How do you describe the first touch of morning rays in the day without waiting for the dawn to come and demonstrate? It's not an easy thing to do. There isn't just one specific 'way' it feels to have that light brush over your skin. It can be invigorating, or it can be tiring. It can be nostalgic or full of anticipation. Motivating or melancholic. In the end, the emotions morning light could evoke in a person were as varied as the sorts of mornings a person could have.

Today, the morning light that little Ventus felt on his skin was both excitingly cheerful and mind-numbingly unnerving. It was odd, walking down Daybreak Town's streets in tow of the two girls who had declared themselves his new party just minutes before. But it was also a nice feeling. He couldn't wait to see what the rest of the day would bring.

Even so, the Vanaheim sisters were far more inquisitive than he would have liked. Their first day had barely begun and Ventus already found himself overwhelmed with questions and exposition.

"So, what's your name?" asked Gudrun.

"Um, it's Ventus-"

"Whoa, that's, like, way too long and tacky! Can I call you 'Venny'?"

"Ah, how is that-"

"How about 'Ven'?"

"Y-Yeah, sure!"

"Great! 'Ven' it is! Alright, what's your title?"

"Um, my ti-?"

"Sigrun and I are known as the 'Valkyries of Vulpes'! Isn't that cool!? People sometimes get it confused for our party name, though. Because, we're the only members, y'know… Or, we were! Until now!"

"Um..." Ventus had no idea what to say, so he just chose to walk a few steps further away from Gudrun, who was giddily bouncing by his side. Behind him, he could hear someone chuckle.

"Slow down, Gudrun. You're gonna make our poor newbie's brain melt if you keep going like this," said Sigrun.

Those words, combined with Sigrun's calm tone, prompted Ventus to position himself a few steps closer to the pale girl.

"So, um..." He began to talk, hoping for a more reasonable conversation than the one he allegedly had with Gudrun just moments before. "Anyway... t-thanks for taking me in. I-I mean... I really a-appreciate..."

"Kid. Calm down. You really gotta lose that stutter." Sigrun rolled her eyes. "Nobody's ever gonna take you seriously if you can't get through three words without having to repeat at least one of them. So next time, make sure you got enough air before you talk. Got it?"

"U-Um! Y-Yeah, I think..."

"What did I just say?"

Ventus took a deep breath. "Yeah. You're right. Thanks, Sigrun."

"There we go!" she smiled, softly patting Ventus on the back. "See, was that so hard? By the way, you can call me 'Sig'."

"And I'm 'Gud'!"

"...Call her 'Gudrun'."

Gudrun bounded around in front of Ventus and Sigrun merrily as the two of them talked, Sigrun explaining some basic things to Ven about his new party. Their mission times were from eleven in the morning to five in the afternoon, with briefings at breakfast. They were fairly active, aiming to clear all daily and most weekly missions as they came, and their focus laid on climbing the rankings to earn rare items that would cost them thousands upon thousands of jewels otherwise. That said, being the small party they were, the two of them had never managed to climb especially high in the group rankings before.

"Still, I've got a feeling that things are going to change from now on," Sigrun added.

"Huh?" Ven furrowed his brows. "Um, why is that?"

"Because we've got you now, silly!" Gudrun burst out in front of them and, much to Ventus' surprise, Sigrun nodded. Ven blushed. Did they really think him being there would make a difference? That thought alone brought a smile to his face. He laughed.

They went on to assess his abilities next. Gudrun begged Ventus to show her his 'shiny', by which she meant his Keyblade. He brought out his Wayward Wind.

"A backhanded Keyblade?" Sigrun voiced her surprise.

"It's kind of hard to use," Ventus admitted. "I sometimes gotta swap Keychains for missions. It works a little better with my left hand though. Sometimes, when things just click, I can pull off some really crazy fast combos with this."

"Oooooh, I wanna see!" Gudrun leaned in close. "Show! Show! Show!"

Clearly, one could not simply deny such a convincing request for demonstration. Ventus spent a few minutes showing the sisters his favorite skills and specialties, using his favorite wind magic and doing a couple of other tricks. Finally, an assessment was given.

"Whoa, you use loads of speed-type moves!" Gudrun's fists were pumped. "Everything's just going so fast."

Sigrun seemed to agree, "You soar by like a bird flying with the storm once you get going... That's it. That's what your title should be. 'The Swift Wind'."

"Swift Wind..." Ventus repeated, rolling the words on his tongue a little. He had to admit, he quite liked it. It was pretty cool. Again, he ended up blushing. Nobody had ever commended him with such a cool title before, or rather, any title at all. It couldn't hurt to use this one, he told them, and Sigrun looked satisfied, whereas Gudrun's eyes glowed with enthusiasm. For the rest of the day, the dark-skinned sister refused to address Ventus by anything other than by the entire term 'Ven, the Swift Wind', which quickly did a number on the title's novelty. By the fifth time, being called that had ceased to be anything other than annoying. One more reason for Ventus to avoid Gudrun's line of sight and stick to her sister.

As discussed, they went out for missions at noon, scouting the sites of the world the three of them had been given access to by Chirithy for Lux and treasure. Their roles were quickly established; Sigrun would make contact with the native folk of the worlds gathering information, while Gudrun would take care of adjusting everyone's equipment according to the situation. Ventus was put in charge of keeping watch for Heartless and calling the group together to battle. Their cooperation went smoothly. By the time nightfall came, the three could regroup in Daybreak Town to count and split the spoils of their adventures.

"Whoa... I've never seen a fragment like that before..."

"It's a class six," Sigrun explained to Ventus, turning the glowing medallion in her hand. "Magic Type, high damage, high range... One usually needs to pay good money to get their hands on this kind of thing."

"And we got it for free! Lucky!" Gudrun sing-songed, splitting up their hard-earned jewels among the three of them. "Oh, talking of money, look at all this cash! Hey, hey, Sis, you think we could...?"

Sigrun rolled her eyes. "Sure. Why not. Not like we should be saving our jewels to get more equipment later, right?"

"Awww, c'mon!" Gudrun pouted. "Just this once? We still gotta celebrate Venny joining~"

"J-just 'Ven'..." Ventus corrected, uncomfortably shifting where he sat. Oh, what he wouldn't have given to make Gudrun settle on just calling him "newbie" or something...

