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Name: Maya Aaronson
Age: 60
Canon: Kingdom Hearts
Preincarnation: Master Aqua
Maya Aaronson is the writer of The Starheart Saga, a raygun gothic space opera. Read more about it here. She's more Diane Duane famous, not GRRM famous, which is to say if your character is in well-read nerdy circles, they probably know her. Much like Diane Duane, she keeps a Tumblr and is actually pretty hip with the cool kids. She often goes on the convention circuit. Her other popular series is a dark urban fantasy called City of Broken Glass, which takes place in a mirror universe Locke City where magic is real. It's kind of Dresden Files with a female protagonist. She also wrote two stand-alone novels, Sunward Home, a hard sci-fi novel, and Crystal and Clockwork, a novel that everyone would have called steampunk if that had been a thing in the 90s.
Maya also teaches fencing at the local Locke City Fencing Club (which isn't a club in the after school sense, but rather an Actual Nationally Known Fencing Club Thing (see DC fencing for an example!) and is known for being really damn spry for a 60 year old.
She is Daiuskenejo Bitou's aunt (if he gets in, anyway). She cannot pronounce his name, much to her dismay, so just calls him Beat.
She is ALSO Fred's great-aunt
ECHOES
Memories: The Mark of Mastery Examination
Giving the Wayfinders to Ventus and Terra
Ventus' name
Catching frozen Ventus after he's thrown off a cliff by Xehanort
Terra's name
Terra's possession by Xehanort and her battle with him
Kairi's grandmother telling her the story of the World of Light, and how it was shattered
Skills:
Magic
Barrier: Creates a spherical barrier around herself or another person to defend against attacks. At-will.
Bind: Binds people's feet to the ground. She can cast this three times in a row, but then needs a two-hour recharge.
Physical:
Items:
Age: 60
Canon: Kingdom Hearts
Preincarnation: Master Aqua
Maya Aaronson is the writer of The Starheart Saga, a raygun gothic space opera. Read more about it here. She's more Diane Duane famous, not GRRM famous, which is to say if your character is in well-read nerdy circles, they probably know her. Much like Diane Duane, she keeps a Tumblr and is actually pretty hip with the cool kids. She often goes on the convention circuit. Her other popular series is a dark urban fantasy called City of Broken Glass, which takes place in a mirror universe Locke City where magic is real. It's kind of Dresden Files with a female protagonist. She also wrote two stand-alone novels, Sunward Home, a hard sci-fi novel, and Crystal and Clockwork, a novel that everyone would have called steampunk if that had been a thing in the 90s.
Maya also teaches fencing at the local Locke City Fencing Club (which isn't a club in the after school sense, but rather an Actual Nationally Known Fencing Club Thing (see DC fencing for an example!) and is known for being really damn spry for a 60 year old.
She is Daiuskenejo Bitou's aunt (if he gets in, anyway). She cannot pronounce his name, much to her dismay, so just calls him Beat.
She is ALSO Fred's great-aunt
ECHOES
Memories: The Mark of Mastery Examination
Giving the Wayfinders to Ventus and Terra
Ventus' name
Catching frozen Ventus after he's thrown off a cliff by Xehanort
Terra's name
Terra's possession by Xehanort and her battle with him
Kairi's grandmother telling her the story of the World of Light, and how it was shattered
Skills:
Magic
Barrier: Creates a spherical barrier around herself or another person to defend against attacks. At-will.
Bind: Binds people's feet to the ground. She can cast this three times in a row, but then needs a two-hour recharge.
Physical:
Items:
THE STARHEART SAGA
Jul. 2nd, 2013 07:15 pmHere is what Maya knows from the Echo:
> There's a Mark of Mastery exam for people who carry around giant keys
> There were four people in the room. She knows vaguely what they look like, and that the young man failed because of "darkness"
> She has no idea what Aqua looks like, she just knows that she had the point of view here
> One quote: "There are no winners -- only truths. When equal powers clash, their nature is revealed."
***
Differences in the Starheart Key:
> Maya decided that giant keys are goofy, so instead they have smaller, palm-sized keys they wear around their necks, which are heirlooms. These keys do grant magical powers
> They use magic swords instead
> Their outfits are less, um, KH-y.
***
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
Nerida -- The Aqua counterpart, the main character. People have assumed that Nerida is a self-insert, and Maya has admitted that Nerida is something of a reflection of her 18 year old self: tied up in duty and trying to do the right thing all the time, even at the cost of her happiness. Nerida carries the Waterheart Key, which gives her power over water.
She was originally from a desert planet, and was given the Waterheart Key to bring rain to the land.
Kun -- the Terra counterpart, Kun is Nerida's love interest, though Key Keepers aren't supposed to fall in love. He fails his first Mark of Mastery exam due to a great shadow on his heart, and spends much of the series trying to overcome it; he initially thinks it's his love for Nerida which clouds him, but it turns out to be equal parts his desire for power, his anxiety over not doing well enough to protect his friends... and a deliberate poison by Master Yaotl. Much to everyone's shock, he actually dies tragically at the end of the second book.
Kun was from a tropical world of great mountains, and was given the Earthheart Key to help till the land.
Zephyr -- the Ventus counterpart, Zephyr is a young Apprentice, that is, a trainee. He's young, very optimistic, and best friends with Nerida and Kun, who treat him as a younger brother.
Zephyr has the Airheart, as he came from a world of floating islands; the Airheart Key lets him fly.
Master Agni -- the Master Eraqus counterpart. Current head of the Keepers, he presides over the exam, and is killed early in book one when the Keepers are overwhelmed by Shadow. He once held the Fireheart Key.
Master Yaotl -- The Master Xehanort counterpart. Another Master of the Keepers, Yaotl is secretly a traitor to the Order, who kowtowed to the Order of Shadows and their minions in exchange for power and his life. He once held the Frostheart Key, this was corrupted into a Shadowheart Key for his services to Shadow.
PEOPLE WHO AREN'T REALLY COUNTERPARTS TO ANYTHING
Prince Lagos of the Azure Steppes -- shows up in Book 2; he's a Lagomorph, which is to say a rabbit man, and jokes that his name is like Prince Humans, and that it was a great joke. He's a trickster and sort of a jerk; he's also one of the Keepers, and holds the Greenheart Key, which controls plant life. Also, he has blue fur.
***
BOOK ONE -- THE SHADOW PLAGUE
On the galactic capitol of Solaris, three friends, Nerida, Kun, and Zephyr, are all training to become Key Masters. All of them took on the mantle of Key Keeper at a young age according to the traditions of their home worlds. Nerida took on the Waterheart Key at age ten to save her village from a terrible drought. On Kun's world, the burden of Key Keeping is passed down family lines, and his father died in a terrible accident when he was but eleven. And on Zephyr's world, it is mystic priests who choose their world's Keeper, and Zephyr was chosen at the age of six. They are thus some of the youngest candidates for Mastery in years; most don't take the exam until the age of thirty at least, and the last youngest was 25. Kun and Nerida are only nineteen and eighteen, and while Zephyr at thirteen really IS too young to take the exam (sixteen is the minimum age), he's still of a skill level comparable to Kun and Nerida.
For generations, the Keepers have guarded the Heart Keys, magical artifacts from a forgotten era that allow the holder to "unlock" aspects of the universe. There are thousands of these, with aspects as diverse and strange as Glass, Illusion, Flower, and Moonlight, or even Pride and Sorrow. There was once even a tiny Sneezeheart, held by one Bzza', a small beetle-man. It lets him make people sneeze. Those who hold Keys are called Keepers, and those who gain Mastery are, well, Masters. While Keys can be taken up by anyone, it does take skill, training, and dedication to keep them and forge a bond, and once a bond is forged the key cannot be stolen unless the Keeper is slain.
Over the past generations though, the worlds have been in such an unprecedented era of peace that few have taken up the call of the Keys, as it is a terrible burden. Nerida is the only one of her friends who voluntarily took on the Key, and even she did so out of desperation and at an age where she didn't fully understand the consequences. There are a few other Keepers in the galaxy, but by and large they are not the galaxy-wide enforcers they once were. Indeed, such it was that only two Masters presided over the Mark of Mastery examination for Kun and Nerida, those being Master Agni and Master Yaotl.
That being said, there were rumors and rumblings of war on the edge of the galaxy, strange shadowy beasts appearing and dragging people off into the shadows. Nerida found this worrying, but the other students (most in training to even receive keys in the first place!) dismissed her fears. There hadn't been war for centuries, everything was probably fine.
The first part of the exam consisted of fighting back against a pair of summoned Elementals, creatures born of the Key's power -- basically practice dummies. But halfway through the exam, the Elementals went berserk, threatening to rampage throughout the monastery complex. Nerida, Kun, and then Zephyr (despite Nerida telling him to stay on the sidelines) managed to defeat the Elementals, and Master Agni considered this part of the test, but the event left everyone with a deep sense of unease.
During the second half of the test, Nerida and Kun sparred, but again, halfway through, Kun suffered an upswelling of dark power centered around his Key. He could not identify its source, but since the Dark powers were forbidden, this meant that he failed the exam, much to Nerida and Zephyr's surprise. The comforted their friend, but in the end the whole exam had a dark cast over it.
Even so, Nerida had succeeded, and there was a great celebration over the induction of a new (and so young) Master into the ranks. Indeed, at this point in time there were only three Masters left, which made Nerida the fourth Master.
Halfway through the party, disaster struck. The monastery was overwhelmed by dark creatures that flowed and changed form, and in many cases seemed to reflect innermost fears and nightmares. Master Agni was slain trying to protect his youngest students... and failed to do so. Nerida, Zephyr, and Kun only escaped with the help of Master Yaotl.
Thus began a saga of traveling across the ravaged planet to try to reach the Solar Spire, the planet's primary spaceport, so that they could leave the world in search of the source of the Shadow Plague. Nerida and Zephyr start to notice that the Shadows actually seem to be following them, rather than them coming to towns already plagued by Shadow; they begin to suspect their friend Kun, namely that the Darkness within him drew the Shadows to him. Yaotl, meanwhile, drives a wedge between Kun and his friends, saying that he should have succeeded at his test, that their mistrust came of jealousy. Kun, meanwhile, feels caught between his friends. He wants Nerida and Zephyr to trust him, but at the same time implores them to trust Yaotl, since he's the senior authority figure... even though technically Nerida holds as much power as he does (she doesn't assert it yet, however...)
This all comes to a head at the Spire when Nerida discovers by listening in secret that Yaotl had been behind it all along, conversing with a dark figure of mysterious origin. It turns out that said dark figure had promised Yaotl great power in exchange for his help in destroying the Order, and that in fact they were all being used, especially Kun, in whom a dark seed had been planted to corrupt his heart and soul and turn him into a living bomb to be sent off to other worlds. Things come to a head, and the climax of the first book has the Trio fighting Yaotl off and trying to defend a peaceful world from utter destruction. They do not defeat him, but they do save the planet and drive him off.
