Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

All of this has happened before. All of this will happen again.

There is no new thing under the sun.

-Peter Pan, 1953, The Walt Disney Company TM

Brooooooooooooody. That's right, thirteen O's, each one elongated for emphasis. Leaning back against a brick wall the way that Leon Leonhart had a few days ago. This new guy with big, spiky blond hair and achingly beautiful teal-blue eyes, wearing a red cape over a black fitted tank top, black gloves, and black cargo pants, crossing his arms in the exact same way in the exact same place. Or at least Leon thought it was the same place. The gray stucco and brown brick wall under a purple-blue sky looked like every other one.

Leon, an unintentional alias, because what exactly possessed him to say that the beginning of his last name was his first when he met those stupid talking animals. No, like weird talking animals, like what the hell had he stepped into this time, it had never gotten to the point of fake talking animals before, had it?

“Gosh darn it to heck,” Leon said. “Freak. Frick. Fudge.”

Oh and he couldn’t curse out loud.

“Mister Leon?” a guffaw of a voice said.

Leon put his hands into his jacket pockets and walked in the opposite direction of the voice. Those things had tried to talk to him about darkness? Lightness? Heartless? Some big key fitting into all the keyholes. This broke the basic rules of shapes. And keys. And holes. Fuck this place.

He walked to the end of a cobblestone street. A dead end. All the streets made of the same blue-gray cobblestone ended at a dead end. Or a circle, with no way out of town. Was this a town? Did he walk this way a hundred times? A thousand? How much time had passed? Months? Years? Nine years, he counted. Nine. Or more? The absence of a sun created one endless night. It could have been one day for all he knew. Maybe he fell into another time compressor spell and it broke backwards somehow. How, how, how was he going to get back home?

“Leon,” a boy’s voice said from behind. Leon tapped the street with his shoe, picked at lint in his jacket pockets, thought frantically about anything else that he could do to avoid having to turn around.

“We’ve been chasing you around town everywhere,” said a playdough animal snout on a string body wearing clothes. It had oval googly eyes, for eyes.

“Were you now?” Leon said. “What do you want?”

“Aw, phooey,” said a toddler-sized white duck, which had arms and hands instead of wings. Wearing a shirt but no pants, the duck warped his voice by speaking through his quacks. “Look who’s in a bad mood. Cheer up, Leon. Turn that frown upside down.”

“We eat duck in my world,” Leon said, and the duck gulped. “Roasted.”

“Come on, Leon,” a kid with spiky brown hair said. Dressed like a pirate wearing shorts, the kid had been here for only a few days and was so very enthusiastic about the task at hand. “How do you fight against the darkness?”

“You’re the one with a key, snowflake.” Leon pointed to a key, the size of a sword, in the kid’s hand. “It’s always dark. Go wave that around.”

“You mean, at those?” The kid pointed at three black creatures with yellow eyes, all which had two arms, two legs, and an oversized head with antennas. They purred before they jumped and snapped. 

“Those things come out of nowhere. No. We went over this. Each time you start getting rid of them, more end up-”

“They’re the Heartless that took over my home.” Sora gripped his large key with both hands and held it above his head like an ax. “I need to protect this world.”

“Whatever,” Leon said. “Let them multiply so we’re covered in them, kid.”

“Hey, I am not a kid. Did anybody ever tell you that you’re kind of a jerk, Leon?” The kid turned towards Leon. “You want to go?”

“Do you listen to anything I say?” Leon sighed. “I’m a commander. Or I was, before being dragged into this- whatever this is. Why would I want to fight you?”

“To spar, maybe?” The kid shrugged. “Wouldn’t it be cool to spar?”

“No, you are wielding a giant key.”

“Come on, Leon, I just want to learn how to fight from you. You look so cool.”

“Are you finished? I want to be.”

“Wait,” the kid said. “Promise not to be mad?”

“What did you do now?”

“Well, you know about that guy who showed up today? I tried to introduce myself, but he didn’t say anything. I kind of got to talking to him about my Keyblade and the Heartless. He seems kind of scary, that guy, but kind of cool. He didn’t say much when I was talking to him.”

“Why would I be mad about that?”

“I might have told him it would help out a lot if he went around beating Heartless up.”

“Why would you do that?”

“Well, you and Cid, Yuffie and Aerith. You guys aren’t helping me with these Heartless. You probably could have gotten rid of all of them by now even without me, but you’re all just standing around or in the hotel or a shop.”

“Listen, kid,” Leon said.

“No, Leon, you listen to me,” the kid said. “Please, just once.”

Leon sighed. “What is it?”

“These Heartless are after my heart.”

“Didn’t Aerith say that they're after darkness?”

“All hearts have darkness.”

“So they’re after everybody. How do we know they don’t want lungs? Everyone has those.”

“They want my Keyblade. They’re coming after me to get it.”

“Then you are a special snowflake.”

“Why doesn’t anybody listen to me?” Sora said.

“Gosh, we do, Sora,” said the not-dog dog. 

“I’m just…tired today.” Leon plopped down in the middle of the street and rested his elbows on his knees. He thought about lying down right there, giving up, and accepting whatever happened to him as a moody puddle on the ground, but he was a SeeD, damn it. SeeDs don’t do that. “I’m tired.”

“I’m tired, too. And I miss my friends, Kairi and Riku,” Sora’s voice cracked. “What if-What if something happened to them?”

“I’m sure they’re alright.” Leon closed his eyes, hoping his lie wouldn’t show.

“Have you seen anybody from your world yet, Leon? Here, I mean.”

Leon imagined his girlfriend nine years older, moving on with someone else whispering into her ear, her hair tickling his nose. His breath, his lips so close to hers. It would be for the best, wouldn’t it?

“No, it’s gone.”

“What if that happened to my world? What if I don’t see my friends Kairi and Riku again?”

“You’re the Keyblade Master. If anybody can save them, you can.” 

“You’re not making fun of me again, are you, Leon?”

“No.” Leon opened his eyes and looked up at the kid. “I’m not.”

“You look like you really need a hug. Do you want one?” the kid said. Leon shook his head. “I’m sorry, Leon. I’m sorry I asked you about your world.”

Leon searched for ways in his mind to not break down. Was he alive? Was this a dream? He bit his knuckle to make sure it hurt. The kid was new, Leon had been here for so long, and they had to coexist. The kid couldn't see him fall apart. He couldn't see him with bloody knuckles.

“Hello?” said the broody guy from before, standing at the beginning of this dead-end street. He walked towards the group. “I’m looking for… people.”

“Hi there, the name’s Goofy,” said the dog, aptly. “You’re probably looking for us.”

“Cloud,” this guy said.

“Why do you keep bringing up clouds, mister?” the kid said. “There aren’t any here. No clouds, no sun, but look, the stars sure are pretty, aren’t they?”

“My name. It’s Cloud. Cloud Strife.”

“Ohhh, that makes a lot more sense, but why didn’t you say that I got your name all wrong before?”

“You were talking,” said Cloud. “A lot.”

“I’m Sora.” The kid reached out for a handshake, and Cloud stared at the kid’s hand.

“I know,” Cloud said. “We met.”

“Oh.” Sora pointed at the duck. “Well, this is Donald, and that’s Leon sitting on the ground.”

“Leon.” Cloud looked down at Leon. “Donald, Goofy, Sora.”

“Welcome to heck,” Leon said. 

“Heck,” Cloud said.

“Forget it. Did you meet the others?”

“The people, the mog, in the square,” Cloud said. “They’re…”

“Not real,” Leon said.

“What do you mean they're not real?” Sora said. The duck and dog looked at each other.

“I meant, have you met Yuffie, she’s real,” Leon said. “And-“

“Yuffie?” Cloud said. “Yuffie Kisaragi? She here?”

“I don’t know her last name. But Yuffie’s the only Yuffie I know. Unless that’s a common name in your world.”

“My world.” Cloud reached out to help Leon up, but Leon pushed himself up off the street. “Think you can take me to see her?”

“Follow me, Cloud. I know where she is,” Sora said, skipping away. “By the way, did you beat up any Heartless yet?”

“Nope.” Cloud followed Sora.

“Not you, too. Come on, guys.” Sora spun around and put his hands behind his head. He stopped smiling and stared at Cloud, which made everyone else stare as well. “Whoa, that’s your sword?”

A sword, about a foot wide and taller than the guy carrying it, hung on his back at an angle, swaying slightly as he walked.

“Yup.” Cloud walked ahead, leading the group even though he didn’t know the way. “There a Cid here?”

“There’s one in town,” Leon said. “Cid’s a common name so he might not be who you’re looking for.”

“It’s right around the corner, Cloud.” Sora pointed ahead. “We’re staying at a hotel. Isn't that neat?”

With orange glowing windows and neon blue and yellow signs spelling out ‘Hotel,’ the hotel spanned the longest edge of the largest of three squares in this town-world. Night with no moon cast darkness over the three-story hotel made of brown brick and gray stucco. Stone streetlights lit steps that led into a sunk-in square in front of the hotel. Standing on the ledge of a short stone wall overlooking the square and holding her hands behind her back, Yuffie was looking up at a starry sky.

“Yuffie,” Cloud said.

Yuffie turned around. “Cloud?”

Cloud walked towards her with longer strides than what he used for the walk there, and Yuffie sprinted to him. When they reached each other, they wrapped their arms around each other. Yuffie smashed her face into his chest and closed her eyes, taking his presence in.

She pushed him away. “You oaf. What are you doing in this awful place?”

“You alright?”

“Don’t ‘you alright’ me. Did you do something stupid to end up here?”

“Nope.”

“Seriously. Cloud,” Yuffie said. “I’ll make a straw doll and jinxx you if you’re lying.”

“I’m not. I came looking for you and Cid. I ended up in that woods in Wutai, where we all met you, remember? It got dark all the sudden, and I woke up here. Do you know anything about this place?”

“It’s pieces of worlds that went dark all glued back together,” Sora said.

“What kind of place is that?” Cloud turned to Leon. “You live here?”

“I’m not from here if that’s what you’re asking.”  Leon said.

“Leon’s world is gone,” Sora said. “Mine…I…”

“You two are from different worlds,” Cloud said.

“We are,” Sora said. “I’m from Destiny Island.”

“Your world’s an island floating in space?” Leon said.

“No,” Sora said. “It’s surrounded by water. I mean, that’s what makes an island an island.”

“We have islands,” Cloud said, “surrounded by water. On our world. One of them’s probably called Destiny Island.”

“Why do we think we’re from different worlds?” Leon said. “We look alike.”

“Well, gosh, you all are, aren’t you?” the dog said. “Leon, you’re from earth. Cloud and Yuffie, you’re from Gaia, and Sora’s from Destiny Island.”

“Well, golly gee gosh, Goofy, that’s so awfully neat-o.” Yuffie reached for a spiky metal boomerang that hung behind her back. “Thing is, I never told you I was from Gaia.”

“I did.” A woman in a knee-length pink sundress and work boots stood at the hotel’s front door. “It was me who told them.”

Cloud stared as the woman tilted her head and waved. Not looking away from her, Cloud turned his face towards Yuffie. “Do you…do you see her, too?”

“Wait, Cloud, I wanted to tell you,” Yuffie said. “I need to tell you…she…”

Cloud looked at Yuffie now. “No. Yuffie. You got to tell me, do you see her, too?” 

“Yeah.”

“You sure?”

Yuffie nodded.

Cloud ran to the woman. His arms stretched out just before reaching her, and he embraced her tightly while she stood still under his arms.

“Aerith,” Cloud said. “It's you. I…You're here.”

“It is me, Cloud,” Aerith said. “This world needs you.”

“This world?” He let her go.

“The Heartless are after our hearts."

“That…doesn’t matter.” Cloud held her hand and squeezed it. “You’re here. I…missed you.”

“This world is full of darkness. Sora has a Keyblade to fill it with light.”

“Darkness?” he said, turning towards the kid. “Sora?”

“Do you think you can help him?”

“Aerith.” Cloud grabbed her shoulders, but stopped short of shaking her. “Are you alright?  You’ll be alright. I’ll make sure you’re alright. Please… just…”

“Of course I’m alright, Cloud.” Aerith smiled. “I’m with you now.”

“But… Aerith…” He looked down. “Have you… seen Zach? Is he here, too?”

Yuffie opened her mouth to speak but didn’t.

“No matter how far away we are, our hearts will bring us together again. So I’m sure we’ll see him soon. Let’s go inside, Cloud. I have so much that I want to tell you." Aerith led Cloud through the front doors into the hotel, and the doors clunked close behind them.

“She his long-lost love or something?” Leon said. “Why didn’t you tell me that you knew each other?”

“What do you mean?” Yuffie stared at the hotel doors. “Cloud just got here. You don’t know him, do you? We're from different worlds?”

“I meant you and Aerith,” Leon said. “I was staying away from her, too, but you never said you knew her.”

“I really don’t want to talk about this right now, Squall,” she said. “Or Leon, or whoever you are. I’m going to go let Cid know that Cloud’s here.”

A bell rang and Yuffie hopped down steps into the square and went out of sight under a tunnel. After the twelfth strike, at noon or midnight, Leon figured it was time to sleep. The kid stared at the hotel doors and the two talking animals looked at each other.

“Let’s turn in for the night,” Leon said.

“I got to go get more Heartless,” Sora said. 

“When’s the last time you slept?” Leon said. 

“Don’t worry about me, Leon.” Sora gripped his key with both his hands. “I sleep with both eyes open. I’m strong. I can do this.”

Leon sighed. “Try going after something bigger. It’s brutal to go after things that are that small.”

“Go after the big one. Skip the small fries. Got it.” And Sora scampered off. The duck and dog followed, and the trio’s footsteps echoed into the night until all Leon could hear were buzzing street lamps which flooded corners with their green-yellow light. 

Leon was once again alone. 

He missed, what did he miss exactly? He missed home. He missed his girlfriend. He missed the sun. And the sea. And plants. He missed, he missed, he missed, but none of that mattered now. He counted the stone streetlights and then the gray stone steps and then the clothing items across the street in the window displays. Shirt, hat, shoes, pants. No one ever stopped to look. Empty. This place was empty.

But what about other worlds? Gaia? Destiny Island? Away, outside of this god awful place. That was weird, this was all weird, because Leon never mentioned anything about earth to the dog or anyone here before.

Right?

Chapter Text

Leon didn’t sleep well alone. This wasn’t unique to him or a secret he held against himself, unlike some of his other broody traits. See, he had introspected on his years in military school and his admittedly crazy-ass adventures, none of which he asked for. He deserved some credit, damn it.

He was more complex than you think.

The problem now was how to deal with his own moronic shit, which was him in the dark staring at the ceiling instead of sleeping, thinking that Yuffie was not going to come into the room because of the new guy, Cloud, who was clearly her dearest of friends. Or maybe she was mad at Leon for something he had said. Yes, he knew he was being dumb, he just didn't know how to fix it.

Yuffie creaked the door open to their room. Light filtered around her silhouette before the door closed behind her, and Leon sat up in the dark.

“Geez you scared me,” Yuffie said. “You’re still up? I was hanging out with Cloud and Cid. You should’ve joined us if you were going to be up. Cloud was being, well, Cloud, and Cid’s so funny because he can’t cuss. Guess you missed all the fun, Squall.”

“Whatever,” Leon said, certainly not affected by the invite after the fact. “I told you before, I have trouble sleeping.”

“So about that,” Yuffie said, “I’m going to sleep in the room down the hall from now on.”

“I thought you said we could sleep in the same room.”

“Well, I don’t want anybody to get the wrong idea.”

“This is because of him.”

“Oh, how cute. Are you jealous right now?”

Leon scoffed. “No, course not.”

“Sure, sure. It’s not because you’re, like, jealous of Cloud, right?”

“Whatever.”

“Squall,” Yuffie said, a half an octave higher, “are you really, actually jealous right now?”  

As a shadow approaching his bed, Yuffie was shorter and skinnier than his girlfriend, and Leon wondered if it was fair to think that even if it was true. When she sat on the edge of his bed, the darkness hid her expression. Each rustle against the covers, each quick breath was a clue for what the hell she could be thinking. 

As Yuffie leaned over him, her arms straddling his body, she sank into the mattress near his thigh. Her face, her body loomed over him, filling the space that had felt so empty. He flinched when her knee bumped his leg.

Was there a way to internally scream? Without a voice, his mind rang alarms of its acute existence and an awareness surged. He had enough sense not to ignore it, but a longing had settled since he had arrived at this place. Had this longing ebbed when Yuffie had arrived? His stubborn desire for human connection mixed with this unwillingness to seize that same connection. Ah yes, his perpetual internal conflict. But they’d been sleeping in their everyday clothes, and he felt relieved.

As her warm shadow came closer, taking up more space over him, he held his breath. Yuffie pressed her lips against his cheek. She breathed against the trace of her lips where she had kissed him before she pulled back.

And Leon laughed. A breathless sound that fell as quickly as it had come.

“You’re laughing. Right after I kissed you,” Yuffie said. “Why do I always end up liking jerks?”

“I’m not laughing,” Leon said. “I just thought…” 

“Thought what?” Yuffie said, her face right in front of his, and Leon was so tired of being misunderstood that he reached for her.

“About something more like this.” His fingers traced her jawline and guided him to where her lips should be as he closed his eyes. He pressed his lips to hers. 

She gasped, pulling away slightly. Her nose brushed his. She was still, and so was he, listening for her next move. She kissed the corner of his lips first. She touched his chin with just a fingertip, tilted her head the other way and pressed her lips fully onto his. Her hair smelled like lemongrass, and her lips were as soft as any other lips, Leon supposed, but with less there than his girlfriend’s. Fluttery kisses between them opened to parted lips.

Yuffie’s teeth knocked into his lips, but when she slowed, when he pressed back, he felt that flirty urgency that made kissing fun. Leon had forgotten how much of a thrill this was when it was so new.

A dozen, fifteen, twenty? No one counted kisses when having such a good time, but at what point did ‘kissed someone’ become ‘was kissing someone’ become making out or messing around or something more? And when did a gasp, gasping for air become more like panting?

Leon placed his hand on Yuffie’s back and traced one of her ribs.

She jerked back, out of Leon’s reach. And for a moment, they looked at each other as gray face circles in the dark. A shadow of her arm rushed towards Leon. 

An explosive smack, starting in his cheek, shot through Leon. He blinked to stop the room from tilting. Yuffie had slapped Leon across the face. She climbed over his legs. Leon kicked. She moved to the middle of the bed, pulling the covers towards her. Leon pulled his arms in, covering his ears. She lunged at him. Her bony hands dug into his hip. He brought his arm down to get her off, but she shoved before he could grab her.

He fell off the bed, rolled automatically when he hit the floor, and stood. Everything spun in the dark. He heard her breathing before he noticed that he was winded, too.

“What the heck, Yuffie.” Leon touched his tingling cheek.

“Get out,” Yuffie whispered.

“But I-” 

“Get out,” Yuffie shouted.

Leon walked backwards away from the bed. What happened? He was sure this wasn’t his fault. She was the one that kissed him first, but why did he feel guilty? For the first time that he remembered, he wished that his thoughts would match how he felt so that he could say them out loud to her. 

But he did what he usually did. “Whatever.”

He opened the door, squinting at the fluorescent light. Identical doors lined one side of the corridor, orange-tinted windows on the other. The hotel rooms were too large for one person, so he slid down the wall, the one he secretly shared with Yuffie, and sat in the hallway.

When he closed his eyes, the fluorescent light’s presence remained, the way the presence of someone nearby would remain, but with an entirely different effect on how comfortable it made Leon feel. Was this a sixth sense? Whatever it was, he would have trouble sleeping again. His sleep had been better with Yuffie in the room, but he ruined that so this is what he got. No, she was going to leave anyway. He would have ended up here anyway, but he ruined something else, with her. Something worse than his sleep, he supposed.

His high expectations resulted in this mess, and he knew better than to rely on anyone else but himself. As long as you don't get your hopes up, you can take anything, you feel less pain. He dug up his old broody mantras, but it was too late. He was knee deep in the consequences of not heeding the brooding that belonged in his past. 

But once again, he didn’t know how to fix it, to fix him. 

The least amount of hope was no hope at all. 

Counting, it was normal to count imaginary things to lull a mind to sleep. Sheep, heartbeats, sirens. He opened his eyes and closed them again. Mind wandering aimless, blissfully smooth from one ephemeral trace of a thought to the next, Leon lifted his heavy eyelids. Shapes of figures spoke unformed thoughts. Drowsy, yet surfacing for the moments he knew thoughts weren’t real. Dreaming, he was falling into dreaming, but once he started dreaming, he couldn’t stop.

Chapter Text

Leon felt along the wall for a light switch in the dark. With a click, the candelabra lights of a rhinestone chandelier illuminated a lime green room, revealing two large beds flanked by nightstands and lamps, a green wingback chair, and sheer curtains framing double doors that led to a balcony. A snap, a whirl, and the clicking of gears from a cuckoo clock made Leon jump as a red wooden bird shot out from above the door. “Cuck-oo, cuck-oo.” It was seven o’clock somewhere.

“Hello?” a woman’s voice from the balcony said. “Is someone there?”

“I need my boots.” Leon rushed to the bed he’d once claimed as his and found his black boots with their toes pointed toward the mattress.

“Leon?” Aerith's voice came from behind the curtains. The light in the room did not spread beyond the door frame. White tulle blurred her face in the dark.

“Oh hello there. You always seem like you’re in a hurry to go somewhere.” Aerith swept aside a curtain panel and walked in with a floral scent. The sheer fabric rippled like a whisper, its presence more than hers. “Where is there to go? I wonder. Oh, I wanted to tell you. I’m sorry for what I said earlier. I was too forward, I’m afraid. Now that Cloud’s here, there’s no need to worry about being the hero anymore.”

Leon stuck his feet, one after another, into his boots. “I told you before, I’m not a hero.”

Aerith folded her hands together. “Then you’ll have to take this warning to heart. Be wary of the darkness that resides within you.”

Leon lay on his stomach on the floor, reaching under the bed for his Gunblade. In one motion, he grabbed it and rose to his feet. Dizziness struck him, whether from taking a blow to the face, standing up too quickly, lack of sleep, or something else entirely, he couldn’t tell. He closed his eyes, tempted to sit.

“Good luck, Leon.”

When he opened his eyes, she was gone. The curtains rippled, and he was alone.

Leon breathed in for four seconds, held his breath for seven, then exhaled for eight, focusing on pushing the stale air out from the bottom of his lungs. Four, crisp new air filled his chest. Seven, the old air felt useless, heavy. Eight, repeat. Four, seven, eight. He controlled his breathing now, but sometimes, he thought he caught himself forgetting to breathe. Was he the only real one here? He breathed in and out one more time. He swung the heavy hotel room door open and stepped into the fluorescent-lit hallway.

“You’re up,” Cloud said, surprising Leon. He was leaning against the wall, crossing his arms in the exact same way that Leon had, against the same wall that Leon had slept against. “Yuffie wants to meet with me, you and Sora.”

“Meet? About what?” Leon said.

“Didn’t say.”

“Did she say anything else?”

“When’s she not?”

Leon didn't want to talk about Yuffie. “Has Aerith alway been like that?”

“Aerith?” Cloud stared at Leon. “Been like what?”

“I don’t know. She’s… off.”

Cloud didn’t stop staring. “What’s off about her?”

“Never mind,” Leon said. “It’s nothing.”

When the guy still wouldn’t stop staring, Leon looked away and stared out of one of the orange window panes made of rippled glass.

“Yuffie wants us all to meet in the last room down the hall,” Cloud said.

Streaks of stars twinkled, but one, two, three stopped, leaving no trace of their existence behind. One second, they were there, the next they were not.

“Said there’s a blackboard in there,” Cloud said.

The remaining blurry stars framed in the window kept twinkling just as bright, all the same.

“Going to tell her I told you,” Cloud said.

With his ridiculous sword still swinging on his back, Cloud walked down the hall. Identical hotel doors lined one side, while matching door-sized, orange-tinted windows graced the other. Without his girlfriend, Leon was just as broody as ever. 

“Wait,” Leon said, “just wait.”

Cloud stopped halfway down the hall, turning to face him with arms crossed. Gunblade in hand, Leon stepped closer and passed the guy. Neither said anything, Leon wouldn’t start. He wasn't going to fix weirdness so why try now? When he reached the door, it dawned on him that Yuffie could talk to this new guy and the kid about what had happened. He ignored the tension building inside him and pushed the door open.

Inside, the room was half the size of a hotel room. A table sat in the center, surrounded by eight office chairs. Sora spun in a chair at the front, a grin spreading across his face when he saw them. Cloud leaned against the wall in the back and crossed his arms. Again. Yuffie stood at the front, rolling her eyes as she twirled a long, thin wooden stick.

“Whoa, what happened to your face?” the kid said.

“A heartless got me.” Leon sat in a chair not too close to the front, but not near the back. Equidistantly away from everyone. 

“You’re late,” Yuffie said, not looking at him.

“He just woke up,” Cloud said.

“I don't need you to defend me,” Leon said.

Cloud sighed without opening his mouth.

“Listen up.” Yuffie whipped her stick against the blackboard. “Let’s brainstorm about darkness and those heartless things. And what we’re going to do to get out of here.”

“We need to beat up all the Heartless,” Sora said.

“How's that going to help?” Leon said. “More of them appear as soon as you get rid of them, and they're getting bigger, too.”

“But Leon,” Sora said. “I figured it all out thanks to you. Last night I got a big one like you said to, and I saw a heart floating up to the sky. I’m releasing all the hearts. And Goofy and Donald said we’re going to go visit different worlds. They really like my Keyblade.”

“I didn’t tell him to do that.” Leon looked at Yuffie. “Never mind. What about the duck and dog?”

“Donald and Goofy,” Sora said. “The king sent them. They said he knows you, Leon. They were looking for you, remember?”

“I don’t know any kings,” Leon said.

“Sora,” Cloud said, “tell us when Donald and Goofy plan on leaving.”

“Sure thing, Cloud. As soon as I see them,” Sora said. “Why aren’t they here?”

“Cause they weren’t invited.” Yuffie tapped chalk against a blackboard. “Enough about them, we can’t rely on those two goofballs. What I want to know is what makes someone dark enough to turn into one of those little dark things. Anyone got any guesses?”

“Kill someone, probably,” Leon said.

“Geez, that’s a bit extreme.” Yuffie threw a piece of chalk up in the air and caught it. “Maybe we ought to write all the bad stuff we’ve been doing here so we know what doesn’t get us killed off. I’ll start.”

Yuffie wrote out the word 'steal' on the board and drew a heart next to it.

“You’re getting it all wrong,” Sora said. “Everybody’s hearts are filled with darkness.”

“This is such a waste of time,” Leon said.

“Shut up, you two. It’s my turn to ask the questions.” Yuffie glared at Leon. “How about kiss somebody on the lips? Cloud?”

“What? Nope,” Cloud said.

“Kissing isn’t dark,” Leon said.

“How about something more than kissing then? Hmm? That’s pretty darn dark. Cloud?”

“Uh, nope,” Cloud said. “Why’re you asking me?”

“Oh you know, darkness and all. Got to list it all out there, right? Got to see what all we’ve done. What about you, Leon?”

Leon sighed. “How is that dark?”

“Fine, Leon,” Yuffie frowned. “What have you actually been doing to keep busy? Hmmm? Gambling? Booze? Drugs? An all-night rave? Involved in the mob much?”

“No, just,” Leon said, crossing his arms, “masturbating. Dark enough for you?”

Yuffie dropped her chalk. “Why would you say that out loud?”

“I’ve been here for the last nine years. What else am I going to do?”

“I’m not writing that on my list.” Yuffie scrunched her nose. “Cloud, tell him that I’m not writing that on the list. Wait, nine years?”

“Guys?” Sora said and the three adults turned their heads to look at him. “What’s masturbating?”

“Black-out drunk,” Cloud said.

“What the who?” Yuffie said.

“Add that.” Cloud pointed at the list.

“There’s booze? Where? Oh good Gaia, don’t tell Cid.” Yuffie wrote the words ‘get drunk’ under ‘steal’. “Wait, you got that drunk?”

“I was bored,” Cloud said. “It’s at the shop. With the weird big baby ducks.”

“You can buy a bunch of potions there, too,” Leon said.

“No one asked you,” Cloud said, “about potions.”

“Can I ask questions now?” Sora waved his hand like he was in school. “It’s no fair that you guys are allowed to ask questions and I can’t.”

Cloud stared at Leon. “Go ahead. Ask.”

“What’s more than kissing? What’s masturbating? How much do you have to drink to get black-out drunk? And why are you stealing, Yuffie? That’s wrong.”

“This is your fault.” Yuffie pointed at Leon with her long stick. “Cloud, kick him out of the group.”

“Whatever,” Leon said. “You started this list. And why do you keep telling him to do stuff?”

“Because Cloud’s in charge,” Yuffie said.

“Yuffie, cut it out.” Cloud nodded at the kid. “Sora.”

“Yeah?” Sora straightened up.

“How old are you?”

“Twel-Fourteen, but why’s that matter? I’m not just some kid. I’m the Keyblade master, you know. I’ve been beating up Heartless like I’m supposed to. I even saw somebody die on the streets. A guy who was just minding his own business.”

“Wait, slow down around town, you saw someone die here,” Yuffie said, “on these streets? But literally nothing happens here.”

“Yeah, the Heartless, they took his heart.”

“Was there like…” Yuffie looked between Cloud and Leon. “A body?”

“No, that disappeared, and you know what? His heart floated up in the air.”

Cloud pushed off the wall. “The heck are we doing here if… heck, Heck?”

“Yeah, we can’t curse here,” Leon said.

“Freak.” Cloud started counting on his fingers. “Darn, shoot, penis. Wait, what?”

“Say…Say that again, Cloud.” Yuffie held her stomach and howled. “Please do that again.”

Leon failed to stifle several scoffs.

“Grow up, Yuffie,” Cloud said, leaning back against the wall. Yuffie wiped the corner of her eyes with her fingertips, bit her finger, and snickered. Cloud looked at the kid. “You saw a heartless kill somebody. What was he doing when he got caught?”

“Looking scared?” Sora tapped his cheek and looked up.

Cloud stared at Sora. “Where’s your family?”

“My mom?” Sora’s voice cracked. “I’m looking for my friends, Kairi and Riku. They… came with me here. Have you seen them?”

“And how old are they?” Cloud said.

“Why’s that matter so much to you?” Sora said, making fists.

“You can’t be over ten,” Cloud said.

“You’re right, Cloud,” Yuffie said. “He’s too young to be going around killing things.”

“Where I’m from, kids can get trained to kill starting at age five,” Leon said.

“What?” Yuffie and Cloud said.

“What do you mean, what?” Leon said. “It’s not that weird, is it?”

“See. Leon says that I’m old enough to fight.” Sora waved his arms. “Tell them, Leon.”

“No, I said they get trained. They don’t run around and just fight things.”

“He’s right about going around and fighting things you shouldn’t be fighting,” Cloud said. “You say they get a hold of hearts. From people, just like me and you. And you’re setting those hearts free with that key? What’s that do? You should get to the bottom of how this works before you rush into anything, Sora.”

“Stop telling me what to do.” Sora stood up and his big key materialized in his hand.

“You should put that down,” Cloud said.

“I am not.” Sora glared at Cloud. “A kid.”

Cloud stared at the key. He walked towards Sora, moving his arms stiffly, weaving around the chairs. Sora frowned, gripped the key and spread his legs to an attacking stance. Cloud stopped a body length from the kid and stared.

