II. Obsession


The rest of the team assembled at the castle bridge, spooked but otherwise unharmed. "There you are," Shiro said when Keith and Lance arrived. "Are you alright?"

"We're fine," said Keith as Lance groaned.

"Speak for yourself." Lance said, wincing as he grabbed at his elbow. "My bruises have bruises with bruises. Ugghh. So much for getting some beauty sleep."

What? Keith's gaze flickered to the blue paladin in surprise. It wasn't as if Lance had been asleep before the tremors started. But now wasn't the time to get into it, so Keith hid his surprise with a roll of the eyes. He chided, "Lance, as in need as you are of a facelift, we have bigger things to worry about than your vanity."

"That's right," Pidge said over Lance's enraged splutters. "You guys saw that thing outside, right?"

"Yeah. It was like a big, giant flashlight." Hunk said.

"It's definitely something," Shiro said. "Coran, where's Allura?"

Coran rubbed the tip of his mustache between his fingers. "The Princess is in the Castle library. She sent me down here to keep an eye on you paladins while she searched for a few answers." He tapped his chin. "It's quite the peculiarity, isn't it. What a strange object. And t's shape! I've never seen anything like it."

Lance raised his eyebrows. "Coran, buddy. It's a heart."

Coran's jaw dropped. "That's supposed to be a heart? There isn't a vein or artery in sight!"

"It's not really a heart," Shiro explained. "It's-I'll explain later. Was it a good idea to let her go alone after what just happened?"

"Excuse me," a new voice, stern and slightly offended piped up. Allura entered the fray, glaring at Shiro "I am not a defenseless child in need of constant supervision."

"I never meant to imply otherwise," said Shiro. "Are you okay?"

"I am fine," Allura said. Keith noticed her posture was rigid, fixed as if prepared for attack. She clenched her jaw. "I'm afraid we have a rather dangerous situation at hand."

"What do you mean by dangerous?" Hunk asked.

The princess of Altea set her steely stare upon them all. "What I'm about to tell you is information that has been safe guarded by the Altean royal family for countless generations. Nothing we discuss here leaves this room. Is that understood?

"Allura, what's wrong?" Tingles of apprehension crawled up Keith's spine. Something had to be wrong for Allura to be this serious.

"Tell me, have any of you ever heard of the Kingdom of Hearts?"

"Kingdom...of Hearts?" Pidge blinked. "Is that what's up in the sky?"

Allura nodded. "Yes. An entity, which predates all known life. In ancient times this entity, rich with quintessence, provided abundant energy to each world in the universe. No one wanted. It was an idyllic era of peace and harmony. But it was not meant to last."

"Craving the Kingdom of Heart's infinite supply of quintessence," Allura continued. "Legions formed. War broke out. These savages used their own, corrupted brand of quintessence in their pursuit of power, and brought ruin to all corners of the universe. Countless lives were lost. The Kingdom vanished, leaving behind enough quintessence for survivors to live and rebuild on. As the years passed, word of it faded from common knowledge, and the Kingdom became nothing more than a legend. But now, after all these years, it appears to have returned."

"Hold on, isn't that a good thing?" Lance crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows. "I mean, I don't know about you guys, but I'm getting a really awesome vibe from this thing."

Pidge played with her glasses. "Yeah, it kinda feels like the air's gotten lighter. Like the atmosphere has gotten more tranquil."

Keith frowned. Tranquil? When this supposed Kingdom first appeared, he had been stricken with excitement. Its heat, blazing and enticing, invigorated him, made him feel as if he was being reborn. The sensation had subsided, but Keith could still feel it, a hunger for more.

"That's the problem," He said aloud. "If this kingdom has returned, then it won't be long before people try taking it for themselves again."

"People like Zarkon," Shiro said, horrified. "An infinite source of quintessence..."

"Yes," Allura said, grimacing. "There's no telling what Zarkon would do with that sort of power. But there are other things to worry about."

Hunk asked, "Other things to worry about than an evil emperor getting his hands on a mega-moon with limitless energy?

"Yes. The ones responsible for the previous bloodshed...the key bearers."


Aqua woke up with a headache. Stretching her wrists and toes to see if it was okay to get up, she shuddered with pain. "Okay," she whispered. Her voice crackled and her throat burned. "Concentrate, Aqua." Summoning all her magic, she breathed out, "Curaga."

She sighed with relief as the pain drained. The use of such a powerful spell left her a bit fatigued, but she could stand and walk around. That was good enough for her.

She spotted three familiar figures huddled on the ground. She hurried over to kneel down near the closest one, nudging him by the shoulder. "Ven." No response. "Ven!"

"Uggghhh," The blond groaned. His hand twitched as if to swat her back. "Leave me alone to die."

"Thank goodness." Aqua beamed. "Can you move?"

