The room was impossibly dark, being rather dreary even during noontide, in the depths of twilight it's bowels were lit only by the flickering gaze of a few sputtering candles, illuminating its inhabitant's outlines with every wavy breath of the dying tongues of flame. The occupants in question seemed to be pouring over some immensely complex mathematical chart of a sort, a strange combination of a calculus text book and an atlas all mish-mashed and spread out over a single uninterrupted sheet of paper large enough to carpet a good-sized living room, let alone be read on the rickety table they happened to be using. One of the men straightened up, bringing his clasped fist to his lips and letting out a raspy cough that barked and echoed about the morose depths of the chamber before returning to the paper, his spindly, long-fingered hands roaming over the map/equation like rogue spiders, touching a glyph here or a sphere there, his mouth muttering so quickly that he seemed to be speaking in nonsense syllables as he went over the paper. He wore a long, periwinkle blue robe that trailed from his neck down to his toes, glittering with silvery sequins sewed throughout the garment, a tall, bent over hat perched on his stooped head, magnificent platinum stars glowing out from it with wizened steel-gray hair pouring from under its brim, forming a long mane and an equally impressive beard. The other eyed him amusedly, a wry smile creasing his features before he shook his head and returned his gaze to the map. His garb was a tad more modernized, black jeans and an equally obsidian jacket pulled over a white t-shirt, a pendant with an odd lion's head and cross combination dangling from his neck, dark brown hair falling limply about his shoulders.

"So you're certain these are the coordinates, Leon?" the older figure asked, adjusting the glasses perched on his long, crooked nose.

The younger figure nodded, scratching the back of his head as he regarded his companion, "Certain or something close to it. Besides, if I'm wrong, we'll be within shouting distance, shouldn't be a problem, right?"

Merlin nodded, fingering his beard absent-mindedly as he thought, "No, not a problem at all. As long as you don't wind up on the opposite side of the multiverse I do believe everything should go swimmingly."

Leon stood back up, shaking Merlin's hand agreeably as he began to walk out, needing to be alone with his thoughts for but a moment, "Thank you, Merlin, I can't tell you how grateful I am for this, really. Let Cloud know we'll be leaving tomorrow. Tell him early, I know how much Yuffie likes to sleep in, so remind him to wake her up."

With that he was gone, Merlin removing his glasses to dust them off with his robes as the door slammed shut behind the exiting loner. It really was too bad. Merlin felt truly sorry for the man, who was but a young boy compared to his own age, trying to find his way in this myriad of worlds.

Sora laughed in the flat, gray light of the approaching dawn on Destiny Islands, running just in front of Kairi as they raced towards the beach, a letter dangling from one of the former's hands while the gleaming shape of the Keyblade hung from the other. Said letter was from the quiet, stoic man Cloud, requesting Sora's appearance at the former site of Hollow Bastion the very morning in question. Sora, tired of traveling without his friends from the islands, had decided to bring Kairi along for the trip, figuring that she'd enjoy a little bit of benevolent world-travel for a change. He let out a stream of manic laughter as they reached the beach, Kairi lunging forward and tackling him as their feet padded across the dunes, rolling about in the sand before coming back to their feet, both thoroughly dirtied by the sticking crystals of sand and breathing heavily, sides sore and faces blushing from the combination of running and laughter.

"So who are we going to see again?" Kairi asked inquisitively, brushing down her sides as she regained her feet, eyes first lingering on Sora before turning to direct her vision to the vast sea before them.

Sora regained his breath, leveling the Keyblade out in front of him with both hands, crumpling up the letter and stuffing it carelessly into his pocket, "Some very good friends. They need help with something or other… I don't know, I really didn't read the letter too well, haha, I was just happy to hear from them again."

Tifa rested her head against the blonde warrior's shoulder, sighing softly as dawn broke over the vast empty canyon they were waiting in. Well, formerly empty at the least. It now contained a massive, sleek ship. It's bow was almost a work of art, the waves of metal curling and lashing back against the rest of the ship in curving spirals as it split apart, two massive columns of helicopter blades extending from the top of either of the two wing-like extensions at the back of the vehicle, a cabin area curled underneath the airship that was currently open as they waited for the final arrivals and the right time of departure.

