Uncertain. That was probably the best way to describe Aqua's feelings toward introducing Fait to the Keyblade Graveyard, especially without assistance. As she and Fait were walking through the corridor of light, she looked ahead with wonder and spotted pockets of lights dancing on the dimensional planes. They were playing around Fait's feet before running away from her. The blonde warrior smiled at the lights as she often does when they surround her before she returned her attention to the blue-haired mage leading her to an unknown destination. Aqua was going to be Fait's teacher for the day since Riku had enough of Fait's antics; in truth, however, Master Yen Sid sent Riku and King Mickey on a mission to investigate the whereabouts of the missing princesses of light. Both the old and the new princesses were gone one by one, but Fait admitted to not knowing anything about it. Since Master Yen Sid never trusted Fait fully, he cautiously allowed his wielders to monitor her while also testing her strength.
At least that's what the master told all of them. He was troubled by Fait's ability to pass each test he gave her. Very rarely did she use her keyblade to pass them, and it was rare for Maleficent to be so excited about something. The dark mistress' pupil was unusually powerful, especially without a weapon. In the rare instances when Fait did use a weapon, she either used a sword or the power of darkness. She was always hesitant and calculating when using the keyblade. It was something about her vow of peace. Riku and Kairi were both aware of her vow, seeing as though they were standing next to her when she mentioned it, but she never said why she took the vow or what happened to where she felt she had to take the vow. That's what made Aqua unsure of her role as the new teacher. Was she supposed to unleash all of her power on Fait to see how far she was willing to go to adhere to that vow?
"You look stuck in thought," Fait remarked, breaking the silence between them. "I might not be much of a talker but you don't have to be so stiff. We're just training together. I won't hurt you."
"Sorry," Aqua said, chuckling nervously. "I didn't think it was that obvious."
Fait lightly chuckled before smirking, "Well, it wouldn't have been if your corridor wasn't shifting. You started veering off Master Yen Sid's path a while ago. That's why the lights were surrounding your feet. They're telling you where to go."
"Huh?" Aqua questioned, stopping to look down at her feet. Fait was right. The small lights that were dancing around Fait were sitting on her own feet. She was going the wrong way! Aqua blushed brightly at her fumble and gasped, "Oh! Why didn't you say something earlier?"
"You're a master, right? Don't you know how corridors work?" Fait asked, waving a free hand lazily before putting it down.
"U-u-um, yeah," Aqua said, turning quickly and walking towards the left. More light was gathering on her feet, though, so she wound up having to turn and go right instead. That just made more light appear on her feet.
Fait laughed gently at this and commanded, "Walk towards me."
Aqua gulped down her embarrassment and trundled towards the blonde. The closer Aqua got to Fait, the more light was disappearing to go dance near Fait. Aqua responded, "Wha - ? How did you know where we were going?"
"I didn't, Aqua," Fait said gently, shaking her head for emphasis. "I only know the path that's been opened because the light is leading us down it. You were following a different one. Light is there but it's not Master Yen Sid's and it's not connected to a world. It's just a misleading corridor. You have to be careful with those. They bring you back to where you started until you find an open path to a world."
"How do you know about these kinds of corridors? Aren't you more familiar with - ?"
"Corridors of darkness?" Fait asked, interrupting Aqua's trail of thoughts. "I'm privy to both. I use the corridors of darkness when I'm entering or leaving the Realm of Darkness. I use the corridors of light when I'm traveling from world to world. Normally, the ones that don't have open paths for Gummi ships. Each world is different. Sometimes, you can just use a ship. Other times, you have to make a path yourself."
"Maleficent taught you about all of this?" Aqua questioned.
Fait shook her head in response and led Aqua down the correct path. She then said, "She didn't teach me about the corridors of light. That, I had to learn on my own during missions. The main goal with each mission I was ever given was to learn a new skill. Traveling from world to world was never truly part of the mission, but it was necessary to know different ways that you could. It helped understand the world itself in a way and stopped me from meddling. It's easier to blend into the crowd in a world when no one knows how you got there or how long you've been there. For all they know, you're one of them. A citizen since birth."
