Kingdom Hearts II Vol 1

by Tomoco Kanemaki

“Yeah, well… That’s impossible.” He turned away from her.

  We don’t have hearts.

  Still… I know that feeling. I was lonely. I’ve been lonely since Roxas went away…!

  Does that mean I have a heart? Is that what makes me feel this way?

  “Axel…,” Naminé began.

  “Sorry to bother you when you’re so busy, but…”

  The sentence was finished not by Naminé’s voice, but a man’s. Axel looked up to see someone else he knew.

  He hadn’t even sensed him coming!

  “Saïx…!” he snarled, and the other man slowly lowered his hood, smiling serenely.

  Long blue hair escaped from the hood, but it didn’t hide the scar on his forehead.

  “Naminé, run!”

  She flinched at Axel’s shout and took off. Ahead of her was a portal in the air. “Axel…!”

  “It’s okay—go! I’ll catch up.”

  Naminé nodded and jumped into the gateway.

  “So you’re trying to play the hero now, too?” Saïx said flatly, staring hard at Axel.

  Number 8 gripped his chakrams, hoping he’d be able to buy some time. Enough for Naminé to find Riku, at least. He edged backward, step by tiny step.

  If he was being honest, Axel didn’t think he could win against Saïx. The best he could do was to find an opening and make a break for it.

  “What are you going to do now?” Saïx asked, watching the portal close with no discernible reaction.

  “Nothing that’s any of your business.”

  Saïx shifted his shoulders. “I beg to differ, if you’re going to betray the organization.”

  “…So, are you saying I’m not already a traitor?” Axel smirked.

  “We can’t let you turn the hero into a Heartless.”

  “Huh? What’re you talking about?”

  Apparently they weren’t having the same conversation.

  The organization’s objective was to recover Roxas—the wielder—and have him under their control. Wasn’t it? Well, to be precise, the goal was to use Roxas’s Keyblade to destroy the Heartless, collect all the hearts, and regain hearts for themselves.

  Then did this mean…the organization had given up on Roxas? If they had Sora, they didn’t need Roxas? Was that it?

  “Our goals are constantly evolving,” Saïx explained dispassionately, taking a step toward his retreating target.

  In response, Axel leaped back. “Oh yeah? Huh… That’s news to me. So, what’re your orders this time? You can tell me,” he mocked, as he started to create something behind Saïx. To the naked eye it appeared to be nothing but a black dot.

  He’d jumped away for a reason. He just needed a little more time and distance, and the blue-haired man wasn’t the type to attack without any provocation.

  “My orders are to take you down!” A heavy sword materialized in Saïx’s hands, and he closed the space between them in one leap.

  “…Not the brightest, are you?” Now that Saïx was in very close range, Axel sprang right over him and ran. The setup he’d planted was just ahead now—a distortion in the air steadily taking shape. He knew he had no chances of defeating number 7 in a fight, but he had every confidence in his own speed and cleverness.

  “What—?!” Saïx whirled around. But Axel had already plunged into the warp.

  The trio disembarked from the Gummi Ship into a world they’d never seen before.

  “Gee, this place is new…” Goofy cocked his head. The almost completely lightless expanse was strewn with boulders. It seemed to be a cave.

  “There’s the way out!” Donald pointed to a large, shining gateway at the top of a staircase.

  “Looks like there’s a door over there in the rock, too,” Goofy said, directing their attention in the opposite direction. Over that way, they could see a sliding door made from a single block of stone.

  “Which way should we go?” wondered a confused Sora between the two.

  Just then, a scream pierced the air.

  “Whoa! Sora—Heartless!” Goofy raised his shield and charged. Near the stone door, a woman was on the ground, surrounded by Heartless.

  “Wa-wa-wa-waaak!” Donald joined Goofy fending off the Heartless.

  “Are you all right?” Sora went to help her up, but the woman shook her head and stood on her own.

  “Thanks. But I’m fine… Who are you supposed to be?”

  “I’m Sora. That’s Donald, and that’s Goofy. We’re trying to find our friends.”

  She nodded and glanced up to the door atop the stairs before introducing herself. “Name’s Megara, but you can call me Meg. I’m a friend of our local hero.”

