Chapter 12: Keyblade Bodyguards

I pushed a leaf out of my way and finally made it to non-grassy ground, running across the vast landscape, it sure was difficult being really small, how was I supposed to catch up to Cinderella like this?

'This is gonna be more difficult then I thought...' I said in my head...oh! Haha, that rhymed!

It was then that I rounded a corner and saw something I'd never have expected; Terra! Except he was giant! Well, normal sized to everyone else, but giant to me.

"Heeeeeeeeey! Terraaaaaaa!" I yelled up to him, waving my arms around.

He stopped for a second and looked around. "Hm? Did I just hear something?"

Deciding that I wasn't close enough, I stretched my arm up and grabbed onto the piece of Keyblade Armour on his shoulder.

"Woah, watch where your grabbing there, short stuff." Earthshaker joked.

"Ha, ha." I laughed sarcastically as I retracted up and landed on his shoulder. "Terra! Over here!"

He finally noticed me and jumped back in shock despite me being on his arm. "Z!? What happened to you?"

"I don't know! I landed here like this with-" I then stopped. What if Ven got in trouble if I told him he'd run off? I didn't want that..."with...no clue as to why I shrunk."

He looked at me with a puzzled expression for a minute before letting it slide. "That is strange...hey, you didn't happen to see the princess of heart did you?"

"You mean Cinderella?"

"So you have met her?"

"Yeah, where is she?"

"She just left to go to a ball."

"Just missed here..."

"Oh dear me child." I was then aware of a new voice, and I only just noticed a woman wearing blue robes standing near us. "I don't think your supposed to be that height, are you?"

"Oh, no ma'am." I agreed.

"Right, Z, this is Cinderella's Fairy Godmother...I suppose." He added that last part on.

"Here dearie, allow me to get you back to normal size." She said. "Bibbidy Bobbidy Boo!" She flicked a trail of sparkles at me with that stick of hers which hit me, knocking me off Terra's shoulder but also making me grow back to normal size before I hit the ground.

"Ah!" I jumped up and felt myself over to check that I had indeed grown to a normal size. "Thank you so much, ma'am!" I got on my hands and knees to bow.

"Okay, okay." Terra chuckled as he pulled me to my feet.

"Your quite welcome." Fairy Godmother nodded. "Now then, if your looking for Cinderella, I am sure the two of you can still catch up to her at the castle. If you see her dancing, you shall see how strongly she believes in her dreams, and that will help you to belive too."

"The ball?" I thought aloud, patting down my clothes. "Will I be alright like this? You have to be fancy to go, don't you?"

"We're not exactly going there to dance, Z. You look fine." Terra said, as he started walking.

"Your name is Z, is it?" Fairy Godmother asked.

"Yes, ma'am." I nodded.

"It is very nice to meet you." She smiled. "Keep an eye on your friend Terra, won't you? Sometimes, you have to have someone by your side to help you believe, and make your dreams come true."

"Uh-huh, I promise I will." I agreed before chasing after my friend.

We made our way to the castle, taking time to go over our Abilities and do some Command Melding before we arrived at the castle. It was a pristine pure white, and had a magnificent front garden that we walked into.

Unfortunately, it was also filled with Unversed.

"Not here." I groaned as Terra summoned Earthshaker and we leapt forward.

I came across a Bruiser and wrapped my arm around it before sending it spinning off and bisecting it with an axe kick, only to realise I was now surrounded by Red Hot Chili's firing at me. I wrapped my arms around my entire body to defend myself against the onslaught.

"Zero Gravity!" A wave of energy appeared around me and trapped the Unversed, making them float in the air for me to quickly dispatch them with sevreal arm and leg slashes.

Information: V has made a U-Link with Red Hot Chili!

Me and Terra regrouped after taking care of them. "This is bad, we can't let them run amok here!"

"We won't." Terra stated as we ran up the entrance steps, where we saw Cinderella wearing a new dress! Ane being attacked by Unversed! Sorry, its just that was shocking! "Not here, too!" We quickly slashed through them, defeating the group of Floods.

"Oh my..." Cinderella said, before gasping. "I-Is that..."

I turned to her and smiled. "Hey, Cinderella!"

"Z!" She gasped. "I-I thought you looked strange for a mouse, but I'd never thought you'd be a person."

"Yeah, sorry about that." I chuckled.

"Oh Z, I'm terribly sorry, but the lovely dress you three made was..." She looked down sadly.

"Don't worry about it." I said simply. "I'm just happy you managed to come! Your dreams gonna come true, Cinderella!"

"You wait here, me and Z will take care of them." Terra said.

