Kingdom Hearts:Birth by sleep Zero~Terra's Story, Book 1~Chapter 27~

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters/worlds within the following script. All of them belong to Tetsuya Nomura, Square Enix, and Disney respectively.

Thee Olde Note:Well, folks, today my thanks and appreciation goes towards ShinobiMatt and ChoasDivine No.11. You guys have been such a great pair of reviewers, and I really look forward to your reviews and comments on BBS Zero. Thank you so much! If I had all the money in the world, I would equally split it between all of the wonderful reviewers for my story. And again, I am extremely sorry. I haven't updated in the longest of times...:(. Now, then, I also am using this note to ask all of my reviewers and readers to help me expand the fanfiction area for Birth by Sleep. When I originally posted the prologue for BBS Zero, I posted it because I really did think that there wasn't nearly as many Birth by Sleep stories as there should have been. Even now there is about the same amount of posts, give or take a few, which saddens me because I think Terra, Aqua, and Ven deserve as much fanfiction as Sora, Riku, and Kairi have. I know when the PSP game comes out, that will definitely change. So what I am asking you guys and girls to do is to help me out on this and start creating your own Birth by Sleep stories based on your predictions, theories, thoughts, ideas, and imagination. I am very interested to see what your opinions and theories are on the subject!

Thanks for your time and until the next "thee olde note",

Eternal Symphonia

"Terra," The sudden whisper that echoed from the slightly opened crack of Aurora's bedroom door caused me to wake up from my recent drift into the province of slumber; my surprise drove my head backwards into the drawer that I leaned on. A shoe that was unmistakably Ven's flew one step into the room as he careened his head around the oaken block of wood that, in every single world, was addressed as a simple door.

I glanced towards the window to see a full moon peering back at me in a cold hush along with a rising Sun that glowed with the light of dawn. Morning...it was morning. I surmised that I must've fallen asleep about an hour after Aurora did. Her bare foot now was drooping over the edge of the small bed.

"We'd better start getting ready to help escort Aurora to the castle." Ventus started to turn away from me to head out into the living room of the cottage, but then cocked his head back to add, "Merryweather, Fauna, and Flora are waiting."

I nodded a few times to contemplate his idea and agreed, "Right."

Once we were done getting ready and after Aurora had woken, we headed outside towards an empty clearing about twenty feet away. While we were walking, Ven looked around silently, then asked quietly, just so only I could hear, "How come there aren't any Unbirths around? I haven't seen too many in this world." Just then, a rustle from some foliage northeast of us rustled loudly. And of course, the inevitable came: Dawns, Large Nightmares, and a variety of other Unbirths. They all slowly circled us and released trademark hisses from their mouths.

"You really shouldn't have said that." I nudged Ven, who was already summoning Divided Fate.

"Then I guess my wish came true; I was kinda hoping for an excuse to run off some energy." He replied, then paced quickly towards the monsters with his Keyblade flailing behind him, almost as awkward as the way he held it.

The three fairies gasped in fright at the nearby creatures. Fauna then asked, "What are these things?"

"The Unbirths." The strange name forced Aurora to cock her head to the side in wonder. She probably thought, "Why would someone name such a strange creature something like that?". It was almost as if I heard the question come from her flushed lips, so I replied to such with a simple gesture from my hand along with a shrug. Aurora's glowing golden hair was carried by her head from her front to her back as she put her hands over her mouth in awe. I guess I must've read her mind. Like, literally. Wow. I knew that Keyblade wielders like myself were able to obtain awesome abilities, but that was the first time I ever thought that they could read minds.

Shortly afterwards, Ventus coughed as a little blood ran from the right corner of his mouth, the crimson fluid changing its angle when it met the tip of his chin, making its way to the inside of his shirt by trickling past his throat. That must've been why Aurora had gasped. She was afraid for Ven. Not because she thought I read her mind. Because she cared about Ven.

You know what I don't get? Even though I'm, may I brag, much more mannerly and respectful and whatnot towards females, Ven always got the most attention from them. Plus I was way better looking and my body didn't reek of rancid feet. I mean, I'm not boasting or anything, it's just that I always thought that females would pay a little more attention to me than him because I took care of myself and took a bath almost every day, respected them, changed my socks once in a while, and didn't give a sarcastic remark to everything. Aqua, Aurora, and even the sullen Rein, who was still back at Castle Celest, gave him more contemplation than I. Even Aqua, who was probably the most serious and intelligent girl I knew had certain affections for the boy who's attitude was the Yin of her Yang; completely opposite. As I watched my friend barrel his way through hordes of Unbirths, a slight ooze of jealousy radiated from my heart.

