Now things are starting to get interesting and we delve how I am trying to let the KH1 story be an actual story with interactions and Sora building these relationships with all the characters... and how to relationships differ. The chapter was Edited by Mod B whom I thank for the swift editing.
A Fragment of a Fragment
By True-InTha-Blue
Chapter 7
Alone
"Oh? So, you made it back."
Sora found himself on the eerie platform in the same scenario, the air tasted thin.
Vanitas could not really pinpoint the emotions that flowed within himself without the aid of his unversed. And yet without them, he could feel the familiarity of amusement, excitement even. Anticipation and the glee he got whenever Ventus got to feel a sliver of Vanitas' own torment.
Everything was shaping up.
The boy came back and now it was time to plant a few seeds.
"I would say good job..." The masked boy began, "If it wasn't for the fact of how pathetically you got defeated."
Sora glowered at the figure, "Like you could do anything."
"Oh! If I could have I would, believe me. But is that anyway to thank the guy who gave you some advice? It took an awful lot of energy just to get that message to you. I got knocked out as well."
The boy pouted not wanting to admit that the advice did help, "I'll get that guy next time."
"Let me tell you something," Vanitas said sharply, "Most times, there is never a 'next time'.
Make sure that doesn't happen. You're lucky this guy only wanted to test your abilities. But now it's time to stop playing kids games."
It was best to cut out any confidence early. It kept you from going to an early grave.
The boy huffed making Vanitas' tone grow sharper, "You have a lot to learn before you're ready to wield a keyblade. Make sure you're not dead before then."
A chill shivered down Sora's spine. Would it come to that? But the masked boy said something important.
"A keyblade?" This weapon did look like a key, "So, this thing?" He held it up.
"That's right. That blade can do a lot of things, but it can only go so far if the wielder is weak and lacks resolve," There was a sneer in the figure's voice which sent blood pounding to Sora's ears.
He bit back a retort remembering an important detail, "You said if I came back here, you would tell me where this is and who you are. I did, now tell me!" He got up as though ready to force it out of the stranger person.
Vanitas laughed, "I never said I promised." Sora tightened his grip on the keyblade, "Stop getting so riled up, you make it way too easy."
He got up as well, "Fine, I'll tell you. This place," He gestured out to the far wide abyss of multiple platforms of different colors, to the surface they stood one featuring Sora himself, "Is your heart."
That drew a skeptical look from said boy, "My heart?" He pointed to where the organ would be in his chest.
"More than that lump of tissue in your body. Your being, your soul. Everything that makes you, you, are represented here," Vanitas explained, slowly circling the boy.
"It's your most precious thing. It what makes you able to wield that keyblade," He pointed to the silver key.
Why did it look so familiar to Vanitas?
Sora did not take his eyes off the prowling masked one, "And you are?"
Vanitas paused; he had been wondering about how to answer this for some time, "I'm..." He trailed off, "Your darkness," Luckily Sora could not see the smirk behind his mask.
Sora certainly did not expect that answer, "My darkness? Isn't that…bad stuff?" When he thought of darkness, what came to mind were those creatures.
"Bad stuff?" His 'darkness' quirked his head, "Yes, you could certainly say that." Nothing has ever been good for Vanitas, a pure being of darkness. No…nothing was ever good about it or him.
"Anger, hate, sadness…desire…all of those things you keep hidden inside," He began to walk again, "That's certainly bad stuff…depending on how you use them."
He pointed at the keyblade, "That blade of yours can also be used for very bad stuff. Very bad. Depending on how you use it…" He trailed off to let the boy figure out what he was saying.
Sora looked at the keyblade, "Wait, so–what your saying is…" Everything began to go hazy, yet that train of thought was ringing clear.
"I'll give you time to think about it. Let's see how long it takes for you to come back again…" Behind that mask, a smirk appeared, "…Sora."
The dark being watched as the boy disappeared and a strange light glowed somewhere in that boy's heart where he could not reach.
Riku could not find his friends in this new world were water ran up and landmass floated.
Something found him.
And upon being found, would Riku know what to do?
