Blossom Hearts-Chapter 4
"Remembering
Your touch
Your kiss
Your warm embrace
I'll find my way back to you
If you'll be waiting
I've longed for you and I have desired
To see your face, your smile
To be with you wherever you are" -Tracy Chapman
After another quick Gummi ride, the trio arrived in a new world, very different from Balamb. They went through the tall doors, decorated with lightning bolts and clouds, and into an open plaza where two massive bronze statues pointed swords to the sky. There were odd posters on the wall, advertising some sort of tournament. Aerith led Sora and Kairi across the plaza and through the doors at the opposite end.
There was a small, odd goat man grumbling to himself, hanging another sign about the tournament. Without even turning around, the strange animal thing began to talk. "Good timing! Gimme a hand, will ya? Move that pedestal over there, I gotta spruce this place up for the games."
"Um…" Sora tried to say something, but in the end shrugged and walked over to the stone pedestal. Aerith followed, and she watched as Sora tried to move it. He grunted with effort and ended up collapsed on the floor, panting. Aerith went and tried, also unsuccessfully, to move the sturdy rock. Kairi shook her head at both of them.
"It's way too heavy!" Sora complained loudly. Aerith nodded in agreement. The boulder had weighed a ton. Maybe even more.
"Too heavy! Since when have you been such a little-" the goat-man turned around and stopped his tirade. "Wrong guy," he said. "Who are you, and why are you here? This here's the world famous Olympus Coliseum- heroes only. And I got my hands full preparing for the games, so run along, pip-squeaks." In return, he only got blank stares.
"What's the matter, never seen a satyr before?"
Aerith hurriedly gave a quick, polite head bob. "I'm so sorry I have never seen a sa-satyr before in my life but I hope you aren't offended-"
"Polite little wimps, aren't ya?" he countered.
"Hey!" Kairi complained. "We've fought quite a few monsters. I think you're being a bit judgmental."
"Yeah!" Sora added.
The satyr rolled his eyes. "Name's Phil, and I could move that little pebble over there. Psh- 'heavy'…if you can't even move this…" then Phil commenced pushing the solid pedestal. "You can't call yourself-"The trio watched, smirking, as the satyr huffed and pushed and finally collapsed on the ground, similar to what Sora had done. "A hero."
"Go on," Sora said with a grin.
Phil got up and strutted away, glaring. "Okay, so it takes a little more than brawn. What the hey, let's see what you can do."
Aerith, Sora, and Kairi followed Phil into the arena. An obstacle course was set up, riddled with large barrels and Thorn dummies.
"This," Phil announced, "is the training course. Now, let's see…redhead, show me what you got."
Kairi nodded, jogging into the arena. "You have thirty second!" Phil called. "Just break as many barrels as you can! Ready…GO!"
Kairi ran forward, quick and light on her feet, swiping away two barrels in the first five seconds with her keyblade. She leapt up onto the new platform and quickly swung her weapon in a wide arc, taking out an impressive number of barrels in a short amount of time. Aerith noticed Phil's approving nod at this move. She turned back to the arena, where Kairi had now flipped backwards to swiftly break a Thorn dummy she had missed. In the remaining ten seconds, she used a fire spell, shooting it towards the final far away barrel, finishing her trial with a casual brushing of her pink zipper covered dress.
Sora clapped loudly and Aerith gave a friendly cheer. Phil nodded. "That was impressive kid," he said. "You got talent. Next…funny boy." He pointed Sora towards another course, with a more complex set of twists and turns and barrels all around. "You think you can take that one?"
Sora nodded, switching from happy to determined in the blink of an eye. When Phil gave the signal, he shot forward, with less finesse or elegance than Kairi had, and simply hacked away at all the barrels, running through the course systematically. For a final move, though, he left one barrel in the middle of the course and as the time was coming to a close, he threw his keyblade towards it, the weapon catching the sun as it twirled. His keyblade connected solidly with the barrel, blowing it to bits. Aerith and Kairi whistled at him as he spun his keyblade, grinning.
"More direct than the girl's, but sometimes you need that," Phil said. "Good job."
Aerith stepped forward. "My turn?" she inquired. As though on cue, the Bloomstaff appeared in her hand, ready for action.
