I don't own anything associated with Kingdom Hearts or Silent Hill. They belong to Square Enix/Disney and Konami respectively.
Long chapter today. Brace yourselves.
Chapter 52
Vanitas broke out into bales of laughter and despite himself, Ven found himself echoing an similar sentiment. As fond as he was of Sora and as much as he admired his determination, now really wasn't the time for his infatuation with Kairi to rear its head. It didn't even make sense; Kairi was currently a comatose corpse way back at the Mysterious Tower. She wasn't going do much fighting.
Tell that to Sora, though. Every inch of his body spoke of his trust in the girl he had mentioned. There was no fear there, no doubt that he was anything but right. Maybe his mind had finally snapped.
"Oh, really?" Vanitas drawled. "Uh, did you hit your head and forget what I did to her last time we fought?"
"She's not going to let you do this!" Sora insisted.
"Heh." Vanitas crossed his arms behind his head. "And how is she going to stop me?"
"Because you need her!" Sora said. "She's the light allowing you to create the X-Blade. You can't have it without her."
The smile dropped. Ven would be pressed to say Vanitas looked nervous, but he certainly no longer appeared smug. In a low voice, Vanitas demanded, "How did you find that out?"
"I heard things," Sora said, shrugging awkwardly.
Vanitas sighed, uncrossing his arms so that he could rub his chin. "Looks like your friend doesn't know how to keep his mouth shut."
"No, it wasn't Riku!" Now Sora was the one to have things turned against him. "Riku didn't know!"
"Well, these idiots," Vanitas gestured to everyone else, "definitely didn't know, so I don't know who else it could be."
Vanitas grinned viciously. "Tell me, Sora: how's Riku faring with one eye? Think he's ready to try none?"
Sora choked. "Kairi, please, don't let him do this!"
Vanitas clucked his tongue. "Oh, Sora. Did it ever occur to you that maybe I wasn't forcing her into doing this? That maybe . . . she wanted to help me?"
A bright light surrounded him, the sort of light that would mark the descent of an angel. Before they could blink, it was no longer Vanitas standing there, but a girl with red hair. She had gentle, warm blue eyes, like Naminé or Aqua. Her smile was one that could make any unwary man weak to the knees. With her hair fanning out around her, as if she was caught in a windstorm, she extended a hand.
"Sora," Kairi said, "it's okay. I'm happy."
At that last sentence, a band tightened around Ven's stomach. Ven spurred into action. "Sora, wait!"
But Sora didn't need him. "You're not Kairi," he said, sounding bemused over the idea that he could ever be tricked by that. "Kairi would never do what you're doing!"
The light faded. Vanitas was back, smirking. "It would be pathetic if you fell for that," he admitted.
"Kairi," Sora took a step forwards, "listen to me: you have to fight him!"
Vanitas laughed again. "Oh, Sora. Don't you see? She lost a long, long time ago. Scream all you want; there isn't a thing she can do to help you."
"That's a lie!" Sora's hand swiped through the air. "Kairi's one of the bravest people I know. She would never give up!"
"Like Riku?" Vanitas said sweetly.
The taunt rolled off Sora's back. "Kairi, please, I know you're in there. You have to help us!"
Vanitas keeled over at the waist, laughing hysterically. Seeing him, seeing Sora desperately plead with his lost friend, it tore Ven's heart in two. He went to comfort Sora, squeezing his shoulder even as the other boy continued to shout at Vanitas.
"Sora, it's no use," he said.
Sora whirled around. "That's not true!"
Vanitas, seeing his foes fighting amongst themselves, chuckled.
"Sora . . ."
Sora turned back to Vanitas. "Kairi, you have to fight! I'm not giving up on you, just like you wouldn't give up on me."
"You . . ." Vanitas began. He took a deep breath, savouring the moment. " . . . are an absolute moron."
"You're a bully," Sora countered, "and you're not going to get away with this. Kairi, please, it's me, Sora. Me and Riku need your help. We can't do this without you."
"And you . . ."
Vanitas abruptly stopped talking. He was glowing again, just like before, only this time no illusions appeared. Unless, of course, that expression of his – one of pain - was actually the illusion. His eyes nearly bugged out, and his mouth opened in a silent scream.
