Chapter 1 - A New Light
When I was little, my grandma said every star in the night sky is a different world. A different place with new people and weird creatures. She told me stories about magic and monsters and how people fight against these dark monsters to save worlds. My family enjoys grandma's stories as if they are listening to a fairy tale, but to me, it's different. The stories Grandma told feel real… I can feel them in my heart.
Grandma says that's a good thing, just like how my Mom felt. My older brother Matthew thought the same way, but after Mom died, that changed. He started saying, 'Stories are just stories.' and 'It's time to grow up, Miles.'
Now, it's just me who believes the stories… Then Grandma passed.
…Maybe it's time for me to grow up.
But a week after Grandma's death, I've been having some strange dreams lately. It's hard to remember the dreams, but I do remember one thing. I remember a stained glass floor—a woman was on it, but all the times I tried to make it out, I woke up. These dreams are unsettling, like a puzzle with no pieces or a story with no words. That's what it is.
...
Miles wakes up, rubbing his head. "...Damn, that weird dream again." Miles gets out of bed as he lets out a yawn. He hasn't gotten a good night's rest ever since those dreams began. He tried taking medicine to see if that helped, but it didn't. Doing a big stretch, Miles looks around his small apartment room. It's not the best-looking place an 18-year-old can find. But the rent is cheap, so he's not complaining.
Running his hand through his short dreads, Miles turns on the TV to the news. As he does, he makes his way to the bathroom. "Good morning, Match Haven City! On today's news, 32-year-old Jack Franklin has gone missing. He was last seen at-"
Stepping out of the bathroom while brushing his teeth, Miles says, "Wow, that's the 10th person this month. What is going on?" Miles goes back into the bathroom to get ready to have some breakfast with his older brother, Matthew. It's been a while since he saw Matthew. The last time was at Grandma's funeral. It's not the best way to leave things off.
Walking out of the bathroom, Miles put on a purple t-shirt and then a black hoodie on top. A pair of long black cargo shorts with a single purple zig-zag around each leg bottom and black high tops. Grabbing his phone, Miles makes his way out of his apartment. Catching a bus to downtown Match Haven to meet his brother at a pretty expensive breakfast cafe. As he was on the bus, he noticed that there weren't that many people on the bus. It's very unusual to be so lax on a Saturday morning.
Getting off the bus, Miles heads to the cafe. Seeing his brother sit at the outside table. "Hey, Mattew, thanks for inviting me."
"It's nothing," Matthew replied. He's wearing a black suit and tie. "I just want to check up on my favorite little brother."
Miles chuckles as he leans back in his chair. "That's funny, man. I'm your only brother."
"Thank God for that," Matthew said with a sly smile. "I can barely deal with one little brother."
Picking up the menu, Miles looks over all the breakfast stuff they have. "So, why are you cheeking up on me?"
Without looking up from the menu, Matthew says, "How are you feeling, Miles? Is everything alright?"
"..."
"You didn't look too good at Grandma's funeral. Is everything alright?" Matthew asked again.
"Yeah, Matthew. Everything is alright." Miles lied. He wasn't going to tell Matthew about his dreams. He doesn't know how he'll react—also, it's just dreams. It means nothing…
"I noticed that you stopped taking the checks I sent you," said Matthew.
"Yeah, I don't need it anymore."
"Really?"
"I found a job." said Miles, "Well, you know that big festival the city has every year? Well, tonight I'm helping out with the party. And let me tell you, they are paying me a lot."
Matthew put down the menu and then said, "How long are you going to be there?"
"...Well, the festival starts at six and then stops in the morning," Miles answered. "And I need to help put things away too."
Matthew gets a worried look, "I can't believe the festival is still going on. Especially with all these missing people?"
Miles sat there for a bit, then said, "I think it's more of a power move for the people here. Saying that no matter what happens, our hearts are strong, and we won't waver. Or something like that."
"...That's one way you can think about it—but the people that have gone missing." Matthew lets out a sigh. "I know the news said only ten… A lot more have gone missing." Miles sees Matthew get upset. It makes sense; he is a police detective.
"...It's been rough over there."
