Dance of the Amadi

Prologue

" Of all the worlds the child could have been," The female Amade lifted her gloved hand to shield her eyes from the sun, " It has to be in the country where the sun rises and falls."

" It will do little to complain." Her partner, a tall, strong man, dressed as she was with the coarse brown flaps draped around his shoulders and his waist, and leather braids around his head. " Though never safe for long, here the child is the safest, ere we come."

" Perhaps." The female admitted. " The young one has life, and holds to it with strength. That much we should thank for."

" We can thank when the child is home to us." The male answered. " For now,"

The female looked to him, her green eyes nearly glowing with her power.

" Yideña," They spoke together, " With seasons past and winters gone, and blood that spilled drunk by the ground. We plead thee heed our call, the call of thy brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers, daughters and sons. Linked by blood we are, and linked by blood we will. Let not the new moon put fear in your eyes. The stars shine all the brighter, without the cold moon."

Chapter 1

Syaoran woke up in cold sweat. His nightshirt clung to his clammy skin. He shuddered. He felt like he just fell into a black hole and got crushed. Was he getting sick again?

There was a faint music in his ears, a soft beating of a drum, and a song of many angelic voices singing in synchronism. It was almost as if the drums were his heart and the song his mind, except he could hear the separate heartbeats, pounding furiously against his ribcage from whatever nightmare he was having, and the singing in his mind was definitely from an outside source. Or is it?

The clock showed it was three in the morning. Syaoran got out of bed, wiping his wet brow. What was that dream anyway? He could not remember. Whatever it was gave him a deep feeling of dread, of loss, and most of all, confusion. He shuddered again. He hated being confused. Hiriingaziwa made him confused and he most certainly did not like it.

Outside there was a new moon. Somehow it made Syaoran start. There was no reason to fear a new moon—he knew what that really was—except he could not help but feel as if there was some kind of déjà vu here.

What was so familiar about the new moon?

Changing into his robes, Syaoran leaped from his apartment window onto the far branch of the tree outside. He saw a faintly glowing figure on the building next to his, and approached it, leaping from branch to branch until he was balanced at the very top, and somersaulted onto the roof.

It was Yue. What Yue was doing there, Syaoran had no idea. The moon guardian looked a little sickly, as if the absence of the moon was draining his energy. For a moment Syaoran paused. He could tell the guardian already knew he was there, but he was reluctant to interrupt without some sign. The moon guardian did not move, and after a long moment, Syaoran decided he would approach him anyway.

" I had a dream about the moon earlier." He was sure that was it. " I don't remember most of it though."

Yue was silent. Syaoran knew he had heard, despite the lack of response.

" Something is coming." The boy went on. " Do you suppose we should be wary?"

Yue shifted over, and still did not answer. His eyes scanned the streets below, through the thin branches of the trees that dotted the sidewalks. Syaoran was getting slightly annoyed, but held back his anger.

" If not," Syaoran elaborated, " There is little to keep me here."

" I would think," Yue's soft voice surprised him, " That the Cards would be enough to keep you here."

" They are in safe hands." Syaoran answered. " It was my purpose here anyway. When Hiriingaziwa came it felt as if he were a threat, but now that he's not…" Syaoran turned around, facing the opposite direction, " I want to stay. But I will not if I do not need to. I was never supposed to stay here for long. Only long enough to secure the Clow Cards. Now that they are secure, it will be only a matter of time before my family calls. Unless, of course, there is a threat. So I ask again. Something is coming, so should we be wary?"

" We must always be wary." The guardian answered, his cold grey eyes turning to meet his. " Yet I do not know what this force is. It arrived shortly before you came, and has not moved since."

" Do you know where it comes from?" Syaoran asked. " And why did not Sakura sense it as well? I certainly did."

" She is young." Yue answered. " And still inexperienced, despite her power."

I am young too. Syaoran thought wryly to himself. But he will not say this in front of Yue—after all, lack of years had always been a thorn in the side for him. He certainly will not acknowledge it as the truth now of all times.

