"Kairi," Sora began.
"Hmm?" Kairi responded as she continued to walk. It was early in the morning but they decided to just go on with their journey. Besides, it seemed so dangerous to stay in one place when some goonies are just after them.
"Where's the map?" he asked.
She stopped walking, so did he. "What do you mean where's the map?" she asked with a nervous tone.
He smiled weakly upon remembering that it was such a cold and windy evening last night… "I think the wind must've blown it away while we were asleep." He told her.
"What?! But I thought you were sleeping on it?" she asked in confusion.
"I was… but I move a lot… I must've moved away from it because when I woke up, my foot was already dipped in the stream." He replied sheepishly.
Her eyes widened. "Oh my GAWD!!! How could you lose the map?!" she asked in shock before she covered her face and then turned away from him. She removed her hands from her face and looked around. "Now we're really lost…" she said softly.
"No we're not! We could ask for directions from the people who live in that house!" Sora said, pointing towards a small cottage with a stone well beside it.
Kairi stared at the cottage for a few seconds before turning to Sora with a ridiculous look on her face, "I think that place is already deserted, Sora." She pointed out.
He slouched. "You're right… let's just get going." He told her before proceeding to the other direction away from the cottage. Sighing, Kairi just decided to follow after him.
Riku slowly opened his eyes when he realized that he was floating on water. The first thing he saw was the circular light above him. "Where am I?" he thought.
At an instant, he recalled what happened, and he panicked. He tried to get up immediately, but he slipped because of the mossy ground that he's stepping on and so he fell backwards. He swallowed some water and it tasted… murky… He immediately got up, holding on to Samara before he spewed out some water and then gasped for air while coughing. "What… what happened?!" he asked her before forming another orb-like light.
She just stared at him.
He shuddered upon looking at her face, "Gee… did you even sleep last night?" he asked.
She just kept quiet. Her face seemed to look paler than before… and her eyes already have dark circles around them… like she's wearing purple eyeshadow and dark eyeliner.
Sighing heavily, he stretched before looking up at the circular light above them. "You know, we could try climbing up there." He told her.
She looked up with a solemn look on her face, but she turned back to him when he reacted upon realizing that he was in pain last night and that excruciating pain was what made him faint. "What… happened to me?" he asked in shock before turning to her. He stared at her like he was accusing her of something, but she just smiled slightly at him, "Aren't you afraid of me?" she asked.
He raised an eyebrow at her. "Huh? Well, no, even though you're not exactly normal… why do you ask?"
"I tried to kill you last night." She said with a playful tone. His eyes widened at her, but he could not say anything.
"Come on, Riku. Say it. Say that I'm a freak. C'mon, Riku. I don't mind." She told him with a playful and inviting tone.
But he just softened his facial expression and smiled at her. "How can a sweet-looking girl like you be capable of killing me? Maybe it was just a heartburn. C'mon, hold on to my back. I'll jump high enough where there's no moss and then climb the rest out of here." He told her with a kind tone before looking up again at the circular light.
Her smile faded away. She wanted to scare him, but now he did not look afraid… and he was not even convinced that she tried to kill him last night. Frustrated, she demanded, "What's wrong with you?"
"Huh?" he wondered as he looked down at her again.
She approached him. "Aren't you afraid of me? I have abilities no other human being has. I'm trapped in this place and it's so dark in here, I could be an equivalent of a closet monster or worse!" she told him.
He laughed at her, "Aw, c'mon, Samara. I'm not afraid of closet monsters anymore." He told her playfully.
She frowned at him.
He stopped and then sighed heavily, "Okay, do you want me to be afraid of you?" he asked.
She just bowed down her head but did not say anything.
He smiled calmly as he took her hand and examined it, not caring if she had any fingernails or not. "C'mon, let's get you out of here and have your hands treated. Don't want to die of an infection, right?" he asked before he turned his back to her and bent down a little. "Put your arms around me." He instructed.
She stared unbelievably at him. Blushing, she slowly wrapped her arms around him, above his shoulders. He stood up straight again. "Well, you're not heavy. I can jump higher!" he told her with a pleased tone before he proceeded to jump up.
