The Age of Fairy Tales

Chapter I: A Broken World

"This is it."

At last she had made it.

Salem had finally made it back to the Land of Darkness. It had been a long journey, filled with pain. Everyone knew what Salem had done when she tricked humanity into turning against the Gods. They had denounced her as the source of their troubles and the loss of their magic, many of them attempting to kill her for what she had done. More than once, Salem had to fight off angry mobs of people with some managing to capture her…

"Burn her!"

"Burn the witch who dared to attack the Gods!"

"We lost our magic because of your!"

"My family is dead because of you!"

Salem had used her magic to kill many of the people who had come after her, but a quick arrow to the head had left her disorientated enough that they managed to grab her.

Then came the pitchforks, the swords and the spears stabbing her.

And when that didn't work, they decided to burn her.

Salem screamed as they burned her alive but even that didn't kill her.

In fact it made her so angry she lashed out with her magic and used the fire to kill her tormentors, burning them alive.

Salem had made sure to kill anyone who crossed her path after that as she made her way to the Land of Darkness.

She cursed the Gods for cursing her.

She cursed her father for locking her away.

She cursed humanity for casting her out and torturing her.

She even cursed Aqua for standing in her way and Ozma for dying.

She cursed everyone but herself for she had refused to believe she had done anything wrong. She only wanted to be with Ozma.

That was why she was here now.

She stood over a cliff, staring down at the dark pool that gave birth to the monsters that now plagued the world. She closed her eyes…and leapt down into the pool. She smiled as she landed in the pool, waiting for death to claim her.

If the pool of life from the God of Light made her immortal than maybe the pool of destruction from the God of Darkness would take that immortality away.

She could finally be with Ozma again.

She waited…

Only to feel a great pain engulf her…

Instead of destroying her, the pool of destruction changed her which was shown as she slowly crawled out from it.

Her skin and hair had become pale white; her nails pitch black and her eyes changing to black and red, matching the colors of the monsters the pool still birthed.

Salem was no longer just an immortal being.

In fact, she was likely no longer human.

She was now an immortal being of pure destruction.

And in time, she would find her adversary.

Only it would not just be one.

And her attempt had caught someone…or something's attention.

"Interesting."

Salem looked up, her eyes now glowing red as she looked upon what appeared to be a dark mist but she could see the outline of a human with no definable features inside it. "Who are you?"

"…Darkness." The entity answered in a voice so alien it Salem wasn't sure she actually heard or understood. "You interest us…We see in you the potential to spread and infect other worlds."

"I serve…no one!" Salem shouted, firing a magical blast at the entity.

The attack however passed through the entity like it did not even exist.

"You refuse us now…but we sense there will be a time when that changes. Until then, accept your new darkness. Since obey no one, we will not attempt to make you one with us…but we will leave behind a safety measure."

Salem roared, unleashing another magical blast on Darkness as it vanished from sight, leaving the dark woman alone in the dark lands.

Xxx

"Where am I?"

These were the first words Ozma spoke when he found himself having returned to the living world. He was now a young man with a tanned complexion and pale blond hair, who had just stabbed a Beowolf with a pitchfork, causing it to disintegrate. Ozma took a moment to come to terms in his new body and surroundings. He looked up and saw people screaming and running into the forest he is in away from a burning village in the distance.

"AAAH!"

Ozma heard a man scream, and looked over to see him flailing a sword at a Beowolf, which swiped at him to the ground, disarming him. Ozma's previous soul took over and ran forward, grabbing the man's sword and slaying the Beowolf instantly.

He then turned and helped the man, who had a grateful look on his face, get back up. "Thank you. Please, tell me your name. Who are you?"

He was about to answer but found himself struggling.

Who was he?

Surely that was an easy answer.

'I am Diggs, no wait, my name is Ozma! No, that's not my name!' The man thought and threw the sword to the ground in horror.

Who was he?

Was he Diggs, the poor former who was struggling for his life?

Or was he Ozma, the ancient warrior chosen by the Gods to redeem mankind?

Xxx

"Long ago, in a time when humanity was left struggling for survival a woman in blue and silver armor would appear, wielding a spear that would sometimes split and become a pair of pistols would appear and battled against the forces of evil and darkness. No Grimm would approach her and no wicked heart could touch her. It is also believed she could travel across vast distances on a chariot of some sort created by her weapon as well, allowing her to cross distances very quickly. One day she would appear to save a village from Grimm and the next day, stopping criminals from carrying out their heinous acts. Others claim the woman's true weapon was that of a sword."

"A sword shaped like a key."

'And so my journey begins.'

Aqua opened her eyes and found herself standing in the middle of a forest. She took a moment to compose herself, looking down at her body to make sure nothing was noticeably different about her. She wasn't sure if there would be any side effects to this quest through time she had embarked upon.

'I have no idea for sure how long this journey will last. Will it end in what feels like a day for me or will I feel perhaps countless years pass me by?' Aqua wondered to herself as she simply began walking.

For the first time in a good long while there was no destination in mind.

No enemies to fight.

No one in peril for her to save.

