I'd like give special thanks to DinoWriter23 for helping me out with writing some of this chapter. You were a big help, Dino.
As soon as Phil yelled those words, Anne and Dylan charged at each other with their weapons ready. The two ended up meeting in a sword lock.
Anne and Dylan strained as they tried to push each other back, but eventually jumped away from each other.
Once they landed, they charged once more and tried to land the first blow. Anne swung her Keyblade at Dylan, who leaned to the side to avoid getting hit by it. Dylan then jumped to Anne's left to try and catch her off guard. Anne saw him coming and ducked as he swiped at her.
She then jumped backwards, landing a few feet away. Anne then focused, pointing her Keyblade at Dylan, yelling, "Fire!"
Dylan's eyes widened as he saw the fireball coming straight towards him. He somersaulted out of the way to dodge it, the fireball barely skimming him, but he could feel the heat on his skin as it passed by. He let out a sigh of relief before jumping back up to his feet. The raven haired teen then charged at Anne, who tensed and gripped her Keyblade tightly as she prepared herself.
"Magnet!" Dylan yelled, casting the spell as an orb appeared above Anne. Anne's green eyes widened in surprise as she felt herself get pulled off the ground and towards the orb.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" she yelled as she struggled to dig her feet into the ground, but failed and found herself orbiting around the sphere.
Muttering a quick apology, Dylan leapt up into the air, hitting her with his sword a couple times. Anne grunted upon feeling the sword hit her as she struggled to break free from the Magnet spell.
It was then the spell wore off and Anne fell, landing unceremoniously on the ground. "Ow!" Anne winced, pushing herself back up as she held her arm, seeing a cut on it.
"Sorry!"
"I'm fine!" Anne said, casting Cure on herself. Once her injuries were healed, she charged back at Dylan.
Dylan ran to the side and they ended up circling each other, trying to anticipate what the other would do next. Anne made the first move and threw her Keyblade at Dylan, who dove down to avoid it, but it grazed his arm. He winced upon feeling that, holding his arm as the Keyblade returned to Anne's hand.
The black haired teen shook the pain off and adjusted his grip on his sword before charging at Anne, swinging it at her.
Anne threw her Keyblade up, pressing her hand against the flat end of it to block the blow as she and Dylan clashed.
"Hi." Dylan joked lightly.
Anne managed to crack a smile while straining to push him back. "Hey."
"Who would've thought we'd be doing this, huh?"
"Yeah, fighting in an arena on top of a huge mountain..." Anne dug her feet into the ground while still pushing. "Sounds weird when I say it out loud, doesn't it?"
Dylan chuckled a bit. "Yep, kind of does."
The rest of the group watched from the stands as the two tried to get the upper hand.
"I don't know who I should root for." Chase commented as he watched his brother and best friend spar.
"Can't tell who's gonna win from the way things are going right now." Lea said, leaning back.
Riku crossed his arms. "They're doing a good job, but they'll have to do better than that if either of them want to win this spar."
Anne finally managed to push Dylan back, but he leapt away from her as his curved sword started to crackle with electricity. Anne paled upon noticing that as she attempted to get out of the way.
"Thunder!"
A bolt of lightning shot down and hit Anne, literally shocking her. "YEOW!"
She stumbled from the attack, trying to regain her balance as she twitched a bit, hissing from the lightning as she shook her head. "Okay, that's it!"
The brown haired girl charged straight towards Dylan, catching him off guard as she hit him a few times with her Keyblade. Dylan grunted in pain from the hits.
"Yeah! Get him, Annie! Come on, Dyl! Fight back!" Chase called.
"Whose side are you on?!" the two yelled at him, earning a sheepish grin from Chase as he shrugged.
Anne turned her attention back to the fight and shot a Blizzard spell at Dylan, encasing him in a block of ice. Dylan was unable to fight back as Anne hit him with her Keyblade a couple more times.
The ice shattered upon being hit and Dylan managed to break free, but was shivering as he could still feel the cold ice on his skin. "Cure!" he yelled, using the healing spell on himself. Anne darted towards Dylan and swung at him again. Dylan had to bend back to avoid it this time, nearly falling over in the process, but regaining his balance once he dodged it.
Chase whooped. "Come on, Anne! You've got this!"
