Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Danmachi.
Jeez, I'm getting so many questions/requests and PMs regarding my story, and I'm beginning to notice a trend. Allow me to address a couple right now so you can stop asking me these questions.
1) STOP REQUESTING (INSERT CHARACTER) TO BE PUT INTO THE STORY
Seriously, every time I post a new chapter, one of you will Review or PM me about wanting Riku, Kairi, Mickey, etc. to be put into the story. I get and understand why you're so eager to see these characters put into the story. HOWEVER, I've already decided from the very start on who is going to show up in the story.
No amount of begging will change my mind. And if you keep spam messaging me, I will have no choice but to block you.
2) STOP REQUESTING/ASKING ME ABOUT REACTIONS
No seriously, I see Reviews and countless PMs about you asking if Danmachi characters are going to react to Sora's data battles/journeys/friends/etc.. It's gotten to the point where I'm just fed up with all of this.
All I can tell you is that a few characters are going to react to Sora's Gummiphone data/journey, and even that is going to be very short and specific.
STOP ASKING ME IF THERE IS GOING TO BE A BUNCH OF GODS / WIDE AUDIENCE REACTING TO SORA'S JOURNEY. I find that such a HUGE writing cliche, and I despise it with a passion. The only exception are Reading Fanfics.
On another unrelated note, I'm having so much god damn fun with Pokémon Arceus. Screw the haters, I'm having fun.
In any case, let's start the chapter!
Chapter 7: The Underground Darkness
It was just a lazy afternoon for Orario. Citizens were idly going about their business, and street vendors had a moderate pace going on for their business.
The only thing worth noting is a certain individual standing nearby a magic light post, her eyes closed in thought while tuning off the outside world a bit. It certainly drew a few glances, as most of the people recognized the woman before them is the Captain of the Ganesha Familia.
Shakti Varma was in the middle of organizing her thoughts on this whole investigation that she is involving herself in.
To say that last night's revelation is mind-shattering is an understatement.
The Heartless are a dangerous threat if they're not contained properly. To think that they're capable of turning people into monsters like them, and then further spread it till everybody else is a Heartless is a nightmare she cannot fathom.
It honestly begged the question why such a threat wasn't exposed earlier up until now, but she supposes that knowledge like this isn't supposed to be widespread.
It's thanks to Sora that the Heartless aren't wreaking widespread havoc.
Speaking of Sora, she has some skeptical feelings regarding the boy.
If the Heartless are truly a threat to everyone, why is it that they're suppressed by a Level 1 adventurer? Are the Heartless that weak that a new adventurer could contain them? But if that was the case, then they wouldn't really be considered that much of a huge threat. Perhaps a threat if no one with a Falna was nearby to stop them.
The idea seems unlikely. If it was true, then there should've been wide spread news to other villages and prepare for such a threat. Or at worst, word of mouth of how villages were destroyed and people disappearing without a trace. But neither of those happened.
So then that would mean that Sora has the strength to take on such a large threat. But that doesn't make any sense either. No new adventurer should have such high strength to handle such a threat...unless...
'He already had such a large amount of strength before he got the Falna. But even that is considered abnormal...' Shakti thought.
Logically speaking, she should suspect that Sora is lying about his Level, and he's hiding behind a Level 1 facade. So that should make Sora a suspicious individual that she shouldn't trust right off the bat. It doesn't help that one of the reports she received about Sora told her that that Sora is capable of defeating an Infant Dragon without much effort. In fact, one of the reports have stated how Sora killed the Infant Dragon so swiftly, that it didn't even last half a minute.
Having all of this presented to her made her a bit suspicious about Sora's capabilities. Maybe later on, she should have Ganesha question Sora if he is truly a Level 1 when they get the chance.
'I suppose today's investigation should answer some questions and doubts...' Shakti thought to herself.
"Hey, Shakti!" a familiar voice called out.
'Speak of the devil.' Shakti thought as she opened her eyes and turned her head to see Sora running up to her with a friendly grin on his face.
And in his hand was a rather...strange and uniquely designed weapon. The handle resembles a white and light-blue pillar, and most of the rest of the weapon comprises ice crystals that seem to build up to what seems to be a palace made of ice. Snowflakes dot the blade, and an especially large one serves as the teeth. At the end of the sword was some kind of chain, and there was a weirdly designed snowman.
'A strange weapon to bring to investigate the Heartless...' Shakti thought, and was filled with more skepticism on how effective of a weapon it could be, but soon decided to focus on more important things.
"Sora." Shakti greeted.
"Hey there! Hope I'm not late for our meetup!" Sora greeted with his signature friendly grin.
"Not at all. I simply got here earlier than you. You're actually on time." Shakti simply replied while glancing at a post clock nearby.
"That's good to hear!" Sora said while nodding, and then looked around the area. "So is this where the tremors are occurring?"
"From what we gathered so far." Shakti said as she started to walk ahead of Sora, with Sora following behind her. "Because our Familia has been investigating above ground, we haven't found any clues as of yet. But today, you and I are going to investigate the sewer systems of this area to determine the source of these tremors."
"Got ya!"
As the two walked through the streets of Orario while keeping an eye out for the Heartless, there were a few things on Shakti's mind.
"So is there anything to take note of during our investigation?" Shakti questioned while glancing around her to keep an eye out for the Heartless.
"Well, they typically tend to show up unannounced whenever I'm around. It can be anywhere and anytime really. So the fact that that we're walking through the streets without any interruption means they're not here on the surface." Sora clarified.
"I see..." Shakti muttered, though that didn't exactly lower her guard. The fact that they can show up anytime just made her more prepared for any ambush the Heartless have in store. Though, that put her in a bit of unease, seeing how they can show up in the middle of the district and drag innocents into their fight, a situation that she hopes won't happen.
"Anything else I should know about the Heartless in this case? Any attack patterns or behavior to take note of?" Shakti questioned.
Sora hummed while adopting a thinking pose.
"That's kind of difficult to explain. Heartless come in various shapes and sizes. Not to mention each one has their own set of unique abilities. They're more versatile compared to your average Dungeon monster, that's for sure. Since we're talking about shaking the ground, the only things that come to mind are the large Heartless. Smaller Heartless are capable of a few ground tremors, but even they aren't capable of causing such a large scale." Sora explained.
Earth Core, Hammer Frames, and Large Body Heartless are capable of shaking the ground around them, but not even they could cause large-scale tremors around the city.
"Is that so? Then perhaps we're dealing with a new type of Heartless that you haven't dealt with before." Shakti suggested.
"That could be the case. No matter where I go, there's always bound to be some new type of Heartless." Sora said while shrugging.
"How troubling..." Shakti muttered, before she gazed at Sora. "You must be well trained or taught if you're able to take on various and unknown threats and suppress them."
"Well, experience does help. That, and I had to improvise and learn on the fly on how to beat them. It worked most of the time." Sora said with a grin, making Shakti raise an eyebrow at Sora.
'...So he isn't much of a planner...' Shakti thought, and took note of how Sora isn't that good in long-term planning. Though, how much experience was a question that needed to be answered.
"How much experience are we talking about, exactly?" Shakti asked.
"For nearly 2 years." Sora answered.
"For that long? You started at quite a young age to take on such a heavy responsibility." Shakti noted with a bit of surprise in her voice.
That would mean the young teen before her started around the age of 14, which is quite young by Adventurer standards. The only person who started adventuring at such a young age was Ais Wallenstein, and proceeded to grow quite fast throughout the years. But for Sora to start adventuring at that age and handle the Heartless made him stand out more compared to the Sword Princess.
Sora simple chuckled while scratching his cheek
"Well, let's just say that I didn't exactly voluntarily choose to go in at first, considering how the Heartless ended up attacking my home." Sora clarified. Shakti gave a subtle small and soft frown from her neutral expression.
"That's quite an unfortunate event to occur." Shakti remarked, but Sora simply shrugged it off.
"Eh, it's fine. Everything turned out fine in the end. And through my experiences, I wanted to protect the other wor-I mean villages from suffering the same fate as my home..." Sora clarified while correcting himself.
Shakti narrowed her eyes when she caught Sora correcting himself.
'He's hiding something...' Shakti thought.
