“Hey, now, that ain’t no way to say hello, ’specially to your old friends.” Behind Pete, Mickey’s nefarious nemesis, stood his sinister companion. She greeted Hades with a smirk. The other figure greeted Hades with a sneer when he finally turned back to face them and said, “Oh, perfect. Now I gotta put up with you two,” Hades grumbled, turning back toward them. “Funny, I don’t remember you doing me any memorable favors. So, you can keep your Heartless this time. I’m going back to my original plan. All right?” Maleficent, the black-robed fairy, laughed. “So…toodle-oo! Exit’s thataway. Hey, it was great seein’ ya! Happy trails!” Hades shooed them away with his hands, but Maleficent had a question for him: “We are not here for you. I have my own business to attend to. All I need to know is if there is a distinctive black box somewhere in this world?” “Black box, huh? Hmm… Black box, black box, black box… Wait. Don’t tell me… You’re after the one Zeus hid on Earth?” Hades replied, suggesting he had some knowledge of the item the evil fairy was trying to find. “Possibly. If I were, where might it be?” Maleficent’s eyes narrowed with deep interest. Meanwhile… The tempest had blown Sora and his friends some ways away. “Whoa!” “Waaak!” “Yaa-hoo-hoo-hooey!” In Thebes, the hero Hercules looked up as he heard the three screaming voices, and with a mighty leap, he caught the falling trio in his brawny arms. “See? Found him,” Sora declared proudly from Hercules’s biceps. “Yeah, guess this counts!” said Goofy, who was also dangling from Herc’s arms. “Gwaaak!” Apparently, Donald had been caught by one of the nearby statues instead. “Get me down!” “Just a second!” Hercules laughed as he ran to help. Once Sora and gang were safely on the ground, Herc smiled, delighted to see his friends again. “You guys are here! Sora, Donald, Goofy! You literally dropped in. Gotta say, I’m impressed.” “Thanks!” “Liked the catch.” “Yeah, thanks, Herc.” The trio each greeted him in turn. It was great to see their friend was still doing well after all this time—although judging by the smoke rising among the stone buildings of its streets, it appeared the same couldn’t be said for Thebes. “But…what’s going on?” Sora asked. “Take a guess,” Hercules said with a shrug. “Starts with an H.” Hades and his evil cohorts occasionally tried to wreck the city, and it was Herc who usually put a stop to it. “Ah, I get the picture,” Sora replied. “Actually, we bumped into the H-ster on the way here.” “He said somethin’ about conquerin’ the whole cosmos,” Donald added. “All of it, huh? Nice of him to show a little self-restraint. Well, whatever he’s planning, I’ll send him running back across the Styx.” “That’s our Herc!” Sora cheered at his friend’s confidence. Hercules really has the stuff heroes are made of. “So, Sora, is there a reason you guys are visiting? I’m guessing it’s not just for the cheese and olives,” Herc asked, sensing something out of the ordinary. “Oh yeah!” Sora exclaimed as he remembered his mission. “It sounds like somebody forgot,” Donald teased. “That’s Sora,” said Goofy. “I just…took my time remembering,” Sora said back to his friends, then turned to look at Hercules. “Herc, I came here so I could ask you something.” “Ask me?” “Yeah. Do you remember the last time we were together? You were feeling down and out. How’d you get your strength back—when you jumped in and saved Meg?” Sora gazed at his hands, now so much weaker than they used to be. Hercules had once been robbed of his might due to one of Hades’s schemes. If Herc had successfully come back from that, then surely he knew something that could help Sora with his own plight. “Hmm… That’s tough.” Hercules paused in thought for a moment. “All I know is that she was in trouble. Suddenly, I wanted to save her with all my heart, but…it’s not like I could tell you how.” He did his best to explain his actions back then, but even he wasn’t certain what the key to his recovery really was. Maybe Sora’s magic cure to regain his strength wasn’t going to be that easy to find after all. “Oh man.” Sora sighed, dejected. “What’s wrong?” Herc asked. “All my strength is gone, too. That’s why I need you—because I was hoping you might have a solution, or something.” “I’m sorry, Sora.” Several fireballs shot down from the sky toward the four disheartened friends. “Heartless!” shouted Donald. They were shrouded in flames, coming to attack the city. “Let’s talk later!” “Right… Once we’ve dealt with these guys.” The four of them got themselves