Chapter 15: Olympus Coliseum

A/N: Hey everyone! I'm back! I'm glad you guys liked Disney Town so much. I was thinking about drawing Lumen's ice cream, but I don't know if that would be weird or not. I'll let you guys decide.

I also had a few people questioning why Lumen easily accepted Terra's proposal when he's hurt her so badly. While I think she should have said otherwise, I have a reason for making her say yes. With the events that are about to unfold, Terra will be the only one who will make her keep going. So with that said, I hope I eased everyone's concerns.

Now we return to our favorite world of Heroes. And what better way to return than have one of our beloved Final Fantasy characters in it?

So sit back and enjoy the show!

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my oc's.

Enjoy!

/

With a belly full of ice cream and a heart filled with content, Lumen set off for her next world. She had so much fun in Disney Town and made so many new friends that it tore her up to leave. But with worlds in trouble thanks to the Unversed, she knew that she had to put her needs aside and tend to everyone else.

That was not only her duty as a wielder of the keyblade, but also as a human being. If she didn't do anything, then she would be ashamed of herself.

So with that thought in mind, she pushed forward and continued with her quest of saving the worlds.

/

Ancient was the only word that Lumen could describe as she stepped onto Olympus Coliseum. Everything was so old basic that she felt like she stepped into the past.

Torches were pegged to the stone walls while cloth banners fluttered through the air.

The ground was so dusty that it would kick up every time she took a step.

Lumen was amazed by how everything looked. The coliseum that stood in the center was so grand that it looked like it was fit for a god.

She remembered her father telling her stories about in ancient times people used to build temples for the gods and held tournaments in their honor.

She smiled a little as she heard people cheer within the coliseum.

"The outside world is full of mysteries" she told herself.

She grew curious about what was going on inside the coliseum. With so many people cheering, something big must be happening.

She slowly started walking, not sure if she should go inside or just wait for someone to come out. She may have had a job to do, but it never hurt to take a break now and then.

"Besides, I'm sure father would love to hear about this world. He's always fascinated by history" she thought.

"Lumen?"

The keyblade wielder stopped in her tracks when she heard that voice.

Slowly turning around, she saw none other than her best friend, Aqua.

"Aqua"

The last time that they saw each other, things ended a little badly between them. Back on Radiant Garden, Lumen found out that Aqua was spying on Terra for her father and she kept it all from her. She was furious with her at the time, but after talking with Taiyouko, she realized that she was just acting like a best friend and looking out for her.

Aqua gave her a nervous smile as she slowly walked over to her. She must have felt bad with the way things ended between them since she couldn't look her in the eye.

Lumen frowned sadly. She felt bad with the way she treated Aqua. It wasn't her fault that she had to spy on Terra. She was just following orders.

She wasn't going to let this one incident ruin their long friendship.

She smiled softly and her and pulled her into a hug.

"I'm glad to see that you're doing ok" she said.

Aqua was surprised that Lumen was hugging her, but she simply hugged her back. She was so nervous that her best friend wouldn't want to talk with her, so she was very relieved that she wasn't getting the cold shoulder.

She pulled away from her and gave Lumen's shoulder a squeeze.

"The same goes for me" she said.

"I was starting to worry that something happened to you. You're all over the place that it's hard for any of us to keep track of each other

Lumen laughed.

"Hey, when you have worlds to save, you tend to be on the run" she said.

Aqua laughed a little before her smile fell.

Even though she was on better terms with Lumen, she knew she had to apologize. She would have wanted Lumen to apologize if the roles were reversed.

"Listen, Lumen" she said.

"I never meant to keep my mission from you. You're father begged me not to say anything and I was –"

Lumen held a hand up as a motion to stop.

"Don't worry about it" she said.

"I'll admit, I was a little hurt that you would lied to me like that, but I know your intentions were pure. You were just looking out for me and acting like the best friend that you are"

Aqua had a relieved smile on her face. She was so lucky to have such a kind hearted friend.

She pulled Lumen into another hug.

"I'm so sorry" she said.

"Can you ever forgive me?"

Lumen laughed.

"Of course" she said.

Aqua pulled away and sighed with relief.

"That's good"

Lumen just smirked.

"So what are you doing here?" she asked.

