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Summary: A sinister and manipulative sorcerer, Dariek Cahir, had become bored of his own world. He decided to use the dark magic that was considered forbidden there, and traveled to others. Along the way, he met some people he thought were interesting, including a young woman named Erica Roberts, who he has use for.

 

Erica woke up in a world called Traverse Town. Many memories of hers include what happened to her, and the Kingdom Hearts games (including anything that hints about them) aren't able to surface. Her own world, Earth, is so far away and unknown to most she would meet. Will Sora and friends be able to help her remember? As Erica, Sora, Donald, Goofy, and others travel from world to world and fight the Heartless together, Riku discovers the darkness and becomes desperate to find a way to return Kairi's heart back to her. And a small group of Nobodies in Organization XIII discovers there's more to Dariek than he's allowed himself to speak about.

 

Author's Note: As of now, this is partially alternate universe. The important parts to the original lore to the first Kingdom Hearts game will stay basically the same, but there will be slight to major changes that differ from it.  Some minor characters will have bigger roles. Three out of my four own reoccurring characters throughout the first arc of this series will interact a lot with Sora, Donald, Goofy and Organization XIII.  My fourth won't be featured until much later, during the second story arc.  So much has been thought of, and planned. I think I have at least 3 pages of ideas saved in a separate word processor file. That list is only going to grow, and grow overtime. xD  There's no denying how excited I get about this story at times, as it develops.  I hope those who are reading this enjoy it as well. ^_^

 

Prologue: Final Game Board Placement

 

A calm and content grin appeared on Dariek’s face, as he examined the painted figurine he held.  Beautiful.  Just beautiful... He already knew he would visualize her well enough, before putting forth the bit of concentrated effort in materializing the new game piece in his hands. It wasn’t hard to do the task. Minutes ago, he had used his power to send the young woman away. Now, she was where he precisely wanted her to be. He already knew and planned on what would happen, and where the interesting encounters and interactions would first take place, all thanks to what he had observed through her memories, and more.

 

It was easy to remember Erica Roberts smiling; the tiny detail of her small pink lips, the corners upturned to match the friendliness in her brown eyes. He could still clearly remember her appearance, as well as her personality. Erica had much more of a social life than Dariek ever had. She would go out with some friends she had introduced to him once. In character, she was outgoing, but reserved at times. She was smart, kind, caring, helpful, and often put others before herself. 

 

Dariek knew she had the qualities he’d rather not have, along with having a social life. He took no interest in knowing many people. The more that knew about him, the less time he would have to himself, to accomplish his goals. It was to his benefit to have chosen her to be the next new addition to the game. In almost every way, she was the opposite of himself.

 

In regards to Erica having the trait of easily being friends around those she had met,  Dariek never had any reason to doubt about the chosen Keyblader getting along with her well. Erica was a very good asset he had encountered, from her world he had found three months ago. She knew a lot! She knew about Maleficent, and at least some of the members of the Organization. She knew of the mouse king and his trusted mage and knight, as well as the boy who would wield a tool and weapon known as the Keyblade. Erica already knew about some of the worlds he had been to, such as the jungle where gorillas and the man who walked like them called home, Agrabah, Neverland, Atlantica, and the Colosseum (in which he once sat in the audience, to watch a gladiator tournament).  Her knowledge in combination with my own will be useful to me, later on...

 

All of what he knew about Erica as a person, at least a gist of her firmly focused on in his mind, were needed to make the new figurine he was very fond of.

 

One of the most interesting and ironic things about what Dariek had learned about her was the fact that she saw all of those worlds and individuals as fictional, from a complex “electronic game of moving pictures,” so she had first described to him. He never even heard of video games before meeting this young woman. Through watching her play some of this game series, he found out she knew of Maleficent, King Mickey, and the others came from, as just characters. She knew them from a series of those games, called Kingdom Hearts. 

 

Dariek grinned, rotating his new figurine once more, in both hands. This game piece accurately looked like Erica Roberts. That was what he wanted and intended for this game piece to be.

 

He placed his new game piece next to Sora‘s, in the game board‘s area he set up to look like a flat map area of a small world, called Traverse Town.

 

“Your abilities are certainly unique. Unlike anything else I’ve seen...”

 

Dariek shrugged in nonchalance, as he looked to the young man in the black cloak, gloves, and shoes. Half of his face was concealed by those long blue bangs as usual, as the hint of awe in his tone was heard clearly. “So I’ve been told,” Dariek responded to Zexion. It was a bit flattering to know that the Organization was impressed by his power. Nice to know that I’m appreciated here... Your Superior doesn’t seem to care much, but it doesn’t matter! What does, is keeping to the deal I’ve made to the master of this castle, and making sure he’s happy and in anticipation of his potential puppet. As long as my chosen ones don’t get in the way, then both of us are content. Our alliance won’t be broken.

 

Dancing around egg shells every now and then while here with Zexion and the other Organization members stationed inside Castle Oblivion wasn’t much of a challenge for him to do. As long as he remembered about each one correctly, he would be able to predict of where they go, and what they do. For human-like beings with no hearts, their personalities and appearances were clearly different. He knew most of the Nobodies were suspicious and curious about him. A few were more so than others, and he was certain that he could relax at that. He knowingly had his intricate plans in the grand scheme of things well thought out.  Too much suspicion and curiosity among the entire Organization would have been a series of obstacles. They’d only want to use Erica and his own creation differently from the way he wanted them used, or have no use for them at all.

