Aqua’s Journey in the Darkness
Kingdom Hearts 0.2 kicks off right where Birth by Sleep left off. With Aqua stuck in the Realm of Darkness looking for a way out. As players take control of her, they are introduced to the very ending of the original game: Aqua gazing at the Castle of Dreams, a dark version of Cinderella’s castle frozen in the middle of a cataclysm as a nearby ton appears to be torn into pieces.
Here she sees Terra, or at least she believes she sees him. He vanishes into thin air, leaving more questions to be answered. Aqua knows she freed him from this place, so seeing him is now driving her forward. The area must be restored first so that she may advance. She does so by finding time fragments which recreate the path to the castle while also restoring some of her memories of her friends and the events that got her here.
This leads her into an area identical to the Dwarf Woodlands where she finds a mysterious mirror that shows Ventus, who should be hidden away sleeping in a place that only she knows. When reaching out for the mirror, she is pulled in by a doppelganger of herself, a powerful phantom that seeks to defeat her from the inside. Entering the World Within shows a series of mirrors which lead to worlds Aqua recognizes while also presenting threats that try to break down her confidence and hope.
The darkness is eating away at this Keyblade master, and for good reason. It turns out that Aqua, along with Ventus and Terra, is one of the seven guardians of light, who is needed to protect the seven pure hearts (the Disney Princesses). Getting her out of the way will make the act of triggering another Keyblade War much easier, and making the control of Kingdom Hearts by the darkness even more possible.
Luckily, Aqua realizes that the darkness is actually eating away at her heart, which is why the mirrors were filled with her fears and doubts. So she steels her heart as she vows to break free, keep her promise to Ventus, and save Terra’s heart.
Advancing on brings her to the next Kingdom Hearts 0.2 area, the Forest of Thorns, which is actually the Enchanted Dominion from Birth by Sleep and a mix of both the light and dark castles of the Enchanted Forest (from Sleeping Beauty). Here, Aqua once again encounters Terra and Ventus, only this time she sees that they are images from their hearts. Terra, who is tied to the darkness thanks to him relying on its power in the past and having fused with Xehanort, is able to communicate with Aqua. He tells her that Ventus is still safe wherever she hid him, but Xehanort is looking for him.
During their conversation, Xehanort tries to take over to force Ventus’ location out of Aqua. A large hand, resembling that of the dwellers of darkness, pulls Aqua and Terra into a portal, leaving her floating in the darkness, slowly drifting away, until a familiar hand reaches in and pulls her out.