"Were you drawn by all of the commotion coming from the coliseum?"

Aqua shook her head a little.

"Not really, but now that you mention it, it doesn't sound like a bad idea" she said.

"If there are a lot of people in one place, then that means the Unversed will surely attack. They like to attack in large groups"

Lumen paled. If the Unversed appeared while whatever was going on inside, then chaos would be unleashed.

"We better go inside and see how things are" she said.

Aqua nodded.

"I'm right behind you"

They quickly headed for the entrance, only to be blocked up a group of Unversed.

The two girls summoned their keyblades and went to fight, only to have a tiny, fat faun quickly rush to their aid and go into a fighting stance.

"Stand back, sweetcheeks" he said.

"I'll take care of this"

Lumen and Aqua looked at each other for a moment before looking back at the faun. Did he really think that he could take on the Unversed all by himself?

It seemed that he couldn't because when he saw how many there were, he freaked out and ran off.

"Herc, they're all yours!" he cried.

A teenage boy ran over and took the faun's place. He was so gangly and thin that none of them thought he would hold out for very long.

Lumen and Aqua quickly braced themselves. It was thoughtful that this boy wanted to protect them, but they wouldn't allow an innocent human to get hurt.

They went to attack, only to find the boy charge at the Unversed and lift one of the very giant ones with his bare hands.

It was unbelievable. He looked so thin and weak and yet here he was, lifting very heavy Unversed as if they were feathers.

The boy threw the Unversed at the wall and watched as it faded upon impact.

"This boy has to be a god or something if he could throw them like that" Aqua said.

Lumen nodded dumbly.

She quickly snapped out of it when she realized that they weren't doing anything and letting this poor boy fight the Unversed.

They quickly stepped into action and fought off the Unversed when more showed up. It seemed that even though the boy had amazing strength, his reflexes were rather slow. Lumen and Aqua would block them when they tried to land a surprise attack and blast them away with their magic.

When the Unversed were gone, the three fighters smiled at each other gratefully.

The faun came out from his hiding place and sighed with relief.

"Oy! Those wackos almost made gyros out of me" he said.

Hercules sighed.

"Well, maybe if you weren't trying to show off…" he said.

The faun gave him a dirty look.

"Who asked you, kid?" he retorted.

"You'll understand when you're older"

Hercules looked at the ground sadly.

"And stronger" he said.

"Strong enough to become a hero"

Aqua and Lumen looked at him. This boy reminded them so much of Terra that it hurt. He wanted to become a keyblade master so badly that he had to train to the point that he would pass out. It always tore Lumen up whenever she saw him like that.

"You think being strong is the same as being a hero?" she asked.

Hercules nodded.

"Sure-mostly" he said.

"Look at how strong Terra is, and he's a champion!"

Lumen gasped at that.

Terra was here as well?

"Terra?" she chocked.

"He was here?" Aqua asked.

The faun coughed a little and slicked his hair back. It wasn't every day that a couple of chicks came at the coliseum, so he wanted to bask in this moment.

"So ladies, you got any plans for later?" he asked.

"You know, I've trained a few heroes in my time. Maybe I could recite a little epic poetry for ya"

Both of them looked a little put off. Didn't he realize that he was old enough to be their father? Plus, Lumen was already taken.

She secretly fiddled with her engagement ring at the thought.

"Do you guys really know Terra?" Aqua asked.

The faun nodded.

"Of course I do" he said.

"He's the local hero everyone's going gaga for-"

He stopped when he realized what was going on.

"Oh, now I get it. You're a couple of fangirls" he said.

"Everywhere I go it's terra-this and Terra-that…more like Terra-bull"

Lumen shook her head.

"Oh no, I'm just someone very special to him"

She secretly showed him his engagement ring. She didn't want Aqua to see, fearing that she would flip out.

Phil sighed when he saw the ring.

"Why do the good looking guys always get the chicks?" he whined.

Aqua gave him a sheepish grin.

"We're just looking for him" she said.

The faun scoffed.

"Yeah, tell me about it, sister" he said.

"You and the rest of Greece"

He grumbled as he started walking off.

"Kid shows up out of nowhere, goes and wins the first games he ever enters, dazzling the whole town…and then the nudnik up and vanishes!"

