Kingdom Hearts: Hearts of Fate and War
Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, All the characters, settings, and names belong to its respected owners.
PS: I had to re upload this because I saw some of the words were squished together even though I know I fixed them. It's my crappy spacebar I think...or crappy me lol
Terra stared at the ceiling of his room on the Sierra. Watching the star-shaped shadows from the rotating moon lamp in the corner dancing overhead. It had already been a day since the Heartless attacked, since the city of Athus was up in flames, since Terra's and Xehanort's confrontation, and since Master Zenthus died. Terra held the note in his hands. Rubbing the light parchment with his fingers.
Terra, please try to understand. I know you're being hit with everything so fast. But, please understand, if Xehanort is to be stopped, your power is needed. You may not know it yet, but you hold power. Amazing power. More than I've seen from any Keybearer before me. I'm getting old Terra. I fear I'm no match for Xehanortnow. Not with the power he's gained, along with Aqua and Ventus, you are the only ones left to stop him. I'm sorry I couldn't train you, but things are moving faster than I had anticipated. That's why I've called Rose to Stillius. She may not look it, but she'll be able to train you in the ways of the Keyblade. Terra, you must stop him. I know what he envisions for the future. You can't let him succeed. I've seen what the future holds for you. There will be trials, things you could only imagine in stories, but you must persevere. Terra. Stop him. I beg you. The world begs you. Stop Xehanort.
Terra read it at least ten times since he recieved it from James after boarding the Sierra. And even then, he read it more. Trying to find any hidden meanings or clues to what it could all mean. Unfortuanatlly, he found none. Stop Xehanort. "Right. I'll just get on my hoarse and slay the dragon. Then I'll rescue the princess and be a hero. Hurray Terra!" he said sarcastically to himself. Terra thought it strange. He remembered Master Zenthus said they would train the next day. So when did he write the letter? Was he lying when he said that? And how did he know so much about Terra? Could he really see things from the future? There were too many questions unanswered. It made Terra restless. It was late into the night, but Terra continued to stare at the ceiling and clutched the paper. His mind was spinning with questions. He decided some fresh air would help. He placed the note onto the stand next to his bed and went out into the hallway.
The ship was quiet, other than the soft hum of the engine. Aqua and Ven(who took Shinji's old room down the hall) were probably fast asleep in their cozy beds. Terra made his way quietly down the hall and into the kitchen. The moon pierced through the clouds, showering the room with moonlight. The only other light came from the strange orbs that hung on some of the walls, casting a blue and green glow. Terra made his way up the stairs into the bigger living room. He quietly crept across the wooden floor, his feet making dull thuds with each step. He grabbed the doors leading outside.
The night air was refreshing. Terra was getting accustomed to flying. It was a wonderful and relaxing feeling. Up here, his mind could wonder, unlike his name, here he was free. He could go where the winds took him. Terra gazed at the stars. He watched as they glittered and sparkled. A bird flew near the Sierra. It's eye resting on Terra as it went about gliding in and out near the sails, mimicing the push and pull before dipping into a cloud out of sight.
Terra gave a heavy sigh, letting out all the emotional baggage. Terra felt like he rushed into this a little too fast. More like Xehanort pushed him. He felt even worse knowing Aqua left with him. Aqua's mother was probably worried about her, but Aqua didn't have a choice if she was to follow Terra and some old dude with strange robes preeching "crazy". They almost died more than once already. But, there was no way he could let Xehanort have his way. Even if he didn't go with Master Zenthus, how much longer would they of been able to ignore it? Terra doubted Xehanort was the patient type. But still, he was happy to see Ven again. At least something good came out of this. Terra's thoughts went to Hayner, Pence, and Oletteback at Twilight Town. Were they angry? Or did the Keyblades fix that too? Terra and Aqua left without a word to any of them. Did Zenthus even care? He wanted them to go to his school and give up everything. That wasn't entirely fair though. Terra's anger bubbled inside of him every time he thought about Xehanort. But, part of Terra wanted this. He wanted to leave. The Keyblade gave him that chance. Did Aqua want this too? Terra felt a pang of guilt shoot through his heart. He sighed again.