They probably think he's...cute. "Oh, he's just soooooo adorable!". Bleh, would they rather have a dopey idiot with hair that looks like the Eiffel Tower for a boyfriend, who's also "cute"? Or would they rather have a serious, handsome, respectful, and intelligent boyfriend who actually bathes and brushes his teeth?

I watched in awe as Ven flung one of the Large Nightmares up into the air with one hit. As the flabby, huge dark and midnight blue monster was slave to gravity, Ven leaped into the air and spun around and upwards. Divided Fate met it, and with one rotation the beast fizzled away into ashes that blew off to an unknown destination.

They probably think his fighting style is cute, too. How pathetic.

"Don't just stand there! Help me out!" The blond commanded as he blundered blindly into a pool of Dawns.

I readied into my battle stance and summoned my own Keyblade, Eternal Horizons. My loyal battling companion instantly shot a fire attack at a Dawn, but missed due to our opponent's speed.

"Focus." I muttered to myself and my Keyblade without even thinking about it. Crackling energy seeped out of my hands and limbs before I started a combo attack. My Keyblade swung to the right, then to the left. I repeated as such until the little rose-bud shaped Unbirth was stunned and floating on its side. Roughly about seven or eight heavy blows, I'd say. Then, I hurtled into the air and positioned myself so that I now was hanging sideways. By swinging my Keyblade to the side in a full rotation, not unlike Ven's recent attack, I dealt a stunning collision blow to the poor little thing and sent it flying towards the boy I had previously mentioned. After he was done finishing off an aerial Unbirth shaped like an owl, he turned my way and noticed it speeding towards him. As the dinky red and black Unbirth soared overhead, he flung his Keyblade upwards with half an ounce of effort, a smirk etching the corners of his mouth as he realized an opportunity to leave a scalding remark.

"You're welcome!" Ven called across the distance that lay in between us. For a reply, I just shrugged with an innocent grin.

Suddenly, a whole horde of Unbirths started racing after me, composed mostly of the huge Large Nightmares. Once in front of me, they slapped their bellies and howled to the heavens in anticipation of their next piece of prey, starving for the powerful energy of my soul. I gritted my teeth while I pondered whether I should shoot a spell that would immobilize them or I should practice a large ranged combo. For some strange reason, I was able to continue thinking as I notably dodged their onslaught of rapid claw strikes by just accidentally leaping to the right places around the forest. Because of this, bits of tree bark and leaves were scoured into the air from the Large Nightmares' long, gnarled nails; the marks upon the trees steamed from each and every splinter. It all fell down to the Earth in a flurry of wooden chunks and fleshy scraps of green leaves like debris after a fireworks show, a few managing to hit both Ventus and I. A few ashes that had drifted over to me from one of the Ven-vanquished Unbirths had gotten into my eye. I stopped flying across the temporary battlefield to crouch over and rub them away.

"Terra, watch out!" A flash of white, black, red, and checkerboard slithered past my eyesight. Loud screaming pierced my ears and forced me to clamp my hands over the sides of my head to block the terrifying sound. The terrible squeals of fear and nonstop pain continued. On and on and on and on.....Constant for what seemed like hours. Then they stopped abruptly. Just like that.

I removed my earphones to make sure I was hearing the right thing.

Slowly and silently, I got up, then I replanted my hands upon my ears to make sure I wouldn't have to crash to the dirt again due to a possible sudden amount of sound. After a while of gritting my teeth and staring at the ground, I could hear the gasps from the three fairies and the princess.

My answer laid in front of me.

Ven fell over in a clamorous hump from the sight of who was standing in front of him, his arms and chest bleeding terribly from what I assumed to be claw marks, seething with dark mist that was remnant from the recent gouging from the Large Nightmare:

The exo-skeleton clad teenager attempted to tug his Keyblade, Chronosis Terminus, out of the chest of one of the large Unbirths that loomed over him. He did so over and over again, each powerful thrust causing the blubbery belly of the Nightmare to ripple like the waves of the ocean. Finally, he was able to slide about a foot of his weapon out of the fresh wound. Onyx blood spurted out from around the blade of the teen's weapon and began to shower him with black raindrops.

