Of locks and unresolved feelings

"Hmph. Now this is truly vexing." Maleficent said with displeasure.

"You can say that again!" Pete grumbled, delivering a sharp punch to the side of the box, followed shortly by a kick.

"Leave it be. If my spellcraft could not force the box open I doubt very much your fists will fare any better." She sighed.

"But this is just nuts. Who in their right minds makes a box that's this hard to get open?" He responded.

"Who indeed? The one responsible must have greatly valued that which lies within. And if it contains the Book as I believe, then that does not surprise me." Maleficent replied.

"Still, even I must admit that this box and its defenses may be a… dilemma." She acknowledged.

"Quite a thing. No less that thirteen locks, which by the look of things need to be opened all at once. And the box itself… a protection against darkness and wards that repel all other forms of magic. Ah, and of course, a sturdy frame to guard against physical force." She admired.

"So, erm… what now?" He asked.

Maleficent paused to think.

"For the time being it is enough that the box is ours. Let's bring it home and I shall get to work on thinking of a way to get it open." She decided.

"Home? What home?" Pete asked. Since they had started the quest for this box they had been wandering from world to world, never staying in one place for long. And it was not as if they could go back to the castle they had had in Hollow Bastion, now Radiant Garden. Considering the castle a threat, the people had torn it down as soon as their home town had been fully rebuilt.

"I mean my original home, fool. It has been quite a while since I have been back there. But in the absence of a better castle it shall do. Now come. We must be away from here before our enemy returns to find their box missing." She replied.

The duo departed through a Dark Corridor. Much later the Foretellers returned to their camp, Aced carrying Gula in his arms.

"Put him in his tent. Keep an eye on him in case he starts glitching out again. Would be really bad if that started happening in the middle of our camp. And do let us know when he's coming to, so we can have words with him." Luxu told him.

"What do you propose we do if it really does start again?" Ira asked.

"Well… we got him under control with a lot of light vials. So maybe that could work again? I think we're better off hoping it doesn't come to that, though. We would run out of light vials pretty quick if that happened every time." Luxu said.

"Speaking of which, Aced and I used up all of ours in this. So Ira, Invi, we are going to need you to lend us a few of yours. And then we need to redouble our efforts to replenish out stocks." He added.

"Which will mean even more hearts lost…" Invi said glumly.

"Yeah. It does. You can thank Gula for that when he wakes up. We wouldn't be in this situation if not for this shenanigan of his." Luxu replied.

"Before this happened we were about to process the next batch of hearts we had collected. Perhaps we had best start with that. I'll see to it." Ira said, though he didn't sound any more enthusiastic about it than the rest of them. He departed towards the entrance. Invi and Luxu were left standing in the middle of the camp. After a few moments Luxu noticed Invi was being unusually quiet, staring at the landscape with her arms crossed.

"I'm guessing there is something else other than this ugly business with the hearts that's bothering you this time?" He queried.

"Huh? Oh. Hm. Just… thinking about Elrena, that's all. Damn. I didn't realize meeting her would affect me this much. But seeing her again with my own eyes… it stirred a lot of old memories. She… I was very fond of her once, you know? I still am I think. Only now I'm not certain I have any right to be." She replied.

Luxu thought for a moment. "Maybe you should go out and meet with her? Sounds like you might need that." He then suggested.

"What?" Invi asked in astonishment. "You'd allow that? After what happened with Gula?

"I`m reasonably sure this wouldn't end as badly. You control your emotions better. And you aren't a hot head like Aced, so we are also unlikely to end up with a bunch of mauled Guardians. You know how to back down if things get too hot."

"But… after all this time… what would I even say to her?" Invi asked.

"What usually passes between estranged mothers and daughters who wish to mend their relationship?" Luxu asked in response.

Invi gasped in surprise, then looked at the ground, appearing embarrassed.

"That, uhm, is very flattering to hear of course. But I'm not sure that is an accurate description of our relationship…"

"Could have fooled me." Luxu said with a shrug.

A nervous pause from Invi. "I… I'm not sure. It's tempting. Very. I'd like to meet her properly. But… given what might be asked of her… maybe it would be best not to rekindle that bond. It might be better if she remains indifferent towards me, so she can do what needs to be done. As with all of them we cannot have her waver at a critical moment."

