Final Fantasy XV - Kingdom Hearts

Part 26

Summary: Two warriors of Light, the Chosen King and Keyblade Master, face an unseen Darkness.

Tempering Grounds

It took time to find the entrance to the grounds, some wildlife interfering with heartless and even taking a few hours to retrace their steps, but in the end, they had finally come to the entrance.

In canyon, in the depths of Taelpar Crag, the two warriors came to the entrance, staring down the path that lied ahead of them. They hadn't said a word to each other since coming here, neither could muster the strength to allow themselves to distract the other with pointless chatter. As much as they would welcome it to put some ease on their minds, their task required them to be at the peak of perfection.

At least that is what Aqua had been telling herself since they started their journey to this sacred ground. According to what Gladiolus recalled from the fallen Marshal, this cave was discovered thirty years ago by the hunters. She presumed the reason for the abandonment of this place was due to daemons or the unorthodox living space. Or very likely, as she would guess, this place is where the legendary swordmaster dwelled.

The Blade Master.

As the two stood at the entrance to the cave, Gladiolus took his phone out and stared at it. 'Yup…no signal…', he said with a grunt. 'Which means once more we're going in silent'.

'As usual…', Aqua replied in a calm collected tone. Shoving his phone back into his back pocket, the shield strode forward with Aqua in tow.

Inside the cave, both warriors slowed their march giving the narrow spaces they were in. It was fortunate for them Gladiolus wasn't too big otherwise only one would be moving forward. The air in this place felt odd to the woman however, yet it wasn't darkness that perturbed her. No, there was a silence and a grim sensation in the air, a stench of death.

Her thoughts confirmed when they walked to a more spacious passage, littered with corpses or likely unfortunate warriors who like them, attempted to face the blade master. On the ground and the walls, swords stabbed deep into their bodies to pin them to the wall, like mounted trophies.

The blue-haired warrior subtly took a deep breath to steel her nerves, not used to seeing remains of the fallen. Least with heartless and nobodies when they fell, there was nothing left of them. 'You gonna be ok?', Gladiolus asked, gesturing the remains, 'This won't be the end of it'. 'I'll be fine, just not used to seeing so much…death, you know?', she said, even her voice sounded heavy. Onwards they went, going down a small hill.

They stopped walking however, their eyes narrowed with suspicion as faint blue wisps floated around the remains, slithering into them. When they disappeared into them, slowly the corpses stretched back to their feet, their unused bones cracked and popped as the clinking and grinding of their rusty armor hummed in the cave.

'They're alive!?', Gladiolus growled, summoning his sword.

'Not for much longer!', Aqua said, ready.

The first of the walking dead ran to Gladiolus, dragging their large sword along the ground and when in range he threw his blade upwards to swing at the shield. Gladiolus evaded its strike by sidestepping out of the way of Aqua. The master aimed both hands at the corpse exposed chest and fired a blast of magic that obliterated it. Aqua cart-wheeled from another sword, evading it and letting Gladiolus cleave it in two via waistline.

'Have you come to prove your might?'.

Gladiolus and Aqua looked up to see nothing as their enemies began to surround them, the shield-less Gladiolus grabbing his blade with both hands while Aqua held up her left hand as icy mist covered it. 'Who's there?', Gladiolus yelled, blocking a sword.

'One of many who haunt these grounds, following our leader in death as did in life'.

Aqua fired a frosty ring of blades at the lingering souls closer to her, hitting them in the chests. The ice began to coat their deceased forms in frost until they were nothing more than the frozen statues. Their momentum caused them to fall and shatter into piles of broken ice as the woman spun around to evade a stabbing motion from the ghouls.

'Naught but our souls remain, clinging to vestiges of our past'.

'Why?', Aqua questioned, summoning a barrier to protect herself from a striking sword.

'To test those who would become the King's Shield and prepare them to inherit the power they pursue'.

Gladiolus kicked one ghoul in its skull when it ducked below his sword swipe, knocking it into a ghoul behind it. He slammed his greatsword down on the two, crushing their dusty bones and ending their temporary revival. Finally, he turned around and tossed his great sword at the ghoul further down their path, striking it straight into its chest which made it stagger backward. Aqua leaps into the air and dive kicked into its neck, breaking the connecting with a loud snap.

