The screen flickers for a bit before the author appears at his desk, typing on the computer.
*Hey guys Hakuorofan7 here and welcome to the first chapter of From No One to Someone for 2020 and not ironically the 20th chapter.*
*Anyway this will be short so you all can go onto this chapter, but this one covers Terra and Roxas before meeting Cinderella, a darkness festering in Castle of Dreams, and Vanitas and the sentient Unversed growing stronger.*
*After all the brighter the light, the longer the shadows are.*
*Now then first, I do not own Kingdom Hearts.*
*Secondly just sit back, relax, maybe put some music on and enjoy. I will see you all at the end of the chapter.*
The author snaps his fingers and the screen fades to static as the chapter begins.
Growing Shadows
The Unversed could only watch in worry as it's king proceeded to blast another tree into splinters with another burst of darkness, more Unversed being created with every curse against the pointy eared bastard known as Luxu.
He had been this way for over an hour, wrecking everything in sight that wasn't it including the other Unversed.
After seeing it's king acting like this it decided should the chance to kill Luxu arrive for upsetting it's king like this and for erasing his memories.
The king fired off one last blast of darkness, before collapsing onto a stump.
The Unversed moved towards Vanitas as it's less intelligent kin gave their king some space.
"My king-" "I'm fine, just thinking of what to do next, already got most of the anger out 40 minutes ago. The rest of the time was spent working out frustrations on not being able to come up with a plan to kill the pointy eared bastard. All ending in failure. At least ones that would work right now at least." Vanitas grumbled out angrily.
The Unversed processed that information for a minute before speaking up.
"So I take it that you have a plan to kill this Luxu my liege?" The Unversed asked, getting Vanitas to shake his head.
"Nothing concurrent of course, he is even stronger then what my older brother described him to be. But considering that he had centuries to practice. Yet there is something bugging me about it." Vanitas said.
"Would that be the fact that this Luxu is fully human now?" The Unversed asked, getting Vanitas to nod his head in agreement.
"Exactly, in his original body he was practically immortal. I mean he would age, but he could have easily lived another thousand years from now before finally kicking the bucket. So something must have caused him to move his heart into a new body." Vanitas wondered before shaking his head. "Well for whatever reason I could care less. What I can tell though is that he cares for the old coot, enough to threaten to kill me."
"But didn't he say that we was also willing to work for you. So when you betray the old coot he is willing to kill you." The Unversed said.
"True enough, but if I discovered Roxas's secrets first…meaning that he must have at least an inkling of my plan and must know at least something about Roxas too!" Vanitas growled out before taking a calming breath.
Luxu must have at least a some knowledge of what is going on, but not enough to actually know about everything. Considering how he was the closest to the Master of Master's besides Ava, it might even be a bastardized version of the Book of Prophecies.
Still he knew enough that he correctly guessed his plan for Roxas…maybe he could use that to his advantage.
That was it!
"We are going to continue on as planned." Vanitas said, getting the Unversed looked surprised.
"But my liege isn't that what Luxu wants?" It asked.
"It is, but I didn't exactly say his own plan. I meant my own, might have to accelerate my timetable a bit but the best strategy right now might be the obvious one. With a few hidden tricks anyway including yourself." Vanitas said to the Unversed, getting it to nod. "Speaking of which, you need a name."
"A name!" The Unversed exclaimed in surprise.
"That's right a name. One that would fit well with you…" Vanitas trailed off for a moment.
Now what would name an offshoot of themselves, more specifically one made out of negative emotions.
Now there was a lot of good names to chose from there, but specifically one with intelligence that is only seeming to grow with each encounter…he might have a choice.
"Kier." Vanitas said, getting the Unversed to bend its head to the side. "Your name is Kier."
"Kier?" The Unversed asked.
"Kier, it means small dark one. Which for an Unversed is rather fitting don't you think. Best part is that name can be molded into any other one if you wish due to its nature. Unless you don't like it." Vanitas said, getting the Unversed to shake its head.
"It is alright my liege, since you picked out my name I shall accept it." The now named Kier said with a bow, getting Vanitas to nod.
"Glad you like it, now if you don't mind I could use some more of the temporal energy you siphoned off of Roxas. Presumably half of it. Going to need to stockpile on it I order to keep an edge over Luxu." Vanitas said with an outstretched hand, getting Kier to nod as it moved towards its king's hand and brushed against it.
Vanitas began to absorb the energy for a minute or two before he suddenly pulled off.
"That is enough." He said as he hastily pulled back from the Unversed.
"Why my liege, it was only a quarter of the energy I have siphoned?" Kier asked.
"And that is the issue, their was just too much energy for my body to safely process at the moment. Give me a couple of minutes and we can finish off the process." Vanitas said, getting Kier to nod. "Though there was a lot more temporal energy within you then yesterday."
"Of course my liege, there was a sudden spike of it last night while Roxas was sleeping." Kier said, getting Vanitas to ponder about that.
Now that was curious, a sudden burst of energy from within Roxas while he is sleeping. There must be an explanation for such an event.
He had an idea, but nothing concrete.
"Keep an eye out incase this happens again Kier, I have a theory but no proof. So keep an eye on this and notify me the exact moment it happens again." Vanitas said, getting the Unversed to nod.
"It shall be done my liege." Kier said with a bow, getting Vanitas to nod.
"Good, now after I take the rest of the energy I am going to train and raid the old coot's study. Caution to the wind be damned, if I am going to get rid of both him and Luxu I am going to need every advantage I can get." Vanitas said, beginning to think of any advantages he could.
"Mind if I have a suggestion my king?" Kier said, getting Vanitas to nod.
"Considering the situation, go ahead I am listening." He said with a wave of his hand.
"How about I fight as well." Kier said, getting Vanitas to wince underneath his helmet.
"Bad idea, I created you to observe and drain the temporal energy from Roxas. Becoming sentient was a complete accident and other then that you are about as strong as any other Flood." Vanitas said, before pondering about that.
The more time Kier siphoned energy off of Roxas, it seemed a bit smarter and smarter with each encounter.
So maybe there was more to it then that.
"But maybe there is something that you can do, isn't there." Vanitas said as he got up from the stump.
