Marie's casual wear:

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

Marie in 3D:

www[dot]swirl3y[dot]deviantart[dot]om/art/3D-version-of-Marie-Final-280424908

A\N:
It's someone's birthday today~ Happy Birthday!

Chapter Twenty-Six
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Don't be such a child!

As we reached the entrance to the underworld, I bent down to catch my breath. We ran without a break, and I wasn't the best runner. Plus, running from the cave to the entrance is a long run, and I'm not that athletic to begin with. As soon as I caught my breath though, we heard Hades' voice. I sighed in annoyance, there's just no running from this creep.

"Well, looks like you really did it this time," he said as he approached us. Sora argued with him, and then came in Hercules. Hades, being the evil under lord that he is, wasn't at all offended with what the guys said to him. Instead, he walked a little ahead, with his finger on his chin. "Hey, maybe you should check on that Hydra you neglected to finish off. I hear things are really falling apart up there, champ."

Hades disappeared in a ball of smoke, and the moment he did I started panicking. Ryan's up there with Meg! I heard Sora shout Hades' name, but I was already running to the coliseum. I heard Hercules' footsteps not far behind me, and in fact, he outran me, but I was still running! When I reached the doors to the coliseum, I saw Hercules fall to his knees. I looked around the floor and noticed huge chunks of stone and pebbles, and before I could even look up, I felt Sora grab me as he pushed us to the side.

We both fell to the floor, but when I looked up; I noticed two big rocks covered the area I had been standing in. Sora got up, and offered his hand to me. I took it and he helped me up. "Thanks a lot Sora. I was almost squished!" I said, still looking at the rocks.

"Just glad you're safe." He smiled, and I returned it. After what I would call saving my life, I really had to owe him back…somehow. We heard a loud screech, and I looked up to see a long necked monster. Ew, is that the 'Hydra' Hades' was talking about?

After looking at the monster, I saw Phil, Meg and Pegasus run to Hercules side. When I looked back at the door, I noticed Ryan wasn't with them. I bite my lower lip, where is he? Sora, Donald and Goofy walked over to Hercules, but I stayed behind. I was worried about Ryan.

"Hades was right. I'm just a…a washout." Hercules punched the floor, and everyone frowned. Phil tried encouraging him, and even Sora tried, but it was no use. My eyes widened when Hercules' glow disappeared—like all the energy disappeared from him. Meg helped him up, and carried him off the fighting scene. I ran up to her, and asked where Ryan was.

"He said he was going back home, but wanted to take a nap first," she said as she brought Hercules away from the scene. "So he said he was going back to the ship or something if you asked."

Well, that's a relief. It didn't really make me happy, since he was probably offended or hurt from what I probably said. I sighed, and looked back at Sora, Donald and Goofy. They were getting ready to fight, and I willed my keyblade. I never liked fighting, but I don't want my friends hurt. I ran up to them, and stood my ground. Phil came in after, and looked like he was ready to fight, too. "Don't suppose you got room?" he asked.

"We're in, too." Meg, along with Pegasus, joined in as well. With all of us fighting, I hope Hercules can have the will to fight. Not because he's a hero, but to protect the things he loves most. As we all got into position, the Hydra screeched, and swung it's head around. We all managed to dodge it, but then it swung its tail at us. I barely jumped away from it, and I fell afterwards. Sora looked at me and I waved it off, I can't let them worry.

Sora attacked the hydra's foot, and it swung it's tail again. This time I was able to dodge it, and I used one of my spells. "Fire!" I shouted. The hydra screeched again, and it was annoying me already.

Phil shouted saying to slice it's neck, and Sora did just that. It wasn't that hard, and I was already smiling. As I sighed, I noticed the hydra dropped it's head to the ground. I walked over to Sora and the others, but then I heard the floor tremble. Uh oh…, don't tell me it's not dead yet!

I raised my guard, and when two heads popped out from the corner of the area, I jumped. Phil shouted again, and we looked at him. "Get on Hydra's back!" he shouted.

We all nodded at Sora, and he got on the hydra's back. We looked up, and saw Phil throw him one of the training jugs. He threw it up in the air and Sora jumped up while hitting the jug down towards hydra's back. It shouted in pain, and the two heads popping out from the sand fainted. This gave us an advantage, so Donald, Goofy and I attacked the heads while they were unconscious. It's a bit of a cowards move, but that couldn't be helped.

