A/N: Can anyone think of a more obvious world to visit during the invasion of the Nightmares? I can certainly think a few, one of them just so happens to belong to a certain princess of beauty sleep. But what happens when her eternal slumber turns into nightmares during the infection of the Nightmare?
World: Enchanted Domination
Princess Aurora, excuse me. I shouldn't call her a princess. Aurora is right now a simple maiden who lives in a cottage house in the woods. Raised by three fairies disguised as humans.
On the night of Aurora's christening, Maleficent breaks into the party. The king and queen didn't invite her to the christening. As punishment, Maleficent puts a curse on Aurora. Before the sunset on her sixteenth birthday, she will prick her finger on the spindle of an enchanted spinning wheel and die. However, after the witch leaves, the fairy Merryweather uses her blessing to alter the curse so that instead of dying, Aurora will fall into a deep sleep, for which she can only be awaken by true love's first kiss.
King Stefan still fears for his daughter's life by Maleficent's curse. Even after burning all the spinning wheels in the kingdom, that will not stop Maleficent's curse. So the fairies have decided to take care of Aurora, outside of the kingdom, where they believe she will be safe from Maleficent.
Sixteen years later this day, on Aurora's birthday, she has grown up into a beautiful young woman, loved by all. Well, mainly the critters of the forest.
Maleficent grows frustrated that she is unable to find the cursed princess, and her time runs short.
Here, we arrive in the world's forest. Sora and Riku take the lead while I'm pushing Aqua. "I think we're lost." Sora says.
"We're not lost. I...know where I'm going." Riku says.
"Honestly, I wish he would admit we're lost." Aqua says.
"I'd rather have that then endlessly wonder around the forest." I say.
At least we know we're in the right world. Just like the other three: The Nightmare infects it. Replace the skies with shattered openings of redish black color.
Under Riku's lead, we wonder through the forest. Well, our lost travels didn't end up boring. Dream Eaters still make an appearance and they manage to entertain us in combat. But that still does not solve our little problem. After nearly an hour of walking, feels like more then just one hour. Point is we've been walking for miles.
Sora and I have noticed the areas we've been entering look familiar. "This isn't good...We've been going in circles." Aqua says.
I stop pushing Aqua then move to Riku's side. "We've been walking for miles, Riku! Just admit it: We're lost!"
"We are not lost. I...know exactly where we're going." Riku says.
"And you say I'm the stubborn one. Why can't you just admit you-" As I'm scolding Riku, Sora tells us to be quiet.
"Guys! Guys! Quiet..." We wonder what this is about. "Listen..." When we're sounded by silence, we hear something. Sounds like...singing. Beautiful song. Coming from a very familiar voice. "Does anyone recognize that?"
Sora's right. I know I've heard this before. It sounds pretty close. We hide in the bushes, look right through them. To our surprise, there's a man and a beautiful women. That women was know who she is. Golden long hair. Red rose lips. Beautiful voice.
"Princess Aurora?" Sora says, sounding surprised.
"I'm surprised. This must be her world." Riku says.
I'm well aware of Aurora's history. That makes me realize something about this worlds corruption. "If Aurora is here, then the Nightmare in this world is going to be more dangerous then the other worlds."
Sora shushes us. "Quiet! Stay down!"
We duck our heads back in the bushes. Sora and I did. Riku just stay standing, then Sora and I reached a hand out, on each of Riku's shoulders and we both pull him back down.
"Did you hear something?" Aurora asks.
"I haven't the slightest idea." Philip says. "Don't you remember? We've met before."
Aurora seems clueless and confused. "We...we have?"
"Why of course. You said so yourself: Once upon a dream." Philip says.
Hearing that barely made any sense to me, but it does worry since he mentioned it's a dream. That means Dream Eaters and the Nightmare is coming for them. Still, that seems to convince Aurora. She smiles, and the two lock arms and go for a walk.
Still hidden in the shadows, we follow the princess and Philip. The two of them watch the river, underneath a tree, right on the cliff. We stay hidden right behind them. Sora and Aqua in the bushes, me on the high branches close to the countless leafs and Riku is in a burrow underneath a rock. He slightly lifts the rock to get a peek.
Aurora holds on to Philip's arm as she rests her head on his shoulder. "I never thought I would meet you...outside of my dreams, that is."
"Who are you? What's your name?" Philip asks.
I'm surprised he doesn't even know Aurora. Then again, I realize that she is right now an ordinary citizen and not a princess. "Hmm? ...Oh, my name...Why it's..." Aurora sounds uncertain. Now she's nervous. "Oh, oh no, I can't...Good-bye." Now she's running.
Great. It's Cinderella all over again. "I must see you." Philip says.
