I hate leaving people out of the loop, so I'll tell you now. I've already made small preparations for the next game, and started drawing out some ideas. Check it out!

www[dot]swirl3y[dot]deviantart[dot]com/art/The-other-Marie-275110266

Marie's casual wear:

www[dot]swirl3y[dot]deviantart[dot]com/art/I-bring-you-peace-214094964?q=gallery%3Aswirl3y%2F29599925&qo=5

Chapter Twenty-Two
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Marie, you're amazing!

We made it back to the entrance of the underworld, but there was a door blocking us from heading towards the coliseum. On our way here, I held onto Ryan, who was looking even worse by the minute. Sora looked up, and noticed a lock on the door. Auron asked him if his keyblade could open it, and Sora agreed.

However, as luck has it, a huge looking, three-headed dog came running out from the inner cave. I groaned in annoyance, and Auron told us to hurry. I stood there in shock, was he going to fight the monster by himself? Sora stepped in, and told us to hurry instead. I raised my eyebrow, but then I looked over to Ryan. If I don't get him upstairs, there's no telling what could happen. I looked down and sighed, and decided with what my brain told me to do.

"If it gets too much, just run!" I said as I started running towards the door. Sora unlocked it as I ran, and both Donald and Goofy followed along with Ryan. A barrier appeared behind us, and Donald placed Ryan on the floor and started to worry. I looked at him and Goofy, and nodded, "you guys stay here and support Sora while I get Ryan some help," I said as I pointed to my cousin. They agreed instantly, and stayed behind.

I ran over to Ryan, who was sitting down and clutching his chest. I flung his arm around my shoulders, and got him up slowly. He grunted, and we started walking fast towards the coliseum.

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As soon as we reached upstairs, we walked across the entrance, and entered. We saw Meg, who seemed to be waiting for someone, most likely Hercules. She saw us walking, and gasped, as she came to help me. "What happened," she asked.

"We're going to need another plan to make Hades stop," I said as we sat Ryan down on one of the pedestals. "But I'll explain it soon, let me just take care of him."

Meg stood there a little dumbfounded, but I didn't expect her to take it all in at once. while she stood there, I healed Ryan with my spells. When he still wasn't breathing properly, I was getting really on edge. Is there something that I'm missing?

"Ryan, if there's something wrong with you, just tell me," I said, with a concern yet strict tone. He shook his head, while still breathing inadequately. I groaned, and tried healing again. He was still having trouble, and I got more than annoyed at this. "Ryan, please! You could get in serious trouble if you know something and won't tell me!"

He groaned in return, and muttered something, "….A…..an….anemia…"

I eyes widened, Anemia? That was an illness, wasn't it? if so, then Ryan needs some herbs! I got up, and looked at Meg, "Do you have any herbs, like cherries?"

She looked around, and walked towards somewhere. It was silent for a minute, but then she came back with some cherries. I was surprised to see them, actually, but I guess there are some things that are common in all of the worlds. I took the cherries, and I asked if she had a cup of water. She went back wherever she needed to go, and I practically jammed the cherries down Ryan's throat.

Meg came back with the water, and handed it to me. I thanked her, and gave the water to Ryan. He gulped it down, and his breathing was starting to get better. All he needed now was rest, and I wasn't moving until he got it.

"Why…cherries?" he asked, still breathing heavily. I looked at him, and then looked towards where Meg was. She was watching Hercules, and I sighed.

"I went to school in a world called Twilight Town, and I took a health class," I replied. "The book they gave us mentioned something about iron-deficiency anemia, and I just assumed you had that, so I asked for cherries, a fruit that's kind of rich in vitamin C."

"I'm diagnosed with it, but you don't know how many problems I have with it," he said, looking away from me. I finally understood him when he said his parents didn't let him do anything—they were just concerned for their son, which is totally understandable. However, I could also understand why he felt like he was a special case or something because of his illness.

"I'm sorry if I've been treating you different, but it was because you're the only family member I have with me at the moment," I said, placing my hands on my knees. "I've lost a lot of people growing up…my guardian, my friends, and a woman who I called "sis" most of the time. It's harder knowing that I had forgotten all of that, too."

