The Realm of Darkness, compared to the other realm on the other side of the door, was so vast and dark. It was such a peculiar place where the laws of physics generally didn't apply. I often passed by streams of water spiraling through the air, but they were locked in time. The little droplets were frozen in place, too, and shattered like ice at once when my fingertip tapped them.
On the subject of time... I became more doubtful the more I wandered through the dark realm. Although my body frequently cried for rest, I hadn't the desire to sleep. Counting the seconds, or what should have been seconds, nothing seemed to fit in place. It became apparent when days ticked by. Soon came the time when I finally stopped counting.
Much of the landscape was ravaged, but by what? It was like an earthquake ruptured the earth. I had a feeling it was something more than that, though. There just had to be something more to it. One thing was for sure. I needed to be careful around the more unstable paths, or else I'd be falling into the deeper abyss again. My memory dreaded recalling the moments of falling off ledges into the lower zones of the Realm of Darkness. The progress made in finding a potential way out was reset numerous times.
Perhaps the worst of it was the presence of Heartless. A lot of them were just the typical Shadow, but I learned that there were far more powerful types in this place. Core Heartless, which utilized a particular element such as fire and water. Among them were other new types, like one resembling a flapping umbrella; I called it Fluttering. The worst of the worst was undoubtedly the Demon Tower.
But it was during that encounter when I found something peculiar within the abyss of darkness. I never thought to find it in such a place, but I did.
A light.
...Sometime ago...
"Grah!" Kara grunted and rolled several feet away as a hostile swarm of Shadows crashed into the ground. The impact sent ripples that knocked her over. Dark spikes shot out from the ground, grazing her arms and legs.
For a while now, she was being pursued by the Demon Tower. It found her no matter how far away she ran. Pelting it with a variety of spells did some damage but not enough. She eventually found herself being cornered by the Heartless monstrosity in a matter of moments. Not even Guardian was able to fend off the massive enemy despite being strengthened by the realm.
"It's... not enough..." Kara whimpered as she knelt down to catch her breath. Searing pain shot through her body from the rush of a one-sided battle. With no way to more effectively fight back, the situation was looking bleak. The enhanced darkness drove her back into a disadvantageous position. Guardian hovered protectively over Kara with a cold his aimed at the looming tower. The silver-haired girl groaned and clamped her eyes shut. "What are we gonna do?"
It happened suddenly and in a streak of flashing light. Gasping in surprise, Kara witnessed the Demon Tower being defeated by a single strike. The Heartless faded away, leaving her to question what had just happened. She was saved?
"What?" she blinked a couple of times. "Is it really gone?"
"You okay?"
I took in a breath and shook my head. After that happened, I never got to put a face to my apparent hero. Only that person's voice. It was a woman. Someone I don't think I ever met before. Yet, in spite of not knowing who it was, a feeling of comfort made me relax. I wasn't worried anymore.
Things just got even weirder after that, however, when a tiny bird made of fire started flying around me all of a sudden. It came out of nowhere. Not a Heartless. The fire bird was nothing like the ordinary ones back home. This one was made of pure magic.
The bird made me follow it down an uncharted path. Something about it repelled the lurking Heartless, making it a safe exploration. And whenever I got a bit too far behind, the gentle glow it gave off was always there to guide me. I wasn't lost anymore.
"Whoa," I breathed, discovering a vast and open body of water in front of me. It might have rivaled the ocean of Destiny Islands.
The bird led me straight to a shore with coarse grains of sand and boulders varying in size scattered all over. Reflecting off the murky water was a lesser light from the moon in the sky. It was still dark and gloomy, but I felt a strange sense of calm. It might have been the little bird sitting on my left shoulder that did it.
I was surprised and admired the fascinating view with great interest. But, as I sat down on a mid-sized boulder nearest to the water, the bird flew off my shoulder and went away. My eyes observed until it swiftly cut around a wall of rock. I let it go even though I was incredibly curious. What could it be doing behind that rock? Did it have a magical nest, too?
My curiosity only burned more when the bird flew back to me and landed in my hands. It chirped and sung a sweet song.
"So, you made it in one piece." A gentle voice echoed from the other side of the shore, where the bird went to just a second ago. My head shot up and I jumped to my feet. The sudden chatter startled me, but the tiny creature in my palm was unbothered. Seeing my distress, the approaching stranger slowed to a halt and raised a hand. "No need to be afraid. I'm... a friend."
"You aren't a Heartless?" I asked. "Who are you?"
