Chapter Text
There was a sharp knock on the doors to the Land of Departure. Aqua, Terra, and Ventus all paused in their meeting in the throne room, glancing between each other.
“I’m guessing you’re not expecting anyone,” Aqua concluded from the confusion on the boy’s faces.
“Could it be Riku here to give us an update?” Ven guessed, “Maybe they’ve found something else about Sora!”
“I don’t think so,” Terra carefully responded, putting a hand on Ven’s shoulder, “If anyone found anything, they’d probably call over the Gummiphone.”
“Yeah, I guess,” Ven admitted with a sigh, shoulders dipping a little. The next moment, he lifted his head, “Who do you think it is, though?”
“One way to find out,” Aqua replied, heading towards the large front doors and calling to whoever was outside as the knock sounded again, “Coming!”
Terra abruptly stopped as he turned back to Ven, “Hey, did you remember to reshelve those books Aqua told you about yesterday?”
Ven stiffened, his eyes going wide as he remembered the task he’d promised to have done before now. Terra hastily gestured towards the library, giving him a silent promise not to tell if he hurried. He rushed down after Aqua, calling over his shoulder.
“I’ll stall her if I need to!”
Ven nodded in appreciation, watching as Terra’s spiky head disappeared down the stairs. However, instead of running straight to the library, Ven hesitated, creeping up to the railing that looked down on the entryway. Surely, there couldn’t be any harm in sticking around just long enough to see who was there, right? Ven promised himself that as soon as he knew who had come, he’d run to the library and sort out the books there.
From his vantage point, Ven could see Terra catch up with Aqua as she began pulling back the heavy, ornate doors to their home. Ven bit his lip, his heart pounding and leaping up for some reason he couldn’t explain. There was a buzzing in his veins that told him something very important was about to happen.
A whoosh came from behind him, and being distracted by the excitement, Ven took just a moment too long to notice it. In fact, he didn’t realize he’d heard anything until a pair of hands grabbed him and dragged him back. They were large hands, and the person holding him was strong, yanking him away from the balcony before the doors were even open enough for Ven to catch sight of the visitors. Frustrated at this, Ven jerked his head around to see his attacker, who was apparently now also his captor.
Ven twisted and writhed, but it was no use. Both his hands were pinned behind him, clutched in one of Pete’s meaty fists. The other was on Ven’s shoulder, keeping the boy from twisting out of his grip. Ven grit his teeth, attempting to jump up and wriggle his way out, but Pete merely tightened his grip on Ven's shoulder and yanked him off the ground as Ven’s feet kicked uselessly in the air.
“Put me down!” Ven barked, wishing he could just summon Wayward Wind. If he did, the fight would be over for Pete. Come to think of it, that was probably why he had such a tight grip on Ven’s hands, to prevent that from happening.
“Not a chance, Pipsqueak!” Pete growled back at him, “Now stop squirmin’ so much!”
“NO!” Ven screamed louder, knowing his friends were still well within shouting distance. Pete didn’t respond, but Ven managed to get a good kick at one of his arms, and Pete slammed him back on the ground to stop his flailing legs. Ven thought he might be able to pull away, now that his feet were on the ground, but Pete proved much stronger than him, and Ven felt himself being dragged back. From below him, Ven heard what sounded like two pairs of pounding feet.
“Ven!” two voices cried at once, coming upon the scene.
He jerked his head up, “Terra! Aqua!”
“Let him go right now, Pete,” Aqua’s eyes blazed as she held her Keyblade to the side. Terra said nothing, but the fire in his eyes and the way he held his Keyblade needed no explanation.
“Oh?” Pete chuckled to himself, “I don’t think so. In fact,” he snarled, moving his fat fingers from Ven’s shoulder to around his neck, “I think you’d best put your stupid Keyblades down if you don’t want this little brat to get a boo-boo.”
