How long she laid there, she couldn't tell. Throughout the night she had woken up several times, each and every instance gripping her tightly in the throes of panic. An unfamiliar location; a soft bed instead of hard unyielding ground; the chirpings of birds behind the curtained windows. It took Robin laying his coat over her as an extra blanket for her to calm down, an act she only noticed because she distinctly recalled it not being there at some point.
Aqua rolled onto her side, pulling the surprisingly heavy thing closer to her nose. Through the illogical passage of time of the Realm of Darkness, the hint of ash still lingered on Robin's cloak. A survivor of an apocalypse, he'd said. But was that because of Grima's making, or some other being? The Heartless didn't discriminate, so it was possible that his world had been attacked. But still... 'The wings of despair and the herald of ruination.' She shivered. She was safe now. Alone, without a keyblade, and no way to contact Mickey or the worlds beyond, but she was safe. And yet...
Aqua took in another breath of Robin's coat. The scent of not-quite-Darkness clung to it, but despite all of what it represented, all she could think about was how this particular brand was what kept the Realm's Darkness away. It had protected her. Nurtured her. For six hundred and ninety five sleep cycles, it was the malevolence of a fallen world that had been her guardian. Now that she was in the Realm of Light, ridding herself of any link to Darkness should have been an immediate priority, and yet...
A knock at the door startled her into a sitting position, coat clutched in her hands. Go Go strolled in without a care in the world, a frown appearing on her face when they locked eyes. "You look like shit."
Aqua pursed her lips. While she was no stranger to cursing, no thanks to Terra, between Ven and Master Eraqus they'd done their best to avoid doing so.
"Though considering all the screaming that happened, I can't say I'm surprised." Go Go pulled open the curtains, donning a pleased look as she did so. "So. Hungry?"
"I—" Screaming? Aqua glanced at the latticed window. Tall green hedges on either side swayed gently in the wind, sunlight flickering through the branches. "What... what time is it?"
"10 AM. You've been out for about twelve hours now." Go Go stared down at her and hummed. "Robin brought in a change of clothes for you earlier. Don't think it'll be to your liking, but it'll have to do for now. We can go shopping once we figure some things out." Her lips pulled up in a tiny grin. "Promise me you won't hold back, ok? All the expenses'll be on Sir Fredrickson's card." Go Go punched her lightly in the shoulder. "Hey, chin up. Whatever happened, it's in the past. Eat something first, then maybe you can think about getting all mopey again."
Aqua watched as Go Go sauntered out of the room, throwing up a hand in parting before closing the door behind her.
Right. Food, clothes, maybe a bath, and then the rest of the day. She could do this. She could— As she shifted, another waft of Robin's scent nudged its way to her senses. No. No matter what she thought, no matter what Robin— Grima— did, they were still human enough to keep her alive. Forget about the what-ifs, focus on the now. The future could remain in the future, what was most important was today.
/ - /
Aqua watched the cars pass by leisurely. According to Go Go, or as she preferred, Ethel, while they could have gone to a much closer store, finding a decent parking spot was a pain and she wasn't in the mood for walking several blocks. Thus, they were lazily driving through the streets to reach a mall on the other side of the city. It served two purposes.
The first, to help get her and Robin used to the area. The second, Robin had admitted that their appearance in the city was an accident, and that they weren't quite knowledgeable about the area. Its history, its culture; Robin claimed things of that sort were part of his hobbies, but privately she thought there might be something more nefarious behind his words. Regardless of his intentions, she did have to admit that it helped pass the time.
"I'll be in the fitness section," Ethel said as they neared the store. "They've got some decent workout gear here and if Fred's paying I intend on making use of it." She grinned that tiny grin once again, patting her jacket where her wallet was tucked inside an inner chest pocket. It was an act Robin conspicuously looked away from. "You guys going to be okay?"
"We'll manage." Robin gave a modest smile. "Thanks again for driving us here."
"Not a problem." Ethel nodded her head towards them, the slightest hint of a smile on her face. "Catch you guys in a bit.
