Kingdom Hearts:Birth by Sleep Zero~Book 1, Chapter 24:
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any KH stuff in this fanfiction, nor do I own anything that belongs to Walt Disney. All things Kingdom Hearts related are solely owned by Tetsuya Nomura, Square Enix, and Disney.
Note: Another review thanks shall be given to namixasvenkhfan, my awesome, loyal reviewer who has given an opinion on over half of these chapters(WOW). And once again, I am sorry that I haven't updated in SO long. Oh yeah, and I almost forgot: Audo, or Riku-Keyblade on KHInsider( a KH website) has created a thread on "Everything We Know About Birth by Sleep/Unbirths so far". That thread has helped me a lot on deciding which abilities that TAV have, and I'm sure you'll notice if you read this story and look at the Unbirths that Terra has described. I highly recommend you pay a visit to KHInsider and take a look at the forums section at the top right of the home page. Then, go to "Future of Kingdom Hearts" and look for the thread. It will help you out a lot if you're confused on anything that has been revealed for BBS so far: interviews, Unbirths, characters, and you might even find a few theories. The real Kingdom Hearts:Birth by Sleep is coming out on PSP, and will be released in 2009 for Japan. Also, you might want to look at a video on Youtube. Type in "Jump Festa 2008 Birth by Sleep Full Trailer". Once again, I am TERRIBLY sorry that I haven't updated in at least a month. I've had homework shoved in my face by the tons, I have my religion to attend to every Wednesday night, and I've also been getting writer's block and lack of motivation. As an apology for this, I will make sure that this chapter is a bit longer than chapter 23. Thank you for your time. Oh yeah, and make sure to take a look at Kingdom Hearts:Birth by Sleep Zero~Re-mixed!
The writer of KH:BBS Zero,
Eternal Symphonia
PLEASE READ: When I first submitted this chapter, I did not notice the little part where Ven says, "Help. I'm pooping.". I assure you one-hundred percent and on everything precious to my dear life that I DID NOT PUT THAT IN THERE!!! My eighteen-year-old sister(yes, she is immature) put it in there while I left my computer on and when I wasn't looking. When I uploaded the chapter, I did not read over it twice to make sure that she didn't put anything in there(yes, she has done this MANY times before). I ask you to please forgive me, for I am terribly embarassed by her little "quote". Birth by Sleep Zero is not meant to be like that, and I hope(and I'll make sure) that my sister does NOT do it again. Thank you for reading this,
Eternal Symphonia
A stalwart wind mournfully cried as it relentlessly blew in a whirlwind of fury. Dust and sand were pressured against my eyes, stinging them brutally. In reply to the inflicting pain, I shut them tightly and cringed; tears rained from their corners and streamed down my face. Even more bits of the earth bore into my arms and cheeks, which urged me to grit my teeth.
"Painful." I muttered with disgust.
"Do I have to repel temptation, or may I kill you now? You seem to be waiting for me to make the first move." Maleficent uttered a shrill cry of aversion. Her robed arms elevated in haste, never ceasing to stop, but never rushing to finish. Once they arrived at their destination, the old witch brought them down again and forced her arms outwards. Black and green flames greedily lapped at the air, creating a circular wall around me until they fizzled out. In its place were ten Dawns, all dancing around in anticipation. Then, Maleficent flicked her hand towards another bare spot on the ground and more flames rose. Large Nightmares rose from the earth like zombies from a grave and waited for their master's command. A scowl cut through my face and was replaced by a fleering grin after Eternal Horizons appeared in my right hand. In return, a sneer was shot back. A forbidding wisp of thought floated through my mind, telling me to pause for a moment and think.
Maybe Master Xehanort set Maleficent up to begin a battle with me to test my limits; he knew that the empty box would make me try to attack the old hag for wasting my time. Xehanort might even know that Ven has left the safety of the castle and told Maleficent to stall me while he looked for him. Battling her would murder even more precious time that could be spent searching for Ven.
"I have a "friend" that I'm looking for." I paused to chuckle. "Have you seen an annoying spiky-haired blond kid around?" Maleficent was surprised to see that I had stopped the fight from continuing. So, okay, I fibbed: this wasn't actually a physical battle, which is what I'm sure you were waiting for.
"Never heard of such a person. If you're not going to fight, then I won't either. But, if I cross your path again, I shall cut off the deal. Oh yes, and you might want to find Ventus quickly; Xehanort seldom misses an opportunity." With that, she scathingly bent her hand to call upon a portal. As expected, the trademark black and green flames engulfed the void, the Unbirths, and the witch until all disappeared without a trace.
