Chapter 1: Meet the Students; the Principal's Reaction (Part 1)
Roxas was standing in front of the School that Never Was, wearing his school uniform, though it was incredibly hot on him. His uncle just dropped him off. There was a large group of students in front of the school, and Roxas decided to join the crowd. In front of the students were six men, also wearing the uniforms.
The man in the center of them had amber-orange eyes and dark skin. His hair is long, reaching to about mid-back, silver in color, and some of it falls over his shoulders.
The man to the left of him sports gold eyes, pointed ears, upturned eyebrows, and dark hair with several grey streaks that is tied into a long ponytail; his right eye is badly damaged and covered with a black eye patch. He also has a large, jagged scar extending from his left cheek to just under his left eye.
The man to the left of the eye patch wearing man had black hair styled into distinctive dreadlocks that flair dramatically in the wind; one of these dreads is used to tie most of the others into a sort of ponytail, while four thinner dreads dangle in front of his face (two on each side). He also has bushy eyebrows and very thick sideburns, along with violet eyes.
The man to the right of the silver haired one sports platinum blond hair, worn long with two slightly shorter (but still long) bangs that frame his face; he also has rather large, bright green eyes.
To the right of him is a man with blue eyes and small eyebrows. His hair is auburn and slicked back into rather odd, messy spikes. His body build is very large; not fat, just large and big boned.
To his right was a man with platinum blond hair that is very short and worn in a Caesar cut, and he has blue eyes. He also has facial hair, a goatee with the same blond color as his hair. He wears five silver piercings on his ears; four helix piercings in the form of two hoops on each ear and one piercing shaped like a card dangling from one earlobe.
"Hello, one and all," the silver haired man said above all the whispers. This man had a deep voice, and his eyes seemed to mesmerize Roxas. "I am the principal of this school. Call me Xemnas. The one in the eye patch, Xigbar, is the vice principal. The one with the dreadlocks is Xaldin, our best math teacher. The one with the long blonde hair is Vexen, our best science professor at this school. Lexaeus, the brown haired one, is the social studies teacher. Lastly, the one with the facial hair is Luxord, our best Art teacher."
To Roxas, that man seemed like an amazing authority figure. His voice was so deep, Roxas was sure it got that way from making this speech every year. He heard a voice say, "That man talks too much."
Roxas turned to his left and saw a kid to the side of him. He was very tall and slender, and he had a widow's peak, rather small eyebrows and thick, shoulder-length, bright red hair styled into slicked-back spikes. His eyes are a bright emerald color and he has a purple reverse-teardrop shaped marking under each eye.
"Yeah, but he seems nice," Roxas answered. "I'm Roxas."
"And I'm Axel, got it memorized?" the teen introduced. "It's nice to meet you, Roxas. I know it's tough being a freshman at this school, but everyone gets there eventually. Unless you're like Demyx, who fails time and time again and is forced to move up. This guy, Xemnas, our principal, he's my next-door neighbor. Everyone in Dark City knows him."
"Can you explain why we're in a group like this?" Roxas asked. The wind started picking up, but he just shrugged that off.
"Well, you see, he's gonna split the freshman into six groups," Axel explained. "Each group follows one of the teachers and goes on a tour around the school." I focused on his shirt, which didn't have a black tie on. "What? I can't be a rebel in my own city? I can't go through the trouble of wearing a stupid tie."
Roxas nearly jumped. Axel had basically read his mind, which freaked Roxas out. But he was glad to meet someone with a personality such as Axel. Axel seemed so full of life with a fiery nature. Roxas had just made a friend.
"Okay!" Xigbar shouted over everybody's voices. "Listen to the master of this school speak!" This eye patch wearing man had the voice of some surfer that would say 'dude' in every sentence.
Xemnas clapped his hands together, making a sound that silenced everyone. He yelled, "Okay! I need everyone to split up into six groups! Those with last names starting from A to F, come line up near me! From G through K, go to Xigbar! Go to Xaldin if you have L through O! From P through S, go to Vexen. From T through V, go to Lexaeus. And from W to Z, go to Luxord! Line up!"
Roxas's last name started with 'F', so he lined up next to Xemnas. Only six others were there, including Axel. He remembered the red haired kid Roxas saw on the way to the skyscraper, who was in fact Axel. He also saw the blue haired kid Axel was walking with, along with the pink haired man and blonde haired woman.
"State your names," Xemnas said. "Just first names, because other than today, we won't be using your last names."
"I guess I'll go first," Axel said with a sigh. "They call me the Flurry of Dancing Flames, get it memorized. But just call me by my name, Axel. And this—" He started, gesturing towards the blue haired one.
