Chapter 10
Meeting another version of Sora was downright bizarre.
For the second time that year he was meeting a doppelgänger much younger than he had expected. This Sora was fourteen years old. He was an inch shorter and he still had some baby fat on his cheeks. Unlike his black clothes he had gained from three fairies, he wore a colorful assortment of red, blue, and giant yellow shoes. In his innocent eyes reflected the naiveness he once possessed-a time when the novelty of other worlds existed was fresh.
Vanitas and Sora stared at one another in dumbfounded curiosity.
"Um..." The latter glanced between at his clone, then Hercules, and finally Cloud. "Do you know what's going on?"
"I was hoping you'd tell me," he said, lifting his Buster Sword at Vanitas. The blade was long enough to have the tip near his throat. "Alright, start talking. Who are you?"
"I just saved your life, jackass. This is how you thank me?" Vanitas grumbled. This was ridiculous. How could he be so ungrateful? He held up his hands up in surrender so he wouldn't get stabbed. "The name's Vanitas. Yes, I realize Sora and I look identical. No, we aren't related. This is a complete coincidence."
"You know my name?" Sora exclaimed. Surprisingly enough, he was the only one to not appear hostile. Hercules had adopted a fighting stance to attack.
"I do. I've been looking for you everywhere."
"Why?"
"User!" From above, Orion came flying back to him. He landed on top of his head. The others gasped as he appeared. "I can get into contact with Lady Arty and the others now!"
A crackling noise came to life much like one Vanitas would hear on a tuning radio. Slowly, the static faded and voices filtered in. He was certain he was the only one to hear it.
"-is he even here?" asked a warbling voice. "I thought Chip and Dale couldn't even get through?"
"The connection to the outside is weak," replied someone that suspiciously sounded like Riku. "I don't know how he could have made his way in-" He paused. "Someone managed to link a connection? Who's there!"
"Why am I suddenly hearing Riku?" Vanitas asked, placing a hand over his ear to block out outside voices. "Hey, are you the data version of Riku? Put Arty on the line."
"Arun, it's you!" There was a gasp. "Wait, Orion is with you? How did you get into the datascape?"
Hearing Arty's voice sent wave of relief through him. All tension left his body that was wound tight since they had disappeared.
"It's...a long story," said Vanitas, glancing at the confusion on Cloud and Hercules' faces. "I'll explain later when I'm out of here. For now can you tell Sora I'm on his side?"
"Hold on. Give me a minute to link your communication lines." Tapping could be heard on her end. "Sora, can you hear us? That boy there with you is a friend of our's."
"Is he? But he looks like me," said Sora, scratching his head.
"Aw, that's just the way he looks is all," Mickey answered. Vanitas' eyebrow twitched. Right. He had forgotten they were there as well. "Vanitas is a good friend. You can trust'im."
Sora hummed in thought.
"Well, if you say so. If he's your friend, then he's mine, too." He smiled bright as he turned to Hercules. "We can trust him. I don't think he's a part of Hades' plans."
The Coliseum hero glanced at Vanitas, the distrust visible in his furrowed eyebrows. He shrugged in return. He was used to such looks in his lifetime.
"I trust you," he finally decided. "I'm not sure what just happened, but if you say he's a friend then I'll trust him."
"Great! Because I find it incredibly rude you accused me when all I did was help this guy out." Vanitas lowered his hands at the same time as Cloud who lowered his blade.
"Is he seriously calling someone out for being rude?" Caelum snorted. "Now I know that's Arun."
"Can you mute them?" Vanitas asked Orion. As much as he loved hearing his friend's sarcastic remarks, he knew it was going to get distracting.
"Can you still hear us? Arun, you are a moron for-" Whatever insult Caelum had in mind was silenced much to his delight. If only he could mute him in real life.
"Getting back on track," he said to get back to the topic at hand, "mind telling me what's going on here? Phil told me that both of you had vanished into this mage."
"See, it's like this..." Sora quickly explained how he had entered the maze to find Hercules. When he found him the two teamed up, climbing the floors in hopes they could discover who was behind the maze's creation. A few floors below them Cloud had attacked them under Hades' orders. Hades had tricked him and Cloud had taken off. "And here we are. Thanks for helping him out."
