I don't own anything associated with Kingdom Hearts or Silent Hill. They belong to Square Enix/Disney and Konami respectively.
Alright everyone, this is the last addition to Those Who Fight Monsters. It's an optional ending, and the reason I say it's optional is... well it's depressing enough that some people might want to take the last chapter as being the true ending instead.
Epilogue
Two Years Later . . .
It was a miserable, gloomy excuse of a day. Rain poured down with all the volume and speed of a waterfall, creating a fine mist that floated above the ground, one that blended in with the town's natural fog. For once, Silent Hill was not covered in snow, but a thick layer of mud. Nearly black in colour, it oozed like blood, doing its best to stretch across every inch of land.
Lightning flashed. The roofs and edges of buildings were illuminated, giving them a distorted appearance. Their shadows lurked on the roads below, each stretching out like the hands of ghosts. For the most part, the streets were empty, since even the monsters had sought shelter from the storm. But in one place, one overlooked by a foul-faced, stone gargoyle, there was life.
Another bolt struck, this one brighter than the rest. In the middle of the road, just beyond the reach of a streetlight's halo, were two figures. One stood tall among the onslaught of rain, clothes clinging to his body and his hair matted. His yellow eyes shone ominously, producing their own light to see by. He had a cold face, a mask carefully perfected to hide all emotion. Like a sniper stalking his victim, he watched the other man carefully, watching for the tiniest of movements.
The other man, one on his hands and knees, was clearly in worse shape. Where once his hair had been tied in a ponytail, it had fallen free and now stuck to the sides of his face. His clothes were torn, caked with dirt. It was impossible to tell their original colour.
That man moaned. Weakly, his fingers reached for his weapon: a white keyblade. But the standing figure easily strode forwards, passing into the streetlamp's range, and hooked the white keyblade with its own so he could toss it away. As the rain continued to hammer down, the standing figure remained there. With his unmoving form and the light shining on him from above, he looked like a mockery of an avenging angel.
The man on the ground choked. His breathing was riddled with coughs, not solely from emotion, but sickness and exhaustion. It took him a few attempts before he could finally speak, but when he did, it was so raspy one had to devote their full attention to understand.
"Please . . . please, let me help you . . . This isn't you. Please, just let me . . ."
The standing man cut him off. "This is me, Eraqus. This is who I am now."
"No . . . I refuse . . . you can't be . . ."
"I am." The standing man kicked Eraqus's arms from underneath him, sending him face first into a puddle. Saying nothing else, no hint of remorse on his face, the standing man turned and walked away.
"No!" Eraqus tried desperately to crawl after him. "No, I will free you. I will save you, Terra. All of you."
Coldly, Terra said, "There's no one to save."
"No. No, no, no . . .!"
Eraqus wailed. He brought his knees in close, sobbing into his arms. Terra couldn't see his face, but he knew his Master was crying like a baby; he'd seen it happen enough times. Terra's insides twisted with the familiar, painful sting of guilt. Yet he shouldered on, swallowing the emotion down before it could reach his face and marched off. Once out of Eraqus's sight, once his Master was left a crying wreck, Terra portalled to the church.
Water dripped onto the floor. He shook his head, spraying drops everywhere. Great. He just loved being wet. Would it kill Ven to allow a bit of sunshine?
As if hearing him, Ven turned his head slightly, registering Terra's appearance. The younger boy was in the center of the building, hovering above the altar. With no more than a flick of his wrist, he conjured up a power wind spell that soon had Terra dry. Relieved, the brunet rolled his shoulders, savouring the feel of crisp clothes against skin.
"I think he's on the verge of cracking," Terra said. "He certainly won't last much longer."
"I agree." Ven's tone was no longer that of the energetic child he had once been. Over the months, it had matured into something else, now more like Xemnas' speech than anything. "The next time you visit him, that should do it."
Terra had to take a moment to calm his racing heart. "You think so?"
"He is so close, so very, very close to seeing the light," Ven said, staring at his open hand. He closed it, and turned to Terra with a smile. "It'll be nice to have our Master back. Maybe we can finally take the Exam."
Terra whispered, "Yeah."
He opened another portal, but before he could step inside, Ven spoke again. "We've left it for too long, Terra," he said. "We never should have let her get this far."
Breathe . . . His fist clenched as Ven brought up that old topic. "What do you suggest?"
