Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts.

More spoilers in this chapter involving the start up to Terra's first appearance in the chapter.

Chapter 11 – Three Apprentices

It had been two weeks since that old man had brought Ventus to the Land of Departure. And in those two weeks, the poor boy still hadn't woken up.

Aqua was watching over him sadly. Ventus looked like he was on a deathbed. His breathing was shallow, he barely moved, and his face was always bearing an expression of pain.

"Why are you still sleeping?" Aqua asked sadly. If Ventus heard her, he didn't respond. Aqua simply walked away to go train with Terra. Eraqus had expected them a while ago, but he understood their concern for poor Ventus.

Just as she had her hand on the knob to shut the door, Ventus groaned. Aqua turned and saw the boy open his eyes, but they still seemed somewhat void of expression. Aqua ran up to him.

"Alright! You're finally awake!" she exclaimed. Going back to the door, Aqua threw it open and screamed down the hall, "Terra! Master Eraqus! Ventus finally woke up!" She turned back to Ventus, who was trying to sit up. Aqua went over to help him.

"I'm coming!" Terra shouted from somewhere. Aqua heard his thundering footsteps as he charged towards the room.

"I'll be there in a minute!" Eraqus's voice called.

Terra ran up to the door a moment later and burst in. He was smiling over at Ventus. The boy seemed disoriented. But he turned his head and saw Terra watching him.

"Terra… Aqua…" he murmured. Apparently, he'd remembered their names even after being unconscious for two weeks.

"Are you okay, Ventus?" Aqua asked. "You really freaked us out when we met."

"What happened?" Ventus asked. Terra explained the whole thing, but he didn't ask any questions this time for fear of Ventus having another panic attack.

"I've been asleep… for two weeks?" the boy asked.

"Yes, you have," a voice said. They turned to the door and saw Master Eraqus standing there. "I'm glad to see you're awake, Ventus."

"Yes, sir," Ventus whispered.

"Do you remember anything that happened to you before coming here?" Eraqus asked as he approached the boy.

"No, sir," was the answer.

"I see… Well, in any case, we cannot waste time."

"Are we going to try and figure out Ventus's cause of memory loss?" Aqua asked.

"I will look into it," Eraqus explained as he walked towards the door. "But for now, we're going to leave him be. We'll let Ventus attempt to recover his memory on his own for the time being. In the morning, I expect you all in the throne room bright and early."

"Early?" Terra asked. "Why?"

"So that I can accept Ventus as my student," Eraqus answered. "If he truly is able to wield the Keyblade like Master Xehanort claims he can, Ventus will be joining you two as a new apprentice. Try and see what he can do in the meantime." And with that, he left.

"Ventus, do you know what a Keyblade is?" Aqua asked. They let him take his time to answer, but Ventus eventually just shook his head.

"We'll show you, then," Terra offered. He held up his arm and summoned his Keyblade. "Just think about it and it will come to you."

"I think… I did it… once…" Ventus replied softly. He held up his hand, but all that happened was the flash of light that appears when a Keyblade is summoned.

"It's a start," Aqua said.

"But not much of one," Terra said. Aqua couldn't argue with that.

"Give it another try," she encouraged. "Really concentrate and you'll be able to do it." Ventus nodded.

He lifted his hand again. Closing his eyes, Ventus really concentrated and was able to do it. An oddly shaped Keyblade appeared in his hand. It was dominantly black save for the guard, which was yellow and actually jutted out with the handle to grip it between it and the blade itself. The teeth were rounded, but still sharp enough to do some damage and they were located on the same side of the blade as the handle. It had a keychain that looked like a small ball of green wind.

"Nice one," Terra said.

"It kind of looks like a wing," Aqua said.

"Yeah… it does," Terra said. He had been trying to think of the same thing, but the word 'wing' didn't occur to him. Ventus made it disappear.

"Well, it's good to know that he can use a Keyblade," Terra said. "That Master Xehanort was right all along." Aqua nodded and Ventus didn't respond.

"How about we show Ventus around?" Aqua asked.

"Sounds good," Terra said. "Would you like us to show you the castle, Ventus?" After a moment's silence, the boy said he would like a tour.

Terra and Aqua showed Ventus around the place until sunset, and they hadn't even covered half the castle. They'd gone at a steady pace for Ventus's sake since he was still a little tired. He looked ready to pass out again any second. But when they were eating dinner, Ventus ate like someone who'd been starved their whole life. Two weeks of sleep apparently means you'll wake up hungry.

The next morning, Terra went to get Ventus from his room. They were doing as Master Eraqus had instructed the day before to bring him to the throne room first thing in the morning. Aqua had gone ahead and was waiting with the master himself.

"How are you feeling, Ventus?" Eraqus asked when Terra and Ventus had entered the room.

"No different," Ventus replied. "Just tired."

"I guess his memories won't take just another night's rest to return," Aqua said.

"No, they won't," Eraqus replied. "But for now, Terra had told me that Ventus can indeed use the Keyblade. Ventus, will you summon yours?" Ventus held up his hand and summoned his Keyblade.

"That's a special one," Eraqus said. "It's built for speed. I'll enjoy being able to take you on as my student."

"Your… student?" Ventus asked.

"Yes. You will become my apprentice along with Terra and Aqua. I will teach you how to use the Keyblade and, with time, you will become a master."

Ventus nodded and slightly smiled.

"Then, take these," Eraqus held up a chunk of shoulder armor, like Terra's, and a silver badge attached to black straps, similar to the pink ones Aqua wore. Aqua adjusted the badge and straps before Terra helped with the armor.

"Welcome to our new apprentice," Eraqus said. Ventus smiled and his eyes brightened up. When he looked at Terra and Aqua with a smile on his face, his eyes finally looked alive.

Okay, Ven's awake. And just so everyone's aware, I don't really know how long Ven was asleep in the game after he arrived with Xehanort. I just guessed two weeks because that is kind of a long time for someone to be asleep.

Anyway, leave a review if you wish.