Kingdom Hearts:Birth by Sleep~Book 1, Part 2:Terra's Story:Chapter 20:
DISCLAIMER:Beauty and the Beast belongs to Disney, KH characters belong to Nomura's awesome mind.
Ven had finally stirred after about five minutes of unconsciousness.
"What?" The teen's eyes flickered open for a moment before they fell closed once again.
"Now that you are done napping, it is time for you three to set off on your journey." The old man announced as he tightened his trademark white gloves around his wrists.
"Finally!" Ven jumped for joy at the thought of beginning his long-awaited journey. Ventus was somehow back to his normal attitude; a goofy smirk, shining blue eyes, and a happy-go-lucky personality, which contradicted his previous behavior towards me.
"Why are you nice all of the sudden?" I asked him in perplexity.
"What do you mean?" Ven scratched the back of his head in cluelessness.
How could he forget that he was just being a total jackass towards me? This was the second time he had become someone that wasn't like himself at all. There was something very wrong with Ven that I was totally and utterly sure about. But what it exactly was confused me. One thing I knew for sure was that it had to do something with his memory loss. I tried to put the puzzle pieces together.
Memory loss, sudden change of attitude, different personalities. The list became larger and larger the more I thought about it.
Maybe his bad-attitude state was his normal attitude before he lost his memories. I guessed silently. Was it true that Ven's memories had begun to return so suddenly? I hoped that it wasn't the case because I couldn't stand Ven when he was in his crappy attitude state. But then again, he couldn't stand the loss of his memories.
"Never mind." I answered.
"Now then, will you three be traveling together to find Master Xehanort like the elite, or will you split up and have a better chance of finding him more quickly?"
"I think we should split up." I gave my answer to Aqua and Ven's dismay.
"Why? I think we would be better off staying together. Don't you think so too, Ven?" Aqua nudged the teen who was not paying attention.
"Yeah, sure."
"But we are pressed for time, you guys. The whole universe is in danger, and the quicker we get our job done the better; I say we split up." Even though I knew arguing with Aqua was pointless, I hoped she would agree.
"But-" Aqua was interrupted by the clearing of Master Oni's throat, "Ahem, I think Terra is right, Aqua. It would be better if you three split up. You are right that it might be more dangerous, but danger will threaten you less the more quickly you move."
"Fine." It was the first time in Aqua's life that she had given up an argument.
"But you must all return to the castle here after every single world you go to and report your findings." The elder insisted.
"Yes sir!" All three of us saluted, eager to start.
"Very well, then. I'll see you off. Goodbye, and return when you are done searching the world you are sent to. Oh yes, and don't let anyone from the world you go to know that you're not from there. You must protect the world order."
"Okay, I'll see you later, Ven, Aqua." I nodded at each of them in turn as I pronounced their names. I summoned a portal that was a swirl of blue, gray, and white; no different than Master Oni's original one. Without hesitant manner(as I had the first time I went through a portal) I walked slowly into the void with confidence.
Chapter 20:Part 2~Beast's Castle
I woke up in a beautiful forest filled to the brim with lush green trees and ferns surrounding me. A few scarlet roses added a splash of color here and there while birdsong filled the air with short, long, loud, and soft tunes. A small trickling waterfall that reminded me of the candlelit room back at home shone in the morning glow. In the foggy distance loomed a castle with lime green roofs that matched the forests surrounding it.
Wow, I'm farther away from civilization than I meant to be. Stupid portals; if only I could actually summon them. I mumbled in complaint before familiar screeching replaced the beautiful songs of nature.
"Not you again!" My Keyblade was summoned instantly, ready for battle with the Unbirths at any given moment. Instead of the normal Dawn variety of monsters, there were a few Large Nightmares scattered about, and a new kind of Unbirth I had never seen before was dancing in front of me in a swift manner. It was shaped like small oak tree, except that it had two menacing blood-red slits for eyes, and it had arms that were constantly barbed. Hoping that the name wasn't too cheesy, I decided to call them Barbed Crests.
