Chapter 7.2: Tale as old as time part 2.
Deep within the happy and bright Disney castle a young mouse woman wearing a large pink dress, a necklace and a crown on her head was pacing the marble floor of her castle.
"Gawrsh Queen Minnie, you're gonna make a hole in the floor. The King wouldn't want ya all tuckered out." The humanoid dog in armor said concerned. With his familiar round shield, and comically buck teeth, the Worlds knew him as Goofy.
"I can't help it Goofy, Mickey just isn't getting better. My magic, and Donald's cure magic isn't helping." Queen Minnie softly panicked.
"Come on Minnie, you need to rest yourself." Said Daisy Duck, her friend and adviser.
"Wait, Wait Wait!" Minnie yelled as she was being pulled away.
"Gawrsh." Goofy said before going back to his post. He kept marching, until he was knocked back by one Donald Duck who was looking at an old looking leather bound book.
"Goofy, Goofy, I found something! I found something that could heal the King!" Donald squawked.
Goofy looked confused as the court mage showed him a picture of a golden flower with a sun under it.
"That's a pretty picture Donald, but how's it gonna heal the king?" Goofy asked.
The duck rolled his eyes at his friend's cluelessness.
"The picture isn't gonna help you dolt! The flower has super magic healing powers when you sing to it!" Donald snapped.
"Oh…well then let's go find it with Sora!" Goofy said happily.
"I'll go get the ship." Donald said.
"…I gotta go tell the Queen and Max." Goofy said running the other way.
Meanwhile at the former Beast's castle…
"Master Aqua…is this true?" Belle asked a tad surprised, and nervous. Adam on the other hand was giving a grim scowl.
"Yes, I'm sad to say that the leader of the Organization XIII that harassed you before has returned, and will be coming after both of you again." Aqua said calmly, seeing Adam was giving her a dark glare.
"Let him come, I'll make sure he doesn't set foot within an inch of Belle or anyone ever again!" He boasted while pulling out his sword.
"Adam, I don't think that would be wise. You, Sora, Goofy and Donald may have beaten Xaldin, but it nearly cost you your life, and now you're only human." Belle warned him.
"Well I need to do something to keep you safe!" Adam nearly yelled while trying to keep himself under control.
"Actually there is something, you can do." Aqua informed them.
The prince and the princess of heart looked at the blue haired woman.
"Well Master Yen-Sid told me that you could become a wielder and I could train you…if you wish." Aqua said with a smile.
"A wielder of the Keyblade…like you, and Sora?" Adam asked.
After thinking about it for a bit he made up his mind.
"I'll do whatever it takes to protect Belle, and my castle." Adam promised.
Aqua then summoned her keyblade in front of them both.
"Touch my keybalde, and we shall begin." She ordered as he did so.
"Hot, Hot, Hot!" Sora whined fanning his tongue, making Kairi, Xion, and Mulan laugh.
"Dude when are you gonna learn to wait?" Tidus asked while smirking a bit at his friends pain, while Mushu smacked his forehead.
"I wouldn't be talking Mister Curry." Kairi pipped up laughing as she drank her tea.
" ?" Yuna asked, seeing Tidus blush from embarrassment.
"Let's just say Tidus bit off way more than he could chew…and it was hilarious."Riku added.
"Oooh you have gotta tell us the story." The tiny Rikku asked wanting to dig into the tale.
"Please don't!" Tidus mumbled, however Riku didn't hear him.
"Well it all started-" Riku was about to proceed with the story when a plump looking old English woman wearing a light purple dress and white apron came in with a sliver tray of drinks.
"Anyone care for a spot of tea?" The woman asked.
Mulan was the first to ask, as she was given a cup
"Thank you very much Miss…?" The war hero asked while taking the teacup and trying to find out her name.
"Just call me Mrs. Potts, dear." the woman nodded with a smile.
"Thanks Mrs. Potts." Tidus said. Yuna, Rikku and Paine went to the blonde's cup to warm up.