Getting my mind back on track, all of my thoughts flickered to one simple goal: where is the one place that Ven would go when he needed to get away and think? Mine was Sunset Horizons, and I already knew that he wasn't there, so the only answer that popped up was the play islet on Destiny Islands. The cave of drawings was the area that Ventus had loved the most. My Keyblade was dis-summoned before I thrust my hand into an empty space. Instantaneously, a void swirling with streaks of opalescent white and sky blue appeared without any refusal.
"So, you are Alice?" A thundering voice echoed from the depths of the shadows at the edge of a forest. Outfitted in a blue and white dress stood a girl who looked to be about twelve or thirteen. Golden blond locks of hair tussled down to her shoulders.
"Who are you?" She managed to sputter out in fear.
"I am a friend," An elderly man stepped out of the shadows. "It seems you are lost. Come with me, and I will help you find your home, dear child." His eyes, which looked like glowing embers, seemed to burst into flame when the girl stepped back with her arm raised, which acted as a substitute for a shield.
"Leave me alone, or I'll-"
"You'll what? You wouldn't dare to harm a helpless, old man. Or would you?" He closed his eyes abruptly, then flickered them open. A chuckle of mockery eclipsed the air.
"You don't seem to be helpless. In fact, you look more like an evil stranger who would dare to harm me." Then Alice turned to run away, but failed; the old man had teleported in front of her, causing the girl to fall into his hands. He shackled her pasty wrists with two smoky strands of darkness that wound together like snakes.
"One down, six to go. Igneous, come here and carry the girl back to our hideout." Just then, a flash of darkness appeared in front of the old man. A boy with a black and crimson outfit strutted out of the void and tossed the girl over his shoulder. Many futile attempts to writhe out of her captor's clutches were apparent, and she even screamed a few times before Igneous squeezed her mouth shut. Another intrusion gracefully traipsed over to the pair. The horned woman's colorless eyes were stretched out in anticipation, "Master Xehanort, the boy has become a problem. He knows that Ven has escaped the castle and is looking for him now! If he finds him, our plan will be ruined; you must go and stop him at-"
"Calm down Maleficent. Even if he does find Ventus, we can always commence the plan later. Besides, the fool will never know where to look; I will have at least two years before the child finds him. Thankfully, Terra doesn't know that his dear friend is about to be swallowed by the Darkness, so no rush will pressure him." The elder's wrinkled head jerked back and laughter erupted from his throat. Maleficent glared at him in embarrassment.
"I'll check up on the two later after I'm done 'escorting' this dear princess to her cell, deep within the heart of Radiant Garden." Xehanort assured with his eyes twinkling in pure evil.
"Very well, then. I'll search for the others of pure heart. I'm sure Terra will enjoy your delightful company." And with that, the hag disappeared in another portal of green and black flames.
"Another puppet of the darkness, that horned witch. I anticipate the day she turns into an Unbirth."
One moment I was eclipsed by overpowering light, and the next I was standing on a beach. Wafts of salty air plugged my nose so that no other smell could come through. Cawing from seagulls embraced the air, while a rosy sunset caressed the sky. Puffs of white clouds were beginning to fade away into streaks of peachy chalk. From what I could tell, I was standing on the exact islet that I had meant to go to.
This whole portal thing is turning out to be easier than I thought it would.
"No!" A yelp from over on the eastern side of the beach. My head swiveled towards the repetitive clanking of wooden swords being scraped against each other. Sora and Riku were play-fighting, and judging from Sora's screams, it wasn't going too well for him, at least. More and more time flew past as I watched the two struggle to regain control of the battle, but their skills matched perfectly. Sora would parry Riku's blows, and Riku would parry Sora's blows. Every time Sora had tried to disarm his friend, Riku would overpower him and do the same.
A pleasing idea flashed through my head: One day, they could become Keyblade wielders themselves.
"Sora! Riku!" The brunette turned his head while Riku continued the fight. Sora's distraction caused him to lose.
"You broked my concentration!" His curious blue eyes blinked with frustration.
"Sorry, kiddo." I rubbed his spiked hair and smirked without trying to let him know that his four-year-old grammar was right on track. Sora shook his head and pushed my hand away defiantly. Riku paced up to us and smiled, "Hey, Terra. We missed you."