He reached past halfway of the well and he instantly grabbed hold of two rocks sticking out slightly from the wall. Grunting, he used his feet to feel for any support below so that he could proceed to climb up. "You alright?" he asked her.
"Yeah." She told him as she looked down again. "Riku, don't look down," she told him.
"Why?" he asked.
"Go on… just don't look down. Hurry!" she said, her tone turning frantic.
He obeyed her, but he began to feel nervous too because of her tone.
Samara looked back, down below. Her eyes wide in fear. "Riku, hurry up!" she said frantically.
"I am hurrying up, Samara!" he told her.
"HURRY UP!!!" she repeated, this time, she was really panicking.
"Samara, what is wrong with…" he turned his head to the side to look at her but what he saw made him almost lose his grip and slip down. To him, her face seemed to appear blank… like she had no nose and mouth… it's just her left eye staring back at him widely. He screamed…
Sora and Kairi froze in their tracks upon hearing the familiar voice screaming. "Riku!" the former exclaimed, his blue eyes widening as he rushed back towards the direction where they came from.
"Sora! Where is he?" she asked, running after him.
"It's coming from the cottage!" Sora told her as he ran faster.
They finally arrived at the cottage, feeling exhausted and nervous. "Where is he?" she asked frantically.
Sora took a deep breath before screaming, "Riku!!!" his voice echoing all over the place.
After a few moments, he heard a response, "Sora! Open the lid!"
Kairi and Sora's eyes widened in shock and disbelief as they turned towards the well. "Oh my God…" she said softly as she covered her mouth.
Sora frowned and instantly ran towards the well. "Kairi, help me push!" he commanded. She instantly ran to him. "Alright. One, two… urgh!!!!" Sora began to push with Kairi. The stone lid was really heavy, but they tried their best to push it off the well.
"Riku, hang on in there!" Sora called out.
Finally, they were able to get the lid off the well and they peered inside. It was dark, but they could make out some silver hair moving closer to them. "Oh my goodness! Riku!" Sora exclaimed in disbelief. "How the hell did he end up inside?!" he thought silently as he reached out a hand to him and offered his other hand to Kairi. "Kairi, hold on to me. I'm pulling him up. I want you to pull us, alright?" he asked.
She nodded as she took him by the arm, locking her arm with his while her other hand held on tightly to his upper arm.
Riku looked up at Sora and smiled in relief at him. "Finally!" he gasped out.
Sora's eyes widened upon seeing a black-haired girl wearing white holding onto Riku. "What the…" he began, but he just pushed his thoughts aside when Riku finally reached out a hand to him. Sora grabbed his arm and began to pull him up, out of the well.
"Almost there, Samara," Riku said to the girl reassuringly.
She just tightened her grip around him, but she was slowly slipping from him. Her hands were really in pain and she felt so numb. "Samara, don't let go!" Riku told her.
She wasn't saying anything, but she was really slipping from him.
And just when Riku had already managed to step out and help her off him, that's when Samara finally slipped away from him.
"NO!" he cried out as he instantly reached for her hand that was reaching up to him. He caught her by the wrist. Sora instantly grabbed Riku's waist and pulled him backward.
"Hurry, I can't hold on!" Riku told them.
Kairi was trying to pull Sora, but Riku was too heavy.
Samara looked down again and her eyes revealed to Riku that she was seeing something really scary… but how come he could not see it? She looked up at him again, her eyes telling him, "Let go of me, Riku,"
He frowned at her and stiffened his facial expression as he proceeded to pull her up, this time, his two hands holding her and trying to pull her out of the well.
But she was still slipping.
"Whoa, what are you kids doing here?" they heard a gruff tone ask from behind them. Kairi felt a pair of big and strong hands grab her by the waist and pulled backward; and in an instant, they were all pulled out from their agony.
The four landed on the ground on top of one another.
"Ugh… ow…" Kairi muttered. Sora moved away from the heavy Riku and gasped heavily. "Geez… thanks, mister." Sora told the man.
