I : Connected
"Wow..." Ventus looked up at the night sky above the Land of Departure, laying on his back to take in the view. His eyes twinkled in delight as he used his arms as a pillow, the grass underneath him as soft as it can be. A couple of shooting stars could be seen streaking through the sky before fading away. "Why does this seem so.. familiar?"
His eyes began drooping, and before he knew it, he was out like a light.
Ventus wasn't sure how long it had been, but his eyes slowly started opening. He sat up, taking another look at the stars twinkling only to frown and grumble. He had missed the meteor shower- and he was so excited to see the rest of it! Nonetheless, he yawned loudly and flopped onto his back.
His eyes widened as he saw the upside-down face of Aqua, one of his friends. His body bolted upwards, a yelp of surprise escaping from his lips as the bluenette chuckled. Ventus slowly got up to switch to a kneeling position.
"Pff.." He looked over to his left, seeing a tanned male with red hair and black horns on his head. His arms were crossed over his chest, the gold-tinted armor on his hips clanking as one of the corners of his mouth was turned upward, a smirk plastered on his face. Ventus turned his attention back to his female friend.
"Gimme a break, Aqua." He swiftly turned to the tan male. "And stop laughing, Baal!"
The red-head raised one of his eyebrows, his arms at his sides as his left hand rested on his hip. The smirk was toned down to an amused grin.
"I don't know what you're talking about, Ven." His voice was deep, sultry even. Ventus reckoned that with a voice like that, all the ladies would flock to him. Aqua stood up straight, the strips of cloth draped over her hips billowing slightly.
"Ven, you hopeless sleepyhead. You know you should have at least brought a blanket." She scolded him playfully, a small smile on her face. Ventus looked up at the two of them, his eyebrows furrowed.
"But- Did I dream that place up?" His gaze went down to the ground as he began thinking about it. "It really felt like I'd been there before.. looking up at the stars..." Baal walked up to him as Aqua leaned down just a bit, the red-head's hand ruffling Ventus's golden blond hair.
"'Cept you've always lived here with us." Ventus slowly nodded.
"Yeah..." He looked back up at Aqua, a smile on his face as his eyes were full of life. "I know."
He stood up, turning to walk towards the edge of the cliff with the bluenette following his lead. They both sat down, Baal eventually walking over to stand at Aqua's right.
"Hey Aqua." The girl in question turned to Ventus.
"Hm?"
"Y'ever wonder what stars are? Where light comes from?" Aqua looked up at the night sky after a short moment of gathering her thoughts.
"Well they say-"
"That every star up there is another world." Baal mused out with another voice. The two sitting turned their attention behind them, smiles on their faces as Baal glanced over to see-
"Terra." Ah. Him.
"Yep. Hard to believe there's so many worlds out there besides our own." Terra began walking up to them. "The light is their hearts, and it's shining down on us like a million lanterns." Ventus just looked up at him, confused.
"What? I don't get it." Baal scratched his cheek, grumbling under his breath a bit before speaking up.
"They're just like you, Ven." Ventus turned towards Baal, an eyebrow raised.
"What does THAT mean?" The red-head shrugged before rubbing the back of his neck.
"Figure it out." Terra chuckled quietly. Baal's bluntness- which was usually confused with straightforwardness -was always fun to watch.
"You'll figure it out someday, Ventus. I'm sure of it." The blonde male only groaned impatiently.
"I wanna know now."
"You're too young to know now!"
"Quit treating me like a kid!" Aqua quietly watched all three of them, a serene smile on her face until she began giggling. Baal looked over at her with a playful smirk.
"And what're you laughing at over there, Miss Aqua?" She glanced at the red-head.
"I can't help it." Aqua then looked over at Ventus and Terra, who looked back at her with curious gazes. "You two would make the weirdest brothers." She began laughing again, slightly turning away from them. In response, Terra crossed his arms over his chest as Ventus rested his behind his head, a mix of confused noises coming from the two. Baal simply chuckled as Aqua kept on laughing, the two "weird brothers" eventually chiming in with their own.
The four of them sat down on the edge, staring up at the starry scenery above their heads.
"Oh yeah! Baal, Terra, we have our Mark of Masteries exams tomorrow." Aqua stood up, walking behind them as she rummaged around her body. The three males each raised an eyebrow, turning towards the bluenette. From behind her back she produced four necklaces, a star on each end of the strings. Each of them was a different color; blue, green, orange, and red.
"Good luck charms?" Baal questioned. Aqua nodded, a smile on her face as the charms tinkled as they lightly hit each other. Ventus and Terra stood up as Baal continued to sit, the charms thrown at them.
"Whoa! I get one, too?" Ventus exclaimed, his voice laced with pure happiness.
"Of course. One for each of us." The three of them stood in a circle, holding out their charms to each other. Baal rested his elbow on his knee, his charcoal eyes silently watching the red charm slowly spin. "Somewhere out there, there's this tree with star-shaped fruit.. and the fruit represents an unbreakable connection.
