Shadows of Reality: Final Mix
Chapter Twenty – Speak of the Devil
"Pain! Panic!"
The two little demons shuddered with fear as Hades' yell echoed so loudly through the Underworld that the walls shook, and small pieces of rock fell from the ceiling. They quickly ran, finding him pacing back and fourth in his personal chamber. There was a ring of fire in the room, a huge creature trapped inside, like a pitch-black lion, roaring madly and trying to escape.
Pain and Panic both shrunk down at the sight of it.
"Tell me, do you know what this is?" Hades asked, sounding rather calm, but neither of them were fooled.
"One of those Heartless?" Panic suggested.
"Try again."
"A—what is it—Nobody?" Pain asked.
Hades laughed and said, "My pathetic minions. Nobodies, I can deal with Nobodies. And I Heartless are malleable, they listen to me. This? This is an abomination!" Hades roared angrily, his face turning orange, the flames shooting out his head.
"W-what's wrong with them?"
"What's wrong with them? Did you really—I'll tell you what's wrong with them!" Hades yelled. "Xehanort just thinks that he can waltz in and use these…freaks to take over my turf? Nuh uh, not happening! This is my world, and these things need to go."
"What about the ones heading for the the coliseum?" Panic asked before quickly hiding behind pain.
Hades turned back to his normal blue colour and looked thoughtful for a moment before he said, "We watch."
VVVVV
Kairi laid on the large bed that she and Sora shared the night before, curled up in the fetal position. She felt physically sick, and she was positive that her mind completely left her. Now she really wanted to get off of that world, tournament and Hercules be damned. She didn't interact with Sora for the rest of the day, he seemed to be avoiding her, but she didn't mind all that much. She wasn't sure what to do or say, because any explanation she came up with sounded like a horrible excuse that didn't make sense.
Somehow, Sora was able to convince Phil to return the tournament timeline to it's original schedule. Phil originally planned on spacing out the battles, but then wanted to condense them into a single day because of how quickly they were happening. Midori explained that Sora managed to convince him to drag it out a little longer, if only to give Roxas and Naminé more time to heal and the girls a chance to prepare better.
There was a knock at the door, but she ignored it. It continued, but she didn't acknowledge it. Finally, the door opened just enough for someone to slip in, and they closed the door behind them. Kairi felt the weight on the bed shift and felt a small, soft hand on her shoulder.
"Kairi, what's wrong? Meg told me that you've basically barricaded yourself in here since yesterday, only coming out to get something to eat," Kairi heard Naminé said.
The redhead turned her body on the bed to look at her cousin, glad to see that she was alright and cast-free, despite Alexander having broke her arm. She wiped her tear-filled eyes and said, "I'm so stupid Nam. I mean literally."
"What happened?'
"You know that guy you fought yesterday?"
"Hot, asshole, Alexander?" Naminé asked, though it was a rhetorical question, because she literally couldn't forget him if she tried. She couldn't even attempt to erase the memories because she needed to know what she was erasing to erase it, but if she started to erase the memories then she wouldn't know and she couldn't erase them. It was a paradox that she realized once, and it drove her mad.
"Yeah him." Kairi was unaware of her cousins maddening, mental thoughts. "He was flirting with me. I kinda knew that, but at the same time, it didn't hit me. He asked me some questions, and I dunno. He asked if I was with anyone and I thought—well I dunno what he thought but I was trying to be sarcastic but it ended up turning out like I was saying that I wasn't with Sora and agreed to go on a date with him but all I meant is that maybe I could take to him later. Naminé, I'm so stupid."
"Oh, Kairi," Naminé said as she sighed and laid down on her back beside her. "What's going on with you? You always know when people are hitting on you."
"It's my hormones. Seriously, I know that around your fourth month things change and all, but all I really want to do is jump everything with a penis. Obviously the only one I ever would is Sora, and you know, he's the main one in my thoughts but holy hell the rest of me is just completely out of whack. Instead of being sarcastic I was giggling Naminé. Giggling like a pathetic school girl. Nam, I had sex with him like two days ago and I feel like it's been a thousand months! I need help."
Naminé laid beside her in silence before she said, "Do you want to get cleaned up and go watch the rest of the tournament today? Sora's not going to be there, at least not in the stands. He's staying with Midori, Mulan, Hercules and Emiliana, so he can be ready to run onto the field at a moment's notice. You guys do need to talk, but you don't need to be a mind reader to see how much this tournament is stressing him now, so it's probably best to give him a bit of space.
Do you want to get cleaned up and go back and watch the rest of the tournament? I know Sora's not there. You guys need to talk, but you need to give him just a bit of time, okay?"
Kairi was still for a moment, and then she nodded her head and sat up, "Well, laying around here won't do be any good. I need to get a shower or something first though, I feel disgusting...and puffy. By the way, how did you heal your arm? I thought you were still working on that?"
Naminé shook her head. "It wasn't me. Another, more advanced healer fixed it for me. I'm not good enough at healing magic to heal bones or things inside your body. Skin, just below the skin, and stuff like that, I can do, but no major organs or bones."
Kairi nodded her head as she got up and looked at her reflection. She frowned at herself and said, "Yes, I think I need a shower."
"I agree, you reek," Naminé said with a nod.
"Naminé!"
The blonde shrugged and said, "I believe in honesty. You know that. Now get ready. Maybe we'll see Alexander and you can set the record straight.
Kairi groaned, knowing that Naminé was just teasing her now and said, "Really Nami, you might wanna wait for your wedding night until after we deal with Xehanort. God knows what he could somehow do to you. We don't even know how he messed with me, and we don't need two of us running around pregnant. I think it'd drive everyone mad."
Naminé shook her head and said, "I'm not nervous. This has to do with you and Sora. I dunno why, but I know it does. Come on now, let's go watch people beat each other up before Sora succeeds in stopping it." At Kairi's curious look she clarified what she was talking about. "He's not happy that Roxas nearly got his eye hacked out and that my arm was broken in what was just supposed to be a small tournament. He's made it his personal goal to get this shut down, but Phil is just as stubborn, saying that it's a tournament and this type of thing happens and we all signed up for it willingly."
