The flickering fmes of Hades’ Chamber cast long, distorted shadows as Helios stepped forward, his Keybde shimmering faintly in his grip. The oppressive heat pressed down on him, and the sulfur-den air made every breath feel heavy. At the far end of the chamber, a throne carved from obsidian sat beh an ominous arch of twisted metal shaped like bones. Reed casually on it, his blue-fme hair flickering zily, was Hades, the Lord of the Underworld.

  Hades didn’t look up immediately. He seemed engrossed in swirling a goblet of some dark, ethereal substance, his face wearing a smug grin.

  “Well, well,” Hades drawled, his voice oozing sarcasm. “If it isn’t the intruder of the hour. Let me guess—you’re here to pin about the heat? File a noise pint about the wailing souls? Oh, wait, wait—don’t tell me. You’re here to challenge me to a duel! Am I getting warmer?”

  Helios took a steady breath, his tone measured but firm. “I’m here to make a deal.”

  That got Hades’s attentio up straighter, his fme hair fring slightly as his dark eyes gleamed with i. “A deal, huh?” he said, his tone shifting to one of motrigue. “Boy, you mortals just ’t get enough of my charming business offers. What’s the pitch? Soul for some glory? Eternal youth? Oh, wait, wait—lemme guess. You’re here for love.” He cpped his hands, ughing at his own joke. “Cssic.”

  Helios didn’t waver. “I want the heart of Hoder.”

  Hades froze mid-ugh, his grin faltering for a fra of a sed before he leaned back, stroking his theatrically. “Hoder, huh? Now there’s a name I haven’t heard in, oh, a hot minute. Why would you think she’s here. Unless you know about her little… arra, do ya?”

  “I know she and her cssmates made a deal to enter your Underworld,” Helios said, narrowing his eyes. “What I don’t know is why you still have her heart when she clearly fulfilled her end of the bargain.”

  At this, Hades’s fme fred red, but his grin didn’t fade. “Kid, kid, kid,” he said, waving a hand dismissively. “You’ve got it all wrong. They didn’t make a deal to e and go, they made a deal to enter. Big difference. And, FYI, she’s ly in a bargaining position anymore, if you catch my drift.”

  Helios stepped closer, his gaze unyielding. “So let’s reiate. You give me her heart, and I’ll give you something you want even more.”

  Hades’s griurned, wider than ever. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he regarded Helios with mock suspi. “Oh, this I gotta hear. What could you possibly have that’s worth more to me than a soul already under my trol?”

  Helios smirked. “The Underdrome.”

  That got the rea he was waiting for. Hades’s fme erupted into a t pilr of red fire, his booming ugh eg through the chamber. “The Underdrome? The Underdrome? Oh, kid, you really know how to sweet-talk a god!” He stood, pag excitedly. “Do you know how long I’ve been trying to get that thing reopened? Zeus and his ‘rules’—‘Oh, Hades, it’s too violent! Oh, Hades, you ’t let the dead beat the tar out of each other for sport!’ The nerve.”

  Hades turned sharply, his grin fading as he eyed Helios suspiciously. “But you ’t exactly waltz up to my big bro and flip the switch. So spill it—what’s the angle?”

  Helios kept his tone even. “I’ll reopen it for you. I have the means to bypass Zeus’s lock.”

  Hades’s fiery hair flickered as he sidered this. “You? You do that? Five me if I’m a teensy bit skeptical.”

  Helios shrugged, feigning nonce. “You’re free to doubt me, but you and I both know reopening the Underdrome is the only way you’ll ever have it back. So, here’s the deal: I reopen it, you give me Hoder’s heart. Simple as that.”

  Hades stared at him for a long moment, his fiapping rhythmically against his goblet. Finally, he grinned again, this time with a hint of malice. “Simple, huh? Yeah, sure. But let me tell you something, kid. Deals with me? They’re never simple.”

  Helios held his ground. “I’m not afraid of the fine print. Do we have a deal or not?”

  Hades ughed again, g his hands together. “Oh, you’ve got guts, I’ll give you that. All right, you’ve got yourself a deal. But! Just to make sure you’re not jerking my , you’re reopening the Underdrome first. Once I see those gates swinging, I’ll hand over what’s left of Little Miss Nordic Drama.”

  Helios nodded. “Fine. But don’t try to double-e. You’ll regret it.”

  Hades’s grin widened, his fiery hair fring once more. “Oh, I like you, kid. You’ve got spunk! Just remember: nobody out-deals the Lord of the Dead.”

  As Helios left Hades’ Chamber, he couldn’t help but recall the tragic tale of Hoder. In his memories of the game, she fulfilled all the ditions Helios required of a heart. She had a heart belonging to a keybde wielder, lost all memories of her past life due to her time in the River Styx, and stly her heart should be bnk; void of both light and darkness.

  Hoder and her cssmates had found themselves in a surreal world of endless sky and o after their deaths. There, they had struck a desperate deal with Hades, granting them passage to the Underworld. But the Underworld was e—it was a battlefield. There, Hoder met her brother, Baldr, who had succumbed to darkness.

  Helios vividly remembered the se: Hoder battered, using every ounce of her strength to fight her brother. Baldr’s attacks were ruthless, his darkness overp, but Hoder refused to give in. She unched a desperate final strike, hoping to free him from the shadows.

  Baldr tered, and both siblings fell, their forms crumpling to the cold floor of the Underworld. In her final moments, Hoder reached out to Baldr, her hand trembling, her eyes filled with a mixture of sorrow and love. As she faded into light, her voice carried a single, haunting plea: “e back to the light, Baldr.” Her sacrifice while failing to aplish her initial goal was not in vain, as it weakened Baldr enough for Xehanort to deal the final blow ending the battle and saving lives.

  Helios shook the memory from his mind. “Now let’s see what Hades has up his sleeve,” he mouthed silently. “He’ll probably wonder why I want Hoder’s heart. If he figures out my reason she’ll end up a bargaining chip.”