Disclaimer: hahahahhahaa yeah totally. My name is so on the credits~ =v=

Key
Vanitas | Twilight Town: Unknown

The darkness was a prestige gift, given to those that could withstand the dark corridors and with a heart strong enough to contain it. It was power; was what kept him alive. Too bad not everyone found the darkness to be so warm.

Bringing Sora back here was amusing in the sense that he couldn't stop shivering, but Vanitas supposed that without that black coat, or anything to counter the darkness, then he'd be a miserable mess, too. The boy was draped in layers of blankets, courtesy of Roxas' home, a mug of hot chocolate steaming before him and the fireplace burning brightly beside him. Maybe bringing him here wasn't such a grand idea after all, but Vanitas believed that doing so would keep him safe. It was always his mission to make sure that precious little Sora was safe, for if anything happened to him, then Roxas would be at his throat. Again.

So would Riku, but after realizing...

"Perhaps a hot shower will do you good instead?" talking to him was proving to be futile too, as he was just staring blankly ahead, clutching onto the fabric. Being ignored was not something Vanitas enjoyed very much.

Coming to stand in front of him, Vanitas crouched down. It felt like he was talking to a child; which, in a way, Sora was. This one, at least. There was a distant look in those eyes that had him scowling at the sight, familiar and unwanted and worrying—but he wasn't going to show that. Not when he already portrayed himself as confident (arrogant) to the boy.

A gloved hand reached out to touch his face, knuckles brushing against soft cheeks that felt all the same and causing a different shiver entirely; Sora looked up at him with wariness dancing in his deep blue eyes. They reminded him of Roxas and a far off memory that he wanted to forget.

He wanted to forget Sora's face in general.

"Drink up, or I'll drag you under scalding water."

There was a frown, and he seemed to shrink back as the words slipped past Vanitas' lips, and truth be told, Vanitas didn't know why it came out as a threat. It wasn't meant to. Maybe it was just the way he was now.

As he straightened himself, Vanitas reached behind him to grab hold of the mug. Beneath his fingertips it felt like it was burning, but he showed no sign of pain; only held it out for Sora to take. Trembling lips parted, maybe to say something, but soon closed as Sora took his drink, using the blankets as mittens to lessen the heat.

Watching this boy made him feel sick.

"You're taking a shower after that." Vanitas stated, eyes narrowing as Sora took a tentative sip. "And then it's back home."

"I don't know if I'm meant to be afraid or thank you," Sora mumbled, but Vanitas' hearing was sharp. Sora obviously didn't think he was heard. "You shouldn't be thanking me."

Sora blinked, his cheeks tinged with a touch of pink as he looked up into molten eyes; wide and curious, replacing the blankness. Vanitas couldn't help the sigh that escaped, straightening and crossing his arms. In the end, Sora was still Sora. Sometimes he got it right away, other times he avoided Vanitas as much as possible or shied from conversations and contact. "This place is worse than where the Heartless are."

"Then why'd you bring me here?"

"It's safe from them."

A pause combined with a confused stare, and then, "How is this worse?"

Ah, so he was leaning towards that Sora. Riku's Sora. Not oblivious Sora that hung onto Roxas' every word, but then again, that only lasted so long. But there was something else, too. While they were all essentially the same person, there were small traits that differed them from one another, and Vanitas sought that difference. However, Sora's curiosity was a default.

It would never change.

"You'll understand when you meet Roxas."

That confused expression remained, earning a smirk and a subtle head lilt. He was starting to like this Sora a lot more than the others, and that was saying a lot. This Sora was definitely more naïve in comparison to that Sora. Naïve like how Riku knew him to be.

"What's he like, anyway?"

"An idiot." He received an unimpressed look. Vanitas only shrugged, holding back from mocking Sora's lack of expressions—different. This Sora was only just different. "You have to meet him to know."

Watching Sora bite his lip and grasp the mug tighter made Vanitas raise a brow and cock his head. Did the thought of meeting Roxas strike anxiousness? Unlikely. If anything, they all stayed close to him until they found a reason to take lead. Except for that Sora, but...

"Are you gonna explain what those things were?"

...that Sora didn't tolerate him at all, and Vanitas couldn't understand why Roxas clung onto him. He couldn't understand why he clung onto any of them when the result was mostly the same.

