Chapter 1: Birth of Unfound Secrets

Fujitaka sat down on the bed beside his dearest wife Nadeshiko, who was peacefully taking a nap. He gazed at her while at the same time thinking of how lucky he was to be married to a beautiful angel like her. Despite all the difficult challenges he had to face in order to win her hand in marriage, nothing could ever replace all the joyous days that he would spend with her for the rest of their lives.

He slightly bent down to kiss her on the forehead, causing the girl's eyes to slowly open.

"Fujitaka?" the woman softly muttered his name as she was waking up.

"Had a good rest?" Fujitaka asked, giving her yet another kiss on her forehead.

Nadeshiko nodded and smiled. "The doctor told me I just needed to take a break. I wouldn't want to miscarry our second child after all."

"Good girl," he smiled kindly. "Don't worry about the king's proclamation, alright? I'll protect this family, I promise." He gently placed his hand atop her abdomen and asked, "May I listen to her?"

"Her?" Nadeshiko laughed. "You already presumed the baby's a girl?"

"Of course! I have this strong gut feeling, you know? That she's going to be as beautiful and as kind as you are."

Nadeshiko giggled and allowed him to listen to her tummy.

As Fujitaka was listening to the baby kicking inside his wife's womb, he was suddenly caught unaware by the cherry blossoms that flew with the wind outside their window. "Beautiful..." he whispered.

He slowly stood from the bed and walked towards the window. He leaned his head outside and closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath as he enjoyed the seemingly peaceful atmosphere. "I think I know a name that will suit her perfectly," he said, turning around to face his wife again.

"Oh?" Nadeshiko said in amusement. "What do you suggest then?"

"How about... Sakura..."

Eighteen years later...

"Kinomoto-san!" Takashi shouted the girl's name again. He couldn't remember how many times he had repeatedly called for Sakura as he was frantically searching for her around the busy marketplace in town. He was tasked by her brother to make sure she wouldn't do anything that would endanger her life but with the current situation at hand, he could already foresee himself getting beaten to a pulp by her frightening overprotective brother.

"Darn it! Where are you?!"

After almost an hour of searching, Takashi decided it would be best to return to the suburbs and hope Sakura had returned home already. But as he was walking by, his attention was caught by the sound of a woman's voice who seemed to be begging for mercy. Carefully, he tracked the voice that led him to a dark back alley where people rarely passed by. As soon as he saw two men who looked like scouts serving under the king's name, he quickly hid behind an old wooden barrel.

"Please, have mercy! I don't possess any magic, I swear to His Majesty's name! Please!" the poor young girl soon broke into tears as she begged the scouts, kneeling before them.

"Shut up, woman! I know what I saw, and I say it was real magic!" one of the scouts accused her.

"Please! Y-You may have mistaken me for—" the girl was unable to finish her sentence after she was slapped hard by the other scout.

"Don't take us for idiots!" he shouted.

Takashi clenched his fists. He was no longer able to contain his resentment against the uncouth men. He was ready to stand up and defend the girl when another person suddenly entered the scene.

"Oh? And all this time, I thought you actually were idiots." The scouts were caught unaware by the unfamiliar voice in the air.

A man who was heavily clothed in black stood on the rooftop of an old bricked building. It was difficult for Takashi to recognize the person due to the hood that was covering his face. He then jumped off the rooftop and safely landed behind the two scouts.

One of the scouts unsheathed his sword and pointed it towards the man in black cloak. "W-Who are you?" Both of the scouts trembled as the man calmly walked towards them.

"You can call me Raven," said the man in a husky voice. And he smirked. "And if it's magic you were looking for," he paused to take off his gloves and held his hands together, "what can you say about this?"

Quickly, he pulled his hands away from each other and threw a small metal ball towards the scouts that soon released a thick white smoke around all of them. While the scouts were busy finding their way out of the mess, the man swiftly ran to the girl and grabbed her hand, dragging her out of the scene.

"Where are you taking me?" the girl nervously asked as she was running away with the mysterious man who saved her.