"Be honest. Did she seem indifferent to you?" Luxu asked.

Invi bit her lip, then shook her head. "No…"

It was then that Ira unexpectedly returned, looking startled.

"Luxu! We've had thieves! The Box…" He said, out of breath.

"What!?" Luxu breathed and took off running towards the cave, the others right beside him. Once inside he immediately went to the recess where the Box had been stored, finding it empty just like Ira has said.

"Blast it all! All that time keeping the box safe from prying eyes and now it's lost? Who could have done this!?" Luxu seethed.

He continued to grumble for a time. Then he put a hand on his forehead, taking a deep breath.

"…Right, right, calm down Luxu. Panicking helps no one. You can still get the box back." He told himself as Aced also arrived to the scene, drawn in by the commotion.

"It looks like you were right after all, Ira. Someone should have stayed behind to look after the box." He said.

"Yet in hindsight I also agree that all of us were needed to help with Gula and the Guardians. We were regrettably shorthanded at that moment." Ira replied.

"Yeah, no kidding. I take it none of you three saw anything suspicious around these parts?" Luxu asked.

"No more than you did. But we have been busy with... with all we have had to do to stay in charge of ourselves." Aced said.

"To be honest I don't think any of us realized that someone might think to look for us here of all places. No one should have known there was anything to find in the first place. So perhaps we weren't as vigilant as we could have been." Invi echoed.

"I'll give you that. But obviously someone did know we were here. And the box just happens to vanish the one and only time we let our guard down. Whoever did this must have been watching us, waiting for the opportunity. Either that or this is the biggest coincidence in history. I think I'll go with the former." Luxu pondered.

"Only so many people who could have known the box even exists." He mused. "Obviously not any of us since we were all in the Dwarf Woodlands. And it can't be any of the Guardians who were there either. And I know Luxord isn't in this reality. Xemnas probably doesn't exist at all anymore. So that just leaves…"

"You don't need stand there and guess. I just remembered that Gula has a spell that can display recent events." Invi cut in.

"Oh? And how is it that you know that?" Aced asked.

"Back in the day it was my role to know." Invi stated simply. "The point being we can use that to find out who has been here."

"Hm. Okay. Sounds good. Let's hope he is in the mood to helping us out. There is quite a mess he caused that he has to make up for, including why the box is missing in the first place. So he'd better be." Luxu said, shrugging as he did.

"Right then. Let's get the hearts we have now processed. That will give us some room to maneuver on the short term. Then… Invi, you're the one who knew he had this spell, so you can be the one to convince him to help us out. We'll help you with that if we're back by that time. In the meantime Ira, Aced and I are going to head out to replenish our supply of hearts." He told them.

"J… just like that? You freaking out over the box a few moments ago. And now you want to carry on like nothing happened?" Aced asked.

"Had a moment to think about it is all. It's locked up pretty tight. That someone got the box is bad, and something I would have preferred didn't happen. But the contents of the box are what matters. And I don't think our thief will be able to get at the contents for a while yet. If at all. With a little help from Gula we ought to find the box again before something like that can happen. This is bad and could get worse if we don't fix it. But we still have a shot at salvaging this for the better." Luxu said with somewhat forced cheer.

"Okay. I'll watch over him. Just try not to stay away for too long. We still don't know what will happen once he wakes up. And he has been a bit unpredictable lately even when he has been in control of himself. If things go sour… it would be for the best that I not face that alone." She replied.

"We'll check back often, don't worry. We understand the stakes." Ira replied.


"How bad is it?" Mickey asked.

"That varies from day to day. On good days I'm more or less my usual self. Kairi's light… helps to hide a great deal. But every now and then something happens that reminds me of how bad things really are. This encounter with the Foretellers was the latest of those. I think their darkness countered her light to some degree. It caused quite a reaction in me." Aqua replied.

