Kingdom Hearts: A Caged Heart

Chapter 3: School Grounds

The class sat quietly as the slim pale woman stood at the front. Kage and Shoku sat on the top row. It was like this for four minutes. The woman in the front played with her necklace, whispering to herself.

'What was her name?' Kage shaded in the corners of his notebook paper. His thoughts were interrupted when a tall male waltzed into the room.

"Ok, class, what has Serah told you so far?" Kage tried to remember who this guy was but he wasn't introduced at the meeting yesterday. The class was silent. "Right. I'm Noel. Serah and I teach field teamwork abilities. Does anyone know what that means?" Noel asked.

It was hard not to stare at him he was 6'1" with great brown hair and perfect blue eyes. He wore baggy pants and a tight shirt with an odd-shaped sword hitched to his back.

"Field teamwork abilities means,"a younger boy in the front war explained, his voice breaking, " the ability to be on the field and work with our team through various situations." Kage locked onto the speaker, but all he could see was blonde straight hair that touched the shoulders of a black jacket. He could not see the boy's face, from where he was sitting..

"Right," Noel said, going to the board. He began to draw stick figures. "These figures represents us. The good guys."

He drew a circle with horns at the top. "This is the enemy." He drew arrows from each stick figure to the monster. "Alone, this monster would probably beat anyone but if you work together…" The woman walked to the other side of the board and picked up a piece of chalk. She drew a thunderbolt on the monster.

"If you work together than you should be able to handle any situation," she added.

"Nice of you to join us, Serah." Noel said. They continued the rest of class, explaining why working together was so important. The bell rang and class was dismissed. Kage and Shoku walked down the hall side by side.

"That class was boring," Shoku said, bumping into Kage. The halls were wide but filled with people from every grade. The color of the walls were light brown and the floor pitch black. There were no lockers in this hall, one of many halls in Keyblade Academy.

"It'll become more interesting later on. I wonder why they picked those two to teach that class? Also Noel wasn't at the introduction yesterday, was he?"

"No, but if you stayed a little longer, you would have heard Mr. Oswald tell us that a lot of teachers were away handling something for the school." They made a turn into the gym.

"Wait, isn't that Ms. Serah? " The woman was the same build, same skin color, same hair, but she looked less scared and more angry.

"No that's Lightning. She just looks like Ms. Serah." Kage whispered to Shoku. "She's much more scary. One of the other teachers called her a coliseum champion." They dared not look her in the eyes. She was wearing a jumpsuit and had a whistle around her neck.

"Stop gossiping and go change," Lightning ordered, pointing to the locker rooms. After the class filled in from the hall and was done changing, they stood in a circle with Lightning in the middle.

"This is A.P.E," she said, walking around the inner circle. Advanced physical education. Here, I'll teach you advanced physical movements."

"And what exactly are 'advanced physical movements.'?" It was the same boy from the class before. He had glowing green eyes and chilling features. His chin was pointed, his long bangs were carefully styled so as not to obscure his vision. "What's your name?" Lightning asked, sizing him up.

"Vex, ma'am. " He suddenly found his respect for her.

"Shut up and let me teach, got it?" She brought her face directly to his. He nodded. "Got it?" she asked louder.

"Yes," he replied.

"Yes? I see you guys don't know how to respect your superiors. So I'll show you what advanced physical education is, and teach you a lesson on respect." She manifested a crystal in her hand and crushed it, teleporting the entire class.

They were brought to what seemed like a dead city. The streets were empty and the lights were off; you could only see what the sun touched.

" At the end of this course is a door that will take you back to the gym." She took off her long sleeved jumper fleece, revealing a gray shirt. She began bouncing on her toes. "What are you waiting for? Get moving!"

The class of students started jogging off. Lightning shook her head. " Pick up the pace!" she yelled. The speed of the group barely changed.

She began to smile as she made another crystal. "Help me teach these guys a lesson." She threw the crystal up, summoning a giant chicken.

'What is that?' Kage thought. He was at the back of the group, pacing himself. Shoku was leading the pack of students. "Guys what is that?" he asked. The group turned around saw the 18-foot chicken; it had silver feathers with green tips.

"This is Shark. He's a chocobo." Lightning jumped on its back. "I forgot to feed him today." The chicken began to run with. The ground shook with every step that the chicken took, his giant talons tearing up the ground.

"BAKAAAAA," it screeched, sprinting after the group. The students began to run full speed as the chicken chased them. They noticed that the allely they were running in came to an end.

"You liar! You said there would be a door," Vex yelled to Lightning. She jumped off the chocobo, returning it back to the crystal. She broke into a full sprint through the students, running up the wall.

