Kingdom Hearts:Birth by Sleep Zero-Book 1, Part 2-Terra's Story, Chapter 19:
NOTE: Thanks once again to my loyal reviewer, namixasvenkhfan(namixaskhfan), and I hope you guys have a Happy Halloween! Oh yes, and I have decided: since one of my loyal reviewer's(namixasvenkhfan) favorite characters is Ven, I am going to write Ven's story after I have finished all three books of Terra's story. Thanks again for reading (and reviewing) my story, and I hope to update twice before the weekend ends, so please expect chapter 20 of Book 1 to up probably on Sunday.
Thanks for your patience and awesomeness,
Eternal Symphonia.
"Now then, " The announcer cleared his throat loudly in order to gain the group of fretting peoples' attention.
"As you all know, we have yet to solve the current crisis at hand. As you were told before, something or someone has defeated the elite. We have discussed about what we are going to do, and we've come to a conclusion: anyone who is willing to go out on the treacherous journey in order to find Master Xehanort may dare to, but if no one offers, then we will have to all die violently because you all were too selfish."
Ven instantly raised his hand much to Master Oni's dismay, "I'll go!" Everyone gasped at the fact that such an inexperienced apprentice would even think about offering to go, but before Master Oni could chastise him again, the announcer jumped for joy on the temporary stage, "Very well, then! Now, is anyone else willing?"
"Ven!" Master Oni held him up by the scruff of his undershirt.
"What!? He said if anyone is willing-"
"No! Take your offer back right now! You don't even know how to get to other worlds!" He shook the teen violently.
"Well, if you had just taught us how to teleport, maybe I would know how to get to another world." Ven remarked.
"You little..." The elder was interrupted by the announcer, "Well, it looks like the only person who is going is Ventus Toshi."
"Damn it, Ven! Now I have to go along with you so you don't get yourself killed." I chastised the blond who was innocently smiling.
"Yeah, what were you thinking?" Aqua added with her hands on her hips.
"Well, no one else was going to do it...."
"Yes, but that's because they actually have common sense. Don't you even know what you are getting yourself into? You could be killed!" I yelled at Ventus. He then stared at his feet for a while and then mumbled quietly, "But if I don't, I won't have a chance to-"
"To what!?" Aqua harshly got into the teen's face and shook him by his shoulders.
"To even think about getting my memories back! You don't know what it's like living day after day and knowing at the same time that you could have been someone who actually mattered before you lost your memory. I don't even know who I am, or who I was, or even who I'm supposed to be; did you ever even think about how I feel sometimes?" Ven's anger had only rarely burst, and when it did you knew that you should probably back off.
"You are worth something, Ven; that's why we don't want you to get hurt." Aqua softly tried to reassure the emotional teen who was now trying extremely hard to hold back tears.
Ven shoved her hand off of his shoulder, "I don't need sympathy, Aqua. What I need is truth. And if I never get out there, then I'll never get my memory back; sitting here and doing nothing doesn't get me any closer to reaching that goal before it's too late." He now turned to face the setting sun and stared into it with an unreadable and emotionless face. The only thing that assured you that he still had feelings running through his heart was the tear that ran down his cheek.
Aqua looked at me, and then back at Ven with sorrow in her blue eyes.
"I'll go!" I suddenly interrupted the silence with a yelp. I hoped that Ven would have appreciated that he wasn't alone, and knowing him was what made me sure that he certainly did.
"I'll go, too!" Aqua piped in. Master Oni stared at us with an aghast look on his face.
"How could you three possibly think that you can stand up against things that even beyond your own understanding?"
"I dunno." I answered.
"You 'dunno'? You 'dunno'? Is that really your answer, you fool?"
"I dunno." I repeated without emotion; I was too busy thinking about what it would be like with no memory at all; I didn't even think for a second before of how Ven might of felt. To have his memories stolen away from him must have been confusing and traumatizing.
"You are the most irresponsible, foolish, imbecilic buffoons I have ever met!" Master Oni thrust his arms down to his sides in impatience and anger.
We completely ignored him.
"Fine then, until you decide to gain at least an ounce of intelligence and get your immature heads out of your rears, do not dare speak to me!" Ticked off and steaming, the elder decided that he'd rather get away to cool off than to go completely insane and berserk at his apprentices' foolishness.
