Good morning~! Life is beautiful, hahaha~!

Hi everyone! And by that I mean like, three people maybe…oh well.

Thank you, DaniPotterCedric'sGirl for reviewing the last chapter.

Also, Roxas key 6, I know, Marluxia would be not be pleased with Sora if he stole his hair do. Also, you review are becoming increasingly hard to understand and the comment about the guy with a baseball bat is starting to sound vaguely like a threat…

Hi Sam! Glad you liked the last chapter, I'll try and make this one twice as awesome!

Okay, here's the next chapter of Wings of Arcadia, enjoy!

Disclaimer: (do I still have to do this?) I do not own Kingdom Hearts (or Dane Cook). Kingdom hearts and its characters belong to Disney and Square Enix. I only own the storyline of this fanfic and the characters which I made up, blah, blah, blah- LETS GO ALREADY!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 3: Strange Dreams

"WHAT!" shouted three astonished Keyblade wielders.

The crowds' concerned murmur had risen to a crescendo of voices, filling the chamber with an apprehensive din. Everyone wanted to know whether they were really in serious danger, or if this was someone's idea of a joke.

Donald and Goofy seemed just as caught off guard as the rest of them. Skyra looked to be in deep thought; Ardeo had taken to pacing on her shoulders, swishing his tail and chattering anxiously. King Mickey tried bracingly to calm them down, succeeding in only tiring out his arms. Finally, Leon had had enough.

Suddenly, a deafening CRACK resounded through the chamber. Everyone immediately quieted and looked forward to see Leon silently sheath a smoking gunblade to his back, his point made. As the powerful echo died down, Mickey nodded to the brown haired man, his face was a mixture of, thank you, and, was that really necessary?

In one of the nearby curtained windows, there was now a very nice hole, which was leaking narrow beams of sunlight into the dim meeting room.

"B-But, we defeated Xemnas for good, didn't we?" Sora said, trying to kickstart his brain. He was still staring, horrified, at his shoes. "How could he have returned?"

"Yeah," agreed a stunned Riku, "I saw him…" He remembered watching Xemnas fade away in a storm of nothingness, finished off by a concentrated beam of light created by the combined efforts of Sora and himself.

"Yes," continued Mickey, "I'm afraid that Xemnas has once again returned. The description matches perfectly. How he came back… well, we have no idea… "

Sora's worst fears had been confirmed. He remembered Xemnas.

How could he not? Xemnas was the leader of a group called Organization XIII, a congregation of nobodies who would stop at nothing to gain back what they had once lost: their hearts. This wouldn't have been so bad if they hadn't sent the heartless to cause trouble on the worlds. They alone had been the source of Sora's problems in his last adventure.

Roxas himself had been one of them until he had had enough and quit, running away on a quest for answers: Who was he? Why did he have the Keyblade? Who is Sora and what does he have to do with him? He was kept in the dark for the longest time, even by his own friend Axel, so he ran.

Now Sora felt himself become increasingly scared. What if his friends got hurt, or worse, and he couldn't do anything to stop it? What if his home was destroyed? And what about Kairi? He shuddered. Without Kairi, Sora didn't know what he'd do. After everything they'd been through, was their worst enemy back to haunt them all over again?

Sora could tell Roxas was having similar thoughts.

Through the silence, King Mickey was heard clearing his throat. "Leon, you may continue with your account of the attack on Radiant Garden."

Leon kept his level stare on the crowd in front of him and finished the rest of his story. "Xemnas wasn't the only problem, though. I tried to end him right there, but he was too strong."

Leon recalled vividly how he had charged the man in the black and white cloak. He wanted so badly to be rid of this threat before it got any worse, but Xemnas merely sidestepped at the last moment and issued a powerful blast of energy at Leon's back, catching him by surprise. The blow resulted in Leon being rocketed violently through the air, hitting the stone hard, and skidding to a painful halt, all before he could even register what happened. There, Xemnas had walked up to the stunned man and gave him his request.

"He wanted me to tell King Mickey and you guys that he was soon going to 'acquire the power of Arcadia'." he continued, turning his gaze to Sora and his gang.

