"My ship doesn't 'tell' me anything," Terra said, continuing to talk even after the cat disappeared. She had a hunch he was still around. Invisibility, yes, but teleportation, probably not. With a sigh, she rested her head in her hands. "Well, I don't know what to do... Maybe we should go ask around..." She trailed off as she watched Liros leave. "Hey, I'm sorry--" she started to call out, but stopped when she saw the keyblades form in Liros' hands. "No way," she gasped. She knew what keyblades were. She had read about them in her studies on the nature of worlds. But she never thought she'd see someone actually wielding them. "Where--where did you get those?" she asked Liros tentatively, sliding off of the crates and approaching her slowly.

"They're keyblades," Terra explained, unfazed when the cat revealed himself again. She had been more than half expecting it. "The stuff of legends," she announced solemnly, secretly reveling in the drama. By "legend", of course, she meant that the tales the keyblades wove around themselves were indeed epic in scope, echoed by keepers of lore across a million worlds. She had never doubted that they actually existed. But to see one in real life--what a treat!

Terra shuddered as well--the creatures Liros was describing were unlike anything she had ever heard of. They sounded absolutely ghastly. She moved toward Liros to try to comfort her--and saw the ground bubbling over with a strange green substance. She froze in shock as white creatures-surely the very ones Liros had described-rose from the ground. Quickly, she swung her staff in front of her. "Liros, look out!" She looked to the cat, wondering if he had instigated this assault.

"'Soulless'...and they're stalking you?" Terra muttered, swinging her staff at the encroaching creatures, and checking to make sure the cat was all right. Enemy or no, she would never leave someone defenseless against danger. "I don't think they're animals at all," she said by way of reply to the cat. "They seem to be...made of pure light or something."

It made sense, now that she thought about it; Liros's world had been devoured-or destroyed, or something-by these Soulless, and now, with her as the sole survivor, they would probably be hunting her down, trying to eradicate all evidence of the former world. Just the thought of it gave Terra the chills. But she also vowed within herself to protect this strange world-remnant girl, and get to the bottom of the Soulless problem. "Be careful!" she shouted to Liros, leaping forward to catch up with her and knocking several Soulless away in the process.

"Liros! No!" Terra cried out, lunging forward, though she was pushed back by the Soulless. She fought to get past them, but they overpowered her, ripping the staff from her hands. She watched as they moved in on herself and Liros. "Where is that cat?!" she hissed under her breath. Was this...the end? She suddenly found herself wondering where people went when they were eaten by the Soulless...

Suddenly, the already-dim sky grew dark as pitch, and an intense chill swept the area. It wasn't physical cold, more like a stab of terror ringing through every heartstring. The Soulless noticed it too, as they paused, looked up at the sky, and cringed.

Terra gasped as a purple glyph traced itself into the sky, its various parts rotating into alignment. When it was complete, a thick ray of purple light shot down from its center, permeating the ground. The light faded, revealing a kneeling figure in black, with long silver hair. He stood up, revealing himself to be substantially taller than either Liros or Terra, his cat-green eyes glinting with amusement as a grin played up his lips. A single black wing unfurled from his back. "Hello, ladies," Sephiroth said. "It's showtime." With a burst of dark energy, the Masamune appeared in his hand, and he launched himself forward, catching the Soulless off guard and skewering four of them on the blade--they dissipated into light. He made quick work of the rest, destroying them before they could even begin to attack, so precise and powerful was his swordsmanship. "Well then," he said, standing amongst quickly-fading particles of light, all that remained of the Soulless. "Was that all?" He chuckled.

((Hope that was okay.))

If the cat thought that Terra was unfamiliar with the man, he was mistaken.

"Sephiroth," Terra whispered, dropping her staff in shock. "Sephiroth!!" She bolted toward him, throwing her arms around his neck.

His Masamune dissolving back into darkness, Sephiroth wrapped Terra in a bear hug. "Terra...what are you doing here?" he asked, surprise evident in his voice.

"I'm wondering the same thing about you!" Terra replied, laughing, though her eyes were rapidly filling with tears. "Where have you been? I've searched so many worlds for you!"

"It's a long story..." Sephiroth sighed. "And it's got a lot to do with the Soulless, which I see you've met."

Terra nodded. "Oh...this is Liros," she said, pointing to the girl. "She's from a world called Earth...it got destroyed by the Soulless."

"I see..." Sephiroth said gravely. "The situation is worse than I thought..."

"And this," Terra said, motioning to the cat, "is the Cheshire Cat. He's been accompanying us."

"Nice to meet both of you," Sephiroth said to the two.

((Lol, thanks. I have fun writing Sephiroth, I have to admit.))

Sephiroth took Liros's hand and shook it. "Something the matter?" he asked, noting how nervous she seemed. "And yes," he said in reply to the cat. "I don't know everything, unfortunately, but I know enough. Those white creatures that attacked you are called Soulless. They're spreading from world to world like a plague, consuming worlds and their inhabitants in light. They must be stopped before they throw the entire universe irreparably out of balance."

"Do you know what that shock wave was?" Terra asked, wondering if he had felt it as well.

"That...well, I'm not quite sure," Sephiroth admitted. "But whatever it was, it couldn't have been good. I sensed a great and malevolent power being unleashed. Things may get worse before they get better. Assuming they get better at all, anyway."

Sephiroth chuckled. "Yes, I am a great warrior," he replied, enjoying the compliment. "The greatest, if I do say so myself. And although 'One-Winged Angel' is one of my epithets..." He stretched out his wing to emphasize the point. "In terms of power, I'm more of a god than an angel," he ended with a grin. His smile faded as Liros mentioned hearing stories about him. "Is that so," he said in a voice that was trying to retain its enthusiasm, a smile that was clearly forced, a distant and almost sad look in his eyes. "I wonder, just what sort of stories they tell about me nowadays. But none of that matters now," he continued, not letting Liros have a chance to tell him the stories she'd heard. "I need to get you girls to a safe place, away from these Soulless creatures. Come, follow me." He strode to the street and looked around. "There should be some sort of hotel around here somewhere," he muttered to himself.

((I just came! My thing's been accepted and is posted in the OOC thread.))
Anjia held her head as she got up, the light fading around her. 'What happened?' Anjia wondered, scanning out her environment. 'Was that white light ... a chance? I can't be dead, but if I was supposed to be, is this a chance to prove myself? Was that white light a chance to prove myself worthy?' Anjia stood in one place for a minute, dazed, then came back to reality. 'Huh? What was that? And why is my memory all blurry? This never happens to me in the morning.

((Welcome, welcome.))

"Wha?" Sephiroth stopped and turned around to see what the cat was referring to. "Oh. Uh...I knew that," he recovered, turning and walking down the alleyway. "Looks reasonable to me." It was proving difficult for him to pretend like he knew what he was doing in a town he'd never been to before, but he was sure he'd be able to pull it off pretty easily, so long as the cat didn't call his bluff. "Well, come on, ladies...and cat," he added, gesturing for them to follow. "I'm sure they'll have some rooms for us, and I'll get to work setting barriers around the proximity so the Soulless can't invade."

Terra chuckled as she followed Sephiroth. "That was a bit of a blow to his pride," she remarked to Liros and the cat.

((Can I make it so that I meet Sora and his friends and they say they are on the side of light and I convince them to let me join thinking their side is the good one?))