Jump. Slash. Parry. Swing. Cartwheel. Throw. Slice. Dash.

Terra and Aqua were in the middle of a training match, in the height of the spring day. The sun was high in the sky, warming the world below it. Eraqus was watching the pair with an ever-critical eye for error. The two teenagers were both annoyed by his constant criticism as they fought each other. It was a simple training match, but that didn't make it any less dangerous. Aqua's magic and Terra's strength, against each other, became two deadly forces to be reckoned with. Eraqus and Ven were both watching to make sure that neither were mortally injured in the match. Aqua had called out her Spell Weaver mode change, and was currently taking it out on her fellow Apprentice.

"Focus your energy, Aqua! You'll waste the strength of Spell Weaver – or any change – if you do not!" Eraqus ordered. "Terra, brace yourself more! Defend yourself!" He added as Aqua's attacks landed on the older Apprentice, tearing open cloth and skin. Ventus winced every time one of the two were injured. He didn't want his friends to get hurt. He knew that Aqua and Terra were being careful, though.

He watched as Terra swung his blade as Aqua's mode-change faded, opening a gash across her stomach.

If this was careful, Ven did not want to know how they would fight if they weren't.

Suddenly, Aqua froze, dropping her Keyblade. She clutched her head with one hand, using the other to catch herself as she fell to the ground. Worried, Terra crouched at her side, dismissing his blade.

"Aqua? Aqua, are you alright?" He questioned. Eraqus and Ventus were both beside him by now; the younger was unsure of what exactly was causing Aqua to collapse. She was shaking, clutching her head.

"Aqua," Eraqus knelt beside Terra, placing his hand on the back of the blue-haired young woman's head. "What's wrong?"

"My head… it hurts… so much…"

The Keyblade Master raised his head, his oldest Apprentice watching him curiously. "Master…?"

"Terra, take Aqua inside and get her an Elixir. Get one for yourself, while you're at it." Eraqus ordered. "Ven, I want you to come with me. I plan to find the cause of this."

"What do you mean, Master?" Asked the youngest of Eraqus's Apprentices.

"I can sense a certain power; I believe it may be affecting Aqua. Keep her safe, Terra. I don't know if the source of this power is friendly or not."

Terra offered no argument. He wasn't sure if it was wise for Eraqus to take Ven with him to investigate the unusual magical pressure. The brunette was only just starting to notice it, faintly. He never had a strong sense of magic, as opposed to Aqua, whose every attack had at least a minimal amount of magical energy behind it. That was probably why she was suffering from a splitting headache while he barely noticed the energy. Gently, he lifted his adopted sister into his arms, and stood.

"Be careful." Was all he said – more to Ven than Master Eraqus, as he knew that any Keyblade Master could hold their own – before he walked inside the citadel they called home.

Eraqus straightened up, and looked at the blond haired boy at his side. "Let me know if you start to get a headache, Ven."

"I will…" Ventus paused. "Master, why isn't it affecting you?"

"I am accustomed to magic-orientated pressures such as this." Explained the Master. "Granted, this is stronger than most I have found, however," he looked ahead of him, "I have been around worse. Let us go." Without another word, he set off down the mountain the citadel rested off of. The youngest Apprentice followed obediently.

"That spiritual pressure…"

"Byakuya Kuchiki."

The redhead was silent, staring at his orange-haired ally. He sighed, running a hand over his forehead –covered by a bandana. Only parts of the tattoos on his forehead were visible. They had a third ally, a girl – much shorter than them – with raven hair accompanying them. The redhead and the girl both had katana at their waists. The orange haired teen had a large sword, wrapped in bandages, on his back.

"We've found him." The orange haired teenager finished his sentence. The three Soul Reapers had been searching for the Captain, and had been sent here – here, of all places! Where was here, anyway? – to find him. Apparently, whoever had arranged for that were either psychic, really smart, behind some conspiracy or just had a good share of dumb luck.

The trio of Soul Reapers – all wearing the same black uniform – was in the middle of a forest, able to hear a river off behind them. The trees prevented them from getting a good look at the area. There seemed to be a path – nothing more than a game trail, it seemed – heading off through the trees. Having no better option, the three decided to follow it, Ichigo Kurosaki leading them, Renji Abarai at the back.

