Y didn't know much about the world they landed in next. Which wasn't unusual, as most worlds were completely different and they had no way to have gained previous knowledge. But this world seemed even more different than normal. It was a city made up of white buildings. The few people around were wearing sheets. The center of the city seemed to be an arena of some kind.

Y and Ven wandered the city aimlessly. They hadn't seen any Unversed, which wasn't strange. Unversed would remain hidden until forced to reveal themselves often times. Unfortunately, it made things very boring for Y and Ven. They couldn't do anything until they found the Unversed.

Very suddenly a small fat man with the lower half of a goat ran past Ven and Y. The goat man paused by a wall, panting heavily. Ven looked at Y curiously. She only shrugged and led the way closer to the goat man.

"Oy, the kid's relentless." The goat man muttered to himself as Y and Ven drew even closer. Ven looked at Y once again. Y shrugged and motioned toward the goat man in offering.

"Hey, whatcha doin' there?" Ven asked. The little goat man jumped up in surprise and fear, not even turning to look at who had spoken before he started yelling at Ven.

"I told ya, I'm booked solid. N-O spells forget it." He yelled.

"Uhh?" Ven said in confusion. He looked at Y once again. Y shrugged, looking at the goat man in question.

"Someone's jumpy." Y said in confusion. The goat man finally turned to look at them. Realization seemed to hit him suddenly, that these two were not the one he was running from. His expression quickly changed from one of shock to one of annoyance.

"Huh? And who in Halicarnassus are you? Can't you see I'm busy?" The goat man asked in annoyance. Y frowned and crossed her arms. She opened her mouth to speak but stopped when a scrawny boy with orange-ish hair came running up to the group.

"Hey, Phil! I'm all signed up! Phil!" He said, very loudly. The goat man who apparently went by Phil panicked as the boy called out to him.

"All right, Herc, I hear ya! Now would you keep it down already." Phil said, looking around in panic. Y glanced around herself. She saw a boy wearing armor with a silver helmet on looking around. The moment his bright blue eyes landed on Phil he smiled.

"Aha!" The boy said. He ran over to the group, making Phil sigh heavily. He glared over at the scrawny boy labeled as Herc.

"Beautiful... You happy now? You blew my cover!" Phil said in clear annoyance. The soldier stopped in front of Phil, looking excited. He seemed to contain a lot of energy that shone through his eyes with ease.

"Okay, fess up. I asked around, and everybody says you're the guy. The trainer of heroes!" The soldier boy said. Herc smiled in agreement, taking a slight step forward despite the glare he was receiving from Phil.

"True heroes!" He supplied proudly. Must have been bragging rights, having him as a mentor. Y wasn't sure, but she guessed that's what it was. She glanced at Ven to see him seriously considering what had been said. She realized why in a moment of thinking. He could teach true heroes.

"Really?" Y asked, turning back to Phil.

"You can teach that?" Ven asked. Excitement was barely hidden in his voice. Y supposed it would be cool. Being a hero. There weren't many women who fit the bill, so she might have to step up and fill the role with Aqua.

At the thought of Aqua, Y dropped her smile just a fraction. Aqua was probably still worrying about them. They had been kinda harsh the last time they had seen each other. Y wasn't allowed to think on it long. She was jolted out of her thoughts by the soldier boy speaking again.

"Course he can." He insisted before turning back to Phil. "C'mon, Phil, please. I really want to be a hero." He pleaded. The goat man sighed heavily in annoyance.

"Look, we've been through this," Phil said, still clearly showing his annoyance. "I got two words for you- student-teacher ratio!" Ven frowned and counted on his fingers as Phil spoke. Y smirked as she realized what Ven must have.

"One, two...Um?" Ven turned to Y in question. Y giggled softly and leaned over to Ven, covering her mouth as she whispered to him.

"If he can't count, how can he train heroes?" Y asked. Ven snickered a little and shrugged at Y. The conversation between the others continued even though Y and Ven were having their own.

"I already got my hands full with this one. C'mon Herc." Phil insisted before guiding Herc away. Y was unimpressed by that excuse. Master Eraqus had managed four pupils at once easily. This goat man was saying he could hardly manage one. Y supposed not everyone could be as great as her teacher. Her teacher that had no idea where she was or if she was ok. Y felt her smile drop again.

"I'm low-maintenance, I swear!" The soldier objected. He was ignored by the goat man and Herc. Very suddenly Unversed appeared in front of Herc and Phil. The two jumped back in surprise, clearly not expecting the appearance of monsters.

"Unversed!" Ven said, drawing his keyblade. Y followed suite moving to stand in front of Phil and Herc.

