Author's Note

I would have posted this a few weekends ago, but I was busy with putting installation in.... fiber glass is yummy....

Chapter 6: Ventus

Read The Character Commentary Here

Chapter 6: Ventus:

The Eternal Night continued to growl off into the distance as it encompassed the sky above. No matter where anypony went, it was never safe, not even from the night sky above. Yet John continued to look up and felt a ghostly, alien embrace that he was safe. Whenever he looked up at the moon, he felt like his dear wife Luna was right beside him. John continued to look upward, and despite his eyes being crossed and not looking the best, he could see beyond it all.

In his eyes, he could see beyond the stars and the moon and saw a whole universe before him. John was starting to think again. He was realizing how much there was to see compared to his tiny little kingdom. And if these humans were from another universe, the question is how much room could there be? Was there an end to it all? Could he go beyond forever or would he touch a wall and forever be small again, knowing that his existence was in a space between his reality and another. Life itself was starting to be questioned by him.

He was a simple farmer from before that didn’t get his toast, went to Ponyville, then Cantorlot, and then became king alongside his wife. Yet he felt urgency to desire more than this. He wanted to simply go beyond. And in his wildest dreams, in his restless sleep, he forever knowingly knew that he was stuck there in his little box forever. But perhaps that there could be a way out of it all; a way out of all the madness. A way to escape from his own mind and finally be free, and to be where he truly belonged: out there somewhere in space somewhere in the universe; either in his or someone else’s.

It did not matter which, but if his home would be no more; if it all went bad in the end, he needed an escape for once. At the very least, his mind needed to be free from the shackles that bind him to this world and to what he was.

John was then snapped out of his crazy fantasy as Ventus came up behind him with a slight tap on his left shoulder, “Hey uhh… John? Are you ready to go or…. not?....”

John turned around to face Ventus who looked afraid to still be around him with a dead face as he stared back with a crossed eyed stare that felt cold to Ventus.

Ventus however tried his to brush it off as he turned around to go back to the others, “Ok then I guess… We’ll be... ready to leave soon….”

Ventus was hesitant around John. He didn’t like the way he acted and always keeping quiet. It didn’t sit right with him, even if John meant no harm. The others however were minding their own business, getting ready to move out. Ignis and Glacio were resting their feet and talking while TK leaned up against the shack, waiting for the others to be ready.

Terra however was the one who needed the most rest after what she had been through. She sat down by a large enough rock to sit on with a smile on her face. She was all dirty and bruised up though, but she was content with herself. Quietly, she couldn’t help but look back towards John and the aftermath of her efforts. The area was greatly damaged through the last battle, but it was all for the sake of survival and self-preservation.

Yet somehow she had trouble expressing how somepony like John could give her the encouragement for her to achieve such feats. No one had given her as much of a talking to other than her parents. Sure, it seemed weird that a pony, especially one that was John, was the one to push her in the right direction, yet it mattered not. She had survived the horrors of The Eternal Night and of her own mind, and that’s all she needed to know to comfort her.

Ventus then calmly walked up to her with a bit of concern, “A-Are you ok there sis?”

Terra smiled back gently and said playfully to him, “Of course I am. I’ve never felt better, even more than after the time you took the blame when we trashed the house back when we were kids.”

Ventus looked a little ashamed and rubbed his left arm very nervously, “Yeah well… you did tell me that if I didn’t, then you would make me pay for it later.”

Terra couldn’t help but give a playful chuckle towards him, “Oh Ventus, stop being such a whimp and let it go. Besides, all I would have done was go into your room and take your stuff. I wouldn’t have hurt you.”

Terra had gotten up and lightly patted him on his shoulder as she walked by towards the others, “I was the one defended you from those kids who picked on you, remember.”

Ventus tried to put on a smile, yet he couldn’t while looking regretfully back at Terra, “Yeah… yeah you sure did…. Terra…”

Ventus couldn’t help himself and only looked more down in the dumps than he had ever been in his life. John was the only pony to notice this as the others conversed with each other, trying to get their plan together.