Just as they thought victory was theirs, their pathway further into the cave was becoming a littering ground for their enemies as more corpses began to revitalize and taste the life they once had. Gladiolus rushed in first as he re-summoned his greatsword, yelling as he spun around like a wild cyclone, cutting down what remained. His blade tore the walking dead minions asunder like they were made of paper as Aqua jumped into the air and rain down a thunderous storm upon them.

Controlling her lighting to ensure she didn't harm Gladiolus while he wildly yet effectively tore down the enemy, Aqua shocked the ones further from the shield with bluish-white bolts of lighting, leaving nothing but gaping holes in the chests of her enemies or burning them to a crisp. When she landed on her feet from the spell ending, she lifted her right hand and created a Magnega that drew them all into one spot, which Gladiolus immediately took advantage of.

Grabbing his greatsword, he impressively leaped into the air, performed a few turns during his jump before he slammed his sword right upon the pile of the walking dead, destroying them and the spell in hand. Limbs and dust flew from the impact, making Aqua cover her eyes from the force of the man's strength as the battle had reached its conclusion at last. The woman though placed her hands on her knees, panting.

Noticing this, Gladiolus approached her. 'What? Done already?', he teased, 'We're just at the entrance'. However, the woman's glare showed his attempt at humor was not warranted as she took a deep breath. 'I've used too much higher tier magic in the span of two skirmishes', she said, 'And this is the result'.

Gladiolus raised a brow at her while crossing his arms. 'Oh, come on, I've seen you do a hell of a lot more magic than that! You're seriously telling me you're winded already?', he said, disbelieving. Aqua stood up properly, huffing. 'I had a keyblade that wasn't broken, in case you forgot', she responded, in the same tough tone he was displaying. 'I'm drawing mana from anywhere I can, and without the keyblade to help manifest or store, I'll be on fumes at this point'.

At this discovery, his stern look softened with concern as he uncrossed his arms while Aqua's glare simpered away to worry. Shaking her head, she looked to the passage ahead of them and proceeded on. Before she got far, however, Gladiolus caught her shoulder. 'Hang on, sure you don't need to, I dunno, recharge?', he asked, awkwardly. The woman gave him a weird look. 'I mean, can't you just wait for it to replenish? Mana?', he explained.

'Mana doesn't recharge like a battery, Gladio. It's more complicated', she said with a huff. 'If it were the case with me, I'd never have to worry about overuse'. 'With you? What's that supposed to mean?', asked the older man. Aqua let out a small sigh. 'Sora and Kairi don't have to worry about mana as I do, their clothes can absorb magical energies all around us and replenish them. Mine, don't have the capability', she lamented.

'Their…clothes can do that?', he asked, not bewildered or anything shocked, just amused. 'Yes, from what Donald told me', Aqua confessed. Gladiolus chuckled in the end, smirking. 'Sounds like our gear', he said, 'These fatigues give us some benefits too'. Aqua looked impressed by this and nearly turned around fully to look at him until she noticed his hand was still on her shoulder. Not tightly or anything, but rather comfortingly. 'Umm…', she started, eyeing his hand. Noticing this, Gladiolus quickly took his hand off, scratching his neck.

'Sorry, but yeah, the Crownsguard gear has some of the magic Noct's got, supposedly it made us stronger', he said. Though the details were vague as Aqua would have guessed, Gladiolus never gave her the impression magic and mana were something a Shield of the King would ever need to properly comprehend. Looking at her hands though, she frowned when she senses her supply of mana hadn't replenished even a quarter of her pool of magic.

Sensing this, Gladiolus gently patted her back. 'You think you're gonna be up for this?', he asked, his tone was solid but friendly. 'I don't have much of a choice', she sighed, 'I can't go back to the others if I don't fix this'.

As proud of her and as much respect he held for the woman, Gladiolus was beginning to have some severe second thoughts about this whole ordeal of Aqua taking part in this trial. Since her keyblade broke, her confidence had drastically taken a huge blow. Even now he could see just vulnerable the woman is without her weapon if her magic couldn't replenish as fast as Sora and Kairi's. Plus, as far as he knew, Aqua has no real alternatives to fighting back.

Looking back at the battle that took place, fortunately for him he could see one of the remains' blades was in relatively decent condition. He pushed Aqua to the pile and picked up the sword. The blade wasn't in pristine condition absolutely, but the steel was solid and sturdy. He looked at her and handed the woman the sword. Aqua looked at it with apprehension, then looking at the man. 'If you can't use your magic or keyblade, maybe you could use this for a while?', he suggested.

