Vanitas woke first the next morning, he looked out the window, the sky was overcast and grey. 'Pretty on par with how I'm feeling...why am I doing this again?' he scowled. His gaze lowered to Velle's peaceful sleeping form and he felt himself melt immediately. 'Oh...right...her…' He laid himself back down and wrapped his arms around her tightly.
Velle groaned as her eyes fluttered open, she snuggled closer to Vanitas with a smile. "Good morning," she mumbled.
Vanitas chuckled "Go back to sleep, I don't want to start today yet."
Velle sighed, "We can just pretend we're asleep."
"Hey," Vanitas mumbled, pulling her chin up to look at him.
"Hm?" She hummed. Vanitas pressed his lips to her for a long peaceful moment.
"Nothing." He lied, suddenly looking away.
"What?" Velle asked curiously, turning him to look at her again.
Vanitas sighed, "I have to reverse the spell… he has to break you out of it or Xehanort will know something was up."
Velle frowned, "What's going to happen to you when he finds out I got away?"
"I don't know, I can handle it though," Vanitas kissed the top of her head, "Don't worry about me."
Velle snorted "It's kind of hard not to once I got to know you."
He rolled his eyes, "Gee thanks." They laid in silence a little longer before Vanitas groaned and sat up. "Come on, we should get this over with before I change my mind...because I'm starting to."
"Wait!" Velle sat up too. "I have to say thank you."
"Stop that," Vanitas scowled.
"No. Thank you. If it weren't for you...I don't know what would have happened to me. Thank you Vanitas…" She pressed her lips hard to his. "Part of me doesn't want to go you know…"
Vanitas groaned, "Don't say that…"
"I'm sorry, it's just how I feel. You can reverse the spell…" She said sadly as she quickly stood and got dressed.
Vanitas stood behind her watching, drinking in his last moments with her. He walked over to her when she was finished and turned her to look at him. He looked sad, it broke Velle's heart, she didn't understand how it was possible to feel so strongly for two people at once. He brushed his lips to hers slowly and whispered "God, I'm gonna miss you...Okay…"
He stepped back, putting his mask back on and waved his hand in front of her face and suddenly she cringed, her hair turned silver and her eyes yellow as she stared back at Vanitas coldly.
"Did the master call?" She asked robotically.
"No, we have something else to do. Wait for me in the badlands." Vanitas instructed, summoning a dark corridor.
"Okay," she replied, not hesitating to walk through the corridor before it closed. Vanitas sighed and summoned his own portal.
"Now, time to go find that pathetic excuse for an other…" Vanitas growled before jumping in as well.
Ventus travelled through the lanes between, frustrated that he'd yet to find Velle in any of the worlds he searched. He hadn't found a sign of any of his friends and he was starting to get worried. Just then he looked up to see the masked man who kidnapped her, his eyes widened.
"Huh? Him again!" Ventus sped after him. "Hey get back here!"
Vanitas glanced behind him and smirked when he saw Ventus on his tail, he turned around and rushed towards the badlands. "Follow me, punk."
Ventus gritted his teeth and sped after his dark other. When he entered the badlands he hovered over the desert scanning the area. Ventus dismissed his keyblade armor and dropped from the sky.
"Where's he hiding?" Ventus asked himself while looking around. He felt a presence behind him and turned around abruptly to see Vanitas standing calmly behind him. "Alright! Where did you take Velle!? And what did you mean about Terra being a different person?!" Ventus demanded.
Vanitas narrowed his eyes at Ventus, how could he be so unconcerned about Velle. "Exactly, what I said idiot." He took a few steps forward, "The Terra you know will be gone forever. And if I were you I'd be a little bit more worried about Velle, she may not be the same person you used to know either."
"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!" Ventus spat back at him, his fists clenched.
Vanitas rolled his eyes "Stupid or true?" He turned to look behind him. "Velle."
She stepped out from behind a large rock and walked slowly towards the two. Ventus gasped at her change in appearance. "Velle!? What did you do to her!" Ventus demanded.
"It wasn't me, it was you. It was your weakness that let me take her, you weren't strong enough to save her… and now look at your little Vellie." Vanitas sneered.
Ventus ran up to his stoic friend, "Velle? Vellum! Are you okay?...Why won't you answer me!?" He turned back towards Vanitas with a furious glare. "Change her back. Change her back now!"
Vanitas smirked and held his hand in front of him, summoning his keyblade Void Gear. Ventus gasped ", A keyblade!?" he gawked with confusion before summoning his own with a growl. "Alright! Show me what you've got!"
"Good. Let's see what you're made of." Vanitas pounced on the blonde and swung his keyblade out. Ventus growled and quickly blocked his attack, he pushed back with all his strength and Vanitas went flying. "Heh, not bad, but not good enough." Vanitas launched back at him. Ventus twirled his keyblade tauntingly before sprinting towards his opponent, meeting him halfway. Their keyblades clanged with a loud clash and Vanitas jumped into the air swinging his weapon. Black lightning flung towards Ventus and he rolled out of the way.
