Kingdom Hearts: Searching for a Heart

[Nami9]

Chapter 1: Awakening...

-<3<3<3-

"This is a problem."
"What are we going to do with her? She doesnt belong here. She doesnt belong anywhere. She shouldnt even exsist!"
"I know. But for now, we must keep her a secret."

I woke up in a strange dark place. I didnt remember anything. I couldnt even think straight. I was almost in tears. I was lying down in a small tight space. I pushed myself up and looked at where I was. I nearly screamed when I saw what I was lying in. A small coffin, that looked like it had been made just for me. But that was only the half of it. I was dressed in a long white gown that draped down and covered my entire body.
I began to cry. This isnt right. My hands came up and covered my eyes. Only to feel a tiara on my head. Tears began pouring down my cheeks and dripped off onto the dress, where they left little gray markes as they saturated it.
"So your awake?" I nearly jumped with fright. And quickly wiped away my tears. I wasnt alone, there was no need to cry. I looked up in the direction that the voice came from.
"Where am I!!!" I shouted and grabbed his long black coat. I used his coat to pull myself out of the coffin, and quickly went to another side of the room.
"No need to yell. I am not going to hurt you. If anything, I am more afraid of you." I looked up at him. He was tall, with ember red hair. He didnt look mean, but he had a look like, like he had a secret. I watched as he sat down on a couch in the center of the room and picked up a book.
"I dont understand how Larxene can read this junk." He said, then threw the book on a coffee table and laid down across the couch. He began snapping his fingers and making flames appear off and on, on the tips of his fingers. He seemed like he almost ignoring me. Like he didnt care what I did. So I stood up and went to a window across the room.
"Where am I." I asked calmly this time. I pulled back the dark curtain and leaned forward.
"Nowhere." He said, like he really ment it. I looked over my shoulder, to find him right behind me. He walked up next to me and moved me over a little to make room for himself at the window. "Look out there," he pointed out the window, "what do you see?"
"Nothing," I said.
"Exactly. You cant be somewhere if there is nothing. So the best way to describe this place is Nowhere." I looked up at him. His eyes were such a beautiful blue green. He didnt look back at me, just stared out the window. I left his side and stood in the middle of the room looking around. Until a mirror caught my attention. I saw a girl standing there. I thought she was me, but I didnt recognize the face.
I walked over to the mirror and touched it. The images finger tips matched mine as they got closer. I slowly backed up, then touched my face. So unfamiliar. Then my hands climbed up to my hair. Long strands of red that hung down to my waist. Another tear slide down my face.
"Not what you remember?" The boy asked me. He was behind me again. Looking at my reflection from over my shoulder.
"Of course it’s not what I remember, because I dont remember anything..." My voice trailed off and I looked down at the floor. This was all too much for me. I walked back over to the couch and sat down. Still looking at the floor.
"What is your name?" I asked the boy. It was just a little uncomfortable to be talking to someone that I didnt know.
"Axel," he said,"A-X-E-L. Got it memorized?" I smiled a little. "Do you remember your name?"
What a stupid question, of course I remember my na-...Now that I actually thought about it, I really couldnt remember it.
"I dont even know my own name!" I hands went back over my eyes, my elbows leaned on my knees to hold me up. "What happened to me? What is going on here?..." Axel sat down on the couch and stretched his arms across the back of the couch. Then he yawned. He really was not concerned at all about me.
"Do you know my name?" He seemed to know what was going on around here. I thought it might be worth a shot.
"Ame." He said. Quickly and simply. It didnt even sound like he thought about it.
"Ame?" I repeated. "Is Ame really my name?" It just didnt sound familiar. But then again, nothing was familiar to me these days. Just like the long red hair that I was playing with, braiding it and swaying it from side to side.
"Your guess is as good as mine. I just like the name Ame." I threw down my hair and looked at him. I glared at him, but he just laughed. Apparently I was not intimidating.
"I guess its an ’okay’ name, for now." I leaned back against the couch and closed my eyes. All the stress was giving me a headache. I was soon fast asleep.

Chapter 2: Departure

GIRL: So. Supose you get to another world. (Chuckle) What would you do there?
BOY: Hmm. Well, I havent really thought about it. It’s just...I’ve always wondered why we’re here on this island. If there are any other worlds out there, why did we end up on this one? And supose there are other worlds...then ours is just a little piece of something much greater. So, we could have just as easily ended up somewhere else, right?
YOUNGER BOY: I dont know.
BOY: Exactly. Thats why we need to go out there and find out. Just sitting here wont change a thing. It’s the same old stuff. So lets go.
GIRL: You’ve been thinking a lot lately, havent you?
BOY: Thanks to you. If you hadnt come here, I probably never would’ve thought of any of this.

