Disclaimer: The name Selene is the name of the Moon Goddess who is the daughter of Zeus, according to Greek legends.

Author's note: I am so sorry for the delay. Ven's story in the Castle of Dreams is always the least of my favorites, but finally I've worked done it so I can go back to Grovyle and then Serenity. Anyway, here we go.

Note: This chapter will be short, but I can't help for that, sorry.

I only own the rights of Jason, Lyla, and Chancellor. The rest belong rightfully to Square Enix, Disney, Nintendo and Toei.

CHAPTER 9: Castle of Dreams-Ventus.

Hours before Serenity and Aqua's arrivals...

In her wood-lined room that was really the attic of her home that once belonged to her late father, but ever sine his death, it was taken over to her cruel and evil stepmother Lady Tremaine and her two daugthers; Anastasia and Prezilla, Cinderella gazed out of her window, staring at the grand Castle seen in the distance, sighing. How she longed to know what the castle was like.

Her thoughts were broken when her mouse friend Jaq quickly ran over to her, crying out in his heavy french accent, "Cinderelly! Cinderelly! Come on! Gotta hurry! Gotta hurry!" as he climbs up a post on the bed near the wall, jumping up and down to get her attention.

Turning to her only friend, Cinderella questioned, "Now, Jaq, what's all the fuss about?"

"Somebody new in the house! Somebody never sawr-a 'fore."

"Oh, a new friend. Where is he?" She asked. It was nice to have new friends around since being here only to be treated like a maid was lonely, but as her real late mother told her, she had to keep on believing in her dreams. Jaq was her closest friend in her life.

Jaq continued to jump up and down, urgently telling his human friend, "In a trap! Down the stairs!"

Cinderella gasped in shock, "Oh dear!" before following Jaq to rescue the new poor mouse, unaware of what the two were actually going to meet.

He didn't know how long he'd been stuck in the mousetrap, but Ven was getting more and more annoyed by the minute, unable to figure out how he'd been shrunk. Normally people would freak out in being shrunk down to size. But not Ven. It would take a lot to scare him since he was a trained Keyblade wielder.

"What is going on?" Ven signed as he paced back and forth in the cage before folding his arms. He then grabbed hold of the bars of the cage and cried out, "Somebody tell me how I got so SMALL!"

Not getting an answer, he sighed. Just then, Ven noticed the door of the room he was in open and looked up, to see a young woman approach him. Suddenly nervous due to the fact that at his current size, she was a giant, Ven backed away a little as she towered over him. As Cinderella picked up the cage, he had trouble keeping his balance before she tips the door of the cage up toward her, causing him to roll over to the back of the cage. He had heard of the spell known as "Mini" that could shrink opponents, but if he somehow ended up using that spell on himself or if that guy in the mask did this, then he'd better make a mental note to train himself for that spell after he finds Terra.

"Don't be afraid." Cinderella told him gently, before getting a closer look at Ven, and her eyes widened in surprise. "Oh! How interesting... I've never seen a mouse like you before."

(~BibbidiBobbidiBoo-KH:BBS~)

"Mouse?" Ven asked in confusion, rubbing the back of his head. She actually thought he was a mouse? Well, considering how he had been caught in a mouse trap and that he was the size of one, now that he thought about it, it did make a bit of sense.

Seeing how Ven was confused, Cinderella turned to Jaq who was below her on the floor and gently requested her friend, "Jaq, you better explain things to him." before she gently puts the cage down, while Ven struggled to keep his balance until he was back on ground level, much to his relief, the cage door remaining open.

Jaq easily stepped in to greet the new 'mouse', saying to him happily, "Now, now now. Looka, little guy. Raker easy. Nutta worry 'bout. We like-a you. Cinderelly like-a you, too. She's-a nice, very nice-nice."

Ven smiled. This little guy was very friendly and by judging how gentle Cinderella was, he knew he could trust both of them. By Jaq's offer to go with him, he nodded and the two walked out of the cage, mentally relieved that he was finally out.

"Name-a Jaq." Jaq introduced himself.

"I'm Ventus. Call me Ven." Ven replied in return.

Jaq smiled at his new friend, "Zugk-zugk, Ven-Ven. Need-a sudda? Ask-a Jaq!"

