Disclaimer: Look, we all know what the deal with
Kingdom Hearts is. It's a joint Squaresoft/Disney
venture, and one company or the other owns rights in
some fashion to every character in this story. 

Continuity: This takes place before Neverland and
after Atlantica. Yeah, I know, what a huge window,
right? :-p



KINGDOM HEARTS EXTRA -

The Hall of Lost Heroes
Part 4


by Aaron Bergman




We followed the trail straight to a boulder buried in
the side of the mountain. 

Wolf sniffed and whined at it, then looked over his
shoulder at all of us as though to say, "It's not MY
fault that some inconsiderate goon buried this here."

Rydia translated, as she'd translated for Wolf since
the Proving Green. It was a surprising talent, but
we'd grown used to it by now. "Someone used a lot of
magic, right here. The boulder conceals a cavern. This
door is bigger than it seems."

Bart cursed softly. "How the heck are we supposed to
open it?"

Harle smiled again, and knocked on the boulder with
the back of her knuckles. A brief flash of light
appeared, as though she were striking a spark from its
surface, and the boulder grumbled. Slowly, it started
to shake, then vibrate. Harle shouted, "Duck!" and
suited action to words. 

Not wanting to be harmed by something I could avoid, I
jumped backwards myself, crouching behind my shield.
Rydia held up one hand, and something shimmered into
being in front of her and the other three of our
group, just as the boulder gave one final noise of
protest and shattered. 

Harle brushed the dust from her suit. "Ah, ze spell
protecting it was, how do you say, extremely
shockingly strong? I could have done something more
quietair, but zis is an emergency, no?"

Suddenly, something seemed to explode from within the
newly revealed cave. At first, I thought it was just
an after-effect of the boulder, but then three more
explosions followed in quick succession. Rydia paled. 

"That's the sound of a Flare being cast!" 

None of us needed urging into the cave. Harle was the
first in, followed closely by Bart, then Donald and
Rydia rushed behind them. Wolf and I were the last,
the rearguard as it were. 

The cavern was lit, albiet dimly, with strange growths
along the wall. It curved down and around, until the
entrance was no longer in view. I supressed a shiver.

However, not two hundred feet after it leveled out,
the tunnel split into two identical choices. Harle
looked at both of them, looked at them again, then
frowned. "Tabernac!" She turned around to face us. "We
will 'ave to split up here, lest we not find ze
sorcerair behind zis place. Bart, you go wi' Wolf and
Monsieur Donald. Monsieur Goofy and I will go wi'
Rydia down zis corridor." 

Wolf cast a glance back at me, and whined as though to
say, "It's always the alpha bitches in a pack who
_have_ to take charge." Rydia put one hand against her
mouth, supressing a laugh, and her eyes were shining
as she nodded her agreement to Harle's command. 

Bart protested. "Hey, why are you takin' Rydia?"

"Jealous?" While Bart was sputtering, Harley continued
lightly, "Do not worry, I am sure that Monsieur Goofy
is strong enough to protect both of us."

Soon enough after that, we were sorted out; Harle took
the lead again, Rydia walked after her, and once more
I was in the rear. I towered over both of them,
however, so I had no problems seeing.

Nearly five minutes of walking later, we all saw that
a bright light was gleaming from far down the tunnel,
and we hastened our pace. When we reached it, I
realized that it was a doorway; though the door must
have been the twisted slab of metal at our feet. What
could have possibly broken that? Judging from the
dents in it, the impact must have come from within.

All thoughts of that, however, disappeared when I
looked in the room over Harle's shoulder and saw the
gummi ship. It seemed to be slightly the worse for
wear, and was tilted over until it rested on one wing,
but for all of that it seemed intact. 

We'd found the ship; now all that remained was to find
Sora. 

Almost as an afterthought, I saw the toys that were
scattered across the floor. Many of them were smashed
and broken, burned and crushed, as though this had
been the site of a major battle.

I could only hope the broken toys weren't an omen for
how we'd find Sora. 

Rydia tapped my arm. "Hey, where did Harle go?" 

"Wha?" I looked around, and sure enough she'd
disappeared. "What the-"

Then, another explosion echoed from the corridor, this
one much closer than before, and just after it came a
yell from a throat that I was intimately familiar
with. "Sora!" I charged out without another thought
for Harle's disappearance, and Rydia followed close on
my heels.

****

Harle watched the two of them leave from her perch on
the Gummi ship. "Ah, I am very sorry, but zis cannot
be left here, not if ze battle happens ze way I see
it." 

