DDD

The Dreamers, The Destroyer, and The Departed
Chapter One
Let The Dreamers Dream, Part 1

Look up upon the stars, where the shining sagas unfold
Just like constellations, by connecting them together
A new legend will begin

Go through the dimensions, flickering like an aurora
And dive into that parallel world

"She's late. We were suppose to meet at noon. It's almost one."

"It's not like any of us were doing anything today. We have time to kill."

"Besides, this is nice. When was the last time the three of us spent a quiet afternoon like this?"

It was not too long ago, that the people of the Radiant Garden Kingdom, and the people of it's neighbouring nations, couldn't imagine three friends enjoying a sunny late summer's day in the capital, having lunch and a casual chat with each other. And yet, that day had come. Maleficent and her conspirators had been cast away and defeated. Organization XIII had their grand machinations ruined, with their members falling one by one. The shadows that seized the kingdom's light for over a decade, that spread beyond the Garden's borders to twist and ravage the other nations of the world, had been purged, with peace and prosperity returning at long last. Those who stubbornly clung to the ruinous remains of their lives found their determination and patience rewarded. Those who fled in terror, or were scattered to the four corners of the land by powers beyond their control, finally returned to something both new and familiar. Where once the city only knew a derelict castle inhabited by horrors and monsters, eventually giving away to a quiet, solemn town, now stood a bustling city and thriving marketplace; a place thousands and thousands – and soon to be millions – of people called home.

And those three friends who were enjoying this sunny day in this lively place, happened to be what were, in essence, the architects of the Radiant Garden's return to glory. The Three Warriors of the Keyblade – Sora Kido, Kairi Shiratori, and Riku Akiyama – had come a long, long way themselves, from carefree children on their island paradise to mature young adults, ready to make the most of their burgeoning adulthood.

A week ago, the three were each contacted individually by Aqua, the stoic and collected Keyblade Master, who broached the subject of the four of them meeting up for lunch. Sora and Kairi were more than happy and excited with the opportunity presented – this was the first time any of them had heard from Aqua in well over a month, she had vanished into the furthest depths of space on her own personal quests, whereas Riku had recently moved off of their home Islands to the capital city of the Garden, and his absence from their everyday lives was incredibly noticeable, especially for Sora. Riku, himself, may have lacked the outward elation of his two friends, but deep down, this would prove an enjoyable sojourn for him, as well. In fact, he was adamant on the location for their little meet-up, having become a regular at Montblanc, and wanting to show off his favourite haunt to his friends.

And so the three friends found themselves at their little table on the sidewalk outside the cafe, chatting each other up, catching up on the various going-ons in their lives, and enjoying the coffee (for Riku), tea (for Kairi), and smoothies (for Sora) the cafe offered, while also snacking on a variety of deserts and pastries, as well as the specialty meat pies the cafe was famous for, called tourtières.

"This is really nice." Kairi repeated herself, musing aloud while idly fiddling with her food. She had decided to treat herself with a slice of red velvet cake, her favourite dessert. "Not just being together, again, I mean. But, being here..." The redheaded girl had dressed in a style that split the difference between her own and Aqua, a woman she deeply idolized, wearing a similar halter top to the older woman typically wore, but coloured bright white, trimmed with red and gold piping. The black choker Sora had given to her for Christmas was fastened over top the collar, it's crown medallion glinting slightly. "Just the fact that the city is full of life and people, it's like any place back home. It's completely normal, after so much time and so much pain." Over top the halter was a shoulderless jacket, bright pink at the body and deeper crimson at the shoulders, with two tails extended down past her hips. Her outfit was completed with a pleated skirt, checkered in pink and black, and boots extending just below her knees. "It's wonderful. Like, all of our effort throughout the years has paid off; all these people get to live their lives to the fullest now. It feels good!" She punctuated her speech with a beamish smile, scooping up a big piece of her cake with her fork.

