Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. I own the OC's and the plotline, but that's it.
Chapter I
The clang of two blades meeting in midair echoed through the room. The room was filled with bleachers encircling a large arena. At the center of the arena stood two girls battling with swords. Both looked about the age of 17 or 18. One had dirty-blonde hair that fell a few inches past her shoulders and hazel eyes. Her blade was a regular sword. Teal jewels lined the hilt and the pommel had a tint of teal in it. She was wearing a navy blue, V-neck T-shirt and jeans with faded color. The girl's name was Nicolette.
The second girl had dark brown hair reaching the same length as Nicolette's. Her eyes were also hazel. Her blade was a pale blue and had sapphires lining the hilt. A single sapphire was placed at the top of the pommel. She had on a maroon T-shirt and black jeans. This girl's name was Skyler.
The blades met again and the girls held them in place, each trying to knock the other's weapon out of their hands. It was Skyler who broke the blade's contact. She swung her arm down, causing Nicolette to loose balance. She quickly regained it and swung her blade at Skyler's shoulder. Skyler blocked it and aimed for Nicolette's side. Nicolette tilted her sword to block the blow and used the same attack. This went on for a few seconds, until Skyler managed to knock Nicolette's blade out of her hand.
Nicolette now stood unarmed in front of her competitor. She looked back to where her sword lay on the ground. Skyler swung at her and Nicolette pushed herself into a back flip. As she came back up, she grabbed her sword and swung back at Skyler. They went back and forth dodging each other's attacks until Nicolette finally managed to get Skyler to drop her weapon. Just then, a loud buzzer sounded. Skyler picked up her sword and both girls sheathed their weapons.
A tall, muscular man stood in the highest bleachers overlooking the sparring that had just taken place. He was bald and had dark brown-black eyes. He lifted his hands and clapped with a steady beat.
"Well done, well done," he said to the girls. They both smiled to each other, and then to him.
"Thank you, Master Adán," they said in unison. They then headed back to the stands and sat with their friend, Kaylee. Kaylee was the same age as Nicolette and Skyler. She had light blonde hair and ocean-blue eyes hidden behind glasses. Her shirt was teal and she wore the same type of jeans as Nicolette. She turned to her friends and smiled.
"Great job,"
"Thanks," Nicolette replied.
"Adán seemed impressed," said Skyler. Kaylee nodded in agreement.
"Adán is always impressed with you two," she said. Nicolette sighed,
"He gets impressed with you, too,"
"Yeah, especially with your spell-casting," said Skyler. Kaylee shrugged.
"I guess," she sighed. All three girls turned their attention to Master Adán, who was scanning the room to see who would spar next.
"Kaylee," his voice boomed. Kaylee stiffened. She slowly rose to her feet when she saw he was looking at her. She walked down the long staircase and into the arena to await her opponent.
"Aaron," Adán shouted. A tall, muscular boy stood in the stands. He nodded and walked into the arena across from Kaylee. Some brown hair hung in his face, almost covering his light green eyes.
Kaylee gulped as she readied her sword, a regular blade with an onyx gem in the pommel. Aaron lifted his weapon with ease. Once he did, he looked stronger then he already was. The buzzer sounded and Kaylee suddenly stiffened. She lowered her arm to her side and just stood there, staring at Aaron. He took one step towards her, raising his sword, and she dropped her sword and ran screaming.
"AHHHHHHHHH!" Kaylee yelled as she ran around the edge of the arena. Aaron watched her, one eyebrow lifted in confusion. This went on for about twenty or thirty seconds, when Kaylee figured she should fight instead of humiliating herself.
'It really is the same thing, though', she thought as she returned to her former position and picked up her sword. She swallowed hard and prepared to attack.
"Squee!" Kaylee shouted as a battle cry as she ran towards Aaron, sword lifted, ready to swipe at his shoulder. It didn't work. Aaron held up his sword so the blades met in the air. He then pushed on Kaylee's and tilted his to the side so that her weapon slid out of her hand with ease.
