Disclaimer: No I do not own the KH, BOF or FF. KH and FF belong to Square-Enix and BOF belongs to Capcom. I don't know why I have to keep repeating this. I don't own the names Galbadia or Treno, as they belong to Square-Enix as well. Although I do own Laura and Mr Argul.

Gosh…..no reviews yet? I'm sad….oh well, I'll update the fic anyway!

Oh, and I apologise for a mistake that I had not corrected in the previous chapter. I was going to include the GCSE exams (which I had not made up) in my fanfic, but decided not to and use General Secondary exams (which are supposed to be similar to GCSEs, except that I made up the name). I do apologise, everyone!

Sora sat in the train, feeling gloomy. He was still tired and wanted to go back to sleep, but it was impossible for him. Not with the motions of the train.

He hated travelling. It always made him feel ill.

Nina, Riku and Kairi were in the same carriage as him. "Aren't you at least gonna have some breakfast?" Nina asked with worry.

"No thanks…..I'll have some later," Sora miserably replied. "Besides, I hate train food. Makes me feel even more ill."

He looked at his friends. Nina was reading a book, looking quite relaxed and content. Sora wished that he could look like that on a train. Riku had just abandoned his muffin to gaze out of the window. He did not much like train food either. Kairi fast asleep. She was tired after the previous night with her little dinner party. Looking at her, Sora noticed that she was wearing his necklace – she must have put it on this morning.

The train journey only took two hours – it had to leave the city of Wyndia and travel across the country to make it into the next country – the country of Galbadia. The train then had to travel a few miles to the city of Treno, where their school, the Sir Argul boarding school was. They had to leave early in the morning to get there, but as their school was a boarding school, they were not really returning to Wyndia for a few weeks.


Sora sat at his desk, bending down and fiddling with his hands in frustration. It was nine o'clock and the first lesson. They were missing Maths this morning, as Miss Trepe was going to give out the exam results. Kairi was giggling with Selphie and Rinoa, talking about her birthday, her dinner party and what presents that she got. As Kairi had only just turned fifteen, she was supposed to be in the year below, but she skipped a year because of her academic ability (although her Science was not really up to standard), which was good for Sora because that meant that he was in the same class as her. Nina and Riku were in the class above, so they were not present. However, it was likely that they would be getting their exam results as well.

"Hey, Sora! How are you doin'?"

A blond boy with a black shirt and huge funny blue trousers had pulled up his chair right next to Sora.

"Oh, hi, Zell. How are you doing?" Sora asked, still fidgeting with his hands

"I'm great! The summer passes too quickly!" Zell sat back in his chair.

"Well, we had eight weeks."

"True, true…..you look really tense, Sora. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I'm cool." Sora lied.

"Don't worry. It's only school exams…….not like General Secondary exams or anything…"

That was true. Sora was only fifteen and did not have to do General Secondary until the next summer – unlike Riku and Nina, who had both turned sixteen in February and July, had just finished theirs and now had to move on to dreaded Higher Advanced exams. So, this would have been an advantage to Sora, but he did not feel like it was. Especially as he dreaded what grades that Riku was going to get…..

Eventually, Miss Trepe sat down at her desk and told everybody to be quiet. She smiled at them all and asked them about their holidays. Sora did tell her about that incident with the creature – nobody would believe him, anyway. He had not even told Kairi, Nina or Riku about the incident – but it had been on his mind since he went to bed the previous night. How did he gain that weapon and how was he able to drive the monster away? The guards of Wyndia could not defeat it, so why did he?

After Miss Trepe had finished talking about the holidays, she stood up.

"Right, class. I know you have been waiting for this moment."

Sora banged his head on the desk quietly. Miss Trepe walked around the desks, handing out the result papers. Sora could hear Kairi cry "Oh, wow! And that's for Science?" Kairi must have got a very good mark for Science – it was not her strong subject. Well, he was happy for her.