A clap of deep thunder seemed to cut through the clouds as if it had saw the scene and had run out in anticipation of a storm. But as no other rumbles shot into our hearing, it slowly dissolved away into a minuscule crackle. Igneous' unseeable gaze stared straight on into the crimson slits of the Unbirth. I imagined the boy under the dark helm, unblinking, matching the relentless determination of what I assumed to be his former ally.

"Wha?" Ven managed to sputter under his breath so as not to let a disturbance fling Igneous' intimidating glare to rest on him. I guessed he must've also not wanted attention from the hulking fatty who could squish him either.

Wow, Ven actually didn't break a sarcastic remark this time. Even in front of Igneous.

"Who is-" A voice that I assumed to be Aurora's was silenced instantly by a motion from Flora. Did she sense that it was not wise for her sisters and her step-niece to get involved? Maybe the fairies did know that we weren't from this world. I doubted it anyway, though.

"Now that that's over..."

Ventus and I sat there stunned, as if a lightning bolt had just come down and shackled us within a vortex of paralyzation. For the first time in what I assumed to be months, we heard the shadowy boy speak. His voice seemed to be...slightly different. Now it was a little bit lower, and sounded almost like a typical surfer dude's voice. Even a little bit of cockiness seemed to edge his tone. What had made such a strange change to Igneous' voice just within a few months? It had already been somewhat deep beforehand, so I don't think puberty could've taken a toll more than it had already.

"Already, Igneous is a monster infused with Darkness."

"Defeat the Darkness and correct my mistake."

"Igneous was becoming too intelligent for his own good, so I put his sane mind to rest and turned him into my slave."

Obviously not. I concluded after the short flashback of my conversation with Master Xehanort back at Sunset Horizons. I doubted that Mr. Clean himself, while using Igneous as a slave, would've sent him to block an attack from his ally for Ven; especially since the point of the blond teen jumping in front of the blow was to protect me while I paused to rub ashes off of my eyeball. That was probably the exact opposite of what Xehanort would have wanted. So why had Igneous shielded us both from the gluttonous creature?

He suddenly turned around to face us, his Keyblade dangling by only three of his gloved fingers.

The sound of metal slicing through the air shot past my ear. Chronosis Terminus landed handle up in the ground, along with being only a centimeter away from my face.

Igneous took a minuscule step forward towards Ven and I, seemingly with a tinge of haste. The teenager cocked his head backwards to look over his shoulder, probably to make sure that his Master was not present.

He paused.

"I'm sorry-"

"What? Since when have you ever been sorry for anything!?" Ven interrupted with scorn while trying to stand on his feet; apparently, his recent receiving of cuts and slashes had prevented him from standing to face our enemy. Well, our enemy unless Igneous had decided to turn against Master Xehanort. Which, if he did, I couldn't blame him one bit. He awkwardly toppled over with scorn lashing out from his face at Igneous.

"I'll admit, I was shameless and stubborn in the past-"

"And stupid, and rejecting, and cruel, and snobby-"

"You get the point." Igneous continued in an interruption of Ven's rant. The blond crossed his arms and glanced sideways at the three fairies and the princess who now stood in a trance of sheer awe and surprise. They stood there with the most astonished faces I have ever seen on anyone. Not even Fauna, who was always ready to interject, made a move.

"Terra, Ven, I...I..." Igneous paused to think about what he was going to do next. His concealed head dropped to let his stare hit the ground as he stumbled in embarrassment.

"I-"

"Igneous, what are you doing here anyway?"

My question then forced his head even lower along with his Keyblade, Chronosis Terminus.

"I came to warn you, before it's too late."

I swore I could hear Ven's heartbeat and Igneous's all the way back where I was, which was about five feet for Ventus and ten for the dark warrior. Ven then began shaking as he slowly rotated his neck to stare at me.

His eyes met mine. So did Igneous's. They both vacantly glared. It was starting to unsettle me, so much that I could barely move my lips to ask, "Uh, w-what's wrong?"