 

Zexion looked at the game board set up, before looking back to him. “Is this supposed to be a representation of where the Keyblade Wielder and Erica are now?”

 

“Sora,” Dariek corrected. “That’s his name.”

 

A nod came from this Nobody, who had one of Dariek’s thick tomes under one of his arms. “After reading through some of your books of spells...” Dariek saw half of the small smirk on Zexion’s face. “I’m not surprised that you would only let a select few learn them. While Naminé simply draws, your own methods with altering and removing memories are much closer in contact. It’s further complicated.”

 

The sorcerer, not much older than Zexion, took seat in a dark wooden chair, nearby where the game board and figurines were set up. “We wouldn’t want someone like Larxene getting involved with them. She’s not I would say is capable of preventing herself from going too far with such magic.”

 

Zexion was one of the most curious in the Organization he had met, who took deep interest into what Dariek did. After some consideration, he wasn’t worried about him overseeing some of his work.

 

A soft chuckle emitted from his associate. “That’s precisely who I was referring to.”

 

Dariek commented no further, as he mentally noted to himself for the second time on how similarly they thought of each other. Larxene was... What he noticed in observing the blonde female’s mannerisms was the likely possibility of her abusing such power too much. Her motives were too up front. She seemed to care little for stealth, and subtleties. Teaching her anything would surely lead to his own downfall, since she’s had far too much enjoyment in putting almost everyone else down around her.

 

He calmly proceeded to answer Zexion’s question. “I’ve already transferred Erica over to where he’ll be.” He hovered a hand over where he placed the Sora and Erica figurines. Not too far away was where he placed the rabbit, in which he had created himself. “This area here, Zexion, is Traverse Town. The drawn and colored illustrations on the board here represent a generalization of the homes and shops in the first district.” 

 

“She’s much older than Sora,” Zexion assessed. “I cannot imagine her becoming a love interest for him.”

 

Dariek shook his head in amusement. He almost laughed at the stupid and ridiculous thing he said, of how terribly short lived the very idea would be. “That’s not at all what I had in mind... I thought Naminé was supposed to capture his heart. That is the plan in progress, isn’t it?”

 

Zexion looked just as mildly amused.  “That it is, yes... I didn’t want to assume you had that arrangement in mind, yet, it is good to be reassured of it.” He grinned, and brought his hand under his chin. “But I don’t understand what your intent is, for removing her memories and having her join alongside the hero of light.”

 

Dariek chose his words carefully.  He didn’t want to give too much away in explaining his strategy. “I did not remove her memories. I simply suppressed a number of them.” Which memories I’ve suppressed and why is only for me to know. I don’t think you’re going to be around long enough to figure this out for yourself. “There are two reasons why...” He held up his index finger. “After meeting and getting to know her a little in person, I found out that she’s a very good candidate in being a valuable companion to the kid.” Promptly, his middle finger rose to join his index. “Depending on the number of items I’ve enchanted and placed out there for her to find, in the different worlds, she will also be valuable to our cause...” He leaned forward in his chair, smiling at his intelligent and curious associate. “My power is capable of weakening and destroying Heartless. Remember?”

 

Zexion’s eye that wasn’t obscured from view had widened. A soft gasp came from him. It took him a moment to realize how what Dariek had in mind, on this game he had started. “You’re giving her the power to destroy Heartless... You have the ability to harness light? Not just darkness?”

 

The Nobody‘s reply caused Dariek to smirk in interest. He catches on quick. “Correct.” He predicted how Zexion would conclude on the information explained to him, and kept that to himself. “I think she’ll do well...”

 

“Are you saying we could have two heroes of light?” Indeed, it was easy to picture the wheels in Zexion’s mind. He pointed to the small orange-tan and white colored rabbit figurine Dariek had crafted, with the same fashion he created the figurine of Erica. “And this is...?”

 

“He’s one more companion, to support them. I created him, primarily for Erica.” Dariek’s smirk lingered. “Only, he no longer knows me, his creator. He doesn’t have a memory of ever being here.”

 

“Does Marluxia know about all this?” 

 

Oh, I should be very careful about how much I’ll tell this guy. “Of course he does. We’ve discussed everything from the beginning.”  Well, almost everything. There were some details he left out on purpose.  Dariek wasn’t keen on sharing with any of the Organization on what Erica and himself both knew altogether. That would mean having no control over what he started. He also didn’t want to have too much interference into the fates of the heroes and villains in this fascinating universe.

 

Zexion was reminding him of how curious he was, when he was younger. This Nobody paused to think a moment more, his gaze lowering towards his figurines again, on his custom game board on the table. “...You have a strangely interesting way of planning this out, Dariek.”

 

Dariek’s brow rose a little, as he continued to observe him. “Your opinion is noted. What about this is strange to you?”  Is it because I simply intended to only have the rabbit not remember me or Castle Oblivion? If I had been as inquisitive boy again, I’d be asking that.  Of course I would!

