The trio emerge from a small cave, the dim light of twilight greeting them. Though not as bright as full day, the change in illumination is still enough to leave everyone a bit disoriented.
The other thing that hits the world travelers is a sudden rush of pure energy, as the curse of the Underworld falls away and their normal strengths reassert themselves. Telary heals Sora's ankle with a quick spell, and the group sets off for the Olympus Coliseum.
By the time they reach the vaunted arena, the sun has set completely, and the coliseum gates area is illuminated only by fires flickering in strategically set pits all around.
"Nobody here," Azlyn comments, taking in the sight of the golden statues with swords held high flanking the door opposite, entrance to the coliseum's lobby. "I guess they must have gone home for the night."
"The door was unlocked," Sora says almost dismissively, already striding across the sandy field to the entrance. "And besides, I doubt Phil ever even leaves the place."
"I thought we were going to see Meg," Telary says, he and Azlyn in step behind the Keybearer. "Tell her about Hades and all that."
"We'll see her eventually," Sora assures the wizard, ignoring the face Azlyn makes at the mention of Meg's name. "But hey, I wanna say hi to Phil too. He did a lot to help train us for the games, y'know. Which I won, in case you…"
"How could we forget?" Azlyn interrupts, shaking her head. "You won the Hercules Cup." The knight smiles and pats at a pouch at her side, listening to the jangle of munny coins inside. "I got the prize munny though."
Their discussion of times past is interrupted by the sudden opening of the lobby doors. Looking up, the trio see Hercules, demigod and undefeated champion of the coliseum, emerge. He doesn't look terribly well, much less strong than any of the group remembers. In fact, it appears that the large man needs support, provided by Megara standing at his side.
When he sees the trio, however, Herc suddenly seems to perk up. Meg lets go of his arm and he steps forward, back straightening as his mouth stretches into a genuine smile.
"Sora, Azlyn, Telary!" the big man exclaims, stepping brightly down steps to the field. "Oh man, it is so good to see you guys again! How've you been?"
Sora shrugs. "Well, y'know," he answers nonchalantly, "fighting Heartless, looking for our friends. Your basic adventures."
Herc shakes his head, extending his arm for a greeting hand slap that Sora happily reciprocates. "Man, I forgot how much work it is to be a junior hero."
"I'd prefer you just forgot the 'junior' part altogether," Azlyn comments, receiving her own hand slap from the hero.
"Sorry, Azlyn, but you know that isn't my call to make," Hercules apologizes with a half-shrug. Suddenly, something seems to spark in the demigod's mind, and he turns and gestures to Megara, who still stands at the top of the short entrance steps. "Oh, man, how could I forget to introduce you to my wife!"
For a second Meg looks obviously nervous, but she recovers quickly. "Oh hello, Hercules' friends. Nice to meet you all, I've heard so much about you."
"Hi there Meg…" Telary greets the woman, only to remember mid-word the stipulation that the trio's visit to Hades be kept quiet. Quickly, he manages to come up with, "Mega-hottie." Panicked, he looks to Hercules. "That's uh, that's a really nice looking wife you got there, Herc!"
Hercules looks taken aback, more than a little offended by Telary's forwardness. And here the demigod had thought his fellow redhead a more reserved sort. "Um, thanks, Telary."
"Please don't hurt me," the wizard pleads in a meek voice, stepping conspicuously behind Azlyn for protection.
"It really is nice to meet you all," Meg says, stepping up beside her husband and taking his arm once more. She frowns. "You all look exhausted. Did you have a tough time getting here?"
"You could say that," Sora confirms, letting out a deep sigh. "We actually ended up getting pretty… Lost. We wound up in the Underworld, and then of course we went to see Hades…"
"Why would you do that?" Hercules asks, one eyebrow quirking curiously. "Is Hades causing some kind of trouble?"
"We just thought he might have some information on our friends," Telary lies, a much better conversational saving throw than his last.
"Still haven't found 'em, eh?"
"No, sadly not," Sora sighs, thinking of Riku, how long it has been since they were together.
"Hades wasn't exactly looking to chat," Azlyn says. "And with that Underworld curse draining all of our strength, we weren't able to get anything out of him the hard way either."
"Oh, yeah, that'll do it to you," Herc agrees, nodding sympathetically. "But, hey, there might be something I can do to help you out with that."
"We'll take anything we can get," Sora says.
"There's an item called the Olympus Stone," Herc explains. "It's usually used by the gods whenever they have to go down into the Underworld. I've used it a time or two myself. It completely blocks out the curse, keeps heroes at full strength."
"Could we use it?" Azlyn asks eagerly.
"If it isn't too much trouble, of course," Telary adds for the sake of politeness.
Hercules nods confidently. "I'm sure I can swing it," he says, with a hint of the old swagger in his voice. "After all, my dad is a pretty important guy up there."
"Ah, nepotism," Azlyn sighs. "Where would we be without it?"
Telary raises an eyebrow at the knight. "You know the meaning of the word 'nepotism'?"
Azlyn scoffs, playing up being offended by the suggestion. "Hey, if a word has to do with cash or special favors, I'm a complete dictionary!"
"Guys," Sora admonishes his friends, who obligingly clam up. The Keybearer turns back to Hercules and says, "Thanks a lot, man. That'll be really helpful."
The hero shrugs. "I'll probably have to wait until morning to go get it though," he apologizes. "Most gods are pretty serious about their sleep cycles. There's actually some spare rooms in the coliseum, so you could spend the night here if you wanted."
"You sure that'd be okay with the billy goat, Wonderboy?" Meg asks her husband. There's something nervous in her voice, and her eyes keep darting from Herc to the trio.
"It'll be fine, babe," Herc reassures his wife, pressing a quick kiss to her cheek. She blushes.
"Yeah, Phil loves us!" Sora declares.
"Well," a rough, boisterous voice declares suddenly, interrupting the conversation, "if it ain't the most useless, lazy, good-fer-nothing excuses for junior heroes I ever met!"
Phil, a half-man, half-goat satyr about as high as Telary's knee, stomps out of the lobby doors on his stubby hooved legs, grinning from ear to ear.
"Phil, you couldn't train a bear to crap in the woods!" Azlyn shoots back, also grinning. For once, the knight's insult is meant in good humor.
"Whatever you say, girlie." The trainer of heroes stops in front of the junior heroes and give each a good once over before looking Sora straight in the eye. "So, you kids earned your 'True Hero' wings yet, or what?"
Sora shrugs. "Well, I mean, we did sorta save the universe from a mad scientist hell-bent on unleashing a flood of everlasting Darkness, closing a portal directly into a realm of absolute dark power at great personal cost. That count?"
Phil scratches his chin, thinking it over. After a minute, he shrugs, and all three sag in disappointment.
"Anyway, Phil," Herc informs his mentor, "I just promised Sora I'd give him the Olympus Stone so he could see Hades in the Underworld, but that'll have to wait until morning. Can they stay with you at the coliseum tonight?"
Phil settles back into contemplation mode, his chin getting another good scratching. "Eh," he says after a bit, "why not?"
"Awesome!" Sora exclaims, smiling brightly.