Glacio said to everyone “Then it’s agreed. Let’s see how far we can get before we can stop for a few hours to sleep.”

Ignis brought up a good question with a hint of curiosity in his voice, “How much longer till we get there anyways?”

Glacio had much optimism in him and couldn’t help but let it out, “Oh we’re not too far from it, I’m sure. We’re getting close; I can feel my father’s powers in me growing by the hour as we get close. We just need to keep pushing.”

Terra who claimed very joyous, “Well then, let’s get going then.”

Glacio said as him and Ignis got up and looked over towards John, “Right. John, how about you take the lead? Surely you should be able to take it from here?”

John only yelled out two words, “Farty Sprinkles!”

Glacio only gave a slight chuckle as he looked slightly embarrassed by John’s words, “Oh maybe I should take the lead still.”

TK stood up firmly as he started to walk first, “I’ll do it….”

TK was starting to get on Glacio’s nerves as he and Ignis started to shoot ugly looks towards him. They didn’t like how he was acting. If anything, it was making them suspicious of his character and his agenda. The two then followed suit as well as Ventus.

Terra however walked right up to John instead, kneeled down on one knee, and gave him a quick hug as she quickly told him kindly, “Thank you for not giving up on me John. If it wasn’t for you, I would have been lost without you. You’re really are a True King.”

Ventus looked back as the others continued to move ahead of them, “Hey Terra, are you coming!? We don’t want to be left behind!”

Terra looked over to her brother and yelled back, “Coming!”

She looked back towards John and gave a quick wink towards him, “Come on, let’s get going so we can save both our kingdoms.”

Terra got up and quickly ran over towards Ventus as they caught up with the rest. John got up on all four of his hooves and started walking towards them too. However, John noticed the Evil Terra’s body was still lying on the ground. For a few seconds, he stopped in his tracks and stared at it. His ears perked up as he thought that for a quick second she was still alive and making a groaning sound despite the body being motionless.

Yet, there was nothing. Yet, there was a sound like a low hum coming from somewhere, but he didn’t have time to investigate or mess around. So John went ahead and moved on quickly and back on to the trail.

As the area became silenced once more, Katas swooped in and swiftly landed near the Evil Terra’s body with a disappointing look on his face, “You know, the master will not be happy when I report this to him.”

The eyes of the Evil Terra’s body shot wide open, quickly gasping for air and barely making a voice, “Oh…. Shut up….”

Katas mockingly circled him, slowly, taunting Custos and shaming him while in the process, “I am just saying is all Custos. You have failed to meet our master’s requirements, and you will have to be punished by how he sees fit.”

Custos’s form of the Evil Terra continued to lie there, not being able to move a fraction of an inch in any way. He wanted to get up and strangle Katas to make sure he would keep quiet, but he was simply too weak to move a muscle or even a thought in his brain.

Custos tried to move his tongue and breathe the words, “I…. will…. get…. them….”

Katas looked down displeasingly, yet with a bit of pity in his movements, “Oh you better Custos, at least for your sake that is. You have until they reach the King’s Crystal. By then if you don’t them, then our Master will have to take the matter into his own hands. And you will simply be dealt with appropriately. And we certainly don’t want that now do we?”

Custos could only breathe as if he was just coming back up deep from the sea and clasping on to what he could for dear life. There was not enough that he could say to him. He just wasn’t all there mentally as his mind started to fade out like a light about to go out in the dark.

Katas could only scoff at him as he raised his head, “Hmm…. Tick tock Custos. You don’t have much time left.”

Katas then turned the way to the south and immediately took off into the skyline above and deep into the abyss of the night. Custos on the other hand laid there, resting his mind, thinking to himself that he just needs a little to think and gather his energy back for one final moment. Surely he could make his master happy and be showered in his praise.

He could only dream of it as he blacked out and remained unconscious through the remaining of his twilight hours.

The Knights of John continued their trek through the woods at a calm pace. Most of them remained happy and fruitful about their journey ahead. Terra was happy and confident as she could ever be. John lingered by, but could only keep his mind on his dear wife Luna and her gorgeous legs.

