Chapter Ten: Sunset Horizons

It was a familiar ritual. Terra stood to the east on the crossroad paths of the Horizon Plains, watching for a moment the way the sun reflected the dry, dusty landscape. It had been nearly a year since… well… They didn't talk of it much. It was as he had said: the Chaser of Dusk was dead to them.

Terra turned, seeing Ven coming from the north, and Aqua from the west. Just like every time they had to go through this foolish memorial. All it served to do was dredge up painful memories that none of them wanted to think about. As if would ever be possible to FORGET the War. Like it never happened… But the Kingdom insisted, and so they did. Terra fell into step, walking to the center of the crossroads with the others. For a long moment, they simply stood, staring up into the sky as the silhouettes of the fallen Keyblades stood dark all around them. It was the first time that they had ever undergone the memorial without…

The wind picked up, stirring the Chasers' capes and whipping the dust of the plains into the air. Something was unnatural about this wind, though. They could all tell.

"Do you feel it?" Aqua whispered.

"Darkness." Terra said flatly. As one, they looked to the southern path, the road to Dusk, and watched. A dark figure materialized out of the swirling dusk. It was an old man, bald, dressed in a coat of red and black that fluttered behind him. His eyes glowed a terrifying golden color. As they watched, his form seemed to shimmer, becoming two, before the copy grew thinner, more agile. This person wore a skintight black outfit, highlighting lean muscles, with an intricate red design across the chest. A helmet similar to, yet differing from, those worn by the Chasers hid his face and head from view. He carried a Keyblade bearing a black and violet jewel on the hilt. And suddenly, from the Keyblade, the way he strode towards them, and the emotion he gave off, they knew who he was.

"Xehanort." Ven growled, spitting out the name like a poisonous thing. He started to move forward, his own Keyblade at the ready, but Terra grabbed Ven's shoulder, pushing him back and running forward himself. He felt responsible, mostly, for Xehanort's fall into Darkness, and he would be damned before he allowed either him or his darkling master to hurt the others. He raced forward, determined to end the nightmare. Xehanort had said he would return, in so many words, but they weren't going to lie down and die without a fight.

The old man raised a hand, making a simple gesture as Terra leaped towards them. The earth itself responded, rising up to create a plateau where there had not been one before. It caught Terra mid-leap, leaving the Chaser of Dawn to sprawl across the unforgiving ground and stare as the Dark One and Xehanort rose higher on another plateau. Xehanort leaped from the top, casting a thunder spell as he fell that caught Terra completely unguarded. Staggering beneath the pain, he was barely conscious of Ven racing by him, running to pursue the one that he blamed for all their misery. He looked up, locking eyes with the Dark One for a moment before racing after Ven.

The Dark One made another gesture, fingers spread stiffly, calling on his power. The Keyblades that had rested in the ground for years rose up upon his command, coiling into the air like a twisted snake. Ven and Xehanort ignored it, too absorbed in their own duel, Keyblades flashing in the dim light. The sun had since gone down, and dark clouds were thick across the sky. Xehanort hurled a blizzard spell, and Ven barely had time to dodge the frigid attack.

Aqua raced along beside them, stopping for only the briefest moment at the roar she heard behind her. She looked up, seeing the stream of Keyblades coming at them, and cried in warning, "Ven!"

Ven leaped to the side and back to avoid the rush, but Xehanort flipped into the air and landed on one of the Keyblades, riding it easily. He slung another blizzard spell, this time at Aqua, calling with a mocking laugh, "Did you all miss me?" Ven dashed up beside her, as Xehanort leapt, once again demonstrating superior acrobatics, to land running on the opposite side of the Keyblades. Ven attempted to follow him, but was hit, and landed on the ground in a rough tumble. Xehanort laughed, a chilling sound, and cast blizzard again. Aqua dodged, letting the ice impact the wall of earth that had risen from the Dark One's meddling. Ven regained his composure, casting a frantic thunder at Xehanort, but the former Dusk Chaser merely leaped back to the Keyblades he had so easily ridden before, letting the trail of them bear him back up into the sky.

The beginning of that line crashed into Terra, who stumbled back from the force of the blow and fell from the side of the plateau he had been running along, attempting to reach the Dark One and bring this fight to a quick end. From below, Aqua watched as he attempted to use his Keyblade to slow his fall, not noticing as the possessed Keyblades curved around to strike her just as the ground below her feet surged up. She fell through the storm of Keyblades, hitting the ground with an audible metallic clash.

Ven was at her side in an instant. "Aqua! Are you okay?" She didn't respond at first, raising her Keyblade and firing an arc of light into the sky. That done, she looked at Ven, a small smile on her face.

"Never better." The faintest tinge of sarcasm laced her words, but she genuinely smiled.