By the blank looks on their faces, it was obvious they had no idea what in the worlds he was talking about. The mix-matched group of other-worlders also shared confused looks. Sora had nearly forgotten they were even there.

"I think it would help if I explained what Arcadia is," stated Mickey. Everyone gave a collective nod. "Right," agreed Leon, "I didn't even know what it meant until I asked King Mickey."

The mouse king cleared his throat and searched for a place to begin. "Very little is actually known about Arcadia. It was discovered by a man named Cyrus, who learned of the many worlds and how to travel among them. Cyrus studied science and philosophy while visiting and discovering new realms. At some point, Cyrus met Ansem and discussed his theories, theories of a place secluded far away from the reach of man. He said that if this place did exist, it would hold the key to everything.

"Cyrus decided that he was going to find some way to access this place. Supposedly, he succeeded, and what he found was a realm of harmony. There, light and darkness coexisted without prejudice of each other's differences. He called it Arcadia."

"O-Okay," interjected Sora. "So why is Arcadia so important?"

Kairi rolled her eyes, Impatient as always.

Mickey continued, "Whelp, from what we know, Arcadia is supposed to be very closely connected to the Heart of all Worlds, Kingdom Hearts itself. Supposedly, Arcadia is meant to keep the universe it balance. The light and the darkness created a power which would act like a scale. They wanted to give each other equal share over all the realms, so if one side tipped the balance, the other side was allowed to react accordingly until the scale reached equilibrium. This power eventually became the driving force behind all things." Mickey was getting increasingly worried."You see, Sora, if Xemnas got a hold of this power-

"-He could tip the balance and change everything," finished Riku, his hand held up to his chin. Mickey nodded solemnly. The score and a half of people surrounding them share his attitude.

Sora was speechless; he just couldn't wrap his head around it all. Everything he knew was being threatened once again. It was times like this he wished that he'd never been chosen to wield the Keyblade. Wished he'd never gotten involved in all of this. He didn't want to be constantly having to fight; he didn't want his friends in so much danger. He just wanted to go home and do his level best to forget any of this had ever happened.

Mickey's voice interrupted his thoughts. "And that is why we can't just sit around while Xemnas is out doing whatever he wants," he said firmly, pounding a fist onto the podium. He was now addressing the crowd. "Everyone, I have called you here today so that we can take measures against this threat. To be best prepared, I need all of you to return to your worlds and make sure you're ready in case of a heartless attack. This is the very reason you have been chosen to know the secret of other worlds. Meanwhile, my friends and I will do all we can to learn more about Arcadia and protect it. If everyone understands, you may all go. Gummiships will be waiting in the hangar to take you all home."

Now Sora understood. All these people weren't just representatives, they were a chosen few allowed to know about other worlds as well as a universal crisis such as this. These people, mainly warriors he now noticed, were planted on the many different worlds where they could help defend against the heartless by secretly influencing the awareness of those worlds. How long had King Mickey kept this secret organization going?

One by one, the other-worlders turned and slowly filtered out of the room until; finally, it only held Mickey, Sora and his group, and Leon's team from Radiant Garden. Mickey and Leon climbed down from the stage and turned to Sora.

"Welp you guys, the decision's yours. I can't make you go, and I understand if you don't want to," he said, walking up to them. "Normally, I'd give you more time to think about it, but, given the circumstances, I don't think that's an option. I know it's hard, Sora, I just wanted you to understand the situation before you choose." Sora could tell King Mickey was just as unhappy about this as himself.

Sora looked from him to the ground. He knew Mickey would respect his wishes. If he merely said the word, they would be given a ride home. But was there really any choice?

He closed his eyes. This was all so hard. If they went, their path would certainly be fraught with danger. But if they didn't, it was going to make it that much easier for Xemnas. The weight of all the worlds seemed to be bearing down on him again. He didn't know what to pick. He wasn't even sure he had the strength to choose right now. He was just so tired…

Suddenly, Sora felt something wrap around his hand. Jarred from his thoughts, he looked to his right and saw Kairi's fingers tangled in his. He blinked and then turned his head to see her face. She was gently smiling at him, her blue eyes seeming to sparkle even more than usual. She nodded.