"You're right, Kai." Sora said, nodding in agreement with his girlfriend, as the redhead swiveled around, throwing her legs across the brunet's lap, making sure her boots hung over the edge of his legs. "But it wasn't just our hard work. Everything Leon and the others did, too, to bring their home back. It must be beyond rewarding for all of them." Sora had taken to keeping the back of his hair trimmed fairly neatly, where the front still splayed out in a grand spikey crown. The teen had also started growing a slight goatee on his chin; it certainly needed some work, but it wasn't bad looking for a seventeen year old, and, thankfully, his hairs on his chin were no where near as spikey on the top of his head. "The Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee sure did come a long way..." Sora was wearing a loose hoodie sweater, black with gold and blue, over top a red and white t-shirt. His omnipresent crown pendant was there, of course, along with a pair of cargo shorts that matched his hoodie, and a pair of canvas sneakers to finish off.

Gently rubbing Kairi's legs, while wistfully musing some more in his head, something else soon caught Sora's eye. "Although..." He leaned to his left, his sight trailing a passerby – a man with darker skin and some odd ornamentation wrapped around his waist. It was segmented and chitinous, ending with a barbed stinger. Sora knew that that wasn't just some strange, stylish belt, but a part of the man's body; a tail. "I knew about the moogles 'n stuff, but I never expected Radiant Garden to be full blown fantasy world." Eyes quickly scanning the crowd of people hustling down the street, Sora could see one or two others with the stinger tails, plus a diminutive man with feathery wings and dark scales running down his neck and arms, as well as a tall, muscular woman with curved horns growing out of the side of her head.

"It's not really 'fantasy' if it's occurring in real life before your eyes." Riku groused, draining the contents of his coffee cup. The oldest of the trio certainly looked the part, with an edge of weariness in eyes eyes versus Sora and Kairi's bright effervescence, also baring scars – both physical and mental – of his battles and struggles. "And stop staring, wouldya! Honestly..." The silver-haired boy had taken to keeping his hair at length with his jawline, the bangs lopped short, and was dressed in a typical style for him: dark leather jacket, t-shirt, jeans, and running shoes. Though, in a slight twist, his shirt was a gentle sky blue in contrast to the dark colouration of his pants and jacket. "I still remember the first time we explored the city – you spotted a viera woman down by the waterfront and, yelling loud enough for the entire street to hear, declared 'That's a bunny girl!'." Riku shook his head in dismay.

"Well, I was surprised." Sora said in an innocent voice. "And I got excited because it was something knew and different. You know I like seeing and experiencing new things, man."

"I also know that you lack any manner of tact, you moron." Came Riku, through clenched teeth, as he leaned back in his chair, arms folded over his chest.

Sora brushed off the insult, hands still resting on Kairi's legs. "So, yeah, it's cool knowing this place is full of others. Like, the bunny people..."

"Viera." Riku corrected.

"Cat people..."

"Lowenis"

"Scorpion people..."

"Skarren."

"Dragon people..."

"Gria."

"...And the cow people."

"Bhravaa." After a quick pause, Riku added. "And they're not cows."

"But they're tall and muscular and have horns." Sora quickly pointed out.

Riku's face scrunched up in annoyance, nodding along. "Yeah, yeah. Race of giants and amazons there." Reflexively, he went to take a drink, forgetting he had already finished it. "And then there's also the Azryn and Seladyne." This caused his friend to lean in with great interest.

"Ooh, what're they like?"

"Dunno. There isn't a high population of them in the Garden, as of yet."

"You know, I'm not surprised that you know so much about the people of the Garden, Riku." Kairi said, while polishing off the remainder of her cake, a mischievous smile creasing it's way across her lips.

The silver-haired boy's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "And what is that suppose to mean?"

"I've spoken with Aerith and Yuffie and the others, they've filled me in on some of your adventures." She teased gently. "You must make quite the scoop for the tabloids, right? 'The handsome young Keyblade Hero who's out and about on the town with a different bae every few weeks'." She batted her eyes. "Something like that?" Riku only scowled in distaste.

"Aerith should take some of her own advice and stop paying attention to that trash. And that ninja brat is creepy stalker – I caught her breaking in to my apartment – don't trust a single word she says." Once more, Riku went to take a sip from his cup, only to find it still empty. "Come on..." he muttered under his breath, "where is he? I could use another refill, especially if she's dragging..."

At this point, Kairi was like the cat that had caught the canary, clearly having a little bit of fun with her taunting of Riku. Sora was occupying himself with his acai and mog-berry smoothie, sucking the dregs down while observing the banter between his two friends.

With a grin on her face, Kairi continued. "You don't have to be embarrassed, you know -"

"I'm not embarrassed, I just want people to leave me and my private life alone."

