused on spearing his skull through to the concrete.
As it lunged forward. Kuro's hands rose and caught its snout, with its hot breath shooting out of its nostrils the same as the steam shot out of the pipes above. The beady yellow eyes flamed in rage and vitriol, and its Heartless emblem adorned like armor on its broad chest. The snout punched forward with a resounding thrust, Kuro's arms buckling at the force as it dug him deeper into the wall. The pointed snout got closer and closer to his cheek.
Dusk didn't hesitate to dive into the draconian Heartless' throat, a claw diving deep into the dragon's beady eye. The beast roared in defiance and pain as it let a claw release Kuro so it could slam its head against the Shadow. As Dusk knocked against the wall and fell onto its stomach, the winged beast jumped over with flapped wings and slamming its claw atop of Dusk. Squeezing Dusk's head in its grip.
As the beast maw chomping and screaming at its prey, Kuro felt the urge spike and the need to protect Dusk elevated to heights unfelt. Kuro didn't feel the need for self preservation or control. Dusk would be safe. Dusk will be safe.
Kuro rose to his feet and felt this power swirling around him. This aura of darkened flame that culminated in a burst of light restrained by chains of purple and black. Kuro's eyes grew yellow, his skin darkened to a charcoal gray and his hands tightened into fists and he was ready to give out pain.
Kuro ran and slammed an elbow into the winged beast's side, throwing an arm around the Heartless' neck and sending a hammering strike into the skull. The beast reverberated the hit and dashed into Kuro, knocking them both off of the platform.
Kuro's hands dug into one of the tattered holes of the beast's left wing and tore it north to south. Nearly dividing it from its body as the beast plummeted down. Kuro used the little appendage it had left to hoist his hands up to the beast's maw and grab hold of the jaw to keep it from closing its mouth. Driving his hands into the front and bottom halves of its jaws and pulling the open with great force. With a momentum-fueled thrash, the pair slammed into the concrete below.
The beast slammed first into the ground followed by Kuro, who quickly brought his heel down onto the dragon's throat. As it shrieked in peril and pain, Kuro grabbed hold of its already broken and twisted wing, tearing it off of its body in a great twist. As the beast writhed and wailed, Kuro slammed its wing through its open maw with the jagged edge first. With its wiggling out of control and its muffled screeches as it choked on its wing, it did eventually dissipate into smoke and dust after a certain threshold of pain was met.
Kuro looked up at Dusk, whose small body lingered over the edge of the floor above to peer down at him.
"Kuro!"
"Get down here now!" Kuro ordered, as he heard the screeching sound of not one but two more winged beasts over head. The warrior turned towards the skies and saw the two swift Heartless maneuver overhead, as if to taunt him with their number advantage. The first of the beasts charged into a spiral, which Kuro was prepared for this time. He charged to meet the diver.
Slamming shoulder first into the crook of its neck, Kuro wrapped his arms around the beast's neck, bending it around his shoulders like a bow drawing an arrow for a shot. Kuro's arms pulled in shape, before a pair of talons latched into his waist and pulled him into the air. The sudden change in direction made Kuro drop the first draconian heartless, his hand focused on breaking the grip of its onyx colored claws. The beast seemed to have noticed, now repeatedly slamming Kuro into the ground, as one would hammer a nail into a board.
Each hammering knock heralds a mischievous cackle from the winged beast. Kuro's body bounced against the floor, his skull pounding into pavement once, then again, and again. And again.
On the final dive, Kuro felt the body pull back and prepare for a snout driven dive. Right towards the center of his shoulder blades. That's when Dusk threw itself into the fray once again. Its claws slamming into the both eyes of the winged beast, the beast's movements now dictated by the direction that Dusk threw its arms toward. Riding its skull like an out of control bronco. Kuro looked up at the dazed beast, whose neck once rested against his own. He turned to Dusk and smiled deviously.
"Dusk! Pull it here!" Kuro barked, as he charged and wrapped an arm up under the chin of the downed beast. Kuro pulled the beast so its neck bent back, exposing its underbelly. Dusk, hands still in the beast's eyes, pulled the beast towards its companion. Unable to see or understand where it was going, it charged forward out of fear. The beast speared ahead and knocked into its own companion, a snout piercing chest as Kuro let go of the one draconian heartless in submission hold's head.
The beast catapulted its own snout into the back of its attack, piercing through the body and wounding it. Kuro stepped back, the two beasts intertwined in death burst into dust and smoke, leaving Kuro to reach up and catch Dusk as it fell. Kuro caught the small shadow in his arms, clutching him tightly.
"I got you, friend. I got you." Kuro mumbled, his eyes shut as he felt his body come down from its heightened state. The pair were alone, and safe. "What were those things?"
"Heartless as well. Beasts of great speed and strength. They are dangerous." Dusk explained. The yellow eyes focused on the spot where they both fell.
"I touched them, but I couldn't hear them…" Kuro said, his eyes squinted in confusion as he looked at his hands. "They're…they felt-"
"We pure Heartless are born from the darkness inhabited in the hearts of mortal beings. We are born in the dark, we are the dark. These beasts are not like us. They are created by the very Master we all serve. Or…served." Dusk's voice grew silent, as if there was an air of disappointment in the creature.
Kuro turned to his companion, his eyes narrowed as he looked upon the shadow in confusion. "Served?"
"To see you attacked and mauled by that beast…it…it scared me." Dusk looks at Kuro with wide eyes, a feeling of relief that he is unharmed basking in this new, appreciated feeling. "I couldn't stand idly by as you were attacked. You are…my friend." The heartless narrowed its eyes, before letting out a groan. "I…I felt compelled to protect you. I felt it in…in my…"
In its heart. Dusk felt it in their heart to protect Kuro. And Kuro felt it in his to protect Dusk.
"If it's all the same, I wished to protect you as well," Kuro smiles softly. "My friend."
Eventually, Kuro lowered Dusk onto the floor. The two of them saw a corridor ahead, its encroaching darkness hiding the next room. Both of them let out a simultaneous sigh of relief, as they headed off together to the corridor entrance. Heading closer and closer to the entrance/exit of this complex steam piped castle. They entered the dark without hesitation, darting into the dark together. \
Somewhere, in the castle, a great Beast roared in rage and defiance as he ordered a group of young heroes to leave this dying world. When asked for the Beast to leave with them, there was but only one answer he gave them. He refuses to leave without his Beauty. He wasn't leaving without Belle