We were left alone as people poured out of the courtyard in order to get back to their work, so that left Ven, Aqua, and I alone to talk in private.
"Ven?" My question jerked the boy's suddenly darkened cerulean eyes towards my voice.
"What did you mean, 'before it's too late'.?" The blond looked away from me before I could even finish my question.
"I.... It doesn't matter." He answered with a monochromatic tone.
Is he hiding something? I asked myself with suspicion. Ven usually would tell us if there was anything bothering him, so it seemed highly unlikely. But then again, Ven was a horrible liar; you could always tell by the way he wouldn't even glance at you when he gave you an answer. And judging by the way he didn't even say his statement loudly or in a clear voice made me start to wonder.
"Well, we better get prepared for our journey, anyways." Aqua's sensible head had jerked us away from the eerie silence.
"Yeah. I wonder how many worlds we'll visit." I pondered before Ven answered the question that wasn't supposed to be answered, "As many as it takes." He mumbled without specifying what exactly we were waiting for. Well, what Ven was waiting for, anyways.
Ventus walked slowly away and left Aqua and I stuck in the clearing to talk amongst ourselves.
"So, did you really want to go, or did your concern for Ven make you decide?" Aqua's blue eyes twinkled as if she already knew the answer.
"What about you?" I shot the question back.
"Same as you, I'm sure."
"Do think Ven knows something about the future?" I knew that the question sounded really weird and cheesy, but I was almost dying to know if Aqua had any ideas about it, since she always was the one who was right about everything.
"Who knows? Maybe he just remembered something about his past. Or maybe it was just a little inkling he got from thinking too much."
"Does Ven ever think too much?" I questioned in sarcasm.
"You know what I mean!" She slugged me in the shoulder lightly before running off to the main doors of the castle.
"Well then, I guess our journey begins tomorrow." I sighed to myself before the sunset pointed to the current time.
"I just hope we'll return safely."
Chapter 19, Part 2: The morning of Destiny~
Bright light and eerie darkness awoke me. The scenery around me was very, no wait, extremely familiar as I looked around the pure green mural that resembled the training room back in the castle. Actually, the training room back in the castle was the one that resembled the pure green mural.
"Welcome back, Nicholas." The voice that led me in my awakening dream echoed around the space of nothingness.
"Hello, Mister Beans." I greeted with sarcasm.
"So, what do you want with me now?"
"Well, I just led you here to tell you a little secret of mine before you depart on your path." He announced in a gleeful manner while reverberating claps followed.
"You will wait, wait, and wait endlessly. Inevitable Destiny awaits you my friend, no matter what turn you take. It will depress you of your happiness, but will gain you unlimited power in return." His words were cryptic and somewhat...scary. At first I thought it was just some dumb riddle he was using to confuse me, but....
"Oh now, don't be confused little man; I'm just trying to warn you."
"Warn me? Of what?" I instantly tried to connect things together; Ven, these cryptic words, and something else I could not quite put my finger on.
"You'll see. Now go off and have fun with your friends before-" I interrupted him suddenly as I reconciled that Ven had also said "before it's too late".
"Now see? You shouldn't have interrupted me before I could finish. Oh well, you'll figure it out on your own soon anyways....."
"No, please don't go." I begged the disembodied voice with desperation.
"Goodbye, Terra. I'll talk to you soon." His voice faded out before I awoke to yet again a bright morning sun peeping at me through the glass window next to my bed.
"Terra! Terra! It's time to wake up, you lazy little-." I became wide awake as Aqua's face loomed over mine with a scowl.
"Whoa! How'd you even get in here!?" I instantly pulled the covers of my bed under my chin so as not to let Aqua see that I had not bothered to get into my bedclothes before throwing my normal ones onto the ground the night before.
"I have skills. Now, get your clothes and get ready! We're going to be late for the journey!" Usually I would have thought Aqua was just fretting about our task ahead, but she was even worse than I had ever seen her; first of all, she tumbled through the closet and threw my clothes at me, and then she went into the bathroom and thrust my toothbrush and deodorant at me without mercy.
"God, what is up with you?" I demanded explanation.
"And why are you going through my stuff?" I leaped out of my bed and instantly took my boxers out of her hands.
