Kingdom Hearts:Birth by Sleep:Destiny's Recall~Ven's Story, Book 1, Chapter 4~Towards Destiny~

Le Note:Hello, my fellow wanderers of fanfiction. Today I bring to you chapter four of Ventus's first book. But first, I have to thank my nice reviewers before then. First up is Aqua Azul, who gave me her opinion almost an hour after I submitted chapter three, which made me very excited. Secondly is ShinobiMatt's very much appreciated feedback. Especially when he told me that he noticed the Aqua/Ven shipping. Lol, thank you.

Last but not least was NinjaLuffer1215. Thank you for your wonderful support. I really do read your reviews and utilize them to push me harder to update as soon as possible.

The bringer of the hero of hillbilly proportions, the "exotic"( quote on quote from some guy on KHInsider, lol) blue haired girl, Geezernort, and porcupine,

~Eternal Symphonia~

A dim light etched its cold rays into my sight as if it was a snowy crowbar prying my eyes open to peek in. My aforementioned windows into the world around me fluttered open to find myself laying comfortably on the sterling silver, lead, and angelic white wrapped bed that I had easily slunk into the evening before without a care in the world, except to get some shut-eye. The frame of it trembled ever so slightly when I tossed over onto my right side to face the shining star and moon encrusted door leading out of my room, which was also adorned with the familiar colors of white and blue.

An uncomfortable sensation eclipsed my body when I realized that I was soaking head to toe in disgusting sweat, the clothes I was wearing drenched completely. Droplets cascaded down my forehead and it seemed, to me at least, that I was peering out of a window to recognize a scene of a thunderstorm unfolding outside. I rubbed my index fingers from the corners of my eyes to my cheekbones and watched the room around me blare with color, inviting the lids of my vision to drift open a little more. For the first time since my visit to Castle Celest, I had finally been able to admire the area of the so-called "House of Wind".

The king-sized bed I previously explained was backed up by a rounded wall that had been etched to the brim with morning glory blue and sparkling silver swirls representing drafts of the breeze. The whole room was a giant circle about the size of my room back at home times two. Smothering the floor was a plush layer of silky white carpet, which, due to its inviting, soft look, I wasn't afraid to plant my feet into the folds of comfort. Even through my bulky black and red shoes I could sense the amount of impressibility it contained. Facing the bed I sat on was a thin hallway about two feet long leading to a small deck. Without thinking about it I got up and paced through the hallway that matched my bedroom and enjoyed the feeling of oak wood supporting my feet. Once I got outside I flicked my head backwards to notice the two ornate doors that had been open since the previous night; they probably had existed to serve as a barrier between the cold of winter when Christmas rolled around. I curled my fingers around the tawny amber wooden railing that edged the semi-circular, minuscule deck, peering over the side to find a large garden below sprawling across a huge radius. Many people scurried about, but they all looked like little inch-worms from above. Instinctively I squinted through only one eye and pinched a few of them, one by one, sometimes able to catch two or three at the same time. I must have brought this habit from my adopted hometown. Every day after school and even on weekends, I would trudge over to the clock tower and do the same. I especially enjoyed it when a group of kids who picked on me managed to stroll by. Instead of having to get beaten up for facing up to them, I could just pretend to mush them between my thumb and pointer finger.

Tweeting echoed throughout my ear canals as bluebirds with their bronze red chests flew high above, catching their morning meal of insects on the currents of air. The early Sun sent his rays to warm their backs as they continued the usual routine of eating and floating through the empty space above.

Beyond the expanse of flowers and humans lay one of the many rivers surrounding the area, its banks harboring a comfy spot for long, lime grasses and wildflowers. Even from my high vantage point I could pick up on the wails of the mighty current of water below. A reddish fox peered up from the fields and let its ears stand at attention, obviously focusing on one exact spot. After a second or two it pounced, coming back up with a succulent mouse hanging limply from the strong jaws it owned.

Knocking on the railing ricocheted from behind me, interrupting my admiration of the landscape below.

"Having fun?" Terra asked in his usual tone, somewhat more alert than I had heard from him before. I turned around slowly to let my grin sink into his attention, and once he realized my good mood, he smiled back.

"It's almost time for you to present yourself to Master Lumina. And you'd better hurry: he doesn't enjoy it when people are late."

"Is that from past experience?" I questioned with a mischievous glint in my eye.

His smirk extended further as he replied sarcastically, "How'd ya guess?"

After that bit of conversation, Terra nodded and motioned for me to come over and follow him, four of his fingers waving back and forth like the waves of the ocean and his thumb sitting off to the side. I obliged and somewhat jogged after him with excitement twirling around my existence. We made our way through my predictably gray, silver, and blue dorm. While I glanced around nervously and took shuffling steps, Terra had his fists enclosed tightly together and was putting each foot forward confidently. His head was held high as mine was drooped and shifting about, colors flashing past us as we headed for, what I guessed, to be the throne room where Geezernort had lazed around in his velvet seat as the two apprentices who had taken me away from my home bowed unwillingly to his royal ass. The memory of seeing him again forced me to shudder; those amber eyes, really pointy ears that you could roast hot dogs on, that sickly colored tan skin, his weird outfit...They all added up to the sum of creepy, disturbing, unpleasant, eerie, and especially... Well, I know this sounds rude, but I'd probably call it hideous? You can't blame me for thinking that either, so don't start shooting insults about how I dissed on some old coot who has no defense against me. If it were my opinion, I would say that he was the one who would leave me defenseless with all that dark and disgusting evilness seeping out of every seam he had. But at least I could look forward to meeting the praised master of Terra and Aqua. Hopefully he wasn't as creepy as hell like Xehanort. But then again, no one could be. Master Baldinort definitely took the trophy titled, "Most scary person in the universe".

