6H: Chapter 72! (dances)

Anaretsu: Boring.

6H:It's now time for one of my favorite boss battles-the fight against Chernbog! Or, as I know him to be-the freaky guy in the mountain who shoots lava at you!


Kingdom Hearts-Shattered Fragments

Fragment 72-Night on Bare Mountain


All around them, the lab began to fall apart. The ceiling began to crash down on them, breaking parts of the lab's equipment. Aru seemed unaware of what was going on-she was cruched into a ball on the floor, hands grasping her head. Ryu dodged a piece of ceiling as it came down and rolled over against the wall.

"We have to get out of here!" Donald yelled.

"What about Aru?" Ryu yelled back.

"Leave her!" he said.

"No way! How much of a bastard can you be?"

"If you touch her, you know what will happen!"

"But-!"

"I'll get her! The rest of you leave here!" Sora yelled as he dashed forward, avoiding rubble as he went.

"Sora, wait-!" Donald yelled, but he was already off. A huge piece of ceiling crashed down in front of them, blocking their path to him. The keyblade master, meanwhile, was desperately searching for her.

"Aru! ARU!" he yelled. He couldn't see her anywhere, and was afraid she was already crushed beneath the debris.


When Riku opened his eyes, he found himself in darkness, a single road leading deep into the depths. He walked along the road, sadly knowing this was the end.

"I can't dissapear yet. Not until I've met Sora and Kairi and Cedeile one, last time. And told Aru how sorry I am..." Suddenly he heard a voice in the darkness.

"You will be there soon."

"Who's there?" he demanded, looking all around.

"I have always been with you, whispering in your ear, but my words were hindered by the darkness covering your heart. I have gotton the keyblade for this side."

"Am I dead?" Riku asked.

"No. You took back your heart, but you couldn't take back your body. This is where stolen hearts are gathered. This is a relem where those who have lost part of their trinity go to seek help from those who can help them." Riku stayed silent. He wasn't sure he liked this voice too much. "The door of darkness is going to appear, that door through which we cannot pass. In order to close it, two keys and a pure heart are needed. Perhaps you too, like me, came here for that purpose...maybe it was fate."

"What about Sora? And Cedeile? She had two keyblades rammed through her and-"

"You should be able to feel the hearts of your friends." Out of the darkness, an image of Sora ran towards him. Riku looked at him sadly, feeling almost like he could cry, but then a warm feeling came up deep within him-he could feel his heart-not just Sora's, but Kairi's and Cedeile's too. "How you percieve your friends...is dependent on your own heart..." Sora faded away as he stopped right in front of Riku. He slightly smiled, but then a thought crossed his mind.

"What about Aru?" he asked.

"She too, is like you. A girl with no direction or purpose in this world, except to be a ghost's shell.You can find her in your heart. She was always right behind you." Suddenly, a spotlight appeared behind him. Riku turned to look and found Aru, kneeling on the floor, scrunched into a little ball, and shaking, like she was dying. He walked up to the light and looked down at the girl.

"A shell?" he asked, but the voice didn't anwser. He knelt down on one knee and held a hand out to her. "Aru, please get up." he said. She suddenly stopped shaking and slowly, let her hands drop from her head. Her head slowly raised and her glossy crimson eyes looked right at him.

"Riku?" she asked. "I thought you were dead-" He put one of his fingers to her lips to silence her.

"Shh...no more talk, Aru. No more words...just let me look at you..." Suddenly, her form wavered and almost faded out. "Aru!"

"Someone's calling me." she said. And with that, the light around her faded and she disappeared, calling out for him. He stood up again and turned back to where he had heard to voice coming from.

"What do I have left?" Riku asked.

"You have your soul and your heart. Two parts of your trinity are still intact. You can be helped by those who reach out to the darkness." Suddenly, light began to fill the darkness. Riku closed his eyes and felt a great calm wash over him. He opened his eyes again to the blinding light.

"Thank you."


"Aru, please get up!" Sora's voice demanded her. Her eyes snapped open wide and the room suddenly became still. She sat upright and looked at Sora, his worried look melting away.

"Hi there..."she greeted.

"Are you okay?" he asked. She nodded.

"I fine." He helped her stand up.

"What happened? And how did you know those words?"

"The words? What are you talking about, Sora?"

"The enscirption on the computer! Right over-" he turned and found the computer had been smashed. His face fell as he turned back to the mage. 'No wonder Donald was so supicious. Who is this girl?' Suddenly, the ground began to disapear from underneath them and they all fell into darkness.


