I don't own anything associated with Kingdom Hearts or Silent Hill. They belong to Square Enix/Disney and Konami respectively.
Chapter 53
A breeze drifted through the church's open doors. On its swirls floated green leaves, smelling faintly of the flowers with whom they had once shared a home. Most of these leaves dropped at the threshold, settling among the tiles, but one continued. On and on it went, as if it had a mind of its own. Finally, gravity caught took it, and the leaf floated sideways into a row of pews, landing delicately on a nose. It spent just a moment grounded before an exhale from the open mouth rendered it airborne again.
Ven awoke. He was flat on his back, cradled by the wooden sides of a pew. From his vantage point, he saw naught but the back of the row in front of him. But even that was enough to tell that something was different. The wood was too well maintained to be Silent Hill, yet the room was too dark to be inside Kingdom Hearts. It looked normal.
"Vanitas!" he hissed as his memories caught up with him. He pushed himself into a sitting position, body oddly devoid of aches or pain. Vanitas was nowhere to be found. Furrowing his brow, Ven scanned the area, seeing this room was, indeed, a replica of the church in Silent Hill. The stain-glass windows, each with their own angelic image, welcomed light of their respective colours. The altar was there, but not the tome. Instead, someone had left a sketchbook behind.
How strange . . . but now wasn't the time to worry about that. Vanitas was still out there, and his friends were still fighting. Turning towards the door, he snapped his arm out to call his X-Blade.
But it didn't answer.
"Where are you . . . ?" Terra's darkness still empowered him; he could tell by the ox-like strength that had infused his muscles. But the X-Blade . . . had his light and Terra's darkness become unbalanced somehow?
No, that wasn't it. It was much, much worse. Reaching inside himself, he realized that not only was his connection to the X-Blade gone, but also the connection to Lost Memories and Wayward Wind.
It finally hit him.
He must be dead.
"Ven, it's okay. You don't need to fight here."
"Naminé?" He looked over his shoulder. Naminé was standing on the altar, right beside the stand with the sketchbook. Flippantly, she picked it up, not at all the way one should handle a holy object.
He looked at his hands. "Naminé, are we . . .?"
"No," she said. "We're still alive. You'll go back soon."
"Okay." He checked out the area again. "So, where is this? And why am I here instead of fighting Vanitas?"
"The church," she said. "As it once was. And because someone wants to talk to you."
"Who . . .?"
He froze.
From behind Naminé, a figure had stepped out. She wore a black coat -such a contrast to Naminé's white – with the hood down, and the cloak covered everything from her shoulders to the bottom of her ankles. But he could see enough.
With his numb lips, he could barely form the word. "X-Xion?"
She smiled. "It's been a long time, Ven."
"Xion!"
He leapt at her, throwing all his weight into her small arms. He needed that, needed to touch her and hold her and rub his face against her like a cat. His mind had burst into song, his stomach dipping and dancing with the melody. Her scent, a light flowery one with a feeble undertone of darkness, enthralled him, caressed him until he was dizzy. He was limp against her, useless for holding himself up, although if someone had dropped him now, he doubted he would feel the pain.
Into her neck, he mumbled, "Does this mean . . .?"
"No," she said, "I'm not alive."
Crack. There went the dream. His relief, his bliss shattered like a pane of glass, and the shards sliced into his heart. Hearing those words hurt him more than any of Vanitas's attacks.
"Ven, it's not your fault!" Xion said. "I was dead long before you and your friends came along."
"I don't . . ." He knew he was starting to tear up.
"Don't," Xion said softly. "Where I am now, trust me, it's much better than Silent Hill."
"I should have saved you," he said. Tears leaked from his eyes. "I shouldn't have left you."
"It was my choice," she told him. "I knew what would happen to me. Please, Ven, don't blame yourself for what I chose."
For a long time, the two of them stood there, holding each other. Ven pressed his body into hers, trying to memorize every curve and edge, knowing that after this, they would probably never see each other again. His tears had ceased, lulled into banishment by Xion's quiet words.
"You have to go back," she whispered into his ear. "You have to defeat him; for everyone."
There it was. He bit his lip as something heavy dropped into his stomach. "I don't know if I can win," he whispered. "Vanitas, he's so strong . . . I don't think I can beat him by myself."
"Then don't!" Her voice rose. "Don't fight him alone."
"The others, they can't get into Kingdom Hearts," he reminded her.
"That doesn't mean you're alone," Naminé said.
Ven frowned. "What . . .?"
