Hello! This is my first time writing fan fiction, so I'll be honest and say I don't know exactly how far I'll get or how often I'll be able to update, but I've always wanted to try and thought it would double as a good writing exercise.

As for the story itself, it's an original story that takes place some time after the age of fairytales, but before the birth of Xehanort. Since we have no idea how long that is, or what exactly that time looked like compared to modern KH, obviously this will all be based simply on what I feel makes the most compelling story. And since there's a better than decent chance that Missing Link (which takes place in roughly the same time period supposedly) will come out while I'm still writing this, I'd ask that we just pretend it doesn't exist in the context of this fic as to preserve my sanity.

Now, finally, let's get to the story.

Chapter 1: A Beginning

Every story must start somewhere.

Some stories start in grand cities and bustling boroughs, others in worlds of radiant light, and then there are stories that start small. On a small world, in a small town, with a small heart.

A young boy stepped out of his home. With a shock of black hair and large round glasses, he was a bit short even for his age.

Len was heading into town to the library. All the adults always told him how smart he was to be able to read the books he did. The other kids were still reading fairytales, but Len had already started reading the books he'd seen his teachers read. He pushed his too big glasses up his nose. He'd gotten them a couple years ago from his parents, they'd barely stayed on then, but he'd grown a lot and so now they just slid down his face sometimes.

He walked down the hill along the side of the dirt road, past small wooden shops and homes. He'd just finished reading a book about different places around the kingdom he lived in, and apparently in the really big towns there were buildings made entirely out of stone. Not to mention huge castles that towered over everything. It was hard to imagine, the largest building here was the town hall and it was basically just one really big room. Len wanted to see a real castle someday.

"Len!" A passerby called out. He recognized the man as the father of one of his schoolmates and someone he'd seen at his own father's workshop. The man ruffled Len's hair as he approached. "Headed to the library I presume? Wish my boy was as eager to study as you. You mind handing this to your pa when you head back? It's a tool I borrowed from him the other day."

Len just nodded and took the small bag handed to him, stuffing it in his barely big enough pocket. He never quite knew how to respond to adults when they talked to him, he tried to do it as little as possible.

He continued on his journey when he came across a group of kids, a familiar face at the head of it. Ago wasn't a nice boy, but all the other kids always seemed to do what he said. Len approached the group quietly to see what they were up to. He saw Ago and another of the kids fighting with sticks. Ago was fast and aggressive, not that it mattered much since the other kid looked scared out of their wits. They were barely able to get their stick out to block before Ago came swinging with more force than play fighting should have.

Ago landed a hard blow on his opponents side and the child yelped in pain. Len ran forward before he could even think about it, and his voice called out with more intensity than he ever used on purpose.

"Stop it, Ago!" He shouted. "How many times are you going to do this? You know no one likes it!"

It wasn't the first time Len had seen Ago 'playing' with kids who didn't want to. It also wasn't the first time Len had foolishly interrupted. It had become an unfortunate routine with them. Whenever they ran into each other they immediately started butting heads, and they ran into each other often. Len was usually quite reserved, but there was something about Ago that brought out a fire in him. It wasn't like he hated Ago, he just couldn't figure out how he was supposed to get through to him that what he was doing was wrong. And so it went, on and on, today no different than the last.

"What's that, mouse?" Mouse. Ago called him that because he was small and sometimes squeaked when he talked. Len had gotten used to it. "I've gotta have some fun around here somehow, you volunteering?" Ago mocked him, but Len was more relieved that the other kid was now being left alone. If only it didn't come at the price of welts of his own.

Ago took the stick from his now discarded opponent and threw it to Len. He caught it, he didn't used to, he used to be terrible with all the sorts of activity that the other kids often got up to and receiving his glasses had only helped marginally. For better or worse, his constant run-ins with Ago had made him fairly athletic very quickly. That's not to say that he could beat Ago, but it felt like every day he got a little closer.

