Dive to the Heart

The Awakening, or Dive into the Heart, is a location from Kingdom Hearts.

It is uncertain whether the Awakening is a world, a dream, or a hidden area of the Destiny Islands. It poses as the tutorial and opening location in Kingdom Hearts, and introduces the player to the controls via a narrator.

Environment
The Awakening had a very memorable environment. Only six areas could be accessed there. Five of them were giant cylindrical pillars rising out of a void of eternal darkness. All around the sides of the pillars were giant, glowing stained glass windows. The tops of the pillars each featured a floor seemingly made entirely out of stained glass. Four of the pillars each depicted one Disney princess; the fifth depicted two, along with another princess. The sixth playable area was a surreal, dreamy rendition of the Destiny Islands.

With each pillar (plus the Destiny Islands part), the at first quiet music (called Destati) would grow more intense.

Each pillar had a unique characteristic and theme. The first pillar held the movement tutorial, and determined how Sora's stats would grow by leveling up. The player also had the choice to accept and then turn down two weapons (either the Dream Sword, the Dream Shield, or the Dream Rod). The second pillar held the battle tutorial, and marked the first appearance of the Shadow enemy. The third pillar held the interactions tutorial. The player would have to open a treasure chest, move a crate, destroy a barrel, and open a door. The door led to the Destiny Islands area. There, Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie each asked Sora a personal question. Depending on what the player answered to each question, Sora would either level up quickly (called "Starting at Morning"), go at a good pace (called "Starting at Midday"), or level up slowly (called "Starting at Evening").

The pillar that followed the area held the progress tutorial. It also had the first Save Space in the game. The final pillar held only a fearsome warning before a boss battle with Darkside. At the end of the battle, the Awakening supposedly fell into darkness.

At the completion of each area, with the exception of the third and fourth, the pillar would be destroyed in some way. It may be noted that of the Disney characters pictured on the flooring, all the destroyed pillars depict characters whose worlds were destroyed by Maleficent.

It is also possible that this is a test. When Sora and Roxas enter they undergo tests and trials. Also the voice says odd and cryptic things. After the first trial Roxas could use the true Keyblade and Sora could use it afterwords in his test. Also the fact the realm is called the Awakening is a clue. This could mean this place awakens the power to use the Keyblade. Clearly this place is a place of testing to gain the Keyblade. The pillars being destroyed could symbolize the worlds desrtoyed and the fate of other worlds.

Depiction
Each pillar depicts a Disney princess, specifically the Princesses of Heart.
 * Green Pillar = Snow White
 * Purple/Black Pillar = Cinderella
 * Pink Pillar = Alice, Jasmine and Kairi (This pillar actually depicts three silhouettes of the stereotypical princess image, which resembles Alice. This pillar hints that there must be three more Princesses of Heart not yet captured.)
 * Red Pillar = Aurora
 * Yellow Pillar = Belle (Note that the Beast is represented as the only character on the pillar that is awake, possibly referencing that he survived his world's destruction and is currently looking for Belle)

Trivia

 * The music of the Awakening may be heard later in the game, but broken into two halves. The more peaceful part, though slightly different, is the normal music of End of the World.  The intense part (called "Fragments of Sorrow") is the battle music of the same world. In Roxas's own Awakening in Kingdom Hearts II, while it shares the same track name as the original, only the peaceful part of the song is the normal music as the Awakening there is playable instead of a long cutscene. A remixed Fragments of Sorrow serves as the normal battle theme.
 * The official artwork of the Awakening depicts a pillar that does not appear in the actual game. However, it does appear as such in Roxas's own Awakening.
 * in KHII FM, Roxas is fought in the Awakening.