Hey everyone,
So I'm not going to cover the Weasleys and what their returned wealth and status will mean for their future in this chapter.
Instead, we're going back to Radiant Garden, because –
I forgot Isa,

Venquine1990

Chapter 27
Magic, Intel And Friends

25th of June 1995
Great Hall, Hogwarts
Lea's POV

After Hera leaves, with the promise that she will take Ares up to task and that she will make her husband see sense, we all head into the Great Hall.

And thanks to Sora and the gang joining Harry, his family, Hermione, Cedric and his family and the Weasleys, our group takes up a considerable amount of space at the Gryffindor table.

And yet, somehow, the table doesn't feel cramped and the other students don't seem to have trouble finding seats of their own.

"How intriguing. This might actually be a secondary reason behind Lady Hogwarts being so much weaker, as stated in the book." Master Yen Sid mumbles as he looks around the Hall.

We all look at him and he looks up, just as Professor McGonagall passes us by. "Tell me, Professor. Am I correct to assume that, a thousand years ago, the student roster had a much smaller amount of attendants per year?"

The woman nods and states that the roster was also much more inconsistent as students were brought to the school at random intervals, that back then there hadn't been regular school years yet.

Master Yen Sid nods and states that it makes sense that such developments would come with time. Then he continues and says:

"But because the roster is now much larger than it was back then, Lady Hogwarts needs to exert an extra dose of magic to accommodate her residents without causing damage to her own structure.

And by my estimation the Founders foresaw this possibility, thus they equipped their mighty creation with either a space distortion or compartmentalizing enchantment.

That allows the school to look larger on the inside than it is on the outside. Thus more space is made available for any new developments, such as a larger student roster."

The woman, and indeed quite a few members of the staff, look around in awed surprise and one of them mutters in astonishment how he never noticed such a thing.

Someone else, someone younger, exclaims how this makes Hogwarts even more awesome and a buzz of excited muttering fills the hall.

It seems the master gave the students something to talk about.

Other than the books we will resume reading the other day.

Then suddenly, from the corner of my eye, I spot something blue passing us by. I look up and realize that it's just a student with a blue trim on her robe taking her seat.

But as I spot the blue trimmed robe, my eyes widen and my heart starts to fill itself with utter regret and shame.

I stand up and claim that I need to go. Everyone looks at me and I say: "I'm on the verge of contradicting a statement I made earlier, when I finally reunited with an old friend of mine.

I can't stand that idea, so I need to leave. I'll be back later, once I explained everything to him and checked to see if he wants to join us."

Everyone nods, but then Aqua throws me an apple and says: "At least have something to eat before you leave. Phasing on an empty stomach can't be healthy, Lea."

And finally I give in to the urge to rub the back of my neck, which I've been wanting to do since I hade my realization.

Then Axel stands up and says: "Most of us already had something to eat back in our chambers while Bill helped us set up our vaults.

I'll go."

I don't know how I feel about this idea. I want to argue that Isa is my friend and that I should be the one to go and apologize.

But then I realize that I almost made the same mistake that made Saïx act so jealously and horribly towards Roxas and Xion.

I nod towards Axel, who quickly pecks Roxas on the cheek before he disappears in a brush of shadowy clouds and whisps.

I sigh and sit down again.

Axel's POV

Radiant Garden

Aqua definitely wasn't wrong when she said that phasing on an empty stomach would've been a bad idea.

Sure, I had some snacks to munch on while Bill was helping us set up a part of our new lives here, but the distance between Hogwarts and the Garden is still incredibly massive.

Almost enough to make me wonder if the World That Never Was might not be located somewhere between the two.

Thankfully I've traveled through this method enough times that I'm quickly able to regain my bearings.

I look around and suppress the slight twinge of guilt within me as I gaze at the realm in which I was born/created.

I may have used the excuse that Lea needed to eat before he left to go in his place, but I actually had a different motive and reason.

While Lea may have spent the last few hours between the Master telling us to rest and his trip to the Keyblade Graveyard in Twilight Town, I felt resentment over this.

There we both were, on the verge on what could've been our very final adventure ever and the guy hadn't even gone to see him home world for what might be the last time ever.