“Don't—” Ven twisted to glare at him, but was cut off as the fingers tightened around his throat, and Ven found it very difficult to breathe. The awkward way his arms were being yanked behind him didn’t help, as it drove his shoulder blades into his back. At least his feet were back on the ground, but even so, Ven couldn’t twist or pull himself into a comfortable position. Pete’s grip on his neck was vice-like, and he was holding his arms firmly, not budging an inch for all Ven’s flailing.
Pete’s deep, idiotic chuckling filled his ears as his stench filled Ven’s nose, not making breathing any easier. Lights began dancing in his vision, which Ven was pretty sure was a bad sign. Just when he was starting to get really worried, Ven heard two clatters of metal hitting the ground, echoing one after the other.
“Alright, let him go,” Terra’s deep voice called to them.
“No!” Ven rasped out, pulling his head up to see Terra and Aqua’s Keyblades on the ground, and both of them a step away, still looking furious, but far more cautious.
Pete’s self-satisfied chuckle increased as Ven felt his grip on his wrists tighten.
“You Keybrats really ain’t so tough, are ya?”
“Let go of my arm and I’ll show you how tough I am!” Ven jerked forward, but Pete still wasn’t budging the hand on his throat, so he ended up hacking a bit.
“What do you want, Pete?” Aqua drew his attention back to her. Ven couldn’t bring himself to look at her. It was just beginning to dawn on him how much stronger Pete was, and how tight his grip could be. Terra and Aqua wouldn’t touch their Keyblades with him like this, and if they got hurt because of him…
“Alright, let’s get to brass tacks,” Pete nodded his blubbery face, “I’ll be takin’ this runt with me, and if either of you tries to interfere, I’ve got orders from Maleficent to break his wimpy neck.”
Ven felt like he’d been punched in the gut, and judging by the look on Terra’s and Aqua’s faces, they did, too. They started forward as Pete yanked Ven backwards.
“NO!” Aqua cried, her eyes wide.
“What does Maleficent want with Ven?” Terra asked, and it made Pete pause a moment.
“Well, that’s for me and her to know, and you Keybrats to find out!” Pete caught the way Aqua flexed her fingers and tightened his grip on Ven’s neck, “And remember what I said, not a hand on those fancy Key-swords of yours.”
Ven tried not to cry out, but the sudden cutoff of air made him gasp and whimper. He dared a glance at Terra and Aqua, who were still looking horrified, but didn’t move a muscle as Pete dragged Ven back again. He heard the whooshing sound of a Dark Corridor opening up.
He had to do something! If Pete got him through that corridor, there was no telling where they’d end up! Ven’s mind raced as he grit his teeth again, his chin pressed up by one of Pete’s fingers…the fingers that were just a little looser now…wait a minute… Ven realized he could move his head a little, and if he dug his chin under that finger and positioned his head just right...
“YEOWCH!” Pete screamed a moment later, drawing back from Ven, “Did you just bite me, ya stupid Keybrat?! I’ll fix you for—uh oh…”
While Pete had been screaming, Ven had removed his teeth from the giant cat’s fingers and yanked a hand free, summoning Wayward Wind as quickly as he could. Pointing directly at Pete’s giant belly, Ven unleashed wind magic, sending the cat backwards across the room.
Unfortunately, Pete had maintained his grip on one of Ven’s hands, and Ven was yanked backwards with him. Pete crashed into a wall, and Ven landed on top of him. Ven leapt up immediately, but Pete hadn’t loosened his grip on his wrist. Growling, Pete stood up and swiped at Ven’s free hand. Ven blocked and sliced as best he could in the close quarters, but he realized quickly Pete would eventually grapple him again.
Fortunately, Ven wasn’t alone. A blast of water hit Pete right in the head, and a trembling from a shockwave made him flinch. Terra and Aqua were quickly closing the gap, Keyblades in hand. Ven grinned, twisting so he was below and to the side of Pete instead of in front of him. His friends took this cue and blasted beams of light directly at Pete, making the cat cry out more.
“Hello?” a voice called from below them, “Everything alright?”
