Kingdom Hearts: Daybreak Academy
Chapter 1: A New Dawn
The crack of dawn was a special moment for the people of Daybreak Town. As the sun rose over the horizon behind the eastern mountains, the sky began to brighten with warm wisps of magenta under the cool blue left behind by the receding darkness. It was the start of a new day, setting the stage for a symphony of chirping birds. Soon, a radiant glow peaked through the mountain ridges, blasting a ray of golden light onto the gear plates of Daybreak Town's clock tower. The machinery turned, moving slowly at first, but it picked up momentum and swung the pendulum connected to it.
Like a chain of dominos, the town's activity was set in motion by the back and forth of the clock tower's golden horologe. Store owners opened shop and people flooded the streets, bringing them to life. Even so, no one was affected more by the clocktower than the people living inside of it. While not obvious to a visitor, the residents of Daybreak Town knew very well that their beloved clocktower was home to the many students who attended Daybreak Academy.
Astrid Brightcrest, a first-year student at Daybreak Academy, was already out of bed stretching her arms out. Her back curled as she got up on her tiptoes and a soft whine escaped her lips. The young girl let out a sigh as her muscles relaxed and she wiped the dreariness out of her icy blue eyes. She then made her way to the casement window and pushed it open, causing a small flock of birds to flutter away toward the rising sun. Astrid took a moment to gaze at the scenery, resting her face upon the palm of her hand as she pushed a lock of platinum blonde hair behind her ear. A gentle smile graced her soft face as she wondered to herself what the day would hold for her.
The thought did not last long because Astrid realized that she needed to get ready. With her bathrobe and outfit for the day hanging over her arm, she exited her room and went to take a hot shower in the girl's communal bathroom. Afterward, Astrid dressed herself in a long sleeve light blue dress with a brown belt tied around her waist. A matching blue bow held her freshly dried and straightened hair into a ponytail.
Once she was content with her appearance, Astrid smiled into the mirror, nodded her approval, and made her way to the cafeteria. There were many other students already enjoying their breakfasts and chattering amongst themselves. Almost instantly, her eyes locked onto a table where a boy with a black fedora sat. The boy's silver eyes went her way just in time to catch Astrid look away in an effort to avoid eye contact with him. A sly grin appeared on his face as he tilted his fedora up and walked over to the girl. Astrid held her hands behind her back, training her gaze on the buffet table ahead of her and the line leading up to it.
"Quite a handsome spread, wouldn't you say?"
Astrid fought the urge to roll her eyes. She waited until he spoke to finally look his way. "Hello, Brain. I suppose you could say that." Her tone was flat and distant.
Despite this, Brain continued his attempt to engage in conversation with her. "So, I know that since you enrolled here, you've preferred to keep your distance from the other students, even those in our union, but I just wanted to extend an invitation to–"
"I'm not interested," she said bluntly.
Brain chuckled and said, "You didn't let me finish."
Astrid had already turned away from Brain, looking straight ahead at the person in front of her in line. "I'd like to eat alone, thank you."
Brain nodded. "I understand. It's just, I wasn't going to invite you to that, though I do want to make it clear that you're always welcome to join us. Anyways, what I was going to invite you to was to join up with me during your dives into the Realm of Sleep. Just for a few days until you're able to get enough ingredients to create your own dream eater."
"I'm going to have to decline that offer as well. I told Master Ava that I wanted to go in alone."
"Right...I just...as the union leader I feel like it's my responsibility that all of the members of the Vulpes Union are safe."
"I can handle myself just fine. I am a Brightcrest, after all."
Brain nodded and chuckled as he responded, "Yes, you are. I can't promise that I'll leave the subject alone, but I'm going to give you a bit of space." He turned, but stopped suddenly. "Just know that if you feel that your first dive is a little intense, you can always come to me, or Master Ava, or anyone else in the union."
Astrid's head moved slightly, barely resembling a nod, which told Brain that she had nothing left to say on the matter. He excused himself and returned to his table leaving Astrid to get her breakfast. When it came time to finding a table, she did as she said she would and found herself an empty table. Astrid quickly ate her food because the sooner she finished, the sooner she would be able to go into town and find what she was looking for.
After breakfast, Astrid descended the Daybreak Academy clocktower and made her way through the streets of Daybreak Town toward the shopping district. As she entered an area called the Fountain Square, she took a slip of paper out of her purse and unfolded it. On it was a list of materia that she intended on purchasing in the marketplace. As Astrid mentally went over the items on her list, she failed to watch her feet and tripped over something.
