Chapter 36
Road to the Hercules Cup
What happened next was an exchange of combos, dodges and attacks as the trio and the Leviathan both tried to inflict the finishing blow. Of course with it being three against one, Sora, Luna and Hercules had a large advantage over their opponent and while the Leviathan tried to focus on one of them, their distance allowed for the other two to intercept its attacks and distract the creature. The Leviathan shot an ice beam backwards and forwards across the street in an attempt to prevent the trio from having the capability to move around. Hercules smashed his way through the ice shards while Sora and Luna slashed their way through being careful to avoid the sharp spikes of ice on the ground. The path soon opened up and they both raced in together to attack the beast.
The sounds of the Kingdom Key and Dream Seeker heating against the Leviathan's flesh seemed an almost melancholic rhythm. They seemed more synchronised and concentrated than ever before seeming to unite for the purpose of one common goal. Meanwhile, Hercules continued to hold the Leviathan at bay whenever Sora and Luna had halted their attacks in an attempt to regain stamina. The collaborated effort soon became too much for the Leviathan to handle and it backed away in a dazed state seeming unable to interpret much of what was going on around it anymore.
"Sora, let's finish this." Hercules said holding out his hand. Sora seemed confused by this sudden gesture but decided to walk towards him anyway; it wasn't as if he had any reason not to trust him. As soon as he grabbed Herc's hand, Sora soon realised what the former was getting out. The older man spun him around and eventually flung Sora at the Leviathan. Sora wasn't one to complain, holding on to the Keyblade with both hands tightly as he was propelled forwards into the sky. Reaching the Leviathan at last, Sora aligned the back of the Kingdom Key with the head of the creature and alternated between cutting horizontally and vertically at a rapid pace.
Sora's flurry of attacks ended up precipitating what was to be the monster's finally attack. It opened its mouth wide in a last second attempt to swallow Sora's head whole.
"Here, you can eat this instead." Sora said before plunging the Keyblade downwards, sinking it into its jaw. Sora kicked off the Leviathan's scaly green skin with his left leg managing to just land on the tip of the harbour. He recalled his Keyblade and watched along with Luna and Hercules as the Leviathan sprawled about wildly before freezing up and falling back into the water.
"We sure showed that thing who's boss." Luna said placing her arms behind her head.
"What was it anyway?" Sora asked turning around to face Luna and Herc.
"We called it a Leviathan. It only appeared here just recently, about two weeks ago. There's been a shortage of imports and exports coming in and out of Thebes due to that creature disrupting shipments coming to and leaving the port. I've been coming here every day to investigate and check up on things but it's never shown itself, at least not until now. I wonder what caused it to suddenly appear again…" Herc explained.
"Ah who cares? We came, we saw, we kicked it's ass. That's all that matters." Sora said in frustration. His head was already brimming with so many questions about the mysterious girl he had just met that he didn't want another mystery added on top of it. Luna was in much of the same position, not really sure what to think of the situation, or even if she wanted to think of it.
Luna stated what her dominating thought was, "I have to agree with Sora. Why don't we talk on the way to the coliseum?"
Both Hercules and Sora thought it to be a good idea, so the three set off down the slightly chilly and icy street towards the home of the world's greatest entertainment venue. Hercules talked about himself in a bit more detail to Luna before she returned the favour. When Sora had asked the champion how Megara had been doing in a rather exasperated tone Herc blushed and replied by telling him that she was doing fine.
"I think it's rather beautiful the way you described her and you. Don't listen to monkey-boy here, he's just jealous." Luna told Herc as they exited Thebes and walked across the long road. Already, they could see the giant looming attraction known as the coliseum up ahead.
"Since when was I monkey-boy? And how am I jealous?" Sora asked nonplussed.
"Since you're always jumping around like one when we're fighting I figured it was a suitable title. Also I'm just kidding about the jealousy thing, no need to get fussed over it… unless you are-"
"I'm not jealous," Sora cut in, "Also I still prefer friendly neighbourhood clown thank you very much. Hey Herc, have you seen Auron around?"
When Hercules shook his head, Sora sighed. Feeling Luna's wondering gaze on him, he explained to her about when he met Auron and his inner struggle to redeem himself following his failure to protect someone. After freeing him from Hades' control, he disappeared without a trace leaving Sora, Donald and Goofy to question where the brave warrior had gone.
