Now here's a story that no one would've expected. In my opinion, this story's going to be like Brussel sprouts, marmite, and the Irish singers 'Jedward'. Either you like them or absolutely DISPISE them (It's the latter for all three for me). Hopefully, you'll all like it.

Either way, it's something I'm going to try, and I'll keep on going with it when I can. I got the idea after reading a Kingdom Hearts/Familiar of Zero crossover called 'A Heart in the Void', which I highly recommend you check out when you get the chance. It's savage.

Also, just to let you know, if there are any readers of my other stories and caught my notice of the 'Fairy Tail: Dark Void' reboot, I've decided to put that on hold, as I already have writer's block trying to come at it at a new angle. Plus, just to put your minds at ease, I'm still writing the first, and I will say that there's going to be an appearance that will both surprise you, and make you go 'of course', probably with an eye roll in there.

Right. Let's get on with this. Enjoy.

"It… seems that… I've lost."

In a barren wasteland, the only thing to decorate the desert were thousands of key-shaped swords, all of which were damaged, rusted or both. In this waste land rested the body of an elderly man, bald, ember eyes, tanned skin, pointed ears and a goat-like beard on his chin. He was wearing silver armor and another Key-shaped sword rested by his side.

The elderly man looked up to see the form of a boy with blue eyes, brown spiky hair, tanned skin and armor colored gold, silver and blue, look down on him with sympathy. The boy knelt beside the elderly man, surprising him.

"I did… not imagine that… you would show me… sympathy. I caused you… So much… pain in your life." He managed to say, each word a struggle to say as he tried his hardest to fight against the pain he felt.

"I never wanted it to end like this, Xehanort." The boy said. "I know that we're enemies, but… I still wanted to save you."

Xehanort widened his eyes with surprise. "My… my. You are… full of surprises… Sora." He tried to push himself up, only to fail and fall back on the ground. "Tell me… why did you wish to… save me?"

Sora closed his eyes for a second, suddenly filled with guilt after hearing the pain in Xehanort's voice. "I… know you fought for the light once. I know that you once fought to protect people. Not just to gain power. I wanted to save that part of you." He clutched his fists. "And… I failed."

At this, Xehanort let off a small chuckle. "Foolishness… you should know better… than to pity a man like me." His breathes were becoming slower. "Still… I suppose congratulations… are in order. You protected the balance… saved the worlds from… whatever the result of… the Keyblade War's effect. You have proven yourself… to be a master… above masters."

Xehanort's eyes were now slowly closing, the last of his life was draining from his body. "I should've kill you… long ago…" With those final words, Xehanort breathed his last, his life finally coming to an end.

Sora stood up onto his feet and regarded his enemy one last time. "May you finally find some peace, Xehanort. Best wishes in the next life."

…..

Xehanort couldn't feel anything. He lost his senses, he wasn't properly conscious… he was stuck in an endless sleep. More than once he had wondered what it would be like when he finally met his end. If he was able to actually tell what was happening to him, he wouldn't have been happy.

"Wake up…"

Xehanort quickly opened his eyes. He looked around, finding himself in a an endless black void. Feeling the ground beneath him, he pulled himself off of the ground and looked around, wondering where he was.

"Who's there." He said. He held out his hand, trying to summon his Keyblade. However, much to his shock, the blade didn't respond. Xehanort gritted his teeth and glared into the void. "What is this? WHO BROUGHT ME HERE!?"

"If you will allow me to explain…"

Xehanort whipped his body around, hold out his arms in a similar battle stance to his younger nemesis, and gave a calm, cool stare to the owner of the voice. The speaker that stood before him was a woman who, despite her appearance, help the kind of power that could've required decades, if not centuries, of training to have. She had long, green hair, snow-pale skin and brown eyes, she wore what seemed to be a wedding dress with golden frills and she carried a staff that had a large star on the top.

"My name is Zara. I am a deity of time and space. My role is to observe what happens in the universe. However, I cannot interfere with any activities of those who live, or what they are doing."

Xehanort gave her a snide smirk and ran his hand over his head. "Quite the useless deity, aren't you? All that power and-"

Xehanort stopped mid-sentence as he felt something on his head. Rubbing his head back and forth, he realized that there was hair on his head. He looked at his head, seeing that he wasn't wearing gloves. What shocked him the most that his hand appeared more… youthful.

