In a realm where nothing exists, where all you have for company is the void in which you can easily lose yourself, is his resting place. A long time ago, a teenage boy had worked with a powerful man to bring to life a conspiracy that could've brought about the end of the entire universe. What was worse, the boy was more than happy to go along with the plan, as it involved the destruction of the one person that he hated so much. However, the plan ended in total failure, resulting in the boy fading away into the very darkness that he was born from. Since then, he has been trapped in this realm, wallowing in his anger, an anger that was born from having who he considered weak and worthless defeat him so easily.
After all the pain that he had to endure was for nothing. Because he was a heart of pure darkness, the negativity creates psychological torment for him, placing him in a state of living hell. If that wasn't enough, his darkness manifested in the form of creatures that he could control. His anger had gotten the better of him and had lashed out at the creatures. Since they were a part of him, each time he destroyed one, he could feel their pain. The process continued for a while, keeping himself oblivious to the pain as best he could so as to find an outlet for his mindful torment. It lasted for a while, until the dark thoughts and physical pain finally got the better of him, breaking, no, shattering him.
It was then that the man who made him… Xehanort… he turned him into the monster that had caused just as much pain that he did. He had taken this opportunity to re-mould him into that monster that had aided him in his plan. After the boy was defeated, he finally regained a part of his original self, as he had become part of the heart that he came from. The heart of another boy who had been chosen to wield a powerful weapon. That weapon was the Keyblade, a key-shaped sword that had the power to lock and unlock any lock.
Ironically, the original boy was supposed to be the original helper of the plan, but Xehanort wasn't satisfied with his strength. More specifically, he wanted the boy to unleash the power of darkness, being able to control darkness and use it as a weapon, similarly to how you would hear of wizards of myth and legend using the natural elements as their main arsenals to fight their battles.
They had briefly joined back together in order to create a much more powerful Keyblade, one that would unlock the source of all light in the universe. However, the original boy won in the end, destroying the key, allowing the one born from darkness to return to his heart properly, but since the key was also made from his heart, it severely damaged it, causing him to fall into an eternal slumber, and as a result, left the boy born from the dark trapped in an endless void. No way to escape, he had given himself up to the empty realm, accepting that he has no hope. He believed that this would be the end for him.
That was what he had kept telling himself. In reality, the boy wished for vengeance upon Xehanort, he would take any opportunity to escape this prison and find a way to end him, even if it was the last thing he would ever do.
Luckily, for him, it seemed that fate had a keen interest in helping him.
In the darkness, a crack of light formed in the distance. The boy began to become more self-aware, as there was finally something appearing in this realm. The crack kept expanding, until it created a giant hole. What came through was truly surprising. It seemed like a giant, black dragon, coated with blue marks on its body, as well donning bird-like wings, unlike the scaly wings that would be said to be on dragons usually. No sooner had it entered, it had begun draining energy from this realm. The boy felt incredible energy and power radiating from him, but as he somehow drew more power from the realm he became more than fifty times more powerful. When it was finished, it made its way out of the realm through the hole it came in through.
The boy couldn't have been more surprised. He saw the hole was beginning to shrink. Now that the realm had been weakened, the boy was able to free more freely, and so had decided to take the opportunity to exit the prison. Now that he could use his body more freely, he began generating dark energy. He built it up around the soles of his feet. An aura of black energy formed around him, increasing his strength and speed. Combining these, he hoped that he could "springboard" his way through the gate. Mustering all the power he could, he launched himself at top speed, feeling wind resistance and adrenaline, determination rising as he zoomed to the gateway, hoping to take back his freedom.
….
He opened his eyes and took in a large breath of air. Feeling the air on his skin was quite a surprise, as was the warmth he felt from what seemed to be the sun. The more his senses returned to him, he began taking notice of where he was. He took in the grass that he was lying on, dabbled with dew. The tall trees that towered high above him, seeming mighty in their natural region. There were many unusual plants growing around them as well.
It was an incredibly peaceful feeling. It wasn't something he wasn't accustomed to. Feeling uncomfortable, he sat up, wanting to see more of the area around him. Soon, a thought occurred to him. He raised his hand and focused on summoning his weapon. Appearing in half a second, was a sword in the shape of a key. It was made up of multiple red and black gears, with a light blue eye at the top, where the gear shaped teeth also stuck out. It was could for catching onto things if necessary, or for extra impact if you were hitting something.
