Kingdom Hearts:Birth by Sleep:Destiny's Recall~Ven's Story, Book 1, Chapter 5~

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN ANY DISNEY CHARACTERS OR SQUARE ENIX CHARACTERS. THEY BOTH BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE COMPANIES AND THEY HAVE NO REASON WHATSOEVER TO SUE ME.

The Note of Impending Xehanort-Brand Doom:Today I bring you this note to forewarn of the impending Xehanort-Brand doom of Kingdom Hearts:Birth by Sleep:Destiny's Recall. No, lol, I'm actually just using this cybernetic space to thank my loyal reviewers. ShinobiMatt was the first one, and the only one to announce his affection with the title of, "Defenseless Little Blond Kid vs. Creepy Old Man. Next up is the appreciation for the feedback I received from UnVeRsEd. You gave me a really lengthy review and I am very much appreciative for it. You guys are the ones who keep me going. Thanks, I really appreciate your feedback!

The Bringer of Toshi-Brand Geekness,

~Eternal Symphonia~

Unwanted, irritating pain welled up on my dominant arm and inflamed my whole left side after I had been hit by a fire spell, inflicted by Terra, causing me to drop to my knees and grip it with my right hand in tension. We had been practicing the same exact, boring drill all day long because Master Lumina had decided that we were going to dodge an oncoming attack, strike back, then shoot a fire spell at each other for a billion times until perfection had been achieved. But frankly, I was failing to even evade the first part of the sequence up until now, in which I had made it to the third and final part. Of course, though, Terra made it almost impossible to get all the way through just once without getting a blow to the side or somewhere else at the end, which wasn't called for by Master Lumina. I argued on and on that "perfection" of this drill didn't require making sure that I missed the unnecessary, extra attacks added on at the finish line, but all he would do is shrug and repeat his usual excuse, "You must be prepared for anything."

As I sat there to catch my breath and prepare to cast a cure spell upon the site where I had been licked at with flame, I braced myself to hear another rude complaint from my teacher.

And of course, it inevitably came and slapped me in the face.

"Ventus, for the hundredth time! Do not Dodge Roll to the left when I have told you countless times that you are supposed to move to the right. I have never before seen an apprentice of mine fail such an easy task as many times as you have."

And that was probably the absolute last time that day that I actually didn't hold back with words.

"You know what, Master Lumina? If I'm so stupid and I'm the worst apprentice you've ever had, why don't you try dodging almost a billion blows after you have just landed from another two and weren't expecting them? If I suck at it so much, then why don't you just show me how wonderful you are at it?" I dared him to come down from his "high" spot on the balcony above the training area. Seeing this as a challenge instead of what I wanted him to take as a threat, he leaped off of the pure white overhang above and lazily floated down, his hakama acting almost like umbrellas and puffing out like the tops of cupcakes over paper muffin pan liners.

Oh yeah. That's right, I haven't even explained to you what has happened in the past year of my tale. Well, um...I guess I should start at the next day after where I left off in the last part of my story. You know, twenty-four hours or about there afterwards? That sounds right I guess....


"Ventus! Hello, Earth to Noob!"

Oxygen pumped into my lungs as I catapulted out of my bed, the sensation of being startled tickling at my ribs and my heartbeat quickening from the sudden amount of noise. Well, I guess even the mew of a small kitten could've woken me up when I had been in the depths of my recent dreams. In the previous week all I had slumbered within were these strange, all too familiar realms where everything was dead silent. For most people, dreams included all of the five senses, but the ones I was having now were only enticing to the ability of my eyes. I couldn't hear, I couldn't taste, I couldn't feel anything, and the only thing that seemed to penetrate my sense of smell was this pungent and flowery perfume stuff that had plugged my nostrils on the very same day I had woken up after losing all of my beloved past to oblivion.

These movies of nighttime all started out with seeing myself drifting down through this weird and black place, feeling numb to the bone. Instead of falling like a normal person, it always had to be that I would have my spiky hair facing whatever was underneath me. It's funny, now that I mention this, but it's kind of like I had been tossed into this abyss almost similar to that of how a javelin or spear is usually thrown, starting out shooting straight forwards, but eventually curving down and then totally hanging with my feet above me. After fluttering downwards, similar to that of a scarlet leaf in crisp Autumn wind, for a while, I would begin to twist and turn, descending towards the sudden amount of ashen clouds below. What this circular object really was, was usually figured out when the soles of my shoes finally met the unyielding surface of the gloomy platform. Then, out of the blue, light would flicker like a spreading flame and doves were created out of this material. Feathers were left behind in a circular pattern as they all flew away, off into the distance, being watched with awe as I would stare and wonder where the snowy white harbingers of peace were headed. Eventually, the birds disappeared without a trace and the fluffy down that they had left behind was gone when I cocked my head downwards to see what exactly I was standing on; the all-too-familiar stained glass mural had returned and was blaring out with, mostly, shades of royal blue, cream, dark yellow, and brown, all outlining the enigmatic figure of the person wearing the tarnished gold suit of armor with my Keyblade in hand. And this time the face actually didn't have a covering of helm smothering his identity. It still makes me impatient to remind myself about it, but every time before my eyes could feast upon the pale, sleek face of this man, everything faded out and I woke up in another scene, which was much, much more disturbing than the last. Shivers trickled like rain down my spine like a windowpane being battered by a violent storm as I recalled that episode of resting half-naked (my pants, which were foreign to me at this point in time, were clutching my waist) on a flat, long silver table with my wrists and ankles restrained against what I assumed to be freezing shackles; they were connected to the makeshift bed I was laying upon. The room around me was completely empty except for a few sharp tools strewn about on the crooked silver cart next to my resting place. Now, I know that I said that I didn't feel anything during my whole chain of dreams, but now I do seem to recall that I did sense a stinging thrill of fright that was absolutely fifty times worse than when Drennin and his gang had found me all alone and helpless. Fear of what? I didn't know. It probably was because my dream self didn't even want to start coming up with possibilities, so I just kept my mind in eternal, eclipsing quiet, hoping that whatever was coming next would either hurry up and come or never even approach. As this silent thrum of uncertainty crept through my veins towards my soul, I took the opportunity to examine my surroundings carefully.

My eyes slurped up the dark room around me in apprehensive bites, recognizing that there were absolutely no windows here. Gray walls splashed with foreboding white specks indicated that this place was quite old; there wouldn't have been scatterings of milky layers if it weren't for the paint chipping off due to age. Smells crept into my nose and forced my head to become, suddenly, heavy with some putrid bushel of disgusting wafts. I surmised that, due to this old place, it could have been must.

I got the idea to scan over the floor to see whether or not there were also some signs of the years past. But when I did, I could only inhale the shock of what had been seen. Petals of blood spews struck out of their carnation resemblance as they flocked together in a field that was mostly only on the right side of the cot I was laying in. Obviously I had been waiting in a room that could be taken right out of a horror movie that has to do with creepy, maniacal surgeons and their unsuspecting patients.

Before I could finish inspecting the environment with my celestial navy gaze, the dark purple, star encrusted, onyx door slammed open to reveal the creepily familiar elder who I had seen so many times before, but instead of having the casual, usual, geezer-like grin winding through his face like crimson ribbons of joy through desolate ash, replacing it was an alien look of grief and rare anger. It was equal to unmasking a pool of thick gold within the maze of a mine known only for having plain dirt, just to see him grimace.

Routinely, the old man would pace over next to me and to the back of the constraint to flick some switch on. Then he'd return to my side and kneel, his expression of annoyance transforming into a calm and gentle one once his eyes met mine. I could not tell at all what color they were.