He looked down at his form and saw that he was wearing the clothes he wore when he was training with Eraqus. He looked back up at the woman, who had a small smile on her face and she had her eyes closed, as if anticipating something exciting.

"What is this?" he asked.

"Like I said, I cannot alter things with the living. However…" she opened her eyes. "The deceased are within my jurisdiction."

Xehanort, not liking that he was being so easily affected by something beyond his power, felt tempted to tear the being head to toe. "What business do you have with me?"

At this, the deity looked a little saddened. "I have seen you during your life, Xehanort. You once fought for what was right, but the darkness took over your heart." She looked directly into his eyes. "Allow me to say, while you were correct that the darkness can be used to fight for the light, you were not strong enough to conquer its negative effects."

Xehanort shrugged his shoulders and held his hand out up to his shoulder. "Seemingly. Otherwise we wouldn't be having this meeting."

Not really understanding the joke, Zara nodded her head. "Yes, correct. Tell me this, Xehanort. What would you do to fully conquer the darkness? To use it to become the hero that you once wished to be?"

At this, Xehanort quirked an eyebrow at her. "… Why are you offering me this? What have you to gain?"

At this, Zara looked at her guest with apprehension. She found it difficult to speak of the topic, as dark matters were not something she wished to get involved with. Nevertheless, she pressed on. "There is a world, Xehanort. One that is going to fall into its own darkness. There is a strong light that will one day prove to be a powerful threat to the dark, but I'm afraid it will be enough."

Xehanort formed a slight smile on his face, catching on to what the deity was getting to. "You wish to fight fire with fire? Darkness with darkness?"

Zara nodded. "Correct. I… I wouldn't normally chose for one of the dark to make this choice. But I know how powerful you are. And you have been through the darkest parts of existence. I feel that you can fight against this evil and save them."

Xehanort rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "As interesting as this sounds, m'lady." Xehanort started sarcastically. "It seems that you are forgetting that I am dead. Unless you plan for me to haunt this world like a ghost and attempt to frighten them like a cheap haunted house prop, I don't see the logic."

"That is why I will restore your life." Zara countered, slightly surprising Xehanort. "With this, you will be able to carry out the mission… but it will also allow you live a life of peace. One filled with light, one that will bring you true happiness."

Xehanort scoffed at the deity. He didn't believe that it would be possible for him to lead a nice life. The idea was far from possible to even stomach. The Keyblade Master has made far too many mistakes in his life to have earned the right to live a nice life.

"You are just as foolish as that boy." Xehanort commented.

"Perhaps." Zara pointed out, knowing who Xehanort was talking about. "However, I have never been wrong before. And I have no doubt that this will be any different."

At that, Xehanort's brow slightly raised. It was interesting to see how confident the woman had suddenly become. He turned his eyes upwards, pondering on whether or not it was worth taking her up on her offer. On the one hand, there didn't seem to be much to do here. What's more, it would grant him the ability to further increase his power.

He looked back at the deity with a small, menacing smirk. "And how are you sure that I won't try to leave the world when I am brought back? Once I am brought back, I'm sure you will have lost your power over me."

Zara grinned in response. "Once you find this world, I'm sure that you will find it hard to leave."

At this point, Xehanort wished that he could summon his Keyblade, as he didn't like it when people made assumptions for him. Nevertheless, he was more curious as to what this world had to offer that would make him stay.

"… One last thing." He said while pointing his index finger up level to his eyes. "It seems that I've suddenly lost the ability to summon my weapon. Without it, I won't be of much use to this mission of yours."

Instantly responding to Xehanort's point, Zara pointed her staff into the air and allowed it to glow a blinding light. After it faded, Xehanort felt a strong surge of energy flow through his right hand. He looked down and saw his Keyblade forming in his palm. After it was complete, a blade-like grin formed on his face.

"Have you any other complaints? Master Xehanort?" Zara asked.

The now young Xehanort slowly looked at the deity, a chilling, malevolent mask of eagerness present on his face. "This place does seem like a boring place to take a nap anyway." He said, paraphrasing a particular Keyblade wielder.

