Author's Note: Okay, in response to that one little guest reviewer of mine...brunette is defined as someone with dark hair. Dark pigments in the hair. Which means brown or black hair. Just as long as its not blond or red, okay? So, I won't be changing my stance on that.

Anyways, my dumb ass totally forgot that Meg would NOT be the same age as she is in the movie or games because Birth By Sleep was the prequel, and Hercules is a teenager. Duh, I don't know what I was thinking. So I still am thinking of including her, just a younger version, and I'll just change her back story so that it'll work that she is in the Underworld. Hehe, sorry guys.

Anyways, thanks to my readers and reviewers, I'm really happy at last a couple of you have taken a liking to this story. This chapter was so hard to write, but was so much fun to edit :) So I hope you enjoy chapter 2! Review!

...

Mark of A Hero

...

I was worn out. Physically exhausted. Hell, my sores were even sore! And Hades still thought we hadn't had enough yet. Believe me, I had had enough. But here we were, Terra and I forced to fight each other 'till our fingers were bloody and our palms were blistered. Fighting could be fun, but not when it was like this.

I leaned against my knees, my breathing erratic and my legs shaking. I looked up at Terra. The guy barely had a scratch on him while I had been giving it my all. He hardly even look winded while I was doubled-over, dry heaving from the lack of actual food in my stomach.

"Ready to call it quits, Hades?" Terra said as he turned his eyes to look at Hades, who was sitting nice and content on his throne while us, his minions, had to battle it out. How was that fair? "I think we've had enough," Terra said, glancing over at me. Obviously he was talking about me.

"Hey, whose the God here?" He asked as he tapped his long, bony fingers against the arm of his chair. "I'll tell you when you've had enough. You don't look nearly as beat up as Zack over there. Maybe I should fix those odds," he said as he turned to me and smiled, wicked and I couldn't help but wonder how many rows of sharp, snarling teeth did he have?

I didn't like that look. Not one bit.

And all of a sudden I was forced to my knees, a sharp ringing in my head that was amplified by the severe pounding there as well. I barely even heard the clang of metal against the hard ground as my sword dropped. Even Terra's shouts were muffled by the ringing. This horrible ringing! I clamped my hands over my ears, hoping to block the sound, but it wasn't coming from anything out there. It was all in my head.

I grit my teeth together as I cried out. Every inch of my body was aching, throbbing as I felt my blood pumping in my veins. My head grew foggy as if the circulation was cut, and as I opened my eyes, tendrils of darkness began to steam from my entire body.

What was this? What was happening? And...why did I suddenly feel so strong? So full of energy. As if I hadn't even been tired a second ago. This new found power within me was intense, This new found rage within me made me pick up my blade and turn to Terra with murder in my eyes.

This power belonged to the darkness, and I guess in that moment, so did I.

My knuckles gripped the hilt of the blade tightly as I breathed in and out heavily through my nostrils like I was some sort of raging animal. Everything was dark in my peripherals, like I was in some sort of worm hole. But I could see Terra and my sights were locked on him.

I ran forward with a cry, lunging at him and swinging my blade down with all my weight behind it. But his sword quickly came up to block mine, and we stood their braced against each other, noses so close they were nearly touching.

"Zack, stop it!" Terra yelled as he jumped backwards, as if his orders were important enough to snap me out of these instinct-charged attacks against him. I didn't appreciate the condescending attitude this guy came in here with, enough to knock it out of him with a kick to the gut and a sword against his throat.

I shook my head. Wow, how uncharacteristic of me. What was this darkness doing to me? And why was I incapable of stopping it?

I charged at him with speed I didn't even knew I possessed and swung my sword down, barely missing his shoulder by a very inch, and I could see the tense in his forehead with this extra perception I had. The sweat on his brow was sliding down towards those dark lashes and those blue eyes of his.

Everything was slow for a moment.

"Now this is what I'm talking about!" Hades shouted from the sidelines, snapping me out of my daze, but before I had a chance to move, Terra had my right wrist in his grip and held above my head, leaving me without a sword at the moment.