Were it not for Robin's prodding she would have stood there for several minutes. Unlike Fred's mansion, this place was a place of business. It wasn't a home, it wasn't limited to only a few people. There were people everywhere. Teens, adults; people who'd been in the Light for their whole lives. They didn't have to worry about training, didn't have to worry about surviving. They had simple, basic worries.
"Do you need my jacket?" Robin whispered.
Aqua jerked away. "What?"
"My jacket," he repeated just as quietly. Like her, Robin had borrowed some old clothes. Their usual outfits were too distinct and tied to their 'hero uniform', so having the distinction meant they'd be able to travel around unhindered by the general populace, according to Ethel. "It doesn't have the same protections that my coat or your armor does, but I've already woven some basic things onto it."
She looked away, pretending to be focused on a rack of clothing that a group of teens were gathered around. She couldn't deny that the aura Robin's clothing emitted made her feel safe, nor could she deny how much she detested that fact. "I'll be— I'll be fine." She would be. She had to be. Aqua took a breath. "Right. Did you want to split up or should we go together?"
Robin gave her an odd look, one she felt was a bit judging but without the typical weight. A moment later, a somewhat pleased expression took its place. "How about we split up for now, and then we can find each other whenever we find an outfit or two we're happy with?"
Aqua nodded. "That sounds good."
"Good luck."
Good luck? For choosing an outfit? She hummed to herself. Maybe it was an appropriate expression. The last time she went clothes shopping was with Master Eraqus, a few months before— before everything. The clothing the store had were of a significantly different quality than what they had here, let alone the styles. Accessories were almost non-existent, too. Just some necklaces, bracelets, and piercings. There were no excess fabrics, no corsets, nothing that she might have ordinarily used. But maybe that wasn't exactly a bad thing.
While Ethel and Robin's conversation about keeping their hero and civilian identities separate were likely based in different origins, what with Robin being an other-worlder, it did hold some merit. If she could keep Aqua the Master and Aqua the Adult two distinct people, would she have as much problems as she was currently having? With a smile, Aqua looked up from the shirt she was inspecting, watching another group of teens critique one of their friends on the shirt she was holding up.
Yes, perhaps keeping the two identities separate would be a good idea.
By the time they'd finished their shopping, an affair that took them across three different stores, Aqua had picked up four outfits, along with a handful of adornments from a pair of smaller shops that Ethel had suggested. Though she wasn't able to find a useful pair of form fitting shorts, the pants she did find were still useful for casual civilian wear. Two pairs of black(ish) material that was a bit gentler than the blue jeans that Robin got, alongside two pink and light blue shirts that had the name of some local music groups on them, with a decent zippered black hoodie that had white strings. For the cases in which she wanted to dress up, she also picked up two sundresses, primarily consisting of dark green and patterned peach respectively. Robin himself had gone extremely simple, picking up only three shirts of various groups alongside a thicker jacket to compliment his 'jeans'.
"If you guys are feeling up to it, we could hit up a few more places."
Between the drive and trying out clothes, it had been a couple hours since they last ate. Ethel had recommended they try out one of the mall specific specialties: a place whose primary meals came in a sectioned box. A serving of rice topped with a choice of meat, a few pieces of raw fish wrapped in seaweed and rice (a dish Robin quietly told her was called 'sushi'), and a small serving of vegetables to compliment the main entrée. Considering some of the other options were significantly more greasier foods (based on the sizzling of the grills alone), Aqua felt rather grateful for the choice in food.
"I"m not sure how long you guys are staying in the area, so it wouldn't be a bad idea to get a few options."
Before they'd met back up with Ethel, Robin had explained the story he'd given their hosts. A portal gone wrong that had separated them from various means of communications with their own group. Additionally, they'd been going through some difficult things before arriving here, and that it was their first time being back in civilization in a long while.
Secretly she suspected that Robin had mentioned something along the lines of him being the elder of the two of them, in both age and experience, but as someone who had participated in two wars alongside helping to rule a country, whereas she had only called one castle her home and was always a student, it wasn't exactly an incorrect statement.
