Authors Note: Hello again, my wonderful readers! Thanks to Alexa-Voultiri, kingdomdisney, and Makii for their reviews! I'll skip my usul rambling and let you get on with the story! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything recognizable. Only my OCs Katy, Ryan, Cassie, and Jordan!
Back in the Underworld…
"Let me see if I got this right." Hades said to Pete. "That brat's Keyblade works on any lock?"
"That's right!" Pete replied
Hades laughed
"Have I ever told you about the killer coliseum we have right here in the underworld? It makes the one upstairs look like an Olympic kiddie pool.
"Then that's where we're gonna put an end t Herc the Jerk's winning streak!" Pete crowed.
"Problem. Zeus locked it up tight."
Pete scowled until realization dawned on him.
"Bingo…all we gotta do is swipe that key and unlock the Underdome!"
Pete shook his head
"Hate to tell ya, but that key is kinda particular. It won't work for just anybody. And that kid ain't no pushover."
Hades thought for a moment before grinning evilly.
"I think this calls for a woman's touch." He said, conjuring up an image of Meg.
Beck in the Coliseum lobby, Meg shivered. It felt as though someone had just walked over her grave.
Meanwhile, our heroes made it out of the underworld and were now staring at the sparking sparkleyness that was the Olympus Coliseum.
"Gawrsh, this sure does bring back memories!" Goofy remarked as they started towards the lobby.
The doors opened before they reached them and out stepped Hercules looking a little worse for wear. Upon noticing them, he brightened.
"Guys! When did you get here?"
After a round of hellos, Hercules asked them what they were doing back.
"You know, trackin' down some friends. Wipin' out some Heartless." Sora replied as they followed him inside
"So did you find those friends of yours?" Herc asked.
"Still working on it. When we got here, we ran into Meg—Meg-mega-trouble, I mean! So we had to help somebody out." Sora stumbled through the sentence.. "We tried to teach Hades a thing or two…but the Underworld drains away all our strength. Don't suppose you have any ideas?"
"Well, there's a stone that guards against the Underworld's curse. The Gods on Mount Olympus use it whenever they have to go down there." Hercules replied
"Think we could use it?"
"Sure, why not! I'll go get it for you."
"Thanks!" Donald said
"But Hades is no pushover, even if you've got the Olympus Stone." Hercules warned. "And I have a match today, so I can't go with you…Know what you need? Training!"
"Oh, no." Katy groaned, remembering the last time they had undergone "training"
Sure enough, Herc told them to go talk to Phil. Spectacular.
The training was more or less the same as the last time…instead this time they were destroying jars instead of barrels. They completed the training right around the time that Hercules came back with the news that the Olympus stone had been stolen by "a guy in a black coat and creatures in white." Katy gritted her teeth at the news. When they ran into Demyx, he was so dead.
"Hey if we find the Olympus stone, can we borrow it for awhile?" Sora asked
"Sure, I don't see why not…by the way, have you seen Meg around?"
"Nope, why?"
"No reason." Herc answered, hanging his head a bit.
"What's wrong your hero-ness? Feeling…under the weather?" A familiar voice asked, placing it's bony blue fingers on Herc's shoulder, causing him to jerk away. "You know I thought staying in perfect shape was part of the hero job description…just saying." Hades continued.
"Oh, right…Hades, we gotta talk!" Sora said, glaring at the Lord of the Dead.
Hades rolled his eyes, flicking Sora's head and sending him sprawling before continuing.
"I came to share a bit of mildly-interesting news: Seems your dear, sweet little Nutmeg…went and got herself lost in the Underworld.
"You mean you kidnapped her!" Hercules exclaimed, angrily
"Well, maybe…but why get caught up in the details?"
Hercules continued to glare at Hades as he whistled for his trusty steed.
"Oh. My. God. It's a magical, flying PONY!" Katy shrieked, bouncing in place.
"Ah, ah, ah, you can't leave now, okay. You've got a very important match today, against, um…the bloodthirsty Hydra! I mean if you don't stick around, who knows what little kind of "accidents" might happen." Hades threatened before disappearing back to the Underworld.
"Can you handle this?" Hercules asked the four of them.
