Vanitas

Vanitas could sense it.

The throbbing pain, the silent anger, the unfathomable sorrow, and the overwhelming guilt. And underneath it all, the terror of the unknown.

Vanitas was familiar with all these emotions. He's lived, or rather, suffered with it for as long as he had been conscious. For quite some time, those were the only emotions he'd felt after being ripped away from his other half.

He longed to be put back together, writhing in the darkness reaching for a light that he cannot hold nor call for. He then realized that his heart was made of nothing but pure darkness. It brewed within him like a massive storm fighting to burst out and destroy everything in its path. In the beginning that was exactly what it could do.

Vanitas created the Unversed in his suffering, unable to control nor command them. As he was barely a person then, not even thinking, simply feeling, the creatures he birthed creatures that devoured him, seduced by the very emotions that made them, everytime he cried out in pain. He was broken, built back up again, then ripped apart repeatedly. It was a cycle that Vanitas never forgot.

He became obsessed to regain his other half. He wanted what he had. His life, his friends, his freedom. He wanted to be Ventus because he loathed what was left behind; himself. They had to be one so he could escape this fate, however, time and time again, he and his friends kept that from him. Stopped him from being happy. Defeated.

Vanitas returned to someplace dark after his initial defeat. It was dark, but there wasn't any suffering. It was… calm and peaceful, like sleeping without the fear of being picked apart by his own demons. For a time, Vanitas slumbered silently, enjoying this peace - wherever it may be.

And then, Xehanort happened. Again.

He was brought back. Somehow. In a puppet made for him, and one he could freely use for another chance to reunite with his heart. Just as he was reborn, so was the emotions that made him. They resided in him once again, eating up at his core and birthing more Unversed. His experience in the past allowed him to better control and understand them. They were far more powerful than the ones he used to have.

With them, Vanitas was certain he could merge with Ventus completely, and that blue haired lady friend of his won't stand in his way this time. At least, that's what he thought until he found the boy housing Ventus' heart.

A boy that mirrored his own face. A reflection that Vanitas hated for no reason in the beginning but now understood why. This was the boy that kept Ventus from him. Oh, he so wanted to ruin the brat when they crossed blades in that fear factory, but the Xehanort that lingered in his heart reminded him that they needed the kid alive.

The emotions he sensed reminded him a lot of his own life, but Vanitas hadn't bothered comprehending these emotions since he's learned to live and ignore it. So it intrigued him, when he sensed all these similar emotions elsewhere in the castle. It was struggling to keep itself contained and Vanitas was curious enough to search for it.

He hasn't met anyone like him after all.

The Unversed skittered around him, frantic and hungry the nearby feast. Taste it, and devour it like they did him. He followed them silently from behind, feeling around the energy sharpen, and grow more aggravated by his presence, almost like walking in a room decorated with thousands of needles that pricked his skin the closer he got.

Vanitas struck down any Unversed that became too rowdy from feeding off the residuals and felt the energy he dispensed making them seep back into him. It enhanced his senses and awareness, allowing him to follow the trail of energy on his own. Vanitas soon found himself in a large hall similar to that of the Round Room. Instead of towering seats, the room had multiple viewing decks accessible from various floors in the castle

The first he saw upon entering the hall were two black coats on the opposite end of the room, whom he endearingly calls the bitch and the scientist. Seeing them together was nothing new. They were former colleagues after all, but he wasn't aware they were at that level of confidence with each other, standing that close and spending their free hours together.

Vanitas followed their gaze to the open field below and gaped at the darkness storm happening before his eyes. Ominous clouds of purple and black, occasionally sparking in a terrifying white light, filled the room. It thrashed about, howling winds mimicking the rage and screams of its source, hidden and caged inside its ring.

He could barely make out the movement of someone or something in the heavy clouds of violet, until he heard a metallic clink of a large weapon. Another coated man with pink hair was pushed out of the storm, with the darkness following after him poised to attack as though defending its host. The pink hair did not retreat and instead tackled the darkness head on once again with his own darkness infused weaponry.

With the swing of his scythe, the darkness melted away showing glimpses of hair and the stature of a child Vanitas almost forgot. He grinned behind his mask, elated at the sight of his brethren awakening to the power he'd sensed in them earlier; hungry and raw, willing to be used.