The kid scoffed. “What are you-”

In three, four steps, Cloud moved behind Sora, facing him, while Leon shot up from his seat. Aiming for the arm with the key, Cloud gripped the kid’s elbow with one hand and his wrist with the other, shaking him before yanking the key away. Leon struggled to follow Cloud’s movements. He had thought anyone carrying such a big sword was just showing off, and that any member of his team could handle a showoff like that. Now, he studied this guy more carefully, watching for any sign of weakness.

“Hey.” The kid rubbed his wrist. “That’s mine.”

“Ix-nay on the ey-kay eal-stay, Cloud,” Yuffie said.

Cloud looked around at everyone in the room before he held the key against the back of one of the chairs, pulled his arm back, and swung down. The plastic crackled, splitting in half. Leather twisted and ripped open, exposing yellow foam. Hairline cracks spread from the split, eating away at the base inch by inch. When the cracks reached the metal legs, the chair collapsed into pieces. Everyone except Cloud jumped at the clatter, and every fragment turned to dust.

“The heck you doing with this?” Cloud said, turning the key over.

“You stupid jerk,” Sora said. “Give that back.”

“No you're not getting it back. Who gave you this?”

The key dissipated from Cloud’s hand, materializing in Sora’s outstretched grip. With a quick breath, the kid shut his eyes. He tightened his grip as the end formed and swung it like a bat aimed at Cloud. The guy leaped back, crashing into a cluster of office chairs that spun around him. Sora lunged forward, but his grip faltered, the keyblade wavering in his hands. The blade sliced through the air, grazing Cloud’s side and ripping a jagged slit in his shirt. He shouted, the sound no louder than a typical conversation.

“Cloud,” Yuffie shouted.

Stumbling, Cloud bent low, using the table for support. As he fought to straighten, a large black batwing unfurled from his back from under his cape. His eyes glowed, pupils narrowing into an odd shape, before he grimaced and closed them.

“You’re.” Sora staggered back, staring at Cloud’s wing. “You’re full of darkness, Cloud.”

Sora ran out the door, and Cloud dropped to one knee. The table obstructed Leon's view of Cloud. All he could see clearly was a folding wing, that sword on Cloud’s back, and his spiky hair.

“Oh my god, Cloud, shoot, you’re bleeding,” Yuffie said, moving chairs out of the way to get to him.

“I’m fine.” Cloud pulled his cape in to try to hide his wing.

“You’re not fine,” Yuffie said. “Leon, don’t just stand there, go shoot that twerp.”

Leon said, “You want me to-“

“No.” Cloud looked at Leon with eyes that didn't look right. The teal in Cloud's irises squeezed around his pupils and spilled out as light. “Don’t hurt him.”

“Cloud, lie down. I’ll go find bandages,” Yuffie said. “Leon, follow that kid. He’s armed and dangerous”

“You want me to follow the kid?” Leon said. “This guy doesn’t look fine. Did that kid-“

“I’ll be fine,” Cloud said. “Make sure Sora doesn’t hurt himself or anybody else.”

Leon grabbed his Gunblade from the table and followed the kid out the door.

Chapter Text

With only three squares in the town-world, Leon found the kid crouched into a ball, hiding between two barrels in the narrowest dead-end alley. Streetlights still buzzed, glowing a softer orange in this square, but the light didn’t reach the alley where shadows of the surrounding walls formed one. Sora’s face was buried under his arms and pressed into his knees as he sniffled and shook.

“Hey,” Leon said.

Sora looked up and wiped his cheeks with the back of his hands. “What are you doing here?”

“Looking for you,” Leon said.

“Well, you can just go back.”

“I’m supposed to make sure you don’t run off and do something stupid again.”

“Again? But Cloud… he…he’s dark.”

“You said all hearts have darkness.”

“Some probably have a whole lot more than others. Cloud’s sure does.”

“And your key tells you how dark someone’s heart is?”

Sora hugged his knees. “I guess not, but…”

“How long have you been up? Let’s go back.”

“I can’t go back. Goofy and Donald, or their king told them to find me since I’m the Keyblade Master and all. They’re ready for me to go off this world with them. I’ll show Cloud I’m not just some kid. I can show all of you that I’m ready for anything.”

“Didn't the animals get here the same way we did?”

“I don't know how they got here. I just met them. They said they were looking for this key and not much else. The duck said something about a ship, but they won't let me see it until we’re ready to go.”

“Don’t trust anyone you just met. You shouldn’t even trust me.”

“But you’re so cool, Leon. I got to trust you, at least.”

“Don’t trust people just because you think they’re cool.”

Sora laughed. “So I should trust Goofy and Donald?”

“No.”

“How else am I going to get out of here?”

“I don’t know.”

“Well, then maybe you should be trusting people or uh, animals who say they have a way out when they land here, huh?”

“No.”

“Would you go if Goofy and Donald asked you, instead of me? If you knew that your friends, the most important people in your life, were out there and you could find them? Would you go?”

“Do you keep asking questions hoping I’ll eventually say yes?”

Sora shrugged. “Maybe?”

“I would.”

“You would go?”

“Yeah, but they don't know you, and they want something from you. You have to be careful about that. Tell one of the rest of us when you’re about to go with them, alright?”

“Sure thing, Leon.”

“You want to go back now?”

“Yeah, let's go back.” Sora stood up. “Hey Leon, Cloud…he’s alright, isn’t he?”

“He said he was. I don’t have to tell you to be more careful with your key, do I?”

“No.” Sora scampered into the dim light. “I didn’t mean to hurt him. I’m really sorry.”

“Tell Cloud. We can check on him together.” Leon stopped following. “Sora, you… did something happen to your mom?”

“My mom? She’s…” Tears spilled from Sora’s eyes. He sniffled and bit his lip but didn't look away. Leon waited for Sora to settle down and speak. “She’s on higher ground. I have to find Riku. He…Kairi, too. We have to find each other. We’re lost. We got lost in the dark.”

“Higher ground?” Leon said. From smoldering, growing black mist, three creatures appeared, shaking, clattering and jumping in turn.

Tears still forming, Sora wiped them away before he grinned. “I feel a whole lot better thanks to you, Leon. I’m going to go beat up more Heartless now. I’ll catch you guys later.”

Kids who smiled away tears were easier to deal with than kids who mouthed off but burned out quicker. Leon didn’t want to clean up that mess, and Cloud did say to make sure the kid didn't hurt himself. “Wait, Sora.”

But he ran, leaving the creatures behind. A woman, a fake one, stared out into the middle of the square as Sora ran by her. At least he seemed alright, for now.

Because of the fake people and creatures milling around, Leon avoided this square, even if its gingerbread-brown brick and beige stucco was cheerier than the gray and blue shadows of the other two squares. In the middle of the square, two dead trees in separate patches of green grass not large enough for children to play on had been converted into streetlights. The grass looked real, like the people, but without a sun, it couldn't be. As Leon approached locked double doors twice his height, they looked like they were growing, overwhelming the shadows. As he walked into the streetlight, they receded, blending into the wall. When he had first arrived, he tried countless times to smash those doors in. Candles that lit spontaneously after being extinguished sat on empty wooden tables surrounded by empty wooden chairs.

The eerie quaintness of the square didn't change the fact that Yuffie was mad at Leon, and he was returning empty-handed. Retrieving the kid wouldn't have resolved anything between them anyway, but what would? The shops in this square sold jewelry and restoring liquids. Leon would not be buying any jewelry for Yuffie. That left him with ether or potion. Could he offer to help her friend?

Leon climbed two flights of stone stairs and walked through an opened set of arched wooden doors to return to the square of the hotel. Once inside, he headed to the room that he and Yuffie had been sharing. He knocked on the door, listened, and cracked it open. Everything was still and dark. Without turning on the light, Leon grabbed potion from the nightstand and left before Aerith appeared. And back through the fluorescent lighting he went to find Yuffie or Cloud or someone who talked like a normal person.

“Where’d he go?” Leon said, as soon as he walked into the conference room. Yuffie sat at the table. The words ‘stab a good man’ and ‘ninja’s absolute murderous intent’ were written under ‘masturbate’ on the blackboard.

“The crazy key kid?” she said. “Didn’t he go all heartless?”

“Not the kid. How's your friend?”

“He got clobbered by a giant magic key.” Yuffie stiffened. “How do you think he is?”

Leaving a chair between them, Leon sat next to Yuffie. He placed his Gunblade on the table. Was there a good way to offer help? He hadn’t planned on what to do next. He traced the edges of the barrel with his thumb. Maybe he should have bought the jewelry. At least, for backup.

“Look, Squall, we need to talk… No more bullshoot. Ugh, you know what I’m trying to say. You’re cute and all, but you and me, we’re weird now. There’s like five people here so I don’t want us to be weird anymore.”

“Okay.” Leon looked for marks on his Gunblade. “We won’t be weird.”

“Is your face alright?” Yuffie said.

“It’s not that bad.”

“Um, yeah so about that. Sorry I socked you in the face. But well…I just…I…”

Leon wasn’t expecting an apology. He looked up at Yuffie, but she looked away. Apparently, he hadn’t done anything to warrant getting hit in the face. He was off the hook. He felt the muscle memory, the inclination from this habit to say ‘whatever’ right at the tip of his tongue but something about the way that Yuffie was looking all over the room stopped him.

Squall took a deep breath. “I didn’t want to be someone to make you feel like that, I don’t want you to feel bad, I wouldn’t have tried anything if I knew you wouldn’t like it…”

“Whoa, relax, slow down, I’m not mad… I don’t know that I actually was. It’s just…in my world… Fine, you got me, the Great Ninja Yuffie got scared, alright? But if you’re blubbering on like that, maybe I didn’t need to be, with you.”

And they looked at each other, not smiling or laughing or anything really, just looked at each other to look.

“I don’t even like you like that,” Squall said.

“What? You’re lying. I’m a total hot babe. No one can resist my ninja charms.”

“You’re strong. You aren’t… not cute, I guess.”

“Keep on digging that hole even deeper, Squall.” Yuffie laughed. “It’s fun to watch.”

“Whatever. That Cloud guy’s stronger, isn't he?”

“Oh yeah, you have no idea. See, you are jealous. I can tell.”

“I’m not jealous about that. But I think… I might be… jealous.”

“Ha, you are jealous of Cloud.” Yuffie pointed at Squall. “But you don’t like me. Why’d you kiss me then? I don’t get it.”

“It's stupid.”

“Depending on what comes out of your mouth, it might be. But why not just say it? Who cares what I think?”

“... you guys seem… close. You and me… we’re not. Or maybe it’s my sleep.”

“Well, I haven’t known you long, silly. Close to Cloud? I mean, we fought together, we almost died together, but I never thought that someone would feel like that about me and Cloud. Hey, you want to know a secret that Cloud doesn’t know? Would that make you feel better? Come here so you can hear.” Yuffie moved the chair between them out of the way and used her feet to move her chair closer. She cupped her hand close to her mouth and leaned towards Leon. “I've been set up.”

“For a crime?”

“No.” Yuffie rolled her eyes and pushed away. She put her hands on the back of her head and leaned back. “Like going to get hitched. Some day. One day. Far away. Maybe.”

“Marriage?”

“Shhh, what was the point of me whispering that if you were going to blab about it? My dad set me up.”

“Why’d you try to kiss me then?”

“Why not? I’m not married yet. Not even close. And for the record, you kissed me.”

Squall snorted. “Whatever.”

And they fell into a comfortable lull. How long had it been since Squall fell into a lull where it didn’t matter that he had nothing left to say? Where he wasn’t fighting to catch his thoughts to say something, but not just anything. He had to say whatever they wanted to hear, whatever would make them stop, and they never believed him when he said it with a smile. And still, their expectations of him drilled and rooted and festered and grew, until that was all they saw.

But this was different. He could be giddy and no one would question it. When would the window to be giddy close in this world, with these people, with her?

“How do you feel,” Squall said, “about being with one person for the rest of your life?”

“Hm, how do I feel?” Yuffie said. “There’s not much else to think about other than that one person, I guess.”

“Do you believe in being fated to be with him?”

“You mean like soulmates? No, that’s stupid. I’m trying to pick the right one to be with, at least. Like someone really cute and nice, I guess. He’s cuter than you, even.”

“But what if you end up not liking him that much?”

“What do you want me to say, Squall? I guess I’d be miserable for the rest of his life or mine. But what are you going on and on about one person for? You’re a guy. You got to go around kissing all the girls in your world and breaking their hearts.”

“You’re the second person I kissed.”

“Really? No way,” Yuffie said. “Who’s your first?”

“My girlfriend.”

“You mean your ex?”

“I guess, I’ve been stuck here for years.”

“Oh.” Yuffie pursed her lips. “Wait, how old are you?”

(Oh shit.)

“How old are you?” He had only kissed her. Nothing more. How could he be so stupid?

“Eighteen,” Yuffie said, which was better than what Squall had thought, but still. “You’re not like thirty, are you?”

“No, I’m twenty-five.”

“How is that possible? You said nine years, Squall. That means you kissed a girl when you were sixteen, and you’ve been pining for her since then.”

“I met my girlfriend right as I was joining the military,” Squall said. “I was a normal functioning adult.”

“Hey,” Yuffie said, leaning her face closer to him, like she was trying to get his attention. “Are you alright?”

“I’m just tired,” Leon said. “Can we still sleep in the same room?”

“Nope, no-can-do buckaroo, but you can share a room with Cloud. I’ll ask him for you if you want, but he won’t mind, I’m sure of it.”

“Which room is he in?” Leon took out a bottle of green potion from the inside of his jacket pocket. “I have something for him.”

“Is that what I think it is, weirdo?” Yuffie wrinkled her nose. “Never mind, don’t go anywhere near Cloud’s room.”

“It’s for healing,” Leon said. “He thinks I’m weird, too.”

“Oh yeah, we have those in our world, too. He’s next door. He stood straight up, acted like he was alright and stomped away. He can be a pain in the butt. You’re still a weirdo, but I don’t know if I’m supposed to feel warm and fuzzy or more weirded out about this. Can I be both?” Yuffie shrugged. “But who isn’t a weirdo, right?”

Leon stood up. “Can I leave my Gunblade with you?”

“Wait, you’re going to just leave me with a gun? I’ve been around them, but shouldn’t you ask what I know about them or something? Uh, how do I keep this one from going off?”

“It won’t go off.”

“It’s a sword that looks like a gun, not a gun? Oh no… Why?”

Leon reached the door. “Could you just take it to your room?”

“Sure, sure. Hey Squall, try to be nice to Cloud. He’s had a rough day.”

Leon closed the door behind him. As he walked down the hall under its fluorescent lights once again, he wondered what to do if Cloud didn’t answer. Leon wouldn't check on the guy, but should he drop the potion off somewhere in the room? Cloud had moved fast to disarm the kid, but Yuffie could've done that. An old, familiar excitement flared up when Leon realized that she could teach him new fighting techniques. But Cloud? Other than being able to move quickly with a massive sword stuck to his back, what he did was sloppy. Still, the guy had to be strong, and Leon wondered if he should've brought his Gunblade just in case. Ignoring his worry, he stopped in front of the door to the next room and knocked. He heard scuffling from the other side.

“Is someone in there?” Leon said.

No one answered. Leon thought of returning to Yuffie, but he still had to ask Cloud if he’d be willing to share his room, and it was better to ask for a favor when offering something in return. He knocked on the door again, listened, and cracked it open. Everything was dark and still except for two teal-colored floating lights. Cloud’s eyes were glowing. At least Leon knew that he was up.

“It’s Leon.” He closed the door behind him.

“Thought all hotels had to have doors that locked,” Cloud said. “What’re you doing in my room?”

“These rooms aren’t any one person’s. They’re hotel rooms that we sleep in.”

"Okay... Thanks."

"I brought some potion, for your injury."

"Oh," Cloud said. "Could you leave it on the nightstand?"

"I can't see. Mind if I turn on the light?"

"Nope. I mean, yeah, I mind."

"How am I supposed to put this somewhere if I can't see?"

"Throw it over here."

"I'm not throwing this at you. I'm turning on the light."

"No. Don't do that."

Leon flipped on the lights to look for the nightstand. Cloud sat on the only bed with pillows propping him up. He sat up straighter, but his face was pale. He was breathing through his mouth. His black wing had been tucked under his cape, which was now frayed in spots. Leon didn't know how Cloud hid his wing so well.

"Are you alright?" Leon said.

"I'm fine," Cloud said.

"You don't look fine. Do you think you need more than one bottle?"

"How many of those you got? I…" Cloud nodded off.

"Shoot, you're not fine. Let me get Yuffie."

Cloud’s head jerked up. “Don’t. Stay put. Buy all the potion and hand them over.”

“Why don’t you want me to get Yuffie?”

“What she going to do? There’s no use calling her over here just for her to get all pissed off. I’ll be fine in a day or two, potions or not.”

“I’m trying to help.”

“Didn’t ask for it.”

“Fine. But I tried being nice to you.”

“Nope. You were a jerk.”

“You’re no fun either.”

“Got my butt kicked by a ten-year-old kid running around with a big key. What’s your excuse, huh?”

Leon blinked. Then he laughed.

“It’s not funny. You,” Cloud said, “are the jerk.”

“Sorry, you’re right, you being hurt isn’t funny. Here.” Leon put the bottle of potion on the nightstand nearest Cloud.

“Uh, thanks.”

“Are you sure you don’t need any help?”

“Nope.”

“I have a favor to ask.”

“…”

“…”

“What’s this favor you want done?” Cloud said.

“I was wondering if I could sleep here.”

“I’m sleeping here.”

“I know, I don’t want you to leave.”

“What?”

“I’ll sleep in one of the chairs or on the floor. Once you feel better, we could switch to a room with two beds.”

“Oh.”

“What do you mean ‘oh’?”

“Don’t think I can help you out with your favor.”

“I have trouble sleeping when I’m alone.”

“I like sleeping alone. Need space. Sucks.” Cloud nodded off again.

“Sucks? Whatever,” Leon said, but Cloud didn’t perk back up. “Are you alright?”

Leon tapped Cloud cheek, hard enough to make soft slaps. When Cloud didn’t respond, Leon hit a little quicker and harder. “Wake up. Hey.”

“I’m up,” Cloud said, not opening his eyes. “Give me a few more minutes.”

“I’m going to use some of this potion on you, alright?”

“Move.”

“I’m really just trying to help.”

“Think I’m going to be sick. So move.”

“Hold still.” Leon lifted the covers off of Cloud to reveal a gash through his shirt and torn red cloth under the gash. “Did Yuffie do this?”

“Just throw potion all over me.”

“That can’t be as effective. I’ll pour it over this… bandaging, alright?” Leon popped open the lid of the potion, lifted Cloud’s shirt, and poured it over the cloth. “Want me to press into it? It might hurt.”

“It’s different from what we use back home. Feels… nice. Wait. That’s a new bottle, right?”

“Yeah. Sure,” Leon said. “You look less pale.”

“I need space.” Cloud stared at Leon. “Now.”

“Whatever.” Leon stood up.

“Wait,” Cloud said. “Leon, thanks. I’m just…”

“Don’t mention it.” Leon put the potion on the nightstand. “Get some rest.”

Feeling a mix of irritation and a stupid, swelling sense of accomplishment, Leon opened the door trying to sort out what happened, why it happened, and what he would do next to get some sleep. Aerith stood in the middle of the doorway.

“Goodnight, Leon,” she said. “It’s a strange greeting, isn’t it? But what else do you say when it’s always night?”

“Aerith?” Cloud said.

“Cloud, just the person I was looking for,” Aerith said.

“He’s hurt,” Leon said.

“I’m fine,” Cloud said. “Night, Leon. Thanks.”

“Light and dark are opposite sides of the same coin.” Aerith stepped into the room, causing Leon to step out of her way. “You can illuminate your path or darken the way. It’s your choice. Don't you think so?”

“You’re full of it,” Leon said.

“Don’t talk to her like that,” Cloud said.

“It’s alright, Cloud,” Aerith said. “Leon’s world doesn’t have a Lifestream. He doesn’t understand.”

“What would you know about my world?” Leon said.

“No Lifestream, is that right?” Aerith smiled. “Your planet is dark, so it’s the people who must carry on the light. Leon’s not ready to do that yet.”

“What would you know about me?” Leon said.

“The Heartless are after-” Aerith said.

“Cloud. Have fun with your space. Feel better, see you around,” Leon said.

He let the door close behind him. First the black wing and now the creepy girlfriend was undeniable proof that Cloud was broodier than Leon. He walked down the hall under its fluorescent lights once again and jogged to get to Yuffie's door.

“What are you doing back here?” Yuffie said, after she opened her door.

“Cloud won't let me sleep in his room," Leon said.

“He won’t? Seriously, are you two the same dumb person in two different bodies?”

“We’re not alike. He said he needs space.”

“Go see Cid. Now I need space, too.”

“Is Cid even real?”

“Yes, Cid is real. Why do you think he’s not real? He’s just stuck.”

“Stuck?”

“How do you not know this? He’s stuck in that jewelry shop. He can’t leave. Go sleep there. He has a couch he doesn't use.”

“Sleep? We woke up a couple hours ago.”

“Look, Squall. You slept all day. It’s nighttime now. I told you the last time this happened I can’t just flip my sleep. Cloud’s been up, too, and he’s hurt. Don’t bother him. Bother Cid, if you want. He’ll yell at you if what you're doing actually bothers him.”

“It’s nighttime all the time here.”

“I know, it sucks, but I can’t sleep whenever you decide you need sleep. We’ll try something else to get on a better schedule, alright? Cloud has a couple ideas that I didn’t think of.”

“You talked to him about my sleep?”

“You were sleeping in the hallway all day. He had some questions about you.”

“Whatever, I have a question about him. Why does he hang around Aerith? Why would anyone want her around? If she gets into his head, he’s going to spout off the same shoot as that kid. I’ve heard enough about ‘darkness’.”

“Wait, wait, wait, Squall. What are you talking about?”

“Darkness. You did it, too. This morning, no earlier. Does Cid talk like her? You don’t buy into this, do you?”

“What? No, what about Aerith and Cloud? I mean, she nabbed him when he first got here, but I don’t think they talked for that long.”

“She’s in Cloud’s room now.”

“Maybe she’s helping him with the potion.”

“I helped with that.”

“You did?”

“You told me to be nice. He wasn’t feeling well.”

“And he keeps saying he’s fine. Why does he always do that? Did Aerith say anything to you?”

“None of it made sense. What’s with her? She’s off, and she’s talking to your friend. Is he going to buy into all her talk about darkness and heroes?”

“Heroes? When did she say anything about heroes? She better not be messing with Cloud. He… he’s been through a lot. We all have, but he…”

The door creaked open down the hallway, and Aerith stepped out of Cloud’s room.

“Let’s go see what she’s up to.” Yuffie hopped out of their room. She exaggerated the swinging of her arms and the height of her knees as she walked towards Aerith, and Leon followed.

“Yuffie,” Aerith said. “I’m so glad that you’re here.”

“Cut the crap,” Yuffie said. “What were you doing with Cloud? He got sliced up by some stupid kid with a stupid key. He needs to rest.”

“Did Leon say anything to you about me, Yuffie? I’m afraid that I said something that upset him.”

“He thinks… No, we both think you’re acting weird.”

“Did he tell you how he ended up here in this world?” Aerith said. “It’s struggling between light and dark, you know.”

“I told you that I don’t remember how I got here,” Leon said.

“Oh I do wish I could believe you,” Aerith said. “Do you believe him, Yuffie?”

“I believe him more than I believe you, A-Aerith.”

“What is his darkness? Why can’t you be a hero, Leon?” Aerith said. “You should-”

“Who are you?” Yuffie said. “You’re not Aerith. You’ve got some nerve, blaming Leon for… I don’t even know what. How’d you get here? Do you remember? Hm?”

“I’m disappointed, Yuffie,” Aerith said. “I thought we were friends.”

Yuffie glared. “Not going to answer my question, huh? If you want him to be a hero so bad, why aren’t you signing up for that? Why do you care what he does here anyway?”

“Yuffie, there are things you don’t understand about our world,” Aerith said. “Things that Cloud didn’t tell you. The Lifestream works in ways that are outside of our understanding. I…came here through the Lifestream to help.”

“Help? Help who?” Yuffie said.

“Sora, who else?” Aerith said. “And I guess, Leon as well, to some extent. But Cloud’s here, so he doesn’t have to worry about that anymore.”

“Worry about what?” Leon said.

Aerith looked at Leon. “A fierce battle against darkness.”

“That’s it.” Yuffie pulled out her boomerang and waved it around. “Stay away from Cloud, you…you…fake. You ugly fake. And me. And Cid. And stay the heck away from Leon.”

“You’ve grown up so much, but in some ways you haven't changed, have you? You were always quick to anger.”

“Leave,” Yuffie said. “Please just leave.”

Aerith clutched her chest. “I only want-”

“She wants you to leave,” Squall said.

“I’ve upset you. I’m so sorry. We’ll talk when you calm down, Yuffie.” Aerith turned and walked away soundlessly. Leon watched her to see if she would disappear, but she gave one last look at Yuffie, tilted her head, and opened one of the exit doors.

“Squall, she.” Yuffie sunk to the ground. “She’s supposed to be dead. We all saw her die. What kind of place brings people back to life like that? She’s not Sephiroth. She couldn’t have wanted this. Where are we? Really? Are we… are we dead? Did he…finally…”

“We’re not dead.” Leon squatted next to her.

“Then is she really alive? I was supposed to be happy to see her again. But it’s not her, she’s nothing like that thing, and all this does is make me miss her more. I…I didn’t know that I could do that. She was… she was so nice to me. Even…even if I didn’t deserve it.”

Yuffie threw herself onto Leon and cried into his chest, softer and stiller than he had expected. Leon stayed in place, resisting the urge to stand up and throw her off.

“It’ll be alright,” Leon said, patting her back twice.

“None of this is alright,” Yuffie yelled, standing. “What am I doing here? Why is Cloud here? Why did he follow us? And Cid…he…he was only visiting me. He never visits me. We shouldn’t be here.”

“I don’t know,” Leon said, looking up.

“Aerith,” Yuffie said, eyes brimming with tears. “Oh, Aerith. Aerith… Why did it have to be her? Why did she…”

Leon stood. “Look at me, Yuffie. Breathe. Count backwards from five.”

“What are you doing?”

“I’m trying to help.”

“It helped. Maybe. Not really. It’s… the thought that counts. I could really use a hug right now, Squall.”

“I don't like hugs," Squall said. "I’ll give you one if you want.”

“But hugs are the best. You really are weird. It’s alright. I’m not… freaking out anymore.”

Leon didn’t know what else to say or do to comfort her. The lull was uncomfortable again. She already had expectations for him, and he couldn’t meet them, again.

“Squall?” Yuffie said. “I… don’t want to sleep alone tonight either. Could we sleep in the same room, just this last time? Maybe we can hang out for a little while first.”

“Sure. Yeah…” Leon said. “Thanks.”

“Don’t thank me, dummy. You’re the one doing me a favor.”

Chapter Text

Using both arms, Leon swung his Gunblade up and across and pulled the trigger. Energy zapped through the sword and cracked throughout the cave. The cloth he was aiming for, a flag with blue and yellow stripes hanging as one in a banner, disintegrated. Yellow-green flames flickered from two claypots, scattering silver speckles against water standing still at different depths of the same green. The water covered every ground surface of the cave except for a small patch of rocky land that Leon stood on. The enclosed space, with the splashing, dripping water, gave the illusion that the air was different, cooler, closer to the skin, but Leon didn’t sweat. The air didn’t cling. It wasn't damp. And once again, he found himself wondering what the hell he was doing in here.

The kid had gone missing. Yuffie insisted they keep tabs on him, so they looked harder than before, but what had been the point? Sora hadn't listened. He’d left with the duck and dog without telling anyone. 

During their search, they found this green cave. On all his previous, countless walks in the alley behind the hotel, Leon had mistaken an arched tunnel entrance in a stone wall for an oversized drain. Iron bars, two of which were bent just enough to squeeze through, blocked the entrance. Who had decided that even this was worth complicating?

It was the water that had caught their attention, not draining as expected. After nine years without rain, where did it come from? It filled a shallow, dead-end canal in the alley and led into a tunnel that opened into the cave. Another dead end. Stagnant, but clear enough to see to the bottom even at waist depth, shouldn't it smell? Like muck or sulfur? Water like this wasn’t supposed to exist. He didn’t remember the last time he smelled anything from this world. Not wood or oil being burned. He wondered how flames worked in caves. Why wasn't this cave filled with smoke? Did oxygen burn here? Was he really breathing? Was he really alive?

Training was Cloud’s idea, Yuffie had said. Wearing himself out would help with sleep, she claimed. When he first swung his sword in the cave, Leon remembered that training had gotten him out of his funk back home, too. Not that swinging a sword in an empty cave solved anything. It kept him busy, but jabbing at flags in the middle of a cave was ridiculous. When Leon tried to convince Yuffie to join him, she talked about how ninjas train with only other ninjas who know their ninja secrets. Whatever.

Leon needed this training to fix his sleeplessness, he supposed. He had slept in a different room since that night that Yuffie had cried. Sitting on a windowsill with one leg on the floor, Cloud, with his sword at some odd angle behind him, had stared at the two of them leaving her room together.

“Don't worry,” Cloud had said. “I won't tell your dad.”

“I know you won't,” Yuffie said. “But what do I care what that butthole thinks anyway?”

“Why are you saying it like that?” Leon crossed his arms. “We slept in separate beds.”

“Guess I don't need space that bad,” Cloud said. “Let’s switch rooms, Yuffie.”

“What? No,” Yuffie said. “It's fine. More than fine. He’s right. We're sleeping in separate beds. Not everybody likes being alone like you do, you know. Mind your own business, Cloud.”

Cloud turned off of the windowsill and walked away.

“Wait,” Yuffie said. “Are you feeling better?”

Cloud had waved them off without looking back, his sword still swinging on his back. He hadn't said anything to Leon since, and walked off in the opposite direction each time they crossed. Yuffie didn't say anything when Leon avoided her room. She seemed fine now about Aerith. Or at least she wasn’t crying about her anymore.

Leon examined his Gunblade for marks and wondered if he'd be better off swinging it around in one of the town squares. Candles would make better targets than cloth. He had spent five minutes in the cave, and he wanted to leave. When he became restless like this, he would run up and down a flight of stairs in the back of the cave.

They led to a circular landing surrounded by vertically endless walls, the bottom of a bottomless pit. What were dead-end stairs doing back here? Looking up, he felt like he was at the bottom of a wishing well, with no water or coins. Dry and wishless. Was this the way out of hell?

“Leon?” Aerith’s voice echoed. “Are you in here?”

Water splashed against the rocks around Leon, but he didn't hear her sloshing. When she appeared from around the corner, dragging one leg after the other with her dress hiked up in the water, she smiled and tilted her head.

“There you are.” She rose from the water’s lower depths and stepped onto the rocks. “I’ve come to talk to you about Sora.”

He readied his Gunblade again but didn't swing.

“He’s come back. We have to help him, Leon,” Aerith said.

“The kid doesn't need his head filled with ideas about darkness,” Leon said.

“But I’m not wrong. And you…” Aerith sighed. “You're the only one who can reach Sora. Cloud can't.”

“How’s that my problem?”

“Sora will have questions about his adventures, and he needs answers.”

“Whatever.”

“You don't understand. If Sora doesn't fight the Heartless…we’ll all…”

“We all what?”