Phil raises an eyebrow at the Keybearer. "Oh, you might not think this is all so awesome come tomorrow, pal. 'Cause believe you me, you stay under my roof, you live by my rules, got it? And that means…"
KH-KH-KH
Training!
Sora can't actually say when it was Phil had awakened the trio for a warm-up three mile jog, but it had been dark then, and now here the boy is, muddling his way through yet another barrel course with the sun high in the sky. A weight has been attached to his Keyblade, helping him to better compensate for the mass he knows the Underworld's curse will add.
"Yo, Sora, what did I tell ya an hour ago?" Phil shouts, momentarily turning away from watching Azlyn do one-handed pushups. "I gotta hint for ya! One word: …"
Sora sighs, crushing another barrel with a Keyblade swing. "Knees up!" He realizes the counting error, but after a few dozen times he's become numb to caring.
After a few more minutes of intense work, Phil actually has the grace to give Sora a ten minute break. Letting out an exasperated breath, and mentally thanking Yen Sid and the fairies for clothes that magically-resisted stench and stains, the boy collapses to the practice arena's dusty floor.
He's vaguely aware of Azlyn doing some sort of throwing accuracy test not far away, but he ignores it and closes his eyes, letting his mind drift back into a sea of pent-up adrenaline and tiredness…
He's sitting back against the cooled metal of the clock tower's upper reaches, simply enjoying the sweet summer air that drifts over him. At this moment, in his special place, he is at peace…
"Hey, Sora," Telary's voice calls. Slowly, Sora opens his eyes to see both the wizard and Azlyn looming over him. "Hi. Did you have a nice nap?"
Sora sits up, yawning. "Yeah, I guess so." He shakes his head. "Man, I can't believe I passed out like that!"
"I can," Azlyn says agreeably, plopping down next to the Keybearer. "I'm used to training long hours starting early, and even I'm feeling pretty whipped by that mean ol' goat's boot camp."
"Speaking of," Sora says, looking around the empty arena for any sign of Phil, "where did he go?"
Telary shrugs. "He just left. Said he had some business to take care of."
"I asked him what it was, but all he would say was it's none of my business."
The sound of leather scuffing against sand alerts the trio to the arrival of Hercules. The demigod looks almost as bad as he had when they'd initially seen him last night, sad and dejected.
"Uh, hey Herc," Sora greets the hero, slowly getting to his feet. "What's up?"
"Did you get us that stone?" Azlyn demands, rather insensitively.
Hercules sighs deeply. "Bad news on that front guys," he informs the junior heroes. "It seems that the stone was stolen from Olympus yesterday."
"Really?" Sora whines, shaking his head. "That is just our luck, huh?"
"I don't know what to tell ya," Hercules replies with a shrug. "All the gods know for sure is that the thief was a man dressed all in black."
"Black, you say?" Telary repeats, thinking hard. "Was the guy wearing a hood, with a bunch of shadows inside so you couldn't see his face?"
Herc nods. "That's it exactly. And he had a bunch of accomplices dressed in white too. Hermes says they were all slithering around…"
"Do you think…?" Sora asks Azlyn.
"Must be," the knight answers with a frown. Her fists clench. "Man do these guys get on my nerves!"
"I take it you know something about this thief, hm?" Herc deduces.
"Yeah, we do," Sora answers with a sigh. Then, a thought strikes him. "Hey, Herc, what if we went and caught the thief? Could we borrow the stone then?"
The hero nods. "Yeah, of course. I'd go with you guys, but if Hades' pattern holds I'll have another match today…"
"Is something wrong?" Telary asks the demigod. "I mean, not just with the Olympus Stone being stolen, but is there something else too?"
Herc hesitates, then lets out a deep sigh. "Yeah. It's just that Meg was already gone when I left for Olympus this morning, and usually that is not the case. She wasn't anywhere in our house either. I'm just wondering if…"
"If your ladylove doth be in danger?"
A puff of thick grey smoke suddenly erupts in the middle of the sandy arena floor. As the smoke clears, Hades becomes visible inside it, smirking smugly.
"Hades!" Herc cries out, but there isn't much in it. In fact, there doesn't seem to be much in Hercules!
The Lord of the Dead winces and shakes his head. "Geez Louise, Wonderboob, you look a bit out of it today. Under the weather perhaps?"
Hercules scowls and rushes forward, unleashing a bullet-fast punch as he goes. Unfortunately the hero is too slow, and Hades poofs away from his previous position. He reappears not far from the trio.
"And slow to boot!" Hades sucks his teeth and shakes his head in mock disappointment. "And here I thought staying in top shape was one of the tent poles of the hero industry?"
"How would you know anything about heroes, Hades?" Azlyn spits out at the god, striding toward him with her shield out and ready to strike. "Look, we've got something to say to… Yaah!"
The knight barely makes it within a foot of Hades before he nonchalantly reaches out a single blue hand and flicks her on the nose, forcing back onto the ground.
"As it happens, sweetie, I've got a piece of my own to rap at the moment, dig?" Everyone in the arena pauses a moment to take in Hades' odd word choices. The god sighs, eyes rolling. "This is what I get for trying to keep up with the kids. Sheesh!"
"Just get on with it, Hades!" Hercules demands.
"Well, my dear nephew, it seems that your sweet little Nutmeg has gone and gotten herself lost in the Underworld."
"Yeah, sure," Sora says dismissively, crossing his arms sternly. "I'll bet you kidnapped her!"
Hades shrugs. "Well, I guess you could say that," he admits, palms open in an ineffective appeasement gesture. "But, hey, why get caught up in details, hm? Bottom line is, she's down there, and you're up here."
"Not for long, Hades!" Hercules boldly claims. Raising his fingers to his lips, the demigod lets out a long whistle. Within seconds, a white horse flies into the arena on wide, feathery wings. It lets out a rowdy neigh, then lands steadily beside his friend and master, wings folding into a rest position on his back. "C'mon, Pegasus, we've got to…"
"Not so fast, Wonderbreath," Hades interrupts, smiling smugly and wagging a finger cautiously in Herc's face. "If you go running after sweet little Meggiezord, you'll miss your big match today. And boy, is your opponent a doozy!"
"Meg is way more important to me than some match!" Hercules says, narrowing his eyes angrily at his flame-haired uncle.
Hades shrugs, turns and walks away with his hands clasped behind his back. "If that's the way ya feel, Herc, I guess I can't stop you!" He pauses and turns back to the demigod, a menacing glint in his eye. "Just like you won't be able to stop today's challenger: The bloodthirsty Hydra!"
Herc's rage turns suddenly to fearful concern. "You mean…"
"Hey, you can do whatever you want, sport, I ain't gonna stop ya!" The Lord of the Dead sucks at his teeth and shakes his head in mock disappointment. "But if you're not here to handle the Hydra, well, who knows what kind of accidents could happen?"
"It's not an accident if you cause it, you blue-haired freak!" Azlyn points out, still angry about the earlier flicking.
"Well, it's like I said, details," Hades laughs off, shrugging easily. "All I'm saying is, without Herc to take on the Hydra, it's bad news city!"
