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Mickey landed his gummy ship in the Land of Departure on the Fifth day since Sora's return. He wanted to speak to the Terra, Aqua and Ventus before they had spoken to the rest of the main group, and had called ahead to offer them a ride to the mysterious tower so he could explain a few things first. They all agreed and waited patiently for Mickey to arrive.
When they saw him, they all smiled as they prepared to leave and were super excited to see Sora after so many years. They smiled at Mickey happily.
Mickey just looked up to them all with a grim expression. "Before we head out, there's something you all should know. Something I need to tell you. It's about Vanitas."
Everyone looks at each other with wide eyes. Vanitas?
"He's back?" Ventus asked with wide eyes.
Mickey frowned. "We don't actually know for sure. The Unversed have been spawning frequently and we didn't know why, but then Riku and I saved Sora within the realm of darkness, and then strangely enough, Sora actually dual wielded with Vanitas' keyblade in battle."
Everyone gasped. Aqua and Terra looked at each other with the same determined expressions. Ventus just looked lost in thought.
Terra then spoke up. "His keyblade? Why would Sora have Vanitas' keyblade? ...Do you think Vanitas is using Sora somehow, maybe to return from the afterlife?"
Mickey nodded. "That's what I was starting to fear. First the unversed, then seeing Vanitas' keyblade and Sora's return? It's just all to much of a coincidence to be not connected in someway."
"Do you think Vanitas is controlling Sora?" Aqua asked trying to piece the puzzle together. "Maybe the reason why Sora survived so long in the realm of darkness was because of Vanitas. I know all to well that the darkness can literally tear a person apart if they aren't strong enough. I can only imagine the pain and suffering Sora must have felt. He could have easily been washed away by the abyss. That could maybe explain why there had been unversed spawning, if Vanitas had already started to control him when he fell into the darkness. Maybe he was using Sora to try to create more of his monsters as a way to lure you guys to the realm of Darkness? Have any unversed spawned since Sora's return?"
Mickey thought for a moment. "I don't actually know, I haven't been to the tower since our return actually. I left Riku and Kairi to help and watch over Sora and so far he seems fine. But you can never tell with the darkness, as it can slowly eat at a persons heart, without them even knowing."
Terra nodded, knowing himself that darkness was a complex idea. He himself had used darkness, but really only to save his friends. He had to use it. He wasn't strong enough otherwise. He knew that if Sora was being controlled by darkness that it could eventually consume him if he wasn't careful. They had to be cautious here.
"What are we going to do if Vanitas is controlling Sora somehow? Do we have a plan for that?" Aqua asked feeling worried for her friend.
Mickey nodded. "Ienzo, Evan and I have come up with a way to trap him. Ienzo seems to think that maybe Vanitas' heart is inside of Sora's, like Ven's was. And if it's true and he is inside of Sora and is controlling him, then we plan to extract him from Sora and place him inside of a replica. That way when Vanitas is locked inside it, we can keep him from hurting anyone else. Keep him contained. No one will ever have to suffer from his actions again. Hopefully It does not have to come to that, as I hope it's just some big misunderstanding, but with Vanitas, we can't just brush this aside. We have to be sure. He's too dangerous."
Ventus looked shocked at all that. He looked at the ground then, deep in thought. After all this time, Vanitas could be back? And Vanitas could possibly be controlling Sora? He felt his heart squeeze when he thought about Vanitas' return. When he last saw Vanitas, it was in the Keyblade Graveyard 10 years ago, when Sora disappeared.
The last thing Vanitas had said was "I am darkness." He chose to be complete darkness. But was that /really/ what he wanted to be? Ven wanted to believe there was still someway to possibly save him, redeem him, even after everything that had happened. Vanitas was part of Ventus, and it hurt to feel like they were still on opposite sides. He wanted them both to meet in the middle somehow, and create an equilibrium of sorts. He worried about Sora though. If Vanitas was trying to come back, and was still calling himself pure darkness, what could that mean for Sora's light?
Mickey said they wanted to trap Vanitas, which didn't feel exactly right either. He wasn't sure how to feel about it all. But, he knew what he should do.