"Oh no," Kaylee muttered as her weapon hit the ground. She was now facing one of the strongest people there unarmed. Aaron smirked. "Oh no," Kaylee said again, backing up. Aaron followed her, sword lifted. Finally, the end buzzer sounded. "Phew!" sighed Kaylee. She ran to grab her sword and sheathed it. She took one last look at Aaron, who smiled to her indicating a good fight. She gave a quick, forced smile back and ran back to her friends.
Once back in the stands, Kaylee nearly collapsed in her seat.
"I am never doing that again," she stated.
"Aw, come on Kaylee, you were only in there for a minute," said Skyler.
"It was the longest, scariest minute of my life," defended Kaylee.
"I thought that was when you got chased by a bee last week,"
"Okay," said Kaylee "that was the second longest, scariest minute of my life,"
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Nicolette walked into the garage. Gummi ships lined the gray walls, ready to be used. Others were scattered in the middle of the floor to be repaired. Grunts could be heard from under one of the ships. Nicolette walked to it and bent down so she could see who was under there, although she already knew. It was her friend, David. He was the only person who could fix any problem with any Gummi ship.
"Knock, knock," she said.
"Hi Nikki," said David. He pushed himself out from under the ship and sat up, running his fingers through his messy brown hair. His white T-shirt had oil stains all over it, as did his bleach-stained jeans.
"Need any help?" Nicolette asked, helping to pull David to his feet.
"Yeah, sure," said David, walking over to what looked liked a filing cabinet. He opened one of the three drawers and pulled out a bottle of wax and a rag. "Wax that ship," he ordered, pointing to the one he was just working on. Nicolette nodded and walked back to it.
"So, what's up?" she asked, watching David grab a rag for himself.
"Nothing really. I changed two engines, replaced a battery, and refilled three oil tanks," he said, kneeling down to help her.
"So, you're right on schedule," said Nicolette.
"Basically," said David. Suddenly, Skyler appeared in the doorway behind them.
"Nicolette, come on!" she said. Nicolette and David turned.
"Come where?" Nicolette asked.
"Adán wants us," said Skyler.
"Adán? What for?"
"Just come on!" exclaimed Skyler. She walked over and grabbed Nicolette by the wrist. "Kaylee's already there,"
"See you later, Dave," said Nicolette as Skyler dragged her away. Once they were back in the main building, Nicolette turned to her friend. "What does Adán want?"
"I don't know. He just said he wanted to see the three of us," said Skyler, finally letting go of Nicolette's wrist as they came up to an elevator. Skyler pushed the 'up' button and the girls rushed in as the doors opened. Nicolette pushed the button for the top floor, the rested against the wall. The girls were silent the whole way up.
The elevator doors opened to reveal a long hallway. When they stepped out, their footsteps echoed. They looked at each other before starting. After a long while, the girls came up to a large wooden door. The words Master Adán were carved into it. Skyler reached out and knocked. They didn't have to wait before the door was opened by a small, stern-looking woman. Her hair was pulled in a bun so tight it almost looked painful. She wore small glasses that seemed to slide down her nose.
"May I help you?" she asked.
"Master Adán wanted to see us," Skyler explained.
"Off course," said the woman. "Come in,"
"Thank-" Skyler was cut off when the woman walked back into the room, expecting the two friends to follow. Skyler looked to Nicolette, who shrugged, and then they walked in.
As soon as they walked in, they realized they were in a small waiting room outside Adán's office. The woman who had answered the door sat behind a large desk. Opposite the desk was a tiny seating area, containing a red leather couch with matching arm chairs on either side of it. In one of the arm chairs sat Kaylee. She was nervously fidgeting with the pommel of her sword. She looked up at her friends and gave a smile and wave. They both returned it.
"Names?" the woman asked. Skyler and Nicolette turned quickly.
"Skyler,"
"Nicolette,"
"Take a seat," she said, motioning towards the couch. The two girls nodded and sat down as the woman disappeared though a door opposite the waiting room entrance. One she was sure the woman was out of earshot, Skyler turned to Kaylee.
