The Age of Fairy Tales:
The Valkor-Nava II
Aqua could sense darkness in the distance and it wasn't the kind that she would associate with the Grimm or their creator.
It was the same form of darkness she had been trained to fight against.
During her first time on Remnant, she encountered the Heartless when she arrived in Daybreak Town. That was long ago now, and she hadn't encountered them during Ozma's second reincarnation which had lasted for a decade before his death at the hands of his former subjects. She hadn't forgotten this feeling, the cold that she associated it with.
Somehow, the darkness she was fighting to keep Remnant safe from had appeared somewhere in the distance.
"Aqua?" She heard Ozma, Ambroise speak from behind. "What is it?"
She realized she might have to explain to him what was happening, but she still had her duty as a Keyblade Master to keep the knowledge of the Heartless secret.
She just wasn't sure how long she might be able to.
"Amazing. Simply amazing."
The Brothers were surprised upon witnessing the monstrosity had appeared back on the Remnant.
The Brother of Light, Izanagi looked to his brother, Erebus. "Is this one of your creations, Brother?"
"No. I had no hand in this, but I must admit, I admire the structure and design of the creature." Erebus stopped when he saw the heart shaped hole in its chest and realized what it was. "That hole…It's a Heartless."
"A Heartless? We witnessed Aqua facing those creatures in the world she used the Horn to travel to." Izanagi recalled. With a wave of his hand, the Brother of Light showed an image of Aqua facing Heartless called Invisibles in Daybreak Town. "How has one appeared on the Remnant?"
"We shall find out." Erebus raised his hand and instant later, the Spirit of Knowledge Jinn appeared before them.
"How can I serve you, my Creators?" Jinn bowed respectfully to the beings who had summoned her.
"How has a Heartless appeared on the Remnant?" Izanagi asked.
Jinn waved her hand and blue smoke engulfed the three beings, showing what had happened before.
A humble fisherman a human letting himself fall victim to the darkness to his anger and his resentment and sorrow for love for the princess that he could never have.
Telling his name and the ambitions to the darkness that allowed him to become that monstrosity.
The Brothers were amazed, even Erebus couldn't believe that their first creations, humanity could turn into something like that. Erebus did say the Heartless were interesting to him, even inspiring…
But witnessing the human transforming into that creature granting him powers beyond belief.
"To think our creations could actually become this. It is astounding." Erebus admitted, watching as the fisherman transformed into the Heartless creature.
"Aqua did say the person's heart was made of both light and darkness. Creation and destruction." Izanagi recalled. "Perhaps the human heart is beyond what we could understand. Never before have we considered this."
"But is it that it or is there much more, Brother?" Erebus questioned. "Aqua herself has not succumb to the darkness and gained the power of a weapon that could do such much more."
"Yes. The heart can be simple but yet complex and there may be more to the heart of a person than we realize." Izanagi conceded. "Perhaps we can learn much more. But there is a concerning matter, Brother. Did you not sense it?"
"I did. This darkness…It did not simply sprout from the fisherman's heart. There was something calling to him." Erebus stated. "It almost felt similar to myself but even…darker."
"Jinn." The Brother of Light looked to the Spirit of Knowledge. "Do you know this presence?"
Jinn waved her hand again, the blue mist taking them from the Relic of Time and inside a recording of the past, showing the Land of Darkness. There they witnessed Salem emerging from the dark pool of destruction. They witnessed Salem was talking to a being translucent form of darkness not like Erebus. This type of darkness was stronger than him, more fierce, more knowledgeable, and more manipulative.
They witnessed Salem rejecting the darkness, stating that she didn't wish to listen to anyone else. The darkness seemed to reply that they will not force her to become one with them but left the safety precaution when she will call upon it to fulfill her desires. The brothers were yet relieved but yet concerned remembering when Jinn had shown them of what Salem will become. If the brother of darkness did eliminate all of humanity, even going against Aqua word the results will be the same.
"It seemed Aqua's warning was more profound than we realize." Izanagi said as they returned to the Relic of Time. "If there is another entity, a dark counterpart to her lurking in the Remnant, it could even more dangerous to us than Salem."
"Yes." Erebus admitted, not sure how to react to a being even darker than himself, the God of Darkness. "It shouldn't be possible, but it is. Some form of Heartless we have yet to see?"
"Yes. Aqua's decision possess more merit than she might realize." Izanagi stated. "She might even be the solution to this."
"After her disrespect to us?" Erebus grunted.
"She protected us when that woman turned our creations against us. She also stopped us from making a great mistake." Izanagi pointed out. "Eliminating humanity and leaving Salem alone it leads to she becomes in the future. As of now, she is not the situation but if she accepts the darkness that can turn humans into Heartless, it is likely everything will be over."
