Wow, back already with another chapter? What can I say, I was VERY inspired with this one, it had a lot of scenes I've been looking forward to writing for a VERY long time. It's also very character interaction heavy which I adore. And it ALSO gave me a change to change up more stuff from KH3 a bit, which is always a good time. Either way, I won't keep you from it, enjoy!
Chapter 36: Return to Depart
A mile, could you walk in my shoes?
All your, all your life
Aqua can't believe that she'd nearly forgotten how beautiful the stars are. She's completely mystified by them from the moment they all return to the Mysterious Tower. In the Realm of Darkness, the black void that passed for the endless sky was eternally unbroken, unchanging. But here, the glittering dots of light that stand for the countless collection of worlds float freely within a deep, yet vibrant midnight sky. And she can't take her eyes off them, no matter how hard she tries.
Not that she really wants to anyway. For as glad as Aqua had been to reunite with Mickey and to see Sora and Riku again, she can't deny that being around so many people after spending so much time in solitude is a bit overwhelming. That's why, after a brief, cordial, check-in with Master Yen Sid upon arriving at the tower, Aqua had slipped away to one of its upper guest rooms, claiming that she wanted to get a bit of rest. And given the incredible ordeal she'd just been through, the others are more than willing to give the master exactly that.
Even so, she's hardly tired. If anything, returning to the light has reinvigorated her in every way. Physically, she's thriving, her lungs filled with the clean, fresh air the light has to offer, air that doesn't carry a single tinge of the slowly suffocating malice she'd grown so used to in the darkness. Her mind is free from the mire of misery she'd been marred by before, the sadness she'd sunken into slipping away more and more with each passing second. The first rays of true, genuine happiness have started to peek through the stormy clouds of grief that have lingered within her heart for far too long now. She walks out onto the room's balcony with a spring in her step and a smile on her face that's wide to the point of almost feeling silly, but she can't help it. Because she's here in the realm of light, in a place she's spent such a long time longing to be. After everything she's been through, all the pain and loneliness she's been forced to endure, she knows she could hardly ask for anything more now…
Except, perhaps, maybe one more thing. Or two.
Her smile finally falls a bit as she thinks of them. Of Ventus, still lost to over a decade-long dreamless slumber. Of Terra, still conquered and captured by darkness that he's powerless to escape from. Of both of them, still in need of a way back to the light, a way back home. A way that she has every intention of giving them both. If only she could figure out how.
Ventus will be easy, she thinks, her spirits lifting a little as she does. Because she knows where he's resting, she knows the familiar road that will take her to the very same spot she'd left him 12 years before. And she knows that he's been safe, that no one would have been able to even come close to where he's been sleeping. No one other than her.
And Terra… Well, if her brief encounter with him back in the Realm of Darkness had been anything to go off of, his current status is anything but comforting. She hasn't asked any of the others anything yet, and really, she doesn't need to. Because she knows the painful truth all too well: that Terra's heart must still be under Xehanort's strict, merciless control, his body still forced to do the master's wicked bidding, including savagely searching for Ventus' hidden resting place. Which means that she doesn't have much time left to save them both from the horrid man who had torn the three of them apart to begin with.
"Terra, Ven…" Aqua whispers to the glistening sea of stars above her. She knows her voice won't reach either of them, but she still offers them a solemn, steady vow all the same. "We've been separated for far too long now… I can hardly believe it's 12 years… You both must be incredibly patient to be willing to for me for such a long time…" She lets out a humourless laugh in spite of herself. "But I'm back," her tone takes on a touch of determination as she closes her eyes and reflects on her fondest memories of them. "And now that I am, I'm finding my way to both of you. The three of us will be together again soon. I promise…"
Though her promise receives no response, she smiles all the same. Because as she holds onto those memories of her two closest friends, she also holds onto the brightest ray of hope her heart can give her. Hope that the best moments between them are still yet to come.
Her wistful musings, however, are soon interrupted by a soft, almost hesitant knock at the door. "Come in," Aqua calls, expecting that Mickey's come to check on her. But she's a bit surprised when Sora is the one who enters instead.
"Um, Master Aqua?" he opens the door a bit, his tone noticeably tentative. Anxious, almost, Aqua notes as she fully turns to face him, though where that anxiety could be coming from, she has no idea. "D-do you have a minute? I don't wanna bother you while you're resting or anything-"
"No, of course you're not bothering me," Aqua offers him an encouraging smile, motioning for him to join her on the balcony. "Please, come in."
Sora does so, still clearly nervous as he slowly trails across the room to stand alongside her. Aqua frowns as she realizes he's averting her gaze completely, worry filling his features that he doesn't speak to for some reason. Something's different, it seems, about the bright-eyed, playful young boy she'd met on the shores of the Destiny Islands 12 years ago. Something that goes beyond how much he's managed to grow in that span of time. "Is something wrong?" she asks him. He flinches at the question.
"Uh, n-no, nothing's wrong," he shakes his head. But his eyes are wide with what almost comes across as fear as he glances over at her.
"Are you sure?" she presses. She can't help but notice just how much his mannerisms remind her of Ventus', how he holds his hands in close when he's unsure, how his brows knit together as his eyes shift away, how his voice softens, becomes less stable under stress.
And of course, how he tries to shift the conversation away from himself whenever he has a problem he doesn't want to talk about. "Y-yeah," he says, forcing a fake smile onto his face. "I, uh, just wanted to… check in and see how you were feeling after, y-you know…"
"I feel fine," she assures earnestly. "Better than fine, as a matter of fact."
"Happy to be home?" his smile turns a touch more genuine at this.
"Absolutely," she grins, but it falters when she sees his smile fade. And when she sees him staring at her hands, almost as if he's searching for something that isn't there anymore. It doesn't take her too long to figure out what. "You don't have to worry," she speaks up. This time around, it's her voice that's soft, uncertain, unsteady as she looks down at her hands herself. "They're gone, you know."
"Huh?" Sora blinks, feigning confusion. Even though he already knows exactly what she's referring to.
"The… claws," Aqua forces the word out, looking away in shame.
Sora is silent for a moment, a very long moment at that, upon hearing this. "You… remember the claws?" His voice comes out almost like a whisper. If she turned to face him at that moment, she would be able to see just how much he'd paled at the alarming thought that just struck him along with such a question.
"Yes," she nods morosely. "As much as I wish I didn't. I also remember… attacking you and Mickey and Riku. I'm not sure how much this means, but I'm so… very sorry for anything I might have done to hurt any of you. I guess you could say-" she lets loose a bitter, sardonic laugh as she shakes her head. "I wasn't myself at the moment…"
Instead of assuring her that she has nothing to be sorry for like he usually would have done, Sora presses yet another question at her instead, an almost desperate one at that. "What else do you remember about… w-when you were fighting us?"
"Not much, to be perfectly honest," Aqua admits with a tired sigh. "I remember how I looked… like a monster that looked just like me, that was me… and I remember how I felt… cold, angry… heartbroken, and most of all… alone. But then… I heard a voice… it sounded like Ven, but it was your voice too, calling me out of the darkness and back into the light. And so," she finally allows herself a warm, grateful smile as she looks back over to him. "Here I am. Thanks to you, Sora."
Strangely, he doesn't seem to relish her gratitude too much as he continues his informal interrogation. "So you don't remember anything about the actual fight then?" There's a tinge of relief in his tone, though Aqua doesn't know where it's coming from. She assumes that it's because she must have done something horrible during that battle-being behind Riku's still-broken leg is what she suspects, though no one's bothered to confirm that to her yet. But the actual source of that relief is far different, based on a moment of that fight that Aqua can't recall, even if Sora remembers it all-too vividly. The moment he'd exposed his powers, and everything they mean for the current state of his heart, for her to openly see.
"No, I don't," she admits guiltily. Sora narrowly suppresses an immensely allayed sigh when she does. Even so, it's at that moment that he remembers something much more important. Namely, the fact that she's free from the very same pall of darkness still plaguing him. That she'd somehow managed to find the escape that he's still searching for. Which is why he can't help but voice the very question he came here to ask her in the first place:
"H-how did it go away?"
"How did what go away?"
"The darkness, in your heart," he tries his hardest not to sound desperate, but he needs to know, he has to know. Because if she can find freedom from its entrapping clutches, then maybe he can too. "What got rid of it?"
Aqua can't help but smile at this, believing his wonderings to be coming from a place of simple curiosity more than anything else. All while having no idea just how much his hopes for his very life are riding on her answer. "Like I said, I have you to thank for that, Sora," she says, the pride in her tone and her expression both beaming. "You reached into the darkness and helped bring me back into the light. I wouldn't be standing her right now if it wasn't for you."
"R-right…" Sora frowns, his shoulders slumping in disappointment. It always goes back to him, it seems. He's always the one who saves everyone, who brings them all back to the light, who frees their hearts and makes everything right again. But if he can so easily save so many others, then why is it so impossible for him to save himself?
"If only someone like you had been around when Terra had fallen into darkness…" Aqua sighs remorsefully, her heart aching at the mere thought of how much she misses him. "Or better yet, if only I'd been enough to break him out of it back then. He's spent all this time trapped in the shadows, just like I was, but for him, it's been worse in so many ways. To not even have a single speck of control over your own heart and body is so... awful, so unimaginable. I hope it's something you never have to experience, Sora."
I already have, Sora almost says, but narrowly refrains. Even though he knows there's such a high likelihood that any semblance of control he has over his life will be completely stripped away if either Xehanort or Maleficent have their way with him. A terrifying thought, but a perpetual possibility he's gotten far too used to having hanging over his head lately.
Instead, however, he offers a much more optimistic thought, one that he's sure Aqua will be quite intrigued to hear. "Um, speaking of Terra, I think I might have a clue about how we can help him."
"Really?" Aqua looks to him in immense curiosity. After all, she's willing to take just about any lead she can get toward restoring Terra's stolen heart and body. "What is it?"
"So there's this living suit of armor I met not that long ago," Sora explains, realizing that it sounds rather bizarre as he does. Even so, Aqua's eyes widen as he mentions it, prompting him to continue. "And it told me that it's all of Terra's thoughts and memories; basically his mind, I guess? S-since Xehanort has his, um… heart and body," he tries shaking the constant dread away that his own heart and body could very well meet the same fate soon. "Anyway, I told it I wanted to help it, and it said I needed to find you and Ventus first, so… one out of two isn't that bad so far, right?"
