Ventus and Velle wandered into a very interesting looking world, in the distance they heard a loud fanfare of trumpets welcoming them. Velle's purple hair splayed around her as she turned her head from side to side, taking in their surroundings. They took a few more steps forward and walked through a stone entrance, suddenly a small round creature with hooves scurried past them.
"Huh?" Ventus mumbled, turning around to follow the creature.
"Oy, the kid's relentless!" The creature groaned, facing a wall.
Ventus walked up behind it with Velle at his side, "Hey! What cha doing there?" He asked. The creature was apparently startled and jumped into the air with a shout.
"I told ya, I'm booked solid. N-O spells forget it!" the creature snapped, turning to face them. "Huh? And who in halicarnassus are you two? Can't you see I'm busy?"
"Um…" Ventus mumbled while crossing his arms over his chest.
"Yeah...you sure do look busy...busy hiding!" Velle retorted to the little satyr.
Suddenly a new voice shouted, "Hey, Phil! I'm all signed up! Phil! A scrawny auburn haired boy in a white toga came running towards them happily.
The chubby little satyr named Phil whispered harshly at the boy. "All right, Herc, I hear ya! Now would ya keep it down already?"
A third stranger strode up, "Aha!"
Phil rolled his eyes, "Beautiful...You happy now? You blew my cover!"
The new stranger ran up to them, he wore armor and a helmet that covered most of his face. His hands were covered in thick leather gloves and on his back was slung a heavy looking sword. "Okay, 'fess up. I asked around, and everybody says you're the guy...The trainer of heroes!"
"True heroes," The scrawny boy chimed in.
Ventus's ears perked up at that, he'd love to be a hero. The hero always got the girl in the stories, Ventus thought dreamily ', Maybe if I become a hero Velle will fall in love with me...' Ventus jumped into their conversation, "Really? You can teach that?"
"'Course he can. C'mon, Phil, please." The armored stranger begged. "I really want to be a hero."
Phil frowned "Look, we've been through this…" Velle watched animatedly as the conversation continued. "I got two words for you-student teacher ratio!"
Ventus furrowed his eyebrows and recounted the words Phil said on his fingers, "One, two, um?..." Velle snickered.
"I already got my hands full with this one. C'mon, Herc." Phil and the scrawny boy began to walk away.
"I'm low maintenance, I swear!" the armored stranger pleaded. Just then several inky black creatures jumped up from the shadows.
"Unversed!" Ventus warned, he summoned his keyblade and turned to Velle who had already done the same. "Let's go!"
"Monsters, huh…" The armored boy said with a smirk. "Hey Phil! Watch this! I'll show ya what I'm made of."
The five of them stood back to back with a ring of unversed around them. Velle suddenly felt her heart flutter with excitement, she wondered if the unversed's presence in this world meant that Vanitas was here. She shook her head and mentally chided herself, where did that nervousness come from? Did she actually have a crush on the masked villain who'd done nothing but try to harm them? She looked beside her at Ventus who didn't notice. His attention was trained on the monsters in front of them, he looked so serious. Ventus's blonde hair blew in a soft breeze that past and his narrowed eyes didn't diminish the light from his deep blue eyes. Feeling someone watching him, Ventus turned to look at Velle. She felt her heart flutter again when they made eye contact, she threw him an excited smile before quickly pouncing on the unversed.
"A-and I'll help too!" The auburn haired boy stuttered.
Velle jumped onto an unversed and threw her keyblade down on it, it faded into darkness with one hit and Velle was on to the next. Beside her, Ventus had unleashed his own berate of impressive attacks on the unversed in front of him. He groaned and reached for his arm when he missed one and it attacked him.
"Ven!" Velle shouted while casting cure.
"Thanks!" Ventus uttered as he slammed his keyblade right through the unversed that had attacked him. "Velle!" Ventus called.
"Huh?" Velle ducked as a creature ran and jumped at her. "Watera!" She shot at the creature.
