Honestly, that was a really nice break. Remember to take some time for yourselves, folks. Burnout can be a scary thing.
Edit: IRL decided to be super mean to me past two weeks. Pushing update to next Monday on the 11th. Apologies for the delay.
The spell fire coming her way was only second tier at best, but that did nothing to stop the adrenaline coursing through her veins. When every strike barely gave her a single breath to react lest she take them head on, how could she not lose herself in the moment? If you asked her how she felt about sparring against Robin a week ago, she would have answered 'hesitant'. Hesitant to go up against someone she knew housed a being of pseudo-Darkness, whose magical prowess meant an eternity of siege magic on the level of -za class and above. But now?
Prelude to Fate clashed against Robin's jagged ice blade, the construct flaring a vibrant red at the point of contact. "You ever plan on telling me what that's about?" she ground out, bringing her other hand to her weapon in what she knew would be a meaningless attempt to try and overpower him.
"A consciously unconscious defense," he answered, "much in the same way your Barriers are, though in a much higher level."
Light, it was like pushing against a stone pillar! No matter how hard she tried, Robin's blade just would not budge. Sure, the wisps of energy she could see floating out of his coat meant he was reinforcing himself, but that was no excuse for her to not make him visibly struggle!
Aqua grit her teeth. She was a Keyblade Master, yes; she more than anyone knew of what kind of feats one could do when the manifestation of one's heart was in their hands. It was why she was so determined to just. make. him. budge!
She had already mastered her magic to a degree that she could cast grand magic in rapid succession and all she would need to continue fighting was an ether or three. So why couldn't she—
Aqua leapt away and frowned. She was Aqua. A Keybearer who focused in the magical arts. She was not Terra whose single armed strikes on an average day made her entire arm quiver from an impact. She was not Ven who could weave around her like a particularly insistent fly.
She was Aqua, a spell weaver.
She unclenched her fist and lowered it, letting out a slow breath.
"Back with me?" Robin called out, still in his ready position.
"Back with you," she repeated back, reentering her usual stance. It wasn't the first time Robin frustrated her with some revaluation about herself. And, she suspected, it wouldn't be the last. Aqua twitched her free hand just the slightest amount, a pulse of Stop and Warp magic blossoming behind Robin. It wouldn't hold, nor did she expect her strike to land, but it was an effort all the same. The moment she appeared behind him and struck her blade out, his head twitched to the side in a very familiar manner. Rather than anger, amber eyes filled with curiosity turned to meet hers.
Once again Warp magic surged out, this time bringing her to Robin's side. She crouched low as she slashed out, Robin's blade dipping down and minutely deflecting her slash away. She reversed the momentum of the strike into a rising diagonal, following up with a short range blast of explosive flame.
A ponderous frown adorned Robin's face as he stared at her, flickers of blue and purple sparkling across his coat as the Darkness-infused flame she cast ineffectively lapped at his body. "Something's bothering you." A statement, not a question.
She led her charge with a Dark Blizzara, the crystal immediately detonating into a mix of fine snow and fingertip sized chunks, a haze of Darkness obscuring the space between them. Robin never moved during their spars, not beyond turning to face her. Attacks were magical projectiles from various points of origin, and sword strikes only ever came when she was in melee range. Limiting herself to only a handful of attack styles was good for training, yes, but it was far past the time for training. Beyond this world laid a whole group of people who were all at a level whose skills were far beyond what any standard person could achieve. If she wished to beat them in any meaningful amount of time, she would need to train herself up to a point where she could battle them without the need of a keyblade.
Once again her blade clashed against his, Robin clearly letting her pressure him. "I need to get stronger," she told him.
"Stronger than being able to dismantle a whole street of Heartless that would give even that Sora boy trouble?"
She frowned, putting more effort into her blade to try and see if she could actually make him budge. "Why do you keep saying 'that Sora'? Have you not had a chance to talk to him properly?'
"His Light is strong, Aqua. If I were to be in his presence long enough to grow beyond that of loose associate, he would chafe at my—" Robin frowned— "our presence." The struggle between their blades shifted slightly in his favor. A tiny, almost inconsequential thing that made her feel as if he had suffered a momentary lapse in judgment. "He reminds me a bit of the stories you tell of me of your father, though without the position of being a mentor."
She stumbled back as her arms suddenly lost all strength, Robin's blade coming dangerously close to her head before he jerked it back. Sora? As zealous as Master Eraqus? No, he couldn't. Could he? And yet...
Sora and Riku had both been in the Realm of Darkness so long ago. Riku on her side of that colossal door, Sora on the other. Had Riku never escaped from the Realm of Darkness? Is that why Sora was so confused about his presence and why he looked the same age as when she had last seen him?
If Riku had become bedfellows with wielders of Darkness, for how else could Larxene have created a portal of Darkness, what would Sora's response be when he realized that parts of her magical repertoire and all of her armor originated from that same power?
"Aqua."
Her head snapped up as Grima's presence pulsed a single time.
