Another rewritten chapter and honestly one I'm VERY proud of! This one's a major improvement over how it was originally (aka its more Angsty). I like how this one turned out a lot and I hope you will too, enjoy!
Chapter 5: Go the Distance
I'll be there someday, I can go the distance
I will find my way if I can be strong
I know every mile will be worth my while
When I go the distance, I'll be right where I belong
The temple's stark collapse rattles just about all of Thebes from the ground up, sending the most violent of tremors yet rippling through the city streets. Just about everyone feels it, from the families hunkering down in their homes in the hopes that the ongoing torrent of destruction won't find them there, to the stray stragglers running from the rampaging flames to find some sort of shelter or refuge, to even Maleficent and Pete as they keep their search for the mysterious black box going.
With few bystanders around to stop them, the pair take their time in tearing up one of Thebes' usually scenic gardens, acting on Hades' tip that the prize they're looking for might be somewhere nearby. Maleficent stands apace from the messy hole her henchman's hastily digging, just one of several marring the garden's once pristine grounds. However, this work is soon interrupted by the hefty earthquake that sends the entire city shuddering, inevitably sending Pete falling flat on his face in the dirt he's digging up, much to his exasperation.
"Hey! What's the big idea!?" he snaps as he pops his head out of the hole, shaking the dirt off his shoulders. "That there rumble had to've been the biggest one yet! Don'cha think we should check it out?"
"No," Maleficent rejects bluntly, boredly. "Whatever senseless rampage Hades is inflicting upon this singular world is none of our concern. What we're after will ensure us the power to spread my domain to other worlds on a far grander scale than a mere petty coup such as his."
"Hmph, so you keep sayin'…" Pete grumbles as he turns back to his ongoing work. "Are you sure this box is even for reals? I think that dingbat in black was pullin' your leg."
"Be quiet and dig, you imbecile," Maleficent scowls impatiently. "I must find that box and make it my own. His was the only clue we have. We cannot afford to dismiss it without a thorough investigation."
"I'm just sayin'," Pete continues sullenly. "A shot in the dark ain't gonna get us any closer to—oh!"
"What is it?" Maleficent quickly turns to her henchman at his sudden change of tune. "Have you found something? Show it to me at once, fool!"
"Yes sir-eey!" Pete exclaims, proudly holding up a small chest with a skull acting as its lock. "This has gotta be that Pandora's Box Hades mentioned!"
Whatever interest Maleficent had shown before immediately falls as she looks over the box in her henchman's hands. "Leave it," she says staunchly, turning her nose up at the chest.
"W-what?" Pete asks, crestfallen. "After all that diggin'?"
"That is not the box which I desire," Maleficent says coldly. "We are finished with this world. Come."
"Aww…" Pete sighs in disappointment as he tosses the box back into the hole. Maleficent has all but conjured up a dark corridor so they can take their leave, yet before stepping through it, she suddenly stops short, much to Pete's confusion.
"Hold a moment…" she muses, turning back around with a hint of careful scrutiny in her tone. "Do you feel that?"
"Uh… what?" Pete asks blankly. "Ya mean the wind?"
"No, you buffoon," Maleficent hisses before stepping forward in deep concentration. "It's darkness. Deep, pure, unconcentrated darkness…"
"What, like the sorta darkness the Heartless are made of?" Pete asks, still not following.
"No… this darkness is… different…" Maleficent says, still clearly captivated by it. "I can sense it; it's far more powerful than that of any mere Heartless. And most interesting of all… is that it seems to be radiating from a source of light, of all things…" She takes pause once more, seeming to ponder over this oddity before a small, intrigued grin crosses her features. "Perhaps our time in this world is not quite finished after all…"
The darkness overtakes Sora far too quickly for either of them to do a single thing about it.
Instead, the most Donald and Goofy can do is stand by and stare in horror as the shadows swell over their young companion, engulfing him in a vile void he's powerless to escape from. Neither of them can make any sort of sense of it-they've never seen anything like it before, much less anything like this happening to Sora of all people.
The swarm of Heartless still surging behind them is all but forgotten when they hear his final agonized cry, one that shifts into a wild, fearsome howl. He throws his head back as his new claws dig into the ground, essentially landing him on all fours as his eyes open wide, though they're the most frightening part of this new form by far. They're like bright, piercing, glowing golden moons, round and large as they seem to stare at nothing and everything all at once. His mouth is somehow gone completely, yet he still lets out a series of low, rumbling, downright feral growls as he hunches low into an almost animalistic stance to match. And if all that isn't concerning enough, his Keyblade suddenly materializes in his clawed grip, still very much the Kingdom Key, though every trace of the light it once carried is completely gone. Instead, now it's enshrouded in the same sort of shadows Sora himself is. Shadows that neither Donald or Goofy understand in the slightest as their now-monstrous companion looks between them with vacant, emotionless eyes, not seeming to recognize either of them in the slightest.
"S-Sora?" Goofy ventures first, exchanging a fearful glance with Donald. They both flinch when Sora's piercingly bright eyes narrow at them, his body bearing lower as he remains sitting on all fours, looking more like some kind of untamed creature rather than the human being they both know him to be. "Are you-"
The captain is abruptly cut off when Sora suddenly snaps his gaze away from the pair to focus on the crowd of Heartless behind them. In a flash, he lunges over his companions, nearly knocking them over in the process as he charges towards the creatures, his mouth splitting open to reveal a glowing maw of deadly fangs. He slashes his Keyblade and his claws out at the Heartless the moment he reaches them, attacking with savage, raw ferocity. Tendrils of darkness leak off from him as he cuts through the horde, ignoring their flames in favor of extinguishing their existences altogether. All the while, Donald and Goofy stiffly stand on the sidelines, watching as he brutally assaults the monsters, clawing and keying and even biting into them in a frenzy of frenetic violence that's so unlike anything they've ever seen from Sora before. Violence that, unbeknownst to either of them, Sora has no semblance of control over at all, much like his body, his mind, his very darkened heart.
The onslaught ends in minutes, the Heartless cleaned out without any complications. But even after they're gone, Donald and Goofy still find ample room to worry when Sora still doesn't return to normal. Instead, he remains shrouded in shadows, his former aggression replaced with a sense of aimlessness as he idly glances around, looking for something to attack. The pair remain on guard as they approach him, hoping to somehow make sense of all this, to somehow bring Sora back to his lost senses. Even if neither of them have the faintest idea how.
"S-Sora?" Donald begins, garnishing Sora's attention. He looks towards his companions with wide curious eyes, thankfully showing no violent intent as he stares at them blankly. "C-can… can you hear us?"
Sora simply tilts his head in unknowing confusion, much to the pair's growing concern. "Uh… maybe he's just havin' a hard time understandin' us?" Goofy guesses with a frown. "Hey, Sora, can ya try giving us a nod if you know what we're sayin' to ya?"
Sora does no such thing, instead turning his glowing gaze, as if he's lost interest with the duo completely. "Well, this is just great!" Donald exclaims, his tone mingled between frustration and worry. "First he gets himself hurt and now this happens to him… whatever this is."
"Ya know…" Goofy notes as he looks over Sora's shadowy form once more. "I hate to say it, he kinda looks a little like a Heartless now…"
"That doesn't make any sense," Donald scowls. "If he's a Heartless, then why would he attack other Heartless like he just did? And besides, to turn into a Heartless, that means he'd have to have lost his-"
The magician stops himself short, exchanging a panicked glance with the captain as they both reach the same horrific realization. One that makes them both rush forward to try and fix it, desperately hoping it's not already too late. "Sora!" they cry, hurrying forward to reach him. Sora reacts with a start, hissing in vicious fear as he skirts back away from them. But by now, they essentially have him cornered against the temple ruins, trying to reach him both physically and mentally, even when he's already so far gone.
