Chapter Text
Ventus regretted it.
He regretted it terribly .
Ven had never been the “jumpy” type. Sure, he was quick on feet, probably the fastest out of Master Eraqus’s disciples. But that quickness came out of necessity due to his smaller stature and odd grip on his keyblade — Master Eraqus had tried for a long time to fix that before giving up altogether.
Dodging, blocking, reprisals. In battle, he was nigh untouchable. After all, they couldn’t hurt what they couldn’t hit. His “jumpiness” then was quick reflexes. And usually a source of thrill and adrenaline. But this....
Ven hated this.
It had started out with Vanitas simply jumping at him from around a corner. Ventus had reflexively attacked back, only to find out first hand what violence in this place does. Even stuck in the halls for a few hours had Ven discovering very quickly why Vanitas had proposed a truce.
Whether it was pity or getting bored waiting for his lighter half to show back up, Vanitas’s pranks started to get more... strategic.
Bunched up carpet and towels. Trip wires made from lamp cables. Switching the symbol on his door to an impassable doorway, forcing him to track down his room manually. On more than occasion Vanitas had somehow managed to balance a bucket — where did he even get it??? — of pool water on a door frame, leaving Ven soaked to the bone.
“What do you get out of this?!” He asked the laughing boy after one time too many.
Vanitas wiped his eyes, catching his breath. “Slow, sweet revenge.”
‘Well, at least this is kinda better than trying to murder me? ’ Ventus sighs as he pushes open the door to his room. It was identical to the one in the Land of Departure, all the way down to the telescope and the rest of the grounds visible from his bedside window. Of course, the view was an illusion, but it made Ven feel better to have it.
Ven removes his swimsuit and replaces it with plain cotton pajamas; Vanitas had decided it would be funny to steal his change of clothes while he was relaxing in the pool. Chucking the discarded shorts onto his desk to dry, he faceplants into his sheets. The staff must have changed them recently as they smell like ocean breeze and fresh pine needles. Ventus closes his eyes, body and mind so exhausted he doesn’t bother to get under the sheets.
“I wonder where Aqua, Terra, and the Master are… ” Sorrow grips Ven’s heart suddenly, the burn of fresh tears behind his eyes. Surely, surely they must be looking for him. Aqua was perfectly fine last time he saw her, and Terra wasn’t one to go down easily. Master Eraqus… he hadn’t seen Master Eraqus at all since Terra had thrown Ventus through a portal. And even when Terra had shown back up, the Master still hadn’t shown. Did… did that mean that Terra—
—Ventus grabs a pillow and buries his face into it, smothering the thought before it could complete.
“Wow, I must really be tired if I’m thinking Terra would ever do that! It’s possible they’re all fine. Aqua was with Mickey! Not to mention, Vanitas is stuck here with me. If anything I’m in more danger here!” Ven rolls onto his side, staring out at a meteor shower going past the window. He grabs the Wayfinder hanging from his bedside, holding it next to his chest. Ventus squeezes his eyes shut, wishing on the fake shooting stars.
“Please, please be safe…”
Ven’s eyes shoot open.
There’s something cold on the back of his neck.
Ventus yelps and twists away, sending himself and his Wayfinder tumbling off the bed. The sheets are tangled around his limbs, but Ventus is able to struggle around enough to see what who—
“...Well, that was more entertaining than I thought it would be.”
— Vanitas.
Ven lays his forehead back down on the floor briefly, grumbling illegibly and trying to convince himself to not murder his darker half, before he pops back up, staring at Vanitas’s nearly manical grin.
“Wait, how did you…?” Ven knew Vanitas was not able to get into his room, as Vanitas had previously very vocally expressed his annoyance with that factoid. In fact, the only people who could get in were him and…
A bellhop stood just outside the doorway, arms crossed and tapping his foot.
Ah.
Vanitas’s relationship with the staff was… odd to say the least. The Vanitas Ven knew before would have simply kicked the staff away or at the very least ignored them. But on more than one occasion he’s spied the dark-haired boy simply walking with some of the younger staff, purposely letting them keep up. Though he never got close enough to hear their conversations, it would usually end with Vanitas giving the Sora an awkward yet gentle pat on the head. Ven had entertained the thought to ask Vanitas what they spoke about, but it was quickly squashed by the likely chance that Vanitas would drop their truce to strangle him—
Vanitas twists toward the Sora, flicking the ice cubes in his hand to the floor. “Hey, it was important! How else was I supposed to wake him up?”
“You could have just shaken him,” The Sora pouts.
—Plus it was good future blackmail.
Vanitas shrugs unapologetically as Ventus manages to untangle himself from the covers. “What do you want, Vanitas?” Ven asks, not even attempting to hide his frustration.
Yellow eyes flick toward him. “I found something,” With a swift movement, Ventus finds himself with a face full of cloth, and with that Vanitas turns and leaves.
