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Found 6 results

  1. It’s been 2 years since the release of Dark Road and going on hiatus. Now we were graced with a pile full of cutscenes to it’s Finale, I can finally speak my thoughts on the entirety of the story with gameplay, presentation, the revelations, the whole sha-bang. Before I dive into this, before you consider reading, I must warn you that there are spoilers ahead. There is so much to tell my feelings toward this particular title. If you wish to avoid that, I’ll at least start with the artist notes of my Dark Road poster I did back in 2021. I’ll even briefly speak on gameplay because there’s not much to it honestly. But after that, spoiler overload. Let’s start with the summary of the story: A young boy, Xehanort, had left his tiny world of a home and arrived in Scala Ad Caelum as an apprentice to become a Keyblade Master alongside his best friend, Eraqus, and his fellow classmates. One day, their teacher informs the classmates that the upperclassman have gone missing. So he assigns a mission to Xehanort and the others to explore the worlds in search for clues of the missing upperclassman. Little did he know that this mission would change him forever, that it would lead down a dark path… (Thoughts on story are past the spoiler point) __________ Starting with gameplay! It’s pretty similar to the gameplay in Union Cross, but you’re using cards (which is ironic because the original browser version also used cards then the mobile version made them medals). Much also like UX, there is an option to auto play, which to some is instantly a wasted game. I can agree to some extent. I mainly use auto play to grind and be away from my phone for awhile. However, I do play manually on certain bosses in the story or just tougher bosses in general. It ironically felt quicker doing it manually anyway considering the auto play felt slower. Another aspect of the gameplay that’s different from Union Cross is choosing your party members throughout the story. This only occurs mainly in the first 3 chapters. The characters you choose are 4 of your classmates with different abilities: Hermod for attack, Bragi for defense, Urd for Blizzard, and Vor for magic boost. Despite what you choose, there are certain cutscenes that allow you to choose a character to be put in said cutscene. It doesn’t change the outcome of the scenario, but the character interactions are slightly different. There is one character I will not name I chose for awhile for their ability in combat, but there was one scene where another character had a certain interest I just couldn’t refuse picking them out. I felt they purposely made it this way that will stick with you in a way that is impactful. That will be saved in the spoiler section. In regard to grinding, I feel is what keeps people away from giving the gameplay a chance. Keep in mind, it’s no longer online meaning no gacha system can stop you for feeling robbed aside from time. The way to earn and purchase certain cards in the game, you have to earn BP. The caveat to this is that BP is also your EXP for Xehanort. So, it can be difficult to choose between cards and your exp. So, it feels like you have no choice but to grind away for who knows how long just to continue the story smoothly. In fact, I don’t blame anyone for skipping the gameplay and look up the entire story online instead without any worry about grinding. That being said, I was pretty lucky to save my app for the entirety of that hiatus to maintain my data I’ve saved for the past 5 years since I’ve had Union Cross. Because Dark Road also gave free BP after however many hours you’ve left the game untouched. Sadly, that is no longer the case after the update. But I sure had a lot more than I thought to purchase all the cards with my BP. As such, I got through this in a breeze within 4 hours. The gameplay is not the draw of Dark Road, it can be tedious depending on your position. That was mostly for those who just downloaded the game or, based on certain reports, corruption of their progress. There is something else regarding the gameplay I’d like to briefly speak about. But that will be saved in the spoiler section. ::::: ARTIST NOTES So, I actually first shared this back in 2021 during the March Caprice online event. But it was the only place I uploaded to. With that out of the way, the art piece itself was very fun to do. Obviously, I’ve been drawing Young Xehanort a lot recently (in case you don’t know, he’s my favorite character) and this drawing is just one of the many. The biggest challenge for me was the background. The sky was pretty straightforward, since it was inspired by the sky in the opening of KH3. However, doing the islands in a silhouette night setting reflecting the waters was a tricky thing to do. I’ve always wanted to seen Scala at night and I just drew what I envisioned. The main color I choose was purple. I’ll be honest, I’m not a fan of the title being green for Dark Road in particular. I do understand that it’s meant to connect to the Union Cross era. But the story of Dark Road would be more suitable for with purple. So, I give this art piece some purple vibe. ———————————— So now, with that out of the way, I warn you again the heavy spoilers ahead because I have so much to say. Please please PLEASE be sure to watch or play the