Author's Note: This chapter was the first re-edited and I will try to post all the re-edits all at the same time. Along with Chapter 8 as soon as I can. Hope you all are enjoying the story so far. I'm not going to pressure you to review anymore.
Alex's Pov:
I was ecstatic about my older brother finally coming home after being gone for so long. Well, he's not really my brother, but ever since he found me it's been like we're family. "Big brother, while you were gone, I stayed at Aki and Nina's house because I felt lonely at home without you," I said while holding his hand tightly. A few moments of silence passed, then he looked down in my direction. "Well, I'm happy they took care of you while I was gone," he said with a worried yet relieved voice, "A day didn't pass without me thinking of you." I stared up at him taking in his features: He was taller than I am, maybe 6`4", pale skin, short brown hair, and dark brown eyes. We walked on down that path in silence until we came to a house. "That reminds me, big brother: Did you ever find out about your family or remember anything?" I asked him while biting my lip instantly regretting that I asked. "No...Nothing is or has come back to me yet, and it doesn't matter," Justin said in an irritated tone, "I'm already with my family. If I had any family out there and they haven't come looking for me by now or tried contacting me in years then it's their loss not mine."
I watched as he opened the door and we went inside the dark house as the sun was setting. "He's still not comfortable with talking about his family," I thought while frowning. "I-I'm sorry I asked Big brother..." I said as a tear slipped down my cheek. He walked over to me and hugged me tightly as he picked me up and carried me towards the bedroom. "No I'm sorry that little outburst happened, Alex-chan," he said with sincerity, "I promise it won't again, but let's get some sleep alright?" I yawned and before I could comprehend what happened all I remember is shutting my eyes and knowing nothing more.
Justin's Pov:
I felt Alex's soft breathing on my neck and I gently placed her on the bed taking her shoes off, then tucked her in. I frowned as I left the room leaving the door cracked. "I hate lying to Alex all the time," I muttered softly out loud as I walked around our house looking at all the photos, "She should at least get to know about the mysterious birthday cards and such." As I went to look at the picture of Me, Alex, Nina, and Akira when we were younger, I noticed there was a small piece of paper sticking out the back of it. I curiously picked it up and it turned out to be a card, but this time it was pink and not white. "What the…this is new?" I said as I opened the card and started reading it with wide eyes. I stared at it even more as the writing on it was very neat and unfamiliar to me. "Has Alex been receiving mail since I've been gone?" I thought confused. "It can't be mine though, since the bottom of the card is signed from me," I mumbled as I stared at the card.
I put the card back and went into the kitchen, and I felt a smile grace my face. On the walls hung pictures of me and Alex in the house or outside. "I see she's also been taking new pictures while I've been gone," I mumbled while looking at the other 4 unfamiliar pictures. The first was of Alex and Nina standing side by side. The second was of Nina and Akira in front their house waving at the camera. The third was of Alex smiling with a birthday hat on her head. And the last was of all three holding a sign saying 'We miss you guys! Come back safe!' I sighed, then got out an apple and left the kitchen. If only I could show them what's down in the ruins just for one day. It's not something to take lightly, but as Syaoran would say it's definitely something. "Tomorrow…I'll break the news to them in the calmest way that I can without upsetting Alex," I said then went into the bedroom and sat on the bed gently just after slipping off my boots. If only I had all the answers to my questions, I would be able to finally stop feeling so incomplete. After slipping off my boots, I slid into the bed pulling the covers over me and Alex. "Maybe what I need is a wish…just one to fill the void of curiosity," I mumbled, then slipped off into slumber.
