Hey, fellow readers! Continuing on this train, let's see what we got:
First, I recently put this in the summary, but this is an AU story. That ends that question. But, only I know what's gonna happen, so yeah.
Second, I tried to keep Aqua from being on the sidelines the entire time, but I admit on getting carried away with Ragna's little story. I read the review that mentioned how his past is gonna be shown to Aqua, so I thought the mirror world was a good time. Unfortunately, I didn't realize how much I missed for Aqua's development until the near end. I apologize for that so don't worry, Aqua will get the spotlight for the next couple of chapters.
Third, I am loving the discussions you guys are having. True, the games are confusing when it comes to power scaling and the anime is not a good source, but I really wished they had more concrete information. I would mention the mangas and novels, but I read that they take place at different timelines which again altered the power scaling, I believe. Either way, I do want to make his growth in power and skill feel genuine, him earning them instead of plot convenience.
All right, let's go!
Chapter 7: Trapped in Nightmares
The two now find themselves in a rather thorny forest with thick trees surrounding them as they stood up.
"Well, we're out of the mirrors. Though, I didn't expect a forest with trees like this." Ragna commented.
"What were you expecting?" Aqua questioned.
"Something more... dead."
"...I wouldn't be surprised, actually."
"Do you know where we are now?"
Aqua looked around as she walked a bit, "These thorns... this is Enchanted Dominion."
"Enchanted?" He raised an eyebrow at that part.
"Well, a sorceress named Maleficent used these thorns when I fought her alongside Prince Phillip." She explained.
"Prince, huh? Sounds more like a knight when you said that."
As Aqua was about to speak again, she paused upon seeing something in the distance. Ragna noticed this and looked at where she was looking, only to see nothing.
"Is there an enemy?" He asked, ready to pull out his sword.
"...Huh, no. I thought I saw someone." She answered, confusing him.
"Someone?" He repeated, making sure he heard right.
"Yeah. Come on." Aqua then walked towards to where she saw it, with Ragna following closely in case of an ambush.
They walked further in, passing by bushes and avoiding the thorns that were wrapped around the trees. Aqua watched for any movement, only to see a tall figure behind a tree briefly before disappearing. She sped up for a moment, hoping to catch the figure in time, only to see nothing.
"What's the sudden rush?" Ragna asked when he caught up right after.
"...I saw him." Aqua said, confusing Ragna again.
"Saw who?"
"...Terra."
Ragna looked at her in concern, "You mean your friend you saved from being here instead of you?"
"Yeah... you're right. That makes no sense if he was." She then sees movement again, now from a smaller figure that she quickly ran to catch.
"Wait, Aqua!" Ragna called out as he ran after her. "What's gotten into her now?" He thought as he dodged the thorns to catch up.
The two soon find themselves in a clearing where she stopped, frantically looking around.
"What is it now!?" Ragna asked, now very concerned at this point.
"Ven! Ven is here!" She answered.
"First, why? Second, how?"
Aqua didn't answer, she kept looking around until she finally slowed down.
"Exactly. I'm sure he's safe too." He said, reassuring Aqua.
"Yes... yes." Aqua simply responded back.
"Aqua... how long do you think you have been here?"
She looked saddened at the question, looking down at the ground as she answered. "I don't know, but it feels like... years now."
"Years?" He muttered.
The thought of spending years in what could be compared as hell in other universes, fighting for survival to get out... that would make anyone go crazy at that point.
"I honestly believed I saw them..." He heard her say, her voice sounding on the verge of tears. "I miss them so much..."
Ragna put his hand on her shoulder, "Come on, no need for that. There are better places to cry."
Aqua glanced over her shoulder to see Ragna with a look of understanding in his eyes, "Save those for when we get out."
She blinked and quickly wiped her eyes for any that leaked out, "Right. I came this far, it can wait longer."
He moved his hand away as he walked past her, "There you go. But first, we need to find a way out of this forest."
Suddenly, a huge thorny vine grew sideways in front of Ragna, making him stop and blocking the way forward.
"Great, it's sentient." Ragna muttered in annoyance.
Aqua then swung her keyblade at the vine, cutting it down before disappearing. "My guess is that it wants a trim."
Ragna lets out a small chuckle, "Didn't think you're one for jokes."
