#brother: emptiness of shadow (vanitas)

[void-kissed]

11 and 18 for the "end of the year selfship ask game", please? :)

Certainly, friend!! Thank you very much for sending in these questions!!~

(question source: "✨ end of the year selfship ask game ✨" by interstellarboyfriend)

11. has an F/O inspired you to pick up a new hobby/interest/habit this year? - Umm.. Admittedly, trying to remember if there's an answer to this is probably not going to go very well at the moment, considering that it's currently gone midnight and I went to bed at three o'clock in the morning last night (and the night before) so I am A Bit Tired. However, as it stands, nothing in particular is coming to mind that I've picked up over the past year, so I suppose the answer is no! The only thing I can think of is wanting to know how to use Synth V more, so I can make SOLARIA sing and say things (since I have her lite voicebank!). However, I haven't made any actual progress with that thus far, because it seems very tricky.

18. do you have any new year’s resolutions that are related to your F/O(s)/selfshipping at all, or have any of your F/Os inspired you to pick up a specific resolution? - Well, as a general rule of thumb, I'm not really someone who tends to make resolutions when the new year arrives. It's just never been something I've enjoyed doing. However, this year, I did state some things I'd like to do more, which were as follows:

I can incorporate selfshipping into the first two resolutions, by a) making renders/writing/etc. of characters who are my F/Os without making the creative content explicitly selfship-related (for example, the Vanitas render I did a few days ago!), and then b) making more content of my friends' selfships!! So, even though the intentions I wrote out are not explicitly connected to selfshipping, I can still relate them to it in some way ^-^

I hope that these answers were alright!! Thank you very kindly again for sending in the questions, Cookies~

[moved-to-void-kissed]

..My natural voice tends to be quite on the high side, but I sometimes think of my self-inserts as having different qualities to their own voices, despite the fact that they all still essentially have my voice because they are me. However, for whatever reason, my voice has been much more subdued-sounding today, and.. I decided to take advantage of that because I thought it sounded like how Aria would normally speak, so I read out a piece of writing I wrote some time ago in that voice! I think it worked well, so I'm posting it here in case anyone else wanted to hear how she/I sounded ^-^

A transcript of what is being said is below the readmore!

"They say that the closer you get to the light, the greater your shadow becomes. If ever their shadows grow too great, I will take the place of them, so that they all may find their way to the light they seek so strongly.

For the wayward wind, sent drifting through time, knowledge of his origin caught in the gales. The boy whose lost memories were scattered to ancient days, who is lucky enough not to have reason to feel the ache of missing someone. Until now, with the advent of his Chirithy returning, and the risk of those memories being reawakened with it. Whether he wishes to know the events that he witnessed is his decision alone to make - especially as he may well have experienced the final days of daybreak, long after I had lost access to that time. Regardless, the road ahead of him is bright.

For the Darkness given form, then sealed within the winds, left to be exploited by that cruel misguided master. The one who found an ill-fitting face in the emptiness of the sky, a distant kind of kindred spirit to my own. No longer as bound to the heart of the wind, nor the whims of some less ancient old man, a part of him longs for some semblance of purpose, and the chance to form a true connection to his brothers. If he wishes for redemption, then there will always be a place for him here, in the land departed from light or dark’s authority. There are few who have gone through as much as he must have.

For the earthshaker, so strong, so kind, so caring - a noble spirit finally able to stand his ground after so long spent struggling under another’s control. The burden he was forced to bear should never have afflicted him, and he is every inch the master that Aqua was appointed. A man like him, who treasures those closest to him above all else, is a rare sight in the people of the modern day - and therefore one to be treasured in his own right. His power and steadfast soul will hold out ‘til the ends of the earth, but I hope that they never again need to; he deserves a chance to finally rest.

And of course, most of all, for my wayfinder - whose light was the first I could ever find comfort in. She has gone through so much for the sake of her friends; I will forever admire the kindness of her spirit. I already know that she is only too worthy of being this world’s successor, to raise up the ranks of the Keyblade wielders - and if I am lucky enough to stand at her side, there’s nowhere I would rather be. The light of her heart will never again lose its lustre, now that she is finally home, and it is my wish that her safety will forever remain unthreatened. I am forever grateful for her presence, and her love.

I will never again let them suffer."

[guiding--x]

@rollinggirlrunahika  ❤️’d for a starter from Vanitas!

“She will be invaluable to us. A spare piece, and a potential wrench in whatever plans the Guardians of Light may have.”

“But she’s just another brat, right? Does she even know what’s going on?”

“It hardly matters; we will find some use for her.”

“Fine. How will I know when I find her?”

“Trust me, boy. You simply will.”

Well, the old man hadn’t been wrong, Vanitas decided; he could spot Runa halfway across the world if it had been necessary. The similarities she shared with her brother were definitely plentiful. From the shine in their warm brown hair to the gleam in their blue eyes, and even the barest of quirks at the corner of their grins, one side of their mouths lifting just a bit higher than the other. The light they shared, even, was blinding. Radiant and annoying, and he had no idea just how his master actually planned to be able to sway such a beacon, when her ties to Sora would undoubtedly run so deep. They were twins, he had come to understand, and though Vanitas doubted that they were as intricately linked as Ventus and himself, there would certainly be a bond there.

He wondered, for a moment, if Xehanort had sent Vanitas with that in mind. He wondered if, maybe, Runa might be able to sense whatever connection had been forged between them as well, when her dear brother had chosen to shelter Ven. Distant as they may have been, Runa and Vanitas were tied, all the same. 

Clever bastard.

He waited patiently, biding his time as he studied her from afar. Keeping out of sight in a world as noisy as Shibuya was certainly no easy task, but there was no shortage of shadows for him to hide away in. Just enough, at least, to keep out of sight of those overbearing guardians of hers. Half-baked keyblade wielders he could handle. But demigods and divine beings, he wasn’t so sure about. They were certainly persistent, clinging to her with worry in their eyes and fondness in their expressions. But eventually, even the barista and the blond brat had to step away from her. 

So he waited. Patient. He had waited for more important things for far longer, he told himself. 

The WildKat café was finally empty when Vanitas decided to make his move. Alone, she should hardly be any trouble, and he certainly felt comfortable enough to make himself at home as he stepped from a dark corridor, and quickly found his way into the back where she busied herself with washing mugs. He smirked to himself, face carefully hidden from view. “Just how long did you plan to hide away here, huh? Doing nothing while there’s people out there that need you?”

[atomic-taco-muffin]

The Lost Princess Chapter 67

Warnings: still don’t know

Rating: SFW

You and the others arrived in what looked like a bedroom and all of the objects looked huge. 

“What in the world?” Sora asked as he passed an equally oversized xylophone and soccer ball.

“Where are we?” you asked. Vanitas looked up to the larger-than-life bedside table and realized...

“Oh my gosh! Have we been shrunk?! And...and look at us!” he said. You all looked at yourselves, a similar figure though with considerably more plastic.

“You know what the magic is for. We have to protect the world order!” Donald said. 

“Border?” Rumi asked. 

“‘Order’!” 

“No one can understand you, chicken,” Roxy said.

“I’m not a chicken!” Something to the left caught Goofy's eye.

“Gawrsh...” he said. You and the others looked over. “Who's gonna protect the order from them?”

“Heartless!” you and the others said. You all summoned your weapons and ran at the Heartless.

“Okay. We go on three. One, two...” Woody said. Buzz's wings opened suddenly when he saw you and the others arrive.

“Wait!” he said. Rex, already at a running start, almost fell off the bed.

“What are you doing?!” Woody asked. Buzz directed Woody's gaze back to the floor.

“Who are those guys?” Woody asked. You and the others took out all the Heartless as the toy gang made their way to the wooden floor.

“Are they new?” Hamm asked. 

“Wait! Ah-- Ah-- You look familiar!” Rex said. He shoved past the rest of them toward a confused Sora. “I know this. You're, uh, you're, uhhh...”

“Yozora!” Hamm said. 

“Huh? My name's Sora.” A red dot appeared on Sora's chest as Buzz stood on alert.

“Stay back! For all we know, the intruders sent them,” Buzz said. Rex excitedly tackled Sora.

“Yozora!” he said. 

“Slow down there, Rex. We don't know them,” Woody said. 

“But we can trust them. They're the number-one-selling heroes in the country!”

“Yeah, Andy's mom must've bought 'em for him,” Hamm said. Rex shook Sora's hand as Buzz continued staying his distance, walking around you all in a circle.

“Hamm's right. Did you see how easily they took care of the intruders? I bet they're here to figure out why all our friends have gone missing, and why Buzz's laser started actually laser-ing...and all the weird stuff that's been going on,” Rex said. Buzz stared at the laser gun on his arm. “I mean, that's what heroes do, right?”

“Let's not jump to conclusions,” Buzz said. 

“Hmm...” Woody said. 

“Gotta be smart, Woody.” Woody casually walked up to Sora, surprising Buzz.

“So, you're...Andy's new toys?” he asked.

“Toys?” you and the others asked. 

“You sure did a number on those intruders.” 

“Those are the Heartless,” Goofy said.

“The bad guys!” Donald said.

“There’s also these creatures called Negaverses. Super dangerous,” Rumi said as she played with one of the bunny ears on her hood.

“We've been fighting against those ‘intruders’ for a while,” you said. 

“I knew it!” Rex said. Hamm chuckled. 

“Hmm... Okay,” Woody said. 

“Huh?” Buzz asked. 

“In that case, you're all right by me. My name's Woody. Put 'er there.” He offered a hand and Sora shook it.

“Hey,” Sora said. 

“Now hold on,” Buzz said. 

“I'm Sora--” 

“Yozora!” Rex said over excitedly. He got forlorn looks from everyone and joined the rest of Andy's toys.

“Actually, my name's Sora...”

“I’m (Y/N) and that’s my brother Vanitas over there.” 

“‘Sup?” Vanitas said.

“I’m Yui and this is my twin sister Roxy.”

“I’m Rumi.”

“And I'm Donald.”

“I'm Goofy.”

“And I'm...Buzz Lightyear.”

“Call me Hamm. It's a real honor.”

“And I'm Rex! I'm your biggest fan. In fact, I've been playing your game for months now. And I've already gotten you all the way up to LV 47. But that Bahamut boss is really tough. Slinky and I can't figure out how to beat him.” The Green Army Men walked up to you and the group. “Oh, I wish Slinky and the others were here. They'd be so happy to meet you!”

“All troops at attention, sir!” Sarge said. The Army Men saluted and you and the others returned it. A rolling sound caught your attention and your heard a squeak as the three Little Green Men coasted toward you on Andy's skateboard.

“Weeee!” they said. You and the others leaped out of the way. After leaving the skateboard, the toy aliens waddled over to Donald, their eyes blinking individually.

“Strangers,” one of them said. 

“From the outside,” another said. 

“Welcome,” another said. Rumi squealed and tried to hold one in her arms. 

“They're all toys? So that's why we look the way we do,” Vanitas said. He saw Buzz walking towards him and Sora as the aliens go on their way.

“Excuse me. You said that you've battled those intruders before. Tell us where and why,” Buzz said. 

“Oh... Well, uh...we are--” Sora said. 

“Order!” Donald said to him. Sora covered his mouth, making Vanitas snort and roll his eyes. 

“Well? You must have come from somewhere,” Buzz said. Hamm agreed while Woody walked over.

“Take it easy, Buzz. What matters is that they got those intruders out of our way--for at least a little while. No need to interrogate them,” Woody said. 

“Yeah, Buzz!” Rex said.

“Woody's right,” Hamm said. 

“Noted. But still...” Buzz said. 

“Oi. Have those ‘intruders’--the Heartless--been a problem around here?” Roxy said. 

“No, they just showed up a little while ago,” Woody said. 

“In fact, those ‘Heartless’ materialized...right after our friends up and vanished,” Buzz said. 

“You don't think...” Donald said to Goofy. 

“Well, gee. It can't just be a coincidence,” Goofy replied. Sora nodded and Woody gazed up at the window over Andy's desk.

“It wasn't always this lonely. One day we woke up, and we were the only toys left here. Nobody's heard from Mom, Molly, or Andy...” Woody said. He sat on a wooden block and stared at the underside of his shoe where the name "ANDY" was written in faded ink. “We keep waiting for Andy to come home.”

“You really care about him,” Yui said. Woody nodded and stood back up, rejoining you and the group.

“Yeah... He's the best friend that toys like us could ever hope to have,” he said. He placed a hand on Buzz's shoulder and the toys smiled.

“All right. We'd better start looking!” you said. 

“Huh?” Woody asked. 

“Have you gotten any clues we can go on--any other strange things that happened?” Sora asked. 

“Well... Hmm. There's one thing.” 

“One big thing,” Hamm said. 

“Huge, sir,” Sarge said. 

“What thing?” Rex said. 

“After everyone went MIA, the intruders didn't come alone. They arrived with a guy wearing a hood, dressed in black, just like you. As a matter of fact, he's the only other toy we've seen, outside of you guys,” Buzz said. 

“A black hood?” Vanitas gasped. “But that would mean...” 

“The Organization!” you and the others said. 

“You know who it is?” Woody asked. 

“Yeah. They're bad news,” Roxy said. 

“Seems like you have a lot of enemies,” Buzz said.

“We may have a hunch what's causing all the weirdness. Would you mind if we handle this?” Sora said. 

“I'm sorry. But we're not gonna leave this to you,” Woody said. 

“Huh?” you and the others asked. 

“If that guy had something to do with our friends vanishing, then he's our problem too. We've got to work together.” He extended a hand once more to Sora, who reciprocated.

“Right!” Sora said. You and the others shared a delighted response.

“So then, where can we find that guy?” you asked. Woody knelt toward the Army Men.

“Sarge, any word from the recon team?” he asked. 

“The latest reports place him in town, sir. At Galaxy Toys!” Sarge said. He pointed to the Galaxy Toys flyer on Andy's bulletin board.

“Then Galaxy Toys is where we're going. Sora, (Y/N). Follow me,” Woody said. He looked up to the window and you and the others followed his gaze. “It's out the window and down the roof.”

“Not so fast, cowboy,” Buzz said.

“Hm?”

“You seem pretty gung ho about going, but shouldn't we stay here and wait for Andy?” 

“Well... You've got a point, but...we've tried waiting. Look, if we go with Sora, we might find a clue. Are you with me, Buzz?” Buzz smiled.

“Of course. Okay, let's move out!” he said. You all exited through the window and down the roof of the garage to the driveway, engaging in spars with the Heartless that blocked your way. You all reached Galaxy Toys, home of Vic the Visitor, their alien mascot, displayed by the gigantic flying saucer that stood atop the building. You all crossed the threshold and entered the enormous toy store, Rex running in ahead.

“We're here!” he said. You all followed in awe of the spacious place. Large displays of Gigas were scattered on different shelves along with game boxes of all kinds. In the center of the first floor was an oversized gumball machine labeled "Space Capsule" with metal tracks leading in spirals to the upper floors. Roxy noticed the giant red Gigas.

“Oi, why doesn't THAT toy move?” she asked. 

“I guess it hasn't figured it out,” Woody said.

“Figured what out?” Sora asked. 

“I can make it move for you,” someone said. You and the others looked above the Space Capsule, where a black hooded figure entered through a dark portal, uncovering his hood and revealing himself to be Young Xehanort.

“You!” you and Vanitas growled. 

“You're from the dream--the first of the Xehanorts!” Sora said. 

“I'm so honored you remember me,” Y!Xehanort said. He snapped his fingers and three Heartless appeared along with three Negaverses. One Heartless jumped into the helmet of the red Gigas and assumed control of it. Its claw arm started to move with clicking sounds and it leaped toward you and Sora. Woody raised his hat to see better.

“Oh no! He CAN move!” he said. 

“Way cool!” Hamm said. The arm spun backwards into a fist with Hamm giving off a startled shriek.

“Look out!” Vanitas said. As the Gigas attempted a punch, you and your team held him off while Woody knocked Hamm out of the way.

“One heart's shadows fill the emptiness of another. See how they bring him to life? Like Heartless and Nobodies, they fit together,” Y!Xehanort said. 

“Enough! Why the hell are you doing this?!” you said. 

“There's a darkness we are missing and must reclaim. The way hearts connect in this world can provide us with a clue. So we made a copy of the world, and then pulled those hearts apart. I wonder how you'll handle the strain.” Hamm ran off to hide behind a potted plant with Rex. Young Xehanort summoned the portal again and began to enter.

“Wait! What the hell does that mean?” Vanitas said. 

“Don't let me down.” Young Xehanort left and the Gigas knocked you and your team away. Woody caught you all.

“Oh no!” Rex said. 

“Woody! What is going on? Is this toy a friend...or foe?” Buzz said. The Gigas stood, aiming its arm cannon at them.

“I think we've got our answer,” Woody said. The cannon fires burst, causing you all to flee in opposite directions, hiding behind shelving units.

“Oi, (Y/N)! You wanna take this?” Roxy said.

“Yeah! If the Heartless know how to do it, there's no reason you can't,” Sora said. 

“I’ll give it a try!” you said. You ran toward the Gigas, taking a spinning leap and landing inside. You grabbed onto the two control sticks inside and closed the helmet, leaping down to the floor to face off against the Heartless-controlled Gigas while also having Odile close by. Using the toy mech's various blasters, punches, Odile’s power, and explosions, you defeated the main Gigas troops while the others took down the small Heartless and Negaverses legions on the floor. The red Gigas slowed to a stop and the helmet opened as a Heartless disappeared, the Heart being released from inside it. You leaped out of the blue Gigas.

“He was being controlled? He wasn't just switched into battle mode by accident?” Buzz asked. 

“Buzz?” Sora asked. Buzz turned away

“It’s nothing,” he sighed. 

“I'm confused. That guy in the black coat--did he say he made a copy of the real world? What's that mean?” Woody said. 

“It...prob'ly means they split this world in two--your friends in one world, us in the other. Only one of the worlds is real, and the other is just really convincing,” Vanitas said.

“You can't be serious. Oh! That's right, you're from a video game. Well, maybe in your game, that's how things work...but here in reality, you can't ‘split worlds.’” Buzz said. You and your team were at lost for words. 

“This is ridiculous,” Buzz said. He waved you and your team off and walked away towards Woody. “Woody, let's go.”

“I admit, it does sound just a little far-fetched,” Woody said. Donald and Goofy rejoined the group. “But...say we HAVE been taken to some kind of alternate world. That would explain why your laser's real. And is it really that crazy? Worse than ‘evil emperors’ and ‘protecting the galaxy’? Any of that ring a bell?”

