Chapter 57 Kingdom Hearts

"Ven!" Aqua shouts as she stumbles out the dark corridor into a wasteland of a world. Her breath catches seeing the red rock of the landscape identifying this world for what it is, the Keyblade Graveyard.

"Aqua."

She whirls around to see Ven looking at her sadly with Vanitas behind him. Vanitas wraps his arm around Ven's neck and starts to pull him away. "No!" Aqua says summoning her keyblade. She is ready to leap forward, but Vanitas is keeping Ven between them like a shield.

"I'm sorry, Aqua," Ven says. "I can't let anyone else get hurt in my place."

"No!" Aqua calls reaching out to him, but a moment later Vanitas and Ven vanish into a dark corridor and she is left standing alone. "No…" She has failed. She'd lost them all. Master Eraqus, Terra, and now after everything she had done, she'd still failed to protect Ven. She looks at the keyblade in her hand and for the first time hates the sight of it. She no longer feels worthy to hold it and call herself a master.

Her hand starts to loosen, and her keyblade starts to slide out of her hand, but before she drops it, she shakes herself. "I am only unworthy if I give up on them and the light," she says to herself, pulling out her Wayfinder charm. She smiles slightly at it, picturing Terra and Ven smiling back at her. She isn't going to give up. She is going to go find Ven and stop Vanitas and Xehanort once and for all. Now determined, she returns the Wayfinder to her pocket and begins to look for a way down from the tall pillar of rock she is stuck on.

She only takes a few steps when a dark corridor opens in front of her. The man who walks through makes her heart jump and her breath catch in her chest.

Terra is standing before her, but her initial relief turns to confusion and fear seeing the silver hair and the amber eyes staring cruelly at her. He looks at her and smiles, but Aqua pulls back asking, "Terra?"

Terra chuckles and raises a hand. In it appears a large black and white keyblade. "This body no longer belongs to Terra."

Aqua's hand curls tighter around her keyblade, making her knuckles turn white. "Xehanort," she says, hatred in every syllable.

Terra-Xehanort grins. "I believe this will be a perfect test run for my new capabilities," he says rolling his shoulders. "I must say this new body was indeed a perfect candidate. I will not be letting it go anytime soon."

Aqua glares at him. "I'll make you pay for this Xehanort."

"Still the light burns strong within you," Terra-Xehanort says with a sneer. "Not that it will make a difference." He falls into a battle stance and sees Aqua hesitate before doing the same. "Do you think you will be able to fight me in this body? You loved Terra didn't you, Aqua?"

"Don't you dare say his name!" Aqua charges Terra-Xehanort, letting all her anger and grief add to the power behind her swing. Terra-Xehanort is fast through and jumps back out of the way. Landing lightly, he moves swiftly into a counter attack that forces Aqua to go on the defensive. She swings her keyblade to match Terra-Xehanort's swings stroke by stroke and sparks fly each time the two keyblades meet.

Swiping horizontally with her keyblade forces Terra-Xehanort to jump out of the way and Aqua takes the opportunity to point her keyblade at him and yell, "Bizzaga!" The shards of ice race like bullets at Terra-Xehanort, but he teleports away before they reach him.

"Thunder!" He calls from behind her and Aqua spins around just as he sends a lightning bolt right at her. She blocks it just in time and rushes back at him, her keyblade now crackling with the residual electricity from his attack. Before she reaches him however, he points at her and a blast of darkness comes at her. She waits until it is almost upon her before pointing her keyblade into the air and calling out, "Light."

A spherical shield of light appears around her and the darkness crashes into it. The shield dims slightly for a moment, but she concentrates and it renews its intensity. It explodes outward from her and the darkness flees back to Terra-Xehanort who glares at her in frustration.

He teleports away from her and reappears at the center of the battle area. He raises his hands in the air and the rock under Aqua's feet starts to tremble. Her eyes widen in shock as she see large chunks of the rock mountain break off and rise into the air above Terra-Xehanort. The trembling ceases as Terra-Xehanort points a finger at her and the pieces of rock shoot towards her head.

Rolling out of the way of the first rock, Aqua is barely on her feet before she has to dive again to avoid another rock. She manages to dodge them all before the last one catches her with her back turned and knocks her to the ground. Her head bounces off the ground and pain radiates around her skull.

Pushing herself up slightly, she turns to see Terra-Xehanort advance. Her vision is blurred and she can feel warm blood dripping from a deep cut on her forehead. Terra-Xehanort stops and leans over her with a sneer. "An admirable effort, but it is for naught," he says.

Aqua tries to get up, but the world starts to spin and she groans as her head pounds. Through gritted teeth she says, "You're trying to make me give up. It'll never work. I won't let you have the X-blade." From the ground, she tries to swing her keyblade at him, but he reacts quickly and knocks it from her hand.