"I missed you guys too. What've you been up to these days?"
"Well, I would've been winning a fight, but-" Much to Sora's dismay, Riku interrupted, "Nothing much."
"Anyways," The brunette scoffed with impatience edging his tongue. "where have you been? You used to be here all the time, and then one day you and Ven disappeared. It was totally weird!" To exaggerate, he flipped his arms into the air and his eyes grew wide with wonder. Riku just crossed his arms and added, "Yeah, it was like you two were just a dream. Only your mommy knew why you were gone, but she wouldn't tell anybody. All she'd say was, 'It's nothing. He went to live with some relatives on a set of islands far away.'. Everyone else but my mommy and Sora's mommy believed her. Well, except for me and Sora; we knew that something was bad." The silver-haired boy slanted his eyes in concentration, then glanced at me with the same face.
"So, why were you gone?" Sora finished.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Sarcasm and seriousness were both hidden within my tone.
Sora's stare drifted down to his feet. All of the sudden, a loud cry echoed from the entrance to the drawing cave, somewhat familiar. The four-year-old brunette who previously stood in front of me shivered in fear while clutching the back of my pants leg.
"It was probably just the wind." Riku scoffed. Another, even louder, moan blasted out the dark entrance, causing even the brave five-year-old to join Sora.
"Stay here, I'm going to check it out." I ordered the two boys. Gingerly, I began to tiptoe as the cave swallowed me. More cries were brought into existence, seemingly coming from behind a strange door that forbiddingly stood at the other end of the cavern. A droplet of dew fell from the rocky ceiling and spattered onto my nose.
"Help!" The door jerked a few times. Banging noises sounded from the other side being impacted harshly. Whoever was on the opposite side of the wooden door was desperate to come out. Shrill yells of pure torture violently rung through my ears. Realization struck me: Ven.
"Ven! Is that you?!"
"Please, help me! I can't-" The blond teen's plea stopped mid-sentence, and silence replaced his cries for assistance. Instantly, I rushed for the door.
"You will know what happened; you will know that before the end."
"What?" I asked, half knowing that the voice would object to telling me.
"What did you risk? You'll know, and you won't know. That is the real question." I decided to ignore him and open the door. Ven's yelling was covered by the voice once again, "Goodbye."
My right hand hastily reached out towards the door; another thought nagged me:
He's telling me something important, something familiar. Words exploded throughout my head, many coming together and creating three simple words:
Birth by Sleep
Birth by Sleep? Where did that come from? Something was stopping me from opening the door. It didn't make any sense. Was I really going to just walk away from Ven, who was being shackled by an unknown presence?
"Hello?! Whoever is out there, hurry up!"
Finally I was able to shake the ominous feelings away. I easily opened the door just by turning the handle. Nothing more. A cold breeze pulsed out of the abyss of darkness, each wave becoming subtly softer as time flew by. Soon only small gusts trickled out.
I took one step inside.
Strands of black flames wove around my legs, arms, and torso, welcoming me. Twinkling danced everywhere, which reminded me of another place that was still fresh in my mind. My feet seemed to move on their own, and before I knew it, the door slammed behind me. I found my hands desperately vying for the golden handle of the door. The door had disappeared entirely.
Great, now I'm stuck in this pool of dreariness and oblivion looking for my friend, who I can't even see.
"Fading..away." Ven's voice was surprisingly quiet, though he sounded like he was close by.
"Ven, where are you?!" Silence was my only friend in this dark world, for he didn't answer. Fear for Ven's health made me rush to find him.
"Ven! Answer me!" I ordered. The teen was still silent.
"Well, it seems you've found your friend sooner than I thought possible." The voice I dreaded more than any other echoed from behind me.
"Do you ever have anything else to do besides annoy me?" A wrinkly face flashed suddenly, making my eyes squint. In the pure darkness I could only see the glowing amber eyes that seemed to watch every move I made. Xehanort cackled monstrously, "Ventus is fading away in the darkness of this realm. He will soon be able to rest peacefully, with no one to bother him for the rest of existence."
"Not if I can help it." My Keyblade was summoned unconsciously. Every muscle in my body urged me to leap at the old croon, but my mind knew better.
"Are you really going to fight me? Or would you rather find your friend? If you spend too much time here, even your dark heart will be overpowered."
"And what about you? Are you so powerful that you don't even think that the darkness would dare to touch you?" Master Xehanort chortled with satisfaction as a dark form encased his hand. From it exploded his Keyblade, Infatialis Sonata.
