Disclaimer: I only own the cover art
I apologize for not uploading much for this fanfic as I have been writing another kh crossover fic. Please enjoy this chapter, even if it ends up being kind of short. The next chapter will be the official chapter 7, and it will take place at the next island with a den of evil. (Stay til the end in case you wish to participate in a small poll via comments)
Chapter 6.5: A talk With Uncle Mimic.
Shantae walked off of Risky's ship, heading to her Uncle's Lab, once she made it there she noticed Bolo was sitting in the room, having been trying to help Mimic, however he was pretty much just a bother from the looks of it.
"Ah, Shantae. What brings you here?" Mimic asked, looking up from some plans for a project he'd been hoping to work on.
"I wanted to ask if you knew about a type of monster I had come across lately. Also, I wanted to see if we could talk alone about it." Shantae said, Bolo getting the gist of it easily and he headed out of the lab.
"You guys can talk, I'll just be outside." He said, giving Shantae a thumbs up.
"Could you describe the creatures for me?" Mimic asked, getting out a few notebooks of his, after Bolo was gone.
"Well, they all seem to be the same type of creature.. however there are different species.. if that makes sense. But most of them are either small and completely jet black with golden yellow eyes.. or they have an emblem on their chests or somewhere else." Shantae began, drawing the emblem from memory and showing it to Mimic's eyes.
".. Shantae... are you sure this was the emblem?" Mimic asked, his tone changing drastically as he stared at the drawing.
"Yes, they seem to be defeated easily when I use a weapon I learned I could call upon. Just a few days ago." Shantae answered, summoning her keyblade to show Mimic, his surprise only deepening.
"Heartless... those creatures are called Heartless Shantae. And that weapon you have there, is called a keyblade." Mimic started explaining as he opened up a specific notebook.
"You know about these things?" Shantae asked.
"Well, I'm not an expert, but I happen to be friends with an old retired keyblade Master by the name of Yen Sid, who recently warned me about some worrying movements of the heartless." Mimic answered.
"From what I have learned of heartless, they are creatures of darkness. There are pure blood heartless and then there are emblem heartless. Both types are extremely dangerous and they prey upon the darkness in everyone's heart." Mimic began explaining.
"The emblem heartless were created by a researcher named Xehanort. Who was researching the heart's true nature." The old relic hunter continued, the mention of Xehanort causing her heart to feel heavy, angry even.
"However, all heartless can be destroyed easily and completely by the keyblade, releasing any trapped hearts in the process. The keyblade is an extension of one's heart, as long as it is strong enough to call upon one. And they can be used as a universal skeleton key. They also can be used for magic." Mimic finished.
Shantae sat down, thinking about this all, trying to unpack all the information properly.
"You said you were able to summon this blade a few days ago?" Mimic asked.
"Y-yeah.. the night before I had a strange dream... do you remember my imaginary friend?" Shantae asked after answering.
"You mean that Ventus fellow you always seemed to talk to at night? I always thought you made friends with the wind seeing as Ventus does mean wind in certain languages. What does he have to do with it?" Mimic asked.
"Well, I assume Ventus was in my dream that night, he told me that I wasn't powerless just because I didn't have my genie magic, and that when the time came to call upon his key." Shantae began, Mimic seemingly looking as though he remembered something.
"The day I beat ammo baron and ended up getting those court summons, I summoned my keyblade." She finished rather quickly, Mimic writing a couple things down.
"This Ventus fellow... you said he gave you that small star charm, the same one you found on the beach when you were 6?" Mimic asked.
"Yeah, I recently remembered that I felt warm when I first picked it up and that Ventus wanted me to hold onto it for him." The former half genie answered.
"Hmm.. Maybe Ventus is truly a real person.. hearts can be connected to one another's. Maybe your heart is somehow connected to his and something happened to him 10 years ago.." Mimic sighed before remembering something else.
"Now that I recall it, Yen Sid did tell me that a young keyblade wielder had fallen into a slumber 10 years ago.. his heart separated from his body.. maybe that young man is Ventus and his heart is residing inside yours somehow." He suggested, Shantae thinking about it.
"That would explain why whenever I saw him he looked so tired." Shantae said, remembering one of the first times she saw Ventus. She was upset because she was teased by a few of the other children from scuttle town at the time, they told her that she'd never be a hero.
Ventus showed up next to her, sitting on the beach as he looked up at the sky with her.
"Don't listen to them." Ventus said, offering a kind smile despite looking like he was about to fall asleep.
"But what if it's true. What if I'll never be able to be a hero like my mom was?" She asked Ven, tears in her eyes.
"Talk like that won't get you anywhere." Ven chuckled, patting her on the head gently. "Take me for example, I thought I'd never be good at being a keyblade wielder, I always felt like a failure whenever I lost against a friend of mine during a sparring session."
"But he told me that all the dents and nicks I got on my training blade, was just proof that I was learning." Ventus explained. "Years later, I was able to take on monsters sometimes over three times my size."
"All you have to do is take every scratch or scrape you get as proof that you are learning and getting better." He smiled as he looked out into the star filled sky. "You can be a hero. I'm sure of it." He added, his eyes closing.
"Thanks, Ven." Shantae said, smiling at her seemingly imaginary friend, her heart feeling warm. That was 9 years ago, and she smiled at the memory.
"I hope.. I can somehow help him wake up. Sure, I have current troubles I have to deal with first.. But I hope that I can help him." Shantae said to her uncle, who chuckled softly.
"If his heart truly is connected to yours, then you may have helped him already. But, that doesn't mean waking him up isn't off the table, if it is possible to do so." Mimic said with a smile.
"Anyways, I will say this, don't go biting off more than you can chew! I understand you've been acting as a hero but that doesn't mean I don't worry about you!" He added, ruffling his niece's hair with a laugh.
"I promise, uncle." Shantae laughed, hugging her uncle happily before she was given notes on the heartless that Her uncle took, wanting her to be more caught up with the species of heartless she'd be dealing with.
She headed outside, to greet Bolo who looked like he wanted to help with something.
Chapter end, sorry for it being short, and/or kind of too quick. I just need to get back into the groove of things with this fic.
Anyways, for this poll I mentioned, I wanted to ask.
Should I or should I not write a prequel for this fanfic?
Basically BBS but due to obvious reasons I may have stated before, Vanitas would be a girl and look like an evil version of Shantae, just wearing the normal armor.
