Chapter II: Dark Dreams & a Dark Knight

Wavelets burbled as they broke on the golden shores. The cries of seabirds pierced the air, and the stinging salt smell of the ocean blanketed everything. Terra stood poised on a sandbar, feeling the fine grains slide through his toes as he hefted his wooden Keyblade. Aqua stood beside him, threading shells on a leather thong, watching him with that strange faraway expression she sometimes had.

"Won't you come and collect seashells with me?" she asked.

"No. I told you, I have to train."

Aqua sighed and lowered her head.

"I don't understand you sometimes, Terra. You're so desperate to visit other worlds that you can't even see the beauty of this one. Look around you. This is paradise, and all you want to do is escape from it. You're so obsessed with power that you've lost sight of the important things in life."

"What does that mean?"

Aqua turned a shell over and over in her fingers, shaping it with her magic. In her hands, it looked like a pearly star.

"Sometimes…," she said, "we don't understand the value of what we have until we lose it."

"Huh?"

"There are some kinds of power you just don't understand. Until you do, you will never be a Keyblade Master."

"What do you mean?"

It was no longer Aqua standing beside him, but Ventus, a little blond spiky-haired kid with eyes full of admiration.

"That's awesome, Terra! I wish I could be just like you when I grow up."

"Don't say that!" Terra yelled. "Don't ever say that!"

"Wh- why not?"

"You don't want to be like me."

"What're you talking about? Of course I want to be like you."

"You don't, Ventus. Trust me. Just be yourself. Your heart is so pure and full of light. Stay that way. Don't ever change. And especially don't become like me."

…

Remember, my child. Even in the darkest night there is always a light to guide you.

"What? Who's there?"

Remember, my child. You have your own role to play, your own path to follow. Do not yearn to be like others. To thine own self be true.

"Why? I don't want to be prey for the darkness. I don't want to be myself. I want to be someone else. Someone better."

Remember, my child. We cannot become better by being other people. We can only become better by being our own true selves. Wind is questing, seeking, fickle. Water is life-giving, nurturing, sheltering. Earth is hard, strong, unyielding. Each element has a part to play. No world can be built from one element alone. Nor can a heart be built from one nature alone. Therefore do not flee the nature of your soul, but embrace it.

"I don't understand… that's not what Master Eraqus taught us."

There are some lessons you cannot learn from others. Some truths you can only discover within yourself. Remember, my child. You are your own wisest teacher and your own ablest student. You are your own worst enemy… and your own truest friend.

"Who are you?"

…

Terra rose from the fog of sleep into a haze of murmuring voices. His eyes slid open. Cool shadows and brown fabric walls. He was inside the tent. The old people. Desert fever. The woman in white.

He rolled over and climbed to his feet. Someone had laid him on a mat. There were people clustered around the woman's cot: the old couple, a green-haired little girl and someone in black armour, kneeling by the cot, reaching for the woman with his hands. An icy sensation gripped Terra's heart.

"No!" he shouted, drawing his keyblade and charging forward. Roughly pushing the old couple aside, he swung his keyblade into the armoured knight's shoulder. The steel absorbed most of the blow, but the knight was pushed back a couple of steps.

"What are you doing?" The knight's voice, muffled, issued from within his helm. He drew a heavy, lethal-looking sword with his right hand and raised a black shield emblazoned with red wings in his left.

"Huh? You're – you're not an Unversed?" Terra had never heard an Unversed speak before. But if the man wasn't an Unversed, why was dark energy radiating from every inch of his armour? Terra could feel the darkness like a blast of heat from an open fireplace. "I don't know who or what you are, but I'm warning you – she's under my protection!"

"I know." The knight sheathed his sword and replaced his shield at his belt. Reaching up with gauntleted hands, he lifted his black helmet. The face beneath was pale and shockingly delicate, almost feminine. He was young, perhaps five years older than Terra. His face was slight but strong, handsome and likeable. Serious dark eyes sat under straight eyebrows. Shoulder-length platinum blonde hair fell in a fine curtain to his shoulders. "I must thank you for looking after Rosa. I understand it was you who found her in the desert and brought her here."

"Rosa? I…" Terra glanced the woman sleeping in the bed. "Her name is Rosa?"

"Yes. And I am Cecil, formerly a knight of Baron and Commander of His Majesty's Red Wings. Rosa and I have been dear friends since childhood. She owes you her life. And I am forever in your debt."

Terra's keyblade dissolved in a storm of light particles.

"I'm sorry," he said. "So you're Cecil. I shouldn't have attacked you. I just assumed… I felt this strong darkness coming from your presence. I thought you were evil."

Cecil's face clouded.

"You were not wrong. I have done many evil things." His eyes flickered to the little green-haired girl and then returned to Terra. "I took up the dark sword at my king's command. Dark knights have an evil reputation, but I believed that my heart was strong enough to withstand the darkness. I believed I could control it. I was wrong." He turned away and knelt beside Rosa's bed. Removing his gauntlets, he lifted her hand and held it tenderly. "Oh, Rosa. How many more will die because of my mistakes?"

Terra saw the anguish etched on Cecil's face. Terra would feel the same way if it were Ventus or Aqua lying there. He wanted to comfort Cecil, but he wasn't good at that sort of thing.