But through all this, Pete still didn’t let go of Ven’s hand. In fact, as Ven tried to get away and Pete jerked around from the impact of the blast, Ven felt a pull, and heard a crack. He yelped as he felt his right wrist pulled in a way it wasn’t supposed to move. The pain momentarily distracted him, and the next thing he knew, he was being pulled from the ground again and held up by his aching wrist.
Ven opened his eyes to see Terra’s going wide as he drew up short, the charge he’d been performing and forced to stop making him fall to the ground. He landed on one knee, his Keyblade driving into the ground as he glanced up to Ven, who was kicking and trying to hit Pete again. Terra’s breath came in heaving gasps as the color drained from his face.
“Whelp, I’ll be goin’ now,” Pete grunted, turning swiftly as rapid footsteps stopped, more people coming into the room.
Ven tried to glance around Pete as he turned to see who else had come. He didn’t get a chance. A Dark Corridor appeared behind him, and Pete flung Ven through it, hurrying through himself.
“VEN!” he heard his name being called by many voices, and caught sight of a fuzzy movement of black and a flash of yellow-white light. But everything was going so fast that it all blurred together.
Ven felt the darkness clinging to him like mist, but getting steadily heavier as he fell through the air. He struggled to catch something or slow himself, but he hadn’t even been touching the ground when he’d gone through. As Ven felt his strength leaving him, another, more terrible realization hit him. He hadn’t even had enough time to summon his armor.
By the time he’d collected his thoughts enough to try and tap his shoulder, Ven found himself hitting the ground and rolling. He came to a stop with a scraping and scattering of dust, the exhaustion seeming to pounce on him the moment he stopped moving. Ven tried to take a deep breath, his eyes half-open.
“BAH!” Pete spluttered nearby, “What a ruckus over nuthin’! We’re not gonna have any more of that nonsense here, though.”
Ven felt his arms gripped again and thick, rough rope wrapping around him. He started, trying to shake off the exhaustion and disorientation. But by the time he’d come to himself, Ven found his wrists bound and Pete finishing up his ankles. He then pulled Ven up and wrapped a great deal of rope around his arms, securing them to his sides, and finally tying up his knees.
“Hey! Knock it off!” Ven struggled, but he already knew it was hopeless. Pete was pushing himself up, a very self-satisfied look on his face as he glowered down at him.
“There, that should keep you nice and tidily secured, Keybrat. And don’t think for a minute about undoing those knots; they’re done from years of sailin’ and not a storm that ever blew across the seven seas has ever undone one of ol’ Pete’s knots!”
Ven, growling, struggled against his bindings anyway. When that failed, he glared up at Pete, “What do you want?”
“It’s not what he wants,” a new voice purred, accompanied by the tap-thunk-tap-thunk of a staff, “it’s what I want, little Ventus.”
She stood before him, gazing down as though looking at some deranged puppy that showed up on her doorstep. She smiled, her yellow eyes fixed on Ven’s bound body. Her fingers ran across the ball of her staff, every inch of her speaking volumes of satisfaction.
“And what I want from you,” she pointed one of her claw-like fingers at him, “is to lay quietly where I put you. Do this, and it will be as well as can be for you.”
“Not gonna happen,” Ven spat, curling up and struggling again, only to find Pete’s rope was tight, and the knots didn’t budge as he’d promised. Ven couldn’t do anything more than writhe a little, like a worm. This mental image didn’t comfort him.
“You speak as though you have some choice in the matter,” Maleficent chuckled, but then her voice and face hardened as she gazed down in disgust, “But you should know, boy, I am not one to be crossed.”
“Yeah, well, neither are Terra and Aqua!” Ven replied.
“Oh, but don’t you see?” Maleficent bent down, cupping Ven’s cheek in her gnarled green hand, stroking each finger from his temple to his chin, her nails scratching his skin as he tried to turn away, “Neither Terra nor Aqua will lift a finger against me with you in my power!”
