It all made sense to Link. He'd always felt alienated, wherever he was. Knowing that he wasn't from this Earth was a relief. He didn't know his exact past, just that he used to explore and fight monsters.

Oh, and he was connected to Zelda. He didn't know the exact connection, but there was a reason he found her so pleasant to be around.

Neither of them had changed much in physical appearance. The only major change was their ears becoming even more elven. He supposed they both looked a little more cartoony, but compared to the people around them, nothing much had changed.

Their clothes were a different story, however. Zelda was dressed in a pinkish red dress with a white shawl and various belts and a blue… towel? hanging off her waist. Link was dressed in a blue tunic with khaki pants and giant boots. He looked fucking ridiculous, that's how he looked.

"I was a princess…" Zelda whispered to herself. She looked up at Link. "And you… you were my protector."

Protector. It seemed odd, considering he'd never been close to anyone. Who'd have thought some Ohio drifter would have been someone important in another life?

Many people weren't as lucky as he was. He heard wails and roars as people around him became monsters, demons. Zelda looked at him with tears in her eyes.

"I'm sure you're all wondering about your pasts. You will be given devices that have your backstory, your powers, and anything that can help you." One of the large floating hands… spoke? It was more like telepathy. "You see, you all once lived in your own worlds, but that all changed when my brother, Crazy Hand, decided he was bored. He went from world to world, rallying villains in order to upset the balance. He caused a shift in all realities, moving everyone here. The villains now have power, control here, while you were stuck living as human teenagers. Luckily, I've found a way to get all of you here so that you can hone your skills."

"Do you think they enchanted the invitations to make everyone accept?" Zelda whispered. "Or are some people not here?" Link just shrugged.

"Luckily, we have time before the villains start to really wreak havoc on this world. They won't catch on to our school for a while given the special enchantments. This school is our little secret." Link wasn't sure how the hand winked, but it did. "To the outside world, I'm known as Principal Ninten. However, you all can refer to me as Master Hand."

What the hell kind of name was that? Then again, everything was bonkers here. A sentient giant hand was the least of his worries.

"After this is all over, you will be free to return to your normal teenage lives. However, there will always be a place for you here at Ninten High." Master Hand disappeared into a puff of smoke. Isabelle, who was now a small round dog who walked on two legs, came up to the mic and dismissed everybody back to their homerooms.

"You know, Isabelle really is adorable." Zelda smiled a little bit, trying to lighten the mood. Everyone around them was still processing everything: their stories, their new bodies, the fact that their teachers were also weird creatures.

When they got back to their homeroom, Mr. Waluigi seemed even more exaggerated. How that was possible, Link had no clue. He handed each person their tablet as they came in.

"Is it bad that I don't want to look?" Zelda asked as they sat down. "Like, what if I find out I did some awful stuff in my other life?" She ran her thumb along the back.

Link unlocked it with his fingerprint. Luckily, it was divided into sections: Abilities, Backstory, Connections, School, Social. He showed it to Zelda, who sighed with relief. He understood; he didn't want to look at his past either.

His first stop was Abilities. In the tab were various moves he could use, weapon proficiencies, and a few magic spells that he could use. He'd take a closer look at it later, but he did notice that his main weapon was a sword. It made sense, to a degree. He was always fascinated by fencing and the like, even if he'd never gotten to actually do it.

He completely skipped over Backstory. That tab may stay unopened forever.

Connections also seemed risky, but he decided to open it anyway. Maybe there were other people here who he used to know? At the very top of the list was a literal pig of a man named Ganon. A red warning sign was next to his name, indicating that he was one of the villains that Crazy Hand had recruited. Ganon was apparently a powerful, destructive man who brought darkness and chaos wherever he went. Link and Zelda, along with the help of others, were always the ones to take him down. There was also some Triforce stuff that he didn't even pretend to understand. It was probably explained better in his backstory.

Zelda was the second highest on the list. It didn't disclose the exact nature of their relationship, only that they were bonded by the Triforce. He glanced over at her, and she seemed to be reading through her abilities.

