Editing Realm of Darkness

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The '''Realm of Darkness'''<!--INCORPORATE AS NIHONGO TEMPLATE; see Cross Slash for example of translation wonkery

*The playable version of the Realm of Darkness that appears in ''Kingdom Hearts 0.2'' is referred to as the '''Dark World'''. However, the Japanese game uses the typical term ''yami no sekai'', with the English phrase "Dark World" only appearing in the world's logo.--> is a realm made up of [[Darkness]] in people in every world. Time has no meaning there.<!--Secret Ansem's Report 5--> 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, Seeker of Darkness]] 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|Chūsō}}, she ventures through the {{nihongo|'''{{a|Lower Zone}}'''|下層|Kasō}} and {{nihongo|'''{{a|Upper Zone}}'''|上層|Jōsō}} 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-jō}}, which is all that remains of [[Castle of Dreams]] after that world was swallowed by the darkness.

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[[File:Minimap (Realm of Darkness) KHBBS.png|500px]]

[[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.

[[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.

 

 

Once she gets to the Castle of Dreams, Aqua sees a ghost of [[Terra]] from their time in that world. Aqua is left wondering where the people of the world went when it was swallowed by darkness. She next finds herself in the remains of [[Dwarf Woodlands]], where she sees a phantom of [[Ven]] in Snow White's glass coffin. Wondering what her friends are trying to tell her, Aqua sees the [[Magic Mirror]] and is pulled into the world inside of it by [[Phantom Aqua|her own reflection]]. Fighting off illusions of herself in the mirror, Aqua manages to escape and arrives in [[Enchanted Dominion]], where phantoms of Terra and Ventus walk through a forest of thorns. Eventually catching up to them, Aqua is shocked to find Terra, who reveals that he [[Ansem, Seeker of Darkness|is no]] [[Xemnas|longer himself]]. As Aqua tells Terra that she put Ven somewhere safe, Terra becomes [[Terra-Xehanort]]; however, Terra's spirit holds him at bay, explaining that [[Xehanort]] is looking for Ven for a [[Real Organization XIII|dark purpose]].

The struggle between the two attracts a [[Darkside]], which pulls Aqua into a port of darkness. Ready to let the darkness swallow her, Aqua is surprised to find [[Mickey]] rescuing her. Mickey explains that it's been ten years since she fell into the darkness, and that [[Sora]] and [[Riku]] are helping him to try stopping the darkness from destroying the worlds. To to this, they need [[Kingdom Key D|the Dark Realm's Keyblade]] to help Sora seal the [[Door to Darkness]]. They eventually find it in the remains of [[Destiny Islands]], and head off to find the door. However, when they get there, [[Heartless]] attempt to attack Riku, so Aqua fends it off at the cost of getting separated from Mickey again.

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.

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 Seeker of Darkness 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-->

===''Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A fragmentary passage-''===

<!--rewrite in-universe, place flashback where it belongs in timeline using storylinks, use natural English, stop saying albeit multiple times

After the events of [[Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance]], Riku, having officially named a Keyblade Master, is told by Mickey of events that had happened just before the beginning of the original ''Kingdom Hearts''.

Being told as a flashback, the story starts at where the Secret Episode in [[Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep Final Mix]] ended; Aqua finds the remains of the [[Castle of Dreams]] while traversing the Realm of Darkness. She explores the fallen remnants of this world, along with the [[Dwarf Woodlands]], [[Enchanted Dominion]], and even the [[Destiny Islands]], all while encountering walking memories of Terra and Ventus, and even confronting her own phantom, remarking that she never thought that she would become her own worst enemy. While exploring the fallen Enchanted Dominion, Aqua meets the actual Terra and Ventus, albeit just visions of them. Terra is surprised that Aqua can see him, while Ventus remains silent, as he is still comatose in the Realm of Light. Terra, unable to see Ventus, asks Aqua what happened after they were separated following the battle with Master Xehanort at the Keyblade Graveyard. As she explains, Terra is slowly overtaken by Xehanort, who used Terra in order to lure Aqua into revealing where the [[Chamber of Waking]]. Before she is able to reveal where Ventus is, the real Terra shows up behind Terra-Xehanort and attempts to restrain him, and a struggle ensues. Aqua and Ventus are grabbed by two hands that appear out of the darkness; Terra, in a latch ditch effort to safe his friends, releases his full power, similar to the Lingering Will conjuring the Will's Cage, and Aqua passes out.

 

Aqua, ready to let herself fade into the darkness, is saved by none other than King Mickey. It is then revealed that 10 years have passed in the Realm of Light, and that the worlds are in danger. Sensing the danger, Mickey set out to enter the Realm of Darkness and find a "Keyblade of Darkness" in order to close the door letting darkness escape into the Realm of Light. Eventually, the two come upon the ruins of the Destiny Islands . Aqua reminisces that this is the same island where she met the two boys she considered passing the Keyblade to, and Mickey tells her that those same two boys are the ones helping him close the door to darkness. Speculating that since this is where Sora and Riku obtained the Keyblade, he concludes that the dark counterpart to must also be here. They set out towards the Secret Place, and open the door inside that was originally the Destiny Islands' Keyhole; inside is the [[Kingdom Key D]], the Keyblade of Darkness Mickey was looking for.

 

Armed with the Kingdom Key D, Mickey explains that the door is actually Kingdom Hearts, albeit a different one than the one they encountered at the Keyblade Graveyard. The camera pans back to reveal that the room they are in is the same one that is seen inside the door during the ending of the first game. Riku is seen running towards the door, but a swarm of Shadows are chasing after him. Aqua and Mickey rush to his aid, but Aqua is swept up by the swarm into the door and is forcefully ejected outside to the beach. As she battles it, Mickey and Sora successfully close Kingdom Hearts. Having defeated the Heartless, Aqua is lying on the beach as the world is restored around her, in a scene similar to the ending of the original Kingdom Hearts,where the stars become visible again and lights start showering. The beach around her starts disappearing as the Destiny Islands are restored. However, she is not able to be taken back to the Realm of Light, as creatures of light are unable to pass through the door to darkness. She resolves to be a wayfinder for people who end up in the Realm of Darkness, and once again she falls into darkness.

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==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. The ''Kingdom Hearts II'' game files and the official ''Kingdom Hearts'' website refer to this world as {{nihongo|'''End of Sea'''|エンド・オブ・シー|Endo obu Shī}}.

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