A/N: Some of you may have noticed the weird new picture that represents this story. Well, I got tired of seeing that old picture that just cut off, so I replaced it. I can practically hear you asking, "Well, Sam, how is that any better?" The answer is this: even though the picture isn't really a good picture or anything, it's not a half-displayed accident. Actually, that picture is the current plan for the story. This is how I look at my plan (except there are a few labels missing because they would be spoilers).
There is an important notice about an impending name change. It's at the southern AN. It would be wise to read it.
So I was gone a while, huh? Well, all of a sudden, I had finals, and then Christmas is always busy… anyway, I'm settling into my new semester schedule now, so I think I'll be writing more regularly again now.
While I was gone, Gabrielus Prime started following my story. Thanks for your support!
Also in the interim, DragonKey27 has done similarly. I appreciate that very much, thanks!
At some point that I think I forgot to mention, unicron1000 both followed and favorited both me and my story. I'm much obliged!
Umm…
…Reviews and stuff will be addressed at the end as usual. I think that's it for now.
Read my story or perish.
Book I: The Open World
§ - Chapter 3: Hades Cup (Someone Else's Room) - §
49th Seed: Shadow Brothers
Tidus looked around nervously. He hadn't known exactly what to expect when he saw he had been told that there would be teams of Heartless in the tournament. These are the monsters that Sora had to fight to save the world, right? Now they were playing games together!?
He didn't have time to continue those thoughts very much as the match began. Scanning his opponents, he saw about half a dozen bug-like creatures and three enemies standing upright wearing helmets. The latter seemed to be the tougher ones, so as the "leader" of the team, Tidus figured he was probably supposed to go after them. Goofy charged with his shield, stunning two of the Soldiers before turning to attack the Shadows. Tidus took this as confirmation of his theory and began to hack away at the bipeds.
Sora had told him that most Heartless were basically mindless. This meant that there wouldn't be any baiting or tricking or luring. If Tidus saw an opening, he could take it without fear of deception. Of course, he still had to pay attention to the Shadows, who were not likely to respect the team's division of responsibility. With a few attacks on each one, the targeted trio was taken down. Tidus looked around to realize that Donald and Goofy had already taken down all the other enemies.
Considering the ease of this first match, Sora had opted to stand aside. This hadn't worked perfectly, as the Heartless were not inclined to ignore a key bearer, but he just glided around, sailing past their attempts to harm him and guiding them back towards the three combatants. Sora may have been joking earlier, but Tidus really felt like he was being babysat. After all, it's not exactly a big help to your self-esteem to be fighting hard against what seem to be tough adversaries while your friend shows his superiority by floating lazily above the battle and looking on as if nothing were happening. Seriously, Sora's just floating there! How does that work!?
"So the Heartless die when we defeat them here, right?" the trainee asked.
Sora glanced over and replied, "Yeah, why?"
"But if we face people, we won't be killing them?" he inquired.
"Mm hmm," the trainer affirmed.
"So then," Tidus queried, "how do the Heartless get in the tournament?"
"What do you mean?" prompted Sora.
Tidus clarified his question, "Well, I'm guessing the heartless don't go up to Phil like you did and ask to be in the tournament. And if they did, and all they wanted was to fight in the games, I doubt Phil would let us kill them. I mean, he needs teams, right? So then, are these Heartless captured somehow, or what?"
Sore though for a moment before responding, "I guess I've never really thought about it. We could ask him about it when we finish if you want."
48th Seed: Wild Dance
"I'd also like to know who named these teams. Seriously, what kind of fighting group goes by the name 'Wild Dance'?" declared Tidus as their next match was announced.
"Wait, mummies and monkeys? Who put them together!?" This tournament was making less and less sense the longer he thought about it.
After a long search of the city below, Lea had declared that it was nighttime. Kairi couldn't tell the difference considering the sky hadn't changed, but she guessed that he would know, having lived here for at least a year. What had really surprised her, however, was the fact that he planned to spend the night in the Castle. She had objected at first, but when he asked her where she would prefer to sleep, she realized she had no real alternatives. They couldn't go back to Destiny Islands. Her friends and family were all under spells, and it would be very selfish of her to asked Yen Sid to alter the spell every morning and night so she could rest in more familiar trappings. Unlike Sora, she couldn't sleep in a Gummi Ship, because they weren't using one. She'd never thought to ask Riku where he slept when he was out in the worlds.
