Author's Note: Ahh this chapter was so hard to write, but I like the result. It literally took me so long to decide what to do for the ending, but I liked how it came out. First off, it has the Fates, and they show Zack his future. So, SPOILERS for Crisis Core, obvi. Oh, oh, and next chapter is going to be even better because it's going to have Cerberus in it. I have been dying to add the Fates and Cerberus. Because I figured, if I'm going to write a story set in a world, might as well use all the components I can. Because I doubt I'll get a chance to write anything else set in The Hercules World. So yeah, look forward to that. Alright, only 3 more chapters to go, including this one. So sit back and enjoy.

...

Mark of a Hero

...

So I've kind of come to the realization that leaving Midgar wasn't such a good idea. I just had to dream of adventure, didn't I? As if the adventure back there wasn't enough. I mean, back at Midgar, at least I had some friends, a mentor, a sense of direction.

But that wasn't good enough, I guess.

Which is why I left and ended up here on this world. Before this, I hadn't even dreamed there'd be other worlds out there. But I followed Sephiroth into that portal and here I was...in a world filled with goat-men, Titans, and the Devil himself.

Great plan, Zack. No really, you've outdone yourself this time.

Now, here I was stumbling my way through the Underworld...no energy and no idea where this Keyblade might be in the first place.

This plan really wasn't working out as well as we had hoped, but maybe that was because Terra had decided to set it into motion right after he had beat the pulp out of me! Good thinking Terra.

I mean, I guess he had his reasons, or whatever. But really, couldn't he have chosen a better time to send me off blindly trying to find a weapon I had never even seen before? I could assume it was a key-shaped sword. And I'd probably be right.

But it was cold, my legs were trembling, and my face hurt dammit. And I wasn't making much progress, not with the way I had to basically lean against the wall for support the entire time.

Luckily, I hadn't run into any of Hades' little minions, and I was even more grateful that I hadn't run into-

"Well, what do you know, it's Solider Boy. Looks like someone had a rough day."

Meg. Ugh, she was just as unpleasant as Hades was.

"Did you and Terra have a lover's spat?" She asked, sashaying her way over to me.

"Haha, oh no, I just tripped over Panic and fell into a boulder," I said in jest, though I still knew to keep my guard up when it came to her.

"Ooh, ouch," she said with a smirk, and leaned forward, eye-leve with me as she put her hands on her knees and gave me an unwelcome pitying look. I looked at her amethyst dress with a quirked brow, and wondered how she got such nice duds down here in the Underworld. Seriously, was there something else going on between Hades and her? "What are you doing wandering around here by yourself? I'm not sure Hades would approve." She said, standing straight once again with her arms folded over her chest, and for a second, I could have sworn she looked like my second grade teacher, Mrs. Bard. Oh Mrs. Bard hated me so much.

"Fine, fine, you found me out. You ruined my plan," I said, dramatically, as if I weren't even kidding, and I held my arms out, wrists together. "Now lock me up already since I know that's where this is going. That slimy wall over there looks good." The one covered in smile and moss and damp, gross things that had become like a family member, considering I spent so much time with it.

"I don't think I really ruined anything," she said with a small laugh. "It doesn't look like you were going to get far looking like that.

But before I even had a chance to defend myself, I saw her digging into that sash around her waist. I assumed it was handcuffs and a key, and for a minute, I considered just trying my hardest to run away, but I assumed that I'd be on the floor two steps in, fallen from exhaustion. To my surprise, it wasn't handcuffs, it was a small vial that I recognized as being potion.

"What are you going to do with that?" I asked, not willing to believe that Meg was going to do anything to help me. Especially not against Hades' orders.

"You can't be this dumb, Solider Boy," she said as she popped the cork of the vial and handed it to me. "Sit back and drink, then get out of here before anyone sees you."

"What's the catch?" I asked. "What if this is poison or something? How can I trust you?"

"You can't," she said, a smirk on her face as she began to walk away. But before turning around the corner, she turned to look at me over her shoulder, and said, "It's been a slice, Zack. Oh and by the way, you might want to check out Hades' den." And with that little piece of advice, she was gone, and I looked down at the vial in my palm, and swallowed the thick lump in my throat.

