Chapter 10
Leon had believed that the secret waterway nearby the alleyway was his own place to have some time away from the others. It was a place he came to when he felt like he needed some space to breathe and think for a while. It wasn't that he felt any ill feelings towards his friends, but by nature he was a solitary creature.
However he discovered that Aerith had noticed his absence, and how he would slip out at random times of the day. So she had followed him and thus his secret place was no longer secret. He knew she had meant well, but sometimes she was overly motherly towards him. It felt to him like he wasn't trusted to be alone and not do something stupid. Truthfully the thought of ending his life had crossed his mind, but each time realised that was a foolish idea. Cloud was no longer around, but that was no excuse for trying to run away from his problems. He was no coward, and would never let himself be so weak.
Time passed slowly as he felt Aerith's bright green eyes burn a hole into the back of his head, as he futilely attempted to ignore her while practicing his gunblade techniques. To keep up with the ever increasing strength of the Heartless, he needed to practice as much as he could. The hours he slept increasingly lessened as time went on, as he felt it was more important to be alert as much as possible. Today he felt a little tired, but nothing would make him falter until he managed the impossible by eradicating the enemy.
The warrior and flower enthusiast were surprised when Sora and his odd duo appeared out of the blue. Leon felt irate that his 'secret' had been found not once, but twice in one day. Next time he'd need to try harder to find somewhere truly secret, so no one could find him if he needed some down time.
Sora explained that during his travels he'd found a strange lock of sorts in one of the worlds, which the Keyblade had reacted to without the boy's input. Leon remembered something he had read in Ansem's report, about anomalies called Keyholes. If he remembered correctly these Keyholes were the heart of the worlds, which made sense as to why the Keyblade was the only thing that could save all worlds.
"So you found the Keyhole." Leon sheathed his gunblade and paid full attention to Sora, who opened his mouth in an 'oh' shape, memorising the term for later use.
"Yeah, the Keyblade locked it automatically," he held out the Keyblade, pointing it outwards towards nothing in particular.
"Good," Aerith clasped her hands as she sighed softly, pleased with Sora's progress with the Keyblade.
Placing his hands on his hips, Leon frowned, deep in thought as he explained, "Every world among the stars has a Keyhole. And each one leads to the heart of that world," He thought of how the Heartless constantly swarmed Traverse Town, and how they could only be looking for one thing, "There must be one in this town as well."
Befuddled Sora scratched his head and asked Leon, "What do you mean?"
Whispering softly, Aerith's eyes glossed over with a faraway look, as if trying hard to remember some piece of information that was just out of reach, "It was in Ansem's Report."
"The Heartless enter through the Keyhole and do something to the world's core," Aerith stared at Leon, and between their gazes they shared the memories that they both wished they could forget.
Showing his cluelessness about the situation, Sora asked, "What happens to the world?"
Pulling her gaze from Leon, Aerith faced away from the group slightly as she stated, "In the end, it disappears."
Sora, Donald and Goofy all cried out, "What!" disbelieving that such an act by the Heartless could cause such destruction, so easily.
Motioning towards the Keyblade Leon said, "That's why your key is so important."
Turning back to the group, Aerith's eyes were welled up with unshed tears, yet she still smiled as she spoke, "Please lock the Keyholes. You're the only one who can."
"I don't know..." Sora was clearly feeling some lack of confidence in himself. It reminded Leon of how Cloud was, always second guessing himself and being self critical about his abilities. With experience his self deprecating behaviour settled down a little bit. Perhaps Sora too needed some more life experiences to build up his self esteem.
"Seeing other worlds would probably serve you well," The long haired brunet suggested. If Sora was to ultimately save the universe, he would need to travel as many worlds as he could anyway. Leon hoped that the experience would also help the boy understand the situation he'd been thrown into some more, and perhaps along the way, he would mature enough to cope with the heavy burden that had been placed upon him.
Donald exclaimed, "Yeah!" Clearly finding Leon's advice agreeable.
Goofy added cheerfully, "We gotta find your friends! And King Mickey!"
Sullenly Sora muttered, "I guess you're right..." He paused a little while, mulling things over in his head before raising his chin and grinning, "Okay!"
Fishing around in his deep pockets, Sora stuck his tongue out in concentration. He beamed a smile as his fingers grasped onto the item he'd been reaching for, "Hey, Leon," Pulling out an oddly shaped block with a slightly translucent appearance, Sora held it out for Leon to see clearer, "This gummi block is different from the others. Do you know what it's for?"