“The Heartless are after our hearts.” Aerith stared beyond Leon. “There's darkness in all our hearts. Sora’s here to save the world. You can't give into your darkness, Cloud. Stay away from it and run to the light. It's the only way.”

“I’m not Cloud,” Leon said.

“Oh, I’m so sorry. I don't know how I could have mistaken him for you.” Aerith touched her temple. “Or you for him, I should say. You’re so different, you know. I told them that. He’s light. I kept telling them. He’s already light. And you, you have to be the darkness.”

“Who’s ‘they’?”

“Well, aren't you?” Aerith raised her voice. “Aren't you the darkness in your world?”

“I’m not.”

“You aren’t? But they’re my friends. We're all friends. I have to protect them.”

“You're not doing that, are you?”

“We all do our part, Leon. No matter how small it may seem, it's important.”

“You’re saying words, but what do they mean? Do you want to be here?”

“Of course I want to be here. Where else would-”

“Are you alive?” Leon said. “Or… did you want this?”

“Do I want this?” Aerith looked directly at him. “You should be wary of your darkness, Leon.”

Within the tunnel that led to the cave, metal splashed against stone, clattering with garbled sounds. She faced it. “That must be them. Please be nice. We can't lose here.”

Three heads bobbing in the water moved towards Leon. The kid wasn't his problem, but it would be if something happened to him, and Aerith, or someone Aerith had met, wanted something from this kid. This wasn’t news. She told Leon the same line every time, but these animals were taking off with a kid with a powerful weapon. It had to be worth finding out why.

Sora raced out of the water first and waved. “Leon, guess what I found? Give you a hint. I can use my key on them.”

“I don't know, Sora, keyholes?” Leon said. The duck and dog shook water off as they splashed out. He watched them before he turned back to Sora. “Where have you been?”

“That’s right, great big keyholes.” Sora grinned. “My keyblade locked them automatically.”

“Every world among the stars has a keyhole, and each one leads to the heart of the world,” Aerith said.

“Wait, do worlds really have keyholes?” Leon said. “A heart?”

“Yeah, what do you mean?” Sora said, even though he's the one who brought up keyholes.

“It was in the Ansem report,” Aerith said, like it meant something. “The Heartless enters each world through the keyholes.”

“Golly, what happens to a world full of Heartless, huh?” the dog said.

“In the end, it disappears,” Aerith said.

“What?!” the duck, dog, and kid said. Leon finally agreed, but in any end, a world could disappear.

“Please lock the keyholes,” Aerith said. “You're the only one who can.”

“I don't know…” Sora said.

“What do you mean, you don't know?” Leon said. “Locking keyholes has to be better than fighting those things.”

“Yeah!” the duck said. “Lock the keyholes, Sora! You got to do it!”

“We got to find your friends! And King Mickey!” the dog said.

“Aren’t you already looking for them?” Leon said. “Why'd you come back?” 

“I guess you're right.” Sora grinned, looking up at Leon before jumping away.

“Wait, Sora,” Leon said. “Duck, Dog, what the heck is going on.”

“Do you want to know what we eat in my world, Leon?” The duck turned his staff over and over into a figure eight. “Turkeys. Cause they’re weaker than ducks. Boy, this is going to be good.”

“Garsh, Donald,” the dog hyucked. “Do we really got to do this?”

The water lit the cave and everything glowed neon green. Magic? Leon tried to look away from the water, but it was everywhere. The cave turned brown and water red, flowing like sputtering lava. Drowsiness warmed over Leon, and a wispy memory grew and took shape. 

His teacher… Even though he had been at the school longer, she was his teacher. His teacher pointed to the middle of the cave and a red beast with horns on a lion’s head on a man's godlike body opened his mouth and his arms up as if daring the heavens to strike him. It roared and the ground shook, but Squall didn't have his Gunblade. Being without it was a reoccurring dream. He held a blue glass marble out to the creature instead.

“Fine, I will join you.” The creature’s red hand with retractable black nails reached out to Squall’s and touched the marble.

A whirlwind swept the creature high into the air, and it shrank little by little, but its energy, its presence remained in the cave as a hot windstorm, blowing Squall’s hair, the loose parts of his unzipped jacket, his extra belts, even his necklace in different directions. But he held his arm out until the creature was in Squall’s palm, the same size of the marble. It roared still like a lion but softer, and the wind grew calmer. The creature looked up at Squall with a sad smile and disappeared. The marble grew hot enough to blister but Squall wouldn’t dare let go.

Squall opened his eyes, and red and green swirled and blurred, but the blue marble was in Sora’s hand. A boy shouldn’t have such an object, but when he opened his mouth, it said. “Take this with you.”

His mouth formed words, but he did not hear them. Sora was asking about the marble, but Squall couldn’t answer. All the noise quieted, and Squall didn’t have to breathe.

Was this the end of time compressing? Where was he? When?

“Where am I?” Leon said, holding his head. The cave and its water were green and clear again but his heart fluttered in his chest. His palm stung so badly that he couldn’t move his hand. The marble. “It’ll mess with him. With his memories.”

The kid, the duck and dog were gone.

“It was them.” Aerith was kneeling in the water, holding her hands to her chest, like she was praying. “The Heartless… are after…our hearts…”

Leon splashed into the water to run away. “Freak.” 

His steps slowed as he sank deeper, making him feel clumsy. Water added resistance when he tried to walk normally, like on land, but buoyancy when both feet were off the ground, which happened more often as he went deeper. A slow jump, flying, no floating, but only when deeper.

When the water reached his chest, the cave floor under the clear green water gave way. His foot sank, and he floundered, startled at the lack of solid ground. His body sank, submerged into the water which muffled all the sounds and created new ones as the reverberations of plunging into the water played slowly around him. He tried to stand, to swim but sank further, still buoyant, still weightless. Bubbles from his air, from his movement formed around him. He sank further and further below the surface which he realized was the source of light. Light was at the end of a wavy tunnel above him. Sound waves and light interpreted through his eyes, his nerves, his chemical exchanges, as vision undulated slower underwater. He screamed, but only bubbles formed around his mouth and his scream sounded like muted, delayed panic. Did his scream bubbles reach the surface as a proper scream or did the water absorb all of his sound, all of his panic, all of him?

Do tears exist underwater? Would he cry when his breath ended? His lungs burned, he thought. They must, he thought. There would be a moment when he would have to breathe water, not air, and would that be the moment when he died? Or would he have to wait, one minute, two minutes, three minutes, how long does it take to die? How long does he have to live? How long would it feel? Did he want it to be long or short? Would it feel short now and long when it hurts? Why did everything he enjoyed seem so short and everything painful feel like forever? What exactly did he still enjoy? Was thinning air from the very end of his last breath the last thing that he had to look forward to?

He waited until he couldn’t any longer, clenching his throat, and then he waited more until he opened his mouth, and what he breathed was not water. It could not be air but he was not dead. And his body floated but his weightless feet sank and touched bottom, and effortlessly, he stood.

He smelled air after a storm, like renewing layers threatening to thin, threatening to expose him. Burning electric wires. Ozone. Light shone from under Leon's feet. Yellow and blue and green and red and any color pure and primal and true and the colors swirled and cracked into a pane of tinted glass shards. A picture of a girl, with a pale blue cardigan sweater longer than a dress, held the hand of a stained glass picture of him. Golden fields and white feathers surrounded them, but their faces were cut out as black circular voids. 

Leon fell to his knees. What was her name?

“Hey there, hi there, ho there, Leon,” a voice from beyond all the darkness surrounding him said. “What are you doing here? This isn't where you belong. Find your light. Once you do that, you’ll find your answers. Hot dog, maybe even save the girl. What do you say, pal?”

Giving under weight he forgot he had, glass cracked forming black veins against the golden field under his knees. He stood and stepped back. Glass shattered and flew up. Jagged edges framed a black hole where he had been kneeling. Shattered glass floated at his eye level and swirled. Was he spinning or were they? 

He turned and ran. Each step gripped and cracked glass. Each time he lifted one of his legs, glass shattered and kicked up into the glass storm. Shards, small and large of different shapes, clinked against each other, sounding louder and louder as he ran closer to the edge. He covered his ears to the sounds of hundreds of broken wind chimes. He stumbled. Glass cracked before he stepped and his foot slipped. Dread as he lost his balance flooded him and he instinctively grabbed for the edge, but glass sliced into his hand and he had to let go. And he fell. 

Down, down, down into the darkness and the bright stained glass picture above him was the only source of light. Jagged black holes ate through the picture of him. Scattered pieces of him flew and floated and fell.

Leon woke up, heaving, looking around at the dark, unaware of where he was. He saw shapes of shadows. He saw a window, its lightened panes from streetlights that didn’t go out. He felt a bed under him, and he breathed quickly. In and out. In and out. He couldn’t control his breathing. Clenched in a fist, his hand ached, and he was afraid to open it, but he didn't feel any blood so he relaxed his palm and saw no wound in the dark. He stumbled when his feet hit the floor and ran to turn on the light.

They had moved to a new house. That’s right, it was Yuffie’s idea. He was in his new room. The other bed was made, with blankets smoothed over and tucked against the mattress. He was alone, and he had trouble sleeping alone.

He stumbled out of the room following voices from downstairs. Two doors on the other side of the hall. One room for Yuffie, one for Cloud, and he shook his head to try to clear his thoughts.

“Why’d you let the key kid get away, Leon?” Yuffie said, as soon as he stood at the top of the stairs. She was lying on the floor of a room with only a television stand for furniture. They had just moved in with nothing. Blue wallpaper peeled from the edges of the wall. “Who would’ve thought those three bozos could actually get out of this heckhole.”

As Leon descended the stairs, Cloud nodded at him, leaning against a wall. Cid, an older man with stubble on his face, sat against the wall next to Yuffie with a toothpick in his mouth. “Don’t let this ninja girl get to you. She’s libel to take you for all your worth.”

“Hardy, har har, cranky legged old man,” Yuffie said. “You’re free now. Don’t be such an butt.”

“I ain’t old, ninja,” Cid said. “You call this free? No smokes, no booze, no nothing. Can’t even cuss round here. This ain’t church. All I got’s a lousy toothpick. Not even something sweet to chew on. Gosh darn, darn, darn. Aw, Gosh darn it, I sound like a wuss.”

“Look who’s having a meltdown because he can’t cuss. It’s better now that you’re out of the shop though, hm? At least we’re not fighting anything awful here.”

“I guess you’re right about none of those gosh darn monsters being here. And we’re not warring with ShinRa. No sign of Sephiroth neither. But I’m afraid something’s fixing to really blow up here, you know? Hey.” Cid motioned to Leon to join them. “Hey you, what’s your name again? Yuffie says you been here longer than the rest of us. What’re you thinking about all this?”

Leon sat on the bottom step, away from the other three. They were all looking at him, expecting what exactly? He didn’t know what they had been talking about. He didn’t remember the last time he had zoned out. “The kid’s back.” 

“Why didn't you say something sooner?” Yuffie scrambled up. “When did you even have time to talk to him?” 

“I forget.”

“Hey, you look a little pale. Did something happen?”

“I was supposed to tell him… something.”

“He go to a different world?” Cloud said. “Had to’ve.”

Leon frowned. “He followed the animals.”

“We're talking about that kid that darn near walloped you, right Cloud? How’d you let a darn kid get the best of you? D’you lose your fighting spirit again?”

Cloud stared at Cid.

“I don't trust them,” Leon said.

“What’s there not to trust?” Cloud said.

Yuffie rolled her eyes then glared at Cloud. “Wait, you don’t trust that annoying key kid, right?”

“He didn't mean to hurt me,” Cloud said.

“Enough about the darn kid,” Cid said. “We got to find a way out of here.”

“He found a way out,” Leon said. “Why did he come back when his friends aren't here?

“Wait,” Cloud said. “Hear that?” 

“Cid?” a faint voice from outside called out. “Yuffie? Where is everybody?”

“That dumb kid’s really back?” Yuffie grinned. “Hey guys, I got an awesome idea.”

Cloud crossed his arms and looked at Cid. “What is it?”

“We’ve got to figure out how he left this dump, don't we? Let's all trick him into thinking we like him. I’ll be super nice. Leon, too. Then, when that kid’s not looking -bam- we grab it. Unless he uses that key, then we’re screwed.”

“You aren’t going to be nice.” Cloud looked at Leon. “No way he’ll be nice. And what about Cid? Nobody’s going to be nice here.”

“Cid can’t cuss, and he’s sober. That makes him nice enough. Look, I’m not a kid anymore, and I’m a ninja darn it. I can be nice and cute and sexy in ultimate ninja mode.”

“Holy freaking shootballs, where the heck is Tifa? Don’t you go and try to be…” Cid cringed. “Sexy in front of kids, Yuffie.”

“I won’t, I won’t, geez,” Yuffie said. “Go upstairs, Cloud.”

“What? Why?” Cloud said.

“We can’t have you spooking the key kid into running away again. He's probably scared of you.”

"It's not a good idea to try to trick kids, Yuffie," Cloud said. "'Specially one with that kind of weapon."

“If you do this,” she singsonged nasally. “I’ll stop borrowing your materia for a month when we get home.” 

“Six months.”

“Three. Take it or leave it, buster.”

“Deal. Don’t end up sliced in half.” 

Leon watched Cloud climb the stairs. “I’m going, too.” 

Yuffie waved. “Wait. No. You stay. You’re going to help me steal his shoot. Where’s your weapon?”

Leon looked around the room. “Not here.” 

“Why? Oh my god. Cid, do you have a weapon?”

“Never got one.” Cid stood up and flipped his toothpick to the other side of his mouth. “Just got stuck in a gosh darn jewelry store, selling gosh darn jewelry to nobody but a little shoot of a kid, like a gosh darn mother farter. Gosh darn it to freaking heck , I want to go upstairs, too.”

“Too bad,” Yuffie said.

“Cid?” The kid sounded like he was just outside. “Yuffie?”

Yuffie crouched low with her arms out, like she was lined up for a race at a team building exercise and taking it way too seriously. “You guys hear that? He’s going to show up any minute now. We’re figuring out how he left, got it? Places, everybody. Chop. Chop. Think rainbows and flowers and unicorns and shoot. And Leon, maybe try miming.”

Leon thought about miming by using a finger, but he wasn’t a teenager. The world probably wouldn’t let him do that anyway. “Wait. Acting nice is not a plan.”

“Thanks for chiming in now, buck-o. Now’s not the time-”

From behind the door, metal hit the ground and rolled, faster and louder rhythmically, but spiraling into an acceleration until the rolling stopped. The dog hyucked and the duck screamed unintelligible quacks.

Cid said, “Aw, fu-”

The door flung open, the kid stood in the middle of the threshold with his hands on his hips. The dog held a shield in front of him, and the duck twirled a staff.

“Did I about cuss?” Cid said.

Sora ran into the house, the key forming in his hand. “Why aren't you all staying at the hotel anymore?” 

“Animals stay outside,” Leon said, feeling exposed without his weapon. It had been awhile since he had felt this way. “It's snug enough with the four of us.”

A thud came from the hallway upstairs. The animals looked at each other, and the kid looked towards the sound.

Yuffie huffed, waving in front of Sora to block his view. “The more, the merrier, remember, Leon? Why don't the three of you come right on in? Welcome to our humble secret base. Put your…uh…feet or whatever you have up.”

Sora pointed his key at Cid. “We're looking for this world’s keyhole, Gramps. Can you help?”

“Who you calling Gramps? I'm thirty freaking four. I’ll show you freaking keyhole. Why’s this kid running round looking for a freaking keyhole?”

“Rainbows and unicorns, Cid,” Yuffie said. “Show us how it's done, key ki-, uh, Key blade Master.”

“Sure thing, I'll show you guys. I’m not a kid,” the kid said. “I’m going to lock the Keyhole with my Keyblade.”

“Alright, smartbutt,” Cid said. “Yuffie, what do you want to do here? This seems to be the mother of all rabbit holes, and we ain't got the time to deal with this shoot.”

“Well, Cid, if we help the key…master or whatever with his keyholes then maybe, he can tell us how he's getting off this world. Can't you just stick to my an-play?”

“Did you want to know how I’m getting off the world, Yuffie?” The kid puffed his chest out. “That's easy. I ride around on a rocket ship."

“A rocket ship?” Leon had to have misheard the kid, his ears felt full of water, but Cid and Yuffie looked as surprised as he felt.

“Yeah, neat, right?” the kid said. “These guys have one. We didn't crash. It was fun.”

“These two animals,” Yuffie pointed at the duck then the dog. “And you operated a vehicle that flew into outer space? Cid, tell me that's impossible. I mean, that cannot be possible, right? Right?”

“Yuffie. This shoot’s got nothing on all the rest of the shoot that's going round.”

“See Cid says I can drive one,” the kid said. “Oh wait, Cid, I got something for you.”

Cid narrowed his eyes. “What’s that?”

“I don't know,” the kid said. “Aerith told me to give it to you. She said it goes to a Gummi ship.”

“What do you got there?” Cid said, softly. “She give you something good?” 

“So this Keyhole,” the kid said, handing Cid a red piece of plastic. “It’s invisible or hiding behind something and only shows up once I waved my Keyblade around it.”

“I sure envy you for seeing a world’s keyhole.” Yuffie looked like she tasted something bad.

Cid sneered. “How the freak would I know where something invisible is?”

The front door creaked open, just a crack. 

“Hello?” Aerith pushed the door open and stepped in. “Anyone home?”

“What are you doing here?” Yuffie said. “This is our secret base.”

Aerith looked at the kid. “I’m here to visit.”

“Has anyone noticed anything weird?” the kid said. “Something that might have a Keyhole in it?” 

“What ain't weird here, kid?” Cid said. “Guess one thing that don't got any business doing here’s that neon room holding the guts of that there bell tower. Clock in there’s stuck at 6:54. Wouldn’t surprise me none if a invisible keyhole’s hiding in there.”

Aerith tilted, her hands behind her back. “I've been thinking about the bells in the Second District, above the Gizmo shop, too, Sora. They don't ring at 3 o’clock. It's all boarded up. Nobody can get in there.”

“But they just rang,” Sora said. “Does anyone know what time it is? I… I think I’m late.”

“Gosh, Sora, you’re right on time. Get it?” The dog hyucked. “You know what we ought to do? We ought to run straight to that there Gizmo shop and check out that bell.”

“Yeah,” the duck said. “Can’t believe you think you’re late, Sora. Stop fooling around.”

“Oh.” Sora looked at Leon. “But…”

Aerith smiled. “You're the only one who can stop the Heartless.”

“No use getting everybody all riled up.” Cid sighed. “Pat your darn head. Rub your darn belly. Hop on your darn leg. Ring that darn bell, kid.”

Sora nodded. “You can count on me.”

The kid, the dog and the duck left one by one out the door. The duck held the doorknob and looked at Cid, Leon and longer at Yuffie before he rolled his eyes, muttered quacks, and closed the door behind him. Working with the animals to ring the bells was good for the kid, but Leon’s thoughts didn’t match his feelings.

“You can go right along with them.” Yuffie gestured at Aerith. “Shoo.”

“Don't be like that, Yuffie,” Cid said. 

“I came to warn you. Maleficent is in town,” Aerith said. “She's the one behind the Heartless being here.”

“That name’s a witch’s,” Cid said. “She's got to be a witch.”

No longer smiling, Yuffie looked Cid over. “How would you know?” 

“I met a witch or two.” Cid closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead.

“She's been using the Heartless for years,” Aerith said. “We lost our world, thanks to her.

Our ruler, a wise man named Ansem, dedicated his life to studying the Heartless.”

“Why does that matter? Didn’t those things want the kid's key? Or his heart? Wait, Ansem? Did he write a report? A witch…” Leon felt like he just woke up and was trying to remember a vivid dream. The clutter from all the talking was too much so he walked over to Aerith to cut through it. “Does this world have a sorceress?”

“The witch has arrived, Leon.” Aerith reached for his arm, but he moved away. 

“Now wait a dang gone minute, what in tarnation is going on round here? Our world ain’t destroyed,” Cid said. “Why're y’all talking nonsense?”

“Don’t let Sora meet the witch.” Aerith walked to the door. “They can’t meet. Not yet.”

“Why not?” Leon said.

 “Be wary of the darkness, Leon. The witch surrounds herself with darkness.” Aerith opened the door, but turned to face them before she walked through the threshold. “Good luck to you all.”

Yuffie stuck her tongue out at the door. “We’re not trusting her.” 

“She was trying to tell us something,” Leon said.

“She's not real. I mean, did you listen to what she was saying, Cid?”

“It might not be her but you just can't tell, Yuffie,” Cid said. “Heck, you can’t tell what's somebody going to wind up like after going through something as big as she did.”

“Forget her. She’s fake and creepy. Period. ” Yuffie pulled a red velvet pouch that jingled from her pocket. “Let's see what I nabbed from that key kid instead. Did you see me? I’m pretty good at this whole acting nice thing, aren't I? Leon, you were horrible. You, too, Cid.”

“When did you steal that?” Leon said.

“Meh, it's not my best work.” Yuffie turned the pouch upside down, emptying coins onto the television stand. 

“See, what'd I tell you?” Cid said, turning over a piece of red plastic. “Watch out for this one if you know what's good for you.”

“So what did he give you, Cid?” Yuffie slid the gold coins away from the silver ones. “A pet rock? A broken toy? Gum from under his shoe?”

“Well I'll be darned…I reckon he handed me a part to a freaking spaceship, y’all. The heck they have these just lying around for?”

“A spaceship?” Leon said. “How would you know?”

“Cid’s a pilot. He can drive a spaceship,” Yuffie said. “Can we sell that for a lot of money?”

“You're an astronaut?” Leon said, impressed.

“Why’s that so hard to believe?” Cid said. “But I didn’t tell that kid nothing about me. I guess I could’ve said something when I first got here. I was out of it then.”

“It was probably that fake Aerith that told him all about us,” Yuffie said. “Hey, let's steal that kid's rocket.”

“Kid's got a magic key,” Cloud's voice called out from upstairs. Had he been listening this whole time? “Not smart to steal from him, Yuffie.”

“Cloud, quit hollering and get your butt down here,” Cid shouted.

“It's perfect,” Yuffie said. “We steal his ship, make a getaway and him or those animals can't chase us when we do. What's not to like about my plan?”

“Maybe we don't got to steal any ship from him,” Cid said. “He's going around finding parts. I’ll tell him I'll make his ship fly faster or farther with what he's giving me. I can try crafting something together with what he brings me.”

“We ought to just tell Sora what we need them for,” Cloud said from the top of the stairs. “He doesn't need the parts.”

“But this way he’ll probably be motivated to bring me more. Lying to him like this won't hurt a fly,” Cid said.

“Will he give you enough to build a rocketship?” Leon said.

“Probably not, but I wouldn't've thought this stuff’s just lying around to be took neither,” Cid said.

“Let’s figure out the keyholes,” Leon said.

“You mean the invisible ones?” Cid said. “It sounds a whole lot like he's busy chasing his own darn tail.”

“Aerith wanted him to do that. We might finally see him go heartless.” Yuffie rubbed one of the gold coins against her shirt and held it in the palm of her hand. “Why did you get so hung up about that witch, Leon?” 

“Sorceresses cause problems,” Leon said, trying to remember why it was so important. “It’s complicated.”

“Well alright, that explains everything,” Yuffie said. “Cloud, did you hear how nice I was? You were right about one thing, Leon can't act nice at all.”

“Good thing nobody got hurt,” Cloud said. “If the kid’s bringing Cid parts, we better look for them, too.”

“I guess I'm only one fellow though,” Cid said. “You can’t get just one guy making sure that the dang thing’s put together right. That’s how crap explodes when you fire it up. Did you all hear that? I…I said crap.”

“Good for you,” Leon said, “What if we follow the kid? He’ll try to leave the world again.”

“So that's when we steal his rocket?” Yuffie said.

“We could see it,” Leon said.

“Cloud, what do you think?” Yuffie said.

“Yeah,” Cid said. “What’re you thinking about all this?”

Cloud looked at Leon and nodded. “Might as well follow Sora, we’ll have time to look for parts later.”

And with that, Yuffie and Cid moved to leave.

“Where's your weapon?” Cloud said.

“Upstairs,” Leon said.

“Uh, seriously? Did you lose it?” Yuffie said. “Holy moly, Leon, how'd you do that?”

“No,” Leon said, already climbing the stairs. “Give me a minute.”

What exactly happened today? Did they do that all the time? Were they a team? How did they function? Being around the others was too much. He entered his room and looked in every corner, trying to remember when and where he had his Gunblade last. He had taken it to the green cave and practiced his timing using flags. He spoke with Aerith. She had demanded something from him. The kid came to visit with the duck and the dog and…

Did Leon have his Gunblade when he had spoken to Sora? He had to have, right? Did he walk back? They had just moved to the house so that they could be more comfortable, and he had just found the cave.

Leon opened the drawers to a dresser that he had never opened. Empty. He opened doors to an armoire that he never used. Empty. He opened the door to a closet that he had opened once on his first day here. Nothing but the same white shelf and a white metal rod spanning the top of the closet. Leon flopped to the floor on his stomach to look under the bed, and there was his Gunblade.

He grabbed it and stood up.

It was just a bad dream.

Chapter Text

Thin twisted tubes of green and yellow neon lights hung against cinderblock walls as art in the third and smallest square. The same cinderblock gray extended through to the tiled pavement. Leon didn’t avoid this square like the first. He’d stand near a fountain tucked away in a corner, bright yellow cardboard cutout thick statues of two dogs in the center, their noses touching. Water filling a small moat around the fountain didn’t splash or trickle or drip. Hearts plastered against the wall made his eyes roll, but their love, their happiness had been captured, frozen in time. When Yuffie was busy, he’d find his way here more often than not.

In this backdrop, Cid pulled his arm back and drove a rounded punch to the head of a toddler-sized black creature. It cracked, its head bursting into a puff of dark mist before the rest of it dissipated. Leon wondered if it was odd that he didn’t react. That no one else reacted.

Three spherical creatures wearing brown and tan spandex, with black knives for arms, materialized from the same mist, which had spread. Two feet taller than Leon and as wide as they were tall, the creatures wobbled, surrounding Cid in a triangle, occupying half of the square. A dozen or so smaller creatures appeared and scattered like cockroaches caught in the light until they all stopped. Four of them swayed and jerked synchronously around Cid.

“When they get so big?” Cid looked from one sphere to the next. “I can't punch those gosh darn things down.”

“Oof, not so little guys, huh, those are some fatties.” Yuffie ran to Cid and pulled her boomerang out from behind her back. She looked between Cloud and Leon. “We said we weren't going to kill them, right Cloud?”

“When in the heck did you figure that killing them’s a bad idea?” Cid said.

“The kid said that they hold human hearts. When he kills them.” Leon pointed at the spheres. “Bigger ones replace them.”

“The freak you just say? They're eating hearts? Aw, frick,” Cid said. “Wait, aren’t those critters called heartless?”

“Ooo, let’s call them hearteaters,” Yuffie said. “Or heartbreakers? Heart bakers? I am the best at coming up with names. How many of these did you punch dead, Cid?”

“I don't remember, gosh darn it. I wasn't thinking straight back then. Not too many though. I ain't got no weapon to fend these shoots off with.”

“You’ll get hurt if you can’t punch them down with a one-two punch, Cid. Leave these little guys to me.” Yuffie swept her boomerang across to block a black claw from reaching Cid. “We’ll show them who's boss. Wait, how do we do that if we can't kill them?”

“Do you know anything about using swords?” Leon said.

“Who? Me?” Cid said, concentrating on the creatures rather than on Leon. “I mean, I used a couple here and there. Can’t be much harder than using my spear.”

“You could use this to block them.”

“That thing? I don’t know how to use a gun like that. Is it loaded? Why’re you giving me this?”

“It doesn’t shoot bullets. But don't pull the trigger, you’ll only waste energy doing that.”

“You're kidding me. It don't shoot bullets? But that there's a barrel. To a shooter. You calling a gator a lizard, son? Hey, Cloud, get a load of this. It’ll give you a run for your money for funny swords.”

“You know what,” Leon said. “Never mind.”

“Wait, dang it.” Cid jumped to avoid a green beam shot from one of the creatures. “Wait just a dang gone minute. At least that thing looks real nice. Shiny and all. A real beaut.”

Leon walked around the swaying creatures and held the grip of his Gunblade towards Cid, who took it and examined the blade. “Hold on to it. Don’t attack with it. Don't kill them.”

“Are you bonkers, Leon?” Yuffie said. “What are you doing?”

“He can use it for a few minutes. They're not going to attack me.” Leon stepped away from Cid, careful not to step on the black creatures. “Watch.”

Two infant-sized faceless creatures wearing witches’ costumes flew in circles around Leon. One flipped upside down. Its pointy hat and green dress should have fallen, but its clothes didn’t move or flap like they were connected as part of its body. Its stubby legs moved so quickly that they worked as propellers. Leon thought it would be funny to watch them walk.

“Let me try. Bet you I can get one to trust me.” With her free hand, Yuffie reached for a creature with claw-like hands and cloth patches all over its lumpy doll body.

Leon recognized its helmet from old movies as what knights, the heroes, would wear. Its head hung limp and helmet clunked before the creature stiffened inches off the ground, its arms and legs splayed out like a cross. Its body flipped and spun like a propeller, launching itself at Yuffie. She blocked it with her boomerang. It bounced away and skidded onto the ground.

“Shoot, why didn't it work for me, Leon? I’m way nicer than you are,” she said.

“This fellow's from some other world, right?” Cid said. “They eat human hearts. You think he's human?”

“What else would I be?” Leon said. “Stop trying to pet them.”

“You know, I don't think the key kid came out and said ‘human’ anything. The duck and dog probably have hearts.” Yuffie smirked. “Leon probably has a heart in there somewhere. A teeny tiny one. Probably the size of a gil.”

Cloud, who hadn’t drawn his sword, stepped into the middle of a separate group of creatures. With antennas that looked more like pigtails than parts of a bug, a muscular humanoid creature squatted next to him and blinked.

“They’re kind of cute,” Cloud said.

“Cute?” Yuffie laughed. The humanoid creature looked at her, but she didn’t notice. “What kind of weird taste in cute do you have, Cloud? Look, they’re not attacking Cloud. Aw, come on, I’m nicer than Cloud.”

“I meant, like a Chocobo,” he said. The creature looked at Cloud.

“These things look nothing like Chocobos,” she said. The creature looked at Yuffie, then Leon. It jumped onto the raised platform of the fountain in front of the dog statues.

A dozen or so creatures with knights’ helmets appeared from black mist and dangled as crosses in the air.

Cloud bent down next to a black creature that wore no clothes but didn’t look naked, like an animal in the wild. Yellow eyes blinked on an oversized head on a stick-thin body. “Still kind of cute.”

“They're not attacking Cloud because he's a weirdo,” Cid said. “Then this fellow's probably a weirdo, too. You think they're cute? Is that the gosh darn trick to all this? Alright you little shoots, you’re cute.”

“Cutie patooties?” Yuffie said. “Yuck. These things are so not cute. So not cute.”

“They’re not cute,” Leon said. “They’re more active when you have a weapon out. Or if you punch them. Or try to pet them.”

The humanoid creature raised its arms. In front of the fountain, six evenly spaced dots appeared on the ground in a row and grew into swirling manhole-sized holes.

“It's been watching us,” Leon said. “Like it was listening.”

“Think they can hear?” Cloud looked between the dark holes and the creature.

“Why wouldn't they?” Leon said.

