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The summoning of the keyblade was blinding. To see the wayfinder trio in a fighting stance, it further angered him. All he had to do was get rid of one of them. Any would do.
Just getting rid of one would get rid of all of them, after all they would surely try to stick together after all that time spent apart. Surely. Or well, Vanitas could only hope he would select the best choice to cause this. So choosing carefully must be done.
Eeny.
He looked at Ventus.
Meeny.
He looked at Aqua.
Miny.
He looked at all of them before catching onto something. He smirked under the mask. He had truly made his decision.
MOE.
He took charge towards them, Aqua and Ventus moved to take a more defensive stance in front of Terra. Yet they didn't realize how open they left Terra via distance. So when Vanitas teleported they panicked. “Terra!”
Terra tried to match the speed, his guard almost missing by a second, a grunt left his lips holding his position as much as possible. Yet Vanitas knew Terra was strength over speed so taking him out was easier should he speed up. The clashes of the keyblades were loud, the Unversed to keep Aqua and Ventus busy was ongoing and quite many for them to get to Terra in a short amount of time. He could already see it. The sweet victory of getting rid of the muscle. Knocking him off his feet was far easier than he expected, perhaps he'll thank his lack of time for recovery and Xehanort's overly keeping him in binds. Just in time for him to fall to the Realm of Darkness once again.
“TERRA!” Ventus called out for him as he used his wind to skip over the Unversed. He dodged Vanitas' attack, sending him a glare before he followed suit as he activated his armor. Aqua followed after. Dodging any attack Vanitas sent her way. Though one last look toward Vanitas, Aqua felt as if they had fallen into a trap.
Terra's body kept falling into darkness. It didn't help his fear any better, Ventus pushed forth, one of his arms extended to reach Terra. His hands covered his face, he looked so small being so scared. Panicked sounds left him. His head shook as he tried to settle down enough to think.
“Terra! Look at me! You'll be okay! Open your eyes! Open your eyes!”
“Ven, watch out!” Aqua warned him, causing him to have to divert from his path.
Terra's body struggled as he opened his eyes. His chest rising and falling repeatedly. The labored breaths Terra was taking were alarming which only indicated how alarmed he was getting, which meant they had to get him out of there. Ventus jumped off his glider, dropping faster toward Terra, his hands grabbing Terra once he got to him.
“Terra! It's okay! It's okay, the darkness isn't going to affect you! Because Aqua and I are here!” Ventus lightly wrapped his arms around him, doing his best to soothe him. Aqua dropped down from her glider, wrapping her arms around him. “It's okay! Let's find the door. Let's get out so that Terra can calm down.”
Ventus looked inside the room, watching Terra's unconscious body. Aqua lightly squeezed his shoulder. “It's going to take him a while.”
“Why did he…? Terra didn't-...” Ven looked at Terra again. “He's not going to wake up. What if he stays asleep? Sora's gone, I don't know the Power of Waking nor you for that matter!”
“Ven! Calm down, Terra's just exhausted, he'll need to recover from that. Remember, it took a big toll the first time he got free from darkness for him to be fully capable of being awake and functioning well, it's why Sora wanted us to rest, you know this.. You have to rest too. I know you're worried about Terra, believe me. I am too but we cannot do anything to help him if we rush things. He needs space to process his things first before we can help him.” Aqua sighed.
Terra slightly jerked before he laid peacefully again. “He's doing his best, so just believe in him too. Come on, you have to eat.”
“But Terra…”
“He's not going to disappear, Ven… I won't let it happen.”
“But Vanitas could appear any moment and do this again to him and the last time we left him to deal with how he felt-” Aqua pulled him along. As the door was shut quietly behind her.
The night fell quickly. Ven kept his door open just as Terra's door was kept open after dinner. This alone provided some comfort for Ventus. Sleeping was hard for the blonde. After remaining asleep so long… Who could blame him? Just seeing Terra remain asleep was worrying. He worried about him so often that his chores took far more than necessary to accomplish. Terra's own share of chores had to be split evenly as well so even that made them take longer.
He woke up with a jolt, his heart racing from the sound he heard. Ven had been more than glad to be a light sleeper again. His eyes adjusted to the dark room before he gazed to see a silhouette casting against the window of the oldest of the trio, the movements seemed anxious- no. It was a panic attack, Terra was having another panic attack and it only seemed to be getting worse by the minute. Ven woke up further to hear his cries and pained sobs as he struggled to settle. Hurried, slurred words in attempts to calm himself. He could see him shaking his head and patting his head. He's worried Terra would fall further in his own imprisonment.
