How did she allow this to happen to her, Aqua wondered as she stood there taking in the sight. She was supposed to be a Keyblade Master, protecting worlds from evil that might try to destroy them. It was what she had trained to be for her entire life, so the fact that she was standing here out of all places was baffling to her, the one trained to be prepared for anything and everything.
The loud sound of bells ringing as kids won games, screams of people on rides rocketing down rails, and the smell of unhealthy deep-fried food, all of it tried to pull her attention at the same time. Her battle-hardened instincts tried to take in every detail to see if there was any threat in the area that needed to be taken care of. Which was ridiculous as this place was probably the safest place that she could be at.
This quiet little world called Twilight Town was a complete stranger to the dangers that she had faced. No villains lurked in the shadows of this world waiting for a moment of weakness to come out and strike. From the sounds of cheers and laughter, the worst thing that could happen to this place was if it started to rain and they would have to reschedule the day of festivities.
"Calm down, Aqua." Someone said walking up beside her, his voice sort of high-pitched, but scooping down a bit as he talked, that of a boy hitting his teenage years. And glancing at where the voice was she met the gaze of the one who was responsible for getting her to the carnival. Meeting the boy his eclectic blue eyes she noted how he was dressed a lot more casually than the last time she saw him. Instead of a black tunic with metal shoulder pads, blue tights, and leather boots that rode up to his knees, he was a lot more casual. In a black T-shirt with a large yellow bird with sharp claws on its two feet and an orange beak, Aqua had seen the creature in textbooks before, and if her memory didn't fail her it was called a 'Chocobo". He also had on a pair of jeans, and some velcro shoes. Though his pitch-black hair was still brushed back and put into points that looked sharp enough to pop the balloons floating around. She had opted to wear her normal outfit, her black solid halter top, with the pink strands of fabric wrapping around her chest and back short shorts, and thigh-high socks. Light blue detached sleeves hugged her elbows as they stretched down and tickled her wrist and a blue sash wrapped around her waist, and her normal boots with weird points going towards the ground. "I know it's nerve-wracking going out with the next big hero," He said, his smirk not wavering as he brought his arms up and flexed, "But I'm still little old Zack." He assured her.
"Yeah, that makes me feel so much better." She said with an eye roll, "I was worried that you being the 'next big hero' was going to affect this day." She said, tilting her head as she looked at him.
"Wo-ho!" Zack said, flinching and jumping back dramatically, "Was that… a hint of sarcasm that I heard?" He asked cupping his hand to his ear for a second before pointing at the girl. "And gasp! Is that the beginning of a smile I see?" He asked before standing up straight and holding his hand out, apparently the gloves he wore for combat were a necessity for him as they were still on, for her to take.
And it did take a few seconds for her to realize what the teen was talking about. But she did figure it out as she felt something tugging at her mouth as a smirk waited on her face. When was the last time she smirked, it must have been a long time ago maybe a different lifetime.
"Whatever, let's just see what's going on here." She said, taking the boy's hand, her hand flinching back as she touched his and a chill went up her arm. The warrior's hand, even through his glove, was warm, unlike the handle of her keyblade which was usually cold when she first summoned it. But catching herself she laid her hand on his.
"Great!" He said, immediately darting off and pulling the blue-haired girl along with him as they got to a wooden stand that had three towers of milk bottles stacked in the back of it. "Cuz there's plenty of different games we got to win. Not to mention the rides and all the food we have to try out!" He said, having held his out with three fingers as he gave his small list. But it was cut off as a man in a red T-shirt that looked like it was struggling to keep the man's plus-sized gut in and grey sweatpants slammed three baseballs down in front of Zack. "But first." He said, tossing one of the balls into the air and catching it again. "Time to win!" He said, giving his date a wink before staring at the bottles like a shark to a fish at lunchtime.
Cocking his arm back, raising one leg up as he took aim, leaving the girl to stand there and watch him. Then in a flash, the teen stomped on the ground as he chucked the ball at the first tower of glass bottles, his arm staying straight in front of him and the opposite leg pointed out, and he held that pose as he watched the ball. The small balls whizzed through the air as they hit the very top bottle on the stack. Sending the white bottle to the ground with a light thud.
