Author's little Tid-bit thingy: hey guys it's me again! This here is a new fic I've been working n for a while now. I think you guys are ready for it now, but before you start reading, I have a little vocab list for you to memorize or else you won't understand any of it.

First off, there are two different types of Witch in this story: Elementals and Alternatives. Elamentals, as the name implies, specialize in the emements, ie: Fire Water Earth Air Light Darkness . . . anything of the like, you get the idea. Alternatives are Withces that don't have a specification, they usually work with general spellcasting and potions.

Now, for the vocab I promised.

There are six stages of Witch:

1) Registration: declaring and documenting that the wielder are indeed a Witch- males are also referred to as witches. This is sort of like getting your driver's permit (congratulations Nia and Sora on that, by the way)

2) Apprentice: as the name suggests, the Witch becomes an apprentice to a higher-level Witch and must spent a minimum of one year learning from this person. This higher ranking Witch must be of the same Element or non-Element.

3) Summoner: may now take on an apprentice.

4) Sorcerer/ Sorceress: this fourth-level rank qualifies the wielder to enlist in the military and if the need so calls for it, they may be called ot aide in battle. At this rank they have the proper amout of experience.

5) Enchantor/ Enchantress: a very dificult level to achieve. Because not many people are able to make it this far in their entire lifetimes, this is a very respected rank.

6) Sage: The highest level of Sorcery there is and the most difficult to attain. Sages are the most respected of all Witches and oversee newcoming Witches' registrations, which Sorcerers are summoned for battle, acknowledging Apprentiships, and sometimes even perform important marriage ceremonies.

Okay, now that you are educated in the system (and assuming you didn't stop reading because you got bored) you are now prepared to embark on your journey. As always, Enjoy!

Chapter 1: In the Beginning

A late summer morning found Sora hanging halfway off of his bed as usual, the only thing holding him up on his bed was a thin sheet. He had fallen asleep in yesterday's outfit yet again, a thick paperback book threatening to slip free of his fingers. From the looks of it, anyone would guess that the boy had drifted off somewhere between the late night and the early morning while reading another of those Fantasy novels full of adventure and finding love. He had started reading Melanie Rawn a few months ago and found the Dragon Prince series especially entertaining. Right now he was in the middle of the second in the trilogy, The Star Scroll.

Lately, the book began to interfere with his sleep cycle, keeping him awake all hours, seeing to it that he got, at maximum, maybe five hours of sleep per night, the minimum was two. And even while he slept, the book wouldn't let him rest, invading his final thoughts as he drifted off and plaguing his dreams. It wasn't until another presence had entered and was gently shaking his shoulders that he finally stirred leaving the world of Sunrunners and dragon hunts.

"Out of bed, sleepyhead!" The almost melodic voice giggled shoving him onto his back, "You've spent half of the day sleeping already."

"Mom . . . ?" Sora groaned wiping the sleep away from his crystal-blue eyes.

"He lives!!" the woman cheered, clasping her hands together. Her equally entrancing eyes glittering and playful despite Sora's lack of response, "and here, I was beginning to worry."

"What's the deal, Mom?" Sora began as he began to find his voice through his delirium.

"Can't I just come in and say 'Hi' to my only son without being interrogated?" She whined dropping her hands and giving her son a small pout, a trait she had apparently passed on.

Sora merely rolled over, immune to his mother's pouts, and covered his face with his arm. "You could always say 'Hi' to one of your many daughters."

"That hurts, Sora." She sniffed as she turned to leave the room, "Oh- and by the way, your friend is here."

At that, Sora sprang out of bed in a swift motion, "What!? You could've mentioned that before!"

Taiyo stopped and leaned against the door frame raking a slender hand through her shoulder-length acorn-colored hair. "So you did forget! Oooh! Nia won't be too happy to hear about that!"

"I didn't forget!" Sora defended as he quickly changed yesterday's outfit into something new, "I- just . . . wasn't thinking about it at the moment."

"Oh, I'm sure she'll believe that." Taiyo chided narrowing her eyes at the boy, "Is that what I should tell her?"

"Just tell her that I'll be there in a minute, and then we can begin the session."

"Aye, Sir Fire Master, Sora" and with that, Taiyo left her son to dress.

"Tch- maybe some day."

But first he needed to make it past the level of a first level Witch.

