‘The best time would be now,’ Leon replied. ‘Remember to report back here after checking in on two worlds. We need you to keep us updated, and we’ll be able to update you too.’

‘Gotcha,’ Sora nodded. He turned to Riku and Kairi. ‘You guys ready?’

‘Ever ready!’ Kairi responded positively.

‘Always,’ Riku smiled.

‘Hey, don’t forget me!’

A muffled voice issued out of Donald’s hat. As Sora took a closer look, he spotted a little green cricket climbing up Donald’s shoulder.

‘Jiminy!’ Sora identified.

Jiminy Cricket nodded as he tipped his top hat lightly. ‘You can’t possibly leave without me, right? I still have a job of recording your journey to do.’

‘Sure, hop on,’ said Sora as Jiminy leapt across. He opened the umbrella held in his hand as he took a soft landing on Sora’s shoulder. He slided down Sora’s back and took his place in Sora’s hood.

‘If that’s all, we’ll be taking a leave now,’ Sora continued.

‘Take care, Sora,’ said Goofy.

‘Don’t push yourself too hard,’ Donald noted.

As Sora walked out of the door, he was interrupted in his steps.

‘Sora,’ said Cloud suddenly. He paused as his eye shifted towards a corner. ‘Don’t ever lose sight of you light.’

Sora nodded, gave one last goodbye, and left Radiant Garden with two of his best friends by his side.

---

‘Wow, this is pretty neat!’

The three friends had collected their gummi ship, their vessel to travel to other worlds. Kairi was admiring the interior of the gummi ship as Sora started figuring the controls.

‘It has only been three months, but I don’t remember how to work this thing anymore…’ said Sora, confused.

‘Here,’ Riku stretched out a hand towards the control panel. ‘Let me do it.’

Sora scooted to the other chair as Riku operated the control panel skilfully. Sora turned to take a peek at Kairi, who was enjoying herself. He smiled at the sight before turning back to the front.

It was a hassle to face numerous Heartless ships as they battled their way to the next world. The gummi ship sustained some damages, but all was well.

‘Look,’ Riku pointed out after the army of Heartless have dispersed. ‘It’s a world.’

‘Olympus Coliseum!’ Sora cried. He could clearly see the two large warrior statues that stand proudly on both sides of the Coliseum Gates. Beyond the gate was the Underworld, puffing with purple clouds.

Without a command, Riku nodded and navigated the gummi ship to land at Olympus Coliseum. Soon, they were warped to the landing point in the Underworld.

The Underworld was dark and gloomy, just a Sora had remembered it. He could see the dark river, and across it, the Underdrome.

‘Sora, are those your friends?’ Kairi tapped Sora’s shoulders lightly as he turned towards the direction she was pointing at. Sora could see a buffed man in a gladiator suit. He had rows of pearly white teeth and a pair of bright blue eyes. By his side was a slender lady with long burgundy hair. The two of them were waving from afar.

‘Hercules!’ Sora called out as he ran towards his friend.

‘Hey Sora, haven’t seen you in awhile,’ Hercules smiled. ‘How are things?’

‘Same old,’ said Sora. ‘Fighting bad guys and all. What about you?’

‘Nothing much,’ Hercules replied. ‘Just making sure that Hades stays low.’

‘By the way Sora, where’s Donald and Goofy?’ asked the lady.

‘Oh, they are, uh… beating Heartless and Nobodies somewhere else,’ Sora answered. ‘By the way, these are my friends. This is Riku, and this is Kairi.’

‘We’ve heard a lot about you two,’ said Hercules. ‘My name’s Hercules.’

‘Call me Meg,’ the lady said.

Riku nodded simply while Kairi spoke. ‘Nice to meet you!’

‘Have you two by any chance seen any weird things happening around here?’ Sora asked. ‘Like the Heartless or Nobody?’

‘Nope,’ Hercules said. ‘Things have been really peaceful, other than Hades. Why do you ask?’

Right at that moment, the Heartless and Nobody appeared, surrounding them.

‘Not until now,’ Riku said as he whipped out his Keyblade.

---

‘Told you Santa was real,’ Kairi exclaimed proudly.

Riku heaved a sigh as they landed in Radiant Garden after their trip from Halloween Town. They had unsealed the path in Olympus Coliseum and Halloween Town, widening their reach to the other worlds.

‘Let’s go back to Merlin’s House,’ said Sora as he walked out of the gummi ship. The Heartless and Nobodies were still around as they made their way towards Merlin’s House.

‘Hey Sora, you’re back!’

Aerith led Sora, Riku and Kairi into the house where Yuffie and Cid were having a Sea Salt Ice-cream break.