"Er…" He said with a sheepish laugh as he rubbed the back of his neck with his left hand, his cheeks a cherry red as he grabbed the second ball with his other hand. "That was just a warm-up, don't worry." He assured her, making another smirk grow on the girl's face as he got ready to toss the second ball. She placed a hand against the stand and used it for support as she watched her date try again. Once again cocking his hand back and tossing the ball at the second tower, a confident smile on his face. The ball was a white blur as it zoomed through the air, heading for the middle of the tower just to curve last second and hit the back of the stand.
"Well, at least it can't get any worse?" She said, trying to find a bright spot in all of this, getting a snort from Zach as he reached up and ran his hand through his hair.
"Good. Cuz when you hit rock bottom the only direction to go is up!" He said, pointing up at the sky with one hand, his smile not changing, as he closed his eyes and grabbed the last ball. "So let's head back to the top!" He cheered, opening his eyes as he dropped his hands and cocked his arm back once more. Aqua stood up straight as she went over to him and grabbed the ball.
"Alright, at least you aren't a quitter." She said to him, pulling Zack's arm up a bit so the ball would go down. This might technically have been a waste of her training, helping win a random carnival game and not fighting the unversed, but she didn't want the spiky-haired boy to be crushed by the first thing they did there. He managed to get her out there with him, so she didn't want to spend the rest of her day with a pouty Zack. She wasn't an expert on dates, but that sounded like a bad date. "Kay, throw it now." She instructed him, taking a step back to watch.
"Kay, if you say so." He said, his eyes furrowed as he looked a bit confused. He was pretty sure he was aiming at the bottom left bottle and that wouldn't knock the entire tower over. But she was the warrior here and he figured the girl knew what he was doing. So chucking the baseball with all his strength he stood still, his throwing arm pointed towards the ground, and watched the ball.
The white ball was nothing more than a blur almost instantly knocking over the bottle in the bottom corner. But the ball bounced off the stool sending it straight into the air, hitting the top of the wooden stand. Then the ball started to fly all over the stand, hitting the second tower of bottled dead in the center, sending it crashing to the ground, then the first stack, sweeping the remaining bottom bottles and making the rest fall, and then finally the ball bounced into the middle bottle. The ball having lost most of its momentum at this point was only able to make the middle bottle pop out, but with that and the bottom corner out, it was enough to make the final tower go crashing down onto the ground.
"Aw yeah!" Zach cheered, pumping his fist in the air as he pointed at a large unicorn hanging from the side of the stand. "That one good sir!" He said, throwing his hands in the air and squated down a few times as he waited for the prize. Immediately golding it out for Aqua to take. "A prize for the fair maiden!" He said to her, making her raise an eyebrow as she took the stuffed creature in her hands.
` "Uh thanks, I think." She said holding the white horned horse in one hand, smiling a bit as she felt the soft squishy creature.
"Well thats what a guy does." He assured her, flexing his arms as if he had just done some sort of great feat of strength. "Wins a game and gives his date the prize.
"Uh huh, I see." Aqua said, as they started to walk away from the stand, dodging a group of kids that dashed past her laughing and squealing. "But didn't I help you win the game? As I recall you didn;t even manage to get one tower down. But when I helped you got all three of them down with a single ball."
"I mean I guess thats techincally true." The black haired teen said, putting his hands behind his head. "But you needed someone with a good arm to toss the ball. If it was a weak wimpy throw than nothing would have happened." He assured her, winking at her and keeping the eye closed as he started to take the lead. "So not sure what kind of grub you get at wherever you train but you would be missing out if you didn't try out some fair food!" He assured as he lead the girl to a white capsle looking thing. It was shaped like an rectangle with rounded edges, that had a large window in it. The a low and bubbling sssss came out of the trailer along with a white stream if steam. It was just one of a dozen or so trailers like it, along with other stands selling food and drinks, but Zack had lead her specifically to this one.