Speaking of Gudrun, she wouldn't let off. Nuzzling close to her sister and making noises like a hungry kitten, she insisted on her pleas to be headed. Finally, Sigrun let out a loud sigh.

"Fine. We'll go have cake. Happy now?"

"YAY!"

Gudrun's boots hit the pavement for just a second before she bounced off again. For once, her joy actually infected Ventus. Cake with his new party… That actually sounded really nice! Just sitting down somewhere in the perpetual dawn, taking your time to decide what you want. Something sweet, but not too sweet. Then sharing it with the people with you. Your teammates… friends? Were they friends already? That was nice to consider. Maybe he could go as far as to call them his friends? Even if Gudrun was a bit weird. And Sigrun a little intimidating.

Things continued just like that. An evening, just like he'd imagined it, eating a snack and talking and laughing together with people who seemed to really enjoy his presence. It was nice, it really was. When nightfall came and Ventus retreated to his quarters, Chirithy even commented on his bright mood. He neither could nor wanted to hide what a good day it had been, all in all.

But seven days later, he was alone again.

Wait, why? How did that make sense? Wasn't it still the same place a week later? The same dawn, the same morning light? No, not quite. It was a different kind of morning, which meant that nothing was the same, even if nobody but him knew, even if no one else understood. Nobody else felt the morning light by the fountain the way Ventus did seven days later. Nobody cried like he did. Not even Master Ava got to see his tears, because he had wiped them as soon as he saw her approaching him.

See? That's why it's pointless to think things are going to get better. It never lasts, does it? No matter how sure you feel, you don't know what's in everyone else's hearts. You don't know what they're thinking or why they do the things they do. And that's why eventually you're bound to be alone again.

…Hm? You say that's not true? You think it's still worth seeking out the next bright morning, even if you're not sure when that will be? What an odd thing to say.

…You don't regret meeting the people who've gone either? You're glad you shared those memories with them? You think they were worth meeting, regardless of how painful to remember they are now? I don't understand that at all. Why would you think that makes sense? Why would you want any of this? Doesn't it hurt? Isn't it agony, just to think about these things, just to remember them? Don't lie to me! There is no way you don't find it just as painful.

…But you don't understand? That's right, you could never understand. Of course you wouldn't. Because all you ever look at are the bright days. All you ever see are the things that went well and the things that got better, you don't look at the things that you messed up and the things others screwed up with, the things that got broken, were destroyed and died. You're a coward, who runs away from all the things that are so much more real, so much more permanent than any nice dream or wish or hope we could ever have! And because of that, just because you are such a damn coward and cling with your life to all those bright things, all I'm left with is-

He woke up by hitting his head on a dusty crossbeam right above him and found that he'd been spending at least the last part of his nightly rest strangling a Flood with both hands, his fingers digging deeply into the small creature's body. As soon as he was awake enough to process all of this information, he tightened his grip and crushed the Unversed's neck between his fingers. The rush of irritation that overcame him as his body reabsorbed the creature mixed with the pain from the bump forming on the bruised spot on his forehead, which somehow made it more bearable, because that way he could at least pretend that it was said physical pain that was irritating him, rather than the Unversed's existence. The whole attic was crawling with them by now. The dream he'd just had, however vague it seemed now that he was awake, had evidently been enough to bring a whole legion of them into existence while he was asleep. They were everywhere, zipping all over the place, catching cobwebs on their limbs and other protrusions as they did. Disgusting. He'd have to get rid of these before moving on.

By now he'd gotten rather good at tolerating the sudden rush of emotions that came with destroying Unversed. It was still a feeling that made him want to hurl, but preferable to what it felt like to have them roam about, tiny fragments of himself just escaping. The sooner he put those things out of their misery, the sooner he didn't have to deal with that gross feeling anymore. He now used that mantra as a motivator to keep himself from spawning even more upon destroying them. It helped a bit with suppressing the overflow of emotions as long as he slew them himself, which was much preferable to the sudden, uncontrollable burst of feelings he experienced every time somebody else killed them. Whenever that happened, he ended up leaking out more of these damned beasts than he wanted to try and count. That's why he now tried to take care of not letting any more of them slip away from his sight before he could cull them, but he didn't quite manage. A handful would always get away, one way or another. Like right now, even as the attic appeared entirely cleared of the Unversed's presence, he could feel clearly that some of them were still alive, having snuck away in the shadows and escaped outside before he could get to them. Vanitas cursed under his breath.

Well, no use crying over spilled milk. He wanted to keep a cool head. The last thing he needed was even more of his leaking emotions to clean up after. The sooner he got ready to move on, the better. He'd gotten used to this routine now, traveling around, trying to distract his thoughts from all sorts of feelings until he grew tired and searched for a cave or an attic or basement to rest. Then, after waking up, he'd clean up the mess his feelings had inevitably made while he was asleep and get back to roaming. Somewhere in this unusual way of spending the day there must have been an exciting tale to tell, but so far Vanitas had found it nothing but dull and upsetting. If that was how his days would be from now on, what was the point of getting up in the morning to begin with? He'd just have stayed down and tried to sleep for the rest of his life, hadn't he known that the Unversed spawning around him would sooner or later cause someone to find him, and he was not keen on learning what would happen if it ever came to that.

The attic was cleared now. No use trying to chase down the Unversed that had escape, he couldn't sense their locations precisely enough to make that work. He'd have to take care of them later, if he came across them. They tended to try and return to him sooner or later anyway. For now, there was only one thing left to do. An old, ornate mirror stood in the corner of the room, its surface long fogged over by dust and cobwebs. Vanitas stepped close and wiped off some of the dirt with his left hand, just enough so he could see his own form reflected in the glass, still clad in that familiar, black attire which clung to his flesh like a second skin. It was time for the daily routine. Of course, the attempts at his last three hiding places had all been no good, so chances were nothing would come of it this time around either, but, hey, he had nothing better to do. Trying probably wouldn't hurt. He straightened himself out and took a few deep breaths.

'Alright. Here goes. Calm down. Breathe... Calm...'

Meditation. The act of emptying your mind and heart of thoughts and emotion for the moment. One of the parts of Eraqus' training he'd always despised the most and tended to skip out on. He just wasn't especially good at it… Which was to say, he sucked. A lot. It came with your entire existence being comprised of nothing but emotion, thought and memory, he supposed, but that didn't make it any less annoying how hard it made it to pull off this certain little exercise- Annoying? No, stop. Wait. Calm. Breathe. Get that thought out of your head. Don't let any more of your emotions leak out. Right. Calm. Breathe. Calm, breathe...

