Kingdom Hearts I; Fallen From Grace
By Shattered Glass Memories
Chapter Four
Back on the ship, Mirage was in the crew quarters trying to translate the message written on the paper they found.
"Ansem's Report One..." She said aloud, looking at the first line of the page.
"Much of my life has been dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. That knowledge has guarded this world well. Not a soul doubts that. I am blessed with people's smiles and respect. But though I am called a sage, there are things I do not understand."
At that moment, Sora walked in.
"Hey, Mirage. How you doing with that report?"
"I'm working on it. It's tricky. I'll let you know when it's ready."
"Okay."
"I believe darkness sleeps in every heart, no matter how pure. Given the chance, the smallest drop can spread and swallow the heart. I have witnessed it many times." Mirage read on silently.
"Well, I'll let you get back to it. You have plenty of time, though."
"Darkness...Darkness of the heart. How is it born?"
"We won't be arriving at the Olympus Coliseum until tomorrow." Sora said, then walked out.
"How does it come to affect us so? As ruler of this world, I must find the answers. I must find them before the world is lost to those taken by the darkness."
That was the end of the report.
After finishing the translation and taking the report to Sora, Mirage had nothing else to do, so she decided to go back to the crew quarters and read a book.
As she read, she came across a passage that seemed to jump out at her:
"The light within the darkness. You've lost sight of it. And it seems you've forgotten forgetting."
Mirage knew she hadn't read the book before-She received the book from Aerith before she left with Sora. Dismissing it as a coincidence, she continued reading, but then it happened again.
"You're a fool among fools to show yourself here, traitor."
Now Mirage was confused. She hadn't read this book before, right? Perhaps Aerith had discussed it with her at some point.
But she didn't think so.
Closing the book, she glanced at the cover. "Rouge Chaos"? That couldn't be right. It was supposed to be "Heart of Destiny".
A romance novel-did Aerith read anything else?
So this was a different book. But how did it get changed? Mirage knew it couldn't have been a prank by Sora or the others, because the book had been in a bag of her personal belongings. Surely they wouldn't dig through her things. So what did that mean? How did the book suddenly change?
Unable to explain it Mirage put the book aside, and went to the bridge.
0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0
The ship arrived at the Olympus Coliseum the next afternoon with no trouble.
"Wow...this place is incredible!" Sora said as the group looked around.
The entrance was covered in sand, and there was a large building on the opposite end of the area with two huge statues holding swords over the doors. Walking through the doors, they found themselves in a small lobby. A satyr stood with it's back to the door, and when Sora tried to speak it interrupted.
"Good timing. Give me a hand, will ya? Move that pedestal over there for me. I gotta spruce this place up for the games." He said, pointing to a very large stone block.
Sora tried to move it, but it was too heavy. So everyone else joined him, but they still couldn't move it.
"It weighs a ton! It's way too heavy!" Sora gasped.
"Too heavy? When has anything been too heavy to you? Since when have you been such a little-" Then he stopped and looked up at Sora.
"Oh. Wrong guy. What're you doing here? This here's the world-famous Coliseum—heroes only! And I got my hands full preparing for the games. So run along, pip-squeaks."
"Who participates in these games?" Mirage asked.
"Heroes come from all over the world to compete in the games!"
"You got heroes standing right in front of you!" Donald said, and Goofy nodded.
"Yup. He's a real hero chosen by the Keyblade!" He added, looking at Sora.
"And we're heroes, too." Donald put in.
"Hero? That runt?" The satyr laughed.
"What's so funny? I've fought a bunch of monsters!" Sora grumbled.
"Hey, if you can't even move this pedestal...you can't call yourself...a hero!" The satyr said, but struggled with the block himself.
"Okay, so it takes more than brawn. Well, let's see what you can do."
"What do you mean?" Mirage questioned.
"Time for some training. This trial is tough. You got what it takes? You ready?"
"I'm ready!" Sora nodded.
"Let's do it."
"Okay, kid. Let's see what you've got."
So the satyr, who gave his name as Phil, took Sora and the others into the training area. He set up a few practice runs for them, which they passed easily.
"You know, you ain't bad, kid." Phil said.
"Looks like I'm headed for the games."
"Don't get your hopes up yet, Sora." Mirage warned quietly.
"Afraid not." Phil confirmed her statement.
"Why not?" Sora whined.
"Two words: You guys ain't heroes."
