~*.*Disciples of the Keyblade*.*~
Title: Obedience
Rating: K
Warnings: None, for once.
Characters: Aqua*, Ventus*, Terra, Master Eraqus, Arthur, Merlin, Various Knights
Summary: Oh, sure. Let's pull a magical blade from a rock and become King. You'll learn so much that way. Literally, as Aqua and Ven found out. Pre-BBS.
Special Notes: This was an idea from my brother. He thought it would be interesting to do this with either Ventus or Terra, and since I did Terra recently, Ventus gets the honor. My brother, It's SO Wonderful, this is for you!
~***~
Aqua blinked the light from her eyes, just a little dazzled by the fading radiance as her armor vanished. They—that is, she and Ventus—had just emerged from a pathway between the worlds and had dismissed their Keyblade Riders. She pushed her blue hair from her eyes absently. If it was falling down like this into her vision, she needed to cut the bangs again. She preferred short hair.
It was cold, like Master Eraqus had warned them, and Aqua had prepared accordingly. She had a pale blue, almost white, winter jacket over her arms and had changed into warmer pants. Unfortunately she had to forsake gloves, having had forgotten them in her haste to get down to the training field after she had overslept just a little earlier that morning. A sky sapphire scarf was wrapped snugly around her neck.
The reason for this attire was mostly because of the snow. It sprinkled down in a thin veil, coating everything in ivory. The world seemed muffled and untouched; the churchyard they had appeared in was almost deathly quiet. But it was just a little too peaceful for that. Old gray stones rose around them, forming a large wall that enclosed the pair safely inside. The only two exits were a small collapsed portion of the ancient rock barrier and the actual worn down gateway itself. Behind her, Aqua espied the church. Large, archaic, foreboding just to look at. It lent the clearing a feeling of immense power. Aqua thought she could feel it, like an invisible wave crashing against her, pushing and pulling, overwhelming in its force. It could have been her imagination.
Or it could have been her sensitivity to magic. Aqua hoped it was the former.
She had almost forgotten Ven until he spoke.
"Aqua! Wow!" His excited voice broke the tranquil silence. "Check out this sword!" The blonde apprentice had raced to a sword in a stone that resided in the center of the churchyard. He stepped up onto the lower tier of the stone pedestal, its surface layered with frost and white particles. He rubbed his hands together, green scarf hanging wildly askew from his shoulders, eyeing the handsome blade.
The sword, Aqua thought, seemed to be the source of the sensation that permeated the entire clearing. It had a golden handle with an elegant swirling design and a red stone set in the pommel. The blade itself seemed to have been folded and refolded an impossible amount of times, reinforcing it with a fierce strength. The gleaming steel surface appeared to glow white, its point buried deep into the black anvil in which it rested. Strange jagged shadows, cast by the winter-dead trees, seemed to reach like dark fingers for the sword, as if to hold it in place.
The sword shone, though there was no sun in the cloudy gray sky.
The middle apprentice stepped over to her friend. "Ven," she cautioned. "It's not ours. Why don't we go do what the Master said to do?"
Master Eraqus had sent them off to Camelot in order to perform two tasks. One, they were on a simple mission to find the magician Merlin and deliver a scroll of their Master's to him, magically sealed of course. They had strict orders to not delay. The other…well…apparently he wanted a word alone with Terra. The eldest disciple hadn't seemed pleased when they left.
Aqua had given him a swift, sympathetic hug and a hurriedly whispered promise to return soon. She knew he disliked being left behind, no matter what they were doing.
"Hurry back," Terra had muttered, glancing after her and Ventus.
The aforementioned golden haired protégé grinned. "Aw, c'mon Aqua! Doesn't it look…just so cool?"
"I don't like it though," Aqua replied. She stepped up to Ven's side and redid his scarf, wrapping it tightly and ignoring his indignant groan."Can't you feel it?"
Ven gave her a look that said, "Have you lost your mind?" His voice formed these words instead: "Feel what?"
"The…sort of…" Aqua shrugged, annoyed. Obviously he couldn't feel what she could. Maybe it was only her imagination playing tricks on her. "Let's go, Ven." She put a little authority in her voice, something she didn't like to do, hoping her soft spot for the novice wouldn't betray her again.
Ven's smile wilted and he frowned sadly. "Finding Merlin will be easy. He's at the castle or something. Puh-lease Aqua, let's just take a look around for a while."
She resisted in vain, because the next moment he flashed her his brightest, hopeful smile. Darn him and his boyhood cuteness, she thought unhappily. Ven was still at that age where he had a touch of a child to his features, and Aqua was always particularly sympathetic when it came to children. Especially when it was him.
