Ah, life, what a busy thing you are. Hard to believe I started these fanfiction 8 years ago. But, yet, I still feel bursts of inspiration! I just had so much planned… Out of curiosity, do you think that, if by some miracle I ever reach this point, I should write Kingdom Hearts 3 first or the prologue story first? I'm at somewhat of an impasse trying to decide.
Chapter X: Hades and the Very Good, Very Bad Day
Μπορείτε να πάρετε επάνω στο πίσω μέρος της Ύδρας !
(Transliterated: Boreíte na párete epáno sto píso méros tis Ýdras !)
~Ancient Greek Wisdom
Donald had put the Gummi Ship down somewhat far outside of the Coliseum and the bustling city that surrounded it in order to avoid any unwarranted suspicion. They had come upon the world of Olympus not far from Beast's Castle, and had decided to visit their old friends as well as investigate any leads that the Greek world might have to offer regarding Riku, the King, or Organization XIII. As the landing gear descended and the ship settled into the grass below, Sora could only feel a little lost. They didn't have any real leads here. The best they seemed able to do was to visit worlds and hope to find something. He could feel his previous confidence in this approach wane, but he shook the thought away—it has worked well enough before, right?
As Sora walked from the Ship, Donald and Goofy in tow, he told himself that maybe that way of doing things worked—they seemed to bump into the Organization that way, at least, even if they hadn't heard much about the King or Riku.
"It looks so different out here!" Goofy marveled, examining the small green forest that surrounded their landing spot.
"I gotta say," Sora continued, eyes following a small river nearby up to its origin in a majestic waterfall in the distance, "You did pick a pretty nice spot to land, Donald."
Donald nodded, eagerly absorbing the praise. "I'm glad you both get now why -I'm- the pilot on this boat!"
Goofy grinned, "And here I was a'thinking it was because last time Sora drove, he crashed the ship!"
"Hey!" Sora nudged Goofy, "No fair! You'd crash it, too, if you'd only done it once!"
Donald mocked solemnity, "Sorry, Sora, but I don't think you understand how serious a crash is."
"But we were all fine!" Sora insisted. "Nobody minded!"
"My bruised head minded!" Donald fired back, as Goofy chuckled. "A crash is a crash, Sora!"
Sora opened his mouth to defend himself further, but was instead interrupted by a high-pitched scream that pierced the woods. Sora would like to have thought that the interruption was surprising or sudden, but, truly, such interruptions and sudden changes had seemingly become almost normal for him at this point. Immediately on guard, Sora readied the manifested Keyblade and examined his surroundings.
"Whaddaya think that was?" Goofy whispered, his large eyed peeled to every tree.
"It sounded like a girl!" Donald responded, moving toward the direction of the scream. "Who's there?"
A smooth and silky voice, only just a little frayed around the edges, drifted from the forest. "Well, whoever-you-are, I'm not saying my screams mean that I need help, but I could certainly use a creative interruption if you have one."
The voice was followed by the running form of a tall, young woman. She was extremely thin, with long brown hair piled atop her head which overflowed over her eyes and down her back in a large, fanning pigtail. A dark pink dress flattered an incredibly thin waist which both began and ended curvaceously. Upon setting her eyes on the three friends, the woman's lips curved into a smirk as she slowed to gesture behind herself. "These poor things just can't be negotiated with!"
Just as she slowed, several small Heartless burst through the foliage, charging toward the woman. She quickly leapt back into a run, as Sora moved forward. Meeting her and the following Heartless halfway, Sora made fast work of them; quickly ending their hunger. After the few creatures vanished into darkness, Sora turned back to the woman who now stood beside Donald and Goofy, eying Sora with a hand on one cocked hip and a gleam in her heavily-lidded brown eyes. "And who exactly are you three supposed to be, eh?"
Sora raised an eyebrow at her forwardness, "Well, I'm Sora, he's Donald and that's Goofy."
Goofy smiled as friendly as he always did. "We came to visit our old friends Phil and Hercules!"
"Maybe we shouldn't be just telling everyone our business..." Donald mumbled.
"Oh, is that so?" the woman responded. "Well, I can tell you that Phil's still round and pudgy and...you know wonderboy?"
"If you mean Hercules, yes!" Sora responded.
Donald puffed up his chest, "Yeah! Because we're heroes, too!"
"Y'mean junior heroes, Donald!" Goofy reminded happily.
The woman chuckled at Donald's angry quacks, "Well, it looks like we have a friend in common, junior heroes. My name's Megara, but my friends call me Meg."
"Nice to meet you, Meg!" Sora grinned, "So how's Herc doing?"
"Friends already, huh?" Meg snorted, "Well, he's duking it out at the Coliseum every day. You know, 'a hero's work is never done' and all that." Meg's speech slowed, becoming more thoughtful and less sharp. "He's ready to drop, but he keeps on fighting. Even Wonderboy has his limits though, especially with all those daily specials that Hades has been sending him..."
"Hades?" Sora interjected, recalling the blue, fiery God who had pitted him against Cloud back on his first visit to the world.
"Mmmm, Lord of the Dead, God of the Underworld—yadayadayda," Meg waved her hand dismissively, "I was on my way to see him just now, maybe get him to let up on Herc just a bit."
