Kingdom Hearts: Daybreak Academy
Chapter 4: The New Student
Day turned to night and back to day as the sun beckoned a new morning in Daybreak Town. Since the incident on the previous day, Astrid had not left her room, but she could not avoid it any longer. She had classes to attend that day and could not sully her family's name…
...more than she already had.
Astrid went to dress herself in an outfit well-suited for combat. She put on a short navy blue dress with long sleeves. Over that, she wore a sleeveless cream-colored with multiple pockets on each side of her torso to hold small items. The vest had a folded collar, good for not obstructing her head movement in action. She also wore a pair of cream-colored boots over long navy blue socks. It had taken her a bit of time to style her hair into a low bun, but doing so would keep her hair out of her face.
After zippin up the pockets on her vest to secure the potions inside, Astrid grabbed her messenger back and slung it over her shoulder as she exited her room to go to class, or rather to bring her classroom to her. She stepped away from the door to her room and summoned Starlight to her fair hand. After spinning it in front of her, Astrid pulled the giant key back, then thrust it forward to fire a beam of light at the door. When she heard the clicking noise, she knew that her destination was on the other side.
As she stepped forward, she overheard an exchange between two girls.
"Hey did you feel that earthquake yesterday?"
"There was an earthquake? At what time?"
"It was in the afternoon. Maybe 3 or 4."
"No, I was in Agrabah."
"Do we have another mission there?"
Their voices faded as she opened the door and stepped through it, going completely mute as she shut the door behind her. On the other side, Astrid found herself in her first class of the day. As she descended the steps, there was a small group of students blocking the aisle.
"I heard he went through 4 pans of eggs."
"No way! You're exaggerating."
"Hey, that's just what I've heard."
"From who?"
Astrid stood there for a few seconds, waiting for one of them to notice her and step aside, but when she saw there was no sign of that happening, she cleared her throat to make her presence known.
All of the students turned to her. The one standing right in front of her looked lost until he realized that she was trying to get by. He moved into one of the rows of seats and apologized, but Astrid didn't even spare him a glance as she passed by.
The young girl found an aisle seat close to the front of the room. She then lifted the wooden table attached to the armrest and pulled it over her lap so that she could place her notebook on it. As she was getting her supplies ready for the lecture, Astrid couldn't help but overhear a conversation happening two rows behind her.
"A new student this late in the semester? Have you ever seen him before?"
"No. I've asked around about him, but it doesn't seem like anyone else has either."
Astrid's eyes narrowed as she began thinking about the boy she met the day before. Could he be…?
She shook the thought from her head, reminding herself that it was none of her business either way.
That's when she heard someone ask, "What's his name?"
"It starts with a "G." Gavin or Glenn or something."
Someone else said, "No, it's more like Galen."
"Galeo."
Without realizing, the name escaped Astrid's lips with a breathless whisper. Many questions ran through her head.
How?
Why?
What are the masters thinking?
Whether it was curiosity, disbelief, or some other reason, Astrid could not say what compelled her to get out of her seat, march up those steps, and go to the cafeteria. It didn't take her long to get there and when she did, she found the topic of discussion surrounded by towers of bowls while he stuffed his face with eggs and potatoes.
Astrid almost didn't recognize him with the dust and grime out of his face and hair, but it was definitely Galeo. He even had a new outfit, though that wasn't immediately apparent because he still wore his tattered violet poncho over it.
She stopped dead in her tracks, but not before the boy could see her in the corner of his eye. His violet eyes locked onto her and he offered a large smile as he waved and said, "Hey! It's you!" Small bits of food flew out of his mouth, making the blonde cringe with disgust.
Astrid looked left and right, trying to think of a way to leave before her classmates realized that he was talking to her. She wanted to avoid being associated with him.
"Astra, right?"
That plan went out the window and now she wanted to sink through the floorboards. The young Brightcrest girl crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, adopting a cold exterior.
"It's Astra. And, I don't expect you to have manners, so I'll teach you some. Finish what's in your mouth before you speak."
