Chapter 6: The Other Child
The problem, Aqua found, with wanting to wither away in her bed was that no one would really let her. Terra had the mind to say Aqua had caught a cold staying up to late training in the night's chilly air, partially true, so that had bought her some leeway. Ven wasn't stupid, the first time he had come in to wish her well he had taken one look at her absolutely ashen face and went after Terra. She had caught bits and pieces of that argument outside her door and sorely wished she had the energy to smother herself. Ven made it a point to come in several times a day and speak to her, joking and teasing, trying to put a smile on her face. Eraqus had come in at one point and merely sat at her bedside, reading, not speaking nor offering comfort that she did not want, just offering his presence should she need it. It had been a small comfort, recalling times he had done the same when she was actually sick in her younger years, far worse then a bit of snot and sniffles. Whether Terra had told him what she had done or not, she hadn't a clue. Sora, Riku, and Yen Sid thankfully didn't make an appearance, because they were told to keep their distance or not, she did not know.
Unfortunately for her, Kairi wasn't particularly good at following directions. After the second day of not moving an inch save when Terra brought her a tray of food, Kairi started trying to get around Terra saying Aqua needed her rest. She had faintly heard the two of them arguing outside her door some time ago, and unfortunately, Terra couldn't stand watch the entire time and give her time to get her shit together.
So now Kairi stood next to her bed, eyes looking down at her critically. "I've gone on patrols way more sick than you are now. You're barely sniffling."
Aqua couldn't help but childishly turn away, pulling her covers up as she rolled on her side away from Kairi.
"Oh, one of those days," mused Kairi, a devious tone entering her voice, "I've had plenty of them."
With a yelp, Aqua found her blanket yanked away from her. "My dad always kicked my ass out of bed and made me get up, so up and at em Master Aqua, daylights wasting."
Aqua grumbled under her breath and sat up, glowering at Kairi.
Her apprentice merely grinned in response. "C'mon, get showered and get dressed, I think we ought to do something long overdue today."
"And what's that?" muttered Aqua.
"Visit Olette," said Kairi, making Aqua go very still, "We really should have gone to her before now and told her whats going on. She has to be really worried about your Nobody."
Aqua felt like she had been kicked in the gut, shame bleeding across her face. "Yeah... she probably is. Alright, alright, I'm up."
"Though, I'm kind of curious why she isn't here," muttered Kairi, "I thought I sent her through a corridor to hide out here while we dealt with Xehanort's Nobody. Did they send her back in the hours it took us to deal with him?"
"Umm...," began Aqua, "Did you try to dump her right into the keep?"
"Yes?"
"She probably was rebuffed by the Castle's protections since she would be an unrecognized entity," said Aqua, "And ended up right back where she came from a few minutes later."
"Oh she had to be pissed then," said Kairi with a hint of chagrin, "Anyway, go get ready, I'll wait here."
Aqua slowly found herself forcing speed back into her movement, if not for herself, then for poor Olette. The girl shouldn't have had to wait so long while Aqua struggled with her own issues. She took a bit longer in the shower than she should have, trying to take warmth from the water and reinvigorate herself. She had a purpose to rise and get out of bed, but she wasn't fooling herself to think she wouldn't be back here when she was done. She knew she shouldn't be wallowing like this, should try to make herself useful...
She just...
She shook her head and got out of the shower, clothed herself, and went to meet Kairi who already had a dark corridor ready.
Aqua paused at that. "Kairi. How exactly is a Princess of Heart..."
"Xion," said Kairi with a shrug.
"Hmm," mused Aqua, "What does it feel like, as a Princess, to touch the darkness?"
"It's like a chill that rolls down my spine each time I touch it," admitted Kairi, "It's kind of like a shock to my system, foreign, but... it doesn't particularly do anything else but jolt me."
"It wouldn't," said Aqua, "You still hold a Heart of Pure Light, even with Xion sleeping in it. I imagine once she'd healed and in her on body, you'll lose the ability to make a dark corridor."
Kairi made a face. "Hope I can figure out how to do the same with Light then."
"You're on your own for that, because I don't have a clue," said Aqua, walking up to and through the corridor.
They arrived outside the Mansion in Twilight Town, and Aqua was hit, hard, by a sense of deja vu. How many times during the last decade had she walked through that gate, those steps, passed that door? Nostalgia for opening that door from the other side and finding Olette's smiling face beaming up at her, a bag of tea-packets in her hands. Aqua shakily reached for the doorhandle and opened it, walking inside. The Mansion had steadily been cleaned up over the years, through her and Olette's work. It was still a bit barren, but not as dreary and run down as it had once been.
Aqua closed her eyes and briefly passed her senses over the mansion...
And turned her gaze to the side room, where she had sat down and talked to Sora and Kairi...
She shook her head; where her Nobody had...
