This fic is a collaborative effort between myself (Sadako Tetsuwan) and my co-author, Lans. It isn't quite a crossover, just like how The Lion King isn't a Hamlet crossover. It's definitely an AU, though. We do those a lot.
Kingdom Hearts and all Disney work associated with this story is the property of Square-Enix and/or Disney. No money is being made from the writing of this story.
The kingdom of Abitio was caught up in both celebration and mourning. A new prince had been born, strong and healthy and full of light...but the queen was dead.
The king, though he wore mourning black, insisted that the anticipated celebrations of birth and life continue as planned. The whole kingdom had been looking forward to the birth of a new royal baby for months now and a cruel stroke of fate was no need to steal away that joy from his people. He smiled sadly as word filtered in from across the kingdom of moments of silence before raucous celebration, of joyous songs in the street periodically pausing for a solemn funeral dirge before starting again, of the rivers being filled with mourning lanterns bobbing serenely beneath white and blue silken banners; the colors of a second son.
Eraqus's sad smile remained as he held his newborn son close, still swaddled in celebratory colors even at his mother's funeral. His older son pressed close as well, climbing into the king's lap and hiding his face against his father's mourning stole, tiny sniffles leaving the boy on occasion. Another whimper left the boy as the king's strong hand reached up to cradle his head, wincing slightly at the touch.
"It's okay to cry, Terra..." Eraqus whispered, kissing the top of the boy's head, his own tears clinging stubbornly to his lashes. Another sniffle left the boy as he looked up at his father, his dark blue eyes swimming with tears. He didn't want to show how much everything hurt...not if Mommy wasn't there to kiss it better anymore. Terra hiccuped softly as Eraqus gently wiped a tear from the boy's cheek, and he hurriedly hid his face in the soft black furs and silks wrapped around the king's strong shoulders. He turned his head slightly to look up at the casket in front of him, the colored light of the chapel's stained glass windows being swallowed up in the pall. Terra wiped at his eyes and bit his lip, a tremble running through him as he looked down at his hand—his daddy's hand, too—to find the light being swallowed by thin, runny blackness there, too.
Terra slept easily as thunder rolled outside, the sound occasionally rising above the pitter-patter of rain on his windows. He'd always liked thunderstorms, the warm earthy smells mixed with the chill of wind, the darkness and light, the chaos and peace...
His slumber was interrupted by quiet sobs and the clumsy motions of someone clambering into bed with him. "...Ven?" he murmured softly, blinking the sleep from his eyes as he spied a mess of baby blond hair sticking out from under his blankets. "What's wrong?"
"Scared," the other boy whimpered, snuggling close to his brother and trembling.
"What, of the storm?" Terra asked softly, his arms moving around the younger boy automatically. "It's okay, it's just noise. It won't hurt you." There was a flash of light outside, and Terra tightened his hold on Ven ahead of the thunder. The boy gasped and whined as the rumble arrived, squeezing his blue eyes shut tight. "You can even tell when it's coming...it always comes after the lightning. You don't have to be scared." Terra could feel tears beginning to fall down Ven's cheeks, and he leaned down to kiss the top of his head.
"'Sides...I'll protect you," he added, smiling as he gave Ven a squeeze.
"Promise?"
"I promise," he said, "I'll always protect you, Ven."
The blonde gave Terra a tear-filled smile, and the room was suddenly illuminated by a bright flash. The thunder crashed almost immediately, rattling the windows and startling even Terra. Ven hid his face in the front of his brother's pajamas, and immediately began winding up for a loud sob.
"...H-hey, I've got an idea," Terra said, hoping to stop the bubble from bursting. He leaned over to his nightstand and quickly struck a match, lighting the candle and carefully handing it to Ven. "Don't let the wax drip on the sheets, or Dad will get mad, okay?"
"Why?" Ven asked, blinking up at Terra, but still carefully holding the candlestick upright on the bed.
"'Cause it's messy. Dad hates messes," Terra said, kicking his blankets to the foot of the bed and helping Ven move to the middle of the mattress.
"Whatcha doing?" he asked, the candlelight catching on the tracks of his prior tears.
"I'm gonna make shadow puppets," Terra grinned, pointing to the wall opposite the tall bay windows. "Look over there, okay?"