"I can't believe you could be such a coward!" Sora angrily declares.
Another shrug from the god of the Underworld. "Well, kid, what can I say? We can't all be heroes." Before his statement even ends, Hades once again vanishes in a puff of smoke.
Hercules deflates completely, nearly collapsing to the ground before recovering. Sora, unsettled to see perhaps the physically strongest person he knows look so weak, approaches the demigod with a concerned smile.
"Are, uh, are you okay, Herc?" Sora asks, earning only a dejected sigh in return. "Look, I know things are bad, but you gotta…"
"Things are bad?" Herc lashes out, startling the entire trio with his sudden, uncharacteristic burst. "My wife is trapped in the Underworld by my worst enemy, a giant monster is coming this afternoon that'll destroy the entire coliseum if I don't fight it, and I can't be in two places at once!"
Sora frowns. That is true, there's only one Hercules…
"Hey, we can handle a rescue mission," Azlyn pipes up, indignant at not being asked in the first place. "We probably have to go into the Underworld to get that Olympus Stone thief anyway. And besides, we're heroes too!"
"Junior heroes, Azlyn," Telary annoyingly reminds his counterpart. She glares at him heavily.
"Azlyn's right, Herc," Sora assures the demigod, who looks at least willing to consider the plan. "You handle the Hydra up here, man. We've got the Underworld covered."
Herc still looks hesitant, but after a moment he nods. Standing up, the demigod walks over to his trusty steed, petting at the stallion's neck. "Pegasus, you take Sora and his friends to the Underworld entrance, okay? Help them find Meg." Letting out a loyal whinny, the winged horse nods once more.
"Wait a second!" Azlyn interrupts, eyeing Pegasus warily. "You don't mean we have to ride that thing?"
Sora rolls his eyes and steps forward, patting Pegasus on the neck just as Hercules had. The steed seems to warm up to the Keybearer immediately, nuzzling at his face affectionately. "Would you stop being such a baby, Az? It's perfectly safe."
"He does seem to be a sweetheart," Telary agrees, petting Pegasus's soft flank.
Azlyn approaches him cautiously with one hand held out. Sensing her discomfort, Pegasus gives it a soft, affectionate lick. Unfortunately this has a less than calming effect, and the knight grimaces as she wipes her hand off against her jacket.
Despite the dread one of them feels, mounting up on Pegasus's back goes smoothly for the trio.
"Good luck, Hercules!" Sora calls out encouragingly to the demigod. Herc returns smiles back at the Keybearer, going for a confident look but not succeeding. It's clear the hero wishes that he could join the rescue attempt.
With a determined, yet oddly cheery, whinny, Pegasus trots a few feet and flaps his wings mightily, taking to the skies above the coliseum. Azlyn yelps at the sudden acceleration, squeezing her arms tight around Sora's torso in front of her. The Keybearer lets out a pained cry as the pressure against his abdomen increases to uncomfortable levels. Telary, uncomfortable with his companions' pain, wraps his own arms gently around Azlyn's torso. After a moment, the knight seems to calm, letting up the harmful pressure on Sora.
The flight doesn't last long, and soon Pegasus is zipping through the cave entrance to the Underworld's depths. They alight within the large lake cavern, immediately feeling the effects of the curse drain a portion of their strength and resolve.
"Hold on, Pegasus!" Sora cries out suddenly, digging his heels into the airborne stallion. Looking down, he sees the unmistakable form of Phil, sitting on the floor of the cavern looking dazed. "Land here, please."
Pegasus obliges, alighting easily next to the prone form of Philoctetes. The trio dismount quickly, and with the exception of Azlyn it goes smoothly. The knight momentarily crashes to the ground, but pops back up like a daisy in sunlight.
Sora kneels next to Phil, giving the oddly wet satyr a gentle nudge. He groans and sits up, rubbing at his back with a wince.
"Sora?" the trainer says, a bit groggily. "And Sora, and Sora? Why are there three of you?"
"Um, there's not Phil," Sora corrects him gently. "I guess you took a pretty good bump to the head."
"Or suddenly grew a new horn," Azlyn adds, grimacing at the huge knot in the center of Phil's forehead.
"What happened?" Telary inquires, wishing the curse wasn't draining his magic. If he could, he'd heal Phil instantly with a quick Cure spell. "Did Hades do this?"
"No, no," Phil answers, shaking his head. It seems the half-goat is finally regaining his senses. "It was a guy all dressed in black. He had a hood on, so I couldn't see his face. I tried to follow him, but he spotted me."
"And shot you with a water cannon?" Azlyn asks, taking in the satyr's soaked fur.
"I dunno how he did it. Can't remember."
"Well it sounds like you found the guy who stole the Olympus Stone," Sora says, frowning at the thought of the Organization causing trouble for more of his friends. "Did you see which way he went?"
"Um, that way I think," Phil says, pointing across the stone path to the door opposite the one the trio had emerged from during their last Underworld visit. "Man, was he good. I wonder if he'd have any interest in the games…"
"Phil, he's a thief," Telary points out. "Probably wanted by the gods for taking their stone. I don't think he's the kind of guy you'd want in your arena."
"He let the Heartless fight," Sora points out.
Phil shrugs defensively. "Hey, I'm a very busy trainer! Do you know how much time a thorough background check takes?"
"So, what were you doing in the Underworld in the first place, Phil?" Azlyn asks, something accusatory in her tone. "I assume this is what you meant by 'none of my business'."
"Oh, that," the satyr sighs, standing up and attempting to wipe off the remaining droplets of moisture from his arms and legs. "I came down here looking for a backup hero. Y'know, in case Herc ever wants to take a break. I figured I might find some do-gooder type wandering around looking for a fight in the Underworld."
"You came here looking for a hero?" Sora repeats incredulously. "Um, why didn't you just ask us, Phil?"
The satyr looks up at the Keybearer, mouth agape. "Oh, you know somebody?"
Azlyn slaps her hand against her forehead, and Sora frowns down at the hero trainer. Reaching out his hand, the boy summons the Keyblade for emphasis.
Phil looks at the blade for a second, then lets out a snort. "Oh, right. Good one, Sora!"
Azlyn growls and grabs Sora's wrist, dragging him toward the tunnels. "C'mon, we're just wasting time here. We've got a thief to catch and a damsel to undistress."
"Good luck, kiddos!" Phil calls after the departing trio. Turning away, he mutters under his breath, "You're gonna need it."
Through the sliding doorway, the trio and Pegasus enter a large chamber with a mist covered floor, the fog so heavy that the ground can't even be seen through its veil. Azlyn, looking to rid herself of the oppressive feeling of the Underworld curse by finding the Olympus Stone thief as soon as possible, confidently strides forward.
And, with a startled yelp, drops straight through the foggy curtain. She cries out for a second, and then there's a loud crash.
"Azlyn!" Telary cries out in concern, rushing forward and meeting a similar fate. A calm quiet follows the wizard's crash, but moments later pained groans can be heard.
"Guys?" Sora calls down, not moving an inch from the solid ground he stands on at the moment. "Are you okay? Did something…?"