"Mmm?" He looked confused for a moment but soon understood what she told him and swallowed his food in one great gulp, washing it down with a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice. After inhaling the entire glass, he set it down and let loose a hearty sigh. "I haven't had food this great in a long time. And I do too have manners. Come pull up a chair and join me! There's more than enough food to go around."
Astrid kept her arms crossed and twisted her body away from him. With her eyes closed, she tilted her head up and scoffed. "Hmph! I wouldn't sit with you for all the materia in the world."
"How come?" he asked innocently.
A blue blaze ignited in Astrid's eyes as they snapped open. Her face scrunched into a grimace, her nose wrinkling with annoyance, as she snapped back, "Because I'm above that."
"But you're not above talking to the riff raff, are you, Astrid?"
Astrid's eyes widened again, this time with worry. She clearly recognized the voice, and hesitated from turning around to face the direction it came from.
Standing in front of the crowd of students was an adolescent girl with straight honey blonde hair that reached down her back. Her golden tresses were held tightly in a pair of fishtail braids that ran down her back. She wore a black and sky blue button-up coat with rhinestone on the edges and plaid on the rolled up sleeves and collar. The coat went about halfway down her thigh, revealing only the barest amount of her smooth fair legs because her black socks went up past her knees. She wore a pair of charcoal gray boots and a black rhinestone belt with a lightning bolt-linked chain hanging from it. Lastly, she had a Blizzard Choker with a silver charm dangling from it on the front, baring a black star.
The girl's bright green eyes were electric, as was her sly grin, and her voice had an air of confidence. With her hands on her hips, she stood with her weight on one leg and asked, "Well, little cousin?"
Astrid averted her gaze and declined to answer. She didn't have to either way because the other blonde continued, "First you disgrace our family name by joining Vulpes, and now you're fraternizing with this nobody?"
More than anything, Astrid wanted to sink through the wooden planks and disappear from that room, but she knew she had nowhere to go.
"While I may not be part of the Vulpes Union, I don't see anything wrong with that, Elrena."
A newcomer stepped through the crowd, a brunette with a willowy figure stepped through the crowd. She had two tones of brown hair held in a ponytail with twin bangs framing her narrow face. The girl wore a black halter top, revealing a very flat, almost malnourished stomach. She also wore a dark blue jean skirt over black leggings and a pair of black combat boots.
Galeo smiled as he saw the plate in her hand, which had a leopard head tattoo on the inside of the wrist, and shouted, "Hey! Thanks Dani!"
The aforementioned Dani smiled tenderly at Galeo and placed the food on the table for him to dig into while she turned her attention back to Elrena.
The twin-braided blonde sighed and placed a hand on her hip as her weight shifted onto one foot. "Figures that this vagabond would be in Leopardus."
Elrena's comment didn't seem to sit well with Dani from the look of her narrowing stormy eyes. "Do NOT disrespect my union or the people in it."
Vibrant green eyes rolled disrespectfully as Elrena scoffed. "You might be a union leader, but I'm not afraid of you, Danika. You only got that spot because of favoritism, and even if you 'earned' it, that's like calling yourself, 'Queen of Trash.' The title doesn't mean much."
A chorus of snickers sounded throughout the room, shortly after accompanied by the sound of disgruntled complaints as students from both Dani's and Elrena's unions began to argue amongst each other, shouting insults like "Spotted Geeks'' and "Fancy Pricks." In the chaos, Astrid made an inconspicuous escape, sinking back through the crowd and exiting the room.
Seeing things quickly escalating, Dani took immediate action. The brunette stepped onto the nearest table and shouted, "Leopardus! Quiet!" Though her voice did not have an intimidating presence, as it was rather dry and nasally, she yelled loud enough to be heard by everyone else in the room. Her union members looked over at her with restrained discontent, waiting to see what she would say.
"Master Gula wouldn't like seeing this. We should be getting to class. I'll stay here with our new member, but we shouldn't indulge in conflict with the other unions." She had said a lot without pausing for her breath, making her next inhale rather forced. It didn't help her image that she had begun sweating or that she had a lump in her throat as she swallowed.
The half dozen or so Leopardus union members present looked at each other, rather unhappily.
