Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Loosen your stance, Terra. You don’t want to lock up during a manoeuvre.”

“Yes, Master.” Terra nods, shaking out his limbs and blocking a hit.

“And Aqua, take shorter steps. You are over-reaching again.”

“Yes, Master.” She corrects her footwork, then dashes forward.

Master Eraqus watches them intently, calling out mistakes and praising well-aimed hits. Every few minutes he has them switch positions, so one is attacking and the other is blocking. It’s a good system, and with those wooden Keyblades, the damage they’ll take if one of them slips won’t be more than a bruise.

It was quite smart of his students to make them. He hadn’t even known what Terra and Aqua were planning until they had shown up to the field with the wooden placeholders. Both had carved their own by hand, specifically made to be just about the same shape and weight as their actual Keyblades.

 Of course, there were some small adjustments he had to help them with- like showing Aqua how to smooth out the sharp edges and splinters she carved, and properly tying the teeth of Terra’s so they would stop falling out- but it was good craftsmanship for the then ten and eleven-year-old.

Now Terra is fourteen and Aqua fifteen, and the two were improving in leaps and bounds. He had high hopes for their futures, and he couldn’t wait to see how far they would go once they leave his tutelage, but for now, they still have much to learn.

“Stop,” He calls out, bringing the two to a halt. They look to him, awaiting their next instruction.

“Take a break and drink some water. Afterwards, I’ll show you how to perform a Stop, which can give you a moment of reprieve to prepare your next move or escape.” He instructs. Aqua lights up and Terra slumps slightly. He no doubt already expects to be overtaken by her quickly, as she’s been showing great potential and enthusiasm for magic and spells.

He’s about to tell them everyone has their own talents, and to not be discouraged, when the alarm spells around the castle go off. His students tense and look to him.

“Go to the cellar. If I don’t come to retrieve you in thirty minutes, then you two must summon your gliders and seek help from Master Yen Sid. Am I understood?” Eraqus bites out, summoning his Keyblade. They nod.

He sees Terra rearing up to argue, but Aqua grabs his arm and starts pulling him towards the hidden entrance to the cellar. He’s thankful she’s stubborn enough to not let Terra’s confidence kill him. Eraqus will have to have a talk to him about limits and following orders soon.

He quickly reaches the entrance of the castle, where someone is banging loudly on the doors. He opens them with a spell and stands a decent distance away, prepared for a fight if needed.

To his surprise, he is met with the face of his fellow Keyblade Master, Xehanort. Xehanort rushes in through the doors, harrowed and carrying a limp child in the arm not holding his Keyblade. Eraqus is immediately alarmed and hurries to them.

“What happened?” He asks, helping Xehanort lower the child to the floor. Xehanort looks over him regretfully.

“The boy was attacked by Heartless. I tried to save him, but I was a moment too late,” Xehanort says, pulling his coat off the boy and revealing blood-stained clothes and a deep gash across his chest. Eraqus hisses between his teeth and casts a Cure. It stops the bleeding, but the flesh doesn’t knit together as it should.

“Take him to the infirmary, please. I’ll be with you in a moment, but I must tell my apprentices to wait in their rooms.”

Xehanort nods and picks the boy up in both arms. “Of course.”

Eraqus trusts that Xehanort still knows where the infirmary is- it’s fairly easy to reach from all entrances- so he proceeds to the cellar’s trap door inside the kitchen cupboard.

He knocks three times, waits, twice more, then wretches the old wood open. The children peer at him from the deep shadows behind the wine rack.

“It’s alright,” He tells them, holding out a hand to help them up the ladder. “Master Xehanort has come here with an injured child, so I must ask you to return to your rooms for now.”

Aqua comes out first, Terra following behind her. “Is there any way we can help, Master?” She asks. Both look concerned. Eraqus shakes his head and leads them out of the kitchen.