So, with no other options, Lea led her to a room in the Castle that Never Was. When she walked in, she saw a simple room with no decoration. It maintained the monochrome motif and exemplified the architectural oddities of the castle. On the colorless bed next to the pillow, Kairi noticed one variation. There was a line of seashells, off to one side. The bright colors stood out in the room so devoid of contrast that she was surprised it hadn't screamed out at her eyes the moment she walked in.
"Whose room is this?" she asked turning around, only to find that Lea had left her there. She looked back and forth down the hall but, not seeing him and fearing she would get lost if she looked for him, she went back into the room, shut the door, and climbed into the bed.
It was strange. She felt like an invader. Her she was, come into this castle she'd only barely seen before, and now she was sleeping in a stranger's bed. Despite her misgivings, though, she was very tired and growing sleepy. As she finally drifted off, she looked at the shells.
Hey, that's a Thalassa shell. These must be from Destiny Islands. I wonder how they got here…
44th Seed: Yuffie
"Wait, Yuffie? As in the Ninja you know?" Tidus asked with alarm.
"That's the one!" Sora proclaimed happily.
Just then, she walked out onto the field.
"You're still leading, but I might help you out this time," the reigning champion declared as he pushed his friend toward their opponent.
"So where did those shells come from?" Kairi asked when she and her companion reunited in the morning.
"I don't know where he got them," Lea informed her, tossing her a granola bar for breakfast. "I'm pretty sure he never went to Destiny Islands. He definitely didn't with me. As far as I know, there were never any missions there."
"He?" she probed, "whose room was it?"
"Roxas's." He said, his emotions unreadable.
At the mention, she turned to him suddenly, surprised. She wasn't quite sure how she felt about having slept in his bed. It was a little strange to think that she had just spent an entire night in the personal space of the person who they were searching for and she hadn't even known it. She wondered if he would mind.
She'd never really met him, but from all the stories she'd heard, and from how close Sora felt to him, she almost felt like he was already a friend. And yet, having stayed in his room and not even knowing reminded her that she really knew so little about him. Even so, it strengthened her resolved. She would help find the person who meant so much to her friends. She would get to meet him herself. And she would ask him where he got his seashells.
She glanced at him as they strolled down the hallway where he had lived. A hallway that looked to her the same as every other, and yet must hold so many memories for the former organization member walking beside her. "So he never could have gone?"
"I don't think so," he said, "I wonder why it's never seemed odd before. I've seen the shells a million times."
"Thank goodness that's over! That monster was huge!" panted Tidus breathlessly.
They had just finished off the Behemoth that waited in Round 10 for to weed out lesser combatants. Sora knew that this creature was probably above Tidus's ability, and, unlike Yuffie who recognized Donald and Goofy to be greater threats, the Behemoth would just barrage the nearest target with all its attacks. With this in mind, Sora had joined Tidus for the battle, but had intentionally lessened his strikes, attempting to match the damage done by his pupil, but do no more. This way Tidus would still do much of the work without the danger of single-handedly facing the beast's assaults.
"Don't get too relaxed, we're not done yet," warned Sora.
39th Seed: Red Legion
"Could I have a breather?" asked he asked his instructor, not really expecting a yes.
Much to his wonder and relief, his teacher responded, "Go ahead and take a rest. You've earned it. Be careful. I don't think you've seen these guys yet, but they can shoot fire from a distance. They won't leave you alone just 'cause you're not fighting."
Astonished but not about to complain, Tidus stepped back as Sora confidently took his natural place at the front of the formation. The Heartless appeared before them, one creepy ghoul thing and too many flying red hourglasses. Instantly Sora raised his keyblade into the air, and blasts of lightning came down from the heavens, eliminating all of the Red Nocturnes. Without so much as a step, he then threw is keyblade into the Search Ghost, destroying it on impact.
"All right, you're up!" Sora announced and patted Tidus on the shoulder.
I knew it was too good to be true, he thought wearily as he moved back to the head. Still, it was nice while it lasted. "Hey, Sora? How come we have to fight every match? Why isn't anybody else ever fighting?"
"I used to wonder about that, too," Said Sora, as they waited for the next round to start. "See how nothing's happening right now, but usually the next match starts pretty much right away?"
"Yeah," Tidus responded.
