6H:Welcome to the City of Masks, where removing your own mask means certain death. Three newcomers have stopped for a visit. Let's entertain them shall we?

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Kigdom Hearts-Shattered Fragments

Fragment 16-City of Masks

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Cedeile, Ryu, and Aru walked through the gates, above which read 'MCFUZZ TOWN.' It was just as weird as Cid had said. The buildings were crooked and bent at all kinds of weird angles. The streets were full of people, all in masks. Some were of animal faces, others mythical creatures, and some were just covered with artistic designs. But these people seemed to be walking just for the sake of walking-not with any particular destination in mind. The three stuck close, walking carefully among the crowd. Suddenly, a man jumped in front of them. His mask was half gold and half blue with glittering silver stars sprinkled on it.

"Heeeelllloooo children. Isn't it a woooonnnnnderfullll daaayyy tooodaaayyy?" he almost sung, twirling around as he talked. "It's a verrryyyy wooonnnnnderfulll daaayyy!"

"Uh...yeah?" Cedeile agreed, stepping back from the man. He fourtunatly leaped off in the crowd.

"I don't think I can sleep at night anymore." Ryu stated. Cedeile trembled, and Aru fainted. After waking Aru up again, they continued on. They headed down a street that was pratically deserted, and darker than the main road they had been on. They walked queitly, barely talking. Ryu walked ahead of the girls, desprate to find Silver Eye. Suddenly he stopped, looking up at a sign hanging from a building.

"Is this it?" Cedeile asked.

"It says blacksmith. Let's go." Ryu led the way as they walked down the steps and opened the door. A bell made a little ringing noise. They cautiously stepped in, seeing no one in the shop. Ryu walked up to the counter. "Hey! Silver Eye!" he yelled. Suddenly, a man popped up from behind the counter, wearing a red monster mask.

"Hey there!" he said.

"AHHHH!" the trio screamed from shock, and jumped back two feet.

"Sorry about that!" the man said. "Say, are you kids from around here?" he asked.

"No." Ryu told him. The man sighed and removed his mask. He had long silver hair and a short beard.

"Thank god! I thought you were the police coming to get me! It's okay, you can take off your masks." Ryu lifted his and left it resting on top of his head.

"Are you Silver Eye?" Ryu asked the old man.

"I am. What can I do for you?" Ryu placed his sword on the counter.

"Can you fix this?" he asked. Silver Eye picked up the handle and examined it.

"Well, seems like you got an ironseig core-"

"Yes, we know! Blizzaga, Thundra, firaga, nickel! We've heard the process two times!" Cedeile yelled. Silver Eye nodded.

"Of course I can fix this. They don't call me a master blacksmith for nothing." he chuckled.

"Hey, Silver Eye. If you live in McFuzz Town, then why do you take off your mask?" Cedeile asked.

"Because I'm not originally from here and because I hate wearing masks!"

"Then why come here?" Aru asked him. He sighed sadly.

"I'm hiding."

"From who?" Ryu questioned.

"Mallificent."

"Mallificent? Who's that?"

"She's the leader of the heartless and she's as evil as it gets. She's been hunting me down for quite some time now."

"Why? What did you do to her?" Aru asked, approaching.

"She wants to know the secret of the keyblade." he confessed. "She thinks I forged it, but I did not. She won't believe a word I say, and that's why she's coming after me. So I left a fake copy of me at my workshop to make her think I died and I came here. Since everyone wears masks, it's the perfect place to hide!" he laughed.

"I guess that makes sense." Ryu said. "By the way, how much will it cost to fix my sword?"

"Nothing, nothing. I just have to melt it back together. It shouldn't be too hard, since it's an easy break."

"The people here sure are strange." remarked Aru.

"Yes. They exagerate everything in the best possible way and don't admit when anything is wrong. They won't even come the realization that the mayor is missing."

"The mayor is missing?" Cedeile exclaimed.

"Yes. Mayor McFuzz XXI. He's been gone a few days now, but his family won't even say so. They've already put ten people to death for saying he's gone."

"That's extreme. And you actually live with these people?" Cedeile asked, amazed.

"It's quite strange." Silver Eye added.

"You think it's them?" Ryu asked, not wanting to say the forbbiden word.

