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AN: Hello, new chapter! Now before you read make sure you read the previous chapter. I uploaded it the same day that I uploaded that authors note so you may not have read it yet.
Hope you enjoy!
AN: This chapter has not been beta'd
It was was with a flash of light that they arrived at their destination. They looked around as they deactivated their armor. It seemed that they had landed in a grassy meadow.
Before they could even speak they were surrounded by odd looking creatures. They were small and blue with lighting shaped horns and pointed faces with red eyes. They all summoned their Keyblades as they faced the creatures with their backs to each other.
"What are they?" Aqua asked. "Are they the natives of this world?"
"No, these are the Unversed," Naruto said. "They're creatures that grow from negative emotions and are considered the opposite of human life."
"Will our Keyblades work on them?" Terra asked. Instead of responding Naruto quickly slashed through the unversed that had tried to attack him while he was speaking. It was fair game after that.
They slashed and tore through the group that had appeared effortlessly, Terra literally smashing through them with brute strength and Aqua freezing and burning them with her magic. It wasn't long before they were once again standing in an empty clearing, Naruto wearing a troubled look on his face.
"Master Naruto," Aqua said softly. "What's wrong?"
"The unversed," he said after a moment. "They shouldn't exist. The very fact that they do is a problem but they've started to attack the realm of light which can't mean anything good."
He turned to them, his face grave with no trace of a smile anywhere to be seen.
"Terra, Aqua," he said authoritatively. "We'll scout this world out to see what's happening. Aqua, you head that way," he said pointing deeper into the meadow. "Terra, your with me."
"Yes Master," they both said respectfully.
"Aqua, if you find anything out of the ordinary, anything at all, come back to me as soon as you're able."
"Of course," she said as she walked away.
"Come on Terra," Naruto said as he started to leave as well.
XxXx
As they slashed they're way through the many unversed they came across a rather large bridge that led to an even larger castle. What really caught their eye however, was the person standing not that far from them.
They could tell it was a woman from the back, even though she was wearing a long dark cloak. She had what looked like black horns on her head along with a brown staff with a sickly green orb at the end of it. They slowly approached her and, sensing their presence, she spoke.
"What's this..." she said in a silky voice as she turned to face them. "Why aren't you two alseep? That fool Flora cast a spell to put everyone in this castle into a deep slumber."
"Who are you," Terra said boldly. Naruto sent him a look that he missed.
"Why, I am Maleficent," she proclaimed. "As all who dwell in this kingdom would know. Now you must reciprocate the introduction. Who are you two?"
"I'm Terra, and this is Master Naruto," Terra spoke once again missing the look the older blond sent him. "What do you know about those monsters, the ones who attacked us?"
"Terra..." Naruto growled. It seemed that he got the hint this time judging by the look on his face. He seemed properly abashed.
"Hmph, now why would I give a thought to creatures so base," she said in a noncholant voice as she walked towards the railing of the bridge, ignoring the interaction between the two. "So inconsequential?"
"They are base, that's for sure," Terra said under his breath.
"We're looking for someone," Naruto said, speaking to her for the first time. "Have you ever heard of a man named Xehanort?"
"That name is not familiar to me," she said not turning to face them. "Is he an outsider, like yourself?"
Warning bells were starting to go off in Naruto's head. Something wasn't right here.
"Oh, but wait... I do remember someone leaving the castle. I'm not sure what he was doing but, I can only be certain that he was not from this kingdom. If you're curios, go see the castle for yourself. There, the entrance is past the bridge," she said pointing towards the castle.
"Thank you for your help," Naruto said with a slight bow. "If you see anything else please let us know."
They hadn't gone three steps before she spoke up again.
"Wait," she said almost hesitatingly. "perhaps he did speak, about imprisoning 'the light'. 'The light' could be so many things. Could he have meant Princess Aurora?"
Naruto's eyes widen dramatically at those words as she disappeared in a flash of green fire. He turned to Terra only to see that he had gone ahead. Naruto could only sigh. That boy would be the death of him. He quickly ran to catch up with him, hopefully to keep him from doing something that would get them in trouble.