He needed to speak to Sora. Before Terra and Aqua got to him. He needed to find out for himself what was going on. He quickly excused himself to use the restroom, feigning ignorance and saying it would be quick when the trio asked him to hurry so they could depart in the gummy ship together.
He rushed from the room only to race outside and slam his hand on his shoulder pad and created his familiar keyblade armor and glider ship and quickly sped off to the mysterious tower before anyone could notice.
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Sora found himself sitting outside by the familiar crystal lake again as he drew more pictures with Namine. He smiled and tucked a lock of hair behind his ear as he leaned over his sketch pad to draw more lumpy shapes on his paper with his pencil. He smiled when he had drawn a goofy looking unversed Meow Wow with its tongue out and stumpy legs and then started to draw more of them in a lumpy pile thinking about how cute they would all be.
Vanitas lounged next to them in the grass again, petting the creatures in question with a soft smile as he dozed off like a cat in the warm sun.
Earlier, Sora had woken up and turned in his bed to see Riku still sleeping soundly next to him and he smiled, feeling happy. Sora could tell that Vanitas was happy too, as he snuggled up closer to Riku and kissed him softly. Riku awoke to Sora's soft lips on his own and melted into them.
Riku couldn't believe it. It wasn't a dream.. well, it /was/ in a dream, but it was real, it had happened, just the same.
They continued to lazily kiss one another until Riku finally got up to use the restroom and the pair then had descended down the stairs for breakfast.
Riku then parted ways with Sora when they were finished and went to go spar with Axel and Kairi and then Sora left to hang out with Namine for the rest of the morning.
All was peaceful for them, until suddenly a hole opened in the sky and Ventus popped out of it, over the lake. He road his keyblade over the surface of the water and drove right over to the group.
Sora and Namine both looked up at him in shock. "Ventus??" Sora asked moving to stand.
Vanitas sat up with wide eyes.
"Sora!!" Ventus yelled as he jumped from his keyblade and removed his armor. Sora and Namine both ran up to him.
"Ventus! It's been ages!!" Sora said and hugged Ventus close then, smiling brightly. He actually missed Ven a lot and didn't even realize until he saw him. He felt himself shed a tear in happiness and moved to wipe it away.
"Sora, I'm so glad your back! But listen, there's something i need to ask you, okay?" Ventus gripped Sora's shoulders and looked into his eyes desperately.
Sora blinked and nodded. "What is it Ven?" He could only imagine that it was probably about Vanitas in someway and he felt fear start to creep into his heart.
Vanitas got up then and placed a warm hand on the back of Sora's neck in attempt to sooth his fears and he watched Ventus carefully.
His true other half, Ventus. It had been a long time since he had seen him. He wondered what Ven would think about him now if he knew just what he had been up to all this time.
Ventus took a breath. "Sora, is Vanitas with you?" He asked point blank, figuring it was the best way to get the truth.
Sora recoiled and took a step back. "Vanitas? W-why do you ask about him Ven?" He started to feel extremely worried.
Ventus pressed. "Unversed have been spawning Sora, and Mickey told Terra and Aqua that you used Vanitas' keyblade in the realm of darkness. They think he's controlling you somehow, and that he is trying to return. Is that true?"
Sora gasped. "What? No! He's not controlling me!" He felt upset, and Vanitas continued to rub Sora's back affectionately, hoping no unversed would suddenly start spawning. That would just be icing on the cake really, to possibly confirm to Ven that Vanitas was controlling Sora in someway.
"But he's with you, isn't he?" Ventus asked feeling like it had to be true. Vanitas was not dead. He could tell that much.
Sora looked at Namine, who was looking back with a small smile. She nodded once encouragingly, and Sora sighed, thankful for her help.
"Yes, Vanitas is with me. When I fell to the realm of darkness, he saved me. He fixed my broken heart. He's not controlling me. He's helping me. If he hadn't helped me I would have disappeared completely. And he continues to help me even now." And Sora held a hand to his heart.
