In the next world Terra and X arrived in it was nearing nightfall. The sky was dark with stars beginning to blink into existence. X looked to the sky taking note, the first stars to appear were always either the closest world or the world with the brightest heart. He found himself thinking of the old story Y used to tell him. Second star to the right and straight on until morning.
X turned his attention back to the world. Terra was a few feet in front of him, slowly approaching a crying blonde girl. The girl had her back turned and was resting her head on a bench.
"Is something wrong?" Terra asked softly. Rather than jumping and screaming something about stranger danger the girl continued to cry and actually answered.
"It's just that my friends made me the most beautiful dress--but my stepmother and stepsisters ruined it. And I was so looking forward to the ball." The blonde girl cried. X frowned watching her. She made him uneasy, like the princesses of heart did.
"Darkness always finds a way into a wounded heart. You have to be strong. Strength of heart will carry you through the hardest of trials." Terra said encouragingly. He looked to X to see if he had anything to add. X only shook his head.
"But I..." The girl began. She was interrupted by the appearance of Unversed. X and Terra both quickly drew their weapons.
"Unversed!" Terra exclaimed.
Without wasting another second the pair attacked the Unversed. X kept an eye on the girl while fighting, but the entire time she continued to cry like nothing was happening. It almost amused X as he took out the Unversed, muttering a sorry under his breath as each one died. He began allowing the Unversed closer and closer to the girl before he killed them. Each time the girl still failed to notice what was happening around her.
After the last Unversed was killed, Terra and X returned their attention to the girl. X frowned, as his eyes turned yellow. The girl's heart was a bright light like the other princesses. That for some reason didn't surprise X.
"I can't believe...not anymore..." The girl said through her sobs, further confirming the fact she hadn't realized what had happened. A mist began to gather in the air, rather suddenly.
"Strength of heart is important. But that's not all you need." A voice said. X looked around but saw no one. He turned his attention back to the girl with a frown.
"There's nothing left to believe in...nothing." The blonde girl said. X frowned, she seemed a little dramatic. The mist began to gather in front of the girl.
"Nothing, my dear? Oh, now, you don't really mean that." The voice said. The mist continued to consolidate until there was a woman wearing a blueish grey robe. Her hair was white giving the impression of great age.
"Oh, but I do. It's just no use." The girl said. Her head was now resting in the woman's lap.
"Nonsense! If you'd lost all your faith, I couldn't be here, and here I am." The woman said. The blonde girl looked up at the old woman. She didn't look alarmed by the woman's sudden appearance. "Oh, come now, dry those tears. You can't go to the ball looking like that."
"The ball? Oh, but I'm not--" the blonde girl began. She stood up and stepped back from the woman. The woman stood as well and cut the girl off.
"Of course you are. But we'll have to hurry. Now, what were those magic words again?" The woman said. She thought only a minute before recalling the supposed magic words. "Oh yes... Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo." She said with a wave of her wand.
Sparks flew off the wand X had only just noticed. By some strange occurrence, a pumpkin from the garden rolled over to them and turned into a horse-drawn carriage. The blonde girls torn and tattered dress turned into a beautiful gown that was a similar color to the old woman's robe.
"Oh...it's a beautiful dress. Why...it's a dream come true!" The girl exclaimed.
"Yes, but like all dreams, I'm afraid this can't last forever. You'll have only until midnight, and then, on the stroke of twelve, the spell with be broken, and everything will be as it was before." The woman explained. The girl nodded.
"Yes, I understand." The girl said. She gave the woman a hug before climbing into the carriage and riding off.
"Her heart was full of light. Why didn't I see it? What did you do? I can hardly tell she's the same person." Terra said, looking at the old woman. X looked that way with a bored expression. They had wasted a lot of time just watching that happen.
"Who are you?" The woman asked curiously. X rolled his eyes, it seemed a little late to be asking that question.
"Terra. This is X." Terra replied, motioning X as he introduced him.
"Terra, X, in your heart, do you believe that dreams can come true?" The woman asked. She had a soft smile that X didn't appreciate. It looked like she was pitying them.
"I do. But I also believe you have to make an effort to make them come true." Terra replied. X shook his head.
"I don't," X muttered. It seemed to go unheard by the other two, which X found fortunate. He would hate to have to explain himself.
"Yes, of course. But sometimes just believing in dreams is easier said than done. Cinderella believes her dreams can come true. I wanted her to see that she is right." The woman said in reply to Terra.
"So that's what made her shine--faith in her heart that anything is possible," Terra said. X failed to see where he had drawn that conclusion from. "Where did she go?" Terra asked.
"To the royal ball at the palace. Go. And when you see her dancing you'll know that she believes, and that will help you believe, too." The woman answered. Terra nodded and motioned to X. X sighed before joining Terra as they walked towards the palace following the path the carriage had taken.
"What was that you muttered? When the woman asked us about dreams." Terra asked after walking for a while. X muttered a few curses before giving a heavy sigh.