Kairi nodded her head and said, "Do you get the feeling that something is off with this whole thing?"
With a nod, the blonde said, "Yeah, I really do."
VVVVV
Sora stood at the entrance of the coliseum, staring out at the arena of excited people. Apparently they enjoyed the tournament from the day before much more than Sora, or even Phil for that matter, expected. Not for the first time, he wondered why seeing others get injured seemed to fascinate people, but Sora knew that he would probably never get an answer to that question.
In a way, he was taking on the responsibility for all of the other Keyblade Bearers. Sora was the only actual Keyblade Master there, the one with the most experience, and he was the one who agreed to the tournament that the others were being injured in.
Sora looked around the stands, his eyes focusing on the spot where Zeus and Hera were sitting, disguised from almost everyone. He wished that they would intervene, but he knew that they wouldn't. It wasn't a God's job to jump in to alter everything that happened. It was their job to keep the overall scheme of things on the right track.
Already, Roxas, Riku and Meg were sitting with the two gods. Sora was more than relieved to see that his twin made a full recovery, as had Naminé. As if reading his mind, the blonde suddenly came into view, her redheaded cousin walking with her. Sora felt a twinge of annoyance pass thorough him as he stared at Kairi, but he wasn't mad at her anymore. He knew that she was honestly confused about his accusations, and was horrified by what happened, he could feel that coming from her. He found it more than odd though, and was starting to think that she was either slightly insane, or pregnancy was making her slightly insane. Sora wondered if that was even possible. Either way, he made it his goal to talk to her later, after the death-trap of a tournament was over.
Sora looked back around at the group behind him, all newer Keyblade Bearers and said, "Okay guys, I dunno where Phil found these people, but not all of them are playing friendly. Just be careful, okay? We don't want anyone out of the game yet." He was slightly surprised when he didn't get a sarcastic quip from Midori, or a nasty one from Emiliana. In fact, both of them looked slightly nervous.
Phil came over to them and said, "We've got some more though guys on the other side.
Mulan is up first against Than, then Midori against Seth, Emiliana against Allair, and Herc, you're going up against Cyrus as a closer for today. Got it?"
"Where did you find these people Phil?" Sora asked him, crossing his arms in front of him. "In a tavern or something?"
"Well…"
"Really?" he sighed and shook his head. He glanced at everyone else and said, "Be careful." He turned and made his way back towards where the rest were watching.
Mulan summoned her Keyblade to her hand and said, "I'll fight with honour, as should everyone." She took a deep breath as she walked out into the arena.
They eyed her opponent, a tall muscular figure with bright orange hair that was impossible to miss. Emiliana's eyes narrowed and a look of distaste appeared on her face as she folded her arms in front of her and said, "There's something about him that I don't like."
Midori cast her a wary look before following her gaze and saying, "As much as it physically pains me to agree with you, I have to agree with you. Mulan needs to be careful."
"She's a Keyblade Bearer too," Hercules reminded them. "We have to believe that she can handle herself."
VVVVV
Mulan stared at her opponent, who grinned at her in what would have been almost charming if it wasn't for the fact that he gave off bad vibes. His hair was such an odd colour. The vibrant orange colour was one that she never came across before, and his hazel eyes gave the impression that he was trying to be friendly, but there was definitely something dark in him.
"Don't expect me to go easy on you because you're a girl," he said to Mulan, startling her a bit. There was an a tone to his voice that set her on edge, like he thought it was a game.
They heard a loud sound echoing through the arena, and Than instantly shot towards Mulan, sword raised high, and she instinctively brought her Keyblade into a defensive position, ready to spring out of the way, but at the last second, he jerked to the side and away from her.
Mulan spun around in time to see him rush at her again, but he feinted away from her again.
On the stands, Sora's eyes narrowed and Roxas asked, "What the hell is he doing?"
"He's trying to confuse her," Riku answered, his eyes trailing the figure.
"Oh man, oh man, I wish I could be down there!" Mushu said. "I mean, I know my girl can kick ass, but there's something I don't like about him."
Kairi instantly took Mushu into her arms to try and calm him down.
Sora watched as Than's weapon collided with Mulan's finally. He saw her legs shake from the sheer strength of his weapon, but then he just jerked back and circled around her again. He slowly shook his head and said, "He could have knocked her weapon out of her hand."
"Why didn't he?" Meg wondered out loud.
"He's playing with her," Naminé answered for Sora, having come to the same conclusion. "I don't like it."
Hera looked at Zeus and said, "I can't feel anything from him. Nor a few of the others here."
"They're hidden by some higher powers from their own worlds," Zeus answered. He did come across that before, but it always put him a bit on edge. He liked knowing exactly what was going on with his world.
Mulan wasn't stupid by any means. She came to the same conclusion that Sora and Naminé had, and she didn't like it.
She lowered her weapon.
"That's a good girl," Than toyed with her. "Just sit back and let me win like a woman should."
Her eyes narrowed, watching as he rushed towards her again. That was when she moved quickly. She threw her Keyblade at him, the powerful weapon spinning in the air. He jerked to the side to avoid it, but Mulan was faster than he was. He didn't see her coming as she practically threw herself into the air, but he did feel her foot collide with his face.
Than fell to the ground with an angry cry, his hands clutching his face, and Mulan landed with a graceful somersault, spinning around to face her opponent as her Keyblade appeared in her hand.
"My face!" he roared angrily. "You bitch!" His angry eyes turned to her's, and he grabbed his sword again, swinging it at her.
Mulan blocked the first attack, but grunted as his foot collided with her stomach. She stumbled to the ground, her Keyblade flinging out of her hand. Mulan just barely managed to roll out of the way as his sharp sword crashed into the ground where she was a second ago.
