This is chapter's going to discuss some of the darker aspects of Vanitas' apprenticeship to Xehanort folks, so fair warning, there will be some dark parts of this chapter. And yes, the chapter title is a Lilo & Stitch reference. Because like Stitch, Vanitas was created to destroy, but found something more meaningful in his life.

Episode 21: Devil In Disguise:

Dwarf Woodlands – Flower Glade

August 21, 2015

Vanitas took a deep breath as he stepped out of the Dark Corridor into the forests of Dwarf Woodlands. Since things had quieted down with Maleficent's little club, he'd volunteered for patrol duty this afternoon to get out of the mansion and stretch his legs. Cassim had agreed to send him to sweep Dwarf Woodlands for any sign of Hellfire Club activity, and now here he was. With a digital map of the world, he set off through the woods to check the most likely sites of Club activity.

A few hours later, and he came up with nothing. No sign of any of Maleficent's allies. No hidden equipment caches. No secret bases. No hidden encampments full of soldiers. Nothing. It was as if the so-called "Mistress of All Evil" and her supporters had simply vanished into thin air. Which means they really are hiding beyond Coalition Space, he thought to himself as he stepped out of a Corridor of Darkness into a clearing containing a single worn down cottage. Deciding to finish up the mission and head back to the Land of Departure, he snuck over to the door and looked inside the window.

He couldn't see anything through the windows, and was just about to walk a few feet further to see if he could open the door when a voice called out behind him.

"What are you and who are you doing?" the man stuttered. "I mean… who are you? And what are you doing?" he corrected himself as Vanitas grimaced from the mental imagery the bearded dwarf jogging up had brought up in his mind. Not like that doesn't bring up unpleasant memories, he thought as six more dwarfs followed the first one. Xehanort had indeed given him "The Talk" during his time as the old man's apprentice, and that had been far from pleasant.

Any normal parent having that conversation with their child would talk about any question the kid had. But Vanitas had never been a child, and Xehanort was far from a decent parent. The old man had given him a bare bones explanation of how the human reproductive system worked before thrusting him into "training" which essentially amounted to being forced to sleep with prostitutes that Xehanort hired to "teach him how to make people happy," telling Vanitas that if he was going to get what he wanted in life, he needed to manipulate people emotionally and physically.

Vanitas always hated the fact that Xehanort was willing to pay women (and men, since Xehanort wanted him to "be able to cover all his bases") of any age to sleep with the dark teen as training but the old geezer couldn't be bothered to buy his own apprentice something to eat once in a while (or cooking supplies so he could at least hunt for himself). Yet another reason he was glad the old man was gone. Maybe I should take Terra up on his offer to go to that stupid support group, he thought bitterly to himself as he returned his attention back to the present.

"I'm with Coalition Intelligence," he said calmly as he turned to face the seven dwarfs. "Just patrolling for any sign of Maleficent and her allies." He removed his new badge from the pocket of his jeans and showed it to them. He'd heard from Ven how quickly the dwarfs had jumped to conclusions, and for a moment he stood there, waiting to see how they'd react. To his surprise, instead of being suspicious and making snap judgements, they reacted the exact opposite of what he was expecting.

"Did you find those monsters?" one of them, who Ven had referred to as Grumpy, asked.

"Unfortunately not," Vanitas replied. "They've gone underground to avoid capture. We think they may have gone to worlds that haven't been discovered yet, but we're periodically sweeping all the worlds in Coalition space just to make sure." The dwarfs nodded in approval.

"Well I'm glad we don't have to worry about them anymore," Happy commented. "Why don't you come in? You've probably been running all over the kingdom looking for any clues. You must be exhausted." Vanitas attempted to decline but the dwarfs wouldn't take no for an answer. A few minutes later, he found himself squeezed between the seven dwarfs around a dinner table that wasn't designed for human use. From Vanitas' perspective it was more of a coffee table.

