Chapter 1: Rise
There is no light, no happiness, and no hope, The Void, a land where nothing exisists, but fear and darkness. But in this desolate land stands a thick door that keeps the evil creatures at bay, but the darkness that lies within grows stronger with each passing day. Soon the darkness within will emerge and a new adventure will begin.
A flash of lightning briefly brightens the rainy night sky to reveal a forebording castle, decorated with menacing gargoyles and rusted bars. "The time is almost upon us," said a shadowy figure. In a dark lair, ten shadowy figures crowded around the bubbling cauldron with one dark purpose, to spread darkness and mayhem until there is no more light in the world and to rule for all eternity. "Soon all worlds will bow before us," the shadowy figure cackled, "they won't know what hit them." With the echo of their laughter they set their evil plan in motion.
On a distant island, it's another bright and sunny day on Destiny Island and Dani Flore, a normal girl, stares out the window of her homeroom class towards the distant horizon. Despite her kind heart and happy smile, Dani has always felt out of place in her world like she was ment to do something more other than staring out of a piece of thick glass. A sudden slam of a hard cover book on a wooden desk woke Dani from her gloomy dream, as Dani turned towards the sound she was greeted with a friendly face. "Wakey, wakey sleepy head," says Sherry, " now is not the time to have your head in the clouds. Sherry Coulter is Dani's loud best friend, they are always together, never too far apart.
Dani smiled, "thanks Sherry, I most definitely needed that." Sherry gave a little chuckle, making her round belly jiggle like a bowl of jello, and said, "what are friends for, so, what were you thinking of?" Sherry leaned in closer like she was getting a juicy secret. Dani, once again, looks out the window and sighs, "I was just thinking about the possibilities of other worlds and the fact that I might never get the chance to know." Sherry slams her heavy hands onto the desk, "don't think like that, you will find the answers to your questions soon enough!" Dani just smiled, being thankful to have a friend as passionate as Sherry.
Every day after class Dani would walk to her favorite spot along the beach, the Juice Shop. "Hey Ace, what's up?" Dani greeted as she sat on the nearest stool. "Not much my little flower, so, what can I get for you?" Asked Ace as he slicked his hair back. Ace, the owner of the Juice Shop, is the most laid back person on the island, and one of the most secretive, he rarely talks about himself. "Not today Ace, just looking to find a place to hang for a bit," Dani yawned. "well hang away then," laughed Ace as he stacked freshly washed cups.
It wasn't long until Dani fell into a deep sleep and as she slept she had the strangest dream. In her dream, she found herself on the cold ground surrounded by nothing but floating rocks and darkness. As Dani was surveying her surroundings she felt the presence of something warm behind her, when she turned around she saw a giant door surrounded by pillars. As Dani was to busy admiring the door, she failed to notice an evil presence lurking towards her. The ground started to shake and crack like it was glass, Dani stumbled to the nearest pillar, only to catch the sight of something truly terrifying.
What Dani saw made her stomach churn, a three headed monster was rising behind a mountain. Each head was different from each other, one head was red, the second green, and the third black. Dani was scared out of her mind, she bolted as fast as her little legs can carry her but it was no use, despite its enormous size, it managed to catch up to Dani. Tripping over a rock, Dani looked behind her and the monster's jaws were mere inches away, and suddenly she awoke to find herself back at The Juice Shop.
Ace and Sherry stood over Dani with worried looks on their faces. "Are you ok?" Asked Sherry, "you must have had a nightmare." Dani rubbed her eyes and said, "I'm fine, it was just a nightmare, nothing to be worried about." Dani and Sherry walked off laughing while Ace, with a worried expression on his face, stared at one of the neighboring cliffs. Standing on one of the many cliffs, was a figure in a pitch black hoodie, the person stood there for a few seconds and than disappeared into a dark portal.
As the sun disappeared behind the horizon, Ace closed his shop early and walked to a secret passage way hidden behind a waterfall. Before entering any further , Ace looked around to check that he was not being followed. Pushing the leaves and vines, Ace walked through the narrow and damp passage until he reached a clearing, where the ruins of an abandoned church stood. "Artemis, Artemis, are you there? Ace called out. Walking out of the ruins, the hooded figure appeared and removing his hood says, "Ace, my old friend, what brings you here?"
Ace gave him a stern look and informed Artemis, "It's Dani, she had the dream. With a smile on his face Artemis clapped his hands together and said, "she can finally start her training than." "Artemis, Dani is to young, she can't be a Keyblade master, not yet!" Ace yelled as he grabbed Artemis's cloak. Artemis sighed and removing Ace's hands from his shoulder calmly says, "Ace, I thought we discussed this already, Dani is the new Keyblade master and there is nothing we can do about it, it's her destiny, I understand that you care for her but this world and all other worlds out there are in danger of being wiped out of existence and she is the only one who can prevent it." Ace shook his head and placed one hand on Artemis's shoulder and said, "I know, but there's got to be another way to help her." Artemis gave another sigh of annoyance and turned back to the church and said, "I'll see what I can do, but don't expect a miracle."