"30 missing people and we can't even solve one!" Matthew yelled, slamming his hand on the table. "It doesn't make sense. Nothing was left—it's just like they disappeared. Vanished without a trace. Who is taking these people?" The weight of the situation is heavy on Matthew's shoulders, and it's starting to show.
"...Nothing is impossible as long as you put your heart into it. Also, what was the last time you got any sleep?" Miles asked worriedly.
Matthew lets out a groan and then says, "You sound like Mom and Grandma… Still, why does this city even have this festival?"
"I don't know. But that doesn't matter, I just want to have fun!" Miles replied.
As the two laugh, a waitress walks to them and says, "Excuse me, sirs. I'm sorry for taking so long. We are a bit understaffed." The waitress takes out a notepad. "So, what do you two want?"
Matthew is the first one to speak up. "I'll take an orange juice with pulp, ten sausage links, two over-easy eggs, and six pancakes." He then hands the waitress his menu.
"And I'll take an orange juice with no pulp, ten sausage patties, two sunny-side-up eggs, and six waffles," Miles said with a smile, giving the waitress his menu.
"Okay, it will take a few."
As the waitress walks away, the two sit there in silence again. Matthew breaks the silence—Matthew always breaks the silence. He hates silence. "Miles, just be safe out there. Mom told me to protect you after she died. I wish I could be there, but I got work … Call me if anything bad happens, okay?"
Miles nods, "Yeah, I will. But I don't think something bad will happen."
After a bit of waiting, the two brothers finally got their food. As they eat, Matthew gets a call. "Yes? Another kidnapping, no? An attempted kidnapping!? Okay, I'm heading to the hospital right now." Matthew puts away his phone, looks at Miles then says, "Look, I have to go. A woman was able to escape from being kidnap by whoever the fuck, but she's badly injured. She just got out of surgery. I'll see you later." Matthew pays for the food and heads off as Miles says goodbye.
Miles leaned back in his chair, looking around to see a couple dozen people walking around the city's streets. Miles watches them go throughout their day; it seems they are not really shaken up by what is going on in the city. Brave or ignorant that it won't happen to them.
Miles then thinks, what is he? Is he brave, knowing that someone is out there and kidnapping people? Or just plain ignorant. As he continues to look at the people, Miles sees something strange. A strange man wearing a black coat. "It's the middle of July; isn't that guy hot?" What's more strange is that the people around don't notice the guy in the black coat. Miles watches as the hooded figure walks into an alleyway. Getting a bad feeling, Miles decided to go home and get some rest before the big street party.
...
At the hospital, Matthew walks down the hall to the room of the attempted kidnap victim. He sees a policeman sitting by the door. The policeman gets up and says, "Detective."
"Is she up?" asked Matthew.
The officer nods, "Yes, and a doctor is inside."
"Go take a smoke break," Matthew said, entering the patient's room. He sees the doctor checking the patient's vitals. The lady has a neck brace on. One of her arms and legs are in a cast. She's sitting there with a blank expression on her bruised face, just looking at the wall. Matthew goes to the doctor and says, "Miss, I'm Detective Clein. How bad are her injuries?"
"I'm Dr. Pritchett," she replied. Dr. Pritchett grabs the clipboard and reads, "Maria Lopez, 27. Her entire arm and leg are broken, with a few ribs, and a shattered collarbone. There was internal bleeding, but we got it in the surgery."
"I can't believe the kidnapper did this to her," Matthew said,
"...No, the kidnapper didn't do this to her." Dr. Pritchett corrected him. "When Miss. Lopez escaped from the kidnapper, she was hit by a bus. Luckily the bus wasn't going too fast, or she would be dead. However…"
"However, what?" asked Matthew.
"However, Miss. Lopez has three claw marks on her arm. It wasn't from the bus. My guess is the kidnapper did it."
Matthew sighs angrily as he thinks about what the kidnapper did to this woman. "Dr. Pritchett, will it be okay, if I ask her a few questions?"
"Go ahead, just go slowly for her." Dr. Pritchett said. She then leaves the room.
