Chapter 19

Homura's Odyssey (Part 1)

The sound. The horrifying sound. A scream, cut short by the deluge of rock. The chill, the twisted feeling of dread.

Donald and Goofy were frozen, not seeming to comprehend what they saw. Homura's felt horrid as she landed. The bow slipped from her grip to the ground with a clatter.

No! No no no! Please no! She rushed over to the pile of rocks, and began to pull them off. The driving rain and her own tears blurred her vision. She didn't care. The rocks were sharp, and cut into her hands. She didn't care. Homura grew more frantic as she dug deeper, tossing rocks aside, no heed given to the effect the labor had on herself.

Save him! Save him! Dammit Homura, for once in your pathetic joke of a life, DO SOMETHING RIGHT!

After shifting one rock, she saw Sora's limp hand, and her heart sank. She collapsed to her knees, about to sob when she saw the hand twitch.

"Sora!" Homura dug even faster, tossing rocks aside until she finally managed to unearth him. He was injured, though not too severely, he must have wound up in a safe area and mercifully avoided being killed. He coughed, as he attempted to pull himself out.

"Cura!" Donald shouted. Green light enveloped Sora, healing his wounds. He immediately sprung up, and dusted himself off.

"Sora… I'm so sorry. I-"

"Hey, it's no biggie! We won right?" Sora said as he looked over the cliff, grinning.

"Yep! One down, three to go!" Donald confirmed.

"Then let's get moving, I want to see Olympus!" Sora said, looking towards a cave in the distance.

The others ran off into the tunnel, while Homura stood motionless.

"What did you think was going to happen?"

Homura didn't even flinch this time, instead collapsing to her knees as she heard the steps of bare feet approaching her.

"I said: What did you think was going to happen?"

Homura said nothing, until a skeletal hand grabbed by her hair and forced her to look up.

"Let me repeat myself again. What. Did. You. Think. Was. Going. To. Happen?" Homulilly pulled Homura's head up to face her own.

"I… don't know." Homura said. "It was nice to be around them… They made me feel good."

"Did they now?" Homulilly said. She then slapped Homura across the face. Homura didn't resist and instead collapsed to the ground. Homulilly gestured to the rock pile. "Fat lot of good it did them. You just show up in the middle of their quest, insert yourself into it, and then you go and pull a Mami. They're worse off for meeting you. Just like Madoka."

"Of whom you have callously betrayed!" Another voice snarled behind her. The fluttering of black feathers signaled the arrival of the Devil. "Are you so cowardly that you would forsake your life's purpose? After everything you have sacrificed, you would just abandon her to the winds of fate?"

"I-I'm not!" Homura protested.

"What does it matter? She's dead and it's Homura's fault. Ripping her apart and making her vulnerable. Then she gets torn to pieces by Heartless. Imagine it, the sheer pain as she dies, soaked in her own blood, unable to to more than gurgle, never knowing the twisted monster who condemned her to this awful fate. And now she's going to ruin other peoples lives too."

"Madoka is not dead." The Devil hissed. She grabbed Homulilly by her collar. "She was saved, first from the loathsome Incubators, then from the wicked Goddess. She was given a new life. Freedom from having to bear the sins of a rotten world."

"And it killed her. Gaslit to the point where she was unable to even defend herself." Homulilly calmly replied, before pushing the Devil away. "And now she's trying to replace Madoka with Sora. And going down the same path. It's clear she's learned nothing."

"On that matter, it appears we have somewhat of an agreement. A betrayal of Madoka." The Devil said as both she and Homulilly turned to Homura, who was rising to her knees.

"No! It isn't! Sora forgave her! He doesn't blame her!" Akemi jumped in front of Homura.

"If we continue to remain by his side, he will come to despise us like Madoka does."

"Sora's not like that. Madoka's not like that either!"

"You! You are the one who is planting these naïve ideas in her head!" The Devil strode forwards and struck Akemi in the face. Akemi fell to the ground, clutching her nose and sobbing, only for the Devil to lean over, grab her by the hair and begin striking her again. "Making her weak!"