"Kairi, please!" Biting back a sob, Sora held his hand out. "Come home."
The glow intensified, right over Vanitas chest . . .
And with a sparkle, Kairi's heart emerged.
Amazed, Ven could only murmur, "Sora . . ."
Gold eyes sharpened. With one quick snarl, Vanitas lunged forwards. The strands of his bodysuit unravelled themselves, wrapping tight around Kairi's heart before pulling it into the boy's chest again. Eyes bulging, keeled over at the waist, Vanitas gasped for breath, a beat away from collapsing onto his hands and knees.
Ven took a deep breath. Vanitas was vulnerable.
It was time.
Warmth flooded him. The aches in his legs were sapped away, as if sucked out by a tube. When he rolled his shoulders, they cracked but otherwise answered eagerly, ready to fight. At first, he was confused, but then he saw Aqua pointing her keyblade at him. She turned to the two Terras next, healing what few wounds they had, then directed her attention to Eraqus.
Ven wrenched his gaze away, and met Vanitas's glower.
Ven pushed ahead of Sora, wielding Lost Memories. His keyblade of light was ready, almost excited to go up against Vanitas. Ven braced himself, angled his keyblade for a block –
Vanitas teleported.
"Huh?" He waited, but Vanitas did not reappear. Nor did he strike.
"There!"
Vanitas had reappeared away from all of them, as if scared. As he should be. For Sora had shown them how to counter Vanitas, and though they had told themselves this all along, now was the time it finally sunk in:
Vanitas wasn't invincible.
"Sora, call to Kairi again," Ven said.
Sora nodded. For the first time, he looked hopeful.
But Vanitas had anticipated this, and no sooner than Sora had opened his mouth, did he attack. A shockwave knocked them all off their feet, momentarily stunning them, giving Vanitas more than enough time to point the X-Blade skywards. Kingdom Hearts gleamed, and then a pillar of pure energy fell from the king of all hearts onto its champion, filling the air with waves of heat.
At this, Ven's heart stopped. "No!"
The pillar swelled, encasing Vanitas until all that could be seen was his shadow.
A flash.
The pillar was sucked back into the sky, taking Vanitas with it.
Kingdom Hearts turned black.
Clouds rushed in, hiding the heart-shaped moon from their sights. The skies rumbled ominously, almost as if they were chuckling. And Ven became aware of an encroaching darkness, one creeping up on them from all sides.
Screeech.
The Bogeyman lurched out of the fog, Great Knife right behind it. The tip of its helmet looked to be sharpened, and the rust had faded off the blade. He thought it had, at least, but it was hard to tell past all the blood.
"No!" Sora backpedalled, shaking.
Terra exhaled deeply, forcing himself to relax, then glanced at his dark half. The darker side of Terra growled; it appeared that despite his former alliance with Vanitas, he disliked the Bogeyman just as much as the rest of them.
A raspy chuckle escaped the monster, like the hacks of a smoker. The Bogeyman let go of its knife, raised his arms and the fog receded. One by one, rooftops came into view, and with them, the monsters aboard.
Ven took a step back. "Holy . . ."
They were crowded onto every inch, each grinning and adding to the Bogeyman's chuckle with their own hyena-like laughter. Clawed and fanged, skin rough and solid, they resembled gargoyles with the same demonic faces. On the ground, lying figures staggered out into the open, and hounds howled in the distance.
Thunder boomed.
The final battle had begun.
"What do we do now?" Sora asked.
Ven said nothing. He looked from Sora, who was waiting for reassurance, to Terra whose face had finally twisted in fear, to Aqua who had gone pale, and to his Master, still limp despite her best efforts. He knew with absolutely no doubt that they would lose. So long as Vanitas was up there in Kingdom Hearts, free to infinitely direct and spawn his forces, it was inevitable.
So long as Vanitas was up there, he could not be touched.
Ven reached up, a childish part of him hoping that Kingdom Hearts would reach back down and take him by the hand, carry him into its midst. But he was only light. Kingdom Hearts did not recognize him as its chosen.
