Sorry for the delay, everyone! With a multitude of personal problems on top of difficulty writing, the majority of this chapter has taken far longer than it should've. That said, there's a chance I won't be able to complete a world every week (as you've already seen), but at the very least I'll try to get a chapter —or a whole world, if I can— posted every other week if not every week. Really, it depends on how much I can pump out on a daily basis.

For now have the first part of the next world, and I hope you all enjoy! Reviews appreciated, and thank you all just for reading.

Chapter 5: Departure

"That was quite a battle," a male voice praised, softly.

I looked over, surprised, but didn't see anyone. I twisted in the other direction, peering past Sora, but I only saw Leon and Yuffie. I straightened back out, frown only deepening further in confusion at how calm Donald and Goofy were.

"Jiminy!" they cried in a greeting, looking over at someone I couldn't see. I gave Sora a look, even more at a loss than before, but he was also focused on something in that same direction. He raised his hand, pointing downward.

At a loss, I followed his finger.

"...Jiminy?" I echoed, blinking. I squatted down, not quite believing what I was seeing.

"Jiminy Cricket," his small and suited form clarified, briefly taking off his even smaller hat. "I'll be the chronicler of your journey, and all that you encounter."

"Gosh, Jiminy," Goofy stooped down, holding out a gloved hand. "I didn't realize we'd lost ya."

The cricket climbed onto his palm, easily keeping his balance as Goofy stood back up. I did the same, focused as ever on the new party member.

"It's quite alright," he reassured. "I suppose it was inevitable, what with all of you fighting. Pleased to meet you, Sora, Kaen."

"Hey, Jiminy," Sora greeted with a nod. I could tell he wanted to offer his hand to shake, or perhaps just a finger, but thought better of it.

"...Hi," I told the cricket, unsure of what to make of him. I eyed him. "So you were with Donald and Goofy when they, ah... fell?"

"Indeed I was," he nodded. Or, at least I thought he did. "As you could imagine, the Heartless were too focused with all of you to notice me."

"Now that we've got you back," Donald said. "Is everyone ready to get going?"

Leon, Yuffie, and Aerith all bid us off at the gates out of town, each with their own words of encouragement along with a gift of munny. I managed to get out a thank you, as awkward as I felt with all the positive attention from people I didn't really know.

"The gummi ship is outside that gate," Donald informed us, totally serious.

"The what?" we blurted it out in sync, and while Sora was just bewildered I was also a bit peeved. I didn't know what I'd expected, when we'd all talked about exploring other worlds, but it had involved far more wonder and far less confusion.

"That's our ship," he clarified. I huffed.

"You just said it was a ship," I reminded him, eyes narrowing down at him. "But what's it like?"

"Just wait 'til you see it!" Goofy seemed utterly ecstatic at the idea of showing it to us. I hoped what he said rang true and that just seeing it would be enough.

"Hold on. Sora, Kaen, this is for you," Donald held his hand out, two intricate orbs in his hand. Sora and I shared a look, and with a confident nod from him and an unsure shrug from me we reached out.

The moment we touched them they disappeared in a flash of light, yet there was a sense that instead of going away they went in tous. A rush of thoughts burst into my mind, nearly making my head spin. I blinked wildly, staring down at my hand in a mix of curiosity and awe at the new and sudden information I now had.

"Now you can use magic, too," Donald declared, proudly. "It's called—"

"Fire," I finished, already knowing the answer. I looked back at Sora, unable to help the grin I could feel pulling at my lips. He, however, had a furrowed brow, seeming deep in thought.

"Sora...?" before I could get around to waving my hand in front of his face, he was perking back up.

"Let's go!" he shouted, kicking off. He ran, heading back into town.

Two districts and many dozens of Heartless later, we were all rushing down the steps of the Third District after Sora. He headed into an open corner of the area, into a very brief corridor. At its end was a single, massive red door; emblazoned on its front was the design of a flame.

"This is why you brought us all the way back here?" I wasn't sure whether I was surprised or not. On one hand it was Sora, but on the other hand it was Sora.

"Just give me a second, would you?" he summoned his Keyblade, approaching the door. "I couldn't open it before, but..."

I held back a sigh. He dragged us back to the Third District right when we were about to leave for a door he couldn't even open?

Sora held his Keyblade out, pointing it toward the door.

