to be a keyblade master ;;

Terra RP blog soon to be affiliated with Persona Cataclysm!

[keybladeheroes]

[adarknessawaits-blog]

@wayfoundwarrior

Not too long ago, he had found himself in a situation in which he was in a conflict with Xehanort to try and reclaim control of his own body, the next thing he knew, he had his own body back, and had signed a contract to end up in this strange place. It was rather cold outside, the place filled to the brim with white powdery snow. It was very reminiscent of the many winters he had spent in the mountains back in the Land of Departure. As kids, he and Aqua always enjoyed playing in the snow, whether it be snowball fights, making snow angels, or building snow forts. It was memories like those that truly made him miss his best friends.

Up ahead of him was a fairly large lodge, looking just about as inviting as anything. It was pretty cold outside, so hopefully he’d be able to warm himself up at least a little bit. Opening the door slowly, his eyes widened slightly as he walked into a fancy room full of tons of different people, socializing, eating, drinking, you name it. Come to think of it, it had been quite a long time since he last had a good meal. In plain sight was a large table that had several different kinds of food, almost unlike anything he had ever seen before. Seeing all the food before him just made him all the more hungry, he just couldn’t wait anymore.

There was just so much food, he honestly wasn’t entirely sure what he wanted to eat. However. the food that immediately caught his eye was the several different kinds of sushi. It had been way too long since he had any, let alone any kind of decent food. Not even sure what type of sushi to get, he decided to just try every kind and filled his entire plate with several of every kind of sushi available. He then picked up a glass, filling it with what he presumed was juice before taking a quick sip of the liquid in his glass. It tasted different, unlike any other kind of juice he’d had before, but it was not bad. It was kind of sweet.

“This… this isn’t juice. But I… actually kind of like it.”

[wayfoundwarrior-blog]

It was strange not having to slay any of the shadow monsters she was accustomed to fighting. Sure, she had heard rumors of shadows on the outskirts of the blizzard surrounding the Idle Lakes, but Aqua was certain they were not the same kind. Wandering around in the snow was comparable to the colder parts of the Realm of Darkness, the parts that lacked remnants of worlds she was familiar with. At least the memories kept alive by the darkness brought her a little comfort.

Yet they were also haunting, mocking. After that time she saw Terra in the remnants of Castle of Dreams it kept happening, again and again, although Aqua felt that over time it was less of the realm playing memory tricks than her own mind slowly devolving with her own despair. She saw Ven too. Neither of them would ever speak to her. Sometimes they would reach, but she would turn around and they’d be gone. It was maddening. 

It was a constant reminder of her not losing hope but also how lonely she had become. Driven to the point of seeing things that she shouldn’t.

She still saw things she knew shouldn’t exist here– the beady yellow eyes of the shadow monsters from her universe lurked in every corner, only for her to blink and they’d be gone completely. Aqua wondered in time if these visions– hallucinations– would go away, but as she saw a glimpse of Terra’s hakama, her heart sank. She was doing it again.

Aqua turned around and shut her eyes tight for a few moments, her hand hovering over the hidden pocket she kept her Wayfinder charm in. She opened her eyes and turned around, fully expecting him to be gone, like time and time before. 

But he was still there.

Hope flowered and bloomed in Aqua’s chest– if she was seeing things she knew she would be crushed, but she had to take this chance, just one more time.

“Terra?”

[adarknessawaits-blog]

Whatever thing he was drinking, he was certain it wasn’t juice, but that wasn’t gonna stop him from drinking it. However, he would put his glass down on the table for a second only to stuff his face with 3 different rolls of sushi. At this point, he wasn’t too concerned about what kinds he shoved into his mouth, he was willing to eat just about anything right now. Everything tasted amazing. Things tended to taste better to him when he was starving. He honestly had no idea what kind of sushi he was eating, all he knew was this was basically the best thing that had happened to him since losing his body to the likes of Xehanort.

However, that best thing that happened was about to be pushed into second place as he he fidgeted slightly at hearing a voice that was all too familiar to him. A voice he hadn’t heard in such a long time, a voice he had been hoping longing to hear ever since his grave mistake all that time ago. Aqua. As soon as he heard her call out his name, he turned around quickly to make sure that his ears weren’t deceiving her, and it turned out, they were spot on. His eyes widened in shock as his eyes were now locked with his best friend, almost wanting to shed a few tears, but he was going to hold back on that for now.