"Too slow!" Vanitas shouted, shooting more darkness at Ventus. It struck him and flung the poor blonde back violently.
"Argh!" Ventus groaned as he hit the ground. He was face down panting, unsure if he was able to stand.
"That's really all you got?" Vanitas sneered. "Man, you are worthless. You don't deserve her." Vanitas growled. He summoned his keyblade again. "She's going to hate me for this but you couldn't save her if you tried. I'd be going against the Master's orders, but...so what? As far as I'm concerned your job here is done." Vanitas raised his keyblade and summoned a dark orb, he shot the orb at Ventus and suddenly Velle screamed.
"Ven!" She shrieked, she'd broken through Xehanort's magic on her own. Vanitas's head snapped towards her as she ran towards Ventus.
"Velle, no!" Vanitas shouted. Ventus lifted his head in time to make eye contact with her.
"Velle…" he whispered before being hit by Vanitas's attack.
"Ven!" Velle shouted, running after him.
"Velle, don't!" Vanitas exclaimed running and grabbing her in an embrace but she pushed him off of her without hesitation. Vanitas stood rooted in place, she must hate him...why did he let his anger get the best of him again? He just thought Ventus was too weak to deserve Velle over him. The dust and darkness cleared and the two were both shocked to see the ground empty with no blonde in sight.
"Don't worry, you're safe." A voice squeaked. Velle and Vanitas snapped to the new voice. Velle ran over to Ventus and the stranger, it was a mouse.
"Ven!" Velle cried, "Are you okay?"
The mouse jumped back and lifted a keyblade, "Don't worry I can help him. Heal!"
A green light engulfed Ventus and he groaned as he sat up. "Velle?" Ventus grabbed her hand and pulled her close to look at him. He looked at her hair and deep into her eyes noticing that they'd changed color back to normal. "Are you okay?"
Velle smiled and hugged him "I am now."
The mouse turned around and ran to challenge Vanitas pointing at his keyblade, "Tell me where you got that! Keyblades are not something you use just to bully someone around! Here I'll show ya!"
Ventus jumped up and stood beside the mouse. "We both will!" He summoned his key blade and twirled it.
"Me too!" Velle shouted furious. Her keyblade materialized in her hand with a flash of blue light.
Ventus and the stranger looked at Velle before looking at each other and nodding. Vanitas felt hurt that Velle would attack him, maybe she really did hate him now. He should have known better than to think that someone like her could love someone like him. The master was right...Vanitas growled and summoned his keyblade, holding it threateningly in front of himself.
The three warriors of light unleashed a berate of attacks on the masked boy, everytime Velle came near Vanitas Ventus noticed he would block her but not attack her. Why was this guy so obsessed with Velle? Ventus growled and slammed his keyblade down on Vanitas with fury. Even while fighting he started over thinking and getting angry. Who was this guy in the mask? Finally Ventus linked up with the stranger and unleashed a team attack, spinning around and summoning the light inside of himself.
"Burst of Faith!" The stranger shouted.
Vanitas shot back from the force and landed on his back. Velle, Ventus, and the stranger landed on the ground preparing to attack again. Vanitas jumped up and snorted, "Hmph, you win." He summoned a dark corridor and stepped backward into it. "Consider yourself on probation."
Vanitas disappeared and Velle and Ventus's keyblades did as well. Ventus's shoulders dropped "Probation? For what?" Suddenly he turned around and ran to Velle, hugging her tightly. "Velle!"
She stepped back and laughed nervously, patting his back. "Ven!"
"Are you okay? What happened?" Ventus asked, stepping back from her.
Velle frowned, trying to remember. "I...I don't know...the last thing I remember is him dragging me into one of those portals and then pain…"
"You've been gone for weeks Velle…" Ventus said. "I was so worried."
Velle frowned, "I'm sorry, Ven. I'm back though! And-" Velle turned to the mouse who'd helped them. "-thank you, mister. Thank you for saving Ven, I'm Velle."
Ventus turned to the mouse. "Yeah, thanks for before, I owe ya. The name's Ventus, what's yours?"
"I'm Mickey!" The mouse squeaked happily.
Ventus bent down slightly, "I see you've got a keyblade."
"Yep. I've been trainin' under the great Yen Sid!" Mickey dismissed his keyblade. "He found out the worlds are in trouble, an' I sorta took off without tellin' him." Mickey scratched the back of his head bashfully.
"Well that makes both of us. I ran off, too." Ventus admitted.
"Three of us, me too…" Velle added with a blush and Mickey laughed.
The mouse reached into his pocket and pulled out something, "All I have to do is think it, and the Star Shard will take me anywhere I wanna go...At least I thought it would. I haven't quite got the fine points down, like...When, or where...It just kinda kicks in whenever it wants to. But I wouldn't have met you two if it hadn't brought me here." Ventus chuckled thinking the mouse named Mickey was awfully cute. "Ya know, maybe it wasn't an accident! Maybe it starts workin' 'cause its reactin' to somethin'."
Velle and Ventus bent down and looked at the Star Shard curiously, "Huh…" Ventus muttered examining it. Suddenly a bright light emitted from the shard and engulfed the three of them.