"There's a bit of a drop!" Telary's voice calls up. "Nothing bad, but we're a little sore down here! If you go to your right, there's a path down. Be careful!"
Sora frowns, looking out over the area. Not far away another tunnel opens up, the foggy cloud layer continuing to obscure anything below. If the trio take the rest of the journey on Pegasus's back, there's no way they'll be able to spot the Organization Nobody through that concealing fog!
"You go fly on ahead, Pegasus," Sora instructs the winged stallion. "Try and find Meg, and we'll meet up with you at the other end, okay?"
Pegasus whinnies his agreement, taking off down the tunnel with mighty flaps of his feathery wings.
Sora, meanwhile, cautiously steps to his right, eventually finding the path through the mist, a downward ramp of smooth stone. Reaching the bottom, he sees Azlyn and Telary standing in the middle of the cavern, both looking worse for wear.
"You guys okay?" Sora asks. His companions grumble and groan their response, but nether seem to have taken serious damage. "I sent Pegasus on ahead. Figured we wouldn't be able to see the thief through that fog."
"Just a few bumps and bruises," Telary reports, a profound tiredness in his voice. "Of course, everything feels much worse than it is."
"This stupid curse is really getting on my nerves!" Azlyn rages, kicking angrily at the stone ground. "When I get my hands on the guy who stole that Olympus Stone…"
Telary turns toward the exit and suddenly tenses. "Uh, I think you're about to get your chance, Azlyn."
Turning, the other two members of the trio find a figure in an Organization XIII black coat, his hood raised. Judging by his build, Telary guesses it's the same guy they saw before their encounter with Hades.
"You!" Sora declares accusatorily, summoning the Keyblade to his hand. Thanks to his training in the coliseum, he's ready for the extra weight the curse adds to his weapon, and doesn't falter at all. "You took the Olympus Stone, didn't you?"
The figure flinches, seeming almost frightened by the Keybearer's strong tone.
"Man, Roxas," the Nobody chuckles, hooded head shaking, "you always did do aggression a lot better than anybody else!"
"Uh, what are you talking about?" Sora asks. Roxas had been the alias he'd chosen in the Land of Dragons, but the Keybearer has no idea why anyone would refer to him by it here in the Underworld.
"Are you gonna give back that stone, or are we gonna have to take it from you?" Azlyn asks threateningly, drawing her shield off her back.
The Nobody holds his hands up defensively. "Now hang on, everybody just wait a minute, okay? I just need a sec to…" Reaching up, the Nobody removes his hood, revealing the gaunt face of a young man. His hair is arranged in an odd cut, a veritable forest of straight hairs atop his head with a few bangs drooping over his forehead, shaved sides, and several long strands sticking out in the back.
"Uh, why does this Nobody have a mullet?" Telary whispers to his companions. "At least, I think that's what it is."
The Organization member reaches into the pocket of his long coat and pulls out a card. Frowning, he squints at the small paper square, his lips pursing.
"Uh, what are you…?" Sora begins to ask, so bewildered he actually drops out of his battle stance.
The Nobody holds up one black-gloved finger, eyes skimming across the card. After a second he looks back up at the trio, specifically focusing his gaze on Sora. "So, uh, you sure you're not gonna respond, Roxas?"
"Stop calling me that!" Sora rages.
"How did this idiot manage to steal a precious artifact from the gods themselves?" Azlyn asks, scowling at the bewildering Nobody.
"Well, if you won't respond," the Organization member sighs, tucking the card away, "I guess I'll just have to 'use aggression to liberate the subject's true disposition'. Or, at least that's what the card said, anyway."
"So, does that mean we're going to fight?" Telary asks, scratching at his head in confusion.
The Nobody shrugs. "Yeah, I guess so." A deep sigh follows, and he mutters under his breath, "Boy did they ever pick the wrong guy for this job."
"Are all Nobodies as freaky as you?" Sora asks.
The black-cloaked man scoffs, reaching into his other pocket and withdrawing a small, round medallion covered in gold leaf. There's an inscription of some sort carved into its face, but Sora can't make it out across the distance.
"He's got the stone on him!" Azlyn cries triumphantly, settling back into her fight-ready stance. "Something tells me it's gonna be cake to get it back from his slimy Nobody paws!"
"You are so rude, little girl! And the name is Demyx!" Dropping the Olympus Stone to the ground, Demyx reaches out his arms and suddenly dozens of bubbles gather there, coalescing into the shape of a large blue stringed instrument in the shape of the Nobody emblem.
"You're going to guitar us to death?" Sora blurts, bending his knees and gripping the Keyblade.
"Wow, I guess you're pretty far gone there, Roxas," Demyx says with just a hint of sadness. "If you don't even remember my sitar!" Suddenly the Nobody's fingers begin strumming and plucking furiously, striking up a fast paced tune. "Dance water, dance!"
With no warning other than those few words, a group of watery shapes appear from thin air, all sort of resembling their Nobody master. Within moments of coalescing, the water clones begin to glide towards the trio.
Sora rushes forward, his allies coming in right behind him. He hits a pair of water clones head on, swiping the Keyblade through them with ease. Another pair approach then, then another, each as easily dispatched as the last.
Behind Sora, Azlyn finds herself suddenly in a cluster of at least ten water clones, all of them closing in on the knight swiftly. Reaching out, she grabs a clone by its quarter-note shaped head, lifting it up and swinging it in a circle over her head. The slashing motion it makes easily cuts through its companions. Off to the side, Telary uses what little fire magic he can to deal with his own cluster.
Demyx is plucking furiously at his sitar now, a look of pure concentration fixed on his face. Luckily for his opponents, it takes so much effort for the Nobody to maintain his minions that he remains rooted to one spot.
Knocking through a curtain of five clones, Sora swings Keyblade in a wide arc, aiming for a slash across Demyx's chest.
The Nobody's reaction is deceptively quick, however, and with a hard-struck chord he summons forth a high-pressure water jet, slamming into Sora and sending the Keybearer stumbling back.
"Did that do it, Roxas?" Demyx asks hopefully, his strumming ceased. The water clones already conjured remain, but production of new ones ceases.
Sora scowls, rising to his feet. "My name is not Roxas!"
Demyx yelps like a five-year-old, a portal of Darkness rising up to engulf him. He isn't gone long, but when he reappears it's farther still into the tunnel.
The Nobody shakes his head. "Aw, Roxas, come back to us!" Within a moment he's opened another dark portal, and this time he vanishes for good.
"What was with that guy?" Azlyn asks through labored breaths, placing her shield back onto its holder. "He just wouldn't stop calling you Roxas."
"Total broken record!" Sora agrees.
"The other Organization XIII member we saw in Land of Dragons could have told him about your fake name," Telary posits. "Maybe he was just trying to mess with you."
"Well, whatever was up with him," Azlyn says, bending down to pick up the Olympus Stone off the ground where Demyx had dropped it, "at least he had this." She frowns at the stone's inscription, a lightning bolt shooting down from clouds above. "How do you suppose this works?"
Telary takes the artifact from her, trying to remember all he can about his magic training regarding anti-curse objects. He holds it up to the cavern roof, and suddenly there's a flash from the object. Lights appear around each of the trio, swirling clockwise momentarily before fading out.