He was relieved to see that he could wield the weapon. His Keyblade. His was different to other keyblades he had come across. His was an artificial weapon, since his original light half was able to use a Keyblade naturally, a dark version had formed for him. With it, he could utilize a number of abilities, firing fire, ice, lightning and darkness from it, sinking beneath the ground and launching out for a surprise attack, teleporting, etc.
He had been trapped within that darkness, unable to move, unable to use any of his power. As a result, he has lost a certain amount of his strength. However, that doesn't mean he won't be able to regain it. Even stronger than ever. It was now his new goal. To become powerful enough to have his vengeance.
He stood up and decided to explore the area a bit more, hoping that there would be a town where he can gather some supplies. As he was about to move, he looked down and realised that he was wearing new clothes. He was now in a button shirt, crimson on the top half, but faded into black as it went to the bottom. He also wore navy jeans, black free-running shoes and a furry, elastic wrist band that was about 2 and a half inches. He noticed that it had the symbol for the unversed on it, the monsters he was able to summon. It was surprising, but not an unusual concept. They were apart of him, so the appearance of the symbol makes sense.
He walked through the forest, taking in the scene, finding it relaxing. The further he went on, the more curious he would be about what would be at the end of his journey. He walked around for a few minutes before he came to the edge of the forest. He saw a path of dry soil, seemingly used quite often with all the wheel tracks and footprints left on the road. Thinking that this path could help to lead him to a town.
"HELP, PLEASE, SOMEONE DO SOMETHING!"
The boy turned around and, in the distance, he could make out a young woman screaming, seeing a carriage driving off into, what to her was the distance, but to him was his direction. Seeing nothing better to do, he summoned his Keyblade, taking his battle stance, his feet more than a shoulder width wide, sticking his free hand out into the open while he held his weapon above his head. He decided a good way to deal with them. He aimed the Keyblade at the carriage, making out faces of greedy thugs on it. The tip of his weapon began to build up a bright blue energy, increasing in size greatly by the second.
After five seconds, he released the energy, firing the energy ball at a high speed. He could tell the thugs noticed build-up of energy on the weapon, and were terrified when they saw the energy flying towards them like a rocket. Things weren't made easier for them when it impacted, creating an explosion that knocked them off, but left the carriage unscathed. The boy dematerialised the weapon and teleported onto the carriage. He grabbed the reigns of the horses that were moving the carriage, trying to slow them down. It was a tad more difficult than expected, but he managed to stop and calm the horses. As they came to a stop, the boy relaxed and laid back in the carriage seat. That was certainly a new experience for him, allowing himself a smile at how he managed the situation incredibly well.
He heard footsteps behind him. He turned around to find the girl in the distance that he saw earlier. Now that she was closer, he was able to see that she had brown hair, green eyes and tanned skin. She was certainly out of breath, the way she was breathing heavily and how she was bending over from exhaustion. The poor girl must've ran at the speed of light to catch up to the carriage. He jumped off and made his way to the girl.
"Hey, are you alright?" he asked
The girl perked up at the sound of his voice. She looked up at him, than looked him up and down. She realised at what she was doing, and quickly stood up and quickly bowed.
His response was a raised eyebrow. "Uh, are you… okay?" he asked her.
She stood straight up with a worried look on her face.
"I'm sorry, I just… I'm not sure how to thank you for helping me." A thought suddenly dawned on her. "Are you with the other mages?" she asked hopefully.
The boy was now both confused, but curious. "Other mages?"
"Yes, we hired them to kill a monster that has been attacking my village for…" she quickly grew silent. She spoke again. "This monster has been killing my friends and family for years now. It has been going after my village for decades. He tried looking for help before, but they failed. Now though, we have found wizards who have faced gods and won without a problem. They might finally save us."
The boy had his interest caught by hearing how powerful these people were. They might be able to help him train to become stronger. He stared straight into her face.
"Maybe I can as well. I can fight, so I'm willing to offer my services. All I ask is that you take me to these people, please." Stated the boy.
The girl was beaming. "Thank you, thank you very, very, very much. You are so kind"
This caused the boy to freeze. The memories of his past deeds flashed back, reminding him that he was no hero. He never was one, and he knew that he never would be.
They were about to make their way to the village when the girl stopped and turned to him.
"My name is Chloe, by the way, if you don't mind, is it alright if you tell me your name?" she asked.
He looked at her straight in the face, solemnly reminding himself of the past.
"My name… is Vanitas"
…
"Aw man… I'm soooooo hungry" complained a pink haired, teenage boy. His hair was quite spiky also. He only wore a sleeveless jacket and a white, scaly scarf on his top half, and a pair of white, baggy shorts and black sandals on his bottom half. He was lying on the ground with a drooling mouth, imagining all his favourite foods. He had been forced to eat very little of what he had on him, after an accident left him and his friends without the food they brought with them.