"If the weather's permitting, how about we visit a beach?" Robin eyed a piece of sushi appreciatively, chuckling at only something he knew. "It's been a long while since I've been to one. I'm sure there must be a few decent places around here?"
Ethel raised a brow, the corner of her mouth curling up in perverse amusement. "Wow, Robin, only known me a day and already trying to see me in the buff?"
Aqua flushed.
As if he had missed the insinuation, because of course somebody as worldly as him could do so, "Are there those types of beaches here?"
She shrugged. "There's a few places, but nowhere near here. We'd have to make it a day trip, if not longer." Ethel hummed. "You know, I have been itching to get a break soon. What about you, Blues?"
"Eh?"
"You know." Ethel reached up to touch her own hair, singling out a lock of colored hair. "Plus your color preferences?"
"Oh, uh." Aqua looked down at the table. Going to a beach didn't sound like a bad idea, but all that came to mind when she thought about it was a quiet, eternal night where the moon never set. A calm beach where rocks arced out of the waters.
The place where she had let go of Master's Defender.
She smiled weakly, gripping her utensils tightly. "Only if we leave before nightfall."
Ethel made a strangled sound, her expression freezing. "Ye— yeah. No problem."
Robin quietly reached over and touched her hand with his, concern all over his face.
For some reason, as she stared down at the hand gripping hers, Aqua felt like she was missing out on something.
/ - /
By mid-afternoon they were back at Fred's mansion, for which she was incredibly grateful for. While Aqua repeatedly caught herself basking in the presence of others (and sunlight), after spending the equivalent of a decade all by her lonesome, having so many voices around her was incredibly unnerving. It didn't help that many a time, Robin had silently broken her out of her memories, a tap on her wrist or arm nudging her from staring at her reflection, so sure that something about her reflection didn't add up.
At Robin's suggestion, they'd settled in one of the quieter living rooms, this one containing a vast array of shelves, each filled to the brim with various books. Ethel had passed by before leaving, stating for them to 'Have fun geeking out' after sharing a glance with Robin. That the two seemed to have created a silent means of communication between each other should have bothered her, but Aqua was by no means so childish that she felt she should have monopolized Robin's attention.
At the very least, at least it was Robin who was here and not—
Aqua pursed her lips, eyes flicking back up several paragraphs. Robin was Robin and Grima was Grima. Though they may have shared the same body, with the latter influencing the former significantly... as with the Darkness that had overtaken Terra, and as Vanitas had taken over Ven, the mind and the body were not one and the same. Grima may have claimed that it was Robin who was the mask, but in those peaceful moments where they shared stories, Aqua had no doubt that the one known as Robin still existed.
Her eyes flicked towards Robin. Heavily engrossed in a history book of the world they were in, the white haired man had become lost to everything else. It was rather amusing in a way. Terra preferred practical exercises, Ven normally following after. She herself had long outgrown theoretical readings, instead developing her own spells using her personal notes as reference materials. Perhaps it was an issue of the materials themselves, though. While the Land of Departure was the home of many former keyblade wielders, the journals they left behind were less detailed than one might have hoped. Recreating the skills they left behind was as much guesswork as it was brute force.
Learning the history and culture of an area, as Robin was having them do, wasn't entirely something she had needed to do, either. Time spent in a world was more akin to day trips, perhaps a week longs' at most. Being stuck like this was an entirely new situation, and with all that had happened she was very much feeling out of depth. By the time she'd decided to take a stretch break, Robin had already gone through one book and was rapidly working through another. For a moment she felt an urge to speak up, but seeing how quickly he was reading through the pages she wasn't sure he would even notice. Nonetheless, she gave a soft parting, a tiny, amused smile forming when he instinctively murmured a response, completely lost in his own world as she left the room.
With Fred's mansion as big as it was, she doubted that Heathcliff was the only one to take care of it, but so far she had yet to see any worker other than the butler. In this world that lacked magic, taking the time to clean everything must have been a daily battle. Dusting all the vases, curtains, vacuuming the carpets, sweeping the floors; how easy would it have been to lose yourself in the motions?
