Oh, look. Canon.
The object glimmered as it turned slowly, hanging from a rich purple chain. When she had awoken the morning after Heathcliff had picked them up, she had been clutching it tightly. It felt warm in her hand, like a heated stone that had been out in the sun, yet its very presence sent a chill throughout her body, as if some unseen beast of prey was watching her and only her instincts knew something was there.
Above all, it smelt of Grima.
She knew what this was. This faded, purple teardrop nestled in a winged, stylized Y of the same color, six apathetic eyes engraved along the central curve, three on either side. It was not some mere accessory gifted to her by Robin. No, it represented a heart she had made a connection to. Someone whose strength she would be able to draw upon and use to defend herself with. This keychain was what a Keyblade's strength and form could be manifested from.
And Grima had gifted her with one.
Mogrii had a hand in it, of that she had no doubt, but it was Grima who had guided the process. Grima, who had woven his Fell essence into whatever shard of Light the keychain was synthesized from, the tiny whispers of slumbering hope barely escaping through a fog of subsuming Darkness.
She clenched her fist. The keychain represented power. She knew, without even having seen the form it would create, that the resulting keyblade would be one whose magical strength and perhaps even physical strength would be unparalleled, beyond even her synergy with her own keyblade.
But what would it cost her?
She had learned over the weekend that for her, using Darkness meant allowing herself to become susceptible to more extreme emotions. Frustration, anger, irritation, despair; utilizing a Light spell such as Pearl helped alleviate those suggestions, but it brought up the question of what exactly both types of energy were doing to her body.
Aqua shook her head, sitting up and letting the keychain rest in her palm. If she were to use this, what would it change in her very being? It was not like her Dark Suit, woven around her body and keyed to her magical signature. To use a keyblade was to unite your entire being with it, your heart and soul synchronizing with the one whose connection you were drawing up. If, upon reclaiming a keyblade, be it Master Keeper or Stormfall, she were to replace its keychain with this, how much of a change would it result to her very essence? And how much of it wouldn't she mind?
"Faith can be a stronger weapon than any would expect," she murmured. Darkness was not the eradication of Light. She had seen it in Terra. Though Darkness coursed throughout his body, it was not until the very end when Xehanort had taken advantage of it that things had gone wrong. Darkness by itself was not inherently bad; it could be used to defend, to heal. She was learning how to do that, following in the steps that Robin had forged.
She let out a heavy sigh. Regardless of her thoughts on the matter, until she regained one of her keyblades, she would have no chance to see what her tie to Grima would grant. Until that inevitable day, the charm would have to settle for being warmed in her pocket beside her wayfinder.
The remainder of her day had started out like any other, albeit at a later start than usual. Change out into some running clothes for her morning jog; return to the manse and start stretching and doing physical exercises; sate her hunger with oatmeal and fruit (and if she wouldn't miss the way Heathcliff made her oatmeal once it came time to leave) before heading down to the training room for magical exercises; shower, then head back to the kitchen for something to fill up on. It was there that she noticed something had deviated from the pattern.
"Good afternoon, Heathcliff." Aqua took a seat at the dining room table, watching as Heathcliff moved through the kitchen with a practiced ease that made her just the tiniest bit self-conscious about her own grace.
"Good afternoon, Lady Aqua. I trust you had a good rest?" Three eggs were quickly cracked and placed aside, Heathcliff deftly whisking them.
"Mhm. It was nice sleeping in a bed again instead of on the floor." Yet another thing she would miss once they left this world. Hopefully wherever they went next would be able to accommodate them.
"It pleases me to hear such."
Aqua watched Heathcliff cook for several moments, realizing that he was preparing perhaps an abnormally large amount of food for only two or even three people. "Heathcliff?"
"Yes, Lady Aqua?"
"Who are you cooking for?"
The man paused for a moment, turning around to look at her and quirking his lip slightly. "Forgive me if I elect to not answer that question. Though please, feel free to help yourself once everything is ready."