"All right, all right!" She gave in reluctantly, closing her eyes and missing Ven's smug grin of victory that would have made Terra proud. "But we're leaving the churchyard, and the sword." On this she was adamant. The blade was special and might have something to do with the world's order, though Master Eraqus hadn't warned her about any swords in a stone…
Ventus seemed to be weighing whether or not those were acceptable terms. With a nod, he took a step to follow Aqua as she hopped gingerly off of the icy pedestal.
The youngest apprentice did the same.
And slipped.
With a shout of surprise, his metal shoe sliding along the frosty stone, Ven instinctively reached his arm out and grabbed the first thing at hand. Aqua darted forward and caught him swiftly, steadying him.
"Oh, Ven," she gasped in surprise, seeing what he had done.
During his little mishap, Ventus had inadvertently grabbed the sword and tugged it free of its anvil. It rested there in his grip, shimmering with an iridescent glamour.
"Oh," he said simply, staring stupidly at the blade resting in his palms.
Aqua was about to suggest he put it back when a voice broke into the stunned silence.
"Hey, can I have that sword?!"
A boy with short blonde hair and dark eyes wearing an oversized red winter robe raced into the clearing, kicking up snow, his gaze fixed on the sword.
"Er—why?" Ventus asked.
"Give him the sword! It's probably his." Aqua hissed.
"It's not mine," objected the boy. "It's not anybody's I think."
Ven looked at the sword with an appreciative eye. "This could make a great gift for the Master, or Terra!"
Aqua bit her lip and watched as her friend got to his feet and looked down at the boy that seemed to be maybe twelve or thirteen, possibly even fourteen. Ventus was young, but not that young.
"I need it for the Tournament," the boy pleaded, his eyes wide and nervous. At that moment, a tawny orange owl sailed in and began to hoot loudly.
"Hurry, Arthur! Kay needs that sword!"
"Yes, yes, I know." Arthur looked at Ventus, desperate. "Please, I'll make sure you get it right back when the Tournament is over! Please?"
Aqua exchanged a brief look with Ven, and then he shrugged and handed the glowing blade to the young boy. Arthur bobbed his head hurriedly in thanks before racing out of the churchyard with the owl in pursuit.
A wide grin split Ventus's face. "Let's go see the Tournament, Aqua!" He pelted off, feet kicking up a shower of snow with every step, following the trail Arthur had left behind. Aqua heaved a sigh, following him quickly, sliding down a small slope and chasing after her friend. They entered a small forest, its trees uncomfortably bare, the sky a foggy gray, and the road coated with treacherous ice. Voices and shouts could be heard, carried by the wind, and it was in that direction that Arthur, the owl, and Ven headed. Aqua hung back a little, trying to get a good look at everything instead of charging blindly in. Only because the boy was friendly didn't mean everyone else was.
It almost looked like a large fairgrounds, with multiple pavilions that hoisted various colored pendants high, snapping loudly in the wind. Crowds were jostling one another as they studied a large clearing that wasn't set far from a corral, and armored men on proud horses surveyed everything with an imperious eye.
The epitome of a male's violent tendencies, Aqua thought somewhat dryly, taking note that only men were bearing weapons. It was one of those worlds then, the backwards kind where women didn't fight. She might be better off keeping quiet, or it would showcase how obviously she and Ven were not from Camelot.
Aqua snapped back to the situation at hand as Arthur ran up to a stern faced man that looked very much like a frowning gorilla. One shorter, fatter knight leaned forward and said something no one else could hear. The other knight responded with a, "It can't be!"
"Boy, where did you get that sword?" The taller man demanded.
"I-I-"Arthur stammered, trying to reply. His words seemed to lodge in his throat. "The clearing, over there, near that old church."
A stunned chorus from the onlookers. "It cannot be!" exclaimed several voices, echoing the first.
Ven, whom had been watching curiously at Aqua's side, stepped forward. "I drew it."
"Drew it? From within what?" scowled the stern faced knight.
"An anvil," Ven shrugged indifferently. Aqua wished he would shut up.
"Prove it, boy! Everyone, this way." The man strode off into the forest with the crowd on his heels. Once they reached the snow covered churchyard, he tapped the anvil. "From here?"
"Yeah," Ventus seemed confused. "So what?"
"Wart," the man snarled impatiently at Arthur. "Give me the sword."
What a cruel nickname, Aqua thought as "Wart" gave the blade to the man.
"What's your name?" inquired the knight. "The both of you."
"I'm Ven, and she's Aqua."
"I am Sir Ector, this is Kay," he pointed to another tall man with loose hair that looked older than Arthur, but younger than Ector. He put the sword back into its niche, then instructed everyone to try and draw it out.
All the knights tried, and the regular civilians, pushing and pulling and comically straining, but it didn't budge an inch. Aqua politely declined the offer to try and force it out, but Ven removed it again with ease, as did Arthur, when it was placed back in.
"Impossible," hooted the owl, Archimedes as Aqua found out. "Two people can draw the Sword in the Stone?"