"You have to fight it," he told me between gritted teeth. "Don't let Hades control you."

I groaned, squeezing my eyes shut. I wanted to fight it. I did. But I was only getting angrier. The blood inside me was boiling. I was being controlled and I hated it. Let that rage channel in your attacks, I heard a voice inside me say. It wasn't my voice though.

And I sent Terra flying backwards with a powerful kick to his gut, leaving him doubled-over and clutching his stomach.

"I-I can't...help it," I gritted out as I lunged at him again, and he had barely any time to catch his momentum. But just as always, at the last second he blocked my attack again, and his eyes narrowed. "I'm sorry...I'm just...not...strong enough." I said between clenched teeth. It felt horrible admitting that.

"Yes you are!" He yelled, and I just wanted to scream at him to just shut up because this pounding in my head could not have been good for me and he was just making it worse. Too many sounds going on. But instead of yelling, I simply disappeared.

Teleportation. Never ever done that before. But I did it. Teleported in a cloud of smoke briefly before reappearing in front of Terra and as I swung my blade, the tip caught on his cheek, leaving a fresh slit of red.

Seeing the blood, no, practically smelling it, made me realize I had to fight harder to regain control.

He jumped backwards, looking at me with an intense seriousness that hadn't been present a second ago. My eyes focused on the way the blood began to drip down his cheekbone down to his chin, and he didn't even take a minute to wipe it away. As if he couldn't be bothered.

My knuckles were white, stretching taut over bone as I sprung from my feet into the air, hovering over Terra before I sent my sword plunging down into the earth with all my strength behind it.

But he managed to just barely evade my attack with a roll against the floor. My sword stay pierced in the earth, that was now spiderwebbing into long cracks like a radial burst of shattered stone.

Whoo! Now that's what I'm talking about! This power was crazy! I was actually better than Terra.

I pulled my sword out of the ground with little effort and rolled my fingers into a fist. I could practically see the aura of darkness that surrounded me like a protective, radiating energy. Unbelievable.

I smirked, letting out a cry as I charged again. My feet flew against the ground, sweeping clouds of dust up as I skidded to a stop and swung a backhanded swing aimed at Terra. And I managed to make contact with his shoulder just beside his shoulder plate. His sword-wielding shoulder.

And the weight of his sword made his arm drop and he reached for his injury with the other arm. He looked at me, an expression on his face hard to distinguish and unrecognizable. No, it wasn't fear. And it wasn't anger. Not even that confidence Terra practically oozed.

It was pain. Caused from my sword. That...wasn't what I wanted to do. I didn't want to hurt Terra, right?

I groaned and everything kind of felt like it twitched or something. Weird. Weird feeling, I noticed as I wiped my sweaty brow and realized what it was the darkness was doing to me. It was turning me into an animal. Savage and feral. No better than those monsters lurking in the Underworld.

"Get him Zack!" Hades cheered, and his voice made my ears ring and I wanted to just cover my ears so his horrible laugh couldn't puncture my ear canal anymore. "Give him everything you got!" He said, slow and distorted as the world around me moved slower and my vision began to swim.

"No!" I yelled, my mind screaming no but my body rushed forward, swinging at Terra again and again. With his weak hand he was able to block all of my attacks. And we were sword to sword, nose to nose again as I gritted my teeth and put my weight into my attack. Terra's arm was visibly shaking, a bead of sweat falling from his brow. "I...won't let you win...Hades," I said, breathing heavily as I fought back with everything I had in me.

Everything began to sway, the ringing in my ears growing louder as I felt the darkness become unstable within me.

"That's it Zack," Terra said calmly, trying to urge the real me to come beck again. And finally it was if the darkness released me from his choking grip and I felt my knees wobble and I fell forward, eyes rolling back into my head and all I could feel was Terra's strong arms catching me.

"See, Hades?" Terra yelled. He's stronger than you are!"