Summoning back her weapon, she swung it around and it met his with a loud bang that echoed around them, neither paid attention to it though, trying to overpower the other.
Than brought his weapon into the air and brought it down on her Keyblade again and again.
Mulan used both of her hands to steady her weapon and moved her legs so that she wouldn't be knocked down easily. She couldn't help but be confused though, because this stance left nearly all of her lower-body exposed to attack, but he wasn't even paying attention to that.
A wave of realization passed through her when she looked closely at him. There was a burning, wild rage in his eyes, and it instantly put her on edge. He was like a mad, wild animal now, and she instantly knew that she didn't want to stay too close to him. She'd have to stick with long-range attacks.
When he raised his sword in the air to strike at her again, she jerked out of the way quickly. Mulan put several meters of distance between them before spinning around and yelling, "Fire!"
The explosion of flames and heat that came from her Keyblade blasted across the arena quickly, and the people in the front rows had to cover their faces from the heat that it generated.
"Now that's what I'm talking about!" Mushu cried out happily as he climbed onto Kairi's shoulder and stood up.
"Fire's definitely her strength," Kairi said, leaning onto Naminé slightly.
Naminé nodded her head and said, "I'm good with magic all around, but she seems to be concentrated on one aspect. It makes her stronger than me with fire magic. You can tell."
Mulan narrowed her eyes as she saw Than move slightly on the ground, his body and armour covered in scorch marks. She felt the hairs on her neck stand on end when he started laughing hysterically. It was the sound of a mad man with nothing left to lose.
He pushed himself up and said, "You wanna play with magic? You don't need a Keyblade for that." He slammed his sword into the ground and yelled, "Earth!"
Mulan was thrown backwards as the ground under her feet exploded. She let out a gasping breath as the wind was knocked out of her when she collided with the earth that rose from the ground, and then turned to move, but found that she was unable to. Mulan looked around with panic, only to find that her arms were bound in the earth. Than rushed at her, weapon raised.
Kairi let out a scream and covered her eyes, Mushu could only stare in horror, Namine and Meg both cried out in shock, Riku and Roxas gaped in horror, and Sora actually jerked up, standing and staring in horror.
Mulan looked up only to see a sharp blade coming down towards her head. She knew that it would kill her. She squeezed her eyes shut, gripped her Keyblade tightly (though she still couldn't move her hand) and yelled, "Protect!"
The magical barrier appeared at the last second. It collided with the magic protecting her, but it was so close that the blade still hit her. The barrier did lighten the blow. It was still powerful enough to knock her out, but the blade didn't even scratch her skin.
Than was thrown backwards, but he pushed himself off of the ground, grinning broadly. He won. He beat a Keyblade Bearer.
VVVVV
"What the fuck Phil?"
The satyr jumped and looked around, instantly wary. He remembered seeing Sora angry before, but never once had he seen him looking quite so ready to strangle someone who wasn't an actual enemy.
"Look kid—"
"No, you look," Sora snapped at him. "I don't know where the fuck you found these guys, but it really makes me wonder if you really are on our side. This was just supposed to be a small tournament for fun and to bring people into the coliseum. My brother almost had his eye gouged out, Naminé had her arm broken, and the guy who did that then started instantly hitting on my girlfriend, and now this other guy almost killed Mulan!"
"Sora!" Kairi cried out as she caught up to them, moving in between Sora and Phil. She pressed her hands against his chest and said, "Calm down."
Sora ignored her, gently pushed her to the side as he moved closer to Phil and nearly snarled at him. "What did you do, find the nastiest people you could just because we're the Keyblade Bearers? Is that it?"
"It's not like that kid. They just seemed like normal people wanting a chance to compete. Most of 'em were around the coliseum for a while, looking for a tournament. I knew this and told them about it," Phil defended himself. "I didn't know one would restrain the girl."
"Shouldn't he be disqualified?" Roxas asked as he approached them. Riku, Naminé, Meg and Hercules were out with Mulan and Mushu (who was being incredibly dramatic), as was Roxas, but he came in to see what was going on. The next match was postponed.
Phil looked almost hesitant to answer, and Sora laughed bitterly and said, "It's not. There are no real rules here. He's not going to get punished at all for this, cause it wasn't considered cheating, even though it should be." He was silent for a moment before saying, "It's over, Phil."
"What?"
"You heard me. We're all out. We tried to help you out, and you set us some of us up with the worst possible people here," Sora stated, suddenly sounding oddly calm.
"Sora," Midori spoke up from where she was standing silently, observing, "is that a good idea?"
"Can you even say that for everyone?" Emiliana asked, raising an eyebrow as she turned from watching Hercules help carry Mulan away without interest, Riku, Naminé and Meg going with him.
"Funny thing, last time I checked, Keyblade Master was above Keyblade Bearer," Sora answered, sarcasm dripping from his voice. "Not good enough? How about I call King and leave it at that." He wouldn't normally use any sort of title to try and get his way, but he was really being pushed to the limits here.
Midori came up to him and said, "I want to fight in the tournament."
Sora looked about ready to lash out at her, so Kairi came forward and asked, "Are you sure that's a good idea?"
"Yes," she answered confidentially. "I want the chance to show that guy that if he messes with one of us, he messes with all of us."
"Revenge?" Roxas asked almost skeptically.
"No, not revenge," she said with a shake of her head. "Avenge."
Emiliana suddenly walked towards them, folding her arms in front of her and saying, "I'm in too." She didn't seem to care that Midori and Kairi were both staring at her with surprise, both already deciding that they didn't like the brunette girl. "I don't care much about Mulan, but I don't like them."
Sora sighed and his eyes met Kairi's. He frowned and said, "Okay. But if anyone wants out, they're allowed. I'm out though."
"Me too," Roxas agreed. "I doubt Naminé will keep going."