"Wha?...oh." I woke up. I had forgotten where I was. But soon remembered. But, that dream, it bothered me. Who were those kids talking? It seemed so real. Almost like a memory, but, I couldnt remember anything.
Axel was asleep in a chair, so I got up quitely and began looking around. Nothing seemed any different from the last time that I looked. But I noticed a desk in the corner. I sat down in a chair and began shifting through a few different papers. ’Ansem’s Report’ some read. Something about heartlesses and something called Kingdom Hearts. It was a little strange, so I put them back and went to searching the desk drawers. There wasnt anything too intresting, I found a little bag of money, and a rubber band that I used to pull my hair up with.
I shifted in the dress a little, it was ichy and uncomfortable. All the lace on it was annoying. So I grabbed some scissors from a cup on the desk and cut the sleeves off the dress, and cut it shorter, a little under my knees. It was a pretty dress, but I didnt see any point in it.
"Having fun?" A voice from behind me pierced the silence. It scared me, and I cut myself with the scissors.
"Ouch!" I shouted and stuck the finger in my mouth and began to suck the blood out, not vamparicly of course, just to try to get it to stop bleeding. I ended up tearing off a strip of the dress and wrapping it around the cut.
"Didnt mean to scare you." He laughed a little. "You look better that way," he said, looking first at my hair and then down to the cut off dress. "But you forgot something", he said, pointing at the tiara perched on the top of my head. I reached up and grabbed it. And passed it between my hands, studying the simple, yet delicate design.
"What’s it for? Or rather, why was I wearing it when I woke up?"
"I have asked myself that question quite a few times. But truthfully, I dont know. But I think you are connected to someone very important." He sounded really serious. I put the tiara away in the money bag and walked towards a door at the other side of the room.
"If I wanted to leave..." I began solomly, it wasnt like he was being mean to me or anything, so I didnt want to sound rude,"Could I just walk out this door and leave this place?" I grabbed onto the door knob and looked back over my shoulder at Axel.
"I guess so", he said,"But where will you go?"
"I had this weird dream," I began,"In it, there were these three kids that I had never seen before...I guess I am going to search for them." I turned the knob and pushed open the door. There was a long, empty, white hallway outside. I looked both ways, trying to decide which way to go.
"I suggest you go left," said Axel. I shot him a smile back over my shoulder and walked out the door, closing it quietly behind me. I began to walk to the left, down the hallway.

Chapter 3: Twilight Town

I found myself in an erie old house. Curtains hang losely from rusting iron rods. Dust gathered in every corner. I brushed cobwebs out of my face as I walked about. The stairs creeked as I walked down them to the front door. I was careful not to step on glass, because I was not wearing any shoes. The door stuck, but I finally got it open and stepped out into the sunlight. I felt like it was the first time in a very long time that I had seen the light of day. I stretched out my arms and spun around, my hair was flying behind me.

"What do you mean you just let her go!?!?"
"What harm could she do in Twilight Town? I mean, it’s hardly big enough to consider a city. And besides, I have a feeling that she will be back."
"For your sake, I hope you are right."

"What are you doing!?" I tripped over my own feet trying to stop spinning and find the owner of the voice. I was in a pile on the ground, holding my knee.
"Today just isnt my day. I just keep getting hurt." I brushed my hair out from in front of my face and looked up. A boy was standing over me looking down at me.
"You’re not from around here, are you?" He was holding out a hand to help me back to my feet. I took his hand and pulled myself up.
"To be completely honest, I dont know where I am from." I wiped bits of dirt off of my dress and picked up my money bag. "But I think you could help me. I could really use some new clothes." I pulled at my dress to emphisize how raty it was, and looked at my feet to hint that I could also use some shoes.
"Well, we have a store up in town, why dont you come with me?" He looked in the direction of a dark, forested area, but turned around. "By the way, what is your name?"
"Ame." I said." And yours?"
"Hayner. Come on, lets go find my friends, they can help to show you around." So we walked off towards the woods. We didnt talk that much. He tried to ask questions about where I came from, and if I knew anyone from around here. But they were answerless, so the topics were soon dropped.
We came to a big wall at the end of the forest, and near the center of it was a huge hole. We walked right through it and entered a city.
"Wow," I said, mezmorized by the tall buildings and flashy signs. Hayner looked back at me curiously.
"Havent you ever seen this place before?...I guess not." He saw me running along a track, for something that he called a tram. He grabbed my arm and pulled me in the direction of an alleyway between two buildings.
"I am about to show you our Secret Spot. My friends and I hang out there. Its just a neat little clubhouse I guess." He shrugged a little and pushed back a curtain and lead me into a little room. Two kids were already waiting there. One was a boy and the other a girl.
"HAYNER! Where you been man!" The boy came over and grabbed Hayner. "Oh." He said, as he spotted me. The girl was also looking at me.
"Guys, this is Ame." He began introductions,"Ame, this is Pence," he pointed to the other boy. "And this is Olette," We all shook hands and said hello.
"So..." began Pence,"Where did she come from."
"Well, we dont quite know. But she really needs some new clothes, and some shoes too." They all looked up and down my outfit. I must have seemed pretty helpless.
"So." Said Hayner,"Are we going to help her or not?" He put his hands on his hips and looked at each of them.
"I think I have a little money saved up," Said Olette.
"Mmm." I interupted. "I have some money, if you could just show me where to find a story." I pulled out the little money pouch and dumped the money into my palm. The tiara fell out too. They all leaned over and looked into my hand.
"Wow." Said Olette,"Thats gorgeous. Where did you get it?" I threw all the stuff back into my bag and closed it tight.
"I just found it. Can we go?" I guess I sounded a little suspicious, but I didnt want to talk about waking up in a coffin and not knowing where I was. It just wasnt a topic that was easy to talk about.

