Chapter 32: Bonding

-April 13, 2009-

3rd Person POV

Hades drawled sarcastically at the small hologram in his hand of Hercules, "He's strong. He's kind. He's always there for you, and he's handsome to boot. He's perfect. Perfect."

Red crackled from the blue flames atop his head until it consumed his form, the hologram disappearing, "Perfectly infuriating! He makes me crazy!"

The flames slowly disintegrated to his calm flickering blue, "Wait a minute. What are you worried about? All the pieces are in place. Relax. Here's what you do. Let Hercules train the kids. In the next games, I'll take care of them all. The Princesses and the Heartless Maiden will be ours."

He hissed over his shoulder, "Who invited you to the party? Stay out of this. This is my show."

Maleficent tilted her head ever so slightly, a careless shrug lifting her slim shoulders, "As you wish. Fight to your heart's content."

She disappeared, a bid goodbye to his silent fuming.

Elena's POV

It was neither early nor late in the morning when I was woken by a scream down the hall. I growled, pushing Hazel onto Kassy before storming out of the room.

"Seriously? I just got to sleep. What hap-" I rolled my eyes at the sight in the kitchen.

Sylvia had an eyebrow raised, a glass of water in hand. Sora stood near the fridge, as red as Ariel's hair, hands over his eyes.

I took a deep breath, "Evans, did it not occur to you that unlike us, no one else is used to you walking around naked?"

She shrugged, "I was only gonna be a minute. It's Sora's fault for being awake at the same time."

"Hey!" Sora protested, not removing his hands, "It's not like it's early! I had every right to be out here!"

I snorted, "He's right. Go put clothes on, dumbass."

Sylvia rolled her eyes, walking past us, back to our room, "Whatever. That's probably more skin then he'll ever see in his lifetime."

Sora frowned after a moment, "...Is she gone?"

I snickered, "Yeah. You're good. Sorry about that. You'll get used to it eventually. And you don't have to sleep next to her."

The red, that had began to recede immediately returned. I clutched the fridge door handle to keep upright, as I was taken over by laughter.

Goofy strolled in with a smile, "Hyuck! I'm glad you guys are happy this morning!"

Hazel skipped in, followed by a stretching and yawning Kassy. The golden brunette stopped in front of the fridge with a wide smile to those in the kitchen, "Breakfast on me!"

Sora blinked, "You can cook?"

My face became blue as I lost the ability to breathe. I slipped to the floor. Tears blurred my vision.

Hazel growled, "Hey! It's not that funny! Na-Na!"

Still unable to answer, I clawed at the counter to no avail, accepting my fate to lie on the floor through my silent laughter.

"S-Sorry, I didn't mean it like that..." Sora rubbed the back of his neck, "I love to eat! I'm excited!"

Kassy smiled widely, "Ooh! Make the apple cream cheese crepes! Those are my favorite!"

Two sets of footsteps came down the hall. A quiet slow pair and a heavy fast pair.

Sylvia burst through the doorway with a fuming frown that read murder. Cloud was as calm as can be from behind her.

I raised an eyebrow, standing up with a smirk, "What the hell did you say to her?"

Sylvia hissed, sitting in an empty chair at the table, "It doesn't matter! The bastard can go fuck himself!"

I snickered, "Now I really want to know what you said."

"After her display of arrogance while passing my room to the kitchen, I was reminded of her other display at the coliseum. I felt it necessary to speak with her. She didn't like what she heard. And I-" Sylvia slammed her fist on the table, effectively cutting him off.

"Fuck you, so help me god if you finish." She snarled at the blond.

I rolled my eyes, "Alright fine. Don't finish. I'll ask him later."

The group fell into an uncomfortable silence. The only sounds heard were breathing, and Hazel cooking. At one point, Hazel and Kassy had quickly excaped, unable to bear the atmosphere from the look on their faces. When everyone had eaten their fill, Donald walked in.

"It's going to take about a day to find the next world. It'd be a good idea to prepare or whatever you'd like before we get there." And with that said, he disappeared back through the door towards to cockpit.

Kassy ran in with a grin, Hazel hot on her tail, "Hey! You guys! Look what I found!" She held up a small package, "I didn't think there'd be a deck of cards anywhere but there was! Who wants to play a game?"

Sylvia smirked, propping her feet up on the table, and leaning back, "Anyone for strip poker?"

Crimson spread across Sora's face, "I-I've never played poker… And definitely never s-strip poker. I only know how to play go fish."

She slammed her fist on the table, "You pussy! Then that's what we're doing."

Cloud raised an eyebrow, "And if I refuse?"

I rolled my eyes, "Evans, no one is going to play strip poker with you. Ever."

Said female curled up with her arms crossed, a pout on her lips, "You're no fun."

Kassy smiled shyly, "We can still play regular poker, Syvy…"

Sylvia's eyes narrowed at the short brunette before shrugging, "Fine. But I'm gonna revel in those who cry when I kick their asses."

"I suppose you'll be quite distraught when I win." All jaws in the room dropped, eyes on Cloud.

Sylvia's eyes narrowed, "Oh, it's on."

Only I had the decency to help Sora through the game. Poor Kassy kept getting distracted when Sora stuck out his tongue slightly in concentration. I resisted the urge to snicker. To everyone's misfortune, Sylvia didn't win.

"What the fuck?! You fucking cheater!" She ranted and raved at Cloud. She then proceeded to swipe the cards all onto the floor and stomp out of the room, "Fuck everyone!"

Taking a deep breath, I smiled at the spiky blond, "Congratulations. She needs to be taken down a notch once in a while."

He shook his head, "Is she always like this?"

Kassy whined, "It's not her fault! She's usually better than this I'm so sorry! I'll go talk to her!"

Everyone began talking about everything and nothing until Sylvia came in holding Kassy's hand, mumbling a small apology. Kassy beamed, patting her other hand on the taller brunette's head.