Disclaimer: any characters owned by Square Enix are not my own, only characters owned by me are my OC's. please ask for permission to use any of my OC's.
"Blast, just more failed attempts. Creating Nobody's at this rate is impossible, maybe it's my materials. I've destroyed their hearts and created a shell with a soul, in theory it should have formed a Nobody. Is it possible that Heartless and there Nobody form have a symbiotic relationship." D-Report 7
Chapter 9: Return to Radiance
The sun began to wake over the sleepy garden of radiance; men, women and children slowly wake for a brand new day, but there was one girl already bright and early. The streets were paved in shadows casted off from the houses that loomed over, Maia sprinted through the shadows and brief glimpse of orange sunlight. Maia's smile was as bright as the sun as she ran through the streets; a middle aged man crept out of his house in his stripped pyjamas and knelt down to pick up a bottle of milk. As he knelt down, he heard someone call out to him from down the streets "HEEEEEYY, MISTER WATTSON. GOOD MORNING", it was Maia calling out to him as she ran under an archway. Maia soon quickly ran past Mr Wattson as they both waved at each other, Wattson grin turned into a huge smile as he waved "aaah Maia, good morning my dear", he continued to wave until she left his sight. Mr Wattson then turned to his house with his bottle of milk and cried out to the misses "heeey Sally, guess whose back?" he chuckled as he closed the door.
Maia couldn't contain her excitement as she giggled to herself; it had been quite a while since she had visited her family...her friends. Maia was filled with joy as she ran to the railings that borderline the cliff that loomed over a part of town, her pace came to a quick halt as she braced herself against the cold railings. The view was magnificent, she could see the entire town from there, Maia smiled as the wind blew through her hair and she watched as the sun's rays shined over the sleepy town. A couple of leaves were dancing in the wind as Maia pointed towards the town "I bet big brother is there" she said with exhilaration, the trees and there branches swayed to and fro as Maia rushed off again to find a way into town.
Maia soon came across a set of stairs that curved along the cliff edge into town, in a hurry she decided to mount the railings and slide her way down. Maia laughed as she bumped over segments of the railings as she went down, a young couple for an early stroll up the cliff soon saw Maia in the distance. The couple watched Maia as she slid passed them and said "good morning" as she went by, the couple looked at each other and the young woman smiled and laughed "it's good to see Maia again", the young man smiled and nodded in agreement.
Maia soon reached the bottom of the stairs and jumped off at the last second, Maia landed on her feet with a pose but soon rubbed her behind to try and remove the numb feeling she got from the railings. The bare streets soon began to get busy as children ran out of their homes in excitement as their mothers followed behind; they began to talk in delight with other mothers, talking about their children and their day to day activities. The husbands soon left the house as well and waved their wives goodbye as they headed off to work.
Maia envied them; she never got the family she wanted she thought. But such thoughts quickly went by since her new family was with her friends, and with that she walked off through the streets of mothers and children passing by. The street got brighter as the sun rose higher in the sky and the trees that lined in the middle soon barely waved as the wind died down. The brown and orange leaves that coated the trees broke off and danced around Maia as she walked under the branches.
Maia exited the street and into a well-known place to her heart, a fountain stood in the centre as houses circled around the street and the cafe Mrs Potts came into view. Maia sighed with a smile as she watched Mrs Potts open and set up her cafe, Maia had many memories there and most of them included sweet tantalizing delights.
Maia wished she could visit but she had to meet her family first. As the streets of mothers and husbands soon died down and only a handful of people remained, Maia rushed off in the direction of her heart. She ran passed many citizens along the way as she said a good morning to each of them as she went by, the happy people waved back as she went by. Maia soon slowed her pace and came to a halt, she bent over and rested her hands on her knees as she tried to catch her breath "not far to go now" she thought,
After a few minutes of running, Maia soon saw a large building that quickly came into view; the house was decorated with baskets of flowers that hanged near the wooden door and the large tall windows on both floors that had small railings at the bottom. Maia laughed as she cried out "big brother, big brother" as she burst through the wooden door; Maia opened her arms wide as she grabbed the first person she saw. It was a young man with a light shade of brown short hair with bangs that sweep to the left side of his face, he had black gloves, black, zipper-lined shoes, a silver necklace, a white undershirt with a short black jacket and white fur collar and brown belts on his left forearm and three buckles on his right thigh. The young man was also clearly taller than Maia as her feet dangled in the air as she held on tightly with her arms around his shoulders and hands on his chest. Maia giggled and laughed as she cried out "big brother Leon".