ready for the battle. They had fought alongside Herc several times before and were well aware of his strength. Just before Sora was about to charge into the pack of Heartless, Hercules yelled, “I’ll handle these guys!” The hero hefted a big stone from among the rubble and hurled it at the Heartless. Donald cast spells, and Goofy sent foes scattering with his shield. “Yowch!” Goofy yelped as his clothes caught fire, and Donald rushed over to put him out with ice magic. I could take these guys out in a heartbeat if I were just…stronger, thought Sora as he swung his Keyblade desperately. Herc had said his power returned to him because of his sincere desire to help Meg, but what exactly did that mean? “Sora, look out!” Donald blasted away a Heartless that had been bearing down on Sora. “Where’s your head?!” “Sorry ’bout that.” Sora tightened his grip on his Keyblade and turned his attention back to the business at hand. “You okay there, Sora?” Herc shouted from where he was punching Heartless into the air. “The real question is, are you?” Sora replied, as he swung his blade. He was putting up a front, just a little bit. “Herc!” someone called from above just as they finally managed to finish off the swarm. Megara and Phil flew down astride Pegasus and landed before them. Megara was Hercules’s girlfriend, and he usually just called her Meg, just like how she called him Herc. Phil was the trainer who had made Herc into a hero. “You’re okay!” “Meg!” She walked over to Hercules. “How’ve you been?” Donald asked Phil. “I got two words for you—right as rain!” Donald and Goofy shared a look, perplexed as always by the satyr’s apparent inability to count. “Boy, that didn’t look fun.” “No, not with the Heartless involved.” Hercules crossed his arms and surveyed the city. Several stone buildings were damaged; even his own statue had toppled to the ground. “We’re just lucky our friends showed up,” he said with a bright smile at the friends in question. “Well, whaddaya know? Sora, Donald, Goofy, guess I owe you a big thank-you,” Meg said, blinking her long lashes. “It was nothing,” Sora told her proudly. “Meg, you need to stay someplace safe. We’ll search the city and make sure everyone manages to get clear of the fire.” The danger wasn’t over yet. Meg nodded and clasped her hands with concern over her heart. “Be careful, Wonderboy.” “I will,” the hero replied reassuringly, then turned to Sora, Goofy, and Donald. “So, you guys in?” He grinned. “Of course we’re in!” Sora flexed his muscles in reply. “We’re heroes!” Donald added. “Mm-hmm!” Goofy chimed in. Megara smiled gently and said, “Break a leg, then…heroes.” “You betcha!” the trio exclaimed with a nod. Hercules turned to the satyr. “Phil, you should go with Meg.” Megara climbed aboard Pegasus, with Phil following her. “You gotta keep her safe.” Herc patted his trusted companion on the snout, and then with a whinny, the winged horse took flight. As he rose high into the air, they heard a scream. “Heeelp!” Goofy raised one of his ears and then pointed at a big building off in the distance. “Hey! I hear a voice!” Hercules strained his eyes as he searched for its owner. “Oh no! There’s a little girl caught in the fire!” The girl was crying on top of the crumbling roof of a temple. “Let’s go!” Sora called, about to set off at a sprint, but Herc stopped him. “Wait. Running’s too slow!” He was right—to reach her, they would have to go around the temple square, up the building’s stairs, and then scale the side to reach the roof. “Then what’s the other choice?” Sora asked back in panic. “Get on that.” Hercules pointed at the statue of himself that lay fallen in the plaza. “What do you mean?” Hercules set Sora, Donald, and Goofy atop the statue and then, in an incredible display of strength, lifted the entire thing over his head as if he meant to throw it. “Hyaah…!” “Oh no! Not agaaaaain!” Herc’s roar of effort was nearly drowned out by the screaming trio as he sent the statue hurtling through the air. “Thank you for saving me.” “Yeah, no prob,” Sora replied gently. The girl bobbed her head and ran off. Luckily, they had arrived in time to get her to safety. I gotta say, Herc never fails to impress. If only I could get my strength back, too… “We’d better check and see if anyone else needs us.” I’m sure there are more people in trouble, thought Sora. Just as he was about to hurry off, a familiar voice called from behind. “Well, if it isn’t Sora and the king’s pawns.” Them again—Maleficent and Pete. Sora readied his Keyblade