"Hey, look what I got – a D for History, man!" Sora could hear the laughs of Zenero, Benero or Genero from the other side of the room as he gave his two brothers high-fives. Sora could not tell, as Zenero, Benero and Genero were triplets and were identical in both looks and voice.

"Don't look miserable, Sora. You did really well."

Sora looked up to see Miss Trepe smiling at him. He nervously took his paper. Selphie giggled at the desk next to him. Sora chose to ignore it and looked the paper.

He was taking Maths, History, English, Science, English Literature, Art and Design Technology. As Sora examined his grades, he discovered that they were quite high. The Maths was an A, the second highest possible grade (the highest was an A). Sora was good at Maths. The History was also an A. The English was a B – spelling was somewhere that Sora failed. Science was A, but Riku was really good at science – and apparently the best in his class. English Literature was a B – this was a pretty good grade for Sora, as he was not keen on reading. Art was a B and Magical Arts was an A.

Sora was a bright student, and he knew it. However, that was not what worried him – he expected to get good results anyway, as he had in the previous years. What was Riku going to get?


"Hey, Sora! How did you do?"

Kairi walked sat down on the sofa opposite him, still wearing her locket. She giggled slightly. "Aww come on, don't look so depressed! Did you do that badly?"

Sora handed over his papers. Kairi read them for a few seconds and laughed again. "I don't why you are so moody, Sora! They're really good!"

Just then, Riku and Nina arrived. Sora and Kairi were in the boarder's common room, sitting on dull green sofas. Nina sat down on the sofa that Kairi was sitting on and Riku grabbed a chair.

"Hello!" Nina said happily. "How were the first two lessons?"

"I went toComputer Technology," Kairi answered before yawning. "Man, it was boring."

"I had to go to Science," Sora added. "Weren't much fun, either."

"Not much happened then," Riku stated blankly. "Anyway, how did you guys do in the exams?"

Sora did not answer.

"I got a B for Science!" Kairi shouted happily. "And that's my highest grade EVER for Science!"

"Wow, that's really good, Kairi!" Nina exclaimed. "Hey, Sora. Why do you look so down? Your grades weren't that bad, were they?"

"His grades were really good," Kairi said.

Sora handed over his paper, not really caring. Riku took it and read it carefully, with Nina looking over his shoulder.

"Hey, not bad, Sora," Riku then said, after a few minutes.

"He even beat my Maths General Secondary grade! And Riku's" Nina added.

"How about you guys do in your General Secondary?" Kairi asked. The General Secondary exams were the really important grades – vital if you had any hope of getting a decent-paid job. Staying at school to take Higher Advanced exams were optional, but they were important if you wanted to get a really good job. Riku and Nina had chosen to stay at school for that reason.

"Yeah, we did well," Riku replied as if it was completely expected.

"Hmmph! Show off!" Nina told him in a teasing way, even though it was true.

"Yeah, what did you get, Riku?" Sora asked in a rather moody way.

Riku handed his paper over, knowing exactly what Sora meant before getting up from his seat to get a packet of crisps from the little kitchen in the corner of the common room (like a lot of boarders common rooms would have so that they could drink coffee and stuff like that at breaktimes). Sora examined Riku's paper and scowled. This was what he dreaded.

Riku gained a B for Maths, which was actually lower than Sora's. Sora smirked at this. Geography was an A, but Riku took Geography instead of History, so this did not matter. English was a B – the same. However, for English Literature, he gained an A – Sora stared at this with horror – Riku did as much book reading as Sora did – which was very little, yet he was able to get an A! However, the A English Literature grade was nothing, compared to the Science grade, which a double A. This was what made Sora feel really depressed. Information Technology was a B and Magical Arts was an A.

Despite the fact that most of the grades were similar to his and the fact that he got a higher mark than Riku in Maths, Sora still did not like what he saw, especially with the English Literature and the Science grades.

"Hey, just because he did really well, it doesn't mean that you won't do the same," Kairi said.

"And if it makes you feel better, I got a better grade than him at Magic arts!" Nina said, slightly proud of herself.

"Yeah, but you're good at magic, anyway," Sora moaned.

