6H:I've come such a long way. 42 chapters. You don't see that everyday, do you?
Anaretsu: Thank god I don't!
6H:Oh boo to you. I would be working on this more often, But I'm so busy that I don't get the chance as often, and then I'm worn out, yada yada...well, here's chapter 42!
Kingdom Hearts-Shattered Fragments
Fragment 42-A Haunting Pain
Ryu and Aru dashed up the stairs, following Nabuki into the darkness. They dashed forward, suddenly losing sight of her.
"Where'd she go?" Aru asked franticly. Ryu turned to look behind them. Nabuki stood on the stone wall that overlooked the square. She gathered dark energy in her hands and flung in at them. The orb captured them and shot dark magic through them. They screamed in pain, and when the dark orb disappeared, they slid to the ground, panting from the intensity.
"Is that all you have?" Nabuki taunted. Ryu stood up to charge her, but she flung him back with a blast of darkness. He skidded along the stone ground.
"Thundra!" Aru yelled, sending lighting bolts crashing down. Nabuki repelled the lighting and shot it back at Aru. She put up her arms to protect herself, but got hit anyway.
"Now, to finish you all off." She pointed her index finger down at them, a light starting to form-she was planning on using the same attack she had used to kill Kana.
"Not so fast, Nabuki!" A voice yelled. Cedeile rushed through the doors at breakneck speed.
"The heartblade master!" Without really thinking, Cedeile used one of her basic, lame little purfying attacks, sending the arc of burning light forward.
"Cedeile, you idiot!" Ryu yelled at her. She turned to look back at him, confused.
"What?" she whined.
"You think that will do any good! Nabuki's the QUEEN OF THE DEMONS if you happened to forget! You need to use a stronger attack than that, fool!"
"Stop yellin' at me!" Cedeile cried at him. Suddenly, their was a shriek behind them. They turned to see Nabuki, crying in pain, hands on her face. The demon queen sunk to her knees, and then fell backwards onto the ground. The two looked at her, awe-struck. Cedeile shook her head violently and dashed forward to her. "Nabuki!" She knelt down and lifted her up. Nabuki dropped her hands, her one showing eye closed in pain, her breathing ragged. "Hold on Nabuki!" Cedeile urged.
The hair fell away from her other eye. Cedeile looked at her face as Nabuki slowly opened both eyes. Her one eye was the human looking brown one. The other one that had been hidden this whole time was a hidieous, burning demon eye. But now, it slowly dissvolved away like sand, leaving an eye identical to the other one. Her wings also disappeared in a similar way. She looked at Cedeile with childlike innocence.
"Nabuki..."Cedeile said in awe. The demon suddenly coughed roughly. "Oh, don't die, Nabuki!"
"Don't die?" Ryu asked, standing up and walking over. Aru followed. "We've been trying to kill her this whole time! Don't forget what she did to Yuffie. And Leon and Merlin could be dead for all we know! And now you want to save her?"
"I think...I purified her..." Cedeile said quietly.
"With that small attack?" Aru exclaimed. "You have to be joking!"
"No, I'm not. Look at her guys. Her demon eye is gone. Her wings are gone. She has no power now. Guys, she's back to being human. I don't know how, but she is." Cedeile looked back at the former demon queen. "Just hold on, Nabuki. We'll take you to Aerith. She'll heal you." Nabuki closed her eyes and shook her head gently.
"It's no use. Your intentions are honerable, but my sins are unforgivable. I can never go back to them. Not after all the pain I caused them. It was...a battle that started five years ago...and now it's ended."
"Don't say things like that! You're going to make it!" Cedeile yelled at her, tears threatening to fall from her green eyes.
