"Riku," Terra started softly, making the boy flinch slightly. "Is it right for us to assume that you kidnapped Alice?"

Sora's eyes flicked to Terra, a look that could almost be counted as a glare crossing his face as he stared at the older Keyblade Wielder. Mickey tensed, already knowing the answer, his eyes watching Riku carefully. The three former members of Organization 13 blinked, not knowing what had happened truly, but also realizing this wasn't their fight to get involved in. Vanitas was wondering if he misjudged sliver-hair too quickly. If he had kidnapped someone, perhaps he was worth getting to know…

"Yes," Riku replied eventually, voice barely above a whisper. Sora moved in closer, leaning on Riku's side and placing his head on Riku's shoulder. Riku cringed away from Sora for a quick second before letting the younger boy stay on him, not attempting to remove the younger boy's hold on his hand. Kairi watching them out of the corner of her eye, jealousy, sadness, and a tad bit of anger warring in her.

She knew Riku had done it for her, to try and get her heart back for her, which continued to surprise her to this day, but…

"Why?" Aqua asked, no judgment in her tone and Riku looked down and away.

"Mal-She said that she could get Kairi's heart back," Riku explained, a waver in his voice. "I helped her…first it was because she knew where Kairi was then it was because Kairi didn't have her heart and she said that if they gathered all the princesses of heart, the power that it granted would be able to restore Kairi. And then…" he trailed off.

"Did you know that Kairi's heart was resting in Sora's?" Aqua asked, eyes flicking between the three younger Keyblade Wielders. Manipulation, abuse, using Riku to kidnap people. She was starting to wish she had finished Maleficent off when she had found her after she detransformed from a dragon in Enchanted Dominion. It would have saved many people lots of heartache.

"No," Riku replied, eyes flicking around to different spots on the ground. "I didn't."

"Ansem did, though," Sora said carefully, looking up at Riku. "Did he not get that information from you?" Riku blinked, shaking his head. "Oh," Sora hummed. "I always thought you knew."

"How did Ansem know?" Kairi wondered, tipping her head to the side. "Was he just that powerful?"

The two boys didn't have an answer for her.

Sora, Goofy, and Donald walk toward a set of big doors flanked by two big statues.

"Oh," Aqua said in surprise, looking up at the ceiling. "Are we doing this now?" The screen paused and the lights brightened a fraction as if the room itself was pausing and thinking it over.

"I think we can," Sora said, looking at Riku out of the corner of his eye. It was clear Riku did not want to talk about Ansem or Maleficent or anything that had happened during the couple of weeks he and Sora were fighting against each other. But at the same time, they did really need to talk to each other. Sora still had no idea why he opened the door and destroyed Destiny Islands. He still didn't know all of Riku had done in the past year. He still didn't know why Riku had refused to show himself to him, had refused to be found.

But he could also tell that trying to force Riku into talking about it was only going to make the older boy clam up and refuse to talk. At this point, it was probably better to wait until things happened to talk about them. It might make them more willing to talk.

"You sure?" Terra asked, watching the two of them carefully and Sora nodded, looking back at the older Keybearers. Terra looked like he was going to argue but Aqua nudged him in the side and the man subsided, settling back into the couch.

The lights started to dim again and when none of them protested, the screen turned back on.

Donald, Goofy, and Sora finish walking up to the doors, looking around.

"Oh!" Xion exclaimed, sitting up. She recognized the place. "Are you at the Colosseum?"

Sora nodded, turning to her. "You know it?" He asked, wondering if that meant that Roxas knew it as well. He didn't really know anything about his Nobody's life and he couldn't help but find himself curious. What had Roxas been like? Had his habits been the same as Sora's? How did he meet Axel and Xion? How had he ended up returning to him when it seemed like he clearly hated Sora with every bone in his body? He had heard Roxas's quick explanation about DiZ and it seemed to be somewhat connected to that, but he still didn't know. He wanted to know everything about Roxas. It was like having a brother you never knew about until now.

"Yeah," Xion responded to his question, and he focused back on her. "We would go there to train sometimes." She gave Roxas a look out of the corner of her eye, a smirk crawling up her mouth, and Roxas paled slightly as he clearly realized what she was thinking about.

"Don't you dare," he hissed at her, a small blush starting to make its way up his cheeks and Axel threw his head back and laughed, remembering what Xion was thinking about.

"What?" Sora asked, interested. It clearly had something to do with Roxas…

"One time, this one," Xion poked at Roxas, who batted her hands away with a grumble. "And Demyx attempted to slack off whilst training there. And well…" Xion giggled quietly. "Saix made them regret it."

Roxas crossed his arms and muttered mutinously to himself. Kairi let out a small laugh.

