This Chapter is dedicated to Bananahsplit!


Chapter Ten


The smell of wild flowers was in the air and Bella was on her knees in the middle of the meadow. Their meadow. Hers and Edward's. Bella smiled slightly as she thought of him. She could actually think without her heart aching. She wondered if Rosalie's support and constant presence had anything to do with it.

"Bella."

She looked up and gasped. Walking toward her, shirtless in the blazing sun was Edward. He smiled sadly at her as his skin glittered and dazzled her from just a few feet away. He stopped in front of her and then frowned down at her.

"What are you doing, Bella?" Edward asked her, sounding disappointed somehow. "You promised me."

Bella stood and looked at him in confusion. "What are talking about? What did I promise you, Edward?"

Edward shook his head and his penny colored hair was rustled by the wind. He turned and began to walk away from her. Bella called out to him.

"Wait! Where are you going?"

He stopped and then turned back around to look at her with pained eyes. Bella ran to him, she reached out to touch his hand, but he pulled away from her before she could actually do so. She stepped back from him, hurt at his movement.

"Bella," he whispered, his pained eyes once again trained on her face. "You promised me that you wouldn't do anything dangerous…"

She but her lip. "I'm sorry. But I have to do this. I don't know why, but in my heart I know I have to."

"I'm not going to be able to protect you this time, love," he smiled sadly. "I think that will be what I will regret the most. Because where your journey is taking you…"

He sighed regretfully. Edward ran a hand through his bronze hair and looked at her desperately.

"Where you're going Bella.. I can't follow; no matter how much I want to."

Edward turned and he began to walk away from her again. Bella called out to him and again he stopped to look at her. Before she could speak to him again, he lifted his hand and pointed at something behind her.

"She's waiting for you, Bella."

She looked at him confused before she turned to look at where he pointed. Standing in the middle of the meadow was a woman. She was dressed in a traditional lavender and pea green sari. Her hair was loose and long. Tall and willowy, she had to be at least close to five foot nine inches. Chocolate brown eyes were the only feature that Bella could see of the woman's face for it was partially covered by her sari.

Bella turned to Edward to ask who this woman was, but he was gone. She turned back to the woman and then gasped, startled. Instead of being in the middle of the meadow, the woman was now in front of her.

"He's right, that boy of your's," the woman spoke from behind her sari in a familiar voice.

Bella shook her head sadly, once again feeling the pain in her heart. "He's not mine anymore. He didn't want me."

The woman laughed, her voice very familiar now. "Oh, I believe in the future that you will find that to be quite the opposite, Isabella."

"H-how do you know my name?" Bella asked the woman, startled.

"You don't know me?" the woman asked, a smile in her voice. "I suppose you wouldn't remember me, seeing as you've never seen my face… But I was hoping my voice would jog your memory. I have been speaking to you in your mind for the last week."

Bella gasped and then grinned. "It's you, err… What do I call you, anyhow?"

"Just call me Nia, Isabella," the woman laughed again. "And you know, your boy was right. Where you are about to embark, he cannot follow. No one can, not even Rosalie."

"What?"

Nia began to walk away from her, just like Edward. Bella began to follow her, trying to keep in step with her.

"Listen to me, Isabella," Nia said urgently. "As you get closer and closer to your destiny, we will be speaking to each other less and less. And do not worry about your boyfriend or your father and family, you will meet them again once more before you meet your destiny."

"I will?"

"Yes. Listen to me, once more. My powers are growing, but they only come in short spurts," Nia explained as they walked nearer to the woods. "When you meet Master Yen Sid, you must explain this to him. You must also ask him to teach you more about the Heartless, and also about the Nobodies. I fear they will be much trouble to you in the future."

"But what about my world?" Bella asked her frantically. "What am I going to do to get my world back?"

Nia stopped in her tracks, her eyes glazing over before they focused on Bella's face once more. "You will butt heads with Maleficent to take back your world. Do not worry, you will not be alone. You will be joined by another with a similar destiny."

Bella stopped and watched her walk away.

"But," Bella protested. "Where are you going?"

Once again, Nia stopped. Bella watched as Nia removed her sari from her face and she sucked in a breath. Her face was angular and her cheek bones were prominent. Nia smiled at her, her face lighting up beautifully.

"Don't worry about me, Isabella," Nia whispered. "I'm going to where I'll be needed. You need to wake up now."

