6H:Welcome back! In this corner-the evil ruler of Nightville, Lady Chain! And in the other corner, a group of kids-a fragment hunter, the heartblade master, and a magician. Who will be the winner? The anwser revealed in this chapter!
-
Kingdom Hearts-Shattered Fragments
Fragment 13-The Magical Flying Machine
-
Cedeile and Ryosuke ran through the doorway and found themselves in a long, dark room. The only opeing to the outside was a balcony that overlooked the lawns and the village. Black tapistries hung from the dark grey walls. The room was dead silent. They stood next to each other, looking back and forth around the room.
"She's not here!"
"Nope. Not even a heartless." his eyes scanned the room again, hoping to catch something they missed. When they both decided it was clear, they both heaved deep sighs of relief and dropped their fight stances.
"Man, this almost seems too easy!" Cedeile remarked. Laughter was the response, and the clicking of shoes became apparent. Lady Chain emerged from the shadows and stood before them, swinging her chain playfully. "Y-you're Lady Chain?"
"Yes, I am." she anwsered.
"I thought you would be covered with chains, but you only have one." Ryosuke commented.
"And you're HUMAN!" Cedeile yelled.
"Of course I am. What did you think, I'm one of the bat people? That's ridiculous.I am far superior. I see that you were able to beat my soilder, even though I gave him a power boost."
"You did that?" Ryosuke asked. "That's disgusting." Lady Chain laughed.
"Thank you, I'm flattered. What do you children think to acomplish here?"
"We're going to save Nightville!" Cedeile proclaimed.
"Really? The two of you?"
"Two? No, there are three of-"
"Cedeile, Aru's not here."
"What do you mean 'not here'? Where else could she be!" Ryosuke shrugged.
"Hmm, you two entertain me. But now, you shall die at my hands as I take this world for myself." She lifted her hands and formed two glowing orbs of dark energy. When the were fully charged, she threw them. Cedeile and Ryosuke dodged them, and they crashed into the walls.
"That was close!"
"Watch it, Cedeile. She's not going down as easily as the gargoyle." Ryosuke warned, drawing his sword. Cedeile nodded in understanding. Aru rushed in at that moment, panting as she skidded to a halt, her face mysertirously red.
"Aru?"
"I'm sorry guys. Let's just fight Lady Chain and get it over with!" she cried, preparing to cast a spell. The fierce battle began. Cedeile and Ryosuke dashed forward, while Aru stayed back, giving them cover fire. When they reached her, she jumped out of the way, stuck them both with her chain. Both cried out in pain as they were hurled to the floor. They struggled to get back up and face their adversary again. She floated above them, holding her chain in her right hand losely, ready to attack again. Aru focused at a certain spot on Lady Chain, and began to conjure a spell.
"FIRE ARC!" She yelled, breaking the tense silence that had followed the first assault. The arc rushed forward towards it's mark. Aru closed her eyes, praying that it hit the mark.
"Aru...her weak spot is her right shoulder...where the chain his connected to her body..."Kai whispered softly. The magician nodded. Kai released her and them smiled to break the tension. "I know you guys can beat her."
"We will." she turned and ran, her body still warm from being in his arms.
'Kai...it will hit the mark!' her eyes flashed open, just as the fire hit, causeing a grea spark. Lady Chain looked in shock and horror.
"No!" she screamed. When the smoke cleared, the three looked at the wound in horror. The dress had burned off her shoulder, revealing where the chain went into her shoulder. "What? Stop staring like that! Why are you looking at me!"
"So you have a chain in your shoulder?" Cedeile asked, confused.
"We still have a battle to finish!" Lady Chain sneered. She swung her chain and hit Cedeile and Ryosuke again. They dropped back on the ground.
"Cedeile! Ryosuke!" Aru cried. She then just jumped out of the way while another glowing orb of dark energy was shot at her. "AQUA!" she cast the spell in the same manner she did outside, and the pillar of water shot from the circle and hit Lady Chain, although mising the chain. Ryosuke used his sword to prop himself up, breathing with difficulty after being hitwith the chain twice. He felt his vision blurring, but still insisted on standing.
