The idea of Xehanort and eraqus actually adopting Terra when he was just a kid it's actually so funny to me, because imagine you hear your dads fight but actually this is like a falsettos situation where they only fight as a form of foreplay and then they get divorced, but you're still a kid so you don't know if they're gonna make you play outside or if they're being fr
I just had a dream where Brio was in a cave and came across a goblin baby. She shook it and screamed “teLl mE ALL YOUR SECRETS,” and then Hashaan fell through the roof saw Brio with the baby, and promptly freaked out
”hashaan promptly freaked out” is a pretty accurate statement
Strength to Protect the Things That Matter (Ch. 4)
Fanfiction: Kingdom Hearts III
Rating: T
Pairing: Terra/Aqua (eventually)
Other characters: Squall (Leon), Lightning, Sora, Donald, Goofy
Word Count: 1,601
In-progress
Terra has prayed for years. He wanted relief from having no one to talk to in the dark, except with the monster of a man who stole his life. He gets his chance - a week - to set things right before he loses everything again.
Read Chapter One here.
Read Chapter Two here.
Read Chapter Three here.
Questions
Terra cannot conjure his Keyblade. Why?
This is a question that he cannot waste time answering. The Heartless are squirming everywhere. The shadows use their malleable bodies as an advantage to sneak up on unsuspecting victims before attacking. They are climbing the walls and squeezing through cracks in order to escape any harm done to them. The larger Heartless are brute and destructive, and have no apprehension in devastating the architecture.
It seems like everything has gotten worse since the last time I was awake. What has Xehanort been doing?
A larger shadow lunges itself at Terra, who blocks the attack with a nearby pole. But all this does is startle the Heartless. I can’t do anything with this.
“You fight?”
Terra looks over his shoulder to see Leon talking to him.
“Here! Use this!”
Leon throws him a sword from a nearby display of weapons, which has been infused with some magical properties.
Without hesitation, Terra uses this sword to swing attacks at the Heartless around him, albeit sluggishly. The attacks come naturally, proof of the years that Terra has labored and educated himself in the academy training with Aqua.
Still, he can only barely manage. Leon keeps a close distance to Terra, using his thuggish and power-busting techniques as an advantage, so that he can later sneak up and strike them down.
In the distance, Lightning is soaring in the air. Her tactics are to be wild, throwing herself and jumping around to confuse the enemy and to engage them in tiring cardio workouts. Close the distance in between to strike them, then jump backwards as she shoots them with her gunblade.
Maybe he is too tired and sore to keep up. Maybe it’s because he doesn’t have experience in dealing with such a new threat. Terra slips and nearly succumbs to a brutal attack by a Heartless.
At the last minute, he is saved by a fierce woman with long black hair, using only her fists and kicks to ward off even the largest Heartless in the area.
If she can use nothing but her hands, then I shouldn’t be flat on the ground right now. Master Eraqus would sentence me to washing dishes for a week if he saw this kind of weakness from me.
Terra finds trouble getting up, exhausted from the battle lasting too long. Before, I could have easily vanquished these beings of darkness with my Keyblade. Now, when I have no power, I can’t really put a dent on them. How am I supposed to be of help when I’m so weak?
Weak. Stupid.
A bright light beams into the middle of the battlefield, sending off sharp rays of lightning that strike a large group of Heartless. A duck wielding magic, a dog (man?) with a shield, and a boy with spiky hair and a Keyblade enter the foray.
A Keyblade wielder? I don’t recognize him from the academy...
The boy uses the magic entrusted to him as a Keybearer to deal devastating blows to the Heartless. All of the efforts that the other fighters have spent in fighting look futile in comparison to how easily this boy tackles each shadow. The boy’s improvisational approach give him the clear upper edge. Any moment he stumbles, he quickly recovers due to how closely he works with his teammates. He effortlessly finishes the battle in moments, and runs off into the distance, beyond the city wall, to face the coming Heartless that are still approaching the city.
Calm has finally reached the city, but the boy with the Keyblade has not come back, yet. Terra is helping the other workers clear the mess. Aerith stops by and tends to Terra’s wounds with her healing magic, while also giving him an earful about how he didn’t listen to her, how worried she got when she found that he was gone, and how rude it was for him to just ditch her like that.
After her lecture, Terra takes the sword given to him by Leon, and puts it away along with the collection of other shared weapons.
A weapon of war. This was not what I was trained to do. Using tools for the purpose of killing, for the purpose of fighting. A Keyblade bearer is supposed to keep the peace, to keep the balance intact...
Her voice comes to his mind... The last words she said to him before he completely lost everything to Xehanort.
Tell me... how does this honor our Master’s memory, Terra?
It doesn’t. This doesn’t honor him at all, Aqua. If you saw me now, you would probably continue to be disappointed in me. I can’t stand this. I wish you were here. All I have done so far since waking up is fail to do my duties. I can’t even call for my Keyblade...
