Blank Point

She let out a slight groan, feeling a little sore as she finally returned to the conscious world…Which turned out to be just as dark as the waking world save for the flash of white, pink and brown hovering above her.

"Are you alive?" For someone who had never spoken before in her life, Neo was getting the hang of it pretty quickly.

Aqua groaned as she sat back up. "Where are we?"

Neo looked around, seeing they were on a dark beach of some kind. "My guess would be the Realm of Darkness from before. I actually thought it was the island with the big tree but we don't have a bunch of super powered girls having their periods out to kill us."

Aqua shook her head at Neo's poor attempt at humor. "Neo what just happened? How did we get here?"

"A moment of sanctuary after escaping from that guy. Which reminds me... How much do you remember at that last moment before passing out?" Neo questioned with a calm but interested look on her face.

"I remember being exhausted than the last moment somehow preventing myself to fall I was in his arms then seen his face and I know it was my friend Terra. Then at that moment blacking out I kind of felt something warm and comforting." Aqua explained, still slightly dazed.

"Well, I could tell you what happened before we left. Well..." Neo slowly said, holding on to that word. "He kissed you before you passed out."

"WHAT?!" Aqua shouted in a flustered mess and red as a tomato.

"Yep." Neo nodded with a 'p' sound at the end. "And you know, for a psychotic trying to kill us that guy was kind of hot, and that's coming from me of all people."

Aqua rubbed her face, touching her lips. "Why would…"

"It's been a long time, my friend."

Aqua trembled slightly, a tear escaping her face. "Terra…"

"So…" Neo said slowly, not used to being the empathic kind. "You know him?"

"…I think that man was what was left of someone I knew…A very close friend…" Aqua answered sadly. "Last time I saw him, he was not himself…and now I see what he has become since then…"

"And what is he?" Neo slowly asked.

Aqua shook her head as she stood up. "…A remnant."

That was all he was now.

A remnant of the man he had once been.

And Aqua could only feel despair for what she believed she had allowed to happen.

And she wasn't sure what she might do if she saw him again.

The problem was he was so powerful compared to her now. When Terra and Aqua had last spared they were roughly equal. That was not the case this time. Terra, or whatever he was now had effectively overpowered her and Neo and it taken them everything to survive. Even after all that, the man had brushed off of all their strikes like they hadn't put a dent on him.

She needed to get stronger.

Strong enough to try and correct her mistake and maybe free Terra the only way she could now.

She had her armor and Keyblade back now, so that meant she could try and leave the Realm of Darkness but she had other responsibilities here, such as making sure Neo's world was restored and getting her and the others back to it.

'Wait, a minute…' Aqua's eyes widened as she got an idea. "…Neo, I have something I'd like to ask you?"

Neo raised an eyebrow, having been silent as she waited for Aqua to sort things out in her head. "Yeah?"

"…Can you unlock my Aura?"

That question threw Neo for a loop. "Say what?"

Aqua couldn't blame her for that. Given her power with her own Keyblade, it was surprising Aqua would ask for her to unlock her own Aura but she had a reason. In the brief time they had been together, Neo had explained to Aqua what Aura was: the power of the soul manifested to give one the power and strength needed to fight the Grimm. It could enhance one's own physical skills while also allowing them to create a shield around their own body to better protect them harm and then there was this Semblance power…

A Semblance was basically a wish, according to Neo. A personal power that Aura manifested but it was limited to only one ability.

While very limited compared to the abilities one had with a Keyblade, Aqua also saw the potential benefits of it such as creating a shield around her body. The Keyblade was the power of the Heart manifested in physical form while Aura was the power of the Soul, life force manifested in physical form. She had faced powerful enemies ever since her journey began and she had come to realize that with each enemy she faced, new and more powerful ones were lurking around the corner.

The Unversed.

Maleficent.

Gantu.

Vanitas.

Xehanort.

The Heartless.

The Grimm.

Surtr.

The Foretellers.

Salem.

The Four Maidens.