Nerida and Zephyr agree that they'll do everything in their power to save their friend Kun from the poison within. Kun objects, saying that he should die as if they try to search for a cure he'll only be doing what Yaotl wanted all along. Zephyr says that there may well be a way to save Kun, and stop the Shadows -- a legendary weapon called the Starheart Key. And that even without it, the monk traditions of his own home had a way to at least hide Kun from the Shadows: a protective spell that would prevent the Shadows from finding him. Unfortunately, his heart would still corrode under the Shadows weight, unless the Starheart Key was found.
AND SO BEGAN THE QUEST
BOOK TWO -- THE RIVER OF WORLDS
This book is your typical second book filled with a lot of in-between stuff going on... at least at first. The three travel from world to world, discovering that the Plague is much, much worse than expected... and finding out more about the secrets of the universe besides. The Keys, as it turns out, are each Keyed to the hearts of worlds... and that the Starheart Key was the key to them all. This allowed them to lock and protect the worlds that corresponded to their keys... but no others. Along the way, they encounter Prince Lagos, who at first seems like he might be a rival or antagonist, but then turns out to be a valuable ally.
In the end of this book, they finally discern the location of the Starheart, but Yaotl catches up to them. Kun goes to face Yaotl and hold him off while Nerida and Zephyr escape. Kun dies in the process. It's very tragic.
BOOK THREE -- THE SOURCE OF SHADOWS
Prince Lagos now accompanies Nerida and Zephyr. Zephyr starts to take on more of a role as he gets older. Adventures are had, the two discover the secret truth behind the Shadow attacks: that the Shadows come from another reality, and that Yaotl was only a pawn. They are bent on unmaking the universe... and that in fact this has happened before, hundreds of thousands of times back into infinity. the Keys are in fact the crystallized souls of dead worlds from ages past, given purpose to try to stop the next Cycle... and in fact, the Starheart Key isn't in a particular location, but is in fact the sum power of ALL the Keys. And their old enemy Yaotl has one... so they have to track him down and get that Key.
So they do. Pretty straightforward, actually... except as it turns out Yaotl DOESN'T have that Key, and that the Iceheart Key had been corrupted into a Shadowheart Key.
at this point, the series splits into two different groups, the Chronicles of Prince Lagos, and then the main Starheart Saga.
CHRONICLES OF PRINCE LAGOS SERIES
This is a three book series about Prince Lagos' adventures after Yaotl is defeated; he goes in search of more keys and keybearers. It's known for having a very different style than the main books despite taking place in the same universe, namely a mythological style that has caused people to compare it favorably to the Journey to the West, with Lagos being a Monkey-type character.
BOOK FOUR -- RIVER AND WIND
Lots of piecemeal slice of life style adventures as Nerida and Zephyr gather all the Keys... discovering that other Keepers have been corrupted by power and become bearers of Shadowheart Keys, while their real Keys lie in slumber. Nerida begins to come into her own as a true Master, finally taking full responsibility for herself and her actions as a leader. Zephyr becomes her apprentice. They slowly gather all the Keys. This installment isn't viewed very favorably by most fans and is considered a bit of series padding, despite the character development in it.
BOOK FIVE -- THE STARHEART KEY
Zephyr gains the Mark of Mastery; he and Nerida travel to the heart of the universe to forge the Starheart Key. They fight Malice, the Lord of Shadow. Prince Lagos shows up again (yay!). They forge the key, Nerida defeats Malice, order is restored, everyone's happy.
OTHER WORKS
STARHEART STORIES -- short stories set in the Starheart Universe.
CRYSTAL AND CLOCKWORK -- A stand alone steampunk novel from before steampunk was cool
CITY OF BROKEN GLASS SERIES -- A series of dark urban fantasy novels. Very popular with the tween set. Kind of Dresden Files with a female protagonist.
SUNWARD HOME -- A hard sci-fi series with big generational ships.
Maya wrote a few episodes of Inspector Spacetime which are highly regarded, and led to a really ridiculous Inspector Spacetime / Starheart Saga crossover. She also wrote a few Galaxy Quest tie-in novels, and is one of the few authors known to have worked on both Inspector Spacetime and Galaxy Quest. Finally, she wrote a couple of obscure adventure games in the 90s, and consulted on the obscure Japanese RPG adaptation of The Starheart Saga, which is now really rare and goes for thousands in the collector's market. You can't even pirate that shit man.
> There's a Mark of Mastery exam for people who carry around giant keys
> There were four people in the room. She knows vaguely what they look like, and that the young man failed because of "darkness"
> She has no idea what Aqua looks like, she just knows that she had the point of view here
> One quote: "There are no winners -- only truths. When equal powers clash, their nature is revealed."
***
Differences in the Starheart Key:
> Maya decided that giant keys are goofy, so instead they have smaller, palm-sized keys they wear around their necks, which are heirlooms. These keys do grant magical powers
> They use magic swords instead
> Their outfits are less, um, KH-y.
***
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
Nerida -- The Aqua counterpart, the main character. People have assumed that Nerida is a self-insert, and Maya has admitted that Nerida is something of a reflection of her 18 year old self: tied up in duty and trying to do the right thing all the time, even at the cost of her happiness. Nerida carries the Waterheart Key, which gives her power over water.
She was originally from a desert planet, and was given the Waterheart Key to bring rain to the land.
Kun -- the Terra counterpart, Kun is Nerida's love interest, though Key Keepers aren't supposed to fall in love. He fails his first Mark of Mastery exam due to a great shadow on his heart, and spends much of the series trying to overcome it; he initially thinks it's his love for Nerida which clouds him, but it turns out to be equal parts his desire for power, his anxiety over not doing well enough to protect his friends... and a deliberate poison by Master Yaotl. Much to everyone's shock, he actually dies tragically at the end of the second book.
Kun was from a tropical world of great mountains, and was given the Earthheart Key to help till the land.
Zephyr -- the Ventus counterpart, Zephyr is a young Apprentice, that is, a trainee. He's young, very optimistic, and best friends with Nerida and Kun, who treat him as a younger brother.
Zephyr has the Airheart, as he came from a world of floating islands; the Airheart Key lets him fly.
Master Agni -- the Master Eraqus counterpart. Current head of the Keepers, he presides over the exam, and is killed early in book one when the Keepers are overwhelmed by Shadow. He once held the Fireheart Key.
Master Yaotl -- The Master Xehanort counterpart. Another Master of the Keepers, Yaotl is secretly a traitor to the Order, who kowtowed to the Order of Shadows and their minions in exchange for power and his life. He once held the Frostheart Key, this was corrupted into a Shadowheart Key for his services to Shadow.
PEOPLE WHO AREN'T REALLY COUNTERPARTS TO ANYTHING
Prince Lagos of the Azure Steppes -- shows up in Book 2; he's a Lagomorph, which is to say a rabbit man, and jokes that his name is like Prince Humans, and that it was a great joke. He's a trickster and sort of a jerk; he's also one of the Keepers, and holds the Greenheart Key, which controls plant life. Also, he has blue fur.
***
BOOK ONE -- THE SHADOW PLAGUE
On the galactic capitol of Solaris, three friends, Nerida, Kun, and Zephyr, are all training to become Key Masters. All of them took on the mantle of Key Keeper at a young age according to the traditions of their home worlds. Nerida took on the Waterheart Key at age ten to save her village from a terrible drought. On Kun's world, the burden of Key Keeping is passed down family lines, and his father died in a terrible accident when he was but eleven. And on Zephyr's world, it is mystic priests who choose their world's Keeper, and Zephyr was chosen at the age of six. They are thus some of the youngest candidates for Mastery in years; most don't take the exam until the age of thirty at least, and the last youngest was 25. Kun and Nerida are only nineteen and eighteen, and while Zephyr at thirteen really IS too young to take the exam (sixteen is the minimum age), he's still of a skill level comparable to Kun and Nerida.
For generations, the Keepers have guarded the Heart Keys, magical artifacts from a forgotten era that allow the holder to "unlock" aspects of the universe. There are thousands of these, with aspects as diverse and strange as Glass, Illusion, Flower, and Moonlight, or even Pride and Sorrow. There was once even a tiny Sneezeheart, held by one Bzza', a small beetle-man. It lets him make people sneeze. Those who hold Keys are called Keepers, and those who gain Mastery are, well, Masters. While Keys can be taken up by anyone, it does take skill, training, and dedication to keep them and forge a bond, and once a bond is forged the key cannot be stolen unless the Keeper is slain.
Over the past generations though, the worlds have been in such an unprecedented era of peace that few have taken up the call of the Keys, as it is a terrible burden. Nerida is the only one of her friends who voluntarily took on the Key, and even she did so out of desperation and at an age where she didn't fully understand the consequences. There are a few other Keepers in the galaxy, but by and large they are not the galaxy-wide enforcers they once were. Indeed, such it was that only two Masters presided over the Mark of Mastery examination for Kun and Nerida, those being Master Agni and Master Yaotl.
That being said, there were rumors and rumblings of war on the edge of the galaxy, strange shadowy beasts appearing and dragging people off into the shadows. Nerida found this worrying, but the other students (most in training to even receive keys in the first place!) dismissed her fears. There hadn't been war for centuries, everything was probably fine.
The first part of the exam consisted of fighting back against a pair of summoned Elementals, creatures born of the Key's power -- basically practice dummies. But halfway through the exam, the Elementals went berserk, threatening to rampage throughout the monastery complex. Nerida, Kun, and then Zephyr (despite Nerida telling him to stay on the sidelines) managed to defeat the Elementals, and Master Agni considered this part of the test, but the event left everyone with a deep sense of unease.
During the second half of the test, Nerida and Kun sparred, but again, halfway through, Kun suffered an upswelling of dark power centered around his Key. He could not identify its source, but since the Dark powers were forbidden, this meant that he failed the exam, much to Nerida and Zephyr's surprise. The comforted their friend, but in the end the whole exam had a dark cast over it.
Even so, Nerida had succeeded, and there was a great celebration over the induction of a new (and so young) Master into the ranks. Indeed, at this point in time there were only three Masters left, which made Nerida the fourth Master.
Halfway through the party, disaster struck. The monastery was overwhelmed by dark creatures that flowed and changed form, and in many cases seemed to reflect innermost fears and nightmares. Master Agni was slain trying to protect his youngest students... and failed to do so. Nerida, Zephyr, and Kun only escaped with the help of Master Yaotl.
Thus began a saga of traveling across the ravaged planet to try to reach the Solar Spire, the planet's primary spaceport, so that they could leave the world in search of the source of the Shadow Plague. Nerida and Zephyr start to notice that the Shadows actually seem to be following them, rather than them coming to towns already plagued by Shadow; they begin to suspect their friend Kun, namely that the Darkness within him drew the Shadows to him. Yaotl, meanwhile, drives a wedge between Kun and his friends, saying that he should have succeeded at his test, that their mistrust came of jealousy. Kun, meanwhile, feels caught between his friends. He wants Nerida and Zephyr to trust him, but at the same time implores them to trust Yaotl, since he's the senior authority figure... even though technically Nerida holds as much power as he does (she doesn't assert it yet, however...)
This all comes to a head at the Spire when Nerida discovers by listening in secret that Yaotl had been behind it all along, conversing with a dark figure of mysterious origin. It turns out that said dark figure had promised Yaotl great power in exchange for his help in destroying the Order, and that in fact they were all being used, especially Kun, in whom a dark seed had been planted to corrupt his heart and soul and turn him into a living bomb to be sent off to other worlds. Things come to a head, and the climax of the first book has the Trio fighting Yaotl off and trying to defend a peaceful world from utter destruction. They do not defeat him, but they do save the planet and drive him off.
