Chapter 30

Battle in the Green Land

With the two of them working together, the Heartless didn't stand a chance. Once, Madoka had watched Olympic fencing, however skilled those fencers were, they were nothing compared to Fandral. His strikes were fast as lightning. He was like a fencer on steroids, dodging, parrying, thrusting and countering.

The strikes of the Armored Knights were simple for him to block, and he easily slid his attacks in between their guards, landing critical blows. With him fighting at Madoka's side, the fight was over before the Heartless could land a single hit.

"Thank goodness." Madoka said. She didn't see any villagers left, so she figured they must have all gotten away.

"Yes, a valiant victory!" Fandral cheered, raising his sword.

"Um..."

"Oh, forgive my manners. I believe proper introductions are in order." He bowed dramatically. "Fandral the Dashing, of Asgard!"

"Um… I'm Madoka Kaname." Madoka awkwardly bowed back.

"Well met, Madoka! Though I must ask what such a fair maiden like yourself is doing on this field of battle. You do not appear to be Vanir."

"Um..." Madoka didn't know what a "Vanir" was. "I don't really know where I am. There was a crash and I got separated from my friends. Have you seen them? Sayaka Miki. She has blue hair and eyes. Same age as me. Kyoko Sakura. She has red hair and eyes. Mami Tomoe, she's blonde, and Nagisa Momoe, she has white hair."

"I'm afraid I have not encountered any such figures."

"Oh..."

"But I can tell you that you are in Vanaheim."

"Um… where's that?" Madoka asked.

"Well it's-"

There was a sudden blue flash, and an explosion next to them. Both of them immediately drew their weapons and turned to where it had come from. At first they saw nothing, but then they saw silhouettes emerging from the woods on the other side of the village. Intimidating figures in mismatched, piecemeal armors, charging in on horseback. There were many. Too many to count.

Madoka dropped into a fighting stance, but Fandral instead spoke up. "All the civilians have been evacuated, correct?"

"Um… yes." Madoka answered.

"Then I believe that discretion is the better part of valor. We'll have to finish this discussion at another time. Firehooves! To me!" Fandral whistled, and his white horse whinnied and dashed over to him, with him leaping on top of it. He held out his hand to Madoka. "Get on! There's no reason to stick around here to face these Marauders. We'll meet up with the main force!"

Madoka nodded, and leapt onto the back of the horse, ducking slightly as another cannon blast came streaking towards them.

"Hyah!" Fandral grabbed the reins of his horse and the beast ran. When Madoka turned, she saw the Marauders in hot pursuit.

"Hmm... it appears they're gaining on us." Fandral said.

"I can help with that!" Madoka turned around and transformed Crystal Clarity into its bow form She then pulled on the string and chanted the magic spell "Quake!"

An arrow made of stone formed, which she fired at the ground. Massive blocks of stone erupted from the ground, tripping some of the horses, while others slammed headlong into them. Those who were further behind had more time to react. They spurred their mounts, and they leaped over the rocks.

However, Madoka was ready.

"Aero!" She fired another arrow, this one comprised of violently compressed air. As the horses leaped into the air, the arrow exploded in front of them, blasting both them and their riders away. She then began firing pink arrows at them forcing the Marauders to start falling back.

"Now that's impressive." Fandral said.

Madoka breathed a sigh of relief. Unfortunately, that relief didn't last long. Soon enough Madoka heard the sounds of fighting. More Marauders were attacking villagers, aided by Heartless. Fortunately, this time it appeared that the civilians had defenders. There was an Asian looking man wielding a morningstar fighting against the raiders, aided by several other warriors.

Madoka immediately leapt off the horse, bringing Crystal Clarity's Keyblade form down on a Shadow, then turning and shooting several fireballs towards others. Fandral remained on his horse, charging through the Marauders striking with his rapier.

"Hogun, good to see you! What's the situation?" Fandral said.

"More monsters incoming!" He shouted as he struck down a Marauder.

True to his words, Heartless were swooping down from above, these dragonic in appearance. Tagging along with them were other airborne heartless, creatures clad in bandanas and sporting orange wings.

At the same time, more Marauders were approaching as well. The grinning, leering bandits surrounded the village like wolves surrounding a wounded stag.

