Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts and/or any of the other characters from the anime and games they come from. They all belong to their original owners. The OC that appears here belongs to me.

Light of Salvation

Third Lock: A Strange Dream

In a dark, empty void, Kairi was falling into what seemed like an eternity. Her eyes slowly opened to see there was nothing but darkness surrounding her. "Where...am I? Why is everything so dark around me?" As she continued to fall, there was a bright flash of blinding light. She closed her eyes due to the light, but when it faded, she opened them. Now below her was a large, circular platform that seemed to be made of stained glass. What it displayed caught her attention. "Is that...supposed to be me?" She continued to fall to the platform which worried her greatly. "Wait, am I going to crash into that thing!?" She then proceeded to scream in terror. As she neared the platform, she closed her eyes and crossed her arms in front to brace for the painful impact. However, it never came. She opened her eyes to see she was floating just above the platform and let out a sigh of relief.

Only for her to suddenly drop onto the platform face-first with a loud, painful grunt. "That was on purpose, wasn't it?" She groaned as she stood up. She took a closer look at the platform she was standing on. She was enthralled by how intricate and detailed the platform was and it even had smaller portraits of her friends centered next to hers. While beautiful to look at, there was still one question that was on her mind. "Where am I? What is this place?"

"So much to do, so little time."

Kairi gasped when she suddenly heard a voice in her head. She looked around the area to find the person who was speaking to her. "Hello?! Is anyone there?"

"Take your time. Don't be afraid."

She found that hard to believe. "Right, don't be afraid, says the weird lady voice in the void."

"The door is still shut. Now, step forward. Can you do it?"

"Move forward? Of course, I can." Kairi walked to the center of the platform. She stopped when she saw three pedestals circling her. One had a staff, one had a shield, and one had a sword.

"Power sleeps within you. If you give it form, it will give you strength. Choose well."

Kairi looked at all three pedestals and the items floating above them. "Staff, sword, and shield. The staff I'm pretty sure represents magic. The shield is defense, and the sword is offense." She pondered the three choices that were laid out before her. She then ultimately made her choice and walked to one of the pedestals. "I choose you." She grabbed the sword.

"The power of the warrior. Invincible courage. A sword of terrible destruction. Is this the power you seek?"

Kairi nodded at the question. "Yes. If I'm not strong, I can't protect those I care about. Besides, the sword itself isn't terrible. It's the wielder that decides what the sword becomes."

The sword vanished in a flash of light. "Your path is set. Now, what will give up in exchange?"

Kairi turned around to see the remaining two pedestals; the staff and the shield. Give up magic or give up defense? Neither sounded good but if someone had to twist her arm, "I'll give up you." She walked to one of the pedestals and grabbed the shield.

"The power of the Guardian. Kindness to aid friends. A shield to repel all. You give up this power?"

Kairi could already see the disadvantages of giving up a shield, but she was certain about her choice. "Yes. It's always been me my entire life. The people I know can handle themselves." The shield vanished in a flash of light.

"You've chosen the power of the Warrior. You've given up the power of the Guardian. Is this the form you choose?"

"It is."

"You've gained the power to fight."

All the pedestals vanished, and the sword was in her hand. "Well, it's not my usual weapon, but it'll work. So, what now, Mystery Void Voice?"

Before she could get her answer, several shadows appeared on the floor, and they emerged as small, bipedal shadow creatures with small yellow eyes. She was already weirded out by them. "What in the absolute Darkness are these things? They're kinda cute, actually. These things look like they can be plushy material." Several of these things stared at her before one of them lunged at her. She moved out of the way, but the other shadow beings began to jump at her too. She managed to avoid all of them and her opinion of them changed quickly. "Okay, I take it back! These things are not cute at all!"

One of the shadow beings jumped at her again, but Kairi raised her sword and swung it down. The sword slashed the enemy in half, and it dissolved. The second of the beings attacked her and she jumped over it while doing a flip. When she landed, she quickly turned around and pulled her sword back. She rushed right at it and swung her sword as she bypassed it. She stopped right in front of it, and it dissolved. The final being tried to attack her from behind, she quickly turned around and slashed it horizontally. It dissolved and the threat was eliminated. "And that's all of them. What were those things?"

Before Kairi could think about that subject further, a door appeared in the center of the platform. She approached it cautiously. "So, where's this supposed to lead? Is it too much to hope it's the way out of wherever I am?" As she neared it, the door opened by itself, and a bright light came out from it. The light was so bright, she had to close her eyes. When she opened her eyes, she found herself in the throne room. "Am I back? Buy why here of all places?" The next thing she noticed where Dilan, Aeleus, and surprisingly, her father circling her. "Okay, what's going on here? And why's my jerkface dad here? It should've been Uncle Ansem instead."