The little miscreant was made from darkness like him. They didn't appear to be missing a part like Vanitas did, and instead had their two halves be codependent with each other. One could not live without the other, but looking at it deeply, Vanitas sensed that the darkness greatly overpowered the light.

It was unclear whether the child was their own person or they were someone or something like him, a being ripped out from its other half, robbed from the warmth and feeling of being whole and basked in the light, and thus was left as a rotting carcass of misery and hate. A being made of Darkness itself. Regardless of what they were, Vanitas was certain of one thing, and that was the child did not know how to control their gift.

The air around them started to calm. The prickling sensation mellowed down to light taps of the darkness that was still eager to fight. The familiar emotions of pain, anger, and guilt simmered down, leaving behind this disgusting and ravenous desire to belong. A sense of loneliness that ate them up from the inside, bothered by the fact that they couldn't connect with anyone around them.

Vanitas breathed, reminded of the very same emotion he woke up to when he first gained consciousness. Alone and scared.

The energy born from this emotion stuck close to the child's arm as though protecting them. Vanitas seethed at the reminder. Of all the abhorrent feelings he's suffered through the years, longing was the worst. It made him feel weak and useless, and reminded him of the times he's spent crying himself to sleep.

Seeing the child's darkness reduced to basic yearning like that unnerved him. They were very much alike, and the way the kid was now, Vanitas hated seeing someone he hated. Vanitas turned away.

"Magic!?"

Multiple homing projectiles chased after the taller man, who cut through them with his weapon. The child advanced, taking the opportunity to fight back with what looked like an incomplete keyblade in their hand.

Vanitas paused, rethinking his exit and stayed a little bit longer. Ansem mentioned that the kid was a keyblade wielder, and that they only successfully summoned it once. Putting two and two together, the scientist and the bitch were trying to pull out the kid's keyblade with minimal success. Even with the burst of energy a while ago, the kid could only control a portion of their power, and only managed to form the outline of a weapon.

Vanitas wielded the same weapon so he knew what it took to craft it from the darkness. Whatever these idiots were trying was not it.

The kid swung their invisible weapon on a metallic pin and summoned a large, white and purple gravity orb that sucked in everything that dared enter its space. Their opponent narrowly avoided its vacuum but lost his weapon into the void. The mass scorched the ground then burst out in a white light, throwing both of them on opposite ends of the hall.

The older male picked himself up, blowing some hair off his face, but the child remained on the ground. The darkness on their arm seeped through the floor as it disappeared.

Vexen darted out of the room, tablet in hand and rambling on about data while Larxene jumped over the ledge and lightly slapped the child's face to wake them. When they didn't, Vanitas scoffed, unimpressed.

Two days.

The child was in their so-called 'hibernated' state for two whole days. Vanitas hovered around the room where Vexen kept the kid for monitoring, silently watching and mulling over whether or not he should offer his aid. After all, the first time he met the kid, they were on the verge of death's door. He forced some of his own darkness unto the kid to revive them but was denied - or so he thought.

According to Vexen's data, the child repurposed it to be their own, eating it up and using it as fodder to heal whatever was broken and was preventing them from waking. When Vexen found him yesterday, the scientist was adamant about kicking him out the room, fearing that Vanitas would do the same method again.

They knew what the child needed, but Vexen wanted to study how fast the child would recover the darkness they've used to either defend or fight. Vanitas hated waiting, but fortunately for them, the child didn't need long.

The child's eyes fluttered open while Vanitas figured out this game device that Larxene threw his way to pass the time while he 'babysat'.

The child looked at him with a confused yet intrigued frown on their face. Vanitas was used to it. It's not everyday that people woke up to being greeted by a man in a full body suit and mask. Still, the look on the kids face irked him for some reason. The innocence behind their eyes hid everything that they were capable of with the darkness' aid. It was irritating.

"What are you looking at?"

The kid flinched but didn't say anything. Instead they picked up a pen and paper then wrote something down. They crossed over a few letters that Vanitas didn't recognize, although he felt like they were letters he should know. It was like that grating feeling at the back of your head when you forget something important but can't for the life of you remember no matter how hard you try. Regardless, Vanitas managed to read the next badly written letters that followed after it.