"Must be." Cedeile said. A beeping noise from Ryu's cloak made them silent. Ryu took out the fragment radar.

"How many, Ryu?" Aru asked, walking over and peaking at the radar.

"Two...maybe three. They're not too far from here."

"Alright then, me and Aru will take the radar, look for the fragments and see what's up at the mayor's house. You can join us when your sword's fixed." Cedeile said, summoning the heartblade. Ryu nodded. The girls slipped their masks back on their faces.

"Be careful, you two. Don't get put to death." he joked. Cedeile lifted her mask breifly and winked.

"I'll try." and with that, the two were out the door. Silver Eye took the two peices of the sword.

"How long, Silver Eye?" asked Ryu, still looking at the door.

"Not long, boy. Not long at all."

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"Let's see...the radar says they're right ahead of us somewhere. I guess it's still far away." Cedeile said, looking at the radar. The two had walked back to the main road, and were following it up the hill to the mayor's house, which looked like a gothic mansion. It, too, was crooked, leaning forward at them.

"It's really big...but looks haunted." Aru shivered.

"The radar says they're inside!"

"We have to go in? But how will we get there?"

"I guess we'll sneak in. Shouldn't be too hard, right?"

"Sneak in! We might as well volunteer to be put to death!"

"Stop panicing! Everything will be fine." Cedeile opened the gate and walked into the lawn, which was a dead brown color. She then walked up the stairs and rung the doorbell.

"Cedeile?"

"What? Maybe we can get a tour!" Aru ran up beside her, not wanting to stand by herself in this strange world. The door opened to reveal a tall, thin woman, wearing a white mask that covered her eyes and nose, but left her mouth exposed. Her dress was a gold color with long sleeves and a small train. Brown hair touched her shoulders. She smiled.

"Why hello there! How wonderful to have guests on such a beautiful day! Come in, please come in!" she said, pulling them inside the huge house. "Now, what brings you two to my door on such a great day?"

"We were wondering if you've-"Aru stomped on Cedeile's foot before she could go on.

"What she means is we would absolutly love to go on a tour of the super wonderful house of our dear mayor and all those before him!" Aru said, speaking the way the masked people did. The woman smiled.

"How fabulously delightful! You two children are so polite! Of course I shall show you the house. I am the wife of our absolutly wonderful mayor!" she said. The two girls followed, as it seemed the woman floated over the ground when she moved. They went up a flight of stairs and stopped in a huge corridor lined with pictures on one side and windows on the other.

"um...Mrs. McFuzz, tell me...why is our super great and fabulous town not just named 'Mask Town.'" Cedeile asked. She laughed.

"Why, our town in named after our mayorial family. It all started when Mayor McFuzz II came to this world and built our town up from the ground. Ever since him we have had super fabulous lives and have been guided by a super stupendious wonderful mayor." They procceded to walk through the halls, stopping to look at various rooms as they went.

"Why do we wear masks?" Aru asked. Cedeile swore she could've seen Mrs McFuzz twitch.

"Your wonderful parents surely must've told you?"

"Uh...no, they never told us." Cedeile chimmed in.

"The reason we wear super masks on our great faces is so that we ignore differences in the way we look, so that the bonds between us are not hindered by appearance. And that is the super wonderful reason we wear masks. Only the mayorial family may ever remove their masks, and they cannot do it in front of others outside the family. I remember the first time I was able to see my face after I married my wonderful and stupendious husband. I never imagined I was so beautiful."

"That's such a super fabulous and wonderful story." Aru said, pretending to cry. Mrs. McFuzz nodded.

"Well now, the tour is over. But please, I would love to have you fabulous and wonderful children back again!" she said. And in three seconds flat, they were out the door.

"Well that was helpful." Cedeile complained. "What do you think we should do, Aru?"

"A little spy work. Come here!" she pulled Cedeile next to her and then lifted her hands upward. "Aero!" she whispered. Wind softly lifted the upward to see inside the house.

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6H:Well, that's all for this chapter. Ha! Cliffhanger!

Anaretsu: Meh.

6H: I believe I have become addicted to MY OWN fanfiction, which is really scary.

Anaretsu: It is. That is really scary! And sad.

6H:Well, until the next chapter!