The Sapphire Sorceress

Disclaimer: The rights to Kingdom Hearts belong to Disney and Square Enix.

Act 12: Naughty Or Nice

"Oh, we do too have hearts! Don't be mad..."

Destiny Islands: Mainland

Well today is my first day going to the school here, and well I'm kind of nervous about this. Granted I knew this day was coming for a while yet I still have butterflies in my stomach. With the uniform on I knew my life would be going back to a normal state, but it was only a cover my life would never really be normal again. The other students began to walk into the school while my feet were moving slower than everyone else. Time felt like it was slowing down as I looked up at the building I would be going to learn at for a while. So many new faces to meet along with new classes to visit each day. There was a benefit to this as I could forget about my worries to think about in the future. As I entered the first class the students were already coming into the room. Staring at their faces I could not see any of my friends. I would have to get through a few hours before seeing my friends at lunch it seems. Finding an open spot I got adjusted in my seat.

"Settle down class I know a first day might be exciting after all." The voice of my teacher echoed through the room as he didn't seem that pleased by the kids making trouble already. I would only hope things can go well for me today, but also to make a good first impression for everyone to notice. The other kids didn't seem that interested in paying attention like I was now. The teacher began to write his name and the lesson for today. I was looking down at my paper to write notes down and my mind began to float away. The bliss of a peaceful shore, the sounds of a sea near me, and of course my friends to play around with on the island. The smiles and laughs of everyone were something I was still missing even now.

"Alright class let's introduce ourselves starting with the first row." My attention was for a moment taken away from my imagination. I did need to know everyone here so I was paying attention as everyone started naming themselves knowing I would be up soon. My mind was suddenly drifting back into my world as I picked up the pencil and began to draw. Soon the little scribbles grew into figures and with some time became people. I didn't even realize everyone was suddenly looking at me waiting for an answer. That's when the teacher's voice echoed in my ears.

"I have not even started the lesson for today Miss Kairi so stop writing and introduce yourself to the class." I gasped realizing that I had to now introduce myself. I quickly said my name hoping no one would see what I drew, but the teacher was already walking over to my desk. Sure enough I was drawing Riku and Sora in class. I knew the teacher would take this in a bad way not to mention everyone would find it funny what I just did in class. I suddenly placed my hands over my face making a sad expression. So much for a good first impression today.

Naturally I got into some trouble with getting extra homework today with the math problems I would need to solve at my new home. It was likely gonna be rough night for me, but part of me didn't care about that. I was trying to understand what could have made me drift off during class. I didn't think the class was too boring yet I was thinking about Sora and Riku. In my next class I was happy to see Selphie was part of the students there as well even if I could only speak to her for a small amount of time. From what she told me she was having lots of fun already with the other students. I decided to explain what happened during math class.

"What? You can't just drift off like that Kairi! I know you miss them like I do, but you need to focus on what's happening now." She was right of course. My mind has to stay focused on schoolwork and I won't let the memories get in the way. It would not be an easy thing of course, but at least I had someone to help me out now. History was kind of interesting as I learned more about these islands. Apparently there were others who tried to leave this place, but never came back like Sora's father. The teacher told us about a man who exited when the islands began to grow in population. In a way he sounded like Riku someone else who wanted to see the world beyond this one. Apparently like Sora's father he was never found after he left this place. I was able to pay attention better now, but I felt like I had to know about this stuff. I didn't understand this feeling I had during the class.

Finally it was the middle of the day which mean lunch time. Sora's mother was generous enough to offer me a good meal to eat. With the sandwich and some juice made from Paopu fruit I sat down with my friends at the lunch table. I felt a tap on my shoulder as one of the male students was very interested in my food.

"Where did you get that stuff it smells pretty dang good." Before I knew it there were others looking at my food with begging eyes. As I took a glance at their food it seems kind of boring. Most of the plates only had the food made here which didn't look that appealing honestly. Part of me felt like I should at least give some of it, but there were a lot of people here.

