(Untitled)

[theprobator]

Who: theprobator and mirroredmemory, with feverpitching popping in later.
When: late after Sirens, forward dated to June 13
Where: a quiet place in Sector 7
Summary: Let's just say Vanitas knows how to get straight to the heart of things.
Warnings: Violence. Birth by Sleep Spoilers. Action tags.

Comments

[mirroredmemory]

[Xion steps out from the Dark Corridor she's summoned and is immediately struck by the cloying weight of Darkness around her. She's nervous, but she swallows the twinge of fear down long enough to take a few purposeful steps out into the empty space.

Empty. Too empty.

She knows he's here. And she knows he knows where Roxas and Sora are and she knows it's stupid for her to be here alone but she can't let anyone else get hurt. She can't be useless and weak.

She has to get Roxas back. She has to. She can't bear not knowing if he's alright. Not again.]

Where are you?

[theprobator]

Color me impressed; you actually showed up.

[from directly behind Xion, more of an outright taunt instead of a dismissive greeting. she'd managed to avoid him for so long, after all-- tonight could have been no different.]

[mirroredmemory]

[She gasps and turns, jumping back a little, every muscle taut.]

What did you do with them? Where's Roxas?!

[theprobator]

Do you really think I'm just going to give you that information, Xion?

[his tone is flat. he's anything but bored with the inevitable, but Vanitas does put up a very good front. he always has.]

You'll have to earn it.

[mirroredmemory]

[She can't help but glower at him furiously, so angry that her stomach aches with it.]

Whatever you want me to do, I won't do it. I'm no one's puppet.

['Not anymore,' she adds.]

Tell me where they are!

[theprobator]

[for all of Xion's defiance, Vanitas only stands there silently. he won't budge until she chooses to attack him, or until she tries to escape-- not that he expects her to, not when he's so casually dangling her friends over her head like a bully teasing a small kitten.]

[mirroredmemory]

[The air is so charged with tension it could spark and ignite.

Xion stands, glaring, taut and poised and ready to do... well action he forces her into doing. She doesn't like this, doesn't trust him, and every instinct in her is screaming that this is wrong, so wrong, but she will stay.

This is the only lead she has when it comes to Roxas and Sora. No matter how bad the taste it leaves in her mouth, she can't just run away until she knows for sure that he doesn't have information.

So she bolsters herself, squares her shoulders, her palm itches for her to call for her Keyblade but she has to think and stay calm.]

Tell me!

[theprobator]

What would you do for them, Xion-- anything, right?

[with a flash of light, his hand curls around the handle of Void Gear, but he isn't going to attack. not yet. he wants to remind Xion that she won't be getting away with making blatant demands and expecting results without resistance from him.]

[mirroredmemory]

[She takes half a step back, then steadies herself. When she replies, her voice is surprisingly steady and at odds with how unsettled she feels.]

Anything.

[theprobator]

I'm going to have to ask you to prove it.

[Xion can't see it, but somewhere when this conversation began, Vanitas had bumped the wrist of the hand holding Void Gear against his hip-- and perhaps he may have dialed a certain someone's number.]

[mirroredmemory]

[This is wrong.

She knows it's wrong, and she feels like a fool, but she can't let this chance slip her by.

He knows what's happened to Roxas. What's happened to Sora. She has to try.]

So if I fight you, you'll tell me where they are? No tricks?

[theprobator]

If you win.

[mirroredmemory]

["When I win," she tells herself, before she summons her Keyblade to her, its weight reassuring in her hand. She brings her left to join her right on its grip and meets his eyes.

No backing down now.]

[theprobator]

[ignoring the barely audible yelling coming from the NV attached to his waist, Vanitas silently lifts his weapon. maybe he'd let Ventus fret a little longer. maybe he'd let him listen to the sounds of Vanitas choking the life out of this... ugh. he'll have to ignore the secondary affectionate pangs he feels seeping from the light side of his heart, too.]

[and in the silence and distant lowing of cattle, Vanitas quirks an eyebrow, regarding the blade in Xion's hand. he doesn't see a black-haired girl wielding what looks like Sora's Keyblade, he sees Ventus-- and wielding it incorrectly, as far as Ventus goes. curiouser and curiouser... perhaps he'd ponder it later once Xion is nothing more than a carcass and he's already left.]

[judging by his inaction, Vanitas is likely giving Xion the chance to attack first.]

[mirroredmemory]

[She knows what she has to do but Xion is still hesitant to attack. It's like she's paralysed with indecision.

She has to fight him. He knows where the others are, he has to, it was his master who took them, and they need them back. Xion needs Roxas back. Wants Sora back for Riku and Kairi and for her too, just a little. They need everyone they can to beat Xehanort and get Terra back.

So why is she just standing there.

You're going to be too late again. And someone will get hurt. Again.

No. She wouldn't let that happen.]

[Xion attacks.]

[theprobator]

[Vanitas is ready. the moment Xion breaks into movement, he's taking off as well, tearing at his target like a blast of energy with Void Gear poised to strike it right across her head.]