Hikari---A Vanitas fanfiction

[EternalChange 303]

  Vanitas gave a dark scowl as he looked over his shoulder to a specific corner where he knew somebody was hiding. He heard a little gasp not too far away when he turned his head, then a little bit of shuffling, like two small legs running to a new location. Vanitas then turned back and gave an aggravated sigh. This was the third time he had caught her following him that day. Didn’t he scare her at all?  He shook his head, then went back to gazing out at the courtyard, trying to focus on his goals and what the overall plan was, creating a mental checklist. He didn’t want to lose sight of the endgame that he and his master had in mind. If he spread to many Unversed in a single world…  But then his mind drifted off to the world he was in now. Here in the outskirts of the city, you could clearly see the bright yellow-lavander sky, and hear the rushing water from various waterfalls and fountains spread throughout the city. If that alone didn’t make the outskirts picturesque enough, one would easily notice the thousands upon thousands of different colored flowers: tulips, poppies, roses, violets, marigolds, forget-me-nots, daisies, lotuses, and candytufts, among dozens of other varieties. It was a true sanctuary for those wanting to escape the hustle and bustle of the city and relax in the light.  That was just the thing, though. Vanitas enjoyed this place, he really did. Like most people, he liked the relaxation this place offered as much as the next guy. But what made him angry about it is that he could never have the light this place offered. He wanted that light---he really did. It was a warm, comforting thing that exposed the beauty and kindness in the world that Vanitas had craved all his life. It was so different from the bleak cold of darkness, which whispered death and despair and hatred in the ears of all who wielded it. But Vanitas himself was darkness in its fullest; not an ounce of light was within his heart. He couldn’t grow his own light, either, because like darkness, light needs to be present in the first place to grow. That’s why he needed the X-blade. To rid himself of his curse, and very possibly enjoy the light in the worlds after the Keyblade war.  Vanitas gave another sigh as the thought of these things, then brought his knees up to his chin. A few floods began to spawn at various places, but Vanitas took no mind. Maybe they would scare off his little stalker, if he couldn’t.  But it turned out that they caused the exact opposite to happen, for soon he heard a childish voice call,    “Hiya…?”  Vanitas looked up to find the little girl that had been following him all this time right in front of him, looking up curiously with big green eyes that he could’ve easily mistaken for Ventus’s if they had been that irritating blue color that all three of his opponents shared. Vanitas scowled.    “Go away.”  The little girl tilted her head slightly, letting her thin hair obey gravity and sway to one side.    “But you’re here alone.”  Vanitas rolled his amber eyes; just another sign of his darkness.    “Yeah, so?”  The little girl’s curious expression didn’t falter. It was almost creepy how she had no reaction to his unusual appearance, or the bad attitude he was giving her.    “Why are you sad?” she asked innocently, but with a genuine tone.  Vanitas turned his head away. He didn’t want to explain this to her; in fact he didn’t want her to be around at all. But making the Unversed sic her would just cause an unnecessary casualty. There was no real point. A few more Unversed, these being of irritation, started to spawn.    “You wouldn’t understand why. Now go away like I said,” he demanded in a low voice.  The girl, not heeding his word, trotted around the gardens a little bit, her black hair flowing lightly in the breeze, and her light blue dress following suit.    “I see you crying sometimes when I’m playing, but my mommy says not to talk to you. Everyone else is scared of you, but I’m not. I just think you need someone to help you. Promise not to tell?”  Vanitas looked at her with a genuinely curious expression on her face. If she had been told to fear him, why didn’t she? Didn’t she know these monsters that were ripping apart her home came from him?    “Um…okay. I guess I won’t.” he said, resuming a standard sitting position.  The little girl approached one of the floods. The flood just stood there, looking at her, tilting its head like a bird would to get a good perspective of this new figure. The girl stood, hands folded behind her back, leaning a forward a little bit to get a good look at the flood.    “Are they the reason you’re sad?” she asked simply, without looking at him.  Vanitas looked at her, very surprised at this notion, then nodded a little bit. But how did she come to this conclusion? She knew very well these monsters came from him, and he was spreading them around, making them destroy things. So why would she think they made him sad, of all people? Just because they were always around him?  What the girl did next surprised him even more. She grabbed the flood by the neck and started biting its arm. The flood didn’t struggle at all, perhaps not feeling the small attacker’s offense. Vanitas gave an irritated groan.    “What are you doing.” Vanitas demanded flatly.    “I’m tryin’…to get rid of these guys…so you’ll be happy.” she growled between cuts and tears in the flood’s flesh. The skin immediately grew back as if it had never been damaged sense the little girl was using her teeth instead of a keyblade. Vanitas smirked. This girl had no clue these were what made him sad---it was just a guess. He hopped down from his resting place and walked over to the little girl, who was still biting and hissing with all her might. Then he put a hand on her shoulder.    “Trust me. I’ve tried doing that before. It doesn’t work.”  The girl looked sadder than he was at the comment.    “Then what’s gonna make you happy?” she asked, voice so broken and eyes so glassy Vanitas swore she was going to cry. Vanitas frowned a little. Why on earth would she worry about his happiness? He had just met her.    “I don’t know for sure yet,” Vanitas answered slowly, “but someone told me that I have to make this special sword to be happy. It’s made out of two people’s hearts, and mine’s one of them.”  The little girl frowned, eyes darting here and there, thinking about this strange means of happiness.    “Why would you need a sword to be happy?” she asked. “Swords just hurt people, no matter what they’re made of.”    “Well, you see…” Vanitas trailed off and thought about the little girl’s words. He had been told the X-blade would free him of the Unversed, but he had always gotten the strangest sense of Xehanort just wanting things for himself and not caring about what happens to the other guy. Vanitas didn’t know whether or not either Xehanort’s words or his hunch about his master’s intent was true, but what he did know was that, yes, swords really do hurt people. He should know that better than anyone. And as much as Vanitas wanted Xehanort’s words to be true, he knew there was a risk. And what would he do if he didn’t have a fallback plan for if the X-blade didn’t end up freeing him?  Vanitas looked down a little bit as he thought, then smiled and looked up.    “You know what? I think you might be right,” Vanitas said.  The little girl tilted her head again, a small smile beginning to blossom onto her face like a rose.    “Do you want me to show you what I do when I’m sad?” she asked softly.  Vanitas shrugged and nodded. Why not? Anything could go as a fallback as of right now. The little girl grinned, then grabbed his hand, pulling him along to follow.  What Vanitas didn’t know was that the next few hours would require him darting around the beautiful scenery to attend the next form of play. He was at the fountains splashing around with her, then the flowerbeds collecting violets for her, then at the gates trying to climb to the top before the little girl, then at the doorway racing her to the gates, then hanging upside-down in the underground arena and making weird faces in order to make her laugh. A flower crown woven into his hair at one point, which he didn’t bother to take off just for the sake of seeing the little girl happy. Whether or not anybody believed it, the little girl’s excitement and bubbly nature were actually very contagious. Vantias found himself laughing at himself and the little girl on multiple occasions, and the girl laughed right back, not minding at all.  As the sun began to set over the horizon, Vanitas and the little girl were sitting with their feet dangling over the edge of the landform. The little girl then crawled over to Vanitas and curled up softly in his lap. She jabbered on about various other playtimes with much more age-appropriate playmates, but what Vanitas was most concerned about was how to handle the fragile figure sitting close to him, and what her mother would think if she found her daughter with someone considered evil. He kept his hands in the air or crossed behind his back for most of the evening, just listening the little girl’s yammering for no particular reason. Eventually, the child yawned and leaned back against his chest, and Vanitas knew he had to take her home.  Moving slowly, he picked up the tired girl, carrying her princess-style. He was still nervous about hurting her, which was an unusual feeling for him, sense he would normally want to do exactly that. But this day had been anything but ordinary. For the first time sense his separation from Ventus, Vanitas’s normal pain had been incredibly low, almost to a point were he might be able to consider himself…mildly happy.  Vanitas looked down at the girl with a soft smile, trying to resemble contentment.    “Where’s your home?” he asked simply.  The little girl yawned softly, closing her eyes and laying her head against his shoulder.    “Just offa main…” she trailed sleepily, “next to a magic old guy with a funny book.”  Normally, Vanitas would’ve just used a dark portal to get from place to place, but he knew this would corrupt the little girl. She was so full of that beautiful, glowing light---he didn’t want to take that away from her. Not at such a young age. After all, she seemed to be only six, at most. So he decided to take the long way.    “I gotta take you home, okay?” he said, as sweet as he could muster though his own exhaustion.  The little girl tried to cuddle closer.    “M’kay. Be careful of mommy. She doesn’t like you as much as I do.”  Vanitas smiled a little bit more. Even now, she was so concerned about his safety and happiness. The walk home was overall quiet, sense it was the time of night that everybody was getting ready to wind down. The girl kept rubbing her cheek against his bicep, obviously comfortable and trying to stay close to him as long as she could. She eventually pointed out her house to him (which was a quaint little thing compared to the rest of the city, really.) He went up and knocked on the front door, where he was greeted by a terrified woman carrying a frying pan.    “What do you want?! Money?! Food?! Let her go!!” the woman exclaimed.  Vanitas almost laughed at the notion of him wanting anything.    “Relax. Your daughter here was out playing and got tired, so I decided to carry her home.”  As if trying to prove his point, the little girl squirmed slightly, rubbing her cheek against his bicep again. For the longest time, the woman looked between her sleepy daughter and Vanitas, eyes darting between the two figures. This gave Vanitas a chance to look at the woman. She was a lovely thing, really. Her thick brown hair swayed around her knees, which were barely visible under her red dress, which she was wearing a white apron over. Her green eyes just kept darting from him to her daughter back to him, then to her daughter again. It was obvious that the little girl had gotten many of her traits from her mother. Vanitas vacantly wondered who the father was, and why he would allow his wife to answer the door to someone considered evil. He wondered if the father was even around.  Eventually the woman relaxed, dropping the frying pan and reaching out her arms to let Vanitas give her the little girl. The old wooden door began to shut after a little nod of gratitude from the woman, but the little girl said,    “Mommy, wait.”  The woman froze, and the little girl squirmed out of her arms and walked up to Vanitas. She tugged on his cape, causing him to kneel down to her level. The little girl took this chance to wrap her arms around Vantias’s neck in a loving hug.    “Thanks, Vani,” she whispered softly.  Vanitas was stunned at this sudden display of affection, but eventually returned the embrace, wrapping his arms around her tiny waist as best he could before letting her go and placing his hands on her shoulders.    “No, thank you. I had fun today. If I’m not happy because of that sword, I’ll come play with you again, okay?” he said with a genuine smile.  She grinned back and nodded furiously, and the woman took her inside.  Vanitas walked to the center courtyard and sat down on the edge of a higher platform, considering the promise he made to the little girl. Would he keep it? Would he have the ability to? Vanitas didn’t know. It just added onto the unsolved mysteries in his life. But he knew one thing for sure: these little scraps of memories that the child had given him felt…warm. Comfortable. They seemed to expose the beauty and kindness not only within the rest of the world, but within Vanitas himself. And he liked that feeling---wholeheartedly.

[AlixtheMagi13 245]

Great fan fiction by the way

[EternalChange 303]

Great fan fiction by the way

Thanks.