They wandered around for a while, trying to get a fix on Byakuya Kuchiki's spiritual pressure to try and find him. Unfortunately, they were unsuccessful in that attempt. Instead, they ran into one of the locals. They weren't worried, though. It wasn't as if he could see them, right?

"Ven! Ventus! Where did he run off to?" Eraqus grumbled under his breath. Ven had gotten 'wind' of the magic sensation everyone had been sensing, and had run off after it. Eraqus had a hard time locating the exact location – and thus doubted that Ven would actually find it – of the magic, but he did not like the idea of his youngest Apprentice – and, by extension, adopted son – running off with a force like this on the loose. Normally, it would've been all too easy for him to track the boy, but with the other magic nearby, Ven's weak and damaged heart was hard to find.

Instead of searching for the boy, Eraqus began to look for the source of the magic pressure nearby. As he got closer to the source, he realized that it was not the source, but rather, a source. There was more than one here, and this alarmed him. That was why it was so hard to find the source of the magic – there was more than one, and they were split up.

Be careful, Ven.

Eraqus found himself in the forest, getting closer to one of the sources. He stood still, spotting a trio of people, dressed in black, moving along one of the long abandoned trails in the Land of Departure. They saw him, he knew, but they made no action to speak or acknowledge him.

"May I ask what you are doing in my world?" The Keyblade Master questioned. The three stared at him, all with identical looks of shock.

"You… can see us?"

"…I would say so, considering I am currently speaking to you." Eraqus crossed his arms. "Who are you, and why have you entered our home?"

"I'm Ichigo Kurosaki." Answered the orange-haired one at the head of the group. "This is Rukia, and Renji. We're looking for someone. And you are…?"

"Eraqus, Master of this world. Anything here is under my protection – especially the lives and wellbeing of my three Apprentices. One of which ran off after you."

"Sorry, you're the first we've seen."

"Who is it you are looking for?"

Ichigo looked back at his two companions. Both nodded at him, so he turned back to Eraqus and spoke. "A man named Byakuya Kuchiki. He went missing from the Soul Society."

Eraqus had long heard of the Soul Society. It was one of those well-kept secrets Keybladers had to know in order to do their job. To him, it had never seemed as if it would ever be relevant, but he now realized who exactly the three in front of him were.

"You're Soul Reapers." He acknowledged. The three seemed surprised that he knew about the Soul Society. "Come with me, I will take you to my citadel and we may be able to find the man you are searching for. Hopefully, my Apprentice has returned home."

"Guess we can't turn the offer down… what do you guys say?"

"We know nothing of this place," Rukia spoke, "it is our best option. Maybe Byakuya will have the idea to find some sort of civilization."

"If that's the case," Eraqus spoke, "I assure you, my Apprentices and I are the only form of civilization here."

The Keyblade Master led the Soul Reapers out of the forest and up the mountain to the citadel. Once there, he took them inside and showed them the living area, telling them to make themselves at home while he checked on his Apprentices.

Terra was with Aqua when Eraqus found them in the blue-haired young woman's room.

"How are you feeling?" The Master asked her.

"My head feels like it's being stabbed repeatedly…" Aqua paused. "And that's sugar coating it…"

"She tried to sleep it off," Terra explained, "but that's hard to do when you can't sleep."

"Has Ven come by?" Eraqus asked. Terra stared at him, surprised.

"He went with you… didn't he, Master?"

"He did, but he ran off, and because of that stronger magic out there I couldn't sense him. I was hoping he had come home."

Terra only shook his head. "I wish he had."

Eraqus allowed the Soul Reapers to stay in the citadel for the night – they had accepted that they wouldn't find Byakuya today, not with all the interference. Eraqus had left to search for Ven later that day, but was unsuccessful. Aqua's headache never went away, so Terra stayed with her through the night, just to be of some comfort.