Standing opposite of me was a crimson-haired woman with bright blue eyes. Her hair was in a short bob with a long strand framing the right side of her face, cupping her narrow chin. She was obviously older, maybe a few years older than myself. What strange attire she had. The black and red wristbands she wore weren't exactly ordinary either. Rather, they were armored.
Although she wasn't a daunting sort of person by looks, I felt strange standing face to face with her. There was something oddly familiar about this woman. I couldn't shake the feeling that I knew her from somewhere.
"My friends call me Igni," she introduced herself. The fire bird made its place on the length of her index finger, as if that was home. Igni, so she called herself, smiled at the bird and giggled. "And you did well to take care of her. Thank you."
"Um, I'm Kara," I nodded to her.
The bird was gone after being absorbed into her hand. So, it was an entity of magic after all. Created by this person who I conversed with.
Igni sighed and sat down in the grainy sand. The smile she wore was replaced by a deep frown. I tilted my head to the side, concerned by the expression I saw. She motioned for me to sit, too, so I seated myself next to her.
"You must have gone through so much in the Realm of Light to have ended up here, Kara," she said, looking up at the water.
"I-I guess you can say that." I laughed sheepishly, thinking back to everything that happened before. "It's a long story."
"A long story, huh?" Igni raised a brow, half smiling at me. "I've got an awful long story to share with you myself. Have you got the time to sit with me for a little while?"
"Yeah, I can listen."
Our first meeting at the beach in the Realm of Darkness became the moment we really bonded as friends. We sat there for what felt like hours. The story of my life on the islands with my friends, and all that came after. Sharing what I remembered reminded me of the trials I went through alongside the others and of the promises that were made. The happiness and sadness all meshed together. It was a real experience.
Igni shared hers after me. She couldn't tell me much about where she grew up as a child, but there was a world she felt was her real home. It was a world I never did see or hear of before. There were three friends she had back there, too, just like how I have Riku, Sora, and Kairi.
"Out there, I explored worlds just like you," Igni continued with her story. She paused a moment and held her hand out in front of her with her palm facing the distant horizon. I was shocked multiple times when there was a flash of light in her hand. But, Igni only frowned at the sight of it. "I wielded the Keyblade alongside my friends to save the worlds from the darkness. As you can see, it didn't turn out so well."
"You can wield a Keyblade?!" I gasped, my jaw nearly hitting the ground. The Keyblade was just like Sora's, but the gold and silver colors were switched.
"For as long as I can remember," she replied in a low tone. "It's my dream to become a True Keyblade Master. I don't suppose that'd be possible here. That dream can only become real if I surround myself with light. Heroes don't dwell in darkness, you know."
"Ah..." I pulled my knees close and nodded. Looking at my own hands, I saw no flash of light. All there was with me was indeed the darkness. My own darkness. "That's true."
"Can we even get out of this place?"
My question was accompanied by a stray tear rolling down my cheek. I quickly wiped it away before Igni could see it, but she must have noticed. The look on her face was one of sadness and sympathy. I felt bad for being so negative, but it was so hard to be more optimistic in this situation.
Igni turned her head away and spoke in a near whisper, "If the heart desires it, then it will happen."
I swallowed the lump in my throat and glanced over to Igni. She was focused on the Keyblade in her left hand.
"The honest seeker of light will only find light," she murmured. "That's why this Keyblade is as it is- the Light Seeker. It was what I wanted, though my efforts turned out to be failure, and I fell into darkness. Although my friends have a piece of me in their hearts, I might not get to see them again."
She paused and stood up. "But, that doesn't mean you should be forced into the same fate."
I didn't know immediately what she was talking about. It didn't make a lot of sense to me, but my heart felt it to be true. I'd come to find out what it meant at some point, if I had the chance to ask her about it. But when Igni extended her hand to me, for me to take, I thought nothing of it. I thought it was just a promise that we'd both get out of there together to see our friends.
Little did I know, I ended up by myself again. The time that she had left in the Realm of Darkness as my friend was a lot shorter than expected. She faded away, and her light still burned in my palm- the sign of our promise.
Shortly after that did a peculiar light shine down around me. It enveloped me with a blanket of warmth and care. The feeling that I missed had finally returned; it was whisking me away to where I hoped to be. But, I wished that my new friend would have been able to go with me. She had a dream, after all, but she never got to see it through. I had a couple of things to remember her by, though. Perhaps they were the key to meeting her again.
The words she left with me bounced around in my head and heart as I rose into the light.
"May your heart be your guiding key..."