Chapter Three:Radiant Beginnings

One should always prepare for the worst…or the best…

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Merlin stroked his long beard after Bobby, Sora, and Syaoran had finished explaining their most recent predicament. They were gathered in Merlin's house and sitting around his cluttered table in a wide variety of chairs. Cid had gone out for "smokes" and Aerith had gone off to get Leon and Yuffie so that they could be informed as well. "That is indeed a problem…and you three have no idea where to start?"

Bobby sighed, "It would be easier if it was just the little section of the universe I call Halla but this seems to be on a much wider scale…Saint Dane and whoever's working with him could be anywhere."

"Fei Wong," Syaoran informed him, reminding Bobby of his other enemy. "But you're right…they could be anywhere."

Sora slumped in the chair he sat in, crossing his arms, "You guys make it sound like it's hopeless. There has to be some kind of clue as to what type of worlds Saint Dane and Fei Wong would we working off of."

"Perhaps you aren't as foolish as I thought, wielder of the Keyblade," a low female voice replied causing those at the table to whirl around in shock. Blackish-green smoke filled the room and then dispersed just as quickly, revealing the form of a pale skinned witch in black robes and carrying a staff with a green orb at the top. Sora gasped in shock and jumped up from his chair.

"Maleficent!" Sora cried, summoning his regular Keyblade to his hand. Bobby and Syaoran got up as well, both bringing out their own weapons upon seeing Sora's reaction. Merlin remained seated, stroking his beard and watching the scene unfold with a look of curiosity.

Maleficent chuckled at them, "Well, well. I see you have your new allies, Keyblade master. I am not here to pick a fight…I came to give you some information you might find useful."

Sora scowled, his grip on the Keyblade not loosening, "And why should we trust you!"

"Because, dear boy, I do not want this Convergence to take place anymore than you do, I think it would be much more impressive to plunge all the worlds into darkness than simply mesh them together and plunge them into chaos and eventual nothingness."

Silence fell over them, Bobby and Syaoran's eyes were on Sora, they did not know the history of this woman so would leave the judgment of trusting her to him. Sora's shoulders slumped and the Keyblade disappeared, he looked up at Maleficent, "What do you know?"

A dark smile crossed her lips, "Their base will most likely be on a world on the verge of darkness…in order to find them you will have to seek out the darkness. If you find the darkness I'm sure Saint Dane and Fei Wong will be nearby." Maleficent lifted her staff and the orb flashed green before a piece of parchment floated down to Sora's hand.

Sora caught it and looked down at the words written on it, "What is this?"

"I thought I'd be nice for once and give you a head start you twit. Be grateful," Maleficent said with a dark smirk. She then gave a short bow to them and turned, "I'm leaving this to you Keyblade wielder and friends. Do not fail me." As soon as she was finished, she was enshrouded in another cloud of smoke and vanished.

He looked down at the parchment and sighed, there were only two worlds listed on here but it was more than they had had before. Sora turned to Bobby and Syaoran, "Looks like we got our first clues."

Syaoran scowled, his eyes having not moved from where the witch had vanished, "Are you sure we can trust this woman?"

Bobby moved over to Sora and peered over his shoulder at the list, "Well it IS more than what we had. What could it hurt to try?"

"He has a point Syaoran. Maleficent is a tricky old witch but she wouldn't humble herself so easily," Merlin spoke up and the three boys looked to him. He blinked at the sudden attention on him and laughed, "Goodness such serious faces. I would at least look into these worlds. At the least you can gain more allies, right Sora?"

Sora brightened at this and nodded, "Right. In the meantime…do you think you could do me a favor Merlin?"

"Certainly, my boy."

"Could you send a message to King Mickey for me? Riku, Kairi, and I were supposed to be going to meet him…I don't want Riku or the King to worry and they need to know what's going on."

Merlin nodded solemnly, "That is a wise idea. I'll pop over there right now." With that said, the older wizard disappeared in a flash of bluish white smoke and sparks.

Sora nodded in satisfaction and turned back to Bobby and Syaoran, "Alright so do you guys want to head out to one of these worlds and see what turns up?"

"Weren't we going to wait on those friends of yours…Leon and Yuffie, I think," Bobby asked.

Sora chuckled, rubbing the back of his head, "I'm sure Merlin can explain when he gets back."

Syaoran shrugged, "The sooner we start the quicker we get to Fei Wong and Saint Dane and rescuing Sakura and the others."

Bobby and Sora both nodded in agreement with his statement. They then turned to the door and headed out, Sora looked over his shoulder, "See ya' later Cid!"

