A/N: This is the longest chapter, at nearly 3000 words, and it only has two parts (part with Ven, part with kids)...This is probably the reason it's so short.
Speaking of, this is officially 13 chapters long! YAY! Except only two more chapters, which are both pretty short. Booo.
Vanitas yawned as he sat on the spaceship they were currently on. Ventus sat awkwardly beside him as the two odd people yelled at them, and another odd person chased a blue furry thing around.
There was a sudden beeping, and they went quiet, looking around. The stockier one went over to the controls, pressing a few buttons before turning back.
"Your Ladyship, two items are approaching the ship at considerable speed."
"Shoot them down," the other person deadpanned.
The first person turned back, pressing a few buttons and frowning. The ship vibrated as something was fired, before there was an odd thrumming sound.
"What's going on?" asked Ventus, glancing around.
"The ship is firing down the two intruders," the second person said.
"What the-" the first person exclaimed suddenly, and they turned to him. He frowned, pressing a few buttons, then shook his head, looking at the second person. "They've vanished, Your Ladyship. The scanners can't locate them."
"Were they not shot down?"
"Not so far as our sensors picked up."
The door suddenly slid open, and they turned, going quiet as the figures entered. As they stepped in, Vanitas groaned.
Aqua glanced around, then spotted them. "Ah, Vanitas. I was wondering where you were," she said with a smile, walking towards them.
"You are companions?" asked the second person.
"Hardly. She's just my babysitter," Vanitas sighed.
"Baby...sitter? I do not understand."
"Don't worry about it," he said, waving a hand.
"Are you trying to avoid us? You've been world hopping so much that it's hard to keep track," Terra grunted.
"I knew you'd catch up eventually. Anyway, it's not you I've been avoiding," Vanitas replied.
"Then who?" asked Aqua, confused.
"A man called Xehanort. He's looking for us, so far as we can tell," Ventus replied.
They frowned. "Why would Master Xehanort be looking for you?"
"Hell if we know," Vanitas grunted.
"We're just avoiding all confrontations as best we can," Ventus said.
"And you ended up here...how?" asked Terra, raising an eyebrow as he glanced around.
"Lady here needed some here, so we helped. Didn't particularly go to plan, but the thought was there," Vanitas said, stretching before standing. "Anyway, I figured you'd probably want a report knowing we're fine, so we're gonna go now," he said. Ventus quickly stood, joining him and looking at him expectantly. "Your turn," Vanitas clarified.
"Oh, is it? Um...I'm not particularly good at it yet, Vani..."
"Just do it. You're fine," Vanitas sighed.
Ventus nodded slowly, lifting a hand. Wayward Wind appeared, and he lifted it, concentrating. Light shot up, surging around them, and Vanitas noticed at the last moment that Aqua and Terra were in it as well before they transported.
They appeared in the next world, crashing to the ground, and Vanitas rubbed his head before sitting up and glancing to the side. As expected, the other two were there. With an angry growl, he turned to Ventus.
"What're you doing?! You got them stuck in it too, you idiot!"
Ventus sat up, wincing before looking put out. "I told you I wasn't very good. I don't have the whole range thing down yet."
Vanitas gave an angry sigh, then stood up, pulling Ventus up after him. "Fine, then we're skipping. Stand still, Ven."
"What? No way! We just got here, I want to see where I transported us," Ventus pouted.
Vanitas gave a growl. "It's your fault you got those two idiots here too, so don't blame me. We're moving on," he said firmly.
"Who're you?"
The two of them blinked then looked up, staring at the boy dressed entirely in green floating above them. Ventus turned to him quickly.
"How're you doing that? That's so cool!"
The boy blinked then grinned. "You think? Hey, Tink, shower 'em a little," he said. The two boys watched as a small figure fluttered out from behind him, crystalline like wings fluttering easily. She eyed them a minute as they stared at her, before flying above them, sprinkling dust over them.
Vanitas sneezed, shaking his head to get the glitter-like substance out. "What was that for?" he demanded, looking up suspiciously.
"Why don't you try flying?" the boy suggested, grinning.
"Really? How?" asked Ventus.
"Just believe you can fly, and you will," the boy explained, the tiny figure nodding her head. They glanced at each other, then closed their eyes, trying to believe they could actually fly.
A weightless feeling rushed through them as they slowly felt their feet leaving the ground, and glanced down, gasping as they saw they were floating a little. With a grin, Ventus pushed himself up further, whooping as he spun a little. Vanitas frowned then did the same, an elated grin spreading across his face briefly.
"This is so cool!" laughed Ventus, twisting in the air.
The boy flew over to them, flying so that it seemed he was lying on thin air. "Knew you'd enjoy it. Name's Peter Pan, and this is Tinkerbell. What're your names?" he asked.
