Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or anything Disney. Sorry for those of you who were confused with this, I didn't realize that I forgot to post this chapter. Hope you like it and can forgive me!
Two years had passed since Nairbix arrived in the Moors, for the most part living in a completely different world did not affect Nairbix as much as it would a normal person. The Moors proved to be an excellent and peaceful place, completely cut off from anyone or anything beyond its borders, this was a welcomed security for its inhabitants. And the recently appointed mother and son who were now enjoying an early morning bath. Well, to be more accurate, Maleficent was while Nairbix was hesitating to enter the water while the Moors watched him undress.
"Mum!" He called nervously, "Are you sure it's okay to bathe here? The Moors won't stop looking at me!" He whined while using his coat to cover himself, Maleficent simply rolled her eyes with a smirk at her son's worrying as she tried to wash her large wings.
"It's fine, darling!" She called back from the water. Not wanting to argue with his mother, Nairbix laid down his coat against the rocks and slowly entered the water.
"But Mum, what if they laugh at me?" He asked as he called to her again.
"Nairbix, you need to take your bath." Maleficent reminded as she continued to wash herself and wait for her son. As he splashed his way over her, the trio of fairies flew above Maleficent's head to speak with her.
"Good morning, Maleficent." They chorused.
"Good morning, ladies. Is there something that you need to discuss with me?" She asked as Nairbix finally made it to her legs, as soon as he noticed it wasn't just himself and his mother, he quickly covered himself by hiding behind Maleficent's leg.
"From what we have heard, the nearby kingdom has reached a decision regarding the Moors." Flora informed.
"Go on, what was their decision?" Maleficent asked.
"Today in several hours, they will lead an invasion on the Moors in order to claim it as a part of their territory. If we don't act fast, then they will succeed!" Meriwether exclaimed.
Maleficent then took a moment to collect her thoughts before telling the fairies what to do. "Inform the guards of what you have told me, let all those who live near our borders to evacuate and come here to the river valley."
"What will you do?" Fauna asked, Maleficent smiled before she picked up Nairbix and held him in her arms while his face flushed in embarrassment.
"When they come, I will meet the soldiers in battle. But for now, I need to give my bashful little boy here his bath." She replied as Nairbix groaned while rubbing her nose to his.
After the reluctant bath was finished and Maleficent was drying Nairbix off, he began to wince in pain and hold his head with one of his hands. "Headaches again, darling?" She asked with concern as they were dressing themselves, he weakly nodded his head as the pain continued.
Maleficent pressed her lips against her son's head to see if he had a fever only to find it perfectly normal. "You don't seem to have a fever…let's just find you a nice place to rest until the pain goes away, alright?" She asked receiving a nod of the head in her embrace as she picked him up, she then laid Nairbix down on their usual bed of grass and stroked his hair lovingly.
"Sleep well, darling. When I get back and if you're feeling any better, we'll go play in the streams, sound good?" She asked as Nairbix whimpered from the pain, Maleficent then planted a kiss on his cheek and left to go off to battle.
It wasn't long after that Nairbix began to writhe in pain from his headache, cold sweat began to form on his head as a single voice filled it.
"What would you do with power? What would you exchange for it if it was given to you?" But Nairbix never gave any response to the voice for the pain was too much for him to even form a sentence. Then everything faded into darkness and Nairbix began to fall through its void, there's no telling how long he fell but to him, time was lost. He soon began to see a very peculiar sight below him, it was a large dark red stain glass circle panel.
On its surface at the right side, a sleeping Nairbix leaning against the rim could be seen. Towards the upper left side and partially in the center were four smaller circles, one had the image of Aslan on it while the other three were blank. Surrounding the panel were black symbols linked together in smaller red circles to hold them.
The symbol was a circle with a small point on top with a dot in the center, and at the bottom left and right parts of it were straight rectangles that then at their ends bent to cross over each other and reached up to the sides of the circle.
After Nairbix had finished falling, he gently landed on the panel and waited for whatever would come next. Just then, three pedestals appeared in a flash of light at the edges of the beautiful glass with an item barely floating above them. One was a beautiful and powerful broadsword, the second was a large and thick black shield, and the third was a short golden staff with a blue magical crystal.
"The power sleeps within you, if you give it form it will give you strength." The voice said as each weapon appeared. "Choose well."
