Chapter 11: Vanitas
A/N: Poor Lumen, even though Terra loves her, he can't help but break her heart. He's just like Riku. He thinks he's protecting the one he loves by siding with the darkness, but he's only causing her more pain. And it's not going to get any better for Lumen since she's about to run into another un-friendly face.
Since I graduated and I'm done with school for the time being, that means more updates!
Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my oc's.
And have a Happy Holidays!
Enjoy!
/
So many things ran through Lumen's head as she bolted down the streets of Radiant Garden.
Her legs felt like lead, her eyes stung with tears, her body was on fire.
And worse of all, her heart felt like shards of glass.
How could Terra do this to her? How could he give in to the darkness so easily and not be upset about it? Didn't he know how bad the darkness was? Didn't he realize that he was hurting the ones he loved as well?
Apparently he didn't because if he didn't he wouldn't have sided with the darkness.
Then there was Aqua and her father. How dare they go behind her back and spy on Terra like that. It didn't matter that they were right about Terra, it was the fact that they had the nerve to lie to her.
Aqua was her best friend. They told each other about everything. Did becoming a keyblade master meant you had to hid things from your best friend? It was true that Aqua could be serious at times and tended to take things seriously. But to lie to your best friend was a low blow. But not as low as your father going against you.
She couldn't believe that her father would do something like this. Terra respected Master Eraqus so much and treated him like his own father. He would never do anything to disappoint him or keep secrets from him-except that he had been secretly dating his daughter for a few years now. Her father said he was willing to give Terra a second chance to become a keyblade master. Was that just a lie?
She really didn't know what to believe in now.
Her father lied to her, her best friend went behind her back. And worse of all, her lover betrayed her.
When she reached the Central Square, she collapsed to her knees. Gripping the stones around her, she let the tears fall. Her heart hurt so much that it was hard to breathe. The man that she loved and cherished betrayed her.
Terra's vow to her from long ago echoed through her head.
"I will never betray you"
Lumen cried even more at that.
"But you did, Terra" she thought.
"You betrayed me in the most foulest way. You went against the thing that you swore to fight. The thing that you vowed to protect me from"
She buried her face into her hands and shook as she cried.
Why did it have to come to this? Everything was perfect before this mission came. If only Master Xehanort hadn't disappeared and the Unversed never existed. Then maybe things would have stayed the same between Terra and herself.
As she was crying, she never noticed that someone approached her.
"The poor girl cries such sweet sorrows"
Lumen's head shot up and looked at the person that spoke.
Clad in dark clothing and wearing a dark mask stood a boy no older than her. Darkness seemed to pour out of him as he watched her sitting on the ground. She couldn't see his face and she couldn't tell what he was thinking. But she could tell that this boy was bad news and that she was in danger.
She slowly got up and backed away from him. She didn't like how he was so close to her.
The boy laughed at her in a very sinister way.
"Aww, you think I'm going to bite" he said.
"How cute"
Lumen studied him a bit more. This boy had a mask that completely covered his entire head. Something about him seemed familiar.
That's when it hit her that Ven mentioned about a boy in a mask.
"You! You're the one that Ven was talking about" she said.
The boy seemed to react a little when Ven was mentioned.
"Ah, Ventus" he said.
"Tell me something, has he learned to put up a decent fight yet?"
Lumen glared at him. How dare he talk badly about Ven?
"What's that suppose to mean?" she asked.
"I'll be asking the questions!" The boy snapped.
Lumen growled.
"You got a lot of nerve to be talking to a woman like that" she said.
"But then again, you're just a boy so what do you know about manners?"
She spun on her heel and started walking away. She didn't want to deal with this creep right now and she wasn't right in the head to be fighting at the moment. She was on the verge of snapping.
The boy appeared to not like being ignored and quickly snatched her wrist.
"Walking away when someone is talking to you? You're the one who doesn't have any manners" he said.
Lumen snatched her hand away from him.
"Keep your hands off me" she hissed.
This boy was really getting on her nerves.
