Chapter 26: True Heroes
The crew were back on the Gummi Ship (minus Kaine and Victor, whom had stayed behind to lock down the area) travelling towards Olympus Coliseum, their next destination. Cloud was sleeping in the back, sword draped over his shoulder in case they should come under any surprises. Sora was sitting at the front next to Riku for once, looking ahead at their destination. Sora was explaining to the crew that they would have to initially land in the Underworld to be safe, so at least they had a safe hiding place for the day. Sora knew however, that Hades wouldn't just let them sit there for free. He'd probably want something…
"…So we'll need a bargaining chip of some sort." Sora finished his description.
"Well how about, we promise not to throw him to the wolves for the third time?" Riku muttered sarcastically.
"He's a god, Riku. He'll just come back every time. It only gets him angrier when we do that."
"Well, if he's the so-called 'Lord of the Underworld', then I bet that the vampires talking the lives for their own would piss him off." Sophie said.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, he s the lord of the dead, right? So that means he manages the lost souls that come here. With the vampires robbing world-loads of souls of their bodies, that's a lot of traffic for him to deal with. If we promise to stop it, then maybe he'll crack."
"Well, I guess we'll find out, won't we? Hopefully Hercules isn't too distracted to help us out."
Meanwhile…
Hades was standing by the window in his chamber, watching the souls as they swam endlessly in the air around him.
"Geeze, they just keep on comin. Soon there won't be any room left. Ahh, but what do I care if they all keep comin? It's not like I'm at risk…"
The crew had just landed at The Centre of the Underworld (The area connected to Olympus Coliseum) and so they were all safe from the sunlight beaming down on the arena outside. Luckily, the sun couldn't shine in dark places such as the Underworld. They immediately pressed on towards Hades personal chambers.
"So what's he like?" Sophie asked, curious.
"He can be a bit of a joker, but don't be fooled. He can easily beat all of us down in a few seconds." Sora explained.
"Man, this would be the perfect pad for me. Dark, gloomy, no sunlight, big, just the way I like it." Sophie exclaimed. "Glad to finally be somewhere I can enjoy."
"Uh, guys? We got company!" Cloud spoke out to the team as Heartless appeared all around.
But as soon as they appeared, they all fell. They had been cut down by what appeared to be a slice of wind. But that was untrue as the reason stopped in front of the crew, holding out a large sword, not as big as Clouds, but to Sora it was instantly recognizable.
"Auron?" Sora shouted to the man. There was a pause.
"Sora. We meet again." Auron turned around as he rested his sword on his sword. "And I see you have new friends with you." He said, implying he was asking for introductions.
"Oh! This is Riku, Cloud, and Sophie." They all held up a hand in response, gesturing a 'hello' to him.
"I see." Auron turned to Sora, noticing the difference in him. "So you, too… have become one of them?"
"Yeah." Sora put his hands behind his back, not knowing what else to say.
"We had better find Hades. It's madness around here. The dead souls are leaking out and, like their master, they are unbeatable. Nothing puts them down."
"What exactly is going on?" Sophie asked, worried about the situation.
"Some sort of overload of souls coming to the Underworld means the place is overflowing with souls. There is no longer enough room to hold them all until they completely pass through to the next life. Instead, they are passing back into the real world, and attacking the living. While they cannot kill us, they can drain all our strength. So we must be wary." The gang pressed on, killing the Heartless and avoiding the spirits. Eventually they reached the chambers.
"Here it is. Be careful guys." Everyone drew their weapons before continuing.
As they approached the room, they heard voices. One was definitely Hades, but the other was unrecognizable.
"So you're telling me that your boys little fun run is what's causing this slight overflow in my realms? Man, he must be a little peeved if he's causing this much damage." Hades said, looking over the mayhem below.
"Exactly. And you can see the results. They can drain the energy of anyone in seconds, and you still have a control of them. What more could you ask for?" The other person said. He was wearing a cloak, making his face shrouded.
Hades stood in thought. "So, these unbound souls… Can they affect, oh, I don't know… other gods?" The figure nodded. "Well, that's good news. However, just one thing. Someone like you wouldn't have come here if he didn't want something…"
"True. There is. We need you to take down the gods. Start with Hercules-"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, that's a bit right off the bat if you know what I mean. I mean, come on, this would make Hercules a cakewalk, but separating the rest of the gods is, how do I put this lightly, impossible!"
"Well, you have the titans…"
"Hold it right there, Hades!" Sora shouted out as he and the gang ran into sight.
"Oh, for the love of- Can't you guys take a hint and buzz off? I have things to do! Heroes to smash! I haven't got time for your stupid games, so get lost!" Hades turned red as he ended his sentence, getting ready to throw fireballs at the group. Cloud deflected it with a single swipe of his sword. The rest of the group got into fighting stances.
"Sora…" the cloaked figure muttered. "We meet at last. What an honour." Sophie tensed at hearing that voice.
'Who is he? I recognise that voice… It was someone important, but who?'
"Guys, be careful, this guy is strong. I can't remember who he is, but I know this for sure! Be careful!" The party got ready for a fight.
The cloaked figure shook his head. "You all… are very brave. But I don't have the time for this. Hades, he's yours." A flash of darkness happened, and he was gone.
"Hey! Where'd you go? You can't leave me here with these idiots! Come back and fight!" Hades shouted into the air, angry at being abandoned by the man. "Grr… Geeze, maybe we can work this out, I mean, surely you guys wouldn't have come here if you weren't looking to get something, right?" He paused, looking at his opponents. "Please?"
Sora lowered his Keyblade. "What's going on, Hades? Why aren't you stopping the souls of the dead from coming into the real world?"