Ventus watched him. "He's in your heart?"
Sora nodded. "He filled in the gaps that were broken from me. He made up the difference. He actually cares about me, Ven. And I care about him. He's not evil, he's not complete darkness. Once he merged with me, Some of my light is in him now, and he is in me. We complete each other now."
Ventus thought about all the times Vanitas wanted to join with him and then thought about Sora. Sora didn't turn into a crazy x-blade or anything like that... he didn't look possessed or corrupted by darkness.
Had Vanitas really changed? Was he really helping Sora? But why would he even want to do that? Ventus thought back to when him and Vanitas both fell in battle all those years ago and felt his heart squeeze. If Ventus had gone to Sora's heart after that fight, then maybe Vanitas did too? His heart was directly tied to Sora's too after all , they even shared the same face to prove it. So, it could make some sense if Vanitas was actually in Sora's heart the whole time, just like Ven was.
But if that was true then they had never actually freed him from Sora's heart. they would have fell to the realm of darkness together then. Sora has been both their second chances at life, and now it seemed like Vanitas was doing the same thing for Sora.
"So do you talk to Vanitas, Sora?" He asked finally, wondering how their connection worked exactly.
Sora nodded and smiled. "We talk, I see him in my dreams at night. And during the day, I feel him in my heart. He's always watching over me, even right now, I can feel him. He seems happy."
"He's happy?" Ventus thought for a moment. Vanitas being happy was a foreign thought. But he knew he wanted his other half to be Happy. Everyone deserved some happiness.
Ventus then sighed and smiled. "It you both are happy, and you are not hurting anyone, then maybe it's not all bad? ...But what are Vanitas' intentions exactly?" He asked then.
Sora blinked. "His intentions? ...He just wants to help me, and I want to help him. I want Vanitas to be happy, that's what we both want. We had both been suffering for so long in different ways, but we both helped each other find some happiness in life again."
Ventus smiled then. He knew Sora would be alright. Sora had a strong heart and was always willing to help people who needed it. His heart was always open to love people. It was his best quality. Ventus felt his own heart warm when he thought about Vanitas and Sora being happy together and knew that if anyone could quell the darkness in Vanitas' soul, it would be Sora. Their second chance.
"Okay, I believe you, Sora." Ventus grinned and chuckled. "If anyone can help Vanitas, of course it would be you. I just hope that you both can remain happy together. We need to tell Terra and Aqua that you're not being controlled by darkness so they don't make any rash decisions."
He did not tell Sora about Mickey's plan, hoping that he wouldn't even have to mention it if he could just speak to Terra and Aqua first. They just had to listen to him !
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Mickey, Terra and Aqua all stepped into the mysterious tower in a rush. Ventus had run off and Aqua was fretting like a mother hen over her chick.
When they arrived, Axel, Kairi, Riku, Roxas and Xion all greeted them with warm smiles.
"You guys it's been ages!" They all laughed and smiled to one another.
Aqua looked worried though. "Have you guys seen Ven?" She asked desperately.
Terra also looked worried. "He disappeared before we left and we thought he might have came here?"
Everyone frowned.
Kairi spoke up. "We haven't seen him, but Sora and Namine are outside still , maybe they saw him?"
Aqua and Terra nodded determinedly and immediately turned to go outside in search for their friend.
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Sora Ven and Namine all started to walk back to the tower to wait for Terra and Aqua. They all smiled as they walked together, and Sora felt a flutter of glee when he saw Ven reach out for Namine's hand as they were walking. Well that was cute!! He thought and was happy for them. They both deserved happiness too, and maybe they could find it in each other?
Namine smiled at Ventus sweetly, and they all walked together back to the tower.
"Ven!" Terra and Aqua called from afar and the 3 stopped in their tracks and turned to see them. They ran up to Ventus in a fret, thinking something terrible had happened to their friend after he left without a trace.
Ventus frowned, feeling bad for making them worry but he shook his head. "I'm sorry I left without saying anything! But I needed to talk to Sora."
Terra and Aqua then acknowledged Sora finally with wide eyes.