Before Len could think of a way out, Ago was on him. The rough cane was whipping toward him with what felt like incredible speed. Len flicked his own weapon up to catch the blow and a sharp crack burst out as stick collided with stick. Len didn't have time to celebrate his speedy reaction because Ago was already coming at him from the other side. Len wasn't fast enough this time and took a hefty whack to the arm. It stung, bad, but he didn't cry like he used to. Len thrust his stick forward, forcing Ago to take a step back and swing his own stick up to deflect the attack.

And so it went, back and forth. The bout kept going for some time, Len taking a number of small hits to his body, but never letting his guard down. Eventually it paid off. Ago took a large swing, but the wind-up left him completely open for a brief moment. Len, with some instinct he didn't even know he had, flicked his cane up as fast as his little arms could manage and caught Ago right in the chin. It was the single hardest blow Len had ever scored against him. Ago stumbled, dazed by the hit. So then why did he almost look... happy? With a grin larger than Len had ever seen him make, Ago retaliated with new life as if he'd just found a new and exciting game to play.

Len had trouble keeping up. He wasn't given any time to think about what he was doing, just react. To his surprise it was working, at least a little. Ago was too fast to get another hit in, but not fast enough for him to hit Len either. Stick struck stick in a furious frenzy as two boys fought at a level they were unaware was far beyond their young age. They were practically lost in another world and it was only they that inhabited it.

A scream let out and they both stopped, sticks inches away from each other's heads. They looked around in confusion until their eyes landed on a woman who had stumbled to the ground, terrified. The thing that scared her was a small, inky black something. It had antennae like an ant, but it looked vaguely like a person. It was a bit smaller than Len and moved in a twitchy, awkward manner.

Ago wasted no time. Whatever this thing was, he wanted to fight it. He leapt forward and swung down at the creature with all his strength. The thing sank into the ground like it had gone underwater. The creature had turned into its own shadow. Ago swung at it, slapping the ground repeatedly, but nothing happened. Instead the creature skittered around the ground. A crowd of adults from the town had formed, staring and whispering nervously to each other.

Suddenly, the creature jumped from its shadow, yellow eyes trained on a man in the crowd. It landed straight on the man, knocking him to the ground. It started scratching at the man's face. Over and over its claws marked his face and streams of black smoke rose from the wounds.

He disappeared. His body just faded and a glowing crystalline heart floated out from where he once was, rising until darkness swirled around it and ate it up. Everyone around Len started screaming, they desperately ran from the creature. More of them started to bubble up from the ground, and others - creatures that looked different but shared the same sinister yellow eyes - burst from plumes of dark smoke. Even then, Len could not bring himself to run. He'd known that man. Perhaps not known, but he'd seen him in his family's shop often. He was just gone.

What was happening? What were these things? Why were they hurting people? It didn't make sense. It was too much. Somewhere in Len's mind knew he had to move, but the sudden chaos overwhelmed his senses.

"Watch out!" A voice pierced through Len's shock and he saw one of the creatures barreling towards him. He took a wild swing at the monster, but the strength of a child was no match for it. Just as it was about to bear down on him there was a flash of light.

The monster burst into wisps of black smoke. Standing in its place was a man Len had never seen. He was tall with hair like a lion's mane, and he was adorned with strange clothes. His arm was outstretched and in his hand was an object like nothing Len had ever seen in any of his books. It wasn't quite a sword, but rather a large, ornate key. The guard around the handle was shaped like a laurel wreath. The stem took the form of an army of bronze hands thrusting the spears to the sky, the tallest of which bore a red flag positioned as if flapping in the wind that made up the teeth of the key.

As more of the monsters kept coming, the man swung his weapon with blinding agility. The creatures were thrown back with incredible force, exploding into smoke as they hit nearby homes and shops.

"You alright, kid?" He asked. Len nodded and pushed his glasses up before they could slide off his face.

The ground rumbled beneath their feet. The sky above started to grow darker and darker. The man looked around in surprise.

