Secrets of Memories Chapter 26: Top of the Mountain
Goofy had never been silent for so long. Donald stared at the captain oddly; Goofy was very rarely quiet. He was well known for not being quiet-otherwise known as noise, clumsy, and goofy- for even five minutes. But here he was now, silent for nearly an hour in the gummi ship. Donald wondered whether or not he should be worried.
Donald looked to Sora, who was manning the gummi ship with a viciousness the wizard had never, ever seen before. He seemed to have abandoned his antics-which Donald was actually thankful for-and had taken up what seemed to Donald was suicide.
Must be because of Aozora, Donald concluded. He had seen how Sora reacted to the stunning information of Aozora actually playing a major part in the destruction of Ancient Greece. Well, both Goofy and he were shocked as well but Sora seemed to be badly hit by this sudden piece of info. The way he stomped out of the clocktower and sulked through the whole train ride to the gummi garage was frightening but the way he manned the gummi ship out of Twilight Town and towards where Ancient Greece was supposed to be nearly killed Goofy and him.
In fact, it was so frightening Donald didn't even want to think about it.
Right now, he could feel hot, angry energy coming from Sora; he didn't think Sora could hold anger like that for so long. What had happened that changed Sora? Donald sure didn't remember seeing Sora change in any way for the last year and several weeks. How strange.
There were so many things that have happened over the last few years, decades, centuries even, he thought. The stakes are escalating; with every move we make, the pros and cons have a greater effect on the fate of the universe. Why did we have to involve ourselves in this whole mess thirteen years ago?!
He reminisced on the past. He had read archives of the universe's past, filled with warfare, and he was a witness to a branch of that terrible warfare, lent a helping hand in jeopardizing the hopes of both the light and dark, and was now witness to the rising forces of dark and light. Donald Duck was in a gummi ship with the one person spearheading the attack against the dark, the one person who carried a promise for everyone. But that certain person was in a horrendous rage and Donald had a bad feeling he would actually kill if something added to the anger. He wondered whether or not he was lucky at all.
Hercules watched the blue skies, searching for something that seemed not to be there. His father, Almighty Zeus, had already told him that Phil was on his way and, finally, he'll be reunited with Pegasus and Meg, both whom he was separated from during the destruction of Ancient Greece about three years ago.
About three years ago...The world was burning, burning, flames rising up high, licking the sky. Heat waves roared upwards, forcing Hercules back from the wall of hellfire that separated him from Meg and an injured Pegasus. People screamed and ran all around him, trying to escape what seemed to be impending doom. Phil was shouting up at him, yelling something rather unintelligent. Hercules ignored him, gritting his teeth with rage when he realized there was no way he could reach Meg and Pegasus.
" Meg!" he yelled over the roaring fire, unsure of whether or not she could hear him in the deafening inferno. "Meg, get out of here! Find somewhere safe! Phil and I'll find a way to get out of here."
Meg was shouting something else as well but the walls of flame sudden rose up higher. Then Phil tapped him on the leg. Hercules looked down to the satyr, who pointed frantically at a being, a being in a long, dark coat and hood, one of the strange people who had come to his home in Ancient Greece and were currently setting the whole world on fire.
He saw hints of blond hair sticking out from the hood, a glimmer of bronze eyes that shimmered unnaturally, with high intensity in the flames. The person was smaller, shorter, thinner than the rest of the mysterious group but had a strange, intangible essence.
Phil was saying something. "This was the guy who started the whole flamin' fire!"
Hercules gaped at the being, who stared back at him with sad, solemn eyes. The tawny eyes were lonely, wrought with many tragedies, regretting everything the owner of the bronze eyes had done. Then, as the flames reached higher, the light from the fire revealed the face of the one Phil said had started the whole fire.
He was only a child. On the verge of a teenager, yes, but he was still a child. A pale face, with shimmering bronze eyes and blond hair falling across the right side of his face, the child was biting his lip, and a stream of red liquid was dribbling down his chin. He had a look of horror on his face.
" He's only a kid?!" Phil was stunned. "A kid set the whole world on fire?!"
Hercules didn't wait any longer. He yelled, "Who in Hades' hell are you?"
The kid backed away nervously, and shadow covered his face again. The eyes still shone, with a light of fear.
" Tell me, kid, did you set the fire?" Hercules demanded. "Did you? Did you?!"
The eyes spoke all.
Hercules reached for his sword but Phil stopped him. "Hercules, he's just a kid!"