Aqua blinked at the response. The way Heathcliff spoke, it almost sounded as if it was meant to be a surprise of some sort. It couldn't have been anything bad, but for Heathcliff to not want to say anything regarding the subject, she was almost a little hesitant for when the guests of honor arrived. "By the way, where's Robin?" she asked as he started putting plates on the table. If he hadn't run out of anything to snack on, around this time was when they'd catch a peek at each other.
"Sir Robin retired late last night after working on something with Mogrii in the labs." He paused and stared ahead for a moment. "Though perhaps it would be best to say 'early this morning'."
She snorted. Somehow it made the keychain all the more strange knowing it was crafted through physical means and not magicked into existence. Aqua was three bites into her meal, scrambled eggs and grated potatoes, when a loud, boisterous voice came in from the hallway.
"And the victorious heroine rises again!" Fred pulled a chair out and slumped into it, a happy expression on his face. "Had a look at some of the footage Hiro's programs pulled off of security cameras before they got scrubbed. You know, if everybody from your organization can fight the way you do, I think we'll be in good hands."
"Hm?" Aqua watched as Fred continued to pile food onto his plate.
He chuckled. "Your juniors are just as secretive as you two are, but what self-respecting shadow organization isn't?!" He brandished his knife and fork, striking several poses as he continued to speak. "Fighting off the shadows of humanity in the dark of night, brandishing weapons borne of souls and Light, heroes by moonlight," Fred stuck one final pose, a cut of sausage firmly on his fork, "civilians by sun!"
"What he means to say is that my efforts with Mogrii in attempting to find us a way home have largely gone to waste." Robin— no, Grima; their irises were red, and that rumbling timbre was just barely there, soft enough to easily dismiss as mishearing things— suddenly said from beside her, starting to gather a rather sizable amount of meat. "As a personal project, I'll have something to entertain myself with for the coming years, but it still galls me to know those efforts have been made redundant."
"No worries, my arcane spell weaver." Fred flicked his knife around randomly like a wand. "Knowing you, you'll find some way to make it useful for yourself. Maledictus! Oop."
She chuckled quietly as the piece of egg Fred had on his fork went flying off with the thrust. Subtly, she glanced at Grima, mouthing his name and tilting her head questioningly.
"Our associates are loud," he grumbled, bringing a forkful of food to his mouth. "They roused me from my slumber some time ago, and against my desires, have continued to keep me up ever since."
"Hiro mentioned something about how you two were up all night working on something." Fred pointed his fork at Grima, only to pause and frown at the prongs before bringing the utensil back to his plate. "Used up a lot of the stockpiles that Mogrii had."
Grima huffed. "Stockpiles that were mine by right of conquest. If we truly must, we can always gather more."
Aqua narrowed her eyes, staring at him unamused. "We. Right."
"As if you don't relish the affair," he dryly countered.
The rest of their meal went by fairly quiet, broken only by Fred's occasional giggles and almost reverent stares. Part of her wanted to ask what was on her mind, but the other, saner part demanded she leave him be. As entertaining as he could be sometimes, she was still feeling the aftereffects of training her magic so hard over the past three days.
"Oh." Fred looked up at one of the digital clocks hanging in the room, a soft chime playing as it ticked over to the next hour. "Guess you two won't be able to meet them today," he said apologetically. "Hiro's wanting to run some tests to get some more data before tonight." He grinned. "It'll be great; everybody that works managed to get a morning shift today, so come sundown we're all going to run an agility course to test out Hiro's AR tech. Ah," Fred winced, "that means you two will have to be in the city basically all day, just in case anything goes down."
"You'll find no qualms from my end," Grima rumbled, savoring a frankly crispy piece of bacon.
"Nothing wrong with spending some time in the city," Aqua chimed, sneaking an orange slice onto Grima's plate. She nudged him in annoyance when he conspicuously prodded it to the side, far away from any of his food. "Especially after all that time in the woods."
