Empty In Remnant
Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, RWBY, or any other works associated with them.
This chapter, we're continuing off from before the last chapter ended. After that is a whole bunch of things meant to prepare Vanitas in his new life. Originally this was supposed to be one huge mega chapter (8-10k word count) that would detail the events of the next two years of Vanitas's life. However, I decided not to as that would've been too long. So I've split it down the middle for two chapters. So now, we have one more chapter to go before the story starts to revs up.
Since some people are wondering, yes- Vanitas will get his keyblade back. It's an inevitable event, really. So it's more of a question of when and how he gets it back rather than a if.
By the way, get ready to bring out Ventus's theme. Why? Just do it!
Chapter 5: Ambitions, a Strange Dream, and Sadness.
"A Huntsman?" Vanitas said. In his confusion, he had temporarily lost his heat. "Like you?" he asked.
Ozpin nodded.
"Why?" he asked with a highly questioning tone. It was a good question- one he needed to be answered.
"Because young man," the man, Ozpin, began, "When I look at you, I see a boy who knows not his own capabilities." He began to elaborate. "When I saw you fight in that arena, I could tell. The way you moved, the way you fought. That ferocity and savagery you possess. It was quite evident to me, Vanitas, that you are a naturally born fighter with a talent for combat. However, with the way that you have been applying it, that talent is wasted."
"Wasted?" Vanitas said. At Ozpin's comment, he resumed glaring at the man before him.
"Yes, Vanitas. Wasted. You've been squandering your talent by fighting those who are weaker than you. Your true potential will never flourish like that. Tell me, do you think the people that you've fought in that arena, the poor and the downtrodden, were of any threat to you?"
'No, they weren't,' he thought. 'Fighting them is hardly any fun.'
Vanitas shook his head at Ozpin's question.
"No," the man continued on. "Of course not. People from such conditions rarely make good fighters. Talent like yours, Vanitas, can only flourish when in competition with peers of similar strength. You will never find it wandering out in the streets."
"Oh?" Vanitas said, his interest caught by where Ozpin was taking this conversation. "Then where can I find it?"
"Among the Hunters, of course. Many of them have been raised from from a combat background and, as a result, far outmatch the people you have fought so far." The man paused for a second before continuing. "Not only that, there are also the creatures of Grimm, Humanity's number one enemy. Do you know what they are?"
"Who hasn't?" he said. "They're big black monsters that threatened mankind once, correct?"
"That is correct. Though as of now, humanity is currently in a statement with them. As a Huntsman, it is my swore duty to maintain vigilance and to take up arms in case of an attack. If you were to become a Huntsman, you will also be able to fight these creatures."
Vanitas began to think on it.
If he were to become a Huntsman, like this man wanted, then that would mean that not only would he be able to fight strong opponents on a daily basis, he would also be able to fight the creatures of Grimm, creatures of darkness that was so strong, they were said to have almost eliminated mankind.
His body shivered in excitement at the thought. He didn't dare show his excitement, however, and maintained his aggressive look.
Meanwhile, Ozpin continued his speech.
"What I am offering you, young man, is a positive possibility of your future. I offer you the possibility of a future filled with strength and those capable of challenging it so that you can continue to strive for greater strength. And I believe that with enough training and experience, you may have the potential to be strongest Huntsman of your generation, if not of all time."
At that last comment, Vanitas sat down. He continued to stare at Ozpin however, though with less intensity than before. He began to ponder the words that came out of Ozpin's mouth. After spending some moments thinking about his words, the boy spoke.
"So...that's your angle," he said. "Hmph, alright then- since I got no choice in this anyway, fine. Tell me- how do I become a Huntsman?"
The man in front of him smiled.
"It's quite simple," he said. "There is only one way to be officially recognized as a Huntsman. You simply have to graduate from a combat school that trains future would-be hunters."
"Like Beacon Academy?"
