(Harmony's) POV:
After leaving Beast's castle, we get on the Gummi ship, ready for the next world. However...
"Uh, guys? Is it just me, or is the ship moving on its own?" Nagakura asks.
"I think it is," Asch says, noticing how the ship suddenly turned around without any of us doing anything.
"Yup! Looks like we're headed towards Hollow Bastion," Goofy says.
Since the ship is automatically moving us towards my hometown, we decided to just go with it and see if something's happened.
"I wonder what's up," Luke says as we walk through the streets to Merlin's house.
"I hope everything's all right," Mieu says, looking worried.
"I don't know. But let's head to Merlin's place and check with the others to see if anything is wrong," I say. Not long after I say that, we see three Heartless come outside from Merlin's house. This takes us completely by surprise, especially when we see them leave like that. "Let's go!"
We quickly head inside and see that the place looks like a total mess, while Merlin rubs his aching back. When he notices us, he quickly gets up.
"Well, now...took your time, did you?" Merlin asks.
"Oh, was it you who summoned us, Merlin?" Goofy asks.
"That would explain why our ship acted strange," says Hijikata.
"Yes, yes..." says Merlin. "But it seems I used too much power in doing so, and those infernal Heartless..."
"So, what did you call us for?" I ask.
"Well, I happened to stumble across this in the Zero District," Merlin says, then uses his magic to summon a book that I am all too familiar with.
Merlin hands the book to Donald, who willingly takes it. I smile fondly at the book cover's image. There's me and Sora, wearing the clothes we wore on our journey together, holding hands with Pooh and Piglet, while Tigger bounces beside us.
"Pooh's storybook!" I exclaim with a smile.
"That's right," says Merlin.
"Wait a minute. Isn't that...Harmony!?" Heisuke asks, examining the book's cover.
"And who's the kid with the spiky hair?" Nagakura asks.
"Like you're any better, Shinpachi," Harada says, joking around.
Nagakura glares at Harada, annoyed.
"That's Sora. He's also a childhood friend of mine that I've known ever since Kairi and I ended up on the islands together," I say.
"Why do I get the feeling there's another long story behind this one?" Okita asks.
"Kind of. You see, this book is actually...special. It actually has a world that exists inside of it, called the 100 Acre Wood," Luke explains.
"A world that exists inside of a book?" Hijikata asks, making sure that he heard right.
"Just when you thought you've seen everything," Okita says.
"But it somehow got damaged. It was missing some pages. So, about a year ago, we ended up collecting the pages in almost every world we went to. Though, I can't explain why, Sora and I were the only ones who were ever able to enter this book. We got lucky to have collected all of the pages, which helped restore the 100 Acre Wood to what it once was. Through all of that, Sora and I became friends with a silly bear, named Pooh, and all of his friends," I explain, remembering Pooh and the others, including the short adventures Sora and I shared in this book.
"I know you and Sora are good friends of Winnie the Pooh, Harmony--that's why I summoned you. And when I did, I was attacked by the Heartless. Of course, I fought back with some rather powerful magic, but then I began to fear the book would be damaged, so I...Now, just a moment. Leon and the others need to hear this too. I-I'd better go find them. Be back in a jiffy," Merlin says, then uses his magic to leave the house.
"It's been a year since then. I wonder how they're all doing," I say.
"Wanna find out?" Donald asks.
"Is it okay?" I ask.
"We'll hold down the fort. You go on ahead and have fun," Asch says.
Having Asch's reassurance, I nod my head to Donald. Donald opens the book and I enter into Pooh's world. I know that this is still a lot for Hijikata and his friends, so I can only imagine the shocked looks on their faces when they saw me disappear into the book. But even so, I'm glad to be back.
"I wonder if Pooh's home," I say, recognizing the terrain as I walk through the woods.
Unlike most worlds, Pooh's world is the only place I know where there aren't any Heartless around. It might be because I'm so used to coming to this world with Sora that I feel so out of place being here without him. Knowing him, he would jump at the idea of seeing Pooh and the others again.
Anyway, it doesn't take me long to find Pooh's house and the bear himself. I can see Pooh, sitting on a log in front of his house. I smile, glad to see him again. Once I get in front of Pooh, he notices me, and smiles.
"Hey, Pooh Bear! How are you doing? Finding enough honey lately?" I ask.
"Oh, yes," Pooh says with a smile. "In fact, I was just about to do my stout exercises. Would you like to join me, Harmony?"
"Sure. I don't mind," I say.
Just as Pooh is about to get off his log, he freezes. This takes me completely by surprise. Slowly, and as carefully as possible, I try to touch him, to see if he's okay. But before I can, a sudden gust of winds knocks me off balance.
