Chapter 10: Daughter of the Forest

The further they moved through the woods of Enchanted Dominion, the less familiar the land became. Roxas and Xion were used to temperate forests, not only from Twilight Town's but also from missions to Wonderland's twisted forest or the dark woods around Beast's Castle. This wasn't like any of those, though. Gradually the terrain had become marsh-like as the ground beneath their feet slowly gave way to shallow water. Roxas, Xion, and Rydia pushed tall reeds aside as they moved, the sounds of crunching twigs and leaves beneath their feet replaced with the squish-squish of mud. Croaking frogs and buzzing flies could be heard in every direction. Beside Roxas Xion swatted a mosquito that had landed on her bare arm.

They had been traveling for some time now. According to Xion's own Gummiphone it was around noon, and Roxas wasn't any less impatient than he had been that morning. It wasn't just because of this area being harder to travel in – Rydia definitely wasn't helping his mood. The girl hadn't let up in either her endless questions or bratty personality. Roxas had wanted to snap at her more than once, but kept biting his tongue; she was helping them, after all. That didn't make her any less obnoxious, though.

Rydia trotted in front of Roxas and Xion, but facing them and walking backwards. She held her arms out as she balanced on an old, fallen log. "Is it true humans eat ice? What are cities like? Do you live in a castle?" She had been asking questions like that for hours.

"I think you mean ice cream, they're crowded and loud, and not anymore but we used to." Xion's answers were short and, not that Rydia was socially aware enough to notice, kind of snippy. Roxas could tell she was irritated with Rydia, too; she was just better at hiding it than him.

Rydia's eyes lit up brightly at that last answer. She ran over to Xion and clung to her tightly as they moved through the marsh. "Really?! Do you know a princess? Are you a princess?!"

"I'm not," Xion said in a strained voice while slowly trying to get Rydia to let go of her skirt. "But I guess technically I do know one." If princesses of heart counted, anyway.

Rydia started bouncing up and down, and practically tugged Xion off her feet with excitement. "Can you introduce me?! Come on, I'm helping you out! Introduce me! Introduce meeeee!"

Roxas had had enough of this kid. "Rydia." She stopped on a dime and shot a glare at him. "Are you sure this is the way that spriggan went?"

Rydia let out an over-the-top groan and crossed her arms. "Yes, I'm sure. The spriggans live in caves in the fairy moors. Which you'd know if you weren't a dummy, dummy."

"Fairy moors?"

Rydia rolled her eyes. "The most enchanted part of Enchanted Dominion!"

Roxas looked out over the reeds and wrinkled his nose at some stench that wafted by. Down by his feet a frog hopped across the muddy pathway. "We're in a marsh, Rydia."

"A marsh on the way to the moors!" She leaned forward and pointed at her ear. "Are you deaf or something?"

Xion put a hand on Rydia's shoulder. "How about you keep leading us, okay?"

Rydia and Roxas shared one last look and then Rydia relented. "Okay, come on." She parted some of the reeds and revealed a branch in the path they'd been walking, then made her way down it with Roxas and Xion following.

Roxas couldn't help but chuckle at the exhaustion that overtook Xion's face as soon as Rydia's back was turn. "A little overwhelmed?"

Xion blew at her bangs. "Is it that obvious? I'm trying to be patient with her but she's really testing me."

"You're handling it better than I am. I can admit she's really ticking me off."

"Yeah, about that. Why are you so irritated today?"

Roxas glanced at Xion, who was watching him with a worried expression. What kind of question was that? "Well on top of an annoying little kid? My Gummiphone was stolen, Xion."

Xion raised an eyebrow. "It's just a phone, Roxas." She reached into her skirt pocket and pulled out her own Gummiphone, identical in every way to his. "And I have one too. You know I have no problem helping to get yours back, but what's the big deal?"

Roxas frowned and shoved his hands in his pockets. Realistically, Xion was right: what was the big deal? They didn't need two Gummiphones when one would suffice. And yet he was so angry that he had it taken from him. Why? Why was it such a problem for Roxas to have something of his taken?

…Oh.

"I guess because it was mine," Roxas admitted, as much to himself as to Xion. Her face softened and Roxas continued. "So much of my life has been borrowed from someone else or pushed on me without a choice. Sometimes both. Before I didn't have very much that I could call my own, and what I did was taken from me: you, Axel, Hayner, Pence, and Olette…" Roxas looked ahead to see if Rydia was eavesdropping on them, then turned back to Xion. "When I got everyone back – when I got you back – I was finally able to make a life of my own, with things and people I chose to have and be close to."

