Kingdom Hearts:Birth by Sleep Zero-Book 1, Chapter 22:
Once again, awesomeness shall be given as a wonderful gift to my loyal reviewers, namixasvenkhfan and Darknesswhereibelong, who has bestowed the same amount of awesomeness upon me. Oh yes, share the awesomeness....Anyways, I know that I have not updated in either ten or eleven days, and I'm sorry. I've been replaying KH1 for a week now and I didn't have the will power to turn it off and come to my computer to write(shame on me) Now then, have a Happy Thanksgiving and a great, long, and wonderful holiday weekend. I hope to update at least twice before this vacation ends, and I bet you won't guess what world Terra will be going to next:) And another thing that I must not forget, thank you for spending time to review continuously ( this goes to Darknesswhereibelong, namixasvenkhfan, and her sibling), and I also thank all for reading and spending their special time too. Oh yeah, does anyone else think Yoko Shimomura's(KH music director) new album Drammatica is awesome? And another thing to consider, I showed my grandmother a picture of Master Xehanort on my PSP, and told her that he was her hottie. You know what she said? She said that "Ick, he's ugly. He looks like death warmed over." Lolz goes to grandma.
From the writer of KH:BBS Zero,
Eternal Symphonia
P.S: As you can tell from when I updated with the last chapter, I said that I would be re-mixing BBS Zero, but I've decided to hold that off until I finish the WHOLE story.(including all nine books, three of Aqua's, three of Ven's, and the other two of Terra's). Each book will be about thirty chapters long, so that means if I calculate it....well, thirty times nine equals two-hundred seventy, and this is the twenty-second chapter, so if I take twenty-two off of two-hundred seventy, I get two-hundred and forty-eight chapters ahead of me. And each chapter is about 1,500 to 4,500 words long, so I'll take 248 and times it by 3000, and I get(man, my brain hurts) 744,000 words to go. Do you think I'll make it by the time BBS comes out? I hope so. And as a plus, you had math problems drilled into your head on a vacation(it burns...). Now then, let the story of a boy obsessed with cheesiness continue.
"Thought you could trick me, didn't you, Geezernort?" My question sent the elder swiveling around to see my position.
"What do you mean, Geezernort? I am Master Oni, can't you tell the difference?" His glossy white eyes coruscated slightly to reveal a flash of shock.
"Yet again you lie to me." Eternal Horizons flew past his head and a screeching noise sounded as it harshly impacted the now corroded brown marble. The more my confidence and hatred grew, the more the wall browned; after about ten seconds, it turned a forbidding black. The elder turned around and glanced at the grisly chunk of rock with wariness, "It seems you've learned to channel your emotions through your Keyblade."
"Show yourself, Xehanort!" My blade was re-summoned into my dominant hand before I shot a powerful Blizzard spell. 's whole left leg was now immobilized with numbness and was encased by a thick layer of black ice. The frozen chunk of water was so pure that I could even see a teenage boy staring back at me in fascination.
"I don't know how you've learned to do such a powerful spell in such a short amount of time, but I am confident about the fact that you probably didn't teach it to yourself, judging by your amount of experience and intelligence." Master Xehanort paused and tapped his chin in thought. His snowy white eyes that reminded me of the name 'milky way' melted into amber. Everything that was Master Oni changed into Master Xehanort;his normal, pale ears turned into peachy and pointy ones, his outfit was inverted, and his trademark evil grin had returned. The replica of Master Oni's Keyblade transformed into Xehanort's gleaming, black, and purple one. Hearing and seeing only the rattling keychain of Xehanort's Keyblade and the dripping of melting water was the only warning I needed to manage avoiding my arm being cut off without mercy. Not even frustrated at his recent flawed attempt to harm me, the elder swung repeatedly without any haste, making sure that he would be able to give me at least one gash to remember. Seconds flew past in a flurry of jabs, slashes, spells, and many "cockroaches" as the battle continued.
" So and the troll doll want a fight, huh?" Xehanort's left hand was encompassed by an icy blue aura, so I could easily guess that his next attack was going to be a Blizzard spell, or something close to it. Shards of shocking cold ice scraped my forearm as they ricocheted off of Eternal Horizons. As Geezernort paused for a moment to smirk evilly in glee, I took the chance to do one of the most powerful attacks I had ever hoped to learn from Master Oni. Yes, you heard the word "hoped". I knew that it was an extremely hard technique to control and maneuver, but if I didn't try to even do a semi-hard ability, then I was going to be transformed into a pile of burning crap. And the really sad part was that I couldn't even remember what it was called....