"Oh, I don't know, maybe I'm doing it because it is useful. I still have to beat Wonderboy up there, you know that."
"By playing dirty?"
"Kid, you know me, I NEVER play fair. Stop acting like giving me a beating is gonna change me or the way I do business. Now scram, I got plans to do." He walked over to his chair and sat down, clicking his fingers as he rested. From the window appeared five souls. The team jumped back in response. "Please make sure our cordially uninvited guests leave the area as soon as possible." The souls did nothing. "Like, NOW!" They came after the team, Cloud and Auron slashing them away, but in vain, as they showed up again just seconds later, unharmed.
"Run!" Auron called to the group. They followed suit as the souls chased them.
"Suckers! Come on, put up a fight next time!" Hades shouted down to the crew as they ran, not bothering to chase them, leaving the job to his 'minions'. The gang ran down the Valley towards the exit, luckily avoiding combat with the souls by simply dodging them. But they were building in number and pretty soon they would have problems.
"They're too many in number! Pretty soon we'll be in trouble, and big time!" Cloud said looking behind him, watching the ghost-like figures, high in amount, chase after them. As they were running, Sora remembered that there was a big door that he had unlocked to get here. Maybe if he locked it back up…
As they passed the doorway, they stopped, noticing Sora had his Keyblade pointed towards the doorway. The familiar light emanated from the tip of the blade, shooting towards the door, finally stopping dead centre. A bright light enveloped the open doorway, before pulling back to reveal the door was shut, with a giant lock on it.
"Hopefully that will stop them." They waited a few seconds before deciding that it would hold them back. "Let's go." As they walked up toward the stairway to the real world, they realised it was still bright outside. "You guys go ahead. If we hold off much longer, then Hades will win. Me and Sophie will stay here and hold the fort, so to speak." Sora looked around. "If Heartless show up, we'll be ready."
"Alright then, stay safe." Riku said to the two as he and Cloud began to walk off. As Auron walked with them, he couldn't shake off the feeling this wasn't a good. Idea.
The three that proceeded saw up ahead a figure trying to fight off a pack of Heartless. They immediately stood in to fight, and with ease, the Heartless were gone. The group relaxed.
"Who are you guys?" The man asked.
"I'm Riku. This is Cloud and Auron." Riku replied.
"Name's Hercules." He replied.
"Hercules, huh? Sora mentioned that name before…" Riku trailed off.
"You know Sora? Then I guess I can trust you guys. Where is the kid, anyway?"
Riku thought about the best way to word this. "He's holding the fort somewhere in the Underworld while we make sure everything's fine up here."
"So you know about the problem with the Underworld, huh?"
"Yeah. Is there anyway to actually beat those things?"
"Not that I know of. And I doubt Hades would talk to us about it."
"Well, he is controlling the things, so I guess-"
"Hey, champ! You destroyed those guys!" A small satyr said as he came out of the coliseum.
"Hey, Phil! Good to see you're ok." Hercules said. Phil turned to the other three.
"And these three?"
"They're friends of Sora's."
"So where is the junior hero? That kid'll get nowhere unless he's training."
"Well, I'm sure the Heartless in the Underworld are giving him plenty of training. We can go get him later." Riku responded
"Sounds like he's slacking and you three are covering for him."
"Not really, but we'll go get him later. Hercules, Hades is looking to settle the score with you." Riku continued.
"And he's controlling those souls. He couldn't care less about what danger it puts everyone in." Cloud finished.
"Sounds like he needs a lesson in how to behave! I'll go with you, and besides, I have no problem handling the souls."
"Sounds like a plan-"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, champ and chumps! You're not going anywhere till you complete today's training!" Phil interrupted, causing Riku to do a take.
"You are kidding, right? We have to go stop Hades… and you're making us train?" Riku asked, dumbfounded.
"Well, maybe we could train, after all, Hades isn't going anywhere, and even if he did, the Underworld is a small place. Not many hiding places." Hercules suggested.
"Riku, we could use a bit of training, especially you and me. Auron may have been fighting a while, but we have been a bit rusty. If Sora was here I'd suggest he train too."
"Then get to it, trainees! Can't be heroes if you don't train like heroes!"
Back in the Underworld…
Sora and Sophie waited patiently by the entrance for sundown.
"I wish the sun would shove itself already. I'm bored stiff." Sora said as he sat against a stone pillar. "I want something to happen already." Sophie considered complaining about his talking which was disturbing her rest, but she resisted, knowing it would not yield any results.
"Well if you wanted something to happen, all you had to do was ask." Hades appeared right next to Sora. He flinched in response. "I mean, come on, you're obviously looking for someone, because you haven't yet challenged me, and you're still here, so it's just my guess." He waited for a response that didn't come, although he got a mean look from both Sophie and Sora. "Let's cut to the chase. You obviously want to know who that guy was that I was speaking to, right? Well how about I tell you?"
Sora raised an eye brow. "You help us? Sorry, but I'm not buying it."
"Okay, so there will be a little something I need in return, but hey, details. Anyway, you do me this favour, and I'll give you what you want. Deal?"
Sora crossed his arms. "Sorry, but the answer is still no. Now go away."
Hades cackled. "Kid, I don't know who you think you are dealing with…" Spinning around to punch Sophie, turning her lights out. Sora jumped up and summoned the Keyblade in response. "But I am the Lord of the Dead. It's not a multiple choice question. You'll do it if I tell you to." Suddenly Sora felt like his energy was being sapped. He turned around to see many souls latching on to him, draining him like a carton of juice. Sora tried to run away but they just held on, and eventually his running was reduced to a crawl, following with him falling into unconsciousness.