Just then all three of them heard a woman's voice call out from the other side of the door, "Cinderella!" which made Cinderella sigh, knowing that she had things to do right now.

"Oh well, time to get to my chores." She said to herself before apologetically saying to Ven, "'ll see you in a little while, Ven." smiling at him before leaving the room.

"Wow, I guess she's got her hands full." Ven commented.

Jaq nodded, sighing with slight exasperation, "Yep, work, work, work! Stepmuddy keep-a Cinderelly busy all day!"

"She didn't seem to mind much, though." Ven shrugged.

"No, not Cinderelly. She work-a hard. Got a dream-big dream. Dream gonna come true!"

Hearing this made Ven think about Terra, as he recalled what his friend told him and Aqua few years ago as one of his strongest memories, "Being a Keyblade Master is all I've dreamed about."

Suddenly remembering the reason why he was here after thinking about that memory, Ven then turned to Jaq and asked, "Hey, maybe you can help me find my friend! His name's Terra. You seen him?"

"Ehh..." Jaq thought hard of anyone of that name, before shrugging and replied, "No no. Never saw Terra 'fore."

"Oh, well. It was worth a shot." Ven sighed. Where could Terra be? Thinking back on what happened in the previous world, something didn't seem right and that only increased his worries and suspiction of what the guy in the mask was talking about back at the Land of Departure.

Jaq then gestured Ven to following him, saying almost urgently, "Come on. Follow me. Gotta see the house." before scampering off into the mouse hole that leads to somewhere, causing Ven to hurriedly to follow him.

(~End BibbidiBobbidiBoo~)

Even though the Unversed were around as Ven ventured through the mousehole while following Jaq, thankfully it seemed even the monsters had shrunk so it wasn't such of a problem since his Keyblade carried the job easily, before he found himself in Cinderella's room and joined the mouse on the top of the window, gazing out at the large castle in the distance.

(~Peaceful Hearts-KH:BBS~)

"What's that?" Ven asked, not realising that was a castle since he had been living in one for the last four years but didn't remember much at all.

"That's-a palace-King's palace! Gonna be a big ball tonight." Jaq answered, sounding excited.

A ball tonight, huh? That sounded really fun and Ven knew about that at least after seeing Aqua read all kinds of storybooks which she happily offered to let him read and he had to admit, he could see what his friend loved them, but didn't admit it to Terra. That would've been too embarrassing.

"Is Cinderella going?" Ven asked.

He was surprised when Jaq gave a sad sigh as the latter muttered, "I don't know..." just as they heard the door open behind them, causing to the two to see that Cinderella had arrived after finishing more of the chores in her daily life.

"Hello, you two. Have you become friends already?" Cinderella questioned with a smile and as the two nodded, she moved over towards a mannequin that was wearing and old pink dress as she hummed to herself, starting to work on it.

Noting her smile, Ven commented, "You sure look happy, Cinderella."

The young woman nodded as she said almost dreamingly, "I'm going to the royal ball tonight." sighing happily, "I guess dreams really do come true."

Too bad those thoughts were crushed when all three of them heard Lady Tremaine call out once again to Cinderella who sighed, knowing that she now had more chores to do, and realising that her dress would have to wait, before two more voices called out to her, as she called back to her stepmother and stepsisters, "All right, all right, I'm coming!" walking out of the room and closing the door behind her.(~End Peaceful Hearts~)

"Poor Cinderelly... She not go to the ball." Jaq sighed in sadness.

"Why not?" Ven asked, shocked.

"You see. They fix her. Work, work, work. She'll never get her dress done." Jaq explained.

"Oh." Ven muttered, realising that Jaq had a point. Poor Cinderella, and she had been looking forward to go to the ball, which made him wonder why her stepfamily were doing this on purpose. Was it because of the darkness in their hearts? For some reason that seemed more likely now that he thought about it. But why Cinderella like this, though?

Just then Jaq thought of something and perked up, "Say, got an idea! Ven-Ven help-a Jaq?"

"With what?" Ven asked, curiously.

"Fix-a Cinderelly dress for the ball."

While Ven thought it was a good idea, he wasn't an expert when it comes to fixing up dresses since the only girl he's known in his life was Aqua, so, he had no idea. "But what do we need to get?"