"So you don't want the same fate to happen to me, huh?" he said. I dropped my shoulders as I sighed, and nodded. I do have a bad history of having people disappear on me, and I don't want the same to happen to actual family. I looked around, and noticed Meg still watching Hercules. I know she likes him, but she's one of those girls who won't just admit easily. Still, it's still very cute how she cares for him on the sidelines. I'm pretty curious to see how he's doing out there, though.

As I let Ryan catch a breath or two, I got up and walked over to Meg. She didn't pay attention, and still looked at Hercules. I watched him as well, and honestly, he didn't look bad. Maybe Meg was just too concerned for the guy. I looked at her, and she was very concerned. "You know, Hercules doesn't look so bad," I said.

"He's hiding it well," she said, not bothering to look at me, "But I know he's about to cave if we don't do something."

"I'm sure we will," I assured her.

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Sora

Sora defeated one of the heads of Cerberus, and jumped back down to attack the last one. He was grateful to have Auron by his side, since the monster was strong. He looked behind him, and noticed that Donald and Goofy were still there. He was glad that they stuck around, but he would have liked it a little more if they were with Marie. Somehow, something told him that something was going to happen. The way she got up so fast after the use of her power seemed unreal, and he was a bit concerned about it. He did notice that her power seemed to have gotten stronger when she used it then.

As he kept fighting, Auron weakened the last remaining head, and Sora came in with the finishing blow. The beast growled, and both Sora and Auron ran for the exit. As Donald and Goofy hurried them up, they closed the door when they were on the safe side. Cerberus groaned in pain as he hit the door, trying to chase after the two warriors. Sora stuck his tongue out at the dog, and as he turned around, he noticed that Auron had left.

"Gawrsh, where did he go?" asked Goofy. Sora shook his head; that man could take care of himself. He was more worried about Marie, and he wanted to talk to Meg. He told the others about it, and they agreed. They headed off into the coliseum, leaving the dog to groan in pain yet again.

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Marie

Hercules finished another fight, and he walked in after. We said hello to each other, and then he asked about Sora. I had to come up with a lie to help Meg out, and I simply told him that Sora and the others were coming soon. Hercules got up, and I looked very closely at him; he did look somewhat fatigued, and maybe to Meg that meant something serious. Hercules is a bonafide hero, so maybe he was about to give in.

He left for the arena again, and he waved bye to the both of us. I waved, and Meg still looked worried. I looked over to Ryan, and he was feeling much better. I was glad for that health class, or else I would've been stuck with a very sick cousin. He was taking it easy on the pedestal, looking at a trophy that Sora and the other two won last year. I remember sitting on the sidelines…until Sephiroth came out of nowhere. All I was doing was just taking out the gunk from under my nails!

I heard the jingling noise from my keychain, and then I remembered my necklace that I lost back at Mulan's world. I sighed, and touched my collar—I really miss that necklace. I wonder if I can go and look for it after we've done our business, that necklace means something to me, but I just don't know yet.

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Hades

"Let me see if I got this right..," said Hades, tapping his nails on handle of his throne. "Those brat's keyblades work on any lock?"

"That's right!" replied Pete, sounding very proud. Hades chuckled and went on into explaining about an awesome underdrome that he had underground. He talked about it so highly that he regarded the Olympic coliseum as a 'kiddie pool'. Pete told Hades that the Olympic coliseum was the place that he wanted to put Hercules winning streak to an end, but Hades drowned his spirits by telling him Zeus locked it up tight.

Pete began to think, but then he gasped as he looked at Hades. He chuckled, and nodded his head. "Bingo! If we swipe the girl and her keyblade, we hit two birds with one stone. You get the girl, and I get my underdrome!"

Pete gulped, and mentioned one minor fault, "hate to tell ya, but that key is kind of particular. It won't work for just anybody, and that kid ain't no pushover."

"Change of plans, then," replied Hades. "We'll just call for a woman's touch."

Pete stared as Hades brought out a miniature scale of Megara. He personally didn't care about what Hades did, just so long as he completed his two goals: spread the heartless around the world, and kidnap Marie. Maleficent was still sore about not gaining the power that she had within herself, and decided that this time, she was going to get Marie and her powers. Of course, if Pete had known about Marie in the first place, he could've kidnapped her while they were in twilight town.

