Chapter 9: Warrior of Darkness
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Doubt was my biggest enemy here. Would I ever be strong enough to defeat the darkness inside me? Were things ever going to go back to normal? Was there any way to know who to believe?
And just when I thought I had a handle on my darkness, it rose just to prove me wrong.
I could defeat as many Unversed as I wanted, strike down as many opponents as came near, protect as many people as I could, but none of that would mean a thing if the darkness in my heart remained, lurking there, waiting to strike.
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Theo had gotten a deep burn in the match which had disqualified him, but he ignored the medic attempting to heal him to come and wish me luck.
"Though you obviously don't need it," He'd added, with a wide grin. "There's no way you'll lose." I smiled back, but a voice in my head suspiciously like Master Eraqus' murmured You are never too good to be defeated, and the medic dragged Theo back to the healing station before I could respond. The archer gave me one last thumbs-up from where he sat.
His words were almost reassuring. But unfortunately, my chances of winning the match wasn't what caused the uneasiness gnawing at my stomach.
"By the time you win the final match here, you'll have figured out how to conquer it for good."
I may not have trusted Hades completely, but I still wanted his words to be true.
What would that feel like, I wondered, to have rid myself of my darkness? It had always lain dormant inside me, always sat in my heart, just growing, waiting for the moment to strike. What would it feel like to not have to worry about it? To not have to deal with controlling it? To never fear that it would rise up and corrupt me? To never have to dread that something like Braig, or Princess Aurora, would ever happen again? My heart ached at the thought. I'd be able to face Aqua. I'd be able to look Master in the eye. I could complete the Mark of Mastery. I'd never have to worry about hurting my friends.
The crowd had gotten comparatively quiet in the lull before the final match, but their volume rose once again, and I blinked, aware that the officials were leaving the ring, having prepared everything and cleaned up the lines. It was time for the final match.
I drove away thoughts of could-bes and focused. My opponent had entered the Coliseum while I was preoccupied, and he strode to one edge of the arena. The crowd started cheering, and I mirrored my final opponent, ignoring them.
The winner of the East Games was a swordsman. He was thin, but I could see wiry muscles under his blue tunic, and he wore silver shoulder-guards atop his arms. From the glimpses I could see of his face under his conical helmet, he looked to be my age, with blue eyes and black hair. Even though he looked young, he was not inexperienced, as the loose, casual grip on his double-edged sword showed.
I summoned Earthshaker as the announcer stepped up and tried to make himself heard through the crowd's yells.
"The final match! East vs. West—Zack vs. Terra!"
His words were lost to the spectators' cheers. I tightened my grip on my Keyblade's hilt, in wait for the gong, trying vainly not to place any hope on Hades' words.
Zack moved first.
The sound of the gong had barely started reverberating through the air when I saw his muscles bunch, and then he leapt forward, broadsword singing through the air.
I moved just enough to feel his downward strike whistle past me, then shoved my shoulder into his. He stumbled back, and I came after with a quick slice at his side. He deflected at the last second, and drew back his sword to stab. I stepped to the left and tapped his blade out of the way, then pushed off my foot to get closer to him. My shoes crunched on the gritty sand, and the crowd's roars escalated as I brought my elbow up towards Zack's head.
He reeled back, but recovered swiftly with a parry that clanged against Earthshaker. I exhaled, acutely aware of my heartbeat pounding in my ears, and responded, focusing on swift, diagonal slashes. Zack managed to block all of the attacks from my blade, but when I had driven him back, near the outer edge of the arena, left his guard open.
I inhaled, and sent a ball of flame straight towards him.
I saw Zack's eyes widen, and he threw himself out of the way, just in time to meet my Keyblade with a hasty guard. I shoved him towards the center of the ring, and he managed to keep his balance.
I felt a grudging respect begin to form for my opponent. He was certainly more adept with his sword than any of the others I'd faced in the ring. I was able keep him on his toes, but only because he tended to attack first, preemptively in some cases.
It reminded me of the way I had fought, before Master had hammered his lesson of "Never make the first move," into my head deep enough that I learned basic patience.