Aqua glanced at the sword with a small frown of doubt. The blade was much longer and no doubt heavy than what she is used to, it more suited Terra's style of weight in weapons than hers, plus she had no way of dismissing it. Yet thinking to what she said prior and Gladiolus' idea seemed like the best option for her. Reluctantly, she nodded and gently gripped the sword. Immediately after he lets go of the weight, the woman almost dropped the *much* heavier weapon to the ground with a startled yelp.

Grabbing the handle with both hands, the woman took a deep breath as she lifted it upwards. Even her stance was too shaky as her arms quivered from holding the blade, and Gladiolus had counted how many things were wrong with her stance. She performed a few test swings with it before letting the sword fall to the ground, tip first.

Shaking her head, Aqua dropped the sword entirely. 'Its no use…it's too heavy and clunky for me', she bemoaned, disappointment clear in her voice. Gladiolus opened his mouth to vainly argue she just needed practice before the woman raised her hand. 'Gladio, forget it…lets just go', she said. Without waiting for him to respond, the master walked further into the cave with more desperation in her steps than earlier. All the while the shield looked at the discarded blade with a forlorn look, and with a huff, he jogged after her.

Further in the cave where it became more ruined the further they went, strange lanterns were left as guides to them, Aqua theorized they may have been left by the souls of those who perished as guiding lights to those who managed to survive long enough to reach this point.

They came to a stream that went downwards deeper into the grounds, which the two glanced at one another before they both nodded and carefully made their way down the stream. It didn't take long for the river to catch them off guard and they slide down the stream until they fell into the main river which thankfully wasn't flowing as fast as it was going downstream. That, however, was the least of their worries.

Launching out of the river with a huge and loud splash that nearly drenched them to the bone, a large serpent the size of an airship landing on its body. It slowly rose up to the face down the two challengers, its forked tongue hissing at them as Gladiolus and Aqua readied themselves for battle.

The serpent launched its forward to the two, making them jump the opposite direction of each other's jump. The serpent slammed its fangs into the river, making the water fly with a huge splash as it quickly snapped towards Aqua. The blue-haired warrior kept jumping back from the serpent was it kept closing its massive mouth around the air where Aqua would stand for a moment. The warrior leaped onto a single rock, looking up at the serpent as it stood tall over her.

Gladiolus took this time to bring down his giant sword on the serpent's slippery body, slamming it into the body of the creature and sinking the steel into it. However, the attack yielded nothing but fury from the beast as the sword didn't cut any deeper into the flesh than striking a stone. The serpent let out a hiss and it sprayed a rainfall of poison from its venomous maws. As the poison-filled rain fell from the air, Aqua quickly dashed across the river and rocks, getting out of the area where the rain fell as Gladiolus retreated from the serpent in tow.

The serpent started to chase Gladiolus, catching Aqua's attention as she diverted her path by sliding into the water to make a sharp turn and then dashed to the serpent. Aqua jumped into the air, channeling the last remnants of her magic into her right hand. With a cry as the air around became frosty, tiny flakes of snow fluttered around it as her hand turned slightly whitish-blue. Once she landed on the head of the snake, she slammed her hand onto its scaly head. 'DEEP FREEZE!', she cried.

A wave of cold washed over the entire area that Gladiolus could see some of the river had frozen despite the vast portion of it was still running normally. The serpent's body was not only slowly being coated in a thick sheen of ice but Aqua created a stalactite that pierced the serpent's skull through its maws. There was silence after the attack as the frozen water melted quickly and the body of the frozen serpent broke apart, leaving Aqua to weakly jump off the fallen monster. She fell into the river with a thud, completely drained of mana.

Gladiolus ran to her and helped sit her up, checking on her. She shook and looked drained, skin pale and she looked barely conscious. Gritting his teeth with worry, Gladiolus pulled out their last hi-ethers and handed it to her. 'Here, that should perk you up', he offered, 'Not like I'm gonna be needing it'. Aqua weakly giggled at this, downing the bitter vial with a grimace as she was helped to her feet by Gladiolus.

Then they looked around and sensed something approaching. The air had grown tense as the area darkened around them, a powerful aura was approaching them. Gladiolus and Aqua looked to the path ahead of them and there he was. Appearing from violet fire, his body formed and slowly approached the two. Immediately they sensed his power was great, possibly even more than Terra despite the missing left arm, while his right carried a long katana, possibly a masamune. Before Aqua could speak, Gladiolus raised his arm in front of her, stopping her. She looked to the shield.

