Seventeen-year-old Li Syaoran had only one word to describe the place where he was standing that very moment: nowhere. He was nowhere in Japan, nowhere near Japan, nowhere in Asia! He even doubted that he was still on Earth. He though had a several words for what he was feeling that moment, as he stood in that place he called 'nowhere': lost, bewildered, disoriented, baffled, befuddled and those kinds of feelings.
The hazel-eyed boy collapsed on the lush green grass and let out an exasperated sigh, running a hand through his already-messy hair. Even with his smarts, he could not comprehend what had happened to him, where he had been taken and what those two perpetrators had tried to explain to him in a hurried tone. And of course, that was saying something.
As he glanced around him again, he felt his head hurt again at the too much information being shoved inside his brain. Of all the people in Japan—heck, even the world—why did it have to be him? He glanced around him to look at the door where they had gone through a moment ago and it was gone. Just like that. He sighed again for what had been the 5th sigh that minute. Still, no one could blame him. He was, after all, stuck in an alternate realm that looked like it had popped out of a fairy tale book.
And he was stuck with two bickering human-like creatures that had posed as exchange students and brought him to this crazy realm.
Disclaimer: Queenie points to the word. The word itself says everything what I want to say. If you don't know what that word means, I suggest you get a dictionary and look it up for yourself.
Author's Blabbering: This is my first SxS fic. Why my first? Because I've only been writing ExT (and lately, KuroxTomo fics…). This plot, however, does seem to be more on the SxS side, even though I couldn't exactly picture Sakura as the villain. But let me just remind you again, this is NOT an SxT fic (Jeez! No one touches SxS. That's like E is equal to MC squared, a law). It might take a while before I update this fic as I just wanted to see the people's reactions and thoughts (and because I have 4 fics—minus Mistaken Identity—to update). I just have to post this or else the plot bunny will rule over my brain.
Now on with the story!
A Fairy Tale less Ordinary
Chapter 1: Found and Lost
.: Seijou High, Tomoeda, Japan; 10 in the morning :.
"But I thought I had given it to you already… I didn't? Are you sure?… Did you ask onee-san about it?… But I swear I handed it to you this morning. You must've misplaced it again… Well, yes, of course! … Yea-no! What gave you that idea?… No… Well, yes but—I didn't mean it like that!… What? No!… Look, this is going nowhere. Why don't you just ask onee-san if she has your keys?… But I'm really sure I gave it to you this morning, Mother… Just call me again if onee-sama doesn't have it… Yes, goodbye, Mother."
Syaoran hung up his cell phone and slid back the tiny gadget inside his pocket, letting out an irritated sigh. Of all the ideas his Mother could think of… and he was really sure he had given to her the keys to the convertible that morning before he had left for school. His memory hadn't gone that bad yet. After a moment of thought, he turned back to the people he was talking to earlier, before his mother had interrupted with her call: the two exchange students from Hong Kong.
"Sorry, my mother can be very demanding," he told apologetically, scratching his cheek with a finger awkwardly. "What do you guys want to tell me again?"
Nakuru, the tall girl with long auburn hair and cinnamon-colored eyes, nudged the other student, a tall young man with long silver hair and a bored look on his face named Yue. They didn't seem like high school students as they looked more like they were older than him—even taller, which was saying something as he was one of the tallest boys in their class. Still, who was he to complain? And, Syaoran noticed, that they were quite the opposite of each other: Nakuru was bright and cheery while Yue was stoic, laconic and sarcastic. They often argue with each other.
"Come on, Yue, tell him now," Nakuru said, smiling brightly at Syaoran, tugging hard on the other male's sleeve.
The silver-haired young man scowled at him, folding his arms across his chest. "Why don't you tell him yourself?"
"What the heck is wrong with you?" the girl shot back, tugging his sleeve even harder. "Don't you trust me on this?"
Syaoran held back an annoyed sigh. He didn't want to be rude but he certainly didn't want to stand there all day, listening to them bicker and fight. And besides, he would be having his next class in ten minutes. He still had to run from the yard to the third floor and his Math teacher hated late students.
"Look, you guys, you really have to tell me now before—"
Nakuru suddenly turned to him, inwardly startling the wits out his system, a wide smile on her face. Normally, it wasn't all that weird to Syaoran. But at that moment, his brain was all against that bright smile of hers. "I know you have a lot of things to do but we'd like you to come with us right now. This is really, really important."
"Right now?" Syaoran asked blankly, glancing at his watch. 5 minutes before the bell. Fighting the urge to just take off and leave them, he forced a smile. He would just have to explain to his teacher where he had been. "Go where?"