"I think of one my liege, I tried it out yesterday to distract Roxas so I could latch onto him. But I could barely use it after one use." Kier sighed out.
"Then try it out, if you wish to fight for my sake prove it. Show me how far you have grown beyond your original purpose." Vanitas said, spreading his arms wide open. "Give it your best shot Kier, if you can that is."
The Unversed was stunned.
It's king wanted to it to attack him. That was a rarity among the swarm that would spell death as the end result if they were a regular Unversed.
But Kier wasn't a regular Unversed, no it was determined to pass its kind's test!
"Of course my liege!" Kier declaimed, swinging one of its arms, creating a silver blade of energy about half the size of the Unversed. Much to the surprise of the both of them.
For Kier it wasn't nearly as big yesterday!
For Vanitas, this was beyond his expectation of what was going to happen.
The attack connected and Vanitas grunted our in pain as he was pushed back an inch or two, a shallow cut on his chest.
"My liege are you alright?!" Kier exclaimed in shock, only for Vanitas to laugh a little to its confusion. "My liege?"
"I am fine, the reason I am laughing is because I couldn't believe it. Your evolving, the temporal energy is changing you on a level far past what I had created. From your reaction that was much stronger then what you used yesterday?" Vanitas said as the cut began to seal up.
"Of course, I could barely cut off a twig yesterday." Kier said, getting Vanitas to nod.
"I see, you earned your right to fight. When the time of course. But for now continue to observe Roxas until I return…in fact listen up!" Vanitas shouted out to all the Unversed in the clearing. "All of you are to listen to Kier when I am not around, at least on this world. Half of you report it all to the rest of the Unversed on this world to converge around this nearby area and move on Kier's orders." Vanitas ordered, getting half of the Unversed to comply with their king's orders.
"My liege are you sure this is a good idea?" Kier asked in disbelief, that it's king would order such a thing.
"Of course, considering Roxas was willing to check up on the condition of three Princesses of Heart, Terra perhaps having some guilt on how he handled the one in the Dwarfen Woodlands, and the one on this world has interacted with a pint sized weakling then there is a good chance they will try to help her with attending this ball considering her family. So until I return from my own preparations I can trust you to put Roxas through the grinder?" Vanitas asked Kier, getting the Unversed to nod.
"Of course, you can count on me my liege." It said with a bow, feeling honored that it's king would entrust it with such a task.
"Good, now before I finish absorbing some more energy there is one more thing to take care of." Vanitas said, snapping his fingers and summoning a large humanoid Unversed in a plume of darkness. "I originally trusted this Unversed to watch over this world and deal with any of the apprentices if they caused trouble here. But since you are in charge now and both Terra and Roxas are here…well it is not going to really be as effective as before."
With another snap of his fingers the Unversed was covered in another plum of darkness.
"So I think that it needs some adjustments, so tell me what do you think of your ace in the hole?" Vanitas said with the plume lifted and giving Kier a good look at the new horror it's liege had unleashed onto this world.
"I think that you did perfectly my liege." Kier said, knowing this Unversed will prove quite the challenge for Roxas and Terra. Bring things just another step closer to whatever it's king had planned.
"Excuse me, have you seen my brother? He looks just like me." Roxas asked a baker who was closing up his bakery as the sun started to set and the people started to head towards the castle in droves in their best clothes and dresses.
Might have to with all the talk about a royal ball for the local Prince Charming going on tonight.
"I am afraid that I haven't, but if you are at the ball tonight I will be sure to ask some of the servers if they can keep an eye out for him if your brother is there." The baker said, getting Roxas to nod.
"Alright, thank you for your help anyways." Roxas said before walking off.
"I hope that you find your brother!" The baker called out as Roxas walked down the street, getting the Nobody to smile.
He had asked at least a hundred people the same question and had not gotten a response like that, so it was at least nice to hear.
For the past few hours he and Terra had been wondering around the town, asking anyone they could if they had seen Ventus. Under the pretense that he Roxas's brother as it was much easier to explain it like that instead of the two almost looking exactly a like.
Still there had been no hints and no traces of Ven being anywhere on this world despite bing the closest one to the Dwarfen Woodlands.
So how hard was it to find Ven unless he had had cake and already left this world while the Nobody had been asleep or there was something else at play.
"Actually it is the later." A voice called off in the back of Roxas's head, surprising him. "I suggest that you speak through your thoughts and not speak out loud otherwise people will think that you are crazy."
Roxas widened his eyes as he realized what was going on.
"Didn't expect you to have contacted me so soon or for it to even work in the first place." Roxas told the Master of Masters, getting him to chuckle at the end of the connection.
"Believe me I know how you feel, I was half expecting it not to work but here we are. And on the first try none the less. Still it is very weak, so we can not keep this up for long." The Master said, getting Roxas to nod.
"So I take it that this was just a test to see if the works?" Roxas asked mentally.
"Correct, though I am happy to help with anything except if it depends on anything involving the future." The Master said, getting the Roxas to sigh.
He should have at least expected that kind of remark.
"Well since you seem to know something about Ven, can you at least tell me if he was on this world or not?" Roxas asked.
"Well I see no harm in it. Ven was on this world and left quite a bit ago. But you wouldn't have been able to sense him unless you were close with his condition." The Master explained.
"What happened to Ven?" Roxas asked, hoping that his nothing happened to his friend.
"Nothing much this world like Wonderland can affect one's size if you enter through the wrong way. He entered through it and ended up the size of a mouse, though thankfully everything on that end seems to have gone exactly as it does. Speaking of which, you need to sticks around this world tonight with Terra." The Master said, getting Roxas to nod, relieved that Ven at least was alright.
And relieved that he didn't have to experience the same thing upon arrival.
It always felt weird.
"I take it that Aqua will be coming here later?" Roxas asked.
"She will, though also otherwise if you leave early there is still a chance you could lose a Princess of Heart to the Unversed." The Master of Master said, getting Roxas's eyes to widen.
There was a Princess of Heart here, there were three that he knew were unaccounted for so who was it?
"So I take it you are not going to tell me who." The Nobody asked, metals sighing as he heard chuckling on the other end of the line.