This... 'form' of his… It was made of the Darkness his body emitted, right? It followed that, if it were to not emit any Darkness for the moment – or, at least, if he emitted a lot less – that this form too would cease to be. So, at least, went the theory. He hadn't been able to test it yet. The past couple of days had been too much of a drag. It was difficult to focus on not being pissed when it felt like the world had just decided that nothing good you'd ever earned or owned was allowed to last. But it'd been days now. Things had changed a bit. He'd started to get somewhat 'comfortable' with things. Roaming around on his own and seeing other worlds wasn't half bad. There'd been some cool places. Giant buildings, ancient ruins, endless paths, wide oceans to run along and test his skills on. He'd even found some shimmering rocks and interesting looking gems along the way. Maybe he'd be able to rebuild his collection. Yeah, these were things he liked. The freedom to go where he wanted and do as he pleased, without anyone trying to tell him about right or wrong. Just letting loose and following his urges. No schedules, no rules. He slept and ran as he wanted. That was nice. He was doing these things all on his own, and they were enjoyable. 'Fun', even. Just a little bit...

A softly tingling feeling took Vanitas out of his introspection. At first, he was surprised and wanted to turn and slash the air in case there might be something or someone close by, but the scare only lasted for a moment before he looked at his hands and saw what was going on. Dark, stringy fabric gradually grew thinner and receded into his flesh until what was left behind was just smooth skin. Vanitas quietly mouthed a gasp. He actually did it. There were his human fingers, his palms, his arms... Even the clothes he'd worn before his encounter with Xehanort were back, as if they'd never been gone at all. The bracelet Eraqus had made him wear four years ago was still missing, of course, but aside from that, he was back to normal. Right. This was 'normal' for him. It was still somehow weird to realize that he felt that way…

'Either way, I look human enough like this. I'm not going to attract any attention,' he thought, running his fingers down the skin of his arm. 'Like this, I can figure out what to do next. Find a proper place to stay, I guess. Something to spend my time on. Somewhere nobody's gonna bother me and I won't get bored.'

What kind of place would that be? Some house far off any bigger settlements, probably. Somewhere with a forest or something. He could spend his days gathering and making stuff to trade in for food in the next-best town when he felt like it. Just to keep himself occupied. That could probably work somehow. ...Of course, none of that was actually supposed to be necessary, was it? In fact, it felt beyond redundant to even think about it. He'd already had a place like that! Right, he had had a place to sleep, a place that had kept him occupied, a place where he could eat even when he didn't need to, a place with people that actually made it interesting and fun to get out of bed every day, until-

-Something boiled over, much too suddenly. A brief rush of pain and it burst out. He couldn't stop it either. Within only a couple of seconds Vanitas' form reverted again back to his dark-suited self, taking from him the apparent humanity he'd only regained a minute or two prior. Down on his knees, the boy glared at the mirror, then spat at it and struck his fist against it without a second thought.

"-Ungh! DAMN IT!"

The glass shattered, raining down left and right of him. He didn't care. Seeing something break that wasn't him was far too satisfying right now. Though the mirror's shards dug into the fingers of his suit, they didn't go in deep enough to breach his skin. Not deep enough to let him see if he could still bleed. That idea alone sickened him even more. Sick. That's what this felt like. He was sick of this form, sick of the Unversed, sick of the memories of how he'd gotten here, sick of wondering where the others were right now and what they were doing-

What would Aqua think if she saw him like this? Would she scold him for breaking the mirror? Would she try to make him feel better?

How much did Terra hate him? How deeply did he wish him dead right now?

Was Ventus smiling right now? Was he having fun?

Why was he even asking himself these questions, Vanitas wondered? Past was past. He couldn't 'undo' anything. There was nowhere to go back to. But there was nowhere to move on to either, was there? The Wayfinder clacked against his thigh, still dangling from the same chain it had been on when he'd left the Land of Departure. No matter how many times he'd considered it, he could never quite bring himself to throw it away.

He left that attic behind before the nobleman it belonged to could send a maid up to investigate the commotion that had been caused up there. Maybe said maid would have had to take the blame for the broken mirror, hadn't Vanitas destroyed it entirely before leaving – so cleanly that no trace of its existence was even left behind. He wasn't entirely sure why he'd done that. It wasn't out of anger. He'd just heard the voice of that maid noticing the commotion he was making upstairs. The idea of a stranger getting punished for absolutely no reason just felt a bit… gross to him. He couldn't quite explain it.

Moving in the shadow of the trees of the grove close to the estate he had left gave him some time to consider where to go next. There was a river he could follow, then there was also a path that led in another direction, and in the exact opposite direction from that there was a castle. No one of these ways seemed more promising than the other. That was probably because he had no idea where he wanted to go. After all, his plan of integrating into society had just plain fallen through. No way anyone was going to just leave him be as long as he looked like this. And that wasn't even mentioning the Unversed… In defeat, Vanitas collapsed down under an ash tree and groaned. Trying to keep his emotions in check while considering his current situation was hard work. He needed a break. Taking out a small bag of sunflower seeds he'd picked up from a market somewhere along the way, he started to snack a little. The taste was the closest to nuts he'd gotten in a while, which right now was almost good enough, he supposed. Of course, some real food would have been a lot nicer. Maybe he should consider hunting for some dinner? That'd at least be a good excuse to kill something. Just as Vanitas thought that, a white dove floated down from above, landing close to the boy's feet.

'Coo-coo, coo-coo.' The bird pecked around on the ground for a bit, before raising its neck and fixing its big, round eyes on the humanoid towering over it. For a short while Vanitas considered grabbing for the bird's neck and making good on his dining intentions, but he stopped when he realized how scrawny and frail the dove looked. Just skin, feathers and bones. Not even worth the effort killing. He sighed.

"So much for that then…"

'Coo-coo! Coo-coo!'

"Oh, you shut up."

Not even worth properly raising his voice. Honestly. Vanitas leaned back against the tree behind him. Maybe a little nap would clear his mind. He closed his eyes.

'Coo-coo!'

"…You still here?"

