The Realm of Darkness was shockingly calm. It unnerved me, but Tanith did not seem to be bothered by it too much, or the girl was hiding how she truly felt. She was so much more upbeat than me. "So, what exactly do you want to talk about? You know, to pass the time," Tanith asked.
"I don't really know." I wondered about Sora. My mind was all over the place right then, but I understood why. Being in the Realm of Darkness could change the person completely. If he could save Terra, Ventus, and I, I would forever be indebted to him.
"Um, you haven't really told me very much about Terra. Who is she exactly, Aqua?"
"Terra is a man."
"Oh...oh. That must be embarrassing."
"When we were kids, I use to joke about it all the time," I told her. "Even Ventus used to tease him about it and his pants. Oh, his pants were truly ridiculous, and I think Terra has no sense of fashion at all. Once Ventus stole his pants and pretended it was tent. He got a little annoyed by the both of us. Or at least he used to...I don't really like talking about Xehanort...and what he did to us." Tears started to rain down, and I tried to stop them. It was hopeless though.
"I guess I really shouldn't bring it up."
"No, it's alright. I'm just being emotional, that's all."
"If something bad happened to Lea, I would be the same way as you. Really, my little bro is my pride and joy," responded Tanith. "Xehanort better not touch a single hair on his head, or I'm going to go all out on him. He'll be sorry way before I'm done with his punishment." The ground started to shake.
"What, an earthquake? I haven't ever really experienced one here before," I commented, trying to keep my balance. "They might just be rare here though."
"Aqua, look behind you." When I turned around, I saw a giant heartless behind me. It was like the three that tried to kill me earlier, but it was bigger than them.
"Remember, Aqua, you've to win this for Ventus and Terra. You can't give up like you did back there," I notified myself. "You just have to not lose sight of the light hidden in the darkness." When it attempted to smush me, I cartwheeled out of the way of it's gigantic hand. The shockwave of it still made both Tanith and I fall.
"Climb up his arm!" she yelled. Then, heeding her advice, I quickly double jumped to the thing's arm and sprinted as fast as I could. I was then on his shoulder.
"Now it's time that you faced the rage of the keyblade!" I shouted. Then I aimed my Mega Flare at it's face, and it started to burn. I jumped down, casting reflect to break my fall.
"Um...Aqua, I didn't think that worked as well as you hoped." The creature was still standing. It was swinging his arms around like a maniac, looking for something to destroy. With that in mind, I started to prepare my shotlock, Prism Rain, and aimed it on my enemy's face.
"This can hopefully do the trick then." At where I was standing, I began to shoot rays of light at the being. The thing wailed an inhuman sound as I continued to damage him. I still remember how its shrieks made our ears ring.
"Do you really think that will actually kill this thing off?"
"Well, I killed big heartless before, so this should do the trick." After Ventus and Terra rescued me, I improved everything about myself. I still did not feel like I was a Master though.
"This one might be unique, Aqua, so don't get too cocky now."
"I'll keep that in might." When I finished my attack, I stopped and studied the heartless for a bit. This one was not disappearing like the rest.
"Should we go check on it?"
"No, we should keep our distant. If that didn't work, this thing is beyond us. Let's just keep on walking and hope it doesn't catch us again," recommended I. Tired, I moved slower than Tanith did, but I was not dead weight. We only made it about three feet away until I felt a strong pain in my back.
"Crap, Aqua!" She then took my body, and Tanith darted with me in her arms. "I just need a safe place to heal you!" Then, before she could do anything, another one of those beings appeared in front of us. I was just barely conscious from my wound.
"Give...me...the potion," I demanded sternly. Complying with my wishes, Tanith took the potion and poured the liquid inside my mouth. The pain was numbed, but I could still feel some of it. "I've...to live. For Ventus and Terra...they need me."
"Let me find a way to get out this situation." When one of them stomped their foot, Tanith dropped me and fell onto the floor. She tried to get up, yet then another shockwave forced her down again. "We're so hopeless."
"There has to be a way." Then one of them took me into its arms, and I honestly felt like it was over. I had failed my friends and Tanith. Out of nowhere, I noticed red lasers dropping from the sky. The heartless tried to stop them, yet the lasers made them cease to exist. That was when I noticed giant hearts coming one of all of them.
"What the...hell?" I questioned. "I'm...dumbfounded." Another figure in a black coat became visible to me.
"Hello, friend," said he in a chillingly deep voice. Before any of us could ask any questions, the man vanished into a corridor of darkness. I then fainted.
"You two would make the weirdest brothers." I started to laugh, but Ventus and Terra just stared at me. "What's wrong, you two, can't handle a little joke?" To my horror, both of their eyes became yellow like my last dream. Their smiles were ones of lunatics looking at their prey.
