Cheating Destiny

Teamwork

A/N: I do want to give a quick explanation for why my portrayal of Vanitas is nothing like him in BBS. I mean I still <3 him but he's SO one dimensional in that game. Those of you who have read the BBS novels have correctly guessed that's where I'm gathering my inspiration for his character. Long story short, for those who haven't read it, he's basically an egotistical sadist constantly battling a heavy inferiority complex, especially with Ven since he feels what Ven does (which makes him hate Ven, as Ven is loved). I highly recommend skimming his Wiki page if you haven't read the books because he's really just by far the most interesting character (to me, at least) while also being oddly relatable.

But what am I saying, all of you probably already know that because judging from the comments there's a lot of Van fangirls reading this series :3

<♥>

For the next day, all you did was sleep with the occasional break to eat. King Mickey had all but forced everyone to rest – alone – in order for Ven's rescue mission to have the best chance of success. Not that you minded having some time to yourself in order to catch up on much needed sleep.

The only break you were given came when you were fitted for your new uniform. With the financial backing of the kingdom behind you, a whole new world of gadgets and mechanics are suddenly available. Luckily, Goofy was your assigned assistant. He was really your only contact with the outside world besides a handful of maids right now, and it was hard to be in a bad mood around him.

"Ohhh, what's this?" you gush, picking up an odd hexagonal orb.

It's completely transparent, reflecting the light in the room as it floats in your palm.

"Nothing you'll be using," Goofy retorts, plucking the orb from your hand and replacing it with a surprisingly lightweight strip of black fabric. "This is what you'll be using."

"Mm, no I'll take the orb," you decide, dropping the fabric onto your bed.

You break out into a small smile as Goofy starts to chuckle at your stubbornness.

"How does it feel?" he asks, nodding down to the fabric.

"Fine, I guess. Better than SOLIDER's uniforms but that's not exactly a ringing endorsement."

"This is much better than SOLDIER," Goofy points out, handing you to the strip of fabric again. "Try to set it on fire."

You shoot him a weird look, but the expression of encouragement on his face causes you to sigh and grab the slip of material apprehensively from his outstretched hand. You take a deep breath before concentrating on the hand holding the material, summoning a burst of flame. After a few seconds you will the flame away, and your eyes widen when you realize the material is still resting in your palm, completely unaffected. You twist it between your fingers, eyes widening more at the fact that it's not even warm from the flames. It's still cool to the touch.

"It's completely resistant to magic," Goofy explains, smiling at your perplexed expression. "It blocks the darkness, but not fully and not for long. So you'll need to be careful not to absorb too much in this."

"Wow," you murmur, unable to tear your gaze from the material. "And my entire suit will be made of this?"

"Yeah! Pretty cool, huh?" he replies, and you glance up at him to see he's practically beaming at this point.

You smile in response, though your face slowly falls when you realize there's only 12 hours until you leave to find Ven. And so, after a quick goodnight, you crawl into bed once again to forget about the world and its accompanying troubles.