Chapter 31 The Deepest Darkness

Ven is awakened by a knocking on his bedroom door. "What?" He groans softly. The knocking persists, and with another annoyed groan he rolls out of bed and slowly makes his way to the door. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he throws the door open and asks rudely, "What the hell do you want?"

"Well good morning to you too sunshine," Terra replies. He and Aqua are standing outside his door already dressed and with amused smiles. Ven glares back.

"Can we come in?" Aqua asks.

"Whatever," Ven says walking back over to his bed and sitting down. Terra and Aqua follow him in and shut the door behind them. "What time is it?" He asks with a yawn.

"7:30," Aqua replies. "Master Eraqus wants to leave by 8." Ven just grunts and lowers his head to glare at the floor.

"Whatever stupid thing you are thinking about, don't do it," Terra says and Ven raises his eyes in surprise. Terra rolls his eyes. "We know you Ven."

"What Terra is trying to say," Aqua says slapping Terra's arm playfully. "Is we don't want you to do anything rash or dangerous because you are angry at Master Eraqus. Just do what he asks, and let us take care of this."

"Whose side are you on anyways?" Ven asks angrily.

Aqua sighs. "There are no sides Ven."

"Look Ven," Terra says. "I get your whole 'I don't want to be treated like a child' thing, but I just have to point out that you don't know what's going on." Before Ven can snap in retort, Terra continues. "We," he says indicating himself and Aqua. "Don't know what's going on either. Master Eraqus is the only one who seems to know the whole story, so we have to trust him."

"I don't trust him anymore," Ven says quietly echoing his parting words from the night before.

After a pause, Aqua asks, "Do you trust us?" Ven nods. "Then please let us take care of the situation in Carinol."

"It's only one day," Terra adds. "You can survive one day of sitting on the sidelines Ven."

Ven doesn't reply and returns to glaring at the floor. Aqua glances at the clock on his nightstand. "We have to get Sora and Riku up," Aqua says to Ven. "Be downstairs in twenty minutes." She waits, but Ven gives no response. She looks to Terra who gives her a shrug, and they exit Ven's room leaving him to his own thoughts.

…

"Are we going to use gliders or a light corridor?" Aqua asks Master Eraqus as he joins the five apprentices outside.

"Gliders," Master Eraqus replies. "As I said yesterday, using light corridors too often is dangerous. Ventus traveled through them four times yesterday. It will be better to use the gliders."

Ven is purposefully looking away from everyone, glaring at the sky, until he feels a tugging on his sleeve. Looking down, his expression softens seeing Sora smiling up at him. "Can I ride with you?"

Ven smiles slightly back. "Yeah, I have no problem with that."

"Yes!" Sora says before running over to Terra to get his helmet. The older keyblade wielders activate their armor and summon their gliders. Sora runs back over to Ven with his too large helmet bouncing on his shoulders.

Ven crouches down. "Jump on my back little man." Sora happily climbs up onto Ven's back, adjusting himself until he finds a comfortable spot on his hard armor. Sora wraps his arms around Ven's neck and Ven holds his legs securely. He steps onto his glider, spreading his feet apart to find his balance. The others also mount their gliders, Riku sitting in front of Terra on his, and Master Eraqus leads them up and away from the Land of Departure in the direction of Disney Castle.

…

The first thing that strikes Ven is how colorful everything is. The courtyard they are standing in is bright and vibrant with millions of flowers every color of the rainbow creating beautiful patterns between the overly large hedges. Each hedge is trimmed differently and with such care that they are indeed works of art. Ven's foul mood lifts slightly in such a light filled place. Just slightly though.

"Hello, and welcome to Disney Castle." Ven shifts his eyes from the plant life to see a female mouse with a kind smile and a crown atop her head had come up to the group. "I'm Queen Minnie," she says. "You're friends with my husband Mickey. It is an honor to assist you today."

"Thank you ma'am," Master Eraqus replies. "I greatly appreciate you letting my younger apprentices stay at your home." Ven crosses his arms and turns away pointedly.