So as long as you and your friends carry good luck charms shaped like it, nothing can ever drive you apart. You'll always find your way back to each other." The female explained, finishing it off with a sheepish smile. "Technically, I think you're supposed to make them with seashells, but I did the best with what I had."
Baal stood up, the string of the charm tied into one of his belt loops. More specifically, the front right loop. A hand was on his hip as he chuckled.
"Sometimes you are such a girl." Aqua gave him a soft glare at that.
"Hey, what do you mean, 'sometimes'?" Ventus stared at Aqua, a sad look on his face as he only came to one conclusion.
"So.. this isn't a real good luck charm?"
"Well," she started off, walking towards the three, "that's yet to be seen. But I did work a little magic on it." Ventus's mood did a 180 as he was immediately filled with curiosity after hearing "magic".
"Really? What?" Aqua gave him a smile, holding her blue charm up to the stars as she gazed at it.
"An unbreakable connection!" Baal got up at that point, heading to the direction that they came from. He looked back at them, a grin on his face as his fur-line collar ruffled slightly due to the breeze.
"We should start heading back." The three white lambs nodded, catching up the the black lamb as they all began walking back. Aqua paused in her steps, her charm in her hand as she looked up to the starry sky, then back down at her charm.
"Together.. always." She turned back around, catching up to her three best friends to witness Baal ruffling Ventus's hair. Terra was chuckling at the sight, a giggle erupting from Aqua's mouth as Ventus pouted; he was still being treated like a kid.
That would be the last night we ever spent beneath the same stars.
The sun was shining through the stained glass window as Terra, Aqua, and Baal stood firm in front of Master Eraqus and Master Xehanort. Ventus stood off to the side, as he also stood straight as Master Eraqus rose from his seat. Master Eraqus looked at all four of them with firm eyes.
"Today you will be examined for the Mark of Mastery.
Not one, not two, but three of the Keyblade's Chosen stand here as candidates.. but this is neither a competition nor a battle for supremacy- not a test of wills, but a test of heart. All three of you will prevail, or none at all." Master Eraqus glanced at Baal, who only stared straight ahead of him. They already had the discussion of him being able to take the test, even though his heart wasn't physically with him. That didn't mean he couldn't take it.
"But I am sure our guest, Master Xehanort.." Master Eraqus continued speaking, his gaze focused on the other man that was seated next to him. "did not travel all this way to see our youngest prospects in years fall short of the Mark. I trust you are ready."
"Yes." The three of them replied in unison. Master Eraqus summoned his grey Keyblade, "Master Keeper" before getting into a stance. The blade shined brightly before he held a hand to it, multiple white orbs appearing in front of them. "Then let the examination begin."
Baal stomped his right foot into the ground, his keyblade spinning up towards him as if it was just laying there throughout the duration of Master Eraqus's speech. He twirled it around in his hands before getting a firm grip on it, the blade running along his forearm as it jutted outwards.
The Keyblade wasn't as large as Terra's or Aqua's, as it was only the length of Baal's forearm. The blade was gold-tinted, but blended into a deep red color as it neared the tip. Unlike a typical Keyblade, Baal's edge was jagged, almost as if it's primarily used for ripping and tearing. Its Keychain had a small red teardrop, while the chain itself was gold.
Terra and Aqua already had their Keyblades out, all three of them getting into a fighting stance. Baal grunted in surprise as Terra and Aqua gasped; the white orbs were being corrupted by darkness in the form of lightning sparks wrapped around the spheres. Master Eraqus also expressed his surprise as his eyes widened. The trio slowly shook it off as they ran towards the corrupted orbs, each of them slicing through one. The red-head looked over to see one of them floating towards Ven as he sliced through another orb.
"Ven!" Ventus summoned his Keyblade in a flash of light, holding it in a similar fashion as Baal was currently holding his own. He pounced on the orb afterwards, slicing through it as it vanished into the air.
"Don't worry about me! You three focus on the exam!" Terra, Aqua and Baal were surrounded as they stood back-to-back, worry evident in Aqua's eyes. Baal bent downwards, prepared to strike at any moment.
"But Ven, you're in danger here! Go wait in your room." Ventus shook his head defiantly, his arms making a small cross motion.
"No way! I've been looking forward to this- seeing you three become Masters. I'm not gonna miss it now!" Terra glanced at the orbs, his face calm and collected.
"He can take care of himself. He's been out there training just as hard as us."
"It's not like the kid will keel over at any given moment." Baal added, his lips curling into a grin.
"Yeah! What they said!" Terra and Aqua resumed their fighting stances, Keyblades ready to tear through their opponents.
"Stay sharp, Ven." Was the last thing the bluenette said before beginning to slice through the orbs. The three males followed up with their own Keyblades until the last corrupted orb had vanished.