I faltered, just barely. Even the memory of his voice was enough to scatter the adrenaline which focused my mind. I clenched my jaw and strode closer to Zack, ignoring that my slight hesitation had given him enough time to regain his balance.
Zack retaliated before I could get close with a blast of ice magic, which I blocked, thinking disdainfully that his magic wasn't even close to how strong Aqua's was. The remaining shards of ice disappeared once they reached the sand, but I soon added to them by echoing Zack's magic with two shots of my own. Zack was barely able to avoid both of them and my next slice. He blocked with the flat of his blade, abandoning his two-handed grip to steady the block, and I felt my respect rise. He was most definitely skilled.
I stepped back to dodge his next slice, and ducked under the swift follow-up. Although he hadn't made one sound the entire match, I could almost feel him getting angry.
A flickering, dark purple magic started to form where his hands gripped the hilt of his sword, and it spread quickly up the blade. I heard the crowd gasp excitedly, but kept my eyes on Zack, waiting for him to move. The magic looked familiar, for some reason.
But Zack had learned his lesson. He waited for a second, his eyes lingering on me. He sidestepped, slowly, movement cautious. Then, when I didn't make a move, Zack rushed forward, jumping off a few steps away.
I dodged right, missing the explosion of magic which spread from his point of impact. Zack didn't wait to summon more magic. He had barely landed before shoving off again, and I blocked his next attack. I flicked my blade up to try and catch his helmet, but Zack ducked back, wobbling, and Earthshaker missed by a hair.
I stepped closer and swung down at him, making sure to turn my Keyblade so the blunt side caught his arm. Zack grunted, the first sound he'd made the whole match, but rolled away before I could strike again. He rose to his feet, still gripping his sword tightly, and more magic rose from his hands to coat his broadsword.
I waited for him to come, gripping Earthshaker's familiar hilt even tighter. The crowd's cheering barely registered.
I saw Zack's movement before it began, and ducked under the strike before it was half-finished. I brought Earthshaker up to slam into his side, and when he stumbled away, I chased after him, blade moving unconsciously.
Maybe I couldn't hear the crowd because Master's voice kept echoing in my ears. "See the movement before it begins. Turn with your slices to add power. Your opponent is weak before they settle." The advice he'd given me countless times through countless practice matches echoed in my head without consent. His voice, hard yet comforting, guided my blade as though he stood beside me, repeating the instructions which I'd stopped needing years ago.
The now-constant shame sitting in my lungs constricted with every memory of Master Eraqus, but it only served to add to the hard desire rising in my veins to destroy the darkness for good.
I cloaked my Keyblade in magic and slammed into Zack's block, then drew back to turn and swipe once again at Zack's side. He deflected it, but I could see that he was starting to struggle to keep up.
I made contact with my next strike, and Zack stumbled over his own feet onto the sand, but hindered me with a blast of magic long enough to get back up.
Although I couldn't see his expression, I had a feeling that Zack knew he was losing. Regardless, Zack threw himself back towards me, the cheers of the crowd rising with him, and slammed into my blade. I pushed him back, remembering distantly the long hours I had spent learning the same move while Master watched.
What was it about this fight that refused to let me focus? Now that I couldn't think about Master without shame and bitterness trying to tear me in two, his memory haunted me more persistently than he did in real life. I ignored the whisper of Master doesn't trust you and spun into a series of quick attacks which drove Zack back.
He blocked most of them, but I knew that several impacted, as Zack seemed to be having trouble holding his blade steady when I finally slowed.
I didn't give him time to recover. With a grunt of effort, I sped towards him, trying not to think about the way Master's expression would always turn kind after he'd grounded me in a practice match, how he had used to sit me down and explain exactly how I had gone wrong in detail, then assigned me hour after hour of practice drills until I could master my mess up as he watched, only to reward me with a rare smile and a break from chores when I finally did it right.
Zack blocked my first attack, but ran into my second, and I was able to slam into him, knocking him back a few steps, towards the edge of the ring.
Earthshaker skated off his shoulder pad, but Zack was wavering. He barely dodged the next strike I threw, and didn't even try to block as I spun into another slash.