"You got that right, but there is something you should know. How many Unversed have you encountered so far on this world?" The Master asked, getting Roxas to pause.
"A few, but none in hours." Roxas said.
After his and Terra's morning training they encountered a few Unversed, before they upped and disappeared. Even a few towns people warned him to be on edge. They were so used to the Unversed attacking them so that if they upped and disappeared things could only spell trouble for them later on.
Something Roxas agreed with, believing that maybe Vanitas had something planned, this next test he had promised him perhaps?
"You think that Vanitas has something planned?" Roxas relayed to the Master.
"Perhaps, but there could be another factor. Remember how I talked about something dark being created from your actions, I still do not know what it is, but it could be the cause of this. So you better be on guard." The Master said, getting the Roxas to nod.
"Considering that Vanitas is already planning something for me I am already on guard. So if this is really something new then it wouldn't too mush of a hassle to keep an eye on it." Roxas said, starting to hear static on the other end of the connection.
"Well that is good to hear…but it seems like the connection…is coming to a close. If you wish to…contact me again just focus on the same feel…though I can't make any promises considering the distance between eras…but I will answer when I can…until next time Roxas, good luck!...You are probably going to need it…" The Master said, drawling the connection to a close and getting Roxas to sigh.
Not only did he have Vanitas to look out for, but now there was the possibility of this dark presence the Master noticed and there was a Princess of Heart that would possibly be in danger later.
And things were complicated enough already.
Still he kept his guard up and began walking towards the town center, hoping to meet up with Terra.
After a few minutes of walking towards the town entrance and and hoping to find Terra when he heard the sound of screaming and panic around the entrance.
Roxas summoned Oathkeeper and rushed to see what was happening. Only to see people screaming as a small group of Unversed attacking the people around the town entrance, with Terra in the midst of it all striking them down whenever he could.
The Unversed consisted of the Shadow like ones, the larger ones with metallic claws, and the ones that resembled a slimmer version of a Large Body Heartless.
With the way Terra was cutting through them it should not be too long before they were all gone, but there was still the stragglers to deal with while Terra dealt with the main group of them.
Roxas threw this Keyblade at the nearest trio of Unversed, taking out two of them out before catching Oathkeeper and swinging it down upon the last of the trio.
As it dissipated into darkness, a pair of Unversed with metallic claws advanced upon the Nobody and forced him to block their strikes with his Keyblade. After a few moments Roxas managed to parry one away and forced it to strike the other Unversed. Roxas swapped Oathkeeper out for Oblivion and struck the closest Unversed into its head and it crumpled instantly. The second one rushed forward instantly, forcing Roxas to block a claw strike before disengage and landing two hits on it before the Unversed was defeated.
Roxas surveyed the area before noticing that right behind Terra was another one of those Unvered rushing at Terra while the older apprentice was dealing with another trio of them.
He changed his Keyblade to Oathkeeper and aimed it at that Unversed.
"Blizzard!" Roxas shouted, launching an ice shard that hit the Unversed dead center and froze it.
Terra heard the noise and sent the three Unversed he was fighting back with a swing of his Keyblade before bringing Earthshaker down on the frozen one and shattered it.
"Thanks Roxas." Terra called out before going back to deal with the remainder of his group of Unversed.
The Nobody nodded at that, before feeling a solid blow to his back and sent him sprawling to the ground.
He picked himself up and narrowly dodged a claw strike by another Unversed.
Surveying his surroundings he saw that one of the larger Unversed had snuck up onto him with a trios of the small Shadow like ones and one of the clawed Unversed.
"Firaga!" Roxas casted, launching a fire ball at the trio of smaller Unversed, it exploded upon making contact with them and incinerated them all. It also had the bonus of sending the other two Unversed flying into the air.
The larger on landed in front of Roxas, who immediately went to work on it. With a few swings of his Keyblades it was nothing more but an annoying memory.
Roxas noticed the last Unversed and was about to toss his Keyblade at it-
"Thunder!" Terra casted, causing a bolt of lightning to incinerate the Unversed.
"I had that covered Terra." Roxas said while turning to face the older apprentice.
"I know, was just making sure that we were even." Terra said with a grin as the two of them dispelled their Keyblades, the Unversed all having been vanquished.
Roxas just sighed at that before shaking his head.
"Any luck on your end Terra?" The Nobody asked.
"I got nothing on my end, and some of the people that I talked to mistook you for Ven. So I guess you got the same results?" Terra asked, getting Roxas to nod.
"I also got nothing at all." Roxas said, getting Terra to sigh.
"Well that is just great, now I am starting to think that Ven had never went to this world in the first place." He sighed out.
"So then you suggest that we leave here?" Roxas asked, trying how to figure keep him on this world while not letting slip what the Master told him.
"I believe so, but the situation with the Unversed has me concerned. They were silent until now and the people here are used to small numbers of them causing trouble around town. So for a large number suddenly appearing after no activity for so long can't be good." Terra sighed out.
"Unfortunately those monsters or Unversed as you call them young man have been quite the nuisance in our kingdom and now they pick today of all days to cause their worst mayhem yet." A slightly pompous voice said from behind the two Keyblade wielders to turn face the speaker.
A thin man with receding black hair, a thin mustache with large muttonchops, and a monocle over his right eye. He was wearing a light lilac uniform with silver, tasseled shoulder pauldrons with a red slash coming from his left shoulder. He had a pompous air around him as well.
"Who are you? Sorry if this sounds rude, but we are not from around here." Roxas asked, making sure to add the last bit at the end since the man seemed important with his uniform and tone of voice alone.
"I see no wonder you wouldn't have recognized me, everyone in the kingdom would have otherwise. Well you see, I am the Grand Duke of this kingdom and the right hand of the king himself." The man said haughtily.
"And what would the Grand Duke would want with us?" Terra asked.
"Now that is the questions. From the way you two fought and how you seem to know about the monsters. With the attack just now, there have been some terrible news." The Grand Duke said as he gestured to the town's entrance.
A group of guards were carrying injured soldiers by the shoulders or on stretchers. All the injured troops covered with scratches, most likely from the Unversed.
