Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles
Drop of Myrrh

The group encountered many other groups of goblin Heartless along the trail, but they proved more of a nuisance than a problem. A few times the group had to cross the stream along the remains of bridges. While navigating through different paths, they ended up at some dead ends with monsters, but the Heartless at those points left orbs or armor that the travelers could use.

Eventually, they reached a sign that pointed two different directions, but time had worn both trails away. The way through the pass seemed to run straight into the rocky bottom of a cliff while the way to the myrrh tree lead down to where a waterfall fed the stream. Still, sensing they were close to their goal, they investigated the stream.

“The tree must be nearby, it couldn’t have just vanished,” said Tipa.

She ran her hands against the cliff in search of clues.

“It doesn’t seem like a bridge use to be here,” observed Riku.

“Well, the path must have gone somewhere,” Sora stated.

He got down on his knees and felt the ground, pushing blades of grass aside, while looking for traces and hints of the path. He crawled along until he hit the pebbles on the bank. Exasperated at not finding anything new, he flopped back. Kairi walked up to him and picked up one of the pebbles.

“The river use to be a lot deeper, these stones were smoothed by the constant flow of water,” Kairi speculated.

“So the area around here has changed,” said Riku, “but less water should make it easier.”

Sora stared at the flowing water. A rainbow caught the corner of his eye and he looked over where the waterfall sprayed and misted where it hit the stream. Under the white foam, it seemed like there was tan sand at the cliffs foot instead of gray stones.

“Yeah,” he agreed with Riku, “A path right over there would be less likely if there was more water coming down."

“That’s it!” Kairi realized as she looked down at the river bed.

She tossed the pebble at the waterfall. A splash could be faintly heard over the river’s noise shortly after the pebble passed through the waterfall. The boys looked at Kairi with puzzled expressions.

“Don’t you see?” she exclaimed, “When there was more water, there was more force pushing it over the waterfall, so it fell further out. The path use to be where the water now is!”

“Aw, very clever,” Tipa concurred, “The hidden trail gives the tree natural protection.”

Tipa walked up to the waterfall and parted a section with her hand. She looked into the darkness on the other side, nodded, then walked under the waterfall. Sora sprung up and followed her with Riku, Kairi, Zefferia, and Mog.

Under the waterfall was a small tunnel. They followed it into a lush grove, enclosed by cliffs. On the far side was a tree with long, narrow leaves that curled down to a point. Tipa pointed at it.

“There is the myrrh tree!” she exclaimed.

The group started running but lost their footing as the ground quaked beneath them. A few rumbles could be heard and felt. They drew their weapons as they managed to stand back on their feet.

Suddenly, a giant crab sprung down from the cliff and intercepted the travelers from their goal. It was taller than the tree and took up most of the grove. It had a pink shell with a design swirled on its forehead. One claw curved like a scythe in front of its mouth while it used its two pincers to snap at the group.

Sora and Riku each fended off a pincer. The creature spat green, gaseous bubbles from its mouth that floated through the air. Tipa shot spells at the bubbles to counter them.

“Keep away from those, they’ll paralyze you!” she warned.

Sora knocked one of the crab’s pincers up and struck one of its legs. It let out a wail as it flailed its limbs. Its legs gathered under it and it sprung high in the air. The noon sun made it hard to follow it as it apparently shot straight up. It landed with a rumbling thump behind Kairi, causing everyone to loose their balance again.

The colossal crustacean lifted its lower claw and swung it around, hitting Kairi in the spine. Despite the pain, she swung her Keyblade at it as it drew her closer to its mouth. The blade dispersed many of the gas bubbles, but she was getting too close to have room to swing her attacks. She pulled her Keyblade back and shoved it into the small round mouth of the monster, plugging up the paralytic channel. She could hear its teeth try to chew through the foreign object.

Enraged at Kairi being in danger, both Sora and Riku charged to free her. Its pincers blocked their attempts as well as their view of Kairi’s struggles. Still, they continually slashed at the creature with all of their might against its impenetrable shell. Tipa pulled out a blue and white sphere from her pouch and cast an ice spell on the creature. It didn’t harm it, but it did slow its movements down, so she continued repeatedly casting the same spell.

