Chapter 4

Enchanted Dominion

The Call of Darkness


"Terrraaa!" A young voice cried from the top of the marvelous white marble staircase. Terra tuned at the sound of his name. Ventus rushed down the stairs three at a time, almost tripping in the process. He hunched over, holding his knees, trying to catch his breath as he reached hi friend in the center of the courtyard.

"It's okay," assured Terra, ruffling the young blonde's spiky hair.

Ventus's azure eyes seemed concerned, and had a hard time saying any words. Terra felt that Ventus was still worried about his feeling for losing the mark of Mastery, perhaps maybe even concerned that Terra was going to leave in spite of his failure, but Terra was not upset about his defeat anymore, especially since he was now given a second chance to prove his worth.

Terra gave Ventus a warm smile, and turned to face the tall arches at the entrance to the courtyard. Keeping the task his Master had given him in mind, Terra punched the black and bronze armor he wore that covered most of his left shoulder and arm with his right fist. In a matter of seconds, Terra felt tight, compact, and protected. From head to toe, his body was completely covered in hunks of armor of dark brown and bronze. Lines of orange decorated the armor, outlining his defined built muscles. Upturned sharp red hooks hung from his ankles, and a dark visor helmet covered his face. Two tall red prongs sprouted above his tinted mask. He could hear Ventus stare at him with awe.

Terra raised his keyblade high in the air, and a ray of light blasted towards the sky, creating a hole in the atmosphere. Black and purple spirals danced around a center of light-a gateway to the Lanes Between. Terra had never seen anything quite like it before, and he had to admit, it looked beautiful. With instinct, Terra hurled his keyblade like a boomerang far beyond the castle yard. A light twinkled, like a gleaming star in the night sky. On the keyblade's return, it did not come back like a regular keyblade, but had transformed into what looked like a hovering motorcycle. With the seat and engine bronze like the blade and a soft teal like the handle, the vehicle swerved from the sky and stopped beside Terra on its own accord. Terra leaped in the air, landing perfectly in the drivers seat.

The hovering vehicle veered sharply around the round grassy courtyard, finding a large enough area to properly depart. Kicking hard on the accelerator, the strange vehicle shot straight up towards the sky, like a rocket after lift off. Without looking back, Terra embraced the mystical dancing sphere of light, immediately entering the world of space.

Stars - flickering balls of gas glistened all around him, flying around in a weightless, space less, body of potion pink and midnight black. It was truly a sight to see, and he felt honored. In the distance, shone bigger and brighter stars. Those were not traditional gas balls. Those were Worlds. The Worlds his Master has always spoken of. Keeping the task on mind, Terra pressed on the gasp, carefully maneuvering between space particles, directing himself to the first bright shinning star he could see. As he got closer, r, he saw something, shaped like a lock. Terra raced through the center of it, entering one of the keyholes to a different world.

Tall grassy cliffs and hills surrounded a tiny pond. Birds chirped and other wild animals scurried across the grass, frolicking and minding their own. The black and orange armor dematerialized off of Terra's built body. The fresh warm spring air kissed his skin, welcoming him with fresh newfound oxygen and nature beauty. The place was peaceful. Not another soul in sight.

A hissing sound.

At once, Terra turned around, summoning his keyblade. His dark eyes fixated on a strange navy shadowed colored creature with piercing red eyes that looked much like a snake's. It moved rather quickly, fidgeting, but its eyes remained glued on the giant key in Terra's hand.

"Monsters? The ones the Master mentioned-" Terra gasped as the monster seemed to have had duplicated itself, creating copies of itself, circling Terra. "So these are the Unversed."

Adrenaline pumped through his veins, swinging his key around in circles, slicing some of the unfortunate shadows in half, fading into a cloud of darkness, not even leaving a trace of their remnants behind. He gasped as he saw some of the daunting monsters sink into the ground, like a shadow pool. Even stomping on them didn't have an effect. Others danced around like a mating call., distracting Terra, until the ones in the ground could pop out and claw his face off with their sharp ridged nails.