“I’m afraid neither of you is practiced or precise enough to cast the spells, and I haven’t taught you any first aid beyond the basics. It would be best if you two just stay out of the way for now.”

They both nod, and he encourages them to go with a gentle push. It’s more likely they’ll wait in one of their rooms together, but he has no fear they’ll do anything inappropriate. They know better than that.

They scurry off, and Eraqus hurries to join Xehanort in the infirmary.

Between the two of them, it takes half an hour to stitch the boy up and bandage his chest and other, smaller wounds. Potions coaxed down his throat help deep bruises fade to pink and turn nicks to light lines across his skin.

Yet no magic item does anything to close the gash on his chest, crossing diagonally over his heart. That will have to heal naturally.

After casting a spell on the boy to monitor him, and covering him in a blanket, Eraqus escorts Xehanort back to the front door.

“I’m sorry I cannot stay, my friend,” Xehanort apologizes, picking up his long coat from the floor and draping the blood-stained garment over his forearm. “Unfortunately, the victim being gone doesn’t mean the Heartless will leave the world be.”

Eraqus shakes his head and opens the door. “I understand. Do not worry, the child will be safe here.”

Xehanort gives him a parting, one-armed hug and summons his armor and Keyblade Glider. In a moment he’s gone, off to a world he hadn’t named. Eraqus wishes him luck.

On the way to the children’s rooms in the west wing, he stops in the infirmary. The boy is unmoved and his condition unchanged, so he continues forward. He does not find them in Aqua’s room, so logic dictates they will be in Terra’s.

It’s well past sunset when he enters the room, the curtains drawn and light reflecting off of the carving tools Terra keeps haphazardly spread over his desk. Wood shavings dust the floor and half-finished figures take up space on the bookshelves. In the corner is the bed, where Terra’s reclined against the headboard, and the desk chair, where Aqua is sitting with a book in her lap. Both their attention went to him when the door creaked open.

“Master,” Aqua greets, shifting to face him better. “Is everything alright now?” Her hands fold anxiously in her lap, on top of the book.

“Is that kid okay?” Terra adds, concerned.

Eraqus considers what he should tell them. The child is not healing as he should, and he does not know what exactly happened to wound him the first place. Xehanort only mentioned the Heartless, and the situation was too urgent to ask for more details.

Now, however, he has time to think. A Heartless’ claws are indeed as sharp as any blade, but it must’ve been a large one to leave cuts like that. And who knows what kind of magic it could have been capable. The list of spells that have long term effects stretches far, and with the boy unconscious…

It’s doubtful he could even name the type of Heartless and spells that injured him. But for now, he had to calm his students.

“He is safe, and his wounds will heal,” He tells them, and the two relax immediately. It’s good to see them caring, even for a stranger they’ve never met. “Once he awakens, you two will be able to meet him. Perhaps you’ll make a friend.” He adds, and it lightens his heart to see the two grin.

Days pass, then weeks. The boy does not move. He does not make a sound or show any sign of waking up, even as his wounds turn into fresh scars and the stitches are taken out. Moving him to a guest bedroom results in no change either. He stays still, breathing deeply, heartbeat steady and skin colder than Master Eraqus prefers a living person to be.

The children are curious, however, and have not yet mastered patience as he has, so after careful consideration he allows them to visit the boy.

Aqua likes to sit on a chair next to his bed, studying old magic texts and reading to him quietly. Sometimes she brings a snack with her and speaks about whatever interesting thought she had that day. There are always crumbs on the bedside table that she forgets to wipe off when she leaves.

Terra will sit on the floor with his back against the wall, carving little animals and creatures from wood with a penknife. He’d murmur stories to the boy about the creatures, and regale his unhearing audience with legends of heroes defeating them. He’s more neat about cleaning the shavings.

Master Eraqus gives them tasks eventually to help care for the child.

