Chapter 15: The Book and the Underworld

As the quartet walked through an alleyway up to the Restoration Committee's headquarters and Merlin's residence, they saw some soldier heartless run out. It didn't activate the defense system as the heartless quickly vanish. Urgently, Sora rushed them in, and they saw Merlin sitting on the floor. He was dazed, but fine enough to stand.

"Well, now… took your time, did you?" The wizard asked the group as they came in. It was a quick matter for them to piece two and two together as to why they were here again so soon.

"Oh, was it you who summoned us, Merlin?" Goofy asked.

"Yes, yes…" He replied. "But it seems I used too much power in doing so, and those infernal Heartless…" Merlin sighed at himself, mainly agitated at the situation. Still, he wasn't being the clearest on the reasoning. If he summoned them back to Hollow Bastion, it probably had to be important.

"So, what's up?" Sora politely asked, adding on from Goofy.

Merlin stroked his beard as he finally began to explain. "Well, I happened to stumble across this in the Zero District." With a poof of magic, a familiar book appeared in his hand. The cover reflected in Donald's eyes as he came to take and examine the book.

It was the Winnie the Pooh book. It seemed familiar. Sora had gone in there a few times on their last adventure, though they didn't ask too much about what he was doing. Still, he had the most attachment to what was going on in there, and he recognized what it was.

"Pooh's storybook!"

"That's right. I know you're a good friend of Winnie the Pooh, Sora—that's why I summoned you." Merlin explained. "And when I did, I was attacked by the Heartless. Of course, I fought back with some rather powerful magic, but then I began to fear the book would be damaged, so I…"

The wizard stuttered as a thought occurred to him. "Now, just a moment. Leon and the others need to hear this too. I-I'd better go find them. Be back in a jiffy." From there, Merlin poofed away and Penelope made a comment.

Penelope had remained by the door so as to not get in the way, though she seemed bemused by why the Heartless showed up. "Sheesh. The Heartless must not like literature if they attacked you over a book. Maybe they'd have better etiquette if they could read. Ansem probably could."

"I doubt it." Donald quacked back as he continued to examine the book. Sora, on the other hand, seemed worried by the situation.

"I wonder how Pooh's doing?" He wondered out loud. Donald looked up at him, motioning the book toward him.

"Wanna find out?" The mage asked, opening it up for him. From there, as Donald held the book open, Sora went in there. As Sora was the only one of the quartet who could go in there, it left the other three alone. Sora had asked Goofy specifically to cover for him while they were gone.

Penelope paused as they had waited for Sora. "Actually, now that the book is back. Isn't it weird that one world is contained in a book? And that Sora seems to be the only person who can go into it? Is he like… their Christopher Robin in a way? Or am I mistaken?"

Donald and Goofy looked to each other. Honestly, this was the first time that someone had brought it up. They usually did chat and guarded the book until Sora would come back, as they had done before.

"Considering how different all the worlds are, we never thought about—" Goofy had to stop when they heard Heartless come back, and Donald set the book down. Donald looked up at the girl with determination in his eyes.

"Watch the book! We'll go get them!" He exclaimed.

Penelope didn't have a chance to talk before they headed out in a rush. Penelope sighed, shrugging her shoulders. "Okay, okay, okay… that's some inopportune-!" Sora suddenly shot out of the book grazing Penelope and landing on the floor with a thud.

Donald called from outside when he heard the commotion. "Sora! Hurry up!"

"Donald? Penelope, what's going on?" He asked?

Penelope still had no idea. Sora ran to help Donald and Goofy, leaving the book inside. Penelope threw up her hands in the air, looking around. "Kingdom Hearts, why is this all happening so fast…?" As she mused to herself, she noticed the soldier heartless going out the door with the book. Her heart decided to conveniently not sense darkness fast enough, especially as she heard Goofy ask Sora if he got it.

