Senna woke up right before sunrise, as was the custom with her people, but instead of starting with daily meditation she instead liked to watch the sun rise into the sky. She thought that sunrise and sunset were the most beautiful times of the day when day and night mix and create such a beautiful twilight Just because she was now living in such a foreign place, she did not want completely forgo her favorite routine of the day, so she quickly got her bath and got herself ready for the day ahead.

The castle stairs she found were the best place to be able to watch the sunrise, she wasn't sure if there was another place to be able to but she didn't feel it was right to just wander around without permission. As the sky slowly went from a light blue to a rising red and orange sky, Senna felt for the first time a sense of peace starting to wash over her.

No magic in the world could ever recreate this kind of beauty.

She just continued to watch as the sun made its way upward just lost in her thoughts.

"Senna"

Senna jumped a bit and turned around startled by whoever called her name. She relaxed a bit when she saw it was just Eraqus's pupil, Terra.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to startle you," he said apologetically as he scratched the back of his neck.

"It's quite all right, just lost in my thoughts"

She could see the sympathetic look on his face, which tells her that he would like to say more, but doesn't out of respect. She appreciated it.

"Well, Aqua tried to knock on your door since breakfast is ready, and when she sensed you weren't in your room, we decided to look for you and make sure you were all right."

Senna felt touched by their concern, but at the same time a bit uncomfortable as she felt a lot of that concern wasn't genuine but more out of obligation.

"I'm sorry, usually summoners wake up with the sun, but I like to wake up a bit earlier so I can watch the sunrise. It's one of my favorite times of the day, besides sunset. This was the best place to watch it."

"Well If I may, I think the training grounds might be a better spot to watch the sunrise and sunset," Terra said without missing a beat.

Senna just shrugged "I'm not too familiar with the layout of the place quite yet, and I don't feel comfortable just walking around quite yet by myself."

"Well how about after Master's lecture, Aqua, Ven, and I can show you around? After all, this is your home now too."

Though Senna was smiling outwardly, when he mentioned this place being her home now just brought back that empty feeling in the pit of her stomach again.

"Sure, that would be lovely, thank you."

She knew it would be a good idea to get an idea of the layout of the place, and maybe find a good place to be able to summon some of her familiars. It's been way too long since she's seen some of her friends.

Terra led her into the dining hall, once he informed everyone of her whereabouts. It wasn't as awkward as she expected it to be, everyone included her in whatever conversations they were having and she would answer each one as best she could.

"So, Senna, have you ever seen shooting stars before," Ven asked with his usual energetic demeanor

Senna just shakes her head "No, I've never been out long enough past sunset to see any shooting stars."

"Well how about tonight we do some star gazing, maybe we'll see some."

Senna couldn't help but smile, she could sense a pure bright light in Ven one that would make anyone comfortable in his presence because of his innocence. It was also strange; something was different about his heart almost as if it was incomplete.

"I would love to, and who knows maybe the fresh air would be a good place for meditation."

Aqua looked intrigued "How often do you meditate."

"At least twice a day, once in the morning to start the day with a clear head and then once again at the end of the night to try and remove all the stresses and negative emotions from the day. Once in a while in the middle of the day, I might try a new type of meditation."

"There's more than one"

Senna nodded at Aqua's interest "Oh yes, I mean while clearing your mind is good and beneficial, I also found ways to be able to use meditation to be able to open my mind even further from my past experiences."

"Do you think you could teach me some, Master usually has us do about 20 minutes to an hour of meditation each day as part of our training, and unlike these two over here I find it quite enjoyable."

All the nerves and anxiety in Senna were slowly starting to dissipate, as she started to be acquaintances with Aqua, Terra, and Ven.

"It would be such an honor Aqua."

Terra at this point had to add his two cents "I don't know how you two can sit still for so long, my legs start to get cramped after 5 minutes."

"Yeah, I hate not being able to move for so long, I just have to keep my feet going," Ven said agreeing with Terra.

Aqua playfully scoffs "I guess it's just a guy thing.

Ven and Terra just looked at one another in confusion before turning back to Aqua.

"What's that supposed to mean."

As the three playfully bantered amongst themselves, Senna couldn't help but still feel so left out even as they tried to include her as best as possible. It wasn't hard to tell that Master Eraqus's pupils all had such a close bond with one another, she didn't feel like she could intrude on such a personal bond as theirs.

Soon after breakfast was done, it was time for the three of them to attend their morning lecture with Master Eraqus in the throne room, and Senna was also attending at his request, as in his own words it would be beneficial for his pupils to also hear from the granddaughter of a high summoner. Though she does not believe she is suited for such a conversation, as she was certainly not as powerful as her grandfather, she believed her abilities to be quite mediocre in comparison.