"Just like Sora then," she hummed. Xion smiled at her, but Roxas's face fell further.

"No," he spat out quietly. "Nothing like him." Sora pulled back a little from where he had leaned forward in interest, hurt. He knew Roxas didn't like him, for reasons still unknown, but…

Xion gave him a glare and Axel gave him a look, but Roxas refused to elaborate so their attentions drifted back to the screen.

The three of them walk up to a satyr who says perfect timing and asks for a hand.

"Phil!" Ven exclaimed at the same time that Roxas covered a snicker and Sora thought back to his different encounters with the satyr.

"Wait, you know him?" Sora asked, turning his head to look at the three Keyblade Wielders, each of who nodded.

"I think we each made a stop there while looking for each other," Aqua explained.

"Why didn't he question Roxas's existence then?" Xion wondered. "If he'd seen Ven before?"

"Maybe he thought Roxas was me?" Ven replied, shrugging. "I mean, he hadn't aged. Maybe he thought I hadn't either."

"Or he just didn't care," Roxas said flatly, pulling his arms tighter around himself. The people who had been to the Colosseum found that a reasonable answer.

Phil asks them to move the pedestal over, saying that he has to spruce the place up for the games.

"Good luck," Vanitas snarked, looking at the size of the pedestal. No doubt it was extremely heavy.

"Kinda rude of him, isn't it?" Kairi wondered. "I mean, he hasn't even asked your names and he's already demanding things of you."

"It's okay," Sora said, patting her hand comfortingly. "He didn't know it was me. He thought I was someone else."

"Why would he think that?" Naminé asked, tipping her head. She hadn't really looked into the world when she shifted the memories of it around. At that point, Larxene and Marluxia had gotten bad enough that she didn't dare take more time than she needed to in order to experience the worlds and give herself some respite from the place she lived in.

"I think it was only the two of them at the time," Sora responded, thinking back to his interactions with Hercules. Meg hadn't been there at the time that he had been the first time and he hadn't seen anyone else around the arena. Besides Hades, who had been there to ruin it, and Cloud, along with some others, but they had been there specifically for the games. They didn't live around the colosseum like he suspected Hercules and Phil did.

Sora exchanges a glance with Donald and Goofy before shrugging and attempting to move the pedestal.

"So like you," Riku murmured under his breath and Sora smiled at him while also blinking and quickly shaking his head. When Riku had said that… it almost felt like he'd had a headache for the quickest second before it disappeared in a flash. What had that been?

Naminé looked closer at Sora. She had felt, just for a second, that her work on Sora's memory had come undone. Just the smallest way, just a few words but… It shouldn't be possible. She narrowed her eyes slightly at him.

It's probably just the room, she reassured herself. It's just the room.

Not that it'll matter if he remembers now or then, part of her mind hissed. He's still going to hate you all the same. She winced and curled her arms tighter around where they were still hugging herself. At some point, she would have to unwind them, if she didn't want to hurt the muscles, but she couldn't. She wished she still had her sketchbook.

Sora realizes he can't and walks back to Phil, saying that it was too heavy.

"Why didn't Donald and Goofy help?" Ven asked, watching as Sora attempted to move the heavy pedestal, and Sora shrugged.

"I don't think they would have been able to do much either."

Phil asks when has something been too heavy for him, turning around, before stopping when he sees Sora.

"Who is he talking to anyway?" Terra asked, thinking back to who he had seen at the colosseum when he had been there. Zack, perhaps? But the boy had been training to be a hero. He probably wouldn't have stuck around after his training was done. Who else could it be?

"Hercules," Sora replied offhand, eyes focusing on the screen. So, he didn't see the two double takes that Ven and Aqua suffered. Hercules? The kid that they had met?

Phil realizes that Sora isn't Hercules and asks him what he's doing there.

The three older Keyblade Wielders all noted that Phil hadn't changed a bit.

Phil says that they're in the colosseum and that it's for heroes only.

"Sora is a hero," Kairi murmured, her thumb rubbing the part of her hand that Sora had touched. Sora smiled at her. Yeah, he was, she thought.

He tells them to run along, calling them pipsqueaks. Sora gives him a look.

"I prefer half pint," Sora muttered, thinking back to his handshake with Donald and Goofy.

"So, you admit you're small," Riku teased quietly, and Sora huffed at him, wrinkling his nose.

Phil explains what the games are.

"That… doesn't sound that safe," Aqua said, listening to the explanation. "What if one of the monsters escapes? Then it's going to hurt people."

"I don't think they thought about that," Terra responded, also feeling some fear for the thought of the innocent people if a monster gets released."

"But the games are for heroes," Ven replied. "I bet they could take care of the monster if it got free."

Donald says that Phil has three heroes standing in front of him.