Phil nodded, turning back towards the arenas. But suddenly several spheres of darkness appeared all around and Thorns poured forth from them. "You can fight them!" Phil yelled, running to a safer place.
Aerith ran forward, Sora and Kairi at her back, and hacked through the small crowd of Thorns. In a short few minutes the surprise ambush had been taken care of. The three of them turned and watched as the satyr came out of hiding.
"We're headed for the games!" Sora said cheerfully.
But Phil shook his head. "Two words: you guys ain't heroes."
"That's four words," Kairi replied.
"Well look who can count," Phil shot back.
"Come on, Phil," Aerith begged, "Please?" She even blinked her emerald eyes and made a pouty face, but the satyr just shook them off.
"Oh well. Come on guys." The flower girl led her companions out of the lobby. "What world is next-"
"Stubborn old goat, wouldn't ya say?" Before them stood a tall blue skinned person with flames for hair, dressed in a dark tunic. He seemed unlike a being of the world, even though he was living in it. Aerith gave him a curious but wary look.
"Who are you?" asked Kairi, direct as always. The flamehead simply waved a casual arm.
"Whoa, hold on there girly. Lemme guess- you want to enter the games," he said smoothly, turning his attention back to Aerith. He reached out and placed an arm around Sora's shoulder. "Get a load of this, kid." Out of nowhere, the mysterious being produced a small slip of paper.
"A pass!" Sora exclaimed.
"Yep, it's all yours." With flourish, he handed the pass over to Aerith. "I'm pullin' for you, little flower girl."
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"How on earth did you get one of those?" Phil screeched.
"Doesn't matter," Kairi replied. "Can we enter the games now?"
"Well…I guess so. We start with the preliminaries. Ready for 'em?"
"Yeah, of course!" Sora said proudly. Aerith and Kairi giggled.
"Let's get to it!" Aerith went into the arena.
"Some real weirdos signed up for the games, like those things you fought earlier," Phil said. "Watch yourself."
The three entered the battle arena, where they were faced by many groups of Thorns. After five matches, all three were panting, but they had won. Some of the other contestants milling about clapped.
"You guys aren't bad," Phil complemented, walking up. Aerith nodded her head in thanks. "But…not heroes yet. You gotta learn the hard way."
"Just like I did," finished a new voice. A muscular man with light hair, dressed in very Greek attire, walked over and joined the group with another woman with dark brown hair, wearing a form-fitting violet dress.
"Herc! You're back," Phil exclaimed. "And nice to see you too, Megara."
"Likewise, goat boy."
Aerith, Sora, and Kairi stepped forward and Hercules and Megara introduced themselves.
"How did you get to be a hero?" Sora asked as he shook hands with the son of Zeus. But Hercules only smiled at Meg and replied cryptically, "The hard way." Sora sighed loudly and rolled his eyes.
Aerith turned, laughing, and almost collided with another contestant. "Oh, sorry…" Her words died as the person walked by.
A girl, only a few years older than Aerith, wearing very revealing shorts and a white tank top with part of it cut out. She walked by and the lavender half-skirt she wore swished. The low-slung holster had two shiny pistols in it, and a ponytail in the back of her head was down to her waist.
She glared at Aerith with two different colored eyes, flipped brown hair floating with the movement. Aerith watched her leave. A frown did not suit this girl.
"She'll be a tough one to beat," Phil commented.
"I think her name's Yuna. That's what it said on the contestant list," Meg added. "Who knows, maybe you'll end up fighting her."
"I don't much care for fighting girls," Sora said.
"Why don't we just get back to winning the preliminaries," Kairi said conclusively.
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"That little lady is your next opponent, okay? Don't blow it. Take her out." Hades jabbed a finger towards Aerith, swinging her staff beyond the grate. Yuna lazily turned her head and eyed her boss.
"The great god of the underworld is afraid of her?" she questioned, hands at her hips. One alert finger ran over the smooth handle of her pistol. She didn't want to trust Hades. "All my contract says is-"
"You think I don't know!" Hades' hair turned to orange flames. "I wrote it! I know it says you're only required to capture Hercules in this tournament. But you've gotta fight that flower girl to get to him. Come on!" Yuna kept her indifferent face on and Hades gave a frustrated noise. "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?" He added some punches and jabs to punctuate the speech. "This Aerith lady will mess up the plan if you don't get her first." He leaned down to her eye level. "I won't help you find him if you don't do this."
