I want to say thank you to DinoWriter23 and The Good and The Bad X-Boy for helping me with this. I'm sorry for the long wait. I had a bad case of writers block once again and I was also distracted by drawing stuff, life, as well as college classes. But now for this second half of the semester, I only have to take one and I'm sure I'll have more time. As long as I don't forget, that is. And now that Kingdom Hearts III has finally been released, I'll need to think about what to do at certain points in this story now


Sora's group passed by several sets of buildings as they walked through the town. So far, the damage in some areas were minimal, and the residents were working on cleaning up, still.

"Well, it looks like things are going smoothly." Lea remarked.

"I'm sure everything will be back to normal for them in no time." Goofy quipped as they headed up a set of stairs. They were greeted by Leon, who stood at the top staring in the direction of the bailey.

"Leon?" Sora blinked as they approached them.

The swordsman blinked before he acknowledged them. "Hey, guys..."

"Is something wrong?" Donald asked.

Leon was silent for a moment, then said, "There is a couple people at the castle helping us now, where Ansem the Wise's study is. But I don't know if they were caught in the attack."

"Oh yeah, those guys. I almost forgot about 'em..." Lea noted, crossing his arms.

Sora rose an eyebrow. "Who?"

"Well... let's just say we kind of go way back." Lea shrugged, then looked back at Leon. "You thinking about heading over there?"

The man gave a nod in reply. "You guys want to come check with me?" he offered.

The group exchanged a look before they agreed with each other. "Sure. We'll tag along." Riku nodded.

"Alright, then. Follow me." Leon headed towards a tunnel that led away from the town and towards the bailey.


In an abandoned gym, Jason was punching some punching bags. He was still frustrated over what had happened, with the surprise attack, the battle with Josh, the injury of his teammate-now-revealed relative, so he found a place to vent as he tried to process everything. It made him feel better to hit something.

Jason grunted as he slammed his fist into it, sending it swinging back before coming back towards him, so he punched the bag again.

He repeated the process over and over. He intended to keep punching until he ran out of energy

He panted, leaning on the bag as it stopped swinging. By now he was drenched in sweat.

"Something on your mind?" A female voice asked. He turned around and saw Tifa entering the abandoned gym.

Nodding the teen admitted, "The fight against Josh."

"Hm?" Tifa rose an eyebrow, not knowing who he was taking about.

Sighing, Jason explained, "This guy who we fought before... he came back, stronger than the last time. He hurt my friends, and when I fought... He won with only one limb loose."

"I'm guessing that's an expression on your world."

Jason wiped away some sweat and gave a nod in reply. "If Sora hadn't shown up... then one of us probably wouldn't be here today."

Sitting down, Jason took a drink of water from a bottle. Tifa approached him as he did so, but he didn't look up at her.

"So you came here to try and make yourself stronger."

Jason was silent for a moment, then nodded as he looked up. "Yes... I needed to hit something after everything that just happened. Plus, I needed to be alone. It always made me feel better in the past, but now... I don't feel the same way. Ever since I was pulled out of home, I had to rely on the Keyblade to fight. But what can I do if even that won't be enough?" He looked down again, clenching his fists. "I want to keep them safe..."

"How far are you willing to go?"

Jason blinked, looking back at her. "What are you saying?"

"Come with me."

She turned and started to leave. Jason hesitated, but followed, though he was a bit suspicious.

After some time of walking, They came to a clear area overlooking some of the many canyons and valleys spreading out from Radiant Garden.

Jason saw and let out a whistle as he looked at them.

"This is impressive."

"I know. This reminds me of where I trained."

He rose an eyebrow as he turned to her. "So why did you have me follow you here?"

"So you can learn to fight better."

"Is that what you meant from earlier?"

Tifa nodded as she stood a few feet across from him. "Yes, it was."

"It will be rough. You will be pushed beyond your limits."

Jason steeled himself. "I think I can handle that..."

Tifa smirked as she cracked her knuckles. "Then let's get started."

Jason blinked, but summoned his Keyblade. "Alright, then..."

