The Quest 2: The Search for Oneself

by UkyoRafa

The sequel to my story, The Quest In the Name of Friendship. Sora and his friends have wakened from their sleep and have been confronted by new enemies the time has come for the heroes to gather and bring light to the darkness once more. BIG CROSSOVER

7. Chapter 6: Ancient Deities

Hey, guys.

First of all, Happy New Year. I hope you all had a great time :)

Secondly, there are two characters I must disclaim in this chapter: one of them is property of Mr. Kiosce Domingo; the other one is property of Sony Computer Entertainment's Santa Monica division.

Sorry if I took a bit long to upload this chapter, but I enjoyed my vacation :P With that said, I'll soon be returning to school... to the last semester of my Engineering career. By the look of things, this final task won't be as stressing as last time (one can only hope). Either way, I hope to upload chapters more often.

Oh, one last note: during this chapter and the following five-six, there will be multiple narrators. As always, I will let you know who is narrating what part.

Well, without further ado, I hope you enjoy!

Chapter Six: Ancient Deities

Narrator: Leon

Cid's cigarettes I could stand for a long, long time. One sort of gets used to the pestilence. Felicia's childish games were fun from time to time and she was cute doing them. Camille's lustful words... well, I suppose those weren't unpleasant at all. But Adrian... Dear God, one would have to possess Job's patience to endure him more than half an hour.

Don't get me wrong: Adrian's one hell of a funny guy and he sure knew how to make everybody have a good time. The thing is, he didn't know when to stop. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Siegfried all seemed to be very eternally pleased by his constant jokes and his witty remarks. I could have fun with him for about thirty minutes. After that, he became plain annoying. And what was worse was that he never lost the funny touch, so you couldn't really be mad at him. And, let's face it: it was really amusing to see him piss off Octavius every two seconds.

That said, I imagine that you already know that our journey to the Coliseum wasn't the most pleasant one. I was lucky to stay behind the ship's controls for most of the journey and barely paid attention to the lunatic vampire. But be that as it may, I couldn't get angry, because we had just gotten the news: Wilheim was alive and well.

Now, I admit I'm not the most emotional guy around. I've been accused of being cold and distant more often than not. Yet the thought of seeing Wilheim again simply made me happy. I thought we had lost him for good when we he had given up his heart to save Ukyo that fateful day at Hollow Bastion. It was nice to see that I had been wrong. Siegfried, I think, was the one who was most excited about seeing him. Who could blame him? After all, they hadn't seen each other in over thirty years... and that was because Siegfried had gotten killed. No doubt Wilheim was also most eager to see his younger brother alive and well. Truth to be told, I think we all were anxious to see them meet again... except, maybe, Octavius.

Do you think Adrian was annoying? Do you think I'm cold and distant? You'd be surprised how wrong you could be. The vampire at least made me laugh every once in a while. The were-bear only sat on his chair and remained quiet, the expression on his face always depicting misery and anger. He only talked when he wanted to tell Adrian to quit his yapping. Such indifference was really getting on my nerves. Mostly, I suppose, because our last adventure together had sort of softened me. But Octavius's will not to get emotionally involved with us was unconquerable. Most irritating.

Either way, we had a little problem onboard: Adrian had not drunk blood for the entire journey. Although he claimed that he was doing perfectly and that he could go on weeks, even months without feeding, his skin revealed otherwise. We could see his veins, the glow of his eyes had grown fiercer, and his fangs had augmented their size.

I'm sure you're asking yourselves right now why one of us didn't just give him a bit to drink. Well, the thing is, we all had knowledge of what it felt like when a vampire bit you. Either you would feel the most horrible pain or the grandest pleasure, depending on the leech that was feeding on your blood. And, since Adrian didn't want to hurt any of us, I think that not one of us wanted to spend a... nice while with him. He wasn't giving us much of a choice, though. The real question was, who would volunteer? Siegfried was most definitively out of the question: he claimed that having his blood sucked by vampires had been the most horrifying experience he had ever felt and he didn't want to go through anything of the sort ever again. Octavius... well, we ruled him out from the beginning. That pretty much left Sora, Goofy, Donald, and me. But, since we were about to reach the Coliseum, we all decided that it would be best if the vampire looked for another source once we got there. Only if there was no other choice would we draw straws.

"This is nothing," he assured, just about half-an-hour before our arrival to the Coliseum. "I've gone longer without drinking a single drop of blood. I can take it: I'm not like all of you, weaklings!"

"Well, your face sure tells us otherwise, Mr. Invincible," Siegfried chuckled.

"Yeah, you turn uglier by the minute," Donald quacked.

"It's not like you're an Adonis either, bird," retorted the vampire.

"It's not that we don't trust that you're okay, but it makes you think, when we look at you," Goofy murmured.

"I'm perfectly all right! I'm my jolly self, like always! The minute I stop making jokes, that's when you should start beginning to worry. But that doesn't happen too often, so you never know."

"You are impossible to comprehend, Adrian," I intervened. "It's like trying to understand the way women think," I added, and the boys all burst out in laughter, except for Octavius. You know, now that I think of it, if I saw 'except for Octavius' every time I say we laughed, I would become rather redundant, so I'll just skip that.

"Bah! I don't have to take this from all you, people! I was in 'Nam!" the vampire exclaimed.

"Uh-huh," Siegfried said. "And that's where the squirrel bit you or where you were accidentally cut by your companion?"

"DOH!! That was way after I became a vampire! Learn your history lessons well, boy!"

"Well, but I don't really beli—"

"DOOOHHH!!" Adrian interrupted, smiling as he did.

"If you just let me fini—" Siegfried tried to say, but the vampire was unstoppable.

"AAHHHH!!"

"Let me sp—!!"

"AAHHHH!!"

"Whatever!" Siegfried yelled and turned his back to Adrian, who had already caused the entire ship to go mad with laughter.

"But don't be angry!" he then said, while chuckling.

"Refresh my memory if you please, bloodsucker," Octavius unexpectedly intervened. "What clan of demons do you hail from? I assume you are Malkavian, for they are all accursed lunatics, very much like yourself."

"Hey, begging your pardon, but I'm just your regular wacko, nothing more," Adrian replied. "It's not like there's someone here, in my body, besides Adrian, and it's not like I can see dead people, hear demons and angels, or anything of the sort. I'm just silly; not scary."

"Well, your stupidity certainly is frightening," the were-bear grumbled. That was certainly more than I could take.

"Octavius, stop it already," I growled. "Since we got in this ship, you've done nothing but to insult Adrian. He's shown a lot of patience by not insulting you back."

"A son of shadows has no right to live."

"Okay, seriously, what have you got against me?" the vampire asked. This time he did not grin as he spoke.

"All vampires are dangerous creatures who know nothing but the pleasure of giving death to other beings, and that disgusts me," Octavius answered.

"Hey, cool it," Sora said. "I thought we had cleared that out. Not all vampires are evil."

"They certainly are perilous to the beings around them."

"Well, if you go into that territory," I snarled, unable to restrain myself. "Adrian wasn't the one who left Siegfried with one eye."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!!" the young man hastily exclaimed, getting up from his seat. "Hey, that wasn't his fault. He said he was sorry, and I don't blame him for anything."

"I know, but it's best he starts thinking about the things he says before he goes berserk with insults," I said.

"...Gwarsh, let's just take it easy, fellas," Goofy mumbled. "We don't want to be fighting against ourselves. That's not a nice thing to do."

I shrugged and looked away. It had been a very low blow, but he had it coming. I'm sure everyone else was thinking it: I was the only one with enough guts to shut his mouth once and for all. And so we continued our journey quietly.

Before long, though, we reached the Coliseum. It was quite a relief to get out of that ship. The tension inside of it was simply too great for anyone to handle. Yet as we landed on the world and stepped out, we realized that we had taken a wrong turn somewhere along our way, because the dark, immense cavern that housed a ghostly, reeking river in which we now stood was unknown to us.

"Um... are you sure this is the Coliseum, Leon?" Donald asked, without taking his eyes off the walls of the cave. We felt like an enemy could come out of them at any second.

"Of course I'm sure," I replied. "Either way, you're the one that landed the thing. You were looking at the radar and at the log book when we came here. Jiminy's Journal has the exact same coordinates that the screen displayed... This is the Coliseum, alright."

"But if that's right, then where's the Coliseum?" asked Sora as he looked around. "Unless it's that thing over there, but I sure as heck don't remember having it under a giant cave," he added, pointing at a far away structure that only he had noticed thus far.

Indeed, there was an enormous building that truly seemed to be a fighting arena. Eerie lights adorned it, making its walls shine with a phantomlike, green color. I discerned what seemed to be a skull carved on the stone, making it all the more unwelcoming. Whatever the case, that was most definitively not the Coliseum we knew and in which all of us, except Siegfried, have fought.

"Hey, guys, don't you think that maybe the place we're looking for is this way?" asked Siegfried, pointing at a passage I had not seen until then. They were stairs that led outside, to where the nocturne sky's stars shone brightly.

"I guess that's the way, then. Although I wonder what this place is..." Sora mumbled.

Yet before we could exit the gloomy cavern, we heard a loud shout. It had been a woman. Turning our heads to the direction of the yell, we saw a lovely maid. She wore a purple dress and had long, brown hair that fell at her back. Her eyes were blue and filled by terror; for we immediately noticed that she was being chased by a group of Heartless. I quickly recognized her: that was Meg, Hercules's girl. I had only gotten a glimpse of her during our former adventure, but that had been enough to remember her. Without a second thought, I drew my blade and attacked the monsters, as did my companions.

These enemies were unlike anything I had seen before. Most of them seemed like tiny dogs with fearsome jaws, while others appeared to be flowers rooted on the rocky ground, and finally, a there was a third type of Heartless that had a drill in place of a nose and could effectively use it to move freely through the ground.

The foes were numerous, but they proved to be little challenge. Sora let loose a barrage of fierce blows that destroyed many of the little dog-like creatures before they could even react. Some of them – the ones that weren't destroyed by his first attack – leapt at the brave boy, attempting to tear his arms and legs apart with their fierce jaws. But the Keyblade master, who had gained much experience and had learned many tricks over our past battles, hastily leapt back and hacked at those pesky Heartless before they got to him.

Donald unleashed a rain of thunder and ice that wreaked havoc upon our enemies. Chill and electricity quickly destroyed what was left of the little mutts. But the subterranean Heartless remained safely under the ground during the duck's magical storm, while the plant-like Heartless seemed completely unaffected by the lightning bolts. The icy grips of his spell did weaken them, though.

Siegfried, Adrian, Goofy, and I took care of the subterranean foes. As soon as they emerged from their hiding place, we slashed them with our sharp weapons, while Goofy slammed them with his trusty shield. Those that escaped the edge of my blade were instantly reached by my potent fireballs, which scorched them to ashes. Those Heartless were either too weak or too stupid, because I didn't even get a scratch on me during that battle. I think not one of us did, for that matter. Siegfried defended his body with his shield quite intelligently and counterattacked without mercy. It was clear to me that he had improved during the time we hadn't seen each other, which was quite good to know. The vampire struck the opponents with his scythe as if he were cutting grass, but instead of vegetation, it was his opponents' heads that which flew high into the air and then vanished in a quick burst of blue fire.

The plant-like Heartless attacked us with their razor-sharp roots, sticking them from under the ground, and with hard seeds which they shot from their petals. While their blows were difficult to dodge (save for Goofy and Siegfried, who hid behind their shields and did not suffer any harm whatsoever), their strategy had a fatal flaw that Octavius took advantage of without hesitation... The moment the were-bear saw one of those roots nearby, he raced at it and got a hold of it and then, with all his might, he pulled upward. The Heartless that suffered this fate were instantly uprooted and died right away. The rest of us were cut to pieces, burned, or smashed to death by the rest of us.

Very soon, there was not an opponent on sight. With a triumphant air, we helped Meg, who lay still on the ground, to her feet.

"Are you all right?" asked Sora.

