Only Aya is my creation.

Okay, so now she's home and all is well... which means it's time for me to unfold the next part of the plot! Here we go...

X: Teachers, Books, and Very Dirty Looks

It had been a week since Aya disappeared. School had started, and all the friends were attending Hikari High: Destiny Islands. The fact that her new school was merely a branch of her old school located on the islands helped Aya feel much more at home.

Aya walked the halls with Cloud, Kairi, and Leon. The sophomores shared the same lunch, while their friends had a separate lunch time. On their way to the cafeteria, Aya bumped into a teacher.

"Sorry," she said timidly. The woman turned and glared at Aya. She was tall, with very short black hair. Her long, thin limbs were completely covered in black clothes and she wore a purple jacket.

"Watch it, girl." She hissed as she turned and walked on her way.

"Ouch..." Leon commented.

"What's her problem?" Cloud asked rhetorically. They didn't realize that Aya had stopped walking. She was still a few feet behind them, staring in the direction in which the woman had left.

Aya could not make herself move. Her stomach twisted at the sight of that ghastly teacher, and her mind was awash with thoughts of those terrible green eyes. Just that one look from the woman had put Aya into a trance-like state.

"Aya?" A voice in her ear and a hand on her shoulder startled her. She swung around, and Cloud took a few curls to the face. "Woah, calm down." He said.

"Oh, you scared me..." She breathed. "Never mind... let's go." She pushed him in the direction of the cafeteria.

After they ate, Kairi and Aya went to their next class: Science.

As they entered the room, Kairi elbowed Aya and giggled.

"Check out the dorky-looking teacher!" Kairi couldn't stop giggling. Aya paid no attention until she was in her seat.

Just her luck. Their substitute was the woman from earlier. As she turned to address the class, she threw Aya a quick, unnerving glare. Aya breathed in sharply and held her breath. Kairi nudged her.

"She's got problems... Why did she look at you like that?"

"I... I h-have no... idea..." Aya stuttered nervously.

"Class! Listen to me!" A poison-soaked, smoky voice resonated throughout the room. Everyone was immediately silent. "I am Mr. Hullom's substitute today." Everyone sighed. Mr. Hullom, who insisted that all his students call him Kei, was the coolest teacher in the school. "Hush! Now... You may call me Ms. Lily. Your teacher has left you an assignment on the board. Get to work, and NO TALKING!" She sat down in Mr. Kei's chair like she was royalty, and she flipped open an ancient looking book, reading it intently.

Everyone reached for their books, while Aya remained motionless. Her stomach was churning and her mind was racing with blurry flashbacks and suspicions of who the teacher was. She began to feel her temperature rising and her vision became smoky. Before she could ask to leave, she fainted and fell limp on the ground.

"Ah! Aya!" Kairi pushed her books aside and knelt on the ground. She tried to help Aya up, but she was just dead weight. One of the boys in the class lifted her up instead.

"Ms. Lily! Aya fainted!" Kairi yelled across the room.

"Bloody troublemaker... Fine. Take her to the nurse." The teacher huffed, her green eyes piercing Kairi's thoughts.

What a creep... Kairi thought. What's with her...?

Kairi and the boy, Riley, took Aya to the nurse, where she was laid on a bed and tended to. Kairi kept changing the wet cloth on Aya's forehead until she came to.

"Aya, can you hear me?" She said softly.

"Kai... Where's Cloud?" She asked. Kairi was not the least bit surprised that she asked for Cloud.

"Not here. You want me to go get him?" Her only response was a weak nod.

Kairi left the room, and moments later, she returned with a nervous and worried Cloud.

"Aya? Are you okay?" He asked, taking her hand in his impulsively.

"I think so..." Her words were barely audible. "It was that woman..."

"Who? Who did this to you?" He asked, becoming angry at whoever hurt his Aya.

"The woman... from earlier... the hallway..." She mumbled parts of her sentence.

"The one who you bumped into, the rude sub?" Cloud was getting somewhere. A weak nod from Aya.

"That weird Lily lady? She creeps me out! What did she do to you Aya?"

"Her eyes... The cave... She did it." Was all Aya could say before her weakness got the better of her.

"That's it, I've heard enough. I'm taking her to my house, you can tell the others after school. This woman obviously has something to do with Aya's disappearance last week. We have to keep her away from Aya." Cloud scooped up Aya and stormed out of the nurses' office to the Ambulance.

"Hey, you can't-" One of the nurses tried to stop him, but was met with a door slamming in her face.

Once at his house, Cloud laid Aya in his bed and made sure she was comfortable before fixing her something to eat. Once she awoke, he sat with her and tried to figure out the situation.

After talking for awhile, he concluded that the woman posing as a substitute somehow forced Aya into those caves and tried to hurt her, but Aya was obviously too strong. Posing as a substitute was her plan to get closer to Aya and try to hurt her, maybe even kill her.

"What is her name? Do you know her name?" Cloud talked clearly, because Aya was still groggy and her senses were blurred.

"M... Something with an M... Muh... Mah... A long name..." She tried her hardest to remember.

"It's okay, take your time... An M? Marie... Marla..."

"Maleficent." Aya said the name once before passing out again.

I couldn't wait to get this out... I'm gonna wait to post until Sunday I think... but... DUN DUN DUN!!! Shocker? Maybe you saw it coming? But anyways... What does Maleficent want with Aya, you ask? Good question. Keep tuning in to find out! Review, review, review! Arigato and Sayonara!

-VarekaiSoleil