Chapter 34 Void Gear
Ven silently holds up a hand and Master Eraqus, Terra, and Aqua stop behind him, following his lead by pressing themselves against the wall. Ven slowly peers around the corner of the castle corridor. Seeing no one, he motions quickly for the others to follow him and they sprint around the corner. They say nothing, straining their ears past the sound of their own labored breathing to hear any sounds to announce that soldiers are close by.
They freeze, hearing footsteps ahead of them. It isn't the clanking of metal boots, but the soft padding of bare feet and a young girl maybe twelve years old with short dark brown hair turns a corner spotting the keyblade wielders. She halts in surprise, and looks at them confused. "Ventus?" She says in disbelief.
Ven holds his finger to his lips and hurries to her with the others following warily. "Lacey we need your help," he says to the girl in a quiet urgent voice.
Lacey eyes him for a moment, then sizes up the others. She looks back at Ven expectantly. He sighs and begins to search his pockets. His fingers close around the munny Master Eraqus had given him to take Zack out on a date. Had that only been a day ago?
"Look," Ven says holding out the coins trying not think about Zack as he does so. Her eyes go wide. "Half now and half after you help us out."
Lacey considers for a moment. "Deal," she says swiping the half of the munny Ven is holding out to her. "What do you need?"
"We gotta get out of the castle without the guards seeing," Ven says.
"That'll be impossible," Lacey replies. "Keric told 'em you're running. There's guards at every exit."
"Every exit?" Ven asks. Lacey nods. "Damn. Ok which one has the fewest?"
Lacey shrugs. "Probably the service exit."
Ven nods. "Can you get us there without any guards seeing?" Lacey nods and beckons them after her as she hurries down a new corridor.
"Are you sure we can trust her?" Master Eraqus asks Ven quietly as they run after her.
"No," Ven replies. "Loyalty here can be bought as easily as I just bought her help, and she'd stab us in the back if someone offered her one munny more."
Master Eraqus, Terra, and Aqua all look shocked, and Ven can't help, but laugh cynically. "Welcome to Carinol," he says. They turn another corner and Lacey is motioning for them to follow her through a door. It leads to a stairwell heading underground. "Listen," Ven says to his friends as they hurry down. "There's gonna be lots of people down here. They're all servants so they won't bother us, but if Keric or the guards ask them about us they'll tell everything they know because if they didn't-"
Ven cuts himself off, but Terra has to ask, "What would happen if they lied?"
Ven hesitates. "Did you see the lightposts when you came in?"
Master Eraqus, Terra, and Aqua eyes widen as they remember the severed heads that lined the street leading to the castle. They were a warning; don't go against the King and his wishes.
The stairs take them into a network of large tunnels lit by hundreds of small lanterns hanging from the walls and ceiling. Ven had been right, the castle above them may have been nearly empty, but down here people are all over. Lacey doesn't even pause, leading them through the crowd. "Watch where you're goin' bitch!" Someone in the crowd shouts at her, but she just flips them off and continues on. Despite all the hostile stares they are getting, Ven had been right once again. No one made any move to stop them or summon guards. They just watch them go past and then return to their work.
"There's the exit," Lacey says stopping as they round a corner and pointing out an open door at the top of more stairs. Through the door they catch a glimpse of a couple guards wandering around. "Now gimme the rest." She holds out her hand to Ven motioning for the rest of the munny. He pulls it out and she tries to snatch it out of his hand, but he stops her.
"Hold on Lace, we need one more thing," he says and she frowns angrily. "We need a distraction to get out."
"Forget it," Lacey replies. "I'm not getting caught up in this."
"All I need you to do is tell the guards we ran off in a different direction," Ven says trying to coax her into helping.
"Hell no!" Lacey hisses back. "You know what happens when you lie to 'em!"
"C'mon, I lied to Keric about the coffee incident for you," Ven says.
Lacey glares at him. "I still don't know why you did that."
Ven shurgs. "Just being nice and helping a friend."
Lacey continues to glare at him, but then she sighs. "You're a strange guy Ventus, but fine I'll do it. But only 'cause I still owe you!"
"Thanks Lace," Ven says. "Master Eraqus, Terra, can you get one of those lanterns down? Aqua go grab one of those laundry baskets."
Aqua gives Ven a look, but doesn't question him as he has a determined look on his face. Against a wall, five large baskets on wheels each full of dirty linens from the castle. She takes one and wheels it back to Ven who is talking in a lowered voice to Lacey who is nodding unhappily.