Aurora is stops running. She looks back at Philip, but still positioned to run. "I don't know, maybe someday." Then she continues running. Philip chases her, still asking.
"When? Tomorrow?" He shortly stops. Aurora looks back and speaks, but she's still running. "Oh, no. This evening! At the cottage, in the glen." Philip watches Aurora until she's out of sight, then he makes his leave.
Once it's all clear, we come out of hiding. "'Once upon a dream?' ...You don't think." Sora wonders.
"They're probably going to be targets for the Dream Eaters." I say.
"What are we gonna do now?" Aqua asks.
"We follow Aurora. Let's go find this...Cottage." I suggest, and everyone else agrees.
We follow down the path Aurora took. We quickly realized that Aurora is indeed going to be in danger. The forest is crawling with Dream Eaters. She's an innocent princess disguised as a maid. Aurora mightiest well be served on a silver platter with some jam, cause the girl is toast.
I'm certainly right to worry. As we follow the path, we have encountered multiple Dream Eaters. No sign of Aurora or any cries of help coming from her. It's possible she might have gotten a head start from the monsters.
We battle the Dream Eaters. I fight them in my new D-link with Noctis. I'm enhanced in an energetic aura. Right now, I'm dual wielding my two Keyblades. As I fight, my weapons constantly shifts into different modes. Dual Blades. Broadsword. Guns. Spear. Even a Bow. All of them still in the form of Keyblades.
Most of my shifts are triggered through combo attacks, like Dual Blade slashes, Spear wide spin slash then finish with a Bow powerful explosive shot. My attacks are swift, powerful. Just as Noctis was when we were facing them.
With the Dream Eaters defeated, we continue onward.
It takes a while but we have finally found the cottage in the forest. "There."
We approach. No sign of Aurora or anymore Dream Eaters. Certainly no sign of Philip, then again it's not even evening. I'm about to knock on the door, until I hear voices from the other side. It's pretty fainted, can hardly make out. But it almost sounds like a disappointing conversation.
"What was that?" Sora asks.
"Shh." I shush at Sora as I put an ear on a door to listen.
"But...I can't. He's coming here tonight. I promised to meet him!" Aurora says.
As I listen, a black crow flies from the house. Sora and Riku notices it, but they do not worry about it, though just the sight of it gives them a bad feeling. For Riku, he wonders if he's seen it before. It looks quite familiar.
"I'm sorry, dear. But you must never see that young man again." Flora says.
Even though she said it with kindness and gentle, it still sounds cold. "Oh no...No!" Aurora is certainly not taking it well. "I can't believe it! No!" Now I hear crying. Getting stronger. For a second, I thought it's because of yelling, then I start hearing moving as the crying gets stronger, and then I move just as the door bursts open and Aurora runs out crying.
Something tells me whatever happened didn't go so well. Just then, three humans come out, who look very familiar. "And I thought she would be happy." Merryweather says.
"Excuse me?" The maidens are all startled when my friends and I appear out of hiding. "What may I ask is going on?"
The three maidens are astonished. "Oh goodness. Look sisters: It's Sora, Riku and Patrick." The three of us are confused. We wonder how it is they know us, then we received our answer before we even ask. The three maidens transforms into fairies. Flora. Fauna and Merryweather.
"Oh, it's you guys." I'm familiar with the three fairies. They have helped me through intense training with magic while I was studying under Yen Sid.
"Oh please, do tell what it is you are doing here." Fauna says.
We explain to the fairies about what's going on, how Yen Sid have assigned us to travel around worlds to cleanse them from the Nightmare. At first, the fairies didn't believe it, but they know it must be true if it's Yen Sid who detected the dark situation.
"Oh heavens, how dreadful that something like that could happen." Flora says.
"Sounds like Maleficent might be behind this." Merryweather says.
We're all shocked by the name, mainly Sora and Riku. "Maleficent!?" We all say.
The fairies now explain their part of the story, where Aurora was cursed by Maleficent, and the fairies raised Aurora in believe it was a way to avoid the evil prophecy. "We just told Aurora about her true identity. But she has fallen in love with some stranger."
"And then you told her she can't be with him no more and she didn't take it very well." I guessed.
"I'm afraid so. But now we have to take Aurora to her father, King Stefan, at the kingdom." Merryweather says.
"But we need to find a way to escort her to the palace without Maleficent noticing." Fauna says.
"And that's going to be difficult. She has eyes everywhere." Flora says.
I think for a moment. What they see is true indeed. Maleficent sees all. If we try to take Aurora to the kingdom, she'll know. Eyes...everywhere...but what about in the shadows? "I've got an idea."