"I told you I didn't want any help," Cloud said in a moody sulk. Like an angsty teenager, he hitched the collar of his cape higher to cover his mouth.
"Yeah. Would it hurt you to let us do you one favor?" Sora retorted in an unfamiliar exasperation.
He shook his head, turning on his heel to walk away.
"No matter what I do, I'm letting someone down."
"Cloud, wait," Hercules called. The swordsman stopped. "Whaddaya say we work together?"
The swordsman gave him a brief glance, then turned away. "Why? I attacked you."
"But only because Hades tricked you, right?"
"Doesn't matter. I've got no right to join you. I'm not strong enough."
"Ugh!" Sora scoffed, rolling his eyes in a manner Vanitas never expected. "We're not asking if you're qualified for the job. What do you want to do?"
He was puzzled, eyebrows creasing.
"What he means is if you're dead set against it, we won't force you," Vanitas translated, shrugging. "It beats spending all your time making excuses. Dilly dally shilly shally! Quit messing around and make up your damn mind! It doesn't matter what you did in the past. The best thing you can do now is keep moving forward. Fuck your excuses."
This phrase was one Tifa used to describe Cloud as he meandered about trying to fight Sephiroth. She said it fondly, knowing what her dear friend was going through and making excuse after excuse to justify his actions. Sometimes, she said, all he needed was a push to move into action.
Cloud's shoulder relaxed, evidence that his words struck a chord, and he shook his head.
"I am making excuses, aren't I?" he chuckled. "Man, you guys are gonna be sorry."
"Then you're in?" Sora asked, hopeful and bright.
"Don't get the wrong idea. I need to find a way out of here, same as you. I'm just tagging along until then."
He walked away to the archway out the room. Vanitas, Sora, and Hercules exchanged grins. Just another excuse.
"Whatever, tough guy," Sora said.
"Hey, we can't all be people persons," Hercules commented. "Some folks are better at finding strength on the inside."
"Some folks need to be told to get off their lazy asses and do something," Vanitas retorted.
"There's that, too. Come on. Let's go follow him."
This is going to be interesting, Vanitas thought as he, Sora, and Hercules followed after Cloud. This was the first time he had to get used to different group dynamics. He had yet to learn how to fight with Xion. Now it seemed he would have to learn how to fight alongside Cloud and Hercules. He was certain he would learn, but he had to wonder how long that would take. Oh, well. Doesn't matter. I can handle the challenge.
As long as he knew how Sora fought, he would be fine. He was happy he didn't have any useless party members to weigh him down. Newly relieved, they caught up to Cloud and the quartet continued on.
They moved to make their way through the floor in search for the gateway. More than a few rooms were left unexplored, which meant the Heartless popped up to come attack them.
They caught up to the Cloud as he stepped past a new room's threshold. He reached over his shoulder, grasped his blade's hilt, and unsheathed it to hold in a fighting stance. Then, as a Large Body Heartless thrust its round abdomen at him, he took his first step and used the momentum to slice its side, curving it towards its back. Dark smoke tendrils bled from the wound, enveloping the rest of its body. It disintegrated before his eyes. Cloud never ceased his movement as he moved to do the same with the other Heartless.
Unwilling to let Cloud hog all the fun, Vanitas activated his Wind Dash command. He slipped past Hercules and Sora, the air currents he rose harmlessly passed over them, yet became a slashing force to the heartless in range. The elemental jars were knocked back doing mid-air tumbles, while the Shadows and Soldiers fell flat on their backs. He came to a stop, then swung his Keyblade in three consecutive attacks. They fell to his sword, yet more replaced them. They came in a different variety in a mishmash of Large Bodies and Shadows.
He made to go after them as they shuffled to Cloud, whose back was turned, but Hercules, the human fighting machine that he was, went rushing in, a deep-throated battle roar extracted out his chest, as he pulled back his fist. Then, he smashed it into the Large Body. The Heartless went flying, its front rippling as the fat absorbed the worst of the attack. It crashed into a nearby wall. The stone around it crumbled around its vanishing form.
