Her back ached, the feeling of cold stone under her cheek making Sora startle as the memories came rushing back. The weird room. The old lady... and the floor dropping out from under her... then... darkness. Groaning, she rubbed her head, wincing at the feeling of the oncoming headache. "What in the actual hell?" she grumbled, sitting up slowly, patting herself down for any injuries. "Ugh." She shook her head, glancing up at the ceiling, blinking as she found it only a few metres above. "Huh?"
She was in a large room, a ballroom or something of that sort, pale sandy stone tiles underneath her, matching pale brickwork making up the walls. Her fingers dug into the tiles she sat on, gaze darting down as she felt the swirling engravings she sat on. The place seemed ridiculously fancy, and Sora felt oddly out of place in her battered training gear. She clambered to her feet, flinching at how every single sound seemed to bounce off the walls and amplify around the room. Disturbing the eerie silence was the last thing she wanted to do, especially when she had no idea where the hell she'd ended up. The floor had dropped out on her, so she'd been expecting to wake up at the bottom of some sort of cavern – possibly in a pool of her own blood, considering the height from which she'd fallen. She hadn't expected to wake up in some strange building. Hesitantly, she stepped forwards, biting her lip as she tapped the floor, checking its solidity before she walked away from the strange sigil she'd woken up on.
"Um... Rae?" she called softly, frantically glancing around the place. "Silver? Anybody?" She hurried towards the nearest door, cracking it open an inch. Clear. Yanking the door open and closed, she slipped out. The hall was quiet, just like the ballroom, and it had windows lining one wall too. Sora wasted no time in taking a look outside, blinking at the sight she was met with.
Trees. She was still in the forest.
Shudders ran down her spine, eyes locked on the murky green colouring of the leaves. She doubted any other forests had quite the same feel to them. Besides, she'd fallen down – a straight line down – and that meant she was still in the same place, unless someone had moved her, of course. "Oz?" she called, half desperate for someone to answer her. "This isn't funny..." she muttered, the hairs on the back of her neck pricking as she looked around the empty corridor. She was alone. All alone... as per usual. Her hands curled into fists.
A tug on her finger made her pull her head out of the clouds. Sora blinked, staring down at the strange gold string wrapped around her pinkie. Curious, she pulled at it, eyes widening as it went taut, yanking her hand towards wherever the other end was attached to.
"Don't forget to follow the string..." she mumbled, echoing the old lady's parting words back to herself. A clue to passing whatever weird test she'd found herself in. She stepped forwards, gaze fixed on the string as it slackened. "I guess it's this way."
"What's this way?"
Sora leapt a foot in the air, shrieking as she jumped forwards, spinning around to face the man who'd just whispered the words in her ear. She hadn't sensed him in the slightest. As though he'd just materialised behind her out of thin air. "Who in the blue blithering blazes are you?" she hissed, hands up, ready to defend herself against the strange man. "How did you get in here?" She was supposed to be taking a test by herself. All the rest of her teammates were.
"Huh? How did I get in here?" He snorted, running a hand through his inky hair. "Kid, I should be asking you that."
"But... the test..."
Dark eyes narrowed, and Sora edged back slowly. She didn't like that look. "Oh, so you're here for the Monster Cloak?"
She blinked in surprise. "How'd you know that?"
"I didn't," he said, smiling in a smug way that had her fists itching. "Thank you for confirming my suspicions."
Sora twitched. "So..." Her eyes narrowed. "What now?"
"Hmm." He tilted his head, angular eyes narrowing into slits. "Now?" The lighting seemed to flicker, the amber hue of the sunlight glinting in his focused gaze. "Now, I stop you and drag you off for questioning... Honestly," he muttered. "I don't know who keeps sending you people. You're never successful."
"There have been... others?" she asked, stumbling back as he took a step towards her.
"Weren't you aware?" he questioned, shaking his head in the next second. "Oh well. Never mind. You're coming with me either way."