“Point taken. But that just means these strangers are part of the delusion. And I say it's time we parted ways and went home,” Buzz said. Donald and the others looked crestfallen.

“Thought we were friends, not strangers,” Yui said. 

“Look, I get that it seems weird, but we know something's wrong with this place. We should stick together,” you said.

“(Y/N)’s right. They helped with the intruders, so they might help find our friends,” Woody said. Buzz started walking toward the red Gigas.

“They have been there for us so far. You can't deny that. Come on. Every toy deserves a fair shake. Am I right?” Woody said. 

“Tell it to that toy over there,” Buzz said as he pointed to the Gigas. Woody fell silent.

“Sheriff, sir!” Sarge said. Woody looked atop the shelf to see Sarge and another Green Army Man. “Rex has just been dino-napped!”

“What's that?!” Woody asked. Sarge turned to his fellow soldier, who saluted.

“My men saw him get hauled up to the second floor, sir! And Hamm and the Aliens are MIA,” he said.

“Come on. We have got to find them!” Woody began running and Sora followed.

“Please, let us help!” he said.

“Yeah!” you and the others said. Woody looked over his shoulder at Buzz who hadn't budged and ran back over to him.

“Well, Buzz? Do you really think we can save our friends on our own? We didn't get very far before. We gotta take all the help we can get,” he said. Buzz gave an abject sigh.

“Don't worry. Sora and (Y/N) can be reckless...” Goofy said.

“Wha?” Sora asked. 

“Excuse me?” you asked.

“...and Donald grumbles a lot...” 

“Huh?” Donald asked. 

“It’s true,” Yui said.

“...And Roxy and Vanitas do lose their temper easily...” 

“Say that again,” Roxy said. 

“...And Rumi does get scared easily.”

“That was so uncalled for!” Rumi said.

“But you can trust 'em!”

“Hey! He suspects you, too!” Vanitas said.

“It's true,” Sora said. 

“Huh? He does?” Donald threw his hands up and Sora chuckled.

“See, they don't seem bad. Am I right, Buzz?” Woody said. 

“Okay, fine. We do need the extra help. But just so we're clear: I remain skeptical about this. I'll work with you till we find our friends,” Buzz said. 

“Ohhh...kay,” you and Sora said. 

“Thanks for the help, Sora, (Y/N), Vanitas, Yui, Roxy, Rumi, Donald, Goofy,” Woody said. 

“My troops will return to the field, sir!” Sarge said. The Army Men saluted and walked off. You and the group walked over to the Space Capsule and Buzz ejected his wings right as Woody walked into them. He scowled at Buzz for a moment, but the feeling passed.

“This ascent is gonna be rather tricky,” Buzz said. 

“Too bad we're not strapped to a rocket, huh?” Woody smiled. He leaned on Buzz's wings, but Buzz retracted them back into his suit.

“Hey! Think we could use that?” you said. You pointed upwards and you all saw the spiral tracks leading to the other floors,

“It's perfect. C'mon, guys!” Woody said. You all rode the rails up to the 2nd Floor and entered a store named Action+, where you all gazed in awe of the seemingly endless shelves of action figures. Woody saw something tail-shaped out of the corner of his eye and he turned in surprise.

“Rex!” he said. He dashed around the corner of a display, but saw no one there. “Where'd he go?”

“You sure you saw him?” Buzz asked. 

“Yes, he just--”

“Shh. Do you guys hear something?” Vanitas said.

“What's that?” Rumi asked as she held her hood tightly. You and Sora saw waves of darkness though a break in the boxes on display where something was moving.

“Something feels wrong...” Buzz said. With a huge swipe of its claw, an immense dragon model toy called the Supreme Smasher knocked over the display of Smasher toys in front of you all. Donald and Rumi started running back to the exit, when the store's sliding door slammed shut. The Supreme Smasher let out a giant bellow and you all clearly saw the Heartless symbol emblazoned on its neck. You all summoned your weapons and guardians.

“Another toy's being controlled!” Sora said. Buzz shook off a worrisome look and readied his laser.

“Buzz, you sure?” you asked. 

“If it wanted to play nice, then it should've stayed away from my friends,” Buzz said. You and the others managed to free the controlled toys and Sora and Vanitas dispelled their Keyblades with a sigh of relief. Suddenly, another Supreme Smasher landed behind you all and roared. You and the others heard a scream and looked over to see a dragon-shaped glider hooked to the ceiling flying in circles piloted by a shouting Rex. It spun at full speed, knocking the hook out of the tile, sending the glider and Rex flying into the Supreme Smasher just as it reached back for a claw slash at you and Sora. The dragon toy fell over as Rex flew into an Air Droid display along with an orange puppet hanging from a cloud-like gear. After landing on the floor, the gear tried to float away but Rex landed on it.

“What's this?!” he asked. The puppet turned its head to face Rex menacingly, revealing a Heartless symbol on its hat. “Oh no! What did I do?!”

He ran away from it while Sora and Vanitas struck down the Marionette Heartless with one swipe of their Keyblades. Woody sighed with relief, wiping his brow.

“Nice moves, Rex,” he said. 

“That was great!” Rumi said. 

“Great? Really? Would you say I was impressive?” Rex asked. 

“Very impressive, Rex! We couldn't look away!” Roxy said. 

“Hurray! Oh, that makes me so happy!” Rex turned to Donald. “Were you watching too? Did you see what I did?”

“Yeah, good for you,” Donald said as he and Woody tried to calm him down. 

“Listen, Rex,” Woody said. 

“I was going for fearsome...” Rex said.

“Would ya--”

“...but I think I might've actually achieved something close to terrifying!”

“Earth to Rex!” Rex stopped. 

“Do you know where the others were taken?” Sora asked.

“What do you mean? Did something bad happen?” Rex asked. 

“Back to square one,” Buzz said. 

“Oh, great,” Roxy said. Woody heard a clicking sound of plastic on metal and looked up to see the sergeant climbing down the vent near the ceiling.

“Sarge! Have you got a status report?” he asked.

“Sir! One of my men just located Hamm forward of our position, in Babies in Toddlers,” Sarge saluted. You and the group smiled with the good news. “The corporal was debriefing him, but something must have gone wrong. All radio contact has been lost.”

“Anything more specific we can go on?” Vanitas asked. 

“Right before I lost contact, I heard music with some sort of sonic interference.”

“Music?” Buzz asked.

“Ya think it could be the Heartless?” Goofy asked. 

“Or a Negaverse?” Yui asked.

“What if it's another big monster?” Donald asked.

“Let’s find out,” you said.

“I agree,” Woody said. You and the group started walking ahead, while Rex stayed put.

“Actually...I think I'll head back and wait by the entrance. I'm sure those vents are gonna be much too narrow for my big dinosaur tail,” he said. Sora looked up at the vent.

“Really? I'm sure you'd fit,” he said.

“Rex is right. Besides, we need a lookout at the entrance. It's an important mission. Can you do it?” Buzz interjected. 

“Yes, sir!” Rex made a determined fist with his little arm and Buzz saluted him. You and the rest chuckled and made your way up into the ventilation shaft. Using the vents to reach the third floor of Galaxy Toys you all exited into the Dolls section of Babies & Toddlers.

“This is Babies and Toddlers. Where do you guys think we should start?” Woody said. Goofy bent down to speak to the sergeant.

“Sarge, didn't you mention music?” he asked. Sarge hopped to face him.

“Affirmative, Goofy,” he said. You peered out through the vast toy section.

“Hmm... All right. Why don't we look for things that make noise?” you said.

“Sure!” Sora and the others said. 

“That's good thinking for you,” Roxy said. She walked off, cackling.

“Wha... What do you mean, for me?” Roxy broke off into a run. 

“Hey, where ya--” Roxy ran around Vanitas. 

“Roxy!” you laughed. The two of you ended up in a standoff around Vanitas.

“I think they really are good guys,” Woody said. You tried to grab Roxy but she runs past you and shook her butt while sticking her tongue out. 

“Hold still!” you said. Yui and your team chuckled and you ran after Roxy.

“Well, you wouldn't have trusted them otherwise,” Buzz said. Roxy tried to run around Vanitas again but you blocked her, prompting Roxy to dive through your legs. Yui and the team laughed harder.

“What?” you asked.

“Missed me!” Roxy laughed as she leaped onto her feet.

“Don't!” 

“And I know that your trust is a hard-earned treasure,” Buzz said. You and Roxy continued to play cat and mouse. 

“No! Stop that!” you said. 

“Victory is mine!” Roxy laughed. Woody smiled softly at Buzz.

“Well...for all our sakes, let's hope you're right, cowboy. I'm willing to give 'em a chance at least for a little while longer. Especially if it means getting Andy and our friends back,” Buzz said. 

“Agreed,” Woody said. You and the others searched through the store, taking out more Heartless and Negaverse-possessed toys, until you all reached a large gramophone in the corner at a display labeled Musical Toads. Sora and Vanitas hopped onto the turntable.

“Is this it?” Vanitas asked. He and Sora began to run on the record and the symphony of toads on the display lit up and began playing.

“Come on, you two...You've never used a record player?” Woody said. 

“Huh?” Sora asked. He and Vanitas slowed down and the music stopped as Woody leaped up onto the record as well.

“Like this!” Woody said. He started running along the record, throwing Sora and Vanitas off-balance. The two boys returned to a run and laughed as the orchestra continued playing.

“It's working!” Rumi said. One of the instruments played a false note.

“Wait, did that sound off to you?” Yui asked.

“It did,” Donald said. 

“Huh?” Sora and Vanitas asked. Distracted, Sora and Vanitas slowed down and almost crashed into Woody.

“Heeey!” Woody said. Sora and Vanitas sped back up and you called up to them.

“Sora! Vanitas! There's some kinda strange noise coming from the orchestra!” you said. Sora, Vanitas, and Woody exchanged glances.

“Got it! Woody, you keep the record going,” Sora waved. He and Vanitas jumped down from the turntable.

“Whoa-whoa-whoa!” Woody said. You and your team searched the orchestra for the instrument that's playing off-rhythm and found that it's the tuba-playing toad. Woody struggled to catch his breath as he kept the music playing while Goofy peered into the tuba.

“Hmm... Somethin' seems to be stuck in this tuba,” Goofy said. 

“I'll get it out,” Vanitas said. He reached into the tuba, feeling around for the obstruction. He found it and struggled to get it unstuck.

“Almost got it...” he said. With a loud pop, he pulled out...”

“Got it!” he said. ...the corporal. Vanitas placed him gently on the table.

“Corporal!” Sarge said. The sergeant hopped down from a higher ledge and walked over to the corporal, placing a hand on his back. “You all right, son?” he asked. 

“Yes, sir,” Corporal said.

“That's the soldier Sarge lost contact with,” Buzz said. Sarge got the soldier to his feet and put his arm around his shoulders, hoisting him up.

“So you found Hamm?” Sora asked. 

“Yes. But...while I was radioing in, a giant hand grabbed me, and it stuffed me in there. They must have taken Hamm to another location. We have to hurry!” Corporal said. He tried to walk his injured self, but fell over.

“Wait, Corporal. You're not fit for action,” Sarge said as he helped him stand again.

“But Sarge...”

“Your tour is over, son. And it's all right. Our trusted allies will take over.” You and your team saluted them and the corporal started tearing up. “I will move the corporal to a safer location.”

“Good luck,” Corporal saluted. The Green Army Men walked off as the music continued to play and Woody continued to run. They reached the edge of the orchestra ledge and gave Woody a salute.

“Huh...?” Woody asked. They hopped down the ledge. “Hey, hey, hey, hey! What is...going on?!”

“Oh, right!” you said. 

“Woody! Mission complete!” Buzz said. Woody leaped off the record player and the music slowed to a stop.

“Why didn't...you tell me...a little sooner?” he asked, winded. He fell to his hands and knees, trying to catch his breath.

“Sorry, there's no time to rest. Hamm needs us,” Buzz said. He hopped off the table and Woody gave an exhausted salute. You and the others soon found a dollhouse that was rattling around in a window display. You all struggled to get the side of the house open, but with everyone's help, it unlatched, and the you all landed in a pileup.

“Talk about cabin fever. Thanks for the save,” Hamm said. He walked out of the dollhouse much to your surprise.

“You okay, Hamm?” Woody asked. 

“Yeah, aside from being locked in, the accommodations were fine.” He nodded over to the fully-furnished inside of the house, where Rumi and Donald stepped inside.

“Aww. What a tiny little house. Reminds me a lot of the one I used to have,” Rumi said. They walked by the window where a giant doll peered inside.

“Huh?” Donald asked. The doll brimmed with darkness and its sudden appearance caused Rumi and Donald to thrash about the house.

“Who was--” Woody asked. Hamm shrieked in terror and backed away.

“What's wrong?” Buzz asked.

“She's back! That's the doll that pig-penned me!” Hamm said. The doll's eyes glowed orange, matching the glowing Heartless symbol on her left bunny ear.

“Hamm, take cover,” Woody said. 

“Uh, copy that. One stay in the dread-and-breakfast was enough for me!” Hamm said as he ran away. 

“Not another possessed toy...” Buzz said. 

“Guys, look alive!” Yui said. You and the others fought the possessed Angelic Amber doll along with a horde of Bouncy Pets and Patchwork Animals also under the Marionette Heartless's and Negaverses control. The doll stopped floating and its eyes return to their normal shade of blue. It slumped against the floor, lifeless.

“Wait... What if we end up just like her? Forgetting ourselves and... attacking each other?” Buzz asked. 

“No way, Buzz. That won't happen,” you said. 

“No way!” Donald said.

“You guys are too strong,” Goofy said.

“You can't be sure! What if I get taken over, then attack you?” Buzz said, hotly. Woody placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Buzz, you're overthinking it,” he said. 

“Yeah. The Heartless--the darkness--can only creep in when our hearts falter. Trust me. You'll be fine if you don't lose heart,” Sora said. 

“Well, that's good. Because I know you, Buzz. You'll never lose heart when it comes to your friends,” Woody said as he flicked his hat upwards.

“True enough, cowboy,” Buzz said as he gave a small smile. “Sorry to have worried you all.”

“No problem. Now, let's go find the others.” You all returned to the window, Buzz helping Woody up to the windowsill, and met back up with Hamm. Donald and Goofy spotted something through the glass.

“Look!” Donald said. A UFO with a crane claw sailed past the window, a trail of darkness behind it.

“A flying saucer!” Goofy said as Woody adjusted his hat. 

“I think I know who that might lead us to. C'mon, guys!” Woody said. You all opened the window right as the UFO passed by and Woody waved you all  through when the coast was clear.

“Hey, Woody. I'd just slow you down, with all the loose change I'm carrying. I'll hang by the entrance,” Hamm said. 

“No problem. Be safe, Hamm,” Woody said as he leaped out of the window.

“Hey, thanks, buddy. You just take care of your old self.” He left and Woody rejoined you and the group.

“Now, let's follow that UFO!” he said. 

“Right!” you all said. You all entered the Outdoor playplace of Babies & Toddlers where the UFO was flying through. The Aliens spotted it with glee.

“They have come for us,” the first one said.

“The mystic portal awaits,” the second one said. The UFO stopped over the three Aliens and the claw descended, sending you and the group running after them.

“Oh no!” Buzz said. 

“Wait!” Rumi said. 

“Stop!” Woody said. The Aliens were snatched up into the mothership.

“Farewell!” they said. 

“It's getting away!” Buzz said. 

“Don't go!” Rumi said. Surrounded by Toy Trooper Heartless, you and the others took down the possessed UFO. It dropped the Aliens, which Rumi caught quickly, and faltered in the air, eventually losing power and sinking to the floor.

“We are back!” the Aliens said. They escaped from Rumi’s grasp and they started to run in different directions.

“Our ship is no more,” the first one said. 

“Nirvana will not be reached,” the second one said. Sora picked one up with a squeak.

“Sorry I trashed your ride,” he said. 

“Fear not,” it said. 

“We still have our new home,” the first one said. 

“The Chamber of Andy,” the Aliens said. 

“They're right,” Buzz said. Sora set the Alien down. “This isn't where we belong. We've been in this toy store long enough. It's time for us to go home to Andy's room.”

“But...dad told us that room isn't even his real room,” Vanitas said. 

“Can you prove that any of that nonsense is true?” Buzz asked. You and the others sighed. “And even if that Andy's room IS fake, it doesn't mean he's not somewhere in this world with us. I'm going home to wait for him. No more debate. Are you with me Woody?”

“Hmm... You’re right, Buzz. Now that we're all accounted for, we should meet up at the entrance and go home,” Woody said. 

“Okay. We could have used friends like you for the final showdown...” you said. 

“But Organization XIII's our problem to solve,” Yui said. Sora nodded and Donald hopped in place.

“Yeah, I can take 'em!” Donald said. 

“I'm not so sure about that...” Roxy said. Goofy chuckled. 

“I'll show ya!” Roxy laughed and ran up to Woody and Buzz, you and the others following suit.

“Guys, can we see you off?” you asked. 

“That would be great,” Woody said. You and the others returned to the first floor.

“Sarge, roll call,” Woody said as he pointed to the Green Army Man and walked past him.

“Sir, yes sir! Roll call! All toys, fall in!” Sarge saluted. The Army Men, Hamm, and the Aliens formed a line as Buzz walked by them.

“Sarge... Army Men times four... Hamm... Aliens 1, 2, 3...” Buzz said. The Army Men saluted and each Alien squeaked as they raised their hands. “Wait. Where's Rex?”

“Aw, he took off. Said he wanted to prove to you you could trust Sora. He's up there by the video games,” Hamm said as he pointed up to the third floor and Buzz sighed.

“Well, here we go again.” 

“Huh? This is about us?” Sora asked as he gave a worried look. 

“He's not safe. The Heartless and the Negaverses are out there,” you said. 

“You're right. Any chance you guys could help us one last time?” Woody said. 

“Sure!” You, Vanitas, and Sora said. 

“Of course!” Rumi and Goofy said.

“You bet!” Roxy, Yui, and Donald said.

“Thanks guys.” You all returned to the third floor and entered the video game store where you all found Rex among the Verum Rex merchandise.

“Hurray!” he said. He hopped down and rushed over to Sora with the game in his hands.

“Look! Look! I found it!” he said. He held it almost too close to Sora's face, trying to show him the cover.

“See, Sora?” The cover showed an image of the silver-haired Yozora lazing on stone steps with his sword and crossbow.

“Well, I never look THIS good. The clothes kinda match,” Sora said. Buzz and Woody walked further into the game store around a giant poster for Verum Rex, where they could see a much larger version of the game cover.