"Kay," Ven smiled, glad to be in the steady warm candlelight. Terra slid a little ways away and made a bit of a show of linking his fingers together before raising his hands into the candlelight, casting the shadow of a fluttering bird against the wall. He whistled a little birdsong to help cover a low rumble of thunder, and managed to earn a giggle from Ven. With a quick hand motion, the bird had transformed into a rabbit, complete with wiggling ears and a twitching nose. Other animals quickly began emerging from Terra's hands; horses, pigs, even an elephant, all to the smiles and laughter of Ven.
"...Wanna see something even cooler?" Terra grinned, cracking his knuckles and raising his hands again, casting a surprisingly realistic shadow of a bull mastiff on the wall. With a flourish, Terra swept his hands out of the way of the candle, and the shadow remained.
"Wow!" Ven gasped, leaning closer to Terra. The older boy whistled, and the shadowy dog's head turned his way, slipping into the shadow cast by the boy's raised hand and emerging on the other side with a complete body. The puppet silently bounded around the edge of the wall, sniffing at Ven's shadow and wagging it's thick tail. "It moves!"
"Yup. Hey, do you think Dad will get us a real dog?" Terra asked, watching with a grin as the dog bounded back and forth, barking silently.
"I wanna dog!" Ven cried out, all smiles. Terra laughed, quickly casting another horse shadow on the wall and watching as it began to gallop around the room, sliding over the window effortlessly on its course.
More animated shadows began darting from his hands, growing more and more complex—a soaring dove, a lazy cat, a stately elk, a dancing ballerina. The shadows continued to play against the walls of Terra's room even as the candle burned low and was returned to the nightstand, Ven curled up at Terra's side with a smile on his face. Only once the candle itself flickered and died did the shadows stop, fading into the dark of night under Terra's watchful eye.
"Goodbye," he whispered to them, smiling gently as he pulled the blankets back over himself and his brother, snuggling close and kissing his brow. "And goodnight."
~o~
"Dad! Dad, get up!" Terra grinned, jumping onto Eraqus's bed and bouncing close. The slumbering king groaned at the interruption, laying his arm across his eyes.
"I thought you boys were letting me sleep in," Eraqus grumbled, though a smile twitched beneath his mustache.
"C'mon, Dad! It's time for breakfast," Terra reminded him, squirming closer to the man and grabbing his free arm, shaking it as vigorously as a child could. "Get up! It's gonna get cold!"
"I'm coming, I'm coming," the man chuckled, reaching down to give Terra a warm hug. Something was amiss, however. "...Where is Ventus?"
"Oh, he was scared by the storm last night, and he couldn't sleep so he came into my room," Terra replied, "He's asleep now, though."
"Alright, you head down to the great hall without me, I'll make sure Ventus is up and dressed," Eraqus instructed, playfully grasping Terra and dragging him across the bed in peals of laughter before setting him back on the floor. "Off you get, go on, I miss you already," Eraqus smiled, striding toward the dressing chambers with an air of sleepy royal confidence.
"Ventus?" Eraqus called softly, pushing open the door to Terra's bedchamber. The king was entirely unprepared for what he found inside.
It looked like a murder scene, if only blood were ink-black. Spatters of Darkness covered the room as if something had exploded; great smears of the stuff were wiped across the walls, dripping from the ceiling, seeping across the parquet floor...and there, in the center of all that evil was Ventus, sleeping soundly. A shocked cry left Eraqus as he saw a black drop land on the toddler's cheek, running down toward his ear, past the soft line of his jaw...
Trembling with righteous indignation, Eraqus flew into the room and snatched up his stained son, his Light flaring brightly. A hiss like boiling filled the air as the Darkness began to drip and run faster, sliding over the bed covers and floor like water. Eyes wide with anger and wariness, Eraqus backed out of the room and slammed the door shut, clutching Ven closely and watching dark steam bubble away as that evil tried to leave the room. It couldn't survive in a hall so filled with Light. That was his only comfort.
He hurried back into his dressing chambers, where the bath hadn't yet been emptied. The quick bobbing had awakened the boy, who sighed and rubbed at his eyes as Eraqus set him down next to the smooth porcelain tub.