The effect is instantaneous, and Sora can feel the exact moment the Keyblade's weight returns to its normal state. He gives it a swing, slashing the blade through the air as easily as if it was made of cardboard.
The others also feel their strength return, and Telary's magic as well. All in all, the stone's effect is like a hot bath and deep tissue massage all wrapped up in one dizzying effect.
"That's some good stuff," Azlyn comments satisfactorily, smiling wide.
Sora nods agreeably. "Now let's get going guys. After all, Meg still needs our help!"
The trio take off down the tunnel, and Sora feels as physically fit as ever. But mentally, something about Demyx's insistence on using the name Roxas nags at him.
And, unbeknownst to the Keybearer, something stirs in his heart as well.
KH-KH-KH
The network of tunnels and caves at this end of the Underworld is much smaller, and soon the trio find themselves at the bottom of a staircase that rises straight out of the layer of fog overhead.
At the top of the stairs is a vast atrium, a large set of double doors up a short staircase at the opposite end. Pegasus awaits the group, trotting back and forth in a way that seems nervous to Sora. Upon seeing the trio, Pegasus lets out a snort and a happy neigh. Turning to the doors, the winged horse thrusts his head at them.
"Is that where Meg is, Pegasus?" Sora asks, receiving a loud whinny of confirmation. Leading the way up the steps, Sora opens the door and enters the chamber beyond.
A large circular balcony juts out over the endless abyss of the Underworld, plumbing depths much too deep and distances too far to see the end of. In the middle of the chamber sits a large stone, a carving of Meg done in stunning detail upon its face, with a small keyhole next to it. Behind the stone, a pillar of pitch black energy roses up and into a hole in the cave ceiling. Stone tendrils surround the circular pit it springs forth from, like chains on a padlock.
"Well, I bet that's where she's being held," Azlyn says of the giant stone with the kidnap victim's likeness carved into it.
"No, really?" Sora shoots back sarcastically, giving his companion a mischievous grin and a wink. The knight just rolls her eyes in response.
Stepping past a nervous Pegasus, Sora reaches out with the Keyblade, calling upon its power like he had during their first escape from the Underworld. The customary beam of light shoots forth and plunges into the depths of the keyhole.
As the beam fades, cracks start to appear in the rock, spidering out and giving off the soft white glow of pure Light energy. The cracks soon spread to engulf both the main stone and the tendrils stretching out from it, and with a flush the elaborate carving collapses into so much rubble. The dark column fades out to a pleasant turquoise.
"Stay here, Pegasus," Telary instructs Herc's pet, patting the stallion's furry neck. "Be ready to bail once we've got Meg, okay?"
Pegasus replies with a loud whinny and a nod. It seems like an affirmation, so the trio decide to just go with it.
Weapons already out and prepared, the trio rush into the turquoise column of light. For a half-second their vision seems overloaded by the colorful pillar, but soon things return to normal.
Hades, Megara next to him with chains of smoky shadow wrapped around her slim form and mouth, stands in the middle of a cavern covered in a light coating of snow. Surrounding the circular chamber is a continuous blue wall that seems to be held up with large bones, extending up to a dark ceiling.
The Lord of the Underworld looks surprisingly happy to see the trio, giving them a great big grin that chills them to the bone.
"Man, oh man, is that a key!" Hades exclaims, laughing at some joke only he seems to get. "I gotta tell you, I owe you a great big thanks for all the help, Sora my boy." He winks. "Turns out you are good for something after all!"
"Hades!" Sora roars. That's all he gets the chance to say before the god vanishes in one of his trademark smoke puffs.
"Well, that wasn't what I expected," Telary comments as the trio approach the bound and gagged Megara, ready to free her and see her safely back to her husband.
The trapped young woman also doesn't seem to be reacting to the situation within expectations, as she looks past the approaching trio with a distraught look on her face, she yells out something, but it's muffled into unintelligibility by her gag.
"Is something wrong, Meg?" Sora asks sympathetically.
"Oh, something's about to be, buddy boy!" exclaims a triumphant, and eminently recognizable, voice.
"Pete!" Sora, Azlyn, and Telary cry out as one, whirling around to see the fat cat nuisance blocking the turquoise exit column. Purple batlike Heartless with metal hooks chained to their torsos hover above him, and a trio of Rabid Dogs flank him on the ground.
"Aw, are you fellas not happy to see yer ol' pal Petey again?" the malevolent minion asks sarcastically, his big belly shaking from laughter. "I'd think you'd be over the moon! 'Specially with that Underworld curse draining your strength."
"Better think again," Sora mutters beneath the sound of another gloating belly laugh from Pete. Beside him the others ready for battle as well.
With a gesture from Pete the Heartless swarm, six Hook Bats all swooping down to attack. Sora takes out two with a single Keyblade stroke, Azlyn bashes a trio away in quick succession, and Telary fries another with a fireball.
The Rabid Dogs try their hands (or paws, as it were) next, bounding up to the trio with jaws snapping. Azlyn throws her shield at the Heartless, knocking one down and clipping another in its side. Telary conjures up a lightning bolt next, zapping one into wisps of dark matter.
So focused on the frontal assault, none of the trio notice a second threesome of Rabid Dogs sneaking up from behind. One goes for Meg, and the others attempt to run interference, aided by a pair of Hook Bats.
Azlyn and Telary stand ground to deal with their attackers, but Sora sidesteps that confrontation entirely to dive at the Heartless chasing Meg, whose running ability is seriously impaired by her restraints. A single downward stroke of the Keyblade is enough to defeat the Rabid Dog, a pink crystal heart floating briefly in the air before disappearing into the ether.
Distracted by victory, Sora turns too late to see a large ball of purple metal rolling towards him. The boy curiously cocks his head at the sphere, just in time for it to explode in an expanding orb of flames and smoke.
The large blast generates enough concussive force to knock Sora and both his companions back to their butts, and Meg as well.
"Gotcha!" Pete gloats, slowly approaching the dazed heroes with a smug grin across his large face. "Oh boy are you guys easy targets! All it takes is a little taste of success and ya get so distracted by yer own winning…"
"Hey Pete!" Azlyn calls out mockingly, her eyes darting over the fat cat's shoulder momentarily before fixing on his face. "You might wanna listen to your own advice here."
Pete looks down at the knight, bewildered by her confident statement. "What to heck are you talkin' 'bout, girl?"
A Hook Bat, screeching bloody murder, flies through the air and straight into Pete's back. Maleficent's minion is in no way prepared for the force the Heartless hits with, and stumbles forward heavily. He recovers in a moment, and turns to see Hercules standing in the light of the turquoise exit column. The fat cat only has time to widen his eyes in disbelief before the hero of Olympus knocks him over with a punch.
"Herc, you came!" Sora cries out cheerily. With a swipe of the Keyblade, he dissipates the smoke chains binding the demigod's wife. Free of bonds, the Meg runs to her husband. They embrace happily.
After holding each other for a moment, Hercules lets go of Meg and lets out a dismissive scoff. "Oh, you thought I might not make it? C'mon guys, it was only a Hydra. It's not like I'm some junior hero!"
