Author's Note: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or anything affiliated with it. The rights to it belong solely to their respective owners.
Ch.11 Training
We arrived at Olympus Coliseum and opened the large set of doors, greeted by a huge coliseum with massive statues of warriors on either side. I smiled. "Now this brings back memories!" I said. "Gawrsh, how long has it been since you were last here, Dexal?" Goofy asked. "About ten years," I replied. "Ten years?! How old are you?" Donald asked me. Not looking at him, I charged a Thunder spell in the palm of my hand before shooting it at him, blasting his hat off his head. "Waak! Hey!" he yelled, grabbing it and brushing dirt off. "My age is of no worry to you. I'm strong and can wield a Keyblade. That's all you need to know," I said, before walking forward. Sora and Goofy looked at each other before shrugging, while Donald grumbled behind.
The massive doors opened with little effort, and inside was the vestibule. Torches burned around the corners while the sides had shelves built-in to hold trophies. A huge pedestal stood the side, while next to the door was a rule board. Standing on a pedestal in front of it, writing, was a satyr. The lower half of his very short body was that of a brown-red goat, while the upper half was a slightly chubby man with no shirt and a pair of horns on his head. I smiled wider and called "Phil!" "Huh, who are you? How do you know my name?" he asked, turning around to look at me. I frowned. "Don't you remember? It's me, Dexal. You know, the guy that nearly beat the games on his first try?" I prompted.
He looked at me for a moment, thinking back, until his eyes widened and he smiled. "Hey, Dexal! Man, has it been a long time since I've seen you!" he said, jumping down and walking over. "You don't look like you've changed a bit!" he said. "Neither have you. How's Hercules? He become a hero yet?" I asked. Phil snorted. "Done that and more. Let me tell you some of the things he's had to fight. Things that would have put those old monster, Unversed, to shame," he told me. I raised an eyebrow. Monsters that could top the Unversed? Just how strong had Hercules gotten?
It was at that moment that Sora said "Um…" and I remembered that he and the others were still there. Phil noticed them too, and said "Oh, and who are these guys? Some friends of yours?" I nodded. "Yeah. This is Sora, Donald, and Goofy," I said, gesturing to each of them in turn. Phil looked at each of them closely, and said "Hmph. They sure don't look like heroes. You sure they're the kind of guys that can take the Coliseum?" "Hey, we are to heroes!" Donald protested. Goofy put his hands and Sora's shoulders. "Yup. And Sora here's a real hero chosen by the Keyblade, just like Dexal." Both of Phil's eyebrows rose. "A hero like Dexal? That runt?" he asked, breaking down and laughing.
"What's so funny? I've fought a bunch of monsters!" Sora protested. Still he kept laughing, and my smile slowly faded. "Phil," I said, nudging him with my shoe. He slowly stopped, and sat up looking at me. "Okay, maybe that was a little much. But how in the world can anyone besides Herc and the rest of your old friends even compete with you?" he asked. My breath caught in my throat; he was talking about Terra, Aqua and Ven. "Old friends? What's he talking about?" Sora asked me. Unbidden wave of frsh guilt, old sadness and bitter grief rose up, but I reined my emotions back before it could break forth. "Nothing; it's not important. Hey Phil, how about this? I'm in charge of training Sora, so how about I give him a session, and you can watch to how good or bad he is?" I suggested.
"Yeah- Wait. What?!" Sora called, looking at me. But Phil was already considering it, and eventually said. "Alright, I can go with that. I was gonna give him the same 'smash-the-barrel' test I usually give out, but I can make an exception," he said. I shook his hand. "Thanks, Phil. Sora, let's go," I said, walking into the arena. Sora hesitantly followed, and he and I stood on opposite end of the ring. "What's going on, Dexal? Why are we doing this?" he asked. "You want to get in the games, right? But, you also need training. I haven't given you any until now, so this way we can kill two birds with one stone," I said, drawing Stormfell. "Besides, it's not like you're scared, are you?" I taunted.
His expression hardened, and Sora drew his own Keyblade. I smiled; a little frustration helped when given in small doses. "Alright, first: I want to attack me like you would any normal enemy. Treat me as if I were a Heartless, and attack," I instructed. He hesitated, but nodded and did so, running forward. Inwardly I sighed; Sora had already made his first mistake. Never charge headfirst at the enemy in the beginning of a fight; let the enemy try to land the first hit on you. And I could see from his hesitation that even now he still saw me as Dexal, that older friend he had from the islands. Not Dexal the Keyblade Master. Sora raised his Kingdom Key into the air and swung down, creating a massive overhead blow that I blocked easily.
"Good force, but an overhead is not always the first thing to do. Instead, you want to do this!" I said, pushing back and jumping forward to swing from the side. Sora hastily blocked it, but the movement was slow and gave me enough time to move and strike at the other side, almost hitting their as well. "Good defense. Now I'll move back and you use offense!" I said, jumping away. Sora was about to run forward again but stopped, smiling and waiting for me to attack. I smiled as well; he was a fast learner. "Well done. Now back to defense!" I said, vaulting myself at him. Now that we were past the first moves I tried for my own overhead strike, which to my pleasure he blocked easily.