We met the circular gathering room that connected all of the four dorms into one intricate design of architecture. The fountain lay ahead of us, the water still glimmering from the bright lights that shone above. I watched in bedazzlement as my eyes in turn laid their feasting sight upon every single stream of glassy liquid. Due to the rounded, smooth white alcove hanging over the area, the sounds of trickling echoed across the way. All was absolutely quiet until the door of the ocean themed part of the wall slammed open with Aqua shooting out and over to us. Once she had met up with us, she began to stutter with a certain amount of fidget quivering within her voice.

"God," Aqua paused to fix her sapphire hair and take in a breath of air. "I thought I was going to be late."

"You know, you tell me that almost every day. And it sounds even more desperate on days when we're going to be training with Vanitas."

It slapped me hard in the face; Aqua had a thing for another guy and not me. Disheartening ran through my chest when I noticed that Terra was actually being serious about it, too. For some reason I had already developed a kind of affection for this girl, even though I had only met her about a day ago. Aqua's celestial blue eyes gleamed in fury as this comment sunk into her consciousness, forcing an impression of hatred for Terra at this moment. She opened her mouth to mention something, but couldn't find words to say because, frankly, she knew it was true.

The brown-haired teen next to me snickered, "Our little friend here has a crush on Master Xehanort's apprentice. She gets all snarly whenever I mention it."

"And I have reason to, probably because I have absolutely no clue where you got an idea like that."

"Well, I do. Every single time you see him you can't even stop seeing him; all you do is stare at his "luscious" and "silky" black outfit all day." Terra paused to nudge me with his elbow before continuing. "Blank stare, creepy outfit, disgusting breath-" He continued on, but I couldn't hear him over Aqua's protesting.

"That's not anything near what he's like-"

Terra interrupted while tapping each of his fingers in counting, "Impolite, obviously snobby, conceited, crooked brains, twisted and disturbing outfit, blah, blah, blah. You name it. Every single little thing that causes people to recoil in fear exists in the kid." It's kind of funny to admit it, but I was actually glad to hear that this Vanitas dude was undesirable. Unless Terra was lying just to get Aqua's goat, which wouldn't have surprised me at all. But truthfully, I wouldn't be ashamed to believe him either.

"Vanitas is nothing like that. You know he's actually an intelligent guy. Unlike you. If you were willing to listen to me, you'd know that he is a sweet and gentle boy whose appearance is just a little scary looking because he's on the side of Darkness. Nothing more. And at least he brushes his teeth, Terra."

The only thing that the mocking teenager next to me could do was start wailing in laughter. His shoulders shrugged up and down as he tried to hold it in in fear of Aqua's reaction, but soon he fell over and began to roll on the floor in hysteria. I stood there looking stupid with a puzzled frown on my face, my arms hanging limply on each of my sides. All I could do was to stare blandly at the pair as one flew across the glossy stone floor and the other yelled at him. When there was no reply from Terra, Aqua sighed and circled her eyes around their sockets in annoyance.

"I will never understand you..."

And with that Aqua stormed away in anger, a cloud of irritability wisping behind her like a trail of fury. Not knowing what else to do, I started to follow her with an uncomfortable heaviness blundering through my feet as if they were shackled to an iron chain of sickness. My stomach began to churn back and forth with fear and uncertainty like it was creating a soup made of worry. Instinctively my hand found its way to my belly and clenched it tightly in tension; another trickle of homesickness slithered through me like a winding, slimy snake, about to draw back its head to prepare the injection of poisonous longing. How my heart ached, sadly, only from a small image of my memories of back home. I never thought that I would miss what I previously took as the most dull place in the universe. Blazing sunsets, sticky fingers entwined with blue, the smell of food drifting into my nostrils, familiar chirping of the winged creatures from the forest, ringing bells of the clock tower, chattering of people below. Everything was turning into a turn for the worse in my eyes now, even meeting Terra and Aqua. I mean, was arguing what they did all the time? Did I really have to see Master Xehanort again? None of these things I was looking forward to. Couldn't I just go home and live my life without having to know that a place like this exists?

"Come on squirt, let's go meet our ringmaster." Terra came up behind me and pushed my back in a forwards motion, causing me to twist my ankle a little bit. Streams of pain vibrated up my leg as I stumbled, trying to find a way to catch my balance before I was forced to drop to the floor. Lucky for me, I was able to regain stability.

All I could do to reply to his rudeness was to snap, "What the hell was that for!? And why do you always call me 'squirt'? I'm not that short."

He drifted past me like a wisp of wind, fleeting but yet still leaving a sensation of emotion behind. Then, just like that, he stopped before catching the closing door that Aqua had opened. Terra tilted his back just enough for me to catch a glimpse of the cerulean orbs that served as his eyes.

"Yes, you are."

Rage steamed out of my ears almost as if I was one of those cartoon characters everyone watched when they were little. Fingernails dug into my palms as I resisted the urge to scream at him in fury. But this hate was either unnoticed or ignored, for when I glanced back up to catch his expression he was strolling through the door slowly without waiting for me to catch up.

With a sigh I shook my head and continued after him with an apparent limp.

We met the door to the Throne Room again with the sprawling sides screaming "opposition" due to their clashing colors and themes. Darkness resided upon the right side while Light floated about the left. Last time I was here, I only managed to catch a peek at one of the two people who resided within their glorious chairs. Sadly, it was probably the more frightening of the two.