"What are you still doing up?" Rose's voice said with the authority of a mother catching her kid up past bedtime on a school night.
Terra looked up to see Rose jump down from the sail's bird nest and land with barely a noise upon the ship's deck. "Couldn't sleep." Terra said honestly.
She looked at him for a second. "So your the kid my Grandfather wouldn't stop talking about." she said as an afterthought.
"I don't get it. What does any of this mean? You, your Gran-Zenthus, even Xehanort. You guys look at me like I'm some amazing Hero."
"They do." she corrected. "I don't see what my Grandfather sees in you."
Rose walked over to the balcony and rested her arms on the railing, her raven colored hair blowing wildly repeatedly hitting her face. After a while she spoke. "You know, when my Grandfather got his Keyblade, it was all he thought about. He was obsessed with it. Ever since he met that freak Xehanort." she sad with sadness in her voice.
"What!" Terra said suprised. "Xehanort met Zenthus before?"
"Yes. They were friends once. I don't know the details, but they took two very different paths."
"And now Xehanort's some creepy bald guy killing people." Terra finished.
"Yeah, basically. Anyway. You should get sleep for tomorrow."
When Terra didn't move right away, she waved her hand aggressively to which Terra understood as: I need time to grieve for my Grandfather now.
Terra left her alone on the deck and headed back inside. He quickly, but quietly made his way back to his room. He turned off the lights and after a little difficulty, drifted off into slumber.
Terra woke early. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and threw on his shirt and pants. He stepped out into the hall, and was greeted by Aqua and a sleepy Ven. "Morning." he mumbled through a yawn.
"Good morning Terra." Aqua said cheerily.
"Hey guys. Sleep well?"
"No." Ven replied. "Took forever to fall asleep." he moaned.
"That's because you were up late eating. How many times did I hear you going to the kitchen? Ten times?" Aqua asked.
Ven said. "It was nine actually Aqua." he put emphasis on the end of her name.
"Oh my mistake." she said sarcastically.
"I remember when you used to come over for dinner, and then an hour later you'd complain you were hungry again." Terra said.
"Hey. I love food. Speaking of which. I could go for some eggs and bacon." Ven said rubbing his empty stomach.
They walked to the kitchen and found James and Xion already eating. Cid looked over with a frying pan and chef's hat. "Hey you three! Sit down an' have sum eggs." he said in his weird accent. Terra never heard anyone speak like that before. Cid was probably the only guy who had it. Weirdo.
James was just reading the paper, so he gave his seat to Ven so the three could sit together. Xion was sitting next to Terra. Their size easily distinguishable. Terra being as tall as Cid, while Xion was the same size as Ven. She was sporting her usual black tank top that cut just before her belly button. And her dark blue jeans with dark brown sneakers. James was wearing a plain black T-shirt with a grey jacket over it and baggy grey cargo pants to match.
"Where's that Rose lady?" Ven said with his mouth full of egg as he was already shoveling in more.
"She's out on the deck waiting for you guys to finish so you can start training today." James said to Ven, who was now choking on his eggs, while Aqua was patting him on the back.
I can finally get stronger. Terra thought about Xehanort's smug face. And then again as he beat him. Xehanort would get angry at Terra's new power. And also Shinji would be lying flat on his ass defeated. A satisfied smile spread across Terra's face at the thought.
The sky was a deep shade of blue as a few clouds were out, a brilliant white from the sun's rays, when Terra, Aqua, and Ven went out onto the deck. Rose was already standing in front of them. She looked at all of them closely. Sizing them up and down at what she had to work with. She thought to herself quietly. Hmmm...she looked at Terra. His arms and chest bulged slightly with muscle. Having seen his big Keyblade, she figured he'd be the strong type. She looked to Aqua next. Her body was nice and fit. Rose had seen the way she could naturally use magic. She might become a powerful mage someday. And last was Ven. He was far from muscular. But, she saw the way he moved. He was fast. That was probably his thing if anything.