"That's enough you have your own food so let her eat what she has alright?" Selphie replied standing up for me fending off the hungry teenagers. I was happy she would be there for me no matter what a genuine friend. Looking up I saw Wakka and Tidus found us so we could actually talk with each other about our time in the school. Wakka was getting along with others, but he also wanted to learn more about the sports teams. Apparently there was something called Blitzball he grew interested in. Tidus was also happy about his first day here. He was able to meet several girls here, and he quickly became friends with one named Terra. Selphie was also enjoying here and wanted to see this guy called Irvine from the Science class.

"So Kairi how are you enjoying the school, ya?" The question caught me by surprise. I could not think of a good answer for this one, but they were expecting something from me. It went badly during Math, but I was able to relax and get through History well. I did not know what to think about any of the kids here since no one really talked with me so far. So I would have to say...

"It's fine." A simple answer nothing complicated, but that's the best I could offer. Still there was some classes left so perhaps I would gain a better time here before we had to leave. After spending some good time with my friends I was now going off to Science class. The lesson was about Synthesis basics. I once more was drifting off, and began to draw more things that were in my mind. A sudden whispered voice woke me up from my daze.

"Pss I don't think drawing yourself will help you out in this subject." Shaking my head I saw the person was a blonde-haired teenager. He smiled at me before looking down at the drawing which was actually myself with the keyblade. He seemed impressed by it and gave me a complement.

"Heh you seem like a hero in this picture. Are you going to be saving a prince then?" He said with a teasing grin on his face. He seemed like a friendly kind of guy so I figured it would be good to reach out to him.

"Nah it's just something I drew. To be honest I don't think I'm going to do well with this class." Science didn't seem like my best subject out of the other classes, and not just because I'm not paying attention. These requirements seemed pretty complicated so I would need help for this stuff. The teacher looked at us so we just went back to writing down notes. Hoping the teacher would not hear me I decided to ask him if I could meet him after school is over.

"If it's not much trouble do you think we can meet when school is over? I think science is giving me the most trouble, and I could really use so-"

"Say no more! It's not like I need a reason to help people. Zidane is my name by the way." He said with a grin of confidence flashing. Giggling a little I was glad to have met someone like him today. It seemed like I had met the first person here I would possibly consider a friend in the future. With a smile I returned the favor and introduced myself.

"It's nice to meet you Zidane my name is Kairi." I said with joy in my heart at that moment. It was then reality came as the female teacher slapper her ruler down on my desk. She didn't look happy with me interrupting her class.

"Well I'm glad you are getting along because you will no longer be spending time with him rather you will be in detention Kairi. I've heard about your stunt in the Math classroom so consider this punishment. There will be no romantic antics during my lessons!" My cheeks grew red at this comment. I didn't get why she would consider it a romantic suggestion. I really just wanted someone to help me with my homework.

"Besides if you can't understand you should pay attention better in class! Now keep your mouth shut before you get into worse trouble." Her hiss put an end to my good mood, but I did deserve that. I've really been slacking off today and now I would be paying the price for it. Zidane also didn't seem happy about what happened yet there was nothing that could be done. After that disaster the last class was P.E with the teacher acting kind of weird. After introducing himself as Yang and showing off his mostly bald head we began to run in place. My eyes were noticing Wakka really getting into the workout, and Selphie struggling to keep up with the others. I was just trying to get my mind off that detention from science. Yang was not a bad teacher even if he did have an odd thing about his past as a Monk in a world with a mythical dragon. Apparently he used to stay in a palace with a girl named Mulan. So with the end of that school was finished for everyone else except for me. Explaining the situation to the others I went back to science class awaiting Quistis Trepe's punishment. What I was not expecting was Zidane to meet me in first before she arrived.

"Zidane what are you doing here?" I gasped out since he didn't really seem like the trouble-making kid. Did he actually get himself into trouble over me? He just waved his hand at me and explained why he decided he would here with me.

"Well you said you needed help today, and so I decided to help you out there's nothing else to think about! Let's just say sticking some gum on Quistis' chair was just the beginning of why I'm here now." With a cheerful smile I sat down with someone whom I would come to know as a new friend of mine. Perhaps school won't so bad after all...