“Whaddaya know! They ARE video game figures. See? I told ya, Buzz. They're toys, just like the rest of us,” Woody said. Buzz looked over to you and your team as something caught Rex's eye.

“Well, I suppose,” he said. You and Sora Sora leaned over to speak privately with Donald and Roxy. 

“Donald, I thought your magic decided how I look. Explain,” Sora said.

“And I thought that Spirit’s don’t change their looks,” you said. 

“It doesn’t apply to all of the worlds,” Roxy said. 

“And that’s not you,” Donald said. 

“Say, Riku would make a great action figure!” Goofy said.

“Must be him!” Rumi said. 

“It kind of looks like him,” Vanitas said. 

“No! It's me. I've got the black clothes and, uh...” Sora trailed off slowly. 

“So what?” Yui asked. 

“All right, everyone. Now that we're back together, it's time to return to Andy's room,” Buzz said. Rex was reading the back cover of a Play Plus strategy guide.

“Now?” he asked. He dropped the book and searched through the shelf, tossing books aside.

“But can't I at least check the strategy guides? I want to know how to beat Bahamut!” He said as he managed to find the Verum Rex guide.

“Next time. Right now, we need to go home,” Buzz said. He took the book and tossed it away. Rex's face turned sad and Buzz consoled him with a tap him on the snout. Rex walked away hesitantly from the book, following Buzz back to the group. A figure with a pair of boots landed on the floor nearby.

“Oh, but you needn't rush off,” Y!Xehanort said. The voice caught your attention and you all summon your weapons and guardians.

“You!” You and Vanitas said. 

“I have more to observe. I can't let you leave yet.” 

“It’s me that you really want. Leave my friends out of this!” you said. Y!Xehanort smirked.

“You WOULD say that, Spirit of Light,” he said. Suddenly, a pounding headache ran through you, causing you to scream in pain. 

“(Y/N)!” Sora and the others yelled. You fell to the ground, whimpering in pain. 

