Lingering Hearts Book 1
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE KINGDOM HEARTS SERIES, CHARACTERS, GAMES, AND OTHER RELATED TITLES. THIS FANFICTION WAS CREATED FOR RECREATIONAL PURPOSES AND NOT FOR MY OWN COMMERCIAL GAIN.
Well, this is my first fanfiction :) I hope you enjoy it! The beginning has characters from Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, if you don't know who they are the Kingdom Hearts website will help. I'm excited about this emerging story, in the series Sora continuously is the chain between worlds and people. I added my own character that connected all the characters in the Kingdom Hearts Series.
Chapter 1: Appearance
Aqua stood on the roof of an abandoned old mansion. The rusted slate shingles cracked under her feet. She groaned, More wreckage to sort through. After a long sigh Aqua jumped off the roof, landing squarely on the frosted grass below.
Why would Master Eraqus send me to this forsaken world? Aqua looked to the sky for answers; a million stars twinkled back at her, a million worlds still blazing with vitality. And I'm here scavenging through filth trying to find an objective that can disappear at will.
At the edge of the sky glowing more brilliantly than the other stars was her home world. Aqua tried to picture what Terra and Ven were doing there right now. A lump in her throat formed at the thought of her friends, she didn't realize how much she missed them. Her cheeks burned, tears welling up in her eyes, Aqua resolutely put her head in her hands.
Suddenly a glint of purple-blackish light caught the corner of her eye. She looked up to see a large dark sphere, releasing a sinister light across the environment.
"What is that?"
"Come on," Terra glowered at a rather lazy Ventus resting at the edge of a stream on the Land of Departure.
"Aqua isn't even back yet, why do we have to train now?" Ven replied while twiddling with a piece of long grass in his mouth. Ven breathed in the freshwater scent that licked at his nose. The stream was calmly flowing, occasionally splashing on the white rock edges. Peaceful, he thought.
"Because what if the chaos is much worse than Master Eraqus anticipated," Terra stated curtly then turned to walk off, not checking if Ven followed. Suddenly in a huff, Ven jumped erectly to his feet and called forth his keyblade, which appeared within a flash of light.
He grasped it tightly in the reverse grip and charged after Terra. To his surprise Terra lunged away at the last second, also brandishing his keyblade. But Ven's superior speed quickly launched himself again at Terra. To counter, Terra raised the keyblade high over his head and used his strength to send it crashing down on his opponent in a devastating blow.
But, Ven blocked the attack, the metal of the blades clanging when they crashed together. Terra forced his keyblade down onto Ven, pushing him further toward the ground. Ven swiftly skidded across the sand out of reach from Terra's brutish strength. He sidled around Terra and attempted an attack from behind, although Terra anticipated this and swung his keyblade around and locked again with Ven's blade. Ven backed up and charged again, Terra veered the keyblade at him and knocked Ven a couple yards away. For a moment Ven lay there straining for the sound of Terra charging, the moment his heavy feet were almost upon him Ven jumped high into the sky. As he began his descent Ven angled himself at Terra.
The brown haired man smirked as he pushed Ven back, "That the best you can do?" Terra asked in a mocking tone, a deep set expression on his face.
"You wish!" Ven yelped back and struck Terra's keyblade once more.
A small spark in the evening sky made the combatants pause; it looked as if it were a shooting star hurtling toward the castle. As the projectile flew closer Ven realized it to be a gummi ship. Just a few feet from the ground the ship finally leveled and rested itself in the grass.
A huge grin spread across Ven's face as he shrieked, "Aqua's back!" As if on cue the door to the gummi ship opened and a woman with blue hair stepped out.
"Ven, Terra" Aqua said softly with her melodic formal voice.
"How was your trip? Nothing too dangerous?" Terra inquired slowly.
Aqua held up one dainty hand, "First things first, I need to show you both something." Aqua strode back into the ship for a couple minutes. When she returned, a little girl emerged from the ship with her.
They edged out quietly, Aqua murmuring under her breath to coax the little girl out onto the shore. As the little girl drew closer Ven saw how frail she appeared. Just a glance at her and she looked so fragile, almost as if she was made of glass that was on the verge of shattering.
In the twilight sky the girl seemed to glow, her blond hair was accented with cascades of ringlets dancing around her face. Ven was entranced by the girl's presence, he watched her every move. Every flick of her long fingers, every nerve that pricked in the humid air, and every sparkle in her eyes.
Golden in color, her perfect almond shaped eyes burned bright with strength, despite her petite appearance. Her eyes mirrored a soul stronger than Terra could ever hope for.
Terra seemed to be thinking the same thing, "What did you do?" Terra growled in anger. Ven looked up at Terra, his position looked uncomfortable like a snake recoiling from the hot desert sun.
"Please let me explain," Aqua pleaded.