"Exactly like Beacon Academy," Ozpin confirmed. He continued on. "However, you will find that gaining entrance to these academies to be a slightly more complex task.
"Really?" he asked. The man nodded.
"There are two methods that you can use in order to apply, Vanitas. The first is to simply go through the system." He began to elaborate. "To do this, you must enter and graduate from a combat school that specializes in training students in the fundamentals of combat, such as the nearby Signal Academy. After you graduate from a combat school such as that, it is a simple matter of applying to Beacon or to another school of equal standing, where you will be inducted as a huntsman-in-training."
Vanitas nodded to show that he understood.
"What's the second method?"
"The second method is to, simply put, apply directly to Beacon or the likes with little to no credentials. If you were to take this route, going to combat school like Signal Academy will not at all be necessary. However, since a person who takes this route is without proof of his or her skills, they would have to be tested in a variety of tests to ensure competence."
Before he had a chance to contemplate this particular option, Ozpin quickly spoke.
"This route is not one that I would recommend to you, Vanitas."
"Huh?" Vanitas said. "Why not?"
"You are strong, that is indeed true, however- in terms of both strength and knowledge, you are not at the level needed to pass the tests. After all, rather than honing your skills properly through training, you have spent the majority of your life wasting your talents in the UFC. If you were to take the tests at your current level, you will fail. This is why I want you to go through the system. When you go to a combat school to learn the fundamentals of combat, you will be trained by the school and be taught information needed for you to attain greater strength."
Vanitas turned a little red at what Ozpin was saying about him. He didn't like that the man was basically putting him down. He glared at the man but relented once when he did saw the logic in his statements.
"Hmm, alright," he said. "I'll do it your way."
The man before smiled once more.
"Excellent."
The Three Months
It had been three months since Vanitas had last seen Ozpin. With the man's guidance, the black haired boy had decided to attend Signal Academy. He had chosen the place due to its convenient location- being situated on an island close to the city of Vale. After graduating from Signal, he would then go on to Beacon.
The day after the man left, Vanitas watched the news. The UFC, the organization that he was affiliated with, was featured prominently on the news. It appeared to Vanitas that the scarf wearing man was indeed telling the truth when he said that he had inform the police of their location. He continued to watch the news, learning that, in UFC's attempt to preserve the anonymity of their clients and participants, the UFC exploded the data room, destroying all data and their back up. Upon learning this information, Vanitas smirked. He is no longer in any immediate sort of danger and the only ones who have information pertaining to his misdeeds are both him and Ozpin.
Now that he is out of the danger zone, Vanitas continued on with his life. The very first thing he did was submit an application to Signal Academy. It would later be accepted.
During the summer, the boy studied to prepare his mind for Signal. Though doing this would be redundant considering that Signal would be teaching the materials that he was already looking up, he wanted to be ahead of the curve. That way, he would have more time to train during his time at Signal. The more that he train, the stronger he would get.
He checked out various books from the local library, boringly called 'The Library of Vale,' on subjects pertaining Hunters, Grimm, and other various tomes that he thought would be useful. Admittedly, though he was quite brilliant, other than the information given to him by Ozpin about hunters, he was quite uninformed regarding these sort of information. He was aware of them to some extent, sure. That was a given their importance in society. However, as he previously did not have an interest in them before him, he didn't bothered to learn about them until now.
In his designated room within the orphanage, he took his backpack, which was full of books from the local library, and poured out the contents all over his bed.
First off, as a review of what Ozpin had told him and to see if he could gleam more information about the subject, he took a book titled Huntsmen and Huntresses: A Guide for Aspiring Warriors. He did a quick cursory reading of it and did a brief summary of the book.
Huntsmen and Huntresses are basically warriors who are dedicated to the pursuit of slaying the creatures of Grimm. They do this in various ways, typically involving combat with the combined usage of both dust and Aura.
So basically, nothing he didn't already know save for that one bit about aura. That was something new to him.