Halloween Town: Hinterlands

To say the road to this place was irritating would be an understatement. Between Demyx's need for walking music, and Jack trying to scare him a few more times I was hoping this trip would be worth the annoyances. Eventually we came to the area with the many kinds of trees. The dog went over to a tree with a smiling pumpkin over it. Jack must have know where this would go as Demyx was actually surprised by this.

"That's an odd-looking tree I'm sure Marluxia would love being here now." Ugh don't even bring up that guy Demyx. After what happened I hoped we would only meet during meetings. Looking at Jack he was now inspecting the tree trying to see if it would open up or something, but not seemed like it was happening. My blue eyes saw the doorknob on the tree and I gave a guess about how it might open.

"Try that knob Jack." It could not be logical, but that seemed to now be out of the window since I've come here. Sure enough logic had gone away as it seemed beyond this tree was another forest area. Stepping through we arrived at several more trees with different looking symbols. I didn't know which one would lead me to Santa, but I knew it was through one of these trees. Demyx decided to check out the egg-shaped hole and was looking through it.

"Wow it's like a bunch of rabbits are hording all the eggs. Think we can take one back as a souvenir?" I sighed as it seemed Demyx had one of his Dancers take a few eggs back with him. Ignoring that I went over to Jack who just inspecting a tree with lights on it. Judging from his curious look he wanted to look through this door.

"Well it's worth a shot besides I'm guessing it will be a fun experience for you seeing a new place." I had gotten used to explore new places so much now it kind of got a little boring, but to Jack he must have been nervous. If I could not understand that emotion somebodies have I knew what it must have been like for him. With my support he nodded and opened the door to show a cold chill in the air. Demyx was trying to fight off a rabbit who was taking back the eggs he stole, and because of that he bumped into us pushing all of us in the tree.

After hitting him in the head for getting us here like he did I gathered myself. Noticing the cold I thought it would be chilly, but my body didn't really feel that cold. Perhaps this is another aspect of nobodies. The idea of my hollow body not feeling things like a chill or warmth is rather disturbing to think about. Demyx also didn't seem bothered by the air, and since Jack is a walking skeleton the same goes for him. Looking over at the world around us I noticed a huge light far away. Jack also happened to see the light and was having the same thought as me.

"Onward towards that light!" It's not like I could ignore him so with a smile I went behind the skeleton and his ghost dog. It seemed like a rather long trip to this place so I hoped Demyx would not cause more trouble.

"Are we there yet?"

"How much longer do we have to walk?"

"Can't we just stop for a minute?"

"Are we finally there yet?"

"SHUT UP DEMYX!" I hissed now officially being done with his nonsense for today. Jack surprisingly got frightened by my sudden outburst. Demyx held up his hands trying to get me to relax.

"Hey hey! No need to act like Larxene besides you're not really angry with me for my screw-ups are you?" Rolling my eyes I just ignored him as finally we seemed to have arrived at a set of buildings. Judging by the puffs of smoke people were likely living here. Jack was now enjoying sight of this town. He must have never seen a place like this. Even I was curious about what kind of somebodies lived in a town like this one.

"It's so bright and colorful nothing like Halloween Town!" Jack began to dance around the snow looking at the different canes which were colored red or green. I was also being marveled by the design of this place. Before we knew it there were small guys in colorful hats opening their doors looking at us. It seemed like they also had pointy eyes which made them stand out to other somebodies. After glaring at us Demyx decided to speak up making another problem.

"Hey just because we don't have pointy eyes doesn't make us bad! Besides can any of you guys do this?" Pulling out his Sitar he began to play some "music" or in this case lots of rocking around in the snow. The elves began throwing snow at him not impressed by his performance. Deciding to take the initiative I asked if they had seen anyone called Santa Claus. Apparently Jack thought he was actually called Santa Claws. Despite the odd name Jack had in mind they not only knew who he was, but pointed us right to his workshop. With a knock Jack was pretty happy to meet this person. I was also curious about him from what the elves told us about him.