Dylan then delivered a blow with his sword after catching Anne off guard. Anne ended up landing on her back from it, but quickly rolled out of the way as she saw Dylan charging again, then kicked his feet out from under him. She scrambled up to her feet as she got ready to attack again, gripping her Keyblade with both hands. Dylan saw her and threw his sword out in front of him, blocking the blow just before it hit her.
He managed to push Anne back, throwing her off her balance as he jumped up and swung at her again. Anne barely managed to avoid the sword as it nearly cut her cheek, but as soon as the sword passed her, she delivered a slash upwards, hitting his weapon and knocking it out of his hand.
Dylan's eyes widened as his sword clattered on the ground several feet away from him. It was then he knew that he lost the spar.
Upon seeing this, Phil clapped his hands loudly. "Game, set, match! Anne wins!"
"Alright!" Kairi cheered, pumping her fist in the air. Chase grinned seeing she had won.
Anne panted as she let her Keyblade hang at her side, feeling a bit exhausted. "Not bad, Dyl..." she told him. "Not bad at all..."
"Not bad yourself..." Dylan replied, also feeling a little exhausted as he picked his sword up, putting it back in its sheath. Anne then cast Cure on herself, feeling her energy come back. Dylan did the same as Phil walked into the arena.
"Alright, you two, let someone else have a turn." he told them, ushering them over to the stands.
Sora smiled as he saw them approach. "Nice job out there, you guys."
"Thanks..." Anne nodded as she sat down, dismissing her Keyblade.
"With a little more practice, you'll do even better." Riku told the two as he handed them some water that Phil had set out for them.
Dylan looked over at Anne from where he sat. "I'll win next time." he smiled.
Anne rose an amused eyebrow, giving her friend a smile. "Are you challenging me?"
"Maybe."
A chuckle escaped her lips. "You're so on." she joked.
Phil approached the stands again, narrowing his eyes as he looked at the crowd in front of him. "Okay, time for the next round!" he announced, gazing at the group, trying to decide who to have each other fight next.
He then pointed at Chase and Clair, much to their surprise. "You two, front and center!"
Chase scrambled out of his seat, nearly tripping as Clair got up. Clair swallowed, taking a deep breath before they followed Phil onto the arena, facing each other.
"I've got two words of advice." Phil said. "Fight fairly here!"
The two exchanged a look at the miscount of words, but shook it off as Phil backed away.
"I'll go easy on you." Chase said to Clair.
The mage in training shook her head. "I appreciate it, but please don't hold back."
Chase shrugged, getting ready to fight. "If you say so."
"BEGIN!" Phil yelled once he was out of the arena.
Chase was gone in a flash at that. Clair looked around, summoning her Keyblade as she tried to figure out where he was. However, she was quickly knocked to the ground.
"Oof!" she grunted, pushing herself back up. She could see a dust cloud where Chase once was as he sped.
"Fire!" A fireball emerged from her Keyblade. She tried to fire it to hit Chase, but ended up missing him. Chase sped by her, knocking her down again. Clair stumbled up to her feet, seeing Chase vanish in a blur once more.
Frowning, Clair realized she needed to even the playing field. But how? She searched her mind for the spells, and then thought of one. Pointing her Keyblade at the field, she spoke the spell. "Freeze!" A spot on the field froze from the spell, but she wasn't done. Picturing the field freezing in her mind, the mage-in-training cast the spell again and again, trying to freeze up as much of the field as she could.
"Wow, now that's pretty smart." Sora remarked from where he sat, watching the spar eagerly.
"Kinda wish I brought some popcorn for this." Lea quipped.
Now most of the floor had been covered in ice. Chase, who was still zipping around, ended up slipping. He stopped running as he tried to keep his balance. "Whoa!"
He also ended up running in place while trying not to slip. It was kind of comedic to watch.
Anne and Dylan snickered at his little predicament from the stands. Dylan wished he had a camera at the moment.
Clair smirked. "Now I've gotcha."
Chase looked around, and saw he was next to a pillar. That gave him an idea. Chase grabbed onto the pillar, then pushed off of it. He used it as a means to give his speed a jump start by sliding across the ice towards Clair. "Whoo hoo!"
Clair's eyes widened as she saw him sliding towards her. She tried to get out of the way, but slipped on the ice. Thanks to her losing her balance, Chase was able to knock Clair back.
She lost her grip on her Keyblade as he did so. Clair grunted as she landed on her back, then tried to get her Keyblade. However, Chase managed to kick it away before she could grab it as it spun around on the icy floor that they were on.