"Oh my wee fairy girls!" Mrs. Potts said surprised.
"We won't harm you, don't be alarmed!" Yuna said in a worried tone.
"Oh I trust you luv, we have quite a few books on fairies in the castle library. " she explained.
That caught the three fairies' attention.
"…Would it be alright if we were to take a look?" Yuna asked.
"I don't see why not. I'll take you there myself." Mrs. Potts said.
"Thank you very much! Come Tidus!" Yuna said, happily, while yanking the blonde Blitzball ace to follow her, along with Rikku and Paine.
"Kairi, can I go with them? I might find some art books, and I want to know how to use my new brush." Namine said, while Roxas would have rather had her stay.
"Sure, just follow Miss Pots." Kairi said, as she helped her up. Roxas also made sure Namine didn't lose her balance.
"I'll just make sure Namine gets there okay, and maybe find hers something warmer to wear" He offered.
"Well…thank you very much." Namine said, blushing.
"Have fun on your date you two." Lea snickered.
"Don't get cooties from kissing Roxas." Xion warned.
"S-SHUT UP YOU TWO!" Roxas yelled while Namine just blushed as they left following Tidus and the others.
Kairi elbowed Lea in the gut.
"What was that for?" He hissed.
"You earned it." Mulan said looking annoyed at her fellow fire user.
"You don't get to tease Namine." Kairi stated in a matter of fact tone.
"So why didn't you hurt Xion?" Lea asked while rubbing his stomach.
"That will be Sora's job." Kairi said eyeing Sora, while Xion panicked.
"Princess of Heart, my butt! I thought they had to be pure or somethin'?" The tiny dragon muttered.
"Hey I am pure, pure awesome!" Kairi bragged making Sora smile.
"Sure, whatever you say." Lea muttered.
"I wonder how our master is going to make Adam into a Keyblade wielder?" Mulan thought aloud.
"She said something about a ceremony." Riku said.
"That would be the Ceremony of succession, but you will learn that later." Aqua stated, entering the room.
"Master Aqua, where is Belle and the Prince?" Mulan asked.
"Oh I'm starting his training downstairs, and Belle is watching us." Aqua explained.
Everyone looked at her, a bit confused.
"How?" Everyone asked.
Aqua made a few familiar hand signs and in a puff of smoke, another Aqua appeared before them all. Her students gave her impressed and awed looks.
"Yuffie's spell. That looks like it'll come in handy." Riku noted.
Aqua nodded.
"Oh it will, since I might be having a bigger class than I thought. One clone will help Adam, another shall train, Lea, Mulan, Tidus, and Namine…speaking of which where are Namine and Roxas?" Aqua asked, noticing Roxas, Namine, Tidus, and the pixie trio were gone.
"Oh they're in the library." Kairi told her teacher.
"I see. Well Sora, Riku, Kairi, Xion I have a job for the four of you." Aqua stated.
"Master Aqua?" Riku asked, unsure of what was about to happen.
"Xion, go get Roxas. Sora, Riku, Kairi go back outside. I'll meet you there."
Sora, Riku, and Kairi slowly got up and left the fireplace to go outside. They quickly put on their armor and lit a tiny fire as they said their goodbyes to everyone and Mrs. Potts.
As they were leaving, though, they could hear yelling and screaming from the former Beast, and arguing from both Aqua and Belle.
"Is he normally like this?" Kairi asked.
They heard a chair break.
"He's getting better. He only broke one chair that time." Sora said with small smile. Kairi and Riku gave him an odd look.
Meanwhile the youngest Branford felt like she was getting lost in the large castle.
"Roxas? Roxas, Tidus, fairy girls? Anyone?" Xion yelled at no one.
"….Maybe I should have clarified where the library was first." Xion said to herself.
"Hi." A small child's voice cried out, which made Xion jump and point her Keyblade at him.
"Whoa, you're like Sora and the other new guys! I'm Chip, who are you?" The servant boy known as Chip asked.
