Chapter 59 The Aftermath
"Aqua?"
A hand is shaking her arm and with a groan she opens her eyes to see the cloudy sky over the Keyblade Graveyard. She turns her head slightly and looks with confusion at Mickey who is leaning over her in concern. Relief floods his face as he sees she is awake. She sits up, running her hand through her hair to get it out of her eyes, and freezes seeing a prone figure lying beside her.
Memories suddenly come back to her. Vanitas taking over Ven. The X-blade. And Ven saying he was sorry to her before smashing the X-blade. The blast of the X-blade's destruction must have knocked her out, but she is awake now and Ven is not.
"Ven…" she says resting a hand on his face. His cheek is cool to the touch.
"I'm sorry Aqua," Mickey says lowering his head. "As soon as Master Yen Sid felt the disturbance in the balance of light and dark I came as fast as I could, but it wasn't fast enough."
"It's not your fault," Aqua says sadly as she moves her hand to Ven's neck. Her eyes widen feeling a pulse. It's weak but it is there. "He's still alive," Aqua says her breath catching in her throat. She turns to Mickey. "We have to get him to Master Yen Sid. He needs help."
Mickey nods and jumps to his feet. He pulls out the Star Shard and says, "I've been practicing. This is the quickest way to get him there."
"You take him," Aqua say urgently. "I'll be there as soon as I can but first…" She pauses and looks up at the mountain where she had left Terra's Lingering Will to fight with Terra-Xehanort. "There is someone else that needs my help."
Mickey nods again and touches Ven's shoulder. The Star Shard in his hand starts to glow and a moment later the two of them are in a ball of light, shooting off into space.
Aqua watches them until they are out of sight and then looks back at the top of the mountain. With her heart pounding in fear of what she will find, she summons her keyblade and turns it into a glider. She hops on and rides to the top where she is surprised to find the battle over and Terra-Xehanort gone. Dismounting here glider, she immediately spots Terra's Lingering Will kneeling and runs to it.
Reaching it, she kneels in front of it and lifts its head gently to look at her. "Terra…" she says her voice cracking. The Lingering Will doesn't respond, but after a moment it raises a hand off its keyblade to to grip Aqua's hand.
Aqua feels a tear roll down her face and she asks in a shaking voice. "How can I help you?"
The Lingering Will is as silent as always, but it releases Aqua's hand to point up at a break in the clouds where a couple of stars shine through. The armored finger is pointing directly at the brightest one which Aqua recognizes as Radiant Garden. Looking back at the Will, Aqua nods. "I'll do everything I can to get you back Terra," she says. "But Ven needs me right now. I have to make sure he's safe, but then I promise I'll take down Xehanort and make him pay for what he did to you and Ven."
Saying this, Aqua stands and kisses the Lingering Will's forehead. "I promise," she whispers and the Lingering Will returns to its frozen position. Forcing herself to turn away, Aqua changes her keyblade into a glider once more and flies away from the Keyblade Graveyard. She vows to herself to uphold that promise no matter what.
…
Aqua lands at the base of the Mysterious Tower and wastes no time running inside. The stairs she climbs make her smile as memories of Ven before Xehanort had been a threat play in her mind. At the top, she reaches the door to Master Yen Sid's study and bursts in without knocking.
Master Yen Sid and Mickey are kneeling on the far side of the room on either side of Ven. Ven is still unconscious, but is kept propped up in a sitting position by the wall behind him. Aqua slowly walks over and kneels as well. "Ven?" She says shaking his shoulder. He doesn't respond and she sits back of her heels, looking with pleading eyes at Master Yen Sid.
"The boy's heart is sleeping," Master Yen Sid says. "Not in his body, but in the heart of another." Aqua looks at him in shock. He rises to his feet and gestures for her to do the same. He sits in his chair behind his desk and Aqua sits heavily in one still facing Ven. "Master Aqua," Master Yen Sid says to get her attention. "Tell me all that has happened."
In a voice shaking with emotion, she tells him of Xehanort coming to MEKA and Terra and Master Eraqus' sacrifice to keep Ven safe. She explains leaving the children in Traverse Town and Zack's beating at the hands of Vanitas to make Ven go with him. Tears finally fall as she tells him about Xehanort possessing Terra's body and Terra's Lingering Will. Regret fills her voice when she reaches the part about Ven destroying the X-blade to keep it from Vanitas and Xehanort.
"I failed in my duty as Master to keep innocents like Ven safe from darkness," Aqua says, angrily wiping away her tears.
Master Yen Sid lowers his head. "Some destinies cannot be avoided. Ventus was fated not only to possess the X-blade but to protect it. We must be proud not sorrowful of his sacrifice."
Aqua looks down at Ven's body. "You said his heart is sleeping, will he ever wake?"
"I could not say," Master Yen Sid says. "His heart has left, but should it return, he may very well wake. Should it not, then he may sleep like this for all eternity."
"No…" Aqua says shaking her head. "I'll make sure he gets it back." She turns to Master Yen Sid. "But why? Why did his heart flee at the destruction of the X-blade?"
"X-blade wielders' hearts are tied to the X-blade," Master Yen Sid explains. "When one is injured, so is the other. Had the X-blade been complete when it was destroyed, Ventus' heart would have been destroyed as well, much like the fate of the last wielder Vairos. However, the X-blade was incomplete and while its destruction injured Ventus' heart severely, it was not enough to kill him as he found safety elsewhere."
"So there is someone out there with Ventus' heart, keeping him safe?" Aqua asks.
"Indeed," Master Yen Sid replies. "Ventus' heart will sleep until it is fully healed. During this time, his body must be kept safe as well."