Ventus was nervous as he started to doubt himself altogether on the journey thus far. He was recollecting on everything and realized he had done barely anything to help. He started to feel like a burden on the group and dead weight that they should cut off as he hanged his head down low in shame. TK remained at the front, keeping his eyes straight, looking for any signs of the King’s Crystal or anything that wanted them dead. He was purely focused to the soul of his objective. Glacio and Ignis however, despite their accomplishments thus far, they were not happy.

They eyed TK with a stench of unwelcomeness and only saw the worst of that he had to offer. They were keeping quiet for now, but in the back of their minds, they only wanted to put TK into a corner and interrogate him on what he had to say for himself. Their trust into the stranger was starting to wear thin.

TK on the other hand held the feeling that he was being judged from behind. However he did not care what they had to think. He only kept his eyes and mind forward at all times until he was done. To him, the world did not matter, let alone the reality.

He had seen it all and then some, and yet he did not experience everything. But it mattered not, and it only drove him to continue to push forward into the abyss that was darkness that swallowed him whole from within. Instead of letting the darkness take him like most, he simply wielded it and used it to his advantage and made it simply his bitch.

Regardless though, the tensions between TK and Glacio and Ignis only grew higher and higher with each passing hour. There was no telling when the pipe was going to burst and there would conflict within the group. And by then, would it be too late?

TK kept his eyes moving forward and searching, until he saw something into the far distance. From there, he started to speed his pace up a bit. Glacio and Ignis both looked at each other, wondering if he was trying to pull anything that they may not like. They both nodded to each other silently and decided to keep up the pace with TK, carelessly leaving the others behind in their wake.

Terra saw this and with a bit of haste started to go faster too, “Hey, where you going?”

Ventus finally decided to look up and hesitantly had a scared look on his face as he reached out with no one to hold on to, “Guys, wait up. Why is everyone in such a rush?”

Ventus started to slow down a bit, almost grinding to a halt. John walked up right next to him and simply stared at him. Ventus felt the eyes of John peering through him as he looked back down and could only give a nervous shrug and a grunt towards him. He didn’t want to lock eyes with John, at least not at that moment as his mind was in no mood to be looked and judged at by others. Ventus cleared his head and made haste to the rest of the group.

John continued to look at him as he went further into the forest; giving him a look almost as if he saw something in Ventus that was only a ticking time bomb. John then went back to thinking about a lamp being railed by a fish in bed at a Motel 6 that was on fire as he went and joined up with the others.

Ventus moved through the branches that stuck out like a sore thumb and the foliage that desperately needed to be cut down and out into an opening where everywhere else was at. They were all lined up almost perfectly and symmetrical as John caught up to them while John followed suit.

Terra looked back with a slight smile when she felt her brother’s presence, “Kind of nice…. Isn’t it?”

Ventus held on to his curious stature as he walked and stood right beside the rest to gawk at what they were looking at. When he saw it with his eyes, he felt like he was being mocked on this journey. Before them stood a big lake that looked like it stretched on for miles as it laid across from end to end from left to right. Ventus needed a moment in his head in peace in order to comprehend the view of it all. It was both at the same time beautiful, yet frustrating as the surface mirrored the Eternal Night sky while being covered by a dense fog that you couldn’t see past; almost like if a town was covered in it from end to end and remained silent in its endless mist.

Ignis said with a sigh in his tone, “So we’re fucked…. Aren’t we?”

Glacio, with an optimism on his face so bright that it could not be compared said eagerly, “No need to be such a downer Ignis. This is merely just a lake.”

Ignis could only rebuttal back to him as he crossed his arms in an angst fashion, “Yeah…. More like an ocean lake. Who knows how big this is.”

Glacio looked at Ignis without a care and a smile as he put his right hand on his left shoulder with confidence, “It’s a lake my friend. It could only be so big. Sure, it looks big as we can’t see an end point. But I have faith that there is an end point. We just need a boat is all.”

