Hello, KH fans! The response to Parents was great, and so I decided to create a whole collection for stories I write in that universe, a universe which I have decided to name New Dawn (hence the title of this collection). For the record, this is my first time ever writing many of the central themes of this universe (plus characters younger than ten years old), so this is exciting for me. This is also my first time writing OC's of any kind in publishable work. Am I slowly working toward original fiction? Hmm… :) This takes place ten years after KH3 (I don't know whether to connect it to my official KH3 verse or not yet). I hope you enjoy!
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New Dawn
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Friendship and family are connected. In fact, they are inseparable.
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Blue
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A seven-year-old with magical powers would be unfair. Seven-year-olds are already annoying enough without the power to make you fall asleep instantly, freeze you in place, leave you in a daze, give you amnesia, blind you, deafen you, mute you and do all sorts of other weird things to you.
Blue was unfair.
When Xion had taught Blue to do these things, she hadn't understood how children react to sudden unlimited power over their parents. Two weeks and several spells later, she understood perfectly, as did Roxas, Lea, Sora, Ventus, Terra, Namine, Olette and everyone else who had ever cared for her.
And yet, none of them had the heart to punish her. At least, not yet. Xion rationalized her way through most of this—she's just being a little naughty, she told herself. It's not like she's actually HURTING anyone.
But even the softest parents have their breaking points. And once they hit that breaking point, if they can't handle the discipline themselves, they'll find someone who will.
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For a second, Xion had no thoughts in her head. She achieved by accident what some monks spend years trying to get. But noticing that was a thought. And noticing that was a thought. And in such a manner, she quickly came back to consciousness, if not full capacity. But of course, Blue had already run off with the box of ice cream, and Xion couldn't go get her because she couldn't quite remember where Blue's bedroom was.
Xion had always hated being flip-footed back when she worked for the Organization and during the war, but she never imagined that she would succumb to it due to a bratty power-mad child. Her bratty power-mad child.
Roxas walked in from outside, took one look at Xion and ran over. "Hey, you okay?"
Xion focused on trying to form words properly. "Blue did…that one spelling thingy…"
"Confusion. Great." He checked the cabinet, realized they were out of pancreas, also realized he didn't have enough energy to cast Esuna and took Xion by the arm. "I'll chew her out. I'll have to take you with me so I can keep an eye on you—is that okay?"
Xion nodded, and Roxas slowly walked with her up the stairs to Blue's loft. It was huge, taking up the whole upstairs. The bed was much too big for its occupant, and several toys were scattered around. Blue had always been a little spoiled. It came with having parents who had been to hell and back and didn't want that for their kid. But only since Xion had taught her magic had she become truly hard to handle.
Roxas cleared his throat. "Blue. You're in trouble."
Blue didn't even look up from her portable game. "What about?" she asked, ice cream stick still in her mouth.
Restraint was clear in Roxas' voice. "You know what."
Blue sighed, paused her game and looked at her parents. "What? She'll be fine in a few minutes."
Roxas walked over to her, trying very hard not to march—Xion was still holding his arm. "That doesn't matter. We have told you—multiple times—that using offensive magic on your parents is not okay. It is completely disrespectful and it could be dangerous."
"Sorry," Blue muttered, starting to go back to the game.
Roxas ripped the device out of her hands and stuck it in his pocket. "You don't get this back until you start behaving properly."
"Hey!"
"We've given you enough warnings. Now we have to—"
Blue stuck her hand in the air. "Stop!"
Roxas and Xion froze in place, as if time itself had clicked off for them. They watched helplessly as their daughter reached into Roxas' pocket, pulled out the gaming device, made an annoyed sound when she found it turned off, stuck Roxas' accusatory finger up his nose and walked off.
Sixty seconds later, both Nobodies unfroze and slumped down onto the floor, out of energy. Xion blinked. "…What do we do?"
Roxas frowned. "Pay Namine to make her forget all the spells."
"Something that doesn't involve our phobias."
"Kairi."