"Well Phil told me that there's actually cool bit of strong magic involved. All of the contestants are fighting waves of Heartless at the same time. There are actually others fighting the same kind of team you just saw, right here. But because of the Coliseum's magic, we can't interact with them. Everybody fights at the same time, and everybody's tired, so that makes the matches fair when we fight other real, non-Heartless teams. You've never noticed to the gap before because you take a bit longer than average to win the rounds, but right now, even though we're done, other contestants are finishing up their Red Legions. Or getting eliminated. But if they finished the Behemoth, they probably didn't lose here."
"Wow, I didn't think it'd be so complex," said Tidus surprised. I guess my break is longer than I thought it would be.
Sora rubbed his neck in embarrassment as he admitted, "Yeah, I know. I actually had to ask two or three times before I remembered it all. I think we're about ready to get going again. Need a cure?"
"I'm good, I was just tired," he answered. "How much more is there, anyway?"
"Haven't you noticed the rounds are counting down?" laughed the brunette.
Tidus raised his eyebrows in unfortunate epiphany.
Sora kept laughing as he stated, "I hope your arms aren't tired yet. Now you know why you spent so long just hitting barrels."
38th Seed: Blue Legion
Here we go again.
Roxas woke up from the shack he had been given to sleep in. Link had offered his house, and, seeing as he had nowhere else to go, Roxas had accepted. He suspected that Link may have been prompted by Zelda, but either way it was a kind gesture. He wondered if Link minded. And he still wondered where Link had actually slept.
As he arose from the simple bed, he looked outside to see that it was already late morning, possibly even early afternoon. He hadn't meant to sleep that long, but there weren't any alarms clocks that he had seen, and it's not like he carried one with him.
He examined the room he was in and noted that there really wasn't much in it. It was almost like even though Link slept here, he didn't really live here. Roxas could relate to that. He felt the same way about his room at the Castle that Never Was. Although it had started to feel a bit like home after he was given those seashells. He probably doesn't mind. I wouldn't really mind if somebody used my room.
Walking out from the humble residence, he heard a familiar voice say, "You're as bad as him!"
He was shocked at first. In his mind, him used without any context only ever meant one person. Images of Kairi scolding Sora on the Play Island for his laziness flashed in his mind, recalled from his shared memory, before the voice interrupted his daze.
"But I supposed you have an excuse, seeing as you just woke up from a coma yesterday, and with all that's happened since. I'll let him know you're up," said Zelda, departing to do just that.
Link, he realized. Him is Link.
Suddenly, Roxas realized that if he let Zelda get away, he'd be alone in a village full of strangers with no idea where to go or what to do.
"Wait up!" He called, jogging to her side as she headed toward and up the mountain.
"So I was wondering," he said, trying to find a less awkward reason for having chased her down, "if I was in Link's house last night, where was he?"
"I think he was patrolling all night," she told him.
"You mean he didn't sleep?" he asked.
"Well, he probably slept on his loftwing this morning after the sun came up," she responded.
He quirked and eyebrow, "He can do that?"
"Trust me," she said, "Link can sleep anywhere."
After a bit of thought, he had another question. "If he's on that bird, then how are you going to get him?"
Zelda turned to him like he had told a joke and said, "I'll just my own."
Just then, she jumped off a platform built on the side of the volcano.
Again stunned at the unusual behavior of this strange girl, he rushed to the edged, worried for her safety, only to see her flying off on her own giant bird.
"Does everyone here have one of those?" he asked no one in particular.
Receiving no reply, he said, "I guess I'll just wait here then."
"Get ready, this one'll be pretty hard." The newest keyblade master warned.
"We've taken down a ninja, a behemoth, and a giant, three-headed dog! How much harder can it get?" questioned Tidus, his confidence soaring.
"Remember Cloud?" Sora asked.
20th Seed: Cloud & Leon
"Wait, he's got a partner now!?" the novice exclaimed.
"You take care of Cloud. Careful, you've gotten a lot better, but he'll take this a lot more seriously than he did yesterday. He's got some abilities he wasn't using. Donald and Goofy will help you out. I'll get Leon. You keep Cloud away from me and I'll keep Leon away from you, but still be on the lookout, and if you get a chance to land a hit on Leon's back while I'm fighting him, take it. The most important thing is that you just stay conscious until I'm done and can help you.
And with that, Sora charged at Leon, swinging with so much power that even blocking the stroke, the Restoration Committee member was thrown to the far corner of the arena. Then Cloud turned to Tidus.
