Tribulations of Water and Twilight

"How do I deal with this." Roxas muttered to himself, making sure that Aqua didn't hear him.

It had been over a minute since Ven had left the room and Aqua still looked distraught. Roxas thought it would be a good idea to stay behind and help his new friend, but there was a small issue with that.

He really didn't know what to say to help her.

He was a Nobody after all, albeit an unusual one. Although unlike most he had learned how to emote on some level, but that was because he was pretty much emotionless when he was born and had to learn threw his interactions with the Organization during his early days. Of course the memories from the false Twilight Town and the merging with Sora also helped developed his emotional state, however he still couldn't really feel them at all.

He would have to have a heart in order truly feel any kind of emotions at all.

But he could put aside his lamentations of lacking a heart for now. His main focus right now is to cheer Aqua up.

It wouldn't do for her to be so crestfallen after fulfilling a lifelong dream.

So he walked over to Aqua without her noticing and tapped her shoulder. She turned to face him and looked a little surprised before she composed herself.

"Roxas what are you doing back here? Master will be displeased if you are still here when he returns."Aqua said sternly.

"I know Aqua, but I couldn't just leave when you looked so down by how Ven and Terra were acting." Roxas said, causing the bluenette to sigh.

"I'm just worried about them." She said. "I haven't seen them act like this since after Ven recovered."

"What did Ven recovered from?" Roxas asked, but regretted it when he saw that it only seemed to have worsened her mood. Whatever happened to have had this kind of effect on her?

"If you wish to know what happened and why it affects me like this Roxas, I will tell you." Aqua said, saying what Roxas was going to say. "If I wasn't going to tell you now, then either Master or Terra tell you this later."

After a few moments of silence Roxas just nodded and Aqua let out a melancholic sigh.

"You know what happened when Ven arrived at the Land of Departure. However what you don't know is that after Ven fell unconscious is that he fell into a coma, similar to what happened to you." Aqua said before blinking. "Now that I think about it, the similarities between you two are starting to get really disturbing."

"Tell me about it." Roxas said while shuddering a bit. "Please don't tell me that he was also out for a month too."

"Thankfully it wasn't that long." Aqua said before continuing. "A full day after he was asleep and after Master Xehanort left, Master tried his best to wake Ven up through every method that he knew without harming him. However after 3 days of trying and no results, he told us to keep an eye on Ven and possibly keep him comfortable incase he passed away during his slumber. We weren't sure what was going to happen to him, but all we could do at that point was hope for the best. After that our days returned to normal, except for after training the three of us had rotating shifts of looking after Ven. We spent days looking after him not really sure if he would wake up at all or not. Those dreadful days of waiting weighed heavily on all of our hearts, but more so on Terra."

"Is it because he blamed himself for what happened to Ven." Roxas said, shocking Aqua before she nodded.

"That is correct. Although it wasn't his fault, Terra blamed himself for what happened to Ven. Believing that if he hadn't pushed him so much, then what happened next would never have happened." She sighed out. "So did you figure it out?"

"It was just a guess." Roxas said simply, getting her to nod.

"Anyway Terra would barley eat anything, his health started to recline, or even sleep at night during those days. He kept saying that every time he closed his eyes all he saw was how Ven kept falling unconscious replaying over and over again. It got to the point that Master had to give him sleeping potions just to sleep properly." Aqua said sorrowfully, but when she began to speak again her tone was lighter. "However things changed two weeks after Ven arrived. During my shift that day he began to stir in his sleep. I managed to get Master and Terra to Ven before he fully woke up. After spending two days of checking up on him and being cleared by Master we began to interact with him and our bond began to form. Yet things didn't begin to change for the better for a while."

"It makes sense, because you do not instantly recover from something like that." Roxas said truthfully.

After all he was still dealing with some of the issues from his time with the Organization and his imprisonment by Riku and the true Ansem.

"You are not wrong about that Roxas." Aqua said. "It did take sometime for all of us to recover. Things seemed to return to normal about a month later when Terra's health returned to normal and Ven was finally cleared for training. However things quickly turned for the worst for Ven the next day."At first he was eager to train, however it quickly turned to despair." She finished melancholically.