"First, tell me more about yourself."

"Oh, good. The Void Voice is back. And is it asking me for a psych eval? Am I supposed to talk to them?" Kairi figured she would give it a shot.

She walked up to Dilan first and stopped in front of him. "What is the most important to you?"

Kairi pondered the question for a bit. "What's the most important to me? I'd say everyone who lives in the castle. You, Aeleus, Ienzo, Even, Uncle Ansem. My dad can go into the Eternal Darkness for all I care."

"I see." And Dilan said nothing more.

Kairi walked up to Aeleus next and stopped in front of him. "What are you afraid of?"

She thought about the question for a bit. "I guess being stuck in the castle for the rest of my life. I hate knowing that's a possibility for me."

"I see." And Aeleus said nothing more.

Finally, and dreadfully, she walked up to her father and stopped in front of him. She stuck her tongue out at him in a disrespectful manner. Apparently, that didn't matter to him. "What do you want out of life?"

The irony she saw in that question. "For you not being such a controlling jerk. I want to know why you won't let me leave the castle. What won't you tell me?! I'm so sick of you keeping secrets from me! I want to know everything!"

"I see." And her father said nothing more.

Kairi just sighed. At least this version of her dad was less mean to her. "You cherish everyone in the castle you live in."

"Except for my dad."

"You're afraid of being trapped in the castle you live in. You want to know the truth behind your confinement. Your adventure will soon begin."

"Does that mean I'll finally be getting out of the castle soon? I hope so." Bright light surrounded the room and just as quickly as it came, it faded, and she found herself back on the platform. "And I'm back here again. So, what's going to happen now?"

As soon as she asked that question, six more large stained-glass panels appeared on the edges of the platform surrounding her. The panels showed what seemed like different girls. Kairi looked carefully at each one. The first one appeared to be a young girl around her age with medium-length platinum blonde hair with two black ribbons on both sides of her head. Her dress consisted of a white shirt and jacket with a pinkish-red skirt, and white knee socks and black boots. "The one who invents for the future. The Genius Princess."

Kairi slightly tilted her head in confusion. "The Genius Princess? So, this girl's a princess too? What kingdom is she from?"

She turned her attention to the second panel. The girl depicted an older girl with long, wavy unkept white hair. "Or is her hair lavender-colored? I can't tell."

Her attire was different from the last girl's. She had a light red blouse with a white collar and a black ribbon tied. She also wore a tanned sweater vest along with a long darker shaded red skirt. "The one whose songs protect the one she loves. The Princess of Melodies."

"Princess of Melodies? So, she's a princess that sings songs then?" She looked at the third panel.

The third panel depicted the girl having white hair tied in two long braids with a sort of ice crown placed on top of her head. Her outfit consisted of a pure white dress that had veridical light blue stripes with stars at the ends. She also wore white detached sleeves and a short light blue skirt with white knee socks. "The one who loves the beauty of her world. The Winter Princess."

"The Winter Princess. She must be from a cold place then." Kairi turned her attention to the fourth panel.

The fourth panel depicted another young girl with short light purple hair with light purple eyes. She wore a white headpiece with a dark blue flower on the left side. Below the dark blue flower, she had a small braid of hair kept by a small dark blue bow. She wore a white dress with desaturated red accents, ending in gray frills coming from inside. The dress had a white collar and dark blue frills that were connected to the dress by dark cloth over the cleavage. The dress also had two gray buttons at waist heights and two holes exposing the hips. She wore a belt around her dress at waist height, with four colored flasks and a cross-shaped tool strapped to it. Over the dress was additional cloth of the same color that covered her arms, with long appendages that ended in gray metallic tips. This additional piece is maintained by two crossed-over belts that wrap around her chest. Over her right arm, a metallic crest is present. Finally, she wore dark socks with gray and white shoes. "The one who is to prevent the arrival of the Eternal Night. The Princess of Time."

"The Princess of Time, huh? What's preventing the Eternal Night supposed to mean?" She looked at the fifth panel. The fifth panel depicted another older girl. She had neck-length grayish hair with a small braid on the right side that had some red in it. The most defining feature she had was that she had cat ears. So, she's a catgirl then? I didn't know they actually existed."

The catgirl wore a white tank top with black lines and a grayish long-sleeved jacket over it. She wore a white skirt with black tights and knee-length boots. "The one who values life greatly. The Seer Princess."