"I said I don't." He said. Terra looked at him in surprise.
"Why not?" Terra asked.
"One, I don't have a heart," X explained putting up his pinky finger. "Two, dreams don't come true. They fall apart and crumble into little tiny pieces." He continued putting up his ring finger. Terra frowned at him.
"What makes you say that?" Terra asked.
"Experience," X stated calmly.
"Well, what's your dream?" Terra asked. X rolled his eyes looking away. It was annoying the way Terra was pressing for this information. Not everyone believed everything. It wasn't something worth making a large fuss about.
"Don't have one. Never really did." X replied hoping that would be enough to stop Terra's questions. He was wrong about that.
"How can you not have a dream? That seems a little...." Terra began but trailed off, looking for the right word.
"What? Sad?" X asked. "Yeah, I guess. But there was never anything I wanted, I had everything. Well, I used to anyway." He continued.
"So what do you want now?" Terra asked. X frowned thinking of an answer that would satisfy Terra. Something good he supposed.
"I guess if I had to choose anything. I'd like to get my heart back. Be able to feel everything I used to. Be with my sister again." X answered. For the most part, it was true. But he wasn't sure to what extent. Terra smiled at him but didn't speak. It seemed he had finally decided he knew enough.
When Terra and X reached the palace, X wasn't all that surprised to see a group of Unversed attacking Cinderella as he remembered the old woman dubbed the blonde. Sure the Unversed were first attracted by negativity, but the moment they found a light they sought to drag it into the darkness.
"Not here too." Terra stated summoning his keyblade.
"Why not?" X asked sarcastically, drawing his own daggers. He didn't give Terra time to reply before darting forward to attack the Unversed.
The group was rather small and was taken out quickly between the two of them. In the end, Terra stood a few feet in front of Cinderella, his keyblade still at the ready. X was behind Cinderella, his daggers already gone.
"I've met you before," Cinderella said softly, looking at Terra with recognition.
"I'll take care of them. You wait here. X will watch you." Terra said in reply. X looked at him with a frown.
"I will?" X asked. Terra shot him a glare that X only shrugged in reply to with a crooked grin.
"Please, may I go with you? I so want to get to the ball." Cinderella asked. Terra thought about it a moment before nodding slowly.
"All right. But stay behind me, or you'll get hurt." He decided. He looked over his shoulder at her waiting for her reply. To his surprise, she only smiled. "You aren't worried?" He asked.
"Didn't you tell me it was important to stay strong?" Cinderella asked in response. Terra looked forward with a soft smile.
"Oh, um...I guess I did." Terra agreed. X rolled his eyes and shook his head.
"How did she even know that? It's not like she was listening." X muttered to himself. Luckily this time no one heard him at all.
"So...you ready?" Terra asked. Cinderella nodded.
"Yes." She said.
The group entered the long hallway at the front of the palace. Almost immediately they were attacked by Unversed. Terra took out the Unversed farther ahead while X stayed closer to Cinderella, much to his own objection. He hated being near this girl, she made his skin crawl. Her light was just too bright for his shadow.
They managed to reach the doors to the ballroom without Cinderella getting harmed. She turned to them both with a big smile. X looked away from her with a frown.
"Oh thank you, um.." Cinderella began but trailed off realizing she didn't know the boys' names.
"Terra." Terra supplied. Cinderella turned to look at X. X tried to shrink back from her. "His name is X. He doesn't talk much." Terra said for X.
"Thank you, Terra, X." Cinderella said. Terra smiled and lightly bowed to her. She smiled brightly once again before entering the ballroom. She wasn't in the room for very long until she caught the eye of the prince.
"Maybe just believing is enough," Terra said as he watched Cinderella dance with the prince.
"Maybe," X said softly.
The two stood quietly for a moment before preparing to leave. Before they could, however, they caught sight of Unversed up on a balcony.
"Unversed!" Terra exclaimed. He turned to find someone from the palace. He found an official looking man and rushed over to him. "Tell us how to get up there," Terra demanded.
"Well, there is a passage under the foyer staircase." The man said confused.
"Thanks," Terra said before running to the foyer. X followed him with a sigh.
They reached the balcony to find it empty of Unversed. Terra frowned looking around. He jumped back as a giant Unversed appeared. It looked like a music director, complete with other Unversed that looked like instruments. The Unversed attacked Terra with its instruments. Terra barely managed to avoid it, jumping away to the ballroom floor. X heard the man they had spoken to desperately cry out for guards. Terra reassured him that they could handle it before yelling to gain the Unversed's attention.
X jumped down from the balcony to the floor with Terra.
"You handle the main body, I'll get its little helpers." X said. Terra nodded in agreement. X quickly launched himself for the nearest instrument while Terra went for the director. It wasn't a hard fight, which was no surprise. X was a little too used to fighting the Unversed. Terra also seemed to be well adapted to fighting the Unversed, though it was a little more difficult as it was off the ground and Terra wasn't the best jumper.
