Shadows of Sleep: Final Mix

Chapter Eleven – Destiny Islands

Ventus was in a world of pain when he crashed onto the ground. He let out a groan, wondering how Mickey could travel with a Star Shard if all of the landings were that painful and the entire ride was wilder than an extreme rollercoaster.

"King Mickey?" a distorted voice called out, causing Ventus to look up with confusion.

"Nope," another voice answered and he finally was able to clear his vision, realizing that there was an anthropomorphic duck and dog standing in front of him, looking rather disappointed that he wasn't King Mickey.

Then he realized something about that statement and asked, "King?"

"Look, he has the Star Shard!"

"Maybe he knows where the King is!"

Ventus was more than confused when they pulled him to his feet and started pushing and shoving him into the tower. He tried to get out a few questions, but the dog and duck ignored him. He eventually decided not to struggle and to just go with it. They weren't bad or dangerous, so he followed them up the stairs.

Eventually, they ended up in a circular room where a rather imposing man sitting behind a desk. They stopped walking and stood on either side of Ventus, the dog saying, "Master Yen Sid sir, we have a clue where Mickey is."

The duck walked forward and put the Star Shard on the man's desk.

He stared at it before looking at the blond boy and saying, "Ventus. Master Eraqus has been searching for you."

Ventus blinked a bit, surprised that this man knew his name, but then again, it was Master Yen Sid. He was even more powerful than Master Eraqus. He realized what Yen Sid was saying and stuttered a bit, not sure how to reply to them.

"Mickey too felt the need to leave without my permission," the old sorcerer said. "Tell me, where did you find this Star Shard?" This question was poised to Donald and Goofy.

"It was with Ventalis—er—ventalator—"

"Just call him Ven!" Donald growled.

Ventus chuckled a bit at the two, shrugged and said, "That's what everyone else calls me. Who are you?"

"I'm Goofy," the dog answered.

"Donald," the duck said.

They all turn back to Yen Sid, who was staring at the Star Shard. "Tell me Ventus, where did you find this?"

Ventus shook his head and said, "I met Mickey in a few different places, but when I found this, he wasn't there. I have no idea where he ended up, but I was in Never Land."

"So he's traveling from world to world. I theorized as much. Mickey has a good heart, much like your own, and he felt the need to help the child that many are hunting." Yen Sid paused, looking out at the sky. He turned to Donald and Goofy and said, "We are about to have another visitor. She appears to be in a rush, and she's not alone."

"She?" Ventus repeated. "Aqua?"

"Yes, and if I'm not mistaken, she has Mickey with her."

Donald and Goofy both suddenly rushed to the door at this. Ventus watched them go with a smile, knowing already that they were both good friends with Mickey. He glanced back at Yen Sid and asked, "I was just wonder, Donald and Goofy called Mickey a King and…well…"

Yen Sid nodded his head. "Yes, Mickey is the King of Disney. Though I believe that he certainly feels that his Queen, Minnie, does a much better job at ruling than he does. He struggled through a very hard time not too long ago when the first ruler of Disney, a human man named Walt, who was Mickey's adoptive father, died. He returned home only to find that his brother, Oswald, had vanished as well. He would rather that no one felt that type of pain, which is why he tries so hard to help more than just his own world."

Before Ventus could ask anything else, the door flew open again and Donald and Goofy appeared, followed by Aqua, who was cradling an unconscious Mickey Mouse in her arms.

Yen Sid stood up and said, "Put him here Aqua." He motioned to his desk.

Aqua nodded and walked by Ventus, not even noticing him, placing Mickey where he had instructed. Yen Sid quickly went to work, making sure that his apprentice was alright, while Donald and Goofy hovered around their friend with worry. She let out a sigh and turned around, blinking with surprise at who she saw. "Ven?"

He smiled sheepishly and said, "I found Mickey's Star Shard and got dragged here."

"I found Mickey hovering in the lanes in-between," Aqua replied. "Have you seen Terra at all lately?"

