Chapter 32 Hollow Eyes

"Riku! Get down from there right now!" Donald squawks angrily with his wings on his hips. He stands at the base of one of the towering hedges while Riku sits at the very top.

"Make me!" Riku shouts back. He sticks his tongue out at the duck and crosses his arms. With unintelligible muttering, Donald begins to try and climb the hedge, but struggles greatly due to his short arms.

A little ways away Ven stands in the shadows of another hedge. A ghost of a smile is on his lips. Quietly, Ven moves to the other side of the garden in search of his second babysitter. He finds Goofy sprawled out in the shade of a big tree and Sora in a similar position next to him. He approaches on tiptoe and stops when Goofy snores. At the sound, Sora shifts slightly in his sleep and rolls over towards Goofy muttering. In doing so, his hand falls on one of Goofy's long ears and he tugs hard. Ven cringes, expecting Goofy to wake up, but instead he just snores louder.

With both babysitters preoccupied, Ven sees his chance. Moving a little ways away, Ven activates his armor, and quickly throws his keyblade into the air. It returns to his side as a glider, but before he can hop on it he hears a quiet voice behind him.

"Ven?"

Biting down on a string of curses, Ven turns slowly to see Sora standing a few feet away watching him curiously. "I thought you were sleeping," Ven says.

Sora yawns. "I was, but I woke up. What are you doing? Are you leaving? I thought Master Eraqus wanted us to stay here?"

"Uh...yeah, I'm leaving. I'm going to join Master Eraqus and the others. Master Eraqus asked me to," Ven lies quickly.

"Oh," Sora says and yawns again.

Ven can't help but feel a twinge of regret for lying to Sora. However, he has to do this so he places an armored hand on Sora's shoulder and leads him back to Goofy. "Go back to your nap," Ven says and Sora complies lying down once more. "I'll be back soon." With that, Ven returns to his glider and hops on. Looking back, he sees Sora sitting up and watching him. Sora gives him a wave, and for a moment Ven doubts himself. Shaking that off however, Ven readies himself and shoots off into space.

…

Carinol is easy enough to spot from space. Over half the world is lost in darkness, and as Ven approaches he can feel it in a cool chill that makes him shiver. Not really sure where Master Eraqus, Terra, and Aqua would have gone, he picks a forest on the side of the world yet to be taken over hoping that no one will be there to see him land.

Under him, his glider shakes slightly. Immediately he knows something is wrong, but before he can pull away from the cold world, his glider vanishes from under him in a flash of light. With a shout of shock, Ven begins to plummet towards the ground.

Slamming into the forest floor, Ven first groans and curls up slightly. When the immediate pain fades, Ven pushes himself onto his hands and knees looking around at the empty forest he had crash landed in. He slowly pushes himself up onto his feet, letting his armor disappear and checking himself for injuries. His armor must have taken the brunt of the impact because he is sore and nothing more.

"Why the hell did that happen?" Ven whispers to himself looking back up at the sky that is dark even though it is the middle of the day. "It just...disappeared." Now worried, he holds his hand out and tries to summon his keyblade. Nothing happens. "Shit," Ven says.

"You said it." Ven spins on his heels to face the speaker. A man in black armor with an arrogant smile had come out of the trees with over ten others behind him. Ven recognizes them instantly as Carinol soldiers. They serve the royal family.

"Who are you?" Ven says backing away as the soldiers advance towards him.

"Captain Lunt," the man replies with a sneer. "Now Ventus, are we going to do this the easy way or the hard way?"

"How do you know my name?" Ven keeps backing up, but his back bumps a tree trunk. He presses against it as Lunt moves closer.

"How do you think?" Captain replies now right in front of Ven, crowding him.

Ven's eyes widen in fear and he shouts, "Fire!" A fireball shoots out of his hand, hitting Lunt and knocking him back several steps. Ven at once turns and runs from the soldiers heading blindly through the forest.

"Follow him!" He hears Captain Lunt shout angrily and there is the unmistakable sound of armor clanking from the soldiers running after him. Trees flash past Ven, and it is all he can do to avoid tripping over uneven roots on the ground. The sound of the soldiers is getting closer and closer. Suddenly, Ven feels a hand trying to grab the back of his shirt.

