Sora took off toward Radiant Gardens after a few preparations.
"Wow, you've been to all these worlds and there are more than I thought there could ever be?" Kairi asked looking out the windows at the different worlds they were passing on their way.
"And there more that you can't see." Sora shrugged. "We are stopping at Radiant Gardens to see some of my other friends I made along the way. They might have Key Blades now as well."
"What's Radiant Gardens?" Riku asked also interested at looking at the other worlds, many he had been to but many he also hadn't been to sense there were so many they were hard to remember unless you knew how to get there and had been there enough to remember like Sora.
"I think you must remember it as Hollow Bastian, but Radiant Gardens is what it was called a while back before it became Hollow Bastian." Sora explained. "They changed the name back to Radiant Gardens the last time I was there and I destroyed the Heartless there and found out they were being created by a super computer that suddenly developed a mind of its own. It was Ansem's computer but we finally were able to stop it and the Heartless."
"Ansem had a super computer that held his research?" Riku got curious by Sora's story sense he'd only heard bits and pieces over the last year on the island.
He laughed. "I went into the computer and helped a security program named Tron take over the computer. I'll have to visit him while I'm there and see if Ansem knew anything about this world we are going to."
"Tell us more about the adventures you had while we were separated." Kairi said sitting next to him where Donald used to sit. He missed his two friends that had to stay with the king but he had these other two with him this time and that felt good to Sora.
He told them about the first adventure when Kairi had been kidnapped and Riku turned to the darkness. Then he told them of his next adventures when the Nobodies turned him into a toy and used him. To protect him another Nobody wiped his memory and then finally decided to put him, Goofy, and Donald to sleep in their world so they wouldn't be in any more trouble. She was Kairi's Nobody and her name was Namine. Then he told her of his last adventure when he had to go to more worlds and stop the Heartless, people turning into Heartless, and Organization XIII while looking for them.
"Riku I was wondering, why didn't you just tell me who you were during that time?"Sora asked his friend "You were usually at least one step ahead of me the entire time. Or why didn't the king tell me because he knew who you were?"
"I didn't want you to know what had happened to me Sora. It was selfish I know but I felt as if I didn't deserve your friendship or Kairi's anymore after all either." Riku said "And if you recall I asked the king not to tell you because I looked like Ansem. One of the enemies you thought that you had destroyed in your first adventure."
"You could have still told me you were Riku and not really Ansem." Sora said.
"Sora think about it, would you have believed me if I had told you who I really was?"Riku asked.
After a minute of thinking about it Sora said, "Probably not."
"Exactly and that is why I didn't tell you until I knew you would believe me without a doubt in your mind." Riku said
Then Kairi said. "Sora is that Radiant Gardens?"
She was pointed to the world they were approaching.
"Sure is Kairi. Wait until you meet Leon and my other friends." He said and they got off the ship and went straight to Merlin's house stopping only to talk to a few other friends Sora knew and to sample a new ice cream flavor.
As the approached the house Sora knocked. Merlin answered the door. "Sora welcome back to Radiant Gardens. Come in, come in." They were ushered into the room and Cid was sitting at a computer. "Hello Sora, long time no see."
"Hey how's it coming with Ansem's research?" Sora was curious.
"Found out pretty much everything he researched and then some. Leon's still working with Tron and the old computer with Yuffie and Aester. Even Cloud is helping out now that his nemesis is dead. Who are your two friends? Where is Donald and Goofy?"
"Oh, this is Riku and Kairi. The king needs Donald and Goofy to stay with him at Disney Castle but my friends are coming with me and we are here to see if anyone has a Key Blade." Sora explained. "Do you know if they do?"
"Well you can ask them yourself." Cid said smiling. "We don't see them around here as much as we used to. They are staying at the castle now and working on the computer."
"Okay it was good to see you Cid, and you too Merlin." he said.
"Come visit us again really soon Sora. It's been quite dull around here sense you left and the Heartless stopped coming here." Merlin said as they left his house.
"Where are we off to now Sora?" Riku asked.
"There is our next destination." He pointed to the castle. "That's where Ansem used to live while doing his research on the Heartless." They went to the castle quickly. "Strange how quickly I can move through this town now the Heartless is gone. I used to have to fight Heartless with every other step I took when I came here the last few times." We went inside but still no Heartless interrupting them.
"Sora!" I heard suddenly and Aester was running toward him and hugged him. "You don't know how much we miss you around here now days."
"Hey Aester how is Cloud and everyone else?" Sora asked surprised at her reaction to his appearance.