"You are becoming quite a nuisance," Terra-Xehanort says glaring at her. "But this is the last time you will cross me." He readies his keyblade to stab her in the heart, but before he can a soft green light falls on her and all at once the dizziness is gone.

Aqua rolls out of the way and onto to her feet as Terra-Xehanort's keyblade strikes rock. He looks at her in shock and she glares back. She realizes Terra-Xehanort isn't looking at her but over her shoulder and in anger he shouts, "Impossible!"

A cold metal hand touches Aqua on the shoulder and she jumps, turning to look with a gasp at the red and gold armor suit now at her side. "Terra?" She says in barely over a whisper. Terra's Lingering Will nods slightly before stepping in front of her and taking up a defensive position facing Terra-Xehanort.

"Your body submits, your heart succumbs so why does your mind resist?" Terra-Xehanort yells at the Lingering Will, but it remains silent.

It looks over it's shoulder to Aqua and points down the mountainside. Although it doesn't speak, Aqua understands what it is trying to tell her. Go.

She is torn between going to search for Ven and staying to help Terra regain his body, but the Lingering Will points again, more urgently now, and she nods. With one last look back, she turns runs towards the edge of the mountain and throws her keyblade ahead of her. It turns into her glider and she jumps off the edge of the mountain on to it. Behind her she can hear the sounds of Terra-Xehanort and the Lingering Will beginning to fight, but she forces to keep her eyes on the ground below, searching for Ven.

...

On the far side of the Keyblade Graveyard, Ven stands completely still with his hands curled into fists at his side as Vanitas walks in circles around him like a wolf circling its prey. Vanitas has his keyblade in his hand which he taps absentmindedly against the side of his boot as he walks. Ven doesn't have his keyblade in hand, but it is taking all his strength not to summon it. Instead he settles for glaring at Vanitas. When Vanitas finally speaks, Ven is surprised to hear a sad, almost pleading note to his voice. "Ven, I need the X-blade."

Ven's glare wavers, but he doesn't reply. Vanitas stops circling him and comes to stand face to face with him. Ven finds himself staring at his own reflection in the black mask over Vanitas' face. He is proud to see that there is no fear in his eyes despite knowing this isn't a fight he is going to win.

"Do you remember telling me that I could make my own choices even though I'm the dark half?" Vanitas asks still with that same soft voice. "You were wrong Ven. I can't fight the darkness inside me. It'll just kill me." He gestures to the dark sores on his chest visible through the rip in his body suit. Ven glances at them, but looks away quickly, the very sight of them making him sick. "The darkness controls me and without your light it will eat away at me until there is nothing left. I need you Ven. At one point, you needed me too."

Ven looks at him for a long moment before saying, "You've done a lot to hurt me and I should hate you." Ven takes a deep breath and grudgingly says, "But I don't. I...can't. This connection between us makes me want to help you. I want the X-blade to be formed so we can be one again, but we can't."

Vanitas stabs his keyblade into the ground at Ven's feet. "So you are just going to let me die then," he says angrily.

"No," Ven says. "It doesn't have to be like that. If you help me defeat Xehanort for good I promise I'll happily join with you and make the X-blade for us."

Vanitas thinks for a moment before replying slowly, "You're asking me to fight the only person who's ever done anything for me since I started this miserable life."

"Vanitas, he's evil."

"To you," Vanitas says. "All you see is the darkness and assume he must be killed, but I have darkness too and he taught me how to use it. The Unversed, he helped me with them too. I wouldn't have be able to control them otherwise. Asking me to help you kill him is like me asking you to do the same to your Master."

Ven sighs. "Then I guess we're back to where we started."

Vanitas is silent for a moment before pulling his keyblade out of the ground with a jerk. "Not quite," he says raising it to Ven's throat in a single movement. Ven tries to back away but Vanitas grips his shoulder, holding him in place. In only a few seconds Vanitas has completely changed his attitude, returning to his cruel arrogance.

"This is much more than the two of us isn't it," Vanitas says. "Think about it. All your friends, paying the cost of you refusing to form the X-blade. Master Eraqus, Terra," Vanitas pauses and leans closer. "Zack." Ven glares at him and holds back a growl of anger. He can hear the smirk in Vanitas' voice as he continues. "Do you really want more people to die so you don't have to fight? Who's next to die? Aqua? Or maybe little Sora and Riku?"

"Shut up!" Ven shoves Vanitas away from him and stands there breathing hard, his hand twitching as he longs to summon his keyblade.

Vanitas laughs. "Hit a nerve did I? Don't want to watch me kill them like I killed Zack in that alley?"

Ven feels like he can't breathe. "You...you didn't," he protests, but there is a note of fear in his voice. "I healed him. He isn't…"

Vanitas shrugs as if it doesn't matter. "Believe what you want. Even if he did survive it won't be for long. I'll just go back and finish him off. I'll bring you along so you can watch him beg for his life while I stab him in the heart."

