There is no time in this place. There is just walking. An endless walk, towards the great depths of darkness. But you have to keep on walking. That's the only way. Move forward. Through the dark realm and its inhabitants. Keep moving forward, until you find the way out to the realm of light. To your friends. They are waiting for you, there is no time to lose. But… There is no time in this place. Just walking. Walking…
The thoughts were circling in the young woman's head. Walking on the only road in the middle of the dark abyss, there was nothing else to do but walk and think. At least until the monsters showed up. The denizens of darkness were not too keen about her presence in their world, so they tried to eradicate the little light that was polluting their dark space. A plethora of monsters would come out of the shadows, claws ready to strike, then disappear just as fast as they appeared when the woman's blade struck down enough of them. The attacks were not only physical though. The darkness also attacks your mind. Will I ever escape this place? Is someone looking for me? Does anyone even care anymore? The blue haired girl grabbed her good luck charm and held it to her chest.
-Terra… Ven… Give me strength…
After her small prayer, the girl continued forward. The wayfinder… A small reminder of what life used to be like. She remembered the day she made it, as she did countless times already. How happy she was to give the other two wayfinders to her friends. It was the last time she could spend time with them, back in the Land of Departure. The day after, was the day that changed everything. The day of the exam… She shook her head as she let out a deep sigh. Just why did it all go so wrong? Just reminiscing about everything that happened made her sick with guilt. So many things I could have done better… Maybe I shouldn't be a master after all… She slapped both of her cheeks with her hands. No point thinking about it now.
The realm of darkness is full of mysteries. Sometimes the scenery becomes a maze of roads and platforms, where only one is the correct path, while the rest become dead ends sooner or later. Some other times, dark energy just explodes out of the depths and goes towards the surface, shaking things up in the process. Some roads become closed or even change completely. However, there is always some kind of way to continue. The road goes on and on towards the depths of darkness, no matter the changes. The girl couldn't help but notice that the path had to lead somewhere. To the exit maybe? What does that exit even look like? Can you enter through there as well? So many questions and no answers. Only walking…
As the road became wider under her feet, the blue-haired girl finally noticed that she was walking towards a platform. There were other platforms higher up, as well as roads going out of them. I wonder which one is correct… – said the girl to herself as she jumped towards the higher platforms. Jumping all the way to the top, the young master looked around for clues. Seeing all the platforms and roads sprouting in all directions down below, it looked almost poetic, like a grim reminder of the dark realm's chaotic nature. All around there was nothing but roads, with each platform having just one road going off of it. Three of these caught her attention, as they extended far beyond what her eyes could see from the top platform. One went parallel to her previous road, almost like a continuation of it but much higher. The other two took a different direction, to the left and down or to the right and straight. Her gut was telling her to continue with the first road, but it could also be just a trick of the darkness, having a road so conveniently placed like it was cut and placed a bit higher. But there was no way to know, other than to test it out. The blue-hair let out a deep sigh and started jumping down towards the first road's platform. As she did so, she tried to look for anything else that might help in getting some direction, but no such thing was available. It did not bother her though, she was already used to it. Finally arriving at the correct platform, the girl started her walk.
Before she knew it, the platforms behind her were already out of sight. Isn't there a way to check these faster? – the girl thought. As she pondered on the question, an idea came to her mind. She stuck out her hand forward, then a giant key materialised in front of her. The keyblade, a weapon she was familiar with all her life. This specific blade was the one belonging to her master, before she became a master herself, which belonged to the master of her master and so on and so forth. A weapon capable of many things, that also came with great responsibility. A lot of responsibility was now on her shoulders, especially after everything that happened before ending up in this dark place. She couldn't give up now. The young master turned her keyblade forward and after thinking carefully about what she wanted to do, exclaimed:
-Ice!
Then, an ice spell shot out of the tip of her key, covering the road in front of her in glaze. The projectile kept going forward, making a road of ice on top of the usual gray road. Satisfied with the result, the young woman continued with her plan, as she got on top of the ice road and started to… skate. Using her magic abilities to keep herself on the slippery road, she was going much faster than her usual walking speed. She could feel her hair floating on the wind as she dashed through the realm of darkness and it felt so… liberating. For a moment, a small smile could be seen on her face. She wouldn't notice it anyway, as she was focusing more on not falling down and keeping the ice projectile on the road, but if someone got to see her then, they could say she was having some fun. As much fun as there can be in a hostile realm devoid of light and people that is. The ride had to end soon though, as the girl noticed the white road doing a sharp turn to the right and abruptly ending near a grouping of giant black and blue rocks. Those were sprinkled almost everywhere in the dark realm, just floating in the nothingness or being part of some bigger "architecture". The young master got out of the ice road, getting rid of the magic blue aura that surrounded her during her ride and looked carefully at the rocks.
-How do I get through? Is it a dead end after all…?