"I know," Nina replied, still smug. Nina loved to study magic. She was really interested in the great witches and wizards of the past, who cast powerful spells and went on adventures with several other companions – sometimes warriors, sometimes fellow wizards as well, exploring dungeons, finding lost treasure and slaying evil demons as well. Nina imagined herself as one of these wizards going on these adventures, but knew very well that for a future career, that was impossible – her future lay in Wyndia as Queen, and as Queen, there would be no time for exploring. However, this did not mean that she could not study magic at school – as a hobby. Unfortunately for them, by the time Riku came back with the crisps, the bell rang and break was over.


It was six o'clock in the evening in Treno. The sun had gone down and the sky was filled with stars. Riku, Sora and Kairi stepped out onto the dark streets of Treno. They planned to go out for a pizza to celebrate their exam results.

Treno was a very beautiful city – with its ancient buildings and cobbled streets. It was a historical place as it had many museums. Museums were not really interesting to Kairi, Riku or Sora but there were also lots of places to eat as well, and shops, much to Kairi's advantage.

And so, Riku, Sora, Nina and Kairi walked along the streets. Sora had not problems walking. His leg still hurt a little bit, but not enough to stop him from spending a night out with his friends.

They finally got to Laura's Pizza Place. A pretty young red-haired girl in jeans appeared at the front of the doorway. She recognised the teenagers the moment she saw them and smiled.

"Sora! Kairi! Riku! And your Highness!" she exclaimed. "It's so good to see you again!"

"Hey, Laura!" Kairi exclaimed back. "It's great to see you too."

Laura laughed. "Well, I guess this is a table for four, then?" she asked in a cheerful manner.

"Yep. You're not full tonight, are you?" Riku said.

"No…only two others are coming. Come on, in!"

Laura's Pizza Place was a small restaurant. It consisted of Laura herself, the owner of the restaurant, her boyfriend Dave and her friends Jessica and Maria. Laura was a cheerful woman of nineteen. She left school at sixteen because she did not want to continue her work. Laura was a good cook and wanted to pursue her dream, which was to open a restaurant. She fulfilled her dream when she opened up her pizza restaurant two years ago. And her restaurant had been a success ever since it was opened. Laura knew Nina, Kairi, Riku and Sora because she used to work in the school kitchens after she left her own school. However, she found it very dreary and was only working there to save up enough to open her own restaurant. The four teenagers especially liked her restaurant because it made a change from school dinners.

Sora took the Bacon and Mushroom, while Riku took the Pepperoni, Nina decided to have a Ham and Pineapple for and Kairi wanted a plain Margaritta. As Kairi stared around the room, she noticed that the school headmaster was also present in the restaurant, sitting in a table with a strange blond haired woman in a red dress in the corner, not far away from where the three youths were sitting.

"Guys!" she whispered to Sora, Nina and Riku. When she had got their attention, she pointed to the headmaster.

Sora, Riku and Nina looked at the headmaster in surprise. They did not expect him to be here. They did not want him to be here either – as he scared them a little.

The headmaster, Jarves Argul, was originally from the Suverian Empire. The country of Galbadia had been conquered by the Suverian Empire a few hundred years ago and the Suverian Empire had refused to give up their control. However, the majority of the people of Galbadia had become used to being ruled from the Suverians. Although they were not independent, they still had a say in politics and the way that their country was run. Mr Argul was rumoured to be a very important man in the Empire – he did not appear at school very often except at important occasions such as ceremonies. Nobody knew exactly why he was important – even most of the teachers at his school did not know – Kairi had asked Miss Trepe herself. He spent most of his time at the Suverian Empire base in the centre of Treno. Mr Argul was a tall man. His hair was a long black colour, which went down to his shoulders, his eyes were a green colour – and always looked as if they were staring at you - and he always wore a long red and black robe.

Mr Argul was supposedly talking some strange business with his companion. They then headed towards the bathroom and stood outside the door, as Sora heard Mr Argul say "We must talk somewhere else, Scarlet."