"Fire!" he called, just as a ball of flame shot out from the tip of his Keyblade and flew toward the door. My hand twitched, ready to cast a spell of my own when the flames collided with the door. It was left unscathed, but now the fire symbol was aglow.

He looked back at us, grinning and standing proud. I ushered him on with a shooing motion.

Sora walked even further ahead, and the massive door opened with ease.

Magic door, I thought, numbly.

We all headed in, and almost immediately the painfully familiar scent of water and dampness filled the air. It was a massive, looming cave, filled to the brim by a gentle lake. Large, moving river-stones made up the path to the small island at the center. On it, all but filling the cave with its presence, was an odd, worn down house.

I took the first leap onto the stones, very nearly toppling over as the first one moved beneath me. Once I was steady I focused on the next stone, jumping across the small gap onto it. Still, with the constant motion, my legs wobbled.

I looked back over my shoulder at the others, waving them on encouragingly.

Once Sora started after me I continued on my way, the footsteps of everyone jumping about echoing across the chamber. It wasn't long before I was back on solid ground, on the island, and this time it was the lack of movement that had me stumbling.

"You alright?"

"Yeah, yeah," I mumbled, waving Goofy off. I straightened, eyeing the barricaded door. On one hand we could play nice and not go in, but on the other hand it seemed abandoned and it wouldn't be hard to pry the boards off.

I noticed a distinct lack of something.

Squashing down the panic threatening to bubble in my chest, I hurried around the side of the building, looking around so fast I nearly made myself dizzy. I nearly barreled into Donald and Goofy in my search for Sora, barely stopping myself in time to keep from slamming into them.

Donald squawked — whether it was words or just a noise of irritation, I wasn't paying enough attention to tell. My gaze was focused on the large opening in the wall of the house, allowing a way inside.

"Kairi?"

I went rigid, heart stopping inside my chest. Without any hesitation I shoved past the others and rushed inside, wildly looking around. There was Sora, the smooth stone of the walls, and—

My stomach twisted into knots.

There was no one.

Tears of frustration and disappointment burned my eyes, and I clenched my jaw. I swallowed hard, rubbing at my eyes and clenching my jaw. I heard Goofy call out to us, confused, but I couldn't be bothered to reply.

I swallowed back the urge to cry, watching Sora through my bangs.

Why...?

Had he heard something? Glimpsed something in the corner of his eye? Even if he had—

"Well, well."

I nearly jumped out of my skin, whirling around. There was an old, thin man in a blue robe; his gray beard was nearly as long. He held a bag of luggage in his hand, and despite how distanced he seemed there was something about him that made him feel perceptive, wise almost.

That, or I just assumed so from his age.

"You've arrived sooner than I expected," he tutted, making my eyebrows jump.

"Wha..." Sora started toward the old man, and I reached out to hold him back by the arm. He didn't even look back at me, too focused on the stranger. "You knew we were coming?"

"Of course," he said like it was obvious. I frowned, idly taking note of how I could hear Donald and Goofy come closer.

"Are you... a Heartless?" I wasn't sure whether to be startled or not by Sora's question. On one hand the geezer seemed completely human, but on the other hand we didn't know all the forms they could take. I took a half-step in front of Sora.

"He doesn't look like one," Donald pointed out, echoing my thoughts.

"Oh, my," he didn't seem offended. Rather, he appeared a bit disappointed. I was almost shocked when his towering hat didn't fall off. "No. My name is Merlin. As you can see, I am a sorcerer. I spend much of my time traveling. It's good to be home. Your king has requested my help."

"King Mickey?" Goofy asked, clearly wanting clarification.

"Yes, indeed. Donald, Goofy," I didn't know how he could have known their names. But then, if he knew their king, the king had probably told him their names. Merlin's focus came to us. "And who might you be, young ones?"

"I'm Sora."

"Kaen."

"Ah," his gaze slipped downward, to the Keyblade in Sora's hand. "So you have found the key."

Again with that wording. Was there something I was missing? Something I was out of the loop on? I couldn't see any real reason why they wouldn't just call the Keyblade by its actual name instead of just "the key". Not unless—

"What did the King ask you to do?" Donald questioned, cutting off my thoughts.

"Just a moment..." Merlin stepped forward onto the raised middle of the room, setting his bag down. He raised his hands with a flourish. "Presto!"

