Chapter 20 A New Friend
"I dunno about this Riku," Sora says as he looks up at the tall mountain.
"Don't be such a baby Sora," Riku says impatiently. "It's not even that tall." Without another word, Riku walks over with a determined expression to the beginning of the path at the mountain base. He looks up at the winding path that stretches up the side of the mountain higher than he can see. Riku glances back at Sora to see him sigh in acceptance and run over to him.
"I'm not a baby," Sora says under his breath, but Riku ignores him starting to walk up the path with Sora right at his side. At first they move quickly, curious to see everything. Unfortunately there is nothing to see but a lot of rocks. "This is boring Riku," Sora complains dragging his feet. "There isn't anything cool up here. Let's go back."
Riku stops and looks over at Sora with a disappointed expression. "I guess you're right," Riku admits. He begins to walk back down the path, but after a couple steps he realizes Sora is no longer with him. "Sora?" He says looking back over his shoulder. Sora hadn't turned around and was instead craning his neck to look around the next bend in the path. "Sora, what are you doing?" Riku asks. "You said you wanted to go back."
"Riku look," Sora says pointing up the path. Riku follows Sora's hand and frowns.
"I don't see anything."
"There's something there!" Sora says excitedly, running forward, and forcing Riku to run after him. The path levels out and they are standing on a small plateau on the mountainside. Riku moves to the edge looking down at the forest floor below. Looking out from this height, the spires of MEKA are at eye level. Riku looks in wonder. He has never been this high off the ground.
"Riku!" Sora calls and Riku turns to see him waving him over by a wide crack in the mountainside. From far away, the opening looks too small for anyone to fit in, but as Riku gets closer he can see that a grown man could easily fit through. "It's a cave!" Sora exclaims.
"Where does it go?" Riku asks peering into the dark opening.
"I dunno," Sora replies also sticking his head in. "Do you think a monster lives in there?"
"Maybe," Riku says. "Let's go look." Without waiting for Sora to reply, Riku steps into the cave and makes his way quietly inside.
"W-wait up Riku," Sora says scrambling to keep up.
"Shh Sora," Riku says turning to look back at him for a moment. "You're going to wake the monster."
A few more shuffling steps in silence, and they walk into a small circular cavern softly lit by a lantern on the opposite wall. "Does someone live here?" Sora asks looking around. A low bed against one wall and a table in the center with a single chair are the only furnishings, but the bed looks slept in and dirty dishes from breakfast are still on the table. "Riku, who lives here?" Sora asks.
"I dunno," Riku says walking around the small room. "I wonder where they went. Oh!" Riku turns back towards the entrance and sees an old, bald man with glaring yellow eyes staring at him and Sora from the doorway.
Sora and Riku both freeze in surprise, before moving closer together with guilty expressions. "I think he lives here Riku," Sora says quietly, but not quietly enough.
"Yes, I do live here," the man says in a rasping voice and both Sora and Riku jump slightly. "Now what are you doing here?"
Riku shrugs. "We were looking for a monster. Monsters live in caves."
The man cackles. "Is that a fact? Then what does that make me? I live in a cave." He laughs again.
Sora laughs as well. "You're not a monster," he says with a smile. "You're a person. People can't be monsters."
The man moves closer and looks down at Sora. "How old are you?"
"Four," Sora says. "But I'm almost five!"
The man nods and strokes the goatee on his chin. "Too young to understand," he muses to himself. "The worst monsters arepeople." The loud enough for the two boys to hear him, "What are your names?"
"I'm Sora and he's Riku," Sora says at once. "What's your name?"
"My name is Xehanort," Xehanort says leering at Sora.
Sora tilts his head slightly. "That's a funny name."
Xehanort ignores his comment and asks, "Do you two live at MEKA?"
"Yep," Riku says. "With Terra and Aqua and Ven and Master Eraqus."
"Why do you live here all alone, Mr. Xenor- Xehasnor- Xehan- Xehan- Mr. Nort?" Sora says struggling on Xehanort's name.
"I prefer to be alone," Xehanort says.
"Oh," Sora says, kicking at the dirt floor.
"We should go back, Sora," Riku says. "We have lessons. G'bye Mr. Nort."
"Ok, bye Mr. Nort," Sora says with a wave. He and Riku move to walk out of the cave when Xehanort stops them.
"One moment boys," Xehanort says. They stop and look up at him. "I think it would be best if you do not tell Eraqus or the others that I am here."
"Why not?" RIku asks.
"This cave isn't very big. If you tell everyone else about this place they will all want to come and where would they all sit?" Xehanort says gesturing around at the sparse furnishings. "We should just keep this a secret between the three of us."
"I'm the bestest secret keeper," Sora says excitedly.
Xehanort laughs. "Good, good. Goodbye for now, but stop by anytime you want."
"Ok!" Both Sora and Riku say with identical grins. With a final wave, they run out of the cave and back down the mountain path. Panting, they burst through the doors of the castle and nearly collide with Master Eraqus.
"Woah, slow down boys," Master Eraqus says with a smile. "I was just about to come looking for you. What were you doing outside?" Sora and Riku exchange a glance with each other.
