Smile as cold as snow

8:45 a.m.

Los Angeles

Kurain Village

"I want to go to Olympus."

Birds chirped in the tranquil air of the village. Spiritual mediums in training shyly peeked at Sora when he went for walks and rushed to accommodate his every whim. The young girls wore a blush pink kimono and tottered on high geta sandals while the more experienced glided with a grace born from years of practice, personalized magatama dangling like precious jewels around their necks.

In the mountains, the biting chill of autumn nipped Sora's cheeks. Barely two days and he wanted to return.

"Are you missing Vanitas?" Wright teased, a clay cup balanced between his hands. "There is no need to hurry, you have to recover perfectly." Phoenix sipped a long draught of green tea and gazed into its liquid depths. "More tea?" he offered.

"It tastes horrible," Sora delivered. "Err... I mean... Ms. Maya didn't make it did she?" He guiltily glanced around and patted the borrowed silk scarf around his neck.

Grinning, Wright shook his head and emptied the tea on the grassy ground. "I'm fertilizing the grass," he said and Sora followed suit. "The acolytes learn ancient Tea ceremony practices along with their spiritual training. Tea is philosophical," Phoenix chuckled apathetically. "Look, the ground already absorbed it. The tea has gone back to its roots."

Sometimes, I worry about you Mr. Wright. Perhaps you never fully recovered from hitting that telephone pole.

"I miss Trucy's tea," Sora solemnly stated and ambled through the quiet, stone lined paths.

The Fey family compound stretched as far as the eye could see; a mini village within a village. The main mansion stood imposingly apart, a traditional building with lacquered roofs and a pagoda style gate. A wooden veranda wrapped around the house, its floors varnished to a mirror sheen. The heady aroma of incense burned morning and evenings, purifying the air with fragrant smoke.

"I wonder how she is doing." Wright wistfully scanned the horizon, smeared with fluffy clouds. "I hope she isn't setting her cape or any evidence on fire," he smiled fondly. "Stop worrying about your case," Phoenix admonished Sora who brought out a notepad, "it's been postponed. Your top priority is to recover."

A robin alighted on a bare tree branch and fixed the humans with beady eyes. It chirped a bright note before flitting away.

The night he arrived at Kurain, Sora began healing, clonking into a comatose sleep. By the next morning, he threw up again and to his relief, his irises reassumed the sky blue tint. He tried calling Vanitas and after several tries and a near breakdown, was informed by a timid trainee about the lack of cellphone reception. Sora briefly entertained notions of calling his twin on the primitive payphone, who the hell even used those? but Mr. Wright advised him against it.

He fidgeted with his scarf, the foreign material whispered against his skin. "I need to go to Olympus," he stressed and a gust of wind skimmed over the plains of grass. "I need to find the truth." Sora met Phoenix's mud blue irises. "I want to prove... I want to prove Keyblade wielders aren't as bad as everyone makes out them to be."

The late night glare of the screen reflected from Edgeworth's spectacles, he paused the Steel Samurai show and glowered darkly at the doors. The knocking insistently started again and sighing, he opened the doors, surprised by his old friend instead of Sebastian.

Wright did not ask for information per usual, instead, he slumped heavily on the couch, face a mask of worry. "Edgeworth," Phoenix rubbed his temples, "can you do me a favor?"

"If I start charging for all the favors I do for you," Miles crossed his arms, "I would be able to purchase another sports car."

His friend grinned. "Am I hearing the Steel Samurai theme?" Edgeworth scowled when Phoenix laughed. "It's an emergency." His irises sharpened. "Can you extend the trial by a week? The attorney..." he trailed off and the Miles tapped his finger anxiously when Wright's expression slackened.

Blank.

"...met with an accident." The blankness seeped into Wright's voice. "Thanks." Without waiting for confirmation, Phoenix got up and as abruptly as he arrived, left the chief prosecutor's chambers.

