Author's Note: I do not own anything from the Kingdom Hearts franchise or anything affiliated with it. The rights to it belong solely to their respective owners.
Ch.6 End Enchanted Dominion, Begin Dwarf Woodland
Ven and I readied our Keyblade as Maleficent disappeared, wondering where she would reappear next. In a burst of flame she showed up on the right side of the ring, and called "Thunder!" While Ven ran toward her she shot a bolt of lightning from her staff at me, which I blocked with Ultimatum. She was about to do it again, but then Ven used Strike Raid on her and the blow knocked her off-balance, so she disappeared, showing up right behind me.
She was about to hit me with her staff when I spun around and threw my Keyblade at her, using Freeze Raid. The ice coated Keyblade hit her straight in the gut and she doubled over, giving me time to attack with Poison Edge. She vanished and reappeared in front of her throne, chanting "Thunder, might and lightning strike!" The atmosphere turned dark, and bolts began raining down on me and Ven. Ven both kept running to avoid getting hit and it looked like Maleficent wasn't in a hurry.
I ran next to Ven and he asked "This lightning just won't stop. What do we do?" "Use Flame Salvo and try to stop Maleficent. I'll give you cover!" I said. Without waiting I ran back to the center of the ring and yelled "Hey minotaur!" making a reference to the horns on her head. She glared at me and sent all the bolts flying at me, while Ven stood to the side, focusing his energy. Then he jumped unleashed his Shotlock, a total of fifteen fireballs flying towards her. They struck, and Maleficent cried out at the heat scorching her.
She reappeared in the center of the room, calling "Feel the power of all evil!" Then she began sending waves of dark energy outwards, and I had to jump onto the edge of the ring to avoid them. "We'll help you out!" I heard Fauna say, and amidst the waves of energy a small white circle appeared. Ven and I ran to it before the waves, could hit us, and inside we were protected the fairies' power. Ven and I pointed our Keyblades upwards, and we could feel that power coursing through us, until we both called "Take this!" and pointed at Maleficent.
From both our Keyblade an orb of light fired and hit Maleficent, who fell asleep on her feet with a pained grunt. Now that we had time Ven moved forward to attack her physically, while I prepared and fired Pulse Bomb. Maleficent awoke after a few seconds and disappeared, reappearing at her throne and firing bolts of energy down on us. Ven and I dodged and ran continuously to avoid the attack, and when she disappeared again I frowned. This strategy wasn't getting us anywhere; we needed to make it so she couldn't teleport.
Then she did just that and reappeared at the edge of the ring, firing a bolt at me. Wait, that's it! "Ven!" I called. "Use Aqua's power so you can cast Thunder! I have an idea!" He nodded and activated Aqua's Dimension Link. The he began casing Thunder over and over again, and I could see her being knocked off-balance by the spells. She fired a bolt at both him and me, but I blocked my and pushed, sending it right back. The bolt hit her square in chest, and she was sent flying to land spread-eagled a little farther from her throne.
Now that she was vulnerable Ven ran forward and stabbed his Keyblade into her chest. She let out a yell of pain and blasted him back, through the air and to the center of the ring where I caught him. I put him on the ground and he looked at me. "Are we done?" he asked. I smiled. "Yeah, it's over." Maleficent slowly walked back to the top her throne, alive but breathing heavily. "There's no way Terra would hurt someone like that!" Ven called.
"You don't believe me? That's unfortunate, for he agreed so easily," Maleficent told him. "My foot he did! You possessed him and forced him to do that!" I called. "That's right Ven, don't be fooled!" I heard a voice say, one I recognized. We both turned to see that voice's owner running towards us. "Aqua!" Ven said. She stopped in front of us and said "Terra would never mean to do that. You know that as well as I do." "She's right," I said.
"Ah... The truth can be most cruel, even amongst the closest of friends. After all, one never knows the secrets of another's heart. I'm sure you'll agree... Ventus... Aqua… Dexal," Maleficent said. We all glared at her, but Aqua said to Ven "The Master sent us. Ven, you need to go home." "But Terra…" Ven protested. "Terra's not ready to leave yet," she told him. "Yeah. Look Ven, I'm all for you helping me to try and get Aurora's heart back, but this journey is too dangerous for you. You need to go home."
Ven looked down sadly and was silent for a moment. The he said "Sorry guys." I blinked, and Aqua asked "What?" "It's just… I have to find him before its too late!" Ven said, before running off. "Ven!" Aqua called. I shook my head. "I'll go after him. You stay here and deal with that hag," I said, before running off after Ven. By the time I had left the castle though, he was already gone.
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Saddened that I hadn't been able to find Ven after he left, I glided through the Lanes Between, hoping to find another world where he might be. Soon I came across one, and opened the portal to go towards it. The air around the place trembled, and the ground quaked as the portal opened. I flew out and dismissed both my armor and glider. I was in the middle of a field that was full of grass and flowers, with a forest just further in.