I felt kinda stupid asking that question, especially when they both kept staring at me with those, well, Ven's cold eyes, at least. It made me happy to know that this moment would've been much more stiff and uncomfortable if I could see Xehanort's apprentice's eyes too. A little bit afterwards, I noticed that four more pairs of eyes were glued to my face; a mixed variety of bewilderment, marvel, suspicion, and fear.

I shrugged while asking somewhat sarcastically, "Do I have moldy drool on my face or something?" I was actually getting kind of annoyed that weird, strange, creepy stuff like this happened on a day to day basis. I mean, couldn't this Keyblade, Master Xehanort, Light vs. Darkness, possession stuff give it a rest? Was it too much to ask?

"Come on, stop freaking me out."

They kept staring.

I sighed with impatience. So, to get their relentless glares off of me, I turned around as if I was going to walk away from the situation.

My shoes hit the sleek onyx boots of the familiar old man.

Gradually, my head raised far up enough to ensure that it actually was Xehanort. And since it goes that way in every story-of course, it was Mr. Clean.

So technically Ven and the others weren't really looking at just me.

Igneous coughed as he struggled to suck up to Master Xehanort, "Master, you are here."

"And you shouldn't be. What are you doing with the likes of these heathens?"

To save Igneous from embarrassment and scolding, I interrupted Xehanort's expectant, glowing scowl with a sigh, "Maybe he just figured out that you suck ass and decided to leave."

"Stay out of this!" The geezer's fury led his gloved hand to slap me across the face. Judging from the amount of pain that seared down my cheek, there was probably a crimson hand print there. Since I was cringing from the pain, I didn't even make a remark. Satisfied with my silence, Xehanort smiled evilly and slowly strutted closer to his defiant apprentice.

"I don't seem to remember that I told you to come to this exact world, Igneous. Is there a reason for that?"

"Master Xehanort, you told me to come and find Terra and Ventus. They were here, so I did exactly as you decreed." I could feel the utter fear radiating off of Igneous like the rays of the Sun. And if I could sense that much, then Master Xehanort would have recognized more than just fright.

"Igneous, I've told you many times before: when you lie to me, I can sense it worlds away. So don't even try it here. Tell me the truth, now."

Igneous glanced at Ven and I desperately, as if looking for an excuse. Due to Ven's hatred of Carrot-top, I was left alone to stand up for Igneous's good intentions.

Suddenly, the weight of Eternal Horizons increased in my grip. As it crept closer to the Earth, I started to create a plan of attack. If I didn't do something besides insulting and disrespecting, Igneous was going to be more than dead.

Pretend like you're going to attack from behind, then leap over Xehanort when he's turned around and give it to him. A simple and obvious battle plan, but one nonetheless.

My feet instinctively began to race towards Geezernort with increasing speed. My Keyblade, which was just suspended to the side, raised high above my head in anticipation of slamming down on our enemy. Man, I had to stop doing that. You know, addressing my Keyblade as if it was another person. I mean, Master Oni told me it was, but it still didn't feel right recognizing a giant key as a living, feeling being.

Surprisingly, Xehanort did as I expected when he heard my thudding footsteps. Before he could turn his head all the way around, I leaped into the air and vaulted over him. I had accidentally landed a few feet more away than I had expected, and Xehanort was already turning back around to the matter at hand.

I can't run up to him now and attack him, I'm too far away. What do I do? The amount of time I had to think with was increased when Ven shot a cure spell at himself and stood with his Keyblade at the ready. I glanced at him and watched as his eyes lit up, as if they were saying, "I've got your back."

I nodded and accepted his help without haste. Ven, with his acquired ability of being able to race like no tomorrow, sped to Geezernort's right side, diverting his attention from me to himself. While this distraction took its toll on the old man, I managed to throw Eternal Horizons his way. Flashes of copper and tarnished sapphire glinted in the morning sunlight as it barreled and spun through the air towards its opponent, making contact with a brutal blow to Xehanort's side.

Mr. Clean literally screamed in pain, wailing to the heavens as crimson liquid squirted from the open gash on his left hip. All that the old guy could do was topple over onto his back and cough. I couldn't believe that this had actually happened; I mean, all the other times I wasn't able to leave even a scratch on him, and now so suddenly I was able to knock him out. Strange. Even questionable. By know I knew better than to assume it wasn't a ruse. I re-summoned Eternal Horizons and watched silently, a surging feeling of accomplishment rising in my chest.