Due to my experience with Large Nightmares in the past, I finished them off first with only two swings of Eternal Horizons per monster. On the other hand, though, the Barbed Crests were a little more difficult. First of all, their main attack was to flex the muscles in their arms and shoot all the needles in every direction. The tree splinters that shot out of their arms were luckily just what they were, so they didn't harm me unless the wood penetrated my skin deeply. I defeated two with about five blows from my Keyblade, and the other three ran away from me before I could give chase.
"Well that was terrifying." I announced in sarcasm. As I got even closer to the castle, I noticed that a neat little village was tucked under the shadow of the huge structure.
"Should I heads towards the castle, or should I go for the town?"
I decided on the town, since it was closer and looked like there was possible hospitality there.
Man, it's so weird to have to talk to myself. I pondered mentally as I walked towards the village. I was so used to speaking with Aqua, Ven, or Master Oni that I seldom spoke to myself.
Arriving at the edge of the forest, I met a golden prairie that created the outskirts of the town. A few farmhouses and barns were scattered at random, so I picked one that was sided with pure white bricks and a wooden roof; it took me a few hours just to reach the border of civilization, so the sky had begun to slightly before I had reached the cottage.
On my way there, I stopped suddenly. The hairs on the back of my neck raised to the sky as I felt the eerie static of being watched closely. As soon as I turned around to look, the feeling instantly disappeared.
That was weird.
The sound of a door squealing open could be heard as a brunette with a blue and white dress walked quickly to her unknown destination with a wooden pail in hand. She brushed the left side of her head with confidence as she continued her stroll.
"Little town, it's a quiet village." The woman began to sing with sheer beauty and she headed up the hill.
"Every day, like the one before."
"Little town, with the little people waking up to say-"Her song was interrupted as almost everyone on the town slammed their windows open to greet, "Bonjour, Bonjour!"
"There goes the baker with his tray, like always." A short man wearing a white apron and a tall snowy hat ran quickly past her in a hurry.
"The same old bread and rolls to sell."The baker sprinted towards me with heaps of freshly baked bread. Wafts of the smell floated up my nose and reminded me of how my mom would always bake tons of bread and cookies either on weekends or her free time. Every time, she'd invite Ven and Aqua over to eat it with us, and of course, Ven would always ask for seconds.
"Every morning just the same, since that morning when we came to this poor, providential town." Another baker came past her and greeted, "Good morning, Belle."
"Good morning, messieur."
"Where are you off to?" The stubby little baker with the red hair asked innocently.
"The book shop." Belle answered with a sigh.
This must be the way it is for her, come to the town, sing, greet everyone, tell everyone where she's going. Creeping closer, I saw that she pulled a red book out of her basket and say, "I just finished this great book about a beanstalk, and an ogre, and-"
"That's nice." Her excited announcement was stopped early by the busy baker's voice, "Marie, hurry up with those baguettes!" He called up through the open window. Belle shrugged and rolled her eyes at the fact that this happened almost every day in routine. I tried to get close to her and get her attention by asking her more about the book she was infatuated with, but she walked away with her eyes closed in happiness.
"Look! There she goes! That girl is strange, no question!"Two old hags with hats on whispered to eachother in gossip.
"She's very distracted, can't you tell?" In order to revenge for the poor girl Belle, I "accidentally" managed to trip them as they walked past me with a sneer on their wrinkly faces.
When I get back to Castle Celest, I have to tell Ven and Aqua that I found two of Geezernort's wives.
"For her head is upon a cloud." Two men called from a balcony that loomed above Belle insulted as she quietly walked past. Once again, I avenged Belle by this time shooting a bolt of lightning at them. Their sideburns, the only hair they had, was burnt to a crisp as they fell over from pain.
Don't ask me why I was doing this for some random girl I didn't even know, but I think it had to do with my hate list and how the people who insulted her reminded me of them.
Belle jumped onto the back of a carriage with only one hand and foot hanging on. Her basket swayed back and forth as she waited for her destination to come into view. The brunette didn't even notice as I leaped to sit on the same exact carriage she was on. I grasped the edge of the hood and swung my feet over the top to gain them foundation.
" There must be more than this providential life." Belle sung as she hopped off onto the street as the book store loomed in front of her. Before she could see me, I also jumped off and hid by a crowd of people. I then followed her into the bookstore once she slid inside the door.
