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“Terra and Aqua—come speak with me.”
Eraqus’s low and monotonous voice carried with it a wave of dread that caused Terra and Aqua’s hearts to freeze with anxiety. They glanced at one another before meekly following their master’s orders and walking along with him down the empty, dimly lit corridor. Vague shadows danced across the floor to the movement of the flickering flames that resembled tiny stars nestled in ornate candle holders hung against the walls.
Master Eraqus lead his two nervous apprentices to the castle’s main hall, standing in front of a tall, silver throne that towered far above the three of them like an ominous, observant creature.
“As the two of you know, Ventus has gone off to visit one new world today,” the Master began, his voice weary. “Though I have provided him with as much protection from the light outside as possible, due to his worsening condition, I wish for you both to be prepared for the worst.”
Aqua let out a soft gasp when Eraqus finished his statement; Terra huddled in close to her, a common gesture of comfort he showed to her when such inevitable conversations were brought up by their master.
“The light that the other worlds harbor may simply be too much for the boy—”
“Then why did you let him leave?!”
The sudden shout from an angered Terra caught both Eraqus and Aqua off guard, and they flinched in unison. Eraqus quickly regained his composure, his attitude switching to a much sterner one after Terra’s outburst.
“Terra, though I originally decided to keep Ventus locked away inside for his own safety, the action is cruel nonetheless,” Eraqus explained, forcing the frustration to leave his trembling voice.
“Therefore, by allowing him limited time in the other worlds, he will still have a form of freedom from his condition.”
“But, if it could kill him, is it not more cruel than ensuring his safety, regardless of whatever he has to do?!” Terra questioned the master’s logic relentlessly, but wasn't met with a satisfactory answer.
“Terra , your behavior is unnecessary for such a trying and difficult time for all of us,” Eraqus scolded Terra firmly. Terra bit his lip, obviously wishing to say more, but refraining out of a stronger wish to not be dismissed further by Master Eraqus.
“Anyway,” Eraqus began once more, folding his arms and standing in a stiffened posture. “Terra, Aqua, I want for you both to prepare the room in the case that Ventus does not survive his trip.”
Aqua held a hand over her mouth, a sob nearly spilling from her lips as Terra turned his gaze downwards. A heavy, painfully draining feeling weighed upon the three castle residents.
“Master, it's already mostly prepared—it has been for a while, now,” Terra spoke up, his eyes still cast down.
Master Eraqus nodded in response and turned away.
“You’ve everything in order, then? The casket is finished, the flowers are arranged, and the room is tidy?” Eraqus questioned, listing out the same tasks and requests that Aqua and Terra had heard far too many times for their comfort.
“Yes, Master,” Terra muttered quickly before lifting a hand to cover his eyes as tears began to spill down his cheeks. He joined Aqua in a soft but painful cacophony of sobs and whimpers, terrified of and agonized by the thought that Ven stepping into a portal of blinding light to leave their world may have been the last time the two of them would ever see him alive.
“H-how will we even know if he’s...?” asked Aqua, her voice threatening to tear itself apart in a pained wail as she trailed off before speaking the word that she feared ever since Ventus first collapsed from his light poisoning.
“We will know, Aqua. I’ve been able to track Ventus wherever he wanders through a spell that will allow me to see him and his current state.” Eraqus gave his explanation with a strained voice, his eyes averted from both Terra and Aqua’s pleading eyes.
“Now, I wish for you two to check on the room as I asked before, and make sure everything is precisely how it should be.”
Aqua and Terra shifted uncomfortably in their places as Master Eraqus nodded and stepped away, leaving the two alone in the empty room.
“My ‘other half’, you said?”
Ventus smiled gleefully at the other boy clad in deep shades of black and striking pops of brilliant crimson. The handle of Ventus’s parasol was tilted against the ground beneath them as they both sat crouched in the middle of the barren wasteland, their faces leaned forward and their gazes locked.
“Don’t you remember anything?” Vanitas, though aggressive and overbearing at first, had now seemed to have been stunned out of his typical snappy threats and venomous words. The question of his came out in more of a melancholic murmur than a sarcastic quip.
Ventus placed a gloved finger against his cheek and tapped in a slow, repetitive rhythm as he stared listlessly into the distance, his memory foggy as it always had been and his mind failing to recollect anything related to Vanitas.
“Terribly sorry, Vanitas, but I can’t seem to remember anything. However…,” Ventus looked to his left, even his simplest movements slow and robotic while he continued on with his explanation.
“I suppose you being the other half of me would explain why I’m so filled with light,” Ventus’s comment was joyful, yet laced with the same uncomfortable emptiness that a soulless creature would possess.
Vanitas furrowed his brow ever so slightly, a small frown taking shape across his lips.