"Just stay nice 'n still for us, ok, Sora?" Goofy urges, his hands raised and his voice quiet. "We're gonna figure out what this is and fix ya right up, we promise."
"And after we do, maybe this will be enough to finally teach you to listen to us for a change," Donald adds sternly. He's the first one to reach a hand out toward Sora, though he refuses to let that hand touch him. Instead, he lashes out, swinging his claws so swiftly that Donald is only narrowly able to jump back before they can hit him. Before Goofy can make a similar attempt, Sora suddenly pounces forward, pushing both of his companions aside as he breaks into a surprisingly fast gait, running on all fours to get away from the duo trying to restrain him. To escape from his friends and continue his feral frenzy freely.
"Sora!" Goofy cries, darting upright.
"Wait!" Donald shouts, jumping to his feet just in time to see Sora disappear down another city street entirely. Though their first shared thought is to chase after him, they're soon startled by the sound of the temple's remains shifting behind them yet again. "Oh, what now?!" Donald snaps, only sparing a moment to glance back at the ruins.
"Do ya think it could be more Heartless?" Goofy asks, already summoning his shield just in case.
"If it is, then who cares?!" Donald grabs the captain's arm. "We don't have time to deal with them, we've gotta find Sora!"
Before they can get very far in doing that, something suddenly emerges from the ruins, a familiar silhouette that Donald and Goofy recognize as soon as the dust finally starts to settle again. "Hercules!" they exclaim, surprised, but relieved to see that he'd survived after all. He looks no worse for wear, a little dirty from the rubble, with a few scars and scratches here and there, but for the most part he's still as strong and sturdy as ever as he comes out of the wreckage to meet the duo.
"Well, getting out of there took a little longer than I thought it would…" Hercules notes with a small chuckle. His levity is quick to fade when he notices the distressed looks on both Donald and Goofy's faces. "Whoa, is everything ok? Where's Sora?" he asks, glancing around only to find no signs of the younger boy.
"We have no idea!" Donald admits, clearly stressed. "Something happened to him-we don't know what, but we think it made him lose control of himself somehow!"
"He just ran off," Goofy adds just as fretfully. "We could really use your help when it comes to findin' him, Herc!"
"Oh, wow," Hercules starts, aptly alarmed by everything he's missed. "Yeah, of course I'll help. Come on," he urges the pair to follow him, his knowledge of Thebes' layout bound to serve them well in their search. "If we hurry, I'm sure we can catch up with him before he gets too far."
Donald and Goofy readily agree, wasting no time in following the hero's lead in the hopes that their search for Sora will be a short one. In the hopes that when they do find him, they'll be able to somehow save him from the strange shadows that have beset him, that his heart, his mind, everything that makes him who he truly is, isn't really gone after all.
He runs through the burning streets at a rapid pace, his hands and feet alike slamming into the cobblestone ground as a low snarl escapes him. His mind is void, his thoughts non-existent as sheer violent instinct alone serves to guide his way. And that instinct craves only one thing and one thing alone, an insatiable impulse that reverberates through every fiber of his darkened being:
Heart… Must have heart…
It's the only solution those instincts have to fill the overwhelming sense of emptiness plaguing his now-monstrous body. And as hungry for anything to fill that emptiness as he is, it's a solution he's willing to do just about anything to get.
Even if he has to steal a heart from something or someone else to grant him the one he now believes he lacks.
Heart… Where… is heart…?
He pauses suddenly, his head tilting upward as he senses the presence of something nearby. Several somethings, actually, several living things. Several sources of hearts, just waiting for those hearts to be taken from them.
Hearts!
He roars almost excitedly, darting off in the direction of those hearts. It doesn't take him long to find them, a sizable group of civilians trying to escape the surrounding fires. He foils that escape, however, as he lunges forward, blocking their only path to safety and scaring them all stiff. He can't really understand their panicked wails, but he does keenly sense their fear, his own rage thriving off of it as he hunkers low to approach his newfound prey. Without anywhere else to go, the townsfolk cluster together, trying to make sense of the vile creature now intent on bringing about their ends.
"W-what is that thing?!"
"Another one of those horrible monsters! This is the worst one I've seen yet!"
"What do we do now? We can't fight that thing on our own!"
"Oh, if only Hercules were here to save us!"
He heeds not a single word of their anxious conversation as he instead raises his claws, eyeing the smallest and most vulnerable member of the group, a young child clinging desperately onto her mother for safety. A satisfying appetizer before he moves onto the main course. He's more than ready to bring his claws down onto the child too, only for them to slash across the strong arm of someone else entirely.
Hercules lets out a pained hiss as he pulls his arm back, glancing over the lightly bleeding cuts now torn across it. The townsfolk all breathe a collective sigh of relief upon seeing that their hero has leapt in to rescue him just in time. Even so, they're hardly as much of his concern as the all-too-familiar looking creature reeling back before him is. "Wait…" he looks the "monster" over, shocked by what he's seeing. "No way… Sora? Is… is that you?"
He doesn't answer outside of a furious growl, his golden eyes set in a vicious glare aimed solely at Hercules, at the obstacle standing in his way. Or perhaps, not an obstacle at all, but another opportunity instead.
Strong heart… Better heart… Must have heart!
His malice-guided cravings only echo back to his own empty, muddled mind, but his intention is more than made clear when he makes a sudden move to attack Hercules himself. The hero gasps, only narrowly managing to catch him by his wrists as he hoists him up into the air, holding him out far enough that his wild thrashing kicks don't hit him. "What's happened to you…?" Hercules whispers to him, absolutely horrified to see his longtime friend in such a twisted state. To see someone like Sora, usually so filled with the noble kindness he's always known him for, fall so far to the mindless madness he's lost himself to now.
"Sora!" Donald and Goofy cry as they rush in to catch up. Hercules carefully sets Sora down on the ground so they can reach him, though before he can even lash out to attack either of them, the pair barrels into him, locking him into a tight, shared embrace.
"Uh, you guys might want to be more careful," Hercules warns tensely. "He's not-"
"He's still not back to normal!" Donald laments as Sora struggles against his and Goofy's hold. "What if he's stuck like this?! What are we supposed to do then?"
"No, we… h-he can't be…" Goofy trails off, quickly pulling himself together as much as he can. For the sake of both of his companions more than his own. "D-don't worry, Donald," he begins, managing a small, reassuring smile. "This is Sora we're talkin' about here! He's not gonna just let the darkness take over him like this, 'specially not on our watch!"
Despite his own palpable dread, Donald does his best to share the captain's same sort of hopeful enthusiasm. Even if there is no telling whether that, or the unrelenting, undaunted hug they're still struggling to hold Sora in, will actually work. "T-that's right," he says, forcing himself to believe that. Mostly because the alternative is far too grim to even consider. "C'mon, Sora! You gotta snap out of it!"
The pair strives to be heard over Sora's continued hisses and growls, but eventually, his attempts at lashing out at them do start to slow down. Eventually, his inhuman utterances also begin to grow quiet, prompting Donald and Goofy to continue, hoping he can somehow hear them after all. "Ya need to come back to us!" the captain presses with a bright smile. "We're a team after all, aren't we?"
"And you're the one who keeps this team together!" Donald chimes in, noticing as the dark aura radiating off of Sora finally starts to diminish. "We're sorry about what happened before, but we were just worried about you! We don't wanna lose you, not to something like this, or to anything else!"
