Vanitas leads Elsa through some basic exercises as she creates a makeshift Keyblade out of ice to imitate his movements. "How exactly does swinging around a sword help me control my emotions?" As she turned to question him, she gets pelted in the face by a snowball. "For starters, it's not the swinging that makes you stronger; it's the act of moving with the intent to kill. And secondly, I was kinda hoping it'd be an easy way to get you shut up for a bit while I think of an actual...curriculum ...so to speak."
Elsa wipes the snow off her face in frustration. "What?! You mean you don't actually know what you're doing?! Why don't you just teach me the same way your Master taught you?" Vanitas belts out a haughty laugh. "HAHAHA! If I were to teach you like HE did...that snowball would've been a ROCK...and there would've been plenty more where those came from!" Elsa slouches her shoulders in anticipation of him making good on that threat. "...Your Master sounds like a real pleasure to be around." Her voice dripping of sarcasm, which Vanitas got a kick out of.
"Let's start with something simple and clean. Out of all the times your power got out of hand; which emotion specifically elicited the strongest response from your powers?" She started thinking back to all of the many times she lost control, but the most recent time was clearly the best example. "...Fear." He sat down cross legged in front of, creating a splash of snow as he plopped down. "Fear of what exactly?" She knelt down to his level and sat more elegantly. "I don't know. I guess...fear of someone finding out my secret." Vanitas looked visibly angry. An impressive feat when you can't see his face. "Really? ...Ugh. Okay. We're gonna unpack that one piece at a time. First of all…that is a fear YOU manufactured. You fear yourself being laid bare for all to see. You fear intimacy? Transparency? I have secrets, but I don't fear them getting out."
She leaned in expecting to hear one of his secrets. "...I'm...I'm not gonna tell you any of them!" He gets defensive and she shrugs in disappointment as he continues. "Anyway; the second part. I don't know if you noticed, but….NOW THEY KNOW." He pulls her head in as he tries to physically get those words into it. "Secret is out. Nothing left to hide. Nothing left to fear. It's that simple. The worst part's over. Anything beyond this is something you could've prevented." She is taken aback by how much sense he was making. As if shedding a light to reveal that a monster she had feared was in fact a beautiful bird all along.
She was overcome with a sheer joy that could only come from an epiphany that changes your whole outlook on life. She expresses it in the only way she knew how...and glomped onto Vanitas with a big hug. He did not speak. He did not struggle. All he did was tremble. With rage? Fear? Joy? You couldn't really tell. But he was certainly reacting strangely to Elsa's advances on him. But the embrace was cut short by another voice. "Aw. How cute. Should I come back later?" Elsa released Vanitas as he stood up and faced the onlooker. "What do you want, Larxene?"
Larxene approaches with her hands on her hips and a smirk on her face. "The Master has a new mission for you. Did you even finish the one he gave you earlier before you decided to come to this world and play with the princess?" Elsa wanted to correct her, but Vanitas was too quick on the rebuttal. "She's a queen, actually. There IS a difference. Just like I'm sure there's a difference between you and a witch….I just can't think of any yet. I'll keep you posted though and let you know if I think of any."
She scowled at him with a venomous stare as vein became visible on her forehead. Vanitas looked back at Elsa motioned her to leave them. "Go. Practice." Elsa stood up to leave, but stopped before leaving sight. "...Will you be back?" She got no response as he didn't even turn his head to acknowledge her. She just left. Larxene starts pacing around Vanitas as he stands motionless. "Well, look at you. Making friends? What timeline are we living in, right?!" The impatient Vanitas puts his foot out in front of him to stop her pacing. "Did you have a mission for me, or not? The less I have to listen to your voice, the better. My ears can only take so much before they start bleeding."
She puts her index finger up to his chin and gets in his face. "There's a world where monsters have access to doors leading to the rooms of children. The Master wants you to take over that factory and use your Unversed to scare the bejeezus out of every kid you can and collect the screams and sadness into the special containers they have there. And while you're at it; how about you finish the job you were supposed to do? You've been hanging around the wrong QUEEN." As they finish bickering at each other, they notice a castle of ice rising further up the mountain. Vanitas chuckles in satisfaction. "I'm sure ALL girls seem like queens compared to you."
Vanitas enters a dark corridor and leaves Larxene to handle Sora and friends. He comes out the other end at Disney Castle. He enters the library to find Queen Minnie talking to Daisy. "Hello, ladies." Daisy freaks out as Minnie remains calm as if she was expecting this. "Daisy. Please go and make sure everyone else in the castle is all right. If he's here; then his Unversed can't be far behind." Daisy protested leaving the Queen, but soon buckled under the pressure. "Y-yes, your Majesty!" She hugged the wall as she circled around Vanitas as he just glared at her the whole time until she passed him and ran out the doors.
Minnie breathed slowly as she tried to maintain her composure. "If people see you coming to me like this, they might get the wrong idea." Vanitas removed his helmet now that they were alone. "I'd be shocked if they got the RIGHT idea." Minnie approached cautiously. "Why are you back so soon? We talked about you bettering yourself through finding someone to confide in...someone you could spend time with. Did you already give up?"
She stopped walking forward as soon as he started to do the same. "I've been giving some thought to that. I've decided that it's a waste of time. And that I should just destroy you like Xehanort wanted from the beginning. I'm done humoring you." She starts stepping back for every step he took towards her. "You can't give up like this! I gave you advice because I really believed you could turn yourself around. You just have to hold onto HOPE." His eyes widen as he lunges for her neck and pins her against the bookshelf behind her.
"HOPE?! Are you kidding me?! What is it with you people and your obsession with hope, friendship, and love? What have those things ever done for me?! Nothing! Why should I care! Why should I TRY!" She struggles to respond with his hand on her windpipe. "Because...you want to be your own person...not another Xehanort." Meanwhile, outside in the hallway Daisy returns with guards to find Queen Minnie get thrown through the library doors and rolling across the floor. "Queen Minnie!" Vanitas slowly follows her as an intimidating dark aura surrounds him and his voice rumbles like thunder.
"Do. I. Look. Like. A. Xehanort. ...TO YOU?!" Daisy and the guard's bodies refuse to approach out of fear. "I was born into this world with everything decided for me! I am a great many things. The x-blade, a Xehanort vessel, a being of pure Darkness. But 'Myself' was not one of them." Minnie picks herself up off the ground as he towers over her like predator about to strike. "There was only ONE. ONE choice I made in my entire life. ONE thing that I wanted. And do you know what the response was from Xehanort, from my other half, from my own darkness...from HER?! … 'NO.' The one thing that could've made me…'ME' and I was denied even that."
Minnie looked at him with a mixture of fear and confusion as she tried to make sense of what he was talking about. "...Her?" He summoned his Keyblade and put his foot on the Queen's head. "You asked me if I gave up?" He reaches into his pocket and pulls out and incomplete red Wayfinder charm. "...Well, not at first. I HAD hope in the beginning. That hope died a long time ago." Minnie notices the charm looks identical in design and structure to the one's Aqua made. Vanitas' aura begins to dissipate.
"What does hope give...but disappointment. What does friendship teach...but lies and mistrust. What does love bring...but PAIN!" He crushes the Wayfinder in his palm as the broken glass falls on Minnie's face. He swiftly sends his hand down and pulls Minnie up to her feet. "...So yes...I have given up." His voice softens as the rage leaves him. The crumbled frame of the Wayfinder falls to the floor. "The world has resigned me to one role and that's all I'll ever be…." He puts his helmet back on as he turns to leave to a newly created dark corridor. "...Worthless."