Leon scowled as he looked over the item. He had never seen a gummi block before, and wouldn't have known what it was unless he'd been told. He glared at the block, not wanting to admit that he simply hadn't the foggiest idea what could be for.
Sensing Leon's inability to overcome his own pride, Aerith stepped in and told Sora, "Ask Cid, he should know."
"Okay, thanks," Sora shoved the gummi block back into his trouser pockets and looked to his two companions, "Well I guess we'd better be off then..."
"Wait, Sora," Leon lunged forward, getting something from his own pockets and handed it over to the Keyblade master, "Take this with you. This stone holds some mysterious power," Sora examined the Earthshine stone thoroughly, "I've been carrying it for luck. I want you to hold onto it."
Still giving the orb the once over, Sora quizzed, "How do you use it?"
Once again Leon did not have the answer, and yet again Sora found himself talking to a brick wall. Not being the brightest of sparks, Sora still managed to figure out that he wasn't going to get an answer any time soon. So waving goodbye, the gang left the waterway to go find Cid.
Once the trio were out of earshot, Aerith stepped up to Leon and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, "You know, no one would judge you for not knowing something."
Grunting Leon shrugged off Aerith's hand and began making his way back to their secret base and muttered under his breath, "...Whatever."
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Charging through the halls of the Underworld, Cloud brushed past Hades henchmen Panic and Pain without even blinking. He was a man on a mission, and he and Hades had some talking to do after the stunt he'd pulled at the games. There was no way he was going to take being treated like that lying down. He'd had enough of being treated like a pawn on the god's chess board. Things were going to change, whether Hades liked it or not.
Finally he reached the antechamber where Hades was currently situated. The flamed head shot round to look at him before he sneered to the bowl of water he was talking to, "Sheesh, sorry to interrupt but seems I have some company here. So sayonara, see ya later," With a wave of his abnormally large hands smoke rose from the water, and he swiftly spun around.
Before Cloud could even utter a word Hades said, "Hey now Blondie. Don't you know it's rude to sneak up on people. Yeesh, some manners would be—"
"Enough already, I've got something to say to you," Cloud strutted up to the god and leaned his face as close as he could to show he meant business. Not that he could reach far, considering he was under average height while the god easily towered over six-foot-five.
"Whoo-whoo! You tell me like it is big boy," the Lord of the Underworld cackled while settling into his throne like chair, "So tell me what's the way-hey? The suspense is just killing me. Oh wait that's right, I'm already dead."
As the god proceeded into another fit of laughter, Cloud restrained his temper as much as he could and yelled over the obnoxious laughing, "I'm through with being your pawn Hades. The moment you unleashed that hellhound on me was the moment you broke your promise to me."
Barely containing his glee Hades chuckled, "Now what promise would that be exactly? I never made any promise to keep you safe, now did I?" He gripped the chair's armrests with his spindly fingers, "The only guarantee is that once you defeat Hercules, I'll set you free and you can kill the big, bad wolf and run into the sunset with your lover boy."
Exasperated Cloud began to pace the room like a trapped tiger in a cage, ready to pounce given the opportunity, "That may be true, but I refuse to play any more of your games Hades. I'm not your toy."
Floating across to Cloud Hades made the warrior wince in disgust as he wrapped his blue arms around him, "Aww I never wanted to make my favourite Blondie feel so used," Cloud could not help but cough and hold his breath as the god leaned right in to his face, "How about I let you walk free then, since you feel so strongly about the whole thing."
Cloud felt little relief as Hades retreated back to his chair, as he retorted, "You know I won't leave until you give me the information I need."
With a sly grin Hades settled back into his throne, "Ah that's right, you want to know where big bird has gotten to. Well maybe I know where he is, maybe I don't. I guess we'll never know since I've released you from our contract. I have no further use for you."
"Hades, I'm sure you still want Hercules out the picture. If you want I'll go take him out now if you'll just tell me where I can find Sephiroth!" he shouted angrily. He knew the god was messing with him to get a rise out of him, but when it came to the subject of Sephiroth he could not control himself.
