Days passed in the jungle like a happy dream, but eventually what had held true for Aqua’s past offspring held true for the Powerwilds and the Bouncywild. They were growing big and fast, and before long, they were rambunctious, energetic, and increasingly difficult to control. Never malicious, of course, but endlessly mischievous.

Before long the destined day arrived, and Aqua found herself waving her simian children off with a bittersweet smile. She hoped that they would be docile and less prone to attack others, and that their fathers would follow their bargain and seek sustenance and mates rather than hearts.

It was the closest thing to a purpose she had now.

Aqua resumed her ramblings, still sticking to the jungle section of the Realm of Darkness. It was new, and quite different from the withered forests and blasted ruins that she was used to. She wondered what kind of world had been swallowed to craft such a locale. What had happened to its inhabitants? She wasn’t sure if she would ever find out. Probably nothing good. She’d never encountered another human and, in all likelihood, never would.

The Heartless are all I have now, she mused. The realization should have left her feeling hollow, but any feelings of moroseness were subsumed by an insistent throbbing need from her loins.

Well. May as well make use of what you’ve got.

Not, of course, that the Heartless were saints. Far from it. After the monkeys had departed, Aqua found herself once again beset on all sides. The Heartless were more insistent than ever. Was her heart really so enticing to them? Given that they couldn’t speak, she could only guess at their motives.

After a few days of tentatively probing the jungle, Aqua found herself enticed by a familiar yet hard-to-pin scent. It drifted at her from far, far away, deeper within the jungle. It was alluring and sweet. She grappled over hunting it down before finally deciding to go for it. After all, she had nothing but time.

It was a solid half-day’s journey, but she finally arrived at the source. It was an incredible, downright titanic tree—easily the size of a castle turret, if not bigger. Aqua couldn’t help but gawp at the thing’s enormity. Its massive branches seemed covered in a forest’s worth of leaves, and hollows the size of hallways pockmarked its trunk. The scent was definitely emanating from it.

Aqua didn’t have much time to admire it, however. A sound in the brush behind her made her spin, summoning her keyblade and gathering a pearl of magic at the tip. The culprit was a Heartless—one unlike any she’d seen before. The creature was a buzzing insect with transparent wings, a round body, and a striped stinger jutting out of it. It was deceptively large, outsizing either of her breasts. The creature—a Stinging Bee—hovered warily in front of her.

They stood like that for a solid half-minute until Aqua tentatively lowered her keyblade. She wasn’t going to make the first move, and besides—this thing didn’t strike her as terribly powerful. It would be effortless to dispatch it.

The Stinging Bee regarded her cautiously before relaxing and buzzing past her, zipping up the great tree and vanishing in one of the hollows.

A bee… So that’s what the scent was. Honey.

Despite knowing that such things were beneath her—she had no need for normal food in the Realm, after all—Aqua began salivating regardless. It had been so long since she’d had anything truly tasty…

Perhaps against her better judgment, she began scaling the titan tree.

It wasn’t that difficult, especially with her skills as a Keyblade Master. She was easily able to make high jumps and send herself rocketing over gaps with her abilities. The higher she got, the stronger the honeyed scent grew before, finally, she came to an open hollow.

The interior was glistening gold, a massive hive of incredible proportions. Stinging Bees busied themselves to and fro, moving at a brisk pace, and none of them seemed to mind her presence. There were hexagonal honeycombs large enough for her to crawl into, and better yet, the whole complex boasted a veritable wealth of honey.

Forgetting herself, Aqua stepped inside the hive, her eyes wide. Such a mouthwatering treat… to think that she’d find it in the Realm of Darkness! Before she could take more than a few steps, she wrinkled her nose against the stickiness of the hive’s interior. It would be worth it to get at that honey… but was it worth soiling her only clothing? Pondering her options, she decided to strip down, piling her clothes in a bundle outside the hive entrance