I don't own anything associated with Kingdom Hearts. It belong to Square Enix/Disney.

Okay, so I lied. This is now officially a fourshot.


In the Grip of Darkness

Dawn had broken, and bright rays of sunlight passed through the castle's windows. Aqua's room was flooded with light, which illuminated the tangled mess of sheets that made up her bed. Underneath them all, curled up against the headboard, she laid awake. Sleep hadn't come easy to her tonight, not since yesterday when Terra had taken her on an adventure, and later, she had woken up to find him gone and Xehanort there instead. He hadn't been happy, and had been expressed clearly in his scowl.

That had been scary enough, but it was what Xehanort had told her that kept her up all night.

"Terra is in big trouble," Xehanort had said. "Eraqus is almost ready to send him home."

She had been given barely any time to recover from that shock when Xehanort spoke again. He had told her that he knew Aqua disliked him, and that she couldn't tell the Master that. Xehanort said that if Aqua admitted that she didn't like him to Eraqus, the Master would assume that Terra had convinced her to shun his old friend. Then the Master would be so angry that he would send Terra away!

She didn't want Terra to go away.

She peeked out of her ball of sheets, like a mouse deciding whether or not it was safe to leave its burrow. The air was cold, so she retreated back underneath, snuggling with them.

A small knock on her door. She knew by the volume that it was Terra.

"Yes?"

Surprisingly, Terra didn't enter her room. Instead, she heard the door creak as he slumped against it. "The Master wants to talk to you," he told her.


"Come in, Aqua."

Aqua walked up to the Master's desk, trembling. "Am I in trouble?"

"Trouble? Certainly not, Aqua. You have done nothing wrong."

If that was true, then why did the Master look so sad? She looked at him, confused, head tilted to one side.

Eraqus sighed, then stood and walked out from behind his desk. He didn't quite approach her, just stood to the side of the room, staring out the window. "Aqua, is your greatest wish still to become a Keyblade Master?"

"Yes!" Oh no, did Eraqus think that she didn't want to be here anymore? "I'm going to be the best Keyblade Master ever!"

He smiled, but his eyes were still tinged with sadness. "And you will be. Now, I'm going to help you achieve that."

"Really?" She ran up to her Master, eager to see what surprise he had for her.

Eraqus kneeled down so that she could look at him without craning her neck back. "Aqua, I am going to send you to train with Master Xehanort."

The smile was wiped from her face. Eraqus had lied; she must have been in trouble! Seeing her dismay, her Master hastened to say, "He will be able to teach you more than I can. Like you, he is a gifted mage."

"But I don't want to go with him!" she cried. "I want to stay here!"

"I know you will miss us Aqua, but it is for the best."

"No! I want to stay here with you and Terra!" She leapt at her Master, buried her face in his chest and wrapped her arms tight around his neck. Tears dotted her eyes, and a couple fell as she mumbled, "I don't want to leave."

Eraqus patted her back. "I know it hurts, but it is the next step to becoming a Keyblade Master."

"Then I don't want to be a Master!" she snapped, pulling away. "I want to stay here."

Eraqus blinked, looking shocked by her ferocity. "Aqua, tell me, is there any reason why Xehanort would not be a good teacher to you?"

Because he's creepy; because he's bad, and it scares me when he looks at me. The words were on the tip of her tongue, but she held them back, Xehanort's warning echoing in her head. If she told, then Terra would be sent away, and he would hate her forever.

So, instead, she mumbled, "No."

"Then it is settled," Eraqus said.

"No! I don't want to! Master, please!"

"Enough!" Eraqus barked, and she flinched at the roughness of his words. "I will hear no more of this. Someday, you will thank me."

She backed away from the Master, pleading with her eyes. But the Master did not waver and finally, she turned and ran out of the room. She ran until she reached Terra's door, and then pounded on it with her fists. A confused Terra opened the door to be tackled by her, and holding onto him for dear life, she cried.


For the next two days, Terra hardly let her out of his sight. He seemed terrified that she would be snatched away the second he wasn't looking. Truthfully, Aqua didn't mind. It brought her comfort to use him as a shield against both Masters.

