Hey everyone, XxVanitasxX here. This is a short one-shot I wrote about the 'rebirth' of Vanitas after the events of both Birth by Sleep and Kingdom Hearts II. Due to being asked to write more the former one-shot story is being continued for who knows how long. This is based on a role play I did with a few friends in a role-playing group. Hope you enjoy and as always, reviews are appreciated greatly. Enjoy :D


Blackness. Vanitas couldn't see anything but the blackness of death swallowing everything he had ever known. "This…" he whispered, "Is the end." The last conscious thoughts of his mind slowly slipped away, leaving inside his head as black as the surrounding area. The boy's semi-muscular body fell limp in the empty space, seemingly suspended in animation. An ominous cloaked figure appeared from the darkness wearing a dark cloak just as Vanitas lost his last bit of consciousness. His glowing amber eyes were the only object visible in the abyss as he wandered around the void as if searching for something. The man looked to the now motionless body of Vanitas and smiled. He had found what he had been looking for. This was the beginning of something big; his perfect plan was now in action. Finding Vanitas had been the hard part. The figure sauntered over to the boy, leaning down to his face that was partly covered by a bit of his mask that hadn't been removed when he had revealed his face. "So much like Sora…"The man chuckled as he put his gloved hand to the cheek of the frozen boy's face, now stone cold.

"Don't worry Vanitas, you won't fade away. Not yet…" the man whispered into the ear of the motionless corpse, grabbing the body from its place and holding the teenager in his arms. Vanitas's spiky black hair brushed up against the man's chest as the body was lifted from its suspended state. A portal of darkness was then summoned by the cloaked man, who carried Vanitas through it as he left the dark world behind him.

Moments later, the dark corridor opened into a dark dank room. Nothing was particularly interesting about the room, a few old bookcases lined the walls of the room, but other than a few chairs it was empty. The room was old enough to not have electric lights however and was pitch black except for the moonlight that shined in through the elaborate glass window. The cloaked man walked out of the corridor and leaned Vanitas against the nearest wall, the moonlight glowing against the young man's pale face. The cloaked man sat in a nearby chair and watched Vanitas slowly begin to take shallow breaths, his red and black veiny clothing moving up and down as he contracted and expanded his lungs.

"About time…" the man sighed, leaning his head onto his hand, his amber eyes watching the boy for any real movement. Vanitas moaned again, this time managing to lift his head up. He opened his eyes, the shocking yellow irises now barely visible in the dark room. His eyes scanned the area, seeing nothing interesting. "Vanitas. You have finally awakened." A deep menacing voice stated softly, causing Vanitas to whip his head around to look straight at the cloaked man lounging in the chair.

The man shifted his body and stood up. A small smirk crawled across his face as he walked up to Vanitas, who was now a bit freaked out by the seemingly random presence he had now noticed. "Who are you?" Vanitas muttered, leaning against the bookcase to help him keep balance. "I am nobody at all. You may call me Xemnas."

"Xemnas…" Vanitas repeated, his mind was full of fuzz right now, repeating the name was one of the few things he could handle at the moment. Xemnas moved closer to Vanitas, offering his hand to the boy. Vanitas looked at the gloved hand like it was rigged to explode on contact. "Take my hand Vanitas…" Xemnas coaxed his tone now more authoritative then it had been moments earlier. Vanitas slowly reached out his hand and grabbed the man's gloved hand with his own, leaving the bookshelf and using the support of the stranger to keep standing. Xemnas lead Vanitas to the window, stopping in the middle of the window and staring out into the distance. "Do you know why you are here?" Xemnas quarried, looking over his shoulder at Vanitas who was holding onto his hand like a little kid, same lost expression on his face as a kid would have. "No idea…Xemnas." He replied flatly, still clinging onto Xemnas's hand with his own. Xemnas could help but smile. This boy looked identical to Sora, the only difference was his pale skin, his black hair, and most of all his yellow eyes. He looked so helpless right now, his eyes were dull and empty, much like his own nobody eyes.

Xemnas guided the boy in front of him then put his hands onto the Sora look alike's shoulders. He leaned down so his face was level with the boy's ears. "I have saved you from death…" he whispered, Vanitas's eyes grew wide with fear and shock. "And now," Xemnas chuckled a bit before continuing, "I own you."

Vanitas's jaw dropped after as Xemnas whispered those words into his ear; they pounded against his head playing over and over drowning out any other thought in his mind. "You…you what?" Vanitas exclaimed, now gaining back more of his conscious mind. He felt the heavy hands of his captor weighing down his shoulders. Xemnas laughed again, sending chills down Vanitas's spine. Xemnas then lifted one of his hands and grabbed Vanitas's jaw with his lanky hand and forced the boy to look him in the eyes. "It's exactly what it sounds like boy. I. Own. You." Xemnas growled, tightening his grip on Vanitas's jaw. "Say it…" he demanded, ready to break the jaw of his captive if he didn't comply.

"You…own me." He repeated softly, as if when he said those words a bit of himself died. Xemnas smirked and let Vanitas's jaw go, Vanitas uttered a sigh of relief as he released. "Good boy." Xemnas averred, glad that Vanitas was accepting his new place rather quickly. "Now, there is a way for you to earn your freedom Vanitas…" Xemnas said softly, turning away from Vanitas, leaving the boy's confused look behind him. "There is a boy named Sora, he looks identical to you; although he does have brown hair and blue eyes instead of your black hair and yellow eyes. I…" Xemnas began

"Let me guess, you want him dead." Vanitas interrupted flatly, he had heard this rant before. Xemnas was familiar to him, but he just couldn't place it. He did remind him of his former master, Master Xehanort, a bit but not enough to assume he was him. "He's just a kid though. Does he owe you money or something?" Vanitas mocked, now his brain was awake and the massive sarcasm could commence. Xemnas wasn't amused by this sudden burst of cynicism. "He is the keyblade master." Xemnas snapped, now tempted to hurt Vanitas if he continued.

"Oh." Vanitas responded quickly. "That may make him a BIT harder. But I know how to kill keybladers, trust me." He boasted. Xemnas merely laughed. "Then why did you die?" Xemnas remarked back. Vanitas was silent. "Even so I assure you that this Sora kid will be dead, soon." Vanitas sneered, walking past Xemnas to the door. He lazily swung it open and walked out.

Xemnas chuckled to himself as Vanitas left. "Fool. I own you now. You will never be free…"