“Roxy, Vanitas, stay with (Y/N) while we deal with Xehanort!” Sora said. Roxy and Vanitas nodded while Sora turned towards Y!Xehanort. 

~~~~

You looked around and saw that you were in a dark place. You tried taking a step but found that you couldn’t. 

“What’s happening?” you asked. Suddenly, memories of you as a child started showing up. From the day you were found by Xehanort to the day you met Sora. 

“Why is he doing this?” you asked yourself. You heard someone singing and looked over to see what looked like a woman in the Realm of Darkness. 

“Who is she?” you asked.

“(Y/N)...stop Xehanort...” a voice said. 

“Huh?” Before the voice could say another thing, you were brought back to your friends. 

“(Y/N)! You’re okay!” Vanitas said. 

“Yeah...” you said as you sat up slowly. You looked over and saw Sora still talking with Y!Xehanort.

“What did you do to him?!” he asked. You looked over and saw Buzz trying to shoot Goofy with his lazer. Sora attacked Y!Xehanort, who phased away in the blink of an eye.

“I thought I made it clear. I am testing the strength of their bonds,” Y!Xehanort said. He walked around the room, phasing in and out as Sora tried to strike him down, but only slicing air.

“In this world, toys have hearts. And those hearts come from a powerful bond,” he said. Sora looked around, seeing Y!Xehanort on a high display case above a video screen.

“So what happens when those bonds are stretched to their limit? When they are worlds apart, can cloth and plastic hold on to their hearts?” Sora leaped to the top of the display with another failed attack.

“All I needed was a wedge to widen the divide--someone like you to fill them with distrust and doubt.” Sora found him walking along the display and Y!Xehanort dodged each of Sora's blows effortlessly.

“And that chasm you created can be filled with a vast darkness.” He appeared on the floor and Sora leaped down at him, striking nothing.

“Witness it for yourself.” 

“Sora!” you and the others said. You and the others were trying to hold Buzz at bay, but he continued his laser blasts unflinching as Goofy stopped them from hitting Woody.

“Do somethiiing!” Rex said. 

“On my way!” Sora said. He tried to run to their aid, but Y!Xehanort snatched him up.

“Sora!” you said.

“Not this time!” Y!Xehanort said. He summoned a concentrated energy blast near Sora's waist, which then exploded, blasting him into the nearby video screen. He phased into it, sending a ripple through the screen. He landed on a metal surface of an enormous boat several miles from a nighttime city skyline.

“Sora! What did you do to him?!” you said. 

“Nothing that will kill him. Or maybe that’s my intention.” 

“You son of a--!” You ran over to him and attacked him with your dagger. Meanwhile, Sora landed in the video game that Y!Xehanort was standing in front of. 

“Where am I?” he asked. 

“Haven't you heard? In this world, you come from a video game. So now, you can watch my experiment from inside that screen. That is...if you manage to find a moment's rest,” Y!Xehanort said. He teleported out of the store as Sora came face to face with the Gigas inside Verum Rex.

“There's got to be a way out. Buzz, Woody, hang on!” Sora said. After a few minutes, Sora leaped out of the television screen to the delighted faces of his friends except you. You sat on your knees, looking at where Y!Xehanort was.

“I’m gonna kill him...” you mumbled. 

“Wait...Where's Buzz?” Sora asked. You looked behind you and saw him standing there. You stood up and walked over to him.

“He disappeared into a dark corridor,” you said. 

“Oh...”

“Sora, how do we get him back?” Woody asked. 

“I don't know. My power won't open those.” 

“Neither will ours,” Roxy said. Yui nodded in agreement.

“Vanitas, what about you?” Sora asked. 

“Same situation as the twins.” Woody breathed a large sigh as the Green Army Men walked nearer.

“Sir, did I hear you say ‘dark corridor’?” Sarge asked.

“That's right, Sarge. Any ideas?” Woody said. 

“Well, it might be a long shot, but we've sighted a shadowy portal in the Kid Korral. We can infiltrate from a window inside Babies and Toddlers.” Woody's disposition lightened. “I'll head there and get it open.”

“Sarge, you're a lifesaver!” Woody turned to your and the others. “You guys in?”

“Yeah!” you all said. 

“Please promise you'll bring Buzz home,” Rex said. 

“With batteries included?” Hamm asked.

“Journey safely,” the first alien said. 

“Farewell!” the second alien said. 

“Don't worry. WE'RE gonna get our friend back,” Woody said. You and the others returned to the Outdoor section of Babies & Toddlers.

“Vani. Can I talk to you about something?” you said. 

“Sure.” 

“I think we have another sister.” 

“Huh? How do you know?” 

“During that headache, I caught a glimpse of a woman. She was in the Realm of Darkness and she was trying to tell me something.” 

“What did she say?” 

“She said to stop dad but before she could say another thing, I was brought back here.” 

“Well, if she is dad’s daughter, then we need to save her before something bad happens.” 

“I know she is. I can feel it.” Vanitas wrapped an arm around your waist and kissed your temple. 

“It’s gonna be okay,” he whispered. 

“I hope so.” 

“Guys, look!” Woody said. High above on a windowed wall with the design of a house was a much smaller window.

“That must be the window Sarge mentioned,” Yui said. You all made your way up through the window and entered the Kid Korral, where Sora saw odd green cubes piled against the main door.

“The entrance was blocked by BLOCKS?” he asked.

“Can you use the Gigas to move 'em?” Vanitas asked. 

“Yeah, maybe. I'll try.” Sora piloted a nearby blue Gigas, stretching its arm out. He activated the claw which sent magnetic bolts to the green blocks, causing them to glow and disperse, unbarring the door. You and the others moved further into the room where Donald spotted something.

“Up there!” he said. A stream of darkness emanated from the uppermost vent in the room, much too high to reach by normal means, especially at toy height.

“How we gonna reach that?” Sora asked. 

“(Y/N). Your guardian is a swan. Maybe you and Odile can pile up the blocks so that we can reach up there,” Rumi said. 

“Okay, if you say so,” you said. You pulled out your dagger and held it up into the air. “ODILE!”

From behind you, Odile was summoned. With the help from Roxy, you climbed on Odile and told her what to do. She gave a honk in agreement and she helped place the blocks together while Sora and the others took down the Heartless and the Negaverses. Once all the blocks had been gathered and piled up, three cones landed on top of the green figure assembled and a fanfare played. The figure, with a permanent surprised look on its face, leaned over toward the wall, providing a path up to the vent.

“Hey, is that...” Roxy asked. 

“A cactus?” Rumi asked. The vent cover fell open.

“Yep, and it's our way up to the dark corridor,” Vanitas said. You and the others made your way to the vent and entered it, finding a corridor of darkness.

“It looked like this?” Sora asked. 

“Yup,” Goofy said.

“Here goes,” You said. You and the others passed through the ominous portal, finding themselves in a hazy abyss. Buzz was hovering in the center, darkness coming off of him and spreading through the air. Y!Xehanort waited for them, waves of dark energy covering the floor as pieces of toys were scattered about the abyss, floating on invisible strings.

“Buzz!” Sora and Woody said. 

“Dad!” you and Vanitas said. 

“What do you want with my friend?” Woody asked. 

“Look... Such tremendous darkness. All because he was ripped away from the boy who cares about him most,” Y!Xehanort said. The waves punched upward.

“Does that mean...we'll all be like Buzz...” The waves coalesced around Woody. “...if we don't...find Andy?”

“Wrong! Distance doesn't matter. Andy's part of their hearts, just like my friends are part of mine,” you said. Sora and the others nodded in agreement, glaring at Y!Xehanort.

“You can't rip that apart!” Sora said. Woody looked at the bottom of his shoe where Andy had written his name years ago, and then at Buzz's, just the same. Buzz was carried higher by the waves as Xehanort raised an arm.

“What? ‘Your friends are your power’? Ah... How very true. But if the light of friendship is a form of power...the darkness of being alone is a power...even greater. Darkness is the heart's true nature,” Y!Xehanort said. You were stunned to silence, but Woody placed a hand on your shoulder and walked past you.

“Whatever you're talking about, I don't care. Put Buzz back the way he was, then get lost!” he said. 

“Or else what, toy?” 

“Yeah, I am a toy. And a friend.” Woody stamped down with his foot, breaking the waves of darkness slightly, revealing the floor underneath. “My guess is no one's ever loved you before. Because you know NOTHING about hearts and love.”

“WHAT DID HE SAY?!” Roxy cackled. 

“Roxy!” Yui scolded. You and Sora joined Woody in the circle of light, both making steps forward.

“There are hearts all around us, trying to connect. Your ‘loneliness’ only made Woody and Buzz's connection stronger. THAT's the heart's true nature--to never, ever let go. Wherever they are, Andy and the other toys haven't let go either,” you said. 

“Yeah! You can't keep us from Andy. We're going home no matter what. And taking Buzz!” Woody said. 

“Xehanort, you're so caught up in finding the shadows, you forgot about the light that cast them,” Sora said. The force of light broke through the dark waves, tearing apart the darkness holding Buzz in the air. As it reached Buzz, it shined out with a brilliant light.

“No!” Y!Xehanort said. You and your team charged forward, forcing Xehanort to summon his Keyblade, blocking the you all.

“Woody, now!” Vanitas said. Woody leaped forward over them, tossing out the pull string from his back. It latched onto a Lego floating in the air and Woody swung around, using the momentum to snatch Buzz from his tangled perch. You and Sora smiled and Y!Xehanort scowled as the pull string retracted back inside Woody with a message of "Giddy-up, partner! We gotta get this wagon train a-movin'!" Suddenly, Buzz opened his eyes, seeing Woody on top of him. Woody lifted his head and gazed back at his friend. He turned over and sat with Buzz, who held his head.

“Woody...Wait, how did I get here?” Buzz asked. 

“Hmm. Oh, I don't know!” Woody elbowed Buzz. “Maybe somebody switched you into ‘dark and stormy’ mode.”

“But I don't have a-” He realized what Woody is saying. The cowboy extended a hand to him and Buzz smiled, taking it, getting to his feet.

“Thank you, Woody,” he said. 

“Good to have ya back, Buzz.” 

“Oi, hurry up!” Roxy said. The two of them looked over to see you and your team locked in combat with Y!Xehanort.

“We can't hold him much longer!” Rumi said. 

“Don't give up, guys!” Sora said. Young Xehanort knocked you all back.

“So, even empty puppets can be given strong hearts. I am going to have to remember that,” he said. Buzz aims his laser beam at Y!Xehanort.

“Remember this--our hearts will always be connected to Andy's. No matter what you do!” he said. 

“And that's something you'll never understand, because you're hollower than any toy,” Woody said.

“But now I know a heart can be placed in the vessel of our choosing. For that, let me give you a parting gift to play with,” Y!Xehanort said. 

“Wait!” you and Sora said. The two of you ran at Y!Xehanort and slashed right through him.

“Find the hearts joined to yours,” Y!Xehanort said. (why did that feel like he was betraying org.xiii?)

“Huh?” you and Sora asked. Xehanort vanished and Donald leaped up, pointing at the sky where the darkness had begun to break.

“There!” he said. You and the others rejoined as the darkness was swept up, forming a giant flying saucer Heartless, revealing the room as a toy-sized cityscape with a puzzle-piece road.

“Careful!” Woody said. 

“Here goes!” you said. After a long battle with the King of Toys involving an electromagnetic tornado, you all succeeded in finishing off the Heartless and returned to the first floor of Galaxy Toys. You all regrouped with your friends and began walking toward the exit.

“So, crusty got away again,” Roxy said. 

“Not so much as crusty but more of a brat,” Yui said. You gave a small chuckle but it didn’t make you feel better. Sora hung his head and stopped walking.

“I’m sorry!” Sora said. You and the others turned back to him, confused.

“I wanted to get you back to the real world,” he said. Woody and Buzz looked at each other and smirked.

“It does seem that we're trapped here,” Buzz said.

“We'll never get home,” Rex said. 

“Yeah, stuck like pigs,” Hamm said. 

“Our position appears fixed,” Sarge said. 

“Oh nooo,” the three aliens said. You and the others gave a sad sigh.

“A shame we'll have to stay a little longer...with our new best friends,” Buzz said. 

“Huh?” you and your team asked. Woody walked up and leaned on Sora's shoulder.

“After all the adventures we've had, we're not quite ready to say, ‘So long,’” he said. Sora laughed. 

“You guys...” he said. The space ranger extended a hand.

“I'm sorry that I was being so stubborn. Please forgive me,” he said. Sora shook his head, smiling, and shook Buzz's hand.

“Hey, you were just looking out for your friends. No biggie,” he said. 

“Yeah, somebody's gotta be the sensible one, especially since Woody's always gettin' in trouble,” Hamm said. 

“Gawrsh, that sounds a little like Sora and (Y/N), don't it?” Goofy asked. You, Sora, and Woody exchanged a look, pointing at yourselves.

“Yeah, and I'm the dependable one!” Donald said. 

“Like Buzz! ...Kinda,” Rex said. You all laughed. 

“Besides, if we do go back to the real world, we'll never see you again, right?” Woody asked. Sora scratched his cheek.

“But...what about Andy? You care about him so much,” Rumi said. Buzz put a hand on her shoulder.

“And he's still right here with us,” he said as he touched his heart, smiling. Woody put an arm around Sora.

“If we follow our hearts, we'll find him again,” he said.

“Yeah!” Sora grinned. You and the others continued walking to the exit.

“So, Sora, (Y/N), are you goin' after the guy in the black coat?” Woody asked. 

“Something tells me we can't join you on that mission,” Buzz said. 

“That's okay...because you've become part of our hearts.” Woody pointed to Sora’s heart. “So let us become a part of yours.”

You and the others extended joyous laughter and infectious smiles as Sora side-hugged Woody.

“Thank you!” he said.

“Now, off you go. To infinity and beyond!” Buzz said. 

To be continued...

[wyrdify]

@purus-lumen​: Ventus and Vanitas

Aesthetics | Currently accepting.

low rumbles from distant thunder | warm summer breezes | double-sided coins | a tempest in the middle of the ocean | “Siblings that say they never fight are most definitely hiding something.” | freshly picked crab apples | an abrupt crescendo played on violin | flickering nightlight in the hallway | a clear empty vase | speeding down an empty road at night | you who I called brother | the shadow you cast | coffee mug smashed into pieces on the floor | telling ghost stories by a campfire | a piano sonata played in Eb minor | two swords forged at the same time | you are not alone | gallows humor | grilled cheese sandwiches split into perfect halves | unwilling participants in a tragedy | the moment before a tornado touches down

[skylar-lei1634]

So I have had alot of people ask why I, not only really like Vanitas, but will defend him. Not just online but also in real life. When I explain, alot of people usually understand and think just like me about him when they get the whole story. In order for people to see where I'm coming from I'm writing this so that others can see where alot of Vanitas fans or "Vanitas's Protections Squad" are coming from when they talk about him and wanted him to have a redeemed arc. Now I still stand by my original post about "respecting Vanitas since he decided to stay in the dark because it makes him seen as a decisive "bad guy". But at the same token, I wished he still had been redeemed and given happiness from all the bullshit that was thrown at him and he was forced to go through. And yes he did go through a lot of shit so shut the fuck up about him being a 2D bad guy. I am not saying that Vanitas was a good guy... nor was he a bad guy. What he did was wrong and he shouldn't get a free pass just like in real life someone who fucked up should also be held accountable for the shit they did. But in the same breath he should be allowed to be redeemed. He should have the same opportunity just like Riku did. Now the reason why I love this guy? He reminds me of myself before I got to see that I need to save myself and that I am worth being saved. And I didnt see that until 2 or 3 years ago. Backstory of the bare minimal: my dad wasn’t the best "father" figure. I was used multiple times by him and his 2wife for the years I lived with him. From the age 8 to the age of 13 I was bombarded with the words of "You can be better just like your sister and step brother". "If you cant do [thing] then you're useless to your future husband". "You're lying. Your siblings said that it happened this way". "If you pushed yourself like I did then you wouldnt be making 79s." "[Step brother] is watching the kids so you do the chores." "Well why isnt [sister] helping?" "DONT TALK BACK TO ME! GO TO YOUR ROOM!" "You dont know how to do your own laundry (even though I never showed you how?)? GO TO YOUR ROOM!" "DID YOU LIE TO ME!? GO TO YOUR ROOM." "You started a fight with [what ever kids name]? Go to your room!" "But he touched me in a place that mom said no one was allowed!" "No boy is thinking about that at the age of 12! Now write me 750 sentences saying 'I will not talk back'." And I know this isn't alot of things to you see as abuse. You'll probably say "This is the parental responsibility thing. This isn’t abuse! This is nothing to the other stuff that real abused people deal with". And you're right. My abuse isn’t anything compared to the horror stories being told and shown. But that doesn’t mean I wasn’t abused. I wasn’t allowed to leave my room. I never got to play outside during that entire time. And when I was bored and reading, drawling, exercising, then my dad would come in, back hand me until I bleed, threw anything I owned against the wall, and took away anything that you could call "personal". And when there was nothing left? He took my door. He took the only communication to my mother. By the time I was 12 I was suicidal. I had given up on finding myself. I was an empty shell. Until my father decided to kick me out without warning that day and I had to take everything I own (my clothes and shoes) and take them. After my mom had rang the bell and I asked why she was here. Now imagine, if you made it here this far, you have just been born into a unknown world in the most brutal and painful way. You feel broken and off. Weak and seeping with the dark as you try to stay sane enough against the shadows whispering in your head. You see your body, broken but still alive and you feel rage. Rage because this wouldn’t have happened if you were stronger. If you were faster you wouldn’t be broken into two parts. And so you tell your "Master" to take your body/lighter half away or you would kill them. And ruining the plan that your Master made on the fly. So you're left alone. In a desolate world surrounded by dead keyblade weilders. Some of which you know are old friends because you still hold the memories. Why? Because you have the "heart", the mind of your original person. You are an 11-year-old that's truly just a babe left alone to your own devices. You remember how to live but realize that your practically immortal. Which you would think be awesome but no. It's not. But the thing is: you aren’t just sitting there and contemplating life. You are suffering. Your emotions run wild and you try to fight the pain that courses through you. Everytime you push the anger, fear, pain, emptiness, and every negative emotion you have constantly, away you make these things called "Unverse". The pain and negativity fades to nothing but, as the fog clears from your mind,  you see these and another emotion welds up in you. Embarrassment. So you take your keyblade, get off the ground, and attack them. Why? Because now everyone can see your emotions. They scatter in fear as you destroy them and when they disappear? The negativity comes back. 10xs stronger than when you pushed them away. And then you feel angry. Angry that you cant control this. Angry that these are your weakness. Angry that your Master still hasn’t come back from doing whatever he is doing with Ventus as you fight and fight and fight. You keep fighting. You do it in the blazing sun. In the blistering heat. In the choking dust. You fight until you fall. You fight until you are just twitching. You fight until you pass out. You wake up and see them again. But everytime you destroy one it comes right back. Over and over and over again. For years you continuously fight. Not stopping until you cant anymore only to wake up and do it all over again. And when I mean by years I don’t mean "It’ll feel like years". No I mean for the first 3 years of your entire pathetic existence all you do is fight, pass out, fight some more. After a while your Master shows up! But all he does is stares. He watches you; all for his plan. He sends Heartless. He sends random attacks. All during which you fighting your own emotions. Falling down in pain every time until you finally start to get use to the suffering. And then, after those goddamn three years, your Master comes again. Only this time, he comes with salvation. Your own personal Tourniquet. "If you want to be whole again and stop the pain, you must forge the X-Blade with you lighter half. Only then will the suffering end". After 3 years, you finally have a purpose. You finally can be useful. And all you have to do is find your lighter self, fight him enough and then become one. Because if you are in so much pain. Then he should be too. So you follow the directions that your Master tells you until you come to a world with a castle. And its peaceful. It has no Unverse. There's grass and flowers and life. Not one shadow of a Heartless. Darkness does not exist here. It's not welcome. It's a stark contrast from the world that you lived in. It makes you angry, viscous, violent, and, over all, betrayed. Here you are hurting day in and day out. Suffering for living. For being an abomination just like your other half. But yet, he isn't feeling even an ounce of your suffering. That's when you realize that it's not fair.

That while you were being shunned. Your "better" half was being praised. While you fought, he was getting fancy dinners. While you bled, he got hugs and kisses. While you were told "don’t stop fighting", he was told "take it easy Ven". While you were being called an abomination, he was being praised as an angel. All because hes the light even though you two were the same thing. And what makes it worse? Is the fact that he doesn't know who you are. So then you look at the choices laid out before you and only really see one. Because who could ever love a monster like you? You plan. You scheme. You send Unverse upon Unverse at Ventus to get him stronger. You taunt him and the ones around him. You let the anger flow and become essential to existing.

When the final fight is here your ready. The pain will stop. You can be whole again. But everything fails. You fall apart in the dark. Lost in the dark. Reaching out from the dark. Watching in pain, betrayal, hurt, need as your other half fades away into light. You feel useless as the last thing you see is the content smile on the blonde"s lips. And you finally come back after years again. Ready to take your vengeance one the one who hurt you the most: Ventus. Only to find out hes trapped safely inside a wimpy boy, barely older than you. Even after "death" he still lives comfortably. You realize in the end: hes doesn’t understand. He never will. And so you chose the dark. Because that's who you are. That's all you ever will be. The light cant understand the dark.

[angel-with-a-pipette]

Title: Just a copy

Summary: Saving Ven meant adding another Guardian of Light to the heroes' roster. It also meant heartache, dug up deep rooted insecurities and made Sora question his sense of self.

Rating: General

Genre: Hurt/Comfort

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Disney/Square Enix. This has been written for the @kh3countdownchallenge , prompt 27: Loss. Included Pairing: Sokai (duh).

Also available on: ao3��

Please enjoy!

“He was the one who kept my heart safe,” Ven concluded his tale, his eye scanning every person in the room until they fell upon the boy he was talking about. A smile spread over his lips.

“Thank you, Sora.”

Only a few hours ago, Ven had still been asleep. It was thanks to Aqua, Lea and Sora that he was now sitting among them, still a little weak from being out of commission for such a long time, but otherwise upbeat.

And that was thanks to Sora, Ven had explained, by sheltering his wounded heart not once, but twice, and Kairi stared at Sora in awe. Of course, she knew about Roxas’s heart resting inside of Sora’s and two years ago, she herself had been seeking refuge inside his heart. But none of it compared to protecting Ven’s heart for nearly –