'Who are you.'

"Vanitas. What? Don't remember me? I gave you a little something of mine when you first got here. You're alive because of me."

The child tilted their head and Vanitas stood up, walking over to the former and the latter ran to hide behind a desk. "Heard you have a keyblade?" Vanitas equipped Void Gear to his side and experimentally swung it around. The child watched the blade closely, clearly familiar with the weapon.

Vanitas suddenly shoved the blade towards the child, stopping just inches away from their nose. The child stumbled back, terrified. "Summon it."

The child glanced between him and the blade and shook their head. Vanitas moved the blade closer and the child flinched, raising their hand as though to say something. They picked up the paper and pen again and wrote 'It hurts. The darkness keeps me alive. I can't use it to fight or I'll die.'

Vanitas scoffed. "So? You're afraid of dying. Is that it?"

The child frowned, looking away from the truth.

"How pathetic. You and I-" he grabbed the kid's collar and pulled them close enough to meet their eyes. Vanitas' hair fell around his face as he lowered his mask, golden eyes glowing as bright as the sun.

"You and I," he repeated. "Are born of Darkness. Every waking hour I feel the same as you. Everyday is torture and pain. I move because I am not weak. I will never be tied down by something as stupid as that. I am not some pitiful creature in need of saving. And you -" Vanitas chuckled. "Are no different. You want to leave this place right?"

The child breathed, listening.

"If you can summon your keyblade, you can fight your way out of here." He tossed the child back to the ground. "You could be free. You can find a place where you belong. Isn't that what you really want?"

The child's mouth trembled, seemingly ready to answer him aloud, until Larxene walked in, calling out Vanitas with his keyblade out.

"Hey! Don't come in here to fight," she scolded the taller keyblade wielder. "Duck here literally just woke up, Vexen's going to kill you if he found out you made them hibernate again."

Vanitas released his keyblade and raised his hands in the air in defeat. "I'd like to see that nerd try. Come find me when you've made up your mind."

He left in a flurry of shadows, leaving Larxene and the kid in the lab. "Jeez, who'd have thought that brat looked like Sora of all people. No fucking wonder I hated that bastard."

The child stared at the place where Vanitas disappeared then at their hand, curling it tightly as though to hold a weapon they supposedly owned.

You could be free.

You could belong.

Isn't that what you want?

Vanitas clapped his hands as the kid approached him with their answer.

'Can you really help me.'

"Of course I can. I wouldn't have offered if I couldn't. I'm not some miracle worker or some know-it-all that pretends to know what to do with you."

The child sighed. 'Vexen would be against this.'

"No he wouldn't. He let roses almost cut you to pieces. He'd be on board with this if we told him."

'Why didn't you.'

Vanitas scrunched his nose. "Doesn't matter. I'm not going to do anything different anyway. Save for maybe one thing."

The child tilted his head, their common gesture of a question, and Vanitas smiled as his mask covered his whole face again. "I am actually going to kill you." He swung Void Gear across the child's chest, which the kid narrowly avoided by stumbling back. He struck the blade down between their legs, cutting off a piece of the kid's designated black coat.

The child kicked the blade away and scrambled to a run.

Vanitas laughed and fired a single fireball infused with darkness to cut off the kid's escape. It burned a good portion of the wall, not quite melting it, but it left a very terrifying scorch mark on it, cluing in the kid just how dangerous and serious their opponent was.

"Can't run or call for help, kid. That'd be cheating." He raised the keyblade over his head, taking on a fighting stance, and goaded the child to try their luck.

The child turned to face him, annoyance clearly painted on their face as they searched the room for other escape routes. They raised their hand, calling forth the weapon that answered their call through small flickers of light that danced around their fingers.

Vanitas noted their intense focus but wasn't the type to give his opponents time to breathe. He rushed forward, slashing multiple times, disappearing and reappearing in places unexpected. The child fumbled around, disoriented as they were cut along the arms, chest, and legs. Vanitas kicked them to their stomach and rested the tip of the keyblade on their head.

"Pathetic. At least make the fight interesting for me."