"What?" Bella asked for the millionth.

"You need to wake up."

"WAKE UP, DAMMIT!" Rosalie screamed in her ear. "I LET YOU SLEEP LONG ENOUGH!"

Bella sprang up in her bed and rolled over onto the floor in a fright. She glared up at Rosalie who stood over her with her fists on her hips.

"We're here," Rosalie said to her quickly. "The buffoon said we're at Yen Sid's. Final-fucking-ly."

The Mysterious Tower. That was the name of the small land that Yen Sid called his own. It was an interesting looking tower, but what was more interesting was that the small piece of land that the tower was located on, was floating in the middle of all the black space.

Cid began to unload a couple of boxes. Bella decided to make one last meal for Cid as a thank you for getting them to Yen Sid's. Rosalie decided to opt out on any manual or culinary labor. She took advantage of the bathroom to freshen herself up. When she came out, her blond hair was in a high pony tail. She had taken off her cashmere sweater to reveal a silk tank-top. Her make-up was once again perfect.

Bella blew a piece of hair off of her face and groaned. She was sweaty from the heat of the galley stove, her hair was in disarray, and she was certain that her clothes were beyond wrinkled and stained. Standing next to the impossibly beautiful Rosalie… She felt like a bum.

For once she was actually quite thankful for the attention when Rosalie gave her a once over and then proceeded to drag her into the bathroom. Rosalie brushed, braided and then set her hair into an elaborate braid bun. The vampire than proceeded to wash her face and apply some foundation that she had slipped out of her back pocket.

"Thank you, Rosalie," Bella whispered, looking at the blond vampire through the mirror.

Rosalie smiled slightly and nodded. "Sure, Bella."

They both met Cid, who was loading the boxes onto a large dolly. He smiled when he caught sight of them.

"Looking good, ladies," Cid commented merrily, ignoring the venomous glare that came from Rosalie. "Oh, and thank you for the food, Nia. I tell ya, I'm gonna have some leftover for the trip back. Which is a good thing. Man's gotta eat, after all."

Bella shrugged. "It was no big deal, Cid. I used to cook all the time for my Dad. And uh, do you think you could call me Bella."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "I thought you said yer name was Nia, kid?"

Rosalie growled. "Can we just get off this sardine can and get into the damn tower?"

Cid blew out a breath of air before he began to push the dolly forward. "Follow me, ladies."

They followed his off of his Gummi ship and onto the small scrap of land that the tower was situated on. There was a breeze and it was crisp and cold. Rosalie being a vampire did not feel it, but Bella did. She wrapped her arms around herself and rubbed at her arms for warmth.

"It's freezing," Bella said somewhat loudly, her teeth chattering.

"That's 'cause we're so out in the middle of all this black space," Cid commented as they drew nearer to the tower. "There's not a sun near here. It's basically Master Yen Sid's magic that lights this whole place up and keeps the grass growing. He keeps it pretty warm inside though."

"What the hell happened to the rest of this world?" Rosalie asked.

"What do you think, sweet cheeks," Cid leered. "It was attacked by heartless. Master Yen Sid was only able to save this little bit of land that was surrounding his tower."

For once, Rosalie ignored his comment. She looked about the small piece of land that Yen Sid called his own sadly, cursing the heartless mentally. The blond vampire wondered how many people or other beings had also called this world their own; she wondered how many had lost their lives. And then she didn't want to wonder anymore. It was simply too sickening for her to imagine the countless children who had their hearts feasted upon by the heartless.

Bella and Rosalie pushed the large doors open while Cid struggled to pull the dolly up the stairs. At the last moment Rosalie let go of her door causing Cid to yell in alarm. Cid swerved the dolly to Bella's side and nearly ran her foot over.

"Gee," Cid said sarcasm. "Thanks, Blondie."

"I live to serve," Rosalie snarled with a stink eye.

Once they had closed both of the tower doors, they finally took the time to look about the place. The tower was not a large one in Bella's opinion. Though thankfully, it was warm. Not only in temperature, but also in the color of the place as well. Neutral and non bright colors made the place inviting.

"Whoa," said Rosalie suddenly, loudly. "Would you get a look as those large ass stairs! They go on forever too…"

Slouching heavily, Bella groaned and closed her eyes. "Uhhgg, please don't tell me we're going to have to lug ourselves all the way up these stairs….? Cid?"