Akira's POV:
After Justin had left us, I pretty much walked home in silence with Nina. "Aki, we need to be getting home now," Nina said as she walked forward, "You know it's getting late and that it gets cold out here." I stopped and looked at the back of her head for a bit. "Go on without me, Nina," I said to her with a false calmness, "I'll be back later." Nina turned looking at me with a skeptical look, then shrugged and started walking home. I turned around, walking back in the direction of the castle. "That ungrateful jerk! We looked after Alex for him while he was gone, made sure his house was clean, threw Alex the birthday parties that he wasn't there for, and pretty much were there for her at night when she went through her 'she misses him' episodes. All he had to do was say a simple 'thank you!' Instead, he bites my head off and pretty much yells at me!" I angrily thought. "I wish he could just for once be nice to me! I mean, he basically just straight up treats me like I'm a pain in his side. But, is it because I'm truly annoying…?" I wondered out loud then sighed heavily.
As I walked, I noticed the sky filling with stars and it was getting colder. Something told me to look upwards, and I spotted Princess Sakura on her balcony. "What's her highness doing outside this late?" I thought worried as this looked familiar. I followed her gaze and noticed it was on the newly showing ruins that were sticking out the ground. I gasped as I felt an odd jolt go through my body, and in that instant, my eyes snapped on Princess Sakura who was floating! I started running forward as I contemplated whether I should alert someone of this or try to help her myself. Suddenly, as if I had been hit by a truck, a huge migraine hit me and I felt my vision swim. Then everything went dark. (Omega's Comment: Wow, Rose. You've got worse migraines than me. Author's Comment: Shut up, Omega!)
It was weird. I was awake, yet I knew I wasn't. As I looked around, my eyes suddenly shut then opened as I observed I was in Clow. But it was sunny, and I was behind Princess Sakura, King Toya, and High Priest Yukito. They were talking. Then Princess Sakura ran off inside the ruins, and I was right behind her. She reached Syaoran as they shared a few words with each other that I couldn't hear. However, I had a pretty good idea of what it was without having to hear what they were saying. "This seems to be an underground road, but it's a dead end here," Syaoran said glancing at the pattern on the floor, "It seems to be a very hard rock, and no machine can dig any further than this." I looked at it and noticed two things: It looked like a set of wings, and I can hear what they're saying now. "This…I saw it yesterday…" Sakura said softly. "What?" Syaoran said looking at her. Sakura lowered herself down to the ground until she was touching the symbol with her hands. All of a suddenly the whole symbol glowed as if her touch alone… unlocked it. (That's the best way I could describe it.) I noticed the ground started shaking tremendously as if an earthquake was happening. "What the frick is going on?" I thought confused, then noticed the ground opening up underneath Sakura. "What!?" Syaoran exclaimed.
I stared at her in fascination and fear as she descended downward into the chasm of light. Her eyes weren't the innocent looking green orbs they usually were. Instead, they looked glazed over as if she were in a trance. I covered my face with my arms much like Syaoran was doing due to the light. "Sakura!" Syaoran shouted as he reached out his hand for her. She was staring right at him not blinking, which was creepy. I screamed in surprise as I was suddenly blown out the way Sakura came in and I gasped at what I saw. "What?!" King Toya exclaimed as he fought to keep his balance. High Priest Yukito stood next to him doing the same. "An earthquake?" Someone shouted. "It's going to collapse! Be careful!" Someone else shouted.
"No… this is not an earthquake," Yukito exclaimed to Toya, "Something happened underground!" I gasped when a weird looking rip in the air opened not too far from them and weird men came out. "Where are these people coming from?" King Toya shouted as he pulled out his sword. I screamed as the men with weird looking insignias came out of the rift and ran right through me attacking everyone. I felt my blood go cold when I heard three familiar voices not too far from me. "Nina, take Alex's hand and do not let go! Whatever you do, stay close to me!" Justin shouted as he held a sword in his hand. Alex was clinging to Nina's side tightly with tears flowing down her face and Nina held onto her just as tightly. "We can't leave you here to fight all alone!" Nina shouted at him. Justin gritted his teeth as he stood in front the two with anger in his eyes. "Nii-san, we aren't leaving without you!" Alex cried out to him, "Run away with us! Please!" Three men approached them and then advanced on him with hesitation. Justin sprang into action as he dodged an attack at his head with ease, shortly kicking the man dead on in the head. I watched this go on for a few minutes the yelled running forward as two came from behind about to decapitate Nina and Alex. I felt I was running in slow motion as Nina blocked one attacked and low kicked her attacker causing him to trip forward then collided his head with her knee. "Alex!" Justin, Nina and I screamed. After that, all I saw was blood splattered and everything faded back to solid black. I floated in the darkness breathing hard then winced when a bright light occurred.
