Still don't own any of the characters or places mentioned in this piece of writing you see below.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shadow Feather: Chapter 5

"Screw you, Teach!"

(godhood revisited)

The match was over in seconds. Cloud's Buster sword was a blur of motion. He took out all four armor clad Heartless in one swing and chased down the three smaller ones who had fled to the edges of the arena. My blood boiled as I watched him walk out of the fighting grounds. In a rage I unsheathed Masamune and began to leap from my hiding place. A hand clapped onto my shoulder and restrained me.

"Whoa there bucko…I hope you didn't forget our contract here, did you?"

"Let me go, Hades."

"No can do, buddy. That boy and I have a little deal worked out. You see? And I can't have you getting in the way just yet."

The giant doors closed behind Cloud as he finally left the arena. I took a deep breath and sheathed my blade once again. "You're right; I am getting ahead of myself. It would be unwise to face him with such blinding anger. I will wait for a time."

"Hm, whatever you say. Just don't screw with my contract alright buddy?"

I nodded absently and then leaned back against the pillar once again. Several other contestants entered the ring. Most were beaten down by either Heartless or Cloud. The young boy with the key made his way through several matches with various types and amounts of Heartless. As I watched I began to see the outcome of the tournament, Cloud would face the boy in the end, if the boy could make his way through one more round.

The key bearer and his friends were just celebrating over their newest victory; it was actually quite a pathetic fight, so I scanned the rest of the arena. In a dark caged alley leading off from the main floor, stood Hades, talking to Cloud. I focused my attention on them and began to listen in on what they were saying.

"…your next opponent, okay? Now, don't blow it. Just take him out," Hades was saying.

Cloud looked up at the God leaning over him and said quietly, "The great God of the Underworld is afraid of a kid? I'm sorry, but my contract says-"

Hades blew up in anger. Red flames spout from his head and he screamed at Cloud, "I know! You think I don't know? I wrote the contract! I know it says you're only required to kill Hercules in this tournament." He took several deep breaths and then continued. "But you've gotta fight that kid to get to him. Come on. 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?"

There was a short pause while Cloud looked down at the ground by his feet and then got up and slowly walked into the Arena. It reminded me greatly of the times when he would act so cold and condemning to Zack and I before I found out the truth. The boy thought he was dark and mysterious. The fool.

Hades pulled at his chin in retrospect and said, "Geez…stiffer than the stiffs back home. Still…suckers like him are hard to come by…" Then from behind him came a deep growl.

I watched from on high as the boy completed his final match with the Heartless and Cloud took to the floor. I already knew that he would not kill the child, could not kill the child. He would defeat him easily enough, but he would never kill the boy.

The match was short and brutal. Cloud darted around the ridiculous team of "heroes," dealing blow after blow. He would jump into the midst of the three and swing his sword, knocking all of them back against the barrier. Within perhaps thirty seconds he had knocked the duck unconscious. As he began his assault on the dog-creature, the boy attempted to attack from behind him.

When Cloud finally smashed through the tiny shield of the dog-creature, causing him to crumple, unconscious, to the ground the boy brought his keyblade down upon Cloud's exposed back. Cloud lurched forward slightly under the impact and then leaped away from the boy as he tried to follow up on the attack. I let out a small chuckle under my breath. Cloud had gotten weaker somehow. What a fool, what an ignorant fool.

The blow unlocked something within my enemy and he raised his sword again to deliver his final blow upon the boy. With blinding speed, Cloud dashed forward to come to a gut wrenching stop about a foot away from the boy. The key bearer looked up in horror as Cloud's red cape rushed around them. The boy turned to run but Cloud raised his sword and cut horizontally. Before the blade touched the boy's skin, it was turned so that the flat of the sword came smashing into him, sending him careening across the arena.

I looked in the direction of Hades. He was shaking with anticipation. The goat man rushed from the sidelines and raised his hand, signaling the end of the match. Cloud looked at the broken and unconscious team of misfits in front of him and then turned to walk out. The boy and his friends slowly regained their feet. Cloud turned once again to look at them. He slowly shook his head.

