Char: (muttering to herself)
Falcon: o.O (to me) What's HER problem?
Me: Oh, she just hates what happens to her in this chapter.
Char: And could the ending have been ANY crappier?!
Me: (shrug) It was nine pages. I thought you deserved a break.
Char: You could've gone to Anxclof's POV, or something!
Me: Yeah, but I thought that'd be good to start NEXT chapter. Keep my nonexistent audience worrying...
Char: Oh yeah, are you gonna start bitching about the lack of reviews for this one compared to worse stories? Because if you are, then I'm outta here.
Me: Uhhh... why not.
Char: Tch.
Disclaimer- If I owned KH, then do you really think I'd be as obsessed with .hack/G.U. as I am now?
"Thank goodness…" Donald gasped; the skin on his knuckles was clearly white beneath the feathers with how hard he had been clutching the armrest of his seat.
Sora shakily got to his feet from where he had fallen on the floor. "Is it over?" he asked, hoarse with relief.
Char rolled her eyes. "Oh, shut up, you two. It wasn't that bad."
"I beg to differ!" Sora replied, eyes wide.
"I don't think Char should pilot the ship again," Goofy panted.
After a bumpy ride – with "bumpy" being the understatement of the century – through the Asteroid Sweep, Char had managed to land them on the new world without too much pain. It didn't help that Heartless and Nobodies had been coming at them in all directions, to the point where Char had nearly thrown the ship into one of the Heartless pirate vessels that had shot at them.
Donald had a look on his face that suggested he wholeheartedly agreed with the knight as he sighed. He casually glanced out the window, then gasped and jolted in his seat.
"What's going on, Donald?" Sora moved to follow the duck's gaze.
From what he could see, they had landed in what seemed to be an ominous dark cavern. Two paths wound from their position in different directions; one of the ornately-decorated doors had glowing emerald patterns winding about its rough-looking surface, while the other was a shade of blue that was slightly paler than Sora's eyes. A murky lake surrounded the area, and as they watched, a distinctly serpentine shape darted upward from the water before disappearing back down into its depths.
"Where are we?" Goofy gulped.
"Leave it to her to land us in the wrong place," Donald remarked, glaring pointedly at Char.
She just raised an eyebrow at him in return, not giving him the satisfaction of a biting retort. Eventually, the mage glanced away, still grumbling about Char's piloting ignorance.
Sora, however, noticed the flight of stairs along a third path, lit by the light from what he guessed was the Coliseum. "Hey, guys, we weren't too far off," he said, jerking a thumb toward the stairway. "It looks like the coliseum's just over there."
"See?" Char growled, staring at Donald in the same way he had looked at her. Donald only snorted indignantly in reply, pushed the button that allowed the hatch of the Gummi ship to open up, and headed toward the exit to the cavern.
"Well, we should probably get goin'!" Goofy chirped, setting off after the duck.
Sora looked at Char, who was now suddenly digging around in the drawers for something. He blinked in confusion. "Uh… what are you looking for?"
Char ignored him, and he was about to open his mouth to ask again when she abruptly straightened. "Found 'em," she announced, waving around something that glowed light blue against her fingers.
Sora tilted his head. "Found what?"
In response, she gave him a look that suggested this should be obvious. "The ethers and potions," she explained, her voice sounding more like she was asking a question. She opened her fist and showed him the small plastic vials. "I just thought that since we were almost out, we might need to go buy some more." She shivered. "I've got a bad feeling about this place."
Sora nodded in understanding. "Okay; that makes sense." He turned away and said over his shoulder, "Let's go."
Char didn't answer, just put the items in a pocket of her jacket and followed him outside.
The cave seemed even more frightening now than it had from within the Gummi ship. From within the Gummi ship, the eerie doors and slightly nerve-wracking lake that housed gods only knew what had been the only sources of fear. Without the windows blocking it, the two of them could properly hear the faint, goosebump-inducing howl of the gale that undoubtedly waited just beyond either of the doors. The general dankness of the air did not help matters; it conjured up a pale mist that hung around them like poison wisps of cloud.
Sora felt his skin crawl and shuddered to himself. "I see what you meant about a 'bad feeling'…"
At that moment, the almost-peace was suddenly shattered by a scream of fear. Donald and Goofy whirled toward it, their weapons of staff and shield appearing in their hands. Sora and Char summoned their own blades instinctively, with the crimson Hidden Dragon coming to the brunette.