Igneous instantly jumped forwards, but he stopped. Something was keeping him from coming to his Master's aid, something that was not clear to either Ven or I. Maybe it was rejection of Xehanort's cry of pain, since his Master had done the same to him countless times. In that way, I couldn't blame him. But would the Igneous I knew that I met at Destiny Islands really do this? Ignore his cohort and elder? It may have seemed dishonorable to the boy's name, but I would have done the same.

Before I knew it, Ven was already by my side and tearing up with laughter and hysteria. He fell to the ground and bellowed in excitement; soon after he was even rolling on the forest floor, sending brown and green pine needles alike flying.

"How dare you....How dare you laugh at me." A random cockroach scuttled away from Xehanort as he raised his head from the ground to glower at the teenage boy who was making a scene over the old man's apparent defeat.

After Ven was done wheezing and coughing he replied with sarcasm, "Well, of course I'm not making fun of you, 'Master'-" He paused to make quotation marks with the middle and index fingers of his hands and giggle.

"Baldinort." The loudest snort I have ever heard echoed and blasted from Ven's nose with force. A few birds that surrounded the area chirped with fear and flew away at the sudden elephant sized noise.

Master Xehanort snarled and pushed his face down into the dirt and blood that surrounded him.

"Igneous, help me." Xehanort muttered with a tired sigh, as if he was becoming annoyed. With this plea, the dark apprentice was able to shake out of his resentment and stumbled up to Xehanort in guilt. Once he met the shadowy elder he fell to his knees and began to practice a Cura spell, which was not the healthy, normal green color it should have been. Instead, it was like an onyx snake shooting out of Igneous's palm and winding around the old man's body until it met the source of the blood that gushed out from his wound. Then it slithered into the gash and started to turn pale and expand, filling in the absent presence of skin. I shivered with disgust sending goosebumps down my arms and legs. It wasn't the normal sort of thing you'd see everyday: a slimy, dark snake crawling into your flesh and turning into wrinkly skin.

...

Man, that was probably the most gross thing I'd ever seen. Even Ven, who was just previously cackling and snorting paused to gawk in awe and sheer horror. Aurora and her guardians even took a step back away from the pair.

The welt that marked the handprint on my face ached as goosebumps met it, causing me to raise my hand and rub it comfortingly.

"Thank you, Igneous. I....appreciate it very much." The shadowy figure of Master Xehanort shot up like a firework in the middle of the Fourth of July. Since his apprentice's hand was still resting on the elder's leg, Xehanort took the opportunity to reach forward and dig his fingers into the boy's wrist with no pity.

"What did you think you were doing!? Protecting these two freaks of the Light from an Unbirth!?"

No reply came from the apprentice.

"To even think that you'd abandon me and reject my well being because you felt bad for these scoundrels. To even approach the idea of warning them of our plans. You dishonor the Keyblade wielders of the Darkness."

"Yeah, but you know what? It was worth dishonoring you and your retarded 'wielders of the Darkness'. All you've ever done to me is threaten and abuse me, even though I've stayed loyal my entire apprenticeship. Even worse, you tried to turn me into your little slave puppet. But guess what? It didn't work. It'll never work. You know why? Because not even a mindless, drooling servant would do your bidding. They'd be too intelligent to fall for that."

I don't think I've ever heard such a long hate speech of Xehanort in my entire life. And this time, not even the obedient Igneous, held back with spiteful words and accusations. Now, I just realized, Igneous wasn't my enemy, no matter if he was being controlled by his Master. Only Xehanort was.

Master Xehanort stood there and aged with silence, not even able to find the words to punish Igneous with. Igneous didn't speak again either. They stared at each other for the longest time.

I jerked my head towards the local residents of the Enchanted Dominion and ordered, "Go now to the castle and get away while you can. We can deal with this."

They happily bustled away from us without the slightest hint of haste and whispered desperately.

I glanced back to the situation at hand and realized that Igneous and Xehanort weren't done with their staring contest.

Ven nudged me and begged with fear, "I think we should get out of here, now."

"No, I'm not leaving Igneous."

My best friend slapped my shoulder, "Since when do you care about him? He can deal with this himself." And without even waiting for a reply, Ven summoned a portal and walked into it.