"Sounds good to me."
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"…So yeah, she loves us, but she doesn't respect us. Really, I think she thinks of us as servants. Can you help us? Please?"
"Of course I'll help…on one condition."
"What?"
"When I turn Blue into a kind, well-behaved little angel, you clean my closet for me."
"…This is blackmail."
"Lea taught me."
"…Fine…"
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As she usually did when a babysitter was over, Blue put on her most innocent expression as Aunt Kairi walked in the door and did the standard hugging rituals with her parents. She loved it when a babysitter was over. After all, she could always say that Mom and Dad let her do the naughty things she did. Of course, she had gotten the sense from Sky that Kairi wasn't nearly as forgiving as Roxas and Xion, but she never backed down from a challenge.
As soon as Mom and Dad were out the door, Kairi walked over and patted Blue on the head. "Your mother tells me you're a bit of a troublemaker."
Blue's response was automatic. "Not when I'm around babysitters. Mom tells me to be on my best behavior."
Instead of crouching down like most babysitters, Kairi simply bent at the waist. She was clearly enjoying herself. "Really? Because Olette gave a rather scratching review of your behavior. She says the Sleep spells you repeatedly cast on her messed up her internal clock for a week. But then, she always was a critic, wasn't she?"
Blue shook her head. "She's exaggerating."
"So you cast at least one spell on her? Because otherwise she'd have nothing to exaggerate."
"Mom said I'm allowed to cast spells on my babysitters."
Kairi raised her eyebrow. "And why would she let you do that?"
"To practice magic." Before Kairi could respond, Blue walked into the kitchen. "I'm getting ice cream."
Kairi crossed her arms. "How many bars have you had already?"
"Mom and Dad let me have all the ice cream I want."
Kairi smirked. "Well, they aren't here right now, so I have to fill in for them. And that means no more ice cream for you."
Blue opened the freezer and pulled out a bar. But just as she was unwrapping it, Kairi laid a hand on her shoulder and said, "Stop." Instantly, Blue felt her whole body freeze and go numb. No matter how hard she concentrated, she couldn't move at all.
Kairi pulled the ice cream bar out of her hands and bit into it herself. Then she looked down at Blue, who had looked up when she laid the hand on her. "Yeah, how do you like watching helplessly as someone does something you don't want them to do, hmm?"
Touché.
Kairi kept talking to her captive audience. "I think you have been very rude and disrespectful to everyone, and I'm here to set you straight. As long as you're on your best behavior, we'll get along just fine. Break the rules, and I punish you. Like I am now. Oh, also…" She uncurled Blue's fingers and stuck them in her nose. "Since you did that to your father, I get to do it to you."
Ten seconds later, the spell broke, and Blue sputtered and tripped as her body tried to complete the movements it had started before the spell. She got up and stuck her hand toward Kairi. "Sleep!"
Nothing happened. Kairi turned her head and wiggled her fingers. "Oh, yeah, almost forgot to mention, I have a ring on that gives me immunity to all status effects, such as spells. Sorry, Blue, there's no getting around me. Since you tried it on me…" She snapped her fingers. "Sleep."
Just before Blue lost consciousness, she managed to drill something into her brain: MUST GET RING.
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Kairi turned to Blue as she walked in from the hallway. "Promise to be good?"
Blue just made a non-committal grunt and sat down on the couch. She stared at the TV. "This show is boring," she muttered.
Kairi had to take a moment to comprehend how someone could not like Command, the greatest show on television at the moment. She supposed it was a bit dark for a seven-year-old, but why wouldn't Blue of all people be thrilled to watch something well above her age level? Kairi sighed. "We just haven't gotten to the good part yet. If you stay and watch, you'll get to see them fight—"
Blue smiled at the idea of onscreen violence.
"—But I'll only let you if you promise not to repeat any of the bad words they say, and only if you promise to be quiet. Got me?"
Blue huffed and turned back to the TV. "Fine. But this better be good."
"It will be."