Right in the far right corner laid a small, but humble boathouse as they all looked towards it. There, it connected to a small docking pier with a decent size rowboat big enough for all of them floating and tied to the pier; all with a life preserver hanging on one of the outside walls with a note on the door.

Glacio happily pointed to the small place, “Perhaps someone there could give us some assistance.”

Without a single word more, they all walked towards the small boathouse. Glacio was the first one to make it to the front door as he intended, in order to ensure TK wasn’t the one to curse this trip with his manners he had thought.

Once Glacio made it to the door, he was about to knock till he read the small note on the old wooden door. The note read briefly, ‘Went to go looking for my dog. He ran off. Might look for some bait. Will be back by 5. DON’T TOUCH ANYTHING OR ELSE….’

Glacio’s hope for happiness was soon struck down by regret and disappointment. “Hm…. Seems our friend went out for a while,”

as Glacio looked out to the nearby woods and stared deeply into its soul.

Glacio looked back at the note with worry, yet the realization as to what more than likely had happened, “But I think we might as well let ourselves in. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind by this point.”

Glacio gently pushed open the door without a struggle as the place remained unattended. It seemed odd just barging, yet they were in need of a break and some rest, and the owner was no where nearby or to be seen from again. They all went in without question and come to find themselves in a small and cozy little home. There was a small couch, a small, yet functioning kitchen with little food in it with a small bed and fireplace that was still lit to keep warm and sleep to.

There was also a small dish of water and slop with the name ‘Skip’ written on the sides. The pack looked around, yet with not much to find, they quickly gathered a plan together.

Glacio motioned everyone to gather around with a returning smile of glee, “Ok. It seems like it isn’t much, but I believe this will make due. I know we’re all hungry, but the best this place has is some stale bread it seems. And I’m afraid that will have to do to gain a little of our strength back.”

Ventus’s stomach rumbled as he clenched on to it as he moaned in hunger, “Awwww, I wish I could have eaten some of that pony’s soup when we had the chance.”

Glacio said to him comfortably with sympathy in his voice, “Yes Ventus, we all did. And we wish this had been easier on all of us, yet darkness has no rest. But this’ll have to do. Let’s just be thankful we have a little bread to eat in a place to warm up at and get some rest.”

TK pushed Glacio slightly to the side as he ignored him almost, “You go ahead and do whatever. I’ll keep watch.”

Glacio only looked at him with disgust as he scoffed at him as he walked by. He had more to say yet he wanted to keep his tongue pure and innocent. And so as TK remained outside and John minded his own business in a corner on the small home as he listened to the water flowed by underneath the floorboards, the others took their share of the place.

They ate the stale bread, which wasn’t too bad. By that point, anything tasted good to them, even if it was only a few days old. It wasn’t half bad to Ventus either.

There was some texture to it, yet it was bland and was in need of some butter or honey. After they were done, there was some fresh water in the place, but only enough to last them through the night. Yet they would still have their water they carried on them, but it was little to worry about. After their little feast, some got warmed up by the fire as other started to feel the heavy wrath of sleep. Some yawned as others had their eyelids slowly start to feel heavy. By the time they gave in to the slumber, Glacio was worried; TK didn’t come back inside. What was he doing? What was he thinking? What was he plotting? He wanted to stay up, just in case he came back inside to slit their throats in their sleep. Yet, his weakness as a living creature could not be held back any further as he fell into a heavy slumber and drifted away.

John on the other hand remained in his corner, staring at the closed door with no sign of him sleeping. Yet at the same time, he was thinking of everything that he had seen and heard thus far and forming a conclusion in his head while at the same time his random nature took a hold of him. But before John could go deeper into the random, he saw Ventus get up without a care, walked towards the door like a half sleeping zombie, and walked outside with a nervous tick to him.

John titled his head and became curious. John followed Ventus’s footsteps as he went outside as well; along with no TK in sight as well. John looked around, wondering if Ventus disappeared too. However John looked behind him slightly and saw Ventus sitting flat down at the end of the pier and near the rowboat. He had seemed down and sad. He was all alone underneath a sky that was as above, so below.

