Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. It belongs to Square Enix and Disney.
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Chapter 7: Olympus Coliseum
In three days time they found themselves standing in a brand new world admiring the tall, sand-colored building and embracing the warm sun beating down on them. Axel rolled up his sleeves and stretched, much like a cat would after a long nap. Kairi considered taking off her hoodie so she could actually feel the sun on her skin, but decided against it for the moment. Sora looked gleefully around, excited by the prospect of getting to explore a new world. Donald and Goofy looked around as well, wondering what dangers the new world held.
"What do you guys think this new world will be like?" Sora asked.
"It's very Greek." Kairi remarked. "The pillars and buildings are in that style."
"They could be Roman." Axel argued, lazily waving his hands at the pillars.
"The Roman pillars are usually depicted as being white." Kairi argued back. "These pillars aren't white."
"So? This is a completely different world than the one you're used to." Axel reminded her. "Whether white or tan, they could just as easily be Roman."
"Gawrsh you guys. I don't think it really matters." Goofy said in a pacifying manner
"Goofy's right." Sora said. "Lets just go look around and make sure there aren't any Heartless. And who knows. The King or Riku or Roxas could be here!" He started walking toward the tall double doors.
Axel and Kairi ended their argument in favor of following Sora to make sure he wouldn't get into too much trouble, even though Donald and Goofy were there with him. The five walked through the double doors and into a room lit by two fires. Standing on a pedestal against a wall is a half-man, half-goat creature.
"Uh, hello?" Sora tried to get the guy's attention.
"You're back? Great. Kid, move that stone over there for me, will ya?" The guy gestured to a large, square block that was in front of one of the fires.
Sora looks to the others and then shrugged before he walked over and tried to push the stone away from where it rested. He tried several times to move it before he gave up.
"You weakling." Axel said in a teasing tone. "Let a pro show you how it's done." He pushed his sleeves up more, revealing muscles, to everyone's surprise. He poked Sora out of the way and tried to push the stone.
He failed as well and Sora laughed and teased him about it. Kairi watched the two and couldn't help but notice how well the two got along and how comfortable they were around one another. Before she could ponder on it more, the goat man turned around.
"Herc, what's taking so-- Who are you people?" He demanded upon seeing who it was in the room with him.
"I'm Sora. He's Donald, he's Goofy, and he's Axel. And she's Kairi." Sora said, gesturing to each of his companions as he gave their name.
"I'm Phil. Now beat it, kids. I've got work to do getting ready for the tournament."
"I'm not a kid! I can take any challenge you throw at me!" Sora protested.
Phil scoffed. "You're kidding. You think a kid like you is hero material? Give me a break! You probably can't even fight!"
"I can so fight!" Sora yelled, annoyed by Phil. "All of us can! And I bet we're better than you!"
"Kid, there ain't nobody better than me." Phil boasted.
"Oh, really." Sora said with a smirk. He crossed his arms over his chest. "Prove it." He challenged.
Phil backed down a little. He hadn't expected Sora to challenge him like that. Thinking quickly, he came up with an idea. "Pssh! I don't have time for pip squeaks like you. I have real heroes to train. Come back in a few years maybe."
"We are real heroes!" Donald protested.
Goofy nodded. "Yeah. Sora's the wielder of the key--"
"Goofy!" Donald cut off Goofy's sentence and glared at his friend.
Goofy covered his mouth with his hands. "Oops. Sorry, Donald. I forgot."
"No matter." Phil said, unimpressed. "None of you guys are hero material. Now if you'll excuse me…" He turned back around to examine the sign he put up.
"We're hero material and we'll prove it!" Sora said determinedly. "Just give us a chance!"
Phil turned around with a heavy sigh. "Fine, I'll give you a chance. Just don't come crying to me when you fail."
Sora cheered and Donald, Goofy, and Axel joined in, which made Kairi laugh. Phil remained unimpressed with their cheer and led them into the coliseum, grumbling about it the entire time.