The child clicked their tongue and swiped their hands at Vanitas. A small cloud of purple trailed behind their hand, indicating their heightened awareness of the power they held. Vanitas pulled back and swung at them again, and the child avoided it with well practiced ease.

Vanitas wasn't surprised. If the child was a warrior, they should've had some form of training. At least they knew how to run. Vanitas melded into the ground, shocking the kid as he disappeared. The kid tried to make a run for the door but Vanitas jumped out in front of them, swinging their blade across their head. The kid stopped just in time to avoid it, but couldn't defend themself from the a volley of dark firaga orbs that fell around them as Vanitas ascended from the ground.

The magic burned through their coat which provided some form of protection blades or magic. Despite this, the heat could still be felt through the cloth and the child screamed, cradling his arms as the fire ate their arm. They frantically tried to put it out by lightly tapping their black gloved hands then swung their good arm at Vanitas.

Vanitas simply blocked it with his keyblade, the eye at the hilt of his blade seemingly glowed as the child noticed it. A flicker of recognition flashed around the child's eyes before they lunged another fist at Vanitas who slashed through them again.

The child ran again, seeking shelter behind one of the many tables in the room. As they did, Vanitas saw them reaching out into thin air, calling out to the orbs of light once again. Unfortunately, before they could hide themselves the child choked on power they couldn't handle and fell forward, clutching their chest and heaving.

Vanitas scoffed, finding the struggle rather pathetic.

He raised his blade again and relentlessly struck his blade in the air, white blades coated in a black glow rushed its way towards the kid. The first two strikes urged the kid to move to safety, the third threw them off balance, and the fourth sliced through an arm, and the last one cut a table in half.

Ansem would probably scold him for that but Vanitas didn't really care.

The child pressed a trembling hand on their bleeding limb and once again ran for cover. Vanitas followed after them once again melting into the ground. Vanitas jumped high, showering the child with another rain of fireballs.

The child swung their arm above their head, coated in light to call forth the blade and defend themself but failed. The fire ate through their gloves, and the remaining fire sent them back, smoking from the heat. A light whimper came from the kid's throat as they shook like a lost, terrified kitten.

Vanitas warped above them, slamming Void Gear centimeters away from their head, then kicked the kid to upright. He jabbed a heavy foot on the child's stomach, sending the latter in a coughing fit. "Are you fucking with me right now? Do you really want to die so bad?"

The child grappled with Vanitas' leg, too weak to move it. Vanitas hummed, hovering the tip of his blade closely unto the child's chest to where the heart lay. "Maybe death is actually mercy for someone like you."

The child's breathing grew harsher and faster, horrified by the mere idea of death. They pushed against the blade, refusing to back down and accept their fate. "N - No…!"

"Hah! Would you look at that?! You aren't an insignificant mute after all," he said as he gathered magic around his blade. The small flame scorched through the first layer of fabric on the child's coat, and they screamed.

"Show me all your darkness."

The child yelled, calling forth some of the darkness they supposedly couldn't control. It burst around them like a protective dome that forced Vanitas to stand back. He quickly closed their distance running his blade from the ground and striking in a wide swing. The child ducked under it and swiped their legs under Vanitas.

Vanitas caught himself in a cartwheel and stuck again. The child stepped to the side and grabbed the hilt with their bleeding hand. Their eyes met, irises blown wide from the adrenaline of the fight. Vanitas was enjoying this and if he looked closely, the child too, in their own fearful way.

He laughed again as the child refused to let go of the only weapon available between them. Vanitas backed away, letting the child keep the weapon. The child stumbled back unprepared for his retreat and was kicked across the chest. They fell to the ground but kept holding the weapon.

They ran as far away with it as they could before chucking out a medal.

Vanitas recalled his blade before the child could swing it towards the magic medal. They were summoning the keyblade not magic. That was cheating. In a flash, the weapon was back on Vanitas' hand, but it didn't stop the spell from being activated.

Five or six large flaming boulders appeared from the dark cloud emitted by the spell, and multiple fiery meteor fell overhead. The ground shook as the first boulder crashed into the castle. Vanitas clicked his tongue. That bitch and the scientist would surely know something was up now.