In the morning Aqua draws the curtains and throws open the windows, then takes off one of the blankets so the boy doesn’t overheat during the day. Once the sun sets Terra closes the windows and curtains, and covers him back up. They switch which days they clean the room. Master Eraqus checks on him in between.

They wait for any sign that the boy hasn’t died and left his body in the living world. One day their prayers are answered.

The storm loomed above the castle sooner than they had anticipated. All three of them rushed from room to room closing windows and doors before the whole place flooded and the water carried them over the cliff sides. The long and heavy curtains whipped with the gales of wind wreaking havoc on the Land of Departure.

Five minutes after the rain started falling like rocks, Aqua realized that one room had a tenant who couldn’t wake up, never mind protect himself from the elements. She raced up the stairs and through the halls to reach him.

She was nearly hit in the face when she opened the door and it unexpectedly slammed close. It took some fighting to get herself into the room, and then Aqua witnessed the chaos.

Blankets were thrown to the floor and papers flying wherever they pleased. The boy laid curled onto his side, back facing the cold winds that tried to rip the curtains from the wall. Aqua loosened the bolts and wrestled the glass panes closed.

Everything that was flying fell, leaving a mess of paper, leaves and droplets on the floor. Aqua sighed at the task ahead of her, then glanced at the boy.

Who she just registered has moved for the first time since he got here, and whose eyes were open and staring ahead. She stifled a gasp and crouched down next to him.

“You’re awake!” She cheered, smiling brightly at him to look as friendly as possible. Aqua knows she’d be scared if she woke up in the middle of a storm somewhere she didn’t recognize. What’s more comforting than a warm welcome and a nice face?

The boy didn’t react. Aqua’s smile slipped a little.

“My name is Aqua, I’m happy to meet you,” She said, putting a hand on his arm, then frowning. “You’re freezing,” Aqua mumbled, quickly looking for the blankets. “Let me just-” She draped the two blankets on the floor over him, then a thicker one from the closet. She pulled them over his shoulders to his chin.

“There, that’s better, right?” She asked. The boy didn’t even twitch. Blank blue eyes stared almost through the wall across from him, and Aqua started to feel true concerned.

She put her hand on his head, trying to get some kind of reaction. Nothing. “I’m going to go get Master Eraqus, alright? Don’t move.” She doubted he was even going to blink. Is he conscious, or is this like sleepwalking, she asked herself. She hoped nothing was wrong. She hoped he’s not…

She left to get Master Eraqus. When they both reached to the boy’s room, he was fast asleep again.

That was only the beginning. Slowly, day by day, he shows more signs of being alive. Slight shifting here, soft noises there, and his eyes start trying to follow their movements a week in. It takes him a bit to register other people being in the same space as him, but the relief they all feel could be cut through, it’s so thick.

He’s been out for a while, so none of them dares rush him by being impatient and risk him going backwards.

With words still out of his reach, they had no idea what to call him. Terra suggested Blue- like his eyes. Aqua lightly stomped on his foot and suggested Sky- because you don’t name a person like you name a dog, Terra.

Master Eraqus stopped their fight before it could start, and said they’d call him Sky until they could find out his real name. He led them through their next exercise, and Aqua subtly stuck her tongue out when the Master’s back was to them.

Terra wasn’t quite so sneaky and got extra push-ups for shooting her glares.

Terra tells all this to the now nicknamed ‘Sky’ while he smooths out a wooden elephant. Sky watches him blurrily, trying to follow the quick motions of his hand and making vague humming sounds whenever Terra pauses. The brunette wonders if Sky is actually listening or just doesn’t like the quiet.

Terra stifles a yawn and glances up at the clock hanging from the side of the half-filled bookcase, blanching when he notices how late it’s gotten.

“Oh man, Master Eraqus and Aqua are going to kill me if the find out kept you up this late.” He informs Sky, scrambling to his feet and gathering the shavings up. He notices the dust he picks up too and reminds himself to pay more attention to cleaning.