Things had deteriorated quickly. Now, Terra was openly hostile to Xehanort, and would argue and fight with his Master on a whim. He was particular volatile whenever Eraqus tried to separate them, and that had marked the only time she had ever seen Terra use his keyblade with an intention to cause pain. Eraqus hadn't been happy, but surprisingly, he had backed down and now, he and Terra were doing their best to ignore each other.

And finally, the day of parting came. Eraqus held Terra back with both hands as the youth desperately tried to throw off his grip. Aqua stood next to Xehanort, who had one hand on her shoulder. It wasn't to hold her back, it seemed, but rather, to declare that he was her new Master.

"I wish you luck on your journey, Aqua," Eraqus said. "And to you as well, Xehanort."

Xehanort nodded. "She will be well taken care of," he claimed.

Terra made a sound that was a cross between a growl and a moan. Aqua took a step towards him, and Xehanort tightened his grip on her. A moment passed, and he released her, but his fingers let go stiffly as if someone had peeled them off.

Terra turned his angry eyes away from his Master's restraining hand and onto her. Immediately, his face softened; his hair seemed to droop. She approached him and the two just stared at each other, speaking silently.

At last, Terra whispered aloud, "I'm sorry."

"Come Aqua," Xehanort said, "we must go."

Terra's eyes widened and he looked intensely at her, begging her to pull some last trick out of her sleeve.

But there was nothing she could do.

She walked back to Xehanort, allowed him to lift her onto his glider, and watched Terra and Eraqus dully as Xehanort summoned her armour for her.

And then, she was in the air with her new Master.


Somehow, in the short time it took them to travel from the Land of Departure to this world, Aqua had lost all the skills that had made her an apprentice in the first place.

Xehanort impatiently rapped his fingers against his keyblade as Aqua failed yet another simple spell. Aqua cringed, glancing back at him as he watched in frustration. His emotions were starting to grow past that now and were entering the domain of anger; he had only taken Aqua as an apprentice to prevent her from standing in his way in the future. Right now though, he couldn't see her as a threat at all.

The tip of his keyblade slammed against the ground, and Aqua's mumbled spell died before it left her lips. "And here," Xehanort said coldly, "I thought that you actually knew how to use a keyblade!"

They were words that would hurt, that would rub salt into what were already painful wounds. He didn't care. He never particularly wanted an apprentice and now he was stuck with her. The least she could do was make his time worthwhile.

Her face flush with colour, Aqua stared at the ground. Xehanort snorted and walked past her, not bothering to even give her a courtesy glance. He didn't care if she was aching over losing her friend and her former Master; moping would not get them anywhere, and it was time for her to move on.


He wasn't too surprised that there was a letter within the week.

There were two, actually: one for him from Eraqus, and one for Aqua from Terra. Intent on making sure that she didn't walk in on him and see the letters, he went into her room, pulled her out of bed, and tossed her outside with an order to train until he fetched her. Then he retreated to his office and set about taking care of those letters.

Eraqus' letter was no surprise. Mostly, it inquired about Aqua and how she was coping. Xehanort wrote back a reasonably long reply, claiming that while Aqua was coping, she still missed them greatly, and that Eraqus shouldn't visit until she had adjusted some more. Terra's letter to Aqua was more personal, and it was obvious that Eraqus had scanned over it first – Terra didn't insult him once in that letter. Even as a young boy, Xehanort had always been oddly mature, and so, that made forging an answer to Terra's letter fairly difficult. Still, Terra was a child – he wouldn't be able to tell the real thing from a fake.

Once he was satisfied with his response, he sealed both letters and sent them off. Afterwards, he treated himself to breakfast, remembering only while he was eating that Aqua hadn't eaten yet.

He continued eating. She still hadn't reached her previous level of training. She didn't deserve to eat.


Two weeks in, and he was suspicious. Aqua's progress had been lackluster, to say the least, and now he was wondering if there was something more to it. The entire reason Eraqus had sent her off with him was that she was gifted in magic . . . perhaps she was now trying to prove that false, trying to persuade the Masters that they had made a mistake.

It was quite ingenious actually, and finally, Xehanort saw a trace of someone that, in the future, could have challenged him.

"Disgraceful," he said as Aqua – purposely, he now realized – botched another spell. "Your Master would be ashamed."

As usual, Aqua said nothing but this time, Xehanort didn't let it rest there.

"I suppose then that it is only proper of me to delay our next gathering."

Aqua had turned her back to him the entire time she had been training, but now, she met his eyes. "Gathering?"