When Hercules turned on him, Phil added, "Look, I'm sure he's the one who set the whole world on fire but look at him; he's just a kid! If you wanna take out your anger on the big guys, go ahead, but I'm not letting you slaughter a kid in the name of Zeus!"
Hercules was grim when he turned back to the kid. But he was gone.
Then, cracks appeared on the ground, forcing their way through stone and earth. Fissures formed and steam spurted into the world. Phil yelled, "Hercules, we've gotta get outta here!"
" But Pegasus and Meg!" Hercules protested and gestured. The wall of fire was dying.
" We've no time!" Phil snapped. " We gotta get out of here; just pray to your dad for their safety!"
And so, on their long trek to the Coliseum, Hercules begged his father to protect Pegasus and Meg. And as Coliseum detached itself from Ancient Greece, as the world detonated before his very eyes, he prayed fervently that perhaps Meg and Pegasus were still safe, that they had reached the train track that would lead them away to safety. Hopefully.
For two years, Hercules and Phil kept the Coliseum from crumbling, as they interacted with others from neighboring worlds. They became especially good friends with Leon, Cloud, and Yuffie, who came regularly to train and to have mock duels with Hercules. It would be from them that Hercules would learn about the universe and its struggle.
Every night he prayed that Meg and Pegasus were safe. Nearly every day, a pair of tragedy-ridden bronze eyes haunted him, shimmering back at him from the distant parts of his mind. The eyes seemed to regret everything but Hercules hated the eyes, hated them with passion. The one who had those eyes had destroyed his home and the ones he loved were not with him, were separated from him because of that kid.
When Sora, Donald, and Goofy came, it took both Hercules and Phil a while to get used to the Keyblade wielder. What really shook them was the fact Sora bore a remarkable resemblance to the child who destroyed the world. Well, they couldn't exactly credit the child with that but they knew that his setting Thebes on fire-and the rest of the world in the process-started a chain of events that led to its destruction.
And where were Sora, Donald, and Goofy now? It's been a year since they had last seen each other; now Sora, Donald, and Goofy were coming as well. Cid had made a personal visit to Ancient Greece, to oversee the rebuilding of Thebes, which happened to be done with remarkable speed, and he was the one who told Hercules that Meg and Pegasus were safe, as was Phil, and that they were headed his way.
"Then there's Kairi and Selphie..." Hercules mused. How in Hades' hell was he going to tell Sora about everything?
" Well, first thing's first," Hercules noted to himself as he spotted a small, very familiar figure head up the steep path on Mount Olympus to where Coliseum was. " Well, never mind. That's the second-no, third thing. This time, its first thing's first. Greet Phil."
And Hercules shoved the doors of Coliseum open and ran down the path to greet his trainer and friend, who looked not only disheveled, but grumpy as well.
Just like usual.
Phil had just told Hercules that Meg and Pegasus were fine, safe as can be and headed for Ancient Greece after stopping by Traverse Town, when the doors of Coliseum swung open with tremendous force, causing the doors to bang against their hinges. The godlike warrior and the grumpy satyr jumped and turned to the doors. Then Hercules smiled.
The furious look on Sora's face quickly erased as he saw one of his friends for the first time in a year. His sullen blue eyes brightened and a grin exposed itself on his face.
" Hercules, long time, no see," he said as they clasped hands in a gesture of strong friendship. "How have you been?"
" Very good, actually," Hercules admitted, then caught a look Phil had given him. "I was just kidding about that; actually, it's a long story. Glad to see you're okay-"
" Kid, you around when we reopen Coliseum?" Phil fired.
Sora stood straight up, puffed up his chest, and said, "Just tell me when you're ready Phil."
The satyr grinned and flashed him a thumbs up.
" Heya Phil!" Goofy greeted earnestly, while Donald looked around Coliseum. He spent a rather long time looking out on Ancient Greece, on the city Coliseum was located nearby.
" Thebes is up and thriving, I see," Donald noted with a nod. "Cid came by, didn't he?"
" Got everything fixed up, just like the old times," Hercules reported, then twitched ever so slightly, as a pair of bronze eyes flashed in his mind.
Sora caught him twitching and demanded, "What's wrong, Hercules?"
" Huh? Oh, nothing, nothing really," Hercules replied hastily, then spotted something rather odd about Sora. Well, several things actually.
" Since when did you start wearing black?" Phil asked, before Hercules could ask him the same question.
Sora shrugged. "It looked nice so I bought the clothes; I couldn't go around wearing practically the same thing every day, could I?"
" And your necklace?" Phil continued.
