Awake

Eleven Years Asleep

A twitch of the finger.

Ventus's head felt light, in contrast to his body, which felt numb, heavy, and stiff. Everything was spinning as he attempted to open his eyes, only to fail. "My head," he mumbled to himself. "What happened to me?" Silence. Ventus forced his eyes open as he tried looking around, but was suddenly blinded by all the white that surrounded him. He yelped slightly in surprise. Slower, he opened his eyes to find himself in a completely white room. He rubbed his eyes.

"Where... am I?"

His voice echoed throughout the room. His sight was still foggy; he could barely make anything out. His newest thought: How long was I out for? He looked around again, hoping for something to be the least bit familiar.

Nothing.

Yet why did everything feel so nostalgic? Like a far-off memory? Or was he imagining it to be part of a far-off, memory-like dream?

He pushed himself up and shook his head clear of any left over haziness. Time to be serious. Ventus needed to figure where he was and how long he'd been asleep. He needed answers and now. But he simply froze. He stilled as he stared at the familiar armor he should have noticed from the start. Everything seemed to haze up in his mind again as he thought one word. One name.

Aqua.

The fear and panic passing through him was unbelieveable. It was painful to a sense he was ready to do something he'd most likely regret. His thoughts became as clouded as his sight as the tears streamed from his face. Aqua... if you're... gone, then what happened to Terra? The thought seemed as painful as the truth. If Aqua was gone, then Terra probably wasn't far behind. As the minutes passed, one thought circulated Ventus' s thoughts: How long was I asleep for?

After another aganoizing ten minutes, he forced himself to his feet, standing shakily as he threatened to collapse again. How different was everything from the last time he'd been awake? Did anyone he know remember him? Were any of them still even alive? Ventus's stomach churned. He felt sick at the thought of being completely alone. But he forced down the bile and attempted to summon his Keyblade. It took four tries before he finally got it, and by then he realized he still didn't know why this place he'd awaken was filled with so much forgotten rememberance. Was it a World he'd grown attached too? No. It didn't have that kind of reminiscence to it. It had a more homey feel to it.

But he ignored it, shaking it off as having a connection to his reawakening. He walked over to Aqua's armor and had barely skimmed it before it exploded in a flash of light (much too bright for Ventus at that given moment) before clattering to the ground back into its original form. Ventus placed it on his unoccupied shoulder with a lingering feeling of discomfort before pointing his Keyblade, WayWard Wind, at one of the walls and transforming into his own armor. Using the little space the room provided, Ventus set off in search of anything and everything familiar...

KEYBLADE WARS III

... and came up with nothing.

Not one thing resembled anything he remembered. Radiant Garden was replaced by something called, Hallow Bastion. The World that housed Cinderella was gone. So was Snow White's. Even Aurora's dreaming castle was gone. Sitting alone in Traverse Town's square (a newer World he discovered earlier), all that seemed to be left was more and more questions. All that seemed to be left was... pain.

Ventus lifted his head suddenly, swearing to God that for a minute there, he'd heard Vanitas laughing at him. He shook his head violently, determined to believe it was just the wind. That was impossible. He'd absorbed and broken Vanitas beyond repair. He'd made sure the X-Blade had shattered at his own cost. By shattering his own heart, he'd shattered Vanitas. That simple.