As they continued down the path, more thorny vines tried to block their way as well, only to be cut down by their blades. The terrain wasn't so simple as well, now having tall cliffs and steep pits that branch off into more paths.
"Great. Which way?" Ragna asked as they came upon two similar paths covered in thorns.
Aqua looked at both for a bit before seeing her friends standing with their backs turned on the path to the right.
"This way." Aqua answered, going down the right path with Ragna following shortly after.
As they traversed deeper, they find themselves having to go on tree trunks in the more narrow places in order to progress. Aqua used her magic to slide across while Ragna able to keep up quite well thanks to his special training with Master Jubei. As they reached the end of another narrow path, they find themselves in a small clearing with another path ahead, only for a giant humanoid creature to appear between them and the way forward.
"Huh, giant ones now? I faced bigger." Ragna remarked.
"I faced a titan made of ice. This is smaller in comparison." Aqua said, remembering her battle from the coliseum.
"Really?"
"Along with the god of the underworld too."
"And facing gods, too? It just never ends..." He mumbled the second part as he then noticed the monster about to attack with its fist.
"Heh, bring it." He taunted.
"Wait, wha-"
The monster's fist swung at Ragna at full force, the impact causing a strong gust to blow and the terrain to crack... only for Ragna to not only still be standing, but actually caught the fist.
"Now, go!" Ragna ordered.
"Uh, right!" Aqua then hopped on the arm and ran down it to then deliver a quick swipe to the head, stunning it as it fell back.
"Not yet!" Ragna yelled as he pulled the fist back, causing the monster to slam against the trees next to it.
Aqua then summoned Thundaga, shocking the monster as Ragna ran, running up the cliff to then jump off and performs Nightmare Edge for a finisher, going down the back and through the heart-shaped hole in its torso before it disappeared. Ragna puts away his sword as the mist absorbs into his right arm.
"How did you do that?" Aqua questioned.
"That? Well, when you faced opponents not only bigger, but also stronger, you learn a trick or two. The Red Devil can handle this guy." The mist disappeared as he turns towards her, "It was also a test."
"Test?"
"After we left the mirror world, I felt my strength had returned. Guess my reflection got it somehow." Ragna theorized.
"Is that why you kept using, what was it, Blood Kain?" Aqua wondered.
Ragna turned his head towards her, "That's half of it, the other was some sort of instinctive reflex. Felt like I was back at square one during that."
"Well, that's good to know. Though, tell me when you do something like that again. Recklessness like that can get us both in trouble."
Ragna shrugged at that, "I've been told that a lot."
Aqua then turned towards the path to again see her friends the same way as before, "Let's go." She said as she heads off.
Ragna noticed how she goes, acting like she's kinda in a hurry whenever she looks at a path. He decides to hold off for now and followed her as they went deeper. He then sees that as they went further in, the surroundings look more like a cavern instead of a forest.
The two hopped on another narrow path that has a tree trunk to go across, only to find themselves ambushed by more of the humanoid giants from earlier.
"Don't waste time with them!" This time, Aqua called this out.
Ragna was a bit curious at the order since they took care of one, but he knows numbers can make a difference. The giants swung their fists down at them as they passed them, breaking the long trunk on impact, only for the two avoiding the attacks by jumping at the right time. It took a bit, but they reached the end that lead to a clearing surrounded by thick thorny vines placed like trees. They noticed there are about five paths ahead, covered by crimson red vines as they felt like they were being watched.
The two saw an image of dark orange eyes briefly appeared in between the thorns, floating kinda like a-
"Please, don't be what I think it is..." Ragna nervously thought as he observed the eyes.
Fortunately, his thoughts were put at ease as the eyes started to growl and moved at a faster pace, appearing to jump from tree to tree until it jumped out, the two leaping back to avoid the pounce as the monster landed. The beast stood at twice their height and had dark violet skin with crimson red claws for hands and feet, along with razor sharp spikes going down the back of the head and torso.
"Good, a beast." Upon saying this, he sees Aqua send a glare his way. "I mean... Oh no, a beast." He quickly followed up with a delivery that doesn't sell it.
"Nice to see you so concerned." Aqua sarcastically said in response as she summoned her keyblade.