"Yeah, I'm fine... those things nearly got me," she replied. "Wait a moment... I know you, fellows. You're the ones that rescued from that dreadful castle, aren't you?"

"Yeah, that's us," Donald quacked proudly.

"Well, thanks a lot again," she said.

"What were you doing here, anyway, Meg?" questioned Goofy.

"Well, you see, I was on my way to have a little talk with Hades..." she began to reply, but we all – most impolitely, I admit – interrupted her right then.

"Hades?!" we shouted, and then, Adrian added: "It's been ages since I saw him! How's the old rascal doing?"

"Um... Adrian, you didn't meet him last time," Sora muttered. "And he's not the nicest god out there..."

"Sorry, it was a joke: it was terrible timing, I know, but it just escaped me," the vampire chuckled.

"Either way, why would you want to speak with Hades, after all he's done to both of you?" I asked. "He nearly killed Hercules last time and he handed you to the Heartless, right?"

"Yeah, but I really need to talk to him," she said. "The thing is, he's been sending a lot of monsters to the Coliseum lately, where Wonder-boy has to battle them so that they won't destroy the nearby villages. And he's been at it twenty-four-seven. Even a god needs a breather every once in a while, you know. So I want Hades to give him a break."

"Woman, do you honestly believe that that rat will listen to a word you have to say to it without first casting you into the river of the dead?" Octavius growled. He did have a point.

"I have to try," Meg answered. "Wonder-boy won't be able to take much more of what he's getting. Hades has to give him a chance, at least."

"Hey, I have a better idea," Sora hastily said. "Why don't you let us go talk to him?"

"You, guys?" Meg murmured, with a smile.

"Well, we beat him last time, didn't we?" the boy said, glancing at us. We all nodded in silence. "I bet he'll listen to us. And if he doesn't, then he'll be in for a can of whoop-ass."

"...If you say so. Either way, I bet you guys have more of a chance than I do," Meg admitted and stepped aside. "It's that way – through that huge door. Now, since you're all doing me this favor, I'm going to go see what Herc's up to."

"You go. We'll take it from here," Sora assured.

The woman bid us farewell and so we approached the immense door without hesitation.

"You know, I'm somewhat eager to meet Hercules," Siegfried suddenly said. "He was one of my greatest heroes back when I was a vampire. I used to read a lot about him when Wilheim and I remained inside the libraries and devoured books."

"You'll get your chance," Adrian murmured. "What worries me a bit though, is that if this is Hades' home, then that means we're in Hades – pardon my redundancy, but that's the way it is."

"So? It's not like we can't teach Hades a lesson or two," Donald assured.

"Yeah, but think about it: there's supposed to be a keeper somewhere around here," the vampire said.

"Cerberus," Octavius whispered. "You are right, bloodsucker. And I do recall that last time he was quite difficult to defeat. So we might as well be on our guards."

"Then let's hope he doesn't show up," I said. "Whatever the case, let's just open the door and get on with it."

The huge door yielded to our strength and we began to walk the creepy path before us...

The cave became a tunnel that had the stench of death all over it. Though the way took us deeper and deeper into the ground, we could see every little detail on the walls, every rock that we stepped on; because there were white lights hovering about us. They seemed to be tranquil spirits... yet there were other phantoms, ones that flowed like a river within a spectral mist. It seemed to me that they were showing us the way. But as they did, they moaned with despair and sadness and engulfed our bodies for a moment, only to leave us with a slight chill running down our backs.

"Hmm... oh... Okay! Holy cow!" Siegfried nervously exclaimed as one of those ghosts barely caressed his body. "These guys are getting a little too friendly, and I do not like this at all..."

"They're just spirits, Siegfried, they can't harm you," I forced myself to say, but I was actually quite edgy myself...

"Yeah, he's right, my lad," Adrian said. He didn't seem to have much trouble with the ghosts. "They're not like... those guys!" he suddenly exclaimed, raising his scythe and bringing it down against a pair of Heartless that had appeared from out of nowhere. More monsters emerged from the tunnel's shadows and began to attack us.

The foes were the same as before, and not as numerous. We employed the same tactics we had used minutes ago. But strangely enough... things did not go too well this time around. It seemed that the Heartless had somehow grown stronger and become faster. This time, the aggressive mutts did manage to bite us. Their jaws caught our arms and legs like iron traps. One of them held on fiercely to my calf, causing me extreme pain. I immediately stabbed him with my blade and Donald hastily cured my wound. Yet I could not help but to think that, moments earlier, that thing would not have hurt me so easily.

My friends were having a lot of trouble as well. Siegfried had a nasty bruise on his leg that had been caused by one of the sharp roots from the plant-like Heartless; Donald had been wounded by the subterranean monsters, and Octavius had many bruises on his body, for he had received many shots from the plants. Luckily, though, our sorcerer was quite agile with his spells and soon made all of their wounds disappear.

Scythe, blades, and shields soon overwhelmed our opponents. But, although we had been victorious, we were exhausted.

"I understand that vampires can create walls of fire," Octavius said. "Why did you not use one, bloodsucker? It would have saved us a lot of trouble."

"I'm dead tired!" Adrian replied. "I really hate to admit it, but it seems that the blood issue is finally getting to me..."

"I don't think it's just that," I intervened. "I'm beat as well, and moments ago I felt quite in shape. There's something strange at work here... Somehow, I think that this place is weakening us."

"I think you're right," Sora agreed. "We should hurry up and find Hades before we're too weak to give him a lesson. Let's get going."

With a nod, we all followed the young lad as he made his way through the tunnel and into another dark cave which led to God knew where. But we were getting weaker and weaker with each step that we gave. I was seriously beginning to think that maybe facing Hades in such shape was not the best idea. Nevertheless, it was too late to turn back now: the god of the Underworld surely already knew we had invaded his home and would not let us leave so easily...

The scenery that followed the tunnel was not at all welcoming. We now found ourselves inside a massive cave with a deep pit where the ghastly river shined its brightest phantom green. In there, we could see the ghosts of the people that had fallen to Death's grasp. They seemed to be sleeping and were slowly carried away by the current to the place where they would surely continue with their eternal slumber. It was, as you may imagine, not the prettiest sight.

"Wow... that's pretty scary," Goofy muttered.

"No time to be spooked," Donald said. "We have to find Hades and beat some sense into him!"

"You're right, Donald," Sora concurred. "Hey, look over there, at the very top of the path... that looks like a place worthy of checking out. I bet Hades is in there."

As we looked at the direction in which he pointed, we realized his remark was very accurate. There was a large stairway at the edge of a cliff that stood at higher ground. On the rocky walls, were a pair of holes from which a green light came – the same kind of spooky illumination that had lightened our path so far, only that this one's radiance was much greater. And what was more, we could feel a very familiar, evil, great power emanating from inside that place.

"Let's get going," I said.

The path to the stairs was a long one, and the closer we got, the weaker we felt. The chance of surviving a battle against Hades seemed more and more distant. However, we wouldn't retreat. Not just yet, at least...

With weapons drawn, we slowly climbed the stairs and found a huge, heavy door. Behind it, we could hear that a heated discussion was taking place.

"You will do what I tell you to! Who made you boss around here?? You should be grateful that I brought you back from that smelly pit you were in!" yelled a very annoying, very familiar voice.

"You talk too much," firmly answered a man. "This is my story, 'my Lord', and you are not part of it!"

"'Not part of it'?? You couldn't be more wrong! In this story, I'm the main character, the producer, and the director! And I say you're fired!"

"Time to step in?" Sora suggested with a cocky smile.

"Time to kick some Greek Deity butt!" Adrian growled, grinning like only he knew.

"SURPRISE!!" we all yelled as we barged into the chamber.

Indeed, there was Hades, facing a mysterious man. He wore black pants and shoes and a large, red jacket. It seemed that he had a wounded left arm, for it lay immobile next to his body, leaning on his clothes. He carried a long sword and had swung it fiercely against Hades, but the foe had caught it with his bare hands. The man had short, black hair and a stern expression on his aged, scarred face. It appeared that he was missing a right eye, for he had a large scar that went from his brow to his chin, crossing his closed eyelid.

Apart from these two, there was also a weird-looking, extremely fat cat clad in red armor. We noticed he was afraid and didn't want to even come close to the man or to us, for that matter.

"It's Pete!" cried Donald. "Why am I not surprised to see you here?!"

"YOU AGAIN?!" yelled Hades as he noticed us. I suppose seeing us didn't bring him fond memories.

"Hey, Hades... we brought your medicine!" Sora chuckled and spun his Keyblade confidently.

"Hah!" the fiend laughed. "If you want me, pipsqueak, why don't you come and have a taste of me?"

"It seems to me that you've forgotten your lessons, Hades, my boy!" Adrian exclaimed. Again, only God knew what the heck was going on in his crazy mind. "For instance, the old disappearing trick! Now you see me..." he said, and then, he ran at Hades' back with the speed of a bullet. Our enemy didn't realize he was there until it was too late. "Ta-da!" And so he brought down his scythe with all his might.

But, to our dismay...

"Oh, howdy. You must be new around here. Hi, name's Hades..." the enemy chuckled, ever so calmly, as Adrian's steel went through him as if he were made of vapor. "So, is that all you got?"

"Uh... I'm not sure I understand this. Was that supposed to happen?" the vampire muttered.

"Blasted idiot, of course not!" Octavius exclaimed. "Foul fiend! What sorcery is this?"

"No sorcery, silly teddy-bear," Hades laughed. "See, the thing is, you're in my turf now. And when Hades is in his home, there's nothing you can do that may possibly harm him. In other words, you're sitting ducks for me!" and so, he hurled a fireball at Adrian which scorched him quite badly. The vampire gasped in pain and rapidly came back to our side.

Unwilling to believe Hades' words, Sora threw his Keyblade at him, in hopes of scoring a hit. But, like our opponent had said, it was useless. The boy's weapon went through him and did nothing except, perhaps, tickle him.

"Damn...!" Sora growled. "What the hell is going on?" and as he said these words, we all noticed that our strength was leaving us even more quickly than before.

"So, who's next?" Hades mocked, and an army of Heartless appeared behind him. The black cat – Pete, as the duck had called him – seemed to be delighted by our current incompetence.

"Aw, phooey!" Donald quacked, and reluctantly put himself on guard. Yet it was clear to all of us that, no matter how hard we would struggle to win this fight, victory was unreachable.

However, before we could try to battle Hades again, thus committing suicide, the man that had been fighting the foe before us stopped our madness.

"It's no use!" he shouted. "We must flee this place, now!"

His words quickly convinced us into turning our backs to the enemy and run as fast as our legs could allow us to, which wasn't too much, for we were almost as weak as kittens, now. We hastily exited Hades' chamber and struggled to close the heavy door as we went through. We thought we had escaped successfully as we rest for a few seconds once we had closed the gate behind us. But, unfortunately, we instantly realized that Hades was waiting for us to notice him, standing idly, his arms crossed over his chest.

"That seemed like a good workout," he cackled. "It's a shame it'll be your last!"

"Run for it!!" Goofy yelled. Of course, we were already making our way to the cave that had brought us to the infernal pit which housed the spirits of the dead...

Hades effortlessly appeared before us over and over again and tried to kill us with ruthless attacks. His fiery fists scorched our flesh more than once. Luckily, Donald still found the necessary strength within him to cure our wounds. Many Heartless also tried to slow us down, but our mysterious, new companion was skilled with his blade and quickly disposed of the enemies before they could become a serious threat.

At long last, we barely made it through the cave that led to the tunnel filled with that ghostly mist, and Hades did not follow us farther. The strange man kept on defeating the Heartless without even breaking a sweat: the way I saw it, he wasn't being affected by the evil force that was draining us more and more. A good thing to discover, I must say, because the way things were going, we would practically have to crawl out of the Underworld...

"This is great!" Siegfried grumbled. "By what you guys had told me, I thought Hades wouldn't be such a tough opponent! And instead of an easy fight, we got our butts colossally kicked!"

