The World of Dreams
Dark clouds formed overhead, enveloping the castle and surrounding buildings in darkness.
"Terra?" She called out.
A second later she let out a cry as a hand wrapped around her neck, strangling her.
"Who…Am I?" A man's voice whispered.
"Such…Terrible Darkness." The woman uttered, struggling to breathe. "You have to fight it…Terra please!"
"Terra, you say?" The man whispered and then grunted as his voice changed. "Terra's heart has been extinguished. Smothered by the darkness within him!"
CLASH!
There was clashing sound that echoed through the kingdom.
"My name is Master Aqua."
CLASH!
"Now return my friend's heart or pay the price!"
And immediately they fought.
His strikes were lethal, fueled by rage with darkness surging around him as he attacked.
She was composed and graceful, light shining around her many times as she attacked, dodged and defended herself.
His rage and frustration reached critical levels as they fought.
"This will teach you! Get out of my heart!" The man shouted, stabbing himself in the chest with his own weapon.
"TERRA!"
She rushed after him as he fell into the dark portal, jumping in just as it closed. He was falling out of her reach, so she summoned her glider and armor to reach him. She grabbed and tried to escape but she saw they wouldn't make it in time.
"I have to do something or we'll both be lost." Aqua looked back at Terra.
She had a choice to make: leave him in darkness or…
Take his place.
She placed her Keyblade in his hands and her armor appeared over him, sending him back up to the light. "Go!"
She watched as Terra was taken back up to the surface.
"Ven, I'm sorry…I might not make it back as soon as I thought. But I promise, I'll be there, one day, to wake you up."
Aqua closed her eyes, resigning herself to falling into darkness.
When she opened them again she expected to be in the Realm of Darkness. Only when she opened her eyes again, she continued falling with strange lights appearing around her. Staring in confusion she reached out and touched one of the lights.
'What is this? I thought I was falling into the darkness…' She looked down and saw a strange green mist coming up on her. 'Light in the darkness?'
She was blinded by a white light…
The last thing she remembered was hitting water. She gasped as she felt the tied moving her body up onto sand. She felt her body aching and she couldn't cast a healing spell. Her eyes dazed as she looked around, seeing two suns…
And a giant tree.
Xxx
..ua…
Aq…ua…!
Aqua!
Her eyes opened and she slowly sat up, feeling the heat on her back while feeling wet down her front. Looking up, she groaned from seeing the light from…two suns? Her eyes adjusted and there were indeed two suns shining down on this place.
What was this place?
A strange shore with red sands and palm trees, purple brushes, orange plants, giant sea shells and sea stars. Up ahead was a large cliff that towered over the shore and beyond that was a giant tree sitting on it with clouds of green, purple and yellow leaves. Surrounding the giant tree was a forest of palm trees.
Kneeling down, Aqua picked up the sea star and noticed how similar it was to her Wayfinder and the ones she made for her friends.
"What is this place?" She asked quietly but felt glad to be hearing her own voice.
She remembered falling into the Realm of Darkness and thought she would end up there.
Looking up, she had a guess that the massive tree might have the answer. So she slowly began her approach, walking up the beach and to the cliff. She thought to apply magic to her legs to do a double jump but then remembered she left her Keyblade with Terra and without it she couldn't use her magic anymore.
She had nothing now.
Aqua sighed and started looking for an alternate route to the tree. It took a while but she found a way through the cliffs and entered a green forest. Nothing but palm trees providing shade and a grassy ground with strange plants, mushroom and berries growing.
'Well, if I am going to be stuck here for a while at least there is a source of food.' Aqua thought as she looked around.
So far it seemed like this place was deserted.
She sighed as stopped to lean against a rock…
And then her senses kicked in.
"GAH!" Aqua jumped back as the rock started moving. "What the-"
She watched surprise as more rocks pulled out of the ground, forming into a torso followed by arms and legs. The creature turned its 'head' to her and for a second remained still. Then it raised its arm to swat her and she took off running, continuing towards the tree.
Just what was this place?
Was it in the Realm of Darkness?
Was a world of light capable of existing in the Realm of Darkness?
She had so many questions that were just more of what was weighing her down?
Did Terra make it back?
Would he break free from Xehanort's control?
Would she make it back and awaken Ven?
As her journey continued, the scenery grew deeper and stranger, the sky changing to resemble the colors of the giant tree with roots even sprouting out from the ground. And as Aqua grew closer, a strange mist suddenly appeared around her.
