//------------------------------// // Interlude: Darkworld's Surprises // Story: Kingdom Hearts: The World's Reluctant Heroes // by Blackdrag-rose //------------------------------// Sombra found that the Darkworld was definitely full of dark energy and the environment seemed to reflect that, as in all of the stones seemed to have a dark gray color to them and had light blue lines crossing over the ground every now and then, where she found crystals growing from a couple of them. The few trees that happened to be in this world didn't have any leaves on them, rather all of them were just twisted bark and nothing else, with the bark itself having the same coloration of the ground and also happened to have those same lines on them. It was an interesting thing to see, especially since this was her first time in this world and knew nothing about what to expect, though it was odd that the beach area she had landed in was the only place that seemed relatively normal, with a sky and everything that didn't seem completely twisted. Right now her focus was on making her way through the area that was around her, leaping into the air and jumping from boulder to boulder as she followed the sounds of fighting she had heard after Seras had departed from the area, all while aware that something was definitely following her. One thing she knew for sure was that the denizens of the Darkworld were the pureblood Heartless, the ones that had no hearts for her to capture once they were taken care of, and one of them was interested in her, though her focus was on the fighting that was going on nearby as she rushed through the area. As she did so Sombra found what appeared to be Shadows gathering ahead of her, though these ones stood taller than all of the other Shadows and seemed more menacing, 'Neoshadows' she guessed, and they were joined by a legion of Darkballs and a large number of actual smaller Shadows. In the next moment she held her hand out as she summoned her Keyblade and slashed through the floating enemies, causing the Shadows and Neoshadows to turn on her as her target dissolved into mist, no doubt to be reborn somewhere else in the world. That was the downside to fighting in this world, that their enemies would just come back in due time and continue the fight without delay, to wear down those that were labeled as the enemies of the Darkworld, as she was sure that Riku and Mickey were dealing with the same thing at the moment. Of course they weren't the only enemies that were around the area, as she found that there were a number of Darksides, the massive pureblood Heartless Sora had told her and the others about when Ansem called in one to fight them, something that told her that they were far more common in this world. While she studied her foes, however, some of the Neoshadows rushed at her and Sombra held her hand out with a bit of magic around her hand and wrist, where the Heartless found themselves pressed into the ground thanks to her using her gravity magic on them, an element she definitely enjoyed using against her enemies. With that in mind she summoned a bunch of fireballs and hurled them at her enemies, blasting the area that was around her with some of her power while all of the pureblood Heartless that weren't pinned to the ground backed away from her for a moment. Those that ended up wounded by her attack were swiftly dealt with as she used her speed to rush from foe to foe, taking them down before any of them realized she was making a move against them, casting their mist into the depths of the Darkworld as she dealt with the Neoshadows that had been crippled by her gravity magic. Some of the other Neoshadows rushed at her and she swung her Keyblade at them, blocking their incoming attacks, which were definitely stronger than some of the attacks she had blocked in the past, before slashing them apart and moving onto the next foe that was waiting for her. As she came to a stop for a moment Sombra found that there were definitely more Darksides than she thought, as there were at least ten of them off in the distance and they seemed to be growing in number, though in the next few moments it became clear why that was happening, as Riku was running her way with the mouse from earlier, Mickey based on what Donald had said before the Door to Darkness had been sealed. "Riku! Mickey! Over here!" Sombra shouted, something that caused the Heartless in front of her to realize that there were two individuals heading their way, though Riku noticed them and leapt into battle, where she watched as the amulet did what it was designed to do as the boy transformed into his werewolf form from Halloween Town, minus the torn clothing, allowing him to cleave his way through the Heartless with his Keyblade, "I'll deal with the Darksides." As the pair continued to make their way towards her Sombra leapt into the air for a moment and called forth a small bit of her true power, causing the black energy with a red outline to form around her Keyblade for a few seconds before she just swung it at her targets. Mickey, who wasn't wearing a shirt at the moment and wore red shorts that had two white buttons on it, along with yellow shoes and white gloves, watched as a wave of energy burst out of the dark Keyblade and rushed at the massive Heartless, the 'Darksides' as the strange figure called them. The wave actually separated into three waves as it reached her targets, cutting into the ground and walls before slashing through all of the Heartless, something that caused all of them to detonate in an explosion that rocked the area they were in, one that took out all of the Darksides before they had a chance to get out of the way. Mickey was surprised by the scene that unfolded before his eyes, because once the Door had been sealed he wasn't expecting anyone else to