"I always thought there was something about you, about how you never had a girlfriend back home." Riku had begun gnashing his teeth, staring dead-on at Kairi as she spoke. "I mean, you weren't gay or ace, that was clear enough, but despite all the attention you got from everyone...nothing. And now I've seen you with a viera girl, a skarren girl and a gria girl... well, it all makes sense. You're not not attracted to women, you're just not attracted to human women. You're a xenoph-"

With a low growl, Riku balled up his fist, reaching across the table and smashing his fist down atop Kairi's thigh.

"I hate that word." Riku said, finally, while Kairi cursed under her breath, rubbing her leg. By now, she had recalled them from her boyfriend's lap, planting her feet back on the ground.

Despite the physical punishment, Kairi would not relent. It was fun needling the normally stoic and controlled Riku. "What word? 'Xenophile'?"

That comment earned her a swift kick to the shin

"Exactly."

The redhead looked over to Sora, who just shrugged. Riku could just be so stiff and clenched-up at time, it was ridiculous. Who cares if he only was interested in woman from other races? Rabbits and dragons and scorpions, it made no difference, to Kairi at least. She just wanted her friend to be happy with his new life.

Rubbing the sore spots on her leg, Kairi spoke up, "So, tell me, when are we going to get to meet your girlfriend?"

"I don't have a girlfriend." Riku refuted coolly. "I've never had a girlfriend." This left Kairi confused.

"Well, what have you been doing with all these girls?"

"He's only in it for the casual sex." Sora replied.

That earn Sora a swift kick in the shins.

"Don't make it sound so tawdry." The silver-haired young man spat. Leaning back in his chair, Riku shut his eyes and folded his arms across his chest, striking a contemplative and lecturing pose. "I'm an adult, and sometimes I want to spend quality time with other adults. Sure, sometimes it becomes something physical and a little romantic, but no one is looking for anything more than a quick connection. Something with no strings attached." His eyes opened slightly, casting sly look towards the young couple. "Besides, not everyone are complete romantic saps like the two of you."

Small smiles broke into big chuckles, and then in to even larger laughs, as Sora and Kairi took in the moment. Even Riku joined in the reverie, releasing a small grin. This was nice. Just being together, able to talk about nonsense that didn't matter, and laugh at stupid jokes that only made sense to the three of them.

Just like old times.

"So, can I ask Riku," Sora said a short while later, idly fiddling with his drink's straw, "What's it like to be with a girl with a scorpion tail?"

Riku coughed and blushed slight. Great. Now they had license to ask questions. "Well, Helya said she had her venom glands removed when she was a kid, but I don't know..." He trailed off, trying to avoid an embarrassing conversation, when he caught himself trying to drink from his empty coffee cup again. "Come on!" Riku began to scan the surrounding, looking for someone. "Where are you, Njosii? I'm dieing here!"

Riku's cry was answered almost immediately, by a rhythmic click-clack against the cobblestone sidewalks that surrounded Montblanc. A young man with rich brown skin was approaching the group, wearing the apron uniform of the cafe staff, a coffee pot in hand.

"Now, Riku, just because you're a regular and a celebrity around here, doesn't mean we can start giving you special treatment." The waiter chided with a knowing grin. His nose was small and inset, barely extending out from his face, and he possessed rather large eyes, which were a deep, red claret colour. Two long rabbit ears extended from top of his head, cresting above a mop of mussy, strawberry blond hair. Reaching the table, Riku instinctively held his empty cup out for a refill, which the viera man quickly began the process of. "Especially when you don't do the service of introducing your favourite waiter to your friends." He said whilst considering Sora and Kairi on the other end of the table.

"Sora, Kairi, this is Njosii, he works here, is the owner's son, and is also a huge pain in my ass. Njosii, this is...well, you probably know them well enough already." After the introduction, Riku took a deep drink, letting loose a content sigh as he swallowed the dark, rich, heavenly liquid.

"Pleased to meet you, Njosii." Kairi greeted pleasantly, standing up to shake his hand. "Good to see there are people here that can keep Riku in line."

The viera chuckled politely. "Oh, think nothing of it, Princess." Kairi blushed nervously at the use of her unofficial title. "Trading shots with Riku always helps a slow shift pass by much quicker."