"Speaking of the woods!" Fred leveled a finger at them. "No forgetting your headsets this time, alright? Wouldn't want something going down again and being unable to get into contact with you. Oh and, take your time heading over there." Fred grabbed his plates and moved behind the counter, the dishes quietly clinking into the sink. "Unless something happens, basically think of this as a vay-cay."
"Meet me in the back when you're ready," Grima muttered as Fred left, a wink on his face and finger guns recoiling back. "Our armor and devices are rather noticeable, and I'd rather not have every Jane and John mobbing us for our 'cosplay' again."
Aqua chuckled, remembering that first day. "Not a fan of fans?"
"I prefer my strangers at a distance, thank you." Grima paused, as if he wanted to say something more. "And keep your fruit. If Robin wishes to be stupid enough to work himself into exhaustion, he can deal with the fallout of my dietary decisions."
/ - /
It was decidedly strange walking around the heart of San Fransokyo, not a soul reacting to their usual clothes nor the headsets they bore. Even if she had no reason to doubt Robin (or Grima's) magical prowess, it still came as a surprise to see just how little effort they had to expend in weaving the anti-detection spell into their equipment. Normally the innate magic of her keyblade would have helped the locals pass over any eccentricities of their clothing, but in this world of superheroes and supervillains and conventions where people regularly dressed up as their favorite fictional characters, the lingering remnants of her keyblade's magic failed to do anything.
"We've been here an hour, and still you doubt my abilities?" Grima dryly remarked. Four days ago, she would have been nervous about his presence, but after spending the weekend on and off with the Fell Dragon (who was able to recreate a facsimile of Aqua's Darkness far more easily than Robin) she was more unsure about his existence than anxious.
"I know you as someone who can cut wheat like a farmer with a scythe, not so much..." Aqua gestured broadly at her left arm as they walked.
"Humph. Battle magic may be the most visually spectacular, but any mage worth their mana should be capable of bringing about utilitarian effects." Red eyes glanced at her for naught but a moment. "Shields notwithstanding."
"Oh, so am I not worth my mana then?" she teased. "Not knowing how to cast anti-notice charms or layer defensive spells into my clothing?"
"I was not the one to state such."
She snorted. "Will you teach me one day?" she asked as they came to a stop, walk sign turning red. In practice, patrolling the city meant less dealing with any crimes they came across (which were actually fairly rare) and more having a lazy day of walking and sightseeing. Heartless attacks were relatively rare, even more so for them to break though anywhere near their patrol area, despite Hiro managing to draw a general area of their appearances. In his own words, the slowly decreasing area over the past few weeks almost made it feel like the Heartless were searching for something.
"Teach you my hexes?" Aqua could almost hear the raised brow. "Likely not. Far too dark a craft for one such as you, and I mean that with a lowercase. No, I fear that as you are now the only path for your magics is one of combat. More spectacular, creative spell weaving that would be sure to awe any who see them with their splendor."
She flushed. Even after a solid three days of nothing but off-handed compliments from Grima, it still felt nice having her magic be appreciated. "It's still nice to dream," she responded.
"Hm."
There really wasn't much to say as the two of them continued walking. At times, it would be Aqua leading, taking the first step onto the crosswalk. Other times, Grima would pinch her arm warmer and pull her toward a different direction. It felt so very much like their time back in the Realm of Darkness, only this time, there were people, and there was light.
"You're staring again," Grima grumbled.
"Was I?" She glanced at him, arms crossed as he stared up towards the sunlight filtering between two buildings.
"Mm."
Aqua said nothing as she looked back up. It hurt to start too long, of course, but looking instead at the buildings themselves helped alleviate it.
"'He looked at her like she was the sun, in that he never looked at her except in frustration.'"
Aqua blinked, looking back at Grima, still staring unflinchingly at the sun, pupils mere pinpricks.