"This...sucks..." Cedeile gasped, trying to sit upright. Ryosuke crawled over to her, not being able to get himself upright either.
"Are you able to stand...?" he asked, his voice filled with pain.
"N-no...how about you?"
"We don't stand a chance here. We have to move out of the way..." he panted. Cedeile nodded.
"I wonder what kind of magic she used on us?"
"I think it was electricity. I felt the painful shock go through me when it hit. And my body burns." Ryosuke explained. They both stayed still, not sure if their bodies could take another hit. Aru was trying the best she could to fight Lady Chain, but her MP wouldn't charge fast enough to keep up with her spell casting. Soon she had one shot left. She had to chose her spell wisely, and make she it hit. She focused her energy into her hands and prepared to shot the maigc at the enemy.
"BLIZZA!" she screamed, shooting the blue frost where she anticipated Lady Chain to be. Unfourtunatly, her timing was slightly off, so the attack only grazed Lady Chain's right arm. She laughed as Aru collapsed.
"Ha ha ha. Little girl, you are not match for me. Now you have no strength left, and your friends are helpless! But even though they can't move so great, they are still alive, so I should go kill them. I'll be back..." She landed on the ground from floating around the room, and slowly walked to where the two fallen warriors layed. Aru lifted her head from the floor and watched the whole thing happen.
'Wait!' she thought, realizing something. 'If I removed the form shift spell, then I would gain some extra MP faster. And Cedeile and Ryosuke would gain their normal bodies back, making them able to move again. Here I go...' she pushed herself off the floor, and lifted her hands into the air, calling back the magic from the form shift. Gold specks of light slowly rose from Cedeile and Ryosuke, floating back to Aru, who was glowing. They gathered in her outstreched hands. Lady Chain paid no head, and continued to approach the two injured fighters. Ryosuke saw this, not sure if he'd be able to move again in time. He painfully shifted himself, so that he blocked Cedeile from Lady Chain.
"Ryosuke? What the hell are you?"
"I'm going to protect you. You're the heartblade master, so you gotta live, whether you want to or not, got it?" Cedeile smiled at him. Lady Chain picked up her chain. "I promise, I won't let you die before me!"
"Have fun in hell!" she said, bringing it down for an attack. All at once, there was flash of gold light, and explosion, and his cloak flew into the air...
-
6H: That's the end! Just kidding!
-
The light cleared. Lady Chain smirked, seeing Ryosuke's cloak smoking on the floor. But then she looked up, and gasped. Ryosuke still stood-yes stood- before her. He used his cloak to block the shot. He was now back in his normal clothes. He wore a dark blue shirt and dark blue pants that changed to grey at the knees. Two belts crosed over his shoulders, holding his scabbard in place for his huge sword. He smirked at Lady Chain.
"You can't kill me that easily." he taunted cockly. Cedeile opened her eyes, after hearing his voice. Then she looked at her hands. She had her normal fingerless gloves on. She looked down-all her clothes were back to normal. Aru stood in the distance, back in her white robe, smiling at them.
"Ryosuke...You idiot!" Cedeile yelled at him. He just turned to look at her.
"Nice. Is that how you thank someone for saving your life?" He asked sarcasticly. She frowned.
"Whatever. What matters now is killing Lady Chain." Cedeile eaisly stood. Lady Chain looked mortified.
"I...What...you..." she stuttered, lost for words. She slowly backed up, but then stopped, knowing Aru was behind her. "Alright! I surrender! I'll go back to amuseing myself in my caslte and I won't try to take over the town!" she said, sobbing. She went to run out of the room, but then she turned, smirking. "But the heartless don't surrender!"
"What? We still gotta fight them?"
"Yeah. Good luck getting out, brats! They still want to kill you!" And she disappeared.
"That damn-" Cedeile started, going to run after her, but Ryosuke put a hand on her shoulder to stop her.
"Stop, Cedeile. She's not our enemy anymore. She's given up. We just have to get outta here."