Both of them turned to the blond gummy ship pilot that had brought them here. The place that he had previously been occupying with his dolly, was empty. As they both frantically looked around they found him to be nowhere in sight. He had vanished, it seemed, into thin air. Which was not possible, seeing as the welcoming room of the tower was exceptionally small and they could see around the whole room with just a quick rotating glance.

There was suddenly a soft ping of a bell and the sound of a squeaky elevator echoing through the small tower room.

"Oh hell no," Rosalie thundered. "If there was an elevator lift that the bastard knew about and neglected to tell us about, I'm… I'M GOING TO SUCK HIS BLOOD!"

Bella gasped in outrage and stomped her feet. She fisted her hands and gave a frustrated yell. Rosalie jumped at the unexpected yell that had come from her brother's human ex-girlfriend and turned to give her a bewildered look. The vampire had most certainly never seen this human girl this mad before.

Pouting, her knuckles white from the fisted exertion, Bella turned and began to stomp up the stairs. She grumbled angrily to herself all the way.

"… Friggin' rude ass…," Bella grumbled, her eyes blazing. "…. Foot in his ass…. geriatric…"

A blond haired blur suddenly rushed past her. Bella bumped into a solid wall of rock and stumbled back with a yelp. She flayed her arms around trying to keep her balance. Falling down the stairs was most certainly not a way she wanted to go.

A perfectly manicured hand shot out and grabbed her wrist, and Bella looked up. Rosalie stood before her. Even with a frown, Rosalie looked as beautiful as ever. It seemed that the blond vampire had been the wall that she had walked into.

"Here," Rosalie said quickly, turning and showing the human girl her back. "Hop on! I'll piggy-back you the whole way up. It'll be quicker this way."

As soon as Bella was secured on her back, Rosalie took off like a flash of lightning. Clenching her eye lids closed from the wind, Bella held on as tightly as she could. It was exactly two seconds before they suddenly came to an abrupt stop. Bella let out a soft 'oof' at the sudden stop.

"Shit!" Rosalie shouted out in frustration. "You gotta be fucking kidding me!"

Opening her eyes, Bella let out a small gasp at the what stood before them. A dozen or so different kinds of heartless stood before them. They stood as tall as a five year old to around seven feet tall. The smallest of them all, Bella had seen before. They looked the same as the one that had attacked her in the forest. The largest of all the heartless was almost as wide as he was tall. It was big bellied and with each waddling step it took toward them, Bella could feel the vibration from Rosalie's back.

"Looks like we're going to have to get through a fucking army before we see this Yen Sid dude," Rosalie growled, allowing Bella to slide off of her back. "You're going to have to take out that fancy looking sword of yours."

Bella nodded to the blonde vampire, her eyes on the slowly advancing heartless before them. With a flurry of gold and blue sparks, the sword appeared in her hand. She grinned, actually feeling excitement bubbling up in the pit of her stomach.

"Not a problem."

Seeing the grin on Bella's face, Rosalie returned it. The gorgeous vampire barred her teeth at the heartless and crouched down; her fingers were extended like talons.

"Lets take out the small ones first," Rosalie commanded.

Bella nodded. "I got it. We'll work our way up."

"Yep," Rosalie let out a vicious snarl as a heartless lunged forward to nip at her knee with it's diamond sharp teeth. "That fat bastard over there is too slow to be considered a problem yet."

The same heartless that had lunged to take a bite out of Rosalie, lunged again. Rosalie grabbed the little monster from around the throat while it was in mid air with her a lightning fast reflexes. With a hard squeeze, it's head popped off with a disgusting squelching sound. Bella gagged but then breathed a sound of relief when the little demon disappeared in a black mist.

Together they took out everyone of the smaller heartless. Bella felt so alive as her sword cut heartless down effortlessly, her hits sure. Her footing actually felt and looked graceful as she turned and twirled out of the way of lunging heartless; her sword swung easily as it cut into the little bastards. Taking her time, Rosalie was actually having fun. At human pace she dismembered the various heartless to pieces, showing and taking her anger out on them.

When all the little heartless were finally gone, Bella and Rosalie stood side by side.

"That was pretty fun," Rosalie commented as she inspected her nails for any breaks.

"Yup," Bella chimed in with a quick puff of air. She was a little winded. "Let me get my breath back before we take that big one."

