I did it finally! I finally got this chapter done woohoo! Sorry for the wait I just got a little stuck on the story but also started writing a bunch of other things and updating other things and school and all that other work stuff. But I'm back with the story. Thank you to everyone who's been reading the story I hope you've all been enjoying this and let's get on to the next chapter.

Ch.13

Vanitas stood in his room as he look out of the window. The sun had just begun to set, leaving a golden color across the sky. He stared at the beautiful array of colors until they slowly faded into a dark blue and the sun was nothing but distant residual light. Shifting his eye focus, he now looked at his reflection in the window rather than what was outside. Though a bit hard to see, he saw clearly how his face looked. No longer did he really have a young childish face, but instead a maturing face of a young man.

It had been four years now.

He had lived four years of his life in the cursed mansion. He had gotten use to it though by this point and had accepted the curse as it was. All the hopes that it was just a bad dream, and he would wake up safe at home, died out a long time ago. Though despite all that, Vanitas would still find himself staring out a window from time to time. Staring out at the world that he could never reach anymore. When he found himself in moments like these, he couldn't help but let his mind wander a small bit.

"Ven…" Vanitas muttered quietly under his breath as he refocused his eyes to the sky again, now filling with more dark blue and a few shining stars. "What are you up now? Are you doing okay? You're in your second year of highschool right? I wonder how that's going for you."

Vanitas would always ask himself these questions and more. Always asking questions that had to do with things and people on the outside world. But he knew there was really no point. He would never get those answers… but that still didn't mean he couldn't be a little curious about it. But even now… after four years… those curious thoughts were slowly dying out.

The temperature in the room dropped out of nowhere, but Vanitas wasn't too surprised by it. After four years of living in the mansion he knew what this meant. It meant that the master of the mansion wanted to get everyone's attention. Ansem was back. He was back from wherever and had something to say.

"Everyone is to report to the lobby in the next five minutes. I have something of importance to announce," the deep, demonic voice echoed around the room.

As soon as the temperature in the room returned to normal Vanitas sighed and turned to head out the door of the room he had been standing in. Without any other thoughts he made his way down to the lobby where a few others were already waiting. Not giving a glance at any of them, Vanitas moved passed the various people who were also trapped there until he spotted Isa and Lea.

"What do you guys think Ansem needs us all for?" Vanitas asked as he walked up to them.

It wasn't all too often that Ansem called everyone all together. Normally when when did decide to show his face it would be to one individually. But there were the times were he held some kinds of meetings to talk about something, but it was always kept vague. Vanitas knew that there were probably some that knew what he meant or was really up to. Those who had been there longer tended to know more. But Vanitas didn't really care all too much for that. But the subject of the meeting was still left up to be wondered.

Lea shrugged. "Who knows. Probably going to give some speech about the supposed special plan he had been working on."

"I doubt it's really anything of true importance to us in particular. But to Ansem it must be something he sees worthy of telling us," Isa replied.

Vanitas sighed a little as he looked around the lobby, looking for where Ansem was going to show himself. Another minute had passed and soon everyone was in the lobby. There wasn't a whole lot of people that were currently trapped in the mansion, but it was a average sized group in Vanitas mind. In his four years though he never really had gotten to know any of them really. He had spent his four years mostly hanging around Isa and Lea. He had tried a few times to talk to Ienzo, but their conversations never really went anywhere and Ienzo just prefer to be by himself most of the time.

"Good. You're all here now." Ansem said as he appeared into the room from a cloud of darkness. As soon as the darkness cloud vanished he shifted back into his human form and stood before everyone.

"You all are probably wondering why I have called you all here. Well I am here to announce something very special," Ansem said as he started his speech. "This is a wondrous day. Today we have a very special guest joining us today."

Vanitas heard some murmurs from some of the other people as everyone started to look around. Even though no one saw a new person amongst them, they all knew what Ansem meant. Ansem had brought someone here, just like Ienzo and a few others.

"Our newest guest," Ansem continued. "She will come to be of great importance to me and my goals. Now everyone, say hello to our most esteemed guest."

With the wave of his hand, darkness form in front of him on the floor. It disappeared seconds later to reveal a young child, who clearly was terrified.

Everyone let out a gasp as soon as they saw her. She couldn't have been any older than four. Her hair was just past her chin and was a light blond color, and she wore a short ,white summer dress. She looked around with her big, bright blue eyes, looking like she could burst into tears any moment.

