Chapter Three: Land of Departure, part two
By "everything was simple," of course, I meant that I spent the entire rest of the night tossing and turning and worrying and being paranoid and basically not getting a single wink of sleep. By the time I was standing in a large, grand hall next to Aqua, Terra, and Ventus (who had, as predicted, begun to ask a few million questions before the other two laughed at my gaping mouth and pulled him off of me), I was banging my head on the stone wall and bemoaning the apparent lack of coffee in this world.
Aqua had supplied me, whether fortunately or unfortunately, with clothes that well matched hers and those of Terra, Ventus, Xehanort, and Eraqus. (Terra and Ventus were spikey-haired, by the way, in case you were wondering. I found myself sublimely unsurprised. And slightly worried about my own hair. . . was it just me or was it looking a little spikey itself this morning?!) Thanks to this, I was garbed in a cut-off turtleneck of a strange something-proof – bulletproof? Sword-proof? Waterproof? Kill-proof? Well, hopefully – material, leggings of the same cloth thing, and armor-like high heeled boots that looked dangerous. On my left arm was a strange device in the same armor-like style as the boots, a button on a crest resting on my shoulder and then thick scales forming an extra sleeve along the outside of that arm until the inevitable Tetsuya Nomura trademark – the fingerless gloves. A slightly short, tight-sleeved, and copiously pocketed jacket covered the rest of my arms and most of my sides, stopping just short of the two crossing straps on my hips, matching similar things upon the other apprentices. Terra, Aqua, Ventus, and Agni and now all of this matching... it looked like I was here in this game to stay. I finished the ensemble off with my own key necklace that Christina had given me.
If I were telling this story out loud, I'd be taking a gasping breath of air right now. Sorry about that. I promise it's decently significant. But enough abuse of the fourth wall.
Everything was form-fitting and remarkably flattering, and I was not even subjected to the way that Aqua's crossing straps emphasized her, um, video-game-quality chest. (Yeah, that was one major way that I failed at fitting into the video game genre.) With Xehanort's keyblade reassuringly heavy in my hand, I felt ready to take on whatever this world, and this weird test thing, had to offer. I followed after Aqua and Terra as they strode up to a platform-dais-thing, Ventus wishing them luck and trotting over to the side. Master Eraqus, on the platform, stepped forward and looked at each of us in turn.
"Today," he pronounced, "you will be examined for the Mark of Mastery. Not one 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 of you may prevail, or none. But I am sure our guest, Master Xehanort, did not travel all this way to see our youngest prospects in years – and his own protégé, no less – fall short of the Mark." He surveyed us grandly once more, then stated, "I trust you are ready."
"Yes," I replied, a beat after Aqua and Terra. Of course they were perfectly in unison; they'd probably been rehearsing for this day for years.
"Then let the examination begin." Eraqus gestured with his keyblade, and a number of spheres of light appeared across the hall. The other two apprentices started towards them, brandishing their keyblades, but I paused, looking at Master Xehanort. He was smirking again, and as I watched he made a twisting motion with is hand. Thinking he was dismissing me to the test, I turned back around toward the spheres, only to see them shudder with dark-hued electricity and start jerking around. Eraqus stepped forward, but Terra and Aqua both lunged at the spheres and began to beat them up. My eyes flicked between the two Masters, but Xehanort just grinned evilly and shooed me towards the spheres.
I turned back and brandished my blade cheesily – only to stop short, seeing a sphere converging on Ventus, where he had been standing on the periphery.
"Ven!" I cried. Barely thinking, I darted towards him and awkwardly swung Xehanort's keyblade towards the orb, barely connecting with it. My wrist ached at the recoil of my weak whap. Ventus sent me a slightly bemused glance and fell into a slight crouch, summoning his own keyblade with a flick of his wrist. He sliced at it sharply, easily managing to cut through it and disintegrate it.
"Don't worry about me," he called to all of us. "You three focus on the exam."