"Gawrsh, that's awfully nice of ya!" Goofy noted.
Meg's voice stumbled for a moment before catching herself, "Ah, yeah, well, it's been a bit difficult with all of these Heartless around."
"Well, I think we've got some unfinished business with Hades—so maybe we could go talk to him instead?" Sora offered happily.
Meg seemed taken aback, "Not too wise are you, kid? Offering favors to people you just met..." her eyes drifted to her reflection in the adjacent river. "Alright...if that's what you want. But let's keep this whole chat-with-Hades thing our little secret, okay?"
Sora nodded, unsure of why that was necessary. "So how do we find Hades?"
Meg knelt down on the river's bank, splashed some of the clear water on her face, and stood to her feet "It's pretty simple, actually: just follow the river as far as it goes."
Sora nodded, "Got it!"
"Well, thanks, boys." Meg winked as she sashayed away, back in the direction of the city. "It's certainly very big of you three."
"Sora..." Donald spoke up as Meg disappeared. "What just happened?"
Sora began to trudge downriver, walking along where the sand a grass met. "We're gonna go visit Hades to help out Hercules and Meg!"
"But why is it that we always end up doing stuff like this?" Donald sighed, even as he followed. "How does this have anything to do with Riku, the Organization or the King?"
Sora smiled ahead, happy to be doing something instead of simply wandering. "I guess the way I see it, Donald, is that it's got everything to do with them."
"Gee, Sora, how d'ya figure that?" Goofy asked.
"Well, I guess it's because everyone has their Riku, Kairi, or the King." Sora said thoughtfully, his earlier concerns miles away. "Everyone has friends, and everyone wants their friends to be safe and together like we want for Riku or the King. So I know how badly I wanted to find Kairi and Riku, so I can know how Meg feels about Herc, or Belle feels about Beast, or Mulan felt about China and her father, or even you two about the King." Sora grinned at his two friends. "I guess we help because it's like we're helping all the Riku's and Kairi's out there!"
Goofy slapped Sora on the back, "Thanks, Sora! I guess I sorta feel the same way!"
Donald nodded his head in understanding, "But what about Organization XIII?"
Sora paused and set his gaze ahead, downriver, instead. "Everyone has their own Organization, too, I think."
Donald nodded slowly, as the grouped walked for several minutes in silence.
"Gawrsh, d'you fellas think that the river's starting to run a little fast?" Goofy wondered aloud, pointing to the force of the river, which had increased to such a power that it was undoubtedly now rushing past.
Donald peered downstream, "Do you think it has anything to do with why it disappears up ahead?"
Sora followed Donald gaze to the see the river narrow and disappear downward into a grouping of rocks that sprung up like a bookend to the stream. "How're we supposed to following the river now?"
Goofy ran ahead to the pile of rocks and began to prod and poke at them. After studying the interruption, Goofy turned back to his approaching friends. "I think we can still follow the river, fellas! It keeps a'going underneath these here rocks!"
"Goofy..." Donald expressed doubt, "How're we gonna follow it up here?"
"A'hyuh! I don't mean up here, Donald!" Goofy chuckled, "I meant we gotta get in the water!"
"What?!" Donald exclaimed. Goofy did not hear him, however, because the gangly knight had already cannon-balled into the river and disappeared from sight.
"Goofy!" Sora and Donald both cried out. Sora dove forward after Goofy without pause. The thought that maybe this idea wasn't very wise struck Sora at the same time as the water did, and with the same chill. It was the water, however, that swept the young boy away, tumbling head over heels, down through the underground river. For Sora, the water was a blur of darkness and cold, slowly becoming colder and colder. It seemed then, as if in an instant, the water began to take on a greenish hue and its temperature staggeringly dropped. Sora shivered, and felt the heat drain out of him. This didn't happen from his toes and fingers first—as the water did in the defining action of Destiny Islands' late winter-but from his chest first, radiating out to his fingers. Feeling lightheaded, Sora began to flail in the pale green water, desperate for what he hoped was the surface. At once, a hand caught his and pulled him up, gasping, onto the shore.
"Not even gonna thank me, huh?" A lighthearted voice teased.
Sora looked up and gasped in surprise to see a thin form in a black, floor-length and hooded coat looking back down at him.
"Where...where are my friends?" Sora choked out, sputtering out green water.
The man in the cloak shrugged and pointed downstream. "It was too much work to get them, and honestly, we really only need you...so..."
Adrenaline in Sora exploded as he leapt to his feet and shoved the black-coated man out of the way. Dashing down the river, which was now thoroughly green and misty, Sora barely heard the protests of the Organization member. Sora increased his speed when the white form of Donald surfaced, floating on his feathery body, but which seemed to be pulled down by a weight of some sort.
"Donald!" Sora called out, his voice cracking. The river was soon about to disappear underground again.
"Sora!" Donald replied from several yards down the river, "I've got Goofy! Help!"