 

Again, to his amusement, Zexion had asked about what Dariek knew he had not been transparently clear on. He made eye contact with Dariek. “If you had decided for your creation, was to have its memories of you and Oblivion removed... then why do you only suppress Erica’s memories?”

 

It took a moment for the clever sorcerer to tell him a tolerable enough answer. “As she’ll eventually help Sora up the point of returning home to us, I won’t have to do much to remind her of who I am, along with the few of us she was able to see.” That was the vague and most basic explanation he could give. Hiding or revealing too much would both lead to too many risks Dariek did not want to face. Why bother erasing all her memories of me and all she knows about this universe? I’ll want to see her reaction, when she returns here with Sora and friends, of her own will. After all, this would just make it more fun...

 

“It appears you know what you’re doing,” replied Zexion. There was no doubt or suspicion coming from him, but there was still something else. Dariek could see in his expression that he had another thing to ask. “Will Naminé be required to change her heart? It has already been agreed and decided, to have her change Sora’s.”

 

Dariek’s confidence was unwavering as he explained the following. “Marluxia’s witch won’t be over-worked. That won’t be necessary. I brought Erica here. I used my magic on her mind, in ways so our heroes of light won’t suspect anything. Not even Maleficent will be able to know of our plans. And it will be my responsibility to do the final revisions.” It wasn’t ever going to be that big of a deal, to do all the work on her himself. He had already thought about it, long before the final decisions had been made between Marluxia, Larxene, and himself. 

 

Maleficent was someone he saw as a rival; competition. She addressed herself as the Mistress of all Evil, didn’t she? To him, that was arrogant and stupid of her to ever want to say that out loud to anyone. He wanted to see her fail and be outplayed. He also preferred to being behind the scenes and not attracting her attention.

 

To what he could remember, he did not see any objection from Axel on this decision to assist in the Oblivion mission. Marluxia had already decided to tell everyone else. Although, for some reason, he had forgotten to tell Zexion about this.

 

“I wanted to hear about your plans, directly from you. I wanted to know what exactly you’ve offered us.” Zexion placed the tome he had been borrowing on the shelf, where the gap in the middle had been. “By now, the Superior probably has recieved word of this, from Lexaeus.”

 

Ah. So that’s why you weren’t present at the last meeting.

 

“I’ve come to understand how organized and orderly you are,” Dariek said. He knew of the pecking order. He knew Zexion had the number six rank. He knew who this Superior was. He knew who a lot of who was on the side of light, and of the many who were on the side of dark. Before he snatched his selected pawn of interest and brought her to the downstairs area of his quarters inside Castle Oblivion, he made sure to do all the research he could. “No fooling around here...” He moved from his chair to stand. “I wouldn’t have been able to get any work done if it Organization XIII wasn’t as Marluxia had said and shown.” Of course, Zexion would already have figured this out. Working all on my own wouldn’t have been as fun. And getting all of Erica’s memories about these worlds and me suppressed, without any assistance, would have been too difficult.

 

“I used to be skeptical of you," Zexion admitted. “It was simply because you were an outsider. You weren’t a number, and you have a heart... Now, I’ve realized how you and I operate and think on similar terms. I probably wouldn’t have planned as thoroughly.” He picked up the figurines of Sora and Erica, showing them to Dariek. “You’ve proved your loyalty to the Organization, Dariek. You support our cause. And, your methodical means of doing things are impressive.” He smirked, as he put them back where Dariek had placed them. “I look forward to seeing the outcome of all the planning, and preparation.”

 

As do I, Zexion. Very much so. Any moment now... “It’s already started. Our heroes will meet, or already have met.” Dariek stepped back, and waved down one of his arms to the side. Shimmering into view beside him was a floating mirror. Instead of Zexion’s reflection, he would see both Erica and Sora placed and propped up against the side of one of Traverse’s townhouses, unconscious.  Oh, good. I haven’t missed anything. “You’re welcome to stay and watch.”  

 

As Dariek had guessed, the Nobody couldn’t resist as he stared straight at the floating mirror. “For a while.” He picked up the other chair in the other room. “I will eventually have to return to my own tasks, eventually. But, observation of how Erica and Sora meet shall prove something worthwhile to report. Anything that we see here will be reported to Lexaeus.”

 

Dariek nodded, and turned his attention towards the two heroes of light; the Keyblade’s chosen one, and his own chosen one. As they looked to be sleeping at the moment, up against the townhouse wall outdoors, he had a hunch that they would wake up soon. 

 

As he looked at them through the round mirror-shaped, enchanted window levitating in mid-air, he privately assessed about Zexion. He’s not terrible company. If anyone wants to observe and know of my progress this much, then I’d rather allow for Zexion or Marluxia to do it. No one else.

 

Larxene’s presence annoyed Dariek. He saw her as an irritating nuisance. He didn’t like her attitude, and how nosy she sometimes was. She tended to behave childishly at times. He remembered first reading about her enjoyment putting down others, in Erica’s world. Larxene was only going to continue to be annoy him further. She already had been such a pest to him once, before she did him that favor he asked her to do; to bring Dariek a rose from Marluxia’s garden.