"...has been going on for several minutes now. Pedestrians have been evacuated and access to the area has been cordoned off." The voice of the television lured her in to one of the other rooms, the massive screen displaying one of the city's oceanfronts.
"Thank you, Jessica. For those of you just tuning in, the monsters that have been appearing in San Fransokyo the past few weeks have currently appeared at Pier 39. Members of the local vigilante superhero group Big Hero 6 are on site and dealing with the situation."
Aqua frowned. While the members of Ethel's group were performing admirably against the monsters, their strikes were only dealing minimal damage to them. If she or Robin were there, the fight would be over in seconds. "Where is that?"
"Up in the north east part of the city."
She peered over the couch, realizing that Fred was lazily slouched into the couch, occasionally bringing a handful of something to his mouth.
"It's a nice thought trying to go help them, but by the time you got there the fight would probably be over."
"That doesn't mean I shouldn't try," she countered.
The sound of crunching food filled the silence between them, interspaced by the informative commentary from the two people on the screen. "Tomorrow, you should probably go find Hiro and let him watch you and Robin spar against each other." There was a detached quality to Fred's voice. It was a tone that felt so familiar to her, in a way that was greatly disturbing. "There's a major difference between the kind of damage you two dealt to those creatures and the damage that me and Go Go dealt last night, and that's not even counting the kind of mass damage you two can put out." Fred sat up and turned to look at her, an odd look in his eyes. "We're thinking about asking you guys to rotate between incidents, at least until you can teach us how to deal with them ourselves."
Despair. That look in his eyes was despair. It was something she'd keenly felt in the moments of clarity between the all consuming waves of resignation, back before she came across Robin.
"We're lucky these creatures only pop up a couple times a week, instead of daily. They appear randomly throughout the area, and usually only in San Fransokyo proper. They show up and start chasing after people like coyotes do roaming pets. When we show up, we can keep their attention, but sometimes the collateral damage gets too much." He slumped back once again, bringing a handful of the snack to his mouth angrily. "We're even more lucky my dad's backing us secretly with relief funds he's built up, but if this keeps up we're going to get too much attention on our heads."
With a few gestures of his hand, the moving image on the screen changed to a smaller size, a map of the city appearing in its place. "We're right here." Fred gestured with the remote, an indicator following his movements. "The place they're at is over here. It's about six miles away. How long you think that'd take you?"
Miles was one of those weird units of measurements that somehow persisted throughout the worlds like a disease. It popped up in random places and made things an utter mess of trying to convert; even worse when you tried to scale things up or down. "Maybe thirty minutes, if I push myself."
Fred frowned. "Heathcliff!" He clapped his hands loudly. A moment later, the butler stepped into the room.
"Yes, Master Fredrick?"
"Take Aqua to Pier 39, if you would. And be quick about it."
"Yes, Master Fredrick. Lady Aqua, if you please."
The drive passed by in unspoken silence, the only words she or Heathcliff shared were him asking if she minded his choice in music. It reminded her of the fancy balls she visited, back in those castles and mansions.
Idly, Aqua brought out her wayfinder. In the Realm of Darkness, injuries and damages almost had no rhyme or reason to how they accumulated, even among cosmetic injuries such as her clothes. Normally, after so many years of the same outfit day in and day out, the fabrics would have been ripped and tattered beyond belief, yet all that had happened was a barely perceptible fraying of the ends.
As for the wayfinder itself... It almost seemed to have gained a mystical quality to it. Even in the flickering shadows cast by the passing streetlights, the blue glass of each panel seemed to glow with its own light. Right now it was muted, but only in the sense of a peaceful slumber. Before, back in the Realm of Darkness, the glow felt more like a wary silence, paranoid of the figures lurking beyond the edges of the light.