Hercules looked at them.

"Everyone says that Terra is the real thing, a true hero" he said.

"I can't wait until I'm that though"

Lumen smiled a little. She was happy that Terra was being praised so much on this world. He may not be a Keyblade master, but at least he was a hero.

The faun snorted.

"Yeah, right" he said.

"He's so tough that he turned the last schlemiel that faced him into a ravaging yahoo"

Hercules gave the faun a disappointed look.

"Come on, Phil. Be nice" he said.

Aqua held her chin in thought.

"So you're telling us he isn't here" she said.

Phil shook his head.

"He may not be here right now, but you never know" he said.

"He could always decided he's gonna show up for the games"

Hercules nodded.

"Yeah…to defend his title" he said.

Phil nudged his elbow on Lumen's leg.

"And if you enter, there's always a chance you might run into him" he said.

Lumen smiled at that. So she could see Terra? She really missed her fiancée ever since they parted.

"Really?" she asked.

Phil nodded.

"I'll eve n sign you up myself" he said.

"And if you need a trainer, I'd be more than happy to put you through the ropes"

Hercules pouted.

"But Phil…I had to practically beg you to agree to train me" he said.

Phil pressed a finger to his lips.

"Pipe down, kid" he hissed.

"You and they don't have the same attributes, if ya know what I mean"

The girls couldn't hear that last part and it was a good thing that they did. If they knew what Phil was talking about, he would be six feet under.

Lumen smiled brightly. Even though she wasn't a fighter, she was going to sign up for the games. If it meant she would see Terra, then she would go through with it.

"Please sign me up for the games" she said.

Aqua looked at her surprised.

"Are you sure, Lumen?"

She knew she wasn't a strong fighter, so she didn't know why her best friend was going through this.

Lumen smiled and nodded.

"I want to see Terra" she said.

"And I could always use the training"

Aqua sighed. She knew once her friend's mind was made up, there was no changing it.

But even though she didn't like it, that didn't mean she couldn't do anything about it.

If Lumen was going to enter, then so would she.

"If she enters, then I will too" she said.

"Our names are Aqua and Lumen"

She looked at Lumen.

"I don't want to see you get hurt" she explained.

Lumen smiled.

Leave it to Aqua to always watch your back.

Phil quickly put their names on the list for them to enter.

"Now let's start with the basics" he said.

Aqua smiled.

"Thanks, but we won't need a trainer" she said.

Phil hung his head in shame. And here he thought he would be able to train a couple of pretty girls.

"Women-they never change" he said.

"In that case, meet me in the vestibule when you're ready"

Lumen looked at Aqua when Phil left.

"Well, let's show everyone that Terra isn't the only one who is hero material" she said.

She held her hand out to her.

"It's time to add a little girl's touch"

Aqua laughed and grabbed her hand.

"I couldn't agree more" she replied.

They went inside the coliseum and took one step closer to becoming a hero.

/

"This is going to be exciting" Lumen said.

Aqua gave her a nervous smile as they entered the main lobby of the vestibule. Truth be told, she was rather worried about Lumen entering this tournament. Even though she was capable of defending herself, she wasn't that strong of a fighter. It wasn't that she was weak; it was just that her skill leaned more towards magic rather than physical strength. That was the downside for magic users. Even though they had amazing defensive strength, they were poor in physical strength.

This was the reason why she signed up with her best friend. Even though she was a master at magic, she was a bit stronger than Lumen. So in case anything happened during the tournament, she would be able to save Lumen in a second.

They entered the ring where the fights were being held.

"I wonder who we'll fight up against." Aqua wondered.

A group of Unversed appeared on the other end of the ring.

"I guess they are" Lumen said.

Phil signaled for the match to start.

Aqua and Lumen didn't hesitate to attack. Even though they were competing in a match, they still needed to get rid of the Unversed. They couldn't let a poor contender get hurt because of them.

The matches were fairly simple in their opinion. Since they knew how the Unversed fought, they were able to weave spell together to take out large groups.

Lumen got crafty with her shot lock ability and combined her feather blades with Aqua's bubble blaster. It was funny to watch the Unversed get trapped within the bubbles, only to be impales by razor sharp feathers moments later.

When the first set of matches were finished, Aqua and Lumen were cleared to head for the next round.

