The Keyblade War Chapter II: Chaotic Twilight

Chapter Twenty Five: A Different Kind Of Princess

Xion and Vanitas headed down the forest path, hoping to get to the distant castle they had seen a few seconds ago. They may not be able to find answers as to where Sora, Donald and Goofy's location is, but checking wouldn't hurt. And so they continued following the strange blue spirits, for each one led to another and another. "So, what do you make of these things? Do you think they're some sort of guide, or do you think they might be some kind of trap?" Vanitas asked to Xion, who was still trying to get the mud off of her scarf, but it was useless since the mud had already dried itself. Only then did she notice Vanitas was talking to her. "Oh, I'm sorry, what were you saying?" she asked in an apologetic tone. Vanitas rolled his eyes and sighed. "You know what? Never mind." For the rest of their trek, they passed through the forest, which was eerily quiet. After a few seconds they started seeing round, wooden target circles filled to the brim with arrows, like if someone had been practicing archery. The more they followed the flaming blue spirits, the more of these arrow filled target circles could be seen.

When they reached another flaming blue spirit, it suddenly vanished, and no more of them were seen nearby. "Well, it looks like this is our stop." Vanitas said, as he and Xion stood in the center of what seemed to be a big circle, surrounded by mysterious stone pillars. "Whoa. What exactly is this place?" Xion asked, looking at the stones in awe. "Hey, stop getting all goo goo eyed and remember that we have a mission to do. Now let's go, I see the path to the castle ahead." Vanitas said, focused on reaching the castle already. "Right." Xion nodded, and she followed Vanitas into the path. "By the way, how's Roxas doing? I haven't seen him in a while." Vanitas asked. "Oh, he's doing fine. I'm sure he is. But I'm not sure if he knows of what's happening, but I'm sure he'll eventually find out sooner or later." she said softly.

"I see. Well, don't sweat it, I'm sure he's bound to come back soon. He'd never leave you hanging for too long." Vanitas said with a smirk. At that, Xion smiled and nodded. "Hehe, you know what? Your right!" she replied enthusiastically. And with that, they headed towards the castle, which was a short distance away, but then they stopped, for they noticed that some kind of ceremony was taking place. In the distance, a woman stood up, no doubt the queen, and she proclaimed these words: "Attention everyone, the royal contest for Merida's hand in marriage is about to begin! Take your seats everyone, and all contestants proceed to the archery field!" Vanitas and Xion wondered how this contest would play out, so they decided to stay put where they were so they wouldn't interrupt the festivities.

"Hand in marriage?" Xion asked, looking a bit troubled. "But why do they have to make a contest for her hand in marriage? She's not some object, she's a person!" she said, feeling slightly irritated. Vanitas shook his head. "Remember that every world has its tradition and culture and other such things. There's no use in trying to object with this. We can't meddle in their affairs. We can only sit and watch." he said wisely, which was unusual for him, since he would normally be spurring into action already. But as unusual as it was for him to say this, Xion had to admit that he was right. And so, they stood and watched the contest unfold. First, a considerably big man by the name of MacGuffin, who seemed a bit absent minded, took position and prepared to fire an arrow. When he did, he failed to hit the target, so up next was a spry and cocky man by the name of Macintosh. He looked to be quite the ladiesman, and he even gave a wink to the crowd of women behind. He then concentrated and narrowed his eyes as he positioned his bow, ready to fire.

The crowd went silent, and as he fired the arrow, everyone saw it fail to hit the target as well. Young Macintosh was outraged, and he started screaming and pulling his hair and making a scene. Vanitas was enjoying this and quite much. "Ha, what an idiot! I've never seen anyone with such bad aim!" he said, taking his breath in between laughs. Xion simply stood there, her eyes narrowed to the archery field, looking closely at the contest. And now only one contestant remained, going by the name of Wee Dingwall. His appearance suggested that he was quite dumb, and well, he didn't really look like the most formidable warrior around. He struggled to take the arrow out of his quiver, and as a result, all of his arrows fell to the ground, and everyone else was laughing, and you could imagine Vanitas' reaction. He was practically dying of laughter. After a bit more struggling, Wee Dingwall managed to get the arrow on his bow, but then it leaned to the side. With time dragging on, the king shouted: "Will you fire already!?" At that, Wee Dingwall got startled, but unbelievably enough, his arrow hit the target perfectly, exactly right at the center!