The Land of Departure had never been too crowded. Ever since Aqua knew her mind, it had always been Master Eraqus, Terra and herself; that is until Master Xehanort brought Ventus to them. However, besides the young boy nobody had ever joined their little family at the large and spacious castle, which Master Eraqus apparently designed in honor of the place where he himself had been a pupil. She walked through its many halls and corridors countless times, knew every inch and corner of it by heart. It warmed her heart to be there again with the two boys whom she had loved more than anything in the world.

Aqua stood in front of a large, ornate glass, peering outside into the morning. The verdant valley around the building was beautiful as ever, filled with life. Hills and mountains rose in the distance, and lush forests lay beneath them. The sound of a thousand tranquil rivers echoed throughout the land, joined by the hymns sung by the birds of a hundred kinds. She had sorely missed this place, and yet a tinge of hollowness had crept into her soul as she tried to resume her everyday life. The loss of Master Eraqus had finally dawned on her, and now that they were all free of Xehanort's grasp and schemes, she had to recollect the pieces of her heart, which lay scattered. So much had happened since their Mark of Mastery. Master Eraqus had named her master, and yet she felt lost and powerless. Like so many times in the past, she felt unprepared, unsuitable for this task.

She heard the distant steps of Terra. It was easy enough to differentiate the sounds made by the two boys. Ventus stepped so lightly, he could easily sneak upon anyone, even in a large hall such as the one where she stood. On the other hand, Terra had a firm and strong movement; the clanking of his boots echoed everywhere, announcing his arrival. "Good morning" he said, appearing through a door leading towards the eastern wing. "Up quite early again, I see."

Aqua didn't react immediately. It still felt so distant, so unbelievable; being together at last. Yet she couldn't be at ease. Something… or rather everything was odd.

Terra must've seen her frown, because he caught on quite fast. "What's the matter? Had another nightmare?" Aqua gave an almost invisible nod.

Her exile into the Realm of Darkness had not left her unscarred. She had her bad moments, when a feeling of exhaustion and dread came over her, and she often had nightmares. She did not deem it too severe, but it did affect her everyday life. Sometimes, she found herself wondering – even on mornings like this – whether this was just another vision shown to her amidst the darkness.

"Shouldn't you—"

"I'm alright, Terra" she turned to look at him, forcing a reassuring smile on her face. She couldn't allow herself to remain weak anymore or to rely on others to do things she should. She was named Keyblade Master, so it was her job, to be strong and to protect others, even if it was a difficult task. "Don't worry about me. How is Ventus?"

She wasn't the only one fighting her ghosts and shadows. Terra and Ventus both carried their own baggage, one heavier than the other. Terra's confidence was crushed by Xehanort; he didn't find himself worthy of the Keyblade anymore, and refused to the retake the Mark of Mastery. He barely summoned his Key anymore, believing that he had no right to do so.

Ventus on the other hand had gotten silent since their clash with Master Xehanort. He became moody, and spent tremendous time alone, locked up inside his room with that creature, Chirithy. Aqua was worried about the boy, about how much he had changed over the course of just a few days. One morning, he threw a fit over practice and stormed out of the building. When she later found him, Ven was crying. He apologized and said he didn't know what got over him. She wasn't angry with him, of course, but she was frightened. She didn't want to lose either of the boys ever again.

"He's not up yet?" Terra arched his eyebrows slightly, peering left and right as if he was expecting the boy to appear somewhere.

"No. I thought he was still in bed." Aqua muttered, trying to recall her memories from early morning.

"I passed in front of his room on my way to the hall. The door was open, but he wasn't inside." Terra replied, looking back over his shoulder this time.

Aqua took a step towards him, looking at the door leading to the eastern wing of the castle. "That's weird. When I got up, I still heard snoring coming from his room, and I don't think he'd have avoided me, if he came this way. "

"Maybe he's just in the library, or elsewhere in the building." Terra shrugged. A long time ago, she would've taken his word for it. After all, Terra knew Ventus well. But now all three of had changed; maybe for the worse. Maybe it was only her. Still, Aqua couldn't help but feel worried about the boy.

Terra must've seen this worry in her eyes, as he quickly added, "I'll go and take a look around. You might want to go out, take a look at the grave? Maybe he just wanted to take a walk alone, that's why sneaked past you."

