6H:It's time for Chapter 45! YAY!

Jack: I'M BACK! YES!

Anaretsu: Oh boy...

6H:At this time, The Jack of Spades and myself would like to invite you to my special chapter 50 party! YAY!

Jack:It's gonna be a blast! Even more so than the chapter 30 party!

6H:We have to go decorate! AWAY!


Kingdom Hearts-Shattered Fragments

Fragment 45-Friend or Foe! Makota and Kirisu


Going through the normal heartless barage, the group made it to a new tunnel that led to an even bigger valley. Strong currents gusted out of passages in the wall and up out of huge stone colums.

"Come on, guys! Let's look around! Maybe we'll find a clue on where to go!" Cedeile said, darting off in one direction recklessly. Ryu shook his head.

"I'll go after her. We'll meet up here in a bit, okay?" he said, before chasing after the heartblade master. The rest split up into groups of two-Aru and Sora going one way, and Ariel and Donald exploreing some of the tunnels. Ryu swam as fast as he could, looking for Cedeile. "Cedeile!"

"I'm over here!" She called. Ryu found her waiting for him.

"Don't just go off on your own. It's not safe."

"Sorry! Guess I just want to find the fragments and then defeat whoever's causing all this mess." she shrugged.

"We don't have to stick around that long."

"You mean...you're just going to leave after we find the fragments? Sora will still need our help." Ryu shook his head.

"You always think of him, don't you?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"I mean...It's just if it was me, it'd be different." Cediele looked at him confused. He turned away from her, looking towards the ground. "Forget it, okay." Suddenly, there a was movment of water near them. "What was that?"

"I didn't say anything, Ryu."

"No, shut up and listen!" He hissed at her. The sound came again. Ryu pulled Cedeile behind a rock, and peeked around the corner to watch. "We're not alone out here."

"No duh. Everyone else is in this valley too."

"No, you idiot! I mean...oh just shut up!" Cedeile followed his lead by looking around the side of the boulder. Something came into view-it looked like some sort of tail, but a light blue color. It disspeared as soon as Cedeile caught sight of it.

"What was that? A heartless?" She asked Ryu.

"I don't know...maybe you should..." Cedeile dashed out from behind the rock, facing whatever intruder was out there and unleashed a band of purifing magic.

"Ekks!"

"Oh crud..." Cedeile's voice came. Ryu smacked his head. Swimming around the rock, he found Cedeile and a poor girl, cowering in fear. "Look I'm sorry! I thought you were a heartless."

"What'd you do now, Cedeile?"

"Tried to purify this girl." She said, pointing to her newest victim. The girl had wavy black hair that licked her shoulders, and pale skin like snow. And, like most people in this world, she had a tail and fin, both of light blue. Ryu reached down to help her up off the ground.

"Sorry about that. Cedeile's not that bright."

"Hey!"

"It's alright. I'm not hurt or anything." the girl replied.

"Why were you sneaking around here anyway? Isn't it supposed to be dangerous the farther from the castle you get?" Ryu asked.

"I don't live in the castle, or any of King Triton's kingdom." The girl said.

"Oh, we forgot to ask your name! I'm Cedeile, and this jerk here is Ryu."

"I'm not a jerk." he pouted.

"Oh, be quiet!" she said, smacking him in the back of the head. 'Ahh...vengence at last...'she thought.

"I'm...Makota..."she replied.

"There are alot of heartless around here. Aren't you scared?"

"No, the heartless don't scare me. Besides, they won't attack me..."she trailed off, as if she realized she said something she shouldn't have.

"Why?"

"Huh?"

"Why won't they attack you?" Ryu asked, suspiciously.

"Why would they waste their time on me? They'd want to go after the king...or the princess. Speaking of which, I hope she stays in the castle. The heartless really would like her blood."

"Where'd you hear that?" Cedeile asked, alarmed.

"Oh, just around. It's really only a silly rumor. But if I were her, I'd never leave my father's side! I'd be so afraid..." Cedeile and Ryu looked at each other, not sure whether to believe her or not.