Nerida and Zephyr agree that they'll do everything in their power to save their friend Kun from the poison within. Kun objects, saying that he should die as if they try to search for a cure he'll only be doing what Yaotl wanted all along. Zephyr says that there may well be a way to save Kun, and stop the Shadows -- a legendary weapon called the Starheart Key. And that even without it, the monk traditions of his own home had a way to at least hide Kun from the Shadows: a protective spell that would prevent the Shadows from finding him. Unfortunately, his heart would still corrode under the Shadows weight, unless the Starheart Key was found.
AND SO BEGAN THE QUEST
BOOK TWO -- THE RIVER OF WORLDS
This book is your typical second book filled with a lot of in-between stuff going on... at least at first. The three travel from world to world, discovering that the Plague is much, much worse than expected... and finding out more about the secrets of the universe besides. The Keys, as it turns out, are each Keyed to the hearts of worlds... and that the Starheart Key was the key to them all. This allowed them to lock and protect the worlds that corresponded to their keys... but no others. Along the way, they encounter Prince Lagos, who at first seems like he might be a rival or antagonist, but then turns out to be a valuable ally.
In the end of this book, they finally discern the location of the Starheart, but Yaotl catches up to them. Kun goes to face Yaotl and hold him off while Nerida and Zephyr escape. Kun dies in the process. It's very tragic.
BOOK THREE -- THE SOURCE OF SHADOWS
Prince Lagos now accompanies Nerida and Zephyr. Zephyr starts to take on more of a role as he gets older. Adventures are had, the two discover the secret truth behind the Shadow attacks: that the Shadows come from another reality, and that Yaotl was only a pawn. They are bent on unmaking the universe... and that in fact this has happened before, hundreds of thousands of times back into infinity. the Keys are in fact the crystallized souls of dead worlds from ages past, given purpose to try to stop the next Cycle... and in fact, the Starheart Key isn't in a particular location, but is in fact the sum power of ALL the Keys. And their old enemy Yaotl has one... so they have to track him down and get that Key.
So they do. Pretty straightforward, actually... except as it turns out Yaotl DOESN'T have that Key, and that the Iceheart Key had been corrupted into a Shadowheart Key.
at this point, the series splits into two different groups, the Chronicles of Prince Lagos, and then the main Starheart Saga.
CHRONICLES OF PRINCE LAGOS SERIES
This is a three book series about Prince Lagos' adventures after Yaotl is defeated; he goes in search of more keys and keybearers. It's known for having a very different style than the main books despite taking place in the same universe, namely a mythological style that has caused people to compare it favorably to the Journey to the West, with Lagos being a Monkey-type character.
BOOK FOUR -- RIVER AND WIND
Lots of piecemeal slice of life style adventures as Nerida and Zephyr gather all the Keys... discovering that other Keepers have been corrupted by power and become bearers of Shadowheart Keys, while their real Keys lie in slumber. Nerida begins to come into her own as a true Master, finally taking full responsibility for herself and her actions as a leader. Zephyr becomes her apprentice. They slowly gather all the Keys. This installment isn't viewed very favorably by most fans and is considered a bit of series padding, despite the character development in it.
BOOK FIVE -- THE STARHEART KEY
Zephyr gains the Mark of Mastery; he and Nerida travel to the heart of the universe to forge the Starheart Key. They fight Malice, the Lord of Shadow. Prince Lagos shows up again (yay!). They forge the key, Nerida defeats Malice, order is restored, everyone's happy.
OTHER WORKS
STARHEART STORIES -- short stories set in the Starheart Universe.
CRYSTAL AND CLOCKWORK -- A stand alone steampunk novel from before steampunk was cool
CITY OF BROKEN GLASS SERIES -- A series of dark urban fantasy novels. Very popular with the tween set. Kind of Dresden Files with a female protagonist.
SUNWARD HOME -- A hard sci-fi series with big generational ships.
Maya wrote a few episodes of Inspector Spacetime which are highly regarded, and led to a really ridiculous Inspector Spacetime / Starheart Saga crossover. She also wrote a few Galaxy Quest tie-in novels, and is one of the few authors known to have worked on both Inspector Spacetime and Galaxy Quest. Finally, she wrote a couple of obscure adventure games in the 90s, and consulted on the obscure Japanese RPG adaptation of The Starheart Saga, which is now really rare and goes for thousands in the collector's market. You can't even pirate that shit man.
Save the Earth Application
May. 30th, 2013 11:23 pmOOC Information:
Name: TealDeer
Are you over 15? YEP
Contact: lucid_seraph @ plurk
IC Information:
Name: Preincarnation: Aqua
Reincarnation: Maya Aaronson
Canon: Kingdom Hearts
Age: Preincarnation: 18
Reincarnation: 60
WOAH WHY THO??
So in Kingdom Hearts as of the most current canon point (Dream Drop Distance), Aqua would have been 30-something… except she’s been trapped in the World of Darkness for a long time. Aqua was also the wisest and most mature of the Keyblade Bearers (… probably of ALL the Bearers who appear in the series, save Master Eraqus), and the ONLY one to attain the rank of Master.
Given this, I think it’s reasonable to have her be significantly older in this reincarnation, giving her more life experience and a different outlook on the world; her time lost in Darkness would have made the original Aqua quite world-weary and old beyond her years regardless.
TL;DR – she’s old. FOR NOW. Haha echoes.
Preincarnation Appearance: Here
Any differences: I’ll be using Helen Mirren as a PB
picture
So the main differences are that her hair isn’t blue and she’s… y’know, old
Preincarnated History: BLERG. Wiki entry but that's kind of incomplete when it comes to disney stuff.
THIS IS REALLY LONG AND NONSENSICAL, THANKS KINGDOM HEARTS
First, a bit about Keyblades, Wielders, and Masters – Keyblades are powerful weapons that can unlock holes in reality, or seal things away; they also are made for fighting against darkness, and can open or close people’s hearts. The Keyblade Order was an ancient group of Jedi-like warriors who used these weapons, dating back to the aftermath of the Keyblade War. By the time of canon, there were very few of them left, but they were still charged with the ancient task of keeping order in the shattered worlds.
We don’t know if Aqua was originally from the Land of Departure or another world; what we do know is that she was an apprentice Keyblade Wielder under Master Eraqus. Given that Aqua and Terra seem to view Eraqus as something of a father figure, it is very likely they grew up there together. When she and Terra were teenagers, Master Xehanort, a colleague of Eraqus (but lower in rank than he, technically) brought a young boy named Ventus to the Land of Departure. Ventus had lost his memories, and seemed to be in a bad state, unable to speak properly or interact with Aqua or Terra. Aqua thus took it upon herself to care for Ven and nurse him back to health. Eventually, he came around, though he never regained his memories, and the two became good friends.
One night, like many other nights, Aqua met Terra and Ventus up on the mountain of the Land of Departure. This day was special, however, as it was the night before Aqua and Terra’s Mark of Mastery exam. Aqua had made three good luck charms, called Wayfinders, made to connect the three of them together forever. She passed them out to her friends, and they enjoyed one last night together.
The next morning, Aqua and Terra went to take the exam for the Mark of Mastery. During the exam, unbeknownst to all involved, Xehanort tampered with the test, forcing Terra to use the darkness in his heart. As a result, only Aqua passed. Shortly after this, Master Eraqus takes Terra and Aqua aside, informing them of a new monstrous threat, the Unversed, monsters that feed on human emotion. They’re asked to investigate. After Terra leaves, Eraqus also asks Aqua to keep an eye on Terra and the growing darkness in his heart. She swears that when she does so, Eraqus will see that Terra has what it takes to be a Master.
As Aqua leaves, she and Eraqus see Ventus go after Terra, with Eraqus saying that Ventus mustn’t leave. He asks her to go try to bring Ventus home as well.
First, Aqua travels to the Castle of Dreams. Aqua finds Terra here. She tells him that Ven ran away from home; Terra mentions that Ven tried to tell him something before he left, but he didn’t listen, and wishes he had. He then tells her that Xehanort is looking for hearts of pure light, but that the Master is not on this particular world. They briefly discuss the power of dreams, and Cinderella. Terra leaves, and Aqua discovers that Lady Tremaine and her stepdaughters have an unusual amount of darkness in their hearts. She also finds a glass slipper, which she gives to the Prince and the Grand Duke, who go off to search for the foot that fits the slipper. She follows them to Tremaine’s house with the intention of eliminating the Tremaines, but the Fairy Godmother stops her, reminding her that Light and Dark must co-exist, which she had not learned from her Master. The Godmother then shrinks Aqua down to mouse size so she can go and rescue Cinderella, by way of making Cinderella’s light brighter instead of directly fighting the darkness. Aqua assists the mouse Jaq in this task. They do get Cinderella out, but before she can get down the stairs, Tremaine tries to get the Prince to leave; Aqua then returns to normal size., Aqua offers to try on the slipper, buying Cinderella enough time to get down the stairs. Cinderella goes to try on the slipper, but Tremaine breaks it; Cinderella produces her own slipper then, proving that she is the correct girl. Aqua turns back to normal size at an inopportune moment, appearing in the middle of all this. Enraged, Tremaine and the stepsisters summon a cursed coach that traps Cinderella. Aqua defeats the Unversed, then asks the Fairy Godmother how to defeat darkness without light. The Fairy tells her that she must find that answer for herself.
Next, Aqua arrives in The Dwarf Woodlands, where Snow White dwells; when she arrives, Snow White lies in a deep death-like slumber. The Seven Dwarves stand over her body, crying, and tell her that the Evil Queen did this. They say that they want to help, but cannot for the castle is full of monsters. Aqua offers to go instead. She encounters the Unversed there and also leads the Prince to Snow White. Finally, she fights against the Magic Mirror.
Finally, Aqua comes to the Enchanted Dominion (Sleeping Beauty): Aqua arrives as Maleficent informs Ven that Terra removed Aurora’s heart. Aqua says that can’t be true, and comforts Ven. She then asks Ven to come home, but Ven refuses, saying that he must help Terra before it’s “too late.” Maleficent says that it IS true, and asks if Aqua would like to join her; Aqua refuses, Maleficent comments that this is just as Xehanort said, and throws Aqua into a dungeon with Prince Phillip. They escape with the help of the fairies and eventually fight the dragon Maleficent.
After these adventures, Aqua came to Radiant Garden, where she met King Mickey. Mickey was trying to protect the young Princess of Radiant Garden, Kairi. They both worked together to save the Princess from some Unversed, but then Mickey's Star Shard activates, teleporting him to another world before Aqua can properly speak with him. Aqua then places a protective spell on Kairi, unintentionally also binding their fates and making Kairi the heir to Aqua's power as a Keyblade Master. Kairi, in turn, gives Aqua a bunch of beautiful wildflowers, which in turn allows Aqua to use the Destiny's Embrace keychain. Kairi departs, and Aqua listens as Kairi's grandmother relates the tale of the Keyblade War to the girl.