"Oh, it's my pleasure," Minnie says. "Let me introduce to you our Captain of the Royal Knights Goofy, and our Court Magician Donald. They are Mickey's closest friends."

Ven turns back, and lets his eyes widen in shock seeing the two Minnie is referring to. One is a large dog standing on two legs, and the other is a duck. "Gawrsh, it sure is nice ta meetcha," the dog says giving them all a wave. Ven deduces from the armor the dog is wearing that this must be Goofy.

"Don't worry," the other one, Donald, says. "We'll look after the kiddies."

Ven's face hardens into a scowl at his words, and Master Eraqus notices. "Excuse us," he says to the others, and takes Ven's arm pulling him to the side. Ven wrenches his arm out of Master Eraqus grip, and gives him a glare. Master Eraqus ignores his hostility and speaks to him in a firm voice. "Ventus, the inhabitants of this world have been kind enough to open their doors to us. I do not want you to be rude, or swear, or make trouble for them while you are here."

Ven shrugs, still glaring, and Master Eraqus sighs knowing that is as close as he is going to get to a yes. Returning to the rest of the group with Ven trailing behind, Master Eraqus announces, "We best be off. Time is of the essence." Terra and Aqua nod, and prepare their armor and gliders. "Riku, Sora," Master Eraqus gets the attention of the two boys who had been shyly talking to Goofy and Donald. "Be on your best behavior for Donald and Goofy."

The two young boys nod, and Master Eraqus gives Ven one final look that says 'you too' before donning his armor as well. Ven watches the three fly away on their gliders until they are out of sight. When they are gone, Ven glances at Donald and Goofy who are once again talking to Sora and Riku. Ven smiles slightly to himself. Now it is time for the waiting game. It is a simple plan; he would wait until both his babysitters are distracted, and then slip away.

For a moment, he doubts himself, remembering Terra and Aqua's words of warning, but he shakes himself. He'd show Master Eraqus that he could make his own decisions and keep himself safe from the darkness.

…

Even from space Master Eraqus, Terra, and Aqua can see how dire the situation is in Carinol. One half of the world is already lost to shadows, consumed by the darkness. Wasting no time, Master Eraqus leads his apprentices to land near the edge of a forest on the side of the world that has yet to be overrun. As they descend, Terra can feel the dark energy hit him like a blast of cold air cutting right through his armor and clothes to reach his bare flesh. He shivers at the feeling, and his glider shivers too.

Confused, Terra looks down at his keyblade glider to see it shutter once more and then disappear suddenly in a flash of light. Still nearly a hundred feet off the ground, Terra finds himself falling through the air, too shocked to even scream. His short flight ends in him slamming into the semi-frozen ground of the cold world, and for a painful moment he lies there unmoving.

Forcing himself to stand, Terra dismisses the armor that had taken most of impact of the hard landing, and checks himself for any injuries he has worse than bruises. Luckily, there are none. He turns to look behind him, seeing Aqua and Master Eraqus getting to their feet as well. Terra hastens to Aqua's side as she dismisses her armor and takes a deep, gasping breath. "Are you okay?" Terra asks concerned.

Aqua nods, but takes several more gasping breaths before answering. "Just-just got the wind knocked out of me," she says still gasping for air. Terra gives her a sympathetic look and takes a step back to give her space to breathe.

He turns to Master Eraqus. "Why did our gliders disappear like that?" Terra asks. "What happened?"

Master Eraqus has a very grim expression on, and seems unwilling to answer Terra's question. "I do not want to worry you," he says. "But it seems that the darkness of this world is interfering with our ability to summon our keyblades of light."

"So," Aqua says having regained her breath. "Are you saying we have no weapons? That we can't summon our keyblades?"

Master Eraqus nods slowly. "It appears to be true." He holds out his hand, and tries to make his keyblade appear, but nothing happens. Sighing he lowers his arm.