Ventus was slightly surprised that she didn't jump down his throat about going home the second she saw him, but he wasn't about to question it. "No, why?"

"It's…just some things that I've heard. Some things I've seen."

"Like what?"

She looked away from him for a moment before slowly saying, "I think…he's searching for someone, and he's not using the best means to do it. I've seen him try to help people, but he's also been careless."

"Terra is indeed searching for something," Yen Sid interrupted them suddenly. They turned to look at him, and Ventus glanced around and saw Donald and Goofy carrying Mickey out of the room. "He will be fine, he just needs some rest. You are correct in saying that Terra is searching for someone, though I dare say that he has ventured too close to the darkness in his quest, even if his intentions are good."

"Who?"

"The same child that Vanitas seeks." Ventus glanced at Aqua, but she didn't question the name, so he assumed that she had run into the masked boy as well. "Though I feel that their intentions for the child are vastly different."

"Why? Why is everyone trying to find him? Why is Terra trying to find him?" Ventus blurted out, desperately wanting some answers. He ignored Aqua's curious look, focusing on Master Yen Sid instead.

Yen Sid looked away from them, once again walking to look out the window as he spoke. "What do you know of Kingdom Hearts?"

"It looks like a moon, but if you approached it from space it wouldn't be there," Aqua answered. "The power within it is immense, and is impossible to control or access."

"Partial truth," Yen Sid agreed. "Ventus, perhaps you could clear up the confusion most who did not originate in Twilight's Destiny posses?"

Ventus looked up at him slowly before saying, "The current ruler of Twilight's Destiny, be it a King or Queen, is given a fraction of the power of Kingdom Hearts. It's said that they're given these powers in return for basically channeling the power of all their subjects into Kingdom Hearts. If the power source is cut off and isn't replaced, meaning the heir to the throne, then the world will fall to pieces and Kingdom Hearts will retreat to…somewhere. Though it doesn't matter now, because Twilight's Destiny doesn't exist anymore."

"The King would have forced the very power within him into the world itself, shattering it, but Kingdom Hearts would have tried to protect as many people as possible, since that is at least one source of its power." Ventus looked down as the Master spoke.

Aqua stared at him before looking at Yen Sid and asking, "So it can be controlled a bit? But why…this child can use the power, can't he? The heir to the throne?"

"Yes and no," Yen Sid said. "He has the ability within him to possess the powers some day. This child is special though. A born Keyblade Master."

She jerked with surprise. "What? But, that's impossible!"

The sorcerer shook his head. "It is very possible, and it is the reason so many are searching for him. Now, even if he never gains the power of Kingdom Hearts, he will still have control over every single light Keyblade in existence, even those that don't belong to him. Can you think of anything that may equal Kingdom Hearts' power, and still be obtainable through this boy?"

Aqua's eyes widened. "The χ-Blade. But—in theory that could unlock Kingdom Hearts and…oh my god. Why is Terra looking for him?"

"Even my knowledge had limits, but I feel that he believes it to be a worthwhile cause, though he hovers very close to the darkness." Yen Sid looked over at Ventus, who was shifting from foot to foot. "You wish to continue your search for the boy."

Ventus looked up at him with a desperate look. "I have to find him. Please Master Yen Sid, do you know where Destiny Islands is? I've been looking for it but I cant—"

"It is a hard world to find," Yen Sid agreed. "Even Master Eraqus cannot reach it without you there to form a connection to the world. He has asked for my help to do so, in search of you, but unfortunately I could not."

"Why do you want to find this child?" Aqua asked, uncertainty tainting her voice.

"He's my brother," Ventus whispered. "My little brother. He's only four and—" For a moment, a second baby appeared in his mind. "I already let my other little brother down. He died when he was only six months old. They were twins. I can't let Sora down too."

Aqua was piecing together everything in her mind and she slowly said, "Your little brother has the ability to use the power, which only goes through the royal family so—oh my god."