Luckily for Roxas, it wasn't long before Zelda returned with Link. He landed next to Roxas, but she stayed airborne.
"I found him," she shouted down, "but I've got to go help my father with the plans for the village. If I leave it all up to the men, we'll probably end up with some horrible setup that puts the academy right next to the houses or something!"
As she proceeded to the village, Roxas asked Link, "Why exactly would that be horrible?"
Link just shrugged.
A slight awkward silence began to infect the air as neither spoke up to fill the void. It was a strange occurrence, given that just the previous day the two of them had conversed freely and enjoyed each other's company. In reality, it had nothing to do with either of them acting or feeling any differently. The key difference that both could distinctly feel but wasn't quite obvious to either was that Zelda wasn't there. In their whole interaction the day before, she had facilitated their dialogue, prompting them with questions and coaxing them to speak their minds.
So here both of them sat on the platform, not having anything to say, but each wishing they could think of something before the weirdness escalated.
"So," the green-clad knight began, decided to take the opportunity to alleviate his curiosities. "You did something pretty cool when you were escaping Ghirahim. Those blue things. What were they?"
"That's called Event Horizon. I'm not really sure why, I didn't name it," he answered.
After a few beats more with no response, he decided to continue, "It's basically just making some pillars of light and sending them out. I can do a few things with them, like make them spin around me, or send them all at a target, or push them out in different directions."
Link nodded, a thoughtful expression on his face. "It looked pretty powerful."
"It's one of my strongest attacks, actually," Roxas confirmed.
And again, quiet reign over the conversation.
"So you're bird—loftwing, is it?—how long have you had it?" The black-clad key wielder asked.
"Oh, he's been with me for a long time. Everyone in Skyloft gets one when they're young," he told the blonde.
"Skyloft?" Roxas responded, "What's that?"
"It's the village we're all from originally," Farore's hero told him.
This piqued the Nobody's interest. "Why'd you leave?"
Link gazed up at the sky and said, "That's a long story."
"I've got nothing else to do."
"Okay, you should sit back for this one," Sora told Tidus.
"What's in it?" he asked.
"Three Invisibles and two Angel Stars. There was an Invisible three rounds ago and two Angel Stars in that team called False Angels about three rounds before that," Sora responded.
Tidus stated, "I can handle those. I mean, that would certainly be the hardest Heartless wave so far, but I think I could do it."
"Probably, though I did have to bail you out with that first one," teased Sora.
Tidus was dissatisfied with that, but seeing as he was getting extremely worn out, he didn't protest further.
The real reason Sora made the call was the person who they would face after. He didn't want to scare his friend, but Hades was going to be the toughest enemy in the tournament, even above the final match. He had three characteristics that would make him a particular danger to Tidus. One, he was intelligent. He would be able to identify Tidus as the weakest, target him, and attempt to isolate him to finish him off. Two, Hades was strong. He could deal out serious damage in single shots, which would make it hard for Sora and Donald to support Tidus. Three, Hades was ruthless. Up until now, the only intelligent and strong enemies they had faced were allies. Cloud, Leon, and Yuffie. Unlike Sora's friends, the God of the Underworld would not hesitate to use excessive force and might 'accidentally' kill Tidus. Now, even if the worst happened, dying in the coliseum isn't all that bad. Dying there sends you to the Underworld, so they could force Hades to resurrect him. Even so, it would be best if they didn't have to deal with that.
11th Seed: Elder Force
"Enjoy your break, Tidus!" Goofy told him as he ran at an Invisible.
Kairi and Lea stepped out into the Dark City once again, and the Princess of Heart took stock of her new location.
"I thought you said we were going to Castle Oblivion next," she commented.
Lea marched off down one of many nondescript roads, calling back, "I said if nothing turned up here. We've hardly done a thorough search."
"I guess this place just gives me the creeps. A whole city and it's just empty," she told him.
"Well, you'd better get used to it, Princess," replied VIII, "'cause it's going to take a while to look everywhere."
10th Seed: Hades
"Oh, great," Hades said, "it's you brats. It's bad enough that Zeus resealed my Underdrome, but now you're gonna drive me out of business too? Can't a guy make an honest living around here?"
"What do you mean?" Tidus asked uncertainly.
Turning to the boy, Hades remarked, "So all I do is look for people a bit down on their luck, and I give them the power to get by in life. That's just the kind of guy I am. All I ever ask is some teensy little favor like, I don't know, win a tournament for me.