"Come on, Terra!" A hand shot out of the swirling white and blue abyss and motioned for me to approach. When I didn't, Ventus's head shot back into view and he raised one of his eyebrows.

I ignored him. Ven may have been independent, but I knew he wouldn't just let me stay there alone.

"Fine." He sighed.

"I have given you so much and have offered my vast knowledge to you, Igneous. And yet, you still aren't loyal to me."

"So what? That doesn't change my mind."

"Oh, somehow I just knew it would end this way." Infatialis Sonata was summoned by Master Xehanort, its cold black metal twinkling like the stars of twilight in the Sun. As a reply, Igneous summoned Chronosis Terminus.

The epic battle between the Master of Darkness and his apprentice had begun.

I whispered to Ven, "I'm going to fight along with Igneous."

"Right there with you."

He really knew how to be a best friend.

We both instinctively raced up to Igneous, Ven ending up on his left side, and myself on his right.

"So it's three teenagers against one old man, hmmm? How unfair..."

Igneous shot up to the geezer in a flash and parried the many harsh blows that were given from Xehanort's Keyblade. While Igneous distracted him with this, Ven shot to Xehanort's backside and began a super powerful high speed stabbing attack. While this forced Geezernort to submit to the relentless blows from Igneous, I practiced the same attack I had gotten Xehanort before with: jumping over him and Ven, then signaling the blond teen to jump, then chucking Eternal Horizons at the elder. Once I was done with this, Igneous stopped abruptly and shot a Thunder spell at him. Once paralyzed and forced to catch his breath, all three of us began to do a combination attack. Ven landed from his recent leap and nodded while showing us what to do next.

All three of our Keyblades, Chronosis Terminus, Divided Fate, and Eternal Horizons struck Master Xehanort's chest and caused him to hurtle backwards into a towering oak tree. Acorns rained down upon the unsuspecting elder and made the noise of hail upon a tin roof as they hit his bare skull.

The old man coughed, then he spoke, "Such a shame...I thought you'd be a little more merciful than to knock down an elderly fart."

"Get real." Ven muttered to the pointy-eared male.

"'Get real'? What kind of comeback is that? Kids these days, their insults were worse than ours. Back in my day, we would've said something more intelligent, such as, 'You should become more serious.'."

Igneous, Ven, and I all examined eachother's faces with expressions of mockery. The blond choked on a chuckle and Igneous jerked his head and caught the mouth of his helm with his right hand. That left me to give a salty reply.

"Yeah, Xehanort, you should try that. I mean, you know, because I hear that 'getting real' just isn't acceptable anymore."

"Make fun of me, will you? Didn't your mothers ever tell you how to give respect to those who deserve it?" Xehanort questioned, then paused to glance at the snickering Ven.

"Well, I'll cut Ventus some slack. But only because he doesn't even remember his own mother. Serves him right too, since he's sarcastic and snobby enough to not even deserve one."

Ven halted his laughing to focus on the throbbing agony writhing within his heart. Even my own heart stopped pumping for a few seconds as I began to pity him.

After hearing no comment to his uncalled for insult, Xehanort smirked his evil, Grinch-who-stole-Christmas grin and began another heinous remark, "What a horrible son you are, Ventus. Not even able to remember the person who gave birth to you. What a despicable crime."

"It's not his fault." I defended. My fists tightened as I waited for another inevitable put-down from the vicious person that lay inside of the seemingly harmless body of Xehanort. His amber eyes glistened as he recognized this.

"How would you know, Terra? He could've just as easily brought it upon himself. Besides, I think whoever or whatever did this to him was in their right mind to take away such a precious thing from this spoiled brat."

"You are the biggest bastard I have ever met! What is it of any concern to you any-!?"

"He's right: I did deserve it."

I stood there in complete shock along with Igneous and listened as Ven began to sob with an unknown fault of his eclipsing his emotions. Had he remembered something from his distant past? But....I couldn't believe it. Had Ven really, actually remembered something? I couldn't even really think of what to say to him.

All of the sudden, my mouth flew open:

"What do you mean?"

Ven shook with another sob and gritted his teeth, "And why do you even care!?"

"Because...we're friends, right?"

"Hardly."

"What do you-"

"Since when do friends betray eachother!?"

"What do you-" I repeated, but was interrupted once again. This time, though, I was too stunned to even respond.