"Not your Keyblade. Your fists."

That took Jason by surprise a bit, but he dismissed it and readied himself, cracking his knuckles as well. "Not the first time I've been in a fist fight."

"Show me what you got, then."

Jason took a swing at Tifa, who dodged the fist and caught his arm. Before he could react the female warrior threw him over her shoulder, making him crash against the ground.

He grunted as he felt the blow, landing on his back as Tifa stood over him.

"Again."

Jason got back to his feet and readied himself as he swung at her again, only for her to catch his fist and toss him over once more.

When he landed on his back again, Tifa stood over him, placing her hands on her hips. "Is that all you got?"

"Not a chance." Jason got off the ground.

"Don't let your emotions cloud your judgement. You lose your cool, you lose the battle. Now, again."

Jason charged at her and swung his fist again, remembering what he had been taught previously.

He pulled back when Tifa dodged. He avoided getting grabbed this time and dodged when she threw a punch that just almost hit him.

"Good."

Jason dodged as she threw another punch. She then swiped his feet out from under him.

The brown haired teenager landed on his back once more with a thud, but he rolled over, pushing himself up. This was tough, but he would endure it

Tifa then charged forward, swinging at him. Jason leaned back, barely avoiding her fist as it almost came into contact with his face.

He then tried to punch her. Tifa jumped back before his fist could connect with her.

"Better."

She suddenly charged forward before he could react. The punch she landed sent him flying several feet into the air. He found himself screaming as he was sent sailing, his eyes wide with shock. Did she seriously just do that?!

After a moment, Jason landed with a thud. He let out a groan as he felt the pain while he laid there. Something told him this was going to be tougher than he thought.


Sora's group had left the bailey, making their way through the restoration site. Sora took a look around, realizing that it had been repaired a bit more since their last adventure.

"They've really made progress since we were last here." The warrior noted

"Yeah! It's lookin' great!" Goofy remarked with a smile.

"At this rate, things will be fixed up in no time." Donald smiled as well.

"Yep. The repairs are going great." Lea nodded as he shoved his hands in his pockets, taking a glance around. "It'll be nice to see the city going back to the way it used to be. Before the Heartless."

"I bet it was nice." Sora told him as they walked through the restoration site, heading down a path. "Hopefully the damages done during the attack get fixed, soon."

"Yeah."

As they walked along, Goofy thought aloud, "I wonder what the others are doin' right now."

"They might be patrolling, training, or helping out around Radiant Garden." Kairi said, giving a shrug.

"Though Anne is still resting." Donald pointed out.

"She'll be back on her feet in no time." Riku said to the magician.

Sora gave a nod of agreement. "Maybe we should check on Dylan in a little bit, see how he's doing?" he suggested. As they walked, they eventually found Dylan sitting near an area that had been slightly damaged during the attack, but nothing too serious.

"Hey, Dylan!" Goofy called out to him.

Dylan looked up with slight surprise. "Oh. Hey, guys..." he greeted as he saw his friends approach him.

"How are you?" Kairi asked him

"Just thinking."

"What about?"

"Lots of things... and the attack, and... what happened during it." Dylan admitted with a sigh, kicking back some pebbles.

"You can't blame yourself for what happened." Riku said. "Dwell on your mistakes, and they will consume you."

Dylan looked up at those words of advice, looking a bit unsure. "... alright..."

"Any idea how Anne is?"

"Before I left after staying with her for a while, she fell asleep, I think. She looks like she's recovering a little, though." Dylan explained to them.

"She's tough. She'll be back on her feet in no time." Kairi told him with a smile.

The raven haired teenager was silent for a moment, then eventually cracked a smile. "... thanks."

He then left, heading back towards the direction of the residential area of Radiant Garden. Sora watched as he walked away. He knew that his friend would be okay now that everything had calmed down, and them reassuring him would definitely help him out.

The group then resumed their trek, soon arriving at the postern. Sora noticed the giant hole in the wall of the building from their last adventure had been patched up. It was pretty impressive to see it repaired like that. There were even some civilians hanging out around the area as well.

