Chapter Text
Repose ( verb )
- to lie at rest
- to lie dead
- to remain still or concealed
- to have trust in; rely (on or upon)
- to place for control, management, or use
~
The man who sat waiting at the shore had more in common with Aqua and Eraqus than they could’ve guessed. Ansem the Wise was able to fill in the gaps of their knowledge about everything that had happened in the Realm of Light; telling them both of Sora and his friends, and Xehanort and Organization XIII.
“Tell me, will you stay here?” Ansem asked.
Aqua stared out at the quiet waves. Diving back into the darkness—and fighting through more Heartless—seemed pointless now. When the Destiny Islands had been restored, her Keyblade had disappeared—likely taken to the Realm of Light where it was beyond her reach. After much insistence, she had allowed Eraqus to lend her the Master’s Defender to use instead. Even so, being down to one weapon between the two of them, it seemed unwise to take any unnecessary chances.
“I can’t shake the feeling that these waters touch another shore we’ve visited,” she replied.
“The Destiny Islands.”
“Oh? You’ve heard of them?”
Ansem smiled. “Yes. They are quite lovely—a far cry from this wasteland.”
If the dark margin was connected to the Realm of Light, it was as good a place as any to wait for help to arrive.
“We’re staying,” she decided, and Eraqus didn’t object. “Someone will come for us.”
After a moment, Ansem spoke again. “These waters are the in-between of dark and light, its shores the margins of day and night. They brought you and I together, so why not also you and another?”
There was a hopeful twinkle in Aqua’s eye. “Yes.”
~
Aqua let her mind wander, watching the glistening light on the water’s surface as it rippled. Ansem had taken an interest in Eraqus’ knowledge of the Keyblade, and they had delved into a conversation she didn’t have the energy to contribute to.
Their discussion was brought to a halt by the sound of footsteps on the sand.
Aqua gasped, getting to her feet. “Who’s there?”
The new figure wore a black coat like Ansem’s. He lifted its hood and spoke.
“Master Ansem… Still as pathetic as ever.”
“You…”
Xemnas inclined his head slightly. “Do you recall the experiments of the heart you bade me cease? Among the test subjects was a girl. She was without her memory, just as I once was. But you can reconstruct memories—you did with Sora. I suspect you have seen the girl's memories.” He smiled unpleasantly. “Which begs the question… where did you put her?”
“What girl?” asked Ansem.
“Very well.” He summoned his weapon—an ethereal blade. “If you won't tell me here…”
Aqua called the Master’s Defender, raising it between them. “I think… you should go.”
Xemnas turned his attention to her. “Now, that’s no way to talk to an old friend…”
Aqua’s heart raced. He looked so different but…
could it be?
“…Terra?”
“ What? ” said Eraqus.
Xemnas left her question unanswered. “You wait here...for the King and his fool.” He struck first, and the blade sparked as it made contact with her Keyblade.
“Aqua!”
Xemnas only had to raise his arm, and a spell with the appearance of white and black thorns trapped Eraqus.
Aqua lunged for Xemnas, and he summoned a second blade, blocking the attack and quickly retaliating. She tried to regain her composure, but the opening was long enough for her to get caught as well.
“No more!” said Ansem. “I’ll go.”
“No!”
She broke free, firing a lightning spell back at Xemnas. It made contact, and he was briefly distracted. It didn’t last long however, as a field of glowing lights appeared around her. One of them shot forward, and she knocked it away with the Master’s Defender. The strategy became less effective as more and more lights came for her. She couldn’t keep up—crying out as she was knocked to her knees by the barrage.
“Poor thing,” said Xemnas, but there was no real feeling behind the words. “I mustn't leave you here with nothing.” He opened a dark corridor and grabbed her arm. “After you, Master Ansem.”
Ansem glared, but walked through the shadows.
“Wait..!” called Eraqus, but Xemnas forced Aqua through a moment later, and they were all gone.
~
The corridor let out in the castle in Radiant Garden. Unfortunately, even though many of Ansem’s apprentices had since returned, no one was around when the unlikely trio arrived.
Xemnas entered a number of passwords into a nearby computer, and a hidden passageway opened. Sorrow—or maybe guilt—manifested in Ansem’s expression.
“Perhaps a walk down memory lane is exactly what you need…” said Xemnas. “As you seem unable to recall what became of Subject X.”
“What is this place?” asked Aqua. The temptation to summon the Master’s Defender again was strong, but she wasn’t sure it would do them any good.
I’ve hardly fought with it… it doesn’t respond to me the way my actual Keyblade does.
Xemnas laughed. “You’ll soon see…” He turned to Ansem. “…unless you would prefer to explain things to her.”
Aqua looked at him, increasingly worried, but Ansem said nothing.
They began to walk down the pathway. The walls were lined with glowing red and blue lights, but otherwise it was dark—Aqua found the descent all too similar to her fall into the Realm of Darkness.
“You once encouraged my studies, Master. The curiosities of the heart’s nature, the secrets hidden within an amnesiac mind…” Xemnas recalled. “The darkness just waiting to be unlocked.”
Ansem scowled. “I was a fool to enable any of it… but I did attempt to put an end to the research.”
“Yes, you did. But our partnership resumes today. Subject X’s memory holds a mystery to unravel—one concerning the battle we seek between light and darkness,” explained Xemnas.
The pathway they walked along had seemed to stretch on forever, but now Aqua could see it led into a dimly lit hallway.
“You know something,” he continued. “And that...is why you stopped the experiments.”
They made it to the hallway, where the floor was made of glossy black tile. The walls were lined with doors that were chained shut.
Aqua froze as the realization hit her. “These are… cells?”
Xemnas smiled. “That is correct.”
Ansem stopped to look at one of the cells, through its bars he could almost imagine the desperate face of a test subject staring back at him. “Please. I have created enough victims.”