The elder's voice raised, "Let's cut a deal, cockroach: if I win this battle, you will leave Ventus here. And if you win-"
"If I win, then I take Ven with me."
Xehanort smirked, "Of course."
The beginning of the battle started out with the typical parrying and blocking. Being the Keyblade Master of Darkness, Xehanort used shadow infused attacks, and I, being an unexperienced apprentice of the Light, used powerful blows that were often followed by spells.
Instinctively, I began to slowly deliver at least seven heavy blows. All but two of them were dodged by the Keyblade Master, which only gave him little cuts that didn't even bleed. Then, a rush of thunder bolts exploded and crackled throughout the air, all coming directly from the tip of my Keyblade. Again, Master Xehanort managed to ward off the bolts by simply deflecting them.
"Fire Blaze!" My Keyblade was thrust into the air. Crimson flames that melted into sapphire were shot at the elder, but to no avail they were deflected just as the thunder bolts were.
"I'm so sorry to say, but your strategy...oh, how do you children say it?" Xehanort paused abruptly and prodded at his chin in thought. I took the chance to finish off the combination of attacks that I had started.
"Rising Sun!" Not unlike the summoning sequence of Eternal Horizons, little gold and blue particles began to spin around my weapon while rings of white light began to pulse from the metal, seemingly drumming to the same beat as my heart's rhythm. In a flash, everything in the dark void transformed into barren, desolate wasteland that seemed to be exactly like Sunset Horizons. Time began to slow, creating a world that was completely silent except for the twinkling that had been in the dark void as well.
The voice that interrupted me before had returned, "Death by Awakening, Birth by Sleep."
Master Xehanort had completely stopped; his eyes were oozing with hatred, anger, mockery, and pure evil. Were those golden orange orbs always like this? I had never really paused to look at Xehanort closer, probably because I never had the urge to. His facial expression held only melancholy and relaxed tones. Judging from his eyes, which Master Oni had told me were the windows into the soul, the old fart was utterly iniquitous; no light feelings of joy, love, or care had ever hit his heart, unless it was when he was an innocent child. But something told me that Geezernort had been evil even when he was only a toddler. Now that I had took the time to actually look closer at him, I knew exactly who and what he was: Xehanort was a monster of darkness, and had not known anything but pure hate for everything in existence except himself. I knew right there and then, and even forever afterwards, that Xehanort, no matter how many times he was defeated, would remain in this universe even after he was dead. Something would carry him towards future generations, plaguing them and taking their lives away, whether if it was killing them or just thrusting them into situations where they would have to venture forth to destroy him. Master Oni had been wrong. Xehanort was truly the epitome of pure evil.
My senses had returned to focusing on the task at hand. Time was still at my disposal, but each moment I had spent in that abyss of silence sapped my strength drastically. Soon I was not even able to muster up enough power to cast a simple fire spell. I had wasted my time here by gawking at the new power. Soon I fell to the ground, feeling like I could just roll over and die without even caring. Everything returned to the black abyss, and Xehanort became mobile once again.
"Do you know how foolish you are, Terra? Do you even know what you have done!?" The old man lowered his head and began to utter shrill cries of laughter.
"No intelligent person would indulge in such a powerful move while in the realm of Darkness. The more you delve into power, the closer the Darkness is. You're lucky that it hasn't even turned you into a puppet!"
"Wha?" I slurred with exhaustion pressuring my eyelids.
"It seems my job here is done. And remember: don't fall asleep or you will slumber here for the rest of existence." Xehanort had once again walked away from a battle. The only thing I could do to show my displeasure at his cowardice was to tighten my fist.
Urgency started to rush me, but even then panic was dulled by fatigue.
Everything that I knew began to slip away from me, and then...
Darkness began to consume my heart like sand filling an hourglass. My senses snapped back into place and dread pulsed throughout my veins and mimicked my heartbeat. Fear caressed me, so powerful that I could barely even breathe; my hands began to twitch furiously. Eventually, all feelings of lost hope turned into anger and hatred. All I knew was that my purpose was to destroy.