Both females turned to look at the big bellied heartless as he continued to waddle his way over to them. They sniggered as they watched his slow waddle toward them. The big bellied heartless suddenly stopped at the sound of them laughing. His stubby hands fisted and his round body began to glow and vibrate.

"What's it doing?" Bella asked with wide eyes, her sniggering abruptly halted.

Rosalie sneered at it. "Eh, it's probably mad cause we were laughing at - SONUVABITCH!"

Bella and Rosalie dived away from their previous spots, in opposite directions as the glowing heartless suddenly charged at them. The heartless rammed into the wall with his big belly and looked around in confusion. Both girls gaped at each other from opposite sides of the small circular room. The heartless impossibly bounced back onto his feet and with a quick look between the two girls, turned and began to waddle towards Bella.

"Ack!" Bella scrambled up from where she threw herself and faced the huge heartless head on with her blade in her hand.

Rosalie flashed to Bella's side and together they watched as the heartless waddled toward them. With a soft snarl, Rosalie suddenly launched herself at it, her hands ready to sink into the severely obese heartless and tear it to pieces. Bella watched in shock as the heartless suddenly thrust it's protruding belly out and bumped Rosalie; the blonde flew through the air and landed on her ass in the middle of the room. She was once again by Bella's side in a flash, only this time with an angry scowl and a bruised ego.

"You okay?" Bella asked while never taking her eyes off of the slowly advancing heartless.

Rosalie grumbled. "Yeah… That fat bastard is quick. I think I got a plan."

"Spill."

"Okay then. Since this bastard seems to be very aware of it's opponents in front of it, we'll try to attack it from behind. Hopefully it's not so fast turning around. Get that pretty sword of your's ready."

The heartless suddenly stopped once more. His stubby hands clenched and once more he began vibrate at a rapid speed. Anticipating that the heartless was about to charge at them, Bella and Rosalie nodded to each other. As soon as the heartless threw it's body at them they dashed out of the way frantically.

"Kill it now!" Rosalie yelled out.

Bella sprang forward as the heartless began to slowly rotate in their direction. She brought her blade up and then with a powerful thrust downwards it sunk into the fatty, vulnerable back of the heartless. Almost immediately the obese heartless exploded into a black mist that quickly dissipated away.

"Nice," Rosalie commented as she began to fix her hair and arrange her clothes back into their normal neatness. "Let's get the hell out of here and meet this master Yen Sid already."

"Yeah," said Bella, nodding. "More heartless might come."

After a short break Bella was once again on Rosalie's back. At lightning fast speed Rosalie ran up the stairs once again. Unfortunately they ran into two other very similar circular rooms full of heartless. At the third room Bella was more than a little winded.

"Why can't these bastards just stay dead?" exclaimed Rosalie as she helped Bella back onto her back. "Is it just too much to ask?"

Bella snorted at the vampire's comment as they ran out of the circular room and up a new staircase. It was a different set of stairs then the last three and both Rosalie and Bella let out breaths of relief.

"Thank you, sweet deity," Bella muttered under her breath as she tried to look around Rosalie's hair. "I mean, how tall could this friggin' tower be anyway? It sure as hell didn't look so tall from the outside."

As they approached the door, they took in the difference of it in comparison to the other doors. Bella slid down until she was shakily on her feet. She reached for the knob and twisted it. The door clicked and then squeaked open. Rosalie followed behind as Bella walked at a snail's pace into the room, taking in the sights of the dim room. The walls were beige and there were books everywhere, along with a couple pots and a chest here or there. In the middle of the room there was a large table. A stern looking man dressed in blue robes and a pointed wizard's hat sat behind the table.

"I believe that Cid said you have business with me," he said to them, his voice deep and British.

There were two wooden chairs in front of the table and he waved his hand toward them. "Please, be seated."

They hesitantly took their seats. Well, Bella was hesitant. She didn't know why but she felt as if she should be bowing or curtsying to this old man. There was something regal about him, something royal. Rosalie on the other hand, she didn't give a shit at the moment. All the heartless had got her into a mood. She sat her behind heavily on the wooden seat, though she was careful not to use too much of her vampire strength to demolish it to splinters. She crossed her legs and folded her arms over her chest, her face was blank.

"You do know that all those stairs are a pain in the ass, right?" Rosalie asked outright, almost in a rude tone.

