A lot of what Eraqus says in this chapter is taken from the game.
Lost Before Birth Chapter 2: The Journey Begins
The Land of Departure
The next day, the three friends headed to the huge white room with the stained glass windows inside of the castle. Ventus was very alert on the way there, looking out for the man in black. Terra and Aqua, on the other hand, were a little bit nervous about the Exam but managed not to show it. They entered the room. Ven leaned against the wall, ready to see some action. Master Xehanort smiled at him. Ven had always thought that this Master was a little wonky in the head. Master Eraqus addressed Terra and Aqua.
"Today you will be examined for the Mark of Mastery. Not one but two 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. Both of you may prevail, or neither. But I am sure our guest- Master Xehanort -did not travel all this way to see our youngest prospects in years fall short of the Mark."
Master Xehanort nodded. Ventus hoped that his speech was almost over, because it was really hot. Now he understood why Aqua didn't wear sleeves. The master continued.
"I trust you are ready," he asked his pupils.
"Yes," Terra and Aqua replied.
Master Eraqus pulled out his ancient-looking Keyblade. "Then let the examination begin." He summoned some orbs of light. Both Terra and Aqua pulled out their Keyblades, ready to destroy the orbs. Suddenly darkness overtook the balls of light. Everyone was surprised. The darkness had to nave come from someone…Ventus looked by the entrance and spotted the man from before. He was about to confront him when an orb covered in darkness blocked his path.
"Ven!" Terra and Aqua called. Ven pulled out his Keyblade just in time to fend it off. More were coming, though.
"Don't worry about me," he called to his friends. "You two focus on the Exam!"
Aqua was worried. "But Ven, you're in danger here! Go wait in your room," she said, being a little overprotective.
"No way!" Ven answered defiantly. "I've been looking forward to this-seeing you two become Masters. I'm not gonna miss it now!" Besides, Ven wouldn't let this opportunity slip away. He couldn't talk to the guy in the coat if he was stuck in his room.
"He can take care of himself. He's been out there training just as hard as us," Terra said, sticking up for his younger friend.
"Yeah!" agreed Ven.
Reluctantly, but mostly because she liked Terra, Aqua gave in. "Stay sharp, Ven."
After they defeated the orbs, Ventus looked around for the mysterious man. He was nowhere to be seen. No one else had noticed him.
Terra and Aqua stood in front of Master Eraqus once again.
"That was unexpected…" he said. "But one must keep a still heart even in the most trying of circumstances. It was an excellent test, one I chose to let unfold. Which brings us to our next trial- "
"Ha ha ha!"
Everyone turned their heads, looking for the source of the deep, throaty laugh. There, off to the side behind the Masters' chairs, stood the mysterious figure.
"Imbeciles. You cannot possibly make them masters of something they cannot control," he said to the Masters.
"What business do you have here? Were you the one who contaminated the orbs with darkness?" said Master Xehanort.
"I do not use my powers for evil, unlike the rest of you."
Everyone was stunned. How could a stranger say something like that to the Masters? Ven saw the chance to prove himself.
"Hey! You're that guy from yes-!" Ven was suddenly frozen, his fist held in midair.
"Ven!" Aqua called, but then she couldn't move either.
"Aqua!" Terra tried to help her, but he was stopped against his will.
Master Eraqus was enraged. "How dare you use Stopga on these pupils? Let them free at once!"
"If you insist," said the man in a monotone. With a quick flick of his wrist, Ven, Aqua, and Terra were floating above the ground. He had used Zero Graviga on them. Master Eraqus and Xehanort pulled out their Keyblades. The first Master rushed forward to attack the man, who easily dodged his attacks. Master Xehanort joined him, but the man was too quick. Their pupils watched helplessly from the air. The man finally used Stopga on the two Masters.
"You two will be better off this way." The man raised his hand and placed his thumb on Master Eraqus' forehead.
"What are you doing?" yelled Terra.
"Stop!" cried Aqua.
"Leave him alone!" shouted Ven.
Master Eraqus' eyes widened in horror. Then he slouched to the ground, unconscious. The three friends tried to break free of the Zero Graviga spell, but it was no use. The man walked over to Master Xehanort, who was still being affected by the Stopga spell. He placed his thumb on the Master's forehead and then-
"Stop!"
A boy with a mask who looked to be about Ven's age rushed was wielding a Keyblade. Terra, Aqua, and Ven would've laughed at his Spiderman-looking unitard if they weren't in this dire situation.
"And who might you be?" The man addressed him as if he were a little kid.
"None of your business! Leave my Master alone!"
Aqua and Terra were shocked. His Master? Ven thought. None of them had ever seen this boy before. Maybe he was from another world?...
The strange boy lunged with his Keyblade. The man dodged and used Stopga on him. "This is just too easy." He stood in front of Master Xehanort. The strange boy suddenly vanished, but the man didn't notice. Ventus blinked. Where'd he go?
The boy reappeared right behind his opponent, who had started to turn around. "Too slow," said the boy, whacking the man with his weapon.
"Ugh!" he grunted. He faced the boy, who then started shivering and struggling. Then he started hitting himself with his Keyblade. "Why you hitting yourself?" the man asked tauntingly, laughing.
"He's controlling him!" Aqua said.
"No, duh!" said Terra. She ignored him.