"Um, do we get to use the pony?" Katy asked, petting Pegasus.
"You bet. You take care of the Hydra. We got the rest." Sora replied, ignoring Katy's statement, causing her to pout.
"I'm counting on you." Hercules said, clapping Sora on the shoulder and sending Pegasus after Meg, deepening Katy's pout.
"C'mon, let's get going. " Sora said, pulling Katy back towards the lobby, snickering at her whining. ("But I wanted to ride the Pony!")
As soon as they stepping back into the Underworld, they saw Phil lying on the ground. He told them a man dressed all in black had attacked him when he tried to ask him to be a backup hero. ("God dammit, Demyx!"). He pointed them in the right direction and they took off in pursuit.
As they proceeded, they could feel the energy being leeched out of them by the Underworld's curse. They'd just cleared the second room of Trick Ghosts when Katy flopped to the ground in exhaustion.
"Can we (cough) please (wheeze) take five?" She panted fumbling for her inhaler in her bag.
"Yeah, maybe ten." Sora agreed, flopping next to her.
"No, only five, the longer we're down here, the worse it's gonna get. The sooner we get the stone back from Dem—The Organization, the better off we'll be." Katy panted, praying that Sora wouldn't notice her slip up.
If he did, he didn't say anything, just nodded and rested his head on her shoulder.
After they caught their breath, they braced themselves and continued deeper into the Underworld.
They navigated their way through the giant maze and finally reached a clearing, only to find the Organization member (Demyx) waiting for them. Well, actually, no. He wasn't waiting. He seemed kinda startled when he sensed them behind him.
"Huh? Oh, you! Wait a sec, uh…Roxas?"
Katy paled, meeting the satirist's eyes and shaking her head, He gave her a sheepish look and an inconspicuous shrug, trying to convey that there was nothing he could do.
"Excuse me?" Sora replied, confused
"Roxas? Ah, it's no use." He sighed, running a hand through his dirty blonde hair.
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Sora demanded.
Demyx fished a slip of paper out of his pocket and began to read to himself
"Let's see here. "If the subject fails to respond, use aggression to liberate his true disposition"…Right. Did they ever pick the wrong guy for this one…" He mumbled to himself, Katy silently agreeing. Demyx didn't really seem the "aggressive" type.
"You're bizarre." Sora commented, crossing his arms.
Demyx searched his pockets once more and pulled out the Olympus stone.
"He's gotta be the thief!" Goofy exclaimed.
"Now that's just plain rude." Demyx said with a frown, holding the stone over his head to utilize it's power and summoned his sitar.
"Dance water, dance!"
"REALLY? That's the best catch phrase you can come up with?" Katy yelled as she hacked through the water clones the Nobody had summoned.
Once they were all destroyed, Demyx staggered back, holding his head
"Come back to us, Roxas." He slurred, holding a hand out to summon a dark corridor.
Then the cave started to shake,
Sora lurched forward, snatching up the Olympus stone, which had fallen to the ground. Katy followed him, noting the caving-in ceiling, pushing him out of the way just as it started to come down. She braced herself for the impact when suddenly she was being pulled back by the waist and sent stumbling to the ground.
"Katy! Are you okay?" Came Sora's muffled voice from the other side of the cave in.
"Yeah…I'm still alive." She called back, pulling herself into an upright position.
"Is the Organization member still there?"
Organization—Demyx! Demyx had saved her? Sure enough, she looked to her left and there he was, looking at her with that sheepish look again.
"Yeah, he's gone." She lied. "Man, this is way too Land Before Time for my tastes…"
"What?"
"Never-mind. Not important. Just go find Meg. I'll try and find a way around."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, just hurry! Before Hades throws her into the pit of despair or something equally terrible."
"Okay. Be careful."
"You too." She called back, barely making out their departing footsteps. She glared at her new companion.
"Great job, dude."
"Are you kidding? I just saved your life! Again!" Demyx whined.
"Shut up! Keep your voice down! Do you want Sora to hear you?"
"Actually, that might not be such a bad idea. Once he finds out your lying to him-"
"Over my dead body."
"That can be arranged."