"Take care of the problem," Ven said simply.
Normally, that would have been enough. Normally, Terra would have dashed off to do his best friend's bidding. This time, however, he hesitated. There was a sour taste on his tongue, enough to make him gag.
"Ven, are you sure about this? She's . . ."
"It needs to happen," Ven said firmly. "She doesn't understand. Something needs to be done."
"I know," he said. He tugged at his glove. When the fabric peeled off his skin, he saw blood.
By now, even Aqua would have noticed his reluctance. Ven frowned, landing on his tiptoes. "Terra, you're on our side, aren't you?"
The answer fell from him. "Of course."
Ven didn't smile. He walked up to Terra with his signature puppy-dog eyes. "I thought you were our friend."
"I am!" Terra snapped. "It's just . . ."
He trailed off. His chin lifted as he sighed. Of course he was Ven and Aqua's friend! It was just . . . this was no ordinary assassination Ven wanted him to carry out. He knew the target, liked her. Once upon a time, he had been her friend, too.
"You'd protect us, right?" Ven laid his hand on Terra's cheek. "You'd do anything to keep me and Aqua from getting hurt."
Looking into Ven's eyes, it was like watching the watch of a hypnotist. The longer he stared, the more relaxed he felt. His friends were everything to him. To hold them, to see them, to cherish them . . . it was what he lived for. If something happened to them, Terra knew it would only be a couple of days – maybe hours – before he threw himself off a cliff.
He grabbed Ven's hand tight. "Of course."
Ven smiled, nodding. He grabbed hold of Terra's shirt, pulling himself up so that they could be close enough to hear each other's whispers. "She's dangerous, Terra. She's pure, and she knows how to use that power. The town can't touch her or anyone close to her, and she's aligned herself with Yen Sid. If she helped to lead an attack on our home, I wouldn't be able to stop her. You or I could get hurt, or Aqua."
"Aqua . . ." Terra clenched his jaw, and pulled out his Wayfinder, studying it.
Ven moved the Wayfinder away so that Terra was staring at him again. "Terra, Cinderella has to go."
He stared at Ven for a long moment. "This is how it has to be."
Ven nodded.
"Alright then." Terra rubbed the back of his neck. "But after this I'm retiring for the day."
"Of course," Ven said sweetly. He hopped back onto the altar. "You shouldn't work so hard, Terra. You always seem so exhausted."
Terra said nothing. He didn't have the heart to tell Ven that it wasn't the physical work that tired him.
He walked into his new portal, seeking his target. Long, long ago, Ven had passed on a tad of his power to Terra: Silent Hill's ability to find who it wanted. Though Terra hadn't seen Cinderella in a long time, he would have no trouble finding her. And then he would do what was needed.
He closed his eyes.
Nowadays, Ven saw enemies everywhere.
Another check on the list. As Ven sensed Cinderella's heart flicker out, he breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, that obstacle taken care of. It should have been done a long, long time ago, when they had gone after most of the other Princesses of Heart; however, to his frustration, Terra had argued for Cinderella's safety. He understood why. During their adventure in the Castle of Dreams, Terra had grown quite fond of the girl. He'd had a hard time letting go of their friendship, enough to give Ven a few headaches. But at least Terra had now seen the light. At least now he had accepted Ven's wisdom.
That left one Princess left: Kairi. This would be a tricky one; he didn't want to put Sora and Riku through any more hardship, but the two boys just wouldn't stay down! They, with Kairi leading the charge, were prominent supporters of King Mickey's crusade against justice. Something had to be done.
His brow furrowed. He hated thinking about that, that his former friends had so viciously betrayed him. They just didn't understand. They hadn't been there. They hadn't witnessed Master Xehanort's cruelty, or had their heart split in two. As much as they thought otherwise, they had no idea of how drastically it had destroyed Vanitas, how twisted and crazy it had made the boy. What they had experienced in Silent Hill, it was just the tip of the iceberg.
They didn't understand, nor did Ven know how to make them.
Surely, if they did understand, they'd be on his side.
Who wouldn't be?
Ven sighed. Vanitas, back when he had ruled Silent Hill alone, had the right idea, but just hadn't followed through enough. Vanitas had gone after fiends, people who had done wrong. Ven did too, only with a twist. Instead of waiting for a crime to be committed as Vanitas did, Ven simply stepped in before one could be done.