"Blizzard!" He shouts pointing behind him, and sends a blast of ice that catches the soldier right behind him right in the face. He tumbles to the ground, tripping up his comrades behind him. Ven turns back forward, and continues to sprint through the trees. He has no idea where he is going and everything looks the same, but he can't stop.

The sounds of pursuit are fading and Ven lets out a sigh of relief. All of a sudden he bursts out of the trees and onto a dirt road. He skids to a stop, panting, and looks up and down the road for any landmarks that would tell him where in Carinol he is. There is nothing in sight so he picks a direction and breaks into a run once more.

The road curves around the forest and as he rounds a corner he finds himself facing another group of soldiers who look equally surprised to see him. He tries to turn and run, but before he can take more than two steps someone much larger than him crashes into him from behind and he is sent face first into the ground.

Still unable to see his attacker, Ven struggles, but is finds it impossible to get out from under the bulk holding him down. His hands are roughly grabbed, and no amount of struggling on his part keeps them from behind tied tightly. After the knots are checked, the man who had tackled him gets off and pulls him to his feet. "Bring him here."

Ven is spun around and forced to march over to one of the soldiers, a first lieutenant by the looks of the lines on his helmet. The first lieutenant smirks at Ven who glowers back, but before either of them can speak the soldiers that had been chasing Ven originally burst out of the forest. Captain Lunt roughly pushes his men to aside as he makes his way to Ven and the first lieutenant. "I see you have the boy, Drame," Captain Lunt says addressing the first lieutenant.

"Yes. He was running down the road," Drame replies. "Did he evade you?"

Captain Lunt grunts in reply rounding on Ven to scowl at him. "Not a mark on him. I wouldn't have been so lenient if I had caught him."

"By all means," Drame says moving out of the way and gesturing for his soldiers to do the same. Ven stands with his hands tied behind his back in the middle of the circle of soldiers facing Lunt who is glaring at him with his fists clenched.

"Just remember you chose the hard way," Lunt says before winding up and punching Ven hard in the cheek. Ven is sent flying to the ground landing hard on his hip as he is unable to brace himself with his hands.

"Ugh," Ven groans trying not to show how much pain he is in. It would only give Lunt satisfaction. His entire face is pulsing in pain, but looks up from the ground to glare at Lunt.

"Get up," Lunt commands, but Ven doesn't move. "I said get up!" Lunt reaches down and grabs a fist full of Ven's shirt. He pulls him up, nearly lifting him into the air. Without giving Ven time to prepare himself, Lunt punches him again, this time in the gut.

Ven falls again without a sound, but he can't keep the grimace of pain off his face. Once again on the ground, he tries to sit up, but he is too slow. Lunt's booted foot slams into his side and Ven screams in pain.

Satisfied, Captain Lunt turns his back on Ven and leaves the soldiers to drag him to his feet. Having taken his beating for running off, Ven finally finds his voice. "Let me go!" he shouts trying to pull away. Lunt stops and turns back to regard him. "I haven't done anything wrong!"

Lunt turns his back to Ven once more. "That is no concern of mine. King Keric ordered your capture and I have delivered. I will be greatly rewarded for doing so."

"You fucking bastard!" Ven screams after him, but the man doesn't even flinch. "You coward! Taking orders from a kid!"

Still he gets no rise from Lunt, and he is dragged forward down the road. A turn in the road brings them to a place Ven wishes he could forget. Whin is their destination and at the center is the terrible black castle he had fought so hard to escape. Ven uses every foul word he knows in an attempt to bring the soldiers to a halt, but no curse words or insults could stop the soldiers as they march him into the city and to his tormentor.

...

Master Eraqus, Terra, and Aqua are now standing off to one side of Keric's throne, and the boy king is sitting and gazing at them with an uncomfortable intensity. The room is silent until Keric decides he is bored with the quiet and tries to strike up a conversation.

"Tell me about Veni," he says to the keyblade wielders. "Has he changed? Has he grown? I haven't seen him in such a long time." No one replies, but if looks could kill Keric would have died three times over. Keric ignores their hostility, and continues to speak regardless of their lack of response. "He was so stubborn when I first met him," Keric says thoughtfully. "Always talking back, always trying to run off. I quickly made him realize that I was the one in charge. He was much more submissive after that."