He was lonely and vulnerable and with enough care in his heart. With what little he had that wasn’t filled with randomness, he walked right up to him to see what he was up to. As John sat down right next to Ventus, he stared at him as Ventus didn’t seem surprised or caring at all. He only gave forth a sigh and looked up at the Eternal Night sky.

With sadness in his voice, Ventus spoke his heart and soul out, “I wonder sometimes John…. Why am I even here? Why do I exist? Every day I wake up and think about all of the things that I’ve seen and hear, and yet when I think of everyone and everything else, it just doesn’t make any sense to me. Why was I the one born into this world…. Or I mean my world that is? Everyone usually finds their place in their life that they do and find a home and get married and stuff. Yet I didn’t do any of those things. Back home I’m considered to be an adult, and while I’ve tried to be like everyone else and live a life and learn to live, I don’t think I have ever lived. Not that I don’t want to, but the world that I’m in doesn’t want me to live it feels like sometimes.”

Ventus’s head hanged very low as he continued to hammer himself, “My sister was always the star in the family and what my mom and dad always said who I should follow. Yet I get the feeling sometimes they don’t want me to live, the life that I want to live or that I can live. They always push me and yell at me to do this or do that, but when I try, I just fall flat on my face and cry. I can see the disappointment in their eyes and everything when it happens too. Face it; I’m not made for my world. I don’t belong there or anywhere else. I wouldn’t even think I belong here either. I’m just a…. lost cause. A waste of life. No reason to exist at all. Why do I even exist when I can’t even do anything right in my life? I’m always the weak one and I was always either belittled because of it or made fun of. I don’t like it, honestly. Yet not having a place, even among this group…. I just feel like I’m better off just going off on my own and wandering into a desert or somewhere…. Alone….”

John’s ears perked up, hanging on to every word that Ventus had to say to him. He remained silent, yet remained on edge as he stared at him with his crossed eyes.

Ventus looked back up to the Eternal Night sky and noticed the full moon of John’s Luna, “You know…. I’ve always wondered what a different world was like. I always knew we weren’t all there was out there; that there was always more than just us. But instead of finding another planet, we found another universe…. And even more like it too. And yet the moon is the same for you and me.”

Ventus looked over to John with a curious sense of wonder on his face, “If you don’t mind me asking…. What is it like here? Why is it ponies are the one in charge? Is the magic like our magic? How is it that we can communicate the same language and what is it like being a king in your kingdom? What are the seasons like? Is it like ours or is it different? I-I’m sorry…. I shouldn’t even be asking.”

There was a strong silence between the two as John kept looking at Ventus. Yet for a minute, he looked at the moon too as Ventus took notice as he looked back at it as well.

Ventus let his heart out, “You know, it’s beautiful. Really…. No matter the world or universe, it’s beautiful when you think about it. A universe is big and empty, yet to know there is even more out there doesn’t even make it scary. It makes it exciting actually. It fills me a kind of hope that I haven’t felt since I was a kid and I was told that I could do anything. There is a sense of things that are beyond my grasp yet…. I feel like I can reach out and take it. And that I can do it and have it all you know? The world isn’t for me to take, but it’s the universe. It isn’t the sky that limits us, but….. only the universe itself. And I think to myself that…. That….”

Ventus was soon interrupted and his moment of serenity paused with an unexpected visit from The Fire of Fate.

Ventus was soon scared as he jumped back and mouth agape as John’s eyes widened a little as his ears perked up. The flames surrounded them, circling around the lineally pier, isolating the two; cutting them effectively off from any source of help. Ventus got up quickly while looking around franticly. John looked around, confused as to what was happening as he thought to himself that this was more random than he was at times. Soon two long, lingering, tall shadows emerged from the fire, yet it did not go further than the fire itself. Ventus noticed and looked in horror as the figures resembled two humans, but more disfigured and stretched out with an abstract twist to them.

They were only made of shadows with two white eyes peering out of the fire that pierced Ventus’s body. One of them looked very feminine and other masculine however, only leaving Ventus to question who this was. The arms of the figures dangled down loosely as the figures completed their form and remained silent at the two. Ventus was at a loss for words and scared as what would happen next. John however was of the curious mind and wanted to take a step forward to see what it was that made the night go a light.