Vanitas subconsciously gritted his teeth as he narrowed his eyes at Ansem. "What the hell does he think he is doing?" he muttered under his breath. Vanitas started to take a step forward when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked back to see Lea looking at him and shaking his head.

"Don't Vanitas," Lea replied quickly.

"But she is just a little girl," Vanitas replied back.

"You should not interrupt Ansem though. You know that only will cause trouble for you," Isa added.

Vanitas was about to retort something else, but Ansem started up his speech again once he saw everyone was done gasping and murmuring.

"This child here is no ordinary child. She comes from a powerful white magic family and so I saw this as a opportunity. An opportunity to have her on my side to further help me with projects and goals."

"But she's only a child!" Vanitas shouted as he stepped forward, out of Lea's grasp.

Ansem stared over at Vanitas for a moment before he smiled coldly. "Yes she is. But that make things easier as I can now raise her to do as I say."

"Don't you think her family will notice she is gone? You can't just steal children like that," Vanitas said as he took another step forward.

One thing he was glad about with not having emotions, is that he didn't hold anything back. He could say what he wanted and not be afraid. But of course he also knew there could be downsides to that. He knew he was being risking at the moment, standing up to Ansem, but he couldn't help himself. As soon as he saw the small, young girl, he wished he could feel anger. How could Ansem all too casual just take a child away from her home and trap her with a curse? Vanitas knew if he could still feel emotions, he would feel sick to his stomach at Ansem but also a lot of anger.

Ansem chuckled as he crossed his arms. "No they won't notice. I made sure of that. Her family won't… ever be a problem."

Vanitas's eyes widened. He didn't need the full confirmation from Ansem to know what he had done. He didn't expect anything less from the guy, but it still bothered him.

"But why… How could you? You really are going to do to her what you've done to the rest of us?" Vanitas asked.

"Of course. Everyone in my mansion lives under the same curse, and that will go the same for her," Ansem said as he gestured to the girl, who still sat there frozen with fear. "All of this is for my plans, it must be done."

"No!" Vanitas shouted, trying to bring as much anger into his voice as he could. "You can't do that to her!"

Ansem stared long and hard at Vanitas, as his expression changed into something cold and unamused. This time it was Ansem who took a step forward, a step closer to Vanitas.

"Are you really trying to tell me what to do?" Ansem asked as the tone of his voice deepened into something more sinister.

Without flinching or stepping back Vanitas took one last step forward. He was now less than a foot away from Ansem. For one moment he took the chance and looked down at the young girl, who was staring with wide eyes at him. She hadn't once tried to move from her spot, and Vanitas could only figure that Ansem must have her stuck in place with magic. He still couldn't believe Ansem would bring someone that young here. He then focused his gaze back to Ansem. "I won't let you curse her."

Ansem smiled cruelly as he chuckled. "Such confidence and seriousness for someone lacking emotion."

Ansem's hand then reached out around Vanitas's neck and lifted him slightly off the ground. Vanitas stifled a gasp, but other than that he didn't give much other react. He couldn't give any reaction. Without emotion, there was no way to convey the fear that he should have been having at that moment.

"You know though…" Ansem growled angrily. "It is unwise to try to use that as an advantage. You know very well that you are not to speak out against me. Ever."

Without giving Vanitas a chance to respond, Ansem threw him across the room with strength that no mortal man would have. But of course, he was no longer a mortal man. Vanitas crashed forcefully onto the floor, sliding slightly before his back hit the wall.

Vanitas groaned as he tried to push himself up into a sitting position, but his body was aching too much. He let out a sigh as he tried to deal with the pain that was now burning through his body. He could still feel the pain of course… but he couldn't react properly anymore to it, so it just felt a hundred time worse.

"Now that we've taken care of that," Ansem said as he faced the group. "Is there anyone else who dares to speak up about this?"

The entire group remained silent, with only a few glancing over to Vanitas, who was still laying on the ground.

"Good. Now let us continue with welcoming our newest, most esteemed guest," Ansem said before shifted back into his demonic form.

"No…" Vanitas muttered quietly through his pain.

The little girl stared at Ansem once he had changed forms and let out a terrified shriek. The vines of darkness wrapped around her as she was lifted off the ground. The girl struggled in the vines and continued to cry out for help. No one said a word though, everyone remained quiet as they watched. Though most turned their heads away at the moment the girl's screaming got louder. No one truly wanted to see this happen, but they had no choice in the matter.