Her purpose was simply to traverse the hearts of Ozma's past until she reached the era where all seven hearts she had connected and bonded with were born.

'Have I truly done the right thing in taking on this quest?' Aqua looked up at the clouded night sky. 'To become part of this world's history in such a way…It almost feels like I am playing God here, deciding the course of many lives and what will happen for a very long time, reaching across not just a hundred years but maybe a millennia or worse yet many millennia.'

Could she truly make it to the end?

And would she still be herself if she succeeded?

'I'm not even sure where I am supposed to go now.' Aqua closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh. 'I only know what I saw from Ozma and…Ozma!'

Aqua looked around briefly, wondering if Ozma appeared with her in this new world. 'I saw him vanish just before I came here and based on what Izanagi said, he's been reborn in this world. Maybe I can start with him!'

The question now was how would she find him?

'I remember sensing Oz-Oscar, Jaune's magic back on the island. It was greatly reduced but enough for me to recognize. Maybe if I try hard enough I can sense his magic here.' Aqua closed her eyes and concentrated.

As a Keyblade Wielder, she was naturally attuned to the forces of magic, especially magic that is tied to light and darkness. This also gave her the ability to sense magic, though admittedly it was not perfect.

Just enough she could-

A pulse of green light appearing in a nearby village!

Aqua's eyes shot open, sensing the familiar magic she had felt from the few times she had met Ozma, both in the past and on the island. Now that she had a possible path, she immediately set forth out into the direction where she had sense the magic.

Perhaps this will be easier if she had a friend with her.

Xxx

When Ozma accepted being reincarnated, he had no idea what was in for him or how different the world would be.

Cities once grand in appearance where now simple, built by hand and less accommodating.

Creatures known as Faunus walked the world, bearing claws and fangs which led to them being locked in cages.

And without the blessings of the Gods, no one could perform magic like mankind was once capable of.

Still, he discovered strange crystals seemingly holding an essence similar to the old magic.

Was this what happened to mankind's magic?

Had it been all crystalized?

Ozma then walked by the cages, watching the Faunus glare and hiss at him.

He should have been moving to help but he was still so unsure of this new world he had been reborn in to.

So many questions with almost no reasonable way to answer them.

How would he go about uniting mankind?

Where were the relics the God of Light conjured and spoke of?

And what about Salem?

The God of Light told him she was still alive, meaning she had to be somewhere in this new world.

'Salem lives but the woman you hold dear in your memories is gone. Heed this warning…where you seek comfort, you will only find pain.'

Ozma shook his head, putting the God of Light's warning to the back of his mind.

He knew Salem.

He knew the kind of woman she was.

No matter what, he couldn't believe the woman loved was gone with someone else in her place.

At least not without seeing for himself.

Xxx

Aqua was having her own little troubles as she walked into the nearest town and could just how much things had truly changed.

What was once a world of grand kingdoms fashioned likely by magic was now a world of scattered villages, houses made by hand and less impressive looking.

It was almost a sad sight.

WHIP!

Aqua's eyes went wide as a whipping sound echoed through the air and she took off running in the direction.

"Move it, you animals!"

A howl of pain was heard as Aqua came upon the scene and what she saw horrified her…and made her blood boil.

People with animal traits, similar to the girl with cat ears named Blake, being forced into caged carriages as a man was whipping one of them rather harshly. The apparent leader turned and swung his whip next at a man who had a child behind him.

The man swung his whip…

SLASH!

But before the whip made contact with its target it was suddenly sliced in half. Everyone stopped and looked to see a young woman with blue hair, dressed primarily in black with white bell like sleeves covering her arms, stand up and glaring harshly at the slavers.

"Release your prisoners now." She said with hostile finality in her voice. "And then leave this place."

One of the slavers pulled out a short sword, clearly intending to stab or cut her with it. Aqua barely glanced at him as she raised one hand and an invisible barrier blocked the sword, shattering it on contact. Aqua then swung her Keyblade and a single slash sent the man flying through the air, crashing into the ground with a loud thud sound. The rest of the slavers surrounded her, armed with crude weapons.

"Thunder!"

Bolts of lightning shot down from the sky, hitting the slavers which earned screams of pain as they fell to the ground.

Still alive but in deep pain.

The man and his daughter gasped from the sheer sight of the woman's strange powers and paled as she turned to them. She slowly approached them and they trembled, wanting to run but were too injured by the slavers to get up and flee. She placed a hand over both of them and there was a flash of green light. They closed their eyes, expecting to die a second later.

"Heal."

Only they didn't.

They opened their eyes and were surprised to see the green light healing their wounds and the pain soon faded from their bodies. They looked up at her face, seeing only kindness in her eyes that was matched by the smile she gave them. Once they were healed, Aqua stood up and pointed her Keyblade at the cages. From the tip of her weapon came a beam of light that split up into several beams, all of which hit the locks on the cages.

The prisoners flinched in fear but were surprised to see the light only unlocked the cages, freeing them. Slowly, they all crawled out but remained still as she approached them. Aqua carefully looked them over, seeing most of them had whip marks on their bodies.