Almost immediately, a little girl on screen began yelling at someone much older and more powerful than her, and Blue was hooked. Kairi sat back and smiled. To her, it seemed that she had just won herself a free closet cleaning. Given how smart and well-behaved her own son was, people were always clamoring for her parenting skills, and she had dealt with several 'demon children'. With the average brat, she only had to lay down the law once, and they started behaving immediately. She knew that kids liked rules, even if they didn't act like it.
What she didn't know was that Blue wasn't an average brat. Blue was a special brat, the final result of all brat evolution, well-honed to obtain what she wanted, when she wanted it, no matter what it took. And no mere distraction would be able to stop her.
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About a half hour into the show, during one of the boring parts when the protagonist stared out a window being angsty, Blue remembered her mission.
She stared at Kairi's hand tapping on the sofa. The ring was in sight, but Kairi's hand was out of reach. Blue discreetly stuck her finger out and imagined it as a powerful magnet, attracting the ring. She could feel the finger tingle as it magnetized, and Kairi's hand began to move toward her. Even a magic-proof ring wasn't immune to basic laws of nature like magnetism.
But as the ring drew closer, Blue got a little overexcited, and ended up 'pulling' so hard that Kairi's whole body flew into her own, and they got stuck together. Blue cringed as Kairi smiled a knowing smile and wrapped her arm around Blue's shoulders. "Oh, you want a hug, hmm? Okay."
Blue tried to push herself away, but despite the lightness of Kairi's grip, she couldn't even move her arms. Now, apparently, it was Kairi keeping them magnetized. Wonderful. Soon enough, she went back to watching the show. At least it had gotten out of the angst scene and was now in a battle sequence. But rather than allow the gunfights and explosions on the television distract her, she instead used them to give her brain something to look at as she spaced out, trying to figure out her next move. Kairi was a tough nut to crack, but again, Blue never backed down from a challenge, ever, for better or worse.
Nuts…she liked nuts…
About ten minutes later, her mind felt soggy, and she couldn't think straight. She had curled up and laid down without realizing it, and Kairi's hold felt more and more appealing. Only now did she notice what was happening, but by then it was too late.
Still, she tried to fight it off. "You hypnotized me."
Kairi patted her head. "I did, didn't I? Confusion spells have a lot of uses. Do you like it?"
Despite herself, Blue found herself enjoying the floaty, dazed feeling and the random thoughts shooting through her brain. "Uh-huh."
"You know, sometimes I cast Confusion on myself at night to help with sleep."
"You could just cast Sleep on yourself…"
Kairi stroked her hair. "But Confusion is a bit more fun, because I get to watch my head try to pick up the pieces. I think a lot of weird thoughts."
Blue closed her eyes. "What kind of thoughts?"
Kairi smiled and leaned in. "Like how nice it feels to respect my parents and do what they want."
Blue laughed. "This is brainwashing…"
"No, it's just guidance. You know it's the truth. You feel better when your parents are happy with you."
"…That's true. I don't like it when Mom and Dad are mad at me…"
"They'll be mad at you a lot less if you just be obedient and don't use magic on them, okay?"
After a moment, Blue nodded. "Okay."
"Good, now—" Kairi lightly slapped Blue's forehead. "Sleep."
Then everything went dark. Blue didn't care about the ring now.
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"So, how's that closet coming along?"
"You know, you taught her that people are highly suggestible under a Confusion spell. She won't do it on us, but I'm afraid to get another babysitter."
"Oh, I know I taught her. She's done it to Sky. But you can just call for me every time you want a date night."
"…For more cost?"
"Oh, yes. If this becomes regular, I'd like some monetary payment. Unless that closet is freaking sparkling…"
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THE END
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Don't worry, Blue will still be a little demon. She'll just find new avenues. :)
I hope you enjoyed this short story. Remember, reviews are always appreciated. If you would like to suggest any ideas for stories, I'd be willing to consider them. Thanks for reading, and be sure to tune in next time to see more from the New Dawn universe!