He sat there with his arms on his knees, comically oversized in comparison to the rest of the room as the dwarfs regaled him with stories of the Hellfire Club stealing from their diamond mine (which Vanitas assumed was to supplement the income they received from Sherwood Forest's taxes) in the weeks before Maleficent's disappearance. Vanitas nodded and did his best to smile and laugh when they moved on to sharing tales of the comical adventures they'd had over the years.

He was just about to find an excuse to get out of there when there was a knock at the door. One of the dwarfs, Dopey, raced over and opened the door to reveal one someone Vanitas was hoping to avoid seeing.

"Good evening everyone," Snow White greeted as she and her husband James were let into the cottage. "I just wanted to let you know that Coalition Intelligence was sending an agent to search the kingdom for signs of Maleficent and her allies, so if you saw anyone who looked out of the ordinary not to jump to conclusions." When she finished speaking to the dwarfs, she looked up and noticed Vanitas sitting uncomfortably at the end of the table.

"Oh, hello," Prince James said as he stepped over to shake the Keyblade wielder's hand. "You must be Vanitas."

"What would you say if I am?" Vanitas asked cautiously. If he was going to be hunted down with torches and pitchforks, he might as well get ready to run now.

"I just wanted to thank you for your actions in defeating Xehanort," the prince answered with a chuckle. "It was very courageous of you to defy him like that."

"I didn't really help that much," Vanitas replied shyly. "I just fought two guys, convinced one to change sides, and landed in a few hits against the old man himself. Nothing special, really." He wasn't used to gotten praise for anything. Xehanort preferred to beat him for disobeying him. For failing. For not meeting his standards during training. Whenever he actually did something that might be considered worthy of praise, the only thing Xehanort ever gave him was stale food and an evening free of further physical exertion. Being praised for something he saw as insignificant was a completely alien experience for him.

"And yet without your contributions, there would have been much more casualties in that battle," James explained. "And I don't think the other "Guardians of Light" would have been able to defeat him without your help. You saved countless lives that day." Vanitas fought to keep himself from blushing. He'd discussed his time as Xehanort's apprentice with Ven, and the light Key bearer was working to correct his dark side's skewed perceptions of the universe. When Ven heard about this, he'd say that they needed to add rebuilding Vanitas' self-esteem to the list of things they needed to work on.

Snow White too, was grateful for Vanitas' actions, if a little hesitant to trust. But still, she'd heard of the young man's actions during the battle at the Keyblade Graveyard, and was willing to give the dark boy the benefit of the doubt. With the arrival of Snow White and her Prince Charming, there was no way Vanitas was getting out of that cottage anytime soon. The seven dwarfs quickly insisted that all three visitors stay for dinner, and Vanitas was quickly drafted into helping prepare the meal while Snow White gave him a crash course in cooking.

Vanitas hid a small smile behind his cup as he raised his glass to drink. After so many years of being condemned as a monster wherever he went, it secretly felt nice to be accepted without any questions. It sure beat that time Xehanort sent him to gather intel in La Cite Des Cloches. One look at his golden eyes, and every clergyman in the city was calling him a demon and trying to burn him at the stake. But that was all in the past. Right now, as he hid his satisfaction behind his usual mask of cynicism, he felt content with the world. He had a job that didn't torture him for failure or mistakes, people who cared about him (Ventus and Namine were the only people he really considered friends at this point), and he was respected wherever he went. Life was good.

So yeah, Vanitas' little backstory revelations were fairly explicit this time around. I figured that sooner or later he would encounter something that reminded him of his time with Xehanort, and I saw that kind of thing as another chance to get inside his head.

Next chapter: we get to see the first meeting of the Organization support group. Because of his whole thing with "Ansem," Riku will be showing up as well. It's basically founded by the former Organization members, but intended more for anyone who's suffered because of Xehanort's actions in some way, shape, or form, so Riku, Vanitas, and the BBS trio will be there.