Zara nodded her head. "Well said." with that, her staff illuminated once more. A few seconds later, the black void became white, the deity caught up in the light and completely obscuring Xehanort's vision. Initially startled, Xehanort held up the blade like a shield.

"What the HELL!?"

A few seconds later, when the light faded, Xehanort disappeared. The void returned to black and Zara was all alone. As she stood by herself, she clutched the staff with both her hands and looked down at the ground with doubt clouding her mind.

"Did I… make the right choice?"

…

Xehanort's vision slowly went back to normal. Needless to say, he was not pleased with nearly being blinded by the strong light that struck his eyes. When his eyes were fully recovered, he looked around the area, expecting to still be in the dark void. His ability to trust others than himself was vastly low, so he half-expected the deity to double cross him.

Surprisingly, he found himself standing in a woodland area, trees towering over him, but not bunched together, allowing sunlight to shine in and highlight various points of the forest. Xehanort heard the sound of rushing water nearby. He turned his head to see a stream of running water.

"… No harm in something to drink, I suppose." He said out loud. He walked over to the stream and knelt down at the edge. Before he could even touch the water, the Keyblade Master caught of his reflection… or rather, what WAS his reflection some time ago.

He was surprised, albeit not completely, as he knew his appearance had been altered after feeling actual hair on his head earlier. He looked like himself when he was fifteen years old, only this time he had pale skin, amethyst eyes and his years were no longer pointed. His hair, unlike the hairstyle used by the younger version of himself he recruited, while it did reach down to his neck from behind, the fringe was sticking out and lowered over his forehead, seemingly messier than he recalled.

Xehanort stared at the reflection for a moment, taking in his new form. After a few seconds, he sighed and let his hand drop into the stream, collecting some for him to drink.

"It seems the deity thought it best to change my appearance." he thought. "Perhaps it was wise, as I recall many being rather intimidated by my previous one… much to my offence."

Nevertheless, he continued to take handful after handful of water from the stream until he was fully hydrated. After he had finished, he got back onto his feet and walked through the forest. Seeing as he wasn't sure where to go, he decided to wander around until he found a clue. Foolishness to some, but then again, he had quite the level of power under his belt. Added with the fact that he knew how to survive in the wilderness, h would survive.

After a few minutes of walking, he eventually got bored. He found a rock to sit on and looked up towards the sky. "Is there nothing to do here?" he asked out loud.

As if to answer the question for him, a low growl emitted from one of the bushes. Xehanort shot up from the stone and summoned his Keyblade. He quickly eyed the area, making sure if any other creatures were present. Apparently, there were, as numerous creatures crawled out from the vegetation.

These creatures looked lie wolves, all of which had black fur, wore bone in various places on their bodies like armour, as well as bone masks on their faces, each revealing a pair of blood-hungry, red eyes underneath. They all stared at Xehanort, expecting him to be an easy kill.

The silver haired Master, however, grinned back at the monsters, his eyes forming a looked of dark anticipation.

"I wonder… are these the darkness that Zara spoke of?" he asked himself out loud. He then let off a small chuckle, catching the creatures off guard. "Alright. Show me what you can do."

With that, Xehanort ran towards the creature in front of him, beheading it in under a second. This was followed by the Keyblade master throwing his Keyblade at one to the first's left, slicing it in two by the hip. At a third came up to him, bearing down a sharp-looking set of claws, the Keyblade spun back to Xehanort, who caught it effortlessly and sliced the monster's arm off, followed by a thrust to its chest, stabbing it in the sternum. The monster let out a roar filled with pain and agony before slowly going limp.

When Xehanort was sure it was dead, he swung the body around at launched to the feet, or rather, the hind legs, of the remaining creatures. Seeing the body fade away into ash, the remaining creatures took a step back from Xehanort, now suddenly fearing the Keyblade Master's power.

Xehanort smirked. "Oh, don't leave yet." He said, his Keyblade suddenly morphing into a ball of dark energy. "After all, you've get to see my grand finale."

With that, he threw the ball at the monsters, which came in contact with the head of one of the monsters. As it did, it exploded, creating a shock-wave of dark energy that tore the remaining monsters to pieces. Through a cloud of black smoke, the Keyblade reformed and spun back towards Xehanort, who caught it effortlessly. He dismissed the weapon and looked at the burning area.