I felt my blade slam him backwards, and Zack's sword flew from his hand just before he dropped.
The echo of my last strike had barely been lost to the spectators' yells when the gong sounded, louder and even more obnoxious than before, and somehow more sudden too. The crowd was exploding, cheers and clapping and chanting rolling together in a loud, continuous clamor.
Across from me, Zack sent up a short cloud of dust where he landed and his helmet, clanging, rolled off, stopping at my feet.
I exhaled and let Earthshaker drop to my side. The adrenaline slowly faded with the memories of Master, and I was left feeling distinctly empty. I turned from my downed opponent, retaining my Keyblade not because I thought I'd need it, but because the familiar hilt grounded me. I guessed that most of the winners probably stayed to soak up the attention of the crowd after the final match, but I wasn't interested in their applause. My goal wasn't the trophy, or the attention, or the adrenaline. My goal had been to find the key to defeating the darkness, and it looked like Hades had lied about that too. I felt no different, no epiphany had broken through my mind, nothing had changed. The darkness still seethed just under my skin, noticeable only because I wanted it gone so badly.
As I walked away, the now-familiar grinding of the sand behind me broke through the cheering, and foreboding rose in my veins, some sixth sense warning me of imminent danger.
I spun around, and was surprised to find that Zack had risen, sword in hand, and was readying for battle once again, as though the match had never ended. Now that his helmet was off, I could finally see his face: youthful and almost emotionless were it not for the anger in his eyes. Though his blue tunic was marred with dirt and one or two bruises were already appearing on his skin, my erstwhile opponent stood tall, strong, like he had at the beginning of the match.
But there was something different this time. As he straightened, I saw the same dark magic he'd used before begin to rise from his shoulders and blade, and, with a flourish of his weapon, Zack glared a renewed challenge at me.
Then, with a building yell of fury, Zack charged at me. Surprised and off-guard, I brought my Keyblade into a hasty defense, momentarily taken aback by his resurgence.
I blocked his first strike, shocked when my arm vibrated with the force of the blow, which was significantly stronger than it had been before. As Zack threw another slash, I jumped back, feeling it whistle past my ribs, too close for comfort. "Hey!" Two more, heavy attacks, and I dodged back from both, trying to get Zack's attention. "The match is over!"
I could understand frustration from defeat—all too well, I thought wryly—but breaking the rules? Attacking after the match had ended? In the middle of the Coliseum, with all these people watching? What was he thinking?
Zack leaped after me as the crowd and officials started buzzing belatedly, and swung his sword down with a yell.
I blocked, catching his straight sword in the teeth of my blade with difficulty, barely able to keep him back with one hand. He was a pushover before, I thought, struggling to hold the other man off. What's gotten into him? "What are you doing?"
The black magic on his body hadn't disappeared. With a jolt of surprise and horror, I realized that I recognized it as Zack replied.
"It's not… me…" He fumbled the words out, sounding as though his tongue didn't remember how the words went.
"What?" I looked closer at the black-haired youth. My blood froze as I looked into his eyes and realized: he had no pupils.
Zack blinked drunkenly, and his next words were spoken as if in pain. "I'm not… doing this…"
Darkness cloaked his shoulders and consumed his weapon, and with a shudder, I remembered the feeling as I saw it cross Zack's face.
The agony and confusion of having the reigns ripped from your hands. The terror of commands not your own ordering your body around. The pain as your brain was overrun by an intruder.
Zack was being controlled, just like I had been, back on Aurora's world.
And I had a bad feeling that I knew who the controller was.
My suspicion was confirmed as I heard a flash of flame behind me, and Hades greeted me, a smirk in his voice. "Hey! So, what do you think? You like my new super-warrior?" His tone was half gleeful, half disarming as he continued, and I grit my teeth as Zack shoved harder against my blade. The sky grew dark, as though Hades was manipulating the sinking sun. "See—right here, this—this is the power of darkness."
I shoved Zack away with difficulty, glancing at the glaring Hades out of the corner of my eye. "Coulda been yours. Still could, if you open up to it." His last words were full of malice and a strange allure.