From one of the swirling holes, an orange monkey with yellow digital dots for eyes, the only features on a black, smooth face, jumped out and landed in front of the fountain. Wearing earrings and a red bow on its head, the monkey did a cartwheel and tripped over its feet. When it fell to the ground, it rolled automatically and stood.

“Aww, it’s a monkey,” Yuffie said. “Now that's cute.”

The monkey waved a slingshot over its head before getting on all fours and swinging on its knuckles while running. It barrelled towards Leon, and he stepped back to avoid it. Standing on just its legs, it pointed to itself then at Leon.

“Sure seems like that thing’s taken a liking to you,” Cid said. “Do you know the monkey?”

“No,” Leon said. The monkey put its hands on its hips before pointing to one of its earrings.

“Is it showing off an earring?” Yuffie said. “They all get weird outfits, don't they? What do they need outfits for?”

It nodded, jumped around, and pointed to its eye.

“Eye? Eye ring?” Yuffie said. The monkey shook its head.

“Eye ring? What’re you thinking, Yuffie?” Cid said.

“I’m thinking it wants to play a guessing game,” Yuffie said. “Ooo, charades.”

The monkey flipped in the air and nodded. It ran around her and Cid in circles, raising its arms. When it stopped running, it reached for Yuffie’s hand.

She shoved her pointy boomerang at the monkey’s face. “No monkey business, got it?”

The monkey covered its unseen mouth, and its eyes turned from yellow dots against a black face into two yellow horizontal, upside down curves. It was laughing without sound.

“It understands you.” Leon looked at all the creatures lining up, circling them. “Do you think they all do?”

“Who freaking cares? They're eating hearts. Aerith, that kid, those animals, they're all saying we got to get rid of them to save the world,” Cid said.

The monkey shook its head, ran back to Leon on all fours, and pointed to its chest.

“Heart,” Cloud said.

The monkey shook its head but kept pointing to its chest.

“Chest,” Yuffie said. “Insides, heartless, monkey, boobs? Are you a girl monkey? You have a bow. Do girl monkeys have boobs?”

The monkey shook its head and reached for Leon’s hand, but he pulled away. It pointed to itself again.

“The gosh darn thing keeps pointing at itself. That dumbbutt probably can't tell nothing from nobody,” Cid said.

The monkey tilted its head at Cid and nodded.

“Nobody,” Cloud said.

The monkey shook its head.

“Nothing, butt, dumb, itself,” he said.

The monkey nodded and jumped.

“Itself,” he said.

It clapped, but no sounds came from the monkey's hands. It brought its clawed index fingers together. Then held up two fingers and tapped them on its forearm.

“It?” Cloud said. “Or self? Self?”

It clapped soundlessly again, pointed at its earring then the corner of its eye.

“Self,” Cloud said. “Earring? Ear? Self? Eye?”

“Selphie?” Leon said.

The monkey stood up and ran to Leon on two legs holding out its arms. He stumbled back.

“Squall, look out,” Yuffie said.

A large bell rang once overhead, resonating longer and louder than Leon had heard it before, and the creatures with metal helmets stiffened. Twelve to fifteen spun like sawblades, hovering above the humans. Leon had miscalculated. They were attacking. He didn't want a fight, but he didn't have time to call out, just move. He grabbed the monkey’s wrist, and the sky lost its stars and turned navy blue. It squirmed and batted at his hand but he tucked the whole monkey under his arm and ran.

All the buildings lost their doors and windows, their shape, and melted into the navy blue sky to form one shadow, one darkness. The cobblestone under him dissolved into more fuzzy navy blue but his feet hit invisible, solid ground. The direction, distance, and effectiveness of Leon's steps were no longer, but he kept ahead of the creatures. The tops of surrounding stairs lit up into long, pale rectangles of neon white slabs, and floated, moving over Leon's head until spiral floating steps was all that was left of the town. They led to the sky, to nowhere, and the space between him and the creatures shortened little by little. He put the monkey down, and it jumped around, shaking its clawed fists in the air.

“Stand still,” he said. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

All the other creatures, twenty, twenty-five, thirty wearing different costumes in a parade, not in straight lines or formations, but scattered, jumping or flying rather than running towards Leon. The humanoid black creature held its arms up and black swirls appeared in the air.

The bell rang a second time all around them, causing Leon to vibrate inside. He stood between the creatures and the monkey, thinking about how he could escape. He had to move before they turned into propellers. The closeness of the staircase and the vastness of everywhere else, where the sky and ground never met, led him to look up the floating stairs. The stairs led up to a light, one pinprick of refracted light. And from below the ground, tissue-paper thin, translucent, white doves flew up in a conical spiral around him, all aiming for the light.

The monkey tugged on Leon’s jacket, and he stepped closer to the stairs. All of the creatures stared at him, blinking their yellow eyes. Each eye, a source of light. A handful of the creatures, ones furthest away from the humanoid, muscular creature looked out at the nothingness. Helmets clanked and squeaked, breaking the silence. The monkey looked between the creatures and Leon, wringing what could have been her hands. The point where they connected with her arms were undefined, but the ends, her claws, were sharp.

The monkey ripped off its bow and threw it, but it flew back to the same spot on its head.

“Selphie,” Leon said. “Is that you?”

The monkey nodded. The yellow dots of her eyes turned into horizontal curves, the ends pointing up like smiles but showing sadness.

“How did you end up like that?” he said.

The monkey, Selphie, shrugged. She held her hand out but Leon didn't take it.

“We have to find a way to turn you back,” he said.

Selphie nodded, kicking at nothing, like a kid caught misbehaving.

“Did you do anything you weren't supposed to?”

She crossed her arms, her claws extending beyond her elbows, and shook her head.

“Are you sure you didn't eliminate a target you weren't supposed to? You didn't try to skin anything here, did you? Or anyone?”

She shook her head vigorously and jumped around again.

“We’ll figure a way out of this.”

Selphie pointed to herself. Then she held out her arms for a hug.

“A hug?” Leon said. “That’s… inappropriate.”

She kept holding out her arms, thrusting them out in front of her dramatically.

“Stop that. I’m not hugging you.”

Selphie held out one hand, pointed to it with her other, and thrust it out to Leon for a handshake.

“I’m not holding your hand. This is serious, Selphie.”

She pointed to her hand in succession, shaking it and running around Leon.

“If I shake your hand, will you stop jumping around?”

Selphie nodded and held out her hand.

“Fine.” Leon grabbed Selphie’s hand and splotches of colors spread over the navy blue around them, reminding him of when he first held a prism into sunbeams from a window, but he was inside looking out instead. Inside invisible glass walls, pure colors fading in and out and shining all around them. The creatures loosened from their group, tumbling away and hopping closer to Leon.

“Are they your friends?” Leon said.

Maybe, thought Selphie. He tried to jerk his hand away, but she put her other hand flat onto his and held tighter.

Don’t go, she thought. Stay.

She was in his mind. His initial panic dulled but didn’t go away. She was in his mind.

Connected, she thought. Weird, she thought. Only way.

“Yeah. Weird. Is this why you wanted to grab my hand?” Leon said. “Do I need to hug you?”

Yes, hug me, she thought. Turn me back.

Leon frowned and looked at the other creatures. “Do I need to hug them, too? Can the others hug them?”

No, just me, Selphie thought. You hug me.

“Are you sure this is going to work? I don’t like hugs.”

Hurry up, Selphie thought. Always, she thought. Annoying, she thought.

Hugs scare me, Leon thought. And he felt from her orange pink, the color of an early sunset.

Me, too, she thought. They used to. Me, too.

And all the other creatures peered at Leon, each one stretching their necks or on their toes, blinking their yellow eyes. And it made him think that Cloud could be onto something, that they might be kind of cute.

Totally cute, Selphie thought. But think we're weird.

“We probably are to them. Ready?”

Yes, she thought, and he got on his knees. Her face came up to his chest. He closed his eyes and leaned forward to hug her.

She wasn’t warm or furry, like a monkey, but smooth like a balloon. He counted the seconds, waiting for her to grow or feel different, but nothing happened.

The bell rang a third time, distantly now. He didn't understand how, he didn't notice when, but the town, the starry, endless purple-blue sky and brown brick and gray stucco walls and gray cobblestone streets that turned blue depending on the shadows cast on them, returned to normal. But the creatures did not.

And he held her again, hugged her, kneeling and hugging her like a child, while she and all the other creatures writhed and twitched. A flood of feelings without words come through to him, in images that narrowed to an end, their friend with a cowboy hat smiling at her with an expression that Squall had never seen on him and a declaration that Squall did not understand and a bloom in her chest that everything was alright, that everyone would be alright and she would be so happy because she had been waiting so long, so uncharacteristically patiently to feel so complete, even if just for a moment. The edges of the image turned orange into tiny flames, wrinkled and curled until the image was just their friend’s face with a gentle smirk and that was gone.

And there were colors of warm reds and oranges and yellows and when he felt cold blue, he thought he felt his name. His office, his uniform, a stern look that didn't belong on him, his slight change, the constant slight changes, good changes at first but the distance between them stretched more and more over a green field and the feelings turned from green to pale yellow to when they were younger and fought and nearly died together. Somewhere, he felt her singing that stupid song that never ended, then humming it, then air around her breath and the feeling of an engine on tracks rocking them back and forth, hitching rhythmically under her toes, a memory of her favorite thing, being on a train.

At the very point, he saw Selphie as a child. They were all eight or seven or six or five and her mouth moved and she whispered, ‘But I thought we were friends, Squall.’

Leon found Sora sitting in the same alleyway after he had hurt Cloud, not crying this time, but with the same look, and he wondered when he had reached the beginning of another dead-end street.

Chapter Text

“What are you doing here?” Leon said.

“Leon?” The kid looked up, dazed. “Oh. I…I found Riku. He’s… my friend.”

“Is he alright? They sell potions if he's hurt.”

“He looks alright. I mean, he was back to his old self and everything, but… Donald chased him away. I wanted Riku to come with us, but for some stupid reason, that duck said Riku couldn't come. I think Riku got mad and walked off, I mean, I hope he did because I… well… he disappeared. Now I can't find him anywhere. Have you seen him?”

“You found your friend from your world here and you lost him?”

“Yeah, at first I thought that he wouldn't have a way out of here so I'd catch up to him, but that… I don't know why I thought that. He can't be using a Gummi Ship. Somebody’s going to notice that. Did you see an extra one just floating around?”

“No.”

“Then how did he land here? How did he leave? Why did that duck chase him away? It… doesn't make a lot of sense.”

“Not much here makes sense.”

“You were right about the Heartless. They're getting bigger and stronger and they're starting to chase me harder each time I land someplace new. The last one I fought was huge, I don't know how they can get any bigger.”

“They’re not here anymore.”

“Locking those keyholes really does make a difference, right?”

“Looks like it.”

“I'm still worried… that those Heartless'll get so strong that one day, I won't be able to break free from them. It feels like the sand’s running out. Like I'm supposed to…

“Supposed to what?”

“Fail.”

“You're taking potions with you, right?”

“But it feels like I'm… I'm supposed to be looking for something, and I don't know what that is. I thought Riku would know. Or I thought we had to find it together… or maybe I'm supposed to help him. Something doesn't feel right. The duck… Donald… why didn't he want Riku to come with us? When I need to help him… I need to help him find the light.”

“Sora,” Leon said. “I… I don't think you should fight them. I don't think it's right. Hurting them… it's…”

“What other choice do I have?” Sora looked too tired, for a kid. “I wish Riku wasn't so mad at me.”

Leon thought he recognized that look, but he wasn't sure.

“Leon,” Cloud’s voice called out from beyond the alley. His footsteps were heavy but quick. “Shoot. Leon.”

Sora gasped and held his hands as if pleading with Leon, even mouthing an 'e' for 'please'. It was normal for kids to avoid confrontation, but Leon couldn’t decide whether to stand still, alert Cloud, or if any of it mattered. The footsteps faded, and the kid filled his cheeks with air before running his hands through his hair. He stretched his arms above his head, yawned, and offered a closed-mouth smile.

Before either said anything, Leon nodded at the kid, stuck his hands in his pockets, and headed towards the dim light beneath a streetlight. The street opened up to an empty square. Lights felt colder. Shadows grew. Under one of three neon hotel signs, Leon listened for Cloud to call out again. He turned around, but the kid and the alley were gone.

“Leon.” Cloud ran from across the square. “You alright?”

Leon stared at a wall where the alley should have been. “Did the kid just come by here? I thought…”

“No, we lost him. You didn't have to run off. I had those things. Where'd you end up?”

“They cornered me, then disappeared.” Leon looked for anything to show up, even faintly, along the wall. He must have imagined it. “Did you hurt them?”

“No, left Yuffie and Cid to come find you. I looked everywhere. Where were you?”

“I'm here now.” A shiver tickled Leon’s inner ear, delightful and aquamarine. 

“Now what?” 

Purple plumes of smoke rolled from the middle of the square. A tall, thin woman with green-tinted skin walked from the smoke. If she had hair, her glossy black hat concealed every strand. Its two curves narrowed to points, resembling demon horns. Her black dress hung on her like a cloak. Clicking her golden staff against cobblestones, she leaned into it as a cane. She needed it, but her gait remained graceful. She looked up from the sunken part of the square and stared.

Leon walked down the stairs to meet her. “Who are you?” 

“I am many things,” she said. “What answer do you seek? What definition do you desire? Where along the curve do you wish to plunk me into?

“Can we start with your name?” Leon said.

“I am Maleficent. Dull expectations from one with such high potential. Tell me, do either of you search for powers that lurk in the dark?”

“Nope,” Cloud said.

“Then do not waste my time,” she said. “Move out of my way or you’ll rue the day that you and I crossed paths.”

“Are you here to help us or destroy us?” Leon said.

“Neither, you fool. What a simpleminded question with no true answer. What purpose would it serve to assist or destroy either of you?”

“We have sorceresses in my world. I hear they either help in situations or try to destroy the world.”

“You are not as naive as you look.” The sorceress angled her face to stare down at Leon, even if she was slightly shorter than him. “But do not dare utter such filthy lies. I could only ever dream that there are others like myself. Enough of this idle chatter. Move out of my way. I hear a new Keyblade Wielder is here, and I intend to make my presence known.”

“What do you know about the kid? About anything here?” Leon said.

“Are you concerned for him? The king has grand plans for him or so I’ve gleaned. He is a bit young to dapple in the darkness, but children are the easiest to mold. My Riku fell from the sky and it frightened him so. He wept for nights. They all do when they first arrive.”

“Riku, his friend, he's been traveling with you?”

“Yes, his so-called friend." She pursed her lips. "That child flippantly cast Riku aside with those imbeciles guiding him. Children can be so unnecessarily cruel. It's unfortunate that the king’s henchmen reached that wretched thing before I had. Those fools, he’ll fall into darkness without knowing and then it’ll be far too late. I’m molding Riku to use the darkness for power. Now I seek this child with the Keyblade.”

“You’re picking up kids for darkness,” Leon said.

“There’s nothing wrong with picking up lost kids,” Cloud said. “Darkness doesn't sound right though.”

“We’re not going to try to reunite them with their parents?” Leon said.

Cloud looked down. “Sometimes, you can't.”

“So what do you do, give them candy? Or use an unmarked van?”

“They like motorcycles enough," Cloud said. "There any motorcycles in this world?”

“What you’re talking about is definitely a crime.”

“Not where I’m from, it's not. How else are kids going to get by?”

“What are you imbeciles carrying on about?” Maleficent said. “The boy was simply lost, and I am helping him find his way. The darkness within him will guide him on his journey. He will become strong enough to defeat his enemies.”

“What enemies?” Leon said. “And what exactly is darkness?”

Carefully drawn, Maleficent's narrow eyes and pursed lips widened, cracking like clay under pressure, revealing a gleam of madness. “It’s power deep within your heart. Learn how to harness that power, to conquer it and this world and everything in it will belong to you. It’s the only way to defeat the king.”

Leon sighed. “We're not here to overthrow a king. We just want to go home.”

“The darkness allows for that. The yearning you have tugging at your heart to a familiar place will send you there, simply at the slightest relinquish of control to your darkness. But that is a pittance, a sliver, a tiny fraction of what it can do. I know a way that will provide unlimited knowledge that’s beyond these worlds. The method requires… unwilling souls pure of heart. However, none shall perish. Not directly. I only intend to destroy the occasional imbecile with a handsome face who attempts to foil my plans. Always playing the self-inflicted title of hero, idle with better else to do. What exactly do you two do? You aren’t princes, are you?”

“I’m not,” Leon said. “I’m pretty sure he’s not either.”

“A small reprieve, I suppose. I’d rather not waste my time with those pathetic fools.”

“What's so wrong about thinking you're a hero? Prince or not, they have to go out and follow their dreams,” Cloud said.

“Yes, that’s.” Maleficent looked down at Cloud. Her purple eyelids covered all but a sliver of her eyes, and her lip turned into a haughty sneer. “Moving. Truly.” 

Cloud crossed his arms. “What happens if I say we’re heroes?” 

“Nothing if you stay out of my way.” Maleficent looked between Cloud and Leon slowly. “I do suppose your hearts are far too scarred to be from princes. Though… perhaps with a little more push, they could be that of a princess's?”

“We're not princesses,” Cloud said. “That's weird.”

“Suit yourself. Hearts must endure much to become pure. And darkness is truly the way. Drat, you bumbling fools, I've wasted my time here. Can't you see? I must save us all from that despot.”

“We're looking for a way home,” Leon said. “Can you help?”

“Listen to me carefully,” Maleficent said. “You feel it, don’t you? The king's power? I will overcome it with my own. You mustn’t believe everything you see or hear. Darkness is unsightly but it shall set us free. Give in to it and see.”

“Forget darkness. Can you tell us how to leave?” Leon said. 

“What incentive do I have? Will you agree to give in to your darkness?” Maleficent said.

“Is everyone’s heart filled with darkness?” 

“Everyone has the propensity to allow the darkness in their hearts to surface.”

“What about kids?”

“Especially children. The question for them or anyone really is, do you let it eat every fiber of your being or do you use it as a tool to grasp what you desire?”

“Is there going to be a battle against darkness?”

“No, you fool, this is about who commands it. And I shall do so indeed. I’ve no time to explain rudimentary concepts to the likes of you. It's something you must discover yourself.” Purple smoke rolled into the middle of the square, covering them. “Your names. Relinquish them. Perhaps, Hades will convince you. I will send word to him.”

“Leon.” He squinted to see where she would go.

“Cloud.” Cloud batted away at the smoke.

 The smoke cleared, and she was gone.

"Where did she go?” Leon scanned the square. “She was trying to sell us darkness to overthrow a king, but there’s no government. No people. We walked into a house, and it's ours."

“Sometimes shoot don't make sense. But you do what feels right.” Cloud started to climb the stairs out of the sunken level. “Let’s go find Yuffie and Cid.”

Leon followed. “You should've stayed with them.” 

“You always run off to do something stupid?”

“No.”

Light poured from display windows of stores with locked front doors. A red sign spelling ‘Suits and Dresses’ in yellow letters hung high above one of the storefronts under a large cutout of a man's head, his face featuring a permanent toothy grin and unblinking eyes. A green tophat moved over it, up and down, up and down, as Leon passed. How many times did that hat move in nine years? Cloud held open an arched wooden door for Leon, leading them into the warmer colors of the first square.

Holding the Gunblade over his shoulder, Cid stood next to Yuffie in the middle of the square.  “You two, you crazy sons of guns. Just what were you thinking? You, manhandling that thing and having them all chase you down. And you, taking off after him.”

“I created a diversion,” Leon said.

Yuffie put her hands on her hips. “Diversion? Diversion? Is your brain as small as your heart? You left your weapon with Cid. Forgot that minor detail there, bucko.”

“Are you hurt?” Leon looked them over. 

“Why did I even bother? Are you hurt, Le-on? Huh?” Yuffie said.

“No.”

“So much for following the stupid key kid. We totally lost him,” she said.

“Me and Leon met the witch,” Cloud said. “She told us to find darkness. Didn't make any sense.”

“Great, we weren’t looking for a witch.” Yuffie said. “What happened to the monkey?”

“It disappeared with the rest of them,” Leon said. “That kid must have closed the keyhole. I guess that's real.”

“The monkey disappeared, too? Didn’t you know it?” she said.

“No,” Leon said. “I don't know any monkeys.”

“But you called it Selphie,” she said. “It tried to hold your hand. It played word games with us. Cloud even played along and-”

“Selphie?” Leon said.

“The heck you yammering on about, Yuffie?” Cid said. “No Heartless monkey played games with us.”

“Yes, it did, you old geezer.” She rolled her eyes. “Your memory’s been shot lately, too.”

“Don't remember playing games with a monkey.” Cloud said, watching Yuffie.

“What? You, too? What is going on? How come none of you remember this? It happened like a minute ago,” she said.

“Maybe we aren't getting enough sleep,” Cloud said.

Yuffie stomped and pointed to herself. “You think I’m going nuts? Oh no. I am not the crazy one here with you three around. My memories are ninja awesome sharp. You guys have to believe me. Something weird is happening. It has to be that monkey. Leon, you believe me, right?”

“I know a Selphie,” Leon said. “She… works for me. Do you think she was the monkey?”

“Well, she tried to hug you when you called her that,” Yuffie said.

“You remind me of her,” Leon said. “Or she reminds me of you. If a shell goes off, she’d take cover with a smile. She likes trains. Did I think she was the monkey?”

“I think so,” she said.

“They didn't have mouths but they thought…” Squall said, “in colors. Do you think she was the monkey?”

“Maybe it wasn't her,” she said, no longer looking at him. “Hey, whatever happened to stealing the key kid's ship?”

Cid cradled the Gunblade, holding it up to Leon. “Here, thanks for lending me this. Work of art, that thing. Not sure what good the barrel does, but it's mighty pretty. Sturdy, too.”

Leon took his sword back by the handle and looked for marks on the blade. 

“Step right up. Gather round, oh ye gentlemen.” Yuffie sashayed to the large set of locked doors, waving to the others to follow. She fanned warped hairpins out in her hands. “Psych, you guys are so not gentlemen. Watch the best ninja warrior perform her greatest feat yet. Pick a pin, pick a pin, pick a pick a pin pin.”

“What're you doing, Yuffie?” Cid said. All three men carefully stepped closer to the door.

“You big party poopers. Fine. This is where that key kid and animals were hanging around before they disappeared.” Sticking her tongue out, she poked her pins into a small keyhole. “If I open this, am I a Key Master, too? Wouldn’t I be more like a lock master? I want to be the Lock Monster Master. Try saying that one three times fast.”

Cloud jiggled the handle on the adjacent door and pushed it open. “It’s unlocked.”

“Dang gone thing wasn’t even locked to begin with,” Cid said.

“It had been,” Leon said.

“I unlocked it with my charms.” She tucked her hairpins into her shorts and scrambled up. “Wait up, Cloud.”

Cloud went behind the door, which was twice as tall as he was, and held it open. Beaming rectangular lights dangled from an angled, fifty-foot ceiling, more open than this night’s sky. A shiny, red spaceship’s nose pointed toward a clear, circular window, framing scattered stars beyond it. The spaceship, small enough to fit four to six people, resembled a toy more than a typical spacecraft. Its compact design and childish colors made it seem more suited for a joyride than for interstellar travel. Small rodents scurried around it, chirping and squeaking.

Cid whistled, his toothpick falling from his mouth. “Holy crap, what’s a place like that doing here? Don't that look a lot like a car with no tires? Them wings look mighty funny.”

“Hey guys, what are you standing out here for?” The kid stood behind them, smiling again, looking at Leon. “Isn't the Gummi Ship awesome?”

“Shoot, it’s him.” Yuffie reached in and yanked the door shut with a thud. Cloud was still inside. Pressing her back against the door, she grinned victoriously even though she played with her hands behind her.

“I was going in there,” the kid said. “I'm heading off soon, you know, saving worlds, fighting bad guys.”

“What about the duck and dog?” Leon said. “Are you getting along?”

“I was going to wait for them.” Sora looked down. “Hey, have you guys seen Riku and Kairi? They’re my friends.”

“The witch…” Leon had forgotten what he was going to tell the kid. “She said…”

Yuffie frowned. “What are you in a hurry for, oh great chosen one? You better check your ship for mice. Those things are bad news. They’ll chew up your wires. Do maintenance or something, right, Cid?”

“Oh yeah?” The kid looked between Leon and Cid.

Cid scratched his stubble. “Yeah, that part you gave me. Looks to me like we can make, uh, darn good use of it on your ship. Upgrading the navigation system, you know?”

“Navigation system? Goofy and Donald never said anything about that.”

“You're flying around without knowing nothing about no navigation system? You pinheads, space ain't no gosh darn playground.”

“There’s a lot we don’t know,” the kid said. “So what. We have to use the gummi ship to go to other worlds. We don’t have a choice.”

“Whoa, easy.” Cid rubbed the back of his head. “You know what, kid, this one'll be on the house. Keep giving me all those parts you find just lying around, and I can upgrade that thing some more, got it?”

“Yeah sure, Cid. Thanks,” the kid said. 

“Hey, I’ve got an idea,” Yuffie said. “Me and Leon’s got to fix away, fixing that old house and stuff. Leon’s a fix-it man alright, but why don’t you and Cid go pick out some jewelry or something? Something on the house. Old man, why don’t you chat it up with Sora about his key and that ship and how the heck he turns that darn thing on, huh?”

“Really?” the kid said.

“You’re something else, ninja girl,” Cid said. “Come on, kid. Let’s go pick out a freaking bracelet or something.”

“Welp, me and Leon going off and doing our very own thing. See you around, you awesome Keyblade Master you. Go kick heartless butt.” 

“Woohoo,” Sora said, sticking a fist up. He hopped next to Cid, who scowled and trudged away. 

As soon as the kid and Cid entered the jewelry store across the street, Yuffie turned to Leon. “We're stealing that rocket.”

“No, we’re not,” Leon said. 

“Come on," Yuffie said. "We got to figure out how to distract that kid and get him out of our way. I’ll steal one of their weapons. Not that key. Something else from one of those animals. I’ll hide it someplace good. Give them a double shot of distract. Distract squared. The distracted distracted.”

“That’s a horrible plan. What if you get caught?”

“The animal will pout. Then we’ll give them and the key kid the finger on the rocket, from space. Besides, I won't get caught. This is an awesome plan.”

“What about Cloud?”

“He’ll keep an eye on the rocket for us. We’ll only be a minute. Let’s take a shortcut through the mansion. It’s faster.”

“Mansion?”

Yuffie skipped every other step up a flight of stairs. “Don’t tell me you haven't seen the mansion. I guess it’s a couple big fancy rooms.” 

“What’s in there?” Leon climbed the same stairs, placing a hand on the flat stone edging. 

“There's like the most amazing thing in that mansion. It’ll totally put you in a better mood. Like a gazillion percent guarantee.” She dashed ahead, looking back with a teasing grin as she waited for Leon to catch up. “It'll be a surprise. Come on. Get ready to be dazzled, Squall. They're so freaking cute.”

“I don’t like surprises,” Leon said, as they walked through an arched tunnel together. 

Yuffie’s sporadic footsteps quickened his. Blended buildings obstructed humming streetlights as they entered a narrower alley. She led them to a dead-end, or so Leon thought. He had expected to run into a thin, wooden wall made of planks but that was gone. Instead, a plain wooden door was set within the stone wall of another dead-end. Yuffie, already ahead, rubbed her hands together before opening the door. Leon tried to look in, over her head, while he followed her into a room.

The style inside was the opposite of the unassuming door. Each ornately carved wooden piece with slender legs was staged exactly where and how it belonged. A white Persian cat darted under an armchair, its fluffy tail peeking out. Its eyes glowed, like two silver marbles, reflecting light. Framed canvases adorned the walls, while rich velvet upholstery covered the furniture for show rather than practical use. A red couch anchored the room embellished by wainscoting and tiered molding. Everything seemed tall, narrow, and vertical, even the room itself.

“Have you been bothering that cat?” Leon said, validated that he kept his expectations low. Yuffie wiggled her fingers at the cat, her attention clearly not on stealing any spaceship. He wasn’t going to remind her.

Yuffie pointed to a door on the other side of the room. “Hold your horses. That way’s the shortcut. And don’t knock the cat. It’s fluffy, even when it’s hissing.”

They stepped through a swinging door that led into a second room. This room held a piano, a large string instrument standing upright, and an orange couch. And a hoard of chubby Dalmatian puppies tumbling toward them, their paws scrambling and tails wagging. Some got too excited to run, their fronts lowered and rears up. Two adult Dalmatians trotted over on their long, thin legs stepping between their puppies and approached first, sniffing Yuffie and Leon. 

“Look, Squall, oh my gosh, oh my gosh. They are so cute. And there’s so many now. Look at that one. Come here, little guy.” Yuffie scooped up a puppy and tucked it into the crook of her arm like it was a baby.

After nine years, not even a monster would use dogs to get his guard down. There’d be no reason to. Leon knelt next to the adult Dalmatians and put his weapon down. He patted one of their heads and then scratched the other. Each bopped their wet noses against his hands and wagged their tails. “How did you get here?”

A swarm of Dalmatian puppies surrounded them, tails wagging as they yipped and pressed against one another. Some nudged at Leon and Yuffie, their small bodies shoving each other in a quest for attention. One adventurous puppy climbed onto Leon's lap, its tiny tongue darting out to lick his gloved hand, while others nosed at Yuffie's legs. Amid the commotion, one puppy stumbled under the puppy pile, its body wriggling as it tried to break free. He gently scooped it up, saving it from the tangle of its brothers and sisters. Against the backdrop of elegant furnishings, the room overflowed with the clamor of puppies vying for affection.

“Just when I thought there was nothing good here, we end up finding these guys. Look, Leon, look how many come up to you when you get close to the ground. Their little tails are going crazy. They're so soft. You wouldn’t think so with their short hair, but they are. This has got to be a sign. There’s always bound to be something good anywhere you end up, right?” 

“Maybe.”

“It was getting so crazy back home. So many monsters and so many fights. Maybe we were supposed to end up someplace where all we can do is pet puppies and run around in circles all day long.”

“Supposed to? We’ve had peace for years. There’s always work for mercenaries, but it’s not what it was like before. Do you like being here better than your world?”

“No, this place sucks. But things got all crazy in our world again. And now we got sucked into this crazy place. Seems we’re always squashing the crazy down. I don’t know when it’ll stop,” Yuffie said. “Wait, you’re a mercenary?”

“I guess so.”

“Did you know Cloud used to be a mercenary?”

“Why are you telling me?”

“I just thought it was funny.” Yuffie said. “All the things you two have in common, Le-on.”

“Whatever.”

“I’m just teasing you. What’s so bad about you and Cloud being kind of alike anyway? You’re bound to meet people who are more like you than not once in a blue moon. You don’t have to be such a grouch because I pointed it out.”

“I’m not like him.”

“Oh yeah? Name one way you're not.”

“No.”

“You know, he wouldn’t want to name anything either.”

Leon petted the two soft puppies in his lap. One puppy nipped at the other’s ear, prompting a soft growl. The first perked, his ears up, and seemed to enjoy the attention but whimpered in response. Most of the other puppies had lost some of their zeal. Some drifted off to sleep, while others settled nearby, watching him with sleepy eyes, still waiting for affection. One puppy yawned, its tiny mouth stretching wide. Occasional whines escaped as they snuggled against one another. Two adult Dalmatians sat on opposite sides of the room, each tending to a few puppies. The other puppies remained gathered around Leon and Yuffie, finding comfort.

“I used to be afraid when I was younger. Probably more than he was,” Leon said.

“Oh yeah? Of what?”