She moved and opened the door, finding Olette asleep at the table, a blanket over her shoulders and back as she drooled over her arms used as a pillow. Aqua took in the sight of the girl. A messy haired brunette teenager, eyes she remembered as a vivid green, set on an innocent and soft face. She wore her favorite orange shirt with white flowers on the bottom of it. A creamy colored pair of pants with matching shoes, and orange shocks. She wore a sky-blue bracelet on her right wrist, and a black necklace with a sky-blue charm in it.
A charm she distinctly remembered enchanting with protective magics as a Nobody.
She stared the girl, for the first time with emotions; a deep ache in her chest, and couldn't help a soft sob that came out, "Oh Olette..."
How many years had the girl been forced to deal with an emotionless, unresponsive woman who could never return the kindness the child showed her? Why had she stayed? Why had she wasted so much time on a Nobody like Aqua's? Who couldn't even be bothered to fake an emotion in placation?
The girl stirred at the sound. "Hnng?"
Kairi walked in and stood next to Aqua. "I know from experience sleeping at the table isn't good for your back."
Olette blinked away, staring blearily at Kairi for a moment before sitting up and rubbing her eyes. "Oh... what time is..."
Then the girl jolted a bit, shaking her head, and GLARED at Kairi, "You almost killed me!"
Aqua and Kairi both froze for a moment, Kairi squeaked out, "I what?"
"I got thrown back out that corridor and nearly fell off the clock-tower!" yelled Olette, "You have any idea how scary it is to barely catch the edge of it? I would have been pasted if I had lost my grip!"
Aqua's heart took a moment to restart at the terrified jolt that went through it.
Kairi paled. "Oh... I um... I'm sorry! I didn't know that would happen!"
Olette huffed a bit, crossing her arms, nestling back in her chair and blanket. "Honestly... it took you and Aqua long enough to go and beat up the bad guys."
Olette turned to look at Aqua, "Was it a tough... fight?"
The girl's eyes washed over Aqua, taking in her appearance, a confused look on her face. "You... changed your clothes? Got a haircut? Where's your earrings and tattoos?"
Aqua opened and closed her mouth a few times, not quite sure how to say it. "I... um... Olette..."
"Are you stuttering?" asked Olette in disbelief, "You never stutter."
Aqua's face turned a little red, and Kairi did her best not to laugh. Which wasn't very good.
"You're blushing," whispered Olette in surprise, eyes going wide.
She scrambled out of her chair and discarded the blanket to the floor, walking over to stand in front of Aqua, drinking in the sight of her, a wide smile slowly crossing her face. "You got your heart back, didn't you?"
"I... yes?" said Aqua.
Olette squealed in delight and launched herself at Aqua, taking her in a fierce hug. "Yes! I'm so happy for you Aqua!"
Aqua hesitatingly returned the hug, savoring the feelings of joy emanating from the girl, directed at her, because of her, not a source of pain, of disappointment, of suffering. "Thank you."
The girl slowly pulled back, looking up at her. "How'd it happen?"
Aqua licked her lips. "Well... if a..."
She trailed off, wondering if she should be honest or not; because she knew that sensation of joy rippling through the air was about to go away.
"If a Nobody and a Heartless of a person are both destroyed, the original person comes back," said Kairi, crossing her arms, "Though I think its way better if a Nobody can just take the time and regrow a heart."
Aqua winced; that was way to blunt. Kairi really needed to work on that.
Olette's eyes went wide with shock. "W-what!? You... y-your Nobody died?"
Aqua nodded. "Yes, I... she... died in the fight against Xehanort."
Olette her leg's wobbled, reaching out to grip Aqua's arms tightly, her eyes going wide and breathing ragged. Aqua gently guided her to the nearest chair and sat her down, choking sounds escaping her throat. "She died... she died..."
Then Aqua's world turned upside down as an intense focus, so foreign, so deep, overtook her...
The child's pupils were dilated.
The child's breathing was ragged.
The child's face was pale.
The child's eyes had tears streaming down them.
The child's was in distress.
Olette was in distress.
That was unacceptable.
"Focus," came out Aqua's voice, intense but flat, lacking emotion, one hand tilting the girls head up, one hand on her shoulder, grip no longer gentle, but firm, "The ability to feel does not give those emotions the power to control you, that decision comes from the lack of you being in control."
Olette gave a startled hiccup, eyes shining up at her in startled surprise, her voice timid but hopeful, "...Aqua?"