"I don't know," Ven said. He let Lost Memories drop. Even if they fled, Vanitas would only follow. His reach extended everywhere now.
"Don't say that," Terra warned. "I'm not going down. Not like this."
No one responded.
Terra's darker half whined. Sitting on his knuckles, he plucked at Ven's sleeve. Sluggishly, Ven met the golden-eyed stare, his own blank and uncomprehending.
He shook his head. "I don't know what to do . . ."
And it hit him. His eyes widened. As he was filled him with the uplifting sensation of hope, the air changed. The others stared at him, sensing it.
"Hold out," Ven told them. "Hold out as long as you can."
"What are you doing?" Aqua asked.
He brought Lost Memories back. "I'm going to end this!"
And with that, he thrust forwards.
Straight into the dark Terra's heart.
Darkness flowed into him, dripping and slow like molasses. It felt like he was being consumed from the top up, like he was diving into freezing water or a veil was settling over him. Terra's darkness slowly infiltrated his veins, making him cool like he had been glazed in ice. He gasped as the chill pierced his heart, and dropped his keyblade which began to glow. The keyblade grew, sharpened, elongated into a twin of the X-Blade, glinting as it awaited his hand.
"Ven . . .!"
Ven smiled apologetically, staring at the light of his best friend. "Sorry, Terra, but I need this."
Breathless, Terra nodded. "Just . . . just give it back afterwards, okay?"
"Of course. Keep safe. All of you"
He picked his X-Blade up, and pointed it at the sky. A white beam shot upwards, forcing the clouds to separate once again.
Kingdom Hearts brightened, recognizing him, then responded with power of its own. And he felt himself being lifted, up, up –
The inside of Kingdom Hearts was a world of its own. Not a unique one, however. Rather, it was very, very familiar. It wasn't a perfect copy of one world, per say, but more the worse form of plagiarism, where one had lifted bits and pieces from dozens of books and stuffed them all into one work. Everything originated elsewhere; the world was a jigsaw of the ones it watched over. It was almost sweet, like a mother hanging photos of her children.
The sky was the colour of a sunset, though no celestial bodies could be found. But the world was as bright as midday. He strolled through the shadow of Big Ben, and underneath a willow tree with a woman's face. How the tree survived he had no idea, since the ground was made of clouds. Still that didn't seem to stop castles from resting safely on the white fluff, or dissuade a replica of Atlantica's underwater palace. It was probably best not to think about physics here.
But where was Vanitas . . .?
He looked around, eyes settling on one building, then marched towards that.
He pushed open the doors to Silent Hill's church.
Though the actual building had always been worn down, this version was not. A halo surrounded the center altar, where a crisp, unblemished tome awaited. The pews were polished, reflecting a shadow of his face. Above, the stained-glass windows glimmered in the light.
There, facing those windows, sitting on the altar, was Vanitas. Ven couldn't see what he was doing from here, but it looked like he was holding something close to him. The X-Blade lay carelessly at his side.
Ven took a step forward.
Vanitas jumped and spun around. "How are you here?" he demanded.
Ven shrugged, keeping his face blank. "Thanks for splitting Terra," he deadpanned.
Vanitas looked momentarily shocked, but wiped it away. "No matter. I'll just kill you here. You're all alone now, Ventus. No one's coming to save you this time."
He kept his hands empty, refused to rise to Vanitas's taunts. "You don't have to do this," he said.
"Easy for you to say!" Vanitas snapped. "Everything always went your way. You got everything, and left me with nothing!"
"That's not my fault!" he cried. "I didn't know. I couldn't even remember you until Silent Hill."
"Well, let's make up for lost time, then." Vanitas tried to hold the X-Blade over his head like he would Void Gear, but it was too awkward. "Keep still, and I'll make this as painless as I can."
In his core, Ven's own X-Blade hummed, sensing a threat to its Master. It was time, then. Time to end this once and for all.
But half of him resisted. While his light still stood with him, loathed Vanitas with all its strength, Terra's darkness pitied.Notyet, it whispered. We don't have to fight.
"What are you talking about?" he murmured. "That's the whole reason we're here."
He is wicked, the darkness agreed, but not purely evil. He cared for us, for her, even if he was cruel. There is still good inside him..