'This is my fight…', he said. She narrowed at his tone, there was no confidence in it like he always displayed but doubt and…fear. Gladiolus proceeded forward to meet the Blademaster while Aqua with reluctance, stepped back enough not to get in the crossfire.

The Blademaster walked to the shield, golden eyes were piercing and inhuman. 'You come to prove yourself worthy of my mantle?', the master questioned, stopping before him.

'I do. I am here to undertake the Trial of Gilgamesh', Gladiolus affirmed strongly, despite his apprehensive stance. The Blademaster's stance hadn't changed but somehow Aqua could sense he was amused by Gladiolus' proclamation. She figured it must have been that long since anyone ever reached this deep into the sanctum. 'And what is it you hope to gleam?', the master asked again, not taking his eyes off the man.

Looking at his left hand, he clenched it into a fist and returned his now steeled gaze to the man before him. 'Power and you're gonna give it to me', he stated, facing down the master. 'Is that right?', he said, almost bemused by the audacity of his statement. To add further concern, he dismissed the katana and summoned a claymore. 'Prove it'.

With that final sentence, the master dashed to the shield with speed even Aqua nearly missed. He shoulder tackled the shield hard enough to knock him back. Digging his heels into the river to stop himself from flying, Gladiolus grunted as he brought his sword to the master with a yell. Yet the master lazily deflected his attack almost like he was swatting a bug from him. His sword brushed Gladiolus' aside like it was nothing.

He swings his sword down on Gladiolus, making him roll to the left of the master. Growling he struck again and managed to hit the master by swinging his sword upwards cutting through him. Yet the master didn't so much as flinch from the strike as he turned and swung his sword in a wide arc the forced Gladiolus to block the attack. The attack was enough to temporary lift Gladiolus off his feet despite his guard, making him nearly lose his footing.

Gladiolus swung back at the master, yet each one was deflected and parried, the master treating his attacks like he was mock sparring with a child. From the sidelines Aqua clenched her fists in worry as she watched helplessly, seeing Gladiolus being treated like he was nothing more than a bragging apprentice. The worst part is even if she could intervene to help Gladiolus, she would far no better, if not worse, than Gladiolus. At the very least he had a weapon to fight him with.

Gladiolus raised his sword against the Blademaster's sword and entered a deadlock with him, but that was being generous. The master almost instantly overpowered the warrior, pressuring Gladiolus to lifting his sword above him and pressed a hand against the flat surface of the blade, but even then he was slowly being pushed to bend his knee. 'Brute force alone does little to impress', the Blademaster lectured, unimpressed by Gladiolus' performance as he pressed down on the sword.

'Only he possess both muscle and mettle of equal caliber deserves the honor of fighting beside the Chosen King as his sworn Shield', the master said, his voice was deep and wise with touch of disappointment. As he lectured him, Gladiolus gritted his teeth with fury and determination mixed into one, his memories flashing back to similar scenarios that had caused the shield to doubt himself more.

Ravus showing him up at the base, and then Terra wiping the floor with him. Two enemies of different groups, both stronger than he had ever dreamt possible. 'Are you saying, I don't deserve that position!?', Gladiolus challenged, bucking his knees straight and nearly stood up again, something the master took note. However, the master quickly broke the deadlock with one more forceful thrust of his blade against the shield, sending Gladiolus to the ground and rolling away until he rolled back onto his feet, glaring at the master while panting.

Aqua quickly ran in and stood before the master, protectively over the shield. The master looked at Aqua then, eyes fixed on this otherworld being. 'And you? Why are you here? To reclaim what you had lost?', he asked. Aqua clenched her fists, looking down at the master with steel. 'I…I am here to, regain what I had lost', she announced. The master looked unimpressed by her, his weapon disappearing. 'Your master's key, correct?', he said.

Aqua looked at him with surprise on her features, her stance lessened and became more lax. 'A broken weapon can be repaired…but is that where your strength lies?', he asked. 'A weapon, no matter the power, the feats it accumulated or the history behind it, is nothing more than a tool'. Aqua stepped forward. 'You don't understand! That keyblade belonged to-

'It matters not who carried the weapon before', he said, cutting her off quickly. 'Your power has long diminished, the darkness that tainted you, obscures the truth'. Aqua's blood ran cold at that sentence, a flash of the "other" Aqua appeared in her mind as a sudden chill wrapped around her form along with a horrible sensation of her heart being tugged by something.