If this really was potion then it was safe to say there was a lot more about Meg that I had never expected. I had never expected her to turn a blind eye to me stalking my way through the Underworld right under Hades' nose.

Even though I wouldn't put it past her to poison me, I figured this vial was the real deal, and I brought it to my shaking lips so that I could drink the bitter substance inside.

And immediately felt reborn.

...

Something still didn't feel right.

No, not like that. Meg hadn't tricked me into drinking any poison. It was just...well, something felt off about this place. Like something was following me. Or someone. It could have been Hades for all I knew.

I wouldn't have been surprised. Even if Terra was supposed to be keeping him busy. But, what if Hades had already dealt with Terra? The thought made me sick to my stomach. Sure, Terra was strong, but could he really defeat the God of the Underworld himself? Or at least keep him busy long enough for me to find that Keyblade of his?

Ugh, pull yourself together Zack, just hurry up and find that Keyblade already.

"What's this, a child?"

"Whoah!" I whipped around, the sound of cackling all around me, spinning around me, and still when I looked, there was nothing, and no one around me. I spun around on my heels, and cracked my knuckles, ready for whatever butt-faced, two-headed monster I was sure to face. "Come out. Show yourself or else I'll-"

"Oh, ho, ho, he's rather riled."

I gritted my teeth. Whoever it was was taunting me, and there was nothing I hated more than being taunted that was for sure. And once again, I heard laughter that rang in my ears, and before I had time to even deny that whoever it was had rustled my jimmies, I saw a wave of black flash before my eyes. Like a billow of black curtains dancing in the air, spinning and taking shape until I saw three old women, cloaked and robed, surrounding me. And Gods, were they hideous. One had a crow-nose with hair like worms, the other had only one eye (or rather eye-socket, considering their eyes were soul-less and black.)

"Whoah," I breathed, eyes flickering back and forth between the three old women. "What are you?" I asked, leaning forward and prodding the sagging skin, and getting slapped by a wrinkly hand in the process.

"We're the Fates," one of them said, a lisp in her voice that left a hiss in the air.

"Fates?" I asked with a quirk of a brow. That wasn't really clarifying anything to me. Hades had never mentioned them.

"Yes, we hold knowledge of all this world's secrets. Man's fate lies in our hands," the cyclops said with a smirk as she reached into the fold of her robe and pulled out an eye. Ew, yuck, I thought as I recoiled from the body part that definitely shouldn't have been in that lady's hand.

"So you guys know the future then?" I asked, looking with curiosity at the gooey eyeball that lay in her flat palm. If there was one thing I wanted to know, it was what life had in store for me. Especially since there was so much I had envisioned for myself as I laid in the bunkers back at home, staring up from dingy, starch sheets of my bed. Thinking, imagining.

And now there was a chance that I could find out if all this training, all this practice, and this little bump in the road I liked to call the Underworld, would mean anything someday.

"That is the general idea," the tallest one said, and seemed to make a face that would have been an eye-roll...had she had eyes.

"Well, then what's mine," I asked, my eyes wide. "Come on, tell me, am I going to be in SOLDIER? Am I going to get married?" And were Terra and I going to get out of here, I wondered, though that would be better left unsaid.

"Hold your chariot-horses. We can't answer questions like that,"

"Yeah," the one with the shrillest voice said as she crossed her arms," the most crucial point of a man's life, that is what we see."

"Should we even show him, sisters? I hardly think Hades would approve,"

The three of the Fates huddled around that eye of theirs and discussed to themselves quietly before they erupted into cackles. Though I wasn't exactly liking the sound of that, I had to admit, I was far too curious to let that stop me.

"We'll show you."

"But don't tell us we didn't warn you."

And again with the laughing before they let the eye go. It floated in the air, glowing a brilliant, blinding green before clouds began to dance around us like serpents. And like the smoke after a raging fire, it folded out into a heavy fog before revealing the eye. I stepped close, excited, only to see...my own confused and disappointed reflection.