  “Hero?” Donald regarded her curiously.

  “Yeah. The hero of this world… But he’s about to run out of heroics.”

  “Who is he?” asked Goofy.

  “Hercules. He spends all day, every day, duking it out in the Coliseum up there.” Still staring at the bright door, Megara sighed.

  The trio exchanged glances.

  “Duking it out with who?” Sora asked. “Heartless?”

  “No— Hades just keeps sending him tough customers. Monsters, really…”

  “Hades?”

  At the unfamiliar name, they looked at one another again.

  “The Lord of the Underworld,” Megara explained. “I was on my way to have a chat with him just now. Maybe I can get him to give Hercules a breather. If anything happens to that kid…”

  “Gawrsh, sounds like you’re more than friends,” Goofy said.

  “Wh— No, we’re not!” she retorted, a hint of color in her cheeks.

  Sora folded his arms and looked up at the knight. “Well, we can’t just leave someone down here when she’s trying to help out a friend.”

  “But they’re not just friends!” Goofy pointed out.

  “Then we definitely can’t!” Donald snapped.

  “We’ll go talk to Hades for you,” Sora declared.

  Megara’s head rose. “Really? Well, I guess I’ll take you up on that.”

  “Leave it to us!” Sora boastfully jabbed a thumb at his chest, and Donald and Goofy followed suit.

  “Okay, let’s go!” They nodded to one another and wrenched open the stone door.

  At the same time, deep in the bowels of the Underworld, its ruler Hades had a visit from a familiar character.

  “So, what’re you gonna do about Hercules? He’s makin’ mincemeat outta every fighter you send.” The guest was none other than Pete, pacing around restlessly and muttering to himself. “Pretty soon the Underworld’s gonna be standing room only! Sheesh. I guess by now there’s a whole lotta new warriors down here.”

  Hades scowled contemptuously at Pete’s ranting. The Lord of the Dead was tall with a sickly blue complexion, and his hair blazed with hellish flames.

  Before Hades and Pete was a pit spouting yellowish-green mist, along with a rotten stench. Pete scrunched up his face in response to the smell.

  “…So, basically, I’ve got a full roster of fallen warriors to put back in the game,” mused Hades.

  “What d’you mean?” Pete demanded, crossing his arms in an attempt to seem confident.

  “See this hole in the floor? It’s a portal to the Underworld’s deepest, darkest dungeon.” Hades peered down into it with a nasty grin. “Which means I can call up the baddest of the bad whenever I want.”

  “Ya don’t say…,” mumbled Pete, even as Hades’s grin sent a shiver down his spine, and shrank back.

  Hades let out a sinister chuckle, either at Pete’s fear or at his own scheming, and waved his hand at the pit. A crackling bolt of light blasted from his hand down into the depths.

  Pete crept back even farther from the uncanny roar that followed.

  “…Ya don’t say…” He cowered, covering his face against the awful reek and flash of eerie light.

  At Hades’s near-maniacal cackling, Pete peeked out from between his fingers and saw a man dressed in red and holding an enormo
us sword. A terrible wound to his face had permanently closed his right eye, and his graying hair was cut short. His left arm was tucked into his robes.

  “Let’s cut to the chase, Mr. Not-so-nice-guy. I’ve got a deal for you,” Hades told him cheerfully. “Do what I say, and you’re free as a bird, no strings attached.”

  The man shifted his attention from Hades to Pete.

  “Eep…” Pete retreated a step, unnerved by the penetrating one-eyed gaze.

  “It’s a walk in the park, really,” Hades went on, teeth still bared. “Go to the Coliseum and fight Hercules…to the death.”

  Unflinching, the man lifted the corners of his mouth into a hint of a smile. “This is my story. And you’re not part of it.”

  He raised his sword squarely at Hades.

  “Did you forget who you’re talking to?! I am the Lord of the Dead!”

  “Right… No wonder no one wants to die.”

  At that, Hades’s flaming hair flared up red with anger. “You are fired!” he shouted, and lunged at the man.

