A/N: And now for chapter 11! Enjoy~
Disclaimer: I own nothing but Kesshi & Kasshitas.
Kingdom Hearts BBS, Kesshi's Story
Chapter 11
Forgotten Pasts
The next thing we knew, we were in a strange place, and didn't know where we were. We heard a voice nearby.
"Nope, they don't look like him," the voice said. "Look! Those fellers' got that Star Shard the King borrowed!"
"King?" I repeated, confused. "Oh, you must be talking about Mickey." We got to our feet, and faced the two. "We saw him—but…" Suddenly, the pair started shoving us toward the tower we were near.
"Huh? Hey, take it easy!" Ven protested as they pushed us.
"Are we glad to see you two!" the duck said. We learned their names were Donald and Goofy. When we got to the top of the tower, there was an old man sitting at a desk as we stood before him.
"Yen Sid, sir!" Goofy said. "We just got a clue as to where the King might be!"
"Ah, Ventus and Kesshi," he said. We looked at him, confused, and then recognized the name. "Eraqus has told me much about you two. If I am not mistaken, you were ordered to return home."
"Well, sir, we…" I mumbled, trailing off.
"No matter. Mickey has difficulty following directions, too," Yen Sid told us, and I chuckled. "Where is this clue to Mickey's whereabouts?"
"I've got it!" Donald said, and set the Star Shard on the desk.
"These fellers, Venquist—Ventilate, Veggie—" Goofy struggled to say.
"Just call them Ven and Kesshi!" Donald snapped at his companion.
"Sure. That's what I usually go by," Ven said casually.
"Ven and Kesshi had it when they got here," Donald explained.
"Please, explain," Yen Sid told us.
"We ran into Mickey. But we got sent flying into the light—we don't know where he went," I explained. "He wasn't in the same world as the one where we found that."
"As I thought…Mickey has been hurling himself from one world to the next," Yen Sid murmured. "That explains why I could not discern his location."
"You can now, can't you?" Donald asked.
"Yes. I can," Yen Sid replied, and held his hands out, conjuring a circle of swirling smoke. We saw Mickey lying on a dusty lifeless ground, trying to get up.
"Mickey!" Ven and I gasped.
"The King!" Donald and Goofy exclaimed, but the image faded and the smoke dissipated.
"What happened? Where'd he go? Is he okay?" Donald demanded.
"There is a dark and powerful force that is interfering with my magic," Yen Sid explained.
"Just tell us where the King is, Mr. Yen Sid, sir…and me and Donald will go right there and save him!" Goofy said.
"You two? That may not be adequate," Yen Sid replied.
"But I'm the captain of the King's royal knights!" Goofy argued, and summoned his shield.
"And I'm his magician!" Donald added, and summoned his staff.
"We'll find him," Ven offered. "We recognize that place."
"If you'll go, then we'll go with you!" Donald declared.
"No, we owe him," I said. "Mickey saved us once. And we can't risk putting his friends in danger." Donald and Goofy looked down, disappointed.
"Don't worry," Ven and I assured them. "We swear we'll bring him back safe."
"Very well, Ventus and Kesshi. We will leave it to you both," Yen Sid told us, and we nodded and left. We entered the Badlands and ran toward Mickey.
"Mickey!" I cried out, and we ran over to him, Ven rolling him over and lifting his head.
"We meet again, boy and dragon," a familiar voice said. We looked and saw Master Xehanort walking towards us. Ven laid Mickey's head back down, and we straightened up.
"Master Xehanort," we murmured. Suddenly, memories came rushing to our minds. We remembered ourselves lying on the ground at the Badlands, Master Xehanort rolling us over with his foot. Then the night where Master Xehanort was going to leave us on Destiny Islands. Then when he left us with Master Eraqus. We fell to our knees, holding our heads in agony, and Master Xehanort smiled.
"Ah yes, so you are both starting to realize…what you lost—oh, but not for good," Xehanort said. "You both had to lose in order to find. Now it can all be yours again, if you only reach out and take it. Reclaim the parts the left you both. Clash with them! Pure light against pure darkness, to forge the ultimate key. The all-powerful X-blade!" We screamed and fell forward, hitting the ground.
"Key…blade?" Ven growled through his teeth.
"Not the Keyblades you and I carry," he replied, and held out his hand, a stylized X floating in front of it. "'X'…A most ancient letter. Some say 'kye,' but the meaning is the same." He closed his hand and the X vanished. "Death…A letter that spells endings." He held his arms up and a dark portal appeared above Ven, Mickey, and me.
"And we have the power to make it?" I hissed through my fangs.
"Correct. Eraqus knows it, too. He knows exactly what you two are," Xehanort told us.
"The Master?" Ven said, and I whimpered in pain.
"Haven't either of you ever wondered?" he asked us. "Why he never granted you permission to leave his side, to grow stronger? Eraqus was frightened of you both. If either of you were to learn the truth, realize what you are…He never trusted you. Why else would he keep you within his sight at all times?" Purple lightning flashed from the dark portal and struck just in front of our faces.
"Yeah. He never let us see other worlds, no matter how much we asked," we murmured, remembering, and we stood up.
"Go," Xehanort said, and pushed his hand forward, causing wind to rush at us. "You can ask the man yourselves. Learn the truth, and remember you have a greater purpose!" We were thrown back, and Mickey, Ven, and I were lifted into the swirling vortex of air headed into the dark portal. When we woke up, it was in the Lanes Between, Ven in his armor, and we started awaken. I groaned and grabbed my head.