Xion was silent for a few long moments, with nothing but the sound of their footsteps in the mud. What was she thinking about? Her expression was unreadable. When Roxas was just about to ask her, she finally spoke up.

"So it's not really about the phone itself." Xion grabbed Roxas's wrist and put her Gummiphone in his hand. "Me doing this doesn't solve your problem. It's about what the phone represents."

Roxas hefted the phone in his hand, then returned it to Xion. "Yeah, you worded it better than I could. I guess having something stolen from me hits a little too close to home, even if it's something as silly as my phone, because it's still mine."

Xion's lips quirked up into a gentle smile. "And that's totally understandable, Roxas. Like you said, you've had stuff taken from you before. I get it now; I just needed to hear it." She pocketed her phone and, without missing a beat, hooked her arm around Roxas's. "And if there's one thing you don't ever need to worry about losing, it's me."

Roxas snickered and lightly flicked Xion in the forehead. "Sure thing. I couldn't get rid of you even if I tried."

"Hey!"

From a few yards ahead, Rydia called over to them. "If you two are done making kissy noises at each other, we're here!"

"We're coming, Rydia!" With her arm still hooked in Roxas's Xion ran on ahead, dragging him along. The mud beneath their feet gave way to an old but preserved plank bridge, the shallow brown water grew deeper and clearer, and the reeds that had been surrounding them for the last hour or two vanished to reveal a breathtaking sight.

Bright sunlight danced on the surface of a giant lake surrounded by tree-covered hills and fields of colorful flours. Shimmering waterfalls cascaded down cliffs of white stone. Bizarre creatures of extravagant shapes and colors were all around them; a group of animals that Roxas could only describe as flying manta rays passed overhead, and on the shore of the lake an elephant-like creature that Rydia called a 'shoopuf' blew a jet of water out of its long trunk. It wasn't just animals, either. Pixies, spriggans, and other vaguely humanoid shapes were all over the place chatting and just going about their days. Some eyes the newcomers with curiosity.

Once they reached the end of the bridge and came ashore, Roxas had to pick his jaw up off the ground. "Are these the uh, fairy moors?"

Rydia smiled smugly and nodded. "Yup! And that spriggan den should be right around here–" She paused looked over to the side, at a large figure approaching them from another plank bridge. Rydia smiled and waved. "Oh! Quina!"

The person Rydia had greeted was…quite a sight, to put it lightly. He – she? – they were large and round, dressed in pink with a white apron and chef's hat on top of that. Their only exposed skin was their face, which was a stark and unblemished white. Their eyes were a red pattern resembling clown makeup, with white pupils. And their most striking feature was the extremely wide grin, from which hung an exaggeratedly long tongue that stretched down to their round belly.

"Rydia!" Somehow they managed to speak even with their tongue hanging out. They looked behind the little girl to Xion and Roxas. "Who they? I can eat?" What?!

Rydia cackled. "No, I think they'd give you indigestion."

"Oh. I eat later then, maybe."

"Yeah, maybe after they've been in the sun for a while or something."

"Raw meat not good."

Well this was an exceedingly uncomfortable conversation, and Roxas wasn't entirely sure if they were joking or not. This Quina person certainly looked like they could eat him if they tried. Xion crouched down beside Rydia. "Rydia, aren't you going to introduce us? Your friend sure has an uh, interesting appearance."

"Huh? What, haven't you ever seen a qu before? Sorry Quina, these two don't seem to know anything."

"Maybe if you'd explain first thing," Roxas grumbled under his breath. Rydia didn't seem to hear him.

"Quina, these are Roxas and Xion. Dummies, this is Quina Quen! They're a qu, and they helped raise me!"

"Raise you?" Xion looked between Rydia and Quina curiously.

Quina nodded excitedly. "Yup! Made lots of yummy foods for Rydia to grow up big and strong like fairy kids!"

"Oh! Speaking of, Quina, where is everyone?"

"They waiting for Rydia by the beach."

"Yay! Okay!" Rydia ran off without a second thought, charging down the shore at top speed toward a small crowd of pixies, gremlins, and spriggans.

"Wait, Rydia! What about Roxas's phone?!" But Xion's call fell on deaf ears as Rydia started playing with those fairy children. She certainly stood out from the group physically, but blended into their play so naturally. Like she'd been with them her whole life.

Roxas groaned and rested a hand on his hip. "What is that girl's deal?" He watched her play for a minute longer, then turned around – and found himself face-to-tongue with Quina. Shocked, he jumped back and had to resist the urge to summon his Keyblades. "Gah! Uh, hi there."