"How come?" He asked?

"It's because he lost the ability to wield his Keyblade." Aqua sighed out, shocking Roxas.

After all the only instance that he knew was similar was the situation with Sora's Keyblade.

It was originally Riku's after all until he reclaimed it at Hollow Bastion. That was until Riku showed how far he was corrupted at the time and it finally accepted Sora. Riku however did still have the ability to wield one, as his fight with him showed. But it would take a whole year before Riku could truly possess a Keyblade of his own again.

Still as he didn't have that much knowledge on Keyblade wielders, it would probably be good to get some insight incase the same thing happened to him.

Though why was he feeling some regret at the topic of losing one's Keyblade.

'Okay this is happening way too much.' Roxas thought as he began to ponder this feeling. It has been plaguing him since he first merged back with Sora. But it has come back in full force after going back in time.

It seemed whatever was causing these feelings seemed to be originating from something that he couldn't remember. So that left either Ansem or Xemnas responsible for that. With the former it could be anything from an accident while wiping his memories to leaving those buried out of nothing but pure spite for the Nobody. For the later it could be as a method to have more control over him.

'Still I can worry about this later.' Roxas thought while looking at Aqua, who seemed to be worried about him. 'I have a more important issue to take care off right now.'

"Roxas are you alright?" She asked.

"I'm fine, I was just thinking of something." He admitted truthfully, appeasing Aqua's worries. "I have heard of two other instances of Keyblade wielders losing their Keyblades before and after hearing about Ven losing his I was just curious if this happens a lot with Keyblade wielders?"

"I see. Well to tell you the truth it is extremely rare for such a phenomenon to happen according to Master. In fact Ven is the first case that he knew of it actually happening. From what he said whenever this happens when the wielders heart is in great turmoil, corrupted by the darkness, or suffering from some sort of severe trauma. They lose their Keyblades and it is impossible tell if they get it back or not with it sometimes taking decades before being able to wield it again. Managing to recover your Keyblade at all from this means that you are destined for greatness as only a few ever succeeded." She explained.

While Roxas found it interesting, but had to shudder at the prospect of losing his Keyblades for decades. He was only a year old after all, so that seemed like forever.

"Well that was interesting to know, but how did Ven managed to recover his?" He asked, curious on how his newest friend managed to recover his Keyblade.

"It wasn't easy." Aqua sighed. "For eight days Ven could only dispair as he could never summon his Keyblade. He could still use any of ours, but they proved unwieldy for him and automatically return to our hands a few minutes later. So Master had us practice with wooden swords and Keyblades during those days along with trying to help him Ven recover. There was no progress until the 8th day while I was overseeing the training between Ven and Terra as Master had business to take care of that was on another world. We had wrapped up a series of spars between the two and watching the sunset from the courtyard."

"That sounds like something like me and Axel would do all the time." Roxas interrupted her. It took a few moments for him to realize what he did. "Sorry about that. It is just that what you guys did just brought back some good memories of when me and Axel would watch the sunset and eat sea salt ice cream from the clock tower." He explained.

"It's alright Roxas. In fact that actually sounds like a good idea for us to try, but how salty is this ice cream?" She said.

"It's plenty salty, but why would you ask that?" Roxas inquired.

"I would like to learn how to make it, because it sounds like something Terra would eat and he dislikes any kind of sweets. Do you know how to make it?" She asked.

"In fact I do, but I'll teach you later." Roxas said happily.

The one good thing Ansem ever did to him was to imprint the recipe on how to make sea salt ice cream long before he regained his memories back. He never got the chance to actually try it out before, so teaching Aqua it would be the perfect chance. But he would do it later, once the fallout from the Mark of Mastery settled down.

"Thank you Roxas. But let us get to our previous discussion." Aqua said. "As I was saying before while we were watching the sunset, Ven was crestfallen at his progress with regaining his Keyblade. We tried to talk with him, but he wouldn't respond back. After a few minutes of trying, Terra did something that surprised both me and Ven."

