Chapter 4: Hikari Town Day 4
Part 3: Tragedy

---

"Silver hair, blue eyes, often wears purple and a golden amulet," Kefka observed. "You fit exactly the description I overheard."

"What do you want from me?" Mizuhimé asked.

Kefka laughs. "We want your heart, princess. We've waited so long for this."

"My heart? Why mine?"

"Details, details. I don't have time for this! We're way behind schedule as it is! Now little girl, just cooperate and nobody gets hurt."

Mizu puts her fist up to her heart. Mizu was debating on whether or not to give it to him. If I do, will he leave everyone alone?

But then a girl appears in the corner of her eye. "Don't do it!!" she shouted. Mizu turned to look at the girl, only to find that she wasn't there. As she turn her gaze back to Kefka the girls voice said, You can't give it to him. Trust me. It won't make anything better.

"Well?" Kefka asked. "Are we gonna do this the easy way or the hard way?" Mizu still hesitated. But...

"Don't listen to him, Mizu!" Hinata shouted.

"Are just gonna stand there, or fight?" Renji said.

With that encouragement, Mizu decided to fight. She points her Keyblade at Kefka.

Kefka pouted. "I see. Well in that case, here's a little surprise for you." He snaps his fingers.

Toshiro looked up and pointed. "Look up there!"

Everyone looked up and, floating in the sky, they saw a female humanoid creature, with a white body, long hair, blue limbs, and yellow claws. The creature raised her hand up, charging it with energy. Then she shot an energy orb into the sky. Soon, a great meteor shower came down.

Mizu and friends watched in horror as the meteors crashed down, destroying the town. "Stop this right now!!" Mizu demanded.

Kefka only waved his finger and clicked his tongue. "This is what happens when you try my patience," he said. "Now, surrender or else."

"Leave her alone!!" called a voice. Kefka look behind him, and Mizuki slash him in the shoulder with his rapier.

Kefka screeched in pain as he held his wound. "Why you...INSOLENT FOOL!!" He blasted him with the electricity, knocking his back a few feet.

"Father!!" Mizu shouted.

Kefka looked back at Mizu. "Father?" he said. "Oh!" He looked back at the mayor, who was struggling to stand up. "So that's why you wouldn't hand her over to me. Because my target was your daughter." Kefka laughs. "Oh how sentimental."

"Run, Mizu!" the loving father said as he finally stood up. "I won't allow my daughter be taken by a monster!" He charged at Kefka.

"Too bad." Kefka said mockingly as he snapped his finger. In that instant, Mizuki found himself bursting into flames.

Mizu watched in horror as her father was cremated down to the bones. "FATHER!!!" she cried.

Kefka laughed like a maniac. "Now time is waiting." More heartless appeared as the laughing continued.

Seeing that there were too many of them, Mizu and her friends decided to run away.

===

Meanwhile at the town gates, Firion lied on the ground, beaten to a bloody pulp and cover in soot, and barely conscious. Soon, four people showed up, two men, one in a red jacket and one in a white vest, and two strange-looking people dressed in armor, one thin dog-like person and one chubby cat-like.

The man in red quickly rushed to Firion's side. "Hey, are you alright?"

"I've... failed." he said. "She's... in danger." Firion then passed out.

"Dang, he's been beaten pretty bad." said the cat.

"No kidding," replied the dog.

"We don't have time to waste," said the man in white. "Max, PJ, take him back to the ship." The two lackeys saluted to the command and began to carry Firion.

The two men started into town, only to be halted by a bunch of Heartless. "Get out of the way!" The man in red said, as he summons two Keyblades. One had the actual appearance of a classic skeleton key, with a golden hilt, a silver shaft and teeth, and a Hidden Mickey keychain token. The other had a beach-like design on the hilt, a sunset colored shaft, flowers for teeth, and a star-shaped fruit for a keychain token.

The man in white also summoned a Keyblade. Its design had two types of wings, and angelic and a demonic. Its hilt had both, its blade had the demonic, and the teeth had the angelic. It had a red-outlined, black heart for a keychain token.

The two Key Bearers engaged the Heartless.

===

Mizu, Hinata, Renji, and Toshiro found themselves on the cliff at the edge of town.

"Man," Renji said, "Now what?"

Before they could go back, Kefka arrives along with the pale female creature. "You can run, Keyblade Princess, but you can't hide."

Mizu rush to Kefka with her Keyblade. "Leave us alone!" she shouted.

Kefka laughs. "Sorry, but I'm not leaving until I get what I came for. But first, let's get rid of the dead weight, shall we."

The creature charged a large energy orb above her. And then threw it right at Mizu's friends. Mizu slid to a halt and looked back at her friends with a stunned expression as she heard them cry out in terror. As the energy sphere land, there was an explosion. The ground where they stood crumbled and they fell below.

"NO!!!" As soon as the dust settled, Mizuhimé rushed to the edge of the cliff and look down. "Renji?! Toshiro?! Hinata?!" She looked and saw a pile of rocks down below. Out of that pile, an arm stuck out, somewhat burnt, and not moving. Mizu couldn't believe what was happening. Her eyes soon flooded with tears as she sobbed. Kefka just couldn't help but laugh at the sight. "How could you." Mizu whispered.

"What was that?" Kefka asked. "Speak up, I can't hear you."

Mizu looked back at Kefka. The look on her face was mixed with sadness and anger. "How could you do this to them?! They've done nothing to you!!"

"Who cares about those useless whelps." Kefka scoffed. "Besides, there's a reason why oppose rhymes with dispose. Now stop resisting and give us your heart already!"