"And 'this' can answer for himself," the blue haired one shot back. He has long blue hair vaguely reminiscent of Vexen's in style and length, though his is a bit wilder at the top. Most of his hair is tucked into his suit, though a portion is not and falls over the back. He had sea-green eyes, and an X-shaped scar over his face. The vertex of this "X" is between his eyes and it extends to about halfway up his forehead in one direction and to just under his eyes in the other. "I'm Saix."
A kid cleared his throat. He had bright aqua colored eyes, though only his left one is clearly visible, the right one being covered by his long, layered bangs. His steel-blue hair sports messy bangs that completely cover the right side of his face, reaching about an inch or two past his chin. On his left side, his bangs, though still rather long, are shorter than the right side, partially covering his ear. A few strands of hair fall over the exposed section of his face. The back of his hair is quite a bit shorter than the front. "I am Zexion," he said, showing little emotion in his voice. He reached into his suit's pocket and took out a small book, opened it, and started reading.
"Uh…" Roxas muttered, feeling ready to talk. "My name is Roxas, sir. I just moved here so I really don't know a lot about this city or anything."
"Why do I even need to be here?" asked a voice, and pushing past Axel was a boy. He has green eyes and dirty-blond hair; his hair has an odd mullet-like style, and he has several individual bangs that fall over his face. "I'm Demyx, now can I go home?" This guy was the guy Axel mentioned who failed a lot. He looked rather young, and he apparently failed about three times, having to get moved up. This person didn't even wear a tie, and his suit was unbuttoned, showing that his undershirt was also unbuttoned, showing his chest.
"That is not school appropriate attire, Demyx," Xemnas said with a frown.
"I don't really care, Mr. Xemnas," Demyx shot back, and Xemnas just smiled at that remark. Maybe Xemnas was impressed that Demyx had talked back to him.
"Hi, I'm Larxene," said the blonde haired girl. Her blonde hair is slicked back and about jaw-length, with two long strands styled into a distinctive antennae-like appearance. Her eyes are a vivid green and she is very slim with an hourglass figure. She was wearing bright red lipstick and her black shoes were heeled.
"Hi, nobody cares," Demyx shot back at Larxene.
"You need to show manners to me," Larxene shot at the boy. "I'm still older than you by two months, mullet haired freak."
"Loud mouthed, hot tempered witch," Demyx argued back.
"Rock loving, country boy, village idiot," Larxene retaliated.
Okay, Roxas could see these two were brother and sister. These two reminded him of his two cousins who fought all the time and ended up killing each other. Roxas just realized his family is full of crazy people.
While the two siblings were at each other's throats, the pink haired man stepped up to Xemnas. He was a tall, elegant teen with feminine features. His hair is shoulder-length and rose pink with ruffles. His eyes are blue and his lips are pale pink. "I am Marluxia, and please excuse Larxene and her brother."
"I can't believe you're dating a pink haired guy," Demyx said to Larxene. "That just proves you have bad taste in men—"
Larxene grabbed Demyx's throat and Demyx continuously kicked her in the shin. This lasted for thirty seconds when finally, Xemnas had enough. "OKAY!" he yelled. "Quiet down and we'll show you around the school."
The groups all split up. Xemnas lead his group to the main building and opened the door, allowing the others inside. The other groups went explore other places around the school.
Inside the door was the lowest floor of the castle. Everyone stared in awe at the place. Xemnas told them, "This is Nothing's Call, a cool little place for people to come to in between classes. This room serves as an office, as you can see." He pointed to the right where a desk stood.
Behind the desk was a blonde haired man. His blonde hair was spiked, and he had glowing blue eyes. He wore indigo pants with a sleeveless shirt, and a belt. He wears brown boots. He also had a red cape on. Under his left eye was a…symbol that looked like two intertwined snakes.
That's weird, Roxas thought, Aerith also had a symbol like that…
"Hello, Cloud, good to see you again," Xemnas said with a smile. "Students, this is Cloud, the Master Teacher and close friend of Xigbar and I."
"Always a pleasure working," Cloud replied and smiled at everybody. "Today is a great day. Not just any ordinary day. This day marks your first days towards becoming men and women."
"There's only one woman in this group," Demyx laughed. "And because of her nature I don't think she'd be classified as one!"
"I'll murder you in your sleep," Larxene said menacingly, and smiled to herself, showing her very sharp canine teeth. "Watch your back, punk. You should be very afraid."