"The forest to the south of town contains most of the pathways to and from the kingdom and just before the attack, the monsters began attacking our soldiers on patrol around the forest. I was tasked by the king to check on their condition and have learned that the forest is now infested with the monsters. I was on my way to report this to the king when this new attack occurred." The Grand Duke said.
"I see, and if I had to take a guess you wish for us to take care of this issue?" Terra asked the man, getting him to nod.
"Precisely, or at least until the 8th chime of the clock tower. By then most of the guest for the prince's ball should have arrived by then and we have the room to accommodate those that have come from outside the kingdom for the night. So I will have to ask that the two of you can do this task, and of course if necessary we could provide payment. At a reasonable rate of course." The Grand Duke said, getting Terra to shake his head.
"That will not be necessary, we will do it without the reward. If the Unversed are posing such a danger we will be glad to deal with them." Terra said, getting Roxas to nod with him.
"Really, are you absolutely certain?" The Grand Duke asked, getting both Terra and Roxas to nod. "Well this is wonderful, the king will be pleased to hear this! But I have to ask are you two really sure about this?"
"Of course." Roxas said.
"Wouldn't have it any other way." Terra said.
"I see, will if you two do change you minds then I am sure the king would not mind an audience during the ball. If the two of you wish of course, now then I must inform his majesty of all this and make sure the guards are treated. He will at least be pleased that this problem will be dealt with." The Grand Duke said as he walked away with the remaining guards.
"Looks like we have some work to do." Roxas said.
"That we do Roxas, but at least we will to hopefully accomplish what Master tasked for us on this. Maybe even find something on Master Xehanort, even more so then on the last world." Terra sighed out as the two of them walked out of the gateway.
"That reminds me, you never told me what you did in Dwarfen Woodlands before you crashed into Vanitas?" Roxas asked.
Terra looked at him warily for a few moments before speaking up.
"I suppose so, we will be spending quite sometime hunting the Unversed so I see no harm in telling you." Terra said as the two began their track to the forest.
Unaware of a pair of golden eyes flashing from Roxas's back.
"So they took the bait Kier?" Vanitas asked through his link to the Unversed.
"Of course, it will take quite sometime for them to deal with all the Unversed in the forest and provide the combat knowledge you seek my liege." Kier responded.
"Excellent I am going to go continue on training and make the necessary preparations. When the bell tolls 8 contact me and I will show up shortly and I will leave the rest to you." Vanitas said, getting the Unversed to nod.
'Of course my king it shall be done.' Kier said, getting Vanitas to close of their connection. 'You heard our king, until the 8th bell tolls go crazy. Just stick to the forest and follow my commands. Understood'
Through the link their king set up, the Unversed let lose their compliance with one response in particular being exceptionally excited for the events to come.
They were going to exhausted these Keyblade wielders to their limits.
And when the time comes, they will show them the true might of the Unversed.
Vanitas opened a Corridor of Darkness outside the entryway to Xehanort's study.
While he would have preferred to have rushed in and grab everything he could, but the method that the old coot used to ward his study was near impossible to breach.
If Xehanort wasn't within his study, there was alarm system designed to detain and alert him of any intruders so that he could deal with them personally. Not a bad security system and after years of study he had come to the realization that the wards were iron clad, except for one thing and one thing only.
They shut down after a particularly strong burst of time magic.
Though there was also a part of the ward that was keyed to inform the old coot after the wards were shut down for long enough. That and he had a few nasty surprise on the floor incase the wards failed except for around the places where he loved to sit and read.
But there was an easy to bypass that.
In a puff of darkness he created two Floods, an Archraven, and a Chrono Twister.
"Climb on." Vanitas told the first three Unversed as they clamored onto his back. "Now you know what to do?"
The Chrono Twister nodded before it started to glow as the sands started to empty to one side.
The Archraven began to flap it's wings while sinking it's talons into Vanitas's back, getting the ancient Keyblade wielder to wince as he was rendered airborne.
Not a moment later the Chrono Twister rain out of sand and in glowed white before exploding, causing a wave of time magic to wash over the entire nearby area and freezing everything in time. Except for it's king and the Unversed clinging to him.
Overloading the Chrono Twister to shut down the wards might have been the most drastic solution, but it provided enough coverage that Vanitas was confident enough he could be in and out without alerting the old coot. But there was still a limited amount of time that he had to work with before the ward came back on.
So he had to hurry.
Vanitas opened a Corridor of Darkness and flew into it and came out hovering near one of the shelves in Xehanort's study.
Raising one of his hands towards it, some papers floated off it. He pulled his hands back and floated them around himself.
"Read as many papers as you can completely. We only have a few seconds until I need to put everything back and leave." Vanitas ordered the Flood, getting both of them to nod as they started to look over the papers.
Though the Unversed truly can't read, they had a photographic memory with the horde that they shared with him. So he could remember everything they saw. Along with everything they heard and the pain that they experienced, something he had learned long ago to block.
After the Flood had read about two pages, he suddenly grew mad and wisps of darkness form around himself.
"You on the left, hand me that paper right now!" Vanitas ordered, getting the Unversed to comply as it's king made sure to keep the paper afloat in order not to crumble it up or destroy it from frustration.
For the next few seconds he read that paper over and over again, with each time he grew angrier and angrier till he gathered all the papers back into order and levitated them back into place before summoning up a Corridor of Darkness and vanishing through it in a fit of rage.
He emerged a great deal away from Xehanort's place of residence toward a barren expanse with several rock pillars around him. The Unversed clambering off him as Vanitas roared out in anger as he unleash a sphere of darkness at a nearby rock pillar and reduced it to dust.
"So that's what that old bastard was intending to create!" Vanitas roared out as he unleashed another sphere of darkness.
That paper had contained a detail he had long been trying to pry from Xehanort.
The secret of his inhuman body.
It was on a way to produce an artificial human, one that could contain the qualities of a Heartless without the base instincts. A spell of the old man's creation.
Though according from the paper it gleamed from a similar way on another world the old coot had visited, through something called a Morph. He had devised the spell in order to split one's heart in two if they met the optimal conditions.
So the old fucker knew about his secret then, the one that he and Gula had made damned sure no one else found out!