Glints of white reflected onto the ceiling above while he fidgeted with the tools sitting next to me, mumbling once again with a hint of irritated emotion hiding within. That point of time was when my vision introduced the blurring of everything, as if my brain was acting in the part of a messed up easel that a painter had decided to erase parts of. The pale pink, rubber eraser was scored across my sight in one sweep as everything was blotted out.

Blur in...

He turned around with sharp utensils entwined between his white glove encased fingers.

Blur out...

Blur in...

A smirk interlaced with evil formed on the outlines of his face as he wiped the skin laying on top of my heart, sending all inscrutable germs flying.

Blur out...

Blur in...

Bent over and still smiling with a menacing glint in his eye, he lifted the sharp edge of the knife slightly to trace it over my chest to where he was focused on, flakes of blood from previous subjects rubbing off and onto my skin.

I peeled the lids of my eyes away for the last time in that dream to capture a glimpse of some freaky, crystalline thing being torn out of the crevices of my torso. The creepy old man...I had finally been able to manage recognizing what shade his eyes exactly were. Before my glare of surprise was shut, I could only accomplish sending one thought through my head.

Amber...

"Heya, are you awake yet? You're going to be late for training today, Newbie."

Terra's irritated, deep calls got louder and louder by the second as I laid face down on the floor. But I was too caught up in grimacing at my own crazy dreams to also notice that I was about to be unpleasantly surprised.

"Hey, where are you?" I watched as he searched my bed, peeking under the covers and pillows. But to no avail , he couldn't find me. Entirely sure that Terra was not getting the point of turning the light on before stumbling into someone's dark bedroom at six in the morning, I fed my inner humor by not saying anything and letting him continue to rummage around. Well, it actually stuffed my mental complaint box when it led to accidentally stepping on my oversized foot. And let me remind you, he was one big, massive, beefy boy.

I swear I can still hear the cracking of my toe bones like the snap of twigs when he shifted all of his weight onto his right side. Though I can only blush about this now, I screamed like a little girl racing away from a boy teasing her when the torrent of burning, torturing agony streamed up my left calf. Instantly, the pressure on my foot was lifted when Terra drew his own back in stun.

"Well, I guess I found you. Finally." He announced without uttering an apology.

"Found me?" I questioned him through a shortness of breath. "More like killed me."

"Get up and get dressed. You're already late for lessons and Master Lumina is not going to be happy if you make us wait even longer."

"It's my first day. Shouldn't he cut me an excuse, or something?"

"He didn't cut me or Aqua an excuse on our first day."

Yeah, yeah. I know what's coming next. I assumed to myself in thought. You're going to tell me all about how you didn't have any problems at all getting up at six in the morning on your first day of apprenticeship. Oh, and don't forget to add the part about how "strict" Master Lumina was with you when you were two minutes early, and that he'll probably send my ass off to Wonderland if I don't hurry. Then you will tell him once we get there the extreme details of your heroic effort to get me out of bed on time, but couldn't manage to get some sense past my thick head.

Terra must have recognized the disgusted look on my face as a twitching bit of hate and replied to it with one on his own to match, "Don't think I'm doing you a favor, kiddo."

"Yeah," Chuckling, I got up with the aid of my arms and when I was halfway there, I shot a look of amusement through my blue eyes, but only after I tilted my head just enough to connect glares with his own matching ones.

"You're doing yourself a favor; by pretending to act caring towards my punctualness, you're just giving yourself a reason to slap onto Master Lumina for your own late arrival."

My wrist was clutched a little too tightly as he jerked me upwards to meet me at eye level, fury coursing past the inside of his irises. I hung there with a smirk on my face, trying not to let him know that I was actually scared. Thankfully, all that followed was a sad excuse for...well...an excuse.

"Look here, Rat. As I said before, I don't even have a clue as to why Master Lumina even dared to think of raising a whiny, horrible, filthy scum pool like yourself. But if you're going to stay here and train alongside Aqua and I, you're going to have to learn a little something about respect. I hope you know that that includes not sassing me, the most accomplished of his students. Because believe me, I'm not afraid to 'accidentally'," He paused to add speaker tags with his free hand, "I'm not afraid to make your life hell here."

He's not afraid to make my life a living hell here in Castle Celest? I almost screamed the question out loud, but caught myself beforehand to avoid my limbs being ruthlessly torn apart. Still, he focused into my own irises with complete threat coursing through his, obviously telling me that he wasn't just kidding around with me. So that humble apology that I had received from him yesterday was just a costume he had put on to make himself look good in front of our Master. I understood it completely, thanks to my background with Dirk and his manipulative "buddy", Yamada, who had reassured him that it was fine with him if Dirk acted like a total ass towards me. Really all it was, was that Dirk, whenever with the dark-haired boy, would put on a mask of negative attitude towards me if I was around just to please Yamada. What Dirk didn't take into account when deciding which friend to stick with was that I never demanded him to act a certain way when with me, unlike his new best friend. But still, I was tossed away and stomped on as if I had never meant crap to him. Fine with me, I'll just be laughing my rear off when Yamada screws him over for someone more stupid that takes more manipulating than he does. You may call me churlish, but that was just the way I was: if someone screwed me over wrongfully, I would wait in anticipation for when it would come back to haunt them. It's what I just...did. I mean, don't you do that too? I guess you could call it human nature to crave revenge upon one who had wronged them and watch their surprise with humor rolling through your muscles, as a way to relieve the pain of being taken advantaged of. Call me cruel, if you want.

Plush white carpet was shoved into my face when Terra had carelessly released his grip on the skin of my arm; I could see the little puffy fuzz sticking up off of the tips. I watched him stroll towards the opened door with malice sinking into my jaws, causing me to grit my teeth in hatred. One day, I would show him that he had no right to think of himself as a "higher" being, when he was no more intelligent or spiritually strong than myself. As I've told you a thousand times before in my story, I hate it to death when people insist that they are better than everyone else. Terra was number one on my list of those people, for today, at least; I was secretly wishing that later on he would warm up and turn out to be a bit nicer, really.

Maybe he just doesn't like noobs, I surmised in the depths of my mind while remembering the forums on my computer back at home, shuddering with disgust when I also recalled the many arguments I had gotten in with newbies about the most stupid questions.

My arm still aching from being tightly grasped, I got up and headed towards the closet embedded within the wall. It slid open easily after I had gently pushed on the circular, obsidian lever that marked the edges of the doors. When it had only a sliver of light from the light in my room clawing the great darkness on the floor, I peered in to find the clothes I had come in gone, and new ones replacing them.

Subtly curious as to how these garments looked, I grabbed one of the outfits off of the curved, silver rack with my left fingers curled around the shining black coathanger. I wasn't entirely sure whether or not to be disappointed, confused, or astonished; I took in the appearance of this apparel with my eyebrow raised in puzzlement.

At the bottom of this outfit were baggy and quite...strange pants that took the shape of poofy capris, the top being pure onyx and only covering the pelvic and hip areas on a boxy shape. In the very front, the black piece went downwards farther than the other parts on the sides, holding the extremely sagging pockets and long zipper as a result of this addition. Down below every strip of ashen black on the highest piece lay the creamy, gray, and wrinkled portions. Once going on for about two feet, the gray fabric met a circle of gold ringing around the circumference of the calves. A thin strip of even more black lay at the lowest part, forming from baggy lengths of material into a stretchy band that tightened nicely at the very bottom.

