I'm still calling out for suggestions for storylines to incorporate into worlds that I will include in the future. Refer to previous chapters for the conditions and restrictions. I would also like ideas on what to do for revisits to worlds already depicted in previous chapters. I left it open for the cast to go back to a number of those worlds, but I don't have the events all mapped out. Please let me know what you would recommend for all of these worlds, both old and potentially new.

Without further ado, on with the story. This update won't be as long as previous episodes, but I hope they satisfy nonetheless.

Chapter 76

A Fragmentary Passage

I'd been walking through the Realm of Darkness for what had felt like a few days by then. I had hoped to ride the apocalypse of Destiny Islands and appear where it would materialize in the Realm of Darkness so that I could find the Kingdom Key of the dark realm.

—Wait. What was that?—

I… uh… well…

—You were on our island when it was attacked?—

I jumped in while the maelstrom was already underway. Even if I had landed on the little island, there wasn't anything I could have done. And don't get me wrong. I was just trying to get to the Realm of Darkness through the next calamity I came across, and I thought "maybe this will get me exactly where I need to go." Though, I admit, I probably would have forced myself to prioritize the mission over the state of your world otherwise, and I knew you needed to be able to go out into the worlds with your Keyblade. I am sorry.

—sigh You get a pass.—

I guess I should explain that I didn't end up where I was hoping to go. So, when I landed in the Realm of Darkness, it turned out that I was pretty far off from where the shadow of Destiny Islands would materialize. So, I worked my way through the terrain, which was filled with Pureblood Heartless, some of which I still haven't seen in the Realm of Light.

After what seemed like a few days, I felt a massive tremor, like the Realm of Darkness was quaking. I saw Heartless flying up into a portal. I realized that it could only mean the final Keyhole had been unveiled and the Door to Darkness was coming into existence. I began to hurry. I needed to find the Keyblade and get to the Door before it opened. Shortly after, I detected Riku's heart. It had been cast out by Ansem, our enemy, and was floating in the darkness. I told him what I had planned, and he agreed to help.

—I decided I'd look for the Door and wait for Mickey to arrive with the Keyblade. —

—So where does—

I'm getting to that. A few hours later, I saw a dark portal appear. I stopped and watched it, curious as to who was using a gateway into this place. I saw someone tumble backward out of it and start floating down. I squinted and realized the person looked familiar. There was something glowing in her hand.

I heard her whisper: "Now I can be… one with the darkness…"

Realizing that she was in danger, I ran over and jumped to her aid. I saw the glowing object and realized that it was her Wayfinder, a lucky charm that she made and shared with her friends.

[Kairi examined the photo again] —Like my lucky charm? It has the shape, but it's not made of the same materials.—

Anyway, I caught the Wayfinder and put it back in Aqua's hand.

"Aqua, are you okay?" I asked. She opened her eyes and saw me as I grabbed her hand and pulled her to safety.

Once we were on the ground, I let her regain her bearings. "Mickey, how did—" she started to say, but then she gasped and looked around frantically. "Terra! Ven!"

Before we could continue the conversation, I saw something behind her. "No time to talk," I said. She turned around and saw what I saw: a swarm of Shadow Heartless converging into a whirling tower.

—They can do that?!—

—Wak!—

We summoned our Keyblades to fight. She called them "Dwellers of Darkness", but I corrected her on their identification. We fought the Heartless and, after a while, forced them to flee.

"Better not push our luck," I warned her. "Gosh, I never thought I'd find you in the Realm of Darkness, that's for sure. So, um, what happened?"

"Have you seen Terra or Ven?" she asked.

I shook my head. "No, just you."

She sighed. "I'm sorry. The darkness in this place, it's getting to me," she admitted.

"Oh. But, you'll be okay," I assured her.

"Right." Though, she didn't seem too sure of herself.

"Say, we've been looking for ya a long time. How come you're in this place?" I asked.

"First tell me: how long has it been in the realm of light?" she asked.

"About… ten years," I told her.

"Interesting." She didn't really seem that shocked. I guess she figured time worked differently down there. "After we last spoke, I took Ven somewhere safe, and then I went after Terra. But Terra was about to fall to darkness, so I had one choice." She took her Wayfinder out and held it up to the light. "I stayed here in hopes of giving him a chance."

"I… didn't know," I said.

She turned around and knelt down so that her face was level with mine. "How 'bout you? What could've brought you here? Has something happened? In the realm of light?" she asked.