"'He basked in her warmth, he complained when she was gone, but he never looked. On days when she was muted, he complained. On days she was stronger, he hid from her. He never looked at her until she was leaving, and in the beauty of the sunset he wondered how he'd never seen her before.'"
A tiny, unsure smile made its way onto her face. "Literature from your world?" she asked.
"And, somehow, this one," he answered. "Ethel found me one eve with a book of poetry in hand, and we found ourselves discussing irritable clichés. I spoke of how I have only ever squinted at the sun in irritation to which she quoted that exact phrase verbatim." Grima let out a quiet, amused snort. "It seems that some things remain constant across all worlds, even as so many others deviate."
"I need to ask," Aqua started as they sat down for an early dinner, courtesy of Fred's complimentary credit card. "Why have you been out all day?"
He eyed her levelly, unwrapping his triple meat sandwich. With extra crispy bacon. "Have you forgotten the part where Robin woke you up at sunrise for three days in a row with breakfast already prepared?"
"No, but to be sleeping nearly all day?"
"The sleep that he is currently experiencing is akin to an extended dream. Fleeting moments of what I experience might influence the dream, but as a whole, the fantasy his mind is creating is nothing more than the traditional fragmented memories one should expect of a dream." Grima licked his lips as he swallowed, humming appreciatively. "If you truly are not satisfied with that answer," he glanced at her meaningfully as he spoke, "then perhaps this will suffice: our interactions this weekend have proven you to be cordial to the one before you now. Before, you would quail in my presence." He dipped his head in acknowledgement, returning back to his food.
Aqua looked down at the sandwich between her hands. An extended dream influenced by your surroundings? "When you are asleep," she started slowly, stressing that last word, "what is it like?"
Grima stared at her for a moment, trying to discern what it was she was intending. "At times it is exactly as I stated earlier; a dream influenced by my surroundings. Others, I am fully aware of my surroundings, as if all my senses were fully open and the only thing slumbering was my body. I expect much the same for Robin, even if his experience with such dreaming is far less than mine."
"That sounds..." She closed her eyes, basking in the sensation of her hair brushing along her face that the gentle breeze caused. In her imagination, she could see Ven slumbering on that chair, hidden away within the transformed castle that was their home. Through the connection of their hearts, would he be able to see what was around her? Or would his dreams be stuck with only the memories he had, never to change? "That sounds awfully nice," she finished quietly.
/ - /
"You two have fun on your little date?"
"It wasn't a date," Aqua immediately responded, watching Ethel throw one of her wheels out. "We were patrolling the city in case any Heartless showed up."
Ethel laughed. "Uh huh. Two people who've been together to the point where they can voicelessly fight together as if they had a mental link?" She gave her a pointed stare. "Totally not a date."
"It wasn't," she groused. A date? With Grima? Sure, she trusted him to protect her in a fight if she ever got in over her head (usually because of his instructions), but to do something romantic like that? There was no way— She pressed her lips together. It wasn't a date, was it? Two people spending the day together, having fun, talking about whatever, and having a meal together? Sure, they were there because they were asked to, but it wasn't as if they would never have done that on their own. What they did today wasn't a date, right?
"Oh my god, Aqua, I was joking." Ethel caught her wheel once more with a resounding clap, staring at her wide eyed. "Unless... did you want it to be a date?"
Aqua said nothing, mind stuck on the question of who she'd rather spend a day with. Robin was the one she had spent the most time with, but Grima was still so very new to her, and only recently was she coming around to being in his presence without any fear. Every day, it was always Robin who was in control; how often would Grima be at the forefront? If she had to choose between the two, who would she rather spend a special day with?
"Sorry I'm late. I miss anything?"
Aqua reflexively waved her hand up her face, her helmet hiding her features from view. At some point near sundown, Grima had stepped away to take a look at something, and when he came back, red eyes had faded back to amber. As far as Robin acted, he had always been there, not quite denying any of her questions, but neither was he forthcoming about what 'sleeping' actually entailed. As far as she could tell, he almost seemed reluctant about the whole ordeal.
