Kyrie (c) Me

Kingdom Hearts characters/some of the story (c) Square Enix

Kingdom Hearts

Bonded Soul

Chapter 17

"Sora, Donald, Goofy!" Kyrie thought with relief as she spotted her friends at the entrance to Hades' chamber. Hades looked up from his fight and his red skin turned blue again.

"You again?" he asked, apparently surprised at their appearance. The man swept Hades back with his sword, just as Kyrie struggled to her feet.

"Fight!" he ordered. With that, he rushed forward and with a few strokes and strikes, was thrown back. Hades was about to use two fireballs against the man, but hesitated when Sora jumped in.

"Get up!" he urged as he looked at the older man. With that he, Donald, and Goofy rushed in, holding Hades off as the man tried getting to his feet. Kyrie grunted, using the wall behind her as support as she watched the three take on the god of the Underworld.

"Sora…you have to run…" she thought weakly. But after a moment, she realized that their movements were off, as if something was weighing them down.

"Something's wrong!" Donald cried, alarmed. Sora nodded and Kyrie could clearly see a red aura surround him for a moment, but it was weak.

"I feel kinda funny…" Sora spoke, his voice shaky. Hades smirked at them, as if he knew something he didn't. Kyrie took a few shaky steps, so that she was behind him, and crouched, preparing herself.

"That's right! See, that's the thing. In the Underworld, heroes are zeroes…comes with the territory." He mocked. But he was suddenly cut off when a foot connected with the back of his head, throwing him forward. He landed on the ground, face first, as a familiar figure landed next to him. Sora smiled in relief.

"Kyrie, you're okay!" she gave him a small smile before grimacing, falling forward. This made Sora gasp as he dove in to catch her.

"Kyrie, what's wrong?" he gasped, holding her gingerly. All she could do was pant in exhaustion and shake her head weakly. Goofy and Donald joined him, both concerned.

"Gawrsh, are you okay?" Goofy asked. Hades glared at them.

"How dare you-!" Suddenly, he began to form fireballs in his hands, aiming them at the group. Her eyes widened.

"Sora, look out-" she thought as she pointed. The three looked up just as Hades was about to throw them, but the man in red rushed between them, forcing him to disappear to avoid the blade aimed at him.

"Go now!" the man ordered. But Sora shook his head in protest as he got to his feet, helping Kyrie up before Goofy took over.

"But I've gotta talk to Hades!" he explained. Then he growled when Hades plugged his ears with his fingers.

"What was that?" he asked mockingly. Kyrie glared at him as Goofy supported her, her arm slung over his shoulders.

"Bastard…" she thought as she slumped against Goofy, if only she could repeat his face plant… but the man had grabbed Sora's arm and pulled him back.

"We can't fight him here! We have to go… now!" he ordered. Sora nodded reluctantly as Goofy, Donald, and the man turned to leave. Kyrie could only look behind her as Goofy supported her, watching as Sora ran, just barely avoiding the fireballs thrown at him. Once they got outside, Sora and Goofy pushed the doors shut, making Donald turn and watch as they slouched against the doors, panting heavily.

"Is he gone?" Donald asked frantically. The man shook his head.

"Don't count on it." he answered. Sora looked at him in confusion.

"Huh?" he asked. At that moment, Kyrie's eyes widened when she spotted a familiar figure standing next to him, and pointed. Turning, Sora came face-to-face with Hades.

"Leaving so soon?" the god asked in amusement. Kyrie scowled at him as he summoned heartless, from Soldiers and Large Bodies to Hook Bats and Lance Soldiers. Goofy kept a tight hold on Kyrie, looking at her as Sora and the unknown man rushed forward and began taking them out.

"Can ya stand?" he asked. Kyrie gave a small nod, and released his hold on her. Kyrie stood back as they fought, watching their backs as she summoned her keyblades. She watched as they fought, and jumped in whenever a Lance Soldier or a Hook Bat would get behind them, ready to strike them from behind.

With that they began to run, taking out heartless as they did so, heading towards the exit. But once they got there, Hades blocked their path.