"A safe place…" Aqua says. She frowns. Hadn't Master Eraqus told her and Terra about a safe place?
"Now that you are both Masters there is one secret in particular you must know," Master Eraqus had said after she and Terra had finished their Mark of Mastery Exam and were in his study at MEKA. He summoned his keyblade and held it out in front of him. "Should anything happen to me, and you find the legions of darkness close to victory, I ask that you take my Keyblade and use it to lock this land away to keep its light safe. Just use the key, and this land will be transformed. From that day forward, all who visit this land will be lost to oblivion, none ever able to solve the mystery. None, except the one with this key."
"MEKA," Aqua says under her breath as the memory fades.
"I see you remember," Master Yen Sid says and she looks up at him. "MEKA will be the safest place for Ventus' body to rest. Once transformed, all but the one who can help Ventus will be kept away by ancient magic. I must warn you, Master Aqua, there is only one who can help Ventus and if that one is not you, you will find yourself unable to return to Ventus' chamber. If you do this, you must put your trust in the one with his heart to find a way to return it to him."
Aqua lowers her head a moment, but then raises her eyes to Ven. "If there is someone out there Ven has trusted his heart to, then I believe that they will help him." She stands and goes to Ven. With help from Mickey, she lifts him onto her back and makes sure he is secure. "I'll make sure he is safe and then I'll go to Radiant Garden."
"What is there?" Master Yen Sid asks.
"Xehanort I believe," Aqua says scowling at the name. "I'm going to find a way to bring Terra back."
Mickey crossed his arms sadly. "But...Terra's gone. Maybe for good."
Aqua shakes her head. "No, not for good. He needs my help and I will save him from Xehanort's darkness."
"I hope you can Master Aqua," Master Yen Sid says. He waves a hand and a light corridor appears. "Go. Do what you can for your friends."
With a final nod of farewell to the both of them, Aqua turns to face the light corridor. Taking a deep breath, she repositions Ven slightly before walking into the light.
…
With all the loss she has already faced, Aqua doesn't think she can feel any more pain, but stepping out of the light corridor and seeing MEKA destroyed breaks her heart once more. Gone are the beautiful gardens and the sun warmed stone paths. Gone are the shining gold chains on the exterior of the castle and the ornate spires reaching for the stars. In place of what she has called home for so long is a broken mess where memories of better times lie buried in the rubble. Another tear drips from her eye as she realizes that never again would she come down in the morning to the smell of Master Eraqus' waffles, or listen to Sora and Riku argue about the silliest things. She would never sit on Kairi's bed and braid the younger girls hair while telling her stories or heal Ven's scraped knees after he lost a match against Terra. And her and Terra would never again sit on the bench at the top of the mountain with their eyes to the stars and their fingers intertwined.
Aqua shakes her head and wipes the tears from her face. She's cried enough today. She would hold onto those memories to remind her always of the destruction Xehanort has caused. They will be her drive behind her that gives her the strength to face Xehanort and win. She will do whatever it takes to stop him and bring back the friends she has lost.
Forcing herself to look away from the broken castle, she glances around and spots Master Eraqus' keyblade lying discarded on the ground. Picking it up, tears cloud her vision one more, but she blinks them away. She is done crying. With Master Eraqus' keyblade in hand and Ven resting on her back, she climbs the steps to MEKA and enters the empty shell of her former home.
Her legs move without conscious thought and bring her to the large sparring room. The back wall had been left untouched by the dark storm that had destroyed the rest of the castle. There, there is the faintest mark of a keyhole. Setting Ven down carefully, Aqua grasps Master Eraqus' keyblade in both hands and points it at the keyhole. The tip of the keyblade begins to glow as outline of the keyhole becomes more distinct. A beam of light shoots from the keyblade in her hand to the keyhole and a bright light following a soft click fades to reveal a set of double doors.
Aqua picks Ven up once more. She opens the doors and enters a white room with a single chair in the center. She can feel the ancient magic in the air and it gives her a feeling of safety in the room. She gently sets Ven in the chair and brushes the hair off his sleeping face.
"I know it's a lonely place, but you'll be safe," she says to him. "And you'll wake you up before you know it." She gives him a soft kiss on his head. "Hopefully when you do, Terra and I will be waiting for you."
With one final glance at Ven, she turns away and leaves the room. Closing the doors, she points her keyblade at them again and closes her eyes. Through her eyelids she can see a bright flash and when she opens her eyes once more everything in the castle has changed to be the same pure white of the chamber she had left Ven in.
She steps back away from the doors, feeling something pushing her away. It forces her to hurry away from the room and down flight of white stairs to the floor below. Here the feeling is gone, and Aqua glances back up the stairs in the direction of Ven's room. Master Yen Sid had been right. The ancient magic is very powerful. Only the one who can help Ven can get to him now and it seems Aqua is not that person.
Aqua follows the stairs down through many identical floors, thirteen in all, that had been created in the transformation of the Land of Departure. Each one is empty and lonely. At the bottom, Aqua exits the castle and finds herself on a dark landscape. Looking back at the castle, she sees the remnants of MEKA turned into a new castle.
"This is only temporary," she says to herself. "He won't sleep forever." Despite her words, her hope is weak, but she refuses to let it go. Turning her back on the castle, she steels herself for what she has to do next. Save Terra.
Betcha didn't expect a new chapter so fast, but it was short and I had a long weekend to work on it. Happy Veterans Day!
Dream For Tonight: SEQUEL! It's so close!
LightzMusic22: Love Pitch Perfect! Glad your socks were rocked last chapter :)
ONE MORE CHAPTER!
Are you ready for the end? Well get ready because it's coming!