Terra bolted upright in his bed, his heart throbbing as he tried to shake off the nightmare that had plagued him. He shook in a cold sweat and lay back down, covering his eyes with his forearm as he caught his breath. Xehanort had appeared in full force for the first time since he'd transferred his heart to the young Keyblade wielder's body, and he'd said only one thing.
"It's time. Finally, the time has come." Then he had grinned almost maniacally, and the next thing Terra was aware was waking up and stifling a scream. He sat up again, sagging over and putting his face in his hands.
"Time for what?" he mumbled. "Damned old man… What do you mean?" Of course, there was no answer. He still sensed Xehanort's presence within him, but nothing else came. He got to his feet and pulled on the lab coat he'd received when he'd agreed to be one of Ansem's apprentices, then walked over to the window where he could see a vast expanse of valley known as The Great Maw outside of town. He looked up at the sky, a foreboding feeling washing over him as he noticed the new moon above the world. Everything was too perfect, too dark.
"Those… things…" he realized and shoved his feet quickly into his boots, tripping as he pulled them on while running out of his room. A short time after he'd arrived and started helping Ansem and, more particularly, Even with their studies of the heart, they had accidentally created a dark creature that had been dubbed a "Heartless." Ansem had locked it and the other few that had spawned in the basement of the castle, forbidding any further research on them or the heart, and Even had been furious. From what Terra knew, Even had been continuing his studies and experiments with Ienzo's help behind Ansem's back, and the former Keyblade apprentice knew that it was only a matter of time before disaster struck.
"Is that what you meant?" he inquired of Xehanort, but again received no answer as he hurried through the halls of the castle and made his way into its basement.
Once there, he found Even and a sleepy-looking Ienzo just outside the chamber where the Heartless were lurking. Even was busily scribbling something down in his notes while Ienzo was sitting on a table, nodding off every now and again.
For heaven's sake, let the kid sleep, Terra sighed silently. On closer inspection, however, his heart skipped a beat. Something about the child's eyes was dulled, lacking light. Terra blinked as he tried to process where he'd seen something similar before, and the answer was one he wished he could forget: Ventus, when he'd first come to the Land of Departure. Now, Terra knew why he'd looked such a way: his heart had been injured.
"Even!" Terra barked, and Even jumped as if he hadn't heard him approach. "WHAT are you doing?!" the silver-haired youth demanded. Even turned to him and frowned.
"I'm merely continuing our research," he replied bluntly. "Those Heartless are restless as always. I wanted to see what it is they want. Nothing seems to sustain them, but they still somehow survive. What is it they want? Why?" Terra clenched his hands into fists. "They came from the darkness in the hearts we were experimenting on- you know that as well as any of us. So, perhaps they're still linked with hearts." Even turned his gaze to Ienzo. "And so, Ienzo has been helping me with some tests."
"You can't just treat him like a test subject!" Terra argued.
"Quiet, Xehanort," Even replied firmly. "Ienzo agreed to help me however he could, for the sake of research. The Heartless have been quite drawn to him- hungry, even. I believe it's because of his heart. They want it for something- that's my hypothesis, anyway. Come now, you want to know the deepest secrets of the heart even more than the rest of us." He turned his gaze back to Terra. "So?" Terra grit his teeth, but Even had tied his hands.
"Sacrifices must be made…" he mumbled inaudibly, then raised his voice. "Fine. What exactly have you uncovered?"
"He started acting strange when the Heartless came across him… Of course, I didn't let them get anywhere near him, but they were persistent. And now… he's acting a bit weird."
"Something's happening to his heart," Terra replied without really thinking, and bit back the accusation in his tone at the last moment. Even glanced from him to Ienzo and back, intrigued.
"You think so?" he pondered. "It could be." He nodded after a moment of thought. "You're on to something, Xehanort. Alright. Ienzo…" Ienzo weakly looked up toward the older apprentice.
"Wait, what are you doing?" Terra demanded.