"But don't you remember what Mr. Wickette said? No one can get out because of the magical barrier. And there are heartless everywhere." Kai staggered into the room.
"Is she dead?"
"She gave up." Cedeile anwsered bluntly. She was cleary annoyed. Kai shook his head.
"That's Lady Chain alright. But the heartless are getting ready to come here and kill us. And the keyhole is still up for grabs- they could destroy this whole world!"
"What?" Ryosuke and Aru shouted at the same time. Cedeile sighed in frustration.
"Do I LOOK like the keyblade master!" she said, irritated.
"Cedeile, we can't just leave these people here to be killed by heartless. Let's find the keyhole!" Kai went to the balcony, climbing up onto the roof above.
"This way! We can escape through here."He said. They followed, careful now that they didn't have wings. "Yeah, I thought you guys looked different. So, Aru, you used a spell to disguise yourselves."
"Yeah. It was so we could get in."
"I had a suspiscion that you were human." he admitted. "But who cares? You guys are gonna save us all anyway." he said, as they continued to climb. The made it to a large expanse of roof, where they stopped to rest. That's when Cedeile looked at a nearby tower window. She walked towards it to get a better look.
"Cedeile?" Ryosuke asked.
"See that window?" she asked, pointing to it. "It's the keyhole." They all looked. Indeed, it was shaped like one.
"I see it" Kai exclaimed.
"But what do we do? Cedeile can't lock it!" Cedeile thought for a few seconds.
"But maybe...I can purify it..." she said. She walked forward, off the edge of the roof, and through the air until she stood right in front of it. The others stared as she lifed the Heartblade into the air. Suddenly, a heartless jumped off a roof from behind the group. Ryosuke drew out his sword and sliced it in half, but a terrible clanging sound came out of it. He only withdrew his sword back into it's scabbard and watched as Cedeile pointed her staff towards the keyhole. A great light engulfed them both as the keyhole was purified. She came back down to where they all stood.
"What was that? Purifying the keyhole?" Ryosuke asked. Aru nodded, looking at the globe of light that surround the keyhole, blocking it off.
"It's a temporary solution...it will keep it safe until it can be locked." Aru explained. Cedeile nodded.
"Now we have to get out of here. Heartless are everywhere."
"You sense them?"
"I see them, Ryosuke. We're surrounded."
"I don't think any of us are in the condition to fight anymore right now..." Aru gasped. Suddenly, across the sky, they saw a flying wooden basket with huge white wings.
"Hey kids! It works!" Mr. Wickette waved from his flying machine. It broke through the magic barrier and swooped down to the roof. They ran to get in, jumping from the roof to the flying machine. The heartless persued, but Cedeile zapped them as she flew through the air. As soon as they were all aboard, they made their way to the feilds outside the wall. The wind blew pleseantly in their faces as the moon cast their guiding light.
"I thought you kids were dead!" he admitted, driving them away from the castle.
"Dead? Geez, old man! Thanks for having faith!" Cedeile said.
"You came just in time, Mr. Wickette!" Kai said. Cedeile stepped next to Ryosuke.
"Uh...Ryosuke...I forgot to say thanks..." Cedeile said softly, so only he could hear. He looked at her, a little shocked, but then smiled.
"No problem, heartblade master. And...I guess you can start calling me Ryu now." He turned away, looking over at the other side of the machine. Cedeile smiled.
"So I guess I'm worhty enough to be your friend now, eh fragment hunter? Even though you kidnapped me?" she teased. They all began laughing, except for Ryosuke...or Ryu, now, who was yelling at Cedeile that he did not kidnapp her.
-
They landed softly in the feild and exited the flying machine. Kai looked back up at Moonlight Castle.
"Well, I don't think Lady Chain will bother us again." he said happily.
"That's good!" Cedeile said, pleased with her work. "And now your world will be safe from heartless."
"That's true. And we even got a fragment from it all." Aru added.
"Yeah, but..."Ryu said, taking out his radar. "This thing still says that there's another fragment close to us."
"Sure that it isn't just picking up the ones we have?"
