Shadows of Beginnings
Chapter Nine - Nightmare
It had taken everyone's effort to keep Ventus from strangling both Donald and Goofy when he got home. The only thing that had finally made him stop was his mother telling him to. They had tried to help, they really did. The difference was that they didn't have Keyblades and couldn't fight the Endless like he could.
That didn't make Ventus not want to stuff and cook Donald though.
Aqua managed to get in touch with Terra, telling him to hurry back as soon as possible. She felt horrible about this, because she blamed herself for getting captured.
It was a vicious cycle of blame once Terra got to the islands. He blamed himself for vanishing for so long in pursuit of a man that could not be found. Aqua, as mentioned before, blamed herself for being captured and acting as bait for Ventus. Ventus blamed himself because he was the one who was suppose to protect his baby brother. Mickey blamed himself for taking Ventus away from the islands and Donald and Goofy blamed themselves for not doing a better job protecting him.
"Stop it!" Ayame yelled after several moments of this. "Just stop! It's not going to bring Sora back!"
"Aya, calm down." Mrs. Keimei, Riku's mother, was a good friend of Ayame's since Destiny Islands had been created. When Mrs. Hikari had called her house in tears she had quickly come over to comfort her friend.
"No! Stop pitying yourselves! It's not going to bring my baby back!"
"I'm sorry mom," Ventus said as he glanced down at his hands. "Where do we start looking?"
"I was never able to pinpoint Xehanort in one spot," Terra said as he crossed his arms. "But he must have some kind of…home base out there somewhere."
"Radiant Garden."
Everyone turned to look at Aqua oddly.
"The best place to start looking is where we just came from," she said while glancing up at them.
"Why?" Goofy asked curiously.
"Ansem the Wise is a respected scientist, but he has several apprentices that didn't rub me the right way. There's just something, dark about them. The little girl in the castle, not the princess, her cousin, she has some type of weird power ("Like you do," Ventus said, trying to lighten the mood a bit.) and she said that one of the apprentices was going to cause a lot of trouble for us." Sure, it was paraphrasing the fact that the girl pretty much said that Ventus's death would have something to do with the person she was referring to, but that was not something she wanted to say in front of his already distressed mother.
"What's his name?" Mickey asked, an odd look on his features. "There must be a reason that you suspect him aside from a little girl's intuition."
"His name is Xehanort."
The silence echoed around them as everyone stared at her wide-eyed.
"What? You mean, the Xehanort we're looking for?" Terra managed to say.
"No, not the same. He's young, but I just know he has something to do with the Xehanort we're looking for," she said. "And he knew I was in the castle. He knew where my room was. It only made sense that he could capture me so easily."
"I don't kno—"
"It's a place to start," Donald interrupted Terra with a firm glare.
"It sure is better than nothing," Goofy added. "But yur—er—I mean Mickey, wouldn't Donald and I just be getting in the way? We can't fight those Endless-thingers."
"That's true," Mickey said. "Don't worry fellas, we have an extra gummi ship and Yen Sid wanted to see you after you were done on Destiny Islands, remember? You should go and see him while we find Sora."
"I'm coming with you."
Everyone jerked around in surprise at Mrs. Keimei's words. Actually, Mrs. Keimei and Mrs. Hikari had been completely forgotten until now.
"It's too dangerous," Ventus cut in.
"Dangerous or not, Sora is going to need an adult that he's familiar with," Riku's mother argued. "Besides, I'm a children's doctor who can use a little healing magic. Sora would be more comfortable with me than just a random doctor, wherever he is."
"Oh god," Ayame said, panic lacing through her voice. "Do you think he's badly hurt right now? What if my baby's laying dead on some abandoned world?"
Ventus jumped up and rushed over to his mother, who had collapsed on the floor in tears. He didn't say a word to her, he just hugged her tightly. Really, there was nothing he could say.
Because they both knew there was a chance that her fears were actually reality.
VVVVVVVVV
Small sobs echoed around the cramped dark room. They only ceased when the metal door crashed loudly into a rock wall, leaving a large dent. A tall man came in and yelled, "Shut up! Shut up and stop crying! That's all you've been doing!"
The single occupant of the cramped room tried backing away into a corner his blue eyes clouding with more tears as his sobs got louder.
The man growled with annoyance as he shot over and picked up the boy by his arms and shook his roughly. "Shut up!"