Ragna looked at her with a small smirk, "Nice to see you sarcastic."
"Best to save that after this."
"Right. Ready when you are."
Soon after he said that, the monster jumped at the two, the pair jumped in separate directions to keep an advantage. Ragna was closer, going for a quick slash for damage, only to whiff as the beast was fast enough to dodge. Ragna then finds himself on the defense as the beast rushed him, forcing him to block the attacks before even attempting a counterattack. Luckily, he didn't have to do this long as Aqua launched a massive fireball, distracting the beast for Ragna to move and hit its target dead on.
When the embers faded, it actually didn't even leave a scratch on the beast as it turned towards Aqua.
"H-How!?" Aqua managed to say before the beast let out a roar.
Next thing she knew, it slammed its claws into the ground and unleashed a wave of flames rushing towards her. She summoned her barrier around her to block it, nullifying it as Ragna sent a Dead Spike its way, the head biting into the leg to stall it a bit. The beast screamed as it flailed a bit, then seeing the head and slammed its fist into it, taking it out right before another Dead Spike came out, grinding its teeth into the arm. The beast growled in annoyance as it moved its arm to get out.
"Now!" Ragna signaled, Aqua taking it as she fired a Blizzaga this time, hitting her target once again.
This time, it appeared to have done something as ice froze over most of the spikes and its right arm.
"Good, that's a st-" She was immediately cut off as she saw the ice shatter, the beast having to only flex the arm to break it and lets out a cold breath before sucking in air. Aqua noticed where it was gonna blow, right at Ragna.
"Move!" Aqua shouted.
Ragna caught on right as the beast let loose, a chilling blizzard blew right at him and left behind a path of crystal spikes. Luckily, Ragna managed to dodge and landed on his back, seeing that his left hand and leg are frozen.
"Shit." Ragna summed up his situation with one word as he tries to break it with his free hand, cracking it as he slammed his fist.
The beast noticed his predicament and started to stalk towards its prey, only for be violently shocked by a Thundaga from Aqua. She then ran over and used Esuna on Ragna, making the ice melt away.
"Thanks." Ragna said as he got to his feet.
The two then heard the beast roar as the electricity danced along the spikes on its back. Next thing they didn't expect, it actually got into a ball and roll right for them at great speed. The two jumped out of the way as the spiky ball rolled, turning sharply back around before bouncing high in the air and uncurling itself in the process. Electricity danced down to its claws as the beast slammed into the ground, simultaneously creating a crater on impact and unleashing a massive shockwave, thunderbolts shooting out of the ground towards the two.
"Get behind me!" Aqua ordered, which Ragna agreed to as he hopped back.
She then conjured a big barrier in front of her, blocking the streams of lightning for a few moments, but long enough before the bolts faded away. The barrier disappeared soon after as Ragna spoke.
"OK, enough of the magic. It looks like whatever you send at him, it can fire right back with that same attack."
"I realized that too. I wonder, it had to have faced magic users before to gain an immunity like this." Aqua said.
"Either others were down here before us or they can get this over time."
The beast growled fiercely as it got on all fours.
"Anyways, lay off the magic. Let's do it my way this time." He suggested.
"All right. Lead the way." She agreed.
The two then ran side by side, the beast charging soon after and swung down its claws, the two dodging in response before Ragna slammed his fist into the knee, stunning it.
"Now!"
"On it!"
The two then performed a cross combo, going fluidly into each hit before ending with a powerful blow that knocked it back. The beast quickly retaliated with a spinning tackle, the two narrowly dodging it as it then continued to attack with acrobatics, making them block and dodge respectively. The beast then jumped from tree to tree, keeping the two on their guard before launching itself like a rocket right at them.
"Move!" Ragna pushed Aqua out of the way right before the beast got to them, grabbing him in his clawed hand and burying it into the ground upon landing.
Out of anger, she activated her Ghost Drive and used Prism Rain, the multicolored orbs homing in fast on the enemy. She realized her mistake, only to have good fortune this time as the beast screamed in pain, raising its buried fist and threw Ragna at her. She teleported in time to catch him, landing safely before tending to his wounds, using Curaga as he shook his head.
"All right, we're getting somewhere." He muttered.
"Yeah. I found out it's not immune to my light magic." Aqua mentioned.
