A/N: Have you ever wondered what Kingdom Hearts would've been like if Square-Enix collaborated with Nintendo instead of Disney? Well, I tried to answer that question years ago. Many people enjoyed my take on the Kingdom Hearts tale. But looking back – yeah, I was young and inexperienced. I knew I could do better. This remake has been in the work for years, and today, I'm happy to present it to you. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: The franchises utilized in this story do not belong to me. They are properties of Square-Enix, Disney, and Nintendo.
Special thanks to Jin-Art for creating the awesome book cover. Visit them at Twitter: JitArt1
Prologue: The Awakening
"I've been having these weird thoughts lately...like is any of this for real or not?"
The water was warm. Very warm. Like a mother's embrace; you just wanted to fall asleep in it. But in Sora's predicament, it was impossible. He didn't understand what was happening. Was this a dream? No. He could feel the water clogging up his nostrils and ears. This had to be real, he thought. He tried to regain mobility, hoping that he could swim to the surface.
However, something restrained his movement. And he didn't know its origin.
A sense of dread started to settle in his mind; how long would he keep descending? Would he drown long before reaching the bottom of the deep, dark sea. His body started to rotate. He barely managed to open his sky-blue eyes. Below him was sand.
He was approaching the bottom at an alarming rate. There was no time to question how; instinct took over rationalization and he forced his eyes shut, expecting to feel the full force of the impact. Moments later, he felt himself stand on his feet; he no longer felt surrounded by water. Opening his eyes, he was taken aback by what he saw - he somehow ended up on the beach of his island. This was where he and his friends spent their summer days.
He scanned the area, perplexed by what was happening. Looking out at the ocean, he saw someone standing in the water about knee deep. At first the blinding light of the sun obstructed his vision, preventing him from identifying the person.
He inched his way closer to the shore in order to get a better view. He gasped in surprise; it was a teenage boy with long silver hair. He had his back turned to Sora as he stared out at the horizon. The boy wore a sleeveless shirt that had two straps going down the back of his shirt to form an "X." He wore loose blue jeans, and donned a pair of black gloves.
Sora called to the boy. "Riku!?"
Riku remained silent. He continued staring at the horizon, letting Sora's words float by and drift out to sea. Riku was Sora's best friend. And oldest friend. They knew each other their whole lives, and not once had Sora seen him in such a peculiar state. Sora started to make his way out into the ocean, but he stopped upon noticing that something was amiss.
Looking down, he noticed a substantial amount of water heading out into the ocean, as if being sucked up like a vacuum.
All that water going out to sea meant one thing.
Sora looked up to see a giant wave start to form in front of Riku. As the wave inched closer to him, it grew bigger and bigger; to the point where it loomed over Riku like an unstable building ready to fall.
There was no sign of fear in Riku. He simply turned around and held out his hand to Sora - a welcoming expression was plastered on his face. He's crazy, Sora thought; or, considering the surreal imagery, maybe he was the crazy one. Regardless, he was not about to let his best friend be devoured by the relentless sea. There was only one course of action:
Run out into the tidal wave.
It would consume them both. But Sora didn't care. What mattered most to him was saving his friend. He hurried into ocean - Riku didn't flinch the whole time. Before Sora could reach him, the wave consumed them both.
The force from the wave caused Sora to spin out of control, but he recovered, and was floating underwater. He looked up to see Riku standing straight in the water, starting right at him with that same welcoming expression. It was as though he was unperturbed from Mother Nature's fury. Riku held out his hand again.
Sora desperately tried to reach for Riku, but the powerful grip of the current pulled him away from his friend. Next thing he knew, he felt the force of the current push him up to the surface. He gasped as he emerged from the water.
Sora shook his head to get the excessive water out of his brown spiky hair. While catching his breath, he noticed the setting of the island had changed. The ocean was calm – the sun was setting over the horizon. This was getting stranger by the second, he thought. He looked around the ocean for any sign of Riku. His search didn't last long, as the voice of a teenage girl called out to him.
Turning to the left, he saw his other closest friend, Kairi, standing on the shore, waving to him. Sora waved back with a smile. The thought of Riku still worried him, though. Did he get out okay? There was no sign of movement in the water. Maybe Kairi saw him. He trudged his way towards the shore, all the while Kairi hopped up and down, continuing to wave at him.
Upon arriving on shore, he took a second to catch his break from the insanity that just ensued. For a fleeting moment, Kairi showed concern over Sora's exhaustion. But that soon turned to relief when he looked up at her with a huge, goofy smile. Kairi couldn't help but chuckle. Around the same age as him, Kairi had dark red hair, violet blue eyes, and wore a silver bead neckless.
She wore a white tank top, bike shorts underneath a purple skirt, and white slip-on shoes. Sora noticed her expression transform into a look of bewilderment. She looked up towards the sky. Sora did the same, noticing the sky crying tears of meteors. Nothing seemed unusual about it at first. Then, he noticed a person falling out of the sky. Both of them were speechless. It didn't seem possible; maybe it was an illusion of the sky.
The person came into view; Sora was shocked by the person's identity.
It was himself.
Another strange feeling came over him - a feeling as if someone pushed his chest. Kairi watched in surprise as Sora started to fall. And he didn't fall onto the shore. No, he was falling from the sky straight into the ocean.
Logic was obsolete. There was no rhyme or reason for these chains of events. Everything that happened felt so real. Perhaps he wasn't simply at the mercy of his dreams. Maybe there was an unseen entity controlling his every action like a puppet, forced to perform the same routine repeatedly. Soon enough he found himself sinking to the bottom of the ocean again.
As he approached the surface, he managed to land on his feet. He looked around the area; it was an endless voice of darkness. Only a beacon of light from above prevented the vicinity from becoming pitch black. Right now, all he could do was stay alert. Who knew what sort of surprises awaited him next?
Sora took a step forward. Suddenly, the ground below him started glowing intensely, and he shielded his eyes from the brightness. White doves emerged from the ground, revealing a green platform. Sora watched with increased confusion and awe over everything that transpired. Strangely, he felt like he was no longer underwater. After the doves flew away, he looked at the ground to see he was standing on an enormous, illuminated stained-glass pillar.
He noticed there was a picture of a person emended on the pillar. This person wore what looked like powered armor that had mixtures of oranges and reds. On the helmet was a green visor, preventing him from seeing the eyes. Sora had no idea who this person was, but there were other matters on his mind. Like where he was, or what this all meant. But unbeknownst to him, he'd soon be embarking on an incredible journey:
A journey into the world of Nintendo.
Kingdom Hearts: The Nintendo Version Remixed
Created by: Kingdomkey23
ACT I of this story has been written. Expect a new chapter every Wednesday and Sunday until ACT I has been fully posted.
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