All around me, flickering blue flames burst into existence, surrounding the raised platform where Zack, Hades, and I stood, barring the staff and crowd, who for once were shocked into silence, from interfering.
Despite my firm attempts to hold it back, rage rose in my chest. "You were just playing me!" How had I known that believing Hades was a bad idea? He'd only ever wanted to use me. Disgust and anger burned inside me.
I dodged out of the way as Zack rushed me again, and tried to pull my anger back in control even as it steeled my veins like resolve and filled my limbs with power. I shook my head as Zack drew closer, disgust and fury swelling. "The darkness… will never have me!" I ducked under another slash of Zack's, and swung the blunt edge of my Keyblade into his gut, forcing him back.
Whereas a strike like that would have thrown him before, Zack only stumbled this time, then straightened up, panting. His blank, pupil-less eyes were unnerving and only served to make my anger grow. The darkness wrapping around his body grew, almost like puppeteer's strings as he raised his blade, but, with a giant effort, Zack held himself back, forcing out a plea.
"Please… help me…" Every word sounded like it hurt him more. "I can't… g-get free..."
Even as I tried harder to keep it in check, my rage grew. But this time, it didn't feel like it detracted from my reason, or twisted my desire. This felt like an added push, an extra jolt of power which thrummed from deep within me and cleared my head. Accompanying the anger came memories, ones I really didn't want to think about, and I realized with a start that if I didn't stop him, Zack would be in the same place I was: swallowed in regret and consumed with the desire to make up for his—my—failure. No one had been there to help me on Aurora's world. I hadn't been strong enough, and I'd lost my way. I had made a huge mistake. I knew what Zack was feeling, what he would feel if this went on. I couldn't let that happen to him.
I would free Zack. The resolution tightened in my chest, a hard, unshakable promise.
But I would do it without the darkness' help.
My first priority was to avoid getting decapitated.
At the beginning of the fight, it had been to attack Hades, but once Zack started the battle in earnest, I realized that I had more important things to take care of—most prominently, keeping Zack from killing me.
He hadn't been troublesome in the first match, just skilled enough to keep me occupied and moving.
Now, he was downright dangerous.
The dark purple magic which had seemed so familiar the match before now flowed from the darkness which covered Zack, coating his blade in a dark, hot mass of magic that streamed off him in waves.
Zack, face screwed up in pain, jumped into the air, black magic rising with him, and then slammed down where I had stood just a second before, broadsword embedding in the ground. He yanked it back up easily, and flew back towards me.
How did he get so fast? All thoughts of anything else were pushed from my mind. In all of the matches prior to this, I had only needed to rely on instinct to carry me through the fight. I had only needed to follow the moves that were so familiar to me, let my blade swing through the motions I'd practiced countless times. But now, I didn't even register the still, shocked crowd as they watched the impromptu match through the flames, or the Coliseum officials scrambling to find something to do. It took all my concentration to dodge and keep myself from being floored.
It didn't help that Hades wouldn't shut up.
"So, I'm thinking: new rules for this match, whaddya say?"
I didn't have to look to know that Hades stood to my left. He was probably smirking, eyes pleased as he watched me scramble to keep up with the powered-up Zack.
"Instead of 'whoever drops their weapon first', how about… 'Whoever stops breathing first'? How's that sound? Too harsh? Okay, then maybe… 'Whoever loses spends eternity in the Lake of Fire'? I like that one."
I gritted my teeth and ducked a particularly speedy strike from Zack. I figured that I could probably defeat him, given time and if I was able to ignore Hades' taunts, but I wasn't sure if winning would do me any good. Zack had been pretty thoroughly beaten at the end of the last match. What if Hades could just force him to keep battling, even if his body was broken?
I had a bad feeling that I'd need to take out Hades in order to free Zack. But I couldn't do that if Zack continued to match me at every turn.
With a grunt of effort, I avoided a blast of magic twice as powerful as the ones from last match, and managed to drive Zack back a step with a sharp jab.
He stumbled, but then kept moving forward.
It's like he can't feel pain, I thought, my stomach clenching. This wasn't going well.