Down in the coliseum they were greeted by the sight of numerous barrels, some of which were piled on top of each other or located on top of a pillar.
"Wow…" Sora murmured in amazement. "This is so cool! I wish Riku was here to see this. He'd probably start some contest with me to see who could bust all the barrels first."
Axel grinned and cracked his knuckles, an action that made Kairi wince and add something else to her mental list of things that Axel did that annoyed her.
"Sounds like a plan to me." Axel said, pleased by the challenge. "Hey, goat-man, is there a time limit?"
"My name is Phil!" Said goat-man yelled. "Remember it."
Axel rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. I got it memorized."
"Good." Phil said. "Now keep it memorized. You, key-boy, you're first! You've got thirty seconds!"
"What? Thirty seconds? You've got to be--"
"Starting now." Phil interrupted Sora before he clicked his stopwatch.
Sora quickly took off running for the barrels, summoning his keyblade as he did so. He sliced through the first barrel with ease, but by the time he got through the last barrel, twenty-nine seconds later, he was exhausted.
"That… was easier… than… I thought." Sora panted, trying to catch his breath. "I think I'm just… going… to sit down now." He said before he sat down roughly in the sand.
"Sora, you're pathetic." Axel said. "Let me show you how a real pro does it."
Sora snorted. "Alright, Mr. Big-shot-who-couldn't-move-a-rock." He said, blatantly ignoring the fact that he couldn't move it either. "Show us commoners how it's done."
"Gladly." Axel said, summoning his Chakrams. "Goat-man, set up the barrels, will you."
"It's Phil!" He yelled, already trying to get the barrels in place.
Axel ignored him and decided to amuse himself by juggling his Chakrams. Sora laughed and made jokes about one of them falling and splitting open Axel's head, to which Axel threatened to let one "slip" in his direction.
Soon enough, the barrels were set back up, only to be soon knocked over as the fiery blur known as Axel had a field day and destroyed them all in twenty-six seconds. Sora laughed and called him a cheater, which resulted in a small scuffle while Phil set up the barrels for the next person.
Not one to be shown up by the boys, Kairi began to prepare for her own timed barrel destruction run. She ignored Axel and Sora and pulled off her gray hoodie, revealing her form-fitting white shirt that was underneath. She held out the hoodie and asked Goofy to hold onto it for her and gave him a rare smile when he agreed. Then she stretched out her muscles and summoned her keyblade and was finally ready to take on the barrels.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Phil exclaimed when he saw it was Kairi who was up next. "I don't train girls."
"Too bad." Kairi said coolly. "I can fight just as well as the guys can. I won't not do this just because you think I'm a weak little girl. Now start the timer so I can go."
Phil sighed. "If you say so. Thirty seconds. Ready, go!"
Kairi sprinted off at the barrels, her eyes glued to the first set. She drew back the keyblade in preparation and swung it as hard as she could at the first barrel. It shattered into hundreds of pieces and she continued on. By the time she reached the second to last barrel her muscles ached from the force needed to shatter the barrels. She drew up her strength and used as much as she dared to destroy the barrel.
"Twenty-five seconds!" Phil shouted up at her.
Kairi panted as she focused on the final barrel; the one on the pillar. She took a few steps back and then took a running leap for the last one. She soared through the air, hoping she would make it.
She barely made it.
Finding most of her energy, and thus her strength, depleted, Kairi resorted to shoving the barrel off and watching it shatter on the ground. Then she sat down and waiting for someone to help her get down from the pillar.
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"You're better than I thought." Phil said after Goofy and Donald took their turns. "But you're still not hero material."
"Oh, come on!" Sora exclaimed. "Give us a chance!"
"No way!" Phil said. "You're good, but you're no match for a true hero like my boy Hercules. Now beat it!"
Sora looked about to protests, but Kairi rested a hand on his shoulder and shook her head, silently telling him to back down.