He barely recognized the green eyed lady crying on the day of Zack's murder.

Hazelnut brown hair tucked under a pilot's hat, Gainsborough conferred with a Gummi ship technician. A manual lock disengaged from the heavy, metal doors sealing the hangar from outer space and a team scurried around, charting flight patterns, checking the fuel and generally making a fuss.

Peeling his gaze off the pilot, Vanitas pressed a can of soda against Sora's cheek and squinted for any dark capillaries. His brother endured the inspection with a resigned smile, eyebrows arching at the hum of activity and the small spacecraft, quite unlike anything he's ever seen.

"How are you feeling?" Vanitas demanded. Sora's sudden reappearance back to Los Angeles angered him. Sure, he had work; he didn't have to risk his existence for it. "Are you sure there aren't any lingering pains?" Vanitas fussed and unwrapped a vending machine sandwich. "If I knew you'd return, I'd make lunch for you."

Gingerly touching his throat, Sora gratefully bit into the sandwich. "Apart from a sore throat from excessive vomiting, I'm fine," he placated. "I visited the infirmary before coming here," he shrunk when an overly colorful engine blasted to life, roaring a jet blue flame, "and she said I'm good to go."

Instead of the oily tang of exhaust fumes, the aroma of ripe blueberries perfused the hangar air.

"Why are you so insistent on proving Xemnas' innocence?" Vanitas angrily questioned. "The brat too." If anyone heard him refer to the Wind Mage as a brat, he would probably wake up in the infirmary, strapped to a bed. "You're sick, I'm sure your boss wasn't happy when you came here."

"The Gummi ship fuel smells like blueberries." Sora half listened to his twin's worried ranting. "Nox's car smells of mint candy. I remember you saying something about a world populated by anthropomorphic animals?"

"Sora-" Vanitas interjected with gritted teeth.

Pausing in his otiose commentary Sora scratched the back of his head. "When you were accused of murder, I didn't like it." A team of engineers, trailing a huge, plastic hose, scurried past. "You told me about Keyblade Wielders; how they risk their lives to maintain balance all while no one is ever thankful for what they do." Donald and Goofy teleported into the hangar and Sora waved exuberantly at them. "I'm afraid of people finding out I'm a Keyblade Wielder, but I don't want to be. I want to swing my weapon with the same pride you and Nox exhibit. I want to prove Ven couldn't be a murderer. That Keyblade wielders shouldn't be stigmatized. As for Xemnas, there... there," Sora stuttered when Aerith appeared before them.

"All aboard the Gummi ship!" she smiled cheerfully and saluted. Instead of standard uniform colors, a pastel pink aviator's jacket flattered her. "Make sure you are stocked with potions and elixirs for the journey," her glass green irises twinkled at Sora, who found an interesting spot on the concrete floor, "because Olympus is a dead planet, you won't find any place to purchase items." Spinning on her heel, she strode to the gleaming ship and boarded it.

Seizing Sora's forearm and flanked by his companions, Vanitas climbed the folding stairs. "What about Xemnas?" he persisted. His brother craned his neck as the blast doors opened, offering a precious glimpse of space. "Why are you so worked over him? He's the one who wanted you dead."

The scent of candy clashed with metal inside the ship. Snuggling in gummy-bear red seats, Goofy and Donald strapped themselves while Sora touched the surface of the upholstery and recoiled when it sank under his finger. I must sit in this? Vanitas crashed into a seat and rooted for a bottle of neon green potion. Buckling him in, Sora smirked before seating next to his brother.

"This is your pilot speaking," Aerith's voice breezed pleasantly over the speakers. "We will now depart for Olympus." A click sounded in the cockpit. "Please beware of monsters and interstellar heartless along the way." The blood in Sora's face drained and he instinctively grabbed the belt. "As well as stray asteroids and other unidentified technology shooting at us." Vanitas bared his teeth in appreciation. "Under no circumstances are you allowed to blast a hole in the ship and engage the enemy directly." The pilot chirped and all eyes turned to Vanitas.