We walked out of the little clubhouse and down the road a bit. Passing store after store of stuff that I had never seen before, until we finally came to a clothing store.
"Here we are," Said Olette.
We walked in and I began looking through all the different clothes. A small purple skirt caught my eye, it just looked familiar, like I had seen it somewhere before...

YOUNG BOY: You okay?
GIRL: Sora, lets take the raft and go--just the two of us!!
YOUNG BOY(Sora): Huh?
GIRL: (Laugh) Just kidding!
Sora: Whats gotten into you? You’re the one thats changed, Kairi.
GIRL(Kairi): Maybe...You know, I was a little afraid at first...But now I’m ready. No matter where I go, or what I see, I know I can always come back here. Right?
Sora: Yeah, of course!
Kairi: Thats good. Sora, dont ever change.

"Ame? You okay?" Hayner grabbed my hand and and tried to snap be back to reality.
"Sorry. I was just...remembering. I guess." Hayner walked away and I put down the skirt. "Kairi, and Sora," I said to myself."Hmm."
I picked out an outfit and paid for it. I was ready now. But I didnt have a clue where I was going from here. We went back to the Secret Spot and sat down.
"Where will you go now?" They were sitting around licking some kind of ice cream.
"I dont really know. But I have a few questions that I need answered first. But thank you for all of your help. I have to go now, before it gets dark." And I left them at that. And headed back to the mansion. Maybe Axel would have some answers for me.

Chapter 4: Keys

"She’s back!" A guy shouted and pointed at me as I reentered the mansion.
"I told you she would be." Axel sighed a bit, in a smugish way. As if to say ’Why doesnt anyone ever listen to me?’
"Who’s tha..."
"You didnt really think that I was the only person here, did you?" Axel said, answering my question. I had never given it much thought, but it would be a very lonely life if he was the only one here all the time.
Axel walked over to the other guy and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Ame. This is Zexion." He smiled, with that look that he does."I see you got some new clothes. You look good..." I walked over and sat on a stair. Zexion watched me, with a look of confusion.
"There’s no darkness in her. Even when she finds that she has nothing left, she hasnt given in to the darkness. Interesting." I twirled my thumbs and watched them walk back and forth across the room.
"She came into this world crying," began Axel,"So, she has a heart, or at least, part of one."
"Well, then. What does she want to do?" He looked over at me, and I stood up.
"I want to find Sora and Kairi." They both looked at me strangely.
"And who are they?" Asked Zexion.
"Well..." I didnt know what quite to say, because I didnt really know who they were. "I dont really know WHO they are. I have just been having this...memories, I guess, and they are in them. I think they are important to me, or something like that." I walked up to the top of the stairs and sat at the ledge with my feet dangling over the edge, hanging just above Axel and Zexion.
Axel smiled and looked over at Zexion.
"If that isnt weird, then I dont know what is. I think she is still tied to her former self." Zexion laughed, like he couldnt believe what he was hearing. He looked up at me and crossed his arms.
"So. If you are this Kairi girl, what are you going to do about it?" It was all up to me. They were actually giving me this choice.
"I want to find her." I said. "I wont be complete until I do."
Zexion walked up the stairs and looked down at me. "I dont know what will happen if you find what you are looking for, you might be complete. Or, you might be erased, forever. Are you willing to risk that?"
"Yeah, it’ll be great..."

Kairi: I just cant wait, once we set sail, it’ll be great.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

*keyblade...* *keyblade...* *keyblade...*

Kairi: sora...
I watched as Kairi fell forward and passed into Sora. And Sora was sucked backwards out of a dark cave.

I opened my eyes and found Axel and Zexion standing over me. And a giant key in my right hand.
"What am I?!? You said I am not whole. You said that I had a heart, like it is a bad thing. You say you dont understand me. What is so weird about me? Who am I?"
Axel grabbed my hand and pulled me up.
"You are a nobody. When a heart leaves a body, the darkness left over forms a body, a nobody. But, you are not like us. You are not made of the darkness. Meaning, your former self did not turn into a heartless. You can still be real."
I looked down at the key.
"I get it now. He has MY heart."

