AN-Heyooo! Back with another chapter! This one is... interesting, to say the least. I certainly like the first half of it more than its latter half but ehhhh whatcha gonna do when ya basically gotta sum up a bunch of gameplay? Anyway, there are inklings in here of things that are important for the rest of the fic, so I'd say pay close attention to it all the same. And with that outta the way, I'd say let's get started!
Chapter 5: Go the Distance
I'll be there someday, I can go the distance
I will find my way if I can be strong
I know every mile will be worth my while
When I go the distance, I'll be right where I belong
The temple's stark, dramatic collapse rattled just about all of Thebes from the ground up, sending perhaps the most violent of tremors yet rippling through the city streets. Just about everyone felt it, from the families bunkering down in their homes in the hopes that the ongoing torrent of destruction wouldn't find them there, to the stray stragglers running from the rampaging flames to find some sort of shelter or refuge, to even Maleficent and Pete as they kept their search for the mysterious black box going.
With few bystanders around to stop them, the wicked pair had taken to tearing up one of Thebes' usually scenic gardens, acting on Hades' tip that the prize they were looking for might be somewhere nearby. The dark fairy stood apace from the messy hole her henchman was hastily digging, just one of several marring the garden's once pristine stony grounds. However, this work was soon interrupted by the hefty earthquake that sent the entire city shuddering, inevitably sending Pete falling flat on his face amidst the dirt he was digging up, much to his frustrated exasperation.
"Hey! What's the big idea!?" the henchman snapped as he popped his head out of the whole angrily, shaking the dirt off his shoulders. "That there rumble had to've been the biggest one yet! Don'cha think we should check it out?"
"No," Maleficent rejected bluntly, almost boredly even. "Whatever senseless rampage Hades is inflicting upon this singular world is none of our concern. What we're after will ensure us the power to spread my domain to other worlds on a far grander scale than a mere petty coup such as his."
"Hmph, so you keep sayin'…" Pete grumbled as he turned back to his ongoing work. "Are you sure this box with the Book of Prophecies is even for reals? I think that dingbat in black was pullin' your leg."
"Be quiet and dig, you imbecile," the dark fairy scowled impatiently. "I must find that Book of Prophecies and make it my own. His was the only clue we have. We cannot afford to dismiss it without a thorough investigation."
"I'm just sayin'," Pete continued sullenly. "A shot in the dark ain't gonna get us any closer to—oh!"
"What is it?" Maleficent quickly turned to her henchman at his sudden change of tune. "Have you found something? Show it to me at once, fool!"
"Yes sir-eey!" Pete exclaimed, proudly holding up a small chest with a skull acting as its lock. "This has gotta be that Pandora's Box Hades mentioned!"
Whatever interest the dark fairy had show before immediately fell as she looked over the box her henchman was presenting her with. "Leave it," she said staunchly, turning her nose up at the chest.
"W-what?" Pete asked, crestfallen. "After all that diggin'?"
"That is not the box which I desire," Maleficent said coldly. "We are finished with this world. Come."
"Aww…" the henchman sighed, disappointed as he tossed the box back into the hole where he had found it before hurrying after the dark fairy. Maleficent had all but conjured up a dark corridor so they could take their leave, yet before stepping through it, she suddenly stopped shot, much to Pete's confusion.
"Hold a moment…" she mused, turning back around with a hint of careful scrutiny in her tone. "Do you feel that?"
"Uh… what?" Pete asked blankly. "Ya mean the wind?"
"No, you buffoon," Maleficent scowled before stepping forward again in deep concentration. "Its darkness. Deep, pure, unconcentrated darkness…"
"What, like the sorta darkness the Heartless are made of?" Pete asked, still not following.
"No… this darkness is… different…" the dark fairy said, still clearly captivated by it. "I can sense it; its far more powerful than that of any mere Heartless. And most interesting of all… is that it seems to be radiating from a source of light, of all things…" She took pause once more, seeming to ponder over this oddity before a small, intrigued grin crossed her features. "Perhaps our time in this world is not quite finished after all…"
Even after the temple's uproarious fall finally stilled, the dust and smoke stirred up by it still seemed to be everywhere. Though the musky fog concealed the devastation somewhat, it did nothing to change or undo what had been done, something that Sora, Donald, and Goofy all felt just as heavily as the newfound silence surrounding them. The trio didn't make much of an effort to break that silence as they all sat in apt shock before the ruins of the temple, the painful realization that Hercules was pinned, or more accurately crushed beneath those very ruins hitting them all at the same exact time.
Donald and Goofy were the first to shakily rise to stand, both of them remaining cautious as they approached the fallen temple to check for any signs of the legendary hero amidst the wreckage. "Hercules!" Donald called as loudly as he could. "A-Are you ok?!"
"Hey, Herc! Can ya hear us!?" Goofy shouted, just as concerned. The pair paused for a moment, waiting and watching for any sort of shift in the rubble that would herald a response from the hero. However, as seconds began to pass into minutes without any such sign, the gravity of the situation became all too clear. "G-gwarsh, fellas…" Goofy muttered sadly, removing his hat out of respect for their supposedly fallen friend. "I don't think he's-"
"Why?" Donald and Goofy were quick to turn around to face Sora upon hearing this, both of them taken aback by just how intense his tone was. He was still sitting on his knees, his burns still quite apparent across his arms as his hands dug into the grass below him. His expression was tight and agonized and most of all angry, focused on neither of his companions but rather at the ground in front of him as he continued just as harshly. "Why didn't you just let me help him?!"
"…Aw, Sora…" Goofy began fretfully as both him and Donald turned back to the Keybearer with the intent of comforting him. Comfort that, as upset over the unnecessary loss of such a good friend, Sora completely refused to simply accept.
"If you guys had just let me stay and fight those Heartless, this never would have happened!" he exclaimed hotly, finally glaring up at the two. "I could have bought Herc enough time to get out!"
"And you would have been crushed instead!" Donald argued back rationally before reigning his own anger back a bit. "You were hurt; you're still hurt! We had to get you out of there before things got any worse!"
"Well, it's way too late for that since things just got much, much worse!" Sora snapped bitingly.
"Aw, c'mon, fellas," Goofy attempted to interject upon seeing Donald twitch with incoming anger in response to such a fierce remark. "We shouldn't be fightin' at a time like thi-"
"We were just trying to save your life!" the magician cut the captain off as he addressed the Keybearer sternly. "Why do you have to have such a problem with that?!"
"Because I never asked you to!" Sora protested defiantly. "I can do things on my own! I don't need you guys to always rush to my rescue!"
"Well sometimes you do!" Donald countered. "If you're not gonna take care of yourself, then someone has to! We told Master Yen Sid we would keep an eye on you, and that's exactly what we're gonna do, whether you like it or not!"