"I hope I meet him then, he sounds like a cool guy." Luna said after Sora had finished his tale.
"Maybe a bit too cool though. He was always doing his own thing if I recall. And he had this weird saying to, 'This is my story, and you're not part of it'" Herc imitated, or at least tried to imitate, Auron's deep and stoic nature. This caused the two teens to laugh, and then Luna had to end up listening to Sora's Leon impression. She had to admit, it would have been rather close if not for the slight hint of the expression of fun in Sora's voice.
They soon arrived at the gates to the Coliseum. Beyond the golden gates were a set of doors that would lead towards to the entrance of the lobby. Seeming to give way easily from Herc's pull, the gates swung open with a creaky noise allowing for the three to continue on to the next obstruction barring their way from the coliseum. As Luna entered the entrance she stopped to admire the décor of the building. The door was situated between two large golden gladiators crossing their swords. From what Luna could tell it represented triumph and honour, determination and valor. All the qualities a hero should possess.
Lining the walls on the side were trophies dedicated to previous cups that had taken place and behind her was a list of previous tournaments and their victors.
"They're all pretty impressive huh?" Sora watched as Luna examined the area.
"I take it then you're going to enter this tournament?" Herc asked.
"That's the plan. When does it start?" Sora inquired while Luna stopped her observations to listen in closely.
"Two weeks. You'll have plenty of time to train." Herc told them.
"If it's the 'same old' then why bother?" Sora asked referring to the Heartless always showing up for the tournaments.
"Because the winner of the tournament will get to challenge me and if you're not at the top of your game then tough luck because I'm not holding back this time." Herc said.
"This time? I beat you fair and square champ. Still, what I wouldn't give to face off against you again. How long has it been since I last fought you now?" Sora asked.
"Two years now. True, I'd like to see how much you've improved since last time. Still won't change the fact that you can't beat me though." Hercules challenged.
"Oh you're on!" Sora exclaimed making a triumphant fist.
The three entered the lobby, a small room which housed other previous trophies. Moving beyond that was the actual coliseum arena. The dark tunnel that they had to walk through was surprisingly atmospheric and Luna could only wonder what it would be like walking through when the actual tournament started. They soon emerged on the other side to a large square arena with seats on either side.
"Hey Phil! Meg!" Sora greeted as the three walked up to the long haired red head and her smaller half-goat half-human companion in the middle of the arena.
"Hey, it's the hero." Phil jumped up and ran over to him.
"So… not junior hero then?" Sora smirked as he got down and pulled Phil in for a quick hug.
"If you have to ask-"
"I know, I know. If you have to ask then you're probably not ready yet." Sora interjected releasing the short statured man.
"Now you're learning. Hey, where's Donald and Goofy? We all have some serious catching up to do." Phil was looking around as if he had not noticed Luna's presence in front of him yet, and the funny thing is from his gestures, it seemed like he actually had not.
"Donald and Goofy… are doing something else at the moment. Instead, I've brought someone better." Sora set up the introduction sliding behind Luna and placing his hands on her shoulders.
"I'm Luna, it's nice to meet you." Luna introduced, holding out her hand. Instead of taking it, Phil inspected Luna for the first time, as his eyes moved across her body she began to feel very awkward. Could the goat-boy stare at her any longer?
"Way to screw up first impressions goat-boy. Don't worry about him, I'm Megara but my friends call me Meg. It's a pleasure to meet you." Meg pushed past Phil as if on cue and shook Luna's hand. It was as if the taller girl had been reading her mind and decided to step in to save her.
Talk about being saved by the bell. Luna thought as she smiled back before Meg turned to give Sora a hug.
"What are you talking about? First impressions are everything for me. That's why I was inspecting-"
"I wasn't talking about her, I was talking about you. You just came of as all creepy and- eww!" Meg criticised. Suddenly it was clear to Luna whose side she would take up if it probably came to an argument. It wasn't even close.
"Oh right. Sorry to put pressure on ya but I was just checking up on something. See, I can tell a lot about someone just by looking at them so I thought I might give you a try." Phil said.
"Right… I'm sure that was totally it." Megara turned to Luna and lipped the last few words she had to say. Luna managed to get the gist of what she was saying and gave a soft giggle.
"So tell me Phil. What can you tell about me?" Luna asked.