When I was able to let the people in the other room only see one of my blue eyes, I scanned through the slightly opened crack of the entrance. I noticed that there was the expected rival of Xehanort sitting in the other, navy and snow throne. His hair was either a really, really dark brown or black, but I could tell at least that much. The cut of his hair amounted to a simple style of a fanned-out ponytail, held back with what I assumed had to be either a piece of ribbon or a tie, but there was still some that he left out of the restraint. In the front was a wavy strand of hair backed up by two shorter and smoother ones while the back flowed down with a slight curve, a spikiness close to that of Terra's. His face was quite aged and chiseled, what with all the wrinkles embedded within it. But he didn't have nearly as many as Xehanort did. For the eyes, all he had were two bright, half closed celestial blue droplets that practically announced that he was kinder than most. They seemed to radiate with a particular light that only shone faintly within Terra and Aqua's. Was that because of the fact that they were only apprentices and only had power incomparable to his? Or maybe it was due to the amount of light in their hearts. Whatever that sensation of oceanic cobalt was, it sure was apparent in his eyes. Underneath this man's pure white and long (about to the length of his ankles), crimson trimmed coat lay a stretchy, navy, v-neck shirt that was almost identical to Terra's, except that it was inverted. As I mentioned before, the biggest part of it that encased his muscular chest was the blue, and the minuscule edges on his sides were obsidian. Another piece of this eccentric combination of samurai and warrior were the duo of sparkling silver straps that criss-crossed over his chest and back in an "x" shape, not even one inch unlike Terra and Aqua's except for the color. Covering the whole bottom half of this man were pants exactly like Terra's hakama, but were once again a different, this pair only having a single fold in the front instead of many sprawling ones. I couldn't see whether or not the way they were held up was in a similar way to his eldest apprentice because of the dark silver armor encasing his whole chest and pelvic area; it was made up of a metallic tunic with two sections, the bottom half being three pieces that resembled the tips of arrows with no stalk, so to speak, all pointing downwards to the earth below. The top part was an upwards arrow tip just stopping below the straps that blazed with the color of starlight. Connecting the whole armor piece was the same exact symbol that Terra and Aqua held on their outfits as a reminder of their alliance with him set against a backdrop of dark blue. He also owned some facial hair, nothing more than a neatly kept goatee on his chin and a mustache, though.

Water welled up in my eyes from staring too long without blinking even once. They stung even more when I closed them, sending streams of salty liquid down my cheeks and down onto the marble. I sniffled, still keeping an eye on the guy in the throne while rubbing my eyelids free of tears; if any of the four who were in the Throne Room saw me with water in my eyes, they'd probably ask me if I wanted a bottle with that, too. Terra and Aqua were hunched over in respective bows towards the two who reclined on the thrones, the girl seemingly nervous and the boy seemingly anxious. From my vantage point, I could see who I thought to be Master Lumina's eyes brighten, impossibly, even more when he recognized his students in front of him. Bright, white teeth sparkled in the early morning sunlight as he smiled warmly, his eyes closed tightly.

"Welcome, welcome, my apprentices," He greeted the two teenagers before Master Xehanort piped in, a scowl etching the outlines of his wretched face.

"About time you two came back. You're no more eager to get up from bed than a male ass in a mating barn filled to the brim with attractive females does." The elder accused quite vulgarly. After I had muttered an "ew" from behind the cracked open door, I wondered if any of the people in the next room had heard me. Well, I knew Terra did, since all he could manage to do for the next minute was try to not let Master Xehanort see his shoulders bouncing up and down along with his hand instantly slapping across his mouth to serve as a sound barrier. A few times he even let a chuckle out, but was silenced as soon as he glanced up to see a stern, "If you do not stop making fun of my previous statement I'm going to kill you" glare adorned with amber despise staring back at him from the one who mentioned the disgusting reference to donkeys and mating.

I snatched a look at Aqua to see her reaction, which surprised me. Instead of trying to hide her amusement like Terra was, she actually started to make disgusted faces as if in revolt of Xehanort's manner of insulting. Why wasn't she even cracking a grin? That's one thing I could never understand about girls: if confronted with something that was obviously perverted, most of them would look at whoever said it with their eyebrow raised. I mean, I know that I have caught a few giving me weird glances like I was some forty-year-old pedophile. Can't any of them take a dirty joke as just a joke? Isn't that why they call it that? It isn't meant to be taken all that seriously, and almost all of them thought I was a perverted old man like Master Geezernort. Do I look like that to you?

No, I'm not going to believe you even if you said "yes". No...just no. No one is as creepy as him. Not even me. Look, I may be ugly, or at least I think so, but no one could ever...I know I keep insulting him, but who wouldn't after being blinded with all that baldness and creepiness and pervertedness? I was actually beginning to wonder if he had ever hit on Aqua. Gross, I know, but he seems like the type.

"Xehanort..." Master Lumina warned with his fingers tapping expectantly on the arm of his chair. Seeing this act of impatience caused the crusty coot to start scoffing. Huff, huff, "I hate this", "I'm always discriminated for telling the truth", "I should be calling the shots", huff, puff, rawr, "I'm about to claw everyone's eyes out because I feel like it and I have a chip on my shoulder and you should just live with it".

You know, the only thing that I found unexpected about it was when Xehanort began to chew on his tongue like it was a pink piece of gum, motioning the blob of muscle in circles as if he was panting. Yep, he was gnawing on his tongue as he forced it in and out of his mouth in a circular path. I wasn't sure whether or not to mock him, give him a weird look, or burst out and cackle my ass off. Either way, I was sure that if Xehanort saw this act of ridicule I would be seeing flashes of old man, empty chair, old man in front of me, red, and then the floor. Almost like a comic book titled, "Creepy Old Guy vs. Defenseless Little Blond Kid". So I just kept quiet and continued to listen intently to keep from being given masses of infinite pain.

"Anyways," Master Lumina flashed a look of annoyance over at Xehanort before continuing.

"Where is the person I have requested you to find?"

Aqua answered, "Master, what do you mean? We just brought him in and he should be-"

"Where'd he go?" Terra suddenly asked after looking around, following Aqua's lead. They all, including Xehanort, searched across the vast expanse around them to see my position.

Twisting the black and white rings on my left pointer and middle finger calmed the nervousness pooling up in the depths of my heart like cold and clammy silly putty as I tenderly took one step into the room. But as I was going through the doorway, the door started to creak like it was moaning. This forced all heads to turn my way.