"What's a Seer Princess?" Questions aside, she looked at the last panel. The last girl on the final panel had long, crimson hair that reached her thighs. "Oh, wow. She's really pretty." Her outfit is what seemed like a school uniform, which consists of a white long-sleeved, button-down shirt with a black ribbon on her shirt collar worn under a black shoulder cape and a matching button-down corset, a magenta skirt with white accents, and brown dress shoes over white crew-length socks. "The one who cherishes her peerage greatly. The Princess of Ruin."

"Well, that's a scary title. But hearing that description, it sounds like she's a nice person. Just don't make her angry relating anything to her peers, whoever they are. Speaking of, who are these girls supposed to be? They're all princesses but what's connecting them?"

"The next generation has been selected."

Kairi looked around in the void confused. "Next generation? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Now that it has been revealed, the Darkness approaches ever closer."

"Wait, the Darkness? You don't mean The Darkness, right? I thought that was just a story-" It suddenly clicked with Kairi and looked at the panels once again. "Wait, if the Darkness is real, and these six girls are princesses. Does that mean they're...the Princesses of Light from my favorite bedtime story? But wait a minute. There are only six. There's supposed to be Seven Princesses of Light. So, who's the Seventh Princess of Light?"

Before she could ponder the question further, she sensed something behind her and turned around to see more of those shadow beings appearing. "You things again? Fine, I kicked your butts last time and I'll do it-" She saw them retreat into the floor and their shadows converged into a larger one. What came out of the shadow was a massive, muscular, humanoid shadow being with a large heart-shaped hole in its chest. All Kairi could do was stare in disbelief. "Again...?"

Insert Kingdom Hearts OST: Vs Pure Heartless

She saw it raise its right arm and close its fist with a dark light enveloping it. The being then swung its fist right where Kairi was. Like any person with common sense, she immediately ran away. "Oh Crud, oh crud, oh crud, OH CRUD!"

The being's fist slammed the ground and sent a powerful shockwave throughout the platform. Kairi wasn't able to outrun it and it knocked her to the floor. The shockwave continued and it shattered the six stained glass panels. Kairi unfortunately saw it happen. "The panels!" She stood up and turned to the large Shadow Being. "You're going to pay for that!" They were big words to say but her body said otherwise. In truth, her body was trembling with fear. The hand holding her sword was shaking. She'd never fought a monstrosity like this before. She wasn't sure she could hurt it.

The large Shadow Being kept its fist fixated on the spot it attacked, and a thick pool of black ooze surrounded it. Out of the ooze were more of the smaller shadow beings. They all looked at Kairi before jumping at her. Before she knew it, she ran away from them. Her running didn't last long as she shortly found herself at the edge of the platform. She turned around to see the smaller Shadow Beings slowly closing in on her. Her fear steadily grew the closer they approached her. They jumped at her and at that point, time slowed down for her. For a moment, she saw flashes of the people important to her; Dilan, Aeleus, Ienzo, Even, Ansem, her grandmother, and finally, her father with a disapproving expression.

Her eyes immediately focused on the smaller Shadow Beings and pointed her sword at them "Thunder!" Several lightning bolts appeared and struck all the smaller Beings. They dissolved right away. "I'm not losing here." She pointed her sword at the larger Being. "Especially not to you! I have things I want to do and you're not stopping me! Even if you're twenty times my size!" She lowered herself before launching right at the Being. She landed on its fist and jumped right to its head. She yelled as she swung her sword down right at its face. When she landed on the floor, she immediately jumped back as the Being stood up and roared in pain. She then jumped to the larger Being's height level and pointed her sword at it. "Fire!" She shot a fireball right at its face. When it hit, an explosion occurred. However, she kept up her attacks. "Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire!" She shot more fireballs at the larger Being's face and more explosions occurred. It groaned in pain as it was brought down to one hand and knee.

Kairi landed on the floor and was quite proud of her work. "Ha! How do you like that!" The Larger Being just roared as it thrust its chest forward and a large, dark sphere appeared in the center of its heart-shaped hole. It glowed just before multiple dark projectiles came out from the sphere, and they all homed in on Kairi. "Uh-oh." She moved around to avoid them and some of them hit where she once previously stood seconds ago. However, the projectiles continued. Sooner or later, one of them would hit her. She had to come up with a plan and quick. She took a quick glimpse at the giant Being and saw that sphere glow again before more projectiles came out of it. An idea quickly, and thankfully came to her, but she had to act fast. She stopped running and turned around to face the projectiles. She pointed her sword at them and aimed. "Thunder!" Multiple lightning bolts appeared and struck the projectiles.