There were exactly three layers that summed up to be the whole top portion of the outfit. I took off the top two parts to unveil the bottom, which was probably the most similar to Terra and Aqua's suits.

It hung there on the hanger, showcasing its stretchy black material in the glint of the morning peeking through my silver curtains. The outline was meant to encase the wearer's middle thighs to the crease in his neck, causing me to think of it as uncomfortable. But I guess I had to wear it in order to "fit in" with Terra, Aqua, and Master Lumina's dress code. I was pretty confident that this piece was first up to put on before anything else, so that's what I did; when I was finished figuring out exactly how to dress myself within it, I watched with awe as its saggy fit grew (yes, its seams actually tightened right before my eyes) to adjust to the contour of me, Ventus Toshi.

Reflections of a lanky, half-starved looking blond teenager's misty cobalt orbs coruscated with disappointment at what he was seeing when I had noticed the three mirrors inside of the dark closet. I pulled the other, countless amount of uniforms farther to the side to reveal something more scary to me: the thinness and muscle-lacking arms that the kid had left to dangle at his sides.

At this rate, no girls will ever even think of me as a possible date. I admitted in silence, my heart wearing heavy with self insecurity. Sadly, I knew it was true: no female with half of an eye would have gone for me in a million years, the first reason being I wasn't attractive at all, and the second amounting up to my little girl build. While I waded through the thick pool of discontent, I met the next layer of the outfit, which was a few pieces of armor sticking out at my waist. Next up was the gray and white striped vest over the top, that only closed with one white button.

Layer three consisted of a jacket that screamed opposition almost as much as the Throne Room did. Laying on the left was the scheme of dark, black material with white trimmed pockets and totally onyx smothered sleeves. If you could see the right side right now, you would know that it was a faint glowing white with the only piece of obsidian residing on the edges of the sleeve and bottom. Around all of the sides of the coat was a strip of white. Unlike Master Xehanort's long trench coat resembling that of a mad scientist's, mine only went down to the very top boundary of my hips.

After finishing the donning of my apprentice uniform, I glanced around the rest of the closet to look for anything else I had to put on. There laying on the cream floor in a neat row, were the weird black, red, and gold shoes that were the size of Godzilla himself, two black belts, and the armor piece that I assumed was meant to reside on my left arm. The shoes, even though huge, fit my feet perfectly, generating the insulting assumption they (whoever made these clothes) made about the size that was needed. I mean, they did match the exact borders of my feet, so they weren't wrong. But the fact that...

Yeah, you're right. My feet are colossal. Don't even start reminding me about how they acted as another part of me the kids back in Twilight Town used to make fun of. They'd always yell as I walked past a horde of them in the streets, "Hey, look! It's Toshi and the continents!". As I pondered whether or not Terra and Aqua had already noticed my big feet by this time, I managed to put the rest of my uniform on without too much trouble. Sure, it was pretty hard trying to figure out how to get the straps on correctly, but I figured it out eventually.

I strode into the Throne Room with my head hung low to find Terra and Aqua already there. They were in a respective bowing position and were speaking to Master Lumina about what we were about to learn in the next few hours. Something about, "No, we cannot go ahead....", "New kid can figure it out on his own time.", and "Fine, we'll go back to the beginning. But, I'm not going to help out the newbie even if you ask.". From what I had heard, I assumed that I had been hearing an argument Master and Terra were having about going back to basics just because I was new and knew nothing. Terra must have lost that fight, and finally gave up, but not without a stinging comment to end it all.

"Look, Terra, I know that you are the most successful apprentice of mine. But by being as such I would expect you to enjoy having someone to look up to you. Ventus just might be that person."

"Not in a million years..." I whispered to myself before clearing my throat to announce my arrival.

All three of them either cranked their necks backwards or upwards to see who had interrupted.

"Ventus, there you are! I was beginning to worry that you had been lost within the corridors of Celest."

"Wouldn't have surprised me." Terra added to Master Lumina's greeting.

"Terra, stop-" Aqua started, but was stopped mid-sentence.

"I seem to remember when we were in the main hall you were complaining about having another apprentice around."

"That's only because I was worried he wouldn't feel at home."

"No, it was because you didn't want Master Lumina to only pay attention to him."

"I have never, ever, said anything like that in my whole entire life."

"Yeah, but you were thinking it."

"No, I wasn't!"

"Yes you were."

"No!"

"Don't even begin to deny it."

"I would never..." Her voice faded out and off as I focused on something else besides their argument. Residing in the rafters above the area was something shadowy, sitting there in the awkward position of kneeling and crouching at the same time.

The slightest sound of metal screeching against more of the same material tickled its painful fingernails into my earlobes as the figure paused to shuffle their boot encased foot across the boughs of steel that supported the ceiling. For some untraceable reason, I could not find the strength to move as I watched him glare at me with that invisible sight. Every moment that I grimaced with wonder at his presence, he seemed to appear even more feral; his chest began to bounce back and forth as if preparing to laugh, but his entity was entirely quiet. No howls of mocking were cast out across the abyss of darkness surrounding him as this unrealistic behavior continued. I squinted hard in concentration, the skin around my nose wrinkling like newspaper.

"Enjoying the view, Ventus?"

I twisted around to see whoever was questioning me, but I started to ask myself why when I caught the two glowing amber swathes of menacing evil glaring into my own calm, cool, cobalt ones. Just a few seconds ago I had been panicked shitless from being sneaked up on, but I stopped myself from throwing back a sour reply. We both beamed into each other's gaze, undaunted by the colors of fire and ice. While his flaming irises of despise tried to melt my courage into nothing but a puddle of shadeless oblivion, I attempted to beat back his darkness laden embers with my chilling irises of endurance. Though we did not speak through our tongues, we both were pretty sure what the other was saying. And what his eyes were telling me right now was a tale of a cold-hearted old bastard who would do anything, even kill thousands...countless amounts of living, breathing people just to get his own way. I just hoped that he could understand just exactly what mine meant. It wouldn't have surprised me if he didn't seem to get it through his bald, thick skull that I wasn't afraid to bite and fight back if he dared to try anything on me. I know this sounds weird and kind of...well, you know...going a little bit too far, but I knew right there and then that we had already become enemies. Just to ask, you know who was the hero and who was the villain, right? And if you stutter and are not sure, I think I am just going to crawl into a hole somewhere in the pits of flaming hell and die. No, I'm just kidding. But you know what I getting at, I assume.

Finally, I gathered enough courage to speak.

"View of what?" I asked to try to confuse him.

Xehanort raised his eyebrow at the sudden turn of my emotions, the gray bushel of fur almost hitting the top of his forehead like those bells are supposed to when you "test your strength" at the fair. I noticed, though, that even as he acted to fit the part of the confused character, he really just managed to fill the spot of "suspicious, undercover cheater and liar". It was so obvious in his eyes; just glancing at them would even make a baby shiver with fear at how much evil you could sort out within them. Speaking of which, Terra, as usual, was in quite a grumpy mood and wasn't too happy with the fact that things weren't going the exact speed he wanted them to.

"Hurry up! Training shouldn't have to wait for you two to glare at each other."

Xehanort and I both stared into a pair of eyes with amusement and vexation gripping our glowers. Probably the only reason why we had agreed for the first time ever at that point was because of our similar frustration with the impatient brunette lingering over our shoulders, pulling, tearing away at us to stop doing to each other what Destiny told us both to do. Or instinct, or fate... whatever you call something that seems to control you and is out of your hands, I guess. Oh yeah, another tip from Toshi the blond nerd today: never, never, ever interrupt people when they're busy glaring hate into the other's eyes, telling them that it wouldn't be hard for them to fight back when necessary. But I assume Terra had either never heard of that concept or just didn't care, since I was one of the people in the conflict. Then again, I pretty much knew that he despised Geezernort almost as much as I did.

