They found Sora grumpily lying down in the Highwind, hood pulled over his eyes, pretending to be asleep, a crude paper sign nonchalantly taped over his face:
I DO NOT FEEL LIKE TALKING. FUCK OFF.
"How lovely." Kairi noted dryly. She then ripped the sign off saying "Okay, I've had it."
Sora glared at her momentarily, then looked away "Yeah yeah yeah. You're tired of my asshole attitude."
"Yes. Yes I am." Kairi leaned over him with the angriest look she had ever mustered "QUIT IT."
Sora calmly stared into her furious expression with a bored look, then pulled his hood back into place and said "Screw that. I have NO desire to hear you sympathizing over that weak little brat-"
"VENTUS IS NOT A WEAK LITTLE BRAT YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE!" Kairi yelled. Moments later she lightly held a hand over her mouth as if she couldn't believe what she had just said. Riku and Ventus stared blankly at her, not believing what had occurred either. Even Sora lifted his hood up, a surprised look on his face. He then smirked, pulling his hood back over "Oh, so you think you've become a little miss sailor mouth, Huh? Puh-lease, I knew and used at least 50 curses before I was even twelve."
Kairi fumed again, and hissed "That's beside the point! Ever since Ventus woke up you've changed!" She started crying "What happened to the boy who nearly died for me? The boy who had such a gorgeous smile and a selfless heart?"
Sora remained silent. He then pulled his hood again, his whole body seeming to gather closer in a weak attempt to shrink "No one cares about a hero."
"I DO care about a hero. All I'm seeing in you is a boy who's let his rage consume him!"
"... You..." Sora seemed to have trouble with his words all of a sudden. He then laughed coldly "Okay, this is getting too mushy for me." He tore off the hood, eyes suddenly golden "Seriously, girl you have NO CLUE when to quit it."
Kairi shrank back, then summoned her Keyblade "Sora, fight it!"
Ventus was suddenly staring into space, eyes wide and horrified, body frozen in shock. Riku shook him "Ven? Ventus?!"
Sora sat up "Sorry, but I think little idiot's not home." Sora examined Ventus before remarking "Wow, didn't age a bit." He saw Riku, and laughed cruelly "But boy did you! Pfffft! Still have that hilarious expression of fear! If only I could see the look on his face when I kill you with his own hands-"
Kairi grabbed Sora's wrist, saying "Sora! Stop it-"
Sora jerked his hand away, hissing "OW! That hurt you little bitch!"
Kairi started turning red "WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME?!"
Sora was about to reply, but he froze upon seeing Ventus get out of his shock. The normally depressed and submissive boy had been replaced with one that looked furious. He marched over, pushing Kairi aside and saying "Don't. Even. Bother."
Sora had a flat expression for a few seconds, before he laughed. It was morphed in a remorseless way, mocking Ven "Wow! You still think you can hurt me? That's rich Ventus!"
"Ven, what's-" Kairi asked before Ventus grabbed Sora by his jacket and held him up against the wall.
"LET HIM GO!" He yelled. Riku and Kairi sat in stunned silence at how ANGRY he sounded.
Sora smirked, his gold eyes flashing "What if I don't?"
Ventus summoned his Keyblade and pressed it against Sora's heart, snarling "Then I make sure you stay dead."
Sora watched Ventus for several moments, then said "You're bluffing."
Ventus pressed harder "I'm not bluffing."
"Oh, so you're willing to destroy Sora as well?" Sora then chuckled, noting the sudden drop in Ven's morale "Oh? Does he STILL think it was you?! You know, I think I will leave him alone for now, see how this plays out!"
Before Ventus could react Sora's eyes rolled back into his head and he shuddered. He moaned lightly, pressing a hand to his head and asking "What happened-"
He saw Ventus. He saw and felt the Keyblade pressed against his heart. He knew he was forced against the wall.
"What were you...?! YOU'RE TRYING TO KILL ME!" He suddenly yelled, squirming against the hand and Keyblade that held him against the wall.
Ventus dropped him and his Keyblade, backing away and saying hurriedly "I-It's not-"
He ducked away from the Kingdom Key flung at him moments later. "YOU'RE TRYING TO FREAKING KILL ME!"
Riku grabbed Sora, but he shook him off and pinned Ventus to the wall "YOU'RE WITH ORGANIZATION XIII, AREN'T YOU?!"
Ventus scrambled at Sora's grip, whimpering "N-no! I swear I'm not-"
"SORA YOU DROP HIM RIGHT NOW." Kairi had her Keyblade pointed at him. Sora didn't notice until she was pressing it against his back "Put. Him. DOWN." Sora sighed and conceded, balling his hands into fists. Ventus sank against the wall, whispering "Thank you, Kairi."
Kairi still held Sora at Keyblade-point, looking sad "Does it really have to come to this to make you LISTEN?" SHe shook her head "Since when have you been this angry?"