"Put him down."
The young man literally dropped the boy onto the floor and took a step away from him as an old, balding man walked into the room. He glared at the younger one before saying, "We need him alive. Do not forget that. I would like him relatively unharmed as well."
"My apologizes."
The old man's orange eyes focused on the small boy as he came forward and held out his hand. "Come Sora."
Sora whimpered and backed away more. All he wanted was to go home with his mommy and Venny. He didn't like this cold, dark place, and he had been there for about a billion years so far. It had actually been a week, but Sora was too young to really know or care.
"Now Sora, do you want to stay in here forever?"
Sora shook his head and said, "I want mommy."
"If you stay here you'll never get her back."
"Not suppose' to go with strangers."
"You can come with me, or you can stay here with him," Xehanort said, motioning to the young man who had yelled at Sora earlier.
The small boy hesitantly came forward and Xehanort picked him up rather roughly before walking out of the room.
"I don't see why he's so important," the younger man sneered while glancing at Sora. "Just like I don't understand you're experiments."
"You are jealous," Xehanort said. "Do not think that I do not know this Xehanort."
The younger Xehanort glared at him and asked, "Jealous? Of a child and some mixture of a person? I think not. You could have so many more minions if you would just leave the two halves apart."
"Enough," the older Xehanort barked, causing Sora to cringe. "You know nothing of darkness nor light. You know nothing of the heart. You know nothing of Kingdom Hearts. That is why you remain only an asset, and never a partner."
"So what are you saying? That this small child is going to be a partner? Or how about that Endless abomination that seems to be your right hand man? I am you're son, I deserve recognition," the younger Xehanort yelled.
"Go back to Ansem's lab and stay there until I assign you something else to do," the older Xehanort snapped. "And that is an order as both your superior and as your father."
Younger Xehanort grumbled under his breath before turning and walking out of the room. He couldn't go back to Ansem's lab because he knew that Aqua would know he had something to do with Sora's disappearance. Still, what his father didn't know wouldn't hurt him.
Sora didn't say much; he just kept his eyes towards the floor. He didn't like this old man. Sure, he didn't hurt him as much as the younger man did, but he was cold and mean. No, Sora would have preferred anyone else to these two people, even Venny's quiet friend Terra.
"Now Sora," Xehanort said as he put the boy on a cold, hard chair in a dark room. "You're going to have to listen to me if you want to see your mother again."
Sora just shrank back away from him and shook his head violently.
Xehanort ignored this as summoned his own dark Keyblade. "Now, show me yours." Sora shook his head again. "Why not?"
"You're bad," Sora whispered. "You hurt people. I don't wanna hurt people."
"Show me your key."
"No."
Xehanort sighed. It was amazing how stubborn a four-year-old could be. He couldn't possibly understand the power he had the potential to use, but still, every time they had this conversation the answer remained the same: no.
"Now."
"No."
Xehanort took a few steps closer to Sora to intimidate him, but Sora didn't take this very well. He couldn't cower any farther into the chair than he already had, so he did the exact opposite. He shot his tiny leg forward, successfully hurting the old man.
Xehanort's eyes seemed to turn a darker, more violent shade of orange as he brought his Keyblade into the air and said, "You'll pay for that brat."
Sora squeezed his eyes shut and yelled only one word, "Venny!"
VVVVVVVVV
Ventus's eyes shot open and he rolled off of the rock he was sleeping on. He groaned in pain as he slowly stood up and shook his head. He looked around to see what had woken him up, but everything was still in the wasteland around him.
He shook his head again and moved back into the shadows. He shouldn't have fallen asleep anyway. He knew how important it was to stake out the valley of rock that lay below him.
Earlier that week, Mickey had gone and confronted Ansem about Xehanort, since he apparently had something else to discuss with him. Mickey had seen Xehanort himself and confirmed what Aqua felt: there was something dark about that man.
Ansem had approached Xehanort about this, and the young man fled. He didn't do a good enough job at getting away though, because Terra managed to track him down pretty easily.
Xehanort was in one of the caves in the valley below Ventus, but unfortunately, there were too many caves to try and guess where exactly the man was. And if Sora was being held somewhere in there they didn't want to risk Xehanort finding out that they were there.
