The Age of Fairy Tales

Chapter II: The Grimm Child

"Many stories explore innocence as a blessing and a curse. A blessing to not understand evil, and a curse to not recognize it. However, all good stories do share one thing in common. They are not what to expect."

It was perhaps mid-morning with the sun shining down on a young woman who was walking throughout the forest and stared at the sunlight as she stopped. She had an air of adventure about her as she looked up and inhaled deeply. She was dressed in a simple cream colored shirt and shorts with a brown vest tied by a single belt. Her hair was bright wavy red and tied in a ponytail and she had freckles under her eyes.

What was this young woman doing in the surrounding forest?

"Poppy? Where... where'd you go? Come back, Poppy!" A young voice called out for her.

She looked over her shoulder and saw her brother right outside the forest, too afraid to enter which made her roll her eyes. "What a coward."

She was here to prove a point.

The point being that there was nothing in this forest that could harm her.

All the people in the village, including her own parents were afraid to come near this forest but not her.

She was not just brave, she was also smart.

She knew there was nothing in here at all.

The people claimed a witch lived in this forest, one that could influence the dark beasts that roamed these lands. The witch placed a curse on all who dared to enter her forest, trespassing on her property and those that did would die a dark and horrible death.

Poppy would only scoff and roll her eyes at such nonsense.

Poppy then noticed a shadow overshadowing the forest and stared at the dark fog. She gasped as she quickly ran until she's out of the woods.

Poppy stood up and straightened herself before turning to her brother. "See, Oak, told you so. Your turn."

"But, but it's dangerous. Mother and father say so." Oak argued, clearly against going into the woods.

Poppy just scoffed. "Come on, are you scared of trees? I double dare you."

Oak turned around but was still afraid to enter the forest.

"If you don't do it, I won't be your friend anymore." Poppy said, getting behind her brother.

"You have to. You're my sister." Oak argued, still not wishing go into the dark forest.

"Not the same thing." Poppy shoves Oak into the forest as she watched her brother traverse the forest all by himself.

Poppy waited and waited for Oak, the day passing by really fast until it was sunset.

Finally after hour of waiting, Poppy called out for her brother. "Oak, you there?"

There was no response from Oak but a coyote howling was heard. Poppy groaned, knowing she would have to go in and retrieve the little coward. Poppy walked through the woods looking for Oak. After a few minutes of traversing the forest, Poppy gasped to find Oak half-dead on the ground, his eyes having turned black and his skin was covered with red veins.

Poppy rushed over to her brother, horrified of his state. "Oak!" She touched Oak's shoulder, but pulled her hand away. "You're cold."

Poppy heard something and she gasped when she looked back, seeing something dark lurking in the surrounding forest.

"Let's go home."

Xxx

'Only a day since I have started and I'm already tired.'

Aqua had been traveling for the better part of a day, her senses leading her to the darkness they had detected. She had come across several villages, seeing the large wooden walls built around them to likely keep out the Grimm and were naturally weary of outsiders.

'If this darkness is indeed Salem I doubt she'll be happy to see me again.' Aqua thought to herself, sighing as her legs started to ache a bit from the walking. 'Based on what I saw from her, or rather what she will become I can't even stop her even if I want to. Her darkness is part of Remnant and I cannot interfere with the locals.'

That was the part that especially conflicted with her morals.

Would life be better off if she fought and destroyed Salem somehow?

Could she even remove the curse placed on her by Izanagi and Erebus?

The Keyblade a natural conduit for magic and had the power to open any lock and Aqua knew the Keyblade could reverse any curse.

She just wasn't sure if that included curses by gods since she never tried it before.

But at the same time, she was bound by the rules of the World Order to never intervene, even though she technically had.

'Well, perhaps not intervene directly.' Aqua sighed to herself. 'The World Order, the order that forbids all Keyblade Wielders and other off-worlders from directly intervening in the affairs of the world. If we did, the people would learn about us and the worlds, either coming to completely rely upon us to solve their own problems or use to travel to the other worlds as a means to benefit themselves, usually through conquest.'

