Disclaimer: The following contains characters and elements from Disney, Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, Dissidia Final Fantasy, TWEWY, and some OCs. I own nothing but the idea and the OCs.
AN: Hellooo! I have returned from my extended absence to bring you a new chapter to this odd story of mine. By the way, Hazama-Chan! THANK YOU FOR THE REVIEW! You are truly a hug worthy friend! I'm Serious. THANK YOU! While I'm here, I'd like to leave a note of encouragement, and thanks, to a few of my favorite authors on this site. Vanitas-Of-Darkness, Alieraa, Slaycinder, I'm talking to you three! Alieraa, you ought to change your pen name to Master of All Things Adorable, because you are! Slaycinder, your level of originality is as inspiring as it is refreshing! Vanitas-Of-Darkness, thanks for tolerating me when I first joined the site. You were awesome. Can't thank you enough! Okay, I think I'm inspired now. Onwards!
Chapter 5: The Past Disaster: First Link
"Vanitas! Where are you?"
"Here, Ventus."
Ventus turned to see his twin brother standing behind him, secluded within the shadows like he always was.
The blonde boy shook his head at his darker-haired twin. "Vani, why are you hiding out here again? Master Eraqus is looking for you."
Vanitas turned away from his brother. "I don't see why he should be. I'll just cause another accident if I go to training today. I don't even understand why Master Eraqus and the others insist on teaching me anyway. I don't fit into any of the Wielder Affinities. I'm not strong enough to break a rock wall like Terra can. I'm not as fast on my feet as you are, and while I can do magic fairly well, I'm not an expert like Aqua Reyes is. Then there's the problem with my 'pets' to account for-"
"Vanitas, quit whining and get down to the training courtyard already, will you? Master Eraqus keeps telling you that it's not a big deal that you don't know your affinity yet. It's not your fault if the Masters haven't found the right fit for you." "That's not what I-"
"Ventus Henderson, have you found your brother yet?" Ventus turned to see a young man with long, blueish hair and dressed in a purple coat watching him with a cold smile on his face.
Ventus scowled. "No, I haven't actually, Setzer, and even if I had, why would I tell you where Vanitas was? You're the reason why he goes off and hides like this in the first place!"
Setzer stretched languidly, continuing to smile at the younger Henderson twin. "It' not my fault your brother is such an oddity, Ventus. If those strange, unsightly eyes of his weren't eerie enough, the fact that some impish little monster appears and goes on a rampage every time he frowns at someone doesn't help matters."
"And you and the others wonder why he never shows up for training."
"Actually, no, I don't wonder, and I certainly don't care, either. Your so called 'brother' is a monster in a human's skin, and he ought to be either wiped off the face of the earth or be locked up. The entire Land of Departure would probably sleep better at night if he was gone. I know I certainly would."
"Setzer!"
Vanitas sat up with a sharp gasp, his face covered in a thin layer of sweat. He hadn't had a dream about his old life in a while. No, correct that. He hadn't let himself dream about his old life. The Land of Departure was gone, its people scattered after being reduced to mere bands of refugees wandering aimlessly. But with Ventus back-
Vanitas shook himself roughly. It was no good letting his thoughts go in that direction. Ventus had shown no sign of leaving his comatose state, and even if he did, he'd probably hate Vanitas with everything he had. And why shouldn't he hate him? After all, if it hadn't been for Vanitas, Ventus would've-
A soft groan and the sound of movement close by startled him out of his thoughts. He turned and found himself staring right at Riku's sleeping face. Vanitas jumped backwards. Why was he in Riku's room while his partner was asleep? Oh, that's right. When the group had brought Ventus to their home and Serah had confirmed Ventus' current state, it had led to short lived argument over where to put the unconscious boy, seeing as how there were already more residents in the place than there should've been.
Since the only occupied room on the third floor was Vanitas', many of the group thought it would be a good idea to put Ventus in one of the empty rooms up there. This half-thought out suggestion had caused Riku's face to turn an interesting shade of red, as the only occupied room on the third floor was also the only clean room on the third floor. The rest of the place looked like it had hadn't seen a duster in years!
Vanitas, therefore, both to save Riku from embarrassment and to make sure his own opinion on the matter wasn't overlooked, had put his foot down and decided that his brother would stay in his room until the blond woke.
Riku then decided that this arrangement wasn't fair to Vanitas, who had essentially banished himself from his own room, and offered to let the raven haired boy share his room.
Which is why Vanitas now found himself sitting on a spare mattress on the floor of Riku's bedroom, with the silverette lying in his own bed a short distance away, sound asleep.
Vanitas glanced at the alarm clock on Riku's bedside table. The clock read 2 am, a good four hours before he was supposed to get up. Why couldn't he have just stayed asleep?
Riku groaned in his sleep again and rolled onto his back. Vanitas sighed and stood up. Walking silently over to Riku's bed, he cautiously lowered himself onto the edge of it and looked at his partner's sleeping face.
Riku looked peaceful for once, all of the things he had to worry about on a daily basis out of mind for the moment.
As Riku's head turned slightly to face Vanitas, the ravenette reached out and gently tucked a stray strand of silver behind Riku's ear where it belonged.
His hand lingered for a moment on Riku's face, before he abruptly turned and dived back onto his mattress, burying his head in the spare blankets Riku had given him.
The silverette had no idea what he meant to Vanitas, how special he was to him. The others didn't entirely trust him yet, and Vanitas knew it. Knew it, but didn't care.
As long as Riku, his charge, his hope, was kept safe, whole, and happy, Vanitas didn't care about what anyone, not even Ventus, thought of him. Riku was Vanitas' last hope of ever being happy, and the poor silverette was completely oblivious of that fact.
AN: What a way to end it! Poor Vani, what is going on inside your head? Anyway, that's another chapter done, finally, and I have an itty bitty announcement to make. I will begin posting other stories soon. The question is: Which one do you guys want to read first? I'm going to put the basic summary of each new story in the making up on my profile, so let me know which one you want in either a review or a PM, 'kay? Reviews earn a hug and a cookie!