the lost master.

“Aqua!”

ok but would you blame her

some pretty headphones for the ladies

The last giveaway winner was @masteraqua ! Their request was Kairi and Aqua fighting together in Daybreak town, which brought together a very lovely colour scheme. Thank you to everyone for supporting me with the giveaway and helping to get my information out there!

He had to admit, the words that were slipping out through Aqua’s lips felt comforting, at least a little. Even though she was trying to tell him that he wasn’t at fault, it was rather obvious to him that some of the things she was saying were little white lies made to make him feel a little better. If Aqua was going to try and take the fall for these things that had happened, he felt that some of it definitely had to fall on his shoulders as well. In this case, if she was going to down in a sense, then he was ready and willing to go down with her.

Although, Aqua did have a point about Xehanort. Not only did he play right into Xehanort’s hand, but all of them did. Xehanort was just always one step ahead of them. He might even dare to call Xehanort a master tactician, always being able to figure out just what it took to be ahead of his foes. “Yeah… I guess you’re right. No matter what we tried to do, we couldn’t stop him. He always seemed to be one step ahead of us. But just because we couldn’t stop him before, doesn’t mean we won’t be able to now. He will be stopped.” He may think we’re gone for good, and when we see him again, he’ll get what’s coming to him.” This sudden burst of confidence, he could feel it surging through his bones, one of the many things that would drive him forward in life.

As Aqua attempted to apologize, Terra simply shook his head, not wanting her to feel guilty about telling him things that he would have wanted to hear otherwise. Of course, he didn’t really like hearing the terrible things that occurred in the timeline Aqua was from, but it was important to hear them nonetheless. “It’s okay, Aqua. Sure, it might not have been something I really wanted to hear, but it was something important anyway. But maybe next time, could you break it up into a few sessions?” he laughed, trying to make light of the grim situation he was just presented with.

After making the crack about the sun almost being ready to set, he immediately regretted the words that left his mouth and turned slightly red, feeling a bit flustered for sounding like an idiot in front of Aqua. “Yeah… I… I knew that.” However, Terra’s embarrassment quickly turned to slight shock as he felt Aqua’s fingers lace with his, a feeling that he so much welcomed and enjoyed the feeling of. It was hard to pinpoint what it was, but something just felt so right when they were hand in hand. His face remained slightly red as he fixed his gaze on her. “Huh, really? Well, I guess that’s settled then. Why don’t we look for an apartment here in Sunset Terrace? Seems like a pretty cozy place to live.” Without another word, he rose from the bench, his fingers still lace with Aqua’s as they began to look for a suitable place.

Aqua was relieved to see that her insistence of Xehanort manipulating all of them was met with affirmation rather than denial—Terra was not as far gone to Xehanort’s side as Master Yen Sid thought he was, even though she knew he could never join the old, dark master. Terra could be a little gullible at times and play into others’ hands but he wasn’t evil, and he’d never intentionally hurt anyone. She supposed these were all things she should have said to him ages ago back in Radiant Garden to make him stay and listen, but there were really no times for what ifs. She didn’t have a complete grasp on the situation anyway, she never could have discussed Xehanort’s involvement at the time.

Terra’s determination made her smile a little but his anger pricked at her anxiety. Anger only lead to darkness, and although this reunion had been sweet the fact remained that Terra was still highly steeped in it, likely to the point of being unable to control it. Would he lose control of it regardless of the graveyard battle being disrupted? It was a thought that made her stomach roll.

 “Yeah… This time we’ll stop him. I think we’re going to have to come up with a plan once we get Ven back. His goal was to separate us in that fight, that’s for sure—once I got knocked out that left Ven for Vanitas and him to possess you.” Maybe they needed a different strategy, or more people to join their side…

If years had in fact passed since she was in the Realm of Darkness—she had no way of knowing for sure, just her own instinct—that boy Terra let inherit the keyblade, he should be grown up by now… Right?

Aqua bit back this question in her mind, shoving it out of her mental picture—she didn’t want to bother Terra with the guild of leaving a potential apprentice all on his own, either. It was likely getting late anyway, or at least that’s what her tired mind told her. The sun said otherwise.

“Heh, next time I remember anything from the future that you don’t know about… I’ll let you know in pieces. Don’t get mad at me if there’s a cliffhanger you don’t like though.” Aqua teased, deciding to play along with his dark brand of humor even though she’d much rather just fall asleep on this bench. She hummed a bit of laughter as he turned red with embarrassment at not realizing this world was in a perpetual sunset—she found his slip-ups endearing—while shifting her weight so that she tiredly leaned against his shoulder.