"But we're not worried anymore," Goofy assures as both he and Donald further secure their comforting hold around Sora's shadowy form. "'Cause we know just how strong your heart is, Sora! It's somethin' we've known all along, and so have you!"
"Which is why you're not going to just let the darkness have you!" Donald proclaims, almost overwhelmed with relief when Sora finally closes his otherwise unblinking yellow eyes. "Right?"
The pair pauses, waiting to see if any of their efforts have worked. They watch, breathlessly, as the shadows settled over Sora finally begin to lift, draining from his skin, his hair, his clothes, as if he's stepping out of the darkness of night and back into the light of the sun. His claws disappear, his growls falling into complete silence as his own consciousness begins to return to him, as the suffocating fog that had banished all thought and reason finally starts to lift. As his more aggressive instincts are pushed away, repelled to some obscure, unknown part of his heart just as the very darkness that had engulfed him is right along with them.
He lets out a small groan as he collapses to his knees, Donald and Goofy refusing to release him as they lower themselves to his level in turn. When he finally opens his eyes, they're practically elated to see they're fully back to their usual deep blue, if not a bit unfocused as he looks between the pair holding onto him so tightly. "Donald…? Goofy…?" he asks, his voice sedated and inexplicably hoarse. "W-what… what happened…?"
Neither of them offer him an immediate answer, as overwhelmed with relief as they are. Hercules shares that relief, smiling as he lets out a small, tired sigh. However, what no one on the ground notices is the pair standing upon one of Thebes' higher structures above them. A pair that had been present to watch and witness every second of the chaos that had just unfolded firsthand.
"Well then…" Maleficent smirks, clutching her staff as she keeps her gaze focused on the trio below. "That was quite an impressive display. It seems as though I truly have underestimated that boy in the past…"
"Boy, I'll say!" Pete chimes in, absolutely baffled. "What was up with all that darkness coverin' him anyway? I thought he was supposed to be one of them goodie-goods, all full o' light and whatnot."
"It would appear that his heart is not as 'full of light' as we have previously been led to believe…How… fascinating…" Maleficent muses, her grin widening as a new idea comes to her. An idea that, surprisingly enough, centers almost solely around the boy she'd passed off as nothing more than an unimportant nuisance mere hours ago. "Perhaps what we're truly searching for isn't that far out of our reach after all…"
"Huh?" Pete glances around in confusion. "But I don't see any black boxes 'round here…"
"Forget about the black box for now," Maleficent says simply. "That is no longer my main concern."
"Wha-?!" the henchman exclaims, flabbergasted. "B-but we just spent the past several days lookin' all over for it! How are we just supposed'ta forget about it like it ain't nothing'!?"
"Because, you oaf," Maleficent says as she summons a dark corridor for them to take their leave. "If all goes according to plan, then not only will the box fall into our hands, but so too will each and every world in our path."
"Oh yeah?" Pete inquires, curious. "And how do ya see that?"
Maleficent pauses before entering her dark corridor, casting another careful, calculated glance down at the trio on the ground, or more specifically, one member among them. At the so-called hero of "light" who seems to hold so much darkness within him, darkness that she knows she can certainly use to attain her own twisted desires. "By plunging a noble heart into the depths of darkness and despair…"
And with that, the pair steps into the shadows, still unseen by anyone as they leave this world behind. Back down on the ground, Donald and Goofy finally let Sora go, the former finally taking the time to cast a healing spell over his still-persistent burns while the latter continues fretting over him all the while. Likewise, Hercules steps forward, still smiling as he extends a hand to help Sora up. "Glad to see you're ok, Sora," he says as Donald and Goofy aid him in easing Sora to slowly rise to his feet.
"You're glad?" Sora returns with an incredulous grin. "I'm glad you're ok after what happened back at the temple!"
"Ah, well, you know me," Hercules chuckles, rubbing the back of his neck. "A building collapse isn't bound to keep me down for too long."
The pair shares a small laugh, one that Donald and Goofy are hard pressed to join in on as anxious as they still are after what just happened. And it seems as though they're not the only ones on edge either as one of the lingering townsfolk suddenly pipes up, far from pleased.
"Um… what?" the man scoffs, fixing Hercules with a disapproving glare. "Aren't you supposed to be here to save us? What are you doing acting all friendly to the monster that nearly killed us all!?"
"Monster?!" Sora starts, glancing around for any offending Heartless. "Where?"
"Um… Sora?" Goofy speaks up in a nervous whisper. But before he or Donald can make an attempt at properly explaining, another civilian harshly does so in their stead.
"You should know, you horrible… w-whatever you are!" a woman points an accusing finger at him, keeping her frightened child held close to her. "You almost ripped my poor daughter to shreds with those claws of yours!"
"C-claws…?" Sora glances down at his hand. It's now completely back to normal, but the mere mention of the claws is more than enough to bring back the terrifying memory of what his fingers had become in the seconds before he'd succumbed to… something he still can't even comprehend.
"Hercules!" another man chastises the hero next. "You oughta know better than to associate with one of those things after all of the trouble they've caused here in the city!"
"He may not look like a monster now, but we know what we saw, and you saw it too!" a woman shouts bitterly.
"You're a hero, which means you're supposed to protect us!" someone else exclaims. "So are you gonna protect us from that dangerous freak or not!?"
Hercules can't help but wince upon hearing this remark, one that hits quite close to home for him for a number of reasons. When he glances over at Sora, he can see just how heavy this cruel claim hits him too as he takes a small step back, fear filling his features as he tries to understand what had happened when he hadn't been in control of himself whatsoever. The anxious sort of uncertainty in his eyes is something Hercules knows all too well; after all, he used to feel much of the same way when he was Sora's age too.
"Alright, everyone, just calm down," he says sternly, stepping between Sora and the incensed crowd. "You should all go find somewhere safe to wait out the fires. I'll… handle things here." He casts a brief, reassuring glance Sora's way, though it does little to comfort him, especially when the crowd does disperse, only for one among them to make an incredibly biting remark as they pass by.
"I hope you finish that monster off like it deserves, "hero"," the man hisses, shooting Sora another dirty look before he heads off with the others.
"Oh yeah!?" Donald shouts after the crowd, infuriated by everything they'd just said about Sora. "Well, I hope you-"
He's only narrowly cut off by Goofy rushing in to cover his beak before he can say anything to get them in any more trouble. At the same time, Hercules keeps his concerned focus on Sora, who continues staring down at his own hands, still trying to figure out what had happened to him and why. And of course, the disparaging words from the townsfolk hardly make matters any better; if anything, they only served to make an already unsettling situation so much worse. "Don't worry about what they said," Hercules places a hand on his shoulder, offering him a small, genuine smile. "To tell you the truth, Thebes… has never been filled with the most friendly people in the world. Believe me, I would know; I didn't exactly get the warmest welcome the first time I came here either."
Despite this attempt at lightening the mood, Sora says nothing, at least not at first. When he does speak, his voice is small, his hands held close to his chest as he looks up to the hero with unshakable worry filling his eyes. "Herc… why did they call me that? What made them think I was a... a…" he trails off, unable to even get the word out. Unable to scarcely even fathom the idea that he could come anywhere close to being the kind of chaotic creature the townsfolk had been describing.
Hercules sighs, rubbing the back of his neck as he glances away apprehensively. "Sora, I-I… I don't really-"
"You were covered in darkness from head to toe!" Donald jumps in to properly explain. "It made you look just like a Heartless!"
"And from the sound of it, it made you act like one too…" Goofy adds, frowning. "Do you really not remember any of what just happened?"