It looked like things were improving even more, now.

Lea took a few steps ahead of them. "Wonder if he's still in there..."

"Wonder if who's in there?"

He smiled. "You'll see. Leon and the crew accepted his help when they saw how smart he was." he explained as they entered the old building.

When they entered the building, they saw the halls had been slightly tidied up a bit with less boxes lying around and less holes in the walls.

They also ran into a tall, imposing looking man with auburn hair as he was moving some stuff around. "Ah. Hey, Aeleus." Lea greeted him casually with a wave.

Riku recognized the former Nobody from their last encounter, in Castle Oblivion. "You..."

"It's been a long time, Riku." he said with a deep voice.

Looking at him, Sora asked with a raised eyebrow, "You know each other?"

"We met a long time ago." his friend confirmed. "Back at Castle Oblivion."

Sora tilted his head. "Huh?"

Nodding, the former Nobody added, "Different times. I've changed though. Turned over a new leaf. All I want now is to help restore my home to its former beauty."

"That's a good thing." Riku nodded.

"Hey, is Ienzo and Even here?" Lea then asked the former Organization member.

"Yes, I believe Ienzo is either in the study or the lab." Aeleus nodded. "I don't know where Even is, though... Ienzo's trying to finish up his latest project that he's been working on with someone. He claims it's going to revolutionize world communication."

Now Sora was interested. "Really? I gotta see this!"

"I'll let you get to it, then." Aeleus said as he walked past them.

Lea smirked at Sora's enthusiasm. "I kinda wanna see this, too." He remarked as they began to make their way through the halls. Sora had expected some heartless to appear like the last time, though thankfully, none had shown up.

As they entered the lab, they saw the steel blue haired person working hard on something on the table. They were wearing some sort of lab coat with a purple ascot and they had appeared to be very focused to the point where they didn't notice them come in.

"Ienzo. You have visitors."

The man looked up from his work with a raised eyebrow. "Visitors?"

"Yep. Thought I'd bring 'em over to say hello." Lea remarked.

The man's visible eye widened when he saw who the visitors were. "You..."

"Ienzo." Riku said, earning a look from Sora.

"You know him too?" he asked his friend.

"We've met."

"Although it was under... hostile circumstances." Ienzo admitted. "I do hope you can forgive me."

Sora was just confused by all of this. "Um... I'm lost. Did you two get into a fight or something?"

"You could say that." Ienzo replied with a shrug. "I was... with the Organization when we had last met. I had no idea that we were all being deceived by Xemnas, or rather, Xehanort."

"But like Aeleus and I, Ienzo is his former self again." Lea added. "Now he's helping out the Restoration Committee whenever he can."

The others were shocked to learn that these two used to be with the Organization.

"Speaking of..." Ienzo picked something up from where he was working. "I got the idea for these from my travels to other worlds. Chip and Dale from Donald and Goofy's world had volunteered to work on this with me."

When they got a closer look, it appeared he was holding some sort of cell phone. The top of the phone had a gold crown design while the rest of it was red and gold. There was a button near the bottom that was reminiscent of a certain mouse king.

"One thing that came up during my time with the Organization was it was difficult to keep in contact when on different worlds. To report, we would have to travel back to The Castle That Never Was via a Corridor of Darkness to report anything. So when the chance came to help my world instead, I thought, 'why not create a device that allows for communication without having to return to a Gummi or the world?'" Ienzo explained. "I even experimented with some of Merlin's magic to allow them to work on worlds that are not as... advanced. At least that's the theory. I haven't been able to test them out on said world. Though Chip and Dale have one of their own, so we're able to communicate with each other on our findings from our respective worlds."

The explanation left the group in awe. A wide grin then appeared on Sora's face. "That's amazing!"

"If you want, we could test them for you." Kairi offered with a smile.

"Good, because I've been looking for somebody to hand these to." Ienzo said gratefully as he picked up a box that held several more of the phones. "Now, how many is there in your group?"

