Oh my... GAH! I am so sorry for the long wait. (Although, is anyone really sitting around and waiting for me to update this thing? I kind of feel like I'm just posting it for my own enjoyment.) I got distracted by some other fandoms... BAD GIRL WAYFINDER!
Anywho... here's the next Chapter!
I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Square Enix, or Disney in any way, shape or form. (Unless you count my Keyblade necklaces! ;P)
Ember looked around the garden she had landed in. This place was peaceful, and the woman felt a stab of regret at the thought that it wouldn't stay like that forever. As though her thoughts summoned them, Unversed spawned around her and Soulfire appeared in her hands with a gleam of sparks. She made quick work of the creatures but some Mandrakes gave her a little trouble, "Stupid poisoners…." Ember grumbled as she healed herself. The poison the plants put out made it difficult to deal with the Tank Topplers especially.
Following the cobblestone path in front of her, Ember made her way into the city proper. There weren't a whole lot of people around, but the aura of the area didn't feel foreboding. Ember was once again hit with the thought that this place was very idyllic: a hub of Light in the Universe.
"Ah, excuse me young lady." A voice broke through her musings.
"Huh?" An old man wearing blue robes cleared his throat, making him the owner of the voice that had spoken before.
"You wouldn't happen to have a spare potion, would you dear? I'm afraid I've run out and I do so need one for my experiment."
Ember blinked at him for a moment, processing his words. "Of course your Elderness." She produced the requested item from her belt and handed it to the man.
"Thank you my dear. Now, the book to awaken your innermost abilities is on the pedestal," he waved her inside the door he was standing next to, "go on and have a look." And he vanished in a puff of blue smoke.
"Uhhh… okay…?" Curiosity getting the better of her, Ember entered the house and went up to the book laying on the simple pedestal. Opening it gingerly, Ember was forced to close her eyes against the light that came from the pages as a wave of warmth washed over her and settled somewhere in her Heart. Blinking her eyes open, Ember looked down at the once again closed book - though she didn't remember closing it - she didn't know what that had all been about, but the book had definitely done something. Shaking her head, Ember stepped out of the building and back into the gentle sunlight and let herself enjoy the sweet breeze - there was some sort of flowery scent that she didn't quite recognize, but it was soothing.
A sudden spike in the levels of Darkness made Ember's head whip around. "What's that?" She followed the sense and soon came to a large courtyard; Aqua, Terra, and Ven each ran in from different directions. A quick round of exclamations followed as everyone noticed and acknowledged each other. The reunion was cut short by the faint sound of air rending as a giant Unversed appeared and all four Bearers summoned their Keyblades.
The battle was brief. Ember spared an amused thought to the fact that - for all their arguments - the four of them fell quite easily into a tag-team rhythm. They went for the arms first, as they seemed to be the weakest - not to mention the Trinity Armor's main source of attack - and took them out in quick order. When it was only the body left, Ember raced in for a flying leap.
"Aqua!" Ember called and her friend nodded.
"Terra! Now!" The bluenette shouted in response.
"Ven!" Terra's voice snapped out.
"C'mon!" Ven agreed. Not one of them doubted that the others would do their parts in this attack.
Twin slashes from Aqua and Ember were followed immediately by another set of slashes by Terra and Ven. The Keybearers landed and looked up to see the results of their efforts, watching as the monster crumbled and turned to black smoke.
"Got'im." Terra announced victoriously, heading over to Ven.
"We make a good team." Aqua commented.
"The best." Ember added.
"Sure do!" Ven agreed, any disagreement the friends had was momentarily forgotten in the rush of victory. "Oh, yeah! I got you guys these tickets." Ven pulled four cards from his pocket.
"For what?" Terra asked, tilting his head slightly to read the cards.
"Lifetime passes to Disney Town!" The blond handed a card to each of them. "He said…" he pouted slightly. "He said to take some grown-ups."
"Uh? You mean us?" Aqua questioned and the three older friends started laughing.