"Monsters, huh." The soldier boy said, clearly thinking of something. He drew his sword and jumped in front of Phil with Y and Ven. "Hey, Phil! Watch this! I'll show ya what I'm made of." He proclaimed. Y smiled and shook her head.

"And I'll help, too!" Herc said, stepping forward shakily. Y suspected it wouldn't take four of them to take down the Unversed, but she didn't say as much. At least they wouldn't be there for very long.

The fight didn't last long. Y took down three of the Floods with simple spells while Ven and the soldier both took out two with their respective blades. Herc seemed to struggle the entire fight, losing his balance on multiple occasions. He killed one of the Unversed by sheer chance, stumbling into it and destroying it with his apparent super strength.

"Whew! Ha-ha!" Herc laughed as he stood up from defeating the Unversed. Y was worried. If he was a hero in training, he must have been a newbie. If not, this world would end up in a sorry state.

"Uh, ok, change of plans," Phil said stepping forward. Herc and Zack both turned their attention to him. "The Games are comin' up. So, I'm gonna watch both of your matches, then I'll decide which of you rookies I wanna train." He explained.

"Sweet! Thank you, thank you! I'm gonna go sign up right now." Zack said excitedly taking off toward the Coliseum. Herc looked a little upset by this decision but didn't object right away. He seemed to be thinking over his next move.

"The Games, huh? Sounds fun!" Ven said excitedly. Y smiled and nodded.

"Yeah!" She agreed. Without a word, the two made to run toward the Coliseum.

"Sorry kids, Captain Eager there just took the last spot." Phil said. Stopping them before they could run off. They both frowned, looking at the ground. There always seemed to be an excuse as to why they couldn't do fun things.

"I don't understand! Phil, I thought you were my trainer!" Herc objected, taking Y's mind off of her own dilemma. The scrawny ginger was obviously hurt by his teacher's decision. Y couldn't blame him. It couldn't be fun, feeling abandoned by the one who was teaching you. It must have felt like failure.

"You wanna be a true hero, Herc?" Phil asked. Herc nodded quickly. "Then you're gonna hafta go out there and show me that everything I've taught you so far is gonna pay off." Phil said simply. He started walking away, going toward the Coliseum.

"But Phil," Herc pleaded. Phil stopped briefly, looking over his shoulder at Herc.

"Oh, and no more trainin' sessions for a while. Wouldn't be fair if I helped you and not him." Phil said. He continued on his way to the Coliseum paying no mind to the visibly deflated Herc. He slouched down like he was trying to disappear. Y felt bad for him. Ven glanced at Y before approaching the boy.

"Hey, cheer up! So you gotta fight a couple of matches, no big deal. I'm Ventus, and she's Y. Want us to help you train?" Ven offered. Herc looked up at them in shock. Y smiled at him and waved.

"You'd really do that for me?" Herc asked in shock.

"Sure," Ven said with a shrug. Herc smiled at him gratefully.

"Thanks, Ventus. I'm Hercules. Herc for short." Herc introduced though it was really unnecessary. The two had already guessed his name at that point.

"Just call me Ven. You're gonna do fine." Ven said. He and Herc took hold of each other's hands and shook. Y smiled off to the side with crossed arms.

"Thanks. I'm gonna head over to the Coliseum and warm up. Meet me in the vestibule, ok?" Herca asked. Ven nodded as Herc turned to head toward the Coliseum. Ven turned to Y, looking at her with innocent curiosity.

"I'm going to find that other kid. It wouldn't be fair if we both help Herc." Y said simply. Ven frowned and nodded. He turned to go follow Herc. Y sighed before heading that same direction. She had nowhere better to start looking for the soldier boy.

Luckily, Y didn't have to go all the way to the Coliseum before she found the soldier boy. He was outside of the Coliseum down a side road sparring with the air. Y thought that was a strange method of training, but it was amusing to watch.

"Hey, you want some help?" Y asked cheerfully as she approached the boy. He stopped swinging his blade and turned to Y with a curious look.

"Huh? Weren't you with that blonde guy?" He asked. Y nodded in reply.

"Yup." She confirmed. She held her hand out to the boy. "I'm Y. Ven is helping Herc, so I figured we'd keep it fair and I'd help you." The blonde explained. She smiled brightly once again. The boy laughed and took her hand.

"That's great! I'm Zack." He said, smiling as brightly as Y. Y laughed a little to herself.

"Alright Zack, let's get started." She said.

Zack turned out to be really easy to train. He went along with anything Y said. He gave helpful suggestions and didn't take criticism to heart. He was fun to spar with too. A decent challenge compared to the small fry Unversed Y had been dealing with for so long. It was a nice change of pace.