Even though Sora lets out a small, halfhearted chuckle at this, Aqua remains stunned by what she's just heard. She lightly covers her mouth, her blue eyes huge as she stares down at the balcony below her. "T-Terra…" she whispers, a ghost of a smile finding a place on her face. "T-that… that was him you met… That was his armor… It had to have been…" Her bittersweet grin grows as she lets out a soft, yet happy sob. "A piece of him really did survive the darkness after all… He fought back against it, just like I knew he could…"
Despite his own palpable worries and fears, Sora still smiles upon hearing this. Because if there's still hope for Terra to be saved from Xehanort's tight hold, then maybe there might just be hope for him too. And even beyond that, he can't deny that the thought of Aqua, Terra, and Ventus reuniting after all the long and lonely years they've spent apart fills his heart with a comforting kind of warmth. Warmth that only sparks brighter as he remembers that he knows another way he can help that happen. "There's something else too," he begins, albeit a bit more tentatively as he scratches the back of his neck. "It's about Ventus, but… it might sound kinda crazy…"
"After everything I've been through, nothing is crazy anymore," Aqua laughs somewhat sardonically.
"Ok, well, I, um…" Sora hesitates, his hand lightly skimming his chest. Sudden guilt swells up in him as he remembers what his phantom had accused him of, of endangering the hearts trapped within his own. Of endangering Ventus, he thinks, wondering how in the world he could possibly admit that to Aqua. Wondering how in the world she might react to the incurable darkness of his own heart unintentionally poisoning Ventus' own.
So he doesn't tell her that. Instead, he tells her the much more simple start of it all. "I don't know how it happened, I don't even really know how to explain this, but… Ventus' heart is… inside of mine."
Aqua stills at this, surprise overtaking her once more as she stares at him incredulously. "W-what?"
"His heart is in mine," Sora reiterates, a bit firmer this time. He's not sure if she believes him, but he hopes he can convince her of the truth even if she doesn't. Because really, she's just about the only one who can actually help him set Ventus free at this point, something he strives to do sooner than ever after his frightening encounter with his phantom. "I-it's been in there for years now, I guess, but I didn't even know until a few months ago." His emotions suddenly surge, that same sort of guilt overwhelming him in entirely different ways as he realizes just how long Ventus has been forced to wait idle within the depths of his darkened heart. Just how unfair that is to him and to Aqua alike. Just how much he's wronged them both by wasting so much time doing absolutely nothing about it. "If I had found out sooner-" Remorse starts spilling into his tone as his words pour out, unstoppable and unbidden. And before long, hot, shameful tears begin to find a palace between them. "Then I would have been trying to get him out all this time, a-and I still want to, but I don't know how, and I'm sorry, Master Aqua, I-I'm so sorry! He doesn't deserve to just be stuck like this, just like you didn't deserve to be stuck in the Realm of Darkness, a-and I want to help him so much, b-but I don't know what to do, I never know what to do, and I'm sorry I-"
Just as he chokes out a tight, pained sob, Aqua suddenly stops him, though not with words. Instead, her arms suddenly fold around him as she pulls him in close, enveloping him in a tight, secure embrace. He cries even harder as she does, his head pressed against her shoulder as she runs a soothing hand through his hair. They stay in a sad sort of silence for a moment or two, but they're still hugging and Sora is still softly weeping when Aqua finally speaks. "Please, don't be sorry," she whispers quietly. Her heart stirs with distant memories of comforting Ven in a very similar sort of way not long after he'd first come to stay with them. The connections she keeps making between him and Sora suddenly make more sense than ever before now. "You have nothing to be sorry for."
"B-but I… I haven't helped him…" Sora mutters despondently, tears streaming down his cheeks as he briefly glances up at her. "I-I need to help him, I need to help everybody…"
Aqua pauses, taken aback by just how distraught he is when he says this. Just how much weight he thinks he has to carry solely on his own shoulders. "Who told you that?" she asks, her eyes narrowing slightly.
"No one," he admits, wiping some of his tears away. Even if it does nothing to stop more from falling after. "I just… t-that's what I'm supposed to do…"
"N-no… Sora, you-" Aqua stops short, her heart aching immensely for him. Because that carefree, innocent child from 12 years ago only seems to exist in her memories now. Who he has become now is someone completely different.
"I wouldn't wish our lives on those children," she had said to herself on that distant day she'd met him and Riku. But one way or another, those children have been thrust into the kind of lives they had once led all the same. They have been pushed down a path that has brought at least one of them nothing but woe.
And Aqua can't help but feel at least partially responsible for that.
"Sora," she begins again, her hands resting on his shoulders as he pulls back out of their embrace. "How old are you now?"
"16," he sniffles softly in response.
Goodness, he still is a child, she thinks mournfully, realizing just how much he's managed to lose by even such a young age. Still, that's not what she says, mostly because she knows it's far too late to restore any of what he's lost now. "It really has been that long, hasn't it…?" she mumbles quietly. But when Sora doesn't seem to understand what she means, she decides to go off on a different tangent entirely. "I've heard about what you've done, all of the worlds you've saved, everything you've accomplished," she smiles softly, sweetly as she places a gentle hand against his cheek. "You should be proud of all of that. I know I already am."
"B-but it's not enough," Sora protests softly, sadly. "There's still so much more I need to do before I-" He only barely stops himself short as he draws in a tight, anxious breath. Because he can't bear to admit that he only has so much time left to help everyone who needs it most before he's inevitably beyond help himself.
"It is enough," Aqua assures him patiently. It reminds him of the very same thing Kairi had told him on his birthday: "You're enough," she'd said every bit as kindly. "You've always been enough." But even now, hearing the same sentiment from someone like Master Aqua herself, Sora's still not so sure he's ready to believe it. "But… if you still want to help…" Aqua continues, offering him a bit of a wry smile. "I'd be more than happy to have you come with me to wake Ven up. I plan on setting out to where he's sleeping tomorrow."
"R-really?" Sora perks up at this, stunned by the very thought. The idea that at least one of the hearts inside his own could finally be freed as early as the very next day. It's almost too good to be true, and as he happens to remember something important, he quickly realizes that it is. "I-I… I'd really like to go, but… I can't," he sighs, glancing down a bit awkwardly. "I did something that was… kinda dumb not that long ago, and it made Riku really upset and so he, uh… punished me for it."
"Punished you?" Aqua raises an eyebrow, confused. She's not sure what authority Riku would have to do such a thing, maybe it's the fact that he's a good year or so older than Sora or maybe it's something else she hasn't heard about yet since her return. Either way, it's a bewildering thought to her nonetheless.
"Yeah, I'm not supposed to leave the tower unless he goes with me," Sora explains, his cheeks flushing in slight embarrassment as he admits this. "I, uh… actually wasn't supposed to leave to go to the Destiny Islands, and I really wasn't supposed to go to the Realm of Darkness, but… Riku and the king were in trouble and I couldn't just do nothing."
"But you saved them," Aqua reasons earnestly. "You saved me too. That has to count for something when it comes to lifting this… 'punishment' of yours."
"Eh… I'm not so sure it should, not after what I did…" Sora rubs his arm as he looks out toward the starry sky. "I kept a pretty big, pretty bad secret from Riku for a long time. And I only made it worse by arguing with him about it, like an idiot. I don't really like the idea of sitting around here doing nothing, but… if that's what Riku thinks I deserve, then that's what I'll do."
"I see…" Aqua muses after a beat of thoughtful silence. "That's very responsible of you, Sora. I just wish we didn't have to wait any longer to wake Ven, not after how long I've already kept him waiting…"
Sora frowns at her disappointed sigh, though it doesn't take him long to come up with a plan. "What if… I go talk to Riku and ask him if he can make an exception, just for tomorrow?"
"You don't have to if you'd rather not," Aqua counters. "I can always try going on my own tomorrow-"
"No, I want to be there," Sora interrupts insistently as he places a hand over his heart once more. "I think… I need to be there. And I think Riku will understand that too."
"So do I," Aqua smiles as she prepares to see him go. Though she does stop him short, catching him off guard as she reaches out to ruffle his hair. Just like she used to do with Ven, just like she's so ready to with Ven again.
"W-wha-Aqua!" Sora protests with a laugh as he lightly shoves her hand away. He turns red once more however, as soon as the playful moment passes and his own heart is back in control instead of Ventus'. "Uh, I-I mean, Master Aqua-"
"Just Aqua, please," she insists, still grinning warmly as he begins to leave. "I meant what I said, by the way," she calls before he can reach the door. "I'm very proud of all that you've done, Sora. Of the brave, kind person you've grown up to be. Don't forget that."
Sora hesitates, glancing over his shoulder at her and the bright, fond smile she's sending his way. He has no idea how in the world someone like her, who's done and been through so much more, could be anywhere close to being proud of someone like him, especially when he can't find it in himself to be proud of even a single thing he's done lately. "I-I won't..." he says all the same, just shy of closing the door behind him. All while wondering just how long it will take, once the truth is inevitably revealed someday, for her pride to turn to disappointment in the end.
Riku's only ever had a broken limb once before, though even then, it was far less severe than his currently fractured shin is. Once, when he and Sora were much younger, before either of them had met Kairi even, they had spent an afternoon competitively climbing up palm trees on the play island back home. Riku had clearly gained an edge over Sora when it came to reaching the top of the parallel palms they were racing up, something that Sora playfully pouted over even as he struggled to reach the top of his own. It was only as his grip started noticeably slipping, however, that the fun of their childish contest had been pulled right out from under them. Sora's fearful cry had been enough to prompt Riku to slide back down to the ground, just in time to catch him when he fell. Unfortunately, in doing so, while Sora had managed to make it out completely unscathed, Riku had sustained a mostly mild, but still quite painful injury in his left arm the moment both boys hit the ground. Riku had handled the break reasonably well for a child his age, despite Sora's loud, tearful distress as he tried and largely failed to row them both back over to the main island. Fortunately, Riku's parents had spotted their tiny boat bobbing on the waves and had rushed to their rescue, escorting their son to the village physician so he could cast up his broken arm. That night, Sora had snuck over to his house (not a far trek considering they lived next door to each other), curled up next to him in bed, and cried, profusely apologizing for his part in unintentionally hurting his best friend. Riku had assured him that he had nothing to apologize for, and as a sign of goodwill, gave him the special honor of being the first to sign his cast. It only took a few weeks for that cast to come off and for his arm to recover, but the entire time, Sora stayed by his side whenever he could, helping him with anything he needed, and constantly reminding him that the next time they climbed trees together, he was going to be the one who would win. And each time he did, Riku solemnly, silently promised him that he'd still be there next time too, to catch him if he ever fell again.
Riku can't help but smile fondly at the thought of the memory now as he glances back up at the sling his leg is hanging in. It still hurts, slightly, even despite the potion he'd just taken about an hour ago to quell some of that pain. Yen Sid and Mickey had both cast powerful curaza spells on the broken limb, but even then, a break like this needs time and rest to be fully restored to working order. It should only take a few days, much faster than his arm had taken to heal when he was a kid, but in those days, he's to be more or less confined to his bed, with his leg given all of the proper elevation it needs for the broken bones to set themselves back into place. And really, Riku doesn't mind waiting idle for a while if it means he'll soon be able to get back walking without any worries.