"Hey Quina." The boy said, leaning his bare arm on the opening of the trailer, "You ready? I want two of the Supersubs!" He said, holding out two fingers. And a creature with bleach white skin and red star shaped eyes leaned out. The creatures tongue hung down out of its mouth, going down to right to its stomach.
"Quina see no one else." The creature spoke in a high pitched voice like a child that had sucked on helium. "You tell Quina that you want be a hero. Food good! But to much food make you fat! Fat hero no good!" Quina said, reaching a hand out, a spatula in their hand, and circled above Zacks stomach.
"Hey what?!" Zack asked, flinching and stepping back and shot his hands behind him towards Aqua and moved them up and down. "I got a date! Plus I could eat at least four Supersubs and be fine." He huffed.
"Hm…. No," Was all Quina had to say, "Quina thinks that girl is to pretty for Zack." They said. "You like food, good! Do not try and pass someone so pretty as Zack's date." The creature said before ringing a bell. "Two Supersubs!" It said before tucking themselves back into the trailer and helping cook.
"Aw come one." Zack sighed, his arms hanging to his sides as he looked down.
"We'll they seemed… Interesting." Aqua said, putting her hand on his shoulder. "Old girlfriend?"
"Ha ha." Zack said sarcastically, standing up again. "No, just a friend that I met at the coliseum. Quina is a Qu. They love to eat and make for great chiefs." He explained to the girl.
"Why would a chief be at a coliseum?" The girl asked hearing that, it seemed like a weird place for someone who wanted to pursue cooking to be at. Sure you would find a lot of sharp objects to use to chop meat and veggies up with and maybe use a spear as a kabob stick if you really needed to. But it was like her going to a preschool class to try and find a good training partner. She could probably find a kid or two ready the try and fight but wouldn't get much done.
"Oh they kind of got lost… a lot," He explained, "They always end up in strange places looking for new ingredients to cook with. Almost got signed up for the games and I doubt they would have lasted a minute in the rink with me."
"Yeah lucky for him." She said with an eye roll, sitting down on a brown wooden bench that was by the food stand and placed the unicorn in her lap. Taking a moment to look at the thing now that she had a moment to do so. It had a white flank, golden squishy hooves, a purple colored mane and tail, purple eyes, and a rainbow colored horn sticking out from its forehead. If she were to sit the stuffed animal down it would probably go up to her knees. So it wasn't the biggest thing but Aqua was ok with that, it made the creature easier to carry around.
"Pretty good prize, huh?" He asked, sitting next to her, hands behind his head once more. "A pretty unicorn for a pretty girl." He said with a smirk, making Aqua's cheeks grow warm as they tinted red.
"Oh um… Er." She said, her heart skipping a beat. She hadn't been expecting that random line from the boy. "I bet you think you're slick." She said reaching up and tucking a few strands of her blue hair behin her ear.
"Don't have to think about it, you face tells me all I need to know." Zack chirpped, jumping back to his feet as he heard the bell from the trailer. Giving the Keyblade Master a chance to recompose herself. Why was she blushing like she had just been given the greatest compliment ever? She was suppose to be a warrior not some school girl being whooed by the class jock. But after a few seconds, and a few deep breaths, she felt her cheeks cool down. Maybe she should just go back home and try to forget this ever happened. Though she was sure her friends would have a list of questions half a mile long for her. So either way she wasn't going to be able to escape this. Either she stayed there and endured or she went home and endured the events there. And at home at least she would be well at home.
"Zack," She started to say, trying to find a way to tell the boy she should leave. It was nice of him to invite her out and the ball game was fun. But she wasn't suppose to be here on a date! She didn't even remember how she got the Master to agree to let her come and do this! "I think-." She started to say when the boy lowered his hand, offering her a sandwhich that had to be almost a foot long. The paper stained red from whatever sauce was on the sandwich.
"Quina's specialty. A Supersub!" He said, crashing next to her, unwrapping his sandwich, a puff a white steam flew into him face. "I could probably eat five or six of these a day!" He said before lifting the sandwich, having to shove his face into the paper to eat the sandwich.
