SEE CHAPTER ONE FOR (MOST) DISCLAIMERS
PLEASE READ & REVIEW, AND TEND TO THE TROPE PAGES
-CHAPTER START-
The quartet of Sora, Ventus, Donald, & Goofy looked around the area where the Gummi Ship had warped them in: a shaded spot beneath a rocky arch in a mountainous area, some wildflowers here & there. There didn't seem to be anyone else around, though.
"No fanfare?" Sora wondered.
"Nope" Goofy replied, looking around. "Looks like we missed the Coliseum."
"Sora!" Donald snapped. "You opened the gate!"
"Sorry" Sora rubbed the back of this head. "Looks like I was a little off again."
"We should probably find somewhere high up," Ven suggested, "see if we can see Thebes or the Coliseum."
"Up the mountain?" Donald suggested.
"Yeah, 'Up' is the usual direction" Sora replied, walking on.
"Well," Goofy said, "never hurts to have your head in the clouds."
"Exactly!" Sora & Ventus chorused.
As the two humans walked onward, Goofy chuckled, while Donald just sighed. The quartet walked down the path into a clearing with a pond, ringed by a handful of old decorative columns. Suddenly, a pack of Heartless spawned in ahead – several Shadows and Soldiers, led by a Large Body. As the gang rushed in, Ventus suddenly fired a Blizzard blast up at a pair of Air Soldiers swooping down at them, missing one but freezing the other's wings; as it fell he smashed its head in with his Keyblade.
Goofy threw his shield at a Soldier; tearing through it, the shield then hit the Large Body's big belly and bounced off at an angle, cutting down a pair of Shadows on its way back to Goofy. Sora used a Sonic Blade to slice two Soldiers' heads off, while Donald stunned the Large Body with a Thundara and beat a Shadow to 'death' with his staff.
The Large Body charged at Sora & Ven, who danced around its smashing fists and slashed at its sides and back. It leapt up and body-slammed, creating a shockwave that knocked both boys back, but Ventus threw his Keyblade in a Strike Raid that hit the big Heartless in the face as it was getting back up, doing enough damage to destroy it.
"I guess I'm not as rusty as I thought…" he remarked.
The other Air Soldier fell to a Fire blast from Donald and a shield bash from Goofy, and the quartet moved on, using a little speed-boost and surface-gripping magic to dash up an old decorative wall. Continuing upward, up a few rock-walls, they passed through an old archway and reached a cliff-edge overlooking the mountain range and a field below, as well as a town in the distance.
"I think we might be goin' in circles…" Goofy said.
"Did we make a turn at the wrong rock?" Sora wondered. "Heeeyy, Herculeees! Where are you!?"
OLYMPUS
Suddenly, a mass of wispy blackness floated in from above, landing behind the group and forming into a gray-robed figure with blue skin, yellow eyes, pointy teeth, and a flickering blue hair for flames.
"All right," he talked to himself, not yet noticing the group, "I know I dotted my I's, crossed my T's, zeroed the hero. So, what gives? Who could possibly be trying to give me a migraine by yodeling that yutz's name?"
It was then that he took notice of the quartet, a deadpan expression forming on his face. Ventus was on guard, but the other three just looked annoyed.
"Really?" Sora sighed. "Hades?"
"Oh, it's just you" the demon-lord muttered. "Oy vey."
"Just us? Even for you, that's cold."
"Oh, don't you forget, shrimpy, I can always turn up the heat!" It was then that he noticed Ventus. "…Huh. Weren't you one of those Keyblader kids from a decade ago? What, did you find the secret to eternal youth or something?"
"I've been in magically-induced stasis for the past 11 or 12 years," Ven replied, crossing his arms, "while my Heart repaired itself. And don't think I've forgotten about how you tried to corrupt Terra!"
"Hey, hey, I was tryin' to give the kid some actually decent advice! If he denied his own darkness, suppressed that part of himself, it would eventually come back to bite him. Considering I don't see him around, I'm guessin' that's what happened?"
"Xehanort stole his body," Goofy replied, "to get himself a younger, stronger vessel."
Hades' eyes actually widened. "Bodyjacking? Jeez, even for me, that kinda crosses a line. Poor kid…"
"Wait…" Goofy looked around. "If Hades is here, then where's Herc?"
"What is everyone's infatuation with that dolt!?" Hades suddenly snapped, flaring red for a few seconds before regaining control. "Y'know what? Never mind, never mind. I'm cool. I'm good. Because… Wonderboy will be outta my hair soon enough."
"So you're up to no good again!" Sora drew his Keyblade.
"Of course he is" Goofy drew his shield, while Donald and Ven readied their weapons as well, Donald already readying a Blizzard spell.
"Whoa, easy" Hades turned around. "What is this, Sparta? Kind of on a schedule; don't have time to toss around the ol' fire & brimstone. The whole cosmos is basically waiting for me to, y'know, conquer it!"
As he walked away, Sora sighed and dispelled his weapon, the others following his lead. "Poor Hades" he remarked. "He thinks he can actually pull it off this time."
In response, Hades looked to the sky, spreading his arms. "Where are my Titans!? Show me your power!"
The sky suddenly darkened, dark clouds swirling overhead with crackling thunder and howling wind, while the earth began to tremble.
"Okay, maybe there's something to his boasting!" Ven said.