Sora pauses, briefly glancing at his hands again before shaking his head. "No… the last thing I remember was… feeling hurt a-and angry, really angry that I just… A-and then all of the sudden there was this darkness covering my hands and I was still so angry but I was so scared too, and then…" he stops, closing his eyes as his last few words come out barely audible. "Then there was nothing…"
Upon hearing such an unnerving account, Donald and Goofy exchange an aptly fretful glance, both of them every bit as lost about what had become of him as Sora himself is. Even so, if there is one thing they're both certain on, it's that they need to get to the bottom of why this had happened. And even beyond that, find a way to prevent it from ever happening again.
"Sora," Goofy begins, his tone calm and earnest. "Maybe… we really oughta head out after all."
"What?" Sora asks, caught off guard by the very suggestion.
"We need to go… "back home"," Donald begins, taking care to keep the world order in front of Hercules. "And get some answers about what's going on. Losing your strength is one thing, but darkness doesn't just take control of someone out of nowhere. Especially not someone like you."
"But… no, we already settled this before!" Sora protests adamantly. "We need to stay and help Herc fight off-"
"Actually, Sora," Hercules hesitantly interjects. "It might be a better idea for you to listen to Donald and Goofy on this one."
"Really?" Sora scoffs, disappointed. "You too?"
"Don't get me wrong, I appreciate that you want to help," Hercules counters. "But if you go through something like what just happened again, I… don't know if I'll be able to get the townsfolk to back off as easily as I did this time. It might not be safe for you to…" He stops, deciding to rephrase his argument altogether into something more sincere. "I-we just don't want to see you get hurt, ok?"
"No! Not ok!" Sora argues, refusing to sit on the sidelines like everyone seems to want him to anymore. Refusing to let them all see him as someone who needs to stay behind, someone who needs to be protected, someone who's a weak waste of time and energy. "Please, Herc, you gotta let me-I mean, us-stay! It won't happen again, I promise it won't! I'll be more careful, I won't push myself so hard again. Just please don't make us leave. I want to-I need to do this. I'll never get strong again if I don't have a chance to at least try!"
"...A chance to go the distance…" Hercules whispers to himself, unable to ignore the stalwart resolve that Sora's showing him. Resolve that reminds him so much of himself, so much of the awkward, out of place boy who'd wanted nothing more than to become a hero, to finally be where he belonged. And now that he's long since reached that place he'd been longing for himself, Hercules knows it's only fair that he helps another boy do the same. "Ok," he relents, though he's quick to add in a stern condition before Donald and Goofy can protest too much. "But only if we all go together from here on out."
"It's a deal!" Sora enthusiastically agrees. With a satisfied smile, he begins pressing on ahead, allowing Hercules to offer his companions a brief reassuring word once he's out of earshot.
"Don't worry," he whispers to the still worried pair. "I'll help you keep an eye on him."
Despite their still lingering misgivings about staying, Donald and Goofy both nod, trusting that the hero will be more than capable of keeping Sora in check. And wondering if that whatever had just happened to him had been nothing more than a bizarre, one-time instance, one that, for all they know, might never happen again. Or at least, they hope it won't.
The rest of their sweep through Thebes is surprisingly smooth and speedy. Most of the townsfolk have already been escorted out of the diminishing flames to safety, and the group wastes little time in rounding up the rest of the stragglers. Heartless still pop up in their path from time to time, but now their numbers are lower than before, their aggression lessened somewhat. In a way, it's as though Hades seems to be shifting his focus away from the city entirely, something that doesn't really surprise any of them. After all, the lord of the dead had sent the message of his immense power quite well in this attack, but it's obvious that isn't his end goal. However, the group doesn't get a complete confirmation on this theory until they end up circling back around to Thebes' central square, only to be met with a familiar flying steed and its pair of riders almost as soon as they arrive.
Pegasus touches down right before Hercules and the trio, both Meg and Phil sharing allayed grins as they relay the good news they have to share from scouting the city from above. "Nice job, Wonderboy," Meg congratulates warmly. "We checked the whole town. Looks like everyone's finally safe."
"That's great," Hercules says, letting out a sigh of relief that Sora, Donald, and Goofy all share in on. "We did what we could to help."
"I'll say," Meg smirks playfully. "Looks like you heroes have been busy little bees."
Sora, Donald, and Goofy all perk up at this, taking the praise proudly, even if Phil is quick to interject to detract it. "Eh, from where we were flyin' overhead, you three were passable, at best," he remarks flippantly, though he does break out into a wry grin upon noticing the offended glances the trio sends his way. "Hey, I'm kiddin'! Ya did good. At least none of ya died, so that's definitely a plus in just about every book there is."
This quip is more than enough to get a laugh out of the entire group, though it's ultimately a short lived one as Pegasus lets out a small, yet serious whicker, diverting everyone's attention towards Mount Olympus afar in the distance. "Oh, look…" Meg sighs wearily, spotting the alarming sight first. "More trouble…"
Trouble sums the situation up well as everyone looks to the mountain towering high over the city. Usually, Mount Olympus's impeccably tall peak is awash in soft, fluffy clouds, clouds that obscure the glorious realm of the gods away from mortal eyes. However, now the clouds that swirl around that realm are black and stormy, marred by the occasional bolt of dark thunder to top off the sinister aura filling the very air itself.
"It's Hades…" Hercules scowls, not even having to think twice about where such darkness is coming from. "No wonder it's been getting quieter around here. He's going after the home of the gods."
"Then let's go stop him!" Sora proclaims, resolved despite the obvious danger. Donald and Goofy hesitate, neither of them too keen on allowing Sora to be part of such a lofty, no doubt intensive mission. But once again, Hercules is quick to try and ease their worries as he begins to lead the way toward the mountain.
"Hades has never been much of a match for us before," he reminds the trio with a broad, daring grin. "I doubt things will be that different this time."
"But he has a whole bunch of Titans helpin' him out this time around," Goofy notes apprehensively.
"We saw them when we first got here!" Donald adds, knowing that Sora isn't in much of a shape to contend with such monsters at the moment.
"We can take 'em!" Sora insists regardless, and despite his companions' worry, the others all largely side with him.
"Well, you sure sound confident," Meg remarks with a small laugh.
"Four Titans vs. the four of you…" Phil muses, narrowing his eyes at the group below. "Eh, I've seen plenty of fights less fair than that. So I'd say ya got a decent chance."
"Guess we won't know until we get up there," Hercules shrugs, pressing on toward the outskirts of town once more. Sora eagerly follows him, Donald and Goofy still on edge as they begrudgingly do the same. After sending their well wishes to the group, Meg and Phil take off atop Pegasus once more, though not without promising to lend their aid if the others find themselves needing it.
Fortunately, the distance between Thebes and Mount Olympus is quite short, and within a few minutes, the group reaches the base of the mountain to begin working their way up the path towards its towering summit. They spare no time for breaks or distractions, knowing that time is of the essence in halting Hades' twisted schemes before they can be fully realized. However, they ultimately come to a brief stop about halfway up the mountain, when the very ground beneath their feet begins to rumble, an icy wind striking up as ash begins to cloud the air around them. All sure signs that the Titans are causing more than their fair share of chaos somewhere up ahead.
"This is getting worse by the minute…" Hercules muses as he glances up toward the still-obscured summit. "I hope I'm wrong, but I think my family might be in trouble."
"Family?" Sora inquires curiously, having never heard the hero mention any sort of family before.
"Yeah," Hercules turns back to the trio with a small grin. "Dad's king of the gods."
"Whaaaat?!" Sora, Donald, and Goofy all exclaim in awed unison.
"Oh, uh, did I never mention that to you guys before?" Hercules asks with a bit of a chuckle.