During this, Sora had his eyes transfixed on something on the ground, before looking back up at the waiter. "Good to meet ya, too, Njosii. But, uh, question..." The blond gave him an inquiring look, silently urging him to continue. "...Why are you wearing high heels?"

Indeed, the young man was wearing a pair of open-toes stilettos, revealing the typical elongated viera foot structure, capped with clawed toes.

"Sora, don't be rude." Kairi lightly censured her boyfriend.

"I asked a question. How is that rude?"

Riku scoffed. "You honestly do have no tact." Njosii waved his hand dismissively, smiling graciously.

"No, no, it's alright. He's just curious, it's perfectly natural." Sora gave both Riku and Kairi a look of "told you so", as Njosii continued. "You see, Sora, viera walk with digitgrade locomotion – oh, we walk only on our toes, not our soles or heels." Njosii offered the further explanation after seeing the quizzical look on Sora's face. "Also, the metatarsal and phalanx bones in our feet are much longer than that of a human's, or the other races. So, to improve our balance, all viera – male and female – wear heeled footwear. I've been walking in heels since I was three!" He said that last part with a touch of whimsical pride in his voice.

"Wow, you're probably better in heels than I am." Said Kairi, sincerely impressed.

Njosii's ears wiggled, as his shoulders bounced. "Probably."

"Njosii. If you're done hobnobbing with the stars, I could use a hand inside." Everyone turned their heads to see an odd-looking moogle floating in the doorway of the cafe. He was actually dressed in clothing (brown slacks and a green sweater vest) and wearing thick horn-rimmed glasses and presenting facial hair – actual, factual facial hair – a neat pencil-thin moustache and a Van Dyke goatee.

Also, he didn't say "Kupo" once.

The viera boy nodded and waved back to the moogle. "Coming, pop!" He then faced back to his customers and bowed slightly. "I'll be back shortly to settle your bill. Sora, Kairi, it was wonderful to meet you." Njosii flashed a warm and welcoming smile, which fell when he went to address his regular. "Riku...I'll see you tomorrow, I suppose." The silver-haired young man nodded in affirmation, with a quirk of his eyebrows.

"Not getting rid of me that easily..."

"Oh, a viera can dream. At least you tip well." With another friend wave, Njosii quickly trotted off back into the shop.

"Wait, one sec." Sora said, before the waiter had even vanished into the cafe. "You said his dad ran the cafe." Sora pointed at Riku, who, once more, nodded in response. "But he just called that moogle 'pop'..."

"Njosii's adopted, Sora." That was the other thing that came about from The Fall – Maleficent's conquest and rule. Riku knew there were many, many people in the city, in the country, who were separated from their families and loved ones, sometimes permanently. Both Njosii and Boss Monty had lost most of their family during that decade of darkness, but they were able to find each other and try and build something new.

Riku looked up from his contemplative lapse to see that his friends weren't even paying attention. Two women had walked up to them and they were clearly enamored with a chance to see and talk with the two Keyblade Warriors. They were in the midst of taking a flurry of selfies on the two stranger's phones.

"Better them, than me..." Riku said under his breath, while fishing his phone out from his pockets. He took another look at the time and, when the two women were satisfied and departed, he announced, "This is getting ridiculous. When is she gonna show?"

Kairi gave a playful smile. "You know, they say a Keyblade Master in never early or later. They only arrive exactly when they mean to arrive." She joked, while bobbing her head back and forth. Riku was having none of it.

"No one says that. And she's not a wizard, either."

"I mean, she kind of is, isn't she?" Sora brought up. His girlfriend nodded in agreement, but Riku quickly dismissed both of them.

"No she's not! She uses her magic in conjunction with a weapon, and both in equal measure." Riku spoke in a matter-of-fact tone, arms folded over his chest. "That makes her a mage, not a wizard."

The redhead gave a disbelieving look. "Okay, now you're just splitting hairs. She-"

"Yen Sid, wizard! Merlin, wizard!" He punctuated each declaration with a forceful rap on the table's surface. "Gandalf, wizard! Dumbledore, wizard! Schmendrick, wizar-"

"Whoa, hold up there buddy!" Kairi had her hands up in protest, leaning further into the table to get closer to Riku. "If we're defining difference between magic-users, then Schmendrick is no wizard. He's a magician. Don't try to even argue, I've read The Last Unicorn like five or six times."