  Sora and his friends headed deeper and deeper into the dreary caverns, taking down Heartless along the way.

  “A lady shouldn’t be in a place like this all by her lonesome,” Goofy said, knocking aside with his shield any Heartless that jumped at him.

  “No way, nohow!” Donald agreed, and with a flick of his wand another turned to mist.

  “Anyway… D’you get the feeling we’re not as strong as usual?” Goofy examined his shield as if it would tell him the reason.

  “Aw, it’s just your imagination,” Sora replied breezily, and rested the Keyblade across his shoulders. “Or maybe it’s just you?”

  “Gawrsh, I guess so…” Goofy cocked his head, unconvinced.

  “About this hero, though… Hercules? I wonder what he’s like?” Sora gushed, obviously intrigued.

  “Well, gee…” Goofy folded his arms, musing. “Probably tall and handsome, and really nice…”

  “So, the complete opposite of Sora?” Donald jeered.

  “Wha—? Hey!” Sora began chasing him.

  “See? You attack your friends!” As Donald fled, he collided with something and fell back on his tail. “Quack!”

  “Oops… Sorry about that.” The person he’d run into bowed his head apologetically.

  “Huh? …Gah!”

  When the trio noticed the man’s organization cloak, they readied their weapons again, and he took a step back.

  “Retreat!” he shouted.

  At that, some squirming Nobodies showed themselves, but they simply continued down the passage Sora had just come from, completely ignoring the three. The organization man followed his minions.

  “What was that about?” Sora squinted after him.

  “Wasn’t that somebody from Organization XIII?” Goofy asked.

  “Must’ve been…” But Sora was confused, too.

  “Look, there’s a door!” Donald announced, peering down where the man had been.

  Sora and the other two stood before a huge door, much like the one at the gates to the Underworld where they’d found Megara.

  “Ya think…Hades is through there?” Goofy said.

  Sora and Donald nodded. They opened the door and peeked through the gap.

  “Someone needs help in there!” cried Donald.

  In the large round chamber, a man with graying hair was lying on the floor. Beside him stood another man, tall and bluish skinned. The trio scurried inside.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” The tall man had flames for hair, which blazed an angry red. Hades glared at the newcomers.

  “I could ask you the same thing!” Sora retorted, and dashed in front of the man on the ground to cover him with the Keyblade.

  Someone else popped out of Hades’s shadow. “It’s you pip-squeaks!”

  “Pete!” cried Donald and Goofy.

  “I knew you were up to no good!” Sora braced for a fight.

  “Hades!” Pete yelled. “It’s them! The ones tryin’ to interfere with our plan!”

  “Oh yeah? That so?” Arms crossed, Hades grinned viciously. “I take it you’re friends of Hercules or something?”

  “So, you’re Hades? Well, we’re here to talk to you,” Sora began.

  “No… Go, now…,” the fallen man muttered to him.

  “We can’t do that!” Goofy went to help him up, but Hades glided over and tossed Goofy aside.

  “Blizzard!” Donald flung out a spell, but the blast of ice melted away before it even touched Hades’s robes.

  “What’s going on…?” Sora sprang forward to attack—or tried to. The strength drained from his legs, and instead he tumbled over.

  “We can’t do anything!” shouted Donald, waving his wand in vain.

  “I feel kinda funny…,” Sora mumbled. He couldn’t even seem to get up.

  “You finally noticed! See, that’s the thing. In the Underworld, heroes are zeroes. Comes with the territory!” Hades crowed, and struck at Sora.

  “Ngh!”

  The one who blocked the attack from Hades was the man who had been on the floor.

  Hades laughed, knowing he’d scarcely have to lift a finger. “Still got that much fight in ya…?”

  “Run. Now!” the warrior in red shouted.

  “But—,” Sora protested as he finally got to his feet.

  “We can’t fight him here! Listen to me. We have to go!”

  Sora, Donald, and Goofy gave in and fled the chamber.

  “What about that guy back there?” Sora worried, checking over his shoulder—and the man in question was only a little ways behind them.

  Goofy swiveled his head, too, ears flapping, and grinned at Sora. “Oh, good, he made it!”