And he didn't give a damn if he was the original or that Kingdom Hearts damned parasite! All he cared about was that he had his apprentice and a way to reforge the X-blade!
Vanitas let himself take several breaths in an effort to calm himself while dispelling the Unversed that he had summoned earlier.
Now was not the time to lose himself in anger, there could be time for that later. He needed to stick with his original plan.
He had always planned on getting revenge on Xehanort, but he needed to bide himself until he was sure that he could get the edge over the old coot and Luxu.
And he might have just gotten perhaps a big advantage over the two, along with the answer to a side project he had been working on.
"This could work." Vanitas said with a grin as he summoned a Flood and began to coat his hands in a cloud of darkness like he was going to create a new Unversed.
Instead he placed it on top of the Unversed's head and began to coat it in darkness.
"Don't try to squirm, this is going to be a difficult process." Vanitas grunted out as he began to alter the Flood's very existence while keeping its base properties and very being. While giving it a human like shell to inhabit.
Vanitas kept his hand on the Unversed as it kept getting taller and more human like in the span of a few minutes, draining quite the substantial amount of energy in order to do so.
Which was worth it when Vanitas removed his hand from the Unversed and grinned at his work.
"Not what I was looking for, but it would do." Vanitas said as he inspected his creation.
In front of him was a copy of himself, except it was almost predominantly black with a dark metallic grey where it should be red. The only other splash of color on it was the dark red Unversed emblem on the helmet.
"Not bad, not bad at all." Vanitas said as he inspected his newest creation.
He could tell that it was bound to the horde, which he was hoping not to achieve. This new Unversed could not function in the event of his untimely fate. Not something he was looking forward to, but it was best to be prepared.
Still it seemed strong enough to hold its own in a fight, and it seemed like he could modify the Unversed inside if he wished to do so.
Yet there was one more thing that he had to see.
"Now then, summon your Keyblade." Vanitas ordered, getting the Unversed to hold out it's hand in order to do so.
A puff of darkness manifested in its hands…but nothing happened.
"Okay then no Keyblade then, can you try summoning something else." Vanitas ordered.
The Unversed stood there, repeating the same actions as before. Instead of nothing this time, is summoned a large black staff as that looked about a foot longer then it was tall.
Gripping it in its hand, darkness traveled to both end of it and in a puff of darkness there was two half gears sticking out of both ends. Similar to the keychain of Void Gear.
The Unversed twirled the new polearm over its head before planting the bottom of it firmly into the ground.
"Well that is interesting, another failed attempt to create a Remnant. But it is certainly a better attempt then anything else I have done before." Vanitas said, placing his hand on the Unversed's chest to test one last thing.
In a puff of darkness the Flood inside of it flew out while the human like Unversed crumpled down onto the ground in a crumbled heap.
"So without another Unversed controlling it, this thing is nothing more then an empty shell. A preverbal husk…a Husk. Not a bad name for it, might need to work on it though." Vanitas said, putting the Flood back into the Husk and getting it pick itself back up.
"Well not bad, but let's see how you will stack up against Roxas later." Vanitas said, before dispelling his newest creation, deciding this should be a decent warm up for him before the main test.
And if things go well, if he could figure out how to create them without using so much energy and fill the Husks with the right kind of Unversed…then he has himself on hell of a trump card.
Might not be enough for the likes of the old coot and Luxu, but at least it will by him time and prove to deliver quite the nasty surprise with what would be inside him.
"Well I suppose this was an excellent attempt, a few spells, another reason to hate the old coot, and an unexpected blessing. Still need to get a few things first, more specifically a suit and then work on getting materials for the Keyblade." Vanitas said, as he opened the Corridor of Darkness before walking through it.
If everything was going to plan, then he was going to need a suit for the ball.
It has been forever since he cut lose after all and after this most recent revelation, he could use the chance to relax a little bit.
"8:00, I suppose that our time is up dealing with the Unversed. Good thing that we have dealt with enough of them." Roxas said as he and a slightly winded looking Terra rode in a carriage, the sounds of a clock tower's chime echoing throughout the forest.
"Have to agree with you there." Terra sighed out. "Speaking of which how can you easily be able to deal with the Unversed? It seems like you were able to deal with them quite easily when it has taken me quite a bit to deal with them, and you don't seem to be too exhausted.." Terra asked, getting Roxas to shrug.
"The way I was trained I suppose. That I am used to adapting to new challenges fairly quickly. Though for the Unversed that I have encountered I can deal with easily, but ones that I haven't encountered that much of like the Shoegazer it takes a bit to get used to." Roxas explained, getting Terra to nod. "Speaking of which, I still wish to know how that journal works?"
"Same here, but I suppose I will have to become a Keyblade Master first. That and I am sure if you ask Master he might make one for you." Terra said, getting Roxas to sigh and nod.
The two of them had spent the past few hours clearing out the Unversed throughout the forest and rescuing carriage after carriage from the horde. It had proven to be an excellent chance to practice with the new spells they were working on…and maybe accidentally burn down a few trees.
Still it had proven to be valuable time and the Unversed decreased in numbers, but the carriage drivers had proven to still be wary of them and rightfully so. When one of them asked the two Keyblade wielder to help guard him until they reached his destination.
The manor belonging to one Lady Tremaine, after that he said that he should be alright. Saying that the Unversed mainly stay away from their, which Roxas immediately figured out why.
The closer they got there, the stronger the reading of the hearts of the Tremaine residence beclaim clearer to the Nobody.
It was quite a unique set of hearts. One incredibly vile and dark and comparable to Jafar only much less stronger and potent, one on a similar wavelength but was utterly dwarfed by the first heart, one that was fairly dark yet with a light that felt suppressed, and the final one was the most surprising of them all.
A heart of pure light, one of the Princesses of Light lived there. Just like the Master had said.
When he told Terra about this, he had gotten apprehensive about it, with the Nobody had understood. Yet he was still a little upset at what Tera had done when the older apprentice had told him.
For in Dwarfen Woodlands, Terra had an encounter with one of Princesses of Heart, Snow White.
According to him it wasn't on pleasant circumstances that they met, at least on his end.
He had made a deal with local queen there, a woman named Grimehilde in order to use her magic mirror to learn the location of Xehanort.