Xion put a hand on his shoulder, silencing him. "Don't forget who you are, Ven. What you are. Even with Terra's darkness inside you, you're still light."
She worked a finger between his neck and the chain holding his Wayfinder. "And your light, your power . . . it's always been your friends. Never forget."
"We're with you," Naminé said. "All of us."
Wordlessly, Ven took control of his Wayfinder back from Xion, holding it up where he could see it. It twinkled like a star, as if agreeing.
"All of you," he whispered.
His heart jerked suddenly. He cringed as the oddest sensation, one of being peeled and stretched, consumed it. It was not a painful feeling, but still a very uncomfortable one, one that made him feel like the inside of him was somehow expanding.
He looked up at Xion. "What is this?"
"Your awakening," she whispered. "Vanitas is a god, but he's always been alone, and that's why he's vulnerable."
Ven nodded. His hand curled close around his Wayfinder as he held it before his heart. "It's time then," he said. "Time for me to end this."
"I believe in you," Xion said. And she kissed him on the forehead.
He thought it was natural, that he would feel like he was floating after that. But then he realized he actually was floating. The world started to blur, fading into a screen of light. He tried to close his hands, to touch Xion one last time, but they didn't seem to exist. He was in a void, alone but warm.
He closed his eyes, preparing to truly wake, to face his destiny.
Xion's voice rang in his mind.
"Be safe."
He was tossed into his real body all at once, with hardly any time to adapt to the change. Ven wouldn't say he was in pain, but he certainly wasn't comfortable either. His spine creaked when he lifted his head, and his eyelids had to be pried apart.
Like an ink blot upon the snow, Vanitas stood stark along the backdrop of cloudy ground and the sky. He cast a wide shadow, cutting Ven off from the light, and his yellow eyes seemed to glow. Oblivious to the experience Ven had just had, Vanitas strolled towards him leisurely, the tip of his X-Blade dragging. Although Ven had seemed to be in that church for a long time, he knew that in the real world, it must have been only seconds.
Ven let his head drop. He bunched his arms underneath him.
Vanitas stopped a few steps away, hungrily drinking in the sight of his fallen prey. He exhaled once, through his mouth, and muttered, "Finally."
Ven saw him flinch, rub the space over his heart, probably a reaction to Kairi's resistance. But she was too weak, her opponent too strong-willed. The X-Blade did not fade, nor did Vanitas hesitate to lift it.
He struck.
Ven rolled out of the way.
"What?" Vanitas exclaimed. His X-Blade stuck out of the spot Ven had been, quivering. Vanitas had a hand wrapped around the handle, but didn't pull it out, still trying to accept this recent development.
Ven charged.
He, his X-Blade, emitted a white aura that flickered with black. The blade smashed into Vanitas's gut, driving out a mouthful of bile. As his foe tumbled across the landscape, Ven stood tall. Light and darkness, power, filled every inch of him, begging his cells to borrow it. He felt like an overflowing pitcher, with more content being added every second, only to slosh back out. His Wayfinder shone, somehow managing to sneak out of his clothes, so that it sat foremost on his chest.
Vanitas rolled over to his knees, and his mouth dropped open. "You . . . what . . .?" He clambered to his feet. "How are you . . .?"
Ven did not answer with words. Feet hovering just a foot above the ground, he attacked the grounded Vanitas, swinging once, twice, three times, spinning around his opponent while he did so. On a fifth attempt, he swung true, tearing up Vanitas's bodysuit across the back. A strangled yelp came from the other boy, the result of pain and a primal determination to hide it.
Ven placed some space between them, still afloat. When Vanitas cursed at him, threatened him with all sorts of horrible things, it floated in one ear and out the other. His mind would consider them for a moment, weigh them, then without fail, toss them aside. He did not feel fear; he did not feel anger. All he knew was a swelling sort of righteous, of courage and strength. Every atom of his body was prepared to fight, wanted to fight. The bonds of his molecules seemed to have tightened, so that he was absolutely unbreakable.
"It's not too late," he said softly to his other half. "We can still change this. I won't let you win, Vanitas, so just take my offer. You can still get the life you dream of. Just swallow your pride, and compromise a little."
"In your dreams!"
Ven parried the thrust, letting Vanitas's momentum send the dark boy past him. A quick shotlock to his back was, unfortunately, blocked. But so was Vanitas's next few attacks, fierce and wild as they were.
Without his prompting, his armour rose to cover him, leaving only his face exposed. With that on his side, Ven caught the shaft of Vanitas's X-Blade between his arm and chest. Vanitas actually let go of the X-Blade, but it fizzled into nothingness then reappeared in its master's hands.