"Do you remember that spell the fairy sisters taught us?" Ventus yelled.
"Yes!" Velle replied, "Want to do it together?"
"I'm not great at magic..." Ventus lamented.
"Just watch me and follow my lead!" Velle knocked back another unversed, it seemed like more and more would generate. She grabbed Ventus's hand and pulled him to her, his eyes fell on hers and it seemed like the world around them had stopped already. He mirrored Velle and pointed his keyblade in the air, one hand still holding Velle's. Their keyblade's began to glow with a bright white light that engulfed them. A dangerous wind began to blow around them as they both bellowed, "Bind!"
Their enemies froze in place and Velle, Ventus, and the two strangers attacked the remaining unversed until they were gone. Phil stood in the middle of the group, being protected. When they were clear the armored stranger walked up to the scrawny boy, Ventus and Velle.
Phil sighed, "Okay...Change of plans." The armored boy nodded with excitement and stepped forward. "The games are comin' up. So, I'm gonna watch both of your matches...then I'll decide which of you rookies I wanna train."
The armored stranger cheered, "Sweet! Thank you, thank you! I'm gonna go sign up right now."
Ventus grinned, "The games, huh? Sounds fun." He started to jog away but Phil's voice stopped him.
"Sorry kid, Captain Eager there just took the last spot." Phil informed him. Ventus pouted, why did things never work out in his favor?
"I don't understand! Phil, I thought you were my trainer!" The scrawny boy complained.
"You wanna be a true hero, Herc? Then you're gonna hafta go out there and show me that everything I've taught you so far is gonna pay off." Phil told him as he walked away.
"But Phil…" Herc mumbled.
"Oh...and no more trainin' sessions for a while. Wouldn't be fair if I helped you and not him." With that Phil walked away.
The scrawny boy moped and Velle exchanged a worried glance with Ventus. Ventus smiled and walked up to the boy, "Hey, cheer up! So you gotta fight a couple of matches, no big deal. I'm Ventus and this is Velle. Want us to help you train?"
"You guys would really do that for me?" Herc asked, astonished.
The blonde keyblade wielder shrugged, "Sure."
"Thanks, Ventus. Thanks, Velle. I'm Hercules. Herc for short!" He held his hand out for them to shake.
Ventus grinned and shook his hand, "Just call me Ven, you're gonna do fine."
Velle shook Hercules hand next and he grinned, "Thanks. I'm gonna go head over to the Coliseum and warm up. Meet me in the vestibule, okay?" Hercules walked away from them with a renewed pep in his step.
"Okay!" Ventus replied with a grin. Velle watched Hercules's retreating form.
"Aw, I like him. He was nice!" Velle smiled. Ventus turned to her with wide eyes, "What! What's wrong!?" she asked frantically.
"What was that spell we cast, that wasn't the normal stop spell!" Ventus said now that they were alone.
Velle smiled, "You've never heard of a limit before?"
"A what?" Ventus asked, confused.
Velle grinned at her fellow keyblade wielder, "Limits are special attacks you can unleash with team mates. That must have been one of ours."
Ventus thought back to when they'd unleashed their attack, it felt very intimate to him. He wondered what it looked like to others, it almost felt like a dance to him. He was focused on Velle and her leafy green eyes glistening in the light. When the wind blew back her hair and the light of their souls illuminated them Velle looked like a goddess to him. Did she even have an idea of how much she had him wrapped around her little finger?
"That was some attack…" Ventus beamed.
"Ya know, Ven. It was really nice of you to offer to help Hercules with his training." Velle commented as they walked towards the vestibule.
"Whaddaya mean! You're helping too!" Ventus snickered before running ahead of her. "Race you to the coliseum!" Ventus grinned.
Velle narrowed her eyes at the blonde knowing full well he was faster than her. "You're on!" She giggled before racing off when she reached him she shoved him playfully and took the lead for a short time before he regained first place.
They reached the vestibule panting, Hercules turned around with a confused look. "What happened?" He asked.