"Woah!" Velle shouted before everything went dark.
A groan and the sound of rushing wind woke her and she opened her eyes to see Ventus and herself in full Keyblade armor in the Lanes Between. "Ugh.. Velle? Is that you?" Ven groaned.
"I'm here," Velle replied.
"Good, come on," Ventus said, gesturing to the random world beneath them. Velle followed him as he descended to the world below. The two dropped down into a large courtyard, "Where are we?" Ventus asked curiously.
"Hm…" Velle looked around for a clue. "Hm...that sign says Radiant Garden? Maybe we're in Radiant Garden."
Velle looked around and spotted a very wealthy looking duck walking by at the same time as Ventus spotted Mickey's ears walking into an alley. "Mickey?" Ventus asked with curiosity. "Hey, Velle…" Ventus said suddenly.
"Yep?" Velle asked, turning to face him.
"Can I ask you something?" Ventus asked carefully.
"Sure." Velle grinned.
"Um.." His nervous look made her smile drop. "I know you can't remember anything but...but what's with that guy in the mask?"
Velle frowned, "I don't know Ven… but I think he's bad news…"
Ventus snorted, "You think?...But you'd tell me if you like...I don't know...had a thing for him right? Not because I want to know or anything but if you did I shouldn't fight him right?..." The blonde rambled.
Velle raised an eyebrow thoroughly confused. "Um...I'm not sure what you mean but no, of course not. I don't have a thing for some masked bully who kidnapped me."
Ventus sighed in relief, "Good I'd hate for you to make a bad decision like that."
Velle glared at him and put her hands up on her hips, "What's that supposed to mean, you think I make bad decisions!?"
"No-nothing!" Ventus stuttered. "I saw Mickey go down that way, come on let's go!" He grabbed Velle's hand and dragged her in the direction of the alley, obviously changing subjects. The alley led to a shortcut to a castle, they ran up stairs hand in hand. They ran towards the doors and noticed two sleeping guards, however, when they ran up to them they were met with blades.
"Hold on, the castle is presently closed." The brown haired guard informed them.
"But somebody just came this way. He's a friend of mine!" Ventus protested.
The two guards exchanged a look and then turned back to Ventus, "We aren't aware of any visitors. Now run along home, boy, before the monsters get you."
Ventus looked down at Velle's hand in his before looking her in the eyes "I could have sworn it was him." Velle shrugged at the blonde.
"Maybe it was someone else, come on." They turned around and Ventus gasped as an Unversed appeared over the horizon.
"They're here!" the guard announced.
"Radiant Garden shall not fall under the likes of you." the other one declared as they edged toward it.
Ventus looked at Velle, "Let's go. Leave this to us!"
They ran past the guards ", Stop!"
"But you're just children!" the other shouted, but Ventus and Velle didn't stop running. The two guards nodded at each other and started after the two keyblade wielders.
"Now, who do you think will defend the castle if you two go skipping off?" A voice sounded from behind them.
"But those children?" The guard said unsurely to the man in the lab coat.
"Never you worry about them, the boy's a special case." The man in the lab coat grinned.
"A what?"
"Evan is right. Lord and Castle come first. The children will have to fend for themselves." The black haired guard decided.
"Which reminds me, His Lordship was asking for you." Evan relayed. As they walked past him Evan stood in quiet contemplation, "A heart devoid of darkness? Stripped clean of it at that...very questionable…" Evan hummed in thought as he turned and headed back into the castle.
Velle let go of Ventus's hand and summoned her keyblade as they ran around a corner chasing the unversed. Just then they heard the voice of a disgusted Scottish man. They ran into a clearing to find the wealthy looking duck from earlier.
"Ach! How dare ye!? Back off, ye fiend! Oh, ho, ho, ho, ye'll not be gettin' my money!" the duck shouted at the unversed.
Ventus reached him first, Velle stopped in her tracks as she watched Ventus throw his keyblade at the unversed from far away. "Look out!" he shouted.
"Oi, I will!" The duck shouted before running out of the way. Ventus summoned his keyblade back to his hand with the utmost certainty, Velle gawked at him.
"Woah, that's a neat trick!" Velle commented after they ran after the unversed.
Ventus looked down at his keyblade and then back at Velle with a wide grin. "Oh yeah, I picked up a couple new tricks while I was looking for you."
Velle blushed, "I'm sorry...I should have been able to fight him off."
Ventus stopped allowing the unversed to get a head start. "No, Velle it was my fault. Whether you could get away or not I should have stopped him. I didn't...because I wasn't strong enough. I'm sorry Velle, I promise I'll get stronger, I'll protect you."
Velle blushed, "Ven..."
"Just hold on a second laddie, Don't I even get the chance to repay ye an' the las?" the duck waddled up to them.
"Hm?" Velle hummed as they turned to face the duck.
"Oh, you don't have to!" Ventus replied with a grin, he turned back towards where the unversed raced off.
"Now, just hold yer horses! I dinna mean me fortune." The duck snapped. "Maybe a wee bit of gold or a small token of..."
