When Cloud opened the door of his room to find the Warrior of Light standing in his dingy basement office the next day, the first thing he did was to close the door back.

He took a few deep breaths, then opened the door again.

The illustrious leader of harmony was still there. He was examining the interior of the basement in his usual regal, deadpan manner. His armour gleamed brightly even in the shadow of the spinning vortex. Cloud stepped out of the refuge of his room and stood around shifting his weight awkwardly, waiting for the Warrior to finish his inspection of the premises. He almost felt sorry that the glowing man had to befoul his pristine boots on his unpaved basement floor. The feelings this man could inspire in a person!

Soon, the Warrior was done scanning the territory. He looked straight at Cloud and asked, "Where is the monster?"

It took Cloud a few seconds to decipher that question. Then everything Bartz and Terra had told him about the multiple universe monster hunting thing came back. He checked his phone quickly, and saw nothing of note from either Reeve or Nanaki. "I don't think there are any," he finally replied.

"What do you mean?" the Warrior was perplexed, but not stumped. "Have I been sent here for another purpose, then?"

Cloud wondered how much he already knew. "Did you meet up with Bartz or Terra before appearing here?"

"I was pulled here directly from Baron Castle."

So no, then. Baron Castle was in Cecil's world, whereas Bartz and Terra had come from Terra's world. "Well," Cloud began to usher the Warrior towards the staircase leading to the floor above, where the kitchen and thus breakfast awaited. "In that case, you might want to sit down while we go through this all over again..."

Amazingly, it didn't take him (and the boys, who joined in halfway) the whole day to explain the entire thing all over again, owing to the fact that the Warrior of Light was an excellent listener who asked no questions about what he heard as long as it was from a source he trusted. Then again, it could also be that Cloud and the boys were getting really good at this explaining thing. So much practice, after all.

"All right," the Warrior of Light affirmed, after the beans had been spilt. "Since the three of you can see the monsters and are currently permanently anchored to this world, we shall not be allocating any other troops here. Once someone from another world shows up, send them right back, and take care of the monsters yourselves." He stood. "I must return at once to continue my mission." And off he went back down to the basement.

The three of them watched him until he disappeared around the bend. Then they turned to look at each other.

Cloud eventually shrugged and said, "Pack up you lot, we've got deliveries to run."

A lot of rushing later, Strife Delivery Service was on the road again.

Along the way, when they were resting below a crag near the Goldsaucer desert, Sora asked, "So who was he, anyway?"

Cloud looked at Sora for a long time, not because he didn't understand the question, but because he didn't know what to say or where to even start. "He was kind of like our leader, you could say."

"Our?" asked Riku this time.

"Yes, a band of us from different worlds came together to fight in a war against chaos and discord," he shrugged. "Bartz and Terra were also a part of that team."

The boys were looking at him with rather large eyes now. "You came together from different worlds? How did you do that without a keyblade?" Sora asked.

"Someone summoned us into this... special dimension, if I remember correctly," Cloud explained.

"Did he have a keyblade?"

"Actually, about that..." Cloud wasn't aware of the full details behind his adventure with the others, except that they went on one. The bouts of mako poisoning and geostigma had reached some part of him not even the enhancements could touch - his ability to retain certain events in his mind unless someone or something triggered it. "Some parts of the whole thing is lost to me. You might want to ask the next person who shows up. Anyway, he's not an enemy, if that's what you're concerned about."

The boys were silent for a while. Then Riku spoke up, saying, "Someone who can summon people from other worlds into another dimension has a lot of power that could result in dire consequences if misused. Maybe he's the one behind the portals this time?"

Cloud asked his gut if it agreed with that sentence, and the gut made a small noise of protest. "I don't think they have anything to do with it," he said. "Not that I even remember who summoned us, but something inside says no. More importantly... This shows that there's more to the portal you boys opened up than we initially thought."

"What?" It was Sora.

"It's not just a door that connects us to another world," Cloud explained.

"But people are coming through it," Sora replied. "People you know, to boot."