"Finish your drink, then shower," he commanded, knowing that Sora wouldn't argue this early on about his abruptness. "There are clothes in the wardrobe. I'll be back when you're done."

He had to remind himself that this Sora wasn't like that Sora—yet. It was only a matter of time, though.

Chain
Roxas | Twilight Town: Fifth World

Ventus' hand felt very much like his own. Clasped tightly, Roxas navigated them through narrow alleyways, ignoring the pleas to stop. It was too dangerous to stop, and so they continued to run, despite the resisting tugs.

It was a good thing that Roxas knew Twilight Town like the back of his hand, even though he didn't know exactly why he did—suspicion lead to maybe it was his hometown before he lost his memories; before Sora found him. The atmosphere was nostalgic enough not to doubt it.

"Just—stop! Hey!"

Turning left to enter one of the tunnel entrances, Roxas sensed a force of light that had him attuned to his surroundings more, his head craning around to take a look at Ventus and eyebrows raising in surprise at the sight of a Keyblade in Ventus' hand, arm raised. Abruptly letting go and sidestepping out of the way, Roxas dodged just in time, avoiding being hit.

If Vanitas were here, he'd surely say how this made things much more interesting.

With no strength to call upon his own preferred blades—not even the Kingdom Key would come to his aide when he was so low on magic— Roxas warily stepped back, eying how Ventus held his weapon. He held it in reverse grip; Roxas only ever witnessed Sora and Riku handling their own blades like this when they needed to keep up rapid hits, or if they picked it up with no time to change the position. Not preferable for how straight they were, and definitely not as effective. That didn't seem to be the case for Ventus, though.

But it didn't seem like he was in a stance to attack, and he was glad for that. Must've been a warning swing. If anything, Ventus looked relieved that Roxas finally let go.

"Listen—I don't know why we're running, but we're safe enough."

"And yet you called your Keyblade."

His could-be other looked surprised. "Y-you know what this is?"

Shrugging, Roxas held out his hand and willed the Keyblade to him. The way it curved toward Ventus' elbow must've been for balance. The shaft was short, perhaps to lessen the awkward handling as it was likely the weight of each end differed. There was resistance in his summoning, so it didn't appear in his hand, but Ventus seemed to understand what he was trying to do. "Oh, wow."

The surprise on his identical face made Roxas wonder, was he like that too?

"I can sense the darkness still," Roxas said, reaching for Ventus' hand again and receiving a wary glance in return. "We need to keep moving. Sunset Hill should be safe for us to talk."

"And... we're walking there?" Ventus dismissed his weapon, light flaring around his entire arm due to the way he held it, but didn't take the offered hand. "The tunnels are relatively safe. I haven't encountered Heartless at all."

He took the lead, beckoning Roxas to follow and smiling slightly, and so Roxas matched his pace, pondering on Ventus' unique weapon. That wasn't his priority though. "Then you can tell me when they started coming."

"Not long," Ventus didn't question how Roxas seemed to know Twilight Town, nor his knowledge of what the Heartless were. Then again, Roxas had no reason to ask him either; if he was a wielder then they had the same goal. "A few months I guess."

But it was surprising how easily Ventus trusted him. Perhaps it was the fact they shared the same face, or maybe knowing that they shared the same goal for the moment. Better than Riku's help-then-attack strategy.

Surprisingly, their journey through the tunnels came with no problems, although it felt like there was a Heartless present in the one next to Central Station which caused them to be more cautious. It disappeared when they changed their route to pursue, and Roxas worried it may have been that Heat Saber, though the walls remained their gradient of bronze. They made it to Sunset Terrace not long after.

The atmosphere was a lot safer than Roxas expected it to be. Maybe this world didn't need them after all.

"There's a barrier set up here," Ventus said when he noticed Roxas' thoughtful expression. "You know, you're not the first traveler I've met."

That explained the lack of caution. But it wouldn't be the same case for the citizens here. Once again, he pulled his hood low enough to obscure his face; not exactly how he liked to wear it, especially when Twilight Town, no matter which world, felt like home. Ventus kept glancing at him every few seconds, curiosity evident although it seemed he was trying to hide it by not saying a thing. Roxas remained nonvocal in case someone decided to take a closer look.

Luckily, their trip toward Sunset Hill lacked any encounter with the citizens, aside from some children loitering about the base of the hill. Ventus greeted them and Roxas blended in with the shadows, watching how he smiled like the town didn't have any Heartless trying to consume this world at all.

