- Chapter 4 -

Memories in Oblivion

Author's Note:

So, yeah, in case you guys didn't know, the Keyblade used by Nixe and Sï'Lea's attacker in the flashback last chapter was the No Name; you can get it in Birth by Sleep by defeating the Mysterious Figure. I think it should be obvious who said attacker is...

Speaking of the Mysterious Figure, I think you're gonna like this chapter.

I would like to thank OblivionDoctor, galaxyzero, grassrfire, and Star Tours Traveler for following, and Star Tours Traveler for faving.

Soundtrack for this chapter:

* Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep: Dark Impetus - www. youtube watch?v = WuJIyQiXdeU

Castle Oblivion

Young Xehanort stood before the massive doors of Castle Oblivion, having been sent here on a mission there by Master Xehanort to find the comatose body of Ventus.

Twelve years ago, Ventus had lost his heart after his battle with Vanitas, the living embodiment of the darkness in Ventus' heart, and fallen comatose. His friend and fellow Keyblade wielder, Aqua, had taken him here to keep his body safe until his heart returned before she fell into the Realm of Darkness trying to save the Xehanort-possessed Terra.

Privately, Young Xehanort didn't actually expect to find the Chamber of Waking, where Ventus' body lay. Xemnas had searched the entire castle top to bottom repeatedly, but the area was a labyrinth.

As he entered the castle doors, Young Xehanort found his mind drifting back to the last time he was there, when the world was still known as the Land of Departure. While it had been twelve years in real time, it was, from his perspective, only a short time ago...

Flashback

Land of Departure

The Land of Departure was a world consisting of tall, grassy mountains, each one surrounded by rivers of flowing water. There was a circular courtyard of sorts, overshadowed by a golden castle with tall, pointed spires protruding from the roof. Two lengths of golden chain connected the castle to twin peaks located in front of and on either side of the castle's base. A small path ran from the castle proper through the courtyard and ended at a quiet, grassy area illuminated by streetlamps. It was once a peaceful, beautiful world.

Now the sky was overcast, the castle was in ruins, and the world was shrouded in darkness, as if a great tragedy had occurred and left, forever scarring it. And it was in this ravaged world that Terra, Ventus, and Aqua found themselves in. They had been on their way to the Keyblade Graveyard to confront Master Xehanort and Vanitas, but had stopped at their old home for two reasons: to take one last look, in case they never saw it again, and because they sensed a powerful dark presence in the area.

Terra was a tall young man, around nineteen years old, with brown hair that reached to the base of his neck in the back and was styled into rather messy, vertical spikes and bangs that framed his face. He had blue eyes and slightly tanned skin. Terra wore two intersecting red straps over his chest, almost resembling criss-crossed suspenders. He wore a skintight, black, high-collared shirt, showing that he was rather muscular. His pants bore a distinct feudal Japanese style; his belt was tied like an obi, with a golden Mark of Mastery badge on the front, and he wore hakama that were dark grey near the top, with several loops for his belt and two buttons, both of which were undone. The rest of the pants were tan with a small, lighter stripe of tan on the bottom hem. He wore a black wristband on his right arm, and his entire left arm was completely encased in a metal fingerless gauntlet with a large, ornate golden crest on his shoulder and the rest alternating between dark grey and dark red. Finally, his boots were armored and colored dark brown and gold.

Ventus, or Ven as he preferred to be called, was a boy around fifteen years old with golden blond hair in a unique style, with the front concentrating the spikes on the right side of his head as if windswept, and the back being smoother and more flaky, and blue eyes. He wore three layers of clothing on his upper body. First, he wore a plain, high-necked black shirt. Over that was a grey vest with a single button and several white, angular patterns on it, and over that was an unzipped short-sleeved jacket that was colored white on the right side and black on the left side and had a folded red and pleated collar, along with a chunk of dull green and grey armor on his midsection. He wore two criss-crossing black straps across his neck with a silver Mark of Mastery badge in the center and an ornate, dull green and grey piece of armor on his upper-left arm, along with a black and white checkered wristband on his left wrist. His pants were ballooned outward slightly before closing up about halfway down his legs, and boots that resembled an armored version of normal street shoes in shades of dull green and grey.

Aqua was a pretty young woman around seventeen years old with a tall, slender figure, standing a few inches shorter than Terra. She had blue eyes and medium-length blue hair, mostly parted to her left. She wore a black and navy blue high-collared halter top, a black corset with two pairs of white laces, and black shorts. She had two pink straps intersecting over her chest and back, with a silver Mark of Mastery badge in the center, and small, segmented pieces of silver armor on her upper arms. On Aqua's arms were white bell-sleeves and tan fingerless gloves. She wore black stockings reaching about halfway up her thighs, leaving a small area of bare skin. There were two strips of blue cloth draped over each of her hips, along with a smaller, white strip of cloth tied around her waist and draped in the same manner. Her silver boots were pointed and armored, with a sharp "hook" on the outer side of each.