Aqua brought a shocked hand up to her own lips before she turned and fled the room, ignoring the surprised and confused calls from the girls. She retreated to her room-her Nobody's room. It was supposed to be bland, Nobodies were bland... but it had life. Painted blue a dark blue. Plants... that she could recall Olette giving her. Drawing tapped to the wall, some of Olette's, some of her brief recollections the girl drew for her. Little gifts scattered here and there; sets of clothes she never wore neatly folded, dolls lined up in orderly fashion, a poster of some band that the girl liked and tried to get her to like for some reason despite how the thumping and head-screaming did nothing but give her a headache and bring out no feelings, but Olette liked them so she gave them her attention because Olette was important, Olette mattered, Olette made that hole that encompassed her very being not seem so all-consuming, could on occasion make her forget that she wasn't a cold, emotionless, subhuman creation that everyone else shied away from in fear or was watched by the other Nobodies for the same reason...
Aqua gave a strangled breath, clutching her chest and her head, kneeling aside her neatly made bed and burying her face in the cloth, overwhelmed and disoriented. She breathed out, in, out, in, struggling with the nausea of the moment of being-but-not-being-herself. She gave a semi-hysterical laugh into blanket, thinking of what she had briefly felt...
Nothing.
No emotion.
Just intense focus for the girl.
And found that oddly enough, that lack of emotion had been far better than what she had been in before coming here. Funny, how being emotionless was a higher state than what she was now. There was one unfortunate consequence from all of this however...
"I can't deny it," she murmured into the blanket, "My Nobody isn't a separate person, it's me."
"And why is that a problem?"
She pulled back from the bed, head half-turning to see Olette standing in the doorway, a mixture of concern and irritation on her face. "What exactly is wrong with you being your Nobody?"
"Other than the fact she stayed here the entire time the worlds were falling apart?" bit out Aqua.
Olette crossed her arms. "Maybe you could have been doing more elsewhere, but you know what? If you hadn't been here, I doubt I'd be alive at this point, that this world wouldn't have been consumed by the heartless. Call me selfish, but you staying for me, matters more to me than you can possibly imagine."
Aqua turned away, struggling with how that made her heart flutter.
"Why does that bother you so much?" asked Olette.
"It's not about the Nobody," murmured Aqua, "If I can't deny she was part of me..."
She couldn't bring herself to say it.
"Oh," murmured Olette, "I get it. Your Heartless..."
There was silence for a few minutes before Olette asked, "Do you remember what you told me, about good and evil?"
Aqua sighed, moving to sit up on the bed, staring at the girl, eyes furrowed in thought. "I don't..."
"That good and evil are a matter of perspective," said Olette solemnly, "That no power you use, nothingness, light, dark, magic, makes you inherently good or evil. It's how you use it that determines what you are."
Aqua blinked. "My Nobody said that...?"
She felt a tingle in the back of her mind, a scratch that wanted to be itched...
"You said that," said Olette firmly, "When I first drew out my own power..."
There was a furious set of knocks on the outside doors of the mansion. Aqua... using name still left an odd sensation, a peculiar taste in the back of her mouth, rose from the table in the side room. She felt Olette's presence outside the mansion, panicked and scared, perhaps there were heartless in town again. Or the Organization had foolishly threatened the girl. Perhaps, someone had fallen. She could recall several instances of where the girl had come to her in a fit, anguished over losing an acquaintance. It had best not have been the last option, the affect that had on the girl was... undesirable and very long lasting.
Children were supposed to be happy, carefree. Even she, an empty thing, knew that.
She opened the door and was not surprised when the orange clothed child lunged at her in a fierce, desperate hug. "I didn't mean to do it!"
Aqua took a moment to assess the child, passing her senses over her for injury, but finding none. "Do what, child?"
"I... there was a heartless...," she hiccuped.
Aqua passed her senses farther out, but felt nothing.
"It came out right in the Usual Spot," sniffled Olette, "Just a shadow, I think... I think it came out because the three of us were arguing..."
Most likely about Aqua herself, yet again. Her friends, like most of the townsfolk, were afraid of her, and wished Olette to keep her distance.
"I was so angry, and then afraid, I... I didn't think, I just pushed a hand out and...," the girl trailed off, anxious, "I... I blasted it. Just a burst of... of black energy..."
"Darkness," mused Aqua.
The girl hung her head a bit. "I... yes..."
"Hmmm," she hummed, curious.
She was rather surprised the girl had been able to draw anything out at all. The denizens of Twilight Town were rather frail and meek in that regard. Little to no magic, no particular affinity for darkness or light. The most people had were batons on police officers, and maybe one or two privately owned guns for the paranoid. Then again, Olette did frequently 'hang out' with Aqua, watched her on occasion train, battle heartless, and rough up Organization members if they did not tread carefully. Perhaps the exposure ignited something in her. Or perhaps the awareness of it all awakened it. Sora and Kairi hadn't been gone that long, and she knew the story was still fresh in Olette's mind, had unsettled her...
If the way the girl had clung to her for the last few days was any indication.
"Is there a problem with this?" asked Aqua, "I would think you would be more inclined to have a power you can defend yourself with."
"B-b-but it's darkness," whispered the girl timidly.