He stood at the garden gate, looking inside, watching her very quietly. Her long red braids blew in the wind as it picked up, blowing the petals off the flowers as well. His own short silver hair blew behind him, and he smiled at her turned back. Slowly, he walked forward into the garden and stopped right behind her. He linked his arms around her, bending over and burying his face in her hair. She sighed contently and leaned into his touch.

"Ansem..."she said softly to him. He smiled.

"I love you..." he whispered in her ear. "Cyanna..."

"You must promise that you'll never change, my dear. That you'll always be careing and thoughtful, and that you won't let your curse catch up to you."

"You can keep the oblivion away from me. You can keep the darkness at bay." he said.

"Promise me." she begged, rubbing her cheek on his arm. He sighed and bent around her. His golden eyes looked straight into her violet ones.

"I promise you. I will never change." And he kissed her passionatly.


"It is nothing more than a bunch of memories now." Ansem said in the darkness, shaking. He looked at the still form of Cedeile, floating in place. "It was her fault. If that girl had never been born-!" he yelled, sobbing. "Cyanna...I'm so close. Wait a little longer." From behind him in the darkness a figure watched him sadly.

"Oh Ansem..." it said.

"Who's there? A woman?" he yelled angrily.

"You will not find what you seek, Ansem. You cannot find it."

"Who are you to say that I, the ruler of darkness, cannot find Cyanna? She is in Rakuen!"

"I know, because I cannot find what I am looking for either. I was a fool, and I am now paying for it. I made a horrible mistake in the past, and now, because of it, all this is happening. I couldn't stop anything-I only made it worse. And I payed for it by haunting this place-the place I died all those years ago." the voice responded. "You cannot get to Rakuen."

"I can! I have the most important pieces-the roses and the HEARTBLADE MASTER!" He pointed to Cedeile's form.

"You may have her body, but she has hidden her heart far beyond even the reach of her friends, and from you-even though it is in this darkness. Her soul is shielding it from everyone. Even those she cares about most."

"Who are you? A ghost? Someone who has lost part of their trinity?"

"I am the light the keyblade came from. That is a puzzle in itself."

"Ha. You make me laugh. You don't have a body, do you?"

"I do, just not right here. But it's on this world. And she's feeling the effects of my presence. Soon, I'll be able to meet the masters."

"I won't let you. The keyblade master will die."

"Ansem!"

"Cyanna?" He turned behind him. The woman of his past was no where to be seen. "I am not someone you can fool around with!" he turned back to where the figure had been, but she was gone. He sighed, regaining his normal stance, and looked down at the girl. "The light...that voice was famillar, like I heard it long ago in a dream..."


They stopped falling so violently and suddenly began to float downward. Gold sparkles appeared around them, seeming to keep them up in the air. Sora and Aru clutched onto each other tightly as a sky came up around them. Over about twenty feet, Ryu, Donald, and Goofy were falling as well, and they could now see the two without the debris getting in the way.

"Sora! Aru! Are you guys alright!" Ryu asked.

"Yeah! We're fine!" Sora yelled back. He turned his attention to below them, at a huge, black mountain." (cue the cool music!) It began to shake, and...move...

"What the hell?" Ryu said. The top part of the mountain rose, and a head with shallow yellow eyes was visable between the cracks in what they thought was rock, but were actually wings, that spread out to their full span. The demon within roared, shaking this new area.

"What do we do?" Donald asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Ryu asked.

"Gawrsh, Mr. Ryu, what are ya' getting at? Yer not sayin' we gotta fight that thing, are ya?" Goofy asked. Ryu looked over at him.

"Hell yeah, we are. Or I'm not living up to my name of being a fragment hunter." He took out the fragment radar. It was detecting a signal from the demon. "This one has fragments-at least three." He smirked. Sora and Aru came to stop, as well and Ryu and the others. Sora and Aru let go of each other and got ready to fight. Ryu took out his large sword. The battle was on.

Ryu and Donald decided to head in first, taking this oppertunity to strike. It roared at them, trying to scare them off. Ryu flew in behind the beast and slashed it's head open. Out of the cut came two dark hands that pushed him out of the sky.

"Whoa!" He yelled as they pushed him down onto the rock. He hit it hard and then flipped over, landing and skidding to a stop. Donald cast thunder on it, and it cried out. It smacked Donald away, and he went flying fifty feet out. It was Aru's turn. She charged in and gathered a black mass in her hands.

"STARDUST CANNON!" he yelled, throwing it at Chernbog. It was a direct hit.

"All right!" Ryu yelled from down below. The demon arched it's head back and then snapped it forward, shooting fire out of it's mouth. Aru got grazed by it, her arm getting burned. Sora came in at high speed and jammed the keyblade into one it's eyes. The demon shook it's head all about, and Sora went flying, losing his grip on the keyblade.