Xion tried to regain her composure.
"I'm Xion, nice to meet you Chip. Say have you seen a guy with spiky blonde hair, a girl in a dress, three cute pixies and another blond guy?" Xion asked.
"Oh sure. They went into the library, I can take you." Chip offered.
Xion smiled. "Thanks you're a lifesaver."
Xion and Chip entered a room lined from top to bottom with bookshelves. They found Namine painting, using her new brush. Roxas and Tidus however were busy taking out book, after book, after book as Yuna, Rikku, and Paine were checking the paper tomes.
Namine was so focused on her art, she didn't even hear Xion or Chip come in. Xion tip-toed, and snuck behind her to see what her friend, who was now wearing a fur coat was drawing.
However Roxas spotted her. "Hey Xion!" He called out, unknowably foiling her plan.
"Hey Bro, Master wants you with me, Sora, Riku, and Kairi." Xion stated.
Roxas smiled, however he looked at Namine a bit worried.
"Roxas don't worry, I'm fine. Go on." Namine urged him.
"Daw, don't worry Roxas. You'll get to make out with your girlfriend soon." Xion said while making kissing noises. Roxas growled and Namine hid her face with her note pad. Roxas chased after his laughing sister.
There was a loud CLANG as the siblings ran right into a suit of armor.
"I hope they are alright." Yuna said while smiling a bit.
"They're fine…I think." Tidus muttered.
Soon Sora, Riku, Kairi, Xion, Roxas, and another Aqua shadow clone were out in the snow once again with their Keyriders hovering nearby. Belle was on horseback wearing a heavy cloak.
"So we're taking Belle to go see her dad until the heat's off?" Kairi asked.
"Better to be safe than sorry."" Aqua said.
"Let's not take any chances. Xehanort, or Maleficent could use her father as bait to lure her out." Riku muttered.
"I'm sure Papa is fine, I hope." Belle muttered.
"Dashing through the snow." Sora sang as he zipped past the rest.
"O'er the fields we go!" Roxas sang along catching up to Sora.
"Laughing all the way!" Xion finished as the trio started to race. Kairi laughed out loud, while Riku started to feel a vain about to pop out.
"WOULD YOU THREE ACT LIKE PROFESSIONALS ALREADY!?" Riku yelled.
"Huh?" All three Bradfords asked at they crashed into three snowmen all at once, causing Kairi and Belle to burst out laughing. Riku smacked his forehead.
"At least they know how to be entertaining." Belle admitted.
"Look out!"
The Aqua clone had noticed a pack of wolves, along with a few Heartless. The Keyblade Master shot out a flare that blinded the beasts and Roxas, Sora and Xion started hacking away at them. Riku, and Kairi were using fire magic to keep the creatures away from Belle. After a few more beatings the wolves ran away while the Heartless were blasted back into the darkness.
Sora Roxas, and Xion got back on their Keyriders and continued the journey to the town.
"Ah it will be so good to see Papa again." Belle said to herself her face nearly glowing.
"Sounds like you haven't been home in a long time." Kairi said.
"No I admit I haven't..I just hope…" Belle started to say when she grew quiet.
"Something up Belle?" Sora asked.
"Oh no, it's fine. I might be worrying over nothing. I don't want to keep everyone out in the cold." She said, her eyes still so bright. It still amazed Aqua, Riku, and even Sora that there were seven girls so full of love and light.
They kept going until the town came into view. However both Kairi and Belle felt something evil coming from the village, and from the mountains. Sora and Riku gave Kairi a worried look.
The six keyblade wielders and the princess of heart got off their various modes of transportation just outside the small village, which looked like something out of seventeenth century France with the wooden houses, cobble stone streets, and hanging street lamps, the whole place covered in glittering white snow. The only thing missing was the people.
"Where is everyone?" Belle asked.
Sora, Riku, Kairi, Aqua, Roxas and Xion also noted that it was eerily quiet. Almost as if the place was a ghost town.