"Is that the first thing you usually say after someone just saved your life?"

The girl quickly turned red. "T-Thank you!"

Before they could turn to the nearby corner, the Raven abruptly stopped in his tracks and pulled the girl's hand, pushing her to the wall behind them. He took a careful peak behind the corner and saw other scouts agitatedly running about.

"The others must have already found out," he murmured.

"What are we going to do?" the girl asked, fear clearly appearing on her face.

The man stayed quiet for a moment as he was thinking of a plan. "Alright, stay here. I'll go and drive them away. As soon as they all leave, I want you to run as fast as you can and hide somewhere safe." He was about to leave when he felt a tug on the sleeve of his shirt.

"You're leaving me?" her voice trembled, her eyes close to tears.

The Raven held her shoulders, reassuring her with a kind smile. "I'm saving you. So please... trust me."

As soon as he left, the girl was left to ponder on the last few words said to her by the cloaked man. "Did his voice... change just now?"

After a while, on the other side of town, a young chestnut-haired man was walking around the marketplace with a piece of paper in his hand. He noticeably stood out among the crowd because of his finely-made set of garments. His posture, his strong appearance, and the overall air about him. Everyone who saw him knew that he was no peasant, and definitely not just a mere nobleman. He was a man who further exceeded any of the lower noble rankings.

"He's probably one of the king's loyal spies," one of the people from the crowd whispered.

"From the Li family?" another had said.

"Perhaps."

"Tch! Assassins! Family of murderers!"

The crowd's murmurs were no longer a surprise to Syaoran. All his life, he grew up being feared by anyone who knew his name. False rumors such as their family's thirst for blood and violence no longer irked him. Besides, who could blame them? His family was directly acquainted with the royal family after all. And after what had happened to their country eighteen years ago, anyone who knew his family would definitely be afraid.

"Of all places, why did Eriol have to send me here..." he sighed. He took another look at the piece of paper on his hand to make sure that he was heading the right way.

When he finally reached the house of the potions master, he did not hesitate to immediately get inside just so that he could quickly finish his job and leave at once.

"Hello?" he carefully peaked his head in through the door. "Is anyone home?"

"If you're looking for Terada-sensei, he isn't here yet," a woman's voice was heard. She went downstairs to welcome the guest. "I'm Mihara Chiharu, Terada-sensei's assistant," she bowed. "If it's potions you need then, I can help you with that."

"Ah, right. A friend of mine asked me to get this for him." Syaoran showed the paper to her.

"Oh!" Chiharu squealed as soon as she read what was on the paper. "I see... So this is for him," she tried to hide her laugh. "Very well. I'll go get it right away."

Syaoran wondered what was so funny about what was written on the piece of paper when all it said was the address of the place and the name of the potion he needed to buy.

After he received what he needed from the shop, he quickly left and was about to head straight back through the castle walls when he saw a group of scouts who looked like they were chasing after someone. He eventually stopped one of the scouts and asked him what was going on.

"It's the magus, sire! We're finally close to capturing him!"

Syaoran raised an eyebrow at the man. "Magus? What are you talking about?"

"The Raven! He's a magic user!"

Syaoran's eyes widened. He had always heard of the name 'Raven' from the servants of the castle—from how he served to be the hero of the town civilians to rumors of his ability to wield magic. But the mere thought of it bugged him. How could a magus still exist in his time after they were disposed of years ago? Even though he knew that the scouts could sometimes be a bit unwise, he felt the urge to see this 'magic user' for himself.

Instead of following after the scouts, he decided to take a 'detour' so that he could find this person they called 'Raven' before the others could.

"And I was right to take this route," he told himself when he saw a man in black cloak blending in with the darkest part of the alley. He saw that all the scouts had passed without even having a single hint of suspicion that the man could have hidden himself there. He smacked himself in the forehead in utter unbelief of their stupidity.

When the Raven felt that he had escaped everyone who were after him, he was ready to run to the opposite path away from where the scouts had run to. But to his disappointment, another man's figure appeared right before him, blocking his path once again.