"Duck!" Sora shouted to Vanitas' left. The latter was distracted by Hercules' immense strength but regained his attention. On instinct he ducked down. Something flew over his head, an icy wind a premonition to what it was. Cracking ice came after it hit the column behind him. He thrust out his Keyblade and retaliated by shooting a fireball at the ice elemental that attacked him.
"Thank you!" he shouted over his shoulder before going after more Heartless. He ran to where Hercules was surrounded by Soldiers. The one in front of him pounced on him, claws poised towards his face. The hero raised his arm so they scratched his metallic wrist bracer and batted it away while another one viciously kicked its legs at his side. He managed to dodge that as well. He was so busy with that he left his back open. The Soldier behind him took advantage of that. It lunged at his calves where they would down the hulking human.
Vanitas held his blade in preparation for an Aerial Sweep as he ran in Hercules' vicinity. However, singing metal cutting the air came on fast to his right. He stopped himself and moved his body in the opposite direction, stumbling on his left leg. It was in time for Cloud's Buster Sword to swing sideways at the Soldier and its companion nearby. They didn't stand a chance against it.
Cloud returned to his fighting stance, pulling back his blade, and tilted his head to Vanitas. They locked eyes. The latter made a displeased expression and the former a blank one. The next second, they pulled their gazes away to turn their sights on other Heartless away from one another.
As the four continued to fight, Vanitas thought fighting in a group was much easier for him than it would be on his own. They jumped head first into the fray swinging their chosen weapons to do away with them. While this was one way to fight, they quickly realized it was not the most ideal. They were all front line fighters who were the strongest on their own. Their attack methods were not suited when Vanitas and Sora had to often duck down overtime they were in Cloud's swing range. Though he was nearly invincible, Hercules was not exempt from stray attacks as his bulky figure made it too easy to zap him when he got in the way.
They managed to clear the room when Cloud stopped them.
"We've got a problem," he announced, sheathing his blade on its holder. His sword was so large it couldn't fit a traditional sheathe and had to be held on his back.
"What's up?" Sora asked, healing the burn he had accidentally made on Hercules.
"We need to figure out what skills we each have and what our strengths are. Then, we can somehow make sure we're not caught in some friendly fire."
"I hope that it isn't literal fire?" Vanitas joked, but it was half-hearted. He was still upset Cloud nearly cut him in half.
Cloud shot him a glare in displeasure. "Hercules, Sora, you've fought together for awhile now. How did you two do on your way here?"
"I was on the frontline," said Hercules as he ran a hand down his tender skin. "While I wore them out, Sora would come in and kill them. He also used his magic to heal me whenever I got hurt."
"Isn't that what Vanitas has been doing?"
"I use my magic for offense, though," said Vanitas. He came to the realization that his Cure spell also affected his other party members. This worked in his favor. It meant he didn't have to spam the command to heal everyone.
Cloud regarded them, his eyes so sharp they could have pierced straight at them. The scarf hid his mouth, making it impossible for him to gauge his moods. Then, he said, "Alright, I've got it. Vanitas, Sora, you two will stay behind me and Hercules. The two of you are more adept at magic. You'll be able to heal us or take out the Heartless that we miss."
"Aw, I want to fight too," said Sora, despondent.
"We're getting in your way, aren't we?" Vanitas said to which Cloud nodded. Unlike Sora, he understood. It didn't surprise him in the least. His swing range was enough to lop off their heads and limbs if they weren't careful. He had learned with Zack that those huge swords could be terrifying in the right hands. "No, it's fine. I get it. You suck at magic and only have brute strength. Nice to know you're useless without us."
"Do you ever stop being a smart aleck?" Cloud snapped.
"Do you ever stop being a brooding jackass?"
Hercules stepped between them before their tense words stirred up a storm. "Easy, guys. We're not trying to fight each other now, are we? We've all got our strengths and weaknesses. We should try and get along. Deal?"
The two mumbled their half-hearted agreements. The latter was willing to go along with the affair for now. This appeased Hercules and Sora.
After checking their injuries again, they moved on to the next room. In this room they implemented the formation they decided on. While Hercules and Cloud charged like the unreasonable bulls they were, Vanitas and Sora kept away from the fight's center. When they had the opportunity Vanitas would take potshots at any unsuspecting Heartless that came their way. He had to when he received no experience from Hercules or Cloud's assaults on the Heartless.