"Alright, ladies. Take five while we set up the next round" Phil said.

Aqua and Lumen walked back into the vestibule and went outsides to get some fresh air.

"See? I told you these matches wouldn't be that hard" Lumen said.

Aqua laughed a little.

"I guess not" she said.

"But it doesn't hurt to look after my best friend"

Lumen smiled. It was nice to know that Aqua had her back.

Hercules approached them.

"You guys were amazing out there" he said.

"You work great as a team"

Lumen smiled.

"Thanks" she said.

Aqua smiled a little as well.

"All that's left is the final…" she said.

"And still no sign of Terra"

Lumen frowned at that. Now that Aqua mentioned it, she never saw Terra either.

Could he have left this world already?

"The guy we're supposed to fight is someone named Zack" Aqua said.

Lumen raised an eyebrow.

"Who's Zack?"

Just then, a boy around the same age as Hercules with black spiky hair appeared. Lumen had to step back since Zack got too close to their faces.

"Aqua and Lumen, right?" he asked.

"Hey, I'm Zack! Your opponent in the final"

Lumen was stunned by this boy's hyper personality. It almost reminded her of how Ven acted at times when he was really happy about something.

Zack smiled to the point where it couldn't grow any bigger.

"Man, finally!" he cried.

"Once I beat you two I get to take on Terra!"

That threw them for a loop.

Why would he fight Terra? Wasn't he already the winner of the pervious match?

"Terra? Why? I don't understand" Lumen said.

"Are you saying there's another match after the final?"

Zack scratched his chin.

"Uh-oh, looks like you didn't get the memo" he said.

Zack spotted Phil and realized he could explain everything.

"Oh, Phil! Would you tell them the rules?"

The faun sighed in annoyance.

"Fine, here's how it goes" he explained.

"The games are divided into two brackets-you got your East, and you got your West. The winners from each bracket face off in the championship match. Now right now, you're both competing in the East and we have no idea about the other side. For all we know, your boy Terra could be cruising' through over in the West"

Aqua sighed in annoyance.

"Then we should be fighting these matches" she said.

"We should be over there looking for him"

Lumen started to head back towards the Coliseum but Phil cut her off by blocking her path.

"No…you, uh…can't! It's not allowed!" he cried.

Lumen raised an eyebrow.

"How so?" she asked.

Phil cleared his throat.

"Athletes are expressively forbidden from watching matches from other brackets" he explained.

Hercules looked at Zack.

"Did he just make that up?" he asked.

Zack shrugged.

"How should I know?"

Phil hung his head in defeat.

"Alright, fine!" he cried.

"Look, you just gotta stay and fight this match. The two athletes I entered defaulted before they made it to the top. Give a guy a break. I got a reputation"

Zack and Hercules looked at each other. They highly doubted that a couple of girls would be willing to do something for a guy like Phil. They had to cut the guy a break.

"Hey, do it for us too" Zack added hopefully.

Lumen looked at them before looking at Aqua. She really felt bad that Phil had no one to enter into the finals. If they were his only chance, then what choice did she have?

Aqua sighed when she saw the helpless look Lumen was giving her. Leave it to Lumen to tend to everyone's needs before her own.

She looked at Phil.

"Alright, then. We'll finish what we started" she said.

Phil smiled with relief.

"Oh, the gods are smiling on me today!" he cried.

"I'll be waiting for you in the vestibule"

He quickly ran off to get them set for the finals.

Hercules followed after Phil so he wouldn't do anything stupid while Zack stayed behind to chat with his opponents.

"You guys give it your best out there" he said.

Lumen smiled.

"Thanks Zack" she said.

"But aren't you a little intimidated? It's two against one. That doesn't really seem fair"

Zack laughed.

"That makes it even better" he said.

"If I can defeat two finalists at once, then I know I'll be one step closer to my dream. Besides, life is never fair"

He started doing squats to get warmed up. He wanted to be at his best for this match.

"I am so fired up!" he said.

"Aqua rubbed her chin in thought. She was wondering how Zack knew about Terra when he wasn't even from this world.

"Um, Zack. Terra is a friend of ours" she explained.

"How exactly do you know him?"

Zack smiled as he continued his squats.