The first time I had given into darkness, I was not able to see anything, nor able to think straight. But this time around I could easily bring thought to mind. And even in this realm of darkness, I could actually see. For the first time ever, the power of the shadows didn't seem forbidding or evil. In fact, I started to think that they could be quite useful. In the form of darkness I felt stronger, wiser, and even cunning, like I could take on the universe with only my pinky finger. Before, I had thought of darkness as a threat, and also as a burden that I would not be able to bear. But now I considered it to be a possibly helpful little power-up that I could use as an advantage. And as Master Oni said, Master Eterika knew that he could only destroy the Keyblade Master of Darkness by using that Darkness against him; Xehanort is the Master of Darkness. And I would also not use it because I was greedy for power, but only for my friends. Navigating throughout this realm might even be easier to achieve, and that would bring me closer to Ven, which technically would be using it to help my friends, as I said before. But at that time, I was too foolish to know that I was terribly wrong. Oh, how gravely wrong I was...
I shook my head violently to clear my thoughts. Another thing I wanted to check to make absolutely sure that the powers of Darkness were still there. I found my hands inching slowly up to my ears...
At the bottom they were normal, but as my fingers brushed the tips, they jutted out to a point. I wouldn't have been surprised even if my eyes had turned to an amber glaze, but I didn't have a mirror at the time, nor any water to reflect my appearance. My mind snapped back to the thought of Ven. I instinctively knew that he was close by, but was enshrouded by far too much darkness to be seen.
"Ven!" I yelled through the eclipse of shadows.
A raspy voice whispered a papery echo, "Help."
At that plea, I dove into the abyss of nothingness and searched desperately for my dear friend. But even with the powers of darkness I was not able to wade through the pool of emptiness.
"Where are you!?" No reply came from the depths of emptiness. Not even a faint whisper could emerge from the desperate boy's throat. I knew that if there was ever a time to not panic, it would've been then. But how could I find him? First of all, I did say that I could see, but only myself and Xehanort. The darkness surrounding the area had taken away everything else that was once visible. And my friend was rapidly disappearing, so time also struggled against me. What could I do? All that popped up was led to oblivion as soon as their obvious faults were recognized. The one and only thing I was able to think of was to blindly search for him.
After what seemed like a month of seeking for Ven, I was able to grab onto a solid object. It was ribbed at the bottom, and felt soft inside. About two minutes of feeling the thing, I decided to smell it. Don't ask me why. I finally found out what it was after feeling my eyes water: a smelly teenage boy's shoe, but with no leg attached. And judging from the revolting stench, it must have been Ven's.
He must be nearby. I surmised.
I had searched for a little while longer to find my fingers pulling on spiky, blond hair, which I hoped had still been attached to its owner.
"There you are." My friend instantaneously leaped into sight, much to my relief. I could feel my heart's pulse slow a little bit, edging closer to almost complete silence as the realization of my achievement sank in. His eyes were closed, but I could see his chest rising slowly as he inhaled and exhaled. My stare jumped to his right foot, which only held a dirty sock; I slipped the shoe back onto his oversized foot.
Surprisingly, I was able to find the door by just backing up. The wooden frame made a thumping noise as my back impacted the door. For once, I didn't even have to try to work hard to get out of harm's way. Another thought ripped apart my short-lived rush of happiness: What if Ven sees me using the powers of Darkness?
First of all, Ven would either shun me, chastise me, hate me, etcetera, etcetera, and he would've told Master Oni and Aqua since his mouth was more open and broad than the ocean could ever imagine being. As soon as a tiny little piece of fear gnawed at myself, I became weak and I fell to my knees with Ven's hair still shackled within my hand. Even though it wasn't funny at all, I found it to be quite the opposite when I found Ven to be still floating even when I should have been dragging him down by suddenly falling. I must admit, I somehow managed to giggle while Darkness flowed out of my heart without haste. But it still had a presence there, as if I could rely on it the next time I needed backup. But would I really take a chance on my sanity? Though I knew that I would probably say "yes", the one thing nudging me was what Master Oni had told about a year ago:
"Darkness consumes the careless, those who rely on it. It tempts you in and keeps you there. Sadly, most don't realize before they are gone that they are being fooled: Darkness recognizes humans' tendency to be curious, or even greedy. It then uses these flaws to hit the weak spot, or make you think that you need it to be a difference in anything. All in all, Darkness is an entity that grows and consumes you by manipulation."
Oh well. Using the dark powers just ONCE won't kill me. My cockiness reassured me. I knew, deep inside, that I was wrong and being obtuse. Reluctantly ignoring my common sense, I reached out to the golden handle of the door. Before I could even touch it, the door creaked open at a leisurely pace. I unconsciously shrugged with my hand practically glued to Ven's golden spikes of hair. Peachy sand was scattered everywhere as I made a beeline to the shore. In my rush, I tossed the teenager to the floor without even caring whether or not I had just lobbed his head with a rock.