“Aqua...? I... I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.” Before he knew it, he stretched out his arms and wrapped them around her, becoming overjoyed at the thought that he had a chance to see his best friend again. Still holding her in a tight embrace, he looked straight into her eyes. “It’s really you... I can’t tell you how glad I am to see you. I’m glad that you’re okay.”

[adarknessawaits-blog]

@wayfoundwarrior

Not too long ago, he had found himself in a situation in which he was in a conflict with Xehanort to try and reclaim control of his own body, the next thing he knew, he had his own body back, and had signed a contract to end up in this strange place. It was rather cold outside, the place filled to the brim with white powdery snow. It was very reminiscent of the many winters he had spent in the mountains back in the Land of Departure. As kids, he and Aqua always enjoyed playing in the snow, whether it be snowball fights, making snow angels, or building snow forts. It was memories like those that truly made him miss his best friends.

Up ahead of him was a fairly large lodge, looking just about as inviting as anything. It was pretty cold outside, so hopefully he’d be able to warm himself up at least a little bit. Opening the door slowly, his eyes widened slightly as he walked into a fancy room full of tons of different people, socializing, eating, drinking, you name it. Come to think of it, it had been quite a long time since he last had a good meal. In plain sight was a large table that had several different kinds of food, almost unlike anything he had ever seen before. Seeing all the food before him just made him all the more hungry, he just couldn’t wait anymore.

There was just so much food, he honestly wasn’t entirely sure what he wanted to eat. However. the food that immediately caught his eye was the several different kinds of sushi. It had been way too long since he had any, let alone any kind of decent food. Not even sure what type of sushi to get, he decided to just try every kind and filled his entire plate with several of every kind of sushi available. He then picked up a glass, filling it with what he presumed was juice before taking a quick sip of the liquid in his glass. It tasted different, unlike any other kind of juice he’d had before, but it was not bad. It was kind of sweet.

“This... this isn’t juice. But I... actually kind of like it.”

[adarknessawaits-blog]

hello everyone!

i guess it’s time for my own little introduction! my name is patrick and i am your terra! i’m currently 19 (will be 20 in about 2 months). this isn’t my first time rping this giant teddy bear of a man, i’m happy to be rping one of my favourite characters once again! anyway, in regards to threads, i do love to plot things out, so if you’re ever interested in starting a thread with bara dad terra, you can always shoot me a message here or you can hmu on my twitter, ultimacannon!

so in case you guys don’t know much about terra, he’s roughly 32 years of age, but looks like he’s about 20. he is a keyblade wielder who was set to become a master along with his friend aqua, but failed to do so bc darkness because his master is a lightfucker. basically around 12 years prior to his current canon point, he mcfucked up badly which lead to his body being possessed by an old bald man obsessed with darkness for a while, now he just wants to be with his friends, let giant teddy bear man be happy

[keeperofate-deactivated20190629]

Why did it have to come to this? 

[yochishaira-deactivated20181006]

what did you mean about Terra being a different person?

[nijuukoo]

Young(ish) Eraqus and babby Aqua and Terra after their keyblade training.

Shout out to all you KH nerd dads/partners/guardians out there \o/ ♥

[tinyienzo]

When you fail the mark of mastery because of the darkness

[alightwanders-blog]

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.”

[adarknessawaits-blog]

Even though Terra’s humor in this situation was a little more dark than his usual taste, he still couldn’t help but laugh at Aqua’s responses. Despite everything that happened, their comments seemed ever so appropriate for this moment. “Okay, okay, I promise I won’t get too upset with you for that. As long as you keep up your enough the bargain, of course.” Terra replied, trying to keep their lighthearted conversation going just a little bit more. It truly had been quite some time since had felt so at ease and just...so relaxed around Aqua. It really did bring him back to their time together as kids.

Obviously, walking around with Aqua aimlessly wasn’t something new to him, but walking around with her hand in hand definitely was. If he was younger, this would probably be a pretty awkward and uncomfortable experience for him, but right now, it felt so right, so comforting, and quite frankly, the butterflies in his stomach were having a hard time settling down. It felt like it had been forever since he and Aqua lived together at the castle.