They continued on like this through the next two rooms seeing how it worked well enough for them. It took no time at all to get through them to Vanitas' relief.
"Huh, this is easier," Sora said once they finished off their current room. He checked Cloud and Hercules for injuries he could heal. They had taken a beating in their attempt to defeat the Heartless, earning scratches and fireballs to their person. Because of their efforts, the room was gloriously empty. "Guess you were right, Cloud."
The swordsman smirked at Vanitas.
"Shut up," he sneered at the silent 'I told you so.' "If you weren't throwing yourself in the middle of the fight like that, you wouldn't need to be healed. Next fight we get into, if you get injured and you're too slow to move, you're on your own."
"Why would I get injured when you're ready to swoop in and kill the Heartless for me?"
"Well, maybe you should-" Vanitas began to say. He stopped short as a flash of black stained the corner of his eye. It was brief, but he could see a coat end flare before it disappeared around a corner. Scanning his minimal, a red dot darted from where he had seen them. He didn't know that many people in black coats. By process of elimination, he was certain he knew who it was.
"He should...?" Sora continued. He looked over his shoulder. "Did you see something?"
"I think I did. Hey, I'm going to go check it out," he said, turning to go head that way.
"Don't go running off on your own. Vanitas!" Cloud warned. Vanitas didn't listen and ran off without them. "Vanitas, come back here!"
"I'll be back in a second!" he called before disappearing around the corner to follow the red dot. He knew Cloud and Caelum, wherever he was watching from, would be pissed about running off on his own. He couldn't help himself. He needed to check if his hunch was right.
"Should you be going off on your own like this?" asked Orion in their stead. "Why are you not staying with Sora when we have worked so hard to find him?"
"Xion's still missing," he replied, running through the floor. He ignored the Heartless he came across attempting to avoid their claws the best he could.
"Are you that concerned about her?"
"Of course I am. I told her that she could tag along. She might be weird, but I promised that I would help her."
Xion, at her core, was a lost little lamb with no memories. She didn't deserve to wander around helplessly in a foreign world. He couldn't, on good conscience, forget about her. She had saved his life. Now that he knew his friends were fine he could spare some time to find her.
"Why be concerned about an anomaly you do not know on a personal level?"
"Why wouldn't I be?"
"...You are an odd user, you know."
"I get that a lot." Vanitas grinned. People thought he weird for subverting their expectations. He relished in always surprising people.
Sooner than he expected, he caught up to the red dot on the minimap. Or perhaps the red dot simply waited for him to catch up. It was waiting for him in the room beyond. To his dismay he always found a blue dot and two yellow dots trying to follow him. How annoying.
Arriving at his destination, he found the cloaked figure standing in the center clearly waiting for him. By the posture alone, he could tell it wasn't Xion. That left one other person.
"Hey, asshole! What have you done to Xion?" he demanded, summoning his Keyblade. He didn't want to waste anymore time.
"I've got a question for you," the MCF shot back, the same heat in his tone. "Who exactly is that girl you've been traveling with? Why do you know her?"
"Are you stupid? How could you not know who she is? You saw her with me in the last world."
"I know that. But if she's not here with you, I need to know who or what that girl, Xion, is to you."
"She's my friend that you so rudely called a Nobody. She doesn't even remember anything about being one." Vanitas wasn't kind to Nobodies or anything similar to those creatures. Yet, in her absence, he felt he had to defend Xion's honor. She didn't appear to like being called names by cloaked strangers.
"Are you sure she doesn't remember anything?"
"She told me so herself. Why are you asking me about this?"
Instead of answering him, the MCF remained silent. Vanitas had time to think as well. Why in the worlds was he suddenly so interested in Xion? After his harsh words in the last world, he would have thought he would try to ignore her existence. Why the change of heart?
Finally, the MCF answered his questions as he said, "That girl isn't who you think she is. Whatever role she holds here isn't normal. She isn't normal."
"I don't understand," Vanitas blurted out, thrown off. "She's an innocent amnesiac girl. She doesn't know anything."
He shook his head.
"No, she's not. I'm sure deep down you recognize that as well. The best thing you can do for now is watch her. You'll regret it if you don't."