Ven and Aqua looked around their ravaged home, visibly upset. Terra felt much the same way. Aqua looked at him.

"Terra, did you have something to do with this?" Aqua asked, her eyes stating what she herself didn't: Please tell me you didn't. Terra shook his head.

"No," he said. "Xehanort did it. He killed Master Eraqus right in front of me, and then destroyed this world."

Ven gasped in horror, while Aqua, having heard of Eraqus' demise from Master Yen Sid, wasn't surprised, but still visibly upset.

"Master Eraqus is dead?" Ven said. Despite Eraqus having tried to kill him, the news still upset him. Terra nodded, before losing his composure.

"Xehanort played me like a blasted fiddle!" he screamed, sinking to the ground and pounding it with his armored fist. Ven and Aqua recoiled at their friend's outburst. Terra sat there, breathing heavily before managing to compose himself and getting up. After a moment, Aqua looked over to the mountain trail.

"The dark presence is up on the summit," she said. "Xehanort can wait for now. Whatever this thing is, we can't let it roam free."

Terra nodded, and he and Ven followed after Aqua, making their way through the blasted landscape until they reached the summit of the mountain. When they got there, however, the area was empty.

"There's nothing here, guys," Ven said, looking around. Aqua pursed her lips in thought.

"There's gotta be something here," she said. "I can still sense something."

Terra nodded in agreement. His hair was standing on end, and his skin was tingling. The trio was being watched by something... or someone.

He opened his mouth to speak when something behind Ven caught his eye. "Ven! Behind you!"

Ven whirled around immediately, with Aqua doing the same. Standing before the trail was a hooded figure dressed in a black coat with matching pants, shoes, and gloves, having seemingly materialized out of thin air. Terra, Ven, and Aqua sprang backwards, drawing their Keyblades as they did.

Terra's Keyblade, Earthshaker, had a textured, dark brown color, with brass edges. The teeth were made of two pick-like points, with two hammer-like protrusions on the opposite side. The guard was an off-blue color, and seemed to be crafted from two Omega insignias. The pommel was a dark blue cone, and the Keychain token was a reddish rock fragment with brass armor-like plating.

Ven's Keyblade, Wayward Wind, was a peculiar Keyblade that was designed to be easily wielded in reverse. The black handle was offset from the Keyblade as opposed to being aligned with it, and the guard was equally misaligned. The guard was a dull gold color and joins with the shaft of the Keyblade to fully enclose the handle. The shaft was grey, thin, and had a very slight curve outward. There were three thin, dull gold lines that decorated the middle of the shaft. Two short bars connected the main blade to the teeth. The Wayward Wind's teeth were grey like the blade and had a wing-like shape. They were comprised by five curved bars that decreased in size the lower they were on the Keyblade. The Keychain token was a green gem with two silver feathers spiraling around it.

Aqua's Keyblade, Rainfell, was thin and predominantly a dull, metallic blue color. There was a teardrop-shaped gap in the base and near the tip of the blade's shaft. The head of the Keyblade was roughly diamond-shaped, though the left corner of the diamond was absent and there is another, small, white diamond on the inner edge of the right corner. The teeth were formed by four blue spikes lining the outer edge of the Keyblade's head. The handle was smooth and black. The guard was angular, predominantly white, and did not fully connect to the Keyblade. The Keychain links and its token were all made up of water droplets.

"I think we found the source of the dark power," Terra said. Aqua nodded; the mysterious figure seemed to be encased in a poisonous envelope of darkness; it couldn't be seen, but it could be felt. The man slowly extended his arm forward, directly at the three.

"Get ready," Aqua said to Terra and Ven. The two boys nodded.

For a moment the man just held his arm there in the air, but then a burst of light shot from his palm and an energy blade appeared in his hand, followed by another in his opposite hand. The blades were blue and had black hilts, and bore a passing resemblance to clock hands or clock arrows. The mysterious figure assumed a combat stance; every muscle in Terra, Ven, and Aqua's bodies tightened in response.

"Here he comes!" Terra yelled.

*Right on cue, the unknown man sprang forward, ready to attack; they could hardly follow his movement as he rushed at them. Terra elected to meet the figure halfway and took off directly at him.

"Terra, wait!" Ven shouted, but Terra ignored him.

Terra swung his Keyblade as he reached the mysterious figure, Earthshaker clashing with the man's energy blades. As they did so, a light flashed across the pathway and a Reflect spell-like barrier appeared before it, trapping them on the summit.

"So," Terra said to the man, staring into the darkness of his hood, "two men enter, one man leaves, huh?"