"Remind me Sora, how far into your adventure are you?" Roxas asked and Sora paused.

"This was after Wonderland," he replied, and Roxas made a face. Rather quick to label yourself a hero, he thought, looking at the duck. He hated that term. It was like if someone was hero, it didn't matter how many people they hurt. It didn't matter that he and Xion had to die. Sora was a hero and thus, more important than them.

Goofy says that Sora was chosen by the Keyblade and Donald says that he and Goofy are heroes too.

Again, Aqua found her mind drifting back to the particular conundrum. How did Sora get a Keyblade? Who had gifted it to him and why hadn't they taken him on as an apprentice if they had? It didn't make sense for someone to Bequeath a Keyblade to Sora then leave. Unless something had happened to them. But Destiny Islands seemed so peaceful.

And Sora would remember a Bequeathing ceremony, there was no way he wouldn't. It would have made an impression on his heart, even if it was when he was very young. Which was… a whole other can of worms that Aqua wasn't getting into. But still…

She tapped her fingers along her arm. In the past, she had enjoyed the few mystery novels she had managed to find in Master Eraqus's library, which was mostly filled with textbooks. But in this instance, she found she distasted the mystery. Not when it was real and had real consequences for young teenagers.

Phil doesn't believe that Sora's a hero, calling him a runt. Sora says that he's fought a lot of monsters.

Riku huffed out a laugh, probably at Sora's reaction, and the younger boy gave him a look.

"Like you wouldn't respond the same way," he told the older boy, who suspiciously didn't answer.

Phil laughs and says that if Sora couldn't move the pedestal, how could he call himself a hero, while trying and failing to move the pedestal.

Sora wasn't the only one stifling giggles as he watched Phil try to move the stone. It had been funny then, though he hadn't laughed, still mad at Phil for his jab against his height, but he could laugh about it now. Roxas and Xion both had smiles, while Ven and Kairi were laughing. Even Riku and Vanitas had smirks curling up the sides of their mouths.

Sora crosses his arms while Phil admits defeat on the pedestal. Phil admits it probably takes more than brawn.

Yes, it does, Terra thought, his mind drifting without his permission back to the Keyblade Graveyard and all his interactions with Xehanort. He was the strong one, physically at least. He had never doubted that. But it hadn't saved him from Xehanort's schemes or manipulations.

No dark thoughts, he told himself, trying to right himself back into the present. Dark thoughts hurt you.

Aqua gave Terra a look. She had seen him fall into his memories and was concerned. While it was possible he was thinking of the far past, it was more likely he was thinking about their escapades and falling out and the subsequent consequences. She nudged him behind Ven's back and he looked at her.

Okay? She asked with her eyes, and he nodded once, eyes dropping down and shoulder sloping a little. So not the whole truth. But she let it go for the time being.

Phil says to see what they can do. Phil leads them to the center of the colosseum.

Hasn't changed at all, all three of the past Keyblade Wielders thought.

Phil directs them at some barrels and sets a time limit. Sora destroys them with both fighting and magic.

"Speaking of, when did you learn magic?" Kairi asked. "Last I checked, you hadn't known that before you left the Islands."

"Donald taught me the basics," Sora explained. "And after we met a wizard named Merlin, he helped me improve."

Phil admits that Sora is better than he thought.

He's better than anyone thinks, Riku thought in his head.

Sora asks if he could participate in the games.

"Sora…" Kairi said slowly. "You've had the Keyblade for maybe a week."

Sora blushed slightly, looking down, but gave her a small look.

"I was an immature fourteen-year-old who wanted to see everything the worlds had to offer," he explained. "The games sounded fun, and I thought I was on the top of the world with the Keyblade. Why wouldn't I want to compete?"

Kairi smiled at him, nudging his side. "Fine, I get it," she told him. "But after we get out of here, you have to take me there, okay? I need to learn my Keyblade more anyway." Sora nodded to her, neither of them noticing the small shadow that flickered over Riku's eyes for the quickest of seconds. None of the others noticed either. Except for Axel.

Two cases of people with unrequited love for the same boy? He wondered. He was aware that Riku had feelings for the younger boy. It was literally impossible not to see, especially after he had spent a couple of weeks with him. At this point, it seemed like Sora was the only one not aware. But he had also been under the impression that Sora knew of Riku's feelings for him. How could he not?

Aqua was distracted by a different part of the interaction. It was all she could do to stop herself from frowning when Sora described himself as an immature fourteen-year-old kid. He would have only described himself as that if he didn't believe he was that person anymore. And Sora was what, fifteen? He should still be allowed to be immature, should still be allowed to be a kid. Stars knew that she and Terra had been hellions at that age, even with the Keyblade, something that had slowly disappeared as they met Ven and became big siblings to the boy. Their shift to more mature adults had been natural, obvious, and the only rational course of action. Sora's… was not.