"Look around the house. Lots o' pretty-pretty things." Jaq suggested.

"Okay, let's do it. I'll go find whatever we need. Jaq, you get things set up here." Ven replied, getting the idea and actually getting excited to help fix up Cinderella's dress. Plus, he didn't want her to be sad or miss out on something as fun as the ball, especially at the King's palace.

Just as Ven leaped off the windowsill and landed on the floor to carry out the task, he paused when Jaq called to him, "Ven-Ven! Careful Rucifee!"

""Roos-a-fee"?" Ven asked, confused.

"Rucifee a cat-cat! Mean...sneaky... Jump at you, bite at you!" Jaq explained, remembering the cat who is actually named Lucifer.

Heeding the warning, not to mention that at his current size Ven could easily be a meal to a cat, he nodded, "Gotcha." before heading down to the mousehole to find any sort of pretty things that would fit for a dress. He just hoped he wouldn't screw this one up.

While fighting against annoying Unversed and avoiding Lucifer in case the cat was around and also managing to avoid the three other women that Cinderella lives with, Ven managed to find the pretty items he could think off that aqquired as pretty for a dress in the Wardrobe Room. He managed to find a pink fabric on the floor of the room and white lace lying on the couch. He then climbed up the a pile of books and retrieves a white sash before going through another mousehole and reaches the top of a dresser, where he finds a white button. He finds pink thread after reaching the top of the large wardrobe.

Once he retrieved these items, Ven quickly returned to Cinderella's room where Jaq was waiting for him happily. After Ven gave him the materials, Jaq then requested, "Still needs a pretty-pretty pearl."

"Leave it to me." Ven nodded without hesitation.

"Pretty-pretty pearl gotta be down-a-stairs!"

Understanding, Ven once again went downstairs once more and after looking around carefully, he spotted it. "Oh, there it is."

Though he was left with one problem. The blue pretty pearl was next to a cat that he quickly realised was Lucifer. Or at least, next to the sleeping cat as it purred in it's sleep. So as silently as he could, the young Keyblade wielder slowly skulks over, careful to not wake Lucifer. For good measure, he waved a hand in front of the cat's closed eyes but it remains still. Mentally sighing in relief, the teenager carefully picked up the pearl, and then turned around. Though he failed to realise that had been a trap as Lucifer opened one of his green eyes, grinning evilly at Ven who was silently walking away.

But Ven did realise that the purring stopped and his stomach dropped, just as Lucifer silently raised a paw to swipe at him for an easy meal.

(~Vim and Vigor-KH:BBS~)

"Look out! Rucifee!" Jaq's voice cried out as the two looked up to see him on a dress before the mouse launched and catapaulted a large ball of yarn at the cat, hitting him on the head and causing the feline to stumble back in pain and annoyance while the cat shrieked, "Mureow!"

"Hurry! Hurry, Ven!" Jaq cried out as he prepared another ball of yarn while Ven escapes. But Lucifer dodges out of the way and begins running in circles as

Jaq throws multiple yarn balls of different colours before eventually knocking into the dresser just as Ven reaches the mousehole, making Jaq lose his balance, toppling over onto the floor. To Ven's horror as he stopped when he heard his friend cry out, Lucifer was heading straight towards him.

Ven knew what he had to do immediately.

"Ooh, that hurt..." Jaq grumbled as he sat up. But when a shadow overloomed him, he looked up to see Lucifer who raises a paw and meows at him to swipe at him. The mouse screams in fright as he tries his best to shield himself, bracing to be eaten.

Just then Ven, who is still carrying the pearl in his left arm, leaped up towards the cat and knocked it's paw away with his Keyblade, causing the feline to hiss, now really angry, as Ven told it boldly, "Time to play, cat!"

"Ven-Ven!" Jaq cried out in relief, amazed that a friend he saved had just saved him in return.

"Take the pearl, Jaq! I'll hold him off." Ven told him as he handed the pearl to his friend, while still having his eyes on Lucifer. "Run!"

"Zugk-zugk!" Jaq nodded before running off, leaving Ven to fight the feline.

