Welcome back chica's and chico's! Sorry it took so long, I've been preoccupied with finishing my Peter Pan story and putting up some new chapters for the POTC fiction. I know, I know, I've been neglecting this story, but I'm back with inspiration and a new fire for writing. Enjoy!

Chapter Nine

Days passed at Hollow Bastion. Heartless passed by, villains screamed, and word came of Sora's entrance into another world. A grimace came to Bella Donnas face when she thought of the forest infested land. Deep Jungle had never been top of her list when it came to favorites. Those ridiculous Power Wilds were probably the most annoying enemy that she had ever seen in a video game. The want to rip them all to shreds and feed them to Cerberus, who was still waiting in the Coliseum, was a feeling that made the girl shriek in irritation every time she go to the Tarzan stage of the game.

Riku had been fairly unbothered by Maleficent ever since he told her of his decision of staying. She of course went on with her soothing voice telling him of how she would make everything right again. Though her tone changed dramatically when he mentioned the little bit about Bella staying as well. She was less then happy about it, and made sure that the smaller female knew it by giving her a room far, far away from Riku and deathly close to the dwellings of the Heartless. Luckily, the young man had allowed her to bed in his room while he slept on one of the unusually uncomfortable couches.

The bedrooms at Hollow Bastion were less than friendly and welcoming. Cobwebs gripped at every piece of furniture and dangled from the ceilings above. Everything was either black, dark blue, or gray, nothing cheerful in this villainous sanctuary. Though the entirety of the castle was running on electricity, none flowed through the rooms to power lamps or anything of that sort. Only candles perched on mantles and tables lit the chambers to some degree. If it had been cleaned up, the room would have been lovely. If you were into the gothic look that is.

"Where'll they be going next, Bella?" Riku asked from his spot over by the window. The questioned girl turned slightly toward him with a blank look.

"How would I know?" she answered with another question. He only gave a half smile and shook his head.

"C'mon, I know you know. Tell me and I'll drop it."

"Well…" she started and plopped down on the bed, sending a cloud of dust up into her face. Grumbling to herself, B.D. waved a hand in front of her face; ignoring the light chuckle Riku sent her way. "I think they should be getting to the Olympus Coliseum, unless they swing back by Traverse Town. Still, they wouldn't stay there long…" she blabbered on studying a piece of string hanging off her shirt intently. She really needed to stop shooting off like that.

"Traverse Town?" the male in the room asked again, slipping off the windowsill he had been resting.

"Yeah, a little merchant type town. We should be going there soon, but I don't really remember if it's before or after…the…Coliseum…" Bella drifted off when she saw the look Riku was sending her. Aqua eyes narrowed down at her as she stared up with her own wide blue ones. She knew that he knew that she knew what was going on. He wasn't stupid or gullible. Now it was only a matter of time before she would break down and tell all.

"Lets go for a walk. I need to get outta this room." he continued on, breaking the stare before making his way to the door.

"A walk? A walk around possibly the most dangerous place in the universe?" B.D. asked with a quirked brow as she stood from the dirty comforter.

"Scared?" Riku taunted and opened the door.

"Please." she scoffed and pushed him out of the way before walking through the door and into the dark hall. Throwing her hands in the air triumphantly, B.D. slapped a gargoyle statue on the face. "Scared my a-" she started to say but was cut off when two Big Bodies rounded the corner and waddled down her way. Pressing against the wall as they passed, Bella shrunk back when one bounced into the other, so causing it to ram against the statue she was previously smacking and smash it into a pile of gravel. Oh yeah, this was a really good place to take a stroll.

"Not the most graceful of creatures are they?" Riku suddenly commented and joined the girl at the other side of the hall with his arms crossed over his chest. She only looked at him with an odd expression, then down to the pile of gargoyle remains. Picking up a piece of the stone from the top of the rubble, and shook it in the young mans face, silently saying 'ya think!'. The rare sound of an actual laugh came from his lips and took Bella by the shoulders and started leading her down the hall. "Come on, let's go."

