While Ven landed down in Olympus Coliseum, the Lord of the Dead found himself bored watching the games. According to the ancient man who'd given him the plan, he had to wait around for three keyblade wielders, the boy he'd train, the light-hearted he'd leave be, and the so-called master would be the one he was truly excited to meet.
"Enjoying the show?" A calm voice asked,
Hades rolled his eyes before turning to the one-winged angel that seemed keen on coming here every single year. "You again? Look, whatever-your-name, I have plenty of heroes I actually want to face and you ain't one of them, so scram!"
"That is not why I'm here." The man hissed softly, walking to be beside him. "You see, I finally found the true reason for my creation, and I now know I have no place in the light."
"Congratulations, malzatof, about time!" Hades cried. He then slumped, looking uninterested. "And I don't care. Why would you finding your place in the cosmos supposed to interest me?"
"…My only goal now is to stop what little light is left to support the one I'm seeking. That light is in this very competition. If you help me weaken her… I'll lead you to a world known as the City of Light."
"Hmm… Okay, you got me interested, let me check my schedule and see if I can squeeze you in." Hades muttered, tapping a claw to his cheek in thought. "Today I have some keyblade wielders to get into darkness, tomorrow I'll start hunting for the Princes of Heart, and day after… I did have a set order of conquering but the City of Light, opportunities like that don't come every milena…!"
Sephiroth crossed his arms in waiting.
Hades suddenly snapped. "Tell you what, I'm booked with world domination for a good while thanks to the advice of my mysterious benefactor but I could kill two birds with one stone today! Here's the plan…"
A boy dressed in a pure white toga was flung away by the Unversed and struggled to get up, panting heavily.
"Don't worry, I got this!" Ven assured, quickly stepping in front of the struggling kid.
He gathered the Unversed up with some wind before firing a few shots, getting rid of them easily.
The boy he'd saved looked on in wonder til Ven turned to him, offering him help up. He could sense a warm light… It was another Prince of Heart! "You okay?"
"Y-Yeah, thanks!" The boy grinned, taking his help to stand. "Sorry I couldn't help, guess I'm gonna have to train harder! I beat the enemies in the games are even worse!"
"What games?" Ven asked curiously. Were they some fun games? Why'd the Unversed wanted to participate in those?
"The 'Games' games!" Cried the kid, looking shocked he didn't know. "To see who's the strongest! One day, I'm gonna win them all and become a true hero!"
True hero? Ven thought to himself. … I don't know if that's really me but it couldn't hurt to try! Plus, I can get stronger with the darkness too! "Sounds fun! Where do I sign up?"
"Just up ahead in the Coliseum-!"
"Herc, where are ya'?! Front and center right now or I'm tacking on another thousand laps!" A sudden voice called.
"Thousand?!" Ven gasped but before he could ask how that was possible for a mere human, the boy, Hercules, was already running off.
"I hope I get to see you fight in the competition!"
Ven ran up to see the ranks and wondered where he could sign up when a voice suddenly came to him: "Haven't seen someone with your power waltz in here in a good while!"
"Huh?!" Ven turned first to the left then right and jumped when he saw the Lord of the Dead there beside him. "Who are you?!"
"Hades, master of the underworld, conqueror of death, Cerberus this man's best friend, you don't need to know anymore than that, what's more important here is who are you, champ?"
"You've got the wrong idea, I'm not some champion..!"
"Don't be so modest!" Hades moaned, wrapping his arm around the boy. This kid's humble attitude was making this deal drag along. "With all that power, you're bound to be some kinda god in disguise, eh? Who is it, Apollo?"
"Heh, no, my name's Ventus. My friends call me Ven." The boy corrected him, ducking out before he could ruffle his hair. His smile then fell. "When you say I've got power, do you mean my darkness?"
"No, talking about your strength of he- Of course I'm talking about your darkness, airhead!" Hades suddenly growled in annoyance, surprising the boy. It was taking too long for him but He took a breath then. "I'm cool, I'm cool! It's just… frustrated so much potential is going to waste! How about… I tell you how to conquer it, huh? If anyone knows conquering, it's me!"