He growled, "I never did that!"

Giggling airily, Gainsborough spoke again, "I'm joking Clavius." The ship moved forward. "This is exciting, I never had passengers before." A squeal of static before the speakers died.

"Are... are we going to be okay?" Sora squeaked. "Maybe I should keep a tally of the times I nearly died?" he moaned.

The gummi ship pulled forward and the walls of the hanger streaked by in a long, continuous blur. At the far end, the hangar doors opened completely and the ship ejected into the cosmos. The deafening roar of silence filled Vanitas' ears and he smiled when Sora stopped quivering and gawped at space idling by. A canvas of mauve, speckled with distant, pulsing stars unrolled before them. The ship accelerated, diving to the beautiful, golden husk of a micro-planet lazily orbiting Los Angeles.

Out of his seat, Vanitas pressed his face against the glass, below them swam their planet, in shades of green and blue. A moment later, his associates and Sora joined him as Los Angeles drifted further and further away. To Vanitas' horror, the Land of Dragons, which previously maintained a distance, now superimposed on their world, a quarter of the encroaching planet grew dark.

He desperately searched for Destiny Island. Crossing the aisle, he peered out of the opposite window and hissed when a giant heartless obscured his vision with murky limbs. The monster scratched the glass and Sora violently recoiled when the heartless tangled the ship.

"Passengers are advised to return to their seat, prepare for turbulence." The pilot's peppy tone did not match the atmosphere of giant monster strangling them in its fathomless, black limbs.

Hastily securing themselves, Sora gulped. "But there is no turbulence in space!" he agonized. "It's airless."

As if responding to his disbelief, the ship vibrated and rolled. The cannons mounted on the ship collectively aimed at the heartless and blasted light magic, and Vanitas cackled in glee. Sora blinked rapidly before a hazy smile inched across his lips.

"Space invaders!" he cheered and a shell dented the side of the monster. "Can I try?" Sora's eyes flicked towards the cockpit. "I'm good at shooting games."

Donald glowered at the Clavius twins. They hollered when a magic laser cut the creature in half. A troop of debris robots swarmed across the cosmos and scraped the gummi ship.

The ship rolled over. "I'm thinking the King is as insane as his brother," the duck quacked while fisting an armrest for dear life. Behind him, the Black Saint crowed and Sora's terrified scream stopped midway into full blown, hysterical laughter. "This isn't a game. Stop laughing!" Donald snapped at the two. "We'll die if the hull is breached."

"It's virtual Space Invaders." Sora ignored him. "But this isn't real space is it?" he frowned thoughtfully. After his initial shock at the talking, anthropomorphic duck and dog, Sora became good friends with them. "It's underground... like... like a second sight space?" he reasoned.

Goofy chuckled nervously when a giant gash appeared across his window.

"How about I stick your face out of the door and you can tell me if its space or not," Donald sarcastically stated. The King's lack of magical sense infuriated him, although, he appreciated how Sora never held offence for his crass speech.

Bristling, Vanitas reached for Donald's neck. "How about I boil you for soup?"

While the two yelled back and forth, peppering their speech with gratuitous death threats and curses; Sora and Goofy exchanged a treatise on the wonders of space. The dog clasped Sora's shoulders when the gummi ship abruptly ducked and spiraled. Donald flapped, his feathers raining to the floor while Vanitas, unbalanced by the sudden change, flailed his arms and smacked into the side of the ship.

The Gummi ship docked at an open air, disused hanger crawling with ivy and preyed by vegetation. Above them, loomed the majestic peak of Mount Olympus.

06:30 p.m.

Olympus

Gate to the Palace

What am I wearing?

Shrieking in embarrassment, Sora protectively crossed his arms over his chest, cheeks flooding bright pink.

My... my... you can see my...

