Author's Note:

Time for Terra and Ven to leave the Dwarf Woodlands.

As usual, I don't own Kingdom Hearts

Chapter 7: Mirror, Mirror/When Trees Attack

(Dwarf Woodlands)

The labyrinthine dungeons were as confusing to Terra as they were the first time he had traversed them. This time, however, his travels were made easier by his new ability to air-slide. He was able to keep dry by hopping off the Unversed that attempted to slow him and sliding whenever he could.

Finally, he reached the Mirror Chamber, and cautiously stepped inside. The Queen was still staring at the Mirror, so it was impossible for him to tell what her reaction to his entrance was.

"How dare you return here, you blundering fool?"

Annoyed. Definitely annoyed.

"What are you talking about?" She shouldn't know that I didn't carry out her order.

"I ordered you to bring me Snow White's heart." How did she know? The Mirror?

"A request I chose to ignore. You know, you claim to be radiant, but all I see are shadows of jealousy, hanging thick on your heart." This is the darkness that Master Eraqus wants us to fight.

It appeared that his refusal to do her dirty work coupled with his indictment of her character pushed the Queen over the breaking point. She turned to face him fully, her face contorted with rage.

"You will pay for such insolence. Magic Mirror on the wall, consume this fool, once and for all!"

That didn't sound good. Terra summoned his Keyblade and dropped into a ready stance as the Queen spread her arms wide, waiting for the mirror to heed her command.

Several seconds passed.

Terra still stood in his ready stance, alive, well, and not consumed. The queen's features twisted even more—how many of her servants were going to disobey her today?—and she turned to the Mirror, her entire demeanor asking an unspoken question.

The Mirror spoke. "Alas, my liege, that I cannot do. I have no power, save answers true."

Terra relaxed upon hearing this statement, now knowing that he had nothing to fear from this mad Queen and her all-knowing mirror. And then he tensed up again at the next series of events.

"You dare defy your Queen?" She quickly located a potion under her voluminous robes and smashed the vial on the Mirror's surface. Smoke rose from the glass as the spirit of the Mirror gasped, its mask-like face shaking.

The Queen smiled.

A bright light shone forth from the mirror, and Terra shielded his eyes. When he removed his hand from his face, he was standing in a mass of hazy purple smoke, staring down the now human-sized mask.

Ventus and Snow White entered the dwarves' cabin, which was still devoid of any occupants. Despite the apparent paranoia of the dwarves when it came to their jewels, the place was unlocked. Ventus absently wondered where they kept the spoils of their mining.

After a cursory glance, Ven turned to Snow White. "I'm pretty sure you'll be safe here, but sit tight while I look around." After all, there could be more Unversed, or those demonic trees could grow legs as well as arms and start attacking…

Ven shuddered and ran out of the small house.

*X*

After securing the area, Ventus returned to the small cottage, proclaiming "The coast is clear! Not a monster in sight—huh?"

It looked like the inhabitants of the house had returned, and they were clustered around Snow White.

The one with the big nose turned and pointed at him accusingly. "Couldn't stay away, couldja? And who invited you in, you rotten thief?"

Thankfully, he was spared another exhausting argument by Snow White. "Oh no, he's not a thief. He rescued me."

"You fustn't be mooled—uh, mustn't be fooled by him, princess," said the one with glasses.

Wait, princess? I've been traveling around with a princess?

The large-nosed one spoke up again. "Just go on and git!"

Snow White clasped her hands together. "Please don't send him away. You see, he helped me when I was lost and oh, so very frightened."

Come to think of it, I never found out why she was in that forest to begin with. He walked forward. "What happened?"

"Well, I was picking flowers by the wood, and there was a stranger there. He had a sword, but it was like a key, and then these monsters came and—"

A sword like a key? Terra!

The one with the glasses said, "You mean this stranger saw ya and set his horde of evil demons after ya?"

"Terra would never do that!" Ven yelled impulsively.

"Oh, of course, I'm sure he wouldn't. Not if he's someone who's your friend." At least Snow White trusted him. That had to count for something.

"Princess, you trustn't be so musting—er, trusting." Glasses again. What was with him and switching the first letters of words?

"He's a'lying! Mark my words!" And that was the big-nosed one and his charming personality.

Ventus was finally fed up with these dwarves and their paranoia. "I'll prove it!" he shouted, and left the cottage in a fit of anger.

Ancient Apparition

The All-Seeing Eye:

Spirit of the Magic Mirror

The mask was now taller than he was, but it still gazed through him with its empty-eyed stare. Terra refused to be cowed and stared right back. The Spirit seemed to smirk slightly before sinking into the ground in a pool of white light.

"Wait—" Terra rushed the mask, bringing his Keyblade down in a powerful strike, but the mask was already gone. He stood at the spot where it vanished, feeling slightly foolish. What's it doing?