"What did he do?" Roxas asked.

"He managed to figure out what was wrong with Ven." Aqua said with a small smile, fondly remembering the event. "Ven was trying too hard and forcing it to appear. After advising him of just letting it come naturally, he preformed a mock Keyblade Inheritance Ceremony with him and handed him his wooden Keyblade to Ven. It was something that Terra made years ago and was up until that time his most cherished possession. However upon passing it on to Ven it became a symbol of our friendship and solidified the bond between Terra and Ven. It was at that moment that the two of them became brothers and Ven summoned his Keyblade for the first time. From that moment on we were inseparable."

After saying that however, Aqua's expression turned melancholic.

"After that I tried my best to make sure Terra and Ven never fell back into what happened during those day. It's easier said then done as Terra to this day still blames himself for what happened to Ven. But it seems like I failed as Terra couldn't keep the darkness in his heart in check. Now he is in a state of grief that I haven't seen in him since those days and Ven wishes to be alone. I can understand why Ven would want to be alone right now, but'll take care of him later. First I'll need to focus on finding Terra first and help him get rid of his darkness first." She said as she began to head to the door.

"How are you planning on getting rid of his darkness?" Roxas asked getting her to stop.

He wanted to know exactly how did Aqua plan on dealing with Terra's darkness. Because he had a feeling on what she was planning on doing.

"Simple I'm going to eradicate the darkness in his heart." Aqua said simply as she summoned her Keyblade.

"Then how are you going to do that?" He questioned, getting a puzzled expression from her. "I take it that from your reaction that you were didn't really have a method or you're not advanced enough until now." He elaborated.

"You're right on both accounts." Aqua sighed out, "I guess that I was just so worried about Terra that I probably was about to do something that could have only worsened his condition. Maybe I should actually get Master to do it himself."

"Well that does sound like a possibility, I'm afraid that eradicating Terra's darkness wouldn't help anyone." Roxas said before he suddenly found himself face to face with Aqua's Keyblade.

"Roxas can you please explain what you mean by that." She demanded, with her voice sounding a little too similar to Larxene's for his comfort.

Still he would persevere, as she needed to know this.

"Aqua if you remove his darkness, then you are potentially dooming him to a fate worse then death. As someone from a world between the Realms of Light and Darkness it is paramount that they be balanced. The balance is like day and night, you can't have one without the other. If you were to remove one of those aspects from someone's heart there is no way of knowing what would happen." Roxas said as she lowered her Keyblade a bit.

"If what you said is true, then what about Ven's heart then? It is nothing put pure light." She said.

"What if the accident was the cause of that." He reasoned. "If the accident was a means to remove one's darkness. If it was that then look remember what happened to Ven. If you actually manged to actually do that to Terra, then you will only get a repeat of what to Ven or something even worse."

After a few moments of silence, Aqua let out a sigh and dissipated her Keyblade.

"You're right, but what do we suggest that we do then." She said

"Just help train him to keep the darkness in his heart in check so it wouldn't consume him. I'm sure that it wouldn't be too hard for him with everyone helping him." Roxas said truthfully.

"That is the exact same method that I would use." A voice said.

The both of them turned to face Eraqus as he walked up to them.

"Master-." Aqua tried to explain, but with a raised hand she silenced herself.

"I have heard a good portion of what you two were talking about and while you disobeyed my orders Roxas, you did so because of your concern for your fellow Keyblade wielder. Highly commendable Roxas and as such you will not get punished this time, but try not to make a habit out of it." The elderly Keyblade Master sighed out.

"I won't. But can I ask what is the punishment?" Roxas asked.

Eraqus let a small, sadistic smile grace his face and Aqua immediately turned pale and shivered.

"Training, lots and lots of training." He said simply.

"Okay then." Roxas said.

'Note to self, make sure not to tick Eraqus off.' The Nobody thought to himself.