"It's almost like losing her all over again," Cloud said finally, dropping his gaze to the dirt as he prodded a rock idly with the tip of his sword, pushing it across the dusty floor of the canyon.

"Cloud, it wouldn't be fair to either of you to take her with us," Tifa countered, pulling her head up and looking to the man as he raised his eyes, staring blankly off into the distance, "She looks the same, she acts the same, hell I'll even give you that she has the same personality, but that's not Aeris back there, it may be her spirit but it's not her and you know that. Besides, you know that she's still here. That she and Zack are still looking out for you, you know that."

Cloud nodded, sheathing the huge sword in its holster on his back as he turned and made towards the Sierra's cabin, looking back to Tifa and waiting for her to join him, "I know, but that doesn't make it any easier. Come on, Marlene and Denzel are waiting."

Tifa followed him, reaching for his hand, but cringing back for a moment as Sora's voice rang through the canyon. She turned, seeing him racing towards them with Kairi at his heels. Laughing softly to herself, she patted Cloud's shoulder pad, skipping lightly into the airship's cabin, "You take care of this, let me know when we're ready to go."

Cloud raised an inquisitive eyebrow, looking after her before he favored Sora and his friend with a smile, waving to him as he approached, "Hey there, how've things been?"

Sora stopped to reply, Kairi almost slamming into the back of him, but stopped as his gaze traveled up the masterpiece of steel and fiberglass before him, awed at the sheer scope of the vehicle, "We've been fine. Woah, what are you guys doing with that thing?"

Cloud's eyebrow arched higher into his spiky locks and his head tilted slightly to the side, "What, you didn't read my letter? We're going home."

Sora looked confused, looking about him as Leon approached, also looking rather confused at the keyblade wielder's presence, "But, you are home, aren't you?"

Leon took this opportunity to break into the conversation, "Cloud, I need to talk to you when you're done here."

Cloud sighed inwardly, knowing what was to come as he nodded to Leon before beginning to walk, signaling for Sora and his friend to follow, "Not really. We sort of adopted this world," he said, slowly circling the depths of the purple-rocked valley, "When our worlds were invaded by the Heartless, we decided that it would be best to do something about it. So we left and came here, closer to the source of the problem. When people asked, we told them we were locals, after all, who would've believed that we were from different worlds? Then the Heartless attacked, and when they would've been likely to believe we couldn't tell them, for fear of destroying their trust. I'm sorry that we lied to you like this, but our home worlds are still overrun with Heartless and and we'll need your help in getting it back."

Sora nodded, his grip tightening on the keyblade at his side as they turned back towards the ship, looking to Kairi, "Hey, this could be dangerous, it might be best if you went back to the islands, or stayed in Hollow Bastion for a while."

Not amused, Kairi gave him a playful shove in the back as they entered the ship, "And risk losing you again like I did the last time? No, I don't think so, I'm coming along for the ride."

Leon beckoned Cloud into a side room, pressing the button to an outward sliding door after the spiky-haired soldier entered, blocking their conversation from prying ears. Sora looked shrugged, walking off with his hands clasped behind his head, though Kairi, rather intrigued, dropped down to her knees and began to listen at the crack near the bottom of the door.

"So, what's up?" came the voice of the blonde man, just barely audible.

"You called him?" the voice of the other man, cold and flat.

"Yes, he's happy to come along, his friend too, apparently."

There came the loud sound of a fist striking what sounded like a wall, desk, or some other miscellaneous hard object.

"He's just a kid, Strife."

"Right, and he's dealt with just about as much as you at seventeen. He'll be fine."

"It doesn't matter what he's dealt with, we're going to a dead world, I don't want to have to play momma bird and cover his eyes in case we see… something."

"You won't have to, I'm sure he can handle himself. I have confidence. Besides, you know we'll need his help."

"That's not the point, you of all people should know what I'm talking about, this isn't the circus, this is picking up the pieces, there are some things a kid just isn't ready for," a sigh echoed from within the confines of the room and Kairi just managed to scamper out of the way before the door slid open again, Cloud and Leon walking out, "But if you insist, I guess we can't exactly stop him now, can we?"

Cloud shook his head, a not-dissimilar-to-proud look on his face, "Nope, once he gets his mind set on something."