She tried to jump onto the rocks and towards the top, but the cluster made it difficult to reach. She tried clearing some of them out to make a passageway, with no great results, there's just too many of them. Just as she was about to make her way back, she noticed a strange glow on one of the black stones. Actually, some other ones had it too. She got back down on the road to see all of the rocks and there was certainly some kind of pattern going on. But what could she do with it? As she looked around more, at a certain angle there were some glowing stones forming lines with each other, while others looked like they were blocked by something. So maybe making all of the glowing rocks align would do the trick? The blue-haired woman took her keyblade and sent out a powerful fire ball towards one of the rocks, destroying it completely. Behind it was indeed one of the glowing stones, which aligned itself perfectly with two other ones right beside it. She jumped onto the rocks again and followed the trail of the glowing stones. As soon as she got to the last one, the rocks started moving. When they finally stopped, the girl could see another pattern being formed by the glowing rocks, yet again blocked by the plain ones. The process repeated itself a few times, until the rocks moved up all the way to the top. There, hidden behind it all, was a big, abstract structure, made from the same gray material as the paths used to walk through the realm. Instead of being a simple road, the structure had some sort of walls extending from the usual walking space. When looking up, you could see the "wall" ending with big, white spikes, looking almost like massive bones sticking out of the ground. The walking space itself was larger than the roads the girl used to walk on, giving the entire place a sense of grandeur. Walking through, the place turned out to be a maze, with corridors going in all directions.
As the blue-haired girl was walking, she couldn't shake off the feeling that she was being watched. The entire place had this ominous feeling about it that kept her on her toes. Walking up to a crossroad, the girl suddenly stopped and leaned on the wall, putting her hand on her forehead. The feeling was unbearable, there was definitely something wrong with this place. She could swear she heard whispers coming from somewhere down the halls. Sitting down and looking up to the sky helped her to calm down and let her eyes rest from seeing all the gray walls. Even though the sky was actually just a big void, it did have some kind of soothing ability. Or maybe it was something the darkness wanted her to think. The faraway whispers did not stop, but she had to continue. Standing up, she looked around to see three roads aside from the one she came from: left, right and centre. They were slightly different from the other ones, as there was a dark fog present, not letting the girl see beyond more than twenty steps. Trying to listen for the direction of the whispers did not help in deciding which way to take, either. All of a sudden, the blue haired girl felt the urge to turn around. There was nothing on the road behind her, but she could swear she felt a presence from behind. Turning back towards the crossroads, she decided to move to the left. After taking a few steps, she turned back again. That's when she saw a black figure, going away towards the road to the right on the crossroads, disappearing inside the fog shortly after. The young master summoned her keyblade and ran towards the crossroads again, wanting to chase after the figure. After running for a while, the girl encountered a wall, stopping her chase immediately. The road was straight, with no turns or platforms to escape to. Puzzled, the keyblade master had no other choice but to go back to the crossroads. Arriving there, she noticed something strange. When she looked to her left, the road she collapsed on had disappeared, a big gray wall blocking the way. Strangely enough, the architecture made it look like it was always there to begin with. As the road behind her was a dead end, she could only take the other two roads, the one she wanted to take initially, or the one to her right…
-Wait. There is another one? – the girl said, looking at the third path that appeared on her right with surprise.
Suddenly, she grabbed her head in her hands, as the whispers became louder. Putting her back against the wall and observing all of the roads while trying not to lose her composure, she saw a pair of glowing, yellow dots in the fog of the road in front of her. She reacted by instantly sending a fire spell towards it. In the same moment, the girl cartwheeled forward, feeling something arriving from the left. She wasn't wrong, as a sharp, black claw belonging to one of the dark creatures had just passed the spot where her head was. The keyblade master struck down the small monster immediately and ran towards the place where she saw the pair of yellow eyes. Running through the maze again, a number of the small, black monsters started appearing and attacking her from the fog. They were not difficult to handle, as the keyblade made most of them disappear with one strike. Suddenly her pursuit was stopped again by another wall in front of her.
-This is getting ridiculous! – the keyblade wielder shouted in frustration, as she sent an ice ball down the road she just ran through, wanting to use the same trick she discovered recently to come back quickly to the crossroads.
Gliding through the road, she could see some monsters frozen on the ground, the spell sparing her the trouble of having to fend them off herself. The ride was stopped, yet again, by a wall on the road. Confused, she tried to destroy the wall with magic, but nothing worked. Panting with visible frustration on her face, she ran the other direction again. She could not see the frozen monsters on the road anymore, which added to her confusion even more. Maybe she missed some turn on her way here? And just like that, she could see the road making a sharp turn to the right. After turning and running for a while, she could see another turn to the right. And then another. And another, and another, and another… Panting heavily, she stopped to breathe and think.
-I'm just running in circles… What should I do? – the girl said, leaning on the wall yet again, disorientated by the maze's weird structure.
