KINGDOM HEARTS 3.6 Vanitas Gaiden: White to Fade...
Vanitas Gaiden is the story of the Dark Hearted Keyblade Wielder Vanitas as he bides his time in another World, separate from the heroes of Light. Whilst on standby until receiving further "orders" from his new "Masters", Vanitas spends in his time in a whole brand new World known as "Regnum Stratera", otherwise known as the "Kingdom of Balance" that has Connections to the Keyblade unknown to even Vanitas himself.
In this both strange and mysterious World, he encounters an equally both strange and mysterious woman named Virdian. Here would the tugs on the strings of Vanitas' red thread of fate begin to unfold...and a whole new story separate to Kairi's journey in KH 3.6 begins. The new story itself takes place sometime after Kairi's visit to the World of Motunui, based on the Disney film Moana and her encounter with Vanitas there.
Gaiden 0: Vanity in Question.
The Gaiden starts off with an introduction flashback to set the story into motion.
"...I'm the piece of Ventus that was taken away...and you're the piece Ventus needed to be whole again...so...why shouldn't you and I look exactly the same?" it was the moment from when Vanitas was defeated yet again by his counterpart Ventus, this time aided by Sora in Kingdom Hearts III. The following Theme plays in the /uHnv9I_qG4Y
After having this momentary flashback, Vanitas proceeds to enter in a Dive to the Heart sequence, same as both Kairi and Roxas in KH 3.6. Vanitas falls in the same manner that Aqua did in the Birth by Sleep Opening video, slowly opening his eyes to see his Station of Awakening up ahead.
The entire Station itself however is completely black coloured, in order to signify that Vanitas has no ties to anyone and that his Heart is only filled with both Darkness and Negative Emotions alone. "...Tch. What am I doing here? I don't have time for this..." says Vanitas, wandering around the Station for a bit.
Deciding that he had enough, he tries to summon his Keyblade, only to fail. "...What!? what is this!?" says Vanitas, shocked by his Keyblade not responding to his summoning call. "You are unworthy." speaks out an unknown voice from thin air. "!? Who said that!?" says Vanitas, automatically on the defensive.
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"You are unworthy to wield...because you're Heart has become completely blackened at this point." says the voice. Vanitas, slightly lowering his defence upon hearing these words replies "Huh? what the heck is that supposed to mean? come out already, show yourself!" says Vanitas, demanding an audience with this voice in person.
"You cannot command something if it does not come to you...same of your weapon, the Keyblade. In the past, you were able to summon it because you held upmost confidence, even as an entire being born of Darkness..." says the voice, explaining Vanitas' nature to him. Vanitas shrugs, next replying "Yeah? so? I've always known that. What? you're saying that I don't have confidence anymore? that I lack it? HA! get real. There's no one more confident then me." says a proud Vanitas.
"That is true...if this was the past that is." says the voice, taunting Vanitas. "!? What did you say!?" says Vanitas, angered by the taunt. "Up to until now, despite suffering defeat upon defeat, you had still held on to your proud beliefs...but, something has changed. YOU have changed...it happened during your last visit elsewhere." says the voice, trying to make Vanitas remember his visit to Motunui.
"!? What...are you saying...because I lost that one time on those pitiful little Islands...to those idiots of all people...that my confidence is wavering? just that once? ...NO!" shouts out Vanitas, refusing to believe such a thing. He follows up saying "Of all the stupid...me losing confidence because of just one failure at THOSE buffoons' hands!? NEVER!" shouts out Vanitas again.
"Be that as it may...you still lost, either way. Not only that...the specific reason of why you have lost your confidence...is because "the other side" of you is resonating with the former Pure Light's Heart." says the voice, revealing that because of Vanitas and Sora's shared Connection to one another, the former had felt guilty on the latter's behalf when facing off against Kairi despite not wanting to...this horrifies Vanitas.
"...!? Sora!? but he's gone! gone FOREVER! how is MY Heart and his still Connected!? what? just because we have the same face!? because we're both Connected to Ventus!? TELL ME! TELL ME NOW!" says Vanitas, starting to panic from this revelation. "Even if I told you the reason why...you do not have a Keyblade to change your fate." says the voice, greatly shocking Vanitas.
