Another world, another set of questions. Not much is revealed about CERTAIN CHARACTERS in this world but we do get a bit of information that explains something from Kingdom Hearts. This world feels like a halfway point in the game, all the cards are put up on the table and it's time to get down and dirty.
- So Aqua lands in Radiant Garden which is in its FULL GLORY! Really it is a rather beautiful world with lots of plants mixed in with the gray walls and the golden pipes.
- Aqua makes an “oh” face and right away I’m spazzing out what character it could be. WHO COULD IT BE!
- It’s Scrooge…
- Aqua runs him down and asks him if he’s seen a boy who’s not from “around here”. Is she talking about Ven? Probably not… after all we chased Terra here. Is Terra a “boy”? I wouldn’t call Terra a boy…
- Scrooge did see somebody running off towards the castle and Aqua confirms she’s looking for Terra.
- So off to find a way into the castle. Normally I don’t bore you with mundane Unversed details but URGH. Angry bad evil plant guys who send whirlwind cutters at you are EVIL. They don’t pop up like normal Unversed/Heartless/Nobodies. They are ALWAYS there and send angry whirlwind cutter things at you if they so much as see you.
- Up at the castle gates there’s a save bit and… you can’t even make it up the stairs without launching a cut scene.
- Somebody SCREAMS (THE MOST ANNOYING SCREAM EVER) and is being chased by an Unversed. Three guess who it could be:
- KAIRI! Duh.
- There’s like… ten Floods but Aqua is a jerk and won’t let us fight them. Instead Mickey does a flying jump in. Mickey tells Aqua to take the girl someplace safe and Aqua picks Kairi up around the middle and runs off. Pffft.
- However Aqua comes back to fight with Mickey. Mickey, like Philip, joins our team just for the fight and gets a little health bar. Also like Philip Mickey and Aqua can do a special attack together.
- After the fight Aqua and Mickey met up with Kairi. Aqua tells Mickey who she is and who her Master/Trainer is and Mickey tells her who he is and who his Master/Trainer is. I suppose this is standard fair for Keyblade Masters. I am _____ I studied under _____.
- Both Aqua and Mickey sense the light in Kairi and agree she must be “somebody pretty extraordinary.”
- Mickey wants to team up with Aqua to protect Kairi but a bright light suddenly erupts out of his pocket and whisks him off.
- Kairi gives Aqua some flowers and Aqua’s heart totally melts.
- Kairi’s grandmother comes to pick her up and… HOLY SHIT BALLS!
- Aqua casts a spell on Kairi that “will lead you to the light of another”. OH MY GOD GUYS! Aqua is responsible for Kairi’s heart being inside of Sora! Which means she’s kinda responsible for Roxas (and maybe Naminé too!)
- Kairi’s grandma has her eyes and her apron has the same lace on it as Kairi’s skirt from KH1.
- Kairi asks her grandma to tell her a story which is pretty much talking about Kingdom Hearts.
- Aqua watches them go and smiles only for an Unversed helicopter thing to fly on by and break up the good vibes.
- We get a new keyblade called Destiny’s Embrace WHICH IS THE FLOWER KEYBLADE KAIRI USED FOR TWO SECONDS IN KH2!
- Okay I was about to go off on a rant about how Aqua just totally forgot about Terra in order to chase after the Unversed helicopter thing but after we chase the helicopter down a cut scene pops up and LOOK WHO’S THERE!
- Wait?! Ven is there too!
- So we all team up to fight the helicopter unversed which turns out to be a MECHA UNVERSED!
- Okay so Mecha!Unversed is by far the hardest fight yet. There’s about a total of nine health bars you have to take down. I really wasn’t at the right level to do this fight so I backed off and leveled up by five levels and came back. After that the fight was fairly easy but this really is a lesson in Kingdom Hearts leveling. Just do it. Don’t run past the bad guys no matter how tempted you are (like I did earlier in this World).
- After killing it you get a cut scene of Terra, Aqua and Ven taking down the Mecha’s head together.
- The three of them regroup and Ven hands out passports to someplace called Disney Town. Whoever gave them to Ven said to take “two grownups” PFFFT!
- The face he makes afterwards is PRICELESS!
