It was one of the chapters that was both easy to know what would happen yet tricky to make for some weird reason.
It's coming closer to who these people are that guide or briefly aid our heroes.
enjoy
His bit aimless wandering stops when Terra notices that the bear totem is acting a bit strange; it feels warm, and a sense of greeting comes from it. This confuses Terra, but before he can reach into his pocket for it, a voice suddenly speaks; "You must be Terra." He turns and is not far away. A man dressed like those guards with the difference of wearing a red, torn scarf around the neck. Terra freezes up, recognizing this man from the vision he got of that wasteland.
"It's that old cook— he won't stop asking for you." This raven-haired man points out that he is annoyed to have come all this way just to please someone. And right as that thought struck Terra, the man remarks, "I came all the way out here to get you just so he'd clam up."
"What do you mean?" Terra asks, having trouble focusing on this sudden conversation as this guy looks like the one from one of those visions of his.
The man barks a quick laugh and asks him mockingly, "Do I have to spell it out? Xehanort, whatever he's called. You know, my prisoner."
Brushing his worries aside, Terra points out to this guy, "You're dressed like the guards from the castle, I don't think they would be happy with you taking prisoners without a good reason. And besides, Master Xehanort would never let himself be caught by a thug like you."
"Well, I have done a bit of mercenary work lately." The man smirks, having a strange glint in his brown eyes. "And if you do not believe I got the old geezer at my mercy, come and see for yourself." He gestures to the pathway he's standing before. "I'm holding him underneath the Outer Gardens. You better show up before I lose my patience." The man points out, turns around, and, with a "ciao." walks off.
Terra highly doubts this guy caught Master Xehanort, for even though that man is very old, he is still a master of the keyblade. 'But I guess there's no harm in checking.'
Terra thinks and follows where this man left off. The man notices him and smirks before leading him to the spot. At a platform underneath the city, giving a grand sight of the water filtration system, the man stops and nods up. Terra turns and, to his utter shock, spots Master Xehanort, who is chained to one of the giant water pipes.
He gasps and spins back around when the man speaks cockily. "The old coot certainly knows how to take punishment." He proves able to do basic summoning magic when a crossbow small enough to be held by a single hand appears in his right palm. "Just like I know how to deal it out."
Okay, so this guy is not just talking. And if he caught Master Xehanort, he'd be a more significant threat than expected. "You monster!" Terra sneers enraged this guy has been bold enough to harm Master Xehanort. "What are you after?" He demands, summoning his keyblade.
The man points at the keyblade. "That thing right there. It's called the keyblade, isn't it?" The man smirks down at the keyblade. "Yep, it seems like these days everybody's got one of those…" He looks up to where Master Xehanort is chained. "Even grandpa there. When I nabbed him, he told me all about it— what a weapon like that can do." He turns his attention back down to Terra, asking, but it sounds like it is more aimed at himself, "How could I not want one?"
"Well, you'll find they're picky about their owners." Terra points out. This guy might know magic and be stronger than first anticipated, but "I doubt you can get one."
The man laughs, "As if, I can get one just fine." He assures him so confident that it catches Terra a bit off guard. The man chuckles and brushes a hand over his head. "If I heard that old guy right, you're what they call keyblade Master material." He points the crossbow at a random pipe, "So if I defeat you, that makes me the real keys linger if you catch my drift." He waves teasingly at Terra.
Oh, so this guy thinks that defeating one in battle will automatically earn him a keyblade. Yeah, that's not going to happen. Delusional, that's what he is.
"Not the most polite way to go about it…" the man speaks, then smirks as he points the crossbow at Terra. "But what can you do?" Terra internally rolls his eyes and going to prove that he is much out of this guy's league; Terra goes for the attack but does stop when the man jumps back, saying, "Ah-ah, hit me, and the coot goes boom." Much to the shock of Terra. "You think I'm gonna fight fair? As if! That key's too powerful for us to go mano a mano."
Terra does not like it one bit, but he can't risk harming Master Xehanort, so he does not even try hitting this guy; he can only block the rain of bullets. He does try to make the rock bear appear, but for some reason, it refuses to aid him in this battle. It resolves he ends up pretty wounded.