Off in the distance was a castle, but before I could investigate an Unversed jumped out of the ground. "Well, here comes the welcoming committee," I said, summoning my Keyblade. A quick Freeze Raid destroyed the Floods, who were replaced a trio of Bruisers. They all jumped up and landed on the ground, creating a shockwave I was caught in the middle of. Before they could try it again I used Collision Magnet to throw one of the Bruisers into the other, my Poison Edge knocking the other off its game. I swung twice at the first Bruiser, seeing it vanish into darkness before I used Freeze Raid again on the second.
While the second Bruiser was frozen solid I used Poison Edge again on the third, only to be punched back. That when I used Collision Magnet one more time to throw that Unversed into its frozen ally, the two of them disappearing in shadows. Then fate decided to have fun at my expense, and a total of eight Archravens appeared. They flapped their wings before taking to the skies, flying just beyond my reach. I grunted, wanting to look for Ven and not be held up by a bunch of birds.
I used Poison Edge to hit one Archraven as flew down at nip at me, and I focused for a second before using Pulse Bomb. The small blasts destroyed in instantly, and the other twenty managed to take care of the rest of the enemies, save for one. The last Archraven flew higher than my aim or Keyblade could reach, and swopped down to take a peck at me. I blocked the attack and swung at the Unversed before it could get away.
After it disappeared I stood there for second, waiting for any more enemies to show up. None did, and I dismissed my Keyblade before looking at the castle. The appearance of it gave me a bad feeling, so I turned and walked into the forest. Walking through it I came across a few more Unversed, which I easily made work of. Once I made it through the forest I came across a small clearing.
Off to the side was a very small cabin, but closer to me was a casket with seven of- were those dwarves? - on their knees surrounding it. I walked a little closer, and gasped when I saw who was in the casket. It was a young woman, dressed in a blue, red and yellow dress. Her lips were red as roses with hair as black as ebony and skin white as snow. "Who is that woman there?" I asked.
One of the dwarves, dressed in red and wearing a pair of glasses, sniffled said "That's the princess, Snow White." "What happened to her?" I asked them. Another dwarf, one with droopy eyelids who looked like he would have fallen asleep if he wasn't so sad, said "The queen of the castle was a jealous woman, and wanted to be the fairest in the land." "But that title belonged to Snow White," said one dwarf, who looked like he was about to sneeze.
"So the queen disguised herself as an old hag and visited Snow White while we were gone. She gave Snow White a poison apple, and by the time we got back it was too late," the one with glasses explained. "Is there any way to bring her back?" I asked. "Only the queen might know, and she ain't about to tell us," a slightly grumpy looking one said. I sighed, and said "Well, I'm going to see if the Queen is anywhere else. If not, I'll go to the castle."
All seven of the dwarves looked at me in hope and disbelief, but before they could say anything I had already ran off. I rushed past the house and ended up in a rocky mountainous area. Instantly a pack of Unversed greeted me, who I destroyed easily thanks to my new power, Magnet Spiral. A walked a little farther in, but almost immediately I detected the faint sound of laughter. Puzzled, I followed the sound, and was greeted by the sight of an old woman.
She had stringy hair and a wrinkled face, with a warty nose and wearing a black hooded cloak. She was leaning against a rock, cackling in delight. "After all this time, I've done it! I've finally done it!" I frowned, wondering what she was celebrating about. Then I heard a voice behind me say "That's her! That's the queen!" I whipped back around and jumped. Standing there were all seven of the dwarves. "How did you all manage to sneak up on me?!" I demanded.
"Never mind that now! What are we goin' about the old hag?" the grumpy one asked. "Are you even sure… it's the queen?" the sleepy one asked. Then the old woman said "Finally, I am fairest in the land!" We all looked at Sleepy, and he said "Maybe she is," and then he yawned. "Well then let's get her!" Grumpy said angrily. "Now hold on," I said. "We still need her to tell us how to wake up Snow White. We'll capture her, but keep her unharmed alright?" Grumpy grumbled about it for a minute before nodding.
"All right, on three. One… two… three!" I said, and we charged out of from behind the rock towards the old woman. She saw us and her eyes widened. "It's you foolish dwarves!" she called, before raising her hands. "Hallowed creatures with claws of evil face these fools at their own peril!" she chanted, and a quartet of Unversed appeared before us. The old woman turned and ran off, while the dwarves stopped at the sight of the Unversed.
"Oh, what should we do?" Happy asked. "We can't take these things by ourselves!" Sneezy called. The Unversed, a total of four Floods, ran forward, and the dwarves covered their heads with their hands. I used Magnet Spiral to draw the Unversed towards me before I spun around and hitting them all with Ultimatum, felling them instantly. "I'll go after the old hag! The rest of you, go guard Snow White in case any more of these guys show up!" I called.
They all nodded and ran back they way we came, while I readied my Keyblade and stared ahead at the queen, who was running away rather quickly for her old disguise. I groaned; looks like I had a fight on my hands.
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Aaah, and so ends one world of Deiru's part of the story, only to be replaced with another. How will things occur?
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