(alternative title: connecting dots of a picture that doesn't exist

alternative alternative title: one day this'll all make sense, promise

alternative alternative alternative title: seeing the future ain't all that it's cracked up to be but i'm not about to tell anyone that)

One of the first things the Master of Masters had Seen had given him his title. His Sight had given him many clues across the years—helped him to discover the existence of Keyblades, to summon his own, to know the day when he would be needed—but the most important of them, to Master's estimation, had been his title.

"Master of Masters"—it had such a nice ring to it. So elite. Master stopped going by his first name as soon as possible, and adopted his title wholeheartedly. And although it was too pretentious for some, the fact that he had a magical weapon which no one else yet had helped convince them to adopt it too.

What he Saw—those fractured, incomplete scenes—was full of people he didn't recognize, in places he'd never seen, doing things that made no sense. When he was young, the visions had confused him: Who were the kids in the masks and why did he look at them in the eye, or taller! What was the key-looking weapon he saw in his own hand (for he knew it was his own, knew the voice that spoke those prophesies was his, certain as the sun)? Master had never known why he could See, why it was only one eye that Saw, or how these things he Saw could ever happen.

The visions only increased in frequency and clarity the older he got, and Master stopped questioning why, and instead learned to act, whenever something was familiar that shouldn't have been. Learned to connect the dots and create the future, even though he only ever Saw half of the dots, even though the future was a picture of something that didn't exist yet and that Master had no idea how to understand.

By the time it was time to gather the first of what were to be his apprentices, Master had gotten used to acting on instinct mingled with foreknowledge, so the moment he saw the boy—dark-skinned with a smile as bright as the fire he would be so apt to create, and… and only one leg—Master knew to act, immediately.

Luxu was a little young, Master thought: barely a boy. Maybe five? Six? His eyes were so wide, his face so round and laugh so joyful. At what point would those eyes get so hardened, at what point did frown lines overwhelm those dimples?

No matter, Master decided. The weary, solitary Luxu, clothed in black and bearing a black box who sometimes appeared in his Eye couldn't come for years and years yet. And he couldn't pass up the chance to secure his first apprentice, even if Luxu was so young. He had to take the chance while it was here.

"Excuse me," Master said to the woman who had to be his mother, if her similar curls and proximity to the boy were any indication. Master hadn't Seen this woman in any other scenes, so he assumed that she either died at some point or let Luxu completely into his care. The woman's eyes widened as she gazed up at him, taken aback by the impenetrable cowl of his coat (as soon as he'd Seen the full black coat that reappeared again in reflections and mirrors, Master had commissioned the first seamstress he came across to make it for him) and registering how foreign he looked in comparison to the rest of Daybreak Town. "Yes?" she began, and Master thought he saw a flicker of apprehension on her face.

"I couldn't help but notice your son—"

The woman's suspicion hardened into anger, and she cut him off. "His leg wasn't taken by those monsters, if that's what you're asking. He's perfectly healthy now, and we need no—"

"No, not his leg," Master hurried to correct her, "I meant to ask if you'd secured a tutor for his prodigious magical talent."

The anger slid off her face, and she glanced in astonishment between her boy and him.

"His…?"

"Because if you have not," Master was grinning; he always loved it when he could disrupt the expected response. "I was going to humbly offer my services."

"Your…?" Luxu's mother's face was still slack as she glanced again at her son, then her eyebrows drew together in slight concern, but she returned to her original confusion. "W-what magic talent?"

The boy was still playing with some roughly carved figures by the next bench over, and looked to all the world to be a completely ordinary kid, aside from the absence of his leg.

"Oh, didn't you know?" Master brought his hands up to his hood as though in surprise. "I could feel it even with my rudimentary magic senses! That boy… he has one of the largest untapped wells of magic inside him I've ever seen!"

The woman's mouth remained agape, but now her eyes contained wonder. Master's smile grew beneath the shade of his hood. He, of course, could see nothing in the present to differentiate the boy from any other child, but he'd Seen what Luxu would be capable of. Of course, most of that magical skill (born of lots of practice, not innate ability) would be used to satiate the kid's pyrotechnic tendencies, but Master wasn't about to mention that to his mother.