Wait a second...who didn't despise Xehanort?

"That's enough, you three. Xehanort, return to your own apprentice and torture him instead, while I teach my own in peace. Ventus, come over here, before me, kneeling." My master tapped the space in front of him to point where I was supposed to go.

Since we both didn't want to receive a physical or mental beating from Lumina, we parted ways almost instantly, but not before I had wiped all the snot out of my nose and slathered most of it off on Xehanort's back as he, trembling with suddenly apparent age, paced away with a mask of irritableness leaving dark scuffs of comeback scoring across the air. The rest of the boogers that lay on the back of my hand met their fate when I introduced them to the freezing floor, flicking them off onto the area below with a quick snap of my hand.

I glanced back up to see what my endeavors had procured. As the glob of gooey green glared in the morning sunlight, Terra and Aqua began to snicker with amusement. I could feel some sense of achievement thundering through my chest as my body thrummed to the war drums of my heart, seeing that mint jelly the size of a peanut butter container cap concealing the dark cloak underneath. Call me mean, if you want. But before you do, just imagine the face and eyes of who I did it to without laughing even once. Well, without laughing or cringing with fear, at least.

I took one peek back at Baldinort to make sure that my present was apparent. After seeing that it was still being showcased to the world around us, I walked confidently over to the designated spot Master Lumina had pointed at with a cocky edge to my step. Once I met the area I was meant to kneel upon, I did just that and bowed my head as far down as I could, the back of my neck already aching from the suspension job it was supposed to be doing.

Master Lumina pressed his firm hand on the bone of my shoulder and stood. The confidence that had seared through my limbs now had disappeared, leaving nothing but a trace of uncertainty.

"Uplift your head, apprentice Ventus Toshi."

I obliged to his request by awkwardly tilting my face to meet his own. Once our eyes met, he inspected me carefully, each two seconds, or around there, squinting in concentration. He was acting like he was weaving his fingers through the sinewy strands of my inner self, taking apart each filament with caution echoing from the depths of the navy irises he owned. Was this the way he was going to get to know me? I kinda hoped not. You know, because that's not what normal people do? I dunno. Maybe this is how Keyblade wielders meet each other for the first time. Master Xehanort and I introduced ourselves in this fashion, so it could be possible that Master Lumina also went for the creepy, "stare into your eyes and soul until I know who exactly you are." thing.

"Now then, Ventus, before I actually accept you as my student, I have a series of questions for you to answer. During this whole inquiry, I will be observing the depths of your eyes to look for either truth or dishonesty to appear out of them. If I catch you lying too many times, you will be facing the packing of your belongings and the long trip home. Do you understand clearly?"

"I guess...."

At first, I thought about how I could just give him a "normal" answer for all what he asked and hoped that he would take it as the cold, hard truth. But I knew for certain that the honesty seeping out of his eyes was telling me that he could distinguish a fable, whether it be through body language, my eyes, or my supposed "aura". Taking up the position of Keyblade Master must have also meant that he would also be quite skilled at harnessing the personality and emotions of others whose powers were below his own. Meaning me.

Fear crept through my heart like a poisonous spider of malice, just remembering the message he had just sent to me through the blue windows of his soul:

"Lie to me and face consequences far worse than even imagination can bring you to."

As if seeking an answer to his warning, Master Lumina transfixed his stare into my own with threat woven into the dark pupils of his eyes. I nodded, accepting and acknowledging my understanding of this recommendation.

"First question..."

I waited for him to bring it forth.

"What is your favorite color?"

What in hell? I asked myself with surprise, my eyebrow rising to the back of my neck. Were these questions really just a dumb series of ventures, or were they actually supposed to be serious?

"Um....Green?" I answered warily.

He nodded and asked the following questions:

"How old are you?"

"Fifteen."

"When is your birthday?"

Should I just say the first day I can actually remember, or what?

I couldn't come up with anything else, so I just sputtered out, "December twenty-fourth."

"Which do you prefer, the chicken or the egg?"

"The...egg, I-"

"Bacon or steak?"

"Steak."

"Roses or carnations?"

"What do you me-"

"Boxers or briefs?"

"Boxers?"

"Anime or manga?"

"What's the difference? I mean, I watch and read both, but if I had to choose-"

"Brunettes or blonds?"

"Both?"

"Me or Master Xehanort?"

"You."

That one wasn't too hard...

"What is your favorite subject in school?"

"Does Astronomy count?"

He nodded and continued.

"Bleach or Death Note?"

"How can I even-those two animes are incomparable. I mean, psycho self proclaimed gods with books that can kill people under the ink of their pens, or weird, orange haired Soul Reapers? You can't really make me decide..."

"Bleach...or Death Note?"

"Fine, Death Note."

"Do you have a crush or affection for any girl at this time?"

That question nestled in the side of my ribs and pummeled into the front of my heart with a strong blow to my head. It was as if a semi truck had blown straight into my left side, each passing moment allowing the forcing pressure to skyrocket. Crimson splashed across my face in scattered blotches as I glanced at Aqua. But the circles of rosy blossoms turned into infernos of embarrassment when I noticed Terra had caught my flickering peer at her beauty.

We locked our eyesight together within a tight constraint of icy competition once realized that we both had a thing for Aqua. At this point in time I could pick out only one statement of his opinion on the matter right now:

"Go any farther and I'll make sure you'll regret taking away what I had my eyes on first."

My nervous chuckle sent him back an answer saying that I understood perfectly.

"What type of shampoo do you use?" Master Lumina brought me back into my answering mood.

"It depends."

"What's the longest period of time in your life you haven't taken a bath or a shower?"

"Four days."

"If you could be the king or ruler of anything, what realm or area would you look after and change if necessary?"

I gave him this answer with pleasure drizzling off of my giggle, "Reality."

"Explain the last time you were really angry in full detail, Ventus."

At first, I didn't know where exactly to begin. But by the time I was finished with recalling the past few days, I was pretty sure that I knew what to present as my answer. And, you guessed it: Baron von Dirk of Ditchville.

"The last time I was extremely angry was when my best friend, Dirk, betrayed me in order to please his new acquaintance, Yamada. The few days before his backstabbing adventures, he had started to act funny and would only be kind to me when no one else was around." Cracks appeared in my concrete, serious voice as I continued on, not even recognizing the depressing shade of blue emotion I was laying in front of them, myself. I couldn't even bring me, Ventus Toshi the weak little geekling, to finish my sentence without having to catch my breath to stop myself from crying. It was strange; before I didn't even have a care in the world whether or not I would ever meet Dirk again, but now that I really put thought into I...I actually..really, this will make me sound like a frail and stupid nerd who has too much of a soft heart, but I felt like...

I know, I know, this is going to sound as if I'm retarded...