The Being's sphere glowed again and that was the moment Kairi was waiting for. She pointed her sword at the sphere. "Freeze!" She fired a single, large icicle at the sphere and the attack pierced it. The sphere glowed brightly before it exploded. The giant Shadow Being groaned loudly in pain. Meanwhile, Kairi cheered. "Yeah, I got it! Now time to finish it off." She aimed at the head and jumped right toward it. However, the Giant Being recovered faster than she expected and grabbed her. Only her left arm was free. It put its other hand around the other and began to squeeze her tightly. She let out loud, painful screams as she felt her body being crushed. She could barely breathe with how tight the grip the Giant Being had on her. She had to do something and fast to escape lest she pass out or worse.

She couldn't move her hand holding her sword so she couldn't stab it. She looked over at her other arm and opened her palm. "If I can just...summon it..." She focused on her hand and concentrated heavily on it. The air was quickly leaving her, and she didn't have much time left. A small light appeared in her palm and was able to summon her Keyblade. "Yes!" She immediately flipped it and stabbed the Giant Being's hand. The Giant roared in pain once more and its grip on her loosened. She wasted no time escaping and ran on top of its left arm to its head. "Okay, it's time for this to end!" The Giant Being saw her running to its head and it raised its right hand. It aimed right before slamming its hand right on top of Kairi. It lifted its hand only to see she wasn't there. "Wind!" It looked up to see Kairi in the air and was falling right toward it fast.

Right before the Giant Being's hand slammed on its arm, she jumped right in between the fingers to escape. While in the air, she pointed her right arm holding the sword behind her, and used her Wind spell to propel her forward to the Giant. She readied both her weapons and when she was close enough to the head, she swung weapons diagonally at its head while passing by it. She let out a powerful yell while doing so. She landed right behind the Giant, and it stood still before it fell to the floor with a heavy thud. Kairi panted heavily as she let go of the sword and dropped it.

End OST

She fell to her knees and felt utterly exhausted. "Okay, I think that's enough excitement for me. I'm so over this now."

"The Darkness will not stop."

"Oh, great, you're back and with some great news."

"What has happened is a precursor of what is yet to come. If not stopped, the Darkness will swallow all it comes across."

Kairi wasn't exactly thrilled to hear that. "So, you're saying fighting this giant shadow monster was just a tutorial? You gotta be kidding me! I'm just one girl! How am I supposed to stop the Darkness by myself?!"

"It is far too great for one to fight against alone. Only with allies can the Darkness be confronted. The Seven Princesses of Light must be protected."

"Okay, that's reassuring but how do I find the other Princesses of Light? Who's the Seventh Princess? Where do I find these allies to help me?" None of her questions would be answered as the area began to brighten. Something Kairi wasn't happy with. "Wait, no! I need answers, please!"

"I need to know!" Kairi suddenly woke up with her arm reaching for the ceiling. That was the first thing she noticed, and the second thing was seeing the morning light shining through her balcony doors. It took her a second to register what happened and set her arm over her eyes to cover them. "Okay, what in the Darkness was that dream all about? It seemed so real." She removed her arm from her eyes and sat up on her bed. "Way too real, in fact."

Outside her door, Dilan and Aeleus were standing guard outside with Aeleus sleeping and Dilan awake. They always took turns keeping guard in case Kairi attempted to escape during the night. The door suddenly opened. "Dilan, Aeleus!" Kairi's voice woke Aeleus up and they both turned their attention to their Princess. "I'm heading over to Uncle Ansem's Study." She then promptly left and headed toward Ansem's Study.

As they saw her leave, Dilan and Aeleus looked at each other with confused expressions. "Is this one of her escape attempts?" Dilan asked.

"I don't recall her making one in her pajamas. It'd seem inefficient to do so."

They continued to stare at each other for several more seconds. "We should follow just in case."

"Agreed." They left their post and followed Kairi to Ansem's Study.

Outside the castle high above it, a lone woman with long, white hair wearing a white dress was floating in the air. She peered through the windows and saw Kairi walking. Young one. "In time, you will receive the answers you're looking for. However, when you do receive those answers, the danger you'll face will be greater than you can imagine. When that happens, you must become stronger lest you fail before you begin and thus everything will meet its end. As they say in this world, may your heart be your guiding key." She then vanished without leaving a single trace.

A/N: Okay, now to officially say this, it'll be a while before I work on this story again.