Phil looked up and down once more, "Well… you're clumsy, sometimes lazy, you're too soft at times…"
"Sums it up in a nutshell," Sora grinned and shrugged while Luna flashed him a dangerous look, "Come on Luna, I was just joshing around. You always give you're absolute 110 per cent when you're with me. He said the same thing about me too, well more or less, but the point is that he does it to rev you up… right Phil?" Sora gritted his teeth and looked over to Phil slowly.
"Oh, yeah, absolutely. Of course what I'm saying is just first impressions but there is definitely some room left for improvement." Phil nodded his head unconsciously.
"If you say so. Anyway, I expected Herc's trainer to be a lot… bigger." Luna said looking back and forth between Hercules and Phil.
"Ah it's not size that matters Luna. Plus, Phil is a great trainer, one of the best there is out there." Herc complimented lifting up Phil.
"Hey, put me down. This has really got to stop." An annoyed Phil said making Herc put him back down to the ground.
"So then you wouldn't mind training me then would you Phil?" Luna asked and summoned her Dream Seeker, "I can show that I'm ready."
"Isn't that the same thing Sora has? Why don't you ask for training from him?"
"Because while Sora's cool and all, he could never compare to the great Phil. You are one of the best out there right?" Luna tried to flatter. She looked over quickly to Sora who gave her a quick thumbs up before she turned back.
Phil blushed before returning to his normal state, "Well I've only got two words for you: Of course I'll train ya."
"Huh? That was actually-"
"Anyway, that's absolutely wonderful Luna," Herc said cutting off Luna's correction before whispering into her ear, "It's best not to bother."
Luna nodded slowly concluding that this was a recurring theme with Phil so it was best to leave it be. Before Sora could ask where Pegasus was, the creature appeared high in the sky flying over the coliseum in a circular motion. Soon it landed in the arena and nudged its head into Sora's hand.
"A flying horse huh? That. Is. Awesome!" Luna squealed in delight as she walked over to slowly pat the horse's head. He retracted quickly from her touch scaring her slightly, but when he saw that she posed no harm to him, a rattling sound came from his mouth and he gave a curtsy allowing Luna to pat and stroke him freely.
"His name is Pegasus. He was created by my father Zeus, who lives up on Olympus. I can tell he likes you already." Hercules laughed.
"So we've got two weeks to go until the tournament. We'll be ready by then right Luna?" Sora asked as he and Luna stepped away from Pegasus.
Luna smiled confidently, "Of course, the unstoppable team of Luna and Sora beats all."
"Wait, why is it Luna and Sora? Why can't it be Sora and Luna?" Sora asked.
"Does it matter? I am so not going over this." Luna fumbled with the crimson ribbon in her hair given to her by Mei as she talked.
"I know, what's with guys and wanting to be first at everything right Luna?" Meg added in playfully.
"Exactly, I think we're gonna get along just fine Meg." Luna grinned as the two walked back towards the lobby eventually starting up a random conversation.
"Hey, what do you mean 'guys and wanting to be first'?" Sora asked sensing some nostalgia from the situation.
"Meg, Luna, surely you can't be saying all men are like that? Right?" Hercules called after her.
"Don't group me in with these bunch of numbskulls." Phil jumped up and down in the air. Pegasus could only shake his head as the three ran after the girls before collapsing in exhaustion.
The day passed quickly with Sora and Luna being guided around Thebes by Hercules and Meg. As they passed through some of the key locations they tried to make a mental note of their location so they could navigate their way more easily. Of course Thebes was a big city and by no means would it be easy for them to remember everything. They had only really covered the areas near the coliseum and had not gone further past that so anything beyond a certain point was a no-no unless they wanted to get lost on purpose. Secretly, Sora and Luna were keen on the idea though of getting lost and having to figure out where to go but they weren't stupid to actually go ahead with it. There was one thing they both knew about this journey however and that if anything, it was unpredictable hence Luna having to adapt to Sora's policy of figuring things out as they went along rather quickly.
Night soon fell upon the city. The frequent bustling that Sora and Luna had come to know it by was less than it had been in the day but far from quiescent with its many soldiers and guards still out on the streets. Sora and Luna had taken to the Highwind to rest after refusing Herc's kind offer to pay for them to stay at the inn.
