6H:Chapter 67!

Anaretsu: Please say it's almost over!

6H: It is!

Anaretsu: YAY!

6H:But don't worry! There's plenty more story to come!

Anaretsu: I think I'm gonna pass out!


Kingdom Hearts-Shattered Fragments

Fragment 67-Beyond the Keyhole! The Darkest Depths


Sora stepped forward, having to tilt his head up to see the entire keyhole. He looked back at the group behind him, unsure of what they should do.

"That's one hell of a keyhole." Ryu said, coming up to stand next to him.

"Are we going to seal it or not?" Donald yelled. Sora nodded.

"Okay, let's go in." he walked forward and up the stairs. He stopped in front of it, looking into the darkness.

"Well, are we just going to stare at it all day?" Ryu asked. Sora swallowed hard and made like he was going to step inside. Ryu rolled his eyes and pushed him in and then followed. Donald and Goofy were next. Last was Aru. She put her hand up to the swirling colors, ready to face the darkness beyond.

'Come on Aru...don't be weak...' She forced her hand through and entered slowly.


The walls, the floor, and the ceiling-they were all the same swirling mass of colors. It was hard to tell where one part of the room ended and the next part began.

"The darkest depths of Hallow Bastion..." Goofy said to himself.

"It's not really darkness...is it?" Ryu said warily. Sora took out his keyblade and began to walk forward. Ryu looked over his shoulder. "Hey Aru, do yo-" But Aru wasn't there. "Aru?" He fully turned around and walked to the exit door. Sticking his head head through, he looked around the main hall for her.

"What's the matter?" Donald asked.

"Aru's...gone."

"Gone?" Sora asked. "But that's not-" He was interupted by the whole place shaking violently. Sora fell over onto the ground and Ryu used his sword for support. A huge, giant, horned beast appeared before them bearing the heartless symbol on it's chest.

"What the damn-?" Ryu muttered under his breath when the shaking subsided. He pulled his sword out of the ground. "We have to fight this thing?"

"I guess so. We should've know it wouldn't be so easy!" Sora called to him.

"I have no idea where Aru is! Wasn't she behind one of you?" Ryu asked Donald and Goofy.

"Gawrsh...I thought she was..."

"More fighting, less talking!" Donald shierked. The beamouth pounded one of its massive feet into the ground, making it shake.

"Okay, okay! Let's kill this heartless and get it over with!" Ryu yelled. Sora went up first, leaping as high as he could and landed a hit onto the horn of the great beast. He fell back into Ryu, causing them both to fall backwards.

"That did it! Hit it's horn with all you got!" Sora told them all.

"I'd be glad to...just get off me first, damnit!" Ryu yelled. Sora looked down to see he was still sitting on top of Ryu.

"Sorry, Ryu. Heh heh..." He scratched the back of his head, embarassed, and climbed off the other boy. Ryu stood up, brushing off his clothes.

"Alright, let's do this for real." He extended his sword and ran towards the beast. The bent it's head down to try and spear Ryu through, but Ryu dodged and went around the back of the beast and hopped up on it's back. Sora and the others, meanwhile, were trying to strike the beast when it lowered it's head enough. They found out the hard way the it was imune to magic spells, making Donald useless in the fight, but he refused to give up.

Up on the monter's back, Ryu slowly crawled over to the head and saw the horn, glowing strangely with an anti-magic barrier. He gained his footing on the creature and came forward, giving it all he had, and hit the horn with his sword several times. The beast roared out in pain as Ryu struck it several times.

"Ryu!"

"How do you like my plan?" He yelled down to the keyblade master. Suddenly, the monster thrashed it's head back, and the fragment hunter went flying into a wall. He flopped onto the floor like a doll.

"Ryu!" The boy slowly got up and felt the back of his head. It was sticky and damp. He pulled his fingers out in front of him and saw they were covered in red. He clenched his teeth and got up again.

"You didn't like that, did you?" Ryu sneered at the heartless. He came up again and slashed at it's back leg. The creature fell forward, allowing Ryu to climb on. Sora followed him. "What are you doing?"

"Helping you fight!" Sora said. Ryu nodded and the two boys reached the head again and stood close to the horn, waiting for the beast to calm down and stop thrashing. When it did, the two raised their weapons and paused, waiting for the right moment.

"NOW!" The two thrust their respective weapons down and a light erupted from the keyblade, swallowing them both. They stood there in the light for a moment, wondering what was going on, when a booming yet gentle voice sounded around them.

"Well done...you have passed my test. I'm glad."