She abruptly struck Ven across his cheek, rising in the same motion, “Which makes this arrangement perfect for my purposes. It will be so delicious to watch the Keybearers fight against their own instincts—to do their duty or protect their friend? But Xehanort has already proved their choice, hasn’t he?”
The mention of that name silenced Ven, and the realization of what she’d said only struck him more. Maleficent continued talking as she strode away.
“I admit Pete had me concerned for a moment, what with his idiotic bumbling almost costing us everything again,” Maleficent’s tone made Pete flinch, almost beginning to tremble, but the next moment her false pleasantness was back, “Fortunately, he managed to come through in the end.”
“Aw, shucks, thanks, Male—” Pete began, rubbing the back of his head.
A ringing and buzzing cut him off, and Ven felt his Gummiphone in his pocket, but since he was lying on his side, it was trapped beneath his leg. Maleficent and Pete heard it though, and both paused. Maleficent still had her back to them, but Pete was thundering closer, his steps making pebbles bounce near Ven’s face.
“What’s that racket?” he demanded, arms folded.
Ven just glared, not saying anything. Pete’s ears twitched, and he focused his eyes on Ven’s pocket. Ven couldn’t do anything to stop him as Pete began feeling around on the pocket on Ven’s left, but found nothing. Frustrated, Pete grabbed Ven’s legs, yanking them up and checking the pocket on the other side.
“It’s one of those phone-thingies that old Organization member started passing among the Keybrats and their friends,” Pete declared, holding the ringing Gummiphone between two fingers as he dropped Ven’s feet back on the floor. “Suppose he didn’t want to get a Keyblade through the face and thought this would keep ‘em off his back awhile. Seems he got in a last jibe, though, made the ringtone so blasted annoying! Or maybe he just wasn’t smart enough to figure anythin' else out.”
“Don’t talk about Ienzo like that!” Ven snapped, grunting at the jarring experience.
“Enough!” Maleficent held out her hand with a flourish. From where his face was lying on the ground, Ven saw her turn her head towards him slightly, nodding, “Give me the trinket. Take the boy away; we must continue with the plan.”
Pete tossed the Gummiphone at Maleficent, who caught it with her outstretched hand, turning away from them and continuing up some stone stairs in front of her. It was then that Ven finally looked at his surroundings, noticing the dark grey stone and the tattered hangings around the circular room. With a start, he realized he’d been here before!
As Pete hefted Ven on his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, Ven got a better view, and was certain. This was the inside of Maleficent’s castle in the Enchanted Dominion. At first, he felt a swell of pride at realizing where he was…and then immediately faltered as he realized where he was. Getting out of here would not be easy.
“Not so hard to handle ya now,” Pete declared, striding out of the room, “You were flounderin’ as a fresh-caught fish, but it’s easier now that I got ya tressed up nicely.”
Ven tried to find some biting response for this, but he caught Maleficent’s voice as Pete passed through the doorway to the circular chamber.
“Greetings, Keybearers.”
“Maleficent!” He heard Terra and Aqua’s voices through the phone.
“But of course,” Maleficent laughed, “Who else but the Mistress of all Evil were you expecting? Oh…could it be you were looking for a certain young boy?”
“What did you do to Ven?!”
“Aqua! Terra!” Ven raised his head, shouting over Pete’s shoulder, “Don’t listen to her! Don’t worry about me; I’m—”
“Quiet, pipsqueak!” Pete roughly grabbed Ven, his fist clamping over Ven’s mouth. Pete hurried quickly away, probably to get Ven out of earshot. Even so, the open hallway echoed, and Ven heard clearly as Pete carried him into the darkness of Maleficent’s fortress.
“You appear so worried about him. But as I’m sure you’ve heard, Ven is staying with me as a guest for the moment,” Maleficent informed them.
“That’s not what I’d call it.” Terra was almost shouting through the Gummiphone. “And if you’ve hurt a hair on his head, I’ll—”
“You’ll what?” Maleficent challenged.