"'Kay, 'kay, I'll give you that." Riku conceded. Whether Aqua was arriving soon or not, where she was, none of that mattered anymore. The three of them were now wholly engrossed in this one absurd topic. "But it still doesn't disprove my theory that Aqua is not-"

"Wait, what about Doctor Strange?" Sora brought up, also leaning across the table, eyes fixed on Riku. "His he a wizard, or magician, or what?"

"He's a sorcerer, obviously. It's in the title."

"Then Avdol! He's gotta be a wizard." Sora pointed at Riku, a gesture of confidence. "His Stand is Magician's Red!" Riku only shook his head.

"Avdol is a fortune teller and a Stand-User. Not a wizard. He doesn't even use magic, his Stand just happens to be named after The Magician card."

"What about Donald? He's totally a wizard." Came Sora.

Riku shook his head again. "His title is 'Royal Magician'. Ergo, not a wizard."

Kairi quickly rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Okay, if you two are gonna bring in your comics and JoJos for examples, I'm gonna use my shojo series for inspiration." She declared, an attempt to reorient the conversation back to her. "Sakura from Cardcaptor – wizard or no?"

"Not a wizard."

Sora was fiddling with his phone under the table

"But Clow Reed is!"

"No he isn't!"

"How!?"

"Donald just texted me back. He says he's a wizard."

"The duck doesn't get an opinion in this matter!"

And so it went, as for the next ten minutes, the three were consumed with trivial debate. Pulling from both those they knew, and from fiction, trying to solve the question of who was a wizard, and who wasn't, and what constituted a wizard versus a sorcerer versus a mage, etc. So involved did Sora, Kairi, and Riku become, that they actually failed to notice when their fourth finally joined the party.

"I'm sorry, am I interrupting something?" Aqua asked, trying to be polite, but also befuddled by...whatever it was the three were arguing about. What bits she heard all went over her head.

The chatter cut in an instant, as they all looked over to their belated arrival. Aqua was dressed as she was the day she broke out of the Realm of Darkness, over two years ago – black halter top and corset, twin pink belts criss-crossing her chest in an 'X', fastened in place by the stylized heart badge she and her compatriots would wear, an ancient sigil of the Keyblade Masters. The blue-white bell sleeves were draped over her arms, with metallic rerebraces clamped down on her upper arms. The black bike shorts and long thigh-high stockings covered most of her long, athletic legs, accentuated by the short cloth piece tied at her waist, two lengths extending off from either hip. Finally, her feet were clad in pointed, armour-plated boots, along with two anklets that ended in sharp hooks, curving downward on the outside of her ankles. This, everyone knew, was shorthand that Aqua was dressed for business; she only ever wore these specific clothes when she was out on a mission. Whatever she had planned for today, it wasn't simply coffee and lunch with friends.

Regardless, Kairi broke out in a smile when her presence was known, rising to put the older woman in a fond embrace. "Aqua! It's been too long. How've you been?" The blue-haired warrior returned the hug, also visibly happy at being reunited with her friends.

"Good, I've been fine. Busy, but fine." The two broke apart, with Aqua now studying Kairi with a critical eye. For the moment, she wasn't Kairi's friend, but her teacher and Master. "Tell me, have you been keeping up with your training?"

"Absolutely!" Kairi said emphatically, her cheeks slightly puffing with pride. "Every other day, I've been running through the drills you left me. There's no way I'd disappoint my Master!"

Aqua switched back into friend mode, offering a warm and proud smile. "Good." She hadn't worried much about that, Kairi was such a devoted and studious pupil, she knew she would keep training and progressing without her guidance. Leaning over to the side, Aqua offered a greeting to the two boys, as well. "Sora, Riku, good to see you, too. You're both looking well. I hope you two also have been keeping busy."

"More or less, Aqua," said Sora, casually. After taking on Kairi as a pupil, Aqua had offered her services to Sora and Riku, as well, but both turned her down. Riku didn't believe how he fought wouldn't line up with what Aqua planned to teach, while Sora knew how much his girlfriend adored her Master, and didn't want to butt in to their time together. "But things have been good with everyone, it seems, so that makes me happy."

Riku, took a different route for his greeting. "You're late." He stated bluntly, staring directly at her.