Kairi then realised that she had smudged her lipstickand had to leave as well to sort it out.

While Kairi was correcting her mistake with the lipstick, she heard voices coming from outside. She recognised one voice as the Headmaster's.

"You know that this is private information, Javes."

"Which is why we are talking here, Scarlet."

"There is someone else in the ladies' bathroom, Jarves!"

"It's only one of my students, Kairi. She'll be out in a moment. Besides, she's a still a child – what interest could she possibly have in our plan?"

There was a pause and then a laugh. "Kyahahaha….I guess you are right, Jarves! So then, these rumours in Wyndia…."

"About our dragon being driven away by a boy with a key? Yes….I have heard.."

"Have you questioned the dragon about it yourself?"

A dragon? What was he talking about? Kairi did not understand, but something inside her told her to listen.

"I have, Scarlet. The only thing that he has given me is a physical description. Spiky brown hair, blue eyes, a silver key in his hand. He also had no wings..."

Kairi gasped and then put her hand in front of her mouth in case anybody heard her. Did Sora not carry a key with him when he met her at the Wyndian castle gate the previous day? Kairi decided to listen some more.

"Did the dragon catch his name?"

"No. I asked him about that. He only attacked the boy, not talked to him."

"Damn…..well, at least we know where the boy was last seen. And a description."

"Yes….I think that our dragon should pay another visit to Wyndia…I will head back to the headquarters and talk to him there…."

Kairi was about to dash out of the room, but remembered that Mr Argul and this Scarlet woman were behind the bathroom door. She then composed herself and opened the door. She passed her headteacher and the scary woman as if nothing happened and returned to her table to join her friends as if nothing had happened. She would tell them when they were out of the restaurant.


"Are you sure that you aren't imagining things?" Nina asked her, concerned.

"I'm certain!" Kairi answered, certain at what she said.

It was half past seven in the evening. They were all sitting in the common room. There was nobody else about.

"You said….they were talking about….a guy with a key?" Sora asked her, worried that she could be telling the truth.

"Yeah, Sora! A kid with a key that attacked a dragon!"

Sora remained silent. So……that monster was a dragon? And it was looking for him? What for?

"But….that's impossible!" Nina protested. "Dragons are a myth!"

"That's what they say," Riku replied. "But just because nobody's seen something, it doesn't mean it doesn't exist."

"Even so, it worries me.." Kairi said, thoughtfully. "What if…..that creature attacks Wyndia again?"

"Then we'd have to stop it!" Riku declared.

"Us?" Kairi asked, uncertain of what Riku was suggesting.

"It could attack Wyndia at any time! We need to do something!"

"But….what do you suggest?" Nina asked, unsure of what Riku was planning.

"……we could investigate the headquarters tonight!" Riku suddenly said in a very determined manner.

Nina and Kairi looked at him with shock. "Are you crazy?" Nina nearly shouted. "At this time of night? What if we get caught?"

"We can't just sit here…..what if Wyndia is attacked? Besides, this is our only real chance!"

Sora stood up. "I agree with Riku," he suddenly said. "I want to know…if they are looking for someone with a key…do they mean…"

Nina paused. "I….see what you mean, Sora.." she said quietly. She then thought about it for a minute. Nina could not bear to see Wyndia be attacked by that monster again. And what if it was a dragon? Dragon were said to be incredibly powerful and destructive creatures in the stories she read…..but then again they were stories. However, this monster seemed powerful enough to destroy half the city….

It was Nina's turn to stand up. "Alright!" she said. "I'm want to find out as well and I'm going to go tonight!"

Kairi remained quiet. Now Nina wanted to go as well. This made Kairi feel nervous…deep down in her heart, she knew that something terrible could happen.