"Nothing!"
…
Ven ran down another white staircase to find himself in another white corridor identical to the one a floor above. Without pausing, he sprinted down the hallway glancing over his shoulder for signs of pursuit, but there was no one. Another staircase, another white hallway. Ven knew someone was chasing him, but each time he looked back he was alone.
Alone. Alone. Completely alone.
"Terra! Aqua! Master Eraqus! Sora! Riku!" He shouted, but only his echoes answered.
Another staircase, but Ven didn't see it. He tumbled down, landing hard on his shoulder. Groaning, he rolled onto his back holding his shoulder. All his urgency was gone. Whatever was chasing him could catch him, he didn't care.
A slight sound made him turn his head. He wasn't alone. Another boy stood with his back to him. A boy with long black hair.
"Who...?" Ven said slowly pushing himself back to his feet. The boy turned. Ven gasped. "Zack?"
"Where are you Ven?" Zack asked in a sad voice looking right through him.
"I'm right here Zack," Ven said, confused. Zack didn't hear him. He turned his back to Ven once more and began to walk away. "Wait Zack!" Ven called racing after him. "Zack! Zack!"
Ven caught up to him. He reached out to grab his arm and turn him around, but as his hand closed around Zack's wrist, Zack faded away like a ghost. "What...?" Ven said looking around. "Zack! Zack!" The walls were fading. The ceiling. The floor. Everything was turning black.
"Zack!" Ven called now feeling scared. "Zack!"
"Is someone having a big boy dream?"
Ven's eyes shoot open at the voice in his ear, and he sits up with a gasp. It takes him a moment to recognize where he is. He is still on the beach where he had fallen asleep except now the sun has risen and is gleaming off the clear blue water. Laughter behind him makes him turn around to see Terra crouched in the sand with a triumphant smile.
"What did you say?" Ven demands.
"I just wanted to know what you were dreaming about," Terra says shrugging. "You just kept moaning 'Zack, Zack' over and over. Must have been a great dream."
"Shut up, Terra," Ven says. The blush on Ven's cheeks only makes Terra smirk. "It wasn't anything like that anyways," Ven snaps.
"Oh? Then what was it about?" Terra asks raising an eyebrow.
"It was about..." Ven says then pauses, thinking hard. "I don't remember now. But it felt...so real." He looks over to see Terra still smirking at him. Ven rolls his eyes seeing that nothing he says will get Terra's mind out of the gutter. "So where's Aqua?" Ven asks changing the topic. He stands shielding his eyes from the sun to look down the beach for her.
"She'll be back soon," Terra says without really answering the question. "Here," he says handing Ven a bowl of oatmeal. "It's probably cold, but that's what you get for not getting up on time for breakfast."
Ven takes it without complaint. As he eats he racks his brain, trying to remember what his dream had been about. All he can come up with is the color white and an image of Zack with a depressed expression.
"There she is," Terra says catching Ven's attention. He points out at the water, and Ven squints to see a small sailboat speeding towards them with Aqua at the bow.
Ven and Terra pack up the small campsite quickly, and head to the edge of the water to wait for her. As she approaches, Ven notices that she is doing nothing but standing there, and yet the boat is quickly cutting through the water. "How is she doing that?" Ven asks Terra.
Terra frowns. "It's a spell she learned to control sailboats. Master Eraqus told you there is more magic than just the basic elemental spells, right?" Ven nods. "I don't remember where she learned that. Aqua!" He catches her attention as she brings the boat in. She looks up questioningly at him as the boat beaches itself in the shallow water. "Where'd you learn that spell again?"
She beckons for them to climb aboard and they wade through the shallow water before pulling themselves up on deck. "I learned it from a boy named Percy," she says. "The world was called Camp Half-Blood I think."
"How does it work?" Ven asks curiously.
"Like this," Aqua says raising her hands slightly "Mizzenmast!" At once all the ropes and pulleys on the small craft pull tight and the sail fills with wind pulling them out to sea.
"Cool!" Ven says running to the bow to look out at the water as the boat picks up speed, heading out towards open water. He sneakily looks back to see Terra give Aqua a quick kiss on her cheek. Turning his eyes back to the wave, Ven shakes his head and smiles to himself. Those two think they are being so sneaky, but Ven knows their secret, and he is patient. He will wait for the perfect moment to confront them. And the looks on their faces are going to be priceless.
…
Ven sits sulking on the bow, straddling the very tip of the boat and letting his bare toes skim the waves that were crashing against the bow. They had been on this boat for hours. Noon had come and gone with a poor lunch of stale, day old sandwiches. Ven is sunburned and his eyes sting from staring at the water reflecting the bright sunlight. To add to his uncomfortableness, the constant slap of the waves on the hull is slowly driving him insane.
"Maybe there really isn't a sea monster," Ven says over his shoulder unable to stand the silence any longer. "Maybe that letter was just some asshole's idea of a funny prank."
