So, I haven't posted for a few weeks because I was building the world around this story.
Like a lot.
Governments of other worlds and such.
You'll be seeing a bit of it in this chapter.
Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy © to Disney and Square Enix!
Kraig and TJ © to YamiChaos27!
Iunia and Nico and other OCs © to me!
Joy © to Njoy!
Akira © to Lucywind!
Cowey and Sally © to my students!
Chapter 20: Inspiration
"You've got an awesome voice." Auston smiled across the piano at Xion.
Xion smiled. "Thank you. You do too."
Auston was so nice, and it was fun to play opposite him. He helped her with the songs and dance steps and coached her on acting as well.
Cherri sat on the stage, grinning. "You're gonna break our hearts with that solo, aren't you?"
Xion laughed. "Yeah." It made her happy that Cherri was playing the villain of the story and not LeBlanc. It was easier to act like that.
But LeBlanc wasn't happy playing second-fiddle.
She sat in the back of the theater, glaring up at the stage.
She got the role of the drama teacher in the play.
Ms. Jessie hopped up on stage. "Great job. Make sure you all brush up on your lines for the next rehearsal. Ms. Folia will be working on choreography next week, so make sure you're dressed for dancing."
"Yes ma'am!"
Glancing to the back, LeBlanc wasn't there anymore.
"See all of you tomorrow!"
Going backstage, the girl went for her stuff. "Hey, where's my backpack?"
"Did you leave it in the front row?"
"No, I put it here."
Cherri grit her teeth. "Don't tell me… Where is pinky?"
"Oh shoot!"
Xion took off into the hallway, glancing around.
This jerk!
Moving through the hallways, Xion looked around. As she reached the entrance to the school, she saw the principal standing with the four Lucky Ladies.
She looked MAD!
"Xi!" Hayner came over, holding her backpack. "We were just looking for you."
"Where did you find it?"
Iunia came over with Joy, Nico, and Caden. "We spotted those four splitting up your stuff and dumping it into trash cans. We salvaged it out and told Miss Maddie."
"They're gonna get it this time."
"You can't do this!"
"I can. And I did. I will be seeing the four of you in detention tomorrow. Two more strikes and you will be booted from all after school activities."
Yunalesca grit her teeth. "You'll be hearing from the board on this."
"I'm sure I will. Now go home."
Xion looked down and began to walk away. "I don't want Miss Maddie to get in trouble because of me…"
"She is standing up for you. She knows what she's doing."
"I hope so…"
"They what!?"
Miss Maddie stood in her office, looking away from her boyfriend and vice principal. "Yunalesca's father insists that Xion is the one in the wrong, and he wants to talk to us. I assume to have us back off his daughter and the others. And probably all the board members will be there."
"What if they threaten to pull funding from the school. We get funds from the government, but we both know it's thanks to the board that we can have so many activities."
"We'll manage… somehow."
The next day, Maddie came out of her office, shoulders slumped.
The members of the board… or should she say former members pushed past her.
A tall man with long silver hair pushed past her, turning back.
Lavrentios Fletcher, former head of the board, and Yunalesca's father.
"If you ever decide to do the right then and do as we ask, we may consider giving funding to you again."
"I'm not going to allow your daughter or the others to hurt other students. I refuse to!"
The man smirked. "Then enjoy this last semester. I doubt the school will be able to function after this."
He left.
Maddie walked back into the main part of town, face downcast.
As she passed by the bistro, she noticed a tiny figure sitting on a table. Xion and Roxas mentioned him during one of their check-ins with her. Jiminy Cricket.
Her feet carried her closer to the small figure.
He glanced up. "Hello there. May I help you?"
"N-no, just wanted to introduce myself. I'm Principal Madison Hayes. Xion and Roxas told me about you."
The cricket smiled. "Nice to meet you too. Would you like to join me for some tea; it looks like you need some."
"That would be lovely."
Sitting down, she traced the patterns on the table with her finger until her tea arrived.
"So, what's wrong?"
"Huh?"
"I can tell something's the matter." Jiminy sipped his tiny cup of tea. "And it's kind of my area of expertise to help others. So, mind letting me know what's wrong?"
The woman sighed. "The board just quit and dropped all school funding."
"What? Why?"
"Because I refused to allow the children of the board to do whatever they wanted. Xion has probably mentioned the bullies at school… Their parents, our board members, told me to ignore their behavior. But I just couldn't. I saw how the last principal sucked up to the board. I couldn't allow it anymore. I was always too afraid to do it before though."
"Why was this time different?"
Maddie smiled. "Roxas and Xion. I've heard a little of their story… not much, but to see two children trying their best to be brave in the midst of such a new and scary circumstance, as well as hearing what they've endured and come out of, I felt… I don't know. Inspired."
"I don't think you're the only one who feels that way about those two." Jiminy smiled. "I am sure many people have been inspired by their courage."
"Yes… but now I'm not sure what to do. We'll lose so much money from this. This semester has been paid for, but the next one…"
The cricket nodded slowly. "I see. Well, I think you did the right thing. And who knows, maybe help will come from somewhere unexpected."
"I hope so." Maddie glanced over, seeing Lucius. He'd stayed behind to clean up the office a little and see what could be done without the board. He too looked very stressed out. "I need to go. Thanks for listening."
"Anytime, Miss Hayes."
"Maddie is fine."
"Alright, Maddie."
Jiminy watched her walk away with a man, both of them looking downtrodden.
He should bring this up to the others…
"Isa, I need your assistance on something." Scrooge looked up from the papers on his desk as Isa dropped something on his desk.
"Yes?"
