I'm not pleased with this chapter, but whatever…

It was one of those chapters where I thought I had a good idea, but when I started writing it turned out to be not as good as I hoped, but since I already wrote part one, I was kinda stuck.

Well, enjoy.

Kingdom Hearts © to Disney and Square Enix!

Luna © to Nintendoman01!

Other OCs © to me!

Chapter 13: Atlantica- Devil Fish

"Well, at least we found the missing kids." Xally huffed.

She and Melody sat in a cell. Their legs still fins, so the two girls could hardly move across the floor. Next to them, Justin lay in the cell, hands bound behind him. "Yeah, we found them, but your brother is still out and we can't really go anywhere."

"You should give up now." Rodia huffed. She waved her fingers, allowing water to swirl around them.

Melody and Xally both glared at the girl. "So, where'd you find Mr. tall, dark, and spooky?"

"A volcano.(1)"

"My dear, Rodia," Manta smirked, "are you giving away information to our guests?"

"I am doing whatever I want. The two Keybearers belong to me, and you can have the little princess."

"What do you want with me?" Melody glared at the dark creature. "And why are you taking these kids?"

The manta looked over at her, unable to go over and intimidate her due to his lack of legs, "I want Atlantica. Long ago, my people ruled there, but we were cast out and I was imprisoned! You are the granddaughter of Triton; he will give me Atlantica, and with Jordhav(2) blaming the Atlanticans for the missing children, I can take over the surface as well and neither kingdom will interfere. If they try, my beautiful Kelpies will take care of them."

As he spoke, Xally saw a head of blond hair sticking up out of the water, watching and listening. Alex! The young merman locked eyes with the young Keybearer before diving under the water.

Alex swam as fast as he could away from the cave. The girls wanted him to go get Terra, but he had a feeling in his gut, so he followed them. Good thing too.

His tail propelled him towards Atlantica. His eyes looking for Ariel, King Triton, and/or Master Terra. He soon saw the red-haired mermaid. "Lady Ariel!" He stopped, exhausted. "Melody… and Xally. They're in trouble. They got caught by a manta who wants to take over Atlantica and the surface! He has all the kids too!"

"What!?" Terra swam over with Luna at his side. "Show us where!"

"Follow me." The three swam down into the depths.

Vanette looked up at the tall castle. "Wow!" Vanitas smirked as he picked up the parcel of vegetables he just bought. "Papa, do you know who lives there?"

"Yes, King Phillip and Queen Aurora. Aurora is one of the Princesses of Heart. That's why Braig liked to come here."

"Why?"

The man looked up at the castle. "Causing trouble was his favorite pastime, and he loved to screw with good people, Princesses of Heart especially." The two continued walking. "I know he set fires here for fun and stole things from the royal family. I think he also helped Maleficent, who also lives here. Thing is, Braig is a man of habit. He probably still comes here."

"Make way! Make way for the king!"

Heralds began moving through the streets, people parted to make way for a party on horseback. King Phillip with his wife and children beside him.

In a tree nearby, a single eye watched Vanitas and the procession. "Let's have some fun, shall we?"

Vanitas looked down as the family passed. Suddenly someone screamed. Vanitas looked up to see Aurora fall back, a purple arrow sticking out of her chest.

Without thinking, Vanitas lunged forward and caught the queen as she fell. "VANETTE! Heal her!"

"Attack the surface first?" Manta huffed. "Why?"

"Simple, divide them an conquer. They will not be able to help each other. However, the surface can rally quicker since Atlantica could send messengers to the surface much faster to the surface." Rodia smirked. "You can take over Atlantica any day, but wipe out the surface first and no one can stop you."

Manta strokes his chin. "Perhaps you are right. But the kelpies can only do so much." He closed his eyes. "Ah, I know. An ancient creature… perhaps a Heartless of it would do nicely."

"You will have to show me."

Manta leapt into the water with Rodia leaping after him. The water horses, manes tossing like sea waves, stood along the shore as bodyguards.

"My dad is in trouble," Melody gasped. "We have to get out of here!"

"We will."

Justin soon awoke, his head throbbing from nearly drowning. "Ugh, where am I?"

"In a deep cave." He looked over and saw Xally, Melody, and the missing children. "This guy calling himself Manta, and Rodia are behind this."

"This sucks." The boy pulled at his bindings.

Suddenly, one of the kelpies exploded into steam. Then another, and another. So quickly that the other ones had little time to react before they too vanished into white puffs of air. "Made it in time." Terra leapt up onto the shore, casting the spell to turn him back to human as he did so. Once on land, he began to open up the cells. "You kids alright?"

"Just fine, Dad." His adopted daughter giggled as he pushed her across the ground and into the water. "But we do need to hurry, Rodia and this Manta guy are going to attack the surface."

Terra glanced over at his daughter. "Go, you take Melody and Alex and get back to your mother. Ariel, Luna, and I can get these kids home."

"Alex?"

"Yeah," the boy popped up out of the water, "I brought them here."

Melody grinned, throwing her arms around him. "Alex! You are amazing!"