Later, Aqua follows a massive Unversed to Radiant Garden's reactor core, where she, Terra, and Ven finally catch up to each other and defeat it. At first, things seem to be going well, as the three easily overcome the Unversed and remark that they make a wonderful team, but then Aqua implores Ventus to come home. Ventus refuses, and Terra questions Master Eraqus' orders, at which point it's revealed that Aqua was sent to watch Terra. Terra storms off, furious at Aqua, and tells her that she's abusing her power as a Keyblade Master; Ventus tells her that she's an awful person. Both leave her alone.
On her way to try to meet up with them again, Aqua encounters the creature Vanitas, a mysterious boy in a dark helmet. Vanitas mocks her and also Ventus, asking if Ventus has gotten any stronger. They battle; Aqua barely defeats the boy, but he teleports away before she can remove his helmet and discern his true identity. He remarks that she's strong, and that it never hurts to have a backup...
Ventus then appears, asking if he can please accompany Aqua in her travels, but, once again, she implores him to go home.
Aqua then travels to Disney Town, thanks to some tickets she got from Ventus. Once there, she participates in the Dream Festival, helping the inhabitants of the town with their problems, all the while avoiding Pete, who is trying to claim the prize for himself. She, Terra, and Ventus jointly win the award, but only she is around to accept it. Pete is a sore loser and tries to take the prize by force, prompting the Queen to banish him, at which point Maleficent rescues him in exchange for his loyalty.
Aqua then goes to the Olympus Collesium in search of Terra. There, she meets Zack, who tries to ask her out despite her embarrassed protests. She fights in the Games, and eventually takes on Hades and his Ice Titan. She defeats them, but does not find Terra as she wished.
Next, she ends up on a space ship in the middle of Deep Space. There, she encounters Experiment 626, also known as Stitch. Gantu, the ship's security officer, arrests her as a stowaway, and takes her to the Grand Councilwoman. Aqua explains that she is not a stowaway, but instead had come to offer her help against the Unversed; the Councilwoman agrees to let Aqua go on the condition that she destroy the Unversed and locate the mad scientist Jumba and Experiment 626. She finds 626 on the prison level, and is shocked when he mentions Terra and seems to have a Wayfinder. 626 is kind of single-minded in his pursuit of Terra, so he runs off. Aqua goes back to the Grand Councilwoman and asks if 626 is really THAT dangerous, and is told that it's best to assume as such. She's told to go to the launch deck to secure Jumba and 626. She finds them and learns from Jumba that 626 absolutely did learn about the Wayfinder from Terra, who said it was given to him by a dear friend, which lifts Aqua's spirits. Then Gantu shows up and tries to kill 626 and Jumba rather than capture them alive as ordered; Aqua objects, and the two do battle, with 626 assisting Aqua. Aqua triumphs, and the Grand Councilwoman arrives and orders them both to stop fighting, saying that she saw the whole thing. Aqua pleads for the Councilwoman to shorten 626's exile, and she says that she'll consider it. Aqua finally extends an offer of friendship to 626, which he seems happy about.
Finally, Aqua comes to Neverland, a tropical island of lost children. She immediately meets Peter Pan and the Lost Boys, and accidentally becomes the leader of a treasure hunt when she picks up a map. Tinkerbell objects, saying that Peter disallowed women from joining in, but he denies this. Aqua also objects, saying that she has business, but Peter says rules are rules, then says that if Aqua doesn't become leader, they'll have to call it off. Everyone looks so dejected that Aqua relents. They then head out to the Mermaid Lagoon. They encounter Captain Hook, who is quite angry with Peter, but Peter brushes him off. Hook then orders his ship to open fire on the little group, and they're forced to run inland. There, they find a waterfall, and the treasure map indicates that it's at the very top. Peter asks Tinkerbell to give them a little fairy dust to get them up the cliff. They end up back where they started. Aqua remarks that Peter is actually a good leader, which he responds to with typical arrogance. Hook then interrupts again, revealing that he's stolen the treasure... only to find out that the treasure chest is full of broken pieces of wood, including Ventus' wooden practice keyblade. Hook demands to know where his real treasure is, to which the Lost Boys respond that they lost it, as the wooden toys in the box are more important to them. Then the Crocodile shows up, causing Hook and Smee to flee in terror.
Aqua senses a dark presence, and goes back to the Indian Village to investigate. There, she encounters Vanitas again. Vanitas breaks Ven's wooden keyblade to taunt Aqua, then attempts to kill her. Aqua defends herself, full of rage, and manages to defeat Vanitas, but only just barely. She collapses, weakened by her fight. Peter Pan happens by after the battle and wakes her up, then spots Ven's broken keyblade. Aqua says that whatever binds them as friends cannot be broken so easily.
Aqua goes back to try to return home, but ends up encountering a brilliant light in space that takes her to Destiny Islands. For a moment, she contemplates her friends, but is distracted by Sora and Riku racing each other. They spot her and pause. She remarks that Riku looks like Terra and Sora very much like Ven. She tells them that one of them might make a great Keyblade Master one day, and asks their names.
Later, alone, Aqua contemplates the fate of Keyblade Masters, and hopes that those children only have one Keyblade between them given what a terrible burden it can be. She leaves Destiny Islands then, and encounters Mickey floating and hurt in the middle of space. She takes the King back to Master YenSid, his Master and one of the other great Keyblade Masters of yore.
YenSid tells her that Master Eraqus' star has gone out, meaning that Eraqus is dead. She begs to know who was responsible, and YenSid tells her that it was Xehanort... and Terra. Aqua denies this, saying that Terra couldn't have. YenSid says that he hopes that she's right, but he doubts it. She demands to know where she can find her friend, and is told that Terra has gone to the ancient Keyblade Graveyard. She leaves to go find him.
AW YEAH WE HAVE... ALMOST AN HOUR LEFT OF THIS HA HA WELL
Aqua arrives in the deserted wasteland of the Keyblade Graveyard and declares that no matter what, the three of them will always be one.
She finds Terra in the middle of a field of broken keys, and asks Terra what happened to the Master, and Terra admits that he was, indeed, the one responsible, but that he'd made a terrible mistake, and further that the Master had tried to kill Ven. Then he reveals that Xehanort had set the whole thing up to open the darkness in his heart, and that Aqua and Master Eraqus were right: he needed guidance. He then says that he's going to fight, but Aqua cautions him, saying that he's still acting out of darkness and hate.
At that moment, Ventus finally arrives, and reveals the true purpose of Vanitas: that Xehanort's plan is to force them to fight so that they can make the χ-blade (pronounced Key-blade, because greek puns, I guess), an ultimate weapon capable of remaking the world. He begs Aqua and Terra to kill him to put him out of his misery and prevent this apocalypse. Before they can react to this dark request, Xehanort and Vanitas arrive on the scene, and the battle begins.
Said battle is fucking awesome.
Also in the actual version that's not the secret movie, Xehanort gives a long villain speech about the Keyblade War, and stuff.
So anyway the important shit from that movie is that Ven gets frozen, Aqua catches him, and Xehanort starts executing his master plan. SHIT BRO. Also, Mickey shows up.
Shortly after Aqua catches Ven, Braig shows up; Braig being a Royal Guardsman of Radiant Garden and scientific apprentice/research to the King, Ansem the Wise. Braig showed up mostly in Terra's story, hence why he hasn't come up yet. Braig was a traitor, working as Xehanort's right hand man to bring about the downfall of Radiant Garden, the creation of the χ-blade, and other Bad Shit in exchange for more power. So yeah! He shows up. And he tells Aqua to leave Ven with him, and that she should run off and fight Terra since Terra killed Eraqus.
Aqua's having none of this joker's bullshit. She loses her temper and kicks Braig's sorry sarcastic butt. Unfortunately for Aqua, Braig was just distracting her to buy some time. And then oh shit Vanitas shows up and sneak attacks Aqua and kills her.
OR WAIT! He would have, but Mickey Mouse shows up and saves her life. She looks over and sees, much to her joy, Ven, awake, alive, and well.
HA HA JUST KIDDING, HE'S POSSESSED BY VANITAS WHO NOW HAS THE χ-blade! LOL. THIS IS THE HAPPIEST GAME.
Mickey and Aqua fight him. Alas, Vanitas in this form is ridiculously strong. Aqua prays for strength from her friends, and in fact gets it, her keyblade alighting with powerful energy. She engages Vanitas, and manages to shatter the χ-blade. It explodes in a blast of powerful energy. Vanitas' influence leaves Ven as the blade shatters, but the explosion grows and grows, blasting aqua and Ventus into the air. Aqua manages to grab Ven's hand, but they're shot into the sky.
The screen goes white.
Aqua awakens in YenSid's study. Mickey once again saved her, bringing Ventus along. Alas, Terra is missing, and Ventus' heart is sleeping, leaving him in a coma. Aqua vows to keep Ven safe. YenSid says that he needs her to believe in him much more. Mickey offers his support and help. Aqua decides then to go find Terra, who she believes must be alive and okay.
Haha sorry this is a tragedy :|
She takes Ven's body back to what's left of the Land of Departure, the place of the Keyblade Masters. Alas, when she arrives it is broken and destroyed, and she finds her Master's forgotten Keyblade on the ground. Using powers Master Eraqus taught her, Aqua transforms that place into Castle Oblivion, a place of secrets and lost memories, to keep Ven safe within its walls. With Ven safely cloistered, Aqua departs to find Terra.
Once outside Castle Oblivion and in the realm of darkness, Aqua hears Terra's voice asking her to kill him. She asks where to find him, then walks off into the darkness. She finds him out in the real world, in Radiant Garden (or perhaps a dream version of it, it's unclear), only his eyes have become golden and his hair silver. He begins choking her, and he asks her who he is.
This is in fact Xehanort. Xehanort's plan all along was to steal Terra's body to gain his youth back so he could continue his work in trying to gain the power of Kingdom Hearts, a power that would let him conquer all worlds. However, Xehanort had underestimated Terra's power, and in fact had become confused as to his goals and who he really was due to Terra fighting back against him.
Aqua and the possessed Terra do battle as she tries to destroy Xehanort and free Terra from his influence. Conflicted and slowly going mad, Terra/Xehanort turns his Keyblade on himself and falling into the darkness. Aqua follows him into the portal, descending deeper and deeper into oblivion to try to save him. But they've both fallen so deep that she might not be able to escape. She thus ejects from her Keyblade Armor (which she wears in order to protect herself from the darkness), then sends both her keyblade and armor with Terra/Xehanort to bring them back to the realm of Light. Alas, this leaves Aqua without an escape route, and she falls into the Darkness, lost perhaps forever.
Ansem the Wise, led by Braig, finds Xehanort barely conscious in Radiant Garden, along with Aqua's broken armor. Both are brought to the castle, with the armor being interred in the basement.
Aqua, meanwhile, wanders the realm of Darkness, beset on all sides by Heartless, slowly losing herself and her sense of time. She retains Master Eraqus' Keyblade to defend herself, but almost decides to let herself die, before the keyblades of Terra and Ventus arrive and save her, showing her that hope remains.
Many, many years later, (during the events of Kingdom Hearts II), Aqua finds Ansem the Wise on a beach in the realm of darkness, and asks him who he is. She asks him who he is, and he admits that he knows that this is his second time, that he does not remember how he arrived, or who he really is.