The beam of light shot up, forming a glowing blue shield around Terra and slowing his fall. It came just in time, because the unrelenting Keyblades impacted the shield only a moment later, driving it higher into the sky. The Keyblades froze, like a twisted tree, and the shield exploded outwards. The Dark One's golden eyes sparkled, seemingly thrilled by the display of power.

As Aqua continued to stare upwards, her helmet shattered and gone from hitting the ground so hard, Ven dashed off to find a way up to help Terra. The Chaser of Dawn had landed rolling on the plateau, getting to his feet and running at the Dark One. Xehanort's "master" pulled out his own Keyblade, deflecting each of Terra's strikes. They exchanged blows for a long moment, before the Dark One got in a blizzard spell and sent Terra flying backwards.

He looked down at his arm, where ice was slowly creeping its' way over the armored gauntlet towards his shoulder. The bottom of his helmet had cracked off from hitting the ground one too many times, and one could see his mouth curled into something akin to a snarl as he looked back up. Dark blue eyes met golden through his helmet, and the Dark One smirked.

Terra struggled to get to his feet again, but froze as Ven came into view, making a daring leap at the one still gloating over Terra's fall. Terra thought for a moment that Ven's Keyblade would connect, but suddenly the Dark One simply was not there. He reappeared behind Ven, catching the Chaser of Light by his helmet. Terra hissed, attempted to force himself up to aid the boy, but could not. Ven struggled violently, kicking back and forth, but couldn't escape the grasping hold on his helmet.

The Dark One gripped tighter, causing the helmet to crack. Ven let out a pained cry, and Terra gasped. This man, monster, whoever he was… He was strong. Ven's struggles ceased, and he hung limply in the villain's grasp. From what Terra could see, where the armor over the blond's eye had fallen away, Ven had a single tear trailing down his cheek. Terra could read his thoughts in his cerulean eyes as clearly as if he had been speaking aloud: I'm afraid. I don't want to die…Help me…Please…

Xehanort landed on the plateau next to his master, Keyblade held loosely. Inside his helmet, his eyes narrowed, and he made a faint gesture. The snake of fallen Keyblades roared up and across the plateau, hitting Terra dead on and knocking him over the side.

Below, Aqua could only watch in horror as more pieces of Ven's helmet fell away. "Ven!" She screamed his name desperately, as though if she screamed loud enough and long enough, he would be okay, he wouldn't be… It was always Ven, her surrogate brother, who was there to comfort her when things went badly. But when he was the one in trouble, the one possibly dying, what could she do? Her eyes met his, and she could see in them what he couldn't say: I'm sorry. "VEN!!!"

Dark fire erupted around him, followed by a spell powerful enough to be Blizzaga. The Chaser of Light froze, his entire form shrouded in ice. The Dark One looked pleased, in a wicked way, before casually throwing him over the side of the plateau.

Aqua screamed. Ven fell, his Keyblade and the remainder of his helmet shattering as he bounced off the side of the plateau. She dove and caught him before he hit the ground, cradling him in her lap as she peered worriedly into his eyes. They still had light in them. He wasn't dead.

The Dark One sent away his Keyblade. With Xehanort at his side, he called on magic that was from his time as a Dusk Keyblader before the War. Raising a hand to the sky, he cast the spell, and the clouds began to swirl, before opening up a hole to the night sky and revealing the glorious moon that was Kingdom Hearts. Aqua, still clutching Ven tightly, watched in horror as it was revealed. Terra, from where he had landed, forced himself up. He ripped off what was left of his broken helmet, staring up at Kingdom Hearts furiously. His eyes flashed gold, with the one thought in his mind.

They had failed.

xXx

Miles away from where the Chasers were, a small figure stood on a cliff, watching Kingdom Hearts appear in the sky. The young King Mickey of Disney looked worried and angry as he thought of what his mentor, Yen Sid, had told him.

You are the Strong Heart of Disney. Strong Hearts are gifted a Keyblade by Kingdom Hearts to defend it. There are now only three. I do not know why, but I will give you this. A new time is dawning, and the worlds will have need of the strength of all the Strong Hearts.

He sighed unhappily. His castle, long under construction, was at last complete. He remembered the young man, the Knight who called himself a Chaser that Minnie had told him about. He had come to defend the final stages of building from some strange darkness. Mickey gripped his Keyblade, the Star Seeker, tightly. Something was coming, something so horrible it might rival the Keyblade War that Yen Sid had taught him of. But he would be ready. He was the first of the Third Generation of Keybladers. And he would stand firm until the very end.

I have to laugh that this chapter is three or four times as long as any other. Heh. I did a pretty good job interpreting this for having no real information. XD

This is as far as I'm editing for now. The last five chapters will be done when I don't have to read a 500 page book by morning.

Li