"Anyone here?!" Sora yelled out loud.
Soon more Heartless came out of the wood works. Armor,s Knights ,a few large green spike balls, Large Bodies, Neo shadows, and one flying cage like heartless that had a red colored mushroom heartless. It looked like it was trying to get out as it banged on the bone like bars.
Sora blocked the attacks coming from the swords of the knight Heartless for Belle. He quickly cast Protect on her, making a force field and continued hacking and slashing away. One Knight Heartless slashed him against a lamp post. Sora managed to use his Keyblade to make himself spin around like a buzz saw and surprised the attackers by ripping them a part like a drill. Belle grabbed the boy, making sure he didn't fall to the ground.
Kairi remembered what Sora and Riku told her about larger Heartless before they left the island, and dashed around the Large Bodies to launch an all-out assault on their weak spot…The back. One turned around whacking her to the side. She quickly dodged rolled to avoid the next few attacks, trying to think about what type of spell to use. She didn't realize that she was storing a lot of concentrated magic.
Aqua saw she was about to perform a Shock Lock command.
"Kairi, fire now!" Aqua ordered.
Kairi's Keyblade blasted a laser beam of pure light that wiped out the Large Bodies and the cage Heartless. However the Mushroom Heartless was spared as she ran out of magic, clinging to Kairi's leg in gratitude.
Roxas and Xion went after the Neoshadows. They were fast, so the two cast Stop to freeze them in time. Then the two took a page out of Lea's book and started spamming the Fire spell. Soon the Neoshadows vanished, but new ones took their places. The yellow-eyed overgrown shadows kept coming, which reminded Roxas of a time he had to fight what felt like a hundred of them in The World That Never Was. Out of nowhere, Roxas and Xion's Keyblades burst into flames, and they themselves were set on fire. In a panic they threw their Keyblades in a Strike Raid manner and it made a whirlwind of fire that wiped out the rest of the Neoshadows.
Riku and Aqua were the ones left to deal with the green spike Heartless. The Aqua clone did a cartwheel to dodge out of the way. Wanting end this quickly she used her Duel Link with Ven , not realizing it was effecting Sora. Gaining her friend's speed and many Thundaga spells, the master sent the Heartless flying into the air. Riku, eyeing an opportunity, jumped into the air and finished the job with an old attack called Dark Break. He slashed and bashed into the Heartless as they vanished into the void.
Aqua was about to say something to Riku when Kairi spoke up.
"Oh hello there." Kairi said in a friendly manner as the Mushroom Heartless kept hugging her.
"Don't worry Kairi! I'll get rid of it!" Her master declared.
"Wait Master Aqua stop! Don't hurt it! That a good one." Sora cried out. That got her to stop as the Mushroom Heartless hid behind Kairi.
"Come again Sora?" Aqua asked with a bit of disbelief.
"Don't worry. That one is harmless. They can actually help out." Sora stated.
"Are you sure?" Aqua asked, still not really to let her guard down.
"I just wanted to play in the snow with my boyfriend. I won't cause you trouble I swear. Oh I'm Molly Mushroom by the way." The mushroom Heartless spoke in a female voice.
Everyone just stood there. They had never heard a heartless speak, or even say it had a name. After an uncomfortably long pause, Belle and Kairi got on their knees and shook the Mushroom Heartless's hand.
"It is nice to meet you Miss Mushroom, I am Belle." The older princess of heart introduced.
"I'm Kairi. Those guys are my boyfriend Sora, his brother and sister Roxas and Xion, my best friend Riku, and my teacher Aqua." Kairi said smiling.
"Charmed. It's nice to meet you. Thanks for sticking up for me, Sora," Molly said as her yellow eyes shined a bit brighter.
"It's fine, you guys helped me on my first adventure. Just returning the favor." Sora said, scratching his nose casually.
"How can you talk?" Riku asked, very curious.
"I'd like to know this as well." Aqua said finally putting her Keyblade down.