Another teenage boy stood over him with a grumpy expression on his face. He wore a long, white coat, a t-shirt and navy jeans. He had black spikey hair and a scar on his forehead.
"Well, maybe if some numbskull hadn't burned all of our food on the way over here, you wouldn't be in this state." He said callously.
The pink-haired teen forgot his hunger briefly, now replaced with anger.
"Shut up Gray!" he said to the black-haired teen.
"You shut up Natsu!" he replied.
The two teens, named Natsu and Gray, were on the verge of killing each other. As Natsu's anger grew, an aura of flame ignited around him, just as Gray began forming ice around his body as his rage also rose.
"I take it you two are getting along well?" came another voice. This voice evaporated their rage and filled them with incredible fear. They quickly shifted from their battle stances to wrapping their arms around each other, shaking each other's hands.
"Yep, we're getting along just fine, right buddy?" said Gray with a frightened tone and a false smile on his face.
"Aye, buddy." Replied Natsu, doing the same imitation as Gray.
The speaker was a woman with long, red hair, brown eyes, dressed in armour and long boots. He had a sense of pride and authority, but also a sliver of kindness that was well hidden, as she was focused on stopping the fight between Natsu and Gray. They finally managed to relax and they all sat down together in the tent Natsu was staying in.
"So, Erza, did Lucy have any luck in finding the monster yet?" asked Gray.
The scarlet haired woman shook her head. "No, she and Wendy seem to think that the creature has the ability to mask its power and scent, so it can hunt its pray more easily."
Natsu slammed his fist into the ground, making a crack in the ground.
"Coward!" he exclaimed.
"Even so, there's got to be a way to find it." Stated Gray.
Erza sighed. "Well, there's no point getting worked up over it. We should call Lucy and Wendy, tell them to call it a day." She stood up and made her way out of the tent. As soon as she was gone, Natsu and Gray were at each other's throats again. No sooner had she left, she came back in briefly.
"I trust you two will keep the fighting to a minimal until we find the beast?"
Natsu and Gray put their false smiles back on.
"No problem" responded Gray.
"Aye sir!" said Natsu.
…..
Not too far away from the village, a blond haired woman wearing a tank top, a skirt and sandals was investigating a set of old ruins that, according to the villagers, was the last place the monster had shown up before it went back in to hiding. She was frustrated, as the creature seemed to have left no trace of its presence. At first she thought it was a trick, but she saw the sincerity of the villagers and continued to look.
"Any luck Lucy?" came a voice.
The woman, apparently named Lucy turned to see a small girl with blue hair in a dress of green and gold. With her were two cats, both using wings as they flew at either side of her. One of the cats was a blue tomcat with black eyes, who was radiating with positivity. The other was a white-furred female cat who wore a pink dress and a ribbon on her tail. She seemed to have both a posh attitude and a dislike of the blue cat.
"Wendy, you're back, I see you brought Happy and Carla with you too." She said, glad to see them. She immediately fell into a depressed mood. "I haven't found a thing."
The girl smiled at her. "Don't worry, we'll find something." She stated. "Right Happy?" she asked the blue cat.
"Aye!" answered Happy.
"Right Carla?" she asked the noble-like cat.
"I'm sure that something will appear. However, I do think that we need to find a new way of tracking the beast."
"You're not wrong, I guess… but I can't just think of a way to do it." Lucy was remarkably well at solving puzzles and mysteries. Whatever they were dealing with, however, seemed to have gotten the better of her. She was afraid of Natsu making fun of her if he found out.
She jumped when a thought came to her.
"Guys, where's Natsu?"
"Over here!" came Natsu's voice in the distance. The group turned to see Natsu, Gray and Erza making their way towards them.
"What's up? Why'd you ask for me?" he asked.
"I've an idea to bring the beast out of hiding, all we need to do is-"she stopped when a cold shiver went down her spine. She saw that it affected her friends at the same time. She felt the ground shake beneath her. Fearing the worst, she screamed to her friends to move.
Almost all of them managed to move in time. Something erupted from the ground, shooting towards the sky at high speed. With it, it took Gray and Carla into the air. Their friends watched in horror.
"GRAY! CARLA! MOVE NOW!" screamed Natsu.
