Chapter 7 - Surprises
Aqua's home world, Fifteen years before Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep
The day after Master Eraqus left, Aqua went out to the beach with Terra to begin her Keyblade training. It was harder than she had expected. At first, she wasn't able to summon it, which vexed her to no end, but Terra remained patient, instructing her through the process repeatedly until she finally got it. After that, she practiced and practiced until she could summon it effortlessly and instantly. Once she had the hand of that, he advised her on different ways to wield it, letting her find the one that was most comfortable for her. It took a little work to find one, as she kept complaining about various aspects of each until he decided that she should try her own.
The hardest part, actually wielding it, came next. As she had expected, it was too heavy for her to swing, but Terra told her how he used his, and it helped immensely. Instead of swinging the Keyblade, she would hold it and loosen her grip, using that momentum to swing it up. This, however, meant that all her attacks would be underhanded. She quickly got the hang of it, and soon she was practicing with Terra, her underhand strikes meeting his overhand ones. Occasionally one of them would put too much strength into the attack and knock the other over, which is when they would take a break. Usually, Terra was the one knocking her over but, after a lot week of practice, she managed to catch one of his weaker swings with a powerful strike of her own. He had fallen over so hard that she was worried she had hurt him, but they had shared a laugh and he'd congratulated her.
"That was the best present I could have gotten," he commented as they headed back to her home. "Getting upset by my own student."
She laughed and elbowed him before she realized what he meant. "Today was your birthday? Why didn't you tell me? We could have skipped training and celebrated!"
He shook his head. "Right now, this is more important. It marks something special. You may not have noticed it, but you're growing. Maybe not taller," he added with a smirk, "but Master Eraqus said that the change from having a Keyblade to wielding a Keyblade is a growth more important than age, and that the highest honor is seeing someone make that change. So, it's enough for me. I'm honored to have been defeated by you today," he bowed, making her blush.
They continued their training for another week after that, so that within a month, Aqua had learned to wield her Keyblade with a decent level of efficiency. They continued to go to the beach after that, sometimes to train, and other times to talk. Suddenly, one day during one of their training sessions, Terra went rigid, Aqua's Keyblade barely avoiding hitting him in the head. She opened her mouth to complain, but when she saw his expression, she thought otherwise. Instead, she got herself in her fighting stance, Keyblade at the ready.
"Heartless?" she asked, watching he placed her between him and the ocean.
His eyebrows knitted together. "I'm not sure. Yes and no. It's Heartless, but there's something else. I can't figure out what it is…" His eyes widened and he backed up, gritting his teeth. "They're here."
As he finished, black puddles appeared around them and Neoshadows rose out of them surrounding them. Aqua gulped as she calculated their odds. It was two again ten, and they were outnumbered. "What do we do?" she asked, panic rising in her voice.
"We stay calm," he snapped, though the panic was evident in his voice as well, "We won't get anywhere panicking."
"Of course you won't," came the reply, but Aqua hadn't even opened her mouth, not to mention that the voice was male. They both looked up the shore, past the Neoshadows to the speaker. He was a tall man in his mid-twenties, greasy black hair slicked back off on side of his face, the other half of his head completely bald, a mass of pink scars. One of his eyes was black and the other was grey, a long, thick scar passing over it, cutting through his mouth. He was dressed in red, a long red piece of fabric wrapped around him onto top of his other clothes. His most distinguishing feature, however, was his arms. There were both metal, but his fingers moved as though they were real. "Panic gets innocent people killed, making it a hindrance for Keyblade wielders."
Aqua stared at him over Terra's shoulder. "Who's ugly?"
"Don't provoke him," he hissed back under his breath before turning back to the man. "Who are you?"
The man smiled, the scar across his mouth going white. "I think the more important question here is who you are."
Terra glared. "I asked you a question, and I want an answer. Who are you?"
"Terra, you said we shouldn't provoke him!" Aqua gasped, resisting the urge to elbow him in the back.
"I was talking about you," he replied. "I'm another matter."
The man walked towards them, stopping just outside the ring of Heartless. "I am Atrileng and, other than that, who I am is of no other concern to you. Now, tell me, where is Eraqus?"