"Some of our friends are in other places of Radiant Garden at the moment, so about... thirteen of us." Riku estimated

"Not enough." Ienzo said, shaking his head. "There's too many in your group. So for right now, I'm afraid I'll be only able to hand out at least seven until we make more."

"Got it." Riku said as Sora took one. Riku decided to take one himself, as did Lea and Kairi. They took the other three and looked down at them. "We'll see if any of the others want these."

"Thank you. I hope they work well enough." Ienzo said. "And don't worry. I can make another if I need to contact you."

"Great. Thanks." Sora smiled before looking down at his new phone. He did feel a bit confused seeing the icons on the screen of this gadget. "Um... how do you use this?" he asked, looking up from it

"You can take photos with this, communicate with others across other worlds, and your journey can be documented on it. You'll also be able to play games on it, too." Ienzo explained. "You can use the touch screen in order to do so."

The spiky haired teen looked down at his phone, testing it out as he pressed a camera icon on it. Smiling, he took a picture of himself. "Hey, this is pretty neat!"

"This is definitely gonna make things easier for us to communicate if we're separated, especially if we lose the comms." Riku remarked with a nod as he looked at his own phone, testing it out.

"These will change everything." Kairi agreed.


Dylan was currently walking down one of the roads in Radiant Garden, keeping his eyes trained on the ground with his hands in his pockets. He was fighting very hard to follow his friends' advice.

He was trying not to dwell on what had happened, though it still lingered in his mind. He could not recall feeling this strongly before.

Josh was ruthless back there... even more so than the last time they had encountered him back in that graveyard. He wished he could have gotten there sooner. He could have kept her safe. Why was that suddenly a priority? He cared about Anne as a friend but now...

Now that they were boyfriend and girlfriend, he felt that... maybe he should have followed her instead of splitting up during the attack.

His heart sank for a moment. "... was it my fault she got hurt?" He wondered to himself out loud.

Would Merlin know?

"Maybe I should talk to him..." he said to himself as he resumed walking.

He made his way back to Restoration Committee HQ, soon arriving at the building. Taking a deep breath, he went inside.

He noticed that Anne was still in the cot, appearing to be asleep. And Merlin wasn't anywhere in sight...

"Dylan?" Aerith's voice asked from behind him

The teen jumped a bit as he turned around, then calmed down when he realized who it was. "Oh. Hi, Aerith... how is she...?"

"She's resting, for now."

He looked down at that. "... that's good..."

"You seem troubled."

Dylan sighed. "... yeah... I am." he admitted. "I've just been thinking... about Anne and I."

"Oh?"

"It's just... we've been friends for a long time now, and now... we're more than friends. And I... I feel like I could have done something more to help her back there... maybe if I did, she wouldn't have been injured."

"You can't blame yourself for what happened. Nobody could have known what was going to happen." she added.

"I know, but still, I feel something inside me, saying I should've done something different. Like I should have stayed with her instead of going in another direction..."

Aerith placed a hand on his shoulder. "You can't worry about what you should've or shouldn't have done. You should learn from the past, but what you're doing is dwelling in it. If you dwell on it too much, then you'll never be able to move on. It will weigh you down."

Looking at her, Dylan admitted, "I've never felt this way before. I want to keep her safe..."

"You really care for her, don't you?"

Dylan blushed a bit,, averting his eyes shyly. "Y... Yes. I do." he admitted.

Smiling at that, Aerith said, "It's good to see you concerned for her, but she's is a capable fighter. If you want to help her, then you should support her. Encourage her, be there for her. And I'm sure she'll do the same for you, too."

Dylan looked up when she said that, his eyes widening a bit. He then gave a nod. "I'll do that."

Aerith smiled. "She will appreciate that."

Dylan was silent, then cracked a smile. "You think so?"

The brown haired woman gave a nod. "I'm positive."

"... thank you."

Aerith smiled again, giving a nod. "You're welcome." she said before she turned to leave.

Dylan then looked back at Anne. She still seemed to be fast asleep. He gently took her hand, holding it in his. "I promise, Anne... I'll be there for you..."