"But no!" the god shouted dramatically, "this guy gets all holier-than-thou, 'Hades, stop talking to him!'; 'Hades, stop doing that!'; 'Hades, stop corrupting people with darkness and sending them to kill your enemies!' He's scaring off all me suckers! Ahem, customers. Customers."
A few moments later no one had moved or spoken, so Tidus inquired, "So if this is the Hades Cup, and you're Hades, why aren't you at the end?"
"Well, I can't have people winning without my help. So I put in some monsters, like my dog that you fought earlier, who should take out most people. The guy at the end is on a lease, and I pay per fight, so I try to knock people out before they get to him. He's sort of like insurance. But don't worry," answered the Lord of the Dead, turning red and shooting fire out from his arms, "you won't have to face him."
"Stay near me and be ready to follow if I run," Sora instructed, getting into his stance.
"Got it," Tidus acknowledged, doing likewise.
Hades raised his arms up and held them out horizontally, prompting Sora to shout, "Move!" and take off running in the direction of Hades.
Quite confused, Tidus none-the-less immediately followed just in time to avoid a massive pillar of fire.
"When he lifts his arms like that, he'll do this," noted Sora. "He spins around pretty slowly, but the ends of the flames still move pretty fast. You have to either get all the way out of range, or get close enough to run faster than them.
Now back off!" he shouted, following his own advice with a leap.
Tidus did as he was told, and barely escaped contact with Hades's swing fists, naturally covered in fire. He turned to Sora for his next move, but Sora just nodded toward the enemy. Looking back, he saw Hades draw a glowing circle around himself, and Goofy dived out of the way. Promptly, an enormous column of flames enveloped the deathly deity.
Responding instantly, Sora rushed at the opponent before the inferno had even begun to dissipate, motioning for Tidus to follow. The master tossed his weapon right into the heart of the blaze, making contact with Hades just as a sizable piece of ice struck him from the direction of the wizard.
Understanding what was expected of him, Tidus joined the Knight in attacking the stunned villain. Seeing that the target was already in a vulnerable position, the novice knew that he should hit with as great a force as he could muster, so he took a moment to get a firm stance and wind up before landing several successive strokes as Goofy spun quickly, bashing Hades with his shield on each revolution. Meanwhile, Donald and Sora launched series of powerful water- and ice-based spells to keep him down and compound the damage. After a bit of this, shield-wielder fell back to Donald's side at the far end of the arena.
Taking his cue from Goofy, Tidus retreated to Sora.
"Watch out behind you. He's gonna start teleporting now. And don't stop running from here on out. Just keep circling. You can come beside me if you want, but don't fall behind," the expert told his pupil. Soon, they were both running in a broad arc around the perimeter, and Tidus noticed their teammates running as well.
Suddenly Tidus realized he had no idea where Hades was. While he was talking, the go had slipped away. Then, in the sky around fifteen feet off the ground, a giant fireball appeared, and from it emitted smaller (but still large) plasma orbs. Some of the spheres targeted them, but fell slowly enough that if they kept moving, they'd be fine. So that's why we're running, thought the blonde. And if I ran behind Sora, then I'd be hit by the ones aimed at him. I get it. Other globs just spurted out randomly, making them difficult to predict and avoid.
At this point, Hades reappeared to take advantage of the firestorm. As before, he marked a fiery ring. Recognizing the attack, Tidus dodged away, only for Hades to use his rotating blasts concurrently. This caught Tidus off guard and also managed to hurt Donald, but some well-timed healing magic from Sora got them both right back on their feet.
The divine jerk teleported above and behind Goofy, and shot several fireballs at him. Most were evaded, but one impacted with Goofy's side, knocking him back but otherwise doing little harm.
Ready to end the battle, Sora charged, expecting that Hades would be winded by the outburst of magic. Calling out to Donald, he pointed his key at the fountain in the sky still raining flames down on the field. Donald dispelled it with wind and water and, for good measure, cast a protective aero-based spell on the team leader.
Tidus ran to join his friend, but Goofy, now nearby, stopped him. The three supporting team members watched as Sora sent a towering tornado toward the Lord of the Underworld that hurt him considerable and left him paralyzed. The hero then transitioned into a blindingly fast combo, dealing heavy strokes in a rapid barrage before, with a slight flourish, launching Hades across the stadium.
"Why do I even bother anymore?" Hades muttered before disappearing in a cloud of blue smoke.