Under the watchful eye of Phil, they pushed open the doors and walked back out into the bright sunlight.
"Well that was fun and interesting." Axel said sarcastically. "About as fun as watching a movie about dung beetles for an hour. Don't. Ask." He warned.
"I wasn't going to." Kairi said. "Where to next? A new world or back to Traverse Town? Whichever way we go, I just hope that the next world has a shower."
Sora looked thoughtfully at the doors that led to the gummi ship. "Well, we could go back and see how Yuffie and the others are doing. And there's always a chance that Riku or Roxas is there. It is at the crossroads of the worlds."
"It's a pity you're leaving so soon." An unfamiliar voice said from behind them.
They turned around quickly to see a blue man shrouded in a black cloak. Yellow eyes stared at them in an almost lazy manner and blue fire blazed from atop his head.
A shiver ran down Kairi's spine and she ducked behind Sora for protection, not liking the feel of the newcomer.
"Why's that?" Axel asked, his tone condescending. He, like Kairi, found the blue man to be very suspicious looking and he didn't trust him at all. 'Not everyone we meet is going to be all sunshine and daisies.' He reasoned to himself.
The blue man snapped his fingers and a piece of paper fluttered into view with a flash of blue fire. "Because I happen to have with me a ticket to the very tournament you want to enter." He waved the ticket in their direction, as if to emphasize the fact that he had it. "And I'm willing to give it to you, free of charge, right now."
"What's the catch?" Donald asked.
"Catch?" The man asked. "There's no catch. But if you don't want it, I understand." He turned around and started to walk away. "After all, the tournament is very dangerous."
"Wait!" Sora yelled. "You'll really give it to us? Just like that?"
The blue guy turned back around to face them. "Just like that. No strings attached." He held out the ticket for Sora to take.
Without putting much thought into it, Sora eagerly stepped forward and took the ticket. He read over it once and then smiled up at the man. "This is great! Thanks!"
"Anytime, kid." The guy stepped aside as Sora rushed past him to go back inside to talk to Phil. Axel, Donald, and Goofy quickly followed, but Kairi lagged behind a little.
"I don't know what your game is, but you had better not hurt Sora in any way." Kairi warned as she walked past.
"I wouldn't dream of it, princess."
Kairi gave him one last glare before fleeing into the building after the guys.
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Kairi, Axel, and Goofy sat up in the bleachers and watched Sora and Donald face off against the last opponent, a blond mercenary who went by the name Cloud. The three of them had deemed it unfair to have five people gang up on one person and decided to sit out on the last round.
Donald raised his wand to deliver the final blow on the blond mercenary, who had sunk to his knees under the relentless attacks.
"I'm sorry… Squall…" Cloud whispered, not intending for anyone to hear the words.
Somehow, Sora did hear and the name sparked something in his memory. "Donald, stop!" He exclaimed. He ran over Cloud and kneeled down to talk to him better. "Did you just say Squall?" He demanded. "How do you know Leon?"
The blond looked up, surprised. Before he could say anything, Cerberus burst into the arena and snatched Cloud up in his jaws.
"NO!" Sora yelled, jumping to his feet. "Give him back!" He demanded while brandishing his keyblade at the large three-headed dog.
Axel, Kairi, and Goofy raced out into the arena to join Sora and Donald, summoning their weapons as they did so. Cerberus balked at the sight of Kairi's keyblade and backed up a bit before lunging at Sora. As Sora jumped backwards to avoid the heads, Axel swiftly lit his Chakrams on fire and sent them spinning at the beast. Donald and Goofy charged in, doing their best to distract the dog.
"Kairi!" Axel yelled as he brought up a wall of fire to stall for time. "It doesn't like your keyblade! Try and use it to get rid of this thing!"
Kairi nodded and determinedly pointed her keyblade at Cerberus.
"Kairi! Hurry!" Donald yelled.