"Light magic? And that didn't come up earlier because..."
"...I... uh..." Were the only words that she let out as she doesn't know herself, making Ragna sigh.
"Whatever, we still can win. Give me a chance to get close, I won't waste it." He ordered.
"Right." Aqua then teleported away, reappearing and firing another Prism Rain upon its target for Ragna to close the distance. The beast tried to dodge, but the majority still tracked and hit on point, damaging it as Ragna charged dark energy into his sword. Unleashing a powerful swing, the energy created a wave that smacked its face to the ground...
"CARNAGE-"
The blade channeled more energy as he dragged it across the ground for the follow up-
"SCISSORS!"
A massive blast of darkness-shaped spikes stabbed the beast, greatly damaging the chest as it roared in agony before the attack faded into red orbs and entering Ragna, healing himself in the process. The beast staggered back as Aqua teleported around it, firing the orbs up to three times before landing in front of Ragna.
"Get ready!" Aqua called out as she had light surrounding her body.
Ragna then finds himself captivated as she started spinning like a ballerina, firing Pearl shots that again tracked the target to further damage the beast, making it back up with each hit. As she spun, Ragna can't help but think that she had such grace with her movements before she finished her dance, the beast falling to its knees as the wounds were emitting a black aura.
"That definitely did the trick." Next thing she knew, she heard clapping and turned to see Ragna was the source. "Uh, what's that for?"
"That was quite the show you put on, couldn't help it." He answered as he walked over to her.
"N-no need for that. That's just how I fight." She shrugged off as the two heard a growl.
They saw the beast forcing itself up to continue, leaping for a desperate attack as Aqua summoned a barrier. As the beast punched the barrier, time slowed down to show the barrier glow white before a magical blast fired, destroying the entire arm and part of the head before the beast went flying.
"Whoa!" Ragna said in shock before their enemy fell on the ground, motionless as the remains faded away.
"What was that?" He asked.
"Remember the barrier from before? I used an advanced spell that stored the energy from the attack. When used again... you saw the result." She briefly explained as her keyblade disappeared.
Ragna placed his sword on his belt as he processed that new information, "That's very handy." Is all he said about it before they heard the red vines pull away to open the paths. "Now, which way?"
Aqua again saw her friends, standing at the middle path and quickly walked towards it. "This way."
"OK, I have a question." He spoke up, walking in front of Aqua to stop her.
"What is it?"
"Is this your first time in this forest?"
She was a bit confused, "Yeah, why?"
"Well, you're acting like you've went through here all your life. On top of that, you noticed something and follow it immediately. What are you seeing?"
Aqua blinked once, then twice at his words. Was she the only one seeing them all this time?
"You mean... you don't see them?"
"See who?"
"...My friends."
Ragna again processed that, "Again... you do know they're illusions? For all you know, this could lead us into more death traps."
"...I know."
Ragna was now the one confused, "You know?"
"Yes... But at this point, I don't care what happens. I miss them! Illusions? What if they're actually leading us out, telling me that I have something to hold on to!? That hope is keeping me going, I'll take down anything that'll stand between that!"
Ragna listened as she spoke, observing her actions. It's obvious to tell she's determined to see the end, no matter how it comes down to it. He only smirked in response as he turned towards the path ahead.
"If that's how you feel, then let's continue through this hellhole. It's better than nothing."
Aqua looked at him before smiling and walked past him, "Thanks."
"That and I'll be able to tell you so if you're wrong." He muttered.
"What was that?" She asked.
"Huh? I didn't say anything." He quickly lied as he walked ahead.
Aqua shrugged it off as the two walked on to reach the end.
DONE! All right, after a long break, I finally finished this chapter. So, we reached the enchanted forest to again chase illusions. However, it appears to be helpful as their guide through the thorns. We'll see where this goes.
As for what I'm going for, it's already addressed in the story. I find it an interesting angle since she has been here for so long, her mind is definitely not untouched. I would be surprised that she hasn't gone mad, but in this series, going to hell is a normal visit to any world. Just that this has no clear exit.
Battle theme
Vs. The Anti-Elemental Beast: Hunter of the Dark (Great theme for a dweller of darkness)
Anyways, thanks for reading and see ya next chapter!