'A great evil threatens the people of your world. It is but the King of Kings and his Shield who can safeguard their people', he warned, turning back to them. 'All those unworthy or unwilling to rise to the task meet their end here, by my blade'.

Growling, Gladiolus got to his feet, joining Aqua's side. 'We aren't meeting our end yet. This trial hasn't even started yet!', Gladiolus said strongly, glaring at the master. Aqua returned her glare to him, eyes burned with questions. 'If neither of you fear death, then go forth with reckless abandon and prove your worth', he encouraged, before he vanished in ethereal energies, leaving the two alone to ponder his words.

Gladiolus looked at his hand before he growls and swung his fist angrily. 'Damnit…he's stronger than the legends say', he grunted, punching his fist into his hand. Aqua, however, placed a hand on her chest over her heart with fear and worry formed on her face. "A darkness that blinds me to the truth…? What does that mean?", she thought to herself, a worry clutched at her heart. "It couldn't be…no, no! When Sora defeated me; the darkness left me…didn't it?".

The two stood there in silence, their internal struggles wrestled with their will to press on, dark thoughts swirled within their thoughts. Gladiolus, however, let out a growl, turning his hardened gaze to the path ahead. 'Come on, we're not gonna get any stronger by standing around', he said, marching on without the woman's thoughts on the matter. Aqua clenched the pendant on her chest in worry, her heart feels smaller and weaker by those thoughts.

Shaking her head feverishly to dismiss those thoughts, she jogged after Gladiolus into the cavern.

The two ventured forth deeper into the cave, their paths guided by the blue and reddish lanterns that laid on the paths, more deceased warriors remained still and lifeless. The Blademaster had likely commanded them to stay down for the two to continue their journey, Aqua presumed the master might have decided to lay off them for now. She had her doubts but wisely decided not to comment on the fact, lest she and Gladiolus face more opposition.

Climbing the tunnel going upwards, they found a Haven but ultimately had decided to opt against resting for now. Downwards they went, coming to an open area where they were blessed by the sunlight once more. Their journey through the grounds was littered with daemons and undead servants of the Blademaster, both fighting tooth, and nail with each encounter, their strengths took a horrible hit.

Without his shield, Gladiolus was strongly overwhelmed by the abundance of enemies that forced the warrior to either dodge awkwardly while unthinkingly raising his free hand to attempt to raise his shield, only because of his quick realizations that helped him retract his arm from the weapons the enemies used. Not perfectly, his arm had taken many hits and scratches, but at the very least he didn't lose a limb.

Aqua fared not much better than him if nothing else she was severely more limited than him. Her magic was her only means of harming the enemies they encountered, and even some quick kicks here and there. Yet all her kicks did was merely knock her enemies away or stagger them enough for her to finish them with a spell. The spells she used were low tier spells that luckily thanks to her power was enough to defeat them.

Unfortunately for them, their struggles did not ease up.

Even after they finished the battle, the two of them panted and nearly fell onto their knees in exhaustion. Gladiolus had to use the last of his potions to patch up his arm, not bothering to ask Aqua to heal him, the last thing he wanted was to be the reason she had no more magic to protect herself with. Looking at the woman as his flesh knits together, he sees the woman rubbing her arms like she was trying to apply heat to them. 'You ok?', he asked.

'I…I'm fine', she breathed out. 'Its…just a chill, that's all'. Nodding to the woman, flexing his left arm to test it out. 'Time to get going then, right?', he said. 'Yeah, let's keep moving', Aqua concurred. Venturing further, Aqua's body felt a chill lurking around her like she was trapped in a freezer and she felt her heart beating quickly like it was almost ready to explode. Subtly taking deep breaths to calm her mind, focusing on the task.

'You're getting closer Aqua…'.

Aqua stopped walking and turned around quickly with a gasp, but all she saw was nothing but the path behind her. 'Come closer to the dark…leave the light. Come, back to where you belong'. Shaking her head through gritted teeth, she marched onwards, the voice pestering her and further taunting her as Gladiolus and she came to what looked to be a sword in the stone, linked by ropes with tattered colored ribbons adorning it.

'What's this…?', Gladiolus asked, looking at her.

'Its…probably a trial chamber', she said, sensing a power behind the curved stone wall. 'Likely, you're first step to gaining power to fight the master'.