"Sora!" They both said and smiled to him, seeing him alive again.
Sora looked at them and smiled back. "Hi everyone!" He waved happily.
Namine also said hello to them sweetly.
Terra was instantly on alert and sized Sora up. He certainly looked like the same ball of Sunshine he had seen previously, but he knew that darkness could hide itself inside of him. He would need to be careful.
Aqua was instantly worried too. She wanted to believe Sora was okay, but wasn't too sure. They both smiled at Sora with a sad sort of look.
Riku suddenly ran up to the group as well. Sora perked up at the sight of him. "Riku!" He smiled to him when he reached the group.
Riku looked surprised. "I see you found Ven, I guess I don't have to look now." He smiled at them all and stood closer to Sora unconsciously.
Riku was instantly a little worried about how the new three would react to Sora if they found out about Vanitas. Riku knew that they had a history and if they found out about him it probably wouldn't turn out very good. He didn't want anything to happen to Sora though. And he kind of cared about Vanitas now too in a way. He wasn't too sure how he felt, but knew that Sora cared for him very deeply. And so to hurt Vanitas would be to hurt Sora. And that just wasn't going to fly.
Riku wanted to talk to Aqua, having the strongest bond with her out of the three and wanted to see her opinions and thoughts. What would Aqua say about all this? He then asked her to walk with him so he could ask her his questions in private. The two walked off together in silence.
Ventus reached for Terra. "I need to speak with you too please, can we go over here?" Terra nodded and followed his friend away from Sora and Namine, who decided to just go back to the tower now and see what Kairi and the gang were up too.
Ven sighed as he pulled Terra away. "Terra its Sora. He does have Vanitas inside of him," he began and started to say more but Terra spoke up in shock.
"Vanitas is inside of Sora? Are you sure?" Terra asked getting strangely intense.
Ventus sighed. "Yes but listen to me okay! Vanitas is not evil. He's not controlling Sora okay? He helped Sora survive in the realm of darkness. They are actually happy together! They aren't hurting anyone, so we don't need to do anything rash okay!" He pleaded and hopped Terra would listen to him.
"Did Sora tell you that? We have to be sure Ven, what if Vanitas was making him say all that stuff? You know how cruel he can be." Terra said as he crossed his arms.
Ventus shook his head in desperation. "No! He's not making a Sora say anything, Sora is strong Terra , he's not going to let Vanitas push him around. They are happy together! Can't we just leave him be?"
Terra sighed. "Let's go back and see him huh? Maybe we can see if he truly is strong enough."
Ventus sighed and nodded. "I want to find Aqua too though and tell her. I'll find you after I get her and we can all go together okay?"
Terra smiled. "Alright Ven, together."
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Aqua and Riku walked along the path outside that led them to a nice beautiful flower garden. Aqua smiled softly at some lotus flowers before turning to Riku with a grim expression.
"How has Sora been since his return Riku?" Aqua asked and looked at him.
"He's been doing well, slowly readjusting, but he's still the same Sora that I remember." Riku said with a small smile.
"Have you sensed anything.. off about him?" Aqua asked.
Riku blinked. "Off? Like what do you mean?"
"Do you think darkness has affected him at all Riku?" She finally asked and Riku shook his head.
"Darkness? No I don't think darkness has affected him. He had a little bit of trouble eating when he first came back, but he got over that fairly quickly." Riku replied.
"He had trouble eating?" Aqua mumbled feeling sad at that, her mother hen tendencies kicking in. She frowned and turned back to Riku.
"Riku, have you heard of a man called Vanitas?" She asked , changing the subject.
Riku tried to hold in his surprise and not show any real emotion. Yeah, he knew Vanitas. But he played ignorant.
"Who is that?" He asked and Aqua sighed.
"He's someone that we have been fighting for a long time. He's hurt my friends and tried to separate us all. He's done ...horrible things. Mickey seems to think that he could have returned with the resurgence of the Unversed, and I hope he's not right. Vanitas is dangerous. He will stop at nothing until he gets what he wants. You must be careful around him Riku." Aqua said with a determined look on her face. If Vanitas was around, she would not let him hurt her friends again.