Just when Terra thought he was done fighting, he heard another strange humming sound. Behind him, he saw three floating red monsters that sort of looked like bottles of hot sauce. One of them spit out a ball of fire, igniting an innocent butterfly on a flower petal beside Terra, just missing the seam of his feudal tan pants. Maybe they are bottles of hot sauce, Terra thought to himself. He jumped mightily into the air, spinning around with this keyblade in hand, vanishing the hot tamales.

Another hum.

This time, Terra stepped backward, feeling slightly stunned. A gray and blue Unversed that was taller and twice as round as Terra looked down at him, menacingly. It sung its arms back and forth preparing for an actual punch, but the beat's massive arms hit him squarely in the chest, sending him backwards a couple yards, and knocking the wind out of him. Terra struggled, trying to sit back up. He was amazed with the creatures incredible power. The tall bruiser slapped its stomach forcing it back on the ground where it jumped repeatedly wit its butt toward Terra. Terra could eel the ground below him quake with every slam of the monsters behind, the force growing stronger with every approach. Terra sat there, calculating.
Finally, before it was too alter, Terra shielded himself with the keyblade, deflecting the enormous monster's blows. Suddenly, a couple of dark blue monsters with long gray talons for fingers joined the battle.

Are these monsters endless?

Terra had to focus on the big fella who liked to cause tiny earthquakes. The little ones could wait. He pushed on the left leg, sliding a great distance, and stabbing the Bruiser from behind, dissolving into the air.

"Ahh!" Terra screamed, staggering sideways. The two little monsters with dagger claws scrapped into the side of his arm, cutting through his flesh. Getting frustrated, Terra jumped and did a barrel-roll in the air, bestowing his keyblade with a touch of electricity, stunning the two scabbers before punishing them to the shadows.

Terra looked around, catching his breath and wiping the blood off his arm with his shirt.

Was that the last of them?

A familiar swishing sound.

One of those monsters that like to sink into the ground glided past him, rapidly hating north of the lake.

"No you don't!" Terra taunted, perusing after the shadow critter. For a little one, it had impeccable speed, driving Terra out of the lush green woods and onto a grand stone bridge connecting two land masses separated by water. Terra smacked his keyblade against the bridge, deflating the Unversed like a fly under a flyswatter.

Looking ahead, Terra's jaw dropped with amazement. A large glossy castle the color of rain in springtime and multiple majorelle blue pinnacles that ascended towards the heavens, varying in size and length. It was rather large, even larger than the one from home.

A woman stood not too far from him, staring at the castle as well. She wore a black-horned headdress and a long tattered black robe with purple trimmings. She was the first person he had seen since he arrived here. Perhaps she had some answers.

"What's this…" the tall skinny woman turned around at the sound of Terra's footsteps against the granite. Her skin was oddly pale and had a touch of green. The whites of her eyes blended with her skin, and her tall black robes made her neck seem abnormally tall. "Why aren't you asleep boy? That fool Flora cast a spell to put everyone int eh castle into a deep, deep slumber."

"Who are you?" Terra demanded. The woman's voice was deep and smooth. He felt that if she kept talking, she could have put anyone to sleep, but her big scary eyes and long sharp red nails suggested it would not be a good idea.

She pointed to herself and said, "Why, I am Maleficent… as all who dewell in this Kingdom would now." She wore a giant gem on her index finger that looked more like it was originally meant to be a broach. The lack onyx rock glistened in the afternoon sun. "Now you must reciprocate the introduction. Who are you?"

"I am Terra. What do you know about those monsters-the ones who attacked me."

The scary woman named Maleficent looked down to see the light cuts made into the side of is non dominate arm and smirked slightly. She turned away from him, looking over the bridge to the calm spring below.

"Now why would I give a thought to creatures so base… so inconsequential?"

Terra chuckled softly at the woman's response. "They are base, that's for sure. Anyway, I'm looking for someone. Ever heard of a man named Xehanort?" He was told not to meddle in other worlds, but that did not mean he could not ask questions. If Xehanort went traveling to other worlds, then surely someone was bound to see him.

Maleficent paused, gripping her tall staff in both ahnds, still looking out the bridge. "That name is not familiar to me. Is he an outsider, like yourself? Oh, but wait.." Maleficent turned around, looking enlightened. "I do remember someone leaving the castle."