Eyes closed, Ven said, "No one has to die. There's always another option."
"Another option!" Vanitas's X-Blade smacked the ground. "What, that I just walk away and let you keep everything again?"
He ignored the churning in his gut, listening instead to the steady buzz of the darkness's whispers. "You said it yourself, Vanitas. We can share."
Vanitas's face brightened. "You're going to let me keep her?"
"It can be even better than that," Ven said. He walked forwards, gesturing to everything in a sweeping motion. "Give this up. Give up the X-Blade and Silent Hill, and come back with us. That's what you really want, right? Not all this power, not the title of god . . . but a family. I can't give you back the years Master Xehanort stole from you, but I can give you a home."
He lifted his hand, holding it out to Vanitas. "It's not too late to make things right."
Vanitas stared at his outstretched hand, paralyzed. Slowly, as if he wasn't in control of his body, his right arm rose. Fingers uncurled, reaching for Ven's open hand. For a moment, in Vanitas's eyes, there was not evil or cruelty, but the hopeful gleam of a little boy watching his dreams come true . . .
And it was gone. Vanitas sneered, wrenching his arm back to his side. "Nice try," he said, "but there's no way I'm letting you live after everything you did to me."
He didn't accept. Ven struggled not to cry, because for one shining moment, he really thought it would work. Terra's darkness mumbled something, the flavour of its emotions something like disappointment, then settled back inside his heart, preparing for the battle.
"Now," Vanitas said, "let's begin."
He spread his arms wide, like a preacher shouting into the winds. The roof to the church opened up, exposing a pink sky. And Vanitas flew up and beyond, straight out of the church.
Ven blinked. How . . .?
Right. Physics wasn't exactly in effect here.
He'd flown before, hadn't he, in Neverland? He went back to that time, captured the swooping sensation of having no ground under his feet, and forced his body to mimic it.
Just like that, he, too, was airborne.
He spend a few seconds tumbling and flipping, just for fun. But soon enough, destiny beckoned and he turned his eyes to the open roof above.
He went after Vanitas.
His heart pounded out a steady beat. He flew up, up, ending with a flip as he jerked to a stop. It was weird being afloat; his legs hung loosely, unsure what to do or where to place themselves. Though it was completely unnecessary, he held his arms out for balance, the slope of the ground far below making him dizzy. Was he tilted? He thought he might have been.
It was crisp, fresh air he breathed, sweet and delightful as it tickled his nose. He and Vanitas were the only living creatures here, perhaps the only beings to ever see this place. There was no wind, nor food, nor water. He had the feeling all of those were unnecessary here.
Across from him, a blot in the radiant sky, Vanitas waited. His helmet, as it mostly had been lately, was absent, thankfully. Ven was sure that had it been present, the reflection off it would have made it hard to see. Surrounded by such brilliant light, Vanitas's bodysuit couldn't help but claim some for its own, so that its host appeared to wear sleek metal. It was like a knight in shining armour, and with that X-Blade at his side, Vanitas resembled the part completely.
Except Vanitas wasn't exactly on the side of good.
Vanitas's canines showed as he smiled, like a vampire. His eyes were the devil's, splattered with sparks of malice, dancing with madness. It was the sort of crazed appearance of one who had gone into a berserk rage, though Ven had yet to hear any howling or see any foam.
It happened without warning. One moment they were both floating there, studying each other, breathes caught in their throat, waiting for some divine sign to announce their brawl. But Vanitas, ever the impatient one, merely clicked his tongue and went for it. With X-Blade pointed ahead of him, heralding his arrival, he became a black comet, a wave of darkness radiating from him and staining the pure sky. Too fast to see, too fast to counter, he would be impossible to defend against.
Unless, of course, his foe just happened to be an X-Blade wielder, too.
Neither light nor darkness announced the summoning of the X-Blade's; it would have been a perfect stealth weapon had it not been for the massive size. And though the weapon was longer than Ven was tall, it carried no weight. He and Vanitas bounced off each other with a hollow ring, like a bell stricken with a hammer. Moving as fast as he was, by the time the X-Blades touched each other, Vanitas was too far past to attack.