Riku listened to her words and felt himself frown. "Dangerous?"
Aqua nodded. "You must try to stay away from his influence, he will try anything to get his way, try to trick you and deceive you even. He will not stop until he gets what ever it is he wants. He will literally do anything, even hurt people. We must be very careful if he does show up."
Riku swallowed and nodded slowly. He will trick and deceive... Riku thought about last night and wondered if that was all a trick to deceive him.
Although the whole experience was weird, he didn't feel like it was a trick, and Sora truly looked happy. But what if there was some ulterior motive? Riku frowned, and remembered what Sora had said to him before, that he loved Vanitas. For Sora to say he loved someone, well, it wasn't something to be taken lightly. He must truly care about Vanitas, and if he did, Vanitas could not be as dangerous as Aqua was making him seem.
But he nodded to Aqua anyway and told her he would be careful.
Ventus suddenly ran up to them panting for breath. "Aqua! Riku!"
"Ven!" Aqua cries feeling worried over him instantly. Ven held his hands up to stop her from fussing over him.
"I'm fine Aqua I just needed to talk to you, it's really important." Ven replied before continuing. "It's about Sora. He told me that he does have Vanitas inside of him."
Riku felt shock and stepped back. Sora told Ven? Well , it shouldn't be that surprising, as Vanitas came from Ventus, apparently. So it's only natural Sora would want to talk to him. But now what was Aqua going to say?
Aqua gasped and held a hand to her heart. Her worst fear was coming true, Vanitas was returning, and he was in Sora just like Mickey thought. This was awful!
"But listen Aqua! Sora told me Vanitas saved him, and that he's not evil anymore. We don't need to worry that he is trying to hurt someone. He's with Sora now and Sora wouldn't let him hurt anyone." Ventus said quickly trying to reign in Aquas fears about Vanitas.
Aqua frowned. "How can you be for certain though? Vanitas likes to trick and deceive and could have easily swayed Sora somehow."
Riku felt his eyebrows furrow. "Are you saying you don't trust Sora, Aqua? If he says Vanitas isn't evil, then I would like to be inclined to believe him."
Aqua scoffed. "I didn't say I don't trust Sora. I said I don't trust Vanitas, which all of you shouldn't trust anything he says."
Things were starting to turn sour within their little group.
Ven spoke up then with his hands up. "Hey ! Let's just go talk to Sora then and see what he says? Terra is already there waiting for us. We can all talk to him together and figure it out!"
Aqua and Riku both frowned but nodded. Each feeling like they were suddenly standing on opposing sides now. And it worried both of them.
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Terra found Sora watching over all his friends spar against each other with their keyblades. He smiled and moved to sit next to Sora.
"Hey Sora," he spoke evenly, "how are you?"
"Oh Terra! Hi! I'm good, how are you?" Sora smiled at him warmly. Even though Sora could sense that Vanitas seemed uneasy around the older Keyblade Masters, he still smiled brightly and was kind to them.
Terra looked out at the friends as they practiced fighting each other with their blades and watched fondly.
"I'm good. Better now, after everything." Terra began and leaned back to look into the sky. " I struggled with the darkness for a long time...I was trying to help my friends, but the darkness almost consumed me while I was doing it. I almost let it. I wasn't strong enough in the end and Xehanort trapped me for all those years. But then, my friends, they were there for me. They were watching over me and brought me back to the light. I wouldn't be who I was without my friends."
Terra smiled and looked back to Sora. "I'd like to be your friend too Sora. I'd like to get to know you better, so that we too can help each other when we need it. It's what friends would do for each other."
Sora looked at him with awe. "Wow Terra, I never knew all that. I'll gladly be your friend though! You can never have to many!" He smiled brightly.
Terra nodded and smiled back. He looked back to the keybladers and thought for a moment.
"You want to spar with me Sora?" He asked feeling like that could maybe be a fun activity to do now that Sora was back.
"Okay, Sure!" Sora smiled and stood. He held out his hand and tried to summon his keyblade.
