Chapter two
Ricki's father had a spare bed and let Riku stay for the night. Riku cracked his neck and went into the bathroom and noticed that on his hand was a strange black mark. It was a circle with triangles and other strange symbols. Puzzled, Riku tried to wash it off, but to no avail. Riku shrugged and entered the kitchen where Ricki and her father sat eating breakfast. Riku joined them and Ricki's father gave him good news,
"I found a way for you to get back home. There's a town called Helina, due east fifty miles from here. My cousin, Jakel, has a transporting device that can locate each worlds transporter perimeter."
"A transporter perimeter?" Riku stated confused.
"Each world has a blue symbol somewhere, if you touch it, it will transport you to the next world."
"How many worlds will I have to cross before I reach Destiny Island?" Riku knew there had to be a catch.
"123 worlds…"
Riku hesitated before answering, "Alright, I'll go. I'll do anything it takes…it get back home."
Ricki's father nodded, "Go east of here like I said and in Tool Town, ask for a man named Jakel at the item store and tell him his cousin Luke sent him and asked him to give you a transport device. They're very rare and not exactly legal, so be cautious and if anyone asks, don't tell them what you're getting or why you're there."
Riku thanked him and Ricki's father gave him a small pouch filled with money and a map of every world and all its areas. Riku said good-bye to Ricki and her father and began going. There was no use in staying any longer and Riku hurried on. Riku continued down the streets when he heard a voice call out behind him, it was Ricki. She ran up behind him and put something in his hand. Riku opened his hand and in his palm was a gold colored compass. Ricki blushed, "You'll need a compass so you don't lose your way. For this world, just make sure it always points to east and you'll never get lost heading to tool town."
"Hey Ricki…" Riku started, "How long do you think it'll take me in order to reach Destiny Island, across 123 worlds, including the fifty miles I have yet to go"
Ricki thought for a moment, "It depends on you. If you can find the portals in each world quickly, then it won't take very long. However, considering the number you have and that some might be tricky…it will probably take years. Well…at least you have one advantage though; most worlds aren't as big as this one. This world is what you would call an elite world. It is a giant world amongst smaller worlds. A little like Transverse town or the once existing end of the world worlds."
Riku shook his head, "Well, I'm in no hurry, so what if it'll take a few years, maybe even a decade." Riku and Ricki said their good-byes and Riku thanked Ricki again and they departed. Riku knew he would never see Ricki again, and even through that, he knew that she realized that too. Yet, she had helped him, a complete stranger. As Ricki was nearly out of sight, Riku ran up to her,
"Ricki, don't worry about your powers, and never let anyone help you to have even stronger dark powers, it'll be your downfall."
Ricki looked at Riku, puzzled, and Riku smiled, "I learned…the hard way." Riku didn't want her to ask any questions and began running. As he ran, it was just like racing Sora again on Destiny Island, only this time, there was no one to race, and nothing to gain.
Riku looked up into the sky as he rested during the early afternoon. Riku took off his shoes and rested against a skinny, frail looking tree for shade. Riku had found himself in another desert. Riku's mouth felt parched and he opened the small bottle of water Ricki's father had gave him and drank half of it. It barely quenched his thirst and he resisted the temptation to drink it all. Riku poured the sand from his shoes and put them back on and gathered up his things and began back across the desert. Riku's feet dug into the sand, it was warm and pleasant feeling. It had been too long since Riku had felt the warm of sand; it was just like on the beach of Destiny Island. Riku knew it would take another two or three days in order to cross the desert and end up in Tool Town. Riku scanned ahead and saw the heat of the desert, beating off of the line of sand far in his horizon. There were no landmarks to help Riku on his path, only the compass that Ricki had given him. Riku looked at it and it laid perfectly on the 'E'. He was going the right way.
Riku looked around him as the night air grew cold and darkness had begun to settle upon the desert. Riku had found a small cave earlier and decided it was best to rest there for the night. Riku took a sip from his water bottle and ate a potato and went to sleep on the cold cave. He knew he would have to ration his food. He had little water left, less than half and only one water bottle besides the current one. His food rations fared slightly better. He had been given two cans of Vienna sausage, three potatoes and two biscuits with honey. Riku laid back and curled himself into a ball and though he still thought every moment about the journey ahead, he finally found himself able to go to sleep. Riku…
Riku jolted up, he hadn't been asleep for very long and yet a familiar sounding voice had called out his name. Riku looked around the cave; there was nothing but darkness in the entire cave. Riku's heart raced and watched every corner for even the slightest bit of movement. Riku felt sweat beads drip down his chest and face. His heart pounded softly and Riku wiped his mouth cautiously. Riku said there for a few minutes before getting the courage to say anything, "Is someone there?!" Riku waited for an answer, but he heard nothing. Riku said pondering for a few more minutes before slowly falling back to sleep. In his dream, he saw Sephiroth, calling his name.