However, he still had time.

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Marie

I sat down and twiddled with my thumbs, and I suddenly heard Meg shudder. I looked over to her, and she was warming herself up. I raised my eyebrow, was it getting cold or something? I looked over to Ryan, who was actually taking a nap. I wasn't angry with him, because his condition took a lot out of him. I know now not to treat him differently because of his illness, but if it gets too bad I have to worry. I also need to let Sora and the others know about it, too, in case I'm not there.

Hercules came back from the arena, and he was looking worse by the minute. At this point, it's very obvious, and even I was starting to worry. He talked to Meg for a minute, and then looked towards Ryan. "I heard what happened, is he alright?"

"Yeah, he's just resting up," I replied. Meg went on saying why he couldn't do the same, and I felt like I was watching a married couple fight or something…which was very awkward. Eventually, Hercules decided to head outside, and I decided to stay behind and watch out for Ryan.

As soon as they left, though, I heard a whooshing noise. I popped my head up, and looked around. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but then I saw something shine near the corridor that leads to the arena. I looked around, just in case someone was here, and I got up. Hercules, and Meg would be coming back soon, and I'm just checking out what that shine is. I walked slowly towards the corridor, and I felt a slow wind creep up on my arms. As I walked past the corridor, I raised my eyebrow, and looked around.

Somehow, I was teleported back into the underworld….

Sorry for the late update, hurrz.

Enjoy your week, everyone!

Shadow 1n2:

I love the Shrek version; I have it on my ipod! For some reason, I see Aura fighting when I hear the Shrek version. Haha, yeah! I liked Yuna in Final Fantasy X, and a lot better in FFX-2. I think Marie is more like Yuna in FFX-2, though. I'm actually really interested in how he plays out, and why he's calling himself Lea instead of Axel. And true, Aura can't help but curse. XD "infected" is still the same, lol. However, I guess whatever floats people's boats, right? Im actually curious why she is there, and what her connection to everything is. What if she becomes an infected in the end? =O

Lvl-ZeR0:

You actually don't have to worry about that. I don't get it every month, and when I do it's very minimal. I'll just tell you when I do get it, though, which won't be for a couple a months I think. Trust me, my guy friends literally poke me and ask when it's the time just so they can draw pictures in red and pretend I have cooties. XD I love Auron! It just sucks he has to go in the end of FFX, but his voice is heard in the end of FFX-2, telling Yuna not to give up! That's actually happened to me before. I laughed so hard and I died in Final Fantasy 9…I was all like, BWAAHAHAHAHA! *dies* …Aw, shoot.

grapejuice101:

Ryan will be the funny guy in the story, so expect more funny stuff. He's also a curser, so you'll see him curse a lot. Although they just met, Marie has always wanted to go back to her family. They're the number one thing in her life that's more important to her than Sora. XD I'll be sure to write more about it, but I think later on in the game. And oh yes, expect a double kidnapping! …Sorta.

Dracula X:

You believe that? Lol, well with the things that's happened in my life, I wouldn't be surprised if it did happen.

SisterOfScarletDevil:

Haha! Oh man, he won't want to be apart from Ariel! Isn't it awesome? I love all the versions of it. XD

dracula-key:

Lol, aw Aura. She just wants to forget. XD I actually like Charlie sheen to a degree, and he's very funny, so thank you! And well, I've had the stomach flu, flu and now I'm just finishing up with a cold, but I'm glad for the words, thank you!

starlightmint72:

Yeah, it is a fun game, and it's the first KH game where I've gotten to lvl 100 and beaten Sephiroth. XD Ryan will be important later on in the game; I guess you could say he's the trigger for a lot of things with Marie. In this chapter, he was the trigger for Marie unleashing a bit of her power. I assure you though, he'll be important. Thank you! I'll end up drawing a picture with Marie and Ryan.

TheEpicBlueNinja:

I love that song. XD yeah, it's incredibly awesome! You can do a lot of crazy stuff, but the story of the game is short. I hope they make it longer in the next installment. Lol, yeah, Ryan is horrible with names, but eventually they'll come back to him. I know he'll mention Aura's name somewhere in the story.