"Well, I was just making sure that all of your underwear was clean so I could make sure that you would actually bring clean ones along. Unlike that time-"
"Yeah, I appreciate that except for the fact that you were sniffing it." I grabbed another of my underwear as she started to sniff the inside.
"Jeez, I was just making sure that it was clean. You don't have to get all pissy now, Terra." She chastised.
"No, that isn't okay with me; you would know if it was clean or not if you noticed that those boxers you picked up were from the neat pile and not the messy ones over there that are turned inside out." I pointed to the heap of boxers in the right corner of my room.
"So, here's the lessons that you've learned today: don't stare at me while I'm sleeping, don't touch my stuff, and don't sniff my underwear. I don't care how nervous you are, just let me do it myself okay?" I shoved her out of the window that luckily for her was only two feet above the ground.
"Ow, what was that for?" Her question was muffled as I shut the window and pulled the golden-trimmed scarlet curtains together.
"Will I really need to drag a suitcase around with me?" I obliged to the unanswered question and ignored Aqua's insistence that I pack my belongings.
"I don't know what insane ideas you have in your heads, but I know that going on this journey is going to make you regret them." Master Oni persisted on persuading to make us stay, but he failed, of course.
"Yeah, we are pretty insane." Aqua agreed with a mumble.
"Well, at least I know one of you has a mind to speak of." The elder admitted.
Ven was the last one to enter the study. The same as the previous night, his normal goofy grin was replaced by a solemn, melancholy, and blank expression.
"Are you okay?" Aqua poked Ven's suddenly pale arm in concern.
"Yeah." He mumbled quietly.
"Now, then. I guess I will have to teach you how to teleport." Master Oni sighed and rolled his snowy eyes as he rose from his chair.
"I guess you will." Ven shot back without any apparent reason. His uncommon attitude seemed to be getting even worse as the minutes rolled on. He even scowled when I couldn't get the trick of summoning portals just because he got it on the first try.
"What is your problem?" I finally asked the attitude driven teen in frustration.
"Aqua and I have been sitting here for an hour while you try to create a portal. If you didn't know, it's one of the most boring things in the universe to watch an idiot try to do one of the easiest things ever done."
"Did you just call me an idiot?" I asked once Ven was done mouthing off to me.
"What's wrong with calling a gorilla an idiot?" He questioned nonchalantly.
"You know what? I don't know what stick you have up your butt, but if you want to keep that ugly head of yours, I suggest you stop before I beat the crap out of you." I threatened before turning around to continue to practicing.
A rush of pain hit the back of my leg. I turned around instantly to see Ven smiling evilly with his Keyblade in hand. A few red drops splattered on the floor from the tip.
Ventus had cut the back of my knee with Divided Fate.
"You little..." Eternal Horizons was summoned without any effort at all; an ability I had been able to acquire within the past year.
"So, you want to fight?" Usually Master Oni would have stepped in to stop our upcoming battle, but this time he just stood back and watched with a solid stature.
Ven made the first move by rushing towards me with speed that matched the agility of a hurricane. I knew that he was going to aim for a harmless spot, like my arm or leg, but it was impossible to tell due to how he held his Keyblade. I did the thing I was best at: defense.
Luck was mine as Ven's Keyblade struck my own harshly, but failed to create a scratch or bruise anywhere on my body. And another lucky thing that was on my side was the fact that I still had two potions and ethers from yesterday's offensive attacks training stuck in my pockets.
"Lucky block." Ven mumbled in refusal to believe that I could possibly beat him.
"Or was it a crappy strike?" I shot back.
Drops of blood scattered everywhere as Ven and I managed to cut eachother every few seconds. I noticed that I was winning by the fact that the blond teen was growing increasingly tired and that he had at least twenty more cuts than I did.
"Stupid...gorilla." Ven managed to utter before he finally keeled over and fainted from the loss of blood.
"Who's the boring one now?" I asked while disappointedly knowing that Ventus could not hear me.
"Now then, since you've stopped dawdling, I suggest you get back to the topic of summoning portals." Master Oni commanded.
After about another ten minutes, I had finally summoned a successful portal that led to hell knows where.
"Good job, Terra." Master Oni complemented.
"Now, once your friend wakes up, you shall set off on your journey." After the elder had given his announcement, Ven had begun to stir.