"Don't wanna," he muttered sullenly. "Can you carry me?"

Ven gave her a puppy dog pout, and Aqua bit down an exasperated chuckle.

"You're a big boy, Ventus." Still, she made sure to keep a gentle grip on him as she helped him up.

He wobbled on his feet before steadying himself up. He dismissed his armor and began to stretch when he spotted the other two figures. "Terra! Naminé!"

"Take it easy," Aqua said, bending over Terra while Ven hovered over Naminé. She bit her lip. Terra was out cold. "They don't look so good."

She reached into her pocket for a Mega-Potion while Ven cast a Curaga on Naminé. Naminé was the first to awaken. Her eyes fluttered open in conjugation with Ven's entire upper body slumping. "...Ventus? A-Aqua?"

Terra followed suit, watching Aqua dazedly. "What...Aqua? What happened? Are you guys okay?"

"We're fine," Aqua said, the pressure on her heart alleviating. She helped Terra up on his feet. He winced, grabbing his head.

"We're alive." Ven corrected her. He grimaced. "I doubt things are okay."

Naminé froze, gawking at sky above them. "Um. Guys...?"

Terra followed her gaze, and adopted a similar look of shock. "What the..."

Confused and alarmed, Aqua regarded the sky, and her jaw slackened. "Kingdom Hearts," she whispered.

"...No." Ven said. He started to shake his head incessantly. "No no, no. This is a dream. We got sucked into the Realm of Sleep and we're stuck in a nightmare. Or we're hallucinating. Whatever. It doesn't matter, because this is not happening."

"Ven," Aqua said, voice void of emotion. How she wished he was right. She remembered that fateful day, the day she lost her best friends at Xehanort's hands, more than eleven years ago. The worst day of her life, barring her time in the Realm of Darkness. Every detail had been etched into her mind, and she knew what it was they all gaped at.

Ven let out a guttural scream. He crouched down onto his haunches and grabbed fistfuls of hair in his fists. "Ven, calm down!" Terra clasped Ven's shoulders. Ven tried to shrug him off but Terra held firm. "Listen to me. It's okay."

"Let me go!"

"Ven, breathe!"

Kingdom Hearts floated up in the sky, oblivious to the panic its appearance had incited. Naminé switched her scrutiny between the entity and Ven. Aqua "Ven," she said gently. "Breathe.

"I-"

"You're okay," She said soothingly. "Nothing's gonna hurt you, we promise."

Ven gulped, and took in a deep, shaky breath. Aqua smiled. "See? You're doing fine."

Ven's shaking ceased.

"Are you okay?" Terra asked.

"Yeah," he said hesitantly. "Yeah, I'm fine now."

"It'll be okay, kiddo," Terra squeezed Ven's shoulders.

Ven rolled his eyes, the color returning to his face as he shrugged Terra's hands off. "Dude, no one likes a broken record."

Aqua smiled and then adopted a look of seriousness. "Okay. We have to figure out our next move."

"What happened?" Naminé shuffled her feet. "The last thing I remember, there was a big explosion."

Terra frowned. "Big enough to send us to a new world." He roamed the area. "And summon Kingdom Hearts back from the depths of darkness."

"We should look around," Aqua said. "We need provisions and we need to find the others. Maybe there's civilization close by."

"Or maybe this whole place is infested with monsters," Ven pointed out. He didn't sound too worried, though. If anything, he was a bit excited. "What are the odds of, like, a fifty foot dragon rampaging around the place?"

Terra replied, "I'd say pretty low. Like your chances for survival would be."

"I can take care of myself just fine," Ven said. "I got these, remember?"

With a flourish, he summoned both Wayward Wind and Void Gear. He grinned at the others, his blue and red irises shining. "Power of the Keyblade!"

Terra and Aqua laughed while Naminé let out a small giggle.


"Obsessed with the Kingdom's power, the key bearers created weapons to harness the quintessence and use it for their own purposes. But it wasn't enough. They yearned to make the Kingdom their own. The key bearers waged battle with these weapons, and brought chaos to the universe. They disappeared alongside the Kingdom of Hearts, but now that it has returned, it won't be long until these warriors do as well, ushering in a new age of death and destruction."


So I sacrificed a few hours of sleep in order to get this done by today. I'd hoped to update yesterday, but one day late isn't so bad, right? Anyway, I'm officially back at school, so while I'm not going to say expect slow updates, I will warn you that I do have school to worry about, so.

First of all, Ven's out-of-character behavior is deliberate. The reason for it will be explored as the story goes on, but I think you guys can guess what's happened. Second, do not take everything Allura tells Team Voltron at face-value. History tends to become warped as time passes, and the Keyblade War was already considered myth by Allura's time, let alone Keith's and the others. Third, can anyone guess where I got the term 'Kingdom of Hearts?'