Dark Hearts is a Kingdom Hearts AU fanfiction.
Long ago in the the Dark Ages
the legendary vampire Dracula was once a beloved knight named Sephiroth who fell into darkness and became a vampire after being driven to madness over the death of his betrothed lover.
Five centuries later, Sephiroth's last mortal descendant is living in the United States and gets a mysterious letter inviting him to a funeral on some land owned by his last living mortal relative...
In 2022, the author deleted the fic but has promised a total reboot of the story.
Dark Hearts contains examples of
- Alternate Universe Fic: While the story is set in the United States in the year 2005, it also takes place in a world where vampires and other supernatural creatures exist.
- Ancient Conspiracy: The Order of the Dragon is a mostly Catholic fraternal order that has been active since the Middle Ages. They tend to have wealthy and powerful people in their ranks, including Uncle Vladimir, who is a billionaire.
- Beethoven Was an Alien Spy: Vlad III was not only Count Dracula, he was also Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII in this fic.
- Big Bad: Randall Flagg appears in front of Riku while he is in the hopsital and brags about killing Uncle Vladimir and how he is specifically targeting the Order of the Dragon, including Riku and Sephiroth
- Big Fancy House: Sephiroth owns Carnifex Abbey, a large Victorian-style mansion on a very large plot of land.
- Classical Movie Vampire: When Sephiroth introduces himself to Riku, he is wearing black and white formal attire, complete with an Ominous Opera Cape featuring a High Collar of Doom.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Sora is prone to random jokes and spontaneous singing, and seems to not take anything too seriously.
- Dramedy: While the story is dark and focuses on murder and horror, there are comedic moments and Riku is sometimes a Deadpan Snarker.
- Gothic Punk: The overall story setting prominently features gloomy cemeteries, Gothic chapels, and a Victorian-style mansion surrounded by sprawling woodland.
- Last-Name Basis: Sephiroth (AKA Dracula) is usually only referred to by his last name since he's part of an aristocratic lineage known as the House of Sephiroth. His first name in this fic is Vladislav. Riku also has the Sephiroth surname, but is referred to by his first name — and the same goes for his uncle.
- Massive Multiplayer Crossover: This work-in-progress adds in characters from other media as it goes along.
- The main characters (Riku, Sora, Kairi) and Sephiroth are from Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy VII respectively.
- Lionel Hutz from The Simpsons is the executor of Uncle Vladimir's estate.
- Fittingly, Sebastian Michaelis from Black Butler is the loyal butler to Uncle Vladimir and Riku.
- The Sons of Dracula are Itachi Uchiha, his brother Sasuke, and Sai from Naruto.
- Tifa Lockhart and Yuffie Kisaragi from Final Fantasy VII and Ayane from the Dead or Alive and Ninja Gaiden series are the Brides of Dracula.
- Kouga and Ayame from Inuyasha are depicted as werewolves in charge of a pack.
- Chapter 13 introduces Doc Mitchell from Fallout: New Vegas and Nurse Joy from Pokémon: The Series.
- Our Vampires Are Different: The story takes inspiration from Hammer Horror, Anne Rice's novels, and Vampire: The Masquerade, where each vampire has unique powers and weaknesses but some traits are universal. These include being weakened by sunlight and fire and being virtually Made of Iron, as well as possessing heightened senses, enhanced strength, and supernatural speed.
- Our Werewolves Are Different: They roam in packs based on familial affiliations, are big into mysticism and spiritualism, and are heavily inspired by the lupines from Werewolf: The Apocalypse
- Polyamory: Riku, Sora, and Kairi are explicitly stated to be in a three-way relationship. Contrary to most depictions of the trope, they are stated to not be swingers or promiscuous and are fiercely faithful to each other.
- Shower of Love: Subverted. Riku and Sora take a shower together one night but it's a large walk-in shower and they both insist on just getting clean. After conversing about the events of the day, it appears they might actually go through with lovemaking — but before they can even kiss, they're disrupted by a scream.
- Shout-Out:
- The first chapter after the prologue begins with the protagonist finding a black bordered envelope in the mail, letting them know their dear old Uncle Vladimir died.
- Carnifex Abbey is located in the deep dark woods of Pennsylvania!
- The Monroeville Mall is depicted briefly in one chapter of the fic and is noted to be the location where Dawn of the Dead (1978) was filmed.
- At one point, Sephiroth tells Riku he will give Riku the choice he was never given Riku instantly recognizes this as a quote from Anne Rice.
- Turn of the Millennium: The story takes place in 2005.
- Überwald: Pennsylvania is depicted as an American equivalent of creepy, old-fashioned Transylvania with its foreboding gloomy woods and supernatural horrors lurking in the area at night.