Matthew goes up to Maria, "Miss. Lopez, is it okay if I call you Maria?"
She only nods.
Matthew takes out a notepad and pen. "Maria, can you tell me what happened to you? And just take your time."
Maria takes a deep breath, "Early in the morning, at the park. I go for a jog… Then as I was running under the bridge…" Maria's breathing begins to escalate, and her eyes widen. "It attacked me."
"It?" Matthew muttered.
"I-It came out of nowhere, then it grabbed me…" she shuddered.
"Can you describe it to me, Maria?"
Maria's heart monitor begins to beat faster. She gets up from the bed, and not even the pain stops her. Maria wants out of here. Matthew quickly presses the emergency button, and seconds later Dr. Pritchett and a few nurses rush into the room. Maria begins to yell, flailing her arms and legs around. "It was terrifying!"
"Sir, I have to ask you to leave." said a Nurse.
As Matthew leaves the room, Maria yells one more thing. "The eyes! The yellow eyes! Those eyes are the only thing I saw in the darkness!" The nurse holds down Maria as Dr. Pritchett sedates her. The door shuts in front of Matthew. He takes a few moments to process what happened. Matthew then writes down what Maria said, yellow eyes. He then circles it a couple of times.
Matthew gets a worried look and then curses under his breath. "Yellow eyes? What the hell attacked her?"
...
The city's parks and streets are filled with people, food stalls, and games booths. The lights from the festival fill the night sky. People are dancing, eating, and playing games all over the place. It's like they all forget about all the bad things that happened.
Miles has been here a few hours helping out and moving things around. He has an orange vest tied around his waist, to show that he's on the job.
"Miles, take that box of crab legs to that stall B21."
"Got it." Miles grabs the box of crab legs and then heads to the stall. Going through the crowds of people, Miles thinks about what to eat. Deep-fried pretzels, honey-covered churros, or beef patties. Oh, he can't wait to be on break. Miles placed the box on the stall, "Hey, I have your carb legs, lady!"
"Oh, thank you." The older lady smiled, "You want some fried crab legs, it's on the house." She opens up the crab legs and dips the meat into the fry batter.
"Yeah, thanks!" Miles said joyfully. "So, how long have you been doing this?"
"32 years, I have been going to this city festival," she said. "Took it over from my father. And I hope my son will take over from me."
"Wow, that's a long time. That's older than me!" Miles replied, "I'm only 18, and this is my tenth time here… Hey, do you know why we throw a festival every year?"
The older lady thinks for a bit, before saying, "Sorry, I have nothing. I remember asking my father the same thing, and he didn't know. I don't think anybody knows."
Miles lets out a sigh, "It's fine."
"Oh, here you go." The older lady hands Miles a big bucket of fried crab legs with tartar sauce drizzle on top. "Have a good time at the festival!"
Miles takes out his phone and cheeks the time, it's 9:30. A good time to take a break. "Now, what to do?" Miles asked himself as he ate a few fried crab legs. Looking he sees games and… "Sea salt… frozen yogurt? Why would someone eat sea salt anything? But I should just try, just a few cups." As Miles walks to the frozen yogurt stand. He sees the man in the black coat. The hooded figure is looking at him, but Miles can't see the man's face. It's like he's looking into the darkness.
The hooded man turns around and begins to walk off. Miles goes after him, making sure to keep a good distance. Following the guy through the crowds of people. After a while, Miles is far from the festival, only able to see the lights and hear the faint sound of music. He sees the hooded figure walk into an alleyway. Miles stops and thinks to himself. He doesn't know why he's following this guy.
Miles looked back at the festival, he could easily go back… He walks into the alley and hides behind a dumpster. Miles peeks out to see nothing. "What?" He looks around the alley, trying to figure out what happened. The alleyway is a dead end. No doors or fire escapes. "How did-"
"You know it's rude to follow someone around." A man's voice echoed throughout the alleyway.
Miles turns around to see no one. He frantically looks around, "Where are you!? Who are you!?"
"I don't think you're in the position to ask questions." said the hooded man. Miles feels a hand on his shoulder, he quickly turns around to see nothing. "What I want to know is how you can see me?"