"I think," Riku interrupted, "what Cloud means that it doesn't just connect to another single world. It connects to multiple worlds." He looked at Cloud in the eye at that. "Am I right?"

Cloud nodded, relaxing against the sandy wall he was standing in front of. "Bartz and Terra came from Terra's world. The Warrior of Light came from Cecil's world. Yet all of them went through the equivalent portal on their side and landed up in this world. All their skyholes are somehow connected to the portal you opened up in my basement, possibly because of some keyblade logic. And you know what this further means?"

This time, even Riku was stumped. Both of them shook their heads rather gingerly.

"It means there's a possibility the portal here is connected to every single skyhole in all the other worlds that are involved," Cloud declared. "So we won't know where we might end up if we used the portal ourselves!"

A short silence followed that announcement.

"Wouldn't Bartz just absolutely love that?" Sora wondered out loud. "I wonder if he landed up in another world when he was sent back?"

"I have no idea," Cloud mumbled just loudly enough that they could hear him. "I bet this is what that flash yesterday was all about, anyway."

"Does that mean the portal's not safe?" asked Riku, ever the worrywart. "Should we close it?"

Cloud considered that suggestion. He had a feeling it would be better for his peace of mind if they really did close it, but that would cut them off from the others again, and wouldn't lend to the complete resolution of this issue anyway. So he shook his head, saying, "Leave it. They're capable of taking care of themselves whichever world they land in."

"They've been doing it for a while, haven't they?" Sora highlighted. "I'm sure they'll be fine!"

Riku looked like he wanted to say something else, but eventually relented. "Fine," he said. "But I'm closing it the moment it shows any signs of endangering anyone."

A few other exchanges later, they hopped back to their vehicles and were on the way again.

The day was uneventful in terms of new skyholes or invisible monster discoveries, so the team made it back to home base sooner than expected. This was great, for it gave Cloud some free time to finally sit down and think about what their next step would be.

Or, it would have, had there not been a couple of familiar faces in the basement (again).

Cloud almost dropped the sword in his hand (he was going to put it away in his room) when he walked down the staircase to the basement and heard his name being yelled.

"Cloooooud!" Tidus bounced towards him. "Bartz was right! You're here!"

"Hi, Cloud," Firion waved from somewhere behind Tidus. "Bartz and Terra told us what happened. Glad to see you around."

"Sit down, you two," Cloud sighed, and pointed the two of them toward a couple of stools. "When did you get here?"

"Just a while ago," Firion answered, as he obediently sat. "We were wondering if this was the cave Bartz was talking about when you showed up."

"It's not a cave," Cloud retorted. He hung his sword up on a nearby wall and shouted up the stairs, "Sora, Riku, get down here!"

"Oh! Your two apprentices!" Tidus said, with an excited glint in his eyes.

"What exactly has Bartz been telling you?" Cloud could not help but ask. "And no, they're not my apprentices."

Heavy stomping could be heard by this point of time - the kind that usually preceded the sudden appearance of Sora. True to form, Sora leapt into the basement like a gymnast. "At your service!" he saluted Cloud.

Riku walked down the stairs like a normal person. The first thing he noticed was the newcomers. And then he started staring at them with unconcealed surprise. "Sora!" he said, urgently. By this time, Sora was gaping at the two newcomers as well.

"Yes, they're also from other worlds, no need to be so surprised," Cloud confirmed, when the boys started whispering to each other about something. "They know the brief story from Bartz and Terra," Cloud nodded at the duo. "Probably embellished, but that'll have to do."

"Yes, we know that there aren't any invisible monsters here," Firion agreed. "And even if there are, you're probably taking care of them. Not sure why we're here in that case, then."

Cloud shrugged. He would like that know that very much as well.

"Are you related to someone called Tidus?" Sora suddenly asked none other than Tidus himself.

Tidus actually paused for a few seconds to process that question. "I am Tidus," he finally replied cheerily. "Who's asking?"