There were a few more people listed, including: Impa, who was actually a teacher here; Paya, a young woman with a very shy expression; Midna, who looked like she'd be queen of the goths in real life; Malon, a girl who had a fondness for horses; Mipha, a shark girl; and Sidon, another shark, but this one was… strangely hot. How a fucking shark was hot to him, he had no clue. There were more, too, but he honestly couldn't get over the shark thing.

"How much does the 'Connections' tab give away?" Zelda asked, finger hovering over the screen.

Link shrugged. "Hot sharks, apparently."

"What?"

"Just brief descriptions," He corrected himself.

"Good. I wouldn't want to spoil things, but at the same time, I'd like to have friends, you know?" Zelda smiled faintly. "Though, I suppose I could also make friends with new people too."

Link nodded along. He wasn't super into the whole friend thing, but people like Zelda needed, well, more people.

He heard a scream, and turned around to see a cartoonish looking girl in a pink dress pointing at the teacher. Wait, was that that girl from earlier?

"You're a villain!" She yelled.

0-0-0-0-0

Peach didn't want to admit she was terrified, but Mr. Waluigi was right there at the top of her list. He was a villain. She knew it, even before the book, but now… it was actually true.

The entire class looked at her, causing her to blush. "S-seriously, it says it right here!" She showed off her tablet.

Mr. Waluigi sighed. "Technically, yes, but…" He grumbled a little. "I was left behind by the others. Apparently, the occasional sabotage of sports games with you all is considered villainy."

"Sports games?"

"You, I, and the rest of our world used to get together and play various sports. Tennis, golf, basketball, that sort of thing." He leaned back against the chalkboard and sighed. "Even your main villain Bowser. We could all set aside our differences to have fun. You'd know this if you actually read my file before assuming the worst."

Peach narrowed his eyes. "Surely Bowser can't be that bad, then."

Mr. Waluigi shook his head. "He was just lonely so he kidnapped you a bunch."

She took a step back, eyes widening. "And what did he do?"

"Put you in a cage and taunt Mario with you. You were never in any real danger." Mr. Waluigi pinched the bridge of his weird nose. "He'll be the easiest to get on our side. He just seems like he wants power and friends."

Peach relaxed a little bit, but still felt unnerved. "Fine, okay. Just… don't try any weird stuff, okay?"

Mr. Waluigi sighed. "Now, if there aren't going to be any distractions, we need to go over the rules before I send you to your next class." He started going over the rules in his awful voice.

Peach had already looked them over. They seemed pretty standard: attendance was mandatory, no doing illegal stuff, no fighting. Easy enough. She was usually the type to skip boring classes, but with all the weird shit going on, nothing was going to be boring.

Except for the rule speech, but those were always boring.

She got on her tablet and went to the social tab. It seemed to be similar to Facebook Messenger without all the ads. The only real difference were the chatrooms at the top. All three of them were empty, so Peach ignored them. She decided to search up Daisy and Marth and messaged them both with a [Hi!], including a kiss emoji afterward.

[Hey, pretty gal~] Daisy responded after a moment.

[I'm sitting right next to you. Why message me on here?] Marth's reply was only a moment later.

[So borrrred] to Daisy, then a [can't risk whispering. don't wanna get punished by /that/ creep]

[you're sitting next to a total hottie.]

[You say that like you're okay with other people punishing you.]

[he's soooooo cute] Oh, God she had a heart attack that she'd accidentally sent it to Marth. Thankfully, it was to Daisy. Her next message was to the cute boy. [handsome princes from faraway lands have a special pass.]

Marth cleared his throat a little too loudly. Everyone turned to the two of them, which cause Peach to smirk a little.

"Uh, sorry." Marth waved it off, and the teacher continued his spiel. Still, the redness on his face lingered.

[i'll let that sit with you for a bit.] Peach smirked and put away her tablet. Man, this was going to fun.