"Oh, ha ha Herc," Azlyn says with a mocking roll of her eyes.
Raising his fingers to his lips, Hercules lets out a loud whistle. Within moment, Pegasus flies through the column of light, clipping the slowly rising Pete and sending him to the snowy ground once more.
The winged horse alights gracefully, and in moments Meg is mounted on his back.
"You've gotta get Meg out of here, Pegasus," Hercules instructs his pet, who neighs agreeably. The demigod understands and turns to face the Heartless still present in the cavern, surrounding their dazed master. "I'm gonna show these guys what happens when they mess with a True Hero."
Meg bites her lip and looks to Sora, the pleading in her expression clear. Sora thinks he understands her panic; after having just faced down the Hydra, plus the stress of constant day to day battles, her husband has to be tired out already.
"We'll stay with ya, Herc," the Keybearer informs the demigod. "Not to step on your toes or anything, but Pete is kind of our nemesis."
"Understandable," Hercules replies, tapping his hand against Pegasus's flank. Once again the steed rises into the air on his feathery wings, flapping out through the exit determinedly.
With Meg safe, Hercules and the world travelers once again take up combat positions against Pete and his Heartless. The fat cat has regained his feet by now, and scowls at his opposition.
"So, you think yer real tough customer, do ya?" Pete bellows, the Hook Bats and Rabid Dogs around him twitching in anticipation of a kill order. "Well, you can't beat what ya can't hit!" Muttering a few words that Telary instantly recognizes as an incantation of some sort, Pete conjured up a honeycombed sphere of energy around his body, safely insulating him from harm.
"Nice shield spell," the wizard comments, oddly appreciatively. He shrugs and says a bit disbelievingly, "Maybe Pete isn't such an idiot after all."
The Heartless legion charges the group, coming in both low and high. Even with the quartet working together, the sheer number of foes arrayed against them is a challenge. Herc, Sora, and Azlyn use all the strength available to them to keep the enemies off Telary, who searches his head for a way to counter Pete's shield.
Azlyn stretches her arm to prevent a Hook Bat from nailing her wizardly counterpart. "We could really use an idea sometime soon, Tel!"
"I'm working on it!" the wizard protests, briefly noticing Herc taking on a trio of Rabid Dogs singlehandedly off to the side. "But with all of these distractions… Hey, that's it!"
Sora has reached Pete, but finds that even his enchanted blade cannot cut through the fat cat's spell. His protective orb rolls back with the force, however, momentarily startling Pete within.
"Sora!" Telary calls out, both hands cupped around his mouth. "You have to break Pete's concentration to take down the shield!"
Sora nods, already inventing a surefire way to splinter the fat cat's focus. The Keybearer darts around to the back of Pete's shield and hops up, concentrating all his might into a single blow. The Keyblade impacts solidly against the magic shield, knocking it forward like a kid's kickball.
Inside the sphere, Pete rolls round and around, growing progressively dizzier and unfocused with each revolution. The sphere rolls straight on, and Hercules rushes to intercept it. When it and its bumbling passenger reach the demigod, Herc pulls back his arm and unleashes his mightiest punch. With Pete too dizzied to hold his shield together, it shatters into a hundred tiny pieces, and the fat cat himself goes flying back through the air, landing on his rump in a snowy patch.
"Aw, who needs this creepy place anyway!" he declares, rising and giving his defeaters a last scowl. "I'll deal with you three nitwits next time!" With that promise stated, he turns and runs into the exit.
"Did he really just call us nitwits?' Telary asks with incredulity. "Oh, Pete, those who live in glass houses should not throw stones."
"C'mon, guys," Herc says, "let's go make sure Meg made it out okay." The demigod looks so tired, depleted in a way that the trio have never seen him. Still, the quartet marches for the exit, all happy to have saved the day.
KH-KH-KH
They reach the Underworld's entrance in record time, no obstacles springing up to obstruct their retreat. Pegasus and Megara, along with a now fully recovered Phil, wait for the quartet there.
Herc wastes no time before rushing to his wife and planting a passionate kiss on her lip, which she happily returns.
Sora's happy for the couple's reunion, but the pleasure he feels is dulled significantly by his longing to see Kairi once again.
"Ugh, two words champ," Phil butts in, knocking his former student on the shin and pulling him out of his matrimonial embrace. "Cut. It. Out!"
"Yeah, it does seem a bit early for celebrations, eh Wonderboy?" Hades declares, casually strolling into the cavern. In an instant, everyone present is ready to deliver a beatdown to the demigod.
"You've got a lot of nerve showing up here!" Azlyn says through clenched teeth.
Hades shrugs, unconcerned by all of the opposition arrayed against him. "Yeah, well, we'll see who's macking honeys when you schmucks get back to the coliseum. Or, hey, what's left of it!"
"What are you talking about?" Hercules asks, his voice wavering with hesitation. "The coliseum is safe, I beat the Hydra…"
"Did you, Hercy-Poo?" Hades taunts, his sharp-toothed smile widening. "Did you really?"
The Lord of the Dead snaps his fingers jauntily, and the thick smoke that is the usual accompaniment to his teleportation surrounds the whole group. Unprepared, the heroes begin to choke on the smog.
It clears seconds later, and all caught in its effect find themselves back in the sunny midafternoon air, standing at the dusty entrance to the coliseum.
Or rather, what once was the coliseum. The arena itself is a complete wreck, the entire lobby building now so much rubble. Even the golden gladiator statues, once the proud symbol of the games, have been cracked into pieces, one of the heads lying solemnly next to the spot the group appears in, most of its golden sword beside it.
Behind the rubble that once was the arena stalks the huge, purple-scaled serpent known as the Hydra. Atop a long neck is its ugly head, a maw large enough to swallow a man in a single gulp, lined with two rows of pointed teeth. The neck leads to a wide body, two arms ending in razor sharp claws dragging the beast along the ground. The body tapers back into a long tail, strong enough to crush stone and perfect for battering enemies.
Hercules, stunned by the utter destruction of one of Greece's most famed structures and his home away from home for many long years, sink to his knees in utter despair.
"This can't be happening!" the demigod mumbles distraughtly. "How could this…?"
"Well," Hades says simply, clearly loving every anguished second of his hated nephew's agony, "good luck. See ya real soon!"
"Hades!" Sora rages, slashing out with the Keyblade only to meet thin air.
"Herc, you gotta get up!" Phil encourages his devastated student.
"I failed everyone!" Herc wails, holding his head in his hands. "I let everyone down, put them all in danger…" He removes his hands, and tears can be seen in his bright blue eyes. "I'm no hero."
There's a sudden physical transformation, Hercules' tanned skin fading into a pallid, sickly pale shade.
"No, Wonderboy, of course you are!" Meg tries to reassure her husband, her voice nearly as lost and broken as her husband.
"I didn't train you to think like that, kid!" Phil says.
"You really shouldn't beat yourself up about this, Hercules," Telary adds in.
"Yeah," Azlyn interjects, looking up to where the fearsome Hydra has noticed the group, looking down upon them with a clear intention to strike. "You should be beating up that giant monster that wants to eat us!"