The whispers did not stop, in fact they became even louder the more she ran. The girl tried to calm down, closing her eyes and taking a few deep breaths, she started to collect her thoughts. The maze was changing its shape constantly, ever since she entered the black fog. For now, the maze is continuing to make a turn to the right and it seems like it could go on like this forever… But there must be a way out somewhere. How to make the maze change its shape again? The young master slowly opened her eyes, trying to figure out something. Looking left and right, she suddenly couldn't tell which way she came from anymore. Confused, she continued to just walk in any direction, yet she couldn't shake off the feeling that something was different. She used another ice spell to go faster, but after gliding through the road for a long while, she stopped yet again. The road had no end. She turned back and used another ice spell. This time, the travel was much shorter, as she encountered a left turn. Then a right turn. And another left…
-I knew it. Every time I go back to where I came from, the road changes. So the layout changes when I don't see the road behind me, but never in front of me. Huh…
After going back and forth a few times, the young keyblade master came to her conclusion. She believed she now knew what she had to do. The blue haired girl closed her eyes, took a deep breath and started to slowly walk forward with her eyes closed. As she did so, the whispers started to become even louder than before. But she did not open her eyes. She could smell the air getting thicker around her. But she continued to move forward, her eyes still closed. The whispers were incomprehensible gibberish at first, but became a bit more clear, with words like "give up", "darkness" and "open" sprinkled in between. Her head wanted to explode, but she kept going. Through the cacophony, the only other thing she could hear were her footsteps. She tried to concentrate on those as much as she could, the sound matching every time with the moment she put her foot on the ground.
Step… Step… Step…
Step… Step… Step… Step, step…
What was that?
Step… Step… Step… Step, step…
Again.
From time to time, there was a sound that did not match. An extra footstep, but much softer, as if somewhere in the distance. The air was still very heavy, but the whispers started to become more quiet with every step. As the noise died down, the only thing the blue-haired girl could hear now were footsteps. Hers and someone else's. The other footsteps were coming towards her from the front, she could hear it clearly now.
Should I open my eyes now…? No… It must be a trick of the darkness… I must let it pass.
The walk was unbearable. The steps were coming closer and closer and it was much more difficult to breathe. Then, just as the steps sounded like they were right in front of her, they stopped. The girl stopped walking as well, just a couple of steps later. With her eyes closed, she listened for any sound, any anomaly, before she was sure it would be okay to open her eyes again. The air started to clear up a bit too…
-Aqua?
Hearing an actual voice so suddenly in front of her surprised her very much. Aqua… That was her name, yes. How long has it been since she last heard it? The voice was that of a man, but she didn't recognise it at all. What's the meaning of all this? Was the darkness tricking her again? The girl started to warily open her eyes up. Right in front of her, she saw the figure of a man, clad in black. He was tall, well-built and had black hair. His outfit made him look like some kind of soldier. Dark boots, a harness, shoulder pads… A soldier of darkness? The man looked at her with his blue eyes, seemingly a little confused. Aqua was just staring back, not saying anything. The man spoke again:
-Man, oh man… This place is really getting to me, showing even older faces I forgot about… So what's your deal, you're just gonna disappear like all the rest, right?
She did not understand the meaning of his words at all. He wanted her to disappear? What was that about faces he was saying to himself?
-Not saying anything, huh? Too bad. Hmm, I wonder which way I should take now…
That's when Aqua noticed, she was yet again at a crossroads. However, it looked like it wasn't the maze anymore. There were two roads in front of her, one to the right and one on the left, where the soldier was standing. In the meantime, the black haired man seemed to be thinking about something, talking to himself in the process.
-Sooo… If she came from there… Does that mean it's the good way? Or is it the other way around? Uhh, this place is confusing. What do you think, Aqua?
The girl was shocked. She did not know what to say. The man was definitely weird, his relaxed attitude rubbing her the weird way. Is that supposed to be a trick of the darkness? Is he trying to make her lower her guard and then strike?
-You don't speak, right, I forgot… Hmmm… Guess I'll go that way then. Thanks for the tip!
As the man said that, he started nonchalantly walking towards the girl, who summoned her keyblade immediately and assumed her fighting stance. The man backed off, with a weird expression on his face.
-Whoa whoa! You scared me, you know that?! Stupid darkness, if it's a fight you want then just say so!
The blue eyed soldier reached behind his back and drew out a sword. With a small run-up, he jumped forward, wanting to strike the keyblade wielder from above. Aqua dodged it swiftly, but was unexpectedly sent flying backwards when the man's blade hit the ground. In the air, she sent out a few fireballs towards the man, but he just cut through them with ease, then jumped towards her. The girl created a barrier around her, which blocked the soldier's blade, then sent him flying towards the ground when she reflected the energy of his strike back to him. As they both landed on their feet, their gazes met.
-It's not going to be an easy fight – Aqua mumbled to herself as she prepared another attack.
-Come and get it! – the man exclaimed, running towards her ready to strike.
Then, the realm of darkness echoed with the sound of clashing steel.