Penelope saw Sora, Donald, and Goofy run after the Heartless as she finally caught up outside. They were already fighting them as she joined in. "They are not giving us any time to breathe today, are they?" She asked, only to watch as the book was slashed as the boys finished up the fight before she could aid. It landed on the ground with a thud, and the book appeared emptier on its pages than before.

Sora went back in to check on the characters in the book again, just as fast as he had done before.

The group finally had a chance to take a breath. "How did some low-level Heartless get a jump on a book so fast? And Merlin felt the need to use some strong magic on them? Sheesh! They really, really must hate wholesome books like Winnie the Pooh!" Penelope complained once again.

By now, Merlin had come back, and Sora came back out of the book when he did. Apparently the Heartless had stolen some pages from the book, and it had messed with the memories of Pooh and his friends. Still, it looked more like the Heartless had attacked the book rather than tearing out pages. But the pages were apparently gone again.

Still, Sora did get a summon out of the trip. It was… some weird detour to be sure.

Penelope was shaking her head as they headed back off to the ship. "I'm sorry about Pooh and his friends, Sora. Hopefully when we have free time, you and Merlin can get back to fixing up the book and helping them again." She said gently, only to pause. "Wait. Weren't pages lost last time this happened."

Sora stretched, furrowing his brow as he put his hands behind his head. "Yeah. It did."

"That book needs to be protected by a Heartless-proof safe. Who knows what other wholesome book characters they could go after?" Penelope asked.

Sora raised a brow. "You know Pooh and his friends?"

Penelope paused, realizing that this was one of many things she inexplicably knew about but couldn't explain why. "I can't remember if you talked about it before. But they seem familiar. Maybe, before I got washed up on the island with Kairi, someone could have told me. Or we could have read about it in school."

Sora didn't recall reading anything about that, so he assumed it was the former.

It seemed that helping Pooh would be a side objective for right now as they focused on dealing with Organization XIII.

XxXxX

They had to go through another Gummi Ship mission through the Phantom Storm gateway on their way to the next destination, which appeared to be the Olympus Coliseum. As Sora was driving and focusing, with Goofy and Donald assisting, Penelope pondered to herself. Dealing with Heartless on their way to worlds never seemed to be a smooth ride, and there was a huge behemoth of a Heartless ship on their way there.

Penelope limited the small talk as Sora drove, though she did ask some questions on their way.

"I know we didn't use summons at all on our first adventure. Who can you call to help us, Sora?" Penelope asked. Much to her surprise, Sora managed to quickly tear through the ship and caused it to explode in half.

Well, that was one less problem to deal with.

"Oh! I think it was… someone named Chicken Little?" He mused.

Penelope blinked. "Chicken Little? Like… 'the sky is falling guy' with the bad father?" She asked, unsure of how she knew that other detail. Maybe she had also heard a story about a Chicken Little, once. Though she also doubted it.

"I won't really know until we meet him. It looks like we'll be back in Olympus soon."

"Oh! Olympus. It didn't seem to change too much in the last year from what I know. Herc and Phil seemed to be doing well." Penelope recalled, smiling at the memory.

Donald seemed surprised, though also mildly upset. "You did your hero training without us?!"

Penelope shrugged. "I was there because I had work to do. I wouldn't just go train on purpose. Besides—if I remember, which I do—didn't Phil say I had the potential to be a true hero?"

Sora grinned. "Oh? So, you did train without us. I guess we'll just have to catch up!"

"Hey! Where did I imply that?!"

The group laughed amongst each other for once as they landed from their quick trip across the gateway to Olympus Coliseum.

XxXxX

(Olympus Coliseum?)

When the group landed, they seemed to be a little off. Something huge was thrown into orbit on their way, so Sora had to change his landing position. However, they got to somewhere dark and unfamiliar. It felt eerie, perhaps soul eating.

"Are you sure this is the Coliseum?" Goofy asked.

Donald was the first to point out the err, as was typical, as the group wandered and looked around. He picked up on a golden stairway leading up… somewhere. "It's that way!"