He was not impressed.

"Hmph. I was right. Zara was just messing with me." He commented, turning his back away from the scene. "Why bother to have e fight such weakli-?"

He hadn't walked six feet when he suddenly heard the sound of someone, presumably a woman, screaming at the top of her lungs. As she did, a bright light that shone in the distance. As it did, he heard the sound of wolves howling in agony, which he guessed was the sound of the creatures he fought earlier.

At this, Xehanort widened his eyes, feeling a strong level of power coursing through the light. After only a few seconds the light and all traces of its power faded. Still… it caught the interest of the Keyblade Master, who wore a malevolent smile on his face.

He let off a small chuckle before saying "Well, it seems that there is something in this world that is worth my time."

….

"You've got… to be kidding me"

A woman with short, cropped raven hair and red highlights on tips, silver eyes and pale skin was lying on her front, looking up at a hoard of black-furred beasts. She pushed herself, looking for anything on her person that could help her. Her eyes only met the black top, light grey pants, combat boots and white cloak that she was wearing.

She looked to her right and saw the sword that she was using, thinking that she could use it to fight off the beasts. As she tried to move, however, a sharp pain surged through the left side of her waist, causing her to gasp in response to the pain. She looked back down and saw that her clothes were torn in that particular area, revealing a long gnash that looked to be bleeding heavily.

Gritting her teeth and doing her best to fight off the pain, she slowly moved towards her sword. The beasts that were surrounding her didn't move, knowing full well that she wouldn't be able to fight back either way.

She still managed to reach her blade and held it by the handle, sticking it into the ground and using it to push herself onto her feet. When she was standing, she eyed the creatures with a stern glare, but also with a strong level of doubt present in her mind.

Summer Rose is a Huntress, a warrior with the duty of protecting the innocent from evil, whether it be in the form of criminals or the creatures of Grimm, which was the name of the creatures before her. She had taken a mission to eliminate a group that had appeared on the island of patch, where she lived.

One can imagine her surprise when she saw that there were ten times more, at least, than was reported. It had been a rough battle, managing to kill off most of the pack, but she was severely wounded after being hit with their claws more than once, which eventually drained her of her aura. As she felt her legs give way, a few tears crawled down her face.

She was afraid. Not of dying, but more so of leaving behind her children. She was married to her life-long crush, Taiyang Xiao Long. Before she married him, however, he was married to his first love, Raven. For whatever reason, after their daughter was born, she left him and their child. See how he needed help, Summer help Tai raise the child. In their time spent together, they eventually fell in love and married, resulting in the birth of another child.

Summer loved both Yang and Ruby with all her heart, seeing them as the light in her life. And now… it seemed like they were going to be left without a mother. Thinking about her husband and daughters, remembering how that all gathered together to say bye and to wish her good luck, the tears only increased as she felt her heart break.

"Yang… Ruby… Tai… please forgive me." She whispered, closing her eyes.

As she did, she heard one of the beasts roar. A split second later, she heard the sound of air being slashed and a howl of pain filling the air. She opened her eyes and looked up to see a young teen holding an oddly shaped sword… that was embedded in the Grimm's chest. As second later, the boy turned the weapon inside the creatures, creating the unpleasant sound of numerous bones crunching within. After turning the weapon enough, he swiped it to his right, slicing the creature from within and freeing his weapon.

Summer widened her eyes at the display, but was more concerned for the boy's safety. "What are you doing!?" she cried, despite her waist causing her great pain. "It's not safe here!"

"I can see that." The boy said, his cold eyes now looking at Summer, more specifically at her wound and the small pool of blood. Summer then saw him making eye contacted, causing her to feel a chill go down her spine as she saw to cold stare he was giving.

He then pointed his weapon directly at her face, too fast for her to react. When she registered the weapon, she tried to pull her own weapon up, only to fall short as she was losing her strength.

"Heal." He said. The tip of his weapon was then coated on a green light for a few seconds later. As it faded, a similar green light appeared around Summer. She saw the light radiating off of her, surprised and unable to make sense of what was going on. Her worries were soon put to rest, however, when her injury was soon starting to heal. Within two seconds, the injury was gone.

