Chapter 86
Trauma Counseling
When she heard the knocking, Aerith opened the door to let the visitors in. She had expected Sora, Riku, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy, but she found a pleasant surprise to see that Leon, Yuffie, Cid, Shera, and Merlin had come to see Aqua as well. She was quite bewildered when she realized Sora, Riku, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy each carried a takeout box.
"Hi. Oh, please, come in," Aerith said. She opened the door fully and stepped aside, allowing the ten guests to enter. She eyed the takeout boxes curiously. "What's all this for?"
"Well, we figured that the meal you prepared might not be enough for her, given how little she's been able to eat down there," Sora explained. "Hope you don't mind."
Aerith shook her head. "Oh, no. Not at all," she replied, understanding their concern. "Just be sure to keep the place clean."
Leon nodded. "Will do."
"Morning, Aqua," Sora greeted as he, Riku and Kairi approached the bed in which Aqua lay. It was only the three of them who stepped up to her initially as they did not want to risk her feeling overwhelmed by a crowd, so the rest stayed at a safe distance. They saw that Aqua had already finished the breakfast that Aerith had prepared. Sora opened the takeout box that he had brought, revealing a waffle as well as a plastic fork and knife inside. "In case you're still hungry," he said.
Aqua nodded, smiling. "Thank you," she replied. She took the box from his hands and, using the utensils provided, cut and ate a piece. She visibly savored the taste. As she continued eating, she slowed down to savor each bite.
"Must be nice to have some real food for a change, huh?" Kairi commented. "Did you sleep well?"
Aqua nodded. "Yes. Thank you. I'm sorry if I scared you when I fainted."
Riku shook his head. "Don't apologize. It's nothing to worry about," he assured her. "Besides, I'm sure you needed the rest after everything you've been through."
Aqua smiled at his words and continued eating. When she finished the waffle, she let out a satisfied sigh, followed by a small burp, which yielded some giggles. She felt her stomach grumble still and reached her arm in Riku's direction. Riku obligingly handed over his takeout box and Aqua began eating the omelette inside. She popped open a carton of milk to drink with it.
The others waited for her to finish the omelette and milk. "Aqua, would you like to talk about what happened in the Realm of Darkness?" Riku asked.
Aqua's face fell. Merely thinking about that place was hard on her. She turned her head away, attempting to spare her friends from having to see her pained expression.
The others noticed this and looked on with concern. Riku knew that his question would bring such tragic thoughts to the surface, but he knew it had to happen to help her recover.
Jiminy climbed out of Mickey's pocket and hopped onto the bed. "It's okay, Miss Aqua. You don't have to say anything if you don't want to," he reassured her. "But talking about it with people who care can certainly help."
There was silence for a few minutes as Aqua thought hard about whether she wanted to talk while her visitors waited patiently for her response. Finally, she decided that discussing it with her friends would be better than moping about her experiences in her thoughts, so she nodded. "Okay. I'll try," she said.
She let out a deep sigh before she began. "I dove into a pool of darkness to catch Terra as he fell in. I put on my armor and turned my Keyblade into a glider to try to fly us out, but there was not enough time to get out before the portal closed. So I removed my armor and sent it flying through with Terra, so that he would have a piece of me with him, even while I fell into the darkness.
"It was cold, and dark. Obviously. It took a while before my eyes adjusted. When I landed on hard rock, I just laid there for hours, even after I had started to make out my surroundings. Eventually, I decided that I might as well get to doing something. I started walking, making my way across the winding terrain that sometimes bridged over empty air. I ran into some of the dwellers of darkness, which you called Heartless. At first, they just watched me from a distance. I guess they weren't sure what to make of me, but they made me uneasy. I still had my master's Keyblade, so I could fight them off if need be, but I was paranoid that they could come after me at any time. But I kept going, hoping I could find some way back to my friends.
"I went on for days, unable to find food. I managed to find some streams where I could drink, but I was growing weaker from starvation. The Heartless started coming after me. I saw the ambush as a blessing in disguise at first, figuring that I could start hunting them for food, until I realized that they disintegrated when I slew them. I became tired, barely able to hold off my assailants, before I found some creatures that seemed different from the others. To my utter relief, it did not disappear when I killed it. I didn't waste any time taking big bites into it. It tasted awful, but I didn't care. I was just glad to have something to eat." She stopped suddenly and reached her hands out toward Kairi. Talking about her first meal in the Realm of Darkness made her realize that she was still hungry. Kairi handed her takeout box over to her, and Aqua began to consume the bagel inside. She continued her story in between bites. "After that, I knew what to look for when I wanted food. It wasn't much, but I managed to keep up my strength just enough.