After a few more turns, the car slowed to a stop, the music lowering to silence. "This is as far as I can safely go, Lady Aqua. You'll have to make the rest of the trip yourself." Ordinarily she would have exited on her own, but butlers and maids tended to have a bit of a fit when she did so. "You'll need to make your way to the north," he said, pulling open a map on his phone and showing it to her once she exited. "Do make sure to suit up before leaving the alley. CCTV has eyes everywhere in this district." With parting words of well wishes, Heathcliff went back into the car and drove off, leaving her all alone.
Aqua brought her hand up to her pauldron, hesitating at the last moment. The suit was crafted from Darkness. Though the enchantments within it were powered by her own magic and thus becoming slightly more Light aligned, its essence was undeniable. What once was smooth metal was now fibrous strips, discernible only upon close inspection. The material moved with her every action in a way that her previous armor never did, and that very trait brought with it a duality of comfort and chills in equal measure.
"Aqua the Keyblade Master is not Aqua the Adult," she hissed, slamming her palm down onto the pauldron.
/ - /
The noise of the flying vehicles hovering above was deafening. In the silence of the evacuated area, it was all she could hear. The crashing waves were overpowered. The chatter of a crowd was non-existent. It was just her breathing echoing in her helmet, the muted shriek of the magic beneath her boots pulling her forward along the line of ice, and that insufferable vibrating whir of those aerial news vehicles.
Focus! She told herself. With a grunt, Aqua fired off another Blizzara, dispelling the previous one before leaping onto the new line. On the ride over here, Heathcliff had lent her his phone to keep an eye on the battle. Wasabi and Honey Lemon (whose proper names she had yet to learn) had managed to bring down their enemies to some eighteen in number, but the time between each elimination was far too long, and in the time it took between when she left the car and her arrival, who knew how well they were faring?
Slowly, the sounds of combat could be heard. Indistinct voices alternating between battle cries and directions; the clanking of armored Heartless; Aqua fired off a Blizzard, a false keyblade borne of ice with an empty core awaiting another element of her choice forming in her sword hand as she jumped onto the newest line.
There. The green themed man known as Wasabi was fighting off against a grouping of those shadow ants and a handful of armored, clawed Heartless. On the walkways above them, the pink themed woman she recognized as Honey Lemon was flinging her weapons at various Heartless, each projectile expanding into bulbous, spongy looking things that encased whatever they touched.
"Lemon, I can't hold them off much longer!" Wasabi shouted, fending off a clawed slash with an exhausted yell.
"I need time to synthesize more containment spheres!"
"We don't have more time!"
Aqua leapt off the rail of ice once more, mana building up throughout her arm as she flew through the air. Hyperactive enthusiasm. Focused direction. Frothing desire. Silent, dancing tendrils of lightning crackled throughout the shaft of her blade, the entire construct alight with a yellowed glow. With a quick twist of her legs and a push of her arm, the same action freezing her blade into the ground like a mythical sword and turning the glow even brighter, Aqua launched herself through the air, landing beside Wasabi. "You'll have time."
With a quick gesture of her left hand, another ice blade forming in her right, the Thundara imbued blade exploded away from them in a mist of ice and lightning, the two elements stunning the gathering of ants and soldiers with what was the first real damage they'd received since their arrival.
Nothing but low level beings of darkness, in numbers far too readily handled, even before she met Robin. She could afford to experiment with her more rusty magics here. Aqua dashed into the middle of the Heartless, throwing her hand to the side and billowing out a mass of mana. "Stop!" In the back of her mind, Aqua criticised herself over the fact that Wasabi was also effected by the spell, his presence at the very edge of the encirclement.
Stillness. Attainment of perfection. Form over function. The mana from earlier attuning to her wishes, Aqua blinked through the air, each step allowing her to drive a Fira infused blade into each enemy. When at last she reappeared by Wasabi's side, her back to the still stunned Heartless, a new blade, quietly awaiting the next infusion, appeared in her hand as her back became awash by a wave of heat and tinkling of ice fragments.
Hidden by her helmet, Aqua allowed herself a pleased smile. Without a keyblade she could not perfectly emulate her previous abilities, but the mimicries she was currently capable of were perfectly acceptable. "Who's next?"