Symphony of Sorcery

Symphony of Sorcery is a Sleeping World that is featured in Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, the second to be based on the Disney film, . Like Timeless River and Country of the Musketeers, Symphony of Sorcery is a world from Mickey's past, in particular during the period where Mickey was Yen Sid's apprentice. As a world based on music, all the sounds of battle are replaced with musical notes, and dialogue is only present in specific cutscenes.

Development
Since the conception of the first Kingdom Hearts, Tetsuya Nomura had wanted to include a world based on Fantasia, but was unable to and ended up only including Chernabog as a boss in End of the World, though in a battlefield very similar to the Night on Bald Mountain segment.

Setting and Areas
The Symphony of Sorcery is a world composed of the dreams of the Mysterious Tower's past. New to the familiar tower are Mickey's songbooks, which serve as portals to three new, beautiful locations.

For Sora, Mickey summons a pink songbook based on . It leads to the , an expanse of clouds and rocky pillars connected by rainbows, beneath a brilliant blue sky. The Cloudwalk connects to a forested ' filled with twisters and stormclouds, which itself ends at the stormy ', a rainbow-colored field dotted with pavilions and the hiding place of the first Sound Idea.

For Riku, Mickey summons a blue songbook based on the , where everything is larger-than-life. The songbook opens up on the , a patch of flowers in the midst of night. Across a shining lake lies the , where the leaves themselves sprinkle pieces of Munny. At the top of that forest is a path to the wintry , a frozen landscape containing icy slides, floating snowflakes, chilly ponds, and the second Sound Idea. However, once Riku retrieves the Sound Idea, Young Xehanort appears and casts him into the , lair of the demon Chernabog.

The final red songbook, based on ', contains a simple ''' above the sea where the Spellican lurks. When Sora arrives, he chases the Nightmare onto a starry road flowing through the sky, which also contains a miniature arena filled with multicolored asteroids and a stellar river.

The Symphony of Sorcery's Reality Shift, Melody Catcher, is vital for exploring the realm of the songbooks. It allows Sora to summon new clouds and rainbows in the Cloudwalk, calm the twisters in the Glen, and sweep away the stormy night in the Fields. Conversely, Riku uses the technique to open flower buds and part weeds in the Moonlight Wood, sprout a bower of leaves in the Golden Wood, and summon giant snowflakes in the Snowgleam Wood.

Between Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep and Kingdom Hearts
Sometime after Terra-Xehanort's descent into darkness, his Heartless, Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, attacked many worlds. These worlds were consequently swallowed by the darkness. One of these worlds was Symphony of Sorcery. Although it was restored after Sora defeated Ansem and destroyed the End of the World, Symphony of Sorcery remained in a state of deep sleep, rather than returning to the Realm of Light. Trapped within the Realm of Sleep, it was plagued by Nightmare Dream Eaters.

Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance
While carrying buckets of water in the tower, Mickey spots Yen Sid's sorcerer's hat on his desk. Making sure that no one was around, he puts it on and begins casting magic, unknowingly summoning a Dream Eater. As Sora arrives, he witness Mickey casting magic spells, bringing in a few waves, shooting stars, thunderclouds and the Dream Eater Mickey accidentally summoned, which then attacks Sora and knocks him out.

When Sora awakens, he recognizes that he is in Yen Sid's tower. However, since a sleeping Mickey, who is covered in darkness, does not recognize him, Sora guesses that he is in another dream world, from when Mickey was training to become a Keyblade master. Communicating telepathically with Sora, Mickey explains that a musical book has been possessed by darkness through a monster, trapping Mickey in the book and preventing anyone from entering, and the only way to defeat the darkness is to retrieve a Sound Idea. Recognizing the Dream Eater that escaped Traverse Town, Sora offers to help Mickey, and the latter summons an untainted book that Sora enters with his Keyblade.

Similarly, on Riku's side of the world, an exhausted Mickey uses magic to cast a spell on a broom to avoid doing his chores. Upon waking up from a nap, he is shocked to find that are several more brooms flooding the room with water. Trying to stop them with magic, Mickey unknowingly summons the Spellican. When Riku arrives at the tower, he notices the downstairs starting to flood from the water running down the staircase. At the top, he sees room flooded and Mickey trapped in darkness. Realizing that the possessed book is responsible for it, Riku attempts to smash it with his Keyblade, but Mickey telepathically informs him that brute force won't work. Like Sora, Mickey does not recognize Riku, but does have a feeling that they will be friends one day. After Riku offers his assistance, Mickey brings in another musical sheet and explains to Riku that in order to dispel the book of its darkness, he will need to retrieve a Sound Idea inside the other book.

Making their way through the magical realm within the book in their respective sides, Sora and Riku soon find the Sound Ideas in the Fields and Snowgleam Wood. However, on Sora's side, he is confronted by the unknown man, who explains that he will be waiting for Sora in an area beyond sleep before leaving. On Riku's side, he lands on the Bald Mountain after being enveloped by darkness after locating his Sound Idea and encounters the mysterious man as well. The enigmatic figure informs Riku that the Keyblade chose Riku first, but he lost it to Sora due to his failure to control his darkness. He attempts to undermine Riku by stating that his mistakes only cause problems for other people; however, Riku remains unperturbed and demands to know what the man is planning. Seeing Riku's determination, the man commends Riku for being able to lock the darkness within him, but adds that Riku is no longer of any use to "them". As the volcano begins to erupt, the mysterious man vanishes and Chernabog suddenly appears, leaving Riku to fight him during a dive.

Following the battle, Riku finds himself back in Yen Sid's tower just as Sora returns to the tower in his version of the world. Their sides' respective Mickeys conclude that one Sound Idea is not enough to rid the darkness from the possessed book. Having faith in each other, Sora's and Riku's Sound Ideas appear in the other's world. With the Sounds Ideas combined, it created a powerful harmony that clears the flooding water from the room and frees Mickey from the darkness on Riku's side. When Mickey inquires about what had happened, a grateful Riku guesses that Sora helped him. Mickey comments that hearing Sora's name makes him want to smile, and Riku starts telling him about Sora and how he can always "find the brightest part of anything, and pull off miracles like there's nothing to it". Mickey expresses his delight that Sora's heart and Riku's are always in tune and thinks it is thanks to Riku that Sora is who he is. Mickey voices his hope that he will also be part of a team someday, and with a smile and a handshake, Riku assures him that he will. Afterwards, the Keyhole appears and Riku unlocks it before continuing on his journey.

In the meantime, Sora enters the book and fights the Spellican in the Sorcerer's Apprentice area to free Mickey and allow him to wake up. With his spirit back in his body, Mickey thanks Sora with a handshake. Leaving to fetch the water before he gets into trouble, Mickey runs to the door, but not before bidding Sora farewell and promises that he will see him soon, to which the latter agrees. When the Keyhole appears, Sora unlocks it before continuing on his journey.