"Good luck kid," Cid called back, not even looking up from his cigarette as he leaned against the wall outside. The door shut behind the three boys as they set out for other worlds…

Of course during all this Riku was hardly just floating through space on the Gummi ship twiddling his thumbs. On the contrary, Riku had managed to teach himself how to fly the Gummi ship and was now heading quickly towards Disney Castle to inform King Mickey about what had happened.

The white haired youth could still hardly believe what had happened. Once again, he had failed in protecting his friends and now Sora and Kairi were both gone. He gritted his teeth and pushed down harder on the accelerator, the sooner he got to Disney Castle the sooner he could start looking for them. Riku didn't care what it took or how long…he would search EVERY world until he found them…just as Sora had done for him.

In the viewing screen, Riku could see the world coming into view and as he got closer, he could make out the large white and blue castle as well as the elaborately trimmed and well-maintained gardens that surrounded it. He felt himself relax slightly, if anyone could help him it would be King Mickey.

The mouse king, however, was not as confident. Unlike Riku he KNEW what was about to unfold and that was why he was currently hunched over his desk and making out a letter to Queen Minnie, Donald, and Goofy. Time could not be wasted and while he trusted Sora to handle things he also knew that he had his own job to perform and multiple worlds to visit in order to do that. He would have to leave them behind again.

Just as King Mickey was signing his name he heard the roar of a Gummi Ship descending from the sky, he jumped up, and rushed to the window in time to see the ship he had given to Sora, Riku, and Kairi land outside. He pulled away from the window; this would certainly put a hamper on his plans. The door to his room burst open and Donald Duck, the kingdom's most powerful mage and one of the King's closet friends, came rushing it, "Your majesty! Sora and the others have arrived!"

King Mickey shook his head at Donald's squawking, his gaze focusing back on the view outside his window, "I'm afraid Sora is not with them…it's only Riku."

"What?"

The mouse king sighed and turned around to face his friend sadly, he moved to his desk and picked up the piece of paper he had written the letter on and crumpled it up. His original plan was pointless now. He tossed the paper behind him and it fell into the trash bin, "Sora's already gone on ahead to fulfill his part of this…but we have our own duty to fulfill."

Donald blinked in confusion, "What are you talking about your majesty?"

He was silent for a moment as if deep in thought. He then looked up at Donald and forced a smile, "Let's go greet Riku shall we? I'll inform you all then." Donald was quiet for a moment, he could obviously tell something was bothering the king but upon hearing the promise of an explanation, he nodded and followed King Mickey out of the room. King Mickey paused, his eyes darting back to the window as his smile faded; this was certainly going to be a hard thing to break to them. He shut the door reluctantly and it echoed with a faint click.

Riku had been led to a small room off to the side of the throne room. According to Goofy, the tall, gangly head guard of King Mickey who happened to be a dog-like creature, this room was a council room of sorts that King Mickey used whenever he wanted to have a private meeting with someone. Goofy had been the one to greet Riku after he had landed at Disney Castle. Riku had quickly demanded to see the king and Goofy had obliged, quickly sending a message to Donald to get the king and they could all meet in the conference room. Riku silently leaned against the wall of the room, his arms crossed over his chest, as he appeared to be deep in thought. Goofy stood relaxed near the door to the throne room, not bothered by the silence and waiting for Donald and the king to arrive.

The door beside Goofy opened and Donald waddled in followed shortly by King Mickey. Goofy and Riku both straightened upon seeing the king, Goofy giving a stiff salute and a faint smile crossing Riku's lips. Riku trusted the king, a lot like Sora trusted Donald and Goofy, and knew that if anyone could help him find Sora and Kairi it would be him. "Your majesty," Riku began, not even waiting for the king to sit down or to shut the door. King Mickey looked up at Riku, prompting him to continue, "Someone showed up on our Gummy ship and kidnapped Kairi. Sora and a boy we had picked up named Bobby jumped at him and were taken as well. I think he may be with the Organization since he was wearing a black cloak similar to theirs."

"The Organization!" Donald and Goofy both exclaimed. This news obviously surprised them since they were sure they had put all the Organization members out of commission with the help up Sora.

The king however shook his head, "No Riku. Organization XIII is gone." He paused, his eyes moving from Riku, to Donald and Goofy, he took a deep breath and exhaled, "I'm afraid fellas that we're going up against totally new enemies now."

Donald and Goofy exchanged wary looks before looking back to their ruler, "What are we going to do your majesty," Donald asked.

"Sora and his new companions will handle the majority of it…I have a special task for the four of us…that will ultimately help everyone," King Mickey said.

Riku scowled, "You mean we aren't going after Sora and Kairi?" He pushed himself away from the wall and started heading for the door, "Then I'll go after them myself." King Mickey rose from his chair quickly and scrambled over to the door, effectively blocking it. Riku snorted in agitation, his fists clenching but otherwise making no move to push pass the king. He could feel both Donald and Goofy readying themselves in case of a fight.