Donald and Goofy had been searching the town for about a day when they called it a night. They would sleep in the gummi ship again to avoid paying the fare to a hotel, they had no munny.
"Come on, lazy bum. Wake up," Sora felt joy even before opening his eyes. It couldn't be…could it?
His body felt like lead and his head full of cotton, but his heart soared at the sight of the red hair and indigo eyes that reminded him of the sunset and sea respectively.
"You okay?" She asked.
Sora couldn't even speak only nodding his head, too enthralled at the fact that Kairi was okay!
"Those creatures that attacked you are after the Keyblade," she continued though Sora could only hear every other world because of the ringing in his head, "But it's your heart they really want, because you wield the Keyblade."
Sora smiled, "I'm so glad that you're okay, Kairi!"
'Kairi' got a confused look, "Kairi? Who are you talking about?" Her voice changed and Sora's vision began to blur again, "I'm the great ninja Yuffie," 'Kairi' turned into a taller, older teenager with black hair and strange garb.
Sora felt his heart plummet.
"I think you might've overdone it, Squall," She said to the man leaning against the door.
"It's Leon," Said man said grumpily.
"WHO THE HECK ARE YOU?!" Sora yelled, hastily getting up. Whenever he became confused and disheartened, he defaulted to feeling angry. It seemed to be happening much more recently. He wanted to get back at the man who ran him ragged, but his head swam, and he was forced to sit back down.
Yuffie put a hand on his shoulder to steady him. She was gentle about it, there was no hostility from her touch. The man in leather was indifferent to the boy's outburst, uncaring even.
Sora saw his keyblade at the door. Remembering what his darkness called it, "The keyblade…"
["C-ll it t- …ou."]
The voice in his mind whispered. Barely audible but Sora thought he knew what it was saying.
Ignorant to the mental conversation, Yuffie got up to explain, "Yeah, we had to get it away from you to shake off those creatures."
"It turns out that's how they were tracking you. It was the only way to conceal your heart from them." Leon said still semi glaring at the boy, "But it won't work for long."
Not much made sense to Sora. It sounded like they decided things for him without telling him anything.
Oh right, an example would be when this dude decided to try to take the keyblade by force and beat him up instead of explaining ANYTHING.
Said man in question was not making a better impression by saying, "Still hard to believe that you of all people are the chosen one," He said picking up the keyblade.
Sora raised his arm to call it back and it instantly appeared in his hand. Those blue eyes were furious, "Well excuse me for not being the chosen hero or some crap!"
Sora said angrily getting up, "It's not like I had an instruction manual for anything! Because if you have one, I would certainly appreciate having it. Or are you just going to beat me up again on principle?!"
Yuffie shrugged, "Yeah, this probably wasn't the best idea," She muttered.
"Keep ya pants on kid," A gruff voice came from another door off to the right. Cid was walking through it carrying a plate of cookies and a mug of something steaming.
"Geez Squall, As I was saying; you don't beat up random kids who just lost their home, key or no key," He went over to Sora and waved to calm the kid down.
"Gramps?" The boy was confused at the man's presence.
"I told ya, it's Cid," he said gruffly while checking the kid out for any injuries. Aerith did a good job at healing him, but he was far too agitated to be healthy.
"Sit down ya punk. You've been sleeping for a day and still need to recover. And drink your gosh darn tea!" He said all but shoving the mug to the boy.
Maybe it was the smell of cookies, or that his body did indeed feel tired, or, the fact Cid seemed more concerned about him rather than the keyblade and reminded him of the older wise sailors who told the best stories back at home, but Sora did as he was told.
The keyblade disappeared and while Sora was still on edge, the older man seemed to be at least trustworthy.
"Well, lucky we have Cid around," The ninja said, happy they didn't have to resort to violence.
"Y'know these guys?" He asked Cid casting a quick glare at the other two. More at Leon than Yuffie.
Cid scratched his head, "Yeah…" He admitted. "More than just know em, took care of them when we lost our home too kid," He set down the plate of cookies on the nightstand and took his own cup of tea on the table.
