Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts © Square-Enix
Title: Friend in the Dark
Summary: "Chirithy, wait!" – He finally finds his best friend that he once forgot. Vanitas remembers X/uX/ Age of Fairytale era AU. Contains KHuX/KH3 spoilers!
"Wa-wait! P-please, wait!"
The spiky black haired boy is chasing this cat creature with cape in the dark, unknown and abandoned city with many Heartless and Nobody in it.
The World That Never Was.
The rain pours hard. The boy doesn't put his mask nor his hood on. He feels his spiky hair down. He knows he soaks wet. He would've caught a cold.
He doesn't care.
He just focusses himself catching that creature.
"Chirithy, wait!" he shouts at the top of his lungs. At some point, he feels his energy drained just because of chasing this Chirithy creature. His voice wavers, "W-w-wait…."
The creature stops and so does he.
He gives himself a time to pant. Man, it is tiring. But at least he gets to meet Chirithy.
Oh, how he – the boy, Vanitas – misses his Spirit Dream Eater. There's so many things he wants to tell it. At least, he needs to apologize to Chirithy for giving /Ventus/ himself to the darkness. Vanitas may look like human typically but he IS darkness, Ven's darkness to be precisely.
~.~.~
When he was still Ventus, Chirithy once told him not to give himself to the darkness. And then it happened. Once he got into a weird place, a weird era; his friends are gone. Ephemer, Skuld, Brain, Lauriam and Chrithy. He lost them. It caused a hole in Ventus's heart. Without his memories back then, more emptiness were eating his heart. Those emptiness turned into darkness little by little. That emptiness is Vanitas. Therefore, he's darkness.
~.~.~
Maybe that's why Chirithy left him. It was disappointed of its wielder for having darkness in his heart, even utilizing it.
What matters, he wants to apologize. He should apologize. He must apologize.
"Ch-chirithy, I-"
"Ventus," it calls him Ventus, not Vanitas. Vanitas himself knew it well why. "Why? Why are you with the darkness?" Chirithy's voice was colder. "I told you not to succumb yourself in the darkness. Yet, why?"
" I-I'm so sorry. Please, come back! I'm so sorry if I disappoint you. I'm sorry." For some moment, he is begging. Both knees and hands are on the ground. It is so uncharacteristic of him, especially to let out his fears and tears. "Please..."
There is a silent.
"Do you really want me to go back?"
Huh, Did Vanitas hear it wrong? Or Chirithy's voice really grows colder than before. "Yeah."he responded. Without realizing, Chirithy's fur turns darker.
"Are you sure?"
"Of course! I won't let you go again! We're best friends, right? We always be-"
Chirithy's fur becomes purple now. Its eyes aren't blue turquoise anymore but round red. Its purse and cape's colors are darker.
Wh-what?
"You like it?"
Wh-what's going on?! Now Vanitas really confused.
"What's going on?" Chirithy seems to be reading Vanitas's mind. "We're best friends, remember? You ought to know why I turned this way." Chirithy's voice is playful by now.
"D-Dark-"
Having reading Vanitas's mind, Chirithy cut his words. "Correct, because of the darkness. Just like you. Boy, we're such a matching pair! Well, that's because we're best friends, right?"
No… you're not-
"My, why are you hesitating? We're already darkness. So, it's okay to embrace it more, right, Ven?"
No… Chirithy won't do this. "I thought… we could be together." That's right! No matter how much darkness its wielder has, Chirithy won't do this.
"Yes, we could be together in the darkness." Chirithy's words scared Vanitas more. In fact, he trembles.
What?
"C'mon. What are you so afraid of? We're darkness, okay? So, it's okay to swim to the deep of darkness."
NO-!
"Let's dive into the darkness together."
"Goodnight, Ventus.
Have a sweet dream~"
Vanitas awakes on a bed in his room in the Castle That Never Was. He huffs hardly as if he had held is breath so long.
"You're awake." Said someone who stands beside his bed. He dons black coat like Vanitas, and his hair is pink.
Lauriam. "You…"
"Marluxia." He introduced. "I was sent to keep an eye on you. Are you okay? You seem to be having a terrible nightmare."
Yeah, it was. Chirithy became dark Chirithy after all. Some part of Vanitas wants to shake of the feeling of Marluxia's concern. He's not the kind Lauriam he once knew. He is just his nobody, Marluxia. "Get lost, already!"
With that, Marluxia leaves. Vanitas pulls his knees to his chest and buries his face.
Chirithy, I'm sorry.
~.~.~
From afar, Chirithy looks after him for a moment. Its eyes glows.
"I'll be waiting for you, Ven—or rather Vanitas
In another sweet Nightmare."
A/N: OK, I'm still upset that Vanitas doesn't acknowledge himself to be his own person in KH3. He is acknowledged (by Ven and Sora) but he himself doesn't. So, ahhh whyyy?
Anyway the idea of this fic was only Vanitas meets Chirithy and it turns out to be Nightmare Chirithy. Then he wakes up in exhaustion (due to the nightmare). But man, the ending though.
And I didn't get to explain that despite Ven lost memories, Vanitas's able to remember things from X era because he's the darkness of Ven's heart. And, heart always remembers even though memories don't. I know it is a headcanon (for this fic) but it needs to be explained right?