A/N: Hey, uh, sorry about the lack of updates lately, but I've been kinda busy, and, uh...

Teek: Admit it, you were just goofing off.

Me: And there were the bloopers in Chapter 10 I had to finish typing up, you have to admit that I was actually working on those!

Teek: And you couldn't post the chapters prior to that because...?

Me: Slipped my mind?

Mizu: Stop arguing, you two, at least she's updating again!

Me: Really!

Mizu: Besides, she had writer's block, remember?

Me: I did?

Teek: Bobbi, you are writer's block!

Me: Whatever! Anyway, folks, R&R, please!

Mizu strode purposefully across the courtyard to the only other door in sight. Without even bothering to knock, she went in to the Coliseum's lobby. Looking around the relatively small room, she spotted a hallway leading further into the Coliseum, and followed it. At the end, she caught a glimpse of Sora running around and busting up barrels. She didn't say anything to attract his attention, only raised her eyebrow. Then she spotted the satyr with Donald and Goofy, and walked over to ask what in the world was going on.

"Goofy, Donald!" she called. Both looked over at her, and Goofy waved in greating.

"Oh, hello, Kage!" he said. "Uh, what're you doin' here?"

"Same as Sora's supposed to be doing: looking for Riku and Kairi. What is that kid up to, guys?"

"He's going through training for the games," the satyr said, not once taking his eyes off of Sora. "That's it, kid, time's up!" he called to the boy. "You wanna try again?"

"Yeah!" Sora called back, not even looking over at them.

"Is there a point to the barrels?" Mizu asked.

"He has to destroy all the barrels in two minutes," the satyr said. "By the way, I'm Phil."

"Call me Kage," Mizu said. "That last round wasn't too bad."

"Yeah, the kid's pretty good, for a runt." Mizu stiffled a snicker.

"He's okay, I guess," Mizu said after a moment of watching Sora. "He could use a little work, though. I never really noticed how child-like his technique is. If I had the time, I'd train him up a bit, but I'll have to let experience handle that, now."

"Child-like!" Donald protested. "He's the Keyblade Master!"

"He's still a kid," Mizu said coldly.

"You're not that much older than he is," Donald retorted.

"Not in years, no," Mizu said quietly, once again wishing she had her memories back. "But he still has a lot of growing up to do," she said in a more audible tone. "I've seen the way he pouts when he doesn't get his way. And I've spent a lot more time with him than you have. I know him better than you, and I'm telling you he's still a kid."

"You a trainer, Kage?" Phil asked, having ignored Donald.

"Not per se, no," Mizu admitted. "I don't think so anyway. But I know an un-trained technique when I see one, and that's what Sora's using. I never thought about it back on the islands because we were never fighting for anything other than the exerscise back then. I thought I could get him to be great in a few years, but I obviously didn't get the chance."

"Yeah, a bit of training and he won't just be good, he'll be brilliant!" Phil said, a thoughtful look on his face.

"Don't tell him that," Mizu cautioned. "Praise goes straght to his head. You gotta be a little hard on this kid in order to get anything out of him. Just the right mix of praise and criticism, and he'll go all out to be the best he can be. 'That was good, but...' seems to work really well on him."

"I'll keep that in mind," Phil said. Right then, Sora destroyed the last of the barrels. Mizu snuck back into the shadows where Sora couldn't see her when he turned and started walking up to Phil, who led them into the lobby before speaking.

"You know," Phil said to Sora, "you ain't bad, kid."

"Looks like I'm headed for the games," Sora said, a smug look on his face. Mizu resisted the urge to roll her eyes and groan.

"Afraid not," Phil retorted.

"Why not?" Sora asked, offended.

"Two words: You guys ain't heroes."

Mizu now fought the urge to laugh as Goofy started counting the words on his fingers and coming up with twice what Phil said there'd be.

"Come on!" Sora protested.

"Wanna become a real hero?" Phil asked. "Start by mastering this spell."

Phil told Sora how to use a thunder spell, and Mizu tried to follow along, but she just didn't grasp the concept. She thought that using the materia on the knives Leon and Yuffie had given her was way easier. Sora left the lobby in a huff, and Mizu stepped out of the shadows again.

"A little harsh," she said, "but necessary. I assume you don't think he can handle himself in these 'games' of yours?"

"Didn't I just tell him that?"

"Not in so many words, no, but I like a little clarification every now and then. I do have to admit, though, I don't really understand what you told him about that spell."

"You probably wouldn't," Phil said. "You don't look like you use the kind of magic that he does."

"Ah, no, I don't." Mizu pulled one of the daggers from her belt and held it up to the light from one of the torches. "Those little jewels on the hilt? They're called materia. I use those as a kind of focus for different elements and magic. A few even give me certain abilities, like this purple one, here." She touched the materia she was talking about with the nail on her little finger. "It's a cover materia. It lets me intercept a blow meant for one of my companions. I don't know how I know all this about the materia, I just do."

"That's odd," Phil said. He was about to say something else when Sora walked back in.