Before John could take a single step however, the masculine shadowy figure pronounced greatly, “Son! What are you doing?!”

Ventus continued to look on in horror, yet was confused at the same time, “What?”

The feminine shadowy figure then stated with a hiss, “Answer your father boy! What are you doing?”

Ventus slowly took a step further as he weakly put his hands together.

He whimpered out softly, “Mom.... dad?”

At the same time, Terra came rushing out in a hurry, being startled from her sleep from the noise that was made. As she was prepared to fight, she quickly took notice of the fire and saw Ventus and John trapped in there. She wanted to scream and yell at them to run, but she knew that wouldn’t do any good. She could only stand there, knowing that both of them were helpless and that she could do nothing for them. She only watched on in silence as the two talked to what looked like was a twisted version of her parents.

The two shadowy figured went on to say in unison, “ANSWER THE QUESTION!”

Ventus took a small step back as he cowered in fear, “I-I-I-I don’t know. What are you asking from me?”

The twisted father leaned in slightly as he waved around in the burning flames, “You selfish, dumb little shit. You can’t even answer a simple question for us! We gave you everything and tried to give you a better life! And what did you do? YOU WASTED IT!”

Ventus started to cry a little as he held his hands up to his face, trying to shield the disappointed looks shooting from his so called parents, “But…. But… I tried. I really did. I just can’t do it. I’m alone most of the time and…. I tried… I just can’t….”

The shadowy mother interrupted him and snapped at him like a crocodile, “CAN’T WHAT!? CAN’T BE A GOOD SON FOR US!? YOU CAN’T BE NORMAL LIKE ALL THE OTHER KIDS!?”

The shadowy father degraded Ventus “It was a mistake having you. You’re a pathetic excuse for a son, let alone an actual child. You’re worthless. You’re no more than a burden to your friends than you were to us. You’re no longer our son. You should have never even existed to begin with.”

Ventus was shedding tears, letting the words get to him as his sister saw him fall to his knees crying. She felt bad for him and wanted to hug him to make the pain go away but even then it wouldn’t heal the wounds that were inflicted. In Ventus’s mind, he knew they were right. He was weak and could do nothing more than just to be a burden on everyone around him. He tried his best to stay out of the way, and thus far on his journey, he made it so he wasn’t an issue. But what more did he do?

He just stood around, doing nothing more than being a weakling? Even back home he was nothing. Ventus thought back to all the times Terra had to save him and his parents having to get him out of nasty situations. Even when he thought he had improved, he was nothing. Ventus thought it was better if he no longer existed; to no longer breathe or embrace life itself. He was better off dead and alone than he was alive and with someone else.

However, John quickly tapped on his shoulder with his right hoof as Ventus tried to look through his teary eyed vision and said calmly, “Fight back the stabbing chicken doggie!”

Ventus wasn’t sure what he meant, but reading in between the lines soon meant that he needed to stand up for himself. He was more subtle before, but he guessed even John wanted to see him fighting. So Ventus got up, wiping away his tears with his back straight as he tried to stand up for himself.

Ventus took some steps forward with the meanest look that he could muster as he pointed and yelled at the twisted shadows, “T-That’s not true! I am who I am and….”

The shadow parents didn’t want to hear it as they yelled ‘NO’ in unison as a gust of strong wind pushed Ventus back to the ground. Ventus was now pushed back down to his place and wanted to start to cry again. John looked at the shadows and thought he could say something.

John walked up to them as they turned their eyes towards him, “A Muslim Jew is only right twice a day when the hoagie says so!”

‘Poor choice of words’ John had thought.

He had spoken too quick as the feminine shadow figure pushed him back with another gust of strong wind, exclaiming, “STAY OUT OF THIS YOU FILTHY PONY!”

The shadows turned back their eyes to Ventus as he cowered even more and on his knees again.