"Daddy?" he whined as Eraqus removed Ven's dark-stained sleeping gown with trembling hands, "Why I hafta take a bath? It's only Wednesday..." Eraqus shushed the boy, lifting him into the bathwater and carefully swirling the water with his fingers, his Light infusing the bath with it's gentle glow—a glow that Ven couldn't yet see. The king was thankful that Ventus was still too young to see Darkness and Light, too young to see the dark stains all over his skin and clothes...such a sight would surely frighten the boy just as much as it frightened his father.
"Y-Your Majesty?" came a trembling servant's voice, catching sight of the inky dark dripping into the water. Even without purposefully looking, the Darkness was strong enough to make itself known.
"Bring me my son," Eraqus commanded, his voice rumbling with authority as he scrubbed at the dark stains on Ven's skin. The boy squirmed and pouted—if he had to have a bath, couldn't he at least have bubbles? He didn't look any cleaner when Daddy finally pulled him out of the tub and wrapped him up in a towel, and continued to pout and fuss as he was handed to another servant. He was hungry...it was time for breakfast, wasn't it?
Terra almost skipped down the hall, a wide smile on his face and a bit of powdered sugar on his sleeve from where he'd hurriedly tried to hide evidence of his second beignet that morning. He paused outside his father's apartments, knocking on the door and backing up a few steps, rocking back and forth on his feet. The door swung open suddenly, and Terra cried out both in surprise and pain—the Light shining from inside was white-hot.
"Terra!" Eraqus snapped, sweeping out into the hall and grasping the boy's wrist tightly, glaring down at the dark stains he found on the boy's hands. "What did you do?!"
"D-Dad, you're hurting me!" Terra cried out, trying to wrench his hand away from the searing Light of his father.
"Answer me, Terra!" Eraqus ordered, holding tight to the boy. All he could see in front of him was Darkness, dripping, pooling, boiling in his presence. He couldn't even see his son underneath it, now that he was truly looking. When had the Darkness grown so powerful in him...?
"I-I didn't do anything, I swear!" Terra cried, squeezing his eyes shut.
"There was Darkness everywhere, Terra! I can see it on you—on Ventus! Did you indulge it last night?" Eraqus snapped.
"N-no! I didn't do anything bad!" Terra whimpered, trembling in fear and pain. His father had never, ever burned him on purpose...what did he do wrong? "I-I was just making shadow puppets, t-to cheer him up! Please, Daddy, it hurts!" he sobbed, tugging away from the man as hard as he could. Terra was strong, but he'd inherited that strength from Eraqus. There was no escape from that blinding fire.
Eraqus couldn't see Terra's tears beneath that writhing evil, but his trembling voice, that desperate sob...Eraqus released Terra's wrist and blinked his vision clear of light and dark. What was before him wasn't no monster from the far side of the mountains, it was his beloved son. He clutched his wrist tightly to his chest and sobbed, trembling and falling onto his knees as Darkness seeped from his invisible wound. Terra whimpered, hurriedly trying to scoop the Darkness up and hold it back—he couldn't live with himself if he stained the castle floor with his Darkness...Daddy hated messes. Especially Dark messes...
"...T-Terra," Eraqus whispered, extinguishing his Light and dropping to his knees as well. "Terra, come here...c-come here, son," he breathed, holding his arms out to the boy. "I'm sorry...Come here..."
Terra bit his lip, tears falling for a moment before he flung himself into Eraqus's arms, sobbing loudly into the front of his coat. That moment of hesitation felt like a knife in the stomach to the king. What had he done to his son...? How could he let his own Darkness rule him like that, even for a moment?
"I'm sorry, Daddy!" Terra sobbed, trembling as he clung to Eraqus, "I didn't mean to do anything bad...I-I'll never do it again, I promise...!"
"Ssssh...I love you, Terra. I'm so sorry...I love you," Eraqus breathed, stroking the boy's dark brown hair and kissing the top of his head. "I see your Light...I do," he whispered, gently rocking the boy.
"I-I see yours, too," Terra whimpered, his arms trembling as he held onto his father as tightly as he could. How could he not see Eraqus's light? He was still dazed by it. "...I-I didn't hurt Ven, did I?" Terra asked softly, turning his wide blue eyes upward. Was that why Daddy was so mad? Had he hurt Ven somehow?