0-0-0-0-0

All Sora Hikari wanted were to find his former best friends Kairi Mizushima and Riku Yamada. It was weird, since he hadn't met them in this life, but he already felt so close to them. All he wanted was to skip all his classes and find them.

There were so many people he was excited to meet, but those two were the most important.

Unfortunately, none of them were in the locker room with him. It was a relatively small gym class, and since it was just General Fitness, they probably weren't going to play many sports.

He closed his locker and sighed. His uniform was in his hands, and… damn, was he going to have to change in front of a bunch of strangers? He looked around, and luckily, there were stalls. A few guys chose to forgo them, but not Sora. He went in one, quickly changed into the white t-shirt and blue athletic shorts, and went back to the locker marked with his name.

"Hey, uh, have you seen a locker that says 'Stahl Bauer' on it?" A green haired guy asked, looking confused.

Sora looked around for a bit, but didn't see it. "No, I-" Then he saw it. It was the locker right next to his. "Oh, it's right here."

"Oh, my Gods, I'm an idiot." Stahl laughed a little as he opened up his locker.

"S'okay, I'm not the brightest either." He smiled. "I'm Sora, by the way."

"I'm Stahl. Wait, you knew that." He laughed nervously and held out his hand.

Sora shook it. "Nice to meet you! Mind if we hang out? I haven't met anybody I'm supposed to know yet."

Stahl smiled. "I haven't either, so sure!"

After a few minutes, the two went out to the room they were supposed to meet in. It looked like some ballet room, like the one he took Taekwondo in at the YMCA back in California. Mirrors lined the back wall, and mats were scattered all over the floor. A woman with white skin (seriously, it was white, not just pale) and greyish black hair sat at the front, waiting patiently. He noticed her features had no color, like she was a mannequin or something.

Honestly, he'd seen so many furries here that their gym teacher being a mannequin wasn't that shocking.

He and Stahl found a couple of mats towards the center of the room. They ended up talking to the girl in from of them, Zelda. She seemed cool, infinitely smarter than him, but also kind. She had a guy next to her, Link, but he didn't really talk. Apparently, they'd found each other in class even before they knew they were close. He was happy for them.

"Sora?"

The girl who said his name looked so much like Kairi it hurt, but he could tell it wasn't her. Instead, she was blonde and looked… sad.

"Yeah, that's me. You're…" He recognized her from his tablet. "Namine?"

She smiled a little. "Yes, that's me. Do you mind if I sit with you guys?"

"Oh, sure, come on!" Sora grinned.

"I noticed you looked sad when you saw me. Were you looking for Kairi?"

"How'd you know?"

"I'm her sister. Kairi, Xion and I are all triplets. Well, in the normal world, anyway. Things are complicated in our world." Namine looked down. "Our normal lockers are right next to each other. She's been looking for you too, along with Riku. I can take you to them after class."

Sora's eyes lit up. "Really? That would be amazing!"

Namine smiled serenely. "Of course."

The five talked for a little while before class started. Namine managed to coax a few words out of Link when she mentioned she drew. They agreed to exchange sketchbooks sometime. Stahl and Zelda also got along pretty well, which was nice. Stahl seemed easy going enough to get along with anybody, and had a good read on people.

Eventually, the teacher stood up. "Hello, class. Welcome to your General Fitness class. I am the Wii Fit Trainer, but you can simply call me Trainer or Ms. Trainer." Everyone nodded in response. "In this class, we will be hoping to improve all aspects of your physical abilities. You will be graded on effort and improvement rather than raw stats. Most mornings, we'll start with a yoga exercise to stretch, then either work on agility, strength, or endurance. Today, however, will be calm. I'll teach you various yoga poses, and then we'll have time to talk. After all, I'm sure you have a lot to talk about."

Class went pretty smoothly. Sora was in no way good at yoga, but he managed to at least get the easier poses down. When Ms. Trainer came by, she just told him to relax. She had some sort of soothing aura about her, which helped Sora to do better. Link and Zelda were both great at it. Stahl seemed to be perfectly average at it. Namine was decent, but seemed to have trouble with anything that required holding her body weight up.