“I don’t know. A lot. Of people, even. It's good that you didn't know me then.”

“I’m pretty sure that Cloud’s scared of people, Squall.”

“He’s not,” Squall said. “I used to be afraid of dying. Really afraid.”

“You're not afraid to die?”

“Not really. Not like I was.”

“Cloud doesn't talk to me about dying, but sometimes he goes barreling sword first into a fight and doesn't seem to worry like he should be about getting hurt.”

“I’m more strategic than that.”

“What was so strategic about what you did today? Huh? Running off with some squirming creature that might eat your heart like a baby Chocobo tucked under your arm. That monkey was flailing around. It wasn't happy, Squall. They all took off after you and Cloud fake swore just as much as Cid does and didn't know what to do for a second. Do you know how hard it is to surprise him in a fight? First the kid, now you.”

“We won, didn't we?”

“No thanks to you,” Yuffie said.

As Leon continued to pet the puppies, the warmth felt distant, as if he were watching from the wrong side of a glass wall. He breathed in deeply and held it, trying to relax, but the feeling wouldn’t leave. Yuffie shifted her weight, tapping her toe. Before he could respond, she reached down, scooped two puppies up and plopped them onto his lap.

“What's this for?” Leon asked, nuzzling under one of the puppies' ears.

“I’m going to turn you into a feely puddle of happy if it's the last thing I do. Admit it, you liked this surprise.”

“This was a nice surprise.”

“Ha. See? Told you so. Look at you. You finally gave me a real smile.”

“I smile all the time.”

“They're all fake, Squall. Truth be told, you look kind of creepy when you do that. Guess you're different from Cloud about that.”

“Does Cloud know about this place?”

Yuffie blinked, taken aback, then smirked. “I’m not bringing him here. He’s weird about animals.”

“He doesn't like puppies? Why are you comparing me to him?”

“He would like them, but he doesn't get along with anybody’s pets. They all want to scratch the heck out of him and get away. I think they smell how nervous he gets.”

“Nervous? Him? What about Cid? Does he like puppies?”

“Well, Cid... He gets kind of mean when he gets drunk. Maybe we hold off telling him about the puppies. We can tell him when they get a little older.”

“It’ll be our secret then?”

“It's not really a secret. The key kid’s got to be the one collecting them and bringing them back. I guess he's not so bad after all.” Yuffie stood up. “Shoot, we got to steal that kid’s spaceship.”

“We can't do that. We need another way off this world.”

“No way. He really got to you, didn't he? He hurt Cloud. He's slicing through all those heart eaters, and he doesn't listen to anyone, nor even Cid. Cid's scary looking to a kid. He listens to Aerith because she's always telling him that he's important. Look, we don't need to feel bad about taking our ticket off this place from him.”

“He doesn't know better. He's just lost.”

“That's no excuse. Besides, you don't need an excuse to steal shoot, you need to survive.”

“We don't need it to survive.”

“You don't think we need his spaceship to survive? Look around. How the heck are we going to get home? Do you want to be here for nine more years? I… I remember when we first met. Do you?”

“Yeah, I showed you the hotel rooms. I told you about my sleep.”

“Before that.”

“There was no before, right?”

Yuffie looked down, playing with the ends of her hair hanging near her chin. She tucked a strand behind her ear, but it fell back to the same spot. She picked up two puppies, one in each hand, and placed them on his lap. They tumbled off. They all did.

“We have to go back,” Yuffie said. “Me, Cid, Cloud... we can't stay here as long as you have. I… I'm going to find a way out for you, too, Squall. I promise.”

“You shouldn't make promises you'll regret later.”

“I'm not lying. I'm going to find a way for you no matter what.”

“Thanks, but I won't hold you to it.” Leon picked up his weapon and stood up. “Let's go find Cloud. We left him too long. You probably locked him in with the spaceship.”

Yuffie straightened. “I bet Cloud’s somewhere near those goofy animals. I can still nab a weapon from them.”

As they reached the white front doors inset with arched, etched glass, Yuffie looked back at the two Dalmatian dogs, still on opposite sides of the room, and all the sleeping puppies. “Do dog couples fight? What do you think they’re fighting about? Quit fighting, you two. I’ll come back, little guys.”

They exited through the doors. Outside, detailed trim and glass popped against gray stucco, reminding Leon of an older era in his world. Not the initial sensation of déjà vu, but the tail end with thoughts slipping away stuck with him again. Along the streets and homes devoid of people, he had walked this way countless times, but the doors had been locked. Already, he missed the puppies’ warmth.

In this square, the witch had filled the sunken inner part with thick purple smoke, adding substance to the air, and the world remained unchanged, brown brick, gray stucco, and blue-gray cobblestone. Yuffie fiddled with her boomerang, watching their surroundings.

When they approached the third square, Aerith stood beside Cloud, who was leaning against a wall and staring into the distance. Neither spoke. Yuffie gripped her boomerang and stared at Aerith. Seeing her didn’t elicit anger, fear, or even annoyance in Leon. They should work with her, figure out what had happened and… what? He didn’t need to get involved, he shouldn’t, but… 

“Did you hear the bells?” Aerith said, smiling at Leon. “Every day, it won’t ring at three o’clock. Now it rang. It must be three o’clock.”

Leon pulled his Gunblade up and set it aside, then leaned against the wall next to Cloud and crossed his arms. Just like him. “They rang when the kid locked the keyhole. That doesn’t mean it's three o'clock.”

“The cuckoo clock only rings at seven o’clock. Did you set the cuckoo clock to seven, Leon?”

“No, it’s broken.”

“Really?” Aerith said, tilting her head. “I have to see for myself. Cloud, do you want to watch the cuckoo clock with me?”

“No, he doesn’t,” Yuffie said. “Cloud, let's steal that rocket.”

“We’re not stealing a spaceship,” Leon said.

“It’s too late,” Aerith said. “Sora left already.” 

“Who asked you?” Yuffie said. “You're not part of this conversation, dolly.”

“Yuffie,” Cloud said, looking between them. “What are you doing?”

“It’s alright, Cloud,” Aerith said, smiling. “I’ll go.”

“You don’t have to,” he said.

“I know."

As she walked away holding her hands together with her head down, a floral scent faded. She moved like she was floating, her steps more like pulses. Yuffie watched Aerith leave, huffing and pacing in front of Cloud and Leon.

Yuffie stood with fists at her sides. “It’s not her, Cloud. She’s not Aerith.”

Cloud stared off, lost in thought.

“She tried to tell me that she’s from the Lifestream, that she’s here to help, but,” Yuffie said. “She said you knew things…that you didn’t tell me…I…”

“She told you that?” Cloud said, looking at the ground now. “I met Aerith, after she… In the Lifestream. It was more like a dream, but she was there.”

“You did? Was she alright? Is there… could this Aerith be from the Lifestream, too? Like the one you met?”

“Might’ve all been in my head. I know she’s… not Aerith. So don’t mind what she says. Alright?”

“She didn’t tell you why she keeps saying you’re a hero, did she?”

Cloud finally looked at Yuffie. “Hero?” 

“She kept bothering me about being a hero,” said Leon. “When you showed up, she said that I didn’t have to worry anymore.”

“Then she said there’d be a…fierce battle against darkness. I heard her, Cloud. I heard her say that’s what the hero was supposed to do,” Yuffie said.

Cloud looked away again.

“What did she talk to you about if she didn't ask you to be a hero?” Yuffie said.

“Nothing much. I just like hearing her voice again,” he said.

Chapter Text

If a day didn’t end when Leon fell asleep, when did it exactly? While cleaning his Gunblade, he wondered if it would be normal to visit the puppies again. Aimlessly, he had ended up visiting them three times that day. Or had it been longer? It didn't matter to them. They wagged their tails and sniffed him like they first met, every single time. And there were more now. Fifty, sixty, seventy of them. He wouldn’t deny that playing with them made him feel a little lighter.

Leon raised his Gunblade, the weight of it, heavy and impractical, but a constant in his hand. Why had he chosen to master this weapon? Some kid, a grade older, had swung one around, bragging about how hard it was to wield. And Leon just had to do it, too. He didn’t remember the other kid’s name, but he was better than that now. They weren’t kids anymore. A cuckoo clock went off, chiming for the first time in the new house. It wasn’t seven o’clock. Was it? It didn’t matter, did it? Cid had dismantled the clock once, spilling its gears, nuts, and bolts onto the floor. He'd put every piece back together and cleaned it so that even the yellow wooden beak shined, but the hands still hadn't moved.

The handle of the front door turned, and Leon wondered if Yuffie would want to visit the puppies, too. But Cloud was the one who pushed the door halfway open to the shared living area. Without entering the room, the guy surveyed the furniture against blue vertically-striped wallpaper in the dingy light. An orange couch that Yuffie stole from the Dalmatians’ house, two green wingback chairs from the hotel that she roped Leon and Cloud to move separately, and a yellow television stand beneath the cuckoo clock from the hotel, too. The room was a lost and found bin, items unclaimed and jumbled, no one knew where they belonged. Unless they were sleeping in a room upstairs, Cloud, Yuffie and Cid stayed in this main area. But Leon considered it a passthrough.

“Yuffie around?” Cloud said, his hand still on the doorknob.

“I haven’t seen her,” Leon said.

“You busy?”

“Did something happen?”

“Better if I showed you.”

“I don’t have anything better to do.”

“Bring your weapon.” Cloud hung back, letting the door go. Leon caught it before it shut.

Without warning, the guy ran off toward the third square. Leon followed him, at his own pace, his footsteps echoing in yet another passageway. Cloud's steps were louder than his. Out of the way, the large sword bounced on his back, likely held upright by a powerful magnet. Leon looked at his own sword, belonging only in his hands. Whatever. The street ended at the intersection, and Cloud stopped under a streetlight, waiting for him. Buzzing from the streetlights stopped, releasing his ears. He hadn’t noticed until it was gone. Funny, how that worked. The sound stayed a tangible memory until silence seeped in. The streetlight above Cloud blinked with a metallic ping, turning him into a shadow for a second.

Leon frowned. “Should I be worried?”

Cloud shrugged, and they walked around the last bend before the square. Near a cinderblock wall, a black, human-sized oval with purple swirls floated a foot off the ground. Leon couldn't place where he recognized it from. From the side, the oval seemed two dimensional as most of it vanished. Black wisps fluttered like inky flames on both sides of an infinitely thin line.

“Damn them into the hell,” said a voice from the swirling darkness. “Damn, hell. Sss-Damn. Gahhh.”

“See that?” Cloud nodded at the swirl.

“A floating black hole is swearing at us,” Leon said. “Right?”

“Yup,” Cloud said. “Guess we ought to go back and get the others. Cid won’t believe it until he sees it.”

“Cid.” Leon looked at Cloud. “Is he like Aeirth?”

“The heck you mean by that?”

“Nothing,” Leon said. “It's just…”

“Good to see you.” A new voice slithered from the swirling darkness, pulsing at each word. “Cloud.”

“Can’t be,” Cloud said. 

“Tell me, Cloud, when you dream, am I the one who jolts you awake with fear? Wake up, Cloud. Your destruction, this world’s annihilation is inevitable. You will all rot.”

Cloud ran straight at the dark swirl. 

“What are you-?” Leon said, as the guy plunged into the swirling oval. Darkness splashed out, breaking the surface like water, and engulfed him. Leon looked on the other side, where Cloud should have landed. He was gone, but he had to be somewhere. Where the hell did he go? The entire oval flickered. Was he not coming back? Why did Cloud drag him here if he was just going to do something so stupid and leave? 

No one was around. The square seemed larger than before.

“Cloud? Where are you? Yuffie? Cid? Aerith? This guy, I… we found darkness.” The word bounced against the stone walls, the ‘ness’ stretched. He stared into the swirl, feeling ridiculous as he cupped his hands to his mouth. “It’s not stable.”

Very little had made him feel more alone than talking to a black void. How could their absence have such a presence?

The oval flickered again. Was it calling to him? Had it called Cloud first? Leon didn't think the guy was avoiding him anymore. They acknowledged each other now, nodding in passing, but that didn’t mean he owed it to the guy to follow him. Still, Leon stepped closer, his hand reaching, unsure whether to touch the oval. Did it lead to another world? He touched one of the purple swirls, and his finger left a dot that grew into a ripple, but he didn't feel anything. At least it didn't hurt.

Leon stepped back. What was he doing?

Where was Cloud? Or Yuffie? Or anyone? What would she say if Leon came back without him? She would demand an explanation. What would he tell her? 

The oval flickered again, pulsing with his heartbeat. Or was his heart following it? How could he tell? Was it compressing? Was space and time compressing? Was he? Deja vu. He was compressing, alone again. The dark oval kept flickering. He had to stop this, this thinking and make a choice. But it was never a choice, just what needed to be done.

Breathing deeply, Leon readied his Gunblade, his arm muscles moving from memory, and walked into the dark.

A golden field of brambles, bushes, and woody, gnarled vines, broken and without new growth, had grown feral around rows of rounded tops of fence posts. A smell coming from a barn was soured, nauseating, sweet. Was it death? Thousands of dead grapes, sitting in a drum as a slurry, flies swarming like angry bees. His boots squished several on his next step. Were they his? Was that him?

When Leon could see again, he remembered that he'd gone through a corridor, through darkness. One moment, he was in the town-world walking through a dark oval, the next, in a dark blue cave. Stalagmites and stalactites surrounded him, pointing in odd angles. Only their shadows moved under icy blue flames burning on torches that lined curved walls. The oval was gone, but the smell remained, now cleaner, simpler. Sour with a touch of fruit. A new world? How? Tap, tap, tap. He lowered his Gunblade. 

“Cloud?” Leon said.

The tapping faded, as if it had only ever been an echo. He moved towards it, and flames ignited in torches ahead, uncovering the mouth of a tunnel, beckoning to him. With no other way to go, he drifted inside, flames going out behind him.

In a spotlight from the torches, he flowed through the tunnel. Lights on, off. On, off. On, off. He was moving, but the space around him was moving in the opposite direction. He was standing still without standing or being still. Up a down escalator. A curve in the tunnel startled him from his stupor. Crouching, he peered around the bend. Torches lit a cavern crowded with a forest of merged calcified stones, boulders, and alcoves of an empty catacomb carved into the walls. Between two of the columns, Leon spotted blond spikes of hair.

He ran. “Cloud.” 

And Cloud was in front of him, eyes glowing. Before he could register danger, Leon pulled his weapon, an extension of his arm, up. Its weight, still constant. The blade was coming in too fast. He twisted to get out of its path. Metal hit metal with a clang, and his hilt vibrated. He had raised it to block. Just in time.

“Are you looking for a fight?” Leon said, regretting his decision to come. That didn’t stop the adrenaline from surging, injecting him with life. Had this been any other situation, he would have pulled out his calendar to schedule a time to fight.

“You were moving. I didn’t mean… Sorry,” Cloud said, falling away. He tucked his sword behind his back. “Hear a voice before coming down here?”

“The one cursing or the one talking about world annihilation?” 

“Annihilation. You heard that.”

“Yeah.”

Cloud stared at the walls. “You sure?”

“Yes. I'm sure,” Leon said. “Why?”

“Need to tell Yuffie and Cid.” 

“There’s no way back. That thing you ran though is gone.”

“What do you mean?” Cloud looked at Leon, no longer just talking to himself, before he looked around the cave again. He sank onto one of the rocks, staring at the ground, lost in thought again. “There's got to be a way back.”

Leon stood over Cloud, giving him time to gather his thoughts. He followed the guy here, he wasn't expected to give him a pep talk, was he? After Cloud stared at the ground for a while, Leon said. “Voices from black holes. What are we dealing with? A sorceress?”

“Sorceress? No, it’s Sephiroth. He… Keeps coming back to life to destroy the world.”

“Are you sure he’s not a cross-dressing sorceress? They do that sometimes.”

“What?” The guy finally looked up at Leon. “Nope. No, he’s not.”

“Let's take a look around,” Leon said. “Maybe the hole's hiding.”

Cloud stood and brushed off his pants.

“Poseidon? Is that you? Please tell me that you and Zeus are finally speaking to each other about my predicament,” said a familiar voice. A hulking, but unmuscular, blue-gray man strolled into the cave. His yellow eyes bulged. His lips were dark, but his pointy teeth matched his skin color. “That’s just great, useless mortals. But here you are, looking oh so fabulous.”

Cloud and Leon exchanged identical, unimpressed looks.

"Who are you?” Leon said.

“How do you not know who I am? Dear, have I been gone that long? I am the King of the Helllllll. Hell. Hell. Why do I keep saying hell? You, mortal with the crazy hair, do me a favor and say the word ‘under’ and then the word ‘world’ but one after another, alright?”

“Underworld,” Cloud said.

“Perfect.” The blue man held Cloud's hand with both of his. “I am king of that. Can you say that back to me, handsome?”

“King of the Underworld.”

“Communication, it’s a beautiful thing, really. Do you know how incredible it feels to finally hear what I mean? Better than getting masses to grovel. Mwah.” The blue man kissed his fingers and flung them upward. “Sheer satisfaction.”

“You sound like a megalomaniac,” Leon said.

“Oh, this one’s sassy. Watch out or I’ll damn… seriously, Zeus really didn’t need to put me in this trap, did he? Olympus on a rock, I don’t deserve this, really. Word games again. Sassy mortal, put an ‘s’ in front of ‘might’ and what do you get?”

Leon crossed his arms.

“Smite,” Cloud said.

Blue flames danced atop of the man’s head and grew. “Oh, are you sassy, too? Or is that one ignoring me? Funny, no one ignores me.” 

“No,” Cloud said. “I got it right, didn’t I?”

“Oh that wasn’t a dig at you, hon. It’s that one that’s rather rude. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“I don’t do word games,” Leon said.

“You might want to reconsider. That kind of thing might add a couple years to your life. You know the type, right? Puzzles. Mind games. That's the stuff. Really. You should listen. I would know.” The blue man held out his hand. “Handshake. Hello, what’s your name, sweetheart?"

“Not sweetheart. It's Leon… Leonhart. I don’t do handshakes.”

“It would be oh so very unwise of you, Leon Leonhart, to refuse such a request from someone like little, old me.” The flames on the man’s head flickered with flecks of orange.

“Whate-“

Cloud elbowed Leon. It hurt, but Leon refused to rub his arm. Instead, he glared with as much contempt as he could muster. Usually, whoever was on the receiving end would get their act together immediately with better posture, even. Now, Cloud just looked at Hades. Next time, he’d leave the guy alone. Less pain, less trouble.

“Military man, stealthy, maybe? Is your name even Leon?” the blue man said.

“How did you know I was in the military?” Leon said.

“Please, live as long as I have and meet as many mortal souls as I have, you learn a thing or two. Hmm, if I had to guess, I’d say, above average strength, above average skills. Too arrogant for how strong you are, if I’m being honest, am I right? Still, you’ll get the job done in a pinch. And you…”

“Cloud.”

“I don’t need to know your name. Your sword is unusually.” With his chin in his hand, the blue man walked around Cloud. “Large. Can you actually handle it?” 

“Yup.”

“Of course you can.” The man held out his hand. “Give it a good shake. Go on. I won’t bite. Not hard, anyway.”

Cloud stared at the man’s hand before eventually grabbing it.

“Are you human?” the man said. “You have the strength that rivals a demi-god.”

“I’m human.”

“You aren’t sure. Aren’t we all unsure about who we really are? Really. I have an idea. You should listen to it since all my ideas are brilliant, boys.”

“Yeah, but what’s your name?” Leon said.

“Mine?” The blue man's yellow eyes twinkled too gleefully. “Mortals far and wide steer clear from whispering my name into the dark for fear that they’ll catch my attention. Do you really want to know my name?”

Leon looked away, unwilling to give the attention he wanted. “You still sound like a megalomaniac.”

“Help me out, Spiky. Mad-libs time. I am the King of the.” The man pointed at Cloud like his fingers were a gun.

“Underworld,” Cloud said.

“And the Lord of the dead, baby. Lord, what Lord? I am a god.”

“The dead?” Cloud and Leon said, staring at the god.

“That’s what gets people. Forget megalomaniac. I’m the one in charge. The aftermath of absolute power powering absolutely, I suppose. Still want to know my name, Leon Leonhart?”

“I’m not afraid of ghosts.” Leon didn’t add that he wasn’t afraid of gods either.

“Oh, you’re a terrible liar. Most mortals these days are more worried of becoming ghosts, you see. But death in it of itself is not in my wheelhouse. I have another god carrying out such a thankless task. What's important is that I own a realm. Full of dead people. And you will eventually be in my realm. Impressive, isn't it? Both of you must have hit your heads pretty hard to not know this simple fact.”

“Hades?” a woman’s voice from outside of the cave echoed in.

“My name,” Hades said. “Alas, twas never a word so sweet tumbling out of my lover’s mouth.”

“What?” Leon said.

“My wife,” said Hades. “She likes it when I talk dirty to her. Quick, follow my lead and I will grant you great wealth and promise to look the other way should you try to cheat death but just once.”

“Wife?” Leon said. “But you were hitting on him.”

“Have you been living under a rock? How do you not know about us gods? Or are you surprised since my reputation suggests that my behavior pales in comparison to that of my brother’s?”

“Does your wife know you hit on men like that?”

“My, my, mortals nowadays are so quick to judge fleeting feelings quite a bit in this ungodly place. When in Rome, I suppose they say. But no matter what they say, I’m a happily married god. The luckiest in the realms. Be cool, she’s coming over. Remember that second word? Fear a god’s wrath.” Hades smoothed the flame on his head as if it were hair. “But fear his wife’s a whole lot more.” 

“Hades.” Her clear voice curled like vines into every alcove. A green woman wearing a white sheet draped over her shoulder strided into the light from all the blue flames. Her breasts were bare, but nothing about her was obscene as she embodied the essence of art. Leon stared at her, she was beautiful. Nothing more. Nothing less. “I have been looking for you.”

“Persephone, dear, you’ve come for me. Shall we leave on a golden chariot or one with everlasting flames? Perhaps both? Have you pulled out all the stops for me with all the bells and whistles?”

“Why are you in such a hideous disguise? Mortals, and men at that.” With a soft clap, her sheet covered her chest, flowing against her body like a well-formed dress.

“Do you think I look hideous? I will damn…” Hades sighed. “Persephone, dear, please let us leave.”

Persephone looked away. “Do you need my help to escape, dear husband?”

“Persephone, Kore, the love of my eternal life, I do,” Hades said. “I do need your help. So for all of Olympus above, let’s make haste.”

Her expression softened. “I… I will do what I can. Eris has taken over the mortal realm due to your absence, and we mustn’t let that go on much longer.”

“Eris? What does that busybody have to do with the hell?”

“Hell? Do you mean Tartarus? Busybody?” She stared at Hades, her stillness demanding. “Have you been bewitched, Hades? Is that what's behind this behavior?”

“No, no, no, cupcakes. I meant the entire…” Hades paused.

“Underworld,” Cloud said.

“You. That sword.” Persephone focused on Cloud, clenching her jaw. “Your strength is not of a mortal’s. What are you, warrior?”

“A hero.” Cloud’s hand moved towards the hilt of his sword, but he stopped at drawing it.

“Not a prince.”

“Prince? Why would you…?” Persephone looked between Cloud and Hades. “No…”

Hades waved his hands. “Ignore him, dear. He’s a nobody. Just some silly mortal with a big sword.”

“Not nobody,” Cloud said.

Not looking away from Cloud, Persephone planted her feet on the rocky floor and bellowed. “You are a demi-god.”

“Babe, calm down,” Hades said. “These gorgeous mortals have nothing to do with my predicament.”

“Babe? Gorgeous?” Persephone’s voice resonated throughout the cave. “You begot a son without me. All shall pay for your betrayal.”

“Son?” Hades laughed, at first. “Oh nonononono. That’s not my kid.”

The cave shook, and vines of all thicknesses burst through the floor, sending rocks flying. They coiled around columns and boulders, into the alcoves along the walls and at their feet, swaying up like charmed snakes. Thorns protracted at the ends of the vines, sounding like unsheathing metal. The flames cast another web of shadows across the cave.

“Get out of her way, boys.” Hades, bound by vines already, shrank and slipped free. “Or you’ll end up turned into a plant or maybe dead. Good luck.”

“Careful,” Cloud and Leon said, only their faces turned towards each other.  Both readied their swords, assuming challenging stances.

"Don't aim your swords at my wife," Hades said. "Just jump or run or… Persephone. Dear. Get a hold of yourself. They didn't do anything wrong."

Before Leon could formulate a plan, Cloud zoomed away. A purple vine curled in the air around Leon, aiming its pointed end at his chest. He sliced it cleanly, leaving two perfect blunt end circles. The vine recoiled. It regrew and lunged at Leon from below. Flower buds sprouted around the vines’ thorns. Leon stepped back and looked for a path out of the cave, but Cloud ran up to the buds, zooming back, and slammed his blade down onto the thickest part of the vine with a thunk, severing it entirely.

“Be still, mortals.” Persephone raised her arms and grew, towering over her vines. Dagger-sized thorns grew with her, and buds opened into petals that unfurled, throwing powder everywhere. Leon covered his mouth and nose with the sleeve of his jacket, but his eyes itched from the pollen. Cloud coughed uncontrollably. Another vine burst from under the ground.

“Watch out,” Leon said. Cloud chopped the vine down before Leon finished speaking, his eyes glowing. A small cut under his eye bled. 

A horde of vines rushed at them, leaving no gaps to escape. Too many, growing too fast. Slicing through was pointless if they just grew back. A knot tightened in Leon's bicep as he swung, but this wasn't a workout. When was the last time he fought for his life? The ground moved underneath. He rolled in time as a vine thundered through the floor, spraying gravel that stung his face. He jumped aside as it crashed into a boulder, sending thorns clinking against the stone floor. It zinged straight at him, thicker than his thigh. He swung up and cleaved it midair. 

Cloud sliced the vines surrounding them with incredible speed, clearing a path. Good, better than good, his strength was an asset, but raw power might not be enough. Leon didn't know how long Cloud could keep this up. He saw a clearance towards the entrance. They needed to regroup, find her weakness and attack. Then, they’d have a chance.

“Cloud,” Leon shouted, his voice supported by the bottom of his lungs. He'd better listen. Cloud faltered, mid-swing slicing through two tree-sized vines at once. Their eyes met. “Get out.”

A vine shot straight down from above and he swung, deflecting it rather than wasting his strength. White sap oozed from the cut. He had forgotten how relentless an opponent could be. Winded, he tried to control his breathing. His heart pounded but he had time. Leon kept moving. 

And Cloud moved like he was dancing, his feet staying ahead of the vines and each arced slash cut clean. The energy fueling him was endless. The duality of agility and strength warranted more than just respect. Was he unstoppable? The vines weaved closer together in angles that left both with less room, but that only made the flash of his blade go through more. 

Enough already. Leon shook his head clear. They weren't invincible, and neither was she. Cloud made a path to the clearing. They were gaining on it, but another vine shot out from behind. Leon twisted to get away but another wrapped around his ankle, pulling. Panic crept in, but he swallowed it, like he’d been taught. More vines reached out wrapping themselves around his other limbs, his torso, and he swung his sword feeling off balance. A vine shot out and wrapped itself around his blade. He couldn't lose it. Not now.

“Cloud,” Leon said, not as strongly as he wanted, but Cloud was already next to him, slicing through the vines holding Leon like it was a routine, practice, like running around a track. Forget that. Focus.

Leon pulled on his sword, but before he could make a move, Cloud slid his sword onto his back. A thick vine coiled around his torso. Cloud tugged at the vines around Leon's feet. Dozens of thinner vines pulled at his arms, as if to tame him. The vines climbed over both of them, breaking Cloud's sword free from its magnetic clasp. He punched, tore the vines, thorns not cutting him. They receded as he grabbed hold. 

And they didn't tighten or strangle Leon. They cradled him, as if instructed to treat him with kindness. With not much else to do, Leon relaxed his muscles into the vines. A moment ago, he thought he was fighting for his life, and now, he hung upside down. Hours, minutes, moments ago, he planned on visiting Dalmatian puppies. Now, he hung upside down. The cave was lush with all shades of light brown and green. Soft leaves and plush flowers with layers of petals cascaded around him. It smelled like early spring, crisp but warm. Everything was so far away.

Cloud was upside down and tied up with green vines, too. Leon wondered if he looked that odd. Was his hair sticking straight up as well?

“What should I do with him?” Persephone said, shrinking to her original size. The vines carried Cloud toward her, lifting him up as an offering. “Your kin.”

“Oh I don’t know, eat him? He looks divine,” Hades said, rolling his eyes.

“You dare mock me? After what you did?”

“He's not mine. It's not even a possibility. Physically, metaphysically, psychoanalytically. Pick your poison, drink up, dear.” Hades waved his hand over his mouth and yawned. “You do recall what happened the last time you threw a hissy fit, don't you?”

Persephone's eyes turned red. The vines moved Cloud up and down, between the two gods, not quite shaking him. “Look upon him. Look. Just look. He looks like you.”

Hades looked Cloud over. “I'm flattered, really. Honestly, truly, but Persephone, you can't be serious.”

Leon sighed. This was not the first time he got tangled in something so absurd, but an argument between gods? At least nobody died. Not yet. Cloud looked like he normally did, like he was constantly experiencing epiphanies, but pissed about it. The vines gave Leon just enough room to move so he inched his fingers to one of his three belts. People had made comments about his extra belts being a fashion statement, but no one who fought with him complained. He was practical after all.

The gods were arguing, the same way people argue, but louder and with more flair in their arms. Leon found the hidden seam in the loosest belt and fished out the knife tucked there, smooth and practiced. The vines tightened. He held his breath. They relaxed, and he worked his blade like he was cutting rope, his hand moving automatically. Sweat beaded around his temple. His fingers scraped against the vines, chafing, and his forearm and hand burned. He freed one arm, then the other, then his torso, and finally the last vine around his ankle.

He flipped upright and landed noiselessly onto rocks. Crouching, he moved painstakingly slow, merging with the cave's darkness, dodging between the rocks.

“Was it Hera? Did you pursue her? Or did she pursue you? That hypocritical wench. Goddess of marriage? She would claim that title, wouldn't she?” Persephone said.

“Hera?” Hades said. “You mean my sister?”

“That didn't stop Zeus.”

“Hon, Zeus is Zeus.”

The god of death wasn't helping his cause, probably making it worse. They were busy, getting louder, wasting time when Cloud noticed Leon. Unable to think of a universal hand signal, he pointed at himself then at Persephone, hoping Cloud would get it, but Cloud's expression didn't change. No matter, Leon took his chance and moved closer to the three of them.

With a burst of strength, Cloud twisted and bent his body, snapping the vines wound around him. Leon stayed low, watching if he should adjust to whatever this guy was planning. Cloud dropped to the ground upright and pulled vines from their roots. He punched them in midair. Green chunks sprayed everywhere. He didn't have his sword. Guess he didn't need it. The couple stopped arguing and looked at him. A distraction. Good.

Persephone raised her arms and vines descended upon Cloud, but he jumped ahead faster than a blur. He landed a cracking punch on a vine as thick as him. His fist burst through. Hades hunched over, curling in on himself. Even Persephone stepped back.

Leon tucked his knife away and crouched lower, using boulders for cover as he moved closer. She was watching Cloud. Leon didn't look. He couldn't be distracted. She was close, just a boulder between them. No more games. He had to take her down. He took a long breath, counting backwards. 