Yuna narrowed her eyes. "I don't like your plan. It sucks." She stalked off to take her place in the arena.
Hades chuckled. "Stiffer than the stiff back home. And catty to boot. Still, a sucker like her was hard to come by…" As he walked off laughing, three low growls sounded from the darkness behind him.
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Aerith checked the board one more time as she and her companions waited for the next fight. She would be up against Yuna. The fight would be interesting…how would the Bloomstaff block a bullet?
She looked over at Hercules and Megara, standing in a corner of the lobby chuckling quietly to one another. They were cute. For a demi-god, Hercules was incredibly shy and uncertain. In contrast to the bold Meg, cute was the only word to describe it.
Sora, in his boredom, had started juggling their potions to entertain Kairi. She laughed at him and told him to stop. A horn sounded, and Aerith tapped their shoulders.
"It's our time," she said.
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In the empty arena, Yuna stood and waited for her opponent. Kidnap Hercules and the rest would come for her. She shut her eyes, thinking back to happier days. Her hand slowly made its way to her mouth.
She whistled.
Aerith, Sora, and Kairi all watched her with curiosity. Yuna scowled at them and took her pistols out, spinning them around her fingers. Without a word, she attacked.
Aerith barely dodged the first speedy assault and rounded with a swing of her staff that was blocked by a bare arm. Yuna grunted as the two connected, but continued with a kick to Sora and a punch aimed at Kairi. Kairi sidestepped it and whacked the girl on the back with the flat side of her keyblade. Sora received most of the kick and went sailing clear across the arena. Yuna took careless aim and fired after him. It made the fight convincing, even if she wasn't shooting to kill. Hades wouldn't know the difference.
Aerith charged, clicking open the spikes on her staff, determination in her face. For a second Yuna looked alarmed, but she pulled out two arm claws quickly and blocked the attack, arms crossed over her face. She slashed out at Aerith, catching her cheek and making her stumble. Kairi started bombarding her with magic, wearing down the gunner. Yuna finally cast her own spell. White, powerful magic spheres surrounded Kairi and came together, blasting her unconscious. Sora, angry, slashed at her, gaining the advantage quickly. But there was a false move and Yuna punched him in the stomach, flipping overhead and shooting at him too. Aerith slid and held up her Bloomstaff, spinning it quickly to block the bullets.
Both girls were panting and sweaty by now, and they both paused, eyeing each other and circling. Yuna aimed her gun.
"Why?" Aerith asked suddenly. The question had been swirling inside of her ever since she saw the out of place frown, the aloof sadness in Yuna. The gunner paused, wavering.
"You aren't the one I'm after," she said, setting the gun back in its holster. "I forfeit this match." She bowed quickly. "Thank you."
Before Aerith could say something, a loud growl came from behind her. She felt three hot puffs on the back of her neck before she turned around to see a big black three-headed dog. She shrieked and started running when the dog took one big step and crushed Yuna.
"Yuna!" Aerith yelled. She ran towards the fallen shooter, taking out her Bloomstaff to strike at the beast's legs. Sora had lifted Kairi and was running towards Aerith. Hercules and Megara were behind him.
"You guys get out of here!" Hercules yelled. "Meg, grab Yuna!" Together, Aerith and Megara lifted the gunner and fled from the stadium, leaving Hercules to fend off the giant dog.
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Phil breathed a sigh of relief as the five came running out. Sora set Kairi steady on her own feet and turned to go back into the Coliseum, Aerith right behind him.
"Wait," Megara pleaded. "That was Cerberus, guardian of the Underworld. You guys aren't serious?"
The two nodded, and Kairi came to stand beside them as well. No one saw as Yuna quietly left the lobby. Phil shook his head.
"Herc can handle the big dogs," he argued. "But you guys just ain't ready yet."
"Aren't you worried about him?" Aerith asked Megara, ignoring Phil's demeaning comment. The girl in purple looked away, uncertain, and nodded.
"Wonder Boy can handle him…I think…"
Sora gave Phil a brave look. "We're going in to help," he said.
"It's up to you whether or not we're hero material," Kairi finished. With that the three returned to the arena.