"I'm going to try exposing him to the Heartless one more time. We'll see what they do and how he reacts."
"What? No! You can't just- Even, we need to think this through!" If Even heard him, he didn't show any signs of it and merely ignored him as he nudged Ienzo to his feet and toward the chamber holding the Heartless. "Even! Stop and think for a moment!" Terra warned. "Don't just rush head first into this!" Again, Even didn't listen and Terra, with a heavy sigh, hurried over to them. Even opened the chamber and several small Heartless, Shadows, lunged out.
"Gah!" Even gasped. "No, you lowlife creatures! Back! Get back!" They showed no signs of hearing or understanding him, and they advanced quickly on Ienzo before either Even or Terra had a chance to react. To the latter's horror, the Shadows tackled Ienzo to the ground, and he heard the boy speak for the first time since he'd arrived.
"Even, Xehanort! Help me!" he cried out just before he was cut off and his heart emerged from his body. He faded from view just as darkness overtook the heart and spawned another Shadow, and their yellow eyes turned toward the other researchers hungrily.
"We have to tell Ansem about this," Terra hissed. "And we have to contain them!" Even nodded briskly. Unable to do anything else in their situation, they both hurried out of the room and slammed the doors behind them.
"Xehanort, do you realize what we just discovered?"
"That you should have listened to me instead of costing us Ienzo?!" Terra growled.
"They survive and multiply by capturing hearts," Even continued, again ignoring his fellow apprentice. "Yes, losing Ienzo is tragic. But we've learned so much from his sacrifice." He shook his head. "Regardless. I'll go notify Aeleus and Dilan. See what you can do to hold them back." Before Terra had a chance to protest, he was running off down the corridors and out of sight.
"Sick little…" Terra grit his teeth and sighed heavily. "You're the one that's heartless. Ienzo…" he leaned against the door and shook his head. "None of this would be happening if you had just listened, Even. This is all on you." Unfortunately, he couldn't ponder any longer as the Shadows emerged from under the door, having flattened themselves, or even merged into the ground itself, and popped back up as they looked at him. "Man, what I wouldn't give to have my Keyblade." He took off down the corridor opposite the direction Even had fled. A few of the Heartless followed him at a relatively slow rate while the rest headed after Even.
He hurried on and skidded around the corner, making his way back up to the main levels of the castle, and he heard Dilan's voice shouting.
"Make sure they don't escape! Aeleus, go defend Ansem. Braig, come with me!" He ordered as Even followed him back down the steps to the main hall. "Xehanort, go grab a weapon and help us!" Terra nodded and headed for the small armory in the deeper recesses of the castle, selecting a sturdy greatsword that hadn't seen use in some time. It was the closest thing he could find to the Ends of the Earth, his beloved Keyblade, and all he had time to search for. With weapon in hand, he hurried back out to the main hall to join the other apprentices. Within moments, the Shadows appeared once again and Braig took aim with his arrowguns as Dilan readied his lance and charged toward the Heartless. Unfortunately, Braig's shots missed their targets, much to Terra's confusion.
They're sluggish and dim, and you never miss unless you mean to. What are you doing? he wondered, fearing the answer. His thoughts regarding Braig's behavior, however, were cut short once again as the Heartless greedily lunged for Dilan. He managed to strike one down, but the sheer brunt force and speed of their assault brought him down quickly and he suffered the same fate as Ienzo. His body faded from sight as his heart was freed and quickly spawned another Heartless.
"Not good," Terra mumbled, readying his greatsword again as he hurried for the invading creatures of darkness.
Then, he froze. His limbs refused to move any further, and the Heartless turned for him.
"I won't have you messing this up as well," Xehanort's voice sounded somewhere in his head.
What are you talking about?! Terra demanded silently.
"This is the moment I've been waiting for. Finally, to be free and able to resume my path, with you and that troublesome Vanitas out of the way. Good bye, Terra. This has been a most interesting experience, but I must cut it short." With that, Terra squinted his eyes shut and clenched his jaw as the Heartless bore down on him.