"Yeah!" Galeo joined in, his voice muffled by the unchewed food. "Why can't we all just sit down and share a nice meal together?"
All eyes were on the newcomer, and ridicule filled the room from the other union members. That was enough to cause the Leopardus members to retreat with their heads down from embarrassment. Dani was unable to find the words to fix this, especially as one union member looked back at her with resentful eyes before leaving the cafeteria. This left a sharp sting in the brunette's chest, but she could do nothing but watch her peers leave.
After letting out a deep breath, she had not realized that she had been holding, Dani's ears tuned in to the sound of laughter, specifically Elrena's loud, obnoxious chortle. "See? Your own followers don't respect you. And why should they? You're not even a true Leopardus. You're just a filthy street rat in cat's clothing."
The brunette clenched her fist as she turned around, glaring daggers at the blonde. It took her everything she had not to open her hand and summon her Keyblade. Fortunately, another voice broke through the crowd.
"Elrena!"
The blonde exhaled sharply before turning to the silver-haired young man with curly hair that was breaking through the crowd behind her. He wore a cropped black jacket over a white button-up shirt, though the collar was hidden behind the red scarf slung over his neck. His dull gray cargo pants were tucked into a pair of boots that matched the jacket as well as a pair of gloves that he wore on his hands.
"What's going on here?" he asked. "Are you giving students from other unions trouble?"
Elrena took a deep breath, and then her sour expression became sweet as she swiveled on her heel and smiled at the silver-haired boy. "Ephemer!" Her voice had become syrupy as she held her hands behind her back. "I wouldn't say I was giving them any trouble. You know how competition can make people a bit cattier than usual."
Ephemer's cool aquamarine eyes gazed into Elrena's. It was difficult to read what he was thinking, but he didn't seem to be fooled. He shook his head as he approached the blonde and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm all for a bit of friendly competition, but we can't treat others so cruelly. You really need to watch how you speak to others, okay?"
Elrena's ginger smile never once wavered. She looked up at Ephember, nodded and energetically said, "I'll be sure to keep that in mind!"
Ephemer had a weary smile as he patted Elrena's shoulder and said, "Go to class and please be more respectful toward others."
With another cheery nod, Elrena walked through the crowd and disappeared from sight. The crowd dispersed as well because mostly everyone knew that the excitement was over.
Ephemer gazed after Elrena until she was gone and then turned to face Dani, who was still standing on the table. He scratched the back of his head as he apologized. "I'm sorry for Elrena's behavior, Danika." He then approached the brunette with his hand outstretched, offering her some help off the table. "Last time I checked, tables were for eating not for standing," he said with a weak chuckle.
Dani did not look amused as she crossed her arms and flatly responded, "Ephemer, I don't want Elrena coming around my union members anymore."
Ephemer sighed, "Dani, you know I can't control where Elrena goes. I can't babysit her all day."
"Well you might want to think about getting someone who can. That was not okay."
"I know," he said with his hands up. "I'll bring up her behavior at the next Unicornis town hall. I promise." Ephemer's award-winning smile cracked through his lips like the first ray of light after a storm.
Dani nodded, not fully convinced. It wasn't that she didn't trust that Ephemer would keep his word. It was more of a distrust that his approach would get through to Elrena, but she did not pursue the subject.
There was a bit of an awkward silence, that was broken by the sound of someone choking on their food.
"Galeo!" Dani yelled as she came down from the table to pat him on the back. She reached for the glass of orange juice she had brought him earlier, but it was empty. Her gaze went up to Ephemer as she said, "Get him something to drink!"
"On it!"
Without delay, Ephemer left and returned with a glass of water that helped Galeo wash down his food. The boy sucked in a large breath with a dry gasp before exhaling it all out.
"Phew! Thanks Dani! Thanks A Fella!"
Dani and Ephemer shared a look, not sure what he had just said, but the latter soon realized what Galeo meant. He chuckled as he asked, "Did you mean Ephemer?"
"Oh! Right! Sorry," the raven-haired boy said with a sheepish grin.
Ephemer continued to laugh as he shook his head. "No worries. I suppose I owe you an apology too."