"Vanitas!" he screeched for his brother, strutting around in a sheer white chiton and leather sandals. "I want to go back home!" Sora whined and flushed when Aerith stepped out of the ship, like a goddess gracing the land. A golden armband encircled his bicep and panicking, he gathered the flowing fabric protectively in front of his chest.

His brother sauntered over. A bird stopped grooming to ogle Vanitas. "Let me help you," he graciously offered.

"Isn't there any other clothes I can wear? I don't want to wear this," Sora petulantly stated. "It feels like it will unravel if I walk too fast. Where is my muffler?"

Carefully arranging the pleats to cover his brother's dignity, Vanitas growled in frustration when they refused to hold. "I can't make it hold without pins," he tightened the sash around Sora's waist, "maybe I should give you my clothes too."

"You wanna walk around naked?" his twin scathed. "Wonderful. Go distract the lady over there."

The Sea Queen materialized at the tall, golden gates barring the entrance to the palace. Her eyes hovered somewhere between gold and sky blue. "Visitors are not welcome," she intoned and summoned a Keyblade. "Please leave."

Clang!

Metal rang on metal and Sora clutched his hair.

Why can't things go my way for once?

Two Become One in hand, Vanitas grinned predatorily and threw his entire weight behind his Keyblade. Aqua coolly braced the smirking individual at arm's length. "We came for Ventus," he explained and backed away, before whirling around and assaulting her with a flurry of lightning quick attacks. "My brother, the King, wanted to see him."

Don't bring my King status into this!

An ebony halo glittered on the young man's raven locks and Aqua parried his blows, strike for strike without moving an inch from her spot. Respect seeped like smoke into the man's golden eyes and putting some distance between them, he dematerialized his Keyblade.

And summoned another one.

The turquoise eyes on the dark Keyblade swiveled to Aqua. He powered a dark cannon, his smile widening when she refused to move.

A beam of dark, glimmering energy ripped from the weapon and Aqua jerked her head to the side. The dark cannon mangled the gates and fizzed apart. The Sea Queen rubbed the graze on her cheek.

She lunged, her Keyblade crackled with frost, and whipped Vanitas across his face.

Startled, he scrambled back and wildly threw Void Gear, covered in flames.

Slicing the blade out of the way, Aqua stabbed Stormfall on the ground and a powerful surge of ice leaped from the weapon, flash freezing everything in its vicinity and shackling Vanitas' legs. He kicked and set the ice on fire. To his dismay it refused to melt.

Using the tip of his keyblade, he freed himself a split second before the Sea Queen honed on him. Teleporting beside her, he released a barrage of homing, dark spheres and they smashed against a barrier cloaking her. Appearing out of thin air, Vanitas sucked a breath through his teeth when her fingers wrapped around his ankle. He laughed when she swung him around before hurling him against the gates.

Mouth open, Sora covered his eyes when Vanitas streaked through the air.

He disappeared before hitting the golden bars.

"You're my type!" he hollered and dodged when she tossed her keyblade at him. Frost edged the blade and it whistled back, dangerously close to his neck. Sliding across the ice, Vanitas barely ducked in time as the cobalt blue keyblade swerved towards him. Gritting teeth, he jumped, Void Gear poised to stab the defenseless Sea Queen rooted in the middle of the ice-field, directing her Keyblade with her hands.

She did not bother turning.

Void Gear bounced off a reflective shield. A thundara incinerated his left arm and Vanitas cursed under his breath. Scrambling back, he cracked the frost caking the ground and glared at the Sea Queen.

"You fight well," she intoned. "Now please leave."

"I'm not leaving!" he snarled. Smoky glass obscured his vision and his chiton suffocated under the organic black and red bodysuit. "Not until I force you to move away from those gates."

Metal crashed against each other and trailed sparks. Stormfall in one hand, Aqua dignifiedly defended her post, mouth parting in surprise at the obstinate Keyblade wielder raining blows on her. Strange, her arm and legs ached.