"A-aren't I supposed to see...something great?" I asked the Fates. "Like me with a bunch of cheering people in the stands o-or me fighting off monsters ... or just me and Terra together?"

All that was there...was me...and this stupid self doubt.

"Calm down child, watch and wait," one of them spoke, gravely voice against my ear.

"And you will see your awaited fate." The one-eyed one finished as she poked the eye with her long nail.

And that's when I saw it. Were my eyes bugging on me? Or was that...that right there in the orb...was that really me?

Gods, I nearly choked on my own heart, and sprang back like a scared cat. "W-What?" My voice came out a quiver, and beside me one of the Fates cackled as she danced across the air with what looked like a sick sort of glee on her face.

I blinked, once, twice, and turned back to what screened my bleak future.

It looked like the Fates would be snipping my thread in a matter of time.

"This can't be right. Must be some mistake," I said in disbelief as I stared.

There I was, older, definitely, so I still had time, covered in mud and blood as I laid there in there in the rain—dead.

Yeah, okay, I knew we were all going to die eventually, I mean that was just life, right? B-But...mine looked like it was going to be pretty gruesome. All covered in sludge and rain. But before I even had a chance to see my surroundings...if I had any friends by my side or anything, the image was gone, and the floating eye disappeared just as quickly as it came.

"What was that? I mean you can't just how me that without any back story or anything! How old am I? Where will it be at?" And will I die a hero?

The short one with the hair like worms laughed, her smile toothless, and shook her finger. "Ah, ah, we showed you what you asked for."

"Which we shouldn't have," the tall one said, elbowing the short one.

"With this fate you are cursed," said the last, floating around me with her robes dancing in the wind, the others following, surrounding me like a wild, cackling tornado.

"That is, unless you die here first."

And with that, they disappeared just like the orb did, and left me alone with only the sound of drippings from the ceiling, and a premonition.

One that chilled me right to the bones.

So I, Zack Fair, hopeful SOLIDER, was going to die just like that? Not nice and warm in my bed, an old man with tons of trophies and badges on my mantle? But in the dirt like some sort of animal? Wow. Sure hadn't expected that one.

I dropped to my knees, groaning into my hands in defeat. What was the point...if I was just going to end up a worm's dinner soon enough anyway? And really, had I expected anything different? All I had wanted was to follow my dreams, become a hero, and maybe meet a nice guy along the way. I had dreams—big ones—to follow my idol. Be respected just like him.

And instead, look where I had ended up.

My cockiness had led me here. As Hades' slave. Gods, why did I have to be so stupid? To think that I could be as great as Angeal and Sephiroth. Now they were true heroes. And maybe Angeal was right. Maybe I was just a restless puppy.

Angry and irrational, I slammed my fist into the stone below me, moss-damp and slick.

To top everything off...the Fates did have a point...there was a chance I might not even get out of here on my own.

The cave walls felt so much bigger in that moment, and I felt totally alone.

But even though I was alone down here...there was still an inkling of hope. A tiny bit of hope I found deep in the back of my mind that made me get up from my pitiful spot on my spot. Remember that glimpse of kindness Meg showed you just a little while ago, Zack? And what about Terra? He was counting on me. And really, there was more of a chance I'd end up dying alone in the cold if I didn't stick to my promises I made now. If I didn't help my friends right now.

That had to be a good enough reason to keep going...to keep fighting. To get the hell out of the Underworld.

…

Hades' den huh? If I remembered correctly, Hades' den was guarded by Cerberus. I had seen it on the way over here. Just perfect for me right? I didn't know what Terra was thinking trusting me to get his Keyblade. But I made him a promise. And if Hades' den was where it was, Hades' den was where I'd go. And to get there I had to take the boat down Soul River. Great, sounded easy enough, aside from the fact that I had to knock out the skeleton that rowed the damn boat, which was a problem in and of itself, and there was the fear I felt whenever I thought about my meeting with Cerberus.

A huge three-headed dog?

How was I supposed to do this?