The man snorts at him. "For a keyblade Master, you're not very— what's the word— good?"
Terra slowly sits up. He hates being defenseless like this, but this is for the sake of— "What are you doing, Terra? Fight!" Master Xehanort starts to yell at him. Startled, Terra argues, but the old master tells him hard, "You must fight! You can't let this ruffian win. Think of your Master, Eraqus— the shame he and your fellow pupils would be forced to bear!"
No, he can't let that happen, not when Master Eraqus already thinks so lowly of him, to begin with. That and forced to watch pity in Aqua and Ventus's eyes; he; he won't let that happen! Terra turns back to the man, enraged by Xehanort's words, to notice the look in the man's eyes and how cold the bear totem has become. All he can think about is the consequence Master Xehanort said would happen if he lost this fight.
The man snorts, "So much for the bluff." before he fires another mirage of bullets at Terra, who this time comes straight at him, ignoring the bullets. Terra would've hit him, but this guy proves to have adept space magic from how he could teleport away. Terra is not letting him get away and keeps pursuing the guy, not holding back in any of his attacks, not caring he might seriously hurt this guy. He is too angry to remember the rule Master Eraqus taught him to never use the keyblade to harm fellow human beings. His own mirage of attacks got the guy down but trapped in his rage, Terra just wants to hurt this guy and uses his keyblade to unleash the darkness holding over his heart, hitting the man straight in the eye. Terra only snaps out from it when he notices the disturbing déjà vu of this scene of this raven-haired man holding over his right eye, which is now gone. Terra's mind goes back to that vision of him taking that one's eye and then leaving a nasty mark over the left cheek. The darkness flutters, then fades, and the second shot never happens. In horror at his action, Terra lowers his keyblade. "I… I didn't mean…" He stutters, but the harm is done; he has permanently scarred this man.
The man somehow ignores the deep pain he must be in and uses that space magic of his to jump away like some sort of human grasshopper; Terra can't blame him, though… "What have I done…?" and it frightens him further, knowing that those disturbing visions he has gotten lately are sights of the future. The only silver lining there is in all of this is that he can change it, for that poor thug never got his left cheek scarred by him.
"Well done, Terra." Master Xehanort speaks, somehow gotten free from his chains. "You have taken yet another step forward."
Knowing what those sights now mean, he thought to those where he saw Master Xehanort point his keyblade at him with a dark grey goat bearing the same sigil as the bear. The sight of Master Xehanort commanding the boy in the mask to kill Aqua and seriously hurt Ventus.'He's not one to be trusted.'Terra realizes. Looking down at his keyblade, "Was this what you wanted me to do? Be consumed by hatred? To use the power of darkness— I hurt someone beyond forgiveness!" He cries out, and although that guy was a thug and a jerk, he did not deserve that!
"You only did it to protect me." Master Xehanort tells him. "You channeled the darkness by doing so."
"No… I succumbed to it." Terra corrects the man and feels horrible about his actions.'Now I see why Master made Aqua spy on me… why Master Lauriam gave me that look.'Because they sensed this darkness of his, and he gave into it… "Just like when I stole Princess Aurora's heart of light. I can never return home now. I'm a failure."
"Then don't. You could be my pupil." Master Xehanort suggests; this takes Terra off guard, letting the man speak, "Master Eraqus, you see, is so afraid of the darkness that he, too, has succumbed—not to darkness, but to light." The old man lifts and fists his left hand. "Master Lauriam is no better; he will never see you as an equal; it was he who persuaded Eraqus not to let you pass the Mark."
Anger swells up in Terra to hear this, but he pushes aside the reminders about the visions he has gotten, and right there, he gets another one, this time of Master Xehanort unleashing his own heart and sending it straight at him. That is enough to distrust this man's plans for him. "I can't." Terra tells Xehanort and backs away; the man blinks, a bit taken by surprise by his decline. "I want to fight the darkness."