Then he felt something press down on his other shoulder. It was Riku. He was also smiling down on him, his hand gripping Sora reassuringly. "C'mon Sora, the worlds need us," he whispered softly.

Sora felt a spark of strength light up inside of him. He heard an old memory flash through his head.

C'mon, Sora, giving up already? I thought you were stronger than that.

He closed his eyes and felt himself smile. He wasn't alone. His friends were with him, they would be his strength. Together, they were capable of conquering anything. Together, Xemnas didn't stand a chance.

He suddenly felt a rising happiness swell up inside of him. Sora scanned the eyes of everyone around him, all of them nodding in turn, and then looked down at King Mickey with a burning resolve behind his eyes.

"You got it, Your Majesty. We're with you all the way!"

Mickey smiled happily, relieved. "Thank you, Sora, all of you."

"No problem," the brunette responded, now grinning confidently. "So, uh, all we gotta do is find this Arcadia place before Xemnas does and make sure he doesn't mess with the balance, right?" He asked, trying to put things into perspective, "Sounds easy enough."

"Well…" Leon trailed off, "No one actually knows where it is, so we can't take immediate action to defend it."

Figures, though Roxas.

"So then what are we gonna do," asked Sora," Besides wait for Xemnas to find it first, I mean."

"Welp, this is what we have planned so far," Mickey explained. "I'm going to be going around looking for leads on where we might find Arcadia. It could be anywhere, so just firing up a Gummiship and searching for it won't work. You guys will be going together," he continued, "traveling to different worlds and making sure they're safe, while talking to people to see if they might know anything about Arcadia. I'm sure Cyrus talked to other people on his journeys, so look hard for any information you can get your hands on.

"Also," he added, turning to the girl with a dragon perching on her shoulders, "Skyra will be sent along with you." Skyra stood up straight, causing Ardeo to lose balance for a moment.

"Hmmm…. I don't know," thought Riku as he leaned up against the wall once again. "How can we be sure that she's capable of handling herself?" Skyra's eyes flashed to focus on him. For some reason, the air in the nearly empty room became very tense.

"You want me to prove myself?" queried the girl in question, her voice hinting an almost dangerous tone. "Fine."

All eyes were now on her. The small dragon on her shoulder decided to take off and find a new perch, as if it already knew what was coming. Suddenly, she made a move that was incomprehensibly fast, and a whirring sound darted through the air.

Just as quickly as it started, it was over, everyone vaguely wondering what had just happened.

Riku wasn't sure either, until he noticed something suddenly appear near the left side of his face. Looking over, he saw something that made his breath catch in his chest. There, quivering in the wall, not an inch from his face, was knife with a blade about four inches long. It was tinted black and red, greatly resembling Skyra's hair, and had a silver dragon wrapping its way decoratively around the handle. It made a perfect 90 degree angle with the wall, level with his eye, a throw Larxene would have been proud of.

Skyra practically glided up to the paralyzed Riku, reaching an arm up to retrieve her weapon and leaned in close. Riku just now realized that her eyes were brown. "I think that about settles it," she said coolly, a small smirk planted on her face. She then pulled back, simultaneously dislodging her throwing knife from the wall.

She pocketed her knife in some unknown place on her person. "Well, see you all in the morning," she said casually, as if nothing had ever happened, and made for the large double door exit. Everyone stared after her dumbly as Ardeo zoomed about her feet. Riku was frozen in the same position, eyes locked ahead of him, looking through the space where Skyra's face used to be. His jaw was slack and his throat making a funny gurgling sound, as if he was trying to speak, but suddenly forgot English.

Sora was the first to recover his voice. "She scares me," he fearfully admitted.

Everyone went to bed that night clearly exhausted. Mickey's meeting had lasted late into the evening, so they were happy to be accommodated in the richly decorated castle. Each one received their own room; Sora noted how his was directly next to Skyra's, so he crept by as silently as possible so as not to disturb her.