"I said shut up!" Ven yells and his keyblade appears in his hand in a flash.

"You ready to fight now Ven?" Vanitas asks mockingly and Ven looks away his body shaking with anger. Vanitas starts to walk around him again in slow circles. "I still can't believe you went crawling back to that piece of dirt. The guy was so embarrassed by you he couldn't be seen in public with you and you still took him back. Pathetic."

"I forgave him," Ven says angrily adjusting his grip on his keyblade. "That's what people do when they care about someone. Not that you would know what that feels like."

"Ouch," Vanitas says sarcastically. "That really hurts Ven." He's back in front of Ven and Ven forces himself to look to the side. "I bet you think he cares about you too." Ven doesn't reply and Vanitas laughs. "Idiot, you're so in love with the guy, but he doesn't give a crap about you. You're nothing more than a fling. He'll drop you as soon as a new hot guy walks past. He'll break your heart and leave you-"

"Shut. Up." Ven finally snaps and swings his keyblade at Vanitas' head. Vanitas teleports to the other side of the area and falls into a battle stance. Ven makes a fist and hits the button on the armor on his shoulder. His full armor appears in a flash minus his helmet.

Vanitas charges at him and jumps into the air at Ven with his keyblade raised. Ven shouts, "Aero!" A blast of wind hits Vanitas at the height of his jump and knocks him back. He rights himself and lands lightly on his feet raising his keyblade just in time to block Ven's attack.

Their keyblades lock and Ven glares into Vanitas' blank mask as they each push, trying to gain the upper hand. Ven is so focused, he doesn't realize until it is too late when Vanitas creates a ball of darkness in his hand and sends into Ven's stomach. The force launches Ven into the air and he falls hard several feet away. Grimacing in pain, he looks up to see Vanitas charging at him with his keyblade at the ready.

"Cura," Ven says and rolls to his feet. He points his keyblade at Vanitas. "Firaga!" To avoid the fireball, Vanitas jumps into the air and lets it pass harmlessly under him. He falls back to the ground keyblade first and when it hits the ground, a shockwave is released that knocks Ven back to the ground.

"You're going to have to be stronger than that, idiot," Vanitas taunts. "Blizzaga." Ven is back on his feet in time to block the attack and counters by throwing his keyblade end over end at Vanitas. Vanitas jumps to the side to dodge it and laughs. "That all you got Ven?"

Ven just smiles slightly and whispers, "Aero." His keyblade glows with the wind magic and turns sharply in the air. Vanitas doesn't even it see it coming when it strikes him in the back. He is knocked to the ground and Ven's keyblade returns to his hand. Wasting no time, Ven rushes at Vanitas, hoping to strike him before he gets back to his feet, but before he reaches him, Vanitas teleports away.

Ven skids to a stop and gets in a battle position, his eyes scanning all around for Vanitas. He catches sight of movement out of the corner of his eye and dives to the side just before Vanitas, falling from above him, hits the ground where Ven had been standing. Ven swings at his side, but Vanitas' keyblade is there to block him. Ven swings again, aiming for Vanitas' feet only to be blocked again. Vanitas knocks him off balance and then tries to stab at his chest, but Ven deflects the attack and counters with a cut at Vanitas' chest. Vanitas tries to jump back, but isn't fast enough and Ven is able to scratch him. Vanitas touches his chest and says, "Cura." The scratch is gone instantly and Vanitas readies his keyblade to attack again. He pauses, confused, seeing Ven with his eyes closed and his arms out.

Ven rises into the air feeling the magic all around him. With all that energy waiting to be released, he opens his eyes and shouts, "Salvation." A wave of light explodes from him and Vanitas doesn't have time to block as it hits him in the chest, sending him flying back. Ven touches back down as the magic fades and watches Vanitas slam into the slowly lowers his keyblade breathing hard as he sees Vanitas try to get up, but fall back in pain.

X-Blade.

Ven grabs his head in pain as the word echoes around his head.

X-Blade.

With a grunt of pain, he lets his keyblade disappear as he clutches his head with both hands and falls to his knees. The voice, or rather voices, continue, getting louder and more excited. The clamor they create lets him only understand snippets.

X-blade…...Kingdom Hearts…...Defend your heart…...Chosen wielder…...Light of the worlds…...X-Blade…..Power to protect…...Return…...Balanced heart…...Destiny…...13…...Broken pieces…...…...Connections…..X-Blade…...7…...Sacrif ice…...Kingdom Hearts…...Darkness and light…...Strongest…...X-Blade.

"Now you've done it."

Ven lifts his head to see Vanitas is sitting up. The dark boy grabs his mask and rips it off the reveal a face identical to Ven's with spiky black hair and yellow eyes. He tosses the mask aside and clutches his head in a similar way to Ven. Ven sees Vanitas wince just as one voice becomes louder than all the others. Clenching his eyes shut, Ven lets another moan of pain escapes his lips.