They didn't hear him, they were both knocked unconscious. They were helpless as they were in range of a massive creature. It was the size of a castle, covered in thick scales, all sharpened to the point that the ends flashed in the light. The creature had wings instead of arms, both glowing with intense energy. It had a long neck covered with the same scales, but it split into two the further you looked along it, revealing two heads, each shaped like a T-Rex's and both having black eyes that glowed with the same energy as the wings. It had no legs, only a large, certainly a feature that would help with manoeuvrability.
It was the very monster they were looking for. A creature that was only known as "The Nightmare".
"Wow, that thing's huge." Commented Happy after registering what he saw
"Don't just focus on the monster!" exclaimed Lucy, reminding him that their friends were in trouble.
Natsu's hands were quickly engulfed with flame, as Wendy's hair and eyes changed to a bright, pink colour, Erza summoned a sword out of thin air and Lucy pulled out a golden key. Happy released his wings and grabbed onto Natsu, aiming to help Natsu fly up to the creature so that they could take the fight to it.
"ALRIGHT, I'M FIRED UP NOW!" he roared with determination and fury.
…
"Where did you learn how to use magic?" asked Chloe with interest. She wished to make conversation with Vanitas while they made their way to the village.
Vanitas was taken back by the question "Learned? I was already born with these powers. I guess… someone still helped me learn how to use it properly. The only problem was the guy was the worst kind of person imaginable. He… maybe its best if I don't say anymore."
"Oh, okay. I'm sorry if I upset you." She said.
"No, you didn't. It's the memory of that guy that makes my blood boil." He shook his head, storing the memories to the back of his head. "So, anyway, what else can you tell me about this beast and-"
An explosion went off in the distance. A blast of air came their way, sending Chloe in to air. Vanitas teleported into the air and caught her, before returning to his original spot. He shielded her from the rest of the wind, up until it finally ended. He helped her back onto the ground and both witnessed a giant creature emerge from the ground. He noticed Chloe was about to shiver.
"That's it… that's the creature… it shouldn't be out yet." Her voice was filled with terror. She turned to Vanitas.
Surprisingly, he looked like he was about to laugh.
"Wh-what is wrong with you? The creature is out and you think it's funny!?" she screamed.
"You got it wrong Chloe… I think it's hilarious that he left himself open like that." He allowed himself a small smile and lowered his brow.
"Better watch out… There's no escape." He said softly. He grabbed onto Chloe, soon after teleporting to an area far away from the beast. He asked her to stay there and teleported again. It was time to see what he was really made of.
….
Natsu was in mid combat with is ignited fist against the creature, snapping both its jaws in hopes of crushing him beneath its teeth. Neither were yet worn from the fight, and both were only becoming more agitated by the fight. It raised its wings, preparing to flap its wings and blow him away when it felt a strong, concentrated blast of wind it in the back. It turned and saw Wendy, shooting a tornado from her mouth, putting an unbelievably strong amount of energy behind it. While Natsu had to rely on Happy for flight, Wendy had mastered how to use her sky magic, a combination of wind and nature magic, and was capable of flight.
Lucy and Erza were on the ground, guarding Gray and Carla as they were knocked out cold. They wished to join the fight, but someone needed to care for them.
They weren't worried that much for Natsu or Wendy, they were able to take care of themselves. When they were little, they were orphaned and taken under the care of powerful dragons, both of which imparted knowledge on how to use a dragon's power. Since then, Wendy was able to use Sky magic taught by her adoptive mother, the Sky Dragon Grandine, while Natsu was trained to the limit by his adoptive father, the king of the fire dragons, Igneel.
Thus, the two had become some of the most famous form of magical warriors, the Dragon Slayers.
They were keeping the creature busy for quite some time, using as many magical attacks as they knew to try and take it out. Unfortunately, the attacks only served to irritate the creature. To release its frustration, it let out an earth-shattering cry, blasting the Dragon Slayers away. The scream was loud enough to send a sharp pain through the teams head. It caused even more pain for Natsu and Wendy, as their magic also gave them unimaginably sharp senses.
They both fell unconscious; Happy managing to hold Natsu, but was forced to watch as Wendy was plummeting to the ground. Lucy and Erza saw this, Erza being able to react faster and had ran with as much speed as possible. She leaped up into the air and caught Wendy, unaware that the creature was building up a visible energy in both its mouths. Erza turned and saw the beast fire the energy. Time seemed to slow as she saw the bright, pale stream of energy make its way toward her and Wendy. She tried to summon a weapon to defend herself, but she wasn't quick enough.
The blast had engulfed them both. When it was gone, all that was left was a crater.