The girl didn't reply, just smile knowingly at Yue who rolled his eyes. "Right! It's agreed then!" With a strong arm, she then started to drag the young man out of the school, followed by Yue closely.
Syaoran's eyes widened as Nakuru pulled—or rather, dragged—him out of the school gates calmly. "W-Wait! Where are we going? I thought we wouldn't be leaving the school! I still have a class—"
"Don't worry, it's just at our house!" the cinnamon-eyed girl replied cheerily, continuing to drag the protesting boy across Tomoeda. They didn't seem to be worried about classes, school and such. "Just stay calm and you won't get hurt. We'll tell you everything when we get there."
Yue rolled his silver eyes at his partner in crime, looking every bit exasperated and annoyed. "You know, I don't think that's the best way to assure him."
"It's not?"
The taller man rolled his eyes again. Why, oh why was he partnered with this incompetent fool anyway? Oh, yes, to save her. He would just have to pull it together for the sake of the both of them or they might never see her anymore. His eyes briefly landed on the still-protesting kid who was helplessly tugging himself free from the clutch of Nakuru.
And for him as well.
.: Middle of nowhere; Present time :.
Syaoran sighed for the nth time that hour, rubbing his hurting temples. He was already late for his Math class. Come to think of it, he had already missed school and his Mother would probably be wondering where the hell he had went.
If only they knew…
He was still sitting there on the grassy slope, staring at the endless field of grass and wildflowers, even after several times of pinching himself, checking if he was in the middle of History class, dreaming. If it was a different situation, he would've had the time to admire the beauty of the surrounding area. But he didn't have time. He had to go home before his Mother decided to call every law enforcement agency in Japan to search for him. But before that, he had to know the very reason why he was forcefully dragged into this mess.
All he could remember was that Nakuru had taken him to the large and sprawling garden, in front of a vast maze one would only see in magazines. And after several minutes of winding through the maze, with a lot of sarcastic remarks from Yue that they were lost, they had found themselves in front of an old, rustic-looking door which Nakuru had opened and pushed him in without explanation whatsoever. And the next thing he knew, he was in this crazy world with Nakuru, whose hair and eyes turned fiery red and had grown large butterfly wings, and with Yue who had grown large angel-like wings.
One thing about them didn't change though: They were still squabbling.
"This is your fault, Ruby Moon."
"My fault? Why is it my fault? You were the one who just stood and did nothing!"
"Exactly. So you can't blame me."
"What? Why you—"
Syaoran slapped his forehead in sheer frustration and anger. He wasn't only lost and bewildered by all the things that had happened to him, he was also stuck with the two most opposite creatures that did nothing but annoy the hell out of him. Oh, and add the fact that they had not yet given him ANY decent explanation for this incident.
"Will someone please tell me what's happening here?" he called out in aggravation, startling the two. He had never shouted in his entire life but those two were just giving him every reason to. "Where am I? Why did you bring me here? What the heck are the both of you? And can I please go home now?"
Nakuru—or rather, Ruby Moon, as Yue had called her—turned to him, a small smile on her features. "I suppose we have to tell you everything, right?"
"Obviously," the amber-eyed young man retorted, rolling his eyes. Their conversation was turning to the direction of pointless again. "You dragged me here, causing me to miss my classes and now, my mother is probably worried sick and is turning the country inside out in search of me, so I deserve an explanation."
"We're going to tell him, right?" Nakuru was looking at Yue who was looking at a distance with a bored expression. Her eyebrows quickly met. "Yue!"
"Fine, tell him," the silver-haired young man told her coolly, shrugging his shoulders. "It wouldn't change anything anyway."
"Why you—" Ruby Moon started it again, walking over to her partner, jabbing a long slender finger on his chest. "You did nothing but criticize me in every way you can! What, you think you're perfect? I haven't even seen you do something for once! Not even explain to His Majesty everything!"
Now, Syaoran's sight was spinning again because of Ruby Moon's shrill voice. His Majesty? Were they referring to him?
"Fine, I'll tell him!" Ruby Moon shrieked and Yue ignored her, rolling his eyes once more. "Do that again and your eyes will fall off!"
"Right!" The other snorted.
The tall lady went over to the younger man, kneeling down to his level and meeting his hazel eyes. Syaoran fought the urge to move away from her. "Look," she started, looking for once serious and calm. "Syaoran, the reason we brought you here was because you're the Crown Prince of Chien. You have to save your fiancée, Princess Tomoyo, from the witch Sakura!"
Syaoran felt his jaw drop then he proceeded to do something he had never done in his entire life. He fainted.
Yue looked over his shoulder at the unconscious prince, a silver eyebrow raised. "Looks like the information was too much for him.