"Shut up," Terra growls unable to hold back any longer. "Don't talk about him like that."

"Or what?" Keric says mockingly. "What are you going to do about?" Terra growls again and strains against his bindings, but they still hold. He tries to make a move towards Keric, but the guards standing behind the keyblade wielders hold him back easily.

Keric settles back in his throne with a smirk. "I kind of missed him fighting back," he says. "But then he went and ran away. So tell me, has he gotten his spirit back? Am I going to have to break him again?"

Terra opens his mouth once more to tell Keric off, but Master Eraqus beats him to it. "Ventus will never fall into the hands of the likes of you again," Master Eraqus says with hatred in every syllable. "He is safe, far away on another world. Far out of your reach."

"So you say," Keric replies with a shrug. "I know him though. He won't be able to resist coming back."

Keric then turns away from the keyblade wielders signifying the conversation is over. All is quiet in the throne room for several minutes, then a shouting voice from the corridor outside the room breaks the silence. It's muffled by the thick door, but the words are still audible.

"Let go of me you fucking bastards! I haven't done a fucking thing wrong! When my friends get here they are going to whip your ass! Ow! Son of a bitch! This is bullshit! Let me go!"

Terra's eyes widen and he turns to share a frightful look with Aqua, but her eyes are glued to the king, staring with horror as he rises eagerly from his throne at the sound of shouts. "It seems our newest guest has arrived at the castle," King Keric says gleefully rubbing his hands together. "I told you he would come back to me. Bring him in."

The guards by the doors of the throne room at once hasten to obey their king. As the doors are thrown open, the young king takes half a step forward his mouth twisting in an unpleasant smile. Through the doors come two large guards wrestling with their much smaller charge. The shouts continue, but the view of the one shouting is blocked by the burly guards' backs.

"Fight like a man you fucking cowards! I'll knock you both on your asses! Let me go!"

Now inside the throne room, the guards seem only too happy to oblige. They throw him on the ground towards the king. "No, Ventus," Master Eraqus says quietly and in a broken voice so only Terra and Aqua can hear him.

Ven lands hard on his knees unable to cushion his fall with his hands that are still tied together. "Bastards," Ven curses one last time at his captors as he gets to his feet. The first thing he notices as he raises his head is his friends, Terra, Aqua, and Master Eraqus. They stare at him with stricken expressions. "Guys!" He shouts to them, surprised and a little concerned seeing that their hands are bound like his own. He makes to move to them when a horribly familiar voice reaches his ears.

"Hello Veni."

Terra can see Ven's eyes widen in shock and fear as he turns slowly to face King Keric who is eyeing him like a prize he had just won. "Long time, no see."

Ven stares at Keric, frozen for a moment, and then with a look like a cornered wild animal he tries to bolt back out the door he had come. Unfortunately, the guards that had brought him here haven't left and he crashes right into them. Ven quickly scrambles back to his feet and tries to push past them. However, he is stopped as one of them kicks his legs out from under him and he falls hard to the ground once more. The other pins him down, crushing him with his large bulk. With the sudden weight on his chest, Ven gasps for breath struggling futilely to get up.

"Hey get off him!" Terra yells angrily straining against the guards holding him back that keep him from coming to Ven's aid.

"I agree. Belno let him up and bring him here," King Keric says to the guard on top of Ven.

The guard quickly gets up and pulls Ven roughly to his feet. Ven tries to shrink away from the King as he approaches and digs his heels into the carpet in a vain attempt to stop the guard from dragging him forward. With all his struggling, the guard Belno is still able to force him to stand before the king and holds his arm in a tight grip to keep him there.

"Let him go Belno," King Keric says staring with satisfaction into Ven's scared eyes. "And take off that rope. He won't run again, right Veni?"

Ven gives no response, but doesn't move as the guard releases him and unties the rope around his wrists. King Keric stares at Ven like he is slightly amused with his head tilted slightly to the side. "Its been months Veni. Why didn't you come back? I had to send my guards after you."