She's correct that Sora is indeed hiding something from others. But it seems to revolve around his own history, rather than about his own strength.
And seeing his slip of tongue means that Sora isn't a good liar. If anything, things tend to slip from his mouth without a second thought. It certainly makes things easier learning more about him. But it certainly shows that Sora is being honest with his experiences and what he's saying.
She also learned he's certainly not bitter about the past. If anything, he chooses to move on and prevent other people from suffering what he went through. A rather noble quality if she's being honest.
'...As I thought, this investigation is quite insightful...' Shakti thought, but soon focused on why she's here in the first place.
~ Break ~
Shakti wasn't kidding when she said where she knew the entrance to the underground sewer system. As soon as they found it, they wasted no time going through the tunnels of the sewer system. Shakti was walking ahead while holding up a magic lamp light to illuminate the darkness around them.
"Huh, this place is bigger than I thought..." Sora remarked while looking around his surroundings.
"Orario is a rather large city, so it's only natural that we have a huge infrastructure to support it." Shakti said.
"That only means we have a lot of ground to cover. Great..." Sora groaned. This place was rather smelly, and it reminded him of the time when he explored the sewer system of Twilight Town.
"Investigations like this takes time Sora. It cannot be done instantly. Though, if we move fast enough, we should cover enough ground in a single day." Shakti told him.
"Right, got it..."
So far, no Heartless has popped up as of yet. Even Sora placed his ear closely to the wall to see if there's tremors, but there are none.
As the two walked through the dark tunnels, Sora blinked when he noticed something to the right at the intersection that they arrived at.
"Hey Shakti, what's that?" Sora said while pointing to their right.
Shakti turned to where Sora is pointing, and blinked when she saw something strange ahead of them.
"This is..." Shakti said in surprise as she and Sora approached it.
When they finally got close to what they saw, the two of them blinked when they saw a large metallic door before them. It looked to be very thick and robust, as if it was meant to withstand any impact that comes its way.
"Is...that a part of of the sewer system?" Sora asked with confusion.
"No, it isn't. There are some fences and gates, but there never has been a door so robust." Shakti said as she approached the door. She pushed on it with a bit of force, but it won't budge.
Seeing how it won't open the door, she then drew her fist back and proceeded to deliver a powerful blow to the metal door. The door reverberated upon impact, and the walls around them shook a bit, but it didn't budge. In fact, the best thing she did to it was just a very small dent.
Shakti was quite surprised to see how her own strength isn't capable of breaking through this door, and she's been known to have high physical strength amongst the high class adventurers. When she leaned in and examined the door, her eyes widened when she recognized what it was.
"...Adamantite." Shakti said in recognition and surprise as she looked at the door. "...This is absurd. Why does such a door exist? Adamantite is used for armors and weapons, but to see this amount of pure adamantine to be used as a door of all things is just too strange."
Sora walked up to the door and traced his hand over it, feeling its texture. Sora nodded as he knocked on the metal door a few times.
"Yeah, you're right. I got plenty of big chunks during my adventures, but this door takes the cake." Sora remarked.
Shakti wanted to ask Sora about that tidbit, but she decided to shelve it away for later and focus on more important matters. She looked around their surroundings to see if there is another way around, but saw nothing. Shakti clicked her tongue.
"Someone must've wanted to keep out whatever they're hiding in here. It's quite vexing, seeing how my strength is not enough to break through the doors. We're going to have to find the key to this door if we want to progress any further." Shakti told Sora, making the spiky haired teenager blink upon hearing this.
"Oh, is that it? I can take care of that then." Sora said as he raised his Crystal Snow and pointed it at the door.
Shakti gave a rather confused look to Sora and the door.
"Sora, even if your weapon is shaped like a key, it's too big to fit into-" Shakti started, but was soon cut off when she saw a light form at the tip of his Keyblade.
Soon, a beam of light shot out from the Keyblade and entered the keyhole of the Adamantite door. The door soon glowed when the light entered it, and Shakti soon heard a click reverberating throughout the sewer system.
Shakti's eyes widened when the Adamantie doors slowly creaked open, groaning as it opened way for her and Sora to move on ahead.
"...It's open...!" Shakti muttered in surprise, before she turned to Sora. "Your weapon is the key to this door!?"
"Kind of." Sora answered as he hefted the Keyblade over his shoulder. "My weapons have an innate ability to unlock and lock any door or lock that I'm met with." Sora carefully explained, much to Shakti's befuddlement.
"Such a weapon exists...?" Shakti muttered in confusion and surprise.
Sora's weapon just keeps on getting stranger and stranger. It has such a weird design, and possesses a kind of built in ability or magic to allow Sora to solve this situation.
"...That's quite an unorthodox weapon." Shakti quietly said. "I've never heard of a weapon that allows you to just unlock and lock anything before you. I could only shudder if a thief managed to gain such a weapon." Shakti remarked.
"Well, it's a good thing I have it then! You don't have to worry about anyone else abusing it for evil purposes." Sora said with a grin. After all, he and his friends managed to put an end to Xehanort's schemes. He won't have to worry about that anytime soon.
Shakti stared at Sora for a short moment, before she gave a small sigh. This just brings up more questions regarding Sora's abilities, but she has more important task at hand.
"...Indeed. Now it makes things much more easier for us," Shakti said, before she prepared her spear, "let's go. Proceed with caution. We're going to entering unknown territory. Be aware of traps." Shakti warned.
"Got it." Sora nodded as he prepped his Keyblade.
The two proceeded to enter the dark hallways. As they did, Shakti looked at the walls.
'These walls...they look like they're recently made. So it wasn't a part of the sewer system from the beginning. The question is, who managed to make such a tunnel?' Shakti thought, feeling bit unsettled at how this investigation is answering only a few questions, but opening up a lot more in the process.
Finally, the end of the hallway has led them to a rather large, dark, and spacious room with a few support stone columns around. It was a dimly lit room with only a few torches around.
Both Sora and Shakti looked around, but they found nothing. Not a single being was in the room, nor was there any Heartless that Sora could spot.
"...This room is empty...? Then why was there a locked entrance...?" Shakti muttered while narrowing her eyes as she looked around in the dark.
Sora was about to opened his mouth to remark that the Heartless moved to another room, before a tingle went up Sora's spine.
"No...I think we have company!" Sora said in realization.
As soon as Sora finished that sentence, a tremor was made in the room. Both Sora and Shakti tensed when they felt the tremors themselves, and Shakti's eyes widened when a massive pool of Darkness began manifesting in front of them. And from the dark pool emerged out a large claw.
"...What is this...!?" Shakti whispered in alarm at the sight of the monster.
When the monster began to crawl out of the pool of Darkness, Sora's eyes widened when he realized what was before him.
It's a massive quadrupedal Heartless. Its body is predominantly lilac in color, but its back and all four of its legs are violet. Each of the legs have two toes with black claws. It has two large, curved tusks sprouting from its lower jaw that are white on their upper half and lilac on their lower half. It had a conical, black horn is on its forehead. It had a jugged maw, and there was the Heartless emblem on its chest.
The appearance of this Heartless was something Sora could never forget.
"...It's a Behemoth Heartless!" Sora exclaimed in recognition as he prepped his Keyblade. 'Last time I fought this guy, it was at the End of the World!'
"This is a Heartless!? And you said it's called the Behemoth!? You're telling me that this Heartless is named after the monster from the Three Great Quests!?" Shakti questioned with surprise.
"The Three what now?" Sora asked with a raised eyebrow. This actually caused Shakti to look at him with an incredulous look.
"You don't know? How could-!?"
They were cut off as the Behemoth Heartless loudly roared, reverberating the room that they're in while slamming its front foot onto the ground, shaking the ground underneath them.
Seems like they found their culprit after all.
"...Let's talk about this later. Right now, this Heartless needs to be stopped." Shakti told Sora.
"Right!" Sora said as he prepped his Keyblade.
The Behemoth Heartless soon leaped from its position and attempted to pounce onto the two. Sora and Shakti jumped to the sides to avoid the incoming stomp as the Behemoth Heartless landed on the ground, producing tremors underneath its weight. Shakti soon prepped her spear as she thrusted it towards the side of its body. When her spear did come into contact with it, Shakti was shocked to see how her spear barely pierced into the flesh of the Heartless.