I found myself melting into a kneeling position as my panic fizzled away; in my reflection, everything was completely normal: no pointy ears, no amber eyes, nothing. Ven, Aqua, and Master Oni would know nothing about my explorations within the hands of Darkness. A drawn-out sigh expelled from my mouth with relief traipsing after it.
"Hey, Terra!" The familiar voice of my friend suddenly burst into my ears. I turned around to see Ven's face only an inch away. He recognized my horror and beamed with his eyes closed, "So, Ape? How'd we get here?"
"What did you see!?" I found myself grabbing the neck of his shirt and pulling him up to eyelength as I rose.
"What do you mean? All I see is a fat ape who decided to kick sand into my mouth as he dropped me and ran away."
Well, at least he hadn't lost his sense of humor.
"You know my name isn't really 'ape', right?"
"Yeah. I just thought it sounded more manly than 'Terra'."
"Wait a second, you remember now? I mean, you remember from before Geezernort messed with your memories?"
Ventus raised his right eyebrow for a second and paused to think. He then looked at me and nodded, "I think so. Everything is still a bit blurry, but I remember most of it."
"Good." After my relief was expressed by another sigh, Ven offered his hand to me while I got up. In reply I shook my head and mumbled a "Thanks anyways.". By the time I got to my feet Ven had already created a portal and half of his body disappeared within. He motioned for me to follow as his whole being was greedily swallowed by the void.
As the silent world transformed into a hall deep inside of Castle Celest, I was ignorant of the fact that I had just used the powers of Darkness a few minutes ago; it was still lurking there, waiting for the opportune moment to take advantage of my disadvantages. Before today, everything had been normal and light within the confines of my soul, but now an uninviting, grim absence threatened to flood my senses. I knew that, if I was not careful, I would phase into the darkness once again, and I wasn't sure whether or not who it would be in front of.
Don't worry. I reassured myself. Even if Master Oni knew what I had done, he probably would've just scathed me and told me not to ever do it again. And remember: you are only using it for your friends. And with that, the evil menace that had kept me in its cold clutches slowly melted away.
"You finally found him!" The familiar, elderly voice boomed from the corner at our right.
"Ventus Toshi, if I ever catch you running off again, I will personally escort you to the oubliette that lies down in the dungeons." Ven and I glanced at eachother; the oubliette was a maze that lay even deeper than the jail that Aqua, Ven, and Master Oni were in. It was said that whoever was sent in either died or had just barely made it out with at least one body part removed. Only the ancients who were there when the castle was originally built knew what was waiting for the poor losers who were sent there.
"Master Oni," Ven hastened abruptly to lower his head in respect. "It wasn't my fault that I was gone. Master Xehanort-"
"Xehanort again?" Master Oni snarled in a threatening, low tone.
"Yeah." I answered for Ven. "Geezernort somehow got into the castle again and took him. Then he shoved him into the door that leads to the heart of Destiny Islands. From what he told me, being in there for too long can mess with your sanity, and even swallow you whole."
Silence boomed as the elder's ghostly eyes squinted in a horrified manner, a hint of suspicion glowing at their centers. Then, he leered into my soul as his eyes met mine for longer than a fleeting moment. My heart began to tick, seeming to count down to when it would explode with utter fear. After that minute of uncomfortable scrutiny, Master Oni blinked and asked, "Were either of you touched by the Darkness?" He glanced at me again and added, "Did you ever indulge in it?"
"Why would we ever do that? Do you really think that I would do such a thing?" Was Ven being sarcastic? I had really hoped not, because if he was, then he had known about my "expedition". To my relief, Master Oni turned around as if he was going to walk away.
He turned around swiftly and bore into my eyes again, leaning closer than he ever had before.
"What about you?"
I felt my veins turn to ice. If I lied to him, would he know that I was lying? And even worse, what would he do to me if he figured out that I had?
"N...no." I clumsily muttered with my heart beginning to slow.
"Good. Now then, go to the next world and search for Xehanort. And watch your backs like a lion to its prey; no matter where you are, trouble and danger will be lurking." Without meeting his gaze again, I managed to quickly shove my hand into an empty space. Without haste, I rushed into the portal and left before I could hear Master Oni's words:
"It has begun."