It was time for the Mark of Mastery, and everyone was silent. They knew to some extent how things were supposed to go; Master Erquas would give a speech, Master Xehanort would watch them like a hawk, and Sora would cheer everyone as she sat down on one of the three thrones.
However, that wasn't what was happening; Erquas gave no speeches about their accomplishments, no smile, One of the biggest moments of Terra, and Aqua's history felt like more than a simple fight with their friend, Xehanort was grinning, but more ominously, and Master Erquas had a look of fear and disappointment on his face. They knew they were ready and strong enough to make an impact on their teacher; if fighting Hunters, Huntresses, and countless Grimm was anything, fighting Ven didn't seem that bad to the married couple. So why did it feel like everyone was hiding something from them?
"Welcome, students of the Land of Departure, I know what you're all thinking, Where's the grand speech, I felt it was a little redundant for this generation of students to listen to me boast about their accomplishments, their successes, failures, the reason for them being here, this year is pointless. I and Master Xehanort have decided to get to the point, Terra, Aqua, and Ventus, you are all powerful keyblade wielders in your way, whether by channeling the powers of light and darkness or with the use of semblances and technological advances. So I ask you to step into the center of the arena, and prove to us that you are worthy of the title of Master?" Erquas declared as the three students stepped into the center, the first person to summon their keyblade was Terra, summoning his chaos
"I won't go easy on you, just cause you're my wife!" Terra declared, looking at Aqua, as she pulled out her shield, letting it expand in her left hand, while she held her keyblade, Enlightened Dewdrops. Aqua held the massive keyblade with ease, as the duo waited on Ventus to summon his keyblade for the clash to begin, and the start of a new era of keyblade masters to rein over the worlds.
"I wouldn't have it any other way, so you'd better bring it, or else I'll surpass you in no time babe." Aqua let out, smirking at her husband, Aqua quickly looked over to see Ven, he was silent, motionless, and wide open. Aqua and Terra decided in unison that they'd knock Ven out first, if he wasn't gonna try, no point in him being there. Terra's keyblades grind against the castle floor, swinging wide and heavy, his oversized keyblades inches away from connecting with Ventus.
"I'm not going down that early, so you'd better get ready, Terra, Aqua! Cause I'm here to win, and become a keyblade master!" Ventus declared as he summoned Wayward Wind, and Missing Ache, back flipping away from Terra's swings and moving towards Aqua's area, She took a swing at him with her shield, but Ven was faster, using a thunder spell to try and stun the woman after her swing missed him. Aqua stood tall and firm, tanking the spell with her aura, and superior physical form, causing Ven to back off for a moment, and think of a plan. However planning was a fruitless endeavor as Aqua charged towards Ven, blade in hand, ready to potentially take him out in one shot, with the amount of strength her swing was packing.
Ven had no choice but to rush at the muscle-bound mother, tossing Wayward Wind at her, as she moved her blade gracefully in front of his keyblade path like he knew she would. As Ven's key touched her arm, unleashing a jolt of lightning exploded from his keyblade, Ven grinned gaining more distance at Aqua, ready to get behind her. He'd go for the blind spot, all that mass, and size was powerful, but useless if she couldn't see him, or turn fast enough to stop his strikes. She wouldn't be able to fight back, and then he'd assault her with magic. After all, once a keyblade user loses the ability to fight back it's over, Ven learned that the hard way whenever Ava fought him in an attempt to steal his old key.
Quickly Ven twirled the key blade in his hand, ready to mess with Aqua long enough to get around her hulking frame only for the taller woman to look directly at him, readying her right leg, Ven looked at her quickly, realizing what she was going to do, but it was too late to dodge, being forced to throw his blade at her in a ditch effort.
"She was much faster than expected given her size and build; I'll have to think of a new plan!" Ven exclaimed, only to be interrupted by the booming sound of Aqua's voice.
"My turn!" Aqua said as she channeled her semblance into her right leg, as the muscles from her arms shifted down to her legs, making her bottom half grow to accommodate the newfound strength even in her legs, leaving her arms looking like a normal human woman's arms on top of a bulky woman. Ven was in shock at what Aqua's semblance could do, as the blue-haired woman kicked his key blade back at him with enough force to send the weapon back at him like it was a beam of light. The attack hit his stomach and sent Ven flying over towards Terra, as Aqua quickly reformed her body back into his strong state of being.
"Ouch, that hurt; it felt like the time Aced punched me in the face!" Ven whispered as he held his stomach in pain. The blonde teen forced himself to get up shaking in pain; he knew this was a hard battle, but Aqua and Terra were simply in a league of their own.
"Ven wondered if Aqua was the best case to knock out first, as he looked at her flexing her body at Sora. It was funny and kind of attractive to say the least; however, Ven had to keep his head in the game, Master Xehanort still needed him to do his job, as he rushed towards Terra, ready to fight the tall man once again.
"Darkness!" Terra screamed. As the battleground began getting darker, Terra cast a powerful bind spell, attempting to shut off everyone's field of view. Ven smirked, as it was born in the darkness; molded by it, the darkness helped him become the person he was today. It was a good plan by Terra, but sadly that also made Ven unlockable for a time and let Terra and Aqua feel helpless till he was forced to surrender, and then the muscle-bound key blade users would fall.
Terra, charged inside the dark cloud, swinging his chaos rippers rapidly, making sure to hit Ven, no matter what. Only for a clunking sound to be heard, deep within the darkness, as Terra felt something block one of his key blades, and something that felt like cold steel hit his chest, his aura thankfully protecting him, but the cold feeling still lingering in the back of his mind, he didn't know what was in the smoke with them or how it got into the room, but he had to stop it, he had to alert the others.