for a fight, and Donald and Goofy prepared themselves for action, too. “Maleficent! Pete! Are you the reason the Heartless are here?” “Certainly not,” the witch replied nonchalantly. Beside her, Pete gave Sora a once-over and jabbed a finger at him. “Say, Maleficent, I dunno about his sidekicks, but Kid Keyblader here looks way punier than the last time we saw him. I say we finish him off while we still can.” Hearing that from Pete of all people was just adding insult to injury… Maleficent regarded Sora closely, then smiled softly. “Waste no time with the boy,” she said dismissively, leisurely turning to be on her way. “He’s inconsequential. We have a far more pressing matter to attend to.” “Oh! We gots to find that black box.” “Be silent, you fool!” she snapped, but Pete had already spilled the beans about their search. She sneered down at Sora and his companions with utter confidence. “As for you three: We shall meet again…when I have time for such trifles.” “Yeah, and youse better get your act together before then. Later, twerps!” Pete stepped into the Corridor of Darkness opening before him, and Maleficent followed. “Wait!” Sora was about to give chase—but his footsteps slowed. “Sora?” Donald looked worriedly into his friend’s face. “It’s fine. Happens all the time!” Sora chirped again, then let out a long sigh. “Gawrsh, it sure don’t sound like it. Did Pete sayin’ mean things bother ya?” Goofy added quietly. “It’s fine! This happens all the time!” Sora repeated, as if he was trying to convince himself it was true. I’ve lost my strength more than once before, and everything worked out. There’s no reason to believe it won’t come back again…I hope. “You’re gonna get stronger!” Donald said in encouragement. “You’ll be just fine! This sure ain’t the first time it’s happened!” Goofy joined in, quoting Sora’s own words. “Don’t say that!” Sora protested, a hint of a smile on his face. They’re right. I can handle it. “Let’s go look for people who haven’t made it out!” he called to Donald and Goofy. He was ready to go again. Unfortunately, the fires all around the city made navigating the streets unusually difficult—at least, until Goofy got the bright idea to ride on his shield through the obstacles. He came across a woman trapped on top of a column by fiery Heartless while he was on the move. “Someone, heeelp! Where did all these monsters come from? Hercules, where are you?!” “Help is on the way!” Sora ran over and whacked one of the creatures with his Keyblade. “We’ll put these hotheads out! Hang on up there!” “Huh? Who are you three? Where is Hercules?” the woman asked. “Hey, we’re heroes, too!” Donald declared with pride as he blasted them with magic. Sora cast a few water spells of his own, but he could feel the difference. He was weaker than before, and not by a small amount. How am I supposed to get back to how I was…? “Sora! Stay focused!” Donald shouted. “Look out!” Goofy called. “Ack, sorry…” Sora tried to concentrate on what he was doing with his Keyblade instead. After they’d dealt with the last of the Heartless, he hurried to the woman. Luckily, she didn’t appear to be injured. “Thank you,” she said. “You’re so kind. Keep training and one day you’ll be great heroes like Hercules.” She ran away to someplace safe. “‘Keep training’? Is it that obvious?” “Just for you,” Donald quipped before Sora could fall into a slump again. “Hey!” Goofy tried a more positive approach. “I think we all have a ways to go. But we’ll get there together!” Yeah, I know we will, but… A sudden tremor interrupted his thoughts, and then he spotted a building in the distance that was about to collapse. “Wak!” “Let’s go!” Sora and his friends hurried for the crumbling structure. When they arrived, they found someone holding up a portion of its stone ceiling to protect those who hadn’t made it outside in time. “Herc!” “Sora!” More chunks of the roof came falling down around Hercules and the locals he was protecting. The whole place would’ve come down without him—and to make matters worse, more fiery Heartless had arrived. “More Heartless!” “You take them. We need to save these people!” shouted Hercules, but he couldn’t move. They were really in trouble now! Sora summoned his Keyblade to his hand. “Herc, can you hold the building?” he called “No problem!” Herc replied heartily. “Donald. Goofy. We gotta do this quick!” Sora went after the Heartless with his Keyblade, not even waiting for his friends to respond. We have to get rid of these guys so the people can escape. I may