Dwarf Woodlands
First Appearance: KINGDOM HEARTS Birth by Sleep (2010)
Origin: Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (1937)
Aqua crossed a small wooden bridge and found herself in a familiar forest clearing. To the right of a small cabin with a straw roof was a glass coffin, the same coffin where she once witnessed Prince Charming wake Snow White.
Aqua ran to the coffin and couldn't believe that she saw Ventus sleeping inside! She places her hands on the glass, but he vanished. Was he another illusion, just like Terra? Terra reminded Aqua to not lose her heart while she walks amongst the shadows, but why had Ventus appeared?
Aqua remember how she left Ventus in Castle Oblivion, to sleep until she returned. But the task of returning to that world seemed impossible while trapped in the darkest of realms. It was the promise of saving Ventus that had kept Aqua going for so long down in the Dark World. He kept her heart strong, and the darkness away.
Aqua felt something unusual in the forest clearing. She turned around and spotted a mirror. Surely that wasn't there before? Aqua approached the mirror and placed her hand on the glass. The mirror shone bright and a hand pulled her into the world within.
It was a chamber full of mirrors. Around the mirrors were zodiac signs, and the crumbled ruins were encased in giant diamonds. Three mirrors circled Aqua before floating to take their place around the chamber.
As Aqua dived into each mirror, she was confronted with demons and puzzles. The darkness sent wave after wave of enemies to defeat the Master, but she fought valiently, and solved each puzzle with finesse. The three mirrors that circled her contained additional demons, but this one was unlike any other she faced before.
Inside an unusual chamber, Aqua approached a mirror and out walked a version of her own self.
"Only your heart is hollow enough to be a demon's," the phantom Aqua's words rang loud and clear throughout the chamber.
"That's not true! My heart is strong! I'll prove it!" Aqua responded back, as a battle between herself and her phantom began.
Each time Aqua destroyed a phantom, the mirror that contained the demon broke. Aqua wondered the meaning of it all. Why was Terra there? Why was Ven there? Why were these Phantom's trying to destroy her?
Finally Aqua completed each challenge and was allowed to move forward out of the world within. She took one final moment to reflect on her journey in the Darkness. With no companion, she's found herself talking to herself in order to keep herself sane, but now the Darkness was using this against her. The Darkness was giving a voice to each doubt that Aqua has as an attempt to break her resolve.
Aqua understood just what the Phantom was. It was the weakness in her heart. She was losing the fight, the Darkness had found the cracks in her heart. Would it not be long until she finally succumbs to the Darkness?
