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Chapter 2
Attack
"I can't believe the Master made us do this again," Terra's voice was filled with annoyance as he walked down the crowded street, glaring at all who dared to stare at him.
"We should have known better than to give Ven chocolate first thing in the morning," Aqua countered, struggling to stop a smile of amusement from breaking out on her lips. It wasn't that often she saw her friend almost buried in shopping bags – he had decided to carry them all instead of letting his friends help.
"Hey! Don't blame it all on me! Terra's the one who broke the window, and you soaked the kitchen!" the blond youth cried out as he walked alongside them, clearly not happy with the blue haired woman's words.
"Because you kicked the ball in my direction and tried to cook even though we told you to stay away from the kitchen," the brunet said, turning his glare to the youngest of them.
Ventus decided to ignore the comment.
Instead he found himself watching the sky above them. Not a cloud could be seen, only the blue colour which so often surrounded the city. It made him smile, despite his friends' lack of enjoyment for their little shopping mission. Hardly anything could turn the day around if the weather was good.
The city itself was filled with life from its habitants as they travelled from shop to shop, hanging out friends or spent their day in one of the many cafés around the main street. White houses stood lined up along the road, almost glowing in the light from the sun.
Children ran past them as they tried to find their way to the nearest park, screaming and laughing as they chased after each other.
Ventus watched them with a fond smile. He could still remember the time when Terra, Aqua and himself had played together in the huge gardens around the Master's castle, a time before their training started for real. It would always be him and Aqua against Terra, something that usually pissed the older boy off more than he wanted to admit. He had felt bad about it, but Aqua would always tell him not to care, no matter what the brunet said.
"Ven, are you coming?" the blue haired woman's voice brought the boy out of the world of memories. He ran the few metres which had appeared between his friends and him, catching up with them just as they were about to stop to wait for him. Without a second glance on the city behind them, the three began the long way up to the castle they called home.
*~^:^~*
Once they reached the front gates to their home, Terra collapsed to the ground, taking the mountain of shopping bags he carried with him. A weak cry of pain escaped him as several of the bags hit him in their fall. Aqua hovered near the fallen brunet, a tiny glimpse of worry in her blue eyes, while Ven grinned widely.
"I hate shopping and I hate shopping bags," the oldest of them breathed, glaring angry at the younger boy who fell to the ground as he bursted out in laughter.
Aqua shook her head. "You didn't have to carry them all; we could have helped you out if you wanted us to," she said, holding out a hand to help her friend back on his feet. The brunet muttered something under his breath, before allowing the blue haired woman to pull him up.
"At least he could have allowed us to use magic."
"How did the shopping go?" a voice called out from atop of the stairs leading into the castle. Three pairs of eyes moved to the source of the voice, look up at the man in front of them. Their Master, Eraqus.
"Very well, Master," Aqua said, smiling slightly. He looked her over, before answering her smile with another.
"Consider the punishment finished, and try to keep from creating havoc next time. After all, A Keyblade Master is someone who protects the peace, not disturbs it," he said, keeping a teasing look in his eyes.
"Now, go and train on using your spells," Eraqus turned around to leave, before he stopped once more, "oh, and Terra, Aqua," he didn't say anything else, just merely looked at his two oldest apprentices, who suddenly became rather flushed and released their hold on each others' hand.
It became dark before they decided to finish up their training. Somewhere along the line had they decided to summon their weapons and train a little with those as well, instead of only focusing on the magic. The weapons were key-shaped blades, each with different design after with they belonged to. And while Aqua and Terra held their Rainfell and Earthshaker in a typical style for a blade, Ventus' held his Wayward Wind in a reverse hold, breaking all normality considering how earlier Keyblade Wielders had held theirs. It didn't matter though, as the reverse hold suited his style.
Maybe it was a good thing they had stayed so long out in the garden, because if it had still been daylight, they probably wouldn't have noticed the strange glow coming from the city below them.
"What's going on down there?" Terra asked, the first to notice that something was wrong, causing his friends to stop and look.
"It's burning!" Aqua suddenly yelled, staring shocked at the sight.
"We gotta do something!" Ven twisted around, ready to run all he could down to the city, however, the only female's voice stopped him.