"Kay, do you have any idea what's going on?" she asked.
"No," Kaylee stated, shaking her head to confirm that she didn't know.
"It has to be important," said Nicolette. "Adán never calls us to his office,"
Kaylee and Skyler nodded in agreement. Just then, the woman opened the door and came back in.
"Master Adán will see you now," she said as she walked back to her desk.
"Thank you," the girls said as the walked into Adán's office.
His office was similar to the waiting room. White walls, off-white carpeting, wooded furniture, and red leather seating. Two bookshelves took over the back wall. Adán's desk was placed a few feet away from the opposite wall. A widow was placed on that wall, so that sunlight flooded into the room, aimed at the desk. Three leather arm chairs were set in front of the desk. Adán sat behind the desk. He smiled when he saw the girls walk in.
"Come in, come in. Please take a seat," he welcomed, pointing to the chairs. The girls sat down wordlessly. "I suppose you're all wondering why I called you here,"
The girls nodded.
"Well, as you know, every year we choose three apprentice ranked students of the graduating class to test to become masters," Adán began. Another nod came from the three girls. "Well, this year we've chosen you three,"
The girls gasped. This was unexpected.
"Now, usually there are tests in different forms of battle and magic, but we want to try something new this year. I guess you've all heard of the keyblade wielder?"
"Yes," Skyler and Nicolette said. Kaylee just nodded, since she was too nervous to speak.
"Well, we'll be helping him with Organization XIII. I trust you've heard of them as well?"
"Yes," Nicolette and Skyler repeated. Their nervousness was slowly changing to excitement. Kaylee just nodded as she became more nervous by the second.
"Each of you will be sent to a different world as part of our mission. Skyler, you will be going to Destiny Islands to assist the keyblade master with any battles with heartless, nobodies and anything else that comes your way," said Adán. Skyler smiled.
"I can do that," she said.
"Kaylee," stated Adán. Kaylee squeaked as she looked up at him. "You have our most important job. You will be sent undercover to the World That Never Was and stay with Organization. You'll be our insider, and tell us what the Organization is planning,"
Kaylee nodded nervously, although since the moment Adán said 'undercover' she was sure she would be caught.
"Now, Nicolette, you will be staying at the residence of Hollow Bastion natives-" Nicolette held up a hand to stop him.
"Sorry to interrupt, Master Adán, but we're in Hollow Bastion. Why couldn't I stay here?" she asked.
"Well, you're going to be our go-between. You'll relay messages between Skyler and Kaylee so that each of you knows what's going on. We need to station you away from here so that if the Organization discovers our plan, they have no need to come here. They'll only want you, Kaylee, and Skyler,"
"Understandable," said Nicolette. She sat back, rubbing the pommel of her sword, hoping that she wouldn't have to use it in combat against an Organization member.
"Here's information on where you'll be staying and who you'll be staying with," said Adán, handing each of them a folder. "You'll leave first thing tomorrow. Good luck,"
With that, Adán motioned to the door, as a sign that the girls should leave. The got up and exited. Once in the hall, they all looked from one to the other.
"So, this is exciting, huh?" said Skyler. Nicolette nodded.
"More like frightening," said Kaylee, leading the way back down the hall.
"What's wrong, Kay?" asked Skyler.
"What's wrong? Skyler, where we in the same room! I'm going undercover with Organization XIII!" Kaylee exclaimed.
"So?" asked Nicolette.
"So? So! Nikki, I can't survive there! Have you seen those guys? They'll kill me!"
"Kaylee, calm down, you're over-reacting. They're not going to kill you. You'll be one of them," said Skyler as they entered the elevator.
"Eh," Kaylee sighed as she leaned against the wall.
"Let's not think about this now," said Nicolette. "For Kaylee's sake,"
"Good idea," said Skyler.
"Thanks," said Kaylee. As the doors opened, the girls stepped out and began to walk down the hall to your dorm suite. Along the away, they heard various sounds coming from different rooms, such as a loud TV, a stereo turned up to maximum volume, and someone practicing spell casting. Finally, they came to their room. Skyler pushed open the door and they all walked into the common room.