Sora, Keyblade now in hand, called out several ice spells, aimed toward the river further downstream. However, the ice simply passed through the river as if it were air and disappeared from sight. Feeling fear beginning to creep up on him, Sora ran as close as he could to the dark and rocky bank of downriver and reached the tip of the Keyblade out as far as possible—but it was still only just out of reach of the approaching Donald. Following Sora's example, Donald brought forth his wand and reached it out as far as possible as well, weighted as he was to the opposite side by Goofy. Just as Donald floated past Sora, the rounded tip of his wand caught onto the sharp Paopu-shaped edges of the Oathkeeper Keyblade and, in one motion, Sora dragged Donald and Goofy onto shore.
Donald immediately leapt onto Goofy, shaking him by the shoulder, "That was the dumbest idea anyone has ever had, Goofy! We could've all died!"
Goofy coughed up the green, brackish water. "Gee, I'm sorry, Donald! It seemed like the only way to follow the river!"
"Well, maybe we should've stopped following the river, then!" Donald bellowed. "Why wouldn't that Meg person tell us about this death trap!"
Sora wondered that himself, as he felt his adrenaline fade away. "Wait, the Organization-!" Sora turned quickly to see that the black-coated man had vanished.
"Organization XIII?", Donald asked, surprise evident in his voice.
"Yeah..." Sora said, looking back to his friends slowly. "Yeah, he pulled me out of the river."
"But he left us to drown?" Donald's eyes widened, and Sora could only nod, his face hardening.
"Well, that sure wasn't very nice of them!" Goofy replied as he wrung his hat out.
Sora stood to his feet, not able to help wondering why it was that the Organization needed him. They had saved him before in Deep Jungle and Agrabah, but this was the first time that they had made clear that they were saving specifically and only him. He still could not believe the nonchalance with which that Organization member had simply left his friends to die.
"I guess ya really need a heart to care like that, huh?" Goofy wondered aloud,
Sora nodded halfheartedly, unable to shake the uneasy feeling of mystery caused from wondering what it was like to not have a heart. Even if they couldn't feel it, he wondered, couldn't they still choose to help-?
"Look at that!" Donald exclaimed, his attention taken downriver to an enormous tower of rock, shaped like a long skull. It rose from a green and misty lake that the river fed into, until it merged with an immense darkness to which Sora could see no canopy, forcing him to notice for the first time that they now stood in an enormous cavern.
"I betcha that's where Hades is!" Goofy asserted.
Sora nodded, "Of course he'd be the center of attention!"
Still shaking themselves off, the group approached the edge of the large green lake and the thin rock pathway that curved slowly up towards the stalactite-like skull. Donald gulped, and Sora could only agree as they took their first steps out over the lake, its translucent depths seeming to extend infinitely downward. In the sickly green distance, it seemed to Sora that things seemed to be moving or drifting down below the surface. Feeling dizziness encroach upon him, Sora tore his gaze away from the lake below and firmed his eyes toward the destination ahead and the two eye-like holes in the skull which emitted a flickering light.
Today was certainly, absolutely, unquestionably, a bad day.
Hades groaned as he tried not to hear this ridiculous dog-thing talk to him about Organizations and Maleficent and that black-coated guy who had been sneaking around the Underworld. Whatever, didn't bother him—if some idiot wanted to poke around this hellhole, more power to him. And as for Maleficent, he couldn't care less about what that power-mad witch wanted or did.
What BOTHERED HIM was the fact that Maleficent could no longer be inconvenienced to visit him personally anymore and, instead, sent this babbling poor-excuse for a dog!
"So whatcha gonna do about Hercules, eh?" the fool, named Pete or something like that, grinned stupidly at him. Great, Hades curled his bony fingers in a fist, now he was talking about Wonderbreath.
"Y'know..." he continued, "He has made mince meat outta every fighter you've sent at him!"
Hades felt the heat boil within him. How dare this guy!
Maleficent's fool started to laugh, "Pretty soon the Underworld's gonna be standing room only!"
Hades' cool, blue flames briefly flashed a fiery red, but he was quick to swallow the heat. Who the hell did this guy think he was?! Hades made a mental note to torture his soul in particular if he was so lucky as to die a Heartless-unrelated death on Olympus—a likely scenario, as even the Heartless wouldn't want someone as inconceivably annoying as this one.
"Say-!" Pete started.
Hades couldn't believe he was still talking.
"Say, why don't you just pick someone already dead..." Pete could barely finish his sentence due to his laughter, "and...and...save him the trouble! Ahahaha!"
Hades trembled in boiling anger. What a ridiculous, stupid-
"Dead..." Hades paused, pushing himself up from his throne. "Dead is good...and I know just the warrior!"
Pain and Panic scuttled on their spindly demon-feet to get out of his way as Hades approached the center of his throneroom. Raising his arms, he called upon the deepest and dankest dungeons of the Underworld. Thick, green mist began to fill the room and much to his satisfaction, Hades could feel Pete shudder.
"What...what are ya doing there, Hades?"
"I'm just summoning the mother of all bad guys." Hades clicked his dagger-like teeth into a grin.
"You don't say?" Pete backed away, into a dark portal. "Well, ah, maybe I should go..."