‘Leon’s at the Postern,’ said Yuffie. ‘Didn’t you catch him on the way here?’

‘We landed in the Marketplace,’ Riku said.

‘What’s he doing there?’ Sora asked.

‘Beats me,’ Yuffie mumbled as she took a bite of the bright blue ice-cream. ‘So, what did you find?’

‘Heartless and Nobodies, as usual,’ Kairi said.

‘They seem to appear only after we arrive,’ Sora added. ‘Maybe they know that we were there, and they appeared when they sniffed us.’

‘Sounds fishy,’ said Cid. ‘Maybe they’re only targeting us?’

‘Anyhow, you should go look for Leon now,’ said Aerith. ‘I think he has some things to tell you too.’

‘Right, we’ll be off,’ Sora nodded.

The trio went beyond the Restoration Site which was still infested with Heartless and Nobodies. Soon, they could see the dark figure of Leon.

‘Hey Le…’ Sora stopped. As he went closer, he could see Leon reading a letter silently. An ethereal image of a butterfly surfaced from the letter. On his face, a rare smiled has appeared. This smile was different from before. It was filled with joy, with light.

‘Leon, what’s up?’ said Sora.

‘S-sora,’ Leon raised his head. As he saw Sora, Riku and Kairi, he started moving frantically. Quickly, he kept the letter. In a flash of light, he was back to serious and cool Leon again.

‘So, what’s up?’ he said after getting back his composure.

‘That’s what I asked you,’ Sora said, holding back his laughter. He looked back at Riku and Kairi to see their response. Riku was smirking and Kairi placed a finger upon her lips, asking Sora to keep the matter quiet.

‘Yes,’ Leon replied calmly. ‘I just came out for some fresh air… What did you find out?’

‘Oh, we went to Olympus Coliseum and Halloween Town,’ Sora said as he resisted the urge to question him about the letter. ‘It seems that the Heartless and Nobodies appear only when we were there.’

‘That is odd…’ Leon said as he closed his eyes, his arms crossed. ‘Donald and Goofy reported that Wonderland was the same too. It looks like some worlds are under constant attack, while others only received attack when we were there.’

‘Maybe they were only aiming for us,’ Riku answered. ‘Those with a good knowledge about the worlds.’

‘That could be it. We’re all connected or closely connected to the Keyblade,’ Leon pointed at the three of them. ‘Either that, or Maleficent really just wants to get back at us.’

‘So, we still don’t have much clues huh,’ Sora sighed.

‘It takes time,’ Leon consoled Sora. ‘At least we know that they are attacking us.’

‘But wouldn’t that mean we’re putting other people’s life in danger?’ said Sora worriedly.

‘Sora, as long as we’re there, we’ll be able to protect them, right?’ said Kairi.

Sora smiled. Kairi always had the ability to make things brighter.

‘Go back to Merlin’s House,’ said Leon. ‘They have the list of worlds to visit there.’

‘You’re not coming with us?’ Sora asked.

‘No…’ Leon replied softly. ‘I’ll stay here for a little while longer.’

With that, Sora, Riku and Kairi headed back to Merlin’s House. When they arrived, they told Aerith, Yuffie and Cid about what they saw at the Postern.

‘Leon? A letter?’ Yuffie said curiously.

‘Hmm, I knew it,’ Cid nodded.

‘You guys know about this already?’ asked Sora.

‘Leon isn’t very good at hiding this sort of things,’ Aerith tittered softly. ‘We caught him reading letters a few times too.’

‘But have an idea what it’s about,’ Yuffie smiled slyly. ‘Was he by any chance smiling suspiciously?’

‘Suspiciously?’ Sora raised an eyebrow. ‘If that’s what you called it… yeah.’

Aerith, Yuffie and Cid exchange stares. They smiled.

‘We think it’s an old friend of Leon,’ said Aerith. ‘Also… an old friend of ours.’

‘An old friend?’

Aerith nodded. ‘We weren’t the only ones from Radiant Garden. This other friend of ours, she was from Radiant Garden too.’

‘We were lucky to find each other at Traverse Town, and find our way home,’ Yuffie continued. ‘But she was alone, and we’ve never seen her ever since the Heartless took Radiant Garden.’

‘How sure are you it’s her?’ asked Riku.

‘The butterfly,’ Cid muttered.

‘Butterfly?’

‘The butterfly,’ Cid said, slightly annoyed. ‘Didn’t you see it? A butterfly coming out of the letter.’

‘Now you said it… yeah,’ Sora nodded.

‘That’s her symbol,’ Yuffie answered. ‘The butterfly.’
---

Current Word Count: 5,235

Labels: NaNoMadness