"Surprised?" the boy asked.

Summer looked back at him. He was now looking at her with a calmer expression. Her fear of the boy was slowly fading, replaced with gratitude for what he did for her. She smiled up at him and closed her eyes.

"Thank you." She said to him.

The moment was broken when a louder roar rippled through the air. Summer and the boy looked towards where they heard the sound and saw, much to Summer's horror, a wolf-like Grimm that was twice the size of the other wolves, with plenty more bone armor coating its torso.

"A… an Alpha Beowolf!" Summer exclaimed.

The boy's eyes were focused on the creature, but his eyebrow quirked at the sound of Summer calling out the name of the creature. He hadn't heard of a creature like this before. Actually, much to his surprise, this creature felt a lot stronger than the others he was fighting before.

"I'm assuming that this one will be a bit more difficult to manage…" he paused for a moment before turning to face Summer. "What is your name again?"

"YOU'RE ASKING THAT NOW!?" she cried, amazed to see that he didn't give much thought to the fact that his life was on the line.

With the boy's attention diverted, the monster charged towards him, planning on taking his head off with one strike. However, the boy proved to be sharper than he looked, spinning around at the last second and slicing the monster's paw off. He then ducked low and dashed for the creature's stomach, embedding his free hand within and summoning a ball of ice, which expanded until spikes of ice penetrated the creature from within.

Summer watched on, amazed to see the boy somehow create ice with his free hand. "How is he doing that? Is that his Semblance? But then how did he heal me?" her mind was racing with questions, but she was brought out of her thoughts when the remainder of the pack howled in anger.

The boy saw this and grinned. Raising his weapon up as high as he could, the weapon was soon coated in dark electricity.

"THUNDER!" he roared.

As soon as he said that, pillars of lightning shot down from the sky, each one striking Beowolf and killing it on the spot. When all the Grimm were killed. He looked back at the creature, which was now encased in ice, before pulling his hand out from the ice. As he did, the frozen Alpha was obliterated, shards of ice and fading Grimm flesh flying through the air.

The boy craned his neck to one side, stretching the muscles within. He turned back to see how the woman was doing, only to find that she was after feinting. As to if whether or not it was from the blood loss or his sudden display of power, he wasn't sure.

He sighed. He then looked around and saw a small settlement in the distance. It was faint from where he was standing, but it was there. He looked back at the woman and pondered on what to do next. On the one hand, he didn't particularly care for her safety, but he did promise Zara that he would protect the light in this world in exchange for his resurrection.

Also… that power he felt earlier. He could sense it coming from her. He wasn't sure as to how she was able to do it, but if there was a chance to see how that power works, he wasn't going to waste an opportunity to study it.

In the end, he picked up the woman bridal style and ran as quickly as he could to the settlement.

…

Summer slowly opened her eyes. Her vision was a little blurry, and her thoughts were a bit hazy, but at least she was okay. Taking a moment to relax, she slowly lifted herself up. Her eyes widened when she felt the surface that her hand was on. She looked down and saw that she was lying on a bed. She looked around, seeing that she was in a large hospital room.

"How… did I…?" she started.

"I brought you here."

Summer jumped and turned her head to a familiar looking boy, sitting in a far corner of the room, reading a magazine. When he saw that she was awake, he lowered the reading material onto his lap and smiled. "My apologies. I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's, um… it's fine." She said, still a little confused. "How did I get here?"

Xehanort quirked an eyebrow, but said nothing. "Well, after I took care of the rest of those monsters, I found that you feinted. I brought you here, thinking they could help you. Fortunately, they did." He leaned back in his chair. "You were weak from a lack of blood in your system, but they gave you a transfusion, so you should be fine."

When Xehanort mentioned the Beowolves, she suddenly remembered how he sliced them all down so easily. She was silent for a moment before asking for his name.

The Keyblade master smirked. "Xehanort." He answered.

"No last name?" Summer asked, to which she got a slow shake from Xehanort's head. "Well, my name is Summer Rose. I just want to thank you, Xehanort. I don't think I would've survived without your help."

Xehanort was silent for a moment before nodding his head. "You're welcome." He said. he then titled his head to one side. "Why were you out there?"