- s -

Less than five minutes later, Sora emerged from his room to greet Nia, the young Summoner who had so graciously agreed to aid Sora in his quest. The girl stood from her place in the living room with Taiyo. Her longish springs of brown hair were pulled back into a messy bun that obviously hadn't been meant to impress anyone. Her clothes looked durable enough for what Sora had in mind, and consisted of a sleeveless purple tank-top thing and white-washed pedal-pusher pants that had been splotched with different colors of paint and chlorine bleach from previous episodes with her friend. She was definitely ready for a day of practicing with Sora.

Nia gave a small wave when she saw Sora at the top of the staircase as he was pulling a loose black shirt over his head. Sora caught the tail-end of the gesture and smiled as he returned it.

"Oh, so he finally decides to show up." Taiyo chided as she too stood to acknowledge his appearance, "Sora-honey, It's not polite to keep people waiting an hour as you waste time sleeping."

"An hour!?" Sora exclaimed meeting Nia's hazel-green eyes with startled blue.

"I wouldn't say that long." Nia chuckled waving again, this time in dismissal. "Only a few minutes, really."

Sora gave Nia a disapproving glare.

"Really!" she insisted.

Taiyo gave a short giggle, winking as she approached and playfully slung an arm around Nia's shoulders, making the younger woman stumble a bit, "It's alright. We had some quality girl time while you were asleep." She accented the statement, mussing Nia's hair a bit and causing it to fall out of the loose hold of her green ribbon, "But, for now, Girl Time is over and it's time for Sora's Fire lesson. We'll talk later, 'kay?"

Nia gave a small smile of her own as she pulled away from the older woman. "Yeah, we'll do this again soon."

Taiyo's smile deepened as Nia and Sora turned to leave the house via the front door, "Maybe Sora will be a Fire Sage by then, ne?"

"Yeah! Nia laughed as she grabbed Sora's wrist and pushed him out of the house before he could protest or get a word in edge-wise. She peered back into the room to, not wanting to seem rude, and gave a parting smile, "And thanks for the tea, Ms. Taiyo."

"See ya, Mo—"

The door closed before Sora could finish.

Nia grasped onto the boy's wrist again, grinning excitedly, and sped off toward the shore where the boats were tied to the small pier.

"Where are we going, Nia!?" Sora called after his captor as she led him away from his house, "and why couldn't I speak to my mom before we left?"

"Because, So-ra," The girl giggled as they reached their boats. It was only then she let her friend go, "we are already extremely behind schedule. We were supposed to be going over the second level stuff as well as a few potions if we had time . . ." her voice dropped slightly as she climbed into her boat and gestured for Sora to do the same, "I was looking forward to the potion-making."

Sora, determined not to let Nia's little "guilt trip" get the better of him, lowered himself into his own boat and untied it from the pier. It was still admittedly a bit difficult to adjust his weight to steady his boat in the water this soon after waking up, but eventually, his experience kicked in.

"So where are we going?" he repeated as he pulled his oars from the floor.

"I was thinking we go to that little cave near the waterfall on the play island- the secret place. All of the stuff we'll need is already there and not many people know it's there so we'll have the perfect studying environment."

Sora sighed a little as he began to row, pushing the water away from his little boat to propel himself outward toward the sea. There was no doubt that he liked the location well enough. It was dark, quiet, and the waterfall next to it created the perfect white-noise to help him focus, but it also meant that in a place like that, the light would be too dim to read and he couldn't sneak in a page or two of his book. That meant that he had snuck the novel along for no reason at all.

The disappointment in Sora's face and body hadn't gone unnoticed, however. Nia had soon cast off herself and was trailing in Sora's wake. Hmmm, maybe they could cut the lesson short and get to the potion-making sooner. It was a fun side activity that often took Sora away from anything that may be troubling him. Even though potions were Nia's specialty, not Sora's, the boy's curiosity caused him to drop all else and focus with even more intent than with his lessons, Nia thought.

Little conversation was made as they rowed toward the play island, their rowing taking up all of their concentration. Thankfully, the sun was at their backs and didn't hinder their vision at all. Minutes wore on and both of them were beginning to feel the strain in their arms and backs. They really hadn't done this as often as they should have and they were paying for it now.