Sora was more than prepared to keep this argument going, however, before he could get another word in edgewise out, the temple ruins finally began to rumble once more. The trio quickly turned back towards them with a shared gasp of surprise, each of them watching with wide eyes in the hopes that Hercules would somehow emerge from the rubble unscathed. However, what did end up popping out of the structure's devastated remains was just about the exact opposite of the legendary hero, much to the trio's immense disappointment.
In sudden, furious succession, a multitude of Heartless, the very same flaming creatures that had been in the temple at the time of its collapse, burst out of its wreckage, clearly more incensed than ever before as they landed down before the trio, ready to attack anything and everything in their path. "T-they're back?" Goofy asked, aptly alarmed as he prepped his shield for the fight ahead.
"Of course, they'd survive!" Donald huffed, frustrated as he brandished his staff. "Sora! Go find somewhere to take cover! I'll heal your burns when we're done; and no arguing with us about it this time!"
Surprisingly enough, this time Sora didn't argue, though he made no effort to move, even as his companions engaged the Heartless in combat. Instead, he simply stayed where he was, watching the starting battle and growing angrier and angrier the more he realized just how unfair every single part of it all was. It was unfair that they hadn't had enough time to help Hercules get out of the temple alongside everyone else. It was unfair that these mindless, vicious Heartless had survived when someone as noble and brave as the legendary hero seemingly hadn't. But what Sora quickly realized that the most unfair thing of all was that he couldn't do anything about any of it. Not only was it too late to help the hero now, but even if it wasn't, that didn't change the fact that he was still heavily injured, still weak and worn from his loss of strength and power as a whole. And to make matters worse was the fact that Donald and Goofy, his own companions and friends, seemed to be the ones most intent on keeping him out of the fight. He understood that their protectiveness came from a place of concern, but when push came to shove in a time such as this, Sora could only find such concern frustrating, suffocating even. They were limiting him, holding him back from working towards the strength he knew he had to regain, and the more he thought about their doubts in him, in everyone's doubts really, the more upset, the more outraged the Keybearer became.
Donald shouted out another authoritative demand for him to flee the scene of the battle, though Sora hardly heard it as lost in his own furious thoughts as he was. Though his thoughts weren't the only thing distracting him as a sudden, sharp, bitter chill suddenly surged through his entire body, spiking at his heart in particular. The Keybearer let out a small hiss of pain through his teeth as he placed a gentle hand over his inexplicably-aching chest, only to glance down to find a sight that was much more alarming by far. His entire hand was covered in darkness, a black, inky shade of shadow that seemed to be rising up his arm at an unsettlingly steady pace. In fact, that same darkness seemed to be creeping up the rest of his body as well, painting his clothes and skin in its nightmarish pallor as it made an obvious beeline for both his mind and his heart. Sora recognized this horrific transformation well, though it was a far cry from how it usually felt, especially as his senses, his very mind altogether began to fade under such an immense pall of darkness. In fact, it acted so fast in forcing itself upon him that he had no chance to wonder how or why this was happening; instead, all he could do was panic. "D-Donald! Goofy!" he choked, reaching out a shaking, shadowy hand to the duo still battling the Heartless. "I-I… s-something's wrong! I'm… I-I can't-"
The Keybearer cut himself off with a sharp, anguished cry as the darkness tightened its reigns around his heart. Donald and Goofy only barely managed to turn back around to face Sora just in time to watch the shadows fully overtake him. The rampaging Heartless were all but forgotten as the pair rushed forward to their transforming companion, fearful as they ever were whenever this sort of dangerous shift took place, however, as soon as it was complete, they were quick to realize that this new form he had taken on was quite unlike anything they had witnessed before.
Indeed, it was still somewhat familiar: he was still drenched in absolute darkness from head to toe, not a speck of light to be found anywhere save for his eyes. They were like bright, piercing full moons, wide and large as they seemed to stare at nothing and everything all at once. His fingertips had turned into long, spindly, pointed claws and though his mouth seemed to have disappeared entirely, he still let out a series of low, rumbling, rather feral growls as he clamored upright into a hunched, almost animalistic stance. However, what set this form apart from the past was the Keyblade that materialized within his clawed grasp, a weapon he had never been able to utilize like this before; there was no doubt it was still the Kingdom Key, though much like Sora himself, it was enshrouded with shadow to the point that only its silhouette was recognizable. Donald and Goofy practically froze up in fear as their darkened young companion looked between the two of them with his glowing, emotionless eyes, seemingly recognizing neither of them, even as they made a shaky attempt at communicating with him.
"S-Sora?" Goofy ventured first, albeit quite apprehensively as both of them kept a safe distance from the Keybearer, knowing just how dangerous and unpredictable he could be like this. "A-are ya still-"
The captain was succinctly cut off as Sora suddenly snapped his glance away from the pair and towards the crowd of Heartless still bouncing around behind them. With fast, erratic movements, he suddenly lunged forward, nearly knocking his companions over in the process as he ran towards the creatures almost on all fours, Keyblade still in hand all the while. And then, with a ferocity that outright terrified both Donald and Goofy as they stood on the sidelines watching, Sora tore into the Heartless without any sort of mercy whatsoever, clawing and keying at them with vicious, deadly attacks. His monstrous growls and hisses were just as apparent as the tendrils of darkness leaking off of him as he cut through the once menacing group of creatures, ignoring their flames in favor of extinguishing their existences altogether. In a way, it certainly did seem that, in however mindless this furious rampage might have been, Sora was enacting some sort of retaliation against these Heartless, both for injuring him before and for surviving the temple's collapse while Hercules hadn't. Which was why, with the superior strength the darkness allotted him, it only took him a mere matter of minutes to clear the creatures out, leaving not so much as a single one of them alive in the wake of such a violent outburst.
With the last of the Heartless finally gone, Donald and Goofy were more than prepared to let out a shared sigh of relief, though that sigh was something they held off on the moment they noticed something was extremely off. Namely, the fact that Sora hadn't returned to normal yet, even though the battle was over. Instead, he remained entrenched in darkness, his former aggression replaced with an apparent sense of aimlessness as he stood hunched over, glancing around idly for something to attack. The duo exchanged a nervous glance as they hesitantly decided to approach him, hoping that they'd be able to bring their young companion back to his right mind, even if they had no idea how.
"S-Sora?" Donald began first, garnishing the wayward Keybearer's attention. He looked towards his companions with wide curious eyes, thankfully showing no violent intent as he simply stared at them blankly. "C-can… can you hear us?"
Sora simply tilted his head at this as if he was confused, much to the pair's growing concern. "Uh… maybe he's just havin' a hard time understandin' us?" Goofy guessed with a frown. "Hey, Sora, can ya try giving us a nod if you understand what we're sayin' to ya?"
The Keybearer did no such thing as he instead remained stationary, leaning forward slightly though still not making any sort of effort to communicate with his worried companions, not that he very well could even if he wanted to in this form to begin with. "W-what are we gonna do?!" Donald exclaimed, aptly fretful. "He's never been… l-like this for so long before! What if he stays stuck that? What are we supposed to do then?!"