be weaker than before, but I can handle them at least and buy us some time. Sora had to pull out all the stops, but he took down his foes one by one. With Donald and Goofy fighting alongside him, they dispersed the pack a little at a time. Once the final Heartless was gone, they returned to Hercules. He was still pouring all his effort into keeping the building from collapsing. “Get the people out!” “Okay!” Sora ushered the huddled group of townsfolk toward the entrance. “Are you guys all right? You need to get to safety. Go! Quickly!” “C’mon, we gotta hurry!” Goofy cried out. The crowd of children and adults ran out of the building, while Sora took a small girl by the hand and hurried after them. “Did everybody make it out?” Donald asked worriedly, just as the building finally gave up the ghost. “Hercules!” everyone cried in unison. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and the citizens he had saved all gazed at the rubble of the building with apprehension. It might have only been a few minutes—maybe even a few seconds—but for everyone there, it felt like an eternity. But then… Hercules slowly emerged from the clouds of dust and smoke. “You scared us!” Sora cried with relief. “It’s nothing. That’s what these are for.” Hercules flexed, striking his trademark macho pose. Herc is so cool! I need to get strong again, too, and fast! The wish burned in Sora’s heart. Elated that Herc was okay, Donald and Goofy struck their own heroic poses. But then a Corridor of Darkness opened beyond the fading haze. “Oh, wow! Very nice, full marks.” A man in a black coat stood clapping his hands in an exaggerated show of praise. “Go away!” Donald shouted at the unexpected guest. “No Organization!” Goofy added. The man had a long ponytail streaked with white, a patch covering one eye, and a scar on his cheek—this was Xigbar, the former Number 2 of the Organization. “All this altruism is giving me the warm and fuzzies. So then, does having a heart of light come with an extremely good insurance policy?” “Just say what you mean.” Sora called his Keyblade. He wasn’t a fan of the mocking tone. “Oh, but I did, though,” Xigbar retorted. He wasn’t through making cynical remarks. “No good will ever come from putting other people first.” “I was able to save Meg’s life because I was ready to risk my own,” Hercules retorted sternly, but Xigbar just shrugged. “Because you’ve got friends in high places, you mean. Tricks like that don’t fly for your average joe.” “What do you know?” said Sora. “You weren’t even there! If you were, you’d admire Herc’s courage.” Xigbar snorted. “I don’t admire one guy leaping into danger if it means someone else might have to jump in to save him. You’re all just lining up to lose out. Dooming others to take the fall with ya. Oh, and you can spare me the usual party line. Yes, hearts are powerful when they’re connected. But if you put too much of that power in one place, some of those hearts might end up breaking.” During his speech, Xigbar strolled past Sora and his friends, then turned and pointed at Sora. “Still, Sora, that doesn’t mean you should change.” His golden eye gazed intently at him. “Accept the power you’re given. Find the hearts joined to yours.” “Why would I ever take advice from you?” Sora couldn’t stop himself from shouting back. Didn’t Xigbar do something similar the last time we fought Organization XIII? He told me to keep defeating Heartless. Yeah, he tried to trick me that way before, too. But everyone helped me back then, so I’m sure things won’t be any different this time. “As if! You don’t have any choice but to follow this sweet little trail of bread crumbs. And at the end, you’ll finally realize what destiny has in store for you. In fact, your reward might be right around the corner. You’re so close!” Xigbar’s lips twisted into a sneer. He summoned a Corridor of Darkness and melted away into it just as suddenly as he had arrived. Sora stared at his hands. He was talking about… “Hearts breaking? Whose hearts?” “Sora, don’t let him bother you,” Hercules reassured him, and Sora looked up. “He’s just trying to get under your skin ’cause he thinks he can. We’ll show him that our sacrifices haven’t been for nothing.” Yeah, Herc has a point. “You’re right!” Sora looked over his comrades in arms, Donald and Goofy, with a smile. “Mm-hmm! Besides, we’re already proof enough,” said Goofy, calm and composed. Donald added, “We’re a team! When we’re together, we can do anything!” “Yeah!” Sora replied confidently, and then they