They exited the portal and the dark slowly dissipated. Vanitas had instructed her to keep her hood on until he told her. She felt her captor guide her down a rough terrain.

"You can take the blindfold off," Vanitas said.

"I hope you know the first chance I get I'm out of here," Velle muttered softly to Vanitas.

Vanitas chuckled quietly next to her, "And I hope you know I can catch you." Velle rolled her eyes at him. After a few steps Velle decided to try her luck, when she felt Vanitas gripped lighten just slightly she broke away and sprinted into the badlands. Vanitas froze for a second before running after her, he couldn't believe she actually tried to run away. He charged after her with speed she didn't know he was capable of and snatched her wrist and threw her onto the ground.

"How?" Velle asked, astonished.

"I told you I'd catch you. I'm very fast, don't do that again." Vanitas warned, he pulled her to her feet roughly. Velle begrudgingly let Vanitas guide her in the opposite direction, knowing she had no choice.. They walked on and passed a large cliffe, in the distance Velle could see a hunched figure waiting for them.

"What is this? Who are you taking me to see?" Her heart started to race, suddenly she could remember where she was. She looked around horrified, it all became clear to her now like some veil had been lifted. The badlands, the place where Master Xehanort took her and Ventus. He stopped her from helping him, put a barrier up and forced her to watch as he ripped Ventus's heart in two creating Vanitas. She remembered Vanitas summoning those dark creatures to wear her down and then Vanitas erasing her memory.

Velle stiffened and froze in her spot, the masked boy struggled and tried to pull her forward. Velle's hand shot to her forehead and she held it as a sharp pain ignited in her head "Him!" her head snapped towards Vanitas, "You!" She snarled..

He stopped and laughed, "Oh? Did the other shoe finally drop?" He chortled. "I was honestly wondering how long it would take you to figure it out!"

They were still a ways away from Xehanort, who was barely visible through the dust clouds so he couldn't hear them. Velle shoved him hard, Vanitas took a step back from the impact. "This was all a trick!"

"A plot? Yes. A trick? I don't know about that. Come on, let's go Vellum." He snatched at her arm again but Velle backed up and summoned her keyblade.

"Don't touch me!" She barked, Vanitas visibly flinched. "Don't touch Ven either, stay away from us!" Velle turned and ran in the opposite direction. Suddenly Vanitas appeared in front of her. She skid to a halt and fell to the ground kicking sand up in a cloud.

"I can't let you go," Vanitas sounded almost sad which angered Velle further. What could he possibly have to be sad about? He did this. He attacked her, he erased her memory, he was Xehanort's cohort, he was evil, he was darkness.

"I won't stay," Velle spat, sitting up.

"I have orders and my orders are to bring you to him, if I go against those orders...I'll have hell to pay. Get up, let's go." He said curtly but Velle didn't move. When Vanitas spoke again, his intentions were masked behind his helmet but his voice was serious and even.

"Look, we can do this the easy way or we can do this the hard way. And as fun as the hard way would be I'm honestly not in the mood for it." He concluded. He put his gloved hand out and offered it to her. Velle gasped in realization, darkness or not, Vanitas was Ventus. Vanitas had no family or friends, he had no past, only a present and a very short future. He was the darkness inside Ventus and Ventus was not complete without him, but if he did reunite with his other then something awful would happen. Velle closed her eyes, remembering the story of Kingdom Hearts her Father would tell her before bed as a child. The story of the ancient Keyblade war. Velle felt conflicting tears of frustration sting her eyes which she fought back. She begrudgingly took Vanitas's hand and he heaved her up, he let out a sigh of relief.

"Come on, " Vanitas mumbled, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her lightly toward Xehanort.

"Vellum," Xehanort croaked. She didn't answer, just glared at him. "Ah, so she remembers!" Xehanort clapped his hands once. Vanitas didn't speak but released his grip on Velle.

"Sorry for all the smoke and mirrors, I don't want you to think that your Master has forgotten you." Xehanort apologized.

"You're not my Master," Velle growled through barred teeth.

Xehanort laughed, "That anger, that's what I want."

"What?" Velle snapped.

"Use that anger, let it consume you. Avenge your poor Ventus." Xehanort droned.