"Well… I guess… I was more thinking that you guys are my friends and there's no one else I'd rather share them with…" Ven mumbled, blushing slightly.
"Thank you, Ven." Ember tucked the pass into her pouch and hugged the boy who was practically her little brother. The other two echoed her thanks.
"Listen, Ven…" Aqua started hesitantly, her conversation with Ember still fresh in her mind, "we need to get you home."
"It's okay, Aqua. That guy in the mask is history.."
"You saw the boy in the mask?" Terra grabbed Ven's shoulder.
"Uh… y-yes."
"Vanitas." Terra muttered and Ember's heart skipped a beat at the name; Ven had met VANITAS?! "Listen, Ven. Let Aqua take you home."
"No way! I want to go with you guys."
"You can't. We have a dangerous task ahead of us. I don't want you to get hurt."
"And what is this 'dangerous task', Terra?" Aqua asked. "It doesn't sound like what the Master told you to do."
Ember closed her eyes. She knew that Aqua was only trying to understand what had changed Terra's mission in his mind, but the way the spellcaster had said it was sure to shut Terra down faster than you could say Kingdom Hearts.
"It might be a different route," Terra answered, "but I'm fighting the Darkness."
"This whole thing isn't as straightforward as we originally thought, huh?" Ember broke in before Aqua could say any more. C'mon… Lighthouse, Aqua. Not Wall. "There are forces in play that not even Eraqus could predict."
Aqua took a breath and tried again. "What have you learned, Terra? What makes you think this is going to be so dangerous?"
"It's not something I'm sure I can explain…"
"I don't think you should be putting yourself so close to the Darkness."
That was entirely the wrong thing to say.
"Have you been spying on me?" Terra demanded, even as Ven voiced his own objections. "Is that what the Master ordered you to do?"
Aqua opened her mouth to try and explain what she had meant by the comment but couldn't make the words come out and instead just looked at her feet. "Aqua…" Ven sighed disappointedly.
Ember was about to defend the bluenette when Terra spoke again. "I get it." The young man turned around and started walking away. Ven called after him but got cut off. "Just stay put! I'm on my own now, alright?"
"Terra, please! Listen!" Aqua begged. "That's not what I meant…"
"Were you also 'ordered' to take me home, Aqua?" Ven asked and she just stared at him sadly. "Since you became a Keyblade Master… you've let it go to your head. I'm gonna go find Terra."
Ven ran off and Aqua turned helplessly to Ember. "Give them some time to cool down, Aqua." Ember suggested. "They misunderstood you, and like I said: there are forces at work here that none of us understand."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"I've been wondering…" Ember began slowly, "if the source of the Unversed is also messing with us. As in, purposefully twisting our emotions around to drive us apart."
"You think?" Aqua asked hopefully. If that was the case, then once they beat whatever was causing all the trouble they could go back to being the friends Aqua had always counted on.
"Maybe." Ember responded, hoping for that eventuality herself. "I'm gonna go see if I can catch Ven and Terra, okay?" Aqua nodded and Ember ran off.
She got held up by several swarms of Unversed that took an annoyingly long time to dispatch, but soon Ember was in another one of many courtyards. She watched a redhead boy challenge Ven to a spar - which Ven won handedly - and then a blue haired boy joined them in a quick conversation before Ven ran off himself. For some reason, Ember couldn't make herself follow after him.
The blue haired boy parted ways with the redhead not far from where Ember was standing. "So," the boy started and turned to face Ember. "Do you always challenge everyone you see?"
Lea grinned. "He looked upset. So I figured a fight would, if not cheer him up, then at least distract him for a little bit."
"I'm Ember."
"Name's Lea. Get it memorized."
"I think I can do that." The girl smirked. She liked this kid, he had a spark not many others did. "I really appreciate what you did for Ven." Lea blinked as she spoke the blond boy's name. "I was worried about him, but now I think he's going to be okay."
"You know Ven?"
Ember grinned. "He's my brother." Comprehension dawned on the teen's face. "I trust him to take care of himself, but I do still worry about him."