Sora's view was constantly fixed on the world map screen mounted on the console. While the screen was still showing, it was starting to blur troubling Sora even though he had made sure the autopilot had been turned on. His mind was in a completely different place other than the world he was in, Radiant Garden to be specific. He couldn't help but wonder how Riku, Kairi and the others were doing and if they were alright with security OS shut down. Already so many things had happened within the past month, something that Sora had thought he was done with for a while after returning to the islands with Riku and Kairi.
The defeat of Xehanort and his plan to reignite the Keyblade War had left Sora, especially Sora, exhausted. That the spiky haired brunette was able to help so many others find their awakening was a key reason as to why he was remembered the most out of the other six guardians of light, Donald and Goofy. He personally believed that he would have not been able to help the others had it not been for his other friends but they seemed reluctant to share anymore of the glory leaving it to Sora to play to the masses.
So after that close outbreak of war he had returned to the islands only to have them destroyed six months later. In that same month he had befriended a girl who had lost her memory, found out that the King had gone missing, the Radiant Garden OS not working, helping Alice to recover her memory, rescuing a bunch of puppies and intervening against the rules of the worlds to save three princesses from arranged marriage.
What a crazy life I live huh? Was all Sora could think after summing up everything, causing him to soon start chuckling and resting his head against the panel.
"Want to let me in on the joke?" Luna asked as she came in.
"It's just that this month has been so crazy for me and you. I'm just laughing about all the things we've done so far." Sora lifted his head and gave a wry smile.
"True, it's been a wild one hasn't it?" Jiminy agreed who had also walked in with Luna though Sora hadn't noticed until he had spoken.
"Yeah and tomorrow I start my training with Phil. I wonder what things he'll teach me," Luna said leaning against the ship's walls, "So we're planning on staying here the whole two weeks huh?"
"Not like we have much of an option. You need to train and if we leave just before the tournament who knows if we'll make it back. Still, it's gonna be a long one." Jiminy answered.
Luna yawned quickly, "Well I bid ye good night guys. I am so tired from today."
"Heh, just think about tomorrow. Anyway good night right back at ya." Sora replied and watched as the sleepy girl retired to her room before turning around on the swivel chair and placing his head and now his arms back on to the panel.
"So, what do we do first?" Luna clasped her hands together in a cheerful manner as she looked down at Phil.
"You're enthusiastic, that's always good. Now, I'll need you to carry this-" Phil rushed off and soon brought back the most impressive amount of bags Luna had ever seen, "with me to Thebes."
"What's with this luggage? Are we going on a holiday or something?" Luna took up one of the bags and weighed it in her hand. It certainly was quite heavy by itself and if Phil was going to make her carry the rest of the luggage then…
"How could you be thinking about a holiday at a time like this? Pick 'em up and let's go." Phil ordered.
"All of this? This must be a serious lesson I'm learning then. Or I'm just carrying your luggage for you." Luna grimaced before trying to lift up all of the bags and place them over her shoulder. Immediately she felt the intense weight upon her legs and they began to shake as she stumbled about with the bags.
"What are you doing? You can't honestly tell me that's all you got right?" Phil asked as he watched as Luna seemed to follow the bags across the room rather than having them follow her.
"It's harder than it looks y'know? Wanna try?" She growled while Phil ignored her and opened the door to allow her through before heading out as well. As the two walked down towards the coliseum gates, Sora, Meg and Hercules watched on from the side in concern.
"You sure she's gonna be okay?" Sora asked.
Hercules nodded, "Phil knows what he's doing. Or at least he did with me. He may be tough on you but that's because he cares."
"That's what I'm worried about Wonderboy, she's not you." Meg commented.
Luna was walking at the pace of a snail as she struggled up the road towards Thebes. Phil was up ahead and constantly trying to incite her into pushing and working harder though Luna wasn't so sure if she had the strength to endure this torture. Even as she entered Thebes after what took about fifteen minutes of walking, she could hardly say her motivation was increased with the multiple pairs of eyes staring at her resulting in extreme embarrassment. She hardly needed their pity either, so she just kept her eyes to the ground and ignored everything around her, even the increasing temperature of her face.
"Okay, we'll rest here," Phil said after some time causing Luna to sigh and collapse to the ground in exhaustion, dropping the bags along with her. She didn't even care if she was in the middle of the street and that many people were looking down on her as they passed. She couldn't even talk much less be concerned with the awareness of others at the moment.