" Perhaps it is because this force is not interested in her." Syaoran said hopefully. " Then we can all rest in peace."

Yue did not answer, but Syaoran sensed he agreed. The young boy leaned over the roof. He felt Yue shift suddenly, then stop. Syaoran ignored him.

Still, Syaoran shrugged while almost balancing on his stomach, fate seems to have a knack for busting their hopes. Sakura was powerful, and really the only reason anything should come to Tomoeda. Except perhaps Eriol, who is planning to leave soon. Syaoran frowned. Shouldn't the force be waiting for him in England then? And Syaoran, if this force was waiting for Syaoran, it would probably wait for him in Hong Kong. It must be for Sakura then. Or for something else entirely—one never knows when a new sorcerer or sorceress might pop up. Sakura was certainly unexpected.

" I wish you would not do that." Yue's voice cut sharply in the warm air. " Those with wings I can deal with, however, I hardly believe you have such secrets hidden under your robes."

Was Yue actually unnerved? Syaoran suppressed a grin as he shifted his weight back on his legs so his body tilted back, to the safety of the rooftop. Not even Yue is immune to this, he thought with some childish delight. As a child, very long ago, he had often annoyed his sisters and mother and aunts by balancing this way on the roof or anything dangerously high. He doubted even his father, who died when he was too young to remember, would keep silent at this for long. And his father, rumor had it, was even less sentimental than Yue.

" It strikes me very odd, how the young could have such a passion for mindless danger." Yue commented coldly. Syaoran suppressed an urge to laugh. It wouldn't do for him to laugh at a guardian. In fact, Syaoran did not laugh ever since…well, that is not important.

" I have done that many times." Syaoran answered, a trace of a grin on his lips, which he fought to suppress, " And have become quite adept at keeping myself alive in such a position."

" Should you fall, I will not catch you." Yue sounded bored. Syaoran noted with some amusement that the guardian's shift in position earlier was a near-attempt at holding on to him before he could fall. " Though I am not willing to deal with Sakura's sorrow on the matter either."

" Neither would I." Syaoran turned around so he was facing away from Yue and let the grin come freely to his face, before quickly suppressing it before he started laughing. His mind wandered back to the new moon, and the déjà vu he felt when he first spotted it.

" Was today meant to be the new moon?" Syaoran asked.

Yue did not move, and his voice was solemn. " Iie."

" Then why is it dark?"

" Perhaps it has something to do with the presence in the city."

" Perhaps."

" You should go inside." The guardian remarked. " It is not natural for children to be out at this time of the night."

" I am not natural." Syaoran leaned over again, forgetting the earlier incident. " I happen to be quite unique."

" Ever the modest one." Yue said dryly, and without much humor. It was more of a reproach.

" Truthfully," Syaoran went on, " I happen to be more awake at night." He did not want to elaborate on the reasons. " It is rare for me to get much sleep at all, after dark."

" You do not seem to be troubled by this during the day." Yue noted. He was shifting again, but Syaoran, having forgotten everything, did not mind it. He leaned forward a little more. His feet were not touching the ground, nor were they in the air. It wouldn't do for him to have his feet up in front of Yue, but he did have this playful urge tonight, and had to lean forward a little more.

" Iie." Syaoran was starting to slide. Down. " Perhaps my magic helps keep me awake rather than keep me safe."

" I suggest you come back before you fall." Yue's voice held the slightest trace of urgency to it.

Syaoran stopped sliding and pondered on the idea. He looked like he was falling over, Yue was probably having a silent heart attack, and the chances he would fall are actually higher than usual. Still, with his training, Syaoran would not die, but he doubted the guardian knew that, and for courtesy's sake, summoned his energy and moved the weight back to his legs again. He did it a little too quickly, and flopped over, sitting down hard, and his back collided with the roof, knocking some of the air out of him. He gazed calmly at Yue, who did not turn around, but the guardian had shifted his position again.

