Everything ached. Vanitas had to give it to the Master, he still knew where to make it hurt after all these years.
A dark corridor sprung to life in the Mont. One of the rooms, Vanitas didn’t care which. All he knew was that he needed to get back before his insides spilled out (not that they would, but it sure felt like they could). Slow and unsteady footsteps shuffled through, his boots scrapping against the floor at an agonizing pace. Arms were clutched tightly around his torso. One arm pressed just below his left rib cage, trying to keep anymore blood from spilling from a large gash. The opposite hand kept to his right shoulder as his dark suit was ripped open and it still hadn’t recovered. The rest of his body was littered in various cuts, scrapes, bruises, you name it, he had it.
It was all his fault for looking like a literal wreck. Somehow, Vanitas could only imagine how, the Master caught wind of Riku’s… condition. The strange darkness growing inside him, and how it apparently grew a conscience. The only reason the darkness was allowed to grow was due to Vanitas’s old excessive use of it, or so the Master seemed to think. Back in the day when he was actively trying to get Riku under his thumb as a pawn. He knew he it was reckless of him to shove so much darkness into one body, but at the time he only cared about getting what he wanted, and that was someone far more competent than the Unversed. It got to the point where all Vanitas had to do was manipulate the darkness within Riku and he would melt under his touch. But after the incident on the islands, Vanitas refused to be anywhere near Riku and didn’t dare try any of his old tricks.
Of course his refusal meant nothing to the Master. As far as the old coot was concerned, one of the Guardians of Light wasn’t very Light anymore and was barely in any condition to battle. Certainly not with another dark conscience growing within him. What did the Master do to let Vanitas know he screwed up? Same thing he always did. Haul him off to the Graveyard and beat him down into the dust. As if such abuse would prevent Vanitas from fucking up again in the future, or at least not be a hinder to the war plans. Learn your lesson sort of thing.
Either way, it had been years since Vanitas last felt the taste of the Master’s Keyblade tearing apart his flesh. Slicing through skin, and only stopping when he looked ready to pass out. Strangely enough, he could only think of one thing by the time the Master was finished with him. With all the wounds decorating his body, even the dark suit couldn’t re-patch itself in time.
Sora’s never going to let me out again.
Vanitas’s knees hit the floor when he was back at the Mont. For a moment he wished he had potions on hand but catching himself. Why would he want potions? He never used them in the past. Why would now be any different? Because this was Sora’s body and he had to take care of it? If he used a potion, then the pain would go away. Pain kept him alive, pain kept him going. These new wounds would only serve as another reminder to keep going until his salvation. Making them go away would just erase all that. He wouldn’t have learned anything from the Master.
Gritting his teeth Vanitas dug his fingers into the gash on his side, letting out a hiss mixed with a groan. That’s right, he deserved this He was the one who fucked up, he ruined their plans in favor of his own selfish desires. Silly, stupid Vanitas, he had lost sight of his goal! The Master was just reminding him of that! Keep working for the X-Blade to achieve salvation. No time for his own agenda. Just fight through the pain, it kept him alive, he was used to this–
“FUCK!” A yell involuntarily tore from his throat, doubling over. Too deep, he edged his fingers in too deep. Needless to say he ripped them out of his wound immediately, and the hasty exit only caused a spasm to shake his body. Vanitas didn’t dare try to move, oh no. He was just going to lay there in a crumpled heap on the floor, cursing his own existence.
Maybe if he was lucky he would pass out for a little while. Just a minor distraction from this torture. Surely he was allowed to slip unconscious… maybe his wounds get worse and he wouldn’t have to wake up.. Hah, imagine that. The Master smashing his corpse as punishment for dying before he could get the X-Blade. Knowing the Master, he would find a way to bring him back to scold him. Not beat him, oh no.
Living again would be the real punishment.
It had been a quiet day for Riku, with Sora having been strangely absent ever since he woke up. Sure, he'd been waking up later than normal these days, but Sora was always there waiting for him when he woke. To find himself alone in bed this morning was concerning enough on its own, but not running into him at all while searching the Mont for him had Riku nearly in a panic. There seemed to be no sign of Xehanort either, which was admittedly a bit strange as well, but nowhere near as unusual as Sora's disappearance. Both of them being gone was... very concerning.
