Yes. My new story is finally up. Rejoice. :D

Oh my God! I actually made it on time! I managed to keep my promise! ^^ Yes, I'm so happy!

Unfortunately, though, this is all you're gonna get until sometime next week because I'm going on a vacation trip with family and friends for the next four days and there will be no computer or Wi-Fi. *sadface* You'll have to wait until then.

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this, and please look forward to the first chapter! :)

Prologue: The Start

Bright light.

That was Tsubasa's first impression of his surroundings when he awoke. The light disoriented him for a moment. When he got his bearings, he realized that it was sunlight coming through his window. He was in his small house, lying in his bed.

And the rays of light were hot. Really hot. It was burning his face. He sat up quickly.

"Ouch," he muttered as he rubbed his hot cheek. His hands were cold, oddly, but at the moment he wasn't complaining. The low temperature raised his alertness a bit though he still felt somewhat groggy. It soothed the sting of the lingering heat and warmed up his fingers at the same time.

"Tsubasa!" a cheery voice called from the curtained doorway to his room. "You're awake!"

Tsubasa turned his head to see the owner of the voice, and managed a smile when he saw who it was. "Hello, Mokona," he greeted it as he rubbed his eyes. "Good morning."

The tiny white rabbit-like creature bounced from the doorway onto his lap as it said, "No, not morning! It's the middle of the afternoon! You were asleep a long time."

Tsubasa frowned. "Really?"

Mokona nodded vigorously, its long ears flapping up and down from the movement. "Yep yep! You were out for five days! You used a lot of your magic that time; that's why!"

At that answer, Tsubasa couldn't help but feel shocked. "Five days?" he repeated in disbelief. "How can that –"

He was interrupted by a loud bang that indicated a door being slammed open and Syaoran burst through the curtains a few seconds after in full working gear. He even had his goggles on, like he'd run straight from an archeological dig. He quickly hurried to Tsubasa's bedside, a mix of anxiety and relief in his expression.

"Tsubasa!" Syaoran exclaimed, pure relief in his tone. "You're finally awake! The princesses and I have been so worried! How're you feeling?"

Tsubasa was too rattled by the sudden act of his clone bursting into his room without warning to answer his question properly, and instead stammered, "H-hey, how did you know I was –"

"I was just coming back home to take some extra textbooks to the site, and then I heard your and Mokona's voice. I just had to make sure I wasn't hearing things and hallucinating from this heat," Syaoran sighed in relief. "I'm glad I wasn't. So, how're you feeling?"

"Um, better," Tsubasa managed to say. "I'm still a little sleepy, though. I guess I overdid it."

"Really; you shouldn't have even done this in the first place," his double fretted, veering off the subject. "I mean, both Sakura and I owe you for helping us, but you didn't have to –"

"Hey, don't be like that, Syaoran!" Mokona insisted. "He knew he didn't have to; he just did it anyway! And you did ask him to, if I remember right – along with Sakura too!"

"I know that, but –"

Tsubasa interrupted them both.

"Listen here, Syaoran," he began, raising his arms in a placating gesture. "I know you feel bad, but what's done is done. You can't go back and undo them. So start looking forward instead of back. Okay?"

Syaoran pursed his lips for a minute before answering.

"Yeah," he said finally. "Okay."

Tsubasa smiled and swung his legs over the side of his bed. "Well then, now that that's taken care of, let's go see the princesses. I could really use a walk right about now."

Syaoran looked worried again. "You sure about that?" he asked uncertainly.

"I'm not going to get my energy back if I just stay in bed, you know."

Syaoran finally managed a weak chuckle liked he'd finally given up on arguing against Tsubasa. "Well, I guess that's true. Okay then, you win. Let's go."

"Mokona is coming too!" Mokona piped up.

He tapped his finger on the smooth pane of glass that showed the image of the two boys. He then traced it along the mirror pane, following the two figures as they moved across the small room to the door.

"How interesting…" he murmured as the two youths disappeared from view for the moment. "This mirror really is useful. I'm glad I found this place."

He removed his finger from the huge mirror, which was now flecked with faint trails of red. He stared at his hand and sighed in irritation as he turned his back to the giant looking glass.

"Well, damn," he muttered. "I forgot about the blood. Looks like I'll have to wipe it off later."

He made his way to the velvet chair facing the mirror and dropped into it with a huff. He scowled at the now-bloodstained pane of glass for some timeless minutes as he slouched in his seat. But ever so slowly, his frown morphed into a satisfied smile.

"Oh, well," he said to himself as he slowly raised his blood-caked fingers to his lips and licked them one by one, savoring the taste with each trace of the tongue. "I guess it doesn't really matter. The blood isn't making the mirror malfunction. And besides…" His tongue lingered an extra second on his thumb and then he exhaled in contentment. "It's…so delicious. Who am I to complain?"

A low snicker escaped his lips as he lowered his hand from his mouth to the hilt of a behemoth of a sword, bloody and already in the grip of his free hand, clasping his hand around it. "It's been a while since I've had these feelings in me. It's finally time to let it loose upon the worlds…as payment for making me endure that hell. I won't let myself be the only one who has had to suffer through it. Soon they'll feel the agony. Soon…"

He moved his left hand away so that his right hand held the massive weapon. He then lifted up the blade and pointed it at the huge mirror as if it weighed no more than a pencil. His grin stretched wider.

"Now…" He gleefully observed the mirror again, which showed the two youths now engaged in a conversation with two others. His gaze lingered on the one speaking to the other two people, both of whom were girls, hungrily. He licked his lips.

"…Let the fun begin."

And here's the prologue! Like I said, super short! And like I said, no update until next week! Hope you liked this and that it was a good kickoff/setup for this fic. The first couple chapters will be really short but then it'll get slightly longer around chapter five. How do I know that? Because (for those of you who never saw my profile before reading this) this story is already completely drafted, that's how! I assure you it won't be super-short snippets forever! ^^

Thanks all, and hopefully see you next week! Merry Christmas and God bless :)