"In case you haven't noticed, Siegfried, there's something strange going on here!" I answered. "There's something in the air; something wicked that is taking our strength. I suppose it's the effect that this hellish place has on mortals."

"If you're right, Leon, then we have to find a way to counter this!" Sora said. "Otherwise, we're screwed!"

"Let us worry about that later!" Octavius shouted. "Right now, we have to leave this cursed place! If the god of the Underworld is not following us, then I reckon he will unleash an unpleasant surprise upon us soon. I do not believe that Hades will want us to leave his home alive or dead, for that matter!"

"There's the way out!" exclaimed Goofy. "At least, that's the way we came from!"

"Let's just hope that Herc isn't far!" Sora added.

But as we approached the gigantic door that led to our salvation, we felt a rumble. At first, it was just a single quake. Yet seconds later, it turned into a constant tremor that shook the enormous cave with fury. I reckon we all guessed what was coming and so we tried to run faster. Nevertheless, our waning strength simply kept us from reaching the exit in time: the monstrous keeper of the Underworld, the infamous Cerberus, caught up with us and menacingly stood between us and the way out.

"DAMN!!" we yelled and, seeing that we had no other choice, aimed our weapons at the hellish guardian.

It was very clear to me that Cerberus was quite glad to have a shot at killing us, most specifically, Sora and Octavius, for them, along with some of our other friends, were the ones that had beaten him last time. It had taken eight of our companions to best Cerberus last time. Right now, we were short one comrade and were quite weakened. I really hoped that our skill would overcome our fatigue.

The hellish fiend's hatred to the boy and the were-bear became very clear when two of his three heads attacked Sora mercilessly, while he tried to crush Octavius with one of his paws. Luckily, the boy skillfully leaped over the rows of sharp fangs, while Octavius barely managed to get away from the enemy's claws. The middle head then tried to tear Sora's head off, but the boy propelled himself upwards, using the two foreheads of the other craniums as platforms and avoided the third attack. Then, he came down upon the monstrous hound with a powerful swing of his Keyblade. Amazingly, the beast howled in pain and fell on the ground, stunned by Sora's crushing blow.

Cerberus had made a fatal mistake and we didn't think twice before taking advantage of this. As he struggled to get back on his paws, we all let a rain of powerful attacks rain upon him. Adrian's scythe, my blade, Goofy's shield, Octavius's katana, Donald's spells, Sora's Keyblade, and the stranger's and Siegfried's swords all pierced the enemy's flesh, causing him to whimper. Yet we spared no mercy and kept on hitting him. Before long, however, Cerberus regained his strength and snapped his jaws at us. We leapt back before he could snap his teeth on our bodies wholly, but he still managed to hurt us a bit. Donald did his best to fully cure our wounds, but he was too weak to cast his best healing spells and so we still bled, although not fatally.

The fiend became angry and pounced at us like a lion on a pack of mice. He nearly crushed Donald and Adrian with his leap, yet they were agile enough to get out of the paws' way. The vampire was even quick enough to score a rapid slash with his scythe aimed at the foe's toes. This augmented his rage and so he began to spit dozens of fireballs at each and every one of us. These scorching projectiles were easy to spot and supposedly wouldn't be difficult to evade, but we soon found out that the lack of space and the fact that we were simply too numerous for such a little battlefield proved to be fatal. I got hit by one of those things on my back, which nearly rendered me unconscious, for the pain was unlike few things I had ever felt before. Upon seeing me so weak, the beast ran at me and readied itself to finish me. Nevertheless, the stranger picked me up and dragged me away from Cerberus before he could kill me. Once there, Donald cured me as best as he could. I had fallen down, but I was not defeated yet, and so I pressed on the attack.

Our new companion was incredibly skilled with his blade. He was, I think, the one that was doing best. Every time Cerberus lunged at him with a fierce attack, he would bounce off the walls with amazing agility, successfully evading the beast's blows. Claws and fangs, all missed their mark, and the strange man wounded Cerberus's heads several times.

Yet, even though our skill and our efforts were sublime and though we had scored dozens of attacks, the hell hound did not seem to be very hurt. At the time, I supposed it was one of two things: either the curse of the Underworld was devastating us more than we could possibly realize or it was making Cerberus more powerful by the minute. Whatever the case, we were becoming less and less effective. We had to end the battle at that very moment.

Cerberus spat a fireball at me. I barely dodged, but still was sent flying back against a rocky wall. I remained on my knees for a few seconds, catching my breath, trying to think of a way to defeat this fiend without getting ourselves killed. What was worse, Donald had stopped healing us. He was simply too weak. And the great guardian's wounds seemed to be healing...

The mysterious man approached me while the rest of my companions kept the monster busy.

"Any bright ideas?" he asked.

"Last time..." I muttered, as I gasped for breath. And then, I remembered. "Last time, they attacked the eyes and Octavius held him back with his strength by turning into a bear. We have to blind him!"

"Doesn't sound too crazy," the stranger said. "I'll throw you at his heads. You just stay out of his fangs' way and try to slash its eyes."

"I suppose there's little else to be done," I sighed and braced myself. The man grabbed my arm and flung me with all his strength at Cerberus. It surprised me how much power remained within him, not to mention that his aim was remarkable.

I landed on top of the beast's middle head just when it was about to take a swipe at Sora. It turned to me with a puzzled expression and a second later, he was howling in pain, for I drove my sword into his eyeballs, piercing them without hesitation. Cerberus became mad with rage and began to thrash wildly. I remained on top of him as if I were trying to tame a wild bull.

"Good going, Leon!" Sora exclaimed. "Let's do the same thing! Octavius, hold him!"

"Let us hope that this brute is stupid enough not to remember our old strategy!" the were-bear yelled and then, his voice became a savage roar. His clothes disappeared as fur began to cover his skin. His teeth became sharp fangs and his nails transformed into shiny claws. With the strength of an enormous bear, Octavius ran to Cerberus and hit one of his legs with his strong paw, tripping him instantly.

Seeing that the beast had fallen, my friends began to attack him from afar. The mysterious man, however, approached the enemy and began to slash him furiously with that wicked blade of his, while I kept on hurting him with my sword.

"Watch out!!" our new ally warned. I turned back just in time to see Cerberus's enormous tail moving towards me like a snake. I leapt back, but still got hit on the hand and dropped my weapon. As I fell on the ground, I found myself face to face with the hellish hound's heads. I knew the attack was coming, but what I didn't know was from which head or at what moment it would happen. I had blinded our foe and that was an advantage; yet this had also turned him completely unpredictable. He snapped at me with the speed of a serpent; all I could do was to roll on my back again and again in order to avoid Cerberus's deadly fangs.

"I need a little help here!!" I screamed, feeling that my luck would run out very soon.

The dog's jaws snapped right in front of me, but did not trap my body within them. The mysterious man had kept this from happening by standing in front of me and using his sword to stop the attack. He now struggled to keep the giant beast at bay. Right then, Adrian grabbed me from my jacked and pulled me away from the enemy. Goofy grabbed my sword and threw it at me. I let out a sigh of relief and continued the onslaught against the hell hound again.

The beast soon started to fall back, yet he refused to die. Seeing that we would not have a better opportunity than the one before us, we all took one glance to one another and nodded in agreement: all of us had thought the same thing. We made a mad race to the gigantic door and closed it without hesitation. Cerberus realized that we had just escaped from his clutches until it was too late. With a triumphant and mocking air, Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Siegfried poked their tongues at the fiend and laughed at him. Now that I think about it, I'm surprised Adrian didn't join them as they scoffed at Cerberus, but that's unimportant. I suppose he was too tired, as were we all.

We remained sitting by the door, catching our breaths. Even Octavius seemed exhausted. But the mysterious man was hardly fatigued. He stood by our side quietly, looking at the door we had just shut.

"Your skills are impressive," he said calmly.

"Thanks... so are yours," Sora answered.

"We wouldn't have made it without you," Siegfried added. "So... what's your name?"

"...Auron," the man replied dryly.

"I'm Leon," I said, getting up. "I guess we owe you our lives. Thanks for your help."

"You're welcome."

"Yeah, thanks, Auron," said Adrian. "By the by, how'd you end up in there, in Hades' chamber? If I may ask, that is."

"...It doesn't matter," Auron sighed. "Either way, I have to leave this place. Farewell... someday our paths may cross again." And with that said, he began to walk away.

"Hey, wait!" exclaimed Donald. But before long, the shadows of the Underworld swallowed him and we felt his presence no more.

"Gwarsh... that's what I call mysterious," Goofy murmured.

"Intriguingly so," Octavius agreed. He had already turned back into a human form and was fully clothed. "I deem we will not see him for quite a while."

"Whatever the case, this mission turned out to be a complete failure," Sora groaned. "I thought we'd have the chance to talk to Hades..."

"Well, aren't you the lucky ones, then??" said a voice suddenly. We all knew who it belonged to and turned to it in alarm. To our dismay, the god of the Underworld stood by the door with a mocking grin on his cadaverous face, his arms crossed over his chest. We all knew that we wouldn't be able to beat him in our current condition...

"How did you get here?" Siegfried muttered in a low, nearly inaudible voice.

"Hey, I'm the chief around here," Hades replied. "It's not like I have to call a cab or anything, you know. And by the way, who's talking to you?" he then snapped his fingers and suddenly, an eerie light appeared underneath Siegfried's feet. The boy looked at it with confusion and then screamed in horror as he fell through it. We watched him fall into this light, unable to even do a thing about it... "Oh, and you too, because you hurt my dog's legs so bad two times already! Consider this as a sue!" he exclaimed and a second light appeared where Octavius stood. The were-bear growled and then he was gone.

"Siegfried! Octavius!" Sora cried. "What did you do to them??" he demanded, aiming his Keyblade at the fiend. At that moment, I believe that we all gained a sudden strength and were ready to take the fiend's head without hesitation. To actually achieve it, however, was a whole other problem...

"Whoa, whoa, take it easy, fellas!" the enemy cackled. "It's not like they're dead. I just send them to a mountain so they can have some fun with some other guys. Hey, maybe you'll see them again. But you should better behave, unless you want to go and say 'hello' to some very nasty pieces of work!"

"They'd better be alright, Hades," Adrian snarled.

"That's entirely up to them now, so take it easy, dead-breath," the god of the Underworld chuckled. "Anyway, I'm not going to kill you just yet, because I want you all to deliver a message to the big-brainless guy."

"Hercules?" Sora murmured.

"Yeah, him," Hades said. "I want you boys to tell him that I'll be sending him another contestant quite soon. It'll be his greatest challenge, for sure. Since I'm such a nice guy, I want you fellas to give him the heads up."

"Why us?" I inquired.

"Because you buffoons should try to lend him a hand. It's not like he's going to be able to handle the monster by himself, despite the fact that he's the 'greatest hero.'"

"It's difficult to imagine that you want us to help Hercules, Hades," I said. "What's the catch?"

"No catch, no catch... just the fact that it'll be impossible for all of you to take on the monster by yourselves," the fiend cackled. "And, hey, I don't like getting my hands dirty. That's why I'm letting it take care of you. Like those two clowns that I sent to the mountain. But, hey, I'm giving you all a chance, right? Though most likely I'll see you again as costumers rather than rivals."

"You're gonna get yours, Hades," Donald quacked in anger.

"You have no idea how many times I've heard that," he replied with a chuckle. "Anyway, I'll see you all soon. I'll be watching your battles with much anticipation," he concluded and then vanished under a cloud of smoke.

"Damn it!!" Sora roared. "This is really bad... We have to warn Hercules about this monster and see if we can help him!"

"But we can't just leave Octavius and Siegfried," Goofy said. "We have to go look for them..."

"Right now, they'll have to look after themselves," Adrian announced. "We can't do much about it at the moment. Hercules will need our help, too, and we can't just leave one thing for the other. We know that Siegfried and Octavius are capable of escaping whatever trap Hades set up for them, but if that jerk wants us to help Hercules against the creature he'll send against him, then he'll most likely be killed if we just leave him alone."