The man had a tobacco cigar in his mouth and he had blonde hair and he was wearing goggles on top of his forehead. "It's nothing. Next time you kids will know better than to frolic by the well." He told them.
"You alright?" Riku asked as he slowly got up, but was also helping Samara too. She did not answer. She just kept her head bowed down.
Sora and Kairi stared curiously at the man, realizing that he looked somewhat familiar.
"What are you kids doing in a place like this anyway?" the man asked from them.
"I… the two of us fell inside the well… mister…" Riku explained as he took Samara's hand in his.
The man plus Kairi and Sora had wide eyes upon hearing that. "What? But… how?" she asked in awe.
"I don't know. But… she was the first one inside. Someone knocked the lights off me and pushed me inside then placed a lid on the well… and when I woke up she's already there." Riku responded.
The man stared strangely at Riku before turning to Sora, then to Kairi, and then Samara. He stared curiously at the black-haired girl and noticed the paleness of her hands. "Holy #$%!?!" he cussed in awe.
Samara just hid behind Riku.
Riku turned back to the man with a weak smile on his face, "Sir, do you know a place where we can take her? Her hands… need a little… help." He explained rather hesitantly.
The man thought for a while with a deep frown on his face. "Well… yeah… but the hospital in Rocket Town's closed for reconstruction. There were lots of trouble yesterday… but I can accommodate her in my house in the same area. C'mon kids." He said, leading the way.
While walking, Sora and Kairi were staring curiously at Samara, but Riku was giving them a kind of stare that told them not to make a big fuss about the girl, so the two just turned away and looked up at the man who helped them, "My name is Sora. These are my friends Kairi, Riku and…" Sora began, and then eyeing Riku as if asking for the girl's name.
Riku turned to Sora with a serious look on his face, "Samara." He replied with a hard tone.
"Well, I'm Cid. Nice to meet ya young fellows." The man replied with a sly grin on his face before turning to study the four youngsters. Riku, Kairi and Sora were all gaping at him in disbelief. "OH RIGHT! Cid! Cid Highwind!!!" the three chorused excitedly, finally able to recognize him, surprising the man, making him jerk slightly. "Yeah, yeah, kiddies. Well it's so nice seein' ya again. And I don't know why I wasn't able to recognize you at first…" he muttered glumly before turning back to Samara. "Must be because I could recall that there were only three of you back then… now you're four. May I ask whose kid is that?" he asked with a sly smile on his face. The three had resemblances to their parents, but in Samara, he could not see or recall any… except for the blue eyes. "Is she your sister, Sora?" Cid asked.
Sora's eyes widened in surprise as he shook his head frantically, "Oh no, Mister Highwind. My sister's got green eyes." He explained.
Cid scratched his head before saying, "Well, never knew you had a sister…" and he stared at the jet-black hair of the little girl and then turned to Riku. "She's from your family?" he asked.
Riku shook his head. "No." he replied. Cid must've thought about his mother.
"So, little girl, where are you from?" Cid asked with a jolly smile on his face.
She did not answer at first, but softly, she replied, "From an empire."
Silence.
"Empire? What kind of empire?" Cid asked curiously. Maybe the girl's hallucinating or something… and she's making it all up.
But she did not answer anymore. She just made sure that her hair covered her eyes but she kept on staring at the ground.
"Never knew you lived in Rocket Town, Mister Highwind." Sora said.
"Yeah, yeah. Now don't tell you folks, 'ayt? Don't want them visiting me and bothering my new life." Cid told them.
"But they're just in Nibelheim in case you want to visit them." Sora said.
"You guys live there?" Cid asked.
"We have a house there. It's the house where dad was born and raised by his mom, my grandmother. But we mostly stay in Sector 2 in Midgar. We have another house there near the entrance to Sector 1." Sora explained with a proud look on his face.
"You seem so happy about it." Cid muttered.
"Yep!" Sora responded joyfully.
Cid rolled his eyes. "Well, you wouldn't be happy if you heard about the history of Midgar. You wanna hear it? I can summarize it in one word!" he told him.
"Never mind. You might say something bad." Kairi chimed in.
"What?" Cid demanded from him.
