Editing Realm of Darkness

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The '''Realm of Darkness''' is a realm made up of Darkness in people in every world. As with the Realm of Light, this realm has a Keyblade, [[Kingdom Key D]], which chose King Mickey as its wielder. It is where Ansem formed the [[Kingdom Hearts of Worlds' Hearts]], and is the home of all Heartless.

After defeating Terra-Xehanort, Aqua awakes within an immense, eerie cavern known simply as the {{nihongo|'''{{a|Realm of Darkness}}'''|闇の世界|Yami no Sekai}}. Starting at the cavern's {{nihongo|'''{{a|Middle Zone}}'''|中層|Chūsou}}, she ventures through the {{nihongo|'''{{a|Lower Zone}}'''|下層|Kasou}} and {{nihongo|'''{{a|Upper Zone}}'''|上層|Jousou}} before finally finding a way out. These caves are infested with Heartless and strange rock formations, as well as geysers and barriers formed from pure darkness.

{{section-stub}}<!--please rewrite this section to give a short paragraph describing the features of each room, and if you can figure out how to have a non-plot based way to describe this section, more power to you-->

Just outside of this cavern is the {{nihongo|'''{{a|Valley of the Dark}}'''|闇の狭間|Yami no Hazama}}, a twisted and decaying forest drenched in darkness. Past the valley is the {{nihongo|'''{{a|Dark Cinderella Castle}}'''|闇シンデレラ城|Yami Shinderera Shiro}}, which is all that remains of [[Castle of Dreams]] after that world was swallowed by the darkness.

[[File:Deep Dive 02 KHFM.png|thumb|left|200px|The Dark Margin.]]

At the furthest reaches of the Realm of Darkness, on the border between it and the Realm Between<!--cite to Director's Secret Report XIII-->, is a moonlit shoreline called the {{nihongo|'''Dark Margin'''|闇の海岸|Yami no Kaigan}}. Like the caverns, this beach is littered with strange, almost organic rock formations.

===''A Fragmentary Passage''===

[[File:Realm of Darkness Gameplay (Aqua) 01 KHBBSFM.png|thumb|right|Aqua fighting Heartless in the Realm of Darkness.]]

While wandering lost through the Realm of Darkness, Aqua is confronted by a [[Darkside]]. She prepares to fight it, but three more Darksides join the fight and she loses hope. However, she is rescued by the [[Earthshaker]] and [[Wayward Wind]] Keyblades, which make quick work of the Darksides and renew her hope. She looks at her Wayfinder and remembers all the friends she has made throughout her journey across the worlds. Smiling, Aqua vows to escape the Realm of Darkness.

However, as she moves onward, a crack of light forms in the cavern's roof and a beam of darkness fires through it. Aqua's Wayfinder stops glowing and she senses something is wrong. Aqua ventures deeper in the Realm of Darkness and comes across the [[Heartless]], enemies she does not recognize. As residents of the Realm of Darkness, these enemies prove to be stronger than the Unversed, but Aqua manages to fight her way through them until she reaches their leader{{?}}, the [[Dark Hide]]. Although the beast is vicious and powerful, Aqua finally emerges victorious after a lengthy battle.

Venturing forward, Aqua is horrified when she spots the destroyed [[Castle of Dreams]] jutting out of a sea of darkness in the distance.

Six days after [[Roxas]]'s induction into [[Organization XIII]], Roxas visits [[Xemnas]] at the Dark Margin, where they briefly talk before Xemnas takes his leave.{{fact}}<!--doesn't Nomura say this part of the Dark Margin is on the Realm Between side?-->

After Ansem takes Riku's body, Riku's heart escapes to the Realm of Darkness, where he hears Mickey calling for him. Mickey lets him know that he has retrieved a [[Keyblade of darkness]], with which they can close the [[Door to Darkness]]. Riku agrees to help, and continues onward.

Later, after Sora reaches the deepest depths of the [[End of the World]], he finds Ansem preparing to open the [[Door to Darkness]], so that he can enter the Realm of Darkness and the [[Kingdom Hearts of Worlds' Hearts]] laying within it. Though Sora defeats Ansem, the door has already opened and darkness begins spilling out. As Sora and his friends struggle to shut the door, they see Mickey and a restored Riku on the other side, and together, they manage to close the door.

Riku awakens from his slumber in the Realm of Darkness{{fact}} when an unseen presence, later revealed to be [[DiZ]], gifts him a magic world card and asks him to choose between slipping back into sleep, or taking the card and making his way toward the truth. Riku decides that going back to sleep would be boring, and confidently takes the card. He is taken by the card through a corridor of darkness to the lowest basement of [[Castle Oblivion]]. As Riku makes his way through the castle, he is contacted by Mickey, who is still trapped within the Realm of Darkness but encourages Riku to persevere. As Riku reaches the top of the castle, Mickey finally finds a way out of the Realm of Darkness in the form of another card, which showed him Riku's heart and led him through a corridor of darkness constructed by Organization XIII.<ref>{{storylink|Secret Ansem's Report 11}}: "It seems my friend, fighting in the realm of darkness, appeared in Castle Oblivion through a corridor of darkness constructed by Organization XIII. My new ally Riku also effected his return via one of these corridors."</ref>

After running into Mickey at [[Twilight Town]], Sora and his friends decide that they must enter the Realm of Darkness to find Riku.

When they encounter [[Saïx]] at the [[Battle of the 1000 Heartless]], Sora even begs Saïx to let him into the Realm of Darkness, but the Nobody coldly refuses and prepares to attack. [[Maleficent]] begrudgingly rescues Sora and his friends by transporting them to the Realm of Darkness, where they run into a disguised [[Riku-Ansem]]. He leaves them a [[sea-salt ice cream]] bar and a photo of Roxas in [[Twilight Town]] as clues to get to [[The World That Never Was]], rescue [[Kairi]] and destroy Organization XIII. They follow the clues to the [[Old Mansion]], hoping that the [[Simulated Twilight Town]] will have another path to the Realm of Darkness.

 

After defeating Xemnas within his "[[The World of Nothing]]", Sora and Riku end up at the Realm Between's side of the Dark Margin.<!--cite Director's Secret Report--> They patiently wait there until [[Kairi's Letter]] washes up on the shore. The [[Door to Light]] appears as they read it, allowing them to return home to Destiny Islands.

<!--Ansem creates a facsimile of the Realm of Darkness in which to fight Riku in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance-->

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File:Darkside KH.png|[[Darkside]] (Cutscene only)

==Treasures==

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*According to the [[Director's Secret Report XIII]], the Dark Margin is the tip of a world in the Realm Between reaching into the Realm of Darkness. Although this world is not officially named, the ''Kingdom Hearts II'' game files refer to it as {{nihongo|'''End of Sea'''|エンド・オブ・シー|Endo obu Shī}}.

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