"Whoa buddy, take it easy! If you went and killed Hercules now everyone will know I was the brains behind the attack," Hades took a moment to ponder his options then clicked his fingers, "I've got it. Why don't you hang around, enjoy the scenery for a while. In a while there'll be a tournament held in Hercules' honour, where he'll be the final challenge. That's when you will enter the tournament and put an end to Hercules once and for all!" His hair flared with orange flame before settling back down to its usual eerie hue.
Anything was better than being stuck in the Underworld with Hades most of the time. To be virtually a free man again was something Cloud was not about to turn his nose up at. There was no binding contract this time, but to keep Hades from condemning his soul for eternity, he would agree to this for now, "Alright, I will stay then. You promise that I'm a free man and once it's all over, you'll tell me the whereabouts of Sephiroth?"
"Would I lie to you?" Cloud was extremely doubtful considering Hades scheming ways, "As long as you stay and take part in the tournament, I'll tell you where the silver haired blunder is."
"Okay, I'll be training for the tournament then." Glad that he'd at the very least managed to regain his freedom he walked out of the darkened chamber, ready to step back into the light where he belonged.
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A few hours had passed since Leon returned with Aerith to their house in the third district. Currently he was engaged in a conversation with Cid, who was eager to gossip about Sora and his friends. Perhaps engaged wasn't the right word, since the conversation was practically one sided as Leon let the pilot yap away, throwing in grunts of agreement where necessary. Supposedly Sora never found Cid to ask about the gummi parts, so Leon's expectations were not disappointed when the boy appeared looking for the foul mouthed blonde.
Once Sora, Donald and Goofy arrived the whole group rallied around and began discussing various things. It was only when a certain name was dropped, that Leon began to take notice from his position leaning against the wall.
"You guys ever hear of Maleficent? I hear she's in town," It was the first that Leon had heard of this, and wondered why Cid nor the others had bothered to mention this piece of information. Maybe they thought he'd hunt her down and attempt to fight her. They were probably right in their assumption, if that were the case. Leon would never forgive the sorceress for her part in him losing his home, as well as Cloud.
Oblivious to whom she was Sora asked with tilted head, "Who is she?"
"A witch, man, she's a dirty feckin' witch!" Cid winced at Aerith's warning glance, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.
"She's the reason this town is full of Heartless," It was true, although to his knowledge she had disappeared to ruin some other world. Apparently she had come back, for what purpose he dreaded to think, "Don't take her lightly," He warned coolly.
"She's been using the Heartless for years," It was true, her evil deeds had been going on for a long time before she came to take over their world.
The spite in his words were tangible as the brunet grumbled, "We lost our world, thanks to her."
Cid explained to a curious looking Sora, "One day, a swarm of Heartless took over our world! Luckily I got out of that mess and came here with these guys."
Donald tapped his foot on the ground whilst saying, "That's awful."
"Our ruler was a wise man named Ansem. He dedicated his life to studying the Heartless," If only he'd been around to help stop the attack on their home, Leon thought. Things could have turned out so much different if they'd only known what they were going to face.
"His report should tell us how to get rid of the Heartless," Cid grit his teeth on the pick Aerith had forced him to replace his cigarettes with. Another example of Aerith's mothering interfering, which Cid felt somewhat miffed by. Especially considering he was the oldest of the group, he was too old to have some young girl ordering him about. However he knew that no matter what he said, Aerith would in the end always get her way. He'd given up trying to resist her will a long time ago, it just made life easier.
Looking hopeful Sora's eyes bulged with excitement, "Where's this report?"
"We don't know. It got scattered when our world was destroyed," No sooner had Leon finished speaking than Sora's eyes fall to the floor crestfallen.
In an accusatory tone Cid spat, "I'm sure Maleficent's got most of the pages."
The conversation gradually stemmed away from the topic of Maleficent and the downfall of Radiant Garden. Once again Leon zoned out, retreating to the peace of his own mind. Not that there was much solace to find, when all he could think about was that he lost the most important thing to him that day, which seemed so long ago. Leon saw gold as he shut his eyes and imagined for a moment that he was embraced by the ghost of his memories.
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AN: Hey just wanted to mention that I tried to stick to the original script as much as possible, but I had to make a cut of one of Leon's line because he mentions Radiant Garden was taken over 9 years previously (which obviously would cack up my story, so I had to leave it out). That and added a lil' swear word from Cid, just one since he's a cheeky chappie. As promised, plenty of Leon in this chapter for those who missed him last time. So what's next for Cloud and Leon? Will they ever be reunited? You'll just have to read on to find out!