Terra, Aqua and Mickey were in different spots around the rocky valley, all waiting and watching to see if Xehanort made an appearance.
Unfortunately he had yet to show up and they had been waiting and searching for a week. Sora had been gone for a full two weeks now, and with every passing hour Ventus' fear for his brother became stronger and stronger.
Confusion flashed through Ventus. If there was no one around, what woke him up? He stayed silently, listening and watching the area below him. He didn't dare more or even breathe normally, for fear that he would miss something.
"Mommy!"
Ventus jerked up quickly a distant and faint voice echoing in his head. It took him a moment to realize that it wasn't actually in his head when he heard sobs coming from somewhere.
He quickly started walking, straining his ears to hear where the voice was coming from while trying to keep himself calm. Ventus knew that voice; he knew his brother was here somewhere.
This was the first night he had spent in this specific area, since there was only one lonely little cave there and everyone was sure that Xehanort wasn't stupid enough to stay there. Of course, maybe they had overestimated the man (or men, if the older Xehanort was here as well) and they were stupid enough to hide there. Or maybe they were the ones being outsmarted all along.
As he started scaling down the steep cliffs, he found a small hole that his hand could barely fit through. That was where the crying was coming from. If Ventus was right, then this was probably an airshaft into the cliff.
He quietly jumped down in the entrance of the cave, kneeling down on one knee and listening quietly for a moment. He could still hear the muffled crying.
Ventus summoned his Keyblade and quickly, but silently, started heading down the cave. He could hear the crying get steadily louder until he reached a turn. Cautiously, he looked down the next hall, realizing that the cave was a lot bigger than they originally believed.
He could see two Endless standing outside of a metal door that stood out like a sore thumb. That was where the crying was coming from.
As quick as the element he was named after, Ventus dashed down the hall, slicing through the Endless with Acrossing of Two. He wasted no time in waiting to see if someone else would appear and used his Keyblade to unlock the door.
The sight that he was met with broke his heart to pieces. Curled up in a small ball in the corner, with cuts and bruises all over him, was Sora. He seemed to be trying to crunch himself up into a smaller ball when he heard the door open and whimpered, "I want mommy."
Ventus crossed the room quickly and said, "Sora?"
The little boy opened his right eye as he felt someone pick him up, but they were holding him comfortingly, not like they were trying to squeeze him to death. More tears welded up in Sora's eyes as he said, "Venny."
"Shhh, shh, it'll be alright," Ventus said as he rubbed his brother's back. A loud crash from the hallway caught his attention and he realized that he needed to get out. Now.
Running as quickly as possible to the entrance of the cave, Ventus only realized his problem when he got to the end; how on earth was he supposed to climb up the cliff without hurting Sora anymore?
A sudden blur beside him and a loud crash behind him caused Ventus to lose his balance and start to tumble forward. Another hand grabbed his arm, pulling him back towards the cliff's edge.
"Terra?" he asked with surprise. "What are you doing here?"
"We tried calling you over your com, but it was just static, so we were afraid something bad had happened," Terra said as he helped Ventus climb up, in the process the blond could clearly see Mickey (the blur that passed him heading into the cave) destroy several of the Endless that had appeared.
So that Ventus could pull himself up the last stretch of the hill, Aqu (who had been waiting at the top of the cliffs) took the now unconscious Sora into her arms. She let out a gasp and said, "Oh god. We need to get help for him, now."
"He's only got a few bruises though, right? The worst thing is his eye, right Aqua?" Ventus asked, panic filtering into his voice. It had been too dark to see much more than a few nasty bruises and cuts earlier.
Aqua, however, turned away from him so that he couldn't see Sora. She shook her head viciously and said, "I'm running ahead. We've got to get him to Mrs. Keimei as quickly as possible."
"Aqua!" Ventus yelled as he rushed after her.
Terra waited for Mickey to show up. When he did, the mouse didn't seem surprised that Aqua and Ventus were not there as well.
"Come on," Mickey said to Terra after a moment. "We're doing no one any good by staying here right now. We need to make sure that they get back to the city in one piece."
Terra nodded and the two started running after their companions.
VVVVVVVVV
"What's wrong with him! Why won't you just tell me?"
By the time Terra and Mickey caught up to Aqua and Ventus, they were already inside Merlin's house, in front of a closed door. Aqua was standing in front of it as if protecting the door, while Ventus looked about ready to throw her out of the way. No matter how much Ventus liked Aqua, she was keeping him from his brother.