"Oh… I suppose it does smell good." She said, looking down at the bundle in her hand. Unlike the smell of the grease that was radiating off of all the food stands and trucks, trying to clog her colon, this actually smelled like food. A sweet smelling tomato scent pairng with a stong onion and peppers cut through the smell of junk and made its way to her nose. And when it punched her nose it made her stomach immediately growl as if it had been days since she had eaten anything. "I guess I can stay for this." She said to herself as she opened the wrapper, immeidantly attacked with a burst of steam that warmed her face. And when the steam disappeared the girl was greeted with an absolutely stuffed hotdog bun. What looked like a hamburger hand been cut in half and put in a long hotdog bun, the surrounding it was a bouquet of veggies, charred grilled onions and peppers, mushrooms, cheese melted on it, and lettuce ontop of the entire thing in some attempt to make the sandwich somewhat healthy. Then the entire thing was dripping in some sort of tomato sauce. Aqua was sure if the sandwich got any bigger then it may have a Keyhole to unlock and need protecting from unversed.
Looking over at Zack to see how he was tackling the sandwich she saw that the teen still had his faced shoved into the wrapper like her was a horse drinking from a trough. And since the hero in training was the expert on these sandwiches she figured he knew the best way of eating the sandwich. Besides, how was one suppose to lift up a sandwich and shove it in you mouth when you could barely hold it with one hand. So she held the wrapper up with both hands and shoved her face into the mess of food, trying to eat it in a way that would end in a complete mess. So she started with at the top of the sandwich, getting a mouthful of all the topping on her first bit, the smoky flavor of the veggies mixed with the sweet tomato sauce had her going back for a second bite before she had even fully swallowed the first bite. This time getting a mouthful of the burger, the meat giving a garlic and salty taste.
While the two teens ate the conversation was nonesistance, other than the few grunts of them enjoying their food. Only the sound of the wrappers and the fair: children cheering, the rides running, and various bells and whistles going off, filled the air between them. And the silence ended when a burp escaped past her lips before she could realize what was happening.
"Pardon me," She said, holding her hand up to her mouth as she blushed once more. "Sorry about that." She said.
"You should be sorry." Zack huffed, crumpling his paper up and tossing it to a nearby trash can. "That was pathetic!" He said, making the girl flinch. She knew it wasn't exactly proper to burp like that in public, but saying she was pathetic was a bit harsh. She was getting ready to defend herself as she saw the boys shoulders tighten up and he dropped his mouth letting out a loud BUUUUUUUUUUUUURP, that shook the bench they sat on. "Thats how you burp!" He declared looking at her with a smile on his face, a twinkle of pride showing in his eyes as if he had just won a competition. And Aqua could only stare at him in shock, wondering if that had really just happened. But before she could realize what she was doing she felt her shoulders start to jump up and down and a chuckle crawled up her throat, before she started laughing loudly.
The girl couldn't help but wonder, was this what relaxing felt like. Really relaxing, not sitting during a break from training but still talking about training, missions, or the fate of the world. But doing nothing important and laughing after eating some festival food that would probably stick with her for days on end. She watched as Zack got up and went back to Quina's stand getting two paper cups and bringing them back
"Kay…" She said, bringing a hand up to he eyes and clearing them of the tears that had started to form, and swiping one of the drinks from the boy. A super sweet and barely sour lemonade bathed her taste buds. "You… You asked for this!" She said locking eyes with him, butterflies in her stomach as she build up the courage to pull this off. Feeling her stomach rumble she took a deep breath and opened her mouth and let out a buuuurp. "Ha take that." She said, the boy pulling his lips away from the straw he was drinking from and spat his drink out to the side as he started to laugh.
"H-hey! Not bad Aqua!" He cheered, though the burp was nowhere close to what he had done, he appreciated the effort. "Oh hey, what was it that you were trying to tell me before we ate?" He asked, crashing beside her again, the girl finishing the last bit of her sandwich and tossing the empty wrapper in the trash can.