After a few more minutes, land was in sight and the two teens were relieved to find an empty pier, which meant no curious spectators as they practiced their magic. Though during the summer, this was strange behavior. Perhaps the thought of escaping to the play island for the day seemed too juvenile to the others now that they were older . . . or maybe it was because of that simple fact that they were older now . . . they all probably all had to work and couldn't afford to steal away to their old hang-out spot anymore.

Nia and Sora, both at eighteen years of age, worked in the Temp agencies and would be called in sometimes on a last minute, but today, nothing came up and they were both free for the day, which left plenty of time for Fire studies.

Tying their boats off at the abandoned pier, Sora and Nia settled themselves on dry land and stretched out their tired and nearly forgotten muscles. The silence on the island was admittedly a bit disturbing after growing up associating the place with laughter and the underdeveloped war cries of adolescence. It was a bit sad to come back and find it utterly empty.

If Nia was affected by this thought, she had a really good way of hiding it from onlookers. She seemed completely unfazed by it all as she, once again took Sora's wrists and led him down the pier toward the literal hole in the wall that was their secret place.

Just the sight of it was enough to send the mind reeling as memories began to resurface. The entryway that used to be so big to them had shrunk down to just about eye level and they had to duck just to get in, moving years worth of foliage that had grown in their absence. The inner walls were all nearly bare save for sparse sketches here and there from those days when they were bored and had nothing better to do. Nia had drawn anything and everything that had come to mind, whereas Sora had drawn things he'd seen in dreams. He would try to explain the things he saw to Nia, with no avail, so he would always end up drawing them out instead. His favorite and the most elaborate from back then involved talking animals (as did most of his dreams) and inter-space travel using some sort of squishy blocks as well as a weapon he had called a "keyblade." Nia had been totally taken with the idea and had suggested that he turn it into a book or something of the sort, to which Sora repeatedly refused.

Times seemed to be a bit more simple back then and there was no need to worry about school or work or anything of the like.

Pushing childhood to the back of his mind, Sora moved forward to join Nia in the center of the secret place, beneath the naturally-made skylight, where she was waiting for him along with the supplies they would need for today's lesson. He caught her staring at some of the drawings with a distant-looking smile, stretched across her face.

"Hey, do you remember the Great Jellyfish Fiasco?" She asked in a sigh.

Sora nodded, his own smile forming as he remembered when he and the other boys had collected a number of jellyfish that had washed on shore and tormented the girls with them.

"I still get antsy when I have to go and collect coconuts for home."

Both teens let out small chuckles as they let their eyes roam over the walls for more of their pictures. Nia prodded Sora as she found one that particularly sparked her interest.

"The door."

Sora followed her gaze and saw the rock on the other side of the room. There was a large boulder at that end that he remembered as the door in his dream. He had taken time to etch out the details on that boulder to make it look like it had in his dream. The only problem with it, though, was that, because of his size back then, the door was a few feet too short.

He passed Nia then and found a lone pointed rock. "I'm gonna fix it."

He noted Nia's confused expression as he neared the boulder and scratched the rock against its surface, extending the archway upward and making a border. After all of these years, he still remembered just how the door looked and he used that memory as well as the mini-door that was still there. Deciding instantly what to do with the mini door, Sora took the rock to it as well.

When he pulled back, Nia was at his side looking at his work along with him.

"What's that in the middle?" she asked hesitantly cocking her head.

"A keyhole." Sora answered tossing the rock to the side.

"In the middle of the door?"

Sora shrugged. "I like it."

Nia smiled as she turned back toward the supplies she had brought over. She looked upward through the skylight and found that they were running short on time. If they wanted to make progress today, they couldn't afford to reminisce about childhood fantasies.

Sora caught the absence at his side in the meantime and turned back toward his lesson. Maybe it was time to get started.

"So," the boy began as he took a seat across the cauldron to face Nia completely, "What's in the lesson plan for today?"

A mischievous gleam appeared in Nia's eye as she pushed a few ingredients toward her friend. Lessons could wait a day, couldn't they?

"No lesson. I thought we might take a break and do a little potion-making."

"But you said-" Sora objected.

"Are you complaining?"

Sora shook his head in compliance. To tell the truth, he was more than happy to get away from Fire lessons for the time being. There was an actual sense of relief fell through him as he let a smile escape.