"But Ven, you're in danger here!" Aqua protested – she had been keeping a nervous eye on him through the whole test so far. "Go wait in your room." Certainly nervous; she bit the words out through gritted teeth.
"No way! I've been looking forward to this – seeing you guys become Masters. I'm not gonna miss it now." Ven shook his head vehemently and shooed me back onto the floor.
I glanced at Ven's ready posture, then shook my own head and ran back over to Aqua and Terra. "He can take care of himself."
Terra nodded. "He's been out there training just as hard as the rest of us."
"Yeah!" Ven interjected unnecessarily.
". . .Stay sharp, Ven."
With that last word, Aqua dove towards another orb and attacked it; Terra and Ven followed suit, and I tried to keep up. I managed maybe to contribute. . . two hits? Give me a break, okay? My best fighting was done unarmed, in Taekwondo class, and even there I was only a yellow belt. Despite my incompetency, the others' speed decimated the spheres in record time, and soon Eraqus was walking towards us again.
"That was unexpected," he admitted as Terra, Aqua, and I formed ourselves into a line, "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." He paused. "Which brings us to your next trial. Terra and Aqua, the two of you will face each other in combat first. Remember," he added as I backed away to where Ven was and Terra and Aqua readied themselves, "there are no winners – only truths, for when equal powers clash, their nature is revealed."
There was another slight pause as this new piece of melodrama sank in. When equal powers clash? I guessed that there would not be a lot of revelation of nature when I fought one of these guys.
Anyway. Terra and Aqua registered this as I watched, Xehanort's keyblade drooping disconsolately in my grip, and straightened into their ready positions. The tension and determination in the air was nearly tangible.
"Begin!"
I can't even describe what the next five minutes were like. I stared from the sidelines, my jaw comfortably resting on the floor, as Terra and Aqua engaged in an incredible dance of deadly metal and implausible feats of agility. After a short while, though, I got over my shock and began to pay closer attention, noting the differences between their styles. Aqua stayed light on her feet the whole time, even jumping up at times to dodge Terra's blade, but the other apprentice was stronger, more forceful. He seemed to be struggling with something, however, and I spied every now and then a swirling darkness that coalesced around his fist before he shook it away and leaned back into the battle.
Before long, Eraqus called a halt, and a second later I was facing Aqua, clutching sweaty-handed at Xehanort's keyblade. Since I was new, the masters had decided to pit me against both of the other wielders to more fully take my measure. This was to be the first of the two matches, but I had a distinct feeling that I would be sliced into little Agni-kabobs before I had a chance to face Terra.
"Begin!"
The second Eraqus delivered that word, Aqua leaped at me. I hardly had a second to jerk the keyblade up before hers clashed against it. I stumbled back, but she was immediately on me again. I barely blocked, blocked, stumbled, blocked, my blood a waterfall rush in my ears. Xehanort's keyblade just – I can't say this without sounding awfully cheesy – it just felt wrong in my hand. Besides which, my only chance to use it had been that little crash course against the spheres five minutes ago.
Aqua lunged at me again, and I somehow managed to lock the teeth of Xehanort's keyblade against those of hers. She pressed at me, her calmly set – even vaguely sympathetic – face at odds with the fierce strength that sent my feet skittering to get a grip. I disengaged, thrust myself back, swung uncoordinatedly. She blocked, swung again, I parried again – this time, though, I could have sworn that I had put more force into it. Maybe I was getting the hang of this.
Aqua seemed to think so, too, at least; her brows furrowed, and she stepped back a couple of paces, her shoulders lightly rising and falling with her breaths. I hesitated, and then took a step forward; she didn't move. I began to circle, like fencers do in the movies, making her turn and her eyes narrow slightly. I just hoped against hope that I didn't trip as I tensed, and then, all at once, dashed at Aqua and lifted my arm to swing—
And in the swiftest move I'd ever seen, Aqua's keyblade slithered around my own and flicked it out of my hand, the point landing neatly at my throat. Dead.
My mouth fell open, and I fell over, sprawling on the floor. Xehanort's keyblade spun to a clattering halt six inches away from my hand; I inched towards it, but it disappeared abruptly.