But-

You know what? I'm going to be mature and admit it to the world right now: the thought of never seeing Dirk again the way he was when I first met him made me want to curl up in a dark corner and sob like a toddler who didn't get what he wanted. Yes, I wanted to cry my soul out until no tears could flow down my cheeks. The stress and tension that had been welling up inside of me the past few days wanted to bail and explode out of my chest, like fireworks made of frustration. Truly, I wished dearly for everything to release its tight grip on me and let me free from the restraints of life. No, I'm not talking about becoming an emo kid and committing suicide. I'm talking about being protected from having to worry about every single little thing that happens, even on the corners of my existence. Life is meant to be hard, though, and even if you're on the brink of being pushed off of a cliff by your supposed lover, or something similar, you still have to remember that it was meant to happen. That will sound cruel and mean and evil, I know, but I learned this fact at a very young age: your Destiny doesn't occur by chance, and neither do the everyday faults of your life. Do any of you recall that old quote, proverb...whatever it was, about how everything happens for a reason? That's what I'm talking about. At this stage of my life (you know, when I was in the Throne Room answering that question about what had made me so angry recently?), I realized that quote was inevitably true; if I hadn't of learned of Dirk's "treachery" and betraying remarks about his thoughts of how I had lost my memories, about how I was so ugly that my parents decided to beat the crap out of my face and accidentally busted the memory tank inside of my mind, then I wouldn't have marched off to the clock tower with fury billowing out of my ears like steam. And if I hadn't of done that, then I wouldn't have gone to Castle Celest because Terra and Aqua wouldn't have found me. And, if I wouldn't have done that, then I wouldn't have had the chance at becoming what I wanted to be.

Yeah, I know, that last paragraph is a lot to take in. Plus, it's probably boring for you all.

"Quite a sad story, young one," Master Lumina admitted, pity encasing his tongue.

"It happens to everyone, though." I answered back.

With a heavy sigh he continued his questionnaire.

"How often do you read?"

"Almost every day."

"What is your favorite time of the day?"

"Evening."

"Fire, Earth, Water, or Wind?"

"Wind."

"Wh-"

Though I knew interrupting Master Lumina was bound to lead to something unpleasant, I still couldn't help but doing so.

"What is the point of this whole questioning thing, again?"

Silence masked a shade of darkness over the Throne Room, even though it was morning; it was if a proud, full moon had been blocked away from shining its light onto the world, smothered completely by the shadow of it's companion, the Sun, in an eclipse. His blue eyes had suddenly transformed into a foreboding splash of ashen gray when I met them. Though I usually had no problem staring into someone else's irises, for some strange reason it was almost impossible for me to continue doing so. I skipped my glare of surprise over to the calming face of Aqua once I turned my head the other way. In truth, I was kind of beginning to feel scared, seeing that blank expression.

"You know why, Ventus? Do you know why I'm sending all of these personal inquiries your way?" He asked, standing up suddenly.

When I didn't answer, Master Lumina took the cue to start admitting his true intentions, "I'm asking all these nonsense questions because I wanted to mask what I had wished to know all this time. If you stuttered at the point I anticipated on, I'd know that you were truly hiding."

Ironically, I started to stutter as I tried to come up with a reply, "W-what? I don't know what you are really t-t-talking...ab-abou-about..."

"See? That's exactly what I mean. Now that I've figured out that you do have something to hide from me, I'd like to know exactly what it is. So, elaborate on that, if you would."

I still swear to this day that I had started to hear crickets chirping when the next moment had passed over us.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven...

Master Lumina, Terra, and Aqua all drooled at me in uncomfortable scrutiny. I chuckled and rubbed the back of my hair, stroking the golden spikes that had been used to define me as the one to make fun of. As my Master cleared his throat in expectancy and settled back down into his throne, I knew that the dark green tendrils of impatience had begun to take root within his heart, and soon he even started to tap each of the fingers in turn upon the arm of the chair.

"Can I just ask you one question, first?"

"Sure."

"What exactly am I hiding again?"

"Do not tell me you don't know?" He asked whoever was in charge of imparting wisdom while shaking his head. "Clearly, Ventus, I am interested in knowing why I can't see any part of your past beyond a year ago. Everything else is completely transparent within your life, but still I cannot get around that strange obstacle within your heart. Meaning, that either you were born when you were fourteen, which is not possible, or you are hiding what happened on that fateful day."

I tensed and released my hands in a nervous manner as I paused to think. He actually knows about your amnesia, Toshi. Great going, you made him suspicious. Now he'll probably let Terra kill you this time.

"Relax, I won't send my apprentices after you, even if you tell me an obvious lie."

I couldn't reply to that; I couldn't bring myself to answer due to the fact that... Well, I didn't want to believe it anyways, so I'll either let you figure it out yourself or let you carry on reading my story because you already know. I didn't know what I wanted to say next, or with what tone I should say it in. Soon I created an image of going on the defensive side, within the trembling void of my brain.

"You know what? I don't have to answer that."

"Says who?" Master Lumina cackled with delight. He was starting to get on my nerves. Hatred for his apparent knowing of my distraction bubbled green in the bottomless cauldron that most would call my stomach.

"Says me."

Master Lumina blinked his spirited gray eyes, pausing them mid-flutter to rest his chin on the knuckles of his right hand. As this silence continued between everyone in the room, especially Lumina and I, he initiated other sources that led to my belief of the fact that he wasn't impatient anymore, just trying to see how long I would last before my anger grabbed its crimson hold around my being. Crossed legs, a twitch of his foot here and there, a few dramatic, long, drawn out sighs...

Well, I stopped my claim mid-sentence to chuckle. He'll just have to keep waiting because I don't think that he has the right to ask such a personal question. And with that thought(which I hoped he had read), the ogling contest had commenced for about the fifth time that day.

He blinked....

I angrily gritted my teeth and gave him a peer that definitely mentioned something about, There's no way you're going to win this.

Terra started to cough, almost dying to let everyone know that he was enjoying this. Though I could not, depressingly, lay my eyes upon Aqua, I pretty much was able to tell that she was either smiling sweetly at the awkwardness of it all or fidgeting about the awkwardness of it all. Two more excruciatingly lasting minutes draped heavily over our feud of glares. My eyes started to water as I squinted, trying not to shut my lids, for my image to everyone there depended on it.

Finally I spoke, "Do we really have to play games? I'd really rather not kill my eyesight just because-"

"We wouldn't have to if you would just tell me what your heart is concealing."

"But I'm not going to."

"But you are."

"But I'm not."

"You are my apprentice as of last night. Which means, you have to do whatever I tell you. So, cough it up." He demanded with warning choking his throat.

"No."

"Really? Are you really going to make me punish you for such disrespe-"

"Yes."

All I received in reply were gasps from Terra and Aqua and widened eyes from Master Lumina. I didn't know why, but I started to back off when I noticed the flaring, resenting storm of irritation seeping out of his cloudy irises. Every expression that had appeared on his face told about the horrifying story that was about to unfold. I almost began to run backwards and away after he had gotten up from the throne, every step synchronizing with my heartbeat.

"Stop," Master Lumina ordered, an edge of amusement slicing through the tone of his voice. This type of sound coming from his mouth after he had just been, practically, yelling at me for not giving him personal information was quite puzzling to me.

Seriously, the people of this castle really are the weirdest I have ever met: they change their attitude every five seconds. Not to mention Terra, who was acting nice to me at first and now acts as if I'm just lucky to be in his presence. Maybe I should give them mood swing pills for Christmas this year...

Speaking of mood swings, after I was done pausing a second to think and reflect, I focused my eyesight on the area in front of me to see a fuzzy, mustached blotch turn into a hillbilly, samurai, and Italian facial-haired man . Master Lumina reached for my shoulder in a trudging pace, but I could tell in his face that he was expecting for me to draw back. But I didn't, and when his aged fingers wove over my collarbone he relaxed a little bit. For some strange reason my heartbeat hastened its beating as well, thumping only once in about what seemed an hour.