"What are you talking about!?" Miles yelled frantically.
"...Yes, something about you is different from the other people here." He appears in front of Miles. "Oh, I see it now… The light in you really shines bright." The hooded figure reached out to touch Miles, but Miles hit his hand away.
Miles takes a few steps back, "Wait, are you the one that bit kidnapping all those people!?" Miles takes out his phone ready to call his brother.
The hooded man lets out a laugh, "No, I didn't kidnap those people, I just took something of them. Something they won't be needing."
"So where are the people!?" Miles yelled.
"The people, you want to see them?" Even though Miles can't see the guy's face, he can feel the smile on his face. "I'll show you." He then snaps his fingers and what Miles sees next shakes him to his core. A weird-looking creature wearing a knight's helmet. Sharp claws, glowing yellow eyes, and a heart-like symbol on its chest.
Miles takes a few steps back, making sure not to take his eyes off that thing. "...What is that?"
"It's called a Heartless."
"A-A Heartless?" Miles's voice shook. "How is that a person? What happened?"
"Heartless are beings of Darkness. They act on instinct alone, consuming hearts and plunging worlds into Darkness." The hooded man then pats the head of the Heartless. "Mindless creatures, head empty."
"Hearts? Worlds? What are you talking about?"
"If I try to explain it all to you, I'll be here for hours." The hooded man points at Miles. "Right now I want to see what type of Heartless you'll become. Don't worry, it doesn't hurt. Just nothingness." Snapping his fingers, the Heartless ran toward Miles, ready to slash at him.
Miles rolls out of the way from the Heartless. It's like a wild animal. The Heartless lunges at Miles again, but Miles jumps out of the way, making it crash into the dumpster. Taking the opportunity, Miles gets out of there.
"It really doesn't matter where you run. Because your word will soon be taken by the Darkness."
Miles runs down the street, not willing to look back to see if the Heartless is still after him. He pulls out his phone and calls Matthew. "Matthew! Matthew, this is bad!"
"Miles, is everything alright?"
"No, something bad happened, like very bad!" Miles yelled. "A hooded guy with a monster, a Heartless."
"Heartless?" Matthew replied confusedly. "What are you talking about? Did you have too much to drink?"
"Matthew, the hooded guy did something to the people. They are monsters now, sharp claws, glowing yellow eyes-"
"Wait, did you say yellow eyes?"
"Yes, why?"
"A lady was attacked by something with yellow eyes" Matthew replied. "Where are you, Miles?" As Miles was about to say where he was, he just stopped. "Miles? Hey what's going on, wait is that screaming?"
It was screaming. But it wasn't from Miles. The screaming is coming from the festival. Miles can't believe his eyes. Heartless are attacking the festival, a lot of them. It wasn't just one he saw in the alleyway, but different kinds of Heartless. Miles sees the people get attacked by them. The people are disappearing and more heartless are appearing. "...Why…"
"Miles, are you okay!?" Matthew shouted over the phone. "Fuck, I'm coming to you."
Miles snaps out of it and says, "No, you stay there, I'm coming to you. Are you home?"
...
"No, I'm in the office… Wait something is going outside." Matthew looks outside his office window. Heartless are in the streets attacking the people. "Miles, they are everywhere."
"We can get through this. I'll be there in ten minutes." Miles said.
"No, it's-" Matthew was cut off by a loud sound of screaming and gunshots. Matthew opens the door and sees a lot of Hearthless. Pure black body, glowing yellow eyes, and two long antennae. Matthew sees them attack the officers. "Don't come, Miles. They are in the building. Get to safety and I will find you when things die down." Matthew then pulls out his gun.
"Matthew, no." Miles shouted, "There is no safety, I think it is the end of the world!"
Matthew was about to reply, but a Shadow knocks down the door. Making Matthew drop his phone. The Shadow steps on Matthew's phone and breaks it. He aims his gun at the Heartless, "I'm not going out by ugly bastard like you!"
...