"Can Excalibur have two masters?" wondered one of the knights aloud.
"There's only one thing that can be done about this," snorted Ector. "Make the two fight, for the title King of England!"
Arthur paled in fright and Ven shook his head quickly, handing the boy the sword. "He can have it; I don't want to be King!"
"The sword has chosen you, and yet you don't want to be King? What madness is this?" A man objected loudly, every movement causing his ample belly to bounce.
Aqua spoke up now. "We're not from around here, it wouldn't—"
"Woman, hold your tongue! I was addressing the boy!"
Aqua bristled, trying to calm down before she sliced the arrogant knight to pieces. Ven wasn't anywhere near as tranquil, assuming a fighting stance and summoning his Keyblade.
"You can't talk to Aqua like that!" He growled, eyes narrowing to slits, his voice harsh with indignation, as if the insulting demand had been directed at him.
"What manner of sorcery is this?!" Ector cried, taking a step back. "He summons a sword from the very air itself!"
"We're Keybearers, and we're just looking for Merlin," Aqua stated patiently.
Arthur gasped. "Merlin? He was here, but he got mad at me over…over something, and now he's off somewhere."
"Why would you want that crackpot wizard for?" Ector inquired suspiciously. "Are you spies from another kingdom?"
"No, we're not spies!" Ven disagreed, twirling his Keyblade expertly just to show off his skill. To Arthur he asked, "Can you call Merlin back?"
Archimedes flapped his wings, looking down on everything with his big yellow eyes from the safety of the tree branches above their heads. "Merlin could probably hear Arthur's call, but I don't know if he would answer. Oh, pinfeathers! Where's the magician when you need him?"
Arthur was about to shout out Merlin's name, as if by doing so he could call him from nowhere, but Ector interrupted him. "Wart," he said with a strange calm. "Use the sword there to fight Ven. Whomever wins will become King of England."
"There will be a Tournament after all!" exclaimed a little girl in the crowd, causing a huge roar of joy to ripple throughout the spectators.
"What if I refuse?" Ven asked, folding his arms behind his head and dismissing his weapon in a flash of ivory radiance.
Aqua sighed, knowing they had somehow jeopardized this world's order. She just didn't really know what to do.
"Refusal will result…in…" Ector seemed unsure. Apparently no one could process why such a strong boy, obviously capable of taking care of himself, would not try to become King of England and ruler of Camelot. Especially since the competition was scrawny and young in comparison.
"We don't want to fight, right, Ven?" Aqua said at last, just to break the uneasy silence. The knights shuffled their feet.
Ven looked kindly at Arthur, who looked petrified at the thought of fighting the blonde apprentice. "Of course we don't," he said gently. "But Arthur, can you possibly find Merlin?"
"I'll try, but oh, I wish Merlin was here now. He'd know what to do," Arthur replied unhappily.
A puff of white smoke littered with glittering tendrils of multihued light unexpectedly materialized in the churchyard. Arthur and everyone else took several steps back, and when the fog cleared, a blue robed old man with a long white beard was standing there, glasses balanced on his nose.
"Merlin!" Archimedes flapped over to the magician and circled his head. "We're in quite a conundrum."
Merlin. It had taken Aqua a moment, but she remembered that had been the name of the magician Master Eraqus had sent Winnie the Pooh's book to.
"Oh, really? What now?" He huffed, crossing his thin arms and flicking his gaze from side to side, frowning. "You drew the sword, didn't you, Arthur?"
"Y-Yes, Merlin, but so did he." The boy pointed nervously to Ventus.
Ven put his hands up. "He can keep it! I don't want to be King! I'm not even a Keyblade Master yet!"
Merlin nodded thoughtfully, looking the Keybearers up and down. "Yes, yes. Let me see here. May I have the sword, Arthur?" Upon receiving Excalibur, the old man ignored the shocked looks from the crowd and ran his hand up and down the flat of the blade. "Ah-hah."
"Ah-hah?" Aqua and Ven echoed incredulously.
"Hah, Uther Pendragon, you scallywag, you." Merlin smiled, causing creases to appear near his eyes so that the bright blue orbs were almost completely gone. "It's a Heart of Light spell. Very tricky, very clever, very hard to perform and it takes an unbelievable amount of energy just to get started. I didn't know he had it in him! The old King must have had help."
"Uther? He's been dead for…for years!" An elderly gentleman stated, bemused.
"Yes, he has, but he's left his sword as a legacy. This Heart of Light spell has a setting, you see, and apparently both Ven here and Arthur either meet or beat its requirements." Merlin said distractedly, looking from the two boys to Aqua and back again.
Aqua tried to remember if they had ever told the magician Ven's name. "So, this Heart of Light spell is what kept the sword in the stone?"