game first before proceeding the spoiler section. I also want to share a link of my review on KHUX finale here >>> https://www.kh13.com/gallery/image/69286-the-final-break/ I will bring up some points from that review and utilize this here. Now, without further adieu, here are my rambling thoughts. ⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️ Bit of a background here. I’ve played Union Cross when it first released respectfully inl the U.S. back in 2016. Little did I know that eventually, 5 years later, in 2020, another story would be integrated in the same app. In other words, you could play 2 games in one app simultaneously, in a sense. Of course, during that year it was released, they graced us with only 3 chapters. It only took a couple more years to finally experience the rest of the story to 8 chapters altogether. The question stands: was it worth the wait? It depends who you ask. Some will play the game regardless the progress and others would watch on YouTube. As someone who did play the game since it’s release and finished the finale within 4 hours, here is my perspective on how it impacted me as a KH fan and a loyal player to this app game. I think I mentioned this in my KHUX finale poster that I’m not into MMOs. However, this game has given me a tiny taste of sticking with this world and it’s story for a long period of time. Like watching a long-running show, movie, and game series, you are attached to the world you live in. They eventually had to come to an end and seeing it happen leaves a bit of grievances. This happened for me with KHUX. Now with Dark Road finally completed after 2 years of a hiatus, this gave me somewhat the same thing. The difference is said hiatus and that it dropped all episodes in one to naturally complete via quests. I feel it would be more impactful if they had uploaded the episodes one by one within the 2 year gap. However, the story itself is still quite an emotional experience: more so than I could ever imagine. Enough beating around the bush, Let’s get to the meat of this! VVVVVVVV SO……the story….OH MY GOODNESS THE STORY…..is one of the best written in the series! I cannot say whether or not it’s better than Days writing, but I adored how DR was handled with the delivery and execution. This is also a bonus since Young Xehanort is my favorite KH character and to see him get the spotlight is all the more reason to love this title. I can’t even stress enough how much I enjoyed Xehanort’s character in-sight throughout the game. Seeing him actually be genuinely funny and even moments of vulnerability, especially surprisingly his elder self, was a delight to watch despite him being presented as a 2D flat model with no voice acting. This made me love Xehanort even more, especially his younger self. This is the most character I have seen from him and it’s in a mobile game. Let me remind you that there were only 2 animators during this project in particular. Despite the small number, they managed to animate the characters quite well. I’ve said this back in the UX review, and I still find it impressive. Not jest Xehanort, but for all the characters and environments. That being said, I still hope that Square would consider giving Dark Road a chance to have proper production quality and value via Unreal Engine 4 or 5 as a remake game or a movie. Not just Dark Road, but the entirety of the χ Saga, including Missing Link. One of the coolest things they did in Dark Road is the integration of Disney worlds made us for world building in the world of KH. Each world had served a purpose for the growth of the characters and how crucial they are to the world order. The only title that was close to that was KH1 and a bit of Birth by Sleep. The rest of the games had suffered that issue and were made only as filler. Of course, you could argue that you can view them as parallels to the themes and certain characters with their circumstances or just want to visit these worlds because we love Disney, both reasons are completing reasonable. However, with how much the series is growing and gaining more world building, I feel it was time to make these worlds useful and utilize them to help the characters (both original and Disney characters) with their growth and have consequences. Dark Road is one that did the Disney integration the best so far. In light of this, if Disney steps back a bit aside from being picky with stories and sticks with being picky over design choices and character sustenance in certain properties they own, then perhaps the future titles can allow the Disney worlds to be more interesting with different or tweaked plots to make them important to the already huge world of KH. ————————— I would like to share my favorite moments that stuck with me, but I’d like to share one more thing. I mentioned previously a certain gameplay aspect I wanted to talk about in the spoiler section. The bosses I fight since the beginning of chapter 4 were interesting to say the least. After finishing the story, I can fight them again for bigger BP and to fill my album. This is where I bring my point on why I wished they still let us play the game within the 2 year hiatus. It feels pointless to continue grinding after you finish the story. I have yet to hear any confirmation that there is a secret secret episode after completing your library of enemies and such. I