"I agree," I said. "Adrian's got a good point. We have to get out of here and find Hercules."

"Okay... I guess we don't have a choice... but I still don't like it," Sora groaned.

"It's not about liking it, it's about doing what's best... or taking the least worst choice, if you want to see it that way," the vampire said.

We all helped each other to our feet and stumbled away from the door. The passage to the upper world was ahead of us. Meg had already left the gloomy cavern. There was not a soul on sight. But somehow, I felt like I was being watched. And before long, a figure descended from the stairs and beckoned us...

"Sora? Sora! It is you!!" he exclaimed cheerfully in a thick Irish accent.

We all looked at the boy, urging him to answer with our gaze. Yet Sora shook his head and muttered: "I'm sorry... I don't know who you are... show yourself, will you?"

"Oh, you have to be kidding, Sora!" replied the voice and the figure stepped into a haze of light. His black cloak immediately gave him away. He was a fiend and, without losing a second, we raised our weapons.

"You're with the Organization XIII!" Donald quacked.

"Hey, wait a minute! First, let me talk to Sora. C'mon, don't tell me you forgot this face already!" he said and removed his hood. He was a young lad. At first, I thought that I would be staring at a civil Irishman, but he looked more like a punk. A young troublemaker. His skin and hair had a light complexity and his mane was unlike anything I had ever seen before: color was violet and it waved completely as if a gentle breeze was stroking it constantly... no, more precisely, as if the boy was underwater, for it moved slowly, almost laboriously. "It's me, Gixadia!" the punk said, presenting his face as if he were in the end of a Broadway play. But Sora still failed to recognize him, not to mention that he was clearly on the other side. "Oh... I see... so you really, really don't remember me, huh? Boy, Naminé really did some tweaking with your memories, wouldn't you say?"

"What the heck are you talking about?!" Sora demanded. "I'm sick and tired of your riddles!"

"What did you do to us??" Donald cried in anger. "And who is this Naminé girl?? Where is she?!"

"Hey, take it easy," Gixadia replied. "You know, just because we don't have any hearts, doesn't mean we can't have a civilized talk. I've been polite; I've behaved... it's very rude of you to become so hostile when I've done nothing. Reserve some respect, if you please."

As much as I hate to admit it, the Nobody was right. Even though we were enemies, he had not been the least rude to us. Perhaps we would get a bit of information if we were calm enough...

"All right," I said. "We'll reserve some respect. But do tell us what did you do to Sora and the others, will you?"

"That's more like it," he replied with a smile. "I didn't do squat to them. I just watched from the sidelines most of the time. You see, the Organization disassembled your memories. Thanks to Naminé, though, your heads are as normal as a clock. But it seems that she had to erase me so you could function properly again, if you take my meaning."

"Take your meaning?" Sora muttered. "What in the world are you talking about? What do you mean about this whole brain-washing thing? What the hell did you do to us?!"

"Calmly, calmly now. I remind you that it was not me per se, so you can't just go berserk against me."

"You're part of the Organization, so you're involved," I intervened. "Answer the question."

"Where is Naminé?" Goofy added.

"Funny you should mention her," Gixadia said. "But that's unimportant right now, as is the answer to your other question. Most simply, because it's such a long story: it would take me hours to elaborate. I simply don't have time and, from what I understand, neither do you. Actually, what the hell are you still doing here? Shouldn't you be worried about helping Hercules before Hades' monster gets to him?"

"How do you know about that?" Goofy asked.

"Like I said, it's no time for details. Anyway, I'll see you all later, but I do doubt that we'll meet under these same turns. Things will change... for the worst, most likely." And then, he opened a portal of dark energy and entered it. All we heard from him before he vanished was: "Later days." And then he was gone.

"Hey, wait!" Sora exclaimed. "Aw, darn it! They always do this!"

"What did he mean about toying with our memories?" asked Goofy. Out of the three, he was the most concerned about the matter. "Do you think that we'll turn bad? You know... join the Organization?"

"You would've done that already if that were so," I said.

"I've got an idea," Adrian intervened. "Why don't we ponder about this later and get out of here before things go ill with Hercules?"

"You're right, you're right," Sora sighed and so we headed towards the stairs. The fresh evening air awaited us. One could say it welcomed us to the outer realm. "I wish the others were here..."

"Don't worry, we'll get them back," the vampire assured.

"I know... but I was talking about Ukyo..."

"We'll meet her soon enough," I said. "Right now, we have to do something about what's going on right now."

Strangely enough, I didn't know that 'soon enough' would turn out to be sooner than I could've possibly expected...

Narrator: Wilheim

I reckon it has been a while since I last spoke to you. I cannot express how grateful and glad I am to be able to do it again. When I felt the end of my life nigh, I could not say good-bye to you. But now that we meet again, I apologize for that. Welcome back, dear readers.

Enough of sentimentality. Let us get on with the story, shall we?

As you know, we had just saved this world of China from a large invasion of Heartless and Huns. The Emperor had presented a medallion to Mulan to commemorate her victory, for it had been hers, over the evil invaders. He had also given her Shan Yu's sword, so the whole world would know what she had done for China.

We accompanied her to her home, back to her father. From what we had been through lately, I was half expecting to have her father scold her for dressing as a soldier and deceiving the army. Yet when she gave to him the sword and the medallion and claimed that she had done what she did to bring honor to the family, the man dropped both gifts and embraced her fiercely and spoke kind and loving words.

"The greatest gift and honor is to have you as a daughter," he said and a tear of happiness ran down her cheek.

To see them so happy together brought me fond memories of my family. I remembered how Master Gerard and Miss Anne took Siegfried and me as their sons and raised us lovingly. I wished they were still alive. How I longed to feel the embrace of a caring parent once again. And, as I glanced at the rest of my friends, I noticed one of them felt the same thing, for her eyes spoke the same words than mine did. Yet Baiken simply turned away and smoked on her pipe without saying a word.

"Father..." Mulan said, unable to stop smiling, and turned to us. "These are my good friends, who helped me defeat Shan Yu. Jam and I couldn't have beaten him without their help," she added, as she beckoned Jam to come closer.

"So you helped my daughter?" he asked and after a moment, he bowed and said: "I am honored to meet you." I suppose it is safe to say that we all liked him from the beginning.

"The honor is ours," I said. "You have raised a proud, valiant daughter. I reckon you must be very proud."

"Proud as any of your parents might be, brave man," he answered.

"I suppose they would be... God rest their souls," I replied, with a smile.

"Father," Mulan intervened. "We brought this child..." as she said this, Felicia, who had carried the poor orphan since we had left the Emperor's palace. "We found him on our way to meet Shan Yu. He lost his parents... He's all alone."

"Say no more," said Fa Zhou and approached the cat-woman. With a warm smile, he took the boy from her arms and said to him: "You are welcome to stay with us. I can only imagine what you have been through... but I assure you that we will take care of you: you're part of the Fa family now." And with those words, the boy smiled and hugged the man.

Meanwhile, Mushu stared at us quietly and happily from his shrine, where other spirits had joined him to celebrate his most recent promotion to family guardian. He waved at us energetically and danced triumphantly. We merely returned the smile and nodded.

"Well, I guess we should be on our way, then," Akane said. "We have many things to do yet, and little time to do them."

"But we'll return," Felicia assured. "We still have some unfinished business here. You'll be safe until then." She then approached the boy, who did not seem too happy to learn that we were leaving. Patting his head, she murmured: "Don't worry, honey. I promise I'll return do you trust me on that?" And the boy smiled and nodded. "Atta boy."

"Will you come back, too?" asked the lad, looking at Jam. It was the first time, I believe, that we heard his voice. Jam, overtaken by happiness, embraced the boy and kissed his head.

"Don't worry, baby, I'll be back as well," she assured.

"You know, Jam may be a royal bitch, but she does have a good heart," my darling whispered into my ear. I chose not to respond in any way at that time.

"Excuse me..." muttered a shy voice behind us. We would have never thought that, upon turning around, we would find Li Shang, looking at us most humbly. "Oh, hi, guys... I was looking for... Mulan!" he exclaimed and approached her. "Um... greetings, master Fa Zhou... Mulan, you forgot your helmet... Well, it's not yours, it's your father's, because, um..." I must say it was most comical to see the captain of the Imperial army stutter; he obviously had no idea of what to say.

"Would you like to stay for dinner?" interrupted Mulan. Li Shang was certainly not ready for that question.

Although I am sure we would all have loved to stay and see the captain stammer timidly, but time was pressing.

"Well, I guess we'll let you guys be for the time being," said Ken. "It's time to hit the road. Take care, everyone: we'll see you all again soon, I hope."

"Oh, good-bye, guys," Mulan chuckled. "Good luck!"

"You too," Ryu answered. "Let's go, people."

Change of scene

"Thank the Emperor for the supplies!" Ranma exclaimed most happily. "No more ramen soups! Boy, I've never missed Okonomiyaki as much as I did five minutes ago!"

"I'm glad you're all enjoying it," Ukyo replied, while cooking the rest of the food. For my part, I had already eaten three of her Okonomiyakis... and had been scolded three times for bolting them so abruptly. She was about to hand me my fourth but suddenly yanked it away from me. "Do you promise you'll behave this time?" she asked.

"I'm a fast eater, my love," I retorted. "But believe me; I know how to chew."

"You know, sometimes I wonder..." she mumbled and gave me my food. I decided to please her this time, just so she would not worry. After all, it was more gluttony than anything that was making me eat that Okonomiyaki.

"I've got to give it to you, kid," Baiken said, as she finished swallowing a piece of food. "You're one damn, good cook. Really, this is one of the best things I've eaten in a long, long time."

"Thanks, Baiken," Ukyo answered.

"Give me another one, will you? I'm also half-starved to death. I really don't give a rat's ass if I look as disgusting as Wilheim eating so much."

"Thank you for that compliment," I grumbled, while my friends laughed.

"Sorry, Will, but you had it coming."

"I missed these things," purred Felicia. "Truth to be told, I was terribly disappointed when we got to your restaurant and we saw you just had spaghetti."

"Same here," Ryu added.

"It's not like you announced your visit, guys," Ukyo said.

"I was happy to find spaghetti, actually," Sakura intervened. "I missed Italian at that time."

"Me too," said Ryoga.

"I really couldn't care less: I just wanted to eat something," Ken laughed.

At that moment, Jam, who had not joined us during that whole time, appeared and stared at the grill where my darling was preparing the Okonomiyaki. I truly wish that things would continue to be as smooth as they had been for the past hours. However, our new companion did not seem willing to carry on with the truce they had established.

"What's this you guys are eating?" she asked.

"Okonomiyaki," Akane said. "It's very good. Care to try some?"

"Hah!" she exclaimed. "Something cooked by Kuonji? What, do you guys have a death wish?"

"Um... what do you mean, Jam?" muttered Ranma.

"Anything made by her has got to be lethal."

During all these pointless fights, I had stood idly. I decided that it was time to jump to my darling's aid for once, like I should have done every time they argued.

"No, actually, you are quite mistaken, Jam," I said. "Ukyo is an excellent cook. Her food is gourmet quality and I do not for once believe I will ever grow tired of her dishes."

"You only say that because that's about the only thing you've ever eaten," Jam giggled. "I can make you some excellent Chinese traditional food: you'll be savoring the taste for hours and realize what a crappy thing that is."

"I'm not letting you bug me anymore, Kuradoberi," Ukyo muttered, trying to remain calm, but I knew she was seconds away from exploding in anger. All of a sudden, her Okonomiyaki did not taste as well...

"I know; truth is no sin, but it sure feels uncomfortable, doesn't it?"

"Hey, Marmalade Jam, shut your hole for once in your fucking life," Baiken groused. "Do us all a favor and get the hell out of here. I'm eating peacefully here and am in a very good mood. Don't you fucking spoil it." Her insults inexplicably had also stopped being hilarious.