Sora spotted the soft part of its arm and aimed for the small area between its shell and claw. The crab seemed to squirm and squeal again, but Sora kept alternating hits between the claw and its legs to prevent it from leaping into the air again. Riku caught on to what he was doing and started hacking at the legs on the other side.

“Riku, up here!” Zefferia called from on top of the crab, “There’s space between two of these armored plates.”

In the commotion, Zefferia had mounted the crab to look for a weakness, even if she was unable to afflict it. She had tried with the Selkie racket she was equipped with, but like the rest of her, it could pass through the crab like a ghost. However, she was solid to Riku, so she stretched out the hide-covered racket for him to grab onto and pull him up.

“Right. Sora! Try to find a soft spot underneath,” Riku called out.

He mounted the crab and straddled its back. He jabbed his Keyblade between the plates that Zefferia mentioned. The crab let out a muffled screech as it used the last of its power to battle on.

Below, Sora could see Kairi’s unconscious body behind the claw and pincers. Desperate to get her back, he gave the crab a boosted hit. As the blade stretched the claw from its base, he noticed there was a top and bottom layer to the armor with a fleshy area in between. He spun and thrust his Keyblade into it.

“Riku! Release your Keyblade’s energy!” Sora yelled.

Both boys held their blades with both hands uses their weight to hold the blades in while the energy surged out of the blade and into the crab. While they had it pinned, Tipa pulled out a red orb and cast a fire spell that hit the crab directly on its forehead symbol. The monster shook uncontrollably until it collapsed into a lifeless heap.

Having vanquished the foe, the companions would have loved to take a breather, but Kairi’s safety still pressed their minds. Sora began prying away the limbs. Riku slid down to help him. Together they removed one pincer, then pulled the other one away, revealing Kairi pinned between the claw and mouth of the creature.

“Oh no, Kairi!” Sora exclaimed as he tugged at the claw.

Riku grabbed the end of the claw while placing his other hand against the crab to push them apart. When they opened it enough, Kairi slid to the ground. Sora ducked under the claw to grab her while Riku got her legs and they pulled her out and laid her down on the soft grass. Sora felt her forehead while Riku’s fingertips reached for her neck to feel her pulse.

“Will she be okay?” Zefferia asked, biting her thumb.

Riku’s voice quavered, “She’s still breathing, but she seems to have gotten hurt really bad.”

“May I have a look at her?” Tipa asked.

Riku sat up, allowing Tipa to kneel over Kairi. Slowly, she waved her hand above Kairi, analyzing the full extent of the injury.

“Her spine has been damaged and is paralyzed by the monster’s gas,” she diagnosed.

The surrounding faces cringed at the thought. Sora’s fist hit the ground as he tried to hold back tears.

“This is so wrong. I couldn’t even protect her,” sobbed Sora, “It’s not fair!”

Tipa reached into her pouch and brought out the green orb that the first batch of Heartless dropped. She pressed it between two of her fingers and held it over Kairi. The orb began to emit a warm glow. Kairi’s eye blinked open and looked around. She sat up and put a hand to her head.

“Kairi!” Sora exclaimed, “You’re all right!”

Tipa nodded, “Healing spells are my specialty.

“Thank you,” said Riku.

“Yes, thank you so much,” Kairi expressed, “Now that’s over, let’s get that drop for you!”

Tipa helped her stand up. Kairi dusted herself off then looked towards the myrrh tree. Mog was already making his way over so the others walked after him. Tipa grabbed the chalice from Mog and slid it onto a root that popped out under the leaves. The leaves glistened as dew gathered over them and slid down and dripped into the chalice, passing through the tiny crystal and forming a liquid sphere that held in the center.

Riku sighed, “All this for one drop of myrrh.”

“One drop, but it will continue to protect the village, we are indebted to you for your help,” Tipa thanked the group.