"What do you mean?" Aqua asked the shade of his older friend. "Why wouldn't you have much longer?"
"It's easier to show it than tell you." He scanned the horizon. "They're never around anymore." He grumbled to himself. She was certain he didn't intend it to be heard, but Terra always lacked subtlety or even basic stealth. Normally it might have made her laugh, but his words bothered her. She couldn't imagine what he needed, and whatever it was, it had to be something about the lack of creatures.
She watched the man, carefully examining him. Terra's body moved, crossing over the dunes and rocks, without concern. His limbs twisted as he moved upwards. Musculature seemed to cross over his shoulders and move underneath the pale white skin irregularly. She thought at first it was within the way he moved. It was more feral than how the structured man she once knew walked, yet all the while it flowed freely and eloquently. It wasn't difficult for her to keep up with him. Where her own feet couldn't reach, her magic made quick work to close the gap.
"You haven't told me what we're looking for." She looked at the man. Terra looked intent. His concentration was left, and she watched the man.
"found it." He muttered quickly under his breath. Aqua kept her distance close as the phantom broke into a sprint.
"Found what?" she asked, using a magic seal to boost herself closer to Terra. "Terra, what are we looking for?"
"A special kind of these things." He looked back at the woman and let out a smile. "You haven't lost a step." He was changing the subject. Aqua knew there was something amiss, but his focus to her made her smile in response. It was foreign now, but she still had memories when it was a more common occasion, much before their last mission together. Before she was a master.
"You don't get the option to when you're fighting for your life." She responded. "You seem to be doing well yourself.
The man made a small grunt. "Guess so." He let out a weakened smile. She could tell there was something wrong. Terra's body felt like it was made of darkness. The poisonous aura seemed to radiate and when she thought about it, it made her hesitant. The darkness had a way of tricking the mind. She gripped her master's blade carefully. It sounded and looked like Terra, and she was sure he was somewhere within it, but somehow there seemed to be too much amiss. It was too close. Too convenient. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she could feel the shadowy clawed hands on her throat. A cold sweat enveloped her.
Suddenly the man stopped, crouching over a Cliffside, his blackened forearm pushed outwards, as if to keep the keyblade master from moving too close.
Aqua was silent, but her face etched a curiosity. "They'll see you." He responded. She looked at him, following his lead. "Just sit tight. I'll be back."
Aqua leaned upwards as the shade leapt from the Cliffside, sliding his way down the dusky dunes. The black hakama-pants, or whatever it was that was constructing Terra's appearance, flowed and wrapped against his legs. It was reassuring to her. The cloth seemed to meld into the white flesh Terra now held. It was still so strange to see him as he was. He wasn't the same, and whatever he was it felt too much like the monsters that inhabited the realm. She only hoped it wasn't a creature created from her own memory. The man carried the golden eyes common to the monsters here. They looked just like Xehanort's. It felt wrong. The blue eyed Terra she knew was gone, and had been for more than she could remember. A small sigh escaped her as she gazed on at the man. He had finally reached the bottom. She could see what he finally meant. There was a nest. A large orb of pulsing shadow. It had to be his target. She presumed Terra had been fighting these monsters too. It explained the emptiness of them, when he had found her. He must have purged the Ruins of Departure before she had gotten there.
Her attention returned as she was Terra pull himself into his standard fighting stance. His hands were still empty. She was sure he had some kind of weapon. Her eyes widened as he approached the pulsing nest, plunging his arm into it. Black flames screamed through the air as he jerked his hand out once more, a darkball firmly in his grip. Aqua looked on curiously as it seemed that Terra just pulled it to stare. Purple blazes surged from his right shoulder and seemed to slam into the darkball, which let out what she could imagine was some form of inhuman scream. The creature disintegrated into a purple haze, and Terra's hand reached into it. She was unsure of what ritual he had been performing, but she knew it was familiar. His movements mocked a memory. Her eyes focused and within a moment the purple mess began forming something. Bit by bit. Block by block it reforged the creature into a blade. Her eyes widened. She knew that shape. It had no chain, and the guard had gone, but that blade was unquestionably in the form of his keyblade.
