Oh, this again. Enjoy, I guess. Y'know what really grinds my gears? Those new TV shows that come on late at night so I'm always playing Uncharted when they're on. Wilfred for example. I love it, no doubt it's one of my favorites, but it comes on during VIDEOGAMETIMEGDFEHFASGDFKJIW LBVSFDAAAH! Thank you for your time.
"Ah, Xehanort! It's been too long, friend!" Eraqus lifted his head and stood, spreading his arms wide in greetings, then extended an open hand.
Xehanort smiled and returned with a grip far too strong for his age. It hadn't occurred to them that the action would shake the room along with their hands, but it was too quick for any damage to be done. Speaking of damage…
Aqua and Terra were still standing by the stove, giving no greeting, not blinking, not even breathing. In some faraway place a great distance from her own mind, Aqua was conscious of the fact that she should introduce herself to this man but could not bring herself to. The halted breath and sealed lips prevented her from voicing these nonexistent thoughts. In that same place, a voice spoke to her, a voice that she could recognize as a strangers'. How sad. Do you want me to regret my decision? She could offer no response, her very mind frozen under the immense weight of Master Xehanort's' presence.
Aqua could tell that Xehanort's momentary burst of energy was not, to put it bluntly, good. There was an unmistakably malicious air to it, as if that was the powers' nature. What truly took her by surprise was the familiarity that Aqua felt in its wake; she had sensed something similar before. Why was Master Eraqus unfazed by this? It could not have been a normal thing for any Keyblade wielder, let alone one who trained alongside the Master, to have such powerful negative energy. Wait… Aqua looked towards the door. There was a similar energy that had just popped into existence, and it appeared to be waiting outside. What in the worlds was going on? There was no way an energy that possessed a feeling such as that could not mean an imminent danger.
Aqua was ripped from these thoughts back to reality when she heard the Masters begin to converse again. "They are quite noisy, aren't they?" inquired Xehanort with a pained expression. What did that mean? Was he speaking of her and Terra?
Eraqus loosed a small chuckle. "Count yourself lucky, friend. Mine is also a severe nag."
There was a small pause and then they both suddenly burst out in a fit of laughter.
Terra cocked his head to the side slightly. "I think I missed the joke." He was trembling slightly, as if cold. It was likely too small for the elders to notice, but in spite of this Master Eraqus must have picked up on the students' tension. "Now Xehanort, I'm sure that you're quite weary from your journey across space. Please, feel free to make yourself at home."
The old master smiled and said, "I think that I will. It has been far too long since I have traversed these halls." Xehanort turned to leave, not without sending a lingering gaze toward the students, and began to leave. "Oh, one more thing," he spoke before putting his hand on the door. "If you should see my apprentice, be sure to remain wary."
Aqua finally found her voice. "Wary of what, exactly?"
The master hung his head slightly. "Sadly, due to the recent decline in Keyblade wielders and the nature of our training he has been unable to have much contact with people his age. Because of this he may not be able to comprehend friendly advances." He turned his head and looked at the two apprentices. "Please, take whatever actions you will slowly. If he is shocked the outcome may not be favorable for us."
Aqua barely moved as a plate came flying toward Xehanort from behind her. The plate was full of scrambled eggs and was currently levitating in front of him as he exited the room.
As soon as Xehanort left the air became infinitely less heavy. Aqua hadn't realized until now how few breaths she had taken; she could've counted them on one hand. She looked to the master to see him sitting back down to wait for the eggs no one had brought him and was suddenly struck by the desire to question his nonchalant exterior. These thoughts were quieted down, however, when Terra, as if the entire episode had not fazed him in the slightest, took the seat opposite from Eraqus and put his head back down.
Aqua sighed and turned back to the stove to prepare their plates, once more casting her consciousness outside of the door. But instead of feeling the other presence, there was nothing, giving the suggestion that it was not there to begin with. Deciding to move on from this incident, she came to the conclusion that the shock from feeling Xehanort for the first time caused her mind to play tricks on her.
"Master?" Aqua spoke as a thought developed in her mind, triggered by something Xehanort had said.
The Master turned his head slightly as if sensing that a difficult question was going to be asked. "Yes Aqua? Is there a problem?"