What a pitiful bird. Even with just one eye opened halfway, Vanitas could see the little thing hopping around aimlessly close to his leg. Didn't it have enough energy left to fly away, or was it just trying to annoy him? Either way, he didn't even feel like shooing it off. But how to make it stop coo-ing at him? That was when Vanitas realized what the bird's eyes were really been pining for. It was the little satchel of sunflower seeds, that still rested in his hands. They weren't really food, barely even a snack. But to stuff a bird's beak enough to keep it from making noises, they might just suffice. That was what the boy thought to himself when he absentmindedly picked a couple of seeds out of the small bag and tossed them to the ground. It was kind of funny, watching that small creature's head bob as it picked the seeds up from the grass, one after another. Vanitas, feeding the birds. Now that was something Terra would never let him live down if he ever caught wind of it. But Terra wasn't here. No one was. Vanitas was alone, nobody would ever know, so clearly nothing about this slightly amusing pastime mattered. However, just as he was thinking that-

"Ahh… Now that is really much better!"

"…What?"

Vanitas did a double take as soon as his mind started processing what had just happened. The bird had just started talking? And now it started glowing. And now, with some sparks and some glitter, the bird grew and grew, until it finally reached the size and form of an elderly, quite well-fed woman in blue robes.

Another double take.

"W-Wha-!"

Whatever tiredness and boredom Vanitas might have felt before was gone now. He got up in one leap and summoned his weapon, ready to strike at the slightest hint of motion. The old lady, however, raised her hands and motioned him to calm.

"Now, now, my child! This is no reason to panic. Though I know, my entrance may have been a little startling…"

"A 'little startling' is what I call it when someone opens a door in my face," Vanitas hissed, very busy channeling his shock into spite. "Is that what sorceresses around here do for fun? Turn into wildlife so you can sneak up on travelers?"

"Oh goodness, no!" The old lady laughed, softly, waving her hand. "Believe me, if I needed to entertain myself I'd find much better ways to pass my time than that. Besides, I'm no ordinary sorceress, my child. I am a fairy."

"A fairy." Vanitas raised a brow, Keyblade still brandished.

"Yes, indeed! A fairy godmother. One who watches over children whose hearts shine with belief."

"…Sure." The Keyblade came down, though it was not dismissed. "And that's why you pretended to be a bird and ate my lunch."

"And I do thank you for that! I really was in dire need of a little pick-me-up."

"Right."

Fairy or not, this conversation was quickly proving tiresome. Even if it did seem like this old lady really wasn't looking for a fight – Vanitas currently judged her to be about as dangerous as a cross between a basket of kittens and a meadow of pretty flowers – he still already had more than enough of a reason to question her general level of sanity. He'd have said that he didn't have time for this, but that would have been a blatant lie. If anything, he was worried that interacting with this loon would make time appear to pass even slower. Therefore, an unimpressed Vanitas shouldered his Keyblade and turned to leave the site of conversation.

"Oh? Leaving already? Aren't you going to do something about these?"

At the fairy's question, Vanitas took a glance behind him to see what she was talking about. The sight he was greeted with was so obvious, and yet to groan-worthy. A group of about ten Unversed was aimlessly tumbling through the air. Right. He did lose his composure for a moment when he saw that lady transform. Annoyed, the boy pressed a palm onto his face and moaned a little.

"Just… stay out of my way," he told the fairy-godmother. Then he pulled his weapon up and proceeded to 'do something', as she had put it.

INFORMATION: Take out the Unversed!

As mentioned before, this sort of thing was routine work to him by this point. That didn't mean it didn't hurt, but it was negligible. Unversed born of surprise and shock. He'd dealt with this type quite a few times already. As long as you didn't let their sudden motions and elemental attacks take you off-guard, they were quickly disposed of. It was more effort than he'd wanted to take, but well, at least now he was doing something. Any occupation was better than being idle, in a way. Even one as cumbersome as this. Even so, he was very relieved when the last of the Red Hot Chilis finally exploded and was consumed by its own flame, its energy returning to his body. Quiet returned to the woods.

For a moment, Vanitas relived the surprise he felt upon seeing the old fairy appear before him. In retrospect the emotion didn't have quite the same punch anymore. In fact, now he actually found his own reaction back there a bit silly. Almost funny.

"Well, someone seems to be enjoying himself." The lady in the robes remarked, approaching Vanitas as the fighting concluded. He finally dismissed his Keyblade.

"No, not really. You get used to it."

"But you do seem to be feeling a lot better now. You are smiling."

"…Hm?"

Was he? Well, maybe he was. But if so, only because of how ridiculous he found his own loss of composure just now. Whatever the case, the fairy gave a smile of her own. "To have one's emotions manifest as creatures like that… What odd children you find from time to time. I followed you because I sensed a great, frightening Darkness. But in its stead, I found a believing heart."

"I guess you really are a 'fairy'. No normal person would see the Unversed and stay calm like that," Vanitas couldn't resist from rolling his eyes a little as the lady mustered him. "And what do you mean 'believing heart'? Someone you ran into?"

"I am talking about you."

"Yeah. Not likely." The fairy's words mystified Vanitas, but he wouldn't let curiosity get to him. In the end, all that mattered was 'going somewhere', whatever that may entail. "Anyway, if you're really someone who looks out for 'shining hearts', then you're clearly in the wrong place. I saw a town or something down that path over there, I bet they've got some spoiled children's bedrooms where you can go pretend you're a robin or something. I've got my own issues to take care of right now."

Before he could try to leave, the fairy responded to his words, "Wouldn't you like a little help with that?"

Vanitas looked across his shoulder, back at her. "I already told you, I am-"

He couldn't finish the sentence, because just as he looked back at her, a beam of some sort hit him right in the chest. What was going on, was this an attack? He flinched away, wanting to counter the magic and strike back with his own, but quickly he realized something was odd. Yes, that light hurt him a little, but not in the way it hurt to be struck or hit by a shot. That bit of pain he felt, it was more like the dread before having to get out of bed in the morning, and it also had to it an almost gentle and oddly familiar quality. When he opened his eyes, he was still standing, unharmed, and definitely not under attack. Instead, he felt the familiar touch of fabric against his legs and arms.

"…Huh!?"

His eyes wide open, Vanitas looked down to find himself restored to his 'other' form. The very appearance he'd been failing to hold just this morning.

"What… Why…?"

"Ah, so this is what you normally wear. Well, not exactly local fashion, but it will have to do. I'm not exactly entitled to give you much more than a tiny push, you know. Oh, and also, this will not do much about those creatures, I'm afraid. The rest will have to come from yourself."