Tidus looked on in awe at his partners. Panting and doubled over, he was nearly exhausted. Donald and Goofy, however, looked only slightly worse for wear. Now Sora, despite the fact that he continually cast spells while also attacking physically and guiding and guarding Tidus, seemed almost completely unaffected by the battle. He's not even breathing hard! Tidus thought.
"Hey guys, we're almost done!" exclaimed Sora happily.
9th Seed: Night Rave
Tidus took a deep breath and stood back up, walking to the front as usual and expecting Sora to sit back and cast spells or something, but he was pleasantly surprised when his friend remained with him.
"Let's finish this up," said the taller youth, smiling. He left the other no chance to reply as he took off after the Invisible.
Just as Link concluded the story of his part in the conflict that shaped the world they was it was now, a great rumbling overcame the mountain, shaking the earth and roaring through the air. It lasted for only a few moments, but Link knew it would set the villagers in a frenzy. And for once, there may actually be something to worry about.
"Let's get back," said the hero. He stood up and set out at a half run toward Kakariko below, Roxas following for lack of reason against.
Needless to say, when he got to the village, the prominent leaders of the people were nervously discussing, trying to figure out just what exactly had happened and what should be done.
"You should probably wait here," he told Roxas before heading into the conversation.
Hoping to lower the tension until he could determine the cause, the green Knight attempted to assuage their worries.
"Look," he said, getting their attention, "it was probably nothing. We'll probably just have to get used that kind of thing. We live on a volcano now."
Seeing Gaepora breath to protest, Link cut him off saying, "Just in case, I'll check with the Dragon, but until I get back, just keep going as usual."
Now, the leaders of the Hylians were not stupid. Nor were they as incompetent as Link tended to view them. They were certainly unfamiliar with their circumstances and generally out of their element, but they were well chosen to be the heads of their society. Being as such, many of them recognized the speech as something like what they had just told their own wives and parents and children. It was rhetoric intended to keep them from doing anything rash at a critical time. In an almost subtle way, Link was telling them to just trust him. This did little to diffuse the slowly growing tensions between the hero and the people's guides, but none of them were hostile or petty. They knew that he was right. Whatever was happening was best handled by the one most familiar with the land. So each, according to the time it took them to process and conclude, left to attend to their village-founding duties. Each except Gaepora, that is.
"We're trusting you on this, Link. Not just this, but everything we're doing here. I'm personally trusting you," the de facto mayor told him.
He nodded and turned to leave, but Gaepora put a sturdy arm on his shoulder, "Zelda told me how you've been feeling, so I just wanted to make that clear. This whole situation is very difficult for us all. I know from my experience as headmaster, sometimes being the one with a handle on everything means being the one expected to deal with everything."
Link looked at the man, surprised at the turn this was taking.
"The rest of us have a lot to learn about living on the surface. We know that. But we will learn. Goddesses' blessings, Hero."
He nodded again, this time not dismissively but resolutely.
As he made his way back toward Eldin's cave, he thought about what he had been told. Firstly, the fact that Zelda had shared what he had intended as confidential. Secondly, that upon hearing the way Link had disrespected and insulted him, Gaepora, rather that reprimanding him or responding with anger, sympathized with him. He didn't have time to ponder any of it deeply, however, as he soon reencountered Roxas where he had left him, just out of earshot of the elders' conversation.
"Everything okay?" asked the blonde.
Quiet as usual, Link once again nodded, showing on his face his relief at the ease of the meeting. He looked up and down the mountain for briefly before looking at Roxas again.
"You should come with me." It was more of an offer than a statement.
Without need for anymore words, the two of them headed up the volcano together.
"We're the champs!" shouted Sora energetically as confetti rained down.
Donald and Goofy panted slightly.
Tidus flat out collapsed where he was.
"Wouldn't expect any less from you, kid," stated the diminutive satyr and host of the games. "So, new kid, how'd you like your first tournament?"
"It was great. But really tiring," Tidus wheezed slightly.
"Tournaments'll do that to you. So anyways, I was just stopping by to take that sword back," informed Phil.
Tidus grabbed his sword defensively. "What!?"
"See, kid," the goat man said, "you're pal over there only rented it for the tournament. I need it back now."
"But then I won't have anything to fight with!" shouted the boy.
"Two words: Not my problem," declared Phil, grabbing the sword away from Tidus and walking off.