As soon as they had returned she had taken Mickey aside from the camp to have words with him private. Mickey was sitting on a mossy rock, while Aqua was standing, trying not to pace around, not entirely succeeding. She had not realized this would be so urgent for her. It had not been when Mickey was still worlds away, busy with his own tasks. But now that she had the opportunity to set this right she found the pressure to do so was unbearable. She hadn't even taken the time to change out of the Black Coat…

Back in camp the others were no doubt going over the other crazy things they had uncovered today. But right now this took precedence in her mind. That said she would certainly have her own opinions to give on those topics later. Not that she was looking forward to either conversation.

This day was going to give her a migraine, she just knew it…

"Ultimately… there is no denying the truth. I'm very ill, Mickey. One half of my heart is in open revolt against the other. And it's not exactly a battle I've been winning. Without Kairi's light and the others I might already be a lost cause." She admitted.

"…I must admit I'm a bit surprised about all this. It was such a shock when Ven told me. When we first got you back into the Realm of Light… you seemed fine." Mickey said.

"Oh, even I thought that was the case at first. Things have gotten worse for me over time, so I suppose I was fairly alright back then. Whatever hurts I had then… even I thought they'd heal with time. When I started to find out that wasn't how it is… I didn't want to say anything. To anyone. Too proud I guess. Too reluctant to admit how fragile this has left me." She explained.

"And… now that I do know… is there anything that can be done?" The King asked.

"Well… the others have come up with a plan. If I can learn to control my darkness, then perhaps I might be able to end this discord in me. It sounds like a desperate gambit to me, and one that I'm scared to try. But it's not as if anyone has come up with anything better." She said.

A moment of musing from Mickey. "That might do it. It worked for Riku. And Terra I hear. And you're tough, I know that much. You'll get it under control if you want to."

"Maybe. I can only hope. But as to the question you were really asking… no, I don't think there is anything that you can do that isn't already being done."

"Although… come to think of it there might be one thing. Something you could settle my mind about once and for all." She added after a pause.

"What is it?" He asked.

"You see… this mess with the Phantom has me dwelling on how my stay in the Realm of Darkness played out. Of things that happened. And those that did not. And as much as I would wish not to be… I've come to realize on some level I'm still sore that it took you so long to find out where I was and help me. And I can't get rid of the notion that it was awfully convenient you just happened to figure it all out just as you started needing me again. Some part of me has a hard time believing that was just a coincidence." She explained as Mickey listened with and increasingly shocked expression on his face.

She sighed heavily. Now for the really ugly part… "I guess… the thing I'm really trying to ask is: Did you want to come get me before you did it? Or was I just a means to an end? If you didn't need me, would I still be down there, a monster now? Would Terra and Ventus be lost forever for the same reason?"

"Aqua…" Mickey breathed in disbelief.

She laughed bitterly. "Yeah, I know right? The audacity of it. How dare I question our friendship like that?"

"Well I do because… ten years Mickey. Because I know you were ordered not to tell anyone about me. And you didn't. And because we haven't talked about this I don't know how easy it was for you to follow that order. I don't know if you just didn't talk about it… or if you actually had the gall to forget about me. But I do know that if Terra or Ven were down there I wouldn't care about anyone's orders. Or the risks. I have proof enough of that because that's exactly why I'm dealing with this nightmare now. But still I know I would risk it for them. And I know they would do the same for me. And I do remember Kairi mentioning that you had to be physically tackled from going after Riku when he left for Quadratum. Did someone have to do the same when I went missing? Or are we just not that close at the end of the day?"

"Because while one part of me wants to forgive and forget, there is another part that wants to be so mad at you. One that wants to grab you by the throat and scream at you. To yell *look at what you have done you irresponsible, neglectful king! Look at what you have done to me!*. And I need to know which of the two sides of me I should be listening to." She thought sourly.

Mickey hung his head and did not respond. Clearly her words were hitting him where it hurt.

"I don't want to have these doubts mind you. I need you to know that much. I want to believe you are my friend. That you did everything in your power. That it was out of your hands to stop me from becoming the broken girl with the malfunctioning heart. Just like I want to believe that in our last battle you really were trying to get to us as fast as you were able, but you couldn't reach us before it was all over."

"I don't want to accuse you of what I'm accusing you of. But I don't have a choice. There is no other way for me to banish these poisonous thoughts. Believe me, I've tried. And if I keep them… then that's just one more thing eating me alive from the inside. So… help me. Put this to rest for me once and for all. Tell me how it really is. But tell me the truth. Convince me that my claims are wrong, or let me stop feeling shame for having these thoughts." She concluded.