"If you're trying to make me turn to the darkness it will never work. You can give up right now." Velle sneered.

"Oh my dear, you are already so deep into the darkness you can't even see. But I will help you, I will teach you as I have so many times before." Xehanort continued.

"What are you going on about?" Velle snapped.

"Vanitas summon the unversed." Xehanort waved his hand as a signal and walked to the same perch he stood on when Vanitas was born.

"Yes, Master." Vanitas said robotically.

Velle glared at her captor and summoned her keyblade, she backed up a few steps, "Bring it," she growled and then added, "You're next."

Vanitas let out a silent sigh and raised his arm, several of the dark creatures she'd seen before materialized. The unversed came from Vanitas, she realized. Vanitas backed against the cliff and watched Velle destroy the unversed, with every one he felt its negativity return to him. He may have hated Ventus with all of his being but he found he adored Velle. He'd only recently come to realize that it must have been Ventus's feelings for her that he felt, it was the only explanation. Ventus's attraction was what he felt when he looked at her. It was Ventus who liked her purple hair, and her big green eyes, Ventus liked her attitude, she was Ventus's weakness. And therefore, she was his weakness too.

Vanitas felt more and more negativity return to him and he felt himself brooding as he leaned against the cliff. He felt such rage in the Castle of Dreams when he watched Velle interact with Ventus. Why did Ventus deserve all the friends, why did Ventus deserve Velle? Vanitas wanted Velle too, Vanitas had to deserve something. He felt tears of anger sting his eyes that he refused to let fall. "Only weak babies cry, I'm not weak." He whispered to himself.

Velle slashed through at least twenty unversed, her endurance wearing thin but she wouldn't give up. "I don't get it!" Velle snapped, "What do you want from me!" More unversed appeared, Velle held her keyblade over her head. "Fira!" she shouted. Flames ignited over her head, shooting out and killing more unversed.

"She's gotten stronger," Vanitas said out.

A larger unversed pounced on her and knocked her down, "get off me!" She growled. She kicked it off of her, she summoned her keyblade again and threw it at the heartless "Thundara!" She commanded as the keyblade hit the unversed, the combo attack destroyed it.

"Hm?" Xehanort was impressed, Velle had improved just as he thought she would. She just needed a little push, the question was how could he weaken her enough to control her. "Vanitas." He ordered.

Vanitas jumped, he looked up at Xehanort on the cliff's edge, "That wasn't part of the deal!" He protested.

"Go," Xehanort said with deathly calm.

Vanitas felt his body fighting him, something didn't feel right with Xehanort's change of plans. Vanitas summoned his keyblade and walked towards Velle. She thrust her keyblade through another unversed and Vanitas winced, feeling the negativity rejoin him. He cracked his neck and Velle turned towards him.

"I won't back down!" She growled, Velle focused on Vanitas while using magic to fend off the remaining unversed.

"Give up, Velle. Look at you, you're low on health and out of magic. Know when to quit." He all but pleaded. Part of him didn't want to hurt her and the other part consumed by the darkness of the unversed wanted to tear her apart. The bit of humanity he'd gained fought against the darkness but he was losing.

"I won't," Velle grimaced. Despite her pain she sprinted towards Vanitas and swung her keyblade down. He easily blocked her with his free hand. He held it to her stomach "Firaga." Velle flew back consumed with pain, her vision turned to darkness.

"Is this the end?" Was all she remembered thinking.

...

But it wasn't.

...

It was just the beginning.

...

Velle wasn't gone she was fading back and forth from the land of the living and dead, her heart was damaged by Vanitas's keyblade and magic.

"Good work Vanitas," Xehanort smirked and descended the cliff. He walked over to Velle and pulled her up by the collar of her jacket.

"What are you going to do to her?" Vanitas walked closer.

"Do you have a soft spot for her Vanitas? Have the unversed driven you insane enough to think that someone would pick you-the shadow cast- over pure light!?" Xehanort cackled.

"N-no." Vanitas spat. "You said she would succumb to the darkness and join us. She didn't."