We make our way to the palace. But we do not go through the forest, or anywhere on the surface. We are underground, in the hidden tunnels. For good measurements, Aurora has her face hidden in a shrouded cloak. I take the lead, a Keyblade out and ready for battle. I'm not expecting any Dream Eaters down here, but Maleficent is very dangerous. If she appears, we must be ready to fight.
Sora and Riku have taken the rear, and the three fairies are pushing Aqua. Funny this is Merryweather quite enjoys Aqua cause of her taste in the color blue, and Flora and Fauna argue, sometimes tell Aqua to try out red and green. I'll be honest, it gets very annoying seeing them fight over something as stupid as color.
"Would you three shut up?! Are you trying to make Maleficent find us?!" I shout in a whisper. And just like that, they shut up. "Thank you!"
Honestly, I don't get why I wanted them to come along. They're little colorful disagreement is just gonna get us all into trouble. Speaking of trouble, once we enter a wide open tunnel, Dream Eaters appear.
"Oh dear!" Flora says in shock.
"Dream Eaters!" I shout as I charge and attack.
I'm the only one here who is doing the fight. Sora and Riku stay behind to protect the princess and Aqua. I'm still D-linked with Noctis, so this fight is going to be pretty easy. Dream Eaters fall, two or three each second, by my fury. More Dream Eaters appear, almost endlessly.
By the final wave, which is a group of five Drak Quake, three Eaglider, three Eascarglow and two Hebby Repp, that's when I unleash my true power of Noctis's link.
Prince's Wrath.
Just like Noctis, I unleash a powerful display of telekinesis, all weaponry forms of my Keyblades and copies of them. All at one, each of them attacks vicious like they're at their own will and mind. For the final blow, all the weapons forcus on one target and stab, slash, thrust and shoot, all at once, then I summon my main Keyblade and do an instant Zantetsuken.
All of the Dream Eaters are defeated.
Even after the battle, the fairies cannot relax. "You don't think they were Maleficent's...do you?"
"If they were, we would have known." I say. It's true. Maleficent would have made a call out or perhaps appeared before us. "We better get moving."
As we are escorting Aurora to the castle, Maleficent sits upon her very throne at her lair in the Forbidden Mountain. The black raven flies towards the highest point of the dark castle ruins. It lands right on Maleficent's shoulder, and the evil fairy smiles in delight.
"Welcome home, Diablo...What have you found out?" Diablo calls out his response. Maleficent understands the birds language and her smile widens. "A maid living in the cottage in the forest? With golden hair and rose lips? ...My, my. It seems Flora is more clever in hiding the princess then I thought...It's a shame it did not last long."
Maleficent laughs. She grabs her staff and stands up. "I believe it's time we pay a visit. After all...Aurora is an old friend of ours."
And by 'old friend', she means it in a cruel way.
Meanwhile, at the kingdom, it's completely empty. Even the guards aren't at their posts. In the courtyard, the sewer cover slightly raises as I stick my head out to take a peek. There's nobody around. No guards or anyone or anything that works with Maleficent.
"Coast is clear." I say.
I fully remove the cover and climb right up, then I pull Aurora out. Then Riku, then Aqua by the hands and then the Wheelchair when Sora pulls it out. Once Aqua is in place on the chair, I pull Sora out, and the three fairies just flies out.
It is dusk, the set is nearly set and Aurora is close to escaping her cursed fate. But that still doesn't cheer her up.
Still keeping Aurora's face hidden, we escort her through the castle. We take Aurora to a room, which is set to be her chambers. Can't believe we made it this far and Aurora is still unharmed. But it's not over yet, the sun has yet to set.
"This one last gift for dear child thee." Flora says as she and her sisters use their magic to make a tiara. "The symbol of thee royalty." Flora takes the crown and put it on Aurora's head, who is still watching her own reflection and sorrow. "A crown to wear in grace and beauty. This is thee right to royal duty." What is this? Shakespeare? If my people lived, I bet my crowning wouldn't be anything like this.
Still, Aurora just lays her head and cries. Most girls would enjoy being princesses, but seeing her being so upset about it is so...unusual.
"Let's give her a few moments to take it in." Flora suggests. The fairies, Sora and Riku leave. But I stay behind, watching Aurora. What Flora suggests is something Aurora might need at the moment. However, with Maleficent targeting the princess here, leaving her alone is not the best idea.
"Keep an eye on her." I whisper to Aqua, she nods as I leave the chambers. So the six of us talk about the situation Aurora's in. She's suppose to marry prince but she's in love with some simple boy. It's a hard problem to fix. Aurora is deeply in love with him. Which seems kind of overthinking given she has just met the man.
Aqua keeps an eye on Aurora, but she is illy prepared for what's about to happen, as the fire in the fireplace douses and the smoke takes form as a glowing green orb.
Maleficent comes.