Next stop Olympus

The Gummi Ship landed near the end of a beach near the end of a large city made of marble and stone standing upon a hillside. The beach was long and the oceans vast and far. As they stepped out Sora felt a cold breeze causing him to shiver Carefully as the group landed down they took a moment to get there wits about them before entering the town. They were a tad nervous about sticking out. On the side of the mountain was carved a massive figure sitting upon a throne.

Sora, Donald and Goofy walked up towards it, there was a small inscriptiture written into it.

"We dedicate this mountain to the Zeus King of the Gods, long may he bless us" Sora looked up in wonder, "Wow, king of the gods"

"Don't you have Gods on your Island Sora?"

"Uh…."

"We don't have time for philosophical talk" Donald squawked pushing them forward, "We gotta find this Phil so Sora can get his training started"

Donald and Goofy locked up the ship before they headed out.

Slowly they climbed up the hill, it was a bit of a deep climb but they eventually saw at the distance a great city of marbel approach them. Several buildings standing on top of hills, layer upon layer of hills created this city. Sora looked at it in awe as he and the others traversed the massive city streets. Unlike Agrabah, this place felt more lively. Merchant carts covered every corner. Mass building of marbles covered the sky by how high they were. People traveled at a quick pace, even knocking past the group not even bothering to say sorry. It reminded him of Agrabah almost, except less run down and a lot more pristine. Also a lot more lively than Agrabah, a good sign that the Heartless were not in complete control of this neck of the woods.

They passed by several large crowds and stands, many of them selling goods from crystals to potions to a few belts and clothing, there was even a few Oricalcum crystals, a rare mineral filled with magical properties according to Donald. But upon closer inspection, they were fake, merely painted rocks made to look shiny. In either way when Sora looked at Donald to see if they could buy anything he shook his head indicating that they were pretty low on resources and munny at the moment. Still, he thought perhaps that some of these things could prove useful in the future.

"This place is huge!" Sora gasped looking at all the marble buildings, "This has nothing on Agrabah"

"Don't let Aladdin here you say that" Goofy chuckled

Sora smirked, "I'm not used to big cities, my Island mostly had a small town, I'm not really used to big cities.

They stopped as the saw a massive monument

"Hey mack." A man in a cloak said spreading his cape wide. "Wanna buy a sundial?"

"Uh..." Sora and the others froze just unsure what this man was talking about, but he sure did have several sundials in place.

"Nope, nope, nope…" Donald kept pushing, "Come on, let's go

As they kept walking Sora was taken in by all the amazing architecture, yet his mind couldn't focus as other things still preoccupied his mind.

"Do you really think Phill would help," Sora asked feeling nervous.

Goofy nodded, "I'm sure he will, Merlin said he was a Keyblade expert who helped Keyblade Masters and trained heros".

"Maybe, but Riku is so much stronger than me, he's an expert in fighting, planning...essentially everything he's ever done, I've never beaten him".

In fact the more he thought about the more Sora realized that Riku had beaten her in pretty much everything they ever tried together.

Still walking they passed by a large group of people listening to a man talking in the center.

"The end of the gods is coming," He said voice shaking, "The world is ending too, new gods are coming, darkness is rising"

Sora stopped to listen to him.

"Abounded all hope, the old war is coming, the darkness is rising, the one eye sees all"

Donald rolled his eyes dragging him back, "Sora stop listening to this weirdo's they just think everything is ending"

"But didn't you hear him, he said the darkness is rising, that doesn't sound like a good thing to me"

"Just keep walkin"

Sora looked back one more time but sighed, his mind going to other things like finding Phil.

"Stay close fella's," Donald said eying the place with suspicion, "We don't know who could be look at us."

"Gosh, think we're being spied on?" Goofy asked.

Donald shrugged, "Who knows."

"I wouldn't be surprised," Sora said looking around the place, "I bet Kairi would have loved this."

Donald and Goofy gave each other a brief nod, realizing that he specifically left out any mention of Riku.