Syaoran stayed where he was to fight back his laughter. He wondered what Yue's expression would be if he had let himself fall over but remained on the side of the building, as if he had been glued to it through his feet. All that training, all the skills he knew, and Yue never had a chance to see it at the Final Judgment. Syaoran shrugged. They were his skills after all, skills he learned purely for the fun of it. He pondered on trying it.

" Nothing short of magic would have done that." Yue finally commented. " Yet it was not magic you practiced."

" It's called Qi Gong." Syaoran got up, this time letting the smile dance in his eyes and on his lips. " Something the Chinese invented, long long ago. Did not Clow tell you?"

" He mentioned something like it, and it is only fitting that his descendant should know it." Yue sounded disinterested. " Though it would be much more useful to the Card Master."

Syaoran frowned and absorbed the words. Teach Sakura? But Sakura's too old, and this takes a long time to perfect, especially to the point he did. He supposed he could talk to her and somehow catch her interest, but it really wasn't that interesting, now that he thought of it. There was another problem of teaching her at all—he wasn't even sure how he learned it. He simply got the basics fairly quickly from his mentor, and practiced it in his spare time simply because he felt like it. Sakura, on the other hand, would not do something like this in her spare time.

" Maybe it was just the practice." He muttered out loud. Then, " I suppose I can stay a while longer and teach her. I'm not sure if I can explain it to her well enough, though. Still, it should be easier to teach her than teach some Caucasian. The Japanese are easier to communicate with." Or not. Some of their philosophical sayings are just rigmarole, but then, a lot of Chinese sayings are as well. " Would be interesting to translate the nonsenses to Japanese though." Oh right, Syaoran frowned as he remembered his mentor forcing him to memorize the cursed sayings. She'll really enjoy that.

He felt Yue's eyes on him and ignored them, because he didn't realize he was balancing on the edge again. He flipped back when he got tired of it, but still felt the guardian's eyes.

" Just out of curiosity," Syaoran went on, " Do you think if Clow had been alive—"

" He cannot be." Yue interrupted. " No one is immortal."

" Hai, I know." Syaoran felt irritated. The guardian is so close-minded. " But if he is, do you think he'd be proud of me?"

The guardian was silent. Syaoran cocked an eyebrow. Was that really so hard to answer?

" Why do you ask?" Yue asked.

" Just wondering." Syaoran shrugged. " Not that I'm jealous or anything; I do not really care at this point, and I want a reason to talk to you so I won't have to go back to my apartment." Syaoran leaned over again. " It's just that he gave the cards to Sakura, but I do not think he ever said anything about me or saw me in his visions. All my life it's Clow this, Clow that. I just wonder if, now that everything's over with, I am really such a failure that I thought I was."

He would have felt more emotional about this. Perhaps it was the new moon, perhaps it was the alien force. Somehow he could not feel as strongly as he knew he should.

" What makes you think you are a failure?" Yue asked.

" Here's the thing you should know about mortals." Syaoran had no idea what was wrong with him. He was beginning to slide. " We always want to feel like we're needed. Kami, the world can do without all of us, really, but it's nice to know, and when we go through scrapes and bruises only to find out we did not have to, and in fact things might have been better off if we didn't, it's really depressing."

Yue finally gave up resisting and pulled Syaoran over by the back of his collar. Syaoran winced, having stubbed his toe, but did not complain, sensing the guardian was already quite irritated with him.

" I probably should not tell you this." The guardian let him go. " But as you asked, I see no reason to keep this from you. Clow saw you. He simply did not know what to make of you. He told me so."

Syaoran dug his toe into the shoe to relieve the pain. He felt oddly unaffected. " Really? That's strange."

" He knew only that you are connected to the future Card Mistress." Yue went on, " And that for someone who is to play such an important role in her life, you were extraordinarily weak magically."

Syaoran was not surprised. He heard this so many times from his family that he had grown practically immune to it a long time ago. It hurts now and then, the faintest of stings. Tonight especially, he didn't feel a thing.