"It doesn't matter," he pointed out. "It doesn't matter because the world was torn apart, the power is locked away somewhere, hopefully forever. My grandfather, father and little brother died that night because of the goddamn Endless attacking. Good to know that most of them got taken out in the process. My mom and brother live on a small, backwater world, and I need to find him before something bad does. That's all there is to it! Are you going to drag me back to the Master for wanting to save the only family I have left?"

Aqua blinked away the tears that threatened to come before she shook her head and said, "No. Of course not. I—" She looked at Yen Sid. "Is there any way we can get there?"

"Ventus' heart is the key," Yen Sid said. "Though I could not open a path for Eraqus, with you here, I can. Your heart is directly connected to your brother's, which makes it much easier to connect you to the world he's on. In fact, it is my belief that if your brother's heart wasn't connected to yours, that you would be in a catatonic state. Few people are meant to have pure hearts without any darkness, and none of them are male. Yours is not natural Ventus, and your brother is what's keeping you alive."

This startled him immensely. He opened his mouth to say something, but he wasn't sure what he could say to this. Yen Sid moved to the center of the room without another room, placing one hand on Ventus' shoulder and the other held up in the air. Then a glowing portal of light appeared in front of them.

"Go," Yen Sid said. "Both of you. Mickey will be better soon, and the boy needs you. Terra is already there."

Those words snapped Ventus out of his stunned silence. He quickly jumped to action, running into the portal without another word.

"Hurry Aqua, it won't stay open long without him here," Yen Sid informed her.

"Thank you," she replied quickly as she quickly ran after her friend.

Yen Sid sighed deeply and looked at the stars again. "So much tragedy awaits them. Their birth by sleep will change the worlds as we know it.

VVVVVVV

Ventus had never moved so quickly in his life. He registered the familiar sandy beach for only a second before an even more familiar voice yelled out, "Go away!" He jerked around quickly, and saw Terra standing before his little brother and his friend.

He was vaguely away of Aqua appearing beside him, but he ignored her, rushing as fast as he could towards the small islet with the paopu tree. He managed to jump onto the bridge in a single bound and summoned his Keyblade as he ran at them. He pushed Terra away roughly, and though normally he would barely be able to move Terra, surprise and adrenaline were on his side. He stood, facing his stunned friend, his Keyblade held in front of him.

Aqua rushed up behind Terra and angrily said, "What are you doing?" Her Keyblade was out, and she was staring at Terra with a mixture of rage, shock, and disappointment. "I can't believe you were just going to—"

Ventus stopped paying attention to them though when Aqua arrived, knowing that she could handle Terra. His Keyblade vanished, and he quickly turned and knelt down in front of the small boy.

"Sora," he whispered to the little boy, who let out a sob and suddenly threw himself at his older brother. He gripped his shirt tightly as he cried, and Ventus hugged him tightly. He could feel the linger fear coming from the small boy, and he instantly felt some anger for Terra.

Ventus looked up and saw Riku shifting around a bit awkwardly. Seeing Ventus' eyes on him, Riku gave him a guilty look and said, "I wanted to keep him safe."

The blond boy smiled at this and said, "Thank you, Riku. I'm glad Sora's friends with someone like you."

Riku beamed at him before turning to watch Terra and Aqua with interest.

Ventus pushed Sora back a bit and bent a little more so that they were at eye length with each other and he asked, "Are you okay?"

"Venny, please don't let him take me. Please? I'm sorry I run away. I sorry." Sora babbled on incoherently. Ventus frowned a bit at his words though. Sora had tried to run away, and he had a feeling that he didn't mean from danger or anything like that. Then someone had tried to take him. It had to be traumatizing for such a small child.

Ventus hugged Sora tightly again before looking over at Terra, who was still sitting on the ground and watching the exchange silently. Aqua had stopped yelling and stood a few feet away from him, eyes flickering from one person to another.

"Why?" he asked his friend.

Terra knew exactly what Ventus was asking and said, "I thought—I wanted to help him."

"Help him?" Aqua repeated slowly.