Nairbix made his way over to the staff to see what power it would give him, as he picked it up the voice filled the void again. "The power of the mystic. Inner strength. A staff of wonder and ruin. Is this the power you seek?" It asked, Nairbix shook his head and placed the staff back in place before he examined his other options. He then took hold of the shield and listened to the voice again.
"The power of the guardian. Kindness to aid friends. A shield to repel all. Is this the power you seek?" Once again, Nairbix refused before he went to see his final option's potential, he walked over and grasped the sword firmly in his hands as the voice spoke.
"The power of the warrior. Invincible courage. A sword of terrible destruction. Is this the power you seek?" This time however was different, Nairbix had actually agreed to the power and as he did the sword disintegrated into light and entered Nairbix's body. "What power will you give up?" It asked.
Without much thought on the matter, Nairbix gave up the power of the mystic and left the power of the guardian to fade away, and not a moment later in a cylinder of darkness, Nairbix's Keyblade Heartbreaker appeared in his hand.
It was about the length for a child his size it was menacing, it was magenta and black it had green eye with a black slit for a pupil just above the hilt. The guard was in the shape of black heart with curved thorns outlining it, the hilt was black with a hint of red through the center with two red swirls on the center one on top of the other.
At the end of the guard was chain and at the end was a red arrow with a curved down spike on each side with an inward curve just under each one. The blade itself was black with hints of red, decorated down straight blade were S swirls and half S swirls in the color blood red, at the end of the blade were the teeth that seemed demonic it was like the rest of the blade black with hints of red. It seemed to be made of thorns and spikes, it truly was a weapon fitting someone with a heart of pure darkness; it was a Keyblade of darkness.
"The weapon has been forged. Go forth, chosen wielder of the Keyblade." In a flash bright light, Nairbix had left The Station of Awakening; and though he didn't know it, his sleeping image on the panel that was his heart was now wielding Heartbreaker in his left hand.
When Nairbix awoke moments later, the rising sun shined in his eyes briefly blinding him. How long had he been in his Station? Hours? Days? Had his mother been worried sick? Oh, dear golden mane of the great lion, his mother! Did she win the battle, did she die in combat-what had happened to his dear parent while he was unconscious?!
Nairbix began to run as fast as his little legs could carry him through the Moors to find anyone who could give him the answer. But his little excursion was quickly brought to an end when he bumped into someone larger than himself.
"Pardon me, I am truly sorry for that-" Nairbix's apology was cut short when he gazed at who it was he ran into. It was his mother, clutching a long a long golden scepter that held a green orb on its top, a crow was also bouncing around her head to see if she was alright, but the most shocking thing about Maleficent was…she was missing her beloved wings! "Mother, wh-what happened to you?" He asked as he helped her to her feet.
"My wings were taken from me, Nairbix. They were taken from me by someone who I trusted my heart with, only to have it crushed." Maleficent said in the same bitter and cold tone that she would use for the rest of her life and only add love in it for her child. "Take these words to heart, my son. Humans can only hurt people!" She growled as she limped past Nairbix.
"Believe me, I know." He muttered under his breath as he thought of what humans did to Narnia and the Narnians. The crow then flew onto his shoulder and bumped his head playfully, Nairbix then stroked his head with a small smile, just like he did with Jackdaw. At that point, it wasn't just the right time to tell his mother about his new little "trick." It was the time for him to be there to give his love to the second person that actually loved him.
It wasn't until nine months passed before Maleficent, her crow Diaval and Nairbix made their way to the castle that belonged to the newly crowned King Stefan. A.K.A. the man who was once Maleficent's former childhood friend/love and the one who took her wings so that he could become the King. Ironically, Nairbix still had not informed his mother about his Keyblade. The problem wasn't that he was afraid of his mother ever since she had turned to darkness and vengeance and declared herself the Queen of the Moors. He just didn't want to bring up the matter to his mother just yet, especially not after she told him of what she had in store for the newborn princess and daughter of King Stefan.
The castle was filled with nobles and even the trio of fairies, who were very quick to change their loyalties to after Maleficent frightened them too much. To add dramatic effect, Maleficent used her magic to blow out all of the candles that lit the courtroom and scare the guests with a great gust of wind.
They all moved out of their way and left a perfect path for them to walk through, at the end the King, Queen, fairies and the cradle holding the baby could be seen. As both Maleficent and Nairbix approached them all, Maleficent began to speak with an evil and dark smirk on her pale face.