"Well, yes and no..." Aqua stated. Slowly, she began to walk around the table the group was seated at, positioning herself so her back was to the cafe building. "I had an ulterior motive with the letter. I never planned on joining your all for lunch. But, with what we have planned, I figured the three of you could use a nice, relaxing afternoon together, as friends."

"Wait, 'we'?" Sora asked.

Aqua nodded. "Master Yen Sid and I. There has been something we've discussing for months, and I think it's about time to follow through with it. But, we'll discuss that more when we get to his Tower. We'll depart whenever the three of you are ready."

Riku quickly finished the remainder of his coffee. "I'm good to go. Better now then never." Both Kairi and Sora made similar motions. "All we have to do is settle the bill." Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Njosii exiting the front door of the cafe.

Before anyone could approach their waiter, or do much of anything, Aqua spun about, withdrawing a one-hundred Gil bill from some hidden recess inside her sleeve. "For their meal. Please, keep the change for yourself."

The viera's eyebrows arched. "Yes ma'am." That was almost three-times the amount of their bill. No way he was arguing against that.

With that settled, Aqua led the three teens away from Montblanc, further down the street.

"I don't know how you arrived here, Aqua, but I did park the Highwind here, but it's a bit further west." Sora brought up, as Aqua led them further away.

"That won't be necessary." She led them to the entrance of a vacant alleyway, motioning for the three to enter. "Seeing as how the Tower moves erratically through the universe, Master Yen Sid has been working on something to allow quick and direct transport for us." With a flick of her wrist, Aqua summoned her Keyblade, Rain Fall, and struck the ground, sending a charge of blazing blue magical energy through it.

In an instant, a spell seal made of shining blue light engraved itself on the ground. Aqua casually walked into the boundary of her seal, as, strange as it may be, this was an everyday occurrence for the woman. "An instantaneous teleportation seal. One-way and one fixed destination only, but it's convenient nonetheless."

There was a brief moment of hesitation, before the three childhood friends crossed the line into the seal.

"I could just Dark Corridor us there and save the hassle and light show." Riku muttered. The four of them each took one quadrant of the seal for themselves, standing in formation like directions on a compass. All at once, Sora, Kairi, and Riku all looked towards Aqua, expectantly, but the blue-haired woman returned their expectant gazes with one of deep, solemn thought.

"Sora. Kairi. Riku." She said softly, in turn. "What we're about to do, what you're about to embark on... I just want to say, I've always been proud of the three of you, and I don't want to place undo pressure on you, but I have great hopes for what you will do today." Raising her Keyblade into the air, the lights of the seal's leylines pulsed and grew, the light burning with greater intensity.

"Now, let's go!"

With one final pulse, the four vanished from the space of the Garden, their bodies flung into the deepest reaches of space in an instance.

-D/D/D-

Far away from the brightness and warmth of Radiant Garden, within a lost corner of the Realm of Light, two shadows conversed and conspired.

"And I suppose that is that. The wizard's plan is put in motion, and we are left without any options."

"Without any? Are you serious?"

"He will be using that spell – the Constructed World – the three of them will be placed far from our reach. The hearts sealed within them, even more so."

"There's nothing we can do? We can't enter their hearts through other means?"

"We could. But while they sleep in this world, and dream within the other, it would be pointless. A shame, really, we had plans for those Nobodies."

"...I know someone who can travel there. Someone who can enter even a Constructed World within a heart."

"You cannot mean him – that 'demon'? Getting him involved would be a bad idea; he's too wild, too dangerous."

"The Destroyer will undoubtedly get involved in this, sooner or later As the Key Bearers grow in strength and notoriety, they will attract his attention. As we move forward with our plans, we will attract his attention. Better that he enter this conflict in a manner of our choosing."

"I still don't like this, but... those two are important. As long as we can take hold of one of them, I suppose this risk will be worth it.

"Go. Find The Destroyer, before I regret this course of action."

On The Road, everyone is on a journey
In order to encounter their true selves
Let's keep walking for now, for we're all travelers
Everything spreads out right before my eyes
To the point where the nine paths will overlap

The road will probably change, and continue towards a new dawn
Bear witness to it, Journey Through The Decade

Featured Song: "Journey Through The Decade" by GACKT

WOO! New story! As previously mentioned, the main reason why I am writing this – and why I am writing this now – is simply because there are ideas and concepts in this story that I have always wanted to do in a Kingdom Hearts story. I'll reveal them as we go along in this story, but some of you may be able to divine a few of my intentions before them.