"Aw, don't worry, Donald," Goofy reassured as encouragingly as he could, though upon sparing a brief glance over at Sora again, he couldn't deny that the very same prospect brought him just as much dread. "This is Sora we're talkin' about here! He's not gonna let a little darkness take over his heart for too long!"
"Y-yeah!" the magician perked up as he forced himself to believe that. After all, the alternative was much too grim to even think about. "C'mon, Sora! You gotta snap out of it!"
"That's right!" Goofy added just as firmly. The pair worked past their nerves so they could each place a hand on their young companion's shadow-streaked shoulders. The sudden touch was enough to elicit a distrustful glare, accompanied by a small warning growl out of Sora, but surprisingly, he made no move to attack as he watched the pair carefully as they continued their appeal. "Ya need to come back to us!" the captain said with a bright smile. "We're a team after all, aren't we?"
"And you're the one who keeps this team together!" Donald chimed in confidently, noticing as the dark aura radiating off of the Keybearer was finally starting to diminish somewhat. "We're sorry about what happened before, but we just don't wanna lose you! To something like… this, or to anything else!"
"But we're not worried anymore," Goofy assured, tightening his grip on the Keybearer's shoulder supportively. "'Cause we know just how strong your heart is, Sora! Heck, that's somethin' we've known all along, and so have you!"
"Which is why you're not going to just let the darkness have it!" Donald proclaimed, almost overwhelmed with relief when Sora finally closed his otherwise unblinking yellow eyes. "Right?"
The pair finally paused, waiting to see if their uplifting rhetoric worked. And sure enough, it did as the shadows settled on Sora finally began to lift, as if he had stepped out of the darkness of night and back into the midday sun as his usual colors and vibrancy returned. And with it, came the return of his own consciousness, though it was somewhat slow to fully reawaken as he let out a small, tired groan as his eyes—thankfully back to their usual deep blue—fluttered open just as he collapsed to his knees before the pair. Donald and Goofy still didn't remove their hands from his shoulders, even as he looked up at the two of them, his expression weary and disoriented as he tried to catch his lost breath. "D-Donald? Goofy?" he asked, his voice soft and sedated and filled with confusion. "W-wha-"
"Sora!" the duo cheered joyfully, not hesitating to engulf the unprepared Keybearer in an unexpected hug. As a result, the entire trio toppled over into the grass, Donald and Goofy laughing brightly all the while, and though it took a moment, Sora slowly joined in their levity, even if he largely had no idea where it was coming from.
However, unbeknownst to the group amidst their bout of allayed celebration, was the pair of figures standing on one of Thebes' higher structures above them, a pair that had just observed everything that had happened firsthand. "Well then…" Maleficent smirked, clutching her staff as she kept her gaze focused on the trio below. "It seems as though I truly have underestimated that boy in the past…"
"Boy, I'll say!" Pete chimed in, absolutely baffled. "What was up with all that darkness coverin' him anyway? I thought he was supposed'ta be one of them goodie-goods, all full o' light and whatnot."
"It would appear that his heart is not as 'full of light' as we had previously been led to believe…How… fascinating…" the dark fairy mused, her grin widening as a malevolent new idea came to her. "Perhaps what we're truely searching for isn't that far out of our reach after all…"
"Huh?" Pete glanced around in confusion. "But I don't see any black boxes 'round here…"
"Forget about the black box for now," Maleficent said simply.
"Wha-?!" the henchman exclaimed, flabbergasted. "B-but we just spent the past several days lookin' all over for it! How are we just supposed'ta forget about it like it ain't nothing'!?"
"Because, you oaf," the dark fairy said sharply as she summoned a dark corridor for them to take their leave. "If all goes according to plan, then not only will the box fall into our hands, but so too will each and every world in our path."
"Oh yeah?" Pete inquired, curious. "And how do ya see that?"
Maleficent took pause before entering her dark corridor to take her leave, casting another brief, intentful glance down at the trio on the ground, or more specifically, the Keybearer among them. "By plunging a noble heart into the depths of darkness and despair…"
And just like that, the duo left, still completely unnoticed by the trio below as they made progress in recuperating from their most recent harrowing experience. Now that they actually had some time to spare, Donald made sure to finally heal Sora's still persistent burns while both him and Goofy fretted over their young companion, even despite the fact that the Keybearer himself was still somewhat out of it.
"What happened to you?!" Donald fussed, though concern clearly filled his tone as he finished casting cure. "Why didn't you go back to normal after the Heartless were gone like you usually do when you get like that?!"
"Why didn't I… what?" Sora asked with a frown as he placed a hand against his somewhat aching head. "What are you talking about? When I get like what?"
Donald and Goofy exchanged a worried glance at this, both of them taking on the same sort of confusion their young companion was showing. "Uh… don'tcha remember any of what just happened, Sora?" the captain asked patiently.
Sora paused, his brow furrowing in deep thought for a moment before he ultimately shook his head. "No, the last thing I can remember is…" he hesitated, partially out of not wanting to admit the truth, though for the sake of figuring out what was going on, he begrudgingly did anyway. "I-is feeling angry and… and hurt. And then, w-when I looked down at my hand it was covered in-" He cut himself off with a gasp, his eyes widening with the almost sickening realization of what had happened. "D-darkness… Oh no… No, no, no, no, no, please tell me I didn't-"
"Y-you did…" Donald and Goofy confirmed in grave unison, both of them averting the poignant fear starting to well up in Sora's eyes as he looked between the two of them desperately.
"B-but on the bright side, ya did get rid of all the Heartless!" Goofy tried to reassure their young companion, especially as he let out a loud groan and buried his face into his hands out of shame.
"But on the bad side, we almost weren't able to get you to snap out of it…" Donald muttered apprehensively.
"I can't believe this…" Sora huffed as he rose to stand and pace out of frustration, largely with himself this time more than anyone else. "How do I just not remember any of this!? Usually when this happens, I'm able to at least feel some of what goes on, but this time it was like I totally blacked out! What's going on with me lately?!"
"M-maybe it has somethin' to do with you losin' your strength?" Goofy ventured a guess, though it was a rather arbitrary one at best.
"Ugh, why wouldn't that surprise me?" Sora asked with an annoyed scowl as he crossed his arms. "And so much for trying to regain that strength; how am I supposed to do that if I can't even control something like this?"
"Aw, c'mon, Sora, you can't just give up now cause of one tiny thing like this," the captain encouraged with a small smile.
"That's right!" Donald readily agreed. "If one thing's for certain, its that whatever's going on, we'll figure it out, together!" To emphasize his point, the magician put his hand out, and Goofy readily placed his own on top of it. The pair kept up their reassuring grins as they looked to their upset young companion, who couldn't really stay that way for long as he finally decided to accept the support they were offering him this time.
"Right," Sora nodded with a smile of his own as his hand landed down on top of his companions'. "Together."
However, the trio barely had time to revel in their newfound solidarity before the ruins of the temple began to shift behind them yet again. In light of recent events, all three of them were on high alert as they turned beck to the fallen structure, their weapons in hand to take on whatever might emerge from it.