“Well, I better head out. Sleep well, okay?” He dumps the shavings in the rubbish bin, checks that the curtains are properly closed and switches off the light. Sky then unexpectedly starts whining and reaching out a trembling hand.

Terra switches the light back on. “Huh? What’s wrong?” Terra asks, shuffling closer. Sky relaxes, and the older boy notices he’s very active tonight. “Sorry, but it’s bedtime. Only us older kids get to stay up.” Terra teases lightly. Sky sighs into his pillow.

The brunette scratches his neck, waiting for more, but when nothing happens he prepares to leave again. The light is switched off. Sky whines, loud and distressed.

Glass hits the floor.

The light is back on and Terra is next to the shards that used to be a glass of water instantly. Sky’s hand now rests on the bedside table where it used to stand.

“Sky! Why did you do that?” He half-yells, carefully picking up the biggest pieces he can see. “You have to be careful.” He scolds. Sky stares at him, unfazed. Terra sighs.

“Seriously,” He grumbles to himself, “What is up with you?” He peers up and finds Sky looking up at the light fixture and frowning. He looks vaguely upset. Terra looks at it too and realization sinks in.

“Oh. You’re afraid of the dark, aren’t you?” He muses, pouring his handful of shards into the bin.

Sky doesn’t say anything, but he does shrug the blanket further up, half covering his chin. Terra thinks for a moment.

Sky sleeps through just about anything, but the apprentice isn’t really comfortable leaving the light on all night. There isn’t anything in the castle that can be used as a nightlight. He could sleep with someone, but that isn’t a long term solution.

Wait, that’s it!

Terra bounces to his feet. “Hold on, I’ll be right back!” He bounds out of the room and returns ten minutes later after a detour to the broom closet. In one hand he has a broom that he places to the side, and he keeps the other hidden from view.

Sky watches him sleepily.

“Here!” Terra reveals the object to him proudly, a stuffed black cat doll with a closed-eyed smile and pink inner ears and paw pads. Sky blinks. Terra smiles and tucks it into the blanket next to his head.

“This used to be Aqua’s,” He explains, picking up the broom and doing a quick sweep around the room. “She was scared of monsters hiding in her closet, so Master Eraqus got that doll for her. I can’t remember what she called it…” He thinks for a bit, then shrugs.

“If he can protect Aqua from monsters, then I’m sure the dark is nothing to him! You don’t have to be scared, alright?” He sweeps the dusty and glassy pile- they seriously need to clean here more often- onto a stray paper and dumps it into the bin.

He checks on Sky, and his smile becomes smaller, fonder. The plushie is now trapped in his loose grip and pressed against his thin neck. Sky really has been moving around a lot. Soon he’ll be able to walk and everything!

Terra bids him a final goodnight and flips the light switch. He waits a few seconds in the door frame for Sky to do something, but all is calm.

He goes to his room and gets ready for bed, writing a small reminder to tell Aqua where her old doll went.

Chapter Text

Months pass, and Eraqus’ students only grow stronger with time. Their choppy stances become smooth and they gain experience under his watchful and proud gaze.

He coaxes Aqua through the complicated weaving of spells and potions and encourages Terra when he’s on the edge of collapsing under weights. He’d rather not have them fight anything more than a group of Shadows, but they are strong enough at this point to almost start visiting the more peaceful worlds.

Not that they’ll be getting their armor until they both turn sixteen, or be trained to summon their gliders until much later, but it’s the thought that counts.

He fondly recounts a recent spar where they’d worked together against him and surprised him with an unexpected attack. Aqua had distracted him with a freeze spell, and while he was dodging had launched Terra at him at a great velocity. Had he not been both faster and more practiced, Terra might have actually been able to break something. In the end, all it did was leave a blue bruise on his arm.

Sky hadn’t been left out of it either.

