Teaser alert: in this chapter, you will learn some shocking truth about Sora. Be prepared because I'm sure no one saw it coming.
Everything happened so fast, as yet it felt as if time itself had slowed down.
Someone slammed the door open, and several people wearing black burst into the room. One of them pointed his weapon (Xigbar, Kairi remembered) right at her head. Magic spells flew everywhere, too fast for Riku to react properly, the boy still shocked of Sora's attack. Master Aqua, obviously more used to thinking quickly, jumped next to Ventus, summoning a magical barrier to protect them both. Riku got hit by a powerful ice spell, and his body was encased in ice. He couldn't move - and neither could Aqua, if she wanted to keep on protecting Ventus.
And Sora was smiling.
"So...Ra?" Kairi's voice was merely a whisper. Strangely enough, while the wound hurt, the pain was taking its time to diffuse through her body. She understood what was happening. Time itself had not slowed down. But someone had cast a Slow spell on her - the wound was still lethal, she guessed, it would only take longer to die.
Sora remained silent, and she realised he tensed a bit when two other men came inside the room ; both of them walking peacefully. At the sight of the silver haired one, Kairi gasped. Xemnas. The leader of Organization XIII, who held her prisoner some years ago, and whom she still feared. Somehow, it looked like it was the other person, an older man with a bald head, that made Sora nervous. Before she could guess who he was, Aqua hissed his name.
"Master Xehanort."
"Ah, Aqua, child, there you are." He had the voice of a nice grandpa, but his words were full of poison. "I shall thank you. Without you, never we would have been able to find the Young Ventus."
"Stay away from him. I won't let you come anywhere close."
Xigbar laughed. "Are you sure about that? I mean, I have a gun pointed right at your lil' friend's head there. If you don't want to see the walls painted red, you know what to do."
"I'm… Dying… Anyway." Talking was a struggle, but Kairi had to state that. It was probably too late for her. Xigbar laughed again - a cold sound with no joy. "True that. I might as well change my target." Riku couldn't move. Even when Xigbar walked towards him and put the tip of his arrow right against his temple, he couldn't do a thing. No one could.
"Sora… Please…"
Sora rolled his eyes before giving her a consterned look. "Slow to get it, aren't you? And here I thought you were a clever one. Let me guess: your brain knows. It always knew. But your heart just won't listen, now, will it?"
Of course she had known. She had known from day one. Every cell of her body kept yelling at her that he wasn't Sora, and she ignored them. It was easier to pretend he had lost his memory. Easier to close her eyes when he remembered things that never happened. When he talked about how the three of them used to fight when they were kids, while she never fought with them. When he talked about the sea-salt ice creams they had shared, while she only had those with Lea. It was easier to pretend.
"So you are Vanitas. And you lied to them, to us all this time. You really are a monster."
"You know, Aqua, I was worried you'd see right through me. That's why I made sure to cast Sleep spells on you every day, at first, until I was sure they all trusted me. I even considered killing you in your sleep, but…" He tensed. "The higher ups wouldn't have liked it very much."
Kairi felt so stupid. So much of a fool. So he was the reason Master Aqua slept for so long. And she was the one who convinced her he wasn't Vanitas.
"And just so that you know, I didn't even lie that much. Most of it was true. The less you lie, the more trustworthy you are. Whenever they doubted me, I just had to say something cute, pretend to remember something nice, and they would fall right back into it. They taught me how to be Sora."
All these days they spent sharing memories were just days giving him some material for his act. Kairi felt a bitter taste in her mouth. She had felt his pain. He had told them what tortures he had been through. I didn't even lie that much? Why would they do that to one of theirs? He had said they tried to take his heart away, and she remembered the nights they spent talking, the few times she had seen him smile. Had she known, she might have been able to help him. But it was too late, now.
"So what now?"