The some of the hallways of the huge building were cold. Very cold. In some places frost clung to pictures and candle sticks, and the hot air coming from their mouths misted in front of them as they walked. It was at these times that Bella Donna envied Riku for being equipped with gloves. The only protections against these almost paranormal cold spots were the long cuffs of her shirt and the bagging legs of her pants. Other than that, she was on her own.

"Lil' chilly, huh?" the silver haired spoke up and blew a big puff of air out, sending a little cloud out into view.

"Chilly? Ha! I'm from Michigan, I've seen worse…" B.D. tried to excuse, but fact was fact. She just wasn't a cold weather person and she had a feeling that Riku could tell by the discoloration of her lips.

"Michigan. Is that the name of your 'world'?" Riku emphasized and caused the girl to wince.

"Y-yeah, you could say that." she stuttered with a brief nod of her head. The boy only rolled his eyes and smirked. As the two continued on down the hall in silence, both their minds were working on different problems. In Rikus head, he was trying to figure out how to get Bella to spill the beans on the truth behind where she came from and such. The question of if he could trust this Maleficent woman was also a main concern. He knew the woman didn't seem entirely trustworthy, but if she said she could help get Kairi back…But that would mean breaking the promise to B.D. Not that he hadn't already done that. With another mention of the female, his mind then switched to the relationship with the girl. She was so different from Kairi. Was that a bad thing? As time went on, Riku had begun to think that it was possible that he didn't see it as a bad thing after all. And he wasn't entirely sure what to make of that.

The thoughts in Bella Donna's head were very different. They jumped back and forth between the lying to Riku about her origins, the dangers of the Disney villains, and her slight crush she had for the silver haired boy. She wasn't afraid to admit it to herself, but to anyone else…no, no, no, red light all the way. That would be getting too involved. Getting to involved with Riku meant getting to involved with the game. Getting to involved with the game meant the loss of her immortality in the computer generated realm. Becoming part of a video game and facing the possibility that she wouldn't be able to keep a grip on her reality was something that B.D. didn't want to grow accustom too.

Coming to yet another corner of the maze that was Hollow Bastion, the girl kept her head down and stared at the hard floor. Not watching where you're going in a place run by evil beings is not something anyone should do. Before Riku or herself could come to a halt, Bella turned the sharp angle and rammed straight into a tall, broad, black adorned chest. The impact brought an unwanted screech from her throat and sent her flailing backwards into the wall, clutching her chest. A little jumpy maybe?

"Hey, hey, easy there babe. Relax." a smooth voice that reminded the shocked girl of a car salesman one would find in the big city. There, standing near the opposite wall a towering form stood with his hands out in front of him as he spoke. Atop his head a tuft of blue flame sprouted up and he ran a long fingered hand over it while rolling his shoulders. "And watch where you're goin', alright?"

"Hades?" Bella sighed out and pushed herself off the wall with a bit of assistance from Riku who glared over at the god of death.

"One and only. Hey, kid, try ta teach your chickie-poo ta chill out a bit, eh?" Hades mumbled.

"Chicky-poo?" B.D. growled.

"My chicky-poo?" Riku asked in a more even tone and raise one slim brow.

"Yeah, so get a grip." the god snapped at the girl.

"Why are you even here anyway? Shouldn't you be at the Coliseum?" she replied in a bitter tone. No wonder this guy ran the Underworld, a few minutes with him and she was ready to claw his face off. Though the years of being stuck with all the corpses probably didn't do much for his personality. Turning back to the Egyptian, Hades stiffened as his 'hair' let loose a few streams of red and orange. Who was the one that needed to get a grip?

"Hey, mind your business, girly. It'll get ya a lot further in life, trust me." the gray skinned man said and flicked her forehead with his middle finger, making her take a step back. Riku, being the manly man he was, stepped between the two and smacked Hades' hand away. Bold move.

"Leave her alone." the shorter of the two males spoke in a demanding voice that would make any less of a person back up. But this was Hades, and backing up was not his style.