"Gawrsh, not that I can remember," Goofy points out. "But it feels like something we should've found out a long time ago…"
"That would explain why you're so strong!" Donald exclaims as the hero nods his confirmation.
"So if your dad is a god," Sora begins, looking to Hercules with immense fascination. "Does that make you a god too?"
"Mm… sort of," Hercules admits as the group continues on their way. "When I was a baby, I was stolen from my parents and turned mortal by Hades' cronies. I had to work hard to regain my godhood so I could be with my family again, but…" he stops short, glancing back down the mountain toward Thebes. "It's a long story. I'll save the rest for some other time."
"Aw, what?" Sora pouts. "You're just gonna leave us off on a cliffhanger? Not fair!"
"Hey, look at it this way," Hercules smirks. "It'll give you something to look forward to after we defeat Hades."
"If we defeat Hades…" Donald mutters to Goofy, aside.
From there, the group presses on, dodging Heartless and falling rubble from the atop of the mountain alike as they continue to climb it. Eventually, the clear blue skies surrounding them are overtaken by the dark, stormy torrent surrounding the peak, a storm that only worsens the higher they ascend. Thunder rages, the winds whipping violently as a torrential downpour begins, making the already treacherous trek slick and slippery. They manage to find a brief refuge from the rain through an enclosed mountain pass, one that leads straight to their destination, the very epicenter of the Titans' violent attack: the realm of the gods itself.
"Welcome to Olympus, fellas," Hercules guides the trio through its golden gates, into a haven of sacred light unlike any they'd ever seen before. The divine domain is composed of sculpted clouds and grandiose golden structures as far as the eye can see. Needless to say it's a far cry from the damaged stony streets of Thebes or even the lush greenery of the mountain it caps off, something the trio unanimously notes as they try to take it all in. As they do, Sora finds himself suddenly overwhelmed by the presence of something, the very same thing he'd felt not long after they'd arrived in this world, something that'd been largely lost to him back in Thebes. He still has no idea what it is or where it's coming from; what he does know is that he struggles to really focus on much of anything at all amidst it, even as his companions continue their conversation around him.
"Gawrsh, it's amazing…" Goofy says rather quietly to maintain an air of reverence in such a hallowed place.
"This is where your family lives?" Donald asks Hercules, aptly impressed.
The hero nods, his expression set with concern as he glances around the abnormally empty area, a place that he knows should be quite lively with all of the legendary gods and goddesses that call this realm home. "I've never seen it this quiet though… Something's wrong. We need to get to the citadel and fast."
While Donald and Goofy start to follow Hercules' lead, Sora stays where he is, absently staring at his sacred, sanctified surroundings. He slowly reaches a hand up to skim his heart, trying to listen to the odd, unknown voice he can only barely hear speaking to it, speaking words he can't understand in the slightest, words he somehow knows are meant for him, calling to him-
"Sora?"
He gasps when his attention is drawn away from that mysterious voice, back toward the others as they all send quizzical looks his way. "Are you coming?" Hercules asks him, beckoning him onward.
Sora hesitates, quickly looking around once more as he tries to listen for the voice again, only to strangely hear nothing at all. "Did… did any of you guys hear that?"
"Hear what?" Donald returns, confused.
"I-it was this voice, I couldn't make out what it was saying but…" Sora trails off when he catches the puzzled glances his friends are all fixing him with, all but confirming they hadn't heard what he had.
"Maybe what you heard came from a bit further up ahead?" Goofy suggests.
"Um… y-yeah," Sora nods, even though he knows that's not the case. After all, the last thing he wants is for his companions to think that anything else is wrong with him after what happened back in Thebes. "You're probably right. We… we should get going."
None of the others argue as they continue, following Hercules' lead through Olympus' gilded pathways. It doesn't take them long to find the Heartless have invaded even a place as opulent as this, but with time on such short supply as it is, the creatures are largely ignored. Instead, the group makes a beeline for the apex of the domain, knowing that Hades and his Titans are bound to be lying somewhere in wait for them there.
They arrive not a moment too soon either. Hades himself stands smugly within the sacred rotunda, watching with a triumphant smirk as his Titans conquer the so-called "mighty" gods of Olympus. The lesser deities have all been restrained by the lord of the dead's darkened chains, left to watch as even the all-powerful Zeus himself is overpowered by the Titans' immense elemental powers.
"I swear to you, Hades!" Zeus shouts angrily to his brother from his ever-expanding prison of solid fire and ice. "When I get out of this, I'll-" He never gets a chance to finish his threat as the freezing molten rocks finally cover him completely, effectively sealing him and all his sacred power away.
"Yeah, nah," Hades' grin deepens as he conjures up a dark throne, finalizing his newfound domain over the realm of the gods. "I'll be the one giving orders around here from now on, bolt boy."
"Don't get too comfortable, Hades!"
The lord of the dead shoots upright upon hearing this bold proclamation, his gaze darting down to the citadel's gates in disbelief. Sure enough, Hercules charges in, Sora, Donald, and Goofy not far behind, each of them determined to put a swift end to Hades' dark regime. Hercules makes the first move in doing exactly that as he charges in, sword in hand to cut through the chains binding the other gods with a single swing. Hades all but ignores the deities' united cheers of celebration as his blue flames quickly spike red in fury, fury that he has no qualms about showing as he fiercely demands his Titans to cut these brazen interlopers down before they ruin his careful plans altogether.
"Get them!" he shouts to his quartet of mythical monsters. And sure enough, the Titans don't hesitate to act on this intense command, storming forward with thunderous steps and leaving behind deadly trails of fire, ice, wind, and stone in their wakes. They tower over the group before them, fully ready to unleash their terrible torrent at their master's malicious command. And given their superior size and strength, Donald and Goofy in particular can't help but be quite daunted by the devastating danger these monsters certainly prove to pose.
"Uh… I think we really should sit this one out, Sora," Goofy pipes up, anxiously gripping his shield.
"Not should-we are sitting this one out!" Donald demands, grabbing Sora by the arm. "This is way too much for you! We need to get you somewhere safe before you-"
"No!" Sora argues, pulling his arm away. "We need to fight! This could be just the chance I've been looking for! This could be what finally helps me get my strength back!"
"W-what?" Goofy starts, alarmed by such a risky plan.
"That's not how that works!" Donald chastises angrily.
"I don't care!" Sora shouts as his Keyblade flashes into his hand. "I'm tired of you guys acting like I can't do anything anymore! I'm tired of feeling so weak! So if this is what I have to do to prove that I'm not… then ok. I will!"
"Sora!" Hercules exclaims, startled when the younger boy runs past him to confront the Titans first. "Wait!"
Sora doesn't heed him, doesn't even slow a single step as he runs toward the quartet of monsters, his Keyblade reeled back as he lets out a furious battle cry. The Titans roar in vicious unison as they each dole their respective elements out in turn; the Wind Titan casts a rapid gale that Sora struggles to rush his way through, though standing becomes so much more of a challenge when the Ice Titan spreads its slippery chill to the ground beneath him. He lets out a startled cry as he slides across it, only narrowly missing the fiery blasts the Lava Titan launches his way. His Keyblade slips out of his hand as he smashes into the base of the Rock Titan's bulky body, a heavy collision that sends pain reverberating through his bones. He ultimately ends up falling to the icy ground, already half-dazed as he looks up to see all four of the Titans towering over him, all of them gearing up to land a devastating strike. He only vaguely hears Donald, Goofy, and Hercules calling for him as his panic skyrockets, as he tries and fails to call upon his Keyblade to protect himself from the mess he's gotten himself into. A mess that he's powerless to stop, just as he's powerless to do much of anything at all lately.