"I walked for what felt like weeks, maybe months. Over time, my hope began to dwindle. I started to think that I might never get back to the realm of light. When three giant creatures appeared around me, I summoned my master's Keyblade and got ready to defend myself, but then I reconsidered. I wondered if there was really any point. I dismissed the Keyblade, thinking that I might as well just fade into the darkness." Tears began to well up in her eyes and roll down her face. "One of the creatures raised its fist to strike me down, but a ball of light appeared out of nowhere and destroyed it. In surprise, I watched the light fly around and blast right through the other two monsters. For a split second, the ball of light took the form of two Keyblades, which belonged to Terra and Ven. The shapes vanished as quickly as they appeared, but I was fine with that. The spark of light that reached out to me in my deepest despair gave me hope again. I realized that there will always be a light shining through the darkness, no matter how deep it is. I took out my Wayfinder and remembered all of my friends. Terra, Ven, Master Eraqus, Snow White, Cinderella, and you guys, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Sora, Riku, and Kairi. Everyone I met on my journey gave me the strength to keep going.
"I decided to press on, knowing that as long as I had my friends in my heart, I would find my way back. However, somewhere along the way, I felt something. A tremor that shook the whole place around me. I looked up and saw a shimmering vortex open up. Light shone through from the center of the rift. I was utterly perplexed, wondering if it was a portal to the light that just appeared out of nowhere. But then, to my horror, a massive pillar of dark energy shot up into the portal. Turning my attention away from the sight before me, I wondered what could have caused something like that to happen. I pressed on, hoping to come across some sort of clue. I fought more of the creatures as I made my way through the area, but they weren't that much of a problem, until I met something else."
Sora, Riku and Kairi looked at each other in concern as they considered what she could mean. "You mean…" Riku began.
Aqua nodded. "Yes. The beast we fought earlier. The one that the beetle called 'Dark Hide'," she replied.
Jiminy shook his head in mild annoyance. "Now, why do people keep calling me that?" he mused. "I'm a cricket, for the record. Jiminy Cricket."
"Sorry," Aqua said sheepishly. "At some point, I started to get the feeling that I was being watched. I turned and saw a pair of glowing red eyes. It must have seen that I noticed it, it jumped around, still obscured in shadows, and I could only see its eyes and hear its movements. Seeing its red eyes, which were different from the other monsters' yellow ones, I initially mistook it for an Unversed, but I soon realized that it was yet another of the dark dwellers. I tried to keep track of its movements, but it was moving too fast, and I had soon lost all sign of it. I was starting to panic. I had been caught unprepared by something big that was ready to kill. As I tried to figure out where it was, it suddenly charged at me from behind. I tried to block its strike but I was hit with a strong force that sent me sprawling. It came after me again, its entire body wrapped in shadow, so I got back up and sent a Fire spell at it. But it just jumped over the fireball and sailed above me. Once I had regained my bearings, I was able to defend myself from its charges with Barrier. When it realized that its tactic wasn't working, it jumped into the field, giving me a good look at its horrifying appearance. Its colorful form certainly didn't assuage me from comparing it to an Unversed. It was fast, and really strong. I had to act frantically to survive the attack, barely able to even get a breath in between. Fortunately, I was able to figure out its attack pattern, so I started to get an edge against it. Or so I thought. It suddenly started glowing with a vibrant array of colors, and it began to launch hologram clones at me while leaving fiery trails as it charged. I could barely hold my own against one monster, let alone four of the same thing. As soon as I was able to stun it, I turned and ran as fast and as far as I could, jumping off of a cliff to make sure it didn't follow. I was so terrified. I curled up in a corner, afraid that it would still find me. I winced whenever even a Shadow walked by." Aqua shuddered as she relived her horrible experience. All around her looked on in sympathy. Riku took her hand in his own supportively.
"After I finally calmed down, I continued walking. Pretty soon, I found myself in what looked like a forest, which confused me. I knew that I had seen what looked like trees back when I fought the Dark Hide, but those had been bare and petrified, whereas the forest I was passing through was vibrant and alive, albeit quiet. When I was out of the forest, I looked up and stopped dead, shocked, unable to understand what I was seeing. Before me, I could see the castle from Cinderella's world, Castle of Dreams.
