Thank you for your patience. For those of you who are reading this, this takes place after the story Lost and Alone. I recommend you read that one before this one. And this is connected to Kingdom Hearts: Journey of Discovery Final Mix, which is still in work. I'll try to make sure both stories get updated in a timely manner. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy.

I don't own Kingdom Hearts.

Anne Marshall belongs to AquaDestiniesEmbrace, who is also the cowriter of this chapter.

Dylan and Chase Enheart belong to I_heart_Lyoko.

Chapter 1: Go to Sleep

CLAIR'S POV

Pain. Every step Windrun took sent pain throughout my body. I had to bite my lip to try and make my pain less known. Not too far behind us, Sarah, Chase, Dylan, and Anne were following, taking in the sights around them with awe. I had no idea what they had to be thinking, but I was surprised they weren't in shock after seeing everything they did on their world. One that had been turned into a land of the undead. And it had been caused by someone I once trusted.

"This... this is amazing!" Sarah whispered.

"You can say that again." Anne said before she noticed one of the moogles. "What the heck is that?"

"That... that is a Moogle." I explained to her. I could see why it would surprise someone. It was like a living stuffed animal with tiny purple wings and a big nose that moved on its own. I was still amazed something like that existed.

She blinked. "... is that a pom-pom on its head?"

I gave a weak smile. "It is... you probably shouldn't touch it, though." I told her. "I don't think they like it."

"... I still can't believe it... we're in a town that's not abandoned." Anne then said as she looked at the people we passed by. "No walkers... no crazy people..."

I interrupted her thoughts with a cough.

"Are you okay?" she asked, jogging to catch up to Windrun and I. I nodded, but another cough kept me from saying anything

Now Chase was looking concerned. "We should get you to this Merlin guy." he said, jogging up to us as well. "Are we getting close?"

I looked around to be sure. The buildings were looking familiar even with the changes made with construction and renovation. "Yeah." Windrun snorted as his hooves clicked against the cobblestone road. Eventually, I noticed a familiar building in the distance. "There..."

Dylan looked where I gestured. "Is that it?"

I gave a nod as we started making our way to the building, Merlin's home. And the headquarters of the Restoration...

ANNE'S POV

"Whoa, Clair!" I heard Sarah say. Turning around, I saw her trying to catch the older teen as she fell off the horse's back, but the two of them ended up falling against the road.

Windrun let out a whinny as he stopped walking. My eyes widened before Chase, Dylan, and I ran to help them while Windrun lowered his head to check on the two.

"Clair?!" I asked, kneeling down to help her off Sarah, but she didn't look so good.

Cursing under my breath, I worked with Sarah to try and help her up, but she was out. So we both had to support her by draping an arm over our shoulders.

Dylan looked at his brother. "Chase, go knock on the door."

Chase nodded before knocking on the door, then took a step back. A moment later, someone answered it.

My jaw dropped. I had seen him in that movie, and various specials, but here he was in person. The old man in a blue robe with a matching pointed had, and a long white beard that almost came to his feet. In his hand was a wooden rod. It was Merlin!

He looked a bit confused at the sight of us. "Um... hello. And you are?" His gaze then wandered over to Clair, who was being supported by Sarah and I, and gasped. "Clair!" He then hurried over to her. "Where the Dickens have you been?"

"It's a long story." I said.

Merlin furrowed his brow at that, then saw her injuries. "And what happened to you?"

"Also a long story." I replied.

"Well, I suppose it can't be helped. All of you, come inside." Merlin stepped aside, allowing us to come inside. Windrun even walked in after us.

"What the? What the heck is a horse doing in here?" Someone asked from inside.

"He's with us." Chase stated as we came inside. I raised my eyebrow in confusion as a girl with short, black hair polished the biggest shuriken I had ever seen. As I watched, I saw her stick some orb into the weapon. There was no slot or hole for it, yet it somehow merged with the shuriken. How did that work? "Why is there a horse?" She asked while pausing from doing the polishing/merging whatever with her weapon.

"That pony's gonna knock over everything and make an even bigger mess!" The person who spoke, an old man with blond hair in a white shirt and blue pants, was complaining.

"Um... sorry about Windrun." Sarah apologized.

"Windrun?" the girl on the other side of the room asked.

"The horse." I clarified.

"So is anyone going to answer me?"

Merlin waved his wand and a cot appeared out of thin air. "Lay her there, please..." he instructed. Sarah and I moved Clair over to the cot, setting her down on it while Merlin began to examine her. "Oh dear... who did this to her...?" he asked, waving his wand again.

"Santos Ceres." Chase growled.

"He did this to her." I hissed with venom in my voice at the name of that sick creep.

Everyone in the room looked up at that. "So he survived too." Cid said.

"You know who he is?" I frowned lightly.