Erebus considered this for a moment. "Yes, that is the likely outcome. But what can we do now? We are bound by our agreement with Aqua to only return if the four Relics are reunited."
"Perhaps but there are other ways. Perhaps we should speak to Aqua again." Izanagi proposed. "And hopefully it will be in a more peaceful setting than before."
"What can we hope to discuss with her?"
"To ask of her perspective."
Princess Undal was horrified by what she was seeing and sadly it would only become worse.
For that is when the water began to bubble and boil as something began to rise up from the darkened depths.
Undal stepped back, shivering in terror as a large serpentine face emerged from the water and opened its mouth to let out a deafening roar.
"RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
The roar was so great that the entire tribe instantly awoke and less then a minute could see the source of what had awakened them as it fully rose from the darkened ocean. A monstrous serpent with glistening red, black, and gold scales like a snake was rising from the ocean. It was truly massive, longer than forty rowboats, and thicker than fifteen palm trees tied together. Around its neck were crimson wings like bats and curiously in the center of its chest was a heart shaped hole.
And unlike a Grimm whose eyes would glow red, this monster's eyes were golden yellow.
The monster stared down at the village with unnatural glowing eyes, blazing as they settled on the princess. Undal didn't know how or why but she knew the monster was looking at her.
Looking at her with an expression of hatred.
Dark wings sprouted from its back as it let out another roar and lunged down at her with its maw open wide, obviously planning to devour her whole.
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" She let out a scream as she shut her eyes.
Just as the monster came close to eating her, a spear lodged itself in the side of its face. It paused and lifted its head up to see warriors from the village rushing out with battle cries, holding swords and spears as they charged the monster that dared to attack their princess. The creature let out another roar and from its mouth came a purple miasma that hit a large number of the warriors, causing them to scream as their bodies darkened and vanished, becoming small insectoid like creatures with clawed hands and feet and antenna sprouting from their heads.
Undal covered her mouth as she watched in wide eyed horror as the brave warriors of her village were killed and…changed into smaller monsters that began attacking the others.
She looked back up as the monster stared down at her again, opening its mouth as purple smoke rose out from its blackened maw again.
"Firaga!"
A giant fireball shot seemingly out of nowhere and hit the monster on the face, scorching its eyes as it reared its head back and let out a pained roar. Undal stared in shock as she turned around to see who had done that.
It was a woman she had never seen before.
Unlike the majority of people in her village, herself included, this woman's skin was pale and clear with her eyes and hair seemingly the color of the sea. Her clothing was a mix of black and blue with cloths draped around her waist and falling down her legs like cascading waterfalls. She held a white and blue sword…
At least she thought it was a sword.
The monster lifted its head back up, glaring at the pair that had injured it.
That sword…
The monster stared at the sword, feeling a deep primal…
Fear…
It feared that weapon…
As much as it hated the woman holding it.
(Kingdom Hearts OST Night of Fate Starts)
It roared and more shadowy creatures sprouted from the ground, surrounding the woman who remained calm, but her eyes narrowed.
Heartless.
They were here, on Remnant.
But Aqua was not afraid.
She hated she had to become involved again with the denizens of Remnant but this time it was against the very darkness she had been trained to fight against. The real problem was that she left Ozma, whose current name was Ambroise without an explanation.
Aside from 'There's somewhere else I need to be.'
She knew she would likely owe Ozma an explanation the next time she saw him.
She'll probably have to speak with Penny and the others, considering how long it likely been since they had last spoke.
She 'locked' onto the surrounding Shadows in her mind and she spun gracefully, almost as if she was a figure skater and unleashed bolts of magical light that hit each Shadow, destroying them immediately. She barely even blinked as she rushed past the Shadows as they faded into dark smoke, jumping up into the air and pointing her Keyblade at the Heartless that would be remembered as the Valkor-Nava, and used her Shotlock: Rainbow Shower.
Spheres of light matching that of the rainbow blasted from her Keyblade, slamming into the Valkor-Nava, causing it to roar in anger and pain.
The creature's wings flapped, lifting it into the air and it flew overhead, circling from above.
Then it swooped down on its target.
Only Aqua was ready.
Just as came within range of biting her in half, she teleported out of the way, vanishing from sight of the beast…
And reappear on top of its head.
"YAH!" She let out a battle cry as she slammed her Keyblade on top of its head.
The Valkor-Nava let out a screech as it crashed into the ground. Aqua leapt off, landing on the ground and followed up with a few more hits before it recovered and lashed out with its tail. Aqua summoned a barrier but the force of the hit sent her flying back. She somersaulted through the air and landed perfectly on the sandy ground of the beach.