The store was owned by and elderly old man that had a long white beard.
"Ah, hello there, Belle."
"Good morning! I came to return the book I borrowed from you." Belle then held the book in front of the librarian's face. I waited behind a stack of old dictionaries as the tall girl answered the old man's question, "Yes, I did finish it quickly, didn't I? I just couldn't take my eyes off of it! Have you got anything new?" She asked while climbing one of the many ladders.
"No, no, not since yesterday." He admitted with disappointment.
"Oh well. I can just borrow....this one." Belle took a green book off of a bookcase.
"That one, Belle? But you've read it twice already."
"Hey, um, excuse me?" I slithered to the desk the man worked at and peeked over the edge.
"But it's my favorite!" She twisted around on the wooden ladder with excitement.
"Mister, excuse me?"
"Endearing places, sword fights, magic spells, a prince in disguise." She went on and on about how wonderful her book was.
"If you love it that much, then it's yours." The old man offered.
"Excuse me?"
A group of three men waited outside the window and oogled Belle with nonchalant and supposedly 'manly' poses. I followed Belle after a few seconds of waiting. The men who looked Belle over and over glared at me as I walked past, so I glared back.
"Look! There she goes! That girl is so peculiar." The trio sang in a flirty manner.
Belle entered the town square with her nose glued to the inside of the dusty green book with interest.
" Now, isn't this amazing?" She sat on the rim of a fountain while showing one of the lambs her new book.
"It's my favorite part because you'll see; here's Prince Charming." I couldn't believe it; the reason why Belle actually read that book was because of the handsome dude in it? Soon Belle was to become the first person on my list of cheesy things.
"Now it's no wonder why her name means beauty. Her looks have no parallel."
"She's nothing like the rest of us." The townspeople sang with scorn of her different preferences and attributes.
"Yeah, and you know why she's nothing like you!?" Town square fell silent as I answered, "Because she actually has common sense!" The only person who didn't hear me was the one I was standing up for. Some of the townspeople who had heard my recent outburst walked out of their front doors and sneered at me with pitchforks in hand. I decided that it was time to move on.
A man with pure black hair and a extremely ugly butt chin also watched Belle carefully as she strolled past in ignorance. Angry that she dare walk past the most "beautiful" man in the whole village, he followed her in pursuit. He looked around in confusion as Belle melted away into a distant crowd.
"I am going to make that girl my wife!" Gaston announced to the people of the town. He climbed to the top of a house and looked down at her in admiration. Before Belle could even reach the bridge that led to her humble home, Gaston leaped down in front of her. To make sure that he wouldn't harm her, I watched them closely from behind a tree.
"Hello there, Belle." He greeted with his hands on his hips.
"Bonjour, Gaston." She called back with the book still covering her face. I knew that she was trying to completely ignore him; I had seen Aqua do it at the castle in the hallway many times. In order to make sure that Belle was paying Gaston full attention, he took her book away.
"Gaston, may I have my book back?" She rolled her eyes.
"You can read this? But there's no pictures!" He glanced through the pages.
I decided that it was time to show myself. Belle and Gaston gasped with fright at my sudden appearance.
"So, you can only read little picture books, can you?" Gaston looked taken aback at my question and sneered, "You don't?"
"Who are you?" Belle asked me with her curiosity burning at full temperature.
"A friend, I guess." I shrugged.
"Well, you don't seem to want to harm us." Her brown eyes twinkled with trust.
"Anyways, some people can actually use their imagination." She finally answered Gaston's question with confidence.
Gaston threw Belle's book into a pile of mud, "It's about time you actually get your nose out of those books and payed more attention to more important things. Like me, for instance."
"The whole town has been talking about it," Belle fell to her knees and picked up her now muddled book.
"It's not right for a woman to read a book."
"I can argue with that." I ended the silence with my forefinger raised.
"Stay outta this, punk!" Gaston gripped me by the neck of my shirt. I could tell that he had probably never picked up a toothbrush in his whole life.
"Want to go with me to the tavern and look at my trophies?" Gaston's butt chin was raised as he smiled innocently.
"Maybe later, Gaston." Belle sighed.