Lava began to flow out of a nearby mountaintop, while a freezing wind began to blow. Hades was unaffected, but the growing gale, which now had chunks of rock in it, pushed the quartet back, and soon they were unable to endure. With cries of shock and panic, they were all blown away, sent hurtling off the mountain.
"Ahh…" Hades smiled, watching them 'leave'. "That sent 'em sailing." His smile dropped as he plotted their trajectory. "Sailing right to where I left… Eh, no biggie." He turned to the behemoths gathered behind him. "Nice work, boys! So, back to the whole 'cosmic coup' thing?"
The enormous entities turned and marched on. As Hades waved goodbye, however, a roiling black portal formed behind him.
"…Ugh. Really? Are you kidding? Jeez, Louise; Seriously, when it rains, it pours. Okay, who's the new pest?"
"Hey now," Pete replied as he and Maleficent emerged from the dark gateway, "that ain't no way to say hello, 'specially to your old friends."
"Oh, perfect, now I gotta put up with you two. Funny, I don't remember you doing me any memorable favors. So, you can keep your Heartless this time. I'm going back to my original plan. All right? So, toodle-oo! Exit's thataway. Hey, it was great seein' ya! Happy trails!"
"We are not here for you" Maleficent replied. "I have my own business to attend to. All I need to know is if there is a distinctive… black box… somewhere in this world? It's around the size of a good-size luggage case, supposedly with a silver-lined red symbol on it.
"Hmmm…" Hades though. "Black box, suitcase-sized, red symbol… Hm, maybe Pandora's Box? Nah, that's smaller and a different color. …Sorry, I've never heard of something like that around here. But hey, I don't know literally everything that's in this world, so it could be here, maybe. What's in the box, anyhoo?"
"Nobody really knows" Pete replied. "But supposedly, the Keyblade Master of Masters entrusted it to one of his apprentices, a long, long time ago. Only the head guy and that one apprentice knew what was in it. But if it belonged to a bigshot like the Master of Masters, and he went so far in keepin' it secret…"
"…Then it must be something valuable or powerful," Maleficent finished, "something worth finding."
"A relic from the Age of Fairytales, huh? …Welp! Good luck finding it!"
Maleficent sighed. "Very well, then. Come along, Pete; we must continue our search elsewhere. Perhaps one of Dyspear's or Salem's agents may have a clue…."
"Hm? You got new allies now, you old fae?"
Maleficent smirked. "Indeed I do. And one of them has just as much ire towards the gods as you do…"
-SCENE BREAK-
In the battered town, as the quartet hurtled through the air, Ventus formed his Keyblade Glider, getting balance on it and quickly zooming in to catch Donald. He then prepared to go for Sora & Goofy, but someone beat him to it – a muscular redhead who leapt into the air and caught them both, bringing them groundside.
"See?" Sora said. "Found him!"
"Yep, I guess this counts!" Goofy replied.
As Hercules set them down, Ven flew down with Donald.
"Sora, Donald, Goofy!" Hercules grinned. "You literally dropped in! Gotta say, I'm impressed. And… Wait… Ven!? It's been years! A-And you look like you haven't changed a bit!"
"I was in a magical coma, basically," Ventus replied, "and it was only yesterday that my Heart and body were finally reunited and I woke up. But hey, I promised I'd come back once you were a true hero!"
"That you did! Hey, how are Terra and Aqua?"
Ventus' smile dropped. "Aqua's fine, though she was trapped in the Realm of Darkness for about 10 years. Terra…" he sighed. "Master Xehanort, an elderly, evil Keyblade-wielder, stole Terra's body."
Hercules looked shocked and dismayed at that. "Stole his body? Oh no…"
"So… Where's Zack? Did he make 'true hero', too?"
Herc sighed. "Ven… I've got some bad news. I hadn't heard from Zack in a long time, so I ended up going to Hades and asking him if he knew anything. …Zack is dead, Ventus."
"W… What?" Ventus almost fell over. "B-But when? How?"
"According to Hades' afterlife records, a few years ago, Zack was killed by someone named Sephiroth."
"Sephiroth?!" Sora gasped. "Didn't we fight him a few months ago?!"
"That wasn't the original Sephiroth, Sora" Goofy replied. "Remember? That 'Sephiroth' we fought was Cloud's inner darkness made manifest outside of him; Cloud musta known the 'original' Sephiroth enough that his own darkness took Sephiroth's form and personality."
"Yeah," Hercules added, "Hades' records show that Sephiroth – the real Sephiroth – was killed by Cloud not too long after he killed Zack. But it sounds like Cloud had enough inner demons that they brought back a specter of him, of sorts."
Ventus sighed.
"So, what's going on around here?" Sora asked.
He looked around at the damaged buildings, a handful of fires burning.
"Take a guess…" Herc sighed. "Starts with an H."
"Ah, I get the picture. Actually, we bumped into the H-ster on the way here.."
"He said somethin' about conquering the whole cosmos" Goofy added.
"All of it, huh?" Hercules replied. "Nice of him to show a little self-restraint. Well, whatever he's planning, I'll send him running back across the Styx.
"Heh, that's our Herc!" Sora grinned.
They started heading into town, towards the big statue of Hercules. Suddenly, a barrage of fireballs dropped in from the sky, one of them knocking the statue over. The 'fireballs' hit the ground, revealed to be a pack of the Pureblood Heartless known as Flame Cores. The Flame Cores started spitting fireballs everywhere, setting more things ablaze. Sora rushed in first, firing a Water spell at the closest one, knocking it back and doing quite a bit of damage; he gave it a few whacks to finish it off.