Nina's POV:
After I left Aki to her alone time, I couldn't help but feel sad. "They still don't get along after months have gone by," I said while kicking a little pebble. I looked up at the night sky and shuddered as I suddenly felt cold and hurried on home. "So things haven't changed,"I thought with a small smile, "That's a relief to know, since I thought when we all grew up that we'd grow apart." Suddenly, I stopped walking when I heard a small scuffling noise. "Whose there!?" I asked aloud while looking around rapidly. A hand was placed on my shoulder causing me to let out a loud scream until it was muffled. "Easy. Are you trying to wake everyone in Clow?" A laid back voice said. I stopped, then turned around glaring at the said person. "Don't scare me like that, and maybe next time I won't scream like that!" I replied sarcastically. The person let out a small chuckle then ruffled my hair playfully. "Still haven't changed, have you?" He asked looking at me with a serious look, "I hope you haven't been beating up people with what I taught you." I shook my head, then smiled at him with a genuine smile. "Of course, I haven't. Why would I misuse my martial arts skills?" I asked with false sincerity. "I would hope not," the male voice said smoothly, "It would mean I can't teach you anymore, and you'd be breaking our deal." "Now why would I do that, Seishiro-san?" I said smiling at him. "You have a habit of being a bit of a rule breaker most days." He said smartly. I yawned, then gave him an apologetic look. "I have to get home now, but it was nice seeing you again, Seishiro-san," I said then started walking while waving at him, "I hope we can have a longer chat and maybe get some training in next time." "Remember, this is our little secret," Seishiro said as he started walking in the opposite direction, "Don't tell anyone. Also, it was nice seeing you again too." I nodded my head and ran off towards home due to the cold.
"That's Seishiro-san for you, always appearing when you least expect him to," I thought as I opened the door to the house. "Rather than cook tonight I'll just go to bed," I mumbled as I slipped off my boots, took off my belt, and took out my hair clip, "I'm not really hungry and Aki won't be home until who knows when." After that, I climbed into bed and shut off the light. "Tomorrow will be a day full of surprises…I just know it." I mumbled as I fell asleep. The next morning, I awoke to the sun shining on my face and got up stretching my arms. "Time to get up Aki! We should go see Justin off again and pick up Alex," I said, then blinked when I didn't get a response. "Aki? Hello?" I asked aloud again while walking to her bed. I stared at the neatly made bed for nearly a full 5 minutes before it registered. She never came home last night? I thought worried. As quickly as possible, I grabbed some new clothes then ran into the bathroom to take a shower. "She's never stayed out all night before…did what happen yesterday really bother her that badly?" I wondered aloud as I quickly turned the water on, stepping into it.
Normal POV:
1 hour after Nina stepped out of the shower, two strong knocks then 3 little knocks were heard on the door. "Coming!" Nina shouted as she bolted out the kitchen with an apple in hand. She opened the door to the faces of Alex and Justin. "Sorry, I'm late," Nina said gesturing to the two. "I didn't mean to make you have to walk over here. Anyways, come inside and get comfortable while I slip my shoes on." Alex walked right inside and sat on her favorite chair while Justin walked inside and sat on the green futon in the living room. "You look really nice today, Alex," Nina complimented from the door frame as she struggled with her shoe. Alex wore a white cotton-like dress that stopped a little past her knees. On the borders of the dress was a cream pink color with rose patterns. On top of her dress was a white cloak with a hood, and the same cream pink border that stopped a little above her feet. She wore slipper-like shoes with the same pattern as her cloak and dress. "Thank you, Nina-chan. I like you're outfit too," Alex said twirling in her dress shyly. Nina wore a ruby red, short sleeved cotton shirt, a grayish black cotton matching mini jacket, gypsy-like pants which were ruby red with grayish black trimmings, and grayish black boots that stopped below her knees.