"You didn't seem to have any aversion to the knowledge of my former self using it," pointed out Aqua.
"W-well... you were a trained Keyblade Wielder," said Olette awkwardly.
Aqua gave a firm tug, drawing the girl to the side room and sitting her down, taking over tea making duties for once. "You're point being what, Olette? Man, woman, child. King, politician, scholar. Keybearer, knight, soldier. None of them need light or darkness to do good or evil. You've studied your history, you've heard their tales, it should be apparent to you by now."
She walked over and placed a cup of tea in the girl's hand. "Good and evil are a matter of perspective. No power you use, nothingness, light, dark, magic, makes you inherently good or evil. It's how you use it that determines what you are."
Olette went silent for a moment, uncertainty on her face. "Could... you teach me?"
Aqua tilted her head for a moment, considering the question. On one hand, any kind of power was potential dangerous if misused or mismanaged, Olette could hurt herself if she wasn't careful. On the other hand, there had been many times over the years where Aqua had cut it close in saving the girl's life. This last instance, the heartless had come out right near Olette. If the child hadn't destroyed it, or managed to get away, the girl would have perished by the time Aqua sensed anything amiss. It would be, for one, irresponsible for her not to teach the girl how to use her power. For two, she couldn't leave the girl defenseless, or completely reliant on Aqua herself.
"Very well," said Aqua, moving to make herself a cup, "I can't exactly teach you to wield light or darkness, but, I can at least show you how to use magic."
"You think I can do magic?" said Olette, perking up, an eager smile on her lips.
Aqua traced the smile in her mind, another success, and filed it away with the other times she had succeeding in bringing it upon the girl's face through her own actions and not by some default setting of the girl. "I believe you have the potential to, yes. Perhaps we can practice later."
Olette grinned, teasing out, "Thank you, 'Master' Aqua."
Aqua gave her an unimpressed look. "Oh do be quiet and drink your tea, lest I take back what I offered.
Olette only giggled in response, unphased in the slightest, as the two of them settled down for another if ever brief moment of sitting there together...
"...re you okay?"
Aqua blinked a few times, finding herself shaking on the bed, Olette's hand on her shoulder. "J... just a memory."
"Umm... I don't think memories should leave you like that," said Olette.
Aqua closed her eyes. "I... try to keep them separate. I don't want..."
Olette huffed a bit. "I get your Heartless, not wanting to remember what its done or accept that its part of you..."
Aqua flinched.
"...but your Nobody was a good person. She's you, just lacking memories and emotions," said Olette, drawing her hand back to cross her arms "And I don't appreciate you implying otherwise."
Aqua swallowed, looking away.
"Why don't you look for yourself?" asked Olette, "Just take a few hours and, I dunno, sift through them? Decide for yourself. I thought the time we spent together was good, for the both of us."
"I... could try," admitted Aqua quietly.
Olette brightened at that, and oh how her doing so made Aqua's stomach tilt. The girl mattered... mattered so much. Right up there with Terra and Ven. "I'd try for you."
Olette snickered. "Yeah, you're not that different from the way you were without a heart. You old softie, the moment I go beady eyes you fall over."
Aqua glowered at her. "Off with you, brat."
Olette stuck out her tongue and scampered off out of the room, giggling all the way, closing the door and leaving Aqua alone with her uncomfortable task...
Kairi leaned against the wall next to the mansion's exit, watching Olette descend the stairs with a smugly satisfied smile on her face. A flare of ugly jealousy split through Kairi, and it was tough to yank it back. She had wanted to be the one to go after Aqua, but noooo, apparently Olette would handle her. And apparently she did if that look was anything to go by. Aqua was her Master, if anyone should be the one to get her out of whatever funk she'd been in the last few days, it should have been Kairi herself.
But such thoughts were unbecoming of her. If dad or mom knew she was having an internal hissy fit like this, they wouldn't have been impressed. Neither would Master Aqua herself, or any of the other Keybearers. So, she sucked it up, dismissed it as best she could, and tried to put on a pleasant mask. "How is she?"
"Better, I think," said Olette, "I think she was unsettled by her 'Nobody' part coming out, if you will. Made it hard to deny that her 'Nobody' and her memories were really a part of her, mostly because she didn't want to admit the same about her heartless."
Kairi's heart skipped a beat. What?! What did she say? And her Heartless's? Did that mean Master Aqua had that thing's memories...?
Oh sweet light...
Did she really...?
Well... that certainly explained some of the things Kairi had noticed this far. More specifically why she didn't want to spar with anyone, probably more things she had missed as well. Kairi swallowed heavily; the first thing she was going to do when she was alone with her Master was hug Aqua till she popped, and tell her it wasn't her fault, that she didn't blame her for anything, for what her Heartless did.
