Foreword
This is the first of three chapters that I currently have written. As with my Pokémon piece 'Unluckiest Luckiest Star', I've been sitting on this long enough that I wanted it out of the way. Chapters will be posted every other week on Monday at ~3 pm PST.
This story was partially inspired by 'She'll Rescue Herself' on AO3 and 'A Heart and a Half' on FFN, among others, wherein Aqua is still in the Realm of Darkness and a divergence from canon occurs. At the time of writing this, I can't say for sure how the story will progress past the first proper world (as opposed to Realm). KH is kind of a mess in terms of plot, and figuring out how introduced changes will influence the overall story will take a significant amount of brainstorming, if I don't decide to just end the story before those plot points become relevant.
Until that point arrives though, I hope something within these three chapters inspires/entertains you.
Out of mana. No ethers or potions. Not even a piece of debris to fight off the now named Heartless. Over ten years in this Light forsaken realm, and this was how it ended. Running away, tail between her legs.
How unbefitting of a Keyblade Master.
The desire for her death to happen any other way kept her going. To once again find herself among a forest or village, even one made of solidified Darkness. Anything that she could have used to make more distance between her at the hoard nipping at her heels.
In this endless place devoid of any warmth, it only made sense that fear, the first emotion she'd felt in a long time, coursed through her veins, pushing her legs onward as hard as her beating heart.
Something had to give eventually, and it wouldn't be the Heartless. Her foot landed wrong against the rounded terrain, and Aqua tumbled along the ground. The mass of dark dwellers chasing after her popped out like blossoming flowers, twitching from side to side as beaded yellow eyes lusting with hunger watched her.
This is it, she thought. At least they can still save Ven. Master Keeper will make its way to them one day. Aqua grabbed hold of her Wayfinder and curled up, clutching it to her chest. Terra, Ven, be strong.
She heard the Shadows move closer. Heard them leap for her. Heard their limbs tear through air to strike at the Light that didn't belong.
A rush of energy brought forth the dissipation of Darkness. Health Orbs, the solidified remnants of the Dark entities, flew into her and soothed her fatigued muscles. Aqua opened her eyes. Someone stood before her, their black, almost purple coat trimmed with gold nearly reaching to the floor. Her voice came out shakily, not trusting the white haired apparition before her. "Who?"
"Introductions later," The man said comfortingly. "Go ahead and rest for a bit. I'll take care of this."
Hope coursed through her body, her breath caught in her throat at the thought of somebody finally able to save her. The next breath became painfully stuck. The Heartless surrounding them were eliminated by magic fired with abandon. Arcs of lightning, blades and gales of wind, fiery explosions; the three elements were used with precise recklessness, utterly overpowering their enemies. Dread replaced the hope. No matter how much she wanted to thank this white haired being, she knew she'd simply traded one curse for another.
Every single one of those spells were laced with Darkness. Aqua stood up shakily and took a few steps back, hoping that what orbs she could draw close would give her enough energy to escape this humanoid Dark being.
"I'm glad to finally see somebody else. I was beginning to think that I was truly in Purgatory." The thing walked closer, a small smile on its face and a hand extending towards her. "My name is Robin."
"Stay back!" She warned him back with a hand, keeping her Wayfinder to her chest. A being of Darkness that commanded their surroundings as easily as an elemental master; at least the Shadows were an enemy she knew.
"Is that any way to thank someone?" It was meant to be a joke, but there was no way she would let herself trust this thing. "Look, I'm thinking we're getting off on the wrong foot here." The thing cleared its throat. "Hi, my name's Robin. I've been wandering this place for a long time. It's nice to finally meet somebody other than these shadow creatures. Might I have your name?"
"Where did you come from?"
'Robin' laughed. "Alright, at the very least we're conversing. I hail from a place called Ylisse, though I doubt you've heard of it."
Aqua stared at the man. Her Wayfinder didn't have power she could bring to bear, but it gave her strength all the same to stand unflinching. "This place. Was there light?"
"I'm sorry?"
"Was there sunlight where you came from?" She demanded. "Where did you come from if you can use the power of Darkness!?"
