The World That Never Will Be

by the infamous and notorious tocasia

8/3/2018

CHAPTER 2

What was she doing? She'd adjusted the angle of her keyblade...

Sephiroth forced himself to relax. At first he'd thought Master Aqua was, against all reason, going to attack him. He'd been prepared to propel himself backwards several feet with a single flap of his wing to place Masamune's tip at her throat. She was fast, he'd need the reach. He was done taking chances with keyblades.

But incredibly, he wasn't the focus of her attention. Overconfidence or stupidity? How long had she been its victim, for the darkness to have affected her judgment to that degree?

Aqua glanced down at Master Defender's pommel, where her wayfinder dangled ever since she'd started using it as a keychain. She needed to check her bearings in case she'd gotten turned around in the fight.

The habit was so ingrained that she'd almost lowered her guard! In front of him, whose darkness was impossible to ignore! What would Master Eraqus say?

Shame flooded her heart.

But Sephiroth hadn't taken advantage of her momentary weakness. He was only watching.

Was it safe for him to see? Ha! Did it matter? Nothing was safe from the darkness! Thoughts, memories, perceptions, it twisted everything. Knowing was no protection... for there was no way to be sure...

Terra was always a bit of a doofus. And I was overprotective of Ven. But we were friends... right? I like to think they knew I cared. So why didn't they listen? Why did they leave? Terra... Ven... maybe... maybe friendship isn't as important to them as it is to me...

I can't believe I thought something bad about Terra! I'm supposed to have faith in him!

Silver and blue sparkled in her hand. Aqua didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Neither emotion really worked anymore.

I'm in danger.

What would Terra or Ven do, if they met this man? Would they have known better than to help him? Am I too kind? That's why I'm here, isn't it. A punishment for my selflessness...

He didn't disturb her. Sephiroth knew frustratingly little about keyblades, and this was an opportunity.

Master Aqua was examining the trinket attached to her keyblade in a daze. Sora had never done that. And if Sephiroth remembered correctly, Sora's keychain had been a different design. Did that mean something? What was its purpose?

Aqua's was a vivid blue crystal charm, stained-glass style panels in the shape of a five-pointed star or... flower? on a silver chain long enough to be worn as a pendant. He didn't recognize the symbol in the center. A precious token or memento, imbued with a powerful protective magic. An anchor to her light? Had she cast the spell herself?

"What is that?" he asked.

She caught him looking at it and put it away.

"I was headed in... this direction," Aqua declared.

Sephiroth didn't see anything unusual there, but that proved nothing. The Realm of Darkness was comprised of highly morphic dream-stuff that could deceive even his senses.

These flat, thunderstorm plains went on forever, a landscape with no distinguishing features besides its hostility. The first bolt that dared to strike him earlier he'd deflected with his wing. His shoulder was still surprisingly sore. Where subsequent bolts struck the ground, the darkness pooled in a thin, oily film that stuck to his boots. He was tired of it. Time to imagine new surroundings.

"You're so sure of the way," he remarked. How had she chosen it? It didn't seem a random decision. Maybe her method of navigation would be useful.

"I have... the memories of my friends to guide me."

So that was the hope she held on to. It wasn't better than his. Sephiroth followed her waning light, and the terrain began to change.

Gradually, smooth stone underfoot became gravel, and then pebbles, large rocks, boulders, scattered in the pattern of a retreating glacier deposit. When he looked back where they'd come from, the rubble field stretched to the horizon on every side; no sign of the eternal thunderstorm. The sky was clear and full of stars. The bolts of darkness were captured in the rocks, frozen, fractal veins of deep glowing purple. It reminded him of materia. Perhaps a similar process, crystallized darkness instead of condensed knowledge. Interesting.

Up ahead, Master Aqua's voice interrupted his musings.

They walked side by side at a distance. She wasn't comfortable with Sephiroth at her back; he didn't seem offended by her caution. The effect was that they appeared to be two people coincidentally going the same way instead of one following the other.

"Why did you want to travel with me?"

Sephiroth's shrug was exaggerated by his wing, "There's not a lot to do here. I haven't found a challenging fight, and it's very rare to run into another sentient being in such a vast expanse."

Aqua hadn't seen another person on her journey. She shuddered, both at the recollection of endless loneliness and... the implication that he'd met someone else before. What had become of them?

What does he mean to do?

Sephiroth didn't hide his darkness like Master Xehanort had. The comparison was frighteningly easy to make. He couldn't have good intentions.

But I've judged too hastily in the past.

Maybe he's just...

"Is he lost and wandering too?"

"Hmm. I'd say I'm quite at home here."

Oh no! How much had she said aloud? She had to stop that!

She rallied, decently assertive. "Does that mean he... does that mean you can leave? Can you take me with you?"

Sephiroth seemed to be considering it. But the silence dragged on, making her self-conscious. His cold stare crumbled her delusion of confident command. Aqua wondered if his look could do that if she didn't already doubt herself.

"We are in the deepest darkness. You know as well as I. There is no way out without outside aid."

She did know. That didn't mean she accepted it.

"You don't sound worried," she noticed. Rather the opposite, as if he enjoyed delivering harsh realities.

"No. A way will present itself, eventually. I'm not in a hurry."

Theirs was a leisurely pace. Why be in a hurry if there was nowhere to go?

"So you're waiting for rescue too?" Guilt tainted her rush of happiness. It was wrong to be glad of another's misfortune... even if it meant she wasn't alone.

He laughed. "That's one way to put it."

She shouldn't tell him. But the urge to share it with someone, anyone, was becoming irresistible.

"I've been working on a plan."

"Oh?"

"I'm not just waiting anymore. There are places where the healing light gathers, even in darkness. It wells up from the ground and lingers, forming an oasis. Where it glows brightly, it's safe to rest."

"We've no need for rest here."

"No, but it's like a beacon. I go from one to another. Sometimes they are very far apart, but there's always been another. I know my friends would have come to rescue me by now if they could, so they can't come themselves. Instead, I think they're guiding me to the Door to Light. I'll be able to open it and return to them, like I promised."

"Will you show me?"

She'd expected his derision, not curiosity. Aqua realized too late what she'd done was cruel, and felt guilty again. "You're... of the darkness. You couldn't come with me through the Door to Light."

"Can you blame me for wanting to test it?" Sephiroth whispered.

He sounded hopeful, and Aqua found she wasn't willing to dismiss his hope, despite her instinct not to trust. Hope was stronger than darkness.

"No, not at all."

And they kept walking.