Hercules gave Ventus a boost, tossing him high so he could come back down with a shockwave slam that sent Flame Cores tumbling. A few Blizzaga shots from Donald took one down, and a 'Goofy Tornado' dealt with another. Hercules picked up a chunk of rubble the size of himself, wound up and tossed it, smashing another Flame Core into paste. Sora darted about, spinning around columns to give him and his strikes momentum, killing more of the flaming Heartless. Finally, a falling strike from Ventus bisected the last Flame Core.
Just then, Pegasus flew in with Meg and Phil aboard.
"Boy," she said, "that didn't look so fun."
"No," Hercules replied, "not with the Heartless involved. We're just lucky our friends showed up."
"Well, whaddya know. Guess I owe you guys a big thank-you – Sora, Donald, Goofy, and… who?"
"Whoa, wait a minute" Phil spoke up. "Ven!? Is that you!? Where you been, kid!? And you ain't aged a day!"
"I'm gettin' that a lot…" Ven rubbed at his neck. "Long story short, decade-long magical coma. But I'm alright now, and so is Aqua. Terra, though…"
"Some big baddie named Xehanort body-snatched Terra, apparently" Hercules explained.
"Jeez…" Phil sighed. "All the potential that kid had, and he ends up as somebody else's vessel? That stinks. So, this Xehanort creep – he strong?"
"Very" Sora replied. "Even as an old man, he was stupidly powerful, both physically and magically."
"And with a younger, stronger body… Hoh, boy" Phil winced.
"We'll get Terra back" Ventus said with conviction. "Somehow…"
"Meg, Phil," Hercules spoke up, "you need to get someplace safer. We'll search the city and make sure everyone manages to get clear of the fire."
"Be careful, Wonderboy…" Meg implored.
"I will." He turned to the travelers. "So, you guys in!"
"Of course we're in!" Sora replied.
"We're heroes!" Donald added.
Megara chuckled. "Break a leg, then, heroes."
She and Phil got back aboard Pegasus, who took off and headed outside the city. Suddenly, Goofy turned and pointed at a rubble pile on the other end of the plaza, closer to the fire… where a little girl was caught, up way too high to get down safely, and the fire was slowly getting closer to her. Sora took off running, but Ven summoned his Keyblade Glider and sped ahead, reaching the girl a lot faster. Grabbing her, he brought her back down to safety, and she hugged him.
"Thank you…" she muttered, trying not to burst out crying. "Thank you so much!"
Once the girl took off running to find her family, Sora and the others caught up with Ven. While Hercules headed off to help others in peril, the traveler quartet headed further into the city. Heading down some stairs, they encountered another pack of Flame Cores. This time, Donald willed his power over to Sora, who was enveloped in a shimmering blue glow that revealed his outfit had turned mostly blue in some places. With the magical boost of Wisdom Form, Sora began skating around, firing supercharged Blizzard and Water spells at the Flame Cores, quickly culling their numbers. Goofy and Ven handled the few survivors, and Sora disengaged his Form Change and led them onward.
Their way was blocked by a sea of flames covering the floor in an alleyway. However, Sora, Donald, & Goofy rode across on the latter's shield, while Ven used Wind magic to launch himself over the flames. Sliding down a series of slanted rubble-strewn roofs, they reached a rooftop with some pottery on it… and the 'pottery' sprouted jet-black arms and charged at them, beady yellow eyes peeking out from within the lids. The camouflaged Heartless were quickly swatted by Goofy & Ven, the element of surprise not helping them much.
Down below, a squad of Soldiers were harassing a civilian couple. Ventus leapt in, coming down on one with a falling slash that cut it down. Donald blasted another Soldier with a Firaga that burnt it to a crisp, while a Strike Raid from Sora cut down the rest. A flock of Air Soldiers flew in, and Goofy boosted Ven up to catch most of them in a whirlwind that drew them into a spiraling slash, while Donald used Thundaga to smite the rest.
With the civilians safe, the quarter pressed on, making their way through rubble and over rooftops. A building was demolished by a Flame Core 'meteor' ("Gawrsh, I hope they got insurance…) as the gang reached the gardens, and in a nearby building a man was being menaced by Soldiers and Shadows, which a Thundaga barrage from Sora & Donald made short work of. Moving through the gardens, they came across a woman pinned atop a pillar by a pack of Flame Cores below. A barrage of Strike Raid strikes from Sora & Ventus took most of them out, and some Watera blasts from Donald killed the rest.
"We'd better try and catch up with Herc" Goofy said as he helped the lady down.
"Wait, you guys know Hercules?" the young woman asked.
"Yeah" Sora replied. "We've helped him out a few times, and the last time ended with us being dubbed honorary heroes!"
As they passed through the gardens, moving past a fallen statue of Achilles (broken at, of course, the heel), they hurried down a slope as another building came down. Running along a wall to cross a field of flaming rubble, they were ambushed by a flock of Air Soldiers. Sora and Ventus combined Aero-type spells to catch the Heartless in a whirlwind of slicing wind, and Donald zapped them all with a Thundaga while they were helpless.