Meteor's Inferno. The ability's name popped into my head almost instantly. I had only seen the powerful technique done once or twice, and even Master Oni had some problems trying to manage it. A scene from that training day flashed through my mind:
"Now, my apprentices. Here is another ability that I'm sure will prove useful to you." An elder's deep rumbling voice echoed throughout the abyss of nothingness as Ven, Aqua, and I stood at total attention. The familiar twinkling seemed to grow even louder as the area was enveloped by tense silence.
"You can utter words amongst yourselves while I prepare, you know." A chuckle rose from his throat. All three of us chuckled in nervous agreement back to him while Ventus leaned over and muttered to Aqua, "Yesterday he told me that I shouldn't complain just because the wind howls enough already. If he wasn't so old, I would've thought he was even more insane than Master Xehanort. When I asked him what he meant, he admitted that even he did not know what the future held. I mean, it was so off topic. Talk about dodging the question..." The teen scratched his nose in confusion. On cue, the elder stopped abruptly and his milky white irises glazed over with anger, "Ven, it is not any of Aqua's or Terra's business of what I have told you," The old man turned around and looked longingly at us, "No matter how much we refuse, we must accept what is coming. No matter how much you struggle, the future will come. No matter how long you turn away from fate, it will come. No matter...no matter at all." His starlit gaze hit the floor as a long hidden memory came to surface in his mind's eye:
"Oni, you must not forget, once I am gone, you must seek out the three." A man who looked about twenty years of age managed to mumble before blood gurgled in his throat. Many streaks of black blood oozed down from the multiple cuts he had recently received; even his starry white hair began to turn into a opalescent pink. One of his eyes was a normal sky-blue color and was enshrouded by hope, while the other was a bright, orange-tinted amber and was glaring in hate.
"Yes, of course. Master Eterika, I could never forget." The sixteen-year-old boy grabbed Master Eterika's hand and squeezed it with tension.
"Now, you must find the three of the prophecy. They are of the earth, wind, and water. Find them, and train them to wield the Keyblade. Help them fulfill their destinies, as I have done for you. Make sure that they succeed in destroying the darkness, and that they do not yield to it. If this is done, you will have saved the universe. But if not, you will have brought despair and devastation to everything. The Wind and Water flow eternally without question of where they are going. They believe that fate will carry them to light and safety. But the Earth is not so easily convinced; he will start out with happiness and a carefree attitude. By the time you even realize it, he will have already turned into a spirit that hungers for the powers of darkness. Watch him closely, my dear apprentice, for if he turns to the shadows completely....Just remember, no matter how much we refuse, we must accept what is coming. No matter how much you struggle, the future will come. No matter how long you turn away from fate, it will come. No matter...no matter..." Master Eterika's eyes fluttered shut and were forever afterwards the same. Oni raised his head and tears began to flow like rivers down his pale cheeks. The yellow heart-shaped moon turned them into droplets of rich honey from it's eerie glow. A long shadow rose from behind the boy who mourned silently.
"Well, well, well, it seems that Eterika has finally rested. And I was just about to strike the final blow....Oh, he has never been fun at all. Ever since we were of four years, he had always cried when I teased him endlessly. Then mother came and took all the humor out of it and sent me to my stupid old room. Oh, mortals never have any fun..." The Dark One sighed and clicked his tongue with sorrow. Oni's twin brother, Xehanort, looked on ahead at the tall and evil man with awe instead of fear, "It is Him."
"Master Oni, helloooo! Master Oni!" Ven had shaken the elder from his most vivid memory by shouting into his ear.
"Back off, you idiot! I am concentrating!" Master Oni lied and gritted his teeth. Ven cautiously backed away.
"Now then, here is the ability called Meteor's Inferno." The elder was surrounded by swirling light and wind. Our hair flew about as the old man rose off of the platform. The blond teen next to me snorted and whispered into my ear, "And I thought I'd never see the day when old men could fly."