"Looks like I got the upper hand." Chase joked.
Clair pushed herself back to her feet, but slipped again. She landed on her side with a grunt. "Whoa!"
"Guess your spell backfired." Chase remarked casually from where he stood.
"Yeah... yeah, I guess it did." Clair admitted as she tried to sit up. When she slipped again, she grunted in frustration. "Fire!" She began melting the field.
Chase yelped, leaping away from some of the flames as the ice turned into water.
Clair ran to grab her Keyblade, but Chase beat her to it with his speed, kicking it further away from her. "Uh-uh. No toys allowed."
She then took a step back as Chase tried to figure out what her next move would be. The mage-in-training tried to think of something. Maybe... maybe if she could knock him back while charging... but how?
She remembered a spell that Kairi had used back in the Hidden Leaf Village... it looked like it formed a sort of barrier in front of her when they were fighting that swarm of Shadows.
Clair's eyes widened as she got an idea, but tried to figure out how to use the spell.
It was then she could see Chase coming towards her. Quickly, she tried thinking about safety, what made her feel protected...
She threw out her hand. "Protect!"
To her surprise, it worked as a sort of barrier made out of hexagons appeared in front of her. Unfortunately for Chase, he ran right into it, bouncing off the barrier like a ball ricocheting off a wall.
"Ow! My nose!" he groaned, holding his face as he stumbled.
While he was distracted, Clair used this opportunity to run towards her Keyblade. This time, she managed to snatch it up. "Finally!"
Chase pulled his hands away from his face and his eyes widened seeing Clair had her Keyblade back in her hand. "Uh oh!" he said before running off. Clair prepared herself for when Chase would try to attack next. She could see another blur and as fast as she could, held her Keyblade out in front of her to block.
However, she couldn't keep up with Chase as he sped towards her, knocking her back and making her stumble. She tried to swipe at him, but he dashed off before she could even hit him.
Chase then slowed down, shouting, "Thunder!"
Clair's eyes widened as she jumped to avoid the lightning bolt that hit the ground. She then ran towards Chase, raising her Keyblade as she did. But Chase saw her coming and dodged as she swung at him, then tripped her. Clair gasped and nearly fell on her stomach, but managed to trip Chase in retaliation.
He landed flat on his face from that. Both of them quickly got to their feet before Chase started running circles around Clair, kicking up dust as he did. Clair began casting spells to try and stop him.
"Fire! Freeze! Thunder!"
Chase used his speed to avoid them, but ended up getting hit by the Thunder. "YYYYYYEEEEEEOOOOOOOOWWWWWWW!"
Kairi, Anne, and Dylan cringed seeing that. "Ooh... that's gonna sting..." Anne muttered.
Chase stumbled, twitching a bit. His hair was sticking all over the place now as static crackled in it. "Talk about a wake up shock..." Chase groaned as he tried to shake it off. Clair could herself starting to tire out.
"Alright... let's go..." Chase said as he managed to recover as Clair adjusted her grip on her Keyblade. She swung her weapon, but Chase avoided it and dashed behind Clair, knocking her off her feet with a sweep at the legs.
"Gah!" She cried as she fell over. Clair tried to push herself up, but her strength was gone. She had used up her magic.
Chase noticed she seemed exhausted. "Looks like I won..."
"Yeah..." Clair conceded defeat.
"Chase wins this round!" Phil declared loudly, calling the match.
"Hey, way to go!" Sora cheered as he and Kairi clapped for them.
Chase knelt down, holding his hand out to Clair. She accepted it, letting him help her up.
"That was a pretty good match." Chase told her.
Clair nodded. "It was..." she agreed, then cast Cure on Chase, healing him of the damage done by the Thunder spell. The two of them then returned to the rest of their friends.
"Not bad, Chase." Dylan complimented as he took another sip of water.
"Thanks, bro."
Anne nodded. "Yeah, both of you were pretty good out there."
Clair smiled at that, accepting some water that was offered to her. Kairi handed her something as well. "Here, use this. It's an elixir. It'll help restore your magic faster." the red head told her. Clair accepted it, taking a sip of it to test it out before drinking more. She could feel her strength returning to her.
"Thanks." she told her gratefully. Kairi smiled in reply before they turned back to the arena, ready to find out who was up next.