Terra seemed confident as the remainder of the nest surged outwards at him. They must have acknowledged their comrade's shift, and naturally it perturbed the inhabitants. She couldn't see Terra's face, but she could feel the smirk that was likely on it. He enjoyed combat, as serious as he was, when he wanted something, he'd relish in the struggle, and that made his strength. He wouldn't give up from a small setback. She knew this, and as Terra kept his stance and quickly the small horde descended upon him. Another darkball opened its maw, wanting to strike down the man in a foul swing. Terra's blade responded in kind, cleaving the creature in two. "No." the man responded, impatient.
Aqua was uncertain what was being said, but as each creature was felled, he repeated it. A somber, calculated "No." Aqua looked on as he continued slaughtering the creatures. She didn't understand. He was slaying them. What was detestable? As the crowd slimmed down, it left Terra with one last creature. A neoshadow. The monster continuously faded into the ground and she could see Terra struggling with it. There was an off feeling about it. The creature was obviously being defensive. Most of her encounters the creatures were suicidal. Every last breath was spent offensively and this one remained, slinking in the dark. She was surprised to see Terra suddenly do the same, and the realm was silent for a moment.
A giant glowing hand surged outward from the shadows, the creature in its grasp as Terra emerged once more. Quickly he made a stride to push the creature off its balance and impale it with his blade. She could see the creature flail as Terra stuck the blade into the ground. Aqua could see the man's mouth move but his words were too soft for her to hear. She looked on in shock as he grabbed the creature's neck and pulled it up the blade. She felt uncertain. While it was a monster, she could see the cruelty Terra had begun to display upon it, and it left a sour taste in her mouth.
It didn't take long to see the display turn worse. Terra dug his talons into the creature, shredding it apart. The creature kicked and flailed to no avail as the taller man began to rip through its body. His voice began getting louder, shouts of "Where are you?!" became common and Aqua could hear the disdain in his voice. She jumped off, following the man's slide carefully, all the while seeing the man she knew viciously rend the creature apart. Even for a warrior like her, the sight was ghastly.
As the creature's energy dispelled, its kicks and efforts to defend itself lessened. "Terra!" Aqua yelled. It still did not make the man flinch. "Terra, what are you doing?!" she continued to yell, but his mind was somewhere else. Somewhere much darker than the realm.
She approached him, her blade at the ready. "Terra, why would you do such a thing?!"
"I found it, Aqua." He replied, a smile slowly etched to his face. "It's okay. I found it."
"Found what?" she replied, and as he turned a gentle glow covered his pallid body. "You went all this way to find a lost heart?"
"Yes." He responded. "I need it." He examined it carefully. It looked just like a precious gem, carefully refined. Its glow radiated warmth. It was truly untampered. The purity was divine.
Aqua looked at him curiously. "You need it? Terra, you have a heart. Why would you need another?"
Terra's golden eyes gleamed off the heart and onto Aqua's briefly. There was something in his stare that was offputting to her. He seemed different. He wasn't looking at Aqua, or at least it felt like he had completely phased her out. His eyes darted back to the heart. His shadowy claws grasped it tightly. "You don't understand!" he gave a cold grin as his attention garnered to the heart. "I need this." He spoke softly, and his mouth opened slowly.
Aqua jumped back, her eyes enrapt with fear. She couldn't believe it. As she raised her blade, Terra's cracked face seemed to split. A black film kept the white skin in porcelain moving like a web as his mouth seemed to dislodge and grow. Slowly, he let the gem slide into his mouth, a long, purple-black tongue wrapped itself around the heart and dragged it down his mouth. His throat swelled as it passed its way down into his body.
Aqua was speechless. She couldn't' believe what Terra had done. Her mind raced to a million different places. "H-How could you, Terra?!" What's become of you?!" she prepared her weapon, readying herself. This couldn't have been him. Terra wouldn't, he couldn't do something so horrible.
"Where is my friend?!" She demanded of the man, this time, ready to finish the last monster remaining.
