Now, for Terra and Eraqus. And Ven. Because, honestly, my immediate reaction to a certain line in this scene was "Because you're not explaining anything!" You can probably guess which one.

Enjoy!

Harsh Truths

"Ven!"

"What!?" Master Eraqus was plainly startled by Terra's sudden appearance. But Terra could feel only rage that his master would dare attack Ven, his friend, one of the friends that were more important than anything...

He could feel the darkness well up inside him, stoked by his anger as he gripped his Keyblade, standing in front of Ven to protect the younger boy from further attack. "Master! Have you gone mad!?"

"Terra! I command you – step aside!" his master ordered.

"No!" Terra shouted back, armor fading.

Master Eraqus's eyes narrowed. "You will not heed your master?"

"I won't!" Not when he'd seen Ven backing up like that, clearly afraid. Not when it was the master that was supposed to guide and protect them who had attacked first.

"Why do all my attempts to reach you fail!?" Their master hung his head and tried one more time to get Terra to back away. "If you don't have it in your heart to obey..." he looked up, pain filling his eyes as he saw the resolve on Terra's face, "then you will have to share Ventus's fate." A tear ran down his face before he lunged towards Terra, attacking in earnest.

Terra blocked the attacks, refusing to give any ground. "Enough, Terra!" Ven said from behind him. "He's right..."

"Quiet!" Terra barked. He was not going to let anything happen to Ven. That meant he couldn't afford to listen right now, to risk giving Eraqus an opening. He couldn't afford to think about how learning the truth behind Vanitas must have affected his friend, why Ven would be willing to let Eraqus attack him, why Master Xehanort had told him his friend was enraged when he sounded resigned and heartbroken...

"Terra..." Ven said softly. Then Terra was tackled from behind, throwing him off-balance and narrowly avoiding one of Eraqus's swings. He tumbled to the ground, snarling as he prepared to deal with this new threat because Ven needed him –

He was shocked to see it was Ven trying to hold him down. He stopped struggling immediately; hurting his friend was one line he would never cross. "Ven, get off!"

"No!" Ven yelled. "Just stop it, both of you!" Tears welled up in the boy's eyes as his hands fisted in his hair. "Terra, Master, please, listen to me..."

Eraqus had pulled his Keyblade back, light drawn in around it for a powerful attack, but froze. He lowered his Keyblade, light dissipating as he stared at the the two boys, horror dawning on his face.

Ven went on, not paying attention. His eyes squeezed shut as he shook his head. "I'm not going to fight. Terra, I can't fight. If I fight, they win. If destroying me is the only way to stop that –" His eyes opened, desperate and begging Terra to understand. "Terra, please..."

Terra felt the darkness swirl up inside him again as his rage returned. This was wrong, Ven should never look so hopeless, should never sound so heartbroken and scared. He was going to murder someone for this. "Ven, I'm not going to let that happen!" He tried to get up, only for Ven to push him down, and he fell back more out of surprise than anything else.

"Terra, no!" Panicked blue eyes met his own stunned ones as Ven kept talking, everything coming out in a rush. "They need me to fight Vanitas, if I'm gone that can't happen, and we can't let it happen and I'm scared and I don't know what to do but you can't fight the Master don't you know how much he loves you and I love you too that's why I can't let you –" He took in a shuddering breath, head lowering to rest on the older boy's chest, voice becoming painfully level. "I can't let you two fight because of me. Not for me..."

"Ven..." Terra said softly, putting a hand on the younger boy's shoulder. It was trembling, putting the lie to Ven's attempt at calm. His rage was forgotten in an instant as he tried to think of some way to help, to fix this, to make things right.

"Ventus, Terra," Eraqus said from where he still stood. Terra shot him a glare, wrapping an arm protectively around Ven as he stood and moved back. Eraqus didn't come closer, Keyblade low at his side, held too loosely to be threatening. "What am I doing? Raising my Keyblade against my students..." He shook his head, pain lining his face as he held a hand over his chest. "Was I truly so blind to not see the darkness forming in my heart?"

"Master..." Terra said, still holding tightly to Ven. The darkness coiled within him, ready to leap out and attack at the slightest provocation.

Eraqus kept his head down, not looking at them. "I am sorry, both of you. I let my fear cloud my judgment, but no more." Grey eyes were clear as he dismissed his Keyblade and looked up, meeting Terra's light blue ones directly. "You were right to stand against me, Terra. And you deserve to know why you had to, what secret lies behind Ventus first coming here."

