The three entered a courtyard that led to two doors, on either side appeared to be a chart of names. The three explored around as Kairi walked up to the chart of names.
"Huh, Aqua..."
"Kairi!" Goody called out, and almost immediately she turned around to catch up to her friends as there wasn't much else to look at.
Pushing open the door with thunder bolts on it, they entered a smaller room with trophy's on their side
"Um..." She tried to grab the goatman's attention.
"Good timing. Give me a hand here would ya'? Move that pedestal there for me." He pointed towards a square stone one a few feet away from them.
"But-" Kairi tried to say.
"This place needs to be spruced up for the games Hero, now if you wouldn't mind, I'm only running on two hooves and 9 cups of coffee. So, just get it done!" The Goatman suddenly snapped. The three looked at each other in confusion but followed the order.
All three of them tried to push the large rock to no avail,
"um, sir? It's too heavy." Kairi said.
"Too heavy? Since when have you ever been such a little-" The goatman turned towards them, his agitation seemingly dispersing as he looked at her. " Ah, that's why." He jumped off of the pedestal walking over to the other one across the room. "Didn't you kids get the memo, Coliseum's for heroes only. N' I don't have time to deal with tourists what with the Games coming up. So run along pip-squeaks."
"The Games?" Kairi questioned.
"Look, it's like this, Heroes come from all over to fight against ferocious monsters right here in the Coliseum. The fight, we're entertained, everyone's happy." He briefly explained.
"HEy- You've got heroes standing right in front of you!" Donald insisted angrily, but the Goatman ignored him.
" Yup, Kairi here's a Hero chosen by the Keyblade." Kairi looked back at Goofy who placed his hands on her shoulders, she felt a bang of familiarity as she could feel pride in his words, similar to that of her adoptive father.
"Heroes?! You three runts?!" The Goatman questioned once before laughing hardily. "Listen, if you three can't even move this." He began pushing against the pedestal. "You can't call, yourself...a hero!" The Goatman collapsed in exhaustion. "Okay, so it takes more than brawn..." He stood up, brushing away dirt off of himself, "Alright, let's see what you three got."
"Huh?" Kairi stared at the Goatman, confused.
"You wanna prove yourself? Well, now's your chance. Name's Phil by the way, talk to me when you're ready." Phil then walked towards the entrance of what seemed to be the arena to the Coliseum.
"Uh, hey, wait a sec-" Kairi called out as Phil turned towards her. "By chance, have you two seen anyone who looks like they're not from around here?"
"Not from around here?"
"Yeah, like 2 boys around my age, one with spiky hair and a sunny disposition? Or another with silver hair that frowns a lot and prone to picking a fight?"
"Hmm…" He thought for a moment. "A lot of people come around here from out of town to watch the games, but no one that matches those descriptions, sorry." Phil confirmed.
"Oh." Kairi lowered her head in disappointment.
"Friends of yours?" He questioned.
She raised her head, smiling at the mention of them, "Yeah, best friends. I'm actually looking for them."
"They may turn up here later on you never know."
"Alright, thanks." Kairi nodded her appreciation before turning back to her friends as they stood outside the Coliseum."So what do we do now?"
"We enter the games." Donald proclaimed about to walk back in.
" Wait a sec, we're here to look for our friends, not enter any games." Kairi retorted.
" There's nothing wrong with a little training." Donald reasoned.
"Yeah, training, not whatever these Games are."
Donald mumbled something about goats under his breath, ignoring her and walking back into the Coliseum.
Goofy agreed with her, picking up the conversation" You're right, but once Donald gets his mind on something, there's not much we can do."
She sighed, "Are you going to enter as well?"
He nodded, " You don't haveta enter with us, I know you're probably not interested in this kinda stuff."
"What about you then?"
"Well, friends gotta stick together, right?"
She felt a sudden rush of guilt as Goofy closed the door behind him. Both of her companions understood why she didn't want to enter the games with them, after all, Riku and Sora could just be around the corner looking for her while she was doing something else. But unlike her, they probably wouldn't have a way to travel to other words.
She sighed to herself, walking down the stairs towards the courtyard.
" Well, Well, Well, what do we have here?"
" Huh?"
She turned back to see a tall figure making his way towards her. His skin was grey and eyes yellow, but what was odd was this it looked like his head was on fire, blue fire to be exact. Ironically though, he gave off creepy vibes, as though his very presence was saying that he himself was bad news.