Terra stepped forward. "Tell me-what was he doing there?"

"I couldn't say… I can only be certain eh was not from this Kingdom."

Terra shook his head with frustration. Her answers were not helping him.

"If you're curious, go see the castle for yourself." Maleficent pointed to the grand entrance on the other side of the bride.

He thanked the strange woman, breaking into a run towards the tall door.

"Perhaps he did speak about imprisoning "the light…"" Terra stopped running.
"What?"
""The light" could be so many things… Could he have meant Princess Aurora?"

Aurora?

Terra didn't quite understand what the woman was talking about. Did she mean that she saw Xehanort and this Aurora talked to each other? How could he, Maleficent said everyone in this castle was in a deep slumber.

Terra heard something like embers cackling. He turned, thinking more Unversed were tailing him, but no one was there. Not even Maleficent. A pile of green embers marked where she once stood, settling back into nothingness. Terra did not know much about this woman, but something about her felt oddly cold.

The castle doors were unlocked, which surprised Terra. The Great hall was vast and completely empty, but the beautifully decorated with stained glass windows, giving colorful grandiose images dancing against the mahogany flooring and stone brick walls. A long tail of soft red carpet led to a throne with two tall golden chairs that sat with vanity and power.

"Hello!" Terra called out in vain, his voice echoing throughout the audience chamber. "Master Xehanort?" There was no response. Terra continued along a pile of stairs that slightly curled and entered a long hallway with only one door at the end.

Where are all the sleeping citizens? He thought to himself. For some reason when the strange woman outside said that everyone was asleep, he half expected to see some of the castle workers snoozing away in the corridors, but there didn't seem to be anyone around.

A wide woodened radiated with a strange portentous glow. Terra reached his hand for the handle, but was greeted with an unruly shock. This door was enchanted shut, repelling anyone or anything near the door. Forcing the door open was not an option.

Out of all the doors to lock in the castle, why this one?

He stepped back, raising his keyblade. He could feel the magic bestowed upon a wielder rush through his veins; a small ray of light ignited at the top of the over sized bronze key, as if sucking the magical locked enchantments off the glowing door. The hinges pushed backward, opening access to a good sized clean room festooned with gold, pink, and purple curtains and garnishes. A table with a pitcher and some glasses still filled with water, and a bouquet of flowers, slowly decaying away in the darkest corner of the room next to a low dark archway filled with stairs. But what caught Terra's attention most was the enormous bed blocking most of the sunlight from the window, and a blond haired woman occupying the bed with an elegant silk sapphire sheet draped over her still body under her slender fingers. She wore a gold crown in her golden locks, and Terra assumed she must've held some form of royalty.

He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but something about the peaceful sleeping girl in the bed felt strangely familiar, like he had witnessed something like it before.

"Her heart is filled with light," a low ominous voice said, giving Terra a jump. He was sure no one else was in the room before. "Not the slightest touch of darkness."

Maleficent emerged from the shadows, pointing her finger thoughtfully in the air. "Just the kind of heart I need."

"For what?" He didn't like the way Maleficent spoke. She sounded like she had something dastardly planned.

"Imagine with me, the most glorious of futures. Seven of the purest hearts, each overflowing with light. When brought together, they grant the power to rule all worlds."

"What do you mean?"

"Why, that key you hold… the keyblade, is it called?"

Terra gasped, summoning his weapon. "Where did you learn that name?" No one beside the Keyblade Masters were supposed to know of the outside worlds-it was a rule, in order to protect the worlds from falling closer to darkness. How could an old hag like her know of the other worlds and the keyblade?

"That trinket is the only way to obtain the hearts."

"No more games. Where is Master Xehanort?"

"Impudence will get you nowhere, child." Maleficent held up her hand from her body, as if to tell Terra to clam down, or to not take another step towards her. "If you wish to learn more, you must retrieve the heart of Aurora."

"And why would I ever want to do that?"