"I'm a Huntress." She said. "I took a job to take care of the Beowolves you saw me fighting… but… there were too many for me to handle alone. I… I thought I was going to-"

"Silence." Xehanort said with a calm, but stern tone. "Don't all ow yourself to think of what could've happened. Phrases like 'could've, should've and would've' only work to drive us mad with doubt. In other case, granted, they lead us to taking dark paths. Focus on the present, and feel happy that you are alive." He said. he then looked upwards for a moment while pondering on something. "You are happy to be alive, aren't you?"

At this, Summer looked at him like he had two heads. "Huh? Of course I am." She said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Then stop thinking about what could've happened back there. And be grateful that you're still alive."

While he did sound harsh to the woman who had only just survived a life or death moment, Summer could see his point. After another brief moment of silence, Summer nodded her head.

"Thank you again, Xehanort." She said.

"You're welcome… again." He responded. He then looked down at the floor for a moment before a thought occurred, thinking about something Summer just said. "If you don't mind me asking, what are-"

Before he could finish, he heard someone walking down the hall towards them. Deciding that there was no point in being near any more people, as he didn't like having to answer any questions, he stood up from his seat.

"Forgive me, Summer, but I must leave." He said.

Summer looked at the boy with a slightly look of disappointment on her face. "What? You have to go already?"

Xehanort nodded. "Remember what I said. Be grateful for all that you now have." He said. before he left, he stood within the door frame and gave the woman a small smirk. After that, Xehanort took his leave. After escaping Summer's line of sight, he opened a corridor of darkness and left the hospital. After it faded, three people, a man with two little girls, walked around a corner and quickly made their way into Summer's room.

Her eyes widened with joy after they came into the room. "Tai! Girls!" she yelled.

"Mommy!" Cried a girl around five years old, she was the spitting image of Summer, same hair, eyes and skin tone.

"Are you okay, Mom?" asked the other girl, having lilac eyes, pale skin and blond hair.

They were each on one side of her bed as they held onto her hands. Seeing their worry, Summer giggled slightly and gave them an toothy grin. "It's okay, I'm fine. The doctors are super cool here." She said.

That seemed to cheer the girls up. Summer then looked up towards her husband, who had short, blond hair, blue eyes, a hint of stubble on his jaw line and a quite well tanned. He was holding a group of roses, tied together with a line of golden fabric, which also supported a card which had a smiley face on it.

"Aw, thank you." She said, clearly happy with the love she was being shown. She looked back at the girl with blond hair. "Yang, can you and Ruby go into the waiting room? I need to speak with Daddy about something boring." She said, rolling her eyes at the last part.

"Aw, five more minutes." Yang said. However, she changed her mind after a few seconds when she saw that her mother was really keen to talk to Tai about something. Yang let out a sigh of defeat. "Okay, We'll go. C'mon Ruby."

"Five more minutes." Ruby said, imitating Yang.

"… Maybe they have cookies?" Yang suggested.

"COOKIES!" Ruby yelled as she soon bolted for the door. Yang was surprised by the speed.

"Hey, Ruby! Slow down. Hey!" Yang yelled as she tried to catch up with Ruby.

Tai chuckled as he saw them go off. "I wonder if Ruby will get any faster growing up?" he wondered out loud. He then looked over towards Summer, who now looked a little apprehensive. Tai's brow raised at this. "You okay. Honey?"

Summer was silent for a moment before speaking. "Tai… when I was on that mission… there were more Beowolves than were reported." Her hands were tarting to tremble. "I… I tried using my powers, but… I was already too weak. I thought I… Tai, I was going to die."

Hey, hey." He said, with a comforting tone of voice, walking right next to his wife and holding her close. They were embracing each other for a bit until Summer stopped trembling. When Tai freed Summer, she looked at him with a gratifying smile.

"So… what happened? How did you escape?" he asked.

"Before they finished me… someone got in the way and blocked them. He wasn't any older than fifteen, I think. I… you should've seen him, Tai. He sliced them all like it was nothing. He punched a hole in an Alpha's stomach before freezing him from the inside out. He called lightning from the sky. He…" she looked down at where she was hurt, lifting up her shirt to reveal a light pale scar where she had been hit. "He healed me."

