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Chapter 19- Unattainable Light

It was cold in the darkness. Iji shivered as she tiredly made her way towards a pinpoint of light in the distance. The light never seemed to come any closer, no matter how hard she tired to catch it. Finally she collapsed onto her knees.

"Everything's so far away… Why can't I reach you!?" she yelled at the light.

Tears ran down her cheeks.

"Do you want to reach it?" asked a voice.

Iji strained to hear the voice, no, it was more than that. There were two voices speaking. "Yes…" she answered.

"But by reaching the light, you will leave behind everything you hold dear."

"But I can't even remember who I am!" Iji stared at the light, hoping and wishing it would come a little closer.

"The light holds no answers to your past, only the future. The answers you seek lie deep within the darkness."

Iji did nothing. She was too tired, even to cry.

*****

"Jeez, look at the head wound on this kid." Hades inspected the hastily wrapped bandage around Iji's head. "Whoever did the work on her didn't have a clue about first aid."

The god unwrapped the bandage and pressed a long bony finger to the wound. It healed instantly.

"Hey, wake up, kid. We got work to do." He nudged Iji.

Iji groaned and came around. "Where's Jafar…? What happened?"

Hades gave a short bark of laughter. "That weirdo got what he deserved. He's long gone now."

"Did Sora find the Keyhole?"

Hades turned around, hiding his anger at the mention of the boy. "Er, yeah, kid. Sora found it alright, and sealed it up good and tight…"

Iji smiled and blinked. "You said we had work to do?"

Hades swung back around. "Yeah, I'm entering you in a competition."

"Competition? What kind? Will I be able to help Sora in it? When does it start? What do I do?" asked Iji all at once.

Hades held up a hand. "Whoa, hold up there, girly. Firstly, it's a fighting competition."

"What has me helping Sora got to do with it?"

"It's more of a special treat for you, Iji. I'm sure you wanna show Sora how strong you are, right?"

Iji nodded.

"Yeah, well this fighting competition is going to help you prove yourself. And think of it as a training exercise too. The more people you beat, the stronger you'll become. So, you get ready, kid, and I'll be back in a while, k?"

Iji nodded again.

Hades smiled and left. 'Like taking candy from the dead…' he thought slyly. 'And if I play her just right, I can get her to take out wonder-boy Hercules too, just in case my first plan fails…'

*****

Piercing blue eyes glanced at Sora as a blonde-haired man passed by. A large bandaged sword hung over his shoulder and a torn blood-red cape fluttered in the breeze.

Phil scratched the back of his neck after the warrior passed. "Something tells me he'll be a tough one to beat. Maybe you'll end up facing him."

Sora stared back at the man. There was a bad feeling attached to him. Like there was more than what met the eye.

*****

Cloud walked over to an alcove covered by shadow, out of sight from the main stadium. His newest hirer was waiting there. Hades jerked a thumb over at Sora when Cloud arrived.

"That little punk is your next opponent, okay? Now, don't blow it. Just… take him out."

Cloud regarded Sora carefully. "The great god of the Underworld is afraid of a kid? Sorry, but my contract says-"

"I know! You think I don't know? I wrote the contract!" Hades interrupted. "I know it says you're only required to kill Hercules in this tournament. But you've gotta fight that kid to get to him. Come on!"

Hades looked over to Sora again, who was talking to an irritated Phil.

"Hey, it's like that old goat says: Rule 11: It's all just a game, so let loose and have fun with it! I mean, a casualty or two along the way is no big deal, right?" Hades felt a headache coming on.

Cloud gave Hades one last suspicious look and left.

"Jeez…" grumbled the god. "Stiffer than the stiffs back home. Still… Suckers like him are hard to come by."

Cloud strode onto the stadium and took up a fighter's stance.

Hades smirked as he felt three sets of heavy breathe on the back of his robe. A deep-throated growl resonated around the alcove. "But it's a good thing I arranged a little insurance just in case."

*****

"I need to get stronger than Sora," said Iji out loud to herself.

She stared out from one of Hollow Bastion's balconies down to the Rising Falls.

"That looks like a good spot to train." Iji heaved herself over the balcony railing and gently floated down to the bottom. She giggled as she softly landed.

The waterfalls slowly drifted towards the sky, making Iji feel both calm and confused. She stared up at the grand castle, wondering where Riku had disappeared too. She shook her head to get her mind back on track.

"Sora's got heaps of cool moves. I'm gonna have to make up some too so I can show him that I'm not weak!" Iji paused as she realised something. She had left her Star Cutters back at Traverse Town… Iji's confidence fell and turned into panic. "How am I going to fight without a weapon?"