And just now she and Neo faced down what was left of Terra and barely survived. She needed to get stronger and perhaps she could with having Aura, even if it is only a small boost.

"I think it's safe to say we've been having a rough time." Aqua began explaining.

"No kidding…" Neo muttered.

"And knowing our luck, we're going to keep running into strong opponents. Maybe stronger than even our last opponent." Aqua continued. "We managed to barely escape him but I have a feeling we'll be seeing him again."

Neo actually shuddered. "So you think having your Aura unlocked will help with that? Don't get me wrong, I'm all for getting stronger but considering the things I've seen you do with your Keyblade, going up against the Maidens who were supposed to the strongest ladies on my world, how do you expect having your Aura unlocked will change that? It's good and all but we only have one Semblance, our reserves are limited especially up against someone who can use magic and unless we're really smart and skilled we don't stand a chance against people with magic."

"You have a better idea?" Aqua questioned.

Neo sighed, rubbing her face. "Look, I'm used to running and avoiding fights with people I know that can kill me. Training to fight against tough guys is one thing but with Roman we always prioritized survival over everything. Besides, you restored the worlds so why not just head back to the island and see if my world is back?"

"It's as I said, survival is one thing but there is more to it than that, Neo. What happens if that man tracks us down? We just keep running?" Aqua asked rhetorically. "Sooner or later he would find us again and we would have to run again…or face him. Maybe having an Aura won't change things but even the slightest boost could change everything."

Neo looked at Aqua for a moment and sighed again. "All right. Hold out your hand."

Aqua did so and Neo reached out, slowly grasping it. Neo's own Aura surged around her, traveling through her hand and small glow surrounded Aqua's. The Keyblade Wielder let out a soft gasp, feeling the energy traveling though her body and touching her heart. Neo retracted her hand, seeing Aqua was now glowing light blue, similar to when she uses her Command Style.

Aqua looked down at her hand, seeing the blue glow before it faded. "Amazing…"

She felt the power entering her and then unlocking something within her…along with something else. The power she felt was similar to that of the magic she had felt when she had visited Remnant in the past where people were capable of using magic. However, this power was much more miniscule compared to the power she had sensed from people like Ozma, Salem and Surtr.

Was this Aura loosely connected with the magic of that world?

"So now what?" Neo asked once she had finished helping Aqua unlock her Aura.

Aqua looked across the dark beach. "I think we can spend a little time training before we decide our next move."

Neo sighed yet again and just shrugged. "Fine, whatever." But then she smiled. "How about a little sparring for training? No magic?"

Aqua raised an eyebrow but smiled. "Sure, why not-GAH! OOF!"

Neo suddenly lashed out with a kick, knocking Aqua to the ground. The pink/brunette haired girl smiled as she held Hush over her shoulder, looking very pleased with herself.

"Rule number one to training with Neo: Never relax around Neo." Neo waved a finger at Aqua as she got back up. "You need to work on engaging your Aura to take a hit for you."

Aqua narrowed her eyes as she summoned her Keyblade.

"Remember, no magic." Neo reminded, her smile remaining on her face.

"Oh, I remember…" Aqua said as she readied herself. "Won't need it."

With that, she jumped forward and engaged Neo in a little 'friendly' spar.

Xxx

CLANG!

CLANG!

CLANG!

Aqua grunted as she spun, twirling out of the way of the blade sticking out of Hush as Neo stabbed at her. Neo kept moving forward rather than retracting Hush as Aqua spun and tried to slash at her with her Keyblade but Neo ducked and locked the handle of Hush with Stormfall, allowing the swing to carry her off her feet. She sailed around Aqua who had been thrown off balance and landed on her feet, her parasol's handle still hooked to the Keyblade and Neo then used the momentum to pull Aqua off her feet before she could recover and send her flying away. However Aqua somersaulted through the air and landed perfectly on her feet.

She spun around just in time to deflect a stab to her head by Neo. Rather than meeting her head on and attacking back, Aqua danced back and spun, batting away Neo's parasol and even kicked her in the ribs, knocking her back. Neo landed on the ground, looking surprised but then grinned as she attacked again, enjoying the training so far.