"Oh she'll join us alright," Xehanort gripped Velle's unconscious face in his hand. Velle's eyes lulled open when her head was jolted. Xehanort's eyes bore into hers, sending a chill throughout her body. She felt utter fear as her former Master stared at her. Vanitas watched in horror as Velle's hair turned silver and her eyes turned yellow.

"That wasn't part of the deal!" Vanitas shouted, trying to pull Velle from Xehanort's grip. It was too late, "You never said you wanted to possess her!" Vanitas growled, catching Velle as Xehanort dropped her.

"I never said I wasn't either, besides don't be confused she'd never pick you. This is the only way she'd be by your side." Xehanort spat. "Now take her away, train her, I will call on you when there is something I want you to do." Xehanort left through a dark corridor.

Vanitas held Velle in his arms, she was awake but expressionless. This was what Xehanort wanted to do to Terra, he never said anything about using Velle too. "That idiot," Vanitas growled. He said no more. He would wait until Xehanort healed Velle before he chose to act.

Although Velle's face was expressionless her chest was heaving violently. Vanitas waited for her to stabilize before moving her.

"Stand," He ordered. The Xehanort controlled Velle stood mechanically following his command. He summoned a portal, "Go on." Velle walked into the portal silently and Vanitas followed behind.

Vanitas brought Velle to a hotel in Traverse town Xehanort had rented out for him. He opened the room door and Velle filed in. Vanitas looked around for something to do with the Xehanort controlled Velle until she was healthy enough. Vanitas shrugged, "Sit down or something, I don't know."

Velle felt herself sit down, she was watching her body move against her will. She was horrified, every minute that passed she felt herself get stronger but there was nothing she could do to move her body or speak. She'd caught a glimpse of her reflection in a window and was shocked at her appearance. Silver hair, yellow eyes, that wasn't herself staring back at her. She watched Vanitas pace the room, he never removed his helmet. He remained silent for a while and then finally he pulled a chair up in front of her and sat down on it backwards.

"So...how ya feeling? Good enough to fight?" Vanitas asked innocently. He'd thought long and hard on how he was going to find out that Velle was healthy enough for him to interrupt the spell.

"Yes," Velle replied, she couldn't control herself. She couldn't beg for help, she didn't know what was happening to her or who was speaking for her.

"Out of curiosity, what happened to Velle?" he asked.

"She was mortally wounded and relinquished control of her body. She is now healthy and tucked away in a pocket of her mind observing our interactions." She felt herself answer robotically.

The masked boy chuckled, "Good. That's what I wanted to hear."

He waved his hand slowly in front of Velle's face, he closed his eyes and concentrated. Before the Xehanort-Velle could react Vanitas's hand glowed red. Velle's eyes slowly turned green and her hair back to purple. "It worked!" he grinned behind his mask.

"Vanitas?" Velle felt herself say, it was actually her who said it. "What did you do to me?" She accused, terrified.

"It wasn't me," Vanitas said, putting his hands up in defense, "Xehanort. Listen I'm really good at everything but I'm not as strong as Xehanort."

"We can take him together," Velle said sitting forward on the bed.

Vanitas snorted "No, no we can not...but I like your enthusiasm." Vanitas sighed, "I'll have to reverse the spell when Xehanort calls."

Velle jumped up, "No, please don't!"

He flinched, "I don't have a choice."

"Of course you do, we always have a choice Vanitas. I can't control myself, please don't reverse the spell." Velle pleaded.

"Of course you can't control yourself, no one could if they had Xehanort at the wheel." He explained.

"Xehanort?" Things were starting to make more sense to her. Her heart started racing and it was as if all the sound was muffled in the room. She grabbed his hand that was hanging over the edge of the chair. "Please Vanitas, you don't owe me anything, I know...but don't do it."

He stared at her hand holding his for a moment, he wasn't used to the feeling of guilt. He ripped his hand away from her and walked over to the window, staring out at the night. "I have to, Vellum…."

"Why?" Velle asked desperately. For some reason she felt as if she could reason with Vanitas.

Vanitas snapped back to face herand growled begrudgingly, "I can't."

Velle felt tears of despair prickle at the corner of her eyes, "Why? I don't understand."

"I'm not strong enough! Is that what you want to hear!?" Vanitas threw the chair he was sitting on in a fit of rage. The unversed were slowly being reborn and he was realizing that he was acting rashly. Velle flinched when the chair made impact with the wall and shattered.