"Kid's lucky, then." Lea commented and Ember rolled her eyes.
"How old do you think he is?" She asked with a note of exasperation.
"Uh… fourteen?"
"Mmmm… and how old are you?"
"...Seventeen...?"
Ember stifled a snort. "Ven turned sixteen about a month ago. And I'm eighteen."
Lea blinked in surprise. "Well, he certainly doesn't look sixteen!"
Ember started laughing, and once she started she found she couldn't stop. It felt so good to laugh again - after all the battles she had fought and the growing worry in her Heart - laughing over something so small and stupid was just what she needed. "Sorry." She finally gasped as she calmed.
"I… didn't mean it as a joke…" Lea informed her uncertainly.
"I know. I've just been stressed lately and…" she trailed off with a shake of her head. Lea stared at her for a second longer, then shrugged, accepting her explanation. "Anyways, so, Lea: hothead, unwilling to see someone upset, obsessed with people remembering things… anything I'm missing?"
Lea rolled his eyes at her summation of his personality. "Isa's always getting after me for picking up stray puppies - figuratively speaking. I just don't like seeing people get hurt when I could do something about it."
"Wow." Ember commented almost teasingly. "A veritable knight in shining armor, huh?"
"I don't know about shining armor." Lea argued amiably. "But pretty much." Ember smiled as Lea looked a little sheepish. "I've always wanted to be somebody who could protect the people who can't protect themselves - to do right, for the sake of right. Maybe it sounds stupid, but…"
"I don't think it's stupid." Ember informed him. "If we don't believe that the Worlds can be something so idyllic, then how can it ever become that?"
"That makes sense." Lea agreed. "And I'm 'obsessed with people remembering things' as you put it, because I figure; as long as people remember me, I'll never really die, yeah? I'll live on in people's memories."
"Speaking of dying," she mused, "what would you be willing to die for, Lea? What's most important to you?"
Lea was quiet for a few minutes. After all, it wasn't exactly a question you consider very often. "No matter what the cost, I'll always have my friends' backs. Got it memorized?"
Ember laughed. "Then your friends' are pretty lucky, aren't they?" Lea blushed slightly and a silly thought appeared in her mind. "Kneel, Sir Lea." The teen frowned slightly in confusion, then brightened as he caught up with her train of thought and went down on one knee with his head bowed. Ember summoned Soulfire, making Lea twitch in shock, and rose it to hover over Lea's head. "As long as you can trust yourself and your friends, there's not a lot that can stop you." She tapped each shoulder - right then left - then tapped his head lightly.
And nearly dropped her Keyblade as both it and Lea glowed briefly.
"Is something wrong?" Lea's voice broke her from her shock.
Ember shook herself slightly. "No. Just lost in thought. Sorry Lea."
Lea laughed slightly as he stood up.
Ember glanced at the sky. "I need to be going." She sighed.
"Any more words of wisdom before you go?"
"Burn, Lea." Green eyes widened at her words. "Burn forever, and Light the Worlds with your fire."
"Will I see you again?" He asked.
"We're friends, Lea." Ember answered. "Someday, somehow, I know we will."
Lea stared at her for a long moment, as though he was trying to decide something. Then, all of a sudden, he stepped closer to her and kissed her lightly. When he pulled back, it was hard to tell who was more surprised by his actions: Ember, or Lea himself. "W-well… I g-guess I'll see ya when I see ya." He ran off, flushing brightly and leaving Ember to stare after him, her hand coming up to brush her lips.
A small smile appeared on her face. "See ya." She waited until Lea was out of sight before activating her Armor and summoning her Keyblade Rider.
I hope you enjoyed it! And for anyone who's might complain that Ember just made TWO Keybearers, I think of it this way... With Taika, she more or less just "swore her in" as a Initiate to the Sentinels, while Lea is a standard Keyblade Wielder.
Anyways.
Next Chapter: The Olympus Coliseum
**Wayfinder**