Tai's eyebrow when up bit by bit every time Summer pointed out each thing that Xehanort did. When he heard about the healing, he tilted his head to one side, having slight difficulty processing the information.

"Uh… he did all those things at once?" he asked in confusion, receiving a nod from Summer as a response. "How?"

Summer was silent as she pondered on an explanation. However… there was only one answer jumping out at her, and she didn't think it was possible.

"I think I know." She said. "I think… I think that we was like Ozpin."

"Ozpin? What do you…" Tai stopped speaking as he caught on, both aware of a particular secret that Ozpin held. "Oh."

Summer nodded. "There's someone, someone who isn't a maiden, who is able to use magic."

Both were silent for as they thought about this. Taiyang chose to break the silence. "So… what are we going to do?" he asked.

"I don't know." Summer admitted. "I… I think we should leave him alone."

"What!?" Tai asked.

"When I saw him fighting… there was something about him. He fought without mercy, not afraid to slice down anything in his path." She looked down at her hands. "I don't think he'd be happy if more people knew about him."

"So were supposed to keep our mouths shut? What if he's a bad guy?" Tai pointed out. "We can't just let him wander around in case he's planning on causing trouble."

"He won't." Summer said, surprising her husband. "He's smart. I could tell. He won't do anything that will risk exposure. He looked like…" Summer was silent for a moment, remembering the look in his eyes. While he did seem to show a slight sliver of compassion, there was something in his eyes that showed something… darker. "He has a goal. He won't risk getting caught if it means not achieving it."

Both were silent again, this time a feeling of dread running through them. They were interrupted from their thoughts when they heard the sound of someone knocking.

"Mommy! Are you finished!?" Ruby asked loudly.

"C'mon, Mom, We want to talk." Yang added.

Summer and Taiyang looked at the door for a moment before their smiles were reformed on their faces. With a small laugh, Summer said that they could come in. As soon as she did, the girls burst through the door and ran up to their mother. All of Summers fears were washed away in an instant.

Be grateful for all that you have

Xehanort's words went through her head one more time, a smile forming on her face, happier than ever to be with the ones she loved.

"I am… thank you…" she thought.

…..

Xehanort dug his Keyblade into the soil as he looked up into the sky. He was back in the forest, intending to find as many of these monsters as possible. 'The Creatures of Grimm' seemed to be nothing compared to the Heartless. His point well proven as several torn or sliced pieces of Beowolf Grimm were scattered across the ground and fading away into existence.

Truth be told, he didn't find anything of interest here other than Summer's power. He remembered the deity saying that there would be something to keep him here, but there was no such thing present. Nevertheless, he did make an agreement.

"This will be such a boring time." He said to himself.

His ears then perked, the sound of another creature coming up behind him. He turned around and saw the shape of a monster that was far bigger than the Beowolves. It was at least one and a half times their size, taiking on the appearance of a bear. The Keyblade Master shook his head.

"Another boring duel, I see." He said as he rushed over towards the beast.

"Boring?"

At the sound of this voice, Xehanort was momentarily distracted. The bear-like Grimm saw this and charged towards him, swiping a claw and sending him flying towards the Cliffside. He slid off the edge but managed to catch on just before he fell. As he pushed himself back up, he felt a new presence quite close by. When he managed to get himself back on the surface, he looked directly in front of him, only to be surprised by the new figure standing before him.

It was a woman with death-like paleness, hair styled with a formal look, red eyes with the whites turned black, veins formed arounf the eyes. She wore a black cloak, which only revealed a pair of hands with rather long fingernails. Xehanort smirked as she seemed like a more powerful version of Maleficent.

"My apologies for starting you, my boy." She started, a dark smile forming on her face. "Permit me to introduce myself. My name is Salem. I command these creatures of Grimm." She said. She hovered towards the bear and lightly stroked its fur. "They are my darlings. My beautiful soldiers of darkness."

"… Color me 'unimpressed'." Xehanort simply said. He was by no means impressed with the Grimm; that was clear. However, he could tell that this woman had more power under her belt than she was letting on. As such, he felt that there was no harm in antagonizing her into unleashing it.

Salem glared at Xehanort before speaking to him. "Yes… I can see how you killed some of my Grimm. While I am quite… offended by this, I would like to make an offer."