"He's not here," Terra answered flatly. "Why are you looking for him?"
"Surely he must be here. He wouldn't just leave his apprentices alone to face Heartless," Atrileng scoffed. "If he'd stoop to that level, it proves that I held him in higher regard than he deserved."
Terra's grip on his Keyblade tightened. "Don't insult my Master in front of me!" he shouted, shifting his stance to charge, but Aqua gripped his shoulder.
"Don't," she whispered. "You're the one controlling the Heartless, aren't you?" she asked, "You're the one who attack that city on the east coast, aren't you?"
He smiled again, clapping his metal hands together in a resounding clang. "Very good. Yes, I am the one controlling the Heartless. They obey my every command. They're my only means of getting my revenge."
"On Master Eraqus? What did he do to you to make you want revenge?" she asked.
"Are you blind?" Atrileng asked, his voice rising, "Can't you see? This is what he did to me," he growled, gesturing at himself. "And now I'll get my revenge on him… through you. I've been observing you for a while now, and I see how he treasures you as his students. I'll take that all away from him, and then I'll let him feel just what I've felt for the past seven years."
Terra was on the verge of snapping. "Master Eraqus would never do something like that to anyone!" he yelled. "You're insane!"
Atrileng chuckled darkly. "Are you sure about that? You think so highly about your dear Master, but you know nothing about him. I was once his friend, a Keyblade wielder like you. I fought alongside him many times, and when I needed his help, he left me to die. I lost my arms because of him, and now the Keyblade is forever lost to me! It's his fault I'm in this mess, and that justifies my revenge!"
Aqua was taken aback. 'Master Eraqus… didn't help him…? But… why?'
"And now, Keyblade apprentices," he smiled, snarling the last word, "I bid you farewell. I have some important business to attend to, and you have these Heartless to deal with. I have a pleasant surprise in store of you. That is… if you survive."
As he turned around a walked off, the Neoshadows lunged, trying to pile themselves on top of them. Aqua followed Terra's lead, dodging under them as she turned in the sand and brought her Keyblade up, taking out a Heartless. With that action, it was two against eight, the Heartless now surrounded. They didn't take this action lightly, splitting up into two groups to alleviate the challenge.
The four closest to Aqua lunged at her one after another in quick succession, aiming for her weak spots as she tried to block all their attacks. It drove her backwards into the surf, the waves lapping against her ankles not helping her horrible balance. The Heartless then split up further, two circling around her left while the others spaced themselves out to her right. Cringing, she backed up farther into the water, submerged almost up to her knees. She kept her Keyblade ready, waiting for an attack, but the Neoshadows were keeping a fair amount of distance from her. Then she noticed why; they were staying out of the path of the water. 'They… don't like water?' she wondered, 'Or maybe they don't like slat water…'
Formulating a plan, she ran in a diagonal away from where Terra was, leading her group of Heartless a bit farther down the beach. As one scrambled towards her, she spun around, swinging her Keyblade as she moved, knocking it into the water. There was a screech and a loud hissing noise followed by a loud pop, like an air-filled plastic water bottle in a campfire, as the Heartless dissipated. She didn't stop to make sure it was gone; the other two were close on her tail, just out of range of her Keyblade. Anticipating this, she slowed down before her next swing, catching the closest Neoshadow to be hit and explode in the water as well.
As it vanished, Aqua turned to start running again, but the last Neoshadow jumped her from behind, pinning her on her side with her Keyblade under its feet. Quickly, she rolled onto her front, submerging her side and the Heartless in the surf. It quaked, its claws digging into her skin before it splattered into dust, the rush of air blowing its foul smell into her lungs. Coughing, she healed her arm and ran back to join Terra.
Terra faced his group of Heartless, backing away from the ocean as they advanced on him. Meeting eyes, one of the Neoshadows charged at him, another close behind it, and Terra charged at them. He stabbed her Keyblade forward like a lance, the end striking the first Heartless in the chest. The blade passed through as it dissolved, lodging itself in the sand, which he used as a lever to flip himself over all three remaining Heartless. When he landed, the Keyblade returned to his hand in a flash of light just in time from him to block another attack.