Aqua and Terra look over at him. They are both sitting on opposite edges of the boat scanning the ocean for any signs of the supposed sea monster. "Maybe," Aqua says with a sigh. "But Master Eraqus seemed to think it was a serious emergency. We have to keep looking to make sure."
Grumbling, Ven turns back to stare at the empty ocean again. He shifts uncomfortably on the hard wood of the bow as he feels his left butt cheek fall asleep. "Ugh, I can't sit here any longer," Ven says to himself. Carefully, with his arms out for balance, he stands on the edge of the bow feeling the breeze trying to push him off. He goes to step back to a safer position, but there is something holding him in place. "What the...?" He says looking down to see a thin gray tentacle wrapped around his ankle.
The tentacle pulls, hard. Before he knows what happened, Ven finds himself suddenly underwater, being dragged towards the ocean floor by his captured ankle. Forcing his eyes open despite the salt water, he looks down to see nothing but dark water below him. The other end of the tentacle gripping his ankle is somewhere down there, but he can't see it. Instead he has to focus on what he can see. First he tries to pull the tentacle off with his hands, but it is too strong. His chest hurts from not being able to breathe and the farther he lets himself be pulled down the less of a chance that he would have enough air to make it back to the surface again. Fighting off dark thoughts and the panic threatening to take over, Ven summons his keyblade. The water slows down his swing, but he is still powerful enough to slice through the tentacle in one cut. Free, Ven wastes no time dismissing his keyblade and swimming with all his might. With his lungs burning, he breaks the surface shaking his wet hair out of his face.
"Ven!"
Treading water, Ven looks around spotting the boat with Terra and Aqua leaning over the bow. "Stop messing around Ven!" Terra shouts. "You scared the crap out of us."
"I'm not messing around!" Ven shouts back swimming towards them. "There is a sea monster. It-"
Another gray tentacle, much thicker than the other one, shoots out of the water, and wraps around Ven's torso. Ven just has time to see his friend's expressions of shock and horror before he sucks in one final deep breath and is pulled underwater once more. Wasting no time, Ven summons his keyblade, and tries the same thing he had done before. However, this tentacle is much thicker than it's predecessor, and Ven has almost no leverage to put behind his swings in his current position. The little cuts he gets on the big tentacle do nothing to stop it and only seem to hasten his descent. He keeps hacking at it desperately, but in less than a minute it has dragged him all the way to the ocean floor where he can finally see his adversary face to face. Except the monster doesn't have a face.
Ven stares in horror. The tentacle holding him connects in a tangled mess to dozens of other tentacles including the other one that had first grabbed him. On top of the mess of tentacles is the 'head' of the beast if it can even be called that. It is a bloated gray sack with a single gaping maw in the center. Looking closely, Ven can see three lines of razor sharp teeth in the black hole. As he is dragged towards the mouth, he can't help but scream. He stops quickly seeing several bubbles of his precious little air float away from him. Forcing himself to calm, Ven looks critically at the monster and then down at the keyblade in his hand. The monster has no eyes, it can't see the weapon in his hand. It won't be able to see this coming.
Now determined, Ven waits ignoring his burning lungs. The tentacle brings him closer and closer to the black maw, but once he gets close enough, Ven stabs forward. He drives his keyblade into the soft flesh just above the terrifying mouth. As he pulls his keyblade back out, the water shakes from the silent howl of the monster. The tentacle around him tightens and begins to pull him away, but not before Ven stabs forward again. Again his keyblade sinks in and another howl reverberates through the water. One more stab finishes it off. The howling stops and the tentacle around him loosens.
Struggling hard against the dead monster's grip, Ven is able to pull himself free and kicks towards the surface knowing he will never make it. He lets his keyblade disappear and begins to swim as fast as he can, but his body is betraying him. The dark water around him seems to be seeping into his mind, and without meaning to he opens his mouth.
Water rushes in as his mind screams for him to keep going. But his body doesn't move. He had made it far enough to see the light of the surface, but the black water is calling him back down and he is falling. For a moment, the light of the surface is blocked, but before he can figure out what caused the shadow, everything goes black.
Cliffhangers are just so much fun!
Fun Fact: I originally wrote this scene with the sea monster for the novel I'm writing, but it had to be taken out. So I recycled it and used it in this story.
Yay for Sora and Riku making a new friend! Mr. Nort! XD It makes him sound so much less evil.
SnowKawasagi: I wonder why you couldn't post a review...whatever, FanFiction is just weird sometimes. No TerraxAqua in this chapter really, but I promise there will be plenty in the coming chapters. Shhh don't tell Master Eraqus. It's a secret :)
Mexi: You called it. King Triton is the king that wrote the letter. He'll make his appearance next chapter. He might seem kind of OOC, but by the end of the story he will change to be more like he is in the game.
MLSoT: I guess from your reaction that last chapter was fluffy enough for you. More fluff to come!
Can you believe this is the 20th chapter?! It seems crazy to me. And now I'm gonna start cranking out chapters even faster 'cause school ended today. WOOOOOOOO! Well I'm off to go burn all my school stuff. Next chapter is coming soon!
P.S. My birthday is this weekend and I think reviews would make the perfect present...