Sora and Goofy dealt with one of the heads, while Donald and I handled the other. it didn't take too long, since they were unconscious, and soon enough we heard one of the heads screech. With a few more hits and spells, Donald and I also managed to take out the other head. It screeched, and ducked back into the hole.

As soon as I could say anything though, the Hydra popped back up with six heads! Man, this fight is getting harder by the minute. We dodged some tail swinging, and I ran around just trying to avoid some of the dark smoky spells this thing had. Donald fired some spells and Goofy blocked some of the attacks that Hydra was sprucing up. After a while, we heard a neighing noise and saw Pegasus appear. He landed and whined for one of us to get on his back, and Sora offered. He flew around the multiple heads and Sora attacked each with Pegasus' help.

When they came back down Pegasus fled the scene, and Sora ran towards us. He looked over to Goofy, and they both nodded. Sora went into one of his forms, and started to attack Hydra with his two keyblades. Donald and I stayed behind offering back up with our magic. Donald mostly dealt with offensive while I focused on healing everyone. When one of the heads came dangerously close to hitting both Donald and I, I gasped. While placing the keyblade in front of me, I noticed a white light appearing in front of Donald and I. The head bounced off it, and I looked around. The shield… the shield that protected me back in Hollow Bastion came up again. It disappeared, and I looked over to Donald, who had thanked me.

I was still unsure of how these powers worked, and I wasn't sure of it was my own power, or the power of my clothes. Sora mentioned that my power activated back down at the underworld, but I passed out after. Even before then, my forehead started burning up when I warned Donald back at Beast's castle. It was obvious, actually. My own powers appeared when my forehead burned. I would figure this out after, and right now, I needed to concentrate on the fight. I looked over to Sora, who was still fighting the heads, and continued my spell casting. Sora returned to normal, and Goofy came back to us. Pegasus' came back in for a second fly around the heads, and Sora jumped on his back. They flew around the heads, and with each strike, they were getting dizzy. With the final strike to the last head, the Hydra leaned back and fell unconscious.

"Let's do it!" shouted Donald. Shouting for me to hit the it's belly while Goofy and Donald offered back up. I complied with his order, and Goofy and I ran towards the belly. I attacked it while Goofy rushed towards it with his shield. Donald fired a round of spells, and with a final screech, the Hydra limped over and finally gave in. Sora jumped down from Pegasus and wiped off the sweat as he stared at the Hydra.

Meg and Pegasus ran towards Hercules, who was safely sitting away from the fight. We walked over as well, and Hercules still looked down. "I let you down. I'm just…no use."

"Even a god gets exhausted," Meg said, trying to comfort Hercules, and Sora agreed. Goofy and I looked around, and noticed how the gym was in ruins.

"There won't be any games for a while, anyway," Goofy said as he looked back at Hercules. I looked down at the floor, and sighed. I excused myself from the chat, and wished Hercules, Meg and Phil, who was walking towards us the best.

I wanted to know what the deal was with Ryan.

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Sora

As Marie left the scene, Sora looked down. He could tell that she was somewhere else mentally, and he felt bad. In some cases he felt like she would give up and ask to go home and that really bothered him. Even though Marie wanted to help as many people as she could, she was getting tired of fighting. He looked back over to Hercules and the others, and gave them all a smile.

"Well, we should be going, too," he said as he looked over to Hercules and Meg. Meg got up, and wished them the best, and that she owed them for having them help. It was nothing, and Sora only requested them to tell them whether there were heartless or if Hades started trouble.

"You guys should stay longer next time!" Phil said, as he looked at the three junior heroes. "We need to catch up on some serious training!"

Sora scratched the back of his nervously, but nonetheless agreed to it. As they were about to leave, Sora stopped in his tracks and looked back at Hercules. He stuck his hands into his pocket, and turned back. "I almost forgot to give you the Olympus stone!"