"Everyone here is fine, but we'll all be glad to see you beside Leon, Yuffie, and I all have something to show you." She said and took off to the Computer Room as they called the room that held the computer.
Leon was leaning over the computer saying "Come on now Tron there has to be an explanation for this!" He was surprised and stressed from the look on his face. "I thought there could only be no more than one at a time!"
Then Tron's voice came from the computer, "Got something here." Then several Key Blades flashed on the screen.
"What does this mean?" Leon asked the computer.
"Many Key Blades, many Key Blade Masters," Tron said.
"Leon you have Key Blade now too. Isn't that what you always wanted?" Sora said as they entered behind Aester.
He looked up and smiled. "Oh hello Sora, how are you doing?"
Tron said from his computer, "Hello, my User friend."
"I'm fine and It's good to see you all again. You have a Key Blade?"
"Yes Yuffie and I both got one. Aester found out she has one too. Who are they?" Leon asked pointing behind Sora to Kairi and Riku who were standing in the background.
Sora smiled. "This is Kairi and Riku. Kairi, Riku, this is Leon and Aester and I'm sure Yuffie somewhere around her as well. Anyway Leon do you want to come to a different world with me. The king has requested that all Key Blade Masters do that."
"Of course I will, Yuffie most likely but I'm not positive, Aester I don't know about you." Leon said
"Yes I will." Aester said from behind him.
"And I will too." Yuffie shouted from the next room.
"Good. I knew I could count on you all." Sora said and moved to the computer.
"When do we leave?" Yuiffie entered the room.
"In a minute, Yuffie meet Kairi and Riku." She hurried over to meet the new arrivals that she had heard so much about from Sora. "Tron can you see if there is anything on here about a world called the Seven Plains?" He asked.
Sora waited but was disappointed when Tron said. "No nothing. Wait here is something that mentions it."
"Bring up on the screen." Sora requested. A small picture of a black wolf with came up with a small explanation, "Heartless but Not Stealing Hearts from The Seven Plains."
"That's it." Sora was disappointed there was so little information about this new world they had to go to.
"That is all there is only a picture and the one line explanation. It was the last part of the research he logged in here probably was the last part of his research and he never finished his research on the Seven Plains Heartless if he did any at all." Tron's voice said from inside the computer world. "Sorry I can't be of more help Sora."
"Thanks for your help anyway Tron." Sora said. Then Sora turned and said. "It looks like we are going into this world blind after all."
"Where to now Sora sense you seem to be leading this operation?" Riku asked.
"Back to the Gummi ship we need to go to the unknown world and find out if they have a Heartless problem." He said and the others followed him to the Gummi Ship. They decided to leave Cloud in charge of Ansem's computer and they took off not knowing what to expect in this new world they were going to.
I laid in the cool long soft grass thinking about all the things that had made me once more come to this point when I had to just run away from my life so I could feel free from the pressure I always carried on my shoulders as a Trinity and the Trinity Queen no less. I was letting the sun warm my tan skin as it started to sink below the horizon. How far and long I'd run I didn't know nor did I care in the peace I was starting to feel in the surrounding area. I'd lost track of time as I tried to put a good distance between me and my stressful life full of worry and trouble like terrible ghosts that continued to purse me and they never could be banished from me forever. I just wished that I could get away from all of it if only for a few minutes at a time I could at least bask in the freedom that was hard to come by here in my life now days. The others had let me go knowing that I just needed a little time away from it all so I wouldn't go insane. I hadn't turned to go back to them yet. I knew I'd have to face my life once again but for now I was as free as a bird gliding on the wind in the sky where nothing could hurt me. I loved the feeling of peace in the beauty of the world around me in the quiet calm stillness that surrounded me in the meadow I had taken refuge in for the time. The sun set as I still lay in the grass felt like I was flying away from everything I knew until it was time to return to it.
"Momma, where are you? We can smell you here, so we know you're there but we can't see you." I heard my little ones all calling to me in their soft sweet voices. Life intruded into my peaceful surroundings as usual but at the very least it was only my little children who were my greatest comfort like a security blanket to me. The love and joy of my life, they were everything to me so I was very glad it was only them and not someone else coming to find me. Though I would not have minded some of their company others I would, like Karjiko for example was the last person I wanted to see when I felt this kind of peace.