"He saved my life" he said.

Lumen's eyes widen at that.

Zack smiled at the memory.

"During the last games…this dude named Hades tried to make Terra his pawn of darkness…and he used me to do it. He had some kind of magic or something that made me crazy, gave me…weird powers that I turned against Terra"

He stopped doing his squats.

"But you know what? Terra freed me. And he didn't need the darkness to do it"

Aqua looked at the ground.

"I had no idea…" she mumbled.

Zack ran a hand through his hair.

"Well, that's enough drama" he said.

"I'll see you both in the ring"

He went inside the vestibule to get ready for the match.

Lumen looked at her engagement ring after she heard Zack's story. It seemed that Terra really was keeping his promise to her. He wasn't letting the darkness in his heart help him accomplish his goals.

"Terra" she thought.

/

The finalists faced each other as they entered the ring. The air was tense as each side prepared themselves for the ultimate match.

Lumen and Aqua walked towards the center while Zack did the same. Even though it was two against one, they were both evenly matched. To have made it this far showed how powerful they really were.

Zack pulled out his sword and held it out.

"I promised Terra that I'd face him again fair and square" he said.

Aqua chuckled.

"The friendship between boys...it almost makes me jealous" she joked.

Lumen laughed and summoned her keyblade.

"At least you have me" she said.

Aqua smirked and summoned her keyblade as well.

Zack flew at them tried to land a blow at his opponents. Aqua and Lumen were fast, dodging him when he went to slam his sword down. His moves were predicable, but his speed made it so that it was hard to land a blow. Not to mention, he really packed a punch with each of his swings.

Lumen calculated that he leaned more towards the offensive approach than he did with the defensive. He was more focused with landing his blows than blocking those of his opponents.

This was going to make the match easy that it almost seemed unfair. Lumen shot Aqua a look, signaling their strategy to attack and win this match.

Aqua nodded and caught Zack's attention by fighting him while Lumen quickly planned the perfect set of spells.

Taking a deep breath, she quickly launched her fool proof plan.

"Blizzard!"

A pillar of ice sprung up from underneath Zack and encased him from the waist down in ice.

"What the?"

Lumen smirked.

"Fire!"

A ball of fire shot out of her keyblade and melted the ice that trapped Zack, while throwing him from the blast.

"Thunder!"

Lighting poured from the sky and touched any flat surface that it could reach. Zack had to run out of the way so he wouldn't get hit. Unfortunately, he held his sword out and attracted the lightning right away. Acting as a lightning rod, the sword absorbed the electricity and sadly zapped its wielder in the process.

Zack jolted from the electrocution and twitched as he fell to the ground.

Phil waved the flag, signaling that the match was over.

"Aqua and Lumen are the winners!"

Zack groaned as he slammed his fist into the ground.

"Aw, man. I lost!"

Lumen went up to him and gave him an apologetic smirk.

"Sorry, but I told you two against one wouldn't be fair" she said.

She held out her hand for him to take, which he did.

Zack smiled a little as he brushed himself off, showing that he wasn't mad at her.

"Hey, no hard feelings" he said.

He sighed.

"I've got a long ways to go if I'm gonna be a hero" he said.

Aqua and Lumen smiled.

They were glad that they were able to win the match and that Zack wasn't a poor loser.

However, that moment was broken when Hades; god of the dead suddenly appeared.

"Really-it's you two?" he retorted.

The god of the Underworld strolled over towards them.

"Here, I thought I'd drop in to see which muscle-head was up next, and…Holy Hydras! It's an itty bitty yellow canary and a little bluebird"

Aqua and Lumen glared daggers at him. They could feel the darkness oozing out of his being.

Zack growled at the god who used him.

"Hades!" he cried.

Hades just rolled his eyes.

"I'm sorry, was that a mosquito?" he replied.

"Where did I put that bug spray?"

"Mosquito?" Zack cried offended.

Aqua stood close to Lumen protectively.

"So your Hades" she sneered.

Lumen had murder written on her face as well.

"You used Zack, and tried to cast Terra into the darkness" she snapped.

Hades just laughed.

"So, I take it you're both acquainted with the spineless chicken heart" he stated.

"Terra is our friend" Lumen insisted.

"And my fiancé" she thought.

