Chapter Eight – Dreams and Pride
~Pyra~
"You know, I don't care how disinterested you seemed in there, but that castle was awesome," Lea laughed, as we flew through space on my glider.
"I wasn't disinterested, I was just…" I looked for a word that would explain my over-thinking of 'certain issues' without explaining it at all.
"Just what?"
"… Thinking."
"Well, it must have been something important you were thinking about to have been that distracted. I mean, you're normally really focused," he nodded.
I turned to look at him. He tilted his head to one side, then shrugged.
… He looked funny doing that in armour.
"WHOA, SHIT, LOOK OUT!" He cried suddenly, leaping forwards and steering the glider to one side. I turned round to see that he'd just steered us out of the way of a giant asteroid. "Seriously, pay attention while driving!"
"Sorry," I apologized, taking control again, "thanks."
Seriously, Pyra? You IDIOT.
"Don't worry about it; we're fine, aren't we?" He laughed, springing back to where he was usually perched at the rear of the glider. "I'm getting better at this sort of stuff, huh?"
"What? Fixing things when I screw up? Well you certainly aren't getting worse at it," I joked.
"Well, I'll always be here to help," he bowed.
Oh, would he now…?
"Anyway, what's the whole point in going to this Coliseum place, anyway?" He asked, suddenly leaning over my shoulder and squinting into the distance. He didn't have to bother, the world was right there, plain as daylight, about three kilometres ahead.
And he was distracting me a bit, there…
"We're going to compete," I answered, shooing him away so as to not break my concentration, "according to my dad's stories, they have a great fighting tournament set up there, they call it 'The Games'. If we're lucky, maybe the others have stopped by recently."
"Wait, both of us? Competing?"
"Yeah. And we should enter as individuals, too. See how far we can progress without each other's help."
"Won't that mean that there's a chance…"
"That we have to fight each other? Yep," I nodded, as we entered the atmosphere of the world, touching down at the coliseum gates. "If we come up against each other, don't hold back, because I won't either. That way we can test each other's strength."
I jumped swiftly off of the glider, and Lea followed. We deactivated our armour, walking through the giant gates to the coliseum courtyard. "You'll thrash me, though!" Lea complained. "Do you even remember how you were just slaying those Unversed yesterday without even batting an eyelid?"
"I was zoned out, that doesn't count. Besides, I'd stop if you gave up," I grinned, "I don't particularly want to be flying you out of here with any broken bones. I'm not great at healing those, yet."
A guy with black hair who looked about a year older than Lea and I rushed past, holding a scroll-like piece of paper in his hand. "PHIIIIIL!" He yelled, "PHIL, SIGN ME UP!"
I watched as a short, podgy-looking satyr emerged from the vestibule, next to a guy wearing a toga, who looked about my age, if not a little younger. The satyr looked the dark-haired guy up and down. "Zack, are you really gonna enter again?" The satyr asked. "You're real desperate to become a hero, aren't ya?"
"Of course I am!" Zack grinned, doing squats all of a sudden.
"Oh, can you sign us up, too?" I asked, approaching the satyr, who I now assumed to be Phil, and gesturing to Lea and myself.
He looked me up and down. "You trained?"
"Naturally," I smirked.
"I'm a bit of a work in progress, but I'm getting there," Lea laughed.
"Hey, same here," said the dude in the toga. "Phil, let them enter. Besides, that girl there's wearing the same emblem as Ven, Terra and Aqua were."
I looked between Phil and toga boy. "You guys know them?"
"Well, yeah," Zack smirked, sitting on the ground, "Ven helped me and Hercules over there train for the Games, Terra saved my ass from an evil dude named Hades, and Aqua also kicked Hades' butt, as well as a giant popsicle thing that he was controlling."
… Well, good. Terra seemed to be keeping out of trouble this time.
Hang on.
"Has there been a guy wandering round wearing a mask recently?" I asked.