Hercules says nothing, only moaning once more.
"I think Herc should sit this one out, guys," Sora suggests. The Keybearer turns to look at the serpent above, slowly making its way towards its new prey. "We'll handle it!"
"Meg, I think you should get Herc to safety," Telary suggests as he prepares his staff and will. The young woman nods, helping her defeated husband to his feet and starting a slow stagger to the sidelines.
"Got room for one more?" Phil asks, testing out some punches and kicks. Pegasus whinnies supportively as well.
The Hydra drags its body over the rubble of the lobby, head rearing back to deliver a whip, quick strike.
It's a feint, and instead the beast opens with a sweep of its long tail. It comes fast and hard, only Sora, Azlyn, and Pegasus managing to avoid being struck. The humans land on the ground, while Pegasus rises to an even high altitude.
Telary and Phil land near where Meg and Hercules rest. Concerned for them, the young woman grabs a pair of potions and hands them out. With some quick gulps the pair restore themselves, ready to leap back into the fray.
The Hydra's ugly mug, lowered down to Sora and Azlyn's level like a microphone on a boom, snaps at the pair, who manage to use their speed and agility to avoid the chomps. Azlyn backflips to escape one snap of the pointed maws, and halfway through her descending backflip hurls her shield. The metal disc bounces off the Hydra's head, paining and perturbing the fearsome serpent.
Sensing its distraction, Sora rushes in with the Keyblade, batting Hydra in the side of the head and causing more confusion to the beast. Suddenly inspired, the Keybearer turns and slashes at its neck, the blunt shaft of the Keyblade somehow delivering enough force to sever the head completely, sending it flying with a burst of green blood that Sora only barely avoids being soaked by.
The headless body of the vicious serpent staggers drunkenly for a moment, before the creature's long neck plunges forward, digging through the sandy ground.
"Whoa!" Sora exclaims, high on adrenaline and victory. "Man, that was way easier than I…"
The sound of exploding earth and rock cuts off anything else the Keybearer might have said, as three Hydra heads suddenly explode from the ground, each as menacing and powerful looking as the original.
"You were saying?" Azlyn grumbles out loud, barely raising her shield to block a forceful head-butt from the head nearest her. The power of the blow drives her back several feet, tiny trenches of displaced sand forming around her boots.
Telary has arrived now, and he calls down a trio of thunderbolts, hoping for each lightning strike to stun one head, line them up for easy severing. Unfortunately it isn't that easy, and two bolts miss while a third barely seems to make a dent.
Each member of the trio takes a head, but it seems that these replacements are three times as tough as the first, absorbing strikes and fireball and shield edges like a dry sponge.
"Hey, Sora!" Phil calls from the sidelines. "Hey, Sora, I got an idea!"
Sora dodges a serpentine strike, knocks back the head with a quick pair of strikes, and turns to see Phil standing on a pile of rocky rubble, a giant barrel like Sora has trained with a hundred time resting beside him.
"Sora, get up on the Hydra's…" the satyr calls, but the sound of more of Telary's thunderbolts cut him off.
"What?" Sora calls to Phil, batting away the head once again. "I can't hear you! You're gonna have to repeat that!"
"Get up on the Hydra's back!" Phil calls, hopping up and down with a clear urgency. "Get up on the Hydra's back! Get up on the Hydra's back! Get up on the Hydra's back!"
"Hey!" Azlyn calls out to Phil from her current position, up on the Hydra's back. "I heard you the first time!"
Phil grabs the large barrel and lifts it over his head. "Incoming!" With a grunt of effort, the satyr throws it into the air.
Azlyn, caught up on the gist of the plan, leaps up into the air and readies her shield, bringing it down on the barrel and sending it crashing into the base of the Hydra's neck.
The effect on the heads down in the entrance field is immediate. Stunned by the sudden impact, all three go limp, dazed looks in their yellow eyes. Sora takes immediate advantage, chopping through them one by one. As he goes through the head Telary was concentrating on, the bright green blood that flies from its point of severance washes over Telary, grossing the wizard out big time.
"Well," Sora says, resting the Keyblade on his shoulder, "that oughta…"
Seven heads spring forth from the Hydra's body, the speed and ferocity of their arrival shocking Azlyn backwards. Slipping on the serpent's scales, she falls from its back. Luckily, Pegasus swoops down in the nick of time to save her from a nasty impact.
"Oh, man, this just isn't fair!" Sora exclaims, diving to the side as three Hydra heads slam down into the ground he was just standing on. They seem to be significantly tougher even then the three previous, not even stunned for a moment by their impact with the ground.
"Maybe it's time to acknowledge that the head-slicing ship has sailed," Telary suggests.
All seven heads rear up as one, ready to slam down across so much area that there will be no way for anyone to dodge the onslaught. The attack doesn't make it, however, as suddenly Pegasus, Azlyn astride his back with a determined look fixed to her face, flies past.
Reaching out, Azlyn rams the heavy face of her shield into one head, then another, then another. The heads not yet affected by the attack seem to rally, snapping at the winged horse and his knightly mount. The stallion is too fast, however, and dodges and weaves his way through danger, Azlyn getting in what hits she can.
Taking advantage of their companion's distraction, the boys on the ground take a moment to prepare a plan.
"I think we should just discard any plans that involve cutting," Telary suggests first of all. "Every time that happens, things just seem to get worse."
There's a loud impact noise beside the pair, and they turn to see a Hydra head, about three feet of neck still attached, lying beside them. Both boys looks up at the still-flying Azlyn, and the three new heads the Hydra has sprouted.
"Sorry!" the knight calls down, bashing in another scaly face. "That's my bad!"
"Well, if we can't beat the heads," Sora says, eyes darting to and fro as he works through a possible plan, "then we'll just have to take care of its body, right?"
"So, stab it?" Telary clarifies. When Sora shrugs an affirmative, the mage begins to consider the plan. "Eh," he says after a few seconds of deliberating, "it's worth a shot!"
Up in the air, Azlyn holds on for dear life, left arm curled tightly around Pegasus's neck so her right is free to strike out, distracting the Hydra from her friends on the ground. She realizes that she hasn't much time for this tactic, as soon even the dimmest of heads will realize that Hydra doesn't need to focus all its weapons on one opponent.
Sparing a brief glance down, she spies Sora, Telary, Phil, and Meg all surrounding the golden sword of one of the gladiator statues, making some kind of concerted effort to lift it off the ground.
Hydra notices as well, and a pair of low heads turn to disrupt the effort. Kicking her heels into Pegasus's flank, Azlyn directs the creature downward, knocking her shield into both heads in rapid succession. Enraged, the heads turn to deal with the aerial nuisance, somehow forgetting the ground players for now.
Those same ground players struggle to upright the fallen golden sword, lining up its tip with the Hydra's torso. With a supreme effort they manage to balance it, a few feet back from Hydra to allow momentum to build as they push forward, hopefully running the beast straight through.
"This would be a lot easier with Herc's help!" Phill grumbles as the group backs up, trying to build thrust.
"We said we'd take care of it Phil," Sora grunts. They're in position now, all ready for the big rush forward. "And heroes always keep their promises."
