Chapter 2 - What the Heart Feels
The entire area was shrouded in darkness, the only thing visible was a very disfigured castle and there were skeletal figures in shredded white cloaks attacking the castle. Inside the castle were Terra, and Ventus. They were battling the white cloaked skeletons and were losing very badly. Ventus was covered in black marks and dark red stains. Terra's body was covered in cuts and various tears riddled his clothing. The two boys were riddled with wounds and the only who could save them was her. She ran as fast as she could, but seemed to stay in the same spot she was in. The faster she ran, the slower and more agonizing the two boys' demises were becoming. The two boys were doubled over, and three skeletal monsters appeared in front of the two boys, the skeletal axes were held high, and fear and anguish filled the two boys' eyes.
"Aqua! Please, we need you!" Terra called out.
"Aqua, we won't be able to hold on much longer..." Ventus cried, and tears slid down his face.
"Terra, Ventus! NO, please! Hold on a bit longer!" Aqua yelled from her position, but it was if they didn't hear her.
"Ven, I'm sorry. It was my fault. I let this happen." Terra turned his bloodied face toward the young keyblade wielder.
Ventus looked at Aqua, with fear and then looked to his older brother figure and blinked in slow motion, then in an instant there was a chopping sound and the two boys lay on the ground of the castle with a red liquid leaking from their bodies. Aqua dropped her head and began to weep into her hands.
"Hey! Aqua, wake up!" Patty shook the blue haired wielder with vigor, and almost rolled her out of the bed.
"Huh? Oh, thank goodness... It was just a dream..." Aqua sighed and began to breathe heavily.
"...More like a nightmare..." Patty mumbled and put her hand on Aqua's shoulder in a caring manner.
There was a knock on the door. "Who is it?" Patty called out from the bed, next to her new friend.
"It's Zell. What happened? I heard screaming. Patty, you have to let me in." Zell sighed and turned the handle on the door.
"We're... naked... We'll be down in a minute." Patty lied and sighed when the lock stopped Zell from entering the room.
"Fine. Just be quick. We have a job." Zell stated and returned to the lower level of the office.
Aqua's face was covered in sweat, and her eyes were filled with tears. Patty was by her side while she gathered her composure and the two finally made their way down to meet with Trish.
"Damn, Patty. It took you long enough! The hell were you doing up there?" Dante growled and crossed his arms.
"Look, Dante, just shut up! Aqua had a nightmare and she's wrecked right now." Patty snapped back, Aqua was in her arms, shivering like a puppy in the winter.
"Is everything all right, Aqua?" Zell asked and made his way over to Aqua and looked her in the eyes.
"So, what's the job, Trish?" Dante stated, taking the attention from Aqua and putting it onto Trish. Zell sighed and held his head in his hand for a second then took Aqua from Patty and told Patty to get the details of the next job.
Trish, who looked exactly like Dante's mother, was a curvatious woman who had a thing for black leather. Her shirt was sleeveless and cut down the middle in the shape of a lightning bolt. She had blonde hair that stopped right under her neck, as she had it cut it recently. Her weapons of choice were twin Desert Eagle pistols, and the Sparda blade. The Sparda blade was a memento from Dante's father, but he gave it to Trish. The Sparda blade was composed of muscle tissue that appeared as it would when burnt, and the hilt even had a moving eye inside of it.
"At the bridge, you know, the one you totaled..." Trish began and a smile appeared on her face.
"IT WASN'T ME! It was that damned red eye motorcycle demon! DAMN!" Dante snapped and slammed his fist into the wall.
"Whatever you say... Anyway, on that bridge was a kid in a black hooded robe with golden blonde windswept looking hair. He was fighting some skinny ass silver demon that had a zipper on it's face. The demon was massive and I couldn't even scratch it." Trish reported exactly what she had seen.
Zell wiped Aqua's eyes with his hand. "Aqua, weren't you looking for a boy like that?"
Aqua sniffed and held his hand, "Yeah, it might be Ven. Let's go."
The two stood and followed Patty, Dante and Trish out the office, hand in hand unconsciously. Dante and Patty got into his red Mercedes Benz and Trish hopped on her red motorcycle, and Zell and Aqua got on the motorcycle that Dante had taken the night prior.
Patty looked to see Zell and Aqua riding together, and noticed that Aqua's body was a lot closer to the driver's than it was supposed to be. Aqua's breasts were pushed upon Zell's back and her hands were wrapped rather tightly, but he seemed not to care. Patty watched Aqua's face as it slowly stretched into a peaceful smile as she held Zell close to her.
"It's just because she misses her friends, and she probably hasn't been on a motorcycle before... She just misses her friends... that's all" Patty tried to tell herself, but couldn't believe what she was seeing.
"Wow, Patty. You've been staring at wolfy and bluebird there, for a while. You aren't...jealous... are you?" Dante noted with a cocked eyebrow as he hit the brakes on the Mercedes.
"I-I'm not jealous... We're at the bridge, right?" Patty changed the subject, but Dante was not easily swayed.
"It's in your eyes, Patty." Dante stated and jumped out of the Mercedes, and glared up at the dark, stormy clouded sky.
Zell and Aqua skidded to a halt right next to Dante's car, and Patty looked at Aqua'a eyes. In her eyes was a small glint of hope. Aqua missed her friends and wanted to see that they were fine. Zell stepped near Patty and tapped her shoulder. Patty looked sad and Zell gave her a warm hug, then the three, Zell, Aqua, and Patty glared at the top of one of the pillars to see a tall silver monster battling a kid with two key shaped weapons.
Aqua gasped, "Zell, that's Ven!"
"You sure?" Zell cocked and eyebrow and the Two become One appeared in his hand.
"I'm certain." Aqua replied with a nod, then pulled out a blue Wayfinder star and smiled as it emitted a bright glow.