As he took it out and gave it to Hercules, it began to glow, and Sora looked back at Donald and Goofy as he smirked. He knew where this was going. The stone hovered above them all, and Sora took out his keyblade. A pillar of light appeared, and the stone revealed the keyhole of the Olympus Coliseum. A ray of light appeared from Sora's keyblade, and headed straight to the keyhole. With the noise of it locking, Sora willed his keyblade after the keyhole disappeared.

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Maleficent

"And where is everyone else?" she asked, looking out into the window of the tower she resided. Pete replied saying that they probably had other matters to deal with. Maleficent grew furious, and was offended at how everyone would miss her return. Pete explained about organization XIII, but she still wasn't interested.

"Well that runt with the keyblade has been causing trouble, too you know," he said. Maleficent finally turned around from the window, and raised her eyebrow. "Oh, has he? I suppose that could explain your failure to bring back the girl."

"Why is she so important again?" he asked, a little afraid that he even asked it. Maleficent turned around again, and stared out into the window. "I still haven't forgotten about her position. She holds the key to controlling Kingdom Hearts."

"But I thought the little runt was the only one able to open it?" he asked again.

"Yes, that is correct, but the girl is connected to it's powers. Her forehead glows and it's not natural." Maleficent chuckled, and turned around again. "In the meantime, you better tell me what I've missed during my absence."

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Marie

I walked towards the dormitories of the ship, and looked around for Ryan. When I heard the noise of the springs coming from a bed, I looked in the direction of a room next to mine. I knocked on the door, and I heard Ryan's voice signaling for me to come in. when I did, I saw him relaxing on his bed, well Goofy's bed, as he bit his nails.

"Did Goofy give you his room?" I asked as I walked in. everything seemed pretty….green. It was very Goofy, to say the least. Ryan grunted as he got up and sat on his bed. He scratched his neck, and looked up at me.

"Yeah, he's bunking with Donald," he said as he continued to bite his nails. "So, when the others come I'll see if I can ask to go home."

"Are you really gonna go?" I asked, feeling a bit guilty about it. "Is it because what I said?"

"Well, you said you didn't want me around, so….yeah," he replied. I sighed, and walked further into his room. I leaned against the chair that was there, and I looked down. Maybe it is best that he left, I mean, that way I wouldn't have to worry about him. However…he can't go home. If we can't go home, how is he going to do it?

"I think you should go home, only…we can't take you there," I said as I looked at him. I continued. "If we could go back home, I would dive at the chance, but somehow the ship just can't find Destiny Islands."

"Okay, well I was—"

"But we can leave you at Hollow Bastion. I'm sure Yuffie and Aerith won't mind taking care of you," I said as I looked back down. I heard Ryan get up, and I looked at him.

"Geez, you suck. I was trying to make you feel guilty so you wouldn't send me home, but you're so intent on sending me back," he replied. I looked at him with a blank face at first, and then I took a deep breath. He really is a child…

"Fine, you can stay," I said while I stood straight. I wasn't going to let him off the hook though. "But if I think that something is too dangerous, you are going back to the ship."

"But—"

"No buts!" I said with a stern and serious tone. He sighed, and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Man, you're worse than my mom…," I heard him mumble.

I sighed, and walked past him. I heard him follow me behind, and I couldn't help but sigh again. I was starting to get a headache, and I was feeling grumpy. Maybe I'm over-worrying or something. As I walked into the main control room, Sora, Donald and Goofy were already there. "Everything okay?" he asked.

I gave him a weak smile, and told him I was fine. I think I just needed to sleep, nap, or something! I looked over to the trio, and I gave a weary smile. "Is it alright if I can sleep for a while, or until we reach the next world?"

"…Are you sure you're okay?" I heard Sora ask again. He looked at me with a concern look, and I waved it off, telling them I was just really tired. Donald and Goofy agreed and told me to rest up, and Sora nodded slowly. I kinda felt like he was analyzing me, and I felt the need to cover myself with my arms…though, I didn't since it would just cause them to think weirdly. I walked back to my room, and I closed the door while leaning on it afterwards. I looked over to my mirror, and saw the photo of my dad leaning from it.

I walked over to it, and sat down on the chair near it. I continued to stare at it, and a smile slowly crept on my face. The face that he had was very calm, and completely full of happiness. I want to look like that again.