"Just who do you think you are that you can treat a woman this way?"
The boy just laughed as he circled around her, studying her like a predator stalking its prey.
"My master was right" he said.
"You really do act like your father"
Lumen's eyes narrowed.
How did this guy know her father? Or better yet, who was his master?
"How do you know about my father?" she asked.
"That's not important" The boy said.
"It is to me" Lumen snapped.
"Just who are you?"
The boy laughed darkly.
"The name's Vanitas" he said.
"And you're Lumen, daughter of Master Eraqus and Mistress Serenity"
Now Lumen was really starting to freak out. How could this boy know so much about her when she hardly knew anything about him?
She tried walking away again, but Vanitas stopped her.
"Where do you think you're going?" he asked.
"I thought we were having fun?"
Lumen scoffed at him.
"Hardly" she said.
"Why would I want to associate with rude little boys like you? Now go away"
She tried walking away again, only to have Vanitas stop her again.
"You see, that's just the thing" he said.
"I can't leave you alone-or rather, I don't want to"
Lumen growled darkly. This boy was really pushing her buttons. She was in a horrible mood because of Terra and now this brat was making it worse.
She glared daggers at Vanitas as he blocked her yet again.
"You have five seconds to get out of my way before I hack you into pieces" she threatened.
Vanitas laughed at that.
"Oh, I'm shaking with fear" he said.
He summoned up a keyblade and went into a fighting stance.
"Let's see if you can actually do it"
Lumen summoned her keyblade and went into a stance as well.
"You asked for it" she said.
She didn't hesitate to rush at him. He wanted a fight so he was going to get one. Predictably, Vanitas blocked her attack with his keyblade.
"Too slow" he taunted.
Lumen just growled.
"No" she said.
"Too predictable"
She shot a fire spell at him and watched as he quickly jumped out of the way so he wouldn't get singed by the flames.
"You're a sneaky little chick, aren't you?" he said.
"I think I'm starting to like you even more"
Lumen growled and went at him again.
"Don't make me sick" she said.
She fired off random spells at him and watched as he ran away from them. He was messing with her by toying with her and holding back his true capabilities. It was childish and an insult to a keyblade wielder. She wasn't a master, but she was still the daughter of one.
"Quit toying around" she barked.
"It's an insult to my abilities"
Vanitas laughed at that.
"If I were to show you my true skills, you would be dead within seconds" he said.
"Besides, haven't you suffered enough blows in one day? I'm sure that little incident with Terra was a real doozy"
Lumen froze at that.
Terra's betrayal did a real number on her. She could be punch millions of times and she would feel a thing. She could be shoved down dozens of times and she would still get back up. But the thing that she couldn't counter was the pain of a broken heart.
Crying out in frustration, she aimed her keyblade at Vanitas and had chains come out of it. The chains of light wrapped themselves tightly around the masked vigilant and slammed him to the ground.
The chains disappeared, leaving the motionless boy on the ground.
Gripping her keyblade, Lumen slowly approached his body.
When she got close to him, she noticed that he didn't even move a muscle, let alone breathe.
Kneeling to the ground, she slowly reached for his mask to see who he really was.
She suddenly blacked out when she felt something hit her hard across the face. She fell to the ground, dazed by the impact.
With her blurry sight, she caught the image of Vanitas standing over her with his keyblade drawn.
"So that's the power Master was talking about" he said to himself.
"Now I see why we need you for our plans"
Lumen winched as she tried to sit up. Vanitas really hit her hard with his keyblade and it made her dizzy to move.
"What…plan?" she said weakly.
Vanitas just laughed.
"Sorry angel face, but that's for me to know and you to find out"
He knelt down and gripped her arm.
"Now that I know that you won't cause me a fight, I say it's time we get going" he said.
"My master is on a very tight schedule and you're the final key that he needs to fulfill his plans"
Lumen weakly struggled against his grip. She didn't know what he was talking about but she didn't want to be a part of anyone's plans.
"No…Terra!" she cried weakly.