Master Oni shut his eyes and criss-crossed his arms over his torso as if he were laying in his death bed. A minute passed before he slowly untangled his arms and lowered them to his sides. As his arms slowly raised, rocks appeared out of the mural and rose along with them. Soon five big boulders and countless stones were floating in the air. Everything was once again as silent as the dead before Master Oni brought his hands together. Suddenly, the boulders began to explode and fall to the ground; nothing was heard until Master Oni summoned his Keyblade and threw it into the middle of the platform with acute accuracy. As soon as the blade impacted the stained glass, the scattered earth began to shake, and a deep rumbling arose. Luckily, Aqua casted a Reflega spell before we were scorched to death by the flames that encased everything. All of it disappeared and two gigantic, flaming red meteors about twenty feet in width were being held in each hand; and trust me, that was just a rough estimate. Master Oni grimaced and sweat rolled down his temples before he struggled furiously to throw them. Succeeding, he thrust them away without alacrity. One half of the mural was melting in the flames, and various holes had been created from the small rocks. The other half hadn't been so lucky, though: it wasn't even there. Ven peeked over the side and watched the shattered emerald glass fall eternally until none was seen.
"Wow." That was all that I could manage to sputter as Master Oni descended slowly to the ground.
"I'm sorry that I had put you in harm's path, but I thought that you would enjoy a little fireworks show before our training today ended." A smile glowed on his facial expression. He wiped a few orange ashes off of his shoulder before he summoned a portal that led to his office.
"Oh, so the little cockroach has begun to think for himself, hmm? Well, well, that's his first time, isn't it Igneous?" Geezernort's apprentice nodded in silence.
Ignoring his comment, I began the routine in order to begin Meteor's Inferno. To my delight, a golden breeze surrounded me and played with my hair. The higher I rose, the more fierce the wind blew.
" Do you think that someone of your status could even dream of performing a move like that!?" Master Xehanort called over the wind and his evil bellows cascaded throughout the hall. My arms instinctively crossed over my chest and slowly descended to my sides. The boulders began to shake without end before I raised my arms high above my head in a very tight"v" shape. Master Xehanort's amber eyes widened tremendously when his onyx-black boots began to crackle with sparks of fire. "You little cockroach! Stop this at once!" The elder had to back away quickly, but failed to avoid most of the inferno. A terribly heavy weight pressured both of my arms before I looked up to see two giant flaming meteorites of certain death, and thought about what would happen to Xehanort.
Wait a second, since when do I care if Geezernort gets hurt?
" Why hello, Xehanort. I hear you're already having quite a crappy day, so I decided to give you a pleasant little gift." I nodded my head up to the meteorites, then back at him; for the first time in Geezernort's life, he had actually been afraid of a cockroach. He stuttered and stumbled backwards before falling to his rear in fear. Unbeknownst to me at the time, he was actually thinking up a devious plan to either get hit by the flaming boulders and strike revenge on me later, deflect the fireballs, or kill me before I could even aim them at him. Since the first and third one sounded the most pleasurable to him, he decided with regret that it was best not to let me witness him at full power until the final battle. I finally threw Eternal Horizons at the floor with confidence.
BAM! All that could eclipse my gaze was the colors of red, orange, and yellow; even a few tints of green and blue hinted at the inner heat here and there. Once the flames had cleared, Xehanort stood right in the middle of everything; everything meaning the crumpled and broken bits of scorching meteors.
"What!?" My amazement and bewilderment held me back from seeing the bald elder's next move. My left arm was instantly numb from the ice that surrounded it. The weight from the ice made me clumsily twist around as I came down from my high vantage point, leaving me totally vulnerable to any attack, spell, or strike that Xehanort propelled my way.
"Great," I growled to myself. "now I'm really going to be turned into a pile of gleaming crap." Igneous ran up to me and grabbed my right arm. "Good little apprentice, Igneous. Now you definitely won't have to cook for me for two days." patted the top of Igneous's helm. The apprentice didn't reply or anything; he just stood there in complete silence.
"Poor Igneous, did Xehanort tell you that you couldn't give out your cheesy comebacks anymore? Wow, and your insults sucked even more than his, so I can't really blame him for the first time in my life." More than over fifteen insults flew past my mouth within the next few minutes, but to my dismay they didn't even seem to phase either Igneous or Geezernort.