"So we have Hercules, Emiliana and Midori left to fight. That asshole is already in unfortunately, so even if Riku decides that he's out, there'll still be enough for Phil's semi finals and finals." Sora whirled around at looked at the satyr who was desperately trying to get away. "This is the last time that any Keyblade Bearers, at least when they're with me, are participating in anything like this Phil. Got it? Not even training with you." With that, he stormed away.
"He's angry," Kairi said to Phil. "He'll cool down eventually Phil, don't worry."
"You gonna go with him?" Roxas asked her.
Kairi shook her head and said, "It's probably best if we leave him alone."
"Okay," he nodded. Looking around at the two girls he said, "Kai and I will be in the stands with Zeus and Hera. Be careful. Come on Kai." The redhead smiled encouragingly to them and followed the blond.
"Hey um," Phil stuttered. "Watch these guys, okay? You're first Midori." He rushed out, and across the arena to the other door so that he could tell the remaining two that the tournament was still on.
Midori and Emiliana watched a short, but very muscular man walk out. She smiled bitterly when she saw his dark green hair and said, "That's something I've seen before."
Emiliana raised an eyebrow at her before rolling her eyes slightly and asking, "Think you can take him?"
"Think I can't?" she challenged.
"Wanna make it interesting?" the brunette asked. Her grape eyes glinted almost maliciously as she said, "Whoever beats their opponent the fastest gets quality time with Riku. Whoever loses has to back off, at least for a while."
"Why would that interest me?" Midori tried to play it off, but Emiliana was just smirking at her. She sighed and said, "You're on."
They shook hands and Emiliana motioned towards the arena. "Better get going. Clock's ticking."
"Watch and learn," the raven-haired woman said to the younger one.
VVVVV
Kairi sighed as she watched Midori walked out into the arena confidently. Roxas glanced over at her and asked, "You okay?"
"Yeah, just a bit worried about…well…everyone." She leaned back slightly, resting her hand on her stomach. "I don't want anyone else to get hurt, and Sora's in such a horrible mood that I'm scared he's going to do something, and every once and a while I just get these weird feelings. I thought we might get some type of break while waiting for the ship."
Roxas' eyebrows furrowed before he asked, "What kind of weird feelings?"
"Oh, well," she blushed slightly, "I'm not always sure if it's gas or I'm hungry or what. It's just weird." She saw the strange look on his face and asked, "What?"
"You mean like the feeling of something moving inside of you?" he asked, awe appearing on his face.
Kairi stared at him with wide eyes before sitting up straight. "I never even thought about that. I…holy…umm Hera?" She timidly looked at the Goddess. "Do you think that's possible?"
"Well, most of the time first time mothers don't feel their child move until they're around twenty weeks or so, but everyone is different. I'm fairly confident that this is one of the exceptions to that," the pink-tinted goddess smiled at her.
Kairi looked stunned as she looked out, watching Phil speak to both Midori and her opponent, someone named Seth. Roxas placed a hand on her shoulder and asked, "You okay?"
"Yeah, I just—it's just weird," she admitted. "I—wow—I can feel her moving."
"Her?"
Kairi shrugged and said, "Doesn't seem right calling her an 'it'. Especially since she's moving around in here. I have no idea if it's actually a she or a he. I won't even have the option of finding out for a little while longer." They both jumped slightly as the match began, neither expecting the loud sound that Kairi wanted to say was a gong, but she was pretty sure that it wasn't.
She watched, hoping and praying that Midori would be okay. She had a feeling that it wouldn't do much good here though, because Zeus wasn't about to interfere, having mentioned in passing that it wasn't his spot to step into things like this.
"Please be okay."
VVVVV
Midori vaguely heard Phil talking, but she never took her eyes from Seth's steel-like ones. She didn't back down though, sending him a dark glare of her own. She was determined to win, even if it meant playing a little bit dirty.
Midori knew that there was no reason to play dirty this time around.
She heard the signal for the match to behind, and didn't even give Seth a chance to blink as she shot forward and swung her Keyblade at him. He managed to block her, but that didn't deter Midori in the least. She swung her weapon again and again, keeping Seth on the defense the entire time.
"What in god's name are you doing?" Seth demanded after a moment, grunting as he sidestepped her. "Trying to wear yourself out?"
"Not even close," Midori answered. As she swung her weapon, the teeth of her Keyblade skimmed across his bare arm. With something like the Kingdom Key, that wouldn't have mattered, but given that the teeth of her Keyblade were designed to look like curved sunbeams and ended in razor sharp tips, it left a series of bloody cuts on his arm.
Seth let out a howl of pain and swung the staff in his hand. He hit her in the side, throwing her to the ground and brought his weapon down towards her. Midori blocked the attack with her Keyblade and kicked his feet out from under him and rolled over before he could fall on her.
Midori jumped to her feet, her Keyblade vanishing so that she could push herself up quickly. Seth swung his staff around, but Midori ended up grabbing it in her hands. She flinched a bit from the harsh contact, but managed to kick her foot up and slam it into his hand. He howled in pain and let go of his weapon.
She pulled the staff from him and spun it around in her hand with ease, smirking slightly. "After a Keyblade, I'm best at fighting with these. Long story involving another me." She jumped away from him and tossed his staff in the air, summoning her Keyblade and destroying the weapon before her own Keyblade vanished.
Up in the stands, Roxas leaned forward and asked, "What the hell is she doing?"
Kairi eyed them critically before smirking a bit and saying, "Roxas, Midori lived with you and Sora. Tell me, what did she do while we were all at school?"
"She taught a—oh—ohh," Roxas repeated, his eyes widening in understanding. "She's going to kick his ass."
Back in the arena, Seth pushed himself up and Midori said, "What's wrong, afraid of a bit of hand-to-hand combat?"
"I was hoping not to hurt you too much sweetheart, if you insist though." His fist shot out, and she ducked underneath him.
They traded punches, some landing, some not. Midori had to admit, it had been a while since she fought someone who could give her a good fight. The men on Destiny Islands always tried to go really easy on her, and the women weren't really built as fighters there.