He looked it up. What he found made him smiled in excitement and anticipation. He was excited as it was something that could give him further strength. He held anticipation for it because, though he did not have access to it now, he knew that, if he were to continued down the path of a Huntsman, he would eventually obtain it.
Aura, according to the book, is the manifestation of one's soul. It is an energy source as well as a tool that is needed to fight at a higher level. For example, with proper use, it can allow one to move faster, hit harder, jump higher, as well as being able to manifest something akin to a force-field to defend oneself. And according to the book, there are even more possible uses for Aura.
He wanted to know how to unlock it. With the information obtained from the book, he learned that there are two ways that he could unlock his Aura. In order to unlock the use of Aura, it would require training and willpower. The book didn't tell how much was required of each nor an actual method of training. Perhaps it meant that in time, with both generic training and willpower, Aura would manifest itself naturally. It didn't really say, however. If it did, then the book was being really, really, really, vague. The other method he could use to unlock his Aura is to get someone else whose Aura is already unlocked to unlock his.
Yeah, no. He didn't want to do that particular option. He wasn't into asking for help. It's just wasn't him. And besides- he could just do the first method. Sure, the method is a little vague, but perhaps it was literal.
He would have to test that later on. Preferably soon. He really wanted to use his Aura as soon as he can.
Revisiting the book, one other thing that was also particular of note was the topic labeled 'Semblances.'
Semblances are, simply put, special abilities brought about by the use of Aura. It is the manifestation of a person's Aura and is representative of one's own innate strength. As such, each ability is unique and specific to each person.
After reading that, he briefly wondered what his own semblance would be.
Curiosity as well as a sense of impatience began to welled up within him. Now he really had to unlock his Aura as soon as he can. Though he didn't want to ask for help, if it came to it, he would be willing to swallow his pride at least once if it meant getting stronger faster. However, other than perhaps Ozpin, he didn't know anyone who could possibly unlock his Aura. So for now, he'll do what he can and try to unlock his Aura himself.
He eyed the additional books he had checked out, the ones about Grimm, the world around him, etc, and temporarily set them aside. For now, he needed to train. The sooner he could unlock his Aura, the better.
It was two months into summer vacation. Vanitas was getting frustrated. It wasn't the two months of continuous almost non-stop training that he was forcing himself through that was making him angry. That was going really well, actually. He got some good gains and was confident in his ability to answer any questions thrown at him, provided that it was based on the topic on Hunters, Grimm, weapons, and so on.
No, what was making him edgy was the two months of non-progress regarding his Aura. For two months he had set aside time from training and studying to try to unlock his Aura on his own. In his room, he would sit in a meditating position, eyes-closed, concentrating intensely in an effort to unlock his Aura. A tell-tale sign of an Aura being manifested is a small aura being manifested on a person, appearing like an colored outline. The color depends on the person channeling it.
However, there have been nothing. And it was driving him up the wall. He didn't like to admit, but it seem that this endeavor was going to be a fruitless one. It seemed that he was going to have to have someone else, perhaps somebody at Signal, unlock his Aura for him.
He frowned at that thought. The thought of getting help, even if it is for the pursuit of strength, displeases him. He wanted to be strong, on his own, with all of his effort. But with the progress he had been making so far, he might actually have to do it.
Before he decided to decide whether or not to give up on his current task and ask for help, he decided to take one last go at unlocking his Aura. Late at night he sat in his room, on his bed, with his legs crossed. He closed his eyes and focused. He maintained this posture for over an hour.
"Gah!" he screamed out before settling down. "Another bust." This was getting him angry. He really needed to hit something to express his anger. Unfortunately, at the moment there was nothing he could use to take out his anger. And he didn't particularly feel like going out of his way and look for someone to take it out on this late at night.
So for now, he just contained his emotions inside of him and went to bed. After closing his eyes, he waited for the realm of sleep to take him. The boy's consciousness began to fade and soon, the boy slept.