gladly can rewatch the cutscenes I theater mode, but the gameplay felt even more wasted. Continuing on the bosses, there is one boss I felt didn’t feel as impactful like KHUX did. The final Boss you fight in the story is a Hearltess. Not just any heartless, it is one connected to one of the characters names Baldr (we’ll get to him in a bit). A reminder that all the classmates aside from Xehanort and Eraqus are named after Norse Mythology. So, how poetic that the Heartless under Baldr is named Hringhorn, which is the name of Baldr’s ship in said Norse mythology. There’s no denying that it’s an incredibly cool reference. However, I feel it would be more impactful if I fought Hringhorn first then fight Baldr as the final boss. I’ll get to why in the favorite moments section. ————————— I got a LOT to say about the scenes that stuck with me. I’ll be honest, it’s quite a lot. I’d argue that the entirety of Dark Road is just my favorite altogether. I will try my best to condense as much as possible to make make it too long. But, truthfully, I really want to share my love for this title. Regardless, buckle up, have some popcorn and a drink! This is not in order, this is more of a ramble if anything LOL 1. The biggest focus of the story is on Xehanort make no mistake. However, this is where I condense my list a bit by mentioning his relationship with Eraqus in particular. The chemistry could make a list of each moment. Their bond throughout the story is what made it enjoyable. Whether they argue on their beliefs, roast each other, dealing with their trauma, or just chilling & playing chess. Those two have the best chemistry in the series and it did not require a third person to make that bond special. No matter how you look at it (a ship, friendship, brothers, etc.), there’s no denying that it’s real wholesome and charming. Seeing their progression as individuals, how to they sort of grew apart, and even giving me a whole different view when rewatching them in the past games (particularly BBS and KH3). 2. Did I mention how kinda funny Xehanort was in DR? I could could name a few that struck me in the funny bone, especially the carpet scene. However, the one scene that really made him shine with a bit of comedy was his first time meeting the Master of Masters before the remind scene. It was not only funny, but it also combined with a good dose of your typical KH psychology on light and darkness, the strong and the weak, etc. I recommend you see the scene yourselves. I’d argue that it’s up on my top 5 favorite scenes in the series. We just need voice acting from Ray Chase and Ben Diskin alongside some good quality production treatment & you have a perfect scene! 3. One small thing I want to share that made me glad to choose the character Vor in Wonderland is what made a scene with her in Dwarf Woodlands so memorable. She was the first characters to display some character compared to the others. The beginning of chapter 4 made it more so and why she was my favorite classmate. She saves the dwarfs from a a boulder blacking a passage….by over-shouldering the big massive boulder despite her size. I had to leave the app to contemplate and ponder, eventually concluding her as the best classmate. This will eventually lead to an event that made me feel validated why choosing her in a cutscene in Wonderland made a scene later on more impactful. - This event was when we learn that all the students get taken out by Darkness. Of course, seeing Vor being one of them is incredibly heartbreaking. I knew the moment she had a personality and the fact that she is adorable and sweet compared to the others gave me a gut feeling that something big will happen to her and it wasn’t the fan theory hope she was Kairi’s grandmother. Seeing her die in Eraqus’s arms and Xehanort tears up alongside Eraqus made it all the more heart wrenching. 4. One of the most heartbreaking and shocking scenes in this game is learning how much loss Xehanort and Eraqus went through. I remember the first time seeing the end of the first chapter. It shows Xehanort laying flowers on 4 graves. This leads to assume that his fellow classmates have passed away. Of course, within the 2 years on hiatus, we theorize and speculate so desperately for any hope that some students survived. The cemetery scene was one of my favorites for awhile. But after Xehanort lost not only his own (including Baldr), but the missing upperclassman whom he confronted which was now all for naught, it made the cemetery scene [in chapter 1 and the last chapter] all the more powerful. - (Side note, when I first saw end of the first chapter, considering that it was raining in the game, it was also raining + thundering on my end and I was eating ice cream…this is definitely the game for me LOL) 5. Remember when I mentioned how DR has shown Disney worlds being utilized as crucial elements that help the story’s world building? A great example is old man Master Xehanort revisits the mirror in Dwarf Woodlands after 64 years to ask it some questions. These questions he asked and how he responds to the answers given by the mirror, it surprised me to see him genuinely vulnerable at that old age. It’s always quite a treat to see a different side to him we’ve em ever seen since the first time we saw him. I’d say even since meeting Ansem SoD the first time back in KH1. 