Chapter 21 Let Me Out
Ven can feel himself falling through water, falling down, down, down. Slowly, he opens his eyes as his body turns so his legs are under him and blinks in surprise as he finds despite being underwater he can breathe. Ven's feet come in contact with the ground and he lands gently looking around. It is eerie, dark, and he is alone.
Confused, he takes a step forward, and looks down in surprise as a crack of light appears under his foot. Suddenly, from covering the ground, birds take flight and Ven covers his face in surprise. Ven slowly lowers his arms as the birds disappear into the dark leaving him alone once more, standing on a now brightly glowing platform. Looking under his feet, Ven's eyes widen in shock as he takes in the beautiful stained glass mosaic he is standing on. A larger than life image of himself sleeps against the edge of the circle. In his hand is his keyblade pointed across the platform. In the middle, his keyblade crosses another, this one bulky and darker. Following that keyblade with his eyes, he traces it back to it's wielder. In a similar position to Ven, but across the platform, there is an image of another boy sleeping. His entire body is covered in a red and black bodysuit, and his head is encased in a faceless black mask.
Ven tears his eyes away from masked boy and examines the rest of the stained glass image. Behind the crossed keyblades, is a landscape Ven has never seen before. Huge mountains of red rock tower above the barren ground riddled with what appears to be keyblades stuck blade first into the rock bed. In the sky of the image is a heart shaped moon giving off an eerie blue glow. Afraid of disturbing the perfect silence of the platform, Ven carefully takes a step forward only to stop short at a voice.
Let me out.
Whirling around, Ven summons his keyblade, his eyes darting around to find the one who had spoken. No one is there.
Let me out.
This time Ven looks up, sure the voice had come from above him this time. No one is there.
A rumble from behind, makes him turn quickly falling into a battle stance. Stairs have suddenly appeared at the other end of the station leading up to another station that has just risen up out of the darkness. With his keyblade held out in front of him, Ven warily approaches the stairs and begins to climb without a glance back. The only sound as he climbs is his own footsteps and he looks up when he reaches the next station.
The image here is different; 13 circles of dark red on one side and 7 circles of light blue on the other. Stenciled over the opposing circles is the outline of the strangest keyblade Ven has ever seen, and although he is sure he has never seen anything like it, it is familiar.
X-blade
That voice again! It echoes all around making him spin in circles looking for the source.
X-blade. X-blade. X-blade. X-blade.
"Show your self!" Ven shouts angrily. "Who are you?"
Come closer.
A spotlight falls on the far side of the station. Ven cranes his neck trying to see the source, but it is too high. His eyes staring up, Ven walks forward slowly feeling the warm light envelope him.
The closer you get to the light, the greater your shadow becomes.
The voice may have been without feeling before, but now Ven could hear dark glee in its words. Looking back over his shoulder, Ven sees that his shadow is indeed huge now. His breath catches in his throat as his shadow begins to peel itself off the stained glass floor and slowly stands. Ven's mouth drops open in shock as he stares at none other than the same kind of heartless that had killed Tay. Fear and shock freezes him in place even as the towering heartless bends down and strikes at him with one of its hands.
Move!
Ven is jerked out of his stupor by the voice and he dives forward, rolling out of the way just before the heartless' huge hand slams into the spot he had been standing moments before. Getting back to his feet, Ven adjusts his grip on his keyblade and glares at the heartless. He had defeated one just like it before, he can do it again.
As the heartless straightens up, he charges forward and leaps onto the hand still close to the ground. As soon as he lands he jumps again launching himself up into the air. He reaches eye level with the heartless and with two hands he swings his keyblade over head and slams it down on the heartless' face. It stumbles back, but Ven doesn't stop. Caught up in the sudden fury that had taken him over, he viciously strikes the heartless that killed his best friend. The momentum of each hit keeps him in the air and it isn't until the heartless raises one large hand to swat at him that he lets himself fall back to the ground.