It was brilliant. Once he had gotten full access to Vanitas' memories, once they had become one, Ven had sworn that he would never allow anything like his life to happen again. He swore to stop evil in its tracks, to cut down the Xehanorts of the world before they could pollute it. So, he shuffled through all the hearts in the universe, searched with ones with the potential for evil, and brought them to Silent Hill. Some were good enough to be redeemed.
They were a minority.
Deep inside him, something stirred. The faint flavours of confusion and fear accompanied it.
He opened his eyes. Aqua had woken.
Time for damage control.
"Please, you have to run. You have to get out of there! Please . . ."
Confused, Aqua mused over the words in her dreams. She had been looking into a mirror, and her reflection had smacked the glass with her fists, pleading. About what? She didn't really get it. Her reflection wanted her to leave, but leave what? Had she meant the–
- you are not to run away-
She hummed, picking at a loose thread on her sleeve. She only stopped when her door open and Ven walked in. He stepped over a toy train that lay on its side, then plopped down on the bed next to her.
"Hey," he said. "Sweet dreams?"
She frowned, looking off into the distance. "It was a weird one. But I don't think you need to hear. . ."
- no secrets -
"I was talking to myself," she said, "in a mirror."
"What did the other you say?" he asked.
"I –"
- tell the truth -
"She told me to run. To get out of . . . somewhere. I'm not sure what she was talking about."
Ven nodded, looking troubled. Concerned, she tugged on his shirt. He smiled easily at her, then ordered, "Forget that dream."
She froze. Something invisible reached deep into her mind, took hold of something, then tore it out. A big black hole was left in the spot, making her squirm.
Casually, Ven asked, "Did you dream today?"
She opened her mouth.
- forget that dream -
"No," she said.
"Good
He stayed with her that night, and she did what she had to do to make him happy. Because when her friends were happy, she was, too. Terra never showed up, because Ven said he was on a late mission. She fretted over him, but it was Terra, the strongest man she knew. He would be okay.
The next morning, she asked Ven, "Can I go outside today?"
"No," he said. "It's not safe yet."
"Oh." She looked away. "When will it be safe?"
"Who knows?" Ven said. "Could be a while."
"It's been so long since I was outside," she whispered. She burrowed deeper into her bed.
"I know," he said. "But we don't want you to get hurt. Outside is dangerous."
"But . . ."
-don't argue with me -
She sighed and snuggled into her blankets.
Later, he left her to go back to his job, and she was alone. She ate. She read a book from the library. She played with her dolls. She waited for Ven and Terra to come back.
Terra showed up next. He smelt of shampoo . Underneath his nails, there was a trace of something red. She didn't ask.
He didn't look very happy today. She gave him her brightest smile, trying to coax a reaction. But Terra didn't smile back. He sat down on the bed next to her, head in his hands.
"Terra?" She was very worried now. Terra was upset, and that meant she was, too.
"Aqua . . ." He looked at her. His eyes seemed to be glistening.
He hugged her very suddenly, and she was happy to play along. She hugged him back, patting his back.
Into her ear, he whispered, "Do you . . . do you ever look back and wish we did things differently?"
She stayed quiet for a second, trying to figure out –
- you are happy. You ARE -
-YOU CAN LIE TO TERRA -
"No," she said. "Why would I?" Silly Terra. Why would he think she was unhappy? She was here, safe, with her friends.
That's all she needed. Her friends. She loved them.
Yes.
She loved Terra and Ven.
To concur this with the ending of last chapter, you may assume that a) This is not Ven/Vanitas, but Venitas, b) That Vanitas has completely stolen Ven's identity or c) That Ven did win in the end and this is all him.
Review Responses:
Blogger05: Aw thank you! And heads up, next time my primary goal will totally be to make you cry XD
Or did he is the proper question ... in regards to Namine however, it's subtle and hard to pick up, but she's not "real", per say. She's the town's manifestation of innocence and its missing light. With Ven around Silent Hill doesn't really need her :(
Anonomnom: What you mean already? That was over 150k dude! XD
(Another Vanitas fan? Rats. Got to make him kick some more puppies...)
Thank you! Unfortunately, the internet's being annoying and not letting me listen to the song, but that the one that plays during the SH3 credits, right?
Edit (11/06): Shadow: YES GET AN ACCOUNT. It's really hard for me to respond to you when you don't have one... I don't even know if you'll read this :(