Was there an Unversed for 'utter disbelief'? Probably not, because if there were, it would have appeared already. All the more chance for Vanitas to try and put his confusion into words.

"I don't get it… I told you, I'm not… Why would you…!?"

"Yes, it may be true that your heart isn't exactly 'shining' with belief," the fairy confirmed, her hands folded neatly over her chest. "But I do sense a strong faith inside you. Given your… unusual circumstances, that really is commendable. I do think that conviction deserves to be rewarded."

"Conviction …?" He would have laughed at that, hadn't he still been so stunned.

The fairy remained undeterred. "Besides, you did share your provisions with me. Are you meaning to tell me generosity should not be rewarded either?"

"The seeds…? You realize I stole those, right?"

"Yes, so I saw. You didn't have any money on you to buy anything. Yet you went for the cheapest thing on the market table. Even though there were so many other, more expensive things you could have taken. Why is that, I wonder?"

That rant kept Vanitas quiet up for a moment. Him and the fairy starred at each other for a good twenty seconds, before the boy finally broke eye-contact. "Tch… Stalker."

"What I am trying to tell you is…" The fairy stepped closer and bent down a little to be on eye-level with him. "Even if you yourself don't realize it, there is a certain shine to your heart that should be encouraged."

"A 'shine'?"

"It's 'effort', my dear," she said. "It takes effort to hold on to one's hopes and try to move forward towards the light when it seems darkest. And as long as you show that effort, this form too will be yours."

"…And if I stop trying, I'll revert?"

"That's the idea."

Vanitas stood up straight. "In other words, you're trying to motivate me to do my best."

The fairy smiled and nodded. Her eyes rested at a certain spot on Vanitas' belt. It didn't take him long to realize that she was looking at the star-shaped pendant dangling from it. "It isn't as if I'd done much, child. All I did was wave away a bit of the raincloud hanging over your body. You aren't one of my charges, after all. Still, if you feel as if what I did put you into my debt in some way, I could ask a little favor of you…"

Vanitas looked up from the Wayfinder, at the fairy, "A favor? I don't remember saying anything about wanting to pay you back."

"But you were going to look for work, weren't you?"

…Just how much did that old woman know? This had to be some kind of immoral breach of privacy.

"What if I was?"

"There is a house right down that way, where a girl lives who has far too much work on her hands for a single person's good."

"One of your charges."

"I am just saying, she might need someone to help her get done with it all. It is the night of the ball after all."

"The night of the ball…?"

By now he had an idea of what this glorified grandma was trying to accomplish, but Vanitas was still confused as to how she'd come to the conclusion that he, of all people, was the right person for the job. How desperate did a fairy have to be to turn to something like him to help her do her job? Well, even if he asked her, he probably wouldn't get a proper answer. It didn't even seem like she was going to properly reply to the questions he'd asked already.

"Oh, my goodness, now look at the time. Now that is quite enough dilly-dallying, my boy, we should both hurry along!"

"Hurry along where?" he asked. "I wasn't going anywhere."

"But if you were to hurry along, you could be going to the Tremaine Chateau, just down this path!"

She was talking about the street just a few meters away from where they were standing. If her wording alone wasn't enough to assure him of that, the fact that she gave him a push on his back to move him in that very direction definitely did clue him in. Of course, Vanitas did not appreciate being pushed around (literally) a whole lot, and he was just about to turn around and give the fairy a piece of his mind with the help of his fist, when he found the spot behind him empty. The self-proclaimed 'fairy godmother' had disappeared. Vanitas was left with a path in sight and the choice to either take it or not take it.

"…"

Grumbling to himself, the boy packed away his belongings and got on his way down the street the fairy had pointed out. It really wasn't as if he had anything better to do, was it?

Dwarf Woodlands

There was an important lesson learned today. Little men don't like it when you touch their shiny rocks. Not in the slightest.

"Ugh…"

Ventus was pretty much dragging himself through the forest by his Keyblade. His body hadn't quite been acting as he wanted it to ever since he'd left home. He wasn't in pain exactly, but his movements were a lot slower and clumsier than he was used to, and he sometimes had trouble holding his balance. Side effects of the panacea, maybe, or perhaps he wasn't fully healed yet after all? Whatever it was, it took him an entire afternoon to chase down those tiny miners with their stubby legs in their caves today, which had to be some sort of negative record for him. It didn't help that even when he finally got them to talk to him, he couldn't find out anything about the others from them. He still had no info on either Terra, Van or even Aqua. Then there were those weird creatures that would attack him occasionally ever since he'd left home. The notebook he'd taken from the Master's room luckily had some notes on them – what were they called, Unversed? In any case, he'd been taking some notes of his own on them whenever he found the time. Just in case he needed a reminder on anything. Good thing too, that he didn't have to rely on his training and sick body alone to defeat them, because those things really creeped him out. He couldn't quite explain why. All Ven knew was that if given the choice between spending an afternoon in a room full of hungry tigers versus a room full of those Unversed, he'd have taken the tigers any day. There was just something about those monsters. They seemed to be fixated on attacking him and nothing else whenever he ran into them, too…

He didn't know how long he'd been following this river, but finally Ven's luck seemed to turn when he came to a clearing and found a small cottage. His face brightened. More people, maybe? However, a look at the tiny windows and diminutive door in front of him made Ventus realize exactly what he was standing in front of.

"Oh, this must be where those little men live." He sighed a little. So much for asking someone else for his friends. Still, it was pretty cool, seeing a house built for people that small up close. Did they build it themselves, he wondered? Did they use tiny blueprints to do it? Did they have tiny chairs inside with tiny plates on a tiny table, and tiny tableware to go with it? And some tiny beds to sleep in? Just thinking about it all made Ven feel a little giddy and he laughed, only stopping when he considered that it might be a little rude to think those sorts of things about someone else when they're not even around. Even if tiny people and tiny things were pretty novel to him, for those men it was just their normal, everyday life, right? He had to consider that.

Ventus didn't get to think about whether he could allow himself to go inside and rest for a little while without asking first. A piercing scream from deeper inside the woods took Ven's attention first.

"AHHHHH!"

