Shorter chapter than usual this time around. Part of me wanted to continue on from where it currently is, but it didn't feel right.
Aqua glanced up towards the sun, shielding her eyes from its intensity. If the sun of San Fransokyo had been warming and relaxing (and at times, a little overbearing), the sun of this island was idyllic. The soft but constant breeze, the rhythmic rumble of the waves; if they weren't here for a reason, tugged along by the silent whispers of Sora's heart, she knew she would have found some way to make some shade and curl up for a nap.
It was as they neared a thin, wooden bridge overhead that seemed so faintly familiar that she realized Grima had fallen behind several steps. "Everything alright?"
"This beach feels familiar," he murmured. Hood up and a light concealment spell to shade him from the sun, Grima's gaze slowly panned down the length of the beach, ending at the currently crouching trio. "Like a mirror image imperceptibly distorted." He turned his attention back to the waters before them. In the distance, far enough that only the broad details could be seen, a small town stared back at them, houses trailing up the gentle hillside. "I've been here once before, in a time long, long ago."
"Memories you've properly forgotten?"
A creature of destruction (now redeemed, or so Robin claimed), Grima had spent an unfathomable amount of time within the Realm of Darkness, far longer than her own journey within those lightless lands. Such an amount of time had the unfortunance to cause a degradation of memories, forcing Grima to keep his host at the bare essentials of functionality. While it was true that some things they remembered were intentionally withheld (such as things that had to be done throughout the two wars they had gone through), the vast majority of their memories, like what happened after the Valmese War, were still locked away. Aqua carefully pretended she hadn't noticed Grima's brief look of deliberation when he stated that set of memories had been completely lost.
"Memories I've properly forgotten," he parroted.
"It looks like an old key!"
Donald's sudden proclamation drew her attention towards the trio, her heart instantly stopping. Held curiously and so very irreverently in his hands, Sora turned the blade this way and that, all the while making sounds of confusion.
"If you recognize it, then claim it." Grima nudged her forward with the palm of his hand, a hint of annoyance in his voice.
Aqua approached hesitantly as Sora continued to inspect the keyblade. A hundred and one thoughts ran through her mind with every step. Would the keyblade even recognize her? Time flowed so strangely between the two realms, had the 700 plus days she had spent without a keyblade been the same amount of time for it? She reached out for the keyblade, a tinge of fear causing her hand to tremble. "Sora..."
"Huh? Aqua, do you recognize this?" Sora held it out for her, dropping it in her hands as if the weapon was just some ordinary thing.
The moment her hands made contact with the keyblade, a small jolt of recognition shot through her arms. Familiarity came next, then revulsion, then finally acceptance. It was the last of which that stung. Rejection was something she could have easily handled, yet for her master's keyblade to see her for all she was worth and to judge her still worthy? It felt—
"Hoh? Now you feel like a proper Light Bearer." Grima, still hooded, stared at her, undoubtedly grinning. "Best watch yourself, Spawnling," he told Sora, "your progenitor is finally able to keep pace with you."
Sora tilted his head. "What?"
"Nevermind that," she quickly spoke, not wanting to deal with the potential of a jealous teen, though she doubted Sora was capable of such a thing. Aqua brought Master Keeper down to her side gingerly. When she had last seen this keyblade, she had let the waters of that calm and quiet beach claim it. Between her last sighting of it, Grima's familiarity with this place, and her own niggling concern about what was so special about this beach...
Part of a keyblade's ability was to unlock. Doors, chests, pathways; certain things wouldn't work, but a keyblade was usually the strongest answer to specific problems. Last she was here, she and Mickey had walked through a cave... The moment she spotted a small tunnel hidden beneath a curtain of vines, Aqua leveled the tip of Master Keeper. Light poured out from the keyblade and at the very front of the cave, a door appeared.
"The Destiny Islands," she whispered. It was the place where she had first met Sora and Riku. Their home place. It was where Mickey had found his keyblade borne of Darkness. Here, in the Realm of Light, where would that door lead?
"I'm going through," Sora said resolutely. "If my heart brought me here to where this keyblade was, that means Riku and the King are through that door."
"Sora, you can't," she said.
"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?" Sora turned towards her. At his side, Donald gave a similar outcry, albeit more heated.
Grima gestured towards the both of them. "Our armors were uniquely crafted to defend us against the harsher parts of the Realm of Darkness. That also means we're far more suited to fighting against its inhabitants." He frowned and held up an upright hand. "We also have the means of finding a way out if this door is one way only." An orb of Fell magic flared into existence in his palm, winking out a moment later. "And, if your heart was able to provide you the path here, I'm certain it will be able to provide you the path there should we not come out in a timely manner."