Phil says no and Sora asks why not.

"Kids," Aqua murmured at the same time that Kairi laughed at Sora's onscreen face.

Phil says two words: You guys ain't heroes.

Several people blinked in surprise and bewilderment.

"That's not… That wasn't two words," Terra said blankly. Roxas barked out a laugh, throwing his head back, and Xion giggled into her hand.

"Does he honestly think that was two words?" Vanitas asked, scorn in his voice as he gave the screen a look of disgust.

"I… think so?" Sora answered, his voice upturning into a question. In truth, he hadn't really questioned Phil and his… liberal use of numbers. At the time, he had just wanted into the games, and it hadn't really occurred to him to question Phil's counting skills.

Kairi laughed quietly at his answer and Sora could feel the chuckles going through Riku's chest. Naminé had a small smile on her face as well.

The three of them leave the colosseum, only to get interrupted by Hades.

Multiple groans echoed through the room as Hades appeared. Riku raised an eyebrow as Sora dropped his head onto his shoulder, grumbling under his breath.

"Who's this?" Kairi asked, eyes flicking around the room to the different people who had reacted to the appearance of the… man? He sure at least wasn't human in any factors.

"Hades," Sora responded. "He's always trying to attack Hercules."

"How many villains did you guys come across?" Kairi wondered and Sora shook his head slowly, not answering.

Hades calls Phil a stubborn old goat and brushes past Donald's attempts to get his name.

"Suspicious," Kairi whispered, and Sora winced.

Hades asks if they wanted to enroll in the games, before revealing a pass to Sora.

Both Riku and Kairi narrowed their eyes at the man, not being the only ones in the room to do so. Yes, Sora had confirmed he was a villain but even if he hadn't, both of them would be on guard. It didn't really make sense for Hades to just… give Sora a pass. He must have had other intentions. But what?

Hades wishes Sora luck and leaves. The three of them head back to Phil.

"And you just… didn't question this suspicious stranger who gave you a pass to the games and left?" Vanitas asked drily, raising an eyebrow. Honestly, how had this kid survived this long? He must have known that no one gives anything for free, everyone wanted something. If they gave you anything at all before using you.

Sora shrugged. "I thought it was a little weird, yes, but I didn't really know that much about the world," he explained, leaning backwards slightly, deeper into the couch and closer to his friends because he could tell that they were worrying about him. "Perhaps that was a normal occurrence. Maybe Hades had been a good person who just did that on average." A flicker of emotion passed his face, and a sheepish smile crossed his lips. "Also, I just really wanted to get into the games."

Phil asks them how they got the pass, but Sora simply asks if they could be in the games.

"Why didn't you answer him?" Xion wondered, eyes drifting to Sora, and Sora paused, before shrugging.

"The way he said it struck me more as a rhetorical question."

Phil agrees.

"Sora's a kid," Aqua muttered under her breath, breathing deeply through her nose in an effort to keep her temper in check. Sora shouldn't have been let into those games, pass or no. He was fourteen.

Phil offhand says some weird people entered and that Sora should watch himself.

Aqua didn't know if she should close her eyes for the next part or not.

In the arena, Sora faces down some Heartless.

"Can Heartless… even register?" Axel asked blankly, watching the onscreen Sora battle it out with several of them. "They don't speak and only attack things. How'd they get into the competition?"

"Aren't they just things to battle before the fight?" Ven asked but Terra shook his head.

"Phil called it the Preliminaries, meaning that he would go against other contestants until they had a smaller group of them to face off," he explained. "Technically, those Heartless are competitors."

"Again, how?" Axel repeated.

"Well, Hades was one of the voices we heard in that… shadow council?" Naminé said hesitantly, bringing the attention on her, making her duck her head slightly. She was very good at listening and gleaning information from that. It was the only way she truly learned anything in Castle Oblivion. "And Maleficent had control of the Heartless. Maybe she granted some to Hades? In order to help his schemes?"

Riku flinched slightly at Maleficent's name, causing Sora to lean on him more.

"Possibly," Aqua murmured. "But she doesn't really seem like someone to share power like that."

After Sora beats the Heartless, Phil compliments him. As they're talking, Cloud passes by them, drawing Sora's attention.

"Who's that?" Kairi wondered while Mickey raised his head, recognizing Cloud from the battle of Radiant Garden.

"Cloud," Sora explained, smiling slightly at the image of the older man. He had been a big help, both here and at the battle of Radiant Garden. Sora couldn't help the little bubble of worry that swelled in him when he thought of the last time he saw Cloud. Vanishing into the light as he prepared to face down Sephiroth. He hoped Cloud was okay and had won the fight.