Aerith's eyes flashed in anticipation of the battle. Hercules had just punched Cerberus square in one of his faces. The massive dog recoiled and lashed out with his claws, catching the son of Zeus in the shoulder. Aerith ran forward and struck that paw with the Bloomstaff. Cerberus now had four opponents to deal with.
The dog went down quickly with the odds in favor of the good guys. When the beast finally fell, Hercules rested his arms on his legs and chuckled. "That was a tough one," he panted. "Haven't had a good match in awhile."
"We wore him down for ya," Sora countered cheerfully. Aerith and Kairi giggled, but suddenly there was a burst of smoke and flame. Hades had arrived.
"I hate to break up the little victory party," he said facetiously, "but I have things to do." With a quick laugh, he waved his arm, and a circle of flame surrounded Hercules in the blink of an eye. Another wave, and the demi-god was trapped in there with several strong Thorns. "People to kidnap, and," now looking back at Aerith's group, "people to kill…"
The trio assumed a battle stance and charged at the god of death. Out of his arms spurted flames, singing the bottom of Aerith's braid and the hem of her dress. Kairi was stomping out the sparks that had landed on her shoe, but Sora had avoided the flames altogether and gave Hades a solid blow, cutting into his shoulder. Aerith shot a quick blizzard spell, but Kairi was the main mage and bombarded Hades with magic, while deftly leaping through flames. Aerith and Sora repeatedly beat Hades with their blades, and after a long battle Hades hunched over in defeat. But he began to laugh.
"It's not important!" he boasted, drifting back into smoke. "Gods are invincible, right kids? Besides, I have what I need."
The three watched him disappear, puzzled, until Megara and Phil ran in. "Where's Hercules?" Meg demanded, searching wildly. Aerith's face fell as she realized what Hades meant. Hercules was gone.
Sora hit his keyblade against the ground.
"He's gone, just like Squall…" Kairi murmured. "What are they being used for?"
"We'll find him, Megara," Aerith promised. "We'll travel other worlds and we'll find him."
Megara nodded, coming close to tears. She noticed something on the ground and ran past them, scooping it up into her hands. "His medallion."
The lightning bolt crest glinted in the sun, and before their eyes began to shine brightly. The Bloomstaff vibrated in Aerith's hand, and she held it out towards the medal. The light blue translucent petals, like in the world before, bloomed all around the item. A beam of light shot forth from the Bloomstaff and Aerith heard the familiar locking noise. She nodded, turning back to Phil. "We'll find him."
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As they left the lobby and made their way across the open plaza, Aerith came to Yuna, sitting silently on the steps. She slowed her steps, approaching with caution. "Hey…"
Yuna glanced up and went back to her work- polishing the already shiny pistol. "Hey."
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah."
Aerith watched as Sora and Kairi wandered away to look at the tournament stats. She sat down beside the gunner, who only raised her eyebrows at the company. "Why did you go along with him anyway?" Aerith asked, keeping her voice light.
Yuna sighed. "I'm looking for someone. Hades promised to help."
Aerith gave her a sad gaze. "I'm sorry," she replied sincerely. But Yuna continued as though she hadn't said anything.
"I tried to exploit the power of darkness," she whispered. She stood up. "I fell into it, and I couldn't find the light…"
Aerith stood too, brushing of her dress. "You'll find it," she reassured, laying a hand on Yuna's shoulder. The flower girl stared down at her feet briefly, and then looked back up at Yuna with her emerald eyes. "I'm searching too…"
For the first time Yuna smiled. "For your light? Don't lose sight of it. And on your journey- the people you see, or the dreams that fade…never forget them."
Aerith nodded, absorbing the wisdom. "Who are you looking for?" she called as Yuna walked away. The gunner looked over her shoulder and chuckled softly.
"You wouldn't know. Don't worry…this is my journey to take."
"I hope to see you again!" Aerith yelled in earnest. "Maybe for a rematch?"
Yuna turned once more. "We'll meet again, Aerith. But as for the rematch…I'll pass."
Aerith gave Yuna a quick bow, laughing slightly. She motioned to Sora and Kairi, and the three of them exited Mount Olympus, eager to move on to the next world.
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This chapter took a little while- the year's ending; I'll have exams very soon to study for! But after that…ahhh…summer. Next chapter will be up whenever.