God, where is everybody? It IS a Sunday, but you'd think people would've got off their lazy butts by now. And where are Aqua and Ven? There was only one answer I could come up with, and that was that Xehanort had locked them up down in the castle dungeons. My feet began to hurt (even more than they already did) when I remembered how many flights of stairs it took to get down there.
I could create a portal. I importunated the idea after I recalled the fact that I sucked horribly at summoning things. Plus, I was armless, so that was another factor that flawed the outcome. Maybe there was some way that I could get to Aqua and Ven. Then I remembered: the maids and nurses always left one of the little windows that opened to the hallway near the dungeons. Ven and I had used it one time to hide from Aqua; don't ask for the details. One more problem was that we were on a floor nearing three-hundred, so jumping out of the closest window and falling through the air until I hit the ground and finding one little window in which I probably was WAY too big to crawl through sounded like suicide. So, I came to two decisions: jump out the window and possibly kill yourself, or stay here and fight while waiting for certain death. Cowardice chained my heart as I made a beeline for the huge and ornate open window nearest to my position. Igneous came running after me, of course. Right before he could swing his Keyblade at my head, I leaped out of the window and fell for God knows how long.
Not that you've ever jumped out of a three-hundred floor building or anything, but you wouldn't believe how cold it is. It felt like I was falling IN a freezer, not to mention my arm was still covered with freezing ice, so it made it worse. The one thing that was good about falling out of a window was the view; I could see many miles away. All of it was either golden prairie, long grass, ponds, or gardens streaming across the land. In the total far distance were four paths that met; two went off to the sides, another faced me, and the last one led to the rising sun.
"The four paths of life; the Crossroads. A neverending story where fate is repetitive. All shall return to the original source once realized: Kingdom Hearts, the Heart of all." The lines repeated over and over again in my head without any effort on my part. I didn't even know where they had come from. Maybe it was one of those times where you hear really weird words right before you die. Or maybe the words I'm saying right now are the ones I'll hear before I die. Or maybe the words I'll say in the next few moments will be the ones I hear before I die.
Man, I need to stop doing that. The cryptic words, my dizzy head, and my confusion made everything feel like I was high on something, because until I hit the ground I was practically brain dead.
Thump! I landed face down in the long grass. As I looked up I saw the dew sparkling in the early morning sunlight. Then I swiveled my head to turn and glance up at the window. Igneous wasn't even there, nor was he falling throughout the air.
That's weird...I thought he was- My disorientated thought was interfered by the squeaking of boots behind me. Xehanort tugged on a chunk of my hair and beamed in gratification, "Hello." Geezernort made sure that he enunciated his greeting with a long, horrible sigh. I coughed and choked from the smell; even my stomach felt like it was going to explode from the stench.
"Please, nuh. You...a toothbrush. Mints....no."
"You see, Terra, when you're going to be the most old and evil ruler in the universe, you need horrible breath. Otherwise, people wouldn't fear you as much as they should." His statement was finished by another long exhale.
"Trust...me. You don't need...extra help when it comes to being creepy and ugly."
"Good, it seems that you have suffered long enough, so I shall let you go. But," He paused for a moment. "if you and your friends want to stay alive, then I suggest you stop chasing after me." Geezernort turned around and summoned a dark portal. Before he went in, he turned his head to the side and stared at me through amber slits, "And one more thing, you might want to make sure that little boy you call friend is...sane. We wouldn't want the Unbirths that I left down in the dungeons to kill that poor and confused child, hmm?" Bellows of pure execrable amusement trampled out of the evil man's mouth as he slowly strutted into the void of darkness.
"You disgraceful, foul, decrepit old man! What did you do to him!?" My answer was only another round of laughter.
I instantly got up and advanced towards the small window that led to the basement of the castle.
I hope Xehanort didn't do anything too wretched to him... If I find out that he so much left a scratch on Aqua or Ven, I'll kill him myself; I swear it on my life.
The iron window cried shrilly as I unlocked it with Eternal Horizons. There had to be someway that I could get through. I was too muscular and big to crawl through it, nor did I have any butter to help me slide through it. So I did it the only way that would work for me: break it and create a bigger opening.
