I learned the importance of taking good class notes today. And not doodling pictures all over them. How old am I again? Do not draw and write fanfiction in your notes. I'm serious.

"But that's impossible." Riku said, shaking his head. "I mean it's a holiday. It can't just disappear."

"Unfortunately, it can." Santa Claus said, sighing.

Sora dropped from the wall and fell to the ground with a thud. "Ow..." He slowly got back up. "Okay...New plan." He held his keyblade infront of himself. "Uh guys, do you have a plan?"

Jack scratched his skull. "Hm...Nothing comes to mind, Sora."

Riku looked around. 'I'll worry about Christmas later. Right now, we have to get rid of this thing.'He looked at the Pumpkin King. " , why don't you try scaring it?"

Jack looked at Riku. " I guess I could give it a shot, but..."

"But you're the Pumpkin King, right? If anyone can do it, it's you."

"You're right! " Jack said, finding new resolve. "I'll do it!"

- .

Roxas yawned and then winced when a pencil sharpener hit him in the back of the head. "Ouch!" He heard Hayner snicker and turned classroom was mostly quiet, as a movie played on large screen. With the lights off it was hard to see anything, save for passersby at the doors.

The room's back door was slightly ajar. Olette waved at him fthrough the door's window.

His friends were ditching. A smile crossed his face. He glanced at his snoring teacher and then slowly got out of his chair. It wasn't long before Roxas and his friends were downtown, catching a matinee flick. Pence had bribed his brother to pick them up from school, and sneaking out had been no problem. It wasn't too cold today, and no snow could be seen. After grabbing a few snacks from the concession stand, they headed into a theatre. A super hero movie was about to start. There was hardly anyone in the room, let alone the whole building. Roxas was glad. 'This is just the kind distraction he needed.

halfway through the movie Roxas found himself feeling drowsy. Still, the fear he had felt was long gone. The flick wasn't all the geat anyway, and the run time was around two hours anyway. He could take a quick nap.

Roxas was having that dream again. A pure white room, drawings taped to the walls. Had he had such a dream before? It seemed new, yet familiar. He was certain he had seen those drawings before. 'Maybe its another repressed memory.' He thought bitterly. His parents had removed his memories before. How could he be sure of what happened and did not happen?

He sat in a little white chair. It was too small for was sitting at a table too short for him. It was littered with sketch paper and crayons. He started doodling.

"Oh. You're here."

He looked up. A blonde girl in a white dress sat across from him. She sat with in another small chair. Her eyes were focused on the sketchbook in her lap.

"Hi." He said, glancing at her. "What's new?" He knew this girl. They had met eons ago.

"Nothing. How was school today?" She asked.

He thought that was odd. Hadn't she been there?

"Didn't you go today?"

She tensed up, then shrugged her shoulders. "I'm the one asking questions here."

He smiled. "You always are, Namine."

He frowned again. School? Wasn't he just there? Did he just-

Namine stood. "Let's have tea?"

He relaxed again. "Yeah. "

Suddenly she was pouring tea into two cups. A plate of cookies sat in the middle of the table. Roxas thought they looked good, but knew he couldn't have any. He frowned yet again. Why was that?

"Because it's a dream." A voice said.

Suddenly there was a boy standing behind Namine. Roxas couldn't tell who it was, but he could make out dark hair and golden eyes from under the hooded cloak. Eyes he realised, that reminded him of someone else.

Namine stood and faced the boy. She stretched her arms out, as if to shield Roxas. "You can't take him from here, Vanitas."

'Vanitas' shoved her out of the way. "Quiet, witch."

Something was very wrong.

Darkness began to grow in the corners of the room.

"Stop it!" Namine yelled.

It was a dream.

The walls began to shake. Roxas was waking up .

Roxas looked around. What if the strange man appeared again.

"I gotta wake up. " Roxas said, standing up. His chair disappeared. He ran for the door . There wasn't one.

Vanitas laughed. "You can't escape the witch's room. There's only one way out ."

Roxas felt the walls. They were strangely cold. 'Why can I feel it if it's a dream?'

Vanitas laughed. "It's not a dream, it's a nightmare."

- .

Sora swung his keyboard again. "Firaga!"

The beast growled, and Sora aimed his attack at its mouth. Fire began to spread through the beast, making it glow from the inside out. It hissed and howled in pain, rolling around on the ground. Soon it began to grow in size.

Jack shook his skull."Oh dear." He produced a umbrella made of bones and cobwebs from thin air. "It looks like we're due for a shower. "

"Take cover!" Santa commanded. "Clear the streets!"

Riku ducked behind a lamppost. "Wait.."

The beast exploded with a brilliant light. Glittering dust fell upon the town, like snow. "Wow." Sora said. "That was a lot prettier than I thought it would be."

Riku looked at his grandfather. "Well, now that that's over, what's this about Christmas disappearing?"

- .

Roxas shouted. He found himself standing up in a movie theater. His friends stared at him in confusion.

"What the heck Roxas?" Hayner said.

Pence laughed. "The special effects aren't that bad."

Olette patted his arm. "Did you fall asleep? "

Roxas didn't have time to explain. He had to leave. Soon he has tunning out of theatre at top speed. These dreams were getting too weird. As he turned the corner, he bumped into a older gentleman.