Kill Snow White and bring her heart to her in a box.
Terra was completely against this after sensing Snow White's heart and decided to ask her if she had seen Xehanort, but she ran off as soon as he summoned his Keyblade as the Unversed surrounded her. And that was before discovering the queen's true colors.
Roxas asked how he could have even considered the queen's request at first, which Terra had admitted he was mostly apprehensive at first and didn't know either of their true colors where at first. Which the two of them could mainly chalk up to being inexperienced at anything like this and Terra's limited ability to sense.
But at least he managed to discern where Xehanort was…in a riddle where he did not understood, but Roxas had a feeling that he knew. One that he knew it came from Ava.
Horror and despair.
Xehanort must be at the place where the Age of Fairy Tales ended and the Keyblade war began. The place where the worlds broke apart.
No wonder he felt that way, she was alive when that happened and fought in the war. So no wonder she would feel such a way towards that world.
Where it was though, he or Terra didn't know but it would probably be a good idea to look for it when he had time.
Something which Terra had written in his journal as well, something Roxas had to admit he was interested in.
Everything Terra knew about the worlds he had been to, all the Unversed they encountered and details about them, everyone he had met and what he knew about them, a map of where he had been on the world, and a few other details had been recorded automatically without the single stroke of a pen had been recorded in his journal. Along with plenty of pages with years of writing and plenty of blank pages to spare.
This was completely unlike anything he had experienced before, Sora had Jiminy Cricket that chronicled everything while he had to use himself and the Organization in order to do the same with his journal. Yet they all did this by hand and not by magic.
When Roxas asked about this Terra said he didn't know how this worked either.
What he did know was what Eraqus told him.
It was a special form of magic craft passed from Keyblade Master to their pupils when they reached their status. It was based on an ancient art on a world that had died out long before the Age of Fairy Tales. It would enhance a journal to while the user wrote what they have experienced while it passively updated everything around their holder and based on what they knew. Along with recording everything their holder has learned as well.
Basically what Terra had on him was something the Nobody was sure Vexen would have wanted all too well. The ultimate information gathering tool, a literal encyclopedia of personal knowledge and experience.
But like everything it had its flaw like there being a certain limit of paper inside and the journals were subject to deterioration over time. Along with it being based on the holder and what they know, except for the section on Unveresed which details Terra didn't know about including abilities he hadn't experienced firsthand and their names.
The older apprentice had no clue on that, but Roxas believed that might have been a holdover from the days when Heartless ran amok on the world during ancient times and counted the Unversed among their ranks.
Along with making the journals and learning how properly manage the practice without flaw was quite time consuming. So it was a very difficult practice to master, something Terra even said it would take him years to do so.
Roxas didn't doubt him, considering how these books where enchanted.
It would be interesting to have one and Terra said that if this didn't happen he was sure Eraqus would have gifted the Nobody a book within the week. He did so with all of them including Ven once he started up his training once again.
While Roxas could safely say that he was interested in the prospect, there were more important factors like dealing with the Unversed, figure out what is really going on, helping his friends, and making sure he and Ava could still exist.
Suddenly the carriage shook as something struck it, getting the horse to start to panic and the driver to start to panic.
Both Keyblade wielders stuck there heads out to see seven Scrappers trying to attack the carriage and not that far down the road was the Tremaine manor.
"Hey Roxas let me handle this one, it is not that far off from the manor and I can catch up in no time." Terra said, opening the carriage door.
"Are you sure it is that and not because of there being a heart of pure light there?" Roxas asked getting Terra to look away a bit awkwardly.
"Bit of both, my last encounter didn't end so well. So maybe if you meet her first things would be better. Now anyway I will catch up, better to deal with them now before more Unversed showed up." Terra said as he jumped off the carriage and closed the door before running off to deal with the Scrappers.
"Everything alright back there?" The driver hollered out as he got his horse back under control.
"Yes, my partner is dealing with a group of Unversed right now. He said he would catch up." Roxas said, getting the driver to nod as he continued down the road.
A minute or two later the carriage parked outside the manor and the Nobody began to sense something was wrong inside the house. Two of the hearts were slipping further and further into the darkness and the Princess's heart was dimming.
Something was very wrong in their.
The sounds of yelling and pleading rang out, getting the Nobody to open the door and try to rush out.
"If I were you I wouldn't try anything, unless you were among the castle's staff or among the higher echelons of nobility then I wouldn't try anything right now unless you wish to disappear." The driver sighed out, getting Roxas to pause and face him.
"You know what is going on?" Roxas asked, as he heard the yelling stop.
"Sadly I do, being employed by Lady Tremaine has given me an idea of what is going on. Her stepdaughter Cinderella must have been trying to go to the ball and I believe that she let her harpies of daughters get their hands on her." The driver said, before sighing out. "Poor girl, she already slaves away for them enough as it is. Such a kind hearted soul, but it was either this or get thrown onto the streets."
Roxas however was stunned. Not only was the Princess of Heart here Cinderella, but her treatment that was going on by her family and how nothing was being done about it.
"If you know, then why are you letting this happen!" Roxas demanded, a little more forcefully then he probably realized.
Then again, her heart was among those that were responsible for the circumstances of his existence. That and out of the Princesses of Heart that Sora interacted with at Hollow Bastion, she seemed the kindest of all.
So to hear her being treated like this and the recent noise from the manor, just didn't sit well for Roxas.
"The driver before told me the same thing and was planning on reporting her, but he disappeared after that night and was never seen again. And considering the fate of her previous two husbands it would make sense that she would have him disposed of. If her status is threatened in any way you can be damned sure Tremaine will do everything in her power to make sure it is dealt with and with the monsters around I dread to think what she could do with them of given the chance." The driver said, getting Roxas to nod.
Considering the darkness of who he guessed was Lady Tremaine's heart and the Unversed were somewhat similar to Heartless, there was a good chance that if she figured it out then she could have some control over them.
Unaware to Roxas a pair of golden eyes lit up from his back, signaling a few nearby Unversed.
Kier couldn't have someone else controlling the Unversed, so it might be best to deal with this Lady Tremaine. Or at least show her some fear.