A young woman with long brown hair was casting her eyes about frantically for help; a group of small shadow Heartless surrounded her, golden eyes gleaming. Sora raced toward them and they turned; upon seeing the Keyblade master, the Heartless squeaked and, like a pack of rats, scattered all at once.
"Hmph; cowards," Char muttered, coming to stand at Sora's side along with Donald and Goofy.
Sora leaned down and offered his hand to help the woman up, but she turned her face away. "Thanks, but… I'm fine," she muttered, standing up by herself.
She let her eyes take in the entire group, and Sora realized what a strange bunch they must seem like: a spell-casting duck, a shield-bearing dog, a boy wielding a key, and… well… Char. "And you're supposed to be…?" the brown-haired woman asked dryly, putting a hand on her hip and raising her eyebrows.
"I'm Sora," Sora said. "This is Donald, Goofy, and Char."
"We came to see Hercules," Donald added.
The woman's eyes widened. "You know Wonderboy?"
"Yeah! 'Cause we're heroes too!" the duck explained, puffing his chest out for emphasis.
"Junior heroes, Donald," Goofy reminded his friend, who growled in annoyance.
The woman smiled. "Looks like we have a friend in common. Name's Megara; call me Meg."
"How's Herc been, Meg?" asked Sora, and Char admired his immediate ability to use the woman's name right after learning it. The redhead had never been able to directly address acquaintances until getting to know them better, for some reason.
The strength of will seemed to go out of Meg at the mention of Hercules, and her shoulders slumped in a sigh. "He's been duking it out at the coliseum every day – you know, 'a hero's work is never done' and all that." She emphasized this last point by doing air quotes with her fingers, and continued bitterly. "He's about ready to drop, but he keeps on fighting. These opponents are bad news – directly from Hades himself."
"Hades?!" Sora, Donald, and Goofy blurted, eyes wide with horror and shock.
Char could understand their feelings. From what she'd seen of Sora's memories, the Lord of the Underworld had given the group a lot of trouble while they'd been in this world. And from what Char had read of Greek mythology, Hades was the type not to let his enemies get away unscathed.
Meg misunderstood the group's tone. "Yeah, he's the Lord of the Underworld," she explained. "I was actually just on my way to see him. Maybe I can get Hades to give Wonderboy a breather." Looking away, she murmured, "If anything ever happened to that kid…"
Char raised an eyebrow. She wasn't sure, but she swore she caught a tinge of pink on Meg's cheeks. "Heh. Sounds like you two are more than just friends."
Meg's head jerked up, her blush growing. "No!" she answered, a little too quickly.
Sora chuckled and crossed his arms. "Well, how about this? We'll go have a little talk with Hades. I'd hate for anything to happen on your way to see him." The fire that was starting to kindle in the brunette's eyes suggested that a "little talk" meant a little physical persuasion.
"Yeah, that's a great idea!" Goofy agreed.
"Well, it looks like you know what you're doing," Meg murmured, a small trace of doubt in her voice. "I guess… I'll take you all up on your little offer."
Sora grinned, thumping a fist against his chest like he had with Leon. "You can count on us." Behind him, Donald and Goofy nodded for emphasis.
The slight hint of a smile crossed Meg's face, then she continued more seriously, "But let's keep this little chat-with-Hades thing our little secret, okay?"
They all nodded, and Sora turned toward the blue-glowing door. He shivered. "We have to go in there?"
"Guess so," Char muttered. She met Sora's gaze with her own and shrugged. "But… isn't it for your friend?"
Her voice sounded brave enough, but Goofy noticed her hands tightening around the hilts of her swords. He decided not to let on that he'd seen her fear, and instead patted Sora on the shoulder. "She's right, Sora! Let's go."
Donald grunted in assent, but his eyes were wide as he stared at the door.
"Don't tell me you're scared, Donald?" Char asked, raising an eyebrow at the duck.
Donald seemed to realize that he was showing his fear so blatantly, and abruptly whirled to face Char. "Of course not!" he growled.
"O-kay," the redhead replied, her tone suggesting that she wasn't entirely convinced.
Donald simply snarled in reply and stomped toward the large door. He turned when he had reached it and glared impatiently at the others. "Are we going or what?"
They followed him and were about to open the door when something suddenly hit Sora. "Uh… how are we going to get this open?"
"Isn't that obvious?" When Sora didn't reply, Char sighed. "You've got a giant key…"
Sora's eyes lit up. "Oh yeah!" In a flash of light he had summoned the Star Seeker and pointed it toward the door. Char noted the change from the crimson Hidden Dragon Keyblade, but said nothing.