"'What do you mean?', 'What do you mean?'. Don't play dumb with me, Terra. I know what you've done. Aqua doesn't believe it, but I sure as hell do."

He meant...He couldn't mean-

"Come on, Terra. I'm not stupid enough to think it was just a dream."

I answered with no reply. I knew it was coming before. I knew it was coming now:

"Ven, I-"

Everywhere you turn, you'll be there and you won't be.

"You know what, don't even try-" The rest of his words were not heard.

Yes? Or No?

"Don't pretend like you don't know what it is!" Ven howled at me as I stared blankly on at the amber depths of Xehanort's eyes. He couldn't of told Ven what had happened. He wouldn't of...I hate Xehanort so much.

Then, Xehanort smiled as Ven continued.

He had told Ven about it.

Your inability to see what is coming has sealed your fate.

Pretend you don't know anything. Pretend what Ven knows is a lie.

"Ven, you don't really think...Whoever told you that is lying. Why would I ever do that?"

Destiny? Or Fate?

What is the difference?

"Because, Terra. Because you're a monster. A monster who uses the powers of Darkness whenever no one's watching. I know what you've been doing: exactly what we promised we wouldn't do. Now, I can't trust you anymore. I can't trust you with anything. Nothing at all. All because you were selfish enough to think that the Darkness won't swallow you. But I know it will."

My anger started to rise tremendously as Ven continued. The Darkness that still lay within me began to consume my entire being once again. But this time I had more control. In this form, I had an unlimited amount of power...nothing, not even an army of Keyblade Masters could've stopped me. The tips of my ears were watched like a hawk by Ven, whose cerulean eyes glinted with horror as they reached pointed form. And within a moment, my eyes were glared at as well, telling me that they weren't their normal blue color.

"So, it is true. You really have become what Master Oni said you would."

My suddenly deeper voice then asked, "Oh really? Did the great Master Oni assume that this would happen?"

"Well, he didn't really believe himself at first, but now-"

"Now what?"

"Well, I'm going to have to tell him he was right."

For the first time ever in my life, I felt alone. So alone, with no one, not even my best friends to turn to.

No, they weren't my best friends. Best friends don't leave each other just because their Master told them to based on his own opinion.

"Ven, if we-I mean, you, Aqua, and I were wielders of the Darkness. And let's just say, you wanted to use the powers of the Light for our own goals. Would you expect me to disown you as a friend just because our teacher told us too?"

Ven paused to think for a moment.

"No."

"Then why is it different now?"

"Because you made the promise. The promise to not use the powers of Darkness."

"How many times has Master Oni told us that we should use our enemy's power against them?"

"A lot."

I pointed over at Xehanort and raised my eyebrows with impatience, "There you go."

He stopped.

"I guess you're right."

"Yes, I am-"

"But what about the promise?"

"Ven," He gasped in surprise when I knelt before him and took his hand. I then bowed my head apologetically.

"Please forgive me. But you have to think about what I said before: I'm only using the Darkness to capture Xehanort and Igneous, nothing else. I'm not using it to kill anyone, or to gain personal power like Geezernort."

"Yeah." Now that I took the time to really look at Ven closer, I noticed a little guilt. Did he feel bad for suspecting me?

"I can't really blame you for hating me, Ven."

"I don't hate you, it's just that it's already happened to him, and I don't want it to happen to you, too."

Him? Who is he talking about? My brain started to just fizzle out on everything. Ven, or the Ven that existed before he lost his memories was really confusing me.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything."

"No, you shouldn't be. I should be sorry. And Xehanort too, he had no right to claim something like that. And what does he know about your memories, anyway?"

Another really stupid question I shouldn't have asked.

"Yeah, you know what? Let's just get back to Castle Celest. I need to rest."

"Agreed."

As we walked through the silvery blue portal to Castle Celest, I managed to recollect everything that had happened. And now, I just realized that we left Master Xehanort alone with Igneous.

Oops.

Unbeknownst to me, the boy who had forgiven me for my sins was thinking to himself about more than just that:

It's going to happen again. All of this, it, it's so familiar. I can't live with the grief of my past. I must not let Terra or Aqua know that I know. I know...I know he's going to return again. He's going to come and take away everything, just like he did the first time.

Him.

You looked ahead too late.