"Knew you would be trouble, so I called Squall to keep an eye on ya," He glared at the other man, "Didn't know that meant taking out a sword."
The vindictive feeling in Sora vanished when Cid thumped him on the head, "And I thought I told ya not to go wandering off to the other districts. Everyone was on high alert cause the heartless ain't no joke when they show up."
Cid got up and sighed at the mess this ragtag group was in. "All of you are a real piece of work."
"Beggars can't be choosers," Leon said not pleased at the current situation either.
Sora took a cookie but didn't eat it, "Nothing anyone is saying is making sense. I don't know why I have this thing or what it's here for or what those creatures are or even what they want." He said in emphasis with the cookie, "I just want to find my friends." Yuffie had taken a cookie to nibble on, she was silent.
Cid sighed, "I don't know if your friends will end up here or some other world."
"Navigating worlds are difficult," Leon said not taking a cookie.
"So, there are other worlds." Sora said, "…" He swallowed. The next question, he didn't want to know the answer, "What…happened to my world?" The room became silent.
"Heartless devour worlds," Leon said bluntly.
The newly chosen Keyblade wielder, felt his heart sink.
It was agreed, that Sora would be staying with Cid. Judging how Sora kept glaring at Leon, it wouldn't be a good idea for him to bunk with the warrior.
So, Sora resided in a small apartment on a couch with Cid in the First District. Not for free of course. Sora would be Cid's assistant.
Sora agreed as:
1.) He wanted to see if his friends ever showed up.
2.) He had no place to stay.
3.) He wanted to destroy more heartless.
Sora looked at the guest room (or converted office space) that now had a futon right in the middle of it with the desk and other mechanical parts shoved to the corners of the room. Seemed a tiny bit dusty.
Better than sleeping on the floor Sora thought with reluctance. The boy felt restless, but his body was still tired from all the fighting he had done with Leon and those heartless as he had now learned their names.
It was the fatigue that was keeping Sora from going out to town again in search for his friends. That and a quick bop on his head from the shop owner whose apartment he was staying in, put those plans on hold.
Dinner was smoked meats, roasted corn and mushroom soup. And while none of those were strange or alien foods, there was something distinctly different in their flavor. Like somehow the corn was too sweet or the meat seemed less salty. No, that wasn't it.
Dinner was a quiet affair. Cid seemed to not like this, "So—ah, ya adjusting well?" Cid said after swallowing a mouth full of pork. Blue eyes peaked over the roasted corn in his hands.
"Yeah…" Typical teenage response.
"Well, I know the futon isn't the nicest of places to be. But better than staying in the hotels. They are usually crammed especially in the first district when the heartless start going into the second or third districts, everybody gotta stay over here. So, it's tight spaces and whatnot."
Sora put down his corn, "Don't they move into houses?"
Cid grunted, "Of course! When they become available. We're always building houses and furniture for new folk here. But we're still a town and things gotta be registered. We're registering your papers right now."
"I'm not staying," Sora said suddenly.
A huff, "Well ya can't just go off to the wilderness. Beyond the walls, there are some nasty stuff lurking about. Worse than heartless most of the time. However, unlike those dark creepy punks, the creatures are more than happy to keepin' to the wilds."
The shop keeper lifted his forearm. There was a large white scar from the elbow to the wrist. It was faded but the size of it was no laughing matter, "Got this thing when me and the others landed here without a clue to what is going on. We were practically the only one's here and yet there was already a town. Strange ain't it? Anyway, I went out to see if there were any towns out here to explain at least anything or something. In the woods I thought I saw someone holding a lantern. But instead of a person, I met a thing with a green head, beady eyes, wearing a robe, and had a knife with that lantern. One cut from that knife got me this and several days' worth of nightmares. And I was wearing armor at that."
Cid told him of several large silhouettes of monsters seen sometimes with their heads over the trees in the wilds and firmly told Sora that no one will be helping him if he decided to go off to the woods alone.
"Besides. While we do set scouting parties, not a single person that arrives here arrives outside the walls. It's like this town draws people who lost their worlds to here or something. I dunno. Point is. You wanna find your friends, they'll end up here."