Sora looked at her, then her Keyblade. Kairi. Keyblade. Kairi. Keyblade. He them lightly pushed the tip aside and said "I'll be in the lower cabin. Come get me when you understand where I'm coming from."
...
Sora laid down on one of the hammocks below, clutching his head.
She totally deserved to be called a bitch-
SAYS WHO?!
Sora's head felt like splitting in two. Like he was arguing with himself. He had heard Kairi and Riku decide that this was enough and calling it a day, but was relieved no one had come down. He didn't want anyone else getting wound up. He passed probably HOURS just sitting there and rubbing his temples to ease his headache. Kairi was right: WHEN had he become so furious?
He heard gentle taps, and growled "I don't care what you want, I'm not in the mood."
"I know."
Sora was stunned to hear Ventus's voice, and asked "What do you want?"
Ventus stood in front of him "I'm here to apologize. For everything." he knelt "I am genuinely sorry for everything I've done to you, and I'm gonna keep saying it until you accept that fact."
Sora blinked, then said "You're an idiot."
Ventus only replied "My methods are different than yours, that doesn't mean I'm stupid."
Sora sighed and got out of the hammock, walking by Ventus and saying "If you're kissing up so I will listen, it's not gonna work-"
"Vanitas."
Sora stopped "Who did you just call me?" He felt a flicker across his consciousness while Ventus stared intently into his eyes. He was searching for something in Sora's gaze. Ventus then went back up, his expression barely masking disappointment, saying calmly "I'd be careful about who you trust."
Sora watched him leave with nothing but confusion.
Vanitas... The odd name stirred up feelings of emptiness, vanity, cruelty. Sora didn't like it in the least.
Dunno what HE'S talking about. I mean, who is there to not trust that isn't already proven themselves trustworthy?
Sora stewed over this thought for a moment, wondering just WHERE this other him had come up. He closed his eyes, trying to remember-
And found himself in a blank world, staring right at a copy of himself. The copy grinned, holding out his hand "Hello, personality number two!"
Sora's gaze lingered on the hand, then flickered to the copy, apparently self-dubbed personality number one. His grin faded, and he took his hand back saying "Yeah, I don't like that much either. And you can call me Aros. For now."
Sora was starting to wonder what exactly was up with this other him. The cordiality was forced, he had done it enough to tell. Aros wrapped an arm around Sora, saying "I honestly think Ventus is trying to deceive you, get you to trust him and forgive him so he can stab you in the back the moment he can."
Apparently Aros didn't notice the looks he was getting from Sora, and continued "I have an idea, take the ship off to these first two worlds," a small list of Gummi Ship coordinates appeared, and Aros placed it in Sora's hand "See if you can trust him or not, and then if you don't, head to the third place."
Sora stared at the names scrawled next to the coordinates: Neverland, Wonderland, Twilight Town. "What are these places-"
"Worlds that prove trust. You can trust me, after all, I'm you, right?" Aros's grin was bordering on psychotic. Sora stashed the paper in his pocket, and asked "If you're me, how come I'm only hearing you now?"
"Because you're GROWING now! You're finally recovering!" Aros said happily with a clap of his hands. "That card was right," with a flourish he pulled out the card Sora had been keeping in his jacket pocket and placed it in his hand "change is coming." He then pushed Sora back into reality, saying "Now off you go!"
Sora, in the real world, woke with the list scrunched in his hand. Meanwhile, at the back of his mind, 'Aros' slowly morphed into a different, but still similar appearance. Pale skin, black hair, golden eyes-
Vanitas sighed "That was too close." He then chuckled "But what does he know? He'll just get more and more infuriated with that idiot and then end up in Twilight Town." he then yelled with genuine glee "And then I'LL take over for snot-nosed-brat and kill Ventus with my own hands!" He paused "Okay, HIS hands, but still, mine to control!" He flopped onto his back, grinning psychotically "Maybe I can kill that dumb friend of his too, and keep the princess for a little company...! Yes! I think that'll be phase two."
He laughed insanely, his own ramblings hidden from Sora, who was now entering the coordinates for Neverland, occasionally glancing at his special little tarot card.
...
"WOW! This place is beautiful!" Kairi exclaimed gleefully, examining the tropical plants and running around the lush scenery. Riku and Sora both had sorrowful expressions, obviously not so delighted. Ventus took a look around, and asked Sora "Since when did you know about Neverland?"
"You've been here before?"
Ventus smiled briefly "Yeah, I have a few friends too." it disappeared and he asked in a colder tone "So, HOW did you learn about this world?"
Sora folded his hands behind his head "I just had a lucky guess-"
"VENTUS! SORA! RIKU! THERE'S MERMAIDS!" Kairi's gleeful yells echoed over, and Ventus sighed "Yes, there's mermaids that will get VERY jealous of any girl Peter will or could take a liking to." With a small huff, he began running after her voice saying "Kairi! Those aren't very FRIENDLY mermaids!"
