Birth by Sleep – A Fragmentary Passage Aqua Finding Unknown Memories and 0.2 Theories

I was going to make a post about in the 'Kingdom Hearts 2.8 Featured in Famitsu' thread but it got too long. (Please read the article first lol)

I want to theorize about this first:

During her stay in the Realm of Darkness, she comes across "unknown memories" and an encounter.

So we already know Aqua has encountered Ansem in the Realm of Darkness. I wondered if maybe that is the encounter that is being talked about. I'm thinking that it might be something that's extended, for reasons I'll go over in a minute.

As for the Memories, I'm thinking they are memories or either Xion, Terra or the Grand Master (In Chi) along with his 5 pupils.

Xion first; Xion was connected to Ventus, since Xigbar looked at Xion and saw her. People with strong hearts who make great sacrifices for their friends tend to end up in the Realm of Darkness (Riku and Sora, Ansem, Aqua etc). Now, you could argue that Sora didn't end up there when he turned into a Heartless for Kairi, but he was on his way (at least that's how it was looking). There are also causes like Roxas and Axel who didn't, but I think that's for different reasons. Roxas didn't sacrifice anything willingly, and I think that when he did he just ended up in Sora's Heart. People with no place go to the Realm of Darkness. Xion was one of those people for a while, who was a special case compared to Roxas. Axel for all we know could have ended up there as well, and maybe that's who she encounters but I'll get to that.

I feel like the memory of Xion, even though they 'died' along with Xion, would be best kept in The Realm of Darkness. The connected that Aqua has with Ventus, and that Xion has with Ventus might bring Aqua into contact with those memories. Also it has been known to be argued that even though Namine told DiZ it was Sora's memories of Kairi impacting Xion's appearance and her memories, it could also be Ventus' memory of Aqua. The reason that it might not be directly Ventus' is because Ven has all of his memories in him where as Sora didn't, but since he's sharing a heart with Sora, he can 'see' if you will, that little bit of Aqua seeing Sora and that being fond memory, possibly the only one he can still see since Ventus is technically sleeping etc.

Since Namine didn't know about Aqua, that it's very possible that she overlooked Ventus' heart contributing to Xion's appearance. IMO Xion looks a lot more like Aqua then Kairi, but that's just my own personal thoughts about it.

Terra is kind of the same deal with Xion, if Terra's memories 'died' that's where they would be, and Terra's Lingering Will needs those memories. It would make sense for Aqua to find them.

Now I bring up the 5 Fortellers and the Grand Master for a similar reason. If Twilight Town is not in fact Daybreak Town, and my whole theory about the memory pod thing (which I think I mentioned on the Podcast and in another thread) is wrong, then either Daybreak Town is a sleeping world, if not the residents of Daybreak town would be stuck in the Realm of Darkness (That could also be the encounter). Those 6 have strong hearts like Aqua and Ansem, and so they didn't die but just wandered. Now if the Memory Pod thing is correct, then it could just be the memories from Daybreak down that Aqua saw. She did see the memories of her adventures, and those worlds were cast into darkness later on (And when she saw them she had been wandering for a while) I haven't played Chi so I don't know how sound my reasoning is based on that.

Now that I talked about everyone's memories, I feel like the question is 'why'

Would Aqua be coming in contact with these memories by accident, or on purpose? I'm thinking it's more on purpose, and here's why. If Aqua had met Ansem and talked to him longer then we saw on screen, Ansem said something very interesting to Riku in 3D.

Ansem suggests that perhaps Sora has the power to recreate people that had been thought to be lost forever, and to mend connections that had been broken; this is due to the uncorrupted and caring nature of Sora's heart. For this to be achieved, Ansem states that Sora needs only to follow where his heart leads him, and the rest of the information needed is in the data.

A couple of people do know this, but I don't think Mickey did when he was in the Realm of Darkness, so he didn't tell Aqua to go find those memories. We do know because of 3D that Riku is confronted by Roxas, Ventus and Xion, even more of a reason that they're all connected enough for Aqua to see Xion's memories. Not only are they in Sora's Heart, but Ansem is in there too.

Maybe the rest of the conversation with Ansem is telling Aqua this? If Aqua is looking for those memories in order for Sora to bring those people back, it would make sense that Mickey just kind of... left her there. Mickey says that he knows where she is, but is it possible that Mickey is the encounter (Mickey might have been looking for her) but she was looking for what Ansem told her too, which could be the memories of any of the people I already stated.

Xion, the Fortellers, and Terra are all people we think are lost forever, to some extent. We just don't know how to get Terra back, but it's evident in 2 that he needs his memories, the only ones he has are the ones of rage and hate and of Xehanort.

What I'm saying is, that maybe Aqua's quest through the game is to find those memories that Ansem told her too. That also means Ansem isn't the encounter they are talking about, since he's at the beginning and I'm guessing she is seeing whoever at the end. Now, if Aqua is busy in the Realm of Darkness looking for Terra, then she can't go and wake Ventus up just yet. What some theories are suggesting and what I personally think is that Aqua tossed her Keyblade into the water hoping Sora would find it, similar to how Kairi did with her letter to Sora. Giving Sora her Keyblade, the one he was holding in the KH3 trailer would give him the power to wake Ventus up, someone else who is considered 'Lost forever', someone only he can wake up. When Aqua is done her thing, maybe she'll regroup. If they haven't collected Aqua already I think that would be the reason why.

Now for the encounter it could be the Fortellers themselves, like I mentioned, or something or rather someone I briefly mentioned, which would be Axel.

Why would Axel be in the Realm of Darkness? Well he did make a sacrifice to save Sora, and I already talked about how people who sacrifice themselves end up in the Dark Realm. Now, I don't really have any evidence to back this up, but may it be possible that Aqua did the Keyblade Ceremony on Axel? She didn't do it on Kairi, at least intentionally, and it never does say how many people you can hand a Keyblade down to. If Kairi didn't count and she still had her 'free-Keyblade giving' left, maybe she gave it to Axel. That would explain why Axel has a Keyblade now. I don't think Axel traveled to Yen Sid, I think Yen Sid called upon Axel, for that reason. Because Yen Sid saw something that tipped the balance, which would be him meeting Aqua. Now why didn't Aqua go with Axel? I don't think she would have been able to. Axel probably just kind of disappeared and showed up on the floor like we saw in 3D, I don't think he could have taken Aqua even if he wanted too.

Now, these theories are all sort of surrounding the idea that Ansem the Wise sent Aqua to look for the memories. If she stumbled upon them I could see things being a little bit different, but the idea is still the same.

I want to hear what you guys think about the story line in 0.2, whether it's backed up with some evidence or just what poured out of your creativity.

 

If anything should finally give us some hints about what happened to Terra's and Eraqus's hearts after BBS, it's 0.2.