"I told you it would be like Cloud's situation," Riku said to Sora from where he stood behind him. "Memory loss, etcetera etcetera..."

"But Tidus wasn't so... tall... when we last saw him!" protested Sora. "Cloud was exactly the same! And, and... Tidus grew up on Destiny Islands... didn't he?"

"What's going on?" Tidus asked Cloud in a low voice.

"Well," Cloud thought about how he should explain the whole thing about the boys to Tidus. "It's complicated," he said, "but these boys, you know they're from another world, right?" Tidus nodded, and Firion did as well, behind him, to indicate that he too was paying attention. "The thing is, some of us seem to play certain roles in their world as well - roles quite different from the ones we're currently playing, wherever we are. They're probably surprised because you were most likely in their world in some form or another."

Firion and Tidus glanced at each other in mutual confusion. "Can't say I understand it completely, but I think I get your drift," Tidus nodded to Cloud.

"Thank you," Cloud sighed in relief. He had been narrating too many stories recently and wasn't quite ready to do one more. Especially since he wasn't quite getting the entire picture himself. Turning to the boys, who seemed to have sorted out their issues by now, he asked, "You boys okay there?"

They nodded, and Riku spoke up, saying, "Things do happen to our bodies when we traverse worlds, even as keyblade wielders, so I'm really not too surprised at seeing Tidus here looking slightly different from we remembered him," he nodded at Tidus to indicate that he meant no offence by those words. Tidus nodded back with a grin.

"Well then, let's try this again," Cloud held his hands up. "This is Riku," Cloud gestured towards Riku. "And that's Sora."

"Yeah, we sorta guessed," Tidus grinned. "I'm Tidus, as you already seem to know, and he's Firion!

"Since you just came through the portal, I have a question for you," Riku interjected. "What exactly happens when you walk through these skyholes or portals to reach another world?"

Tidus thought about it for a bit, then turned to look at Firion. "I don't remember walking or anything," he said. "We're kinda just thrown into the next world after a bit of spinning around."

"What makes you think people actually walk through these things?" Firion asked, sincerely interested.

Riku tried to say something, but wasn't sure how to phrase it. "It's how it works with the Doors to Darkness," he eventually said, and didn't elaborate.

"Bartz probably mentioned something about that when we were talking to him," said Firion. "What bearing does it have on our situation?"

"Well..." Sora replied this time. "If there are no Doors to Darkness involved, I guess you can rule out a few possible candidates who could be causing this thing?"

"Right! We're supposed to be figuring out the cause of this affair so that we can put a stop to it!" Tidus grinned.

"What's the situation on your side so far?" Cloud asked.

"Our side?" Firion tilted his head. "You mean with the rest of us?"

"Aren't you guys sort of connected to each other with the skyholes and such?"

"Randomly," Firion sighed. "We exchange as much information as we can when we bump into each other - quite often since we do the monster hunting thing - but it's not really enough to help us formulate a plan that can bring us closer to the cause."

"Has anybody tried to organize a meet up or something, though?" Cloud probed.

"I think we've probably tried almost every trick in the book," Tidus said, somewhat sadly. "The skyholes only allow us to go through if there's a monster in our world on the other side. Once that's defeated, we can go through the skyholes back to our own world again, and that's that."

"I know what you're thinking," Firion said before Cloud could open his mouth. "Why not stay in that world until all the others eventually land there, right? Unfortunately, the monsters don't really have any concept of time and convenience, so if we stayed and a monster from our world went on a rampage in another world..." He sighed again. "It's not as easy as it sounds."

"Squall mentioned he and Zidane can practically cross over to each other's world whenever they wanted, when I last saw him," Cloud offered. "What's with that, then?"

"Ah, that's old information," said Firion. "That's what we thought at first, but it was actually just that the flow of monsters between their worlds was going strong at that point of time. Seems like they dried up recently and both of them are back in their worlds without any way to cross over again."

"What a fat lot of help these portals are proving to be," Cloud grumbled. "Still no clue who could be behind this at all?"