****


Sora held up the Keyblade, barely blocking another
blast of sheer heat that threatened to destroy him
from the inside out. His willpower was fraying at the
edges - that blast singed him badly - but he'd run as
far as he could. 

He'd been cornered in another large cavern, though not
as large as the one his gummi ship had been. Though
there were two entrances (or, as he preferred to think
of them, exits), they were both close together, on the
other end of the chamber, and Terra had flung him away
from them with some kind of wind spell before he'd
managed to run from one to the other. Now, he was
pinned down in the corner, dodging what he could and
blocking what he couldn't. 

Terra lowered her hand, and for the first time since
that scream, a frown flickered onto her face. "Just
die. Give in. Please? I know how to restore my
children now, I _know_ it!"

_Talk, talk, talk is cheap, keep her talking._
Cautiously, Sora lowered the Keyblade. "What're you
talking about?" 

She pointed to the weapon in Sora's hands. "That item.
It could, if I used it right, combine my Children with
their Magicite." The frown grew wider. "Probably, at
least, I think... it's... it's the best chance I've
seen, and I won't let YOU STOP ME!" 

Sora readied himself grimly for her assault, but then-

"Sorah!" 

Terra whirled around at the sudden shout from behind
her, stepping away from the entrances, as Donald, a
large wolf, and a tall, tan guy with a pair of whips
stepped out of it. At first, Sora didn't believe what
his eyes told him. "Donald? DONALD!"

"Garsh, I'm here too, Sora. Don't ferget 'bout me!" 

Sora had never been more glad to see the overbite
behind that shield as Goofy stepped into the same
tunnel he'd came from. Standing next to him was a
woman that, in a dark alley, might have looked like
Terra.

"Not to interrupt the tearful reunion," the tan man
said dryly, "but who the heck is this?" He gestured at
Terra. 

She closed her eyes as if resting for a moment and
intoned, "I am your doom." Suddenly, she raised her
hands to the ceiling, and blazed with power. 

****

She transformed into a being that seemed to be
composed of nothing but energy, her skin glowing
brilliantly red, her hair turning into a fiery mane
that reached almost to the floor. The Heartless symbol
emblazoned on her forehead turned black, a flat,
lifeless black that seemed to draw in the luminescence
her skin shed, a black that matched the terrible shade
of her eyes as she reopened them.

Sora was the first to leap at her. "TERRRRAAAA!!!"
Almost absently, she lifted one hand and the boy flew
backwards, hitting the stone wall so hard that he left
cracks in it. Weakly, he tried to stand up, then
collapsed. 

Donald and Rydia were next. As though they'd been
fighting together for years, they cast their spells in
perfect concert; he threw lighting just as flame
erupted around the glowing woman in response to
Rydia's gesture. For a moment, Terra flinched, then
the flame died away. Terra turned her gaze towards
Rydia and the very air seemed to collapse in upon my
companion, turning the entire room dark for just a
split second. 

When it lightened again, Rydia had fallen to the
ground, and Donald was reeling as Terra's own
lightnings danced through his body. I dashed at the
glowing woman, readying my shield for a strike. I
bashed her with it once, twice, again-

It was as if I were hitting the stone behind her. That
obsidian gaze turned on me, and I raised my shield in
an effort to protect myself. 

A futile effort, as it turned out. She reached out
with one hand and simply backhanded me, sending me
from my feet and skidding me across the ground until
my back fetched up against an outcropping of rock.

I blacked out for a moment, perhaps two; when my eyes
opened again I saw Wolf at Terra's feet and Bart
dueling with her, keeping her at arms' length with the
whips while buying some time, hopefully for us to
recover. 

I tried to stand, but my legs wouldn't hold me.
Slipping to my knees, I saw as Terra grabbed one of
Bart's whips in midair and used it to lift him into
the air, then slam him into the ground so hard that it
shook.

He lay still.

Nothing we did had even _touched_ her! I let myself
feel despair in that moment she turned away from me
and back to Sora, back to the Keyblade that lay next
to him. Terra took one step, another, and...

Harle suddenly backflipped out of midair between Sora
and Terra. The Heartless-possessed woman stopped in
mid-stride for a moment, then with an audible snarl,
she struck at Harle. Casually, the jester-clad woman
leaned out of the way, then stepped to one side and
waggled her finger. "Pardonne, but I certainment
cannot let you do zat twice."

Terra raised her hand, and-

Froze there. Harle jumped backwards and knelt beside
Sora. "I cannot do zis for long, mon chou." She bent
down farther and, although I could only barely see it
from my angle, kissed him lightly on his lips. After
Harle straightened, Sora stood slowly, using the
Keyblade almost as a cane. Harle helped him up, and,
despite the desperate situation, despite the fact that
I could see Terra start to move, I couldn't help but
chuckle: Harle, the shortest woman I've ever met, was
still taller than Sora. 

