The Badlands
His vision was a foggy red mess as he unfolded his body. He stopped holding his knees, and as his posture unraveled, he began to fall to the ground. An unnatural birth was a suiting method for a beast to enter the world. He wondered what he was. As his feet hit the sandy ground, he was given an answer.
"Empty creature from Ventus riven..." The first raspy sentence to reach him began, "To you the name Vanitas shall be given."
Vanitas. That was an odd title. Even so, who was giving it to him? Names are given to pets, to children, to possessions. The blurred figure before him, he supposed, would have to have been his owner. He realized he'd paused in the conversation, and spoke, "Yes, master."
The man picked up a large mass from the ground. A body, Vanitas inferred. "Come, then," The figure demanded. Vanitas stepped along behind him. The two walked and spoke, Vanitas dragging his feet some.
"Who are you?" Vanitas asked hazily.
"Xehanort. Your creator," the man grimaced, "Your superior. I forged you from that heart of this boy. Ventus."
"But that's..." Vanitas put his hand to his chest, stopping and looking downward. Xehanort stopped a couple steps ahead. "Why was I in his heart?"
"You are a fraction of Ventus. The piece I took away. That he didn't know how to use." Xehanort waved his hand towards the boy. "But he is of the light. You are stronger. Do you know why?"
"Yes." He nodded solemnly. "The darkness." He looked towards Xehanort. "But my heart is fractured. What what remains slips away?"
"It won't." Xehanort waved his hand, summoning a pitch black portal through which he beckoned Vanitas. "I will not allow it to end that way." He walked through the corridor and it shut. His voice, however, still boomed through the sky. "In the world we are going to, you will find a youthful child bearing a heart of pure light. You will claim this heart as residence for Ventus' to grow. As he feeds off of the excess light, I will train you in more practical ways."
Vanitas looked around in confusion. "Understood. How do I follow you there?"
"Call upon the darkness," The man's raspy, disembodied voice beckoned, "You are darkness, and it is the only thing that will lead you to prosperity in the worlds."
Vanitas thought for a moment. He lifted his hand slowly, his mind attempting to render the negativity needed to spawn a dark corridor. And, so, he felt his first emotion; Ambivalence.
That's how existence made him feel. What he felt all the time, for the rest of time. Ambivalence is a clash. A clash of two, many more, or even all emotions at once. A painful blend of fear, anger, or confusion, with safety, acceptance, or comprehension. Even the word sounds conflicted and pained. And why wouldn't it be? What would you feel if you were told you were created solely for the sake of a violent, painful clash?
Vanitas stepped through the dark corridor. He didn't see it, but a slimy, blue creature spawned as the portal closed. Forged from his ambivalence was this scrawny, fast, anxious flood of feelings. A monster.
Destiny Islands
Vanitas exited the portal, walking up beside Xehanort. "Where to?" He asked, his voice still monotone.
"I will bring Ventus to a more isolated location. A deserted one. There, I will await completion of your task." Xehanort walked off, a cloak growing around him and masking his face. That was that. As the sun set, Vanitas walked in the opposite direction, towards the town.
As he walked, he thought about things. New questions arose. His purpose, his emotions, his mind, it all seemed very new. As he entered the small village of wooden huts, he saw lights flicking off for the night. He saw two young boys hanging around outside of a home. While one was about two years of age, the other seemed to be roughly half of a year. While the smaller of the two slept, leaning against the fence they were inside of, the other played with a wooden sword. He held it above his head, smacking it against a punching bag and grunting like a fantasy hero.
The boy stopped when he saw Vanitas. He turned to him, his eyes widening. He stepped back some. Vanitas tilted his head slowly. "What are you so afraid of boy?" He stepped closer some. "Tell me your name."
The boy looked timid, as if he were trying to stop shaking. "R-Riku."
"Riku?" Vanitas walked forwards, stepping over the tiny gate. "That's a nice name." He placed his hand on his chest. "I am Vanitas."
Riku raised his wooden blade as Vanitas slowly crept closer. "A-Are you gonna hurt us?"
Vanitas ignored the question, cracking his neck left, then right. He stopped and crouched in front of the boy. "Who's your friend?"
Riku looked hesitant. "Sora." He said slowly.
Vanitas walked towards Sora and placed his fingertips on the child's heart. He stole them back quickly. They seared with pain upon contact with the boy., and he took the back as quickly as he'd placed them down.
"Figures," He spoke through the helmet, "That a light bulb would burn."
Vanitas heard a shout over his shoulder. Riku had swung the sword towards his back. He quickly spun, catching it in his left hand. He ripped it out of Riku's grip, and the boy fell to the ground, crab walking away from Vanitas until he collapsed on the side of the building. "Are you a monster!?" Riku yelled.
"Oh no," Vanitas said as his mask began to dissipate. As it faded away, an entirely black mess of solely shadows and two beady red eyes glared at Riku. "I'm far worse." He stood, towering over the child. "I'm a nightmare. And, nightmares, they have nothing to fear." He walked towards the helpless boy. "Monster, you can kill them before they kill you. But a nightmare?" Vanitas kneeled in front of the child, placing his hand on his scalp. "You can't do anything about us."
"Why are you here!?" Riku demanded, tears beginning to form on his eyes.
"Because someone out there needs Sora's help." Vanitas sighed, "And I'm here to deliver- Now, sleep boy." Riku's eyelids suddenly began to fall, and as Vanitas lifted his hand, he passed out.
Vanitas stood, tossing the sword to Riku's feet. "Pathetic." He walked over to Sora and crouched. "Only one thing left to do." He put his palm on Sora's chest. It hurt, but he didn't care. "Forge the connection..." His hand began to shake. "Seal the keyhole!" He didn't know where the words came from, but they possessed him as he took the light from Sora. "Open the door."
Sora breathed a heavy sigh, and a trail of light fell out of his lips. It flew across the island, to somewhere new. But before it could, it went through Vanitas' chest. He touched his heart as he felt flesh growing onto his face. He felt hair grow, a face form, all in a second. He stood up, beckoning a dark corridor and letting his mask return to him.
He heard a woman's voice from inside of the house. "Riku! Sora!" It shouted. He left through the corridor. Riku's mother exited the building as it shut. She didn't see it in the dead of night. She crouched over her son. "Aww."
He slowly woke up. "M-Mom?" He sat up and hugged her.
"Good morning sweetie." She looked concerned. "Is everything ok?"
"Yeah," Riku said hazily. "J-Just a bad dream."