But that doesn't mean he isn't starting to get at least a little bored in doing so all the same.
Kairi and Axel had set out not long after Sora had left to keep the search for the Keys going in everyone else's absence. They had still been out on their own mission by the time the others had returned, and according to Yen Sid, they aren't set to return for another day or so. In the meantime, the others are all preoccupied with their own business; Mickey with filling Yen Sid in on what happened in the Realm of Darkness, Donald, Goofy, and presumably, Aqua, all catching up on some much-needed rest. And Sora… Riku assumes Sora is doing the same in the aftermath of his companions helping him patch up his own various injuries. At least until a soft knock at his door catches his attention.
"Who is it?" Riku calls. He puts down his Gummiphone, which he'd been absently scrolling through to occupy his empty time.
"It's me!" Sora's smile is bright as he pokes his head into the room. "And I have a surprise!"
"Oh boy," Riku smirks, not entirely sure his heart can take another one of Sora's more recent 'surprises'. "What is it this time?"
"I whipped up something I bet you haven't had in awhile," Sora's grin widens as he fully enters, toting a tray with two mugs sitting on it. Riku doesn't even need to think twice about what's in them.
"Coffee?" he asks all the same as Sora hands the steaming cup over to him.
"Yep," Sora nods, lifting his own mug, filled with hot chocolate and topped with plenty of whipped cream. "A third of a cup of cream and two sugar cubes. Just the way you like it.
Riku takes a small sip, relishing the crisp, familiar taste. "You made your own hot chocolate?" he asks Sora somewhat skeptically.
"Well, it's not like Kairi was here to do it for me, so… sure," he shrugs. It's a longstanding tradition between the three of them, one that started as soon as each of them were old enough to brew their own hot beverages and one that they deeply treasured back home. During the colder months on the Destiny Islands, or really just whenever they mutually felt like it, Sora, Riku, and Kairi would fix each other their favorite hot drinks to their preferred perfection. Riku has always had a taste for coffee (much to his parents' initial worry), and somehow Sora knows how to make it just right, with just enough cream and sugar to make it sweet, but not too sweet. Kairi fancies tea, particularly peppermint, and as far as she's concerned, no one knows how to prepare a piping pot of it for her better than Riku. Sora can't stand the taste of either tea or coffee, but his affinity for hot chocolate is undeniable, and Kairi creates an effective work of art each time she puts a mug together for him, complete with mini-marshmallows, cinnamon, and whipped cream. Sora's own attempt at recreating the elegant drink is a bit more sloppy, but it's enough to satisfy him in her absence all the same. Riku makes a mental note that he'll have to ask her to make him a proper mug of cocoa when she gets back from her mission, in exchange for a fresh cup of her favorite tea.
"What's the occasion?" Riku asks after taking another swig of his coffee.
"No occasion," Sora says as he pulls up a chair to Riku's bedside. "I just thought you could use a little pick-me-up. I… know what it's like to be stuck in bed way longer than you could ever want to be…"
Sora's smile finally falls at this, and it isn't lost on Riku. He knows he shouldn't ask, but he can't keep his persistent, practically nagging curiosity at bay any longer. He needs to know just how much he had missed. "Kairi told me some of what happened," he begins slowly, carefully. He notices the way Sora anxiously bites his lip as soon as he does. "That poison Maleficent used on you… did it… really paralyze you like that?"
Sora nods, his grip on his mug tightening as he stares into it nervously. "Y-yeah, I… I couldn't walk… I couldn't even move for the first week or so. The others had to-" He cuts himself off, forcing out a tight, fake laugh as he runs a hand through his hair, clearly embarrassed at the thought of how incredibly invald he'd been. "T-they had to feed me and wash me and everything. I thought I was gonna go crazy. I'm not so sure I didn't…" he mutters that last part, not wanting to meet Riku's sympathetic gaze as it falls on him.
"I should have been there," he says, shaking his head in shame. "I should have been there to help you get better. Really, I should have been there to protect you from whatever Maleficent's been planning to begin with."
"You couldn't have known," Sora counters, not adding the obvious 'because I didn't tell you'. "Besides, I… kind of let her capture me anyway. She was gonna hurt Donald and Goofy, a-and I couldn't just-"
"You couldn't just let that happen," Riku sighs almost tiredly, knowing Sora all too well. Including his tendency to sacrifice far too much far too often. Even so, his focus shifts when he notices that Sora has set his mug aside, his gaze absently locked onto his wrists as he rubs one of them gently. "Did… did she really chain you up?" Riku asks, the question feeling so incredibly wrong even as it comes out of his mouth. Mostly because he can't even picture Sora, of all people, helplessly, hopelessly bound to stone cold walls by unbreakable metal chains. He can't picture it, and he doesn't want to either.
Sora nods. His eyes are shining with oncoming tears that he's only barely able to hold back and suddenly Riku wishes he'd never even started this conversation. Clearly, it's bringing far too many bad memories back into the limelight. "S-she… I-I couldn't use my Keyblade to break out of them…" he recounts. Riku almost stops him, but he keeps going anyway, far too distraught to hold anything back now. "B-but I tried to escape, Riku, I really did try!"
"Sora," Riku tries interjecting. Sora doesn't hear him between the encroaching sobs building up between his short, panicked breaths.
"I tried b-but then she trapped me again a-and-"
"Sora-"
"And the chains, and the vines, a-and the poison-"
"Sora!"
"I-it hurt! It hurt so much and I couldn't do anything to stop it and I-and s-she-"
"Sora!"
He finally stops short with a startled gasp as Riku's call echoes through the room. He reaches out a hand to grip Sora's own trembling one tightly, cursing his own limited mobility all the while. Because if he could properly move, he'd pull Sora into a proper, comforting embrace in an instant. But for now, this will just have to suffice.
"It's ok," Riku says, trying to keep his voice as steady as possible. Even as shaken as the sight of the terrified tears pouring down Sora's cheek leaves him. "It's all over now. You're safe. And I don't care what I have to do-I will never let her hurt you ever again."
He means it too; because at that moment, the only thing he wants to do outside of calming Sora down, is to bring Maleficent to a swift and painful end for every awful thing she's ever done to them both.
"But what if you aren't there to stop her?!" Sora protests as he lets out another strained sob. "You weren't there when she showed up at Beast's Castle a-and I just… I froze up! I-I was so scared! She was gonna turn me into t-that… monster, into her pet again and if it had worked, she would have had me hurt you, I just know it! I don't want to hurt you, Riku!"
"And you won't," Riku counters calmly, squeezing Sora's hand slightly. "I know you won't. You never would."
"I-I don't… want to…" Sora repeats, and this time his voice is muffled as he presses his face against the side of Riku's bed, the tips of his hair lightly skimming his arm. Riku pulls his hand back to gently, soothingly run his fingertips through it.
"Sora," he says quietly, yet firmly. It's enough to divert Sora's still-tearful gaze up to meet his. "I am going to keep you safe from her. I'll never let her trap you or chain you up or poison you or control you ever again. And… I'll find a way to free you from all of the pain she's caused you. I promise."
"Y-you will?" Sora asks, almost as if he doesn't believe him. Almost as if he's been hurt too badly to think he'll ever truly be safe again. Grief grips Riku's heart when he realizes that's probably the case.
"Yes, I will," he nods solemnly, smiling as best as he can possibly manage. All while forcing his own approaching tears back under the surface. "I'll be there to protect you next time she comes for you. And when she does, it'll be the last time she ever will."
The edge of anger in Riku's voice is enough to fully convince Sora. He sits up, weakly wiping his tears away even as a pit of frustrated remorse starts settling in his stomach. Because this isn't how this is supposed to go. He isn't supposed to keep relying on others like Riku and Kairi to save and protect him. He's supposed to be able to protect himself. So then, why can't he?
"Riku," he says, taking in a deep, balanced breath. It's time to act on the source of the other half of the guilt swirling within him. Time to swallow his pride-whatever little of it he has left-and make amends. Ironic since, just a few days ago, he never would have dreamed of saying what comes out next. "I-I… I'm sorry."
Riku starts, completely caught off guard. "W-what?"
"I'm… sorry, for how I acted on that last mission," Sora clarifies, rubbing his arm as he glances away. "I was… Um, well… W-when you were named leader, I guess I was just… I was sort of-"
"Jealous?" Riku finishes where he's not able to get the word out.
"Y-yeah," he's flustered, still averting Riku's gaze as he rubs the back of his neck. "Jealous…"
"Sora… did you actually want to be the leader?" Riku asks, knowing that doesn't quite make sense. Sora is many things, has many talents in his own right; but leadership really isn't one of them.
"No, not really," Sora admits truthfully. "I just… I dunno, things got so weird after you became the leader. Suddenly we all had to listen to you a-and… I normally wouldn't mind that, but I just… I thought…" He sighs, annoyed with himself and how difficult this is proving itself to be. Even after all the times he's practiced it in his head before now. "I thought you were being super overprotective of me even before that. I didn't want you telling me what to do, I thought you were acting like you knew what was best for me, l-like you… like you were better than me-"
"Sora…" Riku speaks up. He isn't able to get much out however before Sora continues anyway.
"A-and then I was captured and I thought I couldn't just tell you what had happened because then you'd think I couldn't protect myself-" 'And I can't,' he almost adds shamefully. "And so much time had gone by anyway that I thought you'd just be angry that I didn't tell you, a-and well… you were. And to be honest, you… have every right to be mad at me. I shouldn't have kept this from you and I shouldn't have tried to buck heads with you. I was wrong, a-and… you were right to punish me for it. Even if I didn't really stay here like you told me to…"
For what seems like ages, Riku says nothing. Instead, he stares at him, his brow furrowed in what seems to be worry, his expression generally thoughtful as he tries to think of how to approach this. Sora has certainly humbled himself quite a bit just to admit any of this; Riku can't help but appreciate the effort, especially compared to how callous and haughty he'd been acting just a few short days prior. "I accept your apology," he says, his voice slow and soft. That could be it, that could be the end of all of it. But at the same time, it can't, not when there's still so much more that needs to be said. So much more that both of them need to say.
"Can I tell you something?" They both ask the same question, roughly at the same time. It's enough to elicit a bit of a chuckle out of Riku; Sora can barely even crack a smile. Not when he knows what he has to finally let Riku know the truth of what's happening to his heart. He has to reveal the only remaining secret standing between them.
"Y-you go first," Sora offers. He hopes that whatever Riku wants to tell him will be much easier to swallow than what he's preparing himself to explain. At the very least, it won't turn everything on its head in all the worst ways like what he's going to say will.