He forced me back, towards the flickering flames that now marked the edge of the arena, hammering blows twice as strong as they had been the match before against my blade. I knew that if Earthshaker wasn't enchanted, it would surely have been dented. As it was, my arms started to shake just slightly from the shock.
"Aww, look at that. Terra's finally found his match! Not so cocky, now, are you? Starting to see why the darkness is so great?" Hades' words slid through me, disrupting my concentration no matter how hard I tried to stay centered. I paid for the lapse when Zack lunged, and his blade sliced my unarmored shoulder.
I hurriedly stepped back, cursing inwardly, trying to repress the anger that rose along with the blood that welled to the graze. It wasn't a debilitating wound, but it sure didn't help me focus.
Again, he managed to break through my guard, and I was forced a step to the side, ribs aching. I heard the crowd murmuring in dismay as Zack raised his blade, preparing to finish me off.
Am I seriously losing? The thought struck me, seeming to freeze my stomach. I shook off the icy feeling in my gut, and stumbled back as Zack's broadsword whistled by. I couldn't be losing. I was stronger than that. I had to be.
Anger sparked higher in my chest, and I felt the darkness in my heart seethe. I could recognize my black magic very easily now, now that I knew what it felt like to release it. It would be so easy to summon… I pushed the thought, and the anger, as far away as possible. I wasn't going to use the darkness to free Zack. If I did, that would just prove how weak I really was.
I wouldn't be so weak as to succumb to it again.
With a yell, I retaliated, forcing Zack back a pace, then dodged a blast of black magic from Zack's blade. More darkness appeared to replace it, and then Zack threw himself towards me, blue eyes blank and unwavering.
I heard the crowd gasp somewhere in the back of my mind.
I dodged to the side, and deflected a diagonal slice, and just managed to avoid another bolt of magic. Before I could gather my concentration again, Zack had stepped into a graceless stab, and I hurriedly blocked, aware of Hades laughing.
"Maybe he was the better choice. He's more powerful than he looks, with the power of darkness behind him."
I ignored the taunting words, keeping half my mind on bottling my anger and the other half on fighting. Releasing my darkness for even a second wasn't an option.
I saw Zack tense for his next move, and saw his blade dip just slightly. He was stronger, yes, with the darkness, but his style was utilitarian and brutish. At least in our first battle, he hadn't telegraphed his every move so much that I saw it coming a mile away.
Zack landed with an explosion of magic where I'd just stood. While he recovered, I risked a glance at Hades to realize that the self-titled god stood not too far away. His face was gloating wordlessly, eyebrows raised in a cocky challenge. As far as I could tell, he wasn't expecting an attack nor had any guard visible, not even a weapon. Maybe I could hurt him.
I looked back at Zack, and ducked a wild sweep of his sword. More darkness grew on him, growing upwards like mist and wrapping thick, dark tendrils around his blade. Zack's face twisted in pain suddenly, and the magic faltered briefly. He seemed to be fighting back.
But then the expression vanished, and Zack ran forward again, the sinister magic emanating from him in waves.
When I blocked his next attack, the dark magic slithered across our joined blades. By the time I'd wrenched Earthshaker back, the snakelike wisps had nearly reached my fingers, though they disappeared once we separated.
I denied the rush of anger and fear in my chest at the sight.
After that, I tried to avoid blocking with my Keyblade. It made me jump around more, which my burning muscles and wounds protested, but I didn't want to think of what would happen if Hades' darkness reached me.
I kept moving, dodging left and right around his strikes, frustrated greatly that Zack didn't seem to be tiring at all, even though my own breaths were pants and sweat coated my forehead. This fight was going longer than any of my other matches. I may have trained for years, and was able to beat both Aqua and Ven in endurance drills, but Zack's energy was inhuman. It must be a side effect of the darkness.
Would be really useful right now, I thought, jumping back to avoid a strike, then immediately rejected the idea. I couldn't entertain thoughts of using the darkness. I was going to win this battle the right way. Master Xehanort might have said that we could use light and darkness together, but my years of training under Master Eraqus' constant adage of "Give the darkness no foothold" held me back. It might be useful, might be powerful, but it was not natural. It was not beneficial. I remembered how it felt during my fight with Braig, and I had no desire to ever experience that sensation again. In the heat of the moment, it had felt good, alluring, but thinking about it, I remember feeling like I was slipping, losing my grip on reality. I wasn't going to let myself lose control again.