What was that? A girl's voice? Well, regardless of who it was, they clearly needed help. Shaking his still somewhat numb body as awake as he could, Ventus dashed off into the forest to find the voice's owner. Just what in a world that seemed as peaceful as this one could have happened to scare them so badly?

He'd known magic was a thing in this world. He'd tried to be prepared. What he hadn't been prepared for was for the queen to banish him into her mirror and sic its spirit at him.

Terra was starting to feel dizzy. This fight was absolutely everything he hated having to deal with. His enemy was airborne, swift and knew how to teleport, projectiles of pure magic were flying all over the place, the battlefield was nothing but a shapeless void with no features or constants to use as a focus or angle-point and to top it all off, the spirit kept using illusions to protect itself from Terra's attacks. How was he ever going to break out of this place? Gnashing his teeth, Terra dodged another round of shots from all directions. He had to come up with a strategy to take out this thing, quickly.

Let's think. This mirror's powers were connected to the queen's enchantments, weren't they? Maybe it would help to treat it as if he was fighting the queen? …No, that line of thought was useless. He didn't even know anything about that woman, other than the fact that she was a sorceress and incredibly vain. Also, vengeful, apparently. That part would have been good to know before he decided to waltz into the throne room and loudly declare that he refused to bring her the Princesses' Heart. Well, hindsight is 20/20. Not that Aqua would probably agree with that assessment. He could practically feel her glare on him and hear her exasperated voice asking him what in all the worlds he'd been thinking. Hm, right, Aqua… She was the closest point of reference he had to fighting an enemy like this. Was there any way he could apply that here? Even if they were both magic users, Aqua was a completely different sort of fighter after all. To start with, she had limbs. Also, a decidedly less creepy laugh. Focus, Terra, focus. There had to be something he could use to form a strategy, right?

'Illusions…' Terra thought, while running circles to escape the projectiles the surrounding copies of the spirit were shooting at him. 'When Aqua uses illusions as a diversion, they're never more than afterimages of the real thing. So even when it looks like there're ten or twenty of her, there's always only one that is real. I can tell the difference by keeping my eyes open and watching for sudden movements, but… None of these things really move.' He grimaced, looking through the circle of masks closing in on him. 'They're all exactly same, they all do the same things, they all look the sa-"

-Wait. There was something… He was sure he just saw the corners of one of their mouths twitch. Was that one mask… smirking at him?

"-There you are!"

Terra threw himself in the direction of the smiling mask and tore his Keyblade high up into the air. He was going to shatter this thing in one strike! –Darn. He was too slow! Before his weapon could even touch its ugly grin, the mask-like creature slipped away, escaping his attack. What now? Terra stayed on guard as he saw two rows of yet more illusionary spirits line up to his left and right. Again with the bullet barrage. He had to be faster this time. Where was the real one now? There, the fourth one to his right! He charged up his blade and surged towards the target. However, this time he only managed to grace it before the spirit pulled away again, once more escaping his grasp.

"Grrrr…! Hold… STILL!"

This was getting to be infuriating. Terra felt an overpowering anger welling up in him. Wait, no, he couldn't just let his emotions take control of him. This was exactly how he'd let Maleficent manipulate him too! How he'd allowed her to use him to-

Terra shook his head, 'No, I'm stronger than that. I have to be. I won't lose control again. I won't be swayed by the Darkness!'

There it was, swaying from, side to side, creating afterimages in its path. This time he'd focus, only looking at the real instance of the spirit, striking at it with calm, cold precision and force, at exactly the right time. Terra raised his Keyblade.

"Ha…. AHHHHHHHH!"

He struck, hitting the spirit's form dead center. The Earthshaker pierced through its face like a knife, springing cracks all over its surface, finally causing it to shatter like porcelain.

"P-Powerful…!" The spirit's dull voice exclaimed as it recognized its defeat by Terra's hands.

The voice echoed out, the void shattered along with its owner. Terra found himself feeling lightheaded as the world around him disappeared. He was bathed in a warm light...

He was back in the queen's personal chamber, just where he'd stood before, as if nothing had ever happened. The monarch glared at him, exasperated.

"H-How did you escape!?" she yelled.

Terra, however, was done with listening to this wicked monarch's requests and questions. It was finally his turn, "Now you'll ask the mirror: What do I need to do to protect the Hearts of Light from the Unversed?"

The queen's eyes shone with a rage that marred her alleged beauty almost to the point of outright ugliness, but even just a doth of Terra's hand, insinuating that he might be ready to fight should she refuse, was enough to scare her into complying with his demands.

"Magic Mirror, instruct this knave! Give him the answers he doth crave."

The mirror spoke in a dark, foreboding tone. "To halt the Darkness, as thou desireth, quelling its source is first required."

"What does that mean?" In spite of Terra's follow-up question, the mirror remained silent. "…Thanks. You've been a big help."

All the acting-skills in the world wouldn't have been enough to mask the thick layers of sarcasm dripping from Terra's voice as he marched out. So this entire detour had been one big waste of time. Dealing with that queen, accidentally scaring one of the Seven to death and fighting that darn mirror, all for nothing. Terra would have laughed at the ridiculousness of it all, had it not been so infuriating. He'd lost an entire day in this world, and all he had to show for it was a handful of lesser Unversed defeated. The local wildlife could have dealt with those just as well. Did that mean he actually hadn't made any bit of progress ever since leaving home? No, it was even worse than that; the… incident with Princess Aurora meant that not only had he failed his mission so far, he'd already caused just as much damage as the Unversed, if not even more.

'This needs to stop.' Terra told himself as he reentered the Lanes between. 'If I don't learn how to push back against the Darkness soon, I'll… I'll…'

He didn't actually have a concrete answer to that. All Terra knew was, that it was about time he stopped acting like a disappointment and disgrace to his Master's name and put some effort into acting like one of the Keyblade's chosen was supposed to act. That was the least that should be expected of him.

It was a plenty weird forest, so Ventus really couldn't blame the poor girl whose hand he was holding for getting so scared when the shadows of the crooked trees played tricks on her eyes. He was just glad nothing bad had actually happened to her. Actually, he almost regretted going after her when, as soon as he joined up with her, something that looked suspiciously like real monsters started attacking them. Did those 'Unversed' things follow him into the forest? It was kind of hard to tell with how dark this place was. Whatever the case, he managed to chase those things away rather easily and, just to be sure, he also convinced Snow White that it had just been more creepy shadows. He didn't want her to get frightened all over again when he'd only just managed to calm her down.