It was impossible not to notice, a giant, black, three headed dog materialized behind Cloud. Something about its entrance told me that it was coming from the nexus. It raised a giant paw and then brought it down upon Clouds back, smashing him into the floor and causing his sword to clatter across the stone. Hades sighed with a look of resign taking to his face.

"Oh, right, there was one other rule I forgot: Accidents happen." He then proceeded to walk further into the dark hallway.

Rage gripped me. Hades had betrayed the bargain. I unsheathed Masamune, intending to kill the dog and then take chase of Hades. The giant beast reared backward and began to bring his massive paws onto the boy and cloud at the same time. I felt my rage summon my wing and it burst outwards in a shower of feathers. Suddenly the beast stopped in mid-rear.

"HERC!"

A heavily muscled man stood beneath the monster, holding it upwards.

"Phil! Get them out of here!" he screamed to the muscled man. With that, Phil and the boy ran for the door, followed closely by his companions. Hercules gave a solid punch to the beast's abdomen and sent it sprawling across the floor. He then reached down and scooped Cloud and his sword into hand. He ran to the doors and placed them there with care. By now the beast had regained its feet and was now charging at Hercules. With inhuman strength, he stopped the charging animal and threw him across the arena again. He pointed at the struggling figure and yelled, "Cerberus! Go back to your master! You will accomplish nothing here!" Six eyes narrowed in anger and all three heads let loose great fireballs towards the man.

He dodged one but was knocked off balance by the second and took the third one full on. Cerberus leaped toward Hercules and snapped downward with the middle head. Teeth flashed and then snapped shut. Hercules had managed to dodge out of the way to the left. Like a black streak of lighting, the right head struck down and clamped its jaws over its foe. From my standing point it looked as if the beast had devoured the hero whole.

Suddenly it was lifted into the air. Beneath Cerberus, Hercules stood, grasping one giant fang in each hand. He brought his arms downward, smashing Cerberus into the ground. Then he brought his arms upwards again, lifting the dazed dog into the air. He brought his arms down again, and again, and again until the dog's left head summoned a fireball and let it loose on the unconscious figure at the doorway.

Hercules blanched and hurled the dog with such speed that it made contact with the fireball in mid-flight and knocked it off course. When Cerberus finally rose to its feet, Hercules had reached the opposite end of the arena and slung Cloud over his shoulder. Slowly, without sure footing, Cerberus walked towards Hercules.

The doors suddenly flung open and the key bearer and his friends rushed through. Cerberus turned his three heads in surprise and focused on its new enemies. Hercules and the boy made eye contact and nodded briefly. Hercules dashed around Cerberus and out the door with Cloud. Phil hobbled out of the door and screamed to the boy, "Kid, I got two words of advice for you: ATTACK!"

Cerberus rushed at the group in front of him, I could see that his vision was off as well as his balance, but it would be a formidable fight for such an inexperienced fighter like the boy.

It was then that I realized that I should not be wasting my time watching this fight. I should be chasing after that traitor Hades. I focused my mind on the place where we had arrived on this world and teleported there. When I opened my eyes I saw that he was not there. I teleported to the dark corridor where he had exited the arena only to find that he was not there either. I glanced at the arena to see that the boy had nearly defeated Cerberus. I could not find Hades here, not until he returned to this plain of existence. I watched as the boy dealt the final blow to Cerberus and left the arena

I followed them, keeping out of sight, listening at the door as the boy was deemed a "junior hero" by Phil. I pictured the initial area Hades had brought me to in my head. There was a large column against one of the walls. The boy and his friends left the room with Phil and Hercules. I focused on the shadowed part of the pillar and felt my body change placement as I materialized there.

I heard the boy speak to someone, "So…why did you go along with him anyway?" After his question there was a short pause.

"I'm looking for someone. Hades promised to help. I tried to exploit the power of darkness, but it backfired." Cloud's voice sounded through the open courtyard. I smiled slightly at his words, so heroic, so responsible, so blatantly cliché. "I fell into darkness and couldn't find the light."

I looked around the pillar as the boy said, "You'll find it, I'm searching, too."

"For your light? Don't lose sight of it." Cloud walked toward the boy and dropped something into his hand. He started to stride across the courtyard when the boy called out after him.

"How about a rematch sometime? Fair and square? No dark powers involved."