Lucy stared at the spot as tears started streaming down her face; she saw two of her closest friends annihilated in a single shot. The pain was too much to bare. Just as he legs gave out, however, she heard a new voice, a boy's voice, chuckle behind her. She turned and saw a teenage boy, slightly younger than Natsu and Gray, with black spiky hair, a crimson and black button shirt, navy jeans, a wrist band and black shoes. On both sides of him, were the two ladies who were supposed to be destroyed by the beast's attack.
Lucy began crying even harder, overwhelmed by happiness and relief for the safety of her friends.
"Erza… Wendy… you're okay…" she managed to say.
The boy walked past her, focusing his attention on the beast, but speaking to her all the same.
"They're going to need some rest for a bit. Take them somewhere safe. If you want to join the fight, I'll leave enough of it to let you have some fun."
Lucy turned to the boy, catching on to his intention to fight the beast.
You can't, it'll kill you; it's too strong!" she said.
The boy smirked. "If I were you, I'd be more worried about this so called "Nightmare" before me."
"Nightmare?" she thought.
The boy lifted his right arm above his head and summoned a sword, one that looked like a key made of gears. No sooner had he done so did he rush towards it with incredible speed. His first move was striking the side of the beast with his weapon, slicing off a number of its sharp scales in the process. Quickly after, he leapt up into the air and launched himself towards the back of the creature, embedding his blade into the beasts back and making sure that he wouldn't be penetrated by the beast's spiky scales. The beast was roaring in pain and surprise from the wounds it had received.
Lucy was at a loss for words, the boy was slicing and dicing a creature that had managed to take down her friends in a flash. Whoever he was, he couldn't have been human.
The boy then decided to take another approach. The creature had been trying to hit him with smaller versions of the large beam attack that he saved the girls from; he saw that each time one was fired, part of the wings would glow briefly. He assumed that whatever was giving the monster energy was embedded in the wings, so opted for the best option presenting itself at the moment.
He teleported away from the beast and allowed himself to sink into the ground. It left behind a shadow that soon started to move swiftly towards the Nightmare. When it was directly under one of its wings, the boy launched himself from the shadow and lightning speed, his weapon outstretched as he spun in the air. He struck the wing, slicing it off. He high in the air when he launched himself toward the other wing, lunging the blade at it and allowed the weapon to separate the other wing from the Nightmare. The creature swiftly fell to the ground.
The boy teleported directly in front of the creature before back stepping. He raised his weapon in the air and three dark blue crystals appeared around him, swirling around him in a clockwise direction. He pointed the weapon forward and the crystals shot out energy at the tip, build up a strong concentration of energy. When he was satisfied with the level of energy, he bellowed
"DARK CANNON!"
The energy shot from the weapon, creating an incredible horizontal pillar of energy. It was three times the size of the blast the Nightmare unleashed. It engulfed it. The blast didn't last very long, but when it was finished, the crippled creature began fading into dust.
…..
Vanitas looked at his Keyblade with astonishment.
"Looks like this place just gave me boost in power. A big boost." He dematerialised his weapon, frowning. "It's still not enough though."
He suddenly remembered the girls and turned to see the blond haired woman he spoke to earlier, staring at him with awe.
"What?" he asked.
…
Sometime after the fallen magic users had recovered, Lucy filled them in on what happened. The boy, who introduced himself as Vanitas, was soon introduced to Natsu Dragneel, Gray Fullbuster, Erza Scarlet, Lucy Heartfilia, Wendy and the cats, Happy and Carla.
"So, you guys were out on a job to beat that thing? That thing didn't seem like something you could beat easily." Said Vanitas.
"Like you can say that, you took it out like it was a piece of cake." Commented Lucy.
"Are you an S-Class mage?" asked Wendy.
"No, I just spent most of my life fighting strong people. It's not the nicest way to live, but it got results. Never mind me though. So Natsu and Wendy are "Dragonslayers", that I know now; what can you guys do?" he asked the rest of the group.
Lucy was the first to answer. "I can summon celestial spirits to help me in a fight. I can also use part of the power of the spirit I'm using so I can get a piece of the action."
Erza stood up and, rather than use words, her body began to glow a bright, yellow like, coating her entirely. When it faded, she was wearing a new set of armour. It had a red-orange and black colour scheme, it had wings at the back, an armour plated skirt, left her shoulders exposed and her hair was tied into two pony tails. She also carried a large sword that matched the colours of her armour.
"I have the ability to switch weapons and armour at my will, storing them in a pocket dimension in case I need it. It's called "Re-equip Magic". She soon changed back into her original armour.
