Sora and Aqua emerged onto the factory floor to see that a large rectangular hole had opened up, leading down under the floor.
"Looks like that hole was opened up from those passwords. I wonder where it leads." Sora said as Aqua nodded in agreement.
"The charm is tugging us towards it so I guess we have to go in." Aqua said as they approached the hole. They looked down and saw that it led down to a spiraling ramp that descended deep into the darkness.
"I guess what Master Yen Sid said about entering the deepest darkest recesses of the castle, is literally the deepest darkest recesses." Aqua mused as she and Sora started to slowly descend down the ramp.
"So…" Sora said after a moment of silence, "…I noticed you looked kinda sad when you saw that picture of Xehanort in Ansem's Study a while ago. Did you know him?"
Aqua looked at him silently for a moment before taking a deep breath.
"I knew him, yes. But the man he was and the man he is now are two completely different people. I suspect that our quest is going to lead us to an inevitable confrontation with Xehanort." Aqua said as Sora looked confused.
"I think I already killed him. I killed his Heartless and then his Nobody a while ago so I think that should be the end of him." Sora said as Aqua shook her head.
"You destroyed parts of him but you didn't destroy him completely. I suspect that his heart and body still survive. If so, we're going to need to find him." Aqua said.
"Then we'll be ready for him. He can't escape us forever." Sora said determinedly. Aqua gave him a worried look.
"You don't quite understand Sora, we can't kill him." Aqua said, receiving a confused look from the boy.
"What do you mean?" He asked. Aqua remained silent for a moment before answering.
"It's complicated Sora. I'll explain more later." Aqua said as they finally reached a pair of large white double doors. By this time the aura around the charm was noticeably brighter. The doors immediately opened for them, revealing a long white hallway that reminded Sora very much of the pristine white walls of the Castle that Never Was. Along both walls were three doors each, all of them with a single barred window and two crisscrossing chains over each door. At the end of the hall was a pair of double doors matching the double doors in the front.
"What happened here?" Sora asked as he and Aqua passed through the hall. Aqua looked through the bars as they moved.
"I don't know. I've never been here. But the darkness is definitely strong inside those cells." Aqua replied as they reached the double doors. They both paused outside the doors. Aqua looked at her charm and it was glowing brightly now. Whatever it was leading them to, lay just beyond those doors.
"Alright, whatever happens in there, Sora, we need to be brave and stay together." Aqua said as Sora nodded and summoned his Keyblade before entering a battle stance.
"I'm ready." Sora said as Aqua nodded in return and reached for the doors. They pushed open the doors to reveal a room with stark white walls, a single throne facing away from the door, a suit of dark purple, blue, and black armor with a single blue Keyblade embedded in the ground in front of it. Aqua gasped as she recognized the armor and Keyblade.
"That's! That's my armor and Keyblade!" Aqua exclaimed as she walked up to the suit. Sora walked around to the throne, examining it curiously before turning his attention back to Aqua and her armor.
"That's yours?" Sora asked as Aqua nodded and approached the Keyblade.
"It was, and hopefully it will be mine again." Aqua said as she reached for the Keyblade but much to her surprise the blade vanished in a burst of white light along with the armor.
"Wha-What happened?" Sora asked as he hurried over to her.
"I don't know. I thought Yen Sid said that we would encounter the embodiment of my power here." Aqua said as Sora nodded. It was then that they heard it. A soft and distant rumbling sound. The sound was getting closer and louder. Sora and Aqua looked at each other worriedly before looking out the door and down the hallway. What they saw surprised them. Standing at the end of the hallway, was the armor they had found, clutching the Keyblade in its right hand.
"Awaken your memories." A strange voice echoed just as a massive wave of water rushed into the hallway, seemingly consuming the armor with it. Aqua and Sora braced themselves as the wave barreled towards them. Finally it hit, flooding the room to the ceiling. Aqua and Sora both had the presence of mind to try and hold their breath before the wave hit and they were both holding onto each other's hands. Without warning however the water suddenly drained and the two gently touched the floor. When they looked around they realized that they were no longer in the chamber under the castle. They were in the Station of Awakening.