"No, baby...Ven is okay. But you could have hurt him, Terra. You can't use your Darkness carelessly. This is a land of Light." Eraqus sighed softly, wiping at the boy's cheek gently. "You want to be king someday, don't you?"
"Y-yes, Daddy," Terra whimpered, his lip trembling.
"Then we must strengthen your Light. You can shine just as bright as Ven, I know it," Eraqus declared, running a hand through the boy's hair affectionately. "...You have your mother's beautiful eyes," he whispered, leaning down to kiss Terra's forehead. Terra reached up, wrapping his arms around Eraqus's neck and shoulders and clinging tightly to him with a sniffle. He would do anything it took to stoke the fires in his heart, to drive off that Darkness once and for all...to never be burned by his father's Light again.
"I love you, Dad," he said softly, biting his lip to keep it from trembling.
"Terra," a whisper cut through the room as a little blonde boy climbed up onto the bed, grinning. "Terra, wake up!"
"'S the middle of the night, Ven," Terra grumbled, not even opening his eyes. His limbs felt like lead—they always did after a hard day's work with their father and the Royal Guards. Even though Eraqus was certainly pulling his punches when sparring with an eleven-year-old, Keyblades didn't exactly land lightly on their targets.
"C'moooon, it's not the middle of the night, it's still the first half!" Ven protested.
"Whaddya want?" Terra asked his pillow, pressing his face into it and sighing.
"I think there's a thunderstorm rolling in," Ven said, tugging on Terra's wrist.
"You're not scared of storms anymore," Terra replied, pushing Ven's face away with a smile.
"Just a little bit scared," Ven giggled, playfully flopping across Terra's back in much the same way the boys woke their father every morning. "C'mooooooon...play with me? I didn't get to see you all day!"
"I'll play with you in the morning, Ven," Terra replied, making a big production of yawning.
"...Hey, d'you wanna play with shadow puppets?" Ven asked, cocking his head to the side. Terra opened his eyes, worry swirling in them.
"I-I can't. Dad said I'm not allowed," Terra replied, curling up slightly.
"I won't tell him," Ven replied, "I'll even help you clean up after—he'll never know!"
"Ven..."
"Pleeeease, Terra? You're so good at it..." Ven begged softly. The brunette bit his lip, frowning slightly. He'd struggled so hard that day to summon even the smallest spark of light into his fingers—something that everyone in the Royal House of Abitio could do. Even Ven could do it, and he was barely old enough to see Light and Darkness. He hated being bad at things...he was going to be king someday, so he had to be the best. It would be nice to do something welltoday.
Within moments, the boys were racing each other down the hall, skidding to a stop in the grand ballroom.
"Grab a candlestick!" Terra smiled, watching as Ven lit the flames and ran as carefully as one could possibly run while carrying lit candles.
"Right here?" Ven grinned, dropping to the floor in the middle of the floor and setting the candles down.
"...Aww, the light's too weak," Terra muttered, looking around. It was true; there was no way that candlestick could cast shadows all the way on the walls. He frowned and looked up, his eyes widening. "The moonlight!" he gasped, pushing the candles toward Ven; he didn't need light to make it up the spiral steps in the dark. "Help me open the curtains," he grinned, racing to the far end of the hall and climbing the stairs to the mezzanine.
Together, the boys dropped the sandbags to the main floor and marveled as the blue velvet curtains were drawn aside. Rather than a stone or wooden ceiling, there was perfectly cut crystal, letting the moonlight pour into the room and catching the glimmer of ten thousand stars like the jewels in the chandelier.
"Is that bright enough?" Ven asked, setting the candles down on one of the tables and darting over to Terra. The older boy grinned and dropped to his knees, grasping the dark shadow of the railing and pulling it up from the carpet. He slid the shadow over the railing like a ladder and climbed down, giggling.
"Yup, it's bright enough. C'mon, Ven!" Terra called, the shadows as solid as iron under his fingers. Ven giggled, clambering over the mezzanine railing and climbing down on its own shadow, jumping the last few feet.
