The Blue Wayfinder
Chapter 14: The Nightmare
What had happened...? Everything was okay for a bit then it just all fell apart. Aqua's best friend was used against her. Are her friends her weakness...? Was she better off alone...? Was she better off giving up? It didn't matter anyway... Terra was gone... Ven was still sleeping and Aqua...
"I've failed..." She whispered.
She was floating downward through the darkness. She was falling, but there was no fear in her decent, she seemed at ease. Then she decided to shift her plunging position so that she was feet-first. Then suddenly, she hit solid ground, and she covered her eyes as the dark floor melted away to a bright stain-glass platform. It was Aqua's Dive to the Heart now. The Station was decorated with glass that included herself, her keyblade, and the three wayfinders in smaller circles in the center. The Mark of Mastery symbol outlined the circular platform as well. She looked around to see that she was all, alone at the moment.
"Why am I here...?" She groggily asked herself.
Then suddenly two pools of darkness appeared on the floor of the Station in front of her. The pools of darkness uplifted two beings: Ventus-Vanitas, with his dark, organic costume on, from one, and Terra-Xehanort in the other. Both of her possessed friends stood in front of Aqua, glaring her down with their cold golden eyes...
"Guys... Ven... Terra..." She reached out to them.
They both gave sinister smirks and evil glares as they stared her down with pity.
"Do you have what it takes Aqua? ...To combat the darkness... darkness itself...?" Ventus-Vanitas spoke in his hybrid voice.
"What...?" Aqua was at a loss for words.
"We will see if your resolve is still strong enough... or not..." Terra-Xehanort explained.
"Is this real? Or is this another nightmare?" She inquired.
"It's real for you, Aqua..." They both said in unison.
Play the Dread of Night Battle Theme on a second tab.
Aqua's possessed friends then turned all black then they dissolved until they were just ribbons of darkness. The ribbons of darkness quickly reformed into a new being... a dark being...
This dark figure was wearing a black coat with its hood up. Aqua couldn't see its face save for its disk-shaped red eyes. The Coat had magenta flame designs printed on the sleeves and around the bottom coattails. Then, Aqua noticed that same familiar blue symbol appear on the back of the Coated Figure. It now stared her down with deadly intent, ready for a battle... The fire within Aqua was finally reignited and she, in turn, summoned her keyblade.
"Whatever you are, real or not... I won't give up! I will never give up!" Aqua declared.
She charged at the dark creature and it instantly teleported away, and the Station was suddenly shrouded in a black mist. Aqua could see the Black Coat casually hovering towards her like a ghost as it was about to strike. The creature fired a spiny dark red ray of energy at her. She used her barrier to block the attack but the attack pooled beneath her and it began to drain her of her own energy. She quickly got out of the pool and used a cure spell on herself. She saw that the creature was encircling her like a tiger eyeing its prey. She charged at the Nightmare once more and actually performed a successful combo on her opponent, bashing it with her keyblade.
The creature seemed unfazed as it merely teleported to the other side of the Station. Suddenly, the creature grew long, sharp, dark-looking claws where its hands use to be. It came at Aqua like a feral beast, trying to slash at her over and over. Fortunately, Aqua was quick enough and light enough on her feet to avoid the creature's razor-sharp claws. The Black Coat then teleported and tried to slash at her from behind. Aqua was able to evade the attack by jumping above it in a great leap. Above it now, Aqua fired a triple fire spell at the creature, and all three fireballs hit their marks and engulfed the dark being in flames. Aqua landed back on the Station only to be aggravated to see the Black Coat step out of the flames like the fire had no effect at all on it.
"...How am I supposed to beat this thing?" She gritted through her teeth.
Then it came to her, this creature was darkness, so the answer must of been light! She pointed her keyblade upward and conjured a pinnacle of light to shine throughout the Station.
"LIGHT!" She summoned.
The attack worked! She could hear the creature scream in pain from the intense brightness, and it seemed that Aqua had won... until the Black Coat countered with a dark shockwave which engulfed the whole Station in more shadows. Aqua could barely see anything at all now, the darkness had snuffed out her keyblade's light attack and she was disoriented in the dark abyss.
Suddenly, the Black Coat dashed at her from the dark. Aqua could only make out the red eyes as it did a hit-and-run technique on her. Over and over, it kept striking her and retreating back in the darkness. Aqua performed another cure spell on herself, but she couldn't keep this up forever, she had to think of something else.
The creature was then about to attack again, but Aqua was ready and used her barrier to counter it. The counter left the Black Coat wide open and she took this chance to turn the tide of the battle! She engulfed her keyblade in light, and it shined brilliantly as it reflected off the stain-glass platform of the Station. She performed a long and successful combo on the creature, hitting every time, and dealing a massive amount of damage. The Black Coat was weakened, and it was staggering back to the center of the Station as its shadows and dark mist dissipated. Aqua then approached the creature and raised her keyblade once more. It was time to finish this...
"I think I understand now..." Aqua addressed the Black Coat. "Ever since my friends were possessed by darkness, I've felt like it was my fault that had happened to them... and I've been unsure of myself that I could save them because... I allowed darkness in my heart too. You are the manifestation of my guilt... my doubts... and my sorrow... I thought I was weak because of those feelings... but I now realize that truly... there is always a way!"
Aqua then pulled out her Blue Wayfinder once more and showed the face of it to the Black Coat, and it writhed at the sight of it.
"My resolve to save Ven and Terra is stronger than ever! They are my strength because they are always with me in my heart! But, my new dream is for all of us to be together again and live happy lives! And I will do everything I can to make that happen! ...Now BEGONE!"
The Blue Wayfinder shined brightly with such intensity that there were no shadows, no darkness. The Black Coat contorted and screamed in agony from the powerful light coming from the talisman. It was obliterated by the increasingly shining Wayfinder. Aqua was then eventually blinded by the light herself and she had to cover her eyes from the intensity. Everything then went white...
Aqua then awoke from her deep slumber to find herself in a déjà vu moment when she found herself in Yen Sid's office. She checked her head to feel that it was fine, she was back to full health and then she noticed that Ven was sleeping soundly next to her.
"Thank Goodness, Ven... You're still safe..." She said as she sat up.
"Aqua, you're awake." Yen Sid approached her.
"Master Yen Sid... how did we get her?" She inquired.
"I found you guys, gosh Aqua, you sure are someone who hits her head a lot." Mickey happily joked.
"But, still... how did you-?" Aqua asked again.
"I discerned of your location, and I told Mickey to bring you here to receive proper care once again. Aqua, what has happened?" Yen Sid said slightly worried.
"Terra... he tried to go back home and he found us. ...He was in control." Aqua explained. "But then Braig showed up and took him..."
"It was Braig again, huh? Don't worry, Aqua, we'll find him." Mickey optimistically stated. "But why did you go back to that Castle in the first place?"
"I wanted to get Ven..." She answered.
"What are you going to do?" They both asked her.
"We're going to get Terra back, but first..." She explained to them both her next move.
A/N- Aqua has finally conquered her nightmares for good, now she can really start to fix everything. Can you guess what she is going to do next in the upcoming chapter;)? Stayed tuned and keep up the Reviews and Comments:) (The reviews DO fuel my writing drive:)