The young girl stumbled forward and reflexively summoned a weapon to her left hand with a flash of bright light and particle effects. It was a peculiar weapon, some sort of an amalgamation of a sword and an axe that resembled a skeleton key. Like a sword, it had a crossguard, but the guard overextended around the entire hilt. Attached to the pommel was a chain with a hollow yellow star at the end of it. Just above the crossguard was a small yellow band that sectioned off the guard from the rest of the rod, which ended with a small sphere at the tip. A hollow silver star shape stuck out from one side of the rod with a hollow arrow-head poking out from the opposing side.
Astrid pressed the tip of her weapon against the ground to help herself regain balance. It scraped against the cobblestone until it was caught in one of the gaps allowing the girl to hold herself up. As her chilly eyes scanned the ground in search of what she tripped on, she found someone kneeling down in front of the fountain. This person's head came splashing out of the water as they fell back onto their rear.
"H-hey! What's the big idea?"
Astrid realized that it was a young man. He must have been no older than fifteen by the sound of his voice and his overall physique. He was not too tall, but he was very thin as evident by his wiry arms that poked out from under a violet poncho. The boy pushed his black locks out of his face, revealing a pair of violet eyes which widened when he noticed Astrid.
The girl stood up straight and responded, "What do you mean, 'what's the big idea?!' You tripped me!" She pointed a finger at him accusingly.
The stranger completely ignored her as he pointed out her weapon. "That's a Keyblade, isn't it?"
Astrid was caught off guard by his response, forgetting her gripe with the boy as she examined her weapon. "Y-yes, it is...but-"
The boy stood up quickly and asked, "Are you a Keyblade master?!"
"N-no, not yet, but-"
The boy took a step forward. "So then you attend Daybreak Academy, don't you?"
"I do, but-"
Violet eyes widened with excitement as the boy stepped right in front of Astrid. The girl took a step back, looking at him nervously. Her discomfort went unnoticed by the stranger. He was so thrilled by her response to his last question that he eagerly asked, "Could you take me there?!"
"W-wait, what?! No! Hold on a minute! You tripped me and tried to make me feel like it was my fault!"
The boy took a step back and began picking his ear with his pinky, most likely because there was water stuck inside. "Well I couldn't exactly see you. Why didn't you just step around me?"
"Well I didn't see you either! I was looking at my...ah!" Astrid no longer held the piece of paper she had earlier and began searching all over for it. "No! No! No! Where did it go?"
"Hey, is this what you're looking for?"
When Astrid turned, the boy was once again kneeling over the fountain, this time to pull a damp piece of paper out of it. The girl quickly snatched the paper out of his hand, unintentionally tearing it apart. Her eyes widened with distress as the realization hit her.
Astrid's hands balled up into fists and she stomped the ground, pounding her heeled boots against the firm ground. She yelled at him, "NO! You idiot! Look what you did!
With a head tilt, the boy asked, "What did I do?"
"Are you kidding me?! You-! Ugh! Where do I even begin with you?"
"You could start by calling me by my name. It's-"
"I don't care what it is! Why the heck were you even drinking from the fountain?! Where's your common decency?!"
"Hey, give me a break. This is the first water I've seen in like two days. You'd be thirsty too."
Astrid crossed her arms over her chest and turned her body away from her agitator. Her Keyblade had disappeared by this point and so had something else. As she turned, she caught sight of a young child crouched down by the edge of the fountain holding a cyan munny pouch. It seemed to be a little boy with a flat cap and overalls. Astrid quickly opened her purse to confirm that her munny pouch was missing, but by the time her eyes came back up, the child had darted away.
The blonde gave a disgruntled groan. She turned back to the boy, surprised to find him still standing there. "You were just distracting me to steal from me!"
The boy looked completely confused by her claim. He held his hands up defensively and said, "Wait, what? No! I don't even know that kid. I don't know anyone in this town yet."
"Whatever. I don't have time for this." Astrid turned on her heel and began chasing after the pickpocket.
The boy held out his hand and called to her, "W-wait! But you need to take me to Daybreak Academy!" Having been completely ignored, the boy followed.
Astrid made her way through the streets of Daybreak Town in hot pursuit of the thief. The child was fast and he weaved through the streets like a knitting needle, seamlessly slipping into alleyways and backstreets. Despite wearing heeled boots and not being all that familiar with many of these shortcuts, Astrid was able to keep pace with the little boy, enough to not let him out of her sight.