"Well, I have to go home to help my father. I'll see you later, Gaston." She waved with silent hate as she treaded over the bridge with unhappiness. I instinctively followed her.
"Do you have anywhere to go?" Belle rubbed her hair as I shook my head.
"Well, I'm sure my father would let you stay for a night. Anyways, thanks for standing up for me back there." She giggled
"Oh, you heard me, didn't you?"
"Yeah, I may read a lot of books, but I do always listen to people even when I'm reading." I decided it wasn't such a good idea to ask her why women weren't supposed to know how to read, but I guessed that it was just the culture the town had.
"Well, if you're going to stay at my house you'll need to help me and my father out. And he'll probably make you sleep in the barn."
"That crazy old goon needs all the help he can get." Gaston replied with a quick loogie.
"My father is not crazy; he's a genius." Belle defended. Just then, a loud booming noise erupted from her house and red smoke billowed from every window. I ran along with her to see if her father was doing okay. She opened the doors that led to the cellar of the cottage and even more dust clouded out. We could hear continuous coughing echoing from the inside.
"Papa?" Belle gathered courage and walked inside.
"I'll never get this stupid contraption to work!" Belle's father was a short and stubby little man with hair that was turning white with age. Every time he blinked you could see his tufty white eyebrows dance up and down.
"You always say that, Papa. You'll probably get first place in the fair tomorrow, I'm sure of it!"
"Humph!" The old man grumbled and crossed his arms.
"And you'll be a world famous inventor." Belle cheered her father on as I peered around the corner of the room.
"And who is this?" Belle's father glanced at me in wonder.
"Oh well, he stood up for me and made sure I was safe while I made my rounds in town, so I promised that he could stay with us for the night."
"Very well then; any friend of my daughter is my friend as well. It's very nice to meet you, what is your name?"
"Terra." I answered and shook his outstretched hand.
"Ah, now, could you hand me a wrench, dear friend?" Belle's father had crawled back under his invention and called to Belle.
"So, how was it today?"
"Well, I got a new book." Belle admitted as she handed the silver tool to her father.
"Do you think I'm....odd?" She asked her father.
"My daughter? Where would ya get an idea like that?" The middle-aged man rolled out from under his invention with goggles on that amplified his already big and curious eyes.
"I don't know." Belle looked at me, then back at her father while remembering the rude and scornful townspeople.
"There's no one I can really talk to in town; they don't think that I fit in. Well, except you of course." She glanced at me with laughter in her eyes.
"What about that Gaston kid?" The father rolled back under his new invention. You could hear multiple clanking and clunking as he fiddled around inside.
"I don't think anyone would want to talk to him, judging by the way he struts around and boasts of his 'beauty'." I answered for Belle, who was staring at the ground in self pity.
With certainty and joy her father promised, "Well, don't you worry my dear; this invention's going to be the start of a new life for us."
"Now, let's give the invention a try." The latch on the machine was unlocked as the man pulled down on it. You could hear gurgles from the structure as it steamed and worked at thrusting down the axe. Pieces of firewood flew overhead and landed onto a heap of freshly cut pine.
"It works? It works!" Belle's father leaped to the sky in excitement.
"You really did it, father." She embraced him tightly.
"Yes, I did it! I did it!" The stubby little man skipped over to me and almost choked me with a very tight bear hug.
"Yeah, you did it." My voice was muffled and my lips pursed while they turned white as his hug got tighter and tighter.
"Father, I think you should let Terra go now." Belle added to much to my physical and mental relief.
"Oops, I guess I let my excitement control me." He apologized as he let me go.
Yeah, I kinda noticed.
"Goodbye, Papa." Belle farewelled as her dad stumbled away on a clydesdale. The horse trotted at a fast pace as commanded by the man riding it.
"I'll see you soon." The father waved as he disappeared over the hill.
"Well, it'll be getting dark soon, so I better show you to the barn." Belle held my shoulder as she guided towards the tall building that was filled with the rank of cow and horse dung.
"Are you sure you don't, you know, have an extra room in the house, or something?" I chuckled as the stench got worse the closer we came to the barn.
"Well, if it were my decision I would've let you sleep in our spare bedroom. But since my father told me not to give you the room since his inventions are stored in there......" Her voice trailed off as we met the stinky building.