Y left Zack a little before the match was set to begin. She wanted to go find Ven and Herc before the Games to see how they were doing. She arrived at the Coliseum to find Ven and Herc in a conversation. She didn't get to hear any of it as they were finishing the conversation when she joined them.

"How's it going you two?" Y asked cheerfully as she stopped beside Ven. Herc looked up at her and gave a nervous smile. Y smiled in return, hoping his nerves would clear some.

"Great. How'd it go with him?" Ven asked, turning his full attention to Y as he spoke. Y laughed a little, glancing over her shoulder as Zack entered the area.

"Better than I thought. He's got a lot of energy." Y admitted, looking back to Ven. Ven nodded, looking over at the soldier. Phil entered from the Coliseum, looking between Zack and Herc.

"All right, you bunch of rookies. It's time we go over the rules of the Games, so listen up." Phil said. Zack and Herc quickly turned their attention to him, hanging onto his every word. "All the matches are divided into two brackets- one for the East and one for the West. The winners from each bracket go head-to-head in the championship match. Now, I signed you two up for the West... 'cause they already got a heavy-hittin' contender cleanin' up over there in the East bracket. And if you wanna beat him, you're gonna hafta hustle in there. Now move those sandals." Phil explained. Herc and Zack nodded. The three of them headed into the Coliseum leaving Y and Ven standing together.

"Heavy-hitting contender?" Ven asked. He looked at Y with a thoughtful frown.

"Wonder who it is." Y said with an equally thoughtful expression. She wasn't sure about people in this world, so maybe it could be one of them. Or perhaps it was someone from another world. Maybe Terra, or Aqua, or even the masked boy, Vanitas, as X had called him.

"Ven! Y! C'mon!" Herc's voice called from the Coliseum disrupting Y's thoughts.

"Oh. Ok!" Ven called before going into the Coliseum. Y followed after him.

The games went on for some time. Y and Ven watched from the stands, cheering on their friends. Herc did surprisingly well. He was much more in control of his attacks. Training with Ven must have really helped him. Zack did well, too. He was obviously having fun as he fought his way through the rounds of Unversed. How Unversed got in the Games Y had no idea.

The semi-finals turned into just what they had planned, Zack against Herc. While preparing for the match Ven went to talk to Herc while Y crossed the arena to Zack.

"You're doing great. I think you might actually stand a chance." Y said cheerfully as she approached him. Zack laughed, turning to look at Y with a smile.

"Thanks. Gotta admit you're help has really done a lot." He said. Y smiled cheerfully.

"Hey, it's what friends are for." She said. Zack nodded in agreement.

"Yeah." He said. He glanced to Ven and Herc before walking over to them. Y frowned before following him.

"Whoever wins, no hard feelings." Zack said, holding his hand out to Herc. Herc smiled and shook his hand.

"Course not. Holdin' a grudge wouldn't be very heroic." Herc said.

"Hey, just making sure. You're not a hero yet." Zack said with a laugh. Herc laughed along with him.

"True." He agreed.

The match started soon after that exchange. Y was impressed. Herc and Zack were very close. It was almost like watch Terra and Aqua spar all over again.

"This is really close." Ven commented. Y had the feeling he was thinking the same as her.

"Yeah, they're really close in skill level. I wonder how Phil's going to pick." Y said. Just as she spoke the goat man came running into the arena.

"Hey! We got trouble! There's monsters loose in town and if they gate-crash the Games, you can forget about the match." Phil yelled. Zack and Herc stopped mid fight, while Y and Ven jumped to their feet.

"Real monsters?" Herc asked nervously.

"We have to stop 'em." Zack said. He looked rather determined. Ven glanced at Y, and without thinking she nodded. They were too busy to handle the Unversed. The first one of them to leave the arena would be forfeit.

"Leave the monsters to us. This match is too important!" Ven yelled before taking off.

"We'll be back!" Y called before taking off after Ven. She thought she heard the sounds of protesting, but she didn't pay any mind to it. If they didn't finish their match she was going to beat the both of them.

As the pair reached the town they drew their keyblades. Y spun around looking for the Unversed that was causing a problem. She found what looked like one Unversed something like a jellyfish. She couldn't think of a better way to describe it.

"You won't get past us! Huh?!" Ven said as an entire swarm of the same type of Unversed arrived. There had to be hundreds of them, if not it was nearing a thousand.

"We're going to need more people." Y said breathlessly. Just as she said that Herc came running up beside them, his fists raised as he prepared to fight. Y was at first relieved, but quickly realized that Herc had just thrown the match.

"Herc! What about your match?" Ven asked. Herc brushed off his concern.

"Forget the match. No way I could let my friends fight alone. 'Cause I'm a hero! I mean, ya know... I'm gonna be one. Come on, let's fight this together!" He said. Y smiled a little before shooting forward into the mass of Unversed.