"Right," she nodded halfheartedly and hurried down the stairs, along the narrow corridor and out the gates of the building. She left the grounds of the castle through the front courtyard, and headed towards the grave of their late master, which lay just the other side of the neighboring hill. Even along the way, she scanned every bench, every larger tree, looked under every bush. But Ventus was nowhere. The grave was undisturbed and unvisited as well.

Aqua returned to the castle and was just about to follow Terra, when the tall boy arrived back into the Hall, sadly empty-handed. Just as she had feared, Ventus was nowhere to be found. The boy had simply disappeared without a trace. "Let's go back to his room. Maybe he went back to sleep or something." Terra tried calming Aqua and himself at the same time, even though both of them knew perfectly well that the boy wouldn't be there.

They hurried over to the small room, and to neither's surprise, Ventus wasn't inside.

"This can't be happening" Terra shook his head, stepping inside the room slowly. "We only got back together, the three of us. Aqua tell me, this isn't happening." He looked at her pleadingly, but she couldn't reassure him. She had no idea where Ventus could've gone.

She stepped inside the room and scanned it, looking for clues. There was no evidence of forced entry or battle, so he probably wasn't kidnapped. The bed wasn't warm anymore, which means he had left a while ago.

"Chirithy is gone as well" Terra commented. "You think we could find any clues about their whereabouts?"

"Well, I do remember Ven keeping a diary. His memories of his past, before Xehanort had always been hazy, so he recorded pretty much everything, just in case" Aqua explained, while she went over to the boy's desk and pulled out its drawers. There was a small book with a lock on it Aqua pulled it out and showed it to Terra.

"Should we look for the key?" he suggested.

"I'm really not in the mood for hunting keys right now" she replied and summoned her Keyblade. Felt like a waste to use it on such frivolous things, but finding Ven as fast as they could was the only thing she cared about in that moment. She unlocked the diary and quickly started going through the pages. The boy took notes of everything that happened with him, and wrote down everything neatly. There was – of course – a very large gap, but thankfully, Ventus resumed his good habit after returning home. His writing, however, had changed after they returned to the castle. The previously happy-go-lucky boy turned sour:

"Today I had another one of those dreams… I was in the Keyblade Graveyard, surrounded by dozens of keyblade wielders, children. They were all fighting! I was fighting! And I felt…I'm not sure how I felt. But I'm still shaking as I try to recall the dream."

"My head hurts constantly. My heart is filled with so many strange emotions. I long for a place that I only saw in my dreams: that small cozy town, much like Twilight Town, but so different. What is this place? Why do I want to go there so badly?"

"This morning I snapped at Terra… again. I'm so ashamed. I shouldn't be like this, I'm better than this! But every time I look at them, I feel envious. They seem to be doing alright, and I'm… I'm barely holding out…"

The more Aqua read, the more heartbroken she felt. She knew he wasn't alright, but she would've never guessed that it was this bad! She wanted to find the boy immediately. Hug him tightly and ask for his forgiveness, for being so blind. Ventus needed her, and she didn't even realize.

"When I woke up and looked into the mirror, my face seemed foreign, distant. I couldn't help but despise myself, and not even Chirithy could make me feel better about myself…"

"I hate this! I wish I never woke up! I can't even look at them without hearing my own voice, filled with anger! Why am I thinking this? Why am I like this? Will this ever end?"

Reading his thoughts, his hopelessness, how lost he felt, Aqua couldn't hold back her tears. Terra took a peak at the journal as well, and his face faltered as well.

"I… I didn't know he felt like this." she wiped the tears off her face.

"Me neither," Terra shook his head. "I mean I knew something was off, but he didn't want to talk about it, and I didn't want to push it, but I never imagined that would be this serious."

A surge of emotions had broken out of the boy, wild, dark emotions: sorrow, rage, hatred. It all felt like it wasn't even Ventus, who had written those passages. Another boy's face appeared before Aqua; black haired, yellow eyed with a cocky grin and infinite evil in his heart.

Aqua calmed herself and thought the situation through carefully. There could've been a reasonable explanation for this. There had to be. "I'm not sure whether I'm right, but I think I know who is behind these powerful emotions" she muttered.

"You are talking about Vanitas, right? Didn't he die?" Terra asked, looking slightly confused.

"Not entirely" she shook her head and looked back at the diary in her hands. "Vanitas is the darkness in Ventus' heart. Master Xehanort extracted this darkness and gave it a life of its own. When he was defeated, Vanitas' heart merged with Ventus'."