Terra and Master Eraqus return with a lantern at the same like she brings over the basket. "What are you planning Ventus?" Master Eraqus asks.
Ven smiles at him, but the smile doesn't reach his eyes. "Chaos."
Taking the lantern from Master Eraqus, Ven quickly blows out the flame and unstoppers the oil well. He then pours the oil on top of the laundry still smiling. He looks at Lacey who who holds out her hand. He hands her the rest of the munny. She slips it in her pocket before stepping back as he tosses the now empty lantern in the basket. "C'mon," he says quickly dragging Master Eraqus, Terra, and Aqua over near the stairs. They crouch behind some broken furniture that had been dumped in a large pile there, and Ven looks to his friends. "Ready?" He asks with that same fake smile. Without waiting for their reply, he stands summoning his red and black keyblade and points it at the laundry basket. "Fire."
The little fireball that shoots out of his keyblade streaks to the basket, and as soon as it touches the oil soaked linens, the whole thing goes up in flames. The effect is nearly instantaneous. All the servants halt in their work and turn to stare at the flames. As a group they begin to scream and fight each other to get away from the fire. Ven turns his eyes from the mob scene to look up the stairs where the guards outside have poked their heads in to see what all the commotion is about. Right on cue, Lacey's voice rises up over the rest of the noise.
"Ventus! Ventus stop!"
Hearing her and thinking their target is getting away, the guards come sprinting down the stairs. Lacey is there gesturing frantically down one of the corridors clogged with terrified servants, and the guards start shoving people out of the way in their chase after Lacey's lie. From their hiding spot, the keyblade wielders slowly get to their feet, and seeing all the guards are truly gone, they run up the stairs and out the door.
Free from the castle, they are still not out of danger as they have to get out of Whin and then get off Carinol. "This way," Ven calls to the others, and takes the lead once more leading them through the streets of the city and in and out of back alleys. They run out of one alley and back onto a main street when they hear an angry voice call after them.
"Halt!" They of course do not halt, but as they run they look back to see a group of seven or eight guards now in pursuit with their swords drawn out. With Ven being the only one with a weapon, the keyblade wielders can only hope to lose the guards in the city winding streets.
"We're-we're almost out," Ven gasps to the others as they run. "We have to stop them now!"
"Terra, Aqua to me," Master Eraqus commands. "We need a lightning shield. Ventus stay back."
They all stop quickly and turn to face the charging guards. Ven stays out of the way of his friends, but hovers close enough to jump in with his keyblade if their attack fails and he needs to protect them from the guards. "Lightning!" Master Eraqus, Terra, and Aqua call out together holding their hands out. The crackle of electricity comes first, but then just as the guards are almost on them, a barrier appears that extends across the entire street, completely blocking it. The shield is made up of small bolts of electricity woven together in a loose mesh.
The closest guards have no chance to stop as they crash right into it. They scream and jump back as they get shocked. The rest of the guards stop and glare through the barrier at the keyblade wielders, but they are already long gone, sprinting around one last corner and out of Whin.
A short sprint across the open countryside brings the keyblade wielders back to the forest. Once in the shadows of the trees, they stop and turn back to look at Whin. They can see black figures, the soldiers, pouring out and heading in all directions. "We have to keep moving," Master Eraqus says and his apprentices nod.
Master Eraqus takes the lead and they set off into the depths of the forest. "Do you have a plan Master Eraqus?" Aqua asks.
"It is still our duty to find and seal the keyhole," Master Eraqus says. "It is also our best hope. When the keyhole is sealed, the balance of light and dark will return, and we will be able to summon our keyblades again."
"So where is it?" Terra asks.
Master Eraqus shakes his head. "There is no way for us to know. We just have to trust the heart of this world to guide us to the right spot."
As he says this, six soldier heartless appear in front of them. All four of them fall into battle stances, but Ven quickly moves in front of the rest of them, summoning his new keyblade. "Ventus-" Master Eraqus tries to say in warning, but Ven doesn't wait to hear him. He charges the nearest heartless and before it can defend itself he stabs it through the chest and watches in satisfaction as its pink heart rises away. The other five walk towards him and he smiles again; that smile that doesn't reach his eyes.
A horizontal swipe cuts through two of them, making them vanish as well. One of the remaining ones tries its spin kick attack, but Ven blocks it sending the heartless stumbling back. Before it can recover, he lands a hit on its head, killing it instantly. The two left try to attack together, but Ven surprises them by jumping and flipping over them. As they turn to face him, he slashes through one, and uses the momentum he generates to strike the last one. With two more pink hearts rising up and away, Ven straightens up. He turns back to face the others.