Wreathed in lightning, Vanitas struck low and Void Gear sheared against the barrier, cutting it apart. He smirked victoriously when the Sea Queen's impassive expression flickered to disbelief, and drove his Keyblade in.

The Black Saint slumped.

Ack! No, no, no! What happened?

Aerith lowered a dart gun. "Tifa told me to use this when he becomes unruly."

She tucked it into her jacket and a staff whirled in her hand when the Sea Queen mercilessly raised her weapon. Panicking, Sora tore across the field and hastily summoned a triple firaga. A hypnotic ball of waves roiled atop the Sea Queen's head. Water dancing to ice, cascading back to water. Her motif. Arms outstretched, he skidded to a stop before his slumped twin.

"Please don't hurt him!" Sora pleaded. The firaga did not even distract the woman. "He gets excited when he meets someone strong." Donald and Goofy arrived to the rescue, staff and shield clutched respectively.

The cold tip of the Keyblade hovered an inch apart from Sora's chest. His scars prickled.

"Sora." Aqua broke into a smile and Stormfall vanished.

Letting his arms drop and muttering a prayer of thanks, Sora crouched to Vanitas and yanked the dart protruding from his twin's pale neck. "How... how did you know..." he stuttered.

At her touch, the gates swung open. "Ven talks about you a lot," Aqua explained, her eyes settling into a warm, rich blue. "We don't get visitors," her voice rasped huskily. "I'm afraid we don't have tea... only candy." She laughed before her pleasant features settled into an emotionless mask. "I'm not sure if Ventus is awake." The group climbed the winding path to the distant Castle stationed on top of the mountain. "He's not feeling well lately."

The remains of grand temples filtered by. Marble pagodas, frescos bleached by the sun. Grass poked their stubborn heads through cracks, moss grew plentiful, degrading illustrious buildings into rubble.

Supported between Goofy and Sora, Vanitas shook his head, clearing the sluggish grip of dizziness, he shot a poisoned look at Aerith, chatting blissfully with the Sea Queen and rubbed his stinging neck. "Isn't there an elevator or a tram to take us up?" he grumbled. "My legs are numb."

He stumbled over a loose cobblestone, a colony of ants swarmed away.

The Sea Queen stopped and Sora squeaked, hand reaching for a muffler he did not have. "I'm afraid we don't have transportation systems. We-" she abruptly paused, "normally used our Keyblade gliders to move around. You don't have such a thing?"

"If I did, I wouldn't be slogging through this heat and grass now would I?"

"You are able to teleport," Aqua prompted. "You may go ahead-"

"I'm not worried about myself!" Vanitas cut in, "I'm worried about him!" he gestured to Sora. "He... he's sick."

The group steadily moved upwards; Aerith took off her pilot's hat and her brown hair waved with the breeze. Trying to enjoy the experience of entering another world, Sora gave up on smoothing the chiton over his chest, he decided these people won't make fun of his scars and savored the world totally devoid of humans. Nature mightily vanquished manmade structures. Vines wrapped tenderly around half-standing pillars, lovingly strangling them to dust.

The Sea Queen halted pensively, her hair shone a beautiful silver blue under the sun. The painting doesn't do her justice, Sora thought. "Can any of you fly?" she further asked.

Hmm... never checked, perhaps I should throw myself off a cliff and see.

"Never checked, maybe I should throw myself off a cliff and see," Vanitas sarcastically replied.

"Donald can fly can't he?" Sora stepped between his flippant brother and the Sea Queen before she exhausted her good humor. "No Ms.-" he mumbled, "we can't fly."

A hushed silence, shattered by Aerith's delighted observations, trailed the hiking team. In the golden sky, studded by cotton candy white clouds, Los Angeles seeped in as orange outlines. Organization XIII's building towered from the streets. A tangerine road cut through an impenetrable olive grove.