Hades completed ignored his departure, instead focusing on the sharpening form of a tall man with short, black hair and red coat and cloak. "Let's cut to the chase!" Hades called out as the smoke finally dissipated. "Here's the deal I'm gonna offer you—I let you out of the slammer—no strings, free as a bird-" the man's eyes wandered to the side, "All for the cost of one itty-bitty little job...fight Hercules, in the Coliseum..." Hades smirked, "...to the death!"
The man in red straightened his back, but gave Hades no response. His gaze, mostly obscured behind darkly tinted glasses and a tall neck covering, seemed to trace the whole room. Finally, he spoke, and drew forth a curved sword with one arm, as the other was slung on the inside of his jacket. "This is my story. And you're not part of it."
Hades paused in incredulity, before feeling the heat overtake his body like a storm. "Did you forget who you're talking to!?" Hades roared, dark red fire exploding from his body. "I am the Lord of the Dead!"
The man simply smiled. "No wonder no one wants to die."
Hades felt his rage burn, and he leapt at the man with his bare hands. The sword came forward and blocked Hades' assault. As Hades grasped at the blades' edge, he felt three more presences enter the room. Looking up, he saw the Keyblade brat and his friends pull to a stop at the entrance of his throneroom. "You three!?" he exclaimed, pulling back, away from the man in red. Great! These new arrivals were just what he damn well needed right now—suddenly, Hades stumbled back, forced by a swing of the blade from the man in red.
Today was not a good day.
"Hades!" Sora announced, brandishing the Keyblade forward through the increasingly stronger feelings of vertigo. "We need to talk!"
"Who's that?" Goofy asked, peeking out from behind his shield to notice the man in red who seemed to have been attacking Hades.
Donald waved his wand toward Hades, releasing a blizzard spell that evaporated into steam before reaching the God of the Underworld. "I don't know, but he looks like he's on our side!"
Sora brandished the Keyblade and took a step forward, which turned into a stumble forward. "I..feel strange..."
Hades brightened and cackled. "That's right! See, that's the thing: in the Underworld, heroes are zeroes!" his bony fingers became enveloped in fire as he swung at the man in red, "comes with the territory!"
Pushing back against the assault, the man in red spoke over his shoulder to Sora, "Go, now!"
"But..." Sora slurred, "but I've...gotta talk to Hades..."
"Do you really think he'll talk now?" the man in red once against shoved Hades back and sheathed his sword. "We can't fight him here we have to go-" as he darted back, he grabbed Sora by the arm and pulled him, "Now!"
"Leaving so soon?" Hades called after them, as he disappeared from Sora's view. The man in red pushed him out of the throneroom, Goofy and Donald in tow, and down the razor-thin rock pathway that led back to shore.
"Auuurroooonnnnnnn..." a raspy voice called out over the lake, echoed by several others.
Sora slowed, dizziness still apparent, and looked to see where the voice came from. He was instead spurred on by the man in red who continued to shove him along. Several Heartless climbed out of the green water, their dark forms oozing the brackish water, but the man in red dispatched them with a few choice swings. Again, Sora slowed to watch the man's fluid movements, but again he was prodded forward, and again a hazy voice called out over the water. "Auuuuurronnnnnn...whhhyyyy areeee youuuu lleeaaavvinggg ussss..."
Sora felt something brush at his ankle. Glancing down, he saw a ghostly hand reach out from the water and grasp for his leg. He yelped and stumbled forward, just as Donald yelled and pointed behind them.
"We don't have time to waste! Hurry!" The man in red pulled Sora's head forward, tearing his gaze away from the approaching green forms that seemed to drag themselves along the ground and out of the water. Sora suddenly began to notice long, bony arms flailing out of water and slapping against the stone pathway, seemingly attempting to grasp at something. The man in red continued to pull the group forward, refusing to give the ghostly forms any attention. The rocky shore was approaching quickly, but just as they were within yards of it, a hulking Heartless emerged from the lake. It looked like a bulldog, except that its back was more arched and its entire body pulsated with dark muscle. Its glowing yellow eyes sat above two rows of dark, dripping teeth. Beneath its weight, the small path seemed to crumble.
Without slowing a moment, the man in red spoke quickly to Sora, "Take hands with your friends."
"I..." Sora's started, still foggy, but he grasped Goofy's hand soon enough, who in turn took Donald's.
The man tensed as he moved, and with one spin, had gained enough momentum to lift Sora, followed by Donald and Goofy, off of the ground in one long chain. With another spin, the man released Sora's hand. It was at that moment that Sora's dizzied mind drifted into darkness as his body flew toward the shore, his last sight being the man in red diving underneath the dog-like Heartless, unsheathing his sword and cutting its legs off at the ankle in one graceful circle.
He was still talking, and Hades cursed his luck that the obese annoyance had somehow found his way back to him-
"I've got Heartlss all over the underworld now, y'see-"
-They were here before you got here-
"so you can leave those pipsqueaks to me-"
-Shut up, that never works-
"Look, pal, you just keep working on turning Hercules into a Heartless-"
-say what?
"So then he'll be all mine!"
-WHAT?
Hades roared up from his throne. "THIS IS MY UNDERWORLD, YOU IDIOT! I don't want a Heartless Hercules, I want a dead one!"
