"Okay, how are we going to know where we're supposed to go? We don't even know where that Doctor is," Sora pointed out.
"I told you his underground lab is located under the cottage by the well. We just have to go back there and wait for him to return there and talk to him." Samara told him.
"Talk to him?" Kairi asked nervously.
"And I mean talk." Samara said with a mean smile. The three knew instantly that it would involve blackmail and force. They just kept quiet.
Riku looked around the forest where they had entered some hours ago after leaving Rocket Town. "But where is the cottage?" he asked.
"Thanks to Sora, we're lost again…" Kairi muttered miserably.
"Hey," Sora began.
Riku crossed his arms and leaned back against a big tree trunk. "Man! And the sun's setting already!" he said impatiently.
"Looks like we'll have to camp out." Sora said.
"Again…" Kairi said glumly.
"Can't do anything about it. We're in unfamiliar territory." Sora explained.
"You never get lost in Neverland or whenever you're trying to find your way to the coliseum." Riku pointed out with a silly look on his face.
"Because I'm familiar with those places!" Sora told him defensively.
"Yeah, yeah… whatever…" Riku muttered.
"Oh, c'mon, guys! We were all born in this continent but we weren't raised here. It's understandable, so stop worrying already," Kairi told them with a weak smile on her face.
"We were born in Midgar. This continent doesn't have Midgar in it. It's in the other continent next to this one where we are right now." Riku corrected.
Silence.
"What about you, Samara, where were you born?" Sora asked, turning to Samara who had been awfully quiet ever since they departed from Rocket Town. She just kept quiet and stared blankly at them. Sora smiled weakly at her. "N…never mind…" he said softly before turning back to Riku and Kairi. "So what now?" Riku asked him.
Sora thought for a while before looking up at the already darkening skies. Several bright stars were already visible. He smiled. "We head over there! We will never stop walking… or running… unless we reach another town!" he declared while pointing towards the west.
Silence.
"Okay, that's a stupid idea," he muttered miserably.
"Get real, Sora, it's getting dark!" Riku told him.
"We can cast light orbs so that we can see in the dark." Sora said before leading the way. "We'll sing so that we won't get bored! C'mon, sing with me, guys!" he declared with a cheerful tone before he began to sing, "Following the leader, the leader, the leader, the leader! Following the leader wherever he may go. Ti-dum! Ti-dee!"
"This is so pathetic…" Samara muttered under her breath as she followed after Riku. She was the last one in their line.
Kairi was singing with Sora, but Riku just had this disturbed look on his face.
Moments later…
"Yaaaaargh!!!!!" Sora and Kairi both let out a horrified scream as they ran faster from a pack of hungry wolves and monsters going after them.
"What are you waiting for? Get rid of them!!!" Kairi told him.
"I can't! They're too many!!!" Sora replied.
"C'mon, let's divide ourselves! We can do it!" Kairi convinced.
"Alright, alright!" Sora said nervously before he got his Keyblade, but before he could start a battle with one of the monsters, he saw that the monsters have already died… including the wolves.
He blinked in awe. "H…huh?" he was perplexed.
Kairi was panting heavily as she leaned back against a tree. "What… what happened to them?" she asked.
The whole area was silent; and only the sound of howling wolves and coyotes far away from them could be heard, plus the sound of chirping crickets and owls.
Sora turned to Riku who was just standing in one place, clutching his own weapon, just ready to draw it… but he was frozen in place while staring at the dead creatures under the moonlight. Obviously Riku didn't do it.
Then they all turned to look at Samara. She was just standing still in one place; her hands clenched in tight fists and her blue eyes wide, staring blankly straight ahead. "Samara," Riku began.
She slowly bowed down her head as she took a deep breath and released it in a jagged sigh. The three approached her, "Are you alright?" Sora asked with a worried look on his face.
She just kept quiet.
"I sense something… strong."
Hojo looked up at his specimen who just spoke up. He pushed up his glasses and eyed his specimen carefully. "How strong is it?" he asked curiously.
His specimen just smiled. "Actually, I won't tell you how strong it is until you let me out of here."
Hojo chuckled lightly but he had a mocking look on his face, "Right." He said sarcastically before turning away and began to check on some files.
The specimen clenched its fists and pounded lightly on the glass surrounding her. "Come on, Professor Hojo. I've done enough damage on property already. Aren't I useful enough for you?" he asked with a challenging look on his face.
Hojo just smiled calmly as he began to read some data. "You cannot even control Mako Energy on your own that's why the reactor almost exploded." He pointed out stiffly.
"I can control it… if it wasn't for your intrusion." The specimen responded rather arrogantly before flipping his hair.
"Are you blaming me?" Hojo demanded angrily at him. He just smiled slyly at the professor. "Who else? Heartless wouldn't do anything stupid; they only follow orders. Only someone like you." he teased.
He clenched his fists before he got up from his seat and approached the glass prison.
He eyed Hojo carefully and raised an eyebrow at him, "Hmf. Someone as pathetic as you are." he corrected.
"Don't use that kind of language and tone on me, Kuja. You are just a puppet." He snapped at him.
Kuja just laughed mockingly at him. "That's so cliché, granddaddy." he said arrogantly before letting out a hearty laugh which really insulted Hojo.
"I don't consider you as a grandchild, bastard." Hojo told him.
Kuja stopped laughing, "Actually, you use that term to refer to a man. Am I even a man?" he asked with a silly smile on his face, meaning to challenge him.
"Biologically you are a male. Now shut up and just sit still there. I am monitoring your heartbeat." Hojo snapped at him before turning away and muttered angrily, "I could just kill you if I want to…"
"I heard that." Kuja snapped at him.
"Yeah, yeah." He said mindlessly with an annoyed look on his face before he sat down on his computer chair and began to type with the keyboard, entering more data in his computer.
"You know that you cannot keep me here forever, Professor Hojo." Kuja said airily.
"Shut up, Kuja. I'm busy. I can't even understand how you managed to get out of that prison cell." Hojo told him with a warning tone.
Kuja just rolled his eyes and began to whistle a tune. "You are just frustrated because ShinRa finally kicked you out of their company, huh?" he asked after whistling.
Hojo stiffened.
"You want to prove to them that they made a big mistake." Kuja said with a tempting tone.
Hojo just ignored him before he finally got up and eyed him angrily before walking out of the laboratory.
Kuja waited until Hojo was finally able to step outside… even further outside… until he could no longer feel Hojo's presence within the whole area. He smiled secretly before he reached inside a secret pocket of his cape and pulled out a small dagger. He got up and began to levitate himself up to an emergency passageway above the glass prison. He used the dagger to unscrew the small lid from its latches and then pushed it upward, but careful not to let it slip out of his grasp and then break on the floor, which could cause the alarm to sound. Carefully, he levitated out of the glass prison and replaced the lid, returning the screws to their proper places. He levitated down to the ground and flipped his hair while chuckling to himself as he walked to the PC. He got a red marker from the penholder and began to write on the monitor, "Never underestimate any of Sephiroth's children."
With that, he dropped the red marker and skipped out of the laboratory. He quickly got out of the cottage, feeling the cool night air against his face. "Such a beautiful evening…" he said softly before he looked up at the skies. "Time for some blackmail…" he thought with a mean smile on his face.