And now I'm here to rectify that.

Even with Xehanort having been defeated.

And as I look around the beautiful world with the stone and white cement-based houses, the gorgeous bits of marble and the many fountains I spot in the distance, I think:

"It certainly has its charm and the light here is still incredibly strong. But if Lea stayed in Twilight Town because of the strength of the sun – yeah, I can get that."

"Ah Lea, there you are. I was hoping you'd come over to explain your earlier statement." A familiar voice behind me suddenly says.

I wince when I recognize the voice and think: "He's not going to be happy when he realizes who I really am."

Yet I've never been known for being a coward, so I turn around.

And like I expected Ienzo's visible eye widens when he sees me.

"A-a-a-axel. B-b-b-b – but h – but how? I – I mean, Lea, he – he hinted, but –."

The way that the boy, who is only a year or so younger than me, stutters in fear this much tears at me.

I turn my head away and say: "Ienzo, relax. Don't worry. I'm not who I used to be. The Axel that did what I did is gone. And he's never coming back. It's impossible for him to come back."

"Axel, what – what are you saying? You – you weren't possessed! That was Riku!"

I grin and cover one of my own eyes with my hand as I say:

"Right, but I didn't mean it that way. What I meant was, back then, I was truly a Nobody without a heart.

But Roxas, who I am meant for, helped me gain one of my own. And when Lea went to save Harry, his soulmate, from the only force that could damage their bond, my bond with Roxas allowed us to split.

That's how I'm here and why I would never do what I did back then."

I breath a sigh of relief when I spot how my explanation has calmed down Ienzo's nerves as he stands up strong again in front of me.

"Ah, I see. Thank you, Axel. Both for the explanation behind everything that was still unclear to me and for your words of regret.

They mean a lot to me."

I happily nod at him.

Yet then the same timidity seems to return to the young man and he says: "And, to be honest, your timing is also quite excellent.

You see, earlier Lea called me on the Gummi Phone and asked me to look into his mother's state of being and that of their home.

Well, a few minutes ago, Tron managed to find an old recording of what happened to Lea – I mean, your – mother and

And I'm out here, because I really don't want to be the one to convey the bad news to him. At least not alone, so I was hoping to run into Isa and see if he'd want to come with me."

I have to admit that it startled me when Ienzo referred to Lea's mother as my own, even if I can understand his logic behind it.

At the same time his words leave me with a looming sense of dread and I try to negate this by explaining that I'm here to look for Isa as well.

"Lea and the others want to know if he wants to join them in the reading that's taking place in the other world or if he'd rather stay here, recover and enjoy his own life."

Ienzo seems genuinely relieved to hear me explain this and then something happens that makes me think: "What is it with people speaking up when they're behind me today?"

"Wow, and here I thought that Lea would know me better than that. Surely he didn't think I'd want to miss out on his life so shortly after regaining my own, right?"

And yet, while the young man, who is slightly older than me, says this, within me, memories clash against each other.

The memory of what Isa was like when he was fading away and confessing his deepest and greatest mistakes while lying in Lea's arms and lap.

Against the many memories of how Saïx treated Xion, expected me to spy on her and Roxas and tried to force me to pick between them and him.

"Heh, it's a good thing that I saw this coming. Please Axel, be patient. I'm not at full strength yet and I'm trying to regain my control over my Claymore. Once I have that, I will give you the fight you want to express your own anger with me."

I turn around at these words, my anger gone and replaced with utter shock that Isa was able to read me so well.

The young man smirks and says: "Nobody or not, you were always an open book to me and I never made things easy for you – or Lea for that matter."

And because I managed to keep some of Axel's memories – like the one from when we first met Ventus – I know that he's right.

I smile at this.

Good on you guys,
Okay, so this chapter wasn't really that long and I decided to skip the scene where Axel takes Isa to Hogwarts.
I didn't really feel like that needed to be covered. And I'm sure you guys are wondering how the students reacted to "dark magic" being used in the Great Hall.
Don't worry, Yen Sid was there,

Venquine1990
PS. Don't expect any Darkened Light chapters for a while. I'm going to work on Master Yen Sid first.