6. Another huge thing I need to talk is a moment that broke me. In the secret ending of DR, we rewatch the scene from KHUX of a young woman giving away infant Xehanort to the blue-robes figure. We move to a few years later from that (or rather 9 years ago before the current events of DR), we then meet with a supposedly 6-year-old Xehanort snuggled on the blue robe person. We learn quite a few things from this conversation. One I want to speak on is a line that truly hurt in the heart. There were theories about the woman that gave Xehanort away was either his mother or it wasn’t. But this line he says confirms this by saying, “when I get strong enough, will I get to see my mom again too?” I can’t even tell you how much that line broke me. I always have a sensitive spot for kids who don’t have parents (whether one lives or both not present at all). It makes me more than eager to learn more about his mother (especially since Nomura has confirmed she is related to a crucial character). Speaking of relatives… 7. We learn that Xehanort was in fact a descendant of Ephemer, the leader of the Dandelions back in KHUX. Not only that, the crucial character I mentioned is that Xehanort’s mother is related to Skuld. I don’t know how, but I look forward to Missing Link to answer all these questions. 8. You may notice I did not mention another crucial thing: Xehanort being a reincarnation of the player. Welp…..looks like Nomura did a bait-in-switch on us all. Turns out that it’s not the case. We learned that Xehanort can feel and see through other people’s hearts (aka, an empath apparently). As such, he was confirmed by the blue-robed figure to be the Child of Destiny, a special child that hails from the isles of Destiny who can embrace the hearts of others and to save the world from Darkness. Of course, that obviously not the case to which it is implied that it was very likely Sora. What does that have to do with the player you ask? Well, the reason we see the memories of the player is the for mentioned ability of Xehanort he can see other people’s hearts via dreams. But where did he get it from? Well, we are not Xehanort….we raised him! The blue robes figure was the player all along living it’s second life time! 9. Burton here is so many to share I couldn’t make it longer. But one more I want to share that is just heartwarming. The players last words for Xehanort, and to us as the players since playing KHUX, were truly inspiring and beautiful. If there’s anything the player character can do is pull our heartstrings with their speech. The words they say were for Xehanort’s Journey to his Destiny. However, we know the tragic outcome of his fate. Despite that, what they say not only foreshadows the true Child of Destiny, but they’re words were also for us to keep close to our hearts as the audience. This speech was also powerful when “Friends in my Heart” plays to further pull my heartstrings. ————————— I could go on and on on the many scenes that I love. Truthfully, all scene Xehanort have been my favorite. In other words, the entirety of Dark Road! I love this title so much! I may put this at my top 3. Yes the gameplay is still pointlessly grindy with or without the hatch’s system. But the story is just so incredibly written. I would sell my solid for giving it a chance of having a proper unreal engine treated production and voice acting, as remake game or movie. If there’s any hope for lore Xehanort content, I will be on board all the way. Heck, Nkomura himself has said that despite the Dark Seeker saga being compete, since his villain role is done, we may see more of Xehanort should the opportunity be open. The artwork that Nomura shared on Dark Road’s release brought fans (including myself) the possibility that Xehanort might be in the world of Unreality, Quadratum. Xehanort did say he wishes to expand 14 lifetimes after all, 13 to rebuild the world and the 14th to explore the world…. ————————— Anyway, that is my review! I apologize if this was too long for you. This is somewhat a love letter to why I love Young Xehanort as a character. Dark Road was an incredible story and I hoped you enjoyed it as well. If anything, as I write this, that is all the posters I have! Since 2018, it was to promote KH3 and now we’re at the next stage. I don’t know how long Missing Link will last to make a proper review and poster. Perhaps I’ll do a first impression poster, but it will depend. Keeps your eyes peeled regardless.
  2. IN context, this was a re-draw I did with a white board for an "Inktober" project I did last year. I did to do one again, but this time with my Procreate app. I am really looking forward to what Dark Road has in store for Xehanort's backstory. Seriously, I never thought I would love Xehanort (particularly Young Xehanort) as much as I do. He is just super fun and easier to draw (^^)
  3. Is it just me or do I feel Young Xehanort is being underrated...maybe a bit to under appreciated? I am truly excited to see the whole story of Dark Road. Seeing him in a different perspective. Even seeing him in the end of Union Cross has made me more intrigued than I ever have before.
  4. Iman Nazeerudin

    Zwischenschach

    The Keyblade themed after the chess pieces played by Eraqus and Xehanort during their youth.

    © Kingdom Hearts belongs to Tetsuya Nomura, fanmade Keyblade design produced by me @ExusiaSword.