A man with brown hair and a scar across his nose wearing a black short sleeved jacket with a fur collar gave a nod. "He was part of a program she and her cousin were in. They thought he was a friend. But he definitely wasn't..." he frowned. "Turns out their program was just a front for Madsane, to create a group of elite warriors." The old man was saying. "Almost like the projects Xehanort did here under our noses."

I clenched my fist. Just hearing Madsane and Santos's names made me want to punch something.

"Who's Xehanort?" Sarah asked.

"Better asking who he was." The girl said as she stuck the cloth she was using to polish her shuriken into a pack pocket of her tan shorts. "He's dead now."

"He was an evil person... caused the worlds quite a bit of trouble." the brown haired man noted as he looked at us. "I don't think we've caught your names."

"I'm Anne Marshall. This is Chase and Dylan Enheart, and Sarah." I said.

Windrun gave a snort as he looked at us.

"And the horse is Windrun." Chase added as he turned to the horse. "We haven't forgotten about you."

He just turned his head away once that correction was made

"All five of us are from a world where the dead come back to life and eat the living." Dylan said grimly.

"And Madsane and Santos are the reason why that was happening." I growled. "They turned our entire world into some sick, twisted experiment!"

There was grim silence at that. Whatever the guy with blonde hair had in his mouth fell out of it while the girl looked shocked. The man with brown hair closed his eyes grimly while Merlin did a double take.

"... What...?" the girl finally asked.

"You heard me." I said. "We lost our homes... our friends... our families..."

"Because of those bastards..." Dylan whispered. "... My Rebecca was killed because of them..."

"We've had to see people we knew eaten alive, shot, get bit and turn into one of those things before our eyes... we had to put them down to keep them from reanimating as one..." Chase's voice was full of sadness and regret. "We've also had to watch people go insane from how the world became..."

"A-And Santos Ceres... he killed my dad right in front of me..." Sarah added, looking down.

"I had to see my parents eaten alive when it began..." I clenched my fist tighter than before. "And when we found out, Santos just taunted us about it!" I was about to kick something over, but I stopped myself.

Merlin, who was looking over Clair, had to stop because Clair gasped. All of us turned our attention to her. "Clair...?" Chase asked.

"This is serious." Merlin said as he looked at us. "I will need assistance."

The four of us immediately came over to his side. "How can we help?" I asked.

"You will explain everything to Master Yen Sid."

"To who?" Dylan asked, but then our surroundings changed.

I blinked with surprise. One minute we were standing in Merlin's house, the next, we were standing outside some kinda weird tower. What?

Sarah looked around. "Where are we?"

"Uh..." I trailed off. "Sarah, did you see anything like this in the manga?"

She shook her head. "Not that I can remember."

"Well... you think this Yen Sid dude is in there?" Chase asked.

"Only one way to find out, I guess." I muttered as I took a breath, pushing open the doors. It was narrow inside, with only a spiral staircase that led up, so we ascended the stairs for what seemed like ages until we finally reached the top. I hesitated for a moment before knocking on the door. Thankfully Dylan and Chase were carrying Clair this time.

"Come in." A voice said from inside. I pushed the door open, seeing some kind of study. In the middle was this old guy wearing blue robes and a blue sorcerer's hat with a star pattern. He had a long gray beard and had piercing black eyes, the kind that looked like they were staring into your soul. "Welcome Anne Marshall."

That caught me by surprise. "How do you know my name...?" I gasped.

"That is not important." The sorcerer said. "Clair's life is in danger now."

All of our eyes widened at that. "What?!" Chase exclaimed with shock, still carrying Clair with Dylan. He seemed even more worried now. "What's wrong with her?"

"She has been injected with a toxin derived from a species of animal that I believe was of Harthynian origin." Was the reply.

Chase looked up. "Can't you do something?"

"If I knew what toxin was used, then I could. In these circumstances..."

Chase shook his head. "Uh-uh. No. You're an all-powerful sorcerer! You've got to have a trick up your sleeve."

The sorcerer calmly stood up as he approached us. Our eyes all went to Chase, because we became afraid that he crossed a line, and was about to feel the sorcerer's paled, looking like he was about to pass out. "U-Uh..."

However, the sorcerer didn't blow up or yell at him at all. Instead, he placed a hand on his shoulder. "There is something I can do. I can send her into the Realm of Dreams. There, the toxin's progress will be slowed."

"Realm of Dreams?" Sarah asked.

The Sorcerer looked at us. "To understand, you must know of the events that have transpired. Years ago, a man named Xehanort took an interest in the legends of how the universe began, and ended."

I gulped. "Did you say, end?"

With a nod, he continued, "There used to be many bearers of a powerful weapon called the Keyblade. Five guilds were formed, each dedicated to protecting the light. However, as time went on, mistrust grew between them, and there came those who sought the light for themselves, and gave birth to darkness.