  Donald stopped to catch a gasping breath. “Did we lose him?”

  “Don’t count on it,” the man replied.

  “He’s right. C’mon, the party’s just getting started.”

  Hades had appeared beside the magician without a sound other than those mocking words.

  “Wak!”

  Pete brought up the rear with a passel of Heartless. “Hold it right there!”

  “Run for it!” Sora cried. The four of them started to do just that, only to find Heartless in front of them, too. “Whoa!”

  Sora skidded to a halt, but the mysterious man was already charging ahead to mow down the Heartless with one stroke of his huge sword.

  “Wow!” Donald marveled.

  “Let’s go!” The man wasted no time, and they scrambled to follow him.

  “Hey, mister, you’re pretty good,” Sora said as he caught up. The man cracked a lopsided smile.

  “Say, are you a hero?” Goofy asked, and at that the man stopped in his tracks. The other three paused with him as if following his lead.

  “I’m no hero. I’m just…Auron.”

  “Auron?” Donald echoed.

  “That’s my name.” He sounded a little embarrassed.

  The trio confirmed that they’d all had the same thought, then scurried around in front of him and stood at attention.

  “I’m Sora!”

  “Donald!”

  “Goofy!”

  They introduced themselves one after another, and Sora stretched out his arm to shake hands. But he’d reached toward Auron’s paralyzed left arm. “…Oh.”

  Seeing Sora awkwardly stuck there, Auron let out a tiny chuckle. “We must have been fated to meet. Maybe you need a guardian.”

  “Guardian? Thanks, but…pretty sure we’ll be fine.” Sora withdrew his hand and rubbed the back of his head, grinning.

  “Mm-hmm…” Auron laughed a bit more noticeably this time. “Anyway, let’s move.”

  “Right!” They plunged ahead again.

  Meanwhile, up above, bright sunlight filled the Coliseum. There were no games now, and someone from the organization crept through the quiet arena.

  Demyx hadn’t been able to use his power in those caverns, as if the place was under some kind of curse. Actua
lly, come to think of it, before he came to this world Xigbar had been going on about some kind of talisman. The Olympus Stone—that was it.

  “I dunno. I’m just not cut out for this kinda work— Augh!” Suddenly, a stout little man with goat horns on his head was standing in front of him.

  “What’re you doin’ here?” demanded the satyr.

  “Uh, well, y’know…” Caught out, Demyx scratched his head.

  “You here for the games?”

  “Huh? Er…”

  “Name’s Phil. And you are?”

  “Um…leaving!”

  Demyx dashed for the stone building that served as a prep room for the contestants.

  “Hey! Hold it right there!” Phil started in pursuit but found himself beset by a ring of Nobodies. “What d’you think you’re doin’?!”

  Demyx ran inside as Phil shouted after him.

  “The gate!” Donald called and ran ahead to it with the party close on his tail. “Uh-oh… It won’t move.”

  He shoved the door with all his might, to no avail.

  “Here goes!” Goofy added his own strength, but the door still didn’t budge. Apparently it was not just closed, but locked. There was a sizable keyhole in the middle of it.

  “Looks like we’re stuck.” Goofy looked back at Sora mournfully.

  But Sora’s Keyblade gleamed. “Oh!” He held it up.

  “Can you open it with that?” Auron asked, watching their efforts.

  “Yeah. I think so.”

  But the moment Sora spoke, a dreadful growl sounded from behind them, accompanied by an even more dreadful stench.

  “Wak?!” Donald started at the sight of the source. It was the giant three-headed guard dog of the Underworld—Cerberus.

  Auron calmly faced the beast with his sword ready. “Go!” he shouted to the others, and leaped into action.

  Sora nodded and raised the Keyblade toward the keyhole. The weapon glowed and unlocked the gate.

  “C’mon!” Donald cried, and shoved the door open.

  “Auron?!” Goofy called.

  The warrior was busy doing battle with Cerberus. “Just go!”

  “We can’t leave you behind!” Sora charged at Cerberus and leaped into the air, slashing at one of its eyes. The giant monster dog roared.

  “Tch,” Auron hissed in frustration and charged from the other direction.