Sora's face fell. "I don't know. After-after this disastrous run-in with Ao-with an acquaintance of mine, I lost it."
Phil raised an eyebrow at this but didn't push it.
" Sora," Hercules said slowly, eyeing the teenager's neck. "Where did you get that scar on your neck?"
" Long story, huyuk," Goofy answered. "A really long story."
" I don't want to talk about it either," Sora added rather harshly.
Hercules was puzzled by this odd behavior but decided to digress into something else just as important. "I was with Kairi and Selphie, Sora, in In-Between."
Sora jerked and his face quickly paled. He turned on Hercules and demanded, "What? Are they okay? Is Kairi okay? Where are they? What happened? Hercules, tell me everything!"
" Calm down," Hercules replied quickly. "Calm down a bit and I'll tell you everything. See, back in Old Universe..."
Aozora staggered out of the clocktower, grimacing with every step he took. Going down the stairs in the clocktower was, he thought, exactly like walking through hellfire barefooted and naked.
Axel managed to escape, leaving only behind a promise: We will meet again exactly when hope fails.
Aozora didn't know what he meant but he didn't like the words at all. Exactly when hope fails? What in hell does that mean?
He stumbled and swore as he caught himself; the gashes all over him burned angrily. The half-healed slash on his right side had re-opened and the blood flow had only recently begun to slow. He was in a worse condition than the day before.
Damn it all, he swore. Can't find Ashita and Yuri anywhere, I'm not where Sora is, I don't know where in hell Ancient Greece is now, Axel's put himself squarely in the picture, and these cuts are killing me!
He ignored the looks people gave him as he staggered onward for the train station. He was used to the looks; the looks were no different from the ones fired at him because of his bronze eyes. Walking around with eyes of metal was strange indeed; staggering about with metallic eyes and blood-soaked clothing was a different story altogether. That was altogether accented by the trail of blood he left behind. People steered clear of the bloody trail and at that moment in time, Aozora could easily be compared to Moses; they both made paths through seas of whatever. Moses, in this case, went through water; Aozora was going through people.
When he reached the train station, however, he was aghast. There was a huge delay and he decided to find out why. A person who ignored his bloodied state told him that not too long ago, a strange man with red hair entered a train. Then the train silently detonated.
Silently?! Aozora thought. How the hell does a train explode silently?
"...and the train tracks were suddenly twisted all out of shape and everything," the stranger continued to say. "They're trying to fix everything up right now. In a day or two everything will be patched up and we can travel between worlds again."
Aozora was devastated as he staggered off to a remote corner of the train station, to fish around his pockets for an Elixir to use on himself. A day or two? I don't have a day or two; I gotta guard the Keyblade Master now, as in RIGHT NOW!
Then he remembered Sora's recent change of attitude and wondered if being away from him for a day or two would relieve him of stress that had been accumulating on his shoulders. Maybe he should go find Ashita and Yuri or go back to Cid, Yuna, Rikku, and Paine.
" Well, might as well heal myself first or I'm going to end up going nowhere," he told himself as he began to uncork the Elixir.
Someone in a long black coat and hood flashed by frantically, startling Aozora because he knew where the coat came from.
Not even ten seconds later, the Nobodies and Heartless struck the train station.
Sora was silent as he, Donald, and Goofy followed Hercules and Phil down to Thebes. He was shocked and elated at the same time when he learned that Hercules had met up with Kairi and Selphie but he was rather disturbed by where they met and what they had gone through.
" Other Report?" Donald squalled furiously. "But she promised! Was the time even right to give up that piece of paper?"
" What do you know about the Other Report?" Hercules turned on the wizard.
" Huyuk, it's a long story," Goofy said cheerily. "Wanna hear it?"
Donald clobbered him on the head with the staff and Goofy stayed silent.
" This isn't the first time Donald shut up Goofy," Sora explained to a stunned Hercules. "It's not unusual."
" What I think's unusual is In-Between," Phil growled out. "Why in Hades' hell did you end up there anyways?"
" You can always ask Father," Hercules suggested with a grin.
" No thanks, I've had enough consulting with your father," Phil snapped back and was promptly rewarded with a zap from a thunderbolt.
" See what I mean?" Phil coughed out.
Sora was stunned when he learned that In-Between was something like the source of the Nobodies in the Universe. Hercules said that this shade named Oracle Kenaii had told him that to stop the flow of Nobodies requires a door to be closed, like how Sora and King Mickey temporarily stopped the flow of Heartless by closing-rather incorrectly- Kingdom Hearts.