"But with what?" said Ven, starting to fear the man. "You can't do that with magic."
The boy floated off to the side, his face contorted with the effort of breaking free. "I saw what you did," the man said to Master Xehanort. "Using your powers for evil, covering light with darkness."
"He's blaming him for changing the orbs!" realized Aqua.
"You don't say?!" said Terra sarcastically.
"Now's not the time for arguing! We need to figure out how to get out of here before he gets us next!" Ven said.
Master Xehanort fell to the floor after the stranger removed his hand. "Let this be a message for you to pass on," the man said as he faced them. Ven tried to get a better look at his face now that it was daytime, but all he saw was a white mask with a red circle in the middle of the forehead.
The man vanished into a dark portal. Everyone dropped to the ground. The boy knelt by Master Xehanort. The three friends ran to Master Eraqus' side. "He's still breathing," Terra noted.
Aqua looked at the other Master, who was still lying on the ground. "Is he alright?" she asked the boy.
"STAY AWAY!" he warned, brandishing his Keyblade.
"Hey, we don't know who you are, but we can help," Terra told him.
"Yeah. I could use Curaga on him…" Ventus said, moving closer.
"I said, stay away!" The boy pointed his Keyblade at Ventus and shot a ray of darkness at him.
"AAAAH!" Ven shouted as the impact pushed him through the air. He gasped as his back slammed into the wall and he fell to the ground.
"Ven!" His friends shouted. Aqua rushed over to him. Terra turned away from Ventus to face the boy. "You are so gonna pay for that!" he said, fury welling up inside of him. But surprisingly the boy was gone. So was Master Xehanort. Terra went to his friends. "Is he all right?" he asked worriedly.
"Mostly," said Aqua. "I used Cura on him, but he'll be in pain for a while."
Ven tried to get up, then winced and uttered something in French. "Hey, where did you learn that word?" Aqua asked, a little annoyed. Terra whistled suspiciously then changed the subject.
"We should seriously check on Master Eraqus again. He's been out cold for like, twenty minutes." The two friends walked over to him after Aqua made sure that Ven was as comfortable as he could be. Master Eraqus was just waking up. Terra and Aqua filled him in on what had happened while he was out. Aqua asked what the man had done to him.
"I don't know…" the Master said. "But I feel as if something is missing." He seemed to be alright otherwise, so he pulled out his Keyblade and tried to summon some light orbs. Nothing happened. He tried using magic. Nada.
"This can't be! I-I can't use magic!" Master Eraqus realized, looking grim.
"No! That can't be possible!" said Aqua.
"How could someone have that kind of power?" mused Terra.
"I don't know," said Master Eraqus again. He thought for a minute, then looked around the stained glass room. "Where is Ventus?"
"Over here," said Terra, leading them towards him. Ven was leaning against the wall with his hand over his heart. That was where the boy had struck him. His face was scrunched up in pain. Despite Aqua's efforts, it still hurt pretty badly.
"Master Eraqus! You're…alright," Ven said, struggling to get the words out.
"Yes, I am. But I am afraid I have lost my ability to use magic. This is grave news, and I don't know when I will get it back. What I I do know is this: That man is a threat to people everywhere. I want you three to go to other worlds, search for him, and put an end to his madness. The darkness looms closer than usual within these spaces, but your armor will protect you and I am sure that you will protect each other. Now go, and fulfill your duty."
Terra lifted Ven to carry him, since he was in too much pain to walk.
"Wait," Aqua said, worried. "We can't take Ven."
"Why not?" said Terra, totally carefree.
"He's hurt, and it's dangerous out there."
"What if the man in the coat or the Spiderman look-alike comes back?" Ven cut in. "You saw what they could do!"
"Who's Spiderman?" inquired the clueless Master.
"He's got a point. We can't just leave him here, said Terra.
"Take him with you," said Master Eraqus. "And don't worry about me. I will call my old friend Yen Sid and see what he can do about my magic." He started walking away.
"Master, wait! What about the Exam?" Aqua called.
"We will have to resume the Exam another time. There are more important things to worry about now. I wish you luck on your journey."
"Thank you, Master," Terra and Aqua said.
They walked outside into the clearing. Terra set Ven down so he could stand on his own. The three of them changed into their armor with a single push of a button they each had on their sleeves. Ven was still too weak to navigate his own Glider, so Terra started lifting him onto his vehicle.
"What are you doing?" Aqua asked him.
"Carrying Ven on my Glider…?"
"I don't want to sound rude, but…I don't think that's such a good idea."
"Why not?" Terra asked, confused.
"No offense, but you drive a little too fast. Remember what happened with that Moogle? Now all we have are holograms of him. Or her. Or it…" Aqua said, confused about the Moogle's gender.
"Okay. Point taken." Terra passed Ven- who was now sleeping (he did that a lot) -over to Aqua. He couldn't help but notice how strong she was. He got onto his Glider before she could catch him staring.
"You'll be alright, Ven," Aqua whispered to her sleeping friend, hoping she was right.
Terra and Aqua tilted their Gliders up and zoomed off into the Lanes Between, in search of man in the mask.
Can anyone guess what the first Nickelodeon world will be? Does anyone already know who the man in the mask is? If you don't, all will revealed in due time. ;)
Until the next chapter,
~IJustDrownedUrGoldfish