"And you are quite sure that there is a place I can stay down that way?" the young girl asked Ven again.

"Absolutely positive! It was a house, with a door and everything. It's a little small, but you're not too big yourself, so I'm sure it'll be fine."

"Oh, but to just go and stay in someone else's home is such a rude thing to do. Hm… Perhaps I should try to make myself useful and earn my stay. What do you think? "

Ventus briefly considered the girl's suggestion, "Hey, actually, the place did seem pretty dirty! I didn't pay much attention to that, but… maybe your plan could work!"

"Oh, how nice!" Snow White clapped together her hands. "I am quite good at housekeeping, you see, but I've never worked for pay of any sort before! This sounds so very exciting."

"Aren't you a little young to think about looking for work though?" Ventus asked. Judging by her height, the girl was just a little below his own age, and he wasn't even old enough to take the Mark of Mastery. Snow White, however, smiled.

"I don't mind making myself a little useful! After all that has happened back home, maybe it is time for me to live on my own… Though, it would be so much nicer to live with the one I like most, I suppose." She sighed a little. "I wonder what he's doing right now."

"A friend of yours?" Ventus asked.

"My prince!" the girl answered with a radiant smile. "He and I have been seeing each other from time to time. Hah, how worried will he be when he finds I'm not back at the castle anymore…"

"Uh… Would you like to go back then?"

"Oh! Oh, no!" Snow White waved her arms around in some distress. "I have no such intentions! Not anymore! I will find him again one day, I am sure. Until then, I will just have to work hard and live life on my own."

"Huh…" Ventus tilted his head a little. "You know, I'm surprised."

"Why?"

"Well, for someone so small, you're strong! You looked so scared earlier, I was worried you couldn't make it out here on your own, but when you're talking like that, I can't help but think you're gonna be just fine."

"Why, thank you!" Snow White laughed. "Though I will have to admit, it still is rather frightening, knowing that I might be on my own until I can meet my prince again."

"Don't you have any other friends? Or a family?"

At that, Snow White's expression darkened a little. "I am afraid my stepmother has not been much of a family to me."

"So, your real family is… Oh. I'm sorry."

"No, it is alright. Even if I don't have anywhere to return to right now, I am sure I will find another place to call home soon enough- Oh!"

The sky above them lit up for a moment, painting odd shapes in-between the branches and holes in the trees. If you squinted, they looked like grimaces and figures. Snow White flinched and cowered behind Ventus' back, clinging to his arm for dear life.

"No, oh no! Them again! They've come to take me! Please, send them away! Please make them stop!"

The little girl sobbed into Ventus' shirt, shivering in her crouching position. Ven sighed. That was lightning just now, right? There had to be a thunderstorm brewing somewhere close by.

"Hey, Snow, cheer up. It's just the trees again, see? Nothing to be scared of. I told you, it's not real. It's like a bad dream, you know."

Snow White's sobbing got a little quieter. She turned her head up. "A… bad dream?"

"Yeah!" He smiled and nodded at her. "And as soon as we're out of here, you'll be awake and it'll all be better." They really had to hurry up with that too. If there really was a storm coming up, they needed to get back to that cottage as soon as possible.

"Say… Ventus?" Snow White tugged his sleeve a little as she was getting up from the ground. "I am terribly sorry to ask but, do you have bad dreams often?"

Ventus stopped to consider his answer a bit. Then he nodded. "Yeah, I do. Especially lately."

"Oh dear…" Snow White shrunk away a little. "That sounds oh so terrible… To feel as frightened as this every night. Say, what do you do, when you dream terrible things like that?"

"Well…" Ven crossed his arms. That was a good question, actually. What did he do? Was it anything all that special. "See, last night for example, I had this one nightmare… I'm sure I've had it before, it felt really familiar. I was making friends with people I didn't really know, and they didn't really know me. I was scared that they might not like me, but it worked out! We had fun together, talking and eating, and doing other things too…But then all of a sudden..."

"Yes?" Snow White urged him to continue.

"They… disappeared." What was this feeling? So cold and anxious. It was just a dream, but even just remembering it caused Ventus to shiver a little. Snow White picked up on that and clung closer to his arm. Oh boy, he was making it worse now, wasn't he? That wasn't the point of the exercise. Shaking his head a little, Ventus got his thoughts back on track. "I don't really know what happened, but I was scared too. It felt like there was a voice telling me that people are scary and that I'll always be alone in the end, no matter how hard I try.

"How horrible…"

"But you know…" Ventus took Snow White. "It's okay. Because as soon as I woke up, I just told myself: 'That's not true!' Because I know it's not. I've got friends out there who'll always have my back, no matter what happens between us or how far we're apart. I trust them, and they trust me. So, no matter how far away from home I go, I know there'll always be somewhere they're waiting for me." Ventus reached into his pocket and pulled out the charm inside. Even though there was barely any light in this forest, the Wayfinder still picked what little there was and sparkled as he held it up above his head. "As long as I keep trying to find them, I'll get to them. I just have to put in a little effort."

"I see. What a wonderful idea!" Finally, Snow White let go of Ven's arm. Standing a little taller, she stepped forward. "It should be the same for me too! As long as I keep trying hard and don't let fear take all my strength, I'll have a home with my prince one day. I do believe that, with all my heart."

"See? Then you've already got nothing to be afraid of."

"How true! I don't!"

Ven and Snow White looked at each other, bright smiles on their faces. They laughed a little. Now that they'd had this conversation, the forest suddenly didn't seem quite as dark anymore. Had the dark cloud moves above moved elsewhere, maybe? Well, whatever the reason, they both felt invigorated. Ven held the Wayfinder up towards the tops of the trees one more time before he put it away and motioned his companion to start walking with him.

"All it takes is a little effort…" He quietly said to himself one more time. Right. He'd have to be sure to remember that line the next time he woke up crying again.