all set off to walking. Yep, my friends are my power, after all. Maybe I’m not as good in a fight as before, but as long as I have them… Wait. Sora turned back to where Xigbar had vanished. What did he mean, “reward”…? Sora was making his way forward, defeating Heartless with Hercules by his side, when Pegasus landed before them with Megara and Phil on his back. “Nice job, Wonderboy. We checked the whole area. It looks like everyone’s safe.” “That’s great. We did what we could.” Hercules smiled at Megara as she hopped off Pegasus. “You heroes have been busy little bees,” she commented. Sora beamed with pride at the praise—but only for an instant, until Meg’s eyes flicked over to something in the distance. “Oh… Look. More trouble!” She sounded worried. She was looking at the faraway mountain—at the dark clouds gathering around it. Wait, isn’t that where we just came from…? And those black clouds— “It’s Hades,” Hercules declared. I bet he was up to no good again while we were busy fighting in the city. “Herc! Let’s go!” “Right.” It wasn’t time to rest just yet. As they reached the base of the mountain, they could feel the shaking and hear the rumbling. “Wak!” Donald leaped into the air in alarm. Small stones came rolling down from the dark clouds around the summit. “This sure does feel awfully familiar…,” Goofy commented as he surveyed what lay above. Sora nodded and said, “Yeah, just like before.” The last time the air had felt like this, Hades had flung them all the way to Herc. “Guys, this is getting worse by the minute. I hope I’m wrong, but my family may need me.” Hercules looked at the summit of the mountain with stern eyes. “Sora, I’m gonna fly ahead. You’ve been a big help, but…leave the rest to me.” He whistled and called Pegasus down from the sky, then mounted and prepared to depart. “Family?” Sora asked curiously. “Yeah. Dad’s king of the gods,” Herc replied, just Pegasus soared off into the heavens. King of the gods? After thinking about it for a moment, Sora let out a cry of surprise. “Whaaaat?!” Donald and Goofy were just as stunned. “His father is a god? But doesn’t that mean Herc is a god, too?” “I think it does.” Goofy was still staring at the sky in amazement, even though Pegasus was gone. “No wonder he’s so strong!” Donald was doing the same. He and Goofy looked at each other and said, “Then he’ll be okay.” “Won’t he?” Sora was quick to shoot down the idea. “No. Organization XIII’s here. He’ll need our help.” Herc might be a muscly, all-powerful god or whatever, but there’s no way I can just leave him hanging. Maybe I’m not as strong as him, but the three of us working together should be able to help him out. “Good point. We gotta go!” “’Cause heroes never quit.” Yeah, they’re right. We can be heroes, too! Herc said he got his strength back because he wanted to save Meg with all his heart. So maybe if I want to save someone with all my heart… Another tremor brought Sora out of his thoughts and made him stumble. Small rocks were tumbling down from above—along with huge boulders, too! “Whoa!” Sora leaped back to avoid one of the larger rocks and directed his eyes upward. At the top of the ledge, he spotted a giant made of pitch-black stone—the Rock Titan—bellowing down at them. But “rock” didn’t even begin to cover it; it was more of a mountain in its own right. The Rock Titan swung its fist at a nearby boulder and smashed it to pieces, which came raining down the cliff. They would have to dodge the stony hail on the way up. “C’mon!” Sora shouted as he began to hurry up the precipice. One of the boulders managed to hit home and sent them tumbling headlong down the cliff, which was already starting to break, too. To make matters worse, the dark clouds surrounding the summit opened up with rain. “Gwawak!” “Look out, Sora!” Goofy brought up his shield to protect his two companions. “Thanks, Goofy.” “Don’t mention it.” Goofy puffed his chest out proudly, imitating Hercules after he had saved the townsfolk. “Okay, first thing’s first: Let’s get rid of that blockhead!” Sora finished climbing up to where the Rock Titan stood. I’ll start with the legs. They looked as hard as…well, rock, but Sora whacked them with his Keyblade all the same. The Titan nearly crushed Sora with a stomp, but he was able to dodge it. “Sora, be careful!” Donald cast a healing spell. “Over here, Sora!” Goofy called. Sora picked up the pace and darted between the Rock Titan’s legs alongside his friend, hitting them until they finally brought the monster to its knees. Goofy