Chapter X; Changes in the Dark
Y wasn't at all comfortable in the next world she and Aqua had found. They appeared in a mountain path that was barren of all life. Spires of rock rose up on either side of the path periodically. The path was inclining up towards a dark castle that added to the ominous setting. The sky was overcast with clouds. Mountains surrounded the area behind them, with only one way through.
Y looked to Aqua, about to speak but stopped when she saw an orb of light exit the dark castle and fly past them. Y watched it in awe. It was almost like a mini sun that was just floating through the sky, radiating light off of it. It felt warm, but Y wasn't sure how she knew that. It never got close enough for her to feel.
"What's that?" Aqua asked, her breath catching a little. Y smiled and shrugged, watching the light fly through the mountains to a place she couldn't see.
"I don't know." She whispered in awe. Aqua looked to her then back up to the castle.
"I think we had better go take a look inside," Aqua said. Y looked up at the castle with a frown. She wasn't eager to go into the very possibly creepy castle, but she wasn't seeing much choice. There had to be some explanation for the little ball of light. And the answer was probably in the castle.
Y let out a sigh before nodding in agreement.
Inside the castle, Aqua and Y wandered the halls. They had no clue where anything was. Or anyone. Despite occasional Unversed attacks, there was no one in the castle. It unnerved Y, making the castle seem creepier to her than it already was. The empty halls echoed with their footsteps like they were being followed.
"There's no way Terra would hurt somebody like that!" Y came to a sudden halt hearing that. It was Ven, she knew his voice anywhere. Y looked around frantically. What was Ven talking about? What was Terra being accused of? Terra was ok, wasn't he?
Y spotted Ven after a moment of searching. He stood on the floor of some chamber looking up at a woman in black with horns. She held a staff of some kind while she paced back and forth above him.
"You don't believe me? That's unfortunate, for he agreed so easily." The woman said. Y glared at her. She didn't know what was going on, but this woman was accusing Terra of something evil. And Y couldn't stand for that.
"He did?" Ven asked softly, looking down. Y felt her anger grow. Why was Ven believing this woman? Y darted forward without thinking.
"Ven!" Y yelled. Aqua followed Y quickly.
"Don't be fooled!" Aqua insisted. The stopped beside Ven, Aqua looking to Ven while Y glared at the woman.
"Aqua! Y!" Ven said in surprise. Y couldn't decide if he was happy or not. Maybe he was worried he was going to get dragged back home. Which was probably Aqua's intention.
"Terra would never do that. You know that as well as I do." Aqua said. Y was confused as to how Aqua had any clue what Terra was being accused of. Maybe it was something he was guilty of and Aqua just didn't know that's what he was being accused of. Y decided not to question it and nodded her head in support.
"Yeah!" Ven agreed. The woman laughed.
"Ahhh... the truth can be most cruel, even amongst the closest of friends. After all, one never knows the secrets of another's heart. I'm sure you'll agree...Ventus...Aqua...Y." The woman said each of their names with a certain amount of malice. It sent chills through Y's body as if the woman knew more about each of them. Aqua sighed and turned to Ven.
"The master sent me. Ven...lets go home." Aqua said. Y looked at her in disbelief. Now was not really the best time for this.
"Aqua!" Y objected. Aqua gave Y a pointed look to silence her. Y looked down and backed away a little.
"But Terra..." Ven said softly. Aqua put a hand on his shoulder gently.
"Terra's not ready to leave yet," Aqua said. Ven considered her words for a moment. He looked down at the ground with a frown. Y was almost afraid he was actually considering Aqua's words. That he might go home. Y noticed his fist clench.
"Sorry Aqua. But I can't go with you." Ven stated, pulling away from Aqua.
"What?" Aqua asked. Ven backed away a little.
"It's just, I have to find him before it's too late!" Ven insisted before taking off. Y turned to watch him pass her.
"Ven!" Aqua and Y called out in unison. Y tried to follow him, she heard Aqua move the same way. But Y stopped when she heard the woman talk again.
"I see you, too, wield a keyblade." The woman said. Y and Aqua shot a glare at her. This woman was really grating on Y.
"How do you know about the keyblade?" Aqua demanded.