As soon as he finished that thought, two rows of identical masks sprang up on either side of him, facing him with eyes empty and mouths slightly open. The two closest to him open their mouths wider, and he saw a swirling ball of darkness within—

Terra decided to vacate the area, and it was not a moment too soon, as the twin balls of darkness smashed into each other at exactly the point where he was standing. The next pair of masks similarly started to fire, so Terra, immediately grasping the situation, started sprinting down the row of masks, keeping just ahead of the darkness.

After a few seconds of this frantic chase, he noticed that one of the masks ahead had its lips curled in a smile instead of an oval. Maybe I can use that to get out of this gauntlet. When he reached the smiling mask, he brought his Keyblade around in a smashing strike that sent the mask reeling back, groaning in pain. The other masks quickly sank into the ground, allowing Terra to pound on the single mask that was left. After a few seconds, the Spirit seemed to collect itself and flew high into the air.

Terra tried to follow its motion, but its path brought it over his head repeatedly, and he couldn't turn fast enough to keep it in vision. It didn't help that it was bombing him with darkness every couple of seconds.

As he slid away from one of the dark attacks, he chanced a look down, and realized that the floor was reflective. It was a lot easier for him to follow the mask's movement when he looked at the mirrored floor, and he could now dodge the attacks with relative ease.

The Spirit seemed to realize that Terra had seen through its attack pattern, so it decided to drop to ground level and charge at Terra. It was an unexpected move, but Terra's reflexes were up to the task. He brought his Keyblade up, blocking the brunt of the Spirit's attack, although he slid back a few feet.

The mask charged, once, twice. On the third charge, instead of blocking, Terra instead jumped to the side, angling his Keyblade such that the Spirit glanced off it. Before the mask could recover, Terra moved forward—"Sliding Dash!"—and stabbed his Keyblade through the back of the mask. The Spirit's groan seemed more strained, somehow; Terra sensed he was getting close to finishing it off. As he raised his Keyblade to deal the finishing blow, the Spirit sank into the ground once more.

This time, the masks circled around Terra, loosing darkness at him at random intervals. Despite his initial surprise, Terra almost laughed when he spotted the single mask whose lips curved upwards—this was almost too easy. He ran to the edge of the circle and timed his strike to when the smiling mask passed in front of him. The Spirit recoiled, its doubles sinking into the ground.

Terra grinned, focusing on his strong, sure strikes to activate Critical Impact. His strengthened blows drove the mask into the ground, where it feebly tried to summon one last dark projectile.

Terra jumped high into the air, dodging the weak ball of darkness, and roared "Say goodbye!" before bringing his Keyblade down on the mask for the final time.

Ventus regretted storming out of the cottage the moment he stepped outside. He couldn't just go back in, though. Those dwarves would hardly welcome him with open arms. Ven scowled. Why did this have to be so hard?

And then the world shook as a massive roar split the air. The source of the noise seemed to be in the deeper parts of the forest. Without any hesitation, he ran deeper inside.

He reached the clearing that he had escorted Snow White through, and pulled up short upon seeing—

Giant Unversed

Fledgling Insanity:

Mad Treant

The massive Unversed took the form of a giant tree, as had several of the foes that Ven had led Snow White past. Unlike those stationary trees, however, the Treant had grown four legs. It seemed to bear blue and yellow as well as purple fruit, and its trunk bore designs reminiscent of menacing red eyes, a jagged mouth, and an oddly heart-shaped symbol.

Ventus registered all this in a split second, and then realized that if this thing was anything like the trees he had faced earlier, it was probably going to go after Snow White. He could not let that happen.

As Wayward Wind shimmered into his hand, Ventus roared, "Back off!" The Treant roared a challenge back, and the battle began.

Ventus charged the Unversed, impulsive as always. His Keyblade was drawn back to deliver a swift strike, but he had to skid to a stop as the Treant jumped high into the air.

That's gonna create a massive shockwave when it lands…

Ven used his natural speed to vacate the landing area, and was rewarded with a free opportunity to Strike Raid as it was momentarily stunned by its landing. As he waited for his Keyblade to boomerang back, however, he failed to notice the ground cracking below his feet. On landing, the Treant had planted its roots in the ground and used them to sunder the earth under the Keyblade wielder's feet. Ven only realized this when he was sent flying by the sudden upheaval of rock.

He twisted in the air, resummoning his Keyblade, and managed to avoid a nasty fall by rolling to absorb his momentum. I have to be more careful.

As (bad) luck would have it, his roll landed him right next to the Treant, who immediately whipped its branches around to try to send the poor boy flying again. Ven's reflexes were as fast as ever, and his Keyblade blocked the savage onslaught, although he was sent back a few feet from the force of the blows.