"I wish I could look as happy as you," I said, knowing that he wouldn't hear me. There was this tiny flame of hope that lingered in my heart and that was the hope of finding my parents—even if I'm only able to find one of them. If that were the case, I'm kinda hoping it'd be this man, just because he looks so happy.

I got up and walked over to my bed, and lied down. I grabbed a pillow and held it in my arms as I continued to stare at the photo. I just hope…one day.

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Dante

"I'd only be truly happy if I could be the father that you deserve," Dante replied as he watched Marie. It wasn't fair that he had to be in this type of situation. He sighed, and turned off the screen. I leaned back on the chair and crossed his arms as he stared towards the ceiling. He hadn't heard from Stella since that little fight, and she kept to herself in the resting room. He'd been sleeping in the control room since then.

He wanted to apologize, but at the same, he didn't. He stood on his ground when he said that she was selfish, but he never complained about it. The fact that he was married to the woman of his dreams clouded his view on her. Young love at it's finest, he thought. Now that they were fifteen years older, he had a lot of time to think. Of course, he was no saint either. He killed someone rather close, and did it to protect what he loved the most: Stella. She never got her hands dirty, and it was always him. He realized that, but decided not to go any further with it.

He sighed once more, and continued to stare at the ceiling.

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Aura

She stood on top of the clock tower, and looked at the town. It was particularly windy, so it often made her hair messy. She looked back down to where she would sit with Axel and Roxas, and smiled. No longer did the memories make her sad or angry, instead, she was embracing those memories.

She found herself being somewhat happy, and wasn't always walking around with a scowl on her face. Of course, this was also because she hadn't seen or thought about Axel and Roxas. She knew that if she ever saw Axel, the feeling of sudden happiness would go away, and she wanted to appreciate the feeling a little longer.

Not even Organization XIII had been causing her problems with Marie. She wasn't sure if it was because of Riku, or that fact that she actually was letting go of her past. Either way, deep down within her mind, she still wanted to see Roxas, but the thought didn't make her as angry or sad. She was glad.

She looked over the town, and closed her eyes. She took in a deep breath, and welcomed the fresh air as a sign of change.

HAPPPPYYYY BIIRRTTHHHDDAAAAYYY!

Shadow 1n2:
Sora and Demyx are full of fail and awesome-ness all at the same time. XD Haha, Axel wouldn't be enemies with Sora if he was the leader, he'd just curse and have parties all day. XD Aw, I didn't know he passed away. I also hope the new V.A does a good job! Oh man, you are lucky! I wish my birthday was between those two…Well, I love Pisces people, they're really outgoing and friendly!

Yes, I have a valentine but we took a break during the day so I spent it playing with my niece and watching sappy movies with my friend. XD

Lvl-ZeR0:
:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

Thank you, kind sir! Hmm, well I love the red ones. Heh.

Ha, she better! But then again, evil twins are kinda, you know, evil, so I don't think she would want one to begin with lol. XD

grapejuice101:
Sorry for the late update and yes you are right! She is starting to remember! Let's hope for the rest, and think of the best!

starlightmint72:
Yeaaah, it is a major flaw she has, and she's also kind of bossy and a little manipulative. Hehe, yes she is! It was the story that Ryan talked about that made it so, but I failed to address it. OTL. Yeeeah, I've been busy with filling out forms and preparing for an entrance exam that I have next Thursday for College. DX

Dracula X:
Yes, she is! I did see that episode, and I'm neutral on the original trilogy. They haven't been playing it for a while on the channel they're supposed to play it on over here, so I'm a little behind on some sci-fi. DX

Trubeque:
Well, I can say I had a crappy one since I had no one to hug or love [and the fact that we took a break right before Valentines] but I had fun with my other non-romantic stuff. Sore throat kills, not sucks! Especially when they eventually turn into dry coughs that just feel like a knife is stabbing your throat. DX

MoonDancer89:
Thank youuu!

dracula-key:
Haha, yeah! Let's hope she gets it back soon. XD Oh yeah, but I'm talking about the small looking starfish. I can just picture him stick onto Marie and complain about not being something cooler like a shark or a whale. Muahahaha.

XxKeyOfHeartxX :
Halloo! And thank you! Riku is the man! Hoot hoot hoot! And well, you'll be seeing more of that! Sometime…later…in the chapter.