"Crap! Already?" He grabbed Len by his collar and lifted him up, carrying him by his shirt as he sprinted through town. Buildings whizzed past them. More monsters popped up, but the man either ignored them entirely or made quick work of the ones he couldn't avoid. Eventually they reached the town plaza. Where there was usually market stalls there was instead a massive, colorful machine of some kind. It had large fins and some kind of tubes on the back of it. A ramp led up into it, and townsfolk were being ushered up the ramp by two people wearing the same strange clothes and holding the same strange weapons as the man carrying Len.

"Come on, Mars!" One of them shouted. "We've got as many as the gummi ship can hold and the Heartless have nearly gotten through the Keyhole!"

The man, Mars, set Len down as they came to the gummi ship.

"Okay, kid, let's get out of here," he said. Len looked at the ramp. Something in him knew that if he got on this ship he'd never see his home again. He turned and looked back at the town, but Mars blocked his path with his weapon. "It's gone, kid. I'm sorry, we didn't get here in time." Tears welled up in Len's eyes. He didn't want to go. Not like this. He was about to give up and get on the ship, but a yell stopped him where he stood.

Ago was on the other side of the plaza. He was beating at the monsters furiously with his cane. It wasn't hurting them, but it was just enough to keep the monsters off of him. Suddenly, a pool of darkness opened up beneath Ago's feet and he began to sink into it. For the second time that day, Len moved without thinking. He pushed Mars' weapon out of his way and ran as fast his legs could take him. If everything else was going to be gone, he needed to at least save Ago. He wasn't his friend, they fought all the time, he was pretty sure they were supposed to hate each other. It didn't matter. He had to save him. He ran, and he ran, and he ran, and Ago sank further into the darkness.

Len felt a shove that sent him tumbling to the ground. Mars had rushed forward and pushed him, a monster had tried to attack Len as he ran. And where Mars' left arm should have been was instead just a stump with black smoke coming out. The monster had completely severed his arm. In a panic, Len turned away, only to see something far worse. Ago's head sunk beneath the pool of darkness.

He was gone.

Len shot up in his bed, breathing hard, heart pounding against his chest. That dream. It had been nearly ten years and he still couldn't escape that day. The day his world was swallowed by the Heartless.

He shifted and sat at the edge of his bed. Outside his window the sun was just barely beginning to rise. With a sigh he grabbed his glasses off the nightstand. He'd finally grown into them some years ago, and even though he could afford a new pair it seemed wrong to stop wearing these ones. He rose and went to his dresser. Seated on top of it was one of the few personal items in his room that wasn't a book. It was a chisel, the tool he had been handed to give back to his father the day his world was destroyed. It was the only thing he had to remember his parents. They hadn't made it to the gummi ship. In all, there had been only forty-nine survivors on the ship. The people that had rescued them tried to comfort the survivors. Saying that there existed worlds that would appear to save people who were lost. Len hadn't been convinced. Maybe his parents had fallen to the Heartless, maybe they were swallowed along with the world, all he knew was that his heart told him they were gone.

Every day it became harder to remember what they looked like, what they sounded like. In fact, he could remember next to nothing about the world he grew up in or the people there. It was all just the blurry fragments of a child's memory. The only thing that hadn't faded was the day it all went away. The day that his dreams etched anew in his heart every night as he slept.

Len shook his head. It didn't matter. That was all in the past now. The survivors of his world had long gone their separate ways, and Len had a new life here. He pulled out his clothes and started to get ready for the day. He put on loose-fitting trousers that tucked into leather boots, and over his shirt he wore a double-breasted overcoat with a high neck. It looked a bit stiff, but was surprisingly flexible. It would have to be, after all. Fighting with a Keyblade required all the dexterity he could get, especially if he wanted to keep up with his classmates.

Len left from his room and into the dorm halls. It was still several hours before class would begin, but he was wide awake and preferred to get an early start anyway. He walked through the dormitory, only stopping briefly in the common room to grab some fruit to eat as he made his way out the door and into the world he now called home: Scala Ad Caelum.