The Heartless attacking him pushed him onto his back, bearing all its weight and fury down on him. He struggled with it, pushing it as far back as it could manage with his Keyblade. The other two circled around to his sides, before they lunged at him from both directions. In a burst of strength, he used his knee as leverage to throw the Heartless over his head, along with his Keyblade, flipping himself off his back and onto his knees in the process. The two charging Heartless missed, slamming into each other, and Terra fired off the biggest fire spell he could manage, blasting them apart.
Calling his Keyblade back to his hand, he used it to pull himself to his feet, feeling a little sore after being tackled. As he did, though, the hair on the back of his neck stood up and he turned on his heels, swinging his Keyblade up with one arm to slice through the last Neoshadow as it tried to jump him from behind. His feet slid out from under him and he hit the sand on his backside, blinking in surprise.
Aqua ran over, panting. "You alright?"
"Yeah," he nodded, lifting up his Keyblade one-handed. "Better than alright."
She smiled, but her smile faded. "How are we going to catch up to him? He's got such a big head start."
Terra stood up. "We can catch up, but I'm gonna have to break a few rules." With that, he tapped his shoulder, his armor extending and forming in a flash of white light. Propping his Keyblade in the sand, he removed the key chain and grabbed Earth Shaker's grip. Instantly, the Keyblade began to shift, collapsing and reforming as his armor did. Within a minute, it had reformed entirely, leaving Aqua in a state of shock. "How else do you think we move between worlds?" he joked, his voice reverberating in his armor. His Keyblade had transformed into what looked like a cross between a motorcycle and a hovercraft. The hilt-guard had become the base, propping up the back while enclosing the front on either side. The front of the vehicle was capped by a copper cone sticking out of the golden brown body. A handle protruded from each side of the body for steering. At the back, the body split into a series of metal beams. The first set pointed down towards the base, an indent in each one. The other two protruded backwards, providing aerodynamic support and protection for the large, dark brown engine. Without hesitation, Terra climbed on, setting his feet into the indents in the lower beams, and motioned for her to get on. She climbed cautiously on the back, uncomfortable with having to lean up against Terra's cold metal armor, but didn't voice her discomfort. Once she was settled, Terra shifted forward on the controls and they started moving, shooting forward faster than she would have imagined possible.
"What is this thing?" she screamed, half-afraid and half-excited.
"Keyblade Rider," he shouted over his shoulder, "I'll teach you later."
In less than five minutes, they were back at Aqua's house, and she instantly knew something was wrong. The front door was wide open and the lights were on. She jumped off the Rider without waiting for it to stop and raced towards the house. Terra followed her after he had dealt with his Keyblade and armor. Before she reached the door, Aqua's senses were assaulted by the smell of blood, and she almost gagged and turned to run, but Terra held her by the shoulders and led her forward.
Inside, bodies littered the floor; the carpets stained all over with blood. She stared on in horror, quivering against Terra's side as she scanned the bodies, wishing that she couldn't recognize the faces. Finally, she noticed one body that stood out from the rest and screamed, running to it. "Father!" Her father lay slumped against the bottom steps of the stairs, limp and lifeless. Aqua tried shaking him, hoping he would wake up, hoping that she would wake up, but nothing worked. She screamed again and started crying, sobbing uncontrollably against his chest.
"Aqua, stop it," Terra snapped, his voice cold. "You're acting like a child."
She glared at him, tears streaming down her cheeks. "My father is gone! He's never coming back! I've lost him forever! What else am I supposed to do!?" she screamed, her shoulders heaving with silent sobs. "What am I supposed to do now…?"
"Stop crying and move on," he replied. "Crying gains you nothing. It can't bring people back, and it only brings more pain. What you can do is get up and make sure this never happens again."
"How can you say something like that!? You're always talking like you're so strong and so smart, but you have no idea what this feels like! You have no idea how this hurts…"
He shook his head. "I know this, all too well. I know how much this hurts, Aqua, but I don't want to see this do to you what it did to me. I don't want to see it scar you like it did me. I don't want to hurt you… so I'll tell you," he said in a whisper, sitting down on the step next to her, burying his face in his hands. Then he began to tell his story, and it was so detailed that she felt like she was there with him, living his pain on those fateful days…