Aqua didn’t hold her position for long through as Terra stood up (she was glad he still held her hand, otherwise she might have toppled over, plus she enjoyed the bloom of warm feelings that came from their interlocked fingers) and she smiled brightly, an expression that reached her tired eyes this time. “I’ll live just about anywhere after having slept on the ground for ages—long story.” She quipped dismissively, making it clear she didn’t want to talk about it in full just yet. “You can pick where we stay, I’m,” she yawned loudly, “too tired to think too much anymore.”

It saddened him to think that the moment they had just shared only moments before sitting on top of the hill had to be so short lived. As much as he would have liked it to go on even just a little bit longer, he could see that Aqua had become tense, and he knew he was going to respect whatever she had decided to do. He wanted nothing more than to be back to the way they were before everything happened, before Xehanort happened. But he knew things might never be quite the same between them again. Too much had happened, and from the looks of it, there was even more that he was unaware of. 

It was only a few seconds after he had absentmindedly put his hand on Aqua’s that she had withdrew it, almost as if he had done something wrong, or if she was uncomfortable with him. Maybe it was just a bad timing on his part to try and comfort her in that way. He wasn’t going to think much of it, and as such, turned his full attention to Aqua, unsure if he was ready for what she was about to tell him. By the look she displayed on her face, something must have happened. Something bad.

As soon as she had finished speaking, Terra let an eerie silence float its way between them for a few moments. It felt as though a huge bomb had just been dropped in the form of words. So much information to digest all at once, some of the information more surprising than others. So he was right. Something did happen to Aqua. Trapped somewhere? For that long? He couldn’t imagine what it must have been like for her. What if it was his fault that she ended up there?

He then looked towards the ground, not completely surprised that they had lost their fight at the Keyblade Graveyard, but nonetheless, it gave him the sense of failure in the pit of his stomach. That meant Xehanort had prevailed. He remembered defeating Xehanort in battle, but that’s when everything went blank. It must have been sometime after that that something had happened out of his control.

“Stuck somewhere? I’m sorry, Aqua. I…had no idea. It must have been tough. I just… I just hope you weren’t there because of me. And the Keyblade Graveyard… If I’m understanding you right, that means Xehanort won. I just don’t understand why things had to turn out that way.” He slowly turned himself away from Aqua, unsure of whether or not he was able to look at her after learning that after everything went blank, he had lost his body to Xehanort. How could he have been so weak as to let Xehanort possess him like that? “Xehanort…possessed me? How could I let him do that to me? I can’t believe I was so weak as to let that happen…I played into his hands the whole time…” Being someone else’s vessel was not something.

In all honesty, he wanted to just drop to the ground and pound the dirt with his fists, but would good would that do? Looking like an absolute fool in front Aqua was the last thing he wanted to do right now. As if what she told wasn’t enough information, he had knew something had happened to Ven when Xehanort said the X-Blade had been forged, but he wasn’t exactly sure what. Now, he knew that Ven was in a comatose state, unable to retain his heart. “Ven… It’s not your fault, Aqua. If anything, I’m just as much to blame for not being able to protect one of my best friends. But, you weren’t exactly wrong, Aqua. Just look at what became of me. I just ended up becoming one of Xehanort’s pawns of darkness. All I know is, I hope that Ven is okay. We’re going to save him.” He paused briefly, his face now looking a little more determined, his fists clenched together before he turned back around to look Aqua straight in the eyes. “It was…hard to hear all of that at once, but it was something I had to know. Thanks, Aqua.”

Terra looked towards the sky once again, noticing that the sun wasn’t too far away from setting. Not that he wanted to forget everything she had just told him, but he felt like after the talk they just had, they could use at least a short break. “Hey look, the sun’s just about to set. It’s beautiful… After it sets, we should probably try and look for a place to stay.”

It was difficult watching Terra absorb the information she gave him so Aqua looked away as she finished speaking, back out over at the sunset, figuring maybe if she focused really hard on one spot on the horizon she could forget about all the trouble the three of them had caused just for a little bit. She glanced over at him out of her peripheral vision and her heart sank as she saw him looking at the ground. She had just put the weight of the worlds on his shoulders and he had just found out the Master died. He hadn’t had the time to process it like she had.

How could she be so stupid?