The pickpocket turned around to check if Astrid was still following him, and to his mortification, he could see the Keyblade wielder rounding the corner. He faced forward and began moving his arms and legs as fast as he could, desperate to get away. He slipped into a backstreet and upon exiting it, he found a pair of men pulling on a rope to lift a stack of wooden beams up to the third floor of a building that was under construction. The little boy ran under the heavy bundle, which earned him some scolding from the construction workers. He turned around to find Astrid running out of the alleyway, so he picked up a rock and tossed it at one of the men, causing him to let go of the rope. The other man lost his balance and had to release his grip as well, allowing the wooden beams to fall right on Astrid.
Astrid quickly summoned her Keyblade in response and held it in front of her defensively. She uttered the word, "Reflect!" and erected a dome of translucent hexagonal panels around herself. There was a sudden rush of wind and she found herself staring through unfiltered air. Where was her protective dome? Where were the wooden beams? Who had their hands on her?
The sound of wood banging against the ground made Astrid turn her head to the dismantled bundle of wooden beams that lay on the floor behind her.
"W-what the-?"
"Are you okay?"
Astrid realized that she was being held by someone, they're hands on her back and looped under her legs. She looked up to find the violet-eyes of the decoy that had tripped her earlier. Her response was to push herself out of his arms, stumbling to the ground as she freed herself.
"You!"
The boy seemed taken aback by Astrid's reaction. He looked left and right before asking, "Me?"
"Yes, you! What did you just do?"
"I'm pretty sure, I just saved you from being crushed." The boy placed a hand on his hip and waved a finger at her. "You've got to be a bit more careful, you know?"
Unbelievable! This boy was mocking her. First he played decoy for that little thief and now he had the gull to undermine her skills as a Keyblade wielder? The thought made Astrid simmer with frustration. "How dare you?!" She held her Keyblade up toward him.
The boy held his hands up defensively, looking as confused as a fish out of water. "Huh?! Was I not supposed to help?"
"Help?! You're the reason I've been stolen from!"
"Liar! That was a set up."
Some of the nearby townspeople had grown curious about the confrontation and had begun gathering to learn more.
The boy waved his hands. "N-no! Honest! I've never met that kid before in my life. I'm not even from around here."
Astrid's brow furrowed with confusion and a soft chorus of questions formed around them. People asked each other, "He's not from around here?" "What does he mean?" "Is he from out of town?" Some people thought it was utter nonsense and that the boy was mad.
"What do you mean you're not from around here?" Astrid asked as she held her Keyblade in a fighting stance. The weapon was pointed forward diagonally while she stood with her left foot forward and her shoulders tilted.
The boy tilted his head and scratched the back. "Well, that's just it. I'm new to this town, and I was wondering if you could show me to Daybreak Academy; but I think I should help you get your money back first."
Astrid eyed the boy up and down, inspecting him thoroughly from his mud-coated brown boots to the torn gray pants and black shirt, or at least whatever she could see from under the worn out violet poncho draped by his shoulders. Every part of him was covered in dirt and grime, which caused her to wince with disgust at the sight.
"And why would I need help from you?"
The boy shrugged and said, "Well, I figure that two Keyblade wielders are better than one."
Astrid raised a brow. "Two? You? You're joking, right?"
She quickly realized that he wasn't. The boy stretched his hand forward and a bright light flashed in the palm of his hand before stretching out with star effects. When the flash faded, it was clear to everyone that this boy was indeed a Keyblade wielder. While the weapon retained a star motif, it had quite a different shape from Astrid's. The guard was circular, consisting of two arches that resembled shooting stars. The blade was curved with a blue color and a decorative star pattern, ending with a spiked crescent shape that held a golden crescent moon and star inside. At the bottom of the black pommel was a radial yellow star with small silver links ending with a crescent as the keychain.
Astrid was left wide-eyed as she slowly shook her head, unable to comprehend what she was seeing. This ruffian was a Keyblade wielder, but how? All she could ask was, "W-who are you?"
The boy smiled and said, "The name's Galeo."
Author's Notes
And there you have it, folks! The introduction to our main characters, Astrid and Galeo. This is an unlikely match of characters, both of which I have put a lot of thought into when designing not only this story, but the world it takes place in.
Question of the Chapter (QOTC): What are your first impressions of Astrid and Galeo? Is there anything you like or dislike about either of them? Anything you find interesting about them? Share your thoughts in the review section!
Responses to Reviews:
WolfieRed23: Hey partner in crime! You better take those secrets with you to the grave!
Antex-The Legendary Zoroark: Thanks for the compliment! And thank you again for your OC! I'm still working out the details for his backstory, but I hope that when he makes an appearance in KH:DA, it is to your liking.
FallenFeather92: Glad you found the prologue interesting! I hope you found the first chapter just as interesting if not more so.
Disney Boy: Hey! Thanks for the support!