Reaching another small plaza, they found a woman & her child being harassed by Soldiers. Donald & Goofy took the lead, magic blasts and shield bashes cutting most of the Heartless down, a lone survivor being destroyed by a Sonic Blade strike from Sora. Further along, another civilian was being pursued by a few Air Soldiers, but Blizzard blasts from Ven & Donald clipped the monsters' wings.
After shield-surfing across another superheated area, they headed down some steps and encountered a squad of Bizarre Archers. Goofy used his shield to protect Sora from an arrow, and Donald fired back with a Blizzara shot that destroyed one of them; these archer Heartless weren't very durable, it seemed. Ventus formed an Aero barrier around himself that deflected arrows sent his way, letting him get in close and cut down several of the little fiends. Sora pitched in, too, quickly taking out the rest.
Hurrying down an alley and into a burning, collapsing building, they found Hercules straining to hold up a massive mound of rubble from crushing some helpless civilians.
"Herc!"
As the gang ran in, the building rumbled. Hercules groaned as the weight shifted and grew, while falling rubble blocked the entrance. Then, a pack of Flame Cores spawned in as well.
"Alright guys, we gotta do this quick!" Sora said.
The quartet charged in, with Donald again giving Sora the power to go into Wisdom Form. The magic-boosted young warrior's Water and Blizzard spells began quickly chipping away at the fire Heartless' numbers, with Goofy & Ven backing him up. The remaining Flame Cores were finished off when Sora channeled a massive amount of magic into an overcharged "Waterza" that doused and drowned the lot of them.
"Get the people out!" Hercules ordered.
Donald blasted a hole through the rubble blocking the entrance, allowing him and the others to quickly usher the trapped family to safety. However, before they could go back in to get Herc, the entire building collapsed, shaking ground and clouds of dust & rubble forcing them all to hunker down. Sora and the gang looked shocked and despondent, but then the big man himself waded out of the rubble, brushing himself off.
"Jeez, you scared us!" Ven said.
"Ah, it was nothing" Hercules replied. "That's what these are for!" he flexed.
Suddenly, they were startled by a dark portal opening. A black-robed figure waltzed out, hood down to reveal a head of grey-streaked black hair, a scarred face, and an eyepatch.
"Very nice" Xigbar clapped. "Full marks! All this altruism is giving me the warm-&-fuzzies… So, then… Does having a Heart of light come with an extremely good insurance policy? Oh, and if it isn't Ventus! Finally woke up from your nap, huh? Still got that look like I just drowned your goldfish, I see…"
"Just say what you mean, Xigbar" Sora glared.
"Oh, but I did. No good will ever come from putting other people first."
"I was able to save Meg's life because I was ready to risk my own" Hercules retorted.
"Because you've got friends in high places, you mean, Mr. Demigod. Tricks like that don't fly for your average joe."
"What do you know?" Sora snapped. "You weren't even there! If you were, you'd admire Herc's courage."
"I don't admire one guy leaping into danger if it means someone else might have to jump in to save him." Xigbar looked at the rubble. "You're all just lining up to lose out – dooming others to take the fall with ya. Oh, and you can spare me the usual party line. Yes, Hearts are powerful when they're connected. But if you put too much of that power into one place, some of those Hearts might end up breaking. …Still, Sora, that doesn't mean you should change. Accept the power you're given. Find the Hearts joined to yours."
"Why would I ever take advice from you?!"
"As if! You don't have any choice but to follow this sweet little trail of breadcrumbs. And at the end, you'll finally realize what destiny has in store for you. In fact… your reward might be just around the corner…"
Chuckling, Xigbar stepped through a Corridor of Darkness, vanishing.
"Don't let him bother you, Sora" Hercules said. "He's just trying to get under your skin 'cause he thinks he can. But we'll prove him wrong. We'll show him our sacrifices haven't been for nothing."
"…You're right!"
"Besides," Goofy said, "we're already proof enough!"
"We're a team!" Donald added. "When we're together, we can do anything!"
"Even way back when," Ventus said, "Braig loved trying to break people down with words. But it didn't work then, and it won't work now!"
As the gang moved onward, Sora couldn't help but wonder: 'What reward?'
Pushing forward, the quintet cut through a waterway into a large chamber. They were met by the side of a huge Heartless, armored in rock-like greyish-purple armor, wielding a massive battle-axe. The 'Rock Troll' swung its massive stony blade, and Ven, Herc, & Sora leapt high while Donald & Goofy hit the dirt, dodging the strike that would've pulverized them. Sora launched Hercules forward & down, and the hero landed a punch that cracked the huge Heartless' stony face-armor and knocked it over. Before he could land another blow, though, a small flock of Air Soldiers got in his way, giving their leader time to get back on its feet. Ventus and Goofy rolled to dodge a downward crushing swing that fractured the earth where it hit, and the Keyblader dashed in and started slashing and striking. Sora joined in, and the Rock Troll growled and tried to shake the two boys off.
As Donald helped Hercules take out the lesser Heartless, Sora was sent flying by a hit from the Rock Troll's weapon. He cast Cura on himself, and then fired Blizzara blasts at the monster, distracting it from a 'Goofy Bombardier' special courtesy of Goofy & Hercules that scored a mighty direct hit. Donald conjured a wave of explosive firework-rockets, chipping away at the Rock Troll's armor, and Hercules ran in, leaping off the Heartless' axe and channeling godly power into his fist. The resulting punch made a shockwave as it knocked the Heartless back and caved in its chest armor, and a quick barrage of strikes to the head from Sora finished the job, the monster coming apart into Darkness particles and a released Heart.