Afterward, they all continued to get to know each other a little better. Sora and Namine talked about all the weird shit they'd seen written in their backstories. Stahl absentmindedly speculated what lunch was going to be like, earning a silent yet approving smile from Link. Zelda started talking about all the food she liked, and soon, everyone was talking about food. Unfortunately, they all had another two classes before lunch.

A few minutes before the bell rang, Ms. Trainer dismissed them to get back into their normal clothes.

His heart pounded. He was about to meet the two most important people in his life. When the bell rang, he followed Namine down the halls.

There they were: Kairi and Riku, standing by a black haired girl's locker and laughing.

He couldn't contain himself. "Kairi, Riku!" He started running towards them.

"Sora!" Kairi grinned, matching his pace and catching him in a bear hug. Riku joined in too, and Sora began crying.

"I know we haven't met before, but… I already feel like I know you guys!" He held them tight, because he was never letting them go. Not again.

"I feel the same way." Kairi started sobbing too.

Riku laughed a little. "Guys, you're going to make me cry too." Of course, they weren't the only people excited to meet each other. All around them, they could hear people reuniting with people they'd never met.

These were his best friends. Everything was going to be okay.

0-0-0-0-0

"Oh, my God!" Larxene Raiden groaned as she leaned back against the wall. "We could have been villains, but that jackass left us behind?!" Her fists slammed against the cool white wall. Fuck.

"I'm afraid so." Marluxia Sakura leaned back next to her, expressionless.

It was kind of funny, actually. They were connected in real life and in this bullshit fantasy world. They were both Arizona trashbags who traded favors for weed and weren't afraid to kick people's guts in. It wasn't all sunshine and daisies, but gang life was preferable to the home she grew up in.

The fact that she was in another gang in the fantasy world made her giggle.

Normally, she didn't give a shit about school, but not only were they invited, but we're also given financial assistance? Hell, she went just for the fancy ass food. Plus, a bunch of rich kids to steal from? Score!

She barely questioned why her invitation letter arrived at Marluxia's house instead of her father's. She definitely didn't question why it called her Larxene instead of her given name, Elrena.

But the fact that they were excluded from their fantasy boss Xemnas's plans and left to live out an awful life where they barely scraped by pissed her off. Apparently, she wasn't good enough for him. Her fists clenched even tighter. Like hell she wasn't good enough. How could someone who could apparently teleport and shoot fucking lightning bolts not be good enough?

Every bone in her body vowed revenge.

Marluxia's hand covered one of her own, and she relaxed. He was the only constant in her life, and even if he was kind of awful, he was there.

He was there.

0-0-0-0-0

A/N: Heya! Honestly, with Kingdom Hearts 3 having recently come out, I just had to write these goofballs. Also, there's probably going to be some odd crossover friendships, but that's the fun of crossovers, no? Sora and Stahl seem like they'd play off each other well, and Namine and Link would probably get along pretty well too.

Character relations in Kingdom Hearts get weird, so I'll try to keep everything… normalish. Roxas and Ventus will likely be twins. Everyone else will probably be unrelated.

Have any character, friendship, or pairing suggestions? Let me know!

Last name explanations:

Sora Hikari (Kingdom Hearts): I see this one pretty commonly, and it's the name of the man song from the first game.

Kairi, Namine, and Xion Mizushima (Kingdom Hearts): Japanese surname meaning "water island". All three of their names have to do with water, so I thought it was fitting.

Riku Yamada (Kingdom Hearts): Japanese surname meaning "mountain rice paddy". His name is a play on Earth, so I thought it was fitting.

Stahl Bauer (Fire Emblem): Germans last name meaning "neighbor".

Larxene Raiden (Kingdom Hearts): Japanese words for Thunder and Lightning

Marluxia Sakura (Kingdom Hearts): Japanese for 'Cherry Blossom'. Maybe a bit too on the nose.