Vanitas finally pushed himself up into a proper sitting position as he Ansem pull out the glowing heart from the little girl. The girl now was unconscious and Ansem held her in his arms once he made the heart disappear. He headed over try to Vanitas and placed the girl in front of Vanitas.

"Since you were so intent on trying to interrupt before, I am placing you in charge of watching over the girl," Ansem said as he glared down at Vanitas.

Vanitas didn't say anything back, his eyes only were focused on the girl. Suddenly Vanitas's hair was yanked, as his head was forcefully tilted up to look at Ansem.

"I said, you are to take care of this child. Is that understood?"

Vanitas let out one sigh before he responded. "Yes…"

Ansem chuckled as he released Vanitas's from his grasp. "Good. Now," he turned to face everyone again. "Remember this child is a valued asset to me. Let's all make sure to make her stay here… enjoyable.

There was of course no verbal response from anyone in the group. No one knew what to say after seeing something like that. What else could they even do? All of them knew to be careful of what they said or did around Ansem. The only thing they could do was nod their head slowly.

"The girl's room shall be the master suite. Our esteemed guest here deserves the best," Ansem said with a chuckle. "Now you may all return to your day." And with that Ansem vanished from the room.

It took almost a minute, but soon the other people started to move around ahead and headed off towards other areas of the mansion. Once all the others were left, the only ones left in the lobby were Lea, Isa, Vanitas and the little girl. Vanitas slowly reached forward and picked up the girl. He sat there quietly as he held her gently in his arms.

"Well… I am sure that wasn't what anyone was expecting," Lea said as he and Isa approached Vanitas.

"No it wasn't… but then again it wasn't completely out of the ordinary either," Isa said.

Once they were standing in from of Vanitas, they saw that he seemed to be trying to pretend he had emotion again. A disheartened look was trying to show upon his face as he did not take his eyes off the girl.

"You okay Van?" Lea asked.

"She's just so young… I can't… I can't believe he would do something like this," Vanitas replied.

Lea sighed heavily. "I know… It's awful to think about…"

"But what's done is done, and there isn't anything we can do about that," Isa stated blatantly. As always Isa stated the obviously in the bluntest way possible. Vanitas had learned to deal with that from Isa, but it still annoyed him ever so slightly from time to time.

"She's also…" Vanitas sighed for a moment as he trailed off, not knowing how to continue his thoughts.

"Also what?" Lea asked.

"She also looks about the same age as my younger sibling would be," Vanitas finally said.

"You know she is not your sibling though correct?" Isa asked. "It is highly unlikely and plus we already know you don't come from a family that uses white magic."

"I know that," Vanitas grumbled. "But still… It's still the age. I just… I don't know…"

"Well… there isn't much we can do besides trying to make her life here comfortable," Lea said.

Vanitas nodded as he stood up, still holding the girl in his arms. "I'll take her to the room...by myself. I'll… I'll try my best to explain things to her."

"Are you sure you don't want us to help? Well mainly me as I think Isa might scare her too much," Lea said as he chuckled slightly, trying to lighten the dreary mood that had entered the room.

Vanitas shook his head. "No… It's fine…" He then turned and headed up the stairs without another word.

Once he was out of the lobby Lea decided to speak up again. "What do you think Ansem has planned for her? Taking a young girl from her home just because she has magic? Just what is he thinking?"

"We shouldn't think to much on it. It's not something he wants us to know about obviously," Isa replied.

"Yeah but still… that poor girl. She barely had any time in her life to really understand about emotions… and now it has been all stripped away."

"Well…" Isa started to say, but then the rest of his words never came. He just couldn't think of a logical thing to say back to Lea on the subject. Neither of them wanted to see a little girl in the mansion… but it wasn't their choice on what happened. "Let's just head back to what we were doing before."

The two then headed off back to where they were before this event had taken place. Meanwhile Vanitas entered into the master suite room of the mansion. It was the largest of all the bedrooms within the mansion, but had little furniture actually with in the room. There was a bed and a dresser, a large table in the center, and even a door leading to a master bathroom.

Vanitas glanced around the room for a bit before he headed over to the bed and placed the girl down on it. She started to stir slightly as she turned onto her side. Vanitas at least knew what was going to happen. Lea and Isa had explained all of it to him long ago when he had first came there. The girl was going to wake up for a short bit, trying to adjust to not having emotions, but then she would sleep for a little while, after having to experiencing something so traumatizing as Ansem ripping out her emotions.