"Mommy told me that I shouldn't listen to you because bad words tend to come out from your mouth, Mister Highwind. Heehee." Kairi explained with a playful chuckle.
"Oh, how true, how true. Dad also told me about it too." Sora chimed in.
"Man, you kids are really beginning to bother me! Why, if your folks weren't my friends from way back, I would've just pushed all of you inside the well! Har har har har har!" Cid laughed.
"Ugh… that's so cruel. Are you sure you'd want to do that?" Kairi asked him with a bitter look on her face.
"Yeah. Coz my mom could just hit you with her metal rod." Sora said airily.
Cid stopped laughing. "Alright, alright. Feh. You little weasels." And turned to Riku, going to him and then patting his head. "Heh heh. And how about you? You haven't heard anything bad about me, huh?" he asked.
Riku hesitated for a while before answering, "Well… actually, mommy told me that I shouldn't say bad words… or say curses just like you."
Cid's smile faded. "I'm gonna have to have a word with your mommy," he muttered miserably before turning to Samara. She just kept on staring at the ground, avoiding everyone's gazes.
Finally, they arrived in Rocket Town.
"Whoa… the goonies really did a lot of stuff here yesterday," Sora said with an overwhelmed look on his face upon scanning part of the destroyed area.
"So you guys were the reason for the destruction of some of the buildings here, huh? Most especially the hospital." Cid told them.
Sora laughed sheepishly. "Well, not really, sir. But the enemies were in the hospital so we were asked to go there." He responded.
"Yeah, whatever. But at least the Prez is getting those places reconstructed tomorrow." Cid said before leading the way to a house far from the ruins. It was a two-storey house made of bricks. He stepped up the front porch and opened the door. "SHERA!!!" he called out in a loud but gruff tone which made some of the furniture shake. The four youngsters who were with him jerked at the tone of his voice.
Cid stepped inside and let the four in before he shut the door with a bang. Then, they heard some noise from the kitchen, sounds of footsteps running to them. A brown-haired woman wearing round glasses came rushing to them while holding a frying pan in her right hand. She was wearing a brown apron over a white laboratory coat. She looked somewhat dazed and messed-up, but she still smiled happily at Cid, "Darling!" she greeted before running to him and then embracing him before giving him a kiss on his cheek.
Cid slightly pushed her away, "Gah! You smell like fried fish!" he told her.
She giggled. "Oh, that's for lunch!" she turned to the youngsters, "Oh my. Who are they?" she asked in awe.
"Cloud's boy, Sephiroth's boy, Yuffie's girl… and Samara." Cid introduced while pointing each at the four.
"Sora." Sora introduced formally.
"He's Riku. And I'm Kairi." Kairi said with a weak smile on her face.
Shera was about to shake hands with the four, but she froze when she sniffed something burning. "Oh my goodness! I did it again! Wait a sec, alright?" she asked with a sheepish look on her face before she rushed back to the kitchen.
"Oh man, Shera!? You wasted another fish!" Cid snapped.
"It's alright, dear! Just a false alarm! I thought it's something burning!" she called out from the kitchen.
He turned to the four with a weak smile on his face, "That's Shera, my wife. Sit there in the living room for a while. Make yourselves comfortable and I'll take over the cooking because we might have nothing to eat for lunch… and I'll ask her to help you with what you need, alright?" he told them before rushing to the kitchen and shouted, "Fuck it, Shera! Get out of here and go to those kids! I'm takin' over!"
"Oh dear… alright. But I have to go back to the lab later after lunch! Palmer's constructing another rocket to be launched on the First Lady's next birthday in May. It's supposed to be the Prez's gift to her." They heard Shera respond.
Samara turned her attention to the direction of the kitchen upon hearing that as she sat down on the couch with Riku.
"Cool! They have TV!" Sora said happily before he got the remote and switched it on.
"Music Channel! Music Channel!" Kairi cheered.
"Yeah!" Riku said happily as Sora switched to the Music Channel.
Samara looked away and turned her attention to the TV.