The green-haired girl strode to Cecil's side, her face screwed up like she wanted to cry.

"Stop feeling sorry for yourself!" she shouted at him. "Rosa's not even dead. You can still save her. Let's go get the sand pearl!"

Cecil nodded, gently replaced Rosa's hand, whispered something to her and rose to his feet.

"You are right. Indulging in self-pity will help no one." Cecil turned to the old couple. "I apologise for imposing on your hospitality, Sir, Madam. I would be forever grateful if you would let her stay here until I return with the sand pearl."

The old woman said, "'Course we'll keep her. But if you're going to Damcyan, you'll have to go through the underwater cavern. I hope your dark sword is as powerful as they say, or else she might be waiting for you forever."

Cecil's eyes hardened.

"I will bring back the sand pearl or die trying. I swear it by what little honour I have left."

The old man coughed.

"Never thought I'd have a dark knight from Baron in my own house. Good luck, son."

Cecil turned to Terra, his fair hair rippling down his neck.

"I am loath to ask you for assistance, after all that you have done already. I do not know what dangers lie ahead of us. All I know is that I would be honoured if you would join us."

What about the world order? I have already interfered too much in this world's timeline. The wise thing to do would be to leave now. The girl Rosa lay shrouded in her robes. Terra kept picturing Aqua or Ventus lying in her place. His hand went to the Wayfinder he wore around his neck. Cecil… please… Cecil. She was willing to die to find him. Now he is ready to die for her. Is this love? Is this like the bond I share with Ventus and Aqua? Is this what Aqua meant when she said there were some kinds of power I don't understand?

"I will go with you," Terra said.

…

They were given a wide berth as they walked the dusty streets of Kaipo. No one wanted to get too close to the dark knight in his sable armour or his two companions. They stopped at several shops to pick up supplies, Cecil and Terra sharing the burden between themselves. The green-headed girl, who was called Rydia, often disappeared from their view. Sometimes they would glimpse her staring at the other children, sometimes they saw her on street corners playing with stones she had found.

Terra asked, "Is Rydia your daughter?" when they had stopped outside a merchant's to pick up potions.

"No," Cecil replied. "She is a Summoner from the village of Mist. The last of her kind. I… found her after her village was destroyed."

Their final stop was on the outskirts of town. Rydia appeared and stood a little way off, playing with the folds of her dress, staring into space.

"There you are, Rydia," said Cecil. "Please don't run off like that. It's not safe for a little girl in a strange town."

"Am I safe with you?" asked Rydia.

Cecil looked pained.

"You have every right to be angry with me. I just want to keep you safe. Will you wait with Terra while I visit this last shop?"

"No!" Rydia scowled, looking away. "I don't like him!"

Cecil gave Terra an exasperated look.

"Please watch her. I'll only be a minute." He disappeared into the shop.

Terra approached Rydia. She backed away from him, eyes wide. He went down on one knee and raised his hands in non-threatening gesture.

"Hey, it's Rydia, right?" he said. "My name is Terra. I know we've only just met, but once you get to know me, I'm a pretty nice guy."

She gave him a hard, suspicious look.

"What are you?" she said accusingly.

"What?"

"What are you? Are you a human? Or a Phantom Beast?"

"Of course I'm a human," Terra said, bemused. "Why would you ask me that? I don't know what a Phantom Beast is, but I'm not one of them."

"A Phantom Beast. An Esper. An Eidolon. They come from the other world."

"What?" Terra gasped.

"They come from the other world. And you, you're not from this world. But you're not from the world of Phantom Beasts either. You're from somewhere different. And you seem like a human. But I don't know what you are."

Terra almost reeled in shock. This girl knew about other worlds! And she knew that he was from one of them!

"How do you know about other worlds?" he asked her, thunderstruck.

"Everyone knows about them. At least in Mist, where I come from. Mummy told me there are other worlds and the Phantom Beasts live in one of them. We're Summoners, so we have a special power to bring Phantom Beasts to this world. They come to help us. Our hearts connect across the worlds. Mummy said…" The girl's eyes filled with tears. "Mummy summoned a Phantom Beast with her heart. But it died, and Mummy's heart died too." Her face crumpled and tears leaked from her eyes. Sobbing, she turned and ran away, her bare feet pattering on the dust.

"Wait!" Terra cried. His mind was still whirling with the shock of all he had learnt. He had never been to a world before where knowledge of outside worlds was common. This girl not only knew about other worlds; it seemed she had the power to bring, or "summon," other beings directly from them! Incredible! What a power, and at such a young age! Even Master Eraqus had never done that. "Slow down!" Terra raced after Rydia and easily caught up to her. "Look, I know you're upset," he began, grabbing at her shoulder, but she whirled, chanted a few words and drew her hand sharply through the air, and a bolt of electricity erupted from her fingertips and leapt at Terra. "Ahh!" he hissed. The lightning seared through him and knocked him back a few paces, sending flashes skidding across his vision. He shook his head, trying to clear his sight, and by the time he had recovered she was ahead of him, running away again.

"Rydia! Come back!" Terra started to chase her once more, but after a few seconds he stopped. There was no point going after her when she was this upset. She would only attack him, and if he tried to stop her he might inadvertently hurt her. He could only hope that after spending some time on her own and calming down, she would return.