"I walked through the town between me and the castle, noticing that the place was completely deserted save for the Heartless, and the landscape was distorted over different levels. I wondered what could have happened in the Realm of Light to cause the world to be in the Realm of Darkness, what could have happened to the people. While I felt sorrow at the tragedy that had befallen them, even when moments before they had thought they were safe, I took solace in the fact that, whatever did happen to them, they weren't stuck in the dark world. When I reached the castle, I found myself lamenting on the past and wishing for another chance to see my best friends again. Suddenly, I heard someone call my name. I turned to see Terra. Instead of relief, I felt horror, worried that Terra hadn't made it out, or something happened to him to drop him back in the Realm of Darkness. When I noticed that he wasn't saying anything in response, I tried to grab his hand, but my hand passed right through. I realized that he was just a phantom born from my memory. I wondered if I should take it to be encouragement so that I don't lose heart, but I only really felt sorrow.
"I arrived in a forest clearing that I recognized as being from Snow White's world, and realized that it had fallen as well. I saw the glass coffin that Snow had been put inside when she was put under a poisoned sleep, but found a sleeping Ven inside. But it was also an illusion, which vanished the moment I recognized him." She sniffled. "I promised to find a way to wake him up, but… I-I never did. His heart's been lost for so long."
Sora reached over and put his hand on her shoulder to comfort her. "It's not your fault," he said. "You did everything you could to help your friends."
Aqua nodded, tears still running down her face. She grabbed a napkin and blew her nose with it. "I turned my attention away from the empty coffin when I noticed a wall mirror floating in midair a short distance off. When I walked over to examine it, I was suddenly pulled in by a phantom in the form of my reflection. I explored the world inside the mirror, and all the while a voice similar to my own spoke in my head, taunting me and trying to get me to fall into despair. As I entered another zone, I looked at myself in a mirror and wondered if that torture was supposed to make me face my demons. Then, my reflection stepped out and summoned a Keyblade of its own, claiming that only my heart was hollow enough to be a demon's. I defied the phantom and fought against it. As I fought it, I realized that it had been born of my own doubts."
"It sure didn't look like it when that mirror clone thing attacked us," Riku interrupted. "It seemed more interested in taking your darker side up as its own and trying to kill us, before you even knew we were there."
Aqua simply shrugged, not sure what to make of that incident. "As I made my way out of the mirror realm, I wondered if the darkness was really causing me to lose hope, and I feared that I would soon succumb. I then found myself in a forest filled with giant thorn bushes, which looked to be what was left of the Enchanted Dominion, Princess Aurora's world. I saw apparitions of Terra and Ven and I followed them, not caring if they weren't really there or if I would lose myself along the way. I just wanted to see them again, and I wouldn't let anything get in my way. I pursued them, only to find myself in a clearing where a bunch of the giant creatures creating a giant orb of dark energy. I don't know what it was for, but I knew I had to stop it, so I fought and defeated the giants."
Sora looked at Riku and Kairi. "Doesn't that sound like the thing that appeared over the island during the storm when the Heartless attacked?" he asked.
Riku nodded. "I think so. A Darkside led the assault, right?"
"Yeah," Sora replied.
"I fought through the giants and destroyed the orb, and the rest of the giants were destroyed," Aqua continued. "After that, I found Terra and Ven. Ven was unresponsive, but Terra spoke back. He was surprised that I could see him, but he couldn't see Ven, and he couldn't really see anything, only hear me. I worried that they were just illusions that the darkness brought forth to cause me pain, but Terra insisted that he was real, but he wasn't himself… that he was… lost in shadow. I tried to ask him what he meant, but he started to tell me that Ven was in danger. I… I told him that he was sleeping safe and sound. But then… But then, something happened… and Terra…" She broke down crying, blowing her nose in her napkin.
Everyone around Aqua looked at her in sympathy. From what she had told them, she had been through a lot of emotional trauma. The Realm of Darkness had not been kind to her. They could only imagine that what had happened to her after the point where she cut herself off had proven to be especially traumatic. Mickey wondered if that was what caused her to give up and nearly let herself fade into darkness when he had found her.
"It's okay, Miss Aqua," Jiminy said. "You don't have to say any more if you don't want to."
"Don't worry," Mickey assured her. "The darkness won't have a hold over you ever again. We'll make sure of that. And we'll do everything we can to help you find Terra and Ven."
Sora and Riku nodded. "Yeah. That's a promise," Sora said.
They were all taken by surprise when they heard a loud rumbling sound coming from a great distance away. Leon and Yuffie tensed up, and Cid pulled out an electronic tablet to see what was going on.
Cid cursed. "CLAYMORE's going nuts over in the group homes!" he announced. "S.O.S. alerts say Heartless are swarming the west side!"
Yuffie looked at Leon in shock. "All those people are in danger!" she told him.
"Then we need to get going," Leon asserted. He turned to Cid and Shera. "Get in touch with Dilan and Aeleus. We could use all hands on deck." He turned to the rest of the party. "Let's go."