I felt like I had cat ears, or something like that when all eyes were devouring my appearance in nibbles, sure taking their splendid time. I hated being scrutinized like that, analyzed as if I were some experiment or some kind of monster. And I'm sure you know which of the stares I loathed the most; for a while there all he did was unblinkingly set his sight on my existence and practically drooled all over the carpet below him; if he got up I wouldn't have been surprised if he slipped and his rear met the floor.

What about me is so intriguing to him? Maybe it's the strange fact that my hair can stay up the way it is without hair gel. I pondered to myself with a tad bit of humor at the end. But seriously, the hideous amber glare of fixation was getting really old...and probably a little annoying. Out of spite I widened my gaze purposely and tilted my head, staring back at him and impossibly into his own eyes in order to let him know how it felt to be piercingly inspected. Xehanort noticed my dirty look almost instantly and seemed to be surprised that I had noticed his own so fast. He shook his head and acted as if he had never done the same to me.

Yeah, see how it feels.

Master Lumina was the first to say something to me, obviously noticing the utter caution in my expression.

His voice called out in an aged tone and revealed the amount of growth he had gained over the years, "Do not be shy, young one. I'm not going to bite." A beam of joy grew from his mouth and then to the rest of his character, and soon even his eyes had glowed with cerulean intensity far more than I had thought possible. It was as if my timid actions served as an artist to delve into his expressions with a chisel, each little movement amusing to his tender heart. I was sure that he wasn't exactly mocking me for fun when by mimicking each unsure, wavering step as he sat, but just becoming a warm point of light onto the chilly depths of the hall. I guess it was to make me feel less out-of-place in this situation. Once he was finished with copying my creeping steps he started to laugh, each breath of enjoyment louder than the last. Finally, he spoke once again.

"I see you are a little younger than I had contemplated; you're about...I'd say...you're around the age of fourteen, right?"

Thankfully, he had guessed pretty close. For a moment there I had been scared to hear if he thought I was actually around ten years old, like all my teachers back in the chalkboard jungle of Twilight Town. They'd always ask, "Aren't you a little young to be attending your freshman year?". Every single time, they wouldn't understand as to why I was angry at them for assuming I was twelve years old. Come on, I wasn't that slow when it came to puberty. Sure, I didn't have muscles or broad shoulders, or even a deep voice like Terra had. Maybe it was depressing that I was still at the same height I had been two years ago. But twelve years? They should have guessed I was fourteen like Master Lumina had.

I realized that I had been pondering over my previous experience with age guessing with a scowl on my face for a few minutes now. I really had hoped that Terra and Aqua's master didn't think it was because I had been disgusted with his wrong answer to my amount of years.

Too afraid to wait any longer to answer his interrogative estimation, I finally let out a trembling, cowering answer.

"Fi-fifteen." My conscience instantly slapped me in the face with recognition, aching with embarrassment due to my shaky stutter. But I was feeling so awkward, so nervous, that it was almost impossible for me not to, given the position I was in.

"Well then, you still are a little bit too young. But there's no problem with such a thing as youth. In fact, it will probably lighten up our castle more than if you were older."

Too young for what? I asked myself in puzzlement.

"In my opinion," Xehanort began, but was stopped before he could continue since Master Lumina decided to interrupt.

"In my opinion, Xehanort, you should just keep that comment of yours to yourself before I decide that you are unfit to even participate in our discussion because of your obvious immaturity."

The old coot drew back as if he had swallowed a ghost chili pepper, unbelieving that his view on the subject had been rejected before it had even been heard by our ears. But he was wise enough to listen to Master Lumina and therefore remained silent, much to the long-awaited relief of the rest of us.

"Ventus, I know it has been hard for you lately. What with all the business of being whisked away by my apprentices to our domain."

He dipped his head sorrowfully, "I apologize to you for this act upon my part. But it was for a very good reason. I have noticed that you possess a heart unlike any other, stronger than probably my own."

His flattery struck me like a bowling ball to my head and caused me to just stare at him in unbelief. What was he saying? That I, some little inconvenient and annoying blond kid, was more tenacious than he? No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, and absolutely not. Everyone knew I was a weakling, even Terra and Aqua when they first set their sight on me. That's probably exactly why Terra had protected me from those bullies back at home: because he had felt a certain pity on me, the small, nerdy blond guy. Master Lumina noticed my shock at these unbelievable statements and tried to console me, "Do not bask in bashfulness, Ventus Toshi. All of us here know that my accusation is true."

I stole a glance at each and every other person in the vicinity and watched as, in turn, they all reluctantly nodded. They were probably all thinking what the hell was wrong with the resident of light. And don't feel bad and tell me that they weren't all agreeing just to make me feel better, because I knew for certain that they were. Terra was, I assumed, the most reluctant to tilt his head. He was the most strong one in this whole room and had to lie about it. Well, I would have been unwilling to do it, too, if I were him, so I wasn't unable to feel guilty. But through all this assumption I still couldn't detect an ounce of dishonesty within Master Lumina's irises, which were already so revealing and honesty entwined with flickers of cobalt to top it off.

"Master Lumina, if I may venture farther out to ask, what exactly are you trying to do by telling this kid lies like that?"

Though I did agree with him on the lying part, I still couldn't help but to feel a spasm of distress welling up inside of my head and body. It was pretty sure that it was true, but why did Terra have to ask Master Lumina something like that? Or, at least, ask him something like that when I was right there. Obviously, Terra had absolutely no care as to whether or not it had hurt me, and was extremely insensitive to myself. Was this his way of letting me know that I wasn't welcome to such praise to me by the person he worked his rear off for, and didn't receive a compliment like that himself while being his most well-achieved apprentice? My theory was proven, or at least somewhat proven when I observed the fleeting leer of umbrage shot at me from his face. He flicked his attention back to Master Lumina's eyes, but then I was examined again after his head was turned to me again. Inside of his irises I could pick out many layers of negative feelings towards me. At the very top it was annoyance, then spite, then absolute jealousy. Through my eyes I tried to send the message of, "I'm not going to care about what you think of me because I feel pity that you have a chip on your shoulder.", and, "Build a bridge and get over it.". Lucky for me, he seemed to notice the hatred in my gaze and flicked his own downwards in surprise of receiving some despise in return.