'Its skin is that tough...!?' Shakti thought in shock, before she forced herself to withdraw from the monster as it shook her off.
The Behemoth turned towards her and made an attempt to attack her, but Sora soon landed on top of the large Heartless and began to deliver multiple slashes towards the small black horn on the Heartless's head. The Behemoth Heartless roared in pain as it shook its head around to shake Sora off, but Sora was managing to hold onto its head. However, Sora's eyes widened when he realized what was coming, and jumped off the Heartless's head as lightning rained from above.
This made the Captain of the Ganesha Familia and Sora to move themselves to avoid the incoming lightning strikes. When the lightning stopped raining on the two, Sora and Shakti landed next to each other.
"Not only is it durable, but it's capable of using lightning magic...!?" Shakti muttered in alarm.
"Yeah, I can tell you that the Behemoth Heartless is pretty durable. The way I defeated it was hitting the top of its head, specifically where the horn is. That's its weak point. Hit it enough times, and it'll end up staggering." Sora told Shakti.
"Noted." Shakti acknowledged as she prepped her spear once more.
"Here, let me stop it from moving around so much!" Sora said as he pointed his Crystal Snow Keyblade forward. "Freeze!"
A blast of Blizzaga shot out from Sora's Keyblade, hitting the Behemoth Heartless straight in the face, making the large Heartless stagger from the blast of magic. However, Sora didn't give the Behemoth the chance to recover as he continued to fire off multiple Blizzaga spells, hitting it all over its body.
The Behemoth Heartless soon found that it was stuck, surrounded by the ice magic that Sora blasted it with. The Behemoth roared once more as lightning magic fell from above, striking its surroundings and the ice trapping it, gradually freeing itself from its icy bindings.
However, Shakti used this chance to close in the distance between her and the Behemoth Heartless, narrowly avoiding and dodging each and every lightning strike coming from above, and soon kicked off the ground to propel herself towards the small black horn on the Behemoth's head and promptly struck it with her spear. The strike to its weak point ended up staggering the Behemoth Heartless. When she landed on the head, she soon noticed that the lightning magic has managed to finish freeing it from the ice surrounding it.
She plunged the spear onto the Heartless's head, making the spear slightly sink into the flesh. The Heartless roared as it thrashed around once more, making Shakti jump into the air, making the Heartless believe it shook her off. However, Shakti used the momentum and gravity as she drew her fist back. When she closed the distance between her and the Heartless, Shakti proceeded to punch the pommel end of her spear, delivering more force to the spear and ended up driving down further into the Heartless's head. This ended up making the Behemoth Heartless staggering and collapsing to the ground, stunned by the impact.
Sora blinked at this, not expecting Shakti to just punch her spear to deliver some heavy damage, but he wasn't complaining. In fact, seeing Shakti using her own arms to damage the Heartless just inspired Sora to follow suit as well as he gave a small smirk.
"Well now, guess I gotta follow her example!" Sora declared as he threw his Keyblade into the air, and the snow flakes on the Keyblade began to detach off of it and revolved around Sora. The Keyblade soon expanded and began breaking apart into segments, before shrinking down and reattaching itself onto Sora's arms, completing the Formchange for Blizzard Claws.
Sora took advantage of the collapsed state of the Behemoth Heartless, and closed the distance between them. He then proceeded perform a combo of slashes from his Blizzard Claws, before he had his Blizzard Claws to grow bigger and proceeded to have them drill into the Behemoth's face, the force actually causing the large Heartless to be sent flying back from Sora.
"What kind of magic weapon is that...!?" Shakti muttered in bewilderment, as she never seen such a magic sword capable of performing such techniques, let alone change into different shapes and sizes.
The Behemoth Heartless was staggered from the damage, a low growl escaping its maw as it struggled to get up.
'The Behemoth may be tough, but I got stronger during my journey.' Sora thought, thinking that he needs to deliver one final blow to the Heartless to finish it off for good.
However, it was to Sora's surprise when the Behemoth Heartless stood back up on its legs, and a violent surge of dark energy began to surround it. The large Heartless growled as more and more dark energy back to surge from its body.
"Well that's new..." Sora muttered in surprise.
"What exactly do you mean by new?" Shakti cautiously asked as she prepped her spear once more.
"Normally, it just stomps around, summons lightning, and blast off this dark energy, but this is-!" Sora explained, but was soon cut off when the Behemoth Heartless roared, sending out this large shockwave of dark energy that made Sora and Shakti skid back from the force.
"What is it doing now!?" Shakti questioned as she prepped her spear.
"I don't know, but it's charging up some kind of attack! Be prepared for anything!" Sora warned as he held up his Blizzard Claws in preparation.
The Behemoth Heartless soon began to charge rapidly towards the two with dark energy surrounding it, making it look like the equivalent of a dark comet making its way towards them.
Sora soon realized that it's not going to stop this charge, even with the walls behind them.
'This...is going to get real messy...'
~ Break ~
"C'mon Bete, show them who's boss!"
"What the hell do you think I'm doing!?"
Bete gave out a battle cry as he kicked away the head of a dark violas, sending it back from the force, but it appeared to be just fine from the attack. The werewolf soon had to jump where he was standing to avoid getting chomped on from another violas. Bete clicked his tongue while glaring at the monsters before him.
'I should've brought my other weapons for this...!' Bete mentally growled as he prepared himself for a troublesome battle.
He clearly underestimated the dangers that is lurking inside the sewer system. All because he had thought that he was just going to entertain his annoying Goddess's desire of wanting to investigate what has occurred during Monsterphilia, especially with the abnormal violas. So he ended up having to be a glorified babysitter for his troublesome Goddess when they're exploring the sewer systems.
What he didn't expect was a room full of said abnormal Violas.
'Shit, and this is what Ais and the others had to deal with when they fought it!?' Bete thought as he dodged another explosive seed heading towards him.
It also doesn't help that the hides are more tougher to kick through, no matter how hard he kicks them. Not even a small dent is showing on the plant monsters.
'Well this isn't good...' Loki thought with a frown, watching the battle from a safe distance. She's seeing Bete struggling with the monsters before him. 'It took Ais and the others to take down the abnormal violas. Perhaps Bete is biting off more than he can chew...?'
Bete clicked his tongue as he jumped back to gain a safe distance from the dark Violas. He reached down to one of his pockets and pulled out a red colored dagger.
"Tch, I got no choice but to use it...!' Bete muttered, the intending on using his magic sword to give his kick an extra boost in power.
Just before he could ignite the sword, his ears picked up some faint rumbling sounds, pausing his actions for a bit. The werewolf blinked when he noticed that the sounds were getting louder, and he felt the tremors underneath him getting progressively larger in scale.
Loki noticed this too, much to her confusion.
"Oh what now!?" Loki yelled in annoyance.
Her question was soon answered when one of the walls of the room exploded in debris, having stone explode everywhere. And from the explosion and dust emerged a monster they have never seen before.
"Wait, isn't that...?" Loki muttered as she saw a familiar person on top of the unknown monster, trying to hold onto it while the spear was anchored onto the monster. However, it soon shook her off and sent her flying back, but she managed to reorient herself and ended up landing next to Bete.
Shakti clicked her tongue while narrowing her eyes at the monster, thinking how this Heartless is difficult to deal with.
"Ankusha...?" Bete muttered in confusion, making Shakti finally notice who was beside her
"Vanagrand...?" Shakti said aloud in confusion, bewildered to see one of Loki's executives here of all places.
They were soon cut off when the Behemoth Heartless roared as it attempted to rampage forward once more, before an explosion of ice impacted on its back, stopping it in its tracks as it was stunned by the ice, and emerged another person Loki recognizes.
Sora was in the air before he spun himself to land on his feet, and skidded towards where Shakti is, and ended up sliding between Bete and Shakti. Shakti blinked at the appearance Sora.
No longer did she see those strange gauntlets that Sora had, but he now had these blue-ice arm blades equipped onto his gloves, while there were ice greaves and blades on Sora's shoes.
'Did those weapons change mid-battle...?' Shakti thought in surprise.
'Who the hell is this brat...?' Bete thought in confusion.
'This Behemoth is more durable and amped up with Darkness than the last time I fought it...' Sora thought with a frown. And he thought shifting into his Blizzard Blades would help finish the job.