Olette sat down on the last step and looked at her thoughtfully. "Whats being a Keybearer like?"
Kairi blinked a few times, caught offguard. "I... well... I've only actually been a Keybearer for a short time, and only really in the middle of a Heartless Apocalypse or fighting the Organization. I can't really say what its normally like."
"Whats it like at its worse then?"
Kairi shifted uncomfortably. "Why do you want to know?"
"I was thinking... of maybe asking if I could be one. Asking if Aqua would train me."
That ugly flare of jealousy was back fullblast now, her body tensing. It was all Kairi could do to not snap at her. Kairi was her apprentice! Not Olette!
"Is... something wrong with that?" Olette asked with uncertainty.
Kairi swallowed back her jealousy for the second time. The Keybearers needed all the help they could get cleaning up and bringing some semblance of order back to the worlds. It would be foolish to deny someone who was willing. But what did that girl know of being a Keybearer? Of struggles, of pain and loss, over and over again? With Aqua's Nobody having been here to keep her safe and protected...
Like I should have been...
"At its worse... it's a harsh, bleak life," said Kairi finally, struggling to keep the bitterness out of her voice, "You are constantly in danger on the front lines against threats to the worlds, scrambling to try and save and protect everyone you can, but you can't despite giving your best. I've... I've failed more times than I like, watched people lose their hearts in front of me. Lost people I've dearly cared about. I've had my heart nearly ripped apart multiple times, been in enough life and death confrontations to last me a lifetime, though the others have probably been in more. It feels like a hopeless struggle, but you cant give up because of how many people are depending on you. You're..."
She swallowed. "You're the hero everyone is counting on, you can't let them down. You've a legacy, from the one who passed on the Keyblade to you, you can't let them down either..."
She shook her head. "You have to deal with your own desperation, and other's. Sometimes..."
She thought of what the other Keybearers had tried to do to her, imprison her in the Land of Departure. "...you can't even trust your allies to do the right thing when it comes down to it."
She remembered how the Heartless Apocalypse ended; she looked Olette dead in the eye. "If push comes to shove, you have to be ready to take your life into your own hands and strike out alone to do what needs to be done. Even if it feels like its you against all the worlds, facing impossible odds."
Olette... didn't show any visible signs of what she felt. Her eyes slightly narrowed, head tilted in thought.
"It's a life of suffering," admitted Kairi quietly, "Yours in exchange for others. That's... what it's felt like this far. Will it keep feeling like that once things settle down? I don't know. But that's what its like at its worst. You are the shield of the worlds, and no matter what, you can't break or falter."
Though... she already had, once, after Xehanort's Nobody was destroyed, when she thought her family was gone for good...
Did that make her a failure of a Keybearer then...?
Would Aqua be happier teaching someone else?
"Hmm," hummed Olette.
Kairi kept her eyes on the girl, but she made no further comment as the minutes ticked by. At the hour mark, Kairi slid down the wall and simply sat, waiting for Aqua to be done... whatever she was doing at the moment. Maybe she took a nap, that generally put some energy back into her step when Kairi had a chance to when she was a Guardian of Traverse Town.
"So what world are you from?" asked Olette.
Kairi blinked. "Uh... Radiant Garden, though I grew up in Traverse Town."
"What are they like?"
With nothing better to do, Kairi obliged the question. Though... remembering Traverse Town put an ache through her chest. They had struggled so many years for that world, then it fell in a single night... and she had spent so little time in Radiant Garden in comparison, had so fewer memories...
"A refuge huh," mused Olette, a sad smile on her face, "Guess you could say Traverse Town is like a keybearer, it safeguards and protects all the people it can."
An...odd comparison, but..., "Kind of? I guess..."
She let the silence return for a few minutes before she counter-asked, "Whats Twilight Town like?"
"Without Aqua, its small and boring," said Olette flatly, "I mean... it wasn't bad early on, when I was a little girl..."
She trailed off for a moment. "But... once I met Aqua, saw the Organization members, realized there were powers beyond my imagination, so many other worlds out there... its just... small and claustrophobic in comparison."
She moved to the doors, pushing them open, looking up into the sky. "I want to see them all. Explore them all."
A lump set in Kairi's throat, at that childlike innocence and eagerness...
When was the last time Kairi had truly felt like that? When she was four before the Heartless Apocalypse started?
"What... about your family and friends, your life here?" asked Kairi.
Olette looked distinctly uncomfortable. "I've spent more time with Aqua than my friends or my family over the years. I mean... my parents used to forbid me from going to see 'The Lady of the Mansion', but I kept sneaking out. Then Aqua walked in on them scolding me for it one time when they caught me in the woods heading for her and... well... she scolded them back and they've been terrified ever since. They started speaking carefully whenever I'm around them, to the point when sometimes I wonder if I've become a stranger in their house..."