Riku complies after finishing off the last sip of his coffee. It's all but cold by now, but he hardly cares. Sora leans forward a bit to listen, but Riku hesitates to get his next words out. Hesitates to detail something that's so very difficult even this long after it's all over. "During our exam, when… when I found out that the Organization had… taken you, when I found out what they had wanted to do to you, I… I don't think I had ever been more afraid in my entire life."
Sora's heart sinks the moment he hears this, his eyes wide as he realizes where this conversation certainly must be going. He's just glad Riku is the one to bring it all up first so he won't have to. "O-Oh?" he inquiries, a meaningless question. One that Riku supplies a meaningful response to all the same.
"They had you," Riku shudders, closing his eyes as his head tilts up toward the ceiling. "They had you a-and they were going to turn you into one of his vessels, and I tried, I fought so hard to save you from them and I… it… still hadn't been enough."
No, it hadn't, Sora thinks miserably as his hand absently skims over his heart. His eyes feel warm with oncoming tears because he hates this, hates that he caused Riku such worry and fear, hates that he felt responsible the mess they'd both been dragged into, that he feels like he like what's happening to him is all his fault, even when he has no idea that it's happening to begin with.
But it's not Riku's fault, Sora knows that it's his. He had been the one who had stupidly fallen for the Organization's trap, who hadn't been strong enough to stand against them, who's slowly slipping through the cracks into their control even now. And he wants to tell Riku all of that, to lift the heavy weight of that guilt off of his shoulders and put it onto his own where it belongs, and yet-
"If Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and Axel hadn't shown up when they had, I… y-you… you might not even be here right now…" Riku admits, covering his eyes with his hand to suppress the tears building up in them. "Y-you'd belong to them, to him… a-and... it'd be all my fault…"
"R-Riku…" Sora barely manages to whisper. His hands are trembling from their spot in his lap, his breathing short and his body rigid. He doesn't know what to say; he wishes he knew what to say, but he doesn't. Because how can he possibly dare to try and venture what he knows needs to be said now, after hearing all this?
"I guess… that's why I've been a little overprotective of you lately," Riku admits with a short, bitter laugh. "I just… I can't stand the thought of losing you, Sora, not again. And that's why I meant what I said; I'm not going to let anyone, not Maleficent, not the Organization, not even Xehanort himself, hurt you ever again. After how I let you down before, I owe you nothing less."
Sora stays quiet for a long time upon hearing this. He tries his best to hold the panic in, to keep his spiraling shame from rising to the surface. He wants to tell Riku, he wants to tell Riku everything, to spill it all and keep no secrets standing in his wake. He wants to tell him that he hadn't been saved after all, that a piece of Xehanort's wicked heart had still managed to slip its way into his own, that he has no idea how much time he has left before he's forced to become something unspeakable. He wants to cry into his arms, to tell him how scared he is and how sorry he is for lying about such a deadly situation for so very long. He wants to tell him it's not his fault, that it never could be his fault, that he trusts him, perhaps more than anyone else, to help him find a way to fix this somehow.
He wants to tell the truth, more than anything in the world. But he knows that he can't.
Because he can't be the one to tell Riku that all of his courageous, selfless efforts had been for nothing. He can't tell Riku that his battle against the worst the Organization had to throw at him had been in vain. He can't tell Riku that he did fail, that he hadn't been enough, that he will end up losing him when it's all said and done.
He can't watch Riku suffer through any more worry, watch him carry any more guilt around because of him. He can't let his own unbearable burdens fall into the laps of his closest friends, not anymore. Not as long as there's still a chance he can find a way to solve this problem on his own. Even if he's all too quickly running out of time to find that solution.
"You'll just keep on lying to your friends and pretending everything's a-ok, and the entire time, the darkness in your heart is just gonna keep on growing, and nobody will ever suspect a thing until you're all suited up in a black coat, happily doing whatever your 'Master' tells you to." His phantom's treacherous words ring out loud and clear and hateful in his head. It was right, he knows it was right, knows that he's doing himself not a single favor in keeping this awful lie going.
But he's not doing this for himself; he's doing this for Riku.
So he does.
"Sora?" Riku speaks up after the stated silence has lingered between them for too long. "Wasn't there something you wanted to tell me too?"
Sora flinches, his mouth suddenly dry as he desperately tries to think of something to say. Fortunately he remembers his original reason for coming here to begin with and decides to lean heavily on that. It's much better than the alternative, after all. "Oh, yeah, uh… I… was talking to Aqua awhile ago," he says, not meeting Riku's gaze at all for the duration. "She wants to go wake Ventus up tomorrow, and… she asked me to go with her. But I'm still supposed to be, uh… punished, so I thought I'd ask you if it's ok if I went without you? I-I mean, since your leg still needs a few days to get better and all, a-and we should-"
"Sora," Riku interrupts him with a soft, warm smile. "Of course you can go."
"Oh," Sora blinks, caught off guard. "That was… a lot easier than I thought it would be…"
"Well, if you thought that was surprising, then get ready, because what I'm about to say next might just floor you," Riku chuckles fondly. "I'm lifting your punishment."
"What?!" Sora exclaims, his jaw dropping in shock. Riku laughs once more.
"You heard me. I'm letting you leave without my supervision. And better yet, once Kairi gets back, the two of you are free to travel together again as much as you'd like."
"Really?!" Sora beams, elated by the very thought. Even if he's still quite confused by it all the same. "B-but… why?"
"Sora, you saved my life back in the Realm of Darkness," Riku says, the pride and gratitude in his voice both clear. "And not just mine; you saved Aqua, and you even managed to save yourself somehow. After what happened back at Beast's Castle, I thought that… you weren't ready to drive any sort of darkness, either inside you or out, away on your own. I was… scared that you were in over your head and I wanted to help you, and I still do, if you'll let me. But I have to admit, you proved me wrong. You're more ready to face the darkness than I thought; you're much stronger than I thought, and underestimating you is a mistake I won't make again."
Sora falters at this, knowing that Riku hadn't been wrong; if anything, he's more right than he could ever know. Because Sora knows he isn't strong enough, he isn't ready enough to face the darkness inside him. Still, he pretends to accept such lofty adulation all the same. "W-well, I… I don't know what to say." He's not lying this time. Finding the right words when he needs to has become a constant, endless struggle throughout this entire conversation, it seems. "Thanks, Riku," he offers him a smile and he tries his best to make it look sincere. To not let the immense, incredible remorse hiding just behind it slip through the cracks.
Riku nods, though his smile does fade somewhat as his tone takes a bit more of a serious tone. "Now, I do have one condition when it comes to all this."
"Um, sure, what is it?" Sora asks, ready to do just about anything Riku asks at this point.
"No more keeping secrets."
Anything but that. "O-oh?" Sora sits up a bit straighter. He wonders if Riku can somehow see right through him, wonders if this is some sort of test. From what he can tell, the request seems to be on the level, but even then he can't be too sure.
"I don't want you lying to me or to Kairi or to any of the others anymore," Riku goes on sincerely, just a bit sternly. "We're a team, Sora. Teams don't hide the truth from each other. We need to be able to trust each other, especially now that we're so close to facing off against the Organization together. Do you understand?"
"Y-yes…" Sora answers quietly. Carefully. Guiltily.
"And you promise you're not keeping anything else from me?"
He swallows hard, his hands balled up into small, nearly shaking fists in his lap. Certainly Riku must be able to see how nervous he feels, how much he doesn't want to lie to him, how much he doesn't want to keep any more secrets from anyone else. But if he can see it, he says nothing to it. "I-I… I'm not," he says. His voice is distant, his words coming out dully, every last one of them leaving a bitter taste on his tongue. "I promise."
He has to, he reminds himself in the beat of silence that follows. For Riku. What other choice does he really have?
Riku smiles, satisfied by what he believes to be earnesty. Sora has no idea how he's gotten so apparently good at lying that he can convince even Riku that he means what he says when he so clearly doesn't. He's starting to wish it was a talent he didn't have. "Well, then you're free to go," Riku says. "Be careful tomorrow. I know Aqua won't let anything happen, but she just got back to the realm of light too; look out for each other, ok?"
Sora nods, barely listening. He's still in something of a daze, his eyes unfocused and his mind unsteady. This time, his silence isn't lost on Riku. "Sora?" Concern fills his features as he catches his attention. "Are you ok?"
Sora doesn't want to lie to Riku, and this time, at least, he doesn't. "N-no…" he admits, his voice small. "I'm not." He's not, for so many different reasons and in so many different ways. He hasn't been anywhere close to ok for a long time now.
"Is it something you want to talk about?" Riku asks, suspecting that it has something to do with his previous distress. About all of the turmoil his time in Maleficent's clutches has left him with.
"No…" Sora mutters, glancing down. He's overwhelmed with sudden despondency, the sudden desperation to not be left alone right now. He knows he has no right to ask Riku the request he poses to him next, but he does so anyway, for however selfish and stupid it might be. "I… c-can I stay in here… with you tonight? Please?"
"Well, you know, I'd normally say yes, but…" Riku trails off, his eyes wandering to the sling holding his leg aloft.
"I-it's ok!" Sora insists earnestly. "I won't take up a lot of space on the bed, a-and I'll be super careful, I promise."
Riku chuckles, playfully rolling his eyes as he recalls the countless nights they'd spent together back on the islands when they were younger. It's been quite awhile, he thinks, too long really, since they'd slept close in each other's comfort. "I know you will," he pats the space on the bed beside him. "Come on then. Just try not to toss and turn too much like you always do."
"I'll do my best," Sora finally smiles, kicking off his shoes before climbing into bed alongside him. As late as it is and as tired as the lengthy conversation has left them both, it dies out with a simple, soft spoken exchange of good nights. And after it does, it isn't long before Riku catches onto the sound of Sora's usual quiet snoring, his head lightly pressed against his chest and his hand finding a place resting not too far away from it. Riku smiles as he carefully brushes a few stray hairs out of his face, finding a much-needed sense of contentment in just how peacefully he's sleeping. Just how peaceful both of them are at the moment, and just how much he wants that peace to last for how hard they've both fought for it.
He might have failed Sora before; he might have failed to protect him from the Organization's twisted trap, from Maleficent's cruel cunning. But Riku had promised, and fully plans, to do anything and everything in his power to never fail him again. To be there by Sora's side, just like he is right now, whenever he might need him most.
To be there, to catch him the next time he falls. And every time after that too.