Ven pulls the fabric away from his face; his dry clothes from the day before lay in his lap. He and the Sora share a look — the younger’s being apologetic and the older’s being exasperation-laced curiosity — then the Sora disappears from the doorway. Sighing, Ventus stands up and, quickly getting changed, follows after his darker half.
Lightly jogging to catch up with Vanitas’s brisk pace, brand-new beach-themed picture frames on the walls catch Ven’s eye. They’d been popping up for a while now, and both he and Vanitas were pretty sure they were the real Sora’s memories. More often than not they held images of two other children — one boy with white hair and one girl with maroon hair — playing and talking with the person ‘behind the camera’. And with every new frame, they got older and the places around them changed, though the island that Ven recognized was always the same.
It made Ven’s heart clench in fear. Just how long has he been stuck here?!
“Hey, idiot.” Ventus jumps. Vanitas stands at the other end of the hall. “I can feel your moping from over here. Hurry your ass up.”
Shaking himself, Ven continues walking, and it isn’t long before Vanitas stops at a specific turn.
Well, Vanitas had indeed found something. The hall immediately strikes Ven as odd. Where the rest of the halls were brightly lit, the occasional island plant or free candy sample bowl sitting on a table, this one was oddly dark. There appeared to be no end as the lights completely died as the hall went deeper. A chill breeze rushes past the both of them, giving Ventus goosebumps.
“Wha- how did you even find this?”
Vanitas snorts. “While you are lazing about, I’m actually doing the intelligent thing and looking for clues.” He gives him a smarmy look. “I win.”
Ven wrinkles his nose. “‘Win’? Win at what?”
“Being better. But then again, we both already knew that.”
“You can’t ‘win’ if you don’t tell me exactly what this —“ he gestures broadly towards the hall. “— means. For all you know it could mean nothing.”
“Yes I can.”
Ven opens his mouth to argue that No. That logic doesn’t make ANY sense before something hits him. Sure, a normal person would think twice about going down strange metaphorical pathways inside someone’s heart, but Vanitas was anything but.
“Oh my god.”
Vanitas’s eyes swivel towards him. “What?”
“Oh my god.”
Vanitas fully faces him now, a rare genuinely confused expression crosses his face. “What? Why is your face doing that?”
“You don’t know, do you? You haven’t explored it.” Vanitas’s jaw tightens, eyes glowing threateningly. “You went and got me…because you’re too scared to go down there by yourself..!”
“N- No! Wh-what kind of stupid logic is that?! Only someone like you could think I’d be scared of something like that — Shut up! I just-just..! I just wanted to rub it in your stupid idiot face! Stop laughing!”
Ventus couldn’t breathe. Vanitas’s face is bright red, yellow eyes even more striking, and his hands clench and unclench in a desperate attempt to prevent himself from strangling his lighter half. Ven gulps down precious oxygen as his fits die down into giggles.
Sending him a smarmy grin of his own, Ventus sweeps an arm towards the hall. “Then prove it. Go right on ahead.”
Vanitas’s expression turns carefully blank as he stares down the seemingly endless passageway. The hall silently stares back, like a monster awaiting its prey. Ven thinks he sees Vanitas gulp, but it’s gone before his brain can process it.
“Fine! I will!” With a shout, Vanitas begins stomping his way down. “I'm not afraid of some stupid dark hallway in some stupid kid’s heart!”
Ventus huffs one more laugh before making his own way down, albeit much more quietly. Keeping a hand to the right wall, Ventus feels the texture abruptly shift from dry to damp as they go further. The sound of something hard and wet clicks against his footsteps. The ground was no longer carpet, contrasting with Vanitas’s harsh mutterings. Eventually, the only light source is the dim red glow of the lines in Vanitas’s suit. The hall — tunnel? — then abruptly narrows, and Ventus finds himself bent at an odd angle so as to not hit the now stone ceiling. He couldn’t see his hands, but he rubs wet soil between his fingertips. “What-ack!”
He runs right into Vanitas. After only seemingly a few minutes, they had stopped. “Hey, what are you…” Ventus’s voice leaves him as he twists to peer over the other boy’s shoulder.
In front of Vanitas is a pair of double doors. However, they’re completely different from the ones back at the hotel. They’re metallic and have delicate fractal designs outlining a swirling heart shape. The handles are of similar structure. It also seemed to have its own independent glow, though the illumination did not attempt to brighten the tunnel Vanitas and Ventus stood in. It stood calmly, just as intimidating as the entrance to the dark hallway before: waiting. In the silence, Ventus could now distinguish soft drops of liquid hitting the stone floor beneath them.
Vanitas’s bright yellow eyes find his blues. Ventus simply shrugs. His darker half sneers audibly before aggressively grabbing the door handles.
The doors open with little resistance.