Senna quietly stood off to the side as Master Eraqus started talking about light and darkness.

"I know that all of you in this room are aware that within every heart lies darkness, no matter how much light a speck of darkness will always be present. It is our duty to put that darkness into the deepest corner and never allow it manifest and grow."

As he continued with his lecture, Senna found herself comparing Eraqus to Maester Seymour back in her village. Both have such a fanatic view of light and dark, that she suspects that Master Eraqus would not accept any other view on the matter. Though to his credit he was much more easygoing and friendlier than Seymour ever was. While a lot of the villagers made her feel ostracized due to her red eyes, none more so than Seymour who often went out of his way to show it.

(5 years ago)

12-year-old Senna sat on her knees at the end of the row with a bunch of other young summoners in training as Maester Seymour was in the middle of his lecture.

"Remember children, you are hitting the age where temptation will be at Its strongest, even the simplest white lie makes the darkness within grow stronger as the lie continues to grow and grow. You must be cautious as darkness can take many forms in order for you to succumb to it."

One of the young boys spoke out "Like how Maester."

"Sometimes Mentally, other times physically."

He then proceeded to examine each child as he walked down the line.

"Physically it is easy to tell, the eyes tell you everything you need to know about a person."

Senna immediately stiffened when he stopped right in front of her.

"Gold and Red eyes are a sure sign of one that has given in to the darkness."

She just looked up at him terrified as he just glanced at her with the most hateful stare she has ever seen.

Of course, this only furthered the other children's fear of her.

(Present)

Luckily as she got older, she saw less of him, and while she was too much of a lady to say it out loud and she almost hated herself for feeling this way, a part of her was glad he had perished during the assault. While she was aware of the hypocrisy of some of the Maesters, including her father, there was none as guilty as he was.

"Senna, is there anything you would like to add?" Master Eraqus asks as he turns to her.

Senna smiles trying to pretend like she was listening to more than just the first half of the lecture.

"I must say, it was such a wonderful lecture I'm not sure if there's much I can add. All I can say and as I already mentioned at breakfast with them, meditation is such a wonderful way to help clear one's mind of negative emotions and feelings."

Eraqus then turns specifically to Terra and Ven "See, you two could learn a thing or two from her."

Both Terran and Ven just shied away, as Aqua tried to stifle a laugh.

"Well then that's enough for our morning lecture, why don't you three head to the training grounds for a while, there's something I would like to discuss with Senna."

Senna raised her eyebrows a bit, curious as to what he needed to talk to her about.

As soon as they were alone, Eraques stands right in front of Senna "I do hope my pupils are making you feel welcomed."

"Yes, they are going above and beyond in doing so. I don't doubt in time we'll be friends"

Eraqus looked relieved "I'm glad to hear that, those three have a special ability in being able to make friends quickly, especially Ventus."

"I can tell, I could sense there was something special about him. His light truly burns bright."

"Yes, Ventus does have a promising future as a potential keyblade master, as well as Terra and Aqua. This brings me to my next question; I was hoping you could further instruct the three of them in the art of magic."

Senna's eyes widened a bit "Me, but aren't the three of them already well-versed in magic."

"Out of the three Aqua has the most talent for magic and it is her preferred specialty. Ventus is more balanced when it comes to magic and physical stamina, but Terra is the one I think would benefit greatly from extra lessons. He has tremendous physical power, but he has had trouble getting past the basics when comes to magic. Your father when he contacted me, told me that you were one of the strongest mage users that any summoners have produced since your grandfather."

Senna could feel the heat on her cheeks rising "I believe my father was just exaggerating."

"Nonsense, even Yen Sid one of the greatest sorcerers has acknowledged the potential within you to be even greater than his. Believe me, that is not an easy feat for someone like him to acknowledge."

Senna was never good when anyone gave her praise due to how rare that praise was from anyone but her father. Her mother didn't live long enough to see any of the progress she made, but she felt that would've been included in it.

Suddenly an idea came into Senna's mind.

"I will certainly try my best and help with any training with magic that I can, but I was also hoping I could make a request of my own if I may."

"What may that be," he asks curiously.

"I was hoping I could summon some of my familiars into this world with your permission."

Master Eraqus looked intrigued "If I may ask what is the process of summoning."

"It's a simple process really, once we create our staffs from our magic that allows us to travel to their world and form bonds with certain creatures. Once that bond is formed, it's nothing but a simple tap on the ground with the staff to summon them into the summoner's world."