Don't get him wrong, the Behemoth he fought in the End of the World took a lot of hits to take down. If Sora were to take on that Behemoth with his current strength, the fight would've last much shorter. But this Heartless before him is more powered up with Darkness.
It was then Sora took notice of his surroundings, and his eyes widened when he saw multiple Heartless Violas ahead of him, and then took notice of the new company standing besides him.
"...And you are...?" Sora asked with a confused look. Bete gave an annoyed look towards Sora.
"That's my question." Bete clicked his tongue, before he looked at Shakti. "Oi, Ankusha, the hell are you doing down here? And who's this brat?"
Immediately, Sora's eyebrow twitched and gave a small annoyed frown.
"That's Sora to you!" Sora responded with an annoyed tone. Bete simply scoffed as he glared at the monsters ahead of him.
"Like I care. I have more important shit to take care of than having to learn about a weakling." Bete responded as he raised his magic sword once more. "If you know what's good for you, stay the hell out of my way and out of this."
Sora's eyebrow heavily twitched at the disrespect he was given, but chose to focus on the more important matter at hand.
"Well then, guess I gotta prove how wrong you are in this battle. You'll be eating your own words at the end of it." Sora retorted as he prepped himself for battle.
"The hell did you say-!?" Bete snarled in annoyance, but was soon cut off when Shakti intervened.
"There will be no fighting between the two of you. We have more pressing matters to attend to." Shakti sternly told the two as she prepped her spear.
"Like that needs to be said." Bete scoffed while looking at the multiple enemies ahead of them. "Don't expect me to cover for the brat."
"Geez, thanks for your concern." Sora sarcastically replied.
"Focus!" Shakti reminded the two.
Sora and Bete gave grunts, non-verbally saying that they won't elevate this issue anymore, but not before the two gave each other the stink eye and focused on what was ahead of them.
The trio prepared themselves for the battle to come as the Behemoth Heartless stood before them, while it was surrounded by the Heartless Violas, their teeth gnashing at the sight of Sora and his companions.
Meanwhile, Loki, who was still watching from a safe distance, had her eyes on Sora.
"Seriously, our investigation about the monsters from Monsterphillia ended up in such a mess, and now I find shorty's kid here of all places..." Loki muttered, baffled at the turn of events that were occurring. That is, before she leaned forward a bit in interest. "...Even so, this is actually a good opportunity to see what Sora is capable of..."
Might as well make best of the situation, right?
The battle started as the Heartless Violas began firing off explosive dark seeds from their mouths, forcing the trio to scatter to avoid getting hit. The Heartless Violas soon made their way towards the group, with the majority of them being focused on Sora. It was something that Shakti took notice with alarm.
'Why are they...of course, his Skill!' Shakti thought in realization as Sora's Skill attracts the Heartless attention towards him. And seeing this number of Heartless immediately made her alarmed for Sora's well being.
However, her concerns were unneeded as Sora proceeded to absolutely blitz around the the incoming Heartless. He sidestepped to one side while spinning around with his arm blades out, delivering a deep cut to the side of the Heartless Violas. He then jumped up into the air to dodge an incoming bite, and then proceeded to slam his skates downwards onto the head of Heartless Violas and spun on top of it like a drill, crashing its head onto the ground and stopping it in his tracks. He soon noticed two Heartless Violas attempting to pincer him from both of his sides, but that didn't exactly deter him.
"Back off!" Sora yelled as he unleashed Blizzaza, unleashing a massive and devastating torrent of ice magic to surround Sora, the ice magic instantly freezing and cutting through the heads of the incoming violas, instantly decimating them as they puffed away into dark ashes.
He jumped up into the air once more to dodge the incoming Heartless Violas bite and proceeded to skate on top of the stalk of the Heartless Violas.
'An impressive use of ice magic...' Shakti thought as she deflected an incoming tendril with her spear, and found herself on the defensive as she was deflecting multiple tendrils from the Heartless Violas.
'Well what do you know? The brat can fight...' Bete thought as he jumped up into the air to avoid an incoming tendrils from the Heartless Violas, and proceeded to light up his magic sword as fire ignited from it, and then had the sword touch his greaves. His greaves soon lit on fire, and Bete proceeded to deliver a devastating roundhouse to the head of the Heartless Violas, lighting the the plant Heartless on fire while also being sent flying back from the explosion, which caused it to collide with the other Heartless Violas behind it as they were set on fire.
As Bete and Shakti were busy with the Heartless Violas, Sora took notice of the Behemoth Heartless charging up an orb of dark energy between its tusks, and it was a move that Sora was familiar with.
"Not good...!" Sora said in alarm, knowing how troublesome it is to deal with this attack the first time he fought it.
The Behemoth Heartless soon fired off the dark orb into the air above, and a rain of dark balls of energy soon began to rain from above.
This was noticed by everyone in the room as they all had to move once more to avoid the incoming attacks. As they were all dodging the raining assault, Sora then took notice of the Heartless Violas being pelted by the dark energy balls, and saw that the Behemoth Heartless didn't seem to care that its fellow Heartless are caught in the cross fire.
Seeing this caused Sora to gain an idea.
Soon, he saw a Heartless Violas coming towards him, mouth wide open to chomp Sora. However, Sora simply kicked up into the air, having his skates kick the head of the Heartless Violas, making the elongated Heartless to be knocked higher into the air. Sora then proceeded to skate underneath it, using it as cover from the dark orbs of energy.
Shakti noticed Sora doing this, and gained an idea to follow his example as well. Shakti slid underneath one of the Heartless Violas heads and proceeded to punch with all of her might underneath of the Heartless, sending its head snapping up into the air, and proceeded to travel underneath the stalk.
Bete followed suit as he kicked up a violas hear, snapping it to look up, and proceeded to run underneath its body as cover.
The three had the same idea in mind as they made their way towards the Behemoth Heartless, the biggest and most troublesome Heartless to deal with. The Behemoth Heartless saw all three of them coming towards it, and simply roared as lightning magic began to fall all around it, which forced the trio to back off from the Behemoth Heartless.
"Damn it, this bastard is more annoying than I thought!" Bete growled in annoyance as the trio stood a good distance away from the Behemoth Heartless. It was rather fortunate that the dark rain of energy soon stopped, but that also meant that the Heartless Violas were no longer being pelted by the attack and were recovering from it.
"Clearly, this fight is going to drag out with all of these monsters just attacking with reckless abandon." Shakti stated while narrowing her eyes at her surroundings.
"Then I guess we'll have to start cutting down their numbers as fast as we can then." Sora declared as he turned around to face the Heartless Violas. "You two keep the large guy busy. I'll deal with the numbers."
"Are you sure?" Shakti questioned.
"Trust me, I'm used to dealing with large numbers. Besides, they're pretty much focused on me anyway. Better to have all their attention towards me while you two can deal with the big guy." Sora told the two with reassurance.
Bete clicked his tongue when he heard that statement from Sora, just hearing that already pushed one of his buttons; which is to say, weaklings have a great deal of boasting of how great they are even though they're far from strong. But he also witnessed Sora capable of handling himself against the numbers and monsters' strength, and already took out a few of them. So the brat isn't all talk. And Sora wasn't wrong when he said that the majority are focused on Sora for some reason, so he'll take the weight off of them. So that statement had some credibility to it.
So Bete begrudgingly turned to face the Behemoth Heartless.
"Don't go crying like a pathetic weakling if you can't back up what you claim." Bete told Sora, making Sora's eyebrow twitch.
"Funny, I should say the same to you." Sora sarcastically replied.
"Focus." Shakti sternly reminded the two while inwardly sighing, seeing how these two are squabbling with each other at a time like this. Sora gave a rather childish "hmph" when told this and just focused his attention on the Heartless, while Bete gave a short grunt.
With their given tasks, Bete and Shakti made their way towards the Behemoth Heartless while Sora skated his way towards the Heartless Violas, intending to keep them occupied.
"It's weak point is the small horn on its forehead! The rest of its body is too bulky and thick for our attacks to work on!" Shakti told Bete.
"That so?" Bete responded as he looked at the small horn on the Behemoth Heartless's head.