Phil says that Cloud would be a tough opponent to beat.

"He was a contender in the games?" Aqua asked and Sora nodded. Another point to the "Sora should not be there" category.

Sora faces down more Heartless.

At this point, everyone in the room just silently accepted that they wouldn't know why the Heartless were there and they just had to roll with it.

Sora wins the next fight and celebrates with Goofy and Donald. Hades is seen with Cloud.

"Sora, I thought Cloud was your friend," Riku muttered, having watched the Traverse Town/Radiant Garden residents in the past while waiting for Sora to wake up. They had also lost their memories of Sora, but once they had gotten them back, they had been concerned for the boy and the circumstances that must have led to their memories disappearing.

"He is," Sora said stubbornly, crossing his arms. "He was just searching for someone, and Hades said he could help. He was tricked by Hades. Plus, he's been a big help since then." The statement was said with a strange inflection in his voice, and his eyes were sliding to Riku in earnest, like he was trying to say two things at once, and there was a pout in his voice, and everyone that knows knows what Sora was trying to say, but Riku looked away with a huff and Sora conceded defeat temporarily.

Cloud questions why Hades is afraid of Sora before mentioning his contract.

Sora waves at the screen, as if saying "See! It wasn't personal!"

Hades says he's aware what Cloud's contract was but that he's going to have to fight Sora if he can get to Hercules.

Both Ven and Aqua frowned. Why was Hades so insistent that Hercules needed to go down? Last they remembered, he was a kid learning to fight. Hardly a threat.

Hades says it's all just a game and to have fun with it.

Several people narrowed their eyes at that. Toying with lives was not a game.

Hades tells Cloud that a casualty or two shouldn't matter.

Axel felt something squeeze in his chest at that and he couldn't help his eyes from dropping down and away from the chest. Hadn't that been his thoughts? That a hurt person or two wouldn't matter if he and Isa could get answers? That Vexen's death was justified because it helped him defeat Marluxia and Larxene, despite the fact that he already knew it was them. That Zexion's death was justified because it helped Isa get closer to Xemnas, even though Zexion couldn't have been older than eighteen. That… tracking down and hurting Xion had been justified because it brought her back to him and Roxas, even though she hadn't wanted to come back.

But… it had hurt, it had damaged everything so badly. Roxas and Xion had died, both pushed away by his actions and Isa was gone, everything… special about him lost to apathy and the darkness, until the last thing Axel could do was sacrifice his life to the last piece of Roxas's legacy: Sora.

And he had gone into the darkness, thinking he was gone forever, because then, maybe, he would see Roxas and Xion again.

Instead, he had woken up here.

Cloud walks away and Hades comments about how people like Cloud are hard to come by.

I wouldn't say so, Riku thought bitterly. There's always someone out there who's stupid enough to get manipulated.

Unknown to him, his thoughts were being repeated by another Keyblade Wielder, who thought of a desert and a graveyard and the screams of his friends.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy fight Cloud.

"You… shouldn't be winning," Kairi said slowly as she watched the fight between the four of them and Sora made an offended noise from next to her.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked, twisting his head to look at her, and she winced.

"I mean, he must be going easy on you," she elaborated. "You've only been fighting with the Keyblade for a week, there's no way that you're beating someone who's clearly been fighting for years." Sora paused, before thinking about it. He had seen Cloud fight at the Battle of Radiant Garden. He had been proficient then, fighting off dozens of Heartless. And while he might have gotten exponentially better during the year that Sora was asleep…

"You're probably right," Sora answered with a shrug. "He's a much better fighter than this."

"He didn't want to fight you anyway," Aqua said, recalling Cloud and Hades's conversation. "Or at least, he was reluctant to fight you." Sora acknowledged Aqua's statement with a nod.

Sora beats Cloud.

Yeah, Cloud was definitely going easy on me, Sora thought in his mind as he watched the fight from an outside perspective, instead of actually fighting. There were several times he could have blocked something or hit Sora, but he didn't.

As Sora walks toward Cloud, Cerberus appears behind them.

While not as big as a jump scare as the cat was, both Kairi and Naminé still jumped in their seat, Naminé's arms going up as if to protect her head while Kairi fell backwards deeper into the couch. Aqua and Terra both blinked in surprise, but Aqua's heartrate racked up several beats when she realized that the beast was right next to Sora. Ven's, Roxas's, and Xion's eyes all widened. Mickey felt fear shoot through him. Vanitas raised an eyebrow.

"What is that?" Kairi asked, her voice going up an octave, and Sora reached out and side-hugged her.

"It's Cerberus," he explained. "Hades, I think, released him in an effort to kill Hercules. But don't worry, we fight him off."