“Twelve years,” she repeated and looked back at Ven. It was hard to believe when Ven himself barely looked sixteen years old.

“Twelve years,” he confirmed, but curled his hand against his chin as he grew pensive for a moment. “Well, before that, he already reached out to me when Xehanort split my heart in two.” He slowly started to count with his fingers. “And that was–”

“Four years earlier,” Aqua added. She was sitting next to Ven, occasionally petting his head as if she made sure he was really there. She reminded Kairi of Sora's mother; she, too, had showered her son with affection when he had finally returned after missing for 18 months.

Kairi's smile waned. And now, the poor woman was waiting for her son to return once again.

“Yes! Four years.” A grin spread on Ven’s lips and he threw his hands up to cross his arms behind his head. “So our hearts have been connected for roughly sixteen years, give or take.”

A giggle escaped Kairi.

“I can tell.” When Ven threw her an inquisitive glance, she pointed at his arms.

“Your body language is similar! Sora does this thing where he crosses his arms behind his head all the time. No wonder he does when you've been a part of his heart nearly all of his life. Right, So-?”

His name died on her lips when she heard the scraping of wood against the wooden floor. Kairi quickly turned to her side to look at him, having to crane her neck because he had gotten up.

“Sora?”

“Sorry,” he replied a little sheepishly without meeting her eye.“I just have to check up on something. I’ll be back, soon, okay?”

Upon his words, a heavy feeling spread in the pit of Kairi's stomach, and she lowered her eyes, noticing the plate in front of him. He had barely touched his piece of cake.

“Okay,” she replied anyway and without a single glance back, Sora left the room and Kairi couldn't wait for him to return again.

Except he didn't, even after nearly an hour had passed. By now, it had gotten late and the impromptu party they had thrown together in celebration of Ven’s rescue slowly grew to a close. Aqua escorted Ven to his new room, helping his weak limbs to stay upright, Leon and Yuffie were clearing off the table while Aerith started to fill the dishwasher and Lea hadn’t attended the get-together at all, claiming to feel tired after the rescue.

Kairi grabbed the barely-touched plate of cake Sora had left behind and looked around guiltily. She didn’t want to leave without helping the others, but Aerith waved her off before she could even say something.

“Go, find him. We’ve got this under control.”

Giving her an appreciative smile, Kairi left the kitchen cake in hand as she walked up to the guestroom Sora currently occupied and knocked on the door.

“Sora?”

No answer. She quietly opened the door and peeked inside. The lights were turned off and the bed was still made – he had only entered the room shortly to drop off his backpack. She placed the left-over cake on his desk and left his room again to check on the bathrooms.

They were empty as well.

Great.

It was already dark when Kairi stepped outside into the cold night. She suppressed a shudder and rubbed her upper arms a few times with her hands before heading out to search for Sora.

She shouldn’t have left him alone.

It was rare for Sora to be upset and even rarer for him to run away to be alone. On Destiny Islands, Kairi knew exactly where to find him because it was the same place she visited when she was feeling upset: the secret place.

But Radiant Garden was huge and Sora could be hiding anywhere – searching for him might take all night and that was assuming he didn't wander around. Frustrated, Kairi balled her fist and held it over her heart, scrunching her eyes shut.

But what if – ?

Her eyes flew open again and flickered up to the outer wall of the city across from her.

If both of them sought out the same place of comfort on Destiny Islands, maybe there was a chance that her favorite place here comforted Sora, too?

It was as good of a lead as any and Kairi quickly rushed down the street and scaled the steps that led up to the wall two at a time. She finally arrived at the top of them, her breathing labored as she turned her head left and right, scanning the illuminated wall for any kind of shadow.

She saw nobody.

Her shoulders slumped in discontentment and she was ready to continue her search down the Bailey when she heard a quiet noise that made her whip her head around.

There! On top of a crane used for the restoration of the city Sora sat, curled up on himself with his head buried in his arms as his form shook slightly

Kairi felt her heart breaking.

As quickly as possible, she climbed up the crane and smoothed her skirt down before she sat next to Sora. She felt him wince upon contact and saw him furiously rub his face against his arm before he looked up at her with a forced grin and puffy eyes.

“Hey Kairi.”

“Oh Sora...” she muttered and reached for one of his hands. He squeezed back tightly. “You didn't finish your cake.”

A chuckle broke out of the boy and his shoulders shook gently as Kairi scooted closer to him.

“Talk to me, please. What's wrong?”

He stayed silent for a moment before answering.

“What if I'm not me?”

“I... don't understand?”

Sora sighed and started to absentmindedly caress Kairi's fingers with his thumb.

“The moment Ven's heart left my chest, there was an emptiness that spread inside of me. I started to feel hollow and I still do. And I know that it makes sense, Ven was part of my heart for basically all of my life, but that's the problem. He joined me when I was just a few days old. And don't get me wrong, I am glad he did! It gave him another chance in life and I would never regret that. But what does our connection mean for me?”

Sora turned his head towards Kairi and she saw new, unshed tears shine in Sora's eyes.

“You said it yourself, our body language is similar. From everything I've heard about Ven, we might be brothers, twins even. So what if I'm not actually me? What if I'm just Ven's copy?”

“Sora, every single person in our life influences us. I wouldn't be the same person I am now had I grown up in Traverse Town instead of Destiny Islands. You and Riku influenced me, you shaped me into the person I am today, and the same happened with you and Ven. He was close to your heart, of course you might have picked up some of your mannerisms, but that doesn't mean that you're his copy. You're still you.”

“You saw Roxas. What does he look like?”

Kairi knitted her eyebrows together in confusion, but decided to indulge Sora for a moment.

“He has your facial structure. Blue eyes. Blond hair, wind-swept...” She gasped.

Of course. That explained why Lea had opted to stay out of the festivities; Ven's appearance reminded him too much of his missing friend. Kairi filed this revelation away for tomorrow though, now, Sora needed her.

“Exactly,” Sora agreed and shuddered. “Roxas, my body and soul. He doesn't look like me the way Lea and Axel look the same. Instead, he looks exactly like Ven.”

“Sora-” Kairi started, but Sora interrupted her, his voice growing more solemn.

“Xemnas alluded to it before. He asked me if I can say for sure that I'm not just someone else's copy. And I honestly can't anymore.”

“You can't trust Xemnas! He wants you to doubt yourself, he wants you to give up! He'd tell you anything to make you use the Darkness!”

“That's another thing that troubles me,” Sora confessed and let his head loll against the crane behind their backs.

“You heard Ven's tale, how his heart is full of Light because Xehanort split off the Darkness in his heart, Vanitas?” Kairi nodded. “Ven has a pure heart of Light – and he was inside of me. And everyone trusts me to have a strong Light that keeps the Darkness at bay, a Light that is so much brighter than other people's Light – but what if that's not the case? What if it was Ven's Light all along that shone so brightly from inside of me? And then Xehanort went and tempted my Darkness and now that Ven's gone, my Light is weak? What if Ven's light was the only reason Xehanort couldn't get to me? What if my Darkness proves to be too much for me to handle and I'll disappoint everyone? What if-”

“Then you can have my light!”

Sora fell silent immediately and Kairi felt heat rise up her cheeks and quickly lowered her head.

“I... what?”

“Sora, I know your Light is strong enough,” Kairi clarified as she peeked up at him from under her lashes, “but if you're in doubt, I'll happily share my Light with you – and only you. Not Ven, not Roxas, not anybody else. Just you.”

There it was. Slowly but surely, a true smile started to tug on the corners of Sora's lips and spread over his face as his eyes softened. Without warning, he pulled her into a hug and buried his head into her shoulder.

“Please,” he begged her, “please do. And please… keep believing in me.”

“Always,” she breathed in reply, wrapping her hands around him tightly.

[bee-not-afraid]

okay take 2 since tumblr mobile fucked up the first post! i wrote the forbidden sora/vanitas content based off of this post here since it got a bit of attention

chapter 1 is below the cut, or you can read here on ao3. please comment/reblog and let me know what you think!

They were in the middle of a volleyball match, keyblade wielders (minus Lea) versus former Organization XIII members (minus Roxas and Xion), when the first Flood popped out of the sand and made a beeline for Tidus, the match referee.

“Wha-?!” Tidus sputtered, jumping back amid a flurry of sand.

“Unversed!” Ventus was first to react, keyblade materializing in a flash of light. The others soon followed suit, an array of weapons appearing in concert with a flood of Floods popping out of the shadows.

“Hey!” Lea complained, twirling his keyblade behind his head. “I totally just scored a point! Tidus! You better get that memorized! I expect to see that point on the board after we finish off these guys.”

“Ugh,” Sora agreed. “Couldn’t they have waited until after the match? Wait, doesn’t this mean Vanitas is here?” He swung his keyblade in an arc, dispatching four Floods at once.

“Probably here for Ventus,” Riku remarked from over Sora’s shoulder, casting a Thundaga. “It’s getting kind of annoying.”

“He can try as much as he wants,” Aqua spat, freezing a large group with a well-placed Blizzaga, “and we’ll beat him every time.”

It didn’t take very long for the Floods to be dispatched, the beach once again free of any threats. Ventus dematerialized his keyblade first with a drawn-out sigh. “I’ll go find him,” he said. “No need for anyone else to get involved. You guys continue the game without me!” he called out, already halfway down the beach.

“Hey, wait!” Sora called, jogging to catch up. “It’s dangerous to go alone! You should really have some kind of backup.”

“Yes, you should,” Aqua agreed as she and Terra caught up to them. “We can stay out of the way if you want, but we should at least be nearby.”

“Fine,” Ventus acquiesced. “More people will probably just piss him off, though.”

“He’s nothing we can’t handle,” Aqua remarked.

“True enough,” Ventus agreed. “He’s mostly just a nuisance at this point. Either join us or leave us alone, you know? Xehanort’s gone, the war is over.”

“And good riddance,” Terra muttered.

“Why do you think he keeps attacking you?” Sora asked, folding his hands behind his head. “He’s not still trying to fuse with you, is he? There’s no real reason to try to forge the χ-blade anymore.”

“No, I don’t think he cares about that anymore.” Ventus frowned. “I suppose he’s trying to prove himself over me. Or maybe he does want to fuse, but only to get a better body?”

“But you don’t want to fuse?” Sora asked.

“No. I’m fine without him. And he just wants to control me, anyway,” Ventus answered.

“Well, you can always ask for Vanitas’s side once we meet him,” Terra said.

“Yeah, but don’t expect him to give you a decent answer,” Ventus shot back.

The four of them walked farther along the beach of Destiny Islands, the sounds of the resumed volleyball game gradually fading behind them.

***

They found Vanitas on one of the smaller islands inaccessible from the main area, Terra somehow managing to row them all there in the tiny, rickety wooden rowboat on the pier. The sun shone down mercilessly on the smaller island, which was mostly sand with one tall outcropping of rock in the center. Predictably, Vanitas sat on the top of the outcrop, helmeted head cradled in his hand and reflecting the ground below.

“Hello, brother,” he sang out. “Brought your little friends along? Too scared to face me by yourself?”

Ventus rolled his eyes. “I can take you myself. They’re just spectating.”

“Oh, I think I can help keep them occupied.” Vanitas jumped down from the rock, darkness consuming the sand around him as the Unversed clawed their way into the sunlight.

Keyblades flashed into being as everyone dropped into battle-ready stances. “Vanitas! We don’t have to do this!” Ventus called.

“We will always have to do this Ventus, for as long as we both exist. I can’t let my worse half start getting complacent now, can I?” Vanitas crooned back, smirk audible in his voice.

“Okay,” Ventus muttered. “I tried. Alright, let’s get this over with, Vanitas. I’ve got a volleyball match to get back to.”

“Oh, look at you!” Vanitas yelled. “Think you’re so much better than me, huh?!” His keyblade appeared in a flash of fire, more Unversed springing forth from the sand.

Rather than reply, Ventus sprang forward, keyblade whirling out for a strike.

***

“Well, that’s that?” Terra said, banishing his keyblade after one last look around the small island. “Back to the others, then!”

“Yeah,” Ventus sighed as Aqua’s Curaga washed over him, mending his cuts and bruises. “Hope we’re still winning.”

“They’ve probably finished the match by now,” Aqua said.

“Awww,” Sora whined. “I didn’t get to show off that secret move I’ve been practicing!” He kicked up a spray of sand with his foot.

Terra chuckled. “If it’s the move that involves using your keyblade, I’m pretty sure that’s illegal.”

“Hey! It’s still cool!” Sora puffed out his cheeks in indignation.

Together, the four of them began to head back to their little boat and then to the main island. The fight had taken a while, but they had all faced worse – Vanitas’s current power was only of fraction of what he had wielded previously. His taunts now rang empty and were easily ignored, and it didn’t take too much for Ventus to beat him back up the rock, where he quickly opened a Corridor of Darkness and made his exit before he could actually lose the fight. That was a recurring theme, now – Vanitas would show up with his Unversed, hoping to draw out Ventus to some remote location where they would fight. When Ventus inevitably began to gain the upper hand, Vanitas would slink off, reappearing a few weeks later for a reprise. Sora frowned as he turned it over in his mind. From what he knew of Vanitas’s history, he hadn’t really been the type to cut and run before – he would at least see battles out to their conclusion first. Maybe he was just toying with them, trying to lull them into a sense of complacency or enact some equally dastardly scheme. Or maybe he was just desperate and trying to keep up appearances.

“Hey, Ventus?” Sora asked, stopping just behind the other boy. They were close enough to hear the others, now.

“Yeah?” Ventus stopped and turned to look at him.

“I know we’ve talked about this before, but Vanitas is weaker now than he used to be, right?”

“Yeah,” Ventus sighed. “Beating him now isn’t exactly easy, but it’s nothing compared to our fights in the past.”

“He’s definitely much weaker,” Aqua added. “Although his opinion of himself hasn’t seemed to change much.”

“And… that’s because…” Sora started.

“Probably because he’s had to reform so much recently,” Ventus continued for him. “He was trapped inside you for a while, Sora. Then we beat him again at the Keyblade Graveyard and he had to reform himself once more. It makes sense he wouldn’t be quite as strong as before.” Ventus shrugged. “That’s probably why he’s attacking so much, if that’s why you’re asking. He’s trying to rebuild his strength.”

“Probably why we keep having to fight so many Unversed, too,” Terra said. “He’s using them to gather negative energy, or something.”

“Right,” Sora sighed. “I guess I knew all that, huh?”

“It’s definitely frustrating,” Ventus said. “I wish he would just listen to me. There’s no point in all this fighting. He could still join us.”

“I agree, but complaining about it here isn’t going to get us anywhere,” Aqua said gently, laying a hand on Ventus’s shoulder. “Let’s get back to the others.”

“Huh, looks like the match is actually still going on,” Terra commented.

“What, really? I can still show Riku my cool new move!” Sora dashed off, thoughts of Vanitas banished at the prospect of showing off for his best friend.

“No, Sora! I told you there’s no keyblades in volleyball!” Terra shouted, running after him.

Ventus and Aqua shared a glance, then burst into giggles.

***

The match ended in a sound defeat for the keyblade wielders, due in part to Sora’s use of illegal moves on the court. Sora pouted as he thought about it, lying on his bed staring up at the dark ceiling. The moon had risen above the waves some time ago, but Sora found himself still awake, pondering a potential ruleset for his new, better game, Keyblade Volleyball. He supposed he’d need to make the game possible for any weapon type, in order for the former Organization XIII to play, but that would complicate the types of moves that could be allowed…

A faint scuffling from outside drew Sora out of his thoughts. He rolled himself out of bed and towards his open window (he slept better at night, being able to hear the waves and know that he was home and Riku was home and Kairi was home and they were all going to stay that way) to investigate. Leaning his elbows on the wooden windowsill, he scanned the empty beach. Nothing. He found his eyes wandering over to the ocean instead, the blue waves turned black in the dark of night. Somehow it didn’t seem quite as vast and impenetrable a barrier as it had seemed so long ago, when he and Riku and Kairi talked of nothing but rafts and adventure and escape.

The scuffling sound came again and drew Sora’s attention back to the beach. He frowned and scanned the beach once more, straining his eyes and looking more carefully this time. The moon was almost full, so the beach was mostly visible. But again, Sora could find nothing…

Wait. His eyes stopped by the palm tree. The scuffling sound played once more, and this time Sora thought he saw a shadow move by the base of the tree. He leaned further out the window, squinting, and made out a pair slit red eyes. An Unversed! Sora awkwardly climbed up on the windowsill before dropping down into the sand below and dashing for the tree.

He defeated the Unversed with a few swings of the keyblade, then drove the tip into the sand as he inspected the base of the tree to see if there were any more. Had they missed these earlier? Had Vanitas left a few behind before he disappeared?

“Oh, it’s you,” a voice sneered from behind him.

Sora spun around to find Vanitas standing a few feet away, helmet reflecting the moonlit waves. He reached for his keyblade, dropping into his battle stance. “Vanitas! Back for more?”

Vanitas scoffed. “As if you could be any challenge, loser. You aren’t even a keyblade master.” Yet he summoned his own keyblade and shot off a fireball.

Sora dodged to the side, and the fireball went hurtling out over sea. “Wait, we don’t need to fight! Isn’t once enough for today?” he called.

“So you say, but who reached for their keyblade first?” Vanitas shot back.

“Fine!” Sora banished his keyblade, then quickly jumped out the way of an attack. “Hey! No keyblade, see? We don’t have to fight!”

Vanitas swung his keyblade again. “Quit mocking me!” he hissed. “You better call that keyblade back if you want to live, Sora.”

“I won’t!” Sora said. “Why do you insist on fighting us, Vanitas? None of us want to, you know.”

Vanitas laughed. “As if I care what any of you want.”

“Are you just trying to fuse back with Ventus?” Sora pressed. “Why can’t you just talk to him?”

“None of your business,” Vanitas snarled, driving his keyblade forward and plunging it into the side of the palm tree when Sora rolled away. “That’s between me and Ventus.”

“But you aren’t talking to him, either!” Sora exclaimed.

“What, do you want me to tell you all about my feelings?” Vanitas sneered, ripping his keyblade out and sending small slivers of tree flying. “You want to be my friend? Teach me the power of light and goodness?” He sent off another fireball.

Sora jumped up onto the tree. “Yes! Is that so bad? We don’t have to be against each other! If not me, at least talk to Ventus!”

“I am really sick of sharing a face with someone like you,” Vanitas ground out, anger palpable in his voice.

“At least tell us why! Give us some reason for this!” This was going nowhere. And really, why would it? Vanitas had said next to nothing on his own behalf in the months of his random attacks, only spouting his lines about wanting to fight and mocking the others until they were mad enough to do so, then leaving with some quick, parting insult. Sora mentally readied himself to call back his keyblade.

“Fine,” Vanitas said, to Sora’s surprise. “Here’s a reason: I’m going fuse back with Ventus and take over his body. My body. And then I can really be me, and everything will be better. For me, of course. But who cares about him?”

“Really be you…?” Sora frowned. And then flipped out the way of an incoming fireball, landing hard in the sand. “Hey, you’re already your own person. You don’t need Ventus for that.”

Vanitas lunged for him, keyblade swinging. “Ha! You think this body can get me anywhere? You think I want to live like this?”

“Like what?” Sora couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something he was missing here. He was quickly starting to feel out of his depth.

“Like this,” Vanitas hissed, and darkness enveloped the ground around them. A lone Unversed clawed its way up to the light, but before Sora could react, Vanitas ran forward and cut it down. Sora’s eyes widened as he watched it fade away and absorb back into Vanitas, who shuddered noticeably. “I will make myself whole again, whether Ventus wants it or not.”

“That’s not right!” Sora protested weakly. The feeling of there is something here you are not understanding had lodged itself uncomfortably in his stomach.

“I’ve had enough of this,” Vanitas replied. “Fight me.”

Sora planted his feet and shook his head. “No.”

Vanitas fixed the blank stare of his helmet on Sora for a long moment. Finally, he deflated, lowering his arms back to his side. “Fine. There’s nothing here for me, then.” A Corridor of Darkness opened behind him, and before Sora could say anything he had stepped through it and vanished.

***

“Vanitas? Hmm. I can’t say I know too much about him off of the top of my head, but perhaps there is some data on him here I could dig up for you?” Ienzo said, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

“Thanks, Ienzo!” Sora smiled up at him. He’d come to visit Radiant Garden, hoping to find something here that might explain what Vanitas didn’t. He’d been turning over their encounter all night and morning, trying to uncover whatever it was he seemed to be missing. He’d asked Ventus, but all he knew was that Vanitas’s existence was unstable in some way. That was probably part of Vanitas’s desire to fuse, but after last night Sora was sure some reason was running deeper than that. So he’d taken the Gummi Ship out to Radiant Garden right after breakfast, to pick the brains of his favorite researchers.

“Vanitas, is it? He was created by Xehanort out of Ventus, correct?” Ansem the Wise asked. “We unfortunately cannot ask Xehanort anything, but perhaps looking at Ventus could teach us something?”

“I will search through our systems to see if Xehanort has left any research notes that might be of use. But if I may Sora, why do you want to know?” Ienzo asked.

Sora frowned as he thought it over. “It was something he said to me… I ran into him last night, and asked him why he was insisting on fighting us. He started talking about the usual stuff, wanting to fuse with Ventus, be whole… but he said something else about how he wanted to ‘make everything better’ and ‘stop feeling like this.’ And he cut down one of his own Unversed…”

“He attacked an Unversed?” Ienzo asked, surprise feuding with curiosity in his tone.

“Yeah. He called it out, but then he just beat it back before I could do anything. He absorbed it back into himself, but there was something weird about that too… The whole thing just bugged me. Like there’s something here I don’t know. So I thought I’d come here and ask you guys about it.”

“Can you describe what was weird about him absorbing the Unversed, Sora?” Ansem questioned.

“Umm, I dunno, it was just kind of unexpected? And he kind of… shuddered, when he absorbed it back. I guess he could feel it, somehow?” Sora mused.

“I see,” Ansem said. “If the Unversed are formed from negative emotions, and they return to their master upon being defeated, then it is likely the negative emotions he felt that made the Unversed in the first place return to him as well. I imagine it would be an unpleasant sensation.”