The Behemoth Heartless leaped from its spot and attempted to stomp onto the two, but the two moved out of the way and were at its sides. Bete jumped towards the Behemoth's Heartless's head, but the Behemoth Heartless attempted to move its head to his Bete with its tusk. This forced Bete to kick tusk instead, but the fire empowered kick left an impact on the Behemoth Heartless's side of the head. Just as it was dealt with the blow, Shakti plunged from the air and strikes the small horn with her spear. This made the Behemoth Heartless roar as it thrashed around to get Shakti off of her, but was interrupted when Bete once again kicked it in the face, feeling the full brunt of fire in its face.
The Behemoth Heartless ended up staggering and ended up collapsing onto the ground. Seeing this, Shakti took advantage of its weakness and plunged the spear between the Heartless's eyes, the blade partially stabbed into the Heartless's flesh. Seeing how durable its skin is, Shakti promptly lets go of her spear and then proceeded to punch the pommel end once more, delivering a more powerful blow.
"These need to go!" Bete roared as he delivered one more kick to one of the tusks. This actually ended up breaking the tusk in half from the explosive fire force.
However, even with all of this dealt in front of its face, the Behemoth Heartless soon started to rampage as it rapidly stomped around its surroundings, forcing the two to jump back.
"Seriously, how the hell is this bastard still standing after everything we did to it!?" Bete snarled.
"I'm not sure, but I'm sure we're doing damage to it! It's weakening over time due to the injuries, so this is a battle of attrition." Shakti told Bete, but narrowed her eyes.
Truly, the Heartless are monsters in a league of their own, considering how they can take far more punishment than any other monster that she has encountered. It felt like she was fighting a Monster Rex.
It was then the Behemoth Heartless roared once more as it was engulfed in dark energy, indicating its dark charge attack.
"Move!" Shakti warned Bete as she jumped out of the way. Bete listened to her warning as he jumped out of the way as well.
It was in time as well as the Behemoth Heartless soon charged forward like a dark comet, and the direction it was heading towards was...
"Sora! Look out!" Shakti called out to Sora in alarm.
"Shit!" Bete cursed as he ran forward in an attempt to catch up with the large Heartless.
Sora, who was midair and spun himself to cut the surrounding Heartless Violas, turned around and saw the Behemoth Heartless heading straight towards him. His eyes widened when he saw this.
'Not good...!' Sora thought in worry, seeing how he's still in midair. There's no way he's able to maneuver out of the way in time.
Time seems to slow down for Sora, however, as Sora remembered something that he can do, as his eyes focused on one particular object...
The moment the Behemoth Heartless got close to Sora, Sora soon disappeared from its line of sight, much to the surprise of Shakti and Bete.
"Where did he...?" Shakti muttered in shock, and looked around to see where Sora is, only for her eyes widened when she saw Sora spinning on one of the support pillars of the room.
It was unknown to everyone witnessing the fight that Sora performed an Airstep to immediately project himself towards an object that he can shoot towards to, with one of the support pillars being the case.
The Behemoth Heartless soon stopped its charge, and the dark energy surrounding it soon stopped. The Behemoth Heartless turned around, and soon saw Sora behind it.
Sora released his grip from the pillar and landed next to Shakti and Bete.
"Whew, that was a close one..." Sora remarked while looking a bit relieved.
"How did you...?" Shakti started with a small confused look on her neutral expression.
This made Sora blink, and he stiffened a bit in realization on what he has just done.
He just performed a new type of magic in front of the others. He thought he was in the clear with his Formchange and ice magic, but to do this in front of other wasn't exactly a good idea. Then again, it was either that or take the hit.
"...Long story?" Sora answered with an unsure look.
"Yeah, no shit." Bete snarked while a bit peeved that he got worked up for practically nothing.
Their little chat was soon interrupted when they saw the Behemoth and Heartless Violas give out roars and shrieks, and saw dark energy building up in front of their mouths.
"Well this isn't good...!" Sora said in alarm. It's going to be a pain trying to avoid the barrage of dark energy from all the Heartless. He needed to interrupt their charge up before they could do any real damage.
Sora then moved himself in front of all the Heartless, and soon focused on all of them. With all of them targeted in within sight, Sora jumped up into the air, and then proceeded to send out Frozen Crescents towards all of the Heartless Violas, each of the frozen razor slashes being sent out and hitting each and every single one of the dark orbs charging up in front of their mouths, having the dark energy explode right in front of their faces. This ended up eliminating all of the Heartless Violas, as they faded away into dark ashes.
Shakti saw this chance to interrupt the charge as well, as she held up her spear like a javelin, and then proceeded to throw it with all of her might as it soared through the air. The spear immediately hits the Behemoth's Heartless small horn, which ended up staggering the large Heartless once more and interrupted its dark energy ball buildup.
The Behemoth Heartless roared as it erupted into dark energy once more, intending on doing a full on charge towards the trio.
"Again with this shit!?" Bete growled in annoyance.
"I will admit, that technique is becoming rather troublesome to deal with." Shakti remarked she raised her fists.
"Agreed. Let's take down in one shot then!" Sora declared as he bent his knees in preparation.
It was then something unexpected happened for the trio. Shakti and Bete were the first to notice as their vision saw some kind of glow inside the dim underground room.
Both Shakti and Bete turned their heads and their eyes widened when they saw their bodies beginning to glow with this soft light around them. The same phenomenon was occurring with Sora.
"W-What is this...!?"
"The hell!?"
Sora also noticed the glow shared between all three of them, and felt the connection that was forming between the three. And he was far too familiar with the feeling of this connection, considering how he's done this countless times with Donald, Goofy, and the rest of the friends he made with through the Worlds we visited.
It was his Skill at work.
When Sora saw this, he gave a grin as he bent his knees.
"This is my Skill at work! Just follow on what your Heart is telling you and we can take care of the big guy in one move!" Sora told the two.
"The hell does that mean!?" Bete questioned in confusion.
"Whatever it is, I'm feeling this energy being drawn out from me. Don't you feel the same, Vanagrand?" Shakti questioned, knowing that none of her Skills are doing this.
Bete didn't say anything as he clenched his fist, and also felt some kind of surge of power releasing from him, and he was sure as hell that this isn't coming from his own Skill or Magic. He clicked his tongue as turned to look at the monster at head of him.
"Oi, brat, you sure you know what you're doing?" Bete questioned.
"I do! We can work together and finish this guy off in one blow!" Sora declared with a confident look, not at all perturbed by the Behemoth Heartless ready to charge forward.
'The brat has guts, I'll give him that...' Bete mentally remarked, seeing how Sora is definitely not like those bumbling weaklings who cry at the slightest provocation of a threat. Instead, he's grinning at the adversity of it and ready to tackle it head on, something that Bete begrudgingly respected.
And given all of the crazy stuff happening and the surge of power he's feeling, he may as well see where this is all going.
"Fine! Let's get this shit over with!" Bete growled as he went into a sprinter starter pose, his greaves roaring out in flames.
With the confirmation of the party, Sora nodded as he looked at the Behemoth Heartless before them, which was almost done powering up for its dark charge.
"Let's go!"
The Behemoth Heartless roared as it charged forward once more, initiating it dark charge attack.
Meanwhile, the trio began to charge forward as well and jumped forward. Bete sticked out his leg for a flying kick, with Sora following suit as well, and Shakti was going forward with fist. The fire from Bete, ice from Sora, and the energy that was coming out of Shakti soon coalesced together into this spiral of energy in front of them, and shot forward like a piercing light.
Loki certainly won't forget the sight she saw, as it looked like a dark comet clashing against a radiant shooting star. The two forces that met with each other and struggled for a short moment, before the Behemoth Heartless found that it couldn't keep up with the combined attack of the trio.
It couldn't do anything else as the piercing light shot straight through the Behemoth Heartless, leaving a gaping hole straight through its body.
Even with all of its durability, it couldn't sustain itself from the attack, and soon faded away into puffs of darkness, releasing a Heart in the process.
The trio's combined attack soon faded away, allowing the three to land on the ground. Shakti was blinking in a dubious fashioned while examining herself of any changes, with Bete doing the same as well. They unleashed a great power together, and now they feel back to normal.
Sora turned to the two and gave a thumbs up.