Pegasus flew in, Meg and Phil astride.
"Nice job, Wonderboys" Meg said. "We checked the whole area. It looks like everyone's safe."
"That's great" Herc replied. "We did what we could."
Suddenly, Pegasus drew everyone's attention to Mt. Olympus in the distance. A massive swirling dark-grey cloud was circling around it, obscuring the peak of the divine mountain from view.
"Hades…" Hercules growled.
"He's really pullin' out all the stops this time…" Phil remarked.
Sora looked to Donald, Goofy, & Ventus, and nodded. "Herc! Let's go!"
"Right" the hero nodded, thankful for the support.
-Break-
Outside the city of Thebes, the quintet began making their way through the flowery fields and old statues & columns that lined the way up toward Mt. Olympus. A river flowed through the middle of the path, the fish oblivious to the chaos going on.
"That's odd" Hercules remarked. "The river's never this full…"
As they started making their way upstream, a flock of Air Soldiers spawned in, but a Thundaga barrage from Sora & Donald made short work of them. Further along, a pack of Water Cores burst up out of the river and started firing concussive water blasts at them. Hercules hefted a boulder, using it as a shield to block a few blasts and then hurling it at the closest Water Core, smashing the Heartless flat. Ventus darted in and started slashing a few of them, taking out one, but another one formed a water barrier around itself that pushed him back, and then started flitting through the air while engulfed in surging water, a soaking tackle almost crushing Ven against a rock wall. Sora hit that Water Core with a Blizzard blast, freezing it solid, and a punch from Hercules shattered it.
A Water Core charged at Goofy, and he timed a parry with his shield that bashed the monster back and stunned it, letting Donald zap it with Thundaga to finish it off. Sora and Ventus wreathed their Keyblades in Wind-type magic for extra reach and cutting power, carving through more of the Water Cores. A lone survivor tried to flee, but Hercules came down from above with a kick that splattered it all over.
With the water-manipulating Heartless destroyed, the raging river calmed, receding to its normal banks. The gang started making their way up the cliffside, a couple of combination attacks from Sora & Goofy and from Ven & Hercules making quick work of a pack of Soldiers that tried to bar their path.
After several minutes of climbing, wall-running, and Heartless-killing (including a pack of Shadows that Hercules lured in close and then vaporized with a dome-shaped field of divine energy), they reached an old courtyard with pillars and murals and a giant statue of Zeus, where they were ambushed by another pack of Pureblood Heartless, these ones with spiky armored hides – Earth Cores. Goofy lent his power to Sora, allowing the youth to assume his red-hued Valor Form, using his increased strength and speed to start blitzing through the Heartless. Donald used a Zero Gravira to hoist a few Earth Cores into the air, letting Ven & Herc cut them down. As Sora released a cutting wave of Light through the air with his twin Keyblades, it cut the two remaining Earth Cores apart and forced the lone ambush-attempter up to the surface, where Donald blasted it with Watera and Ventus slashed it apart.
Onwards and upwards they went, smashing through a pack of Soldiers & Air Soldiers on their way, soon reaching the point where Team Sora had first arrived only to be sent flying by Hades. After passing through a cave and a narrow passage through the rocks, the mountain began to rumble ominously.
"This sure does feel awfully familiar…" Goofy remarked.
"Yeah," Sora replied, "just like before."
"Guys, this is getting worse by the minute" Hercules said, looking worriedly up at the obscured peak of Mt. Olympus. "I hope I'm wrong, but my family may need me."
He whistled loudly, and after a few seconds Pegasus flew in.
"Sora, I'm gonna fly ahead. You've been a big help, but… leave the rest to me."
"Family?" Ventus asked, confused.
"Yeah" Herc grinned as he mounted his winged steed. "My dad's Zeus, king of the gods."
With that, he took off, leaving the gang's stunned exclamations in his wake.
"His father is a god?" Sora gaped, astonished. "But, doesn't that mean Herc is a god, too?"
"I think it does" Goofy replied.
"No wonder he's so strong!" Donald remarked.
"Then he'll be okay!" Goofy added.
"…Won't he?" Donald asked.
"No" Sora replied. "The Seekers of Darkness are here. He'll need our help."
"That's a good point" Ventus said. "We'd better get after him."
The quartet hurried on. As they reached a point of the mountainside that looked like it could be ran up, however, the earth rumbled again. High up at the top of the slope, an enormous figure stood, a massive bulky juggernaut made of animated stone, two glowing-eyed heads atop its extra-broad shoulders.
"A Titan!" Donald exclaimed.
The Rock Titan hurled the massive boulder down at the heroes, who scattered to dodge it and started running up the mountainside. As they ascended, the Titan continuously conjured huge rocks and boulders to drop down at them, forcing them to take evasive maneuvers. About halfway up, the sky overhead rapidly darkened, grey and purple clouds blotting out the sun as lightning crackled. Suddenly, the Rock Titan stomped its foot, creating a massive rockslide. Sora took the lead in making magic-powered leaps onto and running up the falling rocks, climbing even faster, with Ven, Donald, & Goofy following in his wake.