Ethel raised a brow at her helmeted face, glancing over at Robin and smirking. "Still waiting for the last person to arrive. Hiro wanted to impress him with the city and Baymax's functions." She threw out her wheel once more, the disk slowing down after a certain point before shooting right back. How exactly the item worked Aqua didn't understand, but it was enough to know it was reliable. "You two never took a ride on Baymax before, have you?"
Aqua shook her head. Beside her, coat bunched up behind him, Robin did the same.
She made a noise of understanding. "Right, your armors don't have magnetic grips or anything." Ethel shrugged. "Should get you guys that experience some time. Flying through the air like that?" She leaned back slightly. "Compared to riding along the streets on my wheels, can't say I enjoy the experience much, but it's something you should try out at least once."
"I'll ask Hiro about it after this," Robin said. "Already get your fill of the wind?" he asked after a moment.
She nodded. "Getting a bit chilly," she responded. While the weather was indeed nice and they were sheltered enough, waiting for everybody to arrive was taking some time. Aqua blinked and tilted her head, scanning the roads. "Do you hear that?"
"That would be Baymax," Ethel answered, flinging out her wheel one last time.
A mass of red shot up from their right, smoke trailing behind. After a moment, Baymax, fully suited up and wings protruding from his back, carefully hovered onto the bridge below them, flying off once the boy on his back let go.
"Hey, who is—"
"Okay guys, Agility Course program is up and running," Hiro said. "Pass through the rings as quick as you can and head for the goal. Use whatever means you think fit best."
A series of acknowledgments sounded through her headset, profiles of everybody popping up on her headset. Noticeably, the icons of herself and Robin were of them with their concealments up. The brown haired boy beneath her immediately started running, following along his own path even as Fred and Wanjohi leapt off the bridge.
"C'mon, Mage Knight, don't get left behind." Ethel nudged her before leaping off, a smirk on her face.
"Eth— Go Go!" From this high up?! Was Ethel even— Yellow landed on the ground far below smoothly, whirling around in a circle before shooting off.
"Yeah, Mage Knight." Robin hopped down to the railing beneath them. Even underneath the concealment of his hood, she could tell he was grinning. "Don't get left behind." Gracefully, he fell back, coat tail billowing behind him.
She sighed. A race, was this? "Alright, then." A shame that her rings had her going to the left. Aqua leapt off the bridge, magic for Aero gathering in her hand. As she neared the ground, she thrust out, a whirlwind of air rising up and slowing her momentum.
A small mercy of her headpiece only covering a single eye, when oddly lit Heartless appeared in her vision, it was a simple matter to realize they were part of the course. A simple Thunder destroyed the projections, and an orb of Blizzara paved the way for an ice rail.
It was surprising how tailored the course seemed to be for her. Heartless would spawn in groups that were easily dispatched with some slightly altered magics designed to cover as wide an area as possible, each cast able to be delivered all while maintaining the ice rail. At times the rings would ask her to scale the side of a building, perfectly spaced so that she could cast Blizzaras to create platforms and climb her way up. What was the most fun was the rings that had her falling back down to ground level, enemies appearing at her landing site with just enough time to prepare an attack before she had to move on.
"Mage Knight." Robin's unusually serious voice piped up as she flung a weak Fire infused blade at a mass of rotating Heartless cannons. "Just picked something up. Come to my location." A thin beam of lighting shot into the air at that moment, not four blocks away. "We can handle it on our own," he said to the others on the line. "Going dark."
"Wait, Tactician—! Dangit." Hiro clicked his tongue. "Mage Knight, you two be careful. Don't be afraid to call for backup if you need it."
"Right." Aqua brought her hand to her head, disconnecting from the voice line. If Robin wanted privacy, there was a reason for it. She instinctively flinched as a pulse of Fell magic surged out, nearly losing control of her ice rail. The pulse wasn't quite potent enough to herald Grima's reappearance, but it was enough to mean she needed to hurry.