Chosen wielder of the X-blade, the forging must be completed. Broken for too long, it is time for Kingdom Hearts to return to its rightful place in the sky above all worlds. Darkness and light must be reunited as one heart with one destiny. Chosen wielder, Kingdom Hearts has given you the key and with the key you must defend the gates to your dying breath. The power is yours to protect. Protect it at all costs.

The voice fades back into the multitude of voices and the defending noise swells. The ground under Ven trembles and the air feels alive with electricity. Ven forces his eyes open despite the pain and sees the sky has darkened with black clouds and the wind had picked up. Vanitas pushes himself to his feet before another tremble knocks him back down.

"Ven!" He shouts over the now wailing wind. "Ven! It worked! We're going to be one again!" Despite the still shaking ground, Vanitas gets to his feet and stumbles over to Ven. "Give me your hand," Vanitas says standing before Ven with his hand out. All the voices in his head stop at once, and Ven looks into Vanitas' eyes for the first time. In them, he sees himself and he sees pain, pain he knows is from their separation.

Still looking deeply into those eyes, Ven reaches out and grasps Vanitas' hand. The energy in the air doubles as Vanitas pulls him to his feet. The ground trembles once more and Ven stumbles forward finding himself pressed against Vanitas who has his arms around him. Looking over Vanitas' shoulder, Ven watches as the air explodes in a flash too bright to look at. He closes his eyes and hugs Vanitas tight to him.

Everything is slipping away. Pain, fear, relief, they are all there for a moment, but pass away just as fast. His eyes squeezed tight, Ven watches images flash before his eyes of a thousand lives that aren't his own. It is too much to understand, but through each flash he can see the same blue heart shaped moon looming large in the sky. Kingdom Hearts.

The final image lingers longer than the others. A boy with black hair falling in his dark eyes stands alone among dead bodies on the red rock of the Keyblade Graveyard. In his hand is the X-blade, bloody. The boy's chest is heaving and he sways on his feet. Men in armor of every color come to him, but end up lying at his feet with the others. Still, there are more men that keep coming and the boy is close to collapsing. In a lull in the fighting, he steps back and shouts in a cracked voice, "Your hearts are consumed by darkness. Lust for power has destroyed your judgement. Kingdom Hearts' light has blessed all the worlds but still you greed for more. Action must be taken. I am the Wielder of the X-blade, chosen defender of the gates of Kingdom Hearts. The power is mine to protect and I will protect it at all costs." Having said this, the boy raises the X-blade high above his head and slams it into the ground.

Ven sees cracks form on the blade before the image fades and he finds himself falling alone into darkness. The darkness is warm though and Ven smiles as he loses consciousness, feeling complete for the first time in months.

…

Aqua is leaning low over her glider as she flies over the barren world looking for Ven. A shadow falls on her and she looks up to see storm clouds gathering. The wind picks up and the air feels heavy with electricity. A huge gust of wind slams into her glider and flips it. She falls with a small cry to the ground, landing hard and tumbling across the rocks. Her glider crashes into the ground not far from her. She painfully pushes herself to her hands and knees, dismissing her cracked and dented armor.

Getting to her feet and summoning her keyblade back to her hand, she takes off running towards the spot under the center of the brewing storm. There she spots a plateau and her breath catches in her throat.

In the center is Ven, kneeling with Vanitas standing over him extending a hand. "Ven!" Aqua shouts, but her voice is lost in the wind and she watches in fear as Ven takes Vanitas' hand and stands. The ground trembles and Aqua reaches out to a nearby rock to steady herself. She looks back up to see Vanitas embracing Ven before a ball of light explodes around them, shielding them from her view.

"Ven...no…" Aqua whispers as a beam of light shoots from the sphere of light on the ground to the clouds above.

…

Terra's Lingering Will's keyblade is locked with Terra-Xehanort's as the two of them continue to fight atop the mountain of rock. The ground under their feet trembles and they are forced apart. Xehanort regains his balance and moves to rush the Lingering Will again, but stops, looking past the armor as an insane grin stretches across his face.

"There, you see?" Terra-Xehanort says triumphantly pointing behind the Lingering Will. It turns slowly to see a beam of light extending from the ground below to the clouds covering the sky above. "The X-blade has been forged!"

The clouds part at the point the beam hits them and a blue glow falls on the world as a huge heart shaped moon appears in the sky. The Lingering Will looks down in sadness as Terra-Xehanort cackles happily. Its free hand clenches in a fist before it raises its head and charges back at Terra-Xehanort with more power than before.

DUN DUN DUN!

LightzMusic22: Yep the scene with Zack and Vanitas I've had planned for a long time.

Only four more chapters left people! Review to find out what happens next!