“That’s true,” Ienzo added. “And if the Unversed are part of him, is it possible harming the Unversed might harm him as well?”

“So… every time we defeat an Unversed, the negative emotions return to Vanitas, and it hurts him? That’s… awful.” Sora’s frown deepened.

“Well, this is all simply conjecture,” Ienzo said. “I’ll go see if I can dig up any data now. I’ll call you if I find anything, okay? Try not to worry about this too much.”

“Bring Ventus here sometime, Sora,” Ansem said. “We may be able to learn something from him as well.”

“Alright. Thanks, guys! You’re a big help.” Sora flashed them both a bright grin and walked back to the Gummi Ship, a slight bounce returning to his step.

***

“Alright, alright, so… Bed, wed, behead: Naminé, Maleficent, and Selphie.”

Kairi wrinkled her nose. “Sora, what kind of group is that?”

“Just tell us your answers already,” Riku laughed.

“Fine, fine. Uh… Behead Maleficent, wed Naminé, and bed Selphie.”

“Really? You’d marry your own Nobody?” Sora questioned, raising his eyebrows. “Isn’t that a little weird?”

“Maybe,” Kairi shrugged. “But we’ve definitely seen and done way weirder.”

“True enough,” Riku said. “My turn.”

They were hanging out in Sora’s bedroom, just the three of them. Riku had declared it too hot for any outdoor activities (“You’re just saying that because you got a sunburn yesterday,” Kairi had teased) so they’d all decided to lay on a pile of Sora’s blankets with the window open and the fan on full blast. A pitcher of ice-cold water rested within arm’s reach, but so far they’d mostly used it to pour water on each other for coming up with disgusting “bed, wed, behead” combinations.

“Okay, Sora, bed, wed, behead: Xemnas, Ansem, and Ansem the Wise,” Riku said.

“Yuck!” Sora stuck his tongue out. “I really have to choose from those guys?”

“You really do,” Riku grinned. “C’mon, let’s hear it.” He dug an elbow into Sora’s side.

“Ugh,” Sora groaned as dramatically as he could. “Then… wed Ansem the Wise.”

“Interesting choice,” Riku commented.

“Shut up. Bed… Ansem.”

“Ha. I’d bed him, too,” Kairi remarked.

“Gross, Kairi,” Riku said.

“What? He’s the best looking of the three!” she insisted.

“Which leaves behead Xemnas,” Sora finished. “Ugh, that was awful.”

“My turn!” Kairi sang. “Riku, bed, wed, behead: Xion, Aqua, and Naminé.”

“Hmm…” Riku thought it over. “Wed Naminé, bed Aqua, behead Xion? I feel awful doing that to Xion, though.”

“I’m noticing a pattern with everyone wanting to wed Naminé,” Sora said.

“She’s sweet.” Kairi shrugged. “I have one for you, too, Sora.”

“Oh, okay. Bring it on,” Sora grinned.

“Bed, wed, behead: Riku Replica, Naminé, and Vanitas.”

“…Okay,” Sora said, “I’m gonna have to wed Naminé.”

“See?” Riku laughed. “Naminé’s just the best choice.”

“And then… B-bed Riku Replica.”

“Wow, Sora, very forward of you,” Kairi teased.

“Quiet!” Sora groaned. “There is no good option here! I can’t win with this group!” Out of the corner of his eye, Sora noticed Riku was slightly flushed.

“So you’d behead Vanitas, then?” Kairi prompted.

“Yeah, I guess.” Sora frowned. “I mean, wedding him would be awful and bedding him would just be weird. He looks just like me.”

“So you’re saying you wouldn’t have sex with your clone, then? Interesting,” Riku said.

“What, and you would?” Sora asked.

“Sure. It could be fun,” Riku replied with a nonchalant shrug.

“I would too!” Kairi chimed in. “It’s just like masturbating, right? Nothing wrong with that.”

“It’s different!” Sora insisted. “It’s like a whole other person. It’s weird!”

“Only if you make it weird,” Riku said.

“So then, you would bed Riku Replica, too?” Sora challenged.

Riku considered. “Yeah,” he decided. “My answer is exactly the same as yours. Sorry I don’t want to fuck your clone, Sora,” he apologized. “But he’s kind of an asshole.”

“He’s not my clone! Apologize to Ventus if you’re going to apologize to someone.”

“Ooh, Sora!” Kairi clapped her hands. “Bed, wed, behead: Ventus, Roxas, and Vanitas.”

“There’s a group,” Riku laughed. “Well, Sora?”

“Shouldn’t it be someone else’s turn?” Sora whined. “I’ve already-” He was cut off by a loud chime. He sat up and crawled over to the bed, snatching the Gummiphone from off its surface and taking the call. “Hello?”

“Hello!” Ienzo smiled back on the screen. “Just thought I’d update you on my progress! I’ve found some interesting notes from Xehanort, during his time as an apprentice here. It concerns the nature of darkness… some of it may apply to Vanitas.”

“That’s great!” Sora beamed. “Read anything interesting?”

“Vanitas?” Riku muttered, moving next to Sora to look at Ienzo. “Speak of the devil.”

“What’s this about Vanitas?” Kairi asked, moving to Sora’s other side.

“Er, hello,” Ienzo said. “Sora asked me to look into anything concerning Vanitas… As far as these notes I found, the most interesting thing I’ve read so far is concerning the nature of pure darkness. These notes seem to insinuate that any being of pure darkness would be filled with negative emotions, and that such emotions would cause pain and drive the being to lash out at others… although these notes appear to be mostly conjecture. At this point Xehanort would have had no means of testing any of this. Still, it matches up with what Ansem and I both suspected, so I’d say there’s likely some truth to this. Nevertheless, I will continue searching for anything that might be more relevant.”

“Um, so what you’re saying is that… Vanitas attacks people… because…” Sora trailed off, face scrunched up in thought.

“Because he’s in pain?” Riku finished.

“That’s awful,” Kairi said. “But it’s no excuse to hurt others.”

“Indeed,” Ienzo agreed. “Still, after reading this, I feel it is fairly safe to assume that defeating the Unversed probably hurts Vanitas as well. If what you saw is typical, Sora, and Vanitas frequently fights the Unversed himself, he’s likely usually in a fair bit of a pain.”

“Why would he do that to himself?” Sora asked.

“That, I do not know.” Ienzo shook his head. “I’ll keep digging over here. You should bring Ventus by sometime, as we may discover more. But that’s all I have for now.” And with that, the call disconnected.

Riku turned to Sora and raised an eyebrow. “So why are you looking into Vanitas?”

“Well…” As Sora launched into his recollection of his fight with Vanitas the night before, he found his mind wandering back to what Ienzo had said. Was that the real reason? Vanitas was hurting, and he thought fusing with Ventus would stop it?

“Hm… I agree that that’s a little strange,” Kairi said. “So you think he’s really hurting?”

“Yeah… I’m starting to,” Sora said. “I mean, you guys heard what Ienzo said. What do you think?”

“I think it would make sense,” Riku said. “The longer you’re in pain, the more desperate you’d become to get it to stop. If he thinks fusing with Ventus is the solution, it could explain why he keeps trying even though we beat him at every turn. But then again, it could be something completely else. We could be way off here.”

“I don’t think so,” Kairi mused. “I think what Vanitas said to Sora matches up with this theory. Saying he wants to get better and doesn’t want to live like this? That sounds like it could be a chronic pain thing to me.”

“That’s terrible, though,” Sora said, voice quiet. “No one deserves to feel like that.”

“It is,” Kairi agreed. “Maybe you should try talking to him again sometime.”

“I doubt you’d get anywhere,” Riku said. “And anyway, as terrible as it is, it still doesn’t excuse his actions.”

“I guess not,” Sora sighed. “Still. I want to help him if I can. I can’t just stand by if I know someone’s hurting. I have to help. I have to do something.”

Riku sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I know better than to try to discourage you from something like this,” he said wryly. “Just be careful, okay? He’s not our friend. He could hurt you.”

“I’ll support you, Sora,” Kairi said, lightly gripping his arm. “Let me know if I can do anything to help.”

“Thanks, Kairi.” Sora flashed her a brilliant smile. “Riku, I’ll be careful.” He had no idea what, exactly, he should do, but it would definitely have to involve seeing a lot more of Vanitas. Getting him to actually talk instead of just taunt and fight would be a good staring place, he supposed. He sort of managed it last time, so maybe he could do it again? If he could get Vanitas to open up, he could get a better idea of how to help him. And then they wouldn’t have to fight anymore. This could benefit all of his friends, and maybe he could even make a new one! Sora’s head spun with newfound possibilities.

“Soo…” Kairi started after the silence had stretched into several minutes. “Does this change your answer at all, Sora?”

“Huh? What answer?” Sora blinked.

Kairi giggled. “Bed, wed, behead: Ventus, Roxas, and Vanitas.”

“Oh, yeah,” Riku snickered. “I’m still very interested in your answer.”

“Oh,” Sora flushed. “Well, let’s see…”

[kixaxstyx]

Patient Unity - The Case Study of Vanitas

My gift for @invisibleinscriptions for @vncsecretsanta 2018! Sorry it took so long to post, my holidays have been hectic! I hope you had a happy holiday/new year though! I’ll have this posted to my Ao3 sometime tonight ideally, but I wanted to make sure you got this! I hope you like it! It’s a soulmate AU featuring some VanNoe/One-sided Unrequited DomiNoe. About 3.5K and G-Rated.

Summary: At sixteen, you’re deemed old enough to look in a reflection mirror to find out who your soulmate is. Of course, there are those who are impatient, and try to find out sooner. There are those who don’t want to know, and never look. And there are those who are endlessly patient, waiting after looking and meeting their soulmate, to accept one another. Soulmate AU/Mostly Canon Compliant

Noé followed Domi down an unfamiliar corridor of Teacher’s castle. It seemed that whenever Noé thought he had finally uncovered all the secrets his new home had to offer him, a new one popped right up underneath his nose. Domi led him down a corridor he had missed in the castle’s east wing – accessible through an exterior entrance close to the servant’s quarters – chattering as they walked.

“Have you heard of reflection mirrors?” Domi asked him, stopping at the end of the hall, looking between the left and right turns, as if trying to remember which way to go. After a moment, as Noé began to answer, she made up her mind and dragged him down the right hallway.

“Reflection mirrors?” Noé parroted, not completely sure what Domi was talking about. “Don’t all mirrors have reflections?” Domi laughed her wind-chime laugh, and shook her head.

“These aren’t like normal mirrors,” Domi corrected, peering at every door, a thoughtful look on her face. “They’re special mirrors – when you look in it, you see the reflection of the person who’s your soulmate! And in every reflection you see after that, you’ll always see your soulmate’s reflection as well, right up until the day you meet!”

“Oh!” Noé knew what Domi was talking about, now that she had described it. “Grandma and Grandpa told me about those. They called them ‘union mirrors’ though. You know, because they were supposed to bring about happy unions between people.”

“Really?” Domi stopped, looking back at Noé with a surprised look on her face, one hand pressed on a door. “I was always told that humans were too barbaric and uncivilized to have soulmates.”

“Of course not.” Noé denied, pushing down the feeling of upset rising in his chest. He had long since learned not to take too much hurt from Domi or Louis’ callous remarks about humans – it was just how they were raised. They weren’t like him, they hadn’t had upfront, constant contact with humans. All they knew were stories passed on from their parents and Teacher, and other vampires, all of whom Noé had learned looked down upon humans. “Everyone has a soulmate. Who would you be, without one? They’re supposed to make you whole – complete you.” That’s what Grandma and Grandpa had always said, anyways.

“Like Vanitas, that’s who you’d be,” Domi said with an assured confidence, pushing the door to the room open, and dragging Noé inside.

“Vanitas?” Noé questioned, confused. “As in, Vanitas of the Blue Moon?”

“Is there any other Vanitas I’d be talking about?” Domi replied, looking at Noé with a confused look of her own. “Everyone knows that one of the reasons Vanitas was exiled was due to the fact that upon looking in a reflection mirror, there was no reflection but his own.” She spoke it factually, as if she were reciting from a book.

“But everyone has a soulmate!” Noé blustered.

“Not Vanitas of the Blue Moon,” Domi insisted.

“If he didn’t have a reflection, that just means that whoever was supposed to be his soulmate died!” Noé argued. “It doesn’t mean that he never had a soulmate.”

“Wouldn’t the mirror still show who your soulmate was supposed to be then, even if they died already?” Domi challenged. “Until you found out they were dead?”

“Why would the mirror show you someone who was already dead?” Noé asked, less challenging and more of an honest question, less certain than he was before. “Wouldn’t it be sadder to get your hopes up of having a soulmate, and then finding out they were dead, rather than looking at the mirror and knowing right away they were already dead?”

Domi had no response to that, and in her silence, Noé chose to look around the room she had brought him to. It was dusty, like it had been used in a long time, and it was filled a bunch of seemingly random items. Whatever Domi’s reason for bringing them down here, it wasn’t immediately clear to Noé.

When Noé put a voice to his confusion, she pointed to a sheet covered item standing near the middle of the room.

“That’s Grandfather’s reflection mirror,” She explained, leading the way as she picked her way through the room with delicate precision.

“Ok…” Noé followed her footsteps, not using the same precision as her, accidentally bumping into several other objects precariously left around the room. He still wasn’t quite sure why the were down there. After all, “Isn’t looking in a union – I mean, reflection – mirror supposed to be an important coming of age thing?”

It was for humans, anyways. Even after almost two years, Noé was still navigating the cultural divide between humans and vampires, and he wasn’t sure if vampires held union mirrors to the same significance as humans did. From what Domi had said before, about Vanitas of the Blue Moon, it had sounded like they did.

“What no one knows won’t hurt them,” Domi pouted. “Come on, you can’t tell me that you aren’t curious about who your soulmate is. One little peek won’t hurt!”

Well, Domi had a point. One little peek wouldn’t hurt in the grand scheme of things… And Noé did want to know who his soulmate was…

“Okay,” Noé gave in, looking at the pleased smile on Domi’s face, and feeling a bubble of happiness swell a little in his chest. “One little peek.”

“Great!” She beamed, reaching for one corner of the sheet covering the mirror, gesturing for Noé to take the other corner. “On the count of three. Ready?” Noé nodded, and they started counting aloud together.

“Un, deux-”

“So you two are down here. I thought as much.”

Noé and Domi both yelped, falling backwards as Louis’ voice shattered the stillness of the room. They both looked towards the door, staring at Domi’s older brother, leaning against the doorframe, silhouetted in darkness by the dim light from the hall. Domi puffed out her cheeks, obviously unhappy that her brother had found them. Noé wasn’t too sure as to why – they could have very easily invited Louis on this adventure with them, and in fact he had suggested as much when they first embarked on the journey through the east wing, but Domi had stalwartly refused.

“What do you want Louis?” Domi asked, picking herself gracefully up off the floor, Noé scrambling to his feet as well. Louis jerked his head out to the hall.

“Grandfather’s looking for you.” Noé wasn’t sure who he was talking to, not exactly, as he couldn’t see where Louis was looking with how he was standing in shadow, until he clarified, “Both of you.”

“Why?” Domi asked suspiciously, like she thought Louis was lying, as she navigated her way back out of the room. Noé followed close behind on her heel, hoping that by stepping exactly in her footsteps, he wouldn’t knock anything over or out of place. At the door, Louis shrugged.

“He didn’t tell me.” He replied. “Why don’t you just go find out?” Domi huffed, stomping out of the room.

“Come on Noé.” Domi said, not quite huffy but very close, starting off angrily down the hall. Noé looked between her and Louis, not sure if he should say something, but Louis shook his head, giving one of his empty smiles, and gestured after his sister. Noé took the cue for what it was and hurried after Domi, while Louis remained behind, at the door.

xxxx

Two things occurred when a member of nobility had their sixteenth birthday. The first thing was their official presentation to society. It was a grand festivity, with countless other noble families there to acknowledge the new socialite, and plenty of food and dancing to be had, and no end to the people willing to dance with them.

The second thing, that Dominique had both been looking forward to and dreading almost more than her presentation to society, was the reflection mirror. At sixteen, one was deemed old enough to gaze into their family’s reflection mirror and find out who was destined to be their soulmate. Only the person looking into the mirror could see their soulmate’s reflection, and it was up to them to announce to the family whether or not they already knew who their soulmate was.

If yes, for nobility, it was common to set up a meeting with the soulmate’s family and a handfasting date as soon as possible. A way of flaunting status, if one would.

If no, the reflection had to be described in as much detail as possible, so the family could start the search for their child’s soulmate.

Dominique, standing to the side of the sitting room her parents had set up the reflection mirror in, desperately wished she and Noé hadn’t been interrupted those years before, when she took them to look at Grandfather’s mirror. She wished Noé was here, but her father had expressly forbade it as he was not a member of the family. (Dominique had requested Noé to escort her to her presentation ceremony the week prior, but her father had forbade it then as he was not of age and thusly had not had his own presentation ceremony, but Dominique knew that Grandfather had never cared about those things. Noé’s status as the last Archiviste or not, she’d bet her shoes that Grandfather wouldn’t bother having a presentation ceremony for him next year.)

Dominique wished, instead of standing in her family’s stuffy sitting room, she was standing in her grandfather’s dusty old room in his unused east wing, standing in front of that reflection mirror, with only Noé there beside her, instead of here, flocked by her parents, maids, and Veronica.

Her father gestured for her to step in front of the mirror, and Dominique took a deep breath. She kept her gaze to her shoes as she took her place in front of the mirror. Taking another deep breath, Dominique closed her eyes and let it out slowly, as she lifted her head up. All she had to do was treat it like she was eight again and ripping a scab off. She clenched her hands tightly before letting them drop by her sides, and ripped the scab off, looking to the side of her own reflection.

Her heart leapt to her throat, and stayed there. If there were tears in her eyes, she did not acknowledge them, and did not see them. She had told herself that it would be foolish to get her hopes up, to think that her soulmate would be who she so desperately wanted it to be, but things were not in her favor. It seemed that, even so many years later, fate had one more cruel trick to play on her.

“Well?” Dominique thought she heard someone say, but she couldn’t be too sure, as there seemed to have been a wasp that took up residence in her ears. “Who is it?”

She couldn’t form words. She felt like she couldn’t do anything, but even as she thought that, her body found it could do one thing – it turned on her heel, and she raced out of the sitting room before anyone could say anything, before anyone could stop her.

Dominique flew down the halls of her family’s home, eyes drawing unbidden to the windows blurring by her. Her soulmate’s reflection followed her like a wraith, and she wondered, if this was how those afflicted by Vanitas’ curse felt like.

xxxx

It was a bit of a surreal experience, truth be told, for Vanitas to be standing in The Shapeless One’s mansion. What made it an even more surreal experience was that for once, Vanitas had to begrudgingly admit, he was the one who was lost instead of Noé.

An odd series of events had led them to be at what could be loosely referred to as Noé’s childhood home in located the forest of Averoigne. If Vanitas had had any say in where they stayed the evening, he would have vastly preferred to stay in the village just outside the forest, or risk the creatures within it, rather than run the chance of meeting The Shapeless One. The stories Vanitas had heard of the vampire were widely varied, but he was in no distinct rush to separate fact from fiction.

While Noé had gone to greet the servants that maintained and kept up the mansion, Vanitas had chosen to stroll around the grounds a bit. No more than a half an hour had passed before the dark overcast clouds above opened up, and rain started pouring down. There had been a door to the mansion nearby, and Vanitas had ducked inside it, intent on finding his way and meeting up with Noé.

That had been nearly a quarter of an hour ago. Vanitas still hadn’t found his way to the main hall of the mansion, and he hadn’t run into any of the servants of the home. He had taken to opening the doors along the hall at random, trying to see if there was anyone in this wing. So far, Vanitas presumed that this was a scarcely used wing of the mansion, if at all, considering the amount dust he found covering most rooms.

One room seemed to be used as a storage space of some sort, filled with what appeared to Vanitas to be a random assortment of items. Curiosity got the better of him, and instead of shutting the door when he discovered it to be empty, Vanitas stepped further into the room, wondering what exactly The Shapeless One could be keeping in a room like this.

Books were stacked upon tables, and in the corner looked like there was an authentic suit of armor with a halberd standing at attention. There were three different globes and two maps along the far wall, and some very dusty instruments standing along a shelf top. And in the middle of the room, was what looked to be a mirror, covered with a sheet.

Around the frame of the mirror, what wasn’t covered by the sheet, was an inscription etched into it that looked to be a blessing or prayer. Vanitas couldn’t read all of it, as it was hidden, but what he could read said, ‘Que ton coeur soit ta clé’

Just from that line, Vanitas knew what type of mirror was hidden underneath the sheet.

A union mirror. Or, reflection mirror, if one desired to call it that. Said to show the reflection of one’s soulmate. Vanitas, in all his eighteen years of life, had not looked in one, for various reasons.

The Chasseurs, and the Church, in all their piety and chastity, took vows to not look in a union mirror and seek their soulmate. That was something Vanitas learned when he was first in training to be a Chasseur. Until Moreau picked him out for his project, that was, and, well, needless to say, after Moreau picked him out, the thought of soulmates was the last thing on his mind.

As for his time with the Vampire of the Blue Moon… Well, she was disdainful of many things, and soulmates were one thing that was included in the list. Her distaste of them went back to the origins of the Vampire of the Blue Moon, though Vanitas himself never cared to delve into why exactly that was.

Vanitas himself had never quite seen the purpose of union mirrors, though whether that was due to how he was raised or personal preference was something that he wasn’t keen on sharing even if anyone bothered to ask. Regardless, he had never been in this close proximity to a union mirror before, and there was something that drew him to it. A voice, almost, calling to him, asking him what the harm in looking was. After all, your soulmate was supposed to complete you, weren’t they? The other, mending, half to a shattered soul.

His fingers brushed against the edge of the sheet, temptation in his grasp. One peek wouldn’t hurt, would it? Even if he knew who his soulmate looked like didn’t mean he had to confess. After all, he had no desire in someone who –

“Oh, there you are Vanitas!” Noé’s voice lanced through the quiet patter of rain that had filled the room previously. “What are you doing in here? Oh, that’s Teacher’s union mirror.” The last statement was tacked on as and afterthought to the question, as if Noé had just noticed the covered mirror Vanitas had been standing in front of.

“I saw the inscription.” Vanitas replied, dodging the question while affirming the observation. He brushed past Noé into the hall, but faltered in front of one of the windows. Lightning flickered outside, illuminating the hall for a brief moment, and as it receded Vanitas caught the sight of his and Noé’s reflections in the window. Then, out of purely selfish curiosity, Vanitas allowed himself to ask,