"What are you gonna make?" Ven asked, his blue eyes wide as Terra wrapped his fingers around the shadow again and snapped it like a whip, the shade turning almost to liquid in his grasp. He quickly balled it up in his hands, and it slid over his fingers like silk.
"Hmm...I've got an idea. Here, hold this end," Terra grinned, handing one perfect edge of the Dark to Ven and measuring out a length of it.
"This feels weird," Ven giggled, watching Terra's fingers make a scissoring motion and a cut appeared in the shadow. The older boy tossed the pile of shade aside and took the measured length, feeling it over for a moment before folding it a few times and twisting. The shadow quickly took the full form of a dog, panting and wagging it's thick tail.
"You still want a dog, right?" Terra grinned, watching as the dog bounded over to Ven, shadowless in its own movements. A single loud bark filled the room as it play-bowed to the blonde, 'looking' up at him.
"I didn't know your puppets could make sounds now!" Ven grinned, reaching out and petting the shade.
"Me, neither," Terra laughed, tearing off a corner of the Dark and rolling it into a ball. "Here Ven, catch!" he smiled, tossing it to the other boy and instantly catching the dog's attention. Ven bounced the ball a few times on the floor before tossing it across the room, the shadowy dog scrabbling on the slick surface to give chase, it's black tongue lolling out of it's mouth. Terra quickly tore off another length of shadow and started pulling and twisting and smoothing a much larger form, his eyes shining bright in the moonlight. Every detail had to be precise...
With a flourish, the long coarse hair of a horse's tail fell from his fingers, and the large black stallion he had crafted pawed at the floor, shaking it's head and huffing.
"Oh, wow!" Ven gasped, scampering closer. "It looks just like Daddy's!" Even though the creation was solid shadow, he'd still carved the outline of Eraqus's steed's markings.
"Yeah, you wanna ride him?" Terra grinned, rather proud of his handiwork.
"Uh huh! Uh huh!" Ven grinned, dancing from one foot to another as Terra knelt to give him a leg up. He clambered on top of Terra, jumping off from his brother's shoulder to throw himself on the back of the dark horse. The consistency of the shadow began to falter, however, and the form quickly threatened to give out. "Whoa, T-Terra!"
"Hang on," the older boy grinned, quickly putting his hands on the stallion's shoulder and firming up the shadows. "You're too heavy for it to hold up on its own. It's all those chocolates you've been eating," Terra giggled.
"Hey, be nice!"
"You ready to ride?" Terra asked, pulling his hands away from the shade and revealing string-like tendrils of Darkness connecting him to the horse like some strange puppet master.
"Yeah! Hyah!" Ven cried, trying to spur the horse on. Even a shadowy facsimile of Eraqus's steed was well-mannered, however, and instead merely trotted around the perimeter of the room. It was so strange, seeing Ven's shadow 'floating' on the floor as the moonbeams passed through the horse unobstructed, but Ven wasn't even looking. He tangled his hands in the shade's mane and laughed, looking down at the dog as it loped closer. Terra's creation, however, was not fond of canines. With a frightened whinny, the horse took off like a bolt, charging down the length of the dance floor.
"Whoa, s-stop!" Terra cried, gasping as the threads of Darkness snapped. "Ow!"
With the connection broken, the horse quickly became insubstantial again and dissipated in a dark mist, fading in the gentle moonbeams. Ven, however, was quite corporeal, and thudded to the floor with a loud 'oof' of his own.
"Ven!"
"'M'okay," Ven slurred, coughing and shaking his head. "Owww..."
"A-are you hurt?" Terra asked, rushing to his side and fussing over him like a mother bird.
"I'll be alright," he replied, brushing himself off. "My knees hurt a bit...like falling out of a tree. Can you make another horse?" Ven asked, standing and wincing a bit.
"No, it took a lot of shadow," Terra replied, looking down at the shade he had left. He frowned for a moment before grinning and tearing it in half. "I've got something better, though!" He quickly twisted one piece of Dark into a long form and flattened it with one hand, making a sword.
"Oh, cool!" Ven grinned, watching as Terra rolled up the other piece of shadow and got a little more inventive, giving it a wide curved blade and pulling up a point on its spine.
"Here," Terra smiled, holding out the scimitar to Ven.