"Well, hello there! Are you guys here to see if you're on my nice list?" Like the elves said his beard was long and just as white as snow. His body was as round as a snowman, and his voice was booming and jolly. This guy had to be Santa Claus or Claws. With a false smile I decided to politely introduce myself before Demyx got me into another mess.

"Hello I'm Auxaq, as for this fellow next to me he is Jack, and the guy being covered in snowballs is Demyx." I noticed the chuckle Santa gave at the sight of my partner being defeated by snowballs. Jack was acting like a young child in front of the elderly man as he began to ask about many sorts of things. Santa being a friendly person invited us into the house as Demyx was looking for anything to melt the snow all over his body, and so he choose the warm fireplace. Slapping my hand over my face Jack continued his conversation.

"I must say this place is amazing Santa! Do you also celebrate Halloween like I do?" Halloween? I never heard of such a thing like that, and judging from Santa's face neither did he.

"You know kids going up to a door knocking for candy. The different costumes and scares people do at nighttime. Surely this place must celebrate an event like that." Santa just shook his head and began to drink some milk. Personally I didn't get the appeal of this as well what good would come from dressing up and taking candy to eat. The scaring thing however I could easily see the likes of Larxene trying something like that.

"Well I don't know about this Halloween you're referring about, but we do celebrate Christmas every year. Children who have been good will get a gift they want from me. The elves wrap them up, and I fly to their houses to deliver the gifts. Sometimes they even give me some milk and cookies."

"Well that's pretty neat to get free stuff can I have a cookie Santa?"

"Demyx don't!" Calling off my partner I decided to get to the point of our reason for being here. I didn't know if he would even give me this paper yet I didn't have any other choice but to ask him.

"Look Santa I know we could not be on your list, but if you happen to have some extra paper around I would really appreciate it!" I said holding up my hands in a pleading way. Demyx was telling me I was not doing a good job of begging so I added a frown on my face trying to look sad if he would say no. Being a nobody dealing with such a generous man was not easy. He might think we could be up to no good, but I just wanted to get back home and not piss off Saix again.

"Hmm well I believe you are really wanting this paper so let's check the list." He said looking for this list as Demyx began to eat some of his cookies and drink his milk. Naturally I began to yell at him furious he would try to ruin the image I just made for Santa. Jack meanwhile was still in a wonderland about being in this place looking at the giant tree in the room. Santa came back in with some more cookies saying he figured Demyx would eat the ones he was having at the moment. For a moment I thought Santa could read minds then again he did give off a sign of his rudeness. In his hand was a giant list with different names on it.

"Let's see now Auxaq...hmm well it seems like your name is not on this list which means you're either very naughty or I have never heard of you before."

What? I was not a good person? That has to be a lie I might have lost my heart, but I haven't done anything bad as a nobody. Sure I've been more rude and annoyed by people, but that is nothing too terrible. Deciding to press the issue I asked if Jack or Demyx were on that list. Santa began to read down the names again looking for either of them.

"Well Jack it does seem like you're on the list, but I don't see anyone named Demyx."

"Ahh great another screw-up for my list. Hey Santa if you think I can make the list you can help me kickstart that band of mine!" I was trying to understand how this list even works. If Jack was on the list then it had a magic of some kind, but why was my name off this list? I didn't understand what to think about this so I decided to try something else.

"Is there anyone named Aqua on that list Santa?" I asked with a dull look on my face. I must have being acted so disappointed with myself. To think I've tried to do so much to regain my heart yet it didn't make me a good person according to this list. Lowering my head I just figured that name would also not be on his list. That's when my expectations had been down.

"Oh my there is an Aqua on this list." Then-my old self must have been a good person. I had to have done right things or else my old name would not be there. Then what has changed besides the fact I no longer had a heart. Santa also got confused by all of this not understanding what all of this could mean. Stroking his beard he noticed the look on my face.

"Santa I don't know a lot about Auxaq, but she and her friend brought me into this world. If I had not led them here I would have never come into such a wonderful place like this. I don't think either of them could be all that bad." Jack said speaking up for me which surprised me. It seemed like he was helping me out after what we did for him accident or not.