“Have you met who you saw in the union mirror, Noé?” He didn’t look at him, instead watched Noé’s reaction through the reflection in the window. A look of confusion marred his face, as if he couldn’t understand why Vanitas was asking.

“Are you joking?” Noé asked, and there was an almost hurt tone to his voice that Vanitas wasn’t used to hearing.

“No?” It was Vanitas’ turn to be confused – why would Noé be hurt by his asking? Was it something he didn’t want to share? It was true that they both had their own fair amount of secrets withheld from the other – or, at least, Vanitas did. “I’ll admit, it’s purely selfish curiosity – I’ve never looked in one myself, but I figured you would have.”

“You’ve never looked in a union mirror before?” Understanding replaced the confusion on Noé’s face and the hurt dissipated as if that one statement answered Noé’s unasked question.

“It’s not that big of a deal,” Vanitas waved his question off. “Lots of people don’t – even more go their whole lifetimes without having met the person in their reflection.”

“Why haven’t you?” Noé ignored his statement in favor of asking another questions.

“Why should I?” Vanitas shrugged. “Why look in a mirror to see someone’s reflection who you aren’t guaranteed to meet?”

“I see,” Noé said, though Vanitas wasn’t sure which point of his Noé understood. “You’re afraid you’ll never meet your soulmate.” What? No, that wasn’t what Vanitas had meant at all – “Don’t worry Vanitas, I know your soulmate is out there waiting for you.”

There was such confidence, and open honesty, on Noé’s smiling face, that Vanitas couldn’t force himself to make a callous remark to dash his misguided hope.

xxxx

The boy followed him along the windows of La Baleine. Seeing him in reflections had become so second-nature that at times he almost forgot he was there. Still, there was something reassuring about his presence walking just a step behind him, though Noé would very much rather they be walking in tandem, shoulder to shoulder, instead of one behind the other.

Maybe, he thought, that was why your soulmate’s reflection disappeared when you finally met them. Because you no longer were one step behind the other, but finally able to walk together, hand in hand. Going together in your journey.

Noé had never really spent any time wondering how and when he’d meet his soulmate. He knew it would happen when it happened, so why force it? He remembered, three years ago, Domi crying to him about how she was so embarrassed because she ran off after looking in the reflection mirror, not telling anyone who her soulmate was or what they looked like.

“Why should you?” Noé had asked her, bluntly and honestly – and, at the time, confused if this was another cultural thing he still hadn’t mastered. “If you don’t want to tell them what your soulmate looks like, or who they are, you shouldn’t have to. They’re your soulmate, not theirs. When you meet them is something no one can control, and no one should force you to meet or accept your soulmate until you’re ready to.”

That was how Noé truly felt. He knew that whenever he met his soulmate, it would be out of his control, and he was willing to wait until his soulmate was ready to accept him whenever they did meet.

Which is why, while unexpected, Noé was not alarmed that the man who burst through the windows to La Baleine bore a striking resemblance to the one who followed Noé’s reflection like a shadow. It was a bit disconcerting when he doggedly went after Mademoiselle Amelia, whom Noé had been chatting with, but he had always been good at adapting. When he fell off the airship, it was distressing but Noé went after, because he couldn’t just let the man fall to his death, and he was curious as to whether or not this man was the same as the one in his reflection or not.

And as he introduced himself as Vanitas of the Blue Moon, an average human being who succeeded the Vampire of the Blue Moon, Noé was intrigued, as this was the man his Teacher had indeed sent him to investigate here in Paris.

(And if, the next day in Count Orlok’s office, Noé noticed that the boy in his reflection was no longer there, well, Noé had always wanted to walk with his soulmate, and not have them be one step behind the other.)

French translations:

Un, deux: One, two

Que ton coeur soit ta clé: May your heart be your guiding key

[bastionkeeper]

@jelly-bean-machine and I were talking about the kh gangs and nightmares and tho I’m totally sleepy rn I wrote some sloppy little musings on it full thing under the cut

The first night they had triumph, and worry. No one thought too hard about sleep the first night, or the second, or the third.

It wasn’t until they were all settled in their homes, new or old, that it hit.

Isa woke up to an empty bed. He reached out for Lea, and found a cold space instead. The remnants of a nightmare still held him in a chilly grip, and for a moment he couldn’t move. Then he heard movement coming from the living room.

He took the blanket with him when he left the room, knowing there’d be three people in the living room that would appreciate the extra comfort. It had been the same thing the past week and a half.

Xion woke up crying. Roxas didn’t even try to sleep. Lea didn’t show it, but he was always awake too trying to distract himself with snacks and a change in environment. Isa was always the last to show up, always lingered a little longer by himself not sure if he was welcome or if he even deserved to join the gathering. The first night he’d stood in the hallway for an hour just close enough to hear the three of them quietly passing around snacks and occasionally talking about the nightmares. For the most part they just sat in silence, just putting off sleeping awhile longer and feeling safety in numbers.

Lea was laying on the couch, Roxas and Xion sat on the floor with their backs up against it. The two teens were gripping mugs of hot chocolate, no doubt of Lea’s making. Isa draped the blanket over their shoulders, before gesturing for Lea to sit up and make room on the couch.

The silence broke when Xion’s shoulders started to shake, and Roxas put down his mug to hug her. Lea leaned forward and put a hand on her shoulder, and Isa leaned against him and hoped that one day the shadows that hung over them all would fade under the light of their new life.

Aqua felt darkness in her dreams.

It pierced her heart and spread through her veins, puppeted her against her will to attack the children that had come to save her.

It stood in front of her, Vanitas, and laughed as he took Ven away while she stood unable to move or cry out or help him in anyway.

It fought her, as Terra her friend and brother, influenced by two masters he’d trusted who nursed a grudge older than even their own lives.

She woke up gasping, and ran to the window to feel the cold night air on her face, and when she did she saw the training yards outside and decided to clear her head.

“Does being a master mean never taking a day off?”

Ventus joked the first time it happened, and she smiled and offered to show him the move she’d just performed.

Terra would show up at some point, and try to scold them both off to bed but they both knew there was a reason he was awake too. So instead, they’d go to their usual spot to look at the stars. They’d lean on each other and look at the lights of the other worlds and find peace in the fact that they were not alone after all.

Riku and Kairi had it worst of all.

The person that featured in their nightmares was never there when they woke.

Kairi woke up feeling death twice over and the absence of a heart that had beat so close to hers for so long. Riku felt the absence too, and felt a sense of failure that everyone else always tried to take off his shoulders.

They would go down to the beach, and send off messages in bottles if it was a good night and just sit quietly if it was a bad night.

Naminé would sit with them sometimes, and she’d draw pictures with a stick in the sand to make them smile.

None of them slept easily after the final battle, but none of them were alone.

Not even Sora could really be alone, they all knew that. Even if he wasn’t with them, they knew he made friends wherever he went and so he wouldn’t be alone.

[ao3feed-soriku]

Shielded by Shadows

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2NPGsNt

by BlaringHalo

The dark sun shone above her, the horizon bleak. The shadows welcoming. How long had she been here? Days? Weeks? Years? She didn't know. All she knew was that the lonliness around her was comforting. The silence a friend. And that was enough for her, in this endless void, with the shadowed sun, and the waves that reminded her of a happier time. She walked over to the dark beach, looking out, the cold water brushing against her shoes. This place was familiar, and she recalled a bittersweet memory, where old emotions were brought up, and an almost empty conversation was held out. She knew this place, and that was enough for her. This place, this darkness, was her home now, and as the shadows began to creep around her, her brilliant blue eyes darkened, and a cold tear fell down.

I suck at summaries, but you get the point.

Words: 3847, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: Kingdom Hearts

Rating: Not Rated

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/M, M/M, Other

Characters: Riku (Kingdom Hearts), Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Kairi (Kingdom Hearts), Aqua (Kingdom Hearts), Xion (Kingdom Hearts), Roxas (Kingdom Hearts), Ventus (Kingdom Hearts)

Relationships: Riku/Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Kairi/Riku/Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Axel/Roxas/Xion (Kingdom Hearts), Aqua/Terra/Ventus (Kingdom Hearts)

Additional Tags: Female Sora, Girl Sora, Genderbent Sora, Kairi will actually do something this time, Male!Xion, Roxas Xion and Ventus love Sora cause they're big brothers, Female!Vanitas, Evil!Sora, Dark!Sora, Maybe Post KH3, Axel/Roxas (Kingdom Hearts) Appreciation, akuroku if you squint, I don't know if i wanna add TerraVen or TerraAqua, I'm yaoi trash, Riku and Kairi are bff's, Not Canon Compliant, AU

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2NPGsNt

[void-kissed]

1-4 with Aria Fiore!

Oh! Sure thing, Merlin!! Thank you very much for sending all of these questions!!

(question source: "Self-insert Development Meme" by blushpanda)

1. Does your insert have a name that’s different from yours? Does the name reflect her character in any way, or is it just because it sounds nice? How did you come up with it? - She certainly does, as you so expertly demonstrated by giving it in (technical) full when you sent this ask! Aria's first name and surname both come from Italian (since.. I am Italian, in part), translating to "air" and "flower" respectively. In opera, an aria is also a term for a vocal solo. I think I just picked Aria because I liked how it sounded, and it fits the fact she has wings, but Fiore was selected in reference to her true form as a pink possessor, since that's basically just a floating cloud of flowers (cherry blossom, specifically!). One detail I'd like to point out about Aria's name is that, while she came up with the surname herself, the first name was stolen from what she overheard at the point of her gaining her current vessel. Technically speaking, "her" "full" first name "should" in fact be Linaria.

..As you can see from just that first question, these are going to be rather long answers, ahaha. Oops? Let's go under a readmore for the rest.

2. Does your insert have a very strong relationship with a F/O, maybe more than one? Tell us a little about the dynamic they have! This can be a bond that’s romantic, familial, or platonic, anything - even an enemy would count as a strong relationship! - Indeed she does - with quite a few, in fact! I use Aria to selfship romantically with Aqua, as well as Anti-Aqua in the fallen light AU (where Aqua becomes that way and falls to darkness much sooner after BBS), but in an alternate version of events I also use her to selfship romantically with my OC from KHUX, Clio. The dynamic in both cases is similar, but with Clio the connection stems from us being in the same party together and becoming closer over normal Daybreak Town life in that way, whereas with Aqua the initial connection stems from being the only other person around to talk to in the realm of darkness. Other than romantic dynamics, as part of my selfship with Aqua, Aria comes to see Vanitas as a younger brother figure, and forms a friendship with Ventus and Terra that initially stems from her being able to help them deal with the excess darkness their experiences of possession have left upon them. She also, later on, becomes close with the three apprentices she and Aqua are training together - as those are my three fankids, Virga, Rime and Mistral!

3. Who in her canon is she closest to? Who would she drop everything to come help, if anyone? Who’s the person she's least close to? Who would she most likely not get along with, if anyone? - Aria.. isn't generally someone who would do the whole "dropping everything for someone else" thing, in all honesty - she has a very strong sense of self-preservation. In canon, she is closest to her girlfriend out of everyone (which would be Aqua or Clio depending on version of events), though during KHUX she is also close with her Nobody counterpart, Livi, at the beginning. She would not get along with anyone who believes "all light is good, all darkness is bad" and stuff, because she tries to be living proof that that doesn't have to be true. She also doesn't tend to get on well with authority figures unless they have actually given her reason to respect them and defer to them - she isn't going to automatically go along with what someone asks just because they're in a position of authority. There's a reason the main word that I use to describe her is "defiant", not only of things like time and tradition and the way things should be, but also in terms of her personality.

4. Does your insert have a backstory? Tell us about it! How does her backstory, if any, define who she is? How does it reflect her relationships now? Her hopes and dreams? - As the self-insert I've had the longest as an explicit self-insert who also had lore (at.. five and a half years? it was the January after I started playing KHUX), yes Aria has a lot of backstory. In (my attempt at) short.. Aria was the Heartless created when a Keyblade wielder's heart was extracted and artificially flooded with darkness. She escaped the site of this occurring through a corridor of darkness, finding herself in a different world that was on the verge of falling to darkness. At that time, as a Heartless, she was fuelled only by a desire to be human again, to be complete again - and so she ended up making a vessel of one of the inhabitants of that falling world to retain that sense, using her body as her own and taking her overheard name of Aria. Following that world's total fall to darkness, she ended up in Daybreak Town, where she encountered her Nobody counterpart, Livi (who was the self-insert of an old friend of mine). They brought her into their party, and she gained the ability to wield a Keyblade from her connection to them. Following an incident involving two Keyblade wielders in the party trying to take advantage of the pair, and Aria subsequently destroying them in vengeance, they had to change to a different party, which ended up being the Sapphires (which Clio was already in). Living in a world of Keyblade wielders - people who wielded the one thing that could destroy her, and who tended to look down on the darkness with disdain - forced Aria to have to try and hide who she is for fear of being killed for it, which isn't how she wants to be. She also still retains some latent curiosity about the world whose fall she witnessed, as well as (after a certain point) guilt for the fact she stole someone else's life for the sake of becoming more complete, something she isn't able to fully resolve until after KH3 when she gains a separate Replica body.

I hope that all of this was alright!! Sorry that it was so long, but.. such is the nature of these questions, especially for a self-insert like Aria =P

Thank you so so much again for sending these in!!!!~

[moved-to-void-kissed]

i just saw your reblog of vanitas in dark road and you're so right he looks so so silly

YES THERE IS SOMETHING VERY RIDICULOUS ABOUT IT

I reckon it might be that he has his helmet on? It would certainly explain why he looks so.. bobblehead-y. To a much greater extent than most of the other KHUX-style sprites do.

I’m glad it’s not just me who thinks this, haha! Thanks for sending the ask~

[orangedodge]

Instead of flooding my blog with a deluge KH posts, I figured I'd do just one in-depth one about the end reveal.  

At least until the next trailer comes out, and my inner nine year old breaks out once again.

So despite Nomura's limitations as a writer, and his occasional technical naivete, I've always been a bit surprised that he's never really given his due as a director. He has good storytelling instincts, and can be skilled at framing information on screen to highlight what he wants, while making his audience ignore what he doesn't want them to pay attention to. His team can also cut a trailer very well. The 2.8 trailers were masterful at presenting actual spoilers, but framed within an artificial context that hid their meaning, and led to the audience anticipating story beats that did not actually exist. The respective natures of Aced and Gula as people, in particular, was something he was highly successful at concealing.

E3 trailer spoilers below the cut

The first E3 trailer drop, which I think we're calling the "Frozen" trailer, reminds me a lot of what he did last time, with those 2.8 trailers. The reveal at the end, and it's implication that Aqua is now evil, is driven by two lines,

SORA - "I wont let her fall to darkness"

and

AQUA - "You're too late"

The combination is framed to suggest that it's specifically too late for Aqua, but as these lines occur in two entirely different scenes, and this structure is unlikely to be preserved in the actual game, the thematic bridge they create is an artificial one. It's unknown what the full context of each scene actually is, particularly the latter scene with Mickey, Aqua, and Riku. Instead, Aqua's lines are being set up with by potentially false context by Sora.

What actually happens in that scene? I think the position of landmarks, and the continuity in way the scene is lit, is sufficient to establish that it most likely takes place within the same span of time as the previous trailer's Riku and Mickey scene, in which Riku's Way to Dawn Keyblade was broken.

By combining the two Riku scenes, I would posit that the chain of events is as follows: Riku and Mickey arrive at the Dark Margin > Aqua attacks them in her new shadow form > Mickey is disarmed, and Riku's Keyblade broken > Aqua stops fighting and reveals herself > Aqua picks up Mickey's Keyblade.

If the line "This Keyblade..." is native to that scene, and not something that was simply placed out of context in the trailer to create false context (a trick Nomura used with Phantom Aqua's dialogue in the 2.8 trailers), then it could be possible that she didn't recognize her opponents until she saw that Keyblade. Either way, I believe it's likely that she fought them until they were both disarmed, whereupon she stopped, and revealed herself to them.

Two things grabbed my attention,

Is breaking Way to Dawn, the Keyblade with one of Xehanort's creepy time-travel spy eyes (that we've been warned about), actually an inherently aggressive act? She appears to have been completely shrouded/cloaked in darkness, if not actually invisible (if that was a Red Eyes effect Mickey was under), when she arrived. Assuming that the two Riku clips are in fact one continuous scene, than it seems as though she didn't let them see her until that Keyblade was out of the way.

Why pick up Mickey's Keyblade? It was established ages ago that a Keyblade can't be stolen from its wielder, so unless that's being retconned, I don't see why she'd benefit from picking it up unless to demonstrate to them that she's still capable of doing so. And that's being done in a state where she's not just possessed by darkness, but seems to have been totally transformed into it. The only precedents I can think of for that are Anti-Sora and Ansem. Anti-Sora didn't have access to Keyblades, and Ansem could only wield one through Riku's body (and presumably Riku’s heart, since he lost his access to the Keyblade once he cast that away).

So is Aqua currently fallen to darkness? Almost definitely, unless this is just Phantom Aqua messing with Mickey, or a physical manifestation of an impression she left behind when she lived there, or the result of some unique circumstance like Aqua-removed-her-Heart-from-her-body or Aqua's-looking-for-Ven-in-the-realm-of-sleep that that would render her condition a temporary side effect.

Is she 'norted? It seems probable, but I'm not one-hundred per cent sure that it actually follows from what's been shown. Xehanort's never shown the ability to discorporate into dark fog or become invisible, I mean, and it seems like that would be a fairly useful ability to make use of if he had it. It seems not unreasonable to assume that it's therefore an ability newly unique to Aqua, and not something connected to a 'norting. I'm going to leave the changers to her hair aside because it's appeared that shade before (for example, in the daylight Wayfinder sequence at the start of the 0.2 trailer), and I'm not sure how much of the color change is being influenced by the lighting conditions, or even if the lighting is finished. The eyes seem like a big give away that she's 13th 'nort, as we've only ever seen glowing amber eyes in humans with Xehanort's vessels... but we don't actually know why he has those traits in the first place.

It could be nothing of consequence, just a unique aspect of his character design that made an easy shorthand for showing who he was possessing. Or it could be that amber eyes are actually meant to represent something in this setting (connection to Heartless?), and what specifically that is just hasn't come up yet, except as through the brothers and sisters 'nort. So it's possible that her eyes don't really mean what we assume they do, and it's just a fun way to use the trailer to mess with us.

(And because this series is so weird, it may also be worth remembering that incomplete beings have been shown to take physical forms influenced by the expectations of the people viewing them. Think Xion's magic flippy-floppy hood, or Aqua perceiving Ansem as Terra. So depending on what the meaning of Aqua's shadow form actually is, the way she appears to Mickey might not be what she actually looks like, as opposed to just the material consequence of how he expects her to look, reflected back upon his own reality. I... ugh. This series is something else.)

(There's also a possible exception to the only-'norts-have-glowing-eyes rule with Terra, who did have glowing amber eyes before he was 'norted, but portions of those cut scenes may now be apocryphal)

But even if Aqua is 'norted, does it automatically follow that she's now an evil puppet of the arch villain’s? I'm going to just throw this out there, and give a hard no. Could be! She could be evil now, she could even be a boss fight and a resulting fetch quest to fix her Wayfinder to bring her back to normal, or be a recurring super boss introduced to give the heroes someone more threatening to fight than Vexen and Marluxia, or anything else. But it's not absolutely necessary and it's a truly strange assumption to make, given past experiences with 'norts and people consumed by darkness.

Riku was 'norted for... really the entirety of the first three games in one way or another, and after a few initial close calls, he got his second wind, and was fine. Vanitas and Braig both seem to do whatever they want; it just so happens that they want to be evil, but I don't think Xehanort has ever shown any supernatural capacity—resorting instead to threats and possible torture—to modify their behavior if they wander off to undermine him. Terra is... well his body has been possessed for decades now, but also obviously is not being controlled in any meaningful way, unless Xehanort actually planned to choke himself and get whipped in the face by chains. Axel also didn't seem to have any problems with just throwing Xehanort out, when he was a heartless shell that theoretically had compromised means of resisting a takeover.  

So Xehanort is clearly not always in complete control of his vessels, other than Young Xeno (himself), Ansem (his own literal heart), and maybe Xemnas (some proportion of his own heart in Terra’s empty body), who could all be unique exceptions. And even the vessels that have been with him the longest have habit of doing as they please. I should find it strange should Aqua be the absolute only exception in the series. And thinking on it, all that's really said of the final confrontation is that you have 13 seekers and 7 guardians... but there's not really a rule that they have to form two opposed teams and stick to them no matter what.