"Oh, I'm Ventus, and this is Vanitas. We're just travelling the worlds at the minute," Ventus replied, turning upside down with a smile.
"Nice to meet ya," Peter said, grinning to each of them.
"Vanitas!"
The three of them looked down, watching as an annoyed Aqua glared up at them. Terra seemed to have accepted that they weren't going to be getting to the boys any time soon and was lying on the grass, hands behind his head as he stared up at the sky.
The boys shared a glance, then nodded at Peter. He motioned to Tinkerbell, and she gave a little trill before flying down, showering Aqua and Terra in a bit of fairy dust.
"Believe you can fly!" called Ventus with a laugh.
Aqua looked like they'd gone crazy, while Terra eyed them a minute before pushing himself up. In one swift motion, he was airborne, rolling slightly as he righted himself before giving a light chuckle.
"Hey, this isn't half bad," he said as he drifted up a little.
Aqua glanced at him, blinking in surprise, while the boys flew over to him, sharing grins. "Come on, Aqua! You can do it!" cheered Ventus, the other three giving calls of encouragement. Aqua hesitated, then bit her lip before closing her eyes and jumping up. There was a brief moment where she started lowering again, before she suddenly floated. Opening her eyes, she stared at the ground that was no longer beneath her feet, before looking up again at the boys. She allowed herself to drift higher, reaching them.
As she did, Peter suddenly darted forward, lightly tapping her arm before flying away with a crowed, "You're it!" Aqua blinked then watched as the other three quickly flew away, laughing and goading her into chasing after them. After a minute she smiled and set after them, happily tagging Terra and flying away as he turned to go after them.
It was an odd experience. They played for a few hours, Peter easily switching between games so that they never really got bored. After a while, however, they headed back for solid ground, happily collapsing onto the grass with light pants and happy grins.
That was when she realised. Vanitas had been smiling.
The group appeared in the world, glancing around in interest. It was located in a wood, and as they followed Mickey, they saw a pretty little cottage in it.
"This is where the fairies live," Mickey explained as he led them over to the house.
"Where are we?" asked Kairi, glancing around.
"The Enchanted Dominion, home to Briar Rose, the fairies, and Maleficent."
They had reached the cottage and knocked on the door, waiting a moment. The door was soon opened by Fauna, who smiled when she spotted them.
"Hello dearies. Do come in," she offered, stepping aside to allow them in. They stepped through, looking around with wide eyes. Flora and Merryweather were currently bickering, until Fauna cleared her throat loudly causing them to look up. They blushed as they saw the others, then swooped over to the three kids, checking them over and asking if they needed anything.
There came a frenzied knocking at the door, and they looked up as it was hurriedly opened by Goofy and Donald.
"Mickey, there's a ton'a Heartless!" Goofy cried.
Mickey frowned. "How strong?"
"It's not gonna be easy," Donald replied.
Mickey nodded. "Alright, I'll be along in a second. You three, stay here with the fairies. Once we've cleared out the stronger enemies, we'll bring you up and you can help," he said to the kids.
"But-" Sora started.
"I know you want to come with us, but let us deal with this bit. We don't want you getting hurt," Mickey said quickly, lifting his hands.
They hesitated, then nodded. "We'll wait here," Riku replied.
Mickey nodded, giving a brief smile before hurrying after the other two. The three kids allowed themselves to be subjected to the mollycoddling of the fairies once again, as well as a brief session where they tried changing the colour of Riku's clothes but couldn't decide on the best one. After much persuasion they changed it back, and the three kids skulked away in the hopes of it not happening again.
After a while Merryweather glanced around, sighing. "Oh, where is that Briar Rose? She should have been back already."
"Do you want us to go look for her?" suggested Kairi quickly, the other two nodding eagerly. The fairies shared an uncertain glance, then Flora nodded.
"Alright dearies. Just be careful and don't take too long; if you can't find her, we can locate her," she said gently.
"Okay," they said happily, heading out of the cottage. They headed further into the woods, chatting happily as they investigated. It was peaceful and quiet, birds and animals calling out to each other and occasionally crossing their path, not seeming at all afraid of the three kids.
Kairi suddenly paused, glancing around. The two boys stopped and looked back at her in confusion.
"What's the matter?" asked Sora, turning to her.
"Can't you hear it?" she asked.
The boys glanced at each other then listened, trying to listen for whatever Kairi could hear. After a moment they heard a distant singing, and blinked.
"Is that...a girl singing?" asked Riku.
"Maybe it's Briar Rose!" Sora suggested.