It wasn't every day she could fight someone as skilled as her and Maidens don't count.

It was hard to know how long they had been sparring but since time had no meaning in the Realm of Darkness, Aqua and Neo had all the time in the world and they made it count. Aqua had decent skills in combat compared to Terra and Ven, but her skill was supplemented by her magic. Without it, she found herself working much harder against Neo who had already proven herself to be a very skilled combatant. Always reacting, moving in between strikes and following up with an immediate counter-strike, moving with such grace that was only matched by her speed and agility.

Still, Aqua was able to keep up, relying on her Flowing Combat Style. Amongst the three Keyblade apprentices, Terra was the strongest; Ven was the fastest while Aqua was the most balanced of the three. She neither the slowest nor fastest and was neither the strongest nor weakest. She relied on her own agility combined with her slender form, allowing her to flow in and out of the battlefield and made her extremely hard to hit. Combined with her magic, Aqua's style became a 'Trickster' style of sorts but without magic she found her style very similar to Neo's except for one detail:

Neo never attacked head on but at the same time she never did what her opponent thought she would do either.

Between the two of them, Neo was the true Trickster and she was able to keep Aqua on her toes. Nevertheless, Aqua endured and fought on. Neo might be good at countering almost every move thrown at her, but Aqua actually had the same agility with strength on her side this time and there was one other advantage…

SLASH!

Neo 'shattered' from being hit by Stormfall but Aqua didn't stop as she raised her Keyblade over her head and angled it down, blocking a kick to the back of her head and spun, hooking her Keyblade with Neo's foot and sending her flying. She didn't let up and she jumped up and twisted her body, sending a kick at Neo who tried blocking with her parasol but the force of the kick still sent her crashing into the ground, rather hard.

…She could somehow sense Neo's presence despite her illusion Semblance.

"GAH!" Neo grunted from the impact and felt her Aura break. "…Okay, I'm good for a break. How about you?"

Rolling her eyes, Aqua cast a Cura spell on Neo, healing her of the minor wounds she had and offered her a hand. Neo accepted and grabbed the hand, allowing Aqua to pull her back onto her feet.

"Not bad…" Neo wiped some dirt off her coat.

She was still wearing the dark coat Aqua had given her and had seemingly gotten used to it, if for no other reason than the fact it was supposed to keep her safe from the Realm of Darkness corrupting her heart.

Even she knew that was up for debate though.

"Still some work to do." Neo remarked.

"Of course." Aqua sighed. "Still haven't found out what my Semblance is."

Part of the training was learning how to apply her Aura in combat and so far she had made decent progress. She figured out how to engage it when in battle so she was protected and she felt stronger and fast and this training with Neo allowed her to improve her combat skills which were a boon unto itself but so far her Semblance had yet to manifest. Neo had also stated that one's own Aura could be strengthened and enhanced through a special training.

What was the training?

Constantly throwing rocks at her, forcing her to keep her Aura up.

It was good, until Aqua finally had enough and sent Neo running with a Thundaga spell.

"Give it time. Roman never bothered to figure out what his Semblance might be, relying more on his wit and charm." Neo rolled her eyes. "As for me…Mine manifested when I was little, thanks to my asshole parents."

Aqua frowned at the casual way Neo would swear but knew she could do nothing about so she just accepted it. "They were Huntsmen?"

"Psh! Hell no." Neo shook her head in disdain. "Mama was trained as an assassin and sure she had her Aura unlocked but despised Semblances, saying they were not 'normal'. Papa was pretty much the same, except he was a politician."

Ever since gaining her voice for the first time, Neo had been a lot more open with Aqua. Perhaps it was happiness from finally being able to speak or maybe she had grown comfortable enough with Aqua to speak to her about her past. At least enough to tell her about her parents who had been awful to her as a child and Roman, a criminal had been more of a role model and friend to her than either of them had been.

Well, Aqua was glad they were learning to trust each other at least.

