It had taken quite some time—significantly longer than she had ever anticipated. Nevertheless, the grubs had finally matured, and Aqua saw the new queens off with a wave.

Strange… they were not her biological offspring, unlike her past Heartless babies, but she still found herself positively glowing with affection for them. She hoped that her example towards them, coupled with the fact that their true progenitor, the Queen Bee, seemed docile and understanding for her species, would result in even more benevolent Heartless in the long run.

Comfortable and confident in the role she’d played so far, she resumed her journey, even as that same inner self which had condemned her for playing around with the Dark Hide grumbled that this was quite unbecoming of a Keyblade Master.

That voice was growing easier and easier to ignore, though.

Her wanderings took her for days—at least, Aqua thought they were days, though in the end she was not quite that certain. Despite her experiences in the Realm of Darkness with Heartless that were intrigued by her in… other ways, her past paramours were continually proven to be anomalies. Every day, more and more of the bestial creatures attacked her, slavering for her heart.

She fought them off, of course—calling magic on them and shattering their horns and fangs and bodies with her keyblade. But Master Aqua found her thoughts constantly turning back towards the world she had left behind and the friends she had lost. So long as she had strength of heart, her inner light could sustain her here in this realm; perhaps indefinitely, if it was called for. And her martial might ensured that didn’t really have anything to fear from the horde of Heartless.

But her loneliness… now that was a blade that cut her deep. She had to admit, she was growing lonely without other people to talk to. Her friends… Ven… Terra… was she really never going to see them again?

Was she using the more docile Heartless, inviting them into her body and her womb, giving herself to their pleasure and bearing their children, in a misguided attempt to claim something, anything like that which she left behind?

It was a sobering thought.

Aqua’s wanderings eventually took her to a dark and dreary part of the Realm of Darkness. It was a land of craggy stones and grey earth and dreary skies, festooned with the remnants of far-gone ruins. Like the fruit which she had snacked on during her time with the Powerwilds, she suspected the rubble here was, like her, a refugee from the world of light.

Errant, bestial cries touched her ears, and she instantly summoned her keyblade, ready to battle at a moment’s notice. But the cries weren’t directed at her and, cautiously, she stalked her way to the edge of one of the ruins. Peeking inside, she saw a large group of Heartless. They were of a type she had seen before; she’d christened them ‘Gargoyles’ after their fearsome appearance.

The Gargoyles were roughly humanoid in shape, with purple flesh and enormous black wings that draped off their backs like a cloak. The familiar Heartless symbol adorned their chest, and their face was an enormous jagged maw set with glowing yellow eyes and a pair of long striped horns.

There was a group of about seven Gargoyles. A quartet of ferocious-looking, normal-sized ones were ganging up on a huddling small trio of other ones. The bigger bullies were savagely going after the runts; one of the small ones was ineffectually attempting to fight back, while the others merely huddled in fear. They had no chance.

Aqua’s temper flared. Heartless or not, those littler Gargoyles were defenseless… and she wasn’t going to stand for their mistreatment! Before she knew it, she was charging into battle.

The big Gargoyles turned to her, roaring their defiance, and the nearest swiped at her. She parried its blow effortlessly and then vaulted over it, shattering its body into smoke with one expert swing of her blade. Unleashing her Magic Hour technique, Aqua found herself transformed into light incarnate. She summoned pillars of radiance beneath each of the remaining adversaries and then warped through them, damaging them with a combination of her own martial prowess and the light magic. Soon enough two more had fallen, and the last, screeching with rage and fear, took off into the darkened sky.

The Firaga attack she launched was faster. The orange orb detonated on contact with the Gargoyle, subsuming it and its surroundings in a globe of fire. When the brightness was gone, Aqua stood victorious.

Turning her attention to the huddling trio of Gargoyles, she raised an eyebrow as they cringed back from her. “It’s okay,” she said. “I won’t destroy you. I came here to protect you.” They continued huddling and she had no clue if her words were getting through to them. “See?” she insisted, dismissing her keyblade and spreading her hands wide.

Two of the Gargoyles continued cringing, but the third—the same spunky creature which had attempted to put up a fight against its brethren—tentatively moved forward, cocking its head sideways, one way and then another, to investigate her.

“You’re so inquisitive,” Aqua said as the creature circled her, sweeping its gaze up and down as though fascinated by her ribbons, her skin, her azure hair. “And you were courageous. Why were they after you?”

There was no answer, of course. The Gargoyle seemed particularly interested in her chest. It hopped forward and, as if dreading a reprimand, gently reached out one finger to poke her breast. Aqua had to admit, the touch sent a fluttering of excitement through her, and the creature seemed even more intrigued.

A realization struck. “Could it be that the Heartless destroy those of themselves who don’t conform to what they’re ‘supposed’ to be?” she mused. “Is that why they’re so uniformly ferocious? The meeker ones are ravaged by their brethren?”

It made a perverse sense. But, she mused, it wasn’t foolproof. The Dark Hide had been easily tamed, and others like the Powerwilds and the Stinging Bees hadn’t been malevolent at all. Not to mention the young I brought into this world hopefully share some of my kindness.

The Gargoyle continued its fascination with her breast, and flutterings of arousal continued emanating from her pussy, and Aqua decided then and there that so long as she was around, kinder and docile Heartless wouldn’t lack for numbers. I’ll breed it out of them, she thought with resolve. I’ll destroy those which try to steal hearts and reward the better specimens with sex and progeny. And if the Heartless I bring into this world share my outlook and propagate themselves, then maybe… maybe, over time, they can cease to be a threat.

Well, if she was going to commit to that, the creature in front of her wouldn’t make a bad first start.