"Oh, please, let me come with you both, I so want to go to the ball." She pleaded.

"Uh..." Terra looked hesitant.

"C'mon Terra, we'll be able to protect her. Besides, she should get there as soon as possible." I reasoned.

"We should be able to do it, if we're careful." Earthshaker backed me up (even though only I could hear him.).

Terra sighed in defeat. "Okay, but stay behind us, or you'll get hurt." Cinderella nodded. "Aren't you worried?"

"Didn't you tell me it was important to stay strong?" She answered, making me smile at Terra's choice of words.

"Oh, um...I guess I did." Terra said with a slight look of embarrassment, making me hold in a giggle. "So...you ready?"

"Yes." She said, allowing me to stretch my arms out and push open the big double doors.

The hallway was large, and accompanied by a red carpet, yet was also at the moment filled with Floods.

"Here we go!" Me, Terra and Earthshaker cried as we did a Sliding Dash forward and slashed through them all, only for a Bruiser and two Scrappers to take their place.

"Stop!" I paused the Bruiser whilst Terra hit the two Scrappers with a horizontal swing, before we switched opponents with me slicing the Scrappers with my stretched arms in a pincer movement as Terra defeated the Bruiser with a Blizzard Edge. Next we came across two Floods and two Red Hot Chili's, the former of which fired small fireballs at Cinderella!

"U-Link! Bruiser Bodyguard!" The Bruiser dashed out of me and blocked the attacks with its stomach. "This should work...protect Cinderella as long as you can!" The Unversed nodded as it walked in front of the princess of heart as a shiled whilst we dispatched the Unversed.

We took out 4 Shoegazers, 2 more Scrappers, 1 more Red Hot Chili and 1 more Bruiser before we reached the next set of doors, but that didn't mean we were done as we found 3 more Bruisers waiting for us.

"U-Link! Shoegazer Stomp!" As my Bruiser returned, I called out my Shoegazer and slippied into its boot with it, jumping around and stomping on the Bruisers whilst also sending out shockwaves before finishing with a spinning kick straight to a Bruiser's face, defeating it as Terra took out the other two.

Hopping along with the Shoegazer we also took out two other Shoegazers and two Scrappers before it retreated as I faced my first enemy as a human; stairs. Big stairs.

'I shall conquer these stairs!' I declared to myself as I ran up them, tripping only once (Yaaaaay!) and defeating more Unversed by slashing with my stretched arms. We finally reached the top and cleared out a group of Floods by stabbing the ground and unleashing a burst of light to finish them off.

We finally made it to the ballroom, with Cinderella thankfully unharmed. "Oh thank you Z and, um...Terra was it?"

"Yes, Terra." He nodded. We both then bowed with an rm behind our backs whilst gesturing with the other, formally sending her off. I watched as a gentleman in fancy clothes approached her, and they began moving together.

"Maybe just believing is enough." Terra stared with a smile.

I continued to watch them as they moved about. "Hey Terra, what are they doing?"

"They're dancing."

"Dancing?" I think I had heard of that somewhere before...

"It's when two, or, even a group of people all move together as one." He explained. "I suppose...just doing it is supposed to make you feel happy."

I thought for a second. "Hey Terra, you wanna dance with me?"

"Uhh..." He looked a bit awkward for a second.

"What's wrong?"

"Well, Z, when only two people are dancing, its a bit more personal, and...special." He said.

"Special?" This was all so confusing. "I don't get it."

"I guess you just have to find the one person you can dance together with." Terra reasoned.

"Only one?" I thought aloud. "That's gonna be hard to find."

Terra laughed as he placed a hand on my shoulder. "I'm sure you'll find them, Z. Your heart could make anyone want to dance with you."

I admit I still didn't get it, but let it slip as I continued watching Cinderella and the fancy guy 'dance'.

That is until Terra nudged me. "Z, look. Unversed!" He pointed up to a balcony where several Floods had gathered.

"More!?" I gasped.

Terra ran over to an important looking figure. "Tell me. How do we get up there?"

The figure cleared his throat. "Well, there is a passage beneath the foyer staircase."

"Thanks." Terra nodded as we both ran off.

We managed to find the door easily and ran through, defeating more Unversed on the way until we finally arrived at the balcony. However, the Floods were gone, only to be replaced by a giant musikian Unversed! (That's the correct term, right?). As soon as it saw us it got out a red sharp baton and created three giant evil musical instruments.

It began playing music that threw off my orientation, and as the music increased I knew it was going to laucnh an attack. Just before the music around us burst, me and Terra jumped off the edge of the balcony and rolled to avoid impact damage. The Unversed, which my journal told me was the Symphony Master, looked confused as to where we had gone.