Velle's chest heaved as she tried to speak, she lightly pushed Ventus away from her because he tried to pull her down when they got to their finish point. "We-we-we were...Phew! I'm tired…" Velle plopped herself on the ground and continued to try to catch her breath.
"We raced here, I won!" Ventus answered for her.
"You did not! I clearly crossed the door before you!" Velle snapped, sitting up with bewilderment.
"Because you tripped me!" Ventus retorted. Hercules chuckled nervously, it seemed to him that they were flirting.
"Come on guys let's go into the coliseum so we can start training." Hercules grinned, he led them into the great limestone coliseum. Velle followed behind the two of them in awe at the architecture of the building. They reached the open air arena and in the center there were several obstacles set up. "This is the normal set up I use, ready?" Hercules asked.
"Can we train too?" Ventus asked, eying the vases that were set up to be destroyed.
"Sure, that'll be fun!" Hercules cheered.
The three new friends raced through the course until everything had been jumped over, crawled under, or destroyed. Ventus panted and looked up into the stands, surprised to see Phil watching them.
"...Huh?" He mumbled to himself. They walked back to the vestibule and Ventus regarded Hercules with interest. "You wanna become a true hero?"
Hercules turned around, "More than anything. See, my father is Zeus, the king of the gods up on Olympus."
"Woah!" Velle exclaimed. "Herc, you're a god?"
"Wow! That's amazing!" Ventus added.
"No, no. I'm mortal. When I was a baby, somebody stole me from my parents, and figured out how to take away my godhood." Hercules relayed sadly.
"And this true hero thing?" Ventus asked.
"It's the only way I can become a god again. If I become a true hero, I can rejoin my father and go back to Olympus." Hercules explained.
"Wow…" Ventus mumbled. "I guess you really got your work cut out for you!"
"You can do it, Herc!" Velle encouraged.
"But what about you? How come you're here?" Hercules asked.
Ventus looked down sadly, "I-I'm just trying to make some friends…"
"Well, hey! You've done that already." Hercules said with a laugh.
Velle frowned, Ventus was trying to look for friends? Was she not his friend? Velle felt a slight stab in her chest as she refrained from looking at the blonde. Ventus looked up at Hercules, "Huh?"
"C'mon we're friends, aren't we? And what about Velle?" Hercules asked gesturing to the purple haired girl.
Ventus jumped realizing what he'd said. "I mean! Of course Velle's my-"
"Apparently not," Velle sneered as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Whatever, I'm gonna go look for Phil and see what they're doing. You guys can find me after..." Velle turned on her heel and left the vestibule quickly.
Hercules winced, "She sounds upset…"
Ventus groaned and ran a hand through his hair nervously, "Yeah… If you ever need training on how to be an idiot, I think I'm your guy..."
Hercules thought for a moment, "It was, kind of, a not so cool thing to say. You don't think of her as a friend, Ven?"
"No-no! Of course I do! She's my best friend...I just…" Ventus sighed and looked at the ground. "I like her a lot, Herc. I just don't know how to tell her… and things are complicated right now because our other friends aren't being so nice to us…"
"How do you guys know each other?" Hercules asked curiously.
"Well… we studied together under the same masters. I met her on the first day and we became friends right away. I've tried to ask her out on a date and I just chicken out or I don't word it right..."
Hercules patted Ventus on the shoulder, "You should go talk to her."
"Yeah...I'm going…" Ventus sighed before following behind Velle. "Velle? You out here?" Ventus called.
When Velle stormed out of the vestibule and into the coliseum she was glad to see the ring empty. She didn't really want to talk to anyone and she wasn't really looking for Phil. Velle felt alone, she sat in the stands and moped. Her finger's found a tiny weed growing from a crack in the limestone and she played with the leaves. She started feeling a little homesick, why did she travel the worlds to find Ventus and protect him from some unknown evil if he didn't even care about her.
Ventus left the Land of Departure to find friends, not to find Terra. He must have been fed up with her, Terra, and Aqua's antics. Velle felt tears of frustration sting her eyes when suddenly she heard a voice behind her.