"What now?" Sora asked, slightly aggravated as he tightened his grip on his Keyblade. "More Heartless?"
"Wait a second…" Goofy said, squinting to see through the last of the settling dust to find a familiar silhouette walking out of it towards them. "That ain't no Heartless… T-that's-"
"Hercules!" the trio exclaimed in stunned, yet delighted unison as the legendary hero finally emerged from the wreckage. He looked no worse for wear, a little dirty from the rubble, with a few scars and scratches here and there, but for the most part he was still as strong and sturdy as ever as he came out to meet the excited group with a broad, confident grin.
"Well, getting out of there took a little longer than I thought it would…" Hercules noted with a small chuckle.
"You're telling us!" Sora exclaimed with a small, incredulous laugh. "You scared us!"
"Eh, it was nothing," the hero shrugged before pulling off an impressive flex. "That's what these are for."
Despite the circumstances, this bout of good humor, coupled with the immense relief they shared at simply seeing Hercules alive and well again was enough to elicit a full, hearty bout of laughter from the trio. However, this bout of levity unsurprisingly didn't last long as the group's attention was soon diverted by a dark corridor opening up only just a few feet away.
"Oh, wow! Very nice, full marks," the familiar freeshooter applauded sardonically as he stepped out of the dark portal. "And I'm not just talking about that smooth escape either."
No one paid much mind to what the Organization member might have meant by this remark as Sora, Donald, and Goofy all took up offensive stances against him. "Go away!" the magician shouted fiercely, in no mood to deal with any further foes after everything that they'd been through.
"No Organization!" Goofy added just as adamantly, ready to take up his shield at a moment's notice.
"You're Xigbar!" Sora exclaimed, far from pleased to see any member of the Organization after his last harrowing encounter with them, much less this particular one.
"And you've got a knack for pointing out the obvious, kid," Xigbar remarked, still smirking coyly as he approached the group. "All this altruism is giving me the warm and fuzzies. So then, does having a heart of light come with an extremely good insurance policy?"
"Ugh, just say what you mean for a change!" the Keybearer scowled, annoyed by how just about every member of the Organization always seemed to speak in riddles or circles.
"Oh, but I did though," the freeshooter shrugged. "No good will ever come from putting other people first. Anyone who does that usually ends up coming in dead last. It just makes sense when you really think about it."
"I don't think it does," Hercules spoke up, shaking his head in disagreement with such a cynical viewpoint. "I was able to save Meg's life because I was ready to risk my own. And because of that, we both made it out alive and together in the end."
"Because you have friends in high places, you mean," Xigbar countered dismissively. "Tricks like that don't fly for your average joe."
"And what do you know anyway?" Sora argued defiantly. "You weren't even there! If you were, you'd admire Herc's courage!"
"I don't admire one guy leaping into danger if it means someone else might have to jump in to save him," Xigbar rolled his visible eye. "You're all just lining up to lose out, dooming others to take the fall with ya. Oh, and you can spare me the usual party line. Yeah, hearts are powerful when they're connected. But if you put too much of that power in one place, some of those hearts might just end up breaking. Unless…" the freeshooter glanced back over his shoulder at the group, or more specifically, at Sora. "You were to somehow find a heart strong enough to hold it all in… But who am I kidding? A heart that strong doesn't exist…or does it?"
"Who cares?" Sora interjected, thoroughly irritated by this point. "Can't you just get to the point and get out of here already? It'd save us all a lot of time."
"Yeesh, so eager to see me go, aren't you?" Xigbar asked, raising a knowing eyebrow. "I expected at least a little better reception than this. Especially since I came all this way to offer you some pretty sound advice."
"Like we'd listen to any advice from you!" Donald huffed, aptly incensed.
"Yeah, knowing you, its probably just another trap or something," Sora agreed, sending the Organization member a suspicious glare.
"Look, I'm just trying to warn you that the game we're all playing here is about to change, big time," the freeshooter informed, still grinning all the while. "Still, Sora, that doesn't mean you should change. Accept the power you're given. Find the hearts joined to yours."
"Can't you take a hint?" Sora asked impatiently, all but ready to finally summon his Keyblade in the hopes that it'd get Xigbar to finally leave. "We already told you; we don't want or need your advice!"
"Ha! As if!" Xigbar scoffed, turning his back on the group as he began to walk away. "You don't have any choice but to follow this sweet little trail of bread crumbs. And at the end, you'll finally realize just what destiny has in store for you. In fact… your reward might be right around the corner. You're so close!"
And with that, before the Keybearer or any of his companions could so much as ask what the freeshooter meant by such vague remarks, Xigbar walked into the distant fog where he ended up disappearing into a dark corridor just like the one he had arrived in. A bout of confused silence rose up among the group as they silently pondered the freeshooter's cryptic "advice" to themselves. That is, until Sora voiced his undeniable confusion over what he'd just heard. "Hearts breaking?" he asked, more to himself than any of the others as he frowned almost fretfully. "Whose hearts?"
"Sora, don't let someone like him bother you," Hercules reassured steadily. "He's just trying to get under your skin 'cause he thinks he can. But we'll prove him wrong. We'll show him that our sacrifices haven't been for nothing."
Despite Hercules' encouragement, Sora couldn't help but still be somewhat concerned by Xigbar's rather ominous statements. Though he was quick to put that concern aside, replacing it with a confident smile as he nodded in agreement with the hero's resolve. "You're right," he said, deciding to fully believe that fact himself rather than listen to what any member of the Organization had to say.
"Mm hm!" Goofy added enthusiastically. "Besides, we're already proof enough of that!"
"It's like we said before," Donald grinned just as boldly. "We're a team! When we're together, we can do anything!"
"Yeah!" Sora exclaimed, sharing their zeal. However, as the others all began to move on ahead with the intent of finishing their search of the city, he still stopped short to ponder over their brief, rather bizarre confrontation with the Organization member. Very few parts of what Xigbar had said seemed to make any actual sense, which wasn't that surprising given how cryptic and ominous those with the Organization tended to be with their monologues and speeches. Yet there was still one part of it all that left the Keybearer wondering whether this particular speech was just more empty, supposedly intimidating rhetoric or not. "And at the end," the freeshooter had said with a smile that easily conveyed that he knew something the rest of them didn't, though exactly what that something was, Sora hadn't the faintest clue. "You'll finally realize just what destiny has in store for you. In fact, your reward might be right around the corner. You're so close!"
"What reward…?" the Keybearer muttered to himself, trying to fathom what implications such a confusing statement was even supposed to carry. If it was any sort of reward the Organization intended on trying to offer to him, then of course, Sora knew he wanted absolutely no parts of it whatsoever. But if it happened to be something else altogether…?