I pushed against him and Sora gritted his teeth, digging his feet into the dirt and holding his ground. His strength couldn't compare to mine, especially not now, but he was doing a fine job of holding me back. So I disengaged and feinted towards his right. He caught the trick and countered, successfully giving me a small cut on the arm. The wound wasn't deep but stung furiously, and I jumped away to cast Cure on myself. "Nicely done. Now, I want you to show me how well you've learned your magic," I said. He nodded and pointed his Keyblade at me, calling "Fire!" and unleashing that spell.
A ball of flame shot towards me and I dodged, but to my surprise Sora kept it up and cast three more. I had to dodge every one of them, and by then Sora had used up his magic. "Not bad, but you've used your magic too quickly. Only cast when needed; saving a spell for a desperate situation might help get you out of it," I pointed out. He frowned unhappily. "Like what? What kind of situation would that be?" he asked. I smiled deviously and said "Oh I don't know. Maybe something… like this!" I said, jumping forward and casting Triple Firaga. Sora shouted and managed to block all three, but that gave me time to get close and call "Transcendence!"
An anti-gravity field of energy spread out, catching Sora in it and lifting him into the air. While he flailed around and tried to maintain his bearing I waved my hand and sent him flying, stopping the spell just before he crashed into the wall. He fell to the ground and stood up, but by then I covered the distance and called "Deep Freeze!" Subzero winds blew out and hit Sora, instantly turning all the moisture on his clothes and the air around him to a black of ice. He shouted and tried to move, but his arms were trapped in the block of ice and he couldn't move. "Like I said, only cast when needed. The use of magic is a great skill, but only accessible if you have to stamina to use it," I said, bracing myself and slamming Stormfell into the ice block.
It shattered with the tinkling of broken glass, and Sora rubbed his arms from the chill. "Did you have to freeze me solid?" he asked. I shrugged, and walked back to the center of the arena. "Don't worry, a little more training will get your blood pumping and wear that cold out," I reassured him. He glared at me, but eventually broke a smile and stood in front of me, in a battle pose once more. This time I charged at him, and when I was blocked and countered on, I remembered that Sora was indeed a fast learner. The thought made me smile wider; maybe this kid had a chance to save the worlds after all.
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Later, after Sora and I were done with our training session we stood in front of fill, Sora dripping sweat while I was unaffected at all. "You know, you ain't bad, kid," Phil admitted. Sora chuckled and put his hands behind his head. "Looks like I'm heading for the Games," he said confidently, before Phil said "Afraid not." "Why not?" Sora asked. "Two words. You guys ain't heroes," Phil said. Goofy counted the words on his fingers, and I chuckled at Phil's classic mistake. "Come on!" Sora protested, and I said "Come on, Phil. Give 'em a chance." "Sorry Dexal, but although you're ready for the Games your friends here just aren't there yet. Once they are I'll give them a pass, but without that pass they can't get in," he said firmly.
Knowing we weren't getting anywhere, I sighed and said "Alright. Come on, guys." Reluctantly they nodded, and we all walked out of the vestibule. We were just about halfway to the door when a voice said "Rather a stubborn old goat, wouldn't you say?" We turned and saw a huge, tall guy walking towards us. His kin was blue with flames of the same color for hair, while his lips and toga were all black. I gasped. "Hades!" I said, drawing Stormfell. "Hey now, Dexal, is that any way to greet any old business partner?" Hades asked. I snorted. "Business partner? You tried to pull both me and my friend into the darkness!" I called. "Okay, I admit that maybe some things I did back then may not have been with the best intentions. But I'm an honest man now, or rather an honest god. Honestly!" Hades said, raising his hands as if in surrender.
I glared at him; Hades changing hardly seemed like a plausible idea. "Dexal, who is this guy?" Donald asked. Hades saw the chance and before I could talk said "Whoa, hold on there, fuzz boy. Wait, let me guess. You want to enter the Games, right?" He leaned down and put his hand on Sora's shoulder, saying "Well then, hey, get a load of this." Suddenly there was a burst of smoke and a pass appeared in his hand. "A pass?" Sora asked, and took it when Hades held it out. I looked at him warily. "What are you up to, Hades? Whatever this scheme of yours is, I'm not buying it," I said. "Come on, Dexal, is it really so hard to believe that I may have actually changed?" he asked.
I let the look in my eye answer that for me.
Hades sighed. "Alright, fine, don't believe me. Just remember: when you're in the final round of the Games and claiming victory, I was the one nice enough to help you get there," he said, before vanishing in a blast of smoke. I stared at the spot where he had been; this sounded too good to be true. And in my experience when things are too good to be true, they usually aren't. "Well, we've the pass. So come on, let's go enter the games!" Goofy said. I couldn't see what Hades was planning, so I sighed and nodded. Whatever the reason Hades had for giving us that pass; I knew that it could be nothing good.
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Darn, Hades managed to pull a fast one yet again, even if not fully. Now Dexal and the others are headed for the Games, and what will happen when they do? Can they beat both Cerberus and Cloud? Please review! If you flame me Liam Neeson will look for you, he will find you, and he will kill you. (I'm just kidding… or am I?)