"I think I saw someone like that yesterday… He seemed to be looking for something," nodded the boy in the toga, Hercules.
I looked at Lea.
His face sunk.
"He was muttering something about other worlds…" mused Zack, before quickly looking up at me and Lea, "Not that I'd know anything about that…"
As you can probably guess, that one sentence made me suspicious.
"Zack, you and I need to have a little talk, right now, outside the Coliseum. Come with me," I ordered, grabbing his arm and dragging him across the ground. "Lea, come with," I nodded, exiting the Coliseum, and rounding the corner, just out of earshot of Hercules and Phil.
I waited until Lea got there.
And then all hell broke loose.
…
~Lea~
"Who are you, really, and how do you know about other worlds?" Pyra interrogated, pinning Zack against the wall of the Coliseum.
"Zack! I'm Zack, and I always have been! Zack from Gongaga!" he protested, squirming free of her grip. "I'm from a world called Shinra's Empire. That's how I know."
"Pyra, loosen up," I nudged, elbowing her gently.
Zack looked at me funny then, before smirking to himself.
… What…?
"Tell me about this 'Shinra's Empire'," she glared. "I'd love to hear all about it."
"There's a really big city in the middle called Midgar, and there's a country called Wutai, and there's a group of fighters that call themselves SOLDIER. I left about a month ago, this weird talking mouse named Mickey took me here with this star thing. Honest!"
"Since arriving here, have you met a bald guy named Xehanort?"
… Oh, god, she thought that he was Vanitas in disguise.
"No. Never heard of him," he explained, before pausing, then frowning at Pyra. "Wait… How do YOU know about other worlds?"
"I come from a world named the Land of Departure. Xehanort is my uncle, one of the universe's biggest bad guys. I'm trying to stop him and his little hench-buddy Vanitas, the dude in the mask, while trying to hunt down Ven, Aqua and Terra, who just so happened to be students at my dad's academy. I have photos of the world, and photos of the people who live in it, or who used to," she nodded.
"Wait… so you're trying to hunt those three down?" Zack asked, before grinning widely. "Let me help!"
"Why should I?"
"Pyra, he knows them. All of them. He's done this 'Games' thing before, and he already knows that there are other worlds. He's a damn sight more qualified than I was," I informed her quietly. "Plus, you never know how powerful the next enemy is gonna be, so we could use all the help we can get."
She seemed to consider it for a moment.
Meanwhile, Zack was sniggering to himself. "Aw, man, you two are cute," he laughed, "you going out or something?"
"Wha… No!" we both protested, each jumping about six inches away from one another.
I hoped that Pyra didn't notice me mouthing the words 'I wish'.
"Okay, well, what are you then?"
"Friends. Who fight bad guys. Friends who fight bad guys," Pyra nodded rapidly. "Nothing more."
Yet, I thought.
"Really?" Zack grinned, "It doesn't look li-"
"Listen here, Zack, if you want to come with us on our search for Terra, Ven and Aqua, we're friends until otherwise informed. Got it?" Pyra snarled.
Well gee, she was getting defensive.
"Whoa, okay, fine, fine, no need to get worked up about it… Wait, I can join you guys?" Zack seemed excited.
"Yes," Pyra sighed, massaging the side of her head like she did when she used a little too much magic, "you can come along. But we're going in the Games first."
"Sweet. Maybe I'll see you in the arena, then," he grinned, "because I'm entering, too."
"Just one thing…" Pyra mused, stepping a little closer to him, "how old are you?"
"Sixteen, as of the day I left my world," he answered, "why?"
"Huh," Pyra smirked, going to walk back into the Coliseum, "you don't really act like it," she chuckled, wandering out of sight.
I looked at Zack. He was gaping in shock.
"Better get used to it," I laughed, "she has quite the attitude, sometimes."
"… She just called me immature…"
"Yeah, real hard to see why," I joked.
"Yeah, well, it's real hard to see that you like-like her," he retorted, his face spreading into an evil grin. "I'm amazed she hasn't noticed."