After a moment, Sora sagged. "Okay... You guys be safe, alright?" Beside him, Goofy and Donald nodded in agreement.
"Aqua has a keyblade now," Grima started, his tell tale echo gaining a faint sense of pride. "Things will be significantly different now." With those parting words, he followed after her, sand crunching underneath their steps. "But how different will it truly be?" he asked quietly. "It's been some time since you've last wielded this weapon, I imagine. Even in San Fransokyo, you refused to practice with that boy's blade. Are you sure you can handle the changes?"
Master Keeper pulsed warmly in her hand. "Keyblades have a bit of sentience all their own," she responded. "Master Keeper will work with me to cover up the slack." Aqua tightened her grip briefly. "Besides, it's just the Realm of Darkness. It's not like I'd really need to worry myself over property damage, right?" She smirked and chuckled. "Maybe this time I might actually break through that shield of yours."
"Test that assumption at your earliest convenience," he grumbled back. "Aqua," he asked as they stopped in front of the door. "Are you sure you're ready to go back in?"
She gripped Master Keeper once more, her master's keyblade warming in her hand. "We know how to get out," she answered. "We have our armor, and I have a Keyblade." In one smooth motion, she dismissed her weapon, summoned forth her Dark Suit, and resummoned Master Keeper. Though she was sure its fibres would compensate for the grip on her weapon, the muscle memory was hard to fight. "I'm no longer some child to be coddled, Grima."
He huffed in amusement. "So be it."
Aqua pushed on the door, giving a small grunt when it struggled to budge. The next moment, as if realizing her intentions, the door slowly gave way, revealing a corridor of light ringed darkness.
"Bigger sword first," Grima drawled, a hint of a smile in his words.
She scoffed. "Please, I've seen that thunder rod of yours."
The corridor felt safe as she stepped through. Welcoming. It felt like the very first time she had stepped into the rays of the sun all those days ago, and as she continued walking through the passage with Grima following behind her, a small part of her wondered if she was truly willing to give that all up. To step back into that cold and clammy world. A place where hunger and fatigue became ever present. A place where Light was nothing but a far off memory that grew hazier with every passing day.
"No second guessing yourself," Grima chided, overtaking her slightly. As he moved further and further ahead with every step, she realized that wisps of Darkness from their surroundings were starting to spiral in and out of his form, like eddies in a river. "We're not condemning ourselves to exile. This is a rescue mission. Steel yourself, Light Bearer."
With a reassuring breath, Aqua retook her place, easily calling forth her magic to the fore. "I'll try not to cast any magic near you until I get a sense of my new limits."
"Do not hold back when I engage any enemies. If I must suffer damage in order to take down our foes, so be it." The scent of Fell magic grew strong for a brief moment. "It's not as if I can simply restore the damage with but a breath in there."
Behind her faceplate, Aqua smiled. "Then let's do our best."
"We should hurry." That was all Grima said before breaking into a light run. "Whatever foe they're fighting, it's strong."
Light streaked out from behind them as they exited the corridor. Below, a beach she had visited so long ago spread out before them. On its waters, a lone white haired boy squared off against a writhing, spiraling column of darkness and yellow.
"Thoron!" The ring of runes she called forth barely had a second to snap into place before a beam of lighting nearly as wide as her torso shot out from Master Keeper's tip, the sheer force from it slowing her fall enough to jerk her back. "Woah!"
Grima shot himself forward with visible gusts of air, changing his momentum until he landed behind the tower of Heartless. The moment her beam of energy lanced through it, he thrust his hands forward, ice instantly freezing the column in place, its occupants unable to move yet beady eyes so very aware of what was around them.
"A keyblade?" The boy beside her stared at her in wonder as she landed beside him. "But who...?"
"Talk later," she chided, frowning at how overpowered her spell was. "Where's Mickey?"
The boy— Riku— nodded resolutely. "Inside that thing." He entered his own battle stance, a rather admirable one that was geared more towards offense, but could easily transition into something for defense. "That horde of Shadows has a core of Darkness, stronger than anything I've seen down here. Mickey got trapped in there."
She grimaced. The proper answer was to whittle away at it, but in the Realm of Darkness, who knew how much that horde could regenerate itself? It grated at her to suggest such a thing, but... "Grima! Blow it up!" Aqua stepped closer to Riku and threw up a Barrier. Under Master Keeper's influence, the panels took on an almost fully opaque appearance.
