Disclaimer: not mine

On a bit of a sea creature kick again I guess between this and Siren.

Chapter 4

"That little punk is your next opponent, okay?"

Cloud leant against the wall, half listening to Hades prattle.

"Now, don't blow it. Just take him out."

"The great god of the Underworld is afraid of a kid?" he sneered. "Sorry, but my contract says—"

"I know!" Hades snapped at him. "You think I don't know? I wrote the contract! I know it says you're only required to kill Hercules in this tournament. But you've gotta fight that kid to get to him. Come on." He pointed at the boy talking to Phil. "Hey, it's like that old goat says: Rule 11: It's all just a game, so let loose and have fun with it!" he punched the air. "I mean, a casualty along the way is no big deal, right?" he smiled, and Cloud took that as his cue to straighten up and walk away. "Geez. Stiffer than the stiffs back home. Still, suckers like him are hard to come by..."

Hades obviously knew nothing about the senses of a Soldier to think he was far enough not to hear that last bit. He knew Hades didn't plan on fulfilling his end of the bargain…just like there was no way Cloud was going to kill a kid. Probably about the same age he'd been when he left home to join Soldier too. He walked by where they were, hearing the boy explain to Phil that he'd been separated from a friend and was trying to find them, just his tone when speaking of the friend made it clear how much he felt for them. He wished him luck as he headed for the spot he'd claimed as his own to rest for the next day. Question was, should he throw the match or beat the kid but leave him alive even if it did piss off Hades.

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Sora sighed in relief as he saw the sunken area in the contestants locker rooms, a real bath! Big enough he could swim in and fully submerge…heaven. He stripped off and dove in, immediately feeling a lot better as he changed. He'd have to keep an ear out for the others but it was worth the risk.

He'd missed the freedom of being in water, even if it was fresh rather than salt, so much. And it was helping the aches from fighting non-stop in the tournament, he was glad they'd gotten a larger break since it was now night, and that Donald and Goofy had gone straight back to the ship to sleep. He needed the break from them too. Phil was…kinda weird, rude, and didn't believe he could do it, even when he had managed to shift that massive stone block a bit. The idea of someone being able to move it alone…he didn't think even a full mer could! He hoped he wasn't going up against that person!

"Knew there was something more to you," a strange voice called, and Sora surfaced, looking around only to stare with wide eyes at the tall man near the door.

Why did he keep getting caught in the bath? He back away to the far side fearfully and the man held his hands up.

"Easy kid, I'm not going to hurt you. Name's Herc."

Sora stared at him warily but something about him felt…friendly and warm, like he really wasn't a threat, and he found himself relaxing a little. He gave a small greeting, knowing to a human it was no more than a high-pitched trill, and was surprised when the man grinned.

"Hello to you too, so what's your name."

Had he…really understood him? 'Sora, my name's Sora,' he said, half holding his breath.

"Sora huh, nice to meet you. Mind if I join you? It's a long trip back here," Herc waved at the bath and Sora nodded cautiously. He watched as Herc stripped out of his armour and stepped into the warm water, sitting on the ledge and leaning back, relaxing. "Saw some of your fights, you're not bad."

'Thanks,' he blushed, knowing his cheeks would look almost violet thanks to the tint to his skin. 'How…how can you understand me?' he asked. His own Mother couldn't understand him in this form!

"Technically, I'm a god, well I was. It's complicated."

Sora stared at him, a god? He listened as Herc gave the short version, awed and pained for him. To be taken from his family like that…it was stupid that he had to prove himself a true hero just to go home again when it wasn't like he'd done something bad to be kicked out. It wasn't his fault he was kidnapped and poisoned! Herc grinned at him when he told him so. Still, at least he got to see his family occasionally now, that was good, not that Sora had dreams of ever meeting his Dad, unless it was to kick his tail!

"So can I ask what species you are? Definitely something from Uncle Poseidon's realm?"

Sora tilted his head curiously, uncle who?

"Poseidon, god of the sea, storms, earthquakes and horse. You haven't heard of him?" Herc asked in shock, and Sora shook his head. "Huh, well you're male so you can't be a Siren and you aren't one of the Nereid."

'My Mum's human, my Dad wasn't. In my home there are humans on land, and Merpeople in the sea. I'm the only half breed though,' he admitted. 'My friend, Riku, he's full. That's why I have to find him! I can take not being in water for a while, he can't last as long.'

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Hercules was intrigued by a whole new species of ocean dweller he'd never heard of. He also now understood Sora's urgency. "How long can he last?"

Sora shrugged, speaking in his native tongue, obviously unable to communicate any other way in that form. 'I was exhausted and weak after six days. If he's at least got access to a bath or even a shower it'll help but without being able to change…we never tried to see how long back home, there was no need.'