Terra swung Earthshaker into the final Scrapper, sending it flying into a tree and destroying it upon impact.
"And that was the last of them, now just to reunite with Roxas and-" Terra was trying to say before seeing a few more Unversed approaching him.
A pair of Floods and Red Hot Chili.
"Well I suppose I did ask for this, didn't I." Terra sighed out, training his Keyblade to the Unversed.
The Red Hot Chili opened its lid to launch a fireball, bit Terra shifted his Keyblade into it's whip form before wrapping up one of the Floods and throwing it into the fireball's path.
The Red Hot Chili tried again, but Terra trained his Keyblade at the Unversed and launched a silent Blizzard at it.
The chunk of ice quickly tore through the Unversed before falling onto the last Flood dazing it.
Terra launched a silent fireball at it and the Unveresed was no more.
"If I see another Unveresed in the next five minutes it would be too soon." Terra sighed out as he dispelled his Keyblade wand began to walk off towards the Tremaine manor, hoping to at least take a slight break from dealing with all the Unveresed popping up.
The door opened and out walked two women with their noses in the air and an air of smugness. One had short black hair and the other had long orange hair and wore a green and pink ball gown respectively.
"Goodnight." An older woman in a pleated purple dress at the door said in a voice that portrayed a faux sweetness before closing the door.
Getting a good look at her, he could tell that this was the Lady Tremaine, and immediately steadied himself.
This woman's heart was incredibly vile, so vile he wondered how she hadn't turned into a Heartless yet. Along with the daughter in the green ballroom dress.
The first daughter passed him without even acknowledging his existence. Something that only infuriated him even more.
The second daughter did the same, only giving the Nobody a slight glance before carrying on on her own.
Finally he came face to face with Lady Tremaine, who sent Roxas an inquisitive gaze.
They stood there for what felt like a minute, staring each other done and seizing the other one up.
Their little stare off was broken at the sound of screaming and Roxas saw what was the cause.
Out of the forest a pack of Unversed had emerged.
Lead by a Scrapper there was a pair of Floods behind it and on it's side were a pair of Shoegazers.
The later of which both shot past the rest of the rest of the Unversed and were aiming towards the orange haired woman.
She screamed and braced herself as the two Unversed where nearly towards her.
Only for the two of them never to reach her.
Looking up she saw Roxas holding out Destiny Rewritten, it's barrier blocking the attack.
"You alright?" Roxas asked, getting the woman to nod shakily.
"I-I am fine!" She said as she got back up.
"Then I suggest getting out of here, it isn't quite safe here." Roxas said, getting her to nod as Lady Tremaine came up behind her and grabbed her shoulders.
"Anastasia come along now, we do not want to be late." Tremaine said indifferently causing Anastasia to look shock before looking between her mother and the Nobody before nodding and walking away.
Roxas could care less about what they do now, all that mattered was these Unversed appeared here as soon as Cinderella's light got dimmer. It was best to deal with them before more showed up.
The Shoegazers pulled back, one going straight back and the other trying flip over the barrier and attack Roxas.
He dispelled the barrier and swung his Keyblade upwar. It struck it direct in the head and defeating it.
The other Shoegazer rushed at Roxas as the other Unversed converged behind it.
While with the carriage Tremaine made sure her daughters were inside before facing the driver.
"Get us out of here." She ordered coldly before getting inside.
"Don't need to tell me twice.L The driver said before mushing his horses to start and get away from the monsters as soon as possible.
Roxas blocked the first Unversed's attack and pushed it back before turning his attention. To a Flood that had tried to attack him from behind.
With a single strike it was no more before putting up the barrier to block the Scrapper as tried to claw at him multiple times before the other Flood tried to attack him. Roxas dispelled the barrier and side stepped as the Scrapper tried to attack him, only to strike the Flood and bisect it.
"Water!" Roxas casted, launching an stream of water at the larger Unversed and sent it flying back.
Turning his attention to Shoegazer, Roxas threw his Keyblade at it. The Shoegazer tucked in it's head and summoned a barrier around it in order to protect itself. But against Destiny Rewritten it was futile as the barrier broke and the Keyblade finished off the Unversed.
Before he recalled it to block the Scrapper. He pushed it back before delivering a clean cut through the Unversed, dispelling his Keyblade as it faded away to nothingness. Checking around to see that there was no more Unversed around he began to walk towards where Cinderella was in order to make sure that she was alright.
If this group of Unversed was of any indication, there were probably be bound to be more after her soon.
Anastasia was silent during the carriage ride and she had every reason to be so.
She was sure that she had nearly died if those monsters had attacked her.
The exact same monsters she had once seen her mother commanding at one point. The ones that ignored their manor time and time again. She would have died then and their if that boy hadn't saved her.
And he had actually seemed to care if she was alright, while her own mother was mostly nonchalant and Drizella was ignoring her and fixing herself up for the ball.
Normally should have done so too…but she was still too busy dealing with the fact she had nearly died.
Died without ever finding someone for her to love. Died without her mother ever telling her that she truly loves her. Died without ever accomplishing anything in her life except for what her mother wished from her.
"Anastasia why you have not spoken a single word since we left?" Tremaine asked coldly, snapping Anastasia out of her thoughts.
"I am sorry mother, it is just that the experience with those monsters it scared me. I thought that you had them all under control?" Anastasia asked.
"Hate to say it, but I have to agree I thought that every monster around our home was under your control?" Drizella chimed in, getting Tremaine to sigh as with a wave of her hands a puff of darkness emerged within the carriage and a Flood appeared.
The sisters backed up as much as they could within the carriage as the Unversed climbed up within her lap and she began to pet it, much like she would do with her cat Lucifer.
"I might have control over them, but it is only a small number. There is quite the large number of these monsters in the woods. There are bound to be plenty of them running feral in the kingdom. I will have the one under my control better protect us in the future. What happened will never happen again, understood?" Tremaine said coldly, getting her daughters to nod.
"Yes mother." They both chorused.
"Good now Anastasia it is best you put this behind you until after the ball and you or Drizella have captured the princes's heart. You can unpack everything you feel onto him once the prospect of marriage is secure. So for now, do your best to impress him and everything will be better for all of us." Tremaine said, getting Anastasia to shakily nod.