Lucifer swiped at Ven with it's massive claws, but the Keyblade wielder dodged rolled out of the way several times before eventually going behind the cat, attacking with with multiple slashes and whacks with his Keyblade which caused the cat to shriek out in pain before turning around and swiped at Ven who was knocked back three feet before landing on the ground. Getting up, Ven then rolled out of the way before Lucifer could swipe at him when the cat came running in incredible speed.

This only caused Lucifer to crash face-first into the wall in a faceplant, before slumping to the ground which allowed Ven enough time to heal himself with Cure before going into quick-speed combos, and then for safety measures even though he didn't like harming animals, he casted Fire which caused Lucifer's tail to steam with smoke on the tip of his tail. Feeling unusual warmth and heat, the cat looked behind him and freaked out in horror, before running around the room in panic, shrieking his head off.

This allowed Ven to leap into the air and once Lucifer was close enough, he landed onto the cat's back and hanged on tightly in a rodeo-style while somehow steering him towards the wall, much to the cat's horror. Too late, as Ven leaped off just in time, Lucifer once again face-planted himself into the wall, seeing stars and miniture Jaqs circle around his head. Ven in the meantime, decided to use his Strike Raid ability, hitting Lucifer multiple times before jumping out of the way just as the cat recovered, but still incredibly sure with a massive headache.

Seeing this as his chance to finish off the battle, Ven activated his D-Link and called out to Aqua, preforming a combine of his Strike Raid with her Strike Raid, tossing his Keyblade which glowed like a boomarang which caught the cat off-guard as it was hit in the head once more before the Keyblade returned to him. Lucifer slumped to the ground in defeat. (~End Vim and Vigor~)

Not wanting to get attacked even further as the feline recovered, Lucifer ran away, meowing as he raced outside of the room, giving Ven a breather.

Jaq, who had stayed behind a bit worried, approached his new close friend, saying in gratitude, "Oh, that's a big "thank you"." while Ven dismisses his Keyblade for now.

The teenage boy smiled in return, replying, "No thanks needed. You saved me before, so I saved you. That's what friends do, right?"

"Zugk-zugk! Ven-Ven, Jaq are good friends!" Jaq laughed along with Ven.

Knowing that they still had a job to do, Ven nodded to his new friend, saying, "Now, let's get that dress finished."

The two then rushed back through the mousehole to finish their job so that Cinderella can go to the ball tonight.

A little while later, knowing that she had no chance of going to the ball due to the fact that Lady Tremaine, Anastasia and Prezilla had forced her to help with their dresses all afternoon, sadly returned to her room to spend the rest of the evening there while her stepmother and stepsisters go without her, unaware that they did this on purpose since they wanted her to have a miserable life.

She gazed out of the window towards the castle, saying to herself, "Oh, well... What's a royal ball? After all, I suppose it would be frightfully dull and boring...and completely..."

Cinderella sighed before leaning on the windowsill, concluding dreamingly, "...completely wonderful."

"Cinderella!"

Hearing Ven's voice, Cinderella turned around and her eyes widened in surprise as her wooden room divider open, revealing a beautiful pink dress with white lace and pink ribbons, with both Ven and Jaq standing on each side, smiling proudly of ther handy work.

"Is that my dress?" Cinderella asked, happiness and surprise filling up her heart. She couldn't believe that her two friends had did this for her while she was busy.

Ven nodded to confirm it, "Yes. It's a present from us. Now you have a dress for the ball." with Jaq smiling happily.

In graditude, Cinderella lowered her hands to allow both of them to climb onboard in her palms and she lifted them up to her face, smilling happily as she admitted, "Why, it's...it's such a surprise..."

"Hurry, hurry! Time-a go, Cinderelly!" Jaq told his friend with a beaming smile.

"Oh, thank you." Cinderella told them, while Ven placed his hands behind his head, smiling happily.

Just five minutes after Cinderella got dressed into her new dress and left to leave for the ball, Ven and Jaq both sat on the windowsill, gazing out the night at the castle, having a conversation before Ven would leave to continue his quest to find Terra and this Grovyle.

"Jaq-Jaq hope-a Cinderelly dream comes true." Jaq commented, breaking the peaceful silence. He then turned to Ven and asked curiously, "What's-a Ven-Ven

dream?"