"Got it. So, once I'm rested, I will go out to town and keep looking for them, right?" Sora asked.
Cid gave Sora a look to tell the boy things would not be that simple.
Between errands for Cid which involved deliveries even to dangerous districts when heartless were around, Sora tagged up with Yuffie and (in his opinion unfortunately) Leon to clear up heartless for periodic moments.
Yuffie was nice, she has some killer techniques with her speed. Apparently, it was part of being a 'ninja' whatever that meant. She could also swipe a belt off a person without them knowing as shown when she did it to both him and Leon.
Leon showed no reaction when she did this having gotten used to it over the years.
Speaking of Leon...
"Keep your back straight when you turn around like that!" The older man barked at Sora when they were taking care of Shadows, the insect like solid black Heartless.
"I was!" Sora barked back before swinging down on another Heartless, they did not get along.
Maybe it was because Sora suckered punch them or maybe it was Leon's 'shoot first, ask questions later' attitude. Whatever the case, they were constantly, constantly insulting each other.
Yuffie wanted to throw shurikens at their heads. But she had to admit, even with the kid being a downright amateur swordsman at best, his determination for destroying heartless was something to behold. Sora would come back bruised and battered but slowly learning each day.
Yuffie knew that originally, Leon was supposed to help train the keyblade master, as instructed by the talking mouse. Unfortunately, there seemed to be a kink in that plan.
There had to be some way for the two to suck up their butthurt and work together. That wasn't the only problem. Heartless kept showing up in increased troves even before Sora got here and the king's emissaries still hadn't popped their heads in. Aerith had been trying to find them but to no avail.
It was all they could do to keep the districts safe.
One day at a time.
One day at a time.
After a few days since then with Cid, Sora was helping load some extra supplies in a storage crate in one of the further alleys.
"Alright Kid," Cid said closing the storage bin, "Now, I'mma gonna teach you one of the most important skills you can learn here."
"What's that? Magic?"
Cid barked out a hoarse laugh, "I don't know any of that hocus pocus! Naw, I'm gonna teach you how to deal with moogles!"
"Moogles?"
"Y'know! White little furballs with wings and that red thing? There several rules ya need to know when dealing with them!"
"Number One. Never touch the Pom Pom on their heads. That's a sure way to get them to dislike you," they began to walk back to the plaza.
"Two! Don't be fooled by that cute appearance. They are shrewd when dealing with them. Fair, but shrewd. Three: They know things. Get on their good side and you'll benefit. And Number four: If you want to get on their good side, you need to learn how to speak their lingo."
"What's their lingo?" Was it like thieves can't or something? He and Riku tried to learn it to plan their pranks in secret and pass hidden messages but it was way too complicated.
"Kupo," Was all Cid said with the most serious expression in his face. "Learn when to say it, how to say it, and use it properly!"
Gramps proceeded to launch in a long conversation of the proper pronunciations of 'Kupo'. That saying it at the end of a sentence is usually polite but not to overuse it. Never use Kupo in front of a sentence when speaking to someone of higher rank, which in the moogles eyes, is every moogle. Kupo as an adjustive must be used as something as importance.
There were many ways to say Kupo, emphasizing any character or Ku or Po. Even the rare kUPo was expected at times. But only on certain times.
Sora was amazed. Confused. But amazed. And mainly confused.
Moogles also knew how to synthesize items but currently their workshop had an accident so that was off the market for now. But they still made stuff like potions, and ether for the common man to buy and use.
Cid was meeting some Moogles today who needed to get to an area in the third district as they needed one of their own storage bins that contained a machine they needed for their synthesize shop.
Problem was, that path was covered by heartless. Leon was too tall to squeeze in the small area and Yuffie couldn't lift the machine. That left Sora.
"Thank you for coming, Kupo," The moogle addressed Cid, "We hope this can further the recovery process for our shop."
"No problem, Kupo." Cid said asking the waitress as the cafe to get them drinks, "It's might unkupo this had to happen."
"Indeed, kupo. Is this your apprentice, kupo?" The white creature turned to Sora.