The black horned woman smiled cunningly. "It's not a matter of "why," but of will." The orb on top of her staff lit a bright eerie green, and Terra could feel something-another presence, surrounding him, eating the air around him, tempting him, pulling at his tender heartstrings. "In your heart, there is darkness just waiting to be awakened." Her long sharp red nails flirted with the shiny orb, stirring the presence, making it stronger.

"I don't know… what you're… talking about." Terra said in between grunts, holding his tender heart, aching with pain and thirst.

"Perhaps not yet… but II have power over sleep. And I can awaken what's inside you. Then you will be free to be who you truly are."

Terra could feel his muscles relaxing, refusing to fight this haunting presence. His eyes felt heavy, and found it hard to concentrate on anything going on around him. The colors faded into blackness, but a firm familiar voice called out to him, cautioning him.

"Remember that darkness lurks in every heart."

Master Eraqus?

"Darkness is our foe. Would that we could be rid of it. You must destroy it." These words were familiar. They were past lessons Master Eraqus taught him when he was still a pupil. "Push the darkness down-give it no quarter in your heart."

Terra could feel his legs moving, moving on their own accord. Unknowingly, he raised his keyblade at the young royal, flexing his wielder ability. Lights flickered around the room and came to an abrupt stop as he heard the girl's final breaths. Her heart raised out of her chest, leaving her motionless. Maleficent chuckled darkly as the girl's summoned heart tailed gracefully into her gray boney hands. "Here it is… Just what I've waited for. And to think that all he spoke of was and will be true."

Terra gasped, taking in deep breaths of new fresh air. His vision cleared, like a veil being lifted from his eyes. Color, shapes, and reasoning coming back to him. His limbs felt tense and molested. "What-how did-" He jumped as he saw the still body of the sleeping beauty in front of him. Color slowly faded from her skin, and her chest ceased to rise or fall. "What did I do?" He turned to face the evil fairy. "What did YOU do?"
Maleficent smirked. "You speak as if I pulled some invisible strings. No, you couldn't be further from the truth, child. I simply whispered to the darkness you already held inside."

Terra held his chest, his palms sweating with fear. He looked at the innocent lifeless body beside him, waiting for her to wake up and laugh, claming this all to be a big nasty joke, but she didn't move. And Terra knew that she wasn't ever going to move, and it was all his fault. This girl didn't do anything to him. She didn't even say a word. She was just sleeping. And he took her heart without an explanation.

"How could I do this?" He asked rhetorically, slamming his fists against the sides of the mattress. Suddenly, he knew why this all felt familiar.

Ventus.

Ventus once looked just like that, the day he first arrived at the castle. Master Eraqus laid him on the bed where he peacefully slept for months, with no assurance if he will ever wake up.

"You want to know where Xehanort went?" Maleficent asked. "Well, that I cannot answer. He disappeared into the darkness, but now I know the keyblade is necessary to gather hearts…." She raised her eye at Terra. He felt disgusted. She was using him all along, like a pawn in order to fulfill her selfish deeds. "Join me. Collect six more hearts of pure light. Then we can rule all the worlds together!"

"You seem to be mixed up." Terra rejoined, summoning his blade once more. "I'm a peacekeeper, not a tyrant." Just then, the castle floor shook with mighty force, tripping Terra. "What was that?"

Maleficent shrugged her shoulders, not seeming alarmed or surprised with the sudden shock. "Hmm… for a peacekeeper you're off to an exceptionally poor start. Remember this: the darkness in your heart cannot be held back by force or strength." The floor shook again. She smiled tauntingly. "Now, my work here is done, as is yours. Wasn't there someone you need to chase?"

"Wait-!" Terra lunged toward the dark fairy, striking his sword in a swift smooth motion, but all he caught were a bunch of her lime colored flames, her menacing laugh echoed behind. The floor shook again, stronger than the last.

"The Unversed-they're gonna bring down the castle. I have to do something!" Terra bolted for the door, following the source to what was making these earthquakes. The shakings brought him back to the audience chamber, but that didn't prepare him for what he saw.

A long red and black curvy column full of life and jittering energy looked down at Terra's small body. It had one arm that looked much like a black spinning wheel by its head, and another arm that looked like a large spool of golden thread down by its stomach, giving it energy. The top of its head had three sharp silver spikes, that could easily impale Terra with a minor touch. A wide, flat, brown protrusion attached to the enemy's base, gave it three unnaturally tall bent legs like a spider to stand on. Terra had never seen anything like it before. Unversed really came in this size?