At some point he had started to shuffle out of bed, often being found crumpled on the floor and holding himself up by his arms. Soon he started walking using the wall as support, or Aqua and Terra when they started keeping a closer eye on their now mobile friend. Indecipherable sounds started forming into mumbled words then phrases.

The day Sky turned into Ventus brought them all to tears of joy.

“Terra, why don’t you help Sky for a bit? I need to check on the Potion brew.” Aqua calls over her shoulder, listening closely to the pot bubbling in the other room. She’d love to take him with her into the brewery (‘not the beer kind, children,’ Master Eraqus’ voice echoes) to show him how herbs and magic interact, but the chance he’d remember any of it is smaller than her tolerance for sand under her nails.

Terra’s likelihood of somehow blowing something up, on the other hand, is absolutely too high, and he can stick to cutting up the ingredients and leaving the fire-involved work to her, thank you.

Terra chops up the last of the lavender and nods. “Yeah, I can do that.” He agrees, taking Sky’s forearms from her hands and gently pulling him forward in the loose circle she and Sky have established.

Sky stumbles for two steps, then gets back into the rhythm. His frown while trying to keep up with Terra’s wider steps makes the brunette think of an irritated puppy. It’s so cute, how hard he’s concentrating on this.

“Good job, buddy! You’re getting the hang of it fast!” Terra compliments. Sky smiles at his feet and looks at him through his hair. His eyes are getting clearer by the day.

Oops, too sudden a turn. Sky’s feet get tangled and he topples into Terra. The taller teen would have been able to catch him easily, but the combination of walking backwards and being distracted lands him on his butt too. He huffs when Sky’s elbows dig into his stomach.

Muffled laughter drifts from the open door between this room and the brewery.

“Shut up, Aqua!” He yells. The laughter gets louder.

“A few more days and Sky will be better than you!” She calls back teasingly. He sits up, Sky hugged against him and looks for something to throw in her general direction. It’s dangerous to knock over any of the equipment or ingredient, but if he aims right the only thing that will be going down is Aqua and her high horse.

“Vvvvv…”

Terra looks from the corner of his eye to Sky, who’s looking very frustrated and is frowning the hardest he’s seen yet. “Hmm?” He asks curiously.

“Vvveee… Veeenn…”

Terra wonders what he’s trying to say. Is it a question? Is he saying when?

“Don’t worry,” He reassures the blond, who’s still thinking extremely hard on how this new word is supposed to be said. “Aqua’s almost done. Then we can go to the observatory and look at the stars again, right?”

“Of course!” Aqua calls. He hears an iron pot being moved to the stand, where the heat can’t set the whole room ablaze.

“Veennthush…” He tries speaking clearer, clutching his hands together in frustration and moving to sit up on his own. Terra lets him. That doesn’t sound like a question…

“Venthush... Venthush!” Sky looks so excited, beaming up at Terra like he’s found gold. Terra sure as the stars feels like it.

That’s- that’s a name! That’s his name!

“Aqua! Aqua! Get over here you need to hear this!!” He gushes, sweeping Sky- Ventus into a crushing bear hug.

He hears knobs being frantically twisted and lids plugging into containers. “What?! What’s wrong, is everything okay?!”

“Okay? This is amazing we need to tell Master Eraqus!”

Aqua rushes through the door looking harried and still wearing her work gloves. “What?” She asks.

Terra pokes Ventus’ cheek. “C’mon, tell her what you told me,” He prompts ecstatically.

The blond beams at her too, positively sparkling. “Vventhush!” He announced loudly. Aqua freezes, then looks at Terra.

“Is… Is he-?” She gasps. Terra nods, the shifts slightly to let her smother Ventus too. All three of them laugh, and he can feel his eyes tear up with joy. He’s sure Aqua is the same, and Ventus just seems happy to be crushed with affection.

“Hi- hello Ventus,” Aqua chokes out, petting his hair. “My name is Aqua. It’s good to be introduced.”