"Hey, Xehanort. Are you okay?" A voice roused him from… he couldn't be sure if it was sleep or unconsciousness, and his head felt foggy. He opened his eyes and found himself in some sort of forest, just outside an intricate gate closing off a path to a mansion a short walk away. The sky was colored the orange and yellow of the sunset. He had no recollection of ever coming to a place like this, nor how he got there.
The voice that had woken him belonged to Dilan, who was crouched next to him. Yet, something about him was different, though he couldn't place what. Around them, Ienzo, Aeleus, Even, and Braig were all trying to get their bearings or simply wake from whatever they had been under. Immediately, Terra knew that something was off.
Okay, old man. You seemed pretty excited, Terra called out in his head as he tried to collect his thoughts. So, what happened? No answer, but that didn't surprise him. What did surprise him was that he couldn't sense Xehanort at all. It was like his presence had vanished.
"How do you feel?" Even was asking Ienzo, who looked up at him, curious and confused. After a moment, the boy shook his head.
"I don't know about the rest of you," Aeleus spoke up. "But, other than a throbbing headache, I can't… feel anything." One by one, they all agreed save Terra.
"This is a breakthrough, I know it," Even continued. "Normally, I'd be ecstatic about it. But… why am I not now?"
"The heart is the center of emotion," Terra replied, piecing it all together.
"What do you mean?" Dilan inquired.
"I mean… we've lost our hearts." Or, as he could guess, they'd lost their hearts. He'd lost Xehanort's. He could certainly "feel-" relief, some reserved joy that the man was gone, and resentment toward Even for his persistence.
"But, that would normally be impossible… why did we not simply fade to darkness?" Even pondered. "Why have our bodies and souls remained? When a soul leaves its vessel, the body and heart cease to live. A heart and soul cannot survive without a body. But… what is left behind when a heart leaves?"
"That shouldn't be," Dilan pointed out.
"…We shouldn't be," Aeleus agreed. Even nodded.
"A heart is the essence of what makes a person who and what they are. Only a completed being can truly be called 'human.'"
"So, what does that make us?" Braig wondered somewhat sarcastically. "We're not exactly cats and dogs now." Again, Even nodded, and he started pacing.
"What do we call ourselves? That' s the question," he went on. "When you refer to someone who isn't really there, perhaps someone you don't want around… someone who fades into the background…"
"A nobody?" Ienzo offered, and silence hung over the clustered apprentices for several drawn-out moments.
"Perfect," Even broke the silence. "A Nobody: one without a heart to complete them." He scanned his comrades and clenched one hand into a fist for a moment, and an icy aura enveloped it for a moment. "Then, we should continue our studies of the heart, of darkness and light, and look for a way to recover that which we have lost."
"A point," Aeleus prompted.
"Yes?"
"You said a moment again that a heart is the essence of what makes a person who they are. If that's true, then we're no longer who we used to be." Again, they were silent.
"Good point," Even agreed. "Then, I believe we should take on new names- something to bind us together. We are the only known Nobodies out there, and we must stick together. Even as brothers. There should be some link between them."
Link… Terra pondered. Perhaps he wasn't truly a Nobody- he'd lost a heart, true, but it wasn't his. Even so, he still needed to know what could be done about Eraqus, and whether Xehanort was out there somewhere. A tie. Something that brings them… us… together.
"Where would the new names come from?" he wondered, reserved.
"Again, a good question," Even replied. "Perhaps an anagram of our names as they are now. But that doesn't seem like enough… something should be added."
"What about an 'X?'" Braig suggested as he walked over to stand next to Terra. "Resembling that χ-Blade you loved so much," he mumbled, though Terra didn't respond.
"Perfect," Even nodded. "An anagram of our names with an 'X' placed among the letters." He held his hand out for a moment, and the letters of his name appeared in a light in front of him. They swirled around for a short time before stopping suddenly, an "X" in their midst.
"Very well. Until I recover my heart, I will be known as Vexen."