"Uh..." Ventus looked at the retreating unversed "Well, could ya make it fast?" he asked rudely.
"I know! I've just the thing in me hat!" The duck took off his top hat and started rummaging through it. Ventus looked at Velle and shrugged, he couldn't be rude to the duck. The duck started chuckling and waved him over, "C'mere!"
The two keyblade wielders walked closer and he covered his mouth and said, "You can tell me, lad. You two came here from another world, didn't ye?" Ventus gasped and exchanged a look with Velle. "Dinna worry. Me bill is sealed. Yer secret's safe with me. I'll not be askin' ye any awkward questions. Ye see 'tis the same with me. I asked a wizard named Merlin to bring me here from another world. After all, adventure is the mother of industry! Eh, heh, heh!"
Ventus leaned forward slightly wondering if the duck was finished. "Great! That all?"
"Ack, but I'm holding ye up. Here. These are lifetime passes to Disney Town. Ye'll have buckets o' fun there, or my name is not Scrooge McDuck, heh, heh, heh. There y'are-enough for you two and two grown ups."
"Oh!" Ventus examined the tickets with wonder. "Thanks! Come on, Velle let's go!" Ventus grabbed Velle's hand and ran after the unversed. Velle waved pathetically at Scrooge as he shrunk in the distance. They turned the corner and ran into another clearing, Velle gasped as she saw Terra and Aqua running up at the same time.
"Ven? Velle!?" Aqua and Terra exclaimed upon seeing the two.
"Terra! Aqua!" Ventus shouted in greeting. The four friends saved the pleasantries for later and summoned their keyblades to worry about the unversed that had just merged with three other unversed to create a large suit of armor. Terra and Velle shot up to the suit of armor first followed shortly after by Ventus and Aqua, each one slashed at the armor barely making any damage.
"Ugh, it's strong!" Aqua commented when she landed on the ground beside Velle.
"I know what to do, Terra, can you launch me up at it?" Velle asked.
"Yeah, come here!" Terra replied, Ventus jumped up and held back the unversed with his flame salvo.
"I don't know, are you sure about this?" Aqua asked worriedly.
Velle narrowed her eyes at her blue haired friend, she was tired of being second guessed. She turned back to Terra with determination, "Let's go!"
Velle and Terra backed up before running and jumping at each other at the same time, Terra's feet met hers and he kicked as hard as he could, launching her with power towards the unversed.
"Aerora!" Velle shouted, a tornado appearing around her causing her to spiral dangerously like a torpedo. "Fira!" Velle bellowed right afterward, the tornado around her spiraled with fire as she made contact with the unversed, she swung her keyblade out and the impact sent the monster flying. Velle landed to the ground gracefully and panted, she twirled her keyblade in her hand to get a better grip on it.
"Woah…" Terra mumbled. "You both have new moves."
Ventus grinned, "Yeah!"
The unversed charged back at them and Aqua shouted, "Terra!"
"Velle, Ven, now!" Terra called.
"Come on!" Ventus yelled as they all jumped into the air. Velle slashed the monster horizontally, Aqua vertically, Terra and Ventus dragged their keyblades down in a criss cross motion. Velle used her momentum to flip off of the unversed and land on the ground beside Ventus and Aqua. They watched intently as the monster crashed to the ground and disappeared.
"Got 'im!" Terra cheered.
"We make a good team!" Aqua joined.
"Sure do!" Ventus added, Velle remained silent. She felt guilty for leaving the Land of the Departure even though Aqua and Master Eraqus told her not to.
"Are you okay, Velle? You're pretty quiet. It looked like you're feeling better though..." Terra commented much to Velle's dislike.
"I'm fine," Velle replied coldly. She didn't want attention on herself at the moment she knew Aqua was about to scold her. Ventus, Aqua, and Terra exchanged a look, it was odd for Velle to act like this or sound so upset.
"Velle, I can't believe you left the castle against Master Eraqus's orders." Aqua said as she placed her hand on the violet haired girl's shoulder. Velle shrugged her off roughly "I can handle myself."
Ventus understood immediately why she seemed so angry, he often felt the same...like the other two underestimated them. Ventus frowned and joined Velle's side, "Velle's fine, Aqua. You should have seen her out there, she kicked butt!" Ventus grinned at Velle who smiled appreciatively at the blonde. Suddenly Ventus gasped and reached into his pocket. "Oh yeah! I got you these tickets!" Ventus pulled out the four tickets to Disney Town he received from Scrooge.
"For what?" Terra asked curiously.
"Lifetime passes to Disney Town!" Velle replied with a grin as Ventus handed them each a ticket.
"He said to-" Ventus paused and looked at the ticket before handing it to Terra. "He said for us to take two grown ups." Ventus finished with a pout.
"You mean us?" Aqua asked. Terra immediately started chuckling and Aqua joined.
"Listen to me Ven, Velle...We need to get you home-"
"It's okay Aqua! Trust me, that guy in the mask is history! He'll never bad mouth Terra again!" Ventus grinned, Velle frowned, she knew Vanitas was probably just lurking around the corner.