"Oh… guess we were a little off." Sora said. Penelope hadn't seen this part of the world before, though she seemed confused.

"Even if so, how did we manage to land underground? I don't think we got hit…" Penelope's questioning was cut off by a scream, and they turned to see a woman clad in purple. She was running some maroon-hued dog Heartless.

It seemed to be one of those days where you didn't have a chance to speak, let alone think, huh.

When the woman tripped, the group went to go help her, however, the Heartless ran off. She got up by the time Sora and co. had come over. They offered to help her up, though… it didn't seem to be her style.

"Thanks… But I'm fine," she began, only to pause when she saw the faces were unfamiliar. "And you're supposed to be?"

"I'm Sora, he's Donald, and that's Goofy," Sora introduced, in the typical order. "Oh! And she's Penelope in the back. We came to see how Hercules is doing."

The woman read their faces, bringing her hand to the side of her head in thought. Her eyes had some disbelief in them, and Penelope had a feeling that the both of them had some similar energy. "You know Wonderboy?" She asked.

Much to no one's surprise, Donald confidently butted in, as he did. "Yeah, 'cause we're heroes, too!"

Goofy, however, giggled, and corrected him. "Ya mean junior heroes, Donald."

Penelope chuckled, and Donald pouted. The woman seemed amused by this as well, if not a tad relieved. "Looks like we have a friend in common. Name's Megara. My friends call me Meg." She introduced.

From there, the small talk continued.

"So, how's Herc?" Sora asked.

"Wonderboy? Well, he's duking it out at the Coliseum every day. You know 'a hero's work is never done' and all that. He's ready to drop, but he keeps on fighting," She explained, which was… worrying. Even a guy like Hercules had his breaking point. They knew that. "Even Wonderboy has his limits, though. These opponents are bad news—special deliveries from Hades himself…"

"Hades?!" Donald asked. Oh boy. Hades. He was… quite something the last time they were there, even if he didn't step in directly.

"Right. Lord of the Underworld. I was on my way to see him. Maybe I can get Hades to give Wonderboy a breather. If anything happened to that kid…"

"Gawrsh. Sounds like you're more than just friends!"

"Oh…uh, I mean…" Megara briefly stammered, though Sora took control of the conversation from there.

"We'll go have a little talk with Hades. I'd hate for anything to happen to you on your way to see him." Sora said out of concern.

"You really want to do that?" Meg asked, raising a brow. "Well, it looks like you know what you're doing. I guess I'll take you up on that offer. But… let's keep this whole chat-with-Hades thing our little secret, okay?"

"Our lips are sealed!" replied Goofy.

From there, the group went into the entrance of the Cave of the Dead. Something Penelope quickly noticed was how it felt like the environment was weighing on them. Granted, they were in the Underworld, so it likely wasn't going to be very easy. They also noticed that there weren't many Heartless.

Though, when they went through another corridor, they had another issue on their hands.

A figure in black quickly passed through. Penelope didn't get much of a read on them, though. Something about them felt familiar.

"The organization!" Donald exclaimed as they didn't have a chance to catch them.

Sora winced at this. "Yeah."

Penelope sighed. "I recall there being some Organization XIII activity here too. It's like none of the worlds can get a break. Neither can we, today…"

As they navigated through the crumbly cavern, they saw white spirits wandering through the passage. Penelope was rubbing her shoulders with her hands as they worked on navigating through, but with the split paths, it didn't seem like finding the exit would be the easiest either. There were lanterns about, which helped them see, but it didn't change the fact that the Underworld felt unsettling.

Somehow, though, they managed to find their way through. And the figure in black scared the life out of them as he came charging past. Sora summoned his Keyblade, but he didn't seem to be a threat.

Penelope could have sworn that she did know that guy's voice as he cried, "Run! Run away!" and dashed into a portal. Sora furrowed his brow, and they had no idea what just happened.

"Okay…?" Sora asked himself.