"I already know," Terra said, maybe a little harsher than he should have. He pulled back on the darkness, feeling it reluctantly settle. "Master Xehanort told me about Vanitas."

Ven started, pulling away from Terra. The older boy let him, since Eraqus didn't seem like he was going to attack again, and Ven stared up at him with a mix of worry and fear. "Xehanort told you?"

Terra nodded, giving his friend a reassuring smile. "It's okay, Ven. He told me about the training accident –"

"It wasn't an accident!" Ven yelled. He flinched, one hand pressing to his head as he gasped in pain.

"Ven!" Terra reached out for his friend, surprised when Ven knocked his hand away, eyes wide with panic as he stepped back.

A second later the look cleared, and Ven looked down, shoulders sagging. "It wasn't an accident," he repeated quietly, half to himself. "I didn't want to fight, wasn't strong enough..." He winced, hand again going to his head. "I was too scared to do anything, and he..." Ven finally looked up. "Terra, Xehanort was trying to push my heart into darkness. And when I couldn't do it, he broke my heart to make Vanitas."

"But..." Terra shook his head. Master Xehanort had been guiding Terra, helping him come to terms with his darkness. Could he really have done something like that? But Ven wouldn't lie. "But why?"

"Xehanort has long been fascinated by Kingdom Hearts," Master Eraqus said. "The one true light said to be the heart of all worlds, over which a great Keyblade War was waged, nearly destroying everything as a result." Terra looked back and forth between his friend, who refused to meet his eyes, and his master, who was slowly walking over to the two boys. "And it is said that the only way to open Kingdom Hearts is with the legendary χ-blade, a weapon formed when forces of pure light and darkness clash."

Terra felt something heavy sink in his gut. "Then, Ven and Vanitas..."

Master Eraqus nodded. "And now you know why I attacked Ventus. Xehanort can not be allowed access to Kingdom Hearts. He'd doom us all just to see it."

Terra hung his head, all the strength leaving his body as he started to realize just how much he'd given up, trying to control his darkness. "So everything he's told me, about finding a balance between the darkness and the light – that was all a lie?"

"Terra." Master Eraqus's voice was heavy, conflict plain on his face. "When we were students, Xehanort often spoke of seeking such a balance. But when I have seen darkness, it is always like a wild, raging beast, lashing out at anything that threatens it. To control it without giving in to it, without becoming it, is something no one has ever achieved. Not even Xehanort himself. For years I have fought against it, seeking to rid it from our world. Yet despite all those efforts, the darkness persists, grows stronger in response to the light. And now, seeing you, I must wonder... if perhaps I have been wrong."

"Master..."

Master Eraqus shook his head. "The darkness is dangerous, and something to be wary of. That remains true. But it lies within all of us, in every heart. If it can never be driven out, then it falls to us to find another way." His master set a hand on Terra's shoulder. "That path may be the one you now choose to follow, as a Keyblade Master."

Terra's eyes went wide. "Master, do you really mean that?"

Master Eraqus nodded, giving Terra a warm smile. "I truly believe that if anyone can find a way, it will be you, Terra." He looked over to Ven. "And if you should start to lose yourself, I have no doubt your friends will be there to guide you back."

Ven looked warily at Master Eraqus, but hope was already starting to return to his eyes. "You're not gonna destroy me?"

Their master shook his head. "I was wrong to even think such a thing. If one of you must be destroyed, it should be the one that threatens the worlds, not the one that would protect them." He set his other hand on Ven's shoulder. "And I will be counting on you to help Terra find his way, to be a light for him should the darkness become too great."

"You got it!" Ven agreed, almost floating as he grinned. He threw his arms around Terra's neck, practically squeezing the life from the older boy. Terra was too relieved that his friend was smiling again to care. "Congratulations, Terra!"

Watching from one of the castle's towers, Xehanort scowled. Filling Terra's heart with darkness now would be much more difficult. And the old man had the feeling that as long as Eraqus lived, it would never truly give in – but attacking his former friend would be useless at this point. Eraqus's light was still too strong to be quickly snuffed, and a prolonged battle with the three in the clearing would only firmly attach Terra's heart to the light and deprive the old man of his chosen vessel.

"Very well, boy. We'll just have to see how your light bears the loss of your friends." He turned, opening a dark corridor with barely a thought. All was not lost yet.