"So now he's trying to take over his body? Like Xehanort tried taking mine?"

"I don't know. But right now, Ventus needs our help! We have to find him and bring him home." Aqua claimed, looking at Terra. "Will you come with me?"

"Of course" he nodded promptly, summoning his Keyblade at once. "Even if I'm not worthy of this, I will do whatever is necessary to help my friend!" Aqua allowed herself a smile after hearing his reaction, but that smile quickly dissipated as they heard a loud clinking voice. Terra turned towards the door, and raised his blade. "What was that?"

"I don't know," she said, summoning her Keyblade, Stormfall. It took her a bit of time, but she managed to remember where she had lost it. It was in Radiant Garden, before she fell into Realm of Darkness. Once she went back to Radiant Garden after the final clash with Xehanort, she could easily re-summon, and reclaim it. "But we better find out before leaving."

"Agreed. Let's go."

The two Keyblade Wielders followed the distant sounds to the kitchens. Reaching the door leading inside, they looked at each other, thinking about the same thing: was it possible that Ven was inside the kitchen? Maybe he just slipped past them and they worried over nothing? It was possible; but the years had taught Aqua to be more careful.

"Ven, is that you?" Terra cried out, hoping to get a positive answer. The rummaging coming from inside stopped, but no answer came. Aqua looked at Terra, who was already preparing himself for the possibility of combat. "I'll take the lead!" the blue-haired girl said and stormed the kitchen, Keyblade in hand.

For better or worse, there was no danger lurking within the kitchen. It was only Chirithy, Ventus' cute spirit-like creature. Aqua didn't pay much attention to the little one before, and Ven merely said it had reminded him of the past, so he decided to keep it in hopes of recovering his memories. But now he was gone, and Chirithy was still there.

It seemed like the little guy was in the middle of making a breakfast and destroying the environment at the same time. Aqua frowned and stepped closer. Apparently, Chirithy could speak, yet it barely did so; at least with Terra or her around. Aqua did hear the little spirit talking a whole lot to Ventus, when they were alone, nestled up in Ven's room. She didn't want to eavesdrop on them, which she was now regretting a lot. "Oh, it was only you" Terra registered, dissolving his Keyblade and taking a good look at the wreckage. "What happened here? Did you unleash another Keyblade War while we were away?"

The creature did not reply, but continued its failing attempt at making breakfast. Terra and Aqua exchanged a quick look, and the boy shrugged. "We know you can speak, Chirithy" Aqua said. "Do you know where Ventus is? He isn't here, is he?"

The little creature looked up at them, and gave a slight nod, returning to its original purpose afterwards. Aqua looked at Terra, then back at Chirithy. "Let's make a deal. You give us a hint of where Ventus is, and in exchange, we'll prepare breakfast for you. How's that sound?"

Chirithy seemed to be contemplating whether to accept Aqua's offer or not. He finally put down the knife and turned to the Keyblade Wielders. "Ven is going through a lot."

"Yes, we know" Terra said immediately. "We've just been to his room and saw his diary. How much do you know, Chirithy?"

The creature set its spoon down and turned towards the Keyblade wielders. "His dark half is not gone yet. That creature, called Vanitas, is still inside him. He is fighting for control, and he is becoming stronger with every passing day. So, to stop Vanitas, Ventus decided to seek out the help of a friend, who could put a chain on his heart and seal away Vanitas for good."

Aqua and Terra exchanged a quick look. Neither of them knew who Chirithy was talking about. "But who could help him with such a task?" Aqua queried, hoping that the spirit can offer them a name.

"A girl, called Naminé."

Now it all started to make sense. Aqua recalled being told of what had happened inside the castle at one point. Naminé, a special nobody was taken hostage by Organization XIII and used to fake Sora's memories. She later offered to lock away Riku's darkness. So that's what Ven's trying to do… Now at least they knew where did Ventus run off to. There was no time to waste. "Let's go" Aqua declared, and Terra nodded in agreement.

The pair hurried out of the kitchen, with an annoyed Chirithy on their trail. "Hey! What about breakfast?"

"No time!" Aqua breathed as she run along the long corridor, which led back to the central structure of the Castle. "We have to find Ven!"

The unlikely trio arrived at the great hall, descended the staircase and headed straight to the court in front of the castle. Aqua was already prepared to activate her shield and transform her Keyblade, but what awaited her outside had her stunned for a few seconds.