Bella's eyes bulged forward and she whispered furiously to the vampire under her breath. "R-Rosalie! Have some respect!"

Yen Sid chuckled roughly and the smile on his face was short lived. "Yes, I do know. They are a precaution for my enemies or just for those who are a plain nuisance to me. I really have no idea why Cid neglected to inform you of the lift behind the stairs."

Rosalie saw red and before she burst out the obscenities that were filling her mouth about the blonde haired gummy ship pilot, Bella butted in.

"I'm sure he was just in a hurry and forgot," Bella said in a rush, her cheeks reddening darkly at the murderous looks Rosalie was throwing her way. "Anyway, we came because Nia sent us. Well, actually she sent me."

Master Yen Sid's face darkened and his nostrils flared. "How did she go about contacting you?"

"Err," Bella was taken about by his sudden change in demeanor. "She didn't. I mean, one day her voice just popped up in my head… The exact same day that I woke up in another world after the heartless attacked my world."

Rosalie coughed. "Schizo."

Bella glared and Yen Sid's mouth twitched. It seemed that Rosalie had forgotten that she had also heard the woman's voice.

"I need for you to relay to me all that she informed you," Yen Sid demanded. "This is of the utmost importance."

"What is so important about this chick?" Rosalie asked as respectful as she could.

"Nia is a very important young woman," answered Yen Sid. "Not only for her world, but she is an important person who was supposed to be kept safe. Unfortunately an enemies minions were able to get a hold of her; to extort from her all of her pure abilities."

"Pure abilities?" both girls asked at the same time.

"Yes," the old man nodded gravely. "Nia Purinsesu, who was born on Earth, is of Indian decent. She is also a Princess of Heart."

Bella gasped, while Rosalie bit her lower lip. "She's a royal of India?"

Yen Sid shook his head. "No, she is an American citizen with Indian decent. A princess of heart is merely a maiden, whether they be royal or commoner, with hearts of pure light. Meaning they are devoid of the darkness that inhabits the hearts of others.

"There are few people, whether they be male or female who are born naturally free of darkness. An evil wretch by the name of Maleficent -"

Bella wrinkled her nose at the name and muttered to herself.. "Jeez, who the heck names their kid Maleficent?"

Rosalie snorted and leaned sideways. "She must have been an ugly baby…"

They snickered together before putting their attention back onto Yen Sid, who did not seem to have noticed their exchange while he droned on.

"- has gathered together as many princesses as she could find for her endeavor."

"Which is?" Rosalie butted in before the old man could drone on again.

He glared at her. "Maleficent wishes to open the Door to Darkness with their hearts. She wishes to harness the power of the universe once it is released from behind the door."

"Oh. Shit." Bella blurted.

"Yes," Yen Sid frowned in her direction. "Indeed."

The old man stood from his seat with a groan. "What she requires of Nia, I do not know. She already has seven princesses in her clutches… Maleficent requires their hearts, and if she has taken Nia's heart, presumably of course, how was she able to contact you?"

There was silence as Yen Sid turned to look out of a star shaped window. Rosalie and Bella both glanced at each other as the silence went on.

Bella suddenly turned to Yen Sid. "Please tell me that question was rhetorical, 'cause… I don't really know the answer to that."

The blonde vampire at her side snorted in amusement and rolled her eyes. Yen Sid shook his head.

He began to walk to a large stone door. "You both shall stay here for the time being. I have no doubt that Nia would like me to assist you both in anyway I can."

Bella began to follow after the man. Rosalie went to the star shaped window and looked out, admiring the stars of the black space.

"That would be good, actually," Bella said with a smile. "Nia told me to ask you for your help. I suppose she thinks that I need help with my key sword thingy."

His steps suddenly faltered and Bella stopped herself before she could clumsily stumbled into the tall old man's. He turned and looked down his nose at her.

"You have a key blade?" he asked her, his voice gravely quiet.

"Err, y-yeah."

"Why didn't you come out with it before, girl?" he yelled, turning back around to stomp to the door. "You have a lot to learn from me young key blade mistress. I shall get you both situated in empty rooms and then your lessons shall begin tomorrow."


A/N: I am so sorry for the delay. I had writers block right after Birth By Sleep came out. That game really threw me off! I've changed my name as well! Please review! - RedEyedSurprise