Aqua had been struggling in the Castle of Dreams for way too long. It wasn't that the monsters…Unversed if she remembered correctly, were too strong. On their own they weren't all that difficult to take out at all. What made them difficult was the sheer numbers. The small blue ones, she called them Floods in her head, didn't even require magic to kill. But when there were suddenly dozens of Floods, she was less ready to take them down and more inclined to flee, which was why she was currently panting outside of the chateau Lady Tremaine and her two daughters lived in.
Logically, she knew that an old woman and her two daughters wouldn't be a threat, but with how dark they were there was the potential for them to summon Unversed, or the creatures of old she'd read about in her history books. Unwilling to take on such hoards in mass, Aqua was left at an impasse. She could continue to try to pit herself against the Unversed in the forest, and risk them overwhelming her, or she could face the chance of battling a hoard of Unversed summoned by confronting those who acted in the interest of darkness. Neither were appealing.
She sat down on the edge of the fountain, trying to catch her breath and determine which of the options was more likely to keep her alive. Just as she was about to head into the house, she noticed a treasure chest, near the forest's entrance, but not enough where it would cause her to run into anything. "That's odd…"
Aqua tapped the Keyblade's tip onto the chest, expecting it to open and provide some kind of reward. Rather than opening to reveal some kind of goodie, the chest opened up into a cloud of darkness, revealing a spider like Unversed chest. As the chest went towards her, Aqua raised her Keyblade, sending a blast of fire at the creature and watching it go down in one hit. It was almost too close for comfort. "I can't believe I let an Unversed sneak up on me…what would the Master say…"
He wouldn't have necessarily been disappointed, but she certainly was in herself. Either way, the creature was gone, and that meant she was safe to puzzle her dilemma out. She went in the direction of the chateau once more, intending to simply confront Lady Tremaine for her safety, when she heard a sound behind her. She turned back around once more to see the chest had returned to its former position. Unlike last time, she could see the small shaking of it, as though something wanted to break out.
As she watched the movement, an idea began to form in Aqua's head, a way for her to get stronger and ensure survival at the same time…
She summoned her Keyblade once more. It was time to train.
Written in tribute to the only thing that kept me alive in both my BBS playthroughs.
Might write a part two. If I do, it'll be Vaniqua. But for now, this is all I got.
Thanks for reading!
~Foreteller Ava/Nicole Peach