Vanitas pulled up a chair from the table next to the bed and sat down, just as the girl opened her eyes.

"Where...Where am I?" she asked quietly. She then looked at Vanitas. She sat up and crawled to the edge of the bed. "You. I know you."

"Hey there…" Vanitas said as he tried to smile at the little girl. Trying to hope that explaining everything wouldn't be as hard as he thought it would be.

The girl frowned a little as she got closer to Vanitas's face. "You're hurt… You okay?"

"What?" Vanitas asked. The girl pointed at him and he reached his hand up and felt his forehead. There was a brief moment of pain and when he pulled his hand back he saw some blood on his fingertips. He knew he probably had gotten injured from when Ansem had thrown him… but with what happened he had forgotten all about checking to see if he was all right.

"Let me help," the girl said as she held out a hand right in front of Vanitas's face. A light green glow formed around her fingers and soon it spread out towards Vanitas. Within seconds, any remaining pain he felt was gone. When he checked his forehead again after she had finished, there was no more pain or blood.

"How… How did you do that?" Vanitas asked, surprised at the little girl.

"Mommy taught me how to heal. It was the first magic spell I learned," the girl explained before she frowned again. "Where's… Where's my mommy?"

"I...I don't know how to explain this… but…" Vanitas trailed off, afraid how the girl would react if he told her the truth… Even if she didn't have emotions now he didn't think she would be able to understand anyways.

"I wanna go home!" the girl shouted as tears fell from her face, but she wasn't actually crying. This was something Vanitas at least knew would happen as he had done the same thing when he first arrived.

He moved from sitting on the chair to the bed and wrapped on arm around the girl, trying to give her some comfort. "I'm sorry… It may be hard to understand… But… you won't be able to go back home."

"Why not?" the girl asked as she looked up at Vanitas. "Is it… what the scary monster man said?"

Vanitas was about to ask what she meant, but then realized she was talking about Ansem. He noticed she shuddered slightly after saying it. Even without emotions the memory of him being there in front of her was still in her mind.

"Yeah… what the scary monster man said. But…" Vanitas paused as he thought of something else to talk about with her. "What's your name? I don't think you've told me yet."

"Namine," the girl replied quietly. "What your name?

"Vanitas."

Namine smiled a little. "That's a funny sounding name."

Vanitas looked down at the girl, he thought of happy memories that made it easier to smile back at her. "Thanks."

Namine then let out a yawn, indicating that she was needed to sleep now. Vanitas slowly stood up while still keeping eye contact with her. "Well… Um… You probably are sleepy. So you should sleep… and we can talk more morning, okay?"

Vanitas was just ready to turn and leave when Namine grabbed his wrist. "No… Don't leave…"

"Why?" Vanitas asked as he looked back at Namine.

"I don't want to be alone. What if the scary monster man comes back?" Namine asked as her eyes widened.

Even without emotion, Vanitas could see that she was trying to be scared. She would have been scared if she still had them. But to a young mind she couldn't understand that she wasn't actually feeling scared. Vanitas had to remind himself that she was only about four years old; the youngest one ever to be trapped in the mansion. Of course she wouldn't wanna be left alone, regardless of having emotions or not.

"You'd like it better if I stayed here with you?" Vanitas asked as he sat back down on the bed.

Namine nodded. "Yup. You were the only one to have talked back to the scary monster man. You were brave. Thank you." Namine leaned forward and hugged Vanitas tightly.

Vanitas sighed as he smiled a little again. "You're welcome." He placed a hand on top of Namine's head as she continued her hug. Soon she let out another yawn and let go of Vanitas.

"Come on now, it's late for you. Let's get some sleep," Vanitas said as he pulled back the covers of the bed for Namine to crawl under. Vanitas then laid down next to Namine as he watched her quickly fall asleep.

"I wonder…" Vanitas began to think to himself. "Is this what it would be like...if I was home… with my own sibling? Maybe… maybe this won't be all too bad. I guess I finally get to be a big brother now." Vanitas carefully pulled the covered up over Namine. "I'll watch over you Namine. I'll protect you. I'll be your big brother."

and that's chapter 13 guys. Hope you enjoyed this vac story.

I thought I was going to get through the rest of this and end up wrapping up for the vanitas flashback arc, but it turns out there will at least a few more chapters. Maybe to not sure yet. But either way I hope you guys enjoyed and I'll see you next time.