"Oh wow, I get the fancy one!" Ven smiled, taking the blade and swinging it a few times.
"Careful with that," Terra laughed, picking up his long sword and holding it up. "En garde! I'll go easy on you, for your knees and all that," he grinned.
"C'mon, I can take ya!" Ven grinned, swinging his sword and meeting Terra's with a very real metallic 'clang'.
"Watch it, I hear these things are sharp," Terra chuckled, effortlessly parrying Ven's swings. Ven didn't seem to think there was much danger, however, and continue to dance back and forth with his shadow blade. Sensing a coming attack, Terra moved his blade into position, striking out with his parry with preternatural foresight. Ven had wound up for his swing, but didn't quite manage to find his feet in the right place—or maybe it was the soreness in his knees. All Terra knew was that Ven wasn't attacking anymore but falling—falling forward. He felt weight on his sword, resistance, then breaking through.
"VEN!"
Terra threw down his command of the shade he'd pulled up; the scimitar and dog burst into black mist, but it was no good—the sword in Ven's chest melted and poured across him, dripping into his wound.
"N-no, no!" Terra cried, dropping to his knees at Ven's side. "D-Daddy! DADDY!" he screamed, scrabbling at the last drops of the shadow that were sliding into Ven's bleeding wound—red and black were mixing, no, no, no! He tugged at the Darkness, pulling it out in great lumpy knots, but it wasn't enough. More shadows began to creep up Ven's arms and legs—his Light was showing, and the Darkness hungered. Terra could feel it. "Stop! Stop it!" he sobbed, pushing the little shadows away and turning back to pull out as much of his darker shade as he could. "I've got you, Ven, it's okay...y-you're gonna be okay...V-Ven?"
A low hiss of Darkness made itself known, and Terra slowly turned to look. That...wasn't anything like he had made before. The brunette trembled as a great orb of shadow vibrated and congealed into arms and legs, hissing all the while. He clutched Ven closer, his eyes wide as he tried to summon his Keyblade on his own, but without his father's help, it wouldn't come; he grasped at nothing.
"...Help," he squeaked, eyes wide as the creature raised a hand—or was it a claw?
Light exploded into the hall, almost blinding Terra with it's intensity and blowing any remaining shadows into oblivion. The creature—distinctly man-shaped—screeched with an entirely inhuman voice and dove into the floor, two-dimensional as it fled across the ground, along the wall, under the windowsill and into the night.
"Terra! Ventus!" Eraqus cried, rushing forward. Blood—was he too late to stop that monster? "What did you do?!"
"I-it was an accident!" Terra sobbed, clinging tightly to Ven and trembling. "Hang on, Ven, D-Daddy's here, he can help you...!" Eraqus's hand quickly covered Ven's wound and Light poured from his fingertips, knitting his flesh shut...but Ven didn't move. The king quickly gathered Ven up in his arms, shaking him gently.
"Ventus...Ventus!" he called, stroking the boy's cheek. Ven and Terra's hands were stained with Darkness again...but Eraqus had no room in his heart for anger at that moment. It was entirely filled with fear. "This is a fine mess you've made, Terra," he said, his voice trembling as he turned and strode out of the hall. That was the most he could muster.
"W-wait, Daddy!" Terra called, scrabbling after his father as that shining torch stormed out of the castle.
~o~
"Master Yen Sid!" Eraqus cried out, his voice breaking as he slid from his glider and clutched Ventus close. He hadn't moved, breath barely left his lips...Eraqus could see his Light breaking apart and fading, and he could feel Terra's Darkness building behind him, growing with each of his frightened sobs.
"Is Ven gonna be okay, Daddy?" he whimpered, climbing down as well and clinging to Eraqus's shirt hem. His eyes slid up the mysterious tower they had ridden to, and a soft hiccup left Terra.
"I hope so," Eraqus gasped softly, holding Ven close to his own heart, as if he could shield him from the Dark around him. "Master Yen Sid, please! It is I, Eraqus, your humble student, please, I...I need your help!"
Terra gasped softly as he made out movement in the dark long before Eraqus could see. Though the man was shielding his light, it was like trying to blot out the sun with his thumb—he didn't know anyone had a brighter light than Eraqus.