"A source of power." The woman continued on, ignoring Aqua's question. She paced back and forth above them. "A key that opens the hearts of men, of entire worlds... And one to obtain anything and everything. Such power I find most fascinating." Aqua looked down in worry.
"So, Terra, he really," She began.
"Of course not." Y said stubbornly. But it occurred to her they still didn't know what Terra had been accused of. Maybe he had done it.
"Yes. Now, my dear, would you like to assist me as well?" The woman asked, furthering Aqua's doubt. Y could see it in her eyes, the way she cast them down.
"Never," Aqua stated, looking up at the woman with a glare.
"I see, Xehanort was right. You are a most stubborn girl." The woman said. Y gasped. Master Xehanort had told this woman something. Y had been wary of her brothers master from the start, now it seemed there might be a reason. If he had told her of Aqua, what else could he have said?
"Master Xehanort. How do you-" Aqua began, sounding as confused and alarmed as Y was. There weren't many good scenarios that went with Xehanort teaching this woman.
"It seems you need time to consider my offer. Fortunately, I have the perfect place." The woman said, seeing that Aqua wasn't going to cooperate. The woman struck the floor with her staff. The floor beneath Aqua opened up, dropping her down to unseen floors below. Y rushed forward trying to get a better look. She stopped at the edge of the hole but only saw darkness. "And what of you child? Surely you would understand, with your brother being lost." The woman said, gaining Y's attention. Y looked up and frowned.
"What do you mean? X isn't lost." Y said, stepping back from the hole. She looked at the woman harshly. X might not have been around, but that didn't mean he was lost.
"I see, you do not know. It's a shame, for he so helpfully led Terra to darkness." The woman said. Y's eyes widened as she realized what the woman meant. X was lost to darkness.
"X would never!" Y objected, taking yet another step back. Maybe she could run, find a way to rescue Aqua and get out of here.
"But he did. And you could be of great help to me as he was." The woman replied with a cold smile. Y had a strange feeling this woman knew what she was thinking. And it was a terrifying thought. Y clenched her fist, glaring at the woman. She was talking nonsense to lead Y into the darkness. That had to be it.
"Take your offer and shove it up your ass!" Y snapped. The woman gave Y a cold glare.
"It appears you need time to deliberate as well." She said. She struck the floor again and opened the hole in the floor wider. Y fell into it with a sudden scream.
Y landed on a hard stone floor much softer than she had expected to. Though she was in pain she doubted anything was broken. Y looked up to see a dismal grey room filled with people. One was Aqua and another was a young man with brown hair. There were also three old women who were floating and holding wands, so Y was willing to bet they were fairies. They each wore a different color, one red, one blue, and the last green.
"Oh look, it's a party." Y said sarcastically as she stood up. "Where are we going?" She asked.
"To rescue the princess," Aqua answered. Y smiled at her.
"Awesome, let's go." Y said.
Outside of the cell, the group worked their way up the stairs. Various minions were placed on the stairwell leading to the castle itself. Aqua and Y were able to quickly rid of the annoyances. They made it to what must have been an audience chamber. There were walls on either side that didn't reach the ceiling. Y tensed as she saw a raven sitting on one of the walls.
The raven took flight when it saw the group that was Aqua, Y, and the prince from the dungeon. As the raven flew away the walls came down and revealed even more minions. Y rolled her eyes in exasperation. Of course.
The fight went on for a while. The minions luckily were not the brightest. Y found it was easy to take multiple out at once by forcing them to run into each other. Once the audience chamber was cleared the group proceeded to the outside of the castle. There was a quick skirmish there with more of the woman's minions but once again they were simple enough to fight.
Outside the castle, they were still met with opposition. This time in the form of Unversed rather than the minions the woman had kept. The group rushed through the bright forest, avoiding as many fights with the Unversed as they could. There seemed to be more pressing matters.
The group of three finally managed to make it to where the princess was asleep as Y had been informed sometime during their running. She wasn't exactly sure when but she knew it had come out. As they crossed the bridge they heard the woman's voice ring out.