Sora mind continued to wonder until he saw to his shock a large stadium at the very end of the town. It was so monstrous that it could be seen even from this distance.

"Woah!" He beamed as he picked up his pace, "Guys, we need to check it out"

"Well maybe" Donald sighed, "But I think"

"And he's gone" Goofy interrupted.

Sora was already feet away as he ran towards the stadium, both companions just let out a sigh before running off.

Some things never change.

-000-

"Here we are the Coliseum," Goofy said as they neared the grand entrance. "According to the brochure it was built when the Romans….

"Yeah, yeah we don't need to know that," Donald muttered waving the brochure away.

"Ah, I was going to use that," Jiminy muttered.

Sora and the others continued to walk closer to the grand arena. As they saw the great doors, Sora was particularly taken in by the great statues on both sides. Each of them was one of a grand warrior. They were quite imposing to him. The stadium walls were larger than most of the city it seemed, probably able to see most of the city. Echoing in the distance were dozens of cheering audience members applauding whatever what was happening inside.

From Sora's pocket, Jiminy started writing in his journal and describing their surroundings trying to get every detail of the massive city. Such beautiful architecture had to recorded for the log after all. But the speed at which they traveled made it hard to keep all of it to memory. Good thing Jiminy was a fast writer.

"Amazing, amazing, such architecture I've never seen anything like it my entire life." Jiminy said in shock. "You'd think you get tired of seeing all the worlds but nope, not me!"

"Me neither." Sora said in a whisper.

"I don't even think the castle is this large." Donald added.

All around they saw others entering the arena through the main hall. Sora looked to Donald and Goofy for what to do next. There were a few entrances they could go through as well as dozens of people still entering and exiting enmasse, the entire sight was overwhelming to say the least.

"Should we go in?" Sora hesitatingly asked.

"Don't see why not." Goofy said.

They agreed. Sora and the others headed through the main door and headed into a large lobby area. People were going through various doors each leading to a level in the stands. Sora decided to go through the one closest to the arena to get a good view of the show.

As they began to enter the arena, Sora could hear the screams of the crowds echoing in the distance. The roar was growing louder and louder until finally he and the others arrived outside.

Once passed the door, they saw in front of them a mighty arena. Row after row of seats surrounding it. Each stood at least a dozen people creating a total of at least a thousand plus more. It was massive, it was grand, it was everything Sora was never used to from Destiny Island.

Sora tried to take it all in.

"This is amazing!" Sora said leaning on the stone railings to see what was going on.

"I don't know why anyone would be taken in by such displays of violence." Jiminy muttered sighing disapprovingly.

"Guess people like their fighting here."

On stage, a battle was being waged. Sora leaned in to see what was happening. Several monsters seemed to be making their move ready to attack the opponent. By the looks of it, the opponent themselves seemed to be a young girl, teenager by the looks of it. Long blonde hair with red horned headband, wearing a green shirt and skirt. In her hand, she held up what seemed to be a circular wand.

She raised it into the air, unleashing a mass wave of energy sending the monsters back up against the wall.

"Woo!" Sora shouted as he saw the sheer size of the arena, "This place is massive!"

"Gee, that's some powerful magic, probably even more powerful than yours Donald." Goofy said.

Donald gawked. "Hardly, I'm not the king court wizard for nothing!"

"WOOO! GO STAR! YES! KICK THOSE MONSTERS BOOTY!" A boy shouted around them. "Who would have thought watching violence as a way of entertainment could be so entertaining. I love it!"

Sora turned to the sound of the cheers. A few feet around them was a young boy, much like Sora wearing a red hooded sweatshirt with short brown hair and pants. Definitely someone from the outside world. He kept on cheering as the challenge apparently named Star kept on her fight.

Sora leaned towards Donald and Goofy and spoke in a whisper. "Hey, that guy doesn't look like anyone from out here."

Donald looked at him and then at everyone else. Everyone else was toga's and sandals.

"Yeah...So?" Donald asked.

