Kingdom Hearts; The Light's Keeper

Chapter XIX; Games of Darkness

"Pains me to see it." The man continued.

"Huh?" Terra repeated. The man wasn't really making much sense. He was looking at Terra with interest though. X suspected he was up to something that wouldn't end well. For him anyway.

"All that power going to waste." The man said.

"Who are you?" Terra asked. Sighed and leaned against a wall, waiting for the conversation to take it's course. The man approached Terra, seeming very proud.

"Name is Hades, Lord of the Dead, god of the Underworld, yadda yadda, how ya doin'." The man introduced himself. X raised an eyebrow looking over the man, well god. He didn't seem like that much. "Hey, lemme guess, you're trying to put the kibosh on the darkness inside you. Am I right? Of course I'm right. Well, anyway, bad idea." Hades continued on.

"Wait, what?" Terra asked in confusion.

"I think he says you shouldn't get rid of the darkness inside of you." X explained. It was difficult to follow Hades. He had a strange way of phrasing things. Terra glanced at X and nodded in appreciation before looking back at Hades.

"Ok, stay with me here--darkness is inside...everybody." Hades continued, hoping to elaborate himself better. "Nothing to be ashamed of. You play nice with it, and darkness will be your best friend. Your buddy with you can agree I'm sure." He said glancing over to X. X nodded calmly. "But if you go and get all self-conscious and refuse to face it, the darkness will run over you like a debutante at a toga sale. And then where are you? Nowhere. Now me, I look at you and I see potential. That's right, kid. You got the potential to conquer the darkness inside you. And I'll even give you some pointers. I mean, believe me, if anybody knows conquering, I know conquering." Hades continued on, seeming to ramble by the end. X was certain he liked listening to himself talk. There was no other reason for him to spend so long explaining simple concepts such as this.

"Well, let's hear it then. How do I conquer the darkness?" Terra asked.

"Easy. You sign up for the Games." Hades said. Terra rasied an eyebrow in disbelief. "I know, I know. "Please, Lord Hades, the Games?" But hey, you would be surprised what you can learn in the heat of battle. And don't worry. I'll be right there to guide you every step of the way. I'm kinda what you'd call an expert in the darkness. Oh, decide fast. This is a limited-time offer." Hades continued on before Terra could object. He walked a short distance away, giving Terra and X room to discuss. Terra turned to X immediately.

"What do you think X?" Terra asked. X glanced over to the God who was inspecting his nails.

"I think that guy likes the sound of his own voice." X said simply turning his attention back to Terra. The brunette frowned looking at X like a child that needed to be scolded.

"X." Terra said in warning. X put his hands up quickly, in defense.

"Ok, sorry. I don't know." X admitted. Having never been to this world he had no way of knowing anything about the god. "He might know what he's talking about, but I can't be sure. You might as well give it a try. If he's lying, we'll deal with that later." X reasoned. Terra nodded and approached the god.

"When are you going to tell me how to conquer the darkness?" Terra demanded. X sighed heavily and shook his head. Terra was really in need of some lessons in manners. Even if it was obviously someone who was up to no good.

"Hold your chariot horses," Hades said. A quill and parchment paper appeared in front of Hades. He took hold of the quill and turned to Hades.  "You would not believe the bureaucracy involved with these things. Name?" Hades asked.

"Terra." The brunette replied.

"Kinda earthy, all right." Hades said as he wrote down the name. X groaned in exasperation. "Now height and weight." He said glancing to Terra. He wrote something down without waiting for Terra to reply. "What's this? Favorite god? Pfft, come on. Hades. There, ba-boom. easy peasy." Hades continued, vanishing the parchment away. He turned back to Terra with a false smile. "I sense that you're already starting to get all warm and fuzzy with that darkness inside you. It's sweet, really. And hey, by the time you win the final match here...you'll have figured out how to conquer it for good. And don't worry, anything goes wrong, I'll make it all go away. Service with a smile." He said. Terra nodded.