"Whatever you were thinking, don't mistake my presumptions for something that might not even exist. Sora's Light is one of forged purity." The change had been so subtle, if she weren't looking directly at their eyes she wouldn't have seen the morphing of amber into red. "It is one that has been tested and come out all the stronger for it; a blade cared for and loved for by its wielder. And it is because of that forging that I hesitate to be near it. I do not know by what process its edge has been honed, and if it is one whose make cannot handle the impact I might have, I fear it would be shattered at the moment it is most needed."
"Now come." Grima motioned for her to approach. "If you truly wish to become stronger, then I shall test you. You can handle yourself against the monsters of Darkness, now learn to handle yourself against the Monsters of humanity."
/ - /
It was the first time Aqua had ever properly been in the lab section of the underground area underneath Fred's mansion. The training room didn't count, even if it had a significant amount of technology able to record their actions. Filled with computer screens and reference materials, apparently in the weeks since Mogrii had arrived, a pseudo-alchemical station that doubled as a magical forge had been set up for the moogle to utilize. The arcane anvil that was the centerpiece of this part of the lab was a constant whisper on her magical sense; even with nothing active on it, Mogrii (and who she assumed their assistant being Robin had) utilized the table so much, an almost tangible trace of lingering energy could be felt throughout the entire room.
"Hm? So the Keyblade Master finally arrives?"
Aqua jerked, hissing as sore muscles made their protests known. Behind a massive container of some bubbling liquid, she realized that the orb of red she thought to be some accessory to the concoction was actually a moogle's pom pom.
"Both the Fledgling Keybearer and the Wings of Darkness have come to visit me multiple times since the creation of my workshop here, kupo. But this is your first time, is it not?" The moogle floated around the container, looking at her serenely.
"Mogrii?" she asked, rubbing at the ache.
"Ah, she remembers my name!" they crowed, the intensity of the bubbles from the vial growing notably. "Mama Mogli would be so proud of me, kupo!"
Aqua shifted. She had come down here on Grima's suggestion, and though she didn't have any regrets about doing so, there was something distinctly unsettling about Mogrii's layout. It was all so clean and sterile. The handful of alchemical of labs she had visited during her youth were much more lived in; reference tables and diagrams would adorn the walls, but all that existed in Mogrii's section was nothing but open space and every flat surface bearing the weight of tubes and vessels, liquid slowly dripping down here and there. "Mogrii, you've... changed."
Mogrii glanced over at her, the flame from one of the burners near them quieting down. "Keyblade Master, I'm finally back in my element, kupo. You can't tell me that you weren't changed when you parted with your namesake, can you?"
"That's—"
"On the subject of things we're missing," Mogrii waved its arms, a flourish of magical particles poofing into existence. As they faded, a small pile of accessories and trinkets appeared in their place. "The Wings of Darkness told me about the foes you're likely to face ahead of you. Had I still access to the material banks of my world, kupo, I would have gifted you with something more." Mogrii paused. "But then, that keychain the Wings of Darkness helped forge for you should be more than enough in that regard."
For a moment, Aqua felt so very small. With that single line, Mogrii felt so much older than she could have ever have hazarded.
"Well? What are you waiting for, kupo? Try them on, try them on!"
The first item that drew her attention was a silver pendant on a black corded rope. Consisting of three stars inside a barely open crescent moon engraved upon an inverted triangle with two additional crescents on with side of jutting points, upon touching it Aqua felt a murmuring bolster of her arcane abilities alongside a freshness to her breath that reminded her of waking up on the mountaintop after spending a night under the stars.
The second was a stylized, silver-blue heart that looked as if its translucent interior was made from some kind of crystal. Holding it in her hand gave her much the same sensation as the celestial necklace from before, but on a much more refined level.
"A good eye, kupo. Ordinarily I would not have been able to make such things on a world like this, but the Wings of Darkness somehow managed to procure the necessary ingredients." Mogrii looked away and hummed. "Were they a more materialistic entity, it would not be untrue to say they live up to the common myths of hoarding serpents."
Hoarding serpents?
With a shake of their head, Mogrii suddenly refocused on her. "Yes, well, unless you wish to assist me, please leave my forge. The Young Commander has asked me to recreate some alloys, I look forward to the challenge, fictional the sources may be."
/ - /
Aqua let out a slow breath. Almost two months had passed since their arrival here, and each were as equally hectic. In the first, she had discovered that the worlds were still not as safe as she had hoped. In the second, she had intimately learned exactly what kind of people put them at risk. It made moments like this, moments where it was just her underneath the cloudy, star sparse sky, all the more special.
"Don't like the view from the park?"
Aqua looked up, watching Ethel walk closer, a thick jacket wrapped around her. "I doubt as many people would be able to find me if I went there," she answered in amusement. It really was odd how often someone stopped by to strike up a conversation with her about this and that.
"That's true. It was a fair walk away." Ethel plopped down beside her, laying down and stretching out comfortably. "But why outside?" she asked, nudging her lightly. "Why not from behind the safety of a window where you don't need a jacket?"
