As Sora, Ruby, and their friends all celebrated Sora's victory, a bruised Hercules eventually entered the vestibule alongside Phil; A huge smile plastered upon his face. "Wow! A-And I didn't even hold back!" Hercules said, genuinely amazed and even happy that Sora managed to beat him. Junior hero or not, Phil had to admit, that was nothing short of impressive.
Once the congratulations was finished, Sora turned to Phil. In the midst of the celebration, he thought back to the fight he just finished with Hercules. Just like with Leon and Yuffie, he felt like he was going to lose he, and he almost did. But he managed to push his limits and break through them when it mattered most. Because of that, he pulled through and remembered that his friends were counting on him, and even cheering for him at the bleakest moment. "Now I finally know what you mean about strength of heart. Mine comes from Donald, Goofy, Ruby and everyone else here." Sora's sentiment drew a proud, joyful smile to the faces of his many companions.
"Come again?" Phil inquired incredulously at Sora's sentimental proclamation.
"If we stick together, we're unbeatable. Not even Hercules stands a chance," Sora continued as he looked to each of his companions who smiled back, all of their hearts warmed by his returned belief in them. Hercules smiled too, finding the way Sora valued everyone on his team as the closest people in his life. "With all my friends beside me, I'm ready for anything!"
"But kid, that's not exactly what I-"
"Of course," Hercules said, picking up the satyr before he could finish his lecture and potentially damage Sora's spirits. "Your friends give you strength. Isn't that right, Phil?" Looking up at Hercules with a deadpanned face, Phil decided not to press the matter since Hercules clearly wasn't going to let him. As Hercules set his teacher back down, he walked up to Sora with an equally big grin. "Each of you is so strong on your own. But all of you together make great heroes. And as a team, I'm sure you can overcome anything." His arm was out and Sora clasped his hand to Hercules, a gesture of friendly communication to celebrate and further encourage one another. Even with one losing a fight and the other a victor, there were nothing but positive feelings between them.
"Maybe I'm strong enough to move that pedestal now!" Sora said in excitement before rushing to it and trying to push. He groaned while leaning but smiled excitedly as it started moving. To his sides though were Donald, Goofy, Ruby and Jaune helping to move it with smiles at him.
But before anyone could congratulate Sora for pushing the pedestal, they went silent as they saw a familiar shimmer of light underneath him. "Sora, look!" Donald called out. As he looked down, sure enough it was precisely what he thought. It was this world's Keyhole. Both Hercules and Phil watched with fascination and confusion respectively as Sora reached out his hand and summoned the Keyblade. Everyone else smiled as they watched both the Keyblade and the Keyhole react to each other. Just like before, streams of light surrounded both, followed by that familiar beam of light shoot out from the tip of the Keyblade. The radiant energies converged into the Keyhole which surged as Sora willed it to lock. And as it vanished, just like the others, a distinct locking sound resounded throughout the room. Though it may not have been nearly as much at risk as the other worlds, at least now Olympus was safe from the Heartless.
"Uhhh, what just happened?" a very confused Phil asked, looking at Hercules who simply kept smiling at Sora.
Sora turned toward the two of them and gave a small nod. "We've done everything we need to here, Phil. It's time for us to go." he said, smiling along with his friends. As fun as it had been to grow stronger together here, they had a mission to finish.
His words drew drew an irritated frown to the satyr's face. "Ya go through all that effort of beatin' my champ, and now suddenly ya gotta go like that?" Phil asks with disbelief.
"I wish we could stay Phil, but we have to. Sora has a very important duty to fulfill. But who knows? Maybe it'll prove to you he has what it takes to be a hero." Pyrrha said with a fond smile on her face.
"Heh. Yup. Just you wait, Phil. We'll show you that we've ALL got what it takes." Jaune said with a silly attempt to puff out his chest. A gesture which drew a range of groans, chuckles, giggles, and head shakes from his fellow hunters and otherworldly friends.
"Don't gimmie that!" And a VERY irritated reaction from Phil. "YOU still got a REAL long way to go, kid." he said, poking Jaune in the shin, which took all the wind out of the blonde huntsman's sails as he let out a pitiful "Ow!"
Fortunately Hercules helped Jaune salvage any wounded pride by placing a hand on Phil and smiling at the group. "Alright. You guys take care, okay?" Hercules said, getting the farewells back on track. As they left, he cheerfully called out, "You beat me this time, but next time won't be so easy!"
Sora stopped, looking back and waving to him with a bright smile. If they ever did have a rematch, he'd look forward to it. Once they were out the vestibule, Phil looked where the Keyhole was before. "Soooo, what exactly was that?" he asked his bruised champion.
"It must have been something meant for Sora." Hercules said, looking to the spot with Phil. "I tried moving that pedestal many times since they were here, but it never budged. Now I'm thinking it didn't have anything to do with physical strength." Though the others were already gone, he smiled as he thought back on Sora's passionate words. "A power that can't be obtained alone...Phil, those guys really are something special."
"Huh...You think that's how those barrels were coming outta nowhere and could actually do something about our godly strength?" Phil asked, remembering that odd moment as they went back into the arena.
Hercules chuckled, looking to sky. "I think that was due to divine intervention. Literally. What else can cancel a demigod's power for a little while? Dad probably thought I wouldn't be a 'true hero' with a competition meant for fun against somebody nowhere near as strong as me. Still. If Sora keeps this up, I know he'll be as great a hero as me."
"Pah. I'll believe that when I see it." Phil scoffed with an amused grin. Even though he wouldn't say it out loud, deep down he knew Hercules was right about Sora.