So the most Sora can do instead is shield himself the best he can and close his eyes, until the incredible, but brief burst of pain comes to take him entirely.
The unseen strike plunges him into a void of darkness, settles him down on a solid surface of glistening, colorful glass. He's been here before, his mind barely registers as he somehow stands to stare down at the stained-glass image of himself. And somewhere in the void beyond him, echoes that same mysterious voice he'd heard back in Olympus. Only this time, what it's saying to him is crystal clear.
So much to do, so little time…
He watches in stunned silence as the station beneath him rapidly changes, the images of three others shuffling through it before it settles back onto his own He turns with a gasp to see small coils of darkness swirling around its outer edges, darkness that's threatening to close in toward him as he stands at its center.
The door is still shut…
Despite that darkness, a sudden flash of light from somewhere high above him. It's formless at first, glistening golden and bright as it slowly begins to take on the vague shape of a heart. A heart that radiates power far beyond anything he's ever seen or felt before.
That same power sleeps within you...
In the space right before him, a set of stained glass steps appear, a path hovering in the darkness, its destination, the pure light lingering high overhead. He takes in a small, trembling breath as he basks in its warmth, as he craves its comfort, as he begins to take his first steps toward it.
You're not where you belong...
He ascends the stairs slowly, the shadows from the station following after him at a similar sedated pace. He pays them no mind however, his eyes resting solely on the light, on the heart hanging over his head. A heart that he knows he needs to get to, though he has no idea why.
It's almost time for you to come Home…
Home… He smiles when he hears that word, though the image that fills his mind isn't one of a sun-soaked shore and a shimmering sea. Instead, it's of the glistening heart he's growing ever closer to, a heart that he can now see is surrounded by 13 brilliant, beautiful Keys. He doesn't know what they are, doesn't know what any of this is really. But what he does know is that this feels right, it feels natural. It feels like this is where he's always been meant to be all along.
But you're not who you're supposed to be… not yet…
He stops, a startled gasp escaping him when he hears a sickening crack sound out from the stairs beneath him. He watches in horror as the ones he'd just ascended begin to break, shattering out of existence as their shards disappear into the endless void below. In a sudden panic, he breaks into a run up the remaining stairs, reaching a hand out toward the heart, desperate to get to it, desperate to be with it. And yet…
Your road won't be easy, but don't be afraid…
He lets out a soundless cry when the stair he steps on next suddenly shatters, sending him plummeting down into the depths himself. He continues reaching for the heart nonetheless, even as its light begins to dim, even as it disappears from his sight altogether. Even as he loses something he knows is meant to belong to him and him alone.
You are the one who will open the door…
"Sora!"
He opens his eyes with a sharp gasp, only to be met with an immense burst of agony surging through his entire body. A small, pained whimper escapes him as he so much as tries to move, his blurred vision only barely making out Donald and Goofy's faces as they hang over him, worriedly taking stock of his many, many injuries.
"Looks like he's finally comin' around!" Goofy exclaims, overwhelmed with relief.
"It's about time!" Donald huffs as he casts another healing spell. It only eases the pain somewhat, enough to allow Sora to slowly start sitting up as he tries to make sense of what's going on all around him.
"W-what… what happened…?" he weakly asks, placing an aching arm against his pounding head.
"You tried to fight the Titans on your own," Donald explains, scowling. "I think you can guess how that ended up going for you. You're just lucky we managed to get you over here to safety before they could finish you off."
"And it's a good thing Herc was here to keep 'em busy while we took care of you," Goofy says, nodding to the battle that's just finishing up behind them. From their spot along the edge of the citadel, the trio watches as Hercules successfully manages to break his father out of the elemental mound the Titans had buried him under. Light pours out of the darkened rocks, signifying the revival of the king of the gods mere seconds before Zeus bursts forth from his prison, his divine might restored in full.
"Aha!" Zeus laughs triumphantly, clapping a proud hand onto his son's shoulder. "Thank you, my boy. Now, time to watch your old man get to work!"
With this, he conjures up two handfuls of bright, blazing lightning bolts, which he wastes no time in launching at each of the surrounding Titans in turn. Hades watches in shocked dismay from his spot on the ground as his plans swiftly begin to unravel while the Titans cower under the devastating power Zeus wields against them. The very same power that had once sealed them all away centuries before.
"No!" Hades shouts, his flames red hot as he watches Hercules race in to finish the Titans off. "I did NOT come all this way to lose to Zeusy high and mighty, his little sunspot, and a trio of clowns! ...Wait a sec..." He stops short at this, casting a glance over at that trio of "clowns" as they continue to recuperate on the sidelines. His features curl into a sinister grin as he notices just how injured one among them in particular is, as he senses just how little strength the so-called "hero of the Keyblade" has left. As he realizes just how easily that "hero" can be used as a bargaining chip to get his treacherous schemes back on track. "Oh yeah," he smirks, making the first move to put his newfound idea in motion. "This'll work nicely…"
Hercules has all but reached the Titans to land the last few final blows in time with his father's lightning bolts before a sharp whistle stops him in his tracks. He glances over his shoulder to find a startling sight, one that stops him dead in his tracks. Donald and Goofy have been knocked to the far side of the citadel, dazed and downed by a brutal attack neither of them could have seen coming. But much more alarming by far is Hades, who fixes the hero with a broad, smug grin as he plays out his new plan perfectly. "Oh, Wonderboy! Look what I found!" he calls, hoisting his unfortunate captive up for Hercules to see.
"Sora!" Hercules starts, aptly horrified. Sure enough, Hades has a nigh unbreakable grip around Sora's wrist as he holds him up, a hold that he can do little to escape from as injured and worn as his entire body still is. He struggles to free himself from the lord of the dead, desperately trying to call upon his Keyblade, only for it to briefly flicker into his hand before it flashes out of existence entirely, unable to sustain itself amidst the fear flooding into his racing heart.
"L-let go of me!" he shouts as loudly and fiercely as he can. Even so, his harsh tone hardly phases Hades, who simply lifts him even higher into the air, to the point that he's essentially hanging in midair, completely at the mercy of the lord of the dead, who has very little of that to begin with.
"Not a chance, kiddo," he sneers coldly. "Every time you've shown up here, you and your pals have been such a massive pain in my tuckus, so I think it's high time I got a little even with you. The only question is… how…? Oh! I know just the thing!" With this, Hades snaps his fingers, creating a darkened portal in the space directly below Sora, one that leads straight into an endless whirlpool, swirling toxic green with the souls of the damned forced to call it home. "A nice swim in the River Styx oughta be enough to teach a brat like you a thing or two about manners. 'Course, it's sort of a one-way trip, so you might get in your goodbyes now."
"Sora!" Donald and Goofy cry, rushing to their feet to save their young companion from such a deadly fate. However, before they can get anywhere close to their captive companion, a large crowd of Heartless appears to stop them, blocking either of them from progressing any further.
"Leave him alone, Hades!" Hercules furiously yells, also running forward. Only to come to an abrupt halt when Hades lowers Sora just an inch closer to the portal to his pit of souls.
"Ah ah ah, Jerkules," Hades counters coolly. "One wrong move, and I have my good friends the Fates snip the thread keeping this poor kid alive clean in half. Then again, considering the sorry state he's in, I honestly might be doing him a favor if I did."
"Hades!" Zeus is the one to call him out this time, a lightning bolt already forming in his hand. "Release that innocent mortal this instant!"