"Of course, you have my blessing, I only ask that you refrain from summoning any of the more aggressive creatures unless I am present."

Senna felt a sense of relief, she'll be able to talk to some of her close companions again.

"Thank you Master Eraqus," Senna said as she bowed.

He reciprocated the bow "Why don't you go ahead and explore the castle grounds, I'm sure you'll find many wonders out there."

Senna smiled as she quickly made her way out of the throne room.

(Training grounds)

Terra and Aqua were currently sparring, as Ventus watched on in excitement.

"Oh man, it's so close."

Though it seemed like Terra had the upper hand, Aqua thanks to her speed was able to dodge and go back on the offensive just in the nick of time similar to what happened yesterday with Ven, Terra was knocked on his back though much harder as he let out a painful groan.

Aqua looked down at her keyblade and saw icy mist coming from the tip.

"Terra, are you all right" Aqua ran over to help him out realizing what happened.

Terra groaned as he sat up "Yeah, but did you have to put a blizzard attack in that last one."

"I'm sorry, just a force of habit I suppose," Aqua said as she checked him over, and saw a bruise already forming on his shoulder. She quickly did a quick cure spell to help alleviate the pain.

Aqua then proceeded to help Terra up off the ground, and as soon as they were up, they saw Ven staring off in the distance.

"Hey what is it Ven-"Terra said looking at where Ven was staring and saw Senna walking the path looking at the various plants and flowers as she did."

"I feel so sad for her, I just want to be able to help," Ven said feeling helpless.

Aqua put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it "I know Ven, but you got to remember her whole world has changed and while this place is home to us but for her this is a new and scary place with people she doesn't know."

"Yeah, I can imagine she probably has a lot she's trying to repress. All we can do is just be here if or when she wants to open up. Until then we just got to keep helping her feel welcome without overwhelming her" Terra added.

Ever since she arrived here last night, it wasn't hard for Terra to see the pain behind the fake smile she was putting on. Trying to push all of her sorrows, so others wouldn't see it. If there was one thing Terra hated, it was seeing others in pain and not being able to help, but he also understood there was only so much he and the others could do until Senna expressed that for herself.

"Hey Senna" Ven yelled as he ran over to her.

Aqua tried to stop him, but he was too quick for her.

"Well if there's one universal fact, is that no one is immune to Ven's charm," Terra said amused watching as Ven and Senna conversed, and he even got her to laugh.

Aqua nodded in agreement "Yeah that's Ven for you, always able to bring a smile no matter what."

Ven and Senna then made their way over to Aqua and Terra

"Wow, you were right Terra, this place is defiantly a great spot to watch the sunrise and sunset," Senna said admiring the view.

Ven then turns to Aqua and Terra "You guys going to watch Shooting Stars with us tonight."

"I'm in," Aqua said turning to Terra.

"Yeah, count me in as well."

Aqua then turned back to Senna "So what did you and Master talk about."

"Oh, um he had asked me to participate in one of your magic lessons as an extra help"

"Well Terra will certainly need the extra help" Ven chuckled.

Terra just glares at Ven "You better watch it there."

"It was a good thing he kept me back because I needed to talk to him about matters concerning summoning in the vicinity."

Terra and Ven looked at her with confusion, but Aqua seemed to understand what she meant.

"Master didn't go into great detail, but he mentioned that summoners have the ability to connect to a special world and summon creatures into the world."

Senna just nods, looking contemplative before she continued.

"Yes, you see once summoners reach a certain age we embark in that world and form bonds with some of the creatures that become our familiars. Once those bonds are formed, we can bring them into the world via our staff."

Senna took her staff that was tied to her back and showed it to them.

"Each summoner like a keyblade wielder has their own unique staff, ours are made through the melding of the magic inside of us that connects us with that world. It also isn't a one-and-done journey, many summoners go away often to further bond with even more powerful creatures."

The trio looked intrigued by the information that Senna was willing to share.

"Do you think you could show us?" Ven asked already looking forward to seeing.

Terra noticed how Senna's entire demeanor changed, she seemed more relaxed now that she was back in her element.

"Yeah, why not, it will be the first time since I left home that I was able to summon. Oh boy, do I know which little trio to summon first. All right I'll need you guys to stand back ok."

The three immediately did what she suggested, and were immediately mesmerized as she started to do some sort of dance and twirled her staff. As she did so, the wind picked up around her before she tapped the ground with her staff.

There was a flash of yellowish light, bright enough to cause them to cover their eyes a bit. When the light faded away, the trio looked amazed at what they saw, but Senna just looked confused.