"Maybe we should say hi?" Sora replied

Donald groaned. "Yeah...and were odes that always lead us."

"Good point." Sora sighed.

Still Sora looked at the boy for a few seconds, only for the boy to look back at him. Sora quickly turned back and looked out at the arena pretending to not notice anything. But it was to late the boy was walking over towards them.

"Oh shoot." Sora muttered.

Donald and Goofy noticed and looked at the arena as well. All three of them now we're trying to ignore him. Sora bit his lip trying to hold is hown. Yet at the end of it all it was Goofy who broke and waved to him.

"Howdy, I'm Goofy."

Sora and Donald sighed.

"Hey, .I'm Marco...You um...You guys aren't from around here, are you?" The boy said extending a hand, Sora took it reluctantly. "I can tell by the spiky hair."

Sora sighed. "Nope. But uh...Hey neither are you...I can tell by the hoodie. Not much of a Toga."

Marco snickered and leaned back against the wall. "What if I am and I'm just wearing weird clothes?"

Sora raised a eyebrow. "Yeah, I'm not buying it."

"Ok fine, no I'm not from here either." Marco sighed sitting back up normally.

"So you a fan of Star?" Goofy asked pointing to her. "She seems really tough."

Back in the arena, Star was taking down a massive pig creature now. She climbed up on his bag and began riding it like a bull on a rodio holding onto the beast for dear life as it leaped from corner to corner, each time landing with a loud thud causing the ground.

"You can say so." Marco replied, giving a faint smile.

"Do you…..know her?" Sora asked carefully, not wanting to step into anything.

"Maybe?" Marco asked.

Sora raised an eyebrow. "Why all suspicious?"

"I don't know...When you see weird things, you tend to be a bit uh…..suspicious of strange people."

Sora growled. "Look, I don't wanna cause any trouble I was just curious since we…."

He was interrupted for all of a sudden his Keyblade appeared in his hand. Sora lifted it up to his face. Marco looked taken aback as it appeared.

"What is that?" Marco asked.

Sora bit his lip. "Um, it's uh…."

"Is that a-" Marco looked at it closely now and gasped. "That's a Keyblade, isn't it?!"

"Sora! Look!" Goofy pointed to the arena. Down there in the corner, Sora saw the Heartless begin to emerge. Star didn't seem to notice them. Still focused on the taking down the massive beast. She knocked a third one, this time a giant condor out cold. However from the shadows, more and more Heartless of various shapes and sizes began to emerge and surround those.

"Star! Lookout!" Marco called out

She did not respond, as more Heartless began to sneak behind her.

"Star….Star…." Marco started to sweat as he tried to look for a way to contact his friend. "Ugh, she can't me! I gotta help her!"

"Seems like she can take care of herself." Donald commented seeing her take out another monster.

"Yeah but the Heartless are a lot different! Marco, I can help your friend!" Sora said

"How?"

Sora held up the Keyblade and showed it to him. "This is a Keyblade, it can defeat those things."

"How?"

"Long story, you just have to trust me on this one. Look I know we just met but trust me I know this can help."

Marco raised a eyebrow and quickly clenched his fist. "Well, I'm coming too."

"Okay suit yourself, come on we gotta find a way down there."

Sora looked for some sort of staircase or ramp to get down. Finally, he saw a flag draped across the cobblestone, it wasn't much so it would do. Quickly he ran up towards it signaling Donald, Goofy and Marco to follow him each of them sliding down and tumbling onto the arena's grounds.

"Sora, are you sure this is a good idea?" Donald asked.

"No time to argue Donald, the Heartless are getting closer and she's not noticing."

"Star!" Marco called out yet still she did not hear her.

Sora slid down the flag and landed on the ground, Donald, Goofy and Marco each followed suit landing gently on the ground. From the stands the crowds noticed them and began to let out hushed mutters to one another. The cheers slowly died down. Star for her part noticed for her own excitement from the euphoria died down when she noticed that her audience was no longer paying attention. The group tried to block them out and concentrate on the fight at hand.