"What's with the long face?" Vanitas asked, he'd been watching her ever since she and Ventus landed. He wasn't too happy when he saw their limit display after he sent his unversed after them.
"You again?" Velle asked, sounding defeated.
"Yup, me again. What's up buttercup?" Vanitas asked, taking a seat beside her.
"You're not here to kidnap me, are you?" Velle retorted warily. "Because, honestly at this point I might just let you."
"Don't say that…" Vanitas said quickly, his heart skipping a beat with excitement. "I won't try anything if you tell me. Come on, you don't look like your annoyingly chipper and smug self. What's up?"
"It's nothing...it's stupid...and I shouldn't be talking to you anyway." Velle said, quickly standing up.
"Uh-uh-uh!" Vanitas tutted before grabbing her wrist and pulling her back down to sit. "I won't bother you for the rest of today if you tell me what's wrong," Vanitas promised.
"Gee wiz, mister! You promise you'll leave me alone for the rest of the day if I tell ya!?" She replied sarcastically. "Because that's really saying something, honestly…"
Vanitas chuckled "I guess some of my sarcasm rubbed off on you."
"What do you mean, your sarcasm?" Velle asked quickly.
Vanitas froze, "Nothing, forget it…"
"What happened when I was gone?" Velle asked quietly.
"You really can't remember?" Vanitas asked sadly.
"I told you I couldn't…"
Vanitas sighed, he thought back to when he tried to get Velle to remember the day Xehanort made him leave. He remembered the pain it caused her, the darkness pouring out of her eyes...it was awful. He didn't want to hurt her or push her to remember anything she wasn't ready to remember. Instead he felt irritated for not knowing what to say to get her to stop asking.
"...Nothing happened...just tell me what's eating you." Vanitas snapped.
"Geez…" Velle exclaimed, "Relax…" She sighed before continuing "...I just feel alone lately…"
"What do you mean? where's the twerp?" Vanitas asked looking around the empty arena.
"You mean Ventus? He's inside...You know what he said!?" She asked suddenly furious.
"What did he say?" Vanitas asked in the same tone with a chuckle.
Velle rolled her eyes at the masked boy who was poking fun at her expense. "He made it seem like he doesn't consider me his friend...why would I be out here, worlds away from home, if I didn't care about him-I mean, if we weren't friends?"
"He said that?" Vanitas asked, standing abruptly. Why would he trust him to protect Velle when he just pushed her away like that. No...something wasn't right, there was no way Ventus felt that Velle wasn't his friend. He must have been his normal dimwitted self and said something stupid to make her think that. Ventus couldn't feel that way because Vanitas didn't feel like that. Velle made the masked boy nervous just by looking at him there's no way that Ventus didn't feel that too. "You said he's inside?" Vanitas asked like he was going to fight the blonde.
"Yeah, why does it matter to you what he said anyways?" Velle asked skeptically.
Vanitas froze and sat down quickly, "It doesn't… just you've done a lot for that kid. He doesn't deserve someone like you caring about him…"
"Why won't you tell me what happened when you took me?" Velle asked quietly.
Vanitas stiffened, "Because it doesn't matter…"
"It...it feels like it did…" Velle whispered. Vanitas looked at her surprised, what was she talking about?
"What do you mean?" He asked slowly.
"I mean, I should hate you. We've fought, you've kidnapped me, you try to hurt my friends...but I don't...I don't know why...I don't hate you…" Velle mumbled, looking at her feet with a blush. She didn't know why she was blushing.
"I-"
"Velle? You out here?" Ventus's voice rang throughout the empty coliseum.
"Shit! Gotta go. If he hurts your feelings again, just...I don't know... punch him? You punch pretty hard." Vanitas said quickly before disappearing through a dark corridor. Velle snorted at his parting remarks just as Ventus came into view and spotted her.