Reaching into one of the bags, Phil pulled out a bar of chocolate and handed it to Luna who hungrily accepted it, "It'll make ya feel better."
Luna felt the delicious chocolate sensation melt into her tongue as she bit down. While she was hungry, it was important to savour every last piece so she took her time in examining each piece studiously before taking a bite. Meanwhile, Phil had mentioned that he needed to do something in the city and so he had told her to stay there while he wondered off.
"What is that in your hand?" Luna asked five minutes later when Phil came back.
"Dry cleaning." Phil said evoking looks of confusion from the brunette.
"Sorry? Why would you need dry cleaning? You're practically naked!" Luna pointed out.
"Look, it's none of ya business. I just owe someone is all," Phil said, "anyway, let's head back to the coliseum."
"Wait, what? We just came here for your dry cleaning and you're telling me we have to head back already? What was the point of me bringing these bags then?"
"Would you stop complaining? We need to get back to training." Phil said as Luna got up ready to shout at the satyr but refrained from doing so in order to not cause a scene.
"I'm sorry your majesty, I had no idea we were training." Luna murmured sarcastically as she reluctantly picked up the bags again.
This 'training' of Phil's continued into the next day, with Luna growing more irritated by the second. Was he even trying to train her? Or was he making fun of her? Did he not believe that she had what it took to be a worthy successor to Hercules and if not why not just say it then? Either way she knew she could never be Hercules and if Phil truly believed that then she had another thing coming.
"It's like he set out to intentionally annoy me," Luna was saying as she clashed blades with Sora. It was evening and Sora and Luna were out in the arena practicing their physical and magical skills, "He constantly makes me carry his luggage backwards and forwards. What am I supposed to learn from this again?"
Sora guarded an attack from Luna as he spoke, "You've been complaining about this how many times now?" He slid to her left and struck down but Luna was quick in jumping back and firing off a shot from her Keyblade. Sora cut through the fire with his Prism Windmill attack, using his Keychain in a similar manner as Luna's Chain Rave to spin the Keyblade, "Look, I'm sure Phil has something in mind. He wouldn't do this just because he hates you."
"I'm not so sure. You saw the way he was looking at me two days ago. You also would probably be saying the same thing if you were in my position." Luna said performing a sliding dash into Sora and knocking him to the floor. Sora knew she was right, he probably would be thinking the same thing as her.
"So what… are you planning to do about it?" Sora asked panting slightly as he got back up. Luna wasted no time in attacking causing Sora to stay in a defensive stance the entire time.
"I'm going to tell him tomorrow that I've had enough." Luna gritted her teeth as her Dream Seeker hit against the Kingdom Key's metal several times.
"Hey, don't take it out on me." Sora finding the perfect time in which he could perform a uppercut, knocking Luna's Keyblade out of her hands and sending it flying to the ground.
"Can't I just learn from you Sora? Phil doesn't even have a Keyblade." Luna said as she summoned Dream Seeker back with her hands.
Sora hesitated before moving in to attack. It was Luna's time to stay on the defensive but she could barely even handle that from Sora's heavy hits and soon enough she found her Keyblade once again lying on the ground.
"You can't just rely on the Keyblade Luna. That right there," Sora pointed to her Keyblade with his own, "is the perfect example. Why don't you give Phil another try, I'm sure what he's doing is not just what it looks like."
"How sure are you?" Luna said.
"How sure- About… twenty percent." Sora considered playfully giving a pensive look.
Luna giggled, "Okay, just for you then," She raised her arms and summoned her Keyblade again, "Let's go again."
On the third day, Luna once again had to resort to making herself look like a fool as she carried the heavy bags into Thebes on the hottest day of her visit so far.
"So please tell me this has something to do with upper body strength." Luna said as she collapsed for the third time in a row.
"Uh yeah, something like that." Phil said as he handed her a bar of chocolate. She declined.