She sighed. "There's a reason I've been sleeping here since Aqua left. It's more comfortable here than home, but I don't blame her for it. As for my friends... I mean... I think I'm still friends with Hayner and Pence, but... it's awkward sometimes. They're just as scared of Aqua as everyone else is, despite that she treated everyone with courtesy so long as they treated her with respect, well, and treat me with respect to. She gets scarily protective sometimes..."
Kairi cracked a smile. "Considering what I've heard of her past, that's true even with her heart."
Olette giggled a little. "Yeah..."
"I just wish everyone didn't walk on eggshells around me and Aqua," murmured Olette, "It made things uncomfortable. Even if people learned she was gone, or well, whole, I don't think anything would really change."
Olette glanced up into the sky again. "I think... I still want to try."
"Try what?"
They both turned to see Aqua walking down the stairs, giving the two girls a curious look.
Olette walked back into the mansion, stopping a few steps from the stairs, fidgeting nervously. "I um... well..."
"Would you... be willing to train me as a Keybearer?" asked Olette shyly.
Aqua's eyes went wide for a moment... and then her face completely shuttered away, like an impenetrable mask had been placed over it, and her voice grew just... dead-like. "No."
On one hand, a jealous part of Kairi was jumping up and down in delight, on the other hand, something about Aqua at the moment... set Kairi ill at ease.
Olette looked startled. "But... but... I think I could do good! You were teaching me magic and..."
"It's not about you Olette," said Aqua coldly, "I've already damned two children to this curse of a life, I'm not afflicting it upon a third. I can't..."
Kairi's jaw dropped, stunned as Aqua's face crumpled a bit; she brushed past Olette, past Kairi, made a Dark Corridor in the doorway to the mansion, and fled just like that. "Curse of a..."
Kairi narrowed her eyes intently, off-put. "I chose this life thank-you-very-much."
She turned to look at Olette, who just look devastated. Kairi frowned for a moment before she scowled, steeled her jaw, and marched over to the girl. Forget her jealousy, she had a point to make now. She grabbed the girl's arm, made a Dark Corridor, and yanked her towards it.
"H-hey!" exclaimed Olette.
Kairi briefly shielded her with light, and then pulled her through, coming out at the steps of the Land of Departure keep.
"Woah... is this another world?" whispered Olette in awe.
"The home of the Keybearers," said Kairi, "Where there are plenty of Masters who can make you a Keybearer if you really want to, if they think you have what it takes."
"But... I want Aqua to train me," murmured Olette.
Kairi let go of the girl's arm, not turning to look at her. That was a familiar ache, that had pained Kairi all of her time as a Keybearer, no, more like her entire life since the Heartless Apocalypse began. "Well... you'll just have to convince her then. Let's go talk to the others first. Should be about lunchtime I think."
She led the girl through the doors, into the keep, and up the steps to the currently empty large entry-hall. The childlike wonder as the girl looked around the place was... well... Kairi wasn't sure what to think on it. She didn't know if the Keybearers would appreciate their home being gawked at or not. Or maybe they'd find it amusing, who knows...
"Kairi, did you bring a tourist here?" came an incredulous voice.
Guess that answered that question.
She turned her head to see Riku standing in the hallway leading from the entryway towards the dinning hall. "No."
Riku crossed his arms, giving Olette, and then Kairi a look. "If you wanted to bring an outside friend here, you really should have asked permission first, Kairi. This is a sacred world..."
"Mr. Keybearer sir," said Olette politely, "I'm here because I want to ask about becoming a Keybearer."
That made Riku's mouth snap shut. He eyed her critically, eyes raking her over. He closed his eyes for a moment, a soft glow of light illuminating him, resonating with Olette briefly. She figured he was gauging her heart and current power. He opened his eyes and rubbed his jaw. "It would probably be a no during the height of the Apocalypse, wouldn't have had the time or manpower to spare more than we already were for Kairi. Now though..."
He shook his head. "Not my call to make, I'm still an apprentice. Come, I'll take you to the Masters."
Riku led them through the halls into the dinning halls. Kairi noted those present: Terra, Ven, Eraqus, and Sora. She could feel Aurora's presence in the kitchen. Aqua... she was off in the distance, locking herself up in her room again if Kairi had to guess, still sulking.
"Masters," said Riku in a louder voice to draw attention, bowing curtly when he did, "Kairi has brought a... prospective Keybearer."
Kairi watched the interest in elder Keybearer's eyes as they looked over Olette...
"Oh, hey Olette!" called out Sora, waving cheerfully, "You wanna be a Keybearer too huh?"
Terra turned to Sora. "You know her?"
"Ahuh," said Sora, "Me and Kairi met her when we ran into Aqua's Nobody during the Heartless Apocalypse. You could say they were looking out for one another."
There was a softness that briefly entered Terra's face before he masked it, and Kairi knew Olette probably had him, and the others, already around her finger without any further effort.