"Matthew, are you there!?" Miles yelled into his phone. "Please be okay, I'll be there." Miles is hiding in a booth, watching the chaos trying to find an opening. Big fires broke out and spread everywhere. People trampled over each other just trying to get out. The Heartless have destroyed the festival and spread into the city, like the plague. Miles sees a person fall in front of him.
"Help me!" pleaded the man. Miles goes to help the man, but the man's body glows and then fades away as a heart appears. The heart then turns into a Heartless. A Red Nocturne. The Heartless look at him. It gets ready to shoot a fireball. Mile quickly moves out of the way. The Heartless goes to do it again, but Miles grabs a nearby pot of water and throws it on the Heartless.
The Red Nocturne recoils from getting wet. Miles takes this opportunity to hit the Heartless with the pot and gets out of there. He sees the man's car keys and picks them up. "Sorry, but I have to," Miles said as he pressed the horn button to find the car. But he can't hear it with all this chaos. It will be best if he moves around as he does it. I'm hopeful he can find it before a Heartless gets to it.
As Miles tries to find the car, he can't believe this is happening. "Fuck, it's that hoodied guy's fault! If I find him, I'm going to kick his ass. Hard!"
As Miles turns the corner, he runs face-first into something. When he gets up Miles sees a large Heartless. He ran into a Large Body's stomach. "Oh, shit…" The Large Body goes to punch him, but Miles rolls out of the way. Quickly getting up, Miles sees the Large Body slide to him, fast. Miles dives away and the Large Body crashes into a few booths.
When Miles gets up, he sees he's next to a pickup truck. Press the unlock button, and the truck unlocks. "Finally some good fuckin' luck!" Miles gets into the truck, starts it, and puts it in reverse. Backing up the truck into the Large Body's back, and making it crash into other Heartless. Miles doesn't have his driver's license. He doesn't have enough appendages on his body for the amount of times he failed. "I'm coming to you, Matthew!" Miles shouted, shifting the truck into drive.
...
The truck crashes into one of the cars outside the police department. That was the best driving Miles had done in his life.
Getting out of the truck and heading into the building, Miles sees that there are no Heartless, that good. But no people too, not good. "Matthew, are you here?!" Miles yelled, "Big brother! Come out, I'm here!" Miles called out a few more times as he looked around the ruined police department. He goes up to the second floor, "Matthew!" A hand is placed on Miles's shoulder, making him freak out.
"Miles stop yelling!" Matthew yelled. "We don't want to attract any more of those… Umm, what are they called again?" Miles didn't answer him. Miles just hugged him, like squeezing the life out of him type a hug. "Miles, you're hugging me too hard."
Miles lets go of Matthew and he begins to cry, "Sorry, but I miss you! I was so scared. What happened to you on the phone?"
Matthew sighed, "Those monsters came into the department, and all hell broke loose. A few and I managed to get to the roof. They got into a helicopter and left. I stay behind to wait for you."
"Look at that, brotherly love." Miles and Matthew look behind them to see the hooded man sitting on a desk. "Two hearts connected together, how sweet. I wonder what will happen if I plucked one away?"
"Who are you!?" Matthew demanded as he stepped in front of Miles. He then pulls out his gun.
"...Whoa, the two of you have bright hearts. But you…" He then points at Matthew. "But your heart is bright…"
"What are you talking about?" Matthew shouted angrily.
"Matthew, his is the guy that's been taking all those people. Then he turns the people into Heartless." Miles said. "Why are you doing this!"
The hooded man replied with a chuckle. Miles rushes at him, grabbing the nearby chair. He swings it at the hooded man but misses when he jumps out of the way. "You can hurt someone." The hooded man appears next to Miles and picks him up by his hoodie.
"Put down my brother!" Matthew yelled. He shoots three shots at the man's back, and it does nothing.
The hooded man lazily looks at Matthew, "...That was rude, you know." He then throws Miles to the side. Matthew shoots him again in the head. As Miles is about to get up, The hooded man goes to finish him off. However, Matthew jumps in the way, taking the hand into his chest. Miles can believe what he is seeing. "Oh, so you'll give your life for him?"
With a smile on his face, Matthew says, "On our mom's deathbed, I promise her that I will protect Miles with all my heart!"