Nia caught this and smiled herself, knowing that this was the right course of action. "But," she began in a compromising tone, "don't think that you've gotten out of Fire practice just because there are no new lessons. I still need you to light the fire for the cauldron, burn a few ingredients, regulate the temperature, things like that, okay?"

Sora shrugged slightly as he leaned backward to rest on his arm, "No sweat, that's all First Level. I can handle that."

"Sora you are First Level. You still need to find a Superior so you can start your apprenticeship. Then, you can take the advancement test and become a Second Level Witch."

"Than what's this?" Sora asked in an incredulous tone, "What have we been doing for the past six months?"

"You know I'm an Alternate. Just because I can use Fire doesn't mean that I am qualified to be your Superior. I can only help until you find another Fire Elemental to be your Superior . . . but this conversation is becoming too serious. Right now, we're making potions."

"Fine," Sora groaned eyeing the ingredients in front of him.

"You say that like you were trying to avoid something, Sora."

Again, Sora merely shook his head.

"Alright then," Nia cheered as she rose to her knees and clasping her hands together in front of her, "Let's get started."

Sora let his eyes slide shut as he shifted himself to sit on his knees as well. He concentrated his energy, feeling it course through him as his own blood would. He could feel it pulsing along with his heartbeat as he pulled it out of its usual cycle, letting it flow, letting the heat in his body rise as his fingers began to fall numb. He channeled this energy into his hand, letting his energy make up for the lack of feeling in his fingers and almost instantly, there was a prickling in his fingertips. The heat from the Element inside of him began to gather in his hand as he concentrated, Focusing on making it pool there and prepare for use.

Sora opened his eyes then as he decided just where to center the Fire. If he did this right, he wouldn't even need kindling to keep it lit, he would just have to regulate it and keep replenishing it when it got too dim. Sure, he could have used kindling if he had wanted to, but that was just laziness as far as Sora was concerned. Besides, it didn't hurt to practice on his First Level abilities as Nia had suggested, right?

Picking a spot quickly, Sora released his energy, feeling it pull out of him as if thin threads were being threaded through his skin. The Fire sparked and crackled into life, just as Sora released the last of the reserve he had brought to the forefront of his hand. It was a good thing too, for the loss of his energy was making him fell just a bit lightheaded.

Sora let his hand drop heavily back to the ground as he sank to sit again on the cold ground of the Secret Place. His eyes rose to lock with Nia's to gain her attention.

"What potion are we making then?" he asked carefully as not to let the fatigue show in his voice.

Nia shrugged, "I thought I'd let you decide."

Sora sighed as he shook his head and, through a chuckle, he questioned, "Did you have anything planned today?"

Nia's eyes widened in a playful way, accepting Sora's implied challenge, "Do you impugn my honor as your mentor?" she half-heartedly snapped. Maybe this is all part of my lesson."

Sora crossed his arms, giving the girl a knowing glare.

Nia replied with a roll of her eyes and a cross of her arms. "Just pick a potion- preferably one that you can handle."

Sora's brows knotted, as he pondered the lists of potions that he'd always wanted to concoct. His lower lip stuck out and he tapped his fingers against his crossed arms. It was priceless and Nia couldn't help but smile at him as she tried to stifle a random outburst of laughter.

Sora rose his eyes only to glare through his acorn bangs. There was a hint of annoyance in his voice as well. "What are you laughing at?" he demanded.

Nia simply reached out her hand, not letting Sora's growl deter her, and playfully patted his head, "You're just so cute when you're trying to think."

"What, exactly, is that supposed to mean, Nia?!" he inquired swatting Nia's delicate-looking hand away from his head. He knew he shouldn't take offence to the comment, but it was a bit uncalled for.

"I-I mean your concentration," Nia giggled, unable to hold back her amusement any longer, "You're pouting again."

Sora scoffed and turned away from his friend to "concentrate" without Nia's scrutinizing eyes.

"Aww, Sora." Nia cooed in mock pity, "Don't be that way. Hey, have you thought of a potion, yet? The sooner we get started, the sooner we can have our results."

So she was trying to butter him up, was she . . . Damnit! It was working. Ever since they were children, Sora had never been able to refuse Nia when she got this way.

"How about a paradigm potion?" He groaned as he turned to face the other witch to find a bright smile and matching hazel-green eyes.