Aqua stopped, her senses alerting her that this was no ordinary fog. 'Now what?'
A shadow appeared in the mist that slowly approached her and stepped back, settling into her normal fighting stance but knew it was useless without her Keyblade.
She watched as the person to come out of the mist was…her?
A person who exactly resembled Aqua from her hair, eyes, skin, and clothes. She even had a Keyblade, Stormfall in her hand to go with it.
Aqua stared in shock at first before finding her voice. "Who are you?"
"…I am you." The duplicate answered stoically.
"What? What is that supposed to mean?" Aqua questioned.
"It is exactly what I said. I am you, the foolish girl who grew up with the dream of becoming a Keyblade Master. Who tried to present herself as the perfect student, becoming the perfect master, only to watch everything she cared about wither away and tried to follow her friends and master into death." The duplicate stated. "You failed your master. You failed Ven. You failed Terra. You couldn't save them."
Aqua stepped back with a pained look on her face before glaring at the copy. "Shut up!"
"You know it's the truth. You drove them away, trying to present yourself as someone without sin. Xehanort didn't even have to try. You all did exactly what he wanted so easily." The copy continued. "Even when you were finally together, you still failed."
"SHUT UP!" Aqua shouted, charging at her copy, not even caring she didn't have a Keyblade anymore.
A flash of light proved her wrong as something clashed with Other Aqua as she raised her Keyblade in defense. Aqua's eyes widened as she looked to see a black Keyblade in her hand with a boxy guard, made up of two small, light grey boxes and a copper rod. The base of the guard connected to the grip and both sported several small indentations lining them. The teeth were in the shape of an 'E' with its keychain resembling the badge she wore to signify she was a Keyblade Wielder.
It wasn't Stormfall but it was the Keyblade of her fallen master, the Master's Defender.
That's right; she had taken it as per her master's instructions. Aqua shook her head, knowing she had no time to contemplate this in the middle of a fight. She shoved the Other Aqua who flipped back, landing perfectly on her feet.
The Other Aqua chuckled as she grinned at her. "You couldn't even realize you still had the Keyblade with you."
Aqua said nothing, knowing what she had to do.
(Kingdom Hearts OST Extreme Encounters)
She vanished in a blur, reappearing behind Aqua and summoned three large ice crystals that she landed at Aqua who cartwheeled out of the way of each one. She then tried slashing at Other Aqua who teleported away, reappearing a few feet away.
"Thunder!" Aqua shouted, calling down several bolts of lightning on Other Aqua who staggered from the hit.
She began teleporting all over the place, moving at high speed and delivering several strikes to Aqua. The Keyblade Master grunted, feeling the first few blows before she conjured a barrier to protect herself.
"Enough." Other Aqua teleported into the air and summoned more ice crystals that flew straight at the real Aqua.
Two managed to hit, knocking her back while she managed to dodge the others. Aqua was panting, still exhausted from her previous fight before coming here. Other Aqua teleported in front of her, ready to deliver the final blow but Aqua would not submit. She swung her Keyblade up and batted the incoming attack away and slashed her Other several times, following with a thrust to the chest that the Other barely survived by teleporting away just as it touched her chest.
"Heal!" Aqua held up her Keyblade and a green glow surrounded her, healing her wounds.
Other Aqua was in the air again, summoning more ice crystals that she launched at Aqua who had just gotten her second wind. She jumped up and glided through the air, dodging the ice crystals that shattered against the surrounding trees instead of their target. Having enough Aqua charged at her Other, delivering several strikes.
"Enough!" Aqua shouted, two orbs of light surrounding her and managing to do more damage to the Other.
Other Aqua teleported away, summoning more ice crystals but this time Aqua smashed through them instead of dodging. She kept on attacking her Other who became more desperate to win, teleporting all over the area to avoid being hit.
"You think you can win?!" Other Aqua shouted as copies of her suddenly appeared, surrounding Aqua. "You're a failure! You're nothing!"
Aqua noticed her other self was changing, her eyes turning yellow and her hair becoming brighter, a mix of blue and silver as darkness surrounded her.
"You are just a weak child who could nothing to save her friends!" Other Aqua shouted, the aura of darkness around intensifying.
"I am more than that!" Aqua shouted back. "Yes, I've failed…But I am still here and I will make it right!"