"And I hear he triumphed over the darkness. He's not spineless"

Hades laughed some more.

"Funny, ya know, 'cause I heard a different story" he said.

"Ya see, it was chicken heart who asked me for a little, shall we say…instructions on how to use the darkness in the first place"

Aqua and Lumen looked shock. If they didn't realize that this god was a big fat liar, they would have been hurt to even hear Terra stooping that low. Not to mention Lumen would have broken off her engagement with him.

But since this god was all talk, they didn't believe it.

"Never!" cried Lumen.

Hades smirked darkly.

"And he was so close to doing it, too, when the sap went and got cold feet" he added.

"Now if that ain't cowardly, I don't know what is. But you my little bluebird and tiny canary…why not flit over here and demonstrate some real courage for the winning team?"

Aqua and Lumen looked at his disgustedly.

"The darkness doesn't interest us!" Aqua declared.

Hades scoffed.

"Well that was rude" he said.

"A 'no thank you, your godliness' might've sufficed. Fortunately, I still get to-ahem-destroy you. Rules say you face me next. And I have a whole lot of darkness…with your names on it!"

With that, he disappeared.

"Get back here, Hades!" Zack cried.

But it was too late. The god of the Underworld was gone.

Zack sighed in frustration.

"Man, if only I were up against him" he said.

He looked at Aqua and Lumen.

"Aqua, Lumen. You gotta avenge me and Terra" he declared.

The girls nodded.

They weren't going to let this creep get away for what he did.

Not by a long shot.

/

"Do you think we have what it takes to beat Hades?" Lumen asked.

She had been excited about entering the finals, but now that she knew that she would be facing up against a god, she was having second thoughts.

Fighting a mortal was one thing, but fighting a divine being was a whole other story.

Aqua could sense her friend's worries and gave her a reassuring smile.

"I don't know if we can actually kill a god, but I'm sure we can defeat him" she said.

"I'm sure there are some limits that Hades must follow in order for the match to be fair"

Lumen fiddled with the ribbon in her hair.

"Judging by his personality back there, I don't think he's the kind of guy who plays fair" she said.

Aqua shrugged.

"If the match gets out of control, I'm sure Phil will do something"

She squeezed Lumen's shoulder.

"We've gotten this far, so why stop now?"

Lumen smiled weakly.

"Yeah, you're right" she said.

They entered the ring where the final match would commence. Zack sat in the bleachers, waiting to cheer them on.

"What's the worse he could do?" she asked.

"Bring in unexpected back up?"

Zack suddenly felt the air grow cold and held himself when he started the shiver.

Lumen saw her breath as she exhaled.

They all looked around, wondering where the cold air suddenly came from. The coliseum was really warm earlier and now it was cold.

Their answer came when a clawed, icy hand appeared at the top of the coliseum and revealed an ice titan as it stood up.

Aqua and Lumen backed up with the Ice titan stepped over the coliseum walls and entered the ring. Hades appeared by the Titan's feet and smirked evilly at the girls.

"I never said two-against-one" he replied.

Zack growled in frustration and jumped out of his seat to enter the ring.

"No fair, Hades!" he declared.

Aqua glared at Hades.

"I suppose that's in the rules?" she taunted.

Hades crossed his arms.

"Rules No. 2: Combatants may call for backup" he replied.

"You have one, so why can't I?"

"You won't get away with this Hades!" Zack cried.

Just as he was about to join Aqua and Lumen, Lumen blocked him with her keyblade. Zack looked at her stunned.

"Lumen?"

Lumen's expression was serious, but she managed a small smile. She didn't want Zack to get involved with this and have him get hurt.

"Don't worry, Zack" she said.

"We have this under control"

Zack looked at her for a moment, before slowly nodded.

Lumen looked at Aqua.

"Let's do this"

They both slowly walked towards their opponents. It seemed that they not only had to worry about Hades, but this ice titan as well. Hades must have picked up their methods from their match with Zack. If he fought them two against one, then he would surely lose. But if it was two against two, then that was a whole different story.

Lumen studied the situation they were in and what would be the best way to win this match without getting hurt. Obviously Hades was the fighter and this Titan was just an extra pair of eyes to keep them at bay. It would be impossible to each attack them since they could both strike at the same time. What they needed was a surprise attack.