"Terra, being my most accomplished student, I would have expected you to be little less blunt."

"I'm sorry," My former "hero" dipped his head in apparent fake apology before continuing, "It's just that I don't really understand as to why you're flattering this dense, undersized rat who can't even defend himself from a bunch of idiots. I mean, if I hadn't of protected him from that guy that attacked him with his friends, Ventus here wouldn't even have been in enough pieces for us to deliver him to you." The last bit of his uncalled for, rude insult must have referred to when he had protected me from Drennin and his gang of cronies. Crucially, I must mention that if I was such a wimp then he didn't have an obligation to rescue me.

I decided that I should defend myself from his assault.

I walked up confidently to the space in between Terra and Aqua and descended to my knees, eventually ending up bowing to the two acclaimed masters of this castle with my head lowered farther than their own pupils.

"If I may interrupt this conversation," I shot a glance at Terra before continuing, "I would like to add that myself, being a 'dense, undersized rat' like your apprentice accuses, did not beg him to act as a bodyguard for me. He did so on his own will. If he would like to insult me, I would ask that he first takes into consideration that I was outnumbered one to about thirty. Therefore, it should be taken into account that anyone under those circumstances would be considered as a dense, undersized rat who cannot shield himself from an onslaught of people."

Sadly, the only part Terra seemed to listen to was when I referred to him as a mere boy. Really, was he that thick?

"True, young man. I also agree that he should have not been so bold as to insist that I, the one he is learning under, was acting stupid. And, he also should not have-"

"But Master Lumina, you cannot deny that your apprentice is correct on his observations of this child. You know, the fact that he is considerably scrawny?" Master Xehanort had piped back into the conversation much to my irritation. I almost replied back to him, saying that he shouldn't be pointing fingers at undersized, minuscule wimpy kids when he himself was creepier than hell and clowns. But I pinched my lips together with a vice consisting of mental concentration and focus. If I mentioned anything about his own faults at this point, all of the people in front of me would have to participate in a dinner made of Ventus Toshi made by Chef Geezernort.

"And your point is?" Terra and Aqua's teacher questioned with his eyebrow raised higher than I had ever seen on a person.

Xehanort lifted his ashen left eyebrow even higher than Master Lumina had, indicating that he had been ashamed to hear such a question from his rival. I almost expected him to answer with, "Bah humbug!", but he didn't. Instead he decided upon, "My point? What about your point? What was the reason for you to even consider bringing this delinquent outsider to our stronghold?"

All he could do was to laugh at this question that Xehanort had asked. Soon the whole room was bursting from its seams with mockery, the rest of us silent as Master Lumina remained making fun of his annoying "friend's" venture with many cackles of delight. Soon he slowed and eventually paused to wipe a tear away from his eye.

"Maybe you should be looking within your own mind for that answer, Xehanort. But since I know for certain that it will not come to you easily, I'll drop a hint."

"And this hint is?" Geezernort had to ask before getting a conclusive declaration.

"Remember when I spoke to you about recruiting another student and that I had found a candidate?"

My previous stalker closed his eyes to see the event unfold within his aged mind and found it, leading him to nod, but then he stopped, realizing what exactly this meant.

"Lumina, you cannot possibly think that the kid is worthy enough to-"

"But I do."

I had become really confused at this point. But I guessed I was the only one who had been, since Terra and Aqua also seemed to know what was going on and were both giving their master glances of unbelief. I must have been really stupid or just wasn't getting it. Either way, I had been left out in the cold to wander aimlessly.

"Do you understand what I am asking of you, Ventus?" Master Lumina abruptly sent a question flying towards me. How was I supposed to honestly answer without seeming to be retarded? I pretended that I knew what he was talking about and stood there, trying to fake being amazed at whatever his request was.

"Well, then. What is your answer? Do you wish to learn under myself, or would you like to be left alone. I can make arrangements for my apprentices to bring you back home if you-"

"Master Lumina, I'm sorry, but I have to object to your proposal to Ventus. Why in the universe would you want to teach himthe ways of the Keyblade?" Terra had interrupted, once again, his own teacher, and I was pretty sure that Master Lumina wasn't enjoying it all that much; he began to widen his eyes in a very scary, frightening way, showing that his underling should definitely have not asked that question. The brunette drew back in somewhat of a cower when his master got up and began to walk towards him with an atmosphere of malice, his arms raised in a defensive position and his head drawn back. At the same time I felt joy that Master Lumina was finally letting him have it, but I also felt very miserable that I was making him have to fight for my own person. That, and I couldn't blame Terra for being suspicious of my own power and thought that he shouldn't be punished for such. Just before Terra was about to be screamed at and after he had been raised by the scruff of his stretchy onyx shirt, I swiftly brought myself up from my respectful, bowing position and raced over to the pair. Master Lumina stared at me in surprise when I tried to break his grip free from his own apprentice, my fingers curling around the width of his wrist like a vine desperately reaching around a tree for an ounce of sunlight.

"Don't!" I commanded Master Lumina with an urgent expression. Truthfully, I felt embarrassed due the feedback I was getting from all the others in the Throne Room. The dog-pee tinted eyes of Xehanort had become the size of dinner plates while Aqua's had shrunk into suspicious slits of blue. Both Terra and his teacher ogled intensely for extremely different reasons: the teenager because he didn't understand why I had stopped him from getting beaten up, and the older man because he didn't understand what the hell I was doing. To answer both of their perplexities, I managed to reveal my true intentions.

"Let me prove to him my strength alone."