Pete trembled and said no more, at least for the moment. The immense peace and quiet prompted Hades to quiet his own expression, as well.
"Let's see, let's see, let's see..." he mumble, "Hey, have I ever told you about the killer coliseum we have right here in the Underworld? Makes the one of upstairs look like an Olympic kiddie pool!"
Hades figured he might as well get something for his patience. This fool had made this a very difficult day—might as well find another way to make Hercules' life miserable. Best of all, this coliseum—one with the Underworld—would also drain Hercules' of his power!
"Is that where you'll put an end to Herc the Jerk's winning streak?" Pete asked, timidly.
"Problem with that, though—Zeus locked it up tight." Hades stroked his chin.
"But how then-"
"In case you didn't notice," Hades grinned, his dagger-like teeth clicking against each other, "my favorite key just showed up..."
Pete looked wary, "But that kid, y'know...he ain't no pushover."
Hades cracked his bony knuckles, a sound akin to each one breaking. "I think this calls for a woman's touch..."
"Roxas?" a pause and a prod. "Roxas?"
Sora, facedown on the chilly ground, opened to his eyes to a tall black boot nudging his forehead.
"C'mon, Roxas, you can't be dead yet!" the boot nudged once more before taking a step back. The figure connected to the boot crouched down to look at Sora intently.
Sora felt a chill run down his spine as he looked into the shadowed face of a member of Organization XIII. All his faculties racing back to him, Sora leapt to his feet several paces away. At the sudden movement, the Organization member startled and stumbled back. His hood slipped from his head, revealing a small face topped by a dirty blonde mullet, several strands of which fell in front of bright blue eyes. "Geeze, why you gotta scare me like that, Roxas?" the man mumbled before straightening up. He straightened even sharper when he heard the voice of Donald behind him. "I'm warning you, don't move a muscle!"
"Aww, man..." the Organization member sighed heavily.
Sora smiled. "We've got you now! So why don't you tell us what you're up to!"
The man shook his head. Instead, a pool of darkness appeared below him that swallowed him up. A second later, he reappeared several feet behind Sora and Donald, as well as Goofy who was only just now waking up
"Phooey..." Donald mumbled.
"Now let's see here..." the Organization member said to himself as he reached into his coat and glanced over a notecard that he pulled out, "if the subject fails to respond, use aggression to liberate his true disposition..." he glanced up at Sora, and back down to the notecard, "Right...did they ever pick the wrong guy for this one..."
The Keyblade, which Sora's had been holding up until now, drifted slightly in his hand. He wasn't sure if he should be threatened or curious or both. "You're...bizzare."
The Organization member didn't seem to hear Sora. As he pocketed the notecard, his returning hand knocked a round stone out of his cloak which rolled several feet away.
"The Olympus Stone!" a voice exclaimed, as a flurry of red blew by the Organization member. Suddenly, Sora found the man in red to be standing beside him, the small stone in hand.
"What...what just happened?" Donald asked.
"This is the god's stone." The man in red replied, "This is how to keep from becoming ill down here."
"And you just took it from me-which is plain rude!"" the Organization member interrupted, beginning to wave his hands slowly through the air. "Almost as rude as my non-introduction-" he gave a wide grin, as a long and blue guitar-like item appeared in his hands. "I am Demyx, the Melodious Nocturne and Number IX of Organization XIII!"
"And I am Auron," the man in red responded, hefting his large sword, "and I have no such vain and empty titles."
"That's pretty harsh, man." Demyx responded, his fingers dancing along the strings of his weapon.
"Nice guitar!" Donald chuckled. "How're you gonna fight with that?"
"First of all, this is a Sitar," Demyx corrected, his fingers moving even faster, "Secondly, who says -I'm- going to fight?"
At that moment, more than two dozen humanoids shapes, vaguely resembling Demyx and consisting purely of water, emerged from the ground between Sora and the Organization member.
"Dance, water, dance!" Demyx called out, his hands now making grand sweeps up and down the strings. At once, the watery figures slid forward along the ground, dripping sitars swinging high and low. Sora jumped over the first swing from one of the water clones, as Donald immediately cast a blizzard spell on the next closest one, allowing Sora to break it to pieces with one swing of the Keyblade.
Auron, simply and methodically, began to slice through the clones. For every clone that dropped into puddles, he pushed his way closer and closer to Demyx. Sora was impressed with his ability to ignore distractions, no water clone mattered to Auron unless it was directly between him and the Organization member. Sora took up the same idea, and with Donald and Goofy at his flanks, began to move through the water clones toward Demyx. Every clone that slid into his line of sight, Sora extinguished with a slice or with a spell at point blank range. Very quickly, the ground was wet with running water and the air was filled with steam from clones that had been eliminated with fire spells.
Auron reached the Organization member moments before Sora. He lifted his curved sword above the musician's head, preparing for a swift swing. Demyx looked up just in time from his sitar and, with a yelp, dove low to the ground.
"Hey! C'mon now!" Demyx held up his hands, sitar and water copies vanished. "Let's not get too serious! I mean, I brought you that stone, right? We're friends!"
Sora hefted the Keyblade at him. "A friend wouldn't leave my friends behind to drown!"