Still, Vanitas didn't see any reason to stop while things we're heating up. He easily weaved through the barrage then fired a lone fireball. He's only seen this level of spell casting done by one person - that blue haired friend of Ventus; and Vanitas was certain it was a high level spell. He didn't know how to cast it, and Ventus not Terra certainly didn't know either. For a child of this size and, possibly, age to be able to cast it as effortlessly as they did reflected just how much experience and magic this child held.

If they can retrieve more of their forgotten skill, the kid would be a great addition to their war against the warriors of light.

They jumped for cover behind another meteor as Vanitas' spell closed in. Behind the meteors the child once again struggled to summon their blade. Vanitas leapt high up into the air and threw another fireball which then split apart into smaller orbs of fire.

The child took the hit disgracefully, dropping to the floor and exhausting whatever fight they had left. Vanitas rushed forward slashing multiple times, leaving behind projections of himself coated in shadow. The child took a couple of more hits head on, and was thrown across the floor by the ice that came along with the final hit.

Vanitas laughed as the child, beaten, bruised, and bloodied, with their coat cut in several places and burned, forced themselves to stand. They wobbled on their shaky feet and attempted for the nth time to summon their keyblade.

The light exploded in their hand like sharp spindles, piercing the child's arms and body. They fell to their knees but refused to give up. They kept their hand outstretched until the monochrome lights took on a more iridescent glow.

Vanitas' eyes narrowed, elated when purple and red mist fluttered about the child's dominant arm and the iridescent light turned into blue and violet mist. It took form before them, starting with a dark purple handle and a golden tip.

Taking hold of it, the child brandished their keyblade with new found strength. It was a double-edged blade with a black shaft. It was spiralled with a dark red metal adorned with three, four-pointed stars of silver. A broken, gold half sun sits atop the blade, segmenting a star with three layers of gold, dark purple and silver and what looks like a trail of stardust.

The child changed their stance, their wounds forgotten. They held the blade with two hands in front of them. They looked like they knew what they were doing. However, Vanitas knew better. This was simply instinct and muscle memory. Beneath it all, the child was exhausted. Their breathing was already shallow and deep, clearly drained from summoning their weapon.

Vanitas raised his blade, finally on even grounds with the child. He rushed forward first, striking with a forward slash, which the child anticipated with a back hand block. He glitched out of space, leaving behind a specter of himself as a distraction. The child cut through it and blocked the next attack; already familiar with this attack after seeing it for the third time.

The child ran forward, their new blade raised high above their head. Vanitas surged to meet them, arms poised to stab the stupid kid with his blade straight through their heart. Suddenly three sharp knives pierced the ground between them and flashed a blinding yellow.

Vanitas turned away, clicking his tongue as the kid's caretakers arrived before he could get to the fun part. Ice crawled up his legs, keeping him in place and unable to move.

"I LEAVE YOU ALONE, FOR TEN MINUTES!" the nerd screamed. His voice cracked at the sight of his prized lab possession bloodied and bruised and was immediately at their side, looking at their arm and burned hands. "What have you done?!"

Vanitas rolled his eyes. "Nothing different from what you did. I was just far more persuasive."

"Persuasive enough to almost kill them!? I don't know what you plan to achieve by bullying the weapon out of them. We've tried with the best possible member we have at our current disposal and even then U.E passed out. If you forced it out again -" Vexen breathed "- they may enter another hibernation far longer than the last!"

Vanitas rolled his eyes at the scientist's outburst. "I don't need to explain myself to a madman like you. Why don't you show them, kid? Least you want it beaten out of you again."

The child meekly called for the keyblade, light gathering at their fingers before the luminous glow turned into purple and red mist, forming into a very visible and solid keyblade.

Vexen stood still, marveling at the keyblade while Larxene blinked, at a loss for words.

The blonde chuckled. "Who'd have thought, the dark Sora clone actually did it."

A/N: Honestly didn't think I'd be uploading the next one so soon. Guess it's a trend for me to drop chapters back to back before disappearing in a year or so HAHAHAHHA. I've always planned for Vanitas to be the reason the key kid gets their keyblade back. Idk, seems fitting. Also yes, the keykid's blade did change from the one they summoned during the Ansem encounter. It's a recolored starlight, which basically has the color scheme of Void Gear. I do love me some dark red and purples.

That's all for this chapter. See you next time! Sushi out.