"Ah." The man clenched a fist. "You can blame my father for that. I suppose you could say that I was born to be a conduit of this power." Fire, lightning, wind, ice, darkness, even a tiny, miniscule orb of light erupted in sequence from his hands. "I'm a mage. Though without a tome I'm forced to improvise a lot of things. Normally I couldn't use magic like this so easily, but this place, it's like an ocean of dark magic. I can filter it a little to use untainted magic, but to use it so purely takes more effort than it's worth. Apologies if I've scared you."
Almost like Vanitas then. "That's— that's alright." Aqua slowly let down her guard. He's a dweller of Light then? "How did you end up here?"
The man folded his arms in thought. "I remember going through a portal. I think my world became victim of an apocalypse? I'm not certain though. What I do know though, is that I woke up here without any of my weapons. Just the clothes on my back and being surrounded by this dark energy." Robin cleared his throat, asking her name once again with a raised brow.
"Oh! My name is Aqua. Sorry for being so rude earlier. I've been here a long time and I've learned not to always trust everything I come across."
"How long is a long time?" Robin pulled out a duo of bottles from within his coat. One a potion, the other an ether. "By the way, I've picked these up from those monsters. This one's good for restoring wounds, the other helps restore energy."
"They're called Heartless, by the way. And thank you. For saving me, as well." Aqua took down both of the drinks, managing to ignore their stale, bitter taste. In her entire time here, it was only once that it was fresh enough to have its original sweet taste. Rancid concoctions were since the norm, fresh mixtures becoming a far off memory.
"Titles like that aren't normally granted without reason," Robin said, sitting down and gesturing for her to do the same. When she asked if he was sure they were safe, "If something comes along to bother us, I can take care of it easily. Remember, I'm meant to utilize the energy that's all around us. It wouldn't be wrong of me to say that right now I could snap my fingers and turn anything I wanted into dust."
The panic came back. Eager to try and keep the sense of Rightness, Aqua began explaining the origin of the name, as well as exactly where they were.
/ - /
Aqua rolled to her feet, head snapping side to side to find the source of Darkness. She hadn't felt such a massive gathering of the energy since she faced that beast so long ago. It was tightly wound, watching her, ready to be unleashed. Without a keyblade there was only so much she could do, but hopefully the nap would have restored enough-
"Morning. Or rather, I hope you had a nice rest."
The voice— Robin's— didn't soothe her as much as she wanted it to. The man exuded so much Dark power it was a wonder his skin hadn't turned to match the energy coursing through him. It took her several breaths before she became coherent enough to respond. "I did," she stuttered. "What about you? When was the last time you took a break?"
Robin laughed. "Conduit of dark energy, remember? Sitting around like this counts as a break for me. There's so much stuff running within me right now that I don't need to sleep. Just letting my muscles stop moving and mind stop thinking is enough."
"That could be due to this realm though." Aqua moved to a proper sitting position. Her nerves were still frazzled, refusing to settle no matter how much she tried to soothe them. "Are— are you doing anything right now?"
Robin blinked a single time. "I mean aside from not keeping as tight a leash on the energy I've gathered over how long I've been here, no."
She flinched, realizing why she was so on edge. As a being of the Light, or rather, a user of Light, Robin's actions were anathema. Bad enough she was basically breathing in Darkness; the aura of darkness Robin was putting out was akin to standing dangerously close to a bonfire. "Could you maybe turn it down?" She said slowly, hoping she didn't offend the Vanitas replica. "It's uncomfortable."
Robin made a noise of understanding. After a moment her nerves started to calm down, but the sensation of being watched remained. "That's the most I can do without letting anything get too close to us. The Heartless tend to avoid me when I flare out my aura like that. I guess it's like how animals sense that a stronger predator is around. They don't want to be anywhere near me."
"I can see why." Aqua hugged her legs, trying to convince herself that the man before her could be trusted, and that reacting as badly as she was was shameful. It went as poorly as she expected, but at least it was a goal to focus on. "What sort of magic can you do again?"
"Wind, Thunder, Fire, Ice, and various manipulation of Dark, though I can use a bit of Light. It's normally hard though, especially without a tome— a focus, that is. I actually haven't used any beginner spells since waking up here, let alone small scale stuff. It's always been siege or larger unit class attacks. Why waste time with the precise stuff and risk injury when I can just drown everything under a tide of magic?"