"Crap!"

"You idiot!" Ryu yelled from below as Sora came to a stop.

"You're the idiot! Get up here!" Sora yelled back. Ryu rolled his eyes and continued running up the mountain. Donald came back in for another assualt.

"BLIZZAGA!" he yelled, knowing the best stratagy was to hit his target with the opposite element.

"Aqua Spirt!" Aru yelled, summoning forth the creature of water. While the beast was distracted, Sora went in and grabbed the handle of the keyblade. . He yanked it out of Chernbog's eye, getting splattered with a strange yellow substance when it came out. The demon went to spit a fireball at him, but Sora dodged, his right leg feeling the heat of the flames. He dodged a second one and then dived down to the mountain. Ryu had no idea how to get all floaty again, and just ran up the mountain like he had a plan. The battle wasn't going too bad so far. Suddenly, Sora came down to him.

"I got an idea!" Sora yelled.

Meanwhile, Goofy finally got enough nerve to come in with his own attack. He banged his sheild over the monster's head a couple of times before getting forced back through the air.

"BLIZZAGA!" Donald yelled again.

"AQUAGA!" Aru yelled. The two attacks of Ice and Water hit him in the chest. He looked out at them, his one eye with a huge hole in it from the keyblade, yellow ooze leaking out down it's face. It roared at them and shot fire at them from it's mouth. Aru and Donald couldn't dodge in time and took the assualt head on. "AERO!" Aru called at the last mintue, putting up a wind barrier. The fireball broke through it, however, and spent them flying after it burned them.

"Take this!" A voice came from below. Sora and Ryu came up, Sora lifting Ryu by his hands. "NOW RYU!" Sora threw Ryu to Chernbog's head. The fragment hunter drew his sword and jammed it into the other eye. Chernbog roared out again, and with his huge glaws put a huge gash in Ryu's back. Sora flew back and out of range.

"Gah!" Ryu yelled out, blood spurting out of the new wound. Ryu fell back down again as the demon struggled and thrashed about with his new found blindness. Ryu hit the rock hard again.

"Ryu!" Sora yelled out. Chernbog roared again, louder than before. Sora felt himself shake at that roar. He felt like something bad was going to happen. Suddenly, a huge rush of lava and fire came up out of the mountain. Aru, Ryu, Donald and Goofy were caught in it, and their screams could be heard by Sora, who watched with wide eyes. The three in the air flew back a few feet, and Ryu slid down the mountain a few yard, his hands and face charred from the attack. Sora looked around to his friends. "Are you guys okay?" he yelled. Aru shook her head.

"Yeah. I'm alright. That attack was pretty bad though."

"Seems that he thinks it's less trouble to just blast the area around him then try and find us now." Donald said.

"So much for my idea. I thought it would be easier if that thing couldn't see us." It roared again. "I gotta go in now!" Sora yelled. He dodged a stream of fire being shot at him and cut at the demon's head. It waved it's arms wildly, trying to swat the fly that was bothering him. He brought forth another wave of lava, this time Sora alone was caught in it. He screamed out at it burned at his skin and clothes.

"Sora!" Aru yelled.

'I can't give up...'

"Sora."

'KAIRI! I'LL MAKE MY WAY BACK TO YOU! I SWEAR IT!' He shouted in his head. The fire subsided and he floated in the air, unconcious.

"Good God..."Aru murmered. Chernbog's hand was going to grab the boy. "NO!" Aru yelled. "AIRA!" She sent a huge draft of air towards him and it blew in, moving Sora out of the way. Sora woke up, shaking his head. He jacket hardly hung to his body anymore. The tips of his hair were burned off, but no way in hell was he giving up.

"I'm going to keep fighting." he said. He took the keyblade in his hands.

"Sora, I'm always with you!" Kairi's voice said in his mind. A light glowed in his pocket, and the keyblade began to glow the same way. When the light cleared, the keyblade had changed it's form. It was white, with wings around the handle, and the blade was a star. It was the Oathkeeper keyblade.

"Let's do this!" Sora yelled. Down below, Ryu opened his navy eyes and got up. The gash on his back hurt as he moved, and each new movement yeilded a new gush of blood. He managed to stand and saw Sora fighting with his new keyblade.

"Looks like I'll need the fragments." He took out the bottle of the fourty fragments they had and infused them all with his blade. It began to shine with a new light and he felt himself able to fly again. He soared up, blood streaming down behind him out of the gash on his back and new cuts on his arms, hands, and face. He stopped right beside Sora.

"Hey there, fragment hunter." Sora said.