"Sorry, sir." Roxas said, before he saw the man's face. And then he froze. It was him.

Xehanort laughed. "Nothing to be worried about, son."

- .

They gathered in the back of Santa's workshop, in front of a large snowglobe.

"Before Christmas, December was a time of darkness, much like Halloween. However, it was much more sinister. We call it the age of Krampus. Krampus was a evil monster that devoured bad children cold winter nights. As the age of illumination began, people began to drive him out by lightning their homes. With the light came a feeling of joy, and with joy came triumphs and soon the holidays."

"But, The nature of Christmas has changed." Santa said. "What was once a day of good feeling has becone a season of shopping, anxiety, and disappointment. It is those feelings that will bring us to a second coming of Krampus. I believe that the monster thst just attacked was a sign of what is yet to come. "

"So what do we do?" Riku asked.

"I have asked that many times. And in my search for a answer I found this." Santa Claus waved his hand and the snow globe showed them a image.

It was a large illustration made of stained glass: a figure in a crimson cloak with white fur trim, surrounded by smaller designs of Christmas motifs; sugarpums, holly, poinsettas. Underneath it there was a inscription: The First Noel.

"Who is that? " Sora asked.

"According to Yen Sid, there is a prophecy called advent of holly. It marks the appearance of a figure called Noel."

"What happens exactly? " Riku said, looking at the figure.

"The mortal world is blanketed in despair, as Krampus rises. But, pure white snow will break through the dark as Noel fills hearts with light. With these monsters appearing, I believe that Krampus will soon appear."

"Even if he does, Noel is supposed to appear. " Sora said. "So there's no problem right? "

"Actually..." Santa said, looking at Riku. "I was hoping that Noel was already here."

Riku looked at the ground. "Sorry, but I'm just as scowl."

"But you can change! " Sora exclaimed. "I don't think you're a scowl or a humbug Riku. I think you just need the right person to scare you, or the right present."

"I don't think the right present is going to cut it Sora." Riku sighed. "I don't think I've had the Christmas spirit since I was little. And even then, it was just..."

"Just what?" Sora frowned. Riku seemed really sad.

"It's nothing." Riku shook his head. "There's nothing I can do here, so I'm going home."

He began to walk away.

"Wait young man!" Jack said. "It's dangerous to go alone." He pushed Sora infront of him.

"Jack's right! I'll come with you!"

Soon Riku and Sora were walking back through the woods in silence.

Sora walked with his hands behind his head. True, he didn't get to ask what he wanted, but as soon as Riku was taken home, he could go back.

Riku shuffled through the snow, staring ahead. He wasn't sure why he had wanted to go to Christmas town in the first place.

"I was hoping that Noel was already here."

Noel. He now understood his Grandfather gave him that name. He had been hoping Riku was The First Noel all along.

'But I failed him.' Riku thought. 'I didn't even believe in him, so how could I ever replace him?"

They had entered the mortal world by that point. A golden sunrise covered the sky. Riku wondered how long they had been home.

"I'm going home now." Sora said. "Don't be sad, okay?"

Riku nodded. He entered his empty house without saying a word.

Sora continued his journey to the Burton home.

As he approached the hill, he noticed the blinking lights of a police car outside his home. Confused he continued upward, and met Ventus at the front door. A woman with bright pink hair in a tan trenchcoat was taking notes while her silver haired assistant asked Ventus questions. The three of them looked at Sora as he approached.

The pink haired woman spoke first. "You must be the other Burton boy, Sora. I am Detective Farron of the Radiant Garden police. I'm investigating your brother's disappearance."

Sora blinked. "Huh?"

Her assistant looked put off. "Don't be so forward, Light. Oh, I'm Hope, her assistant. "

"Disappeared?" Sora repeated. "Did you say disappeared?"

Ventus nodded. "Roxas went to the movies with his friends yesterday. Apparently he ran off during the film. No one has seen him since."

"And where were you yesterday?" Detective Farron said, crossing her arms.

Sora wasn't sure how to answer that question. He looked at Ventus. "..."

"Sora was visiting his other family." Ventus explained. "The one that raised him during his...disappearance. "

"There are quite a few disappearances too many as far as I'm concerned." Detective Farron said, looking at Sora with a curious yet emotionless gaze.

Sora squirmed. 'She's kind of like Riku...Kinda serious but scary. But...also determined.'

"Can you think of any reason Roxas would leave, Sora?" Hope asked. "And, my cousin Riku for that matter?"

"Riku?" Sora asked. "Riku Depp?"

"Yup, that's the one." Hope said. "No one has seen him either. "

"Actually, I just saw him. He's-"

Ventus shook his head franctically.

"Uh...he's. ..."

Detective Farron looked at Ventus, who looked off into the distance.

"Let's go Hope, he might be home." She said, staring.

"Okay..." Hope replied. " I haven't seen him in awhile. "

"Don't worry, ." She said. "I will get to the bottom of this. " With that, Detective Farron walked back to her car, flanked by her assistant. They drove down the hill, headed for the Depp residence.

There... Thanks for reading. New chapter coming doon. I swear...

Did you like the new characters? I didn't call her by first nsme but that was Lightning and Hope from Final Fantasy 13.