"Sora, are you alright?" Aqua asked. She turned towards him to see that she wasn't grasping his hand at all but a simple sword. Sora was nowhere to be seen. She looked down to see that the floor was a stained glass window of herself laying curled up in the fetal position and holding her Keyblade with her eyes shut. She climbed to her feet quickly when she heard a metallic rattle coming from behind her. She turned and saw her armor standing there with her Keyblade in hand. It immediately dropped into a battle stance. Aqua's eyes widened in shock for a moment before a determined expression appeared on her face and she too dropped into a matching stance with the sword in her hand raised.
The armor quickly lunged with the Keyblade ready to strike. Aqua simply leapt to the side with a spinning attack but the armor stopped the blow. She and the armor pressed their respective swords against the other. Aqua reared back her free hand and then thrust it forward with a powerful Blizzard blast, knocking the armor back a ways. The armor looked up at her with an air of defiance before it charged at her again. Aqua however cartwheeled towards it, bouncing up into the air before reaching the armor and coming down on it with the sword. Once again however it blocked her blow.
"Remember." A voice said inside her head. She bared her teeth in a snarl as she shoved against the armor, knocking it back, and aimed her sword at the suit as it started charging towards her. Just before it reached her however, she suddenly started glowing with multiple colors and she quickly leapt up and unleashed a sudden wave of multicolored bolts of energy aimed right at the armor which skid to a halt before the energy crashed into it. She suddenly fired off another wave of bolts as she hovered in midair. The bolts homed in on the armor, crashing into it at high speeds. She fired again and yet another wave struck the armor. Finally her feet touched the ground again and she charged the armor with the sword raised. Much to her surprise however the armor leapt back up to its feet and swung at her causing their swords to meet with a loud clang.
This time Aqua pushed her entire body against the armor itself, knocking it back enough that she was able to grab the Keyblade in its hands. She quickly threw up a reflega spell that knocked the Keyblade out of its hands and into hers. In an instant, the Keyblade vanished from her hand and she looked in shock towards the armor. However the armor reached out its hand and instead of the Keyblade returning, it was instead replaced by the sword Aqua had been wielding. She looked down at where the sword was and smiled as she saw and felt the familiar blue Keyblade in her hand.
"Okay so now all that's left is to get you back." Aqua said to the armor as she fired a Magnega spell that caused the armor to be pulled towards the center of the large purple orb. Aqua then started to glow with a white aura and float in the air. She had entered her special Command Style: Magic Wish. She then started to unleash waves of the same two ultra powerful magic spells on the armor. She would blast the armor with powerful Thundaga bolts and then use Magnega on it to keep it pinned down. Finally the glow disappeared and a smirk appeared on her face.
Suddenly the armor found itself dismantled from countless blows to it from what seemed like a sudden army of Aqua clones. However the clones quickly vanished, revealing Aqua standing alone with the Keyblade in one hand and holding the armors' left shoulder guard in the other. She had used her other Command Style, Ghost Drive, on it and completely dismantled the armor. The armor pieces started to glow white and then proceeded to vanish in streams of light that flowed into the single shoulder guard in her hand. Then the guard itself disappeared and then reappeared on her left shoulder. With a smile she looked up as she saw a bright white light appearing in the darkness overhead.
"Now…you are whole." The voice said as the white light enveloped her and she closed her eyes with a smile.
"Aqua? Aqua?!" She heard Sora calling behind her. She opened her eyes to find herself back in the chamber under the castle.
"Sora? What happened?" Aqua asked as she turned towards him.
"You reached for your Keyblade but it disappeared along with that armor on the floor and then you kinda froze and then a piece of the armor just reappeared on your shoulder." Sora explained as Aqua looked at her left shoulder and sure enough, there was the armor piece. Aqua sighed with a smile as she turned back to Sora.
"I'm back to my old self again Sora. Now that I've reclaimed my Keyblade and armor, I can now properly teach you to use your own Keyblade." Aqua said as she summoned her Keyblade.