(~A Flower in the Slums-CRISIS CORE FINAL FANTASY VII~)

Blinking in surprise, Ven thought to himself. Up until now, he never really payed much attention on his dreams. He then recalled what both Terra and Aqua had said and that he started to think that sharing their dream sounded like the best thing in his life.

"Being a Keyblade Master is all I've dreamed about." Terra had said.

"Well, you're not the only one." Aqua had replied.

"I know. You, me, and Ven all share the same dream."

Ven was silent for a moment, before eventually answering, "Funny... I'd never really thought about it-at least until you asked me." before summoning his Keyblade and gazed it, admitting, "My dream is to become a Keyblade Master." before desummoning it again.

While Jaq didn't understand what a 'Keyblade Master' is, he replied, "Hope-a Ven-Ven dream come true, too."

"I just need to keep on believing, right?" Ven smiled.

"Zugk-zugk!" Jaq nodded, and the two shared a smile, gazing at the castle again.(~End A Flower in the Slums~)

After that, Ven said his goodbyes to Jaq and once he was in a hidden distance, he summoned his Armor and Glider before leaving Castle of Dreams behind, thankfully once he left through the portal, he returned to his normal size, much to his relief. As much as he enjoyed hanging out with Jaq, he had to admit to himself.

Ven didn't like being small.

Meanwhile, in the dark future...

(~Drops of Poison~)

Zoroark tossed the weakened Celebi to the ground where the Pokemon remained unconscious, as the Pokemon of the Resistance growled while keeping his temper in check. Slaking and Duslops had just joined him at the Deep Dusk Forest as it has been just half an hour after he forced both Grovyle and Jason into the Passage of Time with hopes that the two would meet their ends immediately.

What he discovered from the Celebi who could foresee the past, it wasn't a pretty sight in his opinion.

"It seems we have mistaken the past." Zoroark grunted, clutching his paw which shook in fury. "This little insect time traveller informed me that Grovyle and his human partner have seperated but have also joined up two of the four Keyblade wielders ten years before Temporal Tower's collaspe."

"As much as I hate to make the situation worse," Dusclops spoke up, "In ancient texts my comrades had informed me, Neo Queen Serenity's birth Mother of the ancient past has travelled forward through time as well, which has created a Time Paradox which Primal Dialga would not be pleased with."

Slaking growled dangerously in anger himself, as he grunted, "If those two rookies of the Plantery Investigation Team meet the Silver Crystal's previous wielder, they would discover a way to bring back Time itself."

"There is good news, however." Dusclops said once again, in a tone that he was grinning. "There is a twist that, according to my readings, that a traitor also time-travelled to kill the Crystal's previous wielder. If we help him to kill her, that would erase the chances of those fools to bring back that pathetic light into this Realm."

"No, that would still change the future." Zoroark warned, while he gazed at the Passage of Time, already making his mind him. If he had to take it into his own hands to kill Grovyle and Jason, even through time-travel, than so be it. "Let that traitor handle Queen Serenity, and leave those two brats to me."

As he made his towards the Passage of Time, much to the shock of his companions, Slaking cried out, "You're not thinking of going to the past yourself, are you?" making Zoroark pause in his steps.

"In order to keep this world remain like this for all eternity, and make sure the past still set in stone, I must protect the future of darkness." Zoroark told his comrades, turning to give them an evil grin as he continued, "I told you; I am not known as the Master of illusions for nothing. I will return victorous, or at least make sure those two wanna-be saviors die before they know the truth."

With that, he stepped into the Passage of Time and vanished into the past, leaving behind Dusclops and Slaking who both glanced at each other, realising that Zoroark was right. Both Grovyle and Jason would have to be killed in the past, and Queen Serenity to suffer more than what she would lose in her future. (~End Drops of Poison~)

Also to make sure three of those four travelling Keybearers would suffer their horrible fates and continue to suffer for all eternity. Little did they know, the Time Paradox was already set into motion.

Their present would one day be erased.

A/N: We continue the Castle of Dreams in the next chapter and catch up to Grovyle and Terra. Again, I am so sorry that it's short and that it's late. But Ven's visit to the Castle of Dreams is the least of my favorites.

See you in the next chapter which hopefully I'll be able to post sooner than last time.