It was a large Gummi ship, descending upon them. She could see right into the cabin of the ship. Kairi and Riku were aboard the ship. Terra and Chirithy caught up with Aqua, and they too looked up at the large vehicle with a sort of mild curiosity. "Riku, Kairi." Aqua muttered, contemplating the possibilities of their sudden visit. The only thing that's sure is that Sora isn't back yet. If he was, he'd be there alongside them.

The ship landed on the far side of the courtyard and the two Keyblade wielding youth emerged, running towards the trio. "Master Aqua! Master Terra!" Kairi yelled as she ran towards them, putting a grin on Aqua's face.

Terra looked at Aqua, frowning then turned to correct the enthusiastic visitor "I'm no Master."

"It is good to see you two here," Aqua greeted them "though I must confess the timing could've been better." Riku and Kairi looked at each other, slightly surprised, maybe even alarmed by her words. I really wish I didn't need to explain it you two just now. Every second counts. She thought ahead and imagined how to make this meeting the shortest possible.

"Off to somewhere?" Riku inquired, taking a good look at them. "Where is Ventus?"

"We're about to go and get him" Terra replied. "Long story short: new day, new troubles."

"Sorry but we are in a rush," Aqua added, giving them a pleading look.

Riku nodded with a sympathizing smile, "I can attest to that. While you are out, hunting for him, could we take a look inside the castle… well the library?"

Why would they? Never mind, first thing first. You've got to find Ven! "Alright" she nodded. "Feel free to take a look around. Don't poke where you shouldn't, but take a stroll. If you want, you can wait for us. Hopefully we'll be back soon."

"We'll do. Thank you!"

- O - O - O - O - O -

Kairi and Riku entered the great, well-lit hall of the castle. Aqua, Terra, and that curious creature were on their way to wherever Ventus had gone to, so they were alone.

They exchanged an excited look. Neither of them had the pleasure or luck to see the castle in its prime before, so this was a new adventure for both. "So this is the famed castle," Riku noted. "When I was here, it looked quite different; all white and blank."

"It's quite white now as well," Kairi observed, giggling. "Though I must say it is gorgeous."

"It is" Riku agreed. "But we'll have plentiful time to marvel at the place. For now, let's find what we are here for."

"Agreed. Want to split up?"

"Nope, we don't know how big this place is. I don't want to go running around just to find you."

Kairi's smile widened. "You're just afraid of getting lost, aren't you?" she asked the boy, putting her hands on her hip.

Riku shrugged and gave a painful sigh. "You do know I hate labyrinths."

"Of course!" she winked playfully. "Who could forget the day when the big and brave Riku got lost and cried for our help."

"There are things worth remembering" Riku nodded. "This isn't one of them."

"Oh, you're so wrong! I've got it memorized perfectly" Kairi smirked, mimicking Lea's trademark words and head pointing.

"One jester is more than enough" Riku remarked in a similarly playful way. "Come on, let's get to work."

Finding the library was much easier than they had expected. The castle actually had a large and detailed floor map they could use to their advantage. Other points of interest were the bedrooms, an official training lounge, the kitchens, the great hall, and the Master's Workshop — a place that raised the attention of both Keyblade wielders.

Using the map, they quickly made their way to the library. The room was tucked away into the back of the west side of the castle. According to the drawing, it was rather large compared to the other rooms, which made Riku hopeful. The room hid behind a double-winged door, but thankfully, it wasn't locked. The duo grabbed each of the handles and opened the door, revealing a vast room with high ceiling, and bookshelves stretching from wall to wall on all sides. If they found the hall impressive, the castle's grand, well-packed study made them fall silent for a whole minute. They gazed inside in awe, not knowing where even to start their work.

"Wow… this is huge." Kairi marveled at the rich chamber.

"It is" Riku nodded, similarly baffled by the sight before him. He stepped inside Kairi following him. "Getting through all these books will take us a very long time."

"Unless we can find some sort of catalogue," Kairi pointed out, making her way towards a large table at the back of the room. "I'm pretty sure that Master Eraqus was a fan of cataloging his things." she added as she reached the table and took a good look at it.

"Why do you think so?" Riku asked, while browsing through a series of books.

"Aqua told me a bit about him. Based on her stories, and how this place looks like, not to mention his involvement in the battle against Master Xehanort, he does seem like someone, who would make sure to note down these sorts of things."