"Well, we should get back to the others. They might be wondering where we are." Ryu turned to their new friend. "Makota, you're coming with us. I don't like the idea of you by yourself out here."

"I wouldn't want to hold your group back. It's alright, I'll be fi-"Before she could turn to leave, Ryu grabbed her hand.

"Come." Makota gave up and let herself be dragged along by him. Cedeile stayed behind, watching them.

'Why is he holdng her hand like that? He can let go anytime. And why aren't they waiting for me?' She swam after them.


After they all met back and were introduced to Makota, they decided to go back to the grotto to plan something out, considering that the heartless didn't seem to invade the inside, and it was quite peacful. Of course, they were ambushed by the usual heartless hordes, and tried to escape past them without gaining too much damage.

Sitting within the safe confindes of it's rock walls, they all shot ideas at each other. No one could really think of anything good to use. Of course, no one would say they'd been thrown up against a rock wall, so they kept going over the facts, making Cedeile feel like some sort of detective.

"Sora and I found a tunnel with two passages in it that aren't accesible anywhere else." Aru said.

"The only problem is that to get to them, you have to go against a really tough current." Sora added.

"Ryu and I didn't find anything at all."

"All we found were heartless..."Donald stated. "And some underwater mazes that took us no where."

"We have to figure out how to get past that current..."Cedeile said, thinking.

"Don't think too hard, Cedeile. You'll hurt yourself."

"Very funny, Ryu." Suddenly, Ariel came up with an idea.

"There's a dolphin that swims around this area. It's strong enough to swim against the current and bring us there!"

"But won't Ryu scare it away? He is a shark, after all..."Cedeile teased. He glared at her.

"Makota, will you come with us?" Aru asked. The black haired girl shook her head.

"I don't want to be a burden. You guys go on ahead." she told them.

"Then stay here. You'll be safe." Ryu said to her. She nodded.

"I will, Ryu."

"Hey, wait a minute! Only Ryu's good friends call him that! His real name is Ryosuke."

"It's alright Cedeile. Forget it. She can call me Ryu if she wants." He swam out of the cave. Cedeile felt her anger rising.

'When I first met him, I got yelled at for calling him Ryu. It took awhile before he said I could call him that. Now this girl shows up and can call him 'Ryu' whenever she wants? I don't believe him!' she fumed silently, following the rest of the group. When the boulder closed, Makota waited for a few moments. The sound of moving water filled the grotto, destroying silence. Then, when she was sure that no one was around, she looked up at the hole at the top of the cave and quietly swam to it. Glancing around one last time, she slipped up through the gap and into open waters.

She swam down to the ocean floor and pulled aside some weeds to reveal another tunnel. Looking around, she slipped into it like a snake. The tunnel was narrow-she could barely slide through it- and was overgrown with weeds. It seemed to lead right to the depths of hell as it sloped down and around like a rollar coaster. Finally, it let out near the palace. Exitting, she made her way down under the coral rocks and other tropical water plants and up to the gates. Suddenly, she caught sight of Goofy, who was still guarding his post, although not really well, for he was...talking to a fish. Yes, it was very strange.

Ducking behind a column, Makota peeked around the corner, looking for an alternative route. Maybe it was better to wait till later- the guard should be out like a light by then. So, off she was to report back to her superior.


After getting a free ride against the current of the strange tunnel, the gang was in a huge new area, crowned by an old shipwreck. Debris lay around the area, mangled every which way.

"Holy hell..."Cedeile murmer at the great mass.

"We have to be careful, though. Sharks are supposed to hang around this place." Ariel cautioned them. They proceeded slowly down to the wreck below them. The looked around at the pieces of wreckage that lay strewn about the ocean floor. Cedeile decided to proceed ahead of the group and up to the ship. Just as she made it to the deck, something wizzed by her and then planted itself in front of her. It was a huge,vicious shark with great white teeth and meancing red eyes, both of which focused on her. After a moment of suspense, it charged down at her. She dodged it, landing above the attack, and narrorwly missing it's second assualt.

