Chapter 10
Not sure how long I was out, but I woke up to a loud crash.
"What the heck?" I yelled as I was thrown from my seat. "What did you do?" I asked Sora. Goofy looked at me lazily.
"Well, Donald decided t'drive this time, and Sora didn't agree. So Sora tried to get th'wheel back and we hit a rock," he said. I nodded. Typical. we got out and looked around. We were in some kind of cave thing. It was dark, creepy, and there were two giant doors on either side.
"Guess our aim was a little off," Sora muttered, rubbing the back of his head. Donald glared.
"We woulda made it if you had just sat still!" he quacked.
"Where are we anyway?" I asked. Sora's face grew bright.
"Olympus Colisseum! Home of heroes and titans!" he said. God, what is he? Tour Guide Barbie?
"Aaah!" We turned around when we heard a shriek. A woman with brown hair and wearing a pink dress was running from heartless that resembled dogs.
"Heartless!" Sora yelled and ran over to them. We took care of the heartless and turned to the woman. Sora offered to help her up, but she refused his help.
"Thanks, but I'm fine," she said, getting up. She looked at all of us.
"And you're supposed to be...?"
"I'm Sora. This is Donald, Goofy, and Fuu," Donald and Goofy waved and I bowed quickly. "We came to see if Hercules is okay."
"You know Wonderboy?" she asked. I shrugged. Can't really say. I think I've heard that name mentioned in Mythology class, but I slept during that period, so I can't be sure.
"Yeah! 'Cuz we're heroes too!" Donald bragged. Goofy tapped him on the shoulder.
"Ya' mean, junior heroes, right Donald?" he laughed cheerfully.
"'Junior'?" I questioned. Sora dismissed the question with a wave.
"Nothing important!" he said. I giggled as he shot me a death glare. The woman laughed too.
"Looks like we have a friend in common. Name's Megara. Call me Meg," she said.
"So, how's Herc?" Sora asked. Meg sighed and brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes.
"Wonderboy? Well, he's duking it out at the Coliseum every day. You know, 'a hero's work is never done' and all that. He's ready to drop, but he keeps on fighting. Even Wonderboy has his limits, though. These opponents are bad news-special deliveries from Hades himself..." she grumbled.
"Hades?" Donald quacked.
"Right. Lord of the Underworld. I was on my way to see him. Maybe I can get Hades to give Wonderboy a breather. If anything happens to that kid..." Meg stared at the floor sadly. I smiled slyly.
"Sounds like he's more than a friend to you!" I said. Her face turned pink and she looked at me in surprise. Heh, I knew it. Sora smiled and nodded.
"We'll go have a little talk with Hades. I'd hate for anything to happen to you on your way to see him," he said. Meg blinked.
"You really want to do that? Well, it looks like you know what you're doing. I guess I'll take you up on that offer. But...let's keep this whole chat-with-Hades thing our little secret, okay?" she mumbled so only we could hear it, not that there's anyone else in this cave, but I guess you can't be too careful. Sora mimed the action of locking his mouth and throwing away the key.
"Our lips are sealed!" he said happily. Meg thanked us and left.
"Uh... 'Cave of the Dead'?" I asked, reading a sign in front of the doors. Somehow, that makes me uncomfortable...
"Aw, don't worry about it," Donald said, waving his hand. I stayed close to Sora while we entered. It was even darker than outside! I looked around, feeling that something was gonna jump out at me. I can't stand dark places! Sure. Go ahead and laugh. 'Fuu's afraid of the dark! Ha ha ha!' Whatever. Sora looked over at me and smiled. Great. Now he's gonna make fun of me. I just know it!
"Calm down. It'll be okay," he said, grabbing my hand. Instantly, I jerked it out of his grasp. He looked surprised.
"A-Ah! I-I didn't mean to do that!" I stammered, "I-I mean... Sorry." Goofy laughed and whispered something to Donald. I glared and they shut their mouths. Why am I so jumpy when I'm around this guy?
"It's okay! Are we there yet?" he whined. Our question was answered by a man in a black cloak running by.
"The Organization!" I yelled. We drew our weapons... and he ran right by us...?
"Run! Run away!" the man yelled. Okay. I'm pretty sure that ain't Roxas.
"Okaaaay..." Sora said.
"What was that about?" I asked. Oh no! What if there's some kind of monster in the back! Dark caves and monsters make me unhappy!
"Who knows?" Sora sighed. We kept walking until we came to some kind of valley. There were spirits swirling below us. I shivered. I felt a hand being placed on my shoulder. I turned around and saw Goofy looking at me.