In the realm of sleep, the boy began to dream.
Vanitas was in a strange place. He could tell. As he looked around, he found there was nothing but a barren wasteland. There was literally nothing but badlands for miles. The only thing that he saw that wasn't brown or lifeless were the two people in the distance. One was standing in what seemed to be a combat position while the other was on a small cliff overlooking the first person.
He began moving towards them. As he did, the details of the two became clearer the closer he got.
The first person was a boy, probably close to his age. He had blond spiky hair that spiraled upward to the right as well as eyes as blue as the sky. He was wielding a strange key shaped weapon with his right hand in a reverse grip. For some odd reason, the boy had a fearful look on his face.
He didn't know why, but looking at the boy made Vanitas want to strangle him.
The second person was an elderly old man. He had an extremely tanned skin as well as eyes whose golden appearance resembled his own. He was bald and had no hair, save for his eyebrows and goatee. In short, he looked like a dastardly man with a dastardly plan.
When he looked at the man, he just could not help but feel a sort of loathing towards him as well.
'Strange,' he thought. Why was he feeling like this? Why did it feel like these two were supposed to be familiar to him somehow?
Suddenly, out of nowhere, an intense pain rang in his head, causing him to close his eyes and clutched his head in order to cope with pounding pain. It continued on for what seemed like minutes. Eventually, however, the pain eventually subsided and the boy began to open his eyes. When his eyes were fully opened, he noticed that something was amiss.
Before he had closed his eyes, he was situated to the right of the boy and to the left of the old man. When he reopened his eyes after the pain subsided, he found that he was right in front of the old man situated on the small cliff in front of him, right where that blond boy was supposed to be.
'What's going on?' he thought. He didn't get an answer to that question for soon, even more strange things happened..
The ground beneath him, barren and brown, suddenly had large dark puddles appearing all over. In just a few seconds, strange creatures crawled out of the puddles of darkness. These creatures bodies were pitch black, which only served to make their spherical glowing yellow eyes appear even brighter. These creatures had two long antennas protruding from the sides of their head which reached all the way to their backs. Their hands were clawed and their feet lacked any sort of digits.
In response to this sudden appearance, he got into a battle stance.
Yet it was strange. Despite being in position for battle, he felt something horrible. His body was shaking, his eyes were wide, and his breathing was short. Not only that, his heart was pounding like there was no tomorrow.
'Oh, no,' he thought. He had felt this something only once before. It was a horrible experience and he had swore to never let it happen again.
But here it was.
Fear.
'I'm scared,' he thought.
He couldn't handle it.
Vanitas looked at the old man in front of him. He was his only hope out of this situation. He opened his mouth to speak but, when he did, the voice that came out was not his own. Instead, it was the voice of someone else that came out.
"Please don't do this master!" A youthful voice cried out. "I'm not strong enough!"
'I can't win! Save me!'
He didn't want to fight those...those...things!
The creatures of darkness began closing in on him inching in closer and closer.
'I can't do it!'
It was then that the old bald man with the goatee began speaking to him.
"No. It is because you are trying to hold it in," He said in a grave voice. Let the dark impulses waken in the pit of your heart. Release them, here and now! Sharpen your fear into rage."
'I can't! Can't you see that I can't do it?!'
Why won't the old man help him?!
"You must! If you do not let the storm within you run its course, it will wipe you from the face of the world, make no mistake! Do it. Embrace the darkness. Produce for your Master the χ-blade!"
One of the shadowy creatures jumped at him. Reacting in fear, Vanitas swung the strange weapon that was in his right hand at the strange monster, hitting it in the chest. The creature was pushed back as a result. Sadly, however, this wasn't the end of it. All of the strange creatures, including the one that he had just barely fended off, leaped at him all at the same time. Unable to react in time- to either dodge or strike back, Vanitas put both his arms out in front of him in an X-shaped formation in a vain attempt to defend himself.