She immediately regretted telling him when he apologized for something that in all technicality was partially his fault but she refused to let him share any blame. He hadn’t experienced any of this, and she was the one to make the decision to let him and consequently Xehanort go. Not him. “No, it’s not your fault. I got stuck in another realm because of a decision I made. Don’t beat yourself up about it.” Her voice was low and firm, making it clear she didn’t want to talk about the Realm of Darkness any longer out of fear that he’d blame himself more than he already did and out of her own discomfort with her experiences.

Aqua didn’t really know how to answer some of his questions-- she really had no idea as to how Xehanort claimed Terra’s body, just that she knew the old man had desperately tried to snuff Terra’s heart out completely and failed. She wouldn’t be alive, otherwise. “We all played into Xehanort’s hands, not just you. The Master and I... We did exactly what he wanted us to do to you-- push you right into his hands. Make you trust only him... I’m so sorry, Terra. Ven was right, I let my duty get to my head.” That conversation the three of them held in Radiant Garden had played over and over and over in her head while in the Dark Realm. It made her stomach twist. The three of them might never get back to the way they were...

Her Wayfinder clinked softly in her pocket as a small, hopeful reminder and she gave Terra a resolute nod. They would find Ven’s heart or a way to wake him up... They’d go home and wake him up. She didn’t care if their search took forever. She promised the sleeping boy she would protect him and return-- and she had done neither of those things. “You’re right. We’ll wake that hopeless sleepyhead up.” Aqua said with a bit of a forced laugh as she rejoined Terra on the bench. “I’m sorry I had to tell you all of that at once though... None of it was pleasant.” She wished she at least had some good news to offer but there wasn’t any she could think of. As far as she was aware, she had not yet found a Stargate for them to return home, and she had no armor or glider to travel with in this world...

Her lips cracked into a smile at Terra’s musing, and her tired eyes lit up with a bit of mischief. “Terra... We’ve been here for a while. I don’t think the sun finishes setting.” It was hard not to giggle a little, and she took his hand in hers, lacing her fingers between his, a silent apology for withdrawing so quickly earlier and for the horrible news she had just given him. “It’s not going to get dark, so we can stay here as long as we’d like... Finding a place shouldn’t be a problem. Those shadow creatures drop a ton of munny sometimes-- they’re even more generous than the Unversed.”

@alightwanders​

It is a foreign world - that much is obvious - but the dominant veil of darkness here is not unfamiliar to him. Eyes so attuned to black are no stranger its gloom. 

Of course, he can feel that this realm is inherently different to his own; it’s clear perpetual darkness is the only common thread the two share. When he moves, he hears the soft crunch of sand beneath armored feet, gaze scattering across the desolate imitation of a beach he finds himself in. 

He idly notes how the water’s murky depths seem to reach infinitely into the far horizon while skirting along its edge, and wonders briefly if the area is even inhabited; as of yet, he has not happened across any tell-tale signs of life dotting the landscape, and the lack of such a discovery puts him at the earliest stages of worry – portals are meant to be made use of, after all, not summoned for mere empty decoration in a location where none live.

It is possible that his hypothesis is wrong. Perhaps, as skeptical as he is at the notion, the gateway had simply been a random occurrence – a tear connecting separate realities that came to be as the result of a universal collapse between worlds –

He is further along the shore when he finds her, a lone figure that cuts a stark contrast against the darkness. His fingers around Byrnhildr are tense, but steady – he does not wish for it, but still readies himself for conflict should it arise, uncertain as he is of whether the woman will act out in hostility or  prove peaceful.

“I take it you are the one who conjured the gateway?”

Her inability to sleep was becoming more and more of a problem—after staying in Twilight Town for a bit, she had managed to clear out most of the shadow creatures to the point where they didn’t even spawn much anymore. Aqua’s hand itched for her keyblade, it was a routine of years and years that she simply could not feel the compulsion to adhere to no matter how often she wished for a peaceful life. So she found herself back in the Realm of Darkness, slinging magic at the Heartless left and right until she tired of it. It was, at least, a good way to obtain Munny, not to mention a bit of an experiment. Her magic was limited in universes that weren’t her own, but not here or Twilight Town. 

Curious.

She made her way back to the Dark Meridian—still unsure if the sound of slow ocean waves made her nauseous at this point or if that was her own sleep deprivation. Regardless, it seemed she had a visitor, and immediately dismissed her blade as to show them no harm. Aqua’s eyes had already grown less accustomed to the dark after spending her time outside this realm, and she initially had to squint before walking closer towards him. There was really no way of telling whether or not this man was of the same universe unless she spoke to him, given the vast amount of worlds in her own.