The earth rumbled under his feet again, but this time he was ready—he dashed forward, sidestepping the cracks in the ground that heralded the upheavals, and managed to close into striking range. His swift blows rained down on the Unversed, momentarily stunning it so that Ven could deal even more damage. As the Unversed rose to its feet, Ven, mindful of its savage branches, backed up out of range to wait for its next attack.

The Treant's bark became suffused with darkness as its eyes glowed a deeper red. It stomped its feet, as if throwing a tantrum, and then jumped high once again. This time, though, Ventus timed his jump to meet it in midair—"The air is my territory!"—and brought his Keyblade smashing down with a Quick Blitz. He could feel that Fever Pitch was now an option that he could use, but he still hadn't seen all of its attacks, and so he decided to back off wait for more information. He sensed that the Unversed was reaching its limit, though.

As he backed off, the ground trembled again, but this time after the earth stop shaking, he was faced with a new threat from above. The tree's branches had somehow created massive fireballs that were streaking towards him, but his quick reflexes and quicker moves allowed him to easily dodge them all. The Treant, seeing that its long-distance attacks were ineffective, decided to once again jump at the boy. As he had before, Ventus jumped to meet it, but this time, he activated Fever Pitch.

Ventus became a blur, hacking and slashing at the Unversed from all angles, before finally backflipping away and running straight at the tree. He seemed to vanish and reappear behind it, Keyblade held out.

A beat, as the only sounds in the forest were Ventus's breathing and the rustling of the leaves.

And with a loud cry, the Mad Treant disappeared into the blue smoke that all Unversed eventually became.

Terra once again shielded his eyes from the light escaping from the mask, but this time it seemed…warmer, somehow. When he lowered his hand, he was once again standing in the Mirror Chamber, his back to the Queen and her Mirror.

"How did you escape?" the Queen asked in disbelief. Terra turned to face her, banishing his Keyblade.

"Now you will ask the mirror. Where can I find Master Xehanort?" He'd come here for this, and he wasn't going to leave until he'd finally gotten answers.

The Queen growled in exasperation, but realizing that Terra was more powerful than she was, she turned to the mirror. "Magic Mirror, instruct this knave. Give him the answers he doth crave."

Without hesitation, the Mirror replied, "Beyond both light and dark he dwells, where war was raged upon the fells." War? Maybe the Keyblade War? But Master Eraqus never told us where the battles of the war were fought, and in any case, it's probably a bustling world by now…

"Is that all?" asked Terra. This time, the Mirror did not reply. Oh well, at least now I have some kind of lead. "Thanks, you've been a big help." He left the Queen in her chamber and once again traversed the maze-like castle dungeon.

In the courtyard, Terra started piecing together what he knew. "Master Eraqus said he first received word of these events from Master Yen Sid. Maybe it's time I went and spoke with him myself." And with that said, he ran out to the fields to open a path to the Lanes Between.

Ventus sprinted through the woods, following the path to a field full of wildflowers. This must be where Snow White met Terra…

He shouted Terra's name into the empty air, but there was no response. He hadn't really expected one, but it was still disappointing.

Ven started to turn back, but he was distracted when an apple rolled to a stop at his feet. "Huh?" He picked it up, turned it over in his hand, looked around the clearing. The only other person there was what looked like an old lady in a black cloak, carrying a basket of apples—hey!

Ven walked over to the woman. "Excuse me, ma'am. You dropped this."

The old woman turned to him, looking down her long nose at the proffered apple. "Oh, why thank you, my pet. To tell the truth, I really don't know what I would have done without that." She let out a low, sinister-sounding chuckle. "Haven't I seen that sword before?"

With a start, Ven realized that he'd never desummoned his Keyblade after the Treant fight. Whoops. But he might get some information out of her, regardless.

"Terra has one. Do you know Terra?"

"Oh yes, yes…That ruffian pointed one of those at me, asking about some "Xehanort"—my poor heart nearly stopped!"

Ventus looked at his Keyblade. A weapon of light, used to fight for peace and justice, not to threaten little old ladies. "That doesn't sound like him at all. Ma'am, where did Terra go?"

"I'm sure I have no idea," she said, turning to him. She saw his raised Keyblade and interpreted the gesture in exactly the wrong way. "Must you all menace a poor granny so?"

"What? No, I was just…" But the old woman turned and walked away before he could finish.

Ventus sighed. "Terra, what did you do?" He knew he would find the answer to that question on another world, so with a heavy heart, he opened a path to the Lanes Between and left.

I know Zantetsouken is a high level ability, but I just couldn't resist using it for Ventus's fight.

Next time, Ven's mouse-sized adventures in the Castle of Dreams.