Midori realized a split second too late that she lost focus. Seth got behind her and grabbed her from behind, but she used it to her advantage.
Everyone watched in awe as she flipped him over her shoulder and twisted his arm back so that he couldn't move. If he tried, he would probably break it.
"Midori wins!" Phil called out, deciding to just call the match before anyone got too injured. Midori let go of him and backed up a few steps, grinning a bit. She looked back at Emiliana, who was leaning against the door, not looking impressed in the least. She knew that Phil kept track of how long the matches were, so she'd check after Emiliana went.
Midori glanced back at Seth one last time, sending him a hard glare before turning and walking towards the stands.
VVVVV
Riku was surprised to see that the tournament was still going on. He thought that Sora was going to rip Phil apart earlier, he was that angry. Still, he went to look for Kairi and Roxas, and saw that a short man was being dragged away, obviously beaten. Shrugging it off, he finally located his friends again, and stared with surprise when he saw Midori just walking up to them, bruises visible on her body.
"What the hell?"
She whipped around, staring at him with slightly surprise. Roxas looked up at them and said, "You should have seen it! She kick his ass! With her fists!"
"I thought we were stopping this after Mulan?" he asked, narrowing his eyes at the older girl. "Looks like he got you good too."
Midori shrugged and said that, "I can handle myself. I asked Sora if I could keep going. He said to go for it…after a while." She sat down, wincing a bit before grinning sheepishly. "I may be a little sore though."
Riku rolled his eyes and sat down next to her, staring at her critically. "You shouldn't have risked it."
"I'm fine mother hen," she replied, patting him on the head. "Don't worry your pretty silver head about me."
He looked down at the arena and raised an eyebrow. "Emiliana is actually fighting?"
"Yup," a wicked gleam appeared on the tanned woman's face. "I hope that she takes longer than I did."
Everyone gave her weird looks.
"Why?" Kairi asked, as if she was insane.
"No reason."
The redhead looked at Roxas and said, "She's strange some times."
"Don't I know it? You didn't live with her."
"I'd like to see what she can really do," Kairi said, nodding to Emiliana as she summoned her Keyblade to get ready for her fight.
"Don't judge her by her looks, even Midori has to admit that she's tough," Roxas said.
"That's right, you fought that Dragon Endless with her. What happened—"
"No," Roxas and Midori said in sync before looking around as the match began.
VVVVV
Much could be said about Emiliana, most of it not necessarily positive. She was a vain girl, very self-motivated, and she tended to judge things and people quickly. She wasn't afraid to speak her mind and was always honest, even if it hurt people. She also didn't take failure very well. She was a determined girl who knew what she wanted, and she always got it. She wasn't a stupid girl by any means.
Emiliana believed in taking any advantage that she could find. If it meant being cold, she would be colder than the deepest ocean, if it meant being a flirt, she batted her eyelashes, and if it meant playing dirty, she'd be the first one to not hesitate.
She judged her opponent quickly. The only word that she could say that accurately described him was average. He wasn't tall, he wasn't short, he wasn't muscular, he wasn't skin and bones, he wasn't handsome, and he wasn't ugly. He was just plain. Even his name, Allair, didn't really stand out. She didn't like that. If he was someone like that Alexander guy that Naminé fought, she could use his own ego against him, and if it was someone like that Theo-whateveritwas guy that Sora fought, she could use his obvious self-esteem issues (he obviously had them, trying to be so much like Hercules and failing). This guy was going to be hard to break, hard to play mind games with.
Emiliana made a judgment call quickly as the match started. She wasn't going to be able to play mind games this time. Outright kicking his ass it was.
The match began, and she barely had the chance to blink before he launched himself, sword and all, at her. Emiliana quickly flipped backwards, landing neatly on one knee, springing herself forward with her Keyblade in hand. He blocked her, a loud clang echoing through the arena as their weapons collided violently. Allair glared at her heatedly, but she just smiled.
Then her knee collided with his gut. He grunted and stumbled away from her before practically growing like a wild animal and launching himself at her again. She let out a yelp of pain as his sword nicked her arm, stumbling away from him and looking at the ugly welt it left behind. She glared at him and said, "I don't like scars."
"Why's a superficial bitch like you even doing in a tournament like this?" Allair said to her, his eyes narrowing.
Now this was interesting. He was trying to play her and get under her skin. If only he knew exactly what he was getting in to.
She gave him no warning as she lunged at him, slamming her Keyblade rapidly into his weapon, almost like Midori had before her. She wasn't trying to force the weapon out of his hand though. She was trying to provoke him into making a mistake. Though this Allair person was plain, she now pegged him as being prideful.
Now she had something to work with. Her gaze shifted up to where the other Keyblade Bearers sat. Unfortunately, she had a time limit. No time for games.
She moved to kick away from him, but he seemed to predict her movement and ended up grabbing her leg. She ended up falling, but, somehow within the split second her feet left the ground, she managed to kick her other leg up to go around his neck, dragging him to the ground with her painfully in the most awkward position to most people.
Up in the stairs, Riku stared at the scene with a torn look. He wasn't sure if he wanted to be confused, or fascinated. He leaned back, motioning to Roxas to do the same without Kairi or Midori noticing. They were leaning so that they could see each other behind the girls' backs, but neither of them noticed.
"What just happened?"
"Hell if I know. He tried to trip her, she turned into a human pretzel."
They both looked back as she somehow managed to roll out of the odd position, summoning her Keyblade once again and attacking, Allair just barely managing to block her this time.
Roxas glanced at Riku with a raised eyebrow, and they came to a silent agreement that neither of them could keep silent for long.
"You have to admit," Riku said, lowering his voice as he glanced at Midori. "Girlfriend or not, that was kinda hot."