Pete turned a corner at that moment, and Ven had to strain to hear. The voices began to fade as Pete descended some stairs.
“Because let me promise you this, Keybearers,” Maleficent hissed, “if you ever want to see your precious Ventus alive again, you’ll listen well…”
There was silence, or maybe their reply was too quiet for Ven to hear. His heart was pounding pretty loudly in his ears, so maybe that was drowning it out. But even so, Ven caught Maleficent’s raised voice a moment later.
“Obey me, and seek not Ventus! Stray in that direction and there will hardly be enough of him left for you to find!”
Ven caught Terra and Aqua’s voices. They sounded worried, and angry. He couldn’t make out the words, but his heart sank as Pete rounded a turn in the stairs and he could no longer hear anything. It had been getting steadily darker the deeper they went, and now Ven had to squint to make anything out.
Not that there was much of anything to see—Maleficent’s entire castle was mostly barren, and it didn’t look like she’d done much renovation since he’d battled her here over a decade ago. Ven grunted as Pete carelessly deposited him on the ground.
“Ya know?” Pete growled as he fumbled with a ring of keys, unlocking a door Ven could barely get the outline of, “I seems to recall a brat looking a lot like you thinking he could get away with using me as a teething toy.”
Ven braced himself, but still wasn’t quite done with talking back, “Are you sure it wasn’t Roxas?”
“You little scamp!” Pete grabbed Ven's shirt and held him up, his feet not touching the ground, “I’ve a mind to give you a good ‘iding!”
“Why don’t you?” Ven shot back, and immediately regretted it as Pete’s jowl was crossed with a vile smile.
“Now, that’s a good question,” Pete gave a dark chuckle.
A movement occurred in the corner of his vision, and Ven barely had time to flinch before Pete’s fist slammed into his face. Already dangling off the ground, Ven kicked at the air, but didn’t even come close to hitting Pete. The cat’s eyes lit up, and he punched Ven again, this time in the gut, making Ven’s eyes pop out in surprise as he struggled to get his breathing back on track.
Pete then slammed him against the wall, his hand pressing Ven’s chest down, doing nothing to help his breathing. Spots danced in his vision, but the thing that clearly registered to Ven was the smell of smoke uncomfortably close by. In fact, a flame was less than an inch away from his cheek.
Ven sucked in his breath, trying to turn his head away as Pete’s leering face inched the flame closer. It was just a single candle, but the heat was already beginning to prick Ven’s skin uncomfortably. The flame reached towards his spiky hair, the edges smoldering…
“Alrighty!” Pete abruptly decided to pull the candle away, setting it back on the tiny dish that served as a candleholder, chuckling to himself, “That ought ta teach ya!”
Ven heaved in a few deep breaths, relief flooding him. Pete had decided to stop. But just as he thought this, a terrible truth struck Ven.
He’d had to let Pete decide to stop. He hadn’t been able to stop him or beat him. He couldn’t beat Pete. If Ven hadn’t realized his sorry, desperate state before, he did as Pete dragged him off the wall.
“And don’t you go makin’ noise and all,” Pete growled into Ven’s ear, “Or I’ll come down here and shove a gag down your throat!”
Ven desperately wanted to not give into despair…but as Pete threw him unceremoniously on the cold stone floor of a cell and yanked the door closed behind him, cutting off even the tiny light the flickering candle in the hall gave, Ven found that incredibly difficult. The darkness around him seemed to press down. Pete’s thundering footsteps receded down the hall, and the silence that followed was almost as bad as the darkness. Ven didn’t know if it was the lack of physical light or whether Maleficent’s darkness was somehow manifesting in her castle, but the shadows here felt chilling, not to mention depressing and maybe a bit scary.