It was half past midnight. Nina, Sora and Riku were once again out on the streets. Usually, at this time of night, they were not allowed out. However, Kairi stayed behind and went to bed early. Nina, Sora and Riku also 'went to bed early' and then got up, escaping through the windows – for Nina, climbing down the windows was an easy task, but Sora and Riku did need some of her help. Nevertheless, they succeeded in getting out of the school and onto the streets. Sora had taken his key with him. He felt that it was a good luck charm to him. Besides, if anything happened to Riku and Nina, then he had to be there for them. Riku carried a stick with him. Both he and Sora were very good swordfighters – they had learned fencing at school and Sora had training back in Parela. Nina was also a brilliant spellcaster, and Sora and Riku knew enough magic to defend themselves.

They walked along the streets, aware of the thieves in the area. The Suverian Headquarters in Treno was not far away……only a few streets ahead…..

The Headquarters…..it was a grand old stone castle…..once inhabited by the rulers of Galbadia…..until it became under Suverian control. Now the building was used as a sort of Government. All sorts of secrets were inside that building that the ordinary person was not supposed to know.

"How do we get in?" Nina whispered as they reached the side of the building. "There are guards at the gates……with guns!"

"Yeah, we need to find another way round," Sora agreed. Riku nodded his head.

They walked around the castle. Every possible entrance was occupied by one or two soldiers, each with a gun on their arm for possible intruders.

"It's impossible!" Nina whispered again. "There are guards everywhere……and they mean business as well!"

Just then, Riku, who went on ahead to look for any entrance they might have missed, called to them. They ran up to him.

"It looks like we have no choice," the silver-haired boy said, with a tone of disgust.

"Uh….what do you mean?" Sora asked, not liking the sound of Riku's voice.

"Have a look down there," his friend answered, gazing at the crate on the ground before opening it.

Nina looked down the hole in disgust…. "Riku…a-are you serious!" she whispered loudly. "I-I'm not going down there!"

Sora did not like the idea….but he did see Riku's point…..this drain could lead somewhere inside the castle…..

"It's not like the ones at home, Nina…." Riku told her. "There's a ladder and if you do fall into the….well, you can have a shower in the morning."

"Riku! Really…there could be rats there!"

"It's a good thing that you can cast magic, isn't it?"

Sora then came in. "Nina….he's right…there's no other way we can get in. The soldiers…"

Nina looked at them both and then the drain. She really did not want to go into the sewers…she did not want to think what was down there…….but how else was she able to save her kingdom? She finally gave in….

They climbed down the ladder. The good thing was….the sewers were more well-built than Wyndia's. There was a platform and a walkway.

"Ewww……it stinks!" Nina protested.

"Well, we are in a sewer, anyway!" Sora said, before laughing enthusiastically. After a few seconds, realising that nobody else was laughing, he decided to shut up.

They walked slowly along the little pathway, in the direction of where the castle should be. Nina, Riku and Sora all carried torches. It was not long until they reached some sort of crate with light pouring through…..Nina floated upwards to have a look.

After a few minutes….she descended. "It's a store room," she told them. "It's okay…..I think it's safe to come out."

And with that, she opened the crate and she helped the other two climb up and through the hole.

The store room was large and square…..with lots of boxes stacked all over the place.

"Wow….this store room is the larger than the one in Wyndia!" Nina exclaimed. She glanced at the two boys, who seemed uninterested and then decided to concentrate on her mission. They placed the crate back into place, in case of suspicion. They also checked their shoes…..which were not too muddy…and checked the door….it was not locked.

"Okay….I'm gonna check ahead," Sora ordered the others.

"What?" Riku and Nina turned to him.

"The three of us can't go together," Sora explained. "We'd be more likely to get caught."

"You can't go on your own!" Riku whispered in protest. "What if they find you out?"

"Wait!" Nina said. "How about….I go with Sora, and Riku you stay here?"

"Huh? Guys…."

"I see what Sora means, Riku….." Nina said to her friend. "And he can't go alone, so I'll go with him."

Riku looked at Sora and Nina for a second. "But what if you…."

"I want you to stay and keep watch…..hide in a box or something….and if we don't return within the next two hours…..or if something happens, then you come and look for us, okay?"

Riku hesitated and finally nodded his head. "Just make sure you don't get into trouble, okay guys?"