Out of breath and refusing his brother's polite insistence to carry him, Sora arrived before the palace. Plaster fell in chunks. A long faded banner fluttered on the ramparts and ivy crawled over exposed bricks. He trooped after the excitingly chattering group, eyes lingering on a stone cistern, now brown with dust and water stains. A cool, damp air brushed his skin when he entered the main gate and climbed a spiral staircase to the vestibule.

The palace reeked of neglect. Of death. Of cold walls and freezing halls where nothing but dust devils drifted. The Sea Queen listlessly apologized, her metal lined boots briefly clicking against a once beautiful, gold veined floor; the marble tiles ended a quarter of the way and Sora lifted one with his leather sandal, nose scrunching when a flood of heartless... or unversed? seeped from under the tile. Without looking, Aqua slayed them with a thunder and they puffed into shadows.

They entered the vestibule, an arched, glassless window overlooked the dead planet. A blonde boy sat at the table and raised his head from his work.

A needle and thread glinted in his hands.

"Sora!" Ventus exclaimed like a child meeting his favorite person. A flutter of wind gusted along when he tackled Sora into a hug while Vanitas frowned, displeased. "I'd never thought you'd come visit me!" He smiled his flowers and sunshine smile. "I went to the amusement park with Aqua," he laced his hands behind his head, "and we rode the teacup and the roller coaster!"

The cape...

"And I ate a lot of candy floss," Ven chirped happily. "And popcorn and ice-cream!" He grabbed Sora's arm much to Vanitas' spiking irritation and grinned innocently at the raven haired Clavius. "Who's this?"

The cape, it's the same color as the scraps of cloth I found at the crime scene...

"I'm his brother." Brat. "Sora doesn't like people clinging to him," Vanitas pointedly stated and a thin grin surfaced on Ven's face before he radiated sunshine.

"I don't mind him," Sora distractedly replied, patting the blonde curls.

Traitor!

"I didn't know you had a brother." Letting go of Sora, Ventus flitted to the little round table and with an aeroga, blasted everything to the corners while Aqua sighed like an overworked mother. "Let's play Command Board." The boy placed magical dice and a game board. "Sora," he tilted his head concernedly, "your chest."

Suddenly self-conscious, Sora crossed an arm over the scarred skin. "I... er... got mugged." Ventus pouted angrily. "It's okay, I'm fine now." I'm coping. "In any case," he crossed to a corner and poked the cape, is this yours?"

Please say it isn't.

"Yep!" Ven answered. "It's from my Keyblade armor; it tore so I'm sewing it. Is something wrong?" his voice deepened.

The cape whispered silk between Sora's fingers. Rust pecked the luxurious, cream fabric around the edges. "Did..." the words clogged Sora's throat, "did you go to Organization XIII?"

Ventus' irises flashed gold, completely sweeping aside the dreamy blue tint like it never existed. "Yes. I said I would visit." A derisive smirk curled across his angelic face. "I wanted to meet someone," he dropped into a chair, "and they refused to tell me," he scratched his head. "Turns out, they made a clone out of me without my permission. I got angry!" Ventus grabbed the dice and flashes of green light played in his closed palm.

When he opened it, neat slices of the dice fell on the board.

"You... you committed murder," Sora gasped. The world spun to a stop. This wasn't happening.

Ventus' lips pulled into sinful grin. "I heard Roxas nearly killed you, I'm sorry I wasn't there." His face crumpled into genuine sorrow. "But with the scientist gone, they can't make any more clones." His eyes pulsed gold, an abhorrent color. "I asked for Xehanort if, he told me where he was, Marluxia wouldn't have to die."

A crushing weight steamrolled across his ribs. Sora shared a panicked glance with Vanitas. "Ven, you need to go to court... to... to confess your crimes."

"Are you telling me what to do?" Gone was the cherubic, sunshine boy, replaced by the shadow of something cruel and deeply dangerous. "I'm not going to any court. What is court anyway?"