But you could be so much stronger…
Zack's next strike flew past my arm so close I felt the breeze. Hades was still laughing behind me, and the sound only served to further agitate my anger.
"I can feel you giving in, Terra." The words sounded almost gleeful. "Don't fight it. There's nothing wrong with a little darkness to darken your day! See what it's done to little Zack here! From weakling to demigod in no time!"
His continued taunts were harder to ignore, but I tried. With every breath, I focused, locking down the darkness a step further. It won't have me.
"Zack," I said, panting the word out, quietly so Hades wouldn't hear, hoping my theory would work. "Listen to me. I know you can hear me. I have a plan to get rid of Hades but—" I paused to block a wild lunge. "—I'm going to need your help," I finished, dodging another attack, looking straight into Zack's eyes. I hoped to see even the slightest flicker there. It was a risky move, because then I took my attention off of his limbs, but I was determined to make this work.
In response, I thought I saw a flash of something in the swordsman's eyes—whether it was agreement, or just a trick of the light, I wasn't sure—but it was enough to urge me on.
I parried his next strike to stumble him back a step and give me room to breathe. Maybe it was just my imagination, but it seemed to me that he took longer to come back after me. Maybe he was fighting back. Or the darkness didn't award him unlimited energy. Whichever it was, I knew I had to take advantage of it.
Briefly, out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw the flames surrounding the arena flicker lower. I blinked, and they were back to normal, but it cemented my hope regardless.
"Zack, keep fighting back," I said, splitting my focus between his face and Hades' flames, dodging a series of slow, heavy slashes from his magic-coated broadsword.
It took a moment, but I saw the emotionless expression of Zack's face fade to pain for a slight moment, his next stroke stalling, and—it happened again. The blue flames of Hades' magic wavered, just slightly.
Triumph joined the adrenaline and exhaustion in my veins.
I took a deep breath, and stared harder into my opponent's blank gaze. "We'll have to work together to get rid of him, okay?" I didn't expect an answer, and didn't get one other than a faltering stab. "When I give you the signal, I want you to put everything into fighting back. I'm going to go after him, and that should distract him long enough to break you out of his spell."
After my last sentence, I got an unexpected response from Zack. His emotionless expression changed for a moment, replaced with a pained grimace, and his eyes flickered to normal just long enough for me to notice.
Then the detached expression returned, and I was back to dodging. Was it just my hope distorting what I saw, or were Zack's attacks slower than they had been? If Hades was tiring, maybe we had a chance.
I allowed Zack to drive me two steps back, then angled myself so my back was to Hades. It went against my every instinct, but I knew that in order to take Hades by surprise, I'd have to turn my back on him briefly. It took effort to pull air into my lungs, and even more to summon magic to my blade. I blocked as Zack swung wildly at my head, and then yelled, "Now!"
Without stopping to see if Zack acknowledged my order, I turned around, the flames coating Earthshaker flickering brighter than Hades' magic. I slammed into Hades, my Keyblade impacting with his stomach and pushing him backwards, though it didn't break the skin.
"Foul!" Hades yelled, and his hair and eyes blazed brighter, though he didn't seem hurt at all by my attack. "I am not a part of this—" But then he flinched, and the blue fire surrounding the ring vanished, just for a moment, before reigniting at a lower level.
Hades' glare turned to Zack. "I can't believe this. I give you the power of darkness, and you have the gall to—"
I didn't let him finish. I was done letting him pull the strings and taunt me. He was going down, now.
Unbidden, too quick to suppress, one surge of darkness sprung to my hands, speeding up the edge of Earthshaker, fueled by my rush of fury towards the god in front of me, but by the time I registered what I was doing, my Keyblade had already swung, straight for Hades' chest.
Just before it impacted, horror stabbed through me. A killing stroke. I was doing it again. The darkness had sunk its teeth into me. I couldn't hold it back.
