An Unexpected Turn
A Kingdom Hearts fanfic
By:
Chison
Walking to Marlena, Cloud gently put his hand on her shoulder, saying "don't give up hope; it's the only thing you have." Looking at him, she slowly rose to her feet, and looked around searching for Sephiroth, "Cloud, where did Sephiroth go?" Turning away from her, he said, "After Ansem was absorbed by Zashi, he left. I don't know where he went." Looking into the portal, Marlena placed a hand on the barrier, she then turned to Cloud and said, "we need to find the heart that would open this door…but I don't have a clue to where we should start…" her voice trailing. Cloud walked away from her, saying, "I know where we can start. The Underworld." She looked at him in shock, "the Underworld?" He gave a simple nod, then he turned to her, "Hades keeps track of all the hearts that go down there. Sometimes he keeps bodies." Marlena cringed at the thought, but she followed Cloud out of the room, and outside the castle; through Twilight Town, and back to the Gummi ship.
Climbing into the small craft, it lifted into the sky and blasted off into the inky depths of space. "We are really going to the Underworld?" Marlena questioned, Cloud just looked at her and nodded, answering her question, she started to stare out the window, thinking about what had happened… How not just his hair and clothes changed, but how Zashi became so evil. "You don't have your key blade anymore…You should stick to using the sword I gave you." Cloud said, handing her the sword, she looked at it, and slung it around her shoulder. Marlena went back to staring out the window, watching the stars fly past them, still not believing what Ansem had done to Zashi…
Suddenly there was darkness, and the ship landed. "We are here." Cloud got out of the ship and started to walk, with Marlena close behind; the darkness became a gloom blue, illuminating the walls, which were made of skulls and bones. Seeing this, Marlena became uneasy and clung to Cloud, who gave her a strange look, but then he had remembered that she had never been to the Underworld. "Well…Well…I never thought I would see the day when Cloud Strife would come walking, willingly through my door." A voice chimed, coming through the wall, a tall personage appeared, with blue flaming hair, and deathly blue eyes to match, he had blue skin and ocean blue robes. "Hello Hades." Was the only retort that Cloud gave, and turned away.
Noticing Marlena, he put a hand on her chin, as if examining her, saying, "Cloud…whom did you bring?" In a flash, he grabbed Hades' and said, "She's not yours." Hades took his hand away and said, "Well…let me guess…you came here looking for a heart?" Marlena's mouth fell open and said, "how did…?" Waving a hand through his flaming hair he said, "Lucky guess." Cloud stepped between them and looked Hades in the eyes and said, "Where do you keep hearts?" Hades' eyes narrowed, and he turned around, and pressed a skull on the wall, saying "I keep the hearts down here." Cloud followed closely behind him, with Marlena clinging to Cloud.
They made their way down the stairs, into a large, circular room, with a massive caldron in the middle. Pointing into it, Hades said, grinning, "I keep them all in there. However if you want to get one out, you must dive in and get it!" Half curious, and half scarred, Marlena peered into the caldron, seeing thousands of hearts, some a dull orange, while others were bright. Cloud had already taken off his cloak when Marlena put her right hand on his shoulder, saying, "What if you get caught in there?" He turned and replied, "I would rather have my heart lost here than at the hands of Ansem."