Aqua sets out from the Mysterious Tower as early as is courteous the next morning, and true to his word, Sora is up and ready to accompany her. Donald and Goofy also volunteer to travel with them, claiming that it's for the sake of backup in case they run into any potential trouble. Sora suspects there's a bit more to it than that, based on the worried looks they keep sending his way as the Gummi Ship soars toward its unknown intended destination. He's already assured them countless times since his return to the realm of light that he's fine, leaving any and all mention of his brutal fight with his phantom out of the conversation as he does. But considering he had been gone for a grand total of three days in regular time, the pair can't help but still be concerned all the same.
Even so, Aqua welcomes their company, her spirits high and hopeful as she guides their ship to a distant, seemingly deserted world. They find themselves upon a narrow, misty path that cuts through a vast, desolate, dark expanse, a road that seems to lead to nowhere. But Aqua confidently takes charge down it, knowing that every step they take is bringing them closer and closer to Ventus.
Still, that doesn't keep the trio accompanying her from having at least a few reservations about their mission.
"Are you sure about this, Aqua?" Goofy asks, a bit concerned.
"If you want, we can take you back to Master Yen Sid's tower to rest with Riku and the king," Donald suggests, looking between both Aqua and Sora as he says this.
Sora silently shakes his head at his companions, sending them the unspoken reminder that they don't need worry so much, either for him or the recently-returned master. And by all accounts, Aqua seems to agree with him. "Thank you," she smiles graciously. "But… Ven's expecting me. I promised to wake him. I told him… I'd be right back…" She sighs remorsefully. "But I'm not even close. I'm in for an earful…"
She manages a small smile as she presses on ahead, one that Sora tries to share, though it's a bit strained. Especially when he thinks about how he should be the one held much more responsible for Ventus' delayed awakening than her.
"Sora," Goofy speaks up a bit softer after Aqua's moved on ahead. "You ok?"
"Y-yeah," he answers, but the uncertainty in his voice is clear. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"Because we're about to wake Ven up and his heart is inside of yours," Donald points out matter-of-factly. "Aren't you just a little worried about what might happen to you once he's awake?"
"No, I'm not," Sora says, and he means it. After all, how could he possibly be worried for himself when he has so many other people to worry about instead? "We need to set Ventus' heart free from mine, just like we need to free Roxas and Xion. And we need to do it soon. If we don't, then…" He trails off, unable to repeat what his phantom had said to him. Unable to bear the thought that their hearts could end up every bit as cursed and corrupted as his own.
Donald and Goofy don't get the chance to press him any further, as their attention, as well as Sora's, is soon diverted to the only landmark this strange world has shown so far. Aqua approaches it steadily, coming to stop right before the massive, towering castle rising high above them. It's a bizarre, ominous, downright chaotic-looking structure, with spires jutting out in ways that don't make sense in the slightest, almost as if it had been broken and put back together again by a whirlwind rather than a builder. Its windows glow with a dull orange light in the gloomy darkness surrounding it, and silence permeates the gloomy, lifeless space around its perimeter. And, despite how strange it seems, despite the fact that they all know for a fact that they've never seen this mysterious castle before, Sora, Donald, and Goofy can't help but find that something rings oddly familiar about it all the same.
Silence lingers between the small group as they all stand before the castle's lofty doors, three of them completely unsure of what they'll find inside. Aqua, however, knows what, or rather who slumbers deep within the maze-like walls of the labyrinth she created 12 years ago. A labyrinth that only she possesses the power to unravel.
So she closes her eyes, taking in a few deep, meditative breaths to pull her complete, undivided focus into the great task ahead of her. She thinks of what her master had told her, the last words of wisdom he had been able to offer her before his untimely demise. The instructions to turn the world they'd once called home into something else entirely.
"Just use the key, and this land will be transformed," Master Eraqus had said and she had heeded him when she had needed to most. When she had needed to give Ventus the safe, peaceful resting place he deserved. "From that day forward, all who visit this land will be lost to oblivion, none ever able to solve the mystery. None, Aqua, except you."
None except her… and the key he had left her with. The Master's Defender finds its familiar place in her hand, the steadfast Keyblade she had reclaimed upon her return to the light. Her movements are slow, guided as she lifts the tip of her weapon up toward the castle doors beckoning a keyhole into existence. The moment that keyhole appears, light pours out of it, the ground shakes, and the trio is left awestruck by the immense power Aqua is able to call upon. She uses that power, every ounce of strength and magic and hope buried inside her heart, to thrust her Keyblade forward, to unlock a world that's long since been hidden away.
It resists her at first, as it should to anyone who might try to do what she is. But soon enough, she works her way through the layers of impenetrable defense she had once built, pulling away the veil that had cast this castle into shadow. And… she smiles when she sees it. The first faint glimpses of home shining through the darkness as she calls it back into the light.
Shapes and colors rise up over the castle, appearing to be almost a projection of what it used to be. They shift and stack, finding their way to their proper places on the face of the structure as parts of the castle itself move in turn to fit with them. The once-disjointed, mangled building pulls itself together swiftly, like pieces of a long-scattered puzzle finally falling into place. Dark, musty towers become white and pristine, sideways spires rise back into their former, glittering prominence. The blank and empty clouds above part to reveal a crisp, clear sky, and the brittle, decaying ground blooms to life with lush, vibrant greenery. It all unfolds so quickly, so suddenly, a stunning transformation that leaves the castle, the very world itself absolutely unrecognizable from the dead, lonely wasteland it had been moments before.
But Aqua recognizes it, knows it better than any world she's ever been to before. Because after over 12 years away, she's finally, truly home. She's returned to the Land of Departure.
She can't help but take pause, closing her eyes and taking in a deep breath of the warm, easy air she's spent so long dreaming of. Nostalgia washes over her in heavy ways, a tide of happy memories coming in with it. Of playfully sparring with Terra, of showing Ven around when he'd first arrived, of tending the garden with Master Eraqus. Of all the blissful, peaceful moments she still longs for… but in the lonesome, solemn silence that settles in just as the newly-restored castle does, she knows they're all so very far out of reach. She may be home, but it won't feel like home again, not until Ventus and Terra are standing here beside her.
So she turns back to the trio behind her. Donald and Goofy are still gaping in obvious awe at the incredible sight standing before them, and Sora is captivated by it too, albeit in a different way entirely. His gaze is locked upon the castle, his eyes wide and his breathing starting to shallow ever so slightly. This is home, his thoughts echo inside his mind warmly, yet waningly. I'm home. But he's not, this isn't his home, the islands are his home, but he's home, he's finally home, and-
Aqua speaks to him, suddenly pulls him out of the start of whatever this strange ravine is. "Are you ready, Ven?"
He starts, caught off guard by what she'd just called him. "W-what…?" he asks, but his voice isn't his own. He gasps, drawing a hand up to his mouth, only to notice that his gloves are gone, that his attire is completely different, that he looks completely different. That suddenly, he isn't himself at all anymore.
"Ven?" His head snaps up, as if on instinct, to the only other person present now outside of himself and Aqua. He stands on the stairs leading up to the castle's golden door, concern filling his features as he stares down at him intently. "Are you ok?"
"T-Terra?" he asks incredulously, scarcely able to believe his eyes. They've never met before, but his heart knows, the memories that don't belong to him know, he knows, and he's-
He's wrong.
Because when he happens to blink, everything has changed in an instant. The castle is gone, the blue sky tinged twilight as the pair standing before him is replaced. As he's replaced all over again.
"Terra?" Axel asks, raising an eyebrow at him. Xion shakes her head, just as confused. "What are you talking about, Roxas?"
"Huh? H-how did you…?" he trails off as a sharp spike of sudden pain pounds through his temples. The hand he presses against it is concealed by a black glove, a perfect match to the telltale coat he now finds himself wearing. "H-how did we… get here?" His voice hasn't changed, but his surroundings have; the familiar streets of Twilight Town sprawl out before him, its iconic clock tower rising high into the orange sky just above them.
"You lost or something, Roxas?" The scene stays the same, but the players in it change. Axel and Xion are gone; in their place, Hayner, Pence, and Olette gather before him with mutual worry on their faces. "We've been here this whole time!" Hayner exclaims, bewildered.
"Are you feeling alright?" Olette asks, reaching out a hand towards him. He stumbles back from it clumsily, his headache surging to near unbearable levels as he desperately tries to make sense of what's happening to him.
"N-no, something's wrong, I… I don't-" He stops short with a sudden shout as the same pain attacking his head hits his heart. Standing becomes a struggle, his footing unsteady as he yells even louder, unable to stop himself until his voice changes once more. Until he becomes her.
Her agonized wail dies out as a pair of hands fall upon her shoulders, shaking her gently. "Xion!" Roxas calls to her, clearly frightened by her poor condition. Axel stands by, just as ready to help her if need be, as the white walls of the Castle That Never Was surround them. "Xion, it's ok! We're here. You're alright."
"N-no, I'm not!" she protests, pulling away from him. She puts a hand up to her throat as her voice comes out, familiar, yet feminine. A stark shift from the two that came before it. Even so, she does her best to avoid looking at the unnerving black coat she's wearing. "I-I don't know what's happening, I-I can't-"
"You can't what, Vanitas?" He stills, sheer, unbridled terror surging through every fiber of his being as his master steps into view. Xehanort's expression is cold and unsympathetic as he leans in to inspect him, and he can't breathe, he can't move, he can't think-
The master says nothing more, silence echoing in the dry, decaying graveyard around them. But somehow, he manages to choke out a few sparse snippets of words in a voice that sounds much more like his own, but still very different. "I-I… I'm not-" He sobs, his head and his heart hurting so much, far too much to the point that he can't take it. But he gets no reprieve from it, not even as a much more comforting voice calls out to him next.
"Sora?" Riku's hand skims his arm. He opens his eyes to the sea sprawling out before them, the Destiny Islands just a few short steps behind them. Kairi grips his other arm protectively, securely.
"Shh," she quiets his weak, wavering whimpers. "You're home. Everything will be just fine."
But it's not fine, because when he looks down at the shallows of the sea they're standing in, he seems himself. And he sees his hair, as white as snow and his eyes as golden as Xehanort's own. He sees the monster he's so incredibly desperate not to turn into, but already has all the same.
He screams, in pain, in grief, in fear, in so many emotions that he can't even begin to process them all. He collapses to his knees, but he falls not into water, but to the ground. For the briefest of seconds, he's back in reality, back in the Land of Departure where Donald and Goofy and Aqua are all surrounding him, all trying their best to help him out of the chaotic storm he's found himself in.
"W-what's going on?!" Aqua asks, aptly alarmed as she watches Sora essentially double over, both of his hands gripping his head tightly. "What's happening to him?!"
"We don't know!" Donald professes. Both him and Goofy grip Sora's shoulders on either side to keep him held upright, even as he continues to mutter an incoherent series of disconnected words and names between his heavy, broken breaths. "This has never happened before… has it?"