"Aqua, Something inside the, hey?" Terra said, getting cut off as the figure ran at him with his right arm coming at the taller man, forcing Terra to block the attack with an earth spell, tearing up part of the floor in the process. The figure violently slashed and swung its arm rapidly at Terra, only for it to stop momentarily and look for anything to give him an opening to attack, casting a series of thunder spells, with one managing to hit the figure in the chest as it screamed and thrashed around violently. Whatever it was, it stank of darkness, far worse than his own!
Aqua couldn't see a thing as the smoke loomed over the place, thankfully, she still had her other weapon, Faith buster, grabbing her folded up sword, quickly expanding it to its larger form, and then pulled out a large shell from her pocket, placing it into the chamber, she'd take out the darkness, and hopefully weaken some of Terra's aura, and defeat Ven in the process with a rocket, plus Sora needed to see her look cool even more.
"Thanks for the hint! Now Eat This!" Aqua yelled, firing the large rocket into the smoke. It exploded causing the dark cloud to go away in a blast of fire and light, revealing Ventus, who was out cold, and Terra who was holding onto his chest, his aura was low, due to the blast, but Terra wasn't looking at her, which made Aqua look at what her husband was looking at, it was a boy, but he looked so wrong. He was clad in black and red with a black helmet, he smelt of darkness, and didn't seem friendly.
"Well, would you look at this? What a cute little daughter you have there! It's funny the last time I tried to kill a kid; well, that's a story for another time; sadly, the fucking Ooze didn't know when to die. Hmm! Too many big, strong people in this room; I think I'll start with the weakest of the bunch first!" The masked man said slyly as he started running towards Ven, wanting to consume and savor every last ounce of his suffering. Sora screamed as his key blade nearly made contact with Ven, only for Ven to be much faster and level-headed than the masked man.
"Too slow, Time Splicer!" Ven declared, and as the flow of time stopped around Ven and the unknown man for a second, Ven quickly slashed at the teen's chest, stomach, and legs in rapid succession. A second later, time returned to normal as the sounds of laughter escaped the figure's mouth.
"Curaga!" The masked man whispered, as the cuts and wounds Ven had just delivered to the teen had instantly healed. The man didn't want to die again; he had nearly died once on that accident of a ghost ship, and he needed to keep going; it was the only way to see the bottom. Nothing else mattered in this life, only the bottom; he would make it to the bottom of the descent.
"Terra, you stay with Sora; I'm going to deal with this insane freak with Ven, over here." Aqua let out running after the monstrous teen, swinging her weapon at him, making sure that she could grab another shell to blast him just in case. Suddenly, the masked man backflipped away from everyone and towards the center of the room, giving Ven another look.
"I'm the same as your brother; they'd never understand what lays beyond their grasp of understanding. I am beyond your nightmares, and let me tell you something: this is only the beginning; soon we'll see the birth of oblivion and waltz into the dawn of creation. Although I might have said a little too much, next time I visit, please do something about those hunks of meat; they make you look pretty pathetic if you ask me." The masked man declared, using his key blade to summon a portal of darkness, stepping through the darkness, leaving everyone in a standstill, unsure of what would happen next.
—--
Erquas and Xehanort could only look at each other; the plan was going to have to alter their plans to work around that madman and his ramblings. They would have their perfect universe, and nothing would stop them. The only thing they could agree on was to let the students become Masters and see what comes next. As much as Eraquas wished for his son's death. Terra had proven to be far stronger based on last night and the short display of power today, as long as he had Aqua by his side. Sure, they could do some good for the universe, at least until they returned to Remnant, probably leaving this madness behind them, and Erquas, oh, how'd he blame them for destroying the nature of being a key blade master? The existence of their love made his old heartache.
"Everyone gathered around. Given the recent event, thankfully no one was truly injured, and while the Mark of Mastery was cut quite short. I and Master Erquas have decided to make all three of you Key Blade Masters!" Xehanort declared, making the three warriors react to his words differently. Terra and Aqua kissed while holding Sora in their arms; the dream they worked hard on was finally real; now they'd be able to be on Remnant, right their wrongs, and truly be free of the master's gaze. Erquas simply gave a fake grin that looked so real and honest it was scary; it was the weakest of attempts to save pride.
"I also have something to add; it'll only take another moment of your time, Ventus, Mutts!" Erquas spoke up as he looked over at the newest batch of Key Blade Master's, grinning at how the information he held would make their journey quite an interesting one.
"We have decided to close down the Land of Departure until the issue of that masked man is over !" Xehanort said as everyone but Ventus looked at the man with a look of understanding.
"You're closing this place down? Masters, tell me why!" Ventus said, balling his fist, he didn't want to see this place gone; even though Aqua, and Terra didn't have the best experience in the old castle, they made his experience the best thing ever. They made him feel like he mattered ever since that accused war took everything from him, took her from him.
"Boy, this place is no longer a safe haven for key blade masters. Besides, we aren't training any more students after this! If you want to run the castle as my guest, I doubt the Kizuna family wants to be here any longer, let alone teach somebody at the moment. So me and Erquas have decided you all have till tomorrow morning to pack and leave. Ven if you want to stay, let us know, and we'll chat! Xehanort declared, walking away with a hand behind his back as Erquas followed.
Terra, Aqua, and Sora just stood in the throne room; they still couldn't believe it; they just looked at each other, and Sora, grinning, knowing that tomorrow would be a new day, and they'd need to prepare for the trip back to Remnant, and see what their next move would be.