I sat up so my little ones could see me above the long soft grasses in the meadow around me and they came to me within seconds after I appeared sitting in the grass. The young Werewolves appeared around me. Sixteen little bundles of fur and love all climbed into my lap or sat beside me in the evening light of the setting sun. Their closeness was a wonderful feeling that I was loved as well. I was a hero in their eyes and they never doubted me even when I doubted myself and never lost their trust no matter what. They knew I loved them and would do anything for them and I had proved that to them many times facing my enemies to protect them.
The sun was almost done setting now but I didn't want to leave the peace and serenity around me. I watched it with my loving children around me. They were like a child's security blanket to me when I needed it the most. I loved them with all my heart and I would do anything for them, even if it meant I had to give up my own life for their protection. They were my greatest comfort and that would never change and they were almost always beside me or on my lap. In times when I felt alone and lost I could think of them and know everything would be all right in the end. They came to be out of a time when everything was taken from me and I then found out I had more with them then what I had lost.
"Mommy, Uncle Shadow was wondering where you were and if you were okay." Darkness the oldest of the sixteen kids said after a long silence watching the sun sink below the mountains. He was pure black like his birth father was but he had my soft light green eyes.
"I'm just fine Darkness." I said to my son. "He's always been such a worry wart when it comes to us. You all should know that by now."
"But it wasn't just him who was worried. Daddy Forest was worried about you too." Melody suddenly said mentioning their adopted father. "He was wondering if he should go looking for you because you've been gone for longer then everyone suspected. They were wondering if you were in trouble and needed some help."
"Wait how long have I been gone?" I was curious since I couldn't remember how long I had been gone since I had lost track of time.
Harmony smiled and said."About four hours according to Uncle Sage. Everyone was so worried when you took off running and didn't come back after a couple of hours. We decided to come find you first wondering if you really did need help but you're all right and there seems to be no danger."
I gasped. "No wonder they are all so worried about me. I've been gone longer then I originally meant to be. I just had to get away from it all because I was so stressed and felt imprisoned there. If I could get away from it even if it was only for a just a few minutes of freedom from it all then I would be all right."
I got up finally after the children in my lap jumped off. The kids all moved around my bare feet and I smiled down at them and said. "Well I guess it's time to go before the night falls. Let's go back." I started to run again but this time toward my life and not away. The sun disappeared and darkness started to creep in from the shadows around us. I wasn't too comfortable as the darkness kept creeping toward me to ensnare me in it hands.
It was dangerous for me to be out at night especially with that Heartless fiend they called a Werewolf was after me like he had been for most of my life. He was my worst nightmare and I feared him above all else in our world.
I ran with my children around me. They were only a few months old and had been developing quickly like all Werewolf cubs do. I wasn't a Werewolf but the cub's father was so that is why they had a second form, a wolf form and their original human form.
I had the blood of all races and unfortunately for me Werewolf strength and speed was not in my many abilities with the blood of all races known to our world. I couldn't run as fast as a Unicorn either which was the fastest creature known in our world even faster than a Werewolf. I wasn't very fast unless I had a very quick adrenaline rush that kicked my powers into gear. Even then I wasn't faster than a Werewolf.
I stopped dead in my tracks when up ahead I heard the howls of a Werewolf pack I didn't want to meet in the darkness ahead of us. I recognized the howls immediately because I knew them too well as dread flooded my system. They were Despair's pack. The cubs knew them as well and those who were ahead of me hurried back to me and looked up at me. I was afraid for them and me. I ran toward the forest. I tried to contact Unisa, my Unicorn.
Dragon must have felt me try to use that connection and blocked it. I tried again and again but he kept her blocked from me and I couldn't break through his hold. I wasn't going to give up so I tried to contact Hootaru, my adopted mother. She had adopted me when I was first found as an orphan. She had loved me and shown me a better life and I learned to love her as a mother which I had never known my real mother who had died when I was born. She wasn't blocked from my mind.
"He's after me, Hootaru. Dragon's after me. I need help." I whispered aloud the words I needed her to hear.
I knew she would send Shadow, Dragon's most hated enemy to help me hopefully. He was stronger Dragon as a werewolf but Dragon was half dragon and in turn had a dragon form as well. Dragon lost the ability to feel when I committed horrific crimes. Shadow on the other hand was the opposite he had a good heart and could feel. Shadow was a special case. His story was complicated.
Back to my current situation running for my life again though I knew it was basically a useless gesture of hope. I was running as hard and as fast as I could but I knew he would catch up with me anyway. It was only a matter of time until he did finally catch up with me and my children and take us as prisoners like so many times he had done before. I couldn't let that happen to my children again. Not now and not ever. I would give my life to protect them if that's what it took to keep them safe then so be it.