Quina looked between Roxas and Xion. "You two humans? Friends of Rydia?"

"I don't know about friends, but the first part's right," Xion said. "Are we the first humans you've seen?"

Quina stared silently. Their face was completely unreadable, and seemingly like that at all times. Roxas hadn't even seen them blink yet. "Of course not," Quina said after a little while. "Rydia human too."

"Wait, she is?" She had said she wasn't a fairy, but then what were all of her questions for? Xion turned to look at the green-haired girl playing with the fairies in the shallows of the lake. A shoopuf rained water down on them from its trunk. Geeze, she could be an annoying brat of a kid, but right now she seemed like any other little girl having a fun day out with her friends.

Roxas scratched his head. "But didn't she say you raised her?"

Quina shook their head, their tongue swaying back and forth with the motion. "All raised her, communal. Fairies found Rydia seven years ago as baby. But baby no good for eat, so look after her instead."

"Oh, so that's why she didn't know anything about people– or uh, about humans. Cities and stuff, I mean."

"And why she's not very…social," Xion said with a laugh. "Rydia's really spent her whole life here in these moors? But we know some fairies who live like humans do."

"Flora, Fauna, Merryweather?" At Xion's nod, Quina shrugged. "They good fairies, but they also different fairies. Lived as humans to raise human princess, then like it and stay that way. Not like us. Left moors behind."

"Oh… Not the norm, huh?" Roxas scratched his head again then looked up at the horizon, where the Forbidden Mountain was still visible in the distance, albeit further than he'd have liked. They had really gone off-course while pursuing that spriggan. But seeing that mountain did give him another thought. "Then what about Malefi–"

Before the witch's name was even passed his lips Quina cut him off with a loud screech. Some of the other fairies around turned to look at whatever it was that had upset the qu so much. "Not say name!" Quina shouted, launching spittle at Roxas's face as they did so. "Evil witch! Bad fairy!"

Roxas held his hands up to try and calm Quina down. "Okay, okay, I got it. I won't say her name again." He looked around them. Most of the fairies had gone back to their own business, but some still lingered on him with a glare.

"I take it that Ma– Um, that she isn't welcome here?" Xion asked.

"She live here once, long, long time ago." Quina made a noise somewhere between spitting and grunting. "But always wicked and cruel. Kicked her out when I was just little qu. Should have done worse. She ruin this world to darkness."

Oh, an opening to turn the conversation. "Speaking of that. We're actually here to make sure something else doesn't ruin this world." Roxas looked back to Rydia. "Quina, do you think you could get Rydia to come back to us? She was helping us find something of ours that a spriggan stole, and we really need to hurry because we need to stop the thing we came to stop before it's too late."

Once more Quina stared at the two of them silently and emotionlessly for a minute. "Not to hurt Rydia?" Roxas had a feeling that if Quina could squint their eyes, they would be.

Xion nodded. "I promise she'll stay safe with us. She's just going to show us to a spriggan den and then the two of us will be on our way."

"Okay…" Quina turned toward the playing children. "Rydia! Come help dummies!" Roxas winced at Quina calling them by Rydia's favorite name, but beside him Xion couldn't help but let out an exasperated laugh.

"They're still here?" Rydia called back over.

"You promised you'd help us find my Gummiphone, you brat!" Roxas snapped back at her.

"Oh, yeah. Right. That spriggan. Fiiiine, I'm coming!" Rydia waved goodbye to her friends and hurried on over to them. "Quina, I'll be right back!"

"Bring yummy foods this time, Rydia. I hungry." Quina stared at Roxas with saliva dripping down their tongue, and he suppressed a shudder.

Rydia led them across a field of flowers into a forested section of the moors. At the base of an oak tree was a large hole, large enough for them to crouch through. Inside was an angled tunnel running underground into a chamber that Roxas and Xion could just make out from the surface. "This is the spriggan den?"

"Yup! On my honor this is where your weird thingy was taken."

Well, for all her attitude they didn't really have a reason to distrust her. Xion conjured a flame in her open palm and moved into the tunnel first, with Roxas and Rydia close behind. The main chamber of this den was surprisingly well-lit, due to odd gemstones embedded in the walls that gave off a soft glow. A pile of leaves and grass seemed to serve as the resident spriggan's bed, and a pile of treasures and trinkets took up nearly a third of the room. As for the thieving little fairy itself, there was no sign of it; lucky thing, it would get off easy. Their prize was certainly there though. Sitting among the pile of stolen goods was Roxas's Gummiphone. He picked it up with a grin and examined it in the light of the glowing stones. Not a scratch, thankfully. And no missed calls either, not that he was expecting any – if anyone hadn't been able to contact him they'd know to just call Xion, and her phone hadn't rang at all today. Roxas pocketed his phone and stood back up.