"Great work everyone! We certainly showed those dark monster who's in charge, huh? You were a great help as well, um..." Sora trailed off, not knowing who Bete's name was.
Bete just gave Sora a small annoyed look and clicked his tongue, turning away from Sora and walked away.
"...Tch. I didn't do it for you." Bete dismissed as he turned to look away from Sora. "Loki told me to take care of these annoying pests, that's all. Stop assuming shit."
Sora gave a small frown at Bete's attitude. The werewolf before him was certainly an individual that was far from friendly and social, something that Sora rarely encounters, asides from the typical villains. Well, there was certainly Seifer from Twilight Town, but Seifer felt more like a cocky bully while Bete was more rude and antisocial.
"It's best not to take it into heart Sora. He's typically like this with everyone." Shakti quietly told Sora. Even though she never directly interacted with him save for now, she has read a few reports on how Bete's attitude was typically causing some bar fight incidents, with collateral damage often being quite large. So she can correctly deduce that Bete tends to antagonize people.
"I see..." Sora muttered, thinking that Bete seriously needs an attitude adjustment, before his eyes looked around to see if there was any Heartless still around to fight.
Sora blinked when he saw a small shining object in the distance where the Behemoth Heartless used to be, and made his way towards the spot. Once he did, his eyes widened in shock and recognition.
He thought he'd never see the item again.
'The Omega Arts...!' Sora thought in surprise and shock as he picked up the accessory and examined it. 'I thought I'd never see this again after I somehow lost it. Then again, the Behemoth Heartless I fought at Hollow Bastion dropped this, so it should've been expected...maybe.' Sora thought to himself as he pocketed the item away.
His own equipment was good, but maybe Bell can find some good use out of it.
His own pondering was interrupted when he heard a small clapping noise making its way towards him, and turned his head to see Loki approaching the group while slowly clapping her hands. His eyes widened in surprise and alarm, seeing how Loki is here of all places.
'Why is she here...!?' Sora thought in panic.
"Wow, congrats on cleaning the mess up!" Loki told everyone in the room, making Shakti blink in surprise upon seeing the Trickster Goddess here.
"Lady Loki, what are you doing here?" Shakti questioned with bewilderment.
"I could ask you the same thing. What is Ganesha's Familia Captain doing down here of all places?" Loki returned, before she shrugged. "Well, I suppose I can answer first. Something's been bugging me since the whole Monsterphillia incident, so I've decided to check out the scene of the crime and see what else is lurking around. Seems like I right." Loki simply explained.
"I see..." Shakti muttered, taking note of this later. Seems like others are already starting to pick up the existence of Heartless if Loki's presence says anything. Though, Loki hasn't mentioned anything about the Heartless just yet.
Seeing how she's in the presence of the Goddess, she needs to choose her words carefully then.
"To answer your question Lady Loki, we have received reports of tremors around this area, and have decided to investigate underground to check the source of the tremors. As you could see from our recent battle, we found the source of the tremors." Shakti explained while gesturing to the battleground around them.
"Clearly." Loki snorted, before she turned to look at Sora. "Though I'm surprised to see Sora here of all places. What brings ya here if you don't mind me asking?"
"O-Oh, um, well-" Sora fumbled for an answer, trying to think of the best way to hide as much things from Loki, as Hestia kept on stressing.
"Sora is acting as a consultant for this investigation." Shakti spoke up on behalf of Sora, making Loki turn to her with a bit of surprise and confusion.
"Consultant?" Loki repeated with a confused look.
"Indeed. Sora has personally encountered the large monster that we've fought and experienced its tremors; therefore our Familia decided it was best to have Sora help us in this matter." Shakti explained to the Goddess.
"Is that so...?" Loki remarked with a raised eyebrow. "Well color me surprised. You've encountered these strange monsters before."
Sora could only give a nervous smile while scratching his cheek. "I-I guess you could say that."
"If that's the case, do you have any idea why they started showing up now of all times and places? And any idea about those strange variants of violas we fought? I've heard of enhanced species, but these violas defiantly take the cake in the strange department." Loki curiously asked. And within her mind, she took note of how the Heartless Violas and the Behemoth Heartless both shared this dark heart symbol, something that caught Loki's attention during the fight.
Sora frowned while scratching his head.
"To answer all of your questions, I'm trying to figure that out as well." Sora admitted, seeing how that answer isn't harmful at all if he doesn't know the answer as well.
Loki saw no lies with that and gave a hum.
"I see..." Loki responded while deciding to let the subject go, but now she has a more personal curious itch to satisfy. "Still though, I can say for all of us that you've surprised us with how you fought these strange monsters. Even had to give up those strange and special set of magic weapons." Loki remarked, seeing how Sora is without any of his weapons.
Sora gave a small chuckle while scratching his cheek. "Well, this is a situation where I can't exactly afford to go in with half-hearted measures."
"Ain't that the truth." Loki said while snorting, before a glint appeared in her squinted eyes. "Speaking of which, I'm rather curious about you Sora. The way you fought these monsters, and whatever you did along with Bete and Shakti, is definitely something that no normal Level 1 can do. Are you really a Level 1 as you claim?" Loki slyly asked, making Bete actually turn around and give Sora a look of surprise and disbelief.
That's been something that has been nagging her in the back of her head ever since she learned about Sora. And now that the boy of her curiosity is before her, she's not going to let this chance go.
Hearing this question made Sora instantly feel nervous once more, and was inwardly groaning on how he's being questioned by a Goddess, so no lies on his part (despite how terrible he is at it).
"Eh he he, w-well, my Falna says I'm a Level 1, so I truly am a Level 1." Sora answered with a nervous grin.
He's really hoping that statement is the truth and not just some lie to cover up his own true strength.
Loki gave him a hard stare for a short moment, making Sora feel more nervous with all of this silence. That is, before the Trickster Goddess simply just shrugged, much to his surprise.
"I see. Well, thanks for indulging in my curiosity." Loki nonchalantly responded, making Sora inwardly sigh in relief, believing he's in the clear.
As Loki turned away from Sora, she was giving a small frown.
'So he truly is a Level 1...then that means that he had strength before joining shorty's Familia.' Loki thought.
Well that answers one question. But that just opens up a whole new batch of questions regarding the spiky haired teenager.
'How in Gekai did he gain all of that strength before gaining a Falna...?' Loki thought in utter confusion.
It's possible for certain races, like the Amazons, to improve their own strength naturally before a Falna. Humans are more limited in that regard. Even if Sora wasn't human, that doesn't explain how Sora is capable of fighting a bunch of Level 4-5 monsters and turn up practically unharmed in the process while still being a Level 1.
'...Perhaps it's his weapon? Those Magic Swords are something that I've never seen before. I thought the magic shield was weird, but to see those blades on his arm and feet be able to perform ice magic to such an advanced degree is practically absurd...' Loki thought.
Quite possibly, it's the magic weapons that grant Sora an edge in battles, but even that doesn't explain the natural physical capabilities Sora is able to do. She's seen a lot of Level 1 performances in her Familia, and none of them come close to what Sora is able to do.
And then there's the phenomenon where Sora did some kind of combination attack with Bete and Shakti in their clash against large monster. She heard how Sora said it's a Skill that allows him to create this kind of thing.
A Skill that strengthens others and perform this chant-less attack to immediately kill such a strong monster? That's practically the definition of absurd and abnormal, and her Familia is known to break the standards. Not to mention a Skill that's definitely to be envied among Adventurers and the most wanted among all Familias.
'I still don't know how you did it Shorty, but you've honestly scored the jackpot with this guy...' Loki thought while feeling vexed that she wasn't the one to recruit such a powerful asset to her Familia, but instead joined Hestia of all people.
Though, not all hope is lost. Perhaps after given year, Sora could grow tired of his tiny and small Familia and desire for something more. Adventurers who wish to leave and join another Familia have to wait for one year in order to do such a thing. And in that case, she'll definitely be the one to open the door for Sora to join her Familia.
That's just wishful thinking on the Tricker Goddess's part, before she decided to move on from her thoughts.
She definitely has a lot of questions, but she feels that bombarding Sora with questions will only drive him away. So she'll have to back off for now and come at another opportune moment.
"Well, I won't get in the way of your investigation any further. Best of luck to you two." Loki told the two Adventurers while gesturing Bete to come with her.