Thankfully, Master Lumina agreed with me that he couldn't argue with my wishes and let his apprentice's dangling feet hit the floor, finally ending up letting him go entirely. Actually, I really wanted to prove to Terra that he was wrong in the first place by myself, since that would hit him harder than if his own teacher's fist could. I longed to let Terra know that, though I may look weak and stupid, I was actually intelligent and on the same level as him. It was somewhat like...you know when I mentioned the thing about squishing my enemies between my fingers whenever I sat atop the clock tower back in Twilight Town? Instead of having to reject their "kind" opinions from afar, I wanted to reject Terra's opinion up close. Hopefully this wouldn't bring him to on day hate me, but it would determine whether or not he had the the right to just say something like that. All in all, I desired to verify to him that I wasn't very accepting of such harsh, uncalled for criticism just because he had a huge stick up his ass and couldn't decide who exactly he wanted to take it out on.

Master Lumina rested his hand on my shoulder and nodded, but I could still pick up a feeling of impatience emanating from his caribbean blue eyes as he spoke to me.

"Very well, then. I will let this smart-mouthed apprentice of mine off of the hook for not just harassing you, but also for interrupting me and judging my own intelligence when his is obviously lesser than my own."

I half expected him to also add something about being extremely lucky to Terra, but it seemed that his irises did the job for him. He glared into Terra's frightened eyes with warning seeping from every seam. Meaning that if the teen decided to do something with such audacity again, it wouldn't turn out to be all that pretty as it had this time.

"Anyways," Master Lumina returned to the subject of his request to me, "Do you object to becoming my student?"

It felt as if a ten-ton boulder had been chucked at my face by the Incredible Hulk when he asked that, my eyes widening as if I was a deer star struck in the headlights of an oncoming semi-truck. My heart pulsated with a tingle of spiritedness, as if I was being pulled up out of the depths of dark, murky water by a buoy made of welcoming, but also expectancy.

Does he really mean it? I mean, is he really asking me to be his apprentice? I didn't know whether to be flattered or scared. Flattered, because of the fact that he thought I had been worthy enough. Scared, because I wasn't sure what he'd do if I muttered a "Nah" to him. But, I wasn't really sure whether or not I wanted to. I mean, what did becoming his apprentice exactly mean? That I'd become his slave and maid? Or that he would be my teacher for whatever he taught?

I only managed to let out one single word.

"Uh...."

"I'm not going to force you. But it would be wise if you did become my pupil; the Unversed would enjoy to see a person with a strong heart like yours in a bad mood, especially when you don't know how to protect yourself."

"Aren't the Unversed those weird creatures with the dark blue skin and red eyes?"

The other four pairs of eyes in the room looked at me in perplexity at my amount of knowledge for the billionth time that day.

"How do you know about the Fallen when they haven't even invaded your home world yet?" Aqua let out the question before anyone else could, but I knew that the others had been prepared to ask as well.

"Yes, tell us. I would like to know how the impossible has occurred." Xehanort added.

"Well, um, I mean..."

Good going, Toshi. Now they are all suspicious of you. My mind chastised my belligerent mouth with the nickname that all the kids back in Twilight Town called me, including Dirk, whenever a casual conversation rose. Master Lumina somehow noticed that my heartbeat had hastened and asked me yet another question.

"Is there something you're hiding from us?"

I stood there, uncomfortable, as I was scrutinized by his intense gaze. Catching me by surprise, he lifted my chin to look into my eyes with only one finger.

Trying to avoid being screamed at for information, I smiled and announced with regret, "I don't know what you're talking about." Master Lumina raised his chocolate eyebrow at me after hearing this.

Terra yelled at me in fury once my voice had thrummed throughout his ears, "You liar! You're probably a spy for those betraying bastards."

"No! I don't even know anything about them, it's just-"

Aqua interrupted, "Then how come you know what they look like?"

I couldn't object to that question, so I didn't. This probably double coated the signs of "suspicious" over my forehead with super glue, but what else was I supposed to do? I couldn't just tell them about the weird dream I had where I had wielded a giant key and barely defeated some hideous animals while a voice spoke within my head. That just would have given them another thing to make fun of me for besides being a vulnerable coward. Time flew past quicker than I needed it to and they had become even more impatient. Soon, there would be five oversized keys flying towards my head with the intention to kill if I didn't think of something quick.

I've got it! The words rang within my head as a sense of victory. It was absolutely perfect: not only would it save me from being massacred by five weirdos, but it would also put the blame on someone else besides me.

"It was Terra who told me about them, when we were resting in the mansion after they captured me. Aqua had already gone upstairs and he started mumbling something about them. I asked after he was done what the Unversed were. All he told me was what I told you; that they were navy skinned and scarlet eyed creatures who fed on negative emotions."

"Terra," Master Lumina turned his sight from me over to his apprentice with anger flaring up inside of him. Terra glanced at me with a mold of unbelief set in his face, then back at his master, then back to me. He realized, sadly at this point instead of a while back when he should have, that I had decided to lie and put the assault of examination on his table. He glanced at Master Lumina and realized that there was some message sent in between them. Then, Terra nodded ever so slightly and acknowledged that he had understood. What he understood, I could only hope to guess.

"What, I never told anything to this phony! Why in hell would I...Oh, I get it, Ventus Toshi. You're trying to hide that you're really one of them and trying to make me look bad to everyone. You really thought that it would work? You scoundrel! I'm going to kill you!"

Suddenly, I was attacked by Terra. He had run up to me with surprising speed and tackled from the right with his broad shoulder, forcing us both to the floor.

"I've got you now..." Terra grinned evilly as he pinned me down by my arms, leaning over my face to reveal the rising anger in his blue eyes. Everyone else just stood there in a silence as quiet as the dead, not saying anything, but watching our fight. Aqua tried to get up to stop us from sparring, but Master Lumina had raised his arm in front of her and mumbled something to her. I couldn't hear what he had told Aqua, probably because Terra had been laughing at my capture the whole time, beating the words passed between the two when it came to noise level.

