Kingdom Hearts: Consumed by Darkness

Helios stood at the center, exhausted but resolute, his coat tattered and singed. Behind him, Kurai leaned against a cracked obsidian pillar, arms crossed and gaze sharp as ever. Sephiroth stood as still as a statue, only the slight twitch in his grip on the Masamune betraying his thoughts.

"So, to make the best of our deal, we need to leave the Underworld without Hades noticing that we did so. I believe you can help us with that," said Helios

Hecate circled them slowly, her pink skin glowing faintly in the Underworld's gloom. Her dark indigo hair shimmered with residual magic, and the blue streak in it flashed like a comet whenever she turned. Her eyes—cold, brilliant, ancient—settled on Helios once more.

"You want to leave the Underworld?" she asked, her voice a silky mockery of amusement. "And you expect me to sneak you out… like some back-alley smuggler evading the eye of a jealous ex?"

Helios smiled faintly, one corner of his mouth lifting. "Not quite. I'm asking you to do it because it benefits you more than it does me."

"Oh?" Hecate paused, narrowing her eyes. "And how would that be?"

"I plan to get Zeus on our side."

The chamber, already quiet, grew colder. Even the soulfires dimmed as if shrinking from the audacity of that sentence.

Kurai raised an eyebrow. Sephiroth's gaze snapped toward Helios, sharp and alert, now remembering their last dealing with the King of Gods. But it was Hecate who reacted the most viscerally. She blinked once, slowly. Then again, rapidly. And then she laughed.

It wasn't the wild cackle of a mad sorceress. No, it was the bitter, mirthless sound of someone who had just been told a joke so absurd it wrapped around into blasphemy.

"The King of the Gods? The Sky Tyrant? You believe you can persuade him?" Hecate scoffed. "He doesn't care about mortals. He doesn't care about you. You are an ant to him—one he might squash simply to see the blood smear."

Helios didn't flinch. "He cared enough to hear me out last time. And he put Hades in his place afterward."

That stopped her. Truly stopped her.

Hecate straightened up fully, her expression went blank. She studied Helios for a long, thoughtful moment.

"You've met Zeus," she finally said. "And he didn't smite you?"

Helios nodded.

"You spoke with him—made him listen?"

Another nod.

"And he sided with you over Hades?"

Helios didn't answer that one aloud. His silence—and the ghost of a grin curling on his face—said everything.

Hecate's fingers clenched and unclenched at her side. "Interesting," she muttered. "Perhaps you're more useful than I thought."

Without warning, she lifted her hand and cast a spell—no words, no flourish, just a flick of her fingers.

The floor warped.

The Underworld folded in on itself.

Before any of them could blink, the chamber was gone.

They were back.

Back in the Colosseum.

The transition was so sudden that Sephiroth actually took a step forward, bracing his sword as though he'd been mid-swing. Kurai flinched, then cursed as she realized they weren't under attack. The shattered arena lay quiet beneath a blanket of golden dusk, the scent of scorched stone and long-faded battle clinging to the air.

Helios looked around, blinking once as the haze of the Underworld fell away. "She's quick," he murmured.

Behind him, Sephiroth exhaled softly. "You'll regret making that deal."

Helios turned. "Because she plans to kill all mortals, right?"

There was no surprise on Sephiroth's face—only a mild, sardonic raise of one eyebrow. "You knew."

"Of course, I can also read between the lines too, you know," Helios said calmly.

Kurai's voice sliced through the quiet. "Then why make a deal with her after already making one with Hades? You'll have to break your word with one of them. I thought that you avoided such situations?"

Helios tilted his head, giving her a look somewhere between confusion and curiosity. "Why couldn't I keep both?"

Kurai scoffed. "Because they're diametrically opposed. Hades wants to crush Nemesis and keep his stolen lightning bolt. Hecate wants to expose him and overthrow him. Fulfilling one deal negates the other."

Sephiroth gave the faintest nod. "You're playing both ends of a frayed rope."

But Helios merely smiled—an infuriatingly calm expression that Kurai had come to associate with his most dangerous thoughts.

"Wording matters."

Kurai narrowed her eyes. "Explain."

"Hades asked me to retrieve a stolen item. I will do exactly that. No questions asked. I never promised not to inform Zeus that he had it. I'm sure once Zeus is aware of the bolt, Hecate will hand it over to us to give to Hades to frame him."

Kurai stared, a smile appearing on her face as Helios explained the loopholes in the deals.

"Hecate," Helios continued, "asked if I'd help her take Hades down. Which I still intend to do so by informing Zeus about the stolen bolt. So technically, I haven't broken any promises. Not yet."

Kurai looked like she wanted to punch him.

Sephiroth closed his eyes and shook his head once. "You're playing with gods."

"I'm playing by their rules," Helios corrected, voice ice-cold now. "They love loopholes. I'm just giving them what they respect."

Sephiroth gave him a long look, then walked away a few paces, not saying another word.

Kurai didn't follow. She just muttered under her breath, "You're starting to sound like him."

Helios said nothing as he could easily figure out who the 'he' was referring to. She was thinking of the Master of Masters.

But the sky above the Colosseum darkened.

A storm was gathering, one that could destroy the world of Olympus.

And Helios knew they'd just stepped into the eye of it.