"Anyway," Xemnas said with a touch of annoyance added to his voice. "The class rooms! How could I forget? Beyond those doors—" he pointed to the double doors ahead of them. "Through there is a hall full of elevators. Once there, you can select your floor and get to the class you need to attend. There are sixty five classes in all; classes for the freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors."
He walked ahead of the group and opened the door. Roxas was in total awe of this amazing building. This place was filled with interesting people, and the overall structure of the castle was completely mind blowing.
Xemnas continued, "There are only five classes throughout the day, and only you seven will be in those classes. The freshman population is so small, so to keep it fair each freshman class has a maximum number of fifteen students. You seven are going to be attending the five classes that I chose for you, so get used to everyone around you, because you're stuck with them until the end of the year."
The group walked into the hallway filled with elevators. There were so many everybody in the entire school could use these and there'll still be elevators not in use!
"The Crooked Ascension," Xemnas said after a minute pause, referring to the name of the room. He clicked a button on an elevator, and the door slid open. "The room we're going to now is a classroom on the thirtieth floor."
"I need to use the bathroom!" Larxene yelled. "I need to, so just point out where it is."
"Fifth floor," Xemnas said. "Look for the door labeled 'ladies'."
"I'll join back up with you guys," Larxene replied, and then an idea flashed in her head. Across her face came a smile of pure evil. That's what it looked like to Roxas, who was creeped out by her. "Demyx also needs to go! You know, us brothers and sisters need to use it at the same time, and all!"
She grabbed Demyx's arm and tugged him away from the elevator, and Demyx didn't have a clue to what was happening. "But you can come on this elevator to get to the bathroom. We'd wait…" Zexion muttered while really into his novel.
"I…we need to go alone," Larxene said, and pushed Xemnas, Axel, Saix, Zexion, Marluxia, and Roxas into the elevator. She forced the doors closed and ran down the hall with Demyx, clutching his arm very tightly. She pushed him into the wall and said, "Okay, Demyx, it's bad enough that your dad and my mom happen to move to Dark City, but now it's even worse because after eight years we finally meet again."
"When I moved here, I thought I was in Oz," Demyx said with a dopey grin on his face. "But it all turned south when I saw the Wicked Witch of the West!"
Larxene's smile turned into a scowl, and she punched Demyx in the stomach. "That tears it…" she growled through clenched teeth. "I will make your life here a living nightmare."
The elevator stopped on the thirtieth floor. Actually, from what Roxas sees now, every classroom IS a floor, meaning the floors here don't have several rooms, but just one.
When the doors opened, Roxas looked at a large gray room with desks lined up against the four walls. On the wall to the left was a poster that read 'Art'.
"This is Havoc's Divide, an Art classroom taught by the one and only Luxord," Xemnas said. "This will be your first hour class, so please report here as soon as the bell rings for school!"
The door closed, and Xemnas pressed the button for the fifty-eighth floor. "The next is your second hour class on the fifty-eighth floor. We'll be there shortly."
"This is truly amazing," Marluxia said to no one in particular. "Like an elegant fragrance I can't even comprehend, this school speaks like music to my ears!"
"Uh…okay," Axel said to Roxas. "What's with that guy? The first thing I gotta hear from him is about a scent? Talk about weird with a capital W."
"Says the guy with spikey red hair," Saix commented with a frown. His voice was kinda deep, not as deep as Xemnas's, but still pretty low. "Axel, please don't get cocky. We're in this school for a reason—"
Axel put a finger to Saix's mouth and pushed Roxas aside, nearly knocking him into Zexion who was enjoying his book. Well, he did enjoy his book, but just now Zexion picked it up in his pocket.
Roxas figured whatever Saix was talking about, him and Axel wanted to keep secret. What other reason would Roxas be pushed out of the way after the blue haired kid started talking?
The elevator stopped, and opened to another classroom. "Addled Impasse," Xemnas told the group. "That's this classroom." It was another room that mirrors Havoc's Divide, except this place had large tables instead of desks, and around each table was around four to six seats. There was also a chalk board in the front of the class that labeled 'Math'. Three fans were positioned around the chalkboard blowing towards the tables. "The reason for the tables is because you will do lots of projects having to do with math. Instead of normal classwork, all you'll be doing is learning through projects. That's how Xaldin is, a man best at making projects."
"Xaldin?" Roxas asked Zexion. "The guy with the dreadlocks? He seemed creepy; just throwing that out there."
Demyx ran from Larxene down the hallway, and he finally got into an elevator, and the door closed, letting Larxene get stalled for a quick moment. Demyx sighed in relief and sat down, leaning against the wall. "God…" he muttered. "What is she, part wolf?"