"You shall undergo a test...one to see if you are worthy of your weapon again. To do this...you must call upon the other strengths that lie within you." the voice surprisingly summons the three pedestals from the original game but with the Unversed Emblem upon them and on-top of the pedestals are jet black coloured variations of Sora's Dream Weapons.
"Pick one and give up one...I shall await your answer." says the voice. After making a decision, Vanitas ultimately decides to give up the Dream Staff and wield the Dream Shield. The voice responds upon his selections, asking "...Why have you chosen this weapon and rebuked the other?" says the voice.
Vanitas reveals his reasoning "...It's not like I would lose any power from giving up magic. I already have my sword skills ingrained in me...that's enough to keep my powers going." says Vanitas. The voice then asks another question "I see...and? what about the Shield?" says the voice. Vanitas says to the voice in reply "...This thing shouldn't even be here to begin with. What do I have that needs protecting? my pride? yes. Anything else? heck no...so I figured just for the sake of it why not." says Vanitas.
"...Very well then, if that is your decision. Now then...let us begin. First, you will face yourself." says the voice, ultimately it pulls out Flood Unversed from Vanitas' Body, forcing him to fight them. "WHAT THE!? WHAT DID YOU JUST DO TO ME!?" shouts out Vanitas. "I did the same thing that was used to create you but in what you could say the reverse manner...I pulled out the emotions of you and have taken control. They will no longer answer to you during this fight, please be aware of that..." says the voice, giving Vanitas a "heads up".
"Hmph, like I need you to tell me that! once I beat these things, they'll go right back into me and make me grow stronger!" says Vanitas, however-"Yes...depending. I have affected the transfer process now, you can only take in a selection of those monsters that make you stronger in order to find a new way of becoming stronger. Hopefully this won't damper your spirit...will it?" says the voice, again mocking Vanitas.
"...Now you tell me." says Vanitas in sarcasm. "Gameplay" begins at this point and shows a unique gauge next to Vanitas called the "Demon Drive". Upon fighting and defeating the Unversed that were spawned from him, depending on Vanitas' current LV, he can take in a certain amount of Unversed that he absorbs and use them to further fuel the power strengths of his physical attacks.
At the same time, the more he fights in "Demon Mode", the more the Gauge is depleted and he will be required to absorb more Unversed again if he wishes to both expand and use the stronger variations of his attacks, to put simply. Vanitas defeats the number of Floods in a group of three, absorbing them in the process.
"Very good, your battle sense hasn't dulled in the slightest. But...there is more to come, be prepared." says the voice, next summoning different kinds of Unversed from Vanitas. The ones resembling Emblem Heartless namely, Vanitas uses the full power of the Demon Mode Drive Gauge and is able to eliminate all enemies in sight.
"HA!? THAT IT? YOU DONE!?" calls out Vanitas in an absolute prideful tone. "...I told you, there is more to come. Take the stairs...it will lead you to the final ground." says the voice, creating a glass mirror stairway in both crimson and navy colours, allowing Vanitas further passage. "...So then, you going to tell me who exactly who you are?" says Vanitas whilst he walks the stairway.
"In time, you are not the only one that I have to attend to..." says the voice, Vanitas replying "Huh? what the heck does that even mean!? ...fine, whatever, like I honestly care anyways." says Vanitas, deciding to forget the matter for the time being. He reaches the final ground that the voice spoke of, seeing a giant Gazing Eye taking up the whole platform space imagery beneath.
"! This is...the Gazing Eye?" says Vanitas. "Correct. It was also the name of your Master's Keyblade, was it not?" says the voice. Vanitas responds "I don't have a Master, never did, never will. If you're talking about Xehanort, the man who gave me life, I don't really much care for that guy anymore...my life is my own now, nuff said." says Vanitas, taking command, as it were.
"Ah, I see. Instead of remembering your former owner...you now listen to the ones who give you more treats, yes?" says the voice, talking about the Solaeris Apostoli whilst referring about Vanitas as though he were a dog. "!? DID YOU JUST CALL ME WHAT I THINK YOU DID!?" shouts out Vanitas. "...!" he turns around, suddenly noticing someone approaching...
To be Continued.