Quickly Y was lost in the sea of Unversed. She could hear Ven and Herc, so she knew they were ok. All the same she would cast cure every so often to be sure they were at full capacity. She didn't know if the boys noticed or not, but they weren't unconscious yet, so that was an upside.

The mass of Unversed slowly dwindled down to nothing. Y glanced to both boys who looked surprisingly good for having been just surrounded by Unversed. Y herself was out of breath. Her magic was drained and she had several scratches. It sucked being the healer sometimes. She never had time to heal herself, she was too worried about other party members.

"Sorry that I made you lose that match, Herc." Ven said turning toward Herc. Herc just smiled and brushed it off.

"Aw, come on, you don't have to apologize. It was totally my decision." Herc said. Y smiled at the scrawny boy. She gasped suddenly as she spotted an Unversed coming up behind him at an alarming speed. She couldn't cast a spell without risking hitting Herc. Ven noticed it as well, but he couldn't move fast enough.

Before the Unversed could reach Herc, Zack cut it down.

"What, you didn't save any for me?" Zack asked, straightening his posture and placing a hand on his hip. Y rolled her eyes and grinned.

"Not our fault you're late." She said, mimicking his posture. Herc looked at Zack in shock. Y assumed he didn't think the soldier would have followed them.

"You're here?" Herc asked.

"Hey, I've set my sights on being a hero, too. I just don't run as fast, that's all." Zack said, looking away nervously. Y laughed at his reaction. It was probably because of the armor he wore.

"So you both threw the match? Who won, then?" Ven asked curiously. Herc and Zack shared a confused look. They probably hadn't thought that far ahead. They seemed to be lacking in the brains department.

"I left first, so it's not me." Herc said. Zack frowned.

"Yeah, but I was only seconds behind you." He argued.

"Still." Herc said.

"Hey!" Phil said loudly as he walked over to the group. They turned their attention to the goat man. "I never said I'd coach the winner. All I said was I'd see the match, then decide. Look, bein' a hero takes more than just muscle. Ya gotta have heart and care about people. And sure, you both get high marks for that. But this time, only one of you cared fast enough--and that makes all the difference." He explained. Y nodded glancing over to the two competitors.

"Then that means..." Ven said.

"Oh man, I was this close! Uhh..." Zack complained. He brightened up rather quickly. "Well, that's life. I never really introduced myself." He said looking to Ven and Herc. He took off his helmet, revealing messy black hair "The names Zack. Congratulations, Herc." He said with a smile.

"Thanks, Zack." Herc said.

"Yeah well, we'll see if you're still thankin' him when I'm through with ya. You got a long road ahead of ya, champ." Phil said. Herc smiled nervously. Zack sighed and started to crouch and stand again in quick succession. Y didn't understand the purpose, but she decided not to question it.

"Hey-- don't count me out. I've still got plenty of big dreams to go with my lousy luck!" Zack said spiritedly. Y frowned and crossed her arms watching Zack with amusement.

"Is that supposed to help your case?" Y asked. Zack and Herc both laughed. Y smiled to herself as she noticed Ven approach Phil.

"Ok, be honest... you weren't really gonna stop training Herc, were you?" Ven asked Phil in a quiet voice. Y joined the two, leaning on Ven's shoulder looking at Phil.

"Of course not. I know that kid's gonna go the distance. But he was stuck in a rut. He just needed a little incentive. It's Ventus, right? Well, thanks to you, Herc here has really shaped up. I owe ya." Phil replied. He was smiling softly, which Y figured was rare. Phil seemed a little harsh most of the time.

"Nah, I'm glad. I made a really good friend. Somebody to share a laugh with." Ven said. He looked up, glancing up. Y could easily tell he was thinking. "Like Terra and Aqua... We'll patch things up." Ven said softly. Y smiled and took hold of Ven's hand.

"Of course we will." She said encouragingly. Ven nodded in return and turned to wander off. He didn't let go of Y's hand.

"You're leaving?" Herc asked, seeing the two heading off.

"Yeah. Our journey's not over yet." Ven answered.

"But you'll visit, right?" Herc asked hopefully. Ven and Y exchanged a look. Y shrugged with a soft smile. If Master Eraqus ever let them leave home again when they got back it would be a miracle. They were going to be grounded forever.

"We'll stop by once you're a true hero." Ven decided, turning back to Herc.

"Stop by once me and him are both heroes!" Zack said excitedly. Y laughed and rolled her eyes.

"Oh, so you mean never come back?" She asked sarcastically.

"Hey, watch it!" Zack objected as the group erupted into laughter.