  5. Hey guys, I'm new to this site, I'll introduce myself later but let me skip to the chase. After reading 9 pages of the KH3 Chess Piece analysis I might have picked up on something others may have skipped ( Please forgive me if this becomes your waste of time) Many people thought that this piece was Aquas Stormfall keychain... http://i794.photobucket.com/albums/yy230/ShardofTruth/Other%20KH%20stuff/Chess%20Pieces%20KHIII.png I'm talking about Number 6 But could it be Lea's logo on his KHBBS frisbee? http://www.khwiki.com/images/5/58/Lea_Frisbee.png This was just my Lil' (probably stupid) thought and I figured why not let it be my first post
  6. “Aqua never understood why Terra liked the game so much. She especially never understood why she was so bad at it.” Checkmate All was quiet in the library. As it well should be, Aqua thought to herself, for a non-quiet library is an abomination to the senses. Aqua sat at a rather large table lain out amidst the countless scores of book-shelves, a small tome in her hands and a glazed look in her eyes. Yes, again, all was quiet. As it well should be. “Aqua.” It was taking a lot of effort to ignore him nowadays, but she was getting good at it. “Aqua.” Maybe not good enough. “Aqua!” Aqua sighed. Listlessly, she turned her spectacled eyes to the side and spoke audibly. “Yes, what is it, Terra?” She asked, trying her best to sound annoyed. Aqua didn’t know much of what she expected in return from her famously stubborn companion. Another question, perhaps? Some kind of biting or sarcastic remark? Perhaps even, if she dared herself fortunate, a healthy round of witty banter? Instead, all she received was a loud thump as Terra’s crestfallen image fell before her on the table. He turned to look at her, his eyes lidded and lax. “I’m bored.” Oh dear. Now this simply wouldn’t do at all. Aqua’s expression shifted to one of odd disgust coupled with something almost akin to pity. Fortunately, she managed to compose herself, and after masking her change in demeanor with a brief sigh, Aqua quickly found her way back to her callous ways. Feigning apathy, Aqua turned her gaze back towards her book and replied, “You’re in a library, Terra. Read a book.” Terra made some kind of noise, a mix between a sigh and some kind of long drawn out grunt, as he stood prostrate once more. He reached his arms outwards, motioning to the numerous shelves of books that surrounded them. “Aqua, I’ve lived here my entire life!” He said quite loudly. “I’ve read all these books. Seriously, you think the master would update his collection after 20 years, but NO!” Terra slumped over in defeat, but still managed to keep his head high. Aqua was trying her best to look uninterested, even though it was getting exceedingly difficult. “Have you ever thought about, oh, I don’t know, re-reading them?” She said, still refusing to turn from her book that she stopped reading quite a while ago. Terra turned towards her, a look of disdain on his face. “Aqua, I’m not like you. I’m not crazy enough to read through foreign Keyblade War erotica 7 times and actually enjoy it.” He finished with a slight smile on his face. “H-hey!” Aqua said, an octave higher than before. In a single motion, she stood and turned towards Terra, her cheeks red and her eyes furious. “Now you listen to me! ‘Passions of the Star Fruit’ is an underrated masterpiece, infinitely better than that primordial drivel you fill your Neanderthal brain with!” Terra’s smile grew wider at her words, as he stood up straight. “So, your tastes are a little more sophisticated, huh? Perhaps even… hierarchical…?” Aqua’s heart and face both began to fall as she slowly came to realize what Terra was building towards. “No.” She said suddenly. Terra’s unbearably cocky grin grew even wider. “One game. That’s all I want!” Aqua’s stare turned deadly, as she hissed out her response, “Not. On your. LIFE.” Terra’s smile fell somewhat, but it was too late to dissuade him. He had his heart set on one thing now. The game of kings. “Chess.” He said. “One game, winner gets the library all to themselves, and all the quiet that comes with it.” Aqua covered her ears in defiance; she wouldn’t let his words poison her resolve. “No!” She exclaimed as she turned to run out the door. “Never! NEVER!!!” On her mad dash out of the library, Aqua could have sworn she saw Ven passing by, a look of utter confusion on his face. But she couldn’t afford to stop and explain. All she could do was hold out faith that one day he would understand. And that he would never play Chess with Terra so long as he lived. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Aqua was good at a lot of things. She was good at chores. She was good at magic. She was good at reading and writing, and she fancied herself a competent critic. She could make wonders in the kitchen, and the things she could do with a deck of cards would boggle the mind of even the most accomplished illusionists. Terra was good at none of those things. But it’s not like that mattered much, Terra never really wanted to be good at anything like that. All he ever wanted to do was fight, which is why Aqua never understood why he loved Chess so much. Aqua wasn’t good at Chess. It was actually kind of shocking, really. Chess is more a game about outwitting your opponent than just plowing through them, which is why she should be good at it. But no, for some unfathomable reason, Aqua was absolutely awful when it came to the so-called game of kings. Perhaps it was some kind of cosmic mishap that occurred as she was being put together within her mother’s womb, Aqua didn’t know. But all that mattered to her was that she was utterly helpless when playing on a chess board. Terra, on the other hand, was a natural. It made no sense, and to be honest, it was actually kind of scary sometimes. No one could beat him. Not Ven, not the Master, not even people from other worlds. And least of all, especially not Aqua. It infuriated her to no end, and Terra knew this. It was something that she would never be able to change, something besides fighting that Terra was better at than her! Every time Aqua would do something incredible, or reach some kind of milestone, it didn’t matter. Because no matter what she did, Terra was always better at Chess than her. And no amount of accomplishments would ever change that. Learned how to summon fairies? Terra’s still better at Chess. Finished writing a novel? Terra’s still better at Chess. Learned Mega-Flare? Terra’s still better at Chess. Defeated a time traveling abomination of nature? Actually, Terra did that too, so it doesn’t really count, but you get the idea. And so, here she was. Hiding in a storage closet like a frightened little girl, the very notion of a simple game striking fear into her soul. “Aqua.” Terra’s voice sounded from outside. Aqua stilled her breathing, trying to trick herself into thinking that made her harder to find. “Aqua, I know you’re in there.” His voice sounded once again, but she wasn’t listening. She still had her hands to her ears. “Aqua, the Master taught us how to sense each-other’s auras years ago. You know that hiding is pointless.” He said, his voice muffled by the wall between them. Of course, Aqua knew that. But that didn’t mean that she was ready to accept it. “Aqua, please. Just one game, and I promise I’ll leave you alone.” Aqua pouted. He said please. His voice resounded one last time. “Please.” She sighed. He said it again. Carefully, she moved to unlock the door to her little hidey-hole. It opened to reveal Terra standing at the entrance, looking a little sad, but still expecting an answer. Aqua looked at him, her face tinted with small hints of worry and reluctance. “One game, on one condition.” She said. Terra’s eyes lit up. “Anything.” Aqua’s eyes narrowed in response as she grabbed his throat and pulled him in close. “Never. Again.” ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Aqua begrudgingly took her seat at the table. Terra had already set up the game in the library, figures. He knew she would crack. Terra sat opposite Aqua, his cocky grin now out in full force. He rubbed his hands together excitedly as he gazed out over the chess board and said, “Alright, let’s get this show on the road.” Aqua rolled her eyes. The amount of joy he was taking in this was rather sickening. Terra looked over at Aqua, his smile turning into a sly grin. “Ladies first.” He said, as he motioned for her to proceed. Aqua scoffed. “How courteous of you.” She said. Aqua turned her attention back towards the board, and began to absentmindedly stroke her chin in deep thought. Don’t misunderstand; she hated the game, but if this was really going to be the last time she played with Terra, she wanted to give it everything she had. After a few pensive moments, Aqua moved one of her pieces forwards. She was hoping to lead Terra into a trap too obvious for him to see, so that she could claim some of his more important pieces. Aqua may have been bad at the game, but she knew Terra’s style. He would try to win with as many casualties as possible, just to add insult to injury. Terra’s sly grin returned as control shifted to his side. “My turn.” He said maliciously. In a single motion, he moved one of his pawns to f3, a first move that almost always set the flow of the game in the opponents favor. Aqua almost jumped. The move was mad, even for Terra’s standards. She turned to look at him, and practically yelled, “Are you crazy?” Terra’s only response was to sit back, confidently, with that ever-present grin still etched on his face. “Your move.” Aqua’s eyes narrowed. Okay, so that’s how he wants to play. What followed was too much for any single person to recall. In what can only be described as a flurry of Chess bound fury, Aqua and Terra exchanged move for move on a second by second basis. For every piece that Aqua lost, Terra would go out of his way to make sure he lost two in exchange. And yet, somehow, Aqua still found herself on the losing end of things at every step of the way. In a matter of moments, the game-board had been whittled down to a sparse few pieces, and any outside observer would have immediately called it a stalemate. But Aqua knew better, Terra would