Earthshaker didn't bite into the Lord of the Dead's body, to my immense relief, but it did slam him sideways, and he sprawled in the dust, and I could feel his power snap, long enough for the blue flames around us to dissipate, and I heard a short, hard gasp behind me.
Before I could dissuade myself, I spun around to look at Zack, who had frozen, the dark magic holding him stilling. His face was now twisted in twinges of pain, and his limbs shook. Then he wavered, and toppled to the sandy floor, the corrupting flames of the magic that controlled him fading as his sword slipped from his fingers. As the darkness released him, he fell fully into the dirt, breathing hard.
I suddenly became aware of the fact that I stood in the middle of the cramped Coliseum, and the endless spectators were cheering again—whistling, clapping, yelling, and whooping their approval. They may have been shocked during the unplanned match, but now they all stood, hands raised, every eye fixed on me. I swallowed, very aware of my dusty, sweaty clothes, but the uncomfortableness faded as I glanced back at Zack and was reminded with a jolt of Hades. I spun, shoving the crowd out of my mind, and raised Earthshaker, scowling again.
"Forget it." Hades had recovered, as I knew he would, and the fiery glare he pierced me with before turning away from me and the downed Zack was full of disgust and frustration. "Looks like I bet on the wrong dark horse, after all. That kid doesn't have what it takes to handle darkness. Shoulda figured… Guess if you want something done, you really can't trust anyone else but yourself." He stalked away, slightly slouching, and I saw how his jaw was clenched.
As the officials rushed onto the stage, he cast me one last contemptuous look, and his parting jab parted the crowd's yelling easily. "You'll never get rid of it, kid. It'll consume you, even if it hasn't yet." He glanced meaningfully down at my hands. With a stab of guilt, I saw that a flicker of dark magic still emanated from my palm. I tried not to acknowledge my fear at the sight, and scowled, shutting the magic off, and glaring back up at Hades. I raised Earthshaker, and took a step forward.
The Lord of the Dead went up in a pillar of smoke, just as my Keyblade flew through the air toward him.
I dismissed it before it came back, and shook of the worried and babbling officials, ignoring their anxious questions and apologies. I swallowed the anger still seething under my skin, and walked over to Zack, pleased to see him slowly pushing himself up.
"You gonna make it?" I asked, and his head shot up, surprised. He grinned, and the blue eyes which mirrored his gratefulness were back to normal. "Yeah. I'm finally free—thanks to you." He nodded, like he was getting used to the idea, the tension in his shoulders dissipating.
Then his expression darkened, and he sat up abruptly. "Where is—"
I shook my head bitterly. "He's gone."
Zack scowled, and slammed a fist into the sand. "Man, how could I let a guy like him control me? I'll never live it down!" He hung his head low, and I repressed a sympathetic smile. I knew what he was thinking. Should've been stronger, should've resisted, failure, failure, failure. I leaned down, extending a hand. Zack looked up and, when his eyes caught on my half-grin, he smiled ruefully, and I helped him up. "Thanks, Terra." He smiled sheepishly. "Bad first impression, huh? Me trying to kill you, and all. I promise I'm not usually like that."
I laughed, and Zack grinned wider. His voice had been light, if slightly self-conscious. The hardened, angry warrior whom I'd fought seemed to have disappeared with Hades. Now that his eyes were back to normal, I saw that their bright blue depths held a humor I would've never expected to see there.
Zack glanced around, past the bustling officials who all seemed intent on making as much racket as possible as they ran around frantically, though I had no idea what any of them were trying to do. His gaze landed on the stunned group of defeated warriors, all of whom looked vaguely like someone had slapped them in the face, and then back at me. He looked me up and down, analyzing, and I raised an eyebrow at him.
He smiled, and nodded, decisively. "Yup. No doubt about it, Terra. You're exactly what I pictured a hero would be." He paused, and I blinked, taken aback at his words. Me? A hero? "Not the way you look…" Zack continued, contemplatively, "There's something else about you."
I exhaled, shaking my head. Memories—ones of Braig's face marred by my darkness, Aurora's too-still expression, and the black magic which had flamed from my hands as I attacked Hades—sent stabs of pain through me, more painful than the wounds from the two consecutive matches. "Well, I'm no hero." I told him, hoping bitterness didn't make it to my tone, and turned slightly away, eyes falling to my feet. "Trust me."