The buildup of magic came by way of the hairs on her neck raising. It came in the odor of decay and wet earth penetrating through the scent reducing hexes of her armor. It came through the agitated whorls and ripples on the water's surface. The result came in the form of her bumping up against Riku, the explosion strong enough to send her skidding back. It came in the form of the endless abyss of the Dark Realm made real becoming so very visible and spitting Mickey out onto the beach so very far away before dissipating. It came in the form of Grima bearing a so very satisfied grin on his face, ruby eyes sparkling with joy.
"That was—"
"Fell Magic," she preemptively corrected, sensing where Riku was going based off tone of voice alone. "Not Darkness." She waited a brief second before dropping her Barrier, another accidentally overcharged Blizzaga line that went well past the shore line and crashing into the rocks beyond allowing her quick access to the beach. "Mickey!" The fibres of her dark suit retracted in line with her thoughts, the strength for what should have been a Cura becoming amplified into that of Curaga. As an afterthought, she adjusted the flow of mana into that of Esuna, a ring of yellow orbs encircling Mickey. Softer than before, now that she had taken immediate concerns out of the way, "Mickey, are you okay?"
"I've— Koff! Koff!— been better." It took Mickey all of two seconds before he realized who she was, pushing himself off the ground and staring at her in bewilderment. "Aqua! Where did—? How did you get here?!"
"Destiny Island," she answered. "We've been in the Realm of Light for about a month now."
"'We'?" he parroted.
"'We'," Grima echoed back, staying firmly by her side. The scent of death and decay flared almost warningly before it became swallowed by the indescribable stickiness that was the Dark Realm's natural odour. A silent, almost dangerous conversation passed between Mickey and Grima, the latter snorting perhaps dismissively before turning towards the endless waters behind them. "If you are able to pick up on that, I'm sure you noticed whatever entity is lurking beneath the waters?"
With Riku's help, Mickey rose into a standing position, nodding gratefully when Riku passed a keyblade over. Its design, the Keyblade of Darkness they had found combined with the patterning of his original Starseeker keyblade, made her wonder about the fortification of her own keyblades. "It kept distracting me at all the right times," Mickey responded. "Even now, I can still feel it watching us."
Riku narrowed his eyes in concentration, frowning after a moment. "You can really feel something?"
"You can't?" she questioned, tilting her head in bewilderment. Between the ever present pressure of Darkness and Grima's muted whispers of Fell essence, the warring combination of the two scents that barely broke through the surface of the water was like a roaring bonfire. Impossible to miss, and with their proximity, impossible to ignore.
He shook his head. "All I can sense is the noise of the Realm of Darkness."
"Give it some time," Grima assuaged. "I'm sure you'll learn the difference soon enough." He paused, silently turning to stare out at the waters. "Are you two able to fight still?"
Riku nodded. "Now that I had a chance to catch my breath, I am."
"I have plenty of magic left in me." Mickey cast a light Cure on himself and rolled his shoulders. "A good hit or two though and I'll probably have to step out."
Aqua gave a small nod when he glanced towards her.
"I am afraid I must apologize for what is to come." Grima gestured for them to walk with him onto the water's surface. She hadn't stopped to think about until now, but the waters positively reeked of darkness, so dense, by virtue of their Light alone they were able to walk upon it. "I've been to these waters a great many times during my wanderings in the Realm of Darkness. It was a place to unleash my frustrations when they become too much. To forget myself and remember my purpose in equal measures." When they reached around the same place they had slain that horde of Shadows, he motioned for them to stop, even as he continued walking forward.
"I know not how it came to be, but the creature we are about to fight is born from my own essence, mixed with the endless abyss of Darkness underneath us." Grima knelt down, resting a hand against the water's surface. "Prepare yourselves, Bearers of Light, for we face a bringer of calamity." His hand slowly sunk into the water up to his elbow, Fell tinted darkness drifting out of his clothes and past his shoulder.
"Riku..." Mickey gripped his keyblade, his stance tensing.
The roar of the water's surface breaking covered whatever Riku was going to say, a creature almost thrice as big as any giant humanoid Heartless she had come across reaching up and pulling itself out of the water.
"What is...?"
Aqua wasn't sure who had spoken. All she knew was that this massive creature, skin looking rotten and decayed but with all its corrosion being hidden by pulsating pools of Darkness was staring down at her. A creature so huge, each of its hungry yellow eyes were easily as big as her with her arms stretched out.
An angry pulse of Fell magic snapped her out of her thoughts.
"Move, damn you!"
Next chapter will be May 23rd.