They'd unconsciously been drawing closer to each other, and it was around this time that they both realized it. Katy pushed Demyx back, turning her head to hide the blush that was creeping into her cheeks.
Why the hell was she blushing?
"Look. Obviously, we're on different sides. So why don't you just go back to your hideout so I can find a way out of this." Katy reasoned, closing her eyes to try to dispel the dizziness. In all the confusion, she hadn't exactly had time to cast the stone of Olympus on her.
Demyx sighed heavily, but made no move to summon a dark corridor.
"Well, get going! Your friends are probably wondering where you are."
"They're not my friends. Well, most of them aren't. Far from it, actually." Demyx said.
"I really don't have time to listen to your life's story." Katy remarked, the protector-withdrawals already starting to take effect. "Get out of here."
"Yeah, because I just risked my life saving you so you could get eaten by trick ghosts. Not likely. C'mon. I know the way around."
"Why should I trust you? You just tried to kill us!"
"Yes, but you seem to be forgetting the part where I saved you from a cave in five seconds later. Now are you coming or what?"
Katy grumbled under her breath but complied, hauling herself off the ground and following the blonde back into the giant maze.
They walked in silence for the first few minutes before Demyx felt the need to open his big mouth.
"He's not very responsible, you know."
"Who?" Katy asked, distractedly.
"Sora."
This made the teen stop dead in her tracks and stare at the older boy in confusion.
"Why do you say that?"
"That's the second time you risked your neck when he did something reckless."
"That's sort of why I'm here. I'm the Protector, that's what I do. And—wait, second time?"
Demyx looked away, but Katy pulled him around to face her.
"Have you been watching us?"
"Doesn't he know from the last time that it hurts you when you can't help him? It's like he doesn't even care!" Demyx yelled.
"He's just impulsive! And of course he cares! What does it matter to you anyway? It's not like you—" Katy trailed off and her eyes widened.
He'd helped her escape the nothing, answering her questions despite the orders he'd been given. He'd come back to get her to Sora in Castle Oblivion, even though he could have been killed for it. And he just saved her life even though it would have been beneficial to the Organization if she was dead.
"Oh, my God. Oh, my God. You, you do, don't you?"
Demyx was looking away again, but she could still see the blush on his cheeks.
"Holy—do you…like me?" She asked, already knowing the answer.
Demyx sighed.
"I thought it was obvious from the beginning."
"Demyx…"
"Look, I know, okay. You're the Protector, "destined to follow the Keyblade Master and aid him in his quest" I know the story. But your just…and I'm…I'm a Nobody. I don't even exist. Right. So let's just pretend this didn't happen and get you back to your boyfriend, yeah?" Demyx ended his rant with another sigh and pushed a loose brick on the maze wall, causing a passage to open.
"Let's go. Please?"
Katy nodded dumbly and followed him. Trying not to think about how much more complicated things just got.
She followed Demyx through the passageway which ended in the room with the cave-in, but on the other side. As soon as they stepped foot in the room, Demyx summoned a dark corridor. Katy stopped him with a hand on is arm.
"Look, Demyx…Thank you. For everything. And I know it doesn't…change things, but in a different scenario, I mean if I wasn't…who I was. I could definitely see myself with you. And I'm not just saying that. You're a great guy."
"Even if I was still a Nobody?" Demyx asked after processing what she said.
"Even if you were still a Nobody." Katy replied with a small smile.
Demyx nodded, a stupid smile on his face.
"Thanks…Katy. It does help, actually." He hesitated for a second, before embracing her briefly.
"You better go." Katy said, returning the hug.
"Yeah." he agreed, releasing her and summoning a new dark corridor. He gave her a wry salute.
"See you later, babe."
"DON'T call me that!" She yelled after him, causing him to laugh.
She was just about to run down the corridor to find Sora, when he ran into her, the talking animals plus Meg and Hercules in tow.
"Are you okay?" She asked, frantic
"Yeah, just Pete and some hook bats. Then another cave in. We gotta get out of here." Sora replied
"Couldn't agree more." She mumbled, following them to the Underworld exit.
"Well, if it isn't everyone's favorite hero washout." Hades greeted them upon. their arrival.
"Nobody likes a sore loser, Hades." Sora said, smugly.