"Thanks Alex, so are we ready to go?" Nina asked as she started walking towards the door. "Alright, you know I have to go back today, right?" Justin said quietly. Nina nodded and opened the door, holding it open for the other two. Alex looked around the house and stared up at Nina. "Nina-chan, where is Akira-chan today?" Alex asked curiously. Nina looked outward at the sky with a worried look. "I don't know…she never came home last night from her walk," Nina answered truthfully. Justin turned looking at Nina with his eyebrow raised. "I wouldn't be surprised if she arrived here late as usual," Justin said calmly. Alex looked at Justin with sadness. "But, she'll miss Nii-san leaving again for another dig," Alex said sadly. Justin ruffled her hair and pulled her into a hug. "I know you'll miss me when I leave, but what do I always tell you?" Justin said sincerely. "That you will always come back home to me no matter what," Alex said with a small smile. "That's right. I will always come back no matter what, because that is a promise I intend to keep," Justin said as he ruffled her hair and smiled at her. She hugged him tightly then skipped out the door with Nina with Justin following. "So, Nina, I wanted to thank you for taking care of Alex for me when I've been gone," Justin said sincerely while watching Alex skip in front of them, "As a thank you, I wanted to take you all to see how the ruins look above ground." "You know it's no problem, Akira and I don't really have many problems watching Alex, and shouldn't we go find Aki first?" Nina said looking at him with a small smile. "I really figured she would find us by now. This is really out of character for her," Justin thought. "I'm sure she'll find us sooner or later, otherwise it's her own fault," Justin said a tad harshly. (O/C: Can I jump into this story and beat him senseless for that remark? A/C: No. You're not allowed to break the forth wall. Now shut up, or you're not viewing this story anymore. O/C: Sorry. ) "You know Justin, we may be good friends, but Akira watches Alex just as much as I do," Nina said with a stern voice, "I think you owe her an apology for yesterday and should lighten up around her." "Alright, if she doesn't find us by the time we reach the Excavation site, then we'll go look for her," Justin said sighing.
Alex's Pov:
When we reached the Excavation Site, I was amazed by the structure sticking out the ground. "Wow! Nii-san, those look like stone wings!" I exclaimed excited. I heard Nina gasp as she stared at the structure as well. "I see the wings shape, but I wonder what the inside looks like?" Nina said confused. I giggled at the expression she had on her face as it looked so funny. Nina turned to me with a raised eyebrow. "What are you giggling at, little missy?" She asked. "Your face looked so funny just a few moments ago," I said giggling more. "Alright, you two, stay close to me," Justin said as he took my hand, "This isn't the place to play around in especially since it's an excavation site." We walked around the site with Nii-san explaining the different areas and jobs. "Wow, so you and Syaoran-san work really hard when you're here?" I asked him. He nodded and stared surprised ahead of us. I looked too, and saw Princess Sakura, King Toya, and High Priest Yukito not too far outside the ruins. "Princess Sakura is so pretty up close!" I thought with a smile. I blinked though when I noticed a pinkish white aura around her body. We watched as the Princess ran inside the ruins. "I bet Syaoran-san is down there," I said. Justin looked at me with a curious look. "How do you know that?" He asked me. "Because every time you see Princess Sakura, she's usually out and about with Syaoran-san," I explained. We stood there for a couple of minutes. Suddenly, this massive earthquake shook us all. I clung to Nina's pants leg tightly in fear. "What?!" King Toya exclaimed as he fought to keep his balance. High Priest Yukito stood next to him doing the same. "An earthquake?" Someone shouted. "It's going to collapse! Be careful!" Someone else shouted.