Terra stepped forward and grabbed Ventus's shoulder roughly. "You saw the boy in the mask!?"
"Y-yes?" Ventus asked, confused.
"Vanitas…" Terra mumbled.
Aqua gasped and Velle chewed her lip, "You guys know Vanitas too?"
The two older keyblade wielders looked at her shocked that she knew his name. "How do you know him?" Aqua asked.
"I…" Velle looked at her feet knowing she had to come clean. Of course she couldn't remember anything from her time that Vanitas captured her but she did remember before that. "I met him during your Mark of Mastery exam...He attacked me when I was coming over to you Ven...that's why it took me so long."
Ventus furrowed his brow looking hurt, "Wha-why didn't you tell me?"
She sighed, "He told me he'd hurt you, he was serious…"
He narrowed his eyes, "I could take him!"
Velle didn't look at him, she decided to leave the part about him convincing her to leave the Land of Departure out because she was honestly grateful he had. She continued " Then I ran into him in every world I went to...I think he was following me."
"You didn't tell me he followed you to every world…" Ventus mumbled, what else had he not paid attention to. He was too worried about Terra to even know that this masked villain was stalking the girl he harbored feelings for. He noticed that he seemed to treat her tenderly too, if Velle was really telling the truth then she had no idea why, but either way Ventus wasn't just going to let this guy try to take Velle away from him when he'd never even truly expressed his feelings towards her. Ventus's fists balled at his side. "That guy, Vanitas, kidnapped her for weeks."
"He what!?" Terra and Aqua shouted.
"When I found her, her hair was silver and her eyes were yellow and she wouldn't talk to me. She was like a slave." Ventus fumed.
"I was?" Velle asked shocked.
Terra nodded "That's right I saw you too, you wouldn't talk to me...you just stared on ahead…"
"I did? I don't remember seeing you…" Velle mumbled looking at the ground and trying to think. It was completely empty, like that time had never happened. What did that masked boy do to her?
"I found him and fought him but he sent some huge attack at me and it seemed to wake Velle up. But she can't remember anything from when she was missing." Ventus outed her.
"Ven!" Velle hissed, why would he tell them that now they were definitely going to send her back.
"No, Velle, Ventus is right I saw you like that. You were like a zombie…" Terra paused and sighed, "Ven, Velle...You let Aqua take you home."
"No way, I wanna go with you guys." Ventus protested, he honestly agreed now that he found out Vanitas was stalking Velle that she should go back to the castle but he didn't see why he should go too. He didn't know who Vanitas truly was.
"You can't. We have a dangerous task ahead of us." Terra countered. "I don't want either of you to get hurt."
"And what is this dangerous task, Terra? It doesn't sound like what the Master told you to do." Aqua sneered, Velle rolled her eyes, she sounded insufferable.
Terra replied calmly, "It might be a different route, but I'm fighting the darkness."
Aqua shook her head "I'm not so sure...I've been to the same worlds as you and I've seen what you've done...You shouldn't put yourself so close to the darkness…" Aqua told him with worry, it was truly because she cared about the older brunette boy and she didn't want to lose him to the darkness or ever.
"Listen to yourself, Aqua! Terra would never-" Ventus started.
Terra glared, "You mean you've been spying on me? Is that what he said to do? The Master's orders?"
"He was only-" Aqua started, immediately guilty.
Velle put her hands over her mouth in shock, "Oh no…"
Ventus sighed, "Aqua…"
"I get it…" Terra whispered turning around, starting to walk away from the group.
Ventus turned and ran after his older brother figure, "Terra!"
"Just stay put!" Terra yelled. "I'm on my own now, all right?" He sounded furious, Velle felt tears well in her eyes. Nothing was the same, Vanitas was right...nothing would ever be the same…
"Terra, please! Listen!" Aqua called after him hopelessly. "The Master has no reason to distrust you, really! He was just worried!"
Velle looked at Aqua with disgust, Ventus turned to her "...You're awful, Aqua…" he admitted.
Velle caught sight of Aqua's wayfinder in her hand as she clutched it tight. Aqua turned to the two, "So now you know the truth...But the Master loves Terra, and you guys know that too."
Ventus looked at her sadly, "Were you also 'ordered' to take us home?"
Aqua didn't reply at first, "Well...Velle was never supposed to leave…"
Velle had heard enough, with her fists balled at her side she walked away from both Ventus and Aqua. She didn't know where she was going but she didn't care. How could anyone possibly expect her to stay at the castle while her friends were out here fighting for their lives. What did Aqua really think of her? Velle used to look up to the blue haired keyblade maven but now she looked down upon her. Aqua was being a bad friend and Velle wanted nothing to do with her right then.
"Aqua...now that you're a Keyblade Master, you've let it go to your head." He looked down and said, "I'm gonna go after Velle and we're gonna find Terra." Ventus ran off in the direction Velle went, leaving Aqua all alone to contemplate what she'd done.
Velle stormed off. She turned a corner and smacked into a hard chest, she rebounded off of the person and fell to the ground with a thud.