"You can't go in," Aqua growled back at him, not wavering at his loud voice. "I told you that."
"Why not?"
"Because you're dirty, you're filthy, and you'll just panic. Mrs. Keimei needs quiet to make sure that he'll be alright, you know that."
"But I—" Ventus didn't notice Terra come up behind him until the older boy put pressure on his neck, effectively knocking him unconscious.
"Was that really necessary?" Aqua asked as Terra managed to lift Ventus up under his arm.
"You know it was. He wasn't going to back down. How is Sora anyway?"
Tears welded up in Aqua's eyes as she said, "Not very good. When I took him from Ventus…well…Ven couldn't see the extent of his injuries but I could. Terra, his bone was broken and coming out of his arm. Out of his arm Terra!" She sounded slightly hysterical now. "And all the bruises and cuts on him. He might not even be able to see out of his eye after it heals. He's only a baby still and he was hurt that badly!"
"Calm down or I'll knock you out too," Terra demanded, keeping a straight face.
"Terra, why don't you put Ventus somewhere so he doesn't wake up in any pain…well…physical pain," Mickey suggested. "And Aqua, you should at least lay down for a bit."
Aqua shook her head stubbornly and sat on the floor. "I'll be fine here, I'm not too tired."
Terra stared at her skeptically before shrugged and dragging a limp Ventus to another room. Mickey watched them go before turning back to Aqua and asking, "How bad is he really?"
"It was horrible Mickey," she answered, tears streaking down her face. "I couldn't—it was terrible! I couldn't tell Ven, I couldn't."
"Calm down," Mickey said as she started to hyperventilate. He patted her back comfortingly as she took several minutes to breath normally again.
She looked up at Mickey will sad eyes and said, "I couldn't tell him that his baby brother was dying."
VVVVVVVVV
Author's Note
Hmmm…maybe I deserved that nasty review I got. Some things I write are twisted, and while I cringe at the thought of it really happening, I don't mind writing tiny bits of it. Like here when they hurt Sora. It's disturbing and wrong that someone could hurt a child, but I still wrote it.
Oh well, my instructor always says that the only way you learn is by leaving your comfort area.
Trainalf – Don't worry, why and how everyone forgets is a big part of this.
Shire Folk – Xehanort is just one of those crazy bastards that you love to loath. His son, also Xehanort, is someone you just want to take behind the shed and beat with a shovel. …oh god that's such a hickish thing to say!
DAN88 – You didn't get Monday off? Too bad. I have all week off, but we moved this week so no quick updates from me. Ventus angry that Sora was taken? Definitely not. It's more like if he had a nuke on him, he'd drop it on Xehanort's face.
Iaveina – Every little kid loves Mickey Mouse! Except for the weird ones. Actually, the traveling on the gummi bear thing was a typo. I was tired and instead of gummi ship I wrote that, so I just left it. Figured he's a little kid, he can get away with it. I hate teachers that do that! One of my teacher's would give us a lesson and show us several examples of what we were supposed to do to get certain parts of a website to work. Then he says 'now do the assignment worth 15% of your mark doing that and some stuff you've never seen in your life. Have fun.' I was ready to throw the computer at that teacher, but he passed me anyway so that's all that counts.
Catharsis25 – No one has issues with the way Kairi talks as much as I do. It's VERY annoying to write. More annoying than trying to write Hagrid's accent in Harry Potter fics. Still, I did it for a reason and you'll see why in the next chapter…I think. Considering that they were abusing him for about two weeks before Ven found him, I think Sora's going to have some issues in the future.
Anonymous with a name – Political rants make me smile. Glad you don't mind the whole time skipping thing I'm doing. …you're asking ME about self-inserts? Well, people do them all the time, it's true, but if you look at number eight of my pet peeves on my profile, you'll see a random sentence without much explanation behind it saying that, personally, I despise self-inserts. Hate em, even if they're only small, tiny ones. So in my opinion (personal opinion only) avoid putting yourself in a fanfic, or if you do, avoid any mention that you have put yourself or friends in a fic. Good readers will usually know if the author's plunked his or herself into a story though.
Thank you for all the great reviews! You gets are seriously the best.
Krystal Lily Potter