He didn't summon a keyblade though.
Sora frowned. "My keyblade..?" He had not tried once to summon his keyblade since his return to the realm of light, but what did that mean , if he couldn't summon it?
Terra had a moment of realization.
"Oh that's right, your keyblade! Well, when you disappeared, we left it with the others..."
Sora blinked again in question. "The others...?"
Terra shook his head. "We can go get it! Let's go Sora, I'll take you to it."
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Aqua Ven and Riku met back up with the main group and looked for Terra and Sora. Riku furrowed his brow and called out to Kairi who jogged over to see them.
"What's up guys?" She called once she reached them, "Wanna spar with us? I can show you all the cool moves I've learned!" She held up her keyblade, Destiny's Embrace, and slashed at the air a few times.
Riku shook his head. "Have you seen Sora and Terra anywhere? We really need to talk to them."
Kairi nodded. "Oh yeah, you just missed them! I think they left to go get Sora's keyblade back."
Riku's eyes widened at that. "They went alone?"
Aqua felt uneasy also. "Riku lets go together and meet them there."
Ventus spoke up. "I'm going too!" He demanded. Aqua nodded to him.
Kairi allowed the three of them to walk off to the gummy ship and felt some worry in her heart.
She needed to find some paper. And a pen. She suddenly felt the need to write.
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Sora and Terra had arrived at the Fated Place, once again.
The Keyblade Graveyard.
Sora's keyblade was here, after he had fallen to the realm of darkness, all those years ago. Terra and Sora walked along the X marked path to the center, where Sora's kingdom key was stabbed into the ground. There were flowers and nicknacks surrounding the keyblade like a makeshift memorial.
It /was/ a memorial.
Sora felt his heart ache as he looked at it.
"Well, you can grab it now. It's your keyblade after all." Terra said as he watched Sora look at it.
Sora just continued to look at it for a long moment. He shook his head finally and turned away.
"No, I don't think it is mine anymore. I couldn't call it before. I think that part of me is gone now. I'm a different person since then." Sora smiled knowing that it was okay to change, to grow. He was a better person because of it. He didn't need this keyblade anymore and felt a sense of awakening in him. Like he had just turned the page on a new chapter in his life. Things would be okay.
Terra frowned though. "That part of you is gone? You're a different person?" He questioned and thought.
Sora looked up into the sky as the sun was starting to set over the horizon and he took a deep breath before nodding.
Terra paced behind Sora. Thinking. He stopped pacing when he decided he was done thinking.
Sora then heard the telltale noise of a Keyblade being summoned and he turned to look at Terra.
Terra has summoned his keyblade, Ends of the Earth, and pointed it at Sora.
"Pick up your keyblade, Sora." He said firmly.
Sora swallowed and stepped back a step. "Terra?" He questioned and felt sense of fear.
Vanitas instantly was fucking worried. But what could he do right now?
Terra just looked more determined. "Pick up your keyblade, Sora. I want to see just how much of a different person you are." Terra knew then that Sora might actually be under the influence of Darkness. But- He had to be sure. He had to see it with his own eyes.
Sora backed away. "I don't want to fight, Terra!" He felt frightened and tried to stay back from him.
Terra then just lunged at him, swinging his blade at Sora, and Sora cried out and rotated away in a panic.
He started to run away, trying to get away from Terra. What the heck was Terra doing!!?
Terra ran after him and slashed again, only meeting air.
Sora tripped over a fallen keyblade as he was running and twisted around desperately as he fell, just as Terra was going to slash at him again. Sora held his hand up in fear, and summoned the keyblade, Voidgear into his hands, right as Terra brought his blade down.
They clashed together angrily in a blinding light and Terra was pushed back by the force.
Terra looked up in shock. It was Vanitas' keyblade, he would know it anywhere.
He was right. Mickey was right. Sora was being controlled by Vanitas. The physical proof staring him right in the face.
He stood tall again and readied his blade, ready to do what ever it took to try and save Sora from Vanitas' influence.
Today, He would set this right.
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