"So, how long should we stay?" Neo asked, changing the subject.

Aqua was about to answer when she suddenly sensed a presence somewhere down the beach. "Hold that thought…I don't think we're alone."

Neo looked surprised and weary as she followed Aqua down the beach, the both of them stopping when they saw a man in a dark coat, exactly like the one Neo was wearing. "Why, hello. It's not often I get visitors."

"Who are you?" Aqua asked slowly, dismissing her Keyblade. "Please, call me Aqua and this is my friend, Neo. Why are you sitting here all alone in the realm of darkness? How did you end up here?"

"Well...I can tell you this is my second time on these shores. But unfortunately, much like the first, I do not remember who I am or whence I came. Everything was washed away in whatever currents carried me here." The man answered, looking out across the sea.

"That's too bad..." Aqua said, slowly approaching the man.

"You wish to return to your own world?" The man asked, glancing at her.

"It's my friends. I promised I'd be there for them." Aqua then looked at Neo. "And I made another promise."

"Your friends? Somewhere in the scraps of memory I have left, you remind me of a boy I once knew. He is very much like you—true to his friends, and kind. This boy travels to many worlds and fights to keep the light safe." The man mused.

"Keep the light safe? I've been away too long. Did something happen out there? Are the worlds in danger?" Aqua questioned.

"Sad to say, they nearly fell to darkness more than once. But at every turn, that boy arrived with Keyblade in hand to save the day." The man answered.

"Huh? Wait a sec... Is his name Terra or Ven?" Aqua asked hopefully.

"Neither of those, I'm afraid." The man simply said.

Aqua looked sadly at the ground. "Should've known."

"How long has it been since I met him? At least a year now, perhaps more... Back then, my heart was clouded with vengeance. I did terrible things...both to him and his friends." The man recalled. "I brought unhappiness to more lives than one. I felt something must be done. Was that why? A means of clearing my conscience?"

Suddenly, Neo found herself interested in what the man had to say, wondering if perhaps she and the man were more alike than she might want to admit.

"Or perhaps, out of a sort of scholarly instinct? While the boy slept his long sleep, I hid the results of my research inside him, transplanting the data to where it might best serve a purpose. In fact, I would like to believe... Maybe he can set things right. A boy like him who touches so many hearts—he could open the right door, and save all those people whose lives I managed to ruin." The man continued with remorse in his voice. "So many are still waiting for their new beginning, their birth by sleep. Even me...and even you."

"What's this boy's name?" Aqua asked, now curious about the boy.

"His name...is..."

A moment passed…

And a tear slipped down Aqua's cheek as she smiled, remembering the boy she had met in what felt like a lifetime ago. "Sora."

Neo looked at Aqua, hearing the hope in her voice and the smile she now had…

Why did it feel like that one smile suddenly brightened this dreary place?

Xxx

They didn't know how long they stayed on the dark beach. In that time, the three would trade stories while Aqua and Neo would continue their sparring while the man would simply watch. They had told him about Remnant that Neo was from and the world with the tree known as Yggdrasil that it was connected Neo's world through the strange system the Brother Gods had set in place. It was clear the man was a scientist in some manner as he was fascinated by what he had been told and more so when Neo and Aqua had shown them their Aura which was powered by the Soul instead of the Heart.

He had confessed to studying the Heart but had never seen anything remotely like Aura before and thus had no idea the Soul could have produced such a phenomena. Aqua still had yet to discover her Semblance but didn't let that stop her as she worked on ways to combine Aura with her Keyblade abilities.

It had become a bit of a personal challenge to her, combining Heart and Soul in such a manner they would work in absolute harmony.

She could already feel her own physical abilities increasing as she used both Aura and her magic together and it helped since she found them to be similar, at least from what she felt. It was similar to the magic in the ancient Remnant she had visited so she started to consider even if the God of Darkness, Erebus had stripped humanity of their magic; a small…Semblance had somehow been left behind.

"Tell me, will you stay here?" The man asked once Aqua and Neo had finished another sparring match.