The shadow father leaned towards Ventus while pointing his limp hand towards him, “You’re not even fit to live anymore. Just do it already and end yourself right now. We would do it ourselves and kill our own kin, but it’s not even worth the energy.”

Ventus closed his eyes as he hanged his head down, trying to make their voices go away.

The shadow mother hastily spoke up towards Ventus, “Didn’t you hear your father Ventus!? DO IT ALREADY! KILL YOURSELF! It’s not like you would ever be better than your younger sister. Now she is the star of our family. Why could you have been more like her!? She listened to us.”

Ventus gritted his teeth, trying to hold it altogether as tried to hold back his tears.

The shadow father then exclaimed with his might, “Listen to your mother! We should have had a better child! Better yet, we should have had another one that wasn’t like you! YOU HEAR US BOY!?”

Ventus was going to explode and John could feel it coming.

Both of the shadow figures yelled in unison, “KILL YOURSELF! KILL YOURSELF! KILL YOURSELF! KILL YOURSELF!”

Ventus was now broken.

He raised his head with a fire in his eyes as he raised his hands towards the shadows; causing a hurricane of winds towards the two twisted shadow figures and The Fire of Fate while yelling “THAT’S ENOUGH!”

Ventus still had some streaks of tears flowing down his cheeks as he kept his soul intact as he let himself loose. John was taken aback by this as the wind flowed through his mane. His sister gasped and was amazed by Ventus’s actions. Ventus stood up firmly with a look that only a broken person could make as he took four steps forward. The shadows stood in their place as if they were not affected, yet looking on with interest with a keen eye towards Ventus. In his mind, he was unsure if he had the courage to do what he needed to do and to fight his own battles. In the moment of his self doubt, he looked at John with uncertainty right beside him. John looked back at him as Ventus looked deep into his eyes and could tell that John without saying a single word; that he needed to do this. This was all on him now in order to move forward with his own life.

Ventus looked back at the shadowy figures and then began to let his heart sing out, “I know I am not what you wanted me to be. I know my sister is better than me at a lot of things. And I know that I mess up sometimes too. But I am me. And I can only do so much in this world or in this universe or in the next one. And not you or anyone else can change that. I know…. I need to be better, and I will. And I promise myself that I will be better and…. Will do so everyday if I can. But I will not do this. I will not sit idly by as my friends or my home is in danger. Even if it means that I am mostly useless, I’ll stick by them and my home no matter what. And I don’t care if you are my parents and what you say. I am who I am. And who I am is me. Me….”

As Ventus controlled the wind and kept the speeds up, both shadow figures looked at each other. They then calmly looked towards Ventus and both nodded. They then slowly disappeared into the flames as Ventus’s winds slowly blew away The Fire of Fate and into nothingness. Ventus had a smile for once that was made of pure joy and hope in his heart.

He had finally looked within himself to see someone stronger than he had though previously. He looked up towards the night sky and at the moon again and thought about his actions as a small tear of calm and peacefulness left his right tear duct. His name was then called out by his younger sister as she came rushing towards him. Ventus quickly turned around to see her, but before he could say anything, Terra latched on to his body like a child hugging its mother as she buried her head into his chest as she began to weep to herself. And just like Ventus, she had a smile running from ear to ear as Ventus clinched on to her warm embrace. They held on to each other for what felt like forever until she let go and looked up at her older brother.

As she hanged on to her smile, she poured her heart to him, “I didn’t know you felt that way Ventus. You could have told me.”

Ventus hanged his head down in slight embarrassment as he pushed her away lightly, “I know but…. I didn’t know if it was a good idea to. I was worried if you were going to scold me or tell mom and dad.”

Terra lightly punched Ventus’s left shoulder while playfully sounding, “Oh you know better big bro. We keep secrets together as family and as brother and sister. I didn’t save you from those bullies when we were kids for nothing after all.”

Ventus chuckled a bit while nodding, holding his head up high for once as the feeling of self doubt faded from his mind.

Ventus looked at his sister’s face with confidence and said, “Thanks for, being there for me sis. For all the times you have helped me and everything. And while I might still be the weakling in the family, I think I can handle myself from now on. And I’ll do it by getting stronger everyday just like you.”