That is such a good idea. Terra withdraws slightly and does the same. “And I’m Terra.”

Ventus looks at them both wide-eyed. He opens his mouth to say more, and they can hardly sit still.

“Hhhiii…” He trails off.

They are so happy and so, so proud.

“Terra!” Aqua smiles at him, standing up from their huddle on the floor and pulling on their hands. “Come on, we have to introduce Master Eraqus.” She laughs. Terra feels high with delight.

“Let’s go!”

It snowballed from there in the most wonderful of ways. He started saying more and more words until they flowed into sentences, and his curiosity seems to be never-ending. Steps turned to sprints and now he’s racing everyone everywhere, regardless of the fact they aren’t supposed to run in the castle.

After exploring every little nook and cranny Ventus could squeeze into, he started slipping outside. When he almost tripped off the side of one of their many cliffs he was banned from doing so alone. Now he just follows them to new places and even tugs them out the doors when he’s especially restless. Terra and Aqua bear it with teasing reluctance and humour, while Master Eraqus stares at him until he lets go and shakes his head, bemused.

Ventus even joins them when they go to train, not wanting to be left in those quiet halls alone. He doesn’t participate, not yet, but he does sit on the grass next to Master Eraqus and watch Terra and Aqua with awe.

Aqua and Terra make it a competition to show off until Master Eraqus tells them to take their training seriously. Terra says he likes his earth-shattering hits more, Aqua retaliates that her sparkling magic obviously has him entranced.

Ventus actually like to see how fast they can go, but the reoccurring argument is funny to listen to, so he doesn’t tell them.

“Ventus,” Master Eraqus calls after he tells Terra and Aqua to take a break. “I must speak to you for a moment. Come join me.” He turns to the castle doors and starts walking. Ventus looks to Aqua and Terra like he doesn’t want to leave them. It’s adorable.

“Go on, we’re not going anywhere,” Aqua hums, falling into a deep stretch and clutching her toes. Terra doesn’t have a snowman’s chance against a Firaga to replicate her; too much muscle not enough willingness for pain.

Ventus blinks, then nods. “Okay, I’ll be back in a shecond,” He smiles at them and runs off.

They watch him go, look at each other, then chuckle. Aqua continues her stretching and Terra looks for his water bottle.

There’s a peaceful, content kind of quiet for a moment, then a hushed, “Hey.”

Terra looks over at Aqua. She’s moved to stretching her arms behind her. Only he can see the amused gleam in her eyes, even as she bites on her lip to keep a smile away. “Yeah?”

“Have you noticed…” She glances over her shoulder to make sure Ventus can’t hear. She continues, “Ventus has a lisp?” Terra smiles and nods. “He does, doesn’t he?” He chuckles.

Aqua giggles. “It’s kinda cute. Right, Therra?”

“Hey!”

Ventus chooses that moment to interrupt Terra by racing over to them and throwing himself into Terra’s arms. “Guessh what! Guessh!” he’s near vibrating with excitement.

“What?” Terra asks surprised.

“Ventus is going to be participating in Keyblade training very soon.” Master Eraqus announces from the side, arms folded behind his back. The older teens cheer and Ventus nearly knocks Terra over. It’s a good day.

He is so fast this was a mistake, Terra thinks when Ventus, again, gets behind him and leaves him face-planting on the dirt. At first, he had been going easy on him, since Ventus is younger, smaller, and doesn’t have their training experience, but that was a mistake. He should not have given him the upper hand. Because Ventus took that hand, and then he gave the entire body whiplash by jumping off every available surface at the speed of a sugar high squirrel.

Now he’s eating dirt, and before he can get his footing Ventus slams into him and plants him again.

This time he seems to have decided Terra’s back is super comfortable, and he’s humming a little tune while swaying cross-legged with the wind.

Terra knows he could throw him off, and Ventus knows it too. But right now he’s tired, and kinda wishing Ventus stayed nice and calm and slow like before. His head hurts from trying to keep track of the blond.

