"How many times do I have to tell ya? I OWN NOTHING!"

-Blehhh—

Iggy made a quiet landing, slowly taking in her surroundings to get a feel for the world. A forested area, with a well-treated pathway smacked in the middle. She could see a few houses in the far distance behind her, and a castle that stood out against the dark contrast of the night sky.

As she made her way through, she slowly began to hear the sounds of a battle taking place. As she rushed forward, she found Terra of all people taking down the unversed, all the while protecting a young woman, who looked to be a bit distressed.

It seemed that Terra had the situation well in hand, the unversed proving to be no problem for him. So, seeing as she was unneeded at the moment, Ignis boredly stood in the cover of darkness that the trees and greenery provided.

It wasn't until Terra began to speak that Iggy quickly realized that Terra, while amazing in his sword play, was absolutely hopeless when it came to comforting women.

"I can't believe," she sobbed. "Not anymore."

While the young woman was in tears pouring her heart out, Terra stood there looking confused. Ignis was about to intervene, after all she is a girl, when the option was taken out of her hands.

As a fine mist with a glittering light appeared, a comforting voice spoke out the the distressed girl.

"Strength of heart is important," it said. "But that's not all you need."

"There's nothing left to believe in," she argued. "Nothing."

"Nothing, my dear?" it continued as the mist seemed to condense and converge around the girl. "Oh, now, you don't really mean that."

The figure finally took shape as it spoke, forming into an elderly looking woman with short white hair, and a blue cloak.

"Oh... but I do. It's just no use."

"Nonsense!" she said. "If you'd lost all your faith, I couldn't be here, and here I am."

As she stood up, pulling the young girl with her, she continued to speak as if comforting a young child.

"Oh, come now, dry those tears. You can't go to the ball looking like that."

"The ball?" she began. "Oh, but I'm not-"

"Of course you are," she interrupted. "But we'll have to hurry."

The girl, Terra, and Iggy, who was still hiding in the brush, looked on confusedly as she took out a slender white stick and asked, "Now, what were those magic words?"

She paused for a brief moment before she spoke again.

"Oh yes..."

She walked past the two and proceeded to wave the stick as it began to glow while speaking.

"Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo!"

In a stunning display of magic that Iggy thought even Aqua would be hard pressed to reproduce, the magic she performed enchanted a small pumpkin until it grew large enough to house a person or two, before becoming a white carriage complete with horse and an escort.

As both the girl and Terra examined the display of magic, one with more enthusiasm than the other, Ignis slowly walked out of her hiding place, also taking in the wonderful display that the elderly woman cast.

As she heard a gasp, both she and Terra turned to the blond girl to find that her previously ruined outfit was perfectly mended and more impressive than before and her hair also done in an elegant manner.

"Oh!" she exclaimed. It's a beautiful dress."

"That it is," Ignis said startling them all but the elderly lady. She had a feeling she'd known he was there from the beginning. Kind of like how the Master had always known when Pyrus'd done something stupid.

"Why, it's a dream come true," she said while turning back to the other woman.

As Ignis walked forward, she heard Terra whisper to her.

"How long have you been here?"

She looked Terra over before answering, "Not long, just got here after you finished off those unversed. Nice job by the way."

Terra said nothing but his arrogant smirk said more than words ever could. That was until Iggy slapped him upside the head. However before he could make a retort, the almost one sided conversation was interrupted by the two women in front of them.

"... I'm afraid this can't last forever," she finished while looking at the younger girl.

"You'll have only till midnight, and then, on the stroke of twelve, the spell will be broken, and everything will be as it was before."

The younger girl walked over for a brief hug before speaking.

"Yes, I understand."

She quickly made her way into the carriage before heading off in the direction of the castle.

"Her heart was full of light. Why didn't I see it?" Ignis heard Terra say.

"Do you think she could be one of the princesses that the Master talked about?" Ignis asked.

He ignored her and faced the woman while asking, "What did you do? I can hardly tell she's the same person."

He got another slap to the head for that. As the woman turned to face them she asked them a question that made Iggy's previous assumption about her knowing she was there earlier go flying out the window.

"Who are you?"

"Terra."

"Ignis, but everyone calls me Iggy."