Sora is a fourteen-year-old and should not be fighting off three headed dogs from the Underworld, Aqua thought in her head, slightly hysterically.

Hades sarcastically says that accidents happen before disappearing into the shadows.

Kairi glared at the disappearing god, worried for Sora's safety, while Riku took in a deep breath, trying to remind himself that Sora was fine and sitting right next to him.

Cerberus attempts to stomp on Sora but is stopped by Hercules.

"Why are you just standing there?" Kairi asked, hands going around Sora's arm and squeezing tight. "Get away from the beast!"

"I was a little… shocked," Sora replied, wincing slightly at her grip. If she kept grabbing on whenever something bad happened, he was going to have bruises later.

Both Aqua's and Ven's mouths dropped open in shock. That was Hercules? Ven felt like rubbing his eyes in an effort to make sure what he was seeing was real. He knew he had been asleep for a while but really? Hercules had managed to look like that in the ten years he had been gone? Ven couldn't imagine anyone being able to improve and grow that much in ten years, not even Terra.

Aqua was thoroughly shocked, blinking several times. Hercules had really used those ten years to his advantage, hadn't he? A tinge of melancholy went through her at that. Hercules had grown and changed during the ten years. Had everyone? Everyone she met, Stich, Cinderella, Zack, had they all grown ten years older as well? She had seen Cinderella's Castle in the Relam of Darkness, but no one had been there. Were they living in another world? Or an in-between world like Traverse Town?

Her eyes slid down to her hands. Her unchanged hands. If she went and found the people she had met, would they even recognize her? Would she recognize them?

Phil calls Hercules's name and Hercules tells Phil to get Sora and the others out of there.

Good, Aqua thought, pulling herself out of her thoughts. At least someone cares about Sora's and the others' safety.

Phil leads Sora, Donald, and Goofy out of the arena.

"What about Cloud?" Xion asked, watching the Keybearer and his companions flee. "What happened to him?"

"Hercules got him out of there," Sora responded. "I don't really know why he didn't follow us."

Phil explains who Cerberus is and says that Hercules should be able to handle him.

"Sora," Kairi said warningly, both used to and having seen Sora's reckless behavior. "Don't tell me you went back to the arena." Several people were suddenly looking at Sora mostly in exasperation, though there was worry on Terra's, Aqua's, and Mickey's faces.

"Hercules needed help," Sora defended himself, crossing his arms over his chest once Kairi let go of his arm. "I could help him."

"Phil said that Hercules could handle it?" Xion mentioned, the end of her statement turning up like a question and Sora shook his head.

"Phil said that Hercules should be able to handle it, but he didn't know for sure." Sora looked down for a second before looking back up. "I had to help if there was a small chance that Hercules would get hurt."

"What about you?" Naminé asked quietly, looking down at her empty hands and wishing for the umpteenth time that she had her sketchbook. "Wouldn't you get hurt?" Multiple people in the room, mostly the adults, looked like they agreed with Naminé.

"I had to help," Sora repeated, a determined look on his face.

Aqua slid her eyes closed for a quick second, lacing her fingers together in an effort to stop them from trembling. A fourteen-year-old boy should not feel the urge to save everyone around him, even if it meant getting hurt himself. Even now, a week into Sora's adventure, he already felt like he had to save everyone, probably due to the Keyblade and how everyone was seemingly relying on him. She sighed deeply, rubbing her thumb on the palm of her hand. If only she or Terra or even Ven was still around to help, to take the load off his shoulders.

We're here now, she reassured herself. We'll help now.

Phil says that he wishes he could help Hercules and Sora starts walking back towards the arena.

"Sora," Kairi groaned, leaning her head on his shoulder, but didn't say anything else.

Phil stops Sora and asks if he's going back to the arena, reminding him that it isn't a match, but real.

"Listen to the satyr," Riku murmured, hands twitching. He wanted to reach out to Sora like Kairi had done so easily, wanted to wrap him in a hug and magic until all the danger was gone from the world, but he couldn't. Every time he interacted with Sora, he made things worse.

Sora says that he's not afraid and maybe Phil will see him as a hero.

What was this kid's obsession with being a hero? Vanitas wondered, watching the scene play out on screen. It wasn't like before, when Sora had burst into the court to save Alice. That had been… pure feeling, wanting to save the girl. Because that was what Sora believed in.

This was… different. Sora wanted to be a hero, badly. But why? Vanitas suspected that even Sora didn't know.

Phil warns him to be careful and Sora runs back to the arena.

Don't say "be careful", stop him! Aqua thought, more and more upset at Phil. He had let a kid take part in a dangerous tournament, pit him against a seasoned fighter, and now was just letting him waltz back into danger against Cerberus, the Guardian of the Underworld!