The Valkor-Nava lifted its head up and opened its mouth, releasing another purple miasma blast at Aqua who teleported again, dodging the attack that had corrupted many of the villagers, turning them into Heartless.
Heartless that quickly surrounded Aqua again and attempted to attack her as she fought with the larger beast.
SWISH!
SLASH!
SLASH!
And they fell as soon they came within striking distance.
Aqua's attacks were swift and precise, showing her skill as a Keyblade Master and one who had more years of experience than her appearance would suggest. Just as she faced the Valkor-Nava again, she had to jump to the side as it lunged at her again. Aqua turned around to see the Heartless turned around to attack her again…
Only for a beam of green energy to slam into its face, causing it to completely miss Aqua and skid down the beach.
Aqua turned to see a familiar elderly thin man holding a scepter with an emerald embedded in the top. "Oz?"
Ambroise staggered, not use to moving so fast and Aqua rushed over to him as he was about to fall. "…Am I too late?"
"Why are you here?" Aqua questioned.
"I thought…you would tell me what is going after I helped." The old man answered with a smile.
Aqua was about to say something when the Heartless roared again.
This was not good.
She wanted to keep the fight away from Oz and anyone else for that matter. The last thing she needed was knowledge of the Heartless spreading across Remnant.
The Grimm were one thing, but if people knew about the Heartless…
They would either live in fear of the idea of more creatures of darkness roaming Remnant or worse…
Worse as in some might try to control the Heartless for their own gain.
She knew it was possible for someone to use the darkness in their own heart to summon the Heartless, but they could not be controlled. It would cause the darkness in them to grow until the Heartless ate away at their own heart and they became one of their own.
Before she could think of what to say to Oz, the Heartless roared again. The blackened water it had risen from began to bubble and boil…
And then a massive tidal wave rose up, threatening to swallow the beach, the village and everyone present.
'No!' Aqua raised her hands and summoned a barrier around herself and the village.
The tidal wave slammed into the barrier with such force that cracks began to form and spread across the energy dome.
Aqua grit her teeth, putting more of her power into the barrier to keep it from breaking. Only the dark ocean was vast and controlled by the power of darkness that was weakening her barrier, no matter how much effort she put into it. She fell to her knees, keeping her hands and Keyblade raised to channel more power into the barrier but she knew she was fighting a losing battle.
Just when all seemed lost…
A green light seemed to shine in the darkness.
Aqua opened her eyes to see the barrier being reinforced by a green magical light. She looked over her shoulder to see Ambroise holding the scepter up and the green gem was glowing brightly. It was visibly straining to the old man as Aqua could see the sweat running down his face.
Ambroise was not a young man.
He was old and frail and the strain of channeling that magic must be…
Aqua's eyes widened as she noticed her hands becoming transparent.
Ambroise, Ozma was dying!
If he died now, she would disappear with him and the village, along with the rest of Remnant would be in danger by the Heartless.
She had to find a way to save him.
Along with everyone else.
She looked up to see the dark tidal wave finally subside and she dropped the barrier. She stood up, finally having enough of this monstrosity.
"Hercules, lend me your strength." She whispered and a golden star shaped glyph appeared underneath her feet.
A divine aura surrounded her body and she charged at the Valkor-Nava with a battle cry. It roared and charged at her, opening its mouth to swallow her whole…
Which it did.
Ambroise's eyes widened in shock and horror from seeing his old friend be devoured by the beast. The Heartless let out a victorious roar as it lifted its head up, letting its victory been known to everyone and everything across the land. It then floated up, seemingly to fly up to the moon when a spear embedded itself in its neck.
The Heartless stopped and looked down, seeing a woman standing amongst the fallen warriors of the village it had slain and turned into Heartless.
This woman was older but still possessed a warrior's form.
In fact, she resembled the princess.
The Heartless snarled, ready to attack when a burst of light shot out from its neck where the spear had it.
"RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Everyone watched as it writhed in the air before falling back down to Remnant, becoming impaled on a nearby mountain that collapsed under its weight. The body began to dissolve, flooding the valley below with a black deluge and a poisonous fog.
And from it came a single glowing figure that leapt up into the air and landed back on the beach.
"Aqua!" Ambroise called out, having fallen to his knees while leaning against his scepter.
Aqua looked to see where her old friend was and was about to move towards him when she paused, her body becoming transparent. 'Oh no…'
She fell to the ground; her strength being sapped away from her as she felt herself becoming less solid.
Was Ozma about to die again?
She had just returned, and she was about to vanish again?
She wanted to say something.
She wanted to look him in the eyes and explain.
She barely could see as her vision became blurry.
She couldn't even make out the strange shapes coming into view before she finally blacked out.
(Kingdom Hearts OST Night of Fate Ends)