"How are we going to lock the keyhole if we don't have keyblades?" Terra asks slowly. "How are we going to get home? A light corridor?"

Master Eraqus thinks and shakes his head. "If there is not enough light for us to summon our keyblades, there isn't enough light to create a light corridor." He glances at Terra and Aqua's faces to see them widen in fear. "Try not to worry," Master Eraqus says quickly. "Even in the deepest darkness there is a light that never goes out. We will find away to save this world and get home."

Terra and Aqua smile at his words, feeling reassured. Their smiles collapse at the sound of a twig snapping behind them. The three whirl around to see a tall man in black armor standing next to a tree less than ten feet away. "No demon weapons to save you now eh?" The man says in a voice as scratchy as sandpaper. "Too bad. For you I mean."

Master Eraqus steps in front of his apprentices falling into a battle stance. "Keyblades or not I suggest you leave us be," he says coldly. "It is foolish to attack when you are so outnumbered."

"Outnumbered am I?" The man replies mockingly. "Check again."

Master Eraqus glares evenly at the arrogant man for another moment before sweeping his eyes around. More men in black armor had come out of the forest to join the now openly smiling man. Terra and Aqua are pressed back to back against him. "Master," Aqua hisses quietly. "There are over thirty of them. Should we fight?"

Master Eraqus thinks hard. They are surely on the wrong side of this battle numbers wise, but these are mere men against keyblade wielders. There is a chance. "Wait for a distraction," Master Eraqus hisses back. "Magic first. Try to stay out of range of their swords."

Without waiting for their agreement, Master Eraqus returns his attention to the still smirking man. "Alright, where is he?" The man demands.

"Where is who?" Master Eraqus replies looking the man straight in the eye, refusing to give any indication of fear.

"The boy. The boy who is supposed to be with you." The man, obviously the leader of the group of soldiers, holds out his hand impatiently to a younger man beside him.

The man beside him quickly digs through a bag and hands the leader a piece of paper. "Here you are Captain Lunt," he says quickly.

Captain Lunt unfolds the paper as he strides over to be right in front of Master Eraqus. "This boy," he says brandishing the paper in front of Master Eraqus' face. Master Eraqus' eyes widen slightly at the picture of Ven staring haughtily back at him. His reaction is all Captain Lunt needs. "Ah, so you do know him. Tell me, where are you hiding him?"

"He is someplace you and your prince can't touch him," Master Eraqus says glaring daggers at the man. "He isn't on this world."

Captain Lunt seems surprised by his words although he tries his best not to show it. Crumbling the picture and throwing it on the ground, Lunt returns to the circle of soldiers around the keyblade wielders. Master Eraqus can hear them muttering to each other.

"-not with them-"

"Keric said-"

"-falling from the sky-"

"-another world-"

Master Eraqus decides this has gone on long enough, and with no distraction on hand, he decides to create his own. With a small jerk of his head, he shifts his eyes from the captain to stare up fixedly at the treetop above him. For a moment, no one notices until Lunt glances at him. Thinking something is up there that Master Eraqus is staring at, Captain Lunt spins around, and his fellow soldiers also shift their eyes off the keyblade wielders to look up at the tree.

"Thundaga!"

"Blizzaga!"

"Firaga!"

From the three in the center of the circle, lightning bolts, shards of ice, and fireballs all shoot out at the distracted soldiers who cry out in pain at the touch of the magic. The magic barrage only takes down a couple of the soldiers however leaving the rest to begin a frenzied fight with the desperate keyblade wielders.

Terra is rushed by three soldiers at once, all with their swords out. He quickly fires off two more blizzard spells which causes one of the men to fall to the ground and another to stumble. Before Terra can send a spell at the remaining soldier, his sword is swinging in a large arc at him. Terra ducks under the blade, and when he straightens back up he is dismayed to see that more comrades of the soldier have joined in the fighting. With eight razor sharp blades pointed at him, Terra takes a step back raising his hands slightly in a gesture of surrender.