"Don't give me this chivalry crap, kid. I got places ta go." he chuckled and pushed Riku aside right into Bella Donna. As the two tumbled to the floor, the god strolled off on his way to their left. Grunting when the young mans shoulder blade dug into her ribs, B.D. lightly slapped his arm to send the point. Rolling off the girl, Riku came to sit on his knees beside her.

"Living here is going to be wonderful." he grumbled and clasped his hands in his lap. "You alright?"

"I'm not made of glass, Riku." she smirked and sat up. "But, yeah, I'm fine."

"Well," Riku started and stood to his feet before putting a hand out to Bella Donna, "Wanna head back? I think I've had enough walking around this place for one day."

"Yeah…" she sighed and took the offered hand, joining him. Holding his gloved hand made her think about what it was made of. It didn't really feel like leather, cotton, or any other kind of material she'd ever felt. Rubbing her thumb along the black glove, B.D. noticed that it had the same creases of leather, but had the softness of cloth. She couldn't help but think that it was odd for a video game to have this much detail. She should be able to recognize the feel of things shouldn't she? The creators of the game wouldn't have gone through all the trouble of making a new kind of fabric, would they? Shaking her head, the girl failed to remember that she was still holding Riku's hand and was still rubbing with her finger.

Freezing mid-rub, Bella glanced up at Riku with her head still tilted down. The only thing she saw was his silver locks falling over his face as he also gazed down at their still latched hands. Why wasn't he pulling away? What was wrong with him? What was wrong with her?!

"Actually, I need to go back to the library." she finally spit out and jerked her hand out of his.

"Why?" he asked after snapping out of it and pulling his hand back as well.

"I…I think I left my book bag in there. I'll be back in a little bit." Bella explained and started walking off down the hall.

"Wait! You shouldn't go alone." Riku stopped her with his voice. Turning back around and walking backwards, the young woman shrugged.

"Don't worry, Riku. I'm a big girl." with that, said she curled her arm up to do a mock flex and rounded the corner once more in the opposite direction Hades went.

"Alright…" the boy whispered and took one last look at the deserted hall before making his way back to the room. Such an odd girl.

Wiping her hands on her pants, Bella Donna was suddenly glad that Riku wore gloves. Feeling her palms sweat when they gripped hands was not something that she needed him to do. Keeping hold of her hand was not something that she needed him to do either. She needed to get away from him for a while. To involved, to involved.

Switching to another subject, B.D.'s mind went back to Hades. Why was he here? Sora and Erin would be arriving at the Coliseum soon, so why was he still hanging around Hollow Bastion? Running a hand over the wall as she walked, the blue-eyed girl bit her lip in thought. Why was he here? Scanning the game over and over in her head, she tried to think of a conclusion. Sora goes to Wonderland, Deep Jungle, and the Coliseum. What's in between?

Stopping in her tracks, Bella grumbled to herself. Duh. After Deep Jungle, there's another meeting of the villains. Turning around abruptly, the knowledgeable girl ran off back down the hall in the direction the god went. Toward the castle Chapel. Sprinting down halls, swerving through the lift shop, scampering up stairs she went, always cautious of the danger that could be waiting around the next corner. Maybe taking Hades' advice wasn't such a bad idea at the time. Especially when she spotted the flame haired figure stepping through a doorway into the huge room of electric lifts.

Slowing down her pace substantially, B.D. crept along the wall until the glow of the blue flame disappeared through the darkness. Sliding through the doorway, she was forced to stop once more when the god stopped and waited for a lift. Why in the world would he need a lift? Weren't gods suppose to be able to just poof anywhere? Oh, well. Everyone needs there exercise. Watching as he was transported onto the contraption and brought upward, the girl jogged over to the small tower like object and touched it tentatively with her finger. The feeling not unlike going between her world and the video game came over her and she found herself riding up to another level.

She followed Hades until they both found themselves once more in the lift shop with the door to the Chapel just ahead. Even though she was close to her destination, Bella was careful to slip along the wall and out of the yellow gaze of the gray man. Jumping slightly when one or two Shadows clambered around the corner, she quickly clammed up when she realized she let out a little yelp of surprise. She was really not good at this following thing.

