Kingdom Hearts: Oh The Highway To Holl(ow Bastion) [Interlude] in Gamer's Gaming

As Sora, Donald, and Goofy made their way back to Traverse Town, they stopped off in a few different worlds, trying to find anything they may have missed that was out of the way. With their new Glide ability, they were able to reach some out of the way spots. By the time they had made their way back to the Accessory Shop in Traverse Town, they had managed to find many treasure chests and a few of those had contained more dalmatian puppies. All told, the group had managed to find seventy-eight of the dalmatian puppies and only had twenty-one left to find. Back in town once more, the trio sought out Cid near the entrance to the Second District. The trio gave Cid the navigation gummi to install in their ship and he walked off to complete the installation. Meanwhile, the trio waited, Donald and Goofy trying to cheer Sora up. Goofy reminded him that Donald had told him no frowning and no sad faces. Sora asked how Donald and Goofy could be so cheerful. There was still no sign of their king. Goofy told Sora that the king had commanded them to go out and find the key bearer, and they had done that. He figured that as long as they stuck together, everything would be ok. All they had to do was believe in themselves. In the midst of the conversation, Sora closed his eyes and seemingly was transported into the past, but not his own. He saw a little girl run up to an old woman and the old woman began telling a fairy tale…

In the past, the world was bathed in light. Everyone loved the light, but they began to fight over it. Everyone wanted the light for themselves. Thus, darkness was born in their hearts. The darkness managed to spread, swallowing the light and many people’s hearts. It covered everything and the entire world disappeared. However, small fragments of light survived in the hearts of children. With these fragments of light, children rebuilt the lost world. However, the true light sleeps deep within the darkness. That is why the worlds are still scattered and divided from each other. But someday, a door to the innermost darkness will open and the true light will return. So, even in the deepest darkness, there will always be a light to guide us. Believe in the light and the darkness will never defeat you. Your heart will shine with power and drive away the light.

The old woman asked if the little girl, Kairi, understood the tale. Sora realized the little girl was Kairi and reached out towards her, but was drawn out of his reverie and back into the present. Goofy asked Sora if he was okay. Sora said he was, but wondered to himself if Kairi had just called out to him somehow. Cid returned a short time thereafter and told the trio that the navigation gummi was installed. Cid seemed to know where this gummi would bring them, however, and warned them that the place it would take them was crawling with Heartless. Sora seemed puzzled how Cid would know such a thing, but left the question unsaid. The trio made their way to the world entrance and took off for the Olympus Coliseum for some more games.

Shortly after landing, Sora decided to take a run at the Pegasus Cup by himself. Though the battles did make for quite a challenge, Sora was able to conquer the Games and was rewarded with an Orichalcum. The trio decided they would try to conquer the time trial mode for the Pegasus Cup next. Though they fought valiantly, the trio was not quite strong enough to conquer the time trial in the set time limit. So they decided it was time to move on to the Hercules Cup. In the first round, the trio faced off against Shadows and Gargoyles. In the second battle, they were met with a group made of Barrel Spiders, Air Pirates, and Wight Knights. The third fight was against a Battleship and a group of Pirates. Round number four pitted the trio against Gargoyles and Wight Knights. Match number five was against a Heartless known as a Rare Truffle. In match six, the trio was confronted with Cloud once more. Before the match began, Sora made sure to pass on the message from Aerith. Cloud thanked him, and then the match began. Cloud had learned a few new tricks since the last time he had fought the trio, but so had Sora, Donald, and Goofy. After a hard fought battle, the trio stood victorious. Cloud rewarded them with a new Keychain, the Metal Chocobo. Sora thanked Cloud for the gift and prepared for the next battle. Match seven found the group set against a group comprised of a Wight Knight, Gargoyles, Pirates, and Air Pirates. The eighth match was against two Battleships, two Pirates, and an Air Pirate. The ninth and final match was against Olympus’ hero, Hercules. Hercules challenged Sora and the crew to show him what they were made of. Sora decided that instead of three against one, it should be a one-on-one showdown between himself and Hercules. Donald scoffed and called Sora a show-off. With that, Sora stepped into the arena to take on Hercules and prove he was worth of being called a hero. Though the odds seemed stacked against him, Sora managed to defeat Hercules and won the Hercules Cup. In winning, the group obtained Herc’s Shield for Goofy. Back in the vestibule, Hercules was stunned. He couldn’t believe Sora won even though Hercules had held nothing back. Sora told Phil that he finally knew what the satyr meant about strength of heart. Donald and Goofy gave Sora all the strength he needed to succeed. Phil was shocked, but Sora told him that when the three of them stuck together, even Hercules didn’t stand a chance of winning. Phil started to say that that was not what he had meant, but Hercules stopped him, saying of course it was friends that gave a person strength. Hercules told them that the three of them together made great heroes and, as a team, they could overcome anything. With that, the trio was rewarded with the Olympia keychain and the ability to activate the Yellow Trinity marks. Sora activated the yellow trinity mark nearby to allow the trio to move the giant stone that Phil had asked them to move in their very first visit. Moving the block revealed the Olympus Coliseum Keyhole. Sora raised his Keyblade and locked the Keyhole, sealing away the Coliseum. The trio decided they would do a little searching on the way to their new destination, so they boarded the gummi ship and set off for their destination…