Mickey nodded, then turned back to Aqua. He saw that she had started to push herself into an upright position, but he put his hand on her shoulder. "No, Aqua. You should stay here and rest," he said.
Sora approached Aerith. "Hey, can you stay here with her?" he asked.
Aerith nodded. "Of course," she replied.
Mickey turned to Aerith. "Thank you," he said. With that, the party left the room and ran to the exit.
Aerith made her way to Aqua's bed and gathered up the takeout boxes and trash. She noticed that Aqua appeared to feel guilty for not being able to help. "Don't beat yourself up about it, Aqua. Everyone has their off days, and you need plenty of time to recover from those months," she said. Seeing that her statement was not making Aqua feel any better, she decided to take a different approach. "Besides, you don't want to go throwing up your breakfast in the middle of the street right in front of everyone, would you?" she joked.
Aqua let out a light chuckle.
The party arrived at the west end of the group homes, where the Heartless were indeed storming in. They saw signs of conflict on the opposite end of the crowd and noticed that Aeleus, Dilan, Ienzo, Lea, and Isa were already on the scene, fighting to keep the Heartless from getting too far. In the meantime, while it was not strong enough to obliterate all of them, CLAYMORE kept the Heartless disorganized and disrupted them whenever they planned to attack.
Everyone brought their weapons out and armed themselves for battle. "Split up and go at them from all angles. Yuffie, King Mickey, Donald, get up to the roofs and engage the aerial enemies. Don't let them get any further," Leon ordered.
"Right!" everyone shouted in unison. They moved in to take out the fiends, with Mickey, Donald and Yuffie climbing up buildings which flanked the crowd to reach the roofs.
With the strike force assaulting them from all sides and the holographic security system constantly exploding from under their feet, the Heartless did not last more than five minutes. Leon, Ienzo, Lea, and Isa left the group to check on the civilians and make sure that no one had been harmed. The rest of the party gathered in a circle, contemplating the nature of the attack.
"This was an organized assault," Aeleus observed. "Previous efforts to breach the perimeter have been small and undisciplined. This could only have been enacted by those that control the Heartless."
Mickey nodded in agreement. "But why would Maleficent do this? Why go to the trouble of setting this up?"
Before anyone could come up with an answer, Kairi gasped. "Behind you!" she shouted, looking over Sora's shoulder.
Sora reacted instantly, calling his Keyblade into his hand and spinning around to strike a green fireball that had been hurled in his direction. He watched the fireball sail back toward the horned witch who had thrown it. Maleficent raised her hand when the green flame closed in and it dispersed around her.
"Hello again, child," Maleficent greeted with a sinister tone in her voice.
Sora, Riku, Kairi, and Mickey brandished their Keyblades, and started to notice that the evil fairy was not alone. Before they could identify her compatriots, they heard Goofy scream in surprise and confusion, and turned to see a familiar white cat clambering all over his body, reaching into his pockets and scratching his arms. Yzma then jumped off of Goofy and tackled Donald. After repeating the process with Donald and then Mickey, she tried to do the same to Riku but he threw her off. She then ran over to Maleficent, holding up a plastic bag full of black and purple rocks and goop.
The skinny dark-skinned man who stood a few feet from Maleficent bent over and examined the contents of the bag. "Outstanding work, Miss Kitty," he commended. "I can't wait to see what we can make from these materials and ores straight from the dark realm."
Sora gritted his teeth. "You again?" he spat.
The witch doctor raised his eyebrow at the less-than-cordial greeting, but regained his composure. "Ah, yes. I don't believe I've properly introduced myself. How silly of me," he said. He gave a slight flourish with his hand and bowed. "Dr. Facilier at your service."
"Yeah. Nice," Riku said sarcastically.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. How rude of you to greet us so discourteously," Maleficent scolded.
Sora rolled his eyes. "Said the woman who threw a fireball at me when my back was turned," he retorted.
Maleficent smirked slightly. "That, I couldn't resist," she admitted.
"You might do well to curb your impulses, lest you thrust yourself into a difficult dilemma," a deep voice spoke up. The party turned their attention from the evil fairy and the witch doctor to the pale-skinned man with shoulder-length white hair. His calm aura and piercing red eyes gave him a rather intimidating appearance despite the fact that he was otherwise normal-looking compared to Maleficent, Dr. Facilier, Yzma, and the also-present Pete. After several seconds, Mickey, Donald and Goofy managed to recognize him from their scrying session. Sora did not have that luxury, but he quickly noticed how he seemed to hold himself as an equal with Maleficent, willing to get away with scolding her to her face. As such, like how he determined Maleficent's identity from seeing her the first time for only three seconds, he could guess who this stranger was.
"I presume that you are Zeromast?" Sora inquired.