"Velle!" Ventust shouted as he ran over to her. He panted slightly and took a seat beside her. "Can I talk to you?" When Velle stayed quiet he continued. "I didn't mean that you're not my friend. You're my best friend-"
"Do you know how far I've travelled to make sure you were okay?" Velle snapped. She stood and glared at Ventus "Do you have any idea how many worlds I've been to? How many monsters I've fought!"
"I know, Velle, I'm trying to tell you that I don't-"
"- Aqua thinks I'm a crap keyblade apprentice! Terra thinks I'm some damsel in distress that specifically needs protecting from someone who's after all of us not just me-" Velle ranted, her tears spilling over and running down her cheeks.
"I know you can handle yourself!" Ventus tried to interject, hopelessly, now feeling like the lowest life in existence because he made Velle cry.
"- I lost my memory! How many orders did I break just to make sure someone was safe that doesn't even consider me a friend-" Suddenly Velle froze as she felt something soft press against her lips. It was Ventus, he was kissing her. His hands were on either side of her face holding her in place, thumbs wiping away her tears. And his lips were pressed tightly against her own, effectively silencing her. Velle's chest heaved from her yelling, her eyes were wide with shock. Ventus didn't pull away but opened one eye to see her reaction just in time to see her own flutter shut. He pressed his lips to hers just a little harder before pulling away but leaning his forehead against hers.
"You're more than a friend to me...I just didn't know how to say it...I'm sorry I made you cry, I'm an idiot..." Ventus whispered, he backed away slightly and looked at his feet thoroughly embarrassed. Velle's silence was killing him, in her defense she was in shock. "Velle? Say something…"
"I…" Velle stuttered and then chuckled. "You're right, you are an idiot. What am I supposed to say?"
"Anything…"
"Did you just kiss me?" Velle asked dumbly.
Ventus laughed nervously, his face a light shade of pink. "Y-yeah...I'm sorry."
Velle blinked at him, her mind reeling a mile a minute. Finally she managed, "Don't be...I don't mind."
Ventus's face lit up, his blush still evident. "G-good." They stood in silence for a moment, trying to process what was happening. "I tried to ask you on a date a couple of times…" Ventus mumbled after a moment of silence.
"Then why didn't you ask?" Velle frowned.
"Because I got nervous!" Ventus whined, covering his face with his hands. "I like you Velle...And it's okay if you don't like me back...but I just thought you should know." Ventus paused. "And of course you're my friend, you're my best friend...and the only one who has my back."
Ventus looked at Velle who blushed and looked at her feet. His eyes were too intense for her to look at just yet, he was searching for answers and she felt her heart tap dancing in her chest erratically. "I-I like you too, Ven. I have for a while…" Velle whispered in admittance.
Ventus's worry turned into a smile and he pulled her to him in a hug. He can't believe he'd kissed Velle and she'd kissed him back, now she was telling him she had feelings for him too. Every fiber in his body wanted to pull her in her for another kiss but he didn't want to rush her. Velle wrapped her arms around Ventus's neck as he pulled her flush against him. They'd hugged thousands of times before, but this time it felt different. It felt like their bodies were closer, or maybe it was just her paying extra attention to Ventus's surprisingly hard chest against her.
"You're my best friend too, Ven…" She whispered into him. Ventus squeezed her again a little tighter, "Where's Herc?" she asked after a moment.
"In the vestibule, waiting for us." Ventus replied.
"Shouldn't we go get him?" Velle asked when Ventus didn't remove his arms from around her. To be honest, she didn't want him to let go but she knew he had to eventually.
Ventus groaned, "I guess you're right." Reluctantly he backed away but before Velle could walk too far away he latched on to her hand.
"Huh?" Velle asked, turning to him.
Ventus blushed, "I just wanted to hold your hand."
His admittance was cute and it made Velle blush too, she gave him a small smile, "O-okay."
They walked into the vestibule to see Hercules standing with the armored stranger. Hercules's eyes darted quickly to their hands before he focused back on his conversation with the stranger with a small smile.