Penelope blinked. Which Organization XIII member was that anyway? She knew there wasn't THAT many left based on what they saw at Hollow Bastion. Plus, a good chunk of the lot was cleaved through Castle Oblivion by Sora and Riku. Not that Sora remembered, but it did happen.

Wait, wasn't he that guy who joined Roxas that one time at the games? Judging by that voice, he had to be.

Well, at least Organization XIII was consistent about the worlds they antagonized.

While Penelope was musing, she noticed Sora, Donald, and Goofy examining a floating purple book sigil. They decided to stray from it, as it seemed dangerous. Something about the book also seemed familiar, though Penelope supposed that now wasn't the time to worry about it.

It was still shaping up to be a weird day, wasn't it.

XxXxX

Two familiar figures were conversing in a tall, bony chamber of the Lord of the Dead, in the loftier heights of the Underworld overlooking a green, ghastly river of moaning spirits.

One was Hades himself, who was plotting what to do with Hercules. Much to his chagrin, the heroic wonder kept mowing down any threat sent at him. He lounged in his throne, speaking to his guest as he acknowledged an unfamiliar presence in the Underworld. "Where do they dig these freaks up? Geez, Louise." He mused to himself, resting his sharp hand near the back of his head.

His guest, who presented himself before the god, was Pete. The very same Pete who was serving Maleficent and wreaking Heartless upon the worlds once again. He seemed aware, but dismissive of the presence at hand.

"Oh, they're nuttin' but trouble, the whole lot of 'em," the large cat replied, quickly shifting his priorities. "So, uh...what're you gonna do about Hercules? He's made mincemeat outta every fighter you sent at him."

Hades knew that. He unfortunately knew that very well, and a bored scowl laid across his face while Pete continued to speak. His guest didn't need to tell him the obvious.

Still, Pete continued his yammering. "Pretty soon the Underworld's gonna be standing room only. Say, why don't you just pick somebody already dead and save him the trouble?" He suggested.

The Lord of the Dead straightened up from his bored lounge in annoyance and irritation, slamming his fists loudly on the armrests of his seat. His glare was chilling enough to make Pete cower in fear, covering his hands over his head. Pain and Panic, two of Hades's lackeys that were usually present, hid behind Pete as soon as they heard Hades's audible frustration.

But then… Hades thought about it. He WAS the Lord of the Dead. He could do as he pleased with the souls trapped in his domain. He scratched his chin, before looking back to the groaning green river below his chamber. "Dead... Dead is good! And I know just the warrior." He exclaimed, a nefarious plot popping into his head.

Perhaps Pete wasn't as much of a bonehead as he appeared.

XxXxX

The surroundings were getting to Donald and Goofy as they came up to the next corridor. It seemed they had to climb up higher to the throne of the Lord of the Underworld, though their surroundings glowed with a lime green hue from the drop below. It seemed like there was an undead river down there, and if the mortals knew any better, it probably would not be best to touch it.

Sora was more daring as he shouted up through the Valley of the Dead, calling "Hades, come out!"

Penelope gave Sora some side eye for this. "Sora, is now really the best time to bother a chthonic god? I think we're in his playground. We should be more careful than that."

Sora shrugged, only to pause when they heard a thud. Donald and Goofy jumped at this, and Penelope looked to see whatever it was as it landed right behind her.

She frowned when she noticed Maria. She… seemed to be in a solid form. Though her legs gradually went in a more transparent, spirit-like hue as they got to her feet. Her arms and hands followed suit. It looked as if there were chains on her legs, which weren't there before.

Maria furrowed her brows and blinked, shaking her head and getting up. She seemed startled when she realized where she was. She groaned, realizing the situation. "Okay, here and now was NOT a good time to visit. Clearly." She grumbled, trying to shake the chains off and poof away. She soon found she couldn't.

"Oh! You were Maria, right? How are you?" Sora asked.

"Literally chained down. What do you think?!" The woman asked sharply, motioning to her legs.

Sora avoided commenting from now. Penelope seemed confused. "Sorry. Did you need something from me? Did I need to head back and train?"