"No!" the girl snapped. "I could never give my heart to someone to does this to people. I don't care why you want it so badly, I won't do it!"

Kefka pouted. "Fine. If that's how you want to play it. I'll just take it by force. Knock her to the ground, my esper slave!"

The woman flew above Keyblade wielder and threw a few blasts of ice at her. Mizu dodged them swiftly, and countered with "FIRE!", blasting a few fire balls at her. One of them managed to impact the esper, but she was barely fazed. The creature then swooped down a scratched Mizu's side with her claws, and then launched a kick to her back, knocking her to the ground. MIzu quickly got back up as the creature swooped down again. The girl struck the woman in the shoulder and kicked her in the stomach.

The woman then shot out a stream of lightning, zapping Mizu to her to her knees. The lightning prolonged and Mizu struggled to move. Kefka laughed at her predicament. Soon, Mizu finds the will to move her Keyblade, focusing the lightning on it. Then an energy surged through her, then spontaneously she shouted, "THUNDER!", and the lightning redirected at the creature full blast.

The esper fell to the ground, struggling to move. Mizu panted from exhaustion. She looked at the creature, wondering what it's suppose to be. It doesn't seem like a Heartless at all. The creatures face had a blank expression, as if her mind was shut down. Suddenly she noticed a strange keyhole imbedded on her forehead. It started to flash a faint light. The tip of Mizu's Keyblade also started to flash as well, as if responding to the keyhole. That's when Mizu remembered what Kageyoshi said, Keyblades have the power to lock and unlock any kind of lock.

Mizu wasn't sure what would happen, but she pointed her Keyblade at the Keyhole on the esper's head. Soon, a beam shot out of the Keyblade and entered the keyhole. In a flash of light, the keyhole disappeared. The creature fell motionless on the ground, and became enveloped in light. When the light subsided, Mizu looked on, and instead of a white creature, she saw a normal young woman with blond hair tied in a pony tail, dressed in red. Definitely not a savage creature. Mizu was stunned at the sight.

Kefka looked a little miffed. "Now why did you have to go and do that?!" he snapped. "I work so hard in sealing that mind of hers, so she would let her cataclysmic powers run wild and destroy just as I envision it."

"So you've been controlling her?" Mizu said. "Forcing her against her will? How low could you go?!"

"Sticks and stones, princess. But I think play time is over." Kefka launched an ice shard at the Keyblade wielder. Mizu managed to deflect the shard back at him with her Keyblade, knocking him in the head. Kefka was slightly dazed by the hit, but quickly recovered. "You know... you are really starting to bug me."

Mizu readied herself to fight Kefka. While she put on a brave face, it was clear she was exhausted. All the battles she fought today have really taken a lot out of her. She didn't have enough energy to cast another spell, and she could barely keep her Keyblade steady. Any way you slice it, it didn't look like she was going to win. Regardless, Mizu was not willing to give in.

A knife appear from Kefka's sleeve into his hand. "Alright, you asked for it."

The next few minutes, it has been more like a slaughter than an actual fight. Mizu kept trying to attack Kefka, only to be cut by his knife, burnt by fire, chilled by ice, or zapped by lightning. But, no matter how many time she got knocked down, she kept getting back up. The battle left a lot of cuts, burns, and bruise on her skin and clothes. It went on until Mizuhimé was on the ground, motionless, and finally looking ready to give.

Kefka laughs. "Is that all you've got?" He laughs some more. "Well, you get credit for guts, kid."

Mizu tried to move, but not a single muscle would respond. "No... I can't... let you..."

"Oh, how I would love to see that bravado wipe from your face as you die knowing how helpless you are." Kefka chuckled again. "But unfortunately, I CAN'T kill you, as your death would only delay us once again." He approached the helpless Mizu. "Now then, time to collect my prize."

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a man with spiky brown hair and wearing a red jacket struck Kefka in the shoulder with one of his two Keyblades, shoving him away from Mizu. Then a blast of dark fire hit Kefka from behind, Kefka looked back and saw a man with long silver hair, wearing a white vest, and held his own Keyblade.

Kefka sigh. "Well if isn't the Keyblade Masters." Looks at the man in red, "Sora," looks back at the man in white, "and Riku." He got angry. "Great, just what I needed. A couple of SPOIL SPORTS!!" He then disappears in a puff of smoke. "You win for now, Keybearers!!"

The man in red, Sora, turned to the injured Mizu. He kneeled down and place his hand on her cheek. Mizu open her eyes to take a good look at him. Her vision was blurry. Trying to focus, she managed to briefly get a clear view for the man. "S... Sora..." she spoke weakly, "You... came back..."

"Rest easy," Sora said. "You're safe now." Mizu soon felt relieved and fell asleep.

Sora and Riku looked at the destruction of Hikari Town. "Poor girl," Riku said. "She's lost everything she knew."

"If only I had gotten here sooner!" Sora said as he punched down on the ground. "Damn it!"

"Calm down."

"She didn't deserve this."

"I know what you're feeling. But, don't let it get to you."

Sora calmed down. "I know, I just..."

Riku walked over to the blond-haired girl, picked her up, and threw her onto his shoulder. "We should take them to back to the castle," he said.

Sora nodded as he picked Mizuhimé up, and carried her in his arms. "Right." He looked at her with deep sorrow. "After all... there's nothing left for her here."

===

Meanwhile in the town square, the mysterious girl in the red hood views the destroyed town. "I was afraid something like this might happen." She looks down and puts her fist up to her chest. "Please forgive me, Mizuhimé."

---

Magic Learned:
Thunder