"So, I guess we should start packing," said Nicolette.
"Probably," said Skyler. Kaylee nodded and each girl vanished into their own bedroom.
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Once Nicolette closed the door, she took a good look around the room. A window was placed on the left wall and the wall across from her, each letting in an equal amount of light. The walls were white and the wooden floor creaked a bit were she stood. An oak desk was pushed against the right wall. The dark blue desk lamp shone a bit of light on the book she was reading. Her bed was next to her. She sighed as she sat on the blanket that was a mixture of dark and sky blue. A small, three-shelf bookcase was next to the desk. The top and middle shelves were completely filled with large and small books. The bottom was empty. It was usually were Nicolette kept books that was she too tired to put away right away.
Nicolette got off the bed and knelt on the floor next to it. She peeked under it and pulled out a small blue bag. She put it on top of the bed and walked over to the dresser, which was next to the desk. She piled a few changes of clothes into the bag and placed her book on top. Then, she walked over to the bookshelf and carefully picked out two books on spell casting so she keep reviewing and practicing her magic. As she was taking the books over to the bed, she noticed something else on the desk. The light from the desk lamp shone on it, making the silver shine. It was a small necklace. The charm dangling off it was in the shape of a puzzle piece. The front of the charm read 'best'. Nicolette smiled as she held it in the palm of her hand. It was a friendship charm. She, Skyler, and Kaylee each had one. Nicolette flipped it over and read the back. It said 'Life is a puzzle. You have to fit the pieces together'. Nicolette but the text books in her bag, and put on the necklace.
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Kaylee was in the next room. She also took a good look around her room. The bed was on the same wall was the door, like Nicolette's. Two windows were by either corner of the far wall. And to the right was the same arrangement of dresser, desk, and bookcase that Nicolette had. The only difference was that instead of everything being a shade of blue, in Kaylee's room it was all aqua. Kaylee packed everything she needed into an aqua bag. Clothes, a text book, a few books she wanted to read, brush, etc. She sat on the bed and sighed. She then noticed the front pocket of her bag was open. She leaned over to close it, and noticed there was something in there. She pulled it out. It was a chain with a puzzle piece-shaped charm hanging from it. The front of the charm read 'friends' and the back read 'Life is a puzzle. You have to fit the pieces together'. Kaylee smiled as she put the necklace on. Maybe this wouldn't be so hard.
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The last to pack her things was Skyler. She dug through drawers and sorted through her bookcase to find everything she needed, and wanted, to bring. She stuffed it all into a navy blue bag and sat on the bed next to it, thinking of anything else she'd need.
'My journal!' she thought. Skyler reached under the bed and grabbed the journal, clutching something else with it. She stuffed the journal into the back and looked at the extra item she'd picked up. A small necklace. The charm was in the shape of a puzzle piece. The front of it said 'forever' and the back read 'Life is a puzzle. You have to fit the pieces together'. Skyler smiled as she put the necklace on and took a glance around the room. She hadn't taken much, but it still looked emptier.
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A knock could be heard on the suite door. Nicolette walked out of her room at a quickened pace to answer.
"Identify yourself!" she called on her way.
"It's David," sighed her friend. She put her hand on the doorknob, refusing to open the door just yet.
"What's your purpose here?" she called. She heard an annoyed sigh from David.
"I come bearing food," he said.
"Well why didn't you just say so?" she asked, opening the door with a satisfied smile. David stepped in, holding a box of pizza and a 2-liter bottle of soda. "I'll go get cups and plates," said Nicolette, walking to a small kitchen area. David nodded and turned to the common room to see Skyler and Kaylee wrestling over a remote.
"What are they doing?" he asked as Nicolette came back and placed the paper cups and plates on the coffee table.
"Arguing over what to watch. You've been here how many times and you've never seen them do this?" Nicolette replied.
"I guess not. What about napkins?" asked David, pointing to the coffee table.
"What?" asked Nicolette.