"A war was fought between the sides, those who wanted to protect the light, and others who wanted to hoard its power for themselves. The cost proved far greater than anyone had imagined, as the world itself was destroyed."

My eyes widened at that. A single war destroyed the entire world, and all because people were divided? I thought about the weapon I now held, and shuddered. It had the power to destroy everything? That was horrible!

"However, seven hearts survived the destruction, and with the light they rebuilt the universe. To keep this chaos from happening again, the world was divided into the universe that exists today, and Kingdom Hearts was sealed away."

Dylan held up a hand. "Hold on. The manga we found mentioned something about it."

The sorcerer took interest in that, while Merlin conjured up a cot for Clair to be laid down in. "May I see this manga?"

Sarah shook her head. "No. I tried to find it when we came to Radiant Garden, but it had disappeared."

"It is fine. It is clear its purpose has been fulfilled." Yen Sid said.

I decided to change the subject. "So how does Kingdom Hearts tie into this Realm of Dreams?"

"Over thirteen years ago, a man named Xehanort became inspired by the legend, that he sought to recreate the Keyblade War, so that he could claim the power of Kingdom Hearts for himself. Time and time again he brought chaos to the worlds, only to be stopped every time by Keyblade Wielders such as Sora and his friends. Even so, the worlds feel the consequences of his actions, as there are still Heartless free in the Realm of Light."

"I still don't get what a Heartless is." Chase said.

The sorcerer conjured up an image of me, only to replace it with a Heartless. "Should one such as Anne yield to the darkness in their heart, she would be transformed into the creature you see before you. Once this has occurred, you would lose your mind and reason, acting only on instinct. Those instincts would lead you to seek out the darkness in other hearts, to consume them. And when Xehanort unleashed them upon the worlds, they ended up consuming the hearts of many worlds."

I had been listening the whole time, and had been disappointed when I ended up being used as the object lesson. However, when I heard the last part, my jaw dropped. "Those things destroy worlds?"

"They are capable of such a feat, as they have proven a few years ago. When Sora stopped Xehanort's plans that time, he managed to restore many of the worlds that had fallen. However, not all of them returned to the Realm of Light. There are many worlds that still remain trapped in a sleeping state, reliving the events of the past that have happened for each world."

"So that's the Realm of Dreams." Chase said. "But how does sending Clair there help her?"

The sorcerer seemed please with his question. "While she is there, the poison's effects will be slowed. We will have more time to find what was used on her, and how to counter it."

"The light from the hearts of the sleeping worlds will also provide us with extra power to purge the poison from her body." Merlin added.

"Then I'm going too." I said. "I'll help wake the worlds up to get the energy to heal Clair."

"To wake a world requires a Keyblade."

"Then it's a good thing I have one." I summoned mine to prove my point, earning surprised looks from both Merlin and Yen Sid. "This came to me after I met Clair. I don't know if it's good or bad, but I'm going to use it to help my friend, and come hell or high water I'm going to do it."

I expected one of the wizards to tell me no, that I was not cut out to do this. I was preparing my counter argument when Yen Sid nodded. "Spoken like a true Keyblade bearer."

"If Anne's going, so am I." Dylan then spoke up. "There's no way I'm letting her go in by herself."

"Me too." Chase agreed.

Sarah also spoke up. "Clair's been my friend. She's like the sister I never had. I'm going as well."

Seeing the determination on our faces made the sorcerer nod with approval. "Prepare more cots, Merlin. The fairies will take care of the rest."

Sarah blinked. "Fairies?"

"He means us, dear." Another voice said. Turning, we saw that three short women had joined us with tiny wings growing out of their backs. They had on dresses that were orange, green, and blue. I recognized them as Flora, Fauna, and Meriwether, but they went over to Clair.

Fauna's face fell as she saw her condition. "Oh, the poor dear."

"Well, we know what to do." Flora said as she held up her wand. Waving it over my friend, some sort of dust came from it. As it settled over her, her body relaxed, and her breathing steadied.

As Merlin conjured up more cots for each of us, we got in them one by one. I'll admit, I was nervous. Who knows what we would encounter in the Realm of Dreams? I had just learned that other worlds were a real thing, and now there were separate realms?

"Remember, while in the Realm of Dreams, you may unlock hidden powers and abilities that lie dormant in each of you." Yen Sid told us.

"Now you tell us." Chase said. Meriwether then sprinkled some of the dust from her wand onto him, and his snoring filled the room.

I watched as Sarah was the next to fall asleep, followed by Dylan. Then, Flora stood over me, waving her wand over my head. As the dust hit me, I could no longer keep my eyes open, and the cot was then much more comfortable than when I first lay in it. I closed my eyes to blink, but then I was asleep.