"I-" she started.

"It doesn't matter what you say. It doesn't matter what I say, don't you get it?" Vanitas spat angrily. He sat on the other side of the bed and put his head in his hands, "Xehanort tricked both of us."

"I have to go to Ven, Terra needs our help!" Velle pleaded.

Vanitas glared at her, " If Ventus can't handle saving his friend on his own, he doesn't deserve help. He needs to become stronger, you need to stop interfering."

"I won't let you fight him, I won't let you forge the X-blade," Velle said, threateningly.

He let out a cold laugh, "Still haven't accepted that you have no choice in the matter? This doesn't have to do with you, it has to do with me and that pathetic weakling."

"Ventus is not pathetic, he's not a weakling. You're the one who won't even try to stand up to Xehanort." Velle retorted.

He scoffed, "Oh, well. If you think you're that strong then why don't I reverse the spell and you can defeat Xehanort all on your own." Velle fell silent, "That's what I thought." He snapped.

She sat back down on the bed in an awkward silence, "But Terra…"

"Terra will be fine, his fate will be the same as yours," Vanitas replied, much calmer.

"Do I look fine to you?"

Vanitas chuckled, "Guess not, but you're alive."

Silence, was a light shuffling noise of Velle's feet on the carpet, "Thank you." she managed after some time.

"Huh?" Vanitas asked, not hearing her.

"I said, thank you," Velle repeated with more conviction.

"For what?" Vanitas scoffed.

"For saving me?" Velle whispered, she was swallowing all of her pride to thank the masked boy.

"Are you kidding me? You're not safe, look around. You're in a strange world with someone who's trying to kill your friend. You're being held against your will completely controlled by Xehanort. Your friend Terra is going to be consumed by the darkness. And that girl Aqua? She doesn't stand a chance even...And soon everything will fall into darkness, nothing matters anymore can't you see? Not even your thank you." Vanitas ranted.

Velle didn't speak for a moment, all that could be heard was the masked boy's heavy breathing. "Still," She swallowed once, "Thank you for doing what you could."

"You're impossible!" Vanitas snapped, he stormed over to the door and left, slamming the door behind him. Velle jumped when the door slammed, she felt the tears she'd been holding back begin to fall. What was she going to do? How was she going to find Ventus again, let alone Terra, or Aqua? She felt like something had been ripped from her, her freedom and her hope. Vanitas told her there was nothing she could do, but deep in her heart she knew she would never give up.

Ventus's other stood in the hallway fuming. How dare she thank him? Who did she think she was! Vanitas felt his breathing begin to calm, and he rubbed his temples. No one had ever thanked him before, then again he never did anything for anyone else but himself before today. Still Vanitas was darkness, no friends, no family, nobody cared about him as Xehanort would often remind him. He was risking everything by breaking Xehanort's hold on her even if it was only temporarily. Velle had such blind hope, and it infuriated him. How could she look at everything with rose colored glasses when everything was actually falling into darkness. He looked around the empty hallways. Upon first glance you couldn't even tell that darkness was attacking the worlds, everything seemed fine. But he knew better, Xehanort was on the move.

He frowned as he thought of what to do next, he couldn't leave. He knew he had to watch Velle and wait for Xehanort's call. His mind wandered back to the Violet haired girl locked in the room. She might be hungry, he might as well order her some food. He walked slightly down the hall and around a corner to pick up the hotel phone by the elevator. Vanitas ordered a few items to the room and waited outside until the bellhop arrived. He didn't want to go in and face Velle yet, she probably needed some time to unload things on her own.

The bellhop arrived with a cart of food, "Is this for you?"

Vanitas nodded in response, he tossed a few munny at the boy and took two plates off of the cart. He unlocked the hotel door and walked in. He was surprised when the door opened fully, Velle had flinched and quickly began rubbing her eyes. Was she crying?

"What are you doing back already?" She asked, her nose sounded stuffy and her eyes were glowing red. She didn't hide the fact that she was crying well.

"I never left," he replied. "Here, take this," he handed her a plate and took a seat on the other side of the bed with his.