She had seen it herself and even heard more of it from Ansem.

'Xehanort broke this rule when he told Maleficent about the Keyblade and the Princesses of Heart. Ansem learned about it and started some rather questionable experiments, only stopping when he saw the moral implications of what he was doing and the possible consequences. Only his apprentices, led by Terra who was possessed by Xehanort's heart betrayed him and stranded him in the Realm of Darkness, choosing to continue the experiments and released the Heartless on the worlds.' Aqua thought, recalling what Ansem had told her about what had happened in her absence. 'If I were to follow a similar path I could end up causing more damage here than I intend and I'm already altering history.'

If only her Master could see her now.

'Altering history, drastically changing the fates of an untold number of people on a single world…All to save it from a dark future that none of them will ever know has happened.' Aqua looked up, watching as the sun began to set and the sky began to darken. 'Is this what I thought of when I was little? A child dreaming of traveling through the stars, defending the worlds from the darkness like my ancestor wielders.'

Growing up in the Land of Departure, becoming a Keyblade Wielder was the only life she had ever known.

And when she had completed her apprenticeship she thought she had been ready.

'Everything that had happened after showed me just how unprepared I and my friends were.' Aqua frowned. 'Everything that happened up to this moment has shown me just how unprepared we all were. Now all I have left is trying to avoid making any more mistakes while traveling through this world and its history.'

Can she really be sure she won't make some colossal mistake that would make things worse?

Of course not.

But…

'All I can do…is keep moving forward.' Aqua brought a hand over her chest. 'And let my heart guide me to where I am needed.'

As she grew closer to the source of the darkness she started to feel…cold.

Like a sudden chill had shot through her.

Xxx

Poppy held Oak's hand as they returned to the village. Poppy noticed two children and tried to move Oak in front of her, not letting them know what happened to him.

She really didn't want anyone to know what had happened.

If the people find out what she had done and what happened to Oak…

"Poppy, what is it? Is Oak okay?" One of the boys, Lorimar asked.

"Just got a chill in the forest, it's nothing." Poppy quickly answered.

"The forest? But we're not supposed to go in there." Lorimar said in confusion, watching as Poppy led Oak away without any further explanation.

Xxx

'This is it.' Aqua found herself standing before a dark forest and felt a great darkness deep within the woods, similar to what she felt on the island, only lesser compared to what she had faced. 'No question about it. Salem is somewhere in this forest.'

So what should she do now?

Should she go inside and face Salem?

'Ozma hasn't been here. I lost his trail some time ago but I thought he would be heading here.' Aqua then noticed a light in the distance as she looked over to her left. 'Light? There must be a village nearby. Perhaps I can look for answers there at first…And I sense darkness there.'

Aqua turned and headed in the direction of the village, rushing a bit now.

As she did, she noticed it started snowing, followed by a chilly wind that only made her feel colder…

Xxx

At Poppy and Oak's bedroom, Poppy watched Oak with worry. Oak was wrapped with his blanket, shivering and breathing heavily.

"Sorry, love you." Poppy blew out the candle and went to sleep.

She just hoped he would be better by the morning.

…

…

…

The sound of the window breaking was heard, shaking the girl from her sleep. Poppy gasped and quickly sits up from her bed and turned to her right side to find Oak nowhere to be seen.

"Oak?"

Poppy exited the bedroom and slowly walked through the hallway. She had to find her brother before anyone else saw him.

"Mother? Father? Have you see-" Poppy gasped in horror when she peaked into her parents' bedroom.

Her parents were lying on the ground, dead with horrified looks on their faces. Poppy heard a door thudding and gasped but covered her mouth. The door was open as it creaked. She checked outside and finds snowy footprints leading across to another house.

Poppy found the residents of this house lying dead on the floor. She entered the room to find Oak's lifeless body against the foot of the bed. She approached Oak and touched his face, only to realize that he was already dead.

Poppy broke down in tears as she held Oak in her arms. "I'm sorry... I love you..."