Leon jumped out and brought his arms up to tackle her to the ground. He expected her head to be at his chest, but his arms, then his body, slipped through her. She was cold, not quite air but not water. And he stumbled to stand, right between the gods. The vines and Cloud stopped moving and all eyes were on Leon now.

“Do you have a death wish, Leon Leonhart?” Hades said, his entire head red and ablaze. “I am the god of the dead, boy. And that is my precious wife.”

“She's not real,” Leon said, glad that he chose not to use his knife. Cloud stared at her, too.

“What on earth am I doing?” Persephone said.

 Hades stumbled back, turning blue again. “Persephone, sweetheart… you're like a shade. Are you unwell? What happened, love?”

“I haven't forgiven you, Hades,” Persephone said.

 “Seriously? Again with this? I swear he's not mine. He’s just some silly little mortal. He looks nothing like me in both body or soul. Persephone, forget about him. So much more importantly, why are you not connecting with this world’s earth? What on Olympus happened to you?”

“Oh I suppose this could be a dream. It feels so real, but I suppose it's wrong for me to be angry with you whilst in a dream.”

“A dream? What would make you say that?”

“Morpheus sent me to your spirit so that I may find you.”

“Morpheus? I will bestow him the greatest honor from the depths of the hell, of hell, oh good grief, of my damned world. For… bringing you to me.”

“Hades, is this the work of Hera? I didn't know her to have this much wit to attempt this type of punishment for you.”

“Punish me? But I’m innocent, baby. It’s all on Heracles. Hera set him up, but entrapment’s a bit of an afterthought when murdering your entire family, am I right or am I right? No, it can't be her. Maybe Zeus and Poseidon trapped me here, thinking I’d go along with their little charade.”

“Heracles is here? He has been missing as well. Is this not a dream for you? A nightmare? Where is your being?”

“I’m here in my godly flesh, my dear. Everything surrounding me is as solid as Olympus, the hell and the mortal realm. You are the only one I cannot hold. The cruel Fates. Must they take their frustrations out on me?”

“The Fates? They’ve been missing as well.”

“That's cause they're here, too. Zeus must be out of his right mind to mess with those old gals.”

“Hades, you mustn't speak of them in such a way.”

“I can't help it. If you think I look bad, they share one eye between the three of them. Like yeek, a literal eyeball. They're palming it, popping it back into all kinds of sockets. Whoever did this must want to be kaputed out of existence or nailed to a mountain from their own eyeballs.”

“Did you ask the Fates where you are?”

“Well, yes, but you know them. Embrace the place. Poets and they didn't know its. Just do it. Yada, yada, yada. Meanwhile, good old Heracles is reenacting some tournament in a Colosseum that just so happens to be lying around in this neck of the not so woods.”

“Give me the means to find you in the mortal realm, and I will come to you.”

“That’s just it. The Fates said we're not in the mortal realm. I don't have a clue where we are, honestly. I haven't seen souls pass through here, not in any meaningful way.”

“Well, you are not in Olympus… or any known world. Do you realize what this means?”

“I’m in a whole heap of trouble is what it means. What's to say that Zeus will know how to get me out of here even if he is the one responsible for this?”

“Yes, that could pose a challenge, but it…it could mean the birth of a new world.”

“A new world? Nah, can't be, can it?”

“Oh Hades, imagine what this means for Melinoe. She could inherit a world. We must plan for her reign.”

“Whoa, whoa, pussycat. No need to be all hasty about this. Five years of this doesn’t mean that-”

“Years?”

“That’s how long I’ve been here, my love.”

“Why do you speak of the passage of time in mortal years? Oh Morpheus is calling. My time is up. He warned me what would happen if I stayed too long. I will come back. We will find a way to reunite. Until then, farewell.”

“Persephone, don’t leave. I miss your touch, please, hold me before you go. I would do anything if you would just…” Hades reached for her and his hand, his arm went through her as she faded away. “Stay.”

Hades stared at the spot that she had stood, still reaching for her. He closed his hand and pulled it close as if holding what was left of her near. He held it to his lips and closed his eyes, breathing deeply as if holding in the air that she had breathed. He let out a dry, broken laugh. 

“Sorry about your wife leaving,” Cloud said, his voice soft as usual, but without the sternness.

Hades looked up, as if seeing them for the first time. His yellow eyes, wrinkled and glazed, told of his timelessness, but he rolled them. He ran his hand over his head of blue flames, dramatically but without the energy. He laughed dryly again, but softer this time. “You are not the cause of my woes, mortal. Where are my manners? Forgive me for ignoring you two. It's been years.”

“Whatever,” Leon said.

“Of course.” Hades snorted. “Now where were we, boys?”

“You got an idea to get us out of here,” Cloud said.

“Ah, yes, about that, I’m going to need you to play the part of damsel in distress, handsome,” Hades said.

“Huh?”

“You.” Hades pointed a pointy, dark-nailed finger at Cloud. “A coy damsel in distress.”

“Not interested,” Cloud said.

“Oh please, like someone like you hasn’t acted that part out before,” Hades said. “Twirl around, and I might call you pretty, sweetheart.”

“Watch it,” Cloud said.

“Or what? I’m immortal. Whatever you’re about to threaten me with, you can do it to me again, love,” Hades said. “Olympus knows you’re all bark and no bite anyway. Such a pity. Tell you what, do this and I’ll conjure up one of those portals and send you where once you came."

“Portal? Those holes?” Cloud said. “But why me? He’d make a better damsel.”

“No,” Leon said.

“Well, one teeny, tiny problem with using Mr. Sassypants over there,” Hades said. “He might die.”

“Guess if there's no way around it,” Cloud said. “Where’s the dress?”

“Oh well, there’s no dress, I’m afraid,” Hades said. “It was only a manner of speaking. A figure of speech damsel in distress.” 

“Oh,” Cloud said. "Huh."

"So here's what to do. Fight in this silly little tournament that Heracles's throwing. Get a little injured or fake it. Channel injured, baby bird, if you follow. Bat your eyelashes. Call him your bona fide hero. Tell him you owe him your life. Bada bing. Bada boom. And be done."

Leon wanted to know why Cloud was entertaining any of this. "Wait a min-"

“Enough is enough,” Hades said, louder. His hair brightened to a larger orange flame, then dimmed back to blue. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, his shoulders relaxing. When he looked at Cloud again, he tilted his head. “Are you in or are you in? You know you want to shake on it, gorgeous.”

“Don't know if I can act like a baby bird," Cloud said. “If somebody’s here in this world, could you tell me?”

“Oh sure, we can ask the Fates.”

“The fates.”

“The ones that know of your life and what will happen within it. But talking to them usually leaves you with a blend of intrigue and a sinking feeling of ‘oh shit, that can't be right’.”

“They’d know if somebody’s here.”

“Yes, of course, they’ll know, hottie.”

“How would they?” Leon said. “You said they had one eye between them.”

“What does that matter? They know absolutely everything,” Hades said, slowly, eyeing Leon, who held back a scoff. “You could ask them whatever your heart desires.”

"Let's ask them then,” Cloud said.

"Yup, uh huh." Hades grinned. His eyes and sharp teeth glinted in the light of his ice blue flames. "Let's shake on it, alright?"

He reached out to Cloud, and all the blue flames in the cave flickered in sync with Hades's hair. Even Hades's outstretched hand pulsed with the glow of the lights. Cloud stared at it, and Leon reminded himself to breathe.

Cloud reached out. What the hell was happening right now? None of this made sense, and this guy was jumping right into the middle of it.

“Wait,” Leon said. “Are you sure you want to do that?”

Hades looked at Leon now. And they were back to when Persephone's vines had been chasing them. His smoldering stare stopped Leon from saying anything else.

“Sure.” Cloud shook Hades's hand.

A wind blew out all the flames in the cave but left Hades's head still burning, glowing as the only light. The cave grew colder, quieter, and darker, and Cloud shivered, holding his elbows for warmth. His eyes dulled.

“A deal's a deal. There's no turning back now, boys.” Hades snapped his fingers and all the flames on the torches came on like lights. He broke off a twig and sat on a rock, near the spot they had last seen Persephone. He stared at the spot. “Have you ever been in love? Either of you? Don't be frightened. I’m just curious, I suppose.”

“Nope,” Cloud said.

Leon wondered if he should answer honestly, whether what he would say would prompt questions that he didn't want to answer. He had no reason to lie though. “Yeah, I have.”

Hades looked at Leon. “Learn something new everyday. It's so hard being apart from the one you love. Isn't it?”

“I…” Leon said. “I don't know.”

“Is that so? Is it just me? Tell me, how long does it take to forgive a terrible mistake when a life goes on beyond a lifetime?” Hades looked away. “Silly me. Would you look at the time? Run along. Do what you need to do. Come back and tell me how it goes, alright?”

Even though Hades wasn't looking at either of them, Cloud nodded in response. He pulled his sword free from hardened layers of vines, and the branches crackled, crumbling to dust. Leon did the same. Flowers and leaves wilted. The green thinned all around the cave. Beneath the blue-white light from a torch, Hades cast a shadow that stretched along the wall larger than Persephone had grown just a few moments ago within this cave. Sitting on the same rock, he traced the spot where he last saw his wife, scratching the rocky floor with his stick.

Cloud elbowed Leon, not hard but to get his attention, and nodded at the entrance to the tunnel where they had come from. They walked back through the tunnel, following torches lit with blue-white flames. One light ahead of them still ignited and one blew out, but it was less fluid, since the spotlight was over both of them now, changing size depending on how far apart they walked. Cloud’s sword swung on his back, ahead of Leon.

He wasn't so alone anymore.

Chapter Text

Chasing beams promising daylight from an unfamiliar tunnel, Leon and Cloud crept around the next corner. The light brightened into full view, and the tunnel's circular mouth emptied them into a field of compact sand. Two dots under a sunless blue sky, they cast six, seven, eight, nine shadows, all diffuse, in a circle surrounding them. Sunless meant lifeless in a silence stiller than a soundless world.

No wind blew as they crossed the field. The air lacked warmth, like a desert in the dead of night. Cliffs dropped off two sides, defining the edges of this world and pointing to the destination. A windowless beige block building spanned the far end. Its simplicity did not diminish its grandeur. In front of it, two golden statues faced each other, with golden swords touching over steps that led to an arched hallway. Cloud reached the steps first.

“This the right place? Got to be, right?” Cloud looked back. “Feels wrong.” 

Leon had no reason to stop but the building's sheer size threw off his sense of balance, bending this world's direction. Marble columns, wide enough to need a minute to walk around, held up a thin roof, either as decoration or to support unreachable heavens above. Only the single hallway led into the building, no doors. A row of warm orange flames on each side lit the way in.

“You,” Cloud said, softer, “you ever think about what happens after all this?” 

Leon did what he could not to, pushing past Cloud into the hallway. “God of the dead. Do you think he’s as powerful as a sorceress?”

“Sorceress, sure,” said Cloud, following Leon. “Why’d you say that to him?”

“Say what?”

“Him hitting on me,” Cloud said.

“Hitting on you? He made innuendos.”

“About what?”

“He said you had a big sword.”

“What? No.” Cloud stopped. “Wait, I mean, not no… I don’t know.”

“Did you not notice?” Leon said, also slowing to a stop. This guy couldn’t be this dense. “He flirted with you. You shook his hand. Something weird happened.”

Cloud frowned. “He called you pet names.”

“Okay? I didn't make a deal.”

“Got a better idea?”

“This is why you don't run into black swirls.”

Cloud stared at Leon. “Not interested in a lecture coming from you.”

“Whatever.”

Both stood with their arms crossed, glaring at each other.

“I got to find Sephiroth.” Cloud looked away first, moving further down the hall. “Or find out if he's here, at least. Doesn't matter what it takes.”

“You didn't have to shake the god’s hand.”

“Don’t worry. It's not so bad if I need to throw a fight. Fighting’s all I’m good for.”

“How can you be so sure?”

Cloud shrugged. “How I talk sometimes.”

But what did talking have to do with the plan? That god had said Leon could die fighting. Couldn't Cloud? What if he got hurt? Was there a store to buy potion? But if Cloud didn’t care, Leon didn’t need to either.

As they neared the end of the hall, clip-clops against stone carried through an opening. A shadow moved across the floor on the other side. With hooves for feet, short brown fur from its waist down, and the upper half of a man, a creature paced in and out of view. Leon put his finger to his lips, waving Cloud over, and crouched to one side. Was this another god that would tie them up with vines? What if this tournament involved fighting stronger beasts? 

Before Leon figured out what to do next, Cloud walked straight toward it. Leon froze. The impulsiveness reminded him of... Deling? No, Dollet? No, those were different, but would they have to engage? The creature stopped pacing and squinted, looking between the two of them. Leon kept his Gunblade lowered, waiting for it to make a move.

“Who goes there?” the creature said.

“We’re looking for a tournament.” Cloud stepped into the room. Large, crackling flames in two wall cutouts couldn’t offset the low ceilings and box-like dimensions confining the three of them. “Know where we can sign up? Hades sent me.”

“You call the god of the dead by name?” it said. “Oh great Zeus almighty above.”

“Blue god of the underworld,” Cloud said. “Said he’s in charge of the dead. Told me to sign up. Said something like Hera? Herak?”

“Do you mean Heracles?” the creature said. “The great God of Heroes? Well, you can’t just waltz in here and ‘sign up’. The tournament is the most prestigious in all the land. What event are you even interested in?”

“Fighting,” Cloud said.

“The pankration? There are procedures to verify qualifications and such, however, I don’t know when another living soul will arrive. It might take years.”

“Years?” Leon couldn't believe he followed Cloud here. “Do you have a name?” 

“Philoctetes,” the creature said, "closest friend to Heracles."

“I’m Leon. This is Cloud. We walked through a black swirl, and now we're here.” Leon turned to Cloud. “Do you want to do this? We could be stuck here for a while.”

“Still got to sign up,” Cloud said. “It’s our way out.”

“Way out?” The creature clip-clopped closer to Cloud who stumbled back. “I won’t sign you up. That’s right. You… you must pass my test. A challenge. A test of strength.”

“Test of strength?” Leon said. “Did you just make that up?”

“It’s alright. I’ll pass so it don't matter one way or another,” Cloud said. “What do I got to do?”

“Would you… move that boulder?” It gestured at a waist-high, stone cube. “Show me your strength, hoplite.”

Cloud looked sideways at the boulder. “How far?” 

“Out from under the fire.” It hopped over to it. “It’s rather inconvenient here.”

“Could've just asked me to move it,” Cloud said, following. 

He put one hand on the boulder, leaning against it. It didn’t move. Cloud frowned. He put both hands on the edge and pushed from a lower angle, knees bent. It still didn’t budge. He used his shoulder, then his back, and even bent his elbows as if pushing off of it. After trying to lift it from a squat, he dropped next to it. Cloud sighed, stood up, and pulled out his sword.

“Going to break it,” he said. “It’s stuck.”

“Break it?” the creature said. “No, I’ll disqualify you if you do that. You must move the stone as presented to you in order to participate in the games.”

Cloud put his sword back. “If I can’t move it, nobody can.”

“Pride will do you no good here, hoplidiskos,” it said. “If you don’t pass my test, you’ll need to train with me, here in this god forsaken place. Until you can move that stone.”

“You think I need to train?” Cloud said, looking at his gloved hands, like they had failed. Like he had. “But…”

Leon didn’t need to know the guy well to see he could probably use a pep talk. Leon was okay at those. That's what people said. But only the generic ones for big groups. Technically, Cloud had failed, but it was pointless to get upset over not joining some one-man tournament for a fake fight. The creature had made this test up. Did it think that Cloud would have trouble moving the boulder? Leon noticed a yellow mark on the floor next to the stone. It was hard to miss, but he hadn’t thought about it until now. This same guy sliced through vines like butter. Was this rigged?

“Come now, don’t lose hope,” the creature said. “Would it be so bad to sharpen your skills for a little while? You can take your time. We have plenty of that here.”

Cloud clenched his fists. “I’m not quitting.”

“Hold on. Is there a trick to moving it?”  Leon knelt next to the mark. Three lines connected three hearts. “What’s this? They have these in the other town.”

“A trick? Oh is this a riddle? I do enjoy a good riddle. You can certainly participate in the games if your brains are worthy over your brawn. Though I don’t know if you should participate in the pankration if that’s the case.”

“Seen Sora, Donald and Goofy looking at one once,” Cloud said, toeing the mark. “They jumped on each other to reach something.”

“We're not doing that,” Leon said.

“I know, but we ought to try doing something together. They did.”

Leon placed his hand on top of the stone boulder next to Cloud's and pressed against the rock. Cloud was right, it felt glued to the ground. “We need three hearts. I guess it doesn’t have to be a person.”

“I can provide some assistance,” Phil said, squeezing between the two of them. Leon stepped aside for some room. “So what is your rationale? Is there a secret lever? These puzzles tend to involve strings. A thread, a knot… Do you have a string? I’m sure I could find some if you need it.”

“Just push.” Leon tapped the boulder. “Let’s start with that.”

“Push? That’s all? Surely not.”

When both the creature’s and Leon’s hands were on the boulder, Cloud put his hand on the same edge, as far away from them as possible. All three pushed, not too hard. Nothing happened.

“Need to push harder,” Cloud said.

“That’s not it.” Leon looked at the edges of the boulder for a button or a slot or something out of place. Before he could move away, the creature grabbed Leon and Cloud, pulling them closer to him and linking arms, with it in the middle. Leon tried to yank his arm away, but this thing was stronger than it looked. 

“Whatever it is, I’m certainly glad that you’ve joined me here,” the creature said. 

The yellow mark glowed. 

“Oh, it’s reacting,” it said.

Leon pulled away. The mark stopped glowing. “Is this another wordgame?” 

“Wash the sins, not only the face.”

“Why did you say that?” Leon said. “What does that mean?”

“It’s the same read forward and backwards. You mentioned wordgames.”

“Did that make the mark glow?”

“Well, no.”

“Could you say something that will?”

“Don’t think it’s a wordgame,” Cloud said. “It was ‘cause he was holding on to us.”

“What?” Leon said. This was worse than a wordgame. “No.”

“Oh I think the little hoplite is right. Three hearts connected with lines, like… string. I knew strings were the answer. It doesn’t hurt to try once more. Does it?” The creature stuck his elbows out to both of them. Cloud frowned harder than he had been but held on, staring at his hand. Leon grabbed the thing’s elbow and looked away from both of them.

The mark glowed.

“What now?” Leon said.

“He holds on to us,” Cloud said, putting his hand on his corner again. “We push.”

Leon sighed and put his Gunblade on top of the boulder within reach. He wasn’t stupid. He needed it close, just in case. He pushed the boulder with his free hand, too. And lo and behold, it slid as if on a track.

“It’s moving?” the creature said. “Well, that was simple.”

“What is this, a team-building exercise?” Leon said. “Forced teamwork?”

“Made the dream work,” Cloud said, expressionless. 

“… Okay,” Leon said.

“It's a saying,” Cloud said, hand still firmly on the boulder as it moved forward. “Forget it. Something’s under this.”

And they uncovered the edges of a hole, releasing a chill that started low and spread. The room grew colder with each push. Cloud wouldn’t stop staring at the hole. The creature hopped over it, careful not to touch it, tugging on Leon's arm. Once the boulder was no longer under the cutout with the fire, the shape of a dark slit in the ground was clear.

“A keyhole?” the creature said. “It’s so dark. It’s endless.”

“It’s supposed to lock the heart of this world,” Leon said, grabbing his sword. “Do you know if that actually exists?”

“A heart? Gaia’s heart? I suppose she wouldn’t be Gaia here.”

“What do you know about Gaia?” Cloud said. “You mean the world, right?”

“Yes, the world. She is not here, the mother of all. She can’t be. I wonder what goddess was born of this place.”

“A goddess? Is Gaia alive where you’re from?”

“Yes,” it said. “She is.”

“Know anything about a lifestream?” Cloud said.

“A stream? Like a river? Rivers outside of the mortal realm are associated with the Underworld. Do you suspect this keyhole is the work of the God of the Dead?” the creature said. “This doesn’t seem like any work of the living to me.” 

“Is the Underworld really that… bad?” Cloud said.

“It’s the unknown. That’s what makes it so frightening.”

Leon didn’t know what they were talking about, and he didn’t care. Could this keyhole be a way home? It made sense, a big keyhole probably went somewhere important. But he couldn’t shake the feeling that he shouldn’t mess with it. That kid was locking these, right? He had a key. Was it to a door? Behind this door could be a world worse than this one. Leon tried looking into the hole, but it was only dark. Would the god of the dead know more? Or the Fates?

“Have you seen any…” He thought about how to describe them without sounding crazy.  “Black bug-like beings that don’t talk, but jump around?”

“I’m pleased to say that I haven’t,” the creature said. “Is that what brought you here?”

“No,” Leon said. This world wasn’t that bad off if those beings weren’t here, right? That’s what Aerith had said. Was he desperate enough here to take what she said seriously? He looked at Cloud who wouldn’t look up from his spot on the boulder. “Can he join this tournament?”

“Of course… not. He will have to train. None of this convinced me that either of you have brains. Pushing a stone by just pushing it with other people, what did that prove exactly? I’ll teach you both what I know. Do either of you own a bow?”

“That boulder’s out of the way,” Cloud said, frowning again. “What more do you want?”

“The test was to show me your strength or perhaps your wits. You did neither. Don’t you want to learn the art of shooting an arrow? No other skill rivals its utility. You’ll see.”

Cloud stared at the creature then at the boulder then back at the creature. Then he walked to the other side of the boulder. “Move.”

“No need to be a poor sport. I’ll mentor you in the ways of a warrior.”

Cloud put his hand on the boulder. “You need a ‘please’? I’m moving it back. That thing’s… weird.” 

Leon got out of the way, so did the creature, with a slow clip clop. 

Cloud pushed the boulder, which moved back into place with little effort. “I passed. Are we good?”

“Well,” the creature said. “I… you… I suppose so.”

“Not moving it around anymore.” Cloud looked at Leon. “We’re in. Let’s mosey.”

“Mosey?” Leon said. (Who says mosey?)

“Oh no wait,” the creature said. “I’ll accompany you. I can offer a tour.”

“Don't you got to stick around?” Cloud said. “What were you doing standing around here anyway?’’

“Heracles comes to speak to me here. So I… don't leave this post often. It was easier to meet when he… when we were friends.”

“Is there someplace we can sleep?” Leon said. “When’s the last time you slept?”

“The accommodations are not ideal, but clean,” it said. “I’ll show you where you can stay.”

Cloud nodded at the roped off hallway. “Tell us. We'll find it.”

“It's been so long since anyone has visited and I… I'd prefer your company,” it said. “Please. Let me guide you.”

“You want to tag along.” Crossing his arms, Cloud stared at the creature then looked at Leon. “Think he ought to?”

“Why are you asking me?” Leon said.

“I’m not telling him not to,” Cloud said. 

“Come this way. I… I'm glad that you're here.” It lifted a lit torch off of its bracket and unhooked the rope so that they could pass into a dark hallway with no end in sight. “Will you be staying here long?”

“We're trying to get back as soon as we can,” Leon said.

“Then I shall enjoy your company while I have it. You will let me, won't you?” It trotted ahead, and Leon and Cloud looked at each other before they followed.

Darker than the other world’s perpetual starry night, where streetlights stood at every corner, the darkness of the hallway swallowed them whole with the torchlight.  As the only source of light, the torch warped their shadows against the closest wall, making them dance in time with its flickers. The flame didn't give off heat or smoke but looked like any other. Leon stared at it. He hadn't used one before.

“It’s not a true flame,” it said. “Were you curious?”

“What is real here?” Using the wall as an anchor, Leon ran his hand along a hairline joint crack in the smooth, cold stone.

“Very little, I'm afraid.”

“This place doesn’t even pretend to be a place like the last one.”

“The last one? Is there more to this divine punishment?”

“What do you mean, punishment?”

“This has to be some kind of punishment. After all, I am an ironic satyr.”

“Satyr?” Leon said. “Is that a clown?”

“You’ve not heard of a satyr? They’re mythical creatures, prancing around drunk with nymphs, with the appearance that I have for the most part, with the exception of a large erection of which, I am clearly lacking.”

“What?” Cloud said, just loud enough to echo for the first time.

“They’re sexual,” Leon said. Cloud stared at Leon. “And you’re…” 

“I was once, but as Fate would have it, I am no longer. Heracles incurred the wrath of a goddess, and I’ve assisted him in a few tasks. Wrath by association, I suppose.”

“Fate? Wait,” Leon said, trying to remember if Persephone knew his name. “Did you get this way because you pissed off a goddess?”

The satyr swished his tail. “Is this funny to you?”

“That's not…” Leon’s face felt hot. Odd or not, it didn’t need to feel worse over what he said. “Sorry, I was just asking. We met a goddess. She wasn't happy.”

“Is that so?” It looked between the two of them. “Did you suffer a similar fate?”

“No,” Leon said. That goddess wouldn't do that, would she? 

The satyr looked at Cloud.

“You heard him, I'm fine… How far do we got left to go?”

“The room isn't that far ahead.” The satyr walked so that the light bounced. “It reminds me of the barracks of war.” 

“War?” Leon pulled his hand away from the wall.

“While I'm in this… form, you wouldn't be able to tell. Still, I am a warrior at heart. Of course, I fought in the great war.”

“Don’t know anybody good that sounds happy talking about war,” Cloud said. “A couple bad though.”

“Don't mistake my pride for ignorance. I know the wickedness of men all too well. Look, it's up ahead.” It raised the torch higher. “That's odd. Why are there two now?”

The orange torchlight tinted adjacent doors with a patina, making it difficult to tell the colors of their pale panels and darker trim. Even so, the trim popped against the white stone washed yellow from the light. Three star-shaped metal plaques on one of the doors appeared tarnished under varying light, while transparent doorknobs sparkled without being bright. Every detail about the doors contributed to an anachronistic feel.

Squall , his name in curvy, thick letters across a star. He touched the grooves to make sure it was real, but that didn't reassure him. The stars, the door, his name, they didn't belong here. Someone knew him, his real name. How? Could it be a trap? 

“Something wrong, Leon?” Cloud said.

Leon. The letters had changed. Did he imagine it? What part, exactly? “Is this some kind of game?”

“Not one that I'm aware of.” The satyr held the torch closer to the stars, and the flames reflected in all three. “But gods are unpredictable beings full of tricks. Phil?”

“Guess they knew we were coming.” Cloud eyed a star with his name typed across it in a formal font. “Think we'll get towels with our initials on them?”

The satyr looked between Leon and Cloud moving the torch. “Towels? What an odd thing to say.” 

Before Leon could say anything more about the names, Cloud reached for the door.

“What are you doing?” Leon said.

“Got to see what we're dealing with.” Cloud shrugged. “Aren't you tired?”

“Yeah, but,” Leon said. “They know our names.”

“Seen weirder stuff before.” Cloud turned the doorknob and opened the door a crack. A line of light and a waxy, sweet smell cut into the hallway. The door was pink with blue trim and the stars shined like brass instruments.

The satyr wrinkled his nose. “What is that?”

“You smell it, too?” Leon said. “It's real?”

“Cherry. Fake, like lip gloss, from when we were kids.” Cloud kicked the door wide open with the bottom of his boot. Light flooded them. Leon raised his arm to block it.

For all the buildup, the room looked comfortable with large pillows and plush comforters on tall beds. The wood decor was stained a dirty gray to look old, but too clean and sharp to be. One large wing had been hand painted onto the stonewall above one of the beds. Upon closer inspection, the wing, not intact, was scattered feathers of different shapes, tiny and soft or large and pointy, and different shades from white to black. The words Dream Big were drawn below the feathers as twisting, green vines.

“One wing?” Cloud said, looking lost. 

“Icarus,” the satyr said. “He was a man, a boy really, who flew too close to the sun and fell to his death when the wax that held his wings together melted. His father had built the wings for them to escape a prison.”

“Why would it say that then?” Leon pointed at the words, white feathers stirring a lost memory.

“Might be,” Cloud said. “It's still worth it, even if it's sad.”

“You can’t really believe that,” Leon said. “What happened to his dad?”

“He watched his son fall into the sea to never come up. He could do nothing as it was his Fate. He lived on,” the satyr said.

“And you think it's worth it?” Leon said.

“Bad things happen.” Cloud stared at Leon. “That don’t mean you stop trying.”

The lighting above the mural dimmed, highlighting a sky blue dome over a second bed where glass bulbs hung by gold wires from the ceiling. Model ships sitting on nightstands bore primitive sails and rows of oars sticking out from their sides. Your Odyssey is the Reward glimmered around the edge of the dome. The smell of salt and seaweed replaced any other smell, but the underlying smell of fish was missing for it to resemble the real sea. 

“What insult is this?” the satyr said, stepping closer to the door. “Must that snake follow me into this world? Is he after my bow again? Heracles entrusted me with it. I watched him, you know, I watched my philētor …”

“Who's the snake?” Leon said.

“Odysseus. A wretched man. He led us to a glorious victory. So of course from Olympus above, he appears to be a magnificent lion. Accounts of his cunning are praised like a thick mane on his shoulders. But I know, he knows, what he is.”

He turned on his hoof and left, sinking into the black rectangle left by the open door into the hall. The clicks of his hooves against stone echoed outside in small gallops. Cloud shrugged looking at ships.

Leon went after the satyr, worried he might run off with their only light. He stuck his head out of the room, expecting to see the torch down the hall and having to yell or do something to get it back, but he was across the hallway, lifting the torch near the stonewall and reading glowing words. Follow your heart for the true meaning of light. Go the distance. -Hercules

The satyr put the torch into a metal sconce near the words like he had done it many times before.

“Is there another place to sleep?” Leon stepped out of the light of the room. 

“The door with no name is locked,” the satyr said. “That one could lead to the barracks, or perhaps that’s lost. I don't know what the Fates are trying to teach me here. You feel it, too, don’t you? This brink… it’s madness.”

“We need sleep,” Leon said. “The room is better than this hallway.”

He turned to the room. From the darkness looking into the rectangle of color and light, Leon felt air waving like heat coming off of the road in the horizon. The furniture blurred. Cloud seemed like he was far off in the distance. Leon gripped his weapon and rushed in.

“Are you alright?” Leon asked Cloud, who looked dazed in the middle of the room. He didn’t look hurt. “What happened?”

“I’m fine,” Cloud said, eyes glowing brighter than before. 

Leathery pine musk overwhelmed Leon like eye-watering aftershave so much that it took a moment for him to notice that the room had rearranged. Instead of a dome, unsmudged fingerpainted words were framed behind glass: Live , Laugh , and Love . Leon immediately understood the satyr's ire. 

He clopped into the room. “It's different now. That must be Achilles’s shield.”

Over a brick fireplace that wasn't there before and couldn't be real, a circular shield hung above a live edge mantle. Carved images in gold, copper, and silver depicted the layers of one world: from the planetary system of an entire cosmos in the center to the simplicity of farm life and animals in nature. With one city at war, another danced in celebration. Blood drawn with one thin circle here, ribbon using a similar thin line there. A divine comprehension of balance had been etched for any observer unfortunate enough to catch an up-close glimpse.

“His mother dipped all but his heel into the River Styx when he was born, rendering him nearly indestructible. He tried to take his fate by the horns, leading armies to victory, but an arrow to that heel killed him. I extracted revenge for his murder. We won the great war. Look up, how incredible it still stands. His shield was created by Hephaestus. What a merciful god.”

“Achilles?” Leon said. “They call part of your heel that in my world.”