Xemnas took a take forwards, and Kairi noticed Master Aqua was doing her best not to look at him. But when he stopped right in front of her, right in front of her barrier, she had no choice but to do so, and while Kairi didn't know why, she could read a great sadness on the Master's face.
"You haven't changed at all, Aqua."
"Have we met before? While your face is familiar, I am certain I do not know you." The sharpness of her voice impressed Kairi. Aqua would quickly be overpowered, and yet she didn't let fear coming through. Her voice was steady, proud. She would go down fighting. It encouraged Kairi to fight her own tears of frustration.
"Now, we don't need you losers anymore. We have Ventus. And soon, we will have the X-Blade. I have waited for so long… This war is over before even starting. Game over."
"Even if you have Ven, you won't…" Aqua stopped when another man stepped into the room. This face, Kairi knew as well. Young Xehanort. Holding on his arms the motionless body of…
"Sora!" Riku's scream covered Kairi's whisper, but both of their hearts yelled his name at the same time. Sora looked thinner, his cheeks hollow, his skin paler. The only sign that he was alive was the slow rising of his chest when he breathed. Kairi could barely feel his light. She could barely feel his life.
"We have Ventus's body and heart, now. We don't need any of you."
Kairi realised she didn't know what happened to Lea. And while she prayed he was alright, she knew he would have rushed into the room if he still was in shape to fight.
"If you merge with Ven, you will lose your identity, Vanitas. Is this what you want?" Aqua was clearly trying to save some time, even though Kairi knew no help was on the way. Unless Mickey would join them? She hold on to that thought, as Vanitas chuckled.
"Is it what I want? No. But if I don't, they will kill me, and I don't want that either. Besides… I am not merging with him. I am returning to him. Just like we used to be. I'm going home."
Kairi could hear the longing in his voice. His mask was breaking a bit, and she noticed he really was desperate to join Ventus. It wasn't about the X-Blade, or any plan from one side or another - his only goal had always been to find Ventus, and to be whole again, as he had said.
"You missed him." She stated with a raspy voice. She felt dizzy. Her whole body was pretty much numb now. She wasn't sure she'd be able to stay conscious long.
"I did." Vanitas conceded in a low voice. "He is me. I am him. You wouldn't understand." He touched her cheek with his fingers, almost gently. "I'm almost sorry to kill you. You reminded me of him. Naive, hopeless. Friendly."
"But if you don't… They'll hurt you again."
A sad light shone in his eyes. "You got it." He shook his head, wearing his cruel smile again. "Alright, I think time is up? We need the first Sleeping Beauty to wake up, so we can wake the second one!"
Kairi finally understood what had happened. Aqua had tried to save some time in order for Mickey to get here, but she hadn't been alone. They had been saving some time, until Sora would wake up.
"I can't wait to see his reaction once we've killed both of his friends in front of his eyes."
They had been saving time to kill them while Sora was watching. His heart would then be at its weakest. It would be easier to get Ven's light back.
Sora's eyelids fluttered, heavy. He turned his head to see Kairi and Riku. Then he saw the arrow against Riku's head. The sword plunged into Kairi's stomach. He gasped, his eyes now wide open.
Kairi smiled at him, a single tear rolling down her cheek.
"I'm sorry, Sora. I love you."
Xigbar shot, and Vanitas pulled his weapon back. Sora screamed.
Time stopped being so slow.
Time stopped.
FINALLY! I CAN FINALLY CALL HIM VANITAS! Just so that you know, I didn't mean to hide his identity - it felt so obvious to me from the beginning that this wasn't much of a secret, more of a joke. But since none of the characters knew Van's real face, I decided to play along and to keep on pretending that was the good boi. If I were to rewrite anything, it would be the first chapter in which I wouldn't have mentioned his dark hair - if you thought he had silver hair, who knows, you could have been fooled too? (this fic original plot was "could Kairi turn Vanitas good if she thought he was Sora?" )
Also next chapter will be the last. See you there!