Humid sea air hits Ventus full force, the salt making his tongue and eyes tingle. It’s worse than in the hotel, almost as if Ven had dunked his whole face into the ocean. He hears Vanitas choke and spit.
Light floods Ventus’s vision, and after a few seconds of blinking, the new room comes into view. It appeared to be a natural cavern of sorts, supported by winding tree roots and stone. Ventus runs his hands over the roots, eyeing the crude chalk drawings littering the walls. A couple mushroom bunches grow in the darker, damper places, and Ventus has to restrain himself from giving the caps a couple pats. Sunlight filters through cracks in the ceiling, meaning the outside wasn’t far from here. However, the space appears closed in.
Despite the sunlight and stark difference of the area, they were definitely still within Sora’s heart. Ven could feel it: the soothing hum against his own heart that he could feel in the hotel. But here it was stronger. Much stronger.
Ven’s eyes catch one particular drawing near the floor. It appeared to be a drawing of two people’s heads: one with spiky hair and the other with straighter hair. Judging by its similarities to Vanitas, Ven guessed it was probably a picture of Sora. The other — a girl? — was maybe the one seen in some of the picture frames on the walls back at the hotel.
What was this place?
“Well, this is disappointing,” Vanitas breaks the silence, kicking a stray rock. “It’s a hole in the ground covered in kid drawings. Great. What a load of bull-“
Another door. But it was wooden with a simple golden outline. And no handle.
“You know what, you know what! ” Vanitas shouts suddenly, making Ventus jump.
“Wait, Vanitas—“
“Fuck doors!”
With a swift kick, the door vanishes inward. Ventus is sure, if it was real, the door might have splintered with the amount of force Vanitas had kicked it in with. But it’s not and it doesn’t, instead reappearing shortly afterwards, still swinging idly on its hinges.
There was no ceiling or walls. And the floor was void except for several colorful stained glass panes leading to a larger glass circular structure, supported by a similarly large column. The rest of the space disappeared into a bottomless pit.
Vanitas charges on, careful to only step onto the glass before abruptly slowing. The panes were wide enough for Ventus to stand next to his darker half as he closed the gap between them. Ventus tries to rub the goosebumps from his arms. It was colder here in comparison to everywhere else. Like walking through an untouched mountainous cavern.
From his spot next to him, Ven follows Vanitas’s gaze to —
He gasped softly. “It’s a Heart Station.”
Ven had only ever read about them in the Land of Departure’s library or from the Master’s teachings. Master Eraqus had said they were meant to represent your inner journey, with only those who had or were going to experience an intense change in their lives ever seeing them. A window to your very soul. It was considered a taboo of the highest degree to even attempt to witness another one’s Station of Awakening without consent.
And standing here? Seeing one with his own eyes? He could see why. The Station — Sora’s Station — was a simple one. It didn’t even have his own personage depicted on it yet, only having a few items of interest in the middle: a raft, a Paopu fruit, some mushrooms, some tools, a mask, and a ceiling mobile. A simplified drawing of a beach and palm trees cradled at the bottom.
The whole place breathed safety. The Hotel was similar in this aspect but at least the sensation was quiet enough for Ven to think. Here, here it was so loud . Rippling through his entire being. Ven could feel his tense muscles unwinding and healing. The soothing air settling into his bones like Aqua’s Curaga when he and Terra would work a little too hard during practice. A deafening lullaby.
Ventus’s eyelids droop. In fact, he could probably fall asleep standing up here.
Suddenly, something grips his shoulder, shaking him out of his thoughts. Wha..?
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”
Confused, Ventus looks back down. His toes were practically touching the edge of the Station. At some point he had started walking towards it.
“The Heart here is too young and malleable.” Vanitas’s strangely serious voice cuts through the sound around him. “You step on that? Say goodbye to ever seeing your friends ever again.”
Ventus startles backwards to safety next to Vanitas, who gives him an unimpressed glare. Ven doesn’t think he likes this place anymore.
“Look, there’s nothing here, and it's freezing. I’m heading back. Not saving your ass a second time.” He says the last part more to himself.
Ven watches him leave. A strange sense of dread pierces the waves of Calm as Ventus turns back around to look at the Station. He might have blamed it on Vanitas had his darker half not already made his exit. Why would something as sacred and fragile as Heart Station appear to them? Especially now? Ven clutches the space above his chest, his still-mending heart beating worriedly. Were they shown this in order to protect it? A forced quiet laugh bubbles up briefly in Ven’s chest. If it was willing to show even Vanitas, a being of pure darkness…
Ven could feel it. Something was coming. Something bad.
As if listening to his thoughts, a wind picks up around Ven. Not chilly. Not rough. It rustles his hair, whispering against the edges of his hearing. He feels a shiver go down his back.
You will be the one… to open the door….
Ventus runs.