"Ow!" Velle pouted, she looked up to come face to face with Vanitas hidden, of course, behind his mask. "You!" Velle spat, quickly summoning her keyblade.
Vanitas sighed and took a step back, "Look I'm sorry I attacked him, don't be mad at me…"
She glared at him and held her keyblade in front of her threateningly. "What are you talking about? What happened after you took me from Maleficent's castle!?" She demanded.
Vanitas took another step back, "What do you mean what happened to you?"
"It's blank, Ven says I was gone for weeks! I don't remember anything!" Velle barked.
"What?" Vanitas asked, he seemed confused and slightly hurt. "You don't remember anything?"
"No, so tell me everything right now or I'll beat it out of you!" Velle snapped.
"Velle! Where are you?" Ventus's voice called from nearby. Vanitas took a few more steps back and summoned a dark portal.
"Wait! Where do you think you're going!?" Velle fumed.
"Sorry, Vellum, I'm not really in the mood for a family reunion." Vanitas turned and disappeared into the portal just as Ventus turned the corner.
"Velle! There you are!" Ventus beamed as he jogged up to her.
Velle turned to Ventus with a scowl, "where's Aqua?"
Ventus shrugged, "I don't know, I told her I was coming after you and that we'd find Terra together. She's acting really horrible right now…"
Velle's face relaxed, "you mean you're not gonna make me go back to the castle?"
He smiled, "No, I'd never make you do anything you didn't want to do…and honestly after that display back there I'm pretty sure you'd kick my butt." Ventus snickered.
"You better believe it!" Velle grinned. Ventus looked surprised for a moment, Velle's long purple hair was no longer in braids and instead sat on her head in a half up, half down, side ponytail. The stray pieces of hair rustled in the light breeze that blue by and her green eyes seemed to shine and reflect off of Ventus's deep ocean pool eyes.
Ventus chuckled ",You know what, Velle?... You've changed..."
Velle's smile fell, "In a bad way?"
Ventus's eyes grew wide and he shook his head frantically, "No of course not! You just seem more…" He paused, trying to put his finger on it. "You seem more…mature." He said after a moment with a light blush.
Velle grimaced and stuck her tongue out, "What's that's supposed to mean!?"
Ventus laughed nervously, his blush darkening, "never mind forget I mentioned it." Ventus started to jog off, "Come on! Let's find Terra before it's too late!"
Velle frowned, "Hey! No wait! Ven! What did you mean by more mature!?" She chased after him.
"Nothing!" Ventus shot over his shoulder. "I told you to forget it!" He laughed as he out ran the violet haired girl. Ventus groaned inwardly, he was really bad at telling Velle about his feelings toward her. When she gave him all her attention she made him so nervous, even if that was all he really wanted in the end.
Velle and Ventus jogged into another block of Radiant Gardens but stopped dead in their tracks when they saw a young boy with steel blue hair and a lab coat was being ambushed by four unversed.
"Ven!" Velle exclaimed, pointing to the boy.
Ventus immediately ran in front of the boy and summoned his keyblade. "Run!" He shouted. The terrified little boy turned and jogged away, making eye contact with Velle.
"Hide!" Velle told him. The two quickly dispatched of the unversed even though more seemed to produce.
"Ienzo! Where are you? Answer me!" A voice called, it was an older blonde man also wearing a lab coat. "Ah! There you are!" The man said with relief as the little boy walked up behind Velle and Ventus. The man turned to them, "I see we owe you our thanks. We have done our best to raise the boy, since his poor parents are not here to do it."
"Oh. You're on your own, huh?" Ventus said sadly. He then turned to look up at the man, "Sir, we're looking for a friend of ours. He's a tall guy dressed kinda like me-have you seen him?"
The man seemed to think for a moment, "Hmm...Perhaps I did see him in the Outer Gardens. Just follow this road…"
Velle looked down the road and grinned, "Thank you, Mister!"
"No, thank you, for keeping Ienzo out of harm's way. And...Well, let's say I have a feeling we are destined to cross paths again." The man turned and walked away while the boy, Ienzo paused for a moment just staring up at Ventus with admiration before also leaving.
"Huh?" Ventus asked, confused, Velle shrugged.
"That was weird, come on! Let's not waste any time!" Velle grabbed Ventus's hand, their keyblades disappearing in a flash of light as she dragged him down the path the man told them about. They reached a clearing and were bombarded by more unversed. "Ven, I see him just ahead. Go on and convince him to take us with him, I'll hold them off!" She summoned her keyblade.
"Ar-are you sure?" Ventus stuttered, wanting to stay and make sure she'd be okay.
"I'm fine!" Velle shouted as she jumped at an unversed, "Aerial Slam!" She shouted as she attacked the unversed. Ventus swallowed she was right, she would be fine. Ventus turned around and jogged to where Terra stood.
"Terra!" Ventus shouted. "Take us with you!"
Terra looked away sadly, "I can't do that Ven…"
Ventus looked defeated; why were Terra and Aqua shunning them? "Why not?" He asked sadly.