"Alright, time for the next match!" Phil yelled. The satyr looked at the group before eventually picking who to have fight next. "You." He pointed at Jason, then Aurora. "You, too! Come out here!"
The two headed out into the arena at that. They both exchanged a frown as they did.
"Now, no dirty moves. GO!" Phil scrambled out of the arena as fast as he could.
Jason rushed at Aurora with his Keyblade in hand. However, Aurora leapt over him. She landed behind Jason and attacked him, kicking him hard in the back.
He grunted as he was sent staggering forward, then growled as he whirled around and swiped at her with his Keyblade, but she avoided it.
Clair sighed. "Worst. Matchup. Ever."
"Why's that?" Chase asked as he took a seat next to her.
"They hate each other." Clair explained. "As long as I have known them, they've done nothing but fight with each other."
"Ohhh..." Chase realized, paling as he turned back to the fight. "This isn't gonna be pretty."
Jason managed to land a blow on Aurora. The teenage girl grunted as she stumbled back from the blow. She wasn't going to lose to Jason. Not now. Not ever.
With a yell, she swung her Keyblade at him. He leaned to the side to avoid it, then swung his Keyblade at her. Aurora barely managed to dodge it, jumping to the side. She then swung her Keyblade again in retaliation.
She managed to hit him in the arm. He grunted in pain, glaring at her.
The friends in the stand could feel the intensity of the two's extreme dislike for each other. Anne even scooted a few seats up due to it. She didn't know why, but she could sense that these two needed to resolve their issues, and fast.
Goofy took his hat off, wringing it nervously.
Jason and Aurora ran at each other, Keyblades clashing against one another. Both of them were glaring as they did.
Then, Jason pulled a low move, punching Aurora in the kidney, much to the surprise of some of the others. She grunted as she hunched over, holding the area where she got punched.
"Hey! No dirty moves!" Phil yelled from the stands with a frown.
Jason glared at him before Aurora responded with a low move of her own, kicking him from behind the knee, forcing him down.
"Hey! What did I just tell you?!"
Jason growled as he pushed himself back up before swinging at her with his Keyblade again. She parried the blow, but both were now furious. Jason raised his Keyblade above his head to bring it down, but she jumped out of the way. She then did a spinning kick attack to drop Jason. He ended up landing flat on his back from that. She was then over him, holding her Keyblade at his throat.
"You done yet?" she asked.
He frowned in response. His instincts told him he had been beaten yet again. And he hated it. "...Yes."
Aurora pulled her Keyblade away from his neck with a frown, then kicked him across the face.
"Whoa, hey, hey!" Phil ran onto the arena upon seeing that.
That was the straw that broke the camel's back. The two began to attack each other. Jason yelled furiously as he leapt up, lunging at her with his Keyblade. Aurora blocked him with his Keyblade before kicking him in the worst place a guy could get hurt.
"Stop it! Stop it now!" Phil ordered as he ran over to them.
Jason groaned in pain as he hunched over, falling on his side. Aurora then knocked him back with her Keyblade.
Clair leapt off the stand to help. She had seen some bad fights between these two, and knew they were capable of putting each other in the hospital. Riku charged in to help as well while Jason painfully pushed himself back onto his feet.
Clair got between the two of them. "Stop it!"
Aurora only knocked her to the side. "Stay out of this, savage."
Clair gasped at that and Jason looked even more enraged.
"Break it up!" Riku yelled as he ran to them.
"How dare you?!" Jason roared at Aurora.
She glared coldly at him. "Compared with the fact that you two are family, I consider it a compliment."
He tried to run forward, only for Riku to grab him. "Knock it off!" The Keyblade Master ordered. Jason's response was to use his head to bash Riku in the nose. Riku stumbled back, holding his throbbing nose as Jason charged past him.
Now Sora and Anne were running out of the stands to try and break up the fight. "Quit it!"
The satyr was barking orders, but Aurora just kicked him to the side as she and Jason collided. Keyblades forgotten, the two rolled in the arena, punching at each other and trying to hurt the other as much as they could. Bruises were starting to form on them now.
Chase darted out onto the arena to help, zipping over as he grabbed Jason. "Knock it off, dude! You too, Aurora!"
