A/N: WELL, Ven is much more popular than I realized in this series so that was an easy choice XD
AND IT HAS BEEN DECIDED – Ven-Ven is officially a BOC. Though he's gonna be stuck in the friendzone for awhile, sorry to say~
<♥>
~very mini recap~
- Namine is being forced to subvert Terra's memories by Xemnas/Xehanort/[Na-x-me]
- Sephiroth reached out to the Organization
- Terra snapped just before worlds started going dark
~end recap~
You walk into the kitchen alone upon returning to Headquarters. While everyone else is doing God knows what, you somehow got stuck with Ven and Vanitas in your own personal nightmare. Less than 10 seconds later and you're ready to shoot your brains out as you're forced to listen to yet another stupid argument, this time about which saved the better world.
"Mine had pirates," Vanitas points out, spinning the unused orb on the table as he lowers his head slightly, still holding Ven's gaze. "What did yours have? No wait, let me guess," he interrupts, dropping the orb and leaning back in his seat as he crosses his arms over his chest, "princesses and fairies and rainbows?"
"Do you ever shut up?" Ven grumbles with a roll of his eyes.
"HA. That means yes," Vanitas muses with a pleased grin. "Ven-Ven, you're so predictable. Always the hero, off saving damsels. That's how I'd usually track you down, y'know. Look for someone in trouble and 9 outta 10 times, you'd be there."
"And that's... a bad thing, in your mind?" Ven asks slowly with a tilt of his head.
"Not bad. Lame."
You groan quietly under your breath, tugging at your hair. Where is everyone anyway? Is this some kind of test on your self-restraint? If so, you're losing.
"Say, Van, while you were in Neverland, you didn't happen to find my old wooden sword, the one Terra gave me. Did you?" Ven asks with a sly tick of his eyebrows.
"Don't," Vanitas snaps, his cocky demeanor gone as a dangerous glint grows in his eyes.
"Wooden sword?" you repeat, your interest suddenly peaked at Vanitas' sudden disagreeable mood.
"Ahaha, he never told you?" Ven guesses brightly, though his gaze doesn't leave his other half's. "Guess you don't like her knowing about that stuff, do ya?"
"Nothing happened," Vanitas argues.
"This demon BROKE my sword in front of Aqua. One of the two things I owned that have ever mattered to me," Ven tells you, smirking triumphantly as Vanitas' face falls in horror at being outed.
He quickly recovers and releases a loud scoff.
"Oh, and you believe Aqua?" he asks as he rolls his eyes.
"Yes," you and Ven respond at the same time.
"Wha – not you too, [Name]," he complains with a tone of betrayal as he glances across the table at you.
"Don't give me that look. You shouldn't have done that. Just look at this sweet face," you add, scooting closer to Ven and squishing his cheeks together so his lips puff out like a fish.
"Yeah, you son of a bitch," Ven mumbles out through his distorted lips.
"Sweet little boys don't speak like that," Vanitas points out sarcastically as you release Ven's face.
"Jokes on you, I'm not a boy anymore," Ven replies as he rubs his sore face.
"Jokes on you, you're still a pussy."
"Hey!"/"Vanny!" you and Ven both scold, one much sharper than the other.
Vanitas presses his palms down on the table as he leans forward slightly, focusing his gaze on Ven for a moment before those meddling golden eyes dart your way. He chuckles under his breath, licking his lips as he leans back and runs a hand through his messy hair.
"You can't keep it a secret forever, Venny boy," he muses with one last knowing look at the blond next to you.
"What secret?" you quickly ask.
"Nothing, [Name]," Ven grumbles as he glances out the window with a pout.
"What secret?" you repeat, turning your attention to Vanitas, who's watching you closely.
"Dunno. Ask him," he replies with a shrug.
In a rare display of camaraderie, they both shut you out. You sigh loudly, preparing yourself to do some more prying, when the door suddenly slams open and everyone starts to trail in.
"All done?" Cid greets.
"Where were you guys?" you ask.
"We were going over the new security system for Hollow Bastion. Why didn't you come down, huh? Slackers," Axel teases.
"No one told us," Ven complains.
"I knew, but had less than zero interest," Vanitas adds.
"Charming as always," Riku mutters with a roll of his eyes.
"Thanks, pretty-boy."