"I can explain why you're enjoying this so much: you practically eat tobacco," Jam mocked. Under other circumstances, I would have no doubt laughed. But that would have probably cost me my tongue.

"Okay, please, just take this and get out," Ukyo said and handed her an Okonomiyaki. "You're making me nervous."

"Do you really think I want to taste this piece of crap? You should be ashamed... poisoning poor Will like that," Jam scorned, winking at me. I covered my face and shook my head, mostly to hide the fact that I was blushing. I have to admit it: Jam is a most beautiful woman and arouses me with her very presence. Nevertheless, my heart belongs to Ukyo's splendor; if she were to speak to me the way Jam did, I would burn to a crisp. But enough of that.

Without realizing it, the woman took a bite of the Okonomiyaki.

"An old Japanese recipe!" she laughed. "This thing is...!" but amazingly, as she began to appreciate its flavor, her attitude changed. "Well, it's not bad, I'll give you that." She bit it again. "Not bad at all..." and after a few moments, she sat down. "Actually, this is very good."

"See? We told you," Akane murmured.

"So you can cook, huh?" Jam said. "...Wow. I mean, this is exquisite."

"We know it is," Baiken muttered as she drank a bit of her liquor. "Now that you're no longer in bitch-mode, perhaps you would be quiet and enjoy the food for a while, hmm?"

"Wow, this is really good!" the woman repeated, not minding Baiken's remark and unable to believe the flavor of my darling's Okonomiyaki. I knew how she felt. After all, I too had salivated at the first taste of Ukyo's cooking... with the difference that I had not eaten anything else in fifty-one years before that. Needless to say, my beloved had a triumphant, almost sardonic, smile on her face. But, thankfully, Jam did not pay heed to that. "So, what did you put in it? No, don't tell me! It's got... Katsuobushi... green onion... octopus... squid... and traditional Okonomiyaki sauce, am I right?"

"Yes, actually, that's it," Ukyo said, seemingly impressed by Jam's sensitivity to different flavors.

"Wow," the woman said again, literally sucking her fingers as she finished the dish. At that moment, I noticed both Ryoga and Ranma blushed at the sight of her doing that; Sakura and Akane realized this too and did not like it the least. I did nothing but to struggle to keep my laughs to myself. "This is prime-quality, you know."

"Well, thanks," Ukyo replied, dryly. But even though she was still mad at Jam, the latter did not care: my beloved's Okonomiyaki had mesmerized her.

"Where did you learn how to make these?" she asked and took the liberty to grab another Okonomiyaki from the grill. She took one bite and hummed in delight.

"My father taught me," my darling answered.

"Ukyo's got a restaurant of her own, Jam," Felicia informed.

"You do?" Jam muttered, amazed to learn this fact.

At that moment, most of us had finished eating. I suppose that, seeing how the two were slowly making amends, my friends got on their feet and slowly began to walk away, thanking Ukyo for the food. I admit, however, that I was too clumsy to take the hint and remained behind. But luckily, I unexpectedly felt how someone yanked me by my shirt, forcing me to get up.

"Let's go take a walk, shall we?" Baiken whispered and dragged me into the next room. "Give them room to talk. If all goes well, they'll stop arguing. I bet you want that to happen, don't you?"

"Yes, but I..." I muttered aloud and she shushed me harshly. "Sorry... anyway, I thought you disliked Jam."

"Don't get me wrong, I can't stomach her," she said. "But now it's more than clear to me that she's not a complete scum. Ukyo could use some rest from the fights. You, more than anyone, should appreciate that."

"...Yes, I believe you're right," I admitted.

"Good. Now shut up and pay attention. You'll need to make an intervention in case one of them fucks things up," she stated and this time, I could not help but to let out a chuckle. "What is it with you laughing every time I freaking curse?"

"I apologize," I replied. "It is just that I'm not used to having a woman speak like a pirate."

"Oh, that's fucking sweet," Baiken mumbled. "Instead of—there you go again! Shut up and listen, will you?"

"Sorry..." I whispered and did as she told me.

From what I heard, it seemed that Ukyo had already told Jam a great deal about her business. But as I listened to their conversation, I realized that my beloved was also complaining that her restaurant had not gotten many costumers of late because of Jam's eatery.

"Before you came along, there were a lot of people hanging out at my place," Ukyo said. "Now, practically everyone's gone. I just have regulars... Akane, Sakura, Ryoga, Ranma... and those two have gone to your place anyway."

"That's bullshit!" Jam exclaimed, and I had to hold my laugher, for to hear such language from her voice was much more comical than hearing it from Baiken's tone. "Pardon the expression... anyway, the deal is, why the heck could you have lost so many costumers? There must be something you're doing wrong: and it's not the food, I can definitively tell you that."

"Well... thanks," Ukyo mumbled. She was obviously astonished that Jam had not mocked her for losing clients to her. "Well, I don't know what I could be doing wrong. Maybe your place is just bigger than mine, or something."

"'Was', you mean... and either way, I don't think it would be that."

"I..." my darling muttered, but found no words. I knew what she was thinking about. To see that sad expression on her face made me want to go to her side and kiss her and speak loving words into her ear. For I knew that she thought Jam's beauty was that which stole her costumers, and that made her feel unattractive.

I knew this because I have lived with her for six months and now knew her very well. If I would have just met her, I would be oblivious to what she thought. But Jam, like most women, has a high developed sense of empathy and realized this as well. This would have been proven to be a devastating weapon... but the woman really did want to make amends and she did not attack.

"I don't think it's because I'm prettier or anything," Jam said. "I think it's just that my place was new. Things would have probably gone back the way they were in a couple of weeks."

"Yeah... maybe you're right."

"Listen, Kuonji—um, Ukyo," Jam murmured, uttering my beloved's name for the first time. "We're not that different from each other, it seems. I think we started off with the wrong foot."

"Yes, we did."

"Um, would you care to start over?"

My darling did not answer. With a gulp, I discretely poked my head out of the door and stared at them without them noticing me.

Please, just accept the offer, Ukyo, I thought.

"Let me start, please," Jam said and extended her hand. "My name is Jam Kuradoberi. I really like your cooking and, although I think your boyfriend is really hot, I'm not interested in him."

My darling laughed upon hearing these words and it had been a merry, relieved laugh, while I blushed and grinned. She sighed and nodded her head.

"I'm Ukyo Kuonji," she replied and shook her hand.

"Great!" Jam said. "You know, I have a friend who fought against you... and she wanted to say she's very sorry about what she did to you."

"Tell her 'apology accepted'." My smile grew bigger and leaned back on the wall. Things seemed to be changing for the better.

"She also asked me to ask you if you would be interested in letting me teach you some stuff... you know... so you can kick her butt next time you meet her."

Laughter again. I was very happy to see that they had finally made peace... And to know that I would no longer be in the middle of their arguments was most satisfying, too.

"No harm in learning," Ukyo replied. "Thanks for the offer."

"You're welcome, Ukyo," Jam said and they both giggled.

"Well, they sure get along fast," Baiken murmured. She had listened the whole time, as well. "As long as they don't team up to tease me, I'll be okay with it."

"Ukyo would never do that," I said. "You will just have to worry about Jam."

"Good. So, where did you say we were heading to next?"

"The Coliseum. It is a mythical place, where we fought many battles in the past. We even faced Hades, the god of the Underworld, during our past travels," I explained.

"Hades, huh?" she mused. "Was he a tough opponent?"

"He was indeed... mostly, because we had fought forty-eight battles in the last few hours before facing him."

"Must've been difficult."

"Extremely."

"I suppose we should get some extra rest," she said, giving one last puff to her pipe before putting it out. "Get to bed and get some sleep. From what you told me, things will get harder from now on."

"I do not doubt that the least," I sighed, getting on my feet.

Baiken then stepped into the living room (so to speak), for that is where she had been spending her nights.

"Okay you two," he told Jam and Ukyo. "Get out of here. I want to get some sleep."

"I guess we could all use some rest," my beloved replied. "Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow—um, in a while, that is. Good night, girls."

"Night."

"Good night, baby," she said to me as she approached me and kissed me. "See you later."

"Sleep well, darling," I answered, kissing her back.

"Night, guys," said Jam as she and Ukyo left to the ladies' bedroom.

"I will see you later, Baiken," I said.

"Yeah, yeah, get out of here," she replied in what appeared to be her most polite voice.

I smiled, shook my head, and headed off to the men's bedroom, where my companions had already fallen asleep.

Change of scene

I rolled over in my bed time after time. Lately, I had been having a lot of trouble to fall asleep. I reckon that the snores of my resting companions were a factor of this. But mostly, I suppose that I missed having Ukyo by my side. Countless nights I had slept alone and fearful. Only by having her close did I feel safe. And, to be more honest, I longed for a taste of her radiant body. I lusted for her: I wanted to taste her lips and smell her perfume; to become locked in a loving struggle with her; to feel the heavenly touch of her divine kiss; to ride the stars with her.

I eventually became thirsty and decided to go for a glass of water. I was very careful not to step on any of my companions and exited the room. Making my way into the kitchen, I noticed Baiken, who slept quietly inside her sack. And then, I saw my darling. It appeared that she also had trouble sleeping...

"Hi, baby," she whispered. She approached me and kissed me. "What's wrong?"

"I'm thirsty. What about you?" I asked.

"...Same."

"Let's go get a glass of water, then."

We headed to the kitchen and drank our water. Once she had finished, she stared at me with her beautiful sapphires. Now I knew I would never be able to sleep.

"I miss you, Wilheim," she murmured.

"I'm right here," I innocently replied.

"Not like that, silly," she said. She then embraced me and gave me a sweet, sensual kiss. "I miss sleeping with you." Oh, yes: this would keep me rolling on my bed forever.

"I long for you, too," I said. "I am restless... I have a lot of energy, if you take my meaning: I need to unleash it in a loving war. My sweet rose... I want you to enclose me within your petals and bathe me with your nectar..."

"Shhh, easy, honey," Ukyo whispered, kissing me passionately. "I want to have you, too, but we'll have to be patient..."

"Patience is a virtue I do not posses," I murmured. "Let us drag Baiken into the other room and stay here..."

"Wilheim!" she giggled, slapping my chest playfully. "I'd love to do that, but we'd surely wake everyone up."

"Then let us bar their doors while we claim this space. Oh, Ukyo, this torture is too painful," I said and ventured to touch her breasts. "My heart burns with desire."

"Where'd your shyness go?" my beloved answered and kissed me with devouring passion. "Don't... we can't..." she said, but the passion in her lips was only growing. "I love you, baby..."

We would have begun to battle and would have followed the loving duel to its inevitable conclusion, I believe... but a loud moan suddenly interrupted us. Alarmed, we put our backs against the wall and waited... A second later, we heard another groan. We glanced at each other and slowly turned to the place from where the whines came from.

Baiken stirred in her dreams. It was clear that a nightmare was haunting her: I could see the despair upon her sleeping face. Ukyo and I quietly walked towards her and stared at her, uncertain of what to do.

"Should we wake her up?" Ukyo whispered.

"I do not know..." I said.

The woman seemed to be in excruciating pain. I really wanted to rouse her... but knowing Baiken, I expected her to threaten me with her blade should I dare wake her up.

But then, she spoke.

"Daddy... come with us... Mommy... help me..."

Without saying a word, we decided that it was too much for her to handle. Ukyo got on her knees and softly touched her shoulder.

"Baiken, wake up," she said.

The woman screamed and reached for her blade in alarm. I gasped and pulled Ukyo away from her. Baiken was bathed in cold sweat and was breathing heavily, yet at least she had opened her eye. She remained still for a few moments before putting away her katana and letting out a relieved sigh.

"Sorry," she quietly apologized. "I was having a bad dream."

"It must've been one jumbo nightmare," Ukyo whispered. "It's okay... you're safe. You're with us now."

"Uh-huh, right," she mumbled and rubbed her eye. "What are you two doing here, anyway?"

"We were thirsty and came for a glass of water," I answered. "We heard you talking in your sleep."