never allow for something so menial. It was always part of the plan But then, the tempo shifted. Terra stopped, and his eyes grew wide. He paused for several moments, as he surveyed the aftermath of his endurance match with Aqua. Stunned, he looked up and spoke clearly. “Wow, Aqua. You might actually win this time.” Aqua’s eyes widened in response, as she too looked down upon the game-board. Sure enough, Terra had been locked into a desperate position. With only a pawn and two rooks left in addition to the king, his case seemed hopeless. Aqua couldn’t believe it. She was almost too afraid to believe it. As the utter crushing weight of the situation finally began to dawn upon her, the corners of Aqua’s mouth began to contort into a demented and toothy grin. “You’re right.” She muttered. “You’re right!” She said again, almost trying to convince herself even further. She looked up at Terra, whose expression was slowly growing increasingly distressed. His eyes darted back and forth across the game board, his mind desperately trying to find an impossible solution to an impossible situation. And Aqua was loving every moment. So, this is what the legendary Terra looked like when he was desperate. Delicious. Terra had said nothing, and he honestly didn’t need to. His face belied his dying confidence, and the slow realization of just how dire the situation really was. It truly looked like he would fold at any moment. Now, all that remained was the final move. Relishing the moment, Aqua leaned over the table, her slightly disjointed expression filling Terra’s haggard vision. It was time for the final blow. “Terra.” She mockingly jabbed. “It’s your move.” And just when it seemed like the entire world was about to stand still, fate decided to intervene. Of course it did. It always did. “TERRA! AQUA!” The Master’s voice resounded from outside. Terra’s hypnotized gaze on the Chess board broke as he turned towards where the voice sounded. Aqua’s crooked smile disappeared as she also turned in sort, her face red with burning fury. “WHAT!?” Aqua snapped in frustration. She really didn’t care what the Master thought of her right now, she could apologize when she was lucid. If the Master was surprised at Aqua’s tone, he certainly didn’t sound like it. “I need your help! I think Ventus is trying to fly on his Keyblade!” Aqua sighed, venting her inner rage as she started to calm down. “Master, I’m sure that you can handle –“ “He’s about to jump off the main plaza!” Aqua and Terra immediately turned to meet each-other’s gaze, their expressions shifting to a sour mix of worry and a strange kind of look that said, “not again”. “VEN!!!” They yelled simultaneously, as the two proceeded to high-tail it out the library and towards the front of the castle. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Aqua sighed as she placed a gentle hand upon her forehead, trying to quell the headache her young friend’s antics had brought. For hindsight, she replayed what he said in her mind, something along the lines of “Don’t worry! If I can’t fly, I’ll just come back up and try again!” Aqua sighed once more, although she had to give Ven credit. He could certainly make a very compelling argument for jumping to his demise. However, now that he was firmly planted in the study hall with an intimidating round of physics lectures ahead of him, Aqua could finally get back to her game with Terra. Turning into the library, Aqua was hardly surprised to see Terra waiting for her, pensively looking over the Chess board once again. He had left the scene a little earlier than Aqua, since Ven specifically demanded that she stay and tell him how old she was when she learned how to fly the Keyblade (she was sixteen, by the way. She beat Terra by a year.) Aqua wasn’t worried about Terra being alone with the board, however; she knew that he would never cheat at a game that meant so much to him. Aqua let a cocky grin adorn her features as she moved to sit back down. “You can look all you want, Terra, but sooner or later you’ll have to face the facts.” She said, her cockiness reaching the levels of Terra in his prime. “The simple truth is, you’ve finally los-” “Ah!” Terra finally said, as he made a quick motion with his Rook, capturing Aqua’s king in a single, devastating motion. “Child’s play.” He said confidently, as he crossed his arms in victory. “Checkmate, Kiro.” Aqua froze. She didn’t hear that. He was lying. What, one final jab to try and crush her spirit? Pathetic, simple! You’ll have to try harder than that, Terra. She looked down. Her king was gone. It made sense. No, this wasn’t happening. It just wasn’t. Aqua simply REFUSES to let it happen. Oh no. No, no, no, no. It was happening. It was. And Aqua couldn’t change it. She couldn’t change anything. She felt like a little girl again. Helpless, frail. She hated feeling that way. How could he do this? How could he make her feel this way? No, this was her fault. She made her feel like this. It was her fault. It was all her fault. That was just about the breaking point. Aqua could handle a lot of things. She could handle Amnesia, just