Small objects floated out of the bag, dancing in the air and following each other in a line around the perimeter of the room. One by one they started to grow in size in time with the movement of Merlin's hands, spreading themselves out until the room was a cluttered, book-filled mess.

"There, now. Ahem," he turned back toward us. "Your king asked me to train you in the art of magic. We can start anytime you'd like. Let me know when you're ready to start training. Oh, and one more thing."

He looked over, and I followed his gaze. There was a small, almost toy-sized carriage propped against the wall. Sparkles floated about before gathering toward the carriage, and in a burst of sparkling light the carriage was replaced by an old woman. Like Merlin she was robed, even holding a wand of her own.

"Hello," she greeted, her voice cheerful yet weary. "I'm the Fairy Godmother. Your king asked me to help, too: I will assist you throughout your journey."

I honestly hoped that didn't mean she'd tag along. Two —well, three counting Jiminy— creature people and one of my best friends was enough for me.

"I do not now how much I can be of help," Merlin admitted, awkwardly. "But do stop by anytime. Care to practice magic?"

"Uh..." Sora turned his head to look back at me, unsure. For a moment I considered it, but quickly I remembered the more time we spent here meant the more time Riku and Kairi spent who-knew-where. I shook my head, and he turned back to Merlin. "Not right now."

I headed on my way to the makeshift door, ducking back outside and hearing Sora ask the Fairy Godmother what she was doing with Merlin.

"My world has disappeared, too," I heard her say.

I didn't know how to describe the way I felt.

"...You get to different worlds on this thing?" I wondered, at a loss. My brow furrowed, and I tilted my head to the side as I examined the... oddly childish construction. It was like building blocks, each piece colorful and simply cut.

It looked like one hit would have it falling apart.

"How do we get inside?" Sora voiced the question that hadn't yet occurred to me, and I had to nod along. There was no entrance that I could see, or even any seams. The closest thing was the clear blue dome of the cockpit that sat at the top of the gummi ship.

"Watch," Donald strutted up to the ship, his staff in hand. He reached up, rapping its tip against the hull.

On cue, a panel slid open and a series of steps rolled out to the ground.

"There's not that much room on the inside," Goofy started up into the ship, his hat nearly getting knocked off as he ducked through the doorway. "But we've got what we need."

"You'll get used to it," Donald headed in after him, disappearing behind the gummi walls. It wasn't long until his head was poking back out. "Well? Come on!"

"Ye-Yeah!" Sora rushed up the steps, and I tried not to notice how flimsy they looked. I held back a grimace, carefully climbing up after him.

The hallway was narrow, with just enough light coming from the fixtures on the ceiling. The others' footsteps echoed about, and from the noise alone I could tell they were already above me. I hurried after them, ignoring the other rooms for now and instead climbing up the ladder built into the wall.

I clambered up into the cockpit, nearly slamming into one of the seats.

"Hey, there are only three seats!"

I took a quick look around, realizing Sora was right. I frowned, stomach knotting.

With what sounded like a duck version of a nervous laugh, Donald twisted and pressed at a section of controls on the dashboard. The two passenger seats slid to the side, a third popping out next to them. I knew better than to question how the whole thing worked.

Yesterday, I would have. But today? Today I was at another world, on a bizarre ship, with a party that had just as many animals as humans.

Well, more, technically, even if Jiminy was going to be more of an observer than anything else.

I buckled in next to Sora, settling into the seat. Donald took the pilot's chair, and Goofy took the other seat at Sora's side. Jiminy hopped down into Sora's lap, a journal and pencil in his hands. He settled down against the armrest, turning it into a makeshift desk.

"Now," he looked up at us, flipping to an empty page in his journal. "I already know the others' story. What do you two say to telling me about your side of things while we travel?"

Apparently, the Heartless also used gummi ships to travel between worlds; we came across plenty of their ships on our way to the next world. Our ship was fitted with lasers, though, so Donald could shoot them down before they could get close.

But for the most part, my focus was on my and Sora's retelling of our own journeys. I was fine with getting into our plans to leave Destiny Islands, building the raft, and the frequent competitiveness between Sora and Riku. But once we got to the storm, when I'd let Kairi rush out...

I was happy to let Sora take the lead there.

I let myself grow quiet, slumping back in my seat and letting Sora tell the rest of the story.