Vanitas glared at him with just the tiniest amount of fear. "That attack should have finished you!" he spat, referring to the one that had knocked Ven unconscious in the first place.
"Didn't you learn last time?" Ven asked. "So long as my friends need me, I'll never stay down. They have become a part of my heart . . . and I a part of theirs. You can't defeat me without defeating them."
"Your friends are in a different world," Vanitas said. "Practically a different universe. They're not going to be much help here!"
That was a statement which he didn't need words to answer. Ven merely held up the chain of his Wayfinder, letting the trinket, the symbol Vanitas craved, show clearly to his other half.
"It doesn't matter where we are," Ven said, "we're always connected. They are my power, and I will not let them down!"
His heart, already strung tight, stretched even more –
And something inside him broke.
A warm tide engulfed his insides, caressing them tenderly before spilling out through his pores. Though Ven himself saw nothing, Vanitas shielded his eyes, backpedalling as if burned. That didn't stop the dark boy from aiming his keyblade, from letting loose a shotlock. But Ven saw it coming, and raised the X-Blade to defend . . .
Something else beat him to it. The object hung in front of him, letting him get a good look.
"Lost Memories?" he breathed.
The keyblade stayed for a tad longer, then abruptly zipped to his left.
It wasn't the only one there.
Ven was speechless at the sight before him. There, seeming to sprout from his shoulder, was a wing formed of keyblades. Lost Memories was the highest, the tip, but Rainfell was there too, as was Master Keeper. Another wing lay to his right, this one made of Earthshaker, Kingdom Key and one he didn't recognize.
"Who are you?" he whispered to it. Obediently, the strange, flowery keyblade drifted into his open palms. In his mind, an image flashed, one of a red-haired girl with blue eyes and a beautiful smile.
"Kairi," he whispered. Even as she was held prisoner by Vanitas, she, too, had heard his call. And like the rest of his allies, she had answered.
He let her keyblade, Destiny's Embrace, return to its original position. Hovering above the ground with his precious wings, the X-Blade in his hands, light haloing him, and clouds as his stage, he looked nothing short of an angel.
Vanitas roared. He gathered up some of the wreckage of Notre Dame, and shot it at Ven while simultaneously lashing out with a purple whip. The whip preceded the rubble, unfurling, sizzling.
And Lost Memories detached itself from his wings, propping itself in front of Ven vertically, so that the whip wrapped around it. With one gesture, Ven sent them both sideways, removing the whip from play and opening the way for the flying boulders . . . But Earthshaker and Master Keeper shot forwards, impaling the boulders in their centers, driving them down to the ground and opening the way for Ven as he dove. The remaining keyblades broke out of their wing-form and instead circled him like a moth would a flame.
Vanitas blocked and that should have been that, but Rainfell fell on top of the locked X-Blades, adding its power to Ven's. Vanitas held strong for an instant, then caved as he finally connected the dots, connected Rainfell to its owner. Leaving his X-Blade and Rainfell to keep Vanitas's weapon down, Ven scooped up Destiny's Embrace, turning in a half-circle as he drove the keyblade into Vanitas's midsection. Then, he switched, taking up Rainfell and its speciality of magic, casting a spell and blasting Vanitas with all the raw force of a cannon.
He threw Kingdom Key after Vanitas. That, the dark boy stopped, catching the shaft in his hand, only to hiss as the keyblade burned him. Ven paid that little mind, the bulk of his attention on the three keyblades that had defended him, keyblades that had now drifted back. Earthshaker still had some rubble attached to its head so Ven dutifully plucked it off.
He raised the X-Blade.
He let loose his shotlock.
His beam reflected off Vanitas's X-Blade, reflecting skywards in a huge pillar, until at least, Vanitas shifted his posture, placed his X-Blade in a position that allowed him to respond with a beam of his own. Once again, red and green met. This time, Ven had no worries. As the beams clashed, as the struggle locked them in place, his friends' keyblades took to the sky, spinning in one great circle. The corona of keyblades kept rotating, moving, until Vanitas was in their center, then went stiff, pointing inward. At the same time, the tips all dipped, and the keyblades plummeted.
They all smashed into Vanitas at once, wounding him, distracting him, and Ven's green beam hurtled forwards -
A geyser of dust rose into the sky, shrouding Vanitas and the attacking keyblades, blotting out the view of the battered Notre Dame behind him. A shockwave went through the area though Ven was unmoved. Still, the spikes of his hair went flat.