"Can it, keyboy!" Hades snapped
Katy snickered
"Keyboy. I'll remember that one."
"Then let me." Herc said, striding up to The Lord of the Underworld.
"Nobody likes a sore loser, Hades."
"Yeah, yeah, Styx and stones. Hey, maybe you should go check on that Hydra you neglected to finish off. I hear things are really FALLING APART up there, champ." Hades said with a smirk before disappearing.
The five of them exchanged glances, before running to the Coliseum
One hour and eleven Hydra heads later, Everyone was standing in the ruins of the Coliseum trying to get Hercules to snap out of his depression.
"I let you all down. I'm just…no use." Herc sighed, wallowing in his self-pity.
"It's not your fault. Hey, even a god would be exhausted." Meg consoled.
"She's right. Give yourself a chance to rest." Sora agreed
"You definitely deserve it. Plus it's not like there'll be any games here for awhile." Katy added.
"Don't worry about Wonderboy, here. I'll look after him." Meg promised. "I owe you guys big time."
"Don't worry about it. Just let us know if Hades or the Heartless start acting up. We'll take care of it." Sora said.
"Yeah, 'cause that's what heroes do!" Donald exclaimed.
Meg raised an eyebrow
"When did you three make hero?"
"Uh we'll get to that another time. Right now, we gotta hit the road." Sora said, avoiding the question
"Don't be strangers." Meg replied
"Sora, the Olympus stone." Katy reminded him, poking him in the ribs.
"Oh, right!"
He fished the stone out of his pocket and went to hand it to Hercules when it started to glow.
Katy rolled her eyes.
"Go figure."
Sora opened the next pathway and the party clamored onto the Gummi ship, Donald taking the controls this time.
"Hey, Katy?"
Katy turned around, furrowing her eyebrows when she saw he worried look on her boyfriends face.
"What's up?"
"Back in the Underworld, after we fought the Organization member, the cave in, he…he saved you, didn't he?"
Katy pasted on a confused face, even though it was killing her to lie, especially about this.
"I don't know, did he? I remember being pushed out of the way, but I thought it was from pushing you, you know Newton's laws and all that."
Sora shook his head.
"No, he grabbed you and pulled you out of the way."
"Well, that's a little weird. Why would he save me? And when did he have time? He was long gone when I came to my senses a few seconds later."
Sora shrugged, still looking troubled.
"Look, don't worry about it, okay? I'm sure theirs an evil plot behind the reason he saved me. Besides, would you rather he hadn't?"
"Of course not!"
"So?"
Sora nodded
"Yeah, I guess your right. It was just weird though."
"Yeah, definitely."
Sora kissed her lightly before going to fight with Donald over the controls.
Katy slumped in her seat, drawing her knees to her chin. This lying stuff was harder then she thought. Way harder. And now this whole thing with Demyx…she sighed, pushing the thoughts away angrily. Demyx was a Nobody. He worked for the Organization for crying out loud! He was the enemy!
Despite all that though, she'd meant what she said to him earlier. And that scared her more than it should.
Meanwhile, someplace not-so-far-away…
"Where have the others gone?" Maleficent asked frostily, trying to contain her anger.
"Beats me. They musta had some other matters to deal with." Pete replied
"Matters?" The witch spat. "You mean they had more important affairs to attend to than my return."
"Well, see, there's this Organization XIII that keeps getting' in the way—"
"Let those fools play their little game!"
"But what about those runts with the Keyblades? They've been a real pain, too."
"Oh has he." Maleficent said. "Very well then, I suppose you'd best tell me what's happened during my absence."
A/N: Ok, so I know what your thinking. "This is now the third guy that has a crush on Katy! Mary-Sue alert!" But it's not, I swear! First of all, I consider Sora and Roxas to be the same person. So, him liking her is self explanatory. Demyx is my favorite male character in the game, so I had to give him a little more action then he originally had, plus he's part of the underlying plot I have going in my head, but you all have to wait for that to unfold! Here's a brief spoiler though for those of you who read my authors notes. Cassie and Ryan will be appearing in the next chapter and Cassie has a secret that could lead to a side story! So stay tuned, my pretties! REVIEW!