"Moo!"
"Don't worry, you can sleep in the hayloft. The animals won't bother you there. But I must warn you, there may be bats and ticks hiding in the hay and on the ceiling, so be careful." Belle pointed to the rafters. In fact, I saw a few globs of black up there hanging from the ceiling.
Oh great, I get to sleep in the smelliest barn I have ever seen and to sleep with ticks and vampire bats. I really know how to pick the best people to stay with, don't I?
"Well, good night." Belle waved from below the loft with a smile as I tried to make a temporary bed with the hay and straw.
"Yeah, I'll try that." I called back quietly as I watched a few of the bats twitch with light sleep.
The next day was once again a sunny morning. I awoke from the bright sunlight that peeked through the open window next to me. Luckily there had been no ticks in my bedding and the bats ignored me. In order to see how Belle was doing, I got out of the barn the fun and dangerous way by jumping clearly out of the window.
Gaston was kneeling butt up in a mud pond.
"Serves him right." I said to myself.
Upon coming closer to the house, I heard the black-haired man grumble, "I'll get her to marry me no matter what."
I guessed that Gaston had come to her house and proposed marriage. And Belle, being the intelligent woman she was, decided to turn him down.
I walked over to the house to check if Belle was okay. She was peering through the window, and when she saw me she instantly slammed the door open, "Is he gone?"
"Yep." I nodded with certainty.
"Can you imagine, Terra; he asked me to marry him!" She thrust her fist down to her side in anger and frustration.
"Well, that just means you have an annoying admirer, doesn't it? Don't worry, I know how you feel." An image of Pico leaped into my mind's eye.
"Me, being Miss Gaston? No way, no sir, not me." Her brown eyes rolled and she ran off to the hill that loomed about ten feet away.
"I want much, much more than this providential life." She sighed.
"I want adventure in the great light, somewhere." Belle began to sing as a great river tumbled below her in glee.
"I want it more than I can tell." Her brunette hair blew in the wind as she fell to her knees. She began to play with a few cattail grasses.
"And for once it might be grand, to have someone understand." A few red petals fell to the prairie as she plucked them off one by one.
Is this the same way Ven feels? I asked myself in wonder. Did Ven really feel that he was not understood all that well? But he couldn't blame me or Aqua for it because we had never lost our memories. But I knew that he became angry because he either didn't have anyone to blame it on, or he blamed himself. A rush of sympathy tumbled through my heart and made me pity him.
"I want so much more than they've got planned." Sprigs of cotton seeds floated through the air as Belle let them go.
All of the sudden, a horse whinnied in the distance.
"Phillipe! What is wrong?" Belle instantly got up to meet the tan horse and noticed that her father was not with him.
"What happened to father?"
"Oh, we have to find him!" She rushed over to me and grabbed my wrist, "Please Terra, help me find my father." The look of pleading and helplessness in her eyes made me feel guilty of not wanting to go with her.
"Yeah, I'll go with you." I gave up and announced to her relief.
"Oh, thank you!"
"Phillipe, you must take us to him." She ordered the horse with strict command.
"Come on." Belle held out her hand to help me up on the horse. I obliged and helped myself up. Instinctively, Phillipe started to run as soon as I settled myself down on his back.
After about an hour we came to a fork in a path. One road led to a sunny forest, and the other led to a misty and dark glen. Much to my dismay, Phillipe led us down the dark and evil path with fear.
We stopped at a black and ornate gate that creaked as the howling wind blew past. Among the hooting of owls and rustling of trees were the howls of wolves. As soon as Belle heard it, about ten to twenty of them skidded to a stop in front of us. No, they weren't just any wolves; they had the Unbirth symbol across their muzzles.
"Uh-oh. Belle, go on ahead! I'll deal with these idiots!" I fought desperately with my Keyblade to not summon it in front of Belle. If she saw Eternal Horizons, she would guess that I wasn't just any other person who just happened to stroll past the town.
"Are you sure you can handle it?" She asked me with concern in her voice.
"Yeah, I'll meet you in the castle when I finish them off." With that, Belle led Phillipe into the courtyard of the castle without haste.