Once upon a time, there was a beautiful picturesque little kingdom, Radiant Garden, far in the valley. And that kingdom was ruled by King Riku the Kind and Queen Kairi the Gracious.

And the beloved royal couple also had children, a lovely daughter with flowing blonde hair and the blue eyes of her mother and the wit and kindness of her father, and a strong son with golden hair, the equally blue eyes as his sister and a powerful fierceness and desire to protect those close to him.

The children were given a guardian, who soon fell in love with the two children and thus swore to always protect them, no matter the cost to himself.

But one day, a neighboring country, Never Was, wanted the land of Radiant Garden for themselves. So their rulers, the brothers King Xemnas and King Saïx, invaded the kingdom.
The kingdom's denizens took up arms and fought as hard as they could, but no one could defeat the army of Never Was.

And finally, when they couldn't bear to watch their people suffer anymore, King Riku and Queen Kairi surrendered. They were taken as captives to work as slaves in the Kings' castle.

But as for the beloved prince and princess, their guardian took them and swept them away from the castle and they fled until they were later captured and placed them in one of the Lords' castles. This castle belonged to Lord Vanitas and Lady Xion. And thus, the two rulers and their guardian were put under slavery.

The kingdom suffered as the Kings put Radiant Garden under their power, transforming it to Hollow Bastion. And while every civilian grieved and fought to stay alive, they all knew one thing: one day, their prince and princess would return, and they would all be saved.