Reaching more level ground on the cliffside, the team cut through a cave and were beset by a pack of Shadows, Soldiers, and Air Soldiers. Sora & Donald combined their magic to conjure a wave of heat-seeking firework-rockets, cutting the Heartless' numbers by two-thirds. Goofy & Ven made short work of the rest.
At the other side of the cave, with rain pouring down, the Rock Titan re-emerged at the top of another sheer cliff. Dodging falling boulders, they ran their way up the rockface, arriving at the Titan's massive feet. Sora and Ventus started hacking at the giant's ankles, and it tried to crush them with shockwave-producing stomps and waves of stone spears shooting up from the ground. Donald & Goofy came in to assist, a Blizzaga barrage and a Goofy Tornado chipping away at the Titan's feet.
Soon, the Rock Titan lost its footing and fell backwards. Sora & Ven leapt up its body, reaching its two huge heads, and started attacking while dodging the heads' flailing attempts to bash and crush them. Before long the Rock Titan's feet regenerated the damage, and its massive hands swatted the boys away.
As they fell through the air, Ventus conjured his Keyblade Glider, grabbing Sora. They flew about, firing mana blasts and attack spells at the Rock Titan and dodging its attempts to swat them out of the sky. Gradually they chipped away at the monster's stamina, angering it further in the process, slowly pushing it closer to the cliff edge. A wave of firework-rockets from Donald struck the Rock Titan in the faces, leaving it blindly staggering forward until it was left teetering over the edge, trying to maintain its balance. Then, from behind, Sora leapt off Ven's Keyblade Glider and formed a Rasengan, slamming it into the Rock Titan's upper back. The final hit knocked the Titan forward just enough that gravity overcame its balance, and the monster plummeted over the edge and began tumbling all the way down the mountain, roaring in fury as it went.
"Yes!" Sora pumped his fist as the gang regrouped, watching the Titan tumble. "That's one down!"
"They're not so tough by themselves!" Goofy added.
"That one was dumb as a rock!" Donald said.
"Just three more to go," Ven said, "plus Hades himself. Let's get a move on."
The quartet hurried on & up, soon passing into a cave that sheltered them from the pouring rain. At the far end of the cave, a rockslide had blocked the way, but light was shining through the gaps. They worked together to blast their way through, and were met by the sight of the ground transitioning to what looked like solid clouds, leading up to a set of stairs and then a pair of massive golden arches. A radiant golden light was shining from further in.
Hurrying up the stairs, they passed through a set of ornate doors which opened up to reveal a massive courtyard, resplendent and beautiful, with pillars and stairways and solid-cloud formations all together to form a magnificent view – the home of the gods.
"Whoa…" Sora looked around. "Is this Olympus?"
"Gawrsh, it's amazing!" Goofy took in the scenery.
Suddenly, up ahead a new kind of Heartless emerged – humanoid, muscular, with grey skin, yellow eyes, and lightning-shaped beards, clad in black armor with blue highlights along with short armored skirts and twin gauntlets. They had goat-like hooves, and their helmets had horns jutting out. Lowering their armored visors, the squad of Satyrs took formation and charged as one.
The heroes barely avoided being trampled by the horde, and attempts to blast them apart with magic didn't accomplish much, the Satyrs simply breaking into teams of 4 or 5 and continuing their charging group-tackles. Donald & Goofy both lent their power to Sora, who was enveloped in a golden glow, parts of his outfit turning golden-yellow as a second Keyblade formed floating beside him. Using the boots his Master Form gave him, Sora fired a wave of Firaga blasts that finally broke the Satyrs' formation, followed by a boosted Thundaga that destroyed a few of them.
As Sora rushed in and started hacking Heartless apart, his friends joined in as well. Goofy used his shield of off-balance a Satyr, letting Ventus cut it down with a quick combo, and Donald froze one solid so Sora could shatter it. The quartet worked together, with Sora taking the lead as he slashed and blasted anything in range.
"I've gotta ask Master Yen-Sid about finding a way for me to use Drive Forms…" Ventus remarked to himself as he beheaded a Satyr.
As the last of the Heartless squad fell, Team Sora continued on, moving up ornate stairways and through gilded hallways. At one point, an Earth Core blocking their way formed a secondary 'body' of animated sand, but Sora & Ven just blasted it with Water spells that made its now-soggy shell crumble and fall apart, leaving the Earth Core vulnerable to a barrage of spinning strikes to the face from Goofy that finished it off. Further along, Ventus used a powerful tornado-esque Wind attack to mop up a pack of Soldiers, plus a Strike Raid to take out the one that narrowly avoided it.
Grinding along a 'rail' of solid light brought them further into Olympus, and when a squadron of Air Soldiers carrying Bizarre Archers tried to fly in, Ven & Donald zapped them with Thundaga, making the flyers drop their hapless cargo to plummet into the abyss, and a wave of Rangarok bolts from Sora then took out the wounded Air Soldiers. A soaring dive into another sector brought them closer to the divine court, as well as into an attempted ambush by Satyrs with Bizarre Archer fire-support. Sora 'donated' Light power to Ventus, who used a powerful Salvation spell to wipe out all but a couple of Satyrs which Sora quickly cut down, while Donald & Goofy picked off the archers.
Up ahead, a wavering pillar of purple light had numerous chunks of debris orbiting around it. Charging themselves with magic, the quartet leapt high and used these chunks as springboards, going higher and higher. Finally, they reached the entrance to a large court, pushing their way past a pair of massive golden gates. Inside, the Lava and Ice Titans were combining their powers to encase an irate, struggling Zeus in enchanted stone.