The elevator started moving upward, but then stopped suddenly. The doors were pried open and Demyx was greeted by the snarling face of Larxene. "God you're strong!" Demyx yelled and curled up against the wall.
"Get out here and fight like a man!" Larxene screamed with fire in her eyes.
"Something the matter?" asked a voice, and Larxene turned around to see Vexen standing there. Behind him were about fourteen students. "Get back to your group or I'm calling your parents and having you expelled."
Vexen pushed Larxene in the elevator, and the door closed. "Uh…" Demyx muttered. "Maybe we should go back…I mean, come on! We've fought for ages, let's just have a truce!"
"No," Larxene said with her arms crossed. The look in her eyes said 'Talk to me and I eat you'.
"Or we can hate each other, that works just as fine," Demyx said sadly.
The elevator started moving again, and Roxas and Zexion were deep in conversation. Axel and Saix haven't stopped talking. Marluxia tried to make small talk with Xemnas, but in the end the two couldn't find anything to talk about.
According to Xemnas, the next floor was the seventh, and it held a science class room. When they got there, the doors opened as they heard two people screaming.
The students and principal witnessed Larxene and Demyx in this room screaming at each other. This room was a white color, and in the center of the room were four round tables with test tubes and beakers and other supplies on them. Lining the walls were regular desks. The poster on the wall said, 'Science is Fun'.
"Get over here!" Xemnas said annoyed. "We don't have time for games! This is Vexen's class, by the way. He's a great scientist, but get on his nerves and he'll feed you a poisonous chemical." Xemnas chuckled.
Roxas actually smiled at that comment. He'd loved to see Larxene, who he'd just met, get poisoned by a chemical in this class. "What!?" Larxene screamed. "I'm stuck in that stuck-up scientist's class!? I had him as a science teacher in third grade, but he got fired for being too abusive."
"I thought you'd be the one to abuse him first," Axel said plainly. "Just look at your attitude."
"Watch it, Flame Boy," Larxene shot back. "Oh well, I guess I'll get over it eventually…"
"This is," Xemnas said, ignoring Larxene, "the Delusive Beginning. This is your third hour classroom. Let's see…there are two more classes to go. Lexaeus's social studies class, and Xigbar, our Vice Principal's, P.E. class."
Larxene and Demyx walked into the elevator, and Marluxia grabbed both of their arms, tugging them to the side. "You idiots need to quit this nonsense. It's people like you who give humans a bad name."
"Okay," Larxene slipped her hand into Marluxia's. "I'll behave, if Demyx would."
"Yeah, you're gonna change your mind in about thirty seconds—" Demyx started.
"I'll kill you both," Saix said, staring at Larxene and Demyx.
"Who raised you kids?" Xemnas asked. "The only ones not on my nerves right now are Zexion and Roxas!" Axel looked at him with a frown. "Your hair is too red, kid."
The elevator closed as Xemnas pressed the sixteenth floor's button. While they traveled upward, Zexion started talking. "You know, I think I'm gonna like it here. Larxene and Demyx keep things interesting, Axel is just cool, Saix is scary and Marluxia is just another pacifist, and Xemnas is…" Xemnas looked to him with an intrigued face. "…alright."
"Did you just call me scary?" Saix asked, and Axel just patted his shoulder as he laughed.
The door opened, and inside was a gym of sorts. There were no desks…just basketball hoops, a volley ball net, and several shelves filled with weights. Xemnas said, "This is the P.E. classroom, the Hall of Empty Melodies. The reason for the name is because this used to be a band class, but that teacher quit because he was scared of Vexen and all…now it's just empty with P.E. supplies."
Also in the class was Xigbar, along with twelve students behind him. In Xigbar's mouth was a cigarette, and he chuckled. "Yo, Xemnas! You handling the shortest class ever is alright?"
"Sure, except for the blonde and the dirty blonde," Xemnas sighed. "How about you? Everything good?"
"As if!" Xigbar shouted. "Three kids got in a four-way fight with me, and those three are in the detention hall with Cloud. Anyway, just go on ahead; once you're gone, me and my class'll take the elevator."
"Okay, Xigbar!" Xemnas called across the room, and pressed a button that read ninety-three. The door closed, and the elevator moved higher up.
"It must be hard teaching and being a vice principal at the same time," Roxas muttered. He hasn't really said anything in a while, so why not? He has just as much rights to talk here like everyone else.
A minute later the door opened, revealing a room filled with computers with maps for their desktop backgrounds. A large globe hung from the ceiling, and on the dry-erase board read, "Lexaeus's Social Studies'.