"I'm sure he'll have tutors upon tutors begging to apprentice him before long," Master continued, and expected it when the woman's expression closed.

"No tutor will take my son," she refused, and Master waved his hands desperately in the air. "Oh no, no, of course not! No mage would dream of that. But I promise you, you'll want to get him a tutor before long. A magician in the family would bring such fame on your house!" Master watched her gaze grow sharp, understanding, even shrewd. "Of course, they'll be wanting payment, for the prestige of landing a named mage…"

"Payment?" she asked.

"Yes," Master said, almost apologetically. "I'm afraid most of us in the magical community are almost fonder of gold than of fame… I've never been able to convince my fellow mages that my way of taking apprentices on for free is a much better policy."

"For free?" The woman asked, and although Master knew she wouldn't be readily convinced to let Luxu go with him, this offer of a free magic tutor would tempt even the most protective mother.

"I know, it sounds crazy, to give away my knowledge for nothing except the honor of teaching…" Master trailed off, but kept his eyes on the woman's face. She could be convinced. Master knew she would be convinced, somehow, given the frequency that Luxu appeared in his Sight, but now that he was here, he could see it. This was his favorite part of life with Sight: the moment when he got to watch everything fall into place to make the future happen. "…But I have found that the way I do things to be more fruitful, in the long run."

Her gaze was still wavering, so Master decided to lay it on a little thicker. "Throughout my travels, I have seen just how much good us mages can do in the world, if we could just stop being so focused on wealth… I know there aren't many magicians here, in Daybreak Town, but many consider magicians snobs. I've never liked that. We must be seen as the protectors, as the helpers. We should assist, not steal." Then, with a start, Master turned his head back toward the woman, as though he'd gotten lost in his speech and just now returned to the moment. "Sorry. As you can tell, I am very passionate about my work."

But Luxu's mother had lost her uncertain look. Master knew she was sold.

"I appreciate that in a teacher," Luxu's mother said. "If…" she glanced again at Luxu, then back at Master. "If my son truly has this… magical talent that you speak of, I can think of no better teacher than one like you."

Master shrugged his shoulders a little bit, as though to be embarrassed. "That's kind of you to say. I didn't mean to interrupt your morning, but I just couldn't ignore his bright magical presence! What a gift. The sooner he's apprenticed to hone that talent, the better career he'll have as a mage in the future."

Luxu's mother nodded, her brows furrowed. She took a breath, and then hesitated. Master knew that this was it. The woman hovered on the precipice for another moment, then asked, "And you said you were offering to apprentice him?"

Unable to contain his smile, Master tilted his head at her as though in question. "I would be honored to teach him." The woman smiled, and then Master added, "However, I am a traveling mage. I am only passing through Daybreak Town, and must be off this afternoon. I'm expected in Agriba tomorrow, to join some other mages in taking down some of those monsters that have been attacking." With those words, Luxu's mother's face fell. This would be the tricky part, Master knew—but she was still on the hook. Mentioning the monsters always seemed to do the trick in convincing people. Master looked forward to the day when no one would fear the Heartless, when Keywielders were plentiful enough that no more families would be torn apart by them. But Master did have to go, and he knew from past experience to take advantage of the opportunity to grab at the pieces of the future when they appeared in front of him.

"Y-you would need to take him now?" Her voice wavered, and Luxu's mother looked to her son, protective, fearful.

"I would."

She took a deep breath. And another. Master watched emotions cross her face.

"I… I need to speak to my family." Her voice was thick when she spoke, but her gaze was clear when she looked back toward Master.

Master gestured freely. "Of course. I know this isn't the traditional way of securing an apprentice. Please don't feel pressured to give him into my care."

She nodded, and stood. Glancing toward Luxu once more, and around at the crowded square, she said "My home is just there. Please excuse me."