"You got your thing, so can I go back to my friends now?" Rydia asked.

Roxas nodded. "Yeah, go ahead. And, uh…thanks, Rydia. You really did help us out."

Sputtering, Rydia crossed her arms and looked away. Was that a blush creeping on her cheeks, or a trick of the dim light? "I-I'll just head out then! Dummy!" She turned around and hurried up the slanted tunnel.

Xion smiled at Roxas as the two of them followed Rydia at a slower pace. "With that detour done, ready to head to the Keyhole?"

"Yeah. Hopefully things didn't get too out of control while we've been messing around."

Xion poked him in the side with a chuckle. "This wouldn't have happened if you kept a better eye on your things."

Roxas laughed and shoved her shoulder. "Maybe next time I'll let you hold my Gummiphone, if you're so organized." Xion's reply was a smug grin as she raised her chin up proudly. But their banter was cut off by a terrified screech from outside, and the two didn't even need to share a look with each other before they summoned their Keyblades and hurried the rest of the way to the exit.

"Rydia, what is it?!" Roxas shouted when he leaped out of the hole in the ground. She didn't answer, but she didn't need to. The green-haired girl was surrounded by swaying silver-white forms. Dusks! What were they doing here? One Dusk noticed Roxas and Xion as soon as they breached the surface, and the others did soon after. Their bodies writhed, and they charged.

A blast of Watera from Xion sent the first Dusk that came at them flying. Roxas knocked two more aside then slashed through the air and sent waves of gold and blue light flying out from his Keyblades. It made quick work of the remaining few Dusks.

"Rydia, get out of here!" Xion called.

Rydia's eyes went wide and she pointed behind the two of them. "Look out!"

Roxas turned around too late to heed her warning and just in time to make out the figure of a Dancer before it kicked him in the face. He felt the warmth of a Cure spell from Xion wash over him before he even hit the ground, and as he climbed back to his feet more Nobodies began to manifest around the three of them. Dancers and Reapers, fitting for this world's aesthetics. Whoever was commanding these Nobodies sure seemed to have a sense of humor.

Roxas leaned back to avoid the slice of a Reaper's scythe while Xion dodged a Dancer's kicks and spins with dancelike motions of her own. Her Keyblade sliced across the feminine Nobody's chest and sent it colliding with the Reaper that had been harrowing Roxas, then Roxas finished the job and pierced both of them through the middle.

Fireballs flew past Roxas's head as Xion cast spell after spell at a pair of Reapers that had wrapped themselves in their defensible bud forms. But that was no match for her flames and they went down without knowing what hit them. Roxas spied a Dancer making its way to Rydia and tossed Oathkeeper its way, then vanished into particles of light. When Oathkeeper made contact with the Nobody the particles recombined into Roxas and he kicked the Dancer aside followed by striking it with both Keyblades at once.

"Xion, behind you!"

Xion took Roxas's words and whirled around just in time to parry another Reaper's attack. She pushed against its scythe with Sign of Innocence and successfully knocked it off balance, then raised her free hand up and cast Thunder. A bolt of lightning shot down from the sky and hit the Nobody dead-on, then while it was stunned with sparks coursing over its body Xion charged her Keyblade with a magical aura and drove the edge down into the Nobody's chest.

One Dancer left. Roxas darted toward it and jumped over it before it could kick him, but it grabbed him by the wrist. Roxas was whipped around violently by the Nobody, nearly losing his grip on his Keyblades, when a Blizzard spell struck it in its back. The Nobody released its grip and Roxas was sent tumbling through the air, but he managed to right himself. Spinning both Oathkeeper and Oblivion in front of him, he sent two spiraling bolts of light forward and hit the Dancer dead-on.

With the Nobodies gone, Xion and Roxas stopped to catch their breaths. Roxas looked over to Rydia, who was shaking in place with her eyes wide. "Don't worry, you're safe with us."

Rydia opened her mouth, but no words came out. After swallowing she finally managed to speak in a shaking voice. "W-What were those?"