"You again?" the voice of Hades spoke out when he caught the girl frozen against the cold stones. "What are you doin' here?"

"Um…" she started and pursed her lips. "Walking."

"Hey, babe, I'm a jerk, not stupid." the god gave that menacing smirk and leaned against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. "Why are ya followin' me? Couldn't resist that old southern charm? Get it? Southern?" the pointed down when the Underworld awaited his return. The female just stood there with a quirked brow.

"Seriously, what are ya doin' here?"

"Isn't there a meeting of the villains in…the…Chapel?" B.D. asked and hesitantly pointed toward the door. She had to be careful. This guy may seem like a just any other annoying egotistical male, but he was Hades.

"Villains?" he drawled out and brought the girl to shift nervously in her place.

"Well…what else do you want me to categorize you people as?"

"Good point. I suppose your plannin' on watchin' the lil' meeting, huh?"

"That was my original plan, yes." she nodded and her face twisted into a nervous expression. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

"Hey, not my problem. According ta green gal in there, you already know what's goin' on anyway." Hades mumbled nonchalantly and made his way for the door.

"Maleficent? What did she say?" Bella Donna asked the retreating god. He only flicked a hand back toward her and continued. "Hades!" Her yell turned him back around sharply with an orange glow to his flaming locks. Instantly she regretted raising her voice. What was she thinking, yelling at the god of the Underworld? Silly…

"Wha-what did she say?"

"Hey, I like you, babe. Ya lil' spitfire you." Hades pointed a bony at her and shrugged one broad shoulder. "Somethin' about you not bein' from around here. Then she went on about you knowin' the plan, what the turn out is…I faded out after that. Though I did catch something about you holding back all this from that boyfriend of yours."

"He's not my boyfriend." Bella deadpanned.

"Ohh, do I detect a hint of bitterness?" the god rubbed his chin, grinning at the look he was getting from the girl. "Hey, I won't go usin' that tid-bit of info against ya, as for the others in there…"

"Bella?" a voice came from behind the two conversing ones.

"Riku! H-Hey, what are you doing up here?" B.D. stuttered and turned to him with an innocent look smeared on her face.

"You weren't in the library. I just want to tell you the bags in the room…" Riku drifted off when he caught sight of Hades and immediately narrowed his eyes. In response, the god put his hands out in front of him.

"Easy there tiger. Later, babe." Hades added insult to injury and winked to the girl before entering the Chapel. The silver haired boy stepped up beside her with questioning eyes.

"Don't give me that look, Riku."

"You left to talk with him?" he tossed his arm out to the side.

"Nooo, I left to go to the meeting." she quickly corrected and shook her head.

"What meeting?" Riku stated sternly and crossed his arms. B.D. grabbed onto his shirt and pulled him to the door.

"Follow me and you'll see."

Though at first he wasn't all that thrilled about being pulled in the direction of Hades, Riku followed close behind Bella Donna as they went through the door and down the dark stairway of the Chapel. In the middle of the oval room, the two teenagers could make out numerous figures standing around a table. Pulling the boy over to one side, the girl put a finger to her lips in a sign to keep quiet.

"What drew the Heartless to that world?" a smooth voice asked. Bella recognized it immediately as the vizier, Jafar.

"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." the sorceress replied from the head of the table. A laugh came from the member of the group that hailed from Halloween Town.

"Yeah, he got chomped instead!"

"Hmm…A weak hearted fool like him stood no chance against the Heartless." once again the man from Agrabah spoke and stepped forward. "But the boy is a problem. He found one of the keyholes."

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

"Yes, the princesses."

"They are falling into our hands, one by one." with that the horned woman glanced to her side to see a blonde girl stumble out of the darkness. "Speaking of which…"

"Alice." Bella Donna whispered and shook her head. Things were beginning to come together.

"Um…"

"Good timing. Give me a hand will ya? Move that pedestal over there for me? I gotta spruce up this place for the games."

