"Roxas are you alright?" Aqua asked worriedly, unknowingly cracking his bones.

'I think she cracked the same rib as last time!' Roxas thought in pain as he got a look around him.

Terra and Ven were shooting him looks that can only be described as a perfect mixture of concern, pity, wincing, and remorse at his predicament.

Eraqus was not far behind and looked concerned for Roxas as he was in Aqua's death grip again.

Xehanort was at the bottom of the steps and he looked downright terrified at what he saw.

Meanwhile in a hallway not far from the throne room a figure was laughing his ass off.

He had never seen the old goat so terrified before. He pictured that if he ever got into the bluenette's death grip, the he would snap in half.

Just the thought of seeing that happen made him laughed harder then he ever had before in his life.

Xehanort snapped out of his trance and walked up to Eraqus with a very important question in mind.

"Old friend, have you ever been in a similar situation as the boy with your apprentice?" He asked.

Eraqus snapped out of his stupor and let out a shiver before answering.

"Yes she has in fact." He said. "She nearly threw out my back the last time and had broken two ribs."

Upon hearing that Xehanort looked at him apologetically.

"You have my condolences old friend." The older Keyblade Master said honestly.

He honestly felt sorry for his old friend. If she did the same thing to him, his spine would give out no question. Still if everything went to plan, then he would not have to suffer from something like that. But the thought of it still terrified him a little.

Eraqus seeing his old friend's expression gave him a comforting nod before he began to walk forward, with the intent of getting Roxas out his current situation.

"Aqua I'm alright so can you please put me down now." Roxas ask, as he felt that his ribs were starting to crack again.

After checking to see if he was really alright, she complied with what he asked.

"Thank you." He said. He then noticed that Eraqus was not that far from him and pulled out something from his pocket.

"Roxas take this." The Keyblade Master said as he handed the young blond an Ether, which he took and started to gulp down. "You seem to be out of magic, and taking in account that the trial ran amok you used it all on that spell to get out of that horde and then to get rid of the orbs. For that I must apologize to all of you for that."

The Nobody felt that his magic was restored and after finishing the Elixir gave Eraqus a questioning look.

"What do you mean? You had nothing to do with the trial going out of control, so why are you apologizing then?" Roxas asked.

It was the truth, why should he hav to apologize for anything when Xehanort's accomplice was to blame.

"He's right Master." Terra said as he and Ven approached them, with Xehanort not that far behind him. "None of use could've predicted that the trial going was going crazy."

"Or that it would drag both me and Roxas into it." Ven added in.

Eraqus looked on at all of his pupils and Roxas before letting out a sigh.

"If that is the case then I have nothing to apologize for except for allowing the exam to continue on when things started to get out of control. I believe even then you all would say it still was not my fault." Eraqus said with a small smile.

"We would." Terra said simply and getting nods from the other apprentices.

"Very well if that is how you all feel then allow me to say that the both of you passed this trial." Eraqus said. Both Terra and Aqua gave curt nods to their master, both knowing there was still more after this. Ven was excited that both of his friends had passed the first trial while Roxas just smiled at them.

"While what happened with the trial was unexpected, but the both of you showed that you could keep a still heart even in this situation. You both had preformed commendably." The Keyblade Master said before pulling out some more Ether and some Potions and handing them to Aqua and Terra. "The both of you will need these to move restore your strength for when the final trial begins."

"Thank you Master." They both said before proceeding to drink the healing substances. Eraqus produced two more Potions and an Ether before handing them to Ven and Roxas.

"You two also preformed commendably and if the both of you were taking the Mark of Mastery, then you would have also have passed." Eraqus complimented the blond Keyblade wielders.

"Thank you Master/Eraqus." Both Ven and Roxas said respectfully before the both of them began to drink their Potions.

Eraqus just smiled at this before speaking.

"All of you have done well with what happened during the trial. But if it had not changed you all would have still passed, but the only one who truly completed it was Roxas." He said.

This caught them all, even Xehanort by surprise. Roxas just spit out some of his Potion in surprise.

"What do you mean?" The Nobody asked while everyone else wanted to know.

Eraqus let out a small chuckle at their reactions before continuing.