"I was talking?" she stuttered.

"You were calling out to your parents..." Ukyo said.

"...I see," Baiken muttered and got to her feet. She went to the kitchen and drank about three glasses of water – she did not even touch her liquor, which was very curious. The poor thing was shivering. I simply could not contain myself.

"What happened to you, Baiken?" I gently asked. "What happened to your mother and father?"

I knew that Ryoga and Jam had asked her about her past while we had journeyed through the land of China. I understood that she had insulted Ryoga and asked the girl not to ever mention it again. Because of that, I was almost certain that I would soon receive some verbal abuse, as well. But instead of an assault, we got an answer.

"When I was very young..." she began. "I... must've been a little over eight years, I think... I lived with my parents in a quiet village. I was an only child... Anyway, they were both great people. Kind with their neighbors, decent, honest... and they loved me. I remember that they used to let me stay up late and they would read me all sorts of stories. I suppose it's their fault I developed a taste for reading. I like to read a lot, you know," she chuckled and gave us a quick smile that promptly vanished.

"They were... everything to me. I suppose it's common, huh? I mean, I was just a little girl back then," she sighed and looked out one of the ship's windows. She remained quiet for a while. I could see that she was having trouble in telling this to us. The pain was gnawing her heart...

"One night, an army of creatures invaded the town. It was very late... A sudden scream woke me up. I went down the stairs and found out that my parents were staring at the streets. The neighbors' houses were on fire. I yelped in fear as I saw a group of horrible creatures outside. One of them gazed at us and dashed madly at our house. My father ordered my mom and me to make a run for it. We begged him to come with us, but he remained still as a statue against the front door. He shouted at us, commanding us to leave him. His voice shook me with fright... I don't know if it was because all kids become scared when their parents yell at them or if it was because he was terrified, too...

"My mother carried me out of the house. Yet before we could exit through the back door, I saw how one of the monsters brought the door down with a mighty punch. My dad was trapped below it and, then, the monster grabbed his skull and..." she paused for a moment and closed her eye. "Crushed it as if it were holding an earthenware vessel. I tried to yell, but the shout got stuck in my throat."

"My mom ran with me through the streets, yelling for help. But... instead of a defender, we ran into another of those monsters. The creature held a gigantic blade and had raised it over its head and was ready to bring it down with fury. My mother instinctively turned around and held me fiercely. The blow came..." she stopped again. One crystal tear escaped her good eye... while a bloody one ran down her left cheek. "My mother was cut in half. She moved me just in time so I wouldn't get killed. Yet the burning steel still touched me and took my forearm with it. I got up and looked at the monster without uttering a sound. I was too shocked and the tremendous pain kept me from running... Again it stroke. But the fiend wanted me to suffer... he wanted to toy with me." She then turned to us and pointed at her scarred face. "This was the result." More tears ran down her cheeks, but her voice remained firm.

"I couldn't cry... I simply couldn't..." she murmured. "The monster moved in for the kill. But right then, a strange man shot at the beast on the head. It fell down, its lifeless body moved no more. The man grabbed me and carried me out of the town as fast as he could. And just before he left, I saw him..."

"...Him, who?" we asked in a low voice.

"That man," Baiken answered and we noticed hatred in her words. "A cloaked scum of a human being... the very same bastard that had led those hellish creatures... those gears... into my town. I saw his face... I can't explain why, but I can't describe it, even though its image remains seared into my memories."

"We understand," Ukyo murmured.

Baiken wiped her tears with her sleeve and sniveled a few times. "That son of a bitch took everything from me," she then said. "This may sound pathetic to you, goodie-two-shoes... but my purpose in life is finding him. And when that happens, I'm going to make sure he suffers the most horrible death anyone can have. I'll make him wish he was with the Inquisition. I'm going to make him pay for all the harm he caused... for all the people he killed..." she concluded, slamming a nearby counter with her fist.

"Baiken, I am really sorry to hear what happened to you," I said and put my hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah, spare it," she sniveled and softly removed my hand. She grabbed a napkin and dried her tears and wiped her nose. "See? I fucking hate to cry," she declared. "Every time I do, it causes... my missing eye to bleed. The wound never fully healed. You must be really freaked out."

"Wilheim was a vampire for fifty-one years, remember?" Ukyo said. "I guess you can say we're both used to bloody tears."

"Right... I forgot," she murmured. "Anyway, now you know. And let me get something straight: I know your kind."

"Our kind?" I interrupted.

"Yeah, your kind. I know you stick to the ideals of justice, freedom, kindness; all that shit. That's why I don't doubt that you'll try to talk me into forgiving that bastard. Save your breath: many people have already tried that. I'm going to kill him and that's final. So you better not stand in my way when the time comes or I'll go through you," she then left the kitchen and lay on her sack. I gave a quick glance to Ukyo and then we both went by her side and sat down beside her.

"Believe it or not, Baiken, you and I have a lot in common," I whispered.

She turned to me with a puzzled expression on her face and sat down.

"Oh?" she mumbled.

"I lost my parents too, when I was very young... not as young as you, though," I said. "Well, they were not my real parents, anyway. They were the two folks that adopted my younger brother and me when we roamed the world like vagabonds."

"How did they die?" she asked.

"The same vampire that turned me and my brother into children of shadows butchered them the very night we were born into the world of darkness."

"Damn..." Baiken whispered. "So, what ever happened to that guy?"

"He tormented me for the longest time in the most horrible ways," I said. "He killed my brother, drove me away from the people I came to love, and threatened to steal the life from my beloved."

"You?" she asked, turning to Ukyo. My darling nodded solemnly.

"I helped Wilheim get rid of him," she said.

"Explain 'get rid of him'."

"I slew him with my blade after Ukyo drove her mighty weapon into his chest," I explained.

"I see..." Baiken murmured, very surprised to learn this. "But I suppose there's not a single day that goes by without you asking for forgiveness, is there?"

"Not for his death," I answered. "I fed on many people for the longest time, before I learned how to feed without killing. I sought evil-doers, yet I still regretted their passing. And there was another man that I slew in cold blood: but that murder, I do lament."

"Oh... Well, let's face it: that son of a bitch had it coming."

"It was revenge, nonetheless. That is why I understand how you feel. And because of that, I will not get in your way when the time comes."

The woman nodded silently, her eye nailed to the floor. She then turned to Ukyo and asked: "What about you?"

"I would be a hypocrite if I tried to stop you," she said. "During our last battle, we faced that vampire's – Magnus's – phantom. It was the same as fighting him... he nearly killed one of our friends and I went berserk. I killed him just like you want to kill that man. Even though he was an illusion of the dead vampire, I thought I was slaying him mercilessly at that moment and I can't say I regret what I did. I won't get in your way, either."

Baiken nodded again. She let out a sigh and then said: "I surely didn't expect you two to have those sorts of backgrounds."

"People surprise you, I suppose," I replied.

She became silent for a moment and then said as she lay down again: "You two are very skilled, but there's much room for improvement. I've seen you use your weapons: you could get better if you wanted. So I'm going to teach you how to use them properly."

"That's going to be a bit difficult," Ukyo murmured, with a grin. "I have a giant spatula, and Wilheim's got Renamark—"

"It's not a question of the type of weapon, it's a matter of technique," Baiken interrupted. "I'm going to try to make us some room here so we can start... Get to bed. We have a lot of work to do tomorrow; especially you, Ukyo, because you're going to be training with Marmalade Jam and with me."

"...Okay..." my darling muttered.

"Go on, get out of here. I need to sleep a bit," she whispered with a surprising, peaceful smile, and turned her back on us. That was her way of saying 'thank you', I guess.

Ukyo and I did as she asked. We kissed each other good-night, and left to our rooms. When the time came, we would help Baiken, should the need arise. For we knew that, even though revenge drew her, she wanted to rid the world of an evil vermin. During my entire life, I had slew but evil beings... except one time; the death which haunted me the most. It even haunts me now. But that is of no importance now.

Although regretful, I felt at ease, for I knew the world would not miss those villains. Surely Baiken's vengeance would do some good...

Change of scene

Despite Baiken's tragic story, I hardly got any sleep. The last kiss Ukyo had given me was to blame. Worst still was the fact that it was very obvious that I had not slept much: I constantly yawned and had dark circles under my eyes. Ukyo also seemed a bit tired. Thankfully, while the rest of our companions slept Felicia was already up and had cooked breakfast so my darling did not have to work on that.

"You two look awful," the cat-woman said. "Did something happen last night?"

"No... Nothing happened and that is the problem," I grumbled.

"Shhh, baby!" Ukyo giggled. She then turned to Felicia and explained: "You see, it's just that we're sort of—"

"I don't wanna hear it! La-la-la!" Felicia interrupted and covered her ears while humming aloud.

"I guess there's no need to go into details, then."

"Did you sleep well, guys?" Baiken asked as she came into the kitchen. We both turned to her without uttering a word. Moments later, she grinned and said: "You two need to get laid."

"AHH! I didn't hear that! La-la-la!" cried Felicia, covering her ears once again, while Ukyo and I turned bright red.

"Well, don't worry about it," Baiken went on. "You'll be sleeping like babies tonight: I'll make sure of that."

"Perfect. It seems like we shall be taking orders from a Sergeant now," I mumbled.

"You wish..." the woman jeered, grinning evilly.

Indeed, we thought that the lack of space would make the training very fast and straightforward. But by the time our companions had woken up, we were seconds away from collapsing from weariness: Baiken surely knew how to work us to the very limit. And worse for my darling was the fact that Jam had not forgotten about her promise and also trained with her. To describe the details of our ordeal would take a long while; I suppose they are inconsequential at the present. Suffice to say that Baiken forced us to do many different exercises and taught us the basics of Iaidou – the way of mental presence and immediate reaction (the art she practiced in battle). That in itself was extremely tiresome and Ukyo was still obliged to endure Jam's training. Since they could not spar, Jam forced Ukyo to handle Ki in ways she had never done before. When they finished, she told my darling that she would soon teach her some attacks. That night (well, the equivalent of it), we indeed slept like two infants. I do not think that we even had dinner...

Yet it did not turn out to be such a bad thing, for after two more brutal sessions of training, we got enough sleep and rest for the upcoming battles... For we soon woke up to the Coliseum. We detected a magical field were we hastily landed the ship and exited it and saw the world...

"Um, who was piloting the ship?" Ken asked as he glanced at our new surroundings.

"Who do you think?" replied Ranma.

"In that case, Felicia, I've got two questions for you. Question A: are you one-hundred percent sure that this is the Coliseum?"

"I followed the log's coordinates, this has to be it," the cat-woman replied.

"Which brings us to question B: if this place is the Coliseum, which part of the Coliseum is this??"

"I, uh... pass?"

We were at the very top of an ominous mountain bathed with the light of a fading sun. Below us were rocks of every shape, all sharp, all ready to shred us to pieces should we step on the wrong spot. The wind blew fiercely, howling like a hungry wolf. It was very cold, almost as cold as it was in the snowy mounts of China, but the bite of chill was not as humid. It was a fortress made of stone, its walls threatening to become our tomb should we stay there any longer.

"Not very welcoming, is it?" Felicia muttered.

"Felicia, why didn't you land us next to the Coliseum?" asked Akane.

"Because there was nowhere to land on," she replied. "There was no magical field whatsoever... I mean, there was in the past, but there isn't any now."

"I happen to have a question, as well," Baiken intervened. "Do these ships forcefully need a magical field to land? Or do they just need it for shrinking?"

We all glanced at each other without uttering an answer. After all, we had landed the ships in the past outside magical fields. Perhaps they were not the best or the safest landings, but the ships could do that... I reckoned.

"Oh, you haven't tried it?" the woman exclaimed. "Well, no freaking time like the present, huh??"

"This time, I agree with Baiken," Jam said. "Enlarge the ship again and let's look for the Coliseum."