"So do you really want to be my apprentice?" Aqua asked as Sora nodded.
"I do. I want to be a true Keyblade Master like you." Sora said as Aqua nodded with a smile and pressed her hand against the shoulder guard. Almost instantly the full suit of armor appeared around her.
"Kneel, Sora." She instructed and Sora complied, dropping down onto one knee, looking up at her.
"As a Master of the Keyblade, guardian and protector of the light and the worlds, I hereby accept you as my apprentice…" Aqua said as she used her Keyblade to gently tap his left shoulder.
"…To study and learn the secret art of wielding the Keyblade. To protect the light and those aligned with it. To hold strong against whatever threat that the darkness may throw at you…" Aqua said as she tapped his right shoulder before holding the blade over his head.
"…To protect the worlds from darkness. And above all else, to protect Kingdom Hearts and its secrets from any who would abuse its power or use it for evil…" Aqua said as both she and Sora started to glow with a white light. A white orb of light started to appear over Sora's head as well, growing slightly larger with every passing second.
"…and with the power of your heart as your drive, the Keyblade as your weapon, and the light of Kingdom Hearts as your guide, let the power of these elements come together and forge for you the armor that will forever mark you as a Keyblade Wielder and one day…as a Keyblade Master." Aqua said as the sphere of light burst and in its place hovered a single metal shoulder guard. It was a simple round black dome with a red circle in the center with a smaller version of his Crown necklace symbol in the dead center. There were two dark blue wing-like prongs that stood up from the top and three folds of black metal plating that hung down from the rim of the circle with a gold trim and a red inlay on the trim.
Sora looked up and marveled at the armor piece as it floated down into his awaiting hands. It vanished before it could reach his hands, instead reappearing on his left shoulder and instantly a full suit of armor appeared around him. It was shaped similarly to Aqua's except with the obvious masculine features. It was mostly a black or dark gray with a red breast plate, arcing upwards and blue plating over his stomach. The metal knee guards were golden with red stripes running up to his belt. His helmet, when compared to Aqua's, seemed more squashed and flat at the top. His helmet also had two prongs on either side of his head which pointed backwards and angled diagonally upward. Aqua couldn't help but sigh at the sight. Sora could tell she was smiling at him through her helmet and that the sigh was one of happiness.
"So how do I look?" Sora asked as he stood up.
"Your armor…it looks almost exactly like Ven's." Aqua explained as both hers and Sora's helmets disappeared but the rest of the armor remained.
"Maybe his armor remodeled itself for me." Sora said as Aqua smiled.
"I doubt it but I would assume that his heart did have an influence on its design. But it did take your colors." Aqua replied as the armor suits completely disappeared back into the shoulder guards. They both then started heading back towards the surface. As they walked through the hallway, Sora placed his hands behind his head in his usual relaxed manner.
"So what do we do now?" Sora asked.
"We start getting you trained. If we want to unlock Ven's heart, then we need to make you a master." Aqua said as Sora shrugged.
"Okay then, where do we start?" Sora asked as Aqua scratched the back of her head.
"I don't really know. I've never trained an apprentice before." Aqua said as Sora looked up at her curiously.
"You haven't?" Sora asked as Aqua sighed and nodded.
"I'm afraid not. I had just passed my Masters Qualification Exam when all this insanity happened and I wound up trapped inside the Realm of Darkness. But don't worry Sora, I'm going to make sure you become a master, with every fiber of my being." Aqua said as Sora smiled and nodded.
"I know you will." Sora said. Aqua smiled back at him.
"You are a lot like Ven." Aqua said as they reached the spiraling ramp. Suddenly the ground shook violently beneath their feet.
"What was that?!" Aqua asked.
"I don't know but we better get to the surface and fast!" Sora said as he and Aqua started running up the ramp as fast as they could.
On the surface…
Sora and Aqua emerged from Ansem's study and into the castle hallways. Leon and the restoration committee had disappeared from the study, as could be expected from the sudden earthquake. Almost as soon as they entered the halls they saw a group of Shadow Heartless spring up from the ground.