The door opened from the power of the Keyblade, and the four of them stepped inside. Sora looked back at Meg. "Are you coming too?"
Meg shook her head. "Nah, I think I'll leave this to you all. Wonderboy had another battle today."
"Checking to see if he's still alive?" asked Char. "Eh, understandable. Leave it to us."
Meg nodded gratefully, even as the door was closing behind the group.
"We don't even know where Hades is," Donald suddenly realized.
Char growled under her breath. "Damn, you're right. That might've been a good thing to ask her…"
"Well, we're not gonna know till we look around a little!" Goofy suggested.
He and Donald glanced at Sora for approval. Char thought that the two of them weren't really doing a good job of disproving the "Sora's lackeys" theory.
The brunette seemed to have the same thought, because he glanced briefly at Char before replying to his friends. "Yeah, you guys have the right idea." He looked around the area – cave-like, ominously lit by blue torches – and shivered. "But… I don't really like the idea of splitting up in a place this…" He groped for the right word. "…creepy."
"Perfectly understandable," Char murmured. "I mean, yeah, we've got our weapons, but who's to say that there won't be Heartless down here… or worse?"
Donald and Goofy were starting to look a little crestfallen. Sora tried to cheer them up. "B-but hey! We can still look around as long as we stay together, right?"
They looked up and nodded.
Before they set off on their lovely exploration of the tunnels, Char brought out some of the potions and ethers she had gotten from the Gummi ship and distributed the healing items among the four of them. "We still don't know what we're going to find down here," she explained. "So, we should be prepared."
Watching her, Sora couldn't help but wonder why Char, who as far as he knew had only been traveling dangerously for six days – unless her research had entailed that as well – had such foresight when planning these things: foresight which, he remembered guiltily, he had forsaken earlier in this journey. Sora thought of himself as a full-force kind of fighter, but now it seemed like everything would have to change sooner or later.
With a sigh, he took his place at the front of the group with the distinctive feeling that Char was undermining him.
They fought their way through the cavern and into the next area, which turned out to be a winding path that twisted off into two different directions. Donald sighed, blinking the sweat out of his eyes; for some reason, being in this cave was making him feel weaker by the minute. "Now which way do we go?"
Sora shrugged, though he was fighting the urge to shudder at the feeling of the shallow water lapping past his shoes. "I guess…"
He was suddenly cut off when Goofy gasped, pointing at something ahead of them. The others craned their necks to follow his gaze. Char couldn't keep back a muted gasp as a figure that was clad in black darted out in front of them, stopped for a moment and looked around. For a moment the person's hooded eyes landed on the group; then they whirled around and raced off in the other direction.
"The Organization!" Donald cried.
"Yeah," Sora agreed. He summoned his Keyblade. "Let's go."
As they walked down the path and into a more open area, their pace just a little more brisk than before, Sora looked at Char, who was keeping pace beside him. Was it just him, or did she look a bit more exhausted than before? And even so, she would be trying to hide it; she would be far ahead of him if that were the case, but as it was she was having trouble keeping up with Sora's stride.
Come to think of it, even Donald and Goofy seemed a little more drained than usual. Suddenly a pang went through his chest, and Sora put a hand to his heart. He couldn't keep back a groan of exhaustion.
"Sora, are you okay?" asked Donald, looking worried.
Sora looked at the group – even Char looked a little concerned – and knew he had to fake it, if only to get their morale back. "Yeah," he replied, grinning. "Must be the wound where that girl stabbed me."
Char eyed him doubtfully. "I… don't think that's just the wound." She looked at the others, stopping abruptly in her tracks so that Donald almost ran into her back. "You all feel it too, don't you? This… power drain that this area has?"
"Yeah," Goofy murmured. Donald stared wide-eyed at his comrade, as though not believing that Goofy could admit his weakness.
Then the duck winced. "Grr… yeah, I feel it."
Char raised an eyebrow at Sora. "Well, Key-boy? Are you just immune to this?"
Sora didn't know why, but a spark of anger flared within him at her condescending tone. "Of course not!" he snapped back. "I felt it just now, you know that!"
Donald and Goofy stared worriedly at him; even Char herself took a step back.
Sora sighed and ran his hand through his unruly spikes of brown hair. "Sorry. Just… this Underworld is making me a little nervous."
"Let's try to find Hades as quickly as we can, a-hyuck," Goofy suggested.
At that moment, however, the same flash of black caught Char's eye. She put her arm out as if to shield the others; at the same time, her swords appeared in her hands. "Watch out!"