"Oh…" She said, her eyes going wide. She had forgotten that she was trying to escape from the date. "It was nothing… Just wanted to tell you… Whats that?" She asked. The girls eyes had been quickly scanning the background behind her date, trying to find something to replace her escape attempt with. And in front of a small stand that was manned by an elderly looking duck man in a white apron was a sign that had a light blue bar of ice cream on it.
"That's Seasalt Icecream." He said, already getting up to get to them one. "I've had it a few times, it's pretty good. Not as good as a Supersub but still pretty good."
"Really?" She asked, getting to her feet and following him, it may have been a date but she didn't want Zack waiting on her hand and foot. "What's it taste like?" She asked as she caught up, unicorn in hand.
"Just wait and you can try it for yourself." He said as he winked at her again, making her cheeks blush once more, as they got to the stand. "Hello there my fine man, can I get two ice creams please?" He asked, and like at Quina's place he put his arm on the stand and held two fingers up.
"Comin right up ladie!" The duck said, speaking in a thich and rough accent and rolling his r a bit. "I'd be careful though. You maybe young 'n fit now. But eatin two ice creams by yerself will quickly catch up to yas." He advised to Zack as he reached into his ice cream cart.
"I have a date!" He huffed, waving back at Aqua once again, "She's right there!"
"Oh, really?" The duck asked as he pulled out two white plastic baggies, "Would've never guessed ya would've been with this pretty lass." He said, making Zack sigh as he snatched the ice creams away from the ducks white feathery hands. "What happened lassie, loose a bet? Or do ya need me to take care of him for ya? I've been known ta throw down back in my day!" He said, balling his fist up and giving a few practice punches.
"That won't be necessary, sir." Aqua assured the man, giving a chuckle as she put a hand on Zack's shoulder and giving it a light squeeze of. "He's actually a great guy and… I've had a lot of fun with him." She said smiling at Zack as she met his eyes.
"So, ha!" Zack said, his eyes lightening up, as he pointing a finger at the man. "We're having fun! Now we just need to tell Quina." He said smirking back at Aqua, holding her ice cream out.
"I think we're good." She said taking the ice cream and pulling it out of its plastic wrapping, revealing the light blue bar that had been advertised and sniffed it. It didn't have any real scent but the cold did tickly her nose a bit. As they started to walk around the festival some more she gave it a quick like. An admittedly childish high pitch MMMM escaped her lips. "Its sweet and salty at the same time!" She declared, holding the ice cream up in the air, as if it was some sort of miracle of a nature that needed to be investigated further. But it only stayed up there for a few more seconds before she went back to eating it.
"Yep hence the name sea salt icecream." Zack said, taking a less savory approach to the frozen treat, and took a huge bite out of it.
"Ok smarty pants." She said with another eyeroll. "Well lets see if you can keep this fun day going." She said, holding her unicorns by a hoaf and slipping her fingers into Zack's hand, making it so the unicorn hoaf was a soft wall separating their hands from touching.
"Oh that'll be easy!" The teen assured her as he pulled her forward towards the next thing for them to do.
And true to his word, Zack continued to show Aqua a good time as the visited every stand that they could. Playing more of the different games there, though this time she didn't help him win any with her training. She figured misusing her training should be kept to a once a lifetime thing. She she watched Zack throw darts at a target, pinning them in the wall, the outer ring of the dart board, and even hitting the workers hat, making it fly off the man's head and pin to a the wall. Then him getting a couple rings on a milk bottle, winning a tiny Moogle toy that Aqua let him keep. But she did end up losing her Unicorn friend after she gave it a crying little girl who failed at one of the games.
They even visited a lot more of the food stands that the place had to offer. Getting a snow cones with light blue syrup, funnel cakes lightly dusted with a pound of sugar, and even pizza. Though she did try to stay away from all the super fatty fried foods, she was a Keyblade Master after all and needed to be ready incase an attack happened. And a heart attack was not the kind of battle she wanted to be in. But to Zack's delight the person who made their pizza told him "Make sure you share some with the pretty lady", meaning someone finally believed they were on a date without Aqua having to correct them.
