Chapter 1:

Dreams of the Lost


"Every darkness has its light...


...Every light has its darkness...


...Yet we coexist...

...and even carry something of the other with us...

...And though, right now were far apart,

soon well be together again...


...Because one day, I'll find my lighter half,

...my sister...


...Kairi..."


The words run through my head over and over, as I drift through what seems to be memories of another.


Two little girls who couldn't be more different. The first is a fairly girlish wearing a white dress adorned with purple hearts, the other an adventure-loving tom-boy in an outfit much like her twin's only in black.  Together, they are quite a troublesome pair.


The two young girls play in a castle, more specifically an enormous library, complete with strange doors disguised as bookshelves, two sets of double doors on opposite sides of the room, golden-colored stairs next to one set with a small cherry wood table under the set of stairs for studying.


As the five year olds run around, probably playing tag, they knock down many books in their wake; they either don't realize what they are doing or don't care.


Hearing the clatter of the books to the marble flooring, an elder lady, I somehow recognize as Nana, comes gracefully gliding down the stairs to discipline the trouble makers.


When the twins become conscious of the elderly woman had entered the disaster area, they unsuccessfully attempt to speedily clean there mess.


Nana simply smiles a benevolent yet fearsome smile, strange but effective. That simple facial expression has the girls cleaning even faster then before in fear of being punished.


Darkness begins taking over the image. Just as soon as it fades another begins to appear.


Though the same castle comes into view, it's different. Chaos and fear overwhelm the kingdom.


In a dark corridor lit by only a few sparse torches, Nana leads the twins to a door on the left side near the end. The simple gray and black room is almost completely bare with one wooden bed dressed in gray, a dresser a door leading to a closet.


Nana locks the door behind them and gives the girls a reassuring smile. "Girls, I want you to go through the closet door. There's a drawer that has two necklaces that can help you. I can't tell you how, you'll have to figure it out on your own, I'm afraid.


"Always stay together. If you work as a team you'll have a greater chance of escaping." She turns to the tomboy, "------, fight for you and your sister and keep her from the darkness." Then she turns to the one dressed in white and pink, "And you make sure to be your sister's guiding light." Nana smiled softly. "Keep each other in balance."


"Nana, why do you sound so corny?" the tomboys lips move but no sound comes out yet I know the words somehow.


"Don't say that! This isn't the time for jokes!" The other twin commands almost in tears.


The door starts to loudly vibrate from the intruders. "After you put the necklaces on go through the passage way and leave as fast as you can. Now go, little ones." Nana remains calm despite the dire situation.


The children nod their heads and go through the door. As they shut the wooden closet door, the door Nana stands by bursts open from the pressure of the creatures.


The twin dressed in white tries to run and help the elderly woman as she is consumed by the creatures of darkness, only to be jerked back by her sister. The tomboy shuts and locks the door immediately after snatching her sister from harms way, while trying to keep her sanity for her sister's sake. The tomboy knows it won't do them any good if she starts crying too.


Without wasting any time, the tomboy runs over to a beat up cabinet and retrieves the set of necklaces out of the bottom drawer.


The first one is a pink tear drop shaped stone on a dainty black string. It is very smooth and shaped perfectly. The other is a rough, seemingly uncut amethyst with a black string like the first. Though it is an unusually dark stone of its type it still has a unique shine to it.


The tomboy goes over to her sister, trying to get her to calm down by handing her the pink necklace that is obviously meant for her.  "Come on, we need to go." Again, I can only know the words and cannot hear the voice, as she helps her sister off the cold hard marble flooring.  


The picture fades again and when the next comes they are in what seems like ruins, somewhere outside the castle. The twins are running, the tomboy dragging her sister by the wrist chased by the darkness as it consumes everything in its path.


Unfortunately, the dark matter catches up and grasps the one of the girlier twin's ancle slowly being dragged into the black ooze. "KAIRI! NO!" the words echo silently in my mind.


Despite the attempts of pulling on her sisters arm, the small girl only sinks deeper into the darkness. The tomboy's small hands slip from her sister's arm, losing her balance, hitting her head on the rubble behind her.


Everything goes dark as a soft voice whispers to me.


"Elli? Elli, wake up."


My eyes flutter open wanting to reject the bright light and go back to sleep. Until I see my best friend, Jenna, sitting next to my bed staring at me like I'm a T.V.


"AAAAHHHHH!" I shoot up, straightening my back.


"So, ya had another dream about her, huh?" Jenna asks tilting her head.


Time to play the "clueless" game, a favorite at our house. "I have no idea what you are talking about," I say walking over to the dresser in order to clip up my dark reddish-purple hair.


"Aw, come on! Y'know, Kairi? The Kingdom Hearts character!" She loves hearing the stories from my dreams, when I'm willing to tell. Why? I have no idea; personally I think they're annoying figments of my imagination that I would be better off without.


"And what makes you so sure it was a dream about Kairi?" I ask with fake confusion as we walk into the kitchen for breakfast. To tell the truth, I think I know the answer. I talk in my sleep when I have dreams of Hollow Bastion.


"Well, maybe that you were mumbling 'Kairi! No!' in your sleep." Yay, I'm right. Does that mean I get a cookie?


I pick up an organic red and yellow spotted Fuji apple and poured a glass of chocolate soy milk, doing my best to keep Jenna's ramblings out of my head, while she fixes herself some sugary sweet Resse Puffs. Though the box still has a lot left in it, by the time she's done it will be empty.


We sit across from each other eating until Jenna decides to persist further about the dream. "So, what was it about this time? Musta been something bad; you were tossing around a lot."


"If you ask one more time, I'll stuff fungi down your throat until you suffocate." Jenna knows it's not a good idea to push it whenever I begin threatening with mushrooms, especially if it's related to one of my dreams.


I put my cup in the black and silver dishwasher next to the metal sink and the remnants of the apple in the trash compactor on the other side of the sink. A depressed sigh escapes my mouth as I head back to my room to get dressed and leave for my daily dose of torture: School.