"Terra, Ignis?" she began. "Do you believe that dreams can come true?"

They were quick to answer.

"I do," Terra began, "But I also believe you have to make an effort to make them come true."

"But while that's true," Ignis started. "I feel that having others help you, when you need it the most, or just for support, can also make dreams come true."

She paused before speaking.

"Yes, of course. But sometimes just believing in dreams is easier said than done." She turned to more to Terra as she continued to speak. "Cinderella believes her dreams can come true. I wanted her to see that she is right."

"So that's what made her shine," Terra said. "Faith in her heart that anything is possible. Where did she go?"

"To the royal ball at the palace," she answered. "Go. And when you see her dancing..."

Ignis almost groaned at that as she tuned the rest out, she was never one for the really girly stuff, neither was Aqua really. Just the mere thought of dancing sent chills up her spine after what happened last time. Neither Aqua nor the Master found the destroyed room she had practiced in particularly funny. Although Pyrus, Terra, and Ventus laughed for a good while, until they were forced to help her clean it. Ha, revenge was sweet.

She resurfaced to see Terra making his way towards the palace, all the while leaving her behind with her thoughts.

When I get my hands on him...

As the neared the palace entrance they were shocked to see the girl now known as Cinderella, completely surrounded on all sides by the unversed.

"Not here too!" Terra shouted as he summoned his keyblade.

"Yeah well get used to it," Ignis said while summoning her own keyblade. "I think they're on every world."

They both quickly dispatched all of the unversed before turning back to check on Cinderella.

She opened her eyes and faced them before speaking.

"I've met you before," she started causing Iggy to almost trip over her own feet.

Yeah, he was the guy trying to comfort you not twenty minutes ago.

"We'll take care of them. You wait right here," Terra said.

"Please, may I go with you," she said. "I so want to get to the ball"

They both turned to face her with confused and somewhat stunned looks on their faces.

Wow, she must really want this Ignis thought. What a girly girl!

"All right," Terra said. "But stay behind me, or you''ll get hurt."

"Oh please Terra, don't be so melodramatic," Iggy said while trying to keep her calm.

She said nothing as she stepped forward a bit.

"You're not worried?" Terra asked.

"Didn't you tell me it was important to stay strong?" she said catching both of them off guard.

"Oh, um," Terra said nervously. "I guess I did."

"Wow, this is my kinda girl," Ignis said while looking a Cinderella with new eyes. "Beautiful, strong, can bring Terra to near speechlessness."

"Shut up Iggy," Terra quickly retorted.

She just quietly giggled at the banter.

"So you ready?"

"Yes"

"I don't think we have to worry about her, she seems like she was born ready for this," Iggy said earning another small laugh before they walked inside.

-And GO!—

The place was crawling with unversed, from the ridiculously long hallway to the incredibly large staircase, and they had to protect Cinderella the entire way there. Not that she was complaining, protecting the beautiful princess had its rewards after all. Iggy sliced her way through the unversed, clearing the way for Terra who had stayed back with Cinderella, in case any of the unversed managed to get past Ignis.

After making their way through the castle, they finally reached the ballroom, where the army of unversed seemed to end.

"Oh, thank you Iggy, Terra."

She laughed as they both bowed to her, showing her the way to the ball floor. As she made her way to dance with the prince, Terra and Iggy discussed their situation.

"So, have you found any sign of Master Xehanort yet?" Ignis said while turning to face Terra.

"No. I found a world that he'd been too but didn't leave any clue as to where he was going."

"Hmm."

"What about you?"

"No, nothing. Oh, have you seen Ventus or Pyrus?"

Terra shook his head, "Why would I, they were back home when I left."

"They ran away from home," she sighed. "I think Ventus was chasing after you, and Pyrus after Ven, being a troublemaker again. I'm not really sure of the reason. All I know is, the master wants us to find them and bring them back right away. He seemed worried about something."

Terra slowly shook his head, trying to absorb what Ignis had just told him.

"Ven was trying to tell me something, before I left. I probably should've listened."

He received no response and turned back to the sight of Cinderella dancing gracefully with the Prince.

Maybe just believing is enough Terra thought.

-It is, Terra. It is.—

Off to the side another conversation was taking place.

"But who is she, Mother? Do we know her?"