"It's the Heartless," I explained. "They've been attacking worlds and taking their hearts. And worlds with no hearts vanish into darkness. But, if we can lock the door between the two realms—light and dark—from both sides, we can protect the other worlds. So ya see, I came here to find the key on this side. Turns out, it's not so easy getting into the realm of darkness. The points you can cross have become unstable. It's only when a world gets consumed that an entrance appears in the realm between. So, I waited for my chance… to sneak in." I took her hand, which was still holding the Wayfinder. "But hey, when I got here, I felt a warm, familiar light. I followed it to find my way… to you."

Aqua pulled her Wayfinder closer and smiled. "The charm. So they were helping. Terra and Ven brought you and I together again," she surmised.

I nodded. "Yeah."

"But, the worlds are still in danger. Terra—did he make it back to the realm of light?" she asked.

"We still haven't found him," I answered solemnly.

"I see. Well, wherever he is, he's fighting," she said confidently. "He'll beat his darkness. And I know he wants me to fight too."

"I think you're right. He'll be just fine," I agreed.

"Yes. But what about Ven? He won't wake up unless I'm there with him. I have to go. I have to find a way back to the realm of light," she insisted.

"Good. Then let's locate that key and go home together!"

"Does that mean you know an exit?" she asked.

When she said that, I realized that I was a bit shortsighted. "Well, uh, I was so busy finding a way in, that I didn't give a lot of thought to where there'd be a way out," I admitted sheepishly. "But together, we're sure to find one."

Aqua laughed. "You haven't changed at all," she said mirthfully.

"May our hearts be our guiding key," I recited the old motto.

"There's a phrase no one's used in ages," Aqua said.

—What?—

What?

—Haven't heard that one.—

—What d'ya mean? Yen Sid used to say it all the time.—

—He did? —

—I don't remember him saying that. —

Never mind about that. It's just an old saying between Keyblade wielders, though it's fallen into obscurity over the centuries. But nowadays, it's something I like to try and remember.

Anyway, we started making our way through the depths of darkness. Some more of those unique Pureblood Heartless appeared to attack us, but we worked together to carve through all of them. Eventually, we came upon a cave opening from which a blinding light emitted. We stepped through and came onto a recreation of your small island, though it was broken and corrupted by darkness.

—Wait a second. I thought the remains of Destiny Islands ended up as part of End of the World—

Yeah. I can only guess how that works. I guess it was just a shadow of the islands created from the memory of what didn't get patched onto that conglomerate. It looked like daytime for some reason.

—If I had been there, I'm sure I would have relished the opportunity to conduct research on that pattern.—

A-ny-way… We stepped onto the beach, on the greater part of the island which seemed to be floating in midair. The edge of the land was compacted into rock, the wooden landing was smashed, and some of the trees' leaves were a creepy shade of purple.

"This is… where I met those children," Aqua said.

"So many worlds have been lost. And now they're trapped here in the dark," I mused sadly. Then, her words registered. "Wait—you know this place, Aqua?"

"Yes. I visited once," she answered, "and I met two boys I considered passing the Keyblade onto. But because Terra had already given one of them the power, I didn't."

—Hold on a second…—

Something on your mind?

—Something's coming back to me. Continue.—

Oh, okay. "Aqua, what were the boys' names?" I asked her.

"They were… Sora and Riku," she answered.

—That's right! Riku, you remember her, right?—

—I think so. She wasn't there long, so I don't recall that much, I'm afraid. But I also kinda remember meeting another guy, definitely from another world. That was Terra?—

—Well, you two have a lot to talk about. But, for now, let's let the king finish.—

—Right. Sorry, Mickey.—

Okay. I recognized Riku's name, and figured out who Sora was, and I knew we were on the right part of the Island. "I see. We're getting warm," I told Aqua. She was confused, so I decided to elaborate on what I knew. "It's Sora and Riku who've been helping me. We're trying to get that door shut for good. Aqua, if this is where my friends first got the Keyblade, it also must be where we'll find its counterpart. The Keyblade of darkness has got to be here on the dark side of their world."

She still seemed to be lost in thought, but her musings were interrupted when we felt a tremor. We ran up to the entrance to the cave, what I think you called "the Secret Place", but suddenly a swarm of Shadows poured out. The school was much larger than the tower we fought earlier, and they behaved like microbes in a demonic tide, swirling through the air. We knew that they wouldn't let us do anything, and if we tried to ignore it, it would just swarm into the cave and smother us. So, we fought it. It certainly wasn't easy, but we finally managed to destroy it.