They briefly discuss Sora, who is apparently Jesus now. GOD AND THAT'S THE END. YAY.
Reincarnated History Maya Aaronson was born in 1953; she was half-Jewish, half-Christian, and for various reasons her parents chose to raise her mostly agnostic, celebrating the Christian holidays but not really ascribing anything to them. She grew up in and around Locke City primarily, and never really left.
Even at an early age, Maya showed a great interest in two things: fencing, and writing. She was lucky enough to have access to a middle school fencing club, in which she excelled. She eventually became the women’s fencing champion in the local college league. Unfortunately, her parents were of the opinion that sports was not a viable career for a young lady (this was especially true in the 60s and 70s, before professional athletes made millions), and so she was eventually pushed out of it.
Instead, she chose to pursue a writing career. In college, she majored in English, and also became enamored of… well, whatever fantasy series became super famous in this universe instead of Tolkien because Aragorn? She also read a lot of Michael Moorcock and Jack Vance, at least, as well as science fiction stories. It was around this time that she became involved in fan culture, finding the Locke Science Fiction Society and their club. She even wrote Star Trek (or… the equivalent) fanfiction for the local fanzines, some of which was considered quite good, and got her real writing start in a few of the glossier and more well-respected ‘zines.
Her writing career was put on hold for a while after she graduated college at the age of 22. She managed to get a job as a secretary, then later writing copy for various ad firms. She married a man from her office named Matthew at the age of 23 at the urging of her parents, but divorced him only three years later, then married a man she knew from the SF&F society.
Around that time she began publishing short fiction in science fiction and fantasy magazines, and gained something of a reputation for her stories, which were often a kind of raygun gothic/scientific romance, sometimes with an element of what today we’d call “steampunk” but back then didn’t really have a name (historical fantasy, sorta; Michael Moorcock wrote in this genre with his Master of the Air).
In 1980 (while she was still married to her second husband), she started her first novel, based on that one story idea which had been with her since she was thirteen, of two Masters of Keys and their three Apprentices, and an examination gone wrong. In 1982 she quit her job to finish it. This story became the novel The Shadow Plague, which she published in 1983 to unexpected critical success. This later became a series, the Starheart Saga. Though she never achieved mainstream success like, say, George R R Martin, she was successful enough to make her living entirely on books after that, writing many other spinoff novels and stories, though the Starheart remained her most popular work and her most successful one. Around 1985, due to some disputes with her husband over who REALLY owned the Starheart Saga (he claimed it was his work, and she proved it wasn't with her middle school notebook about the dream she had that inspired the story), she divorced her husband and thereafter remained single. In the 90s, a Japanese videogame company even released an isometric RPG based on the first book, but the company went bankrupt for unrelated reasons soon after (a different game they made bombed); the game is rare now but remembered fondly as being quite good.
Now in her 60s, Maya just finished a hard science fiction series, but is hard at work re-releasing the Starheart Chronicles in special edition ebooks and collector’s editions.
First Echo: Maya’s first fencing competition at age thirteen was a high-stakes event which she’d trained hard for; this paralleled her Mark of Mastery examination. That night, she had a very clear dream of that first exam. She doesn't remember anyone's exact names and has only a vague idea of their appearances (Xehanort looked "shifty and cruel," Eraqus was "noble and righteous" etc) but she has a pretty clear understanding of the events of the exam. This Echo served as the basis for her novel series, The Starheart Saga.
Preincarnation Personality: Of the three friends in Birth By Sleep, Aqua is by far the most responsible. If I were to be a bit goofy for a moment, she's the epitome of the Lawful Good Dungeons and Dragons alignment: she's kind and caring, and always wishes to help those in need, but whenever possible she tries to do so within the letter of the law. For example, in Deep Space, while Terra ends up inadvertently helping the mad scientist Jumba and Ven directly helps 626 regardless of the consequences, Aqua cooperates fully with Gantu and the Grand Concilwoman, trying to stay within the limits of their laws while still also helping 626 as much as possible.
On the flip side, this adherence to duty and law can sometimes be detrimental to Aqua. She tries to follow Master Eraqus' orders to find Terra and bring Ventus home to the absolute letter; never once does she consider allowing Ventus to come along with her so she can keep an eye on him, teach him, and get some help tracking down Terra. Instead, she sticks to her orders, which is simply to bring Ventus home... which, in the end, hurt everyone much more than it helped, ensuring that they were all separated from each other.
That being said, while Aqua is hesitant to break any rules, on the other hand she's very invested in the safety and happiness of others. Again in the case of Deep Space, she negotiates with the Grand Councilwoman to shorten 626's sentence of exile instead of simply going along with it. When Peter Pan asks to make her the leader of the treasure hunt, she initially refuses because she has another task (finding Ventus and Terra) but then relents when Peter and the Lost Boys look upset at not having a treasure hunt. She will always help those in need whenever possible.
Aqua cares very deeply for her friends, and the Light help you if you hurt them, seriously. She shows absolutely no mercy to Braig when he unveils Xehanort's plans for them. Her strength comes from her connections to her friends, and she's willing to walk straight into Hell for them—literally!
Aqua's youth means that sometimes she's both a little overconfident and also a little quick to jump to conclusions. She says to Terra in Radiant Garden that she knows what he did, when she honestly has no evidence. She often believes she's in the right, even when that's not the case (though she's not as bad about this as Terra can be).
Aqua also hates relying on the strength of others; when Zack offered to fight for her in the Coliseum, she refused to let him, preferring to work it out on her own. By the same token, she can't seem to see Ventus as able to take care of himself, constantly offering to protect him and telling him to go home and stay out of trouble (even in the Mark of Mastery exam). She sees herself as a protector... and sometimes as the only sane one.
Since she's only eighteen, she still has a bit of a childlike streak, though usually she hides it well; this is most seen in the games at Disney Town, where she's allowed to relax a little.
Finally, seriously, god help you if you ever genuinely manage to piss her off. Aqua's rage can be absolutely terrifying if she's pushed. When Vanitas broke Ventus' wooden keyblade she lashed out with unprecedented fury.
Any differences: Maya is older than Aqua and thus a little more able to deliberate on her decisions. Aqua clings a bit to rules and order because sometimes she honestly doesn't know what ELSE to do; Maya, however, has the experience to know when you might not wish to. Indeed, Maya was deeply hurt more than once by strict adherence to tradition and expectation—first, when she didn't become a professional fencer because it wasn't “ladylike,” second when she (twice!) tried to marry and settle down as a dutiful housewife. Both marriages ended in messy divorce as she realized that this wasn't what she wanted at all. While not exactly a wanton lawbreaker and while she still has respect for history and tradition, she no longer follows rules quite so blindly. Put another way, Maya's D&D alignment would be Neutral Good instead of Lawful Good; Maya would have taken Ventus along even though it went against the Master's orders because it made more sense.
On the flip side, Maya hasn't had as many truly deep, close friendships in her life. Sure, she's HAD friends, people who helped her get her writing career on track, people she met through early Star Trek (or whatever) fandom and science fiction fandom, but not that deep, near magical bond that Aqua had with Terra and Ventus. There's no one in her life that she'd walk into Hell for, not YET anyway. While she believes that such people might exist and such friendships are possible (she writes about them extensively in her books), she hasn't experienced it herself, not really.
Finally, Maya is slower to act and not as much of a combatant. Aqua often thinks like a warrior and even a zealous crusader (she's more than willing to kill Lady Tremaine and her daughters because of the Darkness in their hearts, and is only stopped by the Fairy Godmother!), but Maya, though a talented fencer, is no paladin of justice. She's a writer and a dreamer, and though she stands up for what she believes in, she's not really the type to go march in a protest and certainly not the type to end things with violence.
Abilities: Aqua is a Keyblade Master. This gives her quite a lot of power.
Keyblade: A Keyblade is a weapon of terrible power. Aqua actually has two as of the end of the game: Rainfell, her personal Keyblade, and the Master Keeper, the keyblade of Master Eraqus. Keyblades change form with Keychains, which are generally tied to memories of close friends; this gives them extra powers and qualities.
A Keyblade chooses its master, and the blades cannot be held by someone who has not been Chosen. Thus, a Keyblade Master can always return the blade to their person simply by willing it. They cannot be stolen. They can also be stored in a non-space (probably within the user's heart) and thus hidden away.
The Keyblade serves as both a sword and a bludgeoning tool as the wielder wills, despite the lack of an edge and ungaingly shape.
The keyblade's true power and what makes it dangerous is the ability to unlock or lock any lock. A N Y lock. In the Kingdom Hearts universe, the thing is that hearts have locks on them, and even worlds have hearts. Most keyblades of light are used primarily to seal things away; presumably Aqua's keyblade COULD be used to unlock a heart, but given that doing so at best kills someone and at worst can split them into a Heartless (a being composed of the pure darkness left behind from the utter destruction of their heart) and a Nobody (the empty shell of their body, wandering without emotion and driven only by a gnawing emptiness) that'd be a terribly dark act, and not something she'd want to do. By the same token, though, the Keyblade is an especially effective weapon against Heartless and Nobodies, and other unnatural beasts of darkness (Up to the mods if this applies to the Enemy; given that the Keyblade can be used to de-posess things, it could be useful!)
Finally, someone with the proper training can turn the Keyblade into a Glider, a sort of space ship traveling device. It keeps its weapon properties in this shape.
Keyblade Armor: This armor doesn't actually provide much physical protection, despite looking like plate mail; rather, its primary purpose is to protect the wielder from the detrimental effects of darkness and other hazardous environments. It doesn't impede movement at all.
Combat Abilities: Aqua is an agile fighter. While not as quick as Ventus, she's nimble on the battlefield, and actually cartwheels to evade attacks. Later in the game, she can double jump via magic. Most of her physical attacks are supplemented by magic.
Magic: Aqua is probably the third most powerful wizard in the entire universe, after YenSid and Xehanort. She's certainly the most powerful player-character when it comes to spellcasting. Her primary shtick is the Reflect spell, which she can use at-will, and creates an impenetrable spherical barrier around herself or an ally for a brief moment. Almost all of her attacks are supplemented by spells of some kind, and the magic she uses in the game goes above and beyond what any of the other characters can do, save, again, Xehanort and Yen Sid.
For a COMPLETE LIST of all of Aqua's magic and combat abilities, see this wiki page because no way am I writing all that shit out.
Shotlocks: Are basically another kind of spell. more info
Dimension Link: Using her Wayfinder (an enchanted charm she made herself), Aqua can form bonds of friendship with others that go beyond simple camaraderie; these friendships instead fuel magical and physical abilities. By concentrating on a friend, Aqua can borrow some of their abilities to use in combat, briefly changing her fighting style to match. More information. I think it'd be neat if when Maya gets this ability back, that she can forge new links with characters in the game, as well as potentially recall old links.
Command Styles: By using certain kind of spells and attacks, Aqua can gain a new attack style, called a Command Style, that lets her command different sorts of magic. more info
tl;dr – keyblade masters are not people to fucking trifle with.
FINALLY, Maya herself was an olympic-level sport fencer. She still teaches, and though she's not exactly Olympics material anymore, she's still much faster and in better shape than most women her age. That being said, she doesn't know COMBAT fencing, just sport fencing, which are very different things.
