"Hey, guys! Where the hell are we?" Ed yelled from up the street. He had wandered ahead of the group as the rest of them waited to get their bearings.

"This is Radiant Garden." Sora grinned. "I know this place like the back of my hand."

"The castle's still wrecked so this must be during the Reconstruction." Riku noted, looking off to the left. "The detail is amazing."

"Where do you think Professor Xavior got the layout from?"

"Looking at the stage the rebuilding's at, I can only guess one person."

"Sephiroth." The two spoke in unison.

"Great." Harry muttered. "He's helping them, too."

"I doubt it." Riku walked a few steps toward Ed. "Something like this would be beneath him. But I wouldn't be surprised if he's watching somewhere."

"As long as he doesn't get involved." Sora moved forward and Al followed. "I'm never fighting him again."

"Oh, I wasn't that tough on you."

"Bloody hell!" Harry leapt away from Sephiroth who had suddenly appeared behind him.

Weapons came out as the group of teens eyed the man suspiciously. Sephiroth gave a small amused smile. "Stand down, children. I'm not here to confront you."

"Why are you here?" Riku narrowed his eyes.

"Observing as a neutral party. I have been asked to see that none of you are permanently damaged and no one had unequal advantage."

"Unequal?" Al's voice was worried.

"There is a reason I chose this setting." Sephiroth turned, his wing materializing. "I will be in the Dark Depths."

The wing wrapped around him and he disappeared. The five stood stunned for a moment before Riku snorted. "Great. Now I've gotta worry about him watching me."

"Don't worry about it, Riku." Sora took his hand and led him up the road. Harry and Al followed and as they were joined by Ed, Riku glanced over at him. "I have a place we can use as home base but I'll need Ed's help."

Ed nodded. "What are we doing?"

"The two obvious places for us to set up would be the Restoration Committee headquarters and the castle because Sora and I have ties there."

"Knowing Ani and Dante they'll want to stick close to town so they can set up ambushes." Harry added. "Vash will simply go along with them."

"Right. So I want to set up a fake base at Merlin's and put the real one in the Castle."

Sora grinned. "But it'll be in the damaged part, right?"

"Right." Riku ruffled his hair affectionately. "You take Harry and Al to make the decoy. Ed and I will go to the castle."

"You sure splitting up is a good idea?" Al asked with concern.

"Don't worry." Riku assured him. "We know what we're doing. Besides, you three will be more exposed than Ed and I. I can use portals."

"Oh, right."

"Keep your comms open and call if you see anything suspicious." Riku raised his hand away from the group. A large circle of swirling black, purple and green energy appeared. "We'll contact you when we reach where we want."

There was a series of nods. "Let's go."

Riku and Ed disappeared with the portal and for a brief moment, the three left behind looked worried. They quickly rid themselves of it however and turned to one another. Harry glanced around. "All right, where we headed?"

"This way." Sora began walking down the street. "I wonder if they're going to add people to distract us." He laughed. "As long as there's no Heartless or Nobodies, I'm happy."

"At least if there are Heartless, Riku should be able to control them. That's if they can program that type of stuff." Harry commented.

"Maybe." Sora said softly. "I hope he can't."

They continued in silence, Sora leading them down a few of the side streets, pointing out various locations. Harry and Al paid close attention, all the while searching for any signs of life.

"It's awfully quiet." Al's voice wavered a bit. "I don't like this."

"Neither do I." Harry agreed. "Master has something planned, I know it."

"Yeah, he probably does." Sora tilted his head back. "Let's head over to Scrooge's ice cream stand. We can get on the roof and get a good view of the Marketplace and the entry to the Bailey."