When the light died down, the two boys floated to the ground, landed softly on their feet. Donald used cure on Ryu, clearing up the blood leaking out of his head.

"What was that voice?" Ryu asked. Sora looked at the keyblade as it rested in his two hands.

"I...don't know..." he said, hesitantly. "Such a famillar voice, though...where have I heard it before?"

"Sora, look!" Donald yelled. On the other side of the room was the keyhole, glowing in light. Faintly within the keyhole, Sora swore he saw the figure of a woman, but as soon as he realized it, it was gone. He ran forward and pointed the keyblade at the keyhole. The keyhole lit up and streams of light flew out of it, dancing around the ceiling. A click assured him his work was done and a wall of light streched out from the floor to the ceiling, blocking the keyhole from harm.

"Well that's done." Ryu said, crossing his arms.

"Good job, Sora." a famillar voice said from the other side.


The group walked out of the dark depths to see Leon, Yuffie, and Aerith there.

"What are you guys doing here!" Sora asked.

"This...used to be our home..." Leon said.

"This place?" Ryu asked.

"It makes sense. Don't you remember the painting Lulu and Vincent showed us?" Aru asked. Everyone turned around suddenly, seeing the short magician right behind them. "What?"

"Where did you go, rookie?" Donald demanded. "You ran out of battle!"

"What are you talking about? I was fighting right beside you guys. I even got injured, see?" She showed them her right arm, which had one nasty looking gash in it, blood staining her clothes.

"The reminds me...we need a little healing power."

"I'll take care of it this time!" Aru said cheerfully. "CURAGA!" Healing light rained down on them, getting rid of all the blood and pain.

"Now that the keyhole is locked, the heartless will start to leave." Leon said.

"Yeah! And we'll be able to start rebuilding this place!" Yuffie added.

"It'll be hard work, but I'm sure one day, this place will be livable again." Aerith said, looking around the room they were standing in. "So, Lulu and Vincent are alive? We didn't think they made it."

"Didn't think we made it, huh?" A voice responded. The huge, double doors at the end of the hall opened and in the two of them came.

"Hey you guys!" Yuffie yelled happily, waving. The two of them slightly smiled and came up the stairs.

"It's been awhile." Lulu said. "Where have you guys been?"

"Where have YOU been?" Leon asked her. "We thought you two died."

"We almost did, and you guys will probably kill us anyway." Vincent said.

"Why?" Aerith asked. Vicent showed her his fake hand and she gasped. "Oh no...you guys...?"

"We found the Archive of Forbbiden Magic and we decided to use it for our surivial." Lulu explained. "We figured that the punishment for that is death."

"But...if you guys used it just to survive and fight the heartless...it's not like you were killing people..." Yuffie said, shaking.

"Of course not, Yu-chan." Vincent added, smirking at Leon.

"Hey!" he yelled. Vincent laughed.

"It was always easy to get on your nerves, Squall." Vincent said.

"It's Leon..."he growled.

"I'm older, remember?" he smirked at the gunblade master.

"So, now what do we do?" Sora asked, distraught. "The only clue we have to Cedeile's whereabouts is that she's at the 'last' world. And Riku...who knows where he is..."

"Calm down, kid." Ryu said. "We'll find them...somewhere..."

"Last World?" Aerith asked.

"I guess that means you'll be on your way again." Leon said.

"Yeah..."Sora replied glumly.

"That's right. Our part in his journey is over." Lulu stated. "But I'm sure you'll be able to handle youself."

"It's not like we'll forget you." Yuffie said, sitting on the railing. "You'll always be in the back of our hearts, and you can count on our strength too."

"If you ever need us, you can come back here."Aerith said. "We'll miss you all." Sora turned to Leon.

"Do you know where this 'last world' is?" Sora asked him.

"Not a clue, really. But a new darkness has appeared in the west. Check it out, if you think it'll be helpful." Sora nodded, and the group headed out of the room.


When they made it back to the chapel, they found the six women from before standing there, as if they had been waiting to meet Sora. When he came into the room, they all stopped what they were doing and turned to him, smiling. Sora skidded to a halt, causing everyone behind him to crash to a stop. One girl in a blue dress with gold hair and a gold tiara in her hair came forward, her hands folded together.

"Sora..."she began. "No, keyblade master...the time has come that we finally meet." She stopped, as if she didn't believe what was happening herself. "You see, it's time that we...told you OUR side of this story..."


6H:END!

Anaretsu: Geez! A chance to make the chapter REMOTELY useful, and you blow it!

6H:I went for the cliffie. Anyway, get ready for your KH world to be flipped upside down!