" Not really sure what I was expecting but here we have a little Red Robin." His amused expression was enough to tick her off slightly.
" Who are you?" She asked taking a defensive position, ready to summon her weapon.
" Now now little bird, don't you know it's rude not to kneel in front of a God?"
" A God?"
" Bingo. You, my little Robin, are in the presence of, yours truly, Lord of the Dead, Hades!" He was rather extravagant while introducing himself, but it was met with a cold reception as Kairi walked away.
" HEY-"
Kairi was about to turn around and face him again, but in a puff of smoke he popped up beside her, placing a hand on her shoulder.
" I get it, you know, I really do. New to the circuit, can't really handle my Godly aura up close for a first time meeting. So let me help you out here kid." From his hands a puff of smoke revealed a letter that she took to examine.
" That, will get you a fast track into the games: no need to thank me for my generosity, just deliver a good show. I'm pulling for ya' shorty."
" Wait a sec-"
But Hades disappeared before she had a chance to respond.
She furrowed her brow angrily, stomping her foot, almost wanting to rip up the paper. But then looked between it and the door separating her from her friends and just sighed at the situation, walking towards the Coliseum.
Boys.
"That little robin is your next opponent capeesh? Just don't break her."
The challenger looked between his contractor and the red haired girl with a bright smile on her face talking with her friends. Something about her reminded him of that warm smile she always gave him.
"Sorry, but my contract says-"
"I KNOW WHAT THE CONTRACT SAYS!!" Hade's fire flared up, enraged, but quickly turned back to blue a second later. " I wrote the damn, thing. All you have to do is kill Heracles, I know. All I'm saying is you have to get through the peanut gallery to get to the finals. Listen, it's just like that goat says," he pointed towards Phil across the arena. " Rule 11: It's all just a game so let loose, and have fun with it!"
"Jeese, stiffer than the stiffs back home. Still…" Hades looked towards the darkness of a portal nearby, as soon as he hear growls, a smirk popped on his face. "Accidents happen."
The games itself were harder than it appeared to be. Every round there were more and more heartless showing up to attack them, but fortunately, none of them had to face them alone, each of the trio making up for what the other two lacked.
By the time the semi-finals came around all three were tired, but still standing.
The next challenger caught her attention as he was far older than her. He had striking blonde hair and blue eyes, wearing a worn out red cape over battered armor. Whoever this person was, she felt that this would be no easy task to overcome.
"Aren't you a little young to be here?" He questioned.
She pouted, now agitated. "Aren't you?"
He smirked, amused at her answer, before brandishing his long sword. "Don't blame me if this turns out badly for you."
"Likewise."
...
...
Kairi slashed back at her opponent, who then fell to his knees, exhausted. Kairi walked towards him, holding out her hand to help him up, but a large sound thundered across from them and in a split second and she was pushed back a few feet. The opponent was knocked out, under the paw of a towering three headed dog that was growling furiously.
The Dog was about the attack again, almost hitting her if it wasn't for someone holding him back. A man that was holding back the giant dog with only his hands.
"Herc!" Phil called out from the stands.
"Phil, get 'em out of here!"
Kairi was pulled to her feet by Donald, all four of them escaping towards the exit from the arena, but stopped shot to see that Herc had managed to grab her opponent hand had his back to the wall. She looked between the exit where her friends were standing and this monstrous dog that could swallow any one of them in a moment.
"Ugh-" Kairi grunted in agitation and with all her strength she threw her keyblade towards the back of the Dog's head, effectively catching it's attention at it growled at this new target. By her side, Donald and Goofy both held up their weapons ready for the fight of their lives as Herc ran past them.
"I dub thee, Junior Heroes, and confer upon thee, full rights and privileges to participate in the games. Further-"
"Hey what do you mean 'Junior Heroes'?!" It was Kairi's turn to hold Donald back, picking him up by his waist as he quacked angrily.
"You rookies still don't understand what it takes to be a true hero."
"So then, what does it take?" Goofy questioned.
"Well, I guess what you three have to find out for yourselves, just the way that I did."
"Just you wait, we'll prove it in the games!" Donald almost threatened.
"Can't, there's not gonna be any games for a while, gotta clean up after the whole Cerberus debacle."
"Fine! We'll be back!" Donald now threatened as now Goofy carried him out under his arm while the Mage was still shouting and pointing. Kairi waved good-bye with a smile on her face as the three went their separate way.