"Well, the Prince certainly seems to. I've never seen her before."

"Nor I. But she certainly is- Wait! There is something familiar about her..."

-Brats, Anastasia had gotten nicer though, I remember that from when I was younger.—

With Terra and Ignis, they'd decided to leave, content with the thought that Cinderella had fulfilled her dreams, when out of the corner of his eye, Terra noticed unversed on the balcony.

He signaled Iggy and then ran to the man in blue, who seemed to be the coordinator for the ball, asking him how to get to the balcony. When told about the passage beneath the staircase, they quickly ran out of the ball room before heading down the stairs and through the large double doors off to the side.

While slashing and blasting their way through the unversed, Iggy, standing near the edge of the balcony while Terra took care of the last remaining unversed, turned to see if anyone had noticed them only to see an enormous unversed, who looked to be some type of conductor for a choir.

As it summoned three instruments, a drum, violin, and a horn of some kind, it played some kind of music that literally tried to kill them. It focused it's music to the balcony, Iggy and Terra holding their ears in pain at the horrible sound, before it focused enough power to cause an explosion, right were they were standing. While the unversed was focusing on the spot that had just exploded, they made their way to the floor, standing in front of Cinderella, ready to protect her and the other people. They did however, quickly make their way out of the exit when the unversed turned to face them.

The instruments that the unversed had summoned seemed to be semi-independent of the creature itself, as proven by the fact that while they attacked, it just stood there while letting the instruments attack them. It played music while trying to stomp on them, the instruments throwing themselves at the pair. It was a good thing that there were two of them, otherwise it could've been a very different fight.

While Terra got rid of the instruments, Iggy took care of the unversed herself, with a combination of Thunder magic and acrobatic attacks. It hadn't taken Terra long to get rid of the floating annoyances, and with his more brutal method of attack, he helped Iggy finish off the silly looking unversed. The coordinator of the ball came to thank them for stopping the unversed from destroying everything in sight.

He sighed, "And the guests were just beginning to enjoy themselves."

"Well don't give up just yet," Terra said.

Ignis, who hadn't been paying much attention to the conversation, rather, she was looking towards Cinderella and the Prince, who seemed to be enjoying themselves, even if the ball had ended.

"Tell me something," Terra said while signaling for Ignis to pay attention, which usually wasn't a problem. "Have you always had a problem around here with those monsters?"

"No. I believe they began to appear shortly after a boy in a mask arrived in our kingdom. Those that saw him said the monsters obeyed his every command."

A boy in a mask? Iggy thought to herself.

"Do you know where he is?"

"Well... No, I don't believe anyone has seen him since then."

Ignis quickly interupted. "Did anyone see how he was controlling them?"

She received a negative but before she could ask anything else, she heard the bells toll, telling the occupants of the castle it was now midnight.

"Wait, Terra," Ignis said while bringing Terra to the side, "didn't the fairy godmother say something about the magic running out at midnight?"

They both turned to the sight of Cinderella quickly running away from the Prince, the coordinator quickly running after her.

-RUN, no not you readers! Get back here!—

While Cinderella made her way towards the exit, leaving behind one of her shoes on the staircase, Terra and Iggy made their way over not only to see Cinderella running from the man in blue, but also another familiar face.

"Aqua?" they both called out.

She turned to face them with a look of surprise on her face.

"Terra, Iggy!"

They quickly made their way down the stairs when Aqua told Terra about Ven and Pyrus running away from home.

"I know, Ignis already told me."

She paused before asking if he knew why Ventus would leave after him.

"It's like I told Iggy, I think he was trying to tell me something. And I didn't listen to him."

"Oh."

"So... did you manage to locate Master Xehanort?"

"No, but it seems, he's looking for pure hearts filled with light."

Iggy quickly turned to face him with a look of disbelief on her face. She had been caught off guard with that one.

"Terra, why didn't you tell me this earlier?"

"It must have slipped my mind. Sorry about that." He turned to Aqua before speaking again. "All I can tell you is that his search hasn't taken him here."

"All right. I'll stay and see if I can find more clues."

As he walked away, he spoke one last time. "Okay. The Prince is in the ballroom ahead. He might have some answers." He paused before he continued speaking. "Aqua, Ignis, do you still have the same dream?"