Baal breathed out a sigh of relief, dropping his Keyblade to the ground as it broke apart into small little orbs of light. The orbs were white, but were tinted with a bit of red around the outer parts. It wasn't until the orbs faded away that Baal turned around to face Master Eraqus and Master Xehanort. Master Eraqus slowly walked up to them, content carved into his facial features.
"That was unexpected.. but one must keep a still heart even in the most trying of circumstances. It was an excellent test, one that I chose to let unfold; which brings us to your next trial." Baal summoned his Keyblade in the same fashion as earlier, slowly walking up towards the other two participants.
"Now, Terra, Aqua and Baal, the three of you will face each other in combat." Ventus looked over at Master Eraqus, concern written all over his face.
"But.. Master Eraqus.." He tried to talk to Master Eraqus. It would be understandable if one of them had sat out so that only two of them would fight, but to have all three of them fight each other at once?!
"Don't worry, Ven. In a world of fighting, there is no such thing as 'fair'. Your opponent won't let you have a one-on-one with him when he has a whole army, would he?" Baal spoke, only making the golden blonde boy even more concerned.
"Precisely. Remember, there are no winners- only truths, for when equal powers clash, their nature is revealed." The three of them slipped into their fighting stances, determination filling their eyes. "Begin!"
Baal began rushing towards the two as Terra and Aqua's Keyblades had clashed. He sliced at Aqua with a downward slash, who effectively dodged backwards. Baal spun around as Terra's Keyblade was headed straight towards his head. He intercepted it with his own Keyblade, the sounds of Keyblades clashing filling the large room.
His whole body dropped to the ground as he let out a held breath; Aqua's Keyblade was that close to his neck. He quickly rolled out of the way of Terra's Keyblade as it hit the ground with a loud clang. The brunette began slashing at Aqua, who only responded with evasive maneuvers. She then took the offensive, Terra barely dodging her Keyblade as he leapt back. Baal rushed towards him, his weapon positioned in front of him as the lower half of his face was covered with his forearm.
Terra let out a barely audible snarl, clenching his left fist. He glanced down at it, his hand covered in darkness as he clenched his fist again, willing it to go away. He lifted his weapon up in time to block an attack from Baal, who only responded with more swift slashes to him. Terra had no choice but to block all of the slashes before he took another leap backwards.
The fight continued on like that for what would seem to be an indefinite amount of time, until Master Eraqus ordered them to stop. The trio stopped moving as soon as he spoke.
Baal was kneeling down between Terra and Aqua, his Keyblade at Terra's neck as if it were a knife. Aqua's was in a position where one hard shove of her Keyblade could easily behead him, while Terra's was pointed directly at Aqua's forehead. Baal's eyes narrowed before he unsummoned his Keyblade , the other two doing the same before they walked back to Master Eraqus. They stood just as firm as they did before, Master Eraqus looking over all three of them with Master Xehanort standing at his left.
"We have deliberated and reached a decision. Terra, Aqua, Baal, you three have performed commendably.
However, both Aqua and Baal have shown the Mark of Mastery." Aqua let out an audible gasp, Terra's eyes widening slightly as Baal's fists were silently clenched at his sides. "Terra, you failed to to keep the darkness within you sufficiently in check. But, there is always next time. That is all."
"Baal and Aqua, as our newest Keyblade Masters, you two are entitled to certain knowledge. Please wait here for further instructions." With that, Master Xehanort and Master Eraqus walked out of the room, leaving the four lambs to themselves. The Keyblade Masters turned towards Terra as the female reached a hand to him, attempting to comfort him.
"Hey.." Ventus ran up to them, a sad look on his face.
"Terra, I'm sorry." Baal nodded slightly before traveling over to the stairs to stretch as Terra looked down at the ground, feeling a mix of emotions stirring inside of him.
"The darkness... Where did it come from?" He muttered to himself. Baal reached his destination and began stretching, satisfied with hearing the cracking sounds until he heard Master Xehanort's gravelly voice.
"What do you make of Ventus?"
"He ain't gonna cut it." The red-head's eyes narrowed. It sounded like Ventus, but.. with much more malice, more hatred. He's never heard someone like this in the building, or rather, in their world. The voice was surprisingly new; he couldn't think of a face to match with it. "Somebody's gotta break that loser in."
"Not here, you won't. I have to keep up appearances." Appearances? Why would Master Xehanort do something like that? Unless..
"I know that. He just needs a little incentive to leave home." An incentive to leave? Baal wasn't even sure if Ventus can handle other worlds, especially if he was going to be forced to leave.
As he heard the footsteps fade away, Baal silently slipped back to the other three.
"Sorry.. but I need some time alone." Terra walked away from them, Ventus's and Aqua's worry increasing tenfold.
The red-head didn't like Master Xehanort.
Not one bit.
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- Ran