You're distracted momentarily as Sora sits next to Vanitas and Roxas sits next to Ven. They look like the oddest group of four you've ever seen, with Sora a beaming bundle of joy next to the brooding dark cloud that is Vanitas, while Roxas frowns at the empty plate in front of him and Ven whistles lightly to himself. You wonder if they all share the same DNA somehow. Probably not. But you're definitely going to force them into matching Christmas sweaters come that time of year. They're like an adorably messed up little family.
"Why are you staring at me like that?" Sora asks you nervously.
"She's daydreaming," Roxas responds with a small smile sent your way, recognizing that look all too well from your high school days.
"Sorry," you mumble in a sheepish apology, rubbing your arm. "What'd I miss?"
"My entire speech," Cid replies dryly, managing to keep his lit cigarette between his lips.
"My bad, Highwind. I'm listening now," you tell him with a thumbs-up.
"Don't get cute with me, darlin'," he snaps, pointing his cigarette at you before taking a drag.
"She can't help it," Zack points out with a wide grin, earning groans and scoffs around the room.
"Anyway," Cloud mutters with an annoyed glance towards his friend, "it appears we just wasted our time."
"Huh?" you ask.
"The worlds are fine. This must have been some kind of test... They were probably watching how quickly we responded, mapped out our fighting styles, et cetera," Cloud replies with a casual wave of his hand.
"Are you kidding me? Ugh," you groan, shaking your head as it drops slightly, your eyes focused on the table top. "So, now what?"
"Dunno. That's where the previous conversation ended," Reno responds.
"I still don't understand how this wasn't real. It felt like the darkness really was taking over," Leon notes.
"No, it makes sense. In the grand scheme of things, none of us really seemed to witness anything remotely close to a full collapse," Genesis explains with a heavy sigh.
"Wow. Really?" Yuffie asks as a frown grows on her face.
"A world collapsing is indescribable. Hell come alive, complete with the four horsemen," Noctis mutters sadly, his eyes fixed on the cloudy sky outside as he leans against the windowsill.
"Be a little more cryptic, Noct," Reno teases, earning an eye roll from the Prince as the rest of the room grows silent.
If none of the worlds were in danger of falling, and this had all been some twisted test... then what's coming next? You shudder to think.
"Well, on that note, I'm outta here," Vanitas speaks up, clapping his hands together once before he stands to his feet.
"Aw, so soon?" Ven asks sarcastically.
"Bite me."
"Hey, wait," you blurt out, scrambling to your feet as well. Everyone turns to look at you with slightly surprised faces, even Vanitas. But you need to disclose what happened to Terra, and who better than someone still living with the Organization? "I need to talk to you."
"... Why?" he asks with slightly narrowed eyes as he watches you from across the table.
"Just... something silly... please?" you ask lamely, ending your sentence with as cute a smile as you can muster.
He just watches you for another few seconds before he releases a sigh and rolls his eyes.
"Fine. You got 5 minutes, but you're cutting in on my nap time," he warns as he walks out of the kitchen and into the hallway.
"Why don't we get nap time?" you hear Reno accusatorily ask a scoffing Angeal as you march towards Riku and grab his arm to pull him up with you.
"Ow, what gives?" he complains as you drag him along behind you towards the door to the hallway which Vanitas of course did not hold open for you.
You aggressively kick it open, releasing Riku's arm as you step into the dark hallway. You're not entirely well-versed on Riku's spotty history with the darkness, but you know he's been in a similar position to Terra before. As odd of a duo they make, you feel most comfortable telling these two, as you're a little scared to reveal what you witnessed. There's no telling what's going to happen once the cat's out of the bag.
"Okay, what is it?" Vanitas asks impatiently as Riku rubs his sore arm and glares down at you.
"Terra attacked me," you reply, instantly glancing towards the wall as they both shoot you looks of disbelief. "He... his eyes, they were Xemnas' again. He was Xemnas again."
"What the fuck, and you don't tell anyone?" Vanitas asks you, bending down a bit to catch your gaze as you do your best to look away.
"Seriously, [Name]. Why would you hide this?" Riku adds, placing a hand on your shoulder.
"It only happened, like, 2 hours ago!" you snap, feeling backed into a metaphorical corner by their questioning. "I thought worlds were falling, that took priority."
"Well... What happened?" Riku asks, loosening his grip on your shoulder but keeping his hand placed there.
You glance between the two of them, quickly realizing they're united in hearing a full disclosure. With a sigh you run a hand through your hair, as reality sinks in that what happened really is that serious.