Vanitas tumbled, head-over-heels, ending up so that he faced Ven again. With no visible signal, he went from motionless to top speed in a matter of seconds. Ven bolted upwards, Vanitas hot on his trail, arms out like a bird and X-Blade pointed backwards.
In mid-air, he whipped around, feet level and flat as if about to push off a wall. There were none up here, of course, but the result was the same. He catapulted at Vanitas, wind wailing past his ears, X-blade pointed . . .
They clashed again. Vanitas twisted his weapon so that Ven and his X-Blade slid down and away. Sparks smacked them in the face, singing their eyebrows, peppering their skin with pinpricks of pain. Again, before Ven could really register that they collided, Vanitas was flying in the other direction, though that wouldn't be for long.
As one, they turned, seeking each other like magnets. This time, Ven dodged, leaving them. Their next flurry of strikes echoed like thunder across the empty world, the gleam off their blades being the lightning. In his veins, Ven's blood rushed furiously, creating its own war cry that droned on and on in his mind. Again and again, they rushed together, mingling for one blink of an eye before parting. With each clash, they only grew more frustrated.
The blades screeched. Quite suddenly, they were locked together, hurtling through space. Over the edge of his X-Blade, Ven could see the upper half of Vanitas's head. The golden eyes didn't blink, but simmered, like molten gold. Vanitas's hair, too, remained still.
Then, Ven saw the corner of a smirk. Vanitas planted his feet on Ven's chest, then pushed off, flying skywards.
"What the . . .?" A small smile fit itself onto his face. Had Vanitas chickened out . . .?
"Whoa!" He was fortunate to look right then, to realize he was flying headfirst into Big Ben. He twisted just in time, landing on the tower's side where gravity chose to ignore him. Standing on the building's side was surreal, and it took him a few moments to get used to it.
But where was Vanitas?
Something roared. A storm of noise, like a million cracking items, invaded his ears. Higher-pitched sounds, zapping sounds, interjected, shrill in their intensity. Big Ben buckled, and then something – a shotlock, a spell, he didn't know what it was but it was powerful – tore open the wall below him.
And Big Ben began to fall.
He yelped as the structure gave way. The top half of the tower – his half – broke from the bottom and plummeted downwards, to the cloud-covered ground that Ven was willing to bet was still hard. He pushed, getting a little bit of space, but not enough. Not nearly enough.
It became apparent quickly that he could not outrace it, nor did he have the time to fly to either side and escape that way. Grimacing, clenching his teeth, Ven looked all around, evaluating his various options, struggling to remain calm even as the ground loomed closer and closer.
There was only one way to go.
The X-Blade cared not for limitations, for the natural boundaries of its owner. When Ven turned, flew up, it ripped through wood, concrete and steel like they were paper. A cone of flaming debris soon accompanied him, failing to live up to the light the X-Blade emitted. He had to squint, lest the embers scorch his eyes. And within that sliver of sight, he saw naught but a rainfall of dust.
He broke out of the clock's face, sending the hour hand, once positioned delicately over the nine, spinning into the air. Where the tip of Big Ben had once been, Vanitas now hovered, seeming only a little bothered that Ven had survived. Vanitas whipped his X-Blade up, clouds flocking above him and going black, before pointing straight at Ven.
Lightning was quick, but with the X-Blade's power, Ven was quicker. He zipped this way and that, guided only by intuition, with electricity hissing all around him, weaving upwards towards the center of the storm where his foe awaited. A yellow beam left his weapon, angled so that it would appear like it was going to miss Vanitas, only to curve inwards at the last second.
This time, when they met, they didn't separate immediately. They exchanged a few blows, each one vibrating through their body, making them wobble in strange ways. And Vanitas drew back, held his weapon up and over his shoulder, where the shaft lengthened and became a long, white sabre.
It hit him with all the force of a rampaging bull. Ven's vision darkened along the edges; Vanitas split into two, fuzzy figures. His limbs didn't quite obey, wouldn't move properly to stop his descent. Distantly, he saw the ground approaching and a faint alarm went off.