Aqua’s lips twitched into a flattered smile as he asked her if she had conjured the gateway. Oh, what she would have given for that ability prior to the Stargate. “I wish I could, but no. There’s a lot of things I can do with magic, but portals aren’t one of them.” Her gaze was a little wistful as she spoke. “I could have left here earlier if I did. I came back to get some sparring practice in with the monsters here—they don’t come down to the shore, though, you have to go a little further in.” She reassured, and looked at him quizzically.

“My name is Aqua—I’m guessing a portal appeared in your world, too?”

Although they hadn’t really been reunited for too long as of yet, this time that he was getting to spend with her was more than he could have asked for. All he could think about was all of the time that they had spent together in the Land of Departure, even before Ven was brought over to train with them and eventually even become their best friend. It was almost hard for him to believe that when Aqua had first shown up, he didn’t want her to be there. He wanted to be trained by himself. But it wouldn’t be too long before they become the best friends and did absolutely everything together. All of those nights where they would sit on the summit and watch the stars, huddling with each other, laughing together. The kind of moments that he wouldn’t trade for anything.

While this wasn’t exactly the same as before, it was still nice to have a moment like this, even if it would only be for a short amount of time. Closing his eyes, his hands became at ease as he absorbed the moment for what it was. However, it wouldn’t be too long before the silence, not an uncomfortable one by any means, was broken as Terra quickly opened his eyes to see that Aqua’s gaze had quickly turned into a serious one. Usually, good things wouldn’t really come out when she looked like that, but if she had something to say to him, he would listen. Perhaps not listening to what his friends had to say was one of the whole reasons everything had happened the way it did in the first place.

Terra’s eyes widened slightly, slightly shocked by what Aqua had just asked him. Maybe she was expecting a bigger reaction from him, but to him, he had already partially figured out that she may not have even been from the same period of time as him. “The future, huh…?” his gaze was focused solely on hers, showing her that she had his full attention, their blue eyes looking directly at one another. “I think…I had a feeling that you weren’t from the same time period as me. Something about you seemed a little different, but to me, you’re still Aqua, no matter what.” Almost unconsciously, he moved his hand over to hers. “So if you’re saying you’re from the future, then yeah, I believe you.”

Since they had started on the topic, Terra’s curiosity got the best of him. If she really was from the future, then perhaps her telling him that she missed him had some kind of further meaning to it. “On the train…you said you missed me. Just how long has it been? Did…did something happen to you…to me?”

The peace between them had to end eventually, their moment of quietness had come and gone. Aqua didn’t particularly want to be the one to ruin it, but she knew she needed to, she had to warn him of what would transpire if he did not keep his darkness in check. She was not entirely sure what had become of all the worlds in her absence, but it seemed like this one-- despite the threat of those shadow creatures-- was alright.

How long would that last though? How long could this world remain in the light? What would happen now, especially with those new portals, and the Stargate?

Aqua could see Terra’s apprehension as she became serious and she didn’t blame him she figured the last time she acted this way to him she accused him of being too close to the darkness. Yes, he was on the path, but he wasn’t as close as she believed.

She did, however, push him to that dark place. The fault was her own.

The fact that he wasn’t too surprised by her confession wasn’t shocking to her-- while he wasn’t the most astute at times, Terra always seemed to realize more than other people ever thought he could. Their gazes were locked and hers only flickered downwards slightly as he put his hand on hers, no doubt trying to recreate the moment from before on the train, but that had gone and passed. She wasn’t sure if she could hold onto him when she told him what happened. It was too awful.

“A little different, huh?” Well, the dark circles under her eyes were new, and she was sure her personality had to have changed enough for him to notice, along with her reflexes. Aqua was glad he believed her though, and she didn’t doubt for a second that he wouldn’t. They had always been close.

It was then he asked the inevitable and she immediately withdrew her hand like she had been burned, and stood up to look out at the town and not at him. She steeled herself-- how to answer this without increasing his guilt? He would consider himself responsible for what happened to her. The Master’s death ate at him enough. “I don’t know how long it’s been. It could be years. Decades, maybe. After the battle I got... Stuck somewhere. Time didn’t pass, there was no day and night cycle to count how long it’d been, either. All I know is that it’s felt like ages. I didn’t have a way out until those portals of light appeared.”

“We lost at the Keyblade Graveyard-- badly. I’m not too sure what happened to you specifically... I got hit on the back of the head and when I woke up, you were gone, and Vanitas had merged with Ventus. Ven fought from the inside, I know he did-- but when I broke the X-Blade, he wouldn’t wake up. Master Yen Sid said his heart was gone... so I hid him. I then went to go find you.” 