"Hey guys! A little help here!" Cedeile called. In her lack of attension for the new foe, she was thrown against the deck again, feeling as if the impact could've broken the brittle wood. The call for help had been heard down below where the rest of them were still looking for clues. Ryu and Sora both rushed up madly at the same time. Just before the shark attacked Cedeile, the two boys struck it, sending it back. While Sora went to keep it's attension, Ryu went over to her girl. "Thanks Ryu. I was almost a-"

SLAP!

"You idiot! Why weren't you more careful!" Ryu yelled at her. She felt the stinging pain left by his hand. It radiated it's own warmth. She looked back up at him, a little shaken up from the sudden move. Ryu nearly gasped at her expression and looked down at the hand he'd used to strike her. At first, he had been angry at her for putting them all in danger. Now he felt ashamed. He looked back at the master of the heartblade. 'And I told her I'd protect her. I promised her she wouldn't die before I did. And now look at me...'

"Aru, look out!" Donald yelled at the girl. The voice came from a distance, but seemed almost years away.

"Cedeile...I..." Before he could say anything else, she got up and swam out of there, going back to the entrance to the area. Ryu clenched his eyes shut in frustration.

The rest of the group was not having a great time with the shark. Sora charged at it with his keybalde extended, by got smacked out of the way by one of it's fins. Aru attmepted to cast a spell, but was knocked into the ship, crashing through the window. It followed her over. Inside the ship, she slowly pushed herself up, blood trickleing from various small cuts on her body. The huge beast attempted to get at her through the window, chomping it's fangs at her. She screamed, clasping her hands over her head and ducking down. Sora attacked it from behind with such a great force that it knocked it unconicous. Sora swam into the new hole in the ship and helped Aru up.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm fine." She looked out fromunder some broken boards. "Is that a treasure chest?" she asked. Ariel and Donald came to join them as Sora moved the wooden planks and waved the dust away. Slowly opening it, he found a crystal ornament in the shape of a trident.

"Whoa..."he said in awe.

"It must've come from another world." Ariel commented, coming closer for a better look. Ryu swam down into the wreck.

"Is Cedeile okay?" Aru asked him.

"She...left here. I don't know where she went."

"What?" Donald exclaimed. Sora swam up to him.

"What did you do to her?" He asked angrily. Ryu looked up at the keyblade master, a great pain in his eyes.

"I didn't mean to, I swear. I just lost it and I..." he couldn't go on.

"This isn't like you. Is something wrong, Ryu?" Aru asked, placing a hand on his shoulder. He shook it off.

"I'm going to go find her..." he swam off without another word to the group. They all looked at each other in worry.


As Cedeile swam into the dark cave, she felt the tempeture rise in the water around her. Lava glowed from the cracks in the floor, but it remained quite dark. She was really just wandering aimlessly, but now she felt like she was going in circles over and over. Every wall looked the same to her.

She touched the cheek that had been aflicted. The faint burning feeling, thought fading away, still hurt as much to her. Why would Ryu hit her? He'd only smacked her over the head when he told her she was stupid, but this was different. He'd been so angry...

The sound of movement caught her attension as she looked behind her, swearing to see something swimming away. She decided to check it out, and followed the sound. Going around the corner, she caught the end of a tail. A rather famillar looking tail as well...

Trying to get closer, she nearly fell out into the open waters that suddenly came out of no where. Staying at the end of the tunnel, she saw a huge rock formation that looked like a huge, posessed fish. And swimming towards it was Makota. The lair looked dark and evil, so Cedeile used logic to guess that this was the lair of an evil being. She turned around quickly to get back to the others, only to crash right into Ryu.

"Ryu! Makota is swimming towards that rock...thing!"

"So?" Cedeile looked back at it, an omnimous feeling coming over her.

"Let's head back." She said, swimming past him. He turned, following a good distance behind her. He wondered what had her wound up.


Getting back into the lighter part of the ocean and meeting up with the group, Cedeile told them what she saw. Sora, Aru, and Donald looked at her like she was nuts, and Ariel seemed to be thinking about it.

"What did the rock look like?"

"Kinda like a weird fish...like this!" she said, making a weird face.

"No..that can't be..."

