Chapter Text
“I’m sorry, Master Yen Sid. I failed. I’m not worthy of the keyblade.”
Mickey, hanging his head, lays down Star Seeker on top of Yen Sid’s desk. Ears drooping, he turns around, intending to leave; he ignores the concerned and sad gazes of Donald and Goofy.
“Wait, Mickey.”
Mickey stops and spins around, ears pricking in surprise. His Master, Yen Sid, carries Star Seeker between his two hands, before holding it out to Mickey; he thinks his former apprentice is still worthy.
“Master Yen Sid…!”
“What transpired is not your fault. Master Xehanort bested all of us, even myself. No one in all the worlds could have seen his treasonous plots.”
Mickey can only hang his head in agreement. Must as he hates to admit it, Master Yen Sid is right: they have underestimated the cunning of Master Xehanort and so many of his friends have paid the price as a result.
“What is certain is that young Aqua and Terra have been lost to the Darkness. In what ways, I cannot be certain yet. And young Ventus’s Heart has been broken.
But what is broken can be healed. It is only a matter of when, not if.
So long as his body is safe, his Heart will have no issue returning. And hopefully Ventus will be among us again, sooner than later.
Now then…”
Here, Yen Sid shifts his gaze to the one person who has yet to talk, the only other person in the room besides his former apprentice and his friends.
“What will you do now, young Lauriam?”
Lauriam, sitting on the floor in an effort to give his damaged body some relief, looks up and peers back at the retired Keyblade Master.
“Aqua hid Ven’s body away,” says Lauriam. There is a grim finality in his voice. “I wasn’t awake when she left…,” he grimaces with slight regret before continuing on, “but I am positive I know where she went. Where Ven is hidden.”
Lauriam thinks back to a conversation he overheard, one that he wasn’t supposed to be privy to. Information that only Masters of a certain world were supposed to know.
“Our home…the Land of Departure is no more,” Lauriam speaks with certainty.“Now, it is changed into a blank canvas made to protect itself from even the most skilled tracker in all the worlds. A stronghold that will lead all kinds of trespassers into oblivion. Aqua hid Ven there, I am sure of this.”
Slowly, Lauriam gets back on his feet. Goofy almost rushes over to help, but Lauriam waves off the dog’s attempt. Lauriam stands tall and gazes at Yen Sid with determination in his eyes.
“An elusive fortress…no, a castle of oblivion is more accurate.
Where to find is to lose, and to lose is to find. There is no better place to hide Ven.”
Lauriam clutches his wayfinder charm, a precious gift from a friend that he admits he didn’t respect as much as he should have. He squeezes the star shaped frame, the stained magenta glass reflecting his resolve, before extending his other arm.
With a flash, Divine Rose appears in his hand. Then with another flash, it changes into a more sinister form; a scythe, better known as the Graceful Dahlia.
“And a castle of such requires a lord…the Lord of Castle Oblivion.”
Lauriam turns around to face one of the windows. As he gazes out to the multitude of stars representing the numerous worlds in the universe, he makes a solemn vow to himself:
“And I shall be its Lord. I will take charge and defend the castle, and drive out anyone who tries to make their way through.”
He pauses for a moment before ending with one last promise:
“Until the day Ven wakes up…I will be here.
Waiting.”