Chapter 5: Open Spaces

*Keyblade...* *Keyblade...*

*Keyblade...* *Keyblade...*

I sat on the floor twirling the keyblade in my hand. I flicked my wrist a little and the keyblade disappeared. I flicked my wrist again and the key reappeared. I chuckled a little under my breath. A giant key, I though. Who would actually take something like this serious anyway? I made the key disappear again and stood up.
"So, what is this thing for anyway?" I asked aloud. Axel and Zexion were having there own little conversation about what to do with me. "Ugh. Guys." I put my hands on my hips and walked into a room upstairs.
I felt like I was walking into a cloud. The walls were white. The floor was white. There was a white table and white chairs. Long dusty curtains hung to the floor over a huge window. I stood against the edge of the window and looked out over the yard and gazed upon the sunset over Twilight Town. It was beautiful. I sat myself on the table and looked around. This room was nice. It wasnt familiar, but, it didnt have to be. There was nothing strange in it, I felt like, for the first time, I could relax and not worry about what was going on around me. I laid down across the table and closed my eyes...

VOICE: They’ll come at you out of nowhere.
Sora: Who are you?
VOICE: And they’ll keep on coming at you, as long as you continue to wield the keyblade. But why, why would it choose a kid like you?
Sora: Hey. What’s that suposed to mean?
VOICE: Nevermind, now, lets see that keyblade.
Sora: What? There’s no way your getting this!

"Wake up!" Axel was shaking me by the shoulders.
Out of what seemed like instinct, I flicked my wrist and got the keyblade back and swung it at Axel.
"HEY! Watch it!" He shouted. I sat up fast.
"Ugh. Sorry. You just scared me a little." I gabbed my head. "This keyblade is important. People want it. So...why do I have it?"
An awkwar silence went on as they looked at each other.
"Well? Are you going to help me or not?! I have to get out of this town. Or I will be stuck like this forever."
"Well..." began Axel,"we can take you to Marluxia, he might know how you can do...whatever it is you want. Find Sora, right?"
"Yeah," I said,"I think he is the real keyblade master. I dont know what that is, but people are looking for him. He is something important. And I think he can set things right." I climbed off the table and looked out the window again. I can sense him sometimes. I can see where he is. That will be my key to finding him.
"Come with us." Zexion turned around and walked out the door. Axel followed. I touched the window, saying good-bye. Hopefully, this would be the last time I would feel trapped, without knowing what would happen.
I turned around and walked out the door, closing it behind me.

I followed Zexion and Axel back to the library, where I first woke up. How I hated it here. I sat down on the couch and put my feet up on the table.
"Wait here," said Zexion," Axel, you wait with her. I will go get Marluxia." And he left.
"Well. Just make yourself at home." Axel smiled over at me. I sat up and leaned over, rubbing my timples. I could feel another vision coming on.

GIRL VOICE: Awe, you’re slipping Leon.
Leon: I went easy on him. Looks like things are worse then we thought, a lot worse.

I opened my eyes, I was looking down at the carpet below me. A strap caught my eye, so I reached down. I pulled an empty backpack out from under the table. No one will miss it. I put my munny bag and tiara into the backpack and put it on my shoulder. Eh. It’ll work.


The door opened behind me. Zexion walked in first, followed by a tall guy with pinkish hair. As weird as it was, he was kind of pretty. I guess he just had that look about him. I walked over to him and stood straight and tall. He looked at me in the same way that Axel and Zexion had. Like I was some alien, or a ghost, something that shouldnt be there.
"So. Show me the key." He said. I was surprised that that was the first thing that he asked of me. But I flicked my wrist and held the keyblade up in front of me. He reached out to touch it, but I pulled back. Remembering all of my visions. This keyblade was important. Many people wanted it. I had to take care not to let it fall into the wrong hands.
"I can sense that it has stronge powers." Marluxia smiled and crossed his arms in front of him.
"Okay," he said,"I will give you a gummi ship. Where you go, or what you do, is completly up to you. Follow your heart." And he turned and walked away. Zexion followed. Axel stayed behind with me.
"Well," he began," you certainly impressed him. Come on, I’ll take you to the gummi chamber."

I sat in the drivers seat of the gummi. Axel stood outside the gummi, by a button that would open the hatch doors and release me into the unknown. I smiled and gave Axel a thumbs up. He pressed the button and I grabbed the wheel. Next thing I knew, I was flying, surrounded by open space and shinning white stars.

Chapter 6: Far Far Away

"AHHHHHH! Oh! There attacking from all sides! AHHHH!"

CRAAASSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHH

"Oh..." I stood up, brushing myself off and straighting my clothes. I didnt think looking for someone would hurt.
"My, your underdressed," said a voice a few feet in front of me. I looked up and saw a man in silver armor. A second look around revealed a bunch of men, dressed exactly like him, each standing tall, infront of a large doorway.
"Where am I?" I asked.
He laughed. But after looking back at me and seeing that I seriously didnt know where I was, he got a questioning look on his face.
"You’re at the Prince’s Ball, my dear. But I am sorry to say, I cannot let you in dressed like that." He pointed at my outfit with his armored hand.
"A prince?" I said. He smiled at me.
"Yes. It just happens to be his birthday today, and the King is throwing this ball, so that he may look for a bride. Between you and me," he whispered,"the Prince already has his eyes set on a young woman. I saw them in the courtyard a little earlier. But I think you should be leaving now, I have to get back to gaurding the entrance."
"Guarding it from what?" They apparently wanted to keep something out, though it seemed to me, that nearly everyone was inside.
"The little black creatures. They take people’s hearts, and we never see them again. We cant let that happen to anyone of the royal family. But please, do leave."
I walked away silently. How strange. A huge clock tower stood outside the castle. It was nearly midnight. But the night was so lovely...
No. I must get back to searching for Sora. I ran around to the sides of the castle and looked everywhere. No sign of him.
The clock struck twelve.

"Oh my goodness!" Said a girl in a beautiful white gown. She was sitting with a young man who was also eliquintly dressed.
"What is it?" He said.
"It’s midnight," She said in an alarmed tone.
"Yes," he said, like, of course."So it is. But why-"
"Good-bye." Said the girl, cutting him off, and trying to free herself from his hands to turn away.
"No, no wait, please," he said, holding her back."You cant go now its onl-"
"Oh I must, please. Please, I must."
"But why?" he questioned.
"Well, I..I..." she tried to answer. "The Prince! I havent met the Prince." You could tell she was trying to change the subject.
"Prince? But didnt you know that-"
The clock tower stuck again, loudly. This made the girl more jumpy than ever.
"Good-bye!" She turned and ran away down a flight of stairs. The man ran after her, Shouting for her to stay. But she kept running.
All of a sudden. Shadows seemed to come up from the ground. The creatures that the gaurd spoke of, I thought to myself. They were grabbing at the girls dress and ripping it. One even stole a shoe from her foot. The keyblade suddenly appeared in my hand. What do I need this for? I asked myself. Was I suposed to kill them?
I ran towards the creatures, holding the keyblade high above my head, ready to strike. I swung hard at one of the little...things.
"OWW!" I shouted, as I landed face first into the ground. "Wha-?" The creature had flattened itself out and was but a shadow on the ground again. I tood a second shot and knocked one in the head. It vanished into a dark cloud and a pinkish heart floated out of the smoke. I kept attacking them one after the other.

The fight was over in a few mintues. I bent over with my hands on my knees, trying to catch my breath.

Leon: They’ll come at you out of nowhere. And they’ll keep coming at you, as long as you continue to wield the keyblade.

But they werent after me. They were trying to get that girl. I stood up and looked around. Where was she?

"Cinderella!?!? Cinderella?!?! Cinderella!!!" I head shouting, but I didnt see where the voice was coming from...Suddenly, I felt something tugging on my shoelace. I looked down and saw two little mice. They were running around and screaming.
"Where’d Cinderella go?" Shouted one in a little red shirt. I bent down and looked at him. Were these mice actually talking to me? I smiled and cocked my head to the side a little. Ohkay.
"I dont know." I stood up and looked around. A once beautiful coach had turned into a pumpkin and was lying in the middle of the road. Animals were everywhere, looking as confuzed as ever. A glass slipper lay in the middle of the road.
"We have to find her." They little mice were so worried.
"Well what do you expect me to do about that?" My hand was on my forehead and I was trying to think straight.
"Go find her." Said a familiar voice, calmly and coolly from behind me. I turned around to find Axel standing in the shadows. He walked out slowly, watching me. "Are you going to help them or not? Will you help defeat the heartless, or will you walk away like this never happened?"
"I want to help them, but I dont know how. Wait, what is a heartless?" I asked.
"Those little black creatures that you fought, those were heartless. They come in many more shapes and sizes. And they are ruled by someone more evil than you could ever imagine."
"Great," I said, sitting down on the pumpkin. I looked up to find Axel gone. The mice were standing at my feet now, looking up at me, with pleading eyes, to help them.
"Ok," I said,"I will try to help you, but I kind of wrecked my ship, so, I dont know how we are going to get out of here." The mice perked up and began jumping up and down.
"Dont you worry about that, Gus Gus and Jaq can help." The one name Gus Gus pointed at himself and said;
"Yeah, We can do it!"

And they did fix the ship, and fast at that. Both of them climbed up in the co-pilot seat and buckled up. The buckle nearly smothered them, but they were as cheerful as ever.
"I never said you could go with me." My hands were on my hips and I was staring down at them.
"And what if you mess up this ship again?" said Jaq. I was sorry to admit it, but he was right. I was new to this, and there was no telling what could happen.
"You drive, we’ll shoot." said Gus Gus. I started laughing a little because he was spinning in a circle acting like he was shooting everything.
"Ok. For Cinderella." And off we went.