"What can't be?" Sora asked her. "Is something wrong? What does that mean?" The girl took in a deep breath.

"That is the lair of Ursula the sea witch. I'm not sure what happened, but I think she used to work in the palace, but got banished."

"Okay, 'sea witch' and 'banished' in the same sentence do NOT sound good to me." Cedeile said.

"She must've brought the heartless here!" Sora said. "But if Makota was going to her...Is Makota on the other side?"

"Damn it!" Cedeile exclaimed.

"We left her alone in the grotto! What if she's found the fragments, or knows where the keyhole is!" Aru gasped.

"I don't believe it! Why would Makota work for an evil witch?" Ryu asked. Cedeile turned to him.

"Why are you so concerned, Ryu?"

"I'm not!"

"Oh shut it, Ryu! Why are so desperate to know!" she yelled at him.

"Stop it the both of you!" Aru screamed. The two shut their mouths and looked at the magician. "The two of you have been acting weird since we got here. Now what's going on with the two of you?" They both looked at each other.

"Nothing, Aru. There's nothing..."Ryu said, not moving his eyes from Cedeile, who was giving him an annoyed glare. Sora looked from his best friend, to the fragment hunter, and back again. He felt pretty useless in this situation.

"Come on, you guys!" Donald said, breaking the tension. "Let's head back! We have to see what this crystal is for!" Still glareing at each other, Ryu and Cedeile took up the rear, with Aru right in front of them. She looked back at them, worried. They weren't usually so mad at each other. Why now?


They let the current sweep them out into the valley and then took a turn that Donald claimed was a shortcut. However, they just ended up getting lost and in another area, that was also fairly open. A few boulders or rock formations were scattered about. Not sure of what to do, they continued to wander.

"I told you that we should've gone left." Aru snapped at him.

"Oh shut up, rookie!" he yelled at her, calling her his new insult for her. He figured she could be a rookie in comparison to him-who'd been studying magic forever. Ariel swam in the front, looking around at the different rocks, and trying to make heads or tails of where they were. Suddenly, a huge group of rocks loomed in the distance. She sped up, wanting to see what they were. Aru and Donald stopped their bickering to notice.

"Ariel! Don't go off on your own!" Sora called, going to catch up with her. Cedeile stayed close behind him, and the rest behind them. Upon reaching the rocks, they found that they were somewhat arranged around in a circle, enclosing a small area, sheltering it from the tides. Ariel was before the largest of them, seemingly locked into place. The rock was actually a big cave, with bars made of seaweed streching across it, like a prison cell.

"Is something wrong?" Sora asked. She turned to him, her face pale.

"It's...a monster..."she whispered. Cedeile and Sora ventured forward, their respective weapons ready. From the darkness of the cave emerged the huge beast. It was rather strange looking-it had two huge eyes, and three horns. It's huge fins propped it up, making it look almost like a seal. All over it's body were rust and brown colored feathery weeds growing out of it, floating with the currents. It's huge eyes didn't look mean, but sad and meloncholy.

"Whoa..."Cedeile gasped. Sora dared to go forward.

"Who are you! What are you?" he asked. The monster opened its huge mouth, revealing its small fangs.

"I am Kirisu..." it said in it's low, tremedous voice. "Don't be afraid. I won't hurt you." Sora called off his keyblade and came closer.

"Why are you in this cave?" Sora asked. The rest of the gang waited with their breaths held.

"I am being held captive. I am deemed a great danger to all of the seas. I am thought to be a monster." Cedeile found her voice.

"Well, aren't you?"

"No...no...I was actually just like you once. But that was very long ago."

"What happened?" Sora asked. Kirisu sighed sadly. The gang relaxed a bit, seeing as they were in no danger. Cedeile and Sora stayed up close to the cage, while the rest of them sat down on a smaller rock in the middle of the circle.

"It was so long ago...all I wanted to do was protect Makota..."


6H:HAH HA HA! What a cliffie! I haven't written a good one in awhile.

Anaretsu:...

Jack: You're too evil, Six!

6H:How about I tell you the ending!

Jack: O-O NO! THAT'S SO WRONG!

6H: heh heh...