"Your Majesty," came a low, rumbling voice as the tall man emerged into the light. His beard was long and iron gray, and his gaze was as sharp as winter wind.
"Master," Eraqus began, moving forward and holding out Ven. "Please...please, help my son." Yen Sid's gaze flicked from Eraqus to the dying child in his arms, before finally falling on the boy just behind him. A great, looming shadow arched over him even at that moment, with the bearing of a cornered beast.
"Let me see him," Yen Sid demanded, kneeling on the ground as Eraqus laid him before the sorcerer. Terra crept forward fearfully and grasped the back of Eraqus's sleeve, before quickly being pulled into a tight embrace by his father. The sorcerer's hands swept over Ven's new gnarled, shiny scar, and a deep crease formed on his brow. "His heart has been broken," he announced, "It is falling to pieces even as we speak."
"Ven!" Terra sobbed, crawling toward Ven only to be hauled back by Eraqus.
"Who cursed this boy?" Yen Sid asked, his gaze falling immediately to Terra. He already knew the answer.
"I-it was an accident," Terra whimpered, trembling in his father's embrace. "I didn't mean to hurt him! It was an accident, I swear! Daddy, I swear, it was an accident!" Terra said quickly, his breathing rapid and uneven.
"Please, Master...can you help him?" Eraqus asked softly, cradling Terra close as his gaze rose to Yen Sid. The old man sighed, shaking his head slowly.
"The damage is great...it will take time," he replied, "Perhaps a year. Perhaps more. Perhaps he will never be whole again," Yen Sid said, clapping his hands and raising Ven into the air. Silently, a line of animated broom servants marched forward, bearing the youth up on their spindly wooden arms as they shuffled back up the tower, their steps accompanied by the sound of dry straw.
"...What about my other son?" Eraqus asked softly, holding Terra close and stroking his hair, heedless of the Darkness for once in his life. "Can you lift this curse from him?"
"Alas, that I cannot do," Yen Sid replied. "This is not a spell that was placed upon him by a rival sorcerer...his Darkness runs much deeper than that. He was born into it, Eraqus, it is part of his flesh and bone."
"But...all hearts have Light," Eraqus stubbornly insisted, "Can't you make his Light stronger?"
"You cannot save your sons by only focusing on Light." Yen Sid crouched down, doing his best to appear gentle to the boy in front of him. "You, young prince, must learn to hold that Darkness in check. It is a great power you were born with, beyond your imagination, and you must learn how to not use it. It will be tempting, and it's great power comes from your very heart...can you control it's power, young prince? To protect your kingdom, and spare your brother?"
Terra shook with fear and uncertainty, staring up at Yen Sid with wide eyes. However, when Yen Sid asked him, he steeled himself as best he could. He grasped Eraqus's arm for strength, bit his trembling lip hard, and nodded. "Yes, sir," he said with as much conviction as he could muster. He didn't want to hurt anyone else...
A/N: Sooo, to our new readers, welcome, to our old readers, welcome back! Please don't murder me. Mahavatika needs some serious overhauling in Parts 2 and 3, hence why it's...uh...been collecting dust for a while. I promise, it isn't dead. It's resting. (And no that's not actually us trying to hide that it's dead. Pinky promise.)
This is the result of a realization that I had at the bus stop one day last fall that pretty much made me hate my brain, which is 'We could totally do a Frozen knockoff with the BBS cast.' So guess where we're going? Hopefully you'll guess right enough to feel smug and be able to ask about whether your favorite/least favorite scenes will appear, but not so right as to shake your head in disappointment and wish I had never discovered a keyboard. Obviously having ice powers in an already cold place is entirely different from having, say, dark powers in a kingdom full of knights and paladins whose sworn enemy is the Darkness, for one, so hey, we're already drifting! Woo! Light a sparkler and get a disappointing stale cupcake, we're having a party up in here.
This will be a touch more family-friendly (and less exposition-heavy) than Mahavatika, so if you enjoy our stuff but didn't want to share it with your friends who get squicked out about this or that, then now you've got something a little cleaner to show them. I don't foresee a need for constant chapter-by-chapter warnings here, at least.
So, read, review, ask questions, ponder FF's weird formatting restrictions, and we'll see you next time!