So there was only one chapter last week. Sorry about that. I do have my reasons, though ;)
The spell almost knocked Aqua out. She was still conscious, but couldn't move, her mind hazy. It did not even hurt that much either. Nothing was broken, if not her heart.
But the scene in front of her was probably more painful than any broken bone anyway. All she could see was darkness. That cold, familiar Darkness, full of loneliness, but also a new one, full of anger, one she thought she'd never see again. Terra's.
She wanted to call him. To tell him she was fine. To beg him not to hurt Vanitas. That was the reason she had run to him and not to Vanitas in the first place : she knew Vanitas would have stopped his blade, wouldn't have hurt her. Terra would probably have risked hurting her, then healing her afterwards, if that meant defeating Vanitas.
But could she still trust Vanitas? She shouldn't, but she still wanted to have faith in him. She still wanted to see what no one else saw, that goodness, that light that was growing in his heart.
Much to her surprise, Vanitas only dodged Terra's blows now. He would tease him, annoy him, let the Darkness grow bigger and bigger, but he would not attack.
Aqua understood what he was doing the second Master Xehanort appeared. He was dragging a body behind him. Aqua dreadfully realized that was Master Eraqus. Was he... Nonsense. He was strong. He couldn't just die like this.
"Well done, Vanitas, my boy." The old Master said, and Vanitas jumped away from Terra's attack.
"He's all ready now. He hated me before, but now that I have betrayed and hurt his precious little Aqua... Your vessel is ready."
"Go and get me the final piece. I think the time has come for this story to unfold."
Vanitas disappeared through one of his portals. Terra charged after him, but the portal closed before he could reach him.
"Stay put for now, boy." Xehanort snapped his fingers and threw a binding spell at Terra. The young man fell on the ground, trying to free himself from the spell. Aqua wished he would look at her. She would try to calm him down. But instead, he was looking at the unmoving body of their Master, and the Darkness coming from him grew thicker and thicker.
Vanitas came back dragging Ven. The boy was conscious, but weak. Aqua wanted to run to him, but she couldn't. She couldn't move at all. She suspected Vanitas bound her as well. Was it their favourite spell or something?
"Now, we do have the vessel, and all we need for the X-Blade to be forged. Wake up, Eraqus. It is time to watch your students' demise."
Eraqus weakly opened his eyes, and Aqua sighed, relieved. He was alive. Hurt, but alive.
"Vanitas... Why?" She was surprised she could talk. The spell was probably wearing off a bit.
"Why?" The boy laughed, a cold and terrifying sound. "Oh, but Aqua, you were so sweet. So kind. You wanted to see a friend in me, and that's what you thought I was. Thanks for the cake and the presents. They were nice. And thanks for teaching me what I was missing to beat Terra. But, more than anything, thanks for bringing Ventus outside! That was the best present you could get me. Did you really think I cared about you? Oh, come on. You should have listened to your beloved Terra. I was created from nothing good, how could you expect anything good to come from me? I took what you were more than happy to give me. Now watch as your teachings will destroy all that you love."
"We don't need her anymore, Vanitas. Kill her."
The old Master's words echoed through the whole place. Aqua felt fear for her life for the first time in forever. Vanitas smirked.
"Oh? I thought you said that you wanted a public for your grand finale?"
"Are you trying to disobey my orders? Could it be you don't want her dead?"
Vanitas shrugged.
"Whatever. That was for your ego only. See you around, Aqua."
And with these final words, he cast a spell she had never seen before. The darkness hit her right in the chest.
The last thing she saw before closing her eyes were two tiny ears twitching behind a rock.
She collapsed with a sad smile on her lips.
That was my poor attempt at killing Eraqus. The man is damn tough, he doesn't want to die!
The end is pretty near, I'm afraid...
But I still have so much other projects to post. Not only "Melodies of my heart", updated every other day (if you like songfics, go read them! Aqua is featured in quite a lot of chapters xD Every chapter is telling an independent story, just like the advent calendar), but other stuff as well, some I need to finish writing and some ready to be posted!
See you on Friday for the final chapters!