come to this side, nor was he prepared for Riku's sudden transformation, and even the dark power that had just been used came as a surprise to him. Sombra, on the other hand, landed nearby as she found that the Heartless had backed off, in fact the weaker ones were fleeing to another part of the twisted world, no doubt seeking one of the stronger purebloods to try and take her down, a fact that meant they had to get moving before that happened, especially since she could feel a strong darkness starting to move deeper in the vast abyss. "Sombra, what are you doing here? Why did I suddenly transform into this form?" Riku asked, as there were several very important questions going through his head right now, though those two were the most important right now, especially since he had been sure that Sombra had been left on the other side of the Door. "Later. For now, focus on heading towards the beach." Sombra stated, because there was still a path behind her and for the time being it was still up, so for an unknown amount of time there was a route to safety, to an area that seemed to be the safest spot in the entirety of the Darkworld, though as Riku got close, and reverted to his original form since the short period of time was up, Mickey stopped. "Wait Riku, we can't trust her. She wields the power of Darkness." Mickey remarked, which told her that he must be more aligned to the Light, in fact Sombra could sense that right now, though her main focus was on the fact that there seemed to be someone else located further behind the pair, all while Riku looked at the mouse like he had lost his mind. "Yes, and you stand for the Light. Now get over here while I focus on the other lost heart... we've got something big coming our way." Sombra replied, where she grabbed onto the mouse with her magic and yanked him over to where she and Riku were standing, surprising him in the process, before reaching deeper into the Darkworld as she yanked a woman, who was slightly older than her and Riku, how old she couldn't tell as she noticed that she wore a light agile set of attire and her hair was blue, that paused for a moment as she landed nearby. "What... just happened?" the woman asked, as a few moments ago she had been running through the darkness, trying to avoid being taken down by a powerful creature that hunted her like she was it's prey, before she noticed that Riku and Mickey were standing nearby with surprised looks on their faces as well. "You are no longer in danger... though I do have a foe to take down." Sombra remarked, as a four legged beast Heartless, a pureblood that wasn't the stronger one she had felt previously, was coming right at them, which was when Riku noticed two orbs appear behind her, one made of gravity magic and one made of time magic, which she mixed into a larger orb in front of her that was a combination of both elements. The trio watched as Sombra fired the larger orb at the incoming Heartless and their jaws dropped as the ground was just carved up under the power of the attack, as there was a long gouge in the ground that it traveled through, which seemed to be as wide as the Gummi Ship, and the Heartless in question was wiped out in the process. With that done Sombra took a moment to make sure the coast was clear before beckoning for the others to get moving, though upon finding that the woman was still resting on the ground she just scooped her up and carried her down the path she had walked up after she was dropped into this world. Riku and Mickey found their way to the beach and found that it was definitely far more peaceful than what they had experienced so far, though once Sombra was with them, and the woman insisted on being set down since she could walk on her own, she turned towards the path as she shifted into her final form and held both of her hands out after dismissing her Keyblade. The trio watched as the landscape seemed to shift before their eyes as she seized control of everything, stone and rock moving as the path they had used to reach this point disappeared in seconds, as if it had never existed in the first place, and everything on the outskirts of the beach changed as well, meaning that any Heartless that was pursuing them would be lost. To be sure that nothing was coming after them Sombra also created a large barrier around them that shielded them from the Heartless of this realm, allowing her to huff for a second before reverting to her base form again, while using a little bit of her power to form four seats for all of them. "That... was incredible! You used Darkness, but to save others!" the woman said, though while the sheer display of dark power should have worried her, especially since it allowed the user to alter the landscape that was around them, so she was more in awe of what she had seen. "Let's clear the air right now: everyone is made of Light and Darkness... the force doesn't matter, rather it matters what the person uses it for." Sombra stated, because she knew that someone was going to mention that using dark powers just meant the person was evil, and while that was true in her case, given her past, she knew that people could use magic and powers like the Light to commit evil as well, so it all depended on the user, and both Mickey and the woman paused as they listened to her speak, "Now then, I believe there is some information to share." Mickey revealed that the woman was called Aqua, who had been part of a trio of Keyblade wielders who learned under an instructor who was more connected to the Light, but after a series of events she had been lost to the Darkworld and he had been looking for her, in addition to this world's Keyblade to seal the Door to Darkness. Riku told them about how he and Sora had met both her and another wielder, Terra, a long time ago, something he was sure