Something that not even a god could comprehend.

Lumen thought of a plan that could work and looked at Aqua.

"Aqua" she said.

The keyblade master looked at her.

"When I say go, I want you to charge at Hades and distract him as much as you can. I think I have an idea that will get rid of snow cone over here"

Aqua nodded.

"I'll give you as much time as I can" she said.

Lumen nodded.

"It'll only take a second"

They faced Hades and the ice titan.

Lumen closed her eyes in concentration before suddenly snapping them open.

"Now!"

Aqua charged at Hades and fired off random spells. It was kind of hard to pick the right spells to use since Hades would absorb fire spells and if she used blizzard, the ice titan would block them from Hades and absorb them itself. But as long as she kept them from looking at Lumen, then she would use any spell she could think of. Anything so long as they didn't see what her best friend was up to.

When Lumen saw that Hades and the ice titan were focusing on attacking Aqua, she quickly unleashed her plan.

She knew that she has used this spell, even though she was forbidden to. But it was her ace in the hole when it came to serious fights. And since they were up against a god, she felt that this was the proper time to use it.

Slamming her keyblade into the ground, she performed the chains of light spell and had them shoot underneath the ground and spring up underneath the Ice titan. The chains wrapped themselves around the titan's massive feet tightened to where they couldn't be broken off.

The ice titan looked at his feet to see what was happening, but it was too late.

Using all the strength that she had, Lumen tugged on her keyblade and made the ice titan trip over his own feet.

Hades whipped around when he heard all the commotion and realized what was happening.

"You little brat!" he cried.

He summoned up a set of fireballs in his hands and charged them up to the point that they were the size of his head.

Lumen gulped when she saw that Hades was aiming for her and started to run.

Hades threw the fireballs, cursing every time that he missed. He kept throwing them and wouldn't stop until Lumen was burnt to a crisp.

Aqua panicked and quickly fired off blizzard spells to freeze the fireballs before they could hit Lumen.

"You stay out of this bluebird" Hades snapped.

"I'll get you once I finish your little yellow canary friend"

Aqua glared at Hades and aimed her blizzard spells at him. No one got away with hurting her friend while she was around.

Hades melted the chunks of ice when they hit him.

"Do you really think that will stop me?" he taunted.

"I am the lord of the dead and the inferno! I won't be defeated by a little frostbite!"

Just then, chains sprung up from the ground underneath him and wrapped themselves around him.

"What the?"

He saw Lumen out of the corner of his eye perform the same trick on him as she did with the ice titan.

"Then how about this, fire boy?" she asked.

Hades screamed in frustration and tried to melt the chains.

Aqua sighed and shot a powerful blizzard spell on him.

"Just chill" she said.

The lord of the dead was encased by a block of ice and ceased to move. Aqua knew that the ice wouldn't hold him for very long, but it would be enough to get rid of the Ice titan.

"Hurry Lumen!" she cried.

Lumen nodded and aimed her keyblade at the titan.

"FIRAGA!"

Her keyblade acted as a flame thrower as fire poured out of her weapon. The ice titan screeched in pain as it was slowly melting.

By the time that Lumen was finished, it was nothing more than a huge puddle.

Hades broke from the ice and growled when he saw his Ice titan defeated. He looked at Aqua and Lumen and knew that he had no chance against him on his own.

He had lost.

"I knew that snow cone wouldn't cut it. I need a real titan" he snapped.

"Stay tuned"

With that, he disappeared like the coward that he was.

Lumen went up to Aqua and gave her a hive fived.

"We did it! We won!" she cheered.

Aqua laughed as she celebrated with her friend.

"I guess a couple girls like us can beat a god after all"

Lumen just laughed and did a little victory dance.

It seemed that Lumen and Aqua proved that they were hero worthy in their own way. Not only did they beat a god, but they beat death itself.

If that wasn't hero worthy, then they didn't know what was.

/

With the match done and over with, the two girls left the coliseum to head for the next world. They had fun winning the tournament, but they had their duties to fulfill. They may have prevented the Unversed from attacking this world, but that didn't mean it saved the other worlds.

Zack walked out with them since he claimed that was the gentlemanly thing to do. But in truth he just wanted to be around the winners who beat Hades.