 

Vexen, and Lexaeus weren’t going to be much trouble for him. As Vexen was a self-proclaimed scientist, he seemed to be too involved in his own projects. Lexaeus was the messenger, who never spoke to Dariek.  Not yet at least, he thought.  

 

Dariek had been very reserved and cautious around Axel, alone during the first night the red spiky haired Nobody was inside Castle Oblivion. He had been that way since he had found out on what Erica had thought of him, in her mind; what she knew about him.  Axel was the Nobody who would eventually go a bit soft.  The spiky redhead, ranked eighth in the Organization, may have currently been indifferent around what Dariek had done, not long after the castle grounds. However, Dariek wouldn’t have been pleased at all if Axel had been anywhere near her in his quarters, downstairs.

 

Marluxia didn’t trust Axel either, for it wasn’t long ago when he had arrived to Castle Oblivion.

 

They did not really encounter each other though. Sure, Erica saw him, but it’s not like she knew where we were at the time...

Dariek’s plans had worked out so far. Erica wasn’t going to start remembering who Axel was, if he decided to locate and go see her for any reason at all. He was able to do what he wanted, and the game was about to start. He was looking forward to her discovery of his first of few gifts, spread out in Traverse Town. The first, he had already given her, not long after she had gone into a deep sleep. Two more to find. She’ll recognize them easily. 

 

With the acknowledgment that he was still very much in control of his agenda, he simply stopped thinking about Axel. Now was the time for King Mickey’s dog to come around, and wake up the heroes of light.

Edited by Ancapikitty

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Oh wow, I'm liking this reimagining of the first Kingdom Hearts! I like how you added new characters into the mix and how you organically embedded them into the already established KH Universe! Dariek seems like quite the interesting villain, and I like that he's a methodical type, like Zexion! It seems that the two of them would get along quite well! I also love the fact that you began the story at Castle Oblivion with this dialogue between Dariek and Zexion! It provides an awesome alternate view on things! Great work!

 

I'm glad to see you're already working on a story, newcomer Ancapikitty! I look forward to reading more! :D

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Oh wow, I'm liking this reimagining of the first Kingdom Hearts! I like how you added new characters into the mix and how you organically embedded them into the already established KH Universe! Dariek seems like quite the interesting villain, and I like that he's a methodical type, like Zexion! It seems that the two of them would get along quite well! I also love the fact that you began the story at Castle Oblivion with this dialogue between Dariek and Zexion! It provides an awesome alternate view on things! Great work!

 

I'm glad to see you're already working on a story, newcomer Ancapikitty! I look forward to reading more! :D

 

Re-imagining? Yeah, that would be about right!  I can easily imagine Zexion and Dariek being buddy-buddy schemers--to an extent. As you may have noticed, Dariek is prickly about anyone knowing too much about him. He also doesn't want anyone knowing much about his own twisted agendas. 

 

I already thought of how a certain plot point would turn out differently. The more Zexion looks into Dariek's books of spells, the trickier he might be to kill.  When that time comes for Axel to eventually dispose of him during the middle of the Chain of Memories arc, he might actually have to fight Zexion himself. It's much too soon to be sure of Repliku's fate at that point, but I'm liking the idea of an Axel VS Zexion battle!

 

Chapter 1 will be posted later this week, if not tomorrow.  :biggrin: 

Edited by Ancapikitty

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Really enjoyed that. Looking forward to reading more. Interesting characters, I'm curious to see what their relation is to the other characters and events.

 

Other than a couple of grammatical errors that threw me off, this is really good stuff!

Keep it up. :)

 

Also I did mention it in your introduction thread and as I predicted, your story has been featured on KH13 community Twitter. :)

Good start!

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Re-imagining? Yeah, that would be about right!  I can easily imagine Zexion and Dariek being buddy-buddy schemers--to an extent. As you may have noticed, Dariek is prickly about anyone knowing too much about him. He also doesn't want anyone knowing much about his own twisted agendas. 

 

I already thought of how a certain plot point would turn out differently. The more Zexion looks into Dariek's books of spells, the trickier he might be to kill.  When that time comes for Axel to eventually dispose of him during the middle of the Chain of Memories arc, he might actually have to fight Zexion himself. It's much too soon to be sure of Repliku's fate at that point, but I'm liking the idea of an Axel VS Zexion battle!

 

Chapter 1 will be posted later this week, if not tomorrow.  :biggrin: 

 

Yeah, I like that his character has malice, but at the same time, he makes sure to cover his tracks and be cautious. Dariek isn't your run of the mill villain, and I like that about him! :D

 

Oh wow, sweet, that's a pretty awesome idea you got there! It's like you structure the way you're gonna make the chapter go, eh? That's awesome! :)

 

Sweet, I'll be looking forward to the next chapter! :D

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Flipmode: I'm glad you like!  I saw the KH13 community twitter feature this story. So humbling and exciting! I liked and retweeted on my account as soon as I noticed it!  :biggrin: Thanks for the encouragement. Yeah, I intend to keep going on this story. I like how I've been writing the characters, and the suspense, the drama... 