Sora felt relief, seeing how he's in the clear. Hestia was certainly right when she said that Loki is going to be more focused on trying to figure him out.
"Oi, spiky."
Sora's eyebrow twitched when given that nickname, and turned to see Bete looking at Sora with a hard look. It was a short while, before the werewolf gave a slight scoff and turned around.
"Seems like you aren't deadweight. Maybe you're not as pathetic as the majority of weaklings I have the displeasure of dealing with." was all the werewolf had to say.
Sora's eyebrow just twitched at Bete's statement, feeling that statement is more of an insult than compliment.
"Gee, thanks for the compliment." Sora sarcastically replied. However, Loki simply side stepped next to Bete while subtly pointing at him.
"That's just his tsundere way of telling you that you did a well in helping out in the fight, and he appreciates it!" Loki inputted with mirth, which made Bete turn to her with an indigent expression.
"Like hell I did! And what the hell do you mean by tsundere!? You keep calling me that when I don't even understand what the hell it means!" Bete yelled in annoyance. Loki laughed as she started walking on ahead.
"It means you're not honest with yourself!"
"Huh!?" was the outraged cry of the werewolf.
Both Sora and Shakti watched the Trickster Goddess and her Familia executive exit the scene, their bickering voices getting quieter as they got further away.
"...Not an honest guy, is he?" Sora remarked with a raised eyebrow.
"It appears he is not." Shakti flatly commented.
~ Break ~
After their whole fiasco in the sewer systems of Orario, Sora and Shakti decided to report their experiences to Ganesha.
"...To think there was such a Heartless hiding within the city's infrastructures. Seems like we need to increase security and investigations regarding the sewer systems then as soon as possible." Ganesha stated with a frown while folding his arms, before he cleared hits throat a bit as he turned to Shakti.
"Before we get to that, Shakti, I want to know what your thoughts are on the Heartless after the investigation with Sora." Ganesha inquired.
The Captain of the Ganesha Familia gave a small frown, recalling the recent battle that she partook in.
"...Strong. The Heartless are dangerous creatures that you cannot take lightly. The Behemoth Heartless honestly felt like I was fighting a monster from the deeper floors. And its abilities are similar to a Monster Rex." Shakti explained.
It's safe to say that without Sora around, she would've had a much more difficult time just trying to hurt the Heartless and survive its onslaught. Even with her Level 5 status, the only thing it did for her was helping her stay alive. It was also thanks to Sora's information about its weak-point was she able to do any form of damage.
"I see..." Ganesha quietly responded, his quiet tone showing how serious he is taking this. 'If Shakti, a Level 5 in her own right, is admitting that she had a hard time handling the Behemoth...I can't imagine anyone else in my Familia being able to handle the Heartless...'
When Sora noticed the grim atmosphere, he felt that he needed to brighten it up a bit.
"Well, it's a good thing that Shakti was able to handle herself with one of the stronger Heartless. The majority of the Heartless are generally weaker than the Behemoth Heartless." Sora told the two, making the two blink upon hearing this.
"What exactly do you mean by that, Sora?" Ganesha curiously asked.
"How do I put this...?" Sora said while humming in thought. "Think of the Behemoth Heartless similar to that of a Monster Rex or Floor Boss. They're strong, but there aren't that many of them. And most of the Heartless are weaker than the Behemoth Heartless, but they make up for it in numbers, kind of like common monsters that you typically encounter in the Dungeon."
"So they're similar to the Dungeon Monsters in terms of distribution of quality and quantity..." Shakti quietly noted, making Sora nod at her.
"Yeah. You don't often run into Heartless like the Behemoth Heartless that often." Sora reassured Shakti.
Shakti went a bit silent for this piece of information, while Ganesha gave a hearty laugh.
"Well now, things don't seem as grim as I thought if we take your word for it!" Ganesha declared. "Though, if they truly are like the Dungeon Monsters, then they're not to be underestimated either way! There's a likely chance that they are widely spread if their numbers are high."
"Indeed. I'll let the Familia know about this information then..." Shakti stated, before she gave a slight frown. "Before that, there's something else that needs to be brought up to attention, Lord Ganesha."
"What is it Shakti?" Ganesha inquired.
"Before we found the Behemoth Heartless, Sora and I came across a door made out of Adamantite, blocking out people from getting to the Behemoth Heartless." Shakti recalled from the investigation.
"A door made out of Adamantite...?" Ganesha responded with a baffled tone. "That's quite strange indeed. Adamantite is rather hard to come by, and yet someone has managed to forge a large door with the material...?"
"I agree. This is something that's abnormal. The important question that comes to mind is who created and placed that door there? Sora, do Heartless create these kinds of things?" Shakti questioned as she turned to Sora.
"They don't." Sora answered while trying to look through his memories of his encounters with Heartless. "Heartless aren't really capable of construction. They mainly run on instinct, so they have no knowledge on how to build things. I mean, I fought a Heartless that became a door, but that's another story entirely." Sora recalled, as he was thinking back on the Thresholder Heartless back at Beast's Castle.
"A Heartless becomes what...?" Shakti quietly repeated, baffled at how a Heartless becomes a door of all things, but soon shook that off as she focused on more important things. "If that is the case, then someone has placed the door there, meaning they have knowledge on the Heartless."
That statement caught the God of Masses's attention.
"So someone other than us have knowledge on the Heartless? Sora, do you know of anyone else who knows of the Heartless?" Ganesha asked.
"It shouldn't be possible. I mean, I have friends who are aware of the Heartless, but they're far away from Orario. There was also an...organization that intended on using the Heartless for evil purposes, but I managed to put a stop to them." Sora said.
He and his friends put an end to Organization 13 as a whole. Xehanort and his incarnations are no longer around. The other members of Organization 13 were restored to their original selves or perished in battle.
"Organization...?" Ganesha quietly repeated, as his mind was reminded of the darkest days of Orario. In his periphery, he also saw a grim expression form on Shakti's neutral expression at the mention of a dark organization. He needed to confirm something with Sora.
"Just to clarify Sora, just what is this organization's name called?"
Sora blinked at the question from the God of Masses, certainly not expecting a question like that.
"They're called Organization 13. Why do you ask?" Sora asked with a confused look.
Ganesha felt a weight off of his shoulders, relived that it wasn't the organization that they thought it was-
Wait.
'Could it be possible? But we made sure that the Gods associated with them were sent back to Tenkai, and the Gale's rampage has taken out its remnants...' Ganesha recalled.
Even if that was the case...not everything is absolute.
They may be gone...but there may be some who may still carry on those twisted ideals and start anew.
Ganesha inwardly grimaced. He's really hoping he's wrong in this.
"It's just something I, Ganesha, wanted to confirm is all. But it seems like we need to increase our investigations regarding the identity of whoever placed that door." Ganesha told Sora, before he gave his usual grin and stood up from his seat.
"I, Ganesha, must thank you for your assistance! It was thanks to you that a potential disaster was quelled." Ganesha praised Sora.
"Hey, don't give me all the credit. It was thanks to you and your Familia that helped me find the Heartless in the first place." Sora returned with a grin, making the elephant masked God give a hearty laugh.
"But of course! It's the least my Familia and I could do if we are to protect the masses!" Ganesha loudly declared. "In any case, the investigations will take some time, so I, Ganesha, believe it's best for you to return to your daily activities. If my Familia and I are to find any Heartless, we'll let you know immediately."
"I greatly appreciate it." Sora returned with gratitude. "Well, I better get going then. I'm sure my Familia is wondering what I've been up to."
"Indeed! Take care then, Sora!"
"I'll see Sora on the way out then." Shakti said as she walked ahead of Sora and began leading him out.
Once they reached the front gates, Sora had a contemplative look on his face...as far as he could do. He looked like an 8 year old trying to figure out this really hard math problem for his homework.
"Is there something on your mind, Sora?" Shakti asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I'm just trying to figure out who placed that door there. Whoever it is, they have knowledge on the Heartless, which is definitely not a good thing." Sora stated.
"I'm sure we'll figure things out in due time. Just leave the investigations to us and we'll let you know as soon as we can." Shakti told Sora, making him chuckle.