He quickly turned to look at her with a puzzled look on his face, several questions popping up in his head, but it was probably best to not ask right now, maybe save them for later. After all, he was just told a ton of information he wouldn’t have particularly wanted to know in regular circumstances. Aqua seemed so tired, so it was probably best that he make his decision on where to go fairly quickly, before she potentially passes out. “Gotcha. Hey, there’s an apartment up for grabs over in that building.” he said softly, pointing at orangish-red building. “Looks like the person is offering it for a few months. I guess it’ll do until we get our own place, huh? Sounds like the furniture’s all set up and everything.”

After receiving the key to the apartment, the two of them walked upstairs, fingers still entwined tightly together, until they reached the door. As he slowly reached for the doorknob, he couldn’t help but smile a little bit Aqua’s way, thinking her sleepy smile was pretty cute, but of course, he wasn’t going to say that to her out loud. Stepping inside the dimly lit room, Terra flicked on the light switch to reveal a rather nice looking room. Everything seemed clean, and well organized. 

Since it had been so long since him and Aqua had been together like this, an idea instantly popped into his mind. Perhaps as a sort of throw back, they could find all of the pillows and blankets in the apartment and recreate their childhood, if only for the night. “Hey, I just had an idea. Sit down, I’ll be right back.” And without another word, he took a brief walk around the apartment, collecting all the blankets and pillows in sight before returning to Aqua, and dropping all of them on the ground. “Remember when we were kids, some nights if we got a little restless, we’d make a pillow fort and just end up talking late into the night? The master didn’t like it much, but they were always a lot of fun.”

[alightwanders-blog]

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.”

[adarknessawaits-blog]

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.

[alightwanders-blog]

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.”

[adarknessawaits-blog]

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.”

[alightwanders-blog]

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?”

[adarknessawaits-blog]

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?”

[pepsiprophecy]

(´,,•ω•,,)♡

[alightwanders-blog]

The monsters were like Vanitas in a way but not quite– while Vanitas was a forced existence through Xehanort’s meddling, the shadow creatures they encountered seemed natural. The thought was unnerving, as that meant the creatures might not be able to be stopped. Was this the balance the keybearers were meant to preserve? No– she made up her mind. The balance was those things returning to the Realm of Darkness.

“Yeah– I don’t know about you but it feels like I haven’t rested in ages.” It was good to see him relax as they explored the rest of the the town and boarded the train. He had been so sullen the last few times she had seen him, and Aqua supposed that was her own fault. While things were serious and strained in the Castle of Dreams, his usual self did shine through a little. It wasn’t until she had accused him of wrong doing at Radiant Garden that he no longer wanted to talk or reason with her…

She knew she had berated herself enough for that moment during her time in the Dark Realm. There was no use upsetting herself about it again here, and quite frankly, she was too tired to brood. Terra’s accidental placement of his hand on hers brought Aqua out of her thoughts and although her eyes depicted exhaustion she smiled brightly. “No, it’s okay Terra. I missed you.” Her words would likely make no sense if he was from the time period she thought he was from, but Aqua decided to say them anyway, and slipped her other arm around his and leaned her head on his shoulder. She hadn’t slept well in what was probably years, and decided she needed a good nap. Terra didn’t mind being a pillow, usually– he had been so many times for her back home, and they usually split “pillow duty” for Ven between them.

Her sleep was dreamless and she preferred it that way. No shadow creatures plagued her mind, no yellow or the occasional pair of red eyes stalked her with their dark malice. It was just a simple, short nap, one she needed badly. Blue eyes blinked away sleep and peacefulness as the train pulled to an abrupt halt and she was glad she was holding onto him or she probably would have ended up on the floor. “Looks like we’re here… So where to?”

[adarknessawaits-blog]

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.”

[alightwanders-blog]

Terra’s guilt would not be gotten rid of so easily. He hadn’t had the time to process everything like she had, everything was still far, far too recent, raw, and real. It was not a memory for him, but the present. Briefly Aqua wondered if she should say anything else at all– she had a habit of screwing up her words when they mattered most– but she had spent years, possibly decades wishing she had said more. “You have to remember the Master was manipulated too. He never should have let Xehanort come to our exam, not when he obviously knew about what Xehanort did to Ven. We all played into his hands.” 