Terra looks at his right hand, and attempts to call for it again. Nothing. I wonder...
He touches his left shoulder in the hopes that he can conjure his armor, entrusted to him by his Master to travel in between worlds with the privilege to investigate the state of affairs of each. But nothing comes to him. I guess it’s not like I deserve it anymore, anyway.
Leon and Lightning pass by him. “You did well for someone who fought so rusty,” Leon says to him.
Terra must have had a confused look on his face, because Lightning actually chuckled out loud.
“You obviously know how to fight. But it looked like you’ve been slacking off in your practice,” she says.
Terra let out a small laugh. “Yeah, that’s probably not too far off from the truth. That kid with the Keyblade, you know him?”
“Of course we know the legendary Keyblade wielder. Is this your first time seeing a Keyblade?” Leon says.
Terra looks away while he laughs, careful not to give away any telling signs. “No, I’m actually looking for two others. Do you know anyone by the names of Aqua or Ventus?”
“Never heard of them,” Leon says, while Lightning gently shakes her head. “We do need more of them, though. When you find them, please tell them to stop by.”
“Enough chit chat,” says Lightning, antsy and sifting her eyes through her injured soldiers. “You know the next step. We are going to have to go through the entire city reporting people who are now missing.”
The sun is setting. Terra decides to linger around the area longer, lending his strength to repairing some of the damage and helping the weak stand up. Leon and Lightning have left long ago to count the missing people. But in honestly, Terra is trying to buy himself time waiting for the Keyblade wielder to re-appear.
“It’s you! You’re okay!”
Terra looks behind him to see the boy. Not a moment too soon. The boy runs up to him with a huge, magnetic smile on his face, his two friends coming up along behind him.
“I’m glad to see you’re awake! How are you feeling? We were worried when we first found you.”
“So you were the one to find me. Thank you so much.”
The boy looks genuinely happy to hear the thanks. “My name’s Sora. These are my friends, Donald and Goofy. What’s your name? Are you a time traveler? Are you immortal? You’re a Keyblade bearer, right? Is that really true? Where do you come from?”
Donald is annoyed. “Sora, quit that!” His voice is the raspiest, most aggressive voice that Terra has ever heard. “Sorry. He’s normally like that. Don’t mind him,” he says to Terra.
“What does that mean?” Sora does not hesitate one second to confront Donald when asking this question.
“It means you get so carried away that you became preoccupied with the attack in Traverse Town and made us get here late.” There is such a clear scolding to his voice and Sora is ready to pounce him.
Goofy lets out a big, warm laugh. It is the kind of laugh that would make anyone feel safe. “Well, we got here anyway and threw off the Heartless attacking the city. It’s nice to meet you, er...”
“Terra. But, how do you know I am a Keyblade wielder?”
Sora suddenly forgets he is in an argument with Donald. “My friend Riku told me. He was the one who suggested to bring you here.”
I don’t know a Riku... at least I don’t think so.
“Well, do you know any wielders named Aqua or Ventus?” Terra asks.
Sora’s expression morphs into something that resembles surprise. “Aqua? It’s funny, I did manage to remember her not too long ago.”
Terra’s stomach twists into knots of both excitement and frightened anticipation, eagerly awaiting the answers to all of his questions. Finally, someone who knows her. Maybe he knows where she is right now!
“I met Aqua a long time ago, when I was a little kid,” Sora says.
The knots in Terra’s stomach sink. It feels almost heartbreaking, but Terra denies this. “What do you mean? How long ago was this?”
Sora thinks for a bit. “It must have been around eleven, maybe twelve years ago?”
There is pain around his heart, and his face gets cold. The churning in his stomach moves upward, making him nauseous. TWELVE YEARS?! This can’t be.
Tell me... how does this honor our Master’s memory, Terra?
Has she been viewing me with such disdain for so many years, now?
Memories of her sitting by the green cliffs overlooking the clouds of their homeworld flood his mind, and he remembers his desires that she would see him more, or better, than he really is. For her to smile at him a certain way. Terra tries to stop tears from welling in his face, although he isn’t strong enough to do so. Sora is visually upset at the sight, speechless at how his words could have affected this strongly.
Caleb asked Terra out to the park to hang out for a bit. They walked around until Terra asked Caleb to sit on the bench so they could talk.
“Caleb, you know I have like...this stupid crush on you, right?”
“Yeah, I’ve known for years!”
“Oh, dear god.”
Terra looked away, embarrassed that he knew even though it was so obvious.
“No, no its okay! I’ve always had this like...really strong connection to you. I can’t really explain. I just, I feel like I need to protect you. And i love spending time with you and being around you. Ever since you were little.”
“Oh dear god.............i’m so dumb....of course you don’t like me, i’m 17 and you’re like, 1700, i’m so dumb.”
“No! Its okay. I love you, maybe not romantically right now but you know, I don’t age...so it could change in the future.”
Caleb smiled and Terra put her hand to her heart in relief.