"You'd do that?" Ven whispered in awe. He gave a laugh in delight, making Hades back away slightly in confusion. "Thank you, that'd be great! Where do we start?"
Hades smirked. This was easier than he'd ever imagined. "Let's get you signed up for the Games first, I know what you're thinking but sometimes the best training is the real world, yeah? Come on, champ."
Ven waited eagerly while Hades signed him up.
"Name… Ventus… Height and weight…" The god sized him up before writing those down too. He suddenly gasped in fake surprise. "What's this? "Favorite god"? Hades, I mean, come on, best god ya' know."
"You're the only god I know." Ven pointed out with a giggle.
"Har, har." Hades smiled sharply back before filling the rest out. "There we go, ba-boom. Easy-peasy."
Ven hopped down from the bench as Hades brushed him off to prepare for the first match. "So, how do I get the darkness going?"
"Oh, that's easy!" Hades grinned. "Think of something that makes you BOILING mad!"
Ven winced when the man turned red for a moment and then nodded. Something that made him mad…"I got pretty mad when I realized my friends didn't trust me…"
"See, there you go." Hades urged, patting him on the shoulder. "Tell me more about these so-called friends."
"They treat me like a kid and worry about me all the time… " Ven grunted, taking out his wayfinder then. He saw himself reflected in the glass. He frowned. "But maybe they're right to… I've gotten in a whole lotta trouble recently and I've nearly gotten myself killed a few times already thanks to the darkness… Can't blame them for being worried it might be the wrong path… Even I'm still on the fence about it…"
Hades grimaced, this was not how it was supposed to go! He wasn't supposed to be backing out so easily! "But without the darkness, you're just some dumb kid, right?"
Ven looked back, hurt. "Hey! No, I'm not! I'm still strong enough to give my friends strength without the darkness, even if that means I have to rely on them too!"
"Ah, but… You little…!" Hades fumed as Ven got up to leave. He suddenly appeared in front of the boy, grabbing him tight. "You are gonna be worthless out there and you know it! If you have my help, you just might make something outta yourself! Come on, just accept my offer!"
Ven gasped in surprise before his eyes narrowed and he slapped his hand away. He knew he might look bad out there since he was probably weak compared to the true heroes but he wouldn't let himself become strong at the price of his pride. "No, thanks!"
The god watched in slight surprise as the boy ran out to begin the Games before narrowing his eyes. "Okay, Hades, now you know kids don't respond well to aggression, at least not kids like that… If he won't accept the darkness, I'm gonna have to force him to face it, getting both my jobs done."
A girl with long dark hair around Ven's age walked in then and Hades recognized her as the light Sephiroth had pointed out. "Hey, girlie, c'mere."
"Hm?" The girl turned to him but she suddenly felt an overwhelming pain seize her heart the moment they locked eyes. "Ghaa!" She clutched her chest in pain, feeling herself grow dizzy before everything went dark…
"Here it is, the final match!" Ven panted after eliminating the last enemy. Just as he said that, the champion from the east bracket walked out, a strong-looking figure decked out in armor. He was rather excited to be facing a person rather than the Underworld and Unversed monsters with no kind of their own, they'd both have to be on the top of their game! "Ready to go?"
The person's only response was to slowly get into position, maybe they hadn't heard him through that bulky helmet?
Before he knew it, the match had started. His opponent said nothing, running sluggishly at him. Ven easily tripped them with a burst of wind before frowning. This was the winner of the East bracket? For something so hard won, she wasn't giving her all. It felt more like she was sleepwalking.
She half-heartedly tried to swing up but Ven easily disarmed her, accidently taking off her helmet as well.
Just as quickly as the match began, it was over. The people cheered for him but… something about this didn't feel right…
"Hey, sorry, maybe I went a bit too far there…" Ven laughed nervously.
The girl didn't respond, her long black hair covering her face as she sat in a bowed position.