She ruffled his hair casually and said with a smile,
"Mon chou, you're as handsome as zey say." 

Sora tried to brush her hand away and duck to one
side, trying to escape. "Awh, c'mon! This is serious!"


Harle nodded and, with the air of a conjurer pulling a
ten-gil from a child's ear, produced what looked like
a small egg dangling from a golden chain. "Mon chou,
you may borrow zis, but not to keep. It iz my most
precious possession!"

Realization of what it was hit me. _A new keychain?!_
I gasped, and Harle heard. She half-turned and tipped
a wink in my direction, blowing a kiss that hit me a
second later, sending healing energies flowing through
my body. 

Terra finished her swing, breaking free from whatever
spell Harle had cast, just as Sora detached his old
keychain and put the new one onto his hilt. With a
flash, the blade transformed, as I'd seen it do a
dozen times before; but this time, its new form was...
amazing.

It looked like nothing so much as a long, slender
dragon leaping forth from Sora's hand, its tail
wrapping around to form a basket-style hilt, its mouth
agape as though about to blast flame or tear the flesh
from its enemies. The wyrm's foreclaws were gripping
what looked like a small blue flame, frozen forever,
though it seemed to dance just a bit as I watched. In
length, it was even taller than Sora; but he swung it
easily one-handed, pointing it at Terra.

It was the dragon's scales, however, that left my
mouth agape. For they shimmered, constantly changing
colors, from white to black to blue to red to yellow
to green and back again, not so fast that the sight of
it left me ill, but quickly enough that it was...
impressive.

Harle spoke to Terra, and I jumped as I realized that
I'd almost forgotten she was there, so captivated was
I by the new Keyblade. "Zis endz here. Ze Gems were
not meant to be used in zis way, and ze Keyblade is
not for ze likes of _you_."

Terra closed her eyes again and put her hand out
straight, as though gripping a hilt in a guard
posture, and a small whirlwind of pure magical energy
appeared above that hand, gathering quickly into a
sword of her own.

The blade seemed to change as I watched it, flickering
from short to long to curved to hooked to heavy to
thin and back again, more and more rapidly, the blade
glowing with a dark light all of its own, until it
suddenly settled on a long, long shape, slightly
curved at the end. 

What made me feel fear, however, was that I could
_hear_ the blade in my mind, singing a soft tune. It
sang of bloodlust. It sang of death. It sang of evil.
It sang of a gore-stained history. But most of all, it
sang its name. _ATMA, ATMA, ATMA..._

Though it was obviously a two-handed design, she
wielded it as easily as Sora did his own. Terra said
conversationally, "Now, we're on an even footing."

She slashed at Sora, and he blocked with the Keyblade.
With an ear-splitting _crraaackk_, the wall behind him
burst open, the rock  flying outward in a fountain of
dust and stone, allowing what seemed like a blinding
amount of sunlight into the cavern. I blinked and
squinted, trying to see what Sora was doing, and so
almost didn't dodge Bart's whip in time. 

It cracked heart-stoppingly close to my eye, cutting a
line of fire across my muzzle, and I whirled to face
him, raising my shield. "What the- whatcha doin',
Bart?!?!"

He didn't reply. His eyes were dark and dead, as
though something had forced his personality out of
them. His movements were mechanical and slow, as
though someone else were dancing his puppet strings. I
cursed my absentmindedness and dodged another blow. 

With the time that I'd spent talking and laughing
beside him and Rydia, all the while pretending he was
a living, breathing person, I'd forgotten that he was
nothing more than a Summon Gem. And, in addition, I'd
forgotten....

I'd forgotten that it was Terra who held his Heart.

****

Sora jumped backwards into the open sunlight, the
sheer... _power_ from the Dragonsoul flooding up his
arms and into his whole body. He marveled at the
feeling, channeling it forth in a fireball that struck
at Terra in a blinding blaze of flame. She dodged to
one side, and the flame hit the floor of the cavern,
exploding so hot that the rock itself melted. 

Terra flew out to meet him, her iridescent hair
streaking back from her head. Sora landed on the lip
of the new cavern entrance and rolled backwards,
avoiding another slash from the Atma in her hands. The
force of her blow was so strong that the mountainside
erupted again, this time in a line from the blade's
path. 

She slid down the mountain at him, and Sora stabbed
the Keyblade up to meet her. Terra knocked it aside
and bodychecked him, slamming the boy so hard that
Sora bounced even further down the mountain, jouncing
off several rocks before he managed to drag himself to
a halt. 