"Ah, you catch on fast. That would be it!" Merlin sighed and wagged a stern finger at the Keybearers. "Aqua and Ventus, Eraqus sent you at a most unfortunate time. This is a turning point in Camelot's history, and you've gone and botched it up!"
Archimedes folded his wings and landed on Merlin's shoulder. "Hoo? Aqua and Ventus?"
"The water and air, the two I've been expecting for a bit. Or so I thought. Time spells always throw this old brain off. Oh, bother. Now we've got to straighten this out, or who knows what will happen? Arthur, Ven, come here, will you?"
The two stepped forward, with Ven throwing a bewildered look Aqua's way.
"Ven, step a bit to the side. There we go. Arthur, stand near that anvil. Good. Now, Ven, look straight at me. Perfect. Here we go…" Merlin removed a pouch from his belt and suddenly flung a gritty blue powder over both of the boys. Ven sputtered and coughed whilst Arthur sneezed so hard that his blonde hair flipped up.
"What's that?" Aqua asked, worried and a little nervous, dispelling the magic powder before it could reach her. It hit everyone in the clearing, spiraling outward from the middle, not affecting Merlin or his owl. Or the middle apprentice.
"You blocked it?" Merlin sounded impressed. "You're stronger than I thought. Magic in its physical form is hard to fend off…yes, you are most competent, Aqua. You messed with this world's order rather violently, though I suspect Eraqus may have planned this…yes I'm certain he did. No harm done, I suppose, if you still remember..."
Everyone else was standing sort of still, with dazed eyes and slack bodies. Aqua stepped to Ven's side and took his hand, squeezing it for a moment before lifting her eyes to Merlin. "How much will they forget?"
"Not really forget, per say. Mostly, I've edited a few things so that they think only Arthur can draw the sword, as Camelot's history should be." Merlin explained. "Don't worry about Ven's memories, the human mind has a remarkable habit of inventing plausible reasons to fill in the gaps. I assure you, nothing else was touched."
Aqua hesitated, and then thought that if Master Eraqus trusted Merlin, she could too. Removing the scroll from inside a pocket in her jacket, she handed it to the magician.
"Yes, I need to translate this. Thank you, Aqua." Merlin smiled at her, handing it to Archimedes to hold in one of his talons. "I won't mess with your memories if you play clueless, eh? Sound reasonable?"
Ven stirred and shook his head. "Huh? What happened?"
Aqua winked quickly at Merlin, then said to her friend, "We just gave Merlin the scroll. You were just telling me how cool it was to see Arthur draw that glowing sword from the anvil."
Ven blinked, and then grinned. "Oh, that's right! If we gave Merlin the scroll…" He stared stupidly at Merlin before scrunching his face up, deep in thought for a moment, trying to process his memories. "We can go now?"
"What, no exploring?" Aqua asked innocently.
"We promised Terra and the Master to be back as soon as possible. And my head hurts anyway." Ven noticed Aqua's grip on his hand from where she had grabbed it in her concern, she did too, and the pair quickly let go and stepped a safe distance away from the still confused crowd.
Aqua punched her shoulder piece. "Terra is probably getting impatient."
"Master Eraqus too," Ven agreed, doing the same.
Before she left with Ven into the white portal, she exclaimed, "All Hail King Arthur!"
The chant was quickly taken up by the milling group of people who wanted something to do, and then Aqua departed.
~***~
"Finally!" Terra complained as Ven and Aqua arrived in the entrance hall of the Castle in the Land of Departure. "I've been sitting here for two hours 'meditating on my inner light' or some load of—"
"Terra, my head hurts. Don't talk so loud." Ven interrupted, laughing at the older apprentice's annoyed look.
Master Eraqus stepped towards Aqua with his usual knowing smile. "Did it go well?"
"Yes, sir." Aqua replied respectfully.
"You did as I said and didn't delay?" From his facial expression, their answer was important.
Ven yawned. "Yeah, Master Eraqus. Completely boring delivery done successfully."
A twinkle of amusement appeared in their Master's eyes. "Well, I'll make your next mission more exciting, shall I?"
"Mine too," Terra added.
"Oh, hush." Ven laughed, grinning cheekily.
"Well fine." A huff from the eldest protégé. "Aqua, what happened? Anything interesting?"
Aqua patted Terra's shoulder as she passed, heading for her room. "Nothing important that I can remember."
~***~
I know Merlin is in BBS—(I think?)—so they probably shouldn't know him yet. Right. Ignore this little one-shot, it wasn't my idea, it was my brother's. It's hard to leave Merlin out of the world he belongs in.
I never saw the Sword in the Stone. I'm sure everyone is atrociously OOC. My bad.
Anyway, want to drop a review? They're going to the Pridelands next, and I'm going to mix two of my reviewers'—I love you guys XD—ideas together for the next one-shot.
Happy Valentine's Day!