My eyes were able to peer open just a bit, just enough to see Hades stand up from his chair and begin a slow clap of his hands. "Bravo, bravo. So, you guys really think you've done it huh?" He asked, and in one quick second I could feel the cold chill that shook my spine whenever he was standing right beside me. I looked up, seeing his hands placed on Terra's shoulder as his smile of daggers grew from ear to ear. "News flash," he whispered into Terra's ear before shouting, "That puny kid couldn't handle the darkness! He was about to become dead meat if I hadn't loosened my grip on him. See? See?!" And I could feel the warmth of his flames that shot out from his hair whenever he was exceptionally angry. "You guys really aren't as strong as like to pretend to be."

"Yeah right," Terra said, clutching me tighter in his arms, almost protectively. "He fought the darkness, and you know it."

My voice came out as nothing more than a hoarse whisper as I said, "I...tried. I tried...to fight it."

"Listen, Terra," Hades said as he shoved me out of Terra's grasp. I groaned when my head collided with stone and I was looking up at the sun that was burning at my corneas. What had Hades said about the sun God? Was that really Helios up there, carrying the sun with him on his chariot against the blue-and-cloud patterned sky?

Or was I just really losing it from exhaustion?

"I'm going to level here with you," I heard Hades say, and I turned over with the last of my remaining strength to watch them.

"This, right here," Hades said as he grabbed the blade from Terra's grip, "this is all you got going for you. Just a puny little sword," he waved it about before throwing it to the side. "Can you control others like a puppet master? Can you summon fire and darkness with a snap of your fingers? Well, can you?!"

I don't think I had ever seen so much hate inside Terra's face as I did at that very moment. "I don't wan that kind of power. Not ever."

Terra's expression rivaled the heat Hades' fire brought.

"Well, until you do," Hades said as he gripped Terra's chin roughly with those long bony fingers of his. "until you let yourself open up to the darkness, you will never be more powerful than me. You won't even have a fraction of the power I have. Not even a little bit. Do I make myself perfectly clear?"

"We'll see about that. You know If I had my Keyblade I'd-"

"Oh what? That toy you came in with? Well you don't, so...say it with me, 'Hades, I am a weak, puny little swordsman.'

I closed my eyes, ready to succumb to the exhaustion that was threatening to close my eyes with its palm and let me fall to darkness.

"Go to hell," was the last thing I heard Terra say before I heard a grunt and the sound of a body falling.

"Haven't you realized it yet, Terra? We're already here!"

...

The water didn't really do much to take the edge off. Or help the pain. But there was no way I was going to deny a bath, a luxury that was few and far between. Even if it was a cold one.

Sometimes I wondered just how clean Underworld water could be when I was running it over my dirt-streaked face, but I had to remember this water was meant purely for bathing. At least it wasn't like the river that I was led here on. The boat that crossed the canal of the dead. I remember feeling a slimy, body-less soul wrap its body around me and tug. It had wanted to take me down there with it. I remember the look on its shriveled up face. It longed for me, for some sort of substance that they severely lacked.

I got a shiver just thinking about it.

I was in a horrible funk. But I mean, what else was I supposed to expect after nearly becoming Hades' little puppet. I was so much stronger than that. How could I have been so weak and stupid? My nostrils flared as I let my hands run through my wet hair and down my face in frustration. I let my neck fall back against shoulders as I closed my eyes and let the water I cupped into my hands fall across my face.

That power in me was indescribable. And I think the part I was most upset about was the fact that I liked it. I liked feeling that energy, even if it wasn't mine. Even if I kinda borrowed it for a little, you know? But I mean...some of that had to be, didn't it?

Maybe it was just wishful thinking...after all, the darkness was alluring because it was so powerful.

And I was anything but.

I tensed immediately when I heard the sound of water sloshing about. My first reaction was, Dear God, don't let it be Hades joining me in here, but when I peeked out with one eye, I saw it wasn't Hades or Meg, but Terra, and for some reason I suddenly became extra conscience of my pathetic excuse for pectorals.

