The Panda-Chan Story

Prologue:
Three dark figures crept toward the magnificent castle, being careful not to touch even a glimmer of light. Inside the castle stood three small boys, each born with great responsibility.
“The time is almost here young ones. You three must grow strong and wise before meeting them. Soon we will be free from his grasp,” The proud voice echoed in the empty castle. “I will be watching over them from earth, farewell young guardians.” As she lifted her golden paw, a warm light surrounded her as she disappeared.
“Yes Shadow.” The lighted cloaked replied as they drifted away.
Snickering with the grand news they had just discovered, the dark figures hurried back to their master.

10 years later…
It was summer and school was almost out, I couldn’t wait! Just thinking about spending time with my two best friends made my heart jump out. I tapped my pencil on the light green table impatiently as I glanced at the clock.
Tick tock, tick tock the clock went as my math teacher blabbered on about something I didn’t care.
Hi, my name is Sumi and I have glasses, short dark brown hair and dark brown eyes. I’m not usually this lazy in class, but towards the end of the year, is my lazy week. Hey, school’s almost out, I’m sure everyone acts the same way right? Well, I’m known to be almost the happiest girl in school, and yet shy at the same time. I’m not really good around people I don’t know. I’m full fledged Korean and blue is my favorite color. Yes, everyone loves me…well, almost everyone. I’m known to be the goody two shoes, but hey, who knows what I really do?
Decades passed and the loud annoying bell rang for its last time this year. I sprang to my feet and rushed out the door with my heavy book bag weighing down my side. I rushed out the door before anyone else had the chance to even get up.
“Hey, wait up!”
I turned around to see my two best friends walking down the hallway as people shoved passed them. I could hardly see them now with tall football players rushing to their girlfriends. We finally made it through the crowd and I greeted both of them with a big hug.
Roxan, “my cousin second cousin six times removed” or my unni (older sister in Korean) was the first to be caught in my embrace. Most people told us we looked like twins so that’s where the related thing came from. Like me, she wears glasses and has light, brown and reddish curly hair that hangs to her shoulders. Unlike me, she is only half Korean, her other half is white or something. She always wrote stories where she died at the end… in other words, a sad love story. Well, her stories were always my favorites anyways. She also made very good poems, and yes, those were sad too. She sounds so emo, but being cheerful is also her top emotion.
Reno, a very good anime drawer, claims to be “Asian” also, though she is a Pacific Islander, but I don’t know if that counts as an Asian. She wears long jet black hair and she’s lucky enough to have perfect eye sight. She has long slender fingers as if she was an anime character herself. She’s the type of person who would tackle you in the middle of the hallway *cough cough*. She’s probably the most funniest and unique girl you would find.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot the most important thing. Roxan and Reno love the color red or black, why is that important? I have no idea.
“Sumi, Reno and I are going to your house today and we are spending the night.” Roxan smiled as she held up her right thumb.
“What?” I blinked. “When did this happen?”
“Just now,” Reno held up her thumb too.
“But…but…” I began to protest. I loved when they came over and all, but this seemed a bit too sudden.
“No buts,” Roxan pinched my cheeks before a clumsy girl rushed past her.
I slapped her hand away like I always did. “I didn’t even ask my mom!”
“It’s okay, we already planned it all with your mom.” Reno patted my back reassuringly.
Before I could say anything, Roxan and Reno rushed ahead to the buses, leaving me dumbfounded in the middle of the hallway.
Reno sighed as she pulled me along.
The rusty, yellow buses crowded outside, honking loudly with joy. Everyone seemed to celebrate as if they didn’t have to go to school anymore. Girl friends hugged each other and the boys tackled their friends for the last time at school. Then I realized this wasn’t just the end of the year, it was the last year in Jr. High. Next year all the 9th graders would be going off to high school. I could see couples kissing or making out in the corner. Best friends were chatting away, ignoring the loud protest of the buses.
I linked arms with my two best friends, realizing that I won’t see either of them next year. They had told me they would be going to different high schools.
“Come on, we might miss our bus.” I smiled at them bravely.