Ticking to a metronome of her own, Aerith explained the court and law system to Ven. His eyes lightened, the innocence returning, and like a moody storm, his irises flashed gold. Thunderous.

"I didn't do anything wrong." Ventus fluttered a second dice across his fingers. "And if I refuse to go, are you going to force me?" He smiled at Sora, grin inching wider when Vanitas bristled.

"...Why are you doing this?" Sora stiffened in fear. Nothing scared him more than this ancient boy, his cranium buzzing with centuries of knowledge. "I'm not good with people but when you spoke to me that day on the bench, it felt like... like I was talking to an old friend." Sora clenched his hands. "Why did you kill them in the first place? Your actions are going to put someone innocent in jail!"

What played through Ventus' mind as he wrecked the entirety of Organization XIII on his own?

His own...

The Wind Mage. No wonder the KBWA feared and respected him greatly. They had every right to.

"They are holding someone precious to me hostage." Ven blasted a chair to Sora, who wobbled, weak at his knees. "Sit," he commanded and Sora timidly collapsed. "It's not my problem if one of the Organization members go to jail," he snickered. "Jail is a comfortable option compared to what I'll do to them."

A fierce wind knocked over the table. Outside, the tempest howled.

"Go away," Ventus hissed. "You're annoying me."

The stark terror painted on Sora's face brought on a wave of queasiness in Ventus' stomach.

He refused to acknowledge the King; who gripped Vanitas' forearm like his life depended on it. A myriad of emotions clouded Sora's eyes, most of them denial. Ventus wanted to laugh at the King's naivety. The brother glowered at him venomously.

The Wind Mage's eyes softened. "Please leave me alone," he requested. "Sora... you..." remind me of myself, "were good to talk to. But I'm not returning to Los Angeles." Painful memories beat their wings against his skull. "People are disappointing. Some of them," a meteor shower at a low wall, the skies streaked with stars. A promise to himself, "are worth burning the world down for." He smiled.

A comforting hand pressed against his head. "Ven," Aqua murmured. "Don't."

He beamed at her, his features cherubic. "And some people are worth stopping time for." Ventus' eyelids drooped, a doll running out of batteries. "And there are some," his dull blue irises flicked to golden eyed Vanitas, "are worth corrupting yourself for."

Again the ungodly sneer.

"Leave me alone." He buckled into the Sea Queen's arms. "I want to sleep."

Words

Mid-morning

Middle school

Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.

Heh!

Self-pity hardened into a ball of resentment in the pit of Sora's stomach. He glowered at the bigger boys and the jeering girls from underneath his lashes and wrapped his arms over his head.

An older child grabbed a tuft of his spiky hair and pulled; Sora whimpered. Bruises mapped his arms. Another boy pulled off his socks and shoes and kicked them away. A soda can full of concrete chips narrowly missed his face and bounced against the chain link fence.

A black blur charged across the playground. Sora smiled in relief and instantly had fingers hooked in his mouth.

"What are you smiling at Clavius?" the girl sneered.

He swallowed. Vanitas... you all better start praying.

His brother launched himself at the biggest bully with a baseball bat he snatched from a classmate. The bat cracked. Spitting curses, he hurled the half-bat and it hit a girl. She squealed. Snatching a handful of hair from an escaping bully, Vanitas smashed his face in the ground, expression screwed into a furious frown.

"Say you're sorry or I'll break your jaw," he threatened.

Afterschool found Sora leaning his aching cheek on Vanitas' head. His brother carried him home.

"What are you smiling about?" Vanitas snorted at a couple of underclassmen gawking at him.

"I wonder..." Sora's smile instantly vanished, "how long will I continue waiting for you to save me."

A/N: Evil Ventus! I enjoyed twisting the precious baby, the inspiration of course, comes from Birth by Sleep, except, Ven is perverse, rather than being corrupted by Vanitas.

Read and review and tell me what you think.