"If you really have feelings for Velle you need to take care of her, that Vanitas guy isn't going to give up on her...not as long as you're around, Ven." Terra said. He understood why Vanitas was following Velle and he didn't like it one bit. Vanitas must have shared Ventus's infatuation with the violet haired girl.
Ventus grimaced, "Why would you think that?"
"I just know, Ven. Don't let each other out of your sight, I think Velle's in danger." Terra explained.
"So, stay and help me protect her! I can't do it all on my own!" Ventus said with worry.
Terra smiled reassuringly, "Of course you can, you're stronger than we give you credit for Ven. I saw it today, you and Velle...I'm done underestimating you two. I won't be like Aqua…" Terra stopped and then chuckled, "Side note, did you ever tell Velle the Paopu Festival was supposed to be a date?"
Ventus blushed and looked at his feet, "Er...no...everytime I try to tell her how I feel I get all nervous and I freak out…"
Terra snickered, "Poor Ven. You just need to do it, you won't feel better until you do. And she'll never know either…"
Ventus sighed, his face still tinged pink, "I guess you're right...but what about you and Aqua!?"
Terra scowled, "I don't know so much about us right now, Ven." Ven looked at him sadly. "Things are just complicated right now."
"That's why you should let us come with you!" Ventus tried again.
Terra looked up to see Velle jogging towards them, apparently having dispatched of all the unversed. "I can't, the road I'm going down is too dangerous. Just promise me you'll take care of Velle."
"Of course, I will. I'm not going to let anything happen to her again and that's a promise!" Ventus grinned.
Terra stepped back ",I just… When I really need you, Ven, I know you'll be there."
Ventus grinned "', Well, why wouldn't I? You're my friend."
Terra looked at him, "Yeah...You're right, Thanks, Ven." He summoned his keyblade armor and soared away just as Velle reached Ventus.
Suddenly, the gravity of Terra's words sunk in and Ventus jumped. "I better tell Aqua!" Ventus grabbed Velle's hand and dragged her back into Radiant Garden in search of Aqua.
"Tell Aqua what? Where's Terra going!?" Velle asked in confusion.
"Come on Velle, we can't waste any time. I'll explain when we find Aqua!" Ventus exclaimed.
"But I don't want to talk to Aqua, right now!" Velle groaned.
"Too bad!" Ventus retorted.
They raced off to find Aqua standing in the middle of a clearing looking very stoic. Ventus jogged a little ahead.
"Aqua!"
"Ven, Velle!" Aqua called back. They stopped in front of her and she sighed "Were you able to find him?"
"Yeah...but he's gone…"Ventus said looking down sadly.
"Right," Aqua said after a moment, "Then I can't stay here."
"Let us go with you, Aqua," Ventus suggested.
"No Ven," Aqua said, almost sounding disgusted. "Do as I say and go home, both of you."
Ventus sighed, "Why won't you let us?"
"I don't want to put either of you in harm's way. You understand?" Aqua replied. She put her hands on either of their shoulders before stepping back and summoning her keyblade armor. "Velle, stay away from that masked boy and keep Ven away from him too." She regarded them for another moment before setting off after Terra.
"What's with those two…" Ventus asked sadly, referring to Terra and Aqua. "All they do is treat us like we're little kids…"
Velle frowned and walked up to Ventus to console him, "We don't have to go home, yet…"
"I don't want to go home at all, I think you should though. If that Vanitas guy is after you then-"
Velle glared at the blonde, "Being home didn't stop him from showing up in my bedroom."
Ventus jumped, "He what!?"
Velle blushed, "I mean, he showed up in my room and I told me you and Terra were about to leave...and then...he convinced me to go after you by the gate of departure…"
Ventus grabbed her shoulders and forced her to look at him, "Velle…" He sighed, "What else are you hiding from me?"
"Nothing! I swear! I just didn't want to tell you in front of Aqua and Terra because they'd force me to go back for sure!" Velle replied quickly.
Ventus sighed, "I guess it's okay, he came to my room too and told me that Terra was leaving...told me he'd never be the same if I don't go after him…I guess you're right, you're not safe, even with the Master. I mean we were with both Master Xehanort and Master Eraqus and neither of them knew the two of you were downstairs fighting."
Velle frowned, "You said you'd never make me do anything I didn't want to do…"
Ventus looked at her, surprised, his hands still on her shoulders. He pulled her close to him and a sudden hug. "I still mean it, I'm not going to force you to go back to the castle. Even if I thought you should go, if you didn't want to... then I guess I'm following you now."
Velle sighed and hugged him back happily, "Good, because I'm really tired of trying to chase you down."
Ventus chuckled, "You? Me! I've been searching for you for weeks, Velle!"
Velle wrinkled her nose, "Yeah, I guess you're right."
They walked back into town and Velle sighed, holding her stomach sadly. "What is it?" Ventus asked curiously.
"I'm hungry…" Velle replied with a pout.
Ventus chuckled, "Do you want to find something to eat?"
Velle grinned, "Kind of...do you want me to get you anything?"
Ventus nodded with a smile, "Please!"