He looked down at King Mickey and their eyes locked, "I'm afraid Riku that it is not the time to see them yet. We have our own mission to fulfill…you, me, Donald and Goofy. We have to start gathering others for the final battle. I promise you that Sora will be okay and that you will reunite with him soon."

Silence fell over the room and after a long moment, Riku finally pulled back and moved over to one of the chairs, pulling it back and plopping down in it. He stared across the table at King Mickey, "So what's this mission you have for us then?"

Goofy, Donald relaxed, and King Mickey's expression brightened, the worst part was over…convincing Riku to not search for Sora and instead help them. He moved away from the door and back to his seat, sitting down and placing his hands on the table, "So I'm sure ya'll are wondering just what's going on." The three nodded and King Mickey continued, "Well…I guess I should start at the beginning…"

While Sora walked briskly through the town in order to get to a spot where they could jump to the next world, Bobby and Syaoran were busy looking around them at the wonders the small town of Radiant Garden had to offer. Bobby had to admit it looked like an older version of his own home with bits of technology mixed in. It was really quite a marvel. Syaoran on the other hand could think of several worlds he had been to that looked like this one more or less.

Bobby managed to pull his attention away from the sights and back to Sora, "So when we get to these worlds…what exactly are we going to be looking for? What did Maleficent mean by…the darkness?"

Sora glanced over his shoulder, "Well…I'm thinking it might mean worlds that are being overrun with Heartless or something…worlds that are near the point of their own hearts being taken."

"What are the Heartless," Syaoran and Bobby both asked.

"What? Oh…I guess they never reached where you guys are from…well…the Heartless are creatures of darkness that appear when someone looses their heart to the darkness or it gets taken by another Heartless. As for what they look like…well…that's a little harder to describe since they come in various shapes. All of them are dangerous though," Sora explained.

Bobby blinked and looked to Syaoran who seemed to understand what Sora was saying. "Looses their heart…to darkness,' he pondered. This "adventure" was becoming more and more bizarre and Bobby couldn't help but wonder if his Uncle Press (or any of the other Traveler's for that matter) had known about these creatures. He wondered if they were anything like the quigs…of course with them he didn't have to worry about ripping out his heart...actually, he did but for some reason the creatures Sora was talking about sounded different…after all how would you turn into a Heartless just by getting your heart ripped out. Bobby was confused but figured that, like most things, it would be answered even if he did not really want it to be.

He looked up, "That reminds me…I know I can understand what you both are saying because of my abilities as a Traveler…but how are you able to understand what others say on other worlds…I'm assuming this isn't your home world so how are you able to communicate"

It was Sora's turn to look confused and he turned to face Bobby, walking backwards now, "I've always been able to understand what people on the other worlds were saying…I never really thought about why." He shrugged, "I guess it's the power of the Keyblade or something."

"Mokona. On my journeys she acted as a translation device…I guess now that Mokona is being carried by Sora that would mean that if I were separated from him I would loose the ability to communicate," Syaoran replied.

"That must have been rough," Sora replied.

Syaoran shrugged, "We just kept Mokona close…it wasn't that hard since she's so small."

Bobby looked around and noticed they were now on a small platform that was battle torn. His eyes wandered past to the huge castle just on the horizon and he wondered why this place was known as Radiant Garden. It didn't look very radiant to him. He turned to Sora, "So…where are we off to first?"

The Keyblade wielder pulled out the parchment as well as the Crossed Destiny Keyblade, "A place called the Wizarding World."

Far off on a crumbling world a lone man with a stern expression stood on the edge of a cliff, the wind blowing past him and making the black cloak he wore billow in the wind. Behind him three girls lay chained back to back, their eyes closed in unconsciousness. Fei Wong Reed smirked as he felt the world shift behind him and he turned in time to see Maleficent step forward. However, the image of the evil witch did not last long because as soon as she stepped forward her figure began to shift and change into that of another familiar figure, "How did it go Saint Dane?"

The slender figure of Maleficent melted away and she chuckled in a deep male's voice, "Excellent. They bought every word and will not be in our hair for awhile."

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Author Note: Two reviews. Normally that would discourage someone...but yeah...I'm still going! Next chapter we get to see Harry and the gang of course. It will be pulling from The Order of the Phoenix so don't worry about spoilers for book 6. Chapter four is in the works as we speak...going through some revisions as it still seems a bit rushed to me. shrug Ah well. If you want some snippets of chapter four you better review!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything in the story. It all belongs to CLAMP, Square Enix, Disney, and DJ McHale.