Chapter 3: The Talk

~2 Days After Chapter 2~

Blinking several times as he woke up, Sora blearily stared up at the early morning sky as he laid down on the bed of his makeshift shack. The small building had been built near the Xiao-Long/Rose house a few months after Sora had first arrived to Remnant, with help from Tai and Qrow. It wasn't very large, only being big enough for a bedroom, a small kitchenette, and a little room for Sora to clean himself up in if he needed to. For the most part, Sora still went over to the main house for everything else, like eating meals, bathing, and cleaning his clothes. Though Tai and Qrow had been concerned when they'd helped in the construction of the shack, due to Sora requesting to make the ceiling a lattice of thin wooden beams; Sora reassured them that he would be fine. He wanted it that way so that he could stare up at the night sky.

It was early in the morning, and as Sora finished waking up, he let out a yawn before pushing himself upright to sit on his bed, then swung his legs over the edge. With the shack being bathed in the light orange and reds of the early morning sun, the small house reminded him of Twilight Town from the way everything looked. Sora shook his head a couple of times before he stood up and stretched his arms out, rolling his shoulders as he made his way over to a wardrobe and pulled out his clothes for the day.

"Tai is going to kill me..." He mused to himself as he glanced to the side and stared at Kingdom Key as it leaned against the wall.

Today was a day that Sora had been both excited for and dreading as he was going to have to explain to Tai what had happened during the last hunting trip. It had been very early in the morning when he and Ruby had gotten back, and after spending half a day walking back, as well as spending a few hours waiting for his payment for the job, Sora and Ruby had been too exhausted to do much else the night before. So today he was going to explain to Ruby and Yang's father what had happened; how Ruby had surprisingly used his discarded Keyblade and cast Ultima to kill a full grown Ursa. It was something that even Sora was still trying to wrap his head around as Ruby was only nine years old and wasn't trained in the use of magic or a Keyblade.

Worst case scenario: Tai would forbid the girls from going with him on any future hunts. Best case scenario: he hoped that he would allow the trips to continue. And if so, then whenever he could, he would use those trips to help teach Ruby how to fight and how to use a Keyblade. But first he needed to explain everything that happened and try and convince Tai to let him teach her. He wasn't about to go behind Tai's back and train the young girl without permission, especially after the man had so graciously taken him in and helped him get on his feet after not being able to find Kairi or any way to rebuild the Gummi Ship and get off Remnant to look elsewhere for his wife.

Finally getting himself ready for the day, Sora wiped a bit of water off of his face after having splashed some in his eyes, then let out a long exhale as he opened the door and stared outside. Grabbing Kingdom Key, he forced a hopeful smile to his face before dismissing the blade for later, then stepped out, heading towards the main house with a tired yawn escaping him. He made sure to be quiet as he checked the outside for any signs of Grimm activity in the night, inspecting the lawn and the sides of the house carefully before he made his way inside through the front door.

Most of the lights were off in the house still, with Qrow haphazardly strewn across the couch, snoring obnoxiously, but the kitchen light was on with the smell of coffee wafting through the air. Sora made his way to the kitchen, where he found Tai leaning against the counter as he sipped from a cup of coffee, his hair still a mess and looking as if he'd only been up for a short while. Sora walked up behind him and shook his head with a smile before reaching into one of the cupboards and grabbing himself a mug, pouring himself some coffee before he lightly cleared his throat.

"Morning Tai. How're you doing this morning?"

"Morning Sora, didn't hear you come inside. I'm alright, just tired is all," Tai said as he turned around and wiped a bit of sleep from the corner of his eye.

Sora smirked a bit as he watched the man for a few moments, then took a sip of his own cup of coffee before he ran a hand through his spiky brown hair with a nervous look on his face. "So, um, the hunt went well. Took down the Ursa that were being a problem and got paid pretty well... I already put half of what I got in the living room for ya', so you don't need to worry about getting it from me."

Tai blinked a few times before he let out a sigh and shook his head. "Listen Sora, I've told you before; you don't need to give me money. You work hard for that, and besides, I am perfectly capable of taking care of the girls with what I make at the school."

Sora glanced to the side a moment before he shrugged. "I know, I just want to help. You and Qrow helped me out a lot, and I feel like I owe you guys."

Tai stared at Sora for a few moments before he shook his head with a small chuckle. "Nah, man. You don't owe me anything. As for Qrow, I have no idea, he might feel the same way, but I sure as heck don't expect anything from ya'."

Sora shrugged a bit and quietly sipped his coffee, standing there in silence as he looked down towards the floor and stared for a bit. Tai seemed to notice how Sora seemed bothered by something, and after lightly scratching at the stubble on his chin he crossed his arms over his chest and cocked his head to the side, looking a bit concerned.