"That's why it's called advanced physical movements." Vex said watching her run up the wall.

"You guys might want to hurry. I will leave you here " Lightning sat on top of the Lightning sat on top of the 20-foot wall.

The students stood around until Shoku walked in the opposite direction of the wall.

"Hey, you're going the wrong..."

Shoku turned around and broke into a full sprint, running up the wall, then grabbing the top to pull herself up.

"Way to go!" Lighting patted her on the back.

"How did I do that?" Shoku lay .

"The body can do amazing things when scared, if trained right, it can do those things without fear." The students began doing the same as Shoku until Kage was the last one.

Let's go " Lightning yelled, staring down.

"You can do it Kage " Shoku cheered. The class began to cheer with her. He walked away from the wall and began to sprint. He jumped a few feet running up the wall. He began to lose speed and fall back until he felt a hand grab his.

"I guess that class did teach us some team work " Shoku said, grabbing him and pulling him up.

'She didn't hesitate to help,' Lightning thought. She walked through the crowd and waited on the other side. . She looked down, then gazed back at the students and jumped.

They all gasped, sprinting over to see her running down the wall. "We aren't far from the door," she said, jumping off the wall. She continued running on regular ground towards a portal glowing all white.

The students followed, Shoku leading with Kage next to her. They all jumped onto the other side of the wall, sprinting.

"Kage, who ever makes it there first between us has to pay for lunch,"she said, taking off. Shoku landed on the ground into a full sprint. Kage followed only a few feet behind her.

Lightning waited next to the portal. Shoku began to laugh as she crossed into the portal Kage right behind her.

The duo stumbled into the center of the gym. "Lunch is on you, my friend."

Kage and Shoku met up with Hikari at The Key Cafe. They sat in the oddly placed corner booth, bunched together in the middle.

"Yes, I'll have the corner chopped salad," Shoku ordered politely. Kage slid her a look of regret. She laughed, closing the menu.

"I'll just have some water." Hikari said. The young waitress waited for Kage. Her dark brown hair was pulled back, and she had a pure white shirt and apron on to cover her black pants.

"Oh, I'll have the club sandwich." Kage said placing the menu down. A bell rang as Mizu entered.

"Kage, we have to go talk to the Schools Council about your Keyblade," she said pulling him from the table. Kage pulling out his wallet and placed some munny on the table. Kage and Mizu made their way to the school.

"So where's the council and who are they?" Kage asked opening the door for his mentor. She marched down the hall with Kage following closely.

"The Schools Council is made of 12 elders from 12 worlds." She pointed at elevator."Hop in." Kage stepped inside the elevator, Mizu followed behind him. She pressed the twelfth floor button. "The council oversee everything here and at Hollow Keyblade Academy."

"I forgot there were two schools." Kage said watching the numbers on the pad light up: Seven, eight, nine.

"I've had a few missions with some people there. Their athletic program is far better than our A.P.E." Ten, eleven, twelve.

The elevator dinged as the doors opened, leading to a long white hall to a circular room where figures could be seen sitting at a round high desk.

"Now when we meet the council you have to introduce yourself in a respectful way." She Mizu said as they walked down the hall. They entered a room where they were faced by 12 very different people all sitting high up.

Each one was definitely from a different world; one was a fat slug-like creature; another one, an ape; one was even a spirit with a nice smile. Mizu bowed, pulling Kage down with her. "Greetings, council. My name is Mizu, an senior at Keyblade Academy. We are here to answer your call," she said, rising up. She tapped Kage on the shoulder, prompting him to speak.

"Oh right, I'm Kage," he said. The fat creature began to laugh uncontrollably with his hands on his stomach. Everyone on the council looked at him.

"Jumba's fault," Jumba said, scratching his head. "We don't get much entertainment up here."

"Jumba, we're supposed to be professional here." A lion boomed with a powerful voice. "Mizu." He nodded towards her. "How's Nala?"

"She's doing well. She actually helped me while Kage was getting his keyblade,"Mizu responded.

"Good. I suppose we should introduce ourselves. I'm Simba," he said nodding towards each member as he named them. "Kerchak, Jumba, Athena, Edna."

"Edna Mode!" she corrected.

"Right. Edna Mode, Anubis, Kashekim, The Ghost of Christmas Past but we just call him Past, Lady, Bo, Master Yo, and Grand Pabbie." He said as each one waved and nodded.

"Nice to meet you," Kage said.

"We've called you here because Crypt brought it to our attention you have pneumas around your keyblade," the mighty lion said.