"Uh, good match!" Ven tried again with the same response. He shook his head in confusion before turning away, about to leave the Coliseum.
Suddenly, he felt a chilling wave overtake him as the girl stood up before running to him. He turned just in time to duck out of the way of a punch. "Wha-?!"
The girl paid him no mind, her body now ten times stronger. She tried the other side but Ven blocked with his forearm. "It's over, cut it out!"
The girl stared at him with dead eyes, not a spark of light to them. Suddenly, the darkness seemed to spike off of her: "It's… not… me…! I'm not… supposed to be in the dark…!"
"Wait, you're being controlled!" Ven realized in shock, recognizing the tired behavior and now sudden aggression from himself in Enchanted Dominion
She, or whoever this was, took his confusion as a chance to sweep his legs, sending him tumbling to the ground. He managed to grab both her wrists and struggled to keep them away from his throat. "Grr…!"
"What do you think, champ?!" Hades suddenly asked, appearing beside the girl. "Just like you, she's such a little ray of sunshine, the darkness can't help but eat away at her heart!"
"Hades!" Ven gasped before narrowing his eyes. "Why are you doing this?!"
"Just checking some things off my to-do list." The god answered casually, the girl getting stronger with every second. "You aren't gonna beat her, you know! Not unless you use your own darkness! What do you say, Ven?"
The boy suddenly summoned his keyblade and fired a shot of ice at him. "You made my decision crystal clear now, I'll never let the darkness control me… And it's Ventus to you."
Hades didn't have time to dodge in his surprise, knocking him back slightly. "Ghaa!"
Ven shoved the girl off him finally before blasting her with light.
She screamed in pain until she crumpled uselessly to the ground.
Ven ran to the girl, helping her sit up once she opened her eyes.
"Mm, Cloud…?" The girl asked mistakenly before her eyes got into focus. "No, you're…"
"Call me Ven." The boy smiled.
"Ohhh, you may have won this round, champ, but you won't win the war." Hades told the boy, grabbing tightly onto his shoulder. "You'll open up to the darkness eventually, and I know your friends will just be dying to meet you there…!"
"You-!" Ven growled, glaring back.
"Hades!" The girl cried, beating him to it. She sprang to her feet and tried to punch him in the gut but all she got was a puff of smoke. "Argh…!"
She then turned to the boy and brushed a bit of loose hair behind her ear. "Can't believe I let someone like that control me… Thanks for saving me though, Ven. A boy I've known forever once promised me he'd rescue me if I was ever in trouble… Makes sense you'd look like him, Mr. hero."
"Aw, no, I'm not a hero at all…" Ven blushed, not knowing who she was talking about but feeling honored all the same. This just kept happening! Maybe he could be friends with her like Dagrun. "Uh, what's your name?"
"Oh, right! It's-!"
"Tiiiifffa!" A high-pitched voice wailed and the girl was suddenly tackled to the ground by a bolt of green, it turned out to be a little girl around six or so. "The guards wouldn't let me in to see the match, what happened?! Did you cream 'im?!"
"Just the opposite." Tifa laughed, gently shoving her off. "This is Ven. Ven, this firecracker is Yuffie."
"Nice to meet you." Ven bent down to shake her hand but the girl refused, pouting slightly.
"I think she's upset I lost to you." Tifa laughed slightly. "How about we fight another round here some time, fair and square? Then we'll see who's the real champion."
"Sounds great!" Ven beamed. "I'll have to take you up on that some other time though, I've got a long journey of facing my darkness to get to…"
"Just like him." Tifa smiled again.
"You didn't hold up your end of the bargain…" Sephiroth hissed to Hades when he returned. "You said the boy would destroy her."
"I did but the plan went a bit off track if you didn't notice!" Hades snapped. "And besides, all you wanted was me to weaken her, you said nothing about offing the kid. Go do the fun part yourself, I've got other things to do…"
"…I will return when it is time to conquer the City of Light, as promised." The angel answered, acknowledging he had indeed done as asked before vanishing in a dark corridor.
Hades smirked. "Never left unsatisfied."