"I've got one of those too." Zell noticed the Wayfinder and pulled a red Wayfinder from around his neck.
"B-But I only made three..." Aqua looked confused and noticed the red Wayfinder looked exactly like one that she made, except it was red.
"Hey bluebird, wolfy! Get your asses in gear!" Dante yelled and started toward the pillar with Trish following closely behind him, their main weapons in hand. Zell and Aqua followed and Patty stayed with the vehicles.
The dark clouds emitted streaks of lightning and crashing thunder. The rain pelted the black hood of the boy's cloak and the exposed parts of his two key type weapons. In the right hand was a black key that had chains embedded in it. The left hand held a small white key that held a star in the part where the prongs were. Facing these two weapons was a large, bulky, shiny silver and had strange almost dancer like movements.
The hooded boy dashed at the creature and slashed vertically with both weapons. The monster took the hit and the area that was hit, simply moved and snapped back into place.
"Hmph, so that's its power." The hooded boy ran toward the silver monster as it jumped around in midair. The monster hung itself upside down and began waving it's claw-like hands at it's assailant.
The hooded boy deflected the arms of the monster with one key and impaled the monster with the other and it burst into water.
"That was too easy..." The hooded boy noted, then glanced up at the clouds and noticed a giant that was silver and white descending from the skies.
The monster was hefty, but made no noise as it descended upon the pillar on the bridge. The monster stretched itself and wrapped itself around the hooded boy, and began to apply pressure with each passing second.
Dante and Trish both slashed at the monster and hit it, causing it to reel and release the blonde kid. The blonde kid nodded thanks and stood side by side with the two demon hunters, all now in battle stances, and the three were joined by Zell and Aqua shortly thereafter. When Aqua looked at the boy in the cloak she gasped and went over and called his name.
"Ven? Is that really you?" Aqua asked as she made her way across the small pillar toward the boy who bore a ridiculously strong resemblance to Ventus.
The boy turned and said "...Ven? My name is... Roxas."
Aqua was taken aback by the news. "But you look exactly like him. You look just like Ventus." The two looked each other in the eyes, then Roxas dropped to his knees, causing both Keyblades to fade and he began holding his head with both hands and screaming in agonizing pain. Aqua was right. It WAS Ventus, and Roxas began to recall their last adventure together.
"Ventus... My heart's true name? Or was it ...Sora?" Roxas was struggling to remember, and their time was running short because the silver creature had reappeared, and this time with backup.
"Ven, you have to remember! Look at this. Don't you have the one I made for you?" Aqua crouched and supported her friend, and held out her Wayfinder charm and Roxas' eyes widened.
He pulled an item that was exactly like Aqua's Wayfinder, except his was a lime green color. "So it's true. I really am Ventus..."
Zell stepped in front of the two friends and held out the Two become One and sliced several of the smaller silver monsters in half. The bursts of bubbles rained down onto the ground of the pillar and left a small puddle for Roxas to look into. His reflection split in half, one side was of Sora's reflection, and the other side was of Ventus. Then he remembered why it was like that.
"Aqua, do you recall our last fight together?" Roxas asked solemnly, the old yet fresh memory began to burn in his eyelids.
"Yeah, you were holding the X-blade, and Vanitas took over your body." Aqua placed her gentle hands on Roxas' shoulders to try and comfort him.
"Inside me, that's where I was when you fought Vanitas with the X-blade... I destroyed the X-blade and was sent into the heart of another boy... named Sora." Roxas stood and tears streamed down his face and he stood with his fists clenched tightly.
"Well, you're back now and that's all that matters." Aqua smiled and stood with Roxas.
"I'll let you call me Ven, but that's no longer my name." Roxas stated and turned his head to the battlefield, his left handed Keyblade turned into the Lost Memory, in place of the Oathkeeper, and he held the Lost Memory backhand.
Dante and Trish paid no attention to what was happening behind them, they just kept the large silver creature on the defensive. Dante went head-on, while Trish provided support by attacking the sides. Roxas, Zell and Aqua rejoined the battle, only to finish it with flair. Dante carved his sword into the ground before releasing an uppercut and sent the monster into the air. Aqua jumped and began the final attack.
"Aqua, you're up!" Roxas called out, and Aqua slashed the silver monster down the middle.
"Ven, Zell! Finish strong!" Aqua yelled as she turned around.
Zell and Roxas cross slashed the silver monster, and Dante and Trish stood next to one another and readied their guns, Dante's was cocked sideways and Trish's was aimed normally and was under Dante's. The two demon hunters smirked and said, "Jackpot." Then they fired two beams of energy from the guns, Dante's was red and Trish's was a lemony yellow color. The two beams of light swirled and pierced the silver creature and it had fallen over the edge of the pillar and began to degrade and when it hit the ground. By the time it hit the ground, there was nothing but bubbles on the low traffic bridge.
The team jumped down from the pillar on the suspension bridge and landed with ease. "That felt pretty good." Dante smirked and rolled his shoulders in satisfaction.
"I agree. Let's head back and finish the transaction." Trish suggested and got on her motorcycle.
"Hey, Trish. Looks like you'll have a special guest riding with you." Dante said and pointed back at Roxas as he jumped into his car.
"Yeah, I know. So kid you want a ride or what?" Trish asked and put her helmet on and revved the bike.
"Yeah." Roxas nodded and got on the bike with Trish and wrapped his arms gently around her waist.
"Well, another job in the bag... Looks like things are picking up." Zell sighed with a smirk and revved his bike.
"Yeah, I agree." Aqua smiled and held Zell's body tightly and rested her head on his back. Aqua enjoyed the warmth of Zell and listened to his soft heartbeat while the team retreated back to Devil May Cry.