Terra laughed at his silliness as she gave him a teasing side glance, “Ok. But don’t let it get to your head ok? I’m still the strong one in the family, remember?”

Ventus, despite it mocking his masculinity, even if he had any to begin with, merely laughed it off, “Yeah, ok. But maybe every now and then, you think you could maybe…. Possibly….”

Terra felt the need to finish sentence as she began to walk away from him, “Save you? Sure thing. Anything for my big brother.”

Ventus tried to reach out as he felt a little ashamed, “Not if you put it like that. I meant….”

Terra cut him off kindly and looked back while she walked back towards the cabin over her shoulder, “I know what you meant Ventus.”

As Ventus smiled at his sister, the other two companions walked out of their slumber to check on the noise that they had heard.

They had looks of distress as they came to check on the others with Glacio saying, “Is everyone alright? We had heard a lot a noise coming from out here. We even saw the light and figured it must have been The Fire.”

Terra brushed based Glacio while she lighthearted her words, “Everything is fine Glacio. Ventus is ok now.”

Glacio still seemed a bit concerned as she looked back at Terra in shock, “Ventus is ok NOW?”

Ventus got close to Ventus as Terra waited by the door while being at peace with himself, “Everything is fine Glacio. There’s nothing to worry about, thanks to John at least.”

As Ventus walked by, Glacio looked over to John who remained at the edge of the pier as he looked off into what seemed like a vast ocean of water in the lake; off to the distance thinking if he would ever see her again and remained contempt within himself. Glacio could only smile back, knowing that he was the right one to put his trust in him.

However his moment was soon spoiled as Ignis pointed out a flaw in the scene, “Wait, where’s TK at? I thought he said he would be standing guard and keeping watch?”

Ignis had a mean look form on his face as his vocals produced a low growl like a wolf waiting for a chance to strike at his prey.

Glacio looked around curiously as he said softly, “Where is TK?”

Glacio was not happy with TK’s performance. If there was anyone that he was losing a great amount of trust in, it would be the one that looked like a devil. Ventus and Terra could only look around with worry themselves as they began to wonder what TK was up to. However those thoughts were soon put to rest as TK overheard them as he came walking out of the shadows and covered by the forest.

TK announced to them all as he looked at them all straight in the eyes, “I’m here.”

Glacio started to lose his tolerance with him as he stepped forward and pronounced his title as King, “Where were you? I thought you said you would keep watch while we slept?”

TK could only give a dead, cold response, “I saw something in the woods. I went to go check it out; make sure everything was clear.”

Glacio held his nose up high and scoffed at him, “So that’s your excuse? What if something happened to us? What if someone could have killed us in our sleep!? We all could have been dead!”

TK only kept his dead, monotone persona as he stared back at them hard and with dominance, “But you’re not dead. And besides, you could have handled it.”

TK walked by Ventus with little to no respect as he bumped in to him, as if he was in his way. Ventus and Ignis kept to themselves, but their endurance for his kind was at its breaking point. They could only give a stare about as equal as TK would give back. The four humans went peacefully back to their places of slumber to gain a little bit more rest.

TK walked up to John and stood at the edge of the pier with him. John however did notice him and did not decide to look.

TK said a few private words to him as he continued to look at the night sky, “So, you’re supposed to lead us to victory? Well, that time is getting close. You better not let us down. I need this to work as much as you need to save her. And I know what you’re thinking. Looking up at the moon, thinking she sees you even though you’re not there. The one I’m trying to save said the same thing to me too once. And one way or another, I’m going to find him and get him whatever hole that he dug himself in again. But until then, I just have to assume he sees me too.”

TK’s words echoed softly in the night, misty filled air. The sounds of nearby bugs chirping, looking for a mate of some kind was the only thing filling up the barren sound. The two in silence had a moment with each other; a moment that John noticed and even appreciated.

TK then turned around as his heavy boots clanged against the wooden pier and walked away.

As he did, he told him sternly, “We leave in four hours.”

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