"Napkins. Those little pieces of paper you usually use to clean things," explained David.
"Right, those. I forgot you're civilized," joked Nicolette. "I'll let you break them up,"
David looked to Skyler and Kaylee as Nicolette walked away.
"Uh, guys?" he said, not knowing how to stop this little fight. "Guys?"
Neither of the girls paid attention to him. Nicolette came back and put the napkins on the table.
"That'll never get their attention," she said.
"Then what will?" David asked, letting Nicolette take the pizza. He put the soda on the table.
"Skyler, Kaylee! Food!" said Nicolette, putting the pizza on the table in front of them. Both friends stopped fighting, dropped the remote, and looked up at Nicolette and David. David shook his head.
"It's that easy?" he asked. Nicolette nodded, putting slices onto plates. Once everyone had a slice of pizza and a cup of soda, they all sat on the couch.
"So, what did Adán want?" David asked. Kaylee shifted uneasily as Skyler and Nicolette smiled.
"We're testing to become Masters," said Skyler proudly. Nicolette explained the whole thing to him. David listened intently until she was done.
"So, who are you guys staying with?" David asked. The girls looked at one another.
"We didn't look at the stuff yet," said Nicolette.
"Well, look at it now," said David. Kaylee walked off and got each of their folders. She handed Skyler and Nicolette theirs then sat back in her spot.
"How first?" asked Skyler.
"How about Nikki?" said David.
"Okay," said Nicolette, opening her folder. She pulled out a piece of paper and began to read. "Miss Montego, for your mission you will be staying at the residence of – They make it sound so important – Yuffie Kisaragi, Cid Highwind, Aerith Gainsborough, and Squall Leon Leonhart. You will spend two month relaying messages between Miss Kaylee Tristan and Miss Skyler Alita. You will aid your new companions in keeping Hollow Bastion free of unwanted heartless and nobodies," Nicolette put the letter on her lap for a moment. "They word these things so formally," she commented.
"Does it say anything else?" Skyler asked. Nicolette glanced at her letter again.
She replied, "Not much. Just that at the end of the two month period, I'll come back here in order to attend graduation,"
David nodded and turned to Skyler. "Why don't you read yours?" he asked. Skyler nodded and opened her own letter.
She cleared her throat and read, "Miss Alita, for two months you will responsible for keeping the keyblade master, Sora, updated on the intentions of Organization XIII. You will be given messages from Miss Kaylee Tristan by Miss Nicolette Montego. You will also give messages for Miss Tristan to Miss Montego. You will have to tell Sora what Miss Tristan tells you so that he may be informed with any plans and/or suspicions that either of you have," Skyler stopped to take a breath. Clearly her job was more complicated then Nicolette's.
"You will be staying at the residence of the keyblade master and his friend Riku and Kairi," Skyler continued. "At the end of your two months you will come back to Hollow Bastion for your graduation and hopefully for your promotion to Master,"
Kaylee swallowed hard. "I guess it's my turn," she said nervously, opening her letter. She swallowed again before reading it.
"Miss Tristan, your part in the mission is the most important, but it also the most dangerous. You will be sent to the World That Never Was and stay at the Castle That Never Was, which is the known residence of Organization XIII. During your stay, you will pose as a nobody and go by the name Kexlae. Do not forget this name, for everyone in the Organization will call you Kexlae. At the end of the two month period, we will have two Masters come and take you back to Hollow Bastion so that you may join in your graduation and hopefully become a Master,"
Once Kaylee was done, David raised his cup. He cleared his throat and said, "I propose a toast!"
The girls laughed and raised their cups as well.
"To you three for hopefully becoming Masters," David announced.
"Here, here!" said Nicolette.
"Cheers!" Skyler and Kaylee exclaimed.
A/N
So, what did you think? I had a lot of fun writing it, so I hope you enjoyed reading it! And I'm actually surprised at how long it turned out to be. It took about 14 pages on Word, so there you go. The next chapter will have Nicolette, Skyler, and Kaylee's (um…Kexlae's) first days with their mission. R&R!
-Wolf