"What's going on?" Velle asked curiously as they joined the two.
"Phil wants to speak with us," Hercules replied.
"Oh?" Ventus mumbled.
"Alright, you bunch of rookies. It's time we go over the rules of the Games, so listen up." Phil walked through a doorway and stopped in front of them. " All the matches are divided into two brackets-one for the East and one for the West. The winners from each bracket go head-to head in the championship match. Now, I signed you two up for the West, 'cause they already got a heavy-hittin' contender cleanin' up over there in the East bracket. And if you wanna beat him, you're gonna hafta hustle in there. Now! Move those sandals!" Phil finished as he led them into the coliseum.
Ventus crossed his arms over his chest in thought, "Heavy-hitting contender?"
Velle looked at him, "You don't think-"
"Ven, Velle! Come on!" Hercules shouted.
"Oh, Okay!" Ventus called back.
Velle and Ventus sat beside each other in the stands and cheered Hercules on as he fought through his matches. Ventus jumped when he felt something grab his hand but relaxed when he realized it was Velle. During the break they left to speak to Hercules.
Ventus grinned and ran up to the son of Zeus, "Guess we made it!"
Hercules beamed, "Yeah. And it's all thanks to you two!"
Phil scowled, "Good! The other kid'll be happy to hear that."
"N-no! I need you most of all, Phil! How else am I gonna become a hero?" Hercules said quickly.
"Hmph! 'Bout time ya got it!" Phil said with his hands on his hips before sauntering off.
The armored stranger jogged up to them and held a hand out to Hercules, "Whoever wins, no hard feelings."
"Course not. Holdin' a grudge wouldn't be very heroic." Hercules agreed as he shook the strangers hand.
"Hey just making sure. You're not a hero yet." He reminded him.
Hercules chuckled, "True."
"Ven, we should go to the sidelines. The match is about to start." Velle tugged his hand and he followed her.
"I wonder what Terra and Aqua are doing right now?" Ventus asked suddenly, as he watched the two fight he was reminded of their friend's Mark of Mastery Exam.
"Do you think they came here too?" Velle wondered out loud.
"Maybe…" Ventus mumbled, "This match is really close…"
"Hey, we got trouble!" Phil shouted. "There's monsters loose in town and if they gate-crash the Games, you can forget about the match."
Hercules swallowed hard, " Real monsters?"
The armored stranger put his sword down, "We have to stop 'em."
Ventus summoned his keyblade and Velle followed suit, "Leave the monsters to us, this match is too important!"
Velle ran out of the coliseum followed closely by Ventus. Just outside the building they were met by unversed. "Ven!" Velle called. "You ready?"
Ventus smirked, enjoying the opportunity to fight, "You know it."
Velle charged at the four unversed in front of her, she swung her keyblade out and shouted "Watera!" A wave of water emitted from her keyblade and cleared the unversed, she ran forward to take on more. Slowly, she and Ventus were pulled apart. Velle turned the corner to see another large group of unversed. She focused her energy and a violent gust of wind blew her hair back as she held her keyblade in front of her "Firaga!"
As she cast the spell she touched her keyblade to the ground and the earth lit on fire as if there was gasoline dousing the area. The unversed cleared and Velle gasped when she saw Vanitas kneeling on the ground holding his side.
"You!" Velle ran up to him. "I thought you said you wouldn't bother me!?"
Vanitas chuckled, despite his pain., "You've gotten stronger. Ergh…" He struggled to stand, but finally he drew himself to his feet. "I know...but then I got orders to do this. There's something I need to tell you anyway…"
"Are you a good guy or a bad guy?" Velle asked, confused.
Vanitas chuckled, "Whatever you think I am, I'm that. Listen, the master is sending someone to get you. I know he is, I heard him talking to Braig."
Velle swallowed nervously, "Who's Braig?"
"One of the master's lackeys-"
"Aren't you, one of the master's lackeys?" Suddenly Velle found herself thrown against the wall with a dangerous hand on her throat.