"...Did Kairi remind you of someone?" Herc questioned as soon as the trio was out of sight.
"Remind me?" Phil pondered for a moment, his eyes widening slightly as he realized what Herc was talking about. "Don't dwell on it Herc." To which the hero shrugged off in compliance.
In the courtyard, Donald was still pouting, grumbling under his breath. They were making their way back towards the Gummi ship as someone caught her attention.
"Hey," Donald and Goofy turned towards her for a moment. "You guys go ahead, I'll catch up in a second." The two exchanged a glance of curiosity, but complied.
"Don't take too long." Donald warned.
"I won't." She nodded, watching her two friends disappear behind the giant door leading to the town below.
Kairi looked towards the door across the coliseum back to see her previous opponent sitting there like an abandoned puppy.
"Hey, are you okay?" She asked as the man lifted his head, giving her no response. "Looked like you were beaten up pretty bad there."
"...You shouldn't be worried about me. I was told not to hold back against you after all."
"Why were you even in the Games, you didn't seem into it at all."
"I could say the same of you."
Kairi shrugged her shoulders sheepishly. "I couldn't just let my friends go through all that alone."
"Hm," The man mused thoughtfully. "I'm looking for someone, Hades promised to help if I help him." He stood from where he was sitting. "I tried to exploit the power of darkness, but it backfired. Once I feel into it's depths I couldn't find the light, even now I..." he words trailed off as he looked towards the sky, as though he was waiting for something.
"You'll find it."
He looked back down as Kairi spoke up.
"I'm looking for it as well." She reflexively placed her hand on her necklace, the familiarity of the gesture triggering a warm, bittersweet feeling in her chest.
"Your light?" He asked knowingly, even from where he stood he could feel the pure light coming from this girl. So to say she herself was searching for one that could shine brighter than her...
"They must be pretty extraordinary."
She giggled to herself, " Yeah, just a little bit." Kairi was brought to attention as the man walked past her. "Ah, hey wait a sec-"
He looked back at her.
"My name's Kairi."
"...Cloud." He responded.
She nodded. "I hope you find the person you're looking for, Cloud."
"...You as well, Kairi." Away from her gaze he smiled under his scarf, watching as she ran towards the gate that would lead her back to her friends.
"Hey, are you okay?"
Kairi looked up, sniffling as the familiar boy looked down in concern. She hid her face back into her knees, anxiety growing in her chest. She sat alone, hidden under the large brush of the bushes near the shore. She didn't want to look up, knowing exactly what would happen...
"Hey, you wanna come play with us?"
Kairi lifted her head up in surprise at this boy smiling down at her with his hand lifted out towards her. She nodded, accepting his hand with a small smile on her face.
"Sora, hurry up!" The other boy called as Kairi rose to her feet. Now flinching, clutching this boy's hand as she saw his friend run up to the two of them with a disapproving glance on his face. "We gotta go now." He insisted.
" Hey Riku, can Kairi come with us?"
He looked between the two of them, crossing his arms. "Sora, she can't play swords, she doesn't know how to play."
Sora pouted for a moment, clutching her hand in return. "She can learn, c'mon Riku it'll be more fun that way." He insisted.
The two glared at each other for a moment before Riku sighed. "Fine, but hurry up." he walked ahead of them, now in a bad mood.
Sora stuck out his tongue at his best friend for a few moments, before turning back to her. "Don't worry about Riku, he can be dumb sometimes, but he's nice too."
Kairi nodded, following as swung their arms together playfully, walking towards the boat.
"Don't worry, if you don't like swords, you can judge us on who's the best." He suddenly came closer, whispering in her ear. "Don't tell anyone else, but I think Riku is the bestest at swords. You'll see." the praise for his best friend caused him to smile brightly, enough that a small smile broke onto her face as well. Secretly, she hoped that the two of them would become best friends, more so that he and Riku, and that perhaps, today would be the start of that...
As they arrived on the island, Riku retained that frown on his face as Sora ran ahead to look for the toys they left behind the last time. The two stood next to each other on the dock as they watched their friend scramble around.
"Just so you know." Kairi's attention was turned to the older boy. "Sora is my best friend, not yours." She didn't say anything in response, no expression on her face either, however she felt agitated by him, even more so as he ran ahead of her to scold Sora for tripping over his own feet, as though she didn't want Riku interfering...