"Besides…" Auron spoke, "That stone belongs to the gods of this world. You stole it."
"Ehhhh…." Demyx trailed off. "Well, we used to be friends. See ya!"
In a second's time, Demyx disappeared into a pool of darkness. Auron leapt for him, but his sword missed his vanishing form by mere centimeters. A crumpled piece of paper remained where he had stood. Sora picked it up and read five words:
Roxas, come back to us!"
Confused, Sora turned the paper over in his hand to see that it had been scribbled on the back of an Ansem Report. Tucking the paper away in one of his many pockets, Sora turned back to man in red.
"You are amazing at this!" he exclaimed. "Are you some kind of hero or something?"
The man looked slightly taken aback, his gaze turning aside. "No, I'm no hero…I'm just…Auron. My name is Auron."
Sora smiled in greeting. "I'm Sora! That's Donald, and that's Goofy!"
Auron acknowledged the two with a nod. "It seems we were fated to meet. Maybe you need a guardian?"
"Guardian?!" Donald spoke up, "We are doing just fine, thanks!"
Sora looked over to wave Donald off, "Well, y'know, thanks, but-"
When he looked back though, Auron was gone, having vanished between a turn and a look.
"Huh? Where'd he go…?" Goofy questioned.
Before anyone could venture a guess, Sora heard a familiar voice.
"Sora, Donald, Goofy? What are you guys doing here?"
Sora turned to see Hercules, tall and muscular as always, staring in surprise at the trio.
"We, ah, were just looking to talk to Hades!" Sora responded, mindful of Meg's request of secrecy.
Hercules grimaced. Sora could see the exhaustion in his eyes that Meg had been referring to. "Looks like we have the same problem. Hades took a friend of mine and I am here to get her back."
"Are ya talking about Meg?" Goofy asked.
Hercules registered surprised, "Ah, yes, actually I am. How do you guys know her?"
"We just, ah, met her right after we got here!" Donald interjected, nudging Goofy. "Ah, out in the woods!"
Hercules reluctantly nodded. "Anyway, I am here to get her back. Hades left a message telling me that she would be here in the Underworld."
"The underworld?" Sora asked. "Is that where we are?"
Hercules raised an eyebrow again. "Yes, you do know that Hades is the Lord of the Dead, right?"
Sora looked with pity out over the green lake that surrounded Hades' throneroom, remembering the translucent green arms that had grasped for them as they escaped. "So this is where…dead souls go?"
Hercules surveyed the area. "Yes, unfortunately—which is why I want to get Meg back."
Just then, Hades' smooth voice echoed through the cavern. "Oh, Herrccc….I'm glad you could make it! Your little honey is right back here with me!"
Sora turned to see a tall door built into the cavern's stone walls across from Hades' throneroom. Hercules rushed past Sora, who couldn't help but notice a slight limp in his step. Reaching the door, he pushed his large frame up against it. Sora guessed he saw it as simpler to break down one of Hades' doors than to open it. Much to his surprise, though, it didn't budge even with Hercules' literally god-like strength behind it. After several seconds of pushing, Hercules turned to Sora.
"Care to lend me a hand, Sora?" he paused, eyeing the Keyblade. His voice sounded tired but also clearly unaccustomed to requesting help in opening doors.
Sora nodded and walked forward. Lifting the Keyblade toward the door, he made a deft twisting motion and a low click was heard coming from within the door. Hercules nodded his thanks before lifting the door from its hinges and tossing it to the side.
"Ha! Now that is what I call a key!" Hades exclaimed. He stood in the center of a large stone arena, itself centered in the midst of a moat of the same greenish water, which was then, too, ringed by dozens of rows of stone-hewn seating. Sora recognized it immediately, to his mind, as a sort of evil stadium. Hades, who has previously been gripping Meg by the shoulder with his bony fingers, shoved her toward the new entrants. "Anyway, thanks for your help and have a nice day!"
Hercules dove forward and caught the stumbling Meg, who had been gagged by Hades.
"Oh, wait!" Hades snapped his fingers and rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "I just remembered—you're gonna have a pretty tough time having a good day today."
"What are you talking about, Hades?" Hercules looked up angrily toward Hades.
Hades shrugged and disappeared in a cloud of darkness, his final words echoing. "Ehhh…well, you know, without their hero, anything could happen to Olympus…"
With a vigor Sora was surprised Hercules could still exhibit, the tall hero pulled Meg forward with him, toward the newly unlocked door. "We have to get back up there, who knows what Hades is-"
"Awwhahaha!" a deep voice chuckled. "Think yer gonna just run along, eh? I don't think so!"
"Aw, shucks! Pete!" Donald sighed.
The large, round form of Pete emerged from the shadows of the underworld. "That's right! And I'm gonna get me my Hercules-Hearless one way or 'nother!"
With that, three of the bulldog Heartless, teeth dripping in darkness, appeared behind Pete.
Hercules grunted. "We don't have time for this…"
In one deft move, the Olympian darted forward and grabbed Pete by the scruff of his jumpsuit. With one spin, Hercules lifted Pete's massive frame off the ground and hurled him into the newly materialized Heartless. One was immediately destroyed while the other two growled at the newly vulnerable Pete.