"That sure was some way to hide," Syaoran mocked, appearing from the shadows.

The man in cloak kept quiet as he carefully watched Syaoran's movements.

"Raven, right? So I heard you're a magus?"

He still remained silent.

Syaoran sighed heavily. "I guess you're the type who doesn't like to talk much."

The two of them kept their silence as they simply gazed at each other, as if studying everything about the person standing before them. Though Syaoran kept his cool, the other man stayed vigilant knowing that the person standing before him was no ordinary noble.

Syaoran's attention suddenly averted to the Raven's hand. He noticed a small metal object in the man's grasp. To his surprise, the Raven threw the metal ball below his feet, releasing a thick smoke around them.

Syaoran coughed endlessly as he was trying to find an escape out of the thick smoke when he was suddenly caught unaware by a sharp blade that made a painful cut through his right cheek. And it didn't stop there. More knives flew through the air, all aimed at him. He jumped and glided, dodging everything thrown at him. When he thought it was over, the Raven surprised him from behind, carrying a sword on his hand. But before he could swing the blade at his enemy, Syaoran was successful at grabbing the Raven's arm and gave him a hard punch on the face. The Raven fell to the ground and the hood came off from the person's head, revealing long auburn hair.

Amber eyes widened to discover that the Raven was, all that time, actually a girl.

"I-I'm sorry!" was the first thing that came out of Syaoran's lips when he realized he just punched a woman. He was about to help the girl get up when he saw another metal ball rolling towards his feet. "You have got to be kidding me..."

As soon as the smoke came out, a shadow ran in swiftly and grabbed the girl's arm, leading her away from the scene.

"Hooooeeee... That was close..."

"If I hadn't realized that it was you who foolishly told the scouts you were the Raven, you would have been dead by now," an annoyed Takashi scolded Sakura.

The auburn-haired girl laughed softly. "Right... Thanks, Yamazaki-san," said the girl, remembering how Takashi threw a smoke bomb right at the nobleman before helping her escape.

"I didn't immediately notice it was you because you had that hood on your head. Where's your wig and mask?"

"Onii-chan took them from me," Sakura replied, looking quite down. "He wanted me to stop acting as the Raven."

Chiharu sighed. "And you should."

"Ouch!" Sakura cried while Chiharu was cleaning up the wound on her face. "P-Please be gentle..."

"It's your fault for getting yourself in trouble again." Chiharu damped another cotton on a bowl of ointment before pressing it against Sakura's cheek. "Every time you act as the 'Raven', I always end up cleaning the mess on your body. Did your other scars even heal already?"

Sakura was shyly scratching her other unscarred cheek. "Weeeeeeell, there are still a few." Chiharu and Takashi exchanged glances at each other and sighed heavily.

"Who punched you in the face anyway? You look so terrible!"

"Hmmm..." Sakura paused to think. "I don't really know but he looked like some kind of nobleman? Or maybe not... I don't know! I wasn't able to see his face clearly."

Chiharu looked dumbfounded. "Huh? Are we talking about a ghost here?" she spoke sarcastically.

"G-G-Ghost?!"

"Did you know that there have been tales of a ghost lurking in the dark parts of town recently?" said Takashi.

Chiharu rolled her eyes at the idiotic man who was happily smiling, and she groaned, "Not again..."

And the idiot continued, "They say that during the war eighteen years ago, one of the powerful magi was betrayed and killed by his friend in a dark side of town."

Poor, frightened Sakura held Chiharu very, very close to her. "T-That's horrible!"

Takashi nodded. "Oh, indeed it is." Chiharu kicked him hard on the leg, but that didn't stop him from continuing his story. "And since then, his vengeful spirit lurked the town, waiting for the right time to exact his revenge!"

"Eeeeeeeep!" Sakura quickly hid behind Chiharu.

"It's a lie, Sakura," Chiharu sighed and punched Takashi on the stomach. "It's all a lie."

Takashi coughed from the punch. "That's mean, Chiharu."

"Then, shut up!"