"Hey, you alright? What's wrong?"

Sora stood there quietly as he quickly figured out the best way to go about explaining, then took a sip of his coffee as he lifted his gaze and put on a much more serious face. "Say, Tai, you know how I've been taking the girls with me sometimes on my hunting trips?"

Tai set his mug on the island in the middle of the kitchen after raising an eyebrow curiously, then nodded as he went into 'Dad Mode.' "Yeah, how have they been going? The girls always seem to have fun with you, so I haven't really been too worried about them. Why, did something happen?"

Sora let out a long breath as he called Kingdom Key to his hand and set it against the counter next to him. "Well, yeah. This last trip I took Ruby with me. And everything was going great. She did good, listened to everything I told her, and never talked back. But it wasn't until I actually started fighting the three Ursa that something happened."

Tai interrupted and dropped his hands to his side, looking pale as a sheet as he swiveled his head in the direction of Ruby's room. "She's okay right? She didn't get hurt did she? If she got hurt Sora, I swear-"

"No no no! She's fine. There's not a scratch on her, I promise," He paused and picked up the Keyblade next to him and flipped it in his hand so that he was holding the end of the blade, the handle extended to Tai. "Here, hold this a second for me, would ya? Tell me if you feel anything..."

Tai narrowed his eyes a bit, but curiosity got the best of him, and so he reluctantly stuck his hand out and wrapped his hand around the handle. He rolled his eyes for a second and stood there for several seconds before he looked at his hand, then to Sora, looking a bit confused.

"Uh I don't feel anything. Is something supposed to happen here, or..."

Sora shrugged his shoulders, then carefully called the blade back to his hand, the blade disappearing and reappearing in a flash of white light. The whole scene slightly surprised the other man, having only seen Sora with the Keyblade a few times over the years, but he crossed his arms and awaited an explanation.

"Alright, I guess that explanation is out of the question..." Sora mused to himself before he noticed the way he was being looked at. "Right, sorry. Back to the trip." Sora took a sip of his coffee, the blade disappearing again entirely. "Anyways, like I said, things were going great, and after I'd taken out two of the three Grimm, Ruby shouted at me that she was in trouble. The third one was climbing up towards the place she was hiding, so I, naturally, ran over as fast as I could. I managed to get between them and started wrestling with the Grimm a bit before it knocked me aside and disarmed me." He paused again and looked in the general direction of the bedrooms for a moment. "If I'm being totally honest here... Ruby saved my life."

Tai crossed his arms and pursed his lips tightly as he hummed in thought, tapping his foot on the floor. "...Sora, you promised me that they wouldn't be doing any fighting. You promised me that they would be safe!"

Sora stood there for a couple of seconds in silence after Tai had yelled, biting his lip and shoving his hands into his pockets. Technically, Sora had broken the promises he'd made; Ruby had ended up doing a bit of fighting during this last trip AND had been in danger for a few short minutes. He didn't really know what to say that would help, knowing that if he tried to deny it, it would only upset the man even more.

"Tai, wait... that's not why I brought it up; Ruby did something that I've never seen anyone do before," Sora said with a bit of concern in his voice.

That made Tai freeze up almost instantly, his face going a bit pale as he looked like he'd seen a ghost. He didn't know why, but Sora suddenly got the idea that Tai knew something about the young girl that Sora didn't. "What? What did she do?"

"What I didn't mention is that I was getting ready to use one of those spells of mine. I've told you before how I can do all sorts of magic with my weapons, right?" Sora paused and crossed his arms again. "Well, I had a spell called Ultima charged up when the Ursa knocked me down and threw my weapon away. Ruby..." He trailed off for a moment as he thought about the whole ordeal. "Ruby picked up my weapon and actually cast the spell."

Tai was quiet for a few moments, the tapping of his foot stopping before he shook his head with a frown. "You said it yourself, you already had it charged up. She probably just held your Keyblade until it went off..."

"No, it doesn't work like that, Tai. A Keyblade can only be used by someone who has been chosen as a wielder, or someone whose heart is pure and strong enough to become one."

Tai narrowed his eyes a bit and stared at Sora for several long moments as he seemed to be doing some deep thinking, his eyes not once leaving Sora as he stood there with his arms crossed. "So... what does that mean? What do we do?"

"Honestly, that's why I brought this up. That spell is powerful enough to leave me pretty weak for a few hours, let alone someone who has never been trained in the use of magic or a Keyblade," Sora ran a hand through his hair with a long exhale. "Ruby shouldn't have been awake after doing it, but she looked as if nothing happened. I wanted to see if you'd be alright with me training her."