A Barrier spell provided some protection. As it broke against the cloudy ground, it bent inwards, forcing Ven to slow, before shattering completely. He skipped along the ground, casting a new barrier every time, until he slowed enough that his ball-shaped shield rolled instead of cracked.
Just in time. Vanitas dove, X-Blade impaling the ground where Ven had been. In protest, the clouds underneath crackled and went grey. Vanitas's white sabre had vanished, leaving the regular X-Blade behind. Ven lunged, attacking, rolling under Vanitas's blade and emerging on the other side with a narrowly-deflected swipe.
He leapt back. A few metres behind him, there lay what appeared to be a giant elephant skull, its twin tusks reaching for the sky. He called upon the earth magic Terra so cherished, splitting the bone into chunks, then upon his faithful wind magic to throw them at Vanitas. The dark boy side-stepped easily, moving so fast it was like he teleported. For the last chunk, he leapt straight at it, slicing it in two, just because he could, apparently.
Ven somersaulted into the sky, leaving Vanitas below as the first traces of uncertainty trickled into his soul. He had yet to make any kind of meaningful mark, although judging by how fresh and energetic he felt, so did Vanitas.
If anything, it was like a laser fight, what happened yet. With Vanitas behind, they shot at each other, neither connecting. Flying backwards, head turned as to try and see both ahead and behind him, Ven weaved around the golden bell of Notre Dame, adopting that as his shield. The bell rung as a shot – his or Vanitas's, who could tell? – smashed into it, but did not break. Floating just above the bell's lip, he rounded a bend sharply, taking a shot at Vanitas and then zipping back. Cat and mouse ensured, with both of them too swift and agile for either to get the advantage.
Until Ven had the idea to simply bash the bell. With the X-Blade's might, it had no chance, and rocked to the other side, stopping abruptly when it rammed Vanitas. That was it! Ven scrambled to the top of the bell, spying Vanitas on the other side, and lunged.
Maybe the X-Blade had given them super-strength, maybe their fight it had damaged the wood underneath them, or maybe all these structures were merely echoes of the real ones, weaker. Whatever the reason, they broke right through roof of Notre Dame, tearing a chandelier right off its foundations. Light bounced off the glass shards, swathing them with rays of rainbow light. He drove Vanitas right into the next floor, cracking that too, rewarded with a jolt as glass tore into the other boy's back.
As they went through the next level, he clung to Vanitas, even as the dark boy kicked and scratched. By the time they reached the next floor, they'd lost enough speed from the first two collision for the beams to finally hold.
"Bastard!" Vanitas kicked him in the stomach, mask sliding over his head to protect against fist-to-fist combat. Too close now for weapons, they instead grappled as if they'd changed into lions again.
A fist smashed into Ven's nose, breaking the dam inside. Down his nasal passage, his chin and into his throat, blood gurgled, coating his mouth with its metallic tang. He spat up a knot, and the blood stuck on Vanitas's helmet, smearing when Vanitas wiped it. Like a shark entering a feeding frenzy, Vanitas went straight for Ven's throat, trying to choke him out as he had in the Enchanted Domain. Ven got a hand free and pushed Vanitas back by his chin, feeling it under his palm.
Ven slid back. Worked himself free. The instant he had enough room, he took up the X-Blade and swung –
Vanitas screamed. He grabbed the left side of his face, turning it away from Ven. Like they were bandages, his fingers came away slowly, revealing unblemished features below.
Ven hadn't hurt him. But he had burnt off half of Vanitas's mask.
Growling, Vanitas tossed the now-useless thing aside. Ven had already blasted a hole to the outside, making his escape.
In flight, he turned, bringing up his keyblade just as Vanitas pointed his. Two beams escaped; two beams met. Green against red, they fought for dominance, lighting up the two boys' faces so they appeared deathly pale. His arm started to tremble, though the X-Blade stayed strong.
Here it was: the decisive moment.
"Argh!" His mouth automatically opened in a scream as the power began to tug at his heart. Darkness and light poured out together, intertwining with the green beam. His began to push forwards, forcing the red back . . .
"NO!"
A pulse. The diameter of Vanitas's beam swelled, engulfing his –
Ven flew back.
His head cracked against the ground.