In the arena, Hercules backs up, trying to defend himself and Cloud's unconscious body.

Sora couldn't help but wonder. Why hadn't Cloud escaped with them? Had he tried to defeat Cerberus? Or had he taken the opportunity to try and kill Hercules?

Cerberus gets distracted as Sora, Donald, and Goofy run back into the arena, granting Hercules passage to get Cloud to safety.

Both Kairi and Riku leaned closer to Sora, one more noticeable than the other, as they watched his younger self face down the Cerberus.

"You guys are going to react the same way to every time I get hurt or enter a battle, aren't you?" Sora asked, voice dry as he looked at his two childhood friends. Not that he was much better. If he ever had to watch Riku face down a creature, he probably was going to be clinging to him as much as Kairi had a few times.

Phil tells Sora to attack.

At this point, none of them could laugh at Phil's miscounting again. They were all too tense as they watched Sora stare up at Cerberus.

Sora, Goofy, and Donald fight Cerberus.

"Where's Hercules?" Roxas asked after a couple of seconds, watching Sora fight Cerberus. "Shouldn't he be helping you?"

Sora opened his mouth to answer, before pausing and thinking. Where had Hercules been?

"Maybe he was… helping Cloud?" He answered, feeling the answer feel weird in his voice even as he said it. Had something else come up? Were there more Heartless and Hercules had needed to fight those?

Aqua felt the urge to growl, though she kept it carefully inside. Hercules should be helping, should be fighting the creature, not Sora. Not the fourteen-year-old boy who came here on accident.

The three of them knock out Cerberus.

A slight round of applause went around the room as Cerberus landed on the ground, both Riku and Kairi relaxing as Sora was out of danger. Aqua and Terra both had small, proud smiles on their faces and Roxas was watching his Somebody in, as much as he hated to admit it, awe. Xion's eyes were wide and Naminé looked torn between hiding her eyes behind her hands and watching, wanting to see everything she could about the outside world. Vanitas raised an eyebrow in surprise as he watched the twig of a kid knock out the big monster. And this was a warrior of the Light?

Later, Phil dubs them junior heroes.

"'Junior Heroes?' Really?" Kairi asked, giving the screen a look. "You just defeated something that Hercules couldn't."

Sora shrugged, unconcerned about it at this point. "I think Phil is just a real stickler about his principles."

When Donald asks why junior heroes, Phils says they still don't understand what it means to be a true hero.

"Sounds like an excuse," Roxas muttered.

When Goofy asks what it takes, Hercules says they'll have to figure it out for themselves, like he did.

Ven found himself interested. What had Hercules gone through in the past ten years? How had he become a hero? He wondered if he went back to the arena after waking up, if Hercules would recognize him.

Sora says they'll start by proving themselves in the games.

Aqua managed to stop the small chuckle from slipping out of her lips, but just barely. It was nice to see that there was still some small part of Sora that was still a kid. The way he fixated on the games, wanted to do them so badly to prove himself, it reminded her of something that Ven would do, when he wanted to prove himself to her or Terra.

Phil says there won't be games for a while and that they have to clean up the mess. Sora says they'll return later then.

Yep, just like Ven, Aqua thought. And moving her eyes over to Terra, she could tell the older boy saw it as well.

Hercules waves to them while Phil remarks that he can't believe that Sora actually beat Cerberus.

"Because I'm just that good," Sora said, folding his hands behind his head and leaning backwards into the couch. He smiled at Kairi when she turned to look at him, trying to communicate to her that he was fine, and she could stop worrying. Riku rolled his eyes at Sora's quip, but a small smile curled up around his lips, so Sora counted it as a win.

Hercules tells Phil that he already wore down Cerberus before Sora jumped in.

"Hey!" Sora exclaimed, sitting up straight and gazing at the screen in betrayal. "What's that supposed to mean?" Both Kairi and Roxas broke into laughter, quickly followed by Xion and Ven. When Sora's betrayed gaze landed on them, it didn't stop their laughter at all. Vanitas chuckled slightly and Riku closed his eyes, looking down as the smile grew on his face.

"You're all terrible," Sora muttered, slumping into the couch with a pout on his face. As Kairi worked to contain her laughter, she patted Sora on the head.

"It's okay, Sora," she told him. "We all know you're a great fighter." He huffed at her, but his pout lessened.

Sora walks up to Cloud, who's sitting on the steps, and asks him if he's okay. Cloud responds that he's fine.

That was also such a Sora move, Riku thought fondly. Making sure the person that tried to kill him was okay.

Sora asks why Cloud went along with Hades.

"Wait, you noticed?" Roxas asked, blinking at his Somebody. He hadn't realized Sora had known that Cloud was working for Hades.