"You want to do WHAT?!"

"Tai listen to me, your daughter is a lot stronger than she looks. If the other day was an indication, then she has the potential to be one of the most powerful Keyblade Wielders in history. If I don't train her and she just ends up being a Huntress like she wants, then I hate to say this, but it would be a waste of her full potential."

"Sora, you can't be serious. She's nine years old. She's just started going to Signal and..."

"Tai, I swear to you, I will be careful. I've learned from the best Masters in existence. If Ruby is as powerful as I think she is, then she'll be fine. And besides, with the training I can give her, she can still live a normal life and become a Huntress. The odds of her ever needing a Keyblade are so low, it's pitiful. In the six years I've been here, I have NEVER seen anything that would warrant the use of one. Remnant is as safe as can be in the grand scheme of things, and Ruby won't ever need to use a Keyblade for what they are intended for. She'll be able to be a Huntress, like she wants, just with a little extra training from me."

Tai was quiet for a few minutes, which to Sora, felt like a really long time, but just as Sora let out a sigh and dropped his arms to his sides again, Tai finally responded.

"Fine; but I don't want you telling her about any of this. Nothing about where you're from or what the Keyblade is for. And absolutely nothing, nothing about those Heartless things you told me about," Tai paused and picked up his coffee to take a sip. "Remnant has enough problems, I don't want her running off trying to solve problems she has no business knowing about. I lost her mother to the same type of crap, I'm not about to let Ruby do the same."

Sora nodded his head silently and crossed his arms. "Fair enough. I won't tell her a thing about any of that stuff, I promise."

"You'd better not..." Tai trailed off and looked in the direction of the bedrooms again. "When will you start?"

"We'll probably start either tomorrow or this weekend."

"Alright. Just be careful."

Chapter 4: Scheming Shadows

~Radiant Garden/Ruins Of Villain's Vale~

"Say, uh, Maleficent, s'not that I don't mind visiting an' everything, but what are we doing back here? What with that fancy security system that patrols the city an all, we probably aren't real welcome round these parts."

"Silence fool! Do not tell me what I already am well aware of," Maleficent scolded without turning around, instead looking around the room before her with a look of disdain on her face. One of her feet poked out from beneath the robe that covered her form, kicking lightly at a piece of rock that had fallen from the ceiling, moving it out of her path, then closed her eyes as she stood in silence for several seconds. "What those fools do in regards to our presence is of no concern to me, after all, the Heartless are more than capable of keeping them busy."

Pete scratched behind one of his ears for a moment, then crossed his arms as he looked around the room himself. The large round platform that once was the centerpiece of the dark chamber was cracked and overgrown with moss, a sign that nobody had been there in quite some time, and most of the walls that once brimmed with the power of Darkness were now cracked and collapsing, as was much of the rest of the old fortress. The only real sign that it was still inhabited by anything after over a decade was the few Shadows that scurried around and seemed to hunt for the slightest glimmer of light to feast upon.

"'Kay but that still don't really explain why we're snoopin' round this old place. Looks like it's about to collapse around us anyhow," Pete said with a quick rub to his chin. "Seems to me we'd be better off anywhere else than here; after all, if those nimrods topside figure out we're here, they'll just end up calling for you-know-who. And I don't know 'bout you, but I personally don't want to have to duke it out with Kid-Keyblade or any of his friends..."

Maleficent went stock still at the implication of Sora and the other Keyblade Wielders, her eyes opening slowly as a smirk formed on her face with a hum. She quickly turned to face Pete, and the look on her face made him take a few steps back in fear that he'd angered her.

"What? Was it somethin' I said?"

Maleficent brought her staff in front of her and wrapped her hand around the crystal ball on the top as she rubbed her thumb along the pole for several seconds before she answered. "As a matter of fact, it was... Tell me, have you noticed anything odd over the last few years?"

Pete visibly calmed down and dropped his hands to his sides as he blinked a couple of times, looking around the room as if he would find the answer he was looking for.

"Uh... more Heartless runnin' round?"

Maleficent's grin faltered for a moment and she shook her head. "No you twit! Sora... I haven't sensed his presence among the worlds for some time..."

"Oh... Wait, then that means we-"

"Precisely. If that wretched boy is for some reason indisposed, now could be an opportune time for us to make our move."

"Heh heh heh, I's gotcha. Now's our chance to start sending the Heartless out to do what they do best! Before long, we'll have a whole army again and this time there'll be nobody who'll get in our way!"