"So, you kids enjoying?" Shera asked as she came to them with a first aid kit in her hands. She sat down beside Samara. "Why are you hiding your face behind that hair?" she asked curiously before she reached for her hair and pushed it to the sides, tucking it behind her ears. Shera's eyes widened in awe upon realizing what a pretty child Samara is. "Oh my… you see? You're so pretty! You should let people see your face. Who knows, you could get known for it." She said sweetly as she gently caressed the little girl's cheek.
Samara did not smile. She just looked up rather hesitantly at Shera and then looked down at her own hands. Shera got her hands and examined them. "Cid told me all about the well thing in the kitchen before I got the first aid kit. Goodness, dear, you're so pale!" she said.
Unknown to all of them, Riku was not really watching TV. Instead, he was looking at Samara, examining her face. It was the first time he completely saw how she looked like without the hair framing the sides of her face.
Kairi leaned back on the couch and looked up at the ceiling, letting her gaze roam around for a while… and then landed on Samara. She had never seen such skin with porcelain-like texture before… and it blends well with the jet-black hair and the icy blue eyes.
As Shera was disinfecting Samara's hands, Sora began to surf through the channels.
"Hey, I was watching that!" Kairi told Sora with a protesting tone as she tried to grab the remote from him.
"Well that music video is boring!" he responded before stumbling upon the news channel.
"Today's headlines say that there's going to be another big threat to the Planet, not because of the rebuilding of the Mako Reactors, but because of a threat to it. Further investigations reveal that an unknown force is trying to make use of the Mako energy for its own purpose of mass destruction. People are blaming ShinRa again for these problems even though the people at ShinRa claim that they have nothing to do with these problems…"
The TV reception suddenly turned into static, which surprised Shera, Kairi, Sora and Riku, making their hearts jump… and for some unknown reason, they felt goosebumps all over their body.
Sora began to switch through the other channels, but everything's in static. "Man, what's going on?" he asked with a perplexed look on his face.
"Strange. That has never happened before… maybe there's something wrong with the reception…" Shera pointed out as she began to wrap Samara's right hand with a bandage. "Your fingernails will grow back, don't worry. But in the meantime, keep your hands away from anything dirty, okay?" she said gently.
Frustrated, Sora was about to switch off the TV, but before he could press the button, the reception returned… but it only showed a well.
The well from beside the cottage.
"Hey… what the…" Sora began.
"Isn't that the well from the cottage?" Kairi asked in awe.
Sora decided to switch to other channels, but all the other channels contained the same broadcast. "What's going on?" he asked in confusion.
"Is this cable TV, Mrs. Highwind?" Kairi asked.
"It's got cable, UHF, satellite and local channels." Shera responded mindlessly; all her attention is in wrapping the bandages around Samara's other hand.
"Just turn it off if it bothers you," Riku told Sora.
"Yeah, it's beginning to give me the creeps," Sora responded before pushing the button… but it won't turn off. After several failed repetitions, he just got up and manually pushed the power button on the TV itself, but it still won't turn off.
"Mrs. Highwind, I think there's something wrong with your TV. It won't turn off." Sora declared with a weak tone.
Shera had finally finished with the bandages before she stood up. "What? Oh dear…" she said in annoyance before she went to the TV and tried to turn it off by pushing the power button again. Nothing happened. Confused, she just decided to pull out the plug.
The TV switched off.
"There you go." She said cheerfully before heading for the kitchen, but she stopped, and so did everyone else when the TV switched on by itself again, but it's in static.
They all felt their hairs rising.
"Okay… this is really scary…" Kairi muttered to Sora as she hid behind his him while staring at the TV.
They were all interrupted when Cid called out with a loud tone which made all of them jerk again, "SHERA!!!"
All eyes turned to the dining area.
The TV switched off again.
Shera just smiled weakly at them, "Must be a bug." She said before rushing to the dining area. "Honey, I think there's something wrong with the TV." They heard her say.
Then, they heard some crash from the dining area.
"AARGH! Shera?!" Cid cried out in annoyance.
"Oops! I'm sorry, dear! Here, let me clean it up for you…"
Then another crash was heard.