The boy in the black coat from before leapt away from Robin as she neared, dismissing his bat wing themed blade. "Tsk. Didn't I tell you two to stay out of my way?"
"I distinctly recall us telling you to see how well that plays out," Robin countered, Thunder magic crackling in his right hand.
Aqua fell into a stance beside him, subtly shifting into a more aggressive stance. Strike first, let Robin follow up. That's how it always went.
The boy scoffed. "This whole thing is such a pain. Whatever, I'm out of here." A portal of Darkness flared up behind him."
"Aqua!"
Instincts she demanded she charge. Her heart screamed she do anything but.
"Wha—!"
The cold, clammy grasp of Darkness wrapped around her like the cold waters of an early morning shower as she tackled the boy through the portal. It choked the air of her lungs, made her spatial awareness collapse from the streets around her to only her immediate surroundings.
No. No, no, no, no no no no no no.
NO!
A weighty chill seeped through her armor and into her bones, memories she thought buried whispering she lay down and accept her inescapable fate. Aqua snarled and launched herself back, bringing Prelude to Fate into a ready position as she landed upright.
"You... you actually..." The boy laughed as he stood, a hand clutching his stomach. While they weren't quite in the Realm of Darkness, instead standing in that transitionary place where eddies of Darkness flowed like water, it was still enough to bring back that nagging doubt. "Wow, just who in the worlds are you? To actually follow me through a portal?"
Aqua had the eeriest sense he was grinning malevolently beneath his hood.
"Shame it'll be the last mistake you'll ever make."
"You would be wrong about that."
Comfort flooded through her body at the grasp on her shoulder. Robin was here. She wouldn't be alone. Wouldn't have to face—
"Aqua, that portal weakened the space between the Realms. Heartless are currently pouring through right now through their own access points." Robin, for there was no echoing timbre to his voice, gestured behind him with a thumb. "I'll handle this one."
She glanced at the boy. So self confident. Did he have any idea what he was in for, facing a conduit of Darkness? "Be safe," she told Robin, feeling self-conscious about what was a needless warning.
"We'll be but a moment," he responded.
A veritable carpet of Heartless greeted her as she leapt through the portal, the chill of the Realm of Darkness fading away with every measured breath. The last time she had faced a horde such as this, mere days ago, she had needed Robin to rescue her.
"No more," she whispered. Magic rushed to her left hand, the focus on her glove gleaming with energy. "I'll fight you all, on my own strength. Light, and Dark."
Three days. Perhaps for any other, such a short time would not have amounted to anything, but for her, accompanied by a master of magic and a master in her own right, so much had been learned. She may not have had a keyblade, but her own innate skill combined with a proper focus could function just as well.
Two spheres of water speckled with shining black shot out of her left hand as she charged forward, the whirling orbs minutely growing in size as they flew through the air.
When infused with Darkness, Water would act much like sap, sticking to whatever target it splashed upon. Given a heavy enough application, the targets would be unable to move past a certain distance.
Aqua kicked off to the side, a quick wave of her hand sending a small amount of levitation magic dancing across her body and continuing to carry her forward. Even as she twisted through the air, a blade borne of ice momentarily replaced the one forged from alloyed metal. She hurled the blade out as she completed her spin, the very edge of the whirling weapon trailing an angry red.
Fire with Darkness, and upon detonation the resulting explosion would be nearly a tier higher than whatever a Light aligned cast could be, be it in terms of area covered or sheer power.
She thrust her hand forward, the last remnants of her levitation spell tugging her onward. A Blizzaga shot out of her hand next, the sheer size of the spiked orb eclipsing the dual blue blade-limbed Heartless she was aiming for.
Mix Ice with Darkness, and not only would the icicles that formed remain for significantly longer, but if you were to destroy the frozen target, the ice would shatter outward, damaging everything in its surroundings with magical shrapnel.