The bell hanging by the front door rang as soon as someone came in. A man tiredly dropped a few bags at the front desk and looked around, wondering why his assistant wasn't anywhere to be found. When he heard muffled noises that sounded like quarrels coming from the second floor, he hurried upstairs worried that Chiharu could have been in trouble.

But instead of Chiharu, the presence of someone else surprised him even more.

"Sakura!" the man exclaimed in shock the moment he laid eyes on her.

"Uhm, hi Terada-sensei," the girl shyly greeted, embarrassed by her current situation.

"What in the world happened to your face?!" Terada rushed to her to check on her wound.

Takashi shrugged. "Apparently, she got herself punched really hard."

"Don't worry, sensei," Chiharu assured him. "I'm almost done patching her up anyway."

Terada was late to notice the clothes Sakura was wearing. He shook his head. "So I believe this is the doing of the Raven."

Sakura forced out a smile. Chiharu and Takashi, on the other hand, tried to control their laugh at their friend's awkward expression. Terada rubbed the back of his neck and sighed.

"What are we to do with you..."

Sakura shyly scratched her cheek. "Uhm, please don't tell onii-chan?"

Chiharu chuckled. "Suuuuuure. And your brother wouldn't notice a thing," she said, pointing at the scar on her friend's cheek.

Sakura blushed. "I-I'll come up with an excuse!" Chiharu and Takashi laughed at her again, causing her cheeks to go even more beet red. "Besides, onii-chan knows I went to visit Yukito with Yamazaki-san. I'm pretty sure he won't suspect a thing."

"Wait—Yukito? But I just passed by him not so long ago," Terada suddenly recalled. "He was riding his horse when I saw him. It looked like he was heading to the direction of your house."

Sakura gulped. She couldn't believe what she had just heard. Slowly, she and Takashi turned to stare at each other with wide staggered eyes. They felt at that very moment that they were about to get in deep trouble with Sakura's brother as soon as they get back.

A young man was seated on a couch near the open balcony of a huge and well-decorated room. He was peacefully reading a book as the golden rays of the setting sun touched his dark blue hair and shone against the frames of his square glasses. Although his eyes were glued to his book, his mind was actually fleeting elsewhere. He was beginning to get bored of the peaceful atmosphere, which had been stuck to him for days, when his royal attendant suddenly came in.

"Your Highness," the lady bowed before she continued, "a friend has come to see you."

A smile curled upon his lips as he heard the news. He dropped the book onto his lap and asked, "Would that be him?"

The lady giggled, "Yes, sir. And he doesn't seem to be in a good mood again today, too. What could His Highness have made him do this time?"

"Just a little errand. He should thank me for giving him morning exercises." The prince laughed.

His attendant was smiling as she rolled her eyes. She couldn't imagine how the prince's friend could keep up with his constant requests. "Shall I let him in now?"

"Yes, please do."

As soon as the attendant escorted the guest into the room, the prince quickly stood from his chair and went to fix a lovely cup of tea for his special friend.

"Good day, Syaoran."

"And good day to you, Eriol, you mischievous little prick!"

Eriol gestured to a white ceramic cup. "Chamomile tea?"

"Darn you and your little favors. I won't ever let you boss me around again!"

The prince was happily whistling in his own little world when he set his eyes on a small jar of honey. "Oh, would you like me to add some honey to your tea?"

Syaoran once again ignored Eriol's words. "Why didn't you warn me that the potion you asked me to get had that kind of effect?!" He quickly took the black-colored bottle from his robes and shove it to the prince's hands.

Eriol raised an eyebrow, smiling cunningly in his curiosity. "Oh? What happened?"

"I was wondering why that bottle felt really light. I thought I was tricked by the woman from the shop so I tried checking if there was anything inside. When I pulled the cork out, I couldn't smell nor see anything!" Syaoran sank onto the couch near the balcony.

"And then?" Eriol was happily shaking the bottle in his hand, staring at it in delight.