Roxas subtly looked back at the arena before saying, "No." At Riku's confused look, he knew he needed to clarify before any more gay jokes were tossed about. "Watching a water fight, on the beach, on a hot day, between Naminé and Kairi, in bikinis, is just hot. The fact that Emiliana can move her body around like she can turn her bones into rubbing is fucking hot."
First glancing to make sure that neither girl heard, they both grinned and bumped their fists together. Yes, there were definitely times that Riku and Roxas got along. After all, Sora was so whipped that he never would have agreed outwardly.
Back in the actual arena, Emiliana was quickly becoming annoyed and bored with Allair. There was no time to play mind games, no time to have fun with the situation, so she wasn't really interested with the fight. She was just interested with finishing the fight as quickly as she could.
She blocked him with the blunt edge of her blade before flipping out of the way, pointing her weapon at him and yelling, "Freeze!" A blast of ice, not nearly as powerful as anything Naminé could throw, but still a nice shot, crashed into him, freezing his arms and upper torso.
Allair glared at her, trying to move his arms but unable to, though he could still walk (albeit, awkwardly). She just smirked smugly and said, "Ironic, isn't it? You like playing with ice." She tossed her Keyblade up into the air silently, and it was like an array of razor sharp leaves rained down on him. He actually let out a cry of pain as the harmless looking leaves left small cuts and welts everywhere on him.
"I'm out."
She looked at him with a raised eyebrow and said, "You're not one for pain, are you?"
"I'm out, you win."
Emiliana looked around at Phil, who shrugged at her before calling the match. She just shook her head before heading up to the stands. That was even a rather pathetic ending from her point of view.
She made her way up to everyone else, and realized that Roxas was staring at her oddly. "What?"
"You were like a freaking Bulbasaur."
"Excuse me?"
"You used razor leaf."
Emiliana stared at him oddly, her vibrant purple eyes visibly judging him. "Aren't you a little old for Pokemon?"
He snorted with disbelief and said, "No one's ever too old for Pokemon. Besides, I'm going to have to teach my nephew the proper way to be a Pokemon Master. None of this Osha-ma-thingy-stuff. He needs to know that Mewtwo will wreck you." He patted Kairi's belly, and she smacked his hand away.
"I told you," she sounded a little more cross than she should have. "I don't know if she's a girl or a boy."
He shrugged and said, "I figured we could mess people up be everything calling him different genders. Someone has to be right, right? Unless he's transgendered."
"Don't even joke," Kairi groaned, leaning back. "You are truly two-years-old."
Emiliana slowly tore her eyes from them before looking at Midori and asking, "How long was that?"
The raven-haired woman pressed her lips together before standing up and saying, "Not sure, lets go ask Phil who finished faster."
"Were you two competing to get a better time?" Riku asked suspiciously.
"No," Midori answered instantly.
Emiliana, on the other hand, giggled and winked at him. "Does it matter? Just a small competition between…friends. Right…Midi?"
"Oh yes," she answered back in the same fake, sickly sweet voice that Emiliana had used while saying her nickname. "Just the best of friends, Emi." She threw her arm around the girl's shoulder, which Emiliana reciprocated, and the two walked down the stairs to see Phil.
"If I ever meet you in a dark ally, I'm going to kick your ass," Midori said while keeping her fake smile on her face.
"If I ever meet you alone in a brightly lit corridor of the gummi ship, I'll kick yours," Emiliana replied sweetly as they went over to Phil, moving away from one another. "Hey, satyr, we have a question."
"What can I do for ya, sweet cheeks?" Phil asked her, not caring that she called him just satyr.
"We know you record the times, so who's match ended first, mine or tree head here?" Emiliana asked, nodding towards Midori, who glared at her.
Phil looked at his sheet in front of him and said, "Actually, it was pretty amazing. You two had identical timing."
There was a pause before the two girls spoke in sync. "What?"
"Down to the millisecond. Impressive. It was like you planned it."
They looked at one another before Midori said, "Looks like he's still fair game."
"Oh, I don't play fair," Emiliana replied before walking back to the stands.
"Good thing I don't mind getting my hands dirty either," Midori muttered, going to sit with everyone else.
Hercules watched the two girls leave, having just arrived for his round in the tournament. He glanced down at Phil and asked, "What was that about?"
"A cat-fight in the making, and I hope I'm there when it breaks out," Phil said with a grin. "Alright Champ, to close this round, you need to—"
Phil got cut off as a huge explosion rocked the grounds. People screamed and ducked, and Hercules looked around to see where it came from. He groaned and said, "The underworld. If it's Hades, I have to deal with it, you know that Phil. It can't wait. Sorry."
"But—I—" Phil didn't really know what to say as his last hope for salvaging the tournament rushed away. "I really hate Keyblades."
VVVVV
Sora was lying in his large, comfortable bed, trying to rest off his headache, when he too heard the explosion and jerked up. His first gut reaction was to run and see if Kairi was okay, but he knew in his heart that she was fine. Possibly slightly startled, but nothing beyond that.
He jumped off of the bed, rushing outside and groaning when he saw dust rising from the place that he knew housed the entrance to the Underworld. Here he honestly thought that he might get through a few days in Olympus without running into Hades.
Sora could have ignored it, but he decided to go check it out anyway. On the way there, he literally ran into Hercules.
They approached the gateway and Sora looked around curious before asking, "What happened here?"
It didn't look like Hades was sending up a monster or anything else. To be honest, it didn't really look like anything happened aside from an accidental explosion. Since when were explosions accidental when Hades was possibly around though.
"No idea," Hercules answered, looking just as confused. "Keyblades out?"
"Keyblades out," Sora agreed, and both of them summoned their weapons. Though this was Hercules' home world, Sora took the lead, slowly walking towards the huge caverns that led down to Hades' domain.
Everything was silent until a single, very strange creature appeared. Sora squinted at it, not quite sure what to make of it. At first glance, it looked like a Heartless because of the way it rose out of the ground like a Shadow or NeoShadow, and it was entirely black. The thing one, it was tall, taller than Sora, but it was skinny, like a skeleton with just a little bit of flesh left, and it had long, jagged claws on both it's toes and fingers.