Aqua paused, not entirely sure how to word the next part. “I think at some point Xehanort possessed you. You had white hair and yellow eyes... We fought. There was nothing I could do.” There was something she did, it was stupid, and obviously didn’t work if the amnesiac man was right.She had no more tears left from her time in the Dark Realm but her voice cracked with sadness. “Ven’s heart is still missing! I don’t know where to look... He might never wake up if we don’t do something. It’s all my fault, I should have been better at protecting him, and I shouldn’t have been so mad at you.”

taking up the mantle.

the knight.

Spellweaver

He scratched his head slightly before nodding. “Yeah, it’s been a while since I’ve gotten some good rest as well. I guess now since we’re here, we have a little bit of time to rest.” And not a moment too soon, he found his body feeling slightly warmer as Aqua had placed arm around his and began to use his shoulder as a pillow of sorts. Of course, he didn’t mind this at all as his shoulder was constantly used as a pillow back at home, for both Aqua and Ven. He smiled slightly, seeing Aqua so at ease as she rested on his shoulder, the feeling of warmth she provided radiating throughout his whole body, once again putting butterflies in his stomach. 

Although, he was a little confused by what she had just said, he decided to not make much of it. It hadn’t been extremely long since he last saw her, but something was clearly up. Maybe, just maybe, she was somehow from a different time period, maybe even one that was further from where he was from. Either way, even though he saw her not too long ago, in a way, he missed her too. It had been so long since they had been able to be together like this it felt like, and he just wanted to savor the moment for what it was. “I missed you too, Aqua…” As they sat on the train, Aqua’s eyes closed and keeping close to him, his hand still on hers, he gripped it slightly tighter and closed his eyes briefly.

It wouldn’t be too long before they got to their destination. He gently put his arm on Aqua’s shoulder to wake her up as he held onto her hand for a few more moments as they stepped out of the train, only before pulling his hand away gently, his face a bright red. He looked below to see a staircase that must lead to another part of the town, and a sign that read “Sunset Terrace”. As they walked down, the steps, taking in his surroundings, it was clear that this area wasn’t terribly different than what they had seen so far. It still had that cozy feeling to it, he could see some kind of transit running along the side, and up ahead, he could see a tall hill up ahead. If anything, it seemed like a good place to catch the sunset.

“Hey, why don’t we go up to that hill over there. It might be a good place to see the sunset, huh?” Without another word, he began to head in the direction of the hill, looking up at a the twilight sky as he and Aqua walked up the hill, and a few moments later, made it to the top. It was exactly like he thought, the perfect view. The tops of many buildings across the town were visible, and there was nothing in their way to obstruct the view of the sunset. “Over there.” He promptly gestured over to the bench and took a seat. “Such a nice view, it’s almost mesmerizing…” The colour of the red and orange sky as far as the eye could see was simply beautiful, nothing like he had seen before.”

She was already dozing when she faintly hear him say he missed her too and she only produced a small ‘hm’ in response, not willing to really comment on it anymore. The way they each meant it was different and she was slipping far too easily into sleep to even think about it too much. Regardless, this reminded her of all the times prior to, well, everything, where they spent their nights on the summit in a blissful, tired peace. 

Their arrival and consequent sudden awakening was met with red faces for both of them, Aqua’s eyes immediately darting away from him as well as her hand-- the moment was nice, but it passed, and in her eyes it was perhaps more than a little inappropriate given the circumstances. She was unsure of how this whole Stargate thing worked. If Terra was from the past, was there another her? This was all too confusing. Regardless, she was not the Aqua from his time period-- she was a different person now, changed by the harsh realities of the Realm of Darkness. It was something she had come to accept a while ago.

Granted, Aqua was not sure if Terra had even picked up on this. He was usually fairly slow on the uptake-- something she used to tease him about that now, with him being deceived by Xehanort, was no longer funny-- and this was likely no exception. His curiosity for this new world was a welcome difference from the friend plagued by horrible decisions she had last seen him as (well, seen him as himself.) She nodded gently at his suggestion and sat and turned to look at the beautiful sunset. The sight almost brought her to tears...

She hadn’t seen such a view in a long time...

“It is nice.” Aqua said, and let a comfortable silence hang in the air before deciding that now was likely a good time as any to tell him what she suspected, no, what she knew. “Terra,” she started, her gaze still out over at the warm colors of the sunset, “if I told you that I was from the future,” she turned to look him in the eyes-- which where blue, not the yellow that gave her nightmares-- her gaze serious and unflinching, “would you believe me?”