" Well, Daidouji played a huge part in Sakura's life, and she has no magic." Syaoran pointed out. The burning in his toe had started to fade. " Was he puzzled by her too?"

" He did not see Daidouji." Yue answered. " I do not know if he would be proud of you. I know I certainly was not impressed when I first met you."

Syaoran broke out laughing. I'm really wacked out tonight. He thought as he suppressed the next bubbles of laughter. It was the dream. The stupid moon. The stupid force that was coming for Sakura. That thought succeeded in killing what mirthful feelings he had, and replaced them with very depressed ones. What, do I have bipolar disorder? He thought to himself with annoyance. The idea hardly lifted his spirits though.

" You should get some rest." Yue had been staring at him. " It might account for your personality, the lack of sleep."

" Iie." Syaoran shook his head, suddenly mirthful again. I really do have bipolar disorder. He thought, with some trepidation. I really hate hospitals. And what would Mama say? " It is actually the dreams that account for my personality."

" What dreams?" Yue asked, cautious now.

" Oh, just dreams." Syaoran shrugged. His eyes were actually starting to feel sandy and dry. " Some remote village." That's burning. " Some people," Getting chopped to pieces by " a bunch of armored soldiers." Some raped too. " Sometimes you see a temple, and priests," getting tortured.

" And that accounts for your personality." Yue sounded unimpressed. Syaoran was not too worried.

" It gets odd at times." Syaoran elaborated. " Sometimes you see pieces" of people and animals " of things lying around for no reason" except to frighten Syaoran, but Yue should not know that. " We're entitled to our idiosyncrasies." And fears.

" You are hiding something." Yue's eyes grew colder and harder than ever. " If these secrets mean the demise of my master—"

" I doubt it." Syaoran shrugged. " I've had them ever since" I saw my father die, which is odd because I don't remember seeing that " I was a little boy in Hong Kong. Most of what I remember has something to do with this man" That might be my dad if I remembered what he looks like " Playing with his daughters" and me, though I think I was too young for him to chase around like that " In a meadow," and getting slaughtered when my sisters weren't there. This isn't bipolar disorder. It's the stupid moon.

Yue had a light frown on his fair face. " If you believe it to be so." He said finally. He suddenly grabbed Syaoran by the collar—Syaoran was sliding again, and pulled him back. " You are trying my patience."

" Iie. I just have not done that in a long time." Syaoran shrugged. " Kind of miss doing that."

It has got to be the stupid moon. Though why this moon out of all the other moons Syaoran could have gone wacko on, he had no idea. The presence in Tomoeda? But that's after Sakura, although Syaoran was familiar with the idea of getting rid of all defenses before attacking the goal. He just wondered why Yue was not affected. Although Yue might be—the guardian had put up with his antics for a surprisingly long time.

Well, I'm not of any use like this, Syaoran shrugged, and promptly hopped over the edge of the roof. He heard a swoosh as Yue's wings straightened out in alarm, and laughed inwardly as he landed lightly on a tree branch. Keeping his weight centered at his chest so the branch would not break, he hopped lightly along the trees until he came to his own window. He stared at it for a while, looking up at Yue. The guardian's wings were gone. Perhaps he had imagined it. Shrugging again, he jumped through the window, landing halfway on the bed.

I probably should have said goodbye to him first. Syaoran thought wryly. Oh well.

He changed back into his pajamas. He did not even look at the clock. That night, he heard again the piercing wails and screams in the air, and smelled the sizzling flesh…

oO

Sakura woke up late the next morning, which was fine as it was the weekend. Her neck hurt, probably because of the way she slept, and she groaned at the headache it was causing. She didn't even respond to Touya's half-hearted muttering about her stomping around like a kaijuu. Touya wasn't himself these days, never would be, she heard. Still, she felt like someone had knocked her off the billion-mile-high skyscrapers they say existed in New York.