"You two can kiss later," Xally smirked, "we've gotta move!" The three dove under the water and took off for Atlantica.

Terra untied Justin, smiling. "Now, I know you don't like the merman spell but…"

"...but it's our only way out. Crap."

Ariel sat on the shore, comforting the children of her kingdom. "Terra, we need to get them home. Are you ready?"

"Yes." The Keyblade Master held out his Keyblade. "Get ready, kids." Light filled the room as the children felt their legs merge together. Their way home.

Vanitas squirmed uncomfortably as he stood in the castle across from Aurora and Phillip's two children, Paul and Rosetta. His own daughter stood by the two children, chatting away as if she'd known them forever.

After Vanette healed Aurora they were all rushed to the castle. Vanitas protested, but got nowhere, especially with those three fairies who recognized him and were very curious about why he would help Aurora.

The door nearby opened and Phillip came outside with Fauna. The king smiled at his two children. "Your mother is going to be just fine, thanks to our two guests."

"That's wonderful, Father!" Rosetta gushed her brown curls bouncing around her face.

"Indeed!" Paul laughed. "I was worried there for a little while."

Phillip turned his attention to Vanitas, who averted his eyes. "The fairies have told me who you are, Vanitas. I owe you my thanks, you and your little one."

"You're welcome!" Vanette piped up happily.

Vanitas let out a long sigh. "You're welcome." He jumped as Fauna came closer to him, looking into his eyes. "Uh, what?"

"You are far different than how Master Yen Sid described you, in personality I mean."

"Well, that was over twenty years ago." The man huffed. "I've changed since then. And, look, I don't mean to sound rude, but Braig is out there. He shot your wife and there's no telling what he might do next. We need to go look for him."

The king nodded. "Please. And again, thank you."

Xally popped up by the castle dock, Melody and Alex right behind her. "MOM!" A few moments later, Aqua came running down towards them. "There you are!"

"I was waiting to see if any of you would return." She waved her hand; Melody and Xally both turned back into their normal, human selves. "What's happening?"

"There's this guy, called Manta. He's working with Rodia to take over the surface and Atlantica. That's why he had the kids taken, to divide the two kingdoms so that they would be easier to conquer."

Aqua's eyes widened. "Melody, go tell your father." The girl ran off. "Xal, is Justin…?"

"He's fine."

"Good." The master's eyes glanced over at the young merman, "Could you please get King Triton and tell him what's happening?"

The boy nodded. "Yes, ma'am!" Diving underwater, he left.

"We better get ready for a fight."

The morning brought the people of Jordhav to the docks. Terra and Ariel brought the children back to the surface. Aqua turned them all back human, reuniting the families, much to the joy of everyone.

Once the families went home, Glacies, Justin, and Xally stood on the shore of the sea. Aqua and Terra stood back on the castle walls with Luna and Ryô. Alex had not returned from Atlantica, so the surface prepared for an attack.

The city fell quiet. Across the ocean, a figure came towards them, standing atop the water, or atop something in the water. Rodia. She smirked at them as they drew near to the shore.

"And you're all here." She laughed. "Good."

"Why do this, Rodia!? What's the purpose?"

The girl looked down at the water, tracing lines of foam in the water with her eyes. "I believe Xext talked about the possibilities, so I don't have to talk about it. All you need to know is that this kingdom needs to fall, and I will bring it to its knees."

"What about your manta friend?"

"That fool?" She laughed. "He had such ambition. But he serves me far better in his current form."

"Current form?"

The girl leaped off whatever she stood on, moving her hands upwards. A jet of water came up and froze, creating a platform to stand on. "Yes, meet the Devil Fish(3)." Out of the water leapt what seemed to be Manta, but now two prongs jutted out from his shoulders, where his fins seemed to create a cape. His eyes glowed as a Heartless symbol appeared on his chest.

The Heartless roared and charged the shoreline.

"Papa," Vanette clutched her staff as they walked through the forest, "why did Braig shoot Queen Aurora?"

"Probably because I'm here. He liked to mess with the Princesses of Heart and make their lives difficult." Vanitas looked down at her. His heart sinking as he looked at her. The little girl clutched at her staff, keeping her eyes on the ground. She looked stiff and scared. Akame appeared on Vanette's shoulder, nuzzling her as Vanitas put his arm around her and pulled her into a hug. "Are you scared?"

She stopped and nodded. "Papa, will Braig hurt me?"

"I won't let him."

"Oh, really?" The two jumped as Braig dropped down from a tree. "Like my game?"

"You mean the attempted murder of Aurora?"

The man's one eye glinted as he looked down at Vanette. "Yeah. Now, who is this little lady."

Unversed suddenly appeared, poised to attack. "Leave my daughter out of this!"

"You brought her here. Now pay the price."

Manta, or rather the Devil Fish Heartless, flew over the shore and slammed into the castle wall. Glacies ran towards it, Keyblade appearing suddenly. "Use fire! He's a fish. If we dry him out, he'll go down!"

"On it!"