Their Master was not as infallible as she once thought he was– Aqua would never had imagined a day where he would raise his blade against his own students, and she was baffled by the idea that he would let Xehanort back into his graces after clearly knowing more about Ven than she or Terra did. Perhaps it was the forgiveness of a friend– but how could all of them be so blind?

She would have agreed that Twilight Town was a fitting name if not for the multitudes of shadow creatures that had attacked them. Fortunately, many of the creatures ran right into her mine shield and the two of them made quick work of the rest. These ones seemed to be much weaker than the ones in the Realm of Darkness. Most likely because this was not the environment they were meant to inhabit.

Aqua was too preoccupied with the task at hand to be disappointed in Terra’s darkness– and while she knew he needed to control it better, she couldn’t expect anything to have changed for him. He was a part of the past. Fortunately, Aqua sighed inwardly with relief that he was likewise too busy with the creatures and his own guilt to notice she had used their Master’s keyblade instead of her own.

The fact that these creatures appeared in the Realm of In-between unsettled her greatly. How long had this been happening? Was it ever since that moment when she saw darkness be sucked up out of the realm? Was the Realm of Light affected too? That felt like forever ago… That meant the worlds were in danger and the only active keybearer was Mickey. The boy Terra chose would likely have still been too young and without a proper Master, for that matter. “I don’t know what they are… I’ve seen them before though. They’re creatures of pure darkness, whatever they are. They don’t belong in this realm.” Her voice was laced with contempt as she dismissed her keyblade. The chill of darkness lessened and she breathed a sigh of relief. “Yeah, let’s go check the train station. This world must be pretty big if it has one.”

The walk was not too long– Terra was right, the town was seemingly cozy and also fairly interesting, which made their trek seemingly take less time. There were posters for some sort of ‘Struggle’ competition, whatever that was, and three teenagers ran past them excitedly down the path they just came as they reached the train.

The seats were comfy too and Aqua stretched a little as she sat down. “Well, ready to explore the unknown?” The last part came out with a bit of a yawn– the warm sunlight through the train’s windows was doing nothing to help stave off her exhaustion.

[adarknessawaits-blog]

While he wanted to say something further, it was definitely not worth fighting her anymore about this than he already had. He wanted to keep insisting that it was all his fault, but truthfully, Aqua had brought up a good point. From the very beginning, Xehanort always seemed to be one step ahead of him. He had seemingly planned this for quite some time now. Whether they wanted to admit it or not, Xehanort was a master strategist and could not be easily duped. He hoped that one day, he could just give Xehanort what was coming to him, and never have to worry about him again.

A response was not necessary to Aqua’s previous statement as all he had to do was simply nod, knowing that he had given up trying to argue his case with Aqua. And regarding the monsters that just attacked them moments ago, Aqua was right about that as well. Creatures made of pure darkness like these and Vanitas didn’t belong in any world in this realm of light. “Pure darkness... just like Vanitas. I didn’t really know that other monsters like that truly existed, but I guess I can’t say I’m surprised.”

Their walk to the train station was a fairly pleasant one, taking in the sights as they walked up the hill towards their destination. Posters scattered across the wall everywhere for part time job listings, advertising shops, and even for something called a struggle tournament, one of which he was unfamiliar with. Once they made it into the train station, Terra was once again a little bit struck with awe taking in the large building. All the different tracks, the different numbers displayed above the exits where the trains would come through, and all of the noise throughout the building. He had to wonder just how far this town extended to if it required a train service. 

As he was about to see how much tickets cost for the train, to his relief, he realized that the town line train was free. He currently had no munny on him, and he didn’t want to have to make Aqua pay had it been necessary. As he motioned her towards the orange train, they quickly took their seats, which let Terra be at east fairly easily, the seats being more comfortable than he had imagined them to be. It had been a while since he and Aqua had relaxed like this, and really, having her beside him like this put butterflies in his stomach.

A small smirk appeared on his face; it felt good to be with her like this again, just like when they were kids, exploring new places together and just laughing together. Although this time, he had a feeling things might be slightly different given the circumstances. Still though, he really did hope to spend some time relaxing, just like the olden days. He figured they could both use a nice break, even if only for a little while. “Yeah, definitely. I think we both deserve a little rest after everything that’s happened, don’t you?”