"In the orbs what you expierenced was the second part of the trial. It was made to disorient a Keyblade wielder's senses of sight and sound, but not to the level that you faced. To also increase the difficulty when the orbs where in that formation, they would be immune to air and fire magic causing those trapped in to find a creative solution to get out of there. You did just that with a spell that I haven't seen before and finished off the orbs with a creative use of Thundara. All I can say is your performance was spectacular and that any Keyblade Master would be proud to have you as an apprentice." Eraqus said proudly before noticing the looks on both of the blond's faces.

"I take it from the look on Ventus's and your's faces that you have accepted my offer?" He inquired and everyone's attention was focused on the young blond.

"I decided to tell you that I've accepted your offer after the exam. I only told Ventus about it when he asked." Roxas said, a little uncomfortable with all the attention on him, especially Xehanort.

The next thing he knew was that he was drawn into another hug by Aqua, only this time there was no bones being cracked this time. Before he could see her reaction, he felt his hair being ruffle by Terra.

"We were hoping that you would take Master's offer Roxas, it would be nice to have someone else then Ven to practice with." He said as he stopped ruffling the now youngest apprentice's hair. Ven tried to say something, but Terra beat him to it.

"You said the same thing yesterday Ven and the answer is still the same." The oldest apprentice finished with a smirk, causing Ven to sigh.

Roxas and Aqua could only chuckle at their antics until Xehanort cleared his throat. Everyone's attention was now focused on the elderly Keyblade Master.

"Well I must congratulate you on getting yourself such an excellent apprentice Eraqus, need I remind you the Mark of Mastery is still going on and there is still one more trial to complete. So I suggest that the time for celebration be after everything is over." He said calmly..

Eraqus could only nod as his old friend was right.

"As much as I wish to celebrate this joyous occasion, the Mark of Mastery comes first. We shall begin the final trial in a few moments, so get into your positions." He said while Xehanort began to walk back to the thrones. He then turned to both of the young blonds. "Roxas, Ventus If you have anything to say to Terra and Aqua you better make it quick." With that Eraqus began his trick to the stairs.

Ven looked at his fellow apprentices before smiling at them.

"Good luck you two, I'm rooting for the both of you." Ven said to the eldest apprentices before he went over to the viewing area.

Roxas managed to slip away from Aqua's grip before turning to face them. Before he could say anything Eraqus beat him to it.

"It is begin the final trial. Aqua, Terra, get to your positions. Roxas clear out of the way." The Keyblade Master said.

Roxas just sighed at that. Before he could head over to Ven, he felt someone put their hand on his shoulder. Turning to see who it was he saw that the hand belonged to Terra, who was smiling at him along with Aqua.

"If your worried that you did not saying anything to us, well don't be." Terra said.

"You along with Ven supporting the both of us is all we need for this." Aqua added in.

Roxas thought about it for a second, before answering back with a smile of his own.

"Aright then. If that is all then the next time I talk to you is after the exam. When you two are both Keyblade Masters." He said cause Terra to chuckle and Aqua to giggle a bit.

"Who knows, but I do know that the both of us look forward to talking to you after the exam. So just run over to Ven and go watch the exam." Terra said as he let go of Roxas. The young blond only nodded before he ran over to Ven.

"Hey Aqua, can I asked you something?" Terra asked after Roxas joined up with Ven.

"What is it?" She inquired before seeing Terra's outstretched out.

"Just incase only one of us becomes a Keyblade Master, no hard feelings incase the other doesn't make it." He said with a smile, before Aqua returned it and shook hands with him.

"Alright then. If one of us fails to become a Master, then there is always next year." Aqua said as they began to head back to the middle of the room.

"Well in that case then it is probably going to be difficult, because if I know Master then one of us will probably have to contend with either Ven or Roxas next year." Terra said getting Aqua to nod at that as they continued their walk in silence from

A few moments later. They were in their respective positions and Roxas immediately pieced together what the final trial was.

It was a trial by combat.

"When two powers of the same level clash, then the true nature of their hearts are revealed." Eraqus said before summoning his Keyblade. "Are you ready!"

"Yes Master!" Aqua and Terra responded while getting into their stances and summoning Keyblades.

"Then let the final trial commence!" Eraqus shouted before letting lose a streamer of light and the two began to clash.

It had been a few minutes since the final trial started and no one had lost any ground.