"I can't shake the feeling that these waters touch another shore I've visited." Aqua answered as she sat down on the soft sand.

"I can't really go anywhere until she decides." Neo shrugged as she sat next to Aqua and truth be told, she wasn't really in much of a rush.

Even if Remnant was restored she didn't have anybody waiting for her back there. Truth be told, she didn't know what she was supposed to do now. On the one hand, if she goes back to Remnant she would likely be on the hit list of Little Red and her friends for trying to kill them and she might also be on Salem's hit list because Cinder will have likely come up with some dumb story of Neo double-crossing them.

"The Destiny Islands." The man said, forcing Neo to shake her head of these thoughts and focus on the present conversation.

"You've heard of them?" Aqua asked, sounding surprised.

"Yes. They are quite lovely—a far cry from this wasteland." The man said, describing the Destiny Islands as they looked out across the shores.

"…I should take Neo back to her world…But I can't shake the feeling someone will come for me." Aqua said, glancing over at Neo who shrugged.

"These waters are the in-between of dark and light, its shores the margins of day and night. They brought you and I together, so why not also you and another?" The man asked thoughtfully.

Aqua nodded with a smile, turning back to the waters. "Yes."

Neo looked out across the water, suddenly feeling like she was back on the island.

There was a moment of piece…

And then both Aqua and Neo heard footsteps.

"Who's there?" Aqua immediately turned around.

"Hm?" The man followed her gaze.

Approaching them was a younger man with long silver hair, dark skin and golden yellow eyes. He wore a dark coat like the man and Neo.

"You…" The man said as he stood up, recognizing the newcomer.

Aqua felt something familiar upon seeing the man as well, especially upon seeing his eyes while Neo had that bad feeling from encountering the other man in a dark coat before they ended up back here.

Aqua immediately summoned her Keyblade but the newcomer paid her no mind. "Master...I must have a word with you."

The man pulled back his hood, revealing long blond hair and a moustache with an aged face but he gave of the feeling that time had taken his strength or wisdom. "'Master'? So now you mock me."

"Do you recall those experiments of the heart you bade me cease?" The man asked as he stepped forward, approaching the man he had called 'Master'. "Among the test subjects was a girl. She had lost her memory, just as I had. But...you can reconstruct memories. You did with Sora. I believe you have seen the girl's memories."

"What is your question?" The man asked stoically.

"Where did you put the girl?" The newcomer answered with his own question.

"What girl?" The man asked, seemingly not understanding who this strange man was talking about.

"Very well. If you won't tell me here..." The dark man reached out to grab him.

Only Aqua swatted his arm away, seemingly surprising him. "I think you should go."

The man looked at her and heard the sound of a sword being drawn and looked to see Neo extending her blade from the top of her parasol.

"A lost guardian of light and a castaway?" The man asked in a dismissive tone, barely acknowledging Neo before smiling. "You wait here...for the King and his fool."

The man crossed his arms and the ground seemingly began to shake. There was a surge of darkness behind him and from it emerged a creature of darkness that ad yellow eyes gleaming above a mouth filled with sharp teeth with two gags over it, as well as two long antennae spouting from the top of its head. A hole appeared in between more bandages on the torso in the shape of a heart. Lastly, it had very large hands, its torso coming to a tail-like point that fades away into its host's body. Aqua was stunned, recognizing the creature from her fight with Terra and was left wide open as the creature punched Aqua and Neo away but both managed to land on their feet as they skid a few feet along the ground.

"So it is true…you have regained your Keyblade." The man spoke as he approached.

"Even if I didn't have it…I wouldn't need it!" Aqua exclaimed as she charged forward.

Shaking her head, Neo immediately followed after her new partner as both leapt up and tried attacking the man who simply smiled. Aqua leapt up and delivered a kick to the creature's head before jumping back and fired a Thundaga at the creature. However the creature only shrugged off her blast as it tried grabbing her, only for Neo to kick its hand away.

The man smiled darkly. "This should be…interesting."