"Make it right?" Other Aqua and her copies laughed. "How can you make it right when you are about to die here?!"
They then began glowing, activating Aqua's own Command Style: Spellweaver.
They started circling around Aqua, moving like figure skaters as cold, icy air circulated around them and ice crystals formed above them.
She couldn't do that with her Spellweaver but it didn't matter at the moment.
What mattered was getting out of the way before she was hit!
She conjured a barrier just as they all launched magical blasts at her but she only felt one, meaning all the rest were mere illusions.
"I said enough! Farewell!" Aqua said, conjuring two more energy orbs around her as she collided with Other Aqua, forcing her back.
The two then clashed their weapons again, their moves exactly the same but Other Aqua was fighting with a form of aggression that made her open to attacks which Aqua capitalized on. Other Aqua kept on summoning more ice crystals that Aqua had to dodge or heal herself when a few managed to hit her. More illusions appeared as Other Aqua attacked but only of them felt real when they hit so Aqua knew where the real one was after she attacked.
She could feel the energy filling her with each clash and it was just about ready to burst.
"I know who I am!" Aqua shouted, her own power surrounding her in a burst of light as she activated Spellweaver for the first time.
Her moves became faster and she telekinetically controlled her Keyblade as she threw it at Other Aqua, spinning through the air as it dealt numerous blows to Other Aqua who couldn't take it anymore. She let out a scream as Aqua delivered one final slash. She collapsed and slowly dissolved into darkness.
(Kingdom Hearts OST Extreme Encounters Ends)
It was over.
Aqua sighed in relief, falling to her knees as her new Keyblade had vanished. The fog vanished, leaving behind the sunny weather from before.
What was that?
A form created from her darkness?
Her doubts?
"Ever since I first left the Land of Departure, my world has been in pieces. Is this the result of everything I have endured?" She wondered to herself, looking back up at the massive tree. "Is this all I have left now?"
STOMP!
Aqua spun around to see the same rock creature that had chased her into the mist was still pursuing her. Only now she had a Keyblade to defend herself and prepared to fight.
"Freeze!" Aqua shouted, casting a Blizzard spell that froze the creature and with a single slash it broke into pieces.
Aqua sighed as she dismissed her Keyblade, glancing at the tree. She knew it was a long shot but she could just sense something about that tree that may be the key to her finding a way out. Seeing no other option, Aqua continued her journey towards the giant tree. The shadow of the tree's bark loomed over her Aqua could feel she was being watched.
She couldn't tell from where but she knew someone or something was watching her. She came upon a clearing at the base of the tree with giant roots sticking out of the ground and spreading outward. Just how far did this tree stretch?
A snarling sound made her summon her Keyblade back She could see several openings in the ground under the tree, exposing the massive roots. From one of those opening came a giant clawed hand with black scales. What followed was a large serpentine like body about twenty meters long with four limbs for arms and legs and wings on its back, a grey underbelly. From its huge mouth came eerily dripping fluids as it looked at her with bright red eyes.
A black and purple miasma emerged its body as it fully emerged.
Aqua stepped back, memories of Maleficent flashing in her mind. "What are you?"
The dragon answered with a roar, moving towards her with a look of hunger in its eyes.
(Kingdom Hearts OST Enter the Darkness)
Aqua jumped back as the dragon opened its mouth and released purplish gas that literally melted the ground where she had stood.
"Freeze!" Aqua shouted, firing an ice spell at the dragon that was easily blocked with one hand.
The dragon lashed out with its tail but Aqua used a barrier to protect herself. The force of the hit sent her flying across the area.
She landed perfectly on the ground and charged at the dragon, ducking under a swipe and jumped up. "Fire!"
A fireball hit the dragon in the face, stunning it for a second. It lashed out with a claw that Aqua dodged by cartwheeling out of the way. The dragon jumped and slammed all four of its limbs on the ground, creating a shockwave that knocked Aqua back. It then brought its mouth down to eat her but Aqua conjured a barrier just in time, catching the dragon's jaw.
The dragon grunted as it tried breaking through the barrier which then exploded in it's mouth. The dragon screamed in pain as it stepped back.
Aqua stood up as she felt the power of her Spellweaver command style washing over her. She charged at dragon who shot fire at her but Aqua threw her Keyblade in front of her which spun like a wheel, knocking the fire aside. Aqua then jumped up and swung her Keyblade down, hitting the monster in the head, slamming him into the ground. The dragon let out a pained roar that caused the ground to shake.