"Light and darkness, they are a balance, Terra." Master Xehanort reminds him, "Light beckons darkness. With Eraqus, Aqua, and Ventus's light shining so brightly, it's only natural they cast a shadow over yours." Terra stops, closing his eyes to what this Master is saying: that he was fated to be darkness from the very start. "Terra… you are the one who shows the true Mark of Mastery." Terra slowly opens his eyes. A large part of him wants to accept the Mark from Xehanort and become a Master, but he can't…
"I'm not a master." he replies and walks away. Even though he can sense Xehanort staring after him, Terra refuses to glance back, afraid he might join this man if he does.
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Riding on his transformed keyblade through the lanes of in-between, Ventus almost falls off when something big passes him pretty fast; at first, he has trouble seeing what it is and is close to mistaking it for an Unversed. But when this creature turns, the long hair gets enough out of the way for him to see the shape of this creature. "Whoa~!" It's a unicorn! On its back is a man with long steel-blue hair, dressed in a light grey tunic with long sleeves, a cornflower-blue band of cloth folded around the shoulder, edge coated in gold. A leather brown belt holding a light grey-blue and silky drape, which, like the cloth on the shoulders, has golden lines at the edges. The pants are dark steel-blue, folded above the brown boots that have metal around the ankles and underneath the sole. This man steers the unicorn over to him and tells Ventus in a solemn voice. "You and I need to speak; follow me." and the unicorn runs off. Ventus is not entirely sure what this is about, but it sounds important, so he changes direction and follows the man riding on that huge unicorn.
To his surprise, the man riding the unicorn brought him to a world Ventus had been in once before. "Hey, this is Terra's home world." He realized, looking around this warm-colored town where the sun would never set. He recalls the time he, Aqua, and Terra came here. The first time, his two friends deliberately went against Master's wishes.
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em"You may leave, but I cannot allow Ventus. It's too dangerous for him." Master Eraqus had said, and no word could convince him to change his mind. He was so disappointed with that decision. Ventus had wanted to see another world for so long, but it seemed that wasn't going to happen anytime soon.
"It's all right, you go," he told his friends, trying to hide how much it bothered him behind a smile. Ventus went to his room, unable to hide his disappointment.
To his surprise, Terra came into his room and opened the window. "This way." Terra said and jumped out of the window, much to Ventus' confusion. Still, he followed, and at the top of the mountain was Aqua. She opened a portal with her keyblade, "Let's go before Master discovers you left." That's when Ventus realized what was going on, and excitedly, he ran through the portal. Which took him to a world quite unlike the Land of Departure. The buildings were all in a warm reddish tint and a lot more people than compared to the town below the mountain. Terra and Aqua joined him not long after, with Terra saying: "Welcome to my home world."
"It's very… sunny." Aqua remarked after a moment of looking around. "What's it called?"
"Twilight Town. The citadel of this world." Terra explained and started walking. "But I have never been in that part. This area is called Sunrise Beach."
"Is every sector of this world called after the sun?" Aqua asked, and Ventus trotted excitingly after them, right as Terra replied with a shrug: "I think so; it's not like the sun ever sets." This took Ventus by surprise, but that explained why his male friend always had lights on in his room during the night.
They went down to the beach, where Aqua brought them watermelons, and while eating their small treat, Ventus asked Terra, "Are we going to visit your family?"
Terra shook his head. "No, and it has nothing to do with the world order." He finished up his watermelon and was quite indifferent. "I simply don't have any family— other than you two and Master."
"Ooh, that's so sweet." Aqua cooed, clearly teasing him. Terra gave her a look but did laugh softly.
Ventus shared the same thoughts about family as Terra. Except he does not know if he has any, and it does not matter anymore; Ventus's happy where he is. He ran down to the waters and had fun splashing around. Aqua and Terra soon joined him, and they had a lot of fun messing around. They couldn't stay for long, but for those short hours, they were the best./em
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Ventus smiles at the memory and hopes, "Maybe someday, we can go without having to sneak behind Master's back." It would be nice. Checking the area, he notices that he does not recognize this part of Twilight Town; it's not Sunrise Beach. There are a lot more trams and buildings closer to one another and a lot more people, too. Ventus starts walking, searching for the man who rode on the unicorn. He sports him at the marketplace, watching him for a moment before the man heads to a tall wall.