Sephiroth?!
Everything had gone smoothly the rest of the way across the desert, but on the fourth morning, Riku discovered that he was completely out of water and food. He had been rationing very sparingly and yet still he had run out, and if he didn't get more to eat and drink soon, he would probably die. Riku wanted to crawl the rest of the way, and would have if he wasn't used to this. Riku squinted his eyes to see ahead of him, nothing but desert, and a tall black object, a part of Tool Town he hoped. Riku guessed it would take half the day to get there. Riku quickened his pace and as he drew closer and closer to the city, everything became bigger. More buildings could be seen, water towers, roads, and maybe even people. Riku arrived in town and immediately went into the local café and ordered as much as he could afford. Riku gulped down two turkey subs, four glasses of water and two deluxe fish platters. Riku felt his gut tightened and Riku paid his bill, taking nearly all of his money. Riku walked outside into the town, it was nearly dark and Riku navigated down the streets and approached a hotel. It was red colored and was fairly new looking. Riku went inside and underneath a bead covered curtain into the main hall and approached the middle aged clerk who smiled at him,
"A room for the night?"
"Maybe…could you tell me where Jakel lives?"
The woman looked at him for a moment, "Jakel, he runs the tool store, he's right across the street, but his shop is closed right now"
Riku thanked the woman and to her disappointment left without getting a room. Riku hurried across the street and noticed a man with thick glasses and dark black hair in a lab coat locking the door. Riku walked up to him and introduced himself and asked if he was Jackel,
"Yes I am quite that man. Hm, follow me to my house, we can discuss more"
Riku hesitantly followed the mysterious Jakel to his house and went in. It was covered from floor to ceiling with strange object's, maps and anything and everything anyone could imagine. Riku carefully stepped around things in the living room until Jakel found safe haven on two miraculously uncovered chairs and invited Riku to sit down. Riku accepted and told Jakel his story who watched and listened to Riku with great intrigue. When Riku was finished with his story, Jakel disappeared into his piles of junk and managed to quickly locate a watch-like object and gave it to Riku and explained it and how it worked,
"This is what you were seeking, the world transporting device. You said you already have the map, so now all you need is the device. How it works is simply press the purple button on the side and the transport symbol will appear on the ground and the device will point you to where it is. Then simply step on it when you find it and it'll transport you there. Remember though, this is the only one of its kind, so don't break it. I can build another one but it'll take a long time. When your journey is completed, it will return to me through a homing device. Be careful"
Jakel explained to Riku how each button worked and after Jakel had explained everything, Riku felt the urge to hurry and leave, he didn't want to be rude, and Jakel noticed his uneasiness,
"Mr. Jakel…" Riku started.
Mr. Jakel looked at Riku and smiled, you should go, but take care, especially of my device, it's worth more than you know."
Riku nodded and found his way out the door and stepped outside into the night air. Riku locked the device on his arm and pressed the purple button and a map appeared on the green monitor. The device looked like a watch with a small green screen and a purple button on the side. An arrow appeared on the screen and pointed north to a small green circle. Riku began walking and a triangle appeared that moved closer to the circle. Riku walked again and the circle grew closer and closer. Riku began to run as he neared the end of tool town and smiled as he drew closer, closer to his friends, closer to being home. As Riku was about to touch the circle with his triangle he smacked into something and rubbed his head and stood up. He looked up to see the same dark cloaked man standing before him, Sephiroth. Sephiroth stared at Riku for a while before looking at Riku's hand. Riku felt uncomfortable but sensed Sephiroth wanted to see his hand. Riku opened his hand and a circle with strange symbols appeared. Shocked, Riku quickly closed his hand and pulled it back. Sephiroth smiled and began walking on towards the end of the town. Riku felt compelled to follow and Sephiroth turned around,
"You…"
Riku stopped in his tracks, "You…you were affected by darkness"
Sephiroth smiled, "I am darkness, the ruler of the world stands before you, and it looks like you are now bonded to me"
Riku looked at his hand again and shivered, "This…what is it?"
"A symbol that you have touched me and saved me, and didn't die by touching darkness. You have been in contact with darkness and you are still alive." Sephiroth began walking away from Riku then stopped and without facing him motioned for him to follow. Riku followed him and Sephiroth turned around, this is the portal."
A dark sphere appeared and Sephiroth put on his hand to touch it. Sephiroth entered the dark gateway and Riku followed him, allowing himself to be swallowed by the darkness. Everything went so fast and Riku felt himself pull apart at the seams, at least he thought he did. When Riku gained himself again, he noticed he was in a thick green jungle. Riku looked around for Sephiroth and found him standing up and looking at the sky, "We're here" With that said Sephiroth began to walk away and Riku gathered his strength and stood after the long flight and followed the mysterious black caped Sephiroth deeper into the woods. I'm coming Sora…. and Kairi…