“Yes, you have. All the children sacrificed in the name of your research... So make things right.”
Children disappeared here, Aqua thought. It was beyond horrific—her stomach turned at the thought of them locked in the cells.
“I did not take her. Her disappearance was why I put a stop to the research,” Ansem replied.
“And that makes you honorable? You used Roxas and Naminé and threw them away,” replied Xemnas. “I doubt there's a merciful bone in your body. You took the girl, and hid her.”
“Roxas and Naminé... If there is any reason that I still draw breath, it is to atone for what I did to them.”
It was clear Ansem wasn’t going to reveal anything about this mystery girl. Another person stepped out of the shadows—Xemnas’ Heartless counterpart.
Who is that? wondered Aqua.
Xemnas turned to him. “Take him away.”
The other man grabbed Ansem’s shoulder. “Perhaps you would be more willing to discuss the data hidden in Twilight Town,” he offered with false sympathy. Together, they disappeared. Aqua immediately regretted not attempting escape while she still had an ally at her side.
Xemnas watched them depart, then turned back to his other captive. “Now, as for you, Aqua. I have something of yours I’ve been meaning to return.”
What could that mean?
She followed warily as they passed the last of the cells, reaching a room at the end of the hallway.
“This is…”
It looked almost like a mirrored version of the Chamber of Waking—the room where they had left Ven before going after Terra. In its center was a throne, and across from that…
“My armor,” Aqua realized aloud.
Then… he really is…
Xemnas picked up the helmet, turning it over. “Truthfully, I owe you my thanks. Had you not saved me, none of this would have ever come to pass…”
At first Aqua looked horrified, but her expression quickly turned to anger. “No! I was saving Terra! And I know he never would have wanted this.”
“Perhaps not,” said someone other than Xemnas.
That voice… Don’t tell me, thought Aqua.
Master Xehanort had a way of showing up at all the worst times.
“But Terra’s fall to darkness is equally to blame.”
“Xehanort…” She summoned the Master’s Defender, and Xehanort smiled.
“How interesting that you should bring that Keyblade…”
“What?”
“The Chamber of Repose…where we are now… and the Chamber of Waking. The two are twins—though one remains beyond our reach.”
Then… he’s looking for Ven? She wondered. Along with this ‘Subject X’…
“You won’t find it,” replied Aqua.
“Yet it appears that the power to open it rests in your hands.”
She glanced down at the Keyblade, then glared back at him defiantly. “I will never bequeath it to you.”
“Still so obstinate,” he sighed. “But I’m certain we can reach an agreement. In exchange for the Keyblade, I will reveal to you where the boy’s heart resides.”
For a split second, Aqua faltered.
No, I won’t let Xehanort trick me.
“An offer I refuse,” she maintained.
“By force, then,” said Xemnas. “After all, the puppet failed in our previous attempt. She could make for a more suitable vessel.”
…‘ Vessel’?
Xehanort considered Xemnas’ suggestion. Though possessing Aqua had not been a possibility in the past, the darkness in her heart had grown considerably since. “Only partially… of course. I will need her heart to access the Keyblade.”
“Yes.”
“What do you mean?!” demanded Aqua, raising Master’s Defender.
Xehanort gestured to the throne. “Why don’t you take a seat, my dear?”
“No!”
She took aim with the chains of light, but the attack was more forceful than she had expected. It missed by a margin, and Xemnas teleported to restrain her. Once again she was caught in the thorns, which tightly fastened her to the throne.
Xehanort summoned the Gazing Eye, aiming it at her chest.
“It seems that you and your friends will soon be reunited after all, Master Aqua...”
~
Sora, Donald, and Goofy arrived on the Destiny Islands.
“Why do you think that gate took us here?” asked Donald, waddling after Sora as he led the way. Sora shrugged. Lately he had taken to following his heart wherever it led him. When his Keyblade had opened a path to his homeworld, he returned there without question.
If only Riku and the King would just let me help them out… he thought. They were on a mission to rescue a group of missing Keyblade wielders—but they had insisted Sora continue his journey to gain the Power of Waking.
Beginning to feel that this was a dead end, Sora sat down beside the shore.
“Gawrsh Sora, if you just needed a break, you coulda told us so.”
“It’s not that, Goofy. I’m just not sure what to do. Something feels… off.”
The feeling was nagging at him, and the sadness in his chest threatened to move him to tears if he listened to it too long.
What gives?
“It’s because you had ice cream for lunch!” offered Donald, and Sora gave a small laugh.
“Uh huh…”
Well, at least the waves here are always the same.
As he watched them, he could’ve sworn he saw something unusually shiny in the water.
Or not..?
He stood up and kicked off his shoes, walking into the water.
“Sora?” quacked Donald.
Sora bent over, picking a Keyblade out of the ocean. The shine he had seen was its brilliant silver handle, while the rest of it was royal blue.
“Hey, look at this.”
“A Keyblade?” asked Goofy.
Donald eyed it with scrutiny. “It looks kinda old…”
“It does not!” argued Sora. Just then, the Gummiphone rang. “I’ve got it-” he said, pressing the button to accept the call.
Donald and Goofy crowded around his shoulders. “It’s the King!”
“And Riku—So, you guys are back?” asked Sora. “Wait, does that mean you found them?”
Mickey looked dejected. “One of them. We were too late to save Aqua...”
Sora’s eyes widened. “You don’t mean she…”
Riku shook his head. “No, but, the Organization beat us to her.”
“No way!” said Sora, and Donald and Goofy exchanged a worried look. “We have to go after her!”
“We can’t. Not yet.”
“But…”
So that’s why my heart was aching…
“Meet us at Yen Sid’s Tower,” said Riku. “There’s somebody you should meet.”