She flipped forward as she leapt through the air, her other hand grabbing hold of Prelude to Fate's hilt as she fell. At her core, she would always be that graceful fighter that Terra cursed for being so nimble, always that elegant dancer that Ven would ooh and awe at. But with Darkness at her command, her magical strength was on pace to be at the level of Terra's physical.
Mana coated metal slashed through ice, the sound of shattering crystal filling her ears. Still in a crouching position, Aqua gestured with her left hand, open hand clenching into a fist. The shards of ice flying past her reversed momentum, the handful of Heartless that had managed to escape both explosions pulled in towards the Mangega, further illuminated by the explosion of fire magic behind her that only now detonated.
It was almost disappointing how easy the Heartless were to dispatch. Darkness may have offered her a tactical advantage she had never had before, but she was still only limited to the second tier with that.
If she truly wanted firepower, she had to keep her spells free from any additives. Basic -ra spells were more than enough to erase the Heartless of existence, and it was only by their sheer number that she had any issues. But that was fine. That problem grew smaller with every stroke of her blade and gesture of her hand.
The sound of more Heartless breaking through echoed all around her. Humanoid shadows, some of them flecked with veins of red instead of blue, all shuffled closer towards her. Aqua gripped Prelude to Fate, waiting for them to barely reach that threshold where they would leap before acting.
Five paces.
Three.
Force unyielding. A strength that never bends. A zone of absolute control. Aqua tucked in her arms, three yellow streaked black orbs spiraling around her. How long had it been since she last cast this spell? Was it before she met Mickey in the Realm of Darkness? Was it after she had fought that strange, chained beast that could disappear from sight, whose fight had drained so much from her?
And here she was, casting it once again. A Keyblade Master without a keyblade.
The magic swelled to a fever pitch, the Heartless surrounding her pulled in close. At once it exploded outward, mana flowing out of her as gravity inverted, translucent walls of rebounding energy forcing the shadows to bounce all around. Time magic shot out of her hand and towards her next targets as the spell ended, only a single humanoid Shadow, easily dispatched by her blade as she stepped past remaining.
Prelude to Fate could not act as a proper focus, yes, but that did not mean it could not handle her desires. A purple, ethereal blade grew in place of metal, a single twist of her body letting her slash at every single creature around her.
She could feel the exhaustion slowly setting in as the battle continued. That weight in her limbs that only came from expending too much mana. It felt good. Like the tiredness that sometimes filled her when she finished a long run. "Gather!" A Magneza formed at her cry, the pulling energy almost affecting even her. One strike. One final strike to end it all. Robin still wasn't here, and the portal she had come through had long since disappeared, but he had broken out of the Realm of Darkness once before based solely on the concepts of 'somewhere safe'. With Mogrii's teachings, she knew that his reappearance was a question of 'when', not 'if'.
Perfection through grace. Everlasting stillness. A fleeting tranquility.
Light filled her eyes. She knew, without looking, what path the six beams of light took as they spiraled inward. She knew, deafened by the roar of the spell being so close to her, exactly what it sounded like when a single pillar of energy unleashed its full strength. She knew, without her skin being exposed, what it felt like to be in the surrounding area when lightning struck.
Aqua let out a heavy breath as she released her stance, stumbling forward a single step. Though she had done her best to mitigate the property damage, there was only so much she could do by herself. If she had Robin, this would have been a much cleaner fight. She ran her hand down her faceplate, her helmet disappearing and exposing her head to the burnt air.
A cloudy night sky stared down at her, a waning moon peeking through the condensation, reflected off the puddles of water created from her spells. In the heart of the city, she could barely make out the stars, but she knew they were there all the same. And somewhere out there were her keyblades, just waiting for her to retrieve them.
"Woah...!"
Aqua turned to look at the voice, far too emotionally spent to care about the risk of having revealed herself.
A mass of spiky brown hair that she vaguely recognized stared at her in awe. "That was awesome!"
Next chapter will be January 31st.