fine. She didn’t need a majority of that part of her life, anyhow. She could handle the possibility of never having a boyfriend, because hey, that just gave her more time for her books. She could even handle one of her only friends almost getting himself killed, though that was pushing it. But this? Losing to Terra in Chess, even one more time? She simply couldn’t take it. And to top it all off, he used her nickname. How dare he. Aqua’s right eyebrow began to twitch rapidly, as her eyes started darting back and forth. She began to swing her arms sporadically, as her mind slowly began to fade into unfathomable pain and rage. All Terra could do was look on in concern and slight confusion. “Uhm, Aqua?” Suddenly, she turned to look at him, and yelled out something quite unexpected. “Swong.” It didn’t make much sense, of course. And Aqua never really found out why she said it, but everyone seemed to agree that it fit the moment. In a single, jerky motion, Aqua lept from her chair and out of the library. She sprinted down the halls while continuing to swing her arms wildly, as she began to laugh like a maniac. Terra got out of his chair, and looked back at her as she gallivanted off. “Does this mean you’re not open to a rematch?” He yelled after her. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Aqua ran out of the Castle and through the main plaza, passing Ven and the Master on her way out. Needless to say, Eraqus was confused, and Ven was terrified. “Stay here, Ventus.” Eraqus said, as he began to follow Aqua, perplexed. Terra immediately followed out of the building, and quickly took notice of Ventus. “Ven!” He called out, as he stopped and knelt before him. “Hey, did Aqua happen to pass by here?” He asked. Ven’s only response was a confused, “Uhm…” Terra looked up in a start, as a large pillar of flame erupted from the sparring grounds. He looked back at Ven and said, “Thanks, Ven, I’ll be back in a bit. Trust me; this doesn’t happen as often as you’d think.” He patted Ven on the shoulder, and then proceeded to run off towards Aqua. Eraqus stood before the large tornado of fire that had appeared not too far ahead of him, completely at a loss. “Aqua?” He spoke out, “Are you alright?” In response, Aqua’s voice sounded from within the tornado. “OF COURSE I AM, MASTER! WHY WOULD YOU EVEN ASK SUCH A THING??? I JUST HAVE TO SHOOT A COUPLE THOUSAND FIREBALLS AT THESE STUPID FLOATING METAL RINGS!!!! HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!” Immediately following Aqua’s words, several balls of flame emerged from within the tornado and relentlessly struck the training equipment nearby. Fortunately, it was indestructible. It was then that Terra arrived on the scene. Stopping besides his master, he was forced to shield his eyes from the burning air and blinding light of Aqua’s fire. “She’s really going at it, huh?” Eraqus nodded in response. Terra turned towards the Master, and said, “Should we do anything?” Eraqus shook his head. “She… just needs some time.” He said. Terra looked back towards the giant pillar of flame burning before him, and the maniacal laughter that continued to sound within. Yeah, that was probably a good idea. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ It took Aqua a good half hour to burn herself out. Honestly, if she could have, she would have gone on for days. But fortunately enough for her companions, she had a finite magic pool. Now, she lay upon a large circle of scorched grass, staring up at the sky. Tinted orange by the setting sun, it probably helped contribute to her growing sense of peace. Terra’s face entered her vision. Well, it was nice while it lasted. He looked surprisingly relaxed, given what had just happened. But then again, so did Aqua. “Hey.” He said. Aqua’s expression remained placid. “Hey.” She replied. Terra sighed, as he took a seat beside her. “You scared the life out of Ven, you know.” Aqua stayed motionless. “Sorry. I’ll apologize to him when we get back to the castle.” Terra nodded. “You better.” A long moment of silence followed, as both sat calmly before the sunset. Suddenly, Terra broke the stagnant pause. “I cheated.” Aqua’s eyes widened, as she finally sat up. She turned to look at Terra, and asked incredulously, “What?” Terra sighed once more. He turned to look at her. “I cheated. I moved before we left… and again when we got back. We skipped your last turn, so you would have won.” Aqua’s stare was piercing, almost empty. Terra could tell that she was still processing what he said. Finally, she managed a smile. “Thank you, Ara.” With that, she stood, brushed herself off, and walked away. Terra turned to watch her leave, and blinked. It was rare for them to use each-other’s nicknames, but that was probably the last thing on his mind. “Thank you…?” He said, to no-one in particular. Still a little surprised, Terra turned away and sighed. For a while, he sat quietly, mewling over the day’s events. If nothing else, it certainly turned out a bit more exciting than he thought it would at first. Maybe that was good enough.
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