The soldiers lower their weapons slightly, seeing that he is in no position to attack them, but they do not see the large ball of energy that suddenly appears above their heads. They do however feel the shock of bolts of lightning shooting through their body from the spell. When the electricity attack stops, the eight collapse in pain as Aqua suddenly appears at Terra's side. "That used the last of my magic," Aqua says quietly.

Terra quickly pulls out a blue bottle of ether from his pocket. "Here," he says handing it to her. She gratefully takes it and downs it as Terra prepares to fight off another soldier that is approaching them from behind. With a yell, the soldier charges Terra brandishing his his sword. Terra bounces lightly on the balls of his feet waiting for the man to get closer, and as the soldier tries to stab him in the chest, Terra spins to the right, letting the blade slice right past him. The soldier stumbles in surprise at his miss, and Terra takes the opportunity to kick his legs out from under him.

With a clatter of armor, the soldier falls hard, but rolls back onto his feet. He ducks just in time to avoid getting his head taken off by a fireball fired by Aqua. Terra moves in close before the soldier can raise his sword again, and punches him in the cheek. The soldier falls once more and this time he stays down. Shaking his now bruised hand, Terra stoops to pick up the fallen soldier's sword. Before he can close his fingers around the grip, something slams him in the back and nearly knocks him on his face.

Before Terra can regain his balance, he is pulled back upright by the armor arm wrapped around his throat. Terra gasps and tries to pull the arm off him, but the grip is like iron. Terra instead reaches over his shoulders, and grabs the soldier holding his from behind by his armor. With a roar of effort, Terra succeeds in throwing the soldier over his head, and rubs his throat as he watches him crash to the forest floor in a heap.

While he had been fighting off that soldier, Aqua had been holding her own against a group of four. In an attempt to overwhelm her with numbers, they all rush her at once, but she calmly shouts out, "Aeroga!"

The soldiers are sent flying by the sudden gust of wind and crash into the trees behind them. Aqua springs after them sending small fireballs at the three that try and get up once more. Satisfied that those four are now down for the count, Aqua turns to see what had happened to Terra, but she is met by a sword at her throat and a bulky soldier sneering at her from under his black helmet. "Hello dolly," he says. "No more of that unholy magic. I don't want to have to ruin a face as pretty as yours."

Aqua glares at him, but stiffens and gulps as he presses a little harder on the sword. Out of the corner of her eye she sees Terra's eyes widen in fear and charge towards her. He is intercepted by two soldiers, and with an angry shout he summons more ice shards to hit the two. Both writhe in pain from the attack, but one manages to raise his sword and deflect some of the shards back at Terra who can't dodge them all. Clutching his side in pain, Terra is jumped on by two more soldiers, and collapses under their combined weight.

Separated from his apprentices, Master Eraqus is on his own fighting wave after wave of soldiers Lunt is sending at him. Each new soldier meets a quick end at the receiving end of a fireball or bolt of lightning. However, this battle is stretching on for too long and even with an immense magical energy reserve built up from years of battle, Master Eraqus knows he is almost spent. Knowing this magic fight will soon turn physical, Master Eraqus uses a spell he has yet to use against the soldiers. With the last of his magical energy, Master Eraqus calls out, "Magnera!"

The soldier that had been approaching him shouts in surprises as his sword is jerked out of his hand and flies hilt first to Master Eraqus who catches it easily and falls into a battle stance. Three soldiers approach him now, more warily than before, but they are stopped by the voice of the commander. "Enough of this," Captain Lunt says stepping forward with a smirk. "This battle is over." Master Eraqus growls at him and takes half a step forward. "If you value their lives you'll surrender now." Master Eraqus freezes at the captains words and glances to the side to see Terra and Aqua bound and gagged, held by several soldiers. Each also had a sharp sword pressed to their throat.