She crossed her arms. "I intended to check in and see how progress on your little project was going. But. I wasn't trying to come in here! How the heck did you land in the Underworld anyway?! This is the worst place for me to be."

Inconveniently, some Heartless showed up, as expected. Maria put her head in her hands. "I'm not sure if I'll be some use here quite yet. I don't think that Hades is going to let us have a warm reception either. Mind mowing down those Heartless?"

It wasn't like the group had much of a choice. They needed to get through the Heartless to get to Hades, whether they liked it or not.

As the group worked on getting through the Heartless on their upward struggle, Penelope decided to ask some questions. "I know you're coming from wherever Zia is, but is this some kind of form change? I'm still not used to all this, but this seems ESPECIALLY weird."

"I don't think this is a lucky day for any of us, to be frank." Maria replied.

They began to make their way up the stairs to find Hades, only to hear a commotion. Maria stayed back when she saw Hades, who was red and blocking a sword with his bare hands. There was also a man they hadn't seen before in front of him, with black hair and a red cape. Someone had clearly put the god in the red—quite literally.

When Donald announced their presence by calling out to Hades, he cooled down and looked up from the man with the sword. "You again?!" He asked, only for the man to get the upper hand and start fending him off. This led to a fight between Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Hades. Penelope was busy checking on the man, though she noticed that the boys weren't doing much damage. Or anything.

It seemed like she wasn't the only one being weighed down by the Underworld.

"I feel kinda funny…" Sora spoke, feeling more fatigued and powerless than usual. It was different than when they fought the Heartless.

Hades seemed relieved, if not amused by this. "That's right! See, that's the thing. In the Underworld, heroes are zeroes—comes with the territory." He said, lighting his hands with fire and then coming for the group. The man, however, jumped back into the fray to block Hades's attack, though he poofed away.

With a gruff voice, the unknown man ordered, "Go now!"

Sora, defiantly, replied, "But I've gotta talk to Hades!"

Hades, being the adult he was, plugged his ears with his fingers. "What was that?" He asked, mocking the situation.

Penelope shook her head, sighing. She shouldn't have been surprised. Sora still tried to go for him, though the man stopped him. "We can't fight him here! We have to go—now!" He exclaimed.

As Hades shot fireballs, Sora, Donald, and Goofy headed back down the stairs with the unknown man. Penelope and Maria tagged along with equal haste. Maria seemed frustrated by the whole thing.

"Ugh! It wouldn't matter if I was alive or not. I forgot that heroes-are-zeroes rule. I haven't been in the Underworld for a longgggg time…" Maria grumbled. Sora and Goofy closed the large stone doors, though it was ultimately pointless. The Lord of the Dead could teleport, and he was after him.

Maria paused when she noticed Hades. And Hades saw her. He knew her, much to her chagrin.

"Oh! You! You were that one who escaped!" He exclaimed, having further fuel to his fire.

Penelope looked to Maria. "Escaped? Maria, what's he going on about now?"

"We need to get the hell out of dodge. All of us. Now. Go go go!" She exclaimed, summoning her Keyblade. It was unlike one Penelope nor Sora had seen before.

The larger group began to turn tail and run back down from whence they came. Hades was more in the mood to shoot fire and attack them than talk, which made sense. He did have an advantage here. Plus, much to their further inconvenience, tons of Heartless showed up.

Although they were efficient in tearing down the Heartless, they still had to deal with Hades on their tail. Maria was trying her best to push the living forward, forward, forward until they were out of the valley and back into the cave. They were briefly out of Hades grasp, but they were also very out of breath.

Sora spoke to the man in red, surprised by his swordsmanship. "You're really good," he complimented with a smile. "Are you some kind of hero?"

He shook his head. "No. I'm no hero… I'm just an…"

Sora didn't get it. On the other side of the room, Penelope was grilling Maria.