Maleficent held up a hand and called forth a trio of Neoshadows, sending them off to do her bidding, as her smirk returned. "However, we must proceed with the utmost of care; the King and his pawns are still out there, as well as the other Keyblade Wielders. But soon, even they will be no match for us. For now, I want you to find the King, and if he gets in your way, keep him busy... I have other matters to attend to for now."

Pete nodded with a wide grin before he ran out of the room, leaving Maleficent alone with her thoughts.

"Though, now I wonder... Where could he be that he has not been seen in so long..?"

Chapter 5: Strange New Friends

~ Remnant, Five Years Later~

Dozens of pictures were strewn around a rather haphazardly decorated room, with several half-eaten boxes of chocolate chip cookies stacked on the tops of a wooden dresser as well as a nightstand whilst the owner of the room was furiously scribbling on a pad of sketchbook paper. To anyone who didn't know any better, they would probably say the young girl laying on her bed drawing out yet another design of a weapon of some sort, was a bit scatterbrained or messy. But to those who new her, Ruby was just living out another weekend day, taking some time to herself to relax and doodle out some ideas she had rattling around in her head. The fourteen-year-old had always had a knack for coming up with crazy new ideas for weapons and ways to fight; ever since her two uncles Qrow and Sora had started really teaching her how to fight and handle herself against the Grimm she had been an eager learner and wanted to put the knowledge she gained to use in the design of her weapon as a Huntress.

It'd had been almost five hours since she'd gone into her room with an entire box of cookies as well as a pad of blueprint paper and several pens, and as she reached her hand out to grab another cookie to take a bite out of, she was mildly surprised that she'd run out... again. Blinking a few time in surprise, she lifted her attention from her drawing, the current one being of a bunch of modifications to the High-Caliber-Sniper-Scythe that she had made a couple of years back, and stared at the empty box for several seconds before letting out a short huff.

"Well... crap," she muttered to nobody in particular as she rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling of her bedroom.

The room was bathed in an almost serene amber glow as it was turning to early afternoon, with the sunlight giving her room the look like there were a bunch of orange floodlights outside the house. As Ruby stared upwards, she brought her hands up and rubbed a bit of sleep from her eyes with a yawn, realizing that she had gotten a little tired in all her endless drawing. Still, she swung her legs over the edge of the bed and sat up before snagging the empty box of cookies and chucking it at one of the stacks of 'empties.' The stack subsequently fell over and made a small racket, to which Ruby rubbed the back of her neck a bit and snorted as she held back a laugh at her own lack of cleanliness lately.

"Oh. Right, should probably take care of that."

Without another word, she zipped around the room, using her speed Semblance to clean up the room and pick up all the empty cookie boxes as well as organizing all of her weapon designs, setting the papers in a neat stack on her dresser and placing the boxes in a small trashcan in the corner of her room. Though, that was when she then noticed an all-too familiar shape poking out from under the edge of her bed. Bending over and reaching for the wooden object, Ruby hummed thoughtfully as her hand wrapped around the handle of something that her and Sora had made when she was just ten.

"Huh... there you are. I was wondering where you'd run off too," a small smirk formed on her lips as she stood up and pulled the large, hand-carved, wooden Keyblade out from its hiding spot. The toy was modeled after one of Sora's personal favorites that he called Kingdom Key, being the same size and shape, though not nearly as heavy due to its wooden composition.

Ruby paused for a second as she sat back down on the edge of her bed, suddenly remembering how much fun she used to have when Sora had taken her with him on his hunting trips, or when he would take her out on the weekends to go train for hours on end. A small sigh escaped her as she held the toy blade on top of her lap, then she glanced outside. It had been almost six months since Sora had left, saying that he'd gotten a lead on the location of someone very important, someone who he'd been trying to find for a long time. And the next day he was gone; he'd packed up most of his things and left Patch to go to Vacuo. Who or what he was looking for, he'd never told her, and any efforts to get information from her Dad or Uncle Qrow were met with ambiguity.

"Where are you Sora...?" Ruby whispered as she fell back onto her bed and looked up at the ceiling again.

"Where indeed. An apt question for someone who has been there for you for so long, don't you think?"

Ruby's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as she suddenly heard a voice in the room that she didn't recognize. An alarming amount of shock and surprise hit her, and without a word she was sitting upright again and looking around the room, with her hand gripping the toy Keyblade so tight her knuckles turned white.

"What? Wh-Who's there?!"