"I do bad things," Sora whispered suddenly. "He says so. I hurt people." He finally stepped away from Ventus slightly, putting his hand over his heart. "It hurts. I'm hurting people."

"What gives you that idea?" Ventus asked his brother. Sora didn't say anything, he just looked at his feet. Knowing that he wasn't going to get an answer, he shifted his attention back to Terra. "Why did you tell him that?"

"It's what I was told," Terra explained. "There's a child out there with the light vastly outweighing the darkness. He's creating those creatures, the Unversed, even if he doesn't realize it."

"You believe that?" Aqua demanded to know. "You really believe that Terra? Look at this boy. He hasn't hurt a thing. Don't say it's because he doesn't realize it, because it's not true! You should be able to see that for yourself. Who told you this?"

"There was a reason I never told either of you about him," Ventus interrupted. "I didn't want something like this to happen. Us just being here puts everyone here in danger because something will probably follow us."

Terra looked away, the shame on his face visible. Ventus could see that he never intended to hurt Sora, but he was still bitter with him. He glanced over at the ocean and saw a small boat in the middle of the water, probably the one Riku and Sora used to get over there, even though they shouldn't have been there alone. He weighed the pros and cons in his mind, and realized that Sora and Riku were only small, his Keyblade Glider could probably handle both of them as well as his own weight.

"I'm taking them back home," Ventus said. "My house is over on that island if you need a place to stay later. Mom won't care."

"We lost the boat," Riku said sheepishly, pointing out at the water.

"I see that," Ventus said. "Good thing I have a different way back. You need to hold on to my legs tight though when we're on it, both of you. And you're not allowed to tell anyone else." He looked around at his friend and saw Aqua talking to Terra silently. She glanced at him and smiled, nodding her head to let him know that it was okay to leave and she'd try to settle everything. Though Aqua could be a nag at times, Ventus was glad that she was his friend.

Sora went and stood beside Riku, still sniffling and rubbing his tears away. They watched with interest as Ventus summoned his Keyblade and tossed it into the air, staring with wide eyes when it came back as his Glider.

He hopped on first and said. "Come on, you guys can sit on the board, but hold on to my legs, okay? Don't want you tumbling into the water or anything."

The two both seemed beyond excited to experience this.

VVVVVVV

Ventus hurried towards his house after dropping Riku off. Riku's mother had explained that his mother was frantic with worry. Sora had vanished from the preschool earlier that day and no one knew where he was. Riku admitted to them rowing to the other island and was grounded for a week. Ventus could still hear the lecture about what could have happened if he hadn't been there to find them.

There were police cars around his house when he got there, and he held his little brother to him closely. Sora was sleeping on his shoulder, tuckered out from the long day.

Ventus rushed up the steps and threw the door open, startling everyone inside. There was a pause as several police officers stared at him, before his mother suddenly let out a loud sob. "My baby!"

Her words had startled Sora out of his slumber, and he blinked with confusion as his mother shot forward and pulled him into her arms, hugging him tightly and sobbing. "Sora…oh god, I thought you were hurt! I thought someone had taken you! Don't ever do that again!" She was sobbing hysterically by this point of time, which in turn, caused Sora to cry.

"Mom," Ventus whispered as he took a step forward. She looked up at him, staring as if she didn't know who he was, before one of her arms let go of Sora and she pulled him into the hug tightly. Ventus patted her back. "It's okay mom, he's okay. I found him on the play island with Riku. He said that he ran away."

"Ven," she sobbed. "Oh god, what if you hadn't been here to find him? What could have…" She trailed off, squeezing him so tightly that he was sure she was intent on breaking a rib.

He backed out of her arms and she went back to hugging her youngest son close to her. The police officers around them were smiling.

One of them came over to Ventus and clapped his hand onto his shoulder. "We wouldn't have thought to check on that island, at least not at first. There are some dangerous creatures around and there's supposed to be a storm coming in. You probably saved your brother's life."

Ventus chuckled a bit at this. He had no idea how true that statement probably was.