held up his shield, and Sora ran up and vaulted off it high into the air. As if he were climbing a mountain, Sora scrambled from the Rock Titan’s shoulder to its head and started hammering with the Keyblade. The Rock Titan let out a roar and then fell still at last. “Yes! That’s one down!” Just a little bit farther to the summit. Sora, Donald, and Goofy hurried up the trail and passed through a cave. When they reached the other side, they found a long set of stairs to a gate set between colossal Greek columns. Beyond them was an enormous, majestic temple wreathed in golden clouds. “Is this…Olympus?” Sora and his companions stood in a large open plaza among rows of columns decorated with gold. “Gawrsh, it’s amazing!” A sound like trumpets reached their ears as Goofy looked about in wonder. It sounded a lot like something they used to hear at the Coliseum— “The fanfare?” Donald asked. “Nope!” Sora replied, preparing for action with his Keyblade. Just as he had suspected, they were met by a large pack of goatlike Heartless—Satyrs. They got into formation and made a beeline for Sora and his friends. “Uh-oh!” Sora couldn’t get in a single attack, and the phalanx sent him sprawling helplessly across the ground. Donald and Goofy met with similar results. “Over here, Sora!” Goofy called Sora over to hide behind his shield with Donald, while the unit of Satyrs ran together through the plaza. If the trio attacked without a plan, they’d bounce right off again. “What should we do?” Donald asked in a worried voice. “Hmm… If only there was some way we could break through that group.” After pondering the question for a moment behind the shield, Sora came up with an idea. He would never be able to pull it off on his own, though. Sora whispered his idea to Goofy and Donald. “That sounds like it just might do the trick,” Goofy said with a nod, glancing over at the Satyrs. “I’m sure it will!” Donald brandished his staff. “Okay, it’s go time!” At Sora’s signal, Goofy crouched down with his shield held over his head. Sora hopped onto the shield, while Donald climbed up on his shoulders. “Wak!” He sprang high into the air from his perch on Sora and fired off a spell into the center of the Heartless, sending them into disarray for a fraction of a second. Then it was Goofy’s turn to jump, and at the peak of his arc through the air, Sora dove right into the middle of the broken formation to break it apart from the inside out. And just as they planned, the enemy unit crumbled. “We did it!” Donald swung his staff about with glee. Now all that was left to do was take down the Satyrs one at a time, and the trio wasted no time doing just that. The Satyrs had proven to be a real handful all together, but individually they were a piece of cake. And it’s the opposite, too—even when you can’t win fighting separately, joining together might give you a shot. Sora and his friends gave one another high fives once the last of Heartless were beaten. “My magic saves the day again!” “No way; did you see that dive-bomb?” “You both looked pretty cool to me.” Goofy praised his two boastful friends in his usual easygoing voice—and just then, the ground shuddered with another ominous tremor. “We’ve got to hurry!” They pushed farther on into Olympus. The throne of Olympus sat high in the heavens of Mount Olympus’s peak, and under normal circumstances, its beauty and splendor would be unparalleled. Now, however… Hercules doing battle with the Heartless from astride Pegasus, while the one sitting in the seat of power was not his father, Zeus, but Hades. As for the throne itself, the Lord of the Dead had gone to the trouble of creating his own. The original had been buried in the red-hot flow from the Lava Titan’s mouth, along with Zeus himself, and trapped there as the Ice Titan’s frigid breath hardened the stone. “I swear to you, Hades, when I get out of th—” “No, I’m the one giving orders now, bolt boy.” It wasn’t long before Zeus completely disappeared into the rocky prison, and Hades crossed his legs on his throne as if he were already the king of Olympus. But then Hercules came flying down, spurring Pegasus on faster. “Don’t get too comfortable, Hades!” The ruler of the Underworld jumped up from his seat. “We’re gonna stop you!” Sora added as he, Donald, and Goofy joined the fray. Hercules shattered the chains that had bound the other gods and set them free. Hades’s confident pose vanished as he rose to his feet with a snarl, his blue flames instantly flaring up into a bright red. “Get