"Don't be stupid! Of course I'm sure. I made this thing, remember. In fact...the signal... it's coming from..." Kai turned to face them.
"Me." he confessed. "I have a fragment in my heart."
"Huh" Cedeile said, confused. "But how?"
"It landed there a long time ago. I'm not sure how I knew, but I just did. And it has been with me ever since."
"But how do we get it without hurting Kai?" Aru asked, concerned.
"Cedeile ,why don't you purify him?"
"But, won't that?"
"It only hurts the heartless because they're made of darkness. But Kai's good, so it won't hurt him, only help him. Try it." Cedeile looked at Kai.
"Go ahead. Sounds like a good theory."
"Well, what're you waiting for?" Mr. Wickette asked. Cedeile sighed and pointed her staff at Kai. A light surrounded him as the fragment emerged from his heart. His injuries also vanished and his strength returned. The light faded, and the fragment fell to the ground. Kai bent down to pick it up, and handed it to Cedeile.
"Here. Take good care of it." he said, placing it in Cedeile's hand. She nodded.
"I will." Ryu coughed loudly.
"If we're done here, I think we should go."
"Come on, Ryu! Don't be a stick in the mud!" Ryu went to take out his sword to use to tease her, but as soon as he held it out in front of him, the blade fell off and fell to the ground. They all stared. Ryu slowly lifted the handle with the little blade that was still connected.
"NO!" He screamed. "How could this happen?"
"Remember when you attacked that heartless while Cedeile purified the keyhole? Maybe that caused it to break."
"This is terrible! It's a custom sword! The core is an strong type of iron called ironseig that was weilded under a Blizzaga spell. Then over that was molded protera metal-the metal used to make Protera chains-under a Thundra spell. Then there were TWO layers of silver coating done under a firaga spell. And the handle is carved from a rare mineral from the Mica Mountains, the amulet above the handle was inlayed by hand! Plus my dad had it made for me, so he'll be really mad when I tell him it's broken!"
"Sound complex." Cedeile said confused, as she had been lost after the first line. Aru nodded.
"Blacksmith magic."
"Why don't you bring it to the guy who made it?" Cedeile asked.
"Because the world the guy LIVED in was DESTROYED!" he yelled in frustration.
"Well then, we'll bring it back to Cid in Traverse Town. He said he could fix anything."
"That sounds like a plan." Aru agreed. "So we should set out now."
"Yeah. come on Ryu!" Cedeile turned to Mr. Wickette and Kai. "I guess you two can go to other worlds now."
"Nope. We're staying right here." Kai said. "But come back and visit."
"We will. Thanks alot, the both of you." Mr. Wickette waved.
"Thank you for stopping Lady Chain and saving our world." he said. The group began to walk away.
"Wait! Aru!" Kai yelled. She turned as he walked up to her, and knelt down to her level.
"Yeah, Kai?"
"I just wanted to say thanks..."he placed a hand under her chin and lifted her face. In a quick and simple gesture, he placed his lips on hers, and then pulled away. He smiled at her. She blushed a furious shade of red. She stepped back, slipping out of his grasp, and ran to catch up with Ryu and Cedeile. Kai stood back up and smiled after her retreating form. "Till the next time then, Aru. Okay?"
The moon smiled down on them as they walked back to the woods. All of them had gained something during their journry. For Ryu, he had gained two new friends to rely on from now on. Aru gained the adoration of someone. And Cedeile...she had gained someone's trust, the greatest gain of all.
-
6H: Heh heh. I couldn't help puttting a little fluff at the end. They're off to the next part of their mission. But where they stop next may suprise you. See you then! And vote for Tifa or Rinoa!
Anaretsu: Must you keep mentioning that?
6H:Yeah. Well, Lady Chain is a very cool enemy. I just couldn't kill her! She's too cool. Really. Someday, I hope to put up pictures of the characters on my site. But my site isn't exactly ready yet and I don't know if my drawings are too anime. I don't draw realy people well, but I do anime really good. Please tell me what you think. That would require you to review. HAH!