Aqua couldn't help but wonder if she would have been tasked with taking the man down if this were the Realm of Light. Somebody who could use Darkness so readily; it just wasn't natural.
"What about you? You said that you could defend yourself a little, you know, provided you aren't exhausted." Robin laughed a little.
Aqua felt like she should be offended, but with the knowledge that he could end her with a thought, showing that felt like a mistake. "Pretty much all the elements. I've managed to learn how to use up to the -za series, fourth tier, but without—" she paused. Was telling him about the Keyblade something she should do? Better use his own terms. "Without a focus I can probably only use the -ra series reliably, maybe the -ga. Those are second and third tier respectively."
"Sounds like I'll be doing the majority of the fighting for us then."
"Us?" She asked.
"Yeah, us." He smiled a little. It wasn't an unpleasant expression, but knowing what he could do made it feel sinister. "Unless you'd rather we part ways from here and wander this place alone for however long until something changes again."
"No, no! Us is fine." Aqua's heart sank as she spoke. "Us is fine."
/ - /
As claimed, Robin took it upon himself to take care of nearly every fight they came across. Being simple moral support was grating though, and eventually Aqua started demanding to take care of at least a couple enemies during the fights.
It didn't stop the man from coddling her though. The Heartless she was allowed to handle were carefully isolated by explosive spellfire. Strong enough to scatter the enemies into smaller units, but weak enough to leave them with enough strength that they wouldn't dissipate from a single -ra spell.
On rare occasions, normally when Robin had to stop emitting his aura, large amount of Heartless came across them. At first, the fights were incredibly deadly, with Aqua herself coming out of those battles heavily injured. On the fourth such instance though, after a series of carefully allowed solo fights, Robin began directing her verbally. A Blizzara at the bundle of enemies at the other end of the field, Thundara to hit the dark creatures right as they were on top of Robin, Aeroga at their feet when they were completely surrounded.
Some of the strategic decisions he made she would've done on her own, but with a companion she was hesitant to do so. Many of them would have bought her and her alone a reprieve, leaving Robin to deal with the creatures all by himself. Not that the man couldn't handle it (even a Firaga with him in range of the blast didn't damage him), but it was a habit she didn't want to develop.
Not long after their second battle without injury, the two of them finally sat down and discussed each other's abilities at length. Exactly what magics each could use and the results that happened, variations that they could bring about. They already knew the basics about each other and by fighting side by side for so long they'd already developed an slight unspoken understanding of each other, but Robin claimed that by knowing exactly what the other could do they could enact more daring plans and maneuvers.
The speed at which she could run, how many spells she could cast before becoming tired, and exactly how much stress her Reflect spell could take before straining herself. From that last test, Robin figured out exactly what sort of power he could use to get Aqua out of a sticky situation, especially after he willingly took a few strikes from the Heartless they later encountered.
They even started teaching each other about their individual types of magic. Robin's, it turned out, were heavily based on precise patterns and formulas. How much power was needed to meet the bare minimum of a spell, how much it could take before it became just a discharge of energy. How altering certain magic flows would result in a flat protective shield or self-redirecting projectile of the relevant element rather than a simple linear attack.
Her magic, on the other hand, was more geared towards emotions. Calmness and everlastingness for ice, passion or desire for fire, longing and joy for air, excitement and enthusiasm for thunder. There were other emotions that could work, but those were the ones that Aqua used.
Robin quickly arrived to the conclusion that the emotion itself wasn't all that important, so much as it was aligning your mindset to whatever quality of the spell you most heavily associated it with. The man followed up his conclusion by expressing concern for how difficult her method of magic must be for the common person.
Aqua secretly agreed, especially after Robin's lessons on his own spells.
It was around a month and a half after they met (Robin was using the periods of which Aqua slept as 'day' trackers) that she began showing signs of some kind of sickness. Migraines, slowed reactions, as well as the reappearing hallucinations of her companions from the Realm of Light.
Robin finally managed to cast a basic Cure during that time, downing several of the stale ethers they managed to collect in order to gather enough untainted energy. It was also during a feverish conversation that Aqua barely remembered that they realized his near constant output of Darkness was what was causing the problem.
As a denizen of the light, the exposure to the other realm's energies was already causing problems. Resting managed to deal with the problems before it could build up, but Robin's efforts to keep them safe made it so that the build up was never dealt with.