"Well, well. What a glittering assemblage, King Stefan." She said as Diaval flew down to her staff as a perch, she then began to pet his feathers and gaze about the room. "Royalty. Nobility. The gentry…and…how quaint." She chuckled as she spotted the trio. "Even the rabble." As she was speaking, Nairbix was looking at the cute face of the infant Princess Aurora in her cradle. "I must say I really felt quite distressed at not receiving an invitation."
"You're not welcome here." Stefan said nervously. Maleficent then began to act as though her feelings were hurt after he said this, but her fake disappointment was replaced by evil chuckles. Her expression then changed of shock and realization.
"Oh, dear. What an awkward situation!" She said while stroking Nairbix's hair after he walked back to her side.
"But you're not offended?" The Queen asked louder than her husband.
"Why, no." She replied. "And to show I bear no ill will, I, too, shall bestow a gift onto the child."
"No! We don't want your gift!" Stefan shouted as he rose from his throne.
"Stay away from the princess!" Flora ordered the larger fairy as she and her sisters defended the infant.
"Yes, stay away!" Fauna exclaimed, but Maleficent simply tossed them aside into a trunk with a flick of her hand as she and Nairbix went to the cradle. She then thought of what she ought to do to the baby; Maleficent then focused her magic to her fingertips and readied her spell.
"Listen well, all of you. The Princess shall indeed grow in grace and beauty, beloved by all who meet her."
"That's a lovely gift." The Queen interrupted wanting the dark fairy to stop.
"Don't do this." Stefan pleaded softly. But both she and Nairbix gently raised a finger to their lips to silence the King and Queen.
"Mother." Nairbix said madly as he tugged on her black robes, he then pointed at the spindle of a nearby spinning wheel with his eyes blazing with emerald fire from his slit like pupils. The thoughts then began to race in Maleficent's head from this inspiration as she slowly walked towards it.
"But…" She began as she collected her green magic and let it envelope her. "Before the sun sets on her sixteenth birthday, she will prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and fall into a sleeplike death, a sleep from which she will never awaken!"
"Maleficent, please don't do this, I'm begging you." Stefan pleaded.
"I like you begging. Don't you, Nairbix darling?" She asked her son who smirked at the human King evilly.
"It suits any arrogant Son of Adam. That and traitors." He replied as he glared at the pitiful ruler.
"Do it again." They both demanded. He then reluctantly bowed to them on one knee and begged once more.
"I beg you." He repeated.
"Alright." Maleficent said smiling wickedly at him. "The princess can be woken from her death sleep. But only by…true love's kiss." She then turned to the all the guests and continued. "This curse shall last till the end of time! No power of this world can change it." It was then that Nairbix added his own touch to the curse as he summoned his Keyblade shocking all who saw it as darkness enveloped both it and him.
"And if any power beyond true love's kiss should try to end this curse…may they be stopped by the powers of this mighty key! And as its strength grows, so shall this curse." And with that, the three of them left the castle after leaving their mark on the baby.
Back at the now darker Moors, Maleficent and Nairbix were basking in their victory over the traitor Stefan. However, Maleficent was more curious as to what that key that her son used was.
"Nairbix." She said in a stern tone, "Where did you acquire that key and more importantly, when did you come across it?"
"…Would you believe that…I made it inside myself…that day you went to battle?" He asked nervously like any regular child would say as though he was caught with his hand in the cookie jar, and of course his mother was giving him the disappointed glare and stern hands on hips.
"You didn't tell me about this, it has been nine months and you didn't tell me about this?" Maleficent asked.
"In my defense, I didn't want to add any distractions to you-and I knew that you were in all sorts of pain. So that's why I didn't tell you, are you upset?" Nairbix asked.
"No, I'm not upset. Though I do wish that you would have told me sooner. In any case, we will need to move away from the Moors for the time being." She informed Nairbix gaining his attention and confusion as she began to walk away from her throne of dead branches.
"What, where will we go then?" He asked following her at her heels, she looked down at him with a small smile and held his little hand in her own as Diaval flew down onto Nairbix's shoulder.
"After my wings were taken from me, I had wondered through the land surrounding the Moors and stumbled upon an old abandoned castle. Now it may not be in the best of shape, but I have my servants restoring most of it as we speak. And before I forget, I have something for you, darling." Maleficent said as she pulled an item from her robes, in her hands was a limp, black poorly made stuffed dragon clearly hand made by the dark fairy herself.