"Introduce yourself kid," Cid nudged the boy.
"Oh-" Sora did not realize he would have to use Cid's lessons so soon. "Nice to meet you…Kupo? I'm Sora…Kupo."
"Kupo, your Mog is a bit rough but at least you're trying, kupo."
"Thanks, kupo," Sora said as politely and humbly as he could.
"Kupo! That's better!"
Cid would get some of the accessories that moogles could make without their shop for discount for this, so he could sell at his own shop.
There was a lot of business stuff that Sora didn't understand. It all went over his head as usual when adults talked. Felt like he was just there as a vehicle, being told what to do.
Getting into the third district was easy, the door being unlocked now as Sora discovered one of the EXTREMELY useful powers of the keyblade, unlocking anything with a lock from a previous visit there.
Sora was tempted to use it on the locked doors on some houses (for purely experimental usage) but he was already on bad terms with Leon and that was a pain. He didn't need Yuffie and Cid to dislike him.
So, he refrained—maybe if he went to another world though…
Heartless began to appear almost when he made five steps in. Those shadows, they were simple but appeared in so many hoards that it was tricky to keep track of them all. They wore you down and tried to swarm over you. That's how they got most people. While Sora usually ended up with a lot of scrapes and scratches, with the keyblade he ended up cutting them down faster than they could show up.
It was satisfying to take these things down.
It kept the thoughts that his friends and home was gone at bay.
They took people's hearts. That's what the others told him. They were attracted by the darkness in people's hearts.
Sora wondered why beings of darkness wanted more darkness though?
Speaking of that and hearts, he had been unable to contact 'his darkness' again. Did…other people have personifications of dark desires? Or could anyone be aware in their heart? A lot of strange things have happened recently, and Sora didn't know if losing the islands or gaining the keyblade were the cause of it; Sora couldn't make heads or tails of where to start.
By the by, that dude in his heart, Sora did not know if he wanted to see the guy. If darkness made the heartless, then wouldn't any darkness, even if his, would be bad?
He found the moogle alley, there wasn't much in it to start with besides the storage crate with the machine in it. He cleared out so many heartless that none were attracted to his path when he lugged the thing back.
He was earning Munny and learning how to fight heartless through experience, but Sora wanted to get out there and search for his friends. He needed to!
Riku and Kairi.
Were they okay? Were heartless at the place they were? Could they fend them off?
Those questions ate him alive.
"Where's that Key?!" Donald Duck, Court Magician and infamously known for his temper barked as they walked down an alley. This was the 7th day they wandered around this forsaken town. It had so many twists and turns and dead ends!
"Gawrsh, maybe they're hiding like everyone else. There's nobody here after all, sure is spooky!" Goofy, Captain of the Guard and surprisingly insightful, said as they tread along by a canal.
"Phooey! I'm not scward!" However, a tap on the duck's shoulder countered that statement causing said duck to jump 10 feet in the air.
"Excuse me." A gentle voice began. "Did the king send you?"
And thus, the step in the right direction had begun.
It was another day, and Sora's temper had not gotten better. In fact, his worry about his friends had proceeded to get near a breaking point. What did break it was an outing to clear out some heartless in the hotel with Leon.
Yuffie was not there.
The two sword wielders still didn't get along with each other; each sentence said had an underlying or absolutely direct insult hurled at the other.
Not to mention both had gotten to the point where they were competing to destroy as many heartless as they could in a way to prove superiority or authority.
It wasn't a friendly one.
Every slight mistake was an excuse to grind the other's gears. They had just gotten to the main plaza in the second district where it boiled over.
"Why would the keyblade choose a brat like you?" Leon finally said as he destroyed another shadow.
Sora snarled as he launched himself at another shadow, "Why did I have to be stuck with your ugly face?"
"Have you looked in the mirror lately?"
"With how you look, neither have you!"
The metaphorical daggers they were throwing at each other was more than visible from any onlooker. Unfortunately, any onlookers were heartless, and they were only after one thing.
"You know nothing," Leon grunted slicing away two more heartless.