"Well... more like she looked after me," said Olette shyly.
Master Eraqus motioned her over. "Have a seat child, it may be a bit... impromptu, but considering that usually a Master selects an apprentice based off their observations rather than a current apprentice bringing a potential Keybearer to our attention, it would be best for us to interview you. To see if you show qualities that we agree are needed in someone who bears a key."
Olette hesitated. "I... does it matter if Aqua already said no...?"
Eraqus frowned instantly and intently, glancing at Kairi. "If she's already been rejected Kairi, going around a Master's back like this is not something approved of."
Kairi crossed her arms and tilted up her chin. "If Aqua had rejected her for a real reason, I'd agree. But Aqua said no because she apparently didn't want to 'afflict' a third child to this 'curse of a life'."
Eraqus let a strangled breath escape his lips, open disbelief and hurt across his face; he frankly looked like he had aged a decade and been sucker punched in the gut. Terra and Ven's jaws dropped in astonishment, and Sora just looked purely uncomfortable. Riku, as ever, kept his face calm, though, the tightening of his jaw was a decent indication of what he felt about that.
"She really said that?" asked Ven quietly.
"Aqua," said Eraqus with a heavy sigh, "Has had a very trying experience as a Keybearer, we all have. She is not, I will reluctantly admit, in a state ready to assume her duties as a Keyblade Master. She has only recently come back to life, or, been recompleated I suppose the term is, with little chance to... assimilate her experiences since Xehanort's madness first swept the worlds."
He gave Olette an apologetic look. "Now would not have been the opportune time to drop that request, and responsibility on her."
Olette bowed her head. "Oh... I hadn't really thought of that. I mean... I should have, what with her having to deal with her Nobody's and Heartless's memories and stuff."
Dead silence filled the room.
Eraqus closed his eyes, and brought a hand up to cover his face. "Her Heartless's..."
Olette glanced at Kairi, uncertain. "Was... that not public knowledge?"
"No," said Eraqus, his voice heavy, "We knew she had her Nobody's memories, but... she didn't imply she had her Heartless's. From what we've learned interacting with other recompleated or reborn people, none of them remembered their time as a Heartless. Even the other humanoid Nobodies. I assume it has to do then with Aqua having had a humanoid Heartless."
"We knew," said Terra softly, glancing at Ven, "Though... it wasn't our place to say."
"Erm... I'm sorry," said Olette, shamed and uncomfortable.
Terra waved a hand. "It was bound to come out at some point anyway, don't let it weigh on you. Come, sit."
Olette shyly walked over and sat down in a chair a few seats down from Sora. Kairi watched with little interest in the proceedings, it was probably as good as confirmed. She needed to get her own issues in line first before Olette became a Keybearer. Jealousy wasn't acceptable here (though there was a chance someone else aside from Aqua would be teaching Olette). She scowled a little at the thought, irritated with herself. If she were to be honest, she shouldn't be so desperate for Aqua to teach her right now either, it was selfish on her part. She had been to excited at the prospect of finally being trained, to ignorant that her Master needed time to herself before she took on her duties. She couldn't afford to make mistakes like that with her beloved Master...
Besides...
It might be fun to have a little sister-apprentice if she allowed herself to enjoy it. Or at least someone relatively as new (behind her) in Keybearing as she was. By the time Aqua was ready, Olette probably would be decently caught up, if not in power, then at least with technique. Maybe. It depended on how long it would take for her Keyblade to manifest. Still... maybe it would be good practice for when Kairi eventually became a Master and chose her own apprentice (Though, she didn't want that responsibility for awhile). She pondered what tips and tricks she could show Olette as the Masters continued to poke and prod and question Olette throughout lunch...
"What is she doing here?"
Kairi jumped a little to see Aqua standing in the doorway, eyes locked on Olette, a displeased look on her face. Olette wilted a little before Aqua turned her narrowed eyes onto Kairi, and she felt a bead of uneasy sweat roll down her forehead. She did not like that look turned her way. Even without the malice her Heartless had... it was uncomfortably intense.
"Kairi brought a prospective wielder to our attention who willingly wishes to bear the key," said Terra in a firm tone, eyes locking with Aqua's and not budging, "And from what we've determined so far, may possess the necessary will and traits."
Aqua's lips thinned. "I see."
She was tense, Kairi couldn't help but inch away from the anger radiating off the woman. "Now is not the time for anymore apprentices. The worlds are still recovering, there are still a multitude of Heartless on them, and Maleficent's monsters are still out there. Putting a child in such danger that we don't have to is unacceptable."
Slightly better reasoning than before.