With that, Aqua was silenced. This was what disturbed Master Yen Sid and made Fait a frightening opponent, her knowledge of the worlds. It was what separated her from any other master. She knew a great deal under Maleficent's tutelage without formal training. Maybe that's why Maleficent was so pleased that Fait was given a chance to be a properly trained in the ways of a keyblade master. While Master Yen Sid was also suspicious of whether or not Maleficent would interfere, the dark mistress was not surprised by the old keyblade master's decision to allow Fait to be escorted to the ancestral battleground. In fact, Maleficent agreed with Master Yen Sid and only smirked and nodded at him in response to the suggestion. Never had the group seen the dark mistress so cooperative. She truly wanted Master Yen Sid to test her pupil, and, unfortunately, Fait exceeded Master Yen Sid's expectations.
From what Riku, Sora and Kairi have seen of Fait's power, the blonde wielder was not to be ignored... but she also had a friendly aura about her. She befriended Terra, the townspeople of Disney Castle, Sora and his friends. Fait was an unusual and rare find. That's what bothered Aqua the most. The fact that Fait was not completely evil or completely just. She could play either hand, and, from the sounds of it, has always played both hands. Perhaps in bringing Fait to the final battlefield of all wielders, Master Yen Sid was curious to know if Fait was hiding her true power on purpose. Perhaps, she was like Ventus. Neither Maleficent nor Fait had admitted to exactly where the two met. For the most part, Enchanted Dominion was where Maleficent's minions found Fait but Fait had been awakened and was in possession of a keyblade by that time. What happened to her before that was the biggest mystery.
Fait suddenly stopped walking and asked, "What is that?"
Aqua hummed in question and looked around to see if anything was amiss. She then asked, "What's what?"
"It..." Fait started, trying to find the right words. "It feels strange... like someone's colliding strength with another."
"We must be here then," Aqua said quietly, leading Fait through the corridor.
A burst of light nearly blinded both warriors as they crossed over the bridge and reached their destination. As Aqua led Fait through the corridor's exit, she took a deep breath at the painful memories surrounding the familiar place. The wind picked up, kicking sand in their faces, and blew Fait's loose tie out of her hair. Her blonde locks whipped around a bit before she scratched her scalp calmly and took a ribbon out of her utility belt. She bent over to tie her hair in a high bun and stood straight to look ahead. They were finally at the wastelands of war. Fait silently yet cautiously took glances at her surroundings. This world was barren with only a few cliffs spotted about. She estimated that they were about 10 to 13 miles away from the nearest cliff, and a crater seemed to be either in between that distance or adjacent to the cliff which projects it at a further distance of about 15 to 19 miles. The atmosphere was heavier here and felt muggy like a storm was picking up. The soil didn't feel warm through the soles of her shoes, but it felt cool and hard like rock versus soft like the sands of Agrabah or the soil of Prydain. The cliffs were interesting, however. They're natural height couldn't have been taller than perhaps 80 to 95 feet. They were smaller than the cliffs of her canyons at Philharmonie Ville, yet they looked like fingers pointing to the sky which was covered in a thick blanket of clouds. Fait didn't think it was nighttime yet, but it felt like darkness was overcasting its torrential radiance.
It was easy to tell that Fait had never seen this particular world beforehand. She knelt down to rub the sand between her hands and brought them close to her face. It was a trademark move of hers Aqua noticed. Whenever Fait was in an unfamiliar environment, the blonde became one with it. She felt the earth in her palms, breathed in the air, and started mapping out her surroundings. All of these small things were being performed as Aqua watched her. However, Fait seemed to be adding a step. She called out to her light and placed her right hand on the soil. Aqua could feel the pulsations coming from the blonde and felt her own light responding to Fait's call. Then, Fait called out to her darkness and placed her left hand on the soil. Again, Aqua felt the pulsations from Fait but felt the response of a stronger darkness nearby reacting to her. She must be testing for something, but this step was new to Aqua. Fait finally stopped doing her routine and walked forward with Aqua following behind her.