"Hey, come on now! Not fair!" Pete muttered and vanished into darkness.
Their prey gone, the two remaining Heartless charged toward Sora, Donald and Goofy, slobbering great volumes of darkness as they ran. Remembering Auron's earlier slide-and-slice technique, Sora dove low toward one of the dark beings, leaving the other for Donald and Goofy to handle. Moments later, two clouds of darkness were dissipating into the thin air of the underworld. Without a second of rest, the three pursued Meg and Hercule's forms up an incredibly long staircase, which Sora could only imagine somehow led to the surface world. In the distance behind them, Hades' cackling laugh echoed.
Sora heard the screams first, smelled the burning smoke second and viewed the utter decimation third. The city which surrounded the Coliseum was devastated. Buildings lay half-collapsed and smoking. Screaming people fled through the open gates of the city, which was where Sora found Hercules collapsed to his knees amidst the rubble and streams of people—every ounce of accumulated exhaustion showing on his face. With little luck, Meg appeared to be pulling at him.
"I can't…this can't be…" Sora heard Hercules mutter to himself, his whole body directed toward the ground.
A small, half-man, half-goat form suddenly also appeared by Hercules' side. "Champ! You're safe!" The diminutive trainer Phil sighed in relief, gripping onto Hercules' arm. "A Hydra's been tearing everything to pieces up here"
Hercules pulled his arm away from the goat-man. "I failed…I left everyone unprotected…"
In the distance, beyond several of the destroyed buildings, Sora saw the enormous form of a three headed, purple shaded dragon crush its way across the city. That must be the Hydra! He grabbed Hercules' by the shoulder, trying to shake him into action.
"C'mon, Herc! We gotta stop that monster!"
Hercules continued speaking as if he had not heard Sora. "Hades was right…I'm just…just a washout…"
"Aw, c'mon, champ! I didn't train you to think like that!" Phil grabbed Hercules by his face, trying to get him to look into his eyes. "I trained you to defeat Hydras!"
Sora glanced back quickly to Goofy and Donald, communicating silently. He looked back to Meg and Phil. "You guys will take care of Hercules, right?"
Meg nodded quickly. "Of course, but…"
Sora interrupted, already on the move with Donald and Goofy hot on his heels. Pushing against the flow of the crowd, Sora glanced across the skyline to locate where the enormous creature had gone. Further down the main road, Sora could see its three heads whipping around independently of each other, appearing to occasionally snap toward the ground. Sora hoped that no one was near it—its teeth looked vicious.
"Sora!" Donald called out, shoving against the running crowds. "We can't make it through here!"
Sora turned to look at his friend, only to be knocked to the ground himself. Goofy called out over the din, "Hey fellas, let's try the rooftops!"
Sora used the Keyblade to push himself to his feet and nodded affirmatively. In a few agile movements, he and his friends were against the edge of the main roadway. A set of stone stairs led upward toward the roof of one of the squares houses, a path which the three of them quickly took.
From the higher vantage point, Sora could see the three darting heads of the Hydra more clearly. Each head was horned, above large yellow eyes and thick rows of sharp teeth. Dark ridges traveled down each neck to meet as one in the middle of the large, round body that the beast dragged around behind its heads. A powerful tail swung fearsomely in its wake, demolishing with ease any buildings left standing after the initial trampling.
Donald and Goofy close behind him, Sora started forward, leaping from rooftop to rooftop across the closely-packed city. To his left, the great walls of the Coliseum—once towering above the city—lay in ruin. Dust filled the air from the collapsing buildings, and small pieces of rock and pebble bounced off of Sora as he made his way closer and closer to the rampaging monster.
Donald wasted no time as they approached, calling out several thunder spells aimed at the monster's body. When the bolts connected, the three heads of the hydra let out dissonant roars and a turned to face the oncoming trio. Sora took a great leap from the closest building through the space between two of the heads, slicing the furthest right head off at the neck with the Keyblade. He landed on the Hydra's back, digging the Keyblade into the monster's leathery skin to hold himself in place. With another roar, one of the remaining heads twisted around to follow Sora, while Donald fired off several blizzard spells, sending the sharpened spikes of ice into the creature's upper body. Goofy bashed off an attack with his shield from the remaining head, while Sora dodged a quick snap from slobbering mouth of the middle head. As it shot past him, he brought the Keyblade down on its passing neck—decapitating yet another head.
The final head, appearing somewhat dazed from Goofy's response, release a muted roar when several more icy spears, thrown from Donald's expert wand, stabbed through its neck. It groaned and, forced by the energy of the spell, began to fall back towards Sora. From its back, with one final upward slash, Sora removed the final head from the body. The Hydra's body shuddered and slumped forward, sending up a small cloud of dust as its enormous bulk hit the ground. Sora, Donald and Goofy grinned at each other in triumph—they had done it!