The next day, Eraqus, Terra and Aqua – who just wanted to get away from the Soul Reapers to try to calm her headache – went out searching for Ven. When Aqua got further away from Ichigo, Rukia and Renji, her headache faded slightly. It started returning after awhile, however, and Eraqus soon began to suspect the mysterious Byakuya as the second source of the magic pressure.

As they came up to the cliffs that Terra, Aqua and Ven would often hang out on, past their target-practice area, they all smelt the blood. Terra noticed the cherry blossoms in the wind. Aqua collapsed, passing out. Eraqus checked her vital signs, and left her lying on her side, satisfied that she was alive. Even Terra could sense the strength of the magic.

Neither were paying attention to that, though.

Because on the ground, several yards away, was Ventus, unconscious, and covered in his own blood. Cherry blossoms were scattered on the ground beneath and around him.

"Ven!" Terra bolted to the boy's side, kneeling beside him. He hissed, noticing that the cherry blossoms he had slid across had sliced his knees open. Ignoring that, he made sure that Ven was alive. Shallow breathing and an almost nonexistent pulse were the only signs that the boy was alive. His skin was deathly cold. Ventus was half-dead.

The magic pressure slowly began to fade away, and Aqua regained consciousness. She sat up, staring at Ven.

"You can't see him…?"

"See who, Aqua?" Eraqus asked her.

"Ven… he's standing beside Terra… there's a chain attached to his chest that runs to his body…" Aqua began to shake slightly, believing that Ven was dead.

"Terra!" Eraqus's yell had a sense of urgency to it. "Run back to the citadel, ask the Soul Reapers if they can return a still attached soul back to its body. Bring only one with you. Hurry!" With no argument, Terra got up and ran as fast as he could – ignoring the stinging pain in his knees. Eraqus swiftly moved to Ven's side, casting a Curaga spell on the boy. Aqua, shakily, followed, offering her magicks to assist him.

When Terra arrived with Rukia following him, Aqua had to move away, having a hard time standing near one of the Soul Reapers.

"Is it only her who can see the spirit?" The Soul Reaper girl seemed confused. "You can see us, but not him? That's unusual…"

"Aqua has a high aptitude for magic. You would call it Kido, I believe." Eraqus explained. "I believe this is why she is so strongly affected by your presence here, and why she is able to see Ven's spirit."

As soon as Ventus's body healed, Rukia was able to return his soul to his body. Ven didn't wake up right away, but it became apparent that the unknown source of the magic pressure had moved on and left the Land of Departure.

Back at the citadel, Eraqus took Ven to his room to rest. The boy had been badly beaten up – Rukia explained that his injuries were in line with that of Byakuya's Zanpakuto – Eraqus had to explain to Terra and Aqua that the Zanpakuto were the swords the Soul Reapers carried – Senbonzakura.

"I apologize that we were not any help in finding this Byakuya." Eraqus apologized.

"Yeah… well," Ichigo scratched his head, "Sorry the kid got hurt over it." Terra rolled his eyes.

"Hey, Ichigo, how old are you?"

"Fifteen, why?"

"Same age as Ven. Guess he's not such a kid, then."

Aqua giggled. Renji looked amused. Terra just smirked while Ichigo scratched his head. Rukia and Eraqus didn't respond.

"Farewell, Soul Reapers." Eraqus spoke. Ichigo, Rukia and Renji nodded.

Rukia pulled something out of her pocket. All the three Keybladers saw was a puff of smoke and a bird's head…

"I don't think those scars will ever heal, Ven." Aqua sighed, looking at the scars from the cuts on Ven's arm. He was covered in long scars like the ones on his arm, she knew. He simply sighed.

"Who knew lantana was so sharp?" He remarked.

"I didn't think lantana left scars. Not bad ones like that, anyway." Terra remarked. The three sat on the cliff edge, overlooking the Land of Departure, and the citadel they called home.

Within his study, Eraqus found a book he hadn't read in many years. The title of it read "Seireitei no Shinigami", the literal translation was "Death Gods of the Seireitei."

He sighed, putting it back on his shelf. Lore of the 'Soul Reapers', the 'Soul Society' and the 'Seireitei' had ceased to interest him.

It wasn't as if it would ever be relevant, right?