Hades led Asher back into the Coliseum Lobby, where Star was eyeing some of the fancy, shining trophies. "And who's THIS…lovely young lady?"
Star turned around, smiling. However, when she saw Hades, her smile turned into a slight frown. "The name's Star."
"Star. Such an interesting name. Ah, yes, Star. The one this stiff's traveling with. How nice. Say, I was just about to show him the guy he says he's looking for. Some Brandon character. What do you say we all three go together, hm?"
Star's sour demeanor lifted. "Brandon?! Let's go!"
Hades laughed. "Full of fire, you two. Well, he's right here in the Coliseum! Let's just step through this doorway…"
Hades led them through the doorway into the stadium. Thunderous applause was heard as a small challenger in the center of the arena sliced a humongous Heartless in half. "Ah, see, the Heartless make such GREAT challengers! The crowd loves it, and nobody cares if the Heartless die, I mean, after all, they're just Heartless, am I right?" Hades said, chuckling.
His little speech was lost on Star, who was already running toward the challenger. Asher could tell even from where he was that it was Brandon. Also ignoring Hades, he walked over to Star and Brandon. Hades rolled his eyes. "Yeesh. There's TWO Keybladers here, and that one, and yet NEITHER of them are showing ANY interest as to why the Heartless are here. I could have SWORN it was in the Keyblader job description to meddle. Especially after that little Sora punk. Oh well. No matter. I suppose I'll just have to go to plan 'B'." With that, Hades disappeared in a puff of flames.
When Asher approached Star and Brandon, Star had Brandon in a deathgrip of a hug. Brandon barely managed to choke out the words "I…missed…you…too…Star…"
Star let him down. "Brandon, it's so great to see you again!"
Brandon took a deep breath. "Good to see you, too. I was worried something might have happened to you," he said. He looked up, and saw Asher. "Xanthas?"
Asher smiled. "Not anymore."
"You got your heart back? Hm. That was quick. So why are you two here?"
"We came to find you, of course," said Asher. "Star here just couldn't go on with her job without you, you know?"
Star blushed. "Shut up!"
Asher laughed.
Brandon laughed as well. "Am I gonna have to stand BETWEEN you two so you won't bother each other?"
"You can go ahead, but I don't know what you expect it to do."
"So," said Star, "are you ready to go, Brandon?"
"Not yet. I've got a tournament to win. I'm gonna come out of here with the grand prize trophy."
"So, what, do you expect us to just sit on the sidelines and root for you the whole time?"
Brandon contemplated that. "Well…actually…I was hoping you guys would join me. It's not too late for us to enter as a team. You can enter up to two teammates until the Preliminaries are over. What do you say?"
Star looked at Asher. Asher smiled and nodded. "Looks like we're in!"
"Great! The next round's in a few hours. Let's get caught up first. I'll tell you guys all about what happened to me if you guys tell me what's happened to you."
"Deal."
---
Hades watched from inside the dark corridor. He saw the three smiling, laughing, and finally walking away. He heard a voice beside him. "They don't look like much."
"Heh. See, that's your problem. That's what I thought about the last Keyblader. Then he turned out to be a HUGE thorn in my side. So I'm not underestimating these ones. That's where YOU come in."
"Hm. Right. What was our little deal, again?"
"The guy you're looking for. I can help you find out where he is. Although, I gotta say, after all this time you'd think you two would have settled your differences by now."
"He got away. Thanks to the Heartless."
"Right, the Heartless. Took away the world, huh? Well that's fine. I can still help you find this…What was his name again? Something to do with the sky, right? Bird?"
The man next to Hades sighed. "Cloud. His name is Cloud."
"Ah, yes, Cloud, of course. So, Sephiroth, what do you say? I help you find Cloud, IF you get rid of Hercules and these little brats."
"I say I'm better off looking for him myself."
"Ha! Good luck with that, pretty boy. He could be on ANY world. There's a LOT of worlds out there, you know. And who knows? You may get out there and one of you could have a little 'accident'. These things happen."
"Are you threatening me?"
Hades laughed. "Of course not! But it's kinda hard to prevent unforeseeable unfortunate circumstances, huh? Just stick to the deal and we're both home free."
"What makes you think you can help me?"
"Well, there's one simple fact you maybe didn't know—I'm a GOD. The God of the Underworld! Lord of the Dead! Hades!" Flames shot from his arms.
"Hmph. A flashy introduction. But you know, I was a god, too, once."
"Oh, you were? Now, how'd that work out for you, hm?"
Sephiroth said nothing.
"Ooooh, Mister Bigshot lost his power! Oh, don't bother to explain how, I don't need the details. Point is, you NEED me. You can't find Cloud on your own. I won't pretend I'm controlling you here. It's a deal. Nothing more than that. You take out Hercules, and the three pests. I tell you where Cloud is. It's a win-win situation. Capiché?"
Sephiroth turned away and began walking. "Very well. I'll play your little game, Hades. But just remember: I'll hold up my end of the deal. I expect you to do the same."
As Sephiroth walked away, Hades began talking to himself. "Ugh. You know, sometimes I really wonder how these people end up here? Jeez. You bring a guy back from the dead for a simple task and look what happens? He gets an ATTITUDE. And I thought Auron was a one-time deal. Well, this one's going off without a hitch. That much I know for sure. The kids…consider 'em dead. And the big hero? He's toast."
Hades returned to his chamber, laughing evilly.