“Your world?” The satyr looked at Leon. “He’s immortalized for his weakness in another world? Of course. That is his Fate. His destiny had already been written by the Gods. To anyone else he isn't much better than Odysseus, even worse perhaps. Are we all like that? One awful lesson in hubris.”

"Hubris?” Leon said, wondering why this man would choose to be a soldier with a mother like that. “She cared so much, but he went to war and... It's pointless."

“What about that?” Cloud nodded at a painting on the wall. A man in sparse armor knelt down next to a pale naked man laying on the ground, arms spread out but eyes closed. 

“Achilles mourning the death of Patroclus?” The satyr read the title on the bottom of the painting. “Are those even men? Where are their scars? Where is his blood? It's not real. Have we been reduced to this?”

“His friend,” Cloud said, not looking away from the painting. He uncrossed his arms. “He’s… he…”

“They are brothers in arms, not mere friends. Even from the flowery picture can you not see? A man whose death would move you to hunt a prince, adding to the treachery of war.”

“Yeah, I…” Cloud still wouldn't look away from the painting. “Yeah, we got that, but…”

“And you, Leon?” the satyr said.

“No,” Leon said. “Let’s sleep.”

The satyr bounced onto the mattress under the painting of the two men. Cloud inched closer to the other bed. Sighing, Leon sat on the opposite side of the satyr, sliding his Gunblade underneath the bed. He untied his boots before taking them off.

“You may join us, if you would like. There’s ample space,” the satyr said. Both men froze.

“Need my own space.” Cloud placed his sword against a wall near the painted feathers. “I’ll sleep over here.” 

“I’ve had my fair share of space,” the satyr said. “Far too much, I’m afraid. I sleep better when I'm not alone.”

While Leon understood the sentiment, he didn’t understand why that meant the satyr wanted all of them to sleep in the same bed. He wasn’t interested in finding out either. He looked around for a light switch but as soon as Cloud closed the door every light dimmed until all but one nightlight near Cloud's bed went out. It alone glowed brighter than lights from streetlights in the other world when they had filtered through windows. 

Gasping, the satyr sat up. “No torches? What curse is this?”

“There's no curse.” Leon said. Cloud climbed into the other bed, boots, cape and all, and turned away from them. “It's electricity. It's normal. Lights turn on and off in our world.”

“They do? And here I thought eternal flames were incredible.”

“What’s your name again? Phil-what?”

“Phil? You as well? You can call me that.” Phil moved enough so that the springs of the mattress squeaked. “You know, I competed for Helen of Sparta’s hand in marriage once.”

Leon lay with his back to the satyr, wondering if it was a mistake bringing up his name. He hadn’t intended to keep a conversation going. “Is there a reason you're telling me?”

“Just conversing. I should have known better than to put my lot in with the most beautiful woman in the world. But the Fates had a hand in that as well. I never married. I didn't have a chance to. And you? Is your fame enough for you to settle down and produce an heir?

“I don’t need an heir,” Leon said. “I don’t want to be famous either.”

“No desire for fame? Is that where I went wrong? The gods’ mark was all over the great war, and defying the Fates only causes suffering. What mustn't be done was, and what should have been wasn’t.” The satyr turned in the bed again. “What good is a hero's honor when abandoned on an island for endless years?”

“You were left on an island? Alone?”

“Yes,” Phil said.

“How long?”

“What is time but not a number? It was long enough.”

Leon didn’t want to sleep on that note. “I had a girlfriend… once.”

“A friend?” Phil said, amused. “Was she Amazonian?”

“I don't know what that is. We weren't friends. We were together.”

“You had a lover? What was her status?”

“I wouldn't call her that. But technically I guess.” Leon thought for the right words, trying to remember more about her. “She's the daughter of a general and a sorceress.”

“A general? She’s alive? She's not married, is she?”

“No.”

“Your looks are quite deceiving. You took a sorceress as a lover, a daughter of a general, no less, left her alone, and you lived to tell the tale.”

“Look, our worlds are different.”

“Indeed they are. The Fates would not be so kind to you in mine. Are you not of royal blood?”

“I’m not a prince. What do you know about Fate?” 

“I know enough not to tempt them.”

“Can you choose the wrong fate?”

“We do not choose our fates,” Phil said, “hetairos.”

“What if I did?”

“Then it’s not fate. I don't know the ways of your world but no good comes to those who run from their fate.”

“But my girlfriend moved on. I… I'm trapped here, and she's not. It's been years.”

“Ah, I misunderstood. She is worthy of being a wife, but you two are apart? Is that the fate you fear? Fear not, she could be like Penelope, fending off suitors and waiting patiently for your return. It must have felt amazing to return to open arms after years of being away. What I would give for just the hope for such a thing. You are a lucky man.”

“I don’t want her to wait.”

“But isn’t it lonely? They don’t tell you that it’s lonely without a family.”

“Whatever,” Leon said.

“What does that mean?” Phil said. Leon didn’t answer. “What of the man who wants to compete in the games? What is his story?”

“I have no idea. Ask him.”

“He’s sound asleep. We should do the same. It’s been so long since I had a good night's sleep. But this is nice, isn’t it?” Phil said, softer.  “Having someone to talk to?”

With this newness, the smells, the nightlight, and odd animal sleeping next to him, Leon wouldn’t sleep. Would he ever see the puppies again? Yuffie, was she playing with them? He could count on her. Did she notice that he wasn’t there? Did she care? His eyes sagged. Soon they would stop feeling so heavy, and he’d wish for it back. What was Cid up to? Even Aerith? At least they were familiar. Would he ever see them again? Who were these gods, with powers like sorceresses? What were they going to do to him? To Cloud? Why was he here? Leon curled into a ball. Why did he only feel like this in the dark?

A sound started soft, without any attempt to stifle it. Leon had let go of emotional attachments when he was so much younger, but Phil’s cries in the middle of the night weren’t so different from a child’s. It was deeper, an overflow rather than an explosion. Leon slowly straightened. Children cry like that, too, when they know, they understand that no one is listening. Phil shook the mattress, but his cries didn’t get louder.

Haggard breaths evened and slowed. Phil fell asleep. Eventually, they all do. While Squall stared at the ceiling, alone in the dark.

Chapter Text

Still painting the hallway a patina, the torchlight drew a fuzzy perimeter up and along the ceiling, keeping Leon from the dark. Soughs from both directions quieted when Cloud opened the door, bringing brighter light from the bedroom, but Leon had only one question. “Why are there bandages on your sword?”

“What.” Cloud shrugged. “These? They were lying around.”

“It's wasteful.”

“Still works.” Cloud reached back and tore a strip of bandage off his sword. He wrapped it loosely around his arm. “Comes in handy.”

“They’ll get dirty.”

“Guess that’s too bad,” Cloud said. “Isn’t it?”

“Can’t you just not waste them?”

“Can’t say I’m going to do something when I’m not.” Cloud crossed his arms. “No honor in it.”

“Are you serious?”

“Looks better with it than without.” Cloud shrugged again but his shoulders went higher, quirky, but his expression hadn’t changed. “Heads up. We got company.”

Sure enough, tapping came from down the hall, like fingernails against stone, and a pinprick of light wavered in and out, like the evening’s first star. Getting louder, it grew into a tiny flame that lit a familiar face, alone in the dark. The rest of Phil’s body appeared, a little more with each step. The flame jostled above him. His legs, thinning into hooves, fell in and out of sight until his light formed a perimeter of its own, eventually joining theirs.

“The strangest thing happened,” Phil said, out of breath, waving his torch. “A child arrived just moments ago. He claimed he was a hero. He had animals with him. They spoke. They were persistent.”

“Were they a duck and a dog?” Leon said. “Did the kid have a key?’’

“Are you familiar with those talking animals? Was that really a dog?” Phil leaned toward the direction he came from. “Should I have noticed a key? I was a bit preoccupied. Come this way. You will, won't you? I’ll introduce you to Heracles. He’s the god of heroes.”

Holding his Gunblade, Leon took the torch off the wall and started down the hall with Phil. “What’s the kid doing here?”

“I turned him away several times.” Phil waved his torch again. “He spoke of a… ticket? I tried to explain there were no tickets, but he handed me a note from the God of the Dead. It’s an omen. I destroyed it immediately.”

“Does he want to fight?” 

“That’s what he asked for,” Phil said. “‘Fighting’ just as your friend had. He mentioned monsters? He couldn’t possibly mean it. The pankration is not for children. Still, I had to accept him as a contestant. You simply cannot ignore the God of the Dead. The Gods will get what they want regardless.”

“That god wouldn't want me fighting a kid.” Cloud squinted at a rectangle of light at the end of what felt like a tunnel.

“Are you sure?” Leon said. The light was all he saw. As they neared, it bent at different strengths rather than scattered as one. “We just met him.”

“He's probably part of the planet or something,” Cloud said. “Let’s go talk some sense into him.”

“You’ll do what?” Phil whistled. “That’s insanity.”

Framed by a threshold, a tan brick wall came into focus, and they reached the room where they had first met Phil. It had changed. Geometric spiral borders and marble columns in each corner, which were not there before, outlined the room. Instead of an open hallway, the entrance to the building was a set of lime green doors, and the boulder was gone. The keyhole, also gone. The cutouts with bonfires were still there, but the lower ceiling, no windows, and cube structure of the room closed them in closer than it had before.

“Was the kid here?” Leon placed his torch into a metal bracket. “He used the key?”

“Well, he… Are you leaving? Stay. You should both stay,” Phil said, not putting his torch back. “Heracles, he should be here any minute. I’ve been waiting. He’s bound to come along soon.”

“Got to see what the kid said to that god,” Cloud said.

“Or what the god knows,” Leon said.

“Halt,” Phil said, and both stopped. “Do not go searching for the God of Death. Two contestants in two days. Perhaps it’s just the beginning. Others are bound to arrive shortly. You’re right, this fight is senseless. I'll suggest… tiers of age groups. Junior and senior. Heracles will reason with the God for us.”

“How’s this god of heroes going to help?” Leon said.

“He’s the best chance at dealing with this madness. He… He hasn’t visited in awhile, but he… Zeus of the underworld is not one who you want to further your involvement with. You…”  Phil stepped back into the hallway and raised his torch. “We’ll find Heracles together. Come with me. You can see for yourself and listen to what he has to say.”

“No,” Cloud said. “I made a deal.”

“A deal? But he rules over the dead.” Phil fell back. “I realize that I… my role here, your abstract test, even the state of each room, everything’s so disjointed. Nothing is clear. But this is: The god of the dead is not one for the living. Do you understand?”

“But it’s too late.”

Phil looked over Cloud. “Proceed with great caution, hoplite. And may… may your Fates be with you.”

He clip-clopped away into the dark. As Phil’s light dimmed, Leon wondered what a god of heroes could do against a god of the dead. What did a god of heroes even do? Win wars? Or start them. Leon shook his head. Heroes didn’t start wars. They ended them. Villains didn’t start wars either, they lost them. But a god of heroes, might.

“Did you want to go with him?” Cloud said.

“No, let’s figure out what to do about the kid,” Leon said.

“Right.” Cloud nodded, opening the doors. “This door wasn’t here before, was it?”

“No.” Leon followed him out.

Fitting the building’s grand scale, like it was made for him, the god of death paced beyond a platform that overlooked the sandy field. The cave’s shadows had masked his size, his presence. He was not human. This world did not belong to humans. Like Cloud and Leon, Hades didn't cast a distinct shadow, making his dark cloak, lips, and hollowed yellow eyes stand out even more.

Cloud pulled a pair of black sports sunglasses from one of his cargo pants pockets, put them on, and walked toward the god. Bandages on a sword, now sunglasses? Was this part of some plan? It had to be. Leon tried to remember what kind of subterfuge involved bandaging a weapon. When he couldn’t, he shoved his free hand into his jacket pocket and forged forward. Was this guy just messing around?

Hades grinned when he saw Cloud. “So, did you get a good look at who you're up against?”

“He’s just a kid,” Cloud said.

"You mean that pipsqueak roaming around this Colosseum? Sheesh, I didn't know they’d be desperate enough to throw a kid in the ring.” 

“That goat said you gave Sora a ticket,” said Cloud. “Said you were an omen.”

"An omen? Every. Single. Time. I try to do a good deed and you mortals doom and gloom all over it until it’s no good. I wrote a note to Heracles to train the boy. Figured mentoring’s a good old fashioned heroic deed, right?”

“You want me to fight a kid?”

“Who me? No way, this whole little Colosseum is something Heracles cooked up, probably in cahoots with Ares over this. Or does he go by Mars now?” Hades tapped his chin. “A bit much when the population of this place is what? Three to five? Depending on the weather? No matter. My job’s making sure souls end up in the right spot when these things are over. He's making my job harder, you know? Pitting a grown man against a kid to the death is asking for quite the pickle in the afterlife.”

Cloud looked at Leon and back at Hades. “What do you mean ‘to the death’?”

“What did you think happened here? Marble isn't going to pay for itself, honey. This is what you were supposed to ask for from Heracles. Your life. You need to be indebted to him. He needs to feel needed again. Then, you know…”

“Killing a kid wasn't part of the deal,” Cloud said.

“Don’t kill him. Someone else will.” Hades checked out his nails and looked between his fingers at Cloud. “But Heracles will not take you seriously if you lose to a kid. Just end it quick, painless. Be merciful and benevolent. Keep your pretty eyeballs on the prize. The goal is to win Heracles over. Got it?”

“This doesn’t make sense,” Leon said. “Phil’s convincing the other god to make age groups. He would have said this was to the death.”

“You sure?” Cloud said. “Just met him.”

Leon glared. The guy just repeated what he had said before. Cloud glared back. He was just messing around. At the very least, they needed to be on the same damn page in front of a god of death.

“Oh? Phil? I don't know a lot of Phils. What’s his father's name?” Hades said. “Heracles won’t do an age thing. What's age, if not only a number, silly?”

“That god runs this.” Leon had to keep Phil out of this. “Why wouldn’t he make fights fair?”

“He’s a god. It’s to the death. Life’s not fair.”

“This god of heroes,” Leon said, studying Hades. “What is he like?”

“Ooo, did he pique your interest? Why not? He’s got enough stamina to take on that attitude of yours,” Hades said too evenly, watching Leon. The god moved behind him and leaned in over one shoulder, then the other. “Oh, I knoooow. Sassy, you could fight. Heracles could save you. Oh why oh why, didn't I think of this before? It's brilliant. Sassypants vs hotpants. La creme de la creme.”

“No.” Leon stepped aside and faced Hades. 

“Oh that’s adorable. Come on, don’t be shy. Answer me properly. Fight this stud muffin here, have an epic fake battle and have Heracles save you. Once that's all sorted out, who cares about the kid?”

“Do you know anything about the kid’s key? And this world’s keyhole?” 

“Keys fitting keyholes? Hm, well that's an idea.” Hades stuck his hand out. “Shake for it, love. Don’t let that poor kid die.”

Leon couldn’t gauge what Hades knew, even with how expressive he was. “This started because you gave that kid something. It won’t end with us throwing a fight.”

“Seriously? Fiiiine. Let me scrounge something up to get us out of this. I might have to use my precious puppies. Just remember, toots.” Hades pointed at Cloud with his thumb. “You and the kid go toe to toe for a minute, my doggie makes their grand entrance, and you act like you’re going to die. Then Heracles is going to swoop in and save the day. Got it? I’ll tell Heracles to use Cerberus during your fight. He will absolutely eat that up.”

“Puppies?” Leon said. Why did Cerberus sound familiar? Galbadian, even. Nothing good came from that place.

“Okay, fine. Dogs. They’ll always be puppies to me.”

“What kind of dogs?” Cloud said.

“Don't even think about my Cerberus.” The god of the dead’s nostrils flared and the flame on his head flickered. “Look scared and scream or something. Heracles will take care of the rest.”

“You sure I’m going to know where Sephiroth is after all this?” Cloud said. “And you’ll send us home?”

“Of course, I mean, home is where the heart is,” Hades said. 

Leon already knew, but he still couldn’t believe it. “You’re not sending us home, are you?” 

“I can send you where you came from, that’s what I said. From once you came. I should know. We shook on it. That’s your home, right?”

“No, but it’s better than this,” Cloud said. “All I got to do is act like I’m in trouble, get that other god to help me, and figure out what Sephiroth is up to.”

“Perfect, that’s it. This will definitely work, cutiepie.”

“Are you trusting him?” Leon said, looking at Cloud, sunglasses still on, for a clue as to why he would agree to this. “This is a stupid plan.”

“Hush now, sassafras. You’re too cynical for your own good. I’ll make sure you two survive. I am the god of the dead, aren't I?”

Leon turned away from them. Another dead end. He had to find the other god and see what kind of power he had. “Let’s just get this over with.”

“Now what’s the matter? Mortals these days, ungrateful. Honestly, why are you even here? My deal’s with Cloud not you. I’ve had enough of your grumpy grumbles.”

Hades raised his hand, knuckles curled like he was gripping air, and the wind blew. Leon hadn’t felt it since he’d been home. He pulled his jacket collar closer and leaned to stay standing. A gust dried his eyes until they watered. Leon gripped his sword, looking for the nearest cover. Not one spike on Cloud’s head moved. Hades laughed, his voice stretching around them. Each laugh hit like waves in stereo. Black mist gathered above the god’s clenched fingers. Shattering upward, a black knight’s helmet crystalized into his hand. 

“Behold, the Helm of Darkness.” The god’s voice still surrounded them, and he thrust the helmet above his head like he was crowning himself and performing a divine ritual, his eyes half-closed. With the wind still whipping Leon, the god lowered the helmet onto his head. Only a strip of metal covered his nose. Two half circles had been cut to fit around his yellow eyes. He winked. “Made you look, didn’t I?”

The god vanished. Everything was still again over the sandy field.

“He's gone,” Cloud said. “Why’d you do that?” 

Leon adjusted his jacket and smoothed his hair. “Do what?”

“Go and piss him off.”

“His plan is stupid.”

“So?”

“Why did you agree to it with so many unknowns?”

“Why not? It's his plan. I do what he says, and he gives me what I want. That's what deals are. Piss him off, and he won't help us.”

“I wasn't trying to… Whatever. He's not going to help.”

“He might not. But he might. So doing all this won't hurt.”

“You don't know that. We’d be better off being nice to the kid and those animals. They have a way out.” Leon looked around without expecting to find them. “Where’s his spaceship? Shouldn’t we talk to him?”

“I wasn’t saying be nice for stuff.” Cloud sighed. “Sora won't listen. His weapon’s too strong, and it’s all gone to his head. Maybe it’ll do him good to scare some sense into him first. I won’t hurt him. You don’t need to worry about that.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about.” Leon had warned the guy about the god’s flirting, but he hadn’t rebuffed Hades since then. Cloud couldn’t like the attention, could he? Leon certainly wouldn’t. Whatever. This didn’t affect him. They were nothing alike. But if Cloud had no idea what was happening… “The kid might take us with him. You don’t have to work for this god. The other one could be worse.”

“Gave him my word. Might not be much, but it counts for something.” Cloud sat on the ground. His sunglasses made him even harder to read. “You know how to act like a hurt baby bird?”

“No.”

“Didn’t think so. Why’d it have to be a dog?” Cloud said. “Might be a poodle.”

“You’re not fighting the dog,” Leon snapped.

“You know.” Cloud sighed. “You’re nice enough to that weird goatman. Can't you do that with the god?”

“Phil? I’m not being nice.”

“You feel sorry for him.”

“Don’t you?”

“Guess so. Kind of weird to think about.”

Leon smoothed his collar. “He was marooned.”

“Marooned?”

Leon looked past Cloud at the beige block building. “On an island. For years.”

“He’s still weird,” Cloud said. 

“The god is, too. That’s normal here.”

“I…” Cloud took his sunglasses off and stared at them.  “That goatman uh… Phil… does he like being called that?”

“He said I could.”

“Oh.”

“What is it?”

Cloud looked up at Leon. “He kind of reminds me of… me.”

Leon didn't expect that. 

“On the inside. Not outside. Never mind.” Cloud looked all around except at Leon before throwing his sunglasses back on. He stood up. “It’s just… sometimes it feels like I’m missing parts. Inside ones. And those parts seem pretty… important.”

Because hearing such a thought, one of Leon’s, from someone else was so unusual, he wished Cloud hadn’t put those stupid sunglasses back on. He wanted to see what kind of expression he’d have saying that. “You don’t have to do this.”

“I can handle it. I got to figure out what Sephiroth is up to.” Cloud climbed the steps to a set of gray double doors with angular lighting bolt designs etched into them, looking different in design and size going in and out.

Leon felt like he should say something. “Whatever.”

“Yeah, missing parts…” Cloud said, toward the door, “dumb, right?”

Leon didn’t know how to undo that. He didn’t have to. Did he?

Once inside, Cloud tucked his sunglasses into his pocket, and Leon wondered if those missing parts would ever come back. Nothing in the room had changed since the last time, so Cloud lifted a torch from off the wall, and they moved wordlessly into the unlit hallway. Their boots hit the stone without Phil’s clops. Again, the darkness swallowed the torchlight whole, and the flame warped their shadows, making it hard to identify any changes. When they reached the doors with dark trim, the same letters glittered in gold across the hall. Passing the words into an unfamiliar part of the hallway only extended the repetition. Leon counted his footsteps, left, left-right-left, right-left, and wondered how many minutes had passed.

A new rectangular light, carved into the wall, revealed stairs leading up. As they neared it, another light from afar also came into view, the end of a different tunnel. The air didn’t change, but the presence of light lifted a veil, and Leon quickened his pace. New gold letters with an arrow pointing to the light from afar appeared on the wall: Contestants. A second set of letters adjacent to the stairs shimmered like the sun's reflection off of water: Spectators .

“They telling us to split up?” Cloud said. “We shouldn’t, right?”

“No,” Leon said, walking ahead. “We go straight toward the fight. I’ll scout. You watch for the kid. Make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid.”

“You think he’ll fight a dog?”

“He better not. Let's see what we're up-”

Leon stopped. Still wavering, his shadow’s head bent, jagged like a broken mirror.

“What’s the matter?” Cloud said, stopping behind him. 

“My shadow looks weird. Like its head’s… cut off.” Leon moved, but the shape stayed crooked.

Cloud brought the torch closer so that Leon’s shadow receded, making his head whole again before it shrunk, close to him. “Looks alright now.”

Leon hadn’t slept much. But the floor was flat, the light had been behind him. Even though shadows were not static, seeing one out of sync felt off, like the small changes to the rooms, inconsequential but purposeful. Nothing in this world had harmed them, but he kept his weapon out in both hands and looked between the walls. “Keep an eye out.”

“Not two?” Cloud swept the torch in a circle around them. The light repelled their shadows, coaxing them to grow and shrink rather than chasing them away. “Nothing’s there.”

Leon moved forward, with Cloud right next to him. Down the hallway was still the light at the end of a tunnel. Was it overkill to worry about shadows when they were so close? “We should-”

His sword clinked against a solid mass. He stepped back, scanning the hallway, but there was nothing to see.

“What was that?” Cloud said.

“I can’t tell.” Leon kept his sword up and reached out with one hand. He felt a flat, cool surface, like marble, and his shadow bent sharply again as it crossed over this invisible surface. He kicked at the air under his hand, testing it, and hit the same wall. Great, another big mystery. Was there a puzzle for this, too? “I don’t see any marks.”

Cloud walked over, poked at the air next to Leon's hand, then stared at it. “I don’t feel anything. You going to be pissed if I grab your hand?”

“Why would you?” 

“Forget it.” Cloud walked through like nothing was there, and faced Leon on the other side like he was a reflection in a mirror. 

“You walked through it.” Leon rubbed his palm in circles against the surface. “How?”

“You can’t. I can.” Cloud held his palm up against Leon’s without touching it. “Knock on my hand or something.”

Leon knocked on a solid wall. He still hadn’t touched Cloud’s hand. 

Cloud’s hand inched closer. “Try now.”

Leon knocked again. When his knuckle touched Cloud’s palm, Cloud’s eyes lit up. A white, translucent grid flashed from between their hands, bursting outward into a flat net, which blocked the entire hallway. Behind the brightness of the grid, Cloud was a shadow with a face. Both jumped back. He dropped his torch and held his wrist. The grid faded. Leon thought he smelled singed hair.

“Why didn’t you do that over here?” Leon said, looking for a sign of an injury. The torchlight cast shadows onto the ceiling and onto Cloud’s face in eerie upside down shapes.

"You didn’t want me to.” Cloud grabbed the torch and restored the light. “You don’t like handshakes.”

“Are you alright?” Leon said. 

“I’m fine. Just felt weird. What do you want to do now? Probably not good for you to try to get through that.”

“No, it's not,” Leon said, thinking of anything similar he had encountered previously and how he dealt with it. “Is this how Cid got stuck in his store?”

“Don’t know. Cid didn’t try getting out until he could.”

“We can’t wait that long. We have to split up.” Leon said, looking over at Cloud who was just a few feet away. “Do you want to go over the plan?”

“You said so yourself. It’s not much of a plan.”

“Once this is over, we meet back at the front of this building. Outside.” Leon looked up the stairs. “If you get into trouble, do what you can to get there. I won’t be able to help.”

“Don’t need it.” Cloud turned away, waving Leon off. 

“Be careful.” Leon turned to climb the stairs. The letters in Spectators flashed brighter than before.

“You, too,” Cloud said, looking back. “If you run into any trouble, I’ll come find you.”

“Don’t do that. We’ll meet outside.”

But they weren’t supposed to split up. Leon stepped on the first step into the stairwell, flames evenly spaced on the walls. A kaleidoscope of light, a recursive illusion of reflections of reflection rising to a dark point. What if the world changed without him knowing? Would Leon be stuck in a maze of stairs that went up into the dark forever? He looked down the hallway. Cloud was only a silhouette, a light glinting off an edge of his sword. 

Leon pressed on alone. “We’ll meet outside.”

Flames quivered when he walked by them. He didn’t look back, for fear of how dizzy he would feel, knowing how high up he was climbing. He counted the stairs. Ten, then twenty, then somewhere past twenty six he lost count and started again. Ten, then twenty. He caught a glimpse below and thought how if he fell there would be nothing to stop him from falling all the way down. He stopped, unsure why it didn’t matter like it should. He saw a landing, a wall, a potential turn and tried not to rush to it, the steadier footing. Once there, narrower stairs led to a sliver of blue sky. He caught sight of the way down again, a backward reflection, and wondered if he’d have a harder time getting back.

After winding through the torchlit, windowless hallways, the open air stadium was a relief to walk up to. Empty bleachers hung over other empty bleachers over more empty seats surrounding an oval sandy field. A surreal emptiness, the inverse of being stuck in a small space, expanded, but instead of waning, it intensified. Panic stemmed from the same chemical signal that being in a closed space elicited. He inhaled. Brisk air cooled his lungs. And exhaled, counting. The white of all the chiseled stone added to the expansiveness, so he touched a column to keep from floating away. 

The decorative arches cut into the back wall and curves in the cylindrical columns belonged in a theatre. The sterile, hard seating and lack of velvet fabric made the bleachers more like stands in a stadium. Sporting and theatre buildings didn’t usually mesh in Leon’s world, but this stadium was meant for a show.

Phil sat, rows below fiddling with his goatee. He turned his head, but didn’t look back. Leon walked slowly so as to not startle him. He sat in the row behind Phil. After placing his Gunblade on the stone bench, Leon noticed a bow and arrows sitting at Phil’s feet. He wondered why he had brought them here and how useful they could be.

“Is this a fight to the death?” Leon said.

“To the death?” Phil laughed, sadly, still not looking back. “I suppose the pankration could result in death if the competition goes awry. No one hopes for that though. Why do you ask?”

“It’s nothing.”  Leon nodded at the bow. “Why did you bring those?”

“Security, just in case, no that’s only partially true. I wanted to hold something that was once mine. It’s the only thing here that is. And even that’s a lie.”

Leon looked up at the cloudless sky. “Did you get anywhere with the god of heroes?”

“He…” Phil said. “He and I barely spoke. I am such a fool. We were never friends.”

“… Sorry.”

“I should be the one apologizing. He said that the boy would fight. Age, it seems, makes no difference to him. He’s a god now, isn't he? In every way. This is dangerous.”

“Cloud won’t hurt the kid.”

“It’s not just the boy. I mustn't get involved. You shouldn’t either.”

“We’re leaving as soon as we can,” Leon said.

Phil turned around. “You’re leaving? Will you be back?”

“We’re trying to get home, so probably not.”

“Home? It has been so long, I’ve forgotten what it’s really like.”

“Same,” Leon said. “We’re stuck here for now.”

“I’ve been here for so long. All by myself. How many years? I have no way to keep track. Of time. What am I doing here? Do you know why you’re here, Leon?”

Leon thought it was hard to tell time, too. “Does there have to be a reason?”

“It was so hard watching him die. He was the god of heroes, after all. No reason? No purpose? I suppose there doesn’t have to be.”

“Whatever,” Leon said. At his core, he hadn’t changed. Did anything?

Phil looked at him. Leon couldn’t shake the feeling that he screwed up again. He looked away and scanned the field. From this vantage point, barrels scattered in the field appeared to be the size of bullet casings. Dark mist gathered against the sand and three tiny dark creatures appeared around the clutter.

Leon nodded at them. “They’re here, too.”

“What… What are those?” Phil said. “They come from nothing.”

“You haven’t seen them before?”

“No, what strange beasts. You don’t think they’re from the underworld, do you?” 

Aerith had said locking that keyhole was supposed to stop those creatures. It hadn’t. What was certain in this world? Leon sighed. “I don’t know. That kid’s been fighting them.”

“He made a mess of the field, running around with his animal friends. Just before you arrived. He’s certainly energetic, isn't he?” Phil pointed at a hole cut into the wall surrounding the entire field. “Look, at the entrance. Could that be him?”

Walking from under the tunnel and onto the field, Cloud appeared the size of a toy soldier, dressed in black against light sand. His hair and his massive sword, now tucked underneath his flowing cape, gave him away. Placing his cape over his sword had to have been an aesthetic choice. Leon wondered if it could get in the way. The light here was still not strong enough to cast a distinct shadow, overcast without a cloud in the sky. The three creatures disappeared.

The kid came bounding out of the tunnel, too, followed by the duck and dog. His key materialized into his hand, and he stretched it out, pointing it at Cloud. Again from this distance everything on the field looked smaller. The key looked the size of a toy key, one that locked flimsy locks on small treasure chests, and the kid, the size of a keychain.

“A key?” Phil said. “It appeared out of thin air, too. Is that a magi? And his animals are magical, too? I wish we were closer.”

“Do you know anything else that moves here? Like the boulder?” 

“No, I’m afraid I don’t.”

“Do you think something like that keyhole could take you home?” 

“No, I… I get the impression that it won’t take me where I would want to go.”

“We'll regroup after this. Search this place for clues. He just needs to get this over with.”

“I’d like that. Very much so.”

No one yelled or blew a whistle or waved a flag, but the kid swung his key and ran towards Cloud, signaling the start of the fight. The duck shot streaks of colors from his staff, and the dog hid behind a round shield, hunched into it. Cloud pulled his sword out. To Leon’s chagrin, bandages, wrapped around the sword in horizontal stripes, made it look longer.

“Wait,” Phil said. “Is that man going to use that sword against a child? Why is it wrapped? Is it being held together?”

“He thinks it looks better that way.” Leon could’ve been there. They should’ve put more effort into getting him through the wall. “They’re fighting three against one.”

“Well, it’s certainly not the pankration. But he’s a seasoned warrior against three amateurs,” Phil said. “Heracles couldn’t have possibly organized this. Did he? It’s hard to take any of this seriously.”