"Not, right now okay?" Vanitas growled through gritted teeth, his mind flashed back to the steamy moments he'd spent with the girl beneath him. What he would give to be able to bend her over and take her right then and there to get rid of this overflowing anger from the unversed. He let go of her throat and Velle glared at him as she rubbed her neck. "Sorry, I'm not in the right mindset right now-"
"Huh? Did you just say you're sorry for attacking me?" Velle asked with confusion.
"Focus Velle!" Vanitas snapped, he cracked his knuckles impatiently. "Look, that guy's gonna come for you soon. I'll get you away but you'll need to play along with him for a little."
"What do you mean? Why are you helping me?" Velle asked.
"Velle! We don't have time for this!" Vanitas exclaimed, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her.
"But- I thought you were a bad guy, I thought you hated Ven." Velle mumbled.
"I am the bad guy and I do hate Ven…" He trailed off. "I just don't hate you."
Velle stared at her reflection in his mask, she wished she could remember him or even just see his face. "What-"
"Uh! Velle...We have a problem!" Ventus shouted as he ran to meet her. Velle's head turned in his direction, she quickly turned back to Vanitas to see nothing but a wisp of darkness that quickly disappeared.
"What is it, Ven?" Velle asked, running to meet him.
"There's a lot more coming!" Ventus pointed behind him and Velle's jaw dropped. Behind the blonde keyblade wielder hundreds of unversed floated down toward them.
"Oh my god…" Velle trailed off, she held her keyblade in front of her. With one hand she reached into her pocket and pulled out two bottles. "Here take one, Ven." She handed him the bottle.
"What is this?" Ventus asked.
"Elixir, take it." She replied as she downed her own. Ventus followed her actions and swallowed the cool sweet liquid. They stared up hopelessly at the large number of unversed, just then a scrawny auburn haired boy ran up to them. "Herc!" Velle exclaimed.
"What about your match?" Ventus asked.
"Forget the match. No way I could let my friends fight alone." He pumped his fist in the air. "'Cause I'm a hero! I mean, ya know...I'm gonna be one." He chuckled. "Come on, let's finish this together!"
The three sprung into action, Velle swung her keyblade forward. With an intricate motion rage flipped forward and attacked another unversed. Velle assessed the mess of monsters in front of her, head on attacks were simply not going to work. She jumped back to create some distance, surprised when she felt Ventus's back against hers. Apparently he had the same idea as her, the two were encircled by unversed. They held their keyblades up and summoned their strength. A green circle surrounded them and the wind made it harder for the monsters to float any closer.
"Aeroga!" They shouted in unison. A large gust of wind flung out from their keyblades like a sonic boom cutting through the unversed in waves. They both launched in opposite directions, unleashing a series of attacks on the creatures. Hercules took care of the unversed on the ground while Velle and Ventus split the aerial monsters.
Velle slammed her keyblade into one of the unversed before casting it into the air, "Thundara!" An electric shock zipped through the remaining monsters and disintegrated them. One last unversed floated her way and Velle jumped up and brought her blade down on to it. She turned around once she was clear to see how her friends were fairing. Ventus had surprisingly finished with his unversed and was now helping Hercules. Together they dispatched the last menace and high fived happily.
Velle's keyblade disappeared in a flash of light, she brushed her hair over her shoulder and turned to her friends.
"Sorry that we made you lose that match, Herc." Ventus sighed.
"Aw, come on, you don't have to apologize. It was totally my decision." Hercules smiled sadly.
"Herc!" Velle shouted just as a stray unversed charged towards him.
Suddenly a sword split the unversed in half and it disappeared in a wisp of darkness. It was the armored stranger, " What, you didn't save any for me?"
Hercules smiled, "Hey, you're here!"
The stranger walked forward, "Hey I've set my sight on being a hero, too. I just don't run as fast, that's all."
Velle giggled and Ventus grinned, "So you both threw the match?"
"Who won then?" Velle asked curiously.
"I left first, so it's not me." Hercules admitted.
