The weight of the discovery hadn't hit him until seeing his face, black and white in a newspaper.

Grand Discovery Small Discoverer

While not being fond of being called small, the credit was technically his since he'd spotted the stone first. The area had been quarantined off for an official archeological investigation as well as possible botanical prospects. Grants along with donations were poured into his pocket and with help from Xehanort, he learned how to manage the team under his name.

They returned to the mansion after a skeleton crew had been established. Prior to that, the smell of straw and rich soil seeped into Vanitas' skin as he spent days sitting in a humid hut listening to Xehanort explain bare basics of what was to come.

Paperwork as well as reading drowned out any training or instruction he was meant to receive. Isa had been bought, set free, and immediately hired as Vanitas' personal guard. Void took an immediate liking and rubbed against his shins, making him cringe.

In his new office within the manor, Vanitas read over contracts while listening to a legal worker explain terminology.

Olette would bring him iced tea on a platter daily during these sessions and watched Void in the meantime.

Between reading reports and working with Xehanort, Vanitas had become constantly busy. It must have taken Xehanort years to manage so much at once and be able to settle enough to adopt him. It the road to earning his keep was paved like this, then he'd keep moving.


In days to come, life was simple. Busy, fit to burst with even more reading, day after day of writing until his hands hurt, but simple. Though in this newfound routine, something Vanitas should have expected happened.

For the first time since meeting him. Xehanort had fallen.

Commotion in the courtyard made him look out a window and see a man with long blonde hair in a lab coat being ushered quickly from a carriage and into the manor.

Xehanort's bedroom door was left open and the blond man had his hands upon Xehanort, asking questions and seemed to be testing his joints for specifics. A younger man with slate grey hair wrote on a thick clip board. Braig stood on the other side of the bed, dutifully watching and listening.

Vanitas realized that he never actually entered Xehanort's room. Spacious, with an entire bookshelf just as big as Vanitas' own and filled completely with books. His desk stood beside a wide window, making miniature bottles of preserved, mangled flesh glisten. It smelled old, like aged ointments, musk, and what Vanitas assumed to be Xehanort's natural scent.

Something rattling behind him caught his attention and two servants rolled a cabinet with glass casing into the room. Vanitas' presence was finally acknowledged and Braig lead him outside.

"Looks like it's your time to shine." Braig sighed and shook his head. "Can't beat age. That fall was pretty nasty."

"He looked alive to me."

Looking behind Braig, he watched as more equipment was carted in.

"Alive, yes. Well? Not so much. I don't think he'll be going on any expeditions again- ever. Your big find may have been exactly what he was looking for, but no one knows until you handle it."

Vanitas brought a curled fist under his chin at the thought. Paperwork had been intense already. But Xehanort still had his own share to deal with.

All that over him would overwhelm-

The sudden force of a hand clapping on his back startled him enough to snap back to reality, momentarily forgetting the gravity of the situation.

"You've been doing pretty good so far, don't slip up. "

The doctor and his assistant stayed for two weeks monitoring and giving care. In the end, Xehanort had been given a cane for support. His posture was never completely straight, but now he seemed smaller, gripping the thing. A custom one had been delivered soon after. A silver goat head handle, turquoise studded collar and black shaft suited him much better.