Nodding to her words, Gladiolus stepped forward and grabbed the handle of the blade, pulling it upwards to free it from the ground. The blade evaporated into fiery energy as the path cleared of stones, allowing the challenger to enter. To their left, another set of stones disappeared and formed a tunnel leading deeper into the cave. Stepping at the entrance, Aqua peered in to see nothing but darkness. 'It looks like, this is my path', she mused, her voice laced with uncertainty.

Gladiolus was about to approach her before she turned and shook her head. 'Don't worry about me, you have your trial to accomplish, right?', she asked. With a small smile that even then looked to be a façade, she nodded to him and turned, walking down her road. Raising his hand to reach out to the woman, ultimately the shield's words refused to leave his mouth as he dropped his hand. 'Yeah…I do', he said.

Gladiolus entered the chamber, but no sooner did he, his exit was blocked off by the same wall of stone, trapping him within. As the room darkened, a lich daemon materialized before him, raising several skeletons along with it. Smirking at them, Gladiolus summoned his greatsword and rushed in with a roar…

*Aqua*

As she delved deeper into the darkened cavern, Aqua could feel that chill surging around her shoulders, like a shawl of ice wrapping around her. The walls were made of stone with several lanterns scattered around the place to provide even the faintest glimmer of light for her. There were remains of the fallen challengers here she noticed, which should have calmed her, but it only pushed her already on edged nerves to nearly over the edge.

Biting back that shudder as the cold seemingly grew, she pressed on, thinking Gladiolus and she could meet up on the other side.

'All alone again…brings back memories, doesn't it?', the voice taunted.

'Shut up…', she replied tersely, quickening her walk. 'Aww, did I touch a nerve? Do you want me to call Gladiolus to come and hug you? Oh, wait… he's abandoned you'.

Aqua ignored it, walking on as the darkness of the cavern started to shift into a haze of red and purple. Flashes of the past sparked in her mind, ruined remains of worlds that the heartless had destroyed during her absence, monsters of the darkness that hunted and pursued her, and those lonely walks of solitude. Each step felt like she was walking on the spot, the end getting further and further away from her.

'How does it feel Aqua? To know everyone has readily abandoned you?', it further mocked.

'I was NOT abandoned by them!', Aqua shouted, clenching her fists as she looked around her new environment of darkness. Her eyes lost the fire and in turn took on fear and worry, as the darkness started to shift and mold into what looked to be a place, she thought she had escaped. Black rocks with blue veins within them, the murky grey skies above her with the sounds of the shore. 'Really? How certain are you on that?', the voice asked, she could hear the smirk appearing on its face.

Aqua looked at the ground to see she stood no longer on stone but dirty sand, the cave had disappeared and here she was once more, in the one place she fought so hard to escape from. Her prison, her hell. The faint stepping on water caught her ears and when she turned to address her visitor, her body froze as the will that once helped her persist through the darkness turned to nothing but despair and fear.

Anti-Aqua.

Bleached blue with the same yellow eyes Terra-Nort has, and her once-white dress has darkened and become tattered. Her arms and legs are also darkened, and her hands are now black with red fingertips.

Anti-Aqua smiled so evilly, a mockery of what her regular smiles used to be. 'Been a long time since you took a good look in a mirror hasn't? How does it feel I wonder to see what you became? To see just how far you had fallen just when they finally decided you were worth bringing back to that disgusting realm of lies?', she listed, grinning as her yellow eyes held a terrifying gleam in them, sparkling. Aqua stepped back as her throat clogged up, shoulders shook as her skin turned ashen white. Never had she felt so repulsed and horrified by seeing an image of herself be tainted to such a degree.

Anti-Aqua took a step forward to her, continuing her speech: 'I'm surprised you managed to reframe from strangling that rodent of a king when you first saw him again. That little rodent had been keeping your existence from them all, even the boy who carried your brother's heart'. She laughed mirthlessly, looking at her reddened fingertips as Aqua could feel her strength being sapped away from the words.

'Poor Aqua all alone left to rot in the darkness while her "friends" enjoyed their freedom in the light. Her only companion was the dark, wasn't it?', she cooed. Reaching the shore, the darkened figure walked closer to the frozen in place Aqua. 'Sora and Riku didn't even know you existed, Kairi had forgotten you rescuing her, and even that old fool of a sorcerer had barely acknowledge your achievements, not even worthy of mentioning it to those two', she furthered bragged as she got closer and closer to her.