"Ventus," Master Eraqus says slowly. "How did you get so strong all of a sudden?"
"I gave into my anger," Ven whispers to himself, but not loud enough for Master Eraqus to hear him. In his normal voice, Ven says, "It's not me. It's this keyblade. Void Gear. That's what it's called. I-I don't know how I know that."
He holds it up for them to look at while he considers it himself. Master Eraqus looks like he is about to inquire further, but before he can more soldier heartless appear. Except this time instead of 6 heartless there looks like 6,000. Terra, Aqua, and Ven look to Master Eraqus for guidance, and he meets their worried gazes.
"Run."
Master Eraqus takes the lead as they sprint through the forest leaving the soldier heartless to give chase. The heartless follow for a while, but they soon give up, turning their attention to easier targets. The keyblade wielders continue to run though, knowing that stopping may cause more heartless to appear. After nearly ten minutes, Master Eraqus slows to a stop and the others stop as well. They are all gasping for breath and Ven falls to his knees exhausted. Terra kneels next to him, "Are you...are you okay?"
Still out of breath, Ven just nods in reply, but then freezes looking to the side of Terra's head. "Ven? What's wrong?" Terra asks turning his head to look in the same direction as Ven. There is nothing to see but more trees. Suddenly, Ven rushes past him, Master Eraqus' robe flapping around his legs. "Ven! Wait up! Don't go off alone!" Terra calls jumping to his feet and chasing after him. Aqua and Master Eraqus aren't far behind.
Terra is able to just catch glimpses of the white robe as he chases Ven, but without warning he bursts out into a small clearing and almost collides with Ven. Terra is about to yell at the younger boy for running off on his own, but the look on Ven's face stops him. "Ven, what is it?"
At first Ven doesn't seem to hear Terra. He stares right past him at the small clearing in the forest. Then he whispers so quietly Terra almost misses it. "Tay..."
Stunned, Terra takes another look around and sees the place Ven described the night of the nightmare so long ago. One tall tree standing apart from the others, an unobstructed view of the sky and the stars at night, and a mound of dirt, now covered in weeds, at the center of the clearing. The snapping of twigs underfoot causes Terra to turn as Aqua and Master Eraqus enter the clearing. Their look at him questioningly, but then realization hits them as Ven falls to his knees beside the mound.
Hesitantly, Ven places one shaking hand on the mound and lowers his head. Aqua moves to his side and crouches down. She wraps an arm around his shoulder and he leans in, resting against her. No one speaks.
"Never thought I'd make it back here," Ven says in a quiet voice after a minute. "Never thought I'd be able to find this place again."
"Your heart led you here," Master Eraqus says.
Ven nods and wipes his eyes before pulling away from Aqua. She stands and offers him her hand which he gladly takes and let's her pull him to his feet.
"We've got company," Terra says in warning, and Ven looks around to see more heartless surrounding the little clearing. Ven summons Void Gear and prepares to fight off the the heartless but, as if it has a mind of it's own, it instead jerks Ven's arm around to to point at the large tree in the clearing. "What the?"
A keyhole suddenly takes form on the trunk of the tree and Ven is pulled towards it like his keyblade is attracted to it. The wind suddenly picks up and swirls around him, billowing out Master Eraqus' robe. Ven grabs hold of his strange keyblade with both hands as a bright light shoots out of it and hits the keyhole. The sound of a lock sliding into place echoes through the small clearing and the keyhole dissolves. The wind stops and Ven let's his keyblade fall to his side. He turns to see the heartless have melted away and the others are approaching with awed looks on their faces. "What did I just do?" He asks them confused.
"You locked the heart of this world," Master Eraqus tells him. "You have saved it from falling into darkness."
"I have?" Ven says looking down at the bulky keyblade in his hand. He stares at it in deep thought when it suddenly glows once more and he is forced to avert his eyes from the bright light. When the light dims he is able to look back at it except it's gone, replaced by his normal Wayward Wind keyblade.
Even more confused now, he looks at Master Eraqus who smiles kindly. Master Eraqus holds out his hand and his own keyblade appears. "You have freed this world from the darkness." Aqua and Terra hold out their hands and their keyblades appear as well. "Now we can go home," Master Eraqus says. "Terra, Aqua, I want you two to return to Disney Castle and retrieve Sora and Riku. I'll bring Ventus home."