He closed his eyes after he said that. A moment later, he felt something squeeze his hand gently. He opened his eyes and saw that Anne had closed her fingers around his hand, turning her head towards him and opening her eyes. She cracked a tired smile at him. "Hey, Dylan... It's okay..."

The words surprised Dylan. "Did you... hear me?"

"Every word. And it's okay, Dylan... don't feel bad. I don't blame you at all for what happened. So don't blame yourself."

Dylan's eyes widened a bit, but hearing those words comforted him. He slowly smiled at her gratefully, gently holding her hand. "Thank you."

Anne gave him a smile in return. "You're welcome..."


Aurora leaned against a wall with her arms crossed. She had just finished helping out some people.

And while it had been satisfying to be thanked, it didn't take her mind off things. Such as the aftermath of the attack, the new information they found out...

They were all caught off guard by the attack, but at least the people were working on fixing the damages in the areas that were hit. Still, it brought back too many painful memories. Memories she had been forced to live with.

She closed her eyes, shaking her head.

That day... this attack, it had reminded her of how Netokan forces swarmed through her village and killed everyone she knew.

Aurora shut her eyes at the painful memories, shaking her head. Even after all these years, she never forgot that day. She lost everything... Her parents... her home... and she hated Netokan for what they did. And then she was brought to Nekotan.

Growing up hearing about how her people were defeated... salt in the wound. And the people who were supposed to care for her mistreated her.

It made her so upset, back then.

But now... she was torn and conflicted. She hated the anger and pain, and yet she didn't want to get rid of it. She was so desperate to hold on to it, to justify her anger towards that nation. And yet there was some pain in her heart the more she tried, and her new memories with Jason and Clair, children of the nation who conquered Moruga, always intruded on her pain.

With them now being her friends... with Jason revealing what happened to him... with Jason and her now being...

She still couldn't believe the word... together... it was making it incredibly difficult because now the hate she wanted to hold on to felt like poison. Like it would hurt her.

She shook her head again, clenching her fist. "I don't want to forget... so why does it hurt? To hold on?" she asked herself out loud.

It now appeared she was at a crossroads... Aurora had to take a seat since she was so conflicted. What was she going to do?


Back in the HQ, Dylan and Anne were quietly having a chat with each other.

"I wish I didn't have to sit around and wait." Anne was saying with a slightly annoyed look.

"You still need to recover." Dylan responded.

"I know, I know..." Anne sighed, hanging her head. "I'm just getting a little antsy, I guess."

Dylan noticed it looked like something else was on her mind. "What's wrong, Annie?"

After a moment, she answered. "I still can't believe that I'm related to Jason and Clair..." Anne told him. "It's... amazing."

Nodding, Dylan admitted, "I think it took us all by surprise. None of us saw that coming."

"Looks like we've got a lot to talk about..." Anne agreed. She then curiously added, "So, when do you think everyone will be back?"

The black haired teenager gave a shrug in reply. "I'm not sure, exactly. I did see Sora and those with him pass by me a while ago, so..." Before he could finish his sentence, the door opened up and Chase stepped inside. "Hm? Oh, hey, Chase."

Chase smiled. "Hey bro. Hey, Annie. How's it hanging?" He greeted his brother and friend as he strolled over to them.

"Just recovering." Anne said.

"So's the rest of the city. And they're doing a pretty good job at it." Chase added, grabbing a chair and taking a seat in it. Binx Jr meowed happily seeing him and jumped up onto him, relaxing. "Hey, buddy! Did ya miss me?" he smiled as he stroked the kitten's head. A chuckle came from his brother and friend.

"You really love that cat." Dylan smiled.

"He's one of us." Chase smiled as Binx Jr climbed onto his shoulders, nuzzling his head. "I'm surprised he's been handling this pretty well, though. Who knows what's going on in his head from all this." He added.

Smiling, Anne decided to speak up. I bet he's rooting us on. Or thinking of cuddles."

The three shared a laugh, which was a relief to do so since it felt like some weight was being lifted off them.

"Yeah, I think you're right." Chase agreed as the kitten gave a meow.

