Chapter 4 - Horror

Land of Departure, Three years before Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep

Aqua searched all over the castle, Ventus in tow, but there was no sign of Terra. 'Which is strange. I've checked everywhere, even places Terra wouldn't be caught dead in, and I still can't find him. Where could he be?' Part of her felt like giving up, still tired from their match, but her conscience spurred her on, propelling her down hallways and through training rooms. They searched outside as well, but still nothing.

After about three hours of searching, they stopped on the stairs, Aqua sitting grumpily with her knees to her chest. Ventus dropped down beside her, looking exhausted. Looking at him, she felt bad. 'I dragged him along like that, and I barely even paid attention to him. He probably had a hard time keeping up with me.' She opened her mouth to apologize, but was promptly cut off.

"Aqua and Ventus. I assume you have something better to do than sit in the middle of the staircase?"

Aqua looked over her shoulder and jumped to her feet with such speed that she almost toppled backwards. "M-my apologies, Master." Grabbing Ventus' arm lightly, she hoisted him to his feet, off to the side near the handrail.

Ventus looked up at her. "Terra?" he asked, barely a whisper.

'Oh right! Why didn't I think of it before? If anyone knows…' "Master?"

Eraqus stopped a few steps down and looked back at them. "Something I can help you with, Aqua?"

"Yes, Master. I was wondering if you know where Terra is. I've been looking for him, but I can't seem to find him."

"This is about your argument, correct?"

Aqua's heart sank. 'He knows? That means…Terra told him. Terra only tells Eraqus things when they're really bothering him. Oh, I've messed up so badly…' "Y-yes, it is. I need to apologize to him for the things I said."

"If you're looking for him, it's a bit too late," he replied, a soft smile on his face. "I sent Terra off on a mission, and he'll be gone for some time. You'll have to wait until he returns."

'But that's too long!' "Master, where exactly is this mission that you sent him on?"

Eraqus sighed. "Aqua, you know that if you go after Terra, you'll probably make him more upset. As well, you'll have to take Ventus with you, and you know he has yet to summon his Keyblade. I doubt your Rider will support the both of you."

"I can go," Ventus said, meeting Aqua's eyes. To her surprise, she didn't doubt him for a second. "I can go. Aqua needs to apologize."

"Yes, I do," she smiled to Ventus before turning back to her master. "We can manage. I assure you of that, Master."

The Keyblade master looked over his younger apprentices thoroughly, almost to the point that Aqua feared he would refuse, before he said, "Atlantica. You should find him easily once you get there."

When their master was gone, Aqua laughed, clutching her side when it started to flare up in pain. Ventus cocked his head to the side in confusion. "Terra hates water. Atlantica… sounds like a water-type world to me." She caught her breath. "Come on."

Once they were outside, Aqua began to ponder their problem. 'Ventus can't use his Keyblade, so he can't use a Rider, meaning that we'll have to share mine. I'm not sure if we'll manage, but it's worth a shot. …Then again…if Ventus can't use his armor…' "Ventus?"

"Huh?"

"You… have armor, correct?"

Ventus nodded and punched his shoulder armor, which she hadn't paid much attention to before. His armor expanded in a flash of light and when it had assembled, Aqua looked him over. It was blue, like hers, but a lighter, brighter color, bordered golden and red. He took a step forward and pitched forward, losing his balance, but Aqua caught him by the shoulders.

"Be careful, okay?"

Ventus nodded. "Okay."

"Then, we're ready to go," Aqua smiled, summoning up her own silver and blue armor. Summoning her Keyblade, Rain Fall, Aqua transformed it into her Keyblade Rider, a metal base and handles in the style of her Keyblade suspended a comfortable distance apart. Climbing on, she realized something. 'My Rider is designed for one person. There isn't enough room for two… Oh, great…' "Ventus, get on behind me and hold on."

He tilted his head. "Hold on?"

"Yes," she said grimly, "Hold onto me."

Without another comment, he did as he was told, wrapping his arms around her waist. Aqua tried to hold herself as close to the front as possible, standing straight to give him more room, and then urged her Rider away from the Land of Departure.

Atlantica, Three years before Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep

The journey to Atlantica had been the most trying experience in Aqua's recent life. The added weight of Ventus had slowed down their progress considerably, and his hold on her made it harder to steer. A few times he had almost fallen off, but Aqua's quick thinking eventually got them to their destination.

When they arrived, the Rider pulled to a halt above the surface of the water. 'Wh-what's going on? Why did it stop?' The Rider responded to her silent question by pitching violently, dropping them both into the water before it transformed back into a Keyblade. Aqua, feeling her armor start to fill with water, grabbed her Keyblade as dismissed it before she was pulled under the surface.

Having spent her early years in a world with an ocean, Aqua wasn't scared by the prospect of being pulled underwater, but she'd had some bad experiences with people, specifically Terra, almost drowning, so her mind dropped into panic. Frantically, she patted her arm, looking for the button to disengage her armor. She found it finally, feeling her lungs fighting for air, and her armor vanished the moment she gasped for air. Much to her surprise, water filled her lungs and she expected to choke, but it revitalized her, filling her with energy. 'Okay, I can breathe underwater. Wait, where's-?'

Looking around, she spotted Ventus a few feet away, laughing excitedly as he did underwater flips, rolling head over fin. 'Fin?' On closer inspection, Ventus was half dolphin, his lower half a sleek silver with a smooth dorsal fin protruding from his back. He was shirtless as well, giving Aqua a view of his skinny body and the compact muscles layering it.