The dust cleared, and Vanitas was on the ground, eyes closed.
Defeated.
For the first time since he took flight, Ven touched ground again. With the X-Blade at his side and the other keyblades darting back to follow him, he walked up to Vanitas. The dark boy looked so calm, so innocent in sleep. There was no trace of what had just transpired, or all the cruelty he was capable of.
I gave him a chance, Ven recalled. I tried. But he's too stubborn to take it.
As much as he wanted to deny it, he knew one thing to be true: it was too dangerous to wait for Vanitas to change his mind. To hold him prisoner would be a disaster; to try to force him to be part of their family was begging for failure. Vanitas hadn't accepted the deal, and he never would. He would kill them all first.
And if Vanitas couldn't be redeemed, there was only one thing to do.
Ven put one foot on either side of the other boy's waist, and then raised the X-Blade.
They all knew Ven had won. How? Easy: the monsters were gone. The monsters had been fighting one moment; then the next moment, they'd started screeching in pain, staggering away from the keybladers. That had been the moment and with a shout, Eraqus had led them in one, final charge; a charge that had ended up more as a slaughter than an actual fight.
Terra finished off the last of the hounds, and made his way back to the group. He and his allies were battered, but standing. Alive.
"It's done," Sora whispered as he approached. "We won."
"We did," Terra said, still in awe himself. Though the place was clear now, once it had been swarmed with monsters. Yet somehow they had survived.
The nightmare was finally over.
"It's over," Aqua gasped. She loomed over the Bogeyman, whose corpse leaked black blood thanks to the hole her keyblade had left. Out of all of them, she had probably fought the hardest, channelling all her rage, all her grief into her keyblade.
She fell to her knees, exhausted. Terra started to run over, but Eraqus beat him to it and crouched in front of her. Over her head, Eraqus met his gaze.
Tension crackled between them. Mouth dry, licking his lips, Terra couldn't help but run over his memories of Silent Hill, the horrors he had faced there. And while all of those ran in the background, another one took center stage: Eraqus, ordering Terra and Aqua to investigate the world Silent Hill lay upon. For how long how that memory haunted him? For how long had it plagued his mind, twisted what was once love for his father-figure into hate?
But he had no hate now. With his darkness cruising around in Ven's body, it was awfully hard to possess hatred. And with that clearing of his mind, he could see things clearly. Eraqus had been innocent as they. Even so, even if Terra still wasn't completely convinced Eraqus had been oblivious, Eraqus had more than proven himself. From his foray through the worlds to find Aqua, his solo venture into Silent Hill, his rescue of Ven and Sora and her, and the wild, bloody battles they had faced, both against Vanitas and his monsters, there was no doubt that Eraqus meant every word when he said he loved them.
Terra put one hand over his chest, and bowed shallowly. "Master."
Pure wonder radiated from his Master, yet he still mumbled, "No, do not call me that."
Terra met his gaze calmly. "Being a Keyblade Master isn't a job. It's a life-long duty," he said, echoing something Master Eraqus had told him so long ago.
Recognizing his words, the Master perked up, though the bulk of his body language still spoke of sorrow. Before anything else could be said, Aqua suddenly moved. She walked a few steps away, picked up the keyblade Eraqus had dropped, and then handed it to him.
"You will always be our Master," she said quietly.
"Aqua . . ."
"Guys, up there!" Sora shouted.
They looked up. In the deep of the fog, there was a light. It swelled, blinding them, then rapidly expanded outwards, drying the fog up in an instant. At the light's origin, in the center of what would pass for a burning white star, floated Ven. He still wielded the X-Blade, which to Terra's eyes, appeared quite happy with its situation. Arms crossed over his chest, eyes closed, Ven sunk back to earth and the light dissipated completely.
When Ven's eyes opened, focused on him, Terra said, "Hey."
Ven smiled. "Hey."
"Vanitas," Master Eraqus said, "is he . . .?"
"It's done." With that, Ven said everything and nothing at the same time. "I have some hearts I have to give back now . . . Master, if you would?"
Master Eraqus paled. "You want me to . . ."
Ven said, "You're a Keyblade Master. You know how to unlock hearts."
"I . . ."
Before Master Eraqus could cut himself down again, Terra said, "You are a Master."
Eraqus looked at him. For now, perhaps only now, their positions had changed. Now, Eraqus was the uncertain student, Terra the wise mentor. With his encouragement, Eraqus pointed his keyblade at Ven, and thrust –
Two glassy orbs exited Ven's chest, one white, one black. The black found Terra again, moving into his heart. His darkness, his power, his rage returned to him, and when he looked next at Eraqus, it began to stir.