"You think we'd send her out there with no training?" questioned Terra critically, unimpressed, "She hasn't been bequeathed yet, it would be months, if not over a year, at minimum even with her older age, until her Keyblade manifested if she is accepted. The Heartless Apocalypse is over Aqua, an apprenticeship is no longer forced to be a trial-by-fire as it was with Sora, Riku, and Kairi. She'd be put through the training that you, Ven, and I, along with countless others before us, went through. Slow and steady, paced out. She would be well trained and skilled, or at least escorted, before she undertook any missions."
Aqua closed her eyes for a moment, took in a deep breath, and let it out, eyes turning to Olette, her voice even. "Is this truly what you want, Olette?"
"I want to see the worlds," said Olette quietly, "and I want to help people."
There was loss in Aqua's eyes that just... hurt to see. Left Kairi deeply unsettled. "Your minds made up then, and I assume they've already made their decision. So be it, do as you wish. I'm sure they'll train you well."
Aqua turned, and Olette looked crushed at that dismissal, that implied refusal to train her...
Eraqus's voice rang out. "Aqua."
The woman paused and glanced back. "Yes?"
"May I speak with you, alone, outside the keep?" he asked, voice plain and controlled, "I think there is a conversation we need to have that has been long overdue."
Aqua frowned intently, tensing, a wildness, a hostility entering her eyes as she gritted out, "Fine."
She stalked out of the room, and Eraqus rose to his feet, briefly turning to Terra and Ven. "Continue interviewing the child. I need to... settle the past with Aqua. I think some things have been left to stew and build for to long that are negatively influencing her outlook."
Terra and Ven both looked distinctly distressed for trained Keyblade Masters; Terra asked, "Are you sure you want to do this right now? And alone?"
Eraqus smiled wryly. "I'm sure. If she takes my other eye as well, I can't say it would be unexpected or undeserved. I ask that you all stay in here and not interfere, especially if it comes to blows."
"Are you really sure I shouldn't at least be there? Since it did involve me?" asked Ven worriedly, "I don't think there's a way she doesn't flip, and Aqua isn't a pushover..."
"I am intimately familiar with that Ventus," said Eraqus, motioning to his scarred and sealed eye, "I have over a decade of intense fighting and experience that I did not have before when I was maintaining my position as the steward of this land. I can defend myself, but I will not harm her, not again, never again."
Kairi's eyes went a little wide. Was he talking about... that... when he tried to kill Ven and Aqua...?
"Besides... I now feel that I have more to speak of with her about than what happened that day, I think I have a lot of failings I need apologize for," murmured Eraqus, making for the door.
Kairi watched him leave the room, and all she could think, was that this wasn't going to end well...
Author's Notes:
This is going to be interesting/rough...
Angry Dark!Aqua incoming!
Will it be harsh words?
Will it be Aqua lashing out and Eraqus holding out?
Or will it be Eraqus VS Aqua round 2 despite the elder's desire not to?
Stay tuned... (in hopefully less than 3 months this time, sorry for the wait, I cheated on this fanfic with my other stories).
Review Responses:
Guest1: Aqua's not going to get a dive-to-heart in this story. Potentially in the sequel if I go that route, and go the Namine MC route instead of Aqua MC route. IDK, haven't decided that far. Might still end it this story. Depends how Kingdom Hearts 3 shapes out. Only a little while longer until I get my hands on it...
Umbrardor: Dawww, thanks. Hurt/Comfort/Tragedy is kind of my favorite genre, it forces growth on characters. A plushy Heartless... well, it might eventually happen, but not anytime soon. Aqua needs to accept her darkness again before that happens.
Patrick the Observer: Crimes against humanity, owch. Crimes against Maleficent's Pig Minions maybe (but yeah, whose to say Aqua wouldn't have done it VS real people?) As for your question to Olette... surprise? This chapter's all about her! :D. IDK if it's going to be a happy ending, or a bittersweet one.
The Keeper of Worlds: 3 is sooo clooooseee. I have it pre-ordered, and my PS4 ready to play. Kingdom Hearts X (chi) is still non-cannon to this story though, I dislike it.
Vigriff: mmm, feel da pain.
VioletKatana: Weeeeeellllll... Aqua might need a bit of help VS Maleficent and her ascended, an army of Heartless might be useful if she ends up not involving the others... who knows... we shall see...
The Pyro Jawsome: What ifs (or timetravel) are da best, and what I live for with Fanfiction. I'm okay with beta readers, but... I have the bad habbit of just submitting a chapter after I write it and do a 1st/2nd pass. I might forget to any betas. :D
Guest2: Aqua has plenty of brutal dark left in her. Just wait till we get to Young Xehanort VS Aqua, potentially VS Maleficent, and perhaps even hints of it next chapter.
Oops, spoilers.
IDK if I'm going to have Aqua do any timeline ventures or not, depends if sequel and if Namine or Aqua are the MC if I do so.
And HA! You caught the reference with the chapter tittle. You get a cookie!