"Doh! Never mind, Shera! We'll just order some pizza!" he snapped impatiently.
Sora and Kairi plopped down on the sofa. "Looks like we're going to wait for food here…" he told her. She just nodded before she got a photo album from underneath the coffee table and began to browse through the pictures. Sora began to read some sports magazine he found just on top of the end table beside the couch.
Samara just kept her eyes on the TV for a few more moments before turning her gaze down to her hands wrapped in clean white bandages. Unknown to her, Riku was just observing her… especially during the events moments ago when the TV wouldn't switch off and the static thing. He realized that there was something really odd about her… and he wanted to know who she really is. Then, he remembered something from the well… what happened last night and what he saw moments ago when they were climbing up… and why she was so afraid to look down.
He recalled seeing her without a face, and he only saw her eye staring widely at him. It also scared it and made him scream. He just calmed down when he turned away and heard her say to him, "Riku, hurry up! Please!"
Snapping out of his thoughts, he frowned slightly as he asked her inquiringly, "You alright?"
She just bowed down her head, her hair slipping from behind her ears and framing her face again.
He turned to his two other friends to see if they're listening or watching him, and he felt relieved when he realized that they were busily looking at magazines and pictures. With that, he turned back to Samara and said, "Did you see anything in the well?" he asked.
The question caught the attention of Sora and Kairi and they slowly turned their gazes to the two.
Riku proceeded, "I… Samara, I… thought I saw a monster behind me…" he began.
"So you think I'm a monster… that's what they always say… I am a monster…" Samara muttered as she clenched her fists.
"No… it could have been a hallucination because we were already panicking! But…" Riku began defensively.
She looked up at him with a hurtful look in her eyes, but she looked so angry all of a sudden, "You wouldn't understand… nobody could understand… and nobody could help me… because everybody hates me!" she hissed.
"Wh…what? But why? What's making you say that?" Kairi asked as she got up and went closer to them, kneeling down before Samara. Sora followed after her and sat down on the arm rest beside Samara. "What did you see back there?" he asked curiously.
She was silent for a few moments before replying, "I… saw… a lady… she looks like an older version of myself… but she had no face. I only saw her eye… and she… wants me to stay inside." She sounded like she was about to cry, but she did not.
The eyes of her three listeners widened in shock upon hearing that, but they were not able to say anything else.
"Samara, could you tell us who pushed you inside the well? I promise, we'll get even with him!" Riku told her with a determined look on his face as he moved closer to her.
She shook her head frantically as she looked up at him with wide blue eyes, "No! I can't! If I tell you or anyone, he'll kill my mommy and daddy! I cannot let that happen! I have to see my mommy and daddy… I have to find them myself… see them for one last time before… before I go back to the well… and stay… there…" she trailed off when she felt her own tears streaming down her face. She sniffed and immediately wiped them away with the back of her right hand. She hated crying.
Kairi examined the hurtful look in her eyes before she reached out and gave her a friendly and comforting embrace. "Aww… it's alright, Samara." She said softly with a sad look on her face.
"But… what does he want from you?" Sora asked.
Kairi let go of her before she proceeded, "He's… a Doctor. The Doctor is bad… he hates my daddy and my mommy… The Doctor wanted me to do bad things for his own sake… but I would not let him hurt my mommy and daddy… even though he told me that they don't love me anymore because they were the ones who gave me to him because I'm a freak. I made him very angry a week ago … I did something bad… so he injected some poison into me. But I resisted and ran away. He followed me. The poison weakened me so I had to crawl… and before I could stand up again, he hit me with a shovel at the back of my head and neck…" she explained, her gaze at the floor.
Kairi, Sora and Riku were too shocked to react. A little girl that age had experienced a lot of abuse… and it made them cringe at the thought.
"Who… is The Doctor?" Kairi asked with a worried look on her face.
Samara shook her head. "I don't know… that's all I know about him." She told them.
"How does he look like?" Sora asked.
"I can't tell you! He will kill my mommy and daddy!" she responded with a frantic look on her face. She was already slightly gasping for air and she was having a hard time breathing, but she still sat still.