"N-no, I don't think so?" Goofy replies just as tightly, unable to recall an instance where Sora had fallen apart like this. "W-what do we do?"
Aqua takes charge, kneeling down to Sora's level as she places a gentle, comforting hand against the side of his tear-soaked face. "Sora? Can you hear me?" she asks, but that's not what he hears.
"Ven?" she calls for him as he glances up at her, his vision blurred with tears. Terra's standing at her side now, leaning down a bit to look at him too. "Focus on me, ok? Everything's going to be just fine-"
"We'll figure out what's going on here," Axel picks up where she leaves off as his sights violently, suddenly shifts again. He feels like his head is going to explode from the pressure pounding through it, his stomach on the verge of caving in on itself from how dizzy and disoriented he is.
He does his best to focus on what Axel-no, Hayner? says to him anyway. "You'll be feeling better in no time, Roxas, promise."
But she doesn't feel better, she feels worse as her confused heart sends another surge of agony spiraling through her that she's powerless to stop. She falls forward, collapsing with a pitiful cry into Roxas's arms as Axel keeps a steadying hand pressed against her back. "S-stop..." she cries miserably, still in a voice that doesn't belong to him. "M-make it stop… please…"
Roxas opens his mouth to speak, but before any words can come out he's gone. The tip of Xehanort's blackened Keyblade slides under his chin and slowly, gently lifts his gaze up toward him. "Stop?" the master smirks twistedly, raising an eyebrow at him. "Oh, no, my boy. There's no stopping what's only just begun…"
Amidst the frozen cold fear piercing it, he feels as though his heart is about to shatter at any moment, even as Xehanort disappears. Riku and Kairi stand before him, their once-kind expressions shifted to shock and horror at the mere sight of him. At the blood-tipped claws his fingers have turned into.
"Sora…" Riku shakes his head in disbelief. In disdain even. "What's happening to you?"
"I-I don't know," he manages to croak, his voice small and shaken. "I don't know…" he repeats, pressing his hands against his head once more. His claws dig into his hair, into his scalp, and though he feels no pain from that, his head is still flooded with agony, with a torrential tide of places and faces and memories he can't stop no matter how hard he tries. "I don't know!" he screams at the top of his lungs, each word coming out in a different voice, none of them his own.
Not that he even really knows what his own voice sounds like anymore. He doesn't even know who he is anymore to begin with.
Donald and Goofy can hear what he's saying, as can Aqua. But none of them have the faintest idea as to what he's seeing that's causing him so much distress. His eyes are wide but unfocused, darting around constantly at the visions blinking in and out of existence for him. He's gotten to the point that he's hyperventilating, his skin pale and his entire body shaking, his forehead feverishly hot yet covered in a cold sweat all the same.
"He's not well," Aqua concludes as she pulls the back of her hand away from it. "I think we should take him back to the tower. At least until he's feeling better."
"But what about waking up Ven?" Goofy asks with a fretful frown.
Aqua takes pause at this, casting a wistful glance at the castle behind her. Ven is right there, right there, just past that door, only a few short steps away after years of being so far out of her reach. She could wake him up, have him back on his feet, back with her in a matter of minutes, she knows she could. And yet…
And yet here's Sora, strained and suffering before her. Here he is, curled up into a tight, trembling ball, his body heaving as he whispers tiny, terrified pleas for release from something none of them can even see. "S-stop…" he whimpers and her heart practically snaps in two when she hears him. "Stop, p-please… I… I don't know who I… w-who are… w-what's… I-I can't… please…just… stop..."
Aqua sighs, knowing what she has to do. "I'm sorry, Ven," she whispers back toward the castle. "Just a little longer, ok?"
Her intention is clear as she gently slides her arms under Sora, moving even slower when he starts to lash out in a blind panic. But it's ok, his addled, scattered mind thinks, because Aqua is lifting him, Axel is carrying him, Hayner and Pence are supporting him, Roxas is protecting her… but Xehanort is dragging him, Riku is pushing him away. So he sobs, scared, as he throws his arms out in a weak, wavering attempt at getting away from them all.
But Aqua doesn't falter as she hoists him up to rest on her back, ready to carry Sora in the very same way she'd carried Ven here before. "Alright," her voice is resigned as she looks to Donald and Goofy. "I guess it's time to go-"
"No!" Sora suddenly shouts, startling them all. Because he happens to hear her in the briefest moment of clarity he gets. He tries his hardest to stay grounded in it, to not let himself slip into another place, into another life that doesn't belong to him. "W-we can't…" The words struggle their way out as he fights back against the bile filling his throat, against his sickened stomach forcing it upward. "W-we gotta… wake… Ven-w-wake… m-me… up…"
Aqua stills upon hearing this. "Sora…" she whispers. He only hears her call him Ven once more instead, already falling back into the redundant round of memories he's fallen victim to. He winces against them as his head lolls downward, unable to even find the strength to keep it held upright for as heavy as it currently feels.
Donald and Goofy exchange a worried glance as they start to reach the same conclusion Aqua already has. "Do you think… maybe…?" Goofy begins, daring to hope in something that might not even work.
"Waking Ven up will help Sora?" Donald finishes, just as uncertain. "I don't know…"
The pair looks to Aqua for a final verdict on the matter. Her lips are pressed into a thin, indecisive line as she looks between Sora settled against her shoulder and the castle standing before her. She doesn't like the thought that comes to her next, that Ven's heart, desperate to escape and to return to its rightful owner-that both of them being here in the same place for the first time-is somehow making Sora so sick. But she doesn't know how any of this works, no one else seems to either. For all any of them know, that could be exactly the case. Which means that there's more of a rush than ever before to separate their blending hearts before there's no line left to distinguish them at all.
"You heard him," she says, her tone resolved as she turns back toward the castle doors. She makes sure she still has a steady grip on Sora all the while, ready to carry him as far she has to. For as much as she's come to care about him in the short amount of time that she's known him, she'll settle for nothing else. "Let's wake up Ven."
He doesn't know how long it goes on for. What he does know is that it's a vicious, violent cycle that never seems to end. A constantly ticking clock, a turning wheel, an unsteady shore that shoves him into the shoes of someone else with each passing moment, over and over again without any sort of break in sight. One minute, he's in the Land of Departure, the next, in Twilight Town, then after that, in a castle or a graveyard or on the Destiny Islands. His hair is brown, but then it's blonde, but then it's black, but then it's white. He wears a comfortable black jacket with red trimming before it turns white and black, then just white, then its a black coat, then its a black coat again, then it's a black bodysuit before its just a black jacket again. He's called so many different names by so many different people, each of them only showing up for the sparsest of seconds before they're gone all over again. He's assaulted on all sides by thoughts and feelings that aren't his, by fear and happiness and anger and remorse and confusion and everything in between. Eventually, he stops speaking, stops begging for it to stop because it won't stop, it can't. As his master said: "There's no stopping what's only just begun…"
So it doesn't. So he's Ventus. Then he's Roxas. Then she's Xion. Then he's Vanitas. Then he's Sora.
Then Ventus, then Roxas, than Xion, than Vanitas, then Sora.
Ventus, Roxas, Xion, Vanitas, Sora.
Ventus, Roxas, Xion, Vanitas, Sora.
Ventus
Roxas
Xion
Vanitas
Sora-
Then… there's a pause. A brief respite in the cycle, however short it might be. His vision is burry, unfocused as someone sets him carefully down on the ground (Was he being carried? Why doesn't he remember that?) Two other sets of hands support him, holding him upright; he can't tell who they belong to, can't make out anything they're saying. But he can see something in the bright, wide-open room they're all in. He can see a tall chair, one of three on the raised dias on the farthest end of the room. And sitting fast asleep in that center chair… is a boy.
"V-Ventus…" he whispers, his mind clearing from the haze it's hanging under, if only for a moment. But his chest still sizes in pain, one of the hearts within pounding against his own, begging for release he doesn't know how to give it. And that's all he gets before he's pulled back under the waves of interchanging identities, none of which he can properly claim, not even his own.
Except now…
He doesn't just see through the eyes of one of those identities. He sees just one of their lives play out for him instead.
Arriving at this very castle, not a single memory to his name.
Meeting Aqua and Terra, forming a slow, yet steadfast friendship with them both over time.
Training with them under Master Eraqus' tutelage, striving for excellence as a future Keyblade Master.
That last night they'd spent together under the stars.
Leaving his home behind that fateful day, traveling to so many new and exciting worlds in search of his friends.
Of his decisive battle against Vanitas, the forging and shattering of the X-Blade, of the long, still-lasting slumber his body had been forced into.
And…
Of the kind, bright, young heart that had openly, eagerly sheltered his own battered, broken one.
The heart that his is still trapped-no, still resting within, safe and secure, even now.
Aqua lets out a fretful sigh as she watches Donald and Goofy prop Sora up between them. He's swimming halfway in and out of consciousness, his eyes dull and half lidded and his breathing inconsistent and tenuous. She can't imagine what he's really going through, but what she does know is that she wants to put a stop to it as soon as she can. And as far as she knows, there's really only one way she might be able to do that.
"Don't worry about Sora," Goofy assures her with a smile. Their ailing young companion's head rests in his lap while Donald tries casting a cursory healing spell, one that does nothing to relieve Sora's current compromised condition. "We'll take good care of him."
"It's our job after all," Donald adds, though his smile falters somewhat as he says it. Almost as if he's worried they're not doing a good enough job of taking care of who they strive to protect most. Aqua can relate.
"Right," she nods, turning to the trio of thrones before her. "Then I suppose I should do my job too…" She allows herself a ghost of a smile as she begins to approach him, slowly at first, though she soon finds she can't stand even this short of a distance between them any longer. She runs to Ventus' side, stopping as she reaches the side of his chair. He looks the exact same as he had the day she'd left him there. He hasn't changed or grown an inch, much like she hasn't, both of them left out of time's loop for 12 straight years. That's something that's about to change, or at least… she hopes it will.