"You really think I'm going to let you out of here so easily? This is my territory." he chuckled. They glared at him before he summoned more heartless, making the situation even more dire. As they fought, they had to avoid the fireballs that Hades chucked at them, as well as the attacks the heartless would use. Kyrie grunted as a Lance Soldier threw her back, almost sending her over the edge.

"Ugh!" she thought as she pulled herself up, before her eyes widened. Hades was behind Sora and the man as they fought a few Lance Soldiers, fireballs in his hands as he aimed at them. She gasped, rushing in just as he threw the fireballs.

Within seconds, a flash of light and smoke erupted, pushing Sora and the man back as they turned, surprised. Hades frowned when he saw that both of them were unharmed, but was surprised when the smoke cleared. In front of them stood Kyrie, a while shield around her as she held both keyblades, battle-ready but having a hard time remaining upright. He smirked.

"Impressive, snowflake. Maybe I should've just used you instead of him." he complimented, his hand on his chin. She simply glared at him, too weak to really care about his remarks. She was breathing heavily as a light sheen of sweat covered her face, her knees quaky as she tried to remain standing and her breaths coming out in short gasps.

"Kyrie!" turning, she spotted Sora, the man, Donald, and Goofy as they stared at her in concern. Shaking her head, she pointed to the exit.

"Get out of here!" she thought as she pointed. The man nodded, seeming to understand what she meant before shoving Sora towards the exit.

"Go, now!" he ordered. Sora nodded reluctantly as he, Donald, and Goofy ran. The man turned back to her and was at her side in seconds, using his arm to support her as they ran. Kyrie heard one more explosion from behind them as they escaped, running into a familiar inner chamber as Sora, Donald, and Goofy collapsed to the ground, panting heavily. The man helped her lean against the wall before turning his attention to the three boys in front of him.

"You're really good. Are you some kind of hero?" Sora panted, looking at the man. Kyrie watched the man's expression falter for a moment, a flash of grief pass over his features before he returned to his normal, uncaring expression.

"No, I'm no hero…I'm just an…" he trailed off, making Sora and the others look at him in confusion.

"Auron." he spoke suddenly, making Kyrie raise her eyebrow at him, before she smiled weakly.

"That must be his name." she thought. But Sora was staring at him blankly, as if he didn't know what Auron just said. The man simple rolled his eye as he stared at him.

"My name." he added. The boy nodded as he got to his feet.

"I'm Sora." he spoke, pointing to himself. Donald joined him as he jumped on the boy's shoulders, making Sora grunt as he tried to support Donald's weight.

"Donald." he exclaimed, smiling at the man in front of them. Goofy was the last to join them as he jumped on top of Donald, making both him and Sora yelp as they tried to hold him up.

"Goofy!" he smiled, giving a wave. Within seconds, the three fell to the floor in a heap at the man stared at them, eyebrow raised. Kyrie giggled silently as she rolled her eyes, they would never change. The man looked at her and she gave a small wave.

"It seems we were fated to meet. Maybe you need a guardian." He spoke, looking at Sora, Donald, and Goofy. Sora looked at the man in disbelief before pushing himself up, making Donald and Goofy roll of him and thus untangling them from him.

"Guardian? Thanks, but no thanks." He spoke, scowling at the man as he got to his feet and started walking. Auron gave a small chuckle and Kyrie covered her mouth with her hand.

"Sora's too proud to admit that he needs help." she thought. Suddenly, a wave of dizziness washed over her and she fell forward, landing with a heavy thump on the cold, stone floor beneath her. Sora turned at the sound, eyes widening when he spotted the white-haired girl on the floor.

"Kyrie!" he cried, rushing over as he knelt beside her, pulling her into his lap as Donald and Goofy joined him.

"What's wrong?" Donald asked as he and Goofy stood over them, looking at the girl worriedly as she breathed heavily, a light sheen of sweat clinging to her brow. Goofy knelt down and placed a palm against her head, his eyes widening before he pulled it back.

"Gawrsh, she's burnin' up!" he exclaimed. Auron joined them as he looked the girl over, his eyes narrowing.

"It's the darkness. It's eating away at her strength." he explained. Sora looked up and nodded.

