The tired Keyblade Master had not been to this world in quite some time. The memories of it were bittersweet-- Radiant Garden was beautiful with its soft purple and pink hues, and the flower beds and fountains that lined the streets were a sight to behold as well as the magnificent castle that loomed in the sky. This was where she had first met Mickey as well as Kairi. It was also the place where her, Terra, and Ven's friendship began to fall to pieces around her, where she just had to complicate everything by speaking from her mind rather than her heart-- of course she did. It was what the Master told her to do, and she was always so obedient to a fault. What perhaps made her feel sick most of all though was that this was the last world she was in before becoming trapped in the Realm of Darkness. She had saved Terra but at what cost? He had told her himself that Xehanort still had a hold on him, and to her knowledge no one had seen him since.

Aqua couldn't help but decide to look for him here. She knew it was unlikely. Terra did have more patience than Ven, but he always had to be active, always going going going, and he wouldn't have stayed in the same place for long if she and Ven were nowhere to be found. There was nothing to keep him here. Nevertheless, she felt the urge to retrace her steps and search for any clues concerning his whereabouts.

The beautiful world of Radiant Garden had been destroyed by the darkness once as well and her heart hung heavy with that knowledge. It was because she was not there to protect the worlds. She had failed in her duty as a Master. Aqua was so overwhelmed with grief in what Radiant Garden had become that she had failed to notice the call of her keyblade from the depths of this world, like strings pulling on her heart. Instead, she trudged onward, doing small tasks for citizens such as defeating Heartless. It was the least she could do to make up for everything. There was no rest for her.

The clink of her metal boots against the stone streets alerted a stranger though, one unlike any she had seen before, with his robes and his leopard mask-- although that was not what Aqua found strange about him. The trepidation and wariness in his tone made her well aware of what his drawn keyblade meant, and it was all she could do not to gawk. There were more then than just herself, her friends, and the trio from the islands. Aqua kept her hand steady by her side just in case, but her gaunt eyes squinted at the boy before her. "It's alright. I'm not looking for a fight. My name is Aqua." She paused, thoughtfully, almost too exhausted for her brain to process what she was seeing. "I have a keyblade as well. Who is your Master...?" Please don't let it be Xehanort.

notes: here we go!
tags: Nai ; Gula

Aqua tilted her head, puzzled at the masked boy's words. She doesn't need to see his face to understand he is just as confused as she is, his body language says that to her enough. He speaks of Unions and Dandelions, things that don't exist but in fairy tales-- or at least, that was what she had grown up to believe. She knew that there was truth to these things now, she had seen the graveyard full of keyblades with her own eyes as well as the X-Blade that ended it all. The Master didn't like to speak of such tales, saying that it was but a story passed on from keybearer to keybearer, a mythos kept alive by tradition.

Aqua knew now that Master Eraqus's loathing for the story of the Keyblade War had to come from Xehanort's interest in it, and she could only wonder if he had been a little more upfront about his history with the old Master that the events of a decade ago wouldn't have transpired. Terra never would have trusted him, then Ventus never would have run away. She let out a sigh she didn't know she was holding in. Her blue eyes gave a tired, wary look at the boy before her. There was a chance he wouldn't believe her.

"The last time I heard someone talk about 'Unions' was in a story about the Keyblade War. It's considered a fairy tale..." Aqua said slowly, not wanting to offend this odd stranger. What if he was interested in starting it again, like Xehanort? "I know that it definitely happened though. I've seen the world where it took place." She refrained from mentioning the Dandelions as she didn't quite know what those were, having never been mentioned in the tale-- at least by that name-- at all.

Aqua gently placed a hand on her chest to quell the anxiety within her heart. "I'm a Keyblade Master from the Land of Departure. My Master before me was Eraqus." His name fell bitterly from her lips, his keyblade itching to be called forth at her fingertips. She gave a look of concern to the masked boy. Was it possible for the gods to have pulled him from the past? Or was this some sort of time travel? She had read about it only briefly. It was dangerous, dark magic, yet she felt no such darkness emanating from him.

Just what was going on here?

notes: shes confused
tags: Nai ; Gula

Aqua watches as the boy before her goes numb with realization, and her heart hurts for him because she's been there, all alone in the Realm of Darkness when the grief of everything finally hit her all at once, and she felt everything and nothing all at the same time. To have everything one ever knew ripped away from them was an experience she didn't wish on anyone but it seemed like this was the case for the masked boy before her. It began to connect in her head that he was from the fairy tale-- no, from the real account of the Keyblade War that occurred so long ago. It had been his friends' keyblades she had seen in the graveyard that day that felt like eons ago.

She listens intently to his words even though at this point he's just rambling and not at her. "Dandelions?" Aqua asks, the question leaving her lips before she can stop it. The term sounds almost familiar, like it was in a page of a book that she and Terra had been forbidden to read, one that she didn't understand why the Master didn't simply burn instead of hiding it away in his office after it had been found tucked away in a corner of the library he thought they'd never reach.

He tells her his name and her eyes widen, he is not only from the past, but one of the Foretellers from the tale. Their names were not passed down, and if they were, it was not in a tome she was allowed to read. Her version of the Keyblade War was very vague, almost as much so as the story she heard Kairi's grandmother tell the young girl long ago. "I'm so sorry that you've been brought to the future like this, Gula." Aqua says quietly even though it's not her fault. Her tired eyes betray how exhausted she is of constantly feeling grief.

"I'm afraid there's not very many keybearers left. As of right now I am the last Master from my world. Your story is considered a legend but-- I know it's true." There's so many questions she wants to ask but she knows now is not the time to be badgering a boy who just lost his entire life about the X-Blade or Kingdom Hearts. Instead she extends that offer to him. "Is there anything you'd like to know? I'll do my best to answer."

notes: tfw all your friends are dead
tag: Gula ; Nai