This is chapter 36 of 40!

This chapter will actually do some setup for the Terra, Aqua, and Ven fic that I will write next.

Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy © to Disney and Square Enix!

Final Fantasy © to Square Enix!

All OCs © to their respective creators!


Chapter 36: Old Darkness


"Hey guys," Isa called down from his office. The others poked their heads out of the different rooms they were in. "Terra, Aqua, and Ven are coming to town tomorrow to see Jiminy. Apparently, this wasn't a planned visit, but a necessary one."

"Oh boy…"

"Yeah. But Terra said if there was a time to do the 'Xehanort Sucks' get together with former vessels, now's the time."

Xion nodded. "I can call Ienzo and ask him to tell the others."

"Sounds good."

Roxas glanced at Axel. "Do you think Aqua is ok?"

"I hope so."


"Welcome!"

"Thanks for letting us stay. I'm sorry it was such short notice."

"Don't worry about it." Axel noticed Ven approaching, bags under his eyes, clutching what appeared to be a gray striped stuffed cat. "You ok?"

Ven shook his head. "I'm the reason we're here. I've been having nightmares… so bad I can't sleep. And Chirithy here can't seem to get rid of them."

"Aw!" Xion gushed at the little creature. "I didn't know you liked stuffed animals."

"I'm not a stuffed animal." The creature hopped out of Ven's arms.

Xion squeaked and jumped back. "You're alive!?"

"I'm a Dream Eater." Chirithy sighed. "A Spirit."

Isa knelt down to him. "Wow. I didn't think you could manifest outside the Realm of Sleep."

"I'm one of the few that can for an extended period."

Roxas looked at Ven. "What kind of bad dreams if you don't mind my asking?"

Ven gave him a small smile. "I'll tell you later."

Axel glanced over at Aqua. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm actually doing ok." She looked at Xion and Roxas. "Actually, I had a date on Valentine's Day too."

Terra raised an eyebrow. "WE had a date."

Xion gasped. "You two are a couple too?"

"We are."

"Congratulations." Isa smiled before looking at Ven. "Would you like to take a nap?"

"Yes please." He scooped up Chirithy and headed for a guest bedroom. "Does it matter which room?"

"Pick one."

He entered the first guest bedroom and closed the door.

"This started after Christmas, and it's been getting slowly worse." Terra sighed. "We sometimes hear him screaming in his sleep, when he gets sleep. We know that before he met us, there was part of his past that was before Xehanort started training him that was missing. Chirithy knows more than he lets on."

Aqua nodded. "Yeah, but these memories that he keeps having are bringing him pain, so I get why Chirithy refuses to say anything about it. But it's really hard on Ven."

"I bet."

Roxas glanced up at the guest bedroom.


"Did you get some sleep?"

"A little." Ven rubbed his eyes as Roxas handed him a cup. "What's this?"

"Hot cocoa. Isa makes it when people have bad dreams. It's the one thing in the kitchen I'm good at making too." Roxas sighed. "Wanna talk about the dreams?"

Ven sipped on the hot cocoa as Chirithy hopped onto the table. "I guess."

"Would you like cocoa too, Chirithy?"

"Sure."

Roxas went to get another cup as Ven leaned back in the chair. "I keep dreaming about darkness. And not Vanitas, though he's sometimes in the dreams. There's a deeper darkness I dream about. And sometimes I see flashes of faces I don't recognize."

"Really?"

"Yeah, a bunch of people. But I keep seeing a girl with orange hair most of all. Every time I see her, I feel sad."

"I'm sorry. When are you going to see Jiminy?"

"Tomorrow. I hope I don't wake you guys up tonight."

Roxas handed the small cup in his hands to the dream eater. "Actually, we're used to that kind of thing. I think all of us have had a nightmare that woke the house up. I mean, I had a night where I panicked and ran into a thunderstorm. They all had to come find me."

"Really?"

"Oh yeah." He looked over at Chirithy. "But why can't you just get rid of the nightmares? You're one of the Dream Eaters that gives good dreams."

Chirithy sipped at the cocoa. "I can, but these are more than dreams. They're memories, and something is making it harder for me to block them. The best I can do is make sure his sleep is peaceful at least at the beginning, but the nightmares usually overtake the dream. Sometimes I can get him a full night of sleep, but it's taxing."

"And I don't want Chirithy overdoing it too much."

"I'll try to give you a good night's sleep tonight though." Chirithy nodded. "You want to be a little more alert for the meeting with Jiminy tomorrow."

"Yeah, and you'll be there with me."

"Of course."

Roxas stared at the little creature on the table. "Where did you find him, Ven?"

Ven finished his cocoa. "He just kinda showed up on The Land of Departure. We'd never seen anything like him before, but the moment I saw him, something told me he was a friend. And he felt familiar. Later, he told me that he did know me from the past; the past I can't remember. And I'm sure that's where these dreams are coming from."

"Yeah…"

"You'd rather I didn't remember, right?"

