"Kairi!"
Sora was certain it was her. It had to be. He ran through the doors of the second district as fast as he could. Though he didn't see her in the great open area where they found the Keyhole, he was certain he'd be able to catch up with her easily. He had to tell her about what was happening. About what happened between him and Riku. Maybe she could find some way to get through to him and make things right again.
He ran so fast that Donald and Goofy struggled able to keep up with him. They hadn't seen Sora act this reckless since he crashed them into Deep Jungle. They did their best to keep pace with him, until Goofy chose the absolute worst time to trip over his own feet..."W-Whooaaah!" "WAK!"...and fall right on top of Donald. "Goofy!" the duck yelled in annoyance as the doors to the second district closed in front of their face. "Sorry, Donald!" Goofy apologized instantly. By the time they got up however, Sora was nowhere in sight. They tried calling out to him, but he didn't answer. And with Sora gone now, Donald looked up at Goofy with a big glare on his face. "Nice going, ya big palooka." Goofy could only let out a regretful sigh in response. Now they had TWO friends missing. Could this day get any worse!?
"Kairi!" he called out to her as he ran into the alleyway. And to his relief, there she was. She turned to face him, a bright, cheerful smile upon her face as her ocean blue eyes looked right into his. Just as Sora's lips began to rise with a joyful smile, he suddenly felt...off. A strange and unpleasant feeling in his chest as he looked at Kairi. "Kairi?" The his relief was filled with...confusion and uncertainty. He was certain he was seeing Kairi before his eyes, real as the nose on his face. Yet something felt...wrong. He couldn't explain it, but some kind of gut feeling was telling him that this wasn't Kairi. It wasn't like the times he thought he saw her when he mistook Yuffie for her, or that time he thought he saw her in Merlin's house. Something about the Kairi he was looking at felt...wrong.
"Well, kid. I gotta say, I'm impressed. I thought you'd totally fall for Emerald's Semblance, but no." Sora snapped to look behind him when suddenly, an unfamiliar male voice suddenly rang out from the path he came from. He saw a young man with grey, mildly spiky hair, a collared zip-up jacket with varying shades of gray and black with metal armored sleeves reaching down to his fingerless black gloves, a pair of equally black leather pants covered by a pair of black, hard, metal boots. "Huh?" Sora's confused noise was met with an even more disconcerting sight as he turned back around to see Kairi was suddenly gone!
"For once I have to agree with Mercury. You should have easily fallen for it, but you stopped just before the good part." A more feminine voice drew his attention as rounding the corner to stand beside the strange man was a young dark skinned, red eyed woman with a green bobcut that had two long strands of hair streaming down past her waist, a lavender vest which opened up at the center, revealing her modestly sized, green top clad cleavage, a pair of lavender pants topped by two belted leather stockings that stopped at her calves above a pair of black, heeled shoes.
"Who are you two?" Sora asked, anxiously looking between them two newcomers. Something about them was giving him similar vibes to the other villainous figures he and his friends fought before, but...worse.
"They're with me."
The source of the third voice revealed herself as she walked out of the shadows of the alleyway. The sight of the pale skinned, raven haired woman clad in that orange embroidered red dress. Something about the way her amber eyes seemed to burn into Sora's gaze made him shiver. The way all of them stood around him didn't leave him feeling any more optimistic about their intentions as he summoned the Keyblade. "If you want to fight me, then fine!" he said, trying to mask his unease. "Wow. Eager, isn't he?" Mercury said to Emerald, neither of them being intimidated in the least.
"Relax. None of us want to fight you," Cinder said in a far more relaxed manner. Despite her supposed reassurance, Sora remained on guard. "For some one so young and inexperienced, you've cut a swath through the Heartless. And you've managed to make it so they didn't consume any of the worlds you visited. Though I wonder if it's because of your own merits...or that special little weapon you carry?"
The instant she mentioned the Keyblade, Sora was even more confused. Not to mention concerned. Sora asked, "Who are you? And what do you want?" he asked, struggling to hide his unease as he met her discomforting gaze. "I'm here to give you some advice: Give up on your friends. They're not worth your time."
"What?!" Sora's voice rose with disbelief. Did she seriously just tell him to give up on Riku and Kairi? His ultimate reason for being on this adventure was to find them! Cinder simply regarded his rising indignation with cold indifference. "The moment you and he last spoke inside that whale was the moment Riku went beyond your reach."