Embrace your anger.
Ignoring the voice, Ven charges the heartless as it falls to its knees. Thinking he had weakened it, Ven jumps forward with his keyblade out to strike it in the chest. However, the heartless is just preparing for its next attack. Ven is caught off guard when a ball of darkness bursts out of the heart shaped hole in the center of the heartless' chest. The ball slams into him sending him tumbling back and his keyblade flying out of his hand. He lands hard on his back on the stained glass and grimaces in pain as he pushes himself back onto his feet. As soon as he is back upright, he is forced to dive back to the ground as another ball of darkness nearly hits him again.
On his stomach, Ven looks up to see his keyblade stabbed into the ground halfway between him and the heartless. Ven pulls himself towards it in an army crawl repeatedly having to duck his head and roll quickly to avoid the balls of darkness the heartless keeps shooting at him. When he gets within a few feet, he jumps up and sprints to his keyblade. As he races towards his keyblade, the heartless sends out another ball of darkness that locks on to him and flies right at him. With a final burst of speed, Ven dives forward grabbing his keyblade by the hilt and yanking it out of the ground. Doing so, he flips over and when he comes back to facing forward the ball of darkness is nearly on top of him. Ven slashes horizontally at it just before it hits him and sends it back at the heartless, striking it right in the chest.
As Ven lands on his feet, the heartless falls on it's face. It lies unmoving and Ven cautiously approaches.
You are stronger than I thought you were going to be, but you need to be stronger Ven.
Ven stops in his tracks at the voice. "Show yourself you coward!" He shouts. "Who the hell are you and how do you know my name?"
The voice just laughs.
"Shut up!"
Let me out and I will show you true strength.
"I said shut up," Ven yells clenching his hand around his keyblade. "I don't know who you are or what you want, but I'm not doing anything you say."
For now. But what about when you need me? When your friends are in danger?
"Are you threatening my friends? Big mistake."
How can I threaten your friends, idiot? I'm stuck in here. No, just remember I'm here when you realize how weak you are.
"I'm not weak!" Ven shouts, but there is no response. "Hey! I'm talking to you! Who are you?"
There is no response and Ven sighs giving up on talking to the voice. He turns back to the heartless to see it getting up once again. It raises its hand to swipe at him and he readies himself.
Vanitas.
The voice is suddenly right in his ear, and Ven jumps in surprise looking for the source. By the time he turns back to the heartless he has no time to block the attack, and the large hand hits him in the side knocking him back to the edge of the station. As his body slides off the edge of the platform, he tries to hold on, but he can't find a grip and with a scream he falls into the darkness. As the platform disappears into the darkness, he can hear the same insane laugh of the voice mocking him until it fades away, replaced by another voice.
"C'mon. C'mon Ven. Wake up."
Terra's voice seems to be coming from so far away. It draws him back out of the darkness. As Ven comes back to his senses he can feel something press down on his stomach, and water seems to spew out of him from everywhere. For a moment, the flow stops and he sucks in a deep breath, then the pressure on his stomach returns. He retches, and water pours out of his mouth and nose once more. Coughing and taking in huge gulps of air, Ven opens his eyes blearily blinking in the bright sunlight. Turning his head slightly, he sees Terra press on his stomach again, and water rushes out once more, but not quite as much.
Still coughing, Ven pushes himself half into a sitting position. The sun is suddenly blocked, and he looks up to see Aqua standing over him, her eyes shining with worry. "Oh Ven, thank god!" She says putting her hands on his shoulders to keep him from getting up. "Are you hurt? Are you alright?" Ven just stares back at her unable to come up with any words. "Ven?"
"I...I," Ven tries to say, but his mind is moving so sluggishly, like it is waterlogged. "I think...I'm going to be sick."