"This is Lexaeus's classroom, the Social Studies room," Xemnas announced. "The Computer Room is its name, serving as a Social Studies classroom and a computer lab. You're fifth period. Not much to say here, so…"
He pressed the fiftieth button and the elevator door closed. They started moving downward. Axel talked Roxas's ear off, Demyx, Larxene, and Marluxia were having some conversation, and Saix just stood cross armed. Zexion was reading his book again, when the door opened.
The room is wedge shaped with one wall made entirely out of a giant window, out of which a heart shaped moon can be seen floating in the distance. The room has couches and tables spread around it.
"The Grey Area," Xemnas told them. "This is where you'll be coming to for recess. Also, during class periods, this room is a councilor's office. There she is—" He pointed to a lady sitting on a couch in front of a table.
She has long, roughly waist-length, brown hair that is tucked behind her ear on the left side, showing that she has a sliver, teardrop-shaped earring. Her eyes are rust colored and she seems to wear pink lipstick. She wears a black, leather tank top with a zipper down the front overtop a slightly longer, white tank top. Tifa also wears a black, leather skort with two black ribbons tied on either leg. The back of this skort is quite long and reaches the floor. She also wears black, leather gloves and black and white shoes, with black ribbons tied around each.
Again, Roxas noticed one thing about her…on her exposed right shoulder, there was a marking showing two intertwined snakes.
"Hi," she said in a kind voice. "I'm Tifa. Have a great day!"
"She seems nice," Axel commented, to which Tifa blushed. "So where to now? Are we going anywhere else, 'cause I think I'm ready to give class a shot now."
"That's a first," Saix told him. "You've never cared about that before."
"This school is the exception," Axel replied with a smile and closed eyes. "I've made a friend already!" He looked to Roxas, who was lost in his own little world looking at Tifa's tattoo.
Roxas made his way out of the elevator, and without turning back he said, "Xemnas, hold up. I need to talk to Tifa." He walked over to Tifa and whispered, "What's with that tattoo? I've seen it before on Cloud and Aerith."
"You've met those two?" Tifa asked. "We're kind of, you know, friends. Me and Cloud are, anyway. Aerith and her friends haven't really communicated with us two in a long time. The tattoo marks our undying friendship."
"Really?" Roxas asked. "That's cool…I'll tell Aerith 'hi' for you, okay? How does that sound?"
"We haven't seen each other in three years," Tifa answered with a sad smile. "It's hard to think she'd remember a person like me or Cloud…considering Cloud and her dated for a while—"
"Roxas!" Xemnas screamed, and Roxas headed into the elevator.
"I needed to talk to her, okay? Anyway, where're we going now? Is the tour over with?"
"Unlike the rest of the year, today will have shorter classes," said Xemnas who had his arms crossed. "We'll head to your classes now. Instead of the hour classes we have, today first and second periods will be forty minutes, then you go to lunch/recess, and then go to the other hour long classes. I'll guide you to your first class again, but I'm pretty sure I can let ya'll find the other rooms by yourselves. If you ever need help finding other rooms, go to Xigbar, Cloud, or Tifa."
He clicked the thirtieth floor's button, and they were on their way to the Crooked Ascension. The door closed, and the eight in the elevator waited for the first period bell to ring. As soon as the elevator stopped and the door opened, a bell sounded.
Over an intercom, Xigbar spoke, "Okay, time for your first class period of the day. Everyone who attended the tour should know where your classes are and know about your fellow students, because you're stuck with them!"
"What he said," Cloud's voice said on the intercom.
The seven students walked out of the elevator, and Xemnas just chuckled. "I'll see you later." The elevator door closed. A minute later, the door opened and Luxord stepped out.
"Hello!" he yelled. "I'm Luxord, your Art teacher!"
Xemnas stood in the Nothing's Call, talking with Cloud, a smile on his face. "You know," Cloud said. "Those kids have potential, honestly. They seem like strong individuals to join you, Xigbar, Xaldin, Vexen, and Lexaeus."
"Shut up," Xemnas mumbled. "That's enough out of you; you're not even on our side, so what would you know about our position?"
"Not on your side or anybody else's, Xemnas," Cloud answered with a frown. "What am I but just another neutral pacifist in this world of wars? In this fight, neither of you will win."
Xemnas's reaction was that of a very angry face. His eyes flared with hate and rage, his nose twitched, and his eyebrows furrowed. "SHUT UP! You don't know anything!"
Xemnas grabbed Cloud's collar and snarled at Cloud's comment from before. "You have no say in the matter between us!"
He let go of Cloud and said, "Sorry, I need to cool off." He turned around, and without Cloud looking, he mouthed the words, 'You'll see'.