"I just went to his room, to wake him up. He grabbed my hand and pushed me to the ground, and told me that they didn't forget about me..." You trail off as you gingerly peel off the glove on your right hand, pulling up your sleeve to reveal the purple and red bruise on your wrist. "Then, I zapped him with some ice and he woke up, not remembering a thing," you finish.
"Are you okay?" Riku finally asks, his tone soft as he gives your shoulder a gentle squeeze.
"I'm fine!" you reply quickly with a reassuring nod. "It barely hurts. I just don't know what to do, and you two seemed like the best to talk to."
"I wouldn't say anything," Vanitas quickly speaks up, crossing his arms over his chest as he looks down at you. "Terra has a pretty long track record of doing literally the opposite of what any normal person would do."
"Yeah..." you mutter quietly.
Who actually would believe Maleficent is a good guy? Only Terra – that's who.
"Oh c'mon, you're actually gonna listen to boy darkness over here?" Riku insists with a nod in Vanitas' direction.
"Wow, rude."
"Tell him," Riku continues sternly over Vanitas' protests. "I wish someone had warned me years ago. Would've saved me a lot of trouble and heartache."
"That's true, Rik," you hum, not really convinced either way but also not wanting to get on Riku's bad side.
"Have fun with that," Vanitas scoffs. "I dunno if you've seen an emotional Terra but let me tell you... it's not pretty."
"It'll be fine," you argue with a wave of your hand.
What's the worst that could happen anyway? It's just Terra.
"So you're gonna tell him?" Riku presses as his eyebrows rise slightly.
"It's the right thing to do," you agree with a small smile.
"I'm proud of you," he states, reaching down to ruffle your hair as he returns your grin. "Glad you aren't keeping secrets anymore."
"Oh, ha-ha," you laugh sarcastically.
"I'll see what I can find at the Organization's HQ," Vanitas offers with a lazy shrug. "Probably nothing, but it can't hurt."
"You're actually gonna lift a finger to help us?" Riku asks with a tone of shock.
"Might lift a couple fingers, actually. Pretty sure they're just keeping me around until they're ready for me to die though, so no promises."
"I wish you'd just move in here," you admit with a light huff.
"I'm where I belong," he replies ominously before snapping his fingers and creating a portal behind him. "Good luck with Xehanort Junior."
"Not Xemnas?" you ask, ignoring his insulting nickname for Terra.
"Please. Xemnas ain't the one running the show anymore."
"Great," Riku mutters dryly.
"Be safe, Van," you add as you reach out a hand to grab his as he starts to head towards the portal.
He just stares down at your hand for a moment before releasing a chuckle.
"Y'know, you're always telling me to be safe. You don't need to. I always am," he tells you confidently, his golden eyes flitting up to yours.
"Excuse me for worrying," you retort dryly.
His lips curl up in a smirk before he twists his hand so he's holding onto yours, bringing it up towards his face. His eyes are locked with yours as his lips press against the underside of your wrist, sending a warm shockwave through your skin. He releases your hand and you glance down at it, eyes widening a bit when you realize all of the angry bruises are gone.
"You be safe too, [Name]. Stay close to Ven until I figure out what's going on," he orders, running a hand through your hair to mess it up before he heads towards the waiting portal.
For some reason your gut clenches as you watch him head inside the portal, an odd feeling of foreboding racing through you as the black tendrils start to swallow him.
"Bye, Vanny," you call out softly, a smile growing on your face as he glances back at you and gives one last nod before the portal disappears.
"Wow."
Riku's mocking voice draws your attention as you peer over at him, now standing right next to you. He's watching you with a teasing grin.
"Hm?"
"What's it like to be so pretty you bring guys out of the darkness?" he asks you, releasing a laugh as you narrow your eyes at him.
"Shut up. I've watched entire restaurants hit on you – men included."
"That's only happened a few times," he dismisses with a shrug, shoving his hands in his pockets.
"... Anything more than zero times is impossible for us mere peasants, Riku," you point out.
"Whatever," he scoffs, nodding over his shoulder towards the door to the kitchen. "Head back in?"
"Yeah," you mutter, glancing at the door. "When should I tell him?"
"The sooner the better, I'd imagine," Riku responds, patting your head before exerting just enough pressure to drag you along with to him. "Want me to come with you?"
You pause just outside the door, slowly shaking your head, which causes his hand to fall down to your shoulder.
"No, it's my burden," you reply with a sigh. "I'm sure I'm just overreacting."