And it all ended with them ontop of the farris wheel, the only ride that the two teens actually got to that day. But with all the food they ate it probably wasn't a good idea to go on the rides unless they were trying to lose it all as fast as they got it in them. But the farris wheel was a nice way to end the night.
"You sure you don't want me to win you another unicorn?" Zack asked her, hands behind his head again and not bothering to hold onto the safety railing.
"I'm sure, Zack." She said smiling at him as she looked down at the people below her. Nighttime was quickly approaching and the street lights were back on and the lights from the stands helped illuminate the paths. Everyone, from all the way at the top of the ferris wheel, looked like tiny ants scrambling around. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back as a cool burst of wind hit her. With that and the lack of noise at the top the girl felt free. Like a bird soaring high above everyone else away from the problems below. "Besides I do have to get home at some point this century, not sure if I got time to wait that long." She said, cracking her eyes open as she looked over at him.
"Wow, ok, that was a bit harsh." He said with a chuckle as he moved his arms, one wrapping behind Aquas back. "But fine if you don't want to see my awesome pitching skills again than your lost."
"I guess it will be." She sighed, looking up at the night sky and seeing all the stars in the sky. "Thanks for today, Zack." She sighed lifting her head up. "I didn't know how good it was to… go on a date I guess." She sighed.
"No problem, thanks for finally saying yes." He said, "And not for leaving. I was worried that you would leave." He said, making the girl blush once more.
"I'd be lying if I said I didn't think about it." She said sheepishly. "But I'm glad I didn't. I had a really fun time today." She admitted
"I'm glad you didn't either. I'm sure Quina would've pointed it out if you would have ditched me." He joked with her.
"And we wouldn't want that, now would we?" She asked him.
"Glad you get it." He said smiling at her and they stared at each other, making Aqua's cheeks tint red.
"Well, wow um… is this thing broken? We've been up here for a while." She said, finally noticing that they had been at the top of the farris wheel for a few minutes now. But Zack didn't answer as he leaned forward, making the girls whole face turn as red as a tomato. Was this really happening, was she going to be kissed by a boy on top of the farris wheel? Was this even allowed, did Keyblade Masters kiss other people?
But even as she had all the questions bounce around in her head, she closed her eyes and got ready for the kiss. Clenching her fist in anticipation as she waited for it to happen. She knew that she would not be telling anyone at home about this last part.
But before Zack could fully reach her she felt her body tense up as she flicked her wrist and suddenly feeling the cold metal of a Keyblade in her hand. Her eyes opening up, a pitch black sky lost of all the stars. Before she could process what was going on, she spun around, swinging the keyblade as she did so. Little explosions of dark clouds burst all around her, leaving her huffing and puffing. A cold sweat covering forehead as she stood, a black bladed keyblade in her hands as she looked around and getting her surrounds before sighing and dropping to her knees. The pitched black ground icey cold, void of any warmth like the rest of this realm of darkness.
"It was…" She said, her hands dropping to the ground as well as she stared at the darkness. She didn't want to say it, she wished it was real… just that sliver of a normal day of fun. But she remembered what happened before she was attacked. She had been wandering in this land of darkness for what felt like hours, constantly having to fight off the creatures that lived in the dark. Her body quickly begged for rest, but sadly there wasn't any shelter from the creatures so she tried to push on until she collapsed. Taking a nap until her insticts kicked in and woke her up when the monsters approached her. "Just a dream…" She squeaked out, tears stinging her eyes.
But instead of her blushing and laughing in her dream, the girl took control of her emotions and shook her head and got up to her feet. Looking forward on the path that she had been walking she saw the endless void of darkness that she had to continue to get through. As much as she would like to go back to her dream or maybe have a different one where her and her friends live happily ever after she couldn't afford to waste time on dreams. She had someone waiting for her. So taking another step forward she continued her journey to try and find a way to leave the endless darkness.