Sora was quick to shake his head clear of such pointless thoughts. It didn't matter what "reward" Xigbar had spoke of was, especially when that reward, good or bad, might very well not even exist in the first place. As it was, it was probably just another trick, another lie and deception among countless others meant simply to lead him astray off his intended path. Which was why the Keybearer boldly decided to just ignore it all for the time being to rigidly stay on that path, hoping to seek his own kind of reward at the end of it all. Namely his lost strength to be regained, and the hearts of those so unfairly lost, all of which were waiting, no, depending on him.
And despite any mocking villain, soothsaying Organization member, or even the unseen darkness or hidden rage pressing against the doors of his own heart, Sora was determined to not let any of those wandering, waiting hearts down.
The rest of their sweep through Thebes was surprisingly smooth and speedy. Most of the townsfolk in peril had already been escorted out of the diminishing flames to safety, and the group wasted little time in rounding up the rest of the stragglers. Heartless still popped up in their path from time to time, but even their numbers were lower than before, their aggression lessened somewhat. In a way, it almost seemed as though Hades seemed to be shifting his focus away from the city entirely, something that didn't really surprise any of them. After all, the lord of the dead had sent the message of his immense power quite well in this attack on the town, but it was obvious that wasn't his end goal like apparent control of the entire cosmos seemed to be. However, the group didn't get a complete confirmation on this theory until they ended up circling back around to Thebes' central square, only to be met with a familiar flying steed and its pair of riders almost as soon as they arrived.
Pegasus touched down firmly right before Hercules and the trio, both Meg and Phil sharing allayed grins as they relayed the good news they had to share from their scouting from above. "Nice job, Wonderboy," Meg congratulated the hero warmly. "We checked the whole town. Looks like everyone's finally safe."
"That's great," Hercules said, letting out a sigh of relief that Sora, Donald, and Goofy all easily shared in on. "We did what we could to help."
"I'll say," Meg smirked, glancing up to address the entire group playfully. "Looks like you heroes have been busy little bees."
Sora, Donald, and Goofy all perked up at this, taking the praise proudly, even if Phil was quick to interject to detract it. "Eh, from what I saw while we were flyin' overhead, you three were passable, at best," the satyr remarked flippantly, though he did break out into a wry grin upon noticing the offended glances the trio sent his way. "Hey, I'm kiddin'! Ya did good. At least none of ya died, so that's definitely a plus in just about every book there is."
This quip was more than enough to get a laugh out of the entire group, though it was ultimately a short lived one as Pegasus let out a small, yet serious whicker, diverting everyone's attention towards Mount Olympus afar in the distance. "Oh, look…" Meg sighed wearily, noticing the fearful sight first. "More trouble…"
Trouble indeed summed the situation up well as everyone looked to the mountain towering high over the city. Usually, Mount Olympus's impeccably tall peak was awash in soft, fluffy clouds, clouds that obscured the glorious realm of the gods away from mortal eyes. However, now the clouds that swirled around that realm were black and stormy, marred by the occasional bolt of dark thunder to top off the sinister aura filling the very air itself.
"It's Hades…" Hercules scowled, not even having to think twice about where such darkness was coming from. "No wonder things have been quieter around here lately. He's going after the home of the gods."
Upon hearing this, the trio needed only to exchange a brief, determined glance, all three of them knowing that they hadn't backed down against Hades before and they certainly had no intentions of backing down against him this time. "Then let's go stop him!" Sora proclaimed, ready to do just that, even despite the apparent danger.
"Right," Hercules grinned, just as eager to put an end to the lord of the dead's twisted ambitions once and for all.
Knowing that the group had an important task ahead of them, Meg and Phil were quick to send them their best wishes and brief farewells before Pegasus whisked them off once more. And with that, they set off, hurrying onward towards the outskirts of town towards the path that would lead them back up the towering mountain ahead. They spared no time for breaks or distractions, knowing that time was of the essence in halting Hades' schemes as they began steadily making their way towards the summit. The Heartless started popping up more frequently with each cliff they scaled, but with heightened vigor and a renewed sense of purpose, the group took them on with stalwart gusto. After all, they were no longer on the defensive, simply trying to keep people safe from the rampaging creatures; now they were on the attack, hurrying to hit Hades where it hurt and nip his plans in the bud before they even had a chance to be fully realized. It was reinvigorating for all of them, to say the least, especially considering just how perilous and nearly deadly their time in the Thebes had been. But as they scaled Mount Olympus, they felt more eager, more united, perhaps even a bit stronger; ready to pit their noble team against whatever tricks and traps Hades might try to throw their way.
Of course, what he did actually intend on throwing their way was something much more immense than any of them could have expected.
The group had only made it about halfway up the mountain when the ground began to rumble once more, hardly an unusual phenomenon for any of them by now considering everything that had happened in Thebes. "This sure does feel familiar…" Goofy noted over the distant, unintelligible roars coming from the mountain's distant peak.
"Yeah, just like before," Sora agreed. "The only thing missing is Hades showing up to blow us off the mountain."
"This is getting worse by the minute…" Hercules mused, his manner quite serious as he kept his focus on the mountain's storm-obscured summit. "I hope I'm wrong, but my family may need me." Without wasting another second, the hero turned his sights to the sky and let out a loud, calling whistle. Pegasus soared in to respond to it, having already deposited Meg and Phil somewhere safe so he could race to his master's side if need be. "Sora, I'm gonna go fly ahead," Hercules said to the Keybearer as his winged steed touched down before him. "You've been a big help, but… leave the rest to me. Like I said, my family's counting on me; I shouldn't keep them waiting."
"Family?" Sora inquired curiously, having never heard the hero mention any sort of family members before.
"Yeah," Hercules grinned as he mounted Pegasus. "Dad's king of the gods." And with that and a simple wave of farewell, the hero took off, not realizing just how baffled his simple statement had left the trio in his wake.
"Whaaaat?!" Donald and Goofy exclaimed in unison as they exchanged an awed glance.
"H-his father is a god?" Sora asked just as incredulously. "But… wouldn't that mean Herc is a god too?!"
"I think it does…" the captain mused thoughtfully. "Ya know, it feels like this is something we should've found out a long time ago…"
"No wonder he's so strong!" the magician exclaimed. "That means he'll be ok on his own for sure. Won't he?"
"No," Sora shook his head. "Organization XIII's here. God or no god, he'll need our help dealing with them. And Hades too, for that matter."
"Good point," Goofy nodded firmly. "We gotta go!"
"Cause heroes never quit!" Donald emphasized as they all turned to face the peak before them once more.
Though Sora certainly agreed with his companions' noble sentiments, he didn't voice that agreement right away as he instead briefly thought back to the indirect advice that Hercules himself had offered him. Advice that the Keybearer was only really starting to understand the further along their journey progressed: "Hm, that's tough… All I know is… that she was in trouble. Suddenly, I wanted to save her with all my heart…"
"We fight with all our hearts…" Sora echoed the sentiment to himself softly, deciding to fully embrace that thought for himself. While thus far he'd had relatively little success in finding any viable, expedited way of regaining his lost strength, maybe that strength wasn't something he should have expected to come back to him in one fell swoop. Perhaps it was something that needed to be earned, regained over time through hard work and solid determination, both attributes the Keybearer had taken up before in order to build up that strength in the first place. Perhaps the way to bring it all back was exactly how the hero had said: by working, fighting with every ounce of resolve and courage his heart had to give. "C'mon!" Sora exclaimed to his companions, letting his newfound verve shine through has he began leading the way up the rest of the mountain. "Let's go show Hades what happens when he messes with the wrong heroes!"