"Of course mother." She said, although she was no longer feeling so sure of this plan. Especially after her mother was so callous about that near death experience.
"Speaking of which mother, are we going to just let that boy with that key like sword run around back at our home?" Drizella questioned.
"That won't be necessary, if that boy is anything like like the last key bearer I meet then he will soon be moving on or dealing with whatever monsters in his way." Tremaine said angrily. "If not, then I will have my monsters rip him asunder."
"You know something about him then?" Anastasia asked a little surprised and curious. After all the boy had a strange weapon and seemed to use magic to have saved her which was thought to have been nearly gone.
"No I do not. I knew one other when I was your age. There was another monster roaming around the kingdom at night and a young man named Xehanort appeared to take care of the monster. He stayed for 4 days and I tried to court him. He slayed the monster and vanished to the winds afterwards, not before rejecting me and tearing out my heart!" Tremaine spat out, getting the sisters to try to back away more. "But that is all in the past and I wish that you two will succeed where I failed, understood?"
"Yes mother!" They chorused in fear, never seeing her this angry in quite awhile.
"Excellent, now then monster alert your kin and make sure this boy respect his boundaries understood?" Tremaine told the Unversed, getting it to nod before vanishing. "Now Anastasia let's get you ready for the prince."
"Of course mother." Anastasia said, knowing not what to do.
Her mother and sister were unhelpful and unfeeling as usually, her stepsister stole from her, having nearly died from monsters, and told that she needs to win over the prince.
It was a very trying time and with so much happening, but she needs to put it aside.
For she needs to win the prince's affection.
For then finally her mother would finally express her love and tell her that she was proud.
If not, then it was time to cut ties.
She might love her mother and sister dearly, but they had never given her the love and attention she deserved. If it meant cutting her ties with them, then so be it.
While with Tremaine was inwardly pleased that her youngest daughter was falling back in line, she was also seething.
The key bearer had dragged up those unpleasant memories, one she kept buried for years.
She had offered her heart to Xehanort, and what had he done.
Left her high and dry and for what!
A brat he called his apprentice over in his own words, 'a woman who's heart is as hollow as it was dark.'
She could only hope that the boy didn't touch her monsters, otherwise she would lose her second options if her daughters failed.
Forcing the marriage through her monsters.
After all the wild swarms of them have caused chaos across the kingdom. So with an organized force underneath her, there would be nothing stopping her from getting what she rightfully deserved.
Nothing at all.
"Have to give it to the old coot on that one, he dodged a hell of a problem with that one." Vanitas said as he inspected the clothing he borrowed/stole for the evening. It would help him blend in and he had to admit it was quite nice.
While the issue with Xehanort avoiding what the ancient Keyblade wielder thought was an arrogant sociopath was amusing, he was also a bit enraged.
She thought that she controlled some of his Unversed. They were all under his and Kier's control. Yet this old hag had the gal to claim them as her's.
Well he will show her the error of her ways.
He will let her have this little moment and he supposed give her a little shove to help her out, but there was one thing that she will find out.
This was not her story, no he knew whose it was for millennia.
It was Cinderella's and no matter what the old hag had planned it will all come crashing down.
Once it did, he would be there. Enjoying watching Tremaine be denied her happy ending.
And once again he would be there, enjoying it all the way.
The screen flickers as the author reappears.
*Hey guys Hakuorofan7 here and I hoped that you all enjoyed this chapter.*
*There are a few things to know before we conclude this chapter.*
*First on Roxas's end he has gotten his first communication from The Master without him being in a dream, learning about a valuable tool for Keyblade wielders, gotten Terra to discuss what happen before the older apprentice, and is close to meeting Cinderella. So quite a bit of progress and with the events of the last few chapters is on his way to becoming a true Keyblade wielder.*
*So with those actions he has been making bigger ripples in the timeline, and not just from his end.*
*Vanitas is now coming up with a plan to deal Luxu by gathering up as may trump cards as he can including Kier, the Husks, forging a new Keyblade, and raiding Xehanort's study for spells. Including learning about that Xehanort had intentionally intended to create an inhuman body and at least had learned a secret that he and Gula had done their damnest to keep secret.*
*What it is though...will be revealed with time, but let's just say it was the only reason the process worked in the first place.*
*At least from there Vanitas has gained the ability to produce what he has called for now Husks. While they are nothing to truly right home about on their own, they pick quite the punch and being controlled by another Unversed that can eject and you got yourself a tricky foe to deal with if the circumstances are right. While this one is controlled by a Flood, you will see the true might of the Husk soon enough and I hope you all will enjoy it when it comes time.*
*Though if anyone has a better name, I am all ears.*
*Also on the above topic, if anyone guesses the origin of what Vanitas discovered about his body's origin you get a small prize. What it is though you will have to wait and see.*
*Now we get onto the sentient Unversed Kier.*
*A fitting name for an Unversed, it is Irish name meaning small dark one. Fitting of this Unversed's stature. The full grasp of it's true capabilities remains to be seen, but what is known is that as off now Vanitas has deemed it powerful enough to at least fight the apprentices and command the Unversed on the Castle of Dreams including a modified Symphony Master. With this and the feeling the master had upon it's creation makes Kier a potential great threat in the you'll get a better glimpse of it's power soon enough.*
*Finally onto the Tremaine's. Drizella is about the same. Anastasia is going through a small internal crisis of her own at the facts of nearly being killed by the Unversed and considering she is a normal human she could have easily done so if struck in the right spots. And as for Tremaine, she is still salty about Xehanort decades later and as for her little schemes and the Unversed under her control...she is about to learn by the end of all of this just how outclassed she truly is.*
*And it will be glorious.*
*Now then next chapter will deal with Roxas and Terra escorting Cinderella to the ball and dealing with quite the nasty surprise at the ball. Along with a long awaited reunion and an omake I had promised long ago. Which I hope that you all will enjoy when it comes out.*
*If you have any questions or suggestions leave a PM or review and I will get back to you when I can.*
*So until next time, ciao!*
The author waves goodbye as he snaps his fingers and the screen fades to black.