it's takes place about eight years ago after xenahort and the other apprentices conducted experiments on the heart and after the heartless started attacking the worlds. there was a scientist named Xallow that lived in a far-off lab in a forest. He had heard about the heartless from his friend, who had recently lost his world. Xallow wanted a way to separate the heart, so that the heartless couldn't capture it entirely. And, the pieces of the broken hearts became their own being. Sounds lousy, right?