He made an attempt to demand what he could have meant by that. Like always, the MCF beat him as he raised his hand. A hole made of data and code appeared beneath his feet. Gravity failed him as his stomach dropped without much warning. He managed a shout as he plummeted down.
xxx
It didn't last for long. The ground came up quickly, and he had to right himself to land on his feet. He stumbled, wobbling as his balance was thrown off. Once he was righted himself, he succumbed to his rage.
Goddamnit, again? What was with that guy and his stupid dark portals? He used them more than Vanitas did. What made it worse was how he could never sense it coming. In the virtual world it was impossible to sense darkness.
Orion climbed up his head pulling at the hair strands like ropes. "I do not think I need to tell you this but I will anyway. Following that person was not the smartest thing you could have done."
"You think I don't know that?" he snapped. His frustration came to a boil as he examined their new location. The columns gave away the fact he was still within the maze. His map told a different tale seeing as how Sora and his group had disappeared off his radar. "If that bastard sent me back to the start, I'm going to knock his teeth out the second I see him again."
"Luckily for you he has not. What he did was send you a few floors higher."
"Of course he did. The question is why."
"Most likely because he knew you were looking for Xion." On his map Orion made a mark where a small blue circle pulsed. Based on the location, it wasn't far. "I do not know why he would do such a thing. I suppose you should count your blessings considering you were worried about her."
"She ended up here?" He unconsciously started to make his way to the circle. He cautiously entered a new room. The Heartless meter flashed red at an absurdly high level. "I don't know see why she would end up here. It looks like any floor we've been to."
The Heartless, as expected, popped up to disturb him. As he saw their health meters a third higher than he had last seen them, he knew he had spoken too soon. He drew his Keyblade to attack head on with a Wind Dash. Propelled by wind magic, he darted forward to slash at the Armored Heartless' exposed side. Glancing at the enemy's HP bar, he was astonished to find he barely made a dent. What in the worlds-
Claws scrapped across his sword arm to draw angry red lines, raising buzzing alarms. Vanitas backed away before he was killed in the next sweep of its arms. In his haste he cast Cure to heal his wounds, throwing himself through the threshold back to where he arrived. He stumbled, falling to one shaky knee in the safe zone.
"That was close," he panted. "Why was their strength so high? I can usually take out those Soldiers without a problem. All it did was hit me once and I almost died!"
"I noticed something while I was scanning their data for you," said Orion, his tiny voice quivering like he had an extra dose of fading helium. "I thought that person was doing you a favor to reunite you with Xion. That does not seem to be the case here. The Heartless on this floor are all remarkably stronger than you. In your terms they are five levels higher than your's."
He pulled up his status menu along with a blank black window he would see Arty use to input computer commands. The list on it were the Heartless he had scanned to show their strength levels. Vanitas compared both, his heart leaping in his chest. Orion wasn't exaggerating. Their defense numbers were one less than his strength. No wonder he couldn't do any damage. Not with numbers like these.
"How am I supposed to make it through here? They'll kill me if I try to fight them. It's suicide."
"Technically speaking you do not have to fight them. Yes, you would not become stronger by fleeing and you will not receive rare items. In this case I would recommend avoiding them. I doubt Lady Arty would appreciate knowing you let ur pride blind you."
"It's already bad enough Caelum will lecture me about running off," Vanitas conceded. He could already imagine Caelum spewing fire at how he ran to pursue the MCF and did not return. In the background Max and Arty would try to soothe his frazzled nerves while Mickey, Donald, and Goofy looked on in fond exasperation. He shook the image out of his mind. He was starting to miss them terribly. "Speaking of Caelum, can you get in touch with them?"
"Unfortunately I cannot. There is something interfering with my communications," Orion replied in dejection. "Whether it is this floor or my own inability, I cannot contact them."
Things honestly couldn't get worse than this. He had worked so hard to get into contact with his friends only for this to happen-stuck on a floor where at every turn he would get killed in two hits. He wanted to rub his hands on his face to wipe away the stress. This was insane.
The best thing Vanitas could do was use Orion's plan. As much as he hated running from a fight, he would have to suck up his pride.