He sighed in annoyance as he placed his hands behind his head.

"Stupid Hades…next time, I'll put him in his place" he said.

Aqua and Lumen chuckled.

Zack really acted like a boy when it came to fights and stuff. He couldn't let go a grudge.

Zack smiled at them.

"Oh yeah! You guys are the champs-we gotta celebrate!" he said.

Lumen raised an eyebrow while Aqua looked skeptical.

"That won't really be necessary" Aqua said.

"Yeah, and we were doing you a favor by beating Hades" Lumen added.

"Since he used you and all"

Zack shook his head.

"No, no. We have to do something" he said.

"But what?"

He tapped his chin in thought, then smiled when he came up with an idea.

"I got it!"

He looked at Aqua.

"How about one date?" he offered.

Lumen had to stifle her laughter when she saw the look on Aqua's face. The poor girl was beat red as she tried to wave off the offer. Aqua was very modest and proper. She wouldn't go on a date with a guy she suddenly became friends with. Plus, there was a certain trouble maker friend of theirs that had her attention.

"Ven" she thought.

Aqua shook her hands in front of her.

"Oh! You mean-no…I have to leave right away…" she stuttered.

"Besides, I still have so much training to do"

Zack pouted and looked at Lumen.

"What about you, Lumen? Wanna go on a date?"

Lumen laughed a little and showed her engagement ring.

"Sorry, but I already belong to someone" she said.

Zack hung his head in defeat.

"Why do the pretty girls always get taken?" he whined.

"Oh well, I guess I still have a long ways to go"

Aqua gasped when she saw the ring and snatched her hand. Her eyes were huge when she saw the ring sparkle.

"Lumen…" she breathed.

"Did Terra…?"

Lumen nodded gently. She didn't want Aqua to know right away, but she figured her best friend should be the first person to know about the good news.

Well, technically, it should have been her father. But since he didn't even though that she and Terra were dating in the first place, she felt like that would be a bad idea.

"He wanted to prove that he still loved me and vowed to never use the darkness. So he proposed to me" she explained.

"I told him I'll give him a second chance, but if I ever find out he's still using the darkness, that I would break it off"

Aqua looked at her best friend stunned. She still couldn't believe that Terra proposed to her best friend.

Lumen bit her lip nervously, not liking how Aqua was looking at her.

"I would have told you, but I just didn't want anyone finding out yet" she said.

"Don't be mad"

Aqua wore a blank look on her face. Lumen didn't know if she was mad or upset and was starting to freak out.

She was about to plead with Aqua, only to find herself being pulled into a tight hug.

Aqua hugged Lumen tightly. She was happy that her best friend was engaged to the man she loved most, but she worried if Terra would hold onto his promise.

If he didn't he was going to pay.

"If he breaks your heart like that again, I swear I'll kill him" she said.

Lumen looked at her to see that she was serious and laughed nervously. Serious Aqua equaled dangerous Aqua.

Aqua let her go and gripped her shoulders.

"Terra's my friend, but you're my best friend" she said.

"I won't let him get away with breaking your heart"

Lumen smiled gently.

"He won't, I promise" she said.

"But at least I know I'll have you if he does"

Aqua smiled a little.

"I messed up by not letting you know what your father sent me to do" she said.

"I'm not going to ruin our friendship because of my mistakes. If Terra hurts you, I'll make it up by hurting him"

Lumen nodded and hugged her again.

"I know you will" she said.

Lumen was happy in a strange way.

She was a little freaked out by how serious Aqua was with hurting Terra, but then again, she was glad to have such a genuine friend.

True friends were hard to come by. Some friends come and go and others betrayed you. But true friends stayed with you until the end always had your back no matter what.

And that's what Aqua was. Even though she messed up sometimes and got on Lumen's nerves, she still stayed by her side and always looked out for her.

And believe it or not, that what a hero really was.

/

A/N: I know that was a bad way to end this chapter, but I didn't want to drag it on any longer. I found it funny that Aqua is serious that she'll kill Terra if he screws up again and hurts Lumen. Friends like that are the best kind, but they're also the scariest.

Poor Phil, he can be such a perv at times, but you can't help but pity him.

Please review and tell me what you think!

Ja ne!