"I thought I'd try to ask your attendant if she knew anything about your stupid prank. But when I tried talking to the castle guards..." Syaoran slightly covered his face as he was beginning to turn red. "My voice was so high-pitched that I sounded like a squeaking animal! I saw the maidservants who passed by laughing!"

"Hmm..." Eriol was rubbing his chin, appearing serious as he was deep in thought. "So it actually works."

"Don't 'it-actually-works' me!" Syaoran took the pillow from the couch and hid his beet red face in shame. "That was so embarrassing..."

Eriol pulled the cork from the bottle and carefully examined the empty content. "Too bad I can't use this anymore, though."

"Hey! Why didn't your voice change?"

"Well, you probably left the bottle open for too long so the spirit residing inside must have escaped already."

"Huh?! What spirit are you talking about!"

"Anyway..." Eriol took the cup of tea and walked over to his friend with an innocent smile. "Tea?"

"Tch." Syaoran cautiously glared at the prince.

The other laughed. "It's just chamomile, don't worry."

Syaoran stared at him for a little more before gaining the confidence to accept the prince's kind offer. "Thanks. But be reminded that this does NOT change anything." After taking a sip, he asked, "Just where do you plan to use that anyway?"

"His Majesty, would like to hold a grand celebration for my twenty-first birthday. I just thought a little entertainment might be interesting."

Syaoran frowned. "You're not actually planning to use that on the guests, do you?"

Eriol simply smiled. "Who knows?"

His friend sighed heavily. There was always no way of telling what the cunning prince had in mind. And it had always been like that ever since they met each other when they were just small kids.

"By the way," said Eriol, "I've been meaning to ask, but what happened to your face?"

"Oh, this?" Syaoran felt once more the slight pain on his right cheek when he carefully touched the wound. "I guess you could say I got myself in a bit of trouble."

The prince pulled the other couch to where Syaoran was and sat on it. "Tell me," he smiled.

Syaoran twitched. He knew just from Eriol's current smile that the prince wouldn't let him get away without telling him everything that had happened that day. After being together with Eriol for years, he can confidently tell that he was already pretty good at reading 'smiles'.

"I met the Raven." Syaoran noticed how the prince's eyes slightly widened at the news. "I've already heard of that name countless times but I never thought that I'd actually meet—" he stopped midway when he suddenly remembered how he found out that the Raven was a girl. "I never thought I'd meet him in person. He was being chased by the castle's scouts at the time and I just thought of trying to drive him into a corner. I wanted to find out if he really was a magus like the others say."

Eriol leaned a bit forward from his seat. "And what happened? Did you get any proof?"

"Well, he was pretty skilled in surprise attacks, I'll give him that. There were smoke coming out—"

"Smoke?"

"Yes, but they were coming out from those ball-shaped objects that he kept throwing on the ground. I wasn't able to get any proof that he could actually cast spells or something of the sort. But I already expected as much since all the magi were gone since long ago."

"I see," Eriol muttered. He released a sigh as he sank back onto the couch.

Syaoran smirked at him. "Did I get your curiosity running?"

The prince smiled. "Yeah..." But his smile slowly turned into a frown. "Though the last part of your story was certainly a big disappointment." He sighed once more.

"Jerk."

"I wonder what our very wise men of the court would do to you when they hear you addressing me that way."

"They would be wise enough not to mess with me," Syaoran coolly replied before taking another sip of his tea.

Eriol laughed at his friend's obviously irked face. He later looked at the sky from the balcony and the smile from his face gradually disappeared when he realized that it was already getting dark. As the moon was starting to show, he could feel the uncontrollable excitement wanting to escape his chest. But it would not show on his face as he had always maintained a cool and calm demeanor.

"I wonder..." The prince's voice had stopped Syaoran from drinking his tea. "Are there really no more magi in our own tiny kingdom?"

"Come on, Your Highness. Wasn't it your father, His Majesty, who ordered their permanent removal from society?"

"I know..." Eriol stood from his chair and walked out into the open balcony. "But what if, by some small chance, at least one of them actually survived?". The prince turned around and smiled at his seemingly confused friend.

"What if?"