One of the Wyverns suddenly dive bombed towards Madoka. She jumped over it and struck it's back with her Keyblade. The strike scored a wound, but it wasn't going to go down in one blow. It swooped back up into the sky, while the Air Vikings closed in, striking at Madoka with punches and kicks. She deflected the blows, keeping up with the rapid pace of the attacks.

She backflipped away, and then hurled Crystal Clarity, cutting through two of the Vikings, then clenching her fist. She shouted "Fire!" and hurled a fireball at the others as they moved out of the way of the Keyblade, destroying them. She then resummoned her Keyblade to her hand, and dodged again as the Wyvern she had previously wounded came in for another attack.

Madoka rolled to the side and then pointed her Keyblade at the Heartless. "Blizzard!"

A wave of freezing cold emerged from the tip of her blade, causing the wings of the Heartless to ice over. It plummeted from the sky and came crashing down near Hogun, who brought his morningstar down on it's head, destroying it.

As Madoka was about to leap towards the other Wyvern, she saw a flash of movement in the corner of her eye. Too late, she turned to block, instead getting smacked by one of the Marauders clubs and sent flying into the trunk of a tree.

The Marauder was quickly downed by Fandral, who attempted to move to Madoka's aid, only to be attacked by several more.

Madoka leapt to her feet, ignoring the pain and then dodged as the other two Wyverns came streaking towards her. She held out her Keyblade and shouted "Aero!"

A burst of wind caught beneath their wings, blowing them off track and sending them careening to crash into trees. Madoka channeled Flowmotion, streaking towards first one, and then the other as it attempted to rise.

As she finished them off, she turned to see that the Marauders had been dealt with as well. The civilians had fled safely away.

"So what now?" Fandral asked.

"Stand and fight!" Hogun cried.

They looked forward and saw more Marauders and Heartless approaching. Even worse, something in the distance was causing the forest to shake. Trees were being knocked over one by one, drawing ever closer.

"Have you considered turn and run?" Fandral offered.

Hogun looked to the others. "Fall back! Fall back! To the main village!"

The warriors nodded and heeded his commands. Madoka leaped back on Firehooves and the group took off.

Upon arriving at the main village, Madoka felt the scope of the fighting sink in. She had landed in the middle of a war zone. Civilians screamed and fled as Marauders and Heartless rampaged through the village, though here they were opposed by warriors in golden armor, fighting off the enemy or helping the villagers escape. This was something she had only seen in movies.

"This will be the final fight! Let's finish this!" Hogun said, charging forwards.

"Hyah!" Fandral spurred his horse, dashing into combat.

Activating Flowmotion, Madoka leaped off the horse into the battle, streaking towards a group of enemies. She came down next to an armored an armored man with red hair and a long beard wielding an axe. He was surrounded by Neoshadows and a trio of Marauders. Using Eternal Struggle as a bat, Madoka slammed her weapon into the Heartless, sending them flying away and giving the man some breathing room.

"Good one!" He said enthusiastically as he brought his axe down on one of the recovering Heartless.

Suddenly, one of the Marauders charged towards Madoka. She blocked the blow, again knocked slightly back from the force of the attack. She managed to maintain her balance, and then dashed forwards, only for a second Marauder to strike at her, cutting into her side.

Madoka tumbled to the ground, and narrowly avoided a downward thrust from the third, rolling away. Just then, she heard the sound of hoofbeats, and saw a black haired woman in armor come riding towards her. The woman leapt from her horse and, with a flying kick and a battle cry, caused one of the Heartless to disintegrate., She then engaged with two of the Marauders, smacking one with her shield before finishing him with the sword. She then kicked the other in the face, sending him sprawling to the ground, unconscious.

With the heat taken off of her, Madoka backed away from the other Marauder. With enough distance, Madoka cast Cure closing her wound. She then leapt back into the fight, surprising the enemy, getting past his guard to hit him head on with a series of strikes with the Keyblade. He stumbled back before managing to strike again. Madoka was again lifted off her feet. This time however, she flipped in mid air, and then slammed Crystal Clarity into the ground as she landed, at the same time shouting "Quake!"

A pillar of stone erupted from the ground beneath the Marauder, catapulting him into the air, where he landed in a pile of rubble, out of commission.

The battle wasn't over however. More Heartless approached them. Armored Knights and Large Bodies. The warrior woman didn't hesitate, charging forwards to engage with the enemy. Madoka followed her, cutting through the Knights alongside her.