"They're called Nobodies," Xion said. "A better question is: why are they here?" She dismissed her Keyblade and looked off to the horizon, eyeing the Forbidden Mountain in the distance.

x-x-x

There may not have been any humans around as they fought the Nobodies, but that didn't mean the moors were lifeless. He had first seen them shortly after the fog cleared, and thought it odd that humans would be this deep in the forest, so far from the castle. They had been a puzzle worth pursuing, and so he had quietly followed them on their hunt for that spriggan. His mistress had commanded him to watch over this world in her absence, after all. He followed from just out of their sight for the better part of the day, at some points growing bored or uncertain if they were worth it, but reassuring himself by keeping a close eye on the clothes they wore. There was no mistaking those three bumbling fairies' handiwork, and they didn't give out those magical garments to just anyone.

And eventually his patience and perseverance paid off. He couldn't very well follow them into the spriggan's den without being seen, but when they emerged and began battling the white husks… Well, the all too familiar weapons they summoned had proven his suspicions right. Wasting no time, the raven lifted from his perch on the branches above the Keyblade wielders and hurried off toward his home.

As Diablo flew over the forest the trees below him began to thin and the sky above him began to darken. Lightning flashed, briefly illuminating the derelict castle atop the rocky peak that was his destination: the Forbidden Mountain. Although Maleficent had left Enchanted Dominion long ago, her old base of operations was far from empty. Diablo soared over the crumbling stone of the outer walls then descended on the keep, flying through the open windows of the throne room with a caw that echoed off the walls. He didn't catch any attention despite that echo, though; several of the inhabitants of the castle sat in the center of the large round chamber, unaware of their visitor and playing a game with cards and dice. After perching on an arm of his mistress's throne, Diablo sighed and let out another, louder caw. That time he got the reaction he wanted: the goons jumped to attention, their dice and cards scattering about as they stood up straight and saluted.

"Diablo! Uhh, welcome back!" one of the piglike soldiers said in his buffoonish voice. "Anything to report, sir?"

These goons being so dumb was a double edged sword. On the one hand they didn't have the self-respect to be insulted at Maleficent leaving a raven in charge, but on the other hand they didn't have the tact to do much but stand guard and Diablo often had to handle everything himself. But this was something he couldn't do alone, he was after all only a bird. The goons would have to step up.

Diablo gestured up to the window and cawed again. The goons all turned to look, and as they did so Diablo hopped off the armrest and behind the throne to grab something Maleficent had left behind.

The pig turned back toward Diablo and scratched his head. "Do the windows need cleanin'?"

Diablo groaned and dropped the object from his beak. By all that was evil, they were slow. He took to the air and perched on the windowsill then pointed outward again. Some of the goons muttered amongst themselves while the pig rubbed his chin. Finally, he smiled. "Oh, somethin' in the forest!"

Diablo nodded, and the goons nodded with him, proud of themselves for figuring it out. Diablo returned to his prize behind the throne and slowly pulled them out by his beak: a pair of enchanted manacles, which would nullify any and all magic that the person who wore them attempted to cast. Maleficent had left them behind just in case a Keyblade wielder arrived in her absence, and now the day had finally come.

A gremlin-like goon recognized them first. "Hey, those are the magic chains!" Voices of agreement rose up around him.

Diablo nodded once again and another round of proud smiles lit up the goons' faces; Diablo rolled his eyes. He tossed the manacles out onto the floor of the throne room, in front of the group. They stared at them for a good long while and Diablo was about to caw in irritation, but the piglike one spoke up again. "Hey, we was supposed to use those for Keyblade wielders…"

"Yeah, yeah," said another goon.

"…and if Diablo is givin' 'em to us…"

"Yeah, yeah."

"Then there's a Keyblade wielder in the woods!"

"Yeah, yeah!"

Diablo cawed excitedly and angered cries rose up among the goons. They ran to the far wall where their spears, axes, and bows were resting, and Diablo began circling in the air above them. The pig held up the anti-magic manacles and shook them vigorously, the chain rattling above the uproar. "Don't worry, Diablo! We'll get that Keyblade wielder, we will!"

With the pig at the lead, the goons charged out of the throne room. Diablo perched on the windowsill and watched as they made their way out of the castle entirely, down the Forbidden Mountain and into the woods. He grinned as best as a raven could. Those wielders would make a magnificent prize when Maleficent returned, indeed.

The live-action Maleficent was a bad movie but I did like the design of the moors and fairies from it, so I decided to include them in Enchanted Dominion.

I apologize for the wait on this chapter being longer than previous ones. I had a serious case of writer's block while working on it, and KH3's critical mode coming out didn't help. The last section with Diablo was actually written earlier than anything else here, because I knew how I wanted the chapter to end but not what most of the meat of it would be.