 

Transcendent Key: I think I will leave the link later on, to one of the blog entries of mine that is a behind-the-scenes backstory as to how Dariek came to be. ^_^ Ohh yes, he does get to be quite malicious... and sociopathic. More and more, I'm starting to like Zexion and Dariek interacting with each other every now and then. One of my KHUX friends on Discord first brought this up, and I'm glad he did. 

 

I type up the good ideas down and add them to the list as soon as they come to mind. I have ideas about Marluxia and Axel, for later, and I just added the one I mentioned about Axel and Zexion.

 

The first chunk of chapter 4 is written, and I intend to add more tomorrow. For now, here's...

 

post-76414-0-48290100-1521687357_thumb.png

 

 

Chapter 1: Weirdness and Unease

 

 

The memory will pass. Probably today...

 

Axel walked through one of the upper floors of Oblivion, intending to forget about the look Erica had, just before Dariek had used his magic to subdue her. The elegant decor became something he was indifferent about, for he already had given himself the tour of the entire castle.  

 

So, she was afraid of what was happening, and the first one she happened to look at was me. So what? Big deal. 

 

He knew he was being stupid and foolish. Perhaps he shouldn’t have started thinking about this at all. He should have never entertained it. If he didn’t, then he wouldn’t have anything to be curious about. It wasn’t that the encounter had truly bothered him.  Nobodies were incapable of having genuine emotions. 

 

For what other reason could she have gaped at me? Unless she was hoping I’d step in, and...

 

Axel stopped walking, and rolled his eyes. “And what? Rescue her?” Why would I ever do that? He shook his head and sighed. If that had been the reason why she gave him that look so quickly, then she obviously had no idea what he was! Nobodies weren’t to be counted on. They didn’t care about the Somebodies, who had hearts. Those who had hearts were nothing but fodder for the Heartless now.

 

Why would he ever want to help a Somebody, especially one he didn’t know much about? He knew was her name was, what she looked like, and the fact that she was important to Marluxia and Dariek’s plans, for some reason. No one had given him the whole story about her yet.

 

The cold look in Dariek’s maroon colored eyes didn’t scare him. The sorcerer’s silent warning sent to stay back and not interfere didn’t intimidate him a bit, as the guy worked his power, sending thin streams of dark smoke up Erica’s nose. Her body slacked, and then went limp as strands of her light brown hair moved over part of her face.  Her darker colored eyes no longer focused on Axel, and closed. Yeah, that had been a little weird to see. If this guy had worn the same hooded cloak attire everyone else around here did, then Dariek would have been easily mistaken as someone new among their ranks.  He could have been confused for someone else new he never met, apart from Xion in Organization XIII. He seemed to have a steady hold over the darkness... If the traitors had wanted to, they could have easily had him be incognito among everyone else who had been assigned to Oblivion.

 

Dariek seems fickle about what he does though... Whatever. He’s not top priority.

 

Axel had to focus on his mission. He was assigned to find whoever had plans to usurp Xemnas. As part of this mission, he figured it would be a good idea to keep an eye on how Marluxia and Dariek’s plans were, and how they progressed. Erica, and especially Sora, were two Somebodies the Organization were interested in, and in no way did Axel want to deliberately ruin anything. Saïx would not at all be pleased if he did. He knew the guy well enough to know that he always kept serious, whenever it came to any order that was given by the Superior, or from a member who had a higher rank than his.

 

Maybe it’s because I’m just not used to seeing Somebodies in here. It’s something new, but it’s not like I can feel anything about it. 

 

His most primary focus was succeeding in his mission, so he could go back to being with Roxas afterward.  What an interesting first day that was... Would Roxas have found it weird as to what happened then? Would he have found it funny?  Axel shrugged. He wouldn’t know until after he had accomplished everything that was required for him to do. Saïx had specifically given him the orders. He was also to learn more on what Dariek was about as well.

 

If Dariek intends to join this resistance, then I’ll eventually have little choice but to get closer to him. Right?  

 

Axel didn’t suspect much from the Organization’s new ally, not yet at least. As he dismissed the memory of Dariek not wanting him to come close towards Erica at all, he didn’t really know  about much about this guy that came off as strange, other than it being not the norm for any outsiders to come along, and prove themselves worthy in helping them out. Trust wasn’t easy built, so the sorcerer must have done something really impressive to prove his loyalty Marluxia.  

 

That might be why Saïx also asked me to make sure about him. 

 

“Hmn... I should visit him again later," Axel suggested to himself.  As for Erica, that Dariek had brought to Castle Oblivion, wherever she came from... Well, that was another mystery, wasn’t it? Although, he already had confirmed that Erica wasn’t really anyone for him to worry about. Whatever the reason was for her to be here, he was certain he’d know more information on her eventually. 

 

He thought no further about what he witnessed yesterday, and decided to maybe tell Roxas about it as a laughable story.

 

Marluxia and Dariek were definitely two Axel had thought to observe, while pretending to work with them. He knew his orders, and what he was set on doing. Now that his focus was clear and as sharp as one of his Chakrams could ever be, he changed direction, and began to seek out Larxene or Marluxia. It didn’t matter on which of the two he’d find first, but he did notice Larxene hanging around Marluxia quite a bit since yesterday afternoon. She had been in the head of Oblivion’s presence more than their newer ally. This was after the short encounter with Dariek and Erica had happened. Having a chat with her was something he considered to do today. 