The younger male carefully slipped out of bed. Moving over toward Terra's room. He lightly knocked on the door so that he hopefully wouldn't scare Terra further. Yet that plan immediately backfired as he heard the summoning of Ends of the Earth before it was pointed toward him. Ven pushed himself against the door as he slowly flickered the lights on. Terra's face slowly shifted at first from a defensive to a shocked expression. Labored breaths worsened as the keyblade dropped to the ground before disappearing.
Ven moved to his side, one hand on his back before hurried footsteps made it to the room as well. Aqua soon joined the hug pile, both softly speaking to Terra, hoping that this would calm him down eventually. “You're okay. You didn't hurt anyone, it's alright ....”
“I…almost hurt Ven, I've hurt Master Eraqus...”
“You didn't know, don't worry. I just scared you! I know you wouldn't hurt me. You were just doing what you thought was right and… Xehanort only proceeded to trick you.” Terra covered his face. Ven frowned as he gave him a tighter hug. Master Eraqus' death still seemed like something Terra struggled with the most. “But I was the one who fell for it and Master Eraqus ended up having to pay for the price of it.”
It didn't take long for Terra to tire himself out again, Ven waved Aqua away as he decided to stay with Terra. Making sure he was laying down again to rest.
Ven's eyes began to drop, his hand holding Terra's. Yet as he begins to be lured to sleep, he feels the grip tighten then a slight pull. The blonde looked over at Terra to see he had once again awakened, yet he could make it out that he was close to falling asleep again. “Ven… lay…down at least.. it's more…” Terra's motor vocalization is slow, slower than normal which meant it was taking him longer to formulate what he wanted to say. Ven smiled at him, deciding to lay down with him, hoping that's what Terra wished to tell him. Despite Ven's growth, even through those years of slumber, the bed of the older remained just as big.
Terra didn't bother finishing his sentence. His free hand made sure he was tucked in as he adjusted his pillows to share with Ventus. Once both were comfortable, Terra slowly allowed himself to drift to sleep, Ventus shortly following after he made sure Terra was sleeping alright.
When the morning came, Ventus was the first to wake up to the smell of food, surely Aqua was cooking breakfast. Yet, his body was pressed up against Terra. Slowly Ven turned to look at him. He remembers his dream and how it felt connected to Terra's. He was certain that he had shared his－
“Ven! Terra! Breakfast!”
Ven watched Terra, waiting for him to open those deep blue eyes. Only to see that he wasn't budging. Ven slowly sat up, his hand lightly touching his chest before moving to make sure that he was still alive. Terra's chest slowly rose. Ven lightly shook him again. “Terra…Terra. Come on wake up, Aqua made breakfast.”
Terra's eyes fluttered open. He takes in a sharp breath before he meets the worried look of Ventus. He wraps his arms around him. He takes a bit more time before he lets himself wake up enough. Ventus doesn't bother rushing him, letting him hug him while he strokes his hair.
“Good morning, Terra. Are you feeling alright? Did you sleep well?” Ventus asked as he smiled at him. Terra's expression shifts before he smiles at him. “Good morning, Ven. I slept better with your company, did you?”
“I did! Now let's go have breakfast before Aqua comes in to drag us to have breakfast.” Ven pulled him along to have breakfast.
Ven looked through all the rooms of the castle looking for Terra after his chores along with Aqua yet both shared a worried look as they continued to look around until they headed to the throne room where they held the exam of Mark of Mastery. Terra stood staring at the chairs quietly, his keyblade at hand. Aqua wonders what he was thinking.
Ven slips from her grasp as he doesn't hide his footsteps. “Terra? Are you okay?”
At first Terra's body stiffens before he looks over at Ventus, once he sees who it is, he feels relieved, a smile adorns his face. “Ven, I'm alright. I went to practice after doing my chores but I wound up here trying to collect my thoughts.” He lets the keyblade vanish from his hand, hand relaxing. “Did you need something?”
“Terra, we're concerned.” Aqua stepped foot into view, she walked up to the two males. “We've been calling for you for an hour. What's on your mind? What did you see?” She places a hand on his shoulder lightly. “Was it when you fell in the realm of darkness or when you were trapped or both? Talk to us.”
“Aqua..”
Ven nodded along with her. “Terra, what did you see that scared you the most? You were making so much progress what could've caused…?”
