The sound of Helios' boots echoed softly through the marble halls of the old castle as he moved toward the study. Though the walls of Radiant Garden bore scars of battle, here inside Merlin's cottage, the magic still held. Wards shimmered gently against the windows, casting star-like patterns across the wood and stone.
Thalen sat cross-legged by the fireplace, paging slowly through an old storybook Merlin had left behind. Kurai leaned against the far wall, arms crossed, her eyes never straying far from the boy. She hadn't spoken since the Bequeathing. She didn't need to, especially not to this insignificant boy whom she still couldn't fathom what Helios hoped to use.
Helios approached the desk and began writing.
The letter was for Aqua and Skuld. He was sure they would disregard his words, not to look for him so he was writing another one to leave here. If things go like he imagined they would come here since his previous letter stated he was looking for something here.
To Aqua and Skuld,
By the time you read this, I will be gone.
I need your help. I'm looking for a way to help someone in a Sleeping World.
There are worlds that sleep. You may not have heard the term before, but I will explain in its full weight. They are worlds that fall to darkness but are not dead, nor destroyed—only sealed in a dream deep inside the darkness.
These are what are called the Sleeping Worlds.
When a world falls to darkness, sometimes it is consumed completely. But if its heart endures, if even a single flicker of memory remains, that world can drift into sleep instead of vanishing. It lingers at the edge of unreality. Inaccessible. Undetectable. Nothing enters. Nothing leaves. Not even Heartless.
But they can be restored. I've heard of it being done in the future. But the method remains vague, even to me. Merlin should know something about the boundaries between dream and memory. I need you two to figure it out. Find the path into these sleeping worlds. Find a way in that does not require the use of darkness.
I have another way. But it is not one I can share. Not yet. All you need to know is that if I go through with it, I go alone. And that will make my task much harder.
You both are my contingency. My safety net. You've been trusted allies, and whether you know it or not, I'm mostly talking about Aqua. Regardless, you balance what I cannot. If there's a way, I'm sure you two will find it.
I trust you.
Helios
He folded the letter, sealed it with magic, and placed it on the desk where Skuld used to study magic.
With that done, Helios stepped outside. The once vibrant and full of light, Radiant Garden now pulsed with pockets of encroaching shadow. Buildings half-consumed by darkness lined the horizon. Emblem Heartless roamed freely, their yellow eyes gleaming like stars in a black sea. The city lived—but only barely.
Helios stepped forward calmly. The shadows parted before him.
The dark form he wore now—a warped silhouette of his dark self—kept the Heartless at bay. Kurai's gift lingered in the darkness that wrapped around his body like a second skin.
He made his way without interruption to the castle at the city's center.
Massive doors swung open at his touch.
The throne room was just as he remembered it: wide, cold, and darkened with twisted banners draped over once-proud architecture. And seated atop the throne, cloaked in shadow and disdain, was Maleficent.
She regarded him with narrow eyes. "You return empty-handed. I take it the desert and sea world still bask in the light."
Helios smiled, polite as poison. "You wound me. I was merely tied up with other affairs."
"You asked for protection against the darkness," she hissed. "And in return, I gave you two cloaks to keep the darkness at bay. In return, all I asked for was two worlds that you have failed to deliver."
"Only for now," Helios said calmly. "And while we're on the subject of the worlds... I encountered something unexpected in Agrabah."
Maleficent's eyes gleamed with sudden interest. She straightened, her green flames flickering. "Speak."
Helios stepped closer, lowering his voice slightly. "I encountered a radiance deeper than anything I've sensed. A heart so pure it forced me to halt my conquest. I didn't know what it was and felt it was dangerous."
The reaction was immediate.
Maleficent surged from her throne, wings unfurling behind her. "You found one? A Princess of Heart?"
"A Princess of Hearts? Perhaps," Helios said with a shrug. "I don't know who this brilliance belongs to, but I know they were on the desert world."
The words hung in the air like a curse.
Maleficent began pacing. "That cannot be. My scouts did not find such a candidate."
"Your sources were wrong," Helios said. "I confirmed it. I felt the light bright enough to dispel even your darkness."
Maleficent paused, her eyes flickering with both rage and anticipation.
"If what you say is true... then one more is within my reach."
Helios nodded. "And that, I thought, was something worth reporting."
Maleficent lowered herself back into the throne, her fury tempered by strategy. "Very well. You've earned yourself a reprieve. Now you only need to plunge the sea world into darkness for me."
"Good, then I already have something in mind," Helios said.
"Then go. And do not return again without results."
Helios inclined his head and turned, leaving her throne room behind.
As he stepped back into the castle halls, he let out a slow breath. "Now I only had to deal with Atlantica."