"Ven…" Her voice wavers as she says his name. She reaches out to place a tender hand against the side of his face. He doesn't move or stir in the slightest, his head hanging low and his eyes shut in his ceaseless slumber. She doesn't even try to hold back her tears as she pulls his still body close for a careful hug. His head unconsciously falls against her shoulder as she does. "I'm sorry I took so long… But I'm here now," she smiles amidst a small sob as she pulls away from him. "It's time to wake up…"
She waits, for a patient, yet breathless beat, wondering if her voice alone will be enough. But of course, it's not; it hadn't been back then, why would it be now? Still, that doesn't stop her from trying. "Ven, please," she whispers tensely, shaking him by the shoulder ever so slightly. "Y-you… you have to open your eyes. I-I need you to, and… and so does Sora…" She flinches as she hears Sora let out another sharp, strained, painful cry behind her. She can only hope Ven can somehow hear it too, can somehow sense just how much agony the heart harboring his own is going through, can understand just how much that heart deserves to be free from that agony. "H-he said… your heart is in his, a-and now you're both here so…" She trails off, not knowing what to do with that information. She should, she's a Keyblade Master, and she should know how to deal with situations like this with grace and ease but she doesn't. She bites her lip as her gaze drifts back over to Sora, still completely out of it. Even now that he's here, that Ven's heart is here, it seems to be having no effect on his slumbering body. It's not working, she thinks mournfully, it's not working and Ven is still asleep and Sora is still suffering and nothing is as it should be. It all hits her at once, harder than any blow she's ever sustained in any battle in her life as she realizes:
She doesn't know how to wake Ven up. Even over ten years later, she doesn't know how to help him when he needs her to most. She doesn't know how to help him or Terra or Sora or anyone else. Some Keyblade Master she's turned out to be.
At a loss, she half collapses against his chair, still holding onto him as she lets her tears flow freely, her face hot with anger and shame. She doesn't bother glancing up when she hears distant footsteps slowly approaching from the far end of the Grand Hall. But her head snaps up the instant she hears the unnervingly familiar voice that comes with them.
"What a bittersweet reunion we have here…" Aqua tenses up, as do Donald and Goofy when they turn to face him. He saunters across the hall at a slow, almost casual pace, and a bit more of his helmet has been damaged since the last time the trio had seen him. His mouth and one of his eyes are both partially visible beyond the broken black glass, though that eye is almost entirely concealed by the spikes of jet black hair peeking out from under it. Even so, Vanitas grins smugly, his sights set solely on Ventus' resting form as he continues his approach. "I hate to interrupt it, but I'm on a tight schedule. So let's get this over with."
"You…" Aqua hisses hatefully. The Master's Defender quickly forms in her hand as she takes a defensive step forward, positioning herself squarely front of Ven. Likewise, Donald and Goofy both try to pull Sora's still listless form behind them as much as they can, knowing that he's in just as much danger as Ven is so long as Vanitas is around.
Vanitas' icy grin widens just the slightest bit as he shifts his gaze over to Aqua briefly. "That was a neat trick you pulled off," he says smoothly. "No wonder no one could find him."
Aqua ignores him; this is no time for any of his twisted games and she knows that. Refuses to let him get to her like he did far too many times 12 years prior. "Why are you here?" she asks harshly. She wishes her sharp glare was enough to pierce him all the way through so this could be over right here and now.
"What, it's not obvious?" Vanitas asks, finally coming to a stop near the center of the room. Far too close to Sora for comfort, Aqua notes anxiously. "You wouldn't really begrudge me a moment with my brother, would you?"
"Believe me, I would," Aqua sneers, though before she can make a single move to stop him, Donald and Goofy charge forward first. The pair call upon their weapons, ready to do whatever they can to defend Sora and Ven alike when neither of them can defend themselves. Vanitas hardly spares either of them a passing glance, however, as he simply waves his hand out broadly. Bright, glittering spires of light marred with jagged lines of contrasting darkness burst up out of the floor, coming together to form a strong, sturdy wall that pushes the pair out of his path with a surprising amount of force. It's only as another wave of those spikes pin them to the nearby wall that Donald and Goofy exchange a stunned glance, realizing just how oddly similar Vanitas' bizarrely powerful strain of magic seems to be to what Sora had demonstrated in the Land of the Dead. Certainly, that can't be a coincidence, right?
Even so, he continues his slow walk forward, though he does stop short just shy of Sora lying on the floor before him. Aqua watches Vanitas carefully, distrustfully, ready to charge at him the moment he tries something. But strangely, he's silent, his expression initially unreadable, almost as if he's searching Sora's semi-conscious form for… something. She doesn't know what, and she also doesn't understand why Vanitas suddenly gasps, as if startled by something as he abruptly clutches the side of his partially-helmeted head, almost like he's in pain. A cross, cruel look flashes across his features, and suddenly, his boot slams into Sora's side with an incredible amount of force, enough to send him rolling forward several feet. The anguished cry that escapes him, yet another to add onto the far too many she's had to hear from him today, is enough to rattle and downright enrage Aqua to her very core.
She launches herself at him with a furious shout, but her Keyblade only hits open air as she swings it. Vanitas vanishes before she can even touch him, though it doesn't take her long to find his new spot high above her. "What?!" she exclaims, spinning around to face the thrones once more. Vanitas sits squarely upon the raised back of Ventus', his 'brother' still slumbering obliviously just below him.
"So," he says, his tone and expression feigning boredom. "Venty-Wenty wants to keep on sleeping." He shakes his head, a hand perched upon his chin as he scowls down at Ventus disdainfully. "What am I ever going to do with you…?"
"You won't do a single thing to him as long as I'm around!" Aqua snaps, leaping high to knock him down a peg, literally. Vanitas doesn't even seem to notice as she begins to bring her Keyblade toward him, at least until he summons his own just in time to counter it.
"You better simmer down there, 'Master'," he taunts, smirking in response to the vicious glare she offers him. He pushes her back hard, and throws a bit of his strange new magic in for good measure. A heavy burst of darkened light strikes her chest squarely, throwing her toward the entrance of the room, even further back than Donald and Goofy had been forced. The blow stings, but it's nowhere near as bad as what she has to watch happen next. "Might as well wrap this up already," Vanitas remarks, both to himself and to Ventus sleeping below him. "There's only one thing we still need…"
His focus narrows, not on Ventus this time, but on Sora. Donald and Goofy are shouting, and Aqua's already back on her feet running by the time Vanitas instantly teleports back down to his level. But the steady wall of varying Unversed he produces is more than enough to stop all three of them from interfering with his plans.
A frail, bloody cough escapes Sora as he absently clutches the side Vanitas had kicked him in, but the pain of the blow pales in comparison to the absolute torture that his head and heart are still going through. He comes out of yet another cycle of identities to see one of those very people he'd just been seconds ago standing over him. Ventus, Roxas, and Xion all make sense, he understands why he'd see their memories, speak with their voices with their hearts all inside his own. But having that same sort of connection to Vanitas, of all people, is a mystery he can't even begin to try to solve at the moment. Not when he's sure the few seconds of reality he's been granted are all too quickly slipping away from him anyway.
"What's the matter?" Vanitas scoffs down at him, his tone dry and pitiless. "No smart-alec remarks this time around? Or are you just having a hard time coming to grips with all the lives you've stolen?"
"W-what…?" Sora barely manages to ask. The question is completely aimless though; he knows exactly what Vanitas is talking about. Because his bitter accusations sound so, so very much his phantom's to the point that it's downright uncanny. Their voices even sound practically the same, how is that even possible?
"I think it's time someone ought to relieve you of at least one of them," Vanitas grins, slinging his Keyblade over his shoulder. "Look on the bright side; at least your days of being the middleman for a heart that doesn't belong to are just about over. In fact," his manic smile widens as he poises the tip of his weapon high above Sora's exposed chest. "Your days are about to be over altogether."
Unable to summon his Keyblade, unable to defend himself in the slightest as weak and weary as he currently feels, the most Sora can do is close his eyes and brace himself for the inevitable ending blow. And really, a part of him just wants Vanitas to go ahead and do it, to set them all free here and now, to set him free right along with them.
"Don't worry, my sad, sorry little 'twin'," he says, and Sora doesn't know what he means by calling him that. By saying they're 'twins', because they're so clearly not. At least as far as he can see. "I'll put you out of all that misery you're in. And I'll even go to the trouble of making it nice and quick. You won't feel a thing, I promise."
Sora doesn't know why or how he's able, but he happens to glance back up at Vanitas one final time upon hearing this. The sinister smile on his face is enough to tell him he has not a single care in the world for the life he's about to snuff out, just as long as he gets what he wants in the process. Sora can't help but wonder if finally getting that want will actually make someone like Vanitas happy, not that he even knows what he really wants to begin with.
But then... as he happens to catch just the slightest glimpse of Vanitas' only visible orange eye, something shifts. Suddenly, Sora is the one standing over Vanitas, ready to end it all. Suddenly, somehow, they're looking through each other's eyes. And neither of them like what they see in the slightest.
They both scream simultaneously, their voices almost sounding identical as they echo across the Great Hall in equal agony. Sora grips the sides of his head as he curls in on himself and Vanitas stumbles back, his Keyblade disappearing as it falls out of his grip. In the slow, strenuous seconds that follow, the awful torrent of emotions that attack them both is exactly the same:
Grief, at being torn away from the heart he'd been born from.
Confusion, at the unknown meaning of his own miserable existence.
Loneliness, at being abandoned in an empty, silent wasteland.
Anger, at his oblivious other half, at his cruel master, at the twisted creatures that spawn from his heart as a result of that anger.
Pain, as he realizes that no matter what he does, no matter how many Unversed he destroys, he'll never truly be whole.
Hatred, for the worlds and everyone in them, for Aqua and Terra and Xehanort and Ventus, for himself most of all.
And like always, it's all entirely too much to take.
The Unversed multiply rapidly throughout the room, but Aqua forces her way through them, especially as she sees just the opening she needs. Vanitas is unarmed, unsteady, and she's not about to waste the opportunity that's being given to her on merely asking why. She rushes at him, not even bothering to attack with her Keyblade as she instead doles out the same sort of blow he'd landed on Sora just moments ago.
"Get away from him!" she shouts fiercely. Her foot connects with his midsection and he goes flying, well past Sora, back toward Ventus instead. She positions herself protectively in front of Sora, realizing that he has what Vanitas wants more at the moment as opposed to what Ventus lacks. A heart namely, that still hasn't found its way back to where it belongs.
"A-Aqua…?" She somehow hears Sora's voice behind her, soft and strained as it might be. Briefly, she notices Donald and Goofy beating back as many Unversed as they can to make it back to their place by his side. A reassuring sight to say the least, just as much as Sora starting to slightly sit up on his own is.
"It's ok," She tries her best to manage a small, comforting smile. Even though her knuckles are white as her grip on the Master's Defender tightens from the stress of it all. "I'll protect you."
"B-but…" Sora trails off, unable to really get much more out. He still reaches a shaking hand out toward her all the same. Aqua's just enough within his reach to take it and give it a gentle, comforting squeeze.
"You've seen me weak too often," she continues with a small, shameful sigh. "Now it's my time to shine. We'll wake Ven up together when this is over, ok?"
She doesn't give Sora a chance to answer, even if he could. Because Donald and Goofy have finally reached him, are finally supporting him and trying their best to ease his beleaguered state. Because Vanitas is starting to pick himself back up, his breathing ragged as he uses his Keyblade to prop himself up. Because she casts a spell to create a study force field around her and her longtime foe, ready to finish this decade-old fight once and for all.