Aurora punched him away before socking Jason right in the face. Spitting, Jason did an uppercut to her chin. Aurora recoiled from that, stumbling back. Anne got in front of her, trying to keep them from making another move. "Both of you chill out!" she exclaimed, only to be shoved aside rough enough to make her fall to the ground. Aurora then ran at him, doing a kick to his face. Jason was knocked backwards, landing flat on his back.
Aurora then grabbed his head, slamming it into the ground again and again.
"Stop it now before-" Whatever Phil was going to say was cut off by a clap of thunder. "Now you've done it!"
"ENOUGH!" A voice thundered across the arena. The ground seemed to shake beneath them.
Everyone, even Jason and Aurora, froze hearing the voice.
Anne's eyes widened as she looked around, stepping away from the two. "W-What was that?!"
"The Big Man himself!" Phil told her. "The Ruler of Olympus, the King of the Gods! Zeus!"
"Uh oh..." Sora muttered, his blue eyes widening as he took a couple steps back.
Some clouds gathered, and from the midst of them came a bearded man in a purple toga. He carried a lightning bolt in one hand, and looked very cross. Before them stood Zeus himself. "Who dares to desecrate this coliseum?!" The King of the Gods demanded.
They stared up at him with shock. Lea's jaw even dropped at the sight. Aurora kept Jason pinned down while staring at the man. Chase then comically pointed at the two of them, edging away from them just in case.
Zeus frowned at the two. "This coliseum was built so the gods can watch future heroes train, not for children to throw tantrums!" he told them. "I have half a mind to blow you off my mountain."
Jason tried to push himself back up, but Aurora kept him down.
"BOTH OF YOU! ENOUGH!" Zeus yelled once more, his voice booming throughout the area. She actually got off of Jason at that. Jason scrambled up to his feet, holding his head from where it had been slammed into the ground.
Anne could feel her knees shaking together, almost like back when they were making their way up Mount Olympus. She was standing in the presence of a god. A very angry god. She felt like she was about to faint.
"Whoa..." Sora said with awe, but also a little nervous.
"You two are unfit to be heroes." Zeus told Jason and Aurora. The two of them were silent. "You are supposed to be working together! Now, leave the coliseum and don't come back until you learn to cooperate." Zeus passed judgement on them. "If you're not back down with the rest of the mortals in an hour, I'll throw you down myself! Now!"
Reluctantly, Jason and Aurora started to leave the arena.
Their teammates watched them go. Clair looked down, rubbing her arm. Riku healed his bruised nose before looking at the god. "We are very sorry for their behavior."
Zeus looked at them. He then noticed Sora, Donald, and Goofy. "You must be the ones my son talked about." he said, slowly calming down.
Anne glanced at the trio. "Huh?"
"Wait, you mean Hercules?!" Sora's eyes widened in realization. Zeus nodded, his cross expression fading.
"You're his father?!" Donald asked.
"Gawrsh!" Goofy gasped.
"Hercules has told me so much about you." Zeus said. Sora sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.
Chase scratched his head. Was this the same god? He seemed much friendlier now than he had been a few minutes ago. He then spoke up, asking sheepishly, "Um, Zeus? You're not, uh, gonna zap us, are ya?"
The thunder god shook his head. "No."
The speedy teen let out a sigh of relief. Zeus then looked in the direction Jason and Aurora left in. "I hope you'll be able to talk some sense into those two."
"Believe me, it would take a miracle to get those two to cooperate." Clair said.
"Did it ever get this bad?" Dylan asked her, earning a nod.
Zeus sighed. "Well, those two will need to cooperate."
"Why do they hate each other?" Anne asked.
Clair shrugged. "I have no idea. They've been like that for as long as I can remember."
Anne shook her head. "Crazy."
"We'll try to get them to work together, Zeus." Sora told the ruler of Olympus.
The deity nodded in approval. "I know that the Heartless are back." he then added. "They've been coming in legions to the sides of Mount Olympus."
"We'll take care of them." Sora promised.
Zeus nodded once more. "I wish you good luck, wielders of the Keyblade." he said before some clouds gathered around him, and when they had vanished, he was gone.
Philoctetes let out a sigh, rubbing his face. "Hasn't gotten this bad in a long time..." he muttered, shaking his head.
Sora crouched down to his level. "We're sorry about what happened, Phil..." he apologized. The spiky haired teen was still shocked by the events that had happened.
"You've gotta get those two under control." Phil told him. "If those two keep at it, they definitely won't last five seconds when dealing with larger monsters."