Why?

Why had this happened?

The answer was obvious though.

Because she had been a fool.

She had walked into the forest when everyone had told her not to.

She had sent her brother in there when he hadn't wanted to go.

She had left him in there for a full day before she had gone after him.

She had brought him back here, not understanding what had happened.

This…was all her fault.

A shadow moved quickly and the sound of the glass breaking was heard. Poppy gasped once again and found the broken window. She stared outside and found the glasses that belonged to Lorimar. Poppy went to the other houses one by one, finding the villagers in the same lifeless states as her parents.

As she entered another house, she found more villagers lying dead with the fireplace lit. She stared at the corpses. One of the corpses suddenly opens their eyes, scaring Poppy.

"AH!" Poppy quickly ran away.

Poppy hurriedly headed back to her house and looked back to find darkness chasing after her. The darkness engulfed Poppy as she ran. Poppy finally opened the door and quickly shut it.

She was back in the bedroom she and Oak shared.

Poppy rushed to the closet and dug out of her clothes. "Gotta go, gotta go, gotta go."

Poppy suddenly stopped and turned to Oak's bed. "Why not me?"

Poppy slowly approached the bed and looked under. She moved her hand under the bed.

"Ah!" She gasped when she felt a hand under the bed.

She slowly pulled someone out from the bed to find the lifeless corpse of Lorimar who sent a horrified glare at Poppy. Poppy whimpered and backed away from Lorimar's lifeless corpse. Poppy slowly stood up, her body suddenly covered with red veins and her hair covered her eyes. Poppy slowly walked towards the broken window, her feet stepping on the glass shards.

The broken reflection of the window reveals Poppy's eyes white with red veins as she blankly stared outside.

"We all have a certain natural inclination. We expect that evil should be easy to recognize rather than accepting it can lurk behind any face. And yet, we are often the slowest to see the darkness within ourselves."

"What happened here?"

Poppy turned her head around and saw someone standing at the door to her room.

Xxx

Aqua had come upon this village, looking around and was shocked and horrified to find everyone all dead with terrified looks on their faces. She checked each and every house for survivors but found no one.

Aside from the young girl standing before her.

Only her eyes were blank white and she had red veins traveling down her skin. Aqua reached out with her senses, easily knowing that something dark and evil had possessed the young woman.

Grimm…

A creature of Grimm.

Only it felt stronger and more numerous.

As if this woman had been forced to become a host to multiple Grimm instead of one.

The woman just stared at her, raising her hands as if she intended to strike, but then lowered them suddenly.

"If you are a Creature of Grimm, then you cannot harm me." Aqua stated as she bravely took one step forward. "Not so as long as the order from your creator remains to cease hunting me. That was his final order before he left."

The woman just stood there, as still as a statue.

Aqua could sense the young woman was actually still alive but the Grimm controlled her body. It was obvious they somehow killed the rest of the villagers, possibly by possessing their bodies.

'If so, I cannot attack either or I'll kill the girl.' Aqua narrowed her eyes as she summoned her Keyblade. 'But I can't leave her like this.'

She looked at her Keyblade, still not used to its new form.

'This isn't like Terra…Her heart remains but it's her body that is being controlled.' Aqua looked back at the girl. 'If I am wrong she will die but if I do nothing she will die either way.'

She pointed her Keyblade at the girl's chest.

'I hope this works.'

A beam of light blasted from the tip of Ocean's Apart, colliding with the girl's chest and causing her to let out a soundless gasp. The light touched her heart and spread throughout her body.

The girl felt the cold leaving her body as a pillar of darkness exploded from her body.

Before she blacked out, she let out an actual scream. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Once the darkness was fully exorcised from her body, she fell forward into Aqua's waiting arms.

Xxx

…

…

…

"Poppy? Where... where'd you go? Come back, Poppy!" A young voice called out for her.

She looked over her shoulder and saw her brother right outside the forest, too afraid to enter which made her roll her eyes. "What a coward."