"...but Oracle Kenaii, while we were headed for New Universe," Hercules was saying, "started swearing to himself. Rich words he used, too, Phil, like what the sailors down at the port say when something messes up. He was muttering to himself about whether or not the door was supposed to be closed or open and what was the purpose of the door Kairi and Selphie were supposed to find. That left me worried, very worried indeed."
" So if the door was somehow supposed to be open and Kairi and Selphie ended up closing or something," Phil had suggested, "then we're screwed and vice versa? By the gods almighty, this is crazy."
" You've said it," Donald agreed.
They were now headed for Thebes, to find a temple dedicated to Hercules' father, Zeus. There, Phil told Hercules, they would meet up with Meg and Pegasus again. Well, again for Hercules and for the first time for Sora, Donald, and Goofy.
" By the way, Hercules," Sora began as they entered the noisy streets of Thebes, "what happened to Ancient Greece for all this to happen?"
He gestured to all the rebuilding and the strange 'newness' of the world.
Hercules and Phil gave each other a grave look and they nodded.
" Three years ago, a fire was suddenly lit in a stable near where I was looking for repair equipment for Hercules' armor," Phil began. "Just before the fire went berserk, I saw the guilty guy run out. I tried to give chase the but the fire was the first priority."
" He found me, Pegasus, and Meg while the fire was getting stronger," Hercules continued. "We were trying to find our way to the port, to join the others and make our way to the train station to the far west, when fire spurted right at us and split us. Phil and me were on one side and Meg and Pegasus were on the other. Pegasus- oh sorry, he's my flying horse-couldn't fly over the flames because the heat waves were horrifying and the wall of fire was getting huge. So Meg and Pegasus left to safety while Phil and I tried to find our way out so we can eventually catch up to them. Right there and then, as we were heading out, we saw the guy who started the fire."
" Shocking, too," Phil added, "when we saw who the guy was. He was just a kid, a kid of all people and ages! A kid set fire to Thebes and ended up starting a chain of reactions that led to Ancient Greece exploding! Those cracks on the ground were somehow triggered by that crazy fire, I'm sure of it!"
" He seemed to be part of this group of people in long black coats and hoods pulled over their heads," Hercules continued. "He seemed to be in league with them, since he was dressed the same way-"
" He was the strangest kid on Earth!" Phil railed out right there and then. "Blond hair, really pale, and with those bloomin' bronze eyes! I mean, seriously, how can a person, let alone a kid, have bronze eyes! Think about it!"
Sora, who was about to make a comment on the people with the coats, froze up in his tracks. So did Donald and Goofy. It took Hercules and Phil ten steps before they realized they were alone.
"Bronze eyes?" Donald echoed, then looked to Sora and Goofy. "Sounds familiar?"
Goofy nodded in definite agreement; Sora's eyes, though, glimmered with a strange hatred.
"You know the guy?" Phil was stupefied.
"It's a long story," Donald said.
"And we don't even know if he is the one," Goofy added airily.
"Axel said he was the one who detonated Ancient Greece," Sora said in a voice carefully controlled. "Remember? He said so and he didn't do or say anything to stop Axel from continuously accusing him."
"Who's he?" Hercules asked curiously.
"Aozora," Sora spat out.
"They were friends in better days," Goofy added quietly, "but something's happened and they've been far apart since then. Aozora was supposed to guard Sora but, well, he's not here right now so we're disobeying...King Mickey's orders...."
Donald was horrified out of his wits and began to squall and throw a fit. Goofy sighed, then explained that Donald was a fanatic when it came to following King Mickey's orders; 'finding someone with the key' was a rather vague order and easy to follow but this order, about finding the guardian of Sora, well, that was a problem.
"This is a very bad mess we're all in," Phil acknowledged as soon as Goofy shut Donald up. "A very bad mess indeed. What you say, Hercules?"
"Why would Aozora be helping you if he was the one who started the chain reaction that destroyed my world?" Hercules said slowly. "I mean, is he still in league with those guys in coats and all?"
Sora, Donald, and Goofy looked at each other uncertainly. "It's a long story."
"Never mind, skip that question," Hercules waved that aside. "Does he seem connected to them in any sort of way?"
Sora refused to answer but Donald said, "He knew some stuff he learned from them but he used it for good; if it weren't for him, Sora could've died on us and-"
"Shut up, I don't want to think about it," Sora interrupted him, immediately ending any further discussion regarding Aozora.