"Hmm..." Tidus was leaning back with a contemplative frown on his face. "Squall thinks since all of us are involved, it has to has something to do with the war, or at least the dimension the war took place in. So he's asking us to keep a lookout for any signs of what may be going on in the portals itself when we go through them, since we're not getting anywhere outside the portals..."

"But you said you didn't have to walk through the portal," Cloud pointed out.

"I don't think he wants us to explore the portals, just to keep an eye out for anything that might be suspicious," Firion was saying. As a musing silence stretched over the company, Firion turned to look at the two boys who had been standing near the foot of the staircase. "By the way... may I see that keyblade weapon of yours for a bit...?"

"You already have enough, Firion," Tidus joked as he elbowed his friend in his ribs. "No need to snatch any more from people you've just met."

"Shut up, it's just for reference," Firion stammered out in a fluster.

"I don't mind," Sora had already summoned his keyblade. "I don't think you can hold it, though," he held it out to Firion, who took it carefully. The same thing thing that had happened with Cloud happened again. With a bright flash of light, the keyblade transferred itself back to Sora's hand.

"Whoa, that's actually something!" Tidus jumped onto his feet and exclaimed. "Tough, pal!" he grinned at Firion as he sat back down again.

"I wasn't going to steal it or anything!" Firion huffed, then turned back to the keyblade in Sora's hand. "So... this is the thing that opens and shuts portals?"

"Ah..." Sora hesitated for a split second. "I guess you could say that?"

"I wonder how this is going to fit into the grand scheme of things," mused Firion.

"That's what we're all trying to find out," said Cloud. "Actually, the Warrior of Light was in the house this morning too, before you guys. I think the more pressing question at the moment should be, why are all of you showing up when there are no monsters to hunt here?"

"The Warrior of Light?" Tidus gasped. "I haven't seen him for weeks! So the leader's been busy, huh?"

Firion answered Cloud's question. "I really don't know, since it's so hard to get information from everyone when we need it, but when we see Squall we'll ask him about it. If the others haven't already."

"Anyway," Cloud said, "the Warrior instructed me to send everyone who appears here back to where they're from and leave the monsters here to us, since we're apparently anchored to this world."

"Are you?" asked Tidus.

Cloud looked at Sora, who shrugged, then Riku, who had a thinking look on his face. "I don't think we are, actually," Riku finally said. "It's just that we've never tried taking the portals ourselves yet. I guess we didn't make that clear enough to the Warrior."

"I totally understand," Tidus nodded with a chuckle. "Man has the ability to scare words out of your mind, I swear."

"Shouldn't at least one of us try to go into the portal to see what happens?" Sora asked.

"We need both keyblades to open and close this particular kind of portal, remember?" Riku reminded him.

"Who's going to help me with the deliveries if you both go away?" Cloud demanded, half-heartedly.

"Well if we're just going to go there and come back..." Sora trailed off.

"How do we know if it's both ways?" Riku pointed out. "We haven't seen any of our visitors return yet."

Sora threw his hands up in the air. "Both of you are no fun!"

Cloud sighed. "Where did you meet Bartz or Terra?" he asked Firion and Tidus.

"They came out of a small portal thingy together, right in front of us," Tidus was saying. "We were in the Onion Knight's world, just finished dealing with a couple of monsters."

"So you stepped through that portal and came here then?"

"What? No," Tidus shook his head. "The portal vanished after they were sorta thrown out. Which was strange, because the portals have never vanished before." He paused. "Oh wait, we're calling them portals now?"

"I think we should just stick to skyhole until Squall says otherwise," Firion advised.

"So how did you guys come here then, if it wasn't through that portal?" Cloud queried.

"After we spoke with them and parted ways, we were passing by this particular cave," Firion gestured. "There was a swirling dark spot there, right at the entrance, so we went closer to investigate. Next thing we knew, we were standing in your cave."

"It's a basement, not a cave!" Cloud railed, as calmly as he could. "So you walked into that dark spot?"