He follows the man and leads him into a forest area, and past the forest is a mansion with a lot of unicorn symbols. em'Must be his home.'/em The young keyblade wielder observes. He walks over to the man, who waits for him at the mansion's gate.
Stopping before this man with the scarred forehead, "You needed to talk?" Ventus asks, a bit confused.
The man nods. "Yes, but there is a lot to speak about. So, best be comfortable." He replies, and Ventus follows him inside the mansion. The man uses magic that conjures food and tea at the oak table; Ventus takes a bit of the food, and, after the man has served himself some tea, he introduces himself. "My name is Ira. I am the guardian of this world." The man leans back into his chair. "I have the power of foresight, and you, Ventus, are privileged to know parts of your fate."
Ventus blinks, entirely caught off guard by what this Ira fella has just told him. "My… fate?"
"Yes, one you were set on the day your mother gifted you the Guardian."
This statement actually made Ventus rather sad; he does not remember the faces of his parents anymore. All he does remember is the time he spent with Terra and Aqua. Another thing this man said, it plainly confuses him. "What guardian?" He asks, wondering what this man meant of him having a guardian.
Ira puts his cup onto the table, watching his own reflection from the tea. "It was meant to keep you safe, but at his creation, the Guardian got cast into oblivion… it was what connected you to the ancient past, but now, that piece… not even we can reach it."
Ventus tilts his head in confusion, but when the man does not speak further, he asks something that has been bothering him for a while now. "You said you have the foresight. Does that mean you know about the masked boy?" Ira nods; in that case, "What is the deal with him? Why does he say Terra won't be him anymore?"
Taking a sip of his tea, Ira speaks very carefully. "That boy… his name is Vanitas, and… you two share more similarities than you might think."
"What? I am nothing like him." Ventus argues.
"You are light; he is darkness. Two sides of the same coin." Ira's latte brown eyes meet Ventus's bright blue, and the man asks the young boy. "Ventus, I do not say this to disrespect your Master, but he is wrong that darkness needs to be destroyed." And stops the boy from arguing as he clearly looks like he wants. "Let me explain."
Ventus closes his mouth, allowing him. "Every heart is born in darkness. It gives us a sense of self; it is focused on actions and intents. It is the rage that stirs us into action. Fears that drive us away from danger. Sadness that brings us closer to others, and desires to see what lies beyond our small worlds. In too many doses, darkness can be incredibly dangerous. The emotions that would drive us forward can become our very downfall.
A heart gains more light as they become more experienced and taught how to acknowledge others. Without darkness, we are not whole. For if we have only light, a person's life is solely for others. It is great empathy and compassion. It is joy, a bond shaped between people. Light is the source of the keyblade."
"Having only light does not sound so bad." Ventus voices.
The man eyes him calmly, and yet there is a strange gleam in those eyes. "True, but without darkness, you wouldn't know how to feel truly sad if someone you deeply cared about got hurt. You won't fear death; instead, throw yourself into danger even though there's no need to pick a fight. With only compassion, how can you stop someone from constantly hurting— or using you for their own use? Your entire life will be for others; you will never be able to grow as a person; there won't be a 'you,' only a husk that constantly seeks to please and serve others. You would be unable to properly connect with others as that requires some self-awareness. You would be all alone, but even then; light won't allow you to feel lonely." The man crosses his arms on the table, his gaze not breaking as he speaks about the two forces that affect everything around them. "You never seek change; always be complacent with your life no matter how horrible it might be. You won't be alive, merely just 'be.'"
Ventus's eyes are comprehensive at what darkness truly is.
The man retakes a sip of his tea before he continues.
"Only through the darkness can we appreciate what light gives us. There can't be goodness without the bad." Ira explains in a voice as if he is doing a history lesson. "Without either, we are not whole."
Oh, when he says it like that… "I suppose we do need darkness, but…"
"Yes, darkness can be devastating, overwhelming, and dangerous. Vanitas has proved as much to you. He is a boy of darkness, filled with as much negativity as you are with positivity."