"Before you leave, I'll speak with my Uncle, see if he can think of anything that will help both of you," he offered. He reminded him a lot of the boy from a decade ago, Ven, even wielded the same kind of weapon, which meant he would be travelling the Worlds, something his Father had told him about. If he was on a World with little water for any length of time, he'd be in big trouble. He hadn't been able to help Ven or the other two and hadn't seen any of them since, but maybe he could help Sora and Riku.

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Cloud was shocked by the strength behind the kids blows, he was a lot stronger than he looked, and even faster! He might not actually throw the match which would be interesting. The boy wasn't a killer though so at least he'd live through being beaten. He could tell the boy had seen battles, probably only against Heartless though, fighting and killing another human was a very different matter. They clashed over and over, the other two continually being knocked out of the fight, the kid…Sora, not always having the magic spare to try and heal them.

Cloud learned the hard way to keep his distance when Sora cast any air based magic though, those spells were crazy strong. Though he seemed surprisingly weak with fire based magic, usually fire and air went well together. Still, he was stronger and more experienced in fighting than the teen, and in the end, he had greater stamina too…only for Sora to surprise him with a dirty trick, Cloud shocked as his back slammed into the packed earth, the strange blade at his throat. He looked into wide blue eyes and smirked, letting go of his sword and nodding slightly. He definitely had potential.

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Riku felt almost as if he was sleep walking as he made his way out of his room and down the hall to where he trained. He…he was meant to be doing something else, wasn't he? Look for something…someone? He entered the room to find Maleficent waiting for him, finding himself relaxing, she would help him. She always helped him…didn't she?

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Kairi grinned as Yuffie blinked up at her before laughing and leaping back to her feet.

"That was great!" she cheered before smirking. "Again."

Kairi nodded and settled into position, watching her closely. They were working on her dodging and falling as well as blocking. Apparently there was some disagreement on what kind of weapon/s would suit her best so they were working on unarmed skills first. Thankfully growing up around boys meant she was used to running, climbing and even falling well. She'd never been a girly girl, but she had focused more on sports like volleyball and swimming rather than fighting like her boys. She regretted that now, but at least she was fitter than some of the other island girls her age.

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Sora lowered the Keyblade from Cloud's throat as he surrendered, panting from the hardest fight he'd faced, very glad he'd managed several hours in the bath, even if he had raced Hercules in the water a few times for fun. He felt the earth shake under his feet and looked up, going white as he saw an enormous three-headed beast with red eyes growling over him. Darkness emanated from its jaws, each of its razor-sharp teeth bared. Sora gasped, seeing the man who had given him the tournament pass retreat into the barracks.

"Oh, right, there was one other rule I forgot: Accidents happen," the man called back and Sora leapt back even as Cloud rolled out of the way only for a paw to swipe him as he was getting up, sending him back to the ground. it focused on Sora, lunging for him, but then was stopped in its tracks as Herc got between them.

"Herc!" Phil called in relief.

"Phil, get them out of here!" Herc yelled as he held the massive beast back.

Sora hesitated, but Herc grinned at him so he followed the others in running out of the arena.

"Whew, that was close! That was Cerberus, the guardian of the Underworld. Herc should be able to handle him. But then again, maybe not... This doesn't look good. I hope Herc's okay. Wish I could go in!" Phil muttered as he paced.

Hearing his doubts, Sora turned back to the Coliseum. Herc had been so nice to him, even knowing he wasn't fully human, then again neither was he.

"Kid, you're not entering the arena, are ya? This ain't just some match. This is for real!" Phil yelled at him.

"I'm not afraid. You can decide if I'm hero material or not but I'm not leaving him to fight alone!" he yelled back as he ran down the hall, Goofy and Donald on his heels.

"Careful, kid!"

They rushed back into the arena, seeing Hercules had Cloud slung over his shoulder, Cerberus's giant jaws bearing down on him, inches away. The beast's ears perked up, hearing their entrance and the heads turned around, allowing Hercules to run Cloud to the Lobby, past Phil.

"Kid, I got two words of advice for you: Attack!"

Wasn't that one word?

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Donald spun as he heard Sora scream, seeing one of the balls of flaming rock clip him. "Cure!" he yelled, sending the spell at the kid, panting slightly as he reached the edges of his reserves.

Goofy leapt up, bashing the nearest head with his shield to take the dogs attention away from Sora who was staggering even after the spell. He glanced at Goofy who nodded so he rushed to Sora's side, helping him further from the Cerberus, checking him over, before forcing a hi-potion on him, seeing how pale he was.

"Okay?" he asked, and Sora nodded shakily.