The others got into their battle stances, fully ready to take down the Organization member if they had to. However, if anything, the cloaked figure all but ignored them; he raced past them, shouting, "Run! Run away!" as he went. A portal of darkness appeared in front of him and he promptly vanished into it.
Sora stared bemusedly at the place where the portal had been. "Okay…?" he muttered.
"Wow," Char said. "Uh… wonder where he went?"
"He's probably still here," Donald said.
"Yeah, even a Nobody has to feel the same energy drain that we do," Goofy added.
"You're probably right," Sora said. "He won't get too far."
The group entered the next chamber, in what was at first an effort not to get impaled on the stalactites and stalagmites that barred the way, but which was instantly solved when Char swung her swords at the rock formations and broke them in half. The cave was lit by a swirling emerald light that wavered against the wall, as though the light was reflecting off of water under the path. The narrow path led uphill, toward yet another giant door. They could hear what must have been a whirlpool purring far below, and shuddered.
"Hades doesn't skimp out on his ceremony, does he?" Char murmured, staring at the large door at the end of the pathway.
Donald shivered from behind the humans and stepped a little closer to Goofy, as though seeking comfort from his old friend.
"I'm scared too, Donald," the dog said.
Sora cast a glance toward the edge of the path and instantly looked away, shivering. That was something he definitely didn't want to think about.
He thought of the time that had given him his fear of falling a long way; it had been a windy, cloudy day, and Riku had dared him to get a paopu off the tree for Kairi. Sora had eagerly taken that dare. He had almost reached the top when a sudden gust of wind had nearly thrown him to the ground below. The experience had left him with embarrassment for himself and smugness from Riku.
And he had never gotten the paopu fruit for Kairi.
He shook his head to clear it and looked at the others. "Just… don't look down," was all he could manage.
Thankfully, no Heartless showed up, so there was no chance of being pushed backwards off the edge. The group trekked up the path in silence until they had reached the door. Sora pulled out his Keyblade and unlocked it, so that a flight of stairs going upward was revealed.
"Shall we?" he said extravagantly to the others. Donald and Goofy giggled, and Char cracked a smile.
"Save the enthusiasm for Hades," she reminded him.
"You're no fun," Donald said, once his laughter had subsided. Char just rolled her eyes.
They headed up the stairs and were met with a strange scene. On one side of the room stood Hades, his skin turned crimson in his fury and his normally cold-fire-colored hair ablaze in orange and yellow; on the other side stood a red-clad man, who looked like some kind of warrior, with his broadsword unsheathed, clearly ready to take down the lord of the dead. Between them stood a cauldron that swirled and bubbled. The unmistakable bulk of Pete was pressed against the wall, and the minion in question looked terrified.
Donald glanced at Pete, decided to ignore him, and turned back to Hades. "Hades!" he snarled, whipping out his staff.
The lord of the dead glanced over, and his eyes widened when he saw who was there. He turned back to his normal blue color in his confusion. "You again?"
Seeing his chance, the warrior across the room let out a roar and charged at him. The slice from his blade knocked Hades back.
"Fight!" the warrior shouted. He raised his sword above his head and brought it down on Hades' head, but Hades reached up and blocked it just in time. He threw the man across the room, using his hand on the broadsword as momentum. The warrior was trying to get up as Hades conjured a fireball in his hand and threw it.
Char gasped and made as if to block it, but Sora beat her to it. The fireball turned to ashes against the Star Seeker, and he looked frantically down at the red-clad man on the floor. "Get up," he muttered worriedly.
Donald, Goofy, and Char ran forward to help out, but found that their blows couldn't even touch the lord of the Underworld. Char struck out in a spinning motion with her swords, but Hades just chuckled and darted easily out of the way. Donald raised his staff to cast a few spells and found that only a few sparks shot out; Goofy himself could barely even hold up his shield.
"What the hell's going on here?" Char grunted, falling to one knee but managing to hold herself up with one sword.
Even Sora felt the now-familiar pangs of exhaustion, and put a hand to his forehead. "I feel kinda funny…"
Hades laughed. "See, that's the thing! In this place, heroes are zeroes – comes with the territory."
Char raised her head and glared at Hades. "We're not finished yet!"
"But that's the problem, Red." Char snarled at the pejorative. Hades gave them all a sharp-toothed grin as he made another fireball appear in his hand. "I think you are."
He shot the fireball at Char. Sora gasped and tried to rush over to help, but found he couldn't even move and clenched his teeth against the pain. Char herself could only put out the sword in her free hand and hope against hope that that would block it.