"Ven, that was a painful time. You're happier now. I honestly wish you could forget those terrible times."

"I know." Ven sighed, glancing around. "Where are the others?"

"Isa, Terra, and Xion went shopping for their little gathering with all the former Xehanort vessels. I think they're calling it the 'Xehanort Sucks' gathering."

Ven laughed a little. "I love it."

"Me too." The other boy laughed as well. "I think I'll be out with Axel and Aqua while they're doing that. Aqua said she'd give me some training tips since I have been teaching Caden still. Caden might join us."

"Thinking of becoming a Keyblade Master and him being your apprentice?"

"No way. But I'm thinking about teaching one day. I think Aqua is curious if he is worthy to wield a Keyblade. Maybe he could be her apprentice or Terra's one day. And Axel wants to watch."

"Cool."

"Yeah." Ven stretched. "I'm going to go relax. Chirithy, get some rest if you're going to work to give me a full night of sleep."

"Ok."

Taking the empty cups, Roxas watched Ven pick up his little friend and the two walk off.


"Is it just us?"

Terra nodded. "Ven has something to do and Aqua is with Axel and Roxas."

"They'll be back later to say hello."

Xion giggled as Even and Demyx came into the living room. Demyx looked around at the house. "This is a nice place."

"Yeah it is." She smiled. "Has there been any sign of Marluxia, Larxene, Luxord, or Xigbar?"

Not that Xigbar was someone that she wanted to see.

"Not a trace." Even sat down. "We've looked."

Demyx threw himself into a chair, nearly toppling it backwards. "I've been looking all over for them. It's exhausting!"

"Wait, you WILLINGLY were doing work?"

"I know, shocker isn't it? But come on, I don't have many buddies out there, and three of them I have a question for." His gaze became uncommonly serious.

"What kind of question?"

Demyx's eyes lit back up with the same energy and silliness they usually held. "Aw, it's nothing really. Just something Xemnas told the four of us. I didn't really understand it."

"What?"

He winked at Xion. "My secret."

"Aw! Come on."

"Look, I don't know what it means anyway! Xemnas wasn't exactly forthcoming with information! He gave us this super cryptic comment, and I don't know what he was talking about. I promise, when I have SOME answers I'll tell you."

"I'll hold you to it."

Even rolled his eyes. "Xemnas was always one to keep things close to his chest."

Isa snickered as he came in with a tray of tea and coffee. "You three have NO idea."

"Oh yeah, you were the second in command, or kinda. It was between you and Xiggy. You probably know all of Xemnas's dirty secrets!"

Taking a cup of tea, Isa shook his head. "I know some of them, but he kept a lot close. Xigbar was always better at sneaking around and finding out things he shouldn't."

Terra took a cup of coffee and sat next to Xion. "I feel a bit out of the loop. You guys all knew each other from the old Organization. I was basically a ghost at that time. Sure, Xehanort used my body to become Xemnas and Ansem, but I don't remember much of that time. Just flashes here and there."

"Xemnas knew of you." Isa nodded. "He had us searching Castle Oblivion for a 'Chamber of Waking'. Which is where Ven was, I assume."

"Oh yeah! I remember that! Xehanort asked Aqua about it, and I tried to stop him."

Xion looked at Even. "Did you know about the chamber?"

"Kind of." He sighed. "I knew Xemnas wanted us to find something in that castle, but things got a little sidetracked when Sora came to the castle. Finding the chamber was the last thing on our minds at that time."

"Axel searched that castle top to bottom multiple times."

"Wait!" Demyx pointed at Isa. "Is that why you kept sending him back to Castle Oblivion." Isa glanced over at him with a smirk. "NO WAY! It all makes sense! I couldn't figure out why you kept sending him back there."

Setting down his tea with a wider smirk than ever, Isa glanced between them all. "Actually, that was for me, not Xemnas. Axel and I were plotting to overthrow Xemnas, and I figured finding that chamber and exposing Xemnas's true agenda was the way to do it."

"WHAAAAAAT!? So you were always a traitor to Xehanort!?"

"Of course. I was never truly loyal."

Even chuckled. "I have to say, well played. If you'd stayed in Radiant Garden, we would have hired you at the lab. You are quite intelligent."

"Sneaky is more like it." Terra laughed. "I'm curious, if you'd found Ven, what would you have done?"

Isa leaned back. "A sleeping boy that looked exactly like Roxas? I'd probably have taken him from the room and hidden him. Since he didn't have heart at the time, I'd probably assume he was a Nobody and tried to wake him. Not sure what they would've done. Thinking back, finding that room would have just brought about more questions than answers."

"Without the ability to convert the castle back, there would've been no way to learn anything." Terra offered. "And you didn't know about Aqua."

"Exactly. It was a good plan, but knowing what we do now, wouldn't have helped at all."

Demyx leaned back. "Hey, Terra, you knew him as the old man first. What was he like?"