That indifferent attitude made Sora grip the handle of the Keyblade tighter, though the temptation to shut her up was not as strong as his shock from her knowing what happened inside of Monstro. "How do you know about Riku?"
"As for Kairi..." Cinder simply continued speaking, not even bothering to answer his question. "...it's best you give up on her as well. There are infinite worlds out there. Do you plan to travel them all one at a time until you just happen to come across her while the Heartless continue to devour those you could possibly still save? For all you know, she is one of the people who were consumed by the darkness when your world was taken by it. That softness of yours will only get you into trouble. Just look how you fell for Emerald's illusion."
Sora grit his teeth furiously at this woman's words. Everything she said seemed like an attack to get under his skin, and it was working too. "SHUT UP!" Sora shouted as he charged at Cinder, Keyblade raised to strike.
Neither Emerald or Mercury moved to intercept Sora. They simply smirked with amusement as Sora swung his Keyblade, only for Cinder to reach her hand out and catch his weapon in her hand. Sora blanched with shock as she smirked at him, wagging the index finger of her free hand in a chiding fashion. All of a sudden, a stream of orange light flowed down the length of his Keyblade. Sora felt a warmth that suddenly rose to a scalding heat, making him gasp in pain and drop the suddenly super-heated Keyblade. As the Keyblade vanished from grasp, Cinder took a single step toward Sora, thrusting her other hand out, striking Sora in the chest and sending him flying along the pavement.
"I'll overlook this little lapse in judgement. So let this be a lesson to you." Cinder said as Sora groaned in pain. "You don't want us as your enemy. Believe it or not, we want you to succeed." Cinder's warning earned a look of confusion from the wincing Sora as he looked back up at her. For someone who claimed to want him to succeed, she wasn't doing well making him not think she was an enemy. "Nngh...Why?" he asked again, pushing himself up and shaking off the pain of the near burn to his hand. The glare on his face made it clear that he didn't trust her still. "Why is not your concern. Suffice it to say, your success is in our best interest. Just stay out of our way, and you and that red caped annoyance can do whatever you wish. It makes no difference to me."
Yet again, her knowledge of his friends made Sora all the more suspicious of her. And more irritated hearing her talk about Ruby in such a way. Though the moment she did mention her, and looked at the overall appearance of her and her two associates, something clicked. "You...You're from Ruby's world, aren't you?"
"Ding ding! Give the kid a prize." Mercury said sarcastically. "Shut it, Mercury." Emerald chided, elbowing him in the ribs as Cinder spoke up again. "You'd do well to keep my warning in mind. Clinging to such pointless things as friendship will only drag you down and leave you powerless. I'd hate to find out that you truly do take the power of that Keyblade for granted." With that, Cinder turned around, with Emerald and Mercury beginning to follow.
Finally finding the strength to get to his feet, Sora furiously yelled out to Cinder as she was walking away. "What do you know? I'll bet you've never had a single friend in your whole life, with the way you act. If that's the case then I feel sorry for you."
His words made Cinder stop, eyes widening with shocked fury. Mercury and Emerald immediately noticed the shift in her mood and shared a worried glanced with each other. Cinder eyes briefly trembled as if trying to hold herself back. Though she did make a it clear to Sora that his words were...less than appreciated as she suddenly snapped back toward him, clenching her fist and making a burst of flame lash in his direction almost like a whip. Sora jumped back from shock, finding himself feeling even more nervous under her furious gaze. "Don't go around presuming you know people you've just met. You've no idea what sort of life I've had." Cinder's voice had a faint tremble in it ever so briefly, before she relaxed her fist and extinguished the flames. "Choose your words and actions more carefully in the future...or yours may just be forfeit." With that, she turned and continued walking, Mercury and Emerald following after until they were out of sight.
As much as Sora wanted to go after them, the display of raw power that Cinder displayed by itself told him that would be a terrible idea. Sora hadn't seen anything quite like that in all the worlds he'd been to. Not even Ursula with the Trident or Jafar as a Genie seemed to have such terrifying power. Nevermind the fact Sora didn't even have backup. But he couldn't stop wondering what she meant when she said Riku was beyond his reach. And Ruby...
It was just then Sora remembered that they were supposed to be trying to find Ruby! He couldn't believe he let himself get pulled away from trying to find her and make sure she was alright! Sora sighed, realizing he was likely in for a lecture from a certain duck as he turned and ran back the way he came. "I hope I'm not too far from them