While Goofy pointed out that Phil's comment held more than two words, Sora pressed Phil to reconsider.
"Come on!"
But he kept refusing, and eventually Sora gave up. Leaving the lobby, the group heard a voice behind them.
"Rather a stubborn old goat, wouldn't you say?"
The man was rather tall, and wore a long, dark cloak. His hair was a blue flame.
"Who are you?" Donald asked.
"He's Hades, god of the underworld." Mirage informed them.
"You know him?" Sora asked, and Mirage nodded.
"Unfortunately, yes. We've had some dealings. It was a long time ago, though."
"'Unfortunately'? Ouch! I'm hurt, Miri!" Hades laughed.
"So, what do you want?" Donald asked.
"Whoa, hold on there, fuzz boy." Hades said, turning back to Sora.
"Wait, let me guess: You want to enter the games, right?" Hades said, then put his hand on Sora's shoulder.
"Well, then, hey, get a load of this."
Hades snapped his fingers, and an Entry Pass appeared in his hand.
"A pass?"
"It's all yours. Good luck, kid. I'm pulling for you, little Shorty."
Then Hades walked away.
"Wow, what are the odds of that?" Goofy asked.
"With Hades? Pretty high, if he wants something. And this was a little too high, if you ask me. Be careful, Sora." Mirage said.
"Hey, how do you know Hades, anyway? You said you had dealings?"
"He saved my life once. Hard to believe, I know. But he thought he could use me to do his dirty work. He was wrong."
"Hm… well, anyway, we have a pass, so we might as well use it."
So the group returned to the lobby and spoke with Phil.
"Hey, how'd you get this?" He asked, examining the pass.
"Can we enter the games now?" Mirage cut in before Sora could answer. She didn't want their source being revealed.
"Well... I guess so. We start with the preliminaries! Ready?"
"Yeah, let's go!"
So Phil got them ready for the games. Before they started, he had one more thing to say:
"Some real weirdos signed up for the games. Better watch yourself."
Then, a man with blonde hair and a large bandaged sword walked by and stared at Sora as he passed.
"Was that…?" Mirage wondered.
"Something tells me he'll be a tough one to beat. Who knows, maybe you'll end up facing him." Phil said.
Then Sora and the others stepped into the arena and fought their way through the first several battles. Then the competition had an intermission, and everyone took a break.
"Say, you're better than I thought. Wish he was here to see this." Phil said.
"Who?" Sora asked.
"Hercules. He's a hero if ever there was one. Too bad he's off visiting his father."
Listening halfheartedly to the conversation around her, Mirage saw Hades talking to the blonde man they had seen earlier. Stepping away from the group, she hid in the shadows and raised her left hand, a dark portal appearing a few feet in front of her. Smiling slightly, Mirage quickly moved through it, coming out behind Hades a moment later.
"That little punk is your next opponent, okay? Now, don't blow it. Just take him out." He was saying.
"The great god of the Underworld is afraid of a kid?" The blonde man scoffed, "Sorry, but my contract says-"
"I know! You think I don't know? I wrote the contract! I know it says you're only required to kill Hercules in this tournament. But you've gotta fight that kid to get to him. Hey, it's like that old goat says: Rule 11: It's all just a game, so let loose and have fun with it! I mean, a casualty or two along the way is no big deal, right?"
With one last withering look at Hades, the blonde left.
"Geez. Stiffer than the stiffs back home. Still, suckers like him are hard to come by..."
Hearing this, Mirage returned to Sora and the others.
"Hey, where'd you go?" Sora asked.
"I just had something to take care of. Listen, Sora, this next fight? Make sure you fight as hard as you can."
"Huh? What's that about?"
"Don't worry about it. Just go out there and win."
"Okay. Let's do it."
Then the blonde man, whose name Mirage remembered was Cloud, stepped into the arena, and the two sides prepared to fight.
The group charged Cloud.
Mirage and Sora leapt and slashed downward hard. Cloud staggered back a bit from the impact, but regained his balance. In retaliation, he tried to slash at the two warriors. Unfortunately for him, the attack was stopped as Donald began using magic. Cloud turned to Donald and ran towards him. Mirage saw the target advancing toward her partner and quickly readied her Angel's Tear blades.
In moments, she passed her opponent and was in between the soldier and Donald. Then Sora again jumped up and slashed at their foe. This time however, the damage was greater and Cloud crashed to the ground.