"Very well, then. I'll let you keep your secrets. But there will come a time when everything will be revealed to me, and to you. And remember, it will be much more painful for you to admit it then than it was for you now."


All of my senses rushed back to where I was in the previous moment. You know, when I had challenged Master Lumina to come down from his high "throne" in order to show him that my training task wasn't as easy as he deemed it to be, since Terra had decided to throw in an extra swing and a blow here and there.

"Watch and learn," Lumina smoothly nudged with a slice of harsh annoyance on top. Almost at the same time his metal, golden and onyx shoe encased feet met the cold white floor of the training room, his Keyblade was summoned. Oh yeah, that's right. I haven't really explained what it looks like. Well, I might as well start here.

The blade and top part of his weapon was shaped like a normal key should be shaped, boxy and formed in a peculiar, gray way. At the topmost piece rod that held the whole entire thing together it transformed into a rounded, circular silver tip. The handle itself was entirely made of deep crimson, accentuated by the silver, moon colored boxy hand guards and a black keychain attached to the black symbol of his being, which was also the insignia that Terra, Aqua and I had held on our uniforms as a way to announce our allegiance to him. And...that was pretty much it. Very plain in my opinion, but mine wasn't all that much different in terms of unique form either. I think the name that Master Lumina had called it was Ancient Ties. I know, I know, it's a really cheesy name, but I made absolutely sure not to let Master Lumina know that I thought the name of the extension of his heart was quite...stupid? It wasn't stupid, but I would call it....crap, what's that word again?

"Are you even paying attention, Ventus? I didn't wade all the way down here to watch you blather in your own world."

"Yes, I am, Master Lumina." I fibbed, not wanting another one of those long, drawn out, chastising conversations that I had had with him the other day. I think it was about how I should respect Master Xehanort and not play tricks on him. Especially when it comes to secretly entering the Throne Room in the middle of the night to plant slow drying super glue on the seat of his chair. Terra, who had warmed up to me in the past year as I had hoped he would, had helped me by watching the hall outside, making sure the coast was clear for tricks to be set on our most "loved" friend. I still remember that when we sneaked back into the centerpiece of the upper apprentice's dorms, Aqua was standing there with her arms crossed, shaking her head at the sight of smirks on our faces and Gorilla Glue within my hand. We tried to come up with an excuse for being out at one in the morning, but before we could even start stuttering she sighed and murmured, "You never let me come along."

Suddenly, the present flashed into my attention. Master Lumina, Ancient Ties tightly gripped within his right hand, was practically flashing towards Terra with alarming speed. Each dash of speed was executed in an amount of time as fast as lightning, giving his eldest student a reason to piss his pants. Unsure of what was going to happen next, Terra instantly raised Eternal Horizons in a defensive stance, the blade serving as a barrier between him and the oncoming flurry of super-powered Master Lumina.

Their Keyblades locked together tightly, a flicker of light appearing as the sound of eerie screeching catapulted from their clash. As Master Lumina pressed down harder on the metal of his opponent's Keyblade, Terra pushed back with surprising strength, leading the two built men to a draw. The powerful Keyblade Master realized the stupidity of this futile struggle and leaped backwards, flipping twice before floating gracefully to the ground. But as soon as Master Lumina regained focus on attacking, Terra initiated the set of attacks that I could recall how to do within a second. The tall teenager raised his Keyblade high above his head and raced towards his master, but Lumina easily dodged the oncoming attack and left Terra to fly towards the Earth after dealing a harsh blow to his muscular side. Terra crashed to the floor, sliding to about twenty feet away due the force of Master Lumina's blade. Still within a dreamy daze, the boy did not notice the bolt of fire shooting towards him. I almost yelled to him to move, but before I could even pronounce an, "r", the bottoms of his hakama were ablaze with a crimson fury of flame.

By tensing his hand into a flat plain, Master Lumina was able to gesture towards his flaming student and chuckled, "See?"

"Yeah, but I'm not as strong as you and Terra are; it would be easier if I was, but since I'm more on the fast and small side-"

"Then make up for your lack of muscles by adding attention to your speed. Just because you are not the sturdy rock in the quarry doesn't mean you cannot make up for your weak points. Let's look at my example,"

I sighed, knowing that I was in for a long, breathless, unyielding, annoying lecture from the one who was good at procuring as such.

"Now then, see here?" He asked, tracing all the lines cut deep into his face from the ravages of time. Obviously, he was mentioning something about the weakness of his age. Since Terra was much more sturdy and more able to withstand such an opposing front because of his youth, Master Lumina would have had to make up for being so over the hill by focusing on his strength. So, technically, what he was saying, was that I had to replace my weakness when it came to muscles by relying more on the swift legs I had been gifted with. He must have noticed the realization within my eyes and the awareness in my facial expression, and grinned with his, peculiarly, perfectly white teeth. Embarrassment held me in the clutches of its palm as I felt my cheeks redden at my previous, snobby, snappy behavior; I began to rub the back of my blond spikes with my fingertips, as I usually did when I was having issues with the audacity of my unripened mind.

After attempting to stop thinking about how stubborn I had been before Master Lumina's demonstration, I ended up at the new conclusion that I should have probably followed way before that point. Meaning, I should have listened to my inner conscience and shut my mouth. Now, you'd probably say, "That's not the Ven I know!". But let me just say, people change over time. Instead of scowling at my interpretation of what I assumed to have been scathing, I now had learned discipline in the past year of my training. Sadly, though, I didn't take into account at that point that I wasn't just the only one who transformed over age; I knew that that was probably the downfall of my...

A hand was gently and calmly placed on my shoulder, tugging me out of my previous thinking stage consisting of dark thoughts. As if on cue, the brunette, mustached teacher of mine nodded at me and encouragingly mumbled one of those cheesy proverb things.

"Time has a way of revealing the truth, Ventus. I see that you have learned that in the past year. Your youth has proven that you still need guidance, but your growth has proven that your heart will lead you to leadership. You, I am sure, will make a great master someday. A master that many will look up to. A master that has the power of all...the power to control his fate."

I dug my toes into the bottom of my shoes in bewilderment. Every single time Master Lumina muttered something about fate, or destiny, my brain would always fizz out of proportion and I would just have to stand there, collecting myself. It wasn't one of those awkward amnesia moments that I had often, but just...it was kind of like...it was like I couldn't exactly grasp the concept, for some strange reason. Speaking of which, I hadn't even told Master Lumina, Aqua, or even Terra about those two years ago; I hadn't even rumbled on about how it sucked not having any memories before the age of fourteen. Foreign chains of foreboding fear forbid me to even mutter anything about my past; my parents, my friends, my best times, my worst times....etcetera, etcetera. I was beginning to wonder whether or not Porcupine and the beautiful, sapphire haired girl had recognized the tightening of my throat whenever they chatted about the first time they ever did this and that and when and where and why. The pleasure of having memories of such things like that...I always dreamed at night of strange places I had never seen before. Places that have never even occurred within my imagination and thought haunted me every single time I closed my eyes, even when I was wide awake. Though I had formed a strong bond with Terra and Aqua up to the point that I would call us best friends, I still could not attempt to admit my abnormal memory loss and nightmares. Not even Master Lumina, who had made me promise to always tell him the absolute truth. Were these secrets going to stay inside of me forever?

"What's wrong?" Aqua's gentle, feminine voice called me out of the desolate void of recollection. Her starry night blue eyes locked with mine, and I gave her a downcast look. Confused at my upbeat attitude's sudden change, she tilted her head slightly and gazed at me in worry.