"Let's keep going," I said, pointing into the cave. We entered and, after walking through a narrow path, found ourselves in a spot where the walls were covered in chalk drawings, and a few trees grew within. Just ahead was a wooden door without a handle. "I bet it's in here," I guessed. We walked up to the door and pushed it open.

—Ah. That's how you open it.—

—After I saw the Keyhole on the door, I figured it wasn't actually supposed to open.—

—Wait. Then what do you do if, for some reason, the door gets closed while you're inside?—

—Let's all agree to never find out.—

—Agreed.—

So we went through the door and saw, the only source of light in an otherwise-completely dark cavern save for through the door we just stepped through, a glowing Keyblade. "There!" I pointed it out to Aqua.

"Is that what you're after?" she asked as we walked up to it.

"Yep, it's just the key I was looking for," I answered. "A Keyblade from the dark realm."

"A Keyblade of darkness," she repeated, probably trying to process that something like what she used to defend others could possibly exist as a relic of darkness.

I took the Keyblade in my hand, and the glow faded. "The door of darkness… tied by two keys. The door of darkness… to seal the light," I recited a legend I had heard. I raised the weapon above my head, now sure that I was gonna fulfill my objective. "Welp, we've got the keys. Now, to find the ones to close the door."

"Sorry?" she said, confused.

"The door between the two realms—it won't let a heart with light pass through," I explained. "So only darkness keeps spilling out. We can lock the door with the two Keyblades, but we need help on both sides to get the door shut."

"Well, then, since you're the one doing the locking, let me be the one to close the door," she volunteered.

I admired her commitment, but I refused. "Sorry, but the job's taken… by somebody else."

Then, we felt another tremor. There was a blinding flash, and some rocks in the distance lit up so we could see our surroundings. We walked around a bit, and soon we could see an enormous white door.

"Is that the one?" Aqua asked.

"Yep. The door to Kingdom Hearts." Then I realized that she would be confused, so I decided to clarify. "Welp, it's not the Kingdom Hearts you know, not exactly. But even though it's smaller, it's still the heart of many worlds. And even if it's not a complete Kingdom Hearts, we definitely can't leave it open like this, or darkness will escape and destroy the remaining worlds." I raised the Keyblade resolutely. "It's time. With this Keyblade, and the one in the realm of light, we're gonna close this door. Now, all we need is Riku."

I looked around, waiting for him to appear. Then I saw him. He was still a disembodied heart, but an aura in the shape of his body formed around him, I guess because his body was on the other side of the Door. He was a couple hundred feet away, and he was running toward the door.

"That's everybody! Come on, Aqua—"

But then another tide of Heartless came out of nowhere and started swarming straight for Riku. We ran to his aid, but I was afraid we wouldn't get to him in time.

Aqua jumped into the air and came out in front of the tide. "Back off!" she shouted. She pointed her Keyblade—

—Wait, but her Keyblade's downstairs. How did she have a Keyblade?—

I think the one she had used to belong to her teacher, Master Eraqus. Yeah, I'm pretty sure it was the Master's Defender. She must've taken it up as her own after he was… struck down.

—Oh… You… you were saying?—

She pointed the Keyblade at the horde cast a spell that snared all of the Shadows in chains of light. She managed to trap them, but they struggled, and she had trouble restraining them.

"Aqua!" I shouted.

"Go without me!" she told me.

I didn't want to leave her. Before I could do anything, the Heartless broke free from the chains and flew right through us. I was knocked away, the blow causing my armor to break off, and I was helpless to watch as the tide carried Aqua through the door, which closed and vanished behind them.

I wanted to help her, but there wasn't any way I could reach her. Besides, I had to close the door. So, I headed over. I saw the door crack open, and I knew darkness was pouring out. I saw Ansem through the crack, beckoning the door to open. But then, the tip of my Keyblade lit up, as if it was reacting to something. I heard a voice echoing. It said, "Kingdom Hearts is light."

—That was me.—

I figured as such. Just then, a huge column of light poured out from the opening in the door, nearly blinding me. When the light faded. Ansem was gone. I looked over at Riku and saw that he had his body back. He had reached the door and was working to close it. I saw some Darksides appear a ways behind him, but I sent out a few spells that obliterated them. And then, when the Door was closed, you and I sealed it for good.

—So, then…—

I'm afraid… that was the last I saw of Aqua