Kairi nodded, grinning, and they turned before starting to follow the singing, listening carefully as it slowly got louder and louder. Finally they came to a clearing, seeing a girl kneeling on the grass beside a river and looking down into the water. She was extremely beautiful, with golden hair and gentle eyes, and animals gathered around her.
Stepping out, the girl looked up, surprised to see them. "Who are you?" she asked.
"I'm Kairi, and this is Sora and Riku," Kairi introduced.
"Are you Briar Rose?" asked Riku.
"Yes...How do you know my name?" asked Rose, standing.
"Merryweather was looking for you. She was worried because you weren't back yet," Sora explained.
Rose looked surprised. "Oh...I forgot. I met the most lovely man, and I suppose time must have just slipped by," she said.
"Well, if we go back now, I'm sure they won't mind," Kairi said with a smile.
Rose nodded, picking up a basket beside her and following the three kids. They started back towards the cottage, happily talking to Rose as she explained about her encounter with the man.
There was a gutteral growl, and they paused a moment before suddenly several Heartless and other creatures leapt out. Rose gasped, gazing at them in fear as the animals scattered. The three kids summoned their Keyblades, looking around.
"I thought all the monsters were up at the castle," Sora said, gaze slipping over them.
"There may have been more he didn't know about," Riku pointed out.
"What are those other things, though? They don't look like any of the Heartless Mister Yen Sid showed us," Kairi asked.
"They don't have the same symbol either," Riku noted.
"They have symbols?" asked Sora in surprise, and the other two sighed.
The Heartless and other monsters quickly leapt forward, and Riku blocked the attack, Sora and Kairi quickly slipping past him to throw the monsters back before Riku shot between them, attacking several more. As they focused on attacking the monsters, several Heartless slipped past them, lashing at Rose. She cried out, backing away as she looked around them in fear.
The three kids glanced up, looking towards each other. A second later Riku rushed forward, hitting the Heartless back and guarding Rose.
Something quickly became clear, however. Without Riku there to watch their blind spots for them, Sora and Kairi began to get overpowered, attacked from behind before they could retaliate. The overwhelming amount of monsters slowly forced them to retreat, though the monsters also quickly cut them off.
Sora slashed at a few of the Heartless, panting, then glanced back as Kairi cried out. He quickly hit the other monster which had attacked her, turning to attack some more to the side before covering Kairi as another two came at her. She gave a grunt as she attacked another monster coming at him from the front, and he shot her a quick smile before slashing at several more.
He paused a moment, looking around at the ton of monsters surrounding them, and gritted his teeth before lifting his Keyblade.
"Sparkra!"
Light shot out, destroying the various monsters around them and clearing a bit of space. As it faded, his hands dropped to his side, and he gritted his teeth as his gaze started to blur. Glancing back at Kairi, he saw she had dropped to her knees, panting heavily as the injuries on her continued to bleed. Looking over at Riku, his eyes widened as he saw the huge amount of Heartless swarming at him and Rose, who was doing nothing to help.
Sora glanced down at his Keyblade. A Keyblade of Light...glancing at Riku and Kairi's, he frowned. They felt different. He'd noticed it before, but never commented on it. The type of power they used to summon and control theirs felt different from his. Yet they felt different from each other, too.
Were they Keyblades of Darkness and Heart?
"Riku, Kairi!" he called, and they glanced at him. He gave a grin, trying to reassure them. "You guys know what type of Keyblades you have, right? So, lift them above your head, then just try to use your inner power!"
They hesitated, then relaxed, nodding. Kairi stood up, the three of them lifting their Keyblades above them, and concentrated. Power quickly surged through them, and they blinked at the sudden increase of strength. The tips of their Keyblades began to glow, shooting out in a wide circle to each Keyblade, and they blinked as they felt something odd. Unique.
Then power burst out, rippling in a flurry of light and darkness, and shooting across the land. All the monsters faded, disappearing with angry and pained cries, arcing upwards to meet in the sky before exploding in a brilliant shower. The sparks rained down slowly around them, and Rose stared, lifting a hand to cup a few.
There were several dull thumps, and she jumped, looking back down before gasping as she saw the three of them had collapsed. She quickly knelt beside Riku, checking him over.
"Are you alright?" she asked fearfully, unable to see any injury.
"Rose!" a voice called, and she looked up as her three godmothers hurried towards her. They stiffened as they saw the kids, then went over to them, eyes hard as they surveyed them.
"They're much stronger than we anticipated..." murmured Fauna.
"We'll take them back to Yen Sid. Head back home with Rose and tell Mickey what happened when he returns," Flora said to Merryweather. She nodded, gently coaxing Rose after her and back towards the cottage. As soon as they were gone from view, Flora lifted her wand, waving it above the group before they promptly vanished.
A/N: Still overpowered. I dunno. That'll probably happen a little less in the next part.
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