"Yes Master Eraqus," Terra and Aqua both say smacking their armor sleeves. They toss their keyblades high above the trees and quickly hop onto the gliders that come back to them. As they rise away Master Eraqus turns to Ven who is looking more depressed than ever. He follows the boy's gaze to see him staring once more at the mound of earth where his best friend had been buried.
"C'mon Ven," Master Eraqus says quietly resting a comforting hand on his shoulder. "We have to go before the guards find us."
Ven nods and then says in a sad voice, "I'm never coming back. Never." He summons his armor and throws his keyblade. Master Eraqus does the same, but before they get on their gliders, Ven turns back on last time. "Good bye, Tay." He then hops on his glider and shoots off leaving Master Eraqus to hurry after him.
…
Keric wakes up slowly, face down in a small pool of blood on the dungeon floor. Groaning, he pushes himself to his feet, only to stagger into the closest wall. Leaning against it for support, he clutches his pounding head for a moment before looking at his hands to see them bloody. Grimacing, he traces the long cut down the side of his face, remembering.
Ignoring the pulsing headache he has, Keric forces his head up. He hisses in anger seeing the back of the man who had told him Ven was coming at the end of the corridor. The man turns and glares with his yellow eyes at Keric. "You lied to me!" Keric shouts. "Tell me who you are!"
"Xehanort," he replies beginning to walk towards Keric. "And you boy, have failed me. You let Ventus escape your grasp."
"Let him?" Keric shouts angrily. "Do you see this?" He points to the bleeding cut on his face. "This is your fault. You said no keyblades."
Xehanort doesn't reply for a moment and then says, "Tell me what happened."
"Forget it," Keric says. "I'm done with you."
Keric tries to walk away, but the second he turns his back he feels the cold touch of metal on the back of his neck. "Tell me what happened," Xehanort repeats.
"Okay, okay!" Keric replies quickly. He turns to see a huge keyblade in Xehanort's hand still pointed at him. He holds his hands up in surrender and begins to speak quickly. "Like you said, Veni and his friends came and they couldn't use their keyblades. My guards easily caught them and I took Veni for some...catching up time, while his friends got tossed in this dungeon. Then all of a sudden, Veni's eyes got all weird and he summoned a keyblade. He summoned a fucking keyblade! You said that wouldn't happen!"
Xehanort ignores Keric's enraged glare as he ponders what Keric had just told him. "What did this keyblade look like? Was it his normal keyblade?"
"No," Keric replies. "It was much bigger, and it was red and black."
At that Xehanort laughs. The cold humorless sound echoes through the dungeon. "What's so funny old man?" Keric demands.
Xehanort stops laughing. "What's so funny boy, is that this was far from a failure," Xehanort replies. "You did better than I dared hope, and for that you will be greatly rewarded in the end."
"What did I do?" Keric asks slowly.
"This world was plagued by darkness," Xehanort replies. "No keyblade of light could have been used here. No, the keyblade Ventus summoned was a keyblade of darkness. A keyblade of his darker side, the stronger side. A side that you and your actions drew out of Ventus. Darkness reigns within him now, and with that comes to the power to make the X-blade!"
Xehanort's eyes are wild and they turn to rest on Keric. "You have proven yourself to be a valuable asset boy. You may yet be useful. I will be back for your assistance if it is required, in the meantime, I would get that scratch looked at, it might scar."
Eyes still glowing with dark glee, Xehanort opens a dark corridor and steps through. After the few seconds in the dark, he emerges on a world of red rocks. He is perched on a cliff overlooking a valley filled with century old keyblades, long forgotten. The Keyblade Graveyard. Alone on the barren world, Xehanort cackles loudly to himself. Everything is falling into place better than he had expected. Yet there is still one obstacle in his way, Eraqus. He would have to get Ventus away from Eraqus somehow, and once he did there would be no one to stop him.
MLSoT: You probably already saw my review of your story, but I'm super excited to see what's going to happen.
Mexi: I declare you will get more Vanitas moments! ...Just not for a couple chapters.
Zephyr26: Yeah Vanitas was really just saving himself, but that's ok cause he still saved Ven from Keric.
TheXBlade: I agree Aqua needs more fight scenes centered on her so I'll definitely keep that in mind, but right now the story is so centered on Ven so she might have to wait a bit longer.
SnowKawasagi: Yeah I wouldn't get on Terra's bad side.
For anyone who read my other story Finding the Light go check out MoonLitSparklesofTwilight's new fanfiction Remnants of Twilight. It's a fanfiction of my fanfiction and it's great!
I'll leave you with just one word on next chapter...ANGST. Oh and ice cream too.