I gave him daggers. "If you say anything-"
"Dude. You're shorter than me by about three inches, you're not intimidating me."
"I don't care. If you say anything, you're… you're…"
"Ya might want to think about that," he laughed.
This was going to be an interesting journey.
…
~Pyra~
I approached the satyr once again, trying to put Zack's question out of my head. Of course we weren't going out, I mean, really? We were just friends (as much as my actions seemed to be telling me I wanted otherwise), was that really that difficult to see?
"Hey, um, Phil, isn't it?" I began. The satyr looked up from the newspaper he'd started reading. "I'd like to sign myself up for the Games. Lea too, if that's okay," I smiled.
"Look, as long as you're trained, and you're good with audiences, then sure. Go ahead. Just two words for ya," he explained, looking me right in the eye, "Don't. Get. Cocky."
"Wait, isn't that..." I mumbled to myself. That was three words…
"Hey, Pyra," came a voice from behind me, "that IS your name, isn't it?"
I looked over my shoulder. Zack.
"I gotta tell you something about Le-" He was cut off by Lea trapping him in a headlock, hand clamped over his mouth.
"Don't worry about it, it isn't an evil secret or anything," he groaned, struggling against the now-attempting-his-escape Zack.
I shrugged, turning back to Phil. "I can handle crowds," I nodded. "I don't know about Lea, but I know he did a few sports, too, and people would have had to been watching at some point, so I'm pretty sure he'd be able to handle it."
Phil looked over at Lea and Zack then, and I did the same. I watched as they wrestled for a while. Lea seemed genuinely peeved. Huh.
There I go again, paying more attention than usual. I was actually starting to be semi-convinced that I might… well. You know.
Confound my brain, it drives me to think.
"He looks like he can handle himself well enough. You're in," Phil stated. "You'll be fighting in the East bracket, and he'll be in the West bracket with Zack. Is that good?"
"Brilliant," I grinned. "Is Hercules going to be fighting, too?"
"Yeah, in the East bracket, with you."
"Sweet," I nodded. "Now, I'm going to go split those two up," I suggested, wandering over to where Zack and Lea were brawling. I grabbed the collar of Zack's jumper-thing, and the back of Lea's scarf, then yanked the two of them apart. "Okay, boys, split it up, we have the Games yet, you can try to kill each other then, alright?" I smiled sarcastically.
"He started it," Zack choked, pulling his collar free.
"Did not," Lea protested, tugging at the end of his scarf, forcing me to let go.
"I don't care who started it, I'll finish it if I have to," I frowned. "What are you, a couple of five-year-olds?"
Zack glared at me, then pulled an evil grin, and turned to Lea. "She will find out, you know, just you wait," he laughed, then he walked over to Phil, discussing whose match was up first in the Games. Lea glared after him.
"What's your problem?" I asked, slightly concerned.
"It's nothing. He just seems to like sharing his theories about people," he grumbled.
"His theory being…?"
"Nothing you need to worry about," he reassured. "At least, not now, anyway."
"When will I need to start worrying?" I joked.
"Depends on whether you'll be worried by it to begin with," he smirked, but he looked a little anxious, too. "I'm hoping you won't be."
"Okay, I'm getting really curious now," I admitted, twigging onto the fact that this may turn out to be extremely important in the near future. "What's the theory…?"
"You'll find out soon enough…" he smirked again, walking towards the vestibule, where Phil and Zack had gone.
… Well, this was turning out to be an interesting day, I thought, following him into the vestibule. I heard Phil talking to Zack, Lea and Hercules. "Okay, so the first to fight out there will be Zack, he'll be up against a team named 'The Shoegazers'. They look like-"
"Oversized blue boots with faces and antennae?" I asked. "Yeah, Shoegazers are a kind of Unversed. You might have seen them around," I nodded.
Phil smirked. "Been doing your research, eh? Prepared, I like it," He laughed.
