Rise of the Keys: The Realm Of Darkness

A realm of perpetual Darkness, haunted by nightmarish Heartless, and as of late, many Unversed. An old Master Keeper can be found here, left by an unknown owner. There is a Journal written by Ansem the Wise, capturing his slow decent into near madness.​

"Welcome, to the Realm of Darkness. Now do you see the problem?" Riku said, as Brent looked around. All around them, Unversed were flowing through numerous Dark Corridors, and the Heartless followed them. A lone warrior in Keyblade Armor, dual wielding a Wayward Wind and an Earthshaker. As he looked closer, he realized the warrior wasn't actually holding the Keyblades, they were floating around, attacking Heartless and Unversed. As the Heartless were eliminated, they spawned Nobodies occasionally, and some were defeated, but most escaped through the Corridors. He also noticed the warrior was standing there, doing nothing.

"Aqua dropped her Keyblade. Again," "Sorry Riku, but Roxas and Terra are doing better than I could." The warrior said, as she came over to Riku and Brent. "I'll get back to work now, though." As the warrior approached, Brent realized it was she was a woman. She picked up the Master Keeper, and went off to fight the Heartless, Nobodies, and Unversed.

 

RE: The Realm Of Darkness

" Yeah, sure, if you can make a dent in their output. Aqua's here because if she leaves, we lose three warriors, her, and the spirits of her friends, and I'm here cause I'm the only one who can reach the Core. But you, I saw what you did in the Badlands. I think you might be able to do something." Riku said, as he dropped down a hole in the ground. "Now get work."

 

RE: The Realm Of Darkness

"Thanks..." Aqua said, as she shot a Crawling Fire at a passing Scrapper. A blast of dark fire came from the hole Riku had dropped into, and Riku landed on the ground, somewhat burnt. "Seriously? You've been here for a month? You don't give up, do you?" " It's only been 5 minutes Riku," Aqua said. Brent then realized that Riku looked older than he should. "Oh. Sorry, you know what the Core does to me," he said.

 

RE: The Realm Of Darkness

"Until the Core is destroyed, the Heartless won't stop, and therefore neither will the Nobodies, and as long as Vanitas lives, the Unversed won't stop. I just hope I don't grow too old before I can eliminate the Core. I leave the Realm every once in a while, as it makes me a bit younger, plus I need to find Vanitas, so I follow the swarms of Unversed. Aqua saw one bound for Wonderland, but I was in the Core at the time. I think it was, I dunno, 5ish days ago, regular world time." Riku explained to Brent, as a Bruiser went by. Riku then stabbed it with Soul Eater. " Exonius' power reaches even here. If I used Way to the Dawn's true form, the Imperials would be on me in minutes. You see that massive Corridor?" He asks, pointing at a corridor receiving the majority of the Nobodies, but little else. "That one goes straight to the Imperial citadel. In the old labs of the Bastion, Exonius' scientists are making modifications to the Nobodies." "Dusks with wings, Dragoons that can Warp, it's just not natural," Aqua said, as she slashed a Sniper to shreds.

 

RE: The Realm Of Darkness

Riku laughed. The sound was terrifying. When he had finally calmed down, he said, "You know how time passes quicker down there than up here? Well, that's only what it does for those align with the Dawn or Twilight. We just age quicker, spending time in the Core. We found out the hard way what happens when people who aren't aligned with one of those goes down there. How do you think Exonius got the Restoration Team's Nobodies?" He laughed again, then dropped into the Core again. "I told him too much time in the Core was bad for him..." Aqua commented.

 

RE: The Realm Of Darkness

"Yeah, well he wasn't always like this. Oh sure, he doesn't have the best background, but he's always done what he believes is right. When he first discovered the Core, his only goal was to eliminate all the Heartless. I showed him their source, and he went in. I hadn't tried it, luckily, but I still didn't think it was a good idea. He came out, changed. I can't put it any other way. He was still Riku, but he didn't act like he had when I met him on Destiny Islands, he was different. No one, not Sora, not Kairi, no one, could place it, but something was different." Aqua said. She obliterated three Nobodies, then the Wayward Wind and Earthshaker took out three Unversed and three Heartless, respectively. "For some reason, Riku seems to be avoiding a confrontation with Vanitas. I'm not sure why, but I think he has some connection to Vanitas." "He doesn't, so I don't know why," a voice said, as another, that had a similar sound, and also sounded familiar, said, "Brent! Aqua! Run! Get out of here before it's too late!"

 

RE: The Realm Of Darkness

"Shut up you worthless trash! I only brought you along because your Nobody might be more cooperative than you," Vanitas said. "Vanitas!" Aqua said, "I see you found a new form. Why don't you go back to where you came from?! No one wants you." "My dear Aqua, your naivete is astounding. I am trying to go back to where I came from, and believe it or not, this wimp is going to help me. Either him or his Nobody, that is," he replied. Aqua froze, her face paling. All of a sudden, Riku shot out of the Core, creating a massive burst of dark energy that Vanitas absorbed. "Thank you Riku. Now, I'll be taking Xiax here down there." As he said this, Xiax and him both disappeared, and then Xiax reappeared, but wearing an ancient suit of Keyblade armour, but it looked organic. "Aqua, get out of here! Riku, Brent, he- wow, this guy's body may be weak, but he has a pretty strong hear- -mour, it's his power source, without it he's pow- -up! I'm trying to get my point across here!" he said, as he and Xiax fought for control of the body. Suddenly the X-Blade appeared in his hand, and an evil grin crossed his face. "Finally, I got rid of that wretch. Now, where was I?" Aqua finally snapped out of her stupor, as Riku yelled, "About to get thrashed!"

 

RE: The Realm Of Darkness

Vanitas' X-Blade suddenly changed to become a KeySpear version. Suddenly, he hurled himself through a Dark Corridor. As Riku turned to follow him, Aqua said, "No. This is my fight Riku, I never should have allowed any part of him to continue to exist. I need to finish this, once and for all. For Ventus and Terra," "Aqua," Riku said, You can't do this. You know it, I know you do. You have no idea what risks you're taking doing this. If Vanitas is defeated, we may be able to eliminate almost all the Heartless, and a strong majority of the Nobodies, but who knows if we can even defeat him. He knows how you fight, our only chance is someone who's never fought him. I propose we send Brent into battle. I know it may be difficult, but I'll be right behind you. He's fought Terra, but I'm faster than Terra. I think I have a shot." "I guess you're right," Aqua conceded, "So Brent, are you gonna follow Vanitas, or stay here and let Riku handle it?"