I struggled and squirmed to try to free myself from his shackle-like, strong hands, but I lost due to his encompassing weight. Soon, all I knew I could do was to scream my opposition to this treatment. I yelled and commanded my heart out, but was left with no breath or strength. The only part of my body that was still able to move were my hands. But what could they do by themselves when my arms had been rendered useless since Terra had decided that that was what he was going to hold down? For a few excruciatingly long moments there I seriously considered that I was actually going to be sent to my death at his hands when the pressure on my arms shifted to my neck. Terra tightened his grip around my throat.

I can't even get at him with my teeth; his hands are too big for me to crank my head downwards. Oh my God, he's actually going to kill me. I can't, I can't, I...can't... My thoughts were interrupted when my head was wracked against the floor. He started to choke me even further and it was becoming even harder to breathe.

"Let go..." I begged in a whisper.

"And why should I?"

Though my body had been immobilized from all feeling except for its longing for oxygen, my heart quivered severely with despair. It ached, and ached, and ached even more as I began to black out, my sight on the world around me blotching into splatters of sheer black. The curtain of warm darkness that I had only heard of in stories of near-death experiences folded around my consciousness, and soon everything had disappeared into nothing. In that void, I felt absolutely nothing. Nothing...nothing at all. Was I dead? I wasn't sure. All I knew was that I had just been choked and had fainted. But was it really that I had fainted? Or was I actually separating from my body?

I was carried from that empty feeling into an abyss of fury when I heard Terra through the barriers of solitude.

"Well, that was a waste of time; he didn't even put up a good enough fight."

After ganging up on a kid who was way less stronger than he was, Terra had the audacity to insult me even after I had slipped under the table of consciousness.

I'll show you good enough.

And with that declaration, I was brought back to the present to see Terra focusing his attention on the face of his master.

That clammy, wet, and freezing sensation eclipsed my left hand once again for the first time in what seemed to be years. Thus, the fact that I recognized what that feeling alluded to assured me that I knew what was coming next. It formed in the same way it had in my slumber when I was on top of the clock tower of Twilight Town, the onyx and snow colored sparks of electricity entwining around my fingers to warn of the coming storm, that being the Keyblade I had received in my dream. What was its cheesy name again?

Divided Fate.

It flashed in my hand when I had finished summoning it. Once again, the first thing I recognized on my weapon were the five obsidian prongs sticking out at the top in a curved manner, suggesting that it had taken the shape of a wing. A twisted, metallic wing at that, but still shaped like the proud, spreading feathers of an eagle. At the bottom, it gleamed in bright gold, casting a light similar to that of the Sun's onto my knuckles. I held it upwards, the tip pointing at the ceiling, to reveal the dangling keychain that resembled the five teeth of the blade.

"What, you're alive?" Terra twisted around after getting up and had asked in an extremely fake voice, as if he knew that I would return to consciousness. Instead of having all eyes on me, everyone was too busy examining Divided Fate. Not that it bothered me that I wasn't being drooled at as usual.

Master Lumina sighed and impacted his forehead with his hand, obviously facepalming.

"I could've saved you from being choked if you would've just told us that you already had your Dream of Awakening."

I was going to protest, but I was too relieved that I had been able to let air flow into my lungs for longer than a second. Secretly, I had also been glad that I had remembered how to summon my Keyblade; if I was attacked again, I could just bust it out and start hacking away. Still laying on the floor, I turned my head over to the group of Keyblade-wielding people who had clumped together, excluding Xehanort, who was still mumbling about in his dreary throne. They all did the trademark, stare at me whenever something weird happens thing as I stared back. Once I had gotten my breathing back to normal I reclaimed balance on my feet and rose, rubbing the back of my head as I let the blood rush back down to my heart. At first I felt dizzy, but then I regained control over my being after stumbling a few times. For the first time in the few minutes I had been awake, I recalled that Terra probably would have continued to close the air tubes in my throat even after I had fainted. So why had he stopped so abruptly after insisting that he was going to literally kill me?

"Well, anyways, we now know that you are definitely not a spy for the Unversed, since you can wield a Keyblade. But let me ask you, when exactly did you have your dream?" The Keyblade Master that resided on the side of light pumped me for information as if he was drawing water from a well, each round of concentration bringing him closer to what he had insisted to seek. But before I could lift my mouth open to answer, my mind persisted me to think once again about exactly why Terra wasn't pinning me to the floor and savagely tearing my heart out.

"But first, I think I owe you an explanation for why I did not stop my apprentice from knocking you unconscious." I agreed wholeheartedly and nodded with my eyebrow raised.

So, he gave me his reasoning for letting Terra almost send me to my death. But frankly, I wasn't buying all the "I am sorry"'s and apologetic lowerings of his head he was throwing at me. He actually expected me to believe that it was all to uncover whether or not I was actually the one he wanted Terra and Aqua to find, and that he wouldn't have given his eldest apprentice approval to choke me out to Planet 9 if I had just confessed about the so-called "Dream of Awakening" that I had witnessed on the night I was kidnapped. He also told me that he knew that if I was pushed to the extremes, I would instinctively summon my Keyblade and show them proof of my innocence. Supposedly, he and Terra had planned this before I had woken up this morning. You know, the whole, "I'll mention something about the Unversed and if he responds suspiciously then we'll secretly make the decision to force him to summon his Keyblade to make sure he isn't lying to us.".

"But how was I supposed to know that? I thought that if I had told you about it, you all would have laughed at me for being crazy."

Master Lumina's sky blue eyes sent me a glimpse of his pure amusement when he sent his intense stare to rest on me. I could feel the unmitigated merriment flowing out of them like the current of a mighty river, almost as overpowering as the excitement of a child on Christmas morning or Halloween evening. What I could gather like fruit from his eyes told me that, apparently, he thought that I worried too much about other's opinions and judgments, which was depressingly true. For some reason I was able to communicate through my gaze to him, and vice-versa. Now I was telling him that I felt embarrassed that I had not admitted the truth of my dream to be let loose by flitting my stare about. Instead of answering me back by our little secret way of speaking to each other, he just sighed out a long breath of held in air. This left the room that had previously chattered to the heavens with noise to gently drift down into an eclipse of awkward, echoing silence.