"Down here!" Terra called whilst wielding Earthshaker, getting the Unversed's attention.

"Guards! Guards! Ooh, where could they possibly be!?" The official groaned.

"We'll take care of this." Terra said.

"All of you quickly get to safety!" I added, the group quickly taking my advice. "C'mon then!"

"Aaaaaaah!" Terra charged in with a heavy axe slash, which the Unversed blocked with its baton, the two struggling from the clash. "Z!"

"I got it!" I called as I also ran forward and jumped towards it with my arm stretched back. "Smash Impa-" Suddenly the Unversed's trumpet blasted me back with a powerful wave of music, sending me sprawling back, just before the Unversed managed to throw Terra off and launch him back at me.

"Strike Raid!" Terra threw Earthshaker spinning at the Symphony Master, only for the violin to intercept the attack and blast Terra with music whilst he was defenceless!

"Hah!" I jumped forward and up. "Flare Edge!" My arm ignited as I swung my leg down, but the drum blocked my attack, and the drumsticks whacked me in the stomach, flooring me before it rammed into Terra!

We both shielded ourselves as the Symphony Master blasted us with music from all its weapons. "Ugh, it's like we're fighting 2 on 4!" Terra commented.

"We can't touch it whilst its instruments are protecting it." I noted. "So let's take those out!"

We both straightened up to full height. "Shotlocks are our best option." Terra said, before takin aim and locking onto all three instruments. "Shotlock: Sonic Shadow!" He disappeared in a burst of darkness before zooming around and slashing the instruments with a trail of darkness behind him, before unleashing a slash of darkness to knock them back.

'That Shotlock uses darkness to a large extent...' I thought worryingly. 'But as long as Terra doesn't use it too frequently it should be okay...I just hope that is the case...'

"U-Link! Chili Charge!" I called forth a Red Hot Chili and held it above my head like a small cannon, launching fireballs at the instruments and blasting them back as Terra pressured the Symphony Master itself with a quick onslaught.

'Now that I think about it...is this okay?' I looked at the Red Hot Chili as it continued to fire. 'The amount of negativity in these Unversed has practically halved, but is it safe to use them?' The small Unversed finished its attack and reatreated into me. 'On top of that...where do they all go?'

My thoughts were interrupted as Terra landed next to me, and we were suddenly caught in the center of a triangle the instruments made as they blasted us with powerful music.

"Gah!"

"Urgh!" We both grunted and fell to one knee from the strong impact.

"Cure!" We both cast the spell and healed ourselves up, but the instruments looked like they were about to do an encore!...Hey, I made a joke!

"Stop!" I cast the spell and immediately the instruments were slowed down dramatically.

"Great job, Z. You take care of these and I'll attack the leader." Terra said as he jumped at the Symphony Master.

I locked onto all three instruments. "Shotlock: Thunderstorm!" I shot multiple bolts of lightning out of my hands, shocking the instruments as Terra used a Blizzard Edge to knock Symphony Master back.

We regrouped and observed as the instruments shakily floated around their master. "They're on their last legs!" I exclaimed.

"It's time to end this." Terra stated. "Command Style: Critical Impact!"

"Command Style: Diamond Dust!" I glowed with a chilling icy aura as our Command Styles activated, Terra having a powerful orange aura.

We both dashed forward as the instruments flew at us; I jumped ahead of Terra and stretched my arm out to give a wide slash that knocked all of them away leaving Terra to begin a brutal onslaught against the Unversed.

I created four chunks of ice to spin around me and knock the instruments away, before I stretched my legs to wrap them around the trumpet and drums before sandwiching them with the violin. With the three now grouped up, I created three spear-like icicles and launched them forward by hitting them with my legs, sending them stabbing into the instruments and making them explode, as Terra used the finisher of his Command Style to launch a diving stab straight through the Symphony Master, making it vanish into nothingness...well, almost.

Information: V has made a U-Link with Symphony Master!

With the area secure, the official approached us. "Thank you. You two saved us all." Although, he sighed. "The guests were just starting to enjoy themselves..."

"Well don't give up just yet." Terra said, making us both look in his direction to see Cinderella and that royal guy together, and they were very happy despite all that had went on. "Tell me something. Have you always had a problem around here with those monsters?" The snaking head of a Flood emerged out of my back for a brief second, offended by the word.

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

"Boy in a mask?" I echoed.

"Do you know where he is now?" Terra asked.

"Well...no, I don't believe anyone has seen him since then." He said.

"I see..." Terra mumbled, shortly before a bell started tolling.

"Ah! A bell! Is something bad happening!?" I panicked.