"Oh well that's a long story. I'm sure you're very busy, and I need to find my Cutie Pie. It was nice meeting you all. Till we meet again." Molly said.
"Wait!" Aqua cried out, but sadly her plea fell on deaf ears as the Heartless vanished into thin air.
"Well that was...random." Riku spoke up.
"I liked her." Xion said smiling.
"Well let's move on, and find Belle's father." Aqua ordered as they walked into the village a bit mheaded further into the village.
Everyone was on the lookout for more Heartless, or those strange new attackers. Just then they heard some commotion at what looked like a pub. The door was flung open by a burly, large chinned man in a red tunic and hunting gear. With him was a much shorter man with greasy black hair, and buck teeth who was knocked out cold hanging by his shirt on the door.
"Lefou! Gaston!" Belle called out, wanting to help them. She didn't care for either of them, but Belle didn't want to see them hurt.
Suddenly a very drunk and angry looking DJ stumbled outside. They Keyblade wielders and the Princess of Heart were taken aback by her black, skeleton like wings on her back and mic-stand scythe. Sora thought she was someone out of Halloween Town.
"Where are you, you one eyed d#% ! I'LL TEACH YOU TO HURT MY BABIES!" The reaper woman yelled in a drunken rant.
Belle saw something flicker in the corner of her eye and moved out of the way as Braig appeared out of nowhere. Aqua attacked the man, however her shadow clone vanished into a puff of smoke. Riku and Sora got Belle and Kairi out of his reach.
Roxas and Xion got one look at the dude and something happened. In a burst of rage a firy form of energy started to flow out of their bodies, and for a spilt second their eyes went from blue to a blood red hue. Their Keyblades shot out an unknown spell that blasted the man into a building. DJ dodged the attack, causing her to double over and vomit. Kairi had Belle take the lead as Sora grabbed his two siblings as they came back to their senses followed by Riku.
"What happened?" Xion asked feeling hazy.
"Talk later, keep running and keep Belle safe!" Riku ordered, taking charge.
However they didn't see another enemy hiding in the shadows that was slowly following them.
Near Prince Adam's castle a sinister figure gazed at it. The horned green skinned woman grasped her long black stuff, the green orb on top glowing with a sickly green flame. She grinned in a sinister manner, gazing at the nearby trees. The witch summoned many Heartless, singing under her breath.
"I know you, I walked you once a dream. I know you, the gleam in your eyes is so familiar a gleam." She sang in a hollow, eerie, and wicked tone.
The Heartless around her could feel her evil magic. Their eyes started to change from yellow to green.
"Yet I know it's true that visions are seldom all they seem." Maleficent sang as the forest itself was starting to bend to her will. The ground started to shake, bringing to the surface what looked like four coffins.
"But if I know you, I know what you'll do. You'll love me at once, the way you did once upon a dream." The Mistress of all evil finished her spell in a mocking tone of Princess Aurora's song.
The trees wrapped around the Heartless causing them to scream and change into large tree demon soldiers, spewing green flames. They had the Heartless symbols on their chests and the witch's horns sprouting from their heads. The coffins opened as well. The unchanged Heartless went into them, and turned into humanoid undead Land of Dragon soldiers. She pointed at the castle, and the newly made army made its way toward the sanctuary.
Aqua was already having issues back at the castle. Tidus, Mulan, Lea, Namine, and even Adam were making progress on their training, but losing the clone worried her greatly. The blue haired woman allowed a short break, giving her time to get her magic back. While resting she found the fairy Rikku in a panic, along with Yuna who was being comforted by Tidus.
"What's the matter?" Adam asked, concerned for the young girl. Lea was busy with his young maids.
"Maleficent's here! S-She found us! We can feel her…ugh evil." Rikku cried out.
The Prince gave a large scowl and summoned his Keyblade which was now the Divine Rose Keyblade.
"Perfect." Aqua thought sarcastically .
End of chapter.