"Hey what's going on don't you people know a good show when you see one?" Star asked looking confused

"Star lookout!" Marco jumped in front of Star pushing her aside.

The Heartless jumped forward and missed, Star and Marco landing on the ground and sliding over.

Star blinked seeing Marco on top of her now. "Marco?"

More Heartless emerged in different forms as they tried to swarm Star and Marco now, using there regular tactics of outnumbering others until they were eliminated. The two teens dodged and ducked, trying avoid wave after wave. Star was the strongest of the two and fought with intense pressure against the creatures, Marco did a few kicks and flips but was quickly overwhelmed.

"Sora! A little help here!" Marco shouted.

"On it!" Sora's key emerged and he began to knock them out after the other as he ran towards the two.

Donald struck some with his magic.

Goofy managed to take ten down with his shield.

"Almost there guys." Sora was about to make it until he saw his body jerk forward and land flat faced on the pavement of the arena, causing the audience to gasp.

Sora tried to get up but he was pinned down The Heartless were trying to claw at him. Only the Keyblade stood between him and there attacks. He could feel their cold icy skin pressed up against his body. The stench of their shadows hovered around him. This made it impossible for him to get them off him.

He continued to struggle, losing the strength to keep his keyblade barrier. Suddenly, a light beam of magic came from the distance blasting the Heartless away. Slowly, Sora got up and saw Star standing there, smoke emanating from her wand. Her eyes fiery and face stern.

"Woah, that's some magic!" Goofy commented.

Donald chuckled nervously looking at his own magic wand. "Yeah, some magic."

"Look out more of them!" Marco yelled.

The Heartless came charging at them. Sora got in front of them and swung his Keyblade at the closet one sending it back into the darkness from whence it came.

"Got it!" Sora yelled jumping back.

Marco stood at the ready as the Heartless surrounded him. "Okay, whatever you are, time to show off my Kung Fu moves!"

He kicked two in the face yet one managed to grab onto his leg causing him to jump back in a panic. Star used her wand to blast it away. They kept at it again and again, the Heartless coming in at droves, it didn't seem like they were about to deplete any time soon.

"So, who are these guys Marco?" Star asked Marco as she started blasting another round of Heartless to the left.

"I'm Sora, Donald and Goofy!"

"Yeah, he's got the Keyblade."

Star gasped. "Keyblade!"

Goofy tossed his shield knocking two Heartless out with Donald throwing a fireball at them. As the battle continued, Sora started to feel fatigued, randomly swinging his blade wasn't enough to stop the onslaught of Heartless that continued to gage at him. Both of Sora's companions were starting to become exhausted. Sora himself started to feel the pressure of the battle, his arms started to hurt as the Keyblade became heavy.

"How many are there?" Sora muttered breathing heavily.

The Heartless were prepared for another wave, Sora kept his Keyblade close ready to swing, but before they were about to jump and strike in for the kill, they vanished. Everyone gasped in shock, all of them, every single Heartless were now gone from the stadium.

Sora looked up, standing before them now was a young man with spiky blonde hair, his face covered slightly by a red scarf. His clothes were a mixture of leather and cloth and his sword was massive and covered in strange bandages. For a brief moment there was an awkward silence as he gazed at the young boy with his own blue eyes. Though unlike Sora's whose were always filled with life and energy his were cold, harsh, the eyes of a man who had seen much in his life. Things that Sora should probably never see.

"T-thanks mister." Sora muttered as the strange man put away his sword.

The silence was soon broken as the audience in the stands began to ring out in applause.

"Oh wow," Marco whispered, "That's Cloud Strife?"

"You know him?" Star asked sounding surprised,

Marco shook his head, "He was in the tournaments pamflet," he pulled out a large brick tablet with names and pictures.

"Well, thank you Cloud," Sora said, holding out a hand to shake it.

The blonde haired man just walked off not even bothering to wave goodbye leaving Sora out in the cloud.