"Why no, that is the bell sounding midnight." The official explained.

"Wait! Come back! Please come back!" We turned at the royal persons voice to see Cinderella running off.

"I'm sorry!" She called back.

"Huh? Where's she going?" I thought aloud.

"The Fairy Godmother said the spell would wear off at midnight." Terra whispered to me.

We ran to and looked over the grand staircase as Cinderella ran outside, it was a shame really, she was just starting to enjoy herself. And someone was near them...wait...is that...

"Aqua!" Me and Terra called down to her.

She turned her head and noticed us. "Terra! V!"

In my excitement I began running down the stairs waving to her. "Aqua! Aqu-AH!" I tripped on a step and was sent somersaulting down the rest of them, landing at the bottom face first. "Ouchouchouchouch..."

"V! Are you okay!?" She gasped.

"Y-Yeah..." I groaned as I picked myself up, my face flushed red in embarrassment. "It's really you, Aqua! I'm so glad we met up with you again!"

"Me too." She said as Terra quickly joined us. "Terra, Ven ran away from home."

"What?" Oh no...

"I think he left to go find you." She continued. "Do you have any idea why?"

"No..." He then thought for a moment. "Actually...just before I left, he tried to tell me something." He turned to me. "Z, did you know about this?"

"Er..." I seemed to be leaking water. "I...kinda knew Ven ran away, but I didn't know he wanted to tell you something! And I tried to tell you he ran away but...uhhh..." Uh-oh, I was losing my words!

Terra shook his head. "It doesn't matter, it's my fault anyway. I should have listened to what he had to say."

There was a silence, which Aqua broke. "So...did either of you manage to locate Master Xehanort?"

I shook my head. "Uh-uh."

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

"Pure hearts...filled with light..." Aqua pondered the sentence.

Terra continued walking. "All I can tell you is that his search hasn't taken him here."

"Alright." Aqua said. "I'll stay here and see if I can find some more clues."

"Okay, the Prince is in the ballroom ahead, you might find some answers there." Terra said, before stopping for a moment. "Aqua, you still have the same dream?"

"Well...yes." What dream?

"There's a girl here named Cinderella. She made me realise 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." Aqua and me nodded with a smile. "If you see her, give her my thanks."

"Will do." Aqua nodded.

Terra then thought for a second. "Z...you stay with Aqua."

"Huh?" I asked dumbly.

"You know this world now, so you should be able to help Aqua." That's what he said, but I could tell there was another reason...but what? "Aqua, take care of him, okay?"

"Yeah." She nodded.

"I-I don't need taking care of!" I argued, but he was already walking away. "Geez..."

"He'll be all right. He won't give into it." I think Aqua said that to herself more then me. "Right then, you ready V?"

"As always!" I said, though before I could brave the stairs once more, I felt a presence. "Hey uh...you go on ahead Aqua, I'll catch up."

"Oh, uh...okay, sure V." Aqua said before jogging up the stairs, man I'm envious of her.

"Hello? I called into the empty hall. "Are any Unversed here?" Turns out there were, as it jumped out in front of me.

'A Scrapper? All by itself?' I thought. 'This almost seems a bit cruel...but I can't have any more Unversed around her!' I leapt forward with a heavy arm slash.

Suddenly darkness overcame the Scrapper! "What!?" My arm clashed with something, specifically, a tall, double edged red scythe.

"That should have cut your arm off." A voice said. We jumped away from each other, and I looked at what was in front of me.

Replacing the Scrapper was a male human. He was slender, yet fairly muscular, of average height with a melancholic appearance with fairly short, messy purple hair, pale white skin, a black upper lip, and golden eyes with small slit-shaped pupils, similar to a cat's. Part of his bangs fell between his eyes, and he had distinctively thick eyebrows. He had red lines which descended from the lower part of his eyes. His facial expression was set into one of uncaringness, and he wore a grey jacket, black sash, and a grey hakama. However, his jacket had longer coattails than others, and the collar washigher. But the most interesting things were the sharp clawed hands of a Scrapper, and the Unversed logo on the back of his jacket.

I glared at him with steeled nerves. "What are you?"

"Funny. I was about to ask you the same thing." He replied plainly.

And so another chapter is done! Our Scrapper friend here is an OC from Antex-The Legendary Zoroark, so thank you!

I also want to thank everyone who reviewed the last chapter (Hey! Shuin'in Ventus! Your here!) and continuing to support me, this chapter is courtesy of you guys!

Once again, thank you for reading! Next chapter, hopefully we'll finish off the Castle of Dreams Arc! (Yes, I'm calling it an Arc). See you then!