They needed to visit the accessory store again and get Sora stronger fire protection, he was oddly vulnerable to the element, more so than he'd seen in any human before. Sora dug in his pocket and passed him an Ether which he happily downed before getting back into the fight. A few seconds later Sora was leaping onto the dogs back to attack the heads from above, keeping him safe from the burning rocks and pools of Darkness.

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Cloud sat near the exit, waiting for the group, and nursing an aching head, grateful the wound was mostly healed already. He saw them emerge, Sora hesitating for a second before walking over to him.

"Hey, are you all right?" the teen asked, and Cloud nodded.

"Yeah."

"So why did you go along with him, anyway?"

"I'm looking for someone. Hades promised to help. I tried to exploit the power of Darkness, but it backfired," he admitted as he stood up, looking to the sky for a moment. "I fell into Darkness, and I couldn't find the Light."

"You'll find it. I'm searching, too," Sora told him, and Cloud looked down to find him smiling.

"For your Light?" he asked and Sora nodded.

"One of them anyway."

Cloud moved closer to him, placing something in his hand. "Don't lose sight of it," he told him, and Sora nodded seriously. He turned and walked away.

"How about a rematch sometime? Fair and square, no Dark powers involved," the teen called after him, and Cloud looked back at him. He reminded him so much…of Zack.

Cloud sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I think I'll pass," his lips twitched in a smirk and Sora grinned at him.

Cloud walked away, he'd find what he was looking for, somehow, somewhere.

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"I think you picked the wrong kid," Hades commented and Maleficent turned to face him, making him smirk. "Unless I misunderstood what a Keyblade is?" he held his hand out, revealing an image of the brat with a very distinctive weapon in hand. "Unless both boys have one?"

She scowled at the image but also appeared thoughtful. "No, Riku has used it once…it would be interesting to see when the child manifested that…if it was after dear Riku fell into our hands?" she pondered.

"You think a weapon can chose to leave a wielder? Interesting."

"And another way to help Riku see the truth, after all if they were such close friends, why would the boy steal his blade?"

Hades chuckled at that, feeling a little cheerier after the way his pet had been beaten. He'd get Hercules one day, the foretold day would be at hand in another two years, he could wait that long if he had to, but he'd take any opportunity that presented itself before then.

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Yuffie grinned when the group arrived back, relieved that Sora looked a million times better than he apparently had last time, then again they hadn't been gone quite as long. He laughed as he caught Kairi, spinning her around as she told him about their training.

The whole group made their way to the house they'd claimed in the Third District, where Sora filled them in on what they'd been up to, fighting in a tournament. She was proud of how well he'd done, especially against a creature that literally spat balls of flaming rock.

"To the accessory store! You need better fire protection," she announced when he was done, Donald practically pouting at her for obviously beating him to the suggestion.

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Kairi played with the ring on Sora's finger, the Fira Ring would give him a lot more protection from that element for which she was very grateful. Around his wrist was a thin band of elegantly inscribed metal that was a silvery blue in colour…a gift from an actual god! It should help him handle being away from water for longer and he had another one stored away for when they found Riku.

He hugged her closer, pressing a kiss her temple as they lounged on the bed together. It was nice to cuddle without being cramped in the tub. She was very grateful for the massive sunken bath he'd had access to this last trip, and that he'd made sure to spend time in it before they had left.

"You sure you're okay now?" she couldn't help asked, curling more into him.

"Yeah, all healed and back to normal," he promised. He buried his face in her hair, inhaling her scent. "Missed you," he murmured.

"I missed you too," she wrapped her arms around him, hugging him. "Try to be more careful?"

"Promise," he nuzzled at her and she giggled as his hair tickled her. The only thing that could make it better, would be for the other side of the bed to be occupied as well. Riku was still out there, somewhere, they had to find him.

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Riku sat in the bottom of the shower again, soaking as best he could in the falling water. He was scared, there were thoughts in his head…that weren't his, were they? What was happening to him? He…he was mad at Sora? He'd stolen the Keyblade from him. He shook his head. No! Sora would never do that, never! He hid his face against his knees, shaking, as he struggled to think clearly.

He…he wanted to go home.

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Sora sat up on a rotting wooden floor, rubbing his head. "Oww...my head..." he groaned before looking around. "Donald? Goofy?" Wherever he was, it was falling apart, not helped by the Sora-shaped hole in the roof.

Blue eyes widened in horror as he spotted a leopard pouncing in his direction from the rafters. Sora leapt up and blocked with his Keyblade, throwing it back a bit. He jumped back as the leopard landed on the wooden floor, barely dodging a swipe. The leopard roared and tried to claw at him, but he slid away and struck with his Keyblade, sending it flying across the room. It snarled and his snarled back, surprising it briefly, giving him a second to cast a thunder spell at it. He liked that spell, almost as much as he did air spells, they reminded him of the storms back home.