them!” The Tornado Titan with its typhoon-like winds joined the Ice and Lava Titans, and together they set their sights on the newcomers. “Sora, Donald, Goofy! It’s on!” Hercules shouted, leaping down from Pegasus. “Yeah!” Sora responded by getting his Keyblade ready. The Tornado Titan had whirled high into the air to watch the battle for now, so they would be dealing with the other two Titans first. The combined molten and frozen breaths had produced a huge stone mass capable of imprisoning the god Zeus himself, so Sora and his allies played it safe and kept their distance, dodging to the side when necessary. It looked like the only way to shut the two behemoths down would be to attack their legs, just as they had with the Rock Titan on the way here. “Ack!” Sora stumbled as a boulder whizzed by. “You okay there, Sora?” Hercules called. “I think you’ll have better luck with their heads than their legs. And I know the fastest way up!” “Huh?” “Leave it to me, Sora!” Hercules lifted Sora into the air, then took him by the legs and began whirling around faster and faster—until he finally tossed him right at the Ice Titan’s head. “Whoa!!” It was just like when Herc had launched the statue so they could save the girl. Sora managed to right himself in midair and crashed down onto the Ice Titan’s head with his Keyblade. Hercules and the other two were fighting to immobilize the Lava Titan down on the ground, so they were trusting Sora to take care of things here. “Okay!” Sora whacked at the Ice Titan’s head with his Keyblade until eventually the light faded from its eyes. “Now this one, Sora!” Herc, Goofy, and Donald had managed to stop the Lava Titan in its tracks, so Sora jumped off the Ice Titan and onto its head for a good hit with his Keyblade. But that was when the Tornado Titan started creating a powerful gale farther above, pulling Sora up into the wind. He was going to have to take care of this Titan on his own. I may not be that strong right now, but it’s no biggie— I’ve still got my friends down on the ground. Leaping between the pieces of rubble suspended in the air with him, Sora made his way over to the Tornado Titan. First, he hit it with some magic to stun it, then he got up close and personal with his Keyblade. He attacked desperately, but the powerful wind made it difficult to keep his eyes open. Still, he refused to falter. I can’t give up. When the Tornado Titan’s winds faded away, Sora fell back to earth and into Hercules’s arms. “Sora!” “Thanks, Herc.” Despite being temporarily immobilized, the three Titans still had them hemmed in—and then the Rock Titan climbed up from below to join them. “Wawawak!” “Uh-oh! Now it’s all four of them!” Donald and Goofy shared a nervous glance. “So what? There are four of us, too,” Sora said to rally his friends. It was a worrying development, though. “Actually, I think I can make it five,” Herc reassured them with a grin. He climbed onto the mass of stone imprisoning Zeus on the throne and ripped it apart. With a blinding flash of light, the king of the gods was free. Hades jumped up in terror from his makeshift throne. Zeus took his son by the shoulders. “Thank you, my boy,” he said, then called bolts of lightning to his hands. “Hah! Now watch your old man work!” When the bolts struck the Rock Titan in both of its heads, the other Titans turned tail and fled. The Tornado Titan straggled behind the others, giving Hercules time to grab hold of its whirlwind body. He spun around and hurled it into the air, just like he had done to Sora, and the winds pulled its brethren along with it. When they reached the depths of space, they all exploded. Zeus roared with laughter and high-fived his son. “We did it!” Sora cried. Meanwhile, Hades wallowed in despair as he watched his plan fall apart. “I can’t believe it! I put eighteen years into that plan and you blippin’ ruined it! I really don’t like you.” “Just give it up already. You’ll never beat Herc, no matter how many times you try,” Sora retorted, a little exasperated. “Yeah,” said Goofy, “stay in the Underworld where ya belong.” “Go have the time of your afterlife,” Donald added. “Enough already! I did not come this far to be ridiculed by Zeusy high and mighty, his little sunspot, and a trio of clowns!” Hades’s head flared so brightly red it seemed ready to burst. “You know what? I’ll just go ahead and destroy you!” It looked like the Lord of the Dead was still ready to rumble, and so were Sora and his friends. But then— “Hades.” The furious god whirled to face