For a second, Sora could practically see the claws scraping at a window, feeling a wave of confusion and fear. It left quickly, but it left him feeing confused and woozy.
"Is that an Endless?" Hercules asked.
"Yeah." Sora realized that his friend was staring at him oddly. "What?"
"Your voice, for a second there, you sounded more like Roxas than yours."
Sora just shrugged, slowly approaching the Endless, which didn't seem to care about him at all. He quickly found out why.
"I. SAID. GET. OUT."
Sora jumped backwards, tripping over his own feet and falling on the ground. He blinked with confusion as a fireball shot out of the cave that led to the Underworld, crashing into the creature. The Endless let out an inhuman screech of pain, disintegrated into ashes.
"What just happened?" Sora asked, pushing himself to his feet.
"If I didn't know better, I'd say Hades—"
"GET OUT!"
Hades himself appeared with two more Endless in his hands, throwing them to the ground and incinerating them. He was bright orange with rage, and both Keyblade Bearers stared at him skeptically.
Hercules was the first to break out of his stupor, moving towards the God of the Underworld and demanded, "What are you up to Hades?"
"What? Can't a god rage and born things without being questioned?" Hades asked, suddenly sounding rather unbothered. Before Hercules could answer, Pain and Panic appeared beside Hades.
"They're all out of the Underworld your evilness." Originally, they went to see how the people of Olympus would react to the Endless, but the creatures decided that they wanted to remain in the Underworld. A truly stupid plan, since the God of the Underworld hated their existence almost as much as he hated Hercules'.
"Excellent." He looked around and a thoroughly confused Sora and Hercules. "What are you shmucks looking at?"
"Those Endless…aren't working with you?"
"Hey, hey, don't get any sappy thoughts about me being on your side," Hades said, as he faced them. "I'm bad, but I have my standards. Those things, I don't like 'em. Xehanort releases them here like he owns the place. Bah, what does he know? Heartless, I like em, Nobodies I tolerate, and I just don't care about those weird Unversed that came when those Ven, Terra and Aqua kids were around. Endless, they are stains in my Underworld." An explosion of bright orange fire appeared from him again.
"You really don't like them," Hercules said, lowing his Keyblade, and still looking confused. It wasn't like Hades at all.
"Hey, if I want to cause trouble, I'll cause trouble. I don't do it on demand. What's with Keyboy there?"
Sora was giving him a rather stunned look, and managed to say, "You remember them? You remember Ven?"
"Looks pretty much identical to that strange blond kid that showed up a few years ago and is here now? What's it to you?"
"He was—I was told that he was my older brother," Sora reluctantly answered. It wasn't something that he wanted to share with Hades, of all people, but it sounded like he had some answers.
Sure enough, a wicked grin appeared on his face, "You were told? You don't remember, just like everyone else. See, I'm a god, little memory wiping spells don't effect me. I'll make you a deal. I'll tell you all you want to know about Venny and you—"
"No," Hercules said sternly, stepping in between them. "I don't know what's going on, but whatever it is Sora, there are other ways to get answers. Don't risk yourself getting hurt, not when everyone else needs you. Hades isn't a problem right now."
"You're right," Sora answered glumly. He lowered his Keyblade and turned his back on Hades, walking away.
"That's it? This is the most anticlimactic meeting we've ever had!" Sora heard Hades call, but he ignored him, knowing that Hercules could handle the dark god. His headache was coming back, this time accompanied by a bit of what he could only describe as heartache.
"Ven," he mumbled as he let his Keyblade vanish. "Will I ever remember you, or should I just forget everything and leave it in the past?" The only answer he got was more throbbing from his heart.
VVVVV
"Hi."
Sora jumped slightly at Kairi's almost shy voice as he opened the door to the room they were sharing. He let out a small sigh as he tried to calm down his racing heart, closing the door behind him. He stared at her, noticing just how meek and shy she looked, sitting on the bed in a loose, Greek-styled nightdress, her feet pulled up to her chest.
A weak smile appeared on his face as he said, "Hey."
"Are you okay?"
He didn't know how to answer, so he just shrugged. Kairi moved slightly, patting the spot beside her. She watched as Sora removed his outer layer of clothes and his armour before falling back on the bed in a thin, white t-shirt he wore under his armour and a pair of black boxers.
Kairi leaned over him slightly and said, "Mulan's okay. Naminé told me that she already woke up. I ran into Hercules earlier, and he said that Hades was just angry earlier, but it was nothing big to worry about." She was silent for a moment, her eyes staring into his. "That's not what's bothering you though."
"No," he admitted, but he really didn't want to talk about it, not now.
As if sensing that, she let the topic go and moved so that she was laying on the pillows, her feet stretched out over his own legs so that they were perpendicular to one another. Glancing down at him, she said, "Hera put that protection spell on me earlier. It felt kinda strange, but not painful, and I felt a little tired after that, but not as much as she expected. She actually checked for me and said that everything seems fine." Kairi smiled a bit, putting her hand on her stomach. "I think I felt her moving earlier, I'm not sure."
That caught Sora's attention. He looked over at her and asked, "Really?"
"I dunno, it could have been gas, but Hera says it's possible, and I'd like to think that it was her I felt but—"
"Wait, her?"
She shrugged and said, "Roxas is calling her a him. I just felt like he or she needed a pronoun. I don't actually know." Kairi went silent, and there was a heavy silence between them. Neither moved, and Sora didn't make any sort of indication that he was going to move any close to her or really interact with her in any sort of way. She sighed, knowing that she was going to have to give up her pride this time. "Sora?"
"Hmm?"
