Cheating Destiny

Balance

A/N: Nothing really to say here and the picture isn't even relevant to the chapter whatsoever but it has to be said~

<♥>

"Hey."

Vanitas tears his gaze away from the swirling dark portal before him, glancing up at Terra's approaching figure.

"What?" he asks grumpily.

"You can't go through there," Terra tells him with a nod towards the portal. "It's not safe for them to be around us."

"I know that," he snaps, not in the mood to be lectured. With a sigh he waves his gloved hand, watching with a frown as the portal collapses into wisps of smoke. "Think they'll be alright?"

"Better than we're about to be," Terra points out. Vanitas chuckles in response, though his voice lacks any amusement. "We'll be back to normal soon though. You told Ven everything, right?"

"Yeah, but he's dumber than a box of rocks," Vanitas replies with another sigh. "Whatever. He'll figure it out. Eventually."

"Yeah, he will," Terra agrees wryly. "Hopefully before anyone's hurt."

"You actually believe that?" Vanitas asks, raising his eyebrows as he looks over at Terra.

The brunet meets his gaze for a moment before shrugging.

"A guy can dream, right?"

"... You still dream?"

"Sometimes. What, you don't?"

"Not for a long time," Vanitas admits, smiling sadly as he stares up at the ceiling. His mind is quickly growing fuzzy, as he slowly falls into a comatose state, descending deep into the darkest recesses of his mind. "Hey, Terra?"

"Yeah?" Terra asks, his voice coming out slow and disjointed.

"You think we're beyond hope?"

To his surprise, he hears Terra laugh softly.

"A part of me says yes... But then I remember who's fighting for us."

"Never knew you were such a sap."

"Yeah, like you aren't."

With a knowing grin on his face, the last pillar in Vanitas' mind crumbles as he falls headfirst into the darkness.

[♥]

"Gosh, it's quiet up here," Sora notes, trailing off into a soft whistle as he glances around from his position at the tip-top of the castle at Hollow Bastion. "We're getting close to where it happened, Roxie," he adds with an excited look at the scowling blond.

"I heard you the first ten times," Roxas tells him, releasing a light chuckle at Sora's unending enthusiasm before he turns towards Aqua. "You sure we shouldn't have called some people to help us out?"

"No, no. Not until we actually search the castle," she responds, her voice giving away her hidden anxiety. "I don't want to raise the alarm in case it's nothing."

"I hope they're okay," Sora muses sadly, glancing around the unsettlingly empty chapel.

"Those two always land on their feet," Roxas points out with a small smile.

"I didn't just mean Ven and [Name]," Sora retorts softly before he comes to a stop on the narrow platform leading to the last unexplored room in the castle.

He leans down, running a finger down the wall. A chuck is missing, like someone fell into the wall and took a piece of it with them.

"Hey, the door's blown off the hinges," Roxas calls out, beating Sora and Aqua to the end of the platform.