"Eraqus and Terra had wanted to meet with us to see how you were settling in. But I cannot allow it; I will not embarrass my comrade by showcasing how poor his teaching skills were."

Aqua's mouth dropped open. Xehanort walked away before his smirk appeared. He predicted that Aqua would improve vastly within the week.


Xehanort watched as Aqua fought the heartless – or more accurately – as the neoshadows tore at his apprentice. Whenever one came a little too close to plunging its claws into her chest, he struck out with his keyblade, destroying the pathetic creature. Eventually, Aqua's struggles died, and she lay limp with the heartless still atop her. At that point, Xehanort disposed of the rest of them, and turned away for a brief second.

When he looked back, Aqua was sitting up.

Her quick recovery took him by surprise, and for a moment, he thought she'd finally unlocked her ability to cast healing magic. But the claw marks covering her body spoke otherwise, and with that, the truth dawned on him. Aqua hadn't been unconscious, or grievously injured; she had faked it. She had seen that her Master would step in when she was at risk of perishing, so she had deliberately stopped fighting in order to force his hand.

She had outfoxed him.

Fury rushed through his veins and turned his face red. That was not allowed. Ever. He had taken her on as an apprentice to stop her from defeating him, not to allow her to manipulate him. This had to be stopped now, before she got any ideas.

"You were acting," he said coldly.

Aqua shook her head, but she was lying.

He smiled. "That was a clever trick, but I will warn you that I do not tolerate disobedience."

Aqua shivered, bringing her knees up to her chest. "Master, they were hurting me, and I couldn't -"

"Silence!" he roared. In a quiet, calm voice, he continued, "If you want to see who can outwit the other, then I will humour you."

Clasping his hands behind his back, he turned and walked away. Behind him, he heard Aqua's sigh; obviously the child thought that she had been spared punishment.

He smirked.

With a snap of his fingers, the dark guardian rose from his shadow. Aqua froze upon seeing it, her face one of pure terror.

He pointed at her. "Guardian, submit!"

Aqua had to learn that she could never defeat him.


"Hold the shield," he growled.

Aqua said nothing; he doubted that she physically could, so great was the energy placed into her spell. The blue hexagonal barrier of the Reflect spell was the only thing standing between the girl and a powerful beam of darkness, and he had no doubt that she was doing everything in her power to keep it back. Her face glistened with sweat and from where he stood, Xehanort could see that her limbs were trembling.

He grunted, and placed even more power into his attack.

The barrier cracked. Aqua's eyes lit up with fear, and the barrier weakened further as she began to panic. As Xehanort continued to bore into the barrier, he could sense the flavour of her magic: desperate, crude, but possessing great potential. He placed no more power into his attack and instead, let it overpower his apprentice's spell slowly, savouring her terror.

Finally, the barrier shattered into a hundred blue shards, and the darkness slammed into her without mercy. She was tossed what may have been a yard away, and rolled to a crumbled stop in the desert. With sand falling off every part of her, she whimpered and tried to sit up, only to collapse.

"Get up," Xehanort commanded. "Up!"

She tried to obey, and managed to lift her chest off the ground. Impatient, Xehanort grabbed her by the scruff of her shirt and hauled her to her feet. She staggered forwards, barely managing to stay upright. With wide, frightened eyes, she watched him and awaited his next words.

Xehanort's eyes narrowed, focusing on the shaking of her muscles and the way her entire stature seemed to sag. Ah, he thought he knew what was happening . . .

"Aqua . . ." She closed her eyes at his tone. " . . . do me a favour and cast Fire."

Her eyes opened. Though she was trying to hide it, he could see that she was relieved, and baffled, by his order to cast a simple spell.

She raised her keyblade, and mouthed that single word . . .

And Xehanort watched as Aqua suddenly shrieked, clutched at her chest, and fell to the ground.

Here was another trait they shared that both Eraqus and Terra lacked. All magic users possessed a finite amount of energy they could channel into their spells, an amount that depended mostly on practice and skill. Since the amount was not limitless, it was possible to use up all of one's magical energy. Normally, this only resulted in exhaustion; however, it was different for those who were very sensitive to magic like Aqua and him. Just as a warrior could call on adrenaline to allow him to fight even while exhausted, so could mages call upon a hidden store of magic to cast spells beyond their limits – but it was terribly painful. Aqua, unwittingly, had done that in her desperation to maintain her Reflect spell. And her attempt to cast another spell while her energy was burnt out had brought her this pain.