"Terra isn't going to save you now" Vanitas cooed.
"If he cared enough about you, then he wouldn't have sided with the darkness"
A tear ran down Lumen's face as she heard that. He was right. If Terra did care about her, then he wouldn't have betrayed her like this.
Vanitas opened a dark portal and started dragging her towards it.
"Forget about Terra" he said.
"I'll make sure I take good care of you"
Lumen struggled some more, but really couldn't do anything because of the pain she was in.
"No! Let me go!" she cried.
Vanitas just laughed and continued to drag her along.
"Save your breath" he said.
"No one is going to save yo-"
He was cut off when an arrow suddenly nicked him in the arm.
He let go of Lumen to stop the bleeding.
"Where did that come from?" he hissed.
Another arrow was flew past him and caused him to jump back a few feet.
Lumen looked up to see who had rescued her, only to find Taiyouko. The young woman had a bow and arrow in hand and looked ready to fire off another round.
"Is there a problem here?" she asked darkly.
Vanitas growled and summoned his keyblade.
"Get lost" he hissed.
Taiyouko gave him a dark glare.
"Sorry, no can do"
She fried off her arrow followed by a set of complex spells.
Vanitas blocked everything with his keyblade, but was thrown away from Lumen.
Taiyouko quickly went up to Lumen and stood protectively in front of her as she notched another arrow into her bow.
"Dragging an injured woman as if she was cargo? How rude" she said.
Vanitas growled when he realized what he was facing up against.
"A sorceress" he hissed.
Taiyouko glared at that.
"That's right" she said.
"And if you value your life, then I suggest you leave this world immediately"
Vanitas looked at where Lumen sat back to Taiyouko's arrows. He was smart enough to know that he was no match for a sorceress. They had powers that rivaled even a skilled keyblade master.
Admitting defeat for now, he reopened the portal and stepped into it.
He looked at Lumen.
"This isn't over yet, doll face" he said.
"The next time we meet, you'll be wishing that you finished me off sooner"
With that he vanished.
Taiyouko sighed and lowered her weapon.
"Why do strange people always come here?" she asked herself.
She looked at Lumen who was still sitting on the ground. She knelt in front of her and checked her over.
"You alright?"
Lumen looked at her. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. The mother of her successor saved her life.
"You-you're Hikari's mother…Taiyouko, wasn't it?"
Taiyouko smiled a little.
"That I am" she said.
"And you're the brave girl who saved my children from those monsters"
Lumen laughed weakly.
"That I am" she said.
Taiyouko looked at the spot where Vanitas once stood.
"So who was that guy anyway?" she asked.
Lumen slowly shook her head.
"I have no idea" she said.
She flinched at the throbbing feeling in her head.
Taiyouko looked at her with concern.
"Are you ok?" she asked.
Lumen nodded her head for a second before suddenly shaking it. She wasn't alright. She was nearly abducted by some masked freak. Her best friend went behind her back, her father lied to her and even worse, her boyfriend betrayed her. She was anything but alright.
Letting her raw emotions come forward, she suddenly broke down again and started to cry. She was hurting so badly inside that she had to let it out.
Taiyouko looked at her sadly.
"Oh, you poor dear" she said.
She pulled her into a hug and held her gently.
"It's ok" she said.
"Let it all out"
Lumen continued to cry as her broken heart continued to shatter.
Taiyouko carefully helped Lumen up and let her lean against her.
"Come on, let's go for a walk" she said.
"A little fresh air will do you some good"
Lumen just nodded as she sniffled and sobbed some more.
The young mother carefully guided her away from the fight zone and towards the streets of the town.
None of them would realize that they would be walking down the path that would chain their fates together.
/
A/N: Taiyouko to the rescue! I just had to give her a little badass moment. As you can tell, Taiyouko will play a very important role in Lumen's future. What it will be is unknown (at least to you readers). How will Taiyouko get Lumen out of her funk?
The only way to find out is to review!
Please tell me what you think!
Ja ne!