Bits of rubble and silvery-blue marble created little cuts on my arms and cheeks. It took me at least a half of an hour to make a gap big enough for me. I slid through the window with silence and ease. Everything about the dungeons frightened me: there was barely any light, it was cold, and it was pretty much a giant labyrinth waiting to swallow any careless traveler who ventured within its depths. All the walls were grisly, black brick, and the floors were white sand. Spiders and cobwebs were everywhere, and every time you walked past an empty cell, you would hear the scuttling of giant cockroaches scurrying away in fear. I unconsciously shuddered in revolt at the sound of the sleeping vampire bats overhead.
"I think there's someone coming." A feminine whisper echoed down the hall.
"It better not be Xehanort." An elderly voice hissed in reply.
"If it was Xehanort, wouldn't he have called off these stupid Unbirths by now?"
A grunt erupted from a Large Nightmare.
Okay, strategy for current scenario: surprise. I tried to create a mental map of the hallways. The problem was that there were too many of them, and most led to dead ends; courtesy of the builders who used their craftsmanship to confuse robbers who were to rescue their allies down in the dungeons. If I had shouted to Aqua to use her voice to lead me, it would alert the Unbirths, which shot the idea out of the air.
There must be some way...I struggled violently to get a glimpse of any plan or idea that might work. Nothing came. I waited to see if Aqua or Master Oni would say anything more that would lead me throughout the maze, but to no avail, they were silent. Another useful training day memory shimmered:
"Now then, when you are at a loss, which I'm sure will happen often, use the Keyblade to guide you. Even in the deepest darkness, the Keyblade will find the Light."
Yeah, but how do I even use an oversized, ugly, and heavy key to find my way through a giant maze? I mean, it's not like it'll just drag me there. Another thing to keep in mind when you're looking for your friends in a labyrinth and the only thing you've got in mind is to use a giant key to drag you to them, don't think of it as impossible. Eternal Horizons, which was just previously hanging at my side decided to start moving on its own, which was really, really, really weird(okay, I'll admit that it was totally insane). It seemed as if someone was holding the tip and tugging on it, just waiting to see how hard he would have to pull before I would follow. Once again, my dull mind didn't catch on that maybe it was trying to lead me somewhere instead of acting like a crazy big key should. Soon it tugged so hard that I fell face first into the milky sand, and it began to drag me. I didn't even know what the hell it was doing, and I didn't want to lose my only defense, so I held on; another stupid thing to do.
My Keyblade led me through countless halls and chambers, all dark, dank, and filled to the brim with bugs and hissing cockroaches. Sand filtered into my mouth and I could have sworn that I had swallowed a spider. If it wasn't completely dark in there, I would've been certain of the fact that I had squished over a hundred bugs.
"What is that?" I heard the teenage girl who seemed closer whisper much to my dismay. If the Unbirths had payed any attention at all to her question, they would've noticed the sound of tussling sand as well. The Keyblade pulled me closer and closer to their prison; so close that I would've swore that they were only a few halls away. A loud knocking sound came from a close distance, seeming somewhat similar to the pounding of Large Nightmare feet...claws...whatever they walked on.
"ROAR!" One of the obese monsters screeched with fury upon seeing me.
"Oh what? Is that the only greeting I get?" I asked with the ideal of cockiness fresh in mind.
"Hiss!" A few Dawns leaped from behind the walls next to me with intent of murder. I tried to get Eternal Horizons to stop dragging me so that I could actually defend myself from the oncoming fiends, but of course, it pulled even harder and once again knocked me off of my feet.
"Hello, Keyblade; the enemies are over there, not down the hallway. I...command you to attack them, um....now, please?" Eternal Horizons ignored me as I pointed to the horde of monsters behind us and kept dragging me onwards to the cells.
"I said 'now', not three hours later, you stupid, annoying, ugly-" My repetitive insults were discontinued by the intonation of a wall against my face. Once I recovered slightly I yelled to my weapon, "What the hell was that for!?"
The Keyblade was silent. I was afraid to call it stupid again in the fear that it would get revenge on me, or something like that. I mean, if it could drag around a hundred and thirty pound teenager around for ten minutes, then it could kill me in my sleep, or something even worse.....like showing me pictures of Master Xehanort in a speedo.
Now you're getting paranoid, Terra. First of all, giant, cheesy-looking, and ugly keys can't talk, and second of all, they can't show you pictures. You need to calm down. Just relax and remember, no one, not even an inanimate object would ever take a picture of Geezernort in a bathing suit and see the light of day again. My "common" sense calmed me a bit.