What's more is that I somehow get knocked out of the book, ending up back in Merlin's house. I start to become confused as to what just happened as I see the book close itself. To add more to my confusion is that I notice that none of my friends are anywhere to be seen. After a moment or two, I hear Chibi's bark.
"Harmony! Hurry up!" I hear Donald exclaim from outside.
"Anytime today would be nice!" Nagakura exclaims.
"Guys?" I call out.
I quickly rush outside with my Keyblade in hand. Once I come outside, I see all of my friends facing the Heartless.
"Harmony, did you bring the book?" Saito asks.
The moment he asks that, we see a couple of Heartless come out of Merlin's house. One of them is actually carrying Pooh's book!
"Hey!" I exclaim, not happy.
"Drop that!" Luke exclaims.
We take out the Heartless as quickly as possible. Once we're done, we got the book back. Unfortunately, the book's cover ended up getting scratched a little, due to the fight.
"Is it okay?" Mieu asks, landing on my shoulder to get a look at the book.
"Gwarsh, maybe ya better go back and make sure Pooh's all right," Goofy suggests.
"But what about Merlin?" Donald asks.
"We'll just have to explain things to him," says Saito.
"Okay. I'll be back as soon as I can," I say, handing the book to Donald.
Donald opens the book for and I enter the book once more.
(3rd) POV:
While Harmony enters the book, the others notice the book's changes.
"Hey, is it just me, or doesn't it look like most of the pages are blank?" Heisuke asks.
"I think you're right," Harada says.
"Not just that, but some pages are missing, too," Asch points out.
"It's almost like what happened the last time, before we found all of the missing pages of this book," Luke says.
"Think the Heartless probably took them?" Nagakura asks.
"Probably," Asch answers.
"Let's head back inside for now," Saito suggests.
"Agreed. At least we can keep a careful eye on it until Harmony gets back," says Hijikata.
(Harmony's) POV:
Once I enter the book, I don't waste anytime on rushing to Pooh's house, to see if he's all right.
"Pooh!" I call out. I then let out a relieved sigh. "I'm so glad you're okay, Pooh."
"And I'm glad you came to visit. But you see, I was just about to begin my stoutness exorcises," Pooh says. "Perhaps we could visit a bit later...Somebody-I-Don't-Know."
His words catch me by surprise. I mean, I've known Pooh for about over a year now, so...To hear that he doesn't remember me really is quite the shock. But even so, I need to make sure if I'm the only one he's forgotten about or not.
"So...any idea what Sora is up to? And how's Piglet doing these days?" I ask.
"I don't think I know anyone by those names," Pooh answers. "Now where was I? Oh, yes. My stoutness exercises."
"Pooh?" I ask. When he doesn't answer, I try again. "Pooh?" no answer. I cross my arms, deep in thought. "What is going on here? Maybe I should head back and tell the others about this."
With that, I leave the book, arriving back in Merlin's house. When I get there, I see Merlin talking to all of my friends.
"Couldn't be bothered to wait up for an old wizard, eh?" Merlin asks as he turns around to face me, not looking pleased.
"Sorry..." I say, feeling bad.
"How are things in there?" Merlin asks.
I let out a sigh, not happy with what I learned in that book. "Pooh's forgotten all about me. And it's not just me--he's forgotten all of his other friends, too. He doesn't even remember Sora, either," I explain.
While Donald, Goofy, Mieu and Chibi are startled by this, the others only show concern.
"I was afraid of that..." Merlin says. He then walks towards the book and opens it, to examine its contents. "I suspect it has something to do with those pages the Heartless stole. You'll have to collect the torn pages and repair the book to put things right," he then closes the book and turns around to face us. "This book is one of the world's most cherished elements. I'd been meaning to tell Leon and your mother I'd found it, but perhaps we should keep it between us for now."
"We will!" most of us exclaim, not wanting something bad to happen to the book ever again.
"So now we have to keep a lookout for a bunch of torn pages? What a pain," Okita says with a sigh.
"Well, hopefully it'll be like last time. We just have to travel from world to world, and hope that we get lucky with finding them," says Luke.
"Good, good...Now, the book isn't all that's cherished...This is for you, Harmony," Merlin says as he hands me something.
I take a look at what he gave me, and it looks like a pendant showing a bat and a baseball on it.
"What is it?" I ask.
"Simply concentrate on it will all your heart, and you need only say the word to summon an ally who will help in times of need," Merlin explains.
"Like Simba and Mushu did, the last time we were here?" Goofy asks.
"Precisely," Merlin answers with a smile.