" Do you want some aspirin?" Fujitaka asked, running his fingers through her hair in concern.

" Un." Sakura let her forehead drop to the dinner table with a loud thud. She heard her father move to the cupboard to fetch some aspirin pills. She wondered if Clow Reed ever had one of these annoying headaches. Would be nice if he somehow created a No-Headache card that she could use.

Skipping breakfast so she could lie down a little longer, Sakura went upstairs to her room. Kero fluttered about in a restlessness she ignored, except for when it became too annoying.

" Kero-chan, can you stop doing that?" She moaned. " The racket is really hurting my head."

" I just feel uneasy, like something's coming." Kero fluttered down. " I don't get it myself."

" Ow." Sakura rolled away from the window. " Kero-chan, can you close the shutters?"

" What's wrong with you anyway?"

" Neck cramp to headache." Sakura answered. " There anything magical that can help with this?"

" That's a tough one." Kero laughed. " Clow's been trying to figure out the permanent cure for headaches and colds for a long time. He never did figure it out."

" Lovely." Sakura muttered dryly. " Though I shouldn't complain."

" You should be on your guard though." The guardian warned. " I don't know what this is, but I'll bet you it can't be good."

" Are you sure it's really after me?" Sakura could care less at this point.

" No, but it's highly likely. You're the most powerful sorceress in this town, Sakura. And the force is in this town."

" Maybe it's friendly." Sakura yawned.

Sensing the girl was in no mood to talk about this, Kero settled for fluttering about the roof again.

" I'll have to speak to Yue."

" Go ahead." Sakura rolled back to the window and squinted. " Why do I keep doing that?" She muttered as she rolled away from the sun again. " Kero-chan! The shutters aren't helping!"

" Alright, alright. Geez." Kero readjusted the shutters. " I should really speak to Yue, but now is probably not the right time."

" It is so not the right time," Sakura groaned and kicked at the bed with her heel. " Why can't danger attack me when I don't have a headache, hm?"

Kero had to laugh. Sakura giggled and flopped down on the other side of the bed. " How many minutes has it been, Kero-chan?"

" About five."

Sakura groaned. " It takes eight minutes for it to work. Kami-sama."

Just then, a surge of power blew past them. Sakura sat up abruptly, headache forgotten, and Kero flew to her shoulder in amazement.

" What was that?" Sakura asked, now scared. It was the most powerful thing she ever felt.

" Maybe I should visit Yue." Kero blinked.

" I have to talk to Eriol-kun, before he leaves." Sakura looked at Kero.

The girl got dressed and went downstairs.

" Headache better?" Fujitaka called.

" Much! Going over to Eriol-kun's, be right back!" Sakura called back, and putting on her rollerblades, as they were faster, she skated out of their front gate and onto the street. Kero remained at her shoulder, even as she nearly fell because of a crack in the ground. Sakura slid to a halt in front of Eriol's house and rang the doorbell.

Eriol himself answered the door. " So you felt it too." He observed, without a preamble.

" What was it?" Sakura asked as she stepped inside, then bent down to remove her skates. " Is it dangerous?"

" If you get on their bad side, hai." Eriol answered, shutting the door behind Sakura. He led her into the living room so she could sit down. " Clow did not foresee this and I do not know the meaning of this. I only know who they are, not what they want."

" Okay?" Kero blinked. " So what is it?"

Eriol frowned. " There are many worlds out there, Sakura-san. This is only one of them. How they came to be there is not important. What is important is that many realms do not follow the same laws we do. In this world, for example, everything strives to be stable and disorganized. When you shake pepper and salt together, there is absolutely no chance that you could shake it to the point where all the salt is on one side and the pepper is in the other. In some worlds, things strive to be neat. It's impossible for things to naturally mix, like sand, for example. And then there are worlds that strive to be chaotic. Here, we value peace and harmony, with some wars erupting in between because of our nature to be disorganized—but to survive, we must have peace at some period. In some worlds, war is what maintains existence."