"We've been trying, but it's kind of hard to get through to them."
"I've seen ya beat the odds when facin' Hades. I'm sure you got this." the satyr said to him as he started setting things up. "Now, think you can help me out with this? I gotta clean this mess up."
After Zeus had left, Chase went to talk to Clair while some of the group was helping Phil move some training items around. "Hey, are you okay?" he asked quietly.
She looked at him. "A little..." she replied. "It's just..."
Clair sat down on a bench. "It's about what happened earlier while Jason and Aurora were fighting..."
"What?" Chase asked.
"You remember when I tried to stop them?"
Chase nodded.
"Aurora... called me something foul."
"Savage?"
The look she gave him sent shivers down his spine. He gulped. "Sorry, sorry!" he quickly apologized, holding his hands up in surrender while praying she wouldn't hit him.
"I don't know what it means where you're from, but on Harthyn it's the worst kind of insult anyone can receive." She explained.
"How bad?"
"Profanity would be considered a compliment compared to it."
"Oh... yikes." Chase said with surprise as he sat down next to her.
Clair wasn't done. "When someone is called that, the user is saying they don't see anything human about the person. They don't even regard them as a living soul. That word was used to write people off as target practice, as vermin that needed to be exterminated. It traces back to history, when removing certain groups from society was considered community service instead of murder."
Chase's eyes widened in shock at what he had heard. "Oh man..."
"Now you know." Clair said, looking down.
Chase placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked at him when he did that. "Do you... think that she meant it when she said it?" Chase asked.
She shook her head. "I don't think so."
"Maybe you should talk to her sometime..." Chase suggested gently, keeping his hand on her shoulder.
"She's not a talker."
"Well, maybe you two can work it out somehow." the brown haired teen told her, removing his hand as he got back up. "You'll be okay?"
Clair looked up at him. "I think so..."
Chase nodded, giving her a reassuring smile before heading back to the others.
In the shadows, two small figures had been observing the Keybladers. One was stout, pink, and had tiny purple wings on its back and a pair of small horns while the other was bluish-green, skinny, and had longer horns than the other. They, too, had a pair of wings on their back.
"That kid with the Keyblade is back?!" the skinny one whispered with surprise.
"Looks like there's more of 'em this time." the stout one observed.
The skinny one bit his claws nervously. "Ohhh, Hades isn't gonna be happy about this..."
As quickly as they could, the two creatures scurried away, hoping that no one, especially Zeus, had spotted them there.
Meanwhile, Jason was stumbling out of the doors that led into the coliseum and sat down on the steps in the courtyard. He now had bruises on his face from the fight, as well as some blood coming from his mouth from where he was punched. However, he ignored the throbbing coming from his injuries.
He couldn't believe what had happened back there. Aurora had beaten him again this time... how could he have lost?
Jason clenched his fist, slamming it into the ground. He hated it... he hated it when he knew he had lost a fight.
And what Aurora said back there... that just crossed the line.
She had used that word on his cousin. She had gone way too far there. He wanted to get back at her, not because he had lost, but because of what she had called Clair. But how? He could see charging head on wasn't the answer.
He looked down at the ground. He was probably going to have to outthink her. Be faster than her next time.
"But how can I get faster when I'm not allowed to train in the stupid arena?" He asked himself.
"Perhaps I can be of help." A voice said. Jason looked up, seeing a buff man with red hair wearing a brown warrior outfit with dark brown wristbands and a pair of sandals. He also wore a red headband around his forehead and had a light blue cape.
"Who are you?" Jason got into a fighting stance. "You picked the wrong day to get on my bad side."
"Hey, hey, calm down." the man said gently. "Something wrong, kid? You look like you've been through a rough day."
Jason's expression made it clear he didn't trust this guy.
"Okay, then, not a talker..." the man said awkwardly as he scratched the back of his head.
"I find actions speak louder than words." Jason said.
"Okay, if you don't want to talk, then I'll leave you be." the man said, taking a step back.
Curiosity got the better of Jason. He looked at the man with a frown. "Who are you, anyway?"
"My name is Hercules." the man said as he started to walk past him, up the steps.
"And what did you mean by help me?"
"Well, what did you do to get yourself kicked out of the arena in the first place?"
"Hmph." Jason muttered, looking back down. "I was fighting with someone who thinks she's high and mighty and then we got thrown out by some dress-wearing guy called Zeus."