"Yeah, you zoned out again, just all of the sudden." Terra added to the comment box.

When I only answered with a shake of my suspended head, they both glanced at each other in alarm.

"Are you sure you'll be okay? I mean, you've been this way a lot lately."

"Yeah," Aqua stopped before continuing. "We're starting to worry."

"God, you guys, you're always acting like you're my parents. Stop fussing over me-" I swiped my hand at their faces to make them back off a bit. In truth, I was starting to feel like a weak, little, pliable toy that any kid with the name of "Good Day" and "Bad Day" could bend and break more easily than they could an emotional thirteen year old girl. All of my joints had started to ache with the stress of everything being thrown at me, including lectures from my teacher, the worrying of my friends, the fact that I wouldn't be training with them after tomorrow if they pass their 'Master Qualifications Exam". Yes, that's right. Today was the very last day that I knew I would be alongside my friends in our study of the Keyblade. If Terra and Aqua made it through that test, I would be left to learn alone. Heaviness accompanied that thought within the far reaches of my chest. How my heart pulsed with distress, just knowing that I would be stuck here in the Land of Departure when they'd be off journeying somewhere, trying to find a place to settle down and gather students, knowing that it'd be one in a million of chances just to catch a glimpse of the whites of their eyes.

The...Land of Departure? Oh yeah, I forgot to explain again. Sorry, I know I do that a lot. As I was saying, the second half of Terra and Aqua's training was meant to be spent in the Land of Departure, the realm of Master Lumina's domain. The Land of Departure was a peaceful world, existing on the border of all light. The outside parts consisted of a vast land that screamed of the word, "paradise"; valleys of lime green, lush grasses spread across the landscape, cutting out room for the many clean streams of water and rivers, scoring lines across the Earth in a beautiful pattern of blue. Every morning, bloody streams drizzled off the land as the Sun rose, cascading into the drifts of golden plains that rolled across the ground, spreading the lights of copper splash onto the pure white walls of Master Lumina's residence, otherwise known as the Castle of Light. Somewhere out there in the abyss of space lay the castle's twin, the Castle of Darkness, marking the house of Master Xehanort. Which was absolutely fine by me, since Geezernort the creepy stalker was far, far, far, away from me.

Anyways, each room in the castle, including our dorms, the training area, the hall, Master Lumina's quarters, the guest area, and the inevitable room of the three thrones, they were all connected together by huge, golden chains and gardened pathways. A huge bridge was suspended from the front two chains, paving the path to the land beyond. Holding all of this jumble of a castle were five or six chains stabilizing the walls by connecting to the stone mountains surrounding us. Stained glass carved out every window and let in the shining light of the glowing orb in the sky outside the castle, while candles that never flickered out until dawn lit up the halls at night. There was no light pollution there like there was back in Twilight Town and Castle Celest, giving me reason to go out on one of my favorite balconies every night to gather the sight of stars within my eyes.

You know, I think I finally found the reason why I love the stars so much: I am infatuated with the stars because I am gazing into the past when I raise my eyes to that dark void; something I had never been able to do before. Yet again, my memories served as the hub of my fears, love, and life. But I guess that that was my place in the universe, being Ventus Toshi, the boy who had never seen before the age of fourteen.

"You're doing it again...."Terra chastised, with a somewhat playful tone masking his concern for my health.

"Wow," I paused to let a chuckle escape my, truthfully, trembling lips. "You actually noticed."

Terra raised his eyebrow in what I couldn't tell to be either annoyance or sarcastic anger.

"Anyways, we'd better get you two off to the Hall of Thrones for your Master Qualification Exam. I have a special surprise waiting for you." After announcing the next duty on today's schedule, Master Lumina turned towards me and nodded.

"You are coming with us, as well. It'll be good for you to see what the test is like."

The Hall of Thrones sprawled in front of us just as we trotted into the set of golden doors at the other side of the training room. As usual, Master Lumina took up his normal position in front of the sunlit chairs, standing directly next to his claimed throne. But, as I looked onward and behind him, I couldn't help feeling a sickening, repulsing jolt of disgust churn in my stomach as I met the pair of amber irises sitting behind him. At that point I was wondering why Master Lumina had ever even gotten a wisp of thought to bring Master Xehanort back to us. Really, who would?

But before I could return my attention to Xehanort's disturbing face, I couldn't help but admire, for the millionth time, the sprawling design of the wall behind the thrones.

Set against a background made of robin's egg blue, the lion's pelt colored depiction of rushing waves were apparent as the very bottom of the piece. In the middle and above that part was the blazing gold insignia that represented Master Lumina's seal, and also the shining trinket that lay on the end of his Keyblade's keychain. An arch of yellow looked like a rainbow reaching over the valley of gold held at its peak a crown, a symbol of our master's dominance over the realm of light. Many curled floral designs etched across each side of the mural and left me with a feeling of strange, but true pride. I know, call me a freak. I'd probably agree with you anyways...

"Now we will begin the Master Qualifications Exam," Lumina called to the two accomplished students in front of him, reminding them of how important the next hour would be. A pulsing dread scored claw marks across my heart, making me remember the painful truth about what would happen if they passed. This will sound selfish, but I was really hoping that they wouldn't. Not that I wished ill fortune upon my best friends. It's just that the thought of never seeing them again practically stabbed my chest with impact made of panic.

"This is a test of the heart for those who have been chosen by the Keyblade. Fortunately," He stopped, rolling his eyes secretly as to not let his companion see.

"Master Xehanort has come to see this performance."

Xehanort, behind him, nodded to acknowledge his address.

"Now, we will begin."

Before I even get to the part where I tell you about how crazy the next few moments were, I'm just going to say one little thing:

Wow.

All I could recognize within the next few moments were flashes of pure, white light and pictures of many unknown Keyblade Wielders lined up in rows on a battlefield licked with harsh desert and desolate pillars of dead, plantless rock. Even though I had only been watching the scenes, I could feel the ripple of brave but terrified emotions welling up around the proud lines of armor encrusted warriors. Leading the troops of shining wielders were three different figures also covered in outfits of battle. In their hands were two Keyblades each, which was a very strange sight to see since the day I had found out that only the original masters of Light and Darkness could have such an ability.

Are the others seeing the same thing? I questioned myself at the same time I glanced backwards to search. But no....Terra, Aqua, Master Lumina, and Master Xehanort all had only eye sockets. No familiar flashes of blue, gray, and amber had appeared on their faces. In truth, it actually was quite a gruesome sight to see.

Remember...

"What?" I asked out loud to the sudden appearance of the deep voice that had come out of nowhere. All of the mouths I was looking at were not moving at all. So, who could have been talking to me?

It all began with Birth by Sleep, and shall end with Death by Awakening.

All fate is not slave to chance;

Choice rules all.

Though Sky and Wind will guide the Universe towards Light,

Every time, in the end, you fall.

My heart began to thump to the beating cries of my fear, leaving me with only a sense of foreboding curiosity flowing through my veins. What exactly was he alluding to? Birth by Sleep? Did that mean someone gave birth to a child in their sleep, or something? Death by Awakening? Though all these questions rampaged on the outskirts of my inner self, what really bugged me was the very last line.

Every time, in the end, you fall....I repeated it over and over again in my head. I desperately searched for answers.

Wait a second....My name means Wind in Latin...Is that supposed to mean that I will fail at bringing Light about the universe? Does that mean I will die?

I didn't want to answer those questions.

"Ven, for the third time. Pay attention!"

