The Demon Days

Chapter 14: The Meadows

Soon, she fell asleep too, happy that she had a friend she could be with, and ready for whatever else would come for her and everyone else the next day.

Northern Romania. Terra, Aqua and Eraqus had teleported and found themselves in the woods.

"You're sure this is where The Unversed are?" Aqua asked.

Eraqus nodded. "Keyblades are attracted to them, but you should've already known that since I taught you all about them when you were just a girl."

Aqua gave Eraqus an annoyed but playful look. "I know that, I was just asking if you're sure."

Suddenly, Terra pointed to a spot behind them. "I think we've got our answer."

There they were, the fast moving, dark, little monsters with red eyes. But of course, they weren't the only kind of Unversed.

There were small ones, big ones, and they were all from The Realm of Darkness.

"Does that mean there's evil here?" Terra inquired.

"If Unversed meant that there was evil in a specific place, they would be everywhere." Eraqus explained. "It's evil that's connected to us somehow. I told Terra to bring us here because The Unversed could possibly lead us to Xehanort, if he is back."

Aqua nodded in understanding. "That does make sense."

So the trio started fighting the Unversed, making them disappear with each slash of their keyblades.

"The fact that these little guys are the only ones here must mean that Xehanort isn't anywhere near here." Aqua said, rationalizing.

Once the quiet had begun again, everyone heard a voice seemingly coming from a certain direction.

"Nah, I was just letting you off easy today."

Everyone turned in the direction of the voice to see...

"Vanitas."

Just as Terra was about to charge towards the masked boy, he disappeared, intending to not be found.

Vanitas was a long time enemy, and an accomplice along Xehanort and his missions and experiments. He was the culmination of all of the darkness from Ventus, as Xehanort had extracted it all from him before he was taken in by Eraqus, who was the one who really knew everything.

Terra, Aqua and Ventus had secrets kept from them for a long time, but if there was any time to reveal those secrets, it would definitely be now.

By this time, Terra and Aqua knew the story of Vanitas, but Ven himself was still kept from the truth.

"Of course, Vanitas is back."

"So, no Xehanort?"

Eraqus shook his head in objection. "Xehanort may be the very reason of Vanitas' return."

"You think we should tell Ven about him when we get back?"

"I think we should, since he will go after him. After all, he calls Ventus his 'brother'."

Aqua looked around. "The Unversed, they're... Gone."

"Probably because Vanitas is gone. Should we go after him?"

"No, leave him be for now. He wants us to follow him."

Aqua gasped suddenly. "Guys, look!" She whispered.

Everyone followed her gaze to see two girls, hiding below a log. One was recognizable by Terra and Aqua.

"Hanna." Terra muttered under his breath.