 

As long as he’d act cool and not give himself away while talking to them, without drawing any suspicion, he’d be well on his way to joining and infiltrating within the resistance.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Erica moved and stirred as she felt something wet on her cheek.  Her vision blurred a moment, as she realized she had been asleep.  What...?  She didn’t remember taking a nap, and she didn’t remember seeing a dog that looked strangely familiar. This dog must have been the one that woke her up. Whose dog is that, Erica wondered.  She couldn’t be sure on who it belonged to.  The friendly animal had a yellow fur coat, with thin black floppy ears. It wore a somewhat loose green collar. She saw the skinny black tail wagging as it stood on all fours and started moving away from her. The eyes were much bigger than they would normally be on any dog!  Erica liked dogs, and she began to wonder if this one had been experimented on. There were no bruises or scars visibly seen on its body, but was it used to having eyes that looked much bigger than its own mind? Was that why this creature didn’t whimper or wince in pain as it moved? Erica noticed a big bump located at the top of the dog’s head, but it didn’t look like he was in any pain at all.

 

The dog looked... like it came straight out of a cartoon. Yeah. That was the best way she could describe this animal as; a freakishly cute cartoon-like mutant of a dog. Who did this pet belong to?  Who was the owner? 

 

Why did I think I knew about this dog?

 

Erica frowned a bit in confusion, as the weird looking and friendly pet moved a few steps away from her. She noticed someone that looked like a kid. This boy, that looked to be twelve or thirteen to her propped up against the wall of the building she moved away from. His hair was spiky, and not very well brushed. He was breathing very softly, as he was deeply asleep.  Not for long though, as the mutant dog gave him a big wet lick on his cheek. Did it belong to the kid, or someone else?

 

Erica shifted to sit up straight as she had watched what had just happened. She felt the palms of her hands touch solid ground. Wait. I don’t remember ever taking a nap today!

 

The boy groaned groggily as his blue eyes blinked open. Erica found herself standing up quickly, and looking around.  There was a wooded fence wall to her left, with what looked like a little red graffiti mark on it; three hearts connected within a near perfectly round circle lines. There was a three story tall town house building they were next to, but she couldn’t begin to guess where she was.

 

Where the hell...? Where was she? This wasn’t anywhere near her neighborhood, or county she lived in! What had happened? Worry had set in as she heard a young voice say, “What a dream...” She looked back to the boy and the cartoon looking dog, in which put both forepaws on his chest. The boy jumped a bit, wide awake now.  “This isn't a dream!”

 

“I guess it isn’t," Erica said, nervously.  Or could it be? ...No, I don’t really have dreams with dogs that look like they come out of animated shows. The way the boy looked, wearing yellow and black sneakers that looked way too big for any kid he, and the strange clothes he wore... He somehow looked familiar.  Yet, it was if someone had put a large road block in the middle of her thoughts.  “Do I...know you?” It feels like I sort of do, but I can’t be sure... Why?

 

The boy looked up to her and the pet dog tilted its head up at her. They looked both bewildered and uncertain about her question. “I--No. I don’t think so.”

 

“I guess not then.” Erica was bothered by it. First, she thought she recognized the dog. Then, she thought she recognized the boy it had woken up.  She was wrong on both counts. “Is that your dog?”  

 

“No. I’m not sure who he belongs to,” replied the boy as he moved with ease to stand up. His response was almost immediate. He looked to the dog as it looked back at him, wagging its tail, and panted. Then it turned around to scamper off. “Hey, wait!”

 

“Strange looking dog,” Erica sighed. “Must be going back to whoever the owner is...” She saw the dog run off out of sight for a moment, and then looked back to the boy, who started to look around. He seemed so taken by surprise, and possibly overwhelmed. To Erica, it seemed like he didn’t know where he was at all.

 

“Where are we? ...Oh, boy...” His reaction was clear enough to have her guess that he had never been in this place of town houses. He looked and sounded so overwhelmed at that moment.  Leaving him alone wouldn’t be right, not to her.

 

Erica gently touched his shoulder, and and managed to calm herself. “Hey. Take in some deep breaths, alright?”

 

He looked to her, nodded, and inhaled. He breathed out. He did this one more time, and that was all it took for him. His shoulder muscles relaxed as he smiled a little at her. “I’m okay. Feeling a bit better now. Thanks.”

 

Erica was a bit surprised as to how he was quick to bring himself together. That feeling soon changed to relief as she returned her hand to her side. “I don’t know what’s going on, or where we are, but I won’t let anything bad happen to you.”  

 

“Thanks. I would do the same for you.” His grateful expression lingered. He seemed like a really nice kid. “What’s your name? I’m Sora.”

 

“I’m Erica.” A plan was starting to form in her mind. “Where do you live?  If you tell me your address, I could find it online. I have my phone with me.”

 

Sora looked confused. “Online? Your phone?” He shrugged. “What does all of that mean?”

 

Erica blinked, surprised about him again. “Do you know what a cell phone is?”  He looks old enough to have one of his own.

 

“No.” He shook his head. The kid certainly looked no less confused.