Aqua said nothing as she stared up at the stars. Without knowing exactly where she was in the cosmos, it was impossible to try to pinpoint what lights made up her favorite constellations. Move around just enough and the pattern no longer functioned properly.
How could she explain that regardless of that fact, being so lost and adrift across the Realms, she still found solace in knowing that the stars above her were the same ones shining down on Terra and Ven? "It's calming," she said a moment later. "Letting the wind blow over me like this? It makes me feel like I'm back home."
"I don't think you ever talked about your home."
"A castle at the top of a mountain, surrounded by even more mountains and villages nestled at the bottom of the valleys," she answered. "It was called the Land of Departure. It was a world that sat at the border of Light and Dark, even if it was mostly filled with Light." Aqua closed her eyes, pretending that the salty air was the unadulterated wind of her home. "I lived there with my father and mentor, Eraqus, and my brothers Terra and Ventus. Our lives were dedicated to our blades, learning how to best utilize them and going over scenarios in which we might have to intervene."
Ethel sat up. "Wow. And now I get why you were hesitant to teach Sora anything. If all his moves are self-taught, any input you have might completely mess him up."
She smiled and nodded. "Exactly."
The silence that fell over them lasted only for a few short moments before Ethel spoke up suddenly. "You wanna go up to Twin Peaks? Decent view of the city."
Be atop a hill where the wind would be stronger and she could see the city spread out beneath her? "Sure."
Aqua watched the buildings and street lamps pass by, only passingly paying attention to the pop music on the radio. The vast majority of the worlds she had gone to were nowhere near as technologically advanced as this one; knowing she was soon to leave it made her want to absorb as much of it as possible.
Ethel's car slowly rumbled back to life as the red lights turned green. "How do you guys plan on leaving once everything gets wrapped up?" she asked.
Aqua turned away from the window, watching the way the shadows flickered along Ethel's face. "I never asked," she answered, turning her gaze to the road in front of them. "Robin mentioned that his investigations into getting off-world would no longer be needed, even if they were turning out to be fruitful, so if he's okay with however Sora and his friends travel around, then I am as well."
Once more the vehicle slowed to a stop. Aqua turned her attention back to the side, taking in how wide the streets were in this part of the city. Purely residential, were it not for the fact that the spotted cloud cover was the exact same as it was over Fred's mansion, she almost could have convinced herself that they were on a different world entirely. "Do you ever stop to think about how your city has come together?"
Ethel made a questioning sound, even as she pressed on the gas.
"I just mean that some parts of the city are so entirely different in the presentation of architecture and landscaping; it's like entirely different places."
She chuckled. "Technically, that's because they are. The streets and highways might connect everything together, but the entire peninsula isn't all San Fransokyo."
Aqua frowned as they turned left, moving up the hillside at a rather steep angle. It was one thing to move up a hill on her own two feet, or even on a bike, but as a passenger in a vehicle? Seeing the buildings go past them and feeling the weight of gravity pull on her was so very disorienting. "That's so strange," she murmured once they leveled out a little. "A populace that grew so large there's no distinct division between each settlement?"
"A lot more different than those other worlds, isn't it?"
For a moment Aqua became captivated by Ethel's hand motions; how easily her hands moved from lever to wheel, each action seamlessly flowing into one another. Ethel's hands were essentially that of a civilian's. They weren't calloused and worn from years of bladework and combat. Sure, they had their own bumps of reinforced skin, but not like hers. She glanced down at her own hands, tracing the tip of her index finger over the edges of her palm. Gloves could help with the damage to one's hands, but it was still important to build up those calluses for when you didn't have gloves.
"Hey."
Aqua glanced up, her fingers still resting in her palm.
"You okay?" Ethel leaned over slightly, staring down at her hands.
"Yeah," she responded, wishing she had her gloves on her. "Just... thinking."
Ethel smiled softly. "We're here."
Aqua took in a deep breath as she exited the vehicle, tugging her jacket a little tighter around herself. While the air here didn't feel as cleaner as she remembered that of the Land of Departure's, there was still a refreshing crispness to it she sorely missed. In the dim light of the mountaintop, she could see the outline of Ethel sitting on the cobbled wall, gesturing for her to sit beside her.
How long they sat in silence, she couldn't say, simply staring out at the city laid before them. There was the idle conversations from the other people near them, and wind blowing across her exposed skin, and the rumbles of vehicles entering or leaving the area.
"Once you guys leave, you're never coming back, are you?"
"It might be a long while until we have a chance to come back," Aqua answered slowly. "I still have my friends to find and save, and who knows what else I've missed while I was gone." She glanced up as a passing cloud covered up the moon, its light barely shining through the vapors. "On top of that there's figuring out what's going on with those black coats and what sort of things they're doing to be causing Sora so much problems. But we'll come back." She looked at Ethel, a gentle smile on her face. "It might take longer than either of us would hope, but I promise I'll come back."
Next chapter will now be released April 11th.