"Junior heroes, Sora," Telary corrects, basically doing it on reflex at this point.
"Whatever," Sora huffs. "Everybody ready?" Words and noises of confirmation rise up from his compatriots so Sora feels confident giving his next order. "Charge!"
The quartet move forward, thrusting the blade out. It impacts against the Hydra's scaly skin, scoring a gash easily as tall as Telary in its hide. It's not enough to kill, but plenty sufficient as an opening.
It's also sufficient to enrage the Hydra, sending all nine of its heads into a frenzy, each waving about on its long neck. The wild thrashing of one head has the dumb luck to knock into Pegasus, startling the horse. He turns with a perturbed whinny, and Azlyn goes pitching off his side, sliding down his fuzzy back and out into open air.
"Azlyn!" Telary cries out, dropping his part of the sword and rushing to the spot his counterpart is falling towards.
Unprepared for Telary's considerable support to cease, the remaining three stumble, dropping the golden sword to the ground.
"It's okay," Sora assures Megara and Phil. "With that gap in its scales, I think I can finish this!"
The Keybearer rushes forward. Focusing on all his surroundings, he hears the sound of heads incoming before they impact, and manages to bob and weave between headslams, even the shockwaves not deterring his run.
Telary, meanwhile, rushes up the nearest pile of rubble at top speed. If he can get high enough, it should be simpler than not to intercept the falling Azlyn. He hopes he's fast enough, the adrenaline seemingly stretching every moment and making it easier for him to find footholds in the loose rubble than it would be normally.
Finally reaching sufficient height, the wizard pulls up his knees, gathering strength for a saving leap…
Sora makes it through the killing field to the gash, green blood that unfortunately reminds him of the Well of Souls leaking from it in spurts. A large amount washes over him, but he ignores it, pulling back the Keyblade for a strike…
Telary times his move perfectly, knocking into Azlyn only feet from the ground, arresting her momentum. Unfortunately, the pair have new momentum, racing for the sandy ground. They land hard, but it's survivable.
"Azlyn!" Telary exclaims, cupping his counterpart's face in gently in his hands. Her eyes are closed, and for a second he fears the worst.
She moans, eyes fluttering briefly before they slowly open, finding Telary's and fixing on them exclusively.
"You saved me," she says, a bit dumbstruck suddenly for reasons she's sure don't have to do with her great fall. She smiles. "You saved my life, Telary."
The wizard blushes, turning suddenly shy and sheepish. "I've, uh, I've kinda done that before, Azlyn."
Now it's the knight's turn to blush. "Well, yeah, I guess you have." Her eyes move downward, no longer focusing on Telary's eyes, but rather his lips. They only linger there for a second before they've locked eyes again.
Suddenly both of them have the urge to lean forward, meet in the middle and just try out a single, reckless kiss…
The Hydra's body falls to the ground as Sora stabs the Keyblade inside of the gaping gash across its chest, heads landing all over the ground in a tangle of scaly necks and lifeless skulls. The impact is huge, and everything on the coliseum ground visibly shakes.
The vibrations hit Azlyn and Telary like an electric shock, and the pair pull back from each other, Telary dropping his counterpart from his arms.
"Uh, so, thanks," Azlyn says curtly, nodding once to Telary.
"Hey, whatever" the wizard returns, shrugging nonchalantly. In the back of his mind he realizes what almost just happened between him and Azlyn, and he isn't sure whether to be excited or scared out of his mind.
"Whooo!" Sora cries triumphantly, popping up between two necks. He's covered in slimy green blood, but for the moment he could care less, flush with victory. "For the folks keeping track at home, that is Sora one, Hydra zippo zero! Haha, YES!"
KH-KH-KH
Removing the Hydra's carcass takes time, but with a little godly assistance the remains of the coliseum get cleared of dead serpent.
Things are still a mess however, actually considerably worse after the big battle. The group all gathers around Hercules, who still looks pale and sickly, sitting on the remains of the lobby's steps. The once proud hero's confidence is truly shot.
"I can't believe I froze like that back there!" the demigod sighs deeply, shaking his head mournfully. "I made that mess, and then I couldn't even clean it up! I'm even more useless than I thought!"
"It isn't your fault, Hercules," Megara assures her husband, both her arms wrapped tightly around his left. "You've been through so much lately, and it just now caught up with you." She kisses his cheek. "Even a god would be exhausted."
"She's right," Sora agrees, patting Herc on the shoulder. "You just need some time to rest, and you'll be good as new again!"
"At least there won't be any games for a while," Telary adds, grimacing at the pile of rubble that was once the coliseum. "You'll have plenty of time to rest while things get fixed up."
"Not to mention you have people who really care about you," Sora says. He smiles at Azlyn and Telary. "Trust me, that's what really helps when things are down."
"I'll take good care of Wonderboy," Meg assures the Keybearer. "You can be sure of that." She gives her husband another peck, the turns back to the trio. "I owe you three big time, I really do."
"I take munny," Azlyn says. Sora and Telary glare at her. She sighs. "Kidding, of course. It's what real heroes do."
"When did you three make hero?" Megara snorts, earning one last bout of enmity from the knight.
"Well, it's probably time for us to hit the road," Sora declares reluctantly. Suddenly, though, he remembers something. "Oh, yeah, here's the Olympus Stone back…"
The Keybearer retrieves to stone from his pocket, reaching out to hand it off to Hercules. Halfway through the motion, however, the stone begins to glow, hovering into the air in a familiar way.
Sora opens the pathway with ease, and as soon as he's out from the mysterious cloudy place he once again moves to return the stone to Herc.
The disheartened hero shakes his head. "No, you keep it. Just in case you need to go back into the Underworld for any reason." Hercules sighs. "Besides, I don't think I deserve it anymore."
"Maybe next time you guys could stick around a bit," Phil says, frowning at the trio for some unfathomable reason. "We got a lotta training to do."
Azlyn almost says something pithy, but is interrupted by an odd bump against her side. Turning, she sees Pegasus standing next to her, giving her a cheery horse-grin.
"Looks like somebody can't wait to see you again, Azlyn," Sora teases the knight.
"Finally," Azlyn says with a grin, briefly allowing the winged horse to nuzzle her face, "an animal that likes me!"
I like this half of Olympus's 1st visit better than the first, probably because of all the characters. As for Herc and Meg being married, in my mind they actually have been even before KH1. Meg almost appeared in "Zero to Hero", but I wanted her to meet SAT for the first time in KH2 instead.
The thing I discovered, especially with this chapter, is that boss fight are the hardest things to adapt. Because while "the good guys hit the bad guy until it died" is fine in gameplay, it doesn't work so well narratively. Thank Nomura for reaction commands, I suppose.
I feel like I've been hitting my stride re:writing lately, so we'll see how long that holds up. Until then, please review, as that's another huge source of inspiration/motivation for me. It doesn't have to be anything fancy, I just like hearing from my readers. So big shoutout to Crescent Sunrise, berserker21, BT Emmett, Spiderfan626, and Mickey12315, who have all been nice enough to leave their commentary.
Until next time!