"Seriously?! What is going on?! You come into my life out of the blue in the beginning, you boss me around to "tutor" me, and now I find out that you apparently escaped from Hades. What the hell?!" She asked, throwing her hands up in the air.

"I had to go back to Zia. I didn't care how, and it didn't matter then like it doesn't matter now. I may have died back in the Keyblade War, but my heart still burns strong." Maria explained.

Penelope paused. "You're dead?! How long have you been dead for? Why are you telling me this now?!" She shouted, stamping her foot. Maria motioned for Penelope to lower her volume.

On the other side of the room, they found out the guy's name was Auron. But they were also startled by Penelope's volume. The boys had already done their typical introduction and shindig, but there was clearly some drama in the other corner.

"Shh, shh. Why are you snapping out at me now?!"

"You decided to fill in for Zia, and I learn now that you're dead?"

Maria shrugged. "I haven't been playing substitute teacher long, kiddo. It hasn't made me a bad teacher, has it? Our seniors are our teachers for a reason, aren't they?" She asked coolly.

Penelope paused. "Well, considering you mentioned some kind of war and are being vague, you're probably older than whatshisface over here!" She nagged, only to pause and look over at the new guy. "Oh! Sorry. What's your name? I'm Penelope, she's Maria, and you've probably had tons of introductions all at once."

"He's Auron." Sora said, pointing at Auron with his thumb. The man stood stoically, seeming unbothered by the situation. It was one way to be introduced to the party though.

Penelope pointedly looked back at Maria, about to speak again until she stopped her. "Okay, okay, I get it. It's been a bit over 100 years since the Keyblade War. I don't think you've been told about it yet, but you probably will later."

"You're old enough to be a great grandma, if not older, and I'm learning this now."

Maria, with some offense, put a hand to her chest. "Well, ya don't ask a lady about her age, do you?"

Penelope mirrored the motion. "Well, I'm also a lady! Technically! So, this is fair game!" She snapped back.

"Did you think I was expecting to tell you this so soon?! Granted, I probably should have had some more foresight before I left. I don't normally look like a half-phantom, but the rules are different here. If we can get out, I should be fine to leave." She explained back.

Penelope was still frustrated with Maria. "What, is Zia dead too? What else are you hiding from me that I had to find out about on a weird day?!" She continued to nag.

"Zia's not dead, but… Look. We probably should be talking about this elsewhere. Even if Hades backed off, this is still his turf." She reminded her.

Penelope took a deep breath and sighed. "Okay, fine. We will talk about this later. But you better not be hiding anything else important from me or I swear to god!"

Maria patted the air, continuing to emphasize the point. She glanced over to Auron briefly before looking at Penelope again, trying to get the last word in. "Yeah, yeah. I'm not the only dead guy in the room though. No offense, Auron."

Auron shrugged, remaining stoic. He wasn't sure why he was dragged into this argument, but hopefully it wasn't the norm with this group.

Otherwise, it looked like this trek through the Underworld was going to be a long one.

-o-o-o-o-

Sorry this has taken a bit. There were some scenes I needed to add back in besides having a lot going on in my personal life which has made it hard to write and update this.

Arika (Guest): Hi! The fanfic isn't cancelled. It just takes me a while to update as I have a job besides me having had a lot going on in this last month or so. You're absolutely fine to have your headcanons, however. I understand Roxas means a lot to you as a character. I'm not a doctor either, though I'm studying psychology and planning to become a counselor. I do see how Roxas could potentially have signs or symptoms of PTSD, though I'm not in the position to diagnose him or anyone else. I do understand the character investment and I apologize that I'm not able to update as frequently.

I did get my application for my master's degree done, though I also have an art event in a server I moderate in going on besides Christmas and New Year's coming up. Both of those holidays are busy for me due to family obligations and the nature of my job. I usually have to work holidays as I work at a doggy daycare/boarding place, and we usually have high occupancy during holidays. So that limits some time. I'll try my best to continue chugging along and get the next chapter out as soon as I can.

I'll see you all in the next chapter!

Ciao!