At the sight of the stuffed toy, Nairbix's eyes lit up and a wide happy grin grew on his face. He held it tightly in his arms after his mother handed it to him and gained a look of pure joy at the sight of her little one's happiness from his mother.
"Thank you, Mother, I love you." Nairbix said happily.
"I love you too, darling." She replied with a slight chuckle.
The next few months passed on fairly quickly, the little family kept their eyes on the cursed infant after they discovered that she had been taken by the trio of fairies by the order of King Stefan. But at one point in these months, Maleficent struggled to make a difficult choice concerning her child, this was not the first time she had come across the Keyblade. It was in fact the second time.
At one point in her childhood, she had met an older man who had both a Keyblade and very powerful magic. The choice that she was considering was either keeping her son to herself, or to inform this other wielder of the Keyblade and allow him to train Nairbix on how to properly wield it.
So one day, at the base of their secret castle, the great Keyblade Master Yen Sid was making his way up the barren hill that led to the ruined castle that held the fallen fairy Maleficent. He wore long blue robes and a blue pointy hat decorated with two yellow stars and a yellow crescent moon.
His beard was darker in the center and came straight down like a streak in between the graying sides of long beard. The guards looked at him with glares but did nothing for they knew not to even think of anything that might give the wizard a reason to use his magic on them.
He continued walking until he came into the fallen fairy's throne room, and there he saw her dressed in black robes, with long horns, pale moon skin with long black hair reaching down to the center of her back. She was currently sitting on her throne with her staff in her left hand and a large black jeweled ring on her right middle finger. She gazed down at the wizard from her high perch, Diaval then swooped down and landed on the top of her staff, she still looked down on the old man who did not look away and stood firm towards Maleficent.
"I'm glad to see you received and accepted my invitation, Yen Sid." She said with a sickening sweet smile.
"Obviously, or else I would not have bothered coming here, Maleficent. Is he here or not?" Yen Sid with his natural glare.
"Of course he is. I make sure to keep him here at all times in my sight. Come along then, I will lead you to him." She said motioning over to the corridor to the left as she walked down the stair case that led to her throne. They then walked down two hallways to reach a wooden door that seemed to be in better condition than all the others that seemed to be nothing but remains of old lumber. Maleficent then opened the door to show a more cared for room that had a small soft looking bed in one corner that seemed big enough for a small child.
On the floor was a wide red circular rug that had several stuffed animals scattered around it, some were bears others were rabbits that seemed to be handmade but made poorly none the less. In the center of the carpet was the little boy holding the poorly made black limp stuffed dragon that was his favorite.
"Nairbix, darling." Maleficent said warmly to the child with a motherly smile.
"Yes, Mother?" He said turning his head to see his mother with an old man next to her.
"This is Keyblade Master Yen Sid. He is here to see that trick you can do. The one you showed me a little while ago." She reminded her son.
"Oh, okay." He then stood up and lifted his left arm to his right and made a motion where it looked like he was pulling something out. As he waved his arm over to where it was extended down at his side a cylinder of darkness surrounded his arm and in his hand was a Keyblade, clearly one of darkness in eyes of Yen Sid.
"Like that, sir?" Nairbix asked innocently looking up at the older man who smiled at him.
"Yes, little one. Do you know what this is?" He asked pointing at the weapon in the little boy's hand. He received a shake of the head telling him no. "That is what is known as a Keyblade. I have come to offer you a chance to learn how to properly wield it." The boy looked very shocked at what he heard and then looked at his mother to see if it was alright to answer.
"It's your choice, darling." Maleficent said with a sad reassuring smile at her boy. He then put away his Keyblade and walked over to his mother and hugged her legs. She felt tears come to her eyes as she crouched down to meet his level and hugged him back now knowing his answer.
"Will I be able to see her again?" Nairbix asked the older man.
Yen Sid looked at him with a smile and said, "Of course, she will be able to visit you while you train with me. Do not worry this will not be the last time you see your mother. This will also be a chance for you to have many adventures and friends both from many worlds."
Nairbix then looked at his mother's cold eyes that he knew were filled with love for him and him alone. He then said to her, "Thank you so much for everything that you have done for me. You took me in and raised me even though it was for a short time. I know I'm not your real son, but I am glad that you took me in and that you were the first one to love me."
