Chapter 1. Sounds in the dark.

Time passed by slowly; it had nowhere to run. Time had no capacity for fear and neither did it have anything or anyone to lose. It was just an observer of events that had taken place and those that had yet to come. However, here in the darkness, it felt different for nothing here existed quite the same way it did in the realm of light. Time's influence was limited except for the moments when it took its due in a swift and merciless manner.

So did Terra. The only thing he had, that still tied him to the physical world was the body that once was his. So he remained, waiting for the right moment to strike against Xehanort. Blow by blow, he would wrestle control over his body back from Xehanort. Here, in the darkness, he had already spent what seemed like an eternity preparing. He thought up different strategies, played out at least hundred scenarios of confrontations and thousands of battles. It was something only he, Terra, could do. No one else could destroy Xehanort from the inside, but him. And he would do it with joy.

In the beginning, he had thought differently. In the beginning, there had been only one purpose – to protect Aqua and Ven. He hadn't cared about the worlds or himself that much – even whether it was possible for his body to become rightfully his own once again. Moments of control over his flesh, mental fights that gave Xehanort headaches weren't enough, he longed for real control over his body. As if it was only that. In the beginning, he had to fight every day for his heart. The same as Aqua, same as Ventus. But then, at some point, after another encounter with Xehanort, his views had started to change. He began to look for a way to win this fight and he found it. The only question that remained was when Xehanort would come again to visit him, intending to destroy what was left of Terra's heart.

But he had learned to be patient. Nothing would stand between him and what he desired.

For who could even predict what was going to come? Not him, for sure. However, the darkness, that he had been so afraid to fall into once, was capable of giving him answers. And it did. It wasn't anything like a voice from within the darkness, no; it was a sense of understanding that came upon Terra. A realisation of how he could use the darkness inside Xehanort to his advantage. When a particle of darkness is destroyed, a particle of light is born to take its place. As he had slain the Unversed and rose in skill and strength before, he would regain his power once again.

Anything for his friends. And especially for Aqua.

He knew that she had endured a lot and seen more horrors than Ven after they had parted. She had been the one that had tried to stop Xehanort and release Terra. She had seen what he had become. Terra didn't exactly know what happened to her after that, but he had a feeling that the darkness surrounding Aqua was slowly starting to overcome her light. Maybe it was the magic of the Wayfinder that was meant to keep them all together. Maybe it was his intuition. Or maybe his perception of darkness had become so keen that any light stood out like a gem among the coal, it's purity like a beacon.

"It can't be. What are you doing here?" Her voice startled Terra, and had he been a physical creature, he probably would have stopped breathing without noticing it.

"Aqua?"

But where was she? No matter how hard he searched through the dust and dark, he could not see her. He only felt the presence of her light almost right next to him. He wouldn't ever mistake this light for anybody else for it and its owner had been engraved in his mind like nobody else.

But his search was futile. No matter where he moved, there was not a hint of the blue of her clothes or hair.

"You should be in the realm of light." So his hunch was correct. Aqua indeed resided within the realm of darkness. It was the only explanation.

"Same as you, Aqua. But I'm glad you're alive."

Aqua's response was rapid and emotional, but he could not understand her. She sounded tired and worried. As if she had lost all hope. Her voice…she really must have gone through a lot. Or maybe his words didn't reach her, stopped by Xehanort's will. Terra couldn't feel him now. It felt like they were completely separated, which was a feeling he hadn't had the chance to experience for a very long time.

"Aqua, can you see me? Me…and not Xehanort?" Terra was confused about what was happening. Was he perceiving something from the outside world or was his mind playing tricks on him? Or is it a game of darkness staged by Xehanort in order to finally get what he wanted – to completely destroy Terra?

"Why won't you say anything to me?" The pain in her voice was so strong that it almost tore his heart apart. He knew that he must not give in. He knew that the voice could be just an illusion, but what if it really was her? Terra repeated Aqua's name louder and louder until he was screaming his non-existent lungs out. He felt helpless to change anything. He could hear and feel her, but could do nothing. Even words of reassurance would not reach her. Aqua could not hear him.

But something else did.

Next thing he felt was being dragged down by some unseen force, a sensation of falling so realistic he screamed. The pressure on his non-existing body was so strong that even though it was impossible, he felt pain.

Terra's mind was torn between the way too real sensations that made him scream and the fact that he shouldn't be able to perceive any of it in his current state.

Thud!