Now sure that he is about to puke, Ven pushes away Aqua's hands and gets unsteadily to his feet. In a couple stumbling steps, he makes it the side of the boat, and clutching the railing, he heaves over the side spewing out the rest of the water and what remains of his lunch. He can feel Aqua rubbing his back soothingly, and he continues to retch until his stomach is completely empty. He remains hunched over the side for a few moments trying to regain his breath, then turns and collapses to the deck leaning back against the side with a groan.
Terra and Aqua both crouch next to him frowning in worry. "What was that thing?" He asks them tiredly. "It was huge. With all these teeth, and no eyes. No eyes!" Closing his own eyes, Ven holds his head and mumbles, "Well whatever it was, it's dead now."
"And that is indeed reason to celebrate."
Ven removes his hand from his head and opens his eyes in surprise. He looks around to see who spoke, but there is no one besides Terra and Aqua. "Who?" He asks confused.
Terra smiles. "Are you strong enough to get up Ven?" Ven nods and lets Terra pull him to his feet. Terra leads him to the bow of the boat saying, "Ven I would like you to meet, King Triton, Ruler of the Sea. I think you need to give him your thanks for saving you."
Looking over the edge of the boat, Ven stares in surprise at the bare chested man in the water. His hair and beard are soft brown and bushy, hanging draped over his shoulders. Set on his head is a golden crown. His hair along with his dark serious eyes gives him the aura of power and majesty, but seeing Ven his stoic face face breaks into a kind smile. "I am happy to see you conscious lad."
"You and me both sir," Ven says. "Thank you for saving me."
"It is I who should be thanking you," King Triton says. "That monster has been a threat for too long. Too many of my best soldiers have been sent to Davy Jones' Locker by that blasted thing. But you, my boy, have saved us."
"Us?" Ven asks curiously.
King Triton smiles. "Yes, my kingdom is eternally grateful for your help. My call for assistance from the keyblade wielders at the time felt like a long shot, but you came and brought the end to that monster's reign of terror."
As the king speaks, small splashes makes Ven look around to see in surprise that several others have joined King Triton in floating in the water. All eyes are on him and the adoration on each of their faces makes Ven feel uncomfortable all of a sudden. Trying to relax, Ven puts his hands behind his head and leans back. "So...uh...you were the king who sent the letter," Ven says not knowing what to say. He glances around again and swears there are more people in the water now.
"Indeed," King Triton says as a woman moves to his side. Her long auburn hair is held back out of her face by an elegant version of King Triton's crown. She flashes Ven a beautiful smile as she wraps an arm around King Triton and he wraps one around her.
"Is this him Triton?" She asks and King Triton nods. "But he is only a child!"
"A child he may be, but he has the strength of the ancient heroes," Triton says in reply and Ven blinks in surprise at the compliment. "It is not age, but strength of heart that defines us."
"I agree," the woman says softly to Triton, then turning to Ven, "I did not intend to insult you."
"Oh, it's okay," Ven says.
"And I did not catch your name."
"I'm Ventus," Ven says. "Call me Ven."
"Well Ven, it is very nice to meet you. I am Queen Athena," Queen Athena says.
"Mommy! Mommy! Look what I found!" A young girl pops out of the water in a spray of water and bright red hair. Clutched in her hand is a corked bottle with what appears to be a piece of paper sealed inside. "It was just floating around and I found it," she says excitedly holding it out for Queen Athena to see.
"Ariel," King Triton says in a stern voice. "How many times do I have to tell you that you mustn't take things from the human world."
Pouting, Ariel reluctantly hands the bottle over to her father who in turn hands it to a surprised Ven. "King Triton, this isn't mine."
"But it is from the outside world, like you," King Triton says. "It does not belong in my ocean."
Not sure what to say, Ven just stands there rolling the glass bottle between his hands, curious to see what is inside. Thankfully, Aqua breaks the increasingly awkward silence saying, "We should be returning home."
"Thank you again for your assistance keyblade wielders," King Triton says.
"If you ever require our assistance again you know how to reach us," Terra says and King Triton nods.