"You, overreacting? Never," he teases.
"You're cruisin' for a bruisin' today, Rik."
He chuckles at just how lame your retorts are as you slam open the door to the kitchen, only to be greeted by a surprised Zack and Axel chowing down on some leftovers.
"Where's everyone?" Riku asks, scooting in next to Zack and stealing his fork to dig into his mac and cheese.
"Manners," Zack scolds, though he doesn't try and fight him off for once.
"I think they all went to bed. Tomorrow's back to training," Axel replies with a small pout of exhaustion.
"Who am I with?" you ask, leaning down and taking a sip of Axel's iced tea.
"Cloudie," he responds as he slides his plate closer to you to share.
"Ah. I was hoping for Terra," you admit.
"I have Terra," Zack tells you through a full mouth of cheesy pasta.
"Wanna trade?" you ask excitedly.
"Not for free," he tells you with a laugh before swallowing his bite. "Gimme your morning bacon for two weeks and it's a deal."
"Wha – seriously, Fair?" you complain with a whine.
"Puppy eyes don't work on me, [Name]," he reminds you with a smile. "I invented the puppy eyes."
"Damn it," you grumble, stabbing your fork into Axel's pasta. "... Fine. 2 weeks."
"Oh man, really?? HA, can't believe that worked!" Zack gushes enthusiastically. "I would have given it to you for free, but a deal's a deal."
"That's low, man," Axel comments with a small laugh as you start to pout again.
You're too tired to fight back at this point. All you want is a shower, your bed, and some sleep.
"A'right, bed time," you speak up, stifling a yawn as you push yourself up to your feet.
"I'll see you and your bacon tomorrow morning," Zack tells you as Axel gives your back a pat as you walk past.
"Shut up," you snap at the beaming puppy.
"Sleep well, [Name]," Riku calls out before you slam the kitchen door behind you.
You don't even respond, since you barely have enough energy to put one foot in front of the other. As you shuffle down the hallway you can hear people in their rooms creating mayhem and screaming about who knows what, clearly on an energy high as they found out the worlds are safe. You want to join, but those amber eyes are seared into your subconscious, haunting your thoughts and your dreams both waking and asleep.
You lazily reach for the door handle on your room, swinging it open as you stumble inside.
"Hey!" Yuffie greets enthusiastically from her position bouncing on top of the bed.
"Glad you could finally join us," Xion adds with a smile, her legs lightly kicking from her perched place on the windowsill.
"What's up?" you ask, sinking down next to Aqua on your bed.
"Just watching the stars," she tells you with a smile. "Dreaming about what we're going to do once this is all finished."
"College for me," Xion states happily.
"I wanna open up a school to teach kids self defense!" Yuffie exclaims, kicking out her leg as she jumps up in the air, so high her head grazes the ceiling.
"That's actually pretty perfect for you, Yuff," you realize with a chuckle.
"I know!"
"Aqua was just about to tell us hers," Xion adds, glancing over at the grinning bluenette.
"Spill it," you tease, nudging her shoulder with yours.
"No, it's too silly," she argues with a shake of her head.
"Nothing's too silly for us," Yuffie points out, flopping down onto the bed after one last jump.
"Well... okay, you guys can't laugh, but... I kind of always saw myself settling down... with..."
She trails off, her cheeks flushing as Yuffie starts to giggle lightly.
"Oh my God, I ship you and Terra so hard," Xion gushes, realizing who Aqua's talking about.
"That was a long time ago though," Aqua points out with a sad smile. "A lot has changed since then."
"We're all going to leave this life at some point. I could see it happening," you tell her honestly, ignoring the pang of guilt at hiding what you saw earlier today. "He does love you, Aqua. For what it's worth."
"I guess," she murmurs with a small shrug and a sigh. "Anyway, what about you?"
"Me?" you repeat with a laugh.
"Yeah, surely you have some kind of an idea what's gonna happen once this is all done," Xion adds.
"Not a clue."
"Then what was your secret little hallway meeting about, hmmm?" Yuffie asks, leaning forward as she stares over at you.
"Oh, that? I'm just building up my own personal harem. They're the first two candidates."
"I hate you," Xion states with a chuckle as you grin widely, enjoying the rare moment of levity as the four of you slowly devolve into giggles.
What's coming on the horizon is unknown, and your future is currently one giant question mark. But with the group by your side, it's impossible to be too worried.
For now, that is.