…

Poppy stood up and straightened herself before turning to her brother. "See, Oak, told you so. Your turn."

"But, but it's dangerous. Mother and father say so." Oak argued, clearly against going into the woods.

...

Poppy just scoffed. "Come on, are you scared of trees? I double dare you."

"If you don't do it, I won't be your friend anymore." Poppy said, getting behind her brother.

"You have to. You're my sister." Oak argued, still not wishing go into the dark forest.

"Not the same thing." Poppy shoves Oak into the forest as she watched her brother traverse the forest all by himself.

…

"Oak, you there?"

…

"Oak!" She touched Oak's shoulder, but pulled her hand away. "You're cold."

Poppy heard something and she gasped when she looked back, seeing something dark lurking in the surrounding forest.

"Let's go home."

…

Poppy broke down in tears as she held Oak in her arms. "I'm sorry... I love you..."

…

Poppy suddenly stopped and turned to Oak's bed. "Why not me?"

Poppy slowly approached the bed and looked under. She moved her hand under the bed.

"Ah!" She gasped when she felt a hand under the bed.

…

The broken reflection of the window reveals Poppy's eyes white with red veins as she blankly stared outside.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH-!"

Xxx

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" She shot up on something soft, still screaming as she frantically looked around.

Someone reached out and hugged her, causing her to struggle but the person held on. "It's okay…You're not in danger."

She was pulled against the person's body, her head buried in the woman's shoulders as she continued to scream until her throat became sore and her voice hoarse…

She pushed the person away and crawled back, pushing herself against the wall.

The woman…

She looked familiar for some reason.

"Where-where am I?" She frantically looked around, seeing she was still in her bedroom with the sun shining through the broken window.

"You are in your house." The woman answered, keeping a respectable distance now, looking at her with concerned blue eyes.

She looked back at the woman, shaking as if she was cold, even though the sun brought forth a gentle, warm breeze. "Who are you?"

"My name is Aqua." The woman answered calmly. "I came here, looking for…A place to rest but I found everyone else to be dead aside from you."

Dead?

Why would everyone else be-

Her parents lying on the ground, dead with horrified looks on their faces…

She approached Oak and touched his face, only to realize that he was already dead.

Poppy went to the other houses one by one, finding the villagers in the same lifeless states as her parents.

Poppy broke down, the memories rushing back to her as she clutched the sheets of her bed and buried her face in her pillow as she sobbed.

Aqua could only watch in saddened silence for the young girl who has lost everything…

Just like her.

Xxx

Deep in the dark forest, a pair of red eyes glinted as they stared off of somewhere, feeling something but the person then brushed it off.

What happened in the outside world did not concern her.

Xxx

Aqua stared at the forest with a hard look on her face, before turning away and looked at the ground in front of her.

It had taken nearly all day but she managed to gather all the bodies and give them proper burial while the girl remained in her house. She dug up a grave for each one of the dead villages and placed the bodies gently inside before burying them.

'My second day back…And I already find myself surrounded by death.' Aqua thought sadly.

The girl, Poppy emerged from her home and came up to the graves, staring the ones for her parents and brother with a distant look on her face.

'I could only save one.' Aqua glanced at her, giving her a moment to grieve. 'And it was because the Grimm will not hunt me.'

That did not make her feel any better though.

'And now, I find another lost soul like Neo and the other girls.' Aqua wondered what she should do about the girl.

Leave her?

Take her with her?

Where would they even go?

Another village with people that can help her?

'This is different from before and I'm not sure I am ready for something like this…' Aqua sighed, glancing back at the forest. 'Salem, did you set those Grimm lose on this village for some reason or was this a random incident?'

She might never know the answer here but she had no time to ponder these questions.

She had a broken heart to mend.

"I am not sure what you plan to do from here on out." She spoke honestly to the girl who just stared blankly at the graves. "But I should tell you, I plan on gathering supplies and moving on to the next village. If you wish to come with me or stay, I won't stop you from either choice."

The girl just kept staring at the graves.