Anyways, the river ride was calm, even if my arms were getting kind of achy from rowing with this huge oar. When I had a chance to look over the side of the boat, I noticed how it wasn't even really a river after all.

It was just a fog...a slow-moving fog where tons of souls swam. Soul after pitiful soul. Some looked like guards, warriors, some just regular townspeople. And it hurt the most when I would see the soul of a child float idly by.

This place was depressing, and it was draining, to say the least. Soon enough, I'd look like those souls swimming down there, with sunken-in cheeks and everything.

And just when I thought I was in the clear, or at least I thought I had nearly made it to Hades' den, a soul leaped from the fog like a salmon and grabbed onto my arm.

"Whoah, whoah, get off," I shouted, as I tried to push away the wailing man, whose vacant eyes stared at me, like it was begging for something. Some sort of substance that it lacked most likely. My arm was covered in some sort of slime, and the very touch caused my arm to sizzle and burn.

I grit my teeth, attempting to shove the soul away, but just as quickly as that one grabbed me, another one reached for me as well. It wrapped itself around my other arm, trying to drag me down with it, down into that murky river that would steal the life from me just as it had them. Was this out of contempt, jealousy? I wasn't sure, all I knew was that they wanted a piece of me.

And it looked like they were going to get it.

As the third one latched itself onto me, I felt my knee give way and hit the edge of the boat. That was when I knew it was over. I fell over the side of the boat, and when my body hit the water, everything seemed to go black.

I blacked out, wasn't sure how long, but when I woke up, I was floating.

Oh, that's right, I was pulled into the Soul River. All I could hear was a distorted wailing from each and every side of me, and Gods was it awful.

My skin burned, and felt like it was being stripped from my bones, and it was hard to hear, hard to see, hard to breathe.

If this was what death felt like I couldn't say I was looking forward to it.

It felt like floating...except it was more like falling. And on top of it hurting, it felt like I was losing myself, bit my bit being drained from me just as every other lifeless soul floating beside me.

I felt just as dead and lifeless as I mingled with the other bodiless souls that were devoid of all the life and animation that made me me. Zack Fair, wanna-be SOLIDER, and the life of the party.

Not anymore.

I felt like I had died.

B-but that couldn't be possible, right? The Fates hadn't shown me dying like this. No, the Fates had shown me somewhere entirely different. Still dying yes, but I had been a lot older, with blood in my hair and rain on my face. And what I had failed to realize until just now, just this very second, was that I had been smiling when I had saw myself in the future. I had been happy.

So that could only mean...my death wouldn't be for nothing. It would mean something, and really, what more could I ask for?

This wasn't my time to go, I thought, as I glanced down at my hands, already turning thin and wrinkly as the very life was sucked out of me. I touched my face, felt my sinking cheeks, and I realized, deep in this river of souls, I wasn't going to die.

And that was when I saw it: a hand, reaching down into the fog towards me, and my name.

Zack, Zack, he said, and when I looked up, I could see the foggy, faint form that was Terra.

"Come on, Zack, your part of the plan's not over. I need you still."

And he smiled, and with the bit of energy I had still in me, energy that I found deep down somewhere, I turned over and clasped my hand with his. He tugged me out, and I was glad to leave my self-doubt down in that bottomless river where it belonged.

I fell against the ground, panting, dripping wet, and when I looked up, Terra wasn't there.

And the more I thought about it, the more I could be sure that Terra hadn't even been there.

Only me, me and my own realization that I had people to look up to, and people that needed me. I didn't have room to doubt myself anymore, and I didn't have room to be afraid.

I was Zack Fair, dammit, and yeah, even if I was going to die one day, I was going to die with a smile.

And maybe, it was a good thing the Fates showed me my death. After all, at least I knew I'd be alright unless I was in a muddy field on a rainy day. If that happened, then I could be worried. But even if I was down and all odds were against me, I was still going to fight and live to see another day. I was going to keep fighting. I had to.

And even though I wasn't sure why I had seen you, Terra, I was grateful that you pulled me out. And I was glad I let you.

I got some help from you, but turns out it was just me.