"What for?" Galeo asked as he took a bite of his potatoes.
"Well, knowing Danika, I have a strong suspicion that the reason she got involved with Elrena in the first place is because Elrena was talking down to you." His teal eyes flickered over to Dani, who gave a quick nod.
Galeo also nodded and said, "Yeah, but she was really laying into Astrid, more than she was me. Speaking of which, I don't see her anymore."
Ephemer sighed again. "Yeah, that's not a surprise. That whole family always seems to have a bit of complication, even amongst themselves. Anyways, don't worry too much about that mess, okay?"
He offered Galeo a gentle smile, but it faded into a look of confusion when Galeo responded, "But I owe Astrid. She's the one that brought me here, after all."
"No, Galeo," Dani said. "Ephemer is right. Stay out of that mess, okay? In fact, until things start to get a little less hostile, I think we should all stick to our respective unions." As she ended her statement, she looked at Ephemer with resolute eyes, to which all he could do was nod with hesitant acceptance.
"Right...well, I'll see you at the next meeting then, Dani. Galeo, it was nice meeting you." The young man turned and walked away from them.
Dani stared after him until Galeo pulled her attention away with his next words.
"I don't know what all that was about...but I don't think we should all be fighting."
Dani sighed, "Yeah, me either."
Author's Notes
So this chapter may have thrown you for a loop since it didn't continue right where the last chapter ended and that's because I want to leave the events that followed Aced's assault to remain a secret for the time being. All that matters for now is that you know that Galeo is in one piece and is now a student at Daybreak Academy. Did you guys catch which union he joined? I never stated it outright, but I gave enough information to find out which one he is a part of.
Also, today we got to meet our first OC that was submitted to this story, which is ironic because she was also the first OC to be submitted. We also got to see some familiar faces, one of which looks a bit different from how you remember her. I'm personally not the biggest fan of Elrena's UX design, so I took creative liberties where I thought they were necessary to give her an appearance that suited the "mean girl" personality I wanted to give her. Her attire was inspired by a twitter user named george_p_g's Lauriam and Elrena's present day renders in new outfits. I can't provide the link, but if you have a twitter, you should be able to search it up.
Special thanks to: WolfieRed23
Now before I ask today's QOTC, I'd like to answer the one from last time. My personal favorite foreteller has changed from when I first saw Back Cover from Ava to Aced. Ava is still a close second for me, though. When rewatching the Back Cover movie, I tried to understand everyone's actions and I found myself agreeing with Aced. While he shouldn't have been making alliances, it felt like he was the only one trying to fix a very clear problem while everyone else just sat on their hands so I can't really fault him for that. In the end, the MoM knew all of his apprentices well enough to know how to set them up for failure in preventing the war.
QOTC: This will be a 2-part question. (1) Between the 8 canon characters to make an appearance so far (The Foretellers, Brain, Elrena, and Ephemer), which one are you looking forward to seeing more of? Why? (2) Which of the canon characters from the Age of Fairy Tales are you most excited to make an appearance? For this one, you don't have to give a reason why, but you are more than welcome to do so!
Responses to Reviews:
ShadowWolf223: He really does, but that's par for the course with this guy.
FallenFeather92: Lol like ShadowWolf said, Aced has no chill.
WolfieRed23: Back Cover was also my first impression of the Foretellers and Ava was my favorite from the get go, but as I mentioned above (and in one of our conversations), Aced is now my favorite.
Antex-The Legendary Zoroark: I'm glad that you're looking at the big picture when it comes to Galeo, following all of the details that he's provided and how they match up with things that can be seen both on from his appearance and his behavior.
Eternal Rain Spirit: I also really like Invi's design. Really, I like all of the Foreteller's designs. They have such interesting attire and each design is unique from the others. But yes, I agree that the MoM just always steals the show anytime he's involved, though I feel like that's only in voiced cutscenes because of Ray Chase's performance. He doesn't have that presence in the UX cutscenes, which is why I really appreciate that Ray Chase voiced that last cutscene and posted it on Twitter.
Gamergirl101: I really like her too!