Mirage smirked, her green eyes shining a malevolent shade.
Cloud got up and slashed at Sora twice, cutting into his shoulder deeply.
Suddenly, a stream of ice hit him just after a voice yelled "Icicle!"
The attack belonged to Donald. At the same time Goofy, who had seemed absent from the fight, suddenly smashed into Cloud. The assault knocked him off balance, and Sora and Mirage attacked him simultaneously. Cloud hit the ground again, only this time he didn't get up.
Sora's team had won.
After a moment Cloud stood and limped away, and Mirage almost went to help. But then she realized it likely would be taken the wrong way, so she stopped herself. She felt bad for having to fight her once-upon-a-time friend, but she knew she had no choice.
Especially if he was working for Hades.
Besides, it looked as though Cloud didn't recognize her anyway. That thought hurt, but Mirage had little time to worry about it, however, as the ground suddenly started to shake violently.
"What's g-g-going on?" Goofy cried as he tried to keep his balance.
The source of the shaking made it's appearance in the form of a huge black dog with three heads jumping over the arena walls.
"What is this thing?" Sora asked as it leaned close to him and growled.
Mirage threw one of her swords at the creature, distracting it from Sora.
"It's Cerberus!" She answered, "Hades' pet!"
"Hey! You guys gotta get out of there!" Phil shouted.
So the group ran, except for Mirage who went to Cloud, who had collapsed.
"I...can take care of...myself." He protested, and Mirage scoffed.
"Yeah, well I'm helping anyway. Get used to it, Cloud."
That comment surprised Cloud. He was sure no one here knew his name, 'cause he hadn't told anyone. So how did this girl know it? But as he thought about it, he realized that this girl seemed familiar. And during battle, her movements were similar to...
"...Mirage?"
"Nice of you to figure it out."
"Well, it's... been what, eight.. years? Can you... blame me...?"
And Mirage shrugged.
"Nah, not really."
By this time everyone had reached the lobby at the same time someone else came running out to confront Cerberus.
"Herc!" Phil shouted.
Everyone watched as Herc started to fight, but they soon realized that he couldn't take the beast alone. Sora was the first to make the first move, followed by Mirage, out into the arena again.
"Hey, where are you going? You can't go out there!" Phil protested, and Cloud agreed.
"It's not safe."
"I have to help, Cloud. I can't just sit on the sidelines and wait. You should know that; you're the one who taught me to be that way." Mirage said.
Then she looked at Sora, who nodded, and the two ran out. Donald and Goofy immediately followed, and after a moment even Cloud joined them. With all of them fighting, Cerberus went down easily. Once the battle was over, a keyhole locked it, and a gummi block appeared. Gummi blocks were what made up their ship, and they could tell this was an unusual one. Decided to show it to Leon, the group prepared to leave.
Before they went, they gathered in the lobby again, except for Cloud and Mirage.
"Thus, I do hereby dub thee junior heroes, and confer upon thee full rights and privileges to participate in the games. Further—"
Phil read from the certificate he prepared for Sora and the others.
"Hey! What do you mean, 'junior heroes'?" Donald asked.
Phil told them that they still didn't understand what it took to be a true hero.
0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0
"What are you going to do now?" Mirage asked Cloud.
"Go somewhere else. Keep looking."
"What are you looking for? Why can't you come home? Everyone misses you! Won't you come back?"
But Cloud didn't answer, and asked his own question instead.
"Why are you traveling with Sora? Why are you not at home?"
"I'm looking for Abbey. Sora said she's been living on Destiny Islands with him and his friends."
"...Abbey...?"
"She's alive, Cloud. I'm gonna find her, and bring her home."
0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0
Seeing that there wouldn't be any games for awhile, Sora and the others prepared to leave. Outside, they saw Mirage talking to Cloud on the steps.
"Hey, are you alright?" Sora asked, and Cloud nodded.
"Why did you go along with him, anyway?"
"I'm looking for someone. Hades promised to help. I tried to exploit the power of darkness, but it backfired. I fell into darkness, and couldn't find the light."
"You'll find it." Sora encouraged, "I'm searching too."
"For your light? Don't lose sight of it."
Cloud stood then, and walked away.
"Cloud!" Mirage called after him, and he turned.
"Mirage..."
She hugged him.
"Be safe." She whispered.
"You too. Bring Abbey home."