"Yeah, no," Sora mumbled, turning on her heel, flat out sprinting away from the man. She was confident in her sprinting skills. It was how she'd always escaped Tabitha and her crew. Her many years of practice came in handy, the string attached to her finger growing slacker with every step forwards. She didn't exactly know what was reeling in all the slack as she headed towards her destination, but it was helpful.
Feet pounded on the tile behind her, sharp ears letting her know he wasn't about to be catching up with her anytime soon. "Dammit." Sora smirked at the annoyed grunt. "They keep getting faster every year."
She rounded the next corner, lanterns flickering past her at even intervals, tapestries lining the cold grey brickwork. It was a strange place – one she didn't recognise in the slightest, though that wasn't saying much. She was still ridiculously new to the Outer City.
"Millicent, stop her!"
The shout made her stomach drop to her toes, her brain just about registering the new figure ahead of her in the corridor. She was blocking her path. Sora had no time to think, instincts kicking in from all the numerous chases she'd been in over the years. Her feet moved on autopilot, kicking up off the wall as she darted to one side to get around the latest obstacle. It cost her precious time, boots slipping on the vertical surface ever so slightly. She glanced back, silently urging her legs to move faster when she saw how close they were to catching up with her. "Stupid old lady... stupid cloak..." she muttered, blinking as her legs slammed into something vaguely warm and solid enough to topple her over.
Sora winced, slamming face-first into the ground, grunting in pain when a heavy weight landed on her back, twisting her arm just enough for it to be uncomfortable.
"Are you telling me that two of my most trusted riders can't even take care of a little slip of a girl?" the masculine voice asked, and Sora glanced over her shoulder as best she could, wincing at the strain on her neck as she tried to peer at the man sitting on her back. "She's a child. You could've caught up to her in seconds if you'd used your enhancement magic."
"I wasn't certain," the man replied, and she could feel all their eyes on her. "She seems to be concealing her magic, so I'm unsure as to how strong she is. I thought it wise to play it safe."
"Hmm," the other mumbled, grip tightening on her arm. "That won't do, little one," he said, and then gold sparkles filled her vision. Sora stiffened, eyes wide as she glanced at the dots of golden light filling the air around her, breathing coming to a halt as she realised exactly what level of magic the person sitting on her back had.
Gold.
Her head snapped around, gaze locking with the golden eyes staring down at her curiously. She could feel the tendrils of his immense power prodding gently at her own, eyes widening as it slipped into her body. The world faded out, but what filled her sight was a colour she'd seen before. The same colour the crystal had turned when she'd placed her hand on it all the way back in Gaskard. Though Sora wasn't quite sure she could call it a single colour. Strands of many different colours under the sun were gathered there, muted and darkened, the only brightness being the golden magic she could see mapping its way through what looked like veins in a body.
It took Sora a few moments to realise it was her body, and that golden light wasn't her magic. It was his. His magic was pulsing through her, tentatively trying to push at her own, to make it come out and reveal itself, but the filmy gold bubble wrapped around the sole dark point centred just above her heart stopped it in its tracks.
Dizziness made her come to her senses, the ground under her face oddly comforting as the world spun. Sora only had a moment to take in the confusion she could feel radiating from the people surrounding her before she slammed her eyes shut, and promptly found herself standing in the middle of an odd white mist.
The man's face was familiar, she realised, glancing blindly around her new surroundings, lost as to how she'd ended up there. Wherever there was.
"Relax."
Sora blinked at the strange voice echoing around her, freezing as a hand patted her shoulder, the misty figure running past her, coattails flaring behind them.
"You're out of your league here, little one."
Blackness rushed up to greet her, a soft sigh escaping her lips as she finally succumbed to unconsciousness. She had to have been more exhausted than she'd thought. The face, and those golden eyes the oddly familiar man from before... they belonged to someone she knew well, if only from the history books she'd cracked open.
The so-called Dragon King had stood in front of her... sat on her back to be precise... but it couldn't be.
It was impossible.
Dragon King Rhydian was dead.
He had been for hundreds of years.