Terra smacked his keyblade at the monster's base, but it hardly seem to do any damage. The column of the black and red monster wobbled, as if laughing, or mocking Terra for his ignorance. Its spindle-like arm glowed a bright golden color, and then shot out like a lasso on fire, ensnaring Terra in it's grasps.

"What the-?" Terra pulled down with his body weight against the threads, hoping for a quick release, but the monster kept ringing him in closer to the spinning spike in the center of the monster's arm. Swiftly, Terra cut himself out of the rope using his blade, toppling over to the side in the process. The large wheel monster plunged its body high in the air with its springy spidery legs, crashing violently to the elegant floor below, attempting to crush Terra like a bug. Terra dashed to the side, avoiding the enemy blow, and shielded himself from the flying floor boards and falling debris. The wheel monster jumped up again, trying for a second attempt to squish Terra.

Avoiding his jumps aren't going to help me. Terra thought. I need to do something. I need…

Terra jumped in the air at the same time as the Monster Unversed, stabbing his keyblade in the center of the black and red column's body. Terra's attack startled the monster, crashing him flat to the floor, seeming dizzy and fatigued. Terra used this to his advantage, striking his keyblade as many times as he could before his pursuer could shake things off. The massive red and black monster did not like being taken advantage of. It pushed Terra away with its spindle for an arm and stood back up on its three legs. The back leg peddled against the floor, trying to gain momentum, and then before Terra could even register what was happening, the Wheel Master charged at him, like a mustang chariot. It chased Terra around the room, trapping him in the corner with no place else to run. Terra didn't know what else to do other than swing his blade around like a madman.

"Freeze!" Terra screamed, shooting out a ball of ice from his keyblade. He wasn't as talented in the magic arts like his friend, Aqua, but perhaps magic could buy him some time to figure something out. "Fire! Freeze!" Now the giant Unversed began to fret, stomping its long skinny legs against the floor, but Terra would not allow for it to have time to complain. He continued to beat on it with his keyblade, using what he knew best: brute force.

"So long!" Terra cried, spinning with his keyblade in the air, sending the monster back to the shadows where it belonged.

Terra slowly turned in a circle, gripping his sword, panting. "Is that the last of them?" He searched through the castle, making sure that was the last of the monsters here to wreck havoc on the innocent sleepers, and at the same time, look for that evil witch, Maleficent, so he could give her a piece of his mind. How dare she use him for her personal gain, bringing out the darkness inside him, the darkness he has tried so hard to keep stowed away deep in his heart. It did not take long before his feet found him back inside the now dead royal's chamber. If he didn't now any better, he'd guess she was still sleeping. Sleeping in peace and beauty.

It's my fault her light was stolen, Terra thought to himself. It was because I was weak.

"I'm sorry." He said aloud, reframing from shedding a tear. "I'll get your light back. Once I learn to stand up against the darkness."

He found no trace of Maleficent anywhere. Feeling nothing but guilt, he promised himself he would come back when he was stronger and make amends. As he exited the damaged castle and crossed the stone bridge, he couldn't help but repeat the worlds Maleficent said to him in regards to Master Xehanort.

Perhaps he did speak about imprisoning "the light…"

Why would Master Xehanort imprison the light?

The purest hearts of light. Do they hold the answer?

Not wanting to miss a single minute, Terra pushed on his left leg and broke into a run for the portal out of this world.


Maleficent stood guard from the highest spire of the castle, looking down at the lifeless kingdom below. She laughed quietly to herself, feeling accomplished with her days work.

"Seven pure hearts, each completely void of darkness…. Such a search may take some time…."


A/N: I know Aurora didn't actually die, but I don't believe Terra understands that, since he didn't receive all the information Aqua did, because Terra isn't a Master, yet. So I thought it'd be interesting to have him have that thought pester him for the next little while.

Thank you guys so much for reading. Please feel free to leave a comment, I accept criticism, and please tell me what I need to do in order to get better. Thanks!