As Ruby brought her fake weapon up in a sort of defensive stance, the entire bedroom seemed to be bathed in a sickly green color for several moments as green and black flames covered everything. Ruby's hand instinctively went up to protect her face from any burns, but after several seconds, she realized there wasn't any heat; peeking through a small gap in between her arms, Ruby was utterly floored when she saw that she wasn't in her room anymore. In fact, she had no idea where she was; she seemed to be standing in a black, cold, endless void with nothing in sight.

"That's better... Now we can finally get a chance to speak, without the prying eyes of any imbeciles who would likely interrupt," A cool, sophisticated voice said from behind Ruby's back.

Still being a bit stunned by what was happening, Ruby turned around slowly, her wooden Keyblade still held tightly in her hands as she found herself staring at a tall robed woman with pale green skin. For some reason, Ruby had a feeling of dread wash over her and she brought the toy in front of her, narrowing her eyes slightly at the woman, and she took a couple of steps back.

"W-Who are you? Where am I? What's going on?!"

The woman's red lips curled into a smirk as she took a few steps forward, a few small chuckles coming from her as she rolled her eyes. "So... it would seem as if he's found a successor? Judging by that pathetic excuse for a toy, it would seem as if you haven't actually received your own Keyblade though." Bringing a hand out from beneath her robe, the woman revealed a long slender staff with a crystal ball affixed to the top that, after a short wave, began to glow a bright green.

Ruby let out a short yelp as a tiny ball of that same green light shot out from the staff and collided with her chest, not making an impact, merely phasing into her and disappearing. The whole situation was scaring her to death, but she didn't dare try and do anything stupid, especially since she had no idea where she was.

"You didn't answer my question... Who are you?"

Another quick roll of the eyes was given to Ruby before the woman placed a hand on her chest and smiled. "My name is Maleficent. And it seems as if someone you know has not been very truthful with you, my dear Ruby."

"How do you know my name?" Ruby said with a raised eyebrow in concern.

"Why, I know everything about you. After all, I am a fairy; but that is not why we're here," Maleficent paused as she pointed to the wooden Keyblade with her staff. "Do you know what that is? What it truly is and what its purpose is?"

Ruby was silent for a long couple of minutes as she lowered her toy weapon and stared at it. As far as she knew it was just a replica of something he Uncle used to fight with. She always figured that his was able to change its shape due to his Semblance, but she was curious now that the question was posed to her.

"It's a toy; something Uncle Sora made with me when he was teaching me how to fight. Why?"

Maleficent shook her head and rested both of her hands on top of her staff for a moment before she spoke again. "My dear girl, you've been lied to... That is a toy, yes. But it is based off of a weapon of wondrous power: The Keyblade." She paused a moment as she approached the younger girl and rested a hand on her shoulder, that same smirk forming on her face. "Tell me: this 'Uncle' of yours, where is he now, hmm? Off searching for someone whom you know nothing about, and nobody you ask seems to tell you about either? Just what else has Sora kept from you? You, his favorite niece; the one he's spent so much time with training, only to disappear for six months."

Ruby went quiet again as Maleficent's hand left her shoulder, her eyes drifting to the wooden 'Keyblade' in her hand as she took a few moments to think about what Maleficent had brought up. The Keyblade...? It made sense, considering how it looked like a giant skeleton key, but she had always wondered about Sora, and why he used a giant key of all things as a weapon. And he always seemed to shrug off any question about what he was like when he went o a Huntsman academy, always saying that it wasn't worth talking about or that it was a very boring time in his life.

After a couple of moments, Ruby frowned and turned around to look at the Fairy again. "The Keyblade... What is it? I want to know everything."

Author's Note:

And there's part 2 of Act 1! This one was a bit longer/ time skippy for a lot of reasons.

1: I've been fighting some sort of bug for almost a week and I have felt like crap for several days as of this being uploaded.

2: After I finally got to feeling better, then started writing this I accidentally forgot to charge my laptop, so my laptop died at one point and I lost all the work I had so far.

3: Finally, I was originally planning on putting in stuff about Sora training Ruby in a cool scene where she learns a whole bunch more about Sora and the Keyblade without Tai knowing, but I cut it out due to it ending up being kinda lengthy and boring. That and I thought the approach I went with would be a lot better.

Anyways... So, yeah. I really like writing this part, as I finally got to do some writing for one of the main Villains of the story. Obviously with Maleficent being in this like she is, I'm kinda forgoing the whole idea of her hunting for the 'Black Box' after KH3, mostly because we'll probably not get any closure to that whole spiel for another decade... so I decided to go with an AU Maleficent with this.

So, I really hope you guys are liking this story so far, as I personally am really enjoying writing it. Let me know what you guys think, cause I really do appreciate the feedback.

As Always,

I'll See You Starside,

SR