It was then the door opened up again, but this time, it was Sora and those who had went with him. "Hey guys!"

"Hey, Sora." Anne waved.

"Feeling any better?" he inquired, earning a nod in reply.

"How were things looking on your end?" Chase asked them.

"Well, we saw some repairs had been made to some places that had been damaged on our last adventure, before we met you guys." Goofy explained.

"That's good to hear." Dylan blinked as he noticed a couple of them holding something. "Hey, what do you have there?"

"Oh, this?" Riku looked at the cell phone he had. "We ran into someone who was making these cell phones with Chip and Dale. He said we'd be able to communicate long distances with them, even if we're on different worlds."

It sounded like a little piece of home for Anne. "It looks pretty cool."

"Would you like one?"

That got the trio's attention. "Really?"

"Yep. Ienzo said he could only give a few to give out at the moment since he needed to make more, though." Riku explained. The three friends looked at each other.

"Well... why don't you have one, Annie?" Dylan offered.

"What about you?" Anne asked him, raising an eyebrow.

"Don't worry. I'm okay," he said before adding, "I can wait for whenever more are made."

Anne hesitated, then gave a nod. "Alright." she accepted as she was given a phone. She had to admit, it did look pretty cool.

"What about you, Chase?" Dylan asked his brother.

"I'm taking one for sure." He said as he took his eyes lit up as he started messing around with it. "Wow... this has gotta have some cool apps on it! I wonder if Clair might like to see this?"

Shrugging, Dylan asked, "Where is she anyway?"

Anne thought for a moment. "I think she went to practice her magic?" she told them. "I'm sure she'll be back soon." Right as she said that, there was a puff and Clair appeared next to them. That surprised just about everyone in the room. Chase yelped, falling out of his chair while Anne let out a scream, nearly falling out of her cot. Binx Jr managed to jump off of Chase in time before he hit the floor.

"Oh. Sorry." She apologized while helping Chase up.

"What was that about?"

"Oh. I finally began learning to teleport."

"Teleporting?" Anne asked with surprise, earning a nod from her newfound relative.

"Yes, being able to move from one location to another just like that." She snapped her fingers for emphasis.

"Yes, I know what teleportation means."

Clair then noticed the phones. "What are those?"

"These are cell phones that a friend of ours made." Lea explained. "He said they're supposed to allow someone to communicate with another person across worlds. Would you like one?"

Shaking her head, Clair noted, "There's not enough for everyone. If my holo-screen worked off my world, I'd use that."

Kairi thought for a moment. "Maybe there could be a way to get it to do so? Sora told me Cid and Merlin once combined magic and technology to defeat some program about a year ago. Maybe they can do it again to allow you to use your holo-screen."

Clair's eyes widened in surprise at the suggestion. "Oh, really?" With that, she was gone in a puff.

"... I'm gonna have to take some time to get used to that." Anne noted after a moment as she stared at the spot where Clair once stood. Turning to Sora, she asked, "Where is Cid? I always see him by his computer."

Sora shrugged in reply. "Beats me."

Anne sighed, then moved to get up off the cot. "Whoa. What're you doing?" Dylan asked her, gently stopping the girl.

"I wanna get out of this cot. I've been in it for a while, now..."

"I don't think you're well enough to stand up. You did lose a lot of blood..."

That made the girl frown. "Dylan, I feel perfectly-" She started to get up, though her movement was shaky. As she took a step forward, her legs gave out and she nearly hit the ground if it weren't for Dylan catching her. "Okay, maybe not as okay as I thought." Anne sighed with a tone of defeat, but then shook her head. "But I'm tired of being cooped up."

Shaking his head, her boyfriend told her, "I know, but you won't be any good unless you fully recover."

"Will you look at him?" A familiar voice asked, catching the group's attention. "He treats her so delicately you'd think she was made of glass."

"Some worlds call it chivalry." Another voice deadpanned.

Looking around, Dylan rose an eyebrow and asked, "Who said that?"

"Now you've done it." The second voice said.