"I love paradigm potions!" she exclaimed as she began to sort out the ingredients they would need, "Fore or Aft?"

Sora took a moment to think glancing at all of the drawings on the wall, remembering all of the times that went with them. With that nostalgia in his face, Nia could see Sora come to his decision.

"Fore."

Wait- what?!

The confused look on Nia's face was enough for Sora to laugh, finally, getting his own turn at the act. He gave his explanation before Nia could even pose a question.

"Childhood was fun and all, don't get me wrong, but it already happened. Why not sneak a peek into whatever's to come? Not too much, because I know the rules about messing with time. I just want to see, not travel."

Nia nodded in agreement. "Hence the paradigm, right?"

"Right."

"Well, then, let's get started." Nia cheered as she re-sorted the ingredients to fit Fore-paradigm, "Sora, you start preheating the main ingredients and the cauldron and I'll go and get the—"

There was a buzzing that cut her off and a muffled tune came soon afterward. Nia extracted her cell phone just as the tune neared the chorus.

Complicated . . . X-rated . . .

Flipping open her phone, she cheered into the receiver. "Lin! No . . . no . . . I'm here giving Sora a lesson . . . No, we're getting ready to do a paradigm potion. Yeah, I know. Sora knows too. We're just going to look we're not going to actually go there. No more mistakes . . . what . . .? Yeah- he's right here! Say 'Hi' Sora!"

"Hi, Sora!" Sora replied cheerfully.

"Stop playing around!" Nia smiled giving Sora a playful shove.

"Hey, Lin!" Sora corrected as he settled the small cauldron atop his flame.

"That's better," Nia condoned as she stood, wiping her white pedal-pushers free of any unwanted substances. She picked up her pail and made her way outside, "Now, Sora, you stay here and finish the preparations. I'll go and get water for the potion . . . Hello, Lin. No, later, I'm free, why . . . ?"

Knowing that he had more than enough time, Sora scattered the needed ingredients before him as well as a small box of Nia's scribbled spells, looking for the one they would be needing for fore-paradigm. He knew it from the little doodles on the top of the index card. He found the familiar laughing spider in the upper left-hand corner and he knew he had found the right card.

Steps One through Five: All prep stuff he had already done.

Step Six: Roast and shell three Kupo nuts.

Step Seven: Using a mortar and pestle grind Kupo nuts into a fine powder.

"Great." Sora groaned once again, "No wonder she left me to do this. Doesn't she have some of this stuff already ground- or something?"

Might as well get started.

Cupping his hands together, Sora trapped said nuts and, once again heated the air around his hands. A few more minutes of this and the nuts would be cooked and dried enough to grind into a powder. Sora scooted himself backward so that his back was against the cool wall of the cave, giving him a place to rest as he waited.

Outside, he could hear the running of the small waterfall near the entrance and it was because of the waterfall that he could not hear whatever it was that Nia was saying to Lin- the perfect cover-up. Sora would have to remember to congratulate Nia on her choice later. Inside, Sora was able to relax a little, as he maintained two simultaneous Fires. The waterfall's sound carried to him through the skylight and again, was the perfect white-noise to soothe him as he tried to concentrate on his tasks.

When he was startled awake by a crackling sound, however, Sora thought that maybe he was paying a little bit too much attention to the waterfall. He let the heat from his hands die down immediately and stared down at his slightly over-cooked Kupo nuts; the blackened shells cracked and a super-sweet smell filled the entire cave, threatening to make him sick. They should still be good enough for potion-making though, right? After all, isn't that what happened when chestnuts were roasted?

"Damnit!" he growled to himself as he gathered Nia's mortar and pestle. Cracking the nuts even more with the pestle, Sora was able to get most of the Kupo nuts out of the shell, though it would have been a bit easier to do had he the power to cool things as simply as he heated them. Great, now, because of his shelling, his hands would smell like Kupo nuts for an entire week.

Placing the nuts into the mortar, Sora set himself on the task of grinding them. The shelling process had helped break them down slightly into approximate quarters, but from there; the actual grinding would be a tedious task. There was something about the sweet smell of those damned nuts that wanted to make him pass out again, but against that, he stayed awake to continue the monotonous task of grinding.