Vanitas says nothing, his footing still not quite solid as he forces himself into an offensive stance. Aqua might be moved to feel a bit sorry for him, if she didn't know what he's truly capable of. So she brandishes her Keyblade and begins the brawl, flying forward to get in the first strike. Her weapon bounces off Vanitas' and he swears under his breath as he stumbles back, falling into the shield she's created. She's fought him before, several times actually, but he's never been as off his game as he is now. It's a promising advantage Aqua isn't willing to put to waste, not when Ven and Sora are both counting on her.
But then Vanitas throws his hand out before he can even properly pick himself back up. She's expecting a horde of Unversed to come along with it, but that unknown strain of magic does instead. White, deadly spikes are thrown at her, and Aqua has enough wits about her to dodge out of their path with a graceful flip. But Vanitas is clearly desperate, so he keeps going, a heavy shout ripping from his throat as he lets even more untamed magic fly. Aqua hears Sora echo his scream across the room and she doesn't understand why, what the connection between the two of them is that's causing all this. But she does understand that Sora is in pain, Ventus is still asleep, and Vanitas… well, Vanitas is simply an obstacle standing in her way to getting them the help they both clearly need.
She deflects his next burst of magic, launching her own wave of ice in the hopes of pinning it down. Vanitas shatters the frozen shards with his Keyblade, forcing himself back onto his feet and into a run towards her. Aqua easily rolls out of the path of his next swing, and this time he manages to jump out of the path of hers. They keep this rhythm going for a while, dodging and blocking back and forth as Aqua leads the struggle while Vanitas simply struggles to get an edge in it. But the battlefield Aqua's force field has created is small, purposefully so, and her strikes come hard and heavy. And as Vanitas starts to feel his energy begin to wane just as much as his focus already has, he decides much more aggressive tactics are in order.
He pauses, only for a moment, to take stock in his options. His gaze drifts over to Sora first, still limply lying between his companions, murmuring soft incoherencies about memories that aren't his. He's too well-protected by the king's pair of lackeys, Vanitas realizes, and even then, he's not that keen on getting that close to his 'twin', not after what happened last time. But then… he looks over at his other "brother", still quietly sleeping away, and he comes up with the perfect plan to put this so-called "Master" in her place.
Aqua watches as a flame spell starts to build up over the tip of Vanitas' Keyblade, and she prepares herself to deflect it. But nothing could prepare her for when he sends that fireball flying, not at her, but at Ventus. It moves too fast for her to stop it, and though it lands against her shield, it leaves a massive, damaging crack in its surface all the same. One that could bring the whole thing crumbling down in seconds if struck again, leaving Ventus completely and utterly defenseless in its wake.
Which is why, when she sees Vanitas' Keyblade ignite once more, sees the sheer danger Ven is about to be in, she doesn't think. She simply acts, jumping ahead of the brutal attack just in time to take the very brunt of it. She doesn't even have enough time to lift her Keyblade, so the flames hit her hard and hot, an agonized scream pouring out of her mouth the moment they do. Her skin is scorched, her clothes smoldering as she's thrown backwards hard, her pain exploding tenfold the moment she hits the ground. And in seconds, Vanitas is upon her, ready to finish the job.
What happens next unfolds far too fast and far to slowly all at once. Vanitas raises his Keyblade high above Aqua's burned, barely conscious body. Donald and Goofy share a horrified cry and Sora suddenly bolts upright, her name torn out of his throat in a frightened shout that's both his and someone else's. And then…
And then…
It all stops.
Vanitas' Keyblade is stalled, Aqua still as ever on the ground before him. Donald and Goofy slowly freeze in place and all goes silent. The endless turn of identities pause and he's left as himself for a change, the faded faces of forgotten memories finally leaving him alone. The only thing he can hear is his own tense, tight breathing as the ground gently gives way under him, as the hall and everyone in it disappears into darkness. As he begins to fall quietly through that same darkness too.
But then he sees it. A point of reference in the nothingness he's found himself in, a stained glass station, glowing dimly in the darkness. He sees himself in that glass as he floats high above it, but thick, hungry shadows swirl around the edges of the circle he's etched upon, threatening to consume its surface completely. The very same shadows eating away at his very own heart.
A voice cuts through the quiet, and he hears it, faint and fragile as it may be. "I… have to wake up…" He says, Ventus says. But there's a clear sort of hesitance as he does, one that Sora hears, and he hates because he knows exactly where it's coming from.
"Yes," he agrees, immediately, instantly. Because Ventus should have been woken up such a long time ago. He should have never had to wait this long to begin with. "Please, tell me what to do."
But he doesn't. Ventus says nothing more. His silence is practically deafening to Sora. "P-Please," he begs, his voice echoing through the void all around him. "You have to help me! You have to help Aqua! I-I don't know what to do to wake you!" He admits mournfully, painfully, because he never has. The only thing he does know is that he's fallen pathetically short when it comes to helping all three of the hearts within his own. Something he has to change, needs to change right here and now. "I don't have the power of waking, o-or the Key to Return Hearts! I just… I… I need to save you somehow…" his words fizzle out into a soft, sad whisper. They're meant not just for Ventus, for Roxas and Xion too. A message for all the heart's he's failed so far. "Before… b-before it's too late…"
His heart aches and he sees it dim below him. Sees the shadows slowly creep in to further tear him down in his most desperate moment. But then…
"Don't you see?" Ventus speaks to him again, his voice calm and comforting. "You already saved me…"
A memory plays out on the stained glass below him, one that belongs not just to one of them, but both of them this time. It's something that Sora had long since forgotten, something he doesn't remember until now, when he sees himself standing there, much younger-much more innocent, he thinks bittersweetly-with a small orb of light hovering just over his hands.
"I heard your voice," Ventus' heart speaks but his voice is weak, waning. Fading. "It cut through the darkness around me. I followed the sound into a sea of light… and found myself here, with you. You gave me something back when I needed it most… a second chance…"
Sora sighs when he hears this, knowing that what might have been a second chance back then has only turned into something far less hopeful now. Still, the faded memory continues all the same. "I did?" his younger self asks curiously, obliviously.
"Yeah. But… now I have to go back to sleep again…"
"Are you sad?"
Ventus' heart is quiet for a long moment. When he speaks again, the question he poses is solemn and earnest and simple enough. "Would you mind if I stayed here… with you?"
"Sure, if it'll make you feel better," his younger self smiles, and Sora finds himself doing the same. Because the warmth that had filled his heart at that moment, the warmth that blossoms in his heart even now, is so rich and real and radiant that he can't help but long for it to stay.
"Thank you."
The orb of light, Ventus' heart, disappears inside his younger self's. And there it stayed, for 12 long years. And there it still is, even at this very moment.
"You've been keeping me safe from the very beginning," Ventus says to him as the memory disappears. "It's only fair that I stay here… and return the favor."
A bright, brilliant light suddenly pulses across the stained-glass station. Repulsed by its purity, the shadows invading it retreat and retract, the darkness held at bay for just a little longer. Even so, Sora is hardly satisfied by it.
"B-but you can't stay here!" he insists, distraught. "It's not safe here for you, o-or for anybody else! Xehanort could-"
"I'm not afraid of what Xehanort might do to me," Ventus counters steadily. "I'm afraid of what he's doing to you. But if there's a way I can stop it, or even just slow it all down, then I'm willing to do whatever it takes to help."
"E-even if it means you'll never wake up?" Sora asks, his tone almost harsh as his hands curl into fists. "Even if that means there's no one left to help Aqua or Terra?" Ventus goes silent once more at this. Sora knows he's brought up something even he can't argue, not this time. "Ventus, please, listen to me," he begins with a leveling sigh. "I appreciate everything you've done for me, I'm glad that you want to help me, but… you can't just give up everything so you can try to keep me safe. You have your own life, and you deserve a chance to live it again. You deserve to wake up, to be free! So please," he closes his eyes, hangs his head, hopes that this desperate, earnest plea will somehow work. "Tell me what I can do to make that happen…"
He doesn't know how much time passes before Ventus speaks again. At first, he fears he's failed, fears that one of the hearts he needs to save really doesn't want to be saved after all. At least, until Ventus reluctantly offers him what he's been waiting to hear. "T-the power of waking…" he says quietly, anxiously almost. "That's what you need to use."
If Sora wasn't looking at his own heart right now, he's sure it'd be sinking at the mere mention of that frustratingly elusive power. "I can't," he admits shamefully. Because even now that he has the answer he's been looking for, the solution is still so far out of reach. "I still don't have it yet…"
"You never lost it… It sleeps until someone needs it most… Call to it."
"I am calling," Tears are brimming in his eyes as he closes them once more. Because he wants this, he's wanted this for so long now. The chance, however small, to free even just one of the hearts within his own. The chance to finally set all that has been wronged right. "I'm calling with all of my heart…"
The Kingdom Key takes up its usual place in his hands as he gently glides down to the surface of the station. The shadows that cling to its rim race for him the moment they sense him, but he ignores their rapid approach. They have no part in what he needs to do now.
Light circles around the tip of his Keyblade, reflecting on the station's surface. A Keyhole forms and he doesn't hesitate to unlock it. That same light spills out from the unbound Keyhole, pushing the shadows back once more. In fact, they seem to fade completely as he lightly floats away from the station once more, watching as it's surface starts to change. As his image becomes Ventus' instead.
Even still, he knows he isn't finished. Perhaps it's the power of waking, perhaps it's Ventus himself, perhaps it's simply instinct, or perhaps it's something else entirely that prompts him onward, but now, he knows what he needs to do. He points his Keyblade at the long-lost heart before him.
And he finally, finally sets it free.
"Sora," Ventus says as all turns white around them both. As they both begin to make their way back to the world of waking. "Thank you for always keeping me safe… I only wish... I could have done the same for you…"
"You already have," Sora echoes warmly just as their long-connected hearts begin to part ways.
An orb of liberated light rises out of the station, out of the heart it's called home for so long. That light easily finds its way back to where it longs to be, back to where it's always belonged.
And… for the first time in over ten years, Ventus opens his eyes.
Ohohohoh! Left you on a bit of another cliffhanger there, didn't I? I would consider it a cliffhanger, because what happens in the next chapter as a result of alll this doesn't quite play out the same as it does in KH3 (get used to it by now ahaha). Either way I will say that what is coming next will be... pretty interesting. I'm glad to finally be at this part of the story where I'm bringing so many characters back into the story, and I've really been looking forward to writing Ven, so the next chapter will be a lot of fun for me :) Either way, like always please don't forget to show some love in the REVIEWS! Until next time!