To just fly off into blind speculation though, what I'm personally leaning towards is the possibility that Aqua has just become a part of the realm of darkness. That Mickey is “too late” to reach her before a point of no return, and now she just cannot leave. She doesn't sound particularly angry, or upset to see him. It sounds like she's just stating a fact, or just speaking with resignation. Mickey and Riku, in the clip where Way to Dawn is shown broken, also do not seem as defeated as one might expect them to if they had experienced complete and total failure. They seem pretty sure of themselves, whatever has happened.

I'm hesitant to add this in, given my own bias, but it actually seems not unlike they're saying goodbye. Perhaps just letting go of something, if they've failed and are moving on, or if Riku is just saying goodbye to the chapter of his life represented within Way to Dawn. Or they could be getting ready to split up.  

I've seen a lot of speculation, that I think rings true, that Disney would prefer for Mickey to not be involved in the final fight, whacking recognizable humans in the face with a sword-like weapon. The rumor's line of reasoning follows that he needs to be swapped out for someone else, and Aqua seems like the most fitting possibility. Maybe literally? One stays, so another can go? Thematically, she took on Terra's punishment for him, trapping her there in the first place. Mickey taking it on for her, so she can leave, would be a fitting continuation. And it seems to be what he wants. Edgy, traumatized, Mickey Mouse is a weird concept to introduce to a story, but it almost pulls it off where his trauma re: Aqua is concerned. This is clearly meant to be the great unhealed wound in his life, and to not just free his friend, but take her place in the underworld for a while is one way to help him patch it.

[pamphletstoinspire]

THE BOOK OF ECCLESIASTES- From The Douay-Rheims Bible - Latin Vulgate

Chapter 8

INTRODUCTION

This Book is called Ecclesiastes, or the preacher, (in Hebrew, Coheleth) because in it Solomon, as an excellent preacher, setteth forth the vanity of the things of this world, to withdraw the hearts and affections of men from such empty toys. Ch. --- Coheleth is a feminine noun, to indicate the elegance of the discourse. It is very difficult to discriminate the objections of free-thinkers from the real sentiments of the author. It is most generally supposed that Solomon wrote this after his repentance; but this is very uncertain. S. Jerom (in C. xii. 12.) informs us that the collectors of the sacred books had some scruple about admitting this; and Luther speaks of it with great disrespect: (Coll. conviv.) but the Church has always maintained its authority. See Conc. v. Act. 4. Philast. 132. C. --- It refutes the false notions of worldlings, concerning felicity; and shews that it consists in the service of God and fruition. W.

The additional Notes in this Edition of the New Testament will be marked with the letter A. Such as are taken from various Interpreters and Commentators, will be marked as in the Old Testament. B. Bristow, C. Calmet, Ch. Challoner, D. Du Hamel, E. Estius, J. Jansenius, M. Menochius, Po. Polus, P. Pastorini, T. Tirinus, V. Bible de Vence, W. Worthington, Wi. Witham. — The names of other authors, who may be occasionally consulted, will be given at full length.

Verses are in English and Latin. HAYDOCK CATHOLIC BIBLE COMMENTARY

This Catholic commentary on the Old Testament, following the Douay-Rheims Bible text, was originally compiled by Catholic priest and biblical scholar Rev. George Leo Haydock (1774-1849). This transcription is based on Haydock's notes as they appear in the 1859 edition of Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary printed by Edward Dunigan and Brother, New York, New York.

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES

Changes made to the original text for this transcription include the following:

Greek letters. The original text sometimes includes Greek expressions spelled out in Greek letters. In this transcription, those expressions have been transliterated from Greek letters to English letters, put in italics, and underlined. The following substitution scheme has been used: A for Alpha; B for Beta; G for Gamma; D for Delta; E for Epsilon; Z for Zeta; E for Eta; Th for Theta; I for Iota; K for Kappa; L for Lamda; M for Mu; N for Nu; X for Xi; O for Omicron; P for Pi; R for Rho; S for Sigma; T for Tau; U for Upsilon; Ph for Phi; Ch for Chi; Ps for Psi; O for Omega. For example, where the name, Jesus, is spelled out in the original text in Greek letters, Iota-eta-sigma-omicron-upsilon-sigma, it is transliterated in this transcription as, Iesous. Greek diacritical marks have not been represented in this transcription.

Footnotes. The original text indicates footnotes with special characters, including the astrisk (*) and printers' marks, such as the dagger mark, the double dagger mark, the section mark, the parallels mark, and the paragraph mark. In this transcription all these special characters have been replaced by numbers in square brackets, such as [1], [2], [3], etc.

Accent marks. The original text contains some English letters represented with accent marks. In this transcription, those letters have been rendered in this transcription without their accent marks.

Other special characters.

Solid horizontal lines of various lengths that appear in the original text have been represented as a series of consecutive hyphens of approximately the same length, such as ---.

Ligatures, single characters containing two letters united, in the original text in some Latin expressions have been represented in this transcription as separate letters. The ligature formed by uniting A and E is represented as Ae, that of a and e as ae, that of O and E as Oe, and that of o and e as oe.

Monetary sums in the original text represented with a preceding British pound sterling symbol (a stylized L, transected by a short horizontal line) are represented in this transcription with a following pound symbol, l.

The half symbol (1/2) and three-quarters symbol (3/4) in the original text have been represented in this transcription with their decimal equivalent, (.5) and (.75) respectively.

Unreadable text. Places where the transcriber's copy of the original text is unreadable have been indicated in this transcription by an empty set of square brackets, [].

Chapter 8

True wisdom is to observe God's commandments. The ways of God are unsearchable.

[1] The wisdom of a man shineth in his countenance, and the most mighty will change his face.

Sapientia hominis lucet in vultu ejus, et potentissimus faciem illius commutabit.

[2] I observe the mouth of the king, and the commandments of the oath of God.

Ego os regis observo, et praecepta juramenti Dei.

[3] Be not hasty to depart from his face, and do not continue in an evil work: for he will do all that pleaseth him:

Ne festines recedere a facie ejus, neque permaneas in opere malo : quia omne quod voluerit faciet.

[4] And his word is full of power: neither can any man say to him: Why dost thou so?

Et sermo illius potestate plenus est, nec dicere ei quisquam potest : Quare ita facis?

[5] He that keepeth the commandments shall find no evil. The heart of a wise man understandeth time and answer.

Qui custodit praeceptum non experietur quidquam mali. Tempus et responsionem cor sapientis intelligit.

[6] There is a time and opportunity for every business, and great affliction for man:

Omni negotio tempus est, et opportunitas : et multa hominis afflictio,

[7] Because he is ignorant of things past, and things to come he cannot know by any messenger.

quia ignorat praeterita, et futura nullo scire potest nuntio.

[8] It is not in man's power to stop the spirit, neither hath he power in the day of death, neither is he suffered to rest when war is at hand, neither shall wickedness save the wicked.

Non est in hominis potestate prohibere spiritum, nec habet potestatem in die mortis : nec sinitur quiescere ingruente bello, neque salvabit impietas impium.

[9] All these things I have considered, and applied my heart to all the works that are done under the sun. Sometimes one man ruleth over another to his own hurt.

Omnia haec consideravi, et dedi cor meum in cunctis operibus quae fiunt sub sole. Interdum dominatur homo homini in malum suum.

[10] I saw the wicked buried: who also when they were yet living were in the holy place, and were praised in the city as men of just works: but this also is vanity.

Vidi impios sepultos, qui etiam cum adhuc viverent in loco sancto erant, et laudabantur in civitate quasi justorum operum. Sed et hoc vanitas est.

[11] For because sentence is not speedily pronounced against the evil, the children of men commit evils without any fear.

Etenim quia non profertur cito contra malos sententia, absque timore ullo filii hominum perpetrant mala.

[12] But though a sinner do evil a hundred times, and by patience be borne withal, I know from thence that it shall be well with them that fear God, who dread his face.

Attamen peccator ex eo quod centies facit malum, et per patientiam sustentatur; ego cognovi quod erit bonum timentibus Deum, qui verentur faciem ejus.

[13] But let it not be well with the wicked, neither let his days be prolonged, but as a shadow let them pass away that fear not the face of the Lord.

Non sit bonum impio, nec prolongentur dies ejus, sed quasi umbra transeant qui non timent faciem Domini.

[14] There is also another vanity, which is done upon the earth. There are just men to whom evils happen, as though they had done the works of the wicked: and there are wicked men, who are as secure, as though they had the deeds of the just: but this also I judge most vain.

Est et alia vanitas quae fit super terram : sunt justi quibus mala proveniunt quasi opera egerint impiorum : et sunt impii qui ita securi sunt quasi justorum facta habeant. Sed et hoc vanissimum judico.

[15] Therefore I commended mirth, because there was no good for a man under the sun, but to eat, and drink, and be merry, and that he should take nothing else with him of his labour in the days of his life, which God hath given him under the sun.

Laudavi igitur laetitiam; quod non esset homini bonum sub sole, nisi quod comederet, et biberet, atque gauderet, et hoc solum secum auferret de labore suo, in diebus vitae suae quos dedit ei Deus sub sole.

[16] And I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to understand the distraction that is upon earth: for there are some that day and night take no sleep with their eyes.

Et apposui cor meum ut scirem sapientiam, et intelligerem distentionem quae versatur in terra. Est homo qui diebus et noctibus somnum non capit oculis.

[17] And I understood that man can find no reason of all those works of God that are done under the sun: and the more he shall labour to seek, so much the less shall he find: yea, though the wise man shall say, that he knoweth it, he shall not be able to find it.

Et intellexi quod omnium operum Dei nullam possit homo invenire rationem eorum quae fiunt sub sole; et quanto plus laboraverit ad quaerendum, tanto minus inveniat : etiam si dixerit sapiens se nosse, non poterit reperire.

Commentary:

Ver. 1. Most. Sept. "he whose face is impudent, shall be hated." The truly wise and virtuous man is always polite and affable. C. --- As we may form a probable conjecture of a person's disposition from his countenance, so we may judge of man's virtue by their actions. They are right and meritorious when the intention is good, (W.) and the works themselves blameless.

Ver. 2. I. Prot. add, "counsel thee, to keep, &c. "Obey the king and God." H. 1 Pet. ii. 17. --- Solomon proposes his own example, or speaks in the name of the just. --- God. The law of Moses, confirmed with an oath, or the engagement to be faithful to the king. 2 K. v. 3. 1 Par. xxix. 24.

Ver. 3. Face. This courtiers observe, while many Christians neglect God. --- Work. Defend not what has been said or done amiss.

Ver. 4. So? The eastern kings rule with absolute sway. Prov. xvi. 14.

Ver. 5. Answer. Heb. "judgment." He knows when to reprove even kings with effect; like Nathan, Elias, or S. Ambrose. 2 K. xii. 1. and 3 K. xviii. 17.

Ver. 6. Man. Solomon often reminds him of his misery. Sept. and Theod. "man is possessed of much knowledge," as they read dahth for rahth. C.

Ver. 7. Past. Prot. and Sept. "that shall be." H.

Ver. 8. Spirit from leaving the body, or the wind from blowing. There is no quarter given by death; so the wicked cannot escape vengeance.

Ver. 9. Hurt. Those who are despised in elevated situations, might have been happy in obscurity.

Ver. 10. Works. In life and death hypocrites are mixed with the unjust; and this excites indignation.

Ver. 11. Fear. Thus they abuse the patience of God, and grow worse, because he is good. His time will come. Apoc. xvi. 15 Eccli. v. 4. 2 Pet. iii. 10.

Ver. 12. Face. If God shew such clemency to the wicked, will he disregard his servants? Greek interpreters have read in a different meaning. C. --- Sept. "the sinner has done evil from that time, and for a long while," (T.) &c. See S. Jer. H.

Ver. 13. Let. Or, Heb. "it shall not," &c. Prot. H. --- Faith evinces that the wicked will be punished. --- But. Heb. "like a shadow." Sept. "under the shade," in prosperity.

Ver. 14. Vain, or afflicting. Hence some have denied Providence. Jer. xii. 1. C.

Ver. 15. No good for a man, &c. Some commentators think the wise man here speaks in the person of the libertine, representing the objections of these men against divine Providence, and the inferences they draw from thence, which he takes care afterwards to refute. But it may also be said, that his meaning is to commend the moderate use of the goods of this world, preferably to the cares and solicitudes of worldlings, their attachment to vanity and curiosity, and presumptuously diving into the unsearchable ways of divine providence. Ch. C. ii. 24. and iii. 12. Eccli. xv. C. --- Felicity is not attached to temporal prosperity, nor are the afflicted always miserable. W.

Ver. 16. Distraction of politicians, (Grot.) and of all human affairs.

Ver. 17. Reason. We know in general that God does all for his own glory, and for the welfare of his elect. But we cannot account for his treatment of mankind in particular cases. Rom. xi. 33. S. Jer.  C. - Say. Sept. "speak what thing soever, that he may know he," &c. H.

[ha-youwish]

ok here’s a little more

< previous | next >>

The next day, Vanitas was left alone. There were some knocks on the door every once in a while, but he pretended to be asleep and ignored Ventus. By the time the third day came around, Vanitas was confident he could get around without his wound being torn open again. His heart still weakly pumped in his chest, but it was stronger than it had been when he’d arrived. 

Early in the morning, when not even the sun was out, Vanitas walked up to the bedroom door and faded into the shadow beneath it. He navigated the large empty hallway outside of it, stepping to and from each shadow cast by the moonlight streaming in through the long windows. 

He needed to find out what changed while he was… indisposed. Ventus was his answer. He needed to find his brother. 

The castle wasn’t difficult to navigate with a clear vision of where he wanted to go. He knew from what his old master had told him years ago that if he lost focus, all the hallways would eventually lead back to the center throne room through some odd mgic in the castle’s very foundation. But even though that was combined with Vanitas having briefly been here before, it didn’t allow him to actually know where anything was. 

Following his connection to Ventus, he continued looking into different rooms and doors, mentally marking down what was where. He soon found himself in front of two grand doors, carved with intricate designs. Light streamed out of a crack in between them, the cause being one of the doors, just barely open. 

Someone was awake. It wasn’t Ventus, that’s for sure. Vanitas could feel his brother somewhere further down the hall. But something made him stop at this door instead of continuing on his objective, something made him nudge it slightly to peek inside. 

His eyes were met with shelves upon shelves of books. A library. There were plentiful rows, and some books strewn about on the floor as well, but no sign of anyone from the angle he could see. 

Stepping into the room using the shadows cast by the burning candlelights, Vanitas walked in between the shelves. He indulged in his curiosity for just a little bit. He picked up the nearest book, reading the title—

The Age of Fairytales and its Demise: A Brief History 

—and immediately threw it to the floor. He quickly stepped back, trying to get away like it was on fire. But there was another shelf right behind. Books dropped around him. Every slam on the hard floor was too loud in his ears. 

“Hello?” Vanitas heard Aqua’s voice come from somewhere nearby. Shit. He shoved down the rising panic at the back of his throat, not letting it form. Something about that book threw him off, and now he felt in no way prepared to deal with Aqua of all people. 

“Vanitas?” Her voice came from the other side of the row. He stayed with his back slightly turned, schooling his face into something remotely presentable. He scowled. 

“Did you…” She trails off, obviously uncomfortable, before clearing her throat. “What are you doing here?”

Vanitas opened his mouth to say something, but he stopped as she locked eyes with him. He was starting to regret being without his helmet. Her eyes watched his every facial expression, and nothing he could do would change what she made of it. 

“Wandering,” he eventually answered. He kept his gaze steady, anything less would be backing down. 

“Wandering?” She repeated, confused. “Have you been the one walking around for the past few nights?”

“No.” He answered simply. “I’m going now.” 

Vanitas turned away from Aqua, away from the books on the floor, away from the book that sparked up that old-seeded dread when he glanced at its fallen title. 

“Wait,” he heard Aqua say behind him. He glanced behind him to see her picking up the fallen tomes. “If you’re just wandering around, you have time to assist me with this.”

Vanitas raised an eyebrow, skepticism bleeding from his voice, “What are you talking about?” 

“Ven left a mess in here the other day, so I was putting away the books he left out.” Vanitas shifted in his stance, but tried to hide his interest. Aqua wasn’t facing him entirely as she put the books back on the shelves, but he did see the side of her mouth move up just slightly. He was getting sloppy if he’s that easy to read. “Why don’t you help me with it?” she asked. 

Vanitas’s eyes narrowed. “Why?”

“It’s a lot to sort through by myself. And no one else is awake at this hour.”

Somehow, he ended up following her to a deeper section of the vast library. There was a long wooden table, with tens of books scattered on and around it. 

“It’s surprising, isn’t it? Ven was never the studious type, but he loves reading stories,” Aqua walked to table and began flipping through one. 

It went silent, before Vanitas finally decided to look through the books as well. He walked around the table. Choosing one at seemingly random, he picked up one and opened it. 

It was a story, one about a city with millions of lights. It was old, the pages curled and the words were written differently than that of anything else he’d seen in this world. But he could read it just fine. 

It painted a vivid picture of a sprawling city, one with empty streets and an endless night sky. A heart-shaped moon. Vanitas honestly wouldn’t care for it if he didn’t recognize the description. His heart beat in his ears, and he was gravely reminded of the tight skin and soreness in his side. That place…

So that’s how they found me, he thought. Not like they got there in time. Sora was in a coma already and Vanitas was wounded, but no longer locked in his heart. For the most part, anyway. 

That place takes and takes from you. There is no way anyone could get in unscathed, not even Ventus. He must have done something, something that made him… different. Something that changed his mind about accepting what Vanitas was. 

“He found out the truth, huh?” Vanitas mused aloud. He’s very aware of the eyes watching him, but it wasn’t like she could understand him. 

“Have you figured it out yet?” Aqua asked, not looking up from where she was stacking books into piles. 

“Figured what out?”

“Why you’ve chosen to stay here,” she glanced over to him, a calculated gleam in her eyes. “I figured I should give you a few days to think about it.”

“And what, kick me out of this place if my answer doesn’t meet your satisfaction?” He rolled his eyes. “Save me the niceties.”

“Fine.” Aqua set down the book in her hand with force, making a loud bang. She rolled back her shoulders before turning to glare at him. “Listen, I don’t know what your goal here is, but Ven wants you here. And despite how much I disagree, he needs my trust in him right now.”

Vanitas crossed his arms. “And I’m supposed to care about this because…?”

“Because he trusts you, for some reason. And if his trust is broken, no one knows how he’ll take it. And…” She shut her eyes, hanging her head with a sigh. When she opened them, they were filled with exhausted determination. “And you’d be nothing but dark paste on the ground if you’re the reason I lose him again.”

She stared him down, like she could sense the pinprick of uncertainty that suddenly wormed its way into his thoughts. He was at a massive disadvantage here, he realized. Something had happened, that much is clear, which meant that Vanitas is less certain than he thought about where that placed him in the minds of those around him. 

He walked around the table slowly, a hand gliding over each of the stacked books with varied interest. He paused as he happened upon a blank one and picked it up. Something drew him to this one. He opens it part way in, reading a few of the words. Another book in that other language. He’d have to come back to the library at a later date to see if it was a common occurrence. 

He closed the book, deciding that he would stop stalling. He needed to get out of this situation, and Aqua still wanted an answer. And so, carefully, he decided. “I made a deal.”

“A deal?” Aqua repeated, her frown deepened. “And what kind of motives are behind this ‘deal’?”

“It’s simple,” Vanitas shrugged, “My part of the deal was that I would be on my best behavior.” He made a show of his reluctance, making sure his disdain for the idea of getting along was exaggerated. 

“And the other side?” Aqua pressed, “Who was this deal made with? What did they offer you?” 

Instead of responding, Vanitas turned away with full intention to leave. He needed any sort of advantage he could get in this situation. No one here was giving him any useful information, so it seemed he would need to remind them of their own lack of knowledge. “I’ve got nothing else to share. If you have a problem with that, take it up with someone else—”

“Was it Ven?” 

He stopped in place, turning slightly to look back at her. Now this was a look he could recognize. 

“Oh, how great. You want it to be Ventus so bad, don’t you? You wish it was him. If it was him, offering me something in exchange for being buddy-buddy with you all, it’d take the load off your shoulders, wouldn’t it? It’d make everything so much easier.” Vanitas couldn’t help but laugh, ignoring the pull on sore skin. “Fine, you’re so desperate that I’ll tell you. It wasn’t Ventus, that’s for sure. He wouldn’t even bother with me if not for Sora—” 

Vanitas cut himself off. He shouldn’t be surprised by his own words, but he was. He had said them without thinking, but something about them felt true. Ventus was nice and gullible, enough that he apparently trusted Vanitas. But wasn’t the current goal of all of them to finally wake Sora up? And if he hadn’t dragged Sora to the Guardians of Light, would Ventus have made the effort? If Vanitas wasn’t the only one who knew what had happened, would his brother have defended him so much? 

Why did he feel like he never wanted the real answer to that question?

Pivoting, he left the library quickly before she could get the chance to respond. As soon as he was past the door he faded into the shadows to move faster. His previous goal of finding Ventus can wait, he needed to weigh his options. 

Ventus would be the easiest to ask about the other side of the events leading up to Sora’s rescue. Even if Aqua was lying about Ventus trusting him, he was confident he could get at least something out of him. Asking about what felt so wrong about Ventus himself would be a different problem entirely. That would take more time and he’d need to gain more trust with Aqua and Terra, which is something he’d gag at the thought of doing. 

He would just have to look into it himself. No matter how much he would rather keep to himself and stay out of it, something in him wouldn’t rest until he knew what was going on. And if it didn’t rest, it would wake even more. Vanitas couldn’t allow that. 

He spent the rest of that day forming a more concrete plan. No one knocked on the door.