"Kage. Your Keyblade," Mizu said to him, stepping aside. He flicked his hand as the Keyblade appeared along with the pneumas.

"Jumba sees," the fat alien said, descending from the high desk to approach Kage. "Well, they seem harmless." He studied them as they swirled around Kage's Keyblade as they swirled around Kage's keyblade.

"I've never seen so many in one place." Simba commented.

"There are three roaming freely and one caged up. What does that mean?" Kage asked, inspecting the keyblade.

"The legends of pneumas got very twisted over the years. Some say they are the souls of those who owned the keyblade before and passed away in battle. Others say they're just spirits who are looking for a strong person to connect with. Jumba is still not sure."he slug-like creature laughed as he returned to his seat.

"Sadly, Jumba is right. We don't know enough to tell you what they are and why they're there. But as long as they aren't hurting you then we'll just allow them to stay remain," Simba said, looking at the other council members. They each nodded at him. "Alright, you are both dismissed."

Mizu bowed and turned away. Kage stood and stared at the council until he walked away.

"Thank you, council." Mizu said on her way out. Mizu and Kage heard the council whisper as they left.

Mizu walked Kage to his next class. The wandered through the school looking for the classroom."What class were you going to?" Mizu said asked, peeking her head into classrooms.

"If I recall it's Keyblade History," he said replied as they walked walking down the long white hall. He made it to the end where the hall broke into two halls; each one seemed endless. "Isn't there a map of this place?"

"Yes, but they're in certain places," she explained said shamefully.

"I'm going to be super late," Kage complained, said waiting for Mizu to finish searching the rooms. They heard footsteps coming from down the hall. "Oh, maybe we can ask him." A figure emerged from the far end of the hallway.emerged from the far end of the hallway..

"What are you two doing out of class? You left the council room 30 minutes ago." It was Oswald.

"Sorry Master Oswald. We were looking for the Keyblade History room and got lost." Mizu said, bowing.

"Ah, I see." He walked up to a door that Mizu had already checked.

"Master, I've already checked that room," she said respectfully.

"Are you sure?" he asked,asked placing his hand on the doorknob. "Well, with my luck I should be able to open this door…," He turned the knob, "and the room should be Keyblade History."

The door squeaked as Kage and Mizu looked inside. They spotted Shoku and Hikari sitting in the back row. "There we are."

"How did he...?" Kage began, but was cut off by Oswald.

"In you go. Don't want you to miss any more class time." He scooted Kage into the classroom, closing the door behind him. Oswald turned around to look at Mizu.

"Will you ever tell me how you can be so lucky?" she asked, awed

"I can't tell you what I don't know," he said, gesturing for her to come with him. "I have a question."

"Of course, Master. What is it?"

Oswald pulled her closer to whisper in her ear."What did the council say?" He looked around cautiously to make sure nobody was listening.

"They said they didn't know anything about Kage's pneumas." Mizu resumed her previous position, standing straight."Is everything alright?"

"Yes." He tapped his foot and rubbed his chin. "It's just that the council is made of wise people from each world. How could they not know what's causing the pneumas to appear around Kage?"

"They said that the pneumas were harmless."

"The council hasn't always been the most truthful, as you would know." He glared at her.

"I know but that was a long time ago," she shot back.

"Three years…. Three years since they found the Key to universe and sent your brother and his fellow classmates to see what was inside it." He lowered his head. "Three years since I've seen my first class of students."

"They told my parents." She began to choke on her memory. "They said that the Key was unstable." She began to tear up. " And that it turned into a black hole and the class wasn't fast enough to get away."

"I know what they told them. But if it became a black hole, why haven't you heard about it on your travels?" He didn't enjoy talking about this subject. "Why couldn't they show proof of the Key before they sent the class to explore it? Why didn't I see the black hole when I went searching for the class? Why didn't your brother's Keyblade get taken with him? Why did I get a Hollow message from him saying it was too strong? What was too strong?" He began to lash out in tears.

"Why haven't you told me this before?" Mizu's voice shook with pent-up emotion.

"Because the Council told me it would be best if this stayed a secret. They said there is more than just a Key to the universe." He stopped. "But there's a Wielder with it. A weapon like that and Wielder. It took out an entire class of highly trained Keyblade Masters."

"Where is it now?" Mizu began to fill with anger. Oswald turned away. "Where is it, dammit! "

"Listen to me!" Oswald stared her down. "I would love nothing more than to hunt it down and destroy it. But we can't."

"Why not?" Mizu yelled in frustration. A teacher poked his head out the door.