 

Huh? Really? “Your parents never gave you one?  Are they strict?” Most of the boys and girls his age in her home county would be carrying one around. 

 

“No one I know has heard about them.” One of his brows rose slightly over the other, as he blinked. “Hey. Are you from another world, Erica?” He was looking at her very curiously now, and seemed to notice for the first time that her clothes looked different than his. Her light lavender long sleeve, blue denim pants, and white and blue sneakers fit her just right. His shoes looked too big, and the blue, black and white zip-up jacket he wore looked a bit small for him to wear.

 

“Another what?” She chuckled a bit nervously. She wondered if Sora was goofing around. “Aren’t we both on the same planet? Earth?”

 

“I’ve never been away from my island before. My mom, not even my friends would know...” His bright curiosity had suddenly changed to worry, soon after he mentioned people that he cared about. “My island! Mom! Riku! Kairi...” His head lowered as despair was seen on his expression.

 

Oh, no... Erica had a really bad feeling about this. Something really terrible must have happened, for she saw him in such distress, away from home. “It’s going to be alright, Sora. We’ll find this island of yours. You’ll be back with your mom and friends. I’ll help ya get back before they start to really worry.” Erica meant that. She would promise him that, because it troubled her deeply to see him look so worried and sad.  

 

I should get my phone out now. She reached into one of her pockets to retrieve her Android phone. She didn’t expect to find the pocket empty. Her right pocket was where she usually put it, whenever she left her house. Not in there? Okay... She felt inside her other front pants pocket. Her fingers touched something that was much smaller than her phone, something that felt very familiar as she pulled it out.

 

“Hey. This isn’t even my car keys.” Erica felt her both eyes go wide as she held up and examined the red shiny dice cube. “What? This doesn’t make make sense.”

 

"Car keys...?" Sora, she guessed, had probably never seen a car before in his life - but she couldn't begin to explain that to him. Finding the cube in her pocket was too bizarre for her to comprehend.

 

Erica rambled on. “Looks like it’s from one of my card and dice games. But, I wouldn’t just take the dice out of the tin. Why would I?” That didn’t make any sense to her at all. There would be no reason to just take one part of a game, and carry it around with her.  Where the hell is my phone?

 

She frantically searched her back pockets, as she was trying to remember what she was doing, before the friendly and odd dog licked her face to wake her up.  I was on my way to Bryan’s.

 

“Erica?”

 

She paused to see Sora’s inquisitive look of concern. Then, she looked past him to where she had somehow taken a nap, for some reason, to see if her purse was on the ground nearby them. To her terrible misfortune, it wasn’t. 

 

Sora looked behind him, trying to follow in the direction she was looking. “What is it? You can’t find your phone?” He turned back to her, looking so concerned. 

 

“I don’t see my purse anywhere.” Damn! A possible conclusion quickly came to her mind. “I think someone took it, along with my keys and phone. If I didn’t put them in my pockets, then I would have put them in my purse.” She pocketed her dice cube. Her hands at both sides curled into fists. “FFFFFFFFfudge...” She was beginning to feel scared, and really frustrated. Erica had no idea what kind of person Sora’s mom was like.  Erica wouldn't think she would approve of him hissing out in profanity around her son.  She still had the decency and reason to not completely freak out around the kid. “Someone mugged me, and--” She stopped herself in mid sentence. There was the part of her not remembering how she had got to wherever they both were. She still could not ever recall about taking a nap, before calling her boyfriend. He must be worried. Damn it. How long has it been, since...? “How long has it been? Was I knocked out? This place isn’t anywhere near my neighborhood. So... why would a mugger even bother to leave me anywhere far from home, after stealing my stuff?!” 

 

“I don’t know,” Sora replied. He sounded honestly worried in answering the questions she was asking aloud to herself. “Doesn’t look like there’s a scratch on you.” 

 

Erica paused a long moment, her gaze averting from his as she was trying to think of something else, to add or say differently on what could have happened to her. She didn’t feel any pain anywhere on her body. “Then, this could have happened days ago, maybe. I don’t know...” Her head and the volume of her voice lowered. “I’m having trouble... remembering some things.”

 

“We won’t know anything just standing here.” She noticed the determination appearing on Sora’s face. At that moment, he looked and sounded a little older than he actually was. “Let’s go take a look around.”

 

Erica had no clue as to what was happening, or why. She was so confused, uneasy, afraid, and most of all frustrated. She didn’t know why she thought she knew Sora, or the dog. That was so strange! Her eyes were starting to moisten as she closed them, in the middle of not having as many options she once thought she had, in helping them both out. I can’t lose it. I can’t go into a breakdown. Not around him. I need to keep myself together; for both Sora, and myself.

 

“Don’t worry, Erica. We’ll find the thief, and get your stuff back.”

 

She nodded curtly to Sora’s words, and took time for herself to just breathe for a moment. He’s right. We should find someone, so they could tell us where we are. When we find the bastard responsible, I’ll show him no mercy... I don’t remember driving. I couldn’t have gotten in a car accident... 

 

After calming herself down, she opened her eyes to see Sora, still standing next to her. He had been waiting for her, and was calm as he spoke. Yet, he still looked very worried about her. “Are you ready to go?”