"I swear to you, Hades," he growled, "when I get out of th-"
He was cut off as the lava & ice encased him completely.
"Nope," Hades conjured a spiky black throne, having a seat in it, "I'm the one giving orders now, bolt boy."
"Don't get too comfortable, Hades!" Hercules shouted as he flew up aboard Pegasus, sword drawn.
"We're gonna stop you!" Sora added as he & the gang readied weapons.
Carried by Pegasus, Hercules cut through the chains holding the other gods captive, making Hades turn red with fury.
"Get them!" he ordered the Titans.
The Ice, Lava, and Wind Titans began to advance on Team Sora, who were joined by Hercules. The Wind Titan released a directed wave of gale-force wind that pushed the heroes and pinned them in place, while the Ice and Lava Titans fired sweeping beams of their respective elements toward them. Hercules channeled his godly power into Goofy's shield, which was held forward glowing with golden light, repelling the deadly attacks. Sora, Donald, & Goofy then charged at the Lava Titan, while Ventus & Hercules went for the Ice Titan.
The Lava Titan conjured a wave of fireballs raining down at the trio, who hunkered down under the protective dome of Sora's Reflega. As soon as the attack stopped, Sora channeled the remaining energy of his shield spell into a blast of Light magic that hit the Lava Titan in the face. He and Donald then started firing Blizzaga spells at the Titan, with Goofy intercepting the blasts of fire and magma it tried to stop them with.
Ventus and Hercules jumped their way up the Ice Titan's body, punching and slashing as they went. The titan hissed and made spikes of ice jut out from its body, trying to skewer its attackers, forcing them to be a little more defensive. A wave of ice spears shot up at Herc from below, but Ven got in their path and made a spinning wind barrier that deflected them, hooking the last one with his Keyblade's teeth and flinging it at the Ice Titan to hit it in the chest. Hercules tried to move in with a super-strength punch, but the Titan formed an ice barrier to protect itself and countered with a strike from its icy claws that knocked the hero back.
Sora was engulfed in blue as he took his Wisdom Form, gliding around and firing boosted Water and Blizzard spells at the Lava Titan. The monster was soon shrouded in steam, its movements beginning to slow as its temperature started dropping. The Lava Titan breathed out a 'beam' of focused lava that Sora skated around, his magic protecting him from the heat, and then he & Goofy jumped up high, and Sora flung his spiraling friend down in a "Goofy Bombardier" special that knocked the Lava Titan for a loop. Sora then poured his remaining Wisdom Form energy into a huge blast of magical power that struck the Lava Titan in the head, seemingly putting it down for the count.
As Hercules charged at the Ice Titan, Ventus blasted it with Firaga shots from the side, weakening and distracting it. Herc released a flurry of divine-strength punches that sent the Ice Titan reeling, blowing 'little' chunks out of its ice-crystal body. After a few seconds it retaliated with a swirling wave of sharp ice shards around itself, and then it flung a wave of ice spears from its hand at Ventus. Ven deflected one of them back at it, nailing the Ice Titan in the face and stunning it, giving him and Herc room to pound on it some more. One final Herculean punch to the forehead, and the Titan toppled.
As the two groups met back up in the middle, the Wind Titan made itself known again. The enormous living tornado glared down at them with the red eyes that were its only discernible features, and swirling dark clouds enveloped the area. The Titan flew up and then pointed the top of its 'funnel' at the heroes, firing a barrage of chunks of rubble the size of small houses. Hercules' divine barrier and the two Keyblade-wielders' Reflega spells managed to just barely weather the storm, and Donald & Sora fired a few Firaga blasts at the Wind Titan, doing a bit of damage.
The Wind Titan then flew over to the dazed Lava Titan, taking position over it and sucking up some of its magma. The living tornado then formed a pair of arms ending in 'smaller' tornadoes, and started rapid-fire giant bullets of lava at the heroes. Sora, Donald, & Ventus took evasive action, while Goofy used his enchanted shield to deflect the shots sent his way, and Hercules actually started punching some of them back at the Wind Titan. Using the updraft of the battlefield to get some extra air, Sora leapt high & close and started slashing at the Titan's "face" with his Keyblade, dealing a few hits until the Titan pulsed its body outward and flung him away.
Now, the Titan moved over to its other downed sibling. It began releasing freezing wind and fusillades of ice spears at the heroes, and Sora & Donald did their best to counter with a sizable barrage of firework-rockets. As the Wind Titan briefly ran dry on ammunition, Ventus went on the offensive, firing waves of magic bolts from his Keyblade that battered the monster's elemental body. Hercules rushed in next, dealing punches that sent shockwaves through the wind-monster's body.
The Wind Titan surged with rage, and it flared its body outwards in a flash, catching the heroes and flinging them sky-high. As they began to plummet, it started firing blasts of rubble, magma, and ice up at them, forcing them to weave around through the air. Gritting his teeth as he powered through a shotgun-blast of stone, Sora started forming a Rasengan… and then Ventus flew in next to him and started adding his wind energy to it. Soon, the orb of energy was half-again the size of a normal one, glowing bluish-white with four little curved blades of Wind energy rapidly circle around it, a soft keening sound issuing forth.