"I suppose your idea is logical," murmured Ryu as he reached into his backpack and grabbed the Gummi ship. He placed it on the magical field and we all waited... yet nothing happened. "...Why isn't it growing back to its full size?"

"Because there's no longer a magical field here!" Felicia yelled. "Oh, I thought our luck couldn't be that bad!"

"It seems to me like someone's trying to mess with us," Ryoga said in a low voice as he looked around.

"If you're right, then they already know we're here, genius," Baiken grumbled, rolling her eye. "No need to whisper."

"Hey guys, look!" cried Ukyo. My darling stood at the edge of the cliff and pointed below. We ran to her side and noticed she had found the Coliseum at the base of the gloomy mountain. "I guess we weren't that off. We just have to find a way to get down there."

"'Just find a way'..." groaned Sakura. "That's easier said than done... Oh, God! Okay, I'm just going to step back and... Catch my breath." She sat down and began to take deep breaths. We realized her skin was as pale as mine when I had been a child of shadows.

"Sakura, are you okay?" Ryoga asked, rubbing her shoulder gently.

"I have a little problem with heights," the girl answered.

"You're going to have to beat it, then," Jam said. "We have to go down. We can't stay here: we'll freeze to death. Besides, this place gives me a bad feeling."

"Marmalade Jam's right," Baiken agreed. "Let's get our assess down there in one piece, shall we?"

"Let's go, Sakura," said Ryu gently as he helped the terrified girl to her feet. "Don't worry about a thing: I promise we won't let anything bad happen to you."

"Like you could control gravity..." Sakura sighed.

We spent no more time arguing and began our descent. A very thin, steep path lay before us; it was necessary for us to traverse it in a line so that we would not fall into the abyss of death below us. Yet it seemed that the mountain truly desired our demise, for the ground was slippery and the walls were icy cold. My fingers hurt by merely touching them. It was very strange, for these mounts lacked the white shell we had felt in the last world. There was no mistaking it: there was a sleepless malice in the mountain that wanted us dead. For a moment, I had thought that we had landed on Mount Olympus: now I was certain it crawled with evil fiends.

The road suddenly ended. We had reached a very large gap. Below us, the rocks stood like lances, waiting to pierce us. The wind's howl became louder. It was clear to us that there was no possible way to reach the other end by just leaping, despite the fact that it was on a lower level: we would have to make our way by hanging on to the wall. Though its frost was formidably painful, it had a rough surface and seemed climbable.

"Oh, God..." Sakura moaned. "What... what are we going to do now? I can't cross this, I can't!"

"Take heart, Sakura," I said. "We will get you through this."

"But I can't!" the girl exclaimed and adopted a fetal position. Her entire courage had been consumed by the mountain. "It's too high... I can't do it..."

"Goddamn it, you coward b—!" began to yell Baiken, but then she became quiet. Her eye had discovered a pike above us that projected itself away from the mountain. It was right between us and the other end. After a moment of remaining silent, she said aloud: "I assume that, except this little wimp, the rest of you have enough balls to use the wall to scale to the other end."

"Hey, stop harassing her!" Ryoga roared. "I'm sick and tired of your insults! And I won't let you attack her when she's so scared!"

"Listen, asshole, I'm trying to lend a hand here, so shut your fucking hole!" she hissed. I did not chuckle this time: I was in no mood for it. "I can use my claw to swing myself and the girl to the other end. But I can only do it with one of you. That's why I'm asking!" she concluded, giving Ryoga a fearsome glance.

"Isn't that a little dangerous?" Ranma ventured to say. "The pike could break with both of your weighs hanging from it..."

"Then let's freaking hope it's resistant," she replied, taking a deep breath. "It's just a thought: it's not like she's going to move otherwise."

"The way Sakura is faring, I think she has more of a chance by going with Baiken than climbing her way to the other side," Ryu said and sat beside the girl. "What do you think? Will you go that way?"

"...I can't climb," Sakura replied. "I just hope it'll hold up."

"You better start gathering some courage, kid," Baiken said as she flung her claw to the pike. It attached to it on the very first try. "Chances are we won't be lucky enough to have another support of this sort. Now, get your ass over here."

Sakura nodded and slowly got to her feet. The rest of us remained in hopeful silence as the girl held on to Baiken with all her strength.

"Here we go," the woman murmured and then she swung across the void. Sakura yelled in a horrified voice as her feet dangled through the air. Meanwhile, Baiken skillfully stretched the rope attached to her claw and safely reached the other end. A swift movement of her arm and her item quickly hid under its sleeve. And, just as she did this, the pike broke and fell to the abyss. "That's what I call lucky," she murmured, and then calmly questioned: "There; happy now?"

"A bit..." Sakura replied, taking a deep breath. "Thanks."

"Your turn now, guys," she called to us.

"Why did that have to break?" Akane muttered. "It would've been nice to swing to the other side that easily."

"We'll be all right, Akane," Ryu guaranteed. "I've climbed mountains like this hundreds of times. It's good workout." He held on to the wall and began to make his way across the void. His pace reflected a bit of pain and, turning to us, he said: "Although the mountains I scaled weren't as cold... Come on, follow my lead."

With a nod, we all did as he told us. His hands and feet marked the places we should grab and step on. Indeed, he had done this many times. He was at ease as he went and this brought a fragile tranquility to our hearts; one that could be shattered if we simply looked down. But not Felicia's, for the cat-woman was so agile that she effortlessly climbed the wall using her fierce claws and at a speed none of us had ever dreamed of. She had been the last to start and was the first to finish.

At last, with pounding hearts, we all reached the other end.

"I envy your nails, Felicia," Jam giggled as she placed a hand on her chest. "I feel like it's going to burst."

"I know exactly how you feel," Ken confessed, taking a step forth. "Well, now that we're all here, let's get a move on."

The treacherous path beckoned us forth. We formed a line again, with Ryu and Baiken at its head, and Ukyo and I at the very end.

As the day went by, the rays of the sun vanished behind the mountain and the stars began to shine. While the sky was crowned with many of them and their twinkling was rhythmical and magical, we were not comforted by the arrival of the night. The air turned colder and our path darker. As if that was not enough, the slope diminished to the point where we felt as if were walking a horizontal road.

Suddenly, the mountain grumbled. We stopped on our tracks and listened carefully. The rocks began to quake. We immediately held on to the wall, hoping that the mountain's wrath would soon cease. But it was not until then that I noticed that the road we were traversing was no thicker than twelve inches. Only I remained on safe ground...

The rocks below my friends cracked. With a loud yell, they all began to fall. All I could do was get a hold of Ukyo's clothes and pull her to safety. The road below her body and mine still remained. The wall beside our companions curved as they fell and turned into a slide which made them disappear from our sight in a matter of seconds. Once my beloved and I were certain we would not fall down as well, we looked below and desperately yelled their names, hoping to get an answer.

"RYU!! KEN!! BAIKEN!!" I cried at the top of my lungs.

"RAN-CHAN!! AKANE!! JAM!!" shouted Ukyo as loud as she could.

There was no answer for a few moments. Our hearts began to fear the worst and our voices quailed as we shouted again.

"FELICIA!! RYOGA!! SAKURA!!"

"...Ukyo?" cried a faint voice from below. We barely heard it, yet recognized it instantly. It had been Jam. "Ukyo! Wilheim!"

"Jam!!" my beloved yelled. "Are you okay?!"

"...We're all fine!" she replied, to our relief. The mountain did not carry her voice as quickly as the wind.

"Oh, thank God!" Ukyo moaned.

"Where are you now?" I asked aloud.

"...In a cave!" Baiken's voice suddenly answered.

"Some sort of a cave!" Jam cried. "There doesn't seem to be much more pits here..."

"There seems to be a way out of here, too!" shouted Ken.

"Is it safe for us to go down?" Ukyo asked.

"...No!" cried all of them at the same time and then Ryu added: "There are many jagged rocks around here that could shred you to pieces! We just missed them! Find another way down: we'll meet at the Coliseum!"

"I suppose there is no other choice," I sighed.

"Okay!" my beloved shouted. "Get going! We'll meet you there!"

Reluctantly, we got to our feet and leaped over the gap the tremor had left. Not far from where we stood was another cave. At last, we could walk without fear of falling to our demise.

We remained alert and close to each other, our guards up, our eyes scavenging the cave for enemies. An eerie air had begun to blow and we felt watched. There was most certainly someone inside the cave. Deeper inside the mountain's belly, where the light of the moon and the stars did not reach, there were lit torches about. It was as if we had been expected...

"We have to find a way out of here, fast," Ukyo whispered. "I have a very bad feeling..."

"I share your fear," I murmured. "Let us remain cautious and keep our weapons at the ready."

The sensation of having someone observe us became too strong. Paranoia was attacking from every corner of the cave. Yet our fears were not in vain and we soon discovered the mysterious fiend that spied on us.

We did not allow him to realize that he had caught us by surprise and instantly raised our weapons. The spy came to the light of the torches. He wore a black cloak which covered most of his face. We could only see his mouth.

"Took you long enough," he jeered.

"Who are you, fiend?" I demanded, taking a step forth. "Unveil your face! Or are you too afraid to show yourself?"

"Wait a minute, Wilheim..." Ukyo whispered. She approached the spy and muttered softly: "Lexwhiim? Is that you? Or Kexisoc?"

"I see you've met our companions," the stranger said. "But... nah. I'm not either one of them. Actually, my name is of no importance. I just sort of came here to wish you a pleasant journey?"

"A journey to where?" questioned my darling. This time her tone had not been kind.

"To hell," the enemy mocked. "Because that's where you guys are going. No chance you'll survive the monsters that live in this mountain."

"What makes you think you will be able to survive us?" I challenged.

"Because I'm out of here!" he exclaimed. "But before that..." He raised his arms above his head and summoned an eerie light that blinded my darling and me for an instant. The glitter illuminated the entire cave and I do not doubt that it shone throughout the land below us. When Ukyo and I recovered from the sudden flash, the fiend was gone. However, he had not left without doing any harm: the light he had conjured had given away our position to the monsters that dwelled in the mountain. Many screeches and roars resounded throughout the caverns and reached our ears.

"Crap..." Ukyo grumbled and put herself on guard, as did I.

Backs to one another, we waited for the creatures to appear. And before long, a group of what appeared to be horrid, tall satyrs emerged from the shadows. They carried double edged lances and their faces were those of rotting carcasses. Their limbs were long and bony and they moved with fearsome agility and alarming speed. There were four of them and quickly surrounded us. These fiends were not Heartless, but evil festered in their eyes: we would only get out of that place by going over their dead bodies.

They wasted no time and began to attack. Ukyo and I parried their frenzied blows as best we could. My darling fared better than I at that time, for the satyrs were amazingly fast; she matched their swiftness, but I was not as quick as them. I had to constantly leap back and to the sides, while my beloved held her ground quite well.

One of the creatures aimed its lance at my legs and I managed to catch it with my foot. I tried to cut its weapon with a stroke of Renamark, yet my enemy spun the lance before my steel could touch it and wounded me with the other end. I fell on my back and both satyrs tried to impale me. I grabbed one of the lances with my hand and used my blade to keep the other away. I was seconds away from making that travel the spy talked about. I concentrated in gathering all my strength from Renamark: the blade began to burn with a desire for blood and fueled my power tenfold. I managed to carry the fiend by its lance and threw him against its companion. They quickly regained their ground, but I had enough time to stand up, at least.

Ukyo had not wounded any of her adversaries. Nevertheless, she had not a bruise on her body. She fought with great speed and her spatula clashed against her enemies' weapons time and again, unleashing a rain of sparks as this happened. The enemies were extremely skilled and it appeared that they could actually foresee what she would do and stopped her blows with ease.

The two satyrs were proving to be quite troublesome. They had now injured me a couple more times and I hadn't made a scratch on their bodies. Their attacks were very coordinated and precise. I tried using Renamark as a rapier but got overpowered. It did not do me any good to use it as a two-handed-blade either; the foes were simply too quick for me. The best choice, it seemed, was to try to wield it as a katana.