Sora held up the Keyblade and drew the power of wind
around him in a shield, wincing slightly from fresh
pains in his back and side. _Man, I shoulda done this
from the start._ He barely finished the spell in time
to duck away from another slash, rolling to one side.
He turned around to raise the Keyblade into a guard,
expecting her next attack, but Terra pointed the Atma
at the sky, screamed incoherently-

And the sky rained death.

A dark hole opened just above the battlefield, stars
falling from it and slamming into the mountainside
with such force that Sora was wounded even from the
near misses. His shield of wind barely managed to
deflect even the lightest of them, and Sora was so
busy trying to watch in all directions at once that he
didn't notice the meteor until it smashed into him
from an angle.

It blasted him from his feet, sending him soaring
through the air. Once he hit the ground, he barely
managed to stand up, channeling the power of healing
into his body desperately, his sight doubling and
trebling from the pain. The spell finished quickly and
took most of the pain, though not all of it, and
firmed his vision enough to see that Terra was still
striding towards him, brandishing the Atma.

"TERRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!" Sora charged her,
Keyblade held out, rage finally overcoming his
reluctance. Now, he was determined to end this, for
his own sake, for his friends' sake, and for her sake.


****

"C'mon, Bart!" I knocked aside another lash of his
whip and spun around, bashing him in the chest with my
shield. "Ya gotta be..." He leapt backwards awkwardly,
the puppeteer still not controlling him well, and he
flicked his whips at me again. I grunted as they
slashed into me, but finished the sentence grimly. "Ya
gotta be stronger than this!"

Harle, who was battling with Wolf, looked over at me
and shouted, "It iz no use! We must defeat zem, zen we
can help mon chou!"

I muttered, "No use, eh? YOWWWW!!!" A stray bolt of
lightning had flickered from Donald's duel against
Rydia and zapped me on the behind, very painfully I
might add. I winced, but I hadn't gotten the worst of
it. 

Bart had been the incidental target for some three or
four bolts, and he was lying on the ground. He
struggled to a kneeling position, weakly flicking the
one whip he had left at me, but I simply blocked it
with my shield and-

Well, I'll admit that it was just an instinct, a
reflexive action. I mean, I _couldn't_ let him stay
hurt, could I? He was my friend, even if he was
attacking me! 

So I tossed a Potion at him, healing him, then froze
in sudden realization. "Uh-oh..." I cursed myself
again for the second time in as many minutes. How
could I be such a fool and still be breathing! Surely,
this was one of the biggest mistakes I'd made in more
years than I could remember.

Only, it wasn't a mistake.

Bart's eyes cleared, and he looked at me with a
puzzled expression. "Goofy, what the heck-"

I gaped in shock. The potion had disrupted the control
over him! How could that be? 

But hey, never look a gift horse in the mouth.
Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out a Megapotion and
threw it at everyone in the cavern, hoping - nay,
praying - that it would have the same miraculous
effect.

It did. As everyone's eyes cleared, Harle shouted,
"Outside, now! We _must_ help mon chou!" Suiting
action to words, she leapt out of the hole that had
been ripped in the cavern. Wolf followed her, and I
was close behind. 

I stopped short as I saw the battle raging between
Sora and Terra. They were flying in the air, dodging,
slashing, and with each impact of their blades raw
magic crackled forth, earthing itself in the
mountainside.

It was a clash of titans. I couldn't help but stare,
awed beyond all belief, as they strove against each
other. Not a thought of going down there to help my
young friend entered my head, so hypnotized was I by
the struggle. 

It ended so suddenly, for a moment I didn't think it
was truly over. 

Sora stood, gasping for breath, the Keyblade in his
hands plunged almost to the hilt through Terra's body.
She flickered and the power drew back into her,
leaving her a plain human once more... though without
the blazon of the Heartless on her forehead. 

She stared up at Sora, and smiled sadly, a trickle of
blood leaking from her mouth. With a shaking hand,
Terra reached to her belt and tore a pouch from it,
holding it out to Sora. "Please... my... chi-" 

Her head fell forward, and the Keyblade vanished from
Sora's hands. Terra sagged slowly to the ground, and
with reverent hands he reached down and took the bag
from Terra's unresisting fingers. "I promise to take
care of them," he said solemnly.

With that, Rydia and Bart, who were standing next to
me, looked surprised. Then, they disappeared,
withdrawing once more from this world. I nodded
slowly. With the summoner's death, the Summon Gems no
longer had the power to stay in this world.