the voice. “The exit is that way,” Hercules informed him, and the sight of Zeus standing behind his son broke Hades’s spirit for good. His hair returned to normal, and the ruler of the Underworld trudged wearily but obediently toward the exit. “Hold on. I almost forgot.” Hades looked back just in time to receive a punch from Herc. So much for getting off with a warning. “That one’s for trying to wreck Thebes.” Hades scrambled backward on his hands and knees. Ever the sore loser, he shouted, “You’ll pay for this! I have a very, very long memory!” Black smoke began swirling around him as he made his escape. “I can still dunk your little Nut-Meg in a river of de—” Zeus fired off a lightning bolt into the smoke to finally send the Lord of the Dead and his unwise parting words on their not-so-merry way. Sora and his friends descended the steps from the realm of the gods with Hercules, who looked back reluctantly. “Are you sure you want to leave all this behind?” Sora asked him with a hint of worry. Goofy and Donald felt the same. “Isn’t Olympus your home?” “And your family?” Hercules shook his head. “I can see my family any time I want. If I stayed, I’d have to be apart from the person I love most… And that life would be empty.” His eyes landed on Megara, who was waiting at the bottom of the steps. “I finally know where I belong.” With that, Hercules ran down to Megara and took her in his arms. “Hercules…,” she murmured in his embrace. Sora, Donald, and Goofy walked down the steps toward them, and Hercules turned back around as if he’d suddenly remembered something. “Sora, we never got back to your question. How can I help you?” “Mmm, it’s okay.” Sora shook his head. “I think I’m meant to figure it out for myself. I’ll find my strength the way you found yours. Something to fight for…with all my heart,” he said, then smiled. He wanted to hold on to that feeling more than ever now—that drive to help his friends. I want to help my friends who fight alongside me, who cheer me up when I’m down, who stay near and dear to my heart. Maybe I don’t have my strength back yet, but I’ll be fine as long as I never let that feeling go. “I guess you did have the answer!” “Well, you’ve got heart, Sora. Just keep at it and I know you’ll be stronger than ever,” Hercules said with certainty. “Yeah, I might even end up stronger than you are.” “There he goes again.” Donald groaned as Sora copied Herc’s macho pose. For a moment afterward, Olympus was filled with laughter. Meanwhile, down in a Heartless-free Thebes… “Are you sure this box with the Book of Prophecies is for reals? I think that dingbat in black was pulling your leg,” Pete grumbled wearily as he drove a shovel into the ground. Maleficent crossed her arms and snapped, “Be quiet and dig, you imbecile. I must find that Book of Prophecies and make it my own. His was the only clue we have. We cannot afford to dismiss it without a thorough investigation.” “I’m just sayin’, a shot in the dark ain’t gonna get us any closer to— Ooh?” Pete’s complaint trailed off as he struck something hard. “Wow!” Maleficent craned her head in his direction. “What is it? Have you found something? Show me at once, fool.” Pete was holding a purple box. “Yes, sireesy, this has gotta be that Pandora’s Box Hades mentioned.” The witch’s eyes narrowed as she inspected the box. “Leave it,” she finally snapped. “What? After all that diggin’?” “That is not the box that I desire. We are finished with this world. Come.” “Awwww…” As they left, someone was watching them from atop a building. Xigbar whispered to himself, “May your hea—” Shortly before Sora’s visit to Hercules, Riku, Mickey, and Kairi had been listening to Yen Sid in the Mysterious Tower. “The great battle with Xehanort is almost upon us. As you know, we must take action to keep the seven pure lights safe, and thus we must hasten to assemble the seven guardians of light. It is time to return to our world the three Keyblade wielders we lost over a decade ago. Ventus, Terra, and Aqua must be saved from their sad end, for they have more to achieve. Following their first battle with Xehanort, Ventus’s heart refused to awaken, and so Aqua found a safe location to conceal him. But when she set off in search of her missing other friend, Terra, she fell to a place from which there is no return without outside help,” the sorcerer explained, then closed his large eyes and fell into silent thought. Mickey nodded. “I saw her. In the realm of darkness,” he said, beginning his tale.
Chapter 3
33 min read