"And then we got swept up into the air!" Sora threw his hands out to emphasize his point. I was half-listening half-ignoring what he said at this point, not that it really mattered with what he was saying.

I noticed something in the edge of my vision, and I looked up. I undid my seat belt, getting to my head and holding myself up with the back of Donald's seat and peering ahead.

We were approaching the next world.

"Kaen?"

"Sora, look!" I got onto my toes to get the best look I could. The next world loomed ahead of us, and for the first time since we'd left the islands, I felt excited.

The ground of the world was a red checker-pattern, a heart of the other color in the middle of each square. Lush hedges rose up, the archway leading inside also heart shaped.

"Wonderland," I heard Sora say slowly, carefully. With a confused frown I looked over and followed his gaze, seeing the name on the dashboard.

"...What was the last world called?" I asked, hoping one of them knew.

"Traverse Town," Goofy piped up, and from the corner of my eye I noticed he was now out of his seat as well.

"Everyone ready?" Donald rose, fiddling one last time with the controls. "Then lets go!"

He slammed his hand down onto one of the buttons, and a rush of light filled the cockpit. When it faded, there was nothing beneath us. I bit back a shriek, arms flailing in panic.

Yet, we didn't fall.

At least, not like we were supposed to. We descended gently, slowly.

I fell backward, watching as I flipped around and my feet went from being below me to above. But the momentum kept me moving, and it wasn't long before I was right side up again. It was dizzying.

I resisted the urge to shake my head, knowing it would only make it worse. Instead I focused on the gradually approaching floor, taking note of the mostly normal room below. It would have been completely normal, if not for how all the furniture seemed like stickers on the floor.

As we came closer we slowed even more, one by one landing gently on our feet. Goofy, however, never rose from his lounging position. While the rest of us were left standing, he was tossed to the floor with a dull thump. I winced.

Donald seemed ready to head to Goofy's side —whether to berate him or help, I wasn't sure— when a white, tail-coated rabbit rushed past us with a large pocket-watch in hand.

"Oh, my fur and whiskers!" he cried in a panic, his voice stuffy. I wondered how distressed he had to be to not notice four strangers far larger than him. "I'm late, I'm late, I'm late! Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear! I'm here, I should be there. I'm late, I'm late, I'm late! The queen, she'll have my head for sure!"

On and on the rabbit went, rushing down the hall in a wild and uncontrolled path. We shared a look, all equally intrigued. Goofy got back to his feet, and we followed after the white rabbit at a casual pace.

The rabbit's path led us to a plain door. It popped open on its own, revealing a smaller door that did the same and showed another, even smaller door. The third door opened, this time leading into the next room. We'd caught the rabbit just in time to see him scurry across the floor, heading through a door that was along around as tall as my hand was long.

I frowned, eyebrows shooting up. He'd already been smaller than Donald, but not that small.

"How did he get so small?" Sora was as bewildered as the rest of us as he crouched in front of the tiny door. The rest of us peered over his shoulders, eyeing the door.

"No," a tired voice butt in, seeming to come from the doorknob of all things. "You're simply too big."

I jerked in surprise, nearly falling back. Donald's loud cry only made it harder to stay upright.

"It talks!" he quacked.

The doorknob yawned, its keyhole stretching wide.

"Must you be so loud?" it asked in turn. "You woke me up."

"Good morning," Goofy greeted cheerfully, waving.

"Good night!" the doorknob snapped back. "I need a bit more sleep."

"Wait!" Sora reached out in a panic as it closed its eyes with another yawn. "What do we have to do to get so small?"

"Why don't you try the bottle... over there?"

I looked back, just in time to see the chair and table that had seemingly been painted onto the floor pop up into three dimensions with a puff of smoke. Two bottles were on the table; one had a red label, and the other blue.

Standing, I traveled the small distance and plucked the blue bottle from the table. On the label was a tree, with an arrow pointing from the tree to a small sprout. In other words, the tree was getting smaller. "I think this is it."

Carefully, I threw my head back and took a drink. Just within the time it took to hand it over to Sora, the room was already growing bigger and bigger. Suddenly, I found myself scrambling to climb up onto the table. I looked around slowly, turning, utterly unnerved by the sudden and massive shift in size.