"Apparently Ventus has been here before, knows a lot. Good pick, Sora." Riku said softly. He tweaked his makeshift blindfold a bit, grumbling. He had gotten a peek when he left the ship, but had immediately placed the cloth back, too reminded of home. "Mostly..."
Sora was staring at the unblemished sky, eyes full of tears, but not letting a single one fall. He blinked, then asked "Is that-"
There was a crow-like call, and a boy swooped down from the sky to Sora and Riku with a happy greeting "Hello there!" His grin was wide and splayed with freckles, a happy set of brown eyes glinted mischievously underneath red hair.
Sora blinked "Um... You're-"
"Flying! Of course I am!" The boy extended his hand "Peter! Peter Pan!"
Riku shook it, saying "I'm Riku, he's Sora-" there was a splash and the unmistakable and startled cries of Kairi and Ventus "And those are our friends..." Riku let go of Peter's hand and started rushing over. A small glowing thing peeked out of Peter's cap, and Peter winked up at it. The glow revealed itself as a fairy, which tossed a bit of its glow at Riku, who gathered his own light and sparkling sheen-
And started floating up in the air. He let out a startled cry "AH! W-what's going on?!"
Peter flew over, winking at the fairy again while grabbing Riku's arm and saying plainly "You're flying! Now come on, it sounds like your friends are over at the mermaid lagoon!" They flew off, while the fairy flew up to Sora's face. She had blond hair, blue eyes, and a lightly annoyed expression. She scrutinized Sora, who held up his hands saying "Hey, I'm not-"
The fairy gathered up some more glittering dust and poured it all over Sora. He spluttered, rubbing his eyes and demanding "What is-" he stopped when he realized he was floating up like a helium balloon. He then glared at the fairy, and began sinking "I can WALK."
The fairy only gathered up more dust, dumped it on Sora, and yanked at his hair to follow with a series of angry sounding bells. Her aura was turning orange-ish.
"FINE." Sora groaned, following the fairy. They gained altitude, Sora quickly scanning the island for a sign of Riku or Kairi. He could not care any less than he already did for Ventus or Peter. The fairy flew downward towards a beautifully blue lake, and Sora followed, figuring the tinkling creature knew what she was doing.
Yep, there they all were: Kairi was on a rock, soaking wet and being consoled by Peter while Riku and Ventus protectively hovered nearby. A gaggle of mermaids were on a rock on the other side of the lake, jadedly grooming each other and tossing dagger glares at Kairi. Ventus looked up, and nudged Riku, who called him over. Peter gave Kairi one more pat and flew up to Sora, saying "Gosh, you sure know how to pick out really great friends! I didn't know you were pals with Ventus!" They both landed on the rock, Sora saying sharply "Ventus isn't my friend."
Peter shrugged, rubbing the back of his head "Well Kairi and Riku are your friends, and they're friends with Ven, so I figured-"
Sora was on the border of yelling "WE. AREN'T. FRIENDS." Ventus did a double take at the sound of his voice, then looked away.
Peter flew away "Okay! I get it!" The small fairy then got in Sora's face again, red and tinkling jarringly loud and violent. Peter gently grabbed her and settled her down on his hat, saying "Now Tink, it was just a misunderstanding. He was a little grumpy, yes, but no need for those words."
Tink jangled again, and Peter quickly stuffed her in his hat and held it down while it poked out in all sorts of angles as she tried escaping. "Sorry." He said with a small chuckle "Tinker Bell is very easy to anger." He took it off, the hat still ringing and bouncing around "She doesn't like Sora that much- TINKER BELL! Language!"
Peter sighed, and then flew over to Ventus and sat down, easily striking up an exasperated conversation with him. Peter eventually let Tinker Bell out, who flitted around Ventus and curiously examined the boy. Ventus once again went from quiet and depressed to a cheerful companion, smiling and laughing as if nothing had gone wrong. Yet there was still a small glimmer of tired sadness in his gaze, proving that seeing an old friend didn't completely get rid of his burden.
Sora then sat down next to Kairi, and asked "Hey, you okay?"
Kairi sniffled a little "Gosh, they weren't very nice. Tried to drown me and Ven!"
There were several splashes as Sora sent a glare at the mermaids. Sora held her shoulder "Hey, they're just jealous little brats." Kairi laughed lightly "That's what Peter said."
Riku scooted over saying "Well, I think we've had worse days." He lifted his blindfold up slightly and watched Peter and Ventus, who were now flying around and laughing like old friends. Riku smiled, then placed his blindfold back and laid down.
Kairi watched Ventus, and said "I don't know why you're so insistent that he's a monster."
Sora was about to bite out a retort before Riku suddenly shoved all three of them into the water. There was a thud and a splash, and they surfaced to hear Peter yelling "YOU MISSED YOU OLD CODFISH!"
"Uh, Peter-"
Ventus's comment was lost as Peter yelled playfully "COME AND GET ME!"
Sora tried getting his head above the rock to see what was going on, but Riku shoved his head back down as a cannonball soared overhead.
Sora sighed "We're under fire, magnificent."
