I kept wondering about what the black coats were all about. If they could be trusted, they might even provide us with a way out of this hell. "Seriously, this is strange. Where are all of those damned heartless?" asked Tanith.
"It seems like days since we fought any of them...it's strange," responded I. "Are they not even in the Realm of Darkness anymore? Maybe they're attacking the Realm of light," I added-on.
"That can be a reason."
"Dammit, then the Realm of Light is in danger again. I'm a keyblade wielder, so I should be up there, fighting!" Moments later, I tried to calm myself down by performing breathing exercises. I guessed I became more irritable over the years.
"Wait...Organization XIII, that plan could have effected this place somewhere. Let's see, when I was captured, I remember Xehanort talking to his buddy Braig about the Keyblade War and thirteen darknesses."
"What?" Vanitas told King Mickey and I about the Keyblade War, and I really did not want that to happen. "Xehanort, that fool, he would risk an apocalypse for his sheer curiosity!" The thought of him making all of us face all this pain for the sake of his own benefit angered me. That bastard would have to pay for his sins.
"Xehanort might be using the heartless for his own gain!" yelled Tanith, eyes dilating. After that, I noticed Tanith suddenly get hit in the back of her head by a figure in a black coat.
"You're figuring out too much," he said. It was Xemnas. Enraged, I ran up to him. When I was close to him, I called the Master Keeper to my side. "I really don't want to fight you right now, friend."
"Too bad!" I swung my keyblade at him, but he just jumped out of the way. "What's the deal with all of you anyways? Are you on Xehanort's side? Why the hell did you call me your friend?"
"Depends on who you talk to," Xemnas answered. His voice was monotone, revealing no emotion. "For the most of us, it's yes."
"Damn you to hell then!"
"Calm down." I inched slowly towards Tanith, but I could sense that Xemnas' hidden eyes were following my movements. Then I lunged at him and seized his hood. I forced it down to reveal his face. The first thing I saw was his orange eyes. With me still near him, Xemnas took a hold of my neck.
"Let...go." Those words only just made it out of my mouth. I then kicked his legs a little bit, yet he refused to let go of me. My vision was slowly turning to black.
"Bastard!" Tanith stood up sluggishly. She then charged at him. He then, with his available hand, summoned red lasers and shot them at her, knocking my companion down. "You've to be kidding me." After a few more moments, he dropped me down on the ground. Then I could see the man's face completely.
"You look like...Terra. You're clearly a little bit older though," I uttered. "Is your real name Xehanort, Xemnas?" His white hair and orange eyes kept my attention. Even though they were not yellow, I could feel some demonic presence hidden in them.
"That you've to find out yourself." When he created a portal, I jumped in after him. I felt bad for leaving Tanith, but I wanted to get inside it so badly. My determination clouded my judgement then.
"What is she doing here?" I recognized that voice, and I knew who it belonged to immediately. It was the man I fought before Vanitas knocked me out.
"She must have escaped. I hate it when people go through my own portals," replied Xemnas. I looked around the place I was in. In the window, I could see a heart shaped moon in the sky, and it reminded me of the Kingdom Hearts that Xehanort called forth in our fight.
"As if. Just get her out of here before Xehanort realizes." In one of the reflections, I saw myself. When I stared at her, the reflection was exactly like it was all those years ago. Then, moments later, the reflection changed. My hair grew longer and my face more mature. I noticed that my legs were longer as well. My pink straps were broken though. The rest of my outfit barely fit me, but it was still very tight.
"Woah," I vocalized. Before I could analysis anything else about my surroundings, Xemnas then pushed me back into a portal.
"Where were you?" Tanith inquired, curiosity shinning in her green eyes. "Wow, what happened to you? You look so much older!"
"Maybe this is how I look when I'm older? Exactly how long have I've been down here? I look like I'm at least in my late twenties or something like that."
"I don't know, but, if you were here before Xehanort ruled, at least a couple of years." My eyes widened. I dwelled on those words. Even if I already knew this, my new appearance was making the reality more real to me.
"Xemnas told me that I was his friend when you were passed out."
"He was probably doing that to mess with you, so don't take those words seriously. Now, on the brighter side of things, I found this knife when you were gone."
"Where did you find that?" I asked. She pointed at the chest behind her.
"Since you were gone for some time, I decided to practice my skills of hijacking locks. I knocked into me when Xemnas was attacking me." Tanith pulled out a hair clip that was hidden under a layer of her thin red hair.
"I guess having those things around could be helpful sometimes. Plus, I don't really think hijacking is the proper word to use there, and it should be something like break into." My keyblade could open any lock, so I never really kept a hair clip with me. Not like I had very much hair for its primary use until now. All my life I liked to keep my hair short because long hair just got in the way of everything.
"Who cares about grammar?"
"I do," I retorted with a sarcastic tone. I smiled a little bit.
"See, I told you, calm down every once in a while even if we're both in the Realm of Darkness."
"Wait, from before, you mentioned something called Organization XIII. Do you know anything else about it?" Tanith looked shocked at the sudden change of subject.
"Not really. It's something Xehanort came up with, and that's all the information I've," she answered.
"This day is just so weird, or I think it's been a day at least." When I said that, Tanith closed her eyes and placed her head on my lap. It seemed so weird, but I let her continue to do it anyways. To help her burns, I placed cure on the sleeping girl.
"You could've at least healed yourself before getting that," I voiced. Of course, she did not hear me, yet I felt like saying that to her.
Because of the peacefulness, I allowed myself to drift into sleep. There, in my dream, I saw Terra's armor sitting in the Keyblade Graveyard, all alone. "Aqua...I summoned you." His voice was distorted.
"Terra, I tried to save you-"
"No, let me save myself or fulfill my revenge with Master Xehanort," Terra's armor interrupted. "That's the reason I'm here...to kill Master Xehanort." Quickly after, I fell into darkness that was underneath me. I tried to stop myself from falling, but I could not grab onto anything. When I landed on my butt, I noticed I was in the reformed Land of Departure. Ventus was still sleeping. .
"Ventus!" He did not wake up, so I walked to him. Before I could reach him, dark arms pulled me somewhere else. I was in the Realm of Darkness again.
"Hello, Aqua." When I turned around, I saw thirteen figures in black coats behind me. "You're one of the Guardians of Light."
"Guardian...of light?" That made sense because I was indeed a keyblade master. I was not informed in what being a 'Guardian' was, but I had a feeling that it was something good. After that, all of the figures attacked me.
"Goddammit, I'm so sick of nightmares!" I screamed. Somehow, Tanith remained asleep. Her body was so peaceful.