"What are we?" Ven asked me as we looked at each other. "What has the Master been keeping from us all this time?" We looked up and saw the Land of Departure, and made our way to it. We flew through the Land of Departure and entered the forecourt. We stopped before looking to the castle and moving forward, and then stopped again.
"Ventus, Kesshi, you're alone?" Eraqus's voice said behind us. We turned and saw him. "I thought Aqua would—" He placed his hand on Ven's right shoulder, and I bristled from his left. "Well, what matters is that you're both home. Neither of you belong outside this world yet. You need to stay here where you can learn—"
"In your prison?" I growled.
"What?" Eraqus said, feigning confusion.
"That's your excuse…for keeping us imprisoned here, isn't it?" Ven pressed.
"What did you hear?" he demanded.
"That we're supposed to be some weapon…Some kind of 'X-blade'!" I snapped, and the Master placed his hand over the scar on the right side of his face.
"I knew it. Xehanort—he could never let it go," Eraqus murmured, and explained what happened in the past to us. Once finished, he said, "I failed. I had the chance to stop him and couldn't do it. But I will not fail again." He summoned his Keyblade and took a fighting stance.
"Master! What are you…?" Ven yelped, trailing off.
"The X-blade had no place in this or any world. Xehanort has made his purpose clear…and I am left with no choice. Forgive me…but you must exist no more." He focused energy around the tip of his Keyblade and swung it forward towards us, releasing the energy in strands that looked like chains. We closed our eyes, bracing for our demise.
"Ven! Kesshi!" Terra?! He was suddenly in front of us, and he had blocked the attack.
"What?" Eraqus gasped.
"Master, have you gone mad?" Terra demanded.
"Terra! I command you—step aside!" Eraqus ordered him.
"No!" Terra yelled defiantly.
"You will not heed your Master?" Eraqus demanded in disbelief.
"I won't!" Terra snapped.
"Why do all my attempts to reach you fail?" Eraqus wondered. "If you don't have it in your heart to obey…then you will have to share Ventus and Kesshi's fates."
"Enough, Terra!" I cried out. "He's right…"
"Quiet!" Terra snapped at me.
"Terra…" Ven murmured. Eraqus performed an attack that threw all three of us back. Terra landed on his feet, but Ven and I didn't. Terra picked us up while Eraqus focused another attack, and Terra focused and began to become surrounded by dark aura.
"You may be my Master. But I will not…let you hurt my friends!" Terra yelled at him. He opened a portal and threw us into it.
"Wait, Terra!" we cried out, but the portal closed, and the last thing we saw was Terra and Eraqus preparing to fight each other. We were soon spat out from the portal onto the beach at Destiny Islands. "Wait, Terra!" we cried out again, but the portal closed before we could reach it. Upset, Ven reached to his shoulder to activate his armor, but before we could leave, we heard Vanitas and Kasshitas.
"Going somewhere?" they asked. We looked and saw them standing on the bridge above us.
"We're through with you two!" we yelled furiously, and turned to walk away.
"Well, we're just getting started with you two. You're both strong enough now to fulfill your purpose," they retorted, and Vanitas summoned his Keyblade while darkness flowed from Kasshitas's claws. "So what are you waiting for? Join with us right here and now. Become the X-blade."
"No, we won't do it," we snapped back. "He told us, the only way the X-blade can be forged is if the four of us fight. Well guess what? We're not fighting."
"You both used to be too broken to talk back," they sneered, and Ven and I grabbed our heads in pain as memories flowed back to us. It was Ven and me, and we were surrounded by Neoshadows in the Badlands. We were watching them, terrified.
"Please don't do this, Master. We're not strong enough," we begged Xehanort.
"No. It is because you are both trying to hold it in. Let the dark impulses waken in the pit of your heart. Release them, here and now! Sharpen your fear into rage," he ordered us, and more Neoshadows appeared. "You must! If you do not let the storm within you run its course, it will wipe you both from the face of the world, make no mistake!" The Neoshadows began to close in, and we watched, petrified with fear. "Do it. Embrace the darkness. Produce for your Master the X-blade!" The Neoshadows attacked us, and we passed out. When they were gone, we were barely conscious, only enough to hear what was going on around us as we each laid face down in the dirt. Xehanort walked over to us. "Really? You would rather die than use the power? Feckless neophytes." He placed his foot on us and rolled each of us over onto our backs. "If I must…I will extract the darkness from within you both myself." He summoned his Keyblade, and unleashed a beam from it into Ven's heart, then mine. Pieces from each of our hearts were unlocked and extracted, and they each took form, one in the form of Vanitas, the other into Kasshitas. Our eyes glazed over, and Xehanort spoke to them. "Empty creature from Ventus riven…to you, the name Vanitas shall be given. Empty creature from Kesshi riven…to you, the name Kasshitas shall be given."
"Yes, Master," they said in unison, and the memory ended. We held our heads in pain as we snapped back to the present.
"Fine. Then we'll give you a reason to fight," Vanitas and Kasshitas said.
"What?" we said, confused.
"Come and find us…at the one and only place to spawn the X-blade—the Keyblade Graveyard," they told us. "There you're both gonna see us choke the life out of Terra and Aqua. Then we'll see how long either of you plays the pacifist." They summoned a dark portal.
"Wait!" we yelled, but they stepped through and vanished. We pulled out our Wayfinders and looked at them. "Terra, Aqua…We swear we'll put an end to this." Ven summoned his Keyblade, opened a portal to Lanes Between, and we flew through it, my best friend riding his Keyblade Glider.