Before Sora had time to climb down the Hydra's back, the body shuddered once more. Instead of falling to the ground this time, though, it rose back up. The decapitated necks spasmed and, much to Sora's surprised horror, each exploded upward with two more heads. Now six-strong, the Hydra's heads roared and Sora could hear Donald swear. Immediately, two heads swung for Sora, who quickly rolled off the Hydra's back to ground, allowing the two heads to crash into each other. He could see that Goofy was furiously blocking the assaults of several heads, while Donald was blasting off thunder and fire spells.
Sora cast a few spells of his own, but was unsure of what he should do-would every head they cut off just result in more heads? How were they supposed to take it down?
"Duck." Sora heard a calm, low voice say. He turned just in time to duck under the leaping form of Auron who, arm in sling and brandishing his ornate sword, jumped into the center of the twisting and jerking heads. With multiple slashes and cuts that were so rapid that Sora could barely see them, all 8 heads fells to the ground. Continuing his momentum, Auron then fell to the center of the Hydra's back and drove his long sword directly into its center. With a twisting motion, he spun around his sword and slid down the back of the Hydra. This time, its body collapsed without stirring.
"Wow! Thanks, Auron!" Goofy smiled.
Sora nodded, "Yeah! Thanks, Auron!"
Auron didn't respond, he only shouldered his weapon. Suddenly, the ground opened up in front of him and a sickly green mist emerged, followed by Hades.
"I knew you wouldn't resist showing yourself here!" Hades grinned with his jagged teeth. "Rule number one of having toys: make sure you don't lose them."
Sora ran forward, brandishing the Keyblade.
"Rule number two!" Hades continued, reaching out for Auron's chest with his bony fingers. "Always make sure your toys have a remote."
Before Sora could reach them, Hades had covered Auron in some kind of darkness. In seconds, the darkness had consolidated into Hades' hand, formed into the shape of a small statue of Auron, who himself hadn't reacted whatsoever. The dark hole in the ground quickly swallowed the two of them up and vanished just before Sora reached them.
"Oh no! Where'd they go?" Goofy exclaimed.
Sora straightened. "Wherever it is, we are going to find them and stop Hades!"
With the Hydra dead, the sound of screaming and running had given way to a deadly quiet, interrupted only by the few still crumbling buildings and the wind, which continued to whip up clouds of dust. Sora guessed that Hades had probably gone back to the underworld and there was no way he was going to leave Auron, who had helped them so much, to whatever Hades had planned.
"And where is everyone else…?" Maleficent intoned, gazing around theempty seats surrounding her table.
Pete gulped, "It, ah, beats me….they must've had others matters to deal with…?
Maleficent's gaze fell upon him. "You just came from seeing Hades…what did he have to say for himself?"
Pete tried to loosen his collar. "He, ah…he…"
Maleficent's long nails clicked against the stone table. "Out with it."
Pete spoke quickly and hid his face. "He, ah, said that he couldn't describe how much he didn't care about your, ah, return."
Maleficent stood to her feet, "Do you mean to tell me that they care not that, I, I the Mistress of All Evil, has returned from my exile?"
Pete cowered. "His, uh, his exact words were….well, I think they were….'a has been failure'?"
"Has been? Maleficent!? Hades and the other clearly have no vision for a new world of darkness!" Maleficent shouted.
"Your evilness!" Pete groveled, "Can't we do without those losers?"
Maleficent calmed. "Yes, of course we can…Peter, you will return to Olympus. If Hades will not join us, then we shall have Hercules' Heartless!"
Secret Ansem Report 5:
In this realm, where all existence has been disintegrated, I have just barely managed to preserve my sense of self by continuing to think and to write. It is a place where even time has lost all meaning. Eternity is but a moment here.
I must make haste. Certainly their plans are already underway. The Heartless must be the key to unraveling this mystery. The six traitors were operating a laboratory that churned out those cursed shadows.
Not only did they generate 'pureblood' Heartless from living hearts, but they then used those Heartless to synthesize artificial versions of those creatures as well. These synthetic Heartless bore insignias and were called 'Emblems"
Pureblood or Emblem, these Heartless act only to fulfill their instinctive needs. They single-mindedly detect Hearts and swarm around them.
A human's commands would be ineffective: the Heartless would easily steal the human's heart and use it to increase their own ranks. But what if an even stronger Heartless was giving the orders? If HE cast aside his own soul and body and became a Heatless, wouldn't HE be able to control the otherwise intractable Heartless?
Furthermore, wouldn't HE be planning to make use of the creature's instincts? If the heart-seeking Heartless have their sights set on a larger, more powerful heart, their ultimate goal is crystal-clear.
The largest heart in the existence—the heart of a world.
This is all conjecture, but it would seem he is utilizing the Heartless in his search for a path leading to the heart of the world.
Well, here we are! Good to be back! And yes, both journeys to Olympus will be incorporated into one. It just struck me as weird that after all that devastation and Hercules' problems, Sora would just leave without doing anything more. Seems to me that they, in their characters, would want to stick around and help more.
As I continue to write, though, I am realizing that large swaths of KH2 didn't make a lot of sense when considered. I still love it, but I am hoping to continue to fill in a few more gaps in what worlds are visited and how they are visited. Anyway, I hope things are going well with you, whoever you are, and that you have enjoyed this novelizations. I still intending on writing more (both finishing this novelization then starting fully my own stories!)
~Mars