I don't get it, Hercules mused in confusion. Why does Sora hate him so much? What is his reason for this hatred? What had this Aozora done to make him so mad? I think I've forgiven him already but Sora...I just don't understand.
"Does anybody besides me have a feeling in their spines that something's 'bout to happen?" Phil demanded as they resumed walking into a thriving Thebes. "I mean, something bad, really bad."
Sora was tightlipped, silent, but his eyes glittered with agreement. Yes, something is bound to happen...
If there was one thing Eucletes would never expect to see, it would be Hercules. Two years ago, Ancient Greece vanished and he had not seen the great hero, the great defender of Thebes, since then. The merchant had always admired the golden warrior and he was saddened when nobody knew where Hercules had gone. The oracles of Delphi could not see if he was somehow in Underworld and nobody had any idea whatsoever on where he could possibly be.
"Pots! Pans! Fine plates from the Orient! Silk! Fruits and vegetables! Knives even, and daggers!" Eucletes bugled from his stall near the Temple of Zeus, the center of Thebes. "Everything you need is here, folks! And at a bargain price, too!"
"Bargain price, nothin'!" an old farmer hobbling by shouted. "Didn't ye hear? He's come back fer sure!"
"Who's back, sir?" Eucletes was confused. The man of thirty years with the dark curly hair and blue eyes was utterly confused.
"Why, Hercules, 'course!" the farmer barked back and continued his way up a road that led to Coliseum.
Eucletes, who had been in the motion of depositing imported silverware on his display table, dropped whatever he was holding, pulled on his traveling cape, locked up his stall, and made for where the old man –and apparently everybody else- had gone to.
As a safety precaution, he snatched out his best dagger from his stock and tucked it into his belt.
Then he headed up the road in the direction of Coliseum, unaware of the shadowy figures lying in wait on the far side of the marketplace where he and other merchants were selling their wares. The candles on one of them flickered and they all grinned.
"Hercules has a pretty strong following," Sora finally spoke.
"All part of being famous," Phil answered. "And I helped him."
"Yes you did," Hercules grinned. "All this fame, Sora, just look at it."
Sora surveyed the throngs of people surrounding them. Many cast either suspicious or envious looks at Donald, Goofy, and him. Probably because we know him more than they do, he thought. I mean, you have to know the person really well to be able to walk next to him without a problem, right?
"What's so great about fame?" Sora wondered out loud.
Donald, with a snort, said, "Nothing. Some like fame, some adore fame, and some hate fame with passion. I, for one, don't care about fame. Fame gets to your head and you mess up your whole life. It's not beautiful."
"If fame gets to your head, kid," Phil added, "you get a boot in your nice arse out the door and you're never seein' my face again! Period!"
Sora was surprised. Was fame bad?
"Fame is fame," Goofy answered simplistically and fell silent, as though to keep the answer at that.
"It depends on how you perceive and use fame," Hercules piled on that confusing statement. "I used to have fame pouring into my head and that made me turn out bad. Not anymore."
Sora nodded, finally understanding. Will that happen to me? Will I get famous if I get rid of the Heartless and the Nobodies forever? What would it be like, to have people follow me everywhere? What good can that do for me? What can it do for everyone in general?
He suddenly noticed someone watching them. The person was dressed in dark colors, covered from head to toe. This person did not want attention directed to itself but the person's odd set of clothing were already luring in many looks.
Sora stared at the person. Why did he look so familiar-
He saw the whip in the right hand crackle blue, for the briefest moment, before it vanished. Sora had seen a whip crackle that way only once before, and that was back at China. In the hand of an Unknown Aozora called Domitan.
And if an Unknown is here, then Heartless or Nobodies or both are here, Sora thought rapidly as he kept his eyes trained on who he believed was Domitan. And if they're here, then Ancient Greece is in deep trouble.
"Uh...Sora?" Goofy poked him on the arm. "You're falling behind."
"Wha?" Sora shook his head, saw the others were meters ahead, and ran to catch up to them.
His side suddenly began to hurt, sending out signals of pain, and he had to slow. He thought the wounds were gone by now...but the pain in his right side came from only one possible place: the gash he had received days back in a near-fatal clash with Heartless.
"Hey Sora," Hercules turned to him. "You okay-"
A scream shattered the air and the bright, sunny day was no longer bright and sunny.
Flame flew up into the sky as people screamed and stampeded away from the source of the first scream. Sora, Donald, and Goofy looked at each other and, with Sora also looking to Hercules, they pulled out their weapons.
"Heartless," Sora told Hercules simply, and surged into the moving crowd in search of the first scream.