"Ven," he stared at her over his shoulder, wondering if she would stop him or not, "if the city's under attack, tell everyone to come here, where the Master's spells most likely would keep them safe. We will catch up with you later, after we have informed the Master, and be careful!" she said.
The boy grinned.
"Don't worry, Aqua, I'll bring them all here!" he smiled, before taking off, leaving two worried friends to follow him.
*~^:^~*
Ventus was the first in the trio to reach the city, the first to watch the strange enemy they were to face. Tiny, weird creatures crawled all over the city, appeared from the shadows to attack and hurt those who tried their best to run away. He stared in shock as they just appeared out of nowhere, ruining the trio's beloved Land of Departure.
Not all of them looked the same, the blond boy noticed. Some were blue and pointy, while others were black and more shadowlike. Strange creatures, really, who destroyed everything in their paths.
Those attacked screamed loudly, tried their best to escape from their grips, men, women and children alike. Ven felt weird feeling rise inside his chest, burning its way through him as he watched the enemy attack people he knew, people he cared about. It told him to protect, to keep them safe, and so the blond boy ran forward as he summoned his Keyblade, allowing a battle cry to escape his lips. He dashed toward a fallen woman, ready to protect her as one of the shadowlike creatures got too close. One slash of the weapon turned it into black dust, made it fade away in the dark. It left a bad taste in his mouth, the way his weapon could make them disappear so quickly, the way they just stopped being there. Could it be considered killing when it wasn't even human? The thought was enough to make him shake like a leaf in the wind, and yet pure will stopped him from doing so.
"Thank you," a voice suddenly said behind him, causing the young blond to turn around. The fallen woman had risen to her feet again sometime between his appearing and now, smiling thankfully at the one who had saved her.
"No problem," Ven grinned weakly, before he turned serious, "listen; run as fast as you can up to the castle above the city, and take everyone you meet with you." Hopefully they would be safe there, just like Aqua had said earlier.
She nodded, before running toward the edge of the city. Ventus watched her for a mere second, and then turned his attention to the problem at hand. The enemy was too many; crawling everywhere he laid his eyes. He couldn't take them all on his own, but he couldn't wait for Aqua and Terra to catch up either. Who knew how many would die before they got there?
The market. He needed to reach the market, the centre of the city, where most of the population were likely to meet in a situation like this. From there, he could tell them to head toward the castle, where the Master's protective spells could keep the enemy away.
It didn't take him too long to reach the market; he was a good runner, quick and swift as the wind. Just like his name. He called out to those he passed, told them to go to the castle, to leave the city. Enemies fell to his blade, leaving clouds of black dust behind him as he ran.
The closer he got to his goal, the warmer it became, and it didn't take long before he figured out why. The whole inner parts of the city seemed to be on fire, all the white houses glowing red and orange in the darkness of the night. It lightened up the market, and surprisingly enough it seemed to keep the enemy away. A huge group of people stood gathered around the fountain in the middle of the square making up the centre of the city, a place where the main streets ended. Some stood guard around the square, watching just in case the creatures of the dark should try to walk into the light. They didn't seem to notice him, though, as he walked closer. Why should they, when almost everyone knew who the Master's three apprentices were. He made his weapon disappear anyway. No need to frighten them more than necessary in case they decided not to trust him.
The blond youth took a deep breath as he stepped inside the crowd, trying to decide how to best gain their attention. It would probably be hard with how loudly they chatted, yet he had to try. His eyes fell on the fountain, a beautiful thing with several levels of smaller pools that poured water into the air. If he stood on it, he might be able to get them to notice him. It was worth a shot. In seconds Ventus had climbed onto the edge running around the entire lowest pool, glazing out on those below him.
"Hey!" he tried to call out, hoping it had been loud enough for them to hear.
It worked; people stopped their chatting and watched him, wondering what he would do next.
"You need to evacuate!" he said, moving his eyes from one end of the group to the other, "the castle is safe, go there!" some started to laugh.
"Are you crazy? Walking right out there and into their waiting arms?" a man shouted from the crowd, hiding from view.
"I'll protect you! Terra and Aqua will too, once they get here!" he answered, putting his right hand on his chest. The voices rose, and a woman took a step forward, pointing at him.
"It is you! The one those men who set the city on fire are after, you and your two friends. They are after you, the three apprentices from the castle!" she yelled, causing the boy to wince.