- Thankfully Aqua remembers she’s supposed to take Ven home. Ven blows her off and turns to Terra and says something odd about a man-in-a-mask. Umm… Vanitas? Yeah, most likely Vanitas since he “bad-mouth”ed Terra.
- Terra freaks out at the mention of Vanitas and tells Ven to go home with Aqua. Ven doesn’t want to go (of course) but Terra insists that they’re doing a dangerous job. Which makes Aqua go “OH REALLY”
- Terra insists he’s fighting the darkness but Aqua doesn’t really buy it. Thank god Aqua has some brains. So totally calls him out on everything he’s done in the other Worlds.
- That… upsets Ven.
- Terra realizes that Aqua has been following him due to Master Erauqs orders.
- Which upsets both Ven and Terra. Seriously Ven just go and confess your love for Terra already IT IS ANNOYING.
- Terra says he’s going off on his own now and Aqua calls after him trying to explain that their master is just worried for him. And then Ven loses ALL OF HIS POINTS:
- He says Aqua is “awful” and if I could I would reach through the screen and strangle him.
- Aqua clutches at her charm and reminds Ven that the Master loves Terra but Ven is more interested in knowing if her orders include taking him home. Well, dur.
- Ven goes off on a rant that is so… annoying. So self-absorbed and so unthoughtful and SELFISH. He says that Aqua has let becoming a Keyblade Master go to her head. It hasn’t. She’s being a good friend who’s looking out for her loved ones. Ven shouldn’t be off on his own and Terra needs to be protected from himself. To say otherwise means that Ven is blind to the situation. Ven then runs off to find Terra.
- Aqua looks heartbroken. And can you blame her?
- Alone again we’re off down a waterway and killing us some Unversed.
- Once we get into town we run into Merlin. Who we can assume has run into Terra and Ven. He mentions a book so… POOH?! Also: Aqua is calling Ven Ventus so obviously she’s upset with him.
- So… Pooh is a bust. It unlocks a new Comand Board which isn’t something I’ve talked about before because it’s basically just a stupid minigame.
- For some reason Aqua is running in the next cut scene but that doesn’t really matter because it’s Vanitas! I turned up my volume so hopefully I’ll be able to pick apart his voice… OH. MY. STARS. You can pick it up on certain syllables but it is almost certain that Vanitas is voice by Hailey Joel! WHAT COULD IT MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAN!
- Anyhoo Aqua is all like “Hey Ventus mentioned you!” And Vanitas is all like “Yeah and he’s a wimp. And I can beat the shit outta you. Let’s fight!”
- As for the fight itself it is fairly easy. Vanitas’ style resembles Riku’s so… If ya know Riku you’re primed for Vanitas.
- After the fight it seems like Vanitas is knocked out cold but… I really don’t believe he’d go down that easily. Aqua tiptoes up to him and… OH NO GIRL DON’T DO IT!
- SHE DOES! She goes right for the mask! Ah! AH! AAAAAH!
- Instead of like… punching her or rolling away Vanitas stops her with EVIL LAUGHTER! Aqua hops away and gets ready for round two but Vanitas summons a dark portal. He actually admits she’s a decent fighter but you get the sense that he was just testing her especially with comments like “I’ll keep you around. Never hurts to have a backup.”
- Aqua decides that she has to stop Vanitas from doing… whatever it is that he’s doing. Before he can do anything to Terra or Ven.
- Speaking of: WHAT DOES VANITAS HAVE PLANNED? AND FOR WHO? Maybe for Ven because his Master is looking for somebody with heart with lots of light. Or maybe it’s Terra because they want him to help them with… whatever it is that they’re doing. AUGH!
- Ven’s back! Maybe he can redeem himself after those stupid comments!
- Apparently Ven found Terra but he took off.
- Aqua tells Ven she’s going after Terra (which was stupid of her) because Ven offers his assistance and Aqua has to have a “DO AS I SAY” moment. Though when he asks Aqua why not she explains to him that she doesn’t want him to be in any type of danger.
- Aqua takes off after Terra and leaves Ven behind… which we all know means he’ll be popping up again to bug all of us some more.
- Upon leaving Radiant Garden three new worlds are unlocked and we’re off to…
