Chapter Twelve
The Coliseum
Olympus Coliseum
Gera jumped out of the portal, on to sand, skipping to a stop.
"Ha! Finally! I didn't appear in the middle of the freaking sky!"
He looked around at the new world he was in... he was in front of the Coliseum, two tall stone statues with their blades locked over the entrence of it. He blinked in awe.
".......... Wow..........."
A voice came from behind him.
"Where did you come from?"
Gera turned... and saw Cloud himself, sitting on the steps.
"Ummmmmm....."
Good question. What should he say? Last time, he was saved by the Heartless, but none was even close right then....
On top of the wall stood Hades himself, looking down on Gera.
"Hmmmmmmm.... I could use him... and his lose."
He snapped his fingers. Gera found himself in front of Hades.
"Wh-wh-whoa!"
He blinked, surprised. He turned and saw the one that teleported him there... and jumped.
"Holy crap! Your head's on fire!"
Hades gave him a look.
"Easy, kiddo. Listen-"
He wrapped his arm around Gera, bringing him close.
"I have a deal for you. I know it sudden, I know we barely know each other - I'm Hades, by the way. Lord of the Underworld. And I am willing to strike a deal with you."
Gera eyes were wide... Lord of the Underworld? Then... could he...
Hades went on.
"Here's the deal. I know what has happened to you so far, kind of hard to miss. I can't bring your arms back, but what I CAN do... is bring your dear, Mella, back."
His eyes grew wider... was it possible? Holy did say that God sent her soul to the past... but when? He could have done so ten years from now and it would still be the same situation...
"Now, here's the catch-"
Gera muttered, turning his head away.
"There's always a catch..."
Hades chuckled.
"I like you, boy. You're wiser then you seem, especially for your age. Now... what you must do..."
He bent down and whispered in his ear.
"Is kill Hercules..."
He was shocked even more now... he thought about how he killed Clation without a second thought... and that wasn't for Mella, but for the safety of the gorillas... if it was for Mella...
".......... ummm......"
Hades patted his shoulder cheerfully.
"Don't worry. You don't have to decide right now. There's a tournament down there in about an hour, where the winner will get the chance to fight Hercules. That will be your chance... or you could assassinate him, your choice. This is what he looks like."
He held out his palm, making a small image of Hercules appear. Gera took a good look at it, already noting that he looked very strong. He kept quiet, then nodded. He jumped down and slowly drifted to the entrence of the Coliseum. Hades gave a smile.
"That was almost TOO easy."
He then disappeared in a puff of smoke...
******************************
Gera walked into a room, rather small and had a large stone square at the side.
What's that doing there?
"Hey, bub! What'cha doing here?"
He started, looking around to see who was there.
"Yo! Down here!"
Gera looked down... and saw Phil. He blinked from the sight of a half goat, half man.
"You must be here for the Tournament, right?"
"Umm... yeah...."
Phil just nodded.
"Yeah, yeah... well, just for you to know, the arena was destroyed a bit from a fight earlier. Some kid came and defeated Cerberus. The only reason we're having a tournament now is so that, hopefully, some more things can get destroyed. We DID need to remodel, anyway!"
Gera's face grew serious.
"Wait, was the kid Sora?"
Phil tilted his head at him, placing his hands on his goat hips.
"Actually, yeah. What, you know him?"
He sighed, knowing that he JUST missed him again. But... he still had a reason to be there...
"I do... but I can find him later. Right now, sign me up for the tournament."
Phil nodded, going over to a clip board and writing down something.
"So... what's yer name, kid?"
Gera crossed his arms...
"I'm Gera..."
And, for Mella, I will kill Hercules...
********************************************
Two hours later, Gera had just stabbed down on a Fat Body, going right through his once-thought shielded belly. He slowly strolled over to Phil at the side lines, who was taking notes.
"Alright, that seemed like a fair fight. Now just rest up. You have two more opponents after a few other people fight, the second will be Hercules..."
He nodded, sitting on the side lines near Phil....
On the other side of the ring, in the stands, was two people. One looked just like a kid, but had no shirt on and had a body so muscular that it made Gera look like a whim. His pants looked like they were made of wool and had boots on. His skin was very tan with red eyes, a small Mohawk for hair. The man beside him was wearing a black robe, hidding all of his features... except he had a pure black right angel wing. The boy turned to the man.
"So! That the Gera we heard so much about? He looks like he would be a fun fight!"
The man didn't turn to the kid, looking straight at Gera.
"He has much skill, but is still very young..."
He began to think...
"I just might have to be careful with him..."
The kid leaned back, stretching.
"Oh? He's your next opponent? Damn, you're lucky... I wanna fight, too!!!"
He kicked his legs a bit, whining. The man began to shake his head at the sight of him.
"You should have joined the tournament, then."
The kid stopped, slowly turning back to the man.
"And what, have a chance to fight YOU!? Hell naw!"
"What? Even if you get cut into a thousand pieces, you can just piece yourself together. What's the big deal?"
The kid gave the man a look.
"Your. Freaking. Sword. Hurts. Like. HELL."
The man laughed a bit, smiling a bit under his hood. Before he could say anything, Phil called out a name.
"Gera! Your turn!"
Gera stood up and went to one side of the ring, waiting for his opponent. The man stood up next to the kid.
"Well... looks like we'll see just how strong he really is..."
He teleported through a dark orb, some black feathers appearing. The kid gave a small laugh, leaning back again.
"Sephy, you're such a show off..."
The man appeared in the ring, his hands at his side. Gera summoned his Keyblade and stood with his feet bent and apart, ready for anything... then, giant columns of fire rose up from the ground around the man, going high into the sky. Gera brought his hand up to block some of the light from his eyes. When the flames went away, Sephiroth himself stood there, pointing his masamune right at him...
End of Volume 2...