"Yeah, but I was only seconds behind you." The stranger said.
Hercules looked at his feet "Still…"
"Hey! I never said I'd coach the winner. All I said was I'd see the match, then decide." Phil disclaimed as his hooves clicked up to them. "Look, bein' a hero takes more than just muscle. Ya gotta have heart and care about people. And sure, you both get high marks for that. But this time, only one of you cared fast enough and that makes all the difference."
Ventus unfolded his arms with a smile, "Then that means…"
"Herc!" Velle cheered.
"Oh man, I was this close!" The stranger lamented. He straightened quickly after that and smiled, "Well that's life!" He turned to face them and waved "I never really introduced myself. The name's Zack!" He took his helmet off to reveal a handsome face with spiky black hair. "Congratulations Herc!"
Hercules grinned, "Thanks Zack!"
"Yeah well, we'll see if you're still thankin; him when I'm through with ya. Ya got a long road ahead of ya champ." Phil interjected.
"Hey-don't count me out. I've still got plenty of big dreams to go with my lousy luck!" Zack chuckled as he stretched his arms.
Velle and Hercules laughed, Ventus kneeled down to talk to Phil quietly while the others were distracted. "Okay, be honest… You weren't really gonna stop training Herc, were you?"
Phil grinned, "Ah of course not! I know that kid's gonna go the distance. But he was stuck in a rut. He just needed a little incentive." He turned to look at him. "It's, uh, Ventus, right? Well thanks to you and your little girlfriend Velle, Herc here has really shaped up. I owe ya."
Ventus put his arms behind his head as he watched Zack, Velle, and Hercules talk animatedly. "Velle's not my girlfriend...yet...and nah, I'm glad. We made a really good friend. Somebody to share a laugh with. Like me, Terra, Aqua, and Velle used to...we'll patch things up." Ventus decided with a smile. "Alright, Velle, time to go!"
Velle looked up at him, she ran to his side and smiled. "Okay!"
"Wait! You're leaving?" Hercules asked, running up to them.
Ventus smiled sheepishly, "Yeah. Our journey's not over yet."
"But you'll visit right?" Hercules asked hopefully.
Ventus grinned happily, "I'll stop by once you're a true hero."
Zack walked up beside them, "Stop by once me and him are both heroes!"
Ventus grinned, "Oh so you mean never come back!"
Velle giggled, Zack ran up to Ventus and put him in a headlock. Ventus pushed him off playfully, "Hey, watch it!"
"We'll see you guys, it was really nice getting to know you two!" Velle waved to them with a grin as Ventus led her away.
"Bye!" Ventus called over his shoulder. An awkward silence fell on the two of them as they walked to a clear spot to depart the world. "So…"
Velle chuckled, "So…?
"So...you like me?" Ventus asked for clarification.
"Yes," Velle laughed. "I like you."
"I meant for that festival to be a date, ya know…" He admitted with a blush as he scratched the back of his head with his free hand.
"Which one?" Velle asked curiously.
Ventus's eyes widened for a moment before he chuckled, "Both actually."
"If you just told me, then I would have said yes...I mean I said yes anyway…" Velle grinned.
"I wish I knew then...Come on, we need to find our friends." Ventus said definitively.
"Oh? What changed your mind?" Velle asked curiously.
"Terra and Aqua are our friends, you're right, we've been away from home for far too long. Master Eraqus must be so worried about Terra… about all of us. We need to get our friends and go home…"
Ventus blushed when he felt Velle's lips on his cheek, she whispered to him, " I agree, Ven. You know Herc's not the only hero I know."
"Huh?" Ventus's blush grew darker. "Me? But you were just as fast as me."
Velle grinned "Aw! You think I'm a hero?"
Ventus beamed, "You've definitely saved me a couple of times."
"Come on, let's go find our friends." Velle tapped her armor and summoned her glider.
"Right!" Ventus nodded and did the same, and then they were off soaring the lanes between in search of Terra and Aqua again.