"Yeah, sorry, dear brother 'o mine, I don't think I will," Hades shoots back nonchalantly, his steady hold on Sora still not slipping in the slightest. "Unless…" he smirks over at Hercules, knowing he has the hero right where he wants him. "You stand down and let me carry on my little coup here in peace."
"N-no!" Sora protests, still trying to pry himself out of Hades' unrelenting grip. All the while wishing he could do something, anything to stop this madness, to save himself so nobody else has to. "Herc, don't do it-" He cuts himself off with a startled cry as Hades suddenly drops him just a bit lower before abruptly catching him again. By now, his feet are hanging in the shallows of the portal, to the point that he can feel the lifeless souls below reaching up toward him, eager to welcome another victim into their empty, inescapable sea.
"You might wanna hush up, kid," Hades warns him. "You've literally got both feet in the grave, which means you're really not in a position to be a blabbermouth like you usually are. But you on the other hand, Hercules," he turns his attention back to the conflicted hero. "Just say the word and I let Key Boy here go scott-free, no questions asked."
"...You mean you'll let him go safely, right?" Hercules ventures, knowing well that Hades is one to twist deals to suit his own evil needs.
"Um, I said, no questions asked," Hades counters, rolling his eyes.
"You promise?" Hercules presses, not wanting to take any chances when it comes to essentially gambling for Sora's life.
"Ugh, yeesh, fine, cross my heart," the lord of the dead groans, tracing that cross over with a flaming spark. Even so, Hercules continues to fix him with a distrustful glare. "C'mon, you know I'm a god of my word. I kept my end of the bargain when it came to your precious Nutmeg, didn't I?"
"Not really," Hercules retorts dryly.
Hades lets out a frustrated sigh at this, his already worn patience starting to run extremely thin as he decides to put the pressure on even further. "Alright, you know what? I'm done bartering." A bright blue flame forms over his free hand, one that he sharpens into something of a blade that he wastes no time holding dangerously close to Sora's neck. "You want this brat to live to see another day? Then you let me take over Olympus. It's as simple as that. So, what'll it be, 'hero'?"
Hercules falters at this, knowing that his attempts to call Hades' bluff have all but failed. And as a result, the lord of the dead has shown just how serious he really is about carrying out his cruel threats to kill Sora out. The situation the hero suddenly finds himself here is an incredibly difficult one, to either let Hades conquer the realm of the gods, the very place his family calls home, or let one of his longtime friends meet such a vile, violent end. He struggles to reach any concrete decisions on the matter, but fortunately, he finds he might not have to as he happens to glance up to the skies above, only to see a familiar friend gliding through them.
"...Ok, Hades," he pretends to relent, putting his sword down in apparent surrender. "You win."
"H-Herc, no…" Sora whispers, absolutely distraught by the choice the hero has made. The sacrifice he's making is far too great, far too many other lives being exchanged solely for his own. And all because he isn't strong enough to save himself, all because he isn't strong enough to do anything at all really. He wishes, now more than ever, that he wasn't so powerless, that he wasn't so pathetic so that he could put Hades in his place for even forcing Hercules to even have to make such a painful choice. As strange as it seems, he even finds himself wishing that the claws would come back out, that the darkness would slip over him again, that those horrifically mindless instincts would take over once more, even just for a second. But that wish does nothing for him as he continues to weakly dangle over a pit of death, reduced to nothing more than a helpless prisoner, just as he'd been during the exam just a few days before. Nothing more than a mere tool to be used by his enemies however they see fit.
For his part, Hades grins, though he still doesn't release his captive quite yet, just in case. "Glad you could see it my way, Wonderboy. Now, why don't you just-AUGH!" Hades' sudden shout echoes through Olympus just as loudly as the heavy blow that bashes him in the back of his head. A blow that comes courtesy of Pegasus' hooves as he flies right overhead.
"Yeah! Right in the noggin!" Phil cheers from his spot atop the steed's back. "Nice one, ya fleabag!" He pats Pegasus, who lets out a whinnying laugh as he circles around the citadel.
"I'd say that's exactly what the ol' hothead had coming to him," Meg adds with an amused laugh.
However, as startled as he is by the unexpected attack, Hades does end up keeping his end of the bargain, even if it is by accident. He drops Sora, allowing him to fall… straight into the still-open portal to the pit of souls beneath him.
He only barely manages to catch the edge of the portal with both hands, but the rest of his body still hangs freely at the entrance to the ocean of death, an ocean he's far too close to falling fully into for comfort. He lets out a panicked cry when the icy hands of the deceased finally make contact with him, their mere touch alone draining his energy even more as they try to pull him under. Tears brim in his eyes, his breath hitching in immense terror as his grip on the edge begins to slip, as he feels his own body begin to deteriorate and decay in tune with the dead souls trying to claim him. With not a single ounce of strength left to help him resist it, he nearly succumbs to the lifeless void engulfing him, nearly drowns in the icy abyss below, but then-
Then there's that voice again, still unknown, still echoing from the depths of his heart, still beckoning him to something he still doesn't understand.
You cannot fade yet… Your journey has only just begun… And it will only end when you open the door…
Just as he finally loses his hold on the edge, just as he begins to descend into death itself, another hand reaches in from somewhere above, latching onto his already withered hand to pull him away from the souls greedily trying to drag him down. He isn't able to see who that hand belongs to, can't see much of anything at all until he finally manages to breathe again for the first time in what feels like ages, a huge gasp of air filling his lungs as they start to bring themselves back to working order. The rest of his body soon follows suit, color returning to his ashen skin as someone carefully lays him down somewhere. The edge of decay slowly fades from his form, though his former injuries still remain, at least until someone-most likely Donald-casts a swift healing spell over him. Eventually, he manages to open his eyes to find both of his companions standing over him, Hercules not too far away to keep Hades at bay in case he tries to beset any of them again. Even so, the lord of the dead doesn't stand to pose too much of a threat to them now, not after the second heavy blow he'd just sustained.
"For cryin' out loud," Hades grumbles from his spot on the ground, rubbing his newly-sore jaw. "As if the kick to the back of the cranium wasn't enough, did ya really have to go in for a sucker punch, Wonderboy? That's just overkill if ya ask me."
"You're lucky I didn't do more than that for that stunt you just pulled," Hercules glances back at him, his tone harsh and intimidating.
"Hades," Zeus steps in to pull his brother to his feet, his manner similarly cold to match his son's. "I believe it's time for you to go."
"Think again, Zeusy," Hades scoffs, pulling away from the other god. "You forget, I still got four, count 'em four Titans on my-"
The lord of the dead comes to an abrupt stop when he turns to face those Titans, only to find Hercules racing toward them. He grabs the Wind Titan by the tail of its tornado-like form, aiming its suctioning gusts toward the three remaining monsters. Each of the other Titans are pulled into the raging cyclone, their elemental might entrapped within its thrall. And, with a single hefty toss, Hercules sends all four of the Titans flying as high as the outer reaches of the cosmos themselves, finally freeing Olympus from their legendary terror once and for all.
"You were saying?" Hercules turns back to Hades, his expression still quite severe.
Hades takes pause at this juncture, briefly weighing his options and the opposition poised against him. Hercules and Zeus combined are far more than he's capable of taking on his own, but then there's Donald and Goofy, their weapons summoned as they stand ready to defend Sora, as well as Meg and Phil who are quick to join the others as soon as Pegasus touches down. And even beyond that group, there's also the rest of Olympus' population of powerful gods and goddesses, each of them rallying around the edges of the citadel to chase Hades out if need be. None of them even need to say a single word to send the lord of the dead a very clear message: he isn't welcome here, and if he even thinks about trying to stay, he'll be facing a battle he has no chance of winning.