Current Status:

Aqua Lv.3

Keychain: Rainfell (Strength 2, Magic 2, Short Reach, Crit-Rate 25%, Damage x1.2)

Equipment: Silken Ribbon (Magic 1), Wayfinder (Enables D-Link)

Command Styles: Spell-Weaver (Magic)

Shotlock: Bubble Blaster Lv.2

D-Links: Terra, Ventus, Vanitas

Terra Lv.2

Keychain: Earthshaker (Strength 3, Magic 1, Short Reach, Crit-Rate 25%, Damage x1.2)

Equipment: Energy Bangle (Defense 1), Wayfinder (Enables D-Link)

Command Styles: Critical Impact (Physical)

Shotlock: Sonic Shadow Lv.2

D-Links: Aqua, Ventus, Vanitas, Maleficent

Ventus Lv.3

Keychain: Wayward Wind (Strength 3, Magic 1, Short Reach, Crit-Rate 50%, Damage x1.35)

Equipment: Element Ring (Magic Defense 1), Wayfinder (Enables D-Link)

Command Styles: Fever Pitch (Physical)

Shotlock: Flame Salvo Lv.3

D-Links: Aqua, Terra, Vanitas, Snow White

Vanitas Lv.4

Keychain: Void Gear (Strength 2, Magic 1, Medium Reach, Crit-Rate 50%, Damage x1.35)

Equipment: Power Chain (Strength 1), Wayfinder (Enables D-Link)

Command Styles: Mad Rush (Physical), Destrudo (Dark)

Shotlock: Flame Salvo Lv.5

D-Links: Aqua, Terra, Ventus

Unversed Report:

Flood (Defeated: 46 Aqua/ 9 Terra/ 29 Ventus/ 286 Vanitas)

Scrapper (Defeated: 23 Aqua/ 5 Terra/ 13 Ventus/ 64 Vanitas)

Archraven (Defeated: 9 Aqua/ 3 Terra/ 6 Ventus/ 49 Vanitas)

Thornbite (Defeated: 15 Aqua/ 8 Terra/ 9 Ventus/ 53 Vanitas)

Red Hot Chilis (Defeated: 21 Aqua/ 1 Terra/ 4 Ventus/ 29 Vanitas)

Wandering Load These troublesome two attacked Aqua in the woods outside her home. They may look harmless on first glance, but don't be fooled by their promises of sweet gifts and baked goods: The only thing these enemies are going to share with you if you fall for their act is a world of pain. Thankfully, Aqua managed to defeat these prejudiced tykes in the knick of time before they could burn her at the stake. This is a duo consisting of separate two Unversed. Individually, they are called "Gretel" and "Hänsel".(Associated Emotion: Helplessness (Gretel), Temptation(Hänsel))

Author's Note:

Alternate name for this chapter: "Friggin' Sorceresses."

I was stuck on this chapter for much longer than I should have been because I had trouble with Vanitas' section. It was difficult to have it evenly flow from A to B and I had to change it several times until it worked in a way I was finally happy with. Everything else went rather smoothly though. I actually had huge fun fleshing out Ven's interactions with Snow White and integrating some of my personal frustrations with Terra's mirror boss fight (I suck at playing Terra).

Thank you all so much for all your reviews! They give me strength, especially when I see how excited the story gets you. Being able to share my imagination with others is the best thing, honestly.

Now for a first in this fanfic! I'm gonna reply to some reader reviews directly~ !

Riku Kingdom Hearts: Asks if hugging the characters is allowed. The answer is, of course, yes! That's what pillows were invented for~! (Also, thanks for all the reviews you left at once! They made me pretty giddy!)

Jdkwinxgrl: Regarding your comments on how I write Vanitas and Ventus, who's to say they're *not* actually brothers? Some food for thought. Generally, I base character's motions and thought-processes on things I know well when I write them, so for example, fight-choreography is based on how I know fights are storyboarded for animation (I love animation), and Vanitas' (and, to some extent, Terra's) thought-processes and actions are heavily based on my own experiences with anxiety disorder… Basically, I want everything to feel as alive as it is in my head, rather than just like a collection and description of random tropes! (Tho tropes can be pretty cool.)

meladi1: Last chapter I stated that I personally believe that Aqua might have originally come from the same world that Arendelle is in, while I think Terra might have been from the world of "Sword in the Stone". Meladi1 asks why I think that. The answer is simple: Character traits. Aqua's adeptness with elemental magic is unique even among Keyblade Wielders to the point that I think it might be an inborn ability of hers. The world of "Frozen" appears to have more elemental "witches" like Elsa, given what the Trolls say before removing Anna's memory, so I thought Aqua could have been a child like that. With Terra, it's mostly his mindset: He acts like how I'd expect a knave in Sword in the Stone to act when he desperately wants to become a knight. So I imagined probably grew up in an environment where children dream of overly idealistic chivalry like that, hence the connection was made.

meladi1 again, +RandomGuest: These two reviews pointed out that Vanitas in this fic seems to have red eyes instead of his usual golden eyes and wondered if I mistyped. I did not! If you check out my art tag on my blog, you'll see that I draw this timeline's Vanitas with red eyes whenever I post anything related to this fic. Actually, I intentionally changed Vanitas' eye color in this fic for a couple of reasons: A) In the novels, red is mentioned as his original eye-color right after he was born; B) The recent trailers establish that Canon!Vanitas is a member of the Seekers of Darkness, which might mean that his golden eye color in canon, too, is actually due to Xehanort's influence and not his real eye color. If so, this timeline's Vanitas has left Xehanort's side too early to ever actually get 'Norted', so that characteristic wouldn't apply to him, hence red eyes would make more sense; C) Finally, I wanted to distinguish this version of Vanitas from his canon self a bit, since, by virtue of different upbringing and different experiences, they end up being rather different characters. Hence, I went back to red eyes, as the novels describe them.

And now, while we're at it, some fun facts about the two characters from Ven's and Van's recurring dreams: Sigrun and Gudrun were both built by me in KHUX' character creator for the sake of being as close to canon as possible. They're twins and genetically dark-skinned, but Sigrun is an albino, hence her pale skin and red eyes. Because of the disadvantages that come with albinism, she's less skilled in close combat than Gudrun, but she makes up for it with quick wit and magical mastery. In many ways, she's the brains to Gudrun's brawn. They're named after "Sigurd and Gudrun", two figures from Nordic mythology (a folkhero and his wife), but I mostly picked the names for their meaning: "Sigrun" means "Word of Victory", while "Gudrun" means "Word of Battle". The reason I gave them Nordic names is because my intention is that they hail from the same world as Skuld from KHx. (Skuld is a Nordic name meaning "Future".) If you pay attention to the first dream scene earlier in the fic, you can spot Skuld trying to talk Sigrun and Gudrun out of partaking in the Keyblade War.