The golden cloud hummed softly beh them, gliding down the slopes of Mount Olympus with an almost serene grace. Helios leaned back slightly, his eyes on the horizon as the divine glow of the mountain faded into the muted hues of the mortal realm. Beside him, Skuld sat silently for a moment before finally breaking the stillness.

  “So… where exactly are we going that requires armor this intense?” she asked, her voice tinged with curiosity.

  Helios g her, a faint smile tugging at the er of his mouth. “Somewhere dangerous,” he said vaguely, watg her rea.

  Skuld narrowed her eyes. “You’re not going to dodge the question, are you?”

  Helios chuckled lightly, his gaze returning to the sky ahead. “We’re going to the Realm of Darkness.”

  Skuld’s expression shifted, her brows furrowing as the name sank in. “The Realm of Darkness?” she repeated. “You mean the pce where all darkness es from?”

  Helios nodded. “That’s the one.”

  “And this armor…” Skuld trailed off, gng down at her silver bracelet. “It’s for prote from the darkness, isn’t it?”

  “Exactly,” Helios replied. “The Realm of Darkness is unlike anything you’ve entered. It’s a pce where the very air you breathe tries to e you. The ground, the shadows, everything is infused with darkness. Without the armor, it would chip away at your heart, senses and even your sense of time until there was nothi.”

  Skuld frowned, her grip tightening slightly on the edge of the cloud. “So what about you? Won’t the darkness affect you too?”

  Helios’ faint smile didn’t waver, but he avoided her question, instead steering the versation in another dire. “Aren’t you curious why we’re going there?”

  Skuld hesitated, her fusion evident. The name of the Realm of Darkness was ominous enough, but the way Helios spoke about it—the ess in his voice paired with the weight of his words—left her unsure how to respond.

  After a moment, Helios tinued. “We’re going there to find someone. Someone who’s been lost in that pce for almost a year.”

  Skuld tilted her head slightly, her curiosity deepening. “Who?”

  Helios’ gaze softened, his voice steady but carrying a hint of reverence. “Her name is Aqua. She’s a Keybde Master—a remarkable o that. She’s been fighting the darkness for quite a long time.”

  Skuld bliaking in the information. “A Keybde Master? And she’s been stuck there for a year? Why?”

  Helios paused for a moment, choosing his words carefully. “It’s… plicated,” he said finally. “But the important thing is that she needs help. She’s been alone in the darkness for too long.”

  Skuld’s frown deepened. “If she’s been fighting the darkness for so long, how did she get trapped there in the first pce?”

  Helios avoided her gaze, instead staring out at the horizon. “That’s not something you o worry abht now. What matters is that we find her and bring her back. She’s actually a close friend of a boy named Ventus who you used to know ba the Age of Fairy Tales.”

  Though unsatisfied with the ck of answers, Skuld chose not to press further. Instead, she asked, “This Ventus person you mentioned, did he get trapped too?”

  Helios hesitated again before answering. “Ventus is… safe, for now. But he’s asleep. And until he wakes up, there’s nothing we do for him.”

  “Asleep?” Skuld asked, her tone ced with fusion. “What do you mean?”

  “It’s plicated,” Helios said, his voice growing quieter. “Aqua made sure he’d be protected until the time is right.”

  Skuld looked at him with a mix of curiosity and . “And he ’t wake up until we find Aqua is that right?”

  Helios shook his head. “Not necessarily. Aqua’s journey is now her own, aus… well, his time will e when it’s supposed to. For now, our mission is clear: find Aqua and bring her back.”

  Skuld leaned back slightly, processing everything Helios had told her. The idea of venturing into a pce like the Realm of Darkness was daunting enough, but hearing about a pce that eats away at every part of you was frightening to her.

  “Aqua…” she said softly, her gaze drifting to the horizon. “She must be incredible to survive in a pce like that for so long.”

  “She is,” Helios replied, his voice filled with quiet admiration. “She’s one of the stro Keybde wielders I’ve ever seen. But even someone like her ’t fight forever. The darkness wears you down, little by little, until there’s nothi. That’s why it would be best to find her as soon as possible.”

  Skuld nodded, remembering her own time in Ansem’s castle. This Aqua person was trapped in a pce worse than that and was slowly losing herself, something about that resonated with Skuld. “Then we’ll find her. Whatever it takes.”

  Helios g her, the fai hint smile on his lips. “That’s the spirit.”

  The golden cloud desded further, the mountains giving way to rolling hills and dense forests. The air grew cooler, the faint glow of twilight casting long shadows across the nd.

  As they heir destination, Helios g Skuld, his tone growing serious. “This particur trip… it won’t be easy for you. The Realm of Darkness is uable, and we’ll be fag things you’ve never seen before. But you’ve grown a lot since we first left that room. I know you ha.”

  Skuld met his gaze, her fidence shining through. “I won’t let you down.”

  Despite the lighthearted exge, a quiet tension lingered between them. Helios khe risks of venturing into the Realm of Darkness. Even with their new armor, the pce was treacherous, and the odds of even finding Aqua in that endless abyss were slim.

  As the golden cloud began to slow, Helios took a deep breath, steeling himself for what y ahead. This was the first time he would try to actively ge the story. He wondered if this would also be something hidden in the background of the story and in the end, it would py out the same regardless of his as.

  Skuld, too, felt the weight of what y ahead. The idea of finding someone close to this boy named Ventus who was close to her, made her wonder about her own past, and about the challehey had faced together to end up here with no memory of one another.

  “Helios,” Skuld said softly, breaking the silence.

  “Yeah?”

  “Do you think Aqua will be okay? I mean… after everything she’s been through?”

  Helios’ expression softened, and he looked at her with quiet reassurance. “I think Aqua’s strohan anyone realizes. She’s survived this long because she has something worth fighting for. And more importantly, her heart is ected to the hearts of so many others. I’ve seerength created whes call out to each other.”

  Skuld nodded, “So she’s not alohat’s good.”

  The golden cloud came to a geop, h above a rocky outcrop that overlooked a vast expanse of shadowy mist. The air was cold but felt refreshing after all that heat produced by the fe.