Meeting their eyes, Master Eraqus relaxes out of his battle stance. He stoops slightly and places the sword he had taken on the forest floor before raising his hands in surrender. "Bind him like the others," Lunt commands turning his back on the whole scene. Three soldiers hasten to obey. One picks up the sword at Master Eraqus' feet while the other two pull his hands behind his back painfully and bind them with coarse rope. A disgusting rag is pulled out of someone's bag and stuffed roughly in Master Eraqus' mouth.

With their hands bound behind their backs, Master Eraqus, Terra, and Aqua are forced to stumble through the forest by the soldiers. Terra and Aqua move to their Master's side and look to him for guidance. Unable to speak, Master Eraqus gestures slightly with his head in the direction of Captain Lunt who is speaking to another soldier, probably his second in command.

"Drame, take them to the castle," Lunt says. "Hand them over the guards there and return to this spot. The boy shouldn't be far behind them."

"Yes sir," Drame says. He leads half the group of remaining soldiers and the three prisoners onto a road that they had just come to while Captain Lunt and the rest of the soldiers head back into the forest. Walking down the road with the soldiers, Master Eraqus, Terra, and Aqua can only exchange worried glances that say they are all thinking the same thing; Ven is at the center of whatever is going on here.

They round a bend in the road, and suddenly the trees are gone and they are looking across an open plain at the large city sprawled out in a haphazard fashion. Commanding the most attention on the skyline is a large black castle, jutting up to tower threateningly over all the other buildings in the city. "Welcome to Whin," one of the soldier near them says in a sarcastic voice. "I wouldn't expect to enjoy your visit."

The keyblade wielders ignore him and the other rude soldiers as they enter the city. Master Eraqus carefully examines his surroundings knowing Terra and Aqua are doing the same beside him. If they find away to escape, it would be important to know how to find their way out of this dirty city.

He is looking for landmarks, a right at the apartment building that had never been fixed after a fire, a slight left near a large griffieded message "Fuck U", but although he is focused on the buildings, Master Eraqus can't help but notice the people as well. He had heard from Terra and Aqua a description of this dark world, but he had never imagined that it could be as bad as it is.

All the people on the street, it didn't matter if they are in rags or silk, turn their cold eyes to watch the keyblade wielders being paraded past. Master Eraqus finds no sympathy in any of their faces only uncaring or worse, excitement. What they are excited for quickly becomes obvious as they turn down the street where the castle stands at the end. From each lamp post on the street hangs a rotting human head severed cleanly from its body. Suppressing the urge to gulp, Master Eraqus tears his eyes away from the horrific sight to see that they have reached the gate to the castle.

A crowd has gathered to watch them there and as they walked through the gate, a tomato is launched at them from the center of the townspeople. The throw is off target and misses Terra's head by an inch, hitting one of the guards. Drame scowls and holds his hand up to stop the group. He then nods to one of the soldiers who disappears into the crowd. A moment later the shrill scream of a young girl breaks the quiet air. No one in the crowd seems to care as they continue to stare fascinated at the keyblade wielders. The girl continues to scream as the soldier reappears out of the crowd wiping his bloody sword with a dirty rag. He gives Drame a curt nod, and the group is on the move once more. The gate swings shut behind them, and the keyblade wielders exchange horrified looks. They do not have long to think about what they had just witnessed before they are shoved roughly into the castle.

A short dark corridor lit only by flaming torches on the walls every ten feet ends in a immense set of black double doors. Here there is a group of castle guards dressed in red waiting for the group. After an exchange of brief words whispered so the keyblade wielders couldn't hear what is being said, they are handed over to the guards as Drame and the soldiers exit the castle.

"C'mon," one guard says roughly, grabbing Master Eraqus' arm while more guards surround Terra and Aqua. "The king wants to see you." With that, two guards open the huge doors and Master Eraqus is dragged in with Terra and Aqua forced to follow. Inside, a thick blood red velvet carpet is laid over cold grey stones and creates a path to a small dais where a single golden throne sits. Lounging in the throne with one leg draped casually over the side is a teenage boy with dirty blond hair framing his handsome yet cruel face. "The prisoners your majesty."