"I may not have given birth to you, but never think for a moment that you are not my real son. I am so glad that I found you and that I am your mother. I love you, sweetheart. So much." She said to him with tears in her eyes. Her crow Diaval, looked at his little master with a sad look in his eyes as he watched the boy he too loved, leave them.
"Are you ready, Nairbix?" Yen Sid asked sad to see the one thing that gave the dark fairy happiness. The boy then grabbed all of his things together in a little sack with his dragon in his left arm and nodded. The new apprentice then walked out of the castle while all of the creatures that guarded it bowed their heads in sadness as they saw their little master leave.
As they were walking out of the castle Nairbix spoke up, "Um, Master? You do know that I have a heart of pure darkness, don't you?"
Yen Sid looked down at the little boy holding his hand, and noticed that he had a scared look on his face when he asked this question. He gave him a kind smile and said to him, "Yes, I do know that. But I do not see why that would change my reasons for wanting to teach you. Many believe that the nature of one's heart defines that person, but I say otherwise. I think that it is the actions one makes that define them, makes them whom they are. Whether or not they have more darkness than light in their hearts, or with more light than darkness or even if you have only one of the two. It is our own choices that define each and every one of us it makes us whom we are. This is the beginning of a new life for you, my young pupil, what choice shall you make to start it?" The old wizard asked.
Nairbix looked out in front of him to see the dark sky and barren landscape that he has grown to love and call home. He then looked behind him to see his mother her castle and her minions all filled with darkness but proved to be home and family to him in his two years living there with them all.
He then looked forward once more and said with determination, "I choose to prove to everyone in every world out there, that darkness can be used for good and not just evil. That darkness can be just as protecting as light and that there is no difference, only that people have misused it to make others think that it is evil."
"That is quite a goal you have. But I think that you shall be the one to prove this to people, it sounds like you have a good dream in mind." Yen Sid chuckled.
"Oh, no, that's not my dream." Nairbix said shaking his head as they stopped at the spot where Yen Sid entered to this world.
"Then what is your dream, Nairbix?" Yen Sid asked turning towards his new apprentice and looking down at him over his beard.
The boy looked up at his Master with a smile and said proudly, "To get married and have a family one day."
"That is an excellent dream, little one." Yen Sid replied with a smile.
He then summoned his own Keyblade, its guard was around the black guard made in the shape of blue wings on each side that turned golden on their tips and where the wings began were circles with yellow stars in the center.
Just below the hilt was yellow for pronged star with a short silver spike in between each groove, connected to that star was a short silver chain that at the end carried a small golden moon. Above the hilt was a similar star but slightly smaller and was blue, the blade was a night blue rod covered with white stars as it rose to the top it curved in two a light violet curve with four short spikes along the outer side, on the inner side of the crescent grove was a large crescent golden moon with a golden star in between the arch of the crescent.
With a wave of it he opened a corridor of light and the two walked through it beginning a brand new adventure together. They then came to The Mysterious Tower where Nairbix was going to begin his new life as a wielder of the Keyblade. As they walked up the winding staircase Yen Sid led Nairbix to his new bedroom which was a very simple accommodation, it had a bed, a book shelf, a desk and window in the shape of a crescent moon showing the permanent night sky over the sea of lava.
"Now rest for tonight, tomorrow we shall begin your training." Yen Sid informed just before closing the door.
Nairbix then put away his things and got under the covers of his bed with his dragon snuggled in his arms as sleep took him. Morning came and Nairbix awoke to find a plate of breakfast on his desk, after he ate, he then looked around to find his Master but instead he found someone else entirely.
A small mouse child wearing a too big red robe with rope tied around his waist as a belt with dark blue shorts underneath with old brown shoes for his large feet. He also wore white gloves for his huge hands, his fur was black and he had a big round head with two big circular ears on top of his head, he had black oval shaped eyes. He was carrying two wooden buckets of water and looked as though he was in a hurry.
"Hello?" Nairbix asked. The mouse turned towards him with a smile.
"Oh, hello, you must be Master's new apprentice. I'm Mickey, his other apprentice." He introduced with a nod seeing how he couldn't shake hands.
"Yep, my name is Nairbix VanSull." He introduced. "Um, do you know where to find the master?" He asked.
"Yep, I'm heading there right now actually." Mickey said. They then began to walk down the hallway until they came into Yen Sid's study with said wizard sitting in his tall wooden chair.
"Good morning, Master." They both said.
"And good morning to you as well, my young apprentices. So it would seem that you two have now met, now we may begin your training."