Aqua finished the plates and walked them over to the table, setting them down and taking her own seat on the length of the table. "It was something Master Xehanort spoke of, the recent decline of Keyblade wielders. What did he mean by that?" She then frowned as Eraqus who, instead of answering her right away, decided to scoop up the largest amount of eggs possible on his fork and shoveled them into his mouth.
After what felt like ages, he finally swallowed as if finished collecting his thoughts. "Well, it is not an easy thing to come to grips with as first one must know their history." He settled himself into his chair in a more comfortable position. "The beginning of the Keyblade, as legend has it, is that it originated from a world billions upon billions of light-years from any ground that we decide to call sacred. As my Master said it, this world is still in existence but corrupted, plagued by evil and war. Even so, if that world has continued to thrive for these nine millenniums as he said, then the Keyblade has done its job perfectly. Through the gathering of the most powerful of all spellweavers of that time and since- the Black Mage, the Red Mage, the White Mage, and the Blue Mage- and the greatest of warriors- the Knight, the Ninja, the Ranger, and the Dragoon-, a Circle of eight was created underneath the light of the Heart of all." Eraqus took this as a chance to get another mouthful of eggs, earning himself another frown from Aqua. "In the center of this ring? Hearts. One heart that was devoid of light, and the other of darkness. All present took up a chant, invoking the pure Majik. They combined the powers of their Hearts and Souls to force Chaos and Order into coexistence. The outrage that reality felt must have been great and overwhelming, as it has been claimed that the whole of the omniverse quaked for one brief and terrifying moment. And then, as if nothing had happened, the Warriors stood in unison, and then the Mages quickly followed. The Heart of all faded away as though it knew that its job was finished. But what of the two Hearts, you ask? Now, there was only one. And in his hand, he gripped the Key. The first Key. The true Key. A Key of such blinding radiance that the simple action of it being drawn was enough to vanquish an entire minor army of those dark beasts they used to call Heartless. The Man who wielded this weapon became known as the Wielder Supreme, because it was he who became the first to take up the tradition of passing on the Keyblade. When the Dark times of that world had passed, he split the Key into three pieces and entrusted them to his closest of companions so that they would be sent out into the worlds to guard the balance of Light and Darkness. These three became the Guardians of the Kingdom of Light, the Kingdom of Darkness, and the Kingdom of Destiny." The Master took a breath and cast his eyes to the ceiling, as if choosing his next words. "When a time of great omniversal distress was prophesized, the Wielders converged to the new resting place of the Heart of all with twenty hearts. They then used these hearts to create a new blade, the Kye. This they granted to a new Wielder to make a new Keyblade Master and ended the crisis. The wielders questioned the ethical alignment of wasting the hearts of many to create a new wielder, so they no longer did. The wielder of Kye devised a method to physically pass the power of the Blade to worthy candidates. The following centuries, the wielders grew in might and number and the balance was protected. Things were fine until five years ago. One night while in my study I was stricken by a force so powerful, so malevolent that the demon god Chaos would have had a tea party with it. Ever since then I have been receiving reports on the rapidly decreasing number of wielders, as if they were simply killing themselves off. Pfft. I'd say that we would be lucky to have a number around fifty left."
Those words made Aqua and Terra both shudder visibly. Fifty? Was that the best that they could hope for? Aqua counted five of them on this world. Only ten groups left. Such a terrifying notion would surely plague her thoughts for days to come.
Those people had recovered. How boring. Venitas had wanted to see them in a moment of complete and total terror, but they just had to go and get better like that. He had been just about to walk in too.
"Whatever, I'll get to see them sweat soon enough." He then walked away in the direction of the nearby town with the intention of shaking things up. "I'm going to make them wish that they trained harder." Hopefully the Master wouldn't mind. He would probably encourage Venitas helping the students get some more exercise.
Sigh. Another job well done. *cricket chirp.* What? Don't look at me like that. You're burning off my awesome and super cool tough guy exterior. Perhaps I could be persuaded to update more often if I were, I don't know, paid for it… *cricket chirp.* Whatever. Please leave a review to show some support. Or not, up to you. Supreme King is out! Again.