 

Erica didn’t like being so clueless. It made her feel vulnerable, and helpless. Yet, she was calm again, apart from feeling bad for Sora again, more than ever due to not being able to online search, call Bryan, or even call her own mother for help. “Yeah. We should find out where we are.”

Edited by Ancapikitty

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A freakishly cute cartoon-like mutant of a dog. < This has made my day! I smirked when I read this, you delved into a comedic stunt there, and you succeeded! :D

 

This was a great chapter! I have to say, I really like your writing style! It's elegant yet easy to understand, and the words really pull me into the story! Also, I like how you made Axel feel cautious about Dariek, and what he was thinking about the mission he had going on in Castle Oblivion! I also loved the introduction to Erica! It must be daunting for her not to have modern world objects in the world of KH! :D I gotta say, I'm loving this story so far, so keep up the great work! :D

 

I also have a Kingdom Hearts story that I wrote here. A trilogy, actually! If you want to, I could link you to the stories so you can read them sometime! :)

 

Also, cool about Dariek and your behind the scenes! I'm looking forward to that! :D

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A freakishly cute cartoon-like mutant of a dog. < This has made my day! I smirked when I read this, you delved into a comedic stunt there, and you succeeded! :D

 

This was a great chapter! I have to say, I really like your writing style! It's elegant yet easy to understand, and the words really pull me into the story! Also, I like how you made Axel feel cautious about Dariek, and what he was thinking about the mission he had going on in Castle Oblivion! I also loved the introduction to Erica! It must be daunting for her not to have modern world objects in the world of KH! :D I gotta say, I'm loving this story so far, so keep up the great work! :D

 

I also have a Kingdom Hearts story that I wrote here. A trilogy, actually! If you want to, I could link you to the stories so you can read them sometime! :)

 

Also, cool about Dariek and your behind the scenes! I'm looking forward to that! :D

 

LOL. Yeah that is amusing. Erica was half-intending to be funny when thinking about Pluto. She was also actually concerned for him, when first seeing him. (Haha, it should be a little amusing when she first meets Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy, in addition to seeing Pluto again.)  

 

<3  I enjoy reading your feedback! Thank you so much. ^_^  I'll be sure to start reading your trilogy sometime soon. 

 

That chapter was my first time in writing about Axel. I'm very pleased with how that first part turned out! I'm  looking forward to writing more scenes with him later on!

 

As for Erica... The facts that she can't remember at all as to what happened in between what she was about to do in her world, and how she wound up in a place she can't recognize, beside Sora - all this deeply bothers her. She's not at all happy about a bunch of her belongings being missing either. The dice cube in her pocket doesn't make any sense to her. (She'll get her things back though! This will start to be revealed a little later on. :wink: )  

 

I already thought about how Sora would react to her freaking out some, and how worried he'd be about the new friend he's just made. He'll be helpful however he can, and this of course includes helping her find what she's sure has been stolen. I'm positive that learning more about her and her world will be very interesting to him. 

 

I'll say more in a reply to you under my status message. ^_^

Edited by Ancapikitty

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LOL. Yeah that is amusing. Erica was half-intending to be funny when thinking about Pluto. She was also actually concerned for him, when first seeing him. (Haha, it should be a little amusing when she first meets Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy, in addition to seeing Pluto again.)  

 

<3  I enjoy reading your feedback! Thank you so much. ^_^  I'll be sure to start reading your trilogy sometime soon. 

 

That chapter was my first time in writing about Axel. I'm very pleased with how that first part turned out! I'm  looking forward to writing more scenes with him later on!

 

As for Erica... The facts that she can't remember at all as to what happened in between what she was about to do in her world, and how she wound up in a place she can't recognize, beside Sora - all this deeply bothers her. She's not at all happy about a bunch of her belongings being missing either. The dice cube in her pocket doesn't make any sense to her. (She'll get her things back though! This will start to be revealed a little later on. :wink: )  

 

I already thought about how Sora would react to her freaking out some, and how worried he'd be about the new friend he's just made. He'll be helpful however he can, and this of course includes helping her find what she's sure has been stolen. I'm positive that learning more about her and her world will be very interesting to him. 

 

I'll say more in a reply to you under my status message. ^_^

 

Oh, I'm sure that's gonna be pretty comical! If it was already enough seeing her reaction to Pluto, then seeing her reaction to the rest of the gang will no doubt be priceless! X3

 

You're very welcome, and I am very much enjoying your story, so it deserves praise for being well written!  And alright then, whenever you wanna look for them, the stories are titled as follows: The Keyblade War Chapter I, Kingdom Hearts Christmas Special: After The Keyblade War (A short story that takes place before the sequel.),The Keyblade War Chapter II: Chaotic Twilight and The Keyblade War Chapter III: Beauty Of Apocalypse! So now you know the titles for whenever you wanna read em! :3

 

Oh, and I'm sure Erica's situation is understandable. She's lost her memory, after all, and that's never a good thing! But I'm sure I'm in for surprises further down the road, so I'll be looking forward to seeing how this story goes! :D

 

Yeah, I'm sure Sora will try to help as best as he can! That's the "Sora" way to do things for him! Being himself is always his best policy! :D

 

And alright then!

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