"Yeah, I'm not that smart when it comes to complicated investigations, so I'll leave it to you. Only thing I can do is stay true to my Heart on hope for the best." Sora stated with a grin.
It was then Shakti momentarily and subtly froze when she heard this, but it was enough for Sora to notice.
"Something wrong Shakti?" Sora asked with concern.
This made Shakti immediately return back to her neutral and cool expression.
"It's nothing to worry about. Although..." Shakti slowly started.
"What is it?" Sora asked with a curious look.
"I believe this is something important for you to know..."
Even though they've only worked together for only a day, Shakti felt that she has a good enough gauge of Sora's character.
He's definitely someone who she doesn't understand when it comes to his own strength. He's confirmed to be a Level 1 by Loki, and yet he is capable of fighting on the same grounds as her and Bete. No...she felt that there was more to him than that, and she hasn't fully comprehended what he was capable of.
Even with this abnormal adventure...it's completely overshadowed by Sora's own virtues.
Sora is quite an honest, bright, and morally righteous individual who cares about protecting the people. He never demanded valis in return for the information he's giving and instead asked to keep the information a secret to prevent public discord, which sets him apart from other adventurers. Her personal accounts with apprehending a lot of adventurers who partake in illegal activities showed that they aren't ones to back off from the chance of gaining valis for their own greed. And Sora possess an ability to unlock anything before him, something that can be abused for many malicious activities and robberies. And yet Sora is using that ability for more benevolent purposes.
And their fight against the Heartless has shown that Sora is still the optimistic, bright, and selfless individual if him taking on all of the Heartless Violas on his own to lift some weight off of her and Bete's shoulders to fight against the Behemoth Heartless. Sora even managed to put trust and faith into Bete, who's done nothing but antagonize Sora from the start. Many people wouldn't want to work with such a character out of spite, save for his Familia.
All of this, along with Sora's own quirks, has reminded her of someone she knew and deeply cherished. And it because of that resemblance she cannot let that kind of light be swallowed by Orario's darkness.
"Someone of your virtue is rather...rare, in Orario." Shakti carefully worded.
"Rare?" Sora repeated with a confused look.
"Since you're rather new to Orario, you're not entirely aware of how Adventurers typically act. While a majority of them tend to follow the regulations set by the Guild and by us, their own morality doesn't exactly match with yours. They typically tend to be more...selfish and prioritize themselves more than anyone else. As such, illegal activities tend to occur, both in Orario and in the Dungeon." Shakti explained, making Sora softly frown upon hearing this.
This isn't the first time he's heard of this. He remembers how Lili mentioned how her Familia is neglecting her due to her own limited strength, leaving Lili to fend for herself. And based on past conversations with Bell, Supporters generally tend to be looked down upon Adventurers, despite how important their roles are.
"...Yeah, one of my party members happens to be a victim to such things..." Sora said with disapproval.
"It's rather unfortunate that it has happened." Shakti said while giving a small sigh. "You're kind Sora, but be careful; there are those in Orario who won't hesitate to use that kindness against you."
"Against me?" Sora repeated with a confused look.
A soft and small frown formed on her neutral expression.
"...There was someone a lot like you. She was upbeat and cheerful, always brightening up everything around her. She was always intent on protecting the innocent and bringing forth justice. She truly was the light of our Familia. The enemy, however...used that kindness against her, and she lost her life in the process..." Shakti solemnly recalled.
Her younger sister didn't deserve that kind of end.
Sora looked rather horrified and devastated when told this.
"That is why...be careful on what you're doing in Orario. I know it's a rather baseless assumption, but seeing monsters being manipulated and directed by some malicious force reminds me of the dark days that occurred in Orario. It's rather fortunate that they were put to an end, but..." Shakti said while looking like she didn't want to relive such a horrible experience.
"So you're telling me to keep an eye out for this possible suspicious group that are directing the Heartless?" Sora finished for her, making Shakti wordlessly nod at him. He stayed silent for a while, before he just gave an optimistic and determined grin towards Shakti.
"Well, I'll keep that warning in mind! But if they are a group of people who are manipulating the Heartless and harming innocent, then that's something I cannot stand aside." Sora declared, before he gave a good hearted chuckle as he crossed his arms behind his head.
"Besides, you could also say that I had my fair share of experiences with people who were malicious in causing wide-spread havoc. Not to mention, I was forced to be used for a part of their schemes as well. That was a huge pain to deal with..." Sora recalled while groaning a bit.
The old Organization 13 was using him to set the Hearts free from the Heartless, so they could build an artificial Kingdom Hearts for Xemnas to use and sink the worlds to the void. But he, along with his friends, managed to put a stop to Xemnas's plans.
And don't get him started on how Xehanort was practically forcing and manipulating everyone to follow in his grand schemes for forging the X-blade and attaining Kingdom Hearts.
"Is that so...?" Shakti quietly remarked.
This young boy before her just keeps surprising her. Seems like he isn't completely ignorant to the evils around him. He's been exposed to the malice of people and the hardships life has dealt him, and yet he's just able to keep moving forward with that bright attitude.
'...Perhaps...I shouldn't worry too much then...' Shakti thought, though her train of thought was interrupted when Sora spoke up.
"I'm kind of curious though. You mentioned this group possibly controlling the Heartless. Just who are they called?" Sora asked with a raise eyebrow.
This caused Shakti to give a small frown while she clenched her fist a bit at the thought of them.
"...It baffles me how you don't know of them, considering how they've made their name well known in Orario, as well as the tales of their exploits being spread outside of Orario. I suppose it doesn't reach everyone..." Shakti quietly remarked, before she gave Sora a serious look.
"Be wary and vigilant for a group called Evilus."
And that's a wrap to this chapter.
That's right, just because I don't play Memoria Freese doesn't mean I'm ignorant to the canon background events that have occurred.
Man, was that draining to get through, but I finally managed to get back into a combat heavy chapter, a staple for the Kingdom Hearts series.
What ended up as a simple investigation ends up turning into a major boss fight for everyone involved.
Also, if you haven't noticed, but have you noticed the Keyblade Sora was using for this chapter, the Crystal Snow? And who was Sora's party member when fighting the Violas and Behemoth Heartless? Remember, Bete is based on Fenrir. And who was the Boss Heartless that Sora faced in Frozen based on? Rather ironic, eh?
Of course, there was Sora's Ragnarok with the Kingdom Key. But I soon found that I needed variety in my story, rather than the constant Kingdom Key usage. So I found that it was best to go with that.
Also, before you call me out on Sora being a bit OOC for being snarky towards Bete, remember that he acts snarky towards people who antagonize him. For example, he was pretty sassy when he first encountered Hades in KH3. In KH2, when Axel was helping Sora reach the World that Never Was, Sora had a bit of snark and sass towards Axel.
(Shakti's Fighting Style)
Shakti is a particularly tricky character to figure out, especially with her fighting style. There's not a lot of information on how she fights specifically. However, going through the images of Episode Ryuu manga and Memoria Freese, she seems to be very adept at martial arts, as well as using the spear. Also, I've discovered how her alias "Ankusha" literally means elephant goad or bullhook. So taking a few liberties to myself, I've decided that she mainly uses a spear in combat, but she's also well adept at delivering hard blows with her fist. So there's that.
(The Behemoth Heartless)
I figured it was a good Heartless known for tremors, and I felt it was the appropriate size to fight underground. Felt it fits too, considering how Danmachi Behemoth is considered King of the Land. And since we're fighting underground, I felt the Behemoth Heartless fits.
Also, I felt that I needed to buff the Behemoth in terms of endurance and magic arsenal, because KH3 Sora is capable of taking out the Behemoth Heartless if it came from KH1 with ease, mainly because I feel that the Behemoth is comparable to...let's say a Rock Troll Heartless.
But this buff didn't come because I wanted it to. There's actually something that caused it to become stronger. And what exactly is the source? Keep reading and find out.
(Fun Fact of the Day)
The Final World was originally planned to show up in Kingdom Hearts 1. But they soon scrapped that idea and moved it to Kingdom Hearts 3, and instead just put in the sequence of Sora as a Heartless. In addition, if they were to follow through with the Final World in Kingdom Hearts 1, then it was planned to have Kairi serve a bigger role in the story and have the players be able to play as her.