Riku looked at her thoughtfully. He was quite taken aback by her keen observational skills. He had almost forgot, how perceptive she was. He had experienced this many years ago, back on the isles as well, but since then – probably due to not spending enough time together – he forgot.

"Here it is!" she waved at the boy, and Riku rushed to her side immediately. "Look! Master Eraqus kept a tidy record of all his tomes. The codes mark the subject of the books: history, worlds, sciences, magic, links, and Keyblades! Okay, um… according to this list there are only a couple of books about Keyblades."

"That sounds odd." Riku noted.

"Better than nothing, I guess" Kairi shrugged. "These books should be on Shelf X-42."

"I'll go find it. See if you can dig up something else."

While Kairi continued going through the thick catalogue in hopes of finding further information Riku rummaged through the room once, twice, but found no traces of shelf X-42. And, truth be told, there was no bookcase starting with code X at all. "You sure you read it right? Could it be a misspelling?"

"I'm sure. It is here, clear as day. Why, what's the matter?"

"The bookcase we're looking for is not here" Riku shook his head, taking another look at the large bookcase in front of him. "Could it be… in another room?" It only took them a second to realize where the rest of the books could've been and they yelled the plain answer in unison: "The workshop!"

They dashed through the corridor, up the staircase and across another foyer. The Master's quarters were on the top floor, far from his pupils' rooms. Of course, the workshop's door was locked. "What now?" Kairi looked at Riku, who had summoned his Keyblade in the meantime. "You're going to unlock it?"

"Of course, this might be our only way to save him." Riku replied and promptly used his Keyblade's power to gain access to Eraqus' workshop.

The duo entered the room carefully. They had a feeling that Master Eraqus had placed other means of protection, since he knew all locks could've been easily opened using a Keyblade. But there were none. The workshop was small, and simple. There was a small desk, with a few books on it, and another, larger table with all sorts of tools on and around it. On the opposite side, there was a long shelf, X-42. Riku and Kairi exchanged a wining grin when they noticed the label.

Three pictures hung from the wall: two young boys were grinning on the first one. One of them was dressed in white, the other in black and dark blue; they were Eraqus and Xehanort during their youth. A young Terra and Aqua were standing in the second picture with an older Eraqus behind them. The third picture was about Terra, Aqua, and Ventus.

"So this was his study," Riku muttered, while taking a closer look at the shelf. "Here are the books, we were looking for."

They split the books and quickly scanned them. There were lots of interesting things in all of them, dealing with different aspects of the Keyblade; how to use It, unlocking its secret powers, adapting it to the user's own style, etc., but there was nothing about the Power of Waking, not one single line. As if the power had never actually existed. This was truly distressing.

"This is impossible" Riku shook his head angrily, placing the book back on the shelf. "How is this even possible?"

"I don't know," Kairi sighed, putting a book on the desk, and reaching for the ones already there. "But remember, not even Master Yen Sid knew much about it. It is possible that not even Master Eraqus knew a whole lot about the Power of Waking."

"I can't accept this." Riku said defiantly. "This isn't happening. This—"

"Wait" Kairi intercepted, showing her a hand-drawn picture. "This place… it looks like that World Donald and Goofy described; where they fought Master Xehanort!"

Riku stepped closer and looked at the picture, which depicted a large mountain-like city full of windmills, and a grand tower-like citadel atop of it rising from the sea. "It does resemble that place. What is this World?"

"It reads, Scala ad Caelum. Apparently, Master Eraqus and Master Xehanort had both studied there. Moreover, it is probably the home world of Master Eraqus."

"Scala ad Caelum… Stairway to Heaven?" Riku considered the name for a second. "Whatever. How do we get there, though?"

"Maybe Master Yen Sid, or Terra and Aqua could tell us."

"Right." Riku nodded, patting the girl on the shoulder. "Great work there, Kairi. I'm glad we're in this together."

"Me too," she nodded sweetly. "I'm just glad I can finally partake in an adventure."

"Jealous?" Riku chuckled, folding his arms.

"Maybe I was a bit, but not anymore!" she admitted, "Alright, let's get to Master Yen Sid and ask him about this place! Race you to the Gummi ship!" and off she went. Riku raised an eyebrow, but quickly followed suit and joined in the laughter, as they stormed across the long, narrow corridors of the castle, hurrying back to their ship. Finally, they were on track.