Taking a moment to contemplate his life choices, he made a quick note on what route he needed to use to get to Xion. When he made a plan he prepared himself.
"Orion," he said, edging the threshold where he had entered the Heartless infested section. He summoned his Keyblade, "hold on tight. I don't want to lose you while I'm running."
The fairy did as he was told, grabbing hold of his hood. With him secured Vanitas wasted no time. He bolted straight through the threshold and sprinted past any Heartless he could came across.
They flew past, never being seen as he ran with a singleminded concentration. He paid close attention to what Heartless popped up and where. He swerved away from their vicious claws, magic spells, and steel shields. On instinct alone he ran for the room where Xion was he pulled away from each Heartless attack.
Soon he made his way to his destination, throwing himself through without hesitation. However, he wasn't safe yet. Stepping into the room, the dark creatures he had avoided appeared in his way. Vanitas slowed to a halt, a curse on his lips. He had no choice. In here he would need to fight. Summoning his Keyblade, he looked at a floating elemental, freezing ice shards forming in the air to shoot them down. A Shield Heartless came forward, thrusting its weapon to try and stun him. Vanitas stepped out of the way at the last minute. He managed to get behind it and stabbed his Keyblade into its side, using a Wind Dash to follow up. The two attacks hardly made more than five percent of damage. He was unable to finish his assault when a big-bellied Heartless attempt to attack his open back. Luckily he sensed it behind him and stepped closer to the walls. Vanitas fired a few more spells to keep them at bay.
There was little that he could do other than be on the defensive. Vanitas had to plan each move he made. There was no room for error. If he hesitated, he could end up dead without realizing it. He didn't stop moving for a second, sliding behind the larger creatures while shooting the elementals out of the sky with a Thunder once he saw they had no yellow jar among them. The process forced him to take longer to defeat them, the damage getting chipped at a snail's pace.
It took him forever to defeat the Heartless. One by one, they were vanquished by his blade until his sensor fell to yellow, and finally to nothing. Once the final Heartless fell, Vanitas, coming to an abrupt halt, stumbled and collapsed to lie on his back. His health bar had one-fourth left. One more hit and he could have died.
He never thought fighting Heartless much stronger could be so difficult. Even the Nobodies weren't this annoying. Part of him wanted to lie there and hope death would be swift. If the Heartless in this room were like the rest of the floor, he wanted to hole up and die there.
The good news was he could die at level thirteen. Higher leveled Heartless dropped higher experience points.
Staring listlessly at the virtual sky and wondering if the phantom pain in his arm was real or not, the white dot occupying the same room moved towards his vulnerable form. Soon, tapping heels entered his hearing range, a shadow hovering above him upside down.
"That had to be the scariest thing I have ever seen," said Xion, a tremble in her small voice. "I thought you weren't going to make it."
"Neither did I," he croaked.
"Do you need help?"
"Can you take my Keyblade and heal me? I hurt all over and I need a minute."
Xion did as he requested, prying his stiff fingers off the Keyblade. Muttering a soft, "Cure," the healing magic washed over him from head to toe. He sat up.
"Thanks for that," said Vanitas, holding his head as a rush blackened his vision. In his hand his Keyblade was returned. "Have you been on this floor the whole time? I've looked through this maze everywhere for you."
"Yes, I have. After we entered that portal, I found myself here. I thought about looking for you, but I saw that the Heartless were too strong for me to handle. I used one of my spells and couldn't do much damage."
"So you stayed in one place and hid yourself?"
She nodded.
"It was the only thing I could do. I don't even know where the exit is."
"Luckily for you I have an idea where to find it." Vanitas recovered enough to find the strength to stand. He helped Xion to her feet as well. "Orion, how many rooms over is the portal to the next floor? I don't want to deal with those Heartless again."
Orion popped out under the extra fabric in his hood. He flew out and shook his crumpled wings. "I don't think there are many rooms left until you reach the portal. None of the previous locations held it. It must be in one of the last few rooms by that logic."
He relayed the message to Xion and she nodded.
"That doesn't sound so bad. As long as we avoid fighting the Heartless in this place, we'll be fine, won't we?"
"I think so. We'll have to make a run for it though. Think you can keep up?" She hummed in agreement. "We'll see about that. Let's get going."