Terra and Aqua were matching each other blow for blow and spell for spell. It was truly a clash of equals.

While they kept their clash up, Roxas took sometime to ask Ven on details he didn't know of including some of the techniques and spells that he was unfamiliar with and the names of the apprentice's Keyblades.

Ven, knowing that his friend and now fellow apprentice was lacking most of the knowledge that they had learned was more then happy enough to oblige. He even asked some questions of his own, mainly like what was his friend's home world like. From the sounds of it, Twilight Town was a pretty cool place and he came up with an idea from hearing about the clock tower.

"Hey Roxas, one day do you think that all of use could go up to the clock tower and watch the sunset?" Ven inquired. It actually sounded like a pretty good idea for all of them to do. Just hanging out watching the sunset while eating sea salt ice cream. From the way Roxas had described his favorite thing to eat, it sounded delicious. Although Terra would probably suggest to put more salt then called for on his. He didn't like anything that tasted sweet.

Roxas thought about it for a moment, before shrugging in reply.

"I don't really see much of a problem with it, but you would have to ask Eraqus about your idea to see if it is okay with him." Roxas answered, getting a sigh from the other blond.

"I kind of figured you would say that, but is the most sensible option to do. I think that maybe I should ask him a few days after the exam." Ven said, getting another shrug from the Nobody.

"I'd say go for it, but I can't guarantee that Eraqus would agree with it." He said simply. Ven could only sigh as there was a good possibility that his Master would refuse.

Their conversation ended when while Terra and Aqua were dueling, she unleashed a salvo of bubbles at Terra faster then any kind of spell he had ever tried before. The eldest apprentice managed to dodge or block most of them, but he was hit quite a few times. Yet after Aqua ended her spell, Terra caught her off guard with a Strike Raid. He then caught his Keyblade and the two of them resumed their duel.

"Hey Ven, what kind of spell was Aqua using? I've never seen anything like that before." Roxas asked his fellow blond, astonished at how fast she kept launching those bubbles at Terra. He wondered if he could ask her to teach him that.

"Actually Roxas that wasn't a spell, but actually a Shotlock." Ven said, getting a confused look from Roxas.

"What's a Shotlock?" The younger blond inquired.

Remembering that his friend had probably never heard of one until now decided to explain.

"A Shotlock is a basic technique that compresses energy at the tip of your Keyblade. Then you aim it at you target so it doesn't fire randomly and let it go. It is actually a pretty strong technique and you can improve it by learning or making a strong Shotlock." Ven said, while seeing Roxas nodding at it.

'So it is like Sora's Ragnarok, except for it might be a Shotlock that Sora learned on his own.' Roxas thought. While he had knowledge on the technique, the Nobody never really had the chance to practice it as he had only learned it when he was still connected to Sora. Even then, it was one of his Somebody's most advance techniques and it had taken him to around his fight with Xaldin to actually perfect it.

So he figured it would be better to learn how preform a Shotlock before trying Ragnarok.

"So do you think you can show me how to use a Shotlock someday?" Roxas asked. Ven thought about it for a few moments before answering.

"Sure why not." He said, getting Roxas to smile.

"Thanks Ven." The Nobody said.

"No problem Roxas." Ven answered back.

Their conversation ended when Roxas felt a sudden burst of darkness in the room. At first he thought it was Xehanort's accomplice in the room again, but when he looked at the source he was surprised.

Terra had some darkness surrounding his hand. He noticed it and quickly dispelled it. Just in time to block another hit from Aqua.

Once he regained his composure, Roxas decided to get a read on the eldest apprentice's heart.

It was almost balanced with there being a bit more darkness then light, with the only oddity being the immense strength of his darkness. But it was kept in check by the light of his heart, which was almost as strong as the darkness within it.

"That is enough." Eraqus said, breaking the Nobody out of his musings.

Terra and Aqua stoped their Keyblades midswing and immediately dispelled them. They then proceeded to turn to their Keyblade Master, who was right next to Xehanort.

"We have seen the true nature of your hearts and now is the time to judge that either one of you have the Mark of Mastery. Xehanort and I will debate on the results, so until we come to a concensus you shall wait were you are." Eraqus said, before summoning up a barrier and began to converse with Xehanort.

(Chapter 19 end)