The air soon grew cold around them. Vanitas turned towards Gray, realising that he was the source. He held his hands together for a moment before releasing it, revealing a small ice-sculptor of the unversed emblem. This surprised Vanitas.
"I can control ice and mould it to any shape I please. I saw the symbol on your wristband and thought I'd try it. But that's not all." The skin on his hand suddenly became charcoal black, with the same colour crawling up his skin, spreading like blood through his veins. His hair also began to stand up on its own. "I'm also a "Demonslayer". It's similar to Natsu and Wendy's magic, but this brand is focused on killing demons. It's also ice-based, in case you asked."
Vanitas was most impressed with the latter part of Gray's power. He was able to utilise dark magic without becoming corrupted, something no warrior was able to accomplish before. He finally turned to Happy and Carla.
"Can you guys use magic too?" he asked.
His question was answered with a pair of wings appearing behind each of them.
"We can use Area Magic, a type of flight magic. It helps Natsu and Lucy a lot since they have really bad motion sickness."
"Why'd you have to say that Happy?" asked Natsu. His face went blue and the whites of his eyes were showing. Vanitas assumed he was remembering his last experience on a vehicle of some kind. He turned back to the cats to see a young girl where Carla once stood.
"I am able to turn into human form, so as to become faster and stronger during a fight. Something poor happy seems to be struggling with." Explained Carla. Her statement about Happy seemed to upset the blue cat.
"Well, who knows, Happy here may have a hidden talent that isn't easy to access." Offered Vanitas.
This perked up Happy immediately. He suddenly pulled out a frying pan in his right paw and a fish in his left paw. "You mean catching and preparing fish?" he asked.
"Uh… not quite what I meant, but…"
What about you Vanitas?" asked a recovered Natsu
Vanitas was hesitant to answer, but thought that it was only fair to tell them. He built up a dark aura around him, also creating a ball of fire, ice, lightning, air and so on.
"I'm able to manipulate darkness as a primary thing. I'm also able to use different magic for different situations. As well as the elements, I can control space, time and gravity to a degree."
The rest of the mages' jaws dropped, blown away that he has this much control over magic.
"I'll save the Keyblade for later." He thought to himself. If more people knew about it, he would become a target for many people who wish to take that power for themselves.
"What about that sword I saw you use?" Lucy asked.
"That, uh… was something I made a while back. I thought it would look cool." He answered, remembering that she saw him use it during the fight. She didn't look convinced, but she let the matter drop.
"We could use a guy like you." stated Natsu. Everyone turned to him. "Anyone who can take out a thing like that can surely help increase Fairy Tail's reputation."
"Fairy Tail?" Vanitas asked. He suddenly remembered the girl Chloe talking about a mage guild; quickly connecting the dots. "Do you want me to join?"
"That's up to you, but we would be honoured if you would." came in Erza. The rest of the team looked very hopeful. Vanitas took a bit of time to take it all in, before coming up with his decision in two words.
"I can't." the team suddenly looked crestfallen.
"It's not that I'm not interested. The problem is that I've got too much on my plate at the moment, and if I joined you guys I would only be burdening you." He stood up on his feet. "I'm sorry." He then teleported away.
"Wait… WHAT!" Natsu was furious. He was about to create an explosion with his flaming fists before Lucy stopped him.
"It's his decision. We can't make him change his mind." Lucy said. Natsu still wasn't happy, but he calmed down all the same.
"You never know." Carla stood up with her arms folded. "The boy way change his mind when he has finished with his priorities."
"Never took you for an optimist Carla." Responded Erza. Carla frowned at the statement, but soon let it drop.
…
Vanitas stood on a cliff by himself, staring into the distance, wandering what course of action to take now.
"No way am I going to let anyone, friend or foe, get in my way of Xehanort." He muttered to himself. As he spoke, a memory returned to him.
"Hm. It's always about your friends isn't it?"
"At least I have some. I've become a part of their heart, just as they've become a part of mine. My friends are my power, and I'm theirs!"
Vanitas snapped back into reality. The words of his light half struck him. He lifted his right hand towards the setting sun, repeating that one word to himself.
"Friends…"
….
Natsu and his team were walking along a path in the dark, now that the sun has finally set. They were all a little disappointed at Vanitas' refusal, they would've liked to get to know him. It was something that they were going to have to except.
A whistle came from behind them. They turned to see the spiky haired swordsman they were talking to earlier.
"Hey, is the offer still open?" he asked casually.