As he says this, the young king reaches out to stroke the swollen bruise on the left side of Ven's face left from Captain Lunt's assault. At his touch, Ven jerks his head away and without hesitation King Keric slaps him hard across the face. The sound echoes through the silent room as Ven nearly falls over. He can hear the protests of his friends, but there is nothing they can do. Hunched over, Ven feels a hand grab him roughly by his spiky hair and pull his head back up.

He gasps in pain and fear as he finds himself face to face with Keric. They are so close their noses are touching. Keric twists his hand and Ven gasps again as pain radiates through his scalp. Keric smiles twistedly. "I've missed you Veni. Have you missed me? Tell me you missed me."

Ven doesn't say anything, keeping his mouth shut tight in a thin line. Keric sighs and gestures to the guards standing behind the three other keyblade wielders. The guards nod and pull their swords out, placing them to Master Eraqus, Terra, and Aqua's necks.

"Wait! Wait!" Ven says quickly and Keric holds up his hand to the guards turning back to Ven. "I...I missed you too," Ven says quietly in a defeated voice. He glances to his friends to see with relief that the swords at their necks have been lowered.

For a moment, Keric smiles cruelly at him, but then his face clouds over. "I did everything for you Veni," Keric says angrily pulling harder on Ven's hair forcing him to gasp in pain again. "I saved your life. I gave you a home. But you ran away. You ran away without so much as a goodbye. After all I did for you, you acted like it was nothing, like it was free. Well I'm going to tell you now it wasn't free. You owe me everything. Your life belongs to me."

Keric then throws Ven by his hair against the wall behind him, next to his throne. Before he can recover, Keric has his hand on Ven's throat and his body pressed against Ven. "Now, tell me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you right now," Keric says pushing on Ven throat. Ven struggles against Keric's weight, trying to push him off but to no avail. He gasps, scratching at the hand over his throat. Keric just smiles and, ignoring the threats and begging the other keyblade wielders are yelling at him, he speaks again, leaning in closer and letting his lips brush Ven's ear. "Tell me why."

"You...still...want...me..." Ven forces out as his face begins to turn blue. Keric pulls back and regards him for a moment before leaning in close again. He retracts his hand, but keeps Ven upright by immediately giving him a rough kiss. He pulls back and lets Ven fall in a heap to the floor. Leaving him coughing, Keric turns to face the rest of the people in the room. He grins at the stunned faces of Ven's friends still held back by his guards.

"Get them out of my sight," Keric says with a wave to his guards. They at once obey dragging Terra, Aqua, and Master Eraqus away against their wills.

All three of them are yelling at Keric, but Terra's voice is the loudest. "If you touch one hair on his head I am going to kill you!" He shouts. "I swear I will!"

Aqua is hysterical and nearly breaks away from the guards as the others are taken out of the room. More guards come to assist, but as they force her out she screams one last time. "Ven! Ven!" He looks up at her just as she is dragged out. His blue eyes are dead. Hollow. Like he knows what is coming and has accepted his fate. All his fight is gone, and Aqua is forced out, leaving him there alone with Keric and his stormy grey eyes full of malice.

TheXBlade: That's a really interesting idea. Hmmm... worlds are supposed to be a balance of light and dark and if there is too much darkness the world falls to darkness so there is no reason a world couldn't go the other way and fall to light. However, I also think it depends on how light is viewed. If light and dark are merely elements and are not inherently good nor bad, then a world could be destroyed by light, but if light is seen as a force of good and darkness a force of evil then light wouldn't be able destroy a world because that would be an evil act. In other words I have no freaking clue! But you got me thinking :)

Mexi: Glad the explanation was good. Maybe I should have put it in before last chapter, but whatever!

MLSoT: Please don't die! And sorry, no Axel and Roxas to save the day.

Vennnnn! What the hell? Why couldn't you just listen to Master Eraqus for once?

Grrr Keric. Why are you so evil? Oh yeah, it's cuz I made you that way...

Here's a quick recap of Ven and Keric's backstory in case you've forgotten:

Ven got arrested for the massacre in Whin because they believed he had summoned the heartless. He was awaiting execution when Keric convinced his father to let him live and keep him as a friend for Keric. Ven lived in the castle for about 6 months suffering through Keric's abuse before he finally got away.

If I get lots of reviews I'll update super fast, so give me your thoughts, opinions, hysterics, and predictions. Reviews=Updates. Got it memorized?