The man said nothing, but jumped back and immediately began swiping his blades with lethal efficiency. Terra blocked and parried whatever he could, but the figure's strikes were lightning fast, and the others noticed that his blades seemed to whistle when swung.

The man moved with inhuman speed and agility, leaving momentary after-images of himself as he did. Terra was forced to break off his attack and evade the mysterious figure, who was chaining brutal combos together into an unstoppable blitz. While the man was focused on Terra, Aqua used his distraction to her advantage and cast a Firaga spell that hit him in the back.

The man staggered forward, and Terra saw his chance and took it; clutching his Keyblade, Terra swung it like a baseball bat and struck the man in the chest with all his might. The man was sent flying back towards Aqua, who realized Terra's intent and hit the man just as he reached her, sending him back to Terra.

Terra and Aqua alternated attacks, sending the mysterious figure back and forth between them like a ping-pong ball. After a few rounds, Terra decided to end the "game."

"Ven!" he shouted, getting Ven's attention. "Heads up!"

As he said so, Terra swung his Keyblade, which smashed into the figure's side and sent him flying over to Ven, who was standing off to the side. Ven sprang into action and swung his Keyblade with all his might in a jumping strike, striking the mysterious figure in the face and sending him flying back.

The figure bounced once, twice, upon hitting the ground, before managing to right himself and stand easily, as if the three-pronged assault never happened. The three friends gaped at that.

"Who or what are you?" Aqua demanded. The figure looked at them, without saying a word, and then spoke for the first and last time, saying only four words:

"Someone from the dark."

With that, he once again drew his blades and attached the hilts together, forming some kind of double-edged dual blade. With lightning speed, he charged at them and knocked Terra and Ven aside with one powerful blow each, and turned his attention to Aqua. Twirling his dual-blade like a quarterstaff, he lashed out at Aqua.

Acting largely on instinct, Aqua threw herself back in a series of acrobatic back handsprings, flipping out of the way of the mysterious figure's vicious attacks. After a moment or two of dodging, Aqua stopped and summoned her Barrier. The figure's blade bounced off the shield, and Aqua promptly retaliated with a Counter Blast, knocking him back.

Ven immediately dashed in on the offensive. With all of his considerable speed, he pulled off the longest combo he could manage, striking the man ten times in rapid succession. The mysterious figure recovered after the last blow and jumped back to evade another strike, rising into the air and projecting an X-shaped blast of fire at Ven, who rolled out of the way just in time.

But the mysterious figure wasn't finished. He snapped his fingers, and a multitude of flower-like blue orbs appeared overhead, floating above them like a cloud. They followed the three Keyblade wielders' every movement, and began firing energy beams at them. Each time they fired, a few disappeared, and the trio realized that all they had to do was keep evading until they were all gone.

The orbs kept homing in on their position and reformed around them. The last laser that fired hit Ven in his left shoulder. Ven hissed in pain, and his hand automatically went to the spot.

"Ven!" Aqua cried, seeing her friend's pain. "Are you okay?!" Ven took his hand away and saw a small burn mark on his shoulder guard.

"Yeah, don't worry! I think my armor took most of it!" Ven replied.

As he said that, Ven threw himself backwards to avoid a horizontal slash from the man's blades. No sooner had the attack ended than the mysterious figure began another; he extended his arm into the air and summoned three pillars of fire around him before rushing the trio like a freight train, hoping to catch them in his path. As they dodged out of the way, Terra formulated a new attack.

"Ven!" he shouted. "Over here! I've got an idea!"

Ven leaped over to Terra, who grabbed Ven's wrist and started spinning in place like a cyclone, bodily lifting Ven off the ground as he did. His plan was obvious; he was going to hammer-throw Ven at the mysterious figure.

"Here we go!" Terra yelled, spinning one last time before letting Ven go. Ven sailed through the air at the mysterious figure, swinging Wayward Wind horizontally at the man's face.

BAM!

The man was sent flying backwards on impact, the flame pillars extinguishing. Ven hit the ground rolling over and sprang to his feet.

The man recovered quickly and rose into the air. He once again combined his blades together at the hilt, and suddenly, the blade extended into some sort of energy whip, which he lashed out at Terra, Ven, and Aqua.

Aqua tried to dodge one attack, but was too slow; the whip lashed around her waist and began to lift her off of the ground.

"Oh, no you don't!" Terra shouted, jumping as high as he could and slicing through the whip with Earthshaker. Aqua fell to the ground, landing on her feet and giving Terra a grateful nod.

The mysterious figure retracted the whip and lowered himself back to the ground, but before the trio could react, he suddenly split himself into eight different individuals, all with their sights set on Ven, Aqua, and Terra, who scooted together until they were standing shoulder-to-shoulder/back-to-back in a triangle formation.