When one of the Large Bodies charged, Madoka leapt away while the warrior woman stood her ground, holding against the attack with her shield, causing the creature to stumble back. She then moved to stab its belly, only to recoil in shock when her blade simply bounced off of it.

"What?"

"They absorb attacks from the front, hit them from behind!" Madoka used a nearby broken pillar to spring off of, dashing across the field, to hit the side of a hut. She bounced off of that surface and came streaking back towards the Large Body, spinning like a drill and destroying the creature.

"Brilliant!" The woman said. She rolled to the side as another Large Body charged and then impaled it from behind as it passed. The two of them then charged towards a third as it skidded along the ground towards them. The woman stood her ground and blocked the dash with her shield, sending it sprawling backwards, while Madoka shot a fireball from the air, destroying it.

As she landed, the woman raised her sword in salute.

"It's nice to see another warrior lady. Rare these days. My name is Sif."

"Um… I'm Madoka Kaname. But I'm not a-"

Madoka was cut off by an explosion near her, spraying a large amount of dirt into the air. When the air cleared she saw more Marauders approaching, with more of those cannons, firing wildly. Buildings exploded, soldiers were sent flying, and Madoka was blasted off her feet to land on the ground, groaning in pain. She sat up, only to see one of the Marauders approaching, cannon at the ready.

She threw up her arms in a desperate attempt to defend herself, only to find that the shot never came. When she opened her eyes, she saw that a where the Marauder had been standing was now a pillar of light flashing in all the colors of the rainbow.

All of a sudden, a hammer came flying out of it, streaking through the battlefield to strike a Marauder head on, before suddenly freezing in the air, and flying backwards. The pillar of light dissipated, and the hammer flew into the hand of a tall, blonde man clad in armor with a flowing red cape.

Almost immediately, a squad of Marauders charged towards him. Madoka was about to shout a warning, but the man seemed unperturbed. Instead, he charged forwards with a yell, lifting his hammer into the air. A bolt of lightning streaked down from the sky as he slammed the hammer into the ground. A pulse of electricity went off, taking down both Marauder and Heartless alike.

The man then turned to Sif and Madoka.

"I've got this completely under control!" Sif said, sounding annoyed.

"Really?" The man smirked. "Is that why everything's on fire?"

He was promptly tackled by two more Marauders, though even then he didn't seem at all bothered. Madoka took the opportunity to leap to her feet and transform Crystal Clarity into its bow form, keeping her distance as she opened fire on the enemy.

She noted that the newcomer's mere presence seemed to embolden his allies, who were now fighting more with more confidence and fierceness. For his part, the man was like a force of nature. Despite how small the hammer seemed, it was clearly a dangerous weapon. He could shoot bolts of lighting from it, or even use it to fly, spinning it like a helicopter or throwing it and holding on. Nobody could stand up to him, Marauder or Heartless.

Eventually, a massive roar sounded over the battlefield. All the combatants stopped fighting, even the Heartless turning to the direction it had come from. There was the sound of pounding footsteps. So heavy that the ground shook. Eventually, their source stepped out of the smoke. A towering creature seemingly made entirely of stone strode forth. The Marauders began cheering and chanting as one of the golden armored warriors attempted to strike at him, only to be casually swatted aside.

Madoka was about to step forward, only for Sif to hold up a hand. She then turned to the newcomer.

"All yours."

The blonde man shrugged and casually walked towards what clearly had to be the boss of the Marauders. The Marauders stared in anticipation but did not make a move. The blonde man walked until he was right in front of the creature, who was easily three heads taller than him. The stone creature slammed its spiked mace into the ground, causing the entire battlefield to tremor.

The blonde man simply smiled. "Hello."

The stone creature leaned forwards and roared in his face. To Madoka, the sound was deafening, but it seemed to not affect the blonde-haired man at all.

The man instead nodded and responded with: "I accept your surrender."

The other Marauders burst out laughing. The blonde man smiled as well, before gripping his hammer by the strap and then spinning it around until it was a blur. He then swung it at the stone creature, and before anyone knew what was happening, the stone man had been reduced to a pile of rocks. The Marauders went silent, eyes wide in shock. The blonde man looked around.

"Anyone else?" He calmly asked the crowd of Marauders.

There was a moment of silence, and then one by one, they dropped their weapons and knelt in surrender. The Heartless vanished into dark corridors.