Not wanting to leave Hercules without any backup for too long, the trio quickened the pace of their upward voyage to the peak. Whatever crowds of Heartless they encountered were either quickly dealt with or ignored altogether as they rushed past them, scaling the perilous mountain pass in the hopes of reaching the realm of the gods sooner rather than later. They could tell they were getting ever closer to their destination as the skies soon turned from bright blue to dark and stormy, rumbling with thunder as a torrential downpour began to spout from the dour clouds above. The rain was easy enough to ignore, however, the other elements brought about from Hades' Titans were a bit more of a challenge. The primary danger the trio faced the closer they got to the summit were rocks, heavy, crushing boulders tumbling down the cliffsides seemingly without end. It took some careful footwork and precise timing, but sure enough they managed to avert the rock Titan's projectiles and slip into the momentary safety of the enclosed mountain pass. The pass that led directly to the epicenter of the Titans' violent attack: the realm of the gods, Olympus itself.
Despite the storm raging on around it, Olympus was, to put it simply, absolutely immaculate. Its large golden gates led the trio to a radiant realm of sacred light, quite unlike any they had ever seen before. In absolute awe, Sora, Donald, and Goofy stepped foot into the divine domain, one that seemed to be entirely composed of sculpted clouds and grandiose golden structures as far as the eye could see. Needless to say it was a far cry from the damaged stony streets of Thebes or even the lush greenery of the mountain it capped of, something the trio unanimously noted as they tried to take it all in.
"Is this… Olympus?" Sora asked, still quite stunned by the drastic change of scenery.
"Gawrsh, it's amazing…" Goofy said rather quietly to maintain an air of reverence in such a hallowed place. However, if there was any group that cared about no such thing, it was the Heartless that showed up only seconds later. An entire army of shadowy, soldier-like figures materialized just a few feet away from the trio, fully armored and ready for battle. Fortunately, the trio was more than ready to take them on as they summoned their respective weapons, charging headfirst into the fray, this time, without any signs of hesitation. The scuffle was arduous to be sure, as the trio was certainly outnumbered by the horde of bulky Heartless surrounding them. However, the key difference between this skirmish and their initial fights in Thebes was clear: instead of working against each other, this time, the trio worked perfectly in sync, finally falling back into their old rapport they usually carried in battles of the past. And that rapport only continued as they cleared out the first wave of Heartless, though no rest awaited them as several more hordes seemed to be invading Olympus as a whole, diminishing the sanctity and security the realm of the gods should have known. Even so, Sora, Donald, and Goofy were more than equipped to deal with them as they tore their way through the weaker shadows, steadily cutting their way through towards the heart of Olympus in the hopes of meeting up with Hercules again there. And sure enough, that's exactly what they did.
The trio had just about reached the apex of the divine domain when they spotted their first glimpse of the hero. He was still perched on Pegasus as the dynamic duo swept through the air, slicing through any aerial Heartless he came across as he made a beeline for the central citadel, where Hades and his Titans no doubt awaited. Hercules happened to spot the trio himself as he flew high above them, and he offered them a small, confident nod of greeting, having already expected them to follow after him, even despite his advising against it. Still, if there was anyone who could help him take on the threat Hades and his sinister monsters posed, Hercules knew it'd be those three, no doubt.
It seemed as though they were all going to arrive not a moment to soon, either, as Hades himself stood smugly within the sacred rotunda, watching with a triumphant smirk as his Titans conquered the so-called "mighty" gods of the glorious Olympus. The lesser deities had all been restrained by the lord of the dead's darkened chains, left to watch as even the all-powerful Zeus himself was overpowered by the Titans' immense elemental powers.
"I swear to you, Hades!" the king of the gods shouted angrily down to his brother from his ever-expanding prison of solid fire and ice. "When I get out of this, I'll-" Zeus never got a chance to finish his threat as the freezing molten rocks finally covered him completely, effectively sealing him and all his sacred power away.
"Yeah, nah," Hades' grin deepened as he conjured up a dark throne, finalizing his newfound domain over the realm of the gods. "I'll be the one giving orders around here from now on, bolt boy."
"Don't get too comfortable, Hades!"
The lord of the dead shot upright in his seat upon hearing such a brazen proclamation, his baffled shock growing tenfold as he spun around to find a familiar hero flying in. Hercules sent Hades a challenging grin as he soared in upon Pegasus swiftly, his radiant sword poised to put an end to the lord of the dead's dark regime. But as startled and outraged by the hero's appearance alone, Hades was even more incensed to find that he wasn't alone.
"Yeah, 'cause we're here to stop you!"
All the lord of the dead could do was gape, absolutely appalled as he turned back towards the citadel's gates only to find Sora, Donald, and Goofy standing before them, their weapons in hand. Things only seemed to go from bad to worse for Hades as Hercules sped in, cutting through the chains binding the other gods with a single swing of his steady sword. The lord of the dead all but ignored the deities' united cheers of celebration over their release as his blue flames quickly spiked deadly red as a sign of his fury, fury that he had no qualms about showing as he fiercely demanded his Titans to cut these brazen interlopers down before they ruined his careful plans altogether.
"Get them!" he shouted to his quartet of mythical monsters. And sure enough, the Titans didn't hesitate to act on this intense command, storming forward with thunderous steps and leaving behind deadly trails of fire, ice, wind, and stone in their wakes. They towered tall over the trio in particular, and though the thought occurred to each of them that they were in over their heads in dealing with such massive monsters, it was quick to be pushed away as soon as the hero leapt off his winged steed to join them.
"You guys ready for this?" Hercules asked as he landed, not hesitating to take up a fighting stance against the rampaging Titans.
"We're always ready," Sora assured confidently, brandish his Keyblade for the no doubt daunting battle ahead.
And daunting it was. The Titans didn't bother holding back their initial blasts, going in for elemental attacks first, as would be expected. The immense gales caused by the wind Titan alone made things difficult for the group, but when coupled with the non-stop icy spikes, fiery blasts, and hurling rocks, they found that even getting anywhere close to the monsters to land so much as a single blow on any of them all but impossible.
"How are we supposed to fight them like this?" Donald huffed in annoyance as he launched another ultimately blocked flame spell over at the ice Titan. "They just keep knocking us back!"
"If only we could just fight each of 'em one-by-one," Goofy said, using his shield to deflect a hard-thrown stone. "That'd sure make things a lot easier!"