Ignis who had been in a state of shock focused in when Terra spoke to the both of them.

"Well... Yes." Aqua deadpanned. Iggy had a feeling she knew where this was going.

"There's this girl here, her name is Cinderella. She made me realize how powerful it is just to believe. No matter how impossible things seem... a powerful enough dream will always be enough to light the darkness. If you see her, give her my thanks."

"Will do."

As he turned to leave he heard Iggy call out to him.

"Terra," she said hesitating. "If you do find Master Xehanort, be careful around him."

He continued on, lost in thought.

'The boy in the mask who was leading the unversed. Who is he? Does he have anything to do with Master Xehanort's disappearance? And what did Ignis mean by be careful around Master Xehanort?"

-A lot, Terra. A lot.—

Aqua turned to Iggy, confused about what she said earlier.

"Iggy, what did you mean when you told Terra to be careful around Master Xehanort?"

She sighed and took a moment before answering.

"A few years ago, I found an extremely old book while looking for more advanced magic in the library. It had to be older than a decade at the very least and was damaged in some places. However, it did have some magic in it so I read through it. It contained something about those with hearts filled with light and only light. It took me by surprise because at the time, I believed all hearts had at least a small bit of darkness in them. It spoke of how the hearts have the ability to unlock something when brought together, but that's all I got before the page stopped. It was like someone tore the rest from the book."

She turned to face Aqua, who had a thoughtful look on her face, before continuing. "I think, that something is some type of weapon. Or something powerful enough to be locked away only to be opened by hearts of light. I hadn't realized until now that when Master Eraqus told us about the princesses of heart that they were the ones with hearts that had been completely filled with light. I don't really know what Master Xehanort is doing, messing around with this, but, I don't think we'll like the answer if we find him. I just hope Terra isn't alone when he finds him. It may be more than he can handle. And with Ventus and Pyrus out there, who knows what could happen."

Aqua was quiet as she digested the information before placing a hand on her friend's arm.

"They'll be alright," she said quietly. "He won't give in to the darkness. And we'll find Ven and Pyrus. They'll be alright."

"Of course they will." Ignis smiled delicately.

-Ummm—

As they made their way towards the prince, they felt an ominous presence radiating off of one of the guests. But before they could question her, a man in a rather well done blue suit from earlier ran by holding the glass they had seen him with, heading towards the prince.

"Who are those ladies?" Aqua quickly asked before he could pass them up. He backpedaled as he turned to point out each woman that had just passed them.

"Oh, er, if I recall correctly, that is Lady Tremaine and those are her daughters."

Iggy looked at Aqua, the same thought obviously running through her head.

There was something very wrong about them.

-Yep!-

"You came back!"

"Huh?"

Aqua was obviously confused as she turned to the Prince that had made his way over to them.

"Aqua," Ignis asked slowly, "Do you know him?"

She quickly shook her head no, while turning back to the Prince with a questioning look on her face.

"Oh, my apologies. I was mistaken."

"Your Highness, I found this on the palace stairs."

"A glass slipper?"

Aqua giggled quietly as she heard Ignis mutter under her breath, "A glass slipper, what the heck?"

"One dropped by a lovely young lady, and I'll search far and wide to find the maiden to whom this belongs."

"You will?"

They turned to look at Ignis, who had the sense to look a bit embarrassed at her little slip, a blush staining her face.

"Of course, Your Highness," the Grand Duke said while throwing scathing looks at Ignis, the blush on her face intensifying.

"After all, you have finally found someone whom you wish to marry. Upon hearing that happy news, your father, the king, has decreed that a quest shall begin immediately throughout the kingdom. And I, the Grand Duke, will start with that closest residence, that of Lady Tremaine."

With that, the he walked off, a bit of a strut in his step as he shot Ignis a parting look, making Aqua laugh quietly again.

She huffed quietly before turning to speak to Aqua.

"It looks like we should pay this Lady Tremaine a visit, eh?"

"Yeah."

-Iggy, don't be so reserved. Ignis: I'll be whatever I want to be! *I'm a Barbie girl in a-* Author: NOOOOOO—

-You know what? I'll make the rest a different chapter, no more dragging this along! REVIEW-