Once I had adopted a new fighting stance, I tried to slash one of my enemies on its head with a swift stroke. But the fiend sidestepped and kicked me on the stomach, leaving me out of air. The other one went behind me and tried to impale me. I moved just in time and simply received a scratch. But I now was losing at lot of blood. These fiends were unlike anything I had faced before...

I knew then I would not be able to best their reflexes. I had tried speed and speed and had failed. I needed to modify my tactics to suit my foes... Seeing that I was running out of choices, I decided to employ the technique Baiken had just begun to teach us. I was not very comfortable with this since I was very new at it, but it appeared I was running out of choices. I placed my sword in the sheathe on my back and waited for the fiends to approach. One took a step forth and tried to behead me. I ducked and quickly hacked my foe's stomach. Renamark burnt for an instant and then, it was back in its scabbard, moaning in satisfaction. It had tasted blood.

The fiend never saw the attack coming. Its eyes remained open in pain and disbelief as he fell on his back and then moved no more. Its companion glanced at me and spun his lance once before attacking again. I unsheathed Renamark and parried all of its attacks with much more ease.

In the meantime, Ukyo had also decided to use the same technique. She held her spatula with one hand and hid it behind her body, waiting for the enemies to come at her. They both attacked by aiming the tips of their lances at her stomach. But she skillfully pushed aside both weapons and buried the other end of her spatula in one of the fiends' belly. She pushed the agonizing satyr against its companion. This distracted it long enough for Ukyo to gather her energy on her leg. A second later, she delivered a powerful kick to both fiends, sending them flying into another dark cave. Their shrieks became high-pitched and distant. It was then that we realized that the cavern was a pit.

Seeing that he was all alone now, the satyr that faced me began to quail where it stood. I did not risk giving him a chance to survive. I ran at him and he attempted to push his lance into my body. This time, I succeeded in cutting it with Renamark. Once I got to him, I head-butted him. As he reeled back, I grabbed it by its throat and elbowed his face. The satyr dropped what was left its weapon. Then, I tripped him and when he lay on its back, I delved Renamark into its chest. The fire of the blade consumed it and my sword quenched its thirst for blood.

"Are you all right, baby?" asked Ukyo with a motherly voice as she ran towards me. "You're hurt!"

"They are just scratches," I replied. "There is nothing to worry about."

"Don't be stupid, you're bleeding!" she said.

"...I can use Renamark's fire to cauterize the wounds," I suggested.

"Won't that leave scars?"

"I hope not..." I murmured as I unsheathed my blade and let its flames burn my flesh. The pain was great, but did not last. When I finished, I noticed that the fire had not scorched my flesh: as strange as it may sound, it had coagulated the wounds. "Renamark never ceases to amaze me..."

"Yeah... me too."

"Ah, yes, before I forget... who are Lexwhiim and Kexisoc?"

"They're two guys Baiken and I met back in China," Ukyo explained. "They wore the same type of cloaks than this guy. They seemed nice... I guess they're not decent folk after all. There was a talking dog with them, too; she was called Oxieta."

"Why didn't you tell us about this before?" I questioned.

"...Because I was pissed at you back then," she said. "I forgot after that... sorry."

"Well, it would not have made a difference, I guess," I sighed.

"Let's get out of here," Ukyo said. "We have to get to the Coliseum before things turn worse."

I nodded and we ran out of the cave as fast as we could. We entered another passage; this one led outside, where the stars still shone. There did not seem to be any creatures nearby. But after a few moments, we began to hear groans and yells... both monstrous and familiar. Indeed, there were two men battling against satyrs and other sorts of fiends. One of the voices I had not heard in the longest, most excruciating time...

We ran to their encounter with swift feet and found them across a cliff. There they were, backs to one another, facing a horde of seven satyrs and two minotaurs. These monsters carried giant axes and were twice as tall as their dark comrades. But the men did not falter. I recognized them instantly. Octavius had unsheathed his katana and kept very still, waiting for the fiends to strike... and beside him, stood my long, lost brother, who I did not think I would ever see again until my death, for which I longed so much when I was a Vampyr. He held a shield and a sword and fought nobly; there was no fear in his eyes. The glance on his face that fateful night had haunted me until that day... no more nightmares... Yet he was once again in danger. And this time I would not let him die.

"SIEGFRIED!!" I cried as loud as my lungs allowed me to and Renamark began to burn in its scabbard.

Our friends turned to us as and Siegfried's eyes shone with happiness: my heart pounded gladly at the sight of this.

"WILHEIM!!" he yelled back. I was as happy as I could be, but I was also aware of the situation. My darling and I flanked the monsters and began the assault. We decided to take on the minotaurs while Octavius and my brother attacked the satyrs.

These fiends had terrible strength. One strike of their axes made the ground shook. Luckily, though, they were very slow. I chose to fight fire with fire and swung Renamark with all my power. Amazingly, the minotaur stumbled as he blocked one blow of my blade. For her part, Ukyo was as agile as ever and had already wounded her opponent several times, though not fatally.

Meanwhile, Octavius and Siegfried battled the satyrs. I was astonished to see how well my younger brother fought. He lacked my power and Ukyo's speed, but he had already defeated one enemy with smart strategies and precise thrusts. His shield guarded him from many attacks and his blade was true. He had become a formidable warrior. As for the were-bear, he relied, as always, on his brute strength. One swing of his katana was potent enough to make the wind howl and he did a good job on keeping the satyrs at bay. None dared to challenge him alone...

The minotaur I faced brought down his axe with so much fury that it was stuck on the rocky ground. Luckily, he had been so slow that I had easily dodged the blow. I summoned power to my fist and unleashed it in the form of a technique Ryu had taught me.

"SHORYUKEN!!" I roared.

The monster grunted and fell flat on its back. I quickly leapt on top of him and aimed Renamark at its skull. But the minotaur caught my arms with its hands and desperately tried to push the steel of my blade away. It soon became a contest of strength. If it would not have been for Renamark's wonderful powers, I would have no doubt lost the duel. Nevertheless, the sword thirsted for blood and so it gave me the strength that I needed to push the minotaur's hands out of the way and delve my steel deep into its mouth.

Ukyo knew she had to free herself from the enemy fast, for we still had to help our companion and my brother. My beloved waited for the minotaur to raise its axe high above its head before bringing it down with terrible wrath. She immediately rolled under his legs. Once on the other side, she leapt at the fiend's head and swung her weapon fiercely. The minotaur's arms became soft as its body fell lifelessly on the ground, its head rolled over the pebbles and the life left its eyes.

There were still five satyrs left, for Octavius had already killed another one with a mighty stroke of his katana. We each engaged one, safe for the were-bear, who tried his luck against two.

Again, I recurred to the technique Baiken taught me. Renamark patiently waited for the enemy inside its scabbard. The satyr was quick to attack: it spun its lance at me with great speed, both tips nearly cutting my arms with every twirl. I unsheathed my sword to block the blows and did not put it away again. It was only one of them: I would surely defeat it soon. The rest of them were already falling.

But my carelessness, my overconfidence, and the joy at finding my lost brother distracted me from the battle. And for that lack of attention, I had to pay a terrible price; one that still troubles me at night... and brings tears to my eyes.

One of the satyrs Octavius was facing was pushed away by the powerful were-bear and stood his ground close to me. I did not notice him until he dashed at me, his spear ready to pierce my stomach. I gasped in horror: no movement, no matter how quick, would save me from the upcoming deathblow... safe for the most tragic one I could every think of.

"WILHEIM! LOOK OUT!!"

My beloved ran swiftly and tried to divert the spear with her weapon. The lance did not touch me... but I soon noticed, with eternal horror and indescribable confusion, that her body had been pierced by the deadly steel.

"NOOO!!!" I yelled in horror as blood gushed from her wound and she fell to her knees, unable to move anymore. Siegfried raced to my side: he had already killed his foe and made quick work of the one I had engaged. Octavius swung his blade with all his strength and cut through his enemy and the bastard that had mortally wounded my Ukyo in the blink of an eye. Yet the damage had already been done... "No!! Ukyo, please!"

My darling could not speak. Her life was fading. I could feel it as I held her in my arms and cried bitter tears on her sweet face...

"No, please, no!" I moaned.

"Ukyo... no...!" Siegfried gasped and his voice broke. "You... you're going to be okay... Just hang on, we're going to fix you..." but he could not believe his own words as he spoke and neither would my beloved.

Accepting her fate, she merely put on the sweetest smile on her face I had seen so far. She reached out to me and caressed my cheek with agonizing tenderness.

"Wilheim..." she whispered. As she talked, blood flowed out of her mouth. "I... love..." but her lips never pronounced the final word. Her hand dropped to one side... and her heart stopped beating.

"NOOO!!!" I wailed in agony. My chest hurt so much that I felt I was about to burst. I held my baby in my arms and rocked her lifeless body while moaning in indescribable sadness. "WHY?!" I yelled. "Is it fate's whim that I be miserable for the rest of my life?! For years you have mocked me! You have brought me nothing but grief! She was the light of my life, and now I am in darkness...!" I paused for a second and then cried at the heavens, as loud as I could: "I GAVE MY LIFE FOR HER!! Was that not enough proof?? Or is this punishment for my sins?! Do not do this to me, please!! Please, God... take me, but do not take her..." I kissed her brow and wept like a lost boy. There was no console for me. And my brother cried too. He hugged me and cried on my shoulder... not even his embrace, which I had longed to feel, soothed my sorrow.

Octavius kneeled beside us and put her hand on Ukyo's brow... He muttered something, but I am not sure of what he said. Sadness had left me deaf. Yet then, his voice became clear...

"...What the bloody...?" he groaned.

I opened my eyes and saw that Ukyo's body was being carried away by the wind as if it had turned to sand. I tried to hold on to her, yet my grasp was not strong enough.

"No!" I murmured. "Where...? Don't... please..."

"She may still have a chance," a booming, grave voice suddenly said at our backs. I immediately jumped to my feet and reached for Renamark, while Siegfried unsheathed his sword and shield and Octavius gripped his katana firmly.

There was a man before us. He had come out of the shadows as if he had been part of the mountain so far. He stepped into the starlight... His build was tall and muscular. He wore a single piece of clothing about his waist, which covered most of his legs, allowing us to glimpse at his body. His skin was white, like a ghost, only that he had a stench of blood and death about him. A reed tattoo circled his torso, arms, and part of his skull. He had a short beard and a stern glance. His eyes were full of anger and rage: his mere presence intimidated us all. He commanded incredible power: we could all feel it.

Nevertheless, his words finally reached my brain, which had remained utterly useless until that moment. Letting go of Renamark, I exclaimed: "If what you say is true, then tell me was there is to do and I will do it! Please! I cannot imagine life without the touch of my beloved!"

"If you want to save her," he said. "Then you will have to complete a test first."

"A test?" muttered Siegfried.

"To prove your worth," the man snarled. "If you are worthy, then you will have an opportunity at saving her, if she is lucky enough. If not, then you will meet her anyway: you will die."

"I do not fear death," I assured. "I will take your challenge, if that is what it takes to save Ukyo."

"Think about it carefully," he said. "Hundreds have tried what you are about to attempt: only one has succeeded."

"Then it will soon be three of us," Octavius intervened. "We will all go."

"Then say your farewells. I do not think for a moment that all of you will make it alive."

"Who are you...?" asked Siegfried curiously.

"I am the God of War," the man boomed.

"Ares?" the three of us mumbled.

"Ares is dead!" the god roared. "I made sure of that. And if you don't watch your words, then I'll see to it that you join him in the deepest circle of Hades... my name is Kratos."

(Author's note)

Regarding Kratos, I will not include any aspects of the story regarding the "God of War II" Videogame, because I haven't played it yet (and because of what I've read about the story). Because of that, consider his appearance as post "God of War" and don't think about the second part :P.

Also, some fragments of Baiken's story are based off leblackdragon's Guilty Gear Assassin's web-comic. I just hope he manages to continue it sometime soon :P.