With some scrambling of their own, the others soon joined me on the table. I shifted, looking between them all, and it was Sora who started to walk first. We followed suit, reaching the edge of the table and peering down at the distance to the seat of the chair.

It wasn't much, and I was sure I'd jumped —or at least fallen— from similar heights without worry, but with the chance of missing on top of how much farther down the floor beyond it seemed...

Sora jumped with ease, Goofy doing the same. It seemed I was the only one here actually thinking about the risks of breaking something. Or multiple somethings.

The back of my neck prickled, and I looked over at Donald in annoyance. "What?"

"Aren't you going to go?" he asked, hands on his hips. I huffed.

"What about you?" I shot back, feigning the confidence I clearly didn't have.

Donald began to step backward for a running start, and I couldn't help but smirk.

Then, hands rammed hard into the small of my back. I shrieked as I was thrown off the table, slamming face-first onto the chair. My entire head throbbed, and I bit back a groan. With tears in my eyes I pressed my hands against the seat of the chair, pushing myself back up onto my feet with a small wobble.

I pressed my fingers to my nose and pulled back, just to make sure it wasn't bleeding.

It wasn't, and I was almost peeved that I didn't have an excuse to kick Donald off the chair. He dropped down by us, and I pretended I didn't feel Sora and Goofy's eyes on the both of us.

"...Kaen?" Sora asked tentatively, awkward.

I ignored him, walking past and jumping onto the tiled floor of my own free will. I twisted around to glower up at the others —or rather, Donald— pointedly.

"After you!" I called up, dryly.

This time, it was Donald who seemed unwilling. Sora and Goofy lept down ahead of him, and with a pointed arch of my eyebrows Donald was finally moving to do the same. Once he'd joined us we started to move, and all but immediately the Heartless appeared.

There were the Heartless we'd already seen —Shadows and Soldiers, Jiminy told us— and, among them, were small floating red ones. They had emblems on their chests, and they flung fire out from the swirled tips of their caps.

It didn't take long to defeat them, but by the time we got through the last wave my shoulders ached.

We let our weapons disappear and headed for the door. The doorknob, however, was already fast asleep.

I huffed, stomping a foot against the floor in annoyance. Without waiting I started to storm up to it, already planning what words to use, only for hands to pull me back by the arms and another to cover my mouth.

I glared at them all, yanking myself away and batting their arms away the moment they let me go.

"What?" I hissed quietly, scowling. I threw an arm out toward the doorknob. "How else are we supposed to wake it up?!"

"Maybe..." Sora leaned past me, peering at something intently. "Maybe we don't have to. Look!"

He pointed, nearly thwacking me in the face with his arm. Begrudgingly I followed with my gaze, quickly spotting the opening in the wall behind the bed frame.

"How're we supposed to move it?" Goofy wondered.

"We're gonna have to get bigger again," Donald said.

"I'm not," I blurted it out before I could stop myself, eyeing the others with narrowed eyes. I crossed my arms. One trip down the table was enough for me. "Someone else do it!"

"Geez, Kaen," Sora rubbed the back of his head. His eyes were playful. "You sure are bossy."

"Shut up, Sora!" I shot back, huffing. Quickly, I felt my mood plummet. Normally, if Kairi were here...

I looked away.

With a heavy silence Sora headed back the way we'd came, jumping back onto the chair and the table after it. I heard the patter of his footsteps rush across the table, and I could only assume he drank from the other bottle; soon, he was growing to a massive size. More accurately, his normal size.

Squawking, Donald headed out of Sora's way and pressed against the wall. Goofy pulled me along after the two of them, and stubbornly I yanked my arm out of his grasp. I followed after them myself, my steps heavy.

Meanwhile, Sora headed over to the bed with earth-shaking steps. Fortunately he didn't speak, instead stooping down next to the bed and examining the doorway behind it. After a moment he stood, bracing his hands against the side of the bed and—

The bed crumpled as he went to move it. With a cloud of smoke it folded, pressing into the wall and leaving a sticker-like image of the side of the bed behind. I jumped, leaning forward to stare at the scene properly.

"Gosh..."

I walked along the wall carefully, Sora going the other way. When I reached the opening I peered inside, a hedged lawn sprawling out in front of me. There were a few soft thuds and I looked back, spying a now-small Sora making his way over after the others.

I motioned over my shoulder for them to follow, ducking into the garden-like area.