Iji plopped herself onto the ground, tapping her forehead in an effort to think. Images from previous fights filtered through her head. A series of images with Sora summoning his Keyblade kept flashing over and over again.

'Maybe… I can do that too?' thought Iji. 'My Star Cutters may not be magical like the Keyblade, but Maleficent said I have a great power inside me.' Iji smiled confidently. "I can do this."

The girl held up her hands to the heavens and silently hoped that it would work. As Iji gazed upwards she felt her eyes blur over and her body become tiresome. Her mind went numb.

*****

Aeris placed her elbows on the table and sighed. Iji's weapons lay before her looking lonely. The brunette sighed and closed her eyes. When she opened them, the Star Cutters had disappeared. Aeris rose in surprise, then went to tell Leon.

*****

Iji's eyelids fluttered open. She was flat on her on back. She didn't remember how she got there…

"It seems you need more practise, child." Maleficent looked over Iji from above.

Iji sat up and rubbed the back of her head. "I guess…"

"Although, you did end up with what you wanted." Maleficent remarked, motioning towards the two silver weapons in Iji's hands.

Iji gasped and jumped up. "I did it! I did it!" She grinned.

Maleficent nodded in approval. "Keep practising, child. You will find your inner strength."

The witch faded into the air.

Iji stopped jumping around and got serious. "It's time to train."

*****

Phil placed three gold medallions around the necks of Sora, Donald and Goofy. Hercules stood next to him, smiling proudly.

"Thus, I do hereby dub thee junior heroes, and confer upon thee full rights and privileges to participate in the games." Phil read from a sheet of paper.

"Junior…?" questioned Donald with a hint of temper rising in his voice.

The satyr groaned. "You rookies still don't understand what it takes to be a true hero."

Goofy scratched his head. "So, what does it take?"

Hercules chuckled. "Well, that's something you'll just have to find out for yourselves, just the way that I did."

Sora grinned and nodded. "No problem, we'll just start by proving ourselves in the games!"

Phil held up a hand. "There ain't gonna be any games for a while. Not 'til the mess is cleaned up from your last battle."

Sora sighed. "Ok, we'll be back later."

He and the others waved as they left.

Phil stroked his goatee. "I still can't believe that squirt actually took down Cerberus."

Hercules bent down to his trainer and winked. "Just between us, I'd actually already worn him down by the time the little guy jumped in."

Phil grinned. "My lips are sealed."

*****

Cloud's piercing blues eyes of looked up from where they had been staring at the ground. Sora approached him.

"Hey, you alright?" he asked.

"Yeah," said Cloud calmly.

Sora walked up to the stairs and sat down next to him. "So, why'd you go along with Hades anyway?"

Cloud gazed up into the sky. "I'm looking for someone. Hades promised to help. I tried to exploit the powers of darkness, but it backfired. I fell into darkness, and I couldn't find the light."

"You'll find it. I'm searching too."

Cloud turned his attention away from the heavens to Sora. "For your light?"

"I guess you could say that." Sora nodded as he thought about his friends.

The blonde haired swordsman rose to his feet and began to walk away. "Don't lose sight of it." In his mind a young woman with a caring face and brown hair smiled and faded.

Sora jumped up and called after him. "How about a rematch sometime? Fair and square, no dark powers involved?"

Cloud smirked. "I'll think about it."

Sora stared after him and smiled.

*****

Hades emerged from behind a pillar after secretly watching Cloud and Sora's conversation. He conjured a small action figure of Hercules up in his hand and began to throttle it.

"He's strong, he's kind. He's always there for you, and he's handsome to boot. He's perfect." He quoted the action figure's advertisement. "Perfect… Perfectly infuriating! He makes me crazy!!"

The flames on Hades' head turned red and the action figure in his hand melted into a pile of slime. The god's eyes screamed death and destruction. Hades took a breath and calmed down. He smoothed his fiery hair, which went back to blue.

"Wait a minute. What are you worried about? All the pieces are in place. I have a backup plan. Relax. Here's what I'll do. I'll get Hercules to train Iji, and then she'll take both him and the punk out in the next games." Hades' eyes slid to peek behind him. "Who invited you to the party?"

Maleficent smiled shrewdly. "Iji is making great progress by herself. Bringing any outside factors to her may change her judgement."

"Stay out of this. This is my show." hissed Hades.

"As you wish… Fight to your heart's content. However, Hades, I do suggest that you start to plan more carefully." The witch disappeared.

Hades' hair went red once more.