There in front of them was a large red bird creature that had a long neck and wings, but what surprised Terra was that the bird was just tall as he was.

"Nugget, what are you doing here."

Senna quickly walked over to the bird and kneeled to its level, as soon as she did the bird quickly nuzzled up to her, to which she reciprocated. It was obvious from the way they interacted it was quite a while since they saw one another.

"Wow, what is that," Ven said as he walked up and tried to pet it but the creature let out a small growl which immediately put Terra and Aqua on the defense.

Senna lifted her head from the creature and smiled as she petted his head "It's all right, they won't hurt us."

She then turned towards the group "Sorry about that, this is Nugget she is what we call a Chocobo. They are the first familiars that we bond with, and our longest-lasting summons."

"I'm assuming you can ride them," Terra said gesturing towards the saddle.

Senna nods "Yes, they were our main source of transportation, most of them aren't particularly strong creatures which is why they can remain in our world for extended periods unlike some of the more powerful creatures."

"This is where I'm living now Nugget, they are going to take care of me,"

Terra couldn't help but chuckle slightly "Did you say her name is Nugget."

Senna couldn't help but pout at the teasing "Listen I was like 7 at the time, I think there's some room for forgiveness."

Nugget cautiously made her way over to Aqua, who kneeled and held her hand out. Nugget did a quick sniff before she licked her hand.

Aqua smiled admiring the chocobo as she petted Nugget "She's adorable."

"She's taken quite a liking to you," Senna said happily observing as Nugget made her way over to Terra and proceeded to rub her head against his chest. Terra was a bit awkward at first at the contact, but he quickly got over it and started to pet her.

Ven once again went up to Nugget "My name's Ventus, but everyone calls me Ven."

Nugget suddenly pounced on Ven, causing all three to run over to help until they heard Ven laughing. They looked down and saw Nugget licking Ven's face.

"T-That tickles."

This caused Terra, Aqua, and Senna to laugh.

(Unknown world)

All around houses were completely demolished with various items scattered everywhere, with the ground having multiple large cracks. No signs of life could be found anywhere on the ground, but up on top of the cliff that overlooks the city was a mysterious person wearing a black coat looking over at the damage.

Suddenly, another person wearing a black coat, albeit taller than the one at the edge of the cliff, walked towards the other person.

"I got to say, I'm impressed. An entire generation of Summoners was taken out in a blink of an eye. That boy in the mask made quick work of them."

The other person just scoffed "It wasn't much of a challenge for Vanitas, a century of hiding made the remaining summoners weak. They weren't what they used to be."

"Then why let Braska's granddaughter escape."

"Because not only because she has such a strong connection to the elemental guardians due to the unique circumstances surrounding her birth, but as the granddaughter of the strongest summoners to ever live, only she can break the seal that Sin is trapped in."

The person behind him seemed a bit shocked by his answer "Why now that you take such an interest in Sin, if I recall correctly none of the keyblade wielders were very eager in assisting when Sin wiped out more than half of the population of summoners."

"It is a different time now. I presume Eraqus agreed to take the girl in to appease his own guilt over what had transpired. While I have my own agenda in the works, being able to control Sin would be a great asset to bringing balance and that's why your assistance will be vital in the near future."

"As long as I get what I need at the end of all this, I do what I got to do."

(Land of Departure- Night)

Senna and Ven sat on the ground, with a blanket underneath them, looking up at the starry sky, while Terra and Aqua sat on the bench. Terra offered Senna a spot on the bench, but she declined preferring sitting on the blanket as it feels like a more authentic outdoor experience.

A shooting star then appeared in the night sky, both Senna and Ven looked on in amazement.

"Wow that's amazing, are they frequent around here"

Ven lay down on the grass as he put his hands behind his head "Yeah, well not every night but I say a couple of times in a week and once in a while, there's even a meteor shower, now that's a sight I hope you get to see."

"I sure hope so"

Aqua sat up straight on the bench and put her hands on her knees "I heard that no matter where you are, you can use the stars to help you find your way back home."

"Really how so," Terra asks as he also puts his hands behind his back looking up at the sky.

"The North Star, apparently the stars in the sky can make all sorts of shapes and patterns that lead you to the North Star."

Senna listened in fascination; it amazes her just how beautiful the night sky truly was. It only reinforced her belief that beauty can be found in darkness as well if one looks hard enough, it doesn't have to be all ugly and bad.

After another hour, Aqua got up and announced "All right Ven it's time to go to bed."

Ven just looked up at Aqua looking a bit upset "Aw come on Aqua."

