'Split Again' AU
What if, after merging with Vanitas, Ven doesn’t shatter their heart from inside their shared mindscape? Instead, using the χ-blade, he splits them apart similar to how Xehanort had.
Writer’s choice on if they are both full darkness or light or have a bit of each mixed in since who knows if Ven actually knew what he was doing. (Probs not. XD) Either way they are now back to broken halves. Myself I would make them both clean slates. No memories of who they had been. Only this time Ventus has a LOT more light from getting stronger during his previous journey, so he doesn’t stay down for long. Vanitas just stands over him like when he first emerged, but this time there is no Xehanort to bend him to his will.
He stays close to Ventus, because that is his light; of course he wouldn’t go anywhere! (For the sake of, ‘It’s not canon but I do what I want.’, Terra is able to beat or escape Xehanort). Aqua and Terra don’t know what to make of Vanitas just standing there. But they don’t trust him and immediately go into fight mode. Vani doesn’t like them getting so close to Ventus and draws them away from him. It’s clear he doesn’t really understand what is going on and he defends himself. No Keyblade in sight.
It’s not until either Aqua and/or Terra get serious and decide enough is enough that they attack with intent to finish him off… when they are literally blindsided by a radiant light that knocks both off their feet.
A very protective and aggressive Ven is crouched in front of a downed Vanitas, eyes sharp and bright with an inhuman light radiating from them; an unspoken warning both Keyblade wielders can feel from their hearts to their bones. The fight dies down after it is clear neither wants to fight him or will be going after Vanitas.
Neither boy has spoken a word up to this point.
It takes time but slowly, Terra and Aqua gain both of their trusts enough to return to the LoD. Writer’s choice on how long that may take. I could totally see Aqua and Terra going back and forth from there to the Keyblade Graveyard trying to get through to Ven.
One day while interacting with the two - hell probably trying to introduce what ‘food’ is to them, since neither seems to even consider eating. They say Ventus’ name. But it’s not Ventus who responds.
Vanitas looks up intently because that ‘name’ - that name feels more… right, than what they had been calling him so far ever had. And the terrifying part is the names Aqua and Terra mean something to him as well, but he DOESN’T. KNOW. WHY. And memories - so many memories are flickering before him, and they can’t all be his - because he’s looking at himself in some of them - and who is he really? Is he Vanitas or Ventus - or both? They were separate, they were one, and now separate again. But this time it is not nice or neat. They are split but also shared and both feel it and it’s terrifying.
(Shit this would also totally work as an AU, where when they split a second time, their consciousnesses’ go into the wrong forms. Ventus taking on Vanitas’s and Vanitas now Ventus's. No wonder Terra and Aqua couldn’t get Ven to respond to them; he’s not there!)
Personally, I think I would go with them just sharing broken and mixed-up memories to the point it’s hard to tell where one begins and the other ends. Eventually they would get back to rights though, their memories put back together throughout the story. Both finding a new understanding in each other. Terra and Aqua too. Because Vanitas, for all that he is his own person now, didn’t start off that way. From the beginning they were both always Ventus in some capacity. Not their Ventus, but one that had been manipulated and brutalized by Xehanort. Who hadn’t had a chance with the darkness in his heart and a ruthless Master hissing malice in his ear.
Ventus isn’t just sitting by while Vanitas is getting all these crazy thoughts and feelings either. He’s in the same boat as they try to piece together who is who and where to go from there.
Because a Ventus with Vanitas’s memories can be dangerous and cruel when provoked. It doesn’t matter that he is made of light, he remembers the pain, and the ‘training’ and the hopelessness of never escaping hell unless he FOUGHT! And he won’t let himself or his other half go back to that life ever again. And that is going to be painful for him to accept when he and Vani eventually separate themselves mentally from each once more. Knowing what he’s capable of doing under certain circumstances would be a devastating blow to a mended/mending Ventus. But now he knows Vanitas’s pain and he can’t - and won’t - throw that understanding away just for the safety of ignorance.
In short, the AU would be an emotional mess with lots of revelations about what memories/circumstances can mean and make a person into. Lots of hugging and protection too. Would definitely want to find a way to throw little Sora into the mix. Cause he’s out here always ready to mend broken hearts. And you bet your ass both Ven and Vanitas would be incredibly protective of the little guy.
Ooo this could go really well as another flavor of the AU where Riku becomes Terra’s apprentice, and Sora is taken in by Ven and now Vanitas.
Also; Unversed made from Light and Darkness that only come out when Vani and Ventus’s emotions are in sync and at their highest.
Another thought; if Xehanort lived and found out about Ven and Vani’s connection to Sora. Or more like his connection to them and how much it could potentially influence them. I wouldn’t put it past Xehanort to try and use him even if he is just a child.
You know the boys would be ready to fight then. Cause now each has a bit of Sora’s heart with them and they are not about to let the old goat put another child through the same hell they endured.
(On a random note. This makes me want an AU where Sora creates heartless like Unversed due to his connection to Ven and Vanitas.)
And what if there was, like, a scene where little Sora is having a dream, or it could be similar to the night from the end of bbs when he heard Ventus calling out to him. And suddenly he’s on a broken glass surface looking at a sleeping boys face, when some creepy old guy comes out of nowhere and tries to mess with things. But little Sora is all ‘no way that’s happening’ and he protects the heart from being infected by Xehanort’s power.
Because let’s say when Ven and Vanitas split, that little bit of Xehanort inside Vani split too. And it is ready to corrupt both of them to get back some of his power. But there is more Sora than Xehanort connected to them, giving the little boy the ability to drive him out, which alerts Original Xehanort to his presence. Of course, this happens twice, first in Ventus’s heart and then Vanitas’s. Which basically seals Sora’s fate of being seen as something of potential to Xehanort. (Little Riku is ready to throw hands when this old guy shows up on their island and tries to kidnap his friend.)
And I don’t know if Terra would have a connection strong enough to Riku to notice his distress, but if he did (or when he finds out) he would be livid Xehanort got anywhere near the child he bequeathed a Keyblade too.
Look I love when characters are super protective of each other. It’s the heart of this AU.
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I'm chewing on a little bit more for this one but I need to consider it before/if I post. Hopeful this is entertaining. I really liked thinking about it.
Props to @seraph-sar for awaking my Galaxy Brain as of late. ✨(´▽`ʃ♡ƪ)✨
Go check out their blog / Ao3, especially if you enjoy Ventus and Vanitas fics.