Aqua watched as dozens of smaller dragons, resembling the first one crawled out of the hole and took off into the air, surrounding her. Some lunge at her but Aqua telekinetically spun her Keyblade around her, knocking them away as they tried to bite her. Aqua started spinning, magic spiraling around her that blasted through the numerous dragons that surrounded and tried to attack her. This gave her some breathing room as she jumped back and pointed her Keyblade at the surrounding dragons, multi-colorful light gathering at the end of her Keyblade.
It blasted into over twenty orbs of rainbow colored orbs that hit many of the dragons, including the larger dragon that screamed in pain and anger from seeing its offspring getting destroyed. It lashed out, trying to claw at Aqua who dodged as she fell back.
"Thunder!" Aqua shouted, raining down several lightning bolts on the dragon.
The dragon groaned in pain from the hit but got back up, snarling at Aqua and breathed his miasma at her and then set it ablaze with fire. Aqua leapt over the flames, letting out a battle cry as her form glowed bright and she swung her Keyblade down, a bright light slashing through the dragon who screamed in agony before collapsing.
(Kingdom Hearts OST Enter the Darkness Ends)
Aqua sighed as she landed on the ground, looking the deceased dragon. She looked at the hole under the tree where it had crawled out from, hearing snarling sounds from what was likely the rest of the monster's offspring but none came out. They were likely too scared to face her. She sighed, just about to leave when a flash of light caught her attention.
She watched as an opening appeared in the base of the massive tree with a light shining deep inside. Against her better judgement, Aqua entered the tree, walking through a deep tunnel with torches along the walls to provide a source of light. She followed them into a large, circular shining chamber where a single orb of azure light rested on an altar in the center of a platform resting above what appeared to be a giant lake. Fireflies danced around the massive interior of the tree, illuminating the chamber with a form of ethereal glow.
"Welcome."
Aqua jumped back, hearing a strange voice coming from the orb.
"Do not fear me, child. I mean no harm to thee."
Aqua stared carefully at the orb that continued to glow, the light not blinding enough for her to see its full features. Whatever she sensed from the tree was now all around her but its presence was largely focused on the orb.
"I see you are weary. Perhaps this will help."
The light of the orb grew even brighter as a bright blue mist surrounded it. This is mist began to take shape, forming arms, legs, a torso and a face with the transparent features creating a smiling visage with light misty lips. The mist began to thicken; condensing itself as it slowly became more solid. It was female in shape, taking the form of a young girl as the transparency gave way to solid pale blue flesh.
Elongated ears poked out from under light blue hair, eyes dark blue sclera and pupils and light blue in the irises blinked at Aqua. Her form appeared nude but then clothing appeared in the form of a white dress with a golden belt and an orb matching one that she had appeared from.
The girl smiled and bowed as a white staff appeared in her hands with another orb appearing at the top. "Greetings, I am Drasil, granter of the hopes and dreams of mankind. The collective unconsciousness."
Aqua stared in stunned silence a second before composing herself. "I am Aqua. Can you tell me where I am?"
"Well, you are in the world…between worlds." The girl named Drasil answered, much to Aqua's confusion.
"World between worlds?" The lost master echoed.
"That is right." Drasil nodded. "This is a world created as part of a system by the Gods of Light and Darkness, connected to their worlds."
She banged her staff on the ground and around them appeared nine golden doors.
Aqua stared at the doors and then looked back at Drasil. "Do you want me to pick a door?"
"Do you want to go somewhere?" Drasil questioned.
"I…I still do not understand where I am." Aqua explained. "All I remember before appearing here was falling into darkness and then waking up on the beach of this island."
"Ah, so you seek knowledge." Drasil pointed to a door on her right which opened. "Step through this door and you will be transported to Fantasias, the land of spirits. There you will be able to seek out the spirits of knowledge, creation, destruction and choice."
Aqua stared at the door, looking between it and Drasil before asking. "And what will happen when my questions are answered? Will I be able to come back?"
Drasil nodded. "The door shall remain open."
Aqua closed her eyes, trying to think of the best decision to make and then remembered an old saying from her master long ago. 'May your heart be your guiding key.'
She stepped into the door and vanished into the light. Drasil continued smiling at the door.