There Erin was standing in the lobby of the Olympus Coliseum. In front of her the little satyr, Phil, was currently straightening a sign while giving orders to Sora. The boy only shrugged at the order and stepped over to the large object. Pushing with all his might until his shoes scuffed at the ground and Erin pulled him away and back to the little goat man, the Keyblade master rubbed the back of his neck and sent a big grin to the girl.

"Its way to heavy." he admitted. Phil hesitated in his work.

"What?! Too heavy? Since when have you been such a little--" he started and turned to look upon those who he was speaking to. Turning to Sora, the satyr raised a brow when he found he had to lower his gaze. "Oh, wrong guy. What're you doin' here? This here's the world famous Coliseum--hero's only! And I got my hands filled preparing for the games. So run along pip-squeaks."

The four males in the room just glared at each other, while Erin held a hand over her mouth to keep from giggling. What a cute little goat man!

"Look, its like this." Phil continued. "Hero's are comin' from all over to fight ferocious monsters right here in the Coliseum." During this little explanatory speech, the little man walked around waving his hands in the air.

"You got hero's standing right in front of you" Donald quaked out and crossed his arms over his chest while sporting his usual glare. Beside him, Goofy put his hands on Sora's shoulders from behind.

"Yep, he's a real hero chosen by the Keyblade."

"And we're hero's too!" the duck went on and pointed to himself.

"Hero?" Phil stared wide-eyed at Sora before busting out in chuckles. "That runt?"

"What's so funny? I've fought a bunch of monsters!" the boy argued and hit himself in the chest. Beside him, Erin slapped him on the shoulder and nodded.

"That's right! Saved my life I dunno how many times!" she ranted and pointed a finger to the short one. "So you better let him compete!" Oh it was so great getting her own lines!

"Gonna let your girlfriend fight your battles, kid?"

"Hey!" Sora exclaimed and took a step toward the satyr. The little guy shrugged and made his way over to the pedestal.

"Hey, if you can't even move this…" he said and started his attempts and moving the stone. "You can't call yourself…a hero!" he gasped out and wiped his forehead.

"Okay, so it takes more than brawn. Well…well lets see what you can do!"

With that said, Phil led the four into the arena where the barrels of the challenge waited. Before being pushed off into the stands, Erin was sure to whisper to Sora the fastest way through the course. Yet something else she gave away that Cleo would probably kill her for. As the time trials went on, the girl sat on the uncomfortable seats of the Coliseum and cheered the blade wielder on. Wincing when he failed the first time from her flawed strategy, she gave a sorry smile and clapped slowly. Okay, so maybe she wasn't as good at this remembering stuff as B.D. was. But she was still alive so…

"Ya know, you ain't bad kid!" Phil commented after the time trails were through and done with. Erin jumped up and down excitedly beside the chestnut haired boy and clapped her hands some more.

"Looks like I'm headed for the games!" Sora gave the big cheesy grin and crossed his arms behind his head. The next thing they knew, the party was sitting outside the gates with depressed looks on their faces.

"A pass? Where in the world am I gonna get a pass?" the boy asked and rested his chin in his hand. On the step next to him, the brown haired girl threw an arm around his shoulders.

"Don't worry. I'm sure you'll get one somewhere…" she faded off and looked around the dirt court yard. Any minute now…

"Its not like someone's just handing them out!" Donald screeched out the strangely specific words.

"Rather a stubborn old goat, wouldn't ya say?"

Oh no.

"Who are you?" the Kings wizard demanded in surprise when the shadow of a dark figure appeared over them.

"Whoa, hold on there fuzz boy. Wait let me guess…" the god of death slid toward Sora as he spoke. "You wanna enter the games, right?"

The boy stood up in curiosity at this odd being and nodded his head. Grunting when Hades laid his hand roughing on his shoulder, blue eyes widened when he spotted what he was being offered.

"Well, then, hey, get a load of this."

"A pass?"

"Its all yours." the god gave a sharp toothed grin and quirked a brow when he spotted Erin, who in return shrunk away. Studying her clothing for a moment, his yellow tinted eyes narrowed. "You gotta friend around here, kid?"