A long silence lingered on as Mickey gathered his thoughts. "I did search for you. Back when you first went missing. Through many worlds. But I did not know what had happened. The idea that you might be in the Realm of Darkness never entered my thoughts. So every place I searched was the wrong one. And after a while… I started to lose hope. I started to think you either didn't want to be found… or that you might have disappeared."

"You thought I was dead?" She completed the thought.

"I didn't know what else to think when I couldn't find a single clue. And as the years passed… I did search less. I can admit that much. The more time passed without any clues the more I started to think I had to let it go and move on. I can do a lot but… I can't fix death." Mickey said.

It was Aqua's turn to contemplate before nodding morosely. She supposed none of them had that kind of power. If Mickey had really thought that had been the case with her…

"And then the worlds started disappearing and everything got so chaotic and super busy. I had to focus on saving the worlds. I won't deny it, you did slip my mind for a time at that point. But never because I wanted to. And that changed once I ran across you in the Realm of Darkness the first time." He said.

"After that I started to try and find a way to get you out. But there was also so much else that I needed to see to. I still had to help Sora and Riku where I could to protect the worlds from the Organization… Xehanort's ambitions. I had a thousand fires to put out at once. I had to focus on what was immediately in front of me. Ya can understand that I needed to, right?" He continued.

"So I was on your mind, but I was one of many concerns?" She guessed.

"Yeah. That's about it. And it was not long before I realized I was going to need the help of those boys to have a decent shot at helping you. And I needed them at their best. Yen Sid knew it too. He only forbade me from telling anyone about it when he learned you were down there. And that only because he didn`t want Sora and Riku trying anything until they were ready. But we didn't forget you. Any of you. And you were never just a means to and end. That's the truth. I swear it." He told her.

"Still… I didn't like leaving you down there for as long as I did. If I could have done something sooner I would have. But that was the best I could do. Which apparently was not very good at all. I can't really prove any of this…. but I give my word." He concluded.

"I see. That… that is something at least." She said, deep in thought

"…For what it's worth I do think you're telling the truth. And I suppose I should remind myself that I was not your only concern at the time. Maybe it was a bit selfish of me to expect prompt assistance under those circumstances. But it was hard to keep that in mind when I was stuck in the darkness. And hard now, considering the price I've paid for my stay. When your own house is on fire that tends to be the only thing on your mind, right? I guess that applies to both of us."

"Huh. It almost feels like I should apologize for doubting you." She contemplated.

"You really don't need to…"Mickey tried to say.

"Still, I might. But I don't think I can do it today. Having just said what was on my mind… this is all still rather raw for me." She replied.

"I understand." Mickey replied.

"Again… I hope you see why I did this. I had to get this out." She added.

"No, no. I get it. I just wish I hadn't disappointed you so badly that you started to feel that way. I suppose we should have had this conversation a long time ago."

"I think we would have been better off if we had done that. But honestly, when did we have a chance before today? With me training Kairi and organizing matters on this end, and you busy with your own tasks. And until recently I've been hiding this problem to the best of my ability. You would have had a hard time making me even admit that anything was wrong in the first place."

She took a deep breath, putting her hands on her hips. "Look, Mickey, I'm sorry for being blunt but we've all had a pretty rough day today, so I think this is enough about this topic for the time being. I need to speak with the others, see how they're doing and what insight they have to offer about what we've discovered. And then we need to unwind a little. As for you, feel welcome to stay with us for now or head back to your tasks if you need to. Either way works for me."

"Okay. Thanks." Mickey replied.

"Do you want to head back with me?" She asked.

"I think I'll stay for a bit. Think for a while. I'll check in with the others later, get myself on the same page about the Foretellers as the rest of you."

"Sure thing." She said, then took a few steps back towards the camp.

"Aqua…" Mickey called quietly, and she stopped. "I'm really sorry for what happened to you. I really am."

"…So am I, Mickey. So am I." She replied, voice quivering slightly.

She left, leaving Mickey to contemplate their discussion.