Justin and Xally leapt forward as Rodia moved her hands in a fluid motion(4), sending water towards the two kids. Justin spun his Keyblades as Xally launched her over him, using the Force to fling her Keyblade at the girl. A moment later, she cast Aero, blasting back the water the girl was attempting to launch at them.

Justin and Xally both began casting wind spells, blowing their enemy back. Rodia snarled as she tried to control the water around her, but each spell interrupted each movement until she found herself shoved back into the deep water.

"Take this!" Justin drove his blades into the ground, sending jutting rocks upwards, trapping the pink-haired girl in the rock.

Ryô and Luna ran back to the castle, protecting the building from flying rubble. Ryô put up shields of rock as Luna leapt up, slicing rocks in half.

Terra and Aqua blocked the Heartless' tail as it swung towards the castle. Aqua and Glacies surrounded it with fire spells. Each moment that passed and each spell cast, sent the Heartless convulsing in pain as the flames singed its moist, aquatic skin.

The girls parted, allowing Terra to run in, sakura petals suddenly surrounding him as he darted past, slashing at the Devil Fish(5). A moment later, the Heartless split in half, darkness oozing from the cut, as it dissipated into darkness.

Rodia, in the water, snarled as the Keybearers approached the trapped girl. "Get back!"

"Tell us, what is Braig planning!?"

"Who says Braig is in charge?" A whip of red energy shot out, creating a flash of hot light that drove the Keybearers back. The rock around Rodia crumbled as the whip pulled back; it shot out again, this time a black color, before wrapping around the pink-haired girl. Suddenly, Rodia vanished.

A woman, clad in an interesting outfit, red ruffles on one side with black and white checkered on the other, one red boot and one black boot, and a hat covering her left eye, smirked down at them, her brown braid blowing in the wind.

"Who the heck…?!"

The woman laughed, cracking the whip while it was black, creating a dark portal behind her. "My name is Holly. My husband, Braig, says hello." With that, she leapt into the portal, leaving the ruin of battle behind.

Vanitas stood in front of Vanette, blocking the arrows from their one-eyed assailant. "Papa! Let me help!"

"Just stay back."

Vanette jumped to the side and spit poison on the ground, hoping to catch Braig in the attack. She gasped as the man suddenly appeared in front of her. "Brave kid." He grabbed her hair and warped away, taking the girl with him. "Let's see where that gets you."

"VANETTE!"

The girl struggled as she appeared with Braig back in the cottage where she and her dad spent the night. "Let me go!"

"Just shut up." He threw her against a wall before grabbing the collar of her coat. "Tell me, brat, why are you and your 'papa' looking for me?"

"I'm not telling you!"

The man's one eye glinted savagely. "You're looking for Pith too, aren't you?" Vanette didn't answer. "I knew it... Now, listen here, and listen well. Tell Vanitas that if he doesn't leave this alone, I'll come for you, and he'll never see his little girl again." Summoning his arrowgun, he slammed it against the girl's skull, sending her crumpling to the ground.

Vanette lay there, oblivious to her surroundings until she felt a small head nuzzling her, and then a set of footsteps running towards her. "Nettie! Nettie!" The girl felt strong arms pick her up and pull her close.

"P-papa?"

"I'm here, baby."

Her vision cleared and she saw the face of her father above her, his expression wrought with worry and fear, which slightly melted away at the sight of his daughter blinking and moving. The girl snuggled up against him. "Papa, I'm alright. He just hit me in the head." She tried to sit up, but the world began to spin.

"Oh, no. I'm taking you home." Vanitas stood up, cradling his daughter in his arms.

Braig would pay for this…

Oh, he would pay…

Ugh, this chapter is eh… well, the Vanitas parts are fun, but the rest kinda sucks.

Please review

Footnotes:

(1) Evil Manta was originally trapped in a volcano, and it's the same here.

(2) This is the name of Eric's kingdom. It is actually never named, but it is supposed to be a Danish kingdom despite the Mediterranean look of the castle. Jord means land and hav means sea.

(3) The Devil Fish is a giant manta ray found in the Mediterranean sea, it is specifically the largest, or the giant devil ray, out of all the devil rays.

(4) Rodia is a water bender, and that's how their movements are described.

(5) This is the attack zantetsuken which is used in final fantasy. In bbs, only Terra can use it.

VAs:

Princess Rosetta- Darcy Rose Byrnes (Amber, Ikki, Maricela)

Prince Paul- Zach Callison (James, Steven Universe, Billy Batson, Tarrlock)

Yes, No, Maybe So

We pray, we ask, and we get an answer.

God always answers our prayers, though we may not like the answer or understand it yet.

Many times, when we pray and something doesn't happen, we think that we haven't been heard. But we forget, "no" and "wait" are answers too. Now, we may not like those answers, but they are answers none the less. And if He does say no, remember Romans 8:28, "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose."

Sometimes we expect God to do everything for us too. We ask for things and he could be waiting on us. We ask Him for a job, but we don't apply anywhere. Or sometimes, he leaves a decision up to us.

So, when you pray and nothing happens, remember, God could be saying no or wait, or he could be waiting for you to move.