"BELLA!" Erin exclaimed a little too quickly and sent all the males stepping backward. Gathering herself, the small girl stomped over to the god, only to be pulled back by Sora. "Did you hurt her? Ohhh, I knew it was a bad idea for her to go to that place! A bad, bad idea!"

"Whoa, you're worse then she is…"

"She IS. That means she's alive right!" she went on in her loud tone of voice.

"Yeah, hey, in fact, I'll go check on her for ya." Hades pointed behind him with is thumb in an obviously annoyed voice. "Good luck, kid. I'm pullin' for ya, lil' shorty." He parted with those words and strode away. The four didn't ever get to see him disappear before Sora jolted back into the lobby with his pass in hand.

And so the matches began. Shadows, Soldiers, Power Wilds, and everything else in between. Being caught once more in the stands was not where Erin wanted to be. She wanted to be down there, fighting, and draining that immortality stuff and Cleo told her about for all that it was worth. Though she had a feeling that she would probably end up to be more bad then good down in the fighting grounds. Sora didn't need anyone else to protect. However, she was always sure to find her way down there after the matches were over, just to cheer her team on. Unlike in the game that she had experienced, other fighters dwelled outside the arena. They were mostly comprised of Heartless of all shape and size. Though, one other fighter caught the teenage girls attention right away.

His blonde hair pointed upward to the sky much like Sora's. A long crimson cape flowed behind him and wound its way around his neck, hiding most of his gorgeous face. A single black wing sprouted from his left shoulder and matched in wonderfully with his newly acquired claw. Hooks and buckles hung from his body as he moved across the field, and Erin had to clench her fists and jaw to keep herself from going all fan-girly.

"Cloud Strife." she whispered, the words hardly catching the ear of Sora.

"What did you say, Erin?"

"Cloud Strife." she repeated in a slightly louder voice. Before she thought the resemblance to Vincent Valentine was too much for this new Cloud, but now, up close…she was having nooo problem with it whatsoever.

"Who's that?" the duck of the group asked and poked the girl in the arm. She had no time, or breath, to reply however. Soon after those words were spoken, the dark Strife slowly walked by the little group at the side of the field. His intense blue gaze fell on Sora, and the boy only looked on with his usual innocent eyes. Erin on the other hand, wasn't keeping herself together as well as she hoped. Her hands hand moved up to her clutch around her chin, and her legs were bent at the knee and threatening to give out soon. Damn those teenage hormones of hers! Raising a few fingers in a little wave to the Final Fantasy VII warrior, the girl then had to take a deep breath. A swift nod of his head was Clouds response to the timid greeting, and that nod sent things flying in Erin's mind. Watching his every move until he disappeared from sight, the girl then turned to Sora and let out an unidentifiable sound.

"Did you see that? He looked at me, Sora! CLOUD STRIFE looked at ME!" she carried on and latched onto the blade master, who in turn cocked a brow. If anyone hadn't have known better, they would have said there was a splotch of jealousy in those sapphire orbs.

"Oh, brother." Donald muttered and shook his head.

"Yeah, he's not that great." Sora also spoke in a low tone and crossed his arms while Erin kept her hold on him.

"Oh, you silly boy, you." she said and patted him on the cheek before skipping happily off to the stands again. The boy had to hold back the urge to call out 'don't you wanna go look for you boyfriend!?'. But that would be childish.

Ah, can we say 'gaining of relationships momentum'? Huh, can we? Yeah, that is a mouth full to say isn't it. Alright, about this chapter…I just had to stick Hades in there as a pretty big character. He's just so great! Though, that's only my opinion. As for if Erin and Sora are gonna hook up, I'm not gonna say. As for Bella and Riku…if you don't know the answer, you haven't been reading correctly! Just one more thing, if you're into Van Helsing, go read my fic called A Saint At My Side and a Demon In My Arms. Or just any of my other stories, and if you do read my other stories, do like you do on this one and REVIEW!!!!