Xehanort raised an eyebrow at the woman. "Offer?"

"Your skill and power is beyond that of any Huntsman. Yet you are only a child. Imagine the potential that you will have in the future." She started. She then held out a hand to him. "Join me. Help me remake this world. Bring it to its knees and return it to the darkness."

Xehanort observed the woman while he quickly thought about what she was offering. It was clear front he start that she isn't one to be trusted. He could also tell that she was drunk on power, willing to do whatever it took to achieve her goals. He couldn't help but smirk as he felt that it was like looking in a mirror.

However…

"Interesting offer." He started. A split second later, he slashed his Keyblade and took off Salem's hand in one strike. He used the momentum to spin around and follow the slash with a side kick to Salem's stomach , sending her flying back as she screamed in pain. "That was my counter offer."

At this point, a dark aura was quickly forming around Salem as she glared at Xehanort. "You… you will NOT SEE THE END OF THIS DAY!" she roared, aiming her remaining hand at him and firing a blast of dark energy.

Xehanort grinned malevolently as he held up his Keyblade in defense, blocking the attack and pushing it to one side, the deflected energy destroying a number of trees in the process. The Keyblade Master dashed forward and thrusted his weapon at Salem's head, only to have the bear step in his path.

Xehanort wasn't fazed in the slightest, instead throwing his weapon directly through the monster's head, cutting it into two, and et the weapon fly through the woods. Xehanort jumped high into the air and was quickly falling towards the Mother of Grimm. Salem thought him foolish for running at her without a weapon. Taking the opportunity, she built up more dark energy and formed it into a pair of clawed hands, planning on using them to tear him apart.

As the hands charged towards Xehanort, he spun around and motioned his hand like he was preparing to strike with his weapon. Just as the clawed hands were about to strike him, Xehanort's Keyblade returned to him, allowing him to slice the hands and destroy them.

Now, all Salem could do was watch as Xehanort brought down his weapon down on her and sliced through Salem. Although there didn't seem to be any physical damage, the attack was still enough o bring the woman down onto her knees. She looked up at Xehanort with a vicious glare, as one would expect from a wild animal.

Xehanort huffed at this. "You expected me you join someone as weak as you?" he asked. Turning away, he said "Don't make me laugh."

Before Xehanort could walk any further away from the woman, he heard a soft laugh from behind. He turned to see Salem slowly getting back onto her feet, a small smirk present on her face as a line of darkness appeared where she was hit with the attack. After a few seconds, the line vanished and Salem laughed again, as if the attack hadn't even happened.

"Aren't you full of surprises." Salem commented.

"It seems I'm not the only one." Xehanort said back, his eyes narrowing at the woman. He readied himself before saying "Ready for round two?"

Salem shook her head. "No… I've seen enough." She said before a portal of red and black energy appeared behind her. "Congratulations. You have earned my interest. As such, I will allow you to live a little longer." She finished.

With that, Salem stepped through the portal, disappearing, as well as the portal soon after. Xehanort made no attempt to stop her, as he was simply curious about the woman's power.

"The ability to control the Grimm and can use dark energy… it seems I found the threat that Zara was speaking of." He said.

He looked back towards the edge of the cliff, seeing how it would be dusk soon. Xehanort didn't care, however, as he turned back into the woods and went on the hunt for more Grimm to slay.

His interest peaked, Xehanort resolved to keep his agreement. He would defend this light that the deity spoke of. Until then… he heard his prey howling for him.

Alright, ladies and gents, that's it for the time being with this story. What do you think? I know it seems a little odd making Xehanort a protagonist, but it's something that I wanted to try for a while. We all saw Xehanort appearing time and again as the bad guy, but we never got to see much of him as a good guy. It's something I always pondered on. Sadly, with KH3 being the last game in the Xehanort Saga, I guess we won't see a prequel that sees his fall from grace.

And in case anyone asks, Xehanort won't be strictly on anyone's side. He may decide to help some people out, but, like with saving Summer because of her power, he will only work with others if it's in his interest or if it's to achieve his own goals. Guess both Ozpin AND Salem need to watch their backs.

Nevertheless, this was certainly another interesting tale to write, and I hope I can keep it up. But for now, I'll see you all later. Don't forget to review.