She was on the ground now, curled into a ball, gasping so hard it sounded like she was choking. He knew how it felt: like fire had replaced the blood in her veins. He had been through that torture once, and vowed to never again experience it.

He waited for her to recover. It took a long time, but finally, her breathing returned to normal and tears were no longer pouring down her face. "I did not expect that to happen," he said softly. "I thought you were . . ." He trailed off, shaking his head as if embarrassed.

Those were all lies, of course. He had purposely pushed her towards this moment. His words had the desired effect, however, and he watched a cloud of shame wash over her. Good, very good. This was going perfectly.

"If you can no longer use your magic, then we will move onto physical training. Take up your keyblade."

Aqua did so, and then jumped as he summoned his. "I'm . . . I'm fighting you?"

Pleased at her nervousness, he said, "Do you see anyone else? Now, let us begin!"

It was horribly one-sided. Although she tried hard, she wasn't able to land a single hit on him, and Xehanort only held back enough to not cripple her. It went on for maybe an hour or two, until Aqua was so badly bruised that she could barely move. Xehanort ended it there, and then walked back to his home, leaving her to find her own way back.

Things had gone excellently. He had beaten Aqua into the ground and had hardly broken a sweat. He had proved to her that both physically and magically, she was nowhere near his calibre. His power was legions beyond what she could conjure, and that would force her to fear and respect him.

He smiled. He would continue to drill this lesson into her head, until it ran so deep inside her that even when she was grown and he was on his deathbed, she would be too frightened to challenge him.


. . . she is under the impression that the purpose of your visit is to return her to the Land of Departure. If you would be kind enough to do so, I will ask that you help her face the truth. It will hurt her, I know, but so long as she believes that her apprenticeship under me is temporary, she will always train with a handicap.

Because of this, I will also ask you not to bring Terra. No doubt, he would only fuel her fantasies . . .

He put the quill down at the sound of the knock. Aqua stood at the doorway. Quickly, he scanned the desk; good, Terra's newest letter was out of sight.

"Did I not tell you to train outside?" he asked, voice dangerously calm.

Aqua swallowed. "There's a visitor . . ."

He frowned. He hadn't t even finished writing Eraqus' invitation. Who would be visiting him? "Send them in."

He put the half-completed letter away, and straightened his spine as he awaited this mysterious guest. It did not take long for the steps to reach his doorway, and upon seeing who it was, his nails dug into the wood of his desk.

It was Yen Sid.

"Yen Sid," Xehanort said, "what can I do for you?"

"Oh, nothing in particular," the old wizard said. "I just came to say hello."

"Indeed." The tiniest of sneers invaded his otherwise pleasant mask.

"I see you have found your apprentice – and one that was formerly Eraqus', nonetheless. It is quite astonishing how these things work out." Yen Sid walked over to Xehanort's bookcase, and made a show of examining the contents. "I will admit that I am very surprised."

"As am I," Xehanort said smoothly. "It had not been my intention to steal away one of Eraqus' students. But fate has always worked in mysterious ways."

"And she is happy?"

"Happy as she can be." He silently thanked the fact that none of the bruises he had left recently were on her face. "She is still upset about leaving behind her former life, though."

"That is to be expected," Yen Sid said. "Now, let us move to more serious matters."

Yen Sid smiled. "Tell me, what are you having for dinner?"


Xehanort was no fool. He knew the real reason Yen Sid was staying for dinner was that the wizard did not believe that Aqua was safe with him. He knew that Yen Sid would spend the entire meal badgering Aqua to tell him the truth, or else he would seek her out somewhere that Xehanort could not interfere.

Surely, Yen Sid thought himself an excellent manipulator; but he was nothing compared to Xehanort.

"There will be a guest for dinner tonight," he told Aqua. "Master Yen Sid."

"I've heard of him," she said. "He's the Ma – Eraqus' friend."

"My friend, as well," Xehanort lied. "Why, he was the one who convinced me to take you as an apprentice!"

He smiled at the blankness of her expression. "Originally, I had my eyes on another, but Yen Sid insisted that I should give you a chance. None of this would have been possible without him."