Sora had forgotten, and he remembered touching Terra's Keyblade once upon a time, even though they never saw the pair again. Sombra told the pair that didn't know her a little more about her, the fact that there were two more of her kind out there, technically three thanks to Seras' existence, something that surprised Riku once he heard that Fluttershy had been separated into two new forms, her Heartless and her Nobody. Such a thing caused them to tell Aqua about the state of the World, because it had been a long time since she had been in the Realm of Light, as in the universe they had been traveling through, and while she was surprised by many things, especially Sora wielding a Keyblade and Kairi reaching the Destiny Islands, she seemed happy that things were returning to normal. Aqua, likewise, explained how she came to be in this realm for so many years, starting with the day that she and Terra had their Mark of Mastery Exam, how they displayed their skills before Master Eraqus and Master Xehanort, Terra failing based on their own Master's statement, and the series of events that sprung from that event. "Terra, Ventus, and I went out into the World after that, each for our own reasons... but in the end it was all according to Master Xehanort's dark plans." Aqua said, where she looked down at her hands for a moment, because while she and her friends had succeeded in stopping Xehanort she knew they had also failed at the same time, all while noticing that Sombra remained silent as she thought about the information that had been given her to, "We managed to stop him from using the X-Blade to do whatever he was planning on doing to Kingdom Hearts, but... Ventus, who was possessed by Vanitas, lost his heart as his foe was beaten, and I hid him somewhere where our foes wouldn't be able to find him. Terra... well... Xehanort possessed his body, giving him a younger form, and I fought him and the dark figure he summoned, but when I beat him he told Terra to 'get out of his heart' before using his Keyblade on himself... Terra fell into the Darkness, though I used my Keyblade armor to get him back to the Realm of Light. After what Mickey said I can only assume that Xehanort cast Terra's heart into the Darkness, which I have been searching for ever since..." "Xehanort... tell me, is this what he looks like?" Sombra inquired, where she used a bit of her magic to form an image of the old man she had seen in the memory of the fragments she had collected, where Aqua stared at it for a few seconds before nodding her head, causing her to switch the image to that of the Guardian for a time, where the woman paused as she stared at it, only for Sombra to show her Ansem as well, "We fought Ansem and his Guardian not that long ago, and in the depths of the Guardian I felt a heart that was being smothered by the darkness..." As Riku opened his mouth, to ask how Sombra could have known that fact, they all stopped as she held a hand out and a dark heart appeared above her palm, contained entirely within her magic by the looks of it, and from within that heart she withdrew a second one, this one causing Aqua's eyes to widen as she pieced everything together. "Terra's heart, beating with the desire to keep his friends safe, which has kept him from being swallowed by the Darkness, like Xehanort wanted." Sombra finished, though at the same time she made some changes to her heart container area so Terra's would be safe as well, something that only made her realize that there was more to the situation than what they had been told so far, which only caused her to wonder about the heart fragments again, "Though that means that the one we just fought and beat was actually the Heartless of... Terranort, I guess... an imposter that only took Ansem's name for some reason, a fact that means that Xemnas, who Seras told me a little about, must be their Nobody. Beat them both and unite the halves into a single form and I'm sure we'll reforge Terra's body, but something tells me that there's another vital piece of him out there, one we would have to find before that point... after that, then we can give him his heart back." "Sombra... how are you doing this?" Riku asked, because he had learned about the amulet he now wore and the fact that it had allowed his transformation, something Sombra and Radiant had crafted together, but this, being able to manifest a heart and even control it in some manner, was an unknown power to him. "Radiant, Fluttershy, and I were given unique skills to aid us in our adventures... mine is 'Boundless Necromancy', which is the power to capture hearts, useful for dealing with the Heartless." Sombra replied, as she saw no reason to tell them the whole truth, especially since she was sure that it would cause Aqua to freak out if she knew that part of her power allowed her to absorb the hearts and add their power to her own, but now she had more reasons to keep Seeker Ansem's heart, Terra's heart, and the fragments contained. "Good... can you keep Terra safe, until we can fully restore him?" Aqua asked, where part of her wanted to take the heart now, to keep her friend safe, but if Sombra had an area that only she could access, and no one else could access it, then her keeping the heart in her collection meant they would keep Terra safe, causing her to let out a sigh as Sombra nodded her head, as this was a load off of her shoulders, "I'm coming with you, both to restore Terra and to save Ventus." Sombra agreed, as having Aqua around meant they could learn more about the Keyblade from an actual Master, plus she wanted to know the entire story from start to finish, as she was sure that there was more information for her to gain that might help them out, all while making her even more eager to see what the future held in store for them and their allies.