Sora peered through the door. The long stonewall passageway was dark, but there was light, due to the various candle-shaped light bulbs on the ceiling. There were portraits all over the landscapes – mostly of either pretty landscapes or people from history whom Sora did not know. However, that was not important right now.

"Is it clear?" Nina whispered.

"I think so!" Sora whispered back.

The young boy with the key and the winged princess then crept out of the storage room, leaving their friend to hide.

"Where to?"

"I don't know."

Sora had no idea of where the dragon was. It could be anywhere in this castle….so where could they go without being caught? They needed some sort of clue. However, they could not stay here. Slowly, Sora and Nina crept out of the storeroom and down the corridor.


It was difficult to tell how long they took to explore the rooms of the castle. The interesting thing, however, is that they came across nobody along the way, save a a few servants on night shift. When this happened, they managed to hide behind curtains or inside cupboards, which seemed to be everywhere in the castle.

They finally found themselves in the Grand hall. Nobody was there. The pair examined the Grand hall. There was a very long table in the centre, probably used for meals, just like in Wyndia Castle. There were large purple banners with some sort of silver crown on – the symbol of the Suverian Empire – ruler of all. The Suverians had always been an ambitious tribe. The windows were hidden by the closed curtains, but it would have been too dark to see anyway.

"Hey, Sora! Look!"

Nina pointed to the other end of the room, where there was a large throne, which must have been used before the Suverian Empire took over Galbadia. In front of the throne, right in front of the throne, was a rectangle shaped hole, with steps going down. It was a secret passage. Nina's heart leapt in excitement. It was as if she was really in one of those adventures. Where could this passage lead to? A huge dungeon with a great many puzzles? A secret treasure? It could be treasure…..which was guarded by a flesh-eating monster!

"Nina!" Sora whispered loudly.

"What?" Sora grabbed her and shoved her behind a curtain.

"Please, be quiet," he pleaded. Footsteps were heard coming from the passageway. Then, he and Nina heard voices.

"Well, we'll leave him to recover then, shall we General Bosch?"

When he peered through the curtain, Sora could see two people talking. One of them was Mr Argul. The other was a young man – slightly shorter than him, wearing black trousers, a dark blue tunic and a blue cloak. His light blond hair was cut very short and his eyes were a dark brown.

"Agreed, Sir Argul."

"And that means that you leave him alone for a few hours…..we don't want you to accidentally kill him, do we?"

Bosch nodded rather sourly. Sora decided that he did not like Bosch. There was something about him that made him feel that he was not a man to be trusted, whether he was from the Empire or not.

Mr Argul was holding some sort of helmet. He carried it slowly to an antique suit of armour, which was standing to the left of the old throne. Sora noticed that the suit of armour had no helmet. When Mr Argul approached the armour, he placed the

Sora's eyes widened with surprise as he saw the passageway suddenly disappear under two white tiles. Mr Argul finished closing the door by covering the two white tiles by covering the possible entrance with a purple carpet. He then walked slowly to the door with Bosch following him. Mr Argul left the room. Bosch, before heading through the door to follow him suddenly sniffed at the air.

"Hmm..is it my imagination, or does something smell odd?" he said to himself. And with that, he exited the room.

Sora and Nina decided to wait a few minutes, just to make sure that the coast was clear. Sora then stepped out of the curtain slowly and towards the throne room, with Nina following him.

"We should open that trap door, shouldn't we?" Nina suggested. Sora nodded in agreement. Sora removed the purple carpet to reveal the two tiles. Nina crept towards the armour. She carefully lifted the helmet off.

She jumped to hear the sound of tiles moving a few metres away from her. As she looked, the tiles suddenly started moving apart from each other, followed by a staircase suddenly appearing from the darkness below…

Nina glanced at Sora, who nodded.

"Down there is our dragon, Nina."

To be continued…..

General Advanced exams are another idea of mine based on A levels (to those of you who have not heard of them, you take them at 16-18 years old – or at least used to until AS levels were added). Anyway, read and review! Flames are allowed, as long as somebody reviews!