XxXx
Naruto quietly made his way into the castle's audience chamber, eyes sweeping the area in seconds, detecting no immediate threat. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a staircase that seemed to have been placed out of the way.
As he started to make his way towards the stairs his senses suddenly went wild. Jumping to the side he managed to dodge the attack from a rather large unversed.
It was blue just like the small ones they had seen, but aside from that and the unversed symbol that's where the similarities end. It had powerful looking arms and legs, all ending in sharp points, large horns that twitched and moved with a life of its own, and the unmistakeable red eyes (Eternal Rest). Naruto quickly summoned his Keyblade and dodge another strike.
Landing on the hand that was used to attack him, he ran up the arm before launching a series of concentrated slashes to its face before flipping back a good distance away. The unversed trashed around in pain leaving marks in the walls and even tearing chunks of it out.
It focused on Naruto as the horns on it's head lashed out at him. In an amazing display of flexibility and speed he managed to dodge each of the strikes, with a few close calls.
Seeing as it was getting nowhere, the unversed changed tactics. Recalling it's horns, it held it pointed hands above it's head as it gather an immense amount of negative energy.
Seeing the incoming attack, Naruto held his hand to the side as his Keyblade began to float in front of him, a soft glow coming from it just as the unversed slammed the orb down on him.
\
After a spectacular explosion the unversed was surprised to see, if it could be surprised, that Naruto was still standing, protected from the attack by a crystallized barrier.
Dismissing the barrier Naruto jumped to dodge the sweeping attacks sent his way by the enraged unversed. As he landed, he immediately went into a spin, holding the edge of his blade out as he spun.
As he picked up speed beams of light shot out of his blade, all striking the unversed, and exploding in a shower of light as they made contact sending the unversed to it's back.
Before it could recover Naruto stopped his spin before leaping into the air and thrust his blade into the chest of the unversed. Grasping the handle of the blade with both hands, he closed his eyes as the blade started to glow.
The unversed screamed in pain before disappearing in a blinding flash of light leaving Naruto standing there alone. After catching his breath he turned to go up the stair case only to see something that made his heart stop cold.
At the top of the staircase stood Maleficent, and in her hands was a heart in which he could feel no darkness. He started to charge only for her to once again disappear in a blaze of green fire.
"Dammit!" he yelled as he swung his Keyblade striking nothing but air. "Terra what the hell did you do?"
XxXx
He made his way through the hallway before stopping in front of a door.
He had to be completely sure.
He pushed the door open slowly and entered cautiously. It was a small circular stone room with a fire place on one side, and a large window on the other. Near the window was an extravagant bed and in it lay a young woman with long hair just as blond as his, though very smooth and straight.
She wore a small golden crown and a deep blue dress, but the oddest thing about her was that she was sleeping, peacefully. Naruto walked over and lifted his Keyblade over her, the blade emitting a soft glow as he ran it over her.
It was just as he had feared. Someone had stolen her heart, and he had a feeling that it was Terra.
Growling softly he gripped his Keyblade and dug it into the very stone itself before chanting a spell. Ghostly figures quickly appeared and Naruto watched the proceedings with cold eyes.
Terra, as he was slowly manipulated into taking the young maidens heart, and Maleficent, as she revealed that her heart held nothing but light, without the slightest traces of darkness whatsoever.
Terra realizing what he had done and in his shame, leaving the world altogether to find a way to make amends. Naruto sighed as he released the spell.
So Terra hadn't done anything wrong, or rather, it hadn't been his fault. He shook his head at the actions of the foolhardy boy, silently promising not to leave before the young woman heart was returned.
As he made his way through the hall and down the steps, he could only think that no one messed with his apprentices.
XxXx
He found her standing in the clearing they were in earlier, clearly just finished fighting off more of the unversed if the scorch marks in the grass were any indication.
"Aqua," he called out. "You doing okay?"
She took a moment to catch her breath before answering.
"Yeah, I'm fine," she said. "Where's Terra?"
Naruto could only sigh and pinch the bridge of his nose.
