It had been several days since Aqua and Skuld crash-landed in the world of Olympus.
Time passed slowly without their armor to carry them across the Lanes Between. At first, the waiting gnawed at them. The silence felt too deep, the quiet too unnatural for warriors who had just recently been in a chaotic battle to the death. But gradually, a rhythm emerged. Training in the mornings. Wandering in the afternoons. Evenings spent in warm kitchens and long conversations beside the hearthlight.
Aqua and Skuld moved like sisters—sparring in the courtyard, comparing their spells and techniques, trading philosophies. Sephiroth, aloof as ever, agreed to train them in close-quarters combat, pushing them both to confront their weaknesses.
"You're fast, Skuld, but too linear," he said one afternoon, catching her ankle mid-kick and flipping her off-balance. "Think more three-dimensionally. Enemies don't always stand still."
Skuld grunted as she rolled back to her feet. "I'll remember that."
"And you," Sephiroth turned to Aqua, his silver blade humming with tension, "rely too much on range. Magic won't always save you when an enemy gets up close."
"I know," Aqua muttered, panting. "That's why I asked you to help."
"You'll regret that request," he said flatly, then lunged.
Their training was grueling but illuminating. Aqua relearned the subtleties of footwork, of weapon momentum, and spatial control. Skuld honed her burst movement and evasive countering. They grew stronger together, bit by bit, reshaping their combat foundation with each passing day.
When they weren't bleeding on the training floor, they visited the lower city of Thebes. They wandered through lively marketplaces, browsed vendor stalls, and sat at street cafés sipping nectar-fruit tea. They shared meals, laughter, and simple pleasures Aqua hadn't known she still missed.
Sometimes Skuld would catch Aqua looking out at the horizon and ask, "What are you thinking about?"
And Aqua would smile, bittersweet. "The Land of Departure. It feels like this… calm, familiar, safe. Like before, everything changed."
Skuld nodded in understanding. She knew that weight too—of memories wrapped in loss.
On their third morning, a soft hum vibrated through Aqua's pauldron. Skuld's bracer shimmered.
They looked at each other.
The cracks that ran through these items were now fully healed.
This meant that their armor had been fully restored and that it was time to leave this world.
They stood together on the cliffside above the Colosseum, morning wind brushing past them. Their journey, it seemed, could finally continue.
Down in the villa, Zack was bawling as he packed their travel bread, although they said they were fine, he still insisted on doing so.
"I just got used to having two gorgeous women around," he wailed, holding a handkerchief to his eye as he waved a wooden spoon in dramatic grief. "And now you're abandoning me! You monsters! Leaving me to take care of these men!"
Skuld laughed. "Zack, we'll be back. Don't cry, and as Helios would say, try not to burn the house down."
"Cloud's the one with a problem controlling heat," Zack grumbled, glancing at the silent man sharpening his sword in the corner. "He's been brooding by the stove again."
Cloud looked up, gave Skuld a nod. A quiet farewell. A little more expressive than before—the healing of his damaged heart was slow, but visible.
Sephiroth didn't say goodbye. He just walked past them, pausing long enough to say, "Don't die. Also, if you find him, tell him to return. I'm curious to see his new strength."
Aqua responded with a silent nod while Skuld said, "Alright."
Outside the house, they crossed through the forest clearing and summoned their Keyblades. A soft wind rustled the trees. The moment felt still, sacred.
Aqua raised her Keyblade, opening a corridor through the sky. The swirling light shimmered with the energy of the Lanes Between.
Skuld slid her armor into place. "So… what now? Are we heading back to where we split up?"
"We go to Traverse Town," Aqua said, the familiar determination returning to her voice. "Merlin needs to know what's happened recently. And then we can take time to decide what comes next."
"Think he'll believe it? Think we'll find Helios there?" Skuld asked.
Aqua activated her armor and stepped forward. "He's seen more impossible things, and he seems to have some idea about the darkness in Helios. I don't know if we'll find him there, but we'll find him nevertheless. If he's lost himself to the darknes,s then he needs to be put down before he harms anyone."
Skuld was silent as she hoped that it would never come to that. She knew that Helios had darkness, and that made Aqua weary of him, but deep down, she hoped they could get along. After all, who would want to see two people you care about fighting one another, especially to the death?
Their gliders spun into form and roared to life beneath them. As they flew through the endless space before them, the world of Olympus behind them shrank, a moment of peace left behind.
Ahead lay battle, chaos, mystery, and hopefully answers.
And Helios would be found one way or another.
Skuld's voice came through their coms as they streaked into the void. "We'll find him soon, won't we?"
Aqua looked straight ahead, eyes sharp. "Yes, we will. And this time, we won't let him talk his way out. This time, he will answer all our questions. If he doesn't, then there will be a reckoning like none before."