The Demon Days

Chapter 19: Normal

"Vanitas."

Vanitas smiled under his helmet, and even though Ven couldn't see that, he could tell.

"You had it all wrong, brother."

"What are you talking about?" Ven shouted angrily.

"Who is that?" Jacob yelled through the noise.

"Vanitas." Duncan replied. "He's... It's really hard to explain and I don't think I can explain it right now. Just stay behind me!"

Jacob held onto Duncan, trying not to be scared.

"Vanitas, stop messing with me!" Ven cried out. "What do you possibly have to say to me that I would want to hear?!"

"The Unversed. They come from me."

Ven's eyes widened, shocked. "What?"

"It happened when you and I were split into two. The negativity took shape as these monsters. They are what I feel. A horde of fledgling emotions all under my control. And with enough of them, I can do what I was meant to do. What Master Xehanort needs me to do. Collide with you, and forge the X-Blade!"

"That'll never happen!" Duncan jumped in. "We won't let it happen!"

Ven looked over to the boy, and nodded. "Yeah. My friends are my power. And I have a whole lot of them!"

Vanitas laughed. "You're so weak. It's always about your friends. There's no way they can protect you from what's coming."

"Are you sure about that?"

Ven looked back, and to his great shock, Duncan started to materialize a ball of fire.

He had learned from Ven earlier that morning before they left, but this time he had an idea that he wasn't sure would work out.

"Woah!" Jacob exclaimed.

Duncan then took that ball, and made it into 2 balls. "Jacob, can you feel the energy?"

The actor held out his hand, and didn't touch the fire, but he closed his eyes, and nodded. "It's almost like I can grab it if I concentrate enough."

"Do that! And make it bigger!"

Ven had heard from Terra about things like this being done, but he was strongly advised not to.

And here was Duncan Quagmire, someone with less than a day's experience of magic, already teaching it to Jacob Tremblay.

"What do you think you're doing?" Vanitas scoffed. "That isn't going to work on me."

"Jacob, do what I just did and pass it on to Ven."

Suddenly, it clicked. Ven understood it now.

He took the energy from Jacob's left hand, and threw it up in the air.

After suspending it with his keyblade, the other boys threw the fire up where the key was, and Ven harnessed the 3 spheres into one huge mass of energy.

"But... That's impossible!" Vanitas said in disbelief.

"Not today, it's not!"

Ventus directed the energy right at Vanitas, who flew back into the air before he could teleport, blowing up all the other Unversed in the area.

If Vanitas crashed, he would've been destroyed. But something mysterious grabbed him at the last second in a portal of darkness and teleported him away.

"No!" Ven yelled in frustration. He threw his keyblade down and dropped to his knees. "I had him! I was almost rid of him! I-"

The boy broke down in tears of anguish as he covered his face. "Now he's gonna come back and kill me..."