"Prolonging her suffering!" Homulilly joined in, kicking Akemi.

Akemi sobbed. "No! Please! This isn't right!"

"All you've ever done is let Madoka die, over and over and over! You were never anything but a burden. A waste!"

Homura closed her eyes, and covered her ears, attempting to block out the noise, though it was futile. She could still hear Akemi sobbing.

"This isn't right! Please-"

"STOP!" Homura shouted. There was silence.

When she opened her eyes, she saw that she was alone, no trace of the others, only the pouring rain which covered up her sobs.

Eventually, she heard footsteps. Were they back? She cringed in expectation of more mockery, only to hear a different voice instead.

"Hey Homura! You have to come see this, it's amazing! You won't believe it!" He said. "Homura?"

Homura clenched her fists and bit her tongue before forcing herself to her feet. She couldn't burden him with this. Thankfully the rain hid her tears as he approached.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Yes, I'm coming." She said, as she followed him into the tunnel, and indeed, gasped at what she saw on the other side.

Stepping out of the tunnel the rainstorm was gone. Instead she was now apparently standing on top of a cloud. Just ahead was a beautifully designed staircase leading to a set of pearly gates, all illuminated by a soft golden light.

The group climbed the staircase, taking note of the crystals scattered about the area. As the approached the top, the gates opened, and a golden light shined forth, momentarily blinding them.

When it faded, they found themselves at the entrance to a massive golden city that even Homura was taken aback by.

"Is this... Olympus?" Sora said, in awe.

"Gawrsh, it's amazing!" Goofy said.

Homura had to agree. The building were all intricately carved and shaped from white stone and gold metal, all built atop clouds which steadily drifted through the city, holding up structures, creating bridges, or just decorating the area. Beautiful statues and carvings decorated the streets, while crystals atop posts functioned as lights. It certainly looked fitting as a Realm of the Gods.

Madoka would love to see a place like this. Internally, she smiled at the though, though it soon turned sour. Even if she managed to get her back, Madoka would never truly accept her after what she had to do. But it was necessary, all the same, upsetting as it was.

Then she heard that sound. That terrible, watery sound, that heralded the arrival of the Heartless.

"A fanfare?" Donald asked.

Dark portals appeared and out of them emerged a squad of minotaur shaped Heartless.

"Nope!" Sora said, drawing his Keyblade.

Homura readied her bow. At least she had something to vent the frustration on.

The minotaurs lowered their faceplates and charged, a massive stampede of horns, forcing everyone to leap out of the way. As he did so, Sora cast Water on the ground in front of the crowd, causing the minotaurs to slip and fall over each other.

Homura jumped into the air over the now prone crowd and fired her bow into the middle of it. The minotaurs were scattered, some sent flying, while those closest to the center were destroyed.

With the charge broken, Sora leaped into the fray, cutting down several of the disoriented minotaurs while avoid swings of their from those that managed to rise to their feet.

Homura landed on the head of one of the Heartless, and it bucked in an attempt to knock her off. Unfortunately, it ended up goring one of it's companions, after which Homura leaped off it's head, and shot arrows at both of them.

As she landed, she was forced to roll out of the way to narrowly avoid a punch from a Minotaur, which she countered with an arrow shot, while Donald rained down lightning bolts on the remainders of the crowd.

Sora leaped back and pumped his fist. "Ha! They weren't so tough!"

"Yeah!" Donald said

The celebration was again interrupted by the sound of thunder off in the distance. When she looked up, she saw flashing lights in the city's acropolis.

"That must be where everyone is!" Sora said.

"Right!"

The group rushed through the city, towards the peak. As she ran, Homura observed the place. Though it was beautiful, it was also disturbingly lifeless in a way that uncomfortably reminded her of Mitakihara in the aftermath of the Heartless attack. This was a divine city, but were even gods not safe from becoming Heartless?