Well, thanks.
Aqua wasn't even breathing hard. She wasn't even looking at me, actually, but at where Master Eraqus had begun to stand up. A crazy idea began to take hold of me. It probably wouldn't work, and it was probably horridly inappropriate, but. . .
I swept out a leg and knocked Aqua off her feet.
Surprised, she fell. Hard. Her keyblade was still in her hand, so I kicked at it. Somehow, I managed to knock it out of her grasp without unbalancing myself too much, so I sprang to my feet and cast around for my own blade.
Shit. It'd disappeared a moment ago, hadn't it. Xehanort had summoned it back. I was on my own. What a wonderful master I had.
But Aqua was up almost immediately, and renewing her assault on me; I could hear her charging from behind. I had to move, armed or not. A second before her keyblade struck me, I whipped around, ducked under her blade, and punched at her sword shoulder. I caught a glimpse of the surprise on her face – Agni the incompetent, putting up a fight? Who'd'a thunk? – but she dodged and parried.
Without the unwieldy, alien keyblade in my hand, I found it easier to fight, slipping unconsciously into my forms. It was a bit weird trying to oppose weaponless someone with several feet more reach than me, but I wasn't complaining. A number of blows later, I'd driven her back across the floor.
I caught the hilt of Aqua's keyblade in my left hand. Up that close, I could see the sweat beading her furrowed brow and acknowledge her gritted teeth. I didn't have time to do more than acknowledge, though; she would extricate herself in no time. I ripped the blade from her hand, flinging it behind me, and swept my leg around one more time, hooking it around her knees and bringing her to her feet again. I knelt swiftly on the ground beside her, one knee on her torso and a hand at her collar to keep her down, and looked up at Masters Eraqus and Xehanort on their hoity-toity dais-thing.
They looked stunned. Eraqus' brow was furrowed in composed consternation, and he was leaning forward, hands on the arms of his chair. Xehanort even looked stunned in a smug kind of way, orange eyes glittering like his evil plan just got revamped. I was stunned.
I'd won. Against the blue-haired super-fly video game character. Without even using Master Xehanort's keyblade.
Well, shit. There must be something to this Mary Sue idea after all.
A/N: Oh my gawd, it's another chapter. It's only been six months, just about. Seven? Gah. And it's so long, almost ...six pages, too! Yeah, okay, that's short, and also only a page longer than the last one. Whatever. I think this is going to be the standard, though; sorry, guys.
But hey, for this one you theoretical readers are just going to have to thank blackhawk68, whose timely review, honest to god, led me to finally, finally finish this chapter. Thank you! And also to SomeoneThatExists and Flame Sergeant Reissem, who also reviewed! And to the (holy shit) three people who have this on their favorites list and two who are following it! Man, I feel popular. Thank you, thank you, thank you so much.
Let's see, do I have any notes for this chapter? Not really. Chapter titles are going to be boring, I'm sorry. If you have any suggestions to fix this, be my guest; my only thought towards them was to make it seem a bit like a video game walkthrough. (The only exposure I've had towards the games, I'm afraid. Pfeh.)
I'm looking for a beta, if you're interested. Anyone? No? Let me know. Anyone need a beta? I'm a lot better at that than I am writing, and I actually do it instead of sporadically and procrastinatorily responding.
Oh, yeah. I suck at writing fight scenes. Might prove a bit of a problem for writing up a video game. I also don't know Taekwondo. Hell, I don't even know if the word should be capitalized or not. Point is, don't sue (Sue! ha!) me for ignorance, just tell me.
Speaking of suing, I forgot to mention last chapter – I don't own Kingdom Hearts, or anything but Agni and her wee little butterfly effect. Honestly, you should know that by now.
That's it for now! Next chapter already has four sentences in it, so it might be up by end 2013. As you can tell, though, reviews actually do make me update, more or less; go figure. Hint hint, wink wink, nudge nudge, say no more. Thanks for reading; Ecks out!