"What are those things?!" Aqua asked as the Keyblades automatically appeared in their hands.
"Heartless!" Sora exclaimed as he started to attack them. Aqua immediately cartwheeled into action, cutting down a few as she spun. The two Keyblade wielders started making their way through the halls towards the postern, cutting down as many heartless as they could as they went. Finally they reached the Postern and almost instantly the Heartless vanished in puffs of smoke.
"Huh?" Sora asked confused as he and Aqua looked around. Aqua then spotted a figure wearing a tattered gray hood and cloak, similar to the Organization XIII robes, and standing atop the rock walls overlooking the postern.
"Who are you?!" Aqua asked as she pointed her Keyblade at the figure.
"I don't know anymore." The figure said. Its voice was masculine so it was apparently a guy hidden under the cloak.
"What's that supposed to mean? Are you responsible for these heartless?!" Sora asked angrily.
"I think…I am. I think that I am the one responsible for making them. Part of me feels…pride while the other feels…remorse." The figure said as he turned towards Aqua.
"I feel like we know each other. Like we are both close friends yet…we are also bitter enemies." The figure said as Aqua looked at him curiously.
"Who are you? What's your name?!" Aqua asked. The figure stumbled slightly.
"I'm…not…sure." He replied as he leapt off the rock wall and landed on the ground outside the postern, approaching them in a sort of drunken swagger.
"What do you want with us?" Sora asked as the figure stopped a few feet in front of them.
"I want you to…AUGH!!!" The figure grunted in agony as he stumbled backwards, clutching his head as a strange black and white aura surrounded him. Then a pair of strange black and white magic thorns, like the kind seen whenever nobodies were present, appeared circling around him along with the black and white glow. With an anguished yell he threw back his head as the ground beneath him exploded upwards with dark energy. In an instant, a pair of floating black and white spheres appeared in midair. One had an image of six lances with a strange gray wind swirling around it while the other had a pair of crossed Keyblades inside of it while a beam of light swirled around it. For a brief moment, Aqua caught a glimpse of white hair and a pair of orange hued eyes, piercing out from beneath the hood.
"I. Want. You. Both…to DIE!!!" the man said with an angry snarl as the two spheres burst and two black hooded figures appeared in their places. One figure was about as tall as Sora while the other was about as tall as Aqua if not a little taller.
"We're not going to let you get away with whatever you're planning!" Aqua said as she and Sora dropped into their battle stances.
"I…want you to…ARGG!!!" the man grunted in pain as he disappeared in a corridor of darkness, leaving the two figures behind. The taller of the two figures raised its hands and immediately six purple lances appeared around it as a powerful wind started swirling around it. The wind was so powerful that it blew back it's hood, revealing the familiar face of…
"Xaldin!!!" Sora exclaimed as Xaldin snarled and grabbed his lances known as "Lindworm." The shorter figure however raised both its hands and summoned two familiar Keyblades…Oathkeeper & Oblivion. Sora blinked in surprise at seeing the two Keyblades.
"Dilan?!" Aqua asked over the roaring winds.
"Who?!" Sora asked back but Xaldin leapt forward and attacked him first. Sora quickly had to go on the defensive, blocking or dodging the Whirlwind Lancer's attacks. The shorter figure looked around curiously before its eyes settled on Sora. It crouched down slightly but Aqua leapt into his path.
"Where do you think you're going?!" Aqua asked the shorter figure. It acted surprised, almost startled.
"Wait! I'm not your enemy, I'm here to help Sora!" the figure said with a young male voice, earning a confused look from Aqua.
"Why should I believe you?!" Aqua asked as the figure sighed and shook his head.
"I'm not here to fight you! I need to help Sora!" the figure replied. Aqua looked at the figure for a moment before he sighed. He pulled back his hood, causing Aqua's face to freeze in a look of absolute shock and disbelief. Before her stood a young boy that looked exactly like Ven.
"Ven?! Is it really you?!" Aqua asked but the boy shook his head.
"No…my name's not Ven. I'm Roxas."
End Chapter 4