Authors Note: My god, how long has it been?

Chapter 21: Curse In Disguise

Sora was practically carrying Riku on his shoulders, as he was exhausted from all the walking, as they (with the exception of Sophie, who had done a runner before the guards got there) were led through the Imperial City. No-one saw them as everyone was inside, fearing that the 'thing' would strike tonight. Sora had never seen a city in fear, as he looked around, walking through the path that he was led on.

"This place sure has changed since I was last here…" Sora said.

"Be quiet, prisoner." The guard holding the end of the rope said, before giving Sora a poke with his javelin.

"Ow! Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty?"

They finally reached the emperor's palace… or what remained of it. It looked like the lower walls were built of guards, and the red of the walls had dried up and was becoming a cold grey, or had been replaced by the red of the blood that was spattered here and there. The sight disgusted Sora, and made Cloud close his eyes.

"Don't like the sight of your own crimes, eh? Well, you'll be dealin' with the consequences soon enough, murderer!" The guard said at the back, holding the tail end of the rope.

Riku was near the breaking point with his temper, but Sora had told him that he had an idea, so he rode with it until they got to the jails. They were all thrown in together and the guards locked the bars behind them.

"The emperor will be down to see you in a moment. Then you'll get your just deserts."

They sat down, still tied together by the ropes.

"So you got a plan, Sora?" Riku asked, getting impatient.

"We wait." Sora replied.

"We wait? Sora, these people are gonna kill us for something we didn't do, and you're telling us to wait?"

"The emperor should recognise me, and if Shang or Mulan turn up, then all the better."

"You say that now, but most of your ideas are never that simple, Sora." Riku replied.

Meanwhile, Sophie had continued to chase the vampire that got away. For a couple of hours now, she had been running around the mountains, but the vampire had redirected to the Imperial City.

'Aagh! Gotta stop him before he reaches the town, or there'll be hell to pay!' Sophie thought.

The vampire suddenly stopped, bringing some confidence back to Sophie. 'Good, he's stopped. Now I'll get this punk.'

"Finally decided to stop, huh? Now I'll teach you a lesson-" Sophie was interrupted by footsteps coming her way.

"There she is! Protect the emperor!" a guard shouted, as 8 or 9 men approached her.

"What? Where's the emperor?" Sophie asked, confused.

"You haven't done your homework, have you lady? I AM the emperor!" The man shouted as he passed through the crowd of guards.

'So that's why the city's on lockdown. The enemy has full control of this world. Damn.' Sophie thought as she slowly backed up. Something told her that the man to the left of the emperor was not human. He was a vampire, just like the emperor was.

With quick thinking, she pulled her gun out, but the captain grabbed her by the wrist and disarmed her before she could fire. He then grabbed her by the throat and threw her into the nearby jagged boulder. She yelped in pain as she hit the thing hard. Had she been human it would have broken her spine but lucky for her, it just incapacitated her temporarily. She struggled to stand up, but the other guards pounded on her, not allowing her to get back up.

'Where is all my strength? Why do I feel so weak?' She didn't have time to think anything more, as a decisive blow to the back of the head by the captain knocked her unconscious.

"We better hurry and get her to the jails as soon as possible. Won't be long before she wakes up." The fake emperor said, taking her weapons from her.

Sora was waiting for the emperor to show up. He was taking forever.

"Man, the emperor sure is running slowly. When is he gonna show up?" Riku said, getting very annoyed with the situation now.

As if on cue, two guards came in to the jail and said in a loud voice:

"Make way for the great emperor of China!"

Sora turned around to see the emperor-

And in that split second, his heart sank.

It was not the emperor he had met in his journey two years ago, it was a new emperor. They were screwed.

"Put her in the other cell, I don't want him and her in the same cell together." He said, motioning to Sora, and Sophie's unconscious body slung over the captain's shoulder, who had also walked in with the emperor. The captain opened a cell and threw in Sophie, with a slight bit of harshness.

"So, you four are the group that has put my country into peril. Well, believe me, your rain of tyranny ends here and now. I have you captive, and you will be punished for your crimes. I'll give you till morning to think about this, and by then you better hope that you die by then."

The emperor turned his back, and nodded to the captain. The captain took a long stare at Sora. Sora felt his energy drain from him, and in a few seconds, he was near unconsciousness on the ground, twitching every now and then as if he had received a severe beating.

Riku realised that if they stayed in that cell till morning, Sora and Sophie would burn in the sunlight, and he and Cloud would be left for dead. They needed a plan, and fast.

Riku clawed his way out of the ropes fast but without alerting the nearby guard, and then helped Cloud untie himself. They motioned for Sora and Sophie to get on with it, but Sophie told them to go alone.

"Go on your own, that guard captain has the power to drain your strength by looking at you, and unfortunately, me and Sora got a dosage of it." Sophie told him.

"Then why wouldn't he use it on us?" Riku asked, curious.

"I don't know. Maybe it only works on vampires or something, look, just get going. And watch for that guard out there."

Riku quietly summoned his keyblade, and with accuracy, chucked it at the guard. It clunked him in the head, knocking him senseless, and then he took the blade back and stretched his arm through the bars to try and hook the keys with the keyblade. He eventually got the keys, and opened the cell door. He gave the guard one more kick to properly knock him out before he and Cloud walked off.

"Let's just hope it's not too close to the morning…"

Land of the Dragons – 4:00am

Chapter End