"Wait a second…" Sora mused with dawning realization as sudden, somewhat risky plan came to mind. "That's it! Herc, you think you can cause a distraction for us?"
"You can count on me," the hero grinned, not even having to ask what the Keybearer's possible plans were. Instead, Hercules boldly ran forward while the trio skirted off out of the Titans' notice. The hero made good on his word to provide a timely distraction as he vaulted up onto the rock Titan first, moving far faster than the sluggish, bulky creature could before finally taking up a perch upon one of its two flat stone heads.
"Hey, lava-breath!" he taunted to the fire Titan in particular. "Bet ya can't knock me off!"
As expected, the Titan took the bait as it sent its massive flaming arm swinging directly at the hero. And while Hercules was able to easily avoid it with a simple deft leap off the monster's head, the rock Titan was not as its fiery counterpart struck it hard. The momentous blow was more than enough to send the rock Titan flying, even despite its impressive weight and sturdy build, not just across the rotunda, but clear off the edge of the citadel altogether. And, with the other monsters distracted as they were with watching their fellow Titan plummet through the clouds, they failed to notice the trio rounding off behind the icy behemoth in particular, ready to carry out their decisive surprise attack.
"Ok, on three," Sora said discreetly to Donald and Goofy as they positioned themselves behind one of the ice Titan's rather spindly legs. "One, two-"
"H-hey! Hey! Hey!" Hades shouted from his spot on the sidelines upon noticing the trio setting up to take out another one of his Titans. Or ideally, even more than that. "What do you three numbskulls think you're doing!?"
"Three!" Sora shouted hastily, and not a moment too soon either. For just as Hades lobbed a series of smaller fireballs over at the trio in a haphazard attempt at stopping them, they leapt out of the attack's path entirely, instead enacting one all their own. Their weapons each struck the ice Titan's inner knee at the exact same moment, the sheer impact of their combined blow proving to be more than enough to shatter it entirely. The chilled creature let out a hiss of surprise, unable to catch itself as it began to topple over onto, fortunately enough onto none other than the fire Titan right next to it. The conflicting elementals instantly began acting against each other the moment they slammed into each other, resulting in both of them tumbling over on top of each other, effectively stunned.
"Nice one, you guys," Hercules congratulated the trio as they regrouped. "Looks like you just killed two birds with one stone. Or I guess I should say two Titans with one stone."
"Aw, shucks, they're not so tough by themselves!" Goofy assured brazenly.
"And with three down, that means there's only one left to go—whoa!" Sora was interrupted as the final Titan standing roared into vengeful action, launching all four of them upward with its violent gales. The breezy creature expanded the range of its twirling tornado, casting the group flying in just about every direction possible without any signs of letting any of them land safely. Getting in any attacks against the wind Titan also seemed to be out of the question as the monster kept itself firmly at the eye of its storm as it easily blew off any sort of spell or swing sent its way. And, after it seemed to get tired with toying with its struggling victims, the Titan finally turned them loose, its winds tossing them high before letting gravity take care of the rest. Fortunately, however, their shared freefall didn't end in disaster as Pegasus soared in just in the nick of time to come to their rescue. The winged steed retrieved Hercules out of the air first, and then deftly flew back in so he could catch Sora, Donald, and Goofy in turn before landing back at the edge of the citadel, a bit shaken up, but still no worse for wear.
Unfortunately, however, it seemed as though the group would receive no reprieve in this battle whatsoever. For just as they began picking themselves up to continue the fight, the three fallen Titans seemed to do the same. The monsters of fire and ice had finally broken away from each other and recovered, lumbering back up to their full, towering heights as they joined the wind Titan once more. And, to make matters worse, even the rock Titan somehow rose up through the clouds again to regroup with its companions as all four monsters came to surround the group, much to Hades' sadistic amusement as he continued observing the fight from afar.
"Yeah, that's right," the lord of the dead challenged with a vindictive grin. "Keep linin' em' up to knock 'em down. They'll just keep getting back up. Let's see if you plucky yutzes can do the same…"
"Gawrsh, I sure hope we can…" Goofy said, more to the others than to Hades. "Especially since we gotta fight all four of 'em at once again."
"We're right back to square one!" Donald added just as fretfully.
"So what?" Sora asked defiantly, refusing to let that worrisome fact phase him. "There's four of us too!"
"Actually," Hercules interjected, grinning as he looked up to the solid molten tower before them. "I think I can make it five." Without even giving any of the Titans a chance to attack, the hero leapt into action, hurrying up the hardened icy mound and breaking into its seemingly impenetrable surface with his bare hands alone. Light instantly poured out of the darkened rocks, signifying the revival of the king of the gods mere seconds before Zeus burst fourth from his prison, his divine might restored once more.
"Aha!" Zeus laughed triumphantly, his usual gusto showing as he turned to his son with a proud grin. "Thank you, my boy. Now… time to watch your old man get to work!"
The trio on the ground watched in apt excited amazement as the king of the gods conjured up two handfuls of his bright, iconic lightning bolts. Alternatively, Hades gasped in shocked dismay as his meticulous plans all began to fall apart in one fell swoop as Zeus chucked his thunderous projectiles at each of the Titans in fast, blinding succession. The monsters, well familiar with Zeus' incredible power and how outmatched even they were against it, reeled in pain from the brutal strikes and instantly fell back before the king of the gods could obliterate them altogether. Yet despite their frightened attempt at fleeing, Hercules wasn't about to let them get away so easily; the hero managed to grab ahold of the wind Titan's tail end as it whirled past him, grasping the very gusts themselves tightly as he swung its massive, tornado-like form around freely. Its suctioning winds were more than enough to pull the other three Titans into the cyclone, trapping each of them and their elemental might within its thrall. And, with a single hefty toss, Hercules sent the wind Titan, as well as the other three mythical monsters contained within it, flying as high as the outer reaches of the cosmos themselves, finally freeing Olympus from their legendary terror once and for all.
With the Titans taken care of, a round of celebratory cheers rose up from the trio, Hercules, Zeus, and the countless other gods who had been forced to watch the intensive brawl from afar, unable to offer their aid to the cause as a result of Hades' power. As for the lord of the dead himself, to say that he was outraged by such a crushing defeat was an understatement as his flames sparked red the moment he turned towards the noble group who had bested his intricate, practically perfect schemes.
"I can't believe it!" he shouted sharply. "I put eighteen years into that plan, and you've blippin' ruined it, just like that! I really don't like any of you… And believe me, that's me being nice. But I'm more than ready to get not so nice to take care of you CHUMPS!"
"Oh, just give it a rest already," Sora remarked, completely unintimidated by such hallow threats. "You'll never beat Herc, no matter how many times you times you try!"
"Yeah, go back to the Underworld where ya belong!" Goofy added vigorously.
"Go have the time of your afterlife!" Donald quipped with a wry smirk.
"Enough already!" Hades snapped fiercely. "I did NOT come this far to be ridiculed by Zeusy high and mighty, his little sunspot, and a trio of clowns! You know what? I'll just go ahead and destroy you myself!"