Roleplay Sample – Third Person: The house was filled with tea and cats, as most houses of fantasy authors tended to be. Mnemosyne (the black cat) rubbed against her legs as she shuffled to the window, tea in hand.
"My life is fairly alright," she said to the window, as though to convince herself. If she squinted, the backyard looked almost like another world in the moonlight.
The stars above were unusually bright tonight, even with the city lights in the distance almost drowning them out; perhaps it was the lack of a moon. So many worlds, and still they stayed out of reach. She fiddled with the skeleton key necklace a fan had given her a few years back.
Did other authors go through this? The worlds you wrote were just worlds, diversions, places for people to forget how terrible the world was sometimes, or to be reminded that sometimes despite all the bad life was still worth living. But sometimes, she deeply wished she'd lived in that world, not this one.
You're sixty years old, she sighed to herself, putting the teacup down on the window and scratching behind Mnemosyne's ears. No time for such childish things, not anymore. The world is the world, your life is your life, you have, at best, twenty years more to live it. Maybe less. And books are just books.
Still. Still. Perhaps she'd see how the money was and go off on an adventure, travel to India or Africa or China or something, or Greece, see if, maybe, there was just a little adventure left outside of yellowed pages and faded ink. Maybe the next short story collection would do well, maybe the ebook special editions of The Starheart Saga would make enough but
But
"Where's my space ship? Where's my mars colonies, my other worlds, my c-beams glittering in the dark? Where's..."
I do matter, though, I matter to a lot of people who feel just the same and for a moment want to know that they're not alone.
It was all very silly. She petted the cat one last time, then decided that finally, it might be time to get to bed.
Roleplay Sample - Network: If it wasn't for the fact that this appeared in a notebook when I wrote the number down... I might not have believed it was real. But, well, extraordinary proof...
I read the info post, it was quite helpful, thank you for compiling it.
My name is Maya Aaronson, and I honestly don't know how helpful I'll be. I'm only a writer. However, I do own a large house on the edge of town, with many empty rooms, so if any of you need somewhere to stay, I can at least offer that.
Notes: Here's a summary of The Starheart Saga. After the first Mark of Mastery exam, the story deviates quite a lot from Kingdom Hearts, but I feel it's important to have an existing outline of the tale anyway.
Name: TealDeer
Are you over 15? YEP
Contact: lucid_seraph @ plurk
IC Information:
Name: Preincarnation: Aqua
Reincarnation: Maya Aaronson
Canon: Kingdom Hearts
Age: Preincarnation: 18
Reincarnation: 60
WOAH WHY THO??
So in Kingdom Hearts as of the most current canon point (Dream Drop Distance), Aqua would have been 30-something… except she’s been trapped in the World of Darkness for a long time. Aqua was also the wisest and most mature of the Keyblade Bearers (… probably of ALL the Bearers who appear in the series, save Master Eraqus), and the ONLY one to attain the rank of Master.
Given this, I think it’s reasonable to have her be significantly older in this reincarnation, giving her more life experience and a different outlook on the world; her time lost in Darkness would have made the original Aqua quite world-weary and old beyond her years regardless.
TL;DR – she’s old. FOR NOW. Haha echoes.
Preincarnation Appearance: Here
Any differences: I’ll be using Helen Mirren as a PB
picture
So the main differences are that her hair isn’t blue and she’s… y’know, old
Preincarnated History: BLERG. Wiki entry but that's kind of incomplete when it comes to disney stuff.
THIS IS REALLY LONG AND NONSENSICAL, THANKS KINGDOM HEARTS
First, a bit about Keyblades, Wielders, and Masters – Keyblades are powerful weapons that can unlock holes in reality, or seal things away; they also are made for fighting against darkness, and can open or close people’s hearts. The Keyblade Order was an ancient group of Jedi-like warriors who used these weapons, dating back to the aftermath of the Keyblade War. By the time of canon, there were very few of them left, but they were still charged with the ancient task of keeping order in the shattered worlds.
We don’t know if Aqua was originally from the Land of Departure or another world; what we do know is that she was an apprentice Keyblade Wielder under Master Eraqus. Given that Aqua and Terra seem to view Eraqus as something of a father figure, it is very likely they grew up there together. When she and Terra were teenagers, Master Xehanort, a colleague of Eraqus (but lower in rank than he, technically) brought a young boy named Ventus to the Land of Departure. Ventus had lost his memories, and seemed to be in a bad state, unable to speak properly or interact with Aqua or Terra. Aqua thus took it upon herself to care for Ven and nurse him back to health. Eventually, he came around, though he never regained his memories, and the two became good friends.
One night, like many other nights, Aqua met Terra and Ventus up on the mountain of the Land of Departure. This day was special, however, as it was the night before Aqua and Terra’s Mark of Mastery exam. Aqua had made three good luck charms, called Wayfinders, made to connect the three of them together forever. She passed them out to her friends, and they enjoyed one last night together.
The next morning, Aqua and Terra went to take the exam for the Mark of Mastery. During the exam, unbeknownst to all involved, Xehanort tampered with the test, forcing Terra to use the darkness in his heart. As a result, only Aqua passed. Shortly after this, Master Eraqus takes Terra and Aqua aside, informing them of a new monstrous threat, the Unversed, monsters that feed on human emotion. They’re asked to investigate. After Terra leaves, Eraqus also asks Aqua to keep an eye on Terra and the growing darkness in his heart. She swears that when she does so, Eraqus will see that Terra has what it takes to be a Master.
As Aqua leaves, she and Eraqus see Ventus go after Terra, with Eraqus saying that Ventus mustn’t leave. He asks her to go try to bring Ventus home as well.
First, Aqua travels to the Castle of Dreams. Aqua finds Terra here. She tells him that Ven ran away from home; Terra mentions that Ven tried to tell him something before he left, but he didn’t listen, and wishes he had. He then tells her that Xehanort is looking for hearts of pure light, but that the Master is not on this particular world. They briefly discuss the power of dreams, and Cinderella. Terra leaves, and Aqua discovers that Lady Tremaine and her stepdaughters have an unusual amount of darkness in their hearts. She also finds a glass slipper, which she gives to the Prince and the Grand Duke, who go off to search for the foot that fits the slipper. She follows them to Tremaine’s house with the intention of eliminating the Tremaines, but the Fairy Godmother stops her, reminding her that Light and Dark must co-exist, which she had not learned from her Master. The Godmother then shrinks Aqua down to mouse size so she can go and rescue Cinderella, by way of making Cinderella’s light brighter instead of directly fighting the darkness. Aqua assists the mouse Jaq in this task. They do get Cinderella out, but before she can get down the stairs, Tremaine tries to get the Prince to leave; Aqua then returns to normal size., Aqua offers to try on the slipper, buying Cinderella enough time to get down the stairs. Cinderella goes to try on the slipper, but Tremaine breaks it; Cinderella produces her own slipper then, proving that she is the correct girl. Aqua turns back to normal size at an inopportune moment, appearing in the middle of all this. Enraged, Tremaine and the stepsisters summon a cursed coach that traps Cinderella. Aqua defeats the Unversed, then asks the Fairy Godmother how to defeat darkness without light. The Fairy tells her that she must find that answer for herself.
Next, Aqua arrives in The Dwarf Woodlands, where Snow White dwells; when she arrives, Snow White lies in a deep death-like slumber. The Seven Dwarves stand over her body, crying, and tell her that the Evil Queen did this. They say that they want to help, but cannot for the castle is full of monsters. Aqua offers to go instead. She encounters the Unversed there and also leads the Prince to Snow White. Finally, she fights against the Magic Mirror.
Finally, Aqua comes to the Enchanted Dominion (Sleeping Beauty): Aqua arrives as Maleficent informs Ven that Terra removed Aurora’s heart. Aqua says that can’t be true, and comforts Ven. She then asks Ven to come home, but Ven refuses, saying that he must help Terra before it’s “too late.” Maleficent says that it IS true, and asks if Aqua would like to join her; Aqua refuses, Maleficent comments that this is just as Xehanort said, and throws Aqua into a dungeon with Prince Phillip. They escape with the help of the fairies and eventually fight the dragon Maleficent.
After these adventures, Aqua came to Radiant Garden, where she met King Mickey. Mickey was trying to protect the young Princess of Radiant Garden, Kairi. They both worked together to save the Princess from some Unversed, but then Mickey's Star Shard activates, teleporting him to another world before Aqua can properly speak with him. Aqua then places a protective spell on Kairi, unintentionally also binding their fates and making Kairi the heir to Aqua's power as a Keyblade Master. Kairi, in turn, gives Aqua a bunch of beautiful wildflowers, which in turn allows Aqua to use the Destiny's Embrace keychain. Kairi departs, and Aqua listens as Kairi's grandmother relates the tale of the Keyblade War to the girl.
Later, Aqua follows a massive Unversed to Radiant Garden's reactor core, where she, Terra, and Ven finally catch up to each other and defeat it. At first, things seem to be going well, as the three easily overcome the Unversed and remark that they make a wonderful team, but then Aqua implores Ventus to come home. Ventus refuses, and Terra questions Master Eraqus' orders, at which point it's revealed that Aqua was sent to watch Terra. Terra storms off, furious at Aqua, and tells her that she's abusing her power as a Keyblade Master; Ventus tells her that she's an awful person. Both leave her alone.
On her way to try to meet up with them again, Aqua encounters the creature Vanitas, a mysterious boy in a dark helmet. Vanitas mocks her and also Ventus, asking if Ventus has gotten any stronger. They battle; Aqua barely defeats the boy, but he teleports away before she can remove his helmet and discern his true identity. He remarks that she's strong, and that it never hurts to have a backup...
Ventus then appears, asking if he can please accompany Aqua in her travels, but, once again, she implores him to go home.
Aqua then travels to Disney Town, thanks to some tickets she got from Ventus. Once there, she participates in the Dream Festival, helping the inhabitants of the town with their problems, all the while avoiding Pete, who is trying to claim the prize for himself. She, Terra, and Ventus jointly win the award, but only she is around to accept it. Pete is a sore loser and tries to take the prize by force, prompting the Queen to banish him, at which point Maleficent rescues him in exchange for his loyalty.
Aqua then goes to the Olympus Collesium in search of Terra. There, she meets Zack, who tries to ask her out despite her embarrassed protests. She fights in the Games, and eventually takes on Hades and his Ice Titan. She defeats them, but does not find Terra as she wished.
Next, she ends up on a space ship in the middle of Deep Space. There, she encounters Experiment 626, also known as Stitch. Gantu, the ship's security officer, arrests her as a stowaway, and takes her to the Grand Councilwoman. Aqua explains that she is not a stowaway, but instead had come to offer her help against the Unversed; the Councilwoman agrees to let Aqua go on the condition that she destroy the Unversed and locate the mad scientist Jumba and Experiment 626. She finds 626 on the prison level, and is shocked when he mentions Terra and seems to have a Wayfinder. 626 is kind of single-minded in his pursuit of Terra, so he runs off. Aqua goes back to the Grand Councilwoman and asks if 626 is really THAT dangerous, and is told that it's best to assume as such. She's told to go to the launch deck to secure Jumba and 626. She finds them and learns from Jumba that 626 absolutely did learn about the Wayfinder from Terra, who said it was given to him by a dear friend, which lifts Aqua's spirits. Then Gantu shows up and tries to kill 626 and Jumba rather than capture them alive as ordered; Aqua objects, and the two do battle, with 626 assisting Aqua. Aqua triumphs, and the Grand Councilwoman arrives and orders them both to stop fighting, saying that she saw the whole thing. Aqua pleads for the Councilwoman to shorten 626's exile, and she says that she'll consider it. Aqua finally extends an offer of friendship to 626, which he seems happy about.