"What were you thinking?" Terra barked. Terra closed his eyes and breathed deep, trying to wrangle in his fury. A couple seconds passed and he recovered his collected mellow tone, "I'm going to report this to Master Eraqus." Terra turned on his heel and stormed off. Ven noticed the little girl cringed behind Aqua, he smiled and bent down.
"I'm Ven," he said with a cheeky grin. The girl looked at him for a moment, her golden eyes blazing into him.
Ven reached out a hand, "It's nice to meet you," she looked tentatively at Ven's outstretched hand, hers eyes appeared to be calculating the situation. She looked up to him and smiled brilliantly, the light in her eyes surging while she did so.
Affection washed over Ven, at that moment he vowed to never take his eyes off of her ever again. Even as he asked Aqua her name his eyes were continuously peeled on the beautiful form.
Aqua's eyes narrowed at him suspiciously, "…Yumi."
"Yumi," he murmured with adoration.
"Aqua," Master Eraqus stared in disbelief as she walked into the throne room with Yumi on her leg, Ven trailing slowly behind.
"Master Eraqus, I know I broke the rules," Aqua stated solemnly.
"Then why did you bring her here?" Master Eraqus's voice cracked, he was desperately trying to control himself.
Aqua looked down at the floor, "Her world was destroyed," she managed to choke out.
"Destroyed?" Eraqus whispered his tone in disbelief.
"The world was on the verge of destruction regardless," Aqua stated, "When I first got there the planet was a dirt heap of abandoned houses and people. They were dying all around me," Aqua shoved her eyes closed, keeping her composure under control.
"That's no excuse for bringing herhere," Terra deliberated in monotone. Master Eraqus shifted but remained silent.
"When I found Yumi," Aqua motioned to the girl and glared at Terra, "A dark sphere had appeared above the world sucking pieces into the darkness. And these strange blue creatures with sad red eyes spawned from it."
Eraqus's eyes flashed at the mention of the blue creatures, but continued on waiting for Aqua to finish, "I fought them endlessly but with each one that fell another replaced it. Finally I tried to return to the gummi ship and escape but, on my way back Yumi was being attacked by a large horde of the creatures."
Yumi shivered at the flashback, "I was able to push them back but soon realized she had no were to go, the world had eroded to only a small sliver of land. I couldn't let her die with that world, I had to do something," Aqua finished.
Eraqus stood quietly, contemplating what she just explained, "The creatures you saw have been labeled the unversed. We know very little of them," Eraqus looked down in shame, "But I could have never anticipated that they could destroy entire worlds."
Eraqus turned to look at Yumi, "Yumi, what can you tell me about the situation?"
Yumi looked up in surprise, she seemed hesitant and sheepishly looked up at Aqua, eyes pleading.
"Master, Yumi can't speak," Aqua said. Ven flinched at this realization, What! He wished to cry out.
Silence reigned in the throne room, the quiet almost unbearable for Ven, then finally Master Eraqus spoke, "That changes things," Eraqus stared straight into the little girls smoldering golden eyes. Aqua drew back preparing what her Master was about to say. "She will stay."
Aqua stared at the master with overwhelming joy while Ven bounced excitedly where he stood. Terra, though, seemed less enthused; he simply stalked off on his own into the castle.
"She needs a room, and better clothes, and quite possibly…a bath," Master Eraqus added eyeing Yumi with a renewed light in them. Ven looked at Yumi, for the first time he noticed the dirt that cluttered her skin.
Aqua nodded and replied, "Yes Master Eraqus," and strode out of the throne room. Aqua led Yumi to the large bathroom within the castle; a blue mosaic tiled the floor while white marble made up the pillared walls.
Aqua took Yumi inside as a flustered Ven waited in the hall impatiently. Aqua ran some warm water in the massive porcelain bathtub and Yumi stripped of her rags then stepped carefully into the inviting water.
After a thorough bath Yumi wrapped herself in a fluffy towel and waited patiently for Aqua to return with a spare change of clothes. Your time is coming, my liege.A soundless voice resounded in the room. Yumi jumped, Who are you? What do you want with me?
Before the voice had a chance to reply Aqua reentered the bathroom with a bundle of cloth in her hands. Aqua's eyes sparkled with excitement but she retained a regal appearance, "This was an old dress of mine when I was a child. I never liked it because it clashed with my blue hair but it was my mother's favorite." Aqua smiled and held out a green dress to Yumi, she slipped it on without protest.
"Perfect," Aqua stated, "But, it needs something." Aqua stared into the distance, deep in thought, her expression brightened a few moments later. Aqua gently took a water lily from a bowl on the counter and cradled it in her hands. Next, Yumi watched with awe as light twirled around the flower. Once the light dimmed, in the place of the water flower was green hair comb, outlined in gold and accented with water lilies.
"I used magic to create this special," she said a smile in her voice.
Yumi thought, Why do they keep doing that? Smiling all the time… A sigh escaped her lip that wasn't meant to.
Aqua giggled quietly, "Come with me. I'm sure dinner will be served soon."
And that's Chapter 1, reviews would be awesome. Until next time...