Chapter Text
The sky was blue. It was all around him, with no clear distinction between up or down. As far as he could see, there wasn’t any end to the sky, and he was floating in a bright abyss.
He tried to take a step, and saw ripples appear beneath him, distorting the clouds below. Taking another look around, he could faintly see the line between sky and sea on the horizon.
What the hell is this place?
Taking another step, he tried to recall who he was, but nothing came. He could feel a deep, residual anger, but at what, he didn’t know.
It was then that he began to notice stars shimmering above the surface of the water. And speaking to one of the stars was...
Is that... me?
A memory. Yellow eyes reflected on black glass. The last battle with his brother. The prison he’d been trapped in all these years. His name.
No, Vanitas thought. It’s my half-wit “brother”, Sora.
He tried to roll his eyes, but found he couldn’t. Glancing down he realized he lacked feet, and a quick reexamination of his reflection revealed that he, too, was a star.
So did that mean this was the world after death? He couldn’t accept it. If he wouldn’t disappear, then what was the point of everything? To be trapped without a body for eternity? No.
If he would continue to exist regardless, then Vanitas would rather be free than trapped in yet another prison.
And Sora seemed just as good a vessel as any. He was the only one here with a form, after all. Vanitas just needed to take control before Sora caught wind of what was happening.
And then I’ll get the fuck out of here.
With that, he hurriedly floated after Sora, catching up to him right as the other boy opened up a strange portal. He latched onto what little of Sora’s body he had reclaimed and watched silently as Sora picked up the rest of the pieces.
It was a little more difficult of a plan to pull off than Vanitas had expected. Possessing Ventus had been easy, but now he considered maybe that was because it was his body, as well, to begin with. Regardless, he wasn’t going to give up now.
They reappeared in the empty sky-sea once Sora’s body was re-completed, and a weird cat-thing appeared in front of them. It didn’t seem to notice Vanitas’s presence, instead talking to Sora about unimportant things. Vanitas didn’t care about any of this, and was itching to return to the real world, but something about the cat’s appearance nagged at the back of his mind.
Nah. It didn’t matter.
And after what felt like forever, their conversation ended and Sora was walking through a gate. Finally.
But even that relief was short-lived. Immediately after leaving the Final World, Vanitas found himself back in the Keyblade Graveyard, a swarm of darkness flooding over him. But instead of a second death, he opened his eyes to see a world he had tormented so many years ago.
“This is... Herc’s world. Is Riku here?”
Oh. He was still with Sora.
They walked on in silence, the world completely empty of life, light or dark.
And then the cricket appeared. If you could call it a cricket. It was the size of a large mouse, and was wearing a hat and jacket, which hid its second pair of abdominal legs, if it had any at all. Granted, several worlds had animals in clothing, but Vanitas had seen real crickets and this was most certainly not one.
Sora and this “cricket” (who Sora called “Jiminy”) spoke with each other as if the whole thing was a normal experience, and then the “cricket” disappeared again, somewhere Vanitas couldn’t see. But he could hear it speak up every once in a while as they explored the world.
Eventually they came across a giant Heartless that had captured the hearts of Sora’s friends. They followed it through portal after portal, until Vanitas could almost feel the breeze on Sora’s skin. They’d gone deep into the darkness, and any further and he would be able to take control of him. But then Sora finally defeated the Heartless and what Vanitas discerned was a young Xehanort showed up.
He spoke of a price to pay for misusing the Power of Waking. Had that been what this was? Well, whatever the price was, Vanitas refused to go down with him. This body would be his, and Sora could pay whatever toll there was for abusing his power.
But before he could do so, they had returned to the Keyblade Graveyard.
Everyone whose hearts had been taken by the Lich were restored and stood before them. And just beyond them stood Terra. Except, judging by the darkness lurking underneath, he was actually Xehanort.
That idiot Ventus didn’t pick up on that. Of course. And just ran up to Xehanort. Of course . Incredibly, Aqua, who was annoying as ever to look at, could see through his disguise, which led to his dropping of the illusion.
Vanitas really wasn’t in the mood for another of his old Master’s ramblings, and mostly tuned it out, but he gathered that Xehanort was still going on about the χ-blade and the Keyblade War.
His attention was grabbed when the Terra-Xehanort suddenly swung at Ventus. But before Vanitas could get the satisfaction of seeing his other half’s demise, a strange figure appeared, Keyblade locked against Xehanort’s. The Keyblade, the armor, all of it looked familiar and it took Vanitas a second to recall where he’d seen it.
Is that Terra ? How the fuck?
But instead of answers, the two Terra’s disappeared as they battled.
And then more questions as a giant cloud of Heartless formed and a figure that tugged on his memory appeared. The cloud was gone in a matter of seconds with the arrival of a platoon of Keyblades, acting seemingly of their own volition. This, too, seemed strange.
No, he would figure it out later. Once he gained control of this vessel.
After another round of Heartless, and another speech of Xehanort’s (the original), a large maze sprung up from the ground. He hadn’t been aware of these ruins lying underneath the surface of the desert, but it was clear what their purpose was now. To divide the seven, and dispose of them while they’re split from their friends.
The first room held more people Vanitas felt he should know, but at this point, it had happened so often he wondered if it was just Sora’s heart rubbing off on him, and he’d started to ignore the feeling.
The second room held Braig. He’d never liked Braig. He gave off the vibe that he knew more than he let on, which pissed him off. And apparently the old man had promised to give him his Keyblade after the war was over. Moron. Like he’d survive the reset after the Keyblade War to even get the Keyblade.
The third room held Ventus, Aqua, Terra-Xehanort, and—
Himself.