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me!" Terra growled as the mass of hooded figures surrounded them. "As if one of him wasn't enough!"

"What the heck are we gonna do?!" Ven demanded as they closed in. Aqua quickly raised her Keyblade into the air.

"Thunder!" she cried, and the sky darkened even further. After a second, a mass of lightning bolts rained down on three of the figures, causing them to dissipate instantly. One of the other duplicates shot a miniature tornado at the three, which they managed to evade by diving off in three separate directions.

Terra lost his patience at that moment, and focused all of his power into his Keyblade, which suddenly morphed into a massive cannon that was far bigger than Terra's entire body, and yet Terra wielded it as if it was as light as a pillow. Ven and Aqua gaped; it was Terra's most powerful Shotlock, the Ultima Cannon.

"Aqua! Ven!" he shouted. "Take cover!"

The two obediently gave Terra and their enemies a wide berth, and a bright light began to glow at the barrel of the Ultima Cannon. Terra's eyes narrowed as he eyed his targets.

"Eat THIS!" he yelled, and a large orb of pure energy fired from the cannon, hitting all five duplicates at once and detonating into a large explosion. When the dust settled, all that was left was the original mysterious figure, who was kneeling on the ground and breathing heavily. After a moment, he stood again, largely unfazed. Terra, Aqua, and Ven gaped.

"How can he still be moving after all that?!" Terra yelled.

The man changed the game up once more, this time turning himself invisible. Although the trio could not physically see the mysterious figure, they could still hear the whistling of his blades, which prevented them from being taken by surprise. They blocked and dodged as best as they could, which was easier said than done against their cloaked opponent.

"This just keeps getting better and better," Ven said aloud.

"Any chance it could get worse?" Terra asked. At that moment, the sky turned a sinister crimson, and meteors began raining down upon the area. Each time one of the meteors impacted, a violent explosion followed, sending fire and clumps of dirt and grass flying in every direction. Aqua looked at Terra, a blank expression on her pretty face.

"You know this is your fault for saying that, right?" she said flatly. Terra looked sheepish for a moment. The group was once again forced to dodge in every direction, avoiding both the meteor shower and the invisible man.

After a moment or two, the mysterious figure seized his cloaking technique and started mixing up all of his previous attacks, the meteor shower continuing. Having adapted to their foe's attacks and strategies, Terra, Ven, and Aqua found it much easier to find an opening.

The battle continued to wear on, and the trio was starting to worry. The long fight was starting to wear them down, and yet the mysterious figure showed no signs of slowing. However, Aqua had an idea.

"Ven! Terra! Over here!" she called. The boys dashed over, and Aqua whispered her plan to them as quickly as she could just as the mysterious figure sprang over to them with an overhead chop, forcing them to dodge.

Acting quickly, Terra slammed his Keyblade into the mysterious figure's head, knocking him senseless. As he reeled, Terra, Ven, and Aqua surrounded him in a triangle formation, raising their Keyblades to the sky. The blades glowed, and a large ball of light formed between them as glowing runes appeared beneath their feet.

"TRINITY!" Terra, Aqua, and Ven shouted in perfect unison, and the ball exploded in an intense burst of white light, sending the mysterious figure sailing back to slam into the barrier he had formed and slide to the ground, half-conscious.

The figure stood shakily, clutching his chest, and the barrier dissipated. The trio looked at him, Keyblades at the ready in case he tried to attack them again. Instead, the man looked at them for a moment or two, and vanished into thin air. Ven, Terra, and Aqua exchanged confused glances before looking around.*

There was no sign of the man. The battle was finally finished.

"Well," Terra said. "I'm glad that's over."

With that, the trio used their Keyblades to open a gateway to the Lanes Between and entered said gateway. There was nothing left for them here, and Xehanort and Vanitas were still at large.

Flashback Over

Castle Oblivion

Young Xehanort pushed those memories back as he finished searching the first floor and moved up to the second. So far, there was still no sign of the Chamber of Waking.

As he did so, he was quite confident in his elder self's chances of success. Ventus was still an empty shell, a body without a heart. Aqua was trapped in the Realm of Darkness. And Terra was one of them.

Sora and his friends were, at best, only delaying the inevitable. In the end, darkness would triumph.

The χ-blade would be forged.

Author's Note:

In case you guys didn't know, it's been confirmed that the Mysterious Figure from Birth by Sleep and Young Xehanort are one and the same. Hence the flashback. And yes, there is some minor AU involved, since in the game, Terra, Ven, and Aqua all encountered the Mysterious Figure and arrived at the Keyblade Graveyard separately.

So, what did you all think about this chapter?

Next time, we go back to Sublime City and Sora and co.'s fight with Ansem.

Please R&R. Until next chapter...