Finally, Aqua comes to Neverland, a tropical island of lost children. She immediately meets Peter Pan and the Lost Boys, and accidentally becomes the leader of a treasure hunt when she picks up a map. Tinkerbell objects, saying that Peter disallowed women from joining in, but he denies this. Aqua also objects, saying that she has business, but Peter says rules are rules, then says that if Aqua doesn't become leader, they'll have to call it off. Everyone looks so dejected that Aqua relents. They then head out to the Mermaid Lagoon. They encounter Captain Hook, who is quite angry with Peter, but Peter brushes him off. Hook then orders his ship to open fire on the little group, and they're forced to run inland. There, they find a waterfall, and the treasure map indicates that it's at the very top. Peter asks Tinkerbell to give them a little fairy dust to get them up the cliff. They end up back where they started. Aqua remarks that Peter is actually a good leader, which he responds to with typical arrogance. Hook then interrupts again, revealing that he's stolen the treasure... only to find out that the treasure chest is full of broken pieces of wood, including Ventus' wooden practice keyblade. Hook demands to know where his real treasure is, to which the Lost Boys respond that they lost it, as the wooden toys in the box are more important to them. Then the Crocodile shows up, causing Hook and Smee to flee in terror.
Aqua senses a dark presence, and goes back to the Indian Village to investigate. There, she encounters Vanitas again. Vanitas breaks Ven's wooden keyblade to taunt Aqua, then attempts to kill her. Aqua defends herself, full of rage, and manages to defeat Vanitas, but only just barely. She collapses, weakened by her fight. Peter Pan happens by after the battle and wakes her up, then spots Ven's broken keyblade. Aqua says that whatever binds them as friends cannot be broken so easily.
Aqua goes back to try to return home, but ends up encountering a brilliant light in space that takes her to Destiny Islands. For a moment, she contemplates her friends, but is distracted by Sora and Riku racing each other. They spot her and pause. She remarks that Riku looks like Terra and Sora very much like Ven. She tells them that one of them might make a great Keyblade Master one day, and asks their names.
Later, alone, Aqua contemplates the fate of Keyblade Masters, and hopes that those children only have one Keyblade between them given what a terrible burden it can be. She leaves Destiny Islands then, and encounters Mickey floating and hurt in the middle of space. She takes the King back to Master YenSid, his Master and one of the other great Keyblade Masters of yore.
YenSid tells her that Master Eraqus' star has gone out, meaning that Eraqus is dead. She begs to know who was responsible, and YenSid tells her that it was Xehanort... and Terra. Aqua denies this, saying that Terra couldn't have. YenSid says that he hopes that she's right, but he doubts it. She demands to know where she can find her friend, and is told that Terra has gone to the ancient Keyblade Graveyard. She leaves to go find him.
AW YEAH WE HAVE... ALMOST AN HOUR LEFT OF THIS HA HA WELL
Aqua arrives in the deserted wasteland of the Keyblade Graveyard and declares that no matter what, the three of them will always be one.
She finds Terra in the middle of a field of broken keys, and asks Terra what happened to the Master, and Terra admits that he was, indeed, the one responsible, but that he'd made a terrible mistake, and further that the Master had tried to kill Ven. Then he reveals that Xehanort had set the whole thing up to open the darkness in his heart, and that Aqua and Master Eraqus were right: he needed guidance. He then says that he's going to fight, but Aqua cautions him, saying that he's still acting out of darkness and hate.
At that moment, Ventus finally arrives, and reveals the true purpose of Vanitas: that Xehanort's plan is to force them to fight so that they can make the χ-blade (pronounced Key-blade, because greek puns, I guess), an ultimate weapon capable of remaking the world. He begs Aqua and Terra to kill him to put him out of his misery and prevent this apocalypse. Before they can react to this dark request, Xehanort and Vanitas arrive on the scene, and the battle begins.
Said battle is fucking awesome.
Also in the actual version that's not the secret movie, Xehanort gives a long villain speech about the Keyblade War, and stuff.
So anyway the important shit from that movie is that Ven gets frozen, Aqua catches him, and Xehanort starts executing his master plan. SHIT BRO. Also, Mickey shows up.
Shortly after Aqua catches Ven, Braig shows up; Braig being a Royal Guardsman of Radiant Garden and scientific apprentice/research to the King, Ansem the Wise. Braig showed up mostly in Terra's story, hence why he hasn't come up yet. Braig was a traitor, working as Xehanort's right hand man to bring about the downfall of Radiant Garden, the creation of the χ-blade, and other Bad Shit in exchange for more power. So yeah! He shows up. And he tells Aqua to leave Ven with him, and that she should run off and fight Terra since Terra killed Eraqus.
Aqua's having none of this joker's bullshit. She loses her temper and kicks Braig's sorry sarcastic butt. Unfortunately for Aqua, Braig was just distracting her to buy some time. And then oh shit Vanitas shows up and sneak attacks Aqua and kills her.
OR WAIT! He would have, but Mickey Mouse shows up and saves her life. She looks over and sees, much to her joy, Ven, awake, alive, and well.
HA HA JUST KIDDING, HE'S POSSESSED BY VANITAS WHO NOW HAS THE χ-blade! LOL. THIS IS THE HAPPIEST GAME.
Mickey and Aqua fight him. Alas, Vanitas in this form is ridiculously strong. Aqua prays for strength from her friends, and in fact gets it, her keyblade alighting with powerful energy. She engages Vanitas, and manages to shatter the χ-blade. It explodes in a blast of powerful energy. Vanitas' influence leaves Ven as the blade shatters, but the explosion grows and grows, blasting aqua and Ventus into the air. Aqua manages to grab Ven's hand, but they're shot into the sky.
The screen goes white.
Aqua awakens in YenSid's study. Mickey once again saved her, bringing Ventus along. Alas, Terra is missing, and Ventus' heart is sleeping, leaving him in a coma. Aqua vows to keep Ven safe. YenSid says that he needs her to believe in him much more. Mickey offers his support and help. Aqua decides then to go find Terra, who she believes must be alive and okay.
Haha sorry this is a tragedy :|
She takes Ven's body back to what's left of the Land of Departure, the place of the Keyblade Masters. Alas, when she arrives it is broken and destroyed, and she finds her Master's forgotten Keyblade on the ground. Using powers Master Eraqus taught her, Aqua transforms that place into Castle Oblivion, a place of secrets and lost memories, to keep Ven safe within its walls. With Ven safely cloistered, Aqua departs to find Terra.
Once outside Castle Oblivion and in the realm of darkness, Aqua hears Terra's voice asking her to kill him. She asks where to find him, then walks off into the darkness. She finds him out in the real world, in Radiant Garden (or perhaps a dream version of it, it's unclear), only his eyes have become golden and his hair silver. He begins choking her, and he asks her who he is.
This is in fact Xehanort. Xehanort's plan all along was to steal Terra's body to gain his youth back so he could continue his work in trying to gain the power of Kingdom Hearts, a power that would let him conquer all worlds. However, Xehanort had underestimated Terra's power, and in fact had become confused as to his goals and who he really was due to Terra fighting back against him.
Aqua and the possessed Terra do battle as she tries to destroy Xehanort and free Terra from his influence. Conflicted and slowly going mad, Terra/Xehanort turns his Keyblade on himself and falling into the darkness. Aqua follows him into the portal, descending deeper and deeper into oblivion to try to save him. But they've both fallen so deep that she might not be able to escape. She thus ejects from her Keyblade Armor (which she wears in order to protect herself from the darkness), then sends both her keyblade and armor with Terra/Xehanort to bring them back to the realm of Light. Alas, this leaves Aqua without an escape route, and she falls into the Darkness, lost perhaps forever.
Ansem the Wise, led by Braig, finds Xehanort barely conscious in Radiant Garden, along with Aqua's broken armor. Both are brought to the castle, with the armor being interred in the basement.
Aqua, meanwhile, wanders the realm of Darkness, beset on all sides by Heartless, slowly losing herself and her sense of time. She retains Master Eraqus' Keyblade to defend herself, but almost decides to let herself die, before the keyblades of Terra and Ventus arrive and save her, showing her that hope remains.
Many, many years later, (during the events of Kingdom Hearts II), Aqua finds Ansem the Wise on a beach in the realm of darkness, and asks him who he is. She asks him who he is, and he admits that he knows that this is his second time, that he does not remember how he arrived, or who he really is.
They briefly discuss Sora, who is apparently Jesus now. GOD AND THAT'S THE END. YAY.
Reincarnated History Maya Aaronson was born in 1953; she was half-Jewish, half-Christian, and for various reasons her parents chose to raise her mostly agnostic, celebrating the Christian holidays but not really ascribing anything to them. She grew up in and around Locke City primarily, and never really left.
Even at an early age, Maya showed a great interest in two things: fencing, and writing. She was lucky enough to have access to a middle school fencing club, in which she excelled. She eventually became the women’s fencing champion in the local college league. Unfortunately, her parents were of the opinion that sports was not a viable career for a young lady (this was especially true in the 60s and 70s, before professional athletes made millions), and so she was eventually pushed out of it.
Instead, she chose to pursue a writing career. In college, she majored in English, and also became enamored of… well, whatever fantasy series became super famous in this universe instead of Tolkien because Aragorn? She also read a lot of Michael Moorcock and Jack Vance, at least, as well as science fiction stories. It was around this time that she became involved in fan culture, finding the Locke Science Fiction Society and their club. She even wrote Star Trek (or… the equivalent) fanfiction for the local fanzines, some of which was considered quite good, and got her real writing start in a few of the glossier and more well-respected ‘zines.
Her writing career was put on hold for a while after she graduated college at the age of 22. She managed to get a job as a secretary, then later writing copy for various ad firms. She married a man from her office named Matthew at the age of 23 at the urging of her parents, but divorced him only three years later, then married a man she knew from the SF&F society.
Around that time she began publishing short fiction in science fiction and fantasy magazines, and gained something of a reputation for her stories, which were often a kind of raygun gothic/scientific romance, sometimes with an element of what today we’d call “steampunk” but back then didn’t really have a name (historical fantasy, sorta; Michael Moorcock wrote in this genre with his Master of the Air).