"What's this?" She asked lifting the cloche to reveal Conssome.

"What does it look like?" Vanitas retorted.

"Thank you," she muttered, quickly picking up the spoon and eating. She hadn't realized how hungry she was because she was wallowing in her misery.

"Stop that," Vanitas said. He removed the cloche from his own food to reveal a chocolate mousse.

"I can't help it, I was taught to say thank you when I'm thankful," She mumbled.

"More like trained, like a dog," Vanitas insulted.

Despite her misery Velle felt herself glare at him, "Maybe someone should train you like the dog you are. You're supposed to say you're welcome, not throw a fit when someone says thank you." She snapped.

Vanitas smirked, he looked at the delicious chocolate mousse on his plate. He loved sweets, it was the only thing he had time for. He glanced from his food over to Velle and back to the mousse, conflicted.

"Is that all you got?" She asked.

"What's wrong with this?" Vanitas asked, picking at it mindlessly with his spoon.

"Nothing, chocolate mousse is great but it's just a dessert." Velle explained.

"So?" Vanitas retorted, he didn't look up at her.

"Are you going to even eat it?" She pressed.

Vanitas held back a growl, he wanted to devour it right then and there...but he couldn't. Xehanort instructed Vanitas to never, under any circumstances, remove his mask for another to see his face. He thought at first it was because he looked exactly like Ventus and it would give him away. Although, the first time he saw his reflection he was shocked to see that he didn't look like Ventus at all. How could he BE Ventus without looking like him, it didn't make sense to him. "Not right now," He put it on the bedside table.

"Why? You look like you want it." Velle asked, she didn't know what to say so she would talk to him about the food.

"I do, what's it to you?" Vanitas snapped upset he couldn't rip his mask off and eat it right then and there, "Do you want it? You keep asking about it!"

Velle blushed and sat back, "No, it's yours."

Vanitas rolled his eyes behind his mask, "Do you want it?" He asked slowly, he could tell she did. She must have been starving, it didn't surprise him. She used a lot of energy in her fight.

Velle was silent for a moment before her stomach growling broke it," Maybe…" She mumbled after a minute.

Vanitas snorted, she looked ashamed, "Take it." He put the plate in her hand and she smiled happily. Vanitas was surprised that he could make her smile with something so small after everything she was going through.

"Are you sure? What about you? What are you going to eat?" She asked, not touching the mousse. Vanitas watched her with amusement.

"I'll order another one," He walked to the door and turned around before he left. "I feel like I don't need to say this but I will anyway. Don't leave this room, if you do I will find you. And if I find you, I'm going to have to reverse my spell so you follow the rules. Got it?"

Velle disregarded him, knowing she had idea where to go anyways. She licked the mousse off of her spoon happily and nodded. Vanitas snorted and shut the door behind him.

Vanitas walked down the hall to the phone. He knew he could have called room service from the phone in the room, but he wanted to eat his dessert outside so he could take his helmet off. The bellhop delivered the plate to him and Vanitas quickly took off his helmet and shoved the mousse in his face.

Just then a door opened somewhere in the hallways and he heard a small voice call, "Vanitas?"

Vanitas dropped the plate he just finished and threw his helmet back on and quickly went back into the hall. "I thought I told you not to leave, Vellum." He barked.

Velle jumped and blushed, "I'm not. I just-can I have another one?"

Vanitas snorted, "Sure."

"I can pay for it," She added.

"Whatever," He waved his hand dismissively, "Shut the door." He commanded as he walked around the corner again. He returned to the room shortly with her dessert and handed it to her.

"Thanks!" She grinned, taking the sweet from him.

"I told you to stop that," Vanitas snapped.

Velle contemplated him for a moment with squinted eyes, "Mmmm...no." Then she returned happily to the mousse.

Vanitas chuckled, "You seem...more content." He chose his words carefully.

Velle nodded but didn't look up. "I have food." She lifted her head to look at him, "Where's yours? Didn't you get any?" She asked. "Did you not have enough munny?" She asked, reaching into her pocket.

"No," Vanitas growled, "I ate, I have plenty of munny."

"Why did you eat out there?" Velle asked after a moment.

