Kingdom Hearts: Daybreak Academy
Chapter 3: The Union Masters
Astrid was not expecting any visitors so the knock at her door was nothing short of a surprise. At first, she wasn't sure if she actually heard someone knocking so she stopped taking notes from her recipe book to pay close attention to the door. She didn't want to get out of her seat if it was nothing, but to her chagrin, there was another knock. The blonde took a deep breath, stood up, and went to answer. She wished she hadn't. It was Brain.
Her eyes narrowed. "What?"
Despite her blunt response, it didn't seem to bother Brain in the slightest. With his sly smile, he let out a small snort. "Hello to you too."
Astrid rolled her eyes "Did Master Ava send you?"
Brain shook his head. "Not exactly. She did fill me in on what happened this morning in the lobby. I just wanted to check up on you, see how you were doing."
"I'm fine. Is there anything else you need?"
Brain bowed his head and sighed. He had expected Astrid to behave coldly toward him as always, but that didn't make it talking to her any easier. When he lifted his head back up to, he tipped his fedora up, revealing his piercing silver eyes.
"Astrid, I'm not your enemy. No one from our union is. I think we've made a decent effort at trying to help you feel welcome here. I get that you were expecting to be part of Unicornis like all Bright–"
The door slammed, cutting him off.
Brain had been tiptoeing around her since she joined the union, increasing slowly in his efforts to get her to open up to him. He had just found the line he should not cross, which he mentally dubbed, "The Brightcrest Button."
The young man placed a hand on the door, as if to reach out to her. He was at his wits' end with this cause, not knowing what else to do. With a sigh and a shrug, Brain stuffed his hands into the pockets of his pants and walked away from Astrid's door.
Ava was beginning to believe that Galeo truly was from out of town. No one ever looked as excited to speak to one of the union masters, but here he was walking with a spring in his step on his way to meet with all five of them at once. The Keyblade master and her mysterious guest had walked from her house, which was located in a small courtyard just outside the tower.
When Galeo and Ava arrived at the base of the tower, Ava stood in the center of the mural just like Astrid did, and just like the blonde, a mark began to glow. Ava's mark was on the back of her hand, completely visible and unobscured by clothing. When the light faded, Galeo could clearly see a fox-shaped tattoo that matched the fox motif on the mural.
The door opened and Ava led him inside, back into the tower's main hall. Just like before, there were hundreds of students scattered throughout the many bridges and walkways in the large chamber. However, this time, they were a lot quieter. Galeo's eyes flickered from person to person as he tried to understand what was going on. They all averted his gaze. That is, until they were sure Master Ava could not see them. That's when they couldn't stop looking and whispering among themselves.
Galeo said nothing. He just looked out at the sea of eyes. He was so preoccupied with them that he failed to notice that Ava had stopped walking and he bumped into her. There was a unanimous gasp of disbelief, one that echoed through the chamber.
Ava stumbled, but she quickly caught herself by summoning her Keyblade and pressing it against the ground for support.
"I-I-I'm sorry! I wasn't trying to–Ava, I-I mean I didn't mean to..."
There were more whispers. Someone had asked, "Who is he? Why didn't he call her master?"
Ava waved her hand and smiled. "It's...it's okay. Just be more careful. 'Kay?" When the whispers reached her ears, she bit her lip. "You know what, Galeo? I forgot to mention that the masters are all referred to by their title."
"Huh?"
She clarified, "Master Ava. That's what you should call me."
"Oh! Um...okay then!"
Ava smiled at him and then turned to face the door they had stopped in front of. She held her Keyblade up and pointed it directly at the door. Galeo noticed that this Keyblade was much different from both his and Astrid's. It was a heavily ornate Keyblade with colorful cloud-like features comprising the blade and teeth. The handle was styled like a golden column with colorful wing-like fixtures as the top half of the hand guard. There was what looked to be a stylized "M" on the pommel which extended upward as the bottom half of the hand guard. The two halves did not connect. Attached at the bottom of the hilt were gold and cyan links connected to a pink charm with a blue eye in the center. It was a luxurious Keyblade that maintained the fox aesthetic that Ava had with a golden fox head icon on the crossguard.
Galeo marveled at the extravagant weapon as it began to glow at the tip. A beam of white light shot out and hit the door, which then began to glow as well. There was an audible clicking noise, which let Ava know that she could stop. She dismissed her weapon and stepped forward with her hand reaching for the door handle.
Click.
The door opened and she walked in, turning back only to tell Galeo, "Come in." He did as he was told and followed her inside just before she closed the door behind him.
The Keyblade master and her guest found themselves in what looked to be a council chamber. There were four other individuals inside, each wearing a set of colorful hooded robes and an animal mask just like Ava. From left to right were a bear, a unicorn, a snake, and a leopard. Though all of their faces were obscured, their expressions were easy to read.
Master Gula, the young man with the leopard mask and yellow robes, seemed very relaxed in his seat. His fingers were interlocked with his elbows resting on the wide U-shaped table that he and the rest of the union masters sat behind. His back posture was rather informal as he had his back hunched as he leaned forward.
He sat beside Master Invi, a woman in white and light blue robes. Unlike Gula, Ava, and the others at the council table, Invi's face was almost completely obscured by a combination of a white cowl that covered her face and her snake mask, which was designed with the tail coming down the side of her face like a framing bang. This woman sat with upright posture and her fingers were interlocked resting on the table in front of her, giving her an air of proper grace and dignity.
Opposite of Invi was a colossal man, one who fittingly wore the mask of the bear. The man, Aced, was clad in an ensemble of tan robes with dark brown accents. He sat upright in his chair and his arms were crossed over his massive chest. From the grimace on the lower half of his face, he looked rather unamused.