"What?" he didn't knew this, none of those who had decided to leave the city had told him there were someone else in the city besides the weird creatures, or that they were after him, Terra and Aqua. Could it be someone from that lab? But that was impossible! They had been gone for so long.
"My family. . . They are all dead because of you!" a teenager a little older than himself, accused. Shouts of pain and anger rose along with the sound of burning wood.
"My daughter!"
"My brother!"
"Dad!"
"Mom!"
"Leave! Go!"
"We don't need you here, you just bring us trouble!"
"Give them back!" a sharp rock hit him right above his left eye, causing the skin to rip and blood to travel down his face, blocking parts of his vision. It didn't hurt, not as much as their words. Other things came flying his way, but luckily he was able to avoid them. However, they messed up his balance, and he would have fallen face first into the fountain if someone had not grabbed a hold of his wrist.
"VEN!" a familiar voice called out, and Ventus suddenly found himself looking up into Aqua's worried face. She had saved him from the fall, and luckily enough not noticed the blood running down his face. It would just make her even more worried and cause her to use one of her healing spells, which in turn would drain her for energy she most likely could get use for later on. Terra appeared beside her, he too carrying the same look. What was they so worried about, he hadn't been hurt badly, not enough to give them such looks.
"What's the meaning of this?" the Master's loud voice called out.
"They! Your apprentices! They are the reason those creatures are here!" someone answered, supported by several other voices. Eraqus looked from one side to the other, watched them all carefully before he opened his mouth.
"Are there anyone left in the other parts of the city?" calm and controlled, just like a master should be. Some shook their heads.
"No, those who are not here have either escaped or died," they didn't need to say anymore, the sentence spoke all it needed to. Their Master sighed, before summoning his own Keyblade. Master Keeper shined weakly in the light of the flames.
"We are evacuating the city," he said, before walking toward the edge of the market and the beginning of the road toward the castle. They followed him, every single one of them. the three apprentices stared after their Master, before they too rose to their feet – not that Ven remembered them sitting down at all – and summoned their Keyblades. If this group were to reach the castle, they would need their help. After all, four were better than one.
Terra was the first to attack head first on their way, running straight forward when he saw the enemy approaching the group. Dust gathered as he slashed them with Earthshaker, driving the rest back in fear of the weapon. Aqua handled those further away, keeping them distant with a continuation of magic spells, accompanied with half-hearted Aero spells from Ventus. It was the magic he handled best, and even though Wayward Wind rested in his hand, he didn't trust himself to use it just yet.
They reached the edge of the city, where no enemies seemed to follow them; the creatures stayed inside the city, even if their prey had gotten outside. It was strange, how the people from the city said someone had been looking for them, when those shadow creatures didn't pay more attention to them than others.
The civilians ran up the road to the castle, leaving only the master himself and his three apprentices behind. Their Master turned toward them, a sad look filling his eyes.
"Go, leave this city and escape. You are strong enough to take care of yourselves," he said, unspoken words hanging in the air around them. I can't let them take you.
The fire had spread, reached the place where they now stood.
"But-!" Aqua tried, dismissing Rainfell.
"GO!" Eraqus yelled, waving his apprentices away with one hand as he readied himself to an attack against the darkness in the city.
"But, Master!" Terra tried, taking one step towards the man who had taken them in, the one who had trained them for battle since they were young and now told them to leave the fight and escape. Ventus followed his lead, ready to protest if his older friend did so. It felt bad to leave the city in this state, even if most of the habitants had been evacuated and they had none left to save. It didn't matter what they had said, he still cared, and the city still stood, even if parts of it had been ruined in the fires that still raged around them.
"If you want to help, then leave!" the man called out, turning his head to glare at the three behind him.
They are after you, the three apprentices from the castle.
My family. . . They are all dead because of you!
Ven flinched, his eyes slowly filling with guilt as he moved them to the ground beneath his feet. It would probably be better if they left. Then the enemy would disappear and the people from Land of Departure could return to their homes, return to their lives before this. The city needed to be rebuilt, but it wouldn't take too long if everyone helped out.
Everyone except from them.
A hand came to rest on his shoulder, and the burning city around him disappeared in a white light.
*~^:^~*
AN: Hope you enjoyed it^^ Sorry if anything was weird or confusing.