Fully at ease now, he slightly leaned back and placed one hand on the seat beside him, while moving his other hand to wear Aqua had placed hers, immediately turning his face slightly red. “Uh...sorry about that. I can move my hand if you want me to...”

[alightwanders-blog]

The crunch of leaves and twigs under her feet was an almost foreign concept, a distant memory Aqua hadn’t realized she’d forgotten. Their walk was mostly quiet and she enjoyed the cooler shade that the canopy of leaves brought to them– their stroll was mostly quiet, Aqua biting her tongue as she realized that Terra’s feelings were still very raw about their home. So maybe he was from the past…

“I know what happened there, Terra. It’s not your fault.” Her response is immediate and her voice is hard with resolve. Aqua wasn’t entirely sure that Terra could keep his promise about not letting the darkness control him– it was a part of him just as the light was a part of her and there was nothing either of them could do to change that. She had so much time to learn and accept that, thinking to herself as she wandered along dark pathways. 

Figuring her sharp response could have been a little too harsh in tone, Aqua didn’t say anything else as they continued their walk in the forest. If Terra was from the past, perhaps them discussing certain events would be more difficult than she thought. These were still raw, open wounds for him. She had time to finally grieve in the Realm of Darkness when she was granted small moments of rest.

“Yeah, I see it.” Aqua said, using a warmer and fonder tone– it was so good to see light at the end of any dark place and in this case the phrase was literal. The town was charming– the warm, orange glow of the sunset seemed to color the rest of the town.

She hummed a bit of a laugh at his wonder. The Realm of Darkness was essentially one large, interconnected world, so the size of it hardly baffled her, but it was nice to see civilization in any form still. “We should take our time looking around then, no use tiring ourselves out–”

Aqua hardly finished her sentence when she felt the cold chill of darkness run up her spine and she hissed. She was attuned to fighting the shadow creatures and sensing when they’d pop up– she figured this ability of hers was essential in keeping herself alive while she was in the Dark Realm– and her hand immediately called Master’s Defender to its side in a flurry of petals.

“Not here too!” Aqua let out a frustrated sigh and conjured a mine shield around the two of them before launching a blizzaga right at a one of the taller shadow creatures.

[adarknessawaits-blog]

While he truly appreciated Aqua’s efforts to try and comfort him and put him at ease, that would not be answer he’d be willing to accept so easily. Terra knew deep down that even though he may not have been fully to blame for the death of the Master and the destruction that swept through the Land of Departure, he still had played a very large part in it. Having played right into Xehanort’s hands, he did exactly as he had intended him to do. Let his darkness get the better of him. and use it to take down someone who was in his way. It made him sick to his stomach just thinking that he could let himself be manipulated so easily.

“It is my fault, though. If I hadn’t have let Xehanort manipulate me so easily, none of this would have happened... Master Eraqus was right from the beginning, I was too obsessed with gaining power, terrified of losing... I don’t want people to have to suffer anymore because of my failings as a Keyblade wielder.” He couldn’t help but look down towards the ground, the feelings of guilt continuing to slowly eat away at him. 

Looking around, the town had a very...cozy feel to it. From the small shops set up all around, the orange coloured sky, and it looked like the town could go on forever. Something had caught his eye from not too far away as he noticed a sign, that said “Twilight Town: Tram Common”. So that must have been the name of the town they were in. Seemed to be a perfectly fitting name for the place considering it’s magnificent sky, and assumingly the beautiful sunsets that must be visible if you’re in the right spot for it.

“Hey Aqua, looks like the place we’re in is called ‘Twilight Town.’ Fitting name right--” and before he could continue going on about the town, shadowy creatures seemed to pop out of nowhere, prompting Ends of the Earth to materialize in his hand fairly quickly, ready to give these creatures a fight. As one of the creatures leaped up to try and get a direct attack on him, with a swing of the Keyblade, Terra sliced the shadowy figure into oblivion, before running to Aqua’s side to lend her a hand. He fired a shot of dark firaga at the shadows until they had finally disappeared.