But try as he might, Riku just couldn't seem to sense anything amiss. If there was anything wrong with Sora, he would know-- he always knew... right? So he should be okay, in theory... Maybe he and Xehanort were just out fishing, or maybe getting some groceries from another world... Without the slightest clue where he could have run off to willingly, nor any indication of danger, Riku had to convince himself to calm down for a while. Give them the benefit of the doubt for now, and if neither of them were back by dinner, then he could start on his wild goose chase.
He had wandered off to the study in the meantime, desperate to find something to distract himself with. There really wasn't much else for him to do; he'd eaten lunch by now, and it was far too early to begin work on dinner, so hanging around in the kitchen was pointless. Lazing around in the bedroom was too lonely for him to handle in his current state of paranoia, and he still didn't feel well enough yet to go out anywhere on his own. So he skimmed through the selection of books, hoping to find something that could perhaps help with his condition, or give better ways to deal with the physical symptoms that came with it, though anything remotely interesting would be appreciated.
He wound up thumbing through a cook book in the end, looking for anything that sounded appealing for dinner. Xehanort was a better cook than him, but with the two of them out all day, it'd be nice of him to try making something special to welcome them back... Or, well, welcome Sora back, mostly. Xehanort could go scratch if he wanted to make something 'better' for himself.
Sadly his search was cut short, feeling a headache brewing as he read. The dim light of the study was suddenly too bright, making his vision distort as the light engulfed and blurred everything it touched. It quickly overwhelmed him, and he concluded there was no possible way to keep reading when he could hardly see straight. There was no choice but to retreat to his room, close the curtains and hide under the blankets until it passed. Maybe he'd just make stuffed squid...
The walk back to his room was agonizing. Every step Riku took was more unsteady than the last, to the point it was a miracle he was able to keep his balance. But as he got closer to the room, something felt... off. He couldn't tell what it was, but something he was sensing made his heart race, and he unknowingly picked up his pace, practically running the rest of the way down the hall. His hand was shaking when he finally reached out to the door and he slowly creaked it open, fear of whatever this feeling was finally catching up to him.
Blood... blood.... so much blood.... Hearts, no, oh lord, please no---
Panic clawed deeper into Riku's heart, momentarily unable to fathom anything more than the sheer horror of seeing Sora covered in so much blood..! But a mere minute later he processed the sight of what he was wearing, and his heart clenched. Feelings conflicted upon recognizing it; the panic grew for a multitude of reasons this time, although the genuine concern still remained.
“V...Vanitas..?!” He could hardly get it out, throat tight as he was rendered entirely speechless. This was... this was all so nightmarish, was it real, was it really happening..? Or did he collapse on his way to the bedroom, and this was all a nightmare..? Riku couldn't find an answer to that, spiraling deeper into his whirling train of thoughts, speeding faster and faster to its inevitable crash. This was so, so wrong... Please, let this be a dream, please..!
As much as he would have loved to stand there and gawk as he tried to rationalize the situation, he couldn't; not with Vanitas practically bleeding out on the floor. Hardly conscious of his actions, Riku went running towards him, dropping to his knees. The stench was so strong he had to hold back gags as the smell of blood and darkness mingled and assaulted his nose. The darkness on its own didn't even smell pleasant to his compromised senses, it just smelt... rotten.
No, no, that wasn't a good scent, this was bad..! He felt magnetized to Vanitas, the need to protect him-- no, the body--- overcoming the nausea and his own emotional turmoil over the monster. He had to help, no matter what, even if it was Vanitas in control. Riku fumbled around blindly in his pockets for an elixir, not thinking straight enough to immediately know the lack of anything in them. Of course, he never carried any when hanging around the Mont; he didn't even think there were any left in the nightstand either. He'd have to burn up his energy to use a cure potion... Nghh, that'd take time to conjure-- Vanitas needed help!
Soft white particles gathered in Riku's hand as he worked to manifest the potion, head throbbing harder than before at the use of magic. But he had to ignore it, even if he felt he’d be sick, and instead turned his attention back to the other. “H-hang on, I'll fix you up, just hang in there for a minute!” How genuinely worried that sounded shocked even Riku, and he used a harsher tone to cover it up. “The hell did you get yourself into?!”
origamiaround
stormborns
dailybridgerton
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