Instinctively, Kairi let all of her energy flow through her keyblade and gather at the tip. Then she released the energy in a glittering, sparking ball that flew quickly at Cerberus and knocked it off it's feet.
Sora and Axel ran forward to help Cloud out of one of Cerberus's mouths, while Kairi caught her breath and tried to remain standing. Using so much energy at once had left her feeling weak and tired and she needed Donald and Goofy's help to stay up. The six hobbled back through the coliseum doors and into the safe confines of the building before the three headed dog woke up.
Phil sent Hercules out to finish off Cerberus while the others sat around the fires and rested and talked. Some time during all the talking, Cloud snuck away, unnoticed by everyone in the room.
"Hey Phil, do you think we're real heroes now?" Sora asked eagerly.
Phil shook his head. "Kid, you've still got a long way to go. You're good, but you aren't hero material."
"We defeated Cerberus, didn't we?" Donald argued.
"It's not my call to make." Phil said defensively. "But there is one thing I can do." He cleared his throat and hopped up on his pedestal. "I now dub you five Junior Heroes!"
"So we're heroes-in-training?" Axel asked.
Phil shrugged. "If you want to look at it that way. Now unless you all want to stick around and help clean up, there's nothing for you to do here."
For a split second Sora looked almost disappointed, but then he smiled at Phil. "See you around then. We'll keep in touch."
Axel smirked. "Yeah. See ya, goat-man."
"It's Phil!" He yelled as they left. "My name is Phil!"
Axel snickered as they walked outside, pleased that he found a way to really annoy Phil. Kairi rolled her eyes, annoyed by his immaturity. Sora was too busy talking to Donald and Goofy to notice.
"Hey."
They all quickly turned at the voice, their guard still up after the fight with Cerberus. They relaxed when they saw it was just Cloud.
"Are you okay?" Kairi asked. She had been unable to look him over after they got inside, so she took the time to do so then. She found no injuries and looked up at his face questioningly.
"Nothing a potion can't cure." Cloud told her. "Tell me, how do you know Squall?"
"We met him in Traverse Town with Yuffie and Aerith and Cid." Sora said, somehow able to remember all their names. "He goes by Leon now."
Cloud nodded. "I know." He looked away, his eyes cast to the ground. "How is he?" He asked, surprisingly quiet.
Sora scratched the back of his neck. "I dunno. Okay, I guess."
"We're getting ready to go back." Kairi said. "You could come with us if you'd like."
For a moment, Cloud's blue eyes shone with hope, but just like that the hope was extinguished and his eyes were guarded once more. "There are things I still have to do." He raised his eyes from the ground and looked at Kairi and Kairi only. "Tell him… tell him that I say 'hello'. Will you do that for me?"
Kairi nodded, unsurely at first. "I will." She promised.
Cloud nodded and for a moment Kairi swore she could see something like relief written across his face. But then she blinked and it was gone.
"See you around, Cloud!" Sora said, waving goodbye as the mercenary walked away from them.
Kairi shook her head and headed back to the gummi ship, feeling rather confused. The guys followed.
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End Chapter
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To tell you the truth, everyone, I'm not enjoying working on this as much as I thought I would. It just feels kind of... boring and uncreative. Maybe it's just that it's more serious than what I'm used to writing, which makes sense since I usually write AU humor fics. But do not despair for I will be continuing this and finishing it! I can't bring myself to not finish this one after how enthusiastically I started.
Maybe things will pick up in the next chapter with the introduction of Demyx. And I'll always be getting away from my original plot idea of doing a chapter for every single world and try to write more humor in and mix it in with the seriousness. And maybe I can kick up a bit of romance soon. Or at least the foundations of it.
So while I can't quite say how many more chapters are left, I can tell you that this story will be at least 12 or 13 chapters long. That's the minimum.
Until next time!
NEXT - Chapter 8: The Melodious Nocturne