"A forest of thorns shall be your be your tomb... Wound 'round the castle in a bower of doom!" She cried. Lightning struck and great vines of giant thorns appeared around the castle. Aqua, Y, and the prince continued running. Y was already searching for the easiest path through the thorns. There seemed to be plenty of room for them to fit through. However, they were stopped the woman appearing before them in green flames.
"Maleficent, what did Master Xehanort tell you?" Aqua demanded of the woman. Y wasn't sure where Aqua had learned the name but she didn't see fit to question it. She stood beside Aqua with her keyblade at the ready.
"Such a pity, child, that you don't have Terra's gift for obedience. Nor can you see how easy it was for him." Maleficent replied rather than answer the question.
"Terra would never do anything to help you!" Aqua insisted.
"Quite the contrary. He fully embraced the darkness within himself. With encouragement from his friend from the darkness." Maleficent replied. Her eyes wandered to Y when she said friend from the darkness. Y felt her fist clench in anger. She was accusing X again.
"Stop lying!" Aqua shouted.
"X wouldn't do that!" Y yelled. She was very close to her breaking point with this woman's nonsense.
"See for yourself-all the powers of hell!" Maleficent yelled. She was engulfed in green flames that slowly began taking the shape of a dragon. Y watched her in shock.
"This is going to be fun." Y muttered as the group stood staring at the dragon now in front of them.
Without any sort of plan, the three charged together. They jumped up and slashed the dragon with their blades. Maleficent responded by shaking her head and rearing up onto her hind legs before dropping back to the ground. A shock wave rippled from her feet knocking Y back. Maleficent shook her head again, this time breathing fire that was green. Y rolled to the side and watched the prince and Aqua do the same trying to avoid the heat of the flames.
Suddenly Maleficent took to the air, circling around the three. Y stepped back a bit and raised her keyblade. She took aim and waited for the right time to strike. Beside her, Aqua did the same.
"Light." Y said simply as beams of light shot from her keyblade knocking Maleficent from the sky. Beside her Aqua shot off ice crystals, hitting Maleficent alongside Y's light. Maleficent landed on the ground. She shook herself off before standing on her hind legs once again. When she came back down she pushed Y and Aqua away from the prince.
"No!" Aqua said, trying to get to the prince. Maleficent bit at the prince. He responded by wildly swinging his sword to keep her back. The fairies from the dungeon suddenly appeared and shouted a spell of some kind, based on its rhyme scheme. The prince threw his sword which embedded itself in the dragon.
The dragon vanished with a great roar, leaving nothing behind. The three fairies waved their wands and the thorns disappeared. Aqua and Y stood back as the prince continued his way into the castle. Y assumed he was going to wake the princess now.
Y glanced over to see Maleficent sulking away from the sight of the battle. She nudged Aqua and pointed. Aqua frowned turning to face Maleficent.
"It's the power of true love that defeated you," Aqua said simply. Maleficent glared at her. Y felt anyone else would have cowered away in fear, but Aqua held her ground.
"I will not be defeated by something as insignificant as love." Maleficent spat.
"You don't even know the first thing about it. You're too clouded by darkness to see that there's something greater. Try all you want, but you'll never defeat a heart filled with light." Aqua said. She held her head up high and spoke proudly. Y was surprised, it really did seem like Aqua was coming into her role as a Master well. Something Y was frequently forgetting. Her best friend was now a Master.
"Perhaps..." Maleficent said. "But remember one thing- as long as there is light there will be darkness. And in time, many more will be drawn to it. Then they will all belong to me!" She declared before fading away into what Y was now considering her signature green flames.
"Terra, you better stay strong for me," Aqua muttered. Y looked at her concerned.
"Do you think Terra really helped her?" Y asked cautiously. Aqua looked down at Y and smiled softly.
"No." She answered. Y frowned feeling Aqua wasn't being totally honest. She could tell by the look in Aqua's eyes something was still bothering her. "Do you believe your brother did?" Aqua asked. Y frowned looking away.
"Part of me doesn't want to, but it's bugging me. X, he was different. But I don't know how. He, he did mention something about the darkness changing him." Y answered slowly. Aqua nodded slowly. Y wasn't sure what they could do. There was no proof, but all the same, Y felt something was changing. And it was changing in a dark way.