"That's because no one ever tells me anything!" Sora snarled. He was so fed up. No results in finding Riku and Kairi and even destroying heartless got old. He didn't really care about clearing out the districts for these people.
He wanted to find out where his world went and where his friends were.
And maybe why he had this keyblade thing?
"Ever think more about yourself?" Leon asked scathingly as the heartless disappeared.
Think about himself? Think about himself?
That was the exact opposite to what he had been doing. From the very start, every day, had been about finding his friends and even ANYONE from the islands. But nothing came, no sign of anyone familiar.
No. Sora would say he was not thinking about himself.
Furious, the boy stomped off towards an alleyway in the second district. If Leon or Squall or whatever wouldn't understand than he…he…
He…
Would do what?
Nothing was the same.
Of course it wasn't! He was in another world. Monsters were everywhere! People could use magic. There were no oceans in sight! The sky was eternally night! And not a single familiar thing in sight.
Nothing.
Defeating heartless here wasn't doing anything.
His body felt drained at this point. It was probably 'nighttime' right now. But he had no way to go back and he certainly did not want to go back where undoubtedly Leon would be. Yuffie and Cid would probably hear about what happened and then…well...
He found a glass door that looked pristine and unlocked. He had a little badge that allowed him shelter in places in case he ever got overwhelmed by heartless, so going in a house was not unheard off for someone who defended the town.
The lights were on, but no one seemed to be home. He traveled several rooms, until he reached probably the last room. Two dalmatians, probably a male and a female.
Sora had never seen more depressed dogs. They seemed heartbroken, like they lost…Everything.
"You don't know where to start either?" Sora asked them, sitting against the wall. Maybe it was his imagination, but he swore he saw the dogs nod.
"It's hard. I feel stuck. I don't know what to do..." He continued to stare at the hard walls, thinking of all the dead-end attempts to get off of this world to find those who he loved.
His eyes felt heavy.
Those thoughts ceased.
He felt cold glass against his face right after.
A cold chuckled was all that was needed to tell him where he was.
"I can't believe I am saying this, but I missed you," The tone was mocking. The darkness seemed to be having a swell time.
"What do you want?" Sora asked getting up. He kept sitting like the masked figure before him.
"Can't say..." The figure seemed to be thinking about it, "Unless you know what you want. I'm your darkness. Remember? I can't do anything proper unless you get your stupid self together."
He got up; Sora was up in an instant. He was always on edge with this guy. Half the time it felt like the darkness wanted to attack him.
Which makes sense considering he was fighting darkness as heartless who attacked people. "I take it back," The figure said watching Sora be on guard, "You're not completely stupid. You don't trust me and that's good. You should always be on guard with your darkness."
"Shouldn't you be telling me to trust you so you could take over?" Sora countered.
This only amused the masked figure. "I really enjoy these talks of ours. But, alas, I may be those thoughts and desires you don't want to see, but even I want you to move on," The figure began to walk away, posing dramatically.
"Your emotions have been such a wreck recently. Can't tell if it's a good day or a bad day. Very different from the islands no?" Sora's expression became alarmed at the mention of the islands.
"What? I'm part of your heart, idiot. I know your memories," He turned to Sora, clutching his chest as though in pain. "So near and dear to everything you are! Taken away so harshly! Ripped from your very hands!" He got a bit closer tilting his head, inquisitive and his voice quiet.
"And there was nothing you could do about it," He sounded almost sad. Almost, "Like a natural disaster…like a wave coming towards you."
He paused and went for the kill.
"Like those dogs…you were useless when what was most precious to you, was taken away."
Sora gritted his teeth but said nothing. The guy was correct. He hated the fact he had been useless! Even with this supposed special keyblade, he still lost his island. It was his inability to do anything. For the islands. For his friends.
If they were in danger…he could do nothing now.
He was unable to get out of this world now either. He was stuck in a loop of powerlessness.
"Don't you see?" The figure gestured to Sora, as though pleading, "This is your problem. Now," He stood up straight taking another step closer. Another step closer to his goal.
The thorns around the pillar flowed as though in the wind.