In 1980 (while she was still married to her second husband), she started her first novel, based on that one story idea which had been with her since she was thirteen, of two Masters of Keys and their three Apprentices, and an examination gone wrong. In 1982 she quit her job to finish it. This story became the novel The Shadow Plague, which she published in 1983 to unexpected critical success. This later became a series, the Starheart Saga. Though she never achieved mainstream success like, say, George R R Martin, she was successful enough to make her living entirely on books after that, writing many other spinoff novels and stories, though the Starheart remained her most popular work and her most successful one. Around 1985, due to some disputes with her husband over who REALLY owned the Starheart Saga (he claimed it was his work, and she proved it wasn't with her middle school notebook about the dream she had that inspired the story), she divorced her husband and thereafter remained single. In the 90s, a Japanese videogame company even released an isometric RPG based on the first book, but the company went bankrupt for unrelated reasons soon after (a different game they made bombed); the game is rare now but remembered fondly as being quite good.
Now in her 60s, Maya just finished a hard science fiction series, but is hard at work re-releasing the Starheart Chronicles in special edition ebooks and collector’s editions.
First Echo: Maya’s first fencing competition at age thirteen was a high-stakes event which she’d trained hard for; this paralleled her Mark of Mastery examination. That night, she had a very clear dream of that first exam. She doesn't remember anyone's exact names and has only a vague idea of their appearances (Xehanort looked "shifty and cruel," Eraqus was "noble and righteous" etc) but she has a pretty clear understanding of the events of the exam. This Echo served as the basis for her novel series, The Starheart Saga.
Preincarnation Personality: Of the three friends in Birth By Sleep, Aqua is by far the most responsible. If I were to be a bit goofy for a moment, she's the epitome of the Lawful Good Dungeons and Dragons alignment: she's kind and caring, and always wishes to help those in need, but whenever possible she tries to do so within the letter of the law. For example, in Deep Space, while Terra ends up inadvertently helping the mad scientist Jumba and Ven directly helps 626 regardless of the consequences, Aqua cooperates fully with Gantu and the Grand Concilwoman, trying to stay within the limits of their laws while still also helping 626 as much as possible.
On the flip side, this adherence to duty and law can sometimes be detrimental to Aqua. She tries to follow Master Eraqus' orders to find Terra and bring Ventus home to the absolute letter; never once does she consider allowing Ventus to come along with her so she can keep an eye on him, teach him, and get some help tracking down Terra. Instead, she sticks to her orders, which is simply to bring Ventus home... which, in the end, hurt everyone much more than it helped, ensuring that they were all separated from each other.
That being said, while Aqua is hesitant to break any rules, on the other hand she's very invested in the safety and happiness of others. Again in the case of Deep Space, she negotiates with the Grand Councilwoman to shorten 626's sentence of exile instead of simply going along with it. When Peter Pan asks to make her the leader of the treasure hunt, she initially refuses because she has another task (finding Ventus and Terra) but then relents when Peter and the Lost Boys look upset at not having a treasure hunt. She will always help those in need whenever possible.
Aqua cares very deeply for her friends, and the Light help you if you hurt them, seriously. She shows absolutely no mercy to Braig when he unveils Xehanort's plans for them. Her strength comes from her connections to her friends, and she's willing to walk straight into Hell for them—literally!
Aqua's youth means that sometimes she's both a little overconfident and also a little quick to jump to conclusions. She says to Terra in Radiant Garden that she knows what he did, when she honestly has no evidence. She often believes she's in the right, even when that's not the case (though she's not as bad about this as Terra can be).
Aqua also hates relying on the strength of others; when Zack offered to fight for her in the Coliseum, she refused to let him, preferring to work it out on her own. By the same token, she can't seem to see Ventus as able to take care of himself, constantly offering to protect him and telling him to go home and stay out of trouble (even in the Mark of Mastery exam). She sees herself as a protector... and sometimes as the only sane one.
Since she's only eighteen, she still has a bit of a childlike streak, though usually she hides it well; this is most seen in the games at Disney Town, where she's allowed to relax a little.
Finally, seriously, god help you if you ever genuinely manage to piss her off. Aqua's rage can be absolutely terrifying if she's pushed. When Vanitas broke Ventus' wooden keyblade she lashed out with unprecedented fury.
Any differences: Maya is older than Aqua and thus a little more able to deliberate on her decisions. Aqua clings a bit to rules and order because sometimes she honestly doesn't know what ELSE to do; Maya, however, has the experience to know when you might not wish to. Indeed, Maya was deeply hurt more than once by strict adherence to tradition and expectation—first, when she didn't become a professional fencer because it wasn't “ladylike,” second when she (twice!) tried to marry and settle down as a dutiful housewife. Both marriages ended in messy divorce as she realized that this wasn't what she wanted at all. While not exactly a wanton lawbreaker and while she still has respect for history and tradition, she no longer follows rules quite so blindly. Put another way, Maya's D&D alignment would be Neutral Good instead of Lawful Good; Maya would have taken Ventus along even though it went against the Master's orders because it made more sense.
On the flip side, Maya hasn't had as many truly deep, close friendships in her life. Sure, she's HAD friends, people who helped her get her writing career on track, people she met through early Star Trek (or whatever) fandom and science fiction fandom, but not that deep, near magical bond that Aqua had with Terra and Ventus. There's no one in her life that she'd walk into Hell for, not YET anyway. While she believes that such people might exist and such friendships are possible (she writes about them extensively in her books), she hasn't experienced it herself, not really.
Finally, Maya is slower to act and not as much of a combatant. Aqua often thinks like a warrior and even a zealous crusader (she's more than willing to kill Lady Tremaine and her daughters because of the Darkness in their hearts, and is only stopped by the Fairy Godmother!), but Maya, though a talented fencer, is no paladin of justice. She's a writer and a dreamer, and though she stands up for what she believes in, she's not really the type to go march in a protest and certainly not the type to end things with violence.
Abilities: Aqua is a Keyblade Master. This gives her quite a lot of power.
Keyblade: A Keyblade is a weapon of terrible power. Aqua actually has two as of the end of the game: Rainfell, her personal Keyblade, and the Master Keeper, the keyblade of Master Eraqus. Keyblades change form with Keychains, which are generally tied to memories of close friends; this gives them extra powers and qualities.
A Keyblade chooses its master, and the blades cannot be held by someone who has not been Chosen. Thus, a Keyblade Master can always return the blade to their person simply by willing it. They cannot be stolen. They can also be stored in a non-space (probably within the user's heart) and thus hidden away.
The Keyblade serves as both a sword and a bludgeoning tool as the wielder wills, despite the lack of an edge and ungaingly shape.
The keyblade's true power and what makes it dangerous is the ability to unlock or lock any lock. A N Y lock. In the Kingdom Hearts universe, the thing is that hearts have locks on them, and even worlds have hearts. Most keyblades of light are used primarily to seal things away; presumably Aqua's keyblade COULD be used to unlock a heart, but given that doing so at best kills someone and at worst can split them into a Heartless (a being composed of the pure darkness left behind from the utter destruction of their heart) and a Nobody (the empty shell of their body, wandering without emotion and driven only by a gnawing emptiness) that'd be a terribly dark act, and not something she'd want to do. By the same token, though, the Keyblade is an especially effective weapon against Heartless and Nobodies, and other unnatural beasts of darkness (Up to the mods if this applies to the Enemy; given that the Keyblade can be used to de-posess things, it could be useful!)
Finally, someone with the proper training can turn the Keyblade into a Glider, a sort of space ship traveling device. It keeps its weapon properties in this shape.
Keyblade Armor: This armor doesn't actually provide much physical protection, despite looking like plate mail; rather, its primary purpose is to protect the wielder from the detrimental effects of darkness and other hazardous environments. It doesn't impede movement at all.
Combat Abilities: Aqua is an agile fighter. While not as quick as Ventus, she's nimble on the battlefield, and actually cartwheels to evade attacks. Later in the game, she can double jump via magic. Most of her physical attacks are supplemented by magic.
Magic: Aqua is probably the third most powerful wizard in the entire universe, after YenSid and Xehanort. She's certainly the most powerful player-character when it comes to spellcasting. Her primary shtick is the Reflect spell, which she can use at-will, and creates an impenetrable spherical barrier around herself or an ally for a brief moment. Almost all of her attacks are supplemented by spells of some kind, and the magic she uses in the game goes above and beyond what any of the other characters can do, save, again, Xehanort and Yen Sid.
For a COMPLETE LIST of all of Aqua's magic and combat abilities, see this wiki page because no way am I writing all that shit out.
Shotlocks: Are basically another kind of spell. more info
Dimension Link: Using her Wayfinder (an enchanted charm she made herself), Aqua can form bonds of friendship with others that go beyond simple camaraderie; these friendships instead fuel magical and physical abilities. By concentrating on a friend, Aqua can borrow some of their abilities to use in combat, briefly changing her fighting style to match. More information. I think it'd be neat if when Maya gets this ability back, that she can forge new links with characters in the game, as well as potentially recall old links.
Command Styles: By using certain kind of spells and attacks, Aqua can gain a new attack style, called a Command Style, that lets her command different sorts of magic. more info
tl;dr – keyblade masters are not people to fucking trifle with.
FINALLY, Maya herself was an olympic-level sport fencer. She still teaches, and though she's not exactly Olympics material anymore, she's still much faster and in better shape than most women her age. That being said, she doesn't know COMBAT fencing, just sport fencing, which are very different things.
Roleplay Sample – Third Person: The house was filled with tea and cats, as most houses of fantasy authors tended to be. Mnemosyne (the black cat) rubbed against her legs as she shuffled to the window, tea in hand.
"My life is fairly alright," she said to the window, as though to convince herself. If she squinted, the backyard looked almost like another world in the moonlight.
The stars above were unusually bright tonight, even with the city lights in the distance almost drowning them out; perhaps it was the lack of a moon. So many worlds, and still they stayed out of reach. She fiddled with the skeleton key necklace a fan had given her a few years back.
Did other authors go through this? The worlds you wrote were just worlds, diversions, places for people to forget how terrible the world was sometimes, or to be reminded that sometimes despite all the bad life was still worth living. But sometimes, she deeply wished she'd lived in that world, not this one.
You're sixty years old, she sighed to herself, putting the teacup down on the window and scratching behind Mnemosyne's ears. No time for such childish things, not anymore. The world is the world, your life is your life, you have, at best, twenty years more to live it. Maybe less. And books are just books.
Still. Still. Perhaps she'd see how the money was and go off on an adventure, travel to India or Africa or China or something, or Greece, see if, maybe, there was just a little adventure left outside of yellowed pages and faded ink. Maybe the next short story collection would do well, maybe the ebook special editions of The Starheart Saga would make enough but
But
"Where's my space ship? Where's my mars colonies, my other worlds, my c-beams glittering in the dark? Where's..."
I do matter, though, I matter to a lot of people who feel just the same and for a moment want to know that they're not alone.
It was all very silly. She petted the cat one last time, then decided that finally, it might be time to get to bed.
Roleplay Sample - Network: If it wasn't for the fact that this appeared in a notebook when I wrote the number down... I might not have believed it was real. But, well, extraordinary proof...
I read the info post, it was quite helpful, thank you for compiling it.
My name is Maya Aaronson, and I honestly don't know how helpful I'll be. I'm only a writer. However, I do own a large house on the edge of town, with many empty rooms, so if any of you need somewhere to stay, I can at least offer that.
Notes: Here's a summary of The Starheart Saga. After the first Mark of Mastery exam, the story deviates quite a lot from Kingdom Hearts, but I feel it's important to have an existing outline of the tale anyway.