"Kage!" Sora exclaimed on seeing her. "When'd you get here?"

"About two rounds at the barrels ago," Mizu said with a grin, slipping the knife back into her belt. "Wassup, squirt?"

Sora's bottom lip stuck out a little at the slight on his size, but he ignored it for the moment, and turned to present a slip of paper to Phil.

"Hey, how'd you get this?" Phil asked, momentarily stunned.

"Can we enter the games now?" Sora asked hopefully.

"Well... I guess so," Phil said. "We start with the preliminaries! You ready for the preliminaries?"

"Yeah, let's go!" Sora said excitedly. Mizu groaned and followed the peanut-gallery out into the arena.

"Some real weirdo's signed up for the games," Phil warned. "Better watch yourself."

"I'm gonna go find a good view-point," Mizu said. "Good luck, Sora!" She trotted off around the arena towards the stands and climbed up a few rows before sprawling out on one of the benches. Apparently, she was the only person at the Coliseum who wasn't participating in the games other than Phil and some strange blue guy wearing a toga with his hair on fire.

After Sora won the first round, he went over to talk to Phil. Mizu was too far off to hear what they were saying, but she did notice a man walk by the group. He was fairly tall, whith spiked blonde hair and a tattered, blood-red cloak. She couldn't see his face properly, but she still felt a jolt when she saw him. It was that same feeling of familiarity she'd gotten when she first looked at Leon, Yuffie, Aerith, and Cid, only much, much stronger.

After Sora had won his second and third rounds, Mizu climbed down from her vantage point and began pacing around the arena, annalyzing Sora's style from every possible view-point in his fourth and fifth matches. After the fifth match, she was going to pass by a little alcove on the far end of the arena when she heard a voice and stopped dead in her tracks to eavesdrop.

"That little punk is your next opponent, okay?" said a voice Mizu didn't recognize. She'd recently seen the man who seemed familiar and the other one with his hair on fire walk in there, and somehow she knew it wasn't the former who was speaking. "Now, don't blow it. Just take him out."

"The great god of the underworld is afraid of a kid?" asked the other man. "Sorry, but my contract says--"

"I know!" roared Hades. "You think I don't know? I wrote the contract! I know it says you're only required to kill Herculese in this tournament. But you've gotta fight that kid to get to him. Hey, it's like that old goat says: Rule 11: It's all just a game, so let loose and have fun with it! I mean, a casualty or two along the way is no big deal, right?"

Mizu backed silently into the wall as the other man left. She caught a quick glimpse of his rage-filled face.

He may have a contract with the god of the underworld, Mizu found herself thinking, but he's not really a bad guy. Somehow, I know that...

Mizu found herself thinking,

"Geez," Hades said when the other guy was out of ear-shot. "Stiffer than the stiffs back home. Still suckers like him are hard to come by..."

Mizu's spine stiffened and her fists clenched in outrage at what Hades had said.

If he says one more thing about Cloud I will put his friggin' hair out! she thought angrily, then relaxed slightly as she realised what she had just thought. Cloud? Is that his name? She shrugged and continued her prowling of the arena's perimiter.

she thought angrily, then relaxed slightly as she realised what she had just thought. She shrugged and continued her prowling of the arena's perimiter.

Two rounds later, Sora, Goofy, and Donald went up against Cloud. Mizu's first thought when the combatants entered the field was, Finally, a descent challenge for him. She sternly told herself she meant that thought for Sora, but deep down she couldn't be too sure.

She watched the match torn between two loyalties: one she'd forgotten, and another for Sora. When Cloud got in the first hit, she bit her knuckles to hold back a chear. She started bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet, excitement flooding through her. It was a very, very close match, but one of Cloud's Sonic Blade techniques knocked Sora off-balance and onto one knee. Cloud raised his gigantic sword for the killing blow.

"Cloud, don't!" Mizu screamed at the exact same time that a gigantic, black, three-headed dog exploded it's way into the arena. She didn't know if it was her yell or Cerberus's sudden appearance that stopped him, but she was relieved that he stopped his attack anyway. In shock, Cloud dropped his sword.

"Oh, right, there was one other rule I forgot," Hades said laughingly from the other side of the stadium. "Accidents happen." He left before Mizu could do more than draw her daggers. She started to chase after him when Phil's shout stopped her.

"Herc!"

Mizu turned to see a man facing off against Cerberus, protecting Sora and Cloud so they could make their escape.

"Phil," Herculese called back, "get them out of here!"

Mizu took the hint and followed Sora, Goofy, and Donald back into the lobby.

"Whew, that was close!" Phil panted. "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."

Sora tried to go back into the arena, but Mizu grabbed his arm tightly.

"Are you nuts?" she hissed into his ear. "Let Herculese handle this, Sora!"

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

"I'm not afraid," Sora said so calmly that Mizu let go of his arm in shock. Sora grinned over his shoulder at Phil. "You can decide if I'm hero material or not."

"Careful, kid!" Phil warned. Mizu swore and ran after him.

A/N: Beware the suspense... MWAHAHAHA!

Teek: You worry me.