"So you've managed to set my dad off, huh?" the man remarked.
That caused Jason to do a double take. "You're that guy's son?"
"Yep, that's me." Hercules nodded casually.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't beat you to a pulp." the teen growled, tensing up.
"Well... one, I'm pretty strong and two, I'm a demigod." Hercules listed, counting them off on his fingers. "So if you'd try to fight me now, you'd probably be sent flying off the side of the mountain."
Judging from the muscles, Jason had a feeling he would not win this fight. Jason clenched his fists before slowly relaxing, although reluctantly. "Yeah. Even I can see I'm not in your league." he admitted.
Hercules nodded. "Good choice."
Jason looked down the stairs. Hercules then walked by him. "Why would you fight this person?" he asked, referring to Aurora.
"It varies." Jason muttered. "Right now, it's because she called someone a foul word. And I couldn't let that slide. She's crossed a line. Where we're from, that's the worst insult one can call someone."
Hercules understood. "I see..." he said, looking deep in thought.
"So when we started fighting, your dad told us to leave. In the end, it's another victory for her. She won. Again." Jason scoffed, sitting back down.
"Winning isn't just about beating your opponent." Hercules told him.
Jason looked at the demigod upon hearing that. "What do you mean?" he asked, not getting what Hercules was saying.
"Being a hero is more than muscles. It's about heart."
The teen paused upon hearing that, thinking about the words the demigod had just spoken.
"I can help you." Hercules then told him.
"Oh yeah? How?"
"Well, you wanted to train, didn't you? I can train you for a little bit. I got some free time on my hands."
Jason sighed. "Guess I don't have anything to lose."
"Great. I know a spot near the bottom of Olympus. I'll be back. Just need to go talk to someone first." Hercules said as he walked into the coliseum, leaving the teen standing outside the doors.
Jason sat down. He didn't worry, but he hoped he was making the right choice.
Far below back on the ground, a man with gray skin wearing a black and dark gray toga was watching Mount Olympus. His nose was rather crooked and he had yellow eyes, but what was most notable about him was that he had blue flames for hair. He was Hades, God of the Underworld, Lord of the Dead, and rival to Hercules.
He noticed thunderclouds forming around the tall mountain. "Yowza, looks like Zeus-y got ticked off. And it wasn't by me this time." he remarked to himself.
It was then he could sense a familiar darkness behind him, making him groan upon recognizing it. "Oh, not them again..." he muttered as he turned around, seeing a Corridor of Darkness open.
"Hey, now that ain't a way to say hello to your old pallies." Pete smirked as he and Maleficent stepped out of the portal.
Hades rolled his eyes. "Well, that's funny, cause I don't remember owing you any favors, and clearly, you didn't do me any when I was trying to get rid of Herc and that Sora kid. Now, toodle-oo, the exit's that way. Sayonara. I've got things to do." Hades tried to shoo his old 'allies' away, clearly not wanting to deal with either of them at the moment.
Maleficent narrowed her eyes. "All I need is some information, Hades. That is all."
"And if I don't tell you?" Hades challenged, crossing his arms.
He got his answer as green flames appeared around Maleficent. "Do you really want to find out?" she threatened him.
"Okay, okay, okay!" Hades held his hands out.
"Smart choice." The flames died down before vanishing. "Now, is there a distinctive black box in this world? Any one at all."
Hades rose an eyebrow at that question. "A black box, huh?" The god paused to think about it. "Hmm, well you could be talkin' about any old box. What would you want with it anyway?"
"That is none of your concern." Maleficent retorted. Hades frowned, a bit annoyed from her not giving him a straight answer.
"Well... now that I think of it... I did hear rumors of some kinda box in a secluded area. Didn't hear of it being around in the Underworld, though."
"A secluded area... very well." Maleficent said after a moment, then turned back to the portal. "Come now, Pete. We must keep searching."
"Well, thanks for your help." Pete sarcastically told Hades before turning on his heel and following the evil fairy back into the Corridor of Darkness, leaving the god of the Underworld standing in the grassy area frowning.
"Great. Now I have the fat cat and the witch on my back." he said to himself with annoyance.
A moment later, he heard a grunt, as well as some thuds. He narrowed his eyes, turning around and seeing that his minions, Pain and Panic, had been scrambling towards him, but tripped on their own two feet and landing in a dogpile in front of him.