"I had a good idea," Sora admitted. "I saw him talking with Hades before our fight and the way Hades spoke when Cerberus entered, it made sense."

Cloud says that he's looking for someone and Hades promised to help.

"Do you know who?" Xion asked and Sora paused.

"He was looking for two people," Sora revealed, thinking back to the quick conversation he and Cloud had before the Battle of Radiant Garden. "Aerith and someone else. He found Aerith but I don't know if he ever found the other person." He remembered the note in Cloud's voice when he had explained. "His friend had last been sighted at the Colosseum though, and Hades offered to help."

Cloud explains he tried to exploit the power of darkness and it backfired. That he fell into the darkness and couldn't find the light.

Terra flinched, trying his best to make sure it wasn't spotted. That was what happened to him, wasn't it? The darkness is good for nothing but pain and misery.

Riku looked down at his hands. He was well aware of that fact. But he had found his light again.

Sora reached out and took Riku's hand in his, giving Riku a look like he knew what he was thinking about. Riku tried to smile at him.

Sora tells him that he'll find it and that he's searching too.

"Wait, is the person his light?" Vanitas asked, eyes furrowed in confusion. "Is that possible?" He didn't like Cloud, not if the man had been weak enough to be controlled by the darkness and not the other way around, but…

"Yes," Riku replied shortly, specifically not looking at the boy that sat next to him. "Anything can be your light. If it means enough to you."

Cloud asks if he's searching for his light and Sora nods.

"Aw, thank you Sora," Kairi said, nudging him slightly. "It's nice to know I matter to you." Sora smiled back at her. Riku looked away and pulled his hands away from Sora's grasp, managing to extract them. Of course…

Mickey gave Riku a look of understanding. Axel watched the three of them in recognition.

Cloud tells Sora not to lose sight of it and gives him something. Sora asks about a rematch.

"Why do you want to fight him again?" Roxas asked and Sora shrugged. He couldn't remember what he had been thinking at the specific moment.

Cloud says he'll pass and leaves.

"And he turned up in Radiant Garden sometime when I was asleep," Sora said, watching Cloud walk away. "And now he's lost again. I'll need to find him once I'm out of here."

Why you? Aqua thought. Why not his friends, who you say he has? His Light?

As Sora, Donald, and Goofy leave the colosseum, Hades rants about Hercules.

"He needs a hobby or something," Roxas snarked. "Something other than attempting to kill one person."

Hades calms himself down and says that in the next games, he'll put a contract on both Hercules and Sora.

Both Riku and Kairi stiffened again.

"It's okay, guys, promise," Sora said, already knowing what they were worried about. "We defeated him again."

Hades asks who invited her to the party and turns to see Maleficent standing in the shadows.

Riku went stiff, freezing at the clear picture of Maleficent. He hadn't seen her since… since…

"Riku," Sora said firmly, twining his hands with Riku's and pulling on the older boy's arms until he looked at him. "She's not here right now and we beat her, remember?" Riku swallowed, trying to breathe deeply through his nose like Terra had instructed him to do when he had his panic attack. She's not here, she gone, she's dead.

Hunching his shoulders, he forced his eyes closed and tried not to focus on the screen, instead on Sora's hands in his.

Maleficent says she'll stay out of it and invites him to fight to his heart's content.

Riku flinched slightly as she spoke but didn't open his eyes, tightening his hands on Sora's. It's fine, this is just a memory. Just a past event.

Sora gave Riku a worried look but didn't stop holding his hands. At least Riku wasn't having a panic attack this time.

Maleficent turns and leaves. The screen goes black.

"She's gone, Riku," Sora said softly and Riku forced his back open. Seeing the black screen, he swallowed again, trying to make his shoulders relax.

Damnit, he hissed at himself. You couldn't even deal with her when she was just barely on screen. How are you going to do when she appears in force?

He didn't know.

TO THE REVIEWER WHO IS ASKING ABOUT RATING, FOR SOME REASON I CANNOT REPLY TO YOU. THERE WILL BE NO BAD LANGAUAGE IN THIS STORY, THERE IS ONLY ANGST, COMFORT, AND DISCUSSIONS OF FEELINGS AND THE LIKE. NOTHING THAT THE GAMES ALREADY HAVEN'T DONE. ALSO, THERE ARE TECHNICALLY NO CANON COUPLES. THIS GAME IS MADE TO SPECULATE AND ANYONE IS WELCOME TO SHIP WHATEVER THEY WANT TO. I SHIP SORIKU AND I THUS, IT WILL BE IN THIS STORY. IF THAT BOTHERS YOU, YOU'RE WELCOME TO IGNORE THIS STORY.