Despite the lord of the dead's literally fiery rage, the trio was more than prepared to brazenly square off against him. Fortunately though, it seemed as though they wouldn't have to as Hercules calmly intervened just in time. "Hades," the hero garnished a glare of immense ire from the lord of the dead, one that only seemed to amuse him all the more as he motioned towards Olympus' nearby glittering gates. "The exits' that way."
In all his anger, Hades had half a mind to put up a vicious fight regardless. However, as Zeus simply cleared his throat to carry across the unspoken reminder of his untold might, the lord of the dead begrudgingly decided to back off, knowing that if the Titans were no match this collective group combined, then chances were, neither was he. So instead, Hades simply let out a sour sigh of defeat, his flames returning to their usual blue as he began to sulk towards the gates, though he didn't make it there as Hercules decided to stop him one more time.
"Oh, I almost forgot," the hero interjected casually. His intent became immediately clear, however, as Hades glanced back towards him, only to be met with a swift, painful punch in the jaw. "That one's for trying to wreck Thebes."
"Augh! You'll pay for this!" Hades shouted bitterly, darkness swirling around him as he rubbed his sore cheek. "You all will! I have a very, very long memory! I can still dunk your little Nut-Meg in a river of dea-" The lord of the dead was swiftly cut off as Zeus easily sent a single lightning bolt his way, eliciting a loud shriek of literal shock from Hades as he made his rather embarrassing retreat back to the Underworld, finally defeated.
For now, at least.
With Hades and the Titans gone, the radiant peace that Olympus was known for easily returned in full force. The gods and goddesses gladly took up their seats of prominence and power once more, Zeus included as he heralded his son and his trio of plucky mortal friends the noble heroes of the realm. Still, with Thebes likely still recovering from Hades' onslaught, Hercules knew he couldn't stay to take part in the jovial celebrations for too long. And so it was that the hero decided to make his return to the mortal realm down below, and just as before, Sora, Donald, and Goofy accompanied him, even as they passed through Olympus' glorious gates once again. All the same, Hercules did stop short as soon as they did, pausing briefly to cast an almost wistful glance back at the world he knew he had come from, but wasn't really a part of anymore. Once again, the all-too familiar question filled the hero's mind, and it was a question that, ironically enough, Sora happened to curiously pose to him a mere moment later.
"Are you sure you wanna leave all this behind?" the Keybearer asked with something of a sympathetic frown.
"Yeah, isn't Olympus your home?" Goofy inferred thoughtfully.
"Its where your family is, isn't it?" Donald asked, sharing the concerned sentiment.
Hercules smiled softly at this, appreciating their worries though not fully sharing them as he looked past the gates towards the realm of the gods once more. "I can see my family anytime I want. But… if I stayed… then I'd have to be apart from the person I love most…. And that life would be empty." The hero's resolved smile widened a bit as he turned away from the gates and looked down the lengthy set of golden stairs leading up to it. There, waiting at the bottom for her hero's return, was none other than Meg; she said nothing, but instead simply returned the loving look Hercules sent her way, love that the hero knew, would keep him coming back to her every single time. "I finally know where I belong," Hercules said, a sense of confident finality in his tone. And then, without a second thought, the hero suddenly began bolting down the stairs, eager to brace the gap between him and Meg once and for all. The couple met in a tender, sweet embrace, one that easily conveyed their feelings for each other more than any words ever could.
Though the trio made sure to give the pair their privacy, they soon joined them at the bottom of the stairs, each of them warmed by such a touching sight. Meg and Hercules both returned their greeting grins as their hug dispelled and the hero turned to the Keybearer with a sense of renewed resolve. "Sora, we never got back to your question. Do you still think there's any way I can help?"
Though grateful for Hercules' kind offer, Sora, surprisingly enough, simply shook his head, much to the initial confusion of both of his companions. "Nah, its ok," he assured with a genuine smile. "I think this is something I'm meant to figure out for myself. I'll find my strength again the way you found yours: by fighting for something I care about… with all my heart. You know, its funny… I guess you did have the answer I was looking for after all."
Hercules nodded firmly at this, glad to see that the Keybearer's usual drive had finally returned in full force. "Well, you've definitely got heart, Sora. Just keep at it, and I know you'll be stronger than ever in no time."
"Yeah!" Sora exclaimed, playfully showing off his muscles, even if they didn't really compare to the hero's at all. "Who knows? I might even end up stronger than you are someday!"
"Oh brother…" Donald rolled his eyes at such a remark while Goofy chuckled in amusement. "There he goes again!"
"Hey, nothing's impossible!" Sora shrugged, letting out a small, good-natured laugh of his own as he began to lead the way forward.
"You guys heading out again?" Hercules asked with a knowing smirk.
"Yeah, we really should get going," the Keybearer noted a bit halfheartedly, always sad to leave good friends behind. "Sorry we can't stay and help clean up the mess Hades caused."
"Eh, don't worry about it," the hero assured with a shrug. "We have it covered."
"Now don't be strangers, you three," Meg advised with a wry grin. "Come back and see us again soon, k?"
"Yes, ma'am!" the trio returned with an exuberant salute, waving their final farewells to the couple as they took their leave to make the long trek back to the Gummi Ship.
"Ya know, Olympus really is an incredible place," Goofy noted as they began heading back down the mountain again.
"Yeah," Donald agreed. "Hercules must really have a strong heart to choose to just give it all up like that for love!"
Upon hearing this, Sora stopped short, unbeknownst to his companions as he cast a small, brief glance at the sacred peak they were leaving behind. "A strong heart…" he mused quietly to himself, daring to ask himself the question of, if he was ever somehow in a position similar to Hercules', whether or not he'd make the same choice himself. The Keybearer knew well that he'd never really known any sort of excessive power or position before, not that he ever really had much of a desire for those things in the first place. What Sora did know he wanted, what he had always wanted really, was to keep his friends safe, to be with them and stay with them, even though that hardly ever seemed to be the case anymore. But even so, if he ever had to choose between his friends: between Donald, Goofy, the king, Riku, Kairi and something far greater than he could ever hope to imagine, then he figured such a choice would beyond clear, to the point that he didn't even have to think twice, even hypothetically speaking.
His friends would always, always come first, no matter who… or what tried to come between.
So yeah, there ya have it! Our adventures in Olympus have reached their end, as fun as they were. Though to be honest, I'm kinda glad their done as this opens up the path to some more... interesting happenings in the next few chapters before we venture out into another Disney world (which won't be for a while, I gotta set some important stuff up after all lol). Anyway, again, sorry a lot of this did seem kinda rehashing KH3 stuff. I'm gonna try to not do that a ton moving forward, only when I really feel like something from 3 works well for my purposes (that scene with Xigbar for example? What he said there is gonna prove to be way more plot relevant here than it was in KH3, fyi). Anyway, don't wanna ramble on here for too long. Don't forget to let me know what you thought in the REVIEWS! Until next time!