Master watched as she stooped down to speak to Luxu for a moment, then turned and hurried toward the nearest house. He wasn't worried whether or not she'd return with a positive answer, though. This was going perfectly so far.

So Master followed the woman's actions and walked over to kneel next to Luxu, shrugging back his hood as he went. Good first impressions were important.

As the little guy turned to look at him, Master's left Eye suddenly warped, and he blinked as two different visions confronted him: one present—a naïve smile of a chubby face with no worries—and the other from sometime ahead—a shadowed face, stooped shoulders as he turned to lug a locked black box out of Master's office. Master blinked again and only the present Luxu remained.

Master held out his hand to the wide-eyed boy. "Hello, Luxu."

The kid gave him a weird look. "My name's Sid, not…" he stumbled over the pronunciation, "not Shoe-shoe!"

Master blinked at him for a second. That was the first unexpected thing of the day.

Then he shrugged. No matter. "Don't tell your mom, but it is your name now."

Luxu got a frown for a second, but then he laughed. "You're funny!" And then Luxu, instead of shaking, gave Master's outstretched hand a high-five. Master decided he liked this kid, even snot-nosed as he was in the present.

"Luxu, do you like magic?"

The boy's eyes grew wide, and he nodded eagerly. "Would you like to see some?" Another set of excited nods, and Master grinned at him. Holding his hand out, Master called for his Keyblade, and watched the sparkles of Primum Ferrum spark wonder in the boy's eyes. "Cool, huh?"

Reaching out hesitant fingers, Luxu examined the Keyblade. He ran his hand along the perpetually cool metal and smiled at the bright colors. "This is called a Keyblade. It's made from my heart, and it helps me fight monsters."

Luxu's mouth was a perfect O when he turned to look at Master again. "You fight monsters? Like the ones that scare Unca Quin so much?"

"Mmhmm," Master smiled at him, encouraged by the fact that his vivid blue eyes hadn't freaked the child out. Oftentimes, their electric hue made people nervous, but Luxu was too accepting or too young to care.

"Whoa!"

"I know, right? It's really cool." Master leaned in, conspiratorially. "Would you want to help me?"

Luxu's eyes got even wider, if that was possible. "Uh-huh!" But then his face fell, and Luxu glanced down at his leg. "B-but I can't."

Bending down even more, Master caught the kid's eye again. "Of course you can."

It was more than wonder in the kid's eyes, now. Master's words had somehow moved some shadow that hung on him, some uncertainty that had been so permanent in the boy's life that Luxu'd learnt to accept it. The Luxu whom Master had Seen for so long carried no such shadow.

Master smiled in return to the eager child. This was going well. One out of six acquired, even if the one still had a lot of growing to do before he would become the pyrotechnic menace who raced the castle parapets with Ava and Gula by his side and Ira yelling at them to be careful from the courtyard.

Master smiled as Luxu's mother came back, as she agreed to give Luxu into his training, as Luxu's little hand wrapped around Master's fingers and they headed off together, as another piece lined up in this picture, as more of the coming road was set in place. It was so nice to see the future becoming clearer.

~fin~

...

A/N: Thanks so much for reading, guys! I have a lot of feels about Back Cover children. I've been screaming about them a lot over on my tumblr (literally-in-too-many-fandoms) so if you are interested in my various other headcanons, go check my tumblr out! There's a link at the top for "KH Foreteller headcanons"

.

Some notes about the fic:

Luxu being a RAK (right [leg] above [the] knee) amputee is NOT my og headcanon, I was mostly inspired by a Monoshiki's art which I LOVE (you can find them on tumblr at serenedash for amazing art!)

Cool fact: MoM's keyblade's (which I made up) name is Latin for "First Blade" because from the few details we have from Back Cover and UX, I headcanon that he was the first to figure out how to summon Keyblades and thus his is the first

Another cool fact: I made Luxu's original name "Sid" but it's short for "Sidus" which is Latin for "star"

.

I'll maybe make this a series? I have some vague ideas for how MoM meets the other Foretellers but for now I'll leave it as is. Hope y'all enjoy!