'S-shut up…', Aqua whimpered, clutching her head in dismay in a feeble attempt to block her inner darkness' words. Tearing into her and ripping her heart apart, the memories of the darkness flooded her mind as she could fell her will being sapped away. 'Does it hurt? Knowing you were so insignificant that no one even attempted to find you as soon as you disappeared?', Anti-Aqua sang with glee, reaching the woman.

'Stop it…stop it!', Aqua cried out, feeling the darkness wrap around her heart like it was thrown into a den of snakes. Anti-Aqua laughed gleefully, clapping her hands and her smile turned smug. 'What sort of master weeps in front of her enemy I wonder? Possibly the same one who was rescued by a mistake!', she sang, 'A random kid that wasn't even chosen by the key, yet he's accomplished far more than you've ever done! At the very least he managed to SAVE his friend from the darkness~'.

Aqua let out a wail of anguish, launching herself upon the darkened replica of herself, tackling her onto the ground as she kept laughing at the woman. She suddenly was enveloped in darkness that dragged her underground. Throwing the two of them out of the place where Anti-Aqua was born, and the next thing the master knew, she was back in the Tempering Grounds, likely where she was meant to end of her tunnel.

Landing on her side, Aqua rolled onto her feet as Anti-Aqua stood at the entrance likely at another trial chamber. The dark replica looked at her with no more smiles or smug looks, but disgust. 'I can't believe you; this is what a master is supposed to be? A sniveling weakling who cries when she's reminded of how worthless she is to her "friends"?', she accused. 'Pfft, maybe you were right. Maybe Eraqus did make a bad choice'.

'Don't you dare say my master's name like that!', she shouted, getting to her feet and readied herself to cast magic. The woman of the darkness then lifted her darkened hand up and to the horror of Aqua, manifesting in her hands was Master's Defender, still broken and levitating in her palm. Aqua tried to recall it back to her, but nothing happened. 'No…', she whispered. Laughing maniacally at Aqua's woes, her other self-turned to her with a smirk that looked disgustingly like Xehanort's. 'Oh yes~ Even your master's keyblade knows what a worthless apprentice you are!', she bragged.

Dismissing her keyblade as a dark corridor opened behind her and she turned her back on Aqua. 'I'm disappointed, I expected you to be at the very least worth coming back for…but in the end, you are nothing more than a sham, a failure', she berated. As she entered the corridor, she left Aqua with the final words…

'The light rejects you, and you're not even worthy of the gift Xehanort gave you'.

As the corridor disappeared, Aqua fell to her knees in absolute defeat, falling onto her hands as tears welled up. 'This…this…this can't be real…', she said, never feeling so beaten in her life. 'She's lying…'.

Shaking in her spot, she laid her head on the ground with a choking sob threatening to escape her. Doubt had consumed her confidence; her strength was depleted and her will to push onwards had crumbled to dust. Every word her other self said had cut into her heart, each slash going deeper and deeper until it could bleed no more. Did the King truly think she was so worthless she wasn't even worth bringing up to Sora and Riku?

Was her failures so great that even the old sorcerer would denounce her existence? Did they only save her out of guilt? Or only because she was needed to at least tip the scales in the light's favor?

'Master…I'm so sorry…', she whimpered as her tears fell, her spirit crushed.

'Aqua!'.

Reaching up the ramparts from the other side of the cliff, Gladiolus ran towards her and knelt to her level. 'You ok? Hot damn you got here fast!', he said, jokingly and she heard…relief in his voice. 'What's up? Tired already?', Gladiolus teased. When she didn't respond, the warrior's smirk dimmed as his eyes narrowed with worry. Gently he placed a hand on her shoulder, shaking her. 'Aqua?', he said.

She slowly raised her head to see him, and his heart broke. Tears ran down her face, skin pale from what she had just endured, and she looked completely defeated. Gladiolus had never seen this woman looking so beaten like she just lost the biggest fight of her life, and it crushed her to the core. 'Aqua? What happened?', he said, grabbing both her shoulders and helping her sit up on her knees. 'Who did this? Was it Xigbar?'.

She taken back by the anger in his voice, the level of concern for her wasn't something she knew he took to heart. Aqua knows he saw her as a friend certainly, but there was something in his amber eyes that felt and looked different from just a friendly concerned. 'Gladio…', she whimpered, shaking. 'I…I can't do this…'.

'What the hell are you talking about? We're not even halfway in!', Gladiolus argued, baring his teeth. 'Why are you giving up now? Why are you suddenly saying this bull crap!?'.