Chatper 7: The Forbidden Mountain

"Why would they take that girl? See seemed innocent enough. Why would heartless want her...?" Thoughts rushed through my mind as we sored through space. My new buddies, Jaq and Gus at my side. They laughed and jumped around with every downed heartless gummiship. I couldnt help but smile at their excitement.
"OH MY GOSH!" I shouted as a huge heartless ship neared us. I swerved to the left hard and lost control of the gummi. We went spinning out of control and, did you guess it, crashed yet again.

Dark woods surrounded us, and the fact that it was night didnt make it any easier to see. We stumbled out of the gummi and examined the damages. They were getting quite bad.
"At least we got some spare parts from those defeated gummis," I said, trying to lighten the mood. "And maybe this time we can put a few more cannons on the right side. They tend to attack most on that side." We stood there laughing at ourselves.
"What’s that?" Gus Gus said, pointing in the direction of a small cottage on a hill.
"Hmmm. I’ll go check it out, you stay here." They would need all the time they could get to fix that gummi ship. I felt sorry that I had ruined it so, but it wasnt really my fault. It was all those heartless. They made me wreck.
I walked into the cottage, I had door had been knocked in, so there wasnt much of a point in knocking. The place looked like it had been torn apart, like someone was looking for something. Chairs and tables were flipped over, and papers were strone across the floor. And a hat lay in the center of a carpet.

Kairi: There’s something about this mustly place. It reminds me of the sercret place back home, where we used to scribble on the walls. Remember?
Sora: Kairi?
Goofy: Sora?

"I dont get it. Am I seeing his memories? Or is that what he is really seeing right now? This doesnt make any sense."
I walked around the room for a minute, making sure that no one was home before giving up and walking away.
*GASP* I heard behind me. Three fairies had flown through the window behind me and were looking around the place stunned. They picked up the hat that I had seen earlier on the carpet and said in unison:
"Maleficent!"
"She’s got Prince Phillip!" Said the one in blue. ’Oh great, another Prince’ I thought to myself.
"...At the Forbidden Mountain," said the one in red. She nearly froze, like it frightened her to even thing about it. I edged closer to them, to make sure that I heard all that they were saying.
"But we cant...we cant go there," stuttered the one in green.
"We can. And we must!" Said the one in red. You could see the courage, yet fright in her eyes. Something very important was happening.
"Can I be of any help?" I asked. Trying to get in on the action and find out what was happening. They all looked at me, scared.
"I think she is working for Maleficent!" Shouted the one in blue and pointed a wand at me and began shooting sparks in my direction. Before the first one got half way to me the keyblade was in my hand, dodging each of the sparks.
"No! I swear I’m not! I just want to help. I am searching for someone." The one dressed in red pushed the wand down and walked to me.
"Maleficent is an evil witch. She put the Princess into a deep sleep, and has now kidnapped the Prince! We must save them." I nodded and followed them out the door.
"See that castle?" she pointed off in the distance."The Prince is being help captive there. We can transport you to the castle gate but then you will have to find your own means of getting to the Prince. We will find you and tell you where he is once we get inside. But I warn you, Maleficent controls the heartless. Their numbers are larger than you can imagine so you will need more strength...and some magic might help."
They waved there wands together and pointed at me. I felt a sensation through my arms. And in my hand was a small keychain.
"Put that on the keyblade and it will become stronger. But thats all that we can help you with." I hooked the keychain onto the keyblade and it sudden changed completely. A dark metal was folded delicatly into gorgeous designs our of a beautiful handle. It was heavier, but I could tell it was stronger. This might just work.
"That is called the Forbidden Rose. But use your magic wisly. You can cast fire. But you are not prepared to use it that often."
The next thing I knew, I was standing in front of a large metal gate. The fairies had shrunk themselves and were flying up into the higher windows. I breathed deeply and moved forward. The gate wasnt closed all the way, so I got on my stomach and rolled underneath it. But my skirt got hung on a metal barb on the end of the gate. I pulled free, but my skirt ripped and my leg was cut underneath it. I mumbled from being in pain, and apparently someone heard me.
A group of armored heartless came running at me. Their metal armor clanking as they ran. I jumped to my feet and summoned the keyblade quickly. I began swinging and hitting the heartless. One hit didnt kill them like it had the little black ones, but I hit a few more times. It took me a while longer, but I defeated them. I sighed with releif as the last one vanished into the air.
I ran farther into the castle, up flights of stairs, fighting heartless all along the way. With each kill I felt stronger and stronger. My my leg was throbbing in pain. I sat down in an empty hallway to catch my breath.