Aqua over there’s laughing so hard she’s snorting, and he hopes she gets hiccups. Master Eraqus sighs heavily, like a man carrying the world’s future on his back. Terra grunts and rolls over to get the obnoxious weight off his.

The blond chortles and, gremlin that he is, runs over to join Aqua on the floor, beginning an epic recounting of how awesome he is and how Terra is slow as a turtle. Terra feels bullied.

“Alright, enough is enough.” The Master calls. He looks to Terra. “Let this be a lesson not to underestimate smaller targets. When they have you on the ground, the fight is already lost. You’ll be increasing speed training from here on.” He instructs. Terra nods, then winches. Feels like he pulled a muscle…

“And Ventus,” The blond stops humming. “It’s good you took him by surprise, but do not let it get to your head. Nothing fells a wielder faster than arrogance, and next time he’ll know what to expect. Your stances were also off and can cause joint damage of continued, so I’ll be adding footwork to your training regime.” Ventus frowns, but nods acceptingly.

“Master?” Aqua stands, dusting off her shorts. “Could I talk to you? I have an idea for a spell, but I need further help figuring out how to add lighting to light magic.”

“Of course.” He leads her away, already talking. Looks like they’re headed to the library again.

Terra drops down and starts his own stretches, hoping to maybe ease the muscle he pulled and stop any other ones from cramping up in his sleep. That is the worst way to wake up at 2 a.m. Ventus plops down on the grass and watches him. It goes on so long it should be weird, but Ventus sometimes still does this when he’s thinking hard on something.

He blinks out of the little world in his head, and asks, “What are you doing?”

“Stretching.”

“Why?”

“So I can loosen my muscles. You should do it before and after any physical activity, to help prevent injuries.” He explains, slowly reaching for his toes. And, yeah, he definitely pulled something.

“Actually,” A light bulb goes off in his head. He smiles invitingly. “You should join me! This can really help your movement range, and some flexibility will make you impossible to keep up with while fighting.” He says, already taken with the idea. Ventus looks interested too.

“Get over here.” Ventus does. Terra coaxes him through a few beginner positions, then has some fun making him lean into them. Pained hisses when the blond is forced into the pose he was in just a few moments ago is sweet revenge.

“Do I really have to touch my thoesh? Thatsh crazy.” Ventus hisses. Terra pushes him a teensy bit deeper. He releases after ten more seconds, and Ventus shoots up groaning. Almost hits Terra in the face too.

“Ow…” Terra rubs his back in sympathy, laughing quietly. Ventus turns and gives him a puppy-dog face. “Noth niche.” He mutters. Terra snorts.

His hand moved up to the blonde’s neck, and he feels something weirdly solid beneath his skin. It feels too hard to be tension. Not his spine either. “Hold still for a bit,” Terra says, turning him back around. Ventus makes a curious sound, but complies.

Right in the center of his neck, underneath his skin, is a perfectly round lump. It feels about two centimeters in diameter but doesn’t make a bump noticeable to the eye. It’s not squishy, doesn’t shift place, but it isn’t causing him any pain.  

What?

“We should go tell Master about this. I don’t think this is normal.” He tells Ventus. Before the younger teen can ask questions he’s pulled to his feet and they’re on their way to the library.

Master Eraqus looks at it, pokes it, even casts a few diagnosis spells, but all that does is bring a strange look to his face. He asks if Ventus remembers anything from before, maybe where he came from, but it’s all still blank.

He says they’ll watch and see what happens, and tells Ventus to get him if it does anything strange. The apprentices ask what he means, but they just get a ‘you’ll know if it happens’ from him.

Later, after the children go to bed, Eraqus stands in the room where he and another played chess all those years ago. He wonders if the man was visiting his home when he found Ventus. In his mind’s eye shines the stone that glowed as the man’s eyes had.

But that was so long ago…