Finally, Terra had decided to break it in half without any effort, "Sorry about the choking thing."

"It's okay, I guess..." I unwillingly lied to him. But only because I knew that he was told to do so by his master, Master Lumina.

Peculiarly, his left hand sweltered in heat when he laid it where he usually did, giving a stuffy sensation to run from my shoulder down to my hand. Maybe I had been picking up on some humility that pulsed through his veins, or something like that.

Wait a second...Terra and humility? What am I thinking? Those two things never go together. Still, I was completely certain that it was something close to resignation, something close to saying, "Fine, you won. I lost. I'm going to be mature and admit it: you were right and I was wrong about you.". I lived without thinking for a minute as I practically drooled all over the floor in stun. Was that really the message he was trying to convey? If it was, then I give him kudos for changing from a complete ass into Mr. Humble within about fifteen minutes.

Another pair of eyes were set on me with a sort of....praising, cherishing... No, a sort of affectionate, admiring feeling to them. My heart fell into twitterpation when I caught Aqua letting her eyes drift down on me lovingly, as if praising me for my bravery when I had been sparring against Terra. She was technically dropping a hint that she held me in high regard since I had been so dauntless in the recent past. Every single part of my spirit fluttered upwards in dreaminess, seemingly encouraged to by the clouds of affection being cast off by her beautiful, deep cerulean eyes and warm smile. All I could do to let her know that her attention was recognized and appreciated was extend the line of my mouth the farthest it could.

When she realized that I had been smiling at her for quite a long time, she quickly caught herself and regained her normal, emotionless facial expression, stumbling on the way there by trying to find something to feel an emotion about. But still, I couldn't bring myself to even stop grinning even though she had so easily. My ocean tinted eyes closed as I basked in her fleeting engrossment. All of these soft and satiny feelings increased their intensity when she started to giggle in a flirtatious way. She was so hot when she laughed like that...

Hey, stop making fun of me. You all know you have a person like Aqua in your life where everything they do is sexy. Well, maybe not sexy, but you get the point. Um...Attractive, admirable, drawing, beautiful, gorgeous...Well, whatever your crush is like to you is what Aqua is like to me. So don't be pointing fingers and mocking the things I felt inside at the time, because I know that you all have thought someone was hot at one point or another. Don't even begin to deny it.

Don't.

"Now that this nonsense is over," Master Lumina burst in between my and Aqua's minuscule staring contest slash flirting session, much to my resentment. Just by taking my attention away from the matter at hand, he had caused all of those comforting emotions that had given me a reason to enjoy life after almost being strangled to death to float away. Almost like a small fish darting the opposite way when it sees two cream colored towers of bone and skin slowly moving towards it. I squinted my eyes into slits, almost as menacing as the huge Unverse's own had been in my dream after I had separated its hand from its arm.

He continued his sentence, "I would like to hear your answer. Will you become or not become my apprentice on this very day?"

I gave him a glance of utter unbelief before shaking my head to say, "No."

"What!? Why n-Oh, I get it. You don't trust me now that sent Terra after you. I understand perfectly, but I would like you to take into consideration just one thing before I can even believe that you would decline so easily."

"And what advice would that be?"

"No hero ever made it all the way where he is without someone to teach him."

Right then and there the Sun had reached its fingers of warm, yellow light through the ashen clouds that had suddenly covered up the view of the heavens when I had walked into this hall for the first time that day. They traveled forwards through the air and finally, meeting the windows that revealed the outside world, curled their awaited structures over the edge of the wall. After a moment, they completely broke through the rainbow-hued stained glass and shed the anticipated tingling of warmth onto ourselves, wrapping us in a towel of blaring compassion. I imagined myself slowly falling over an edge of a dark, cold cliff towards the sea below. I could almost feel the embrace of wind rushing past and through me as I plummeted towards the clutches of water. My clothes, hair, and eyelashes all fluttered about during my descent and I could hear the somehow familiar flapping of my shirt echoing throughout my ear canals. I had started to near the rolling abyss of teal and was preparing for what I knew was coming next. My imagination stopped at that scene as I realized that I was just rising from a ditch of dreariness and was on the right path for what I wanted to be. By becoming Master Lumina's student, I collected from his previous statement, I could finally turn into what I had wished to become. It was like an ugly caterpillar awakening inside of me, ready to break free from its cocoon to see what form I had ventured into. Or like the dull green bud of a rose just beginning to open to reveal the crimson wash of beauty inside. And I'm not afraid to tell you that was the real point of my story where I had been that complaining, whiny, pessimistic person starting to unfurl into his true character, probably because I had been coaxed out by the three who I soon learned to trust my life and soul with. Terra and Aqua had quickly become my best friends, and Master Lumina turned out to be the kind of father I never had a chance to have. All was well, and everything was almost perfect after I had given Master Lumina my permission to begin training under him.

And, though he did send his apprentice after me to strangle the life out of my body and I was sure that I had gone crazy by that point, I couldn't help but feel anticipation at becoming someone who had mattered and made a difference in the world...well, I guess the universe. You're going to call me insane, but, I actually said, "Yes."

And even now after all these years, I can still recall the continuation of that cliff scene inside of my head after I had agreed to become his student under the ways of the Keyblade and his apprentices' fellow classmate: Right before I had hit the water, time seemed to slow and everything stopped. I vaulted off of the glassy surface and headed upwards with the intent of reaching the Sun. Up I went, superhumanly flying across the ocean and to the heavens above, my destination as obvious as when a kid lies about wetting their pants or stealing candy:

The path to becoming a hero and towards my Destiny.