"Let's get her back to the coliseum, there's no darkness there." he spoke, helping the girl to her feet as Goofy knelt in front of her, allowing her to lay on his back as he carried her. The man nodded.

"Let's go." and with that, they continued on, trying to get out of the Underworld as quickly as possible.

Once they got to the Cave of the Dead, however, they realized that the entry was locked.

"What? It's closed!" Donald exclaimed, placing his palms on the large doors. With that, Goofy placed Kyrie down as he, Donald, and Sora tried to push the doors open. Auron stayed with her as the two watched the boys huff and grunt as they tried to open the doors. Kyrie looked up and her eyes narrowed, she spotted a lock surrounded by chains.

"We need the keyblade…" summoning her keyblade, she chucked it at Sora, hoping he would catch it and use it, but the boy didn't turn around in time so the blade knocked him off his feet.

"Ow! What was that for?" he cried, glaring at her. She pointed and the three looked up, spotting the lock. Summoning his keyblade, Sora aimed at the lock. Auron, now interested at what was going on, approached them.

"Will that open it?" he asked. Sora nodded.

"Yeah. I think so." He answered. But before he could use it, a loud roar and heavy footfalls startled them, making Auron turn in the direction they were coming from. Kyrie, being on the floor, could feel the vibrations of the footfalls and knew something big was coming.

"Hurry!" he ordered. Sora nodded as a beam of light shot out of the keyblade, unlocking the lock before a large, black dog with three heads jumped out and went after Auron. Donald and Goofy ran and started pushing the door open, opening it enough for them to get out. But before Sora could follow them, he turned and watched as Auron fought the large dog.

"Uh…" Kyrie stared at the boy and knew what was coming next. He was going to play the hero and help out his new comrade, disregarding his own safety in the process.

"If he thinks he's gonna run in and get himself killed trying to help Auron, he better think again." she thought as she pushed herself to her feet, summoning both keyblades as she did so. Sora was already running in to help Auron, despite the protests from Donald and Goofy.

"Sora, Kyrie, wait!" but it was no use. The two joined Auron and met the large, three-headed dog in combat as it jumped, creating shockwaves that the three had to jump in order to avoid. Kyrie aimed all of her blows to its forelegs and back legs while Sora and Auron aimed for the heads and torso. Once they got the dog to the floor, Donald called out to them.

"Come on!" Donald cried. They nodded as they made a mad dash for the doors as Donald and Goofy began to close them. Once it began closing, the three boys began to make goofy faces and mocked the large dog, causing to roar and run towards the door before it shut tightly in its faces. As the boys were celebrating, Auron turned to her.

"C'mon, I'll get you to the steps of the coliseum. You'll feel better there." he spoke, holding his arm out to her. Nodding, she took it and he quickly took her across the large, court-yard like room before helping her to the steps that led to the coliseum. With that, he turned.

"We'll meet again." and he walked away. Kyrie nodded and could already feel her strength coming back, the rays of light touching her skin and hair. She watched as the boys finally realized her and Auron's absence and looked around.

"What happened to Kyrie and Auron?" Goofy asked. Sora gave him a small grin before holding his arms behind his head.

"He can take care of himself. Let's go find Meg. Then we can try this again. But first…" he held his hands near his mouth, trying to make his voice louder as he called out.

"Kyrie, where are you? We're almost at the coliseum!" he turned and blinked, she was already at the steps that led to the coliseum, smiling brightly and looking better than she had been before. Running over, the three stopped as she got herself to her feet. And with that, the three continued up the steps, Kyrie's strength growing the higher they got.

"I feel alive and full of energy again…" she thought with a sigh of relief as they walked. She had so much to ask the boys, but her questions could wait until later, when they were safe and out of danger. As soon as they got to the top of the stairs, a pair of large doors opened revealing a large building with two statues of warriors pointing their swords towards the sky. A very muscular-but also very tired-looking man sat on the steps of the building who immediately looked up and smiled as he spotted the boys.

"Sora! Donald! Goofy! When'd you get here?"

Yep. Now we get to meet Mr. Wonderboy himself, Hercules! Yaaaay...*sarcastic* ...Nevermind. I'll shut up now.

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