"Now then, Aqua." He said, snapping her right back into attention. "Well it is a good decision to get rid of someone's darkness, there is no way that I know of without serious repercussions for both the target and the caster. If there was any, then the knowledge has been lost to time. Well I do have some knowledge of suppressing the darkness, but that would be a little excessive for Terra. He has a small imbalance in his heart, nothing that we couldn't help him fix. Still, the spell to suppress one's darkness will be one of your new lessons." Eraqus finished.

"Alright Master, but why didn't you teach any of us those spells of you knew them?" Aqua asked.

"It is because that if you do not have a good enough control of the spell, then you could risk of accidentally damaging the heart. It is not an easy spell to learn and it takes a Master class spell caster to even pull it off successfully." He explained, causing her nod in understanding. Eraqus then turned to face Roxas. "Now then, do you mind explaining to me how you know so much about the inner factors of the heart?" He asked with a dangerous tone.

"My former Master liked to ramble about he heart a lot, so I picked up a thing or two from him when it came to that." Roxas said truthfully.

After a moment both Keyblade Masters shared a look for a moment before Eraqus replied.

"Very well then, if that is all then it is time for you to leave. I have to discuss a few matters with Aqua that should only be told between Keyblade Masters." He said, causing the Nobody to nod.

"Very well then." Roxas said before turning to Aqua. "But before I go I wish to say congratulations on becoming Keyblade Master Aqua. If Terra and Ven where they would definitely be wishing you the same thing."

He then began to walk away, but only felt the wind leaving him and his lungs being crushed as Aqua hugged him from behind.

"Thank you Roxas, for talking to me and telling me that. I really needed it."She said while squeezing him harder.

"N-No problem, but can you please loosen your grip." Roxas asked, having a hard time breathing in Aqua's death grip. She complied and let him go. "Thanks." He wheezed out.

"No problem, I'll see you later then Roxas." She said while hugging him again, only this time his body wasn't screaming out in pain.

"You too Aqua." The Nobody said, while returning the hug. A moment later they broke apart and Roxas left the hall, leaving the two Keyblade Masters alone.

"Do you think that Roxas's former did something to his heart to make it feel so empty?" Aqua questioned.

"Truly I do not know. It could be that or like he said was just something that he was born with, but whatever it is we will figure it out in due time. For now we have much to discuss." Eraqus said, getting her to nod.

While he was talking to her, he thought about what Roxas said and the conditions of both of the blond boy's hearts.

Both boys had a heart of pure light. While Roxas's was more comparable to a void, he couldn't sense any darkness within him as the void and light felt very much separated.

Still either way this showed that both boys were most likely used by the different people for the same purpose and Roxas was most likely a failure and his Master was now deceased.

But as for Ventus, it could mean that his old friend's madness truly never went away and was dangerously close to unleashing the apocalypse onto the worlds.

After this he would go and seek his old friend and end this once and for all.

Before he had to make a decision that would tear his heart apart.

Being forced to kill his youngest son, or risk bringing the end of everything.

It is a choice that he prays that he would never have to make.

Meanwhile outside in one of the many halls Roxas decided to look for Terra, before quickly summoning Oathkeeper and flinging a small fireball at a shadow. After a few moments he put away his Keyblade as he couldn't sense anything in that direction.

"Must have been hearing things." He mumbled out as he walked away, still on guard incase anything came after him.

A few moments later a small figure with gold eyes peered out of the corner and seemed to sigh in relief.

'That was close, a second later and you would ceased to exist.'

'...'

'Well I'm sorry, but this task is important and after this conversation with the old coot ends, I'm going to confront the weakling first.'

'...'

'Yes I know the lookalike is interesting and that is why I created you differently. To keep an eye on him while I can't. Just stick with him and never let him out of your sight unless I say otherwise.'

The figure could only nod as the connection cut and it's eyes closed. With that it continued on with it's only purpose in life, to observe Roxas for it's king.

(Chapter 21 end)

Mukuro7 here and I hoped that you enjoyed the 2nd part of this double update. I should be able to update a chapter a week until my next hiatus which will be a while off.

So anyways I hopped that you enjoyed and until next time, ciao!