"I don't quite remember doing something like that," Firion looked at Tidus, who shook his head as well.

"And it wasn't in the sky either, like every other skyhole that had appeared so far," Tidus said as he pointed upwards.

"So it's an auto-portal that sucks people in!" Sora exclaimed, all of a sudden.

"You know what, I think that might make some sense!" Tidus nodded, after a while.

"What's an auto-portal?" Firion didn't get it.

"Like, you know," Sora explained, "it opens up automatically when someone approaches and closes when people are far away from it."

It does make sense, thought Cloud, as possibilities flooded his mind. "While it seems plausible, we'll never know for sure unless we can somehow test that theory out. Unfortunately, there are no skyholes in this world I know of that can bring you back. Or portals, or whatever."

Firion and Tidus turned to look at each other. "How about that one up there?" Firion asked, glancing at the darkness above them.

"That one's special," Cloud shrugged. "It doesn't really behave like a skyhole or a portal. We're not quite sure what its purpose is yet, but since it connects us to the other worlds somehow, we're leaving it up for now."

Tidus stood and started warming up. "Dude, you have no idea how many skyholes we've gone through until now, by request of strategy master Squall. Testing theories is as much a part of our quest as hunting for monsters is! Piece of cake! Let me see where it goes, and if you don't see me back soon, I'll tell you when we next meet again!" With a two finger salute, he leapt up into the portal and disappeared completely, giving no one any time to protest.

A few seconds passed, and the departed Tidus remained a no-show.

"So much for that, then," Cloud grumbled. When he saw Sora looking slightly dejected, he corrected himself. "Very astute observation, though."

"I think," Riku spoke out, "that it could just be that they haven't found the place with the auto-portal."

Cloud raised his eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

"It's just a thought," the boy clarified, "but what if there's one so-called auto-portal in every world? In a fixed place? It seems like they're travelling all over the place at the moment, and may not be returning to the same place they came from. If the auto-portal leading here is in a specific place which they don't know of, it's not surprising that none of them have figured out how to return here yet."

"Yes," Firion was saying, brows knitted and arms crossed, "now that you mention it, Bartz and Terra weren't in the Onion Knight's world before we met them. They said they had come from here, and before that they were in Terra's world. That may be a reasonable explanation, assuming the auto-portal thing is true," he nodded at Riku in acknowledgement.

"I guess the only way to know for sure is if and when Tidus or any of the others return," Cloud put a hand on his forehead, rubbing it. How did things just keep on getting more and more complicated? Just a few days ago he was only a jaded deliveryman looking for helpers.

"Don't fret, friend," Firion smiled a little. "We'll get to the bottom of this together, just like the last time."

"Urgh," Cloud had to say. "I can only hope it doesn't turn out to be as traumatising as it was."

"So, um... Firion?" Sora was asking. "What're you going to do now?"

"Hmm..." the youth thought - actually thought about it for a moment. "As much as I would like to take a break for a day or two, I really can't, especially since I don't know if any monsters from my world are causing harm to someone else in another world at the moment, so... I'll be making a move as well," he smiled, somewhat wistfully. "That's what the leader ordered anyway, right? If I somehow manage to find my way back, I'll be sure to let you know if the theory's correct."

"And tell the others this is a basement, not a cave, while you're at it," Cloud grumbled unhappily under his breath. Firion chuckled at that.

"I'll be sure to do that," Firion winked, "see you around, Cloud, Sora, and Riku!" he bade them farewell quickly, before jumping into the portal in the ceiling and disappearing as Tidus had.

"To be honest," Sora said as he put his hands on his waist, glancing around, "this place does look like a cave."

"Oh, get lost, you two," Cloud groaned.

The boys laughed their way out of the cave-like basement.

30 August 2013

Special thanks to Sunny Lighter who informed me of my slip-up with Tidus and the boys! I've rewritten that part now. This is actually the first time I'm writing a story with so many characters, so please do bear with me if there's anything jarring!
m(_ _)m Thanks for reading!