“Obviously it would,” Vanitas started, his familiar abrasiveness slowly making a return in his tone. “I am the darkness that was inside you once. Your whole little light-filled getup is just the result of me being pulled away from you.” Vanitas stood up, his darkness brewing within him and threatening to boil over at any moment.
“And, well, look at how that turned out.”
Vanitas’s stinging words could never pierce the intense veil of light that shrouded Ventus.
“What do you mean by that, Vanitas?”
Ventus’s wide, glassy eyes bored into Vanitas in such a way that Vanitas was deeply unsettled by it. Creeped out by it . It felt as though all of Vanitas’s secrets and weaknesses locked behind shrouds of inky darkness were being torn out of him for the world to lay its gaze upon through a simple stare from Ventus’s gray, almost-lifeless irises.
... Weren’t his eyes blue before?
Vanitas clenched his teeth in a wave of mixed frustration and fear and stood up, forming a distance between himself and his unmoving, doll-like other half.
“Fine, if you wanna play stupid , we can do this the hard way,” Vanitas growled before clenching his right fist as a bright flash of light swirled around it and his own Keyblade, Missing Ache, was summoned. Ventus, still smiling his plastered-on grin, only glanced towards the newly-summoned weapon, blinking a few times to focus on it better.
“Oh, you wield a Keyblade as well?” Ventus questioned innocently before he stood himself up as well, his smile widening as he reached his hand up high and the same sequence of swirling light and glimmering orbs washing over his hand played out as a weapon took form in between the black lace wrapped around his thin fingers. It wasn’t the daintiest or most elegant of Keyblades, and seemed almost unfitting for the sickly boy to wield.
Clearly, he wasn’t supposed to wield a Keyblade anymore .
Ventus’s monochromatic Void Gear seemed too heavy, too long, too much for his stature.
“See? We both can wield Keyblades! Though, I’m not usually allowed to wield mine anymore, but I’ll let you look at it anyhow!” Ventus’s sugary sweetness and robotic words coupled with the strange black-and-white Keyblade being held in a reverse grip was enough to fully unnerve Vanitas and throw his mind into a state of bewildered turmoil.
“What the hell are you going on about?!” Vanitas held his own Keyblade out in front of him. “None of your stupid rules matter here! Are you telling me you’re too weak to fight me?”
Each question he threw at Ventus sent an agonizing wave of anger coursing through Vanitas’s chest.
So, was Xehanort lying to me? He promised Ventus’s new perfect Master would train him to be strong enough to face me in battle. His Master didn’t even let him train at all?
The confusing and agitating thoughts only proved to frustrate Vanitas even more.
How am I supposed to form the χ-blade with this ?
“Fight me…?” Ventus muttered softly. For a second, his own intense light wavered, and he seemed akin to a person breaking out of a trance. But, as quickly as it had happened, the light washed over him and his face almost snapped back into a perfect smile and wide-eyed stare. “Vanitas, you don’t need to fight me! I’m not here to hurt you, why, there’s no reason to fight at all!” Ventus reassured his feisty other half, but his words only threw Vanitas into another fit of rage.
“Drop your shit , Ventus! We’re supposed to fight, idiot! You’ll join with me and create the χ-blade once we do—that’s the only reason you and I exist!”
Vanitas sauntered forward in both his anger and anticipation to finally, finally be free of his suffering. Before Ventus could respond, Vanitas grabbed the dazed boy by his arm.
A loud shriek of pain split the empty, cool air.
Vanitas was thrown back against the hard soil beneath while he clutched his left arm, dropping Missing Ache and groaning in agony.
Ventus, with the grace of a swan and the stiffness of a glass doll, slowly stepped towards Vanitas’s curled up body and leaned down.
“Oh, dear, Vanitas, perhaps that was a mistake,” Ventus began, his voice softer than Vanitas had ever heard it. “Your anger may be too much for you right now, and my light is only reflecting it back onto you,” Ventus finished quietly, his permanent smile still sending a shiver through Vanitas.
“What… what are you saying ?!” Vanitas retorted in anger. He recalled how when they touched last, he was simply met with waves of love, peace, and joy.
He wished he had felt that again .
“Why don’t we try this, instead?” Ventus smiled sweetly as he leaned in closer and gently caressed Vanitas’s cheek. That seemed to do the trick.
Vanitas’s burned palm was soothed almost instantly as he felt another burst of happiness and love racing through him.
“Better?” Ventus giggled, letting his hand cup Vanitas’s cheek. “You said something about joining with me—what a wonderful idea! But, I don’t think fighting me will end well, at least not for you,” Ventus continued, and the latter half of his statement chilled Vanitas once more.
“Take my hand instead, won’t you?"