He walked away with confidence. Aqua may have hated him, but now she would hate Yen Sid even more.

She wouldn't tell him anything.


The day came. Today, Eraqus was visiting.

Xehanort had cancelled training for the last few days, just to ensure that some of Aqua's more . . . colourful bruises had time to heal. Unfortunately for him, Curaga only took care of gashes and broken bones, not a harmless bruise. But as he looked her over, she seemed to have no more bruise than your average warrior, and that suited his needs.

Aqua was filled with energy the entire morning. He let her run off and do whatever she pleased, if only because he didn't want to be burdened with managing her.

Eraqus arrived and Xehanort quickly moved to greet him, confiscating Terra's latest letter with the excuse of 'giving it to her after he was gone'. Less than a minute passed between Eraqus' arrival and Aqua appearing out of nowhere and launching herself at him. Eraqus picked her up easily, spinning her around in the air like a father with his child.

Xehanort pretended to leave and give them their privacy, but he actually listened at the door. This was the one time where things might stray from his plans; he could do many things, but he could not read his apprentice's mind. What he did so, however, was send a faint pulse of magic through the air. Eraqus would not notice it, but Aqua would, and she would know that he was watching.

It started as he expected, with both parties stating how much they missed each other. Then Aqua did it: she asked if she could go home. And Xehanort smirked as he listened to Eraqus patiently explain that this was her home now, that she wouldn't ever live in the Land of Departure again. Things broke down from there, and the two were virtually screaming at each other by the end.

The door nearly whacked him in the face when it slammed opened. He caught a glimpse of a small, blue blur racing down the hall, and a sob echoed in the air. Eraqus ran out of the room next, calling his former apprentice's name.

Xehanort threw an arm out to stop him. "Let her go."

"But . . ."

"She needs to be alone."


As he had hoped, Aqua hid for the rest of the day. So it was that Xehanort shooed off a very disappointed Eraqus, reassuring the old Master that Aqua would eventually forgive him. Then, once Eraqus was gone, he pulled up a chair and waited for her to sneak in.

In his mind, he worked out the next part of his plan. He and Aqua would have to disappear, that was certain. No doubt that Eraqus would try to return and rekindle his relationship with her. That would be disastrous in more than one way. Thus, a new home was required, somewhere secretive and quiet where they could live privately.

The Keyblade Graveyard seemed like a good candidate.

The door creaked open and a tiny foot stepped over the threshold. Aqua froze at the sight of him, as if she had actually thought she could get in unseen.

"Eraqus is gone," he said.

Aqua seemed to grow even smaller. She dragged herself inside, closing the door behind her.

He decided to go the sympathetic route. "It was painful, I know, but think of it this way: it would have been rougher if Terra had come, too."

"Why wasn't he here?" she whispered.

"He didn't want to be here."

He thought that she would cry, but she didn't. It appeared she had already cried too much today. Instead she trudged past him, heading for her room with her head bowed. He knew that she believed him.

After all, to her knowledge, Terra had never even bothered to write.


There was a marked difference in her over the next few weeks. He wondered briefly if it was because he had moved them to another location, but the change seemed too deep to be attributed to something that trivial. On the fourth week though, he discovered the real reason why.

He had just woken up and stepped outside when Aqua ran over to him. "Master, watch this!" she cried. Raising her keyblade, she – for the first time – cast a Magnega spell that gathered up every loose rock within a two yard radius. Honestly, he was surprised; he hadn't thought her capable yet of casting third-tier spells.

As he struggled to think of what to say, she turned to him, smiling brightly. He looked down at her, and raised his eyebrows at the yearning for praise he saw there.

Then, it all made sense.

In the aftermath of what she believed to be Eraqus and Terra's desertion, she had latched onto the only other person who might care for her – her new Master. Indeed, now that Xehanort looked closely, he could see the shy craving for love and attention written in her eyes. He couldn't give her the former, but he could give the latter and let her twist it into love.

He thought for a second, and then made his decision.

"Good work," he said. "Now, go eat your breakfast."

Her smile widened, and she nodded eagerly. He watched her, expressionless, as she ran past him and inside. This may work even better than making her fear him. All he had to do was drop a few compliments here and there, keep her starved for his approval, and she would be completely compliant. Her threat would be neutralized.

Slowly, his lips stretched into a cruel smile.