"There is no way to save me, whether through magic or healing. When I made my pact with the demons, they said that if I was ever touched by the heartblade's light, I would die. However..." Nabuki turned her brown eyes to look up at Cedeile. Her eyes went wide when she saw Nabuki crying. "...I was able to deliver this to the right person..." Nabuki opened her one hand to show Cedeile what she had. In her black-gloved hand was not only a few fragments, but a white ribbon. "This ribbon is an attachment for the heartblade. It will unleash a great power-the heartblade's most powerful attack at this point. It appeared in my world some time ago, before it was destroyed. As my human self, I was destined to be the one who gave this to you. But as my demon self, I was destined to kill you...I'm glad my demon self didn't win." She paused, catching her breath. "I believe someday, I'll have to give you an even greater power. That is the day my true destiny will be revealed..." Nabuki clenched her eyes shut as she hacked up some blood.
"Nabuki, please don't die! You can fight it! You can change all this! Please! I don't want someone else to die because of me." Cedeile pleaded.
"I'm sorry I've cause so much trouble. My soul was in such agony because..." she stopped suddenly, a great pain rising in her eyes. Footsteps approached without warning.
"Cedeile." A hard voice commanded. The group looked up.
"Leon!" Nabuki whispered gratfully.
"Leon, please, you've gotta-"
"Cedeile, go! All three of you, leave here now. I'd like to have a word with Nabuki." He said sharply.
"But-"
"Go." he restated. He knelt down, and Cedeile gently handed Nabuki over to him.
"Nabuki...thank you for your gift. I won't forget what you've done. Thank you..."
"I'm glad I could meet you...as my human self." Nabuki said. Cedeile stood up, and the three gave the former demon a parting glance, before sorrowfully walking away towards the hotel. When Leon was sure they'd entered the building, he looked back down at the dying girl.
"You came back." he said bluntly.
"I'm so sorry Leon. I was a failure. I couldn't even avenge my parents..." she said sadly.
"No. This is all my fault. You became a demon because of me." He looked away, but she placed her hands on his face and turned him back to her.
"Don't ever say that. This was all my doing, not yours. None...of...this...is your fault." she told him.
"I wish I could change things. Everything for you demons seems to end in tragedy. One of my first friends was a half demon. But one day, she disappeared. I heard her father killed her somehow. Her name... it was Kana." Nabuki gasped. "What is it?"
"I knew Kana. She sought shelter among her demon brethern. She also sought to rule Book City as a vengence on her father. But she failed and I...I killed her Leon! Just like all the other people and demons I've come into contact with!" Leon looked at her, not sure wheather to believe her or not. "I wouldn't be able to rest if I didn't tell you that." She sobbed. "I've done...so many unforgivable things..." she coughed hard again. When she ceased, she looked at her hand. Blood, red blood, sat there in a pool, and flew down her arm. She watched it with curiosity behind narrowed eyes. "I deserve to die." Leon drew her in close, wrapping both arms around her tightly.
"No, don't say that!" he said angrily, although he knew she'd done some horrible things.
"I'm dying, Leon."
"I know."
"Are you inguries great? I can hear the blood drip on the ground."
"It's nothing I haven't gone through before." he thought for a moment. "But why?"
"So I could gain power. To avenge my parents by destroying all heartless. And...to make you love me..."
"This is..."
"It isn't. Don't blame yourself." She said, hugging him.
"But...I can't love you in return. I have...someone else..."
"And I wanted to kill that person so bad after I became a demon. I thought that even with demon powers, I'd still have control and be the same person. I was so wrong...and in the end, I wanted to kill you to. Because you couldn't love me...Forgive me...Leon."
"I do forgive you." Nabuki sighed and looked up at him one more time.
"If I'm permitted, I have one last request."
"You deserve that much. What is it?" She leaned up and whispered to him. He nodded. "Sure, anything...Nabuki..." He bent down and kissed her forehead.
"Thank you, Leon. Even if you don't mean it in the way I want it, I can at least pretend." She gently let her brown eyes close.
"I always cared for you as a younger sister, Nabuki. You were important to me. I just have a hard time of showing it." She nodded weakly. After a few moment, he knew she'd died. He sighed, and stood up, carrying her in his arms. A new set of footsteps came up from behind him.