VVVVVVV

Ayame stood at the doorframe of her eldest son's room, the one that was rarely ever used. She watched Ventus read a book to Sora, who was desperately trying to stay awake, scared that his older brother was going to be gone when he woke up the next morning. It had happened before. Still, it had been a long day for everyone, and Sora was just barely staying awake.

She frowned suddenly as she stared at her youngest son. She would need to have a talk with the owner of the preschool. Letting an obviously distressed four-year-old just wander out of the school was not acceptable at all. Sora admitted that he threw paint at the other boy, but already Ayame was certain that she wouldn't be sending her son back to be around those horrible children. He had told her everything through tears, and she didn't have the heart to ground him.

"Mom?"

She snapped out of her thoughts and looked at Ventus, who was now standing before her, cradling his sleeping younger brother. She smiled warmly and took her youngest son into her arms, walking back to his own room. Ventus pulled Sora's covers back for his mother and watched as she tucked in the small boy, who cuddled up to his stuffed shark. Ventus had never understood that thing. Sora rejected any sort of teddy bears or any other common thing, but was obsessed with the little shark that he named Bubbles.

He stepped out of the room and his mother came out a moment later, leaving the door opened just a crack. She motioned for Ventus to follow her, leading him down to the living room. He was in the room for a whole two seconds before his mother hugged him tightly again.

"Mom, it's okay," Ventus said as he hugged her. "Everything's fine now."

"I was so scared," she explained. "They called me and said that he was gone and nobody knew where he was and I thought the worst. I thought someone had taken him."

Ventus thought of telling his mother about the danger that Sora was in. He decided quickly that, at the moment, he wouldn't put that burden of knowing on her. Not that night after she had gone through so much that day. He would tell her in the morning, he knew that she needed to know.

"Oh, right, two of my friends are here too," he suddenly remembered. "I kind of offered them a place to stay while we're here."

This surprised his mother, who smiled a second later and said, "That's wonderful Ven. Where are they?"

"They stayed back while I brought him and Riku home," he explained. "They were having a bit of an argument. Terra can get hot-headed at times, but Aqua usually straightens him out."

"Well, why don't you go and find them? I'm sure you probably just gave them directions along the lines of 'I live on that island' or something like that," Ayame teased, smiling a bit when she saw his cheeks go red with embarrassment.

"Er—I'll go find them." He said after a moment, and went to leave the room.

"Ven?"

He looked around at his mother.

"I'm glad you're home."

He smiled warmly at her. "Me too mom. Me too."

VVVVVVV

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Okay, you're probably thinking 'what? Ven is just forgiving Terra like that?'. No, he's not, but he's almost not going to hold a grudge because he knows that Terra never meant to harm Sora, he thought he was doing the right thing. Still, he's going to be a bit bitter with him. Ventus and Sora are a lot alike, and Sora forgave Riku for pretty much trying to kill him easily, so I can see Ventus being similar.

If anyone's confused, the idea of Sora's heart 'hurting' and him being so wary of other people for a period of time actually stems from Ven. Ven was so worried and basically didn't want him to trust any new people, so he felt that.

Yes, police would have been all over looking for Sora. With adults you generally have to wait 24 hours before reporting them missing, but with children, the first hours are crucial for finding them. Logically though, none of them would have thought that a little kid could have got over to the play island on his own.

Oh my god we made over 100 reviews! I seriously love you guys. Imaginary cookies for all! The following people get metaphorical crowns of awesomeness: Trainalf, herald of disaster, Joahikim, Chairman LoneStar, Jad826, ccsakura21, Shadowfire2397, Shifuni, Twilight Cardmistress, shadowwolf547, 16afoster and Shire Folk!

Glad people liked my 'Xion/Midori' trick. Lol. I'm impressed with how many people actually read my long-winded author's notes.

Oh, and if anyone who read the sequel is curious about Midori & Crysita and what they actually look like, I posted a pretty good pic of them on my DA account. If you've never read it, I'd say don't look, cause there are some spoilers in the pic itself.

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Krystal Lily Potter