Cloud stopped and turned slightly. He looked inquisitively at the young boy and ran his hands through his blonde hair. "I think I'll pass." Then he walked back into the Arena. The boy opened the other large door and left that way.

How precious, Cloud had made a new friend. I heard a large poofing sound and whirled around to look at the center of the courtyard. Hades was standing there, staring at, and talking to, a small moving image of Hercules in his hand.

"He's strong, he's kind. He's always there for you, and he's handsome to boot. He's perfect. Perfect." Hades burst into flames and crushed the image in his hand. It disappeared in a puff of smoke and he screamed ,"Perfectly infuriating! He makes me crazy." He gained control of himself and continued on, "Wait a minute. What are you talking about? All the pieces are in place. Relax. Here's what you do. Let Hercules train the kid. In the next games, I'll take care of them both."

He stopped talking to himself and glanced behind himself. "Who invited you to the party? Stay out of this. This is my show."

I nearly stepped out from the pillar I was standing behind. My stomach dropped at the prospect that he could so easily sense my presence but then I heard another voice from the opposite side of the courtyard. "As you wish, fight to your hearts content."

I whirled around the pillar to see Maleficent disappear into the nexus. I cursed myself for not noticing her and then remembered that Hades was still there.

"Hades!"

He turned in surprise and smiled benignly. "Sephiroth! Buddy, what's happening? You look annoyed, what happened?"

In a flash of motion I drew Masamune, dashed forward, whipped the blade out, passed Hades and sheathed Masamune again. We stood there for several minutes, back to back. After a time, Hades turned around and raised an eyebrow.

"So…I take it I did something that made you a little bit upset?"

I turned around in exasperation and screamed at him, "Upset! You were going to have him killed! You betrayed me!" I took several deep breaths and spoke quietly. "Hades, I do not take betrayal lightly."

"Betrayed you? You mean killing Cloud? Aw come on…you were gonna just do it later weren't you?"

"Yes."

"Then what difference does it make? A dead man's dead no matter who kills him, right?"

"Hades, if you do not have a damn good reason for this digression, I will have to kill you."

Hades' jaw dropped. He stared at me as if I were insane and then slowly began to laugh. It began as a giggle and grew into a roar that reached the very heavens. "You're gonna kill me? Seph, baby…I am a God. I don't know what it is that you can't understand about that…but in all odds, you don't have what it takes to kill me. Don't get me wrong, you've probably got the combat ability, just not the equipment." He turned around and waved a hand dismissively in my direction. "Your sword may be magic but it still can't kill a God. So bugger off."

"Do Gods bleed?"

Hades turned around with a look of exasperation on his face. "Do we…no. We don't. The only time we bleed is when someone hits us with the correct equipment. Now leave me alone."

"Then what is it, that's coming out of that cut on your cheek?"

"Wha…" Hades reached up to a small cut along his cheek and pulled around with a dark purple liquid clinging to his fingers. His eyes widened and he stumbled back in fear. "Y…you can…you c-c-c-cu-cut me!"

"Yes Hades, yes I did. Now, I am going to leave this place. I have no business with traitors. I will follow Maleficent back to Hollow Bastion. Train Cloud. He has much to learn before I can speak to him. Do this and I will not kill you."

A tidal wave of emotions crashed down on the God's face. Anger and rage came first as he heard me make my demands. Fear and thoughtfulness came next as he considered his position and finally a look of grudging acceptance came over him and he nodded his head and grumbled an agreement.

"Very well. We will meet again, do not disappoint me."

Hades mumbled a meaningless insult in my direction as I closed my eyes. I felt the world be replaced by nothingness as the Nexus became my new surroundings. I opened my eyes and set off, following the trail left behind my Maleficent, wondering exactly what had come over me.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ok! So…we're heading back to Hollow Bastion now…"But I thought this was about Sephiroth and Cloud?" WRONG! I have much more planned for this particular story. Thank you so much kmsaum for being so cool and reviewing! Woohoo favorites! It's like we're best friends! Also thanks to Unita and of course Kamikaziguy my first reviewer ever. Rock on everybody and get ready for a wild ride! (I love liberal use of clichés) Later.