The boys eyes glimmer with glee as he swings his leg down so he is sitting facing the new comers. Master Eraqus, Terra, and Aqua are dragged forward and forced to stand before the boy who regards them with a superior look. His face hardens in anger after a moment. "Where is he?" He says in a hard voice glaring accusingly at the guard beside Master Eraqus.

"He wasn't with them," the guard replies and the boy's face darkens in anger. "The soldiers went back to the forest to wait for him."

"Find him," the boy snaps at his guard before turning his attention to the prisoners. "I take it you are Veni's friends." Master Eraqus just stares cooly back at him unable to speak. "Ungag them." The guards hasten to obey the command, and once his gag is removed Master Eraqus glances at Terra and Aqua, the look he gives them warns them not to speak. "Well?" The boy demands rudely to Master Eraqus.

"You are making a huge mistake child," Master Eraqus says in a dangerous voice. "Without our help this world will be consumed by the darkness."

To Master Eraqus' surprise, the boy bursts out laughing. "Well I'd hope so otherwise this wouldn't work." He continues to laugh ignoring the confused looks directed at him. When his laughs subside, he sits up straighter suddenly serious. "Do you know who I am?"

"You're Prince Keric aren't you?" Aqua says with a hard edge to her voice. Master Eraqus shoots her a look.

"Actually it's King Keric now," Keric says his grey eyes staring piercingly at her. "So has Veni talked about me?"

"Only to tell us what a disgusting, foul, disturbed freak you are," Terra shouts angrily ignoring the intense stare from Master Eraqus telling him to stop talking.

Keric nods. "So he has talked about me. I can't wait till he gets here."

"You're not getting anywhere near him," Master Eraqus says angrily. "Ventus isn't coming here. He is safe, far away from this wretched place."

Keric laughs again. "That's funny old man," Keric says. "But just you wait. Veni will come. He can't resist. He'll be back. He'll come back to me. And we'll escape together before the darkness comes, but you..." Keric trails off as he considers what will happen to them. "Will die."

Well, that could have gone better for our heroes. So no keyblades, no light corridors, they are prisoners, and the world is slowly being destroyed by darkness, really not looking good.

But at least Ven is safe right? Well...

That's for next chapter!

The following is in response to MLSoT's review, but EVERYONE should read:

So here is how I view what is going on with Ven and Van. Ven has always been half light and half dark, it's just always been the way he is. Leading up to this story, this was not a problem because Ven lived such a dark life that his darkness could be part of him without any problems. However, since Ven came to MEKA his life has been much happier (lighter). Because of this shift, he started to unconsciously try to push the darkness out of his heart for the first time.

The darkness however began fighting back for its control of half of Ven's heart and this is when Vanitas was created as a manifestation of Ven's darkness. Currently, Ven and Vanitas are splitting into two separate identities as shown in the last chapter when Vanitas is able to speak in Ven's mind. This split is happening because Ven or the light half of his heart is trying to move in a 'light' direction while Van or the dark half of his heart is trying to move in a 'dark' direction.

The extreme emotions Ven displays, the bi-polarness he has sometimes, are a result of the two opposing forces in his mind conflicting. They are fighting over control of Ven so yes it would be possible for Van to gain control of Ven's body (I also hinted at this during Van's first appearance, he kept saying to Ven "Let me out"), and Ven is weakest to Van when he gets angry because anger comes from Van's half of his heart.

Whew! That was surprisingly really hard to write. I tried my best, but if you're still confused let me know and I'll try explaining it again.

art/One-of-the-Same-376154478

Super cool pic ^^ NOT MINE but still awesome

Mexi: Great question! All I'm going to say is there will be some similarities and some differences to the game. That's not a good answer is it? Sorry! That's all I'm going to say for now. :)

IT'S STARTING! IT'S STARTING!

Day 1 has commenced.

Three days, three different ways I'll blow up Ven's life.

Don't hate me! I promise I'll put him back together :)

Until next time...leave a review!