Chapter 2: Dogs don’t talk!
“Always my house,” I whined as the bus stopped noisily. “Why can’t it be one of your guy’s houses for once?” I grabbed my bag and dragged my feet along the aisle of the bus before stepping out.
“Well, that’s because you’re not allowed to sleepover people’s houses which I think is dumb.” Reno stated, giving a matter of fact frown.
I huffed.
“Why, you don’t want us to come over?” Roxan paused, as she stared at me a little offended.
“No, it’s not that,” I looked down. “It’s just… my room’s a little messy.”
Reno and Roxan rolled their eyes. “And…?” Roxan gave me a Who-cares look.
“We’ll help you clean your room if you want.” Reno offered.
“Hell no, I’m not cleaning anyone’s room.”
I glared at Roxan. “You lazy monkey,” I started walking again, this conversation about my room was getting pointless, besides, Roxan was right, who cares if my room was a little messy. I must have got that clean thing from my sister. “It doesn’t matter anyways.”
Now Shadow was Reno’s pet dog, smart and playful. I stood in shock when I saw her standing in front of my house, for a second, she almost seemed human. Shadow barked twice before coming to greet us by the pathway.
“Shadow what are you doing all the way here?” Reno looked just as shocked as I did.
Shadow barked in response.
“Maybe she got loose somehow and ran all the way over here.” Roxan suggested.
“Yeah right,” I set my bag down to pet the overly calm dog.
It was odd, the once overly hyper dog was now calm, which wasn’t normal considering how excited Shadow used to be.
“My mom probably dropped her off or something.” Reno guessed as Shadow let out a low whine.
“Why?” I asked.
Reno shrugged. “So I can take care of her I guess.”
I looked at Shadow speechless. “Oh well, since Shadow is here, I guess it’s just twice as fun then. Let’s go inside, and make sure you leave Shadow out here, my mom doesn’t like dogs in the house.”
“Fine,” Reno stood up as Shadow suddenly gave a low impatient whine before running toward my backyard. Once she noticed we weren’t following she ran back and forth as if to tell us to hurry.
“What is your dog doing?” I looked at the dog incredulously.
“Maybe she wants to play.” Roxan suggested.
“Or maybe she wants us to follow her.” Reno dropped her bag once more on the gravel before running toward Shadow.
Roxan and I looked at each other for a second before shrugging as we dropped our bags and ran toward Reno.
Before any of us could react, a wave of pressure spread from who knows where. We began to float in mid air as if time had stopped and we were in space. I tried to scream but nothing came out, I wasn’t sure if Reno or Roxan had tried to scream also. I looked around and the world around me seemed to get blurrier… I squinted my eyes, yes, it was!
I tried to talk but the pressure wouldn’t let me, my voice seemed to have frozen. Roxan and Reno seemed just as frightened as I was. What was going on here? A tiny flicker of light shined in the distance, I sort of paddled to my friends as If I was in water. Shadow! A light was shining from Shadow, but why? A million thoughts played in my head. Maybe Shadow was a dog with the power to freeze time? , Or an evil villain trying to take over the world? I really needed to stop watching those Superman shows.
“It is an honor to finally be able to speak with you chosen ones.” Shadow said. Wait a minute, did Shadow just talk?
My eyes grew big as golf balls. I knew I was dreaming. I tried to slap myself but being all floaty in the air kept me from moving a lot.
“You girls, or should I say, you Warriors, will set us free.”
What the heck was she talking about? Warriors? Chosen Ones? Was she talking about us? I glanced at my two friends beside me, they looked as if they had gone through this before, their eyes calm, and taking in everything a dog was saying to them and here I was doing the same thing, something in my head seemed to be familiar with all this, that I knew this would happen some day.
“Welcome to Cerberus Shine.” The glimmer of light widened until it forced my eyes shut.

Chapter 3: The Blue Room
I opened my eyes and for a moment I thought I really had woken up from a dream. It felt as if everything I had seen just a few seconds ago were nothing but a mere dream. The room was lit dimly, the walls painted pearl white. The room looked like a room a princess would have in a fairy tale. I gasped, the whole room was in blue, the lamp sitting next to me, the roses that were painted on the walls, and almost everything else was in every shade of blue. I also noticed the bed I was lying on was also in a shade of blue, the most beautiful shade I had ever seen, it almost seemed to shine in a way, the fabric soft as a new born feather.
On the bed was a set of clothes, well, more like a dress. I slowly got off the bed as if there was an alarm I might trigger. I lifted the dress and frowned, it was pretty but I despised wearing a dress of any shape or form, if it was mine that is. I set it down gently; making sure even a smallest wrinkle wasn’t left on the wonderful dress. I went to the room door, curious to what laid ahead. I hesitated for I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to find my friends and escape or just sit in this room until someone came. I chose to do exactly what a kidnapped princess did in the shows I had watched, get out of the room and find my friends. I took a big breath before slowly turning the knob; I peeked outside and realized nobody seemed to be there. I sneaked out and flinched at the small click of the door closing behind me.
“Exactly what are you doing?”
I jumped at the voice as I slowly turned around to find a boy about my age standing in front of me. He had blonde hair and glasses that made his eyes slightly bigger… and cute. I blushed not knowing what to say.
“I…uh…” I paused as I felt my face go even brighter red.
The boy gave a small chuckle.
“You’re Sumi right?”
“Uh… yeah,” I answered a little awkward in the position I was in.
“Sumi!” he exclaimed, his face growing bright as he gave me a big hug. “I missed you so much!”
My face grew a brighter red as I froze. What the heck was going on here?

