Last time I was bored so I made a kind of website listing all my fanfics related to Aqua, in a kind of "chronological order" according to my headcanon. The page probably will never be made public (partly because hosting websites costs money x'D), but that was a lot of fun to make! Didn't make a site for a while, I kinda missed it~
I hope you thought the cake sounded great in the last chapter. It is a very important character of this chapter. Enjoy.
Perhaps the cake was delicious indeed. But now, only the wall would be able to tell, as Aqua had violently thrown it, smashing in on the pure white wall of the kitchen.
"Aqua, I need you to calm down and to explain what happened. Please."
Seeing Aqua furious was something fairly rare, and neither Eraqus or Terra knew how to calm her down. All they knew was that Ven was not with her anymore, and all she said was that she had been stupid. She'd been repeating it for the last 20 minutes, since she came back alone.
"Aqua. We can't help Ven if we don't know. And we won't know if you don't tell."
Aqua closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
"I told him not to leave the market. I shouldn't have left him alone. I shouldn't. All of that, this is all of my fault. When I came back, he wasn't there. I should have started looking for him then, I shouldn't have waited! I thought he was just late. Stupid, stupid! By the time I found him, it was too late. He..." She broke down, and Terra wrapped his arms around her instantly.
"Was it Vanitas?"
Of course Terra knew. He probably had known the second she did not tell the story. He had known the second he saw her face. He had known even before Vanitas took Ven away, because he did not trust him and she did.
"They were fighting." She sobbed. "They were fighting and Ven was losing and Vanitas took him away. I'm sorry. You were right, Master, you were right from the beginning. It wasn't safe for Ven out there. I was stupid and I thought I could protect him and now he's gone and it's all my fault. I am no Master. I am a foolish little girl with too much pride."
She could see how hard Eraqus was trying not to show he was angry. She knew he wasn't angry at her, but she was angry enough for two. The minute Vanitas had seen Ventus outside, she should have known he couldn't go outside anymore. But she also knew how it felt to be locked inside this world, how suffocating it was.
"We all make mistakes, Aqua. That's what makes us humans. We have to find Ventus and to bring him back home. Do you know where Vanitas could have taken him?"
"The Keyblades Graveyard. I don't know if that's where they are. But that's where he lives."
"I would like to tell you that we need some preparation before leaving. But we don't have much time to lose, I'm afraid. It is time to go."
Still shaking, Aqua put her armour on. Terra and Eraqus did too. The two men left the kitchen, and Aqua looked a last time at the cake. She felt her heart had been smashed the exact same way. She should be angry at Vanitas, but she was not. She had known for a long time Ventus was Xehanort's target. Vanitas never said anything about staying away from Ven. The same way she could not be angry at Terra when he had tried to kill Vanitas, she could not be angry at Vanitas for kidnapping Ven.
She followed them, and they took off. Destination: The Keyblade Graveyard.
The place was a desert. Not a desert of sand and of starry skies like Agrabah, but a desert of stone, cloudy sky and dust. She looked at the ground, remembering how he had told her he was had no bed to sleep. Was he sleeping on this rocky, uneven ground? She hoped not. The air was hot, stifling, at every breath she would breath a lot of dust. No wonder he kept his helmet so much.
"Let's split up" offered Eraqus. "Aqua, you go that way. Terra, this way. I will take this road. The first one to spot Ventus blasts a Firaga in the air. We are not here to fight, but to bring Ventus back. Do not fight unless necessary. Are we clear?"
"Yes Master!" They both answered in unison, before following their respective roads.
Using her Glider, Aqua looked carefully everywhere while going as fast as she could. But nothing. The place was empty. Completely empty. She wondered how Vanitas could have lived so long in a place with nothing to to at all.
There! It wasn't much really, but it caught her eye. Some pieces of cloth were folded on a flat rock. There was a coat, and... She recognized the scarf. Some papers were scattered around, like food wraps. Somehow, she knew. This was where he slept. On that rock. Every night. Where he lived. Without a bed. Without a roof. Without anything.
Suddenly, a Firaga lit up the sky. Ven! Someone had found Ven! She jumped on her Glider to find the source of the spell.
The second she saw it, she froze. Was her life on repeat? Was she stuck in an endless loop, fated to see the same thing, again and again?
Vanitas and Terra were fighting. And this time, Terra was winning. At least, that's what she thought, and probably what he thought to, from his victorious face. But then, Vanitas casted a Dark Curaga, and Terra's smile died right away. Of course. He did not know Vanitas could heal himself. He went all out, because he thought Vanitas wouldn't be able to stand up again.
"Surprised, Terra? If you've got any complaint, why don't you ask your precious Aqua how come I can heal?"
Vanitas prepped his weapon. So did Terra. Aqua could not just stand and watch.
She glided all the way to Terra and hugged him.
"Enough... Please."
Vanitas did not slash her, but he knocked her away violently.
"I see you finally made up your mind, Aqua. That was probably the most reasonable choice... Too bad that choice will only get you dead."
With these words, he cast a spell at her, a ball of pure Darkness aimed right at her.
That's a bit extreme, even for a jealous person, Vanitas. I bet your parents wouldn't be proud of you. Oh, wait... Never mind.
RIP, Black Forest Cake. She chose you because you were black and red. May you rest in peace on that wall forever.