"Let's find a solution. Because unlike those dogs. Unlike the others…you have something they do not."
"What's that?" Sora asked. It's like this guy could—well—he lived in his heart. Of course, the guy could read his heart.
He was uncomfortable with someone who could decipher him so easily.
"You're light. What you desire…and me."
"You?" Sora knew what the guy was getting out. It drew another ominous chuckle from the guy.
"Yes. As a being of your heart..." He pointed to the Keyblade. "I know more about using a keyblade then probably anyone else you will encounter. After all, that weapon is a part of your heart as well. It can use both its light and its darkness. But even than that can do so much."
Sora hesitated. He felt…odd. He felt itchy just standing there. Like he knew he should trust the person claiming to be 'his darkness' but...
He had to find his friends.
Without them...
Without them...
"So, what do I need to do?" Sora asked, still cautious but willing to listen.
Vanitas wished he could sink claws in that boy. The helmet hid that malicious smile, it was almost like obtaining the X-blade! This ecstasy.
"Learn," The figure said like it was the simplest thing in the world, nigh a whisper. "I know it's tough to suck up that pride of yours, but that just makes you ignorant and allows the darkness, that which those heartless represent, to consume you. They feed on those who are ignorant. Those who think that they can completely control them."
The boy wondered if the figure was trying to say he was different from the heartless. How so? Was it because the masked figure was inside his heart?
Once again Vanitas struck deeper to Sora's motivations, "The real question is, what are you willing to do to be able to fight against which you are helpless against?"
Sora gritted his teeth. He knew, that this was dangerous. Everything about the figure was dangerous! Everything.
But…the guy wanted to help Sora…At least it seemed like it. He had to be careful. Very careful.
"What are you saying I should do?" Blue eyes watched the figure closely.
'Dumb but not that dumb. Already an improvement.' Vanitas thought before answering. "Me?" He said pointing to himself, "Well, I'm flattered you asked. If...your willing...When dealing with others...Use them."
"Use them?!" Sora was taken aback! That sounded like the wrong thing to do. The type of things that villains did!
The figure turned around. "I'm not saying to use them to do bad things or mistreat them…Unless they deserve it…But for most people, that's a sure way to get yourself into some deep trouble."
He turned back to Sora, "Merely, try to learn from them. They have resources you need. Skills, information, supplies, that sort of thing," He said all too casually. He pointed at the keyblade again. "If your hesitant about it, then I guarantee you, they'll be using you. In fact, they already are. Leon, Yuffie, Cid. They all have been using you for their own gain, don't you see?"
The shocked look Sora made soon turned into realization... and then the look that he already knew.
"That's right. That keyblade is an instant solution to dealing with heartless. The hearts are released, and they can't be turned back into darkness, and that means less heartless. Win, Win for a lot of folk. But what about you? Yeah," He began to walk around Sora who this time wasn't keeping his eyes on the figure, "It's a good thing to help other people, but it really doesn't help you in the long run. What about your islands? What about Riku? What about Kairi?"
He got a bit closer to Sora from behind. Not too close but enough, "No matter where you go, somebody will always be wanting to use you because your wield a keyblade. This time he got closer to Sora's ear, "So why not use them back?"
Sora jumped away realizing how close the figure had gotten. He was panting heavily; he didn't know why but his heartbeat was racing.
"I-I-"
"Look!" The figure said walking away again. "You don't have to answer me right away. Observe, give it some thought. In the end, only you can decide what to do."
The boy thought about it, about what the figure was saying, "What, do you get from this?"
A laugh greeted Sora, a slow soft laugh, "You actually care what I get?"
The figure faced Sora completely once again. Face unreadable for the mask only reflected Sora's face, "I want, for you—to not be an idiot."
He turned his back immediately right after that, "Get some rest Sora. You'll need it."
He said one more thing.
"I'll always be here when you need me."
The realm faded and Sora had a dream of him and his friends sitting on the pier of the island watching a sunset…
Before a storm overtook them.
End of Chapter 7
Once again thanks to mod B for the great edits. Hope I did the FF character justice.