"Okay I'll meet you in the town square." Velle said before turning and running away. She jogged until she found a small street market. There was a barbeque cart that she stood in front of with large eyes.
"I'll buy you some if you want?" A voice sounded from behind her.
Velle jumped and turned to face the stranger, "You! Why do you keep following me around!?" She demanded when she saw Vanitas again.
"You seriously can't remember anything?" Vanitas asked sounding defeated.
Velle took a step toward him, "What am I supposed to remember?"
Vanitas also took a step forward, Velle didn't know why but her body was calm, she didn't feel like Vanitas was being threatening. "...Me…" Vanitas whispered, barely audible.
"...But...I don't…" Velle whispered back, her hand reaching out to touch his mask. "Maybe if I saw your face?"
Vanitas flinched, "No. You can't."
"But how am I supposed to remember you?" Velle asked with frustration.
"You just are," he replied in a huff.
"All I know is that you've been following me around and you apparently kidnapped me for weeks!" Velle snapped.
Vanitas sighed and took a step back, "Maybe it's better this way...forget I said anything, Velle…"
"I feel bad…" she whispered, not understanding why she felt like her heart was breaking.
"Dont, I'm the bad guy." Vanitas replied, he summoned a dark corridor and disappeared, leaving a very confused and sad Velle.
"Did that guy just disappear in a pool of darkness?" The cart owner exclaimed.
Velle sighed, "I think so… could I get to platters please?"
The cart owner immediately plated her food and handed it to her, she exchanged money and then left. What she didn't know was that Ventus saw Velle talking to Vanitas, he saw the way she reached out to him. He felt like he'd just been stabbed through the heart. Terra was right, Vanitas wouldn't give up on Velle, and Velle needed to know his feelings for her before it was too late. Ventus jogged to the town square and waited for her while twirling Terra's wooden keyblade and remembering his friends.
A little while later Velle reached the square just in time to hear Ventus speaking to himself, "Must be nice...knowing who your friends are…"
"You know who I am, Ven." Velle grinned handing him his plate of food.
"Thanks, Velle." He replied as he took it, "But I'm not so sure anymore…"
Velle pouted, "What's that supposed to mean?"
"I saw you talking to that masked guy…" Ventus mumbled and Velle froze. "Why are you hiding things about him?"
Velle sighed, "I didn't know he was standing behind me, Ven. It's not like I go looking for him, he looks for me. Maybe I shouldn't go anywhere alone anymore…"
"You touched his mask…" Ventus added, he looked down at his food and moved it around but didn't eat.
"...I…" Velle stuttered, she didn't understand why it mattered so much to Ventus. "He told me I was supposed to remember something that I don't…"
"Remember what?" Ventus asked, looking at her curiously.
"I don't know, he wouldn't tell me...just said I was supposed to remember…" Velle mumbled, she looked down at her feet and hugged her knees to her chest.
"I don't like him," Ventus grumbled.
"I don't think we're supposed to...I wonder what happened to me after he took me...I just can't remember…" Velle frowned.
Ventus shifted uncomfortably, "Velle...do you remember the Paopu Festival?"
Velle smiled, "Of course that's the last fun thing we all did as friends."
"...Right...friends…" Ventus mumbled.
"Why'd you ask?" She inquired.
"Uh...um...those balloons over there reminded me of the festival balloons!" Ventus grinned, lying, once he lost his nerve.
"Those are just regular balloons…" Velle replied with a raised eyebrow.
Ventus sighed, "Okay fine…hold on just a sec. I'll be right back!"
He stood and jogged away, ducking behind a building, "...O-okay?" Velle asked thoroughly confused as to why Ventus was acting weird.
"Come on, Ven! You can do this! Just ask her!" Ventus smacked his face three times and ran back over to her.
"Ven? Did someone hit you?" Velle jumped to her feet, "Your face is all red!"
"Don't worry about that! I have to ask you something, Velle!" Ventus practically shouted.
"Uh...okay? You can ask me anything!" Velle answered with a smile.
"Wo-would you...would you wanna go to Disney Town with me?" Ventus asked quickly.
"Sure!" Velle replied just as quick.
"Wait! Wait! No! Not like friends-"
"What?"
Ventus sighed, finally giving up, and dropped down onto the ground with a plop. "Ergh! I give up!" Ventus growled. "I'm trying to ask you on a date but I'm super bad at this!"
Ventus didn't even realize he'd come out and asked her on a date because he was too busy throwing a temper tantrum. "Huh?" Velle asked, suddenly realizing what the blonde said. Her face heated up, "You wanna go on a date with me?"
Ventus froze his face turning bright red, "I mean-not if you don't want to!" He stood and waved his hands in the air frantically.
"I do," Velle whispered.
"Huh?"
"I do, want to go on a date with you...to Disney Town, right?" Velle asked with a smile.
"Ye-yeah...Really, you'd go on a date with me?" Ventus asked, shoving his hands in his pockets and rocking back and forth shyly.
Velle giggled, "Of course I would!"
"Yes!" Ventus cheered, pumping his fist in the air.