Their travels carried them into a building through which streams of water flowed. It was clearly a thoroughfare of some sort, and Homura could easily imagine the gods passing through here, idly chatting about the news of the world, boasting about accomplishments, and detailing quests done in their name. When there was life in this place, it surely must have been beautiful. Now, however, it was empty, the sound of water feeling eerie and unpleasant. It seemed the only way forwards though. They followed the stream of water down a tunnel of clouds to what must have been the forge of Hephaestus. There was a sharp rise in temperature as they entered, looking about in awe.

The battle couldn't have been that long ago. Everything was still active, as if the forgemaster had only stepped away for a few moments. The fires in the furnace still burned, and the pots were filled with molten metal. At the other end of the place was another tunnel of clouds, which the followed, taking them towards the top of Olympus. There, the signs of the battle were more apparent, as shattered buildings and chunks of stone floated through the air. In the distance, there were flashes of light of various colors. Fortunately, the rubble made for easy climbing points. They were at the peak in no time.

As they approached the top of Olympus, Homura could see the other three titans. One was a towering skeleton made of ice, another a blob of glowing lava in a vaguely humanoid shape, the third a living tornado.

The first two were currently in the process of imprisoning a white haired figure that could only be Zeus, by dousing him in lava and then rapidly cooling it, encasing him in a pillar of stone. Around the area were what he presumed were the other gods, bound by chains while a pair of little demons mocked them.

"I swear to you Hades! When I get out of this-" He was unable to finish his threat as the pillar of stone fully engulfed him.

"No! I'm the one giving the orders now, bolt boy! And I think I'm gonna like it here!" Hades boasted. He conjured a black throne for himself, and upon reclining, conjured a drink. It reminded her of herself, and a surge of guilt ran through her. It was quickly beaten back down however. She wasn't like Hades. She wasn't a conqueror hell bent on revenge. This wasn't about some slight. She was protecting Madoka. That was what had brought her here.

"I wouldn't get too comfortable!" A familiar voice shouted and Hades spat out his drink in shock. Homura heard a whinny, and the flapping of wings.

Hercules had arrived on the back of Pegasus. He cut through several flying Heartless as he approached the acropolis, at the same time as the others.

"Were gonna stop you." Sora shouted, drawing Hades attention to them.

"ALREADY?!" Hades shouted, his blue flames again becoming red.

At that moment, there was the sound of arriving Heartless again, though on a massive scale. Everyone paused and turned to see an immense horde of Heartless gathering just outside the gates.

"Aha! Finally something useful from that hag!" Hades pumped his fists.

The area grew darker as the Heartless approached. Minotaur and centaur heartless were gathering outside the gates, ramming into them, while flying heartless filled the skies.

"Gawrsh, there's too many to count!" Goofy said as he looked out at the horde.

Too many to fight. Homura thought. What could they do? Titans and Hades on one side, and Heartless on the other. She looked around, and her eyes locked on the chained gods.

"Sora! Let's even the odds!"

Sora followed where she was pointing and immediately got what she was suggesting. He aimed his Keyblade in their direction, and the tip of the blade glowed, forming a circle of light. Out from the center, a beam of light struck the chains. There was a very satisfying sound of a lock tumbling, and then the chains surrounding the gods vanished. The two demons fled for their lives.

"NO! NO! NO!" Hades shouted at the top of his lungs. But it was too late. A red skinned god that could only be Ares donned a helmet and drew a sword.

"To battle!" He shouted. The other gods followed in his lead, charging towards the Heartless horde.

The party turned back to Hades, who was seething. "GET THEM!"

The Titans obliged his commands, the three of them stomping towards the group, as Hercules leaped off of Pegasus to join them. Homura grit her teeth as she readied her bow. She had intended for the gods to fight the Titans while she, Sora, Donald, and Goofy dealt with the Heartless, but this worked too, she supposed. It would be just like fighting Witches, she reassured herself. Three Witches at once...

As always, thanks to The Name Of Love for beta-reading and idea sounding!

~Dragonexx