After a tough struggle, the cat lay on the floor, tricking Sora into coming closer. Suddenly,

it leapt up and roared as someone entered through a hole in the ceiling. He spun around the rafters and leapt to the floor. As the leopard pounced at Sora, the man blocked its bite with a spear. The leopard struggled wildly; its jaws clamped around the spear. The man knocked it back, glaring at it, and it snarled before leaping out a window, sending shards of glass flying everywhere.

The wild man put away his spear and turned to Sora. He had long brown dreadlocks and was a loincloth over his toned body. He stood low, his knuckles touching the ground like an animal, and Sora knew the man would have no trouble with any of Sora's less human instincts. "Sabor, danger," he said.

"Um...thank you," Sora told him.

"Thank you," he mimicked slowly.

"Huh? Uh, what is this place?"

The man moved closer to Sora, awkwardly invading his personal space, not that Sora really cared about personal space most of the time, but they were strangers. "This place, this place." He kind of…reminded him of a mer trying to learn to speak in human form.

"Don't suppose you know where the others went?" he asked, getting no response. "Look, I got separated from my friends. Have you seen them?" that got him a confused look. "Friends..."

"Friends!"

"Right, my friends! There's two of 'em. The loud one is Dona— "He stopped, remembering the fight on the ship. "You know what? Never mind. I'm looking for my friend, Riku."

"Look for Riku, friends?" the stranger slowly said, and Sora nodded.

"Right!"

"Friend here."

"Really!?" Could Riku really be there? With the humidity in the air, there had to be lots of water, which would mean he'd be okay. The man said something that Sora didn't understand at all. "Huh?" he asked in confusion so the man repeated himself.

"Friend here."

"Not sure I understand, but please show me! Take me to Riku!"

He pointed at himself, "Tarzan. Tarzan go."

Sora nodded, pointing to himself. "And I'm Sora. Tarzan go, Sora go go!"

Tarzan opened the door and they left the Tree House, Sora gazing out at the massive trees in awe. This World was amazing! He followed him and jumped after him without fear. Riku…he would find Riku!

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Clayton's rifle glinted in the sunlight as the unknowing gorilla continued playing. Donald ran to the tree house and screamed just as Clayton fired. His aim was off, the bullet narrowly missing Terk, who ran away behind Kerchak. Sora entered the tree house with Goofy and Tarzan at a run.

"What's the big idea?" Donald demanded angrily, hands on his hips as he glared at the man, Tarzan speaking to the gorillas in the background.

Kerchak walked away, scowling, Terk following. Tarzan turned toward Clayton, frowning.

"You don't understand. I was only trying to... Ah. A snake slithered by you see. I saved that poor gorilla's life," Clayton explained nervously but they could all tell he was lying. They quickly escorted him back to camp where they told Jane what had happened.

"How could you do such a thing!" She demanded angrily.

"Now, Miss Porter, as I told you, I was not aiming at the gorilla."

"You are not to go near the gorillas again!" She snapped.

"All because of one mishap? Come, now..."

Everyone glared at him and he dropped his smirk. He laughed nervously and backed out of the tent. Turning away to leave, he grinned cruelly, an expression Sora just caught sight of as the tent flap settled back into place, frowning as the man left. He just knew that was going to cause trouble. And still no sign of Riku.

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Sora fell back behind the others as they made their way back to camp. Riku had never been there, it had been a misunderstanding because Tarzan didn't know much language. He'd really hoped…he dropped down the rest of the vine to land on the grass, waiting his turn to cross the water via the back of the, what had Jane called them, hippos?

Goofy went to jump but his footing slipped and his arm slammed into Sora, knocking him off balance and careening into the water.

"Sora!" he heard the cries of his name as he plunged beneath the sora, feeling his pants rip to shreds as his body reacted.

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"What drew the Heartless to that world?" Ursula asked as they watched the image fade away.

"The hunter lured them there. It was his lust for power that was the bait. But it seems the bait was too tasty for his own good," Hades answered.

"Yeah, he got chomped instead!" Oogie Boogie laughed.

"A weak-hearted fool like him stood no chance against the Heartless. But the boy is a problem. He found one of the Keyholes," Jafar scowled.

"Fear not, it will take him ages to find the rest," Maleficent assured them. "Besides, he remains blissfully unaware of our other plan."

"Yes, the princesses..." Jafar caressed his wiry beard.

"They are falling into our hands, one by one. Speaking of which..." Maleficent smirked at the shadows and out stepped a frightened Alice.

"And what of your pet?" Ursula sneered.

Maleficent smirked. "He is progressing well. Soon, he will be ready to aid us in our endeavours and will think he truly believes in our cause." An image of Riku training hard appeared before them briefly before fading away.

TBC…