"Don't worry about that," chuckled Sora. "That sword wasn't the best anyway. We're making a stop on the way to buy you a real one."
"Ok," responded Tidus distractedly, somewhat in shock over the abruptness of his loss.
A/N:
This is the part where everybody who didn't read dies.
.
.
.
Now, of course, whoever didn't read hasn't reached this point, so… I guess it's a vanity statement. High in promise, but empty in content.
Whew, a lot to say here! Where to start?
I guess I'll start with my choice of tournaments. I figure, Sora did this tournament in KHI. Then he went through the events of CoM, KHII, and finally 3D. Actually, more than that when you include his second Mark of Mastery and even the minor training that they did while waiting around on Destiny Islands. So what would have been decently difficult for Sora back then would probably be child's play. As such, it seems like a good place to start with Tidus, 'cause Sora can manipulate it by putting more or less of his own effort in to appropriately train Tidus.
As for Roxas's thoughts directly answering Kairi's question: I felt like it. Parallels are fun.
In regard to Kairi, I'll probably have them searching tWtNW for a decently long time. I mean, it's a big place, and they're looking for the smallest clues. So there may be another chapter or ten (big ranges spoil less) where they don't do much but walk around.
Link tells Roxas, "You'd better wait here." This would be because Roxas is an outsider. He really shouldn't be privy to the elders' discussions on the state and safety of the village. Relating to their weird interactions, well, Roxas has always been a little awkward. Don't get me wrong, I love Roxas as a character, but come on, he's been alive for all of two years, one of which was spent with the Organization and the other trapped inside of Sora. He had exactly seven days of normal(ish) life. Add that to Link's natural reticence to speak and you've got a recipe for strained conversations.
So please, tell me! How do I do with battles? I've never written anything remotely like a battle before in my life (except the skirmish that Link had circa chapter 0§2). I could seriously use some critique in that area.
Duh, duh duh, duh duh…
I'll get to reviews after I proofread and write the BS. It stands for "Bonus Stuff". Why, what were you thinking?
OK! Reviews time (well, singular this time around):
TheLegendaryBladeFalchion: Yeah, she did. She also said, "Allow me to translate for you." or something to that affect. I decided to not have her "translate" this time, because, well, it's funnier that way. I hope you enjoy this new chapter!
IMPORTANT NAME CHANGE ANNOUNCEMENT:
In the course of my planning and reviewing, I realized that my original reason for referencing chess in the title and summary is gone. I debated for several days whether to change the name or reincorporate the motif, but the theme no longer works with the new (and better) course of the story. So within a few chapters, the name of this fic will be changing. I do not yet know to what it will change, but it will no longer be Every Last Piece.
One more thing before the bonus. Link's loftwing needs a name. It doesn't make sense to continually refer to it as Link's loftwing, my loftwing, that bird, etc., but I can't name it Epona, because I think it was referred to a 'he' somewhere in the game. If I'm wrong and it's a female, let me know. Otherwise, give me suggestions. Or, you know, ignore me completely. That's a valid option.
The BS is here:
Things that Didn't Happen
Volume 1: Things my Sword Says
§ - Episode 3: Calibration - §
"No, seriously, you just froze," Roxas insisted.
He was trying to convince me that, for about thirty seconds, I and everybody else in the village completely stopped moving.
"You, and Zelda, and everyone else. Even the lava stopped bubbling. And your bird froze too!" he said, pointing up at my loftwing circling above.
I, obviously, didn't buy it. "You seriously think you can get me to believe that? It's ridiculous."
"I can confirm, Master," affirmed Fi, appearing suddenly, "that the described event did in fact occur."
"See? I told you!" Roxas stated triumphantly.
"It happens periodically. The associated term in my internal systems is 'Wii MotionPlus Calibration'," she provided before returning to the Master Sword.
"… Okay," said the Nobody, again confused by the spirit of my blade. I have to admit, she lost me too this time.
Continuing his expansion, he described, "It was kind of like when Fi comes out, and everyone besides you and me freeze. And we still haven't figured out either why they do or why I don't. It could be related."
Despite the fact that Fi was probably not even capable of lying or joking, I was still hesitant. "That doesn't make any sense. I mean, my loftwing couldn't have just stopped in midair. Things that do that fall."
"You sure about that?" Roxas asked me, suddenly hovering motionless about four feet off the ground.
Fi: "The Wii and its accessories are trademarks of Nintendo. All rights reserved."