"Good luck, Zack," Hercules nodded.
"Thanks," he grinned, "I won't lose!"
He entered the Coliseum, waving as he went. I went to follow, only to be blocked by Phil.
"Sorry, competitors are strictly forbidden from watching other competitors matches before they've been knocked out of the tournament," he explained.
"Why…?"
"It gives away our battle strategies, apparently, and Phil wants the competition to be even," Hercules announced.
"Even-schmeven," I smirked, "I just want to see if he can take out a bunch of freaking Shoegazers."
"It doesn't matter, rules are rules," Phil glared.
"Fine," I huffed. "We'll just have to wait until he leaves the Coliseum, then."
…..
~Zack~
Shoegazers. From what I'd learned here in the Coliseum, they were dangerous in groups of more than two.
But pretty much useless by themselves.
"Thundara!" I yelped, raising my SOLDIER-issue sword above my head. Electric bolts sparked out in a rough circle around me, jolting the Shoegazers enough to separate their little cluster.
Now to just pick 'em off individually…
Quickly, I took out each and every one of the Shoegazers, using mainly charging attacks and attacks where I slammed my sword to the ground. After around twenty seconds, I was the only fighter left in the Coliseum. The crowd cheered wildly.
I grinned, putting my sword back onto the magnet on my back.
These would be the Games that I finally won.
…
~Pyra~
"I beat 'em," Zack smiled smugly, re-entering the vestibule.
"Oh, aren't you proud," Lea teased.
"Shut up."
"Alright, calm your jets, you two," I frowned. "Phil, who's next?"
"You are, sweet cheeks," he nodded. "You're up against a group of Bruisers. Five'a them."
"Okay. Wish me luck, boys," I grinned, leaving the four males in the vestibule.
"Good luck," Lea called after me.
I smiled to myself, then wiped the expression off of my face. Seriously, Py, I told myself, he's your team mate. You've only known him for a few days, I mean REALLY…
I entered the Coliseum's arena to face the screaming crowd and the intense sunlight. I raised an arm to shield my eyes while they adjusted, to see a large group of Bruiser Unversed waiting in the center of the arena.
And suddenly, I was as focused as a beam of sunlight through a magnifying glass. I summoned my trusty scimitars, in all of their red and gold glory, and charged at the Unversed. The front member of the group went to throw a punch, to which I smirked, and flipped over and out of the reach of. I landed in a neat crouch on the other side of the cluster. "FIRA!" I grinned, projecting my voice, then directed the flames to my blades. I slashed out at the Bruisers, knocking a few down, their backs burning.
I took the opportunity to un-summon my scimitars and switch to my crossbow, my bolt quiver appearing on my back as the crossbow appeared in my hand.
But I wasn't going to use my bolts. No, I was going to try something different. You know, improvise a little.
Well, not really. More like use one of my dad's spells.
"Lightcutter!" I yelled, jumping into the air, and rebounding off of the pillars that marked out the arena boundary. I took aim on the Unversed on the ground, before pulling the trigger, hard. A barrage of light-bolts shot from my crossbow like pellets from a machine gun, spraying the Bruisers with a shower of magical energy. It was one of the most draining spells I'd used, but I was only using it for a short time, so it didn't hurt too much. And hey, the crowd went absolutely ballistic.
As I dropped to the ground, and the Bruisers took the full impact of all of my light-bolts, I switched back to my scimitars, and rushed them with all of the force I could muster.
Within moments, all of the Bruisers had been dispatched, and the crowd screamed loudly, cheering me on. I smiled broadly, twirling my scimitars as I un-summoned them. I marched proudly back into the vestibule, an evil grin stretching across the planes of my face.
These Games would be a piece of cake.
…..
~Lea~
"Okay, those guys are toast," Pyra announced, entering the vestibule, grinning that showcase evil grin of hers. "Whoever's next, get your butt out there, the crowd's insane."