"Rude," Star muttered,

"Well he did safe our lives," Marco reminded him.

Goofy shrugged, "Must be the quiet type."

"WHAT IN THE HOLY FATHER ZEUS IS GOING ON HERE!" A far more talkative and loud voice said.

Coming from the center of the stads, Sora saw a large chubby individual with two horns sticking from his pudgy head. His legs were fury and brown, and instead of feet he had hooves, though the rest of him looked normal and human, if a bit hairy in areas. From simple deduction it became clear that this must have been the one people called Phil and by the looks of things he wasn't too pleased to see any of them right now.

He turns to Cloud and glares, "And you ain't supposed to be up for a while now."

Cloud pauses to look down in Cloud and huffs out.

"Yeesh...Stoics…..What the heck happened to my game?!" He shouted again, waving his arms angrily. "Seriously who are you people!"

"Are you Phil?" Sora asked.

"Yeah, who's asking?" The goat man asked razing an eyebrow.

"I'm Sora, Donald and Goofy, we're here because…."

Phil held up a hand putting it Sora's lip, glaring angrily. "What were you thinking kid? Going out there like a maniac...and with what...a duck person and dog person…...are you some kind of idiot or something?"

Sora groaned. "Hey I just wanted too…."

"What kind of person does that I mean seriously…."

Donald intervened. "Hey, this is Sora and he's the Keyblade Master."

Phil paused as if he had been struck by lighting, a shocked expression beamed across his face as turned to face them now far more concerned than earlier. "Keyblade Master as in an actual Keyblade Master?"

"Yeah see." Sora held up the Keyblade before it vanished in his hand, "I uh…I'm still learning and it does that some time."

"Woah Keyblade," Marco said looking at Sora, noticing it for the first time. "Star, it's the Keyblade, the actual Keyblade.

Star beamed, "Oh yay, now we can take you to mom!"

"Wait, I can't see anyone mom? I got things to do,"

"Will explain later," Star assured him

Phil looked at Sora in shock. He was quiet and so was everyone else, waiting for someone to say something. Sora tried to give a big awkward smile hoping to make a good impression. Yet the awkward silent made this attempt very hard. Suddenly, Phil blew up in hilarious laughter.

"You!" Phil laughed.

"Hey." Sora glared.

"You….You are the Keyblade Master….Really?! Really?! Keyblade Masters haven't been seen in years and now it's in the hands of some king's ...Oh man…..We really are in trouble!" Phil burst out laughing.

Sora scrunched his face in annoyance holding in his anger through clenched fist. "Hey, I fought a bunch of monsters!"

Phil stopped laughing and glared stoically. "Yeah, .I don't care."

Sora looked shocked. "B-But, your Phil, the ancient scriptures said that you help Keyblade Masters, that's why we came, to train and find my friend Kairi."

"Just like a Keyblade Master, thinking of himself. Look, I'm sure you are sad to lose your world and I'm sorry about that. It's never a good thing, but I've seen what these things can do and let me tell you, you don't wanna be one. Keyblade Masters just become big show-offs. Nothing good ever comes of it."

Sora was taken aback, this was not the type of help he was looking for, not the type of help at all.

"Well, I'll help him," Star jumped taking Sora shoulder, "Can't have my mom meet a untrained Keyblade Master can I?"

"Wait what?"

Star looked at Sora, "I need to take you back to my mom whose the Queen of Mewni so you can help save whatever is going on with the universe."

"Uh…" Sora was confused, "Well, I'm kinda already doing that but I gotta find…

"Oh good!" Star beamed giving him a tight bone crushing hug, "At least we're on the same page, but first we gotta train you up a bit."

"Good luck," Phil snickered, "Keyblades are hard to train and by the looks of this kid, it will take decades."

Star frowned, "Oh yeah well...CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!"

"Uh, wait…" Sora felt himself getting tugged along, Donald and Goofy following. He had no idea what was going on, all he knew right now was he got himself a new coach, and she seemed pretty excited to help. He could only hope that he could keep up.