“Who knows…” Leon said. “Seasoned? He’s strong… and fast.”

Jumpstarting into a dive toward the kid, Cloud drove his sword forward. Sora dodged it. Cycling through the same movement, Cloud shot out again. Sora only had to hop away. Lunge, jump. Lunge, jump. Each backed off during their turn to attack. They took turns. Leon had witnessed better schoolyard fights, even been in them. Not that he wanted that here. If he hadn’t watched Cloud slice through vines as thick as they were, he would’ve thought neither knew how to hurt each other. Like a kid’s first fist fight, posturing to fight. The distance removed nuance to their moves. That kid must have gotten lucky or unlucky when he had clipped Cloud. That was so long ago.

Metal bars caging an arched opening creaked, receding up into the marble wall. The bars rattled and clicked as if gears were turning, tightening to raise them. Cloud looked at the opening bars, then up at Leon for the first time, and quickly back at the bars. Sora lunged, seeing an opportunity. The guy threw the kid onto the ground, using his momentum against him. 

From under the rising bars, a golden haired man strolled onto the field, wearing only an armor chestplate, an armored skirt and a pair of platform sandals with extra long straps. Twice as broad as Cloud and a head taller, he waved to an empty stadium while flexing his bicep. The size of him caused Leon to suspect steroids. 

The bars groaned to a stop, with only the sharp ends visible like pointy teeth at the top of the arch. The opening was too big for a dog or several dogs, and even for this muscled man. Sora and Cloud stopped moving and stared, but the animals talked to each other, the duck waving his staff wildly.

“Is that the god?” Leon had trained to wait, but he hated it. 

“Yes, it’s Heracles, but normally he doesn’t appear so… fair. Why would he shave off his beard? Did you see that?” Phil said. “Did his teeth just sparkle?”

“His teeth?” Leon tried to see what Phil was talking about, but they were too far away. 

“It’s not just his teeth… he looks so unnatural. It’s absurd. He’s not real. I’m not real. None of this is real. I shouldn’t tempt the Fates and mock a god, but this is so ridiculous, it has to be said. Have you ever seen such a thing, Leon?”

“No.” Leon had seen more ridiculous things than a god’s teeth sparkling, but he didn’t want to take the moment away from Phil. “Is there anything else behind the bars?” 

“You would know better than I would. I've never seen such a peculiar stadium before.”

“This isn’t from your world?”

“Absolutely not. What good would all this be for competitions in the Olympic games?”

“So no one knows what’s going on.”

Heracles raised his arms in the middle of the field. “Here to perform a reenactment are two fine warriors. The Capture of Cerberus: My Twelfth and final labor.” 

While Heracles’s voice echoed against stone, the earth shook under a low growl coming from the opened arch. Cloud looked up at Leon and pointed at the entrance on the other end, shouting but not loud enough to hear clearly. Finally, the kid seemed to be listening. After the animals helped him up, Sora brushed himself off.

Leon felt the presence of a beast, rumbling behind the line where darkness began. Fog from its breath spotted the wide opening now free of bars. A dog’s head leaned forward into the light. Thirty times the average size and lifted two stories high, its snout wrinkled as it bared teeth. Shadows moved within the tunnel. When the beast stepped out, two other heads howled, flanking the middle one.

“Cerberus?” Phil jumped up. “What is it doing here?”

“How is that a dog?” Leon grabbed his Gunblade and stood, searching for a way to the field. The drop to the next level was stories high. Rows of stone benches lined each level below. The marble wall dropped like a cliff, with no way to scale it. “There's no way down?”

“It’s too dangerous. That beast is the gatekeeper of the underworld.”

Running at the three-headed dog, Cloud leapt, his sword above him like a sail. He reached the right height and angled his blade down. He flew toward the beast. Midair, his sword recoiled, sparking. It boomed more than clanked. Cloud fell back and flipped. He landed in a crouch, feet first. His sword, a balance. The middle head snapped at him, but Cloud dodged and swung. His sword stopped mid-swing, the ringing more metallic.

The dog brought its front paws up and down. The ground shook. Phil grabbed for his bench. Cloud did another running start. He swung his sword into the ground. It split in a jagged line and stopped. A star-shaped hole opened just before the dog. A grid, the same one Leon saw in the hallway, spread over the field, the bleachers, stretching up and out, endless into the sky. 

It was an invisible wall.

“Did you see that incredible strength? How- How did he do that?” Phil said. “Is he a demi-god?”

The kid and his animals pivoted in sync to Cloud’s movement. He took another running start and leapt as high as the middle dog’s head again, aiming at the invisible wall. At a louder boom, white light concentrated around the tip of his blade and refracted into smaller beams. Cloud drove his sword into the wall. The light brightened, making his sword harder to see. His webbed black wing popped out from under his cape. 

“That’s not a man,” Phil said. “That’s a Ker.”

Leon didn’t get a good look before but his wing was smaller, half the width as expected. Cloud leaned closer into his sword. The light dimmed. His wing fluttered. Leon looked for any way down, shuffling his feet, like that did something. Cloud swayed, dipping as his arm dropped. Was he taking a break? Would he adjust? Cloud hoisted his sword and thrust it forward, but in the motion, the sword slipped free. Suspended at first, the blade freefell. He floated as his sword accelerated downward. It clattered upright against the ground and toppled over. His wing flapped unevenly as he hovered, trying to steady himself. Halfway down, his wing collapsed. He fell, landing on his back. The beast stepped on Cloud’s sword, snarling over him. He wasn’t moving. Leon stopped moving, too.

This was supposed to be an act. Not a real fight. How long would Cloud be down? What was the kid doing? Standing around staring. Shit. Did he freeze up?

Heracles, who had been watching from the sideline, vaulted toward the three headed dog, his toes pointed like a ballerina, but his quads striated even from this distance. This god was just as bad as the other one. Worse. This god pranced around the goddamn field while Cloud just lay there. He wasn’t getting up. Heracles stepped in front of the beast, his fists on his hips. Two of the dog’s heads tilted, ears back, while the middle one sniffed this god, its attention no longer on Cloud, who still hadn’t moved.

Heracles ducked underneath the beast, like it was a horse. His palms on its chest, he lifted its front legs and lobbed it a few feet back. He picked Cloud up and slung him like a sack over his shoulder. 

“What’s he doing?” Leon said. “He’s hurt.”

Heracles picked up Cloud’s sword and shouted at Sora and the animals, waving them toward the entrance. While the god ran one way, the animals ran toward the three headed dog, weapons ready. At the last second, they stopped at the star-shaped hole and looked back. The duck stomped, kicking up dust, while his tiny beak opened and closed like scissors. The dog, the weird one, moved his shield in circles like he was cheering. The kid stared at the god running into a tunnel, out of sight, with Cloud.

“Sora,” Leon shouted, his hand to his mouth, but the kid didn't look up.

Philoctetes grabbed his bow and nocked an arrow. He drew it back and aimed at the dog. He wouldn’t hit it from this distance. When Phil let go, the string snapped taut, then oscillated. The arrow sailed with a thin whoosh, arching up before coming down and barreling into the dog's shoulder.

“How did you hit that?” Leon remembered the god of the dead’s reaction when Cloud asked about the dog. “Don’t hurt the dog.” 

“But it’s a monster.”

The kid raced toward the three headed dog. White light dispersed when he sliced through the invisible wall with his key.

“Don’t actually hurt it. It’ll be more trouble than it’s worth,” Leon said. “Unless it’s to keep the kid safe, got it? You, do that. I have to find Cloud.”

“Leon, wait,” Phil said, plunking his case of arrows next to him “I have but seven words left for you.”

“What is it? I have to go.”

“May the Fates be with you.”

“That’s six words.”

“No, my friend,” Philoctetes said. “Είθε οι Μοίρες να είναι μαζί σου.”

Chapter Text

“Hey there, how you doing?” Heracles, the so-called god of heroes, curled Cloud’s own sword over him, flexing his bicep. “You seem like you could use my manly help.”

Cloud stirred, laying at the start of the sandy field, too close to the edge of a cliff. Leon shouldn’t have to warn anyone to stay away from cliffs, but he had just arrived outside. He knelt beside Cloud. No blood, no limbs at odd angles, eyes closed, eyelids twitching.

Cloud sat up, too fast. “Not interested. Mean it this time. Shoot, where’s my sword?”

Leon put a hand on Cloud’s shoulder to ease him down. “Don’t get up.”

But the guy stayed up, his eyes glowing, pupils thin. “I’m fine.”

“You’re not,” Leon said.

“There must be something here you’re interested in.” Heracles turned. His armored skirt jiggled when he flexed each butt cheek. “Take a good look.”

“You’re a god of this place?” Leon kept tabs on his weapon. Heracles stood over them, carrying a massive sword without trouble. And Cloud was hurt.

“I certainly am. Hercules or Heracles, which do you know? Times do change.” Heracles flexed his back under his armor, his fists tucked at sharp angles. His arms arched like swans above Leon. “How you doing?”

“Stop flexing,” Leon said. “Your flirting isn't working.”

“Is this what they call playing hard to get?” The god’s arms, legs, neck bulged with veins. His entire body, one big strain. “I like it.”

“Leon.” Cloud leaned closer so that only Leon could hear him. “It’s too weird here.”

“But you're my reward for being a warrior. The fruits of being a hero.” Heracles frowned, looking between Cloud and Leon. “I saved his life. Didn’t Hades send you? Aren’t you… entertainers?”

“Nope,” Cloud said. “Heck nope.”

“Are you heroes?” Heracles said.

“Don’t answer that,” Leon said, glaring at Cloud.

“You must have misinterpreted my intentions. It is I. Heracles, the god of strength. Hero of heroes. You’ve heard of my countless lovers. My conquests. Other gods? Certainly. Other heroes? Absolutely. Kings, even. Fifty princesses impregnated in one night. I’m out of this world.”

“Why don’t you stay that way?” Leon braced his arm under Cloud’s to help him stand, but let go when Cloud flinched.

“No wait, I… I won’t ask you to lay with me. Could we just speak for a few moments? It’s been so long since…”

“You want to talk?” Leon stood, weapon lowered, and stepped between the god and Cloud. “Then talk to a wall.”

Heracles's playful smirk turned into a sneer. Staring at Leon, he gripped Cloud’s sword, no longer as a prop.

The god swung down. Leon raised his weapon. Metal clashed. His hands, arms, even his clenched teeth reverberated. He buckled onto one knee and grabbed his Gunblade’s spine. Heracles pushed harder. Leon shifted the pressing swords, adjusting the center of balance imperceptibly. The god’s face encroached over both blades. Veins bulged from his neck. He breathed through his teeth, a half-grimace, half-smile, enjoying his own display of strength even, no, especially, if it meant ending Leon’s life. His hot breath in Leon’s face. In his air. Leon turned away, breathing shallowly to keep the stench out.

“Greater men have died for lesser disrespect than what you’ve dared shown me,” Heracles said. “Join them. Now. And taste the bitterness of the afterlife that you must so foolishly crave.”

With the next press, Leon shifted his weight to his back heel. He let his arm slip. Heracles’s weight fell with it. Cloud’s sword sank. Leon rotated his Gunblade into a lunge. He thrust the butt into Heracles’s gut. Metal hit leather with a crack. Just a jab. Heracles flinched hard, pulling his arms in. Leon stood and stepped back, watching for a swipe, but none came. Using both hands, he brought his blade up, lengths away from Heracles. The god twirled Cloud’s sword like he was winding up.

“You got a plan?” Cloud said, standing with loose fists.

A plan? They couldn’t fight another god head-on. Cloud was hurt, lucky to be standing. No potion, no cover. And zapping a god wouldn’t work. At best, it’d scare him. None of this added up to a real plan.

“I got one,” Cloud said.

“Do you?” Leon said.

“Kick butt. Take names. Butt. Gosh darn it.”

“That’s not a plan.” Leon didn't like rushing in. But at least Cloud wasn’t emotionally charged. He dove in because he could. Still reckless. “Don’t rush into this. Aren’t you hurt?”

“I’m fine. Need my sword back,” Cloud said, staring at Heracles. “Let’s dance, butthole.”

“Stop provoking him.”

“That’s your job, ain’t it?” Cloud said. “Mr. Sassypants.”

Heracles pounded his chest. “I am Heracles. Son of Zeus. God of Heroes. God of Strength. Patron of athletes. Protector of all mankind. Mere mortals, mocking me?”

“Cloud,” the guy said.

Heracles scoffed and pointed Cloud’s sword at Leon. The god swung once, as a warmup. Not as quick as Cloud, but stronger. Who was he kidding? Leon couldn’t take a direct hit from either. His arm still ached from earlier. He’d go on the offensive and rely on his Gunblade, his trusty fallback, as it was meant to be used.

Leon leaned in and swung at the armor. Heracles blocked. Leon missed his chance to pull the trigger and fell back. Heracles let the sword bounce on the sand. Leon twisted to strike. No opening. Not yet. Too dangerous to get close, but surprise was all he had. If the god wanted a show, Leon would give him one. He brought his Gunblade toward Cloud’s sword and pulled the trigger. An arc cracked before the two blades scraped each other.

Was it enough?

Heracles jumped back and knelt, staring at the metal. “Zeus’s power? Have you conspired with Prometheus?”

Leon steadied his breathing. “Back off. It’s dangerous.”

“He suffered enough. Why would he tempt the Fates again? You, mortal, how did you discover Zeus's power?”

“It’s not magic,” Leon said. “Not exactly. Stand out in a storm with a metal rod. You’ll get electricity.”

“Did you… did you trick Zephyrus?”

“I don’t know who those people are. Look, we just want to go home.”

“People?” Heracles scoffed with a blank stare. “I will teach you for your last lesson in this realm what it means to scorn the gods.”

He charged like a runner out of blocks. The electricity made him madder. Great. Whatever. Leon sidestepped. Heracles brought the blade down too close. Leon blocked. The closeness boxed him in, choking his control. He tried planting his feet, but in a flick, the god tore his Gunblade away, the weight, his constant, gone. Before Leon could grab his knife, Heracles rammed into him, shoulder into ribs. Leon tipped back, trying to roll, but the god held on.

Momentum knocked Leon flat. His back hit the ground. His air stopped. Heracles jammed the flat of Cloud’s sword against his chest to drive him into the gritty sand. Leon tried to rebound, but was held down. Always held down. Like compressed springs. A dull edge dug into his white T-shirt, which dug into his skin. The god sat over him, knees in his sides. Leon had to breathe, to get out. Cloudless, sunless sky in the palest blue. Why was he fighting so hard?

Leon twisted to get free. No use.

Leon bucked, but Heracles just hopped with him.

Leon reached for his knife, but Heracles jerked him back.

When had he stopped being Squall?

“Get off him.” Cloud crouched behind Heracles and jumped. His boot shot out, but Leon only heard a thump. The god fell forward, his hand on Leon’s torso. Just next to him, Cloud skidded into a crouch. The god righted himself, repinning Leon with the sword.

With one hand, Heracles jerked Cloud by his shirt, pulling him close. Cloud gasped, softly, muted, looking at Leon. They were alike.

“You are a fool,” Heracles said, heaving.

Cloud's hands rushed forward, but Heracles hurled Cloud back. Toward the edge of a cliff.

Cloud twisted in the air to land, just off the edge. He reached for it. He sank. He was gone.

Leon reached too, like that would help, but couldn’t move. He counted heartbeats in his ears. Holding a breath slowed heartbeats, no matter what. There was no need to panic. Cloud had a wing. He could float. He was fine. Beyond the cliffs, rolling fog created a gradient, an incomplete horizon. The ground failed to meet the sky.

Heracles’s blue eyes muddied, his orange hair darkened and dirt and dried blood checkered skin. A beard grew. And as Heracles’s fingers traced the tubes in his neck, Leon tensed, wondering when he’d forget to breathe. “For the remainder of your life, in your afterlife, remember that it was I, your god, that held your last breath and crushed it.”

“What are you doing?“ Hades appeared overhead, a shadow not casting a shadow, helmet in arm. Leon thought he would laugh if he could. “I said have fun with them. Not kill them.”

“Uncle?” Heracles looked up. Pressure released, and Leon’s lungs filled like helium balloons.

“Why do you insist on addressing me that way? You don’t go right up to Zeus and say, ‘Hey, Daddy-o, what’s cooking?’ Do you?” Hades glided over to the edge of the cliff, flopped ungodly-like onto his stomach and reached down. His helmet was gone.

Leon held his breath. Hades pulled up Cloud’s gloved hand, then the rest of him without straining. Cloud climbed over the edge. Hades stood fluidly and held his arm out in front of Cloud. Dark swirls circled it. Both glared at Heracles.

“Uncle. Hades. I…” Heracles scrambled off Leon and knelt, bowing his head. His beard withered, his eyes and hair lightened, and his face came clean. Was Leon seeing things? He lay where they left him as words bounced over him like rubber balls.

“These men don’t deserve to be target practice for your wrath even if they’re mortals. What did you think you were doing? I’ve asked you twice now. Answer me.”

“Please forgive me for what I’ve done.”

“Well, no harm, no foul. Just ruffled their feathers quite a bit, I suppose.” Hades scoffed at Leon. “This counts as me saving you from the reaches of death, several times over, Mr. Sassypants, is that clear? And you don't worry your pretty head off, handsome. You've done nothing wrong.”

“Hades, have you?” Heracles stood. “Have you given any thought to my last request?”

Hades sighed. “You have asked me countless times since we arrived here, and every time I tell you that it’s unwise to call upon a shade like that.”

“Could you bring her back again?" Heracles said. "Please?”

“That was no shade," Hades said. "More importantly, don’t chase away guests. No one is going to be fawning all over you just because you’ve graced them with your oh so charming presence, like they did when you lived in the mortal realm. And you two, give your regards to the god of heroes and praise him as he well deserves. Do not anger him again. I will not come to your rescue twice.”

“Cloud,” Heracles said, holding the sword’s hilt towards Cloud. “It was a pleasure meeting you.”

Cloud put his sword behind his back and stood straighter. “Hope you like your gym and squats. You seem like a good god of heroes.”

“And you, whoever you are." Heracles looked over. "We should speak under better circumstances.”

“Leon.” He sat up. “I’ll pass on that. Sorry I told you to talk to a wall, but… whatever. Guess you’re… a good god of heroes.”

“Oh good grief.” Hades rolled his eyes. “Forget everything they just said. I’ll punish them for you.”

Heracles slung his arms over the god of the dead, bumping shoulders. “I’ll gather Cerberus and bring him to you, Uncle. He could run amuck in my stadium.”

Hades bristled. “Gods, stop doing that. Go. Tend to my puppies.”

“Has it been five years, Uncle?” Heracles stepped back. “It seems longer, doesn’t it?”

“Five years is but a blip,” Hades said, but Heracles had already turned away and walked off. To the gods who ran this place, life was disposable. Leon had a feeling that his world wasn’t much better. There, they agreed life didn’t matter as a whole, even if no one person really believed it.

After the door closed behind the god of heroes, Leon finally stood.

Cloud shrugged. “Looks like I'm going to be facing a crisis all my life."

“Was that a joke?” Leon said. “About what? That god?” 

“You know, him being… weird, hitting on us?” Cloud said, with a slight inflection, asking for confirmation. It’s how he asked most questions. “Weird’s a little funny.”

“No. It’s not.”

“You don’t think so?” Cloud said, thoughtfully. “Hey, you alright?”

“I'm not dead.”

Cloud looked down. “Right.”

Leon thought about asking if Cloud was alright. He didn’t look injured. “Whatever.”

“I played the bad guy, and he was the hapless hero,” Hades said to himself. “He tried to get his old life back, however mangled that was. But so what? I’m not supposed to be away this long. Et tu, Spiky? Come on, he's got the shoes, the hair, the bod —the whole package deal. Hey. Did anyone ever tell you that you’re too picky? He’s a gawd. Giving him what he wants will get me home.”

“He's not interested,” Leon said, spotting his discarded sword. “What does any of this have to do with you going home? Your dog is not a dog. Should we let that other god go near the kid and Phil? We have to save them.”

“Save them? From what? Cerberus can’t kill dead souls. They chase away. They’re watchdogs. Heracles is great with kids. But Philoctetes… he needs to be put in the naughty chair. Heracles knows better than to hide such an old soul from me.”

Leon picked up the Gunblade, looking for scratches. “Never mind him. Who’s Zeus?”

“Shut the front door,” Hades said. “How do you not know him? King of the gods, supreme ruler of Olympus? If he wasn’t my brother, he'd be my boss. Him and his wife are the only ones who can get away with sending me away. And suffice to say, mortals today aren’t cunning enough to catch us in a trap where the odds are stacked in their favor.”

“Why does nothing make sense here?” Leon said.

“You said it, not me, Mr. Sassypants.”

Cloud crossed his arms. “God of the dead, you had us running around with that weird god. I fought your monster dog dogs. I was a baby bird. I want answers.”

“Relax, hot stuff, the Fates will set you free. Oh sisters,” Hades sang. “We have company.”

Traces they had cast darkened into distinct shadows, forming rings around them: eight each for Cloud and Hades. For Leon, jagged angles from his Gunblade overlapped, piercing a circle of nine gray petals. An extra stood out among eight evenly-spaced others. Cloud drew his sword and aimed it at his shadows as they spun around him slowly at first, then blurring into a disk.

Their shadows disconnected and rippled away like animals in tall grass though none grew in this sandy field. All melted into one. They separated to form three new shadows, away from any objects. Each thinned, each circled, each a timelapsed marker around invisible sundials. One moved clockwise, another counterclockwise, and the last bounced aimlessly between clockwise and counter.

“Desire, empire, sire.” Hades wiggled his fingers. “Even heroes feel the heat of fire. Wavelengths outside of the visible spectrum. Schrödinger’s fake cat. Echolocation. What you don’t know can’t hurt you, but what if you did? Know? What does a pretty little rainbow look like then?”

Each a different gray, three figures materialized where the sundials’ posts would have been: one was squat, one was tall and thin, and the third was the smallest. Their shadows kept turning. Their hair sat like straw. Puckered and covered in scars, their eyes stayed shut.

“Bravo, sisters, could it be? I might be jealous. You put my entrances to shame. I nailed your M.O. though. Aren’t I getting the hang of it?”

“You speak of invisible rainbows when you seek our time,” the smallest one said, her voice old. “Time. Real yet not tangible. Here, and gone. Everywhere but nowhere at once. Thus are we. Flattery will not change your Fate, Hades. Why have you called for us, wasting what time that remains?”

“You know I love your prophecies,” Hades said. “I’m the biggest fan, really, but today, I’ve brought guests. This one’s looking for someone. Do your thing for him.”

The small one opened one eye, yellowed and pink. It moved until she was looking at Cloud. “Our thing?”

“Oh don’t be coy, sweetheart,” Hades said. “Do me this favor. You know, me, the ultimate power, the god of the hell. The hell, Spiky, be a dear?”

“Underworld.” Cloud straightened, tucking his sword behind his back. “I’m looking for…”

“Sephiroth? Pity,” the squat one said. “Oh, Atropos, did you hear that voice? He sounds so precious. Hades, have you changed your ways and brought us mortals?”

“I’m not precious,” Cloud said, deepening his voice just slightly. “You know him? Is he here?”

“Atropos, I wish to give this one a gift. Come, child. Take my hand. I will provide you the guidance that you seek.”

Standing like a blind scale, she reached out simultaneously to Atropos and to Cloud. Atropos pulled an oversized eye out from her socket and plopped it into the squat one’s hand. She held the eye like fruit, squeezing it into her only eyesocket. The hole moved like a toothless, gummy mouth devouring it.

Not looking away, Cloud walked to her and took the round one’s other hand.

She blinked her new to her eye rapidly. “What you pursue will be yours, but you will lose something dear.”

Cloud pulled his hand away. “What did you say?”

“Oh deary me, that was an old one. From the past, wasn’t it?”

“Lachesis, did you make a mistake?” the tall sister said. “You never make mistakes.”

“There’s a first for everything,” Lachesis said. “Come now, child of man. Give me your hand again. There, there, do not be afraid to hear what’s to come, as it will come whether you like it or not.”

Cloud looked at all three sisters before he took Lachesis’s hand again.

“Hmm,” she said, “you are not of this place. Much like us, you do not belong here, but fear not, child, your struggles here will not lead you astray from who you are, but beware of the shadows for they will fool a lazy eye.”

“What about Sephiroth?”

“Sephiroth... A fate so cruel that Tartarus may pale in comparison. Though his teeth will not gnash, his body not perish, he will end up but a shell. Yet you already knew that, child. So why do you pursue him so?”

“Where is he?” Cloud said.

“Closer than you know.”

“Is he trying to wipe out this world?”

“The destruction of one is the beginning of another. And the beginning of one is the destruction of another. This is nothing new.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Cloud said.

“Enough,” Atropos, the smallest one said, blindly swiping at Cloud, who let go. “Make haste, we should not meddle in the affairs of mortals much longer.”

Cloud looked at his hands then Lachesis’s. “Wait, there’s no more?”

“Take what I have given to heart and learn from it.” Lachesis’s eye rolled around her socket until she looked at Leon and squinted. “Sisters, we are in the presence of another mortal. I wish to speak to him. Come, child, may I?”

Leon glared at Cloud. That guy had dragged them through a swirling black hole into this messed up world, got them tangled up with these gods, and now had nothing to show for it?

“No, he’ll just pooh-pooh over it,” Hades said. “Keep telling the other one about where he should look for this Sephiroth character. He’s probably around here, isn’t he? Here, but there. Timey but wimey.”

“He is?” Cloud said. “Why didn’t you say something sooner?”

“It’s not for sure,” Hades said. “Just tell him, gals.”

Atropos sniffed and faced Cloud’s direction. “Do you favor that mortal, Hades? Is that why you called us here?”

“Who? Me? I don’t favor mortals. What kind of god of the dead would I be if I fell for that nonsense? Give the grumpy one a tall fortune for all I care.”

Leon glared at Hades. “I don’t do palm readings.”

Hades gestured at Leon. “See.”

“Are you lost, child?” Lachesis held her arms toward Leon. “Fear not. Our hands cannot steal your warmth. Our cups overfloweth.”

“I don’t need more tricks,” Leon said. Nothing she said to Cloud would help get them home.

“Tricks? Hades, what have you done to them? Don’t take what he says to heart, dear. He is what he is and no one else. Let me share with you so that you gain sight of what you seek.”

He could ask for something small and harmless. Leon sighed, looking at her hands. He shouldn’t even be tempted, but she knew who Cloud was looking for. “Could you tell me a name?”

“What is a name?” Lachesis said.

“Is that a riddle?” Leon stopped himself from glaring. “Forget it.”

“Questions asked should be answered. Answers questioned should be asked. What do you fear, child?”

“If something terrible happened to her, you’re going to tell me. Aren’t you?”

“If you are to know, you will know. What I tell you will not erase her, nor will it erase you.”

This sister came up to his chest. Her only eye blinked. Her hair had been pulled or plucked, and the jagged, deep scars around her pink eye made his eyes water. She was supposed to be hideous but was fascinating instead. She had nothing to gain.

Neither did he. He didn’t need to know if the girl he left behind was okay, if she wasn’t. The desire he had for her had long since passed, but forgetting her name mattered. He was tired of not knowing.

Leon placed his palm into the sister’s, ignoring the anxiety stemming from her wrinkled hand on his. “I just want to know her name.”

“She is not forgotten, neither are you,” she said, squinting at his hand. She flipped it over and lifted it as if to look under a rock. “Oh that is most peculiar. You truly are lost. Where oh where, is your thread, child?”

“He is missing his thread?” the last sister said.

“I cannot see it,” Lachesis said. “This is not a good sign.”

Atropos pointed in Hades's direction. “You have been derelict of your duties. This mortal’s soul-“

“Wait.” Lachesis dug a fingernail into Leon’s wrist. “His heart beats strong within him and his blood pulses through his veins. He is attempting to cheat his fate and has lost his thread.”

“What does that mean?” Leon said.

“You cannot escape your fate. Racing from it will only cause you to suffer so find solace in it. For should you attempt to flee, you will wish for your teeth to gnash, you will wish for your bones to grind, you will wish that your body whittles away, but you will become just a shell.”

“Does this have to do with darkness?”

“Erebus? Or Nyx?”

“No. Darkness,” Leon said. “Can I use it? Or is that bad?”

“You poor, lost child, do not confuse the wicked deeds of men with mere lack of color or light. This ambiguity will only dilute any attempt to stop evil and cause that evil to spread within that very darkness that you needlessly fear. Find your thread, child of man, before it’s too late.”

“What about her?” He wasn’t looking for her. Was he ever looking?

“Time waits for no one,” Atropos said. “While countless line up, waiting for time. Come, Lachesis, we have much work to do.”

It figured. Leon knew better than to hope for lines from fortune tellers, but it was what he did. Always forced to play a part, just to ask for a forgotten name. They couldn’t even tell him that much. This was fate. Still, the sister said he was missing his thread, whatever that meant. What she said about him sounded too much like Sephiroth, the guy who Cloud ran after, the one he’s worried about destroying the world. Why did she say they were alike?

“Hold on, girls, don’t tell me you’re leaving already,” Hades said. “Don’t we gods have all the time in the world?”

“Hades, when you tire of your stunts, we will speak again. Until then, understand that not even we are above the laws of our Fates.”

The women stood stiffly, but not tall. Their simple figures wouldn’t allow it. Their stillness caused Leon and Cloud to step beyond their shadows’ reach, outside of their godly sundials, to watch the sisters from a distance.

“It is time,” Atropos said, raising her arms. Their shadows stopped turning.

They fell inward, each into a puddle, into the sand as dark stains until they were absorbed and gone.

“Plucking out the eyes from Fate,” Hades said. “Zeus must be out of his mind. Why would he do such a frightening thing? He couldn't have. Why change their bodies? They didn’t choose that themselves, did they? Short, fat, thin. Gods, why?”

“Fortunes. That was it?” Cloud said. “Now what? You going to send us home? Or back where we were. Was Leon right about you?”

“Leaving so soon? What happened to Sephy? Evil Knievel? Capable of destroying a world? You’ll be here to save us, won’t you, hot stuff?”

“You’re stalling.” Cloud frowned. “You had us running around with that weird god. Why’d you tell us you could help if you can’t?”

“‘Can’t’ is such a strong word. I made sure nothing happened, didn’t I? No harm, no foul.”

"You've been lying this whole time." Cloud crossed his arms. “You’re lucky I don’t kick your butt.”

“Oh brother, this won’t do. Sassypants, help me out. You owe me. Remember? That fortune?” Hades waved his hand. His helmet appeared in it, with little fanfare this time. He threw it so that it flipped in the air and caught it so that the top fell into his palm. Then he plopped it on his head.

And he was gone. Cloud and Leon looked at each other in the open sandy field.

Cloud said, “Guess we’re the only-”

Leon felt a hand on his face but didn’t see whose.

He was five or six or seven or eight, in a shiny new school. After years of telling him not to, one of the Faculty told him to fight his friend. They didn't like each other, had nothing in common even. But everything in common, because no one else was left.

His friend made a fist, shrugged as if to say ‘well, here goes’, and swung. Instead of a punch, he patted Squall in the face. “I'm not fighting him, asshole.”

It was a big deal to say in front of an adult. Squall punched him in the gut. Because they told him to.

Everything was darker. Ash floated in a gray sky over volcanic rocks ground into black sand, and Cloud looked through Leon.

Hades held Leon's mouth shut without force. A mundane brush with death. Were these the thoughts at the end of life?