"Heal."

The prisoners watched in awe as she conjured that same green light to heal them all like she had done with the father and his daughter whom looked on with the same expression. The daughter looked to one of the prisoners, a woman who had her eyes closed as she bathed in the green light that took away all her pain and healed her wounds.

"Mama!"

Aqua glanced over to see the girl run up to the woman who was apparently her mother, jumping right into her arms as both cried happily at being together once again. This feeling of jubilation was soon shared by the rest of the freed prisoners, all of them smiling and thanking the woman who had saved them.

"She saved us!"

"Was that magic?"

"Magic is a myth!"

"Then what was that?"

"Is she an angel?"

Aqua blushed when she heard a little boy ask that question and cleared her throat. "If none of you mind, can you help me with something?"

They looked at her with varying looks of confusion and apprehension as she gestured to the slavers. "Can you help me put all of them into the carriages?"

They all looked surprised for a second…

And then they all smiled.

In the course of several minutes, the slavers were all locked in their own cages while Aqua gathered up the supplies she had found in the carriages, giving them to the newly freed slaves. "This is all they had but it should be enough. You should leave here and find somewhere else to live so that this will not happen again."

The former prisoners nodded in compliance to her advice, many of them ready to leave when the daughter Aqua had saved stepped forward. "Wait…who are you?"

This caused the former prisoners to pause before they agreed with her question, all of them wanting to know the identity of the woman who had saved them.

Aqua paused, having just now realized that of course they would want to know who she was since she had saved them from a lifetime of slavery and servitude.

She could just say her name and leave it that but she doubted they would just accept that.

It had slipped her mind that magic no longer existed here and she had just wielded a form of magic in front of them, even if it was to save their lives.

She needed to think of an answer and fast.

That was when she remembered the title bestowed upon her by Artura before they parted. "My name is Aqua…I am the Ocean Knight."

To make sure this sunk in, Aqua summoned her Keyblade Armor around herself, shocking the former prisoners.

"Please, you must not waste any more time. This village is no longer safe for you." Aqua immediately stated, cutting off any more conversation.

A growling sound was heard and Aqua turned around to see a pack of Beowolves emerge from the forest. She summoned her Keyblade and took a ready stance as the Grimm slowly approached her…

But upon sniffing at her, they halted for some reason.

They continued to growl and snarl at the people behind her but they did not move to attack Aqua who was standing between them and their prey. Aqua then remembered that Erebus had called off the hunt for her out of respect for her defending him and his brother from Salem's army. From the way they had sniffed at her, they recognized her.

The prisoners behind her were huddling in fear.

"Everyone, take your things and go." Aqua commanded.

They all seemed hesitant to do so but Aqua repeated her command more firmly. "Go!"

The Faunus seemed to take the hint as they started moving but picked up the weapons of the fallen slavers and headed off into the woods.

Except the girl stayed a moment longer.

Why?

So she could rush up and hug Aqua's leg, surprising her.

"Thank you." She said before letting go and running after her parents.

Aqua waited until they were gone before facing the Grimm. "These people are under my protection. Leave."

The Grimm snarled at her but Aqua held her ground and with a wave of her hand, conjured a barrier around them to keep them from following the prisoners.

"This barrier will not very long." Aqua approached the carriages where the slavers were awake and scared they were going to die. "But I will not stand for bloodshed in my presence, even if you will not harm me."

She got up on the front carriage and a second later the horses were rushing into the forest, pulling the carriages with their new prisoners and the Keyblade Master with them. By the time the barrier broke, they were long gone.

This was only the beginning however.

The beginning of the legend of the Ocean Knight.

Xxx

Aqua left behind the carriages in the next village, letting the villages decide what to do with the slavers. She had lost of a lot of time saving those people even if she didn't regret it.

'I can still feel imprints of Ozma's magic. Enough to know he was close by but he seems to be gone.' Aqua sighed but remained calm. 'I'll have to try and focus harder on finding him.'

She could gain more ground if she took to the air but she wondered what would happen if she was spotted by people on the ground.

She was still bound by the rules of the World Order to keep the existence of the Keyblade a secret.

'I guess I will have to resort to the old fashioned way.' Aqua sighed before focusing on trying to pick up Ozma's magical signature.

She could feel it…

Along with something else.

"I sense…darkness." Aqua's eyes opened and she turned her head in the direction where she felt a strange but familiar form of darkness. 'Something off in the distance…It's similar to the darkness of the Grimm but I also sense something else about. A familiar form of magic…'

It seemed Aqua had two choices now: Continue searching for Ozma or try and locate this mysterious darkness she was sensing.

She pondered but decided on the second since it was remaining stationary while Ozma already had a day's head start on her. She would try and find him later after she investigated this darkness.

Xxx

The Ocean Knight, also known as the Silver Knight is a figure that is present in many other tales of both history and myth of Remnant, hailed as a warrior, savior, hero, and healer. Her actions however, have always spoken the loudest no matter she is labelled as.

Even as an enemy to those who would seek her destruction.