Contrary to what he had expected, upon landing, Terra had to fight for each breath he took and his back ached beyond belief. A cold solid something under him – was it floor? – made him tremble like a leaf in the wind. However, above him he could only see the endless darkness. Even the whirl of dust he had been so used to was gone.

"What the heck is going on?" a whisper escaped his lips, so silent only he could hear it. Not that there was anyone else here. Or was there? The silence around him was so complete; you could never encounter it in the real world. Whatever this place was, with all of its all-too-real feelings, there was no way it was the realm of light. Was it still the realm of darkness? Might be, he didn't have that much knowledge about how the dark realm really worked. He had just the barest concept of how to fight or control the darkness in his own heart. All he knew was that for those in the realm of darkness nothing ever changed up until the moment they were destroyed.

But right now, no matter the reasons, he had to move or he risked freezing to death. It was hard. His body felt so heavy that all he actually managed was to roll on his side to look around and try to get an idea of where he was. He was, indeed, on the floor. Which was all there was. No walls, no light. Except for underneath the floor where something that resembled light orbs was embedded. It was also quite slippery and uneven, almost like ice but how can ice be black? Terra slowly put one hand on the floor – he couldn't see his body so he had to rely on his sense of touch, like a blind man. It was a bit creepy – seeing the solid concrete beneath him, the hidden lights in the depths, but not himself. When his palm reached the floor, he saw the contour of it on the floor. There was no texture or volume. Just a shape that shone with a vague soft orange light.

When he moved, the cold receded for a bit, so he continued the endeavour, no matter how hard it was. It seemed like eternity had passed by the time he finally stood up. His breathing was still heavy, the lungs gasping for air after the fall. He looked around once again, trying to see where to go from here on out. But it really seemed like the only thing that existed here was the floor. He could actually see the shape of his fallen body on the floor, so at least Terra had a sort of marker for where he landed.

"Well, it is better than nothing."

Yes, even his voice sounded different here in comparison to when he had his little confrontations with Xehanort inside his heart. It was hoarser and he felt out of breath even after the few short words. It was another interesting observation that only added more questions in his mind.

He made a few steps around and the floor responded with a sound that reminded Terra of the faraway desert world he and Aqua had once visited with Master Eraqus. In the bazaar of that world, a musician had played an instrument with a very similar sound. How was it called…Sitar?

One step was one note, each time different. Music made in the dark by his bare feet on the ice. He could hardly contain his mirth, imagining how this would look to a random observer. Not that anyone could get here. Or could they? Terra himself had somehow wound up here. And while he somehow sensed that it was connected to his heart chamber, this place was something else entirely. However, he had to act soon – it was becoming colder again.

He did realise that there was a pattern to the sounds. They seemed chaotic, but it felt like there was one sound that repeated more often than others. So Terra returned to the faintly glowing shape of his body and made another circle around. He also noticed that the glow had started to weaken. He had to figure out what to do next really fast, before the trace of the place he fell completely faded away.

A little more observation made it clear to Terra that at the place where his unseen body had connected with the floor, ice had melted and the melted substance – he couldn't call it water as it was too sticky – was the thing that actually glowed. He had no idea how to use this knowledge except noting that it really could be darkness specific ice, hence the dark colour.

While he made another circle, he finally started to figure it out. There was a road marked by the sound. As long as he stepped in the right direction the sound would be the same, but if he stumbled it would be different. Terra didn't know where the road would lead, but there was a whisper inside him that made him want to take that path.

He went on and on, trying his best to follow the right sound. He passed many light orbs underneath the ice till he came to a place where they were clustered in such big groups that the black ice looked like frosted glass under which the orbs moved in circles.

And then he saw it.

To be continued…

Author's note: Hello, everyone. As some of you have probably noticed, this is inspired by Fragmentary Passage. I completely fell in love with the atmosphere of the realm of darkness and definitely want to explore it more. While we have fought a lot of darkness creatures in the series, we have never had much chance to delve into darkness realm on its own. Therefore, this story will concentrate on the realm of darkness and fighting darkness with darkness. Probably some plot points will be a bit dark, but I am inclined to make a happy ending because I love Terra and Aqua way too much.

And, of course, Ven. You can expect some Teraqua, but not a heavy romance.

Thanks for reading and if you decide to stick around for the following chapters, welcome :)

P.S. Actually, this is the second version of this chapter, because now I've got myself a wonderful beta who is actually willing to make this sound like perfect English. Yay for her! However she hasn't written for years, her name on is HimikoChou.