Chapter 4: Roxan’s Encounter

Roxan lifted her eye lids, a huge head ache vibrating throughout her head. She groaned as she lifted her head off a pillow. Roxan glanced around the room in a daze.
“What the hell was all that?” Roxan mumbled.
“You awake?” a boy smiled warmly at her, holding a tray of food.
Her stomach growled. The boy placed the try gently in front of her. “It’s been a while Roxan.”
“You know me?” Roxan lifted her eye brows. “Where am I? Who are you?” Roxan’s eyes grew wide with terror. “What happened to my friends?”
“Hey, its fine, their just resting in their rooms,” The handsome boy gave a low chuckle. “Don’t you remember who I am?”
Roxan thought for a moment and shook her head.
The boy gave a sly smile as he gently touched her face, their face only 2 inches away. “My name’s Kiro, you first created me just last year.”
“You’re what?” Roxan almost shouted as she jumped back. She scanned the boy and he was right, he did look like Kiro, just as she had imagined him. “How do I know your not some crazy guy who just looks like him?”
Kiro smiled and revealed his shoulder where a light scar lay. “That was when you threw that lamp at me.”
“Like what I wrote in the journal.” Roxan stared at the scar for a long moment before taking a long look at Kiro’s face. “You’re really him.” She gasped before spilling out many questions. “Is Kero really here? What about Roxel? Did Roxas and Axel fall in love with each other?”
“Uh… Yes, yes and no.” Kiro frowned at the thought.
Roxan frowned also. “That makes no sense, if Roxel is here, then how did Roxas and Axel not fall in love?”
“…because Roxel isn’t really the son of Axel?” Kiro shrugged.
Roxan stared at him for a while. “I guess that makes more sense, still, Roxas and Axel should have fallen in love.”
“Right, just eat your breakfast.”

Chapter 5: Reno…Got it Memorized?
Reno awoke in a dark room, only a small candle shined partly of the big room she lay in. She shook her head, trying to clear her mind before she observed the room.
“Roxan?” Reno called out into the darkness. “Sumi?”
Only a small echo replied to her call.
Reno jumped off the bed, holding the candle out in front of her. As she got closer to the door, she heard a faint snore, she held the candle light toward the direction the sound was created and jumped at the boy who laid there, sleeping.
“Excuse me.” Reno nudged the boy gently. “Excuse me.” She repeated.
The boy opened his eyes and immediately rose to his feet when he saw her. He blushed a little, probably embarrassed to be caught sleeping, Reno thought.
“Could you tell me where I am and how I got here?” Reno asked politely. “I need to find my friends.”
“They’re fine, probably sleeping in their rooms of talking with Kiro or Kero.” The boy straightened up as he faced her smiling.
“Hey, you look kind of like Roxel!” Reno smiled gazing at his face. She blinked and gave a little laugh. “Oh, sorry, it’s this character I made in this journal…” She glanced at him. “Never mind,”
The boy’s face lit up. “That’s because I am Roxel.” He gave a loud laugh.
Reno looked at him awkwardly. “Right,”
“I am! Except I don’t have the parents you think I have.”
“… That doesn’t make sense, Roxel is just a character… he’s not real.”
“In this world he is.” Roxel gave one of his charming smiles Reno had always imagined him with.
Reno stared at the boy for a while, searching for any sign that he was just joking, but his features were perfect, the eyes, face, even his hair.
“Ok, ‘Roxel,’ could you tell me what the hell is going on around here?”
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This is the first few chapters! Stay tuned for the next part!