"You can take that off now." Ventus reached to pull down Roxas' hood, his fingertips brushing against the material as Roxas sidestepped again, shaking his head. "It's better this way."

"Better how? It feels kinda weird having to talk to someone that defines the word 'creepy'. Black coat, hidden face? C'mon."

There was a tug at his sleeve, pulling him toward the bench. Funny how Ventus had no problem dragging him instead.

Once they were seated, Roxas felt his hood slip from his head; Ventus was grinning like he just won the Nobel prize. "I'm not sure about you, but I feel more comfortable facing someone I can actually see."

Roxas wasn't entirely sure he could comment on that. Considering Vanitas wore a mask every now and then (for battle purposes, he said) he was quite used to conversing with someone that refused to show their face. It also seemed that despite their urgency to discuss what was going on with this world, they didn't know where to start. For one, this wasn't Roxas' forte, but rather Riku's. He didn't know which questions to ask, but he knew one thing. He needed to hide Ventus from certain people.

"Who else has been here?" he finally asked. Ventus was swinging his legs back and forth, watching the orange sky. "Travelers, I mean."

It couldn't have been Sora or Riku. Maybe Kairi, but she never ventured further than she had to; especially when her Keyblade wouldn't come to her aide in certain worlds. They were the only ones Roxas knew to be searching for a stop to the Heartless. He and Vanitas only tagged along in hopes of finding lost memories and whatever Vanitas was actually looking for.

"Some really good friends of mine; they visit quite often!"

"You know why they do, don't you?"

At this, Ventus shrugged, still swinging his legs. "Aside from the Heartless, there's not much else except for making sure our barrier holds."

Roxas' eyes roamed over his could-be others' face, not entirely sure how to read his expression. It seemed carefree, but he was probably being careful with his answers. Smart. Good, too. "You're not going to tell me what I want to know, are you."

Movements ceasing, Ventus turned his head and gave a smile that could've been described as apologetic. "I'm not even meant to be telling you a single thing."

"You remind me of someone," Roxas couldn't help but smile. "Anyway, you've mentioned a barrier. Are you able to explain that?"

He seemed hesitant at first, gnawing on his bottom lip and tilting his head slightly as he thought it over. How much was he sworn to secrecy? Surely knowing that Roxas could will a Keyblade not his own toward him was enough to know that they were on the same side. Not unless... no, they couldn't have come here already.

"Well, the barrier is to keep Heartless coming from other worlds out," he began slowly, carefully picking his words but enough to let Roxas understand. "Since you're a wielder, then you already know that there's a Keyhole here. It doesn't react to any of my Keyblades, or my friends'."

Roxas nodded, brow furrowing as he thought it through. Nonreactive Keyholes when there were a few wielders around; maybe they needed Sora's vast collection. Likely the barrier was connected to the Keyhole, which meant that with no Keyblade to strengthen the light that the Keyhole provided, Heartless found cracks in the barrier to come through. Ventus sure had a lot on his hands.

"You're the only wielder around?" Roxas asked with a hint of doubt. "That's a lot of Heartless to keep out on your own."

"There are a few of us..." he mumbled, suddenly shy. "But now that you're here, you can help out right?" his eyes shone with hope as their gazes locked. "I mean, it seems like you can use a Keyblade too, so..."

It probably helped that Roxas could detect Heartless locations better than others too. "That's what we're here for."

Ventus jumped up to his feet, startling Roxas and making him blink rapidly when his wrists were grabbed, being pulled at to make him stand as well. "Great! I'll introduce you to Kairi and Riku then!" he exclaimed with a bright smile. "Which reminds me... I didn't catch your name?"

"It's Roxas," he answered, mind racing at the two names mentioned. Familiar, yet odd. What about Sora? Was Sora not here? Is that why Roxas had an image here? This world couldn't be like that other world where none of them but Riku existed. But it reminded him of what he needed to do first.

Pulling away from the gentle grip, Roxas wrapped his arms around Ventus' shoulders and called a dark portal to swallow them. "I said that I need to hide you. I'll take you there."

"Hide me where?"

"Don't worry, you won't be alone." If anything he'd be thrilled to see Kairi. "Hold on tight."

Ventus shivered as the darkness bit his skin.