"Aqua...put an end to me," they demanded at the same time. Then they both pushed me off the cliff. When I looked up, I saw Tanith with them. One of her eyes was the same shade of that wicked yellow color.
"No!" I shouted. Tanith stared at me.
"Are you sure you're alright?"
"It's just nightmares, but they are terrifying. They're fake though."
"You know, dreams are your innermost mind trying to tell you something, or that's just a theory our beloved leader Ansem came up with," she voiced. The girl then came closer to me. "Hey, those heartless messed up your beautiful hair. Mind if I move it around a bit?
"Okay...you can fix it if you want." With that said, she moved some pieces of my blue hair that I could not see.
"Your hairline is all messed up. Since I can tell you're somebody that cares about her appearance, I thought I would tell you."
"Yeah, those boys used to make fun of how much time I spent in the bathroom, fixing my hair. Terra remarked that it shouldn't even take that long since it was shorter than his!" I reminisced, smiling.
"Your smile is so cute, you know." She moved away from me, and then sat back where she was. Her eyes were exploring the scenery around her. There were a few more of those white trees and a lot of those black and purple columns.
"Thank you, Tanith."
"Aqua, if you just think about it, put yourself out of this situation, the Realm of Darkness is actually quite beautiful to look at. I mean, I find it very pleasing to the eyes, but I can just be crazy from spending a lot of years down here."
"Hey, I have been here longer than you have," I reminded her. When I did what she said, I actually did find it pretty to look at. It was not as glorious at other worlds, yet it was not a pain to the eyes either.
"I know. It just seems like you're not the type of person that sits down and smells the roses, but you should do it once in a while. It makes you respect everything more, be closer to your surroundings," she educated me. Her words seemed relaxed and not forced.
"You're right about that. Master Eraqus just always instructed us to keep moving forward, take no breathers, and just try to complete your goal. I guess great men like my late Master could be wrong time to time." I observed the ground underneath me. Blacks and purples danced together, and they were so graceful, making a clear curvy line pattern.
"Should we continue moving?" questioned my companion. I nodded my head, and I rose myself from the ground at the same time as Tanith. "Just in case...cure!" She put cure on both of us. Because neither of us really needed it, the magic did nothing special.
"How do you do that anyways?"
"Oh...I don't like talking about it, but let's just say I got experimented on before I was banned from my world." The thought of Xehanort torturing people with 'experiments' made my skin crawl. I wanted to ask her more, but that would have been rude.
"So, do you like any boys? Perhaps Terra?" I blushed when she asked me this. This was followed by me shaking my hands in unison. A smirk was painted clearly on her face, and a chuckle ensued it.
"No, it isn't what you're thinking! I just get this way when somebody mentions boys to me."
"Oh really? Do you actually like Terra and his ridiculous pants?" questioned Tanith, clearly on the verge of laughter. She seemed to forget that we were in the Realm of Darkness.
"Do you like another?"
"I'm asexual, so you're stuck with this issue," she rapidly replied. The smirk still decorated her pale face.
"No...I like this boy named Zack. Yeah, he's cute."
"Looks like Terra has some competition. Who would win the heart of the lady? Will team Zack or Terra win? If you want to know, then bail us out of the Realm of Darkness," announced Tanith. She was waving her arms like a mad woman and making a huge show.
"You seem to forget that we're in a serious place right now."
"Who says you can't have fun and lighten up the mood? With all the chaos that's around here, some comedy can keep our sanity from slipping down the drain," Tanith responded while playing around with a little piece of her red hair.
"I guess you're right."
"Stop being so stern all the time. I know that you faced a lot of shit, but who hasn't? You can't let the darkness around you get to you, you know."
"I guess so." To find hope, I took out my Wayfinder and looked at the shiny blue glass. A smile creeped its way onto my face. All of the happy memories with Ventus, Terra, and Master Eraqus flowed into my mind, so I could see all of their smiles as well. I even thought about Zack and the date he promised me.
"Thinking about Zack I presume? Oh, Zack, wherever you are, somebody is looking forward to dating you!"
"You know me too well," I said, laughing a little bit. Zack's warmups were actually quite hilarious to think about.
"Wait, what's that?" She then pointed at something, and I turned around just in time in catch a glimpse of it. The thing was yet another man in a black coat. "Are those things the new fashion statement or something? If so, then the worlds certainly have changed since we got here."
"It's a little odd that everybody is wearing them. Do you think they protect people from the darkness or something like that?" pondered I. That would make a lot of sense, but then what was the deal with that mysterious figure? Does it belong to some type of organization or something?