Thereafter, Robin made it a point to completely reduce the aura he was emitting once every five 'days'. The tide of Heartless almost threatened to drown them the first two times, but by the third time they figured out how to handle it. Robin remarked that it was rather odd being on the defensive for one.
Sixty days after they first met. The roads they travelled since meeting were still the same. Winding, twisting strips of either grainy, bone white material or clay-like stone, all of them floating midair without any support. In a few places, dark vortices of wind appeared. Aqua remembered them from before she met that dark beast. Capable of launching them high into the air, a minor application of magic let them reduce the speed at which they fell. Robin held a surprisingly childlike glee at the things. Not that she was complaining. It was a long time since she simply laughed with joy.
Ten days later, they found themselves in a world that had fallen to darkness. It was a warped place, with floating islands oriented every which way. Water frozen in time; ruins scattered amidst the land masses. It was almost suffocating how far this world stretched out, patches of greenery speckled throughout the empty abyss of darkness. Aqua was reminded of the fallen Enchanted Dominion; parts of the world curled in on itself, the fragments towards the edges turned into translucent crystal, frozen in time as it was pulled towards some unseen source.
When Aqua awoke the next day, it was to a sea of squirming yellow eyes watching from every island around them. Robin pushed his aura as far as he could to keep themselves safe as well as to allow their travel between the islands (jumping off and using bursts of magic to make sure they stayed on target). The act was dragging on far too long though. She was beginning to feel the signs of dark poisoning creep into her mind. Before she went to bed on the grass, they made the decision to find the biggest island they could and try to wipe out as many of the heartless as possible.
Day seventy eight. A pulse of malevolent darkness choked Aqua out of her slumber. Her attempts to get onto her feet felt like she was moving through sludge, and for a terrifying moment she thought she had been pulled into some deeper layer of the Dark Realm, one from which she could never escape from.
"Are you awake now, Child of Light?" Robin's voice held a grating, echoing quality to it. If destruction had a voice, this would be it. Chilling and gravelly; only one who had seen thousands upon thousands of lives and continually found them lacking could be so displeased. "Would you have rather died in the bliss of sleep instead of fighting for your life?"
"Robin? What's going on?" The aura the man was outputting was fouler than ever before. If she had anything in her stomach, it would likely have ended up on the floor.
"Are you still sleep addled? Look around you, tiny one. Can you not see the shadows that writhe on the islands around us? They are drawn to you. They hunger for your essence. This shattered world once held Light of its own, but every scrap was devoured by them. Light makes them grow strong, stronger than a millennia of feasting upon the darkness around us ever could." Robin turned to look at her, his once amber eyes now an angry ruby red. Wisps of purple energy, a kind of darkness she had never seen before, trailed out of his coat. "Even the elders of this realm have come to swallow you whole. Imitations of man and beasts are waiting for me to cease 'toying' with you."
The words made sense. Terrified her even. But Aqua could only fixate on the changes in her companion. His hair was as white as the first time they'd met, which meant that was one nightmare not come true. But a physical change like this one… "You're not Robin, are you?"
The thing inhabiting her companion's body laughed. "It would be far more accurate to say Robin is me." The being grinned. "I am the destroyer of my previous world. I am the Fell Dragon, Grima. Prostrate yourself later and rise, Mortal. There are irritants to destroy."
Standing took effort. So much effort. The weight of the air around her was crushing, but if she didn't stand to defend herself then she would find herself drowning in a mire of darkness. "I'll keep them from reaching you," she said adamantly.
"As you should, Light Spawn."
The weight lifted. At once, the tide of Heartless surrounding them surged in, many of them leaping to the closest island and failing, falling forever into the abyss. For those that managed to just catch themselves on the edge of the floating earth, they became a handhold for those that came after. It was as mesmerizing as it was horrifying.
A sea of Heartless, all rushing forward for her.
Her legs buckled.
"I am the wings of despair and the herald of ruination! Know your place, you insolent pests!" A wave of darkness, heavier than she'd ever known, washed over her. Thick tendrils of darkness, sickly red tinged with purple streaks, shot out at the eight closest islands. Upon connecting with the Heartless infested masses, smaller tendrils spider-webbed out. From these, spikes of all sizes erupted, piercing through the sentient beings of darkness.