"I'm scared too," he said. I felt a little better after that.
"D-don't worry! Just don't l-look down and you'll be fine!" Donald yelled. He broke his own rule. He quacked and jumped on top of me, causing me to stumble. I screamed because I thought we were going to fall off the edge, Goofy freaked out because Donald and I WERE about to fall off the ledge, and Sora didn't seem to notice! Hey!We're in danger here! Do something! Goofy grabbed onto Donald's tail and pulled us back. We fell on top of him with a 'thud'.
"Hey! Keep it down you guys!" Sora hissed. I glared at him and mouthed some rude words. We walked over the creepy valley without any further incidents. We entered a sort of lair and saw a guy in red fighting with a guy... does he know his head's on fire?
"Hades!" Donald quacked. So this is the god of the Underworld? Is his head supposed to be on fire? The guy in red knocked Hades back and turned to us.
"Fight!" he ordered. We took out our weapons and ran at him.Sora tried to slice him in two, but the blade bounced off of him. donald and I threw rapid fire spells at him, but they didn't even leave a scratch! Goofy threw the shield and it just bounced off. Why aren't our attacks working? I feltlight-headed for a moment. Whoah... what was up with that?
"I feel kinda funny..." Sora said. Hades laughed.
"That's right! See, that's the thing. In the Underworld, heroes are zeroes-comes with the territory," he said, folding his hands together evil-genius-style. Hades suddenly threw two fireballs at us. The guy in red jumped in front and sliced them, then attacked Hades, who vanished in a puff of smoke. He reappeared on the other side of the room.
"Go! Now!" the man commanded.
"But we have to talk to Hades!" Sora protested. Hades had his fingers in his ears.
"What was that?" he asked mockingly. Donald, Goofy, and i ran out of the room as he threw more fireballs at us. Sora and Auron exited a few minutes after us.
"Is he gone?" Donald asked.
"Don't count on it," the man said. I looked over at Sora and Hades appeared beside him.
"Leaving so soon?" he asked. We all took off, but were stopped by an invisible wall. A group of heartless appeared around us. We took them out quickly and kept running. Hades threw fireballs at us. I was almost hit by one, but it went over my head and hit a heartless that was about to attack us. We came to the second platform and were stopped by another wall. Same procedure. Again! WHY MUST IT NEVER EEEEND? Oh. we're done.We stopped to catch our breath. Sora was eagerly talking to the man in red. I heard his name was "Auron" or something. I saw the cloaked figure look at us and vanish. Normally, this would be the part where I run after him, but I just had to promise Sora I would stay with him, didn't I? i looked at the four of them. they didn't seem to be paying attention to me... My conciesnce picked the worst time to come back into my life at that moment.
Come on Fuu! He may know something about Roxas!
What if it's just Axel again?
What if it's not?
I promised Sora I'd stay, though!
Why? Have you stopped caring about roxas?
What? Of course not!
Just follow him for a minute! Just a minute, Fuu!
But...
Fuu?
Okay. I'll do it.
I got up quietly and ran after him. I heard Sora yell to me, but I kept on running. He's gonna bemad after this! I know it! I kept running until Sora's voice faded away.
And let's face it. That was a stupid thing to do. Darn you conciensce! I think I'll be longer than 'a minute'! I sighed and held my staff close to me. I walked on, trying to be quiet. This place looks different from where we came in... Have I already been here? Wah! What's that? Oh. A rock... Hehehe! Ugh. I admit it. I'm lost! I sighed again. Why'd I have to get lost here of all places?
"Come on Demyx! Where is he?" I froze and ran towards a wooden post. I hid behind it and looked at the two men talking. I recognized the first as Axel... Great. And the other one was the one I was chasing.
"Sorry, man. I'm under oath! I can't help!" 'Demyx' said sadly. Axel groaned and rubbed his temples.
"Is he here? Can I at least know that?" Axel asked. Demyx shrugged.
"Can't tell," he said again.
"What about Fuu? Are you guys still after her?"Axel asked. I listened carefully.
"Yeah. I hear she runs away a lot, so I'll just snag her when she's alone," Demyx laughed. How ironic for me.
"Alright. Good luck with that... and by the way..." Axel said slyly. I gulped as he turned to the post I was behind. "You have company."
I shrieked as the post suddenly caught on fire. I stumbled back and fell on my rear as Axel departed, leaving me and my newest pursuer alone.