Frowning a little at what little progress he had made in the next few minutes, Sora was determined to keep going, to finish this so that he may have a chance to see what secrets, what adventures, what relationships, waited for him in his future. His mind was set. His expression was fixed. His thoughts focused. So much so, in fact, that he didn't notice the faint greenish light that emanated from the crushed bits of Kupo nut as it was crushed between mortar and pestle. And he only barely noticed as the glow began brighten.

He had only a second to think to himself, 'Woah- that's never happened before.' Before the light engulfed him, throwing him backward so he crashed against the wall. There was a strong gust of wind that soon followed whipping his hair in little belts against his face as he struggled to keep his eyes open against it all. A new light shone through the darkness as well; something from the innermost part of the cave. Squinting, Sora saw an outline against the giant boulder that was there.

The door . . .

Sora's etchings from earlier that day as well as those from years past shone with a blinding luminosity, as if becoming engraved on the stone itself. The boulder, however was no longer so, but the large wooden door from his dreams. There was no knob, no latch, no way of getting the door open, but it was there just the same, and what's more, it was real.

"N-Nia!!" Sora tried to yell, only to have his voice stolen from him as it attempted to leave his lips. "Nia! Come see this."

The last thing to materialize was the keyhole in the center of the door that he had drawn in just that day. With it, the door was complete and it wasted little to no time opening, sending a second gust of gale-force winds toward Sora. Dust and rock were kicked up and whooshed past him barely missing him, nicking is arms as he raised them to defend his face. New pricks of pain stung his arms as the rocks hit, his blood unnoticed, as he struggled to keep his breath. Even with his head turned away from the wind, he couldn't draw in a breath. It was as if the air was being stolen from him as well, trying to make him suffocate as some sort of punishment for drawing in a door that had no business being there to begin with.

His vision clouded and became dark as he made a desperate attempt to turn tail and escape the cave. It wasn't without a warning, however. Another blast of wind hit his back, forcefully turning him, and the warning was issued.

A test awaits you, Sora. Alone, you cannot hope to pass.

A final blow hit him with more force than the others. This one seemed to be more precisely aimed as well, knocking his remaining breath out of him completely, in a shattering scream that felt as if it came from someone other than himself. If it wasn't for the harsh sting in his throat, Sora would have thought the voice on that of an outsider's.

He was toppled over by the door's force and he fell backward hitting hard against the ground. He was unconscious before his body realized he had fallen.

The door closed and the wind ceased. The plant life settled once again as if it had never been disturbed. The only evidence that anything had happened at all was the fading glow of Sora's etches against stone.

- a -

With a deep moan, he opened an eye against the harsh rays of the early-morning sun. As usual, a heavy and muscular arm was draped over his hip, keeping him warm through the morning chill. It was with this typical awareness that the Third Level Ice Summoner woke with that infernal ringing in his ears. Another job . . . so soon? Wasn't it just the other day that he had come in from one of those? He was used to having at least a week to himself before being sent away again.

His green eyes narrowed through the nearly deafening noise in his head and, raking his fingers through the knotted, still-slightly-sweaty, silver of his hair, Riku stirred, grabbing out into the air at nothing in particular. His fist clenched around air. Did he have to get another summons; now of all times?

Opening his fist, he glared at the small piece of paper that was now there. What poor soul was he responsible for now?

He unfolded the note and squinted through the light and the lingering haze of sleep, trying to read it. There was a single name written there along with a brief location. Well, damn! He figured that his week long vacation would have to wait.

With a sigh, Riku looked over to the sleeping form next to him, his loose, jet black hair splayed like a halo around his relaxed features. His usual burgundy-colored eyes were shielded from the morning behind the butterscotch tone of his unworried eyelids. It was in this state that the sleeping figure seemed the closest to actually being innocent. The delicate lines of his little-less-than-feminine face was settled in a way that told Riku that this form was obviously still tired from last night, and he noticed then, that said form hadn't budged- not even the slightest acknowledgment that he had received a message at all. Maybe this mission was for Riku alone.

Hiro would have to wait. First, Riku had to figure out what the deal was with this "Sora" person.

Ending Little Tid-bit Thingy: Okay, so you have the first chapter now! Yay for you! So . . . how was it? Too much all at once? Not enough information? What didn't you get and I'll try to explain it for you. Please-please-please let me know.

R&R and you shall receive!

-Anigo