"No Ven, it's already late as it is, we got another early start tomorrow," Aqua said ruffling his hair.

Ven reluctantly got up, with Aqua and Terra.

"Aren't you coming to Senna?" Aqua asked when she noticed she wasn't getting up.

Senna without taking her eyes off the sky said "Go on ahead, I'll be in shortly I just want to stay out a bit longer."

Terra and Aqua shared a look at one another but started walking away back to the castle with Ven.

As soon as she knew they were gone, Senna let out a sigh as she brought her legs up to her chest and just hugged them. Even though it was only her second day here, she was starting to feel comfortable with where she is, and that was what worried her. Despite having more bad memories than good ones back in the village, it was still the home she grew up in and would never be able to return to. She thought she understood how she was feeling as she grieved, but now it's getting more and more complicated than she ever realized. Even meditation wasn't helping her either and now it seems her summoning was being affected.

Senna then put her head down on her knees and closed her eyes as he let a few tears fall out.

She wasn't sure how long she sat there, but soon she felt the wind starting to pick up making her shiver a bit. Just as she decided to get up and head back, she felt a presence behind her. She quickly turned around and saw Terra looking at her like he didn't know what to do.

"How long have you been there," Senna asks turning around and wiping away a tear she didn't realize that was falling until it was too late.

She heard Terra walking towards her "Not long, I notice the wind starting to pick up and just wanted to make sure you'd made it back to the castle."

"Well, I was getting ready to head back soon anyway, but I appreciate your concern," she said really trying not to sound mean or that she wasn't appreciative, but her voice started to crack near the end.

"Do you want to talk about it, or at least vent to a listening ear? It might make you feel better instead of bottling it all up."

Senna just shakes her head "I don't think you would want to hear it; you wouldn't understand as I can't understand myself."

"Well, we won't know until we try," Terra said sitting next to Senna on the ground.

Senna just sighed "It's just that I'm having all sorts of conflicting emotions. I've been trying to keep strong since everything happened, but you guys have been doing such a good job of making me feel welcome I can't help but feel guilty for even feeling a bit of happiness especially since for most of my life I was more or less treated as an outcast and even now that I've been here for a full day, I've felt more accepted than I did before and it feels so wrong because it was the only home I ever knew."

She had to admit, it did feel a bit good to let some of the emotions she was holding onto out in the open.

Terra was defiantly out of his element, there was some stuff he wanted to ask but he also didn't want to overstep either.

"It sounds like maybe you're grieving for what could have been. I don't know what your experiences were like back where you came from, and I won't pry unless you want to tell me, but I can only assume that you just wanted acceptance and now with your home gone that dream is now gone, which you are now grieving."

Senna's eyes widen a bit

Could that be it? grieving a lost dream

"I was born with these red eyes, and most of everyone in the village took it as a bad omen, and I'm sure you can guess why," Senna said not wanting to go into deeper details.

"I kind of had a feeling that was it, based on how you reacted to Ven's comment and you telling Aqua people don't compliment your eyes much. That's a shame someone will just judge based on physical appearances; actions I think speak so much louder than that."

Senna raised her eyebrows like that was the most obvious thing in the world, but apparently, to a lot of people, it wasn't.

When Senna didn't say anything, Terra just continued.

"There's no shame in having joy and happiness while you grieve, otherwise that grief will just destroy you. I know now it might not feel like it, but that grief will eventually make you stronger. After all, having a strong heart will carry you through the hardest of trials."

Senna couldn't help but laugh humorlessly "Well you certainly don't know me then, I'm not strong."

"Then I hope you let not only me, but Aqua, Ven, and Master Eraqus get to know the real you. Though none of us want to pressure you, it's all up to you whether you would like to be friends with us. I only hope you know we are sincere in wanting to be friends."

Senna wiped another tear from her face "Well seeing Nugget warm up to you three right away, was defiantly a dealbreaker that's for sure. Nugget is highly protective of me, and seeing her act like that did convince me that you all mean well."

Terra chuckled when she mentioned Nugget "That's good, you got a good protector."

"That I do."

Both of them just sat for a few more minutes, before Terra suggested they started making their way back to the castle. As they started walking back, Senna felt a bit of that knotty feeling in her stomach start to disappear, not fully but it was a start. The future still seemed so bleak, but now there was a bit of light at the end of the tunnel.

Author's Note

Well here's the second chapter and I hoped everyone liked it. We're moving in a direction were Senna is starting to become friends with our Wayfinder trio, and will find ways to individually bond with each of them. I'm really happy with how this chapter came out and hope you do too.