"Herc, you're up," Phil nodded. "I was kind of in a rush when I wrote down this one, so I can't really read my own writing, but be prepared for a group of five or six Unversed, 'kay, champ?"
"Okay, here goes nothing," Herc smiled. "Let's hope I come back in one piece."
He walked out of the vestibule straight-backed and marching proud, like nothing could hurt him.
Huh.
Pyra approached where I was leaning against the wall, and leaned against the wall too, about half a foot away from me. "You ready?" She smiled.
"Yeah, I suppose," I smirked. "I just need to go in there with an 'I can beat anything' attitude."
"Don't get cocky," Phil warned, turning towards the door to the outside of the Coliseum. "I just gotta go get some things, I'll be back in a minute."
He walked outside, leaving me, Zack, and Pyra alone in the vestibule.
And then Zack burst out laughing. "It so has to be you two," he chuckled, sliding down his wall in fits of laughter, "I mean, look at yourselves! You're so… chummy! And Pyra, who seems like one of the universe's biggest tomboys on the outside, actually looks CONCERNED! Aw, man, this is rich!"
"Watch your mouth," Pyra snapped.
"You don't even know us!" I growled, approaching Zack. "You can't just make those assumptions!"
"Dude," he sighed, standing up, "older, taller, probably stronger than you-"
"You might be stronger than him," Pyra snarled, "but I can guarantee you that I will kick your ass and wipe the floor with it in a second, if you don't shut up."
I looked at her. Her face was stern, hard, cold. She was serious.
"You have no right to assume that," she scowled, moving me out the way gently, then she stood on her tip-toes and stared Zack right in the eyes. "If you don't drop this subject right now, you won't be coming with us. That understood?"
… I remembered back to when she threatened to kill Vanitas, the day we met. I reminded myself never to let her get that angry at me.
"Fine, fine, I'll drop it. Just don't expect me not to think it," he sniggered, making a face that was strikingly similar to the trollface.
"As long as you keep it to yourself, Zack," I shot a glare at him.
He seemed to have his own version of an evil grin, as he was doing it right now. "Sure," he smirked.
"Anyway, back to real life, Lea, are you ready for your match?" Pyra asked, her 'KILL ALL THE THINGS' expression now replaced by a look of curiosity.
"Yeah, I suppose so-"
"Hey, guys," Herc entered the room, grinning, "I did it!"
"Woooo, go Herc!" Zack cheered. "One step closer to embracing your dreams!"
… Embracing dreams, huh?
… Heh. I could embrace one of my dreams with great ease, right now. Thing is… Would said dream leave me in one piece if I did…?
"Lea, you're up!" Phil entered the vestibule, holding the clipboard. "You're up against five Axe Flappers and five Archravens. Good to go?"
I looked at Pyra. "They're the flying ones, right?"
"Yep," she nodded. "Now go get 'em!"
I smirked, summoning my chakrams, and walked down the hall and out into the coliseum.
Damn, that was one massive crowd.
And, damn again, the Archravens were already about ten metres in the air.
But, considering what I'd learned about those damned flyers in the past five days, I knew that they didn't swoop too often, and they weren't incredibly accurate when they did. So I focused on the Axe Flappers first.
"Fire!" I shouted, throwing my chakrams at a couple of the Axe Flappers. The weapons caught fire as they flew towards them, colliding with their targets in a swirling blaze, knocking the cluster of enemies out of formation. I laughed as my weapons returned, catching them as I leapt forwards to swipe at my now burning opponents. I threw in a few kicks, too, for the hell of it. After about thirty seconds, they were gone, vanished.
Archraven time.
I leapt into the air, as high as I could, then threw my chakrams as hard as I could at two of the Archravens. The other three… Well, what would any good magic user do? Shoot them down. "Fire!" I hollered, shooting several small fireballs at the Archravens I hadn't thrown the chakrams at. I considered the fact that they weren't too strong, they mustn't have had much left in them after that.
