Prologue
A waltz of the damned materialized to make way for the parade's main attraction, Edea.
As the gates opened, the unversed were scattering throughout the performance of the dancers, who were in front of the large, glowing float, where Edea was seated on a golden throne. Dazzling fireworks were various shades of red, green and blue, and the crowds cheered in the streets of Deling—all in awe of her.
The sorceress was beautiful, having pale skin and yellow eyes. Her iris color was an indication of another presence overpowering her cognizance, but to the untrained eye it would go unnoticed. Her floor-length dress, and her matching gloves, were a dark shade of violet. Several feathers framed the collar and shoulders, while the dip in front of her attire stopped just below her assets. Covering her long, dark hair was a headpiece, with three horns on the left side, and a shell underneath that resembled a chambered nautilus. Attached to her dress was a golden arch, with a sheer draping hanging from it that flowed whenever she made the tiniest of movements…
Deling City…? Terra thought. But where did Master Xehanort go?
Upon the float, as the contraption turned, Seifer could be seen standing in front, just on the left side. The blond teen was wearing a dull trench coat, with dark clothing while holding up his gunblade…
However, Terra was on the float as well, unsure of how this predicament came about. One minute he was speaking with the sorceress about controlling his darkness, and the next he was… well, here.
As the parade continued, Terra stood still in his gold, black and red armor, horned helmet still covering his head while he peered into the cheering crowd. His keyblade was clutched in his right hand and when he noticed a pair of blue eyes, he tilted his head.
Two figures rushed by, two teens… One of them was dressed in all black with a scar that matched Seifer's, and the other was in a tan trench coat and black cowboy hat.
Trouble was brewing.
Somewhere in Gaia, Ven had crash-landed through a hole in the surface of a large church. He collided onto the flowerbed with a harsh thud, groaning as he rolled onto his back. He made a 'tch' sound as he winced, feeling the impact of the fall even in his silver and black armor. The gold trimmings on his knees had slight dents in them, catching the brunt end of the slip-up like some form of shock absorbers.
Vanitas, although his name was unknown to Ven just yet, chuckled from where he stood in his red and black attire, keyblade in hand. He was standing near a pew just a few yards away from Ventus' fallen form. "Weakling," he taunted. There was mirth in his tone, laced with sheer deviousness, and if Ven had taken his helmet off, Vanitas would've gotten an eyeful of the blond boy's glare.
"Where's Terra?" Ven asked, getting to his feet. He readied his weapon, Wayward Wind, hunching over into his battle stance.
Vanitas scoffed as he lifted his hand, easily opening a portal of darkness. "Like I'd tell you, loser." He stepped inside the black circle, chuckling as Ven ran forward. Not yet, he blond was almost able to make it inside the dark abyss until it suddenly vanished, making him stumble into a pew. He caught himself before he could flip over the wood with a noise of surprise.
In a fit of rage, he frowned and shook his head, hurrying out of the church. "Terra?!" he shouted frantically. Where are you?!
His blue eyes darted around, taking in the unfamiliar streets. Has Terra been here before…? "Don't worry, Terra." His keyblade vanished and he removed his helmet, propping it under his right arm. "I'll find you. Everything's gonna be okay."
"Excuse me," a teenage girl said softly. "You know Terra?"
Ventus turned, blushing at the sight of a female in a pink dress. She had her brown hair in a pink ribbon, and her long ponytail was spiraled. "Yes!" He took an eager step towards her, reminding her of a puppy—or was it of a certain dark-haired teen with spiky hair? "So, he was here?!"
"Yes," she answered, an angelic fondness in her tone. She touched her chin, giving him an odd look. "You look familiar…"
Ven angled his head to the left. "I do…?"
"Like a younger him," she murmured to herself. "But you also remind me of…"
Ven arched his brows. "A younger who exactly?"
Zack. "…Cloud." The Chocobo head was around.
About three worlds over, in some sort of time paradox, Aqua had been running for her life against the broken streets of Zanarkand, a city which was about to become ruins. Her helmet had slipped off when she'd made a rough landing, sending her flying through debris, and a large scratch appeared on the right side of her head, fogging her memory.