The three shifted uneasily under her gaze. Ven gave a small cough. "OK," she finally said. "We'll start with a demonstration." When The three gave puzzled looks, she said. "Show me what you know so far.
"You mean..." Terra started.
"I don't get it." Ven said confused.
Rose pinched the top of her nose. She knew this was gonna be a long day. "Just show me anything."
Terra summoned Old One. Venand Aqua did the same. They decided the best way to show her was to spar each other. Just like the old days when they used to spar with struggle bats. They went all out. Terra came at Ven with deep and wide swings. And Ven used his back handed style. He would come in with quick combos. They didn't have the power that Terra's hits did, but they were faster. Aqua kept mostly defensive, while using her flips to dodge most of the hits.
They kept at that pace for nearly an hour until Rose walked towards them. "Alright I've seen enough." she said as the trio panted, trying to catch their breath.
"So? How'd we do?" Ven said through gulps of air.
"Not bad for kids I suppose."
Even though Terra was annoyed by what she said, he knew she was pretty much right. They were basically just kids. Well, kids with swords anyway.
She walked away from the three to the center of the deck. A silver bow appeared in her hand. "You three have a lot to learn." and she let loose one of her arrows.
Hell was a good description of the three and a half weeks that followed, Terra thought. Actually It was probably worse. Terra's mind was still screaming from the extensive Hell routine everyday. There were certainly days where Terra thought about jumping over the side and ending it all thousands of feet below, letting death's soft sleep take hold. Never again having to deal with Xehanort, but Rose would probably somehow find a way to drag him back from the dead and push him even harder for trying to quit. Everyday was like a new hell for Terra, Aqua, and Ven. Even Aqua, who was the most disciplined out of the three, would eventually complain that Rose was going too hard on them. Rose would reply with harsher exercises. It had become routine. During the days, they would train for hours. Learning advanced techniques, how to time blocks, how to use footwork to maximize speed and damage. They'd start with simple exercising that would eventually turn into brutal sparring. Sometimes she'd have James or Xion join just to beat the hell out of them. Countless times Ven would complain or Terra would get frustrated about not getting things fast enough. But through it all Rose kept them working, ignoring any show of weakness. If today was five-hundred sword swings, tomorrow would be six-hundred.
The nights weren't much better. Rose would bombard them with giant text books big enough to kill a man. Everything from Heartless, to Nobodies, and even things called Unversed. They memorized over a hundred different types of enemies. When they weren't studying about Heartless, they were learning about magic. Aqua naturally grasped the stuff with ease. Rose praised her with how well she learned it. She taught Aqua things like Thunder to magics like Healing. Rose told Aqua how important it was to know healing spells. It would save the lives of her friends and herself. Ven, like his sword skills, took forever to learn spells. And he was only average at best with it. Terra on the other hand couldn't even make a lousy water spell. Rose would try to teach him every magic she knew, every technique she could think of, but no matter how much she would try, it would only end in a annoyed attitude and she'd call it a night. Terra spent hours through the night attempting the stupid stuff, but no matter what he did, it wouldn't sink in. Aqua tried to help him, but it only caused him more annoyance, and when she persisted, it ended in Terra throwing a book at the wall, and Aqua didn't try again. Instead, Terra relied more on his Keyblade. Perfecting his sword skills all the more.
The only comfort was the few hours of sleep in between sessions. Sometimes Terra would be so tired, he'd skip taking a shower and passed out on his bed with his clothes still on. Aqua though, wouldn't dare miss a shower on her life. Terra and Venmay be fine smelling like pigs, but Aqua wouldn't dream of it. Maybe it was because she was a girl, but she found Terra and Ven's habits repulsive.
But, tonight! Tonight was different and Terra was in high spirits. After more than three weeks they finally finished their training. Rose had said that there was nothing else she could teach them. Everything else would come from experience. Terra wasn't really sore either. Luckily Aqua was really good at healing. Every day after training she would heal Terra and Ven. Finally after three weeks, she could heal almost anything.