The duck waved a wing and Isa closed the door to the office. "I'll be going shortly to Master Yen Sid's Tower. I need you to keep an eye on things here."
"Can I ask why?"
"I hoped you would." The duck laughed. "Now, this doesn't leave this room for now." Sliding a packet across the desk, Isa read the words Sunrise Coalition.
"What is this?"
"This is something that's been in the works for about a month. A coalition of six worlds to create a network of trade and assistance. I'm going as a business advisor to figure out… how to make money."
Of course.
But this… this coalition was interesting.
"What worlds are in it?"
"Read the paper yourself."
Alright then.
Looking through the packet, he saw a list of each world and the list of delegates.
Radiant Garden. Delegates: Quistis Trepe, Reeve Tuesti(1).
Isa remembered them. Quistis was always like a big sister to younger kids. She was around the same age as him. Reeve was a smart kid Isa remembered as being the most likely candidate for Valedictorian the year his world fell.
Disney Town. Delegates: Oswald, Ortensia(2).
Who were these two?
Destiny Islands. Delegates: Miyu Irino, Akiko Miyano.
Sora's dad and Riku's mom!
Perhaps they wanted to follow the example of their children and interact with and help with other worlds.
Twilight Town. Delegates: Jenna Leigh, Brielle Cooper.
Jenna was the vice mayor… so she was changing jobs. And Brielle was the mom of Roxas's little shadow, Caden. Roxas said that Brielle was working multiple jobs to take care of her son.
Looks like she found a better job.
Good for her!
Traverse Town. Delegates: Hope Estheim, Sarafa(3).
People still lived there?
Maybe some found a better life there than they had back on their home world.
Land of Departure. Delegates: Master Terra, Ventus.
And those three too?
Was their visit to Twilight Town just to see Jiminy, or were they working on this as well?
"What about the world order?"
"There's a reason the worlds were chosen the way they were. They all have a connection to each other, in some way. And they do have a slight knowledge of other worlds. All are close enough in technological exploits, so that there won't be any big issues with technology exchange."
"Wow."
Lots of thought went into something like this.
This would be interesting to say the least.
"And the first thing I plan to pitch is a new education support system financially."
"Oh?"
"Yes, since I've heard that Principal Madison stood up to the buffoons on the school board, and so they pulled themselves and their money out." His eyes locked eyes with Isa. "She did so in order to defend your charge and Roxas."
The school lost funding!?
"She did that… for the kids?"
"Well, to defend all the students, but from what I've heard they were the catalyst that inspired her to act."
Isa couldn't help but smile.
They really were inspiring.
Always were.
This was not the first time those two sparked something in someone.
And it wouldn't be the last.
Master Yen Sid looked around the room.
Thirteen people, only two he'd ever met before, sat at a large table in his office. Thankfully, he had such a control of magic that the size of his office was flexible.
Directly to his left sat the delegates from Radiant Garden; a woman with blonde hair, wearing an orange dress. Next to her sat a man in a suit, his black suit and beard trimmed nicely. The woman, Quistis, seemed very restrained, but he could sense this was most likely a front she held up for reasons of her own. The man, Reeve, seemed more open, easily smiling and chatting with the new faces around him.
Next to them sat the delegates from Twilight Town. One woman, Jenna, seemed more experienced in political matters, with all her information organized and a very professional air around her. The other woman, Brielle, appeared to be a little more nervous, but hid it well behind a smile and a very friendly personality.
Beside them sat the delegates from Destiny Islands. One look at the very friendly man with spikey brown hair, and Yen Sid knew he was Sora's father. They smiled the same too. The woman next to him may not have shared the appearance, but he could easily see the calm and mature presence she shared with her son, Riku.
Next at the table sat the two from Disney Town. Yen Sid remembered the hot-tempered half-brother of the king. Oswald once attempted to become a Keyblade wielder too, but was unable to wield the power. Though, the magic paintbrush on his back seemed to indicate he'd found his own kind of power in the end. And the cat beside him, Oswald introduced her as Ortensia, held the rabbit's hand in her own. Her soft personality complimenting and contrasting the personality Yen Sid knew Oswald had.
Beside them sat Terra and Ven. From what Aqua told him, Terra wanted to be the one who reached out to other worlds. And Aqua was alright with that. Being that their world only consisted of the three of them, their part in this coalition would be unique to say the least.
Scrooge sat to the right of the wizard, but between him and Terra sat the delegates from Traverse Town.
Traverse Town was Jiminy's idea.
A world of refugees, diverse, yet isolated.
And diverse was the word for these two.
While the others held a similarity in their attire, each reflecting some aspect of their world. These two did not.
The man, Hope, wore a uniform and he carried himself with a serious but kind professionalism. The woman, Sarfana, wore clothes of a completely different kind that were made entirely different from her partner's. Only further showing the diversity of their world as a whole. She wore white and gold robes, similar to those of some sort of priest or mage. And while Hope's white hair seemed styled to reflect his professional appearance, her pink hair fell loosely in waves, free and unhindered.
Standing up, Yen Sid sighed. "Welcome all. Thank you for coming. Now shall we begin this first meeting of the Sunrise Coalition?"
I've been building out this world… a lot…
So, my question is… Would you guys be interested in a chapter that takes a break from the sea salt fam in order to see this meeting and learn some lore, or would you want to just skip around it, and I can come back in another story to detail this?
Let me know!
Footnotes:
(1) Quistis Trepe is from "Final Fantasy VIII", and Reeve Tuesti is from "Final Fantasy VII".
(2) This is Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and his wife, Ortensia.
(3) Hope Estheim is from "Final Fantasy XIII", and Sarafa is from "NieR Reincarnation".