"I'm really sorry about earlier," she said, staring at the ceiling with tears welding in her eyes. "That whole thing with that guy? I honestly didn't realize that he was trying to ask me out on a date, and I didn't realize that I was implying I wasn't with you. It's so stupid, but I thought I sounded sarcastic and I know I didn't now but I'm just—I swear I'm not making it up even though I sound like a complete idiot."
Sora rolled around so that he was looking at he. He smiled slightly and said, "I know that you wouldn't do anything like that, especially not now." He paused for a moment. "You really thought you sounded sarcastic and it came out flirty? How does that happen?"
She knew that he was teasing her now, and gently kicked his side. He finally moved so that he was beside her, instead of at her feet. He was eye level with her, just staring at her with a teasing look.
Kairi felt herself blush and blurted out, "I feel like my mind is on a roller-coaster. My hormones too. Those buggers keep messing with me. One minute, it's like I'm happy and content with my life, the next I feel sad, and then I seriously just want to jump you. It's been more or less the last one recently though. Any little thing leads to a fantasy and it's kind of pissing me off."
Sora's face screwed up with confusion and he said, "So to put it bluntly, you probably got messed up because your hormones are making you a bit sex crazed?"
"No."
He stared at her.
"Okay, yes. It's just because of my hormones. That's all."
"Sure, sure," Sora said teasingly. "Does that include now?"
"Well, yeah, but you're tired, stressed, sore and—" Sora cut off her rambling by moving so that he was hovering over her and kissing her. She was stunned for just a minute before she returned the kiss feverishly.
"One thing I did learn in school, this can be awesome relief of stress and pain, you should know that," he said teasingly.
"I think you went to a different school than me."
He laughed, but didn't get to say anything else as she pulled him down to her.
VVVVV
Roxas was sitting in the kitchen, his eyes red from his lack of sleep the night before. He glanced up as Naminé came into the room, looking happy and refreshed. She did pass out in her room just after finding out that Mulan was going to be fine, and slept through the entire night. Roxas, on the other hand, was stuck in the room next to his brother and Kairi, and though the walls were thick, the doors sucked at keeping out sound. They kept him awake all night.
He glared at his girlfriend, who grinned at him and asked, "Didn't get much sleep?"
"Don't even get me started."
"Umm…excuse me, do you know where I can find any of the Keyblade Bearers?" Both looked around at the hall with interest, not recognizing the voice asking the question. They could hear someone mutter an answer, and the voice said, "Thank you."
A moment later, a tall anthropomorphic dog walked into the room. Roxas blinked with surprise, because he honestly thought that it was Goofy in front of them, but they left Goofy with Donald, Mickey, Yen Sid, Ienzo, and Lea at Twilight's Destiny.
Naminé recognized him first and asked, "You're Max, right? Goofy's son?"
"Yeah," he answered, sounding almost sheepish. "Chip and Dale got me to pilot the new gummi ship here. I left it up in orbit. They would have brought it here themselves, but they're working on some sort of project. I don't usually ask."
"I thought you weren't going to be here for a few more days?"
"I drove faster than they told me to," Max answered with a shrug.
"Drove faster than—how fast is faster when you're here a few days earlier than we thought you'd be?" Roxas asked, sheer amazement lacing through his voice.
Max shrugged, looking slightly embarrassed. "I'm a good flyer, and I like to go fast." He smiled sheepishly. "Plus I found a warp hole that Chip and Dale figured out jumped closer to here."
"Since when? I don't remember there being any warp holes close to Disney."
"I got lost," Max answered, looking rather bashful. "No idea where I ended up, but looks like something was watching out for us all."
"Well, Sora will be glad. Roxas, can you get him and—"
"No," he answered flatly. "No, you, Miss. Good-Night-Sleep, are going to wake them up. I'll take Max with me and get the less evil people. You've never met Emiliana, I think that you'll be able to appreciate her too." Roxas spoke directly to Max, grabbing his arm and dragging him out of the room without another word.
Naminé stared at the two, confusion on her face. She shook her head and left the room.
VVVVV
Author's Note
Yeah, this chapter is pretty choppy, even I can see that. I didn't intend for it to be like that when I first set out writing it, but I had so much to mash in here, and as I got going, I realized that, with all the different things happening, even if I added a third chapter in this world, it still wouldn't matter, it'd feel just as rushed, because that's the type of mood everyone's in.
Really, I didn't intend on there being anything important happening in Olympus. The tournament was just so that people could get a slight insight to how the people they've never really experienced fighting yet work (mostly Mulan, Midori and Emiliana). It didn't work out how I wanted it to, but oh well. As for Hades, I never had anything planned for him. I just thought it'd be amusing if one of the typical bad guys somewhere along the lines hated Endless as much as the main characters, and the mental images of Hades made me laugh.
Oh, and Kairi feeling the baby move this far along (about 16 weeks) is possible, though for first time pregnancies it's very, very rare, and it's not like a kick, it supposedly feels more like fluttering, or as I portrayed here, just odd gas. As for her hormones messing her up as much as it did in the last chapter, it IS possible, it's just very uncommon. Hormones effect everyone differently.
Yes, Max will be making more appearances in future chapters, though he won't be going on to worlds with them.
Anyway, the next chapter should bring lots of laughs just because of where it takes place. You'll understand. Oh, and I'm going to be teasing you all with something pretty big. I'm hoping a few people have a spaz over it!
Thank you to all of the awesome people who reviewed! I promised before Christmas, and given that it's Christmas Eve, I kept my promise. Thank you to: xNINJABLADE45x, CommanderFlynn, Twilight Cardmistress, Trainalf, 16afoster, Q-A the Authoress, EvilxLittlexNinja, Godskeybladewarrior, Eddie Camp, Shire Folk and The 666th necrophiliac! You guys are truly awesome! Virtual Christmas Cookies to all!
On that note, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone! I know it's not really acceptable to just say Merry Christmas anymore, but I want to say it. Really though, no matter what you celebrate, I hope you have an awesome holiday! And if you don't celebrate anything...well have a great day anyway!
Krystal Lily Potter