Vanitas moved his way over to the other exit out the current room. He made sure to break all the boxes around him to get the Mega-Potion for his effort. Then, planning out his route through the the other rooms to snake around. He needed to do so if he wanted to find the portal. Once he finished, he sprinted out without warning to Xion or Orion. He didn't have to worry as they hurried to catch up.
His pulse racing as fast as his legs carried him, he flew past the Heartless as he did before. Dark shapes framed by codes did not form in time as he streaked past. A hot thrill shot straight into his veins, he loved getting away, jumping away from ominous claws and dogs faces pressed into steel like some eternal punishment. He was too fast for them, he though in delight. For all their power they couldn't match up to his speed and dexterity.
Although he didn't let it get to his head. In the back of his head his self-preservation cautioned him to be vigilant. How stupid would it be if he let his ego be his downfall? Incredibly so. Caelum would taunt him for the rest of their days.
So he remained cautious through the two rooms when he spotted the blue portal in the center surrounded by Heartless waiting to ambush them. That was when he told caution to screw off.
He slowed long enough for Xion to catch up half a beat later. Then, he grabbed hold of her hand and plucked Orion next to her head. She gasped as he hauled her to the portal. As they drew closer, the Heartless lunged for them. At the last second he pulled Xion to propel her forward. Stumbling, she managed to get past the fat Heartless' trunk-like arm and landed on the portal. Vanitas hopped over it, his heels brushing the top, and followed after her.
Touching the portal, Vanitas' data was taken apart to be reassembled in an entirely new location. To him it felt like dropping down a hole. His feet on solid ground, he searched for Xion. He found her lying on her stomach sprawled over where she had lost her footing. He came over to help her.
"Can you warn me next time you decide to do something like that?" she asked, wobbling on unsteady legs. "Oh, man, You weren't kidding when you had to run like that."
"And warn me as well!" Orion shouted. He came to his head to buzz with the intensity of an angry bee swarm. "How many times must I tell you to not handle me in such a way? Lady Arty won't be pleased you are handling me in this manner!"
Vanitas waved him away. He was being such a drama queen. He let Xion go, stepping away. Then, he noticed their surroundings. It was much different than he expected. No long did it appear like a maze but a long path to an arena far off in the distance. The sky was a black pit swallowing the stars and moon as clouds painted them. Torches lined their path as if to welcome them and bid them farewell to the last sense of peace they had left. The arena itself was cast in a dim glow in its fake endeavor to appear appealing.
Xion noticed where he was looking and said, "We're not going over there, are we?"
"Are we?" Vanitas echoed to Orion.
"We are," the fairy said, landing on his shoulder now that he was over his tantrum. "I suppose I don't have to tell you that we must head there. The glitch's center lies there."
"Where there's a glitch we're bound to run into Sora," he said, nodding in self-assuredness. He opened his Command menu to rearrange them to hold Cure, Fire Raid, Thunder, and Blizzard. Checking his health along with Xion's, he strode down the path.
"Vanitas, I don't like this," Xion whispered. She made sure to stick close to him. She was so close her boots kept hitting the back of his heels. "We couldn't handle the Heartless on the last floor. What makes you think we're ready for what's in there?"
"We're not alone. Before I ran into you, I met Sora and Hercules. We were supposed to make our way to the final floor together."
"You were? That means they might be waiting for us at the arena." The tension left her shoulders. "That's good. That means you'll be fighting alongside others who might be of more use to you."
"You're not useless," he reassured her as they approached the metal gates to the arena. "You saved me before, didn't you?" She nodded, hesitating. "Then don't let anyone call you useless, and don't you dare call yourself that either. You got it?"
"I...Okay."
Vanitas nodded. Xion had become part of his team. He wouldn't let anyone talk her down, least of all themselves. The next time he met that douchebag MCF he had a special punch reserved for hurting Xion's 'feelings.' He turned to the gates, watching them as they rose open in greeting. The black shadows waited patiently for them to step within.
He and Xion shared a look, glancing at the entrance and each other. Although he couldn't see her face, they knew exactly what they were thinking. They didn't need any words.
Are you ready for this?
They nodded. Then, they stepped into the darkness to confront the heart of the glitch.