-So, just to make things clear, this is a direct sequel to She Will Light The Way, taking place two years after the events of that story, setting Sora and Kairi at 17, and Riku as 18. And yes, this is a dumb idea, I am more than aware of that fact. And, maybe some of you might be upset that this reveals spoilers of Light, but really, if you know of me and what I like to write is any of this so surprising? Oh, our heroes win, and Sora and Kairi become a couple, and Kairi has Oathkeeper instead of Destiny's Embrace, and Aqua escapes the Realm of Darkness, big surprise!

...Okay, maybe those last two are spoilers. Maybe.

-I am also taking this story as an opportunity to incorporate some idea I have formed in my own head-canon. One of which is making the Radiant Garden a full blown Final Fantasy world, complete with a full gambit of other races. The Viera are taken wholesale from the The Ivalice Alliance games; the Lowenis are drawn from the Mithra and Miqo'te from FF XI and FF XIV respectively; the Gria take their name from the race in the Ivalice Alliance games, but their appearance is based on both their namesakes and both the Aegyl from the Ivalice Alliance and the Au Ra also from FF XIV; the Bhravaa are also partly based on a FF XIV race, the Roegadyn, but also have a little bit of the Gerudo from The Legend of Zelda series, too. And the Skarren are created from wholecloth. Or I just really liked Stinger from Kyuranger. Your pick.

-Also, I can't be the only one dieing for some meaningful Kairi & Aqua interaction. I still say Kairi should have been involved, somehow, in liberating Aqua in III (to call back to their scene in BBS). But, no, it's Sora. Of course it's Sora. Heaven forbid anyone other than Sora do something in III. Regardless, and to that end, I always thought that Aqua would take Kairi under her wing as an apprentice. Even if in this reality Kairi is far more experienced than she would be, there's still a lot she could learn from her senior. Also, Kairi gets one-on-one time with a woman she idolizes, respects, and has a burgeoning romantic crush for. Why on earth would she refuse Aqua's tutelage?

-Another idea is Riku moving away from the Islands and to another world. I always thought it speaks better to his character that, while he is content with his home and now possessing powers that allows him to travel all over, the feelings that made him want to leave the Islands in the first place have not vanished. But now, more mature and more wise from all his misadventures, Riku enacts on his feelings properly; not jumping at a moment's notice, risking the lives of others, or accepting powers he fully doesn't understand, but just... moving on as a part of life. Seeking new horizons, but not severing the ties he stills has with his home. I think that's much more interesting for Riku than "Oh, I guess I'm okay staying on the world I was so desperate to leave not too long ago. I guess. I don't know. I don't have much of a character anymore. I mostly just fail at everything, die to prop up Sora's character, and then get shunted into a random romance with a character I had no romantic build with in prior games".

-I also really wanted to capture the spirit that Sora, Kairi, and Riku are old friends, enjoying their lives, catching up, teasing each other, bickering over pointless things... It's something the games forget, I feel. It's always Sora with Riku. Or Sora with Kairi. I mean, when they remember to put Sora on screen with characters other than Donald and Goofy, but I digress. The games fail to put our original trinity back together. The games started with these three young kids, these three friends, who were split up by forces out of their control... and then they barely get to share screentime together. They are always pulled apart, always separated. Even by incredibly forced means in the ending to KH III to set up a stupid side game...

TL/DR: Sora and Kairi and Riku are old friends, strongest together, and deserve more time together together.

But, enough from me. Because we're all on the road, on a new journey together. This chapter may be mostly set up, but you need to set up something to create something good. I hope you all stick with me on this journey. And, as travelers, what are your thoughts so far. Any predictions of where we're going and what Aqua has planned for our three heroes? Any ideas on what it is I am so gung-ho on incorporating in this story? Who were those two shadows that seem to know what is going on? And just what are with these song lyrics? (That one will get explained in next author's notes, I promise). Please don't be afraid to share you thoughts, opinions, compliments or criticism in a review. All are welcome and I look forward to see what the thoughts are on this story.

Until next time, dear traveler, take care and enjoy yourselves!