"Huh?" My bedazzled state brought about confusion for me as the order to concentrate was called. I didn't even know what was going on when I peeled my eyes open to reveal, of course, a flat plain of stained glass. Around the circular pillar that was so familiar to anyone was the usual inky darkness. The mural below was one that I had not expected at all; but who would guess anything about a boy with messy, spiky brown hair and blue eyes back to back with a guy who looked exactly like me?

"Now then, my apprentices. I will give a brief explanation of this mural and how it is different than the ones n your Awakening dreams." Before continuing, Master Lumina made sure to give all of us, including his former fellow student Xehanort, a glance of seriousness.

"Everyone in this world sees this mural depict different things due to who they are in the future. Which, I'll tell you all now, whoever you see on the mural will be who you will grow to be. For some, it's not just a mature picture of yourself now. Some," He gave me a glance as if knowing that I was one of those few. "Some see entirely different beings, or only a wisp of something. But whoever it is, is who you will transform into after the ravages of time have gotten to you."

Hearing Master Lumina's explanation literally tilted my head back with its convincing fingers to let me see the mural once again. This time, I took in more than just a flickering stare.

On the right side was the brunette boy with eyes the same, icy blue shade of my own. He was in a floating, reclining state with his back turned and set against the blond boy who looked like my clone's. His clothes consisted of baggy pants that were mostly black, but with navy blue around the pelvic area lined around the perimeter with white string. More calla lily white string was tied around the widest part of his pants in a circle. Right below and over his pelvic area were mustard yellow straps with silver buckles tightening them together in a comfortable vice. On the sides of his pants lay the giant crimson pockets, with even more navy straps aligned across them in an "x" shape. Another belt of midnight cobalt cinched the pants as loose and baggy as mine to the top part of his outfit. Speaking of which, the whole top part matched pretty the bottom, red pockets and all, except for the silver shoulder guards that hugged his collarbone tightly. A jacket lie unzipped on the outside of this getup, matching the obvious dress code of gold, scarlet, onyx, and navy. Fingerless gloves encased his hands in the same colors as usual, their white "x" straps standing out against the black background and accentuating the three full moon shaped knuckles right above. But the only thing that really caught my attention was the silver necklace he was wearing: a crown glowed in the light and revealed to me the same symbol that had been on the wall of the Throne Room in The Land of Departure.

Making up the left centerpiece of this mural was the boy who I had mentioned earlier; you know, the one who looks exactly like I do? He was wearing pants that looked exactly like mine, except for the fact that they were jeans and went all the way down to the top of his shoes. Funny that I mention those, because they were the weirdest pair of giant clown shoes this side of the universe. First of all, they were coal black on the top, dark gray in the middle, and ash gray on the bottom and heels. Ribs of a slightly darker, rainy cloud gray stuck out of the sides of the bottom, too. Blood red straps criss-crossed over the top of his shoes, only one coming from the middle to meet the very front tip of his shoes. His jacket on top covered a plain black undershirt. This piece was most interesting to me because of the checkerboard pattern that was strewn across the sides of his torso and around his shoulders. The pockets were rimmed with black and a red neck cuff hung over the outside. Instead of having a normal zipper like the brunette, he had a ninja shuriken hanging diagonally there, dangling and glinting silver in the light. Shock pierced my chest when I saw mostly black checkerboard wristband that he had held on the same arm as I did, but the only difference was that it was more onyx than white, unlike mine.

I delayed my admiration to take everything in. Black stillness was all that I was able to make out as I closed my eyes to think.

Wait a minute, I opened my eyes once again to look at the mural. His clothes are more familiar than they should be...That's it! He is wearing the same exact outfit that I had worn every day back when I lived in Twilight Town! It's been so long, that I...I can't even remember anything beyond that day when Terra and Aqua had come to find me. The exclamation within my head had brought about even more thoughts of confusion. Including why that boy had the same exact clothes that I did a year ago.

Not wanting to even start thinking about more than I already had, I let my gaze drift over to the border of the mural, letting my eyesight focus in and out as I failed to do so. Me being Ventus Toshi, I was being too over analytical and pondered every possibility as the moments flew on like seagulls over a vast ocean of uncertainty.

"What do you see, Ven?" Aqua nudged me with a poke of her finger. I squealed like a dying cat and flew around, my eyes widened to the size of dinner plates.

"Probably not something very good, if it makes him scream like that." Terra answered for me, much to my annoyance. But I didn't let them know it.

"Well, um...I see..."

Should I actually tell them the truth? I asked myself. They were my best friends, and I had kept a lot from them, leading to unmeasurable guilt on my part. Now, I decided that I should start being more truthful to them, since they had always been that way with me.

All I received from them were expressions of utter amusement as I explained, "Well, there are actually two people on there. One has brown hair, lighter than yours, Terra, and blue eyes the same color as mine. The other boy looks like a clone of me and is wearing the exact same clothing that I did when I lived back in Twilight Town."

"Uh....okay?" Terra admitted his perplexity with a raised eyebrow. All Aqua did was stare at me with concern glowing in her midnight sky colored eyes.

"Ven, are you sure that you're feeling all right? Master Lumina said that you were only supposed to see yourself in the future. I'm sure that doesn't include two random kids, since you're only one person." She reminded me. My head started to ache with the anger of their unbelief.

You know what, Ven? I growled at myself in silence. You shouldn't have even told them; you already knew that they wouldn't believe and blow you off like you were a hallucinogenic five year old...

Terra and Aqua must have noticed the frustration billowing out of my eyes and their faces changed from sending a message of doubt to a message of concern.In truth, I felt like asking them why they even wondered what I saw if they were just going to ridicule me for things I couldn't control. But, my inner common sense told me not to; I guessed that it wasn't such a good idea to start feuding with them right before they were going to participate in probably the most important test of their lives. I mean, what kind of nice person upsets their best friends five minutes before SAT tests? I may have been steaming like a chicken dumpling at that point, but I wasn't going to ruin their future just because I was having a fit about their confusion. At this point, I realized, I would have given them the same looks if they told me about their weird visions. Fault pooled in the pits of my stomach and I gnashed my teeth together, gritting them in hate of myself. For probably the billionth time that day, I had lashed out at Terra and Aqua like an old coot with an aching back.

I dipped my head in apology, letting my eyes flutter shut in embarrassment as I stuttered, "I-I'm...I'm sorry. It's just that I haven't...I don't want you guys to leave."

"What do you me-oh..." Terra started to ask, but stopped as realization struck him dead in his tracks.

"Ven, don't worry. Remember we promised that we'd come and visit you?" The blue haired girl who previously stood across from me paced over, letting her palm to rest itself on my shoulder. I looked up with red cheeks surrounded with humiliation to find that beautiful pair of eyes that made every single, painful day better. A comforting sort of reassurance reached out of them and I felt my lungs stop pumping air entirely.

"Terra, Aqua, it's time. Gather here in front of me. Ven, you have to go back to the castle and wait for us. I'll allow you the rest of the day off, for I must concentrate on this task." And with that, Master Lumina, with a flick of his right hand, sent me off without even letting me say goodbye. I was going to say to him, "Wasn't I supposed to watch to gain an idea of how the test would be performed?", but I guessed that would be unfair, since Terra and Aqua weren't able to watch anyone when they were early in their training.

With a sort of disappointment hanging over my shoulder, I paced over to the newly opened portal that Master Lumina had summoned. For the first time ever, I didn't even gawk at the swirling cloud of sky blue and silvery white of the void as everything faded from that mysterious place, into the Castle of Light.


Neither of them passed their tests. But that was just the beginning of all of our troubles.