Falling into the plush bed, he sighed, relishing how he sank into the mattress. He knew any position would be just as comfortable right now, so he stayed the way he was and pulled the covers over his collar bone, its weight soothing. He relaxed all his muscles, glad to finally be able to push his worries away, and allowed his mind to drift into a thoughtless serenity.

Sora was suddenly aware of himself falling gently downward. Opening his sapphire eyes, his body shifted to an upright position. Down below, he spotted an enormous, shimmering circle: his Station of Awakening. The seconds passed hazily as he slowly drifted closer to the stained glass mural.

A moment later, his feet hit the glass with a soft clack and stood up straight, turning his head to gaze at the void which surrounded him. On the side of the station opposite him, Roxas suddenly appeared, looking just as confused as he was. "What's going on?" asked Sora.

Roxas shrugged, "Not sure. I didn't call you here."

Both boys suddenly felt a somewhat familiar presence and a strange, soundless voice was projected into their minds. Seeming to come from nowhere and everywhere at once, the disembodied voice made them look around instinctively, trying to find its owner.

History has repeated itself. The worlds are threatened once again by an entity seeking power.

Would you choose to fight it?

Know only that if you do, you will risk putting yourself and those close to you in harm's way.

The alternative, however, may not be so different.

Sora thought for a moment. The answer was obvious; he'd already made up his mind. Roxas nodded at him. "Yes," Sora confirmed. Whatever lay ahead, he was ready.

Then take this, Chosen Wielder of the Keyblade.

The journey ahead holds many things, not all of them good, and still not all bad.

One would be wise to be prepared.

Suddenly, a small pinprick of light caught their eyes. High above the platform, an object began to materialize. Becoming even more luminous, the item's shape could not be distinguished as it descended closer to them. Finally, it came to a halt in the center of the station, hovering at eye level.

Sora and Roxas both took this as their cue to step forward, Sora held out his hand as he approached the indefinable object.

The thing finally stopped rotating, and fell easily into his waiting grasp. It had finally become possible to see what it was, stray flecks of light still leaving it. It appeared to be some sort of amulet; the pendant itself resembled a heart and was a golden-orange color. On closer inspection, the heart seemed to be made of some kind of glassy material with small cracks separating it into sections, all the colors of the sunset swirled about inside of it. On either side of the heart, small metallic wings were folded downwards, beautifully crafted; every single feather was clearly visible. They were identical, aside from the fact that the wing on the left was black as the night sky, while the other was a dazzling silvery-white. The chain bearing the pendant hung, chiming softly, from between his fingers. Sora and Roxas gazed at it, both wondering the same thing.

"What is it?" Roxas asked the voice, this sort of thing only happening to him once or twice before.

This will grant you the power to use both sides of your heart.

Consider it a gift and do not squander it.

This response both answered and avoided Roxas's question. Sora was pocketing the strange object, still feeling way beyond confused, when another thought suddenly occurred to him.

"Hold on a second, who are you anyway?" he questioned, looking straight up and into the darkness beyond.

My identity is of no importance.

However, a word of warning: during the trials ahead, what you know may be put into question.

You must find for yourself what is real and what is not.

Remember, everything is not always as it seems. Farewell.

Sora awoke, eyes fluttering open gently, all tiredness gone. Had he just been dreaming?

Finally!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ugh, Sorry everyone. I know I promised action, but this chapter was seriously starting to drag on.

Hopefully the mystery and suspense will hold you over until I write the next one, oh well…

Heheh, I was having fun there at the dream sequence, trying to figure out what that weird voice would say. I had my hands in front of my head in a thinking sort of pose and was like, "I am the mysterious disembodied voice," trying to get into character.

Well, I got tired of painting the wall where Axel kept burning it, so I locked him in my closet~!

(Axel portals in behind Alexa, hand on her shoulder)

Axel: Ahem.

Me: O_o !

Axel: Forgot I could do that didn't you?

Me: (nods)

Axel: Mmmmhhmm.

Me: Hehehehehh…. Crap….. Review Please! Anonymous reviews accepted!