"This world is strangely imbalanced," Fait remarked after a moment of silence passed between both young women. "I can feel an intense magic in the soil and in the air, but... I can also sense a high amount of power. The enemies here are strong - stronger than some of the ones I've crossed paths with. This place is concentrated with deadly forces. The air is swift but it's heavy. It's like light and darkness are at war. Both are overwhelming. What is this place, Aqua?"
"This is the Keyblade Graveyard," Aqua said grimly. "This is where we fought Master Xehanort, and... this is where a keyblade war was fought in the distant past."
Fait's head began to thump violently. The mark on her arm flared and caused more pain for her but not like the sudden headache. She started hearing voices repeat chaotically. Like everyone was trying to say something important simultaneously but she couldn't make out any of it. She had no memories of this world but she felt connected to it somehow. A similar thing happened in Traverse Town and Radiant Garden. Her memories were fighting for the forefront of her mind. Fait choked out, "Keyblade Graveyard?"
Aqua was shocked at Fait's response. She was holding her head and grimacing like she was being forced to remember something or hear something. She then ran to her side and asked, "Are you remembering something now? Maybe something beyond Maleficent?"
Fait nodded, confused and scared, and said with a whimper before it became an intense growl, "I think so, but the memory isn't good. In fact, I'm getting kind of angry."
As soon as she said that, Fait's eyes began to glow an intense yellow and darkness was covering her ears and the temples of her head. That usually meant Heartless were approaching, but Fait was feeling another power coming towards them. Much like the darkness covering her was giving a fair warning of her new enemy, so was her light as it mixed with her darkness and softened her eyes to a lighter yellow. She could feel the ice breath pouring from her lips and some holy magic crawling onto her skin and pooling into her hands. Something unrealistically powerful was coming for her! Why was she feeling so angry, though? She had no ill will towards anyone here if anyone lived on this barren world. Sure, the atmosphere was jarring relative to the intensity she could feel that had transpired on the ground she stood on, but it wasn't enough to automatically assume an enemy status on her part. As abruptly as her headache came on, the clouds began to part and Kingdom Hearts revealed itself to Fait and Aqua. Both girls gasped at the large celestial cordiform glowing brilliantly against the sky. Without warning, dormant keyblade fragments gathered together to form misshapen blades and shot at Fait and Aqua.
Fait immediately went on the defense and pushed Aqua out of the way of the light-infused blade. She then commanded, "Aqua, on your guard!"
"What's happening?" Aqua questioned, summoning her keyblade. "Why are these keyblades fighting against you?"
Fait looked down at the glyph on her wrist and chose a defensive fighting style before replying, "It's not the keyblade! They're spirits! I can't tell if they're vengeful or not, but they're not exactly welcoming."
"We were of the nine..." the spirits said, floating next to each other, light and dark. That one line stopped Fait instantly, however, and made her drop her guard as she stood before the misshapen entities. Her powers must have called out to them specifically. They then continued, "Guardians of the light at war with a traitorous comrade to protect our people... we became exiled... One of you belong to us..."
"The nine guardians of light?" Aqua lowered her weapon for a moment, noticing that Fait dropped her guard completely in shock. She looked at the mystical fragments of power and then said in a quiet voice, "But I thought there were always seven. Master Xehanort split the X-blade into 20 pieces. Thirteen belonging to darkness, seven belonging to light. Each guardian held a broken piece."
Fait exchanged glances with both entities in silent contemplation. She barely moved since the spirits spoke. Hesitantly, Fait lifted her arm with the glowing glyph on her wrist and said, "No, we remember it as nine. Two among them were outcasts. That is who we are seeing. That's when it became seven. A carrier of light led the master key to a new destiny so we bare the glyph as a mark of this day."
"You belong to us..." a different spirit said. This one was not a broken keyblade but an orb of light guarded by broken keychains. Links formed around the orb and shattered, dormant keychains clumped together to bind the links and protect the light.