"Everything is fine. Please go back to teaching." Oswald commanded. He waited for the door to close behind the teacher before continuing. "It moves around."

"How did they find it last time?"

"Your brother's Keyblade."

"What about it?" she asked.

"You don't remember it very well?" he asked. Mizu shook her head. "The Council used his pneuma to find the Key."

"Where's his Keyblade?" Oswald flicked his wrist. A Keyblade appeared. It was slim with a diamond tip and a wing forming the ridges. "If you've had it, why didn't you use it to find the key?"

"When your brother disappeared, so did his pneuma," he said, dismissing the keyblade. "The only other person I've seen with them…"

"No! We aren't using Kage to find this thing."

"I know you don't want to, but you won't have a choice. The Council will train him into a fighting machine so he can find and take the Key." He huffed. "I would rather have him find it for me and let me fight it."

"Are you crazy? That thing took out almost 30 Keyblade Masters."

"I know but... I have to try. I can't let their loss be for nothing."

"I can't let you use him like that. I see him as a younger brother." She summoned her keyblade. "I've already lost one to that thing. I'm not losing two."

"You would strike me down? All for a person you've just met?" Oswald asked, shocked.

"I won't strike you down." She paused to gather herself. "But I wont allow you to take him anywhere."

"I understand. But what if he was to come on his own?"

"He's not going to. End of conversation." She dismissed her keyblade, and began to walk away. "Stay away from him." The bell rang, marking the end of the school day and the hall flooded with students.

A few hours passed and Kage sat at the top of the tower where Mizu performed the Keyblade ritual. The sky was jet-black but the stars were so bright. He looked down at the city; the city lights weren't as breathtaking but still beautiful in their own way.

"It's gorgeous isn't it?" A young woman stood next to him as he sat. "Key City. Full of life unlike Hollow Town." She had a alluring voice.

Kage gazed at her delicate features. She had bright blonde hair and dusty green eyes, and she wore a white trench coat and shorts that stopped at the top of her knee. He swallowed his shyness at being so close to a beautiful woman.

"Yes, it really is. Are you from Hollow Academy?" He asked. Standing up, he was a little taller than she was.

"Yep. My name is Ellura."

"I'm Kage. How are things at your school?"

"Besides the intense athletics program, it's alright." She walked closer to the edge.

"I heard that you guys get worked harder than us." Kage laughed shyly.

"What does that mean?" she snapped without turning around.

"Oh nothing just a joke… a very stupid joke." He rubbed the back of his head. She turned around to face him, and summoned a scythe with a bright yellow blade. Flowers appeared with the scythe. "What are you doing?" Kage backed away.

"All day they talked about the difference between a hollow keyblade master and a regular keyblade master." She came closer to him. "I want to see the difference with my own eyes… if that's ok with you?"

"I'm not really supposed to fight on school grounds." He continued to back away.

"It won't take long just a friendly sparring match." She raised her weapon. Kage fell as she swung.

A clash of steel was heard. Kage looked up to see Shoku blocking the attack with her Keyblade. The two tried to overpower each other until Shoku kicked Ellura way.

"Not bad. who's this, your girlfriend?" Ellora smiled.

"Kage, who is this psycho path?" Shoku asked, readying her stance.

"She's from Hollow Keyblade Academy. She said she wanted to spar with a real Keyblade wielder." Kage stood up.

"If you're looking for a fight," Shoku pointed her keyblade at the stranger. "I'll be your opponent."

"Shoku, you don't..." Kage began.

"Oh really? You're going to let your girlfriend do your fighting?" Ellura laughed, gripping her scythe with both hands. "So be it."

"I'm not his girlfriend!" Shoku insisted, charging Ellura. Shoku pulled her keyblade back as she was inches away from Ellura.

"You're mine..." She started advancing until Ellura had her scythe's blade in front of Shoku and the staff behind her head.

"You're slow." Ellura stood behind Shoku, whispering in her ear.

'How did she move that fast?' Kage thought.

"How?" Shoku grunted.

"I can read you like a book. I can see that neither of you are a match for me." She dismissed her weapon and walked towards Kage. She leaned in close to whisper in his ear. "I'll see you around Kage."

Shoku ran up to Kage, and the two of them watched the other girl saunter down the stairs, hips swaying.

"What did she say?" Shoku demanded.

"Nothing, I promise," Kage laughed. Shoku began to yell at him for being out by himself. 'Just another day' Kage thought.

END

Author's note: Sorry I took so long to get chapter 3 posted I had some horrible writers block on top of football practice. I would like to give a major shout out to my beta isharaine. You're so amazing thank you so much for all your help and support.