He had hoped that Aqua wouldn’t be disappointed in him for using the power of darkness to aid him in that fight. The thought of it made him freeze for a moment, but he was able to quickly regain his composure. “What...what were those things? Those were no unversed. They just look like spawns of the darkness.  I guess no world is truly spared from danger, huh? Anyway, why don’t we continue on. That sign over there says the train station is not too far from here. Why don’t we check that out?”

[alightwanders-blog]

It did not take very long for Aqua to confirm that this was in fact Terra, and not some weird mirage this world or mansion could be presenting her. Only he could give a look as quizzical and an answer as blithely clueless, and she smiled in relief when he didn’t judge her odd behavior at all. It was like absolutely nothing had happened– no possession, no Dark Realm, no X-Blades. Everything was as it was years ago.

Tears threatened to well up in her eyes and she forced them down, along with the urge to hug him for the first time in ages but Aqua knew she had already asked enough weird questions and she didn’t want to worry him– he was right, they did need to get out of this place, but not for the same reasons he thought they did.

“Oh, I’ve been looking around here for a bit… You’re right in that this place hasn’t been used as a home but there’s definitely people using this place. There’s a huge computer set up in the basement along with some… Pod-like things that look like they’re being used for experiments. It’s really creepy. I haven’t even looked upstairs yet and I’m not too sure we should.” She said, regaining her composure. For once, his plan actually sounded like a good idea– Aqua had no intention of being in the mansion whenever its owner or occupants returned.

Nodding, she followed him through the doorway. “I saw a forest from outside the window but I’m not sure what’s beyond that, if anything is at all…” Her hand itched for her keyblade, but Aqua was well aware it was her paranoia eating at her, not an urge or want to fight.

Besides, those shadow creatures couldn’t extend their wrath here, right?

“This world’s special.” Aqua said suddenly as they were outside– the sunset that had been there far too long confirmed it. This was in the Realm of In-Between. “It’s like Master Yen Sid’s tower and, er– Well. You know.” Should she mention their home? Was Terra from a point in time where it had been destroyed yet?

[adarknessawaits-blog]

Hearing Aqua explain that there were probably other people here, despite them not taking up permanent residence here didn’t really surprise him in the least. After all, he didn’t really get the chance to explore the mansion at all, so it wasn’t really shocking to find out there were a lot of things that he missed. He had to admit though, he was a little bit curious to see what Aqua was speaking of; the computer set up, the pods, and even what the upstairs floor held. Still, he didn’t really want to stick around until the people who had set ups here came back. Perhaps that could be left for another time.

“Yeah, it might not be the best idea. I have to admit though, I am curious to see what else this mansion holds, but at the same time, I don’t really wanna stick around and see who might show up, we’d basically be sitting ducks if we did.” And with that, they were back at the front lawn of the mansion, looking ahead to see what awaited them.

He nodded as he looked through the iron fencing of the mansion, seeing a vast array of tall trees that actually didn’t seem to extend terribly far. Maybe there actually was something on the other side of the forest. “Oh yeah, I didn’t notice when I first got here, but now that you mention it... Here, why don’t we go and check it out? Only one way to find out if there’s something beyond it, right?” With that in mind, he began walking towards the gate and out towards the forest, their surroundings now slightly darker as the sky was essentially covered with tree branches and leaves. 

Terra couldn’t help but frown slightly as Aqua brought up how the sky looked similar to Yen Sid’s tower, or their home, the home that had recently been torn apart thanks to the darkness Xehanort unleashed on the world, and in a way, Terra only helped contribute to that. It was something he would never be able to forgive himself about. 

“You’re right. The skies do look similar. But our home...not anymore. The Land of Departure...the Master... It’s my fault. I’m not going to let the darkness control my life anymore. I’m gonna make up for it all...somehow.” he said, placing his hand over his heart. It made his heart hurt knowing the destruction that he caused, intentionally or not.

As they continued walking through the forest a little more, he could see a hole in the wall. As it looked, that was going to be their way out, and perhaps it would lead to something else. “Hey Aqua, you see that? Let’s go through it, I bet that’ll get us somewhere.” And without another word, he ran towards the hole in the wall as he then crept through, and on the other side, was baffled by what was around him. A town unlike any he had seen before. It seemed pretty lively, lots of shops, lots of potential things to do.

“Woah... I’ve never seen a place like this before. It’s huge...”