"I'm sorry but 'something like that'? When are you going to be honest with me and tell me what I'm supposed to be doing? This whole time I've felt like nothing but a lapdog carrying your stupid baggage around," She had finally had it. She felt like shouting out to the rest of the world, but that hardly felt appropriate and would only serve to embarrass her more. Instead she would just focus on this area and raise only the attention of those walking past in close proximity, she could care less anymore about embarrassing herself in front of others because at least venting her frustrations on the person responsible felt less degrading. While she commended Sora's efforts to try and convince her she could go on no longer, "You know what I think? It's not that you hate me but you're so used to training Herc that you think I can be trained just like him."
"What are you talking about? I don't-"
"Hold on, I'm not finished yet," Luna cut him off, "This entire time I've felt like an idiot and you never seemed to take notice the others just staring at me while we walk. It's like you don't care. I don't know what you're thinking right now, but let me get this straight. Your methods may work on Herc but they don't on me so I refuse to carry your bags around any longer." Luna finished raising her voice slightly higher than she had meant to, but that was all right, she got her point across anyway.
Phil was about to object but stopped and looked down. There was hurt in his eyes but Luna didn't want to know much more than that, she just wanted to get some sleep and forget about everything.
"Come with me kid, I want to show you something." Phil suddenly said before walking off. After considering whether to follow him or not, Luna just went along anyway, mainly because they were in one of the parts of the city that she did not know too well. She did not have to follow him for long before he entered a large stone building that seemed to be in the centre of the city if she remembered the map correctly. The street itself split off into multiple paths leading her to believe that it was the same building as the one in the map at least.
"This is the hall of heroes," Phil said as the two of them walked through it. It was a long hall with statues of different people lined up on either side in parallel fashion, "It's home to most of the world's best. Achilles, Odysseus, Perseus, the list goes on. What's my point? What do they all have in common?"
Luna looked at them for a while then back at Phil, "They're all men?"
Phil slapped his forehead, "What? No, well yeah but that's not it. They were all great men, but it wasn't the fact that they were men that made them so successful, after all Atalanta who's not here is a woman who could easily outrun most other men. It was because they were determined, willing to overcome any strife, any obstacle in their way. They weren't perfect; they had to work on their weaknesses before they could become the heroes we know today," Phil continued down the hall until he got to a certain statue, "It was the same for Hercules. I didn't believe that he was the son of god when I first met the kid. Boy he proved me wrong. And I trained him to become the hero he is today, can you believe it? Me of all people…"
Phil chuckled as he looked up towards the face of the statue, "Everyone I've trained up until him either gave up or died and I was starting to think it was because of the way I taught. So I retired, but here comes this kid running up to me and asking for me to be his trainer. And he's still alive to this day. He overcame the hardships I gave him through working on his weaknesses though it certainly took a while. It made me realise that as long as people have the motivation, the belief, the resolve to get back up on their feet and continue on even when it seems like an impossible task, then they can do anything," Phil looked back at her with tears in his eyes as he saw Luna nodding her head in understanding, "When I said there was definitely some room for improvement, I meant it. By no means am I telling you to be perfect or like someone else, so don't ever tell me I don't care. I give you that task because I care, because I want you to learn a lesson from it, because I believe that you can do if you're persistent. You ask why I don't just tell you what you're supposed to learn but do you really want me to hold your hand the whole time? I don't tell you because I want you to figure out the answers for yourself. And when it comes down to it anyway, it's all about interpretation. At the end of the day, you can either take my advice and follow it or you can define it as useless and throw it away. So if you want to quit now be my guest, I will understand however."
Luna's eyes shifted downwards in sadness, "I'm sorry Phil, I didn't-"
"What, know? Yeah, it's not usually something I'm open about. I have dreams too you know? Dreams of looking up to the sky and seeing my own constellation, as if the gods were praising me for a job well done. 'You did it Phil, you were the trainer of the most successful hero around' They'd say." Phil expressed before wiping the tears from his eyes.
Luna had taken Phil's passionate speech to heart. In a way, she now felt sick with herself for shouting at him when she had not fully understood his intentions.
"Phil, how about you go back? I need to think about something. I'll carry your bags back for you." Luna said feeling completely different somehow.
"If you want to be alone kid I understand but are you sure you know your way back to the coliseum?" Phil asked.
"I'll figure things out as I go along." Luna smiled sweetly before starting off down the aisle of statues and examining them one by one.
Yay for character development! Phil is surprisingly easy to write when you try and imagine him with the voice of Danny DeVito. And we're gonna have to try and kill of two weeks. Wonder what will happen in that amount of time.