Aqua tried to move towards him, but her legs didn't respond properly and, looking down, she realized why. Like Ventus, Aqua had transformed, her lower half that of a fish, light blue scales matching the sashes on her combat gear. Her clothes had vanished as well, replaced by a pair of seashells strapped to her chest. 'At least whatever magic is acting on this world is thoughtful magic.' "Ventus, come on. We have to find Terra."

Ventus rolled to a stop in front of her, looking over her shoulder. "No need," pointed behind her.

Aqua turned to see what he was pointing at and felt her eyes widen. Floating near a rocky outcropping was Terra, transformed as they were. Aqua felt her cheeks get hot as she looked at him, praying silently that he couldn't see. His lower half appeared to be similar to Ventus', but slightly difference and a dark navy blue to Ventus' silvery grey. All of his muscular build was visible, compact like Ventus', but it was easily evident that there was much more of it, chiseled and sculpted perfectly. 'I knew Terra was muscular, but…This is something else…' His usually messy hair was waving in the underwater current, reminding her a bit of a lion's mane, but it didn't obscure her view of his eyes. He didn't look angry; just confused.

Out of the corner of her eyes she saw Ventus was waving, but the effort pushed his upper half backwards and his tailfins thumped her hard from behind. Aqua jumped, as much as she could underwater, and then turned to glare at the youngest apprentice before deciding against it. Turning back, she saw Terra was swimming away, and she gasped. His lower half was that of a shark, his dorsal fin jagged and scarred.

Ventus watched over her shoulder. "We follow him?"

"I don't think so," Aqua sighed, "We can't swim well enough to catch up to him. Besides, if Terra's on a mission, then we'd be swimming into battle and we'd get in the way. We should try and find out about the mission he's on, see if we can help him or something."

It took them a while to adjust, much longer than Aqua would have hoped, but they finally got moving. Acting on her intuition, she led Ventus in the direction she thought Terra had come from. Eventually, it took them to an underwater castle of white stone columns.

"Pretty," Ventus muttered, awestruck as they entered.

"You can say that again."

"Pretty."

"It's a figure of speech, Ventus. I didn't mean for you to actually say it."

He chuckled sheepishly. "Sorry."

Their exploration of the palace eventually led them to the throne room, where the ruler of the world, a mighty and wise looking merman, was sitting on his throne. Aqua pulled to a stop in front of him and bowed, lightly pushing Ventus' head down when she noticed him staring.

"Pardon us, Your Majesty. We are Keyblade wielders, here to assist our companion in his task. He's-"

"Yes, I've met him. Terra, he said his name was. You're also apprentices of Eraqus?"

Aqua nodded. "We are, Your Majesty. We've been sent to supervise our comrade and ensure that the task is completed with as little effort and damage as possible."

Ventus' eyebrows knitted together. "But, Aqua, aren't we-" he began, whispering.

"Shh, Ventus. Don't say that," she whispered back firmly.

King Triton raised his eyebrows. "Is there something I should know about?"

"Terra… tends to overdo things often," Aqua explained, trying to sound sincere. "He lets his own strength get the better of him sometimes and the results are… less than desirable. We're very good at mediating his strength, so…"

A loud scream interrupted her, sending a chill down her spine. Ventus cringed, curling into a ball as best as his form would allow. Triton sprang off his throne, his trident blazing in his hands.

"We're going?" Ventus asked, sounding small and afraid.

Aqua nodded grimly. "Better we do than we don't. With your permission, of course, Your Majesty."

"Since you're here, that sounds like the best option," the King replied.

The scream had come from the courtyard, so they headed back outside the castle to it. There, several of the merfolk, whom Aqua hadn't seen on their way in, were floating in odd positions, some hanging forward while others were draped backwards, as if lying on an invisible bed. As they got closer, Aqua could see the water was stained a faint pink around them, and a couple of them were groaning loudly, obviously in pain. She cringed, preparing to summon her Keyblade. 'They were attacked, but by who? Who could have done such a thing? Maybe it has something to do with…with…'

Aqua's thought trailed off as she saw that, in the shadow of one of the pillars, Terra was there. His face was obscured in shadow, but she recognized his hair and the tattered dorsal fin. What stopped her from going to him was his Keyblade. Earth Shaker was hanging loosely from his hand, a pink haze around it.

"Terra?" she breathed, staring wide-eyed at him.

Both Ventus and King Triton turned to see him just as Terra dropped his Keyblade and swam off, the weapon vanishing as it hit the seafloor. Aqua started to swim after him, but Triton's loud voice made her stop.

"What is the meaning of this!" he yelled, his face getting redder as his voice got louder.

Aqua didn't waste any time. Swimming as fast as she could, she grabbed Ventus by the arm and dragged him along with her. She didn't slow down with the added weight, not even after they were out of sight of the palace.

"Aqua, what happened?"

"Nothing, Ventus. Nothing at all. I just didn't want to be around him when he exploded."

"He was going to blow up?"

"Not literally. Anyway, we have to find Terra."

"But you said-"

"I know what I said!" she snapped, louder than necessary, "But now we have to find him!"

Ventus said nothing, silently allowing her to pull him along. Aqua hardly noticed, her mind fixed on other things. Her eyes began to sting, and she ground her teeth together. 'Why, Terra? Why…? Why would you do something like that?'