'BECAUSE I SCREWED UP!', she cried out.

Her voice rang through the area like a cry from the deepest cave, her eyes shined with despair and anger as she stared into Gladiolus' surprised yet steel solid eyes. 'I failed! I failed my master! Ventus, Terra, everyone! I was left in that place because I'm worthless!', she ranted, pushing him away from her and stood up. 'A master!? I'm lucky to call myself even a wielder of the keyblade! Sora has accomplished so much more than me! I'm a joke! A pathetic excuse for a master!'.

Gladiolus stood there, dumbfounded and completely lost for words at this…

Seeing the anger in her eyes, just tearing into herself as if she was her worst enemy that had done nothing but brought her misery and despair. Yet the more she screamed and ranted, her rage was dwindling and in its place was sorrow and anguish that reminded him of Noctis when he heard of his father's passing, the agony, however, was something else.

When she finished her break down, Aqua's furious eyes dimmed to nothing but sorrow as more tears ran down her cheeks. 'I…I…I failed everyone…and now I can't even, keep my master's keyblade…what does that say about-

Her words were cut off when Gladiolus suddenly wrapped her into a hug, holding her against his chest. She was caught off by the sudden act of physical contact, whatever self-lashing she had prepared herself for was forgotten when the man held her. 'You're no failure, Aqua…if what I've heard from the others, more so Riku and Sora, you are far from it', he said, gruffly yet gentle at once. 'You've been played a shitty hand and did what you could for your brothers. That doesn't sound like a failure to me'.

The blue-haired woman shook in his arms as she sub-consciously wrapped her arms around his waist, whimpering before she finally broke down and cried into him.

*Nightfall*

At a small Haven nearby the next trial, Aqua sat near the fire with her arms wrapped around her knees as she stared into the flames while Gladiolus was prepping their "dinner". After she had broken down into her friend, it took time for him to motivate her and push onwards despite the doubt that was eating at her heart and soul.

Aqua merely adopted the desire to help Gladiolus at least complete his trial, she owed him that. Why should he be punished for her shortcomings, after all, she told herself. Yet somehow, she felt a bit lighter after her cry and hug from the shield. It was almost like Kairi and Sora's, despite where theirs felt like siblings being supporting their older sibling, his hug felt like a genuine, like between good friends.

At least…she's telling herself that.

'I'm…sorry for what happened back there…', she said weakly, a sense of shame crept up her back. Gladiolus said nothing as he glanced at her before he let out a breath. 'You had me startled, I'll give you that', he confessed. 'Don't think I've ever seen you like that'. He turned to her properly. 'So, wanna tell me the story? What happened to you?'. Aqua frowned at this request, but as she closed her eyes and cleared the doubt, she felt this need, this desire to lift some of that weight off her chest.

Keeping those dark days behind, locked away in her deepest memory forever was something she had desperately tried to do. But now her darkness had brought those back full force, it felt like she was back in that despair again. '…it's…a long story', she said.

Then something delicious caught her nose, and when she looked, she sees the shield offering her a cup of noodles, his smile was friendly, like a long-time comrade. 'I've got time, and I think you need getting it off your chest', he offered. Aqua looked to the cup before she smiled in gratitude and took it and the plastic fork with it. 'Are you sure?', she asked one more time, looking at him. Gladiolus nodded, encouraging her to tell her story.

With a deep breath, Aqua said: 'I guess…it all started…'.

A/N:

Part one of Episode Gladiolus and Aqua!

So this was admittedly mostly focused on Aqua and her inner demons, which I wished KH would (hopefully will do in future) go into. Promise Gladiolus will get some development in the next chapter with her, I wanna try and develop their relationship since I don't do much with Gladiolus and I always felt like he always gets the short end of the stick with the four.

So here are my questions for this chapter!

Q1: Do you think I went too far with tormenting Aqua?

Q2: How did you like Anti-Aqua?

Q3: Can you guess how Gladiolus will get a shield again?

Q4: Which character do you enjoy most out of this story and why?

Questions asked:

Guest Isa:

The summons Aqua and Kairi would have gotten has been scrapped, I'm sorry but I kinda feel like the team's strong enough without them. As for Fairy Godmother…well…you'll see.

I like the name, simple and fitting!

My questions for fun: Who is your favourite and least favourite Guardian of Light?

As always, thanks for reading! Massive thanks to Manga124 for beta reading this! Stay awesome but more importantly stay safe!