Trying to sleep, Dani lays her head on her and stares at the ceiling for what seems like hours. "Agh! Why can't I sleep?" Said Dani frustratedly. As she waited for sleep to come, she starts thinking about her dream at the Juice Shop, Dani couldn't help but think it meant something, nevertheless her mind slowly started to fade into a deep sleep.
When Dani opened her eyes she was once again in that dark, cold place standing in front of the white door. "Just great, this is exactly how I don't want to start my day," Dani thought. After standing there for a few minutes, the white doors started to open and Dani felt herself being sucked in. "Woah!" Dani screamed as she was flung to the floor. When Dani stood up she found herself in a different room, instead of floating rocks, she was in a room with walls of mosaic glass that shimmered with great intensity.
Dani stood in awe, admiring the colorful glass that lined the room. As Dani continued to explore her new surroundings she noticed a light at the end of a hallway. As she stepped into the room, she saw something that she only thought of as a fairytale, a Keyblade. As Dani got closer , the Keyblade shimmered and gleamed, like a jewel from treasure chest, but before she can get any closer, the Keyblade disappeared. A confused Dani looked around for the Keyblade but to no avail.
Moments later the ground that Dani was standing on started to shake creating a giant fissure and from this fissure came a familiar roar, the three headed monster appeared. Dani screamed and once again finds herself running for her life, Dani, niece again was not able to get far, she was trapped like a rat. The monster roared, Dani closed her eyes thinking it was the end, the Keyblade popped into her hands. The monster gave a loud roar and lunged forward. Without even thinking Dani swung the Keyblade with all her might and the monster howled in pain. As the monster laid on the ground, lifeless, Dani fainted from exhaustion.
Meanwhile, in a distant kingdom, the news of the impending disaster and the new Keyblade Master arrives, sending the servants of the castle into a state of panic. "Send the news to the others immediately, " says the King after reading the message, "we must prepare for war." The Kings bodyguard bows and leaves the King to ponder on what the future holds.
Back on Destiny Island, Dani opens her eyes and she is no longer in her room but at the ruins of an old church. "I must still be dreaming," Dani yawned as she massaged her cheeks. Then a familiar voice echoed through the walls, "trust me, my dear, you are not dreaming." Dani jumped at the sight of a hooded figure coming out of the abandoned church. "Who are you? What do you want from me?" Dani nervously asked. As the hooded figure walked forward he pulled off his hood to reveal his face, "My name is Artemis, I'm here to help you get started on your new path as a keyblade master." There was silence, Dani couldn't tell if he was joking or if he was serious. "Ke-keyblade master? Me? You gotta be joking," Dani said with disbelief, " I can't be a Keyblade master." "He is not joking, Dani," says Ace as he walks up from behind her. "By any chance have you been experiencing strange dreams, like let's say fighting a three headed monster?" Artemis asked with a sly smirk on his face. Dani was shocked for she never told anyone about her dream, "how did you know?" Dani asked. Artemis turned his back to her and says, "I make it my business to know, now come, I have much to show you."
Together with Ace, Dani followed Artemis into the abandon church. "What is this place?" Dani asked as they walked the dark corridors. Without looking back Artemis answered, "this is where future Keyblade masters train" "those who are chosen as Keyblade masters are brought here, it's at this place where we will be able see what you can do," Ace added. Dani lowered her head and thought to herself, "I don't think I can."
They continued walking for another few minutes until they stood in front of a door. "One you walk through these doors, there's no turning back, " says Artemis as he opens the doors. Dani takes a deep breath and walks through the doors to an unclear future. The doors shut behind her with a loud bang, the first thing that Dani notices was that the room was dimly lit by candles on the wall and that she stands in front of three tunnels. Dani stood there for what seemed like hours until she a very scary sound.
Coming from one of the tunnels a creature appeared. The creature was chubby and short; it was no bigger than a five year old kid and it had a slimy long tongue. Standing on a balcony behind Dani, Artemis stood, "this is a type of Heartless called a Lyker, it's a nasty little freak, let's see what you can do." The Lyker lunged at Dani who barely managed to dodge into the nearest tunnel with the Lyker close behind.
Running through the endless hallways, Dani tried to come up with a plan. "You can only defeat it with the Keyblade," Artemis's voice echoed. Dani darted behind a pillar, hoping to catch her breath from all that running. The Lyker appeared sniffing around for Dani, it finds her scent and sneaks up behind her.
Dani finds herself pinned with no chance to escape, her mind racing to find a solution. "Think Dani, think," Dani says to herself. Dani starts to think of her friends, her family, and how they will be in danger if this thing were to get out. A bright light erupted from her hand and her keyblade emerged and with one quick slash, the Lyker was defeated. Artemis and Ace walked out of the shadows and with a smile Artemis says, "believe me now?"