The Unversed was quickly defeated, vanishing into nothing. Terra was approached by the man who had given them directions. X stayed off to the side watching.
"Thank you. You saved us all. The guests were just starting to enjoy themselves." The man said wistfully. X supposed most of the small number of guest must have fled the palace.
"Well don't give up just yet," Terra said nodding towards where the prince and Cinderella still stood. "Tell me something. Have you always had a problem around here with those monsters?" Terra asked.
"No. I believe....they began to appear shortly after a boy in a mask arrived in our kingdom. Those that saw him said the monsters obeyed his every command." The man replied. "A young girl asked the same question only earlier today." He added.
"A girl? What did she look like?" Terra asked. X smirked to himself. If it was anyone but his sister he would be surprised. Vanitas had done his job, she should be out in the worlds too.
"She was a foreigner like yourself I presume. She had blonde hair, almost like the boy with you." The man explained. Terra frowned looking over at X. X shrugged and mouthed 'Y'. Terra's eyes widened in understanding before turning to the man again.
"And this boy in a mask? Do you know where he is now?" Terra asked. He seemed to be fighting to keep his calm. He was probably now worried about Y.
"Well...no, I don't believe anyone has seen him since then." The man answered.
"I see," Terra said. Just then the clock tolled midnight. Cinderella took off without a warning. X watched her run out with the man Terra had been speaking to chasing after her. X glanced at Terra with a shrug. Terra shrugged in response before following them out of the palace, just to see what was going on.
X followed shortly after. As the two reached the top of the stairs, they recognized a woman with blue hair watching the events in confusion.
"Aqua!" Terra called. Aqua turned to face him.
"Terra!" Aqua said in shock. Terra descended the stairs to speak with her. X stayed near the top of the stairs, Aqua set him on edge. "Terra, Ven ran away from home," Aqua said.
"What?" Terra asked shocked. It was surprising X supposed, learning two of your friends had run away the same day.
"I think he left to find you. Do you have any idea why?" Aqua asked. Terra shook his head, his eyebrows furrowing together.
"No," Terra said. He looked up at Aqua in realization. "Actually, just before I left he tried to tell me something. I should have listened to what he had to say. And from the sounds of it, Y ran away too."
"What?" Aqua asked in confusion.
"A man told me a young blonde foreigner was here, looked something like X," Terra said. Aqua looked down at the ground in worry.
"Oh no." She said softly. "Did you manage to locate Master Xehanort?" She asked looking up at Terra hopefully. She wanted some good news.
"No, but it seems he's looking for pure hearts filled with light," Terra answered.
"Pure hearts.....filled with light," Aqua repeated in question. Terra nodded.
"All I can tell you is that his search hasn't taken him here," Terra said.
"All right. I'll stay and see if I can find more clues." Aqua said.
"Okay." Terra agreed. "The prince is in the ballroom ahead. He might have some answers." Terra suggested, walking past Aqua. X choose then to descend the stairs a little more, to the point he was closer to the bottom than Terra. Aqua watched him carefully as he passed her.
"Thanks," Aqua said.
"Aqua. You still have the same dream?" Terra asked turning back to face Aqua. She turned to face him with a quizzical look.
"Well...yes," Aqua said.
"There's this girl here-- her name is Cinderella. She made me realize how powerful it is just to believe. No matter how impossible things seem....a powerful enough dream will always be enough to light the darkness." Terra said with a smile. Aqua smiled softly and nodded in reply. "If you see her, give her my thanks." Terra requested.
"Will do." Aqua agreed. Terra turned away and continued his way down the stairs. X followed after him, trying to ignore the feeling that Aqua was watching him.
"This boy in the mask, do you know anything about him?" Terra asked after they were a decent way away. X hesitated before answering. He didn't want to make it seem like it was an easy topic. He had to pretend he hardly knew anything.
"Yeah." X finally said quietly.
"Do you think he has something to do with Master Xehanort's disappearance?" Terra asked. He was watching X with concern. He was beginning to be able to tell when X didn't want to talk about something.
"He, he could, I guess." X admitted.
"You don't know?" Terra asked.
"Master Xehanort didn't talk much about it. I, I didn't ask." X explained. He looked away from Terra, holding back a smirk. Terra seemed to think about this information before speaking again.
"Master Eraqus said he first received word of these events from Master Yen Sid. Maybe it's time we went and spoke with him." Terra suggested. X nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, sure." He said.
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A/N: So I don't know if anyone but me keeps track, but this is late. Like, three days late. Doesn't seem that huge but still, I feel kinda bad. I have an excuse though, not a great one, but still an excuse. I live in between two houses, one has wifi the other does not. Usually, on the weekend I'm at the house with wifi, but this weekend everyone there was sick and I didn't want to catch it, seeing as last time I got sick I was out of school for a week and that was not fun trying to catch up on work. Also, this just wasn't done on Friday. It could have been, but it wasn't. I have no excuse for that except I'm super lazy because of school.