Leon reacted in shock when Maia had pounced on her and stuttered a few words in confusing "M-Maia I-is that you", Maia laughed and confirmed his suspicions but her sight soon gazed upon the light pink haired woman opposite Leon. Maia sniggered as she moved closer to Leon's ear with a sly face "is that your girlfriend" she sniggered, Leon's face blushed red and he tried quickly to bring back his calm composure while the pink girl opposite him broke a smile, "N-No, t-this is Lightning... (Huff) a friend of mine" he tried to convince her.
Maia dropped off Leon's shoulders and manoeuvred around him and greeted herself to Lightning. She was a young woman with long, light pink hair and pale aqua-coloured eyes. A white jacket like uniform with brown belts fastened around it and light brown shorts, she had navy blue fingerless gloves, black boots and a green palindrome on her left shoulder.
After greeting herself to Lightning, Leo grabbed Maia by her right shoulder and asked with concern "Maia, where have you been. It's been over a month since any of us had last seen you. We have been so worried for you". Maia walked a few steps away from Leon and Lightning and spun around with her hands behind her back and simply replied in a casual way "oh you know how it is, my master gave me a call and wanted me to be somewhere... and now I'm here".
Leon sighed as he placed his hand on his head, Maia just smiled all innocently; she knew she couldn't tell him the truth, how could she explain to him that she gained an affinity to dark powers and has befriended the heartless. She especially couldn't tell him about the heartless she thought, not after what they did to Radiant Garden in the past. Maia's smile soon disappeared as her thoughts were on the heartless, why did she befriend them, was it because they saved her or was it more?
As Maia fell into deep thought, a sudden movement and weight appeared in her hands behind her back. Maia's train of thought broke as the thing wriggled more in her hands; she slowly looked over her shoulder and tried to get a look and not to look suspicious. Maia twitched as a shiver shook through her body, she turned to Leon and Lightning with a fake smile and laugh. The thing in her hands was a Shadow heartless, she must of summoned it when she thought deeply about them.
The heartless wriggled as she tried to conceal it away from the others; Leon soon grew suspicious of her behaviour and slowly moved towards Maia "what have you got in your hands Maia?" he asked, "n-nothing" Maia quickly replied as she slowly walked backwards into a wall. Leon looked at Maia with curiosity as he reached for her arm, as he grabbed her arm Maia cringed as he pulled.
Maia slowly opened her eyes and saw Leon staring at her hands...there was nothing there! Maia was relieved but quickly became concerned to where Shadow went. "Erm, the reason why I didn't want y-you to see my hands w-was...was..." she quickly replied while looking behind Leon to find Shadow "...my hands were dirty... yeah and so's my face, I haven't had a decent shower in ages" she lied.
Leon just smiled as he shook his head in relief, "for a second there you had me worried" he sighed, as Leon spoke to Maia her attention was beginning to fixate near Lightning. Behind Lightning were a cluttered desk and a mobile blackboard, and on the blackboard was Shadow.
Maia cringed again as she watched Shadow jump on the desk and move closer to Lightning but suddenly a loud crash rand through the air. A young girl had burst through the front window and landed on her feet as she shattered glass rained on the floor. She has short, black hair, her eyes were violet and she wore a black headband with white lining. She wears an unzipped, dark grey combat vest with a black strap dangling from the right pocket overtop a navy blue tank top with white floral designs. She wears a white wristband on her right wrist and a grey, fingerless glove on her left arm. Her shorts are slightly darker and have another black strap dangling from the left side.
"Yuffie!" cried out Leon as Lightning and Maia braced from shock. Yuffie readied her 4-Point Shuriken weapon as she cried out to Lightning "watch out, it's a heartless". Lightning and Leon brought out there respected weapons and pointed them at Shadow who quickly leapt off the table.
Yuffie, who was closer to the creature, tried to hit it with her shuriken but missed and the heartless ran out the front door. Lightning, Yuffie and Leon gave chase while Maia stood perfectly still and slapped her face with the palm of her hand "I knew that heartless looked familiar" she silently spoke "it was the same one from deep jungle".