Chase's eyes widened as he pointed at a book spine. "Uh, I don't want to alarm anyone, but there are five ladies talking on the cover."

Taking a look, Anne's eyes widened with recognition. "It's the Muses!"

The group looked at the Muses with a mixture of surprise and confusion. "What are you doing here?" Anne asked, tilting her head a bit.

"Well, it looks like you could use a little help after that fight you had with that unsavory fella." one of the Muses said.

"Uh... Annie? Who are these guys?" Dylan inquired, leaning over to Anne.

"We are the Muses, Goddesses of the Arts. Your girlfriend has met us in the world where the Olympus gods reside."

"You mean Herc's world?" Sora blinked.

"Indeed."

"How come you're here?" Anne asked them.

"To help you, of course."

This just made the teenager a bit more confused. "But... aren't you guys supposed to be on your own world?"

"My dear, we are the goddesses of the arts, and we help all who have interest in the arts." Calliope replied.

"You said it yourself. You don't want to be cooped up until you fully recover, so we'll help you out with that!" Terpsichore said.

"How?"

"By helping you get a little oomph in your magic."

"... huh?" Anne tilted her head curiously.

Calliope smiled. "You're a big fan of music, aren't you?"

"Yeah..." she nodded, wondering where this conversation was going.

"Then tap into that love, and channel it into your magic."

The teenager blinked at that, then gave a nod. "Okay... I'll try..." Pulling up her device, Anne began looking through her playlist. She eventually settled on a song and hit play as the song began. She then closed her eyes, listening to the music as she tried to focus. She imagined her injuries healing as she listened to the beat. She then tried to cast Cure while thinking this. "Heal."

At first, nothing happened. She blinked, opening her eyes as she looked back at the Muses. "Uh... That did nothing. Did I do something wrong?"

"Try again. Focus. Feel it resonate within you."

Anne focused, concentrating on listening to the song and her love for music. She closed her eyes as the beat flowed through her. This time, she felt a little exhausted, but reinvigorated at the same time. "Whoa. That's a strange sensa- holy cow!" Anne gasped as she saw her body glowing with the green light of the healing magic. She looked down at herself with surprise while a couple others gaped at her. She could feel her energy returning now.

After a moment, Dylan decided to break the silence. "How do you feel?"

"Like a million bucks." She pushed herself off the bed, standing on her own again without falling, much to her relief. "Much better." Turning to the Muses, she said, "Thanks for the help."

"You can pull that trick with any of the other spells."

Anne did a double take. "Wait, really?"

Thalia grinned. "You bet!"

"That is awesome!" She had a grin on her face as she said that.

"Well, that's all for now."

Anne's face fell. "You're leaving?"

"Yeah. We're needed back on Mount Olympus. So be careful on your journey, everyone." Calliope said, addressing everyone in the room as Anne looked back at them.

"You got it, ma'am..." Sora nodded with a smile.

As Anne turned back to look at the Muses, they had vanished once again. "... I gotta get used to that." she said to herself.

"Well, at least you're back on your feet." Sora said.

"What a relief." Anne remarked. "Now we can get back on the road."

"You're really eager to get moving, huh?" Chase remarked to his friend, smiling a bit.

"Well yeah, I've been cooped up in that bed for a while. And Josh is out there doing who-knows-what."

Chase paused as he realized that. "... oh yeah."

"We need to get everyone together, resupply, and then get going." Dylan suggested.

Anne prepared to head to the door, but a book resting on a stand caught her attention. "Hm?" Turning to it, she picked it up before reading the title to herself. "'Winnie the Pooh'?" She looked below the title and was surprised to see... Sora sitting on a hill with a yellow bear?

Sora's eyes lit up as he immediately recognized what book she was looking at. "Yeah. That's how I visit him all the time."

Looking up, Anne asked, "You mean there's a world in this book?"

"Yep!" Sora grinned.

"Who exactly do you visit?" Kairi asked as she and Sora walked over to Anne to look at the book as well.

"Winnie the Pooh, of course. I'll take you to see him." Sora offered her.