Another pulse, this one accompanied by Grima's laughter that reminded her of Maleficent. With each flare, islands were wiped clean of the Heartless occupying them, only to be covered in a new mass of writhing darkness before the tendrils reaching for them could fade away.
"A dark beast is heading this way, Light Spawn. Ready yourself." Darkness pulsed gently. Thin tendrils spread out among the ground like vines. At eight equal points around them, small, curved obelisks of the same material sprouted. "I will assist you where I can, but my focus must remain on the chaff attempting to reach us. Do your best not to die to these miserable mimicries."
Another pulse of darkness rid the tendrils of the Heartless crawling on them. A moment later, shadows of both beast and facsimiles of man were upon them one more. From the farthest island, a large beast of darkness, the same as the one she had faced so long ago, raced along the tendril, ignoring the dark flares and spikes erupting along the construct.
Its landing on their island came with a cold silence, both Aqua and beast staring at each other. One in all consuming hunger, the other in wary fear.
"Fight, damn you!" Bolts of purple tinged lightning shot out of the rib-like obelisks, stopping the beast before it could let out a howl.
Fighting without a keyblade wasn't something Aqua was unused to by this point, but she keenly felt its loss. Blizzara's, Fira's, and Thundara's were fired as fast as she could manage them. Here and there, whenever the beast began to prepare itself for something, a Waterga crashed against its face, Grima's Dark-laced Thunders landing immediately after and sending crackles of lightning arcing across its body.
By the time the beast was defeated, a far cry easier with Grima's support, two stale Ethers had been consumed, and Aqua felt a tiredness in her body she hadn't felt in a long time.
"Recover your energy, quickly! A giant and its spawnlings are taking over my magic!"
A minute later, every flare of Grima's magic causing her to wince, one of the giant humanoid Heartless leapt from one of the islands, four of the smaller humanoids accompanying it.
As before, every time the giant beast tried to gather its energy for a larger attack, Dark Thunders from the eight obelisks forced it to stop. On a single occasion though, it powered through the attack and pushed an orb of darkness into the ground, the swirling energy spawning forth hordes of crawling shadows.
"Child, jump!"
Aqua didn't need to be told twice. An Aerora created at her feet launched her into the air, she had the perfect view of red tipped spikes borne of Grima's magic tearing through the battlefield that was their island. When she landed, pools of red laced energy warred with the purple of the Heartless. For a brief moment before Grima's power reclaimed the land, the green of the grass could be seen.
"Give everything you have, Light Spawn! I shall buy us time."
On Aqua's next breath, the weight hanging over her had been entirely lifted. On the second, she thought she was just imagining it. On the third, it returned with a vengeance. The power of Darkness flared out from Robin's body, hungrily reclaiming every inch it had let go of. When she could finally lift her head from the terror that overcame her, the giant Shadow was the only blight around them.
"If you do not attack that creature within the next second, I shall turn my efforts onto you, Light Spawn."
Fear and terror were what powered Aqua's spells at that moment. Not peace. Not joy. Not excitement. Yet somehow the magic that flew from her fingertips were of the third tier, -ga.
A partially unheard remark from Grima brought forth another wave of panic, and Aqua willed herself to dip into her reserves. Centered on the dark beast, beams of energy began to form. Her shaky, urgent voice naming the spell, a Thundaza rained down, dissipating the creature. Exhausting slammed into Aqua's body, and she shakily fumbled for an ether.
"Hm. I might have use of you yet, Light Spawn." The now familiar presence of Grima's magic washed over her, bringing back the crushing weight and for some painful reason- a glimmer of hope. "Your pitiful magic has amused me enough. Now, bear witness to the might of a god!"
To say Aqua was awed would be an understatement. The magic Grima cast was undeniably his own, yet it was fired in the form of her own. Elemental spheres were launched from his body, clearing away swathes of the dark beings still attempting to approach them. Between these blasts, a vortex of green wind bounced around, carving through the air and bodies with impunity.
At the very end, when Aqua began feeling something break under the weight of power, she only had a moment's reprieve before it came rushing back. The last thing she heard in that moment of half consciousness was Grima's footsteps approaching her.