"Alright, alright, I get the picture," Hades scowls as he sullenly conjures up a shadowy portal. "Keep this sparkly dump to yourselves, I didn't wanna take it over anyway."
"Suuuure, you didn't," Hercules deadpans, rolling his eyes. "Oh, by the way, I almost forgot…" He smirks as he approaches Hades, only to suddenly, solidly sock him in the jaw. "That one's for trying to wreck Thebes-" While that first punch is enough to send Hades reeling back, Hercules doles out a second one to finally send the lord of the dead flying back to the Underworld where he belongs. "And that's another one for Sora!"
"Yeah! You tell him!" Donald cheers excitedly.
"That's one way to send him packin', huh, Sora?" Goofy grins as they both turn back to their young companion. Only to find that he's already gotten up on his own, and is already heading for the citadel's shining gates. Or at least, he's trying to.
Even with his earlier wounds healed, Sora still struggles to walk on his own, resorting to using his Keyblade as a makeshift crutch to keep him steady as he tries to leave without making much of a stir. As he tries to give himself a moment alone to come to terms with just how close he'd just gotten to death itself, with how horrible it had felt when that death had gripped him like a frigid vice, with how utterly helpless he'd been to escape it in the slightest. And yet, he doesn't even get that sorely-needed moment of solace when his companions chase after him, determined to check on him amidst their immense concern.
"Sora! Where are you going?!" Donald demands.
"Are ya feelin ok?" Goofy asks a touch more gently. "Ya know, after-"
"Y-yeah, I'm feeling great!" Sora glances over his shoulder at the pair, a wide, cheery smile forced onto his face. He lets his Keyblade disappear, even though he can barely keep himself upright without it as shaky as his stills shock-ridden body is. "I was just… um… thinking, since, uh… since Hades is gone, maybe we should… head out?"
"Oh, now you wanna leave?" Donald asks, hands on his hips. "Only after you almost die?"
Sora winces at this reminder of something that's still a very touchy subject, something he'd really rather not talk about, something he doesn't even want to think about for as terrifying as it had been. Still, he barely manages to maintain his smile as he offers his companions a small, wavering shrug. "Oh, well, you know…" he begins, desperately trying to come up with something to say to ease his companions' shared concerns. Something to make them believe that he's not as bad off as he really feels, both inside and out. "I just think we should go so we can-"
"You're leaving already?" Hercules interjects as he approaches the trio, Meg and Phil not far behind. "It feels like you guys just got here!"
"Don't you boys wanna stick around for the celebration?" Meg asks with a small, playful smile.
"I know I do…" Phil smirks as he offers a flirtatious wave to a pair of passing goddesses.
"Aw, we sure do appreciate the offer, but we should probably go," Goofy says. "After all, we gotta take the time to make sure Sora's alright after everything that just happened."
"I already told you, I feel fine!" Sora counters, annoyed as he turns to leave. He only takes about a single step though before he begins to sway, suddenly lightheaded to the point that his balance all but fails him. The only thing that keeps him from collapsing to the ground is Hercules, rushing to grab him by the arm to help him up before he can fully fall. "I-I'll be fine," he tells the hero, his voice a tremulous whisper, trying his hardest to fight back tears. "I will be, I know I will, I have to be fine, I just-"
"Sora…" Hercules cuts him off, his voice steady where the younger boy's isn't. At first, he isn't quite sure of what to say to help him feel better, doesn't know what to do to comfort him or console him. Until… "You know, I still owe you the ending to that 'cliffhanger' I left you off on earlier. Why don't I tell you the rest of the story while we see you guys off?"
Though Sora initially hesitates, he ultimately agrees to this plan, largely leaning against the hero for support as the collective group begins to make their way back down to Olympus' entrance. "It took what felt like forever," Hercules picks up his tale with a small, nostalgic smile. "But I eventually managed to get my godhood back. I could finally come back here, I could be home where I belonged. But then… I realized that even if this was where I belong, this wasn't where I wanted to be."
"What do you mean?" Sora asks, confused.
"Isn't this where your family is?" Goofy adds, also not following.
Hercules nods as they approach the gates out of the realm of the gods. "I can see my family anytime I want. But if I stayed here… then I wouldn't be able to see someone else who matters to me just as much. And after spending so much time searching for what I was missing, I finally know exactly where I'm supposed to be..."
The hero's smile widens as he glances over his shoulder, his sights settling on Meg as she returns his adoring grin. "Aw… Wonderboy…" she sighs, still every bit as touched by his choice to stay with her, to give up his very immortality to be with her, as she'd been when he'd first made it.
"Oy vey, could you two lovebirds get any mushier?" Phil groans, eliciting a shared laugh from the others. "Seriously, get a room."
That bout of levity is largely lost on Sora, however, as he takes in everything Hercules had just said, as he tries to understand what could be enough to make someone freely give up the power and opulence of a god. Then again, he doesn't have to think too hard about what would drive him to make a similar choice if he'd been in the hero's shoes. Because when push comes to shove, above anything that might try to call him away, above anything that might be far greater than he could possibly imagine or aspire to be, in the end, above even the strength he's so sorely missing and wants to get back, he knows exactly what he'd choose. He'd choose Donald and Goofy. He'd choose Riku and Kairi. He'd choose his friends every time, without question and without fail. And even as uncertain as he still is about so many things moving forward, there is one thing Sora knows for sure; nothing in any world near or far will ever change that.
"Hey," Hercules says to him while the others are starting to exchange their fond farewells. He places a steadying hand on his shoulder, his tone quiet but earnest as he offers the younger boy the best advice he possibly can. "I wouldn't worry about regaining your strength if I were you. I know you, Sora, and I know that when you really need to be, you'll be strong enough to stand against anything in your way."
"A-are you sure?" Sora asks, still feeling far from strong on just about all accounts.
"Positive," Hercules nods, smiling. He pauses briefly, sparing a glance over at Phil as he insincerely fusses at Donald and Goofy in the background. "You know, when Phil was still training me, he told me something I'll never forget. He said that being a hero doesn't come down to the size of your muscles or how much power you have or how quickly you can take down a monster in a fight. Being a true hero, Sora, is a work of heart."
"...A work of heart…" Sora softly repeats, lightly skimming a hand over his own.
"And as long as you keep fighting with all of yours," Hercules continues confidently. "Then I know you'll find your way, just like I did."
Warmed by this kind encouragement, Sora readily meets the hand the hero extends out to him in a solid shake. He knows he's still a long way off to regaining his lost strength, that the path to get him back to where he'd been before the exam will no doubt be a difficult one if his time here in Olympus is any indication. But perhaps that strength isn't the only thing that matters here; perhaps it's exactly as Hercules had said. Perhaps there's far more to being a hero than how much might he can throw around in a battle. Perhaps what really matters most is what or who he's fighting that battle for to begin with. What matters most... are his friends.
And once again, his thoughts return to his friends as he, Donald, and Goofy bid their warm goodbyes to Hercules and the others. His friends, scattered across so many different worlds, but all so very close to his heart all the same. His friends, who have always pushed him forward, have always prompted him to press on through exhaustion, through despair, through the depths of the unknown itself, all just to protect them, just to be with them again. His friends, who have always been the source of his power before, so why wouldn't they be now when he longs to get that power back? His friends, who he's always believed in just as they believe in him.
His friends, who will always, always come first, no matter who or what might try to come between.
And there ya have it! Our new and improved Olympus chapters! These kinda set the trajectory for the rest of Keys, so I hope you enjoyed them! Next time around, we'll get a glimpse of what Riku and The Rat are up to, so be sure to stick around for that. And don't forget to REVIEW! Until next time!