Especially because as soon as I saw him, I was getting an eyeful of abs and pecs and muscle since Terra was pulling his shirt over his head. I swallowed the lump in my throat and turned away from him. Sure, I had a some muscle tone going on, and I was by now means unfit, but I sure looked nothing like Terra. Looking at Terra was like looking at those Greek God statues in front of the vestibule. Hell, I could imagine someone, one day, making a statue of him. Just as he looked now. All naked and wet and –wow, Zack, calm down there. No need to get starstruck.

"Hope you don't mind," he said, and I thanked Zeus I couldn't see much lower than his belly button. And he couldn't see mine, especially since I was much shorter than him.

I shook my head, but come on, could I really tell him to get out? The guy deserved a nice bath, didn't I? Especially after I pretty much slice and diced his shoulder. But I mean...couldn't he have taken it on his own terms? You know, by himself? Hell, what was I doing complaining. Not like I minded the view.

But I was uncomfortable when he dove beneath the black water, uncomfortable when he came out and let his hands run across his chest and abs, and god, even more uncomfortable when he saw me watching.

"Feeling alright?" He asked as he extended his hand out for me with that little corner of a smile he does. It made me feel like everything was okay between us. Like it wasn't my fault. I shook his hand and nodded.

"As good as I'll ever be, I guess," I said, smiling and feigning the cheerful disposition that I always had. I mean, sure, it did feel good not being in Hades' clutches and everything, but how good could I really feel when I was bathing in cave waters and I hadn't eaten in hours? "Hey, no hard feelings though right?" I asked, and he shook his head, before returning to bath himself.

His hands were cupped, and I wonder what it felt like for him to see himself in the reflection of that water? Was it worthwhile to be him? Did he have the same doubts as me?

"Looks like I got you good," I said as I eyed the clean line across his face caused by the long drag of my sword.

"Just a scratch," he told me with that same confidence that I wasn't sure was feigned or not.

"Come on, I saw you break a sweat out there," I said before my eyes rested on the gash across his shoulder. "Look at that. Can you even lift your arm?"

"I'm fine," he said, and I could see the way his brow tensed with annoyance. He made cups out of his palms and tipped them over his shoulder. As the water cascaded against the wound, I could see gritted teeth and a twitching left eye. It hurt. He didn't have to lie. But dirty water always stung when it fell across skin raw from blades and chains.

"Ready to get out of here," Terra asked as he faced me and stepped towards me, ripples in the water tickling my thighs. I raised my brows, wondering how he could say that like we were just leaving the market or something. Did he expect to just shake hands with the Devil and waltz right out of here? Well, if that was his plan, then I was no doubt going to be right there alongside him. A ticket out of here was a ticket out of here, right?

"You already got a plan?" I asked, voice hushed so that Pain wouldn't hear me. I could see the chubby little demon hissing as he slithered around the cave floors. A snake, so fitting.

"Well," Terra cleared his throat, "not exactly. But I can't stand it here anymore. Staying here is dangerous. Look what happened to you," he placed his hand on my shoulder and I felt small next to him. So tall, with broad shoulder and a powerful stance. He smelled of musky masculinity and it took all the muscles in my eyes not to glance down at his defined pelvic bones that traveled in a V. And at the base of that V...I didn't even want to think about it at the risk of getting a boner. Too late.

"I'm fine. I'm a big boy Terra." I said with a grin, boyish and rough around the edges.

"I'm just glad you're okay," he said, abandoning his smirk for a smile warm with kindness. There was a light behind his eyes that I was sure Hades had been feeding off. Did I have that same light within me? Was that why I had been special enough for Hades to capture me? Or maybe it was because I was so weak that I was just an easy target. "Cheer up, I'll get you out of here," he said as his hand gave my shoulder a gentle squeeze.

Kindness.

And here I had almost forgotten what threat felt like. When you were fifty feet below ground where we had no food, no light, and definitely no contact, it was easy to forget. But then Terra showed up, and now me and him were involved in some sort of alliance that I hoped was as sturdy as Terra was.

"We'll do it together," I said I as held my mind out, and when Terra's hand cupped mine, I felt strong.

Friendship. Maybe that's where I could find my strength?