A man with short, graying hair and shades, who was wearing a red trench coat, paced over to Aqua's delirious form once she had tumbled onto a long, black pathway surrounded by water. He placed his buster sword in the ground, gazing down at her from where she lay unconscious.
In the distance, Sin could be seen absorbing pieces of Zanarkand in the sky, and Auron knew his old friend was ready to depart for Spira.
"Terra," Aqua whispered in her sleep. "Ven…" She had to find her friends. It was the master's request. She could've sworn she saw a hooded boy wearing purple trying to sooth her in her thoughts, but she was too focused on finding her friends to ponder on the stranger just yet.
"Auron!" Tidus yelled. The teen was blond, tanned and he wore a cropped short-sleeved jacket that matched his shoes. One side of his black shorts was raised higher than the other, and he had a dark, red and blue gauntlet on his left arm. He ran up Auron, catching his breath.
"Auron, we gotta get out of here!" Tidus said in a rush. He paused when he glanced down at Aqua. "Who's this?!"
"I don't know," Auron finally commented. His voice was low and calm, yet a bit raspy. He looked at Sin while the ground beneath them began to crumble and rise in the distance, mayhem ensuing. It was sure to reach them soon.
Tidus' brows furrowed as he knelt besides Aqua, perplexed as to who the girl was, and why his old friend cared to stop and see about her instead running past her like he had with the other civilians. He winced in discomfort when he saw the wound on her forehead. "Man, she hit her head pretty hard…" He glanced up, noticing Auron wasn't focused on them. "Auron—hey! Auron?!"
Auron easily lifted the duo by their necks, seeing the portal of light form above them.
"Auron!" Tidus shouted again. He began to struggle in the man's right hand gripping the man's wrist in an attempt to find release while Aqua remained comatose in Auron's left palm.
"Are you sure?" Auron asked.
"Auron!" Tidus yelled frantically. What's wrong with him?!
Titus released a loud noise of discomfort before everything went silent, and the world turned white...
Eventually, Aqua blinked open her eyes, with only the memory of one person. "T-Terra…?" When she fully awoke, she was laying on a steel, black and red ship in the middle of ruins. The winds weren't kind and it made her spiky, blue hair blow about in all directions. It wasn't until she sat up on her lower legs and hunched over that she finally noticed the crew to her left.
Some Al Bhed were holding large riffles, all wearing goggles, all whispering about her amongst themselves.
She looked cautiously at the nearest man, who aimed his gun at her head.
"Fru yna oui?" one of them asked her.
She furrowed her brows, lips parting. "W-what?" she asked in a soft, raspy voice. Beside her, Tidus was still unconscious.
...
Saving, please wait…
Save Complete. ;)
…
A/N: PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING STORY GUIDLINES:
This fic will be approximately ten chapters long—three chapters for each character, plus this short prologue (all future chapters being around 6,000 words a piece or higher because I prefer long chapters, maybe less but longer than 3,000) and it'll go as follows:
Chapter 1 Terra
Chapter 2 Ven
Chapter 3 Aqua
Chapter 4 Repeat… You get the idea.
The function and story arc will be just like in the BBS game play. This is pre-Gullwing shrinkage, and Zack's "death" will be explained for the KH series. Aerith's death won't be in this fic, but it will be in my other fic in which Sora, Riku and Kairi travel through each of the three FF games once all the FF worlds are restored, and the rest of the ff worlds, too. I guess you can call this the prequel to that. It's getting posted shortly after this one is completed. Idk if this idea has been done before because I've read so many great plot twists already about the mark of mastery exam for the main KH trio, I thought it'd be a nice change of pace to make one about the other set.
There will be canon events, as well as non-canon events to tie into the BBS characters.
Finally, just to clarify, this is FFVII (not Crisis Core or Advent Children), Final Fantasy X (not X-2), and Final Fantasy VIII Disc 1 and Disc 2 only. FFIX will be one chapter at the end due to plot purposes.
Thank you to anyone who's taken the time to read this. You're welcome to leave a review, or click a button. Either makes my day, just like chocolate and red wine.
-AJ