When they stopped at a small town to restock supplies, Rose had mentioned that Terra should go out and buy some potions to make up for the lack of magic. It wasn't as good as a Cure spell Rose had said, but at least it would keep him going when the fighting got tough. The training payed off though. He was definitely a much stronger warrior than the one that left Athus that night on the docks. All of them had gotten better. Aqua had her flips better timed, and her magic prowess was off the charts. Much to Rose's dismay, Aqua's was better then hers. Ven was super fast now. He was talented at it and he knew it. He could probably hit Heartless before they'd even see it coming. Although Terra had zero magic ability, he was by no means a bad fighter. He handled his Keyblade better than any of them. And he would need it if he ever hoped to stand a chance against Xehanort. Terra wondered if he even stood a chance against him, then realized quickly that Xehanort was leagues ahead of him. But at least this training got him prepared for anything thrown at him, Terra hoped.
Terra stepped out into the hallway and was passed by an excited Ven and Xion. Venwas going on about something having to do with tons of food and how he was going to eat it all before Terra. Aqua closed her door behind Terra. "First night since we had some free time. We should go outside for some fresh air." Terra eagerly followed.
They found the living room up top to be packed. It was Cid's idea to throw a small party in honor of the newly trained Keyblade Apprentices. There was now a table with huge platters of food. Something that looked like ham sat in the middle. Meaty slices dripping juices that it marinated in. The biggest bowl of mashed potatoes Terra had ever seen. Corn on the cob was neatly stacked in the shape of a pyramid. There was blue jello in the shape of a Chocobo. No one wanting to eat the beautiful art that James made. At one end of the table were desserts. Trays of cookies. The tubs of sea salt ice cream were kept in ice buckets to keep from turning into sea salt water. Gross. There were at least 10 other dishes Terra didn't even recognize. This weird orange gooey stuff that didn't look appetizing at all. A wide cup full of these black balls with white tips that Terra hoped were not Heartless eggs. Heartless didn't have eggs, did they? Terra wouldn't find out.
"Wow Cid! you really outdid yourself tonight." James said.
Cid gave a toothy grin. "Yup, and it's comin' outta yur pay."
"What!?" James sunk his head while Cid cackled slapping James on the back.
Rose was sitting in a chair sipping coffee through a green mug with the lettering Sierra inscribed on it. Ven and Xion were at a table. Ven tried to see how many corn dogs he could eat in a minute. After the fourth one got lodged in his throat sideways and it took the combine effort of Xion and James to cough it up, he called it quits. Terra and Aqua skipped the party and instead went outside.
From outside they could still hear the faint sounds of the party. Tonight was like most others. Clear with a few clouds sailing along. Below, Terra saw lights from the few houses spread out through the rolling hills. "Hey Terra?"
Terra shifted from the view below now to Aqua. "What is it Aqua?"
Terra noticed she seemed uncomfortable. "Well...I know I chose to come along and all but, why did we have to leave so suddenly? I mean what will my mother think. I haven't talked to her in weeks."
"Yeah." Terra said. "I was thinking about that too. She's gonna be pretty pissed huh?"
Aqua made a sour look.
"Well don't worry about it. I'm sure when we go back you can explain."
"Where would I start?"
Using his best Aqua impersonation he said, "Hey mom. Me, Terra, and Ven got these Keyblades and we're battling this bald old crusty dude to go save the world....don't ground me."
Aqua gave a face that said: I don't sound like that. And Terra gave a face that said: Couldn't tell the difference. Aqua shot a fire ball at Terra that just barely grazed his cheek. "Whoa!" he said diving to the side. Aqua chuckled as Terra patted himself to make sure he wasn't on fire.
The door slammed open as Ven ran across the deck and stuck his head over the side. And puked. Nice. Fast falling puke.
"Ven!" Aqua said like a disappointed mother.
"Haha. Was that a corn dog I saw?" Terra said leaning against the rail.
"One of them." Ven said all woozy and wiped his mouth.
"Looks like we're missing all the fun."
"Looks like it." Aqua replied.
"You coming Ven?"
"Yeah, just keep me away from the food." he said as he followed them inside.
Author's Note:Another chapter up. I was sick this week and I was having a hard time getting motivated to do this, but it's finally up. XD