"Leon..."Yuffie said sadly.
"She's dead, Yuffie. She died with a human heart." Yuffie sighed.
"I'm sorry, Leon. This is my fault, isn't it?"
"It has nothing to do with you." He turned and walked, brushing pass her.
"Leon...someday, will you tell me who your most important person is?" He stopped, smiling to himself.
"Yeah, someday soon, Yuffie."
"Good." She said, turning around. "Cause I wanna meet her." Leon continued on his way, and Yuffie watched him disappear into the darkness. Suddenly, a rain began to fall over Traverse Town. But she did seem to notice it too much.
"It was because she fell in love with Leon that she did what she did." Aerith said.
"How could anyone fall in love with that insensitive jerk?" Cedeile asked.
"He just has a hard time showing his true feelings." Aerith said. "Nabuki wanted so badly to learn magic from Merlin. At first, it was for revenge. But it turned into trying to get Leon to notice her. She became so obesessed that she gave up her soul for power." They fell into silence. Yuffie came into the green room silently. She was dripping wet from the rain, that now poured outside quite heavily. Aerith and Cid watched as she sat down. Then all was silent.
"It's over."
"We know, Yuffie. Nabuki is dead." Aerith said, patting one of the ninja's hands. Yuffie sniffed.
"It doesn't seem...fair. Not to Nabuki...and not to us either!" Yuffie broke out in a full sobb as she burried her head in her hands. Aerith got out of her seat and knelt beside her, putting an arm around her shoulder.
"I know Yuffie..."Aerith said, on the verge of tears herself. "But it's just the way things work out right now..." Cedeile stood up and opened the door into the red room, going in. Aru stood to follow her, but Ryu stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.
"I'll go."
"Are you sure?" Ryu nodded, his navy eyes completely sure. Aru sat back down and he stood, walking silently into the other room and shutting the door behind him. Aru sat there quietly, the only sound in the room was Yuffie crying and Aerith trying to make things better, but crying herself.
Ryu stood there for a few moments, not sure of what to say to Cedeile's back. The rain pounded on the balcony outside. A clock hanging on the wall ticked off each second. Finally, he dared to step forward. He was about to call out her name when she lifted up her hand and seemed to wipe her eyes-Ryu couldn't be sure.
"Cedeile..."
"Why am I crying?" she asked, slightly laughing. "I did the right thing. Nabuki wanted to end it all. And..." She turned to face him. "I'm not a whimp. I don't cry." She attempted a smile, but it was unconvinving with tears streaming down her face.
"Oh..." he replied, unsurly. Suddenly, Cedeile ran to him and grabbed onto his cloak, burying her face in it. "Cedeile?"
"Who am I kidding!" she asked him. "I feel like crap! I killed Nabuki, there's nothing right about that! And everyone's hurt because of me! Why do I have to keep hurting people?" Ryu sighed and placed his arms around her tightly. She looked up at him. "Ryu, how come you're not upset?"
"I used to cry a long time ago...but it wasn't helping anything, so I stopped." Noticing how close they were, they both pulled away aburptly, facing away from each other. "So, uh...what did she give you?"
"A power for the heartblade and some fragments."
"She had fragments?"
"Yeah...four."
"Do you know how many we have?" Ryu asked her. There was a long quiet that he took for her thinking about it-hard. After counting it out on her fingers to make sure, she anwsered him.
"Sixteen...right?" Ryu slowly gained a smile, although Cedeile didn't see it. "Well, am I right? Okay, go ahead and call me an idiot, Ryu. I've been wrong every other time."
"No...it's..right." He walked out of the room, quietly shutting the door behind him. Cedeile looked at the door in suprise. She slowly cracked a smile.
6H:That's the end of chapter 42! Their next adventure starts in chapter 43!
Anaretsu: Where are they going this time?
6H:Stay tuned to find out! Oh, and Merlin isn't dead. I forgot to mention that, didn't I?