"I dunno..." Uncertainty about diving into a book for real crept into Anne. But then again, the cover seemed harmless enough. Maybe there was nothing to worry about. "But it's not like we're ready to leave this second." With that she opened the book. Dylan peered over her shoulder just as she did. A light came from the book as it blinded Sora, Kairi, Dylan, and Anne and seemed to consume the entire room, forcing the rest of those in the room to shield their eyes.

When the light died down, their friends were nowhere to be seen. That earned surprised cries from the rest, except for Donald and Goofy.

"Where'd they go?" Riku asked with confusion.

"A-hyuck, into the book, of course!" Goofy smiled. Going over to the book, Chase looked at the pages that were open. "Yeah, there they are!" Riku, Chase, Lea, Donald, and Goofy peered into the book and saw that their friends were indeed inside...


Dylan squinted as the light died down. He found himself standing beside a stream or river or something like that with a bridge not too far away. "Huh?" He rose an eyebrow as he glanced up, seeing a bright blue sky hovering over them. "What is this place...?"

"Welcome to the 100 Acre Wood." Sora spoke up behind him.

Dylan turned around to see his friend standing there with a smile while Anne and Kairi were looking around with surprise.

"It's so beautiful." Anne remarked, a smile appearing on her face. Kairi silently agreed with her as she looked around at the forest before them.

"So where do we find this Winnie?" Dylan asked.

"Pooh's gotta be around here, somewhere. Probably at his house, or looking for honey." Sora remarked as he started walking along the side of the stream. The others followed him, still gazing at their surroundings. The place looked typical for a storybook setting, but it was quite peaceful. A perfect place to have a picnic, maybe.

They soon made it to where the bridge was. It was a simple looking one, typical for a forest setting.

As they crossed it, Anne noticed something in the water "Hm?" she paused, walking over to the rail to peer over it. It looked like some sort of blue donkey plush with a pink bow tied to its tail "Hey guys?" She called, gaining their attention. "There's something in the water."

The other three came over to look as well as well. Sora's eyes widened in surprise. "Eeyore!"

"Hey." The donkey plush said half-heartedly. "Thanks for noticin' me..."

"What are you doing down there?" Dylan called down to him.

"Just waiting for a heffalump to get me, just like it got the others." he replied.

Blinking, Anne asked, "What's a heffalump?"

"It's a monster..." the donkey plush muttered as he floated down stream.

"So you're just not going to do anything?" Dylan asked.

"What's the point?"

When Anne looked at Sora for an explanation, he just shrugged. "He's gloomy like that."

"Aren't you gonna try to get out of the stream?" Kairi asked, blinking.

"Why bother?"

"Forget gloomy. He's depressing." Anne deadpanned.

"Hang on, Eeyore. I'll get ya out." Sora got off the bridge before jumping into the stream, which only came up to his shins. Wading over to the living plush, the Keyblade bearer got him out of the water. "There ya go." He remarked as he set him down on the ground once they were out of the water. Kairi, Anne, and Dylan had joined them.

"Thanks, Sora..." Eeyore sullenly replied.

"No problem. Now what's all this about heffalumps?" the teen asked, crouching down to his level.

Eeyore shook his head to dry himself off. "Happened during the storm. Loud cries that could only belong to heffalumps were heard throughout the hundred-acre wood. After that, everyone disappeared..."

Dylan crouched down to the depressed sounding donkey. "We can help you look for them if you want."

"Not sure it'll make any difference, but okay."

They started to walk away from the stream together as Eeyore trudged along by their side. "By the way, Sora who are they?"

"Eeyore, this is Kairi, Dylan, and Anne. They're some of my friends." Sora introduced with a smile.

"Nice to meet you." Eeyore muttered to the three.

"Nice to meet you too." Though Anne couldn't fathom why Eeyore couldn't be happy. Who wouldn't be happy in a beautiful place like this?

Sora then looked ahead of them as they trekked on, thinking about what he had been told. He didn't know about this 'heffalump' business, but it couldn't hurt to check to see what had happened, after all.