"I think next time we should start with the big one!" Fandral said dryly.

Meanwhile, Madoka could only stare in awe.

The cleanup after the battle was surprisingly orderly. None of the Marauders resisted as the golden armored warriors chained them up and escorted them away. The villagers quickly began work on repairing their home, putting out fires, clearing away rubble, reconstructing buildings, and, more morbidly, burying corpses.

Madoka had initially been using Cure to heal the wounded, but once they were taken care of, she found she couldn't continue with anything else. Despite how much she wanted to help with this, she found herself overcome with fatigue, and had to sit down on a collapsed pillar and rest, dismissing her costume and Keyblade.

As she watched the people around her work she felt a vibration in her pocket, and drew out her phone.

Unsurprised, she saw Ramuh appear on the screen. There was a brief crackle, and now a hologram of Ramuh appeared above the screen.

"That's new!" Madoka said.

"Just figured it out. Much more convenient to talk like this. How are you doing? What happened?"

"Well… all the people that were being attacked are now safe." Madoka said, launching into an explanation. It felt good, very good, just seeing that those people were safe, and could go back to their lives. What happened in Mitakihara hadn't happened here, thanks to both her efforts and these amazing heroes she had fought alongside. Their bravery, and confidence in the face of danger was stunning. Especially that guy with the hammer, not even flinching when the stone monster challenged him. Fandral was also amazing. Being witty and charming, even in the face of sheer danger. But Sif was also so cool as well. So calm, and collected. Easily adapting to what had to be strange new enemies for her.

These people were heroes. Facing danger to protect others. It was incredible.

"A job well done." Ramuh said as Madoka finished her explanation. "Any information on where we are?"

"One of the guys I met called this place Vanaheim."

Ramuh stroked his beard, thinking. "Vanaheim... Vanaheim! I knew this place felt familiar! The Nine Realms!"

"The Nine Realms?"

"The kingdom of Odin, Esper of Wisdom and Glory!"

"Wait… Odin?!" The names were starting to make sense. "Like, from Norse Mythology? That Odin?"

"Is that how your World knows him?" Ramuh asked.

"I guess..." Madoka in truth knew fairly little about her own nations myths, let alone those of other cultures. She only knew the big names, like Odin, Loki, and… "Thor!"

She turned back to the blonde man in the cape. Yeah, with the hammer and the lightning bolts, there was no mistaking that that was Thor. He was currently talking with Hogun. The two of them smiled and clasped hands.

"Hmm…" Ramuh said. "Well, might as well get this over with."

"What do you mean?" Madoka asked. Ramuh said nothing however, simply looking at Thor. She shrugged, and walked over to the thunder god, who turned, and smiled.

"Ramuh, you're still around and kicking?" Thor said.

"Are you surprised?"

"Considering your senior status I would have thought you'd have up and retired by now."

"Senior status?! I'll have you know that I'm a master of storms you upstart. Might as well call you Thor, god of gentle breezes."

"Perhaps, or perhaps you would have changed your mind had you only seen the battle I just fought," Thor boasted. The younger thunder god grinning, he gestured around him. "At a mere demonstration, the Marauders laid down their arms and submitted to justice."

"Ah, am I supposed to be impressed by the bellows of a mere boy of 1500 years? Well done, you've scared a few brigands the way the thunder and lightning scares a child. I on the other hand, have brought low dark empires, I have felled entire armies of wickedness. I remained steadfast as fiery Ifrit waged the Astral War and fearlessly stood fast against the Star-"

Sif cleared her throat loudly and when Madoka turned to her, she was rolling her eyes.

Both Ramuh and Thor looked sheepish. "Ah, forgive my manners. It is good to see you again, Lady Sif."

"And you too, Lord Ramuh. Am I to take it that Madoka here is your summoner?"

"Something like that." Ramuh said. "Our arrival in the Nine Realms wasn't exactly by choice, however, though now that we're here, it's important that we speak with Odin."

"How good then, we were about to retire back to Asgard ourselves." Sif said.

Thor looked up into the air and spoke. "Heimdall, when you're ready."

Before Madoka could question what they were talking about, her vision was suddenly filled with multicolored light.

Y'know no matter how many times I watch that scene, I can't for the life of me figure out what the Marauders are chanting.

As always, thanks to The Name Of Love for beta-reading and idea sounding!

~Dragonexx