The last master, the man sitting at the center of the table between Aced and Invi wore white robes with gold accents, particularly on the horn of the unicorn mask that he wore. Tufts of blue hair came out from his head, falling down his back in a voluminous ponytail, representing the mane and tail of an equine. It was indiscernible if this were his actual hair, but Galeo did not have much time to think about it as the man with the unicorn mask interrupted his train of thought.
"Young man, step forward to the center of that seal on the floor before you."
Galeo turned to Ava, who smiled and nodded reassuringly. Just like the seal at the base of the school was a circle with the five animal mascots. He stepped onto the center as Ava walked around and took her seat beside Aced. She was very petite, but she looked absolutely tiny next to the bear-masked man. Aced scared Galeo, but Ava sat beside the giant without feeling uneasy–at least it was not apparent by her expression or her posture. She sat upright with her hands resting properly on her knees, appearing very poised and graceful.
The same man spoke again. "What is your name?"
"Galeo."
"Galeo…" The masked man repeated the name and allowed a short period of silence to linger before continuing on to say, "My name is Master Ira. I am one of the Keyblade masters that teaches here alongside the other individuals you see before you." As if on cue, each of the other masters introduced him or herself starting from Gula and ending with Ava, who reintroduced herself. "We are also the key decision makers of Daybreak Academy, and by extension, Daybreak Town; and one of our roles as the council that governs this land is to protect the people that live in this valley. It is to our understanding that you are not a resident here. Is this right?"
Galeo tilted his head, confused by the statement. "I...uh…"
He was taking too long for Aced's liking. The man's fist met the table with a loud thud that rang through the room, accompanied and overshadowed by his booming voice, "Answer the question!"
Ira raised a hand toward Aced, gesturing him to stop. "Aced, please. Let the boy answer." He then turned back to Galeo and motioned his hand toward him to speak.
"I'm not sure what you're asking."
Ira shared a glance with the other foretellers before turning back to face Galeo. He cleared his throat and restated his question. "Do you live in Daybreak Town?"
"Oh! No."
Another glance was shared.
"Where are you from?" Invi asked.
"My home didn't really have a name. It was just a little village of farmers."
Ira nodded. "I have no doubt that there are other settlements in the world other than Daybreak Town, though I must admit that it is surprising to hear that farmers could survive on their own with the Heartless. Did you ever encounter them?"
"The monsters in the shadows?"
Ira nodded. "Yes. We call them Heartless."
"Before or after I left my village?"
"I suppose it goes without saying that you encountered many on your way here. Did you encounter any in your village?"
"A few would come through, but the adults would fight them off."
"How? With what weapons?" Aced asked. He sounded calmer, but still on edge.
"Whatever we had: sickles, shovels, anything really. The monst–I mean the Heartless...They would just fade back into the shadows and come back later. I guess whenever they felt like they had enough, they'd hide and get their strength again before attacking again. We put up a pretty good fight until…"
Galeo's gaze fell and his voice grew shaky toward the end.
"I see…" Ira was unsure of what to say in response so they all remained in deafening silence. That is, until Aced cut in.
"So after your village was overrun, you fought your way through the uncharted wilderness and made your way here?"
Ava's head whipped toward her colleague. She held her chest in awe of his forthright inquiry. An audible gasp escaped her lips. "Aced!"
He ignored her and turned to his left. "Ira, you can't possibly believe this nonsense. Greater warriors than this boy, who have attained the Mark of Mastery, have set off from this valley in search of new land and have never returned. And those who have refuse to go back into the wilds."
"Well I'm stronger than them!"
The room went still. All were left completely speechless by Galeo's sudden outburst. Ava and Ira's mouths hung open in awe. Invi and Gula looked unfazed, but remained silent all the same. The latter even found himself smirking, which went unnoticed by the others. It was Aced who had the largest reaction. Without a word, he stood up from his seat and made his way around Ava. The small woman reached out for her fellow master, but held herself back. None of the others stepped in either as Aced approached the boy.
"Aced…" Ira warned. His voice stern, but his authority was restrained.
The bear towered over the violet-eyed boy, casting his shadow over him. He stared down and Galeo stared back up. The boy's fists were balled up and his eyes were filled with anger.
"Who do you think you are, boy?"
"A survivor!"
"Is that so? Then how will you survive this?!"
Ira reached out as he yelled, "Aced, no!"
Without warning, Aced's Keyblade appeared in his hand. He lifted it over his head and immediately brought it down onto Galeo.
Author's Notes
So all things considered, I think that went rather well...
Not.
Can we really expect anything else from Aced, though? Well, I don't know, maybe. I think he's one of the worst represented characters from X Back Cover so you might be surprised with how I portray him. But for now, I'm sure you guys aren't surprised by his behavior in this chapter.
QOTC: Who is your favorite foreteller and why? Some of you guys actually answered this question in your last review, but feel free to repeat yourself if you'd like. I'll be sure to answer it myself in the next chapter.
Responses to Reviews:
FallenFeather92: Sorry that I didn't show much of Gula in this chapter, but we'll see some of him in the next chapter.
WolfieRed23: Much appreciated! Lol Was this what you were expecting?
Time-Space lord Eon: I know, but I want to keep the chapters for this story shorter than the ones Wolfie and I write for Dual Destinies. After all, there are two of us on that project.
Antex-The-Legendary-Zoroark: That's a respectable guess. On top of the QOTC, I challenge you by asking if your opinion has changed from the last chapter?
gamergirl101: I'm not familiar with Danganronpa so when you said Fenrir, I immediately thought of the Keyblade XD
ShadowWolf223: I haven't been explicit about it yet, but there's a reason why. You might already be able to surmise the explanation at this point, but it'll become very clear in the next few chapters as we get to know Galeo better.