"Summons?" Harada asks, making sure he heard right.
"I assume you've never heard of summons before, correct?" Merlin asks.
"First time we've heard of it," Nagakura answers.
"We're still new to all of this, not to mention still processing a lot of weird things that involve other worlds," Heisuke points out.
"Basically, using summons is no different than befriending a new ally by connecting your heart with theirs. We ended up with a bunch of them during our last journey," Asch explains. "If someone had a strong-willed heart, they would turn into an item called a summon gem. Mushu used to be one because the Heartless plunged his world into the Realm of Darkness."
"But that was before we took care of Ansem. Harmony and Sora were the only ones who were able to use the summon gems, though. The rest of us tried, but it didn't work. So, we left the summon for only Harmony and Sora to use," Luke explains.
"The Realm of Darkness is where all of the Heartless come from, right? I'd hate to see what kind of place it is," says Harada.
"I'm sure that all of us feel that way," says Saito.
"So, are there other summons like this one?" Okita asks, pointing a finger at the pendant I'm holding.
"Yes, but you can only find more as you travel to other worlds," Merlin explains.
"That, and we can't depend on them too much. Using a summon has a limit, kind of like how I can't stay in my Valor form for too long," I say.
"In that case, why don't you hold onto it, Harmony?" Hijikata asks.
"Makes sense, since she's the only who can use them right now," says Heisuke.
I nod my head. "Right," I say, placing the pendant in one of my pockets for safety. "Anyway, thanks, Merlin."
"Now go forth, with your friends by your side!" Merlin declares with a smile.
"We'll be back once we've found those pages for Pooh's book. Hopefully, getting them all back will restore Pooh's memory," I say, trying to be positive.
Before leaving Hollow Bastion, we make sure to restock on necessary supplies, so that we're prepared for other worlds out there. Also, we surprisingly found a torn page for Pooh's book that the Heartless possibly dropped and decide to hold onto it. I'll admit, even though a lot of this brings back a lot of memories from our last journey, it still feels out of place, not having Sora or Madison around. But even so, I'm not giving up on finding Madison, or Riku, my dad, Chibi's mother, or King Mickey.
I even made a promise to Sora and Kairi that I'd come back once I found everyone, and it's a promise I have every intent on keeping. After leaving Hollow Bastion, we continue our course by traveling to more worlds. Only one appeared, though. We passed through another large gate and battled a bunch of Heartless ships, which wasn't easy. There was actually a Heartless that was in the shape of a large battleship.
It's a miracle that we managed to survive through that. Though, I did notice that every time when we return to the ship from every world we've been to so far, new things are added onto the Gummi ship. I can't exactly explain it very well, but it feels like someone keeps making new adjustments on our ship whenever we're not looking. Not only that, but it feels like someone's trying to help us by doing this.
With each new adjustment that was made to the ship, it helped us come out unscathed through all of the Heartless ships. Sometimes I can't but wonder if the person who keeps doing this is Madison, since she's the only one I know who would be able to do any of this.
"I wonder where we're going to next," Mieu says, bringing me out of my thoughts.
"Hopefully, some place where we can get some training in. I mean, the Heartless seem to get stronger with each new world we go to," Heisuke says with a sigh.
"I have to agree with Heisuke on this one. It's one thing to be fighting Heartless in every world we go to. But if we end up facing a strong army of them, it won't be a funny sight to see," says Harada.
A world comes into view, making me smile as I recognize the place we're heading to. "Well, with where we're going, that won't be a problem for much longer," I say.
"What do you mean by that?" Okita asks.
Luke, Asch, Donald, Goody and Mieu all smile, also recognizing the next world we're heading to. As for Chibi, he lets out a happy bark while wagging his tail.
"That's the Olympus Coliseum. We would often pay a visit to that place whenever we felt like getting stronger. There's also this friend of ours called Phil, who helped us in our training, too," Luke explains, pointing to the said world. "He even trained another friend of ours, Hercules, to be a great hero before we met them."
"If training to get stronger is what you want, then it's best to come to this place," says Asch.
"We've also got free access to take part in the games they've got here whenever we want. I'm sure taking part in a tournament or two should help us improve in our fighting," I say.
"Well, if you say so, then what're we waiting for?" Nagakura asks with a smile, most likely looking forward to this place.
I smile, excited to see Hercules and Phil again.
(3rd) POV:
In the Coliseum, a Rock Titan collapses to his knees, unable to stand. It is then lifted up into the air, and thrown into the sky by something, or someone. And the one who defeated this titan is none other than Hercules, the hero of all heroes. The crowd cheers loudly for him as he lifts his sword in the air, smiling at his victory and accomplishment for saving the day once again.
