[Kingdom Hearts AU] Someone to Watch Out for You

Your Shadow

The Gummi Ship had been a present from King Mickey. Which, in and of itself, had been a surprise. The king had spent a lot of time away from Disney Castle for a good, long while. Sometimes Ven wondered if the king even remembered that he had a kingdom to preside over. She wouldn't say it out loud, but Minnie was starting to fear a day when Mickey would leave and never come back. Ven didn't know how to help her other than to be there for her. It was the least he owed her.

Today, Ven had been given the day off. It had already been penciled in, but Queen Minnie had been the one to reinforce it to him. She encouraged him to go see another world or two on his day off. She had complete trust that he wouldn't compromise the world order in doing so. But once Ven got off of Disney Castle's mainland, he found himself just stalling at the beauty in the Lanes Between. It had an odd peace to it. There were lengths of blues, and greens, and purples that swirled lazily in the darkness around it.

Ven caught himself drifting off to sleep at least three times just admiring it all. One of his half asleep lucid dreams was of Aqua and Terra. In it, they were admiring his Gummi Ship while he lingered in the space of inbetween. His dream mind didn't give him a way on why they stopped here in particular to do it, but at the same time it felt natural enough to not question it.

"She's an absolute beaut, Ven." Terra approved as he ran his hand over the control console. "You should have used the laugh power mechanic than the power sparks. It makes the ship faster."

"It makes it far more reliable, though." Aqua cut in. "What if you're in a bad mood and the ship just stops moving altogether?"

"With a ship like this, I'd never be in a bad mood. Nor would I let anyone on that was."

"Maybe I'd like to enjoy the ride, Terra." Ven tapped in. "There are things to see out here when you're not whizzing through it at the speed of light. Where do you need to go in such a hurry anyway? Huh?"

Terra flustered his way through an argument, but he was easily drowned out by Ven and Aqua's laughter. It was like nothing had ever changed. It was as if they were still here with him.

"How many worlds did you guys go to when we separated at Radiant Garden?"

He might have been completely dreaming now. It was hard to tell.

"We can't answer that for you, Ven."

"You didn't come with us."

A small, sullen sigh escaped Ven's lips. "Yeah... I know..."

He opened his eyes then. It took a moment for his groggy brain to realize that he was no longer in the Lanes Between. Instead the Gummi Ship had floated down and auto landed in some world. A strong feeling in Ven's heart told him it was Radiant Garden.

But just by looking out his window, he knew that wasn't the case.

The Gummi Ship had landed in the center of a disjointed fountain court. Water rose up instead of coming down like normal waterfalls. Not far away were floating pieces of sidewalk that led to the main castle. Something about the structure of the disjointed court felt familiar. Could this world had really been Radiant Garden after all? It looked like nothing more than a hollow bastion.

"What happened?" Ven wondered out loud as he got out of the Gummi Ship.

'Darkness did, you idiot.'

Ven gave a quick shake of his head. When did the voices in his head get so loud? Even better question; why did he insist on exploring worlds of his past when all it did was ruin his memories of them? Every step he took, Ven had quick flashes of where he could have stood in the original Radiant Garden. It was almost scary how he could accurately guess when he'd reach the castle based on distance alone.