He was pinned down by the very first creature that he had fended off before. Then, a second one came. Then a third one. They just kept on coming. Soon, he was trapped, drowning within the sea of darkness. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't move. Seeing that the man wasn't going to save him and his own powerlessness in the face of adversary- underneath the mass of darkness that had enveloped him, Vanitas gave up all hope of being rescued.
'It's hopeless...'
He closed his eyes and his vision soon faded to black.
In the early morning, Vanitas woke up with a violent upward rise. His breath was short and rasped, he was covered in cold sweat, his heart was pounding furiously and he was extremely aware of the blood flowing through his veins. In short, he felt absolutely terrible. He quickly got out of his bed and went straight to one of the restroom to use one of the sinks. He turns the faucet to the right, letting loose a stream of water. He took some of the water and splashed it onto his face. Feeling less like hell, Vanitas made his way back to his room and, after closing the door, collapsed on his bed.
'What the hell was that?' he thought. He tried to remember the contents of what had transpired in the nightmare, but the nightmare was merely a dream, and a dream itself is fleeting. Thus by the time he got to his bed, there were only bits and pieces for him to remember. He was aware that something bad had happened in the dream and that it had caused him great distress in the process, but in the end, no matter how hard he tried to remember, almost all of it was a blur.
The one thing that he remembered for sure were the words spoken by that man, whose features he could no longer recall, and the emotions that he had felt.
"Let the dark impulses waken in the pit of your heart. Release them, here and now! Sharpen your fear into rage. You must! If you do not let the storm within you run its course, it will wipe you from the face of the world, make no mistake! Do it. Embrace the darkness. - - -!"
He was sure there was something else. Just one last thing that the man had said. However, no matter what, he couldn't recall the words. Vanitas shook his head. Instead of wasting his energy trying to focus on what he couldn't remember, he would instead focus on what the man had said.
Vanitas closed his eyes and focused on the emotions he had felt from the dream. He focused on the fear that had paralyzed him, the immense sadness that he had felt that almost brought him to tears, and that sense of hopelessness that dragged him downward into the pit of despair.
"Sharpen my fear into rage...let the storm within myself run its course...embrace the darkness." He repeated these words over and over, like a mantra, as he maintained his focus.
Soon, something clicked within him. Feeling it, he opened his eyes to find that a small glowing black outline was surrounding his body.
'Is that...my Aura?' He quickly inspected his body to make sure that it was. After doing so, he concluded that, yes, it was indeed his Aura.
However, instead of feeling happy like he thought he would, he felt, oddly enough, nothing. After two months worth of attempts, he had finally done it. He finally managed to achieved the use of Aura.
So why? Why was there no feeling of accomplishment to go with finally reaching the next level of strength? Why wasn't he happy?
Irritated, one thought passed through Vanitas's mind.
'What a horrible day.'
A month soon passed.
The first red leaf that fell to the ground signified the end of summer and the start of fall.
Aw shit, I made myself sad.
I got two things to say.
1) If you're confused by how Vanitas can recall Ventus's experience under Master Xehanort, keep in mind that, in the beginning when Vanitas was created, he was essentially just a darker version of Ventus. Thus, he has memories regarding the trauma Ventus experienced under MX's tutelage as well as his past. After their separation, however, is a different story altogether.
2) I'm doing a small Q and A. If you have any questions regarding the story, feel free to let them out. I'll only be able to answer questions that won't spoil anything major, however. I'm sure that most, if not all of you, will understand. I don't mind spoiling the lesser stuff however. Stuff like Vanitas's relationship with other characters or lack thereof, stuff like pairings and stuff like 'Is Vanitas going to pick on Jaune?' The answer for that last one is most likely obvious.
Whelp, thanks for reading Empty in Remnant. If you like it, you should Fav, Follow, and or Review.
PEACE OUT!