"Well, you're certainly making my job easier," Demyx laughed, pulling off his hood. He was young... and kinda cute as well... His hair was blonde and spiked up with a small piece hanging in front of his eyes, and hs eyes were blue. Wow1 He IS cute! But now is not the time to get distracted! I picked up my staff from where I dropped it and prepared to fight. He pulled out a guitar-looking-thing... rock stars are hot... and strummed a few notes. I noticed that there was water up to my ankles. So, he controls water?
"Dance water, dance!" he cried. The water below me suddenly went up and came down on top of me. "Normally, I'd use my little fighters, but I doubt I'll need them!" he teased. I shook some of the water off of my head and glared. I know I might not be able to beat him by myself... but I have to try! I'm not giving up that easily! Plus, It's my fault I'm in this mess anyway.
"Fira!" I cried. Oh yeah, great idea Einstein! Fire will definitely work against water! Am I really that out of it today? As I guesssed, the water put it out. Demyx strummed a few more notes and the water came at me again. This time, it coiled around my head. I frantically tried to get out of it, but it was no use. I couldn't breathe! No! I can't die here! No! A few minutes later, when I was about to pass out from lack of oxygen, the water went down and I saw Demyx smiling at me.
"Had enough?" he asked. I fell to my knees and glared at him, trying to catch my breath. Hew began walking towards me. I raised my staff and used whatever strength I had left.
"BLIZZAGA!" I yelled. I large ball of ice shot out and froze Demyx to the spot. Only his head and one of his hands were free. He screamed and pointed his hand at the ground. A portal opened up and he fell through. That last spell took a lot out of me... I can't get up... I closed my eyes as I fell to the stone floor and slept.
I woke up when I felt someone carrying me. I half-expected it to be Axel, and the other half an angry Sora, but it was that Auron guy. I groaned and tried to move, but found I was still too weak.
"Hush. We're almost there," he said calmly. I obeyed and shivered slightly, due to the fact thatIwas still sopping wet. My goggles were cracked slightly. Great. I really liked these too! Oh well, It's a small crack. NothingI can't fix! I then noticed that it was just me and Auron. Where're the others?
"Where are Sora, Donald, and Goofy?" I asked. he looked ahead.
"I told them to wait by the entrance. I was afraid they'd get lost while looking for you," he said. I looked at the ground guiltily. I should've listened to Sora... Sigh... oh well. I'll just deal with the scolding.
"You're okay!" I looked in front of Auron and saw Sora running towards us. Auron handed me to him. I tried to say I could walk, but Sora wouldn't listen. I wouldn't look at him for awhile. He finally set me down and ran his hands through his hair.
"I'm...sorry..." I muttered. He turned around and glared.
"You promised you wouldn't run away!" he said angrily. I closed my eyes.
"I... didn't mean to... I mean, I was gonna come back in a minute..." I said, using my conciesnce's excuse.
"'A minute'? You've been gone for an hour! I thought something bad might have happened to you!" he sputtered. I looked up at him with sad eyes and got up slowly. He helped me up.I didn't even know what to say at this point. "Fuu, I was scared!" he said.
"S-scared?" I stammered. Scared of what...?
"I know you went after that man in the cloak. I was afraid he'd hurt you!" he yelled. "I don't know why... but something keeps telling me to protect you. And I have to do that, no matter what."
"He'll take care of you."
I threw my arms around Sora's neck and cried apologies. Roxas was telling him to protect me! He was looking out for me! I thoguht of him and cried harder.Sora rubbed my back and whispered things like 'It's okay...', 'I'm not mad anymore.', and he occasionally made a 'ssh' noise. I finally calmed down and let go of Sora's neck.
"A... Axel's... looking for you..." I said in betwen gasps.
"Axel? Who's that?" Sora asked.
"Red, spiky hair, green eyes, controls fire," I said.
"Why's he looking for me?"
"Heck if I know," I sighed, "but apparently he's not with the Organization anymore." I told Sora about the conversation.
"The Organization's after you?" he asked. I nodded.
"Apparently, I'm some kind of 'key'... Wah!" I yelled in surprise as Sora picked me up again.
"Okay! If that's the case, then from now on, I'm not letting you out of my sight!" Sora declared.
"Put me down! Hey! I'm not gonna leave! Put me down!"
"Not a chance!"
I laughed and tried to get out of his grasp. Okay, now it's official! I'm staying with Sora until I find Roxas!
"Hey, where're we going?" I asked. Sora's face turned from happy to sad in about five seconds.
"Herc's in trouble! Can you fight?" he asked, concerned. I pulled out my staff.
"You wanna find out?" I asked.
"Uh... no thanks!" He still won't put me down...