"I'll tell you in just a moment. Were you able to find out anything?"
"There was a large wall of black and green fire a little further from here," she said. "I couldn't really see anything on the other side but after testing it a bit I think our Keyblades can bring it down. "
"Good job Aqua," Naruto said distractedly. It was clear to Aqua that there was a lot on his mind.
"Master Naruto," she asked tentatively. "Where's Terra? Did something happen to him?"
Again he sighed but this time began to walk in the direction of the fire.
"I'll explain everything on the way Aqua," he said. "Come on, we don't have a lot of time."
XxXx
They were both quiet as they reached the clearing where Aqua said the wall of fire was, both lost in thought. The only thing was that there was no wall of fire anywhere in sight.
"But it was right here," Aqua said in a confused tone.
"Maybe someone took it down before we got here," Naruto said. "Let's keep going."
They only walked a few steps before they reached a rather desolate area. The sky had turned dark and there was a long pathway leading to a rather ominous looking castle. As they looked at the castle they both noticed something flying towards them.
"What's that?" Aqua asked as a light passed over them and heading towards the forest.
"That was the Princesses heart!" Naruto exclaimed. "Someone's up there, lets hope its Terra. Let's go take a look inside."
They raced up the pathway taking down the unversed that blocked their path with precision. As they made they're way towards the castle gates they saw a group of odd looking creatures. They were all dressed similarly, wearing brown tunics and black helmets.
The instant they spotted the pair they charged them. While it was child's play to take them down, there were swarms of them attacking at one time. The moment the wave lessened they made their way into what looked like a throne room only to hear a familiar voice.
"There's no way Terra would hurt somebody like that!"
They quietly made their way further into the room to see Ventus arguing with Maleficent.
"You don't believe me?" She said smugly. "That's unfortunate, for he agreed so easily."
"He did?" they heard him say, the anguish in his voice palpable.
"Ven!" Aqua shouted as they ran into view. "Don't be fooled!"
"Aqua! Master Naruto!"
"Terra would never do that," she said. "You know that as well as I do."
"Besides," Naruto spoke while looking at Maleficent. "She was the one to manipulate him with her power. Terra was nothing more than a pawn to her. But thanks to you Ventus, her plan was ruined."
"Ahh... the truth can be most cruel," Maleficent said. "Even amongst the closest of friends. After all, one never knows the secrets of another's heart. I'm sure you'll agree... Ventus... Aqua... and of course Master Naruto."
"Ventus," Naruto said, not taking his eyes off of Maleficent. "I have to ask what you're doing here. Shouldn't you be at home right now?"
"I came looking for Terra," he said sadly. "I was worried about him."
"Ven, Terra will be fine," she said with a smile. "We'll find him soon. It'll be okay, so you can go home, alright?"
She could see the struggle on his face and could only hope that he would make the choice to go home.
"Sorry Aqua, Master Naruto," he said after a moment. "But I can't go home, not yet. It's just... I have to find him before it's too late!"
"Too late for wha-" she started to say before he ran off. "Ven!
"I see you too wiled a Keyblade," Maleficent said before Aqua could run off.
"How is it that you know about the Keyblade Maleficent?" Naruto said with a growl. "That whole thing about not seeing Xehanort was a front, wasn't it?"
"A source of power..." Maleficent said ignoring the question. "A key that opens the hearts of men, of entire worlds... and allows one to obtain anything and everything. Such a power I find most fascinating."
"Xehanort... he told you all of this didn't he?" Naruto said, his eyes icy.
"Yes, he told me quite a bit about the Keyblade..." she answered almost reluctantly. "Would you two like to assist me in my endeavors?"
"Never!" They both exclaimed, jumping into their stances.
"I see, Xehanort was right, you two are very stubborn," she said almost disappointed. "It seems you need time to consider my offer. Fortunately, I have the perfect place for you to contemplate your decision."
As she spoke, the orb at the end of her staff started to glow an ominous green color before she stuck the ground with it. Beneath their feet a pool of darkness erupted beneath them creating a large hole where they stood, leaving the both of them to fall down into the abyss.
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