But, due to the dark interior of the castle, even in the better-lit circular chamber where Maleficent was finishing her call with Terra and Aqua, it was very easy for someone in a dark coat to hide. And because Pete had been focused on Ven when he returned via Dark Corridor, there had been a window of time before Maleficent arrived when someone might have hidden among the cracks and alcoves of the dim room after following him through the Dark Corridor. And, if this person happened to also be good at sneaking around in aforementioned black coat, and dared to do so after Maleficent had finally left the room, then followed the hallway Pete went down, the person would have eventually found exactly where Ven was locked up.
Of course, none of this would have been possible had not the someone in a dark coat been incredibly, supernaturally fast and managed to jump into the Dark Corridor before Pete had closed it on Terra and Aqua.
But by some twist of coincidence, all these factors had lined up nicely, and a Somebody in a dark coat was crouched against the stone walls of the dungeon, taking a deep breath as she appreciated the effort and luck she’d had to get here. She also took another deep breath as she readied herself for the task that still lay before her. The easy bit was over; now the hard part began.
She fought the urge to take down her hood, and instead pulled it more firmly over her golden-yellow hair. Hair like hers would stick out in a dark place like this, even in low light, and she’d need all the stealth she could get. She smiled to herself as she thought that at least this time she didn’t have to hide bright boots and a jacket along with her yellow hair.
But that thought also made her shiver, her still-tender heart trembling as it hit her that she was back in this place, back where she’d been held and tortured and only barely managed to escape, only to be caught by—
She shook her head decidedly, gritting her teeth against such memories. She wasn’t an amnesic, scared little girl anymore. If anything, now she remembered and knew too much, though she still couldn’t recall everything. But she couldn’t let that stop her; she had a job to do, a job she had assigned herself as she leapt through the Dark Corridor. Even if she could, she wouldn't change her decision. She wouldn’t let this end like the last group of Keybearers who’d come to Maleficent’s castle…though their fates were not the fault of Maleficent alone. No, she couldn’t think of that! Those experiences were not her own—she already had plenty of her own nightmares about this place—and the terror was past. They’d laid it to rest (although somewhat accidentally) before they even thought of coming to Ventus.
But even though they may have put that unfortunate group of Keybearers to rest (and she thankfully found it very easy to put their experiences out of her mind), she still had her own pain to deal with. It was a pain that stupid heart of hers insisted on constantly bringing up again and again, along with…well, with everything, really. Why could the past never stay in the past for her? Why did it always have to creep up and get in front of her, making the past seem like it was yet to happen and stealing a sense of future from her?
She shook all those thoughts from her head, refocusing on her present situation. She wouldn't break down, wouldn't let herself lose focus. She'd kept focused in tough situations hundreds of times before. It would be no big deal now. Approaching the door that stood between her and Ventus, she tried the knob. Locked, of course. She sighed in frustration, but at least her next move was clear.
She needed to find a key. She didn’t want to risk the noise of breaking it down, and though her memories had returned, her blade didn’t seem to have. But then again…she wasn’t sure she’d ever really tried to summon it. Mainly because she wasn’t sure she wanted it back, after all the trouble those things seemed to cause everyone who had them, her especially. But a weapon would be nice, since for some reason she couldn’t summon her knives anymore, so she had to settle for carrying one with her, which wasn’t the same at all. At least she still had some magic; she wasn't completely defenseless.
Turning away from the door, she hesitated. She turned back, pressing her forehead to the thick wood. As loudly as she dared, she whispered.
“You’re not alone.”
She listened, but didn’t hear a response. Very well, if he hadn’t heard, he’d find out soon enough. Still…she’d just wanted him to know. The loneliness had been the worst part of it—not just her imprisonment here, but the whole time in this blasted world. Well, loneliness and the night terrors…
Shivering again in what she pretended was a sudden wind, she carefully made her way back up the stairs. She struggled between the urge to rush away to get past the ache growing in her chest and the knowledge that she had to be stealthy. All the while she was thinking of where the key might be kept. Out of the blue, a thought struck her, making her pause. Even as she forced herself to keep moving as carefully as before, it echoed in her head and heart.
Elrena wished Lauriam was with her.