" What does all this have to do with anything?" Kero asked.

" There is a race called the Amadi. They are extremely powerful and hold the secrets and knowledge of the dimensions. They are immortal, and extremely skilled at fighting and healing—it is said that they are the ones that taught the worlds that needed it, such as ours, how to fight and how to use herbs and medicine to heal. Perhaps as a price for their knowledge and wisdom, or because they wanted to do it, the Amadi took the task of patrolling the worlds and making sure they exist and keep their existence. They are neither good nor evil, for in some worlds it is necessary to promote war and darkness, but they do what is necessary to keep the realm alive. They have their own sanctuary which no one has entered, and it was said that the sanctuary holds the secrets to all of the other worlds. Outside, however, the Amadi are introverted, and if not completely out of society, they mingle with it to the point where they are undetectable. Their magic is based on music, for it is their language and art, and their fighting was said to be as graceful as any dance. Their true strength, however, is their bond of sisterhood and brotherhood—should any individual Amade be attacked, he or she could summon the powers of all of the other Amadi through a call, and fighting any Amade would mean fighting the entire Amadi group."

" Is that the force we felt earlier?" Sakura asked. " The Amadi?"

" I recognize it." Eriol answered. " It is so old it cannot be from this universe. What they are doing here, and why they reveal themselves, I do not know. Nor do I know if it bodes well for us. Their intentions could very well be to destroy you, if your presence threatens the existence of the universe."

" Hoee!" Sakura shot back to her chair. " How would my presence threaten this universe?"

" You do not understand." Eriol leaned back wearily. " The Cosmos is a funny thing. They do not mean you will take over the world—more that your very existence, or in this case, perhaps your acquisition of the cards, threatens the balance our realm is based on. You need not fear, however." Eriol sat up. " I doubt anything dire should happen, after all, they never attacked Clow."

Sakura was still rather disturbed, and when she arrived home she called Syaoran. The phone rang and rang, but no one answered. Giving up on that, she dialed Tomoyo's number.

" Well, if they're as powerful as he says," Tomoyo sounded worried, " Maybe you should ask Li-kun to watch your back for now. Unless they're trying to help you…"

" Eriol-kun isn't even sure if it is them." Sakura shrugged. " He just thinks it might be, because it feels really powerful. And he says it's very odd for them to reveal themselves like this."

" That might be even worse." Tomoyo pointed out. " With the so called Amadi, at least you know they aren't out to get you because they're evil. With this unknown being, who knows. Maybe it's some kind of monster or something."

Deciding that talking to her friends wouldn't do her much good at this point, Sakura looked at her table and decided to do some homework.

Downstairs, the bell rang, and Touya walked over to answer the door. Yukito smiled at him.

" Konnichiwa!" He said brightly.

" Yuki-san." Touya stepped out of the way. " You look happy."

" I don't know, just the weather, I guess. Is Sakura around?"

" She's upstairs."

" Okay. I need to ask her a favor." Yukito rubbed his glasses. " You look like you've seen better days."

" I don't think I can feel worse, if that's what you mean." Touya moved a stool out of the way as they walked into the kitchen. " Can't quite put my finger on it. It's like something is about to happen."

Touya had lost his magic, but his human intuition was probably enough for him to feel uneasy. Yukito kept his face neutral as he leaned against the counter.

" It might not necessarily be a bad, thing,"

" I don't know." Touya shrugged. " It's like something's here to get someone. Hopefully the gaki."

Yukito cocked an eyebrow. " You're still holding that grudge against the kid?"

" I'm not holding any grudge!"

Yukito laughed.

Upstairs, while staring at the Sakura Book, Sakura suddenly had an epiphany. She rushed down the stairs, Kero riding on her shoulder, and as she was about to enter the basement, she jerked to a stop, stared at Yukito, (who stared back) smiled at him, (who smiled back) and went down.

" Er, what's going on?" Yukito blinked.

" Beats me." Touya shrugged.