"Hello yourself, keyblade master." Ryu replied. The two boy readied their weapons and atacked Chernbog with a combined force. A wave of light flew at him, cutting into his black skin. He roared again and called another swarm of lava up to kill them. The mountain erupted like never before, but the two boys were unharmed. The light from their weapons formed a shield.

"SORA! RYU!" Aru yelled, thinking they were caught in the attack. When the fire subsided, they stood, untouched by the new attack.

"Shall we?" Sora asked.

"Yeah." The two went down, one on each side, and began to pound the crap out of the demon. Aru clenched her fists and came in as well.

"FIRE ARC!" She yelled, sending it at him.

"THUNDAGA!" Donald yelled. Goofy came in with his shield, aiding the two boys in their attack. Chernbog blindly swiped his claws through the air and caught Aru, sending three slash marks across her body. Blood and material spurted into the air as Aru fell backwards. The black chain went flying out of her sleeve and began to fall with her. She saw it fall and panicked.

'No! Riku gave me that to protect for him! I must save it!" Aru plunged down after it, not caring about anything else at that moment. She reached out her hands for it as it fell father from her grasp. Chernbog froze for a moment, and looked down in the direction of the chain. He roared out again and reached his one, massive hand down for it. Aru went faster, desperate to get to the prize before the demon did.

"Alright, what the damn is going on now?" Ryu yelled.

"Aru and the demon seem to be going after something. Cover Aru! We gotta help!" Sora yelled.

"Let's do it! FIRAGA!" Donald cast the fire spell expertly. Sora and Ryu slashed at it's arm, trying to hold him back. Goofy bashed into his head, trying to distract him.

"No way yer gettin whatever Miss Aru's goin after!" he said to the beast. It turned it's head and roared at him. "Gawrsh...when you put it that way..."

"You big buffon! Keep attacking him!" Donald yelled.

"Oh. Okay, Donald!" Goofy yelled back, and the knight charged into the demon with all his might. At last, Aru's hand brushed the metal and she grabbed it in her hands, and then clutched to herself, spinning around from the sudden stop.

"Gotcha!" she said, happily. Then Chernbog's hand clutched around her.

"Aru, no!" Sora yelled.

"Do something!" Ryu yelled at her. Chernbog brought his hand in front of him, so that he might see his prize, but suddenly, he made a sour face, and something inside his hand trembled with great power.

"I feel something coming! Everyone move away!" Donald yelled. They all did as they were told, Ryu hiding under one of the huge demon wings. A blast of light erupted from the demon's hand and engulfed everything in a bright light. Everyone sheiled their eyes to the bright blast, and a gentle voice sounded in the silence that followed.

"Lightra..."


When the light cleared and everyone could see again, Chernbog's hand had been blasted open. On his palm rested Aru, her eyes glowing with the intense light, her hair flying around her, affected by the power she was giving off. Ryu looked up in awe and shock.

"I can feel it too...some great power coming forth...what the hell is it, and what doesi t want with Aru?" he asked to himself. Suddenly, Chernbog began to rapidly disentigrate. He gave out one last roar before he completely turned to dust, his ashes flying away in the wind. Aru floated in the air again and returned to her normal state.

"I did it again." She said, amazed.

"It's over." Sora said. "We did it." Below them, the mountain was hollow and showed a passageway into the next area. Ryu flew up to Aru.

"Are you okay, Aru?" he asked her. She turned to him, her eyes overflowing with tears. "Uh-"

"I did it again!" she cried. "But I don't know how!" She threw herself on him, sobbing heavily into his cloak. He was taken back at first, but then gently put his bloody arms around her and held her to him.

"It's alright Aru. It doesn't matter." he said. Everyone else remained quiet as they watched on.

"Ryu!" she sobbed.

"Shh. It's over for now. Don't waste your energy crying." he said.

"Do ya see that, Donald?" Goofy asked his long time pal. "If she was a heartless decoy er somethin', would she be able to cry? Would she have emotions at all?" he asked. Donald watched as the girl cried, her tears floating up into the air.

"I guess not...but who is that girl?" Donald asked. Sora wondered the same thing.

'Who is this girl?'


6H: HOW AWESOME WAS THAT?

Anaretsu: Calm down. It's not anything to get excited over.

6H:Ah, finally I wrote a good, exciting battle, like back in the old days when-okay we don't need to know about the old days.

Anaretsu: Sure as hell we don't.

6H: Did I happen to mention I absolutely love the song "Night on Bare/Bald Mountain?" It's so awesome! My favorite version is the arrangement by Yoko Shimoura for KH. I even got to play a version of it for a concert! It was so cool! It's always been my dream to play a piece from KH, and I did! TWICE! Okay, now you don't know what the hell I'm saying, but review!