"Giving up that easily?" Said a girl voice from up the stairs a little ways. "Apparently Axel was wrong about you. He said there was something special there. Oh, didnt mean to be rude, my name is Larxene." She was dressed in a long black coat, just like Axel and Zexion. Its no wonder she mentioned Axel’s name, they must be in the same group.
I pushed my head back against the wall as a spike of pain shot through my leg.
"I’m not giving up. Its just- my leg." I moved my hand from over the cut and showed her.
"Thats it?" she said, rather surprised. She laughed a little and put her hands on her hips. "Tell you what. I’ll help you out." She lifted her hand and a flash of light went out and landed on my leg, healing the wound immediatly. I sat in amazment. She smiled, but with a hidden evilance.
"You should know that you never get something for nothing. I only healed you so I could test your true strength." She jumped back and drew daggers from her sleeves. I jumped to my feet and summoned the keyblade to me. The fight had begun.

I ran at her, swinging the keyblade wildly. She just raised her hand and yelled;
"THUNDER!" lightning stuck all around me. I was blown backwards into the wall again.
"What was that?" I said allowed.
"Have you never heard of magic?" She laughed a little as I stood up for a second try. She raised her hand again and bolts of lightning came raining down around me. I dodged them and ran right through to her. I began slashing and knocking her around. She jabbed back with her daggers.
"You learn fast," she said."But you need to learn some new tricks." She began jumping and dodging each and every move that I made. I grew more and more tired also. How was I ever going to beat her?
"FIRE!" I shouted. Embers flew around me, each hitting Larxene straight on. When all the embers were gone, they revealed Larxene, on the floor, her hand on her stomach.
"Ha...maybe there...is something to you. Hard to believe...that Axel was right about something." Next thing I knew she was gone, into a portal of darkness. I caught my breath and took off, running back up the stairs, searching for the tower that held the Prince.

Larxene: "There deffinatly is something about her."
Axel: "Ha. She beat you."
Larxene: "I went easy on her. I didnt want to break her."
Marluxia: "Even so, if she ever tracks down the wielder of the keyblade, I think he will be of very much importance."
Axel: "How so?"
Marluxia: "I have learned that the wielder of the keyblade has great power. Many people are after him. I think we should try to get to him first."

"He’s this way," said one of the fairies, flying twords me. They turned around and pointed to a door with a large lock on it.
"How do you expect me to get to him?" I couldnt just magically pick locks.
But one of the fairies pointed to the keyblade. I looked down at it, surprised. I held the key out in front of me and a shinning ray of light shot out of the tip of the keyblade and into the center of the lock. The lock clicked, and then fell to the floor. I ran into the room and froze.

A dark scary figure stood in front of me. She glared down at me.
"Well well. What do we have here?" she said coldly. "A want-to-be hero, come to save the day." I walked back a step and carefully looked around the room with just my eyes. The Prince was chained to one of the walls, trying to run at the witch, with no success. The little fairies were trying to sneek around the wall to get to him.
"What are you doing with the Prince? Let him go!" I clinched my hands into fist.
She held a staff out before me and waved her hand above it. Swirling green smoke spun within it, and revealed a image, of a beautiful Princess, asleep. And in the background, I could barely make out the face of...Cinderella!
"Behold," she held the staff out twords me,"the Princess Aurora. One of seven beautiful Princesses, that will soon be mine!"
"Free her! And Cinderella too!"
"How do you know about her!?!" She pulled the staff away quickly and glared at me. "This is much bigger than you. You have no idea what you have gotten into. But I have no time for you. I must stop that wretched keyblade wielder before he ruins my plan. But first..." She turned around and faced the Prince.
"What’s a hundred years, to a step-fast heart?" She waved her staff before him and he drifted off to sleep. She flung her cape around her and cansihed, without a trace.
"Nooo!" Shouted the fairies, running to the Prince.
"Did she..."
"Luckly, he is just asleep," answered the blue fairy. "But you must go at once! Save Aurora, and the other people who might be in danger because of Maleficent!"
I nodded to them and took off running back down the tower stairs, back to where the gummiship had crash-landed. I ran aboard the gummi and seated my self in the pilot seat.
"Is she ready to fly?" I asked, while pressing buttons to start the ship.
"Yes Captian!" Shouted Jaq, saluting me. I laughed a little and held the wheel.
"They have another girl," I said solomly. "She said that there are after seven in all. We have to get to the keyblade wielder before she does!"

Chapter 8: Another Member

Riku: "So. Kairi’s like a lifeless puppet now?"
Maleficent: "Precisely."
Riku: "And her heart was..."
Maleficent: "Taken by the heartless, no doubt."
Riku: "Tell me. What can I do?"
Maleficent: "There are seven maidens of the purest heart. We call them the Princesses of Heart. Gatherthem together and a door will open to the heart of all worlds. Within lies untold wisdom. There you will surely find a way to recomver Kairi’s heart. Now, I will grant you a marvelous gift. The power to control the Heartless!"
Riku: "Soon Kairi, soon."