"We're not friends, stop asking me things." Vanitas said coldly, Velle sighed. He laid on one side of the bed and summoned his keyblade, Void Gear. While Velle finished the dessert he tossed his keyblade in the air and caught it as it fell back down.

"Now what?" Velle asked as she put her plate down on the table across the room.

"I don't know," Vanitas mumbled, without looking at her.

"What do you normally do?" she asked, "I mean, when you wait for Xehanort."

"Go out and kill things." Vanitas replied "But we can't right now, you're not supposed to go anywhere until he calls."

"I-I don't want to kill things…" She denied.

"You seemed to have fun destroying those unversed," He said tossing the keyblade up.

"What are those things anyway?" She asked snatching his keyblade from him. He sat up and shook his head disapprovingly.

"They're negative energy, my negativity. My darkness that I unleash onto the world and when they die they return to me." Vanitas explained, he held his hand out and summoned his keyblade back to him. "Noob." He snorted when it left Velle's hands.

"Does that mean their negative energy returns to you too?" Velle asked. Vanitas nodded, "Does that do anything to you?"

"A lot," was all Vanitas said, he dismissed his keyblade and rolled over to face the wall. "I'm going to sleep, turn the light off." He mumbled, although he didn't go to sleep, he thought about how he was currently feeling. He tried to understand why he was talking to Velle and he weighed his options on whether or not to return her to Xehanort's control. Velle on the other hand curled herself into a ball and laid as far as possible away from Vanitas. She thought about how her life changed in a matter of seconds. She had an overwhelming feeling that something even more horrible would happen soon.

Velle felt hot tears fall down her cheeks onto the bed, she was scared. The implications of what Xehanort was doing were far more serious if all the stories her father told her when she was little were true. She accidentally let a sob slip out and she froze, trying to listen if Vanitas was asleep. There was silence for a moment.

"Are you crying? Again?" Vanitas's voice croaked, it was several octaves lower from lack of use.

"...No..." She replied with a sniff. There was another long silence and Vanitas sighed, he rolled over onto his back and looked at the back of Velle's head.

"Hey," he called. When Velle didn't move he poked her shoulder., "Hey!" He tried again. He'd never done what he was about to do but he actually understood her pain.

"What!" Velle whispered harshly.

"It sucks," Vanitas said.

"What sucks?" She snapped.

"All of this, it sucks. I know," he elaborated, which was an effort for Vanitas.

Velle rolled over to face the masked boy who'd captured her, "What could you know about how I feel?" she asked.

"I didn't ask to be part of this either," Vanitas defended. They sat in silence glaring daggers at each other. "One day I woke up and I was told that I was part of some pathetic kid who couldn't even take fourteen heartless. Then I was told it was my destiny to fight this kid but I'm supposed to sit back and let him get stronger first. All the while I'm supposed to follow the orders of this old geezer who demands I call him Master." He paused and took a deep breath, "BUT WAIT! There's more! All this time I'm supposed to do this and wear this stupid helmet." Vanitas barked.

Velle found herself snickering despite the tears still running down her face. The snickering turned to full laughter, "I guess you're right. It does suck."

Vanitas let out a dry laugh, "Yeah…" He stayed silent and looked at Velle carefully, she was so close to him. He could reach out and hold her if she'd let him, but she wouldn't. He sighed and continued, "I don't like you or anything but can I offer you some advice?"

Velle snorted, "Go ahead."

"You shouldn't ever let anyone see you cry, it shows them your weakness." Vanitas said.

"Well I have feelings," Velle defended herself.

"What good are those?" Vanitas snickered.

"I don't know, for feeling?" Velle pouted.

"Can't say I know what that's like," Vanitas retorted.

"I'm sure you can feel things," Velle said, ushering a long silence. Vanitas felt his breath quicken at the thought of Velle making him feel things. He tried to calm himself down.

"Nope," He replied simply.

Velle rolled her eyes, "Whatever."

"It's good to know that you can though, I'll keep that in mind." Vanitas mumbled sleepily. "You good?" Vanitas asked.

"Yeah, thanks." Velle answered.

"No, I said don't do that," Vanitas replied with slurred sleepy words.

Velle stuck her tongue out at him and closed her eyes, they fell asleep facing each other on opposite sides of the bed.