(Harmony's) POV:
After leaving the gummi ship, we somehow ended up in a place that looks eerie and very depressing.
"Not exactly what I had in mind," Nagkura says, frowning a little.
"Are we even in the right place?" Okita asks, looking a little annoyed.
"Well, we are in the right world, but..." I say, trying to come up with an answer. "...I don't remember ever being to this place before."
"Well, we'd better find the Coliseum," Asch points out.
"It's that way!" Donald exclaims.
Donald points to a set of stairs that lead upward, with light shining through.
Luke sighs. "Sorry, guys. I guess it's not as easy as it looks," he says, feeling bad since it was him who put in the coordinates for us to land. "I'm starting to wish Madison was here."
"Was she that important?" Saito asks.
I nod my head. "Yeah. When it came to driving the Gummi ship, how to make adjustments on it, and also adding in the coordinates for us to land somewhere safe and decent; she was good at all of that stuff. She made it look so easy. And seeing how we have to do this ourselves now makes me realize how much we relied on her," I explain.
"I miss her," Mieu says, looking sad, earning an agreeing whine from Chibi.
Before anything else can be said and done, we hear a scream. We quickly turn around and see a woman being chased by some Heartless. She trips and falls.
"Heartless!" Mieu exclaims.
We all rush to help the woman. Chibi barks at the Heartless, making them take off.
"Are you okay?" Heisuke asks, offering a hand to the woman.
"Thanks, but...I'm fine," the woman says. After getting up, she brushes the dust off of her dress. "And you're supposed to be?"
"I'm Harmony, this is Asch, Luke, Donald, Goofy, Mieu, Chibi, Hijikata, Okita, Saito, Heisuke, Harada and Nagakura," I say, making introductions.
"We came to get some training in from Phil," says Asch.
"We also thought we'd pay Hercules a visit and see how he's doing," says Luke.
"You know Wonderboy?" the woman asks.
"Wonderboy?" Nagakura asks, confused.
"That's just a nickname that I like to call him by," the woman clarifies.
"Yeah, we know him, 'cause we're heroes, too!" Donald declares.
"Ya mean junior heroes, Donald," Goofy clarifies.
"Junior heroes?" Hijikata asks.
"I'll explain later," I say, knowing that it's going to be another long story to explain about.
"Looks like we have a friend in common. Name's Megara. My friends call me Meg," the woman, Meg, introduces herself.
"So how's Herc?" I ask.
"Wonderboy? Well, he's duking it out at the Coliseum every day. You know, 'a hero's work is never done' and all that," Meg explains. "He's ready to drop, but he keeps on fighting. Even Wonderboy has his limits, though. These opponents are bad news--special deliveries from Hades himself..."
"Hades!?" Donald questions in shock.
"Someone else you know?" Harada asks.
"Remember how we mentioned facing a group of villains? Hades was one of them," Luke answers.
"We don't know why, but he joined forces with Maleficent a long time ago, until we took care of her. Other than that, he apparently has something against Hercules," I say.
"And us too, since we did defeat him once," Asch points out.
"Right. He's the Lord of the Underworld. I was on my way to see him," Meg says. "Maybe I can get Hades to give Wonderboy a breather. If anything happened to that kid..."
Meg then stops what she was about to say, and I notice her cheeks turning a little red.
"Gwarsh..." Goofy says.
"Sounds to me that you're more than just friends," Okita teases, showing off his signature smirk.
Meg's blush worsens. "Oh...uh, I mean..."
"Don't worry, it's nothing to be embarrassed about, especially since Asch and Harmony here are a couple themselves," Luke says, making mine and Asch's cheeks burn red with embarrassment.
Asch gives Luke quite the noogie on the head for saying that, while the others smirk, now knowing how to teasingly get under his skin.
"Anyway, why don't we go talk to Hades?" I suggest, trying to change the subject, while also trying to make myself stop blushing. "Besides, I wouldn't like it if anything were to happen to you, especially since I know how...close you are to Hercules."
"You really want to do that?" Meg asks. Seeing how serious I am, she sighs, giving in. "Well, it looks like you know what you're doing. I guess I'll take you up on that offer. But...let's keep this whole chat-with-Hades thing our little secret, okay?"
"Mind if I ask why?" Harada asks.
"Wonderboy can be a little overprotective of me sometimes. And stressing out while worrying about me is the last thing he needs right now, especially with how exhausted he is, concentrating on facing monsters everyday, none-stop," Meg explains.
"Okay, our lips are sealed," I say, understanding the situation.
With that, we bid farewell to Meg and head deeper into the Underworld, looking for Hades.