The misshapen blade of darkness then spoke, "Only one of great strength can carry one of the Four Pillars. Complete our test to prove your worth. Follow our path."
With that, the two misshapen blades and the orb of light shot a ray of power to the center of Kingdom Hearts and hid it away with thicker clouds than before. The intensity of the atmosphere had gotten unbearably thicker and Fait was left breathless. She was connected to ancient powers, too? She lowered her arm and watched the orb shine with radiance before disappearing. The blades soon followed and left her there with Aqua. Fait was utterly speechless and scared. Her heart was pounding uncontrollably. She didn't expect to fight ancient spirits. She thought it was just going to be Aqua or even Master Yen Sid, but she was fighting a literal fragment of her ancient past. No one knew anything about the Four Pillars except her, and that was only because she had old pages of written oaths and sayings and pictures of them in her teddy bear bag when she was a little girl. She never showed Maleficent those things. She hid them away.
"Fait?" Aqua called, gaining the girl's attention.
"I..." Fait started, feeling her eyes well up. She didn't know what to say in response. She only muttered, "Was this... my test?"
"I don't think so," Aqua answered, putting a hand on her shoulder. The contact made Fait look at her and all Aqua saw was a frightened soul. She wasn't prepared for this, it seemed. Aqua spoke gently and said, "Let's go back to Master Yen Sid. Maybe he can tell us something."
"No," Fait responded with hesitation. "I kept... Maleficent doesn't know how I got my keyblade and neither do I. I... only remember pieces when I was a little girl. I've always had a bag with me. In it were little trinkets, pieces of things I don't know, maps of places I've never been, tools and bits of journals. Even when Cynthum was just a baby bird, I kept his food in that bag. It was the only thing I had with me that had something to do... with... me. My past is connected to the keyblade in a way that... confuses me every day. The only evidence I have of that past, of these spirits, of this keyblade is in that bag hidden away from Maleficent's grasp. If she finds out that I've kept certain memories locked away from her, she'll punish me and rip them from me. For my sake... don't tell anyone about this test. Can you promise me this, Master Aqua?"
Aqua gasped at the name. It was her formal name. A name Fait never uses even if she was serious, but she had to have been desperate and extremely serious to use such formalities with Aqua. The blue mage nodded quietly and said, "I won't tell anyone anything. I'll just fight beside you instead. I'm your escort, after all."
Fait nodded, took a deep breath, and then chuckled. She said, "You know, if we weren't enemies, you'd make a good friend. I wouldn't have minded training with you. But... I have a different mastery exam to take. Break the vow."
For the first time since meeting Fait, Aqua felt a pulse from Fait that was unlike any other. Fait called upon her power of light from the heavens and her power of darkness from hell. Quietly, she combined both sources to form a celestial unity of sorts and removed her keychain from her necklace by snapping it off and letting the necklace fall to pieces on the ground. Fait performed what looked like a dance before reeling her arm back and punching the earth beneath her feet. A shockwave pulsed out to a certain distance then reversed itself backwards and returned to Fait's clenched fist. From the broken grounds, she pulled out a unique and elegant keyblade. The hilt and guard almost looked like a torch, but the design of her keyblade was more intricate in design. Some well-placed armor also decorated her body and her hair was pinned up differently. Instead of the high-bun, she had a fishtail braid and a rebellious looking fade on her sides. Her ears were accessorized with magic-infused jewelry, which Aqua didn't notice before, and her lips were colored with lipstick. The celestial combination of power then entered the bodice of the keyblade and Fait took a defensive stance as her power radiated throughout her body. It felt odd having to enter her gates of might, but she only broke the seal to them. She didn't release any of the gates yet.
"This is the power you kept hidden?" Aqua questioned.
Fait shook her head and said, "No, this is the power I'd rather not use." The ground shook with immense weight impacting it and the girls looked at each other with suspicion. Fait then said, "When the time comes, I'll explain it then. For now, be on your guard. The Heartless being summoned here aren't like the ones in the Realm of Darkness. If you need items, let me know. I might be able to call a Moogle or two."