But no. Not anymore. That part of the story had ended. It was time for the resolution. He could sense the Master's uncertainty, his breathless anticipation of Terra's reaction. So, to reassure him, Terra smiled.
"Kairi . . ." Sora whispered as he stared at the white orb that was her heart. It hovered right above him, and when Sora held a hand out, it dipped until it was right above his palm.
Sora said, "Is it okay if I hold onto this? Just until we get back to the Mysterious Tower and I can give it back?"
"Go for it," Terra said. "I think that's what she's asking."
The peaceful moment was broken by a shout.
"Ventus? Ventus, speak to me!" Eraqus hollered.
Terra went rigid, then whipped around to look at his younger friend. Ven was face-first in the dirt.
But before anyone could panic, Ven groaned and sat up, rubbing his eyes. He blinked owlishly, staring innocently at his Master.
"Are you alright?" Eraqus demanded.
Ven shrugged apologetically. "Sorry, I just wasn't prepared for that. I guess merging's a bit more trickier than I thought."
"Merging?" Terra echoed.
"With Vanitas."
Aqua stirred, demanding their attention. "Vanitas," she asked, "where is he?"
"Taken care of," Terra said shortly.
Her breath hitched. Staring at his collarbone, she said, "He's dead?"
"Yes."
She bowed her head. Not long after, it became apparent that she was crying. Immediately, Terra's heart hardened, because Vanitas didn't deserve her tears, he didn't deserve anything . . .
"Terra, relax," Ven said. "I think she's right to cry."
"Over Vanitas?" he snapped. "After everything that bastard did to us?"
"Vanitas," Ven said softly, "was a victim in his own way. If you want someone to blame, choose Master Xehanort."
Terra curled his lip, but said nothing.
Ven kept speaking, "He's part of my heart now, he'll be able to feel what I feel . . . maybe, this way, he can finally have peace."
They were silent for a while, until a portal opened up in the middle of them. Keyblades gleamed, only to disappear when they saw who it was.
"What's going on?" Riku demanded.
"Riku!"
Sora tackled his best friend straight into the ground. Seeing them, even Terra had to smile.
"Come now, you two," Eraqus said. "Let us return to Yen Sid's tower. It is time for Kairi to wake again."
Riku immediately stopped wrestling with Sora. "K-Kairi? You . . ."
"We found her!" Sora said. He beamed. "See, I told you we could do it!"
Riku laughed. "I've never been so happy to be wrong about something."
The two boys helped each other up to their feet, then on Eraqus's urging, summoned their keyblade gliders. The three say a quick farewell to the rest of them, then flew off into the sky, heading for the last person that needed to be saved.
"We should go, too," Terra said.
Aqua certainly wasn't going to argue, but Ven sucked in his lower lip, chewing on it. Sighing, Terra said, "What's wrong?"
Ven spoke slowly. "I don't . . . I don't think we should go quite yet."
"What? You couldn't possibly want to stay any longer in this hell!"
"That's just it!" Ven cried. "This town, it's a hell because Vanitas made it that way, because he let the darkness take control. But Silent Hill, I don't think it was always like this. And I'm God now, aren't I? Maybe . . . I think . . . I think I can set things right. Fix it."
Dubiously, Terra said, "You really think so."
Ven nodded. "I do."
Terra sighed. "Fine," he said. He turned to Aqua, "You okay with this?"
"I . . . yes." That's what she said, but if the colour of her face was anything to go by, she really wasn't.
Terra sighed. "Let's go back to the castle then. You'll feel better when we're home."
"Okay," she said.
Terra walked off, guiding Aqua back home. He left Ven alone in the snow, alone amongst the wretched buildings in the setting sun. With a cloud of hot air rising from his mouth, Ven looked around at the town, at the town that had caused so much misery for so many.
And once he was sure Terra was gone, he allowed his lips to curl into a smirk.
Sorry Ven didn't get to kick Vanitas around more, but the last three or four chapters were all battle scenes, and I just couldn't write anymore of those.
So, this is the official end of Those Who Fight Monsters. There's still an epilogue to come, but I consider it an optional ending - in other words, you can either take it to be the actual end, or an alternate ending. Thanks to everyone who's taken the time to get through this and The Shrouded Path! It's a been a long journey, and I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!
And yes, that last line of the story is implying what you think it's implying :)