"Goodbye and thank you," Queen Athena says as Aqua casts her spell once more and directs the boat back in the direction of the far off shore. Looking back, Ven gives a small wave and the young red hair Ariel waves energetically back. As they retreat farther and farther into the distance, Ven continues to watch them. One by one they dive back underwater, and as they do so, sunlight catches the scales of their tails.
"Fish people?" Ven says in wonder.
"Merpeople to be politically correct," Terra replies. "You're telling me you didn't notice that entire time that you were talking to a merman."
"No," Ven says quietly. "I guess that explains a lot."
Terra just shakes his head with a smile. "You never did apologize for puking in their home."
"What do you- Oh my god," Ven looks back at the ocean horrified. "You're right. I didn't even think about- That's so gross!" Ven buries his face his hands in embarrassment trying to ignore Terra as he laughs his head off.
…
"What the hell?" Ven says as he walks into the sitting room back home. All the furniture in the room had been pushed out of place and three different colored sheets had been hung to create a tent that took up the entire room. Terra and Aqua join him as Sora pops his head out through the gap between two of the sheets.
"You're back!" Sora shouts excitedly before disappearing back into the tent. "They're back!" They can hear him shout and after a moment the sheet is pulled open again and this time Master Eraqus and Riku join Sora in grinning up at the trio.
"We built a fort!" Riku says smugly.
"Sweet!" Ven says and pushes the bottle he had been holding into Terra's hands. Master Eraqus, Sora, and Riku all quickly move out of the way as Ven dives into their fort landing on the pillows spread out inside. Sora makes the mistake of moving too close to him, and Ven grabs him pulling him into a smothering hug.
Sora shrieks and tries to pull away. "Ven! You're all wet! Let go! Lemme go!" When Ven releases him, Sora pouts and sticks his tongue out at him.
"How did you get soaked Ventus?" Master Eraqus asks with a frown.
"Ven decided to go for a little swim," Terra says from outside the fort.
"Oh very funny Terra," Ven says sitting up to glare at him. Terra and Aqua are crouched at the front of the fort holding open the sheets.
"Ven you should go change into dry clothes," Aqua says.
"Later Aqua," Ven says waving her off and falling back on the pillows with a sigh.
Aqua makes a move like she is going to go in and drag him out, but Riku crawls over to her. "No girls allowed!"
Aqua looks at him with an indignant expression. Ven bursts out laughing. "Yeah! No girls allowed! I don't think I'm ever coming out of here!"
Straightening up, Aqua stalks away from the fort and the laughs coming from inside with her head held high. Terra glances between the fort and Aqua before getting up and following her out of the room. She slips out the front doors of the castle and he hastily follows her.
Stepping outside, he looks around, but doesn't see where she went. Frowning, he opens his mouth to call out to her when,
"Boo!"
Terra jumps and whirls around to find Aqua giggling at his surprised expression. She had been hiding behind the doors he had just swung open, and as she steps forward, she closes the doors with a soft click. "Gotcha," she says with a grin.
"Looks like you did," Terra says moving closer. "You got me all alone with the others on the other side of this closed door."
"Just what I wanted," Aqua whispers interlocking her fingers with Terra's. He leans down and pulls her into a deep kiss that takes her breath away. Pulling away for only long enough to take another deep breath, Aqua takes her hands out of Terra's and instead wraps them around his neck as she kisses him again. Terra's hands rest on her hips pulling her right up against him.
"Mmm...Terra," Aqua says breaking away for a moment. "Something's poking me."
"Oh it's that stupid bottle," Terra says reaching into his pocket and pulling out the bottle Ven had thrust into his hands.
"I wonder what's inside it," Aqua says taking it from him.
"I don't know..." Terra says without much thought. He pulls her back into a kiss and she kisses back for a moment before pulling away.