Zack scoffed, and I looked up despite myself. "You kidding? Listen to those cheers, man."
Somehow, I'd been able to ignore the raucous crowd after Hades had disappeared, but I let the cheering come back into focus.
Louder than any of my other matches combined, the crowd was screaming itself hoarse, stomping feet to shake the ground, and pumping fists to a united chant of "Ter-ra, Ter-ra, Ter-ra!" Everyone was grinning, yelling, and every single eye was on me.
Zack continued over the clamor. "You don't get to decide if you're a hero or not. They do." My heart thumped wildly in my chest as his words and the crowd's cheers resounded in my ears, almost seeming to be easing some tightness inside me. "And they've already made up their mind." My eyes flew from face to face in the crowd, not quite believing the yells, not quite believing the uplifting feeling slowly filtering through my veins.
"Whether you like it or not, you're their hero."
Zack snapped me out of my shock with a slight punch to my unhurt arm. "And mine, too." He smiled wide, earnest and unabashed.
Barely a second passed before his face fell, and the response I didn't have for his words was lost. "You know, it's too bad that Hades had to ruin the match. I really wanted to fight you fair and square."
I surprised him and myself by returning his punch. "Maybe someday, Zack."
Zack grinned.
The officials had a hard time holding the crowd back from rushing onto the field as they led me to the Vestibule. I could still hear their cheers through the stone walls, the incessant yells of excitement and stomping of feet even rumbling through the floors. The three officials who took me through the dark passageway babbled about the awards ceremony and how everyone would be outside the Coliseum to meet me, congratulate me, but I wasn't really listening. Zack had been led in the opposite direction, for a medic to check him over, but he had waved goodbye with a cheery "See you at the awards ceremony!"
I had even seen Theo, in passing. He had been screaming himself hoarse with the rest of the crowd, and when I smiled at him, he waved his money bag in the air, which was easily three times larger than it had been at the beginning of the day, and I heard him vaguely yell "Knew you were this good!"
The cool shadow of the Vestibule was a stark difference to the bright sunlight of the Coliseum, but it was a relief to get away from the crowd, though I could still hear their roars.
I drew back slightly, letting my guides go ahead of me as we entered the lamplight marking the entry room. More noise waited just outside the door, waited to greet and overwhelm me. The officials didn't notice that I wasn't right behind them. They were still talking on and on about the matches, about how impressed they were that a first-timer could win so easily.
I stopped near the middle of the room. It was time to go. There wasn't anything else I could do here. Vanitas had obviously left, and I had to find out where.
The officials hurried out of the Vestibule, apparently expecting me to follow, but I let the door close behind them.
With a slight smile, I summoned Earthshaker and cast a portal. I let my Keyblade armor cloak me with a bright light, then stepped through the crackling field into the Lanes Between.
A/N: Whoops, did I say I'd post on the 14th? I meant the 15th.
I really did mean to post this earlier. Trust me. Apparently, it is a theme for my teachers to do their best to assign everything they possibly can before finals so that I spend 36 hours on essays and speeches in one week alone, so I have had very little time to write or edit this chapter.
In related news, this is also unedited by anyone other than myself, so please, if you see any typos or errors AT ALL, please say something. I appreciate it.
And the next chapter is maybe 1/2 done? 3/5ths done? Somewhere close there. COuld be another two months, but I am hoping to have it finished by the end of Juneish. I will update my profile when I have a better idea :)
Thank you all so so much for reading! I am so glad you have enjoyed this fic so much to get nine chapters in.
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Thank you TerraxAqua, and itsthecranberry for your reviews! (And, because the latter was anon and I couldn't respond to your super kind review in a PM, itsthecranberry: thank you so so much, your words were so kind and I am so honored that you think that highly of my writing. I am so glad that you enjoy reading this!)
Thanks to LarxeneRipOff for faving and following, and to ARSLOTHES for following.
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Hope you all have an amazing weekend! Thanks again for reading.