I grinned as the Archravens started to drop out of the air, then decided to try something tricky. An Archraven passed my foot, so I reached out with it, and pushed off of it, leaping a little further into the air. I continued bounding upwards off of the five falling Unversed, until I was above all of them. My chakrams had returned to me by now, so it was time to really test myself.
I shut my eyes in concentration, then snapped them open again, confident. I pointed the centres of my chakrams at the ground, crossed over one another, so they looked like the sights on a rifle. "FIRA!" I roared, a fireball quite a bit larger than the others I'd shot erupting from where the crossbars of the weapons met, shooting downwards. It engulfed the Archravens in a small explosion, taking the lot of them out. My head was pounding, but I'd done it. A second level spell, a scant five days after learning the first level version of it. I really must have been a natural, like Pyra said.
I dropped to the ground, landing in a slightly wobbly crouch. The crowd cheered at a deafening volume, and flames still lingered around me, almost clinging to the floor. I fell onto all fours. I'd actually done it.
"Where the HELL did THAT come from!" came a voice from the corridor that led to the vestibule. I looked up to see Pyra jogging over.
"I thought Phil said-"
"I knew your fighting style before we even got here, Lea, I explained that to Phil before I came to watch," she explained, beaming. "Still, first, you jumped like a pro, then you appeared to just hang in midair for a bit while you started attacking those Archravens, and then you jumped further into the air off of their backs, and then you used a SECOND LEVEL FIRE SPELL. WHERE THE HELL DID THAT ALL COME FROM, MAN!"
"I dunno," I breathed, fishing one of the ethers she'd given me from my pocket. I shoved it in my mouth, spitting out the wrapper. I stood to my feet. "I suppose I'm just a fast learner. Besides, I have a pretty epic teacher, SHE could probably do that with her EYES shut," I laughed.
"That you do," she chuckled, blushing a little.
For some reason, the crowd screamed a little louder.
"Hey, guys, I can hear the crowd from the vestibule, what's going on?" Zack came running out from the corridor, followed closely by Herc and Phil.
"Lea just freaking ANNAHILATED those things!" Pyra cheered proudly, fist pumping the air.
"Pyra, I should disqualify you for watching, you know-"
"Calm down, Phil, If she already knew how he fights, and he knew how she fights, then it's even, isn't it?" Herc asked, cutting Phil off.
"I suppose… I'll let ya' off with a warning, this time," Phil sighed, "But this is strike one. Remember, three strikes-"
"And I'm out, I get it, I've played baseball, Phil," Pyra laughed. She turned to me. "You should be so god damn proud of yourself right now," she laughed, still beaming widely.
"Dreams and pride, they're all a good hero needs," Zack sniggered, looking quite proud himself, "and I KNOW you have dreams."
"Shut up, Zack," I threw him a glare, mockingly this time, "and you need friends, too. I mean, where the hell would I be without my pyromaniac fighting teacher?" I joked, elbowing Pyra in the ribs.
"Oh, like you can talk!" She laughed, pulling me into a noogie. "You're getting just as bad as I am!"
"Whoa, wait, you taught him to fight?" Zack asked, exasperated.
"Well, yeah," Pyra smirked. "And I train with him, too, that's how I know how he fights. I taught him the basics, and I assume he's just picking up on the rest himself!"
"Wow. If he annahilated those things, I'd hate to see what you do to them," Phil scratched his head, heading back into the vestibule. "Come on, guys, we need to get ready for the quarter finals. Those were just the preliminaries, you guys ain't seen nothin' yet."
"Alright," Zack nodded, racing Herc back into the corridor.
Pyra released me from the noogie, then turned to head back inside. "Ready for round two?" she asked, looking back over her non-armoured, non-scarred shoulder. A part of me was suddenly wondering where she got the scar, but I shrugged it away.
"You can bet your life on it," I grinned back at her, following her inside.
This was gonna be a close competition.