Ventus blinks at this: "But… I can feel negative emotions." He can get angry, sad, and lonely. He wants to see more worlds, not be stuck in the Land of Departure.
Ira sighs and turns his head, staring into space in a manner that makes Ventus wonder what he sees at this very moment; then Ira speaks again. "The boy you have encountered in your travels. It is the result of a lonely, sad, and extremely misguided fate. Ever since his creation, Vanitas has been suffering, but his master has trained him to push aside everything that is considered a weakness. He no longer cries, for in his mind, tears are a sign of weakness. He no longer calls for someone to take his hand and pull him up from the hole of despair, for he believes only his own strength can pull him up from there when, in reality, he is falling deeper into self-suffering. Any sign of weakness from himself or anyone else will make him lash out. Attacking the problem is the only thing he knows. He believes destroying the problem will make the constant pain he feels stop, but the pain will never stop. Vanitas is trapped in an endless circle of suffering, one his master is determined to keep him in." The young boy's eyes are wide in shock, then shift to a deep pity, and Ira points out softly. "Pity will make him lash out as well. But only because he does not understand this emotion, and thus, considers it a weakness."
Is this man really saying that he should just accept that Vanitas is a lost cause? That he is destined to suffer for eternity until someone strikes him down one last time… "Then why did you tell me this?" Ventus demands softly, for now knowing partly of what is causing that masked boy to be such a big jerk. "I would've been better off not knowing; now I won't be able to fight him, knowing he is suffering." No one deserves such a life, not even his worst enemy.
"You will fight him. Vanitas will not give you any choice. He is naturally drawn to your light, and his master made him believe that clashing his keyblade with yours will be his salvation." Ira points out, and now to the actual reason why he told Ventus this. "Fight for him, Ventus, for only you can reach him and make Vanitas open up. Accept the help he desperately needs. It will be hard, but if you can accept Vanitas as a brother, never let go. He will take the hand, and when he is ready, you will regain the power sifted away from your heart."
"…. I don't understand…" Ventus quietly asks how he is supposed to accept someone like Vanitas as his brother when that boy has done nothing to hurt him and his friends. He doubts Vanitas will even receive his help if he considers any sympathy to be a weakness.
"You will in time." Ira speaks softly; he drinks the tea again, putting it down long enough to say, "You have more questions."
He does indeed, and it feels like Ira here is the only one willing to give him some answers. "Is Terra going to change?" His fear spikes from how this scarred man with the long hair is hesitating on the answer. "Please, tell me what I can do!" Ventus does not want to lose Terra to whatever Vanitas spoke about.
"Your friend will face a challenge that will test his heart's strength and mind's endurance to their very limits." Ira finally speaks. "You cannot get him away from this challenge; only believe in him that he can, in time, overcome it." He puts down the now empty cup. "That is all I can tell you about your friend." the man raises from his chair. "I have kept you long enough; best you return on your journey."
Ventus nods, gets up, and starts to leave the room; he does stop at the door. "Mind if I ask another question?" He asks this man who has given him something to really think about.
Ira nods from his spot. "You may."
"Is Vanitas really my brother, or is it more figurative speaking?"
Ira gives him a weak smile, one that almost makes him look sad, but he's not; it's more like wondering about something. "You could call him the brother of your heart."
Not sure what the heart part is about, only that Ira pretty much said that Vanitas is indeed his brother.'He might be the only real family I have left.'So, well, he will try and help Vanitas. Still, if that one tries to hurt his friends again, then he won't hesitate and hit him with the keyblade. "Thank you." Ventus bows and leaves the mansion along this world that has the never-setting sun.
The speech Ira has about light and darkness comes from a discussion I had with another Kingdom Heart fan, who, like me, didn't like how darkness is only evil. When several characters admitted the worlds needs both light and darkness, and yet, only very few that has used darkness ever proved the 'goodness' in having the darkness.
I love the games, but man, the storytelling in them does, at times, tick me off at how it completely changes some things from former games.