Quickly, Panic scurried to his feet. "Hades! Hades!"
"What is it, now? Can't you see I'm not in the mood?" Hades frowned.
Pain grinned nervously. "Uh, well, you know how you told us to sneak into the coliseum and see what Hercules was up to? Well, we didn't see Hercules, but..."
A few moments later, there was a roar of fire that blazed up, followed by a furious cry of "WHAAAAAAAT?!"
By this time, the arena had been cleaned up with some jars set here and there for training.
"There we go!" Phil remarked, dusting his hands off as he turned back to the team. "Thanks, guys. Now this training course'll be ready for anyone who wants to give it a try. Anyone that won't go nuts on each other, that is."
"We're awfully sorry about them..." Goofy told the satyr.
"Ah, water under the bridge." Philoctetes waved it off. "But you guys oughta make sure those two don't cause another ruckus up here again if they come back to the coliseum. Otherwise, Mr. Lightning Bolts probably will blow 'em off the mountain."
Dylan imagined the scenario and shivered lightly. "We'll, uh, keep that in mind."
It was then they heard footsteps as a man approached them. "Hey, Phil, sorry I'm late. I had a date with Meg..."
Phil crossed his arms. "Next time, how's about givin' me a heads up?"
Sora turned and his eyes lit up seeing his friend Hercules. "Heya, Herc!"
The demigod looked a bit surprised upon seeing him, but a broad smile appeared on his face. "Sora! Donald! Goofy! How are you guys doing?" he asked cheerfully as he and Sora shook hands.
"Fighting bad guys and Heartless." Donald smirked, crossing his arms. "How about you?"
"Doing the usual thing; training with Phil, participating in tournaments, keeping an eye on Hades..."
"Is Meg doin' okay, too?" Goofy asked, remembering the woman they had befriended during their first visit to the Underworld.
"Oh yeah, she's doing great!"
"Do you know that the Heartless are back...?" Sora then asked.
Herc's smile faded as he sighed. "Yeah... they've been showing up around Mount Olympus, but none in the city, so far... I did have to face a couple of them a few times."
As Herc conversed with the three, Chase gawked at how strong the man looked. He looked like he could lift an elephant with those muscles!
"You must be Hercules." Kairi smiled politely. "Sora mentioned you on the way here."
"Hello, there, miss. And you are?"
"My name's Kairi. This is Riku, Lea, Chase, Dylan, Clair, and Anne." the redheaded teen introduced as each of the team members either gave a wave or nod in greeting.
"Are they your friends you were looking for?" Hercules asked, looking back at Sora.
"Riku and Kairi were. The other five are new friends that joined us. There are a couple others, but they kind of... had to leave the arena." Sora scratched his head, then asked, "By the way, have you seen anyone named Jason or Aurora leave the coliseum?"
The man paused, trying to remember if he had heard of those names before. "Well, I did see a kid looking beat up sulking on the steps. He did look pretty mad about something."
"That would be Jason." Clair confirmed.
"As for Aurora, I'm guessing that she was the girl in the lobby that looked like she had been through a rough fight?" Hercules asked, earning a nod from Clair. "Heard that my father kicked Jason and someone else out of the arena."
"Things got a little... out of hand." Anne said, trying to find another way to phrase it.
"That's one way of putting it." Chase commented, paling as he remembered the fight from not long ago. It was probably best that Jason and Aurora weren't in each other's sights right now, otherwise things would probably get worse.
"I did talk to him for a bit, though. He apparently still wanted to train, so I told him I'd train with him for a bit." Hercules then told the team, taking a few of them by surprise.
"If you're going to train with Jason... you'll need to know he's a bit of a hardhead." Clair warned, knowing how her cousin was.
"I think I can handle that." Hercules assured with a smile.
Riku let out a sigh. He knew that Jason would probably need some time to cool off. "Well... if you're gonna do that, then you should probably stick close by."
Herc nodded. "You got it." he replied as he turned on his heel and left, vanishing into the hall.
"Kid, wait, what about the- ah, forget it!" Philoctetes groaned, seeing that the hero was now too far to hear him.
"Well, guys, it looks like we'll be able to get some more training in for a bit longer." Sora then told his teammates.
This made Phil smirk with approval as he had a gleam in his eye. "Good! Cause I got some training courses in mind for the new guys..."