"No Riku..."
"You ok Ame?" I looked over at the little mice. They were jumping across buttons just as fast as they could. I smiled and nodded.
"Yeah. But we need to move faster, the heartless are going to get stronger, and they are after more princesses."
"How do you know that?" I really didnt want to answer that. Because, I really didnt know how to answer it. I think some of the visions came from Sora, because my heart was with him. And I guess the others came from my actual body.
"I just do..." I said, looking back out the window, driving the gummiship. "So? Are there any worlds close to us? Let’s try landing somewhere on purpose this time." I smiled, a kind of cheesey smile and we all laughed.
I watched as they jumped across more buttons and made an image apear on the window before me.
"Looks like that is the closest place." I said, pointing at a spot on the screen. They both nodded in agreement and began jumping across more buttons.
"That would be Halloween Town." said Jaq.
"Sounds great!" I said. "I think I remember Halloween, from when I was younger..." I zoned out for a moment...

We landed gracefully in a graveyard in Halloween Town. I walked out of the gummi ship and looked around.
"He’s here," I said, nearly jumping for joy. "We’ve found him! Oh."
"You cant just barge into a world dressed like that. People have been getting suspicious. Dont worry. We fixed this up for you." They held out a costume, that I quickly changed into. I walked around like I was modeling it for them. We all laughed.
"It’s a perfect fit," I said, turning to walk away again.
"WAIT!" They yelled behind me. "Sora wont recognize you, you cant just run up to him. Stay calm."
I thought back in my mind.
"I am different from her in one way." I let my hair down out of the rubber band. It hung loosely down to my waist. The mice pulled out a pair of scissors that they had used when making my costume. I took them and cut off my hair. I handed back the scissors and held the hair in my hand. It seemed I was loosing something that made me different from her. But I didnt need to be different.
"Fire." I said softly. They hair burned up in my hand and left a distinct smell in the air.
"We put a cloaking device on the ship. Just remember where we are right now." I nodded.
"If I dont come back, then I probably found him. Just take the ship and go back to your world. Everything should be better soon." I turned and walked out of the graveyard.

"Leave me alone heartless!!!" I was running, swinging the keyblade in all directions, tearing the heartless apart just as soon as they spawned. "I have to get to Sora!!! I know he is here!"
"Getting beat by a few scrawny heartless are we?"
"Mind your own business," I yelled, without turning around to see who the voice belonged to.
"Well. Ohkay. I was just going to offer you a little help." He chuckled a little. It was obnoxious, to say the least.
"You dont get something for nothing. I learned that the hard way." I was laughing, but being kind of a smartelic.
"Learn that from your mom?" He laughed extremly loud this time. "Or have you been talking to Larxene?" He cut in front of me and stopped the keyblade, mid swing.
"Names Luxord." He held out a hand to shake mine.
"Dont care!" I said, pushing him aside."I am kind of busy, in case you didnt notice." He laughed and pushed me back a ways.
"What are you-?" He put up his hand and cards appeared and began slicing away at all of the heartless, until everyone of them was gone.
I crossed my arms and leaned back a bit.
"What do you want?" I asked, annoyed.
"To know why you have a heart. But no one knows that, so let’s cut straight to the part where we fight."
"I expected as much." I took my fighting stance and was all set. "Let’s get this over with already. I have more important things to be doing."
"Oh, dont worry about that. I will stop time right here. If you win, you can start back where you left off. If you loose, you give me that heart of yours."
Was this some kind of joke? He raised his hand and everything suddenly froze. Nothing moved anymore, there wasnt even so much as a breeze around us.
"Ready?" He jumped back and his cards lined up around him.
"As ready as I’ll ever be."

Cards went flying everywhere. Dice appeared and began bouncing around everywhere. Luxord would disappear behind a card and reappear behind a different one. It was all a big game. I kept attacking the wrong cards.
"Come on Ame! You’ve got to do better than that!"
"Maybe if you could quite hiding behind your little cards this would be a more fair fight.! FIRE!" I shouted. And all the cards burst into flames.
"AHHHH!" Shouted Luxord. "My cards!" He glared at me and then raised both of his arms. Cards appeared everywhere and a group of them circled around him. I ran at the card fort ready to attack. It just stood there. I sliced right through the middle of the cards and watched it fall apart in the middle.
"Ha." he said."Your not as bad as I thought. Here you go." He started time again, and threw a keychain at me. He walked back off through a black portal.

"Memories Wings." I said. "Thats what this keyblade is named."
"Have you used it yet?"
"No. I was too busy trying to find Sora. But heartless kept coming at me out of nowhere. I couldnt find him and I dont think he is in this world anymore. But I did learn something. They tried to put hearts inside the heartless, but something went terrible wrong. The heartless went crazy and couldnt be controlled. So...what happens to the heart when a person is turned into a heartless? It cant just vanish...can it?"
"We dont know. But we have another world that appeared on the map. And there is a Princess of Heart there."
I sat down in the pilot seat and looked at the map.
"The Dwarves Cottage. Let’s go save that Princess!"