"Hurry up!" Sora called out to his two companions as they started running out of a big building.
Kairi was just following close behind him but Riku was left way behind them, carrying a small red velvet box. "Are you sure we got the right thing?" Kairi asked Sora.
"Yeah. Is it with Riku?" Sora asked.
She nodded before turning back, seeing several Heartless going after them already. "Oh no! Here they come!" she said with a frantic tone.
"Hey, wait up!" Riku called out.
Sephiroth arrived and blocked one of the enemies who was ready to attack Riku.
"Thanks, dad!" Riku said before proceeding to run.
"Just go! I'll follow!" Sephiroth told him as he began to attack the enemies with his Masamune.
Cloud was waiting for them behind another building. Sora met up with him. "Dad!" he said.
"You got it?" he asked.
"Yeah but it's with Riku." Sora told him.
Before they could run away, more enemies appeared.
"Looks like we have to fight all of them…" Cloud said with a slight frown on his face.
Riku was about to join them at the back of the other building, but before he could round a corner, five Heartless appeared right in front of him, surprising him. He gasped as one of those tried to grab the small box off his grasp. He moved the box away and dodged and then ran off to another direction.
He tried to avoid all the enemies by just running away, until he realized that he lost his way…
And to think that they're in unfamiliar territory.
Finally, he ran through a thick forest until he reached a clear area where a small cottage stood. A big stone well was just beside the house and it had a thick stone lid on top of it.
He ran towards the well and stayed there for a while, placing the box on top of it as he panted heavily. "I can't even fight back because of this box…" he muttered miserably. He recalled Cloud's instructions: never take the box for granted. It is very important.
"What's inside anyway?" he thought silently. But he remembered that nobody must open the box. The first one who should open it and let them see it should be the owner. Riku doesn't even know who the owner is. His father and Cloud were the ones who talked to the owner of the box and had agreed to retrieve it for that person… and their sons had to come along with them, plus their sons' friend, Kairi.
Looking around further from where he is, he realized that the small cottage was already deserted and looked very old and the wooden walls were already beginning to fall apart. He turned to the ground and saw a rusting shovel… he froze when he recognized some dry bloodstains on it. "What the…" he began as he picked it up and examined it. He sniffed it and made a face before dropping it to the ground again. He sighed heavily before he decided that he needed a drink. Seeing that there's a pail beside the well, he began to push the lid off the well. With his muscles and enough strength, he was able to remove the heavy lid easily. For a boy his age (15), he is quite strong. Maybe thanks to the genes he inherited from his strong father, Sephiroth.
And for a boy his age, he's already muscular… just like his dad.
But he took a peek inside the well and saw that it was very dark. He could not even see if there is still water inside. But he thought twice, "Yeugh… the water must be dirty… mommy wouldn't want me drinking dirty water… never mind…" he thought silently before he reached for the box again that was on the ground already with the lid. But just when he was about to get up again to leave, he felt something hit the back of his head.
The shovel, probably… because he heard the sound of metal hitting bone.
Whatever it is, it made him feel dizzy… and he could not open his eyes… even as he struggled to fight the person who hit him with the rock. He could feel severe pain all over his back… and his vision became blurred. "Who…" he had managed to say.
But all he saw was a dark figure in front of him… and just when his vision was slowly clearing, the figure pushed him backwards…
And the next thing he knew, he was already falling into a dark tunnel-like atmosphere…