"Terra, is that you?" Aqua called from a few feet away. I pointed the tip of my Keyblade to the three padlocks on each cell door. Master Oni was on the far right, Aqua was on the far left, and Ven was passed out in the middle.
"What happened to him?" Aqua looked away in guilt and anguish while Master Oni gritted his teeth and mumbled, "Xehanort."
"What did he do to him? Don't tell me..." My voice cut off as I noticed that Ven had became abnormally pale again. I ran my hand over his wrist to check for a pulse. I thanked the heavens that his heart was still beating, though it was reverberating faster than any heart should. Everything about him seemed normal otherwise: no physical injuries, no cuts, no marks, nothing.
"Well, I'm not exactly sure what he actually did to him, but it had to do something with-" The blue-haired female was interrupted by Master Oni's grunt,"He did something to his mind."
"Like what, eat his brains out? I can see it happening." Aqua took this comment as a disrespect and insulted, "You sarcastic little bastard! Do you take anything seriously? If you were here, Ven wouldn't have been hurt."
"Excuse me? So you're blaming this on me? I can't control Xehanort, you know that. Hell, I can't even control my Keyblade." Why was Aqua accusing for something that I didn't have power over? Aqua was supposed to be the balanced and level-headed one, not the totally ridiculous idiots that Ven and I were.
"Calm down, Aqua. You know that it's not Terra's fault that this happened. And no, his brains weren't eaten out, his memories were messed with. I've seen Xehanort use that power many times before; I could never mistake it for anything else." He paused and rubbed his eye within thought, "He probably went to confuse the poor thing in order to make us angry, especially you." Master Oni looked at me as if he were expecting a reply. An awkward absence of sound gripped the air of the room. Tension crackled throughout the small space before I changed the subject, "Where did those Unbirths go? They were here just a minute or two ago."
Silence had returned.
"He would make you angry to control you, Terra. Remember that time when the darkness had taken you over as a result of your hate? Master Xehanort is one of darkness, and so you being controlled by dark powers means that he can control you. I assume that is what happened to Igneous; Xehanort knew that his apprentice would soon begin to find fault in him, and would also rebel against him for his terrible actions. So, Xehanort somehow made him angry and fearful as to some horrible deed that was performed in front of him, then he took the opportunity to turn the poor teenager into a monster of darkness."
Just then, Ven began to stir. His cerulean blue eyes flickered open and were enveloped by a cloud of curiosity.
"Hey, are you okay?" Aqua sat next to him and questioned softly in a motherly tone. The teen flicked his gaze towards her and commented admiringly, "You're beautiful." Aqua's cheeks turned into a rosy red at the praise. In the background you could hear the deep chuckle of an elderly man.
"Man," He rubbed the back of his neck and yawned. "Where am I?"
Aqua was still basking in flattery, so I answered his question with another one, "What are you talking about?" I already knew the answer, which made my heart feel heavy.
"Well, I remember that I was in this cell for a while next to Master Oni and Aqua, and nothing else after that. It feels like someone just jabbed a knife in my head." Ven moaned with pain.
"It seems that Xehanort didn't completely wipe his memory, but has jogged it a bit." Master Oni piped.
"You still remember me, right?" I poked at the sleepy teen's head.
"Yeah, you're name is Talons. Why wouldn't I remember the biggest ape in the universe?" Even though his answer was good-hearted and truthful, it filled me with angst to know that he didn't even know my name.
"Well at least you still remember almost everything." Aqua patted Ven's spiky blond hair and added, "And you still have the same happy-go-lucky attitude."
"Now, to the next world. What were we going to different worlds for again?"
"I don't think you'll be going in the state that you're in." Master Oni confessed.
"Why not? I'm fine. I just got hit in the head by an Unbirth, or something." Ven looked around and added, "Where are they, anyway?"
"Come with me, Ventus. I'll lead you back to your dorm so that you may rest until you feel better." A white glove wrapped around the boy's wrist and led him out of the cell area. You could hear Ven denying hospitality, "No, I'm fine. Just let me go so I can find this Xehanort guy." After two minutes, Master Oni called and his voice echoed through the halls, "Go and find Xehanort. We cannot waste any time." Aqua shrugged and created a portal. Soon she disappeared from all sight.
If I ever see Xehanort again, I'll make sure that he pays; whatever it takes.