"Matthew!" Miles yelled.
Matthew's body starts to glow, "Miles, listen up. You're strong… a lot stronger than me. And I believe you can get out of this, Miles." And like that Matthew's body disappears. The only thing the only thing left is a glowing heart. Miles couldn't say a word, he just slowly reached his hand out to the heart. Miles has seen what will happen to a heart, and he does want that. He'll die if he sees his brother as a Heartless.
The hooded man grabs the heart. "This is nice, can't wait to see what Heartless he'll become."
"No, don't, please!" Miles pleaded.
Suddenly a bunch of Shadow Heartless appeared and surrounded Miles. "Heartless must have found this world's heart. You soon will have the same fate as your brother."
As the Shadow begins to swarm Miles, he reaches out his hand to Matthew's heart. "Give it to me… Give me back my brother's heart. NOW!"
"...Come and take it…" The hooded man responds coldly. Miles pulls himself out of the Heartless and rushes at the hooded man. The hooded man stands there, waiting for Miles to get closer. As he does, something appears in Miles's right hand in a flash of light. "A Keyblade!?" The hooded man yelled surprisingly.
Not skipping a beat, Miles hits the hooded man, making him fly back and crash into a wall. Miles stops and looks at what's in his hand, "What is this thing?"
...Keyblade...Starlight...
"Keyblade? Starlight? Why does it look familiar?" Miles said, looking at the Keyblade in his hand. One of the Shadows jumps at Miles, but he quickly turns around and cuts through it. Miles is surprised to see that something can beat the Heartless. He never had sword training before, but he hoped that all that time in the woods fighting with sticks with Matthew would come in handy.
Two more Shadows come at him. Miles gets out of the way and hits one of them with a three-hit combo. Miles then slams Starlight down on the other Shadow's head. Miles continues to mow down the Heartless, but it's sloppy. He's just swinging the Keyblade around. When Miles does hit a Heartless, he's open and gets hit by a Heartless.
"Well, damn I wasn't expecting a Keyblade user to pop up, fun." The hooded man grumbled. Miles charges at the man, swinging his Keyblade. The hooded man dodges all of Miles's attacks. He then holds his hand up in front of Miles and lets out a blast of dark energy. Miles stabs the Keyblade into the ground, trying not to be blown away, but it's too strong. Miles gets blown out of the building.
As his body is in the air, Miles sees his home. It's destroyed all of it. It's crumbling. Some of the buildings are even floating. The sky is a black and purple mix. "No…" Miles lands on top of a roof. "Why! Why did you do this!?"
The hooded man lands in front of Miles, "Why this and why that? Why does it matter? But if you want to know why… It's because of my nature, that's why!"
"Asshole, I'll kill you!" Miles runs at him, ready to cut him in two. Suddenly a massive swarm of Shadows comes out of nowhere. Miles barely got away as the Deamon Tide came crashing into the building. "That's a lot of Heartless,"
"It looks like it's time to go," said the hooded man. He then makes a black portal. Looking back, he sees the Deamon Tide swallowing Miles up. As he was about to walk into the portal, he stopped. "If you survive this, come find me and take it back." In the palm of his hand is Matthew's heart. "Show me how far you will go for a heart that isn't yours, key bearer." The hooded man then walks into the portal.
Inside the Demon Tide, Miles heard everything. But he is too tired to say anything. He slowly begins to fall unconscious. The Keyblade still in his hand starts to move on its own. The Keyblade and Miles's body glows with a bright light. The Keyblade then shoots a beam of light through the Demon Tide, making it drop Miles. As Miles's unconscious body falls, a Keyhole appears behind him.
In the forest, the sun shines bright through the trees. A bird flies off a tree branch. It flew around for a bit before landing on something. The bird landed on the tip of Miles's Keyblade. Miles is unconscious up against a tree with tears running down his face.
...
On this day Miles lost his brother and his world. He never knew a day like this could happen. The only thing Miles wants is his brother's heart and kill the hooded man. And with this weapon, the Keyblade, Miles hopes it will help him.
Sorry if it started slowly, I hope you like it.