Terra lightly presses his hand against his neck, softly sighing. “Well… There's a lot in my mind, actually.” He closed. “Master Eraqus is one thing…” He replies softly. “Is it the day of the Mark of Mastery?” Aqua looked at the chairs.
“That was when Master… No, Xehanort sat there and caused darkness to appear.” Terra replied. “I truly wondered how long he knew or perhaps… had he been the one to always cause darkness to be around me?” Terra turned to look at Aqua and Ventus. “A lot of questions regarding the past where the darkness was at it's closest proximity to me.. That's what I wonder.”
“Do you think he…” Aqua stops. Ventus looked at Aqua. “Master Eraqus spoke to Xehanort whenever he would come perhaps… he mentioned Terra's small proximity to darkness and he chose to use it to his advantage.”
“Terra…”
“I'm fine. I just wonder what could've been if I didn't listen to Xehanort.”
“If I wasn't so caught up in attempting to keep you away from the darkness.”Aqua stepped forward. “And instead changed what I thought, could we have avoided so many things?”
“Hey, isn't it good we are here together?” Ven asked. Terra placed his hand gently on Ventus' head with a smile. “I agree. It's good we are here now.” Terra removed his hand before he began to walk away from the room they were all in.
Aqua frowned as Ven's shoulders dropped. “He's… still not sure how to open about it isn't he?”
“Let's…give him sometime.” Aqua softly tells Ven. “Perhaps there are more scars than we can think of.”
“Yeah… Maybe he's trying to sort how he feels first.” Ventus looked at her. “I'll go start dinner… Come join me if you want to, Ven.”
Once Aqua left, Ven began to leave the room he found himself.
He found himself at the entrance where Terra was. His eyes landed on Ventus again. “Ventus.” Terra offered his hand to him. Ven's face light up before he ran up to him, grabbing his hand. “Hey, what's really on your mind?” Ven asked as Terra pulled him along. “I think I rather start telling one of you at a time. Just to be safe.”
Terra brought Ven to the cliff, both taking a seat on the ground to watch the clouds. “A lot of things that happened that I caused or allowed to happen are really on my mind. Darkness is inside of all of us. But some of us are more sensitive to it. Yet there are some who can't succumb to them.” He explained.
“All those years as a heartless, kept at bay or in an attempt to make sure that you wouldn't be found… Perhaps I caused more harm to others. While Aqua was in the realm of darkness… I couldn't come back to find you two. Falling in the realm of darkness reminded me of how trapped I felt, how weak I felt. My heart had been separated and placed in a heartless that would follow along Xehanort because it was his heartless in my body. And I surely didn't know how to bring it up around Aqua since she too was around the darkness…”
Ven leaned toward Terra. “So you didn't want to talk about it because you were worried…”
Terra nodded. “I don't know how long she has been there but at a time when I was able to hear her call for me, I was able to connect to her to talk but I didn't know fully what risk that could bring… And that almost got you in trouble. Xehanort almost tricked Aqua to tell him where you were hidden.”
“So then… As much time as I was asleep… You were trapped along with Aqua.” Ven wrapped his arm around Terra's arm. “Meanwhile I was sleeping.”
“You didn't have a choice, you needed to recover. Your heart wasn't stable. You know it wasn't completed before either, it needed that time to recover.”
“What about you? You didn't mean to sink into darkness either. So please don't blame yourself either. Master Eraqus' death wasn't your fault either." Ven placed a hand over Terra's, a small smile coming out. The oldest blinked before he mirrored his smile. "I'm not too sure of this. Master Eraqus had been with me but I never noticed."
"Maybe that's why your heart stayed intact when the heartless kept you captivated." Ven opinionated. Terra nodded. "Maybe. I guess I sort of wished we had more time to talk to him."
Ven placed a hand on Terra's chest. "He's still here, why don't you try to talk to him?" He placed a hand where Ven's used to be, closing his eyes. "I should. Thanks Ven.”
They fell silent as they watched the clouds. “I think you should've been a Keyblade Master.” Ven looked at him. “You didn't know where the darkness came from right? Maybe you should take the Mark of Mastery again.”
“I think you're ready enough to take it too, Ven.”
Terra's expression relaxed. Ven smiled brightly at the sight. "You think so? Then let's do it together and pass the test!" Terra sat up carefully along with Ven. Terra leaned closer to Ven, lightly kissing him. “Together.” Ventus smiled before he kissed him back.