Riku frowned before asking, "Why… would your parents even hate you?" he asked.
"Because I am not normal… The Doctor says so…" she said softly.
"Why? What is so… abnormal about you?" Kairi asked, not really being able to see anything further wrong with her aside from being strangely quiet and too pale.
"I killed people, okay?!" Samara cried out, and as she did so, the lights began to flicker and there were slight tremors.
The three were stunned. Cid and Shera also felt the tremors and noticed the flickering of the lights.
After Samara had calmed down, the flickering and the tremors stopped. She looked up at Riku. "People hate my daddy because of his name… but he's trying to change everything. But there are still those who continue to try to ruin his reputation. I wouldn't let anybody hurt my mommy and daddy… so I killed those people. I made their hearts stop… they all fell to the ground like dead flies. No one else knew how they died but me and my mommy and daddy… and this lady doctor who also takes care of me… but somehow, The Doctor found out about it."
Riku's eyes widened in awe upon remembering what happened to himself last night. The ache in his chest… in his heart… like he was having a heart-attack… and when she healed his wound from behind his head…
And recently, the TV that would not switch off.
"Where… where are your mommy and daddy now?" Sora asked gently.
Samara just shook her head. "I don't know…" she said softly.
"Samara, can't you tell us who they are so that we can take you to them?" Kairi asked.
She shook her head. "I can't tell you… The Doctor will kill you too…"she said. She bowed down her head and let her hair cover her face. "I just want to see them for one last time… in person… even if they don't come near me, it's alright. But then I have to find the doctor again if I want to become normal… because he told me before that he will help me from my curse so that mommy and daddy will love me again…" She said as she sniffed and let more of her tears fall from her eyes.
Sora bit his lower lip and exchanged pitiful glances with Kairi and Riku before turning back to Samara and got her hand gently. She stopped crying and slightly raised her gaze to him even though he could not see her eyes. He smiled gently at her. "We'll help you find them." He decided, even though at the back of his mind, he knew that his parents might get worried if he does not return immediately with the box and Riku. Speaking of the box and Riku… "Say, Riku, where's the box?"
Silence.
"What box?" Riku asked.
"The box we retrieved from the hospital building yesterday?" Sora asked.
Riku thought for a while before replying, "Left it in the well… but the content's with Samara. I just let her have it. After all, it's just a necklace with a pendant."
"What?!" Sora and Kairi exclaimed in unison.
They were interrupted when they heard Cid's voice from the dining area, "HEY, PIZZA'S HERE!"
"C'mon, kids!" Shera called out.
Sora and Kairi got up. "C'mon. We'll discuss it later." He told them.
Riku slowly got up with a grunt before offering his hand to Samara. "C'mon. You look too famished." He told her with a kind smile on his face. She just kept quiet before she got up on her own, refusing to let him help her. With that, the four proceeded to the dining area.
He finally arrived back inside the underground laboratory. After inspecting a time table, he nodded his head in approval with a sly smile on his face before going up again. It was actually his private laboratory and nobody knew where it was. It's located underneath an old cottage and the passageway going underground is located underneath one of the floorboards. When he emerged from down below, he closed the passageway and locked it before putting the set of removable floorboards on top of it. He began to whistle a happy tune before proceeding out of the cottage, dusting his white lab coat and then putting his hands behind his back. With that, he gleefully walked towards the well… but he stopped whistling when he realized that the well does not have a lid anymore. "What the…" he had managed to say with a look of awe on his face as he immediately rushed to the well. He saw that the lid was on the dusty ground, and then decided to peer inside the well. He frowned angrily as he clenched his fists before proceeding to gather some stones and threw them forcefully, one by one, inside the well. He was expecting to hear some noises, but there were none. He just shrugged. "Oh well… they could be dead anyway." He told himself before turning away from the well with a sly smile on his face. "What a pity. She was a pretty girl… and he was a handsome boy." He laughed heartily before he placed his hands behind his back and began to walk away from the well while whistling a happy tune. "Time to switch to another project… The girl was useless anyway. The damn brat wouldn't cooperate." He thought angrily to himself.