"Sneaky." Terra groaned. "Played me like a fiddle actually. He and my master were old friends, so I assumed he was trustworthy. And he told me just enough truth in his lies, so that they appeared real. And anyways, as far as I knew, he was Master Eraqus's oldest friend. I had no reason to distrust him."

"And he used that." Even nodded. "He did something similar with us. Came in acting like he remembered nothing, and to an extent I think he did. Charmed us with his intelligence and understanding of the heart, and we fell right into his trap."

"He was a manipulator." Isa took a sip of tea. "He thought he had everyone under his thumb, and so he wasn't looking for someone to be manipulating him instead."

Demyx laughed. "I can't believe you were a traitor the whole time."

Isa grinned. "Exactly the plan. Axel did things in the open, I did it behind the scenes. Things got a little complicated at one point." He glanced at Xion, the shameful glint in his eye that he still held sometimes when he remembered how he'd treated her and Roxas. "I made the mistake of thinking I was the boss of him, and didn't shift the plan when things changed."

"Honestly, if I knew you were trying to help out Xemnas's true agenda, I would've helped." She giggled.

"You and Roxas both would have."

"Exactly. We didn't really understand what we were or why we were there anyway. And I became a traitor anyway."

"Well, hindsight is 20/20." Isa patted her head.

Demyx smiled. "It's nice seeing you two so close. You've moved on."

"Have you?"

"Not quite. Again, secret answers to cryptic questions."

"Why not tell us?" Terra offered. "We can all keep secrets. Honestly, having someone to help you and keep tabs on how you're doing might be nice."

Demyx laughed. "Want me to make a 'Xehanort sucks' group chat to keep you guys updated or something?"

"Sure."

Even rolled his eyes. "You already spam my messages with photographs, that would at least clear up my personal messages."

"You can trust us." Xion nodded. "We'll keep it secret if you want."

The young man stared up at the ceiling thoughtfully before looking to Isa. "I'm surprised you don't know. Did Xemnas ever tell you why he wanted me, Marly, Larxene, and Luxord in the Organization?"

"No."

"Come to think of it," Terra looked at Even, "those four were the odd ones out. I looked over the records and other than those four, Roxas, and Xion, the rest of the members were from Radiant Garden and were connected to Ansem the Wise."

"I did ask Xemnas about that actually." Even smirked. "When he brought you in, Demyx. I couldn't understand why an outsider was allowed in, and a lazy one at that."

"I didn't really understand it either. But, hey, he actually thought I was good for something, so I joined." Leaning forward, that more serious look came over Demyx once again. "But he spilled the beans to the four of us, kinda… in a weird way… He said, that he picked the four of us because of the 'ancient Keyblade legacy' we had."

"What!?"

"Seriously!?"

"Yeah! He said we'd awaken to some sort of power. Not sure what he meant, because I didn't. And I don't have a Keyblade. Never have."

"Marluxia, Larxene, Luxord, and you…" Terra pulled out his phone. "I can do some research in our library. We've got ancient records there."

Demyx grinned. "That would be great! And yeah, don't tell the others yet. I'm not sure what it all means, and I'd like to see if any of the other three know anything and just didn't say it."

"Keep us posted, ok?"

"I will, I guess. At least I have some people to vent my confusion at."

"Make a message group."

"I will." Demyx flopped back in the chair. "Aaaaaaaaaanywaaaaaaays, why didn't we get more vacation days, Isa? I know that was your department!"

"Are we seriously talking about this?"

"Yes we are!"

Xion, Even, and Terra tried to hold back laughter as Isa sipped his tea, smirking while Demyx screamed accusations and questions at him.


"Ven, how did it go?" Aqua asked(1).

The boy smiled a little, holding Chirithy and a leather journal to his chest. "It went well. Jiminy will be checking in twice a week with me, and he asked me to keep a dream journal. Also, he suggested I don't go to the Realm of Darkness again anytime soon."

"I agree." Terra nodded.

"Are Demyx and Even still here?"

Isa shook his head, smirking slightly. "No, they left."

"Why do you look so happy?"

"He got to mess with Demyx for a few hours, that's why."

Axel let out a laugh. "And I bet he took great pleasure in it."

"I absolutely did, and I told him as much. Payback for never filing his reports correctly for years."

Aqua shook her head. "I cannot believe you guys."

"It was awesome." Xion giggled.

Terra nodded. "It was certainly entertaining."

"I bet."

The young man sat down. "It was kinda nice to just talk about that stuff. It was a room of people who all went through similar things and just wanted to talk and even laugh about it. Jiminy said did say that was a way of healing."

"Time heals all wounds, and sometimes it heals stupid."

"Yes it does."

Ven chuckled, looking down at Chirithy. "Maybe these dreams and my past can heal the same way."

"Maybe it can."

Roxas smiled.

He could see Ven's eyes filling with hope. In a room of people all healing from nightmares and trauma, hope surrounded them all.

And it felt good.


Footnotes:

(1) No, I am not doing the training session or Ven's session. You will see that in the Terra, Aqua, and Ven story.