But the warrior leaped forward just in time, his broadsword slicing the fireball and causing it to vanish. Char stared at him in shock. What kind of person can just get rid of fire with his sword?!
As the ashes from the fireball rained down around them, the man glanced at Char. "Are you all right?"
Char realized she was gaping, and quickly closed her mouth. "Yeah, I'm fine."
He nodded and looked at Sora. "Go, now!"
"But I've gotta talk to Hades!" Sora protested, even though his muscles were screaming at him to listen.
Hades put his fingers in his ears mockingly. "I'm sorry – what was that?"
"We can't fight him here," the man grunted, blocking another one of Hades' blows. "We have to go! Now!"
Sora stared at him, and then nodded, following the warrior out the door just as one of the fireballs hit the ground where he had been.
The five of them raced down the stairs, and Donald and Goofy quickly pushed the door closed. Sora looked around, leaning over and putting his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. "Think we lost him?"
The warrior narrowed his single eye. "Don't count on it."
Sora looked up, eyes widening. "Huh?"
He was about to ask more when suddenly he heard an all-too-familiar sound. He turned and saw Hades standing behind him, smirking. "Leaving so soon?" he asked casually. He snapped his fingers, causing Heartless to appear all around him – some that resembled flowers, and some that were the dogs that had attacked Meg earlier.
"So we are. What's it to you?" Char growled, staggering to her feet and putting her swords out.
"We don't have time for this," the red-clad man said to Char. "Don't taunt him – we have to leave!"
"I'd say he's got the right idea," Donald muttered, and raced down the path. He let out a yelp as more Heartless appeared, surrounding him. However, the warrior sliced through all the Heartless in a single bound.
The five of them fought their way down the passageway, with Donald and Goofy put on healing duty so that they could conserve their energy. As for Sora, Char, and the still anonymous man, they were hacking and slashing through the mass of squealing Heartless as quickly as their blades could move. At one point Char nearly got buried completely under a mass of the dog Heartless, but Sora had ripped them apart just in time.
Hades was not idle, though: even now he was wreathing himself in fire, rendering all their attacks against him useless. The walls of the cave glowed with the shadows of the fireballs Hades kept throwing at them all.
"Damn it," Char finally snarled, putting her hand against the door at the bottom of the path. "We're almost there…"
She turned around.
Sora had his back to Hades, his Keyblade making quick work of a Heartless that had gotten in his way. Behind him, the lord of the dead was grinning as he readied another fireball, but a fireball unlike the others: this fireball was bluish-white, the hottest of all; the kind that actually hurt when it hit; the kind that left the scar of a burn.
And Xehanort turned around and stared at her – pleadingly? resignedly? – even as the Heartless were heading hungrily toward him.
Why aren't you getting out of the way? she screamed silently. Get out of the way!
But fear had glued her mouth shut, and she couldn't do anything as the Heartless set upon Xehanort; ripping that coat that he had always kept so clean to blood-clotted ribbons; tearing at his exposed throat and arms; until a glowing pink heart floated off into the distance and all that remained was an empty shell.
Get out of the way…
No.
Before Char realized what she was doing, she had leaped forward and pushed Sora out of the way.
The fireball barely grazed the side of her leg, but it was enough. She snarled in pain and fell to her knees, the sword in her free hand flying out of her hand and disappearing. The rational part of her mind noted that it would reappear, and so she didn't have to worry about losing her weapon in this stupidly impulsive rescue attempt –
The flash of white-hot agony shot through her with the force of a blade ripping through flesh, and it might as well have been.
Damn Hades…
And then she laughed, because it was such an obvious statement. Damn Hades… Underworld… haha.
But the laugh came out sounding more like a strangled cry, and for all intents and purposes, it might have been.
Time distorted with the pain, and she thought she felt the leather of someone's gloved hand – Sora? the warrior? Gods, she didn't even care anymore; just get out of here, Sora, we can't stay here any longer – dragging her through the doorway into the cave that had been blocked by the formations, and she was aware of Sora shouting at her to wake up, to say something.
Sora, I'm okay, she wanted to say, I'm fine, let's get going, you have to help Hercules, and don't you have Kairi to protect? You don't need to worry about me; it's the other way around, you know that…
But all these thoughts petered off into the murky bubble that her mind had become, and she knew the soft pull of sweet unconsciousness taking her hand, with the temptation of relief from this fiery agony.
She yielded to that temptation.
Me: I like that last part D:
Char: Well I don't!
Me: You don't exist. Your opinion doesn't matter.
Char: ...damn you...