With a sigh he must have decided something at this moment.

"Well I guess you're not all that bad of a person. You did help out Jack which is selfless after all. I suppose something like paper is nothing that harmless for you." With a gasp I began to thank Santa with a bow and shaking his hand. I was really happy he was going to do this for me despite the fact I was not even on his list. Demyx spoke up still wanting his own wish granted.

"So does this mean you can get me a drummer, two dancers, and a singer for my band Santa!"

With Demyx's final disappointment complete we finally got the paper we needed to end our mission for the day. After departing from Santa Jack decided to stay here for a while. He told us he wanted to learn more about this Christmas Santa was talking about. Zero floated over to me and despite the fact I could not touch him I attempted to rub his head with a smile. With the dog and Jack waving us off we had gone into the forest. No need to let them see how we got here in the first place. Before we had gone back to our home I asked Demyx something I knew he would not know anything about, but something compelled me to ask.

"Do you happen to know someone named Aqua." I said expecting another silly reply yet he looked rather serious. His face was honestly the scariest thing I've seen all that and then came out a much different voice.

"Why do you want to know? Do you believe Santa considers us bad people for some list he made up. Santa is just another somebody judging others, and in the end he's just an old fool who can't truly understand the darkness." He sounded very different from what he seemed like earlier today. I got worried he would actually start making trouble with me. Deciding not to get on his bad side I agreed with him.

"I suppose you're right in a way. He only sees to reward those who have goodness inside them yet he helped us out. So perhaps we should have been on his list anyways just like Jack." Suddenly his more sinister face grew back into his old self as he just slung his arms behind his head.

"Well of course I'm right! He didn't even consider my Final Fantasy Band, but I would let your join without a doubt XV." So he managed to warm up to me despite what I've done to him today. I guess he was not all bad even if he seems kind of lazy not to mention his habit of making trouble. Still I guess everyone has their own kind of flaws myself included.

"Don't tell me you would make me sing!" I didn't have much confidence in the role of a singer then again I'm not much of a musician at all. Demyx disagreed with that trying to build up my confidence.

"Nonsense all you need is the right kind of pitch. Let's try it out real quick so you can sing some lyrics while I play music. You can sing Demyx the great, Demyx the bold, Demyx take hold of his load!" Shaking my head I flat-out refused to sing something that egotistic. So the mission at last was over and we went back to The World That Never Was.

- Auxaq's Journal: Demyx Mission -

I don't know how I should start this entry. Between getting into trouble, visiting a new world, and having a somewhat annoying partner it was not a completely bad day. Still that list Santa was talking about was bothering me greatly. If the names on that list were good people then I'm not a good person. There was also the matter of my past self being on the list. It seemed like a contradiction my somebody could be good while my nobody was not it didn't make any sense. My mind remembered that usually keyblade wielders were agents of good throughout the different worlds. They would usually help solve several kinds of problems and protect the somebodies of the light or that's what the library books about them say. Could I have been like that before all of this? Perhaps it's one more reason I need to regain my past. As for Demyx something he said concerned me, and it was at that moment I began to wonder what's happening to us all.

"Why do you want to know? Do you believe Santa considers us bad people for some list he made up. Santa is just another somebody judging others, and in the end he's just an old fool who can't truly understand the darkness."

It was not just the way he said that it was also what it could have meant. Do all nobodies just use the powers of darkness? Then again if that were the case we would not have to use our cloaks through the portals of darkness. Still the fact his whole persona seemed to have changed like that was rather unsettling. It also made me remember that dream I had perhaps it was more than just a nightmare. My thoughts were becoming so chaotic with new names, faces, and voices going around in my mind. For now I would have to leave my thoughts in this book hopefully I can figure them out as the pages become filled with information. As for now another night in my life as a nobody comes to an end...

[ Sorry this part took a while. I've been trying out a new way to check most of my grammar issues, and it seems to be working pretty good for me. Hope you enjoyed this part readers. ]