Maia gave chase after the other three but as soon as she left the front door, she couldn't see where the others went. Maia sulked as she thought it was hopeless now, that was until she felt something deep inside her, calling her to head towards the Bailey. Trusting on her instincts with a hand placed over her heart she ran in the direction of the Bailey and hoped she'd make it in time.
To save time, Maia ran down a narrow alley and jumped from wall to wall until she reached the roof tops. Standing tall on the slanted roofs, Maia looked for the direction of the Bailey. As soon as she got her Barings, she ran across the roofs of houses.
Her shoes barely gripping on the tiles as she leapt from one house to another, her speed steadily increased as she made a large jump over the street. Maia soon noticed her friends in hot pursuit of the heartless down below her in the street; Yuffie kept missing as she threw her shuriken and lightning grazed the pavement with her bullets fired from her crimson gunblade, Leon just held his massive gun like sword over his shoulder as he ran.
After a long chase around town, Leon and the others lost the heartless at the Bailey. Maia soon caught up to them and was relieved to find them disappointed, she knew from that expression they didn't catch Shadow. Maia walked along the Bailey and her eyes caught glimpses of the valley through the small openings in the wall, she recognised the great maw in the distance; it was the site of the battle of the 1000 heartless. Maia remembered Leon had once told her that a lone boy with a Keyblade had faced the heartless in battle and was the main reason they had won, it was that story that convinced Maia to be stronger.
Leon turned to the others and Maia and suggested that they should head back. As Maia followed behind, her sense towards darkness tingled. Maia turned her head slightly and looked at a gap in the wall, hanging outside of the gap was Shadow; Maia smiled as Shadow disappeared into darkness.
After a long walk, the group returned to their home; the restoration committee centre. The sun hanged high in the sky and the breeze felt cool and refreshing. Maia was chilling out with Leon and Yuffie, talking about the progress over the last month since her sudden disappearance "...and that' all the progress we've made so far. To summarise, all that's left is the restoration of Ansems castle, any questions" asked Leon.
Maia was too busy to pay any attention to what Leon had to say, she was busy eating her sea salt ice-cream that she bought along the way here. Leon just sighed and shook his head "Maia" he groaned, Maia soon noticed that Lightning was missing and leapt off the wooden stool she was sitting on and crept closer to Leon, she nudged her shoulder against his arm while playfully asking "hey Leon" "what" he groaned "I noticed your girlfriend isn't here, did you two have a falling out" she sniggered. Yuffie laughed at the gesture while Leon look half as amused, Maia took a bite of her ice-cream and laughed as she ran out the door. Leon sighed as he asked "what am I going to do with her, it's only been a few hours and she's already pestering me", Yuffie smiled as she replied back "you know it's a good thing that she's grown attached to you, (chuckle) she even calls you big brother". Leon sighed some more and crossed his arms, then something accord to him "oh Yuffie" "hmm" she replied "its Maia's birthday next week, do you think you can keep her here till then. I don't want here running off for a while" he asked, Yuffie smiled at Leon and asked curiously "are you going to do anything special", Leon didn't reply; he just smiled.
After a long day of visiting the town and the occasional sweet store, the sun was creeping towards the horizon as Maia was running through the streets and shadows from the leaves on the trees glittered over the pavement. Maia eventually stopped in front of a small house and she gazed upon it, her eyes twinkled as she chewed on the ice-cream stick. Maia slowly walked up to the door, her shadow casted upon the door as she grabbed the door knob and opened it.
The door creaked as it opened; the light shinned through the open door brightened up a dark and dreary room. The room was dusty with a single wooden table in the centre, a fireplace in the back, a bookshelf with piles of books and notes in front of it; a staircase to her left and to her right was a stove oven. It wasn't much but it was home... her home.
Maia walked in and closed the door behind her, the room turned dark as she removed her boots and put them in the corner, the only light was coming through the two windows at the back on each side of the fireplace. Maia looked around the room and noticed several candles that she'd placed previously to light her house, she raised her hand and casted fira at each candle. The small flames burned and illuminated the room, flecks of dust singed as they touched the flames as Maia headed towards her fireplace. In front of a traditional brick fireplace, Maia knelt down and picked up some wood from the small pile next to it and threw them into place. With a flick of her spell, she lit the fire and it burned brightly; the heat glowed onto Maia as the wood crackled and snapped; Maia looked beautiful in the glow of the fire.