The two Keyblade heroes kicked off a rubble chunk and launched themselves downward, right at the Wind Titan. They thrusted the Wind Release Rasengan forward, clashing it against the living tornado's defenses. With a whirring, grinding sound, they shoved against the Wind Titan's counterforce, until finally they broke through. The giant entity was violently churned up by the release of energy from the detonating attack, blades of wind slashing through it as it was blown back to slam into the ground, stunned. The wind around the area quickly died down, letting the heroes get back on their feet.
Unfortunately, the three Titans managed to collect themselves, regaining their senses and advancing menacingly on the heroes. What's more, the Rock Titan appeared from the side, having finally finished its ascent of Mt. Olympus to join its brothers.
"Uh-oh, now it's all four of them!" Goofy exclaimed.
"So what?" Sora replied. "It's five of us versus only four of them!"
"Actually," Hercules said, "I think I can make it six…"
He then charged at the massive pillar of stone in the center of the courtyard, leaping to the top and grabbing hold. Pulling with all his might, he shattered the stone coffin, freeing Zeus.
"No…" Hades started panicking, quickly turning red. "Nononono!-!"
"Thank you, my boy" Zeus smiled at his son, hands on the younger hero's shoulders." He then conjured a set of shimmering golden lightning bolts. "Now, watch your old man work!"
He threw a few at the Rock Titan's heads, stunning it. Now visibly afraid, the four Titans turned and began to flee. Thinking fast, Hercules ran and caught the Wind Titan by its base, and began flinging the living tornado around. The other three Titans were haplessly sucked up, and then Hercules put all his might into tossing the Titans high into the sky, into space. Several seconds later, there was a mighty explosion as the ancient monsters were finally vanquished.
"We did it!" Team Sora cheered as Herc & Zeus high-fived.
"I can't believe it!" Hades fumed. "I put 18 years into that plan and you ruined it! I really, really don't like you…!"
"Just give it up, already!" Sora replied. "You'll never beat Herc, no matter how many times you try."
"Yeah, stay in the Underworld where you belong" Goofy added.
"Go have the time of your afterlife!" Donald remarked.
"Enough! I did not come this far to be ridiculed by Zeusy high-&-mighty, his little sunspot, and a quartet of clowns!-!" He flared red. "Y'know what? I'll just go ahead and kill you!-!"
"Yo, Hades" Hercules got his attention. Trembling with rage, Hades slowly turned to see Herc smirking. "The exit is that way."
"You… You'll all pay for this! I have a very, very long memory!" He sighed as he went back to blue. "Maybe Maleficent is having better luck on her little box hunt…"
"Box hunt?" Ventus said.
"Yeah, some kinda relic from the Age of Fairytales, whatever. And if you wanna stop her…" He smirked as a fiery portal swallowed him up. "You'll have to figure out how by yourselves…"
"Well…" Donald said. "That's ominous…"
-Break-
"You sure you wanna leave all this behind?" Sora asked Hercules.
"Isn't Olympus your home?" Goofy added.
"And your family" Donald added.
"I can see my family anytime I want" Hercules replied. "If I stayed, I'd have to be apart from the person I love most… and that life would be empty."
He looked down the gilded steps, where Megara was waiting for him.
"I finally know where I belong" he said.
He ran down the steps to his beloved, and they embraced.
-SCENE BREAK-
Mysterious Tower
As Riku emerged from the dark gateway, returning from his brief sojourn into the Realm of Darkness, he held a hand to his chest, feeling the Light that had called to him from across the realms.
'You'll be safe with me' he thought. 'I promise.'
Heading up to Yen Sid's office, he arrived just as Sora & company were finishing their debriefing.
"One more thing, Master" Sora said. "Hades mentioned something about Maleficent searching for a 'box', supposedly a relic from the… Age of Fairytales?"
After a few seconds, the old master's eyes widened. "Sora," he said, "Donald, Goofy, Ventus, Riku… You know, by now, of how our outer-Realm allies have access to fictional versions of your adventures, yes?"
"Any chance they can tell us how this one's gonna end?" Ven asked.
"No, unfortunately. However, I was recently made aware of a very valuable source of historical data: a tale from centuries past, telling of how the Keyblade War began. The Master of Masters, the first of the Kingdom Key's chosen ones to discern how to call forth other Keyblades in its image, had seven apprentices. To one of them, an enigmatic, shy and soft-spoken young man named Luxu, he entrusted his first 'created' Keyblade, the very Keyblade that Master Xehanort now wields."
"Master Xehanort has one of the oldest Keyblades?" Riku asked.
"Indeed, passed on through a chain of masters & apprentices. But he also entrusted something else to Luxu: a box, black with a silver-lined red emblem atop it, around the size of a suitcase. Only the Master of Masters and Luxu know what lies within that box. But it is likely what Maleficent seeks. Doubtless she has no idea what is inside the box, but assumes that whatever it is, it must be powerful or valuable, if the Master of Masters treated it with such secrecy and importance."
"And she's probably right" Sora said. "Okay, so on top of everything else, we've gotta keep an eye out for this big black box. So, what's our next move?"
"Ventus, Riku, I have another task for you; it shouldn't be too difficult. Meanwhile, you three should stop by Twilight Town; I feel that there may be developments there soon…" he smiled "And, you should stop by and check on your friends, just to say hello."
"Got it! C'mon, guys – let's go check on Hayner, Pence, & Olette!"
-CHAPTER END-
Next Time: Twilight Town