"Let's take a look," Aqua says and with a sigh of acceptance Terra takes a step back. She inspects the bottle for a moment before turning it and tugging at the corked end. The cork doesn't budge and frowning she tries again. Watching her struggle, Terra holds out his hand. With another failed attempt to open it, Aqua gives up and hands it over. Terra tugs hard and the cork comes out with a pop. "I loosened it," Aqua says.
Rolling his eyes, Terra hands her back the now open bottle without a word. Shaking the bottle, Aqua reaches a finger into the slender neck and succeeds with some difficulty at extracting the piece of paper. As she unfurls it, Terra moves to stand next to her, and she holds it out for both of them to see. There are no words, just pictures in light pastel colors. "Uh...what's it supposed to be?" Terra asks Aqua.
"Well...these animals look familiar," Aqua says racking her brain. "Oh!" She exclaims. "It's the same animals that were on that book we had to return to Merlin in Traverse Town."
"So it is one of the missing pages?" Terra says looking at the ripped edge of the paper. "Didn't Master Eraqus say that the book could be magical if the pages were put back in?"
"You're right! Let's go show him," Aqua says before hurrying back into the castle with Terra close behind. They enter the sitting room again as Master Eraqus climbs out of the fort and straightens up stretching. Catching sight of them, he smiles and puts his finger to his lips. Curious, they walk over and he lifts the sheet up so Terra and Aqua can peek in.
Ven is sprawled out on top of most of the pillows and snoring softly. Both Sora and Riku are curled up next to him each resting their heads on pillows they had placed on Ven's stomach to protect themselves from Ven's wet clothes. "I guess Ven isn't the only one who has had a long day," Terra whispers as he and Aqua draw back. Master Eraqus lets the sheet fall back in place and beckons his two students to follow him. Quietly, they slip out of the room and into the kitchen.
"So I assume you found the monster terrorizing Atlantica?" Master Eraqus prompts Terra and Aqua as he begins to prepare a cup of tea.
"Actually, Ven is the one who found it," Aqua says. "Or, I guess, it found him." Aqua continues telling Master Eraqus about their adventures in Atlantica starting with King Thomas. She avoids mentioning what happened on the beach saying that they all just fell asleep quickly. When it came to telling Master Eraqus about Ven being pulled overboard by the sea monster, Aqua tried her best to be brief and not make it sound as terrifying as it had been for her and Terra. Still, Master Eraqus' face paled as she recounted the moment King Triton had surfaced with Ven in his arms, unconscious and not breathing. She quickly soothed him saying how quickly they were able to wake him and explaining the conversation with King Triton.
"Terra and I discovered this in the bottle he gave us," Aqua says handing Master Eraqus the paper. He glances it over quickly as Aqua continues. "It looks kinda like the book we returned to Merlin."
"Indeed it does," Master Eraqus says. "I am almost certain it came from that same book." He thinks for a moment before continuing. "I must meet with him and show this to him. We can all go. I know you want to see the friends you made while you were there again."
"That sounds like a great idea," Terra says with a smile. "I'm sure Ven, Sora, and Riku will appreciate a relaxing day."
"Alright," Master Eraqus says finishing off the last of his tea. "It is settled. We will leave first thing tomorrow."
Dream for Tonight: You get full credit for the dive to the heart scene at the beginning of this chapter. I hadn't even thought of doing that, but when you said that I was like genius! So I hope you liked it.
MLSoT: Don't bite me! I updated!
Zephyr26: Don't worry. Zack will be back real soon, and I'm planning on making it rain fluff when they meet again.
Yay! Ven's alive! And we're goin' to Traverse Town again which I'm sure you are all going to LOVE. Just wait, you'll love it. But, before that it's time to turn our attention back to Carinol 'cause Braig has been busy and is about to find out all about Keric.
Birthday wishes were much appreciated :) I got everything I wanted for my b-day and being just an average teenager that means I got money and a pre-order of KH 1.5!
Atra gülai un ilian tauthr ono un atra ono waíse sköliro frá rauthr.