Donald, who had struggled out of the cavern last of
all, looked at Harle suspiciously. "Yhou're not a-"

"Summon Gem? Oui, I am not." Sora leapt up next to us,
and she smiled at him. "Mon chou, may I have my
keychain?"

"What? Oh. Sure." He reached down and detached it, the
Keyblade flicking back to its first form, and handed
it to Harle.

The earth began to rumble under our feet, and Harle
shouted over the roar, "Now zat Terra iz dead, zis
world no longer has ze powair to live on its own! You
must flee to your ship, quickly!" She pointed down the
mountainside, and indeed, our ship was down there at
the mountain's foot.

Sora turned to her and said, almost desperately, "Come
with us, Harle!"

She smiled. "Ah, ze way I travel, I need no ship.
Worry not about me, mon chou, I will get to where I
must go." She leaned in and brushed her lips across
his again, adding impishly, "Remember my kiss, and
remember me to your Kary." With that, she somersaulted
backwards and disappeared. 

Sora shook the Keyblade and said, "Her name is KAIRI!
Is it that hard to pronounce, Donald?" Belatedly, he
added, "Never mind, never mind." He turned and started
running down the mountain, shouting, "Come on, guys!
We gotta get out of here!"

I followed him closely, but he suddenly slid to a halt
next to Terra's body. Looking down at her, Sora wiped
at his eyes with one hand and said softly, "Oh, man...
she deserved better than this."

Donald looked serious, far more serious than he
usually does, as he laid one hand on Sora's arm. "Whe
ALL deserve better than thiz. But... we khan't hope to
save everybody."

Sora turned on Donald, suddenly angry, and the ground
under us seemed to punctuate his rage as he said, "But
we GOTTA save everybody! That's what we are! We're
heroes!"

Donald didn't reply, he only looked down towards
Terra's body. I had to look away too, in the face of
his innocent optimism. Had I ever been so young?

But looking down at Terra's body was almost as bad,
because I could feel that, although Sora was wrong, he
SHOULD be _right_, damn it all. 

I couldn't just walk away from her without doing
something.

I have but little gift for extemporaneous poetry, but
sometimes the gift touches even those as insensate as
I. It had been a sad tale, I could see, even from the
brief moment that I'd been here, and to end it now- 

I looked at the sky, which glittered a cheerful
cerulean that seemed to defy this afternoon's deeds,
and said softly, in epitaph to this world,

"Ah, life, truly 'tis the mad delusion,
its greatest truths merely a illusion;
My faded sanity mourns life's lost solution,
full of sorrow at this waking dream's confusion."

"Yhou say zomthing, Ghoofy?" Donald asked me, giving
me the strangest look I could imagine.

"Shucks, nothin' important." I gave him my broadest
grin as I turned to the gummi ship, and the next
adventure. "C'mon, guys, we'd better get goin'."




AUTHOR'S NOTES

Mmm. Well, it only took me a year to get around to
writing this. At least I did write it.

Eventually.

*ahem*

Okay, some might question how I included Porco Russo
in this fic. 1) Disney owns rights to producing Ghibli
works in America. 2) Porco Russo is a Ghibli work. 3)
This is a fanfic written in America. I suppose that if
I were to make a Japanese version of this, I'd have to
change the character.

Before you ask, yes, I do happen to like Terra, and
I'm fully aware that I gave her the short end of the
stick in this fic.

The inclusion of Harle was... a whim at best; she was
only meant to appear for a paragraph, but it's just
_so damn fun_ writing Frenchie dialogue that I
couldn't resist. In fact, I'm changing one of the
characters in my Kyouki no Kyanpasu story to French,
just because I like writin' her, and she needs
something else to make her unique as it is!

Strange, how much Harle took over the last half of the
story. But she's just so cool; about the only
character out of Chronocross that was truly, 100%
worthwhile.

Oh, if you get the feeling that a lot of things were
left undescribed (Why the heck did Terra steal the
gummi ship in the first d@mn place? What was Harle
doing there, other than takin' out Terra? and the most
prevalent question, Huh?), the truth is... I answered
'em, but the scenes didn't fit into the format that I
had for this story. That's the problem with limiting
yourself like I did in here; it's fun, but sometimes
it hobbles you and seems to leave holes. 

Who was Wolf? Can't tell ya. Figure it out for
yourself, chilluns.

Mmm. Can't think of much else to answer here, until
next time. I should be releasing two more Episodes of
Kyouki no Kyanpasu soon. Mwah. I should have gone to
sleep a few hours ago, but I suppose a little sleep is
nothing compared to writing....

Aaron Bergman
iamfanboy@uymail.com
"If you lie wi' ze dogs, you 
 will catch ze fleaz, no?"
 -Harle

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