"No… this is not an earthquake! Something happened underground!" Yukito exclaimed to Toya. I gasped when a weird looking rip in the air opened not too far from them and weird men came out. "Where are these people coming from?" King Toya shouts as he pulled out his sword. "Nina take Alex's hand and do not let go! Whatever you do stay close to me!" Nii-san shouted as he held a sword in his hand. I was clinging to Nina's side tightly with tears flowing down my face and Nina held onto me just as tightly. "We can't leave you here to fight all alone!" Nina shouted at him. Justin gritted his teeth as he stood in front the two with anger in his eyes. "Nii-san, we aren't leaving without you!" I cried out to him, "Run away with us! Please!" Three men approached us and then advanced on him without hesitation. Nii-san sprung into action as he dodged an attack at his head with ease, shortly kicking the man dead on in the head. I watched this go on for a few minutes then hide my face again running in Nina's pants leg. I gasped as Nina let go of me, and pushed me to the side out of harm. Nina blocked one attacked and low kicked her attacker causing him to trip forward then collided his head with her knee. "Alex!" Justin and Nina screamed. I turned staring at my attacker with wide eyes and fear then screamed as his sword came down. I heard a loud sound that sounded like liquid splattering and bones breaking. I opened my eyes as tears spilled down my cheeks. "Akira-chan… you came and you're hurt," I cried looking at her. Akira stood in front of me with her arms spread out and backside facing me. From the back I could see the weird man's sword tip covered in blood. "I don't know what you are or what you are doing here, but nobody hurts my friends." Akira said with a strained voice as she swiftly punched the weird man in the face. Nii-san quickly ran up to the man kicking him hard in the forehead.
"Alex! Are you alright!?" Nii-san asked as he ran over and pulled me into a tight hug. I nodded as tears streamed down my cheeks and I hiccupped into his cloak. "I... I was so scared Nii-san." I cried to him. He rubbed my back as I sniffled, then held his hand tightly as he stood up again. "Aki where have you been all this time?" Nina asked as she ran over to her giving her a hug. "That's not important right now… we need to get down into the ruins to help Syaoran immediately," Akira said as she groaned while gripping her shoulder. I walked over to Akira with Nii-san as he put a hand on her good shoulder. "Thank you…if you hadn't stepped in Alex would have…" Justin said with his bangs covering his face. "You don't have to say it, I already know," Akira-chan said then gasped loudly and started clutching her shoulder tighter, "Your welcome, but we need to get a move on now before it's too late." "Akira-chan what's wrong?" I asked worried.
Justin's Pov:
I looked over at Akira in concern then down at Alex. "If she hadn't taken the hit for Alex, she would have died. I guess I have been a bit harsh on her for awhile." (O/C: You got tha- *Gets his mouth duct taped epically!* A/C: Moving on. ;]) I moved her hand gently to get a look at the wound and winced myself. "You need to apply pressure to it so you won't lose anymore blood," I said to her. Akira gasped sharply but with a confused look on her face. "Something has happened to Sakura…" she said softly with a sad look, "we're too late." "Aki, what are you talking about?" Nina asked her as she helped her up. "I'll explain after all of this," she said holding her shoulder with one hand, "First, we should go help King Toya and High Priest Yukito out." I glared in front of us, took the lead with my sword raised and observed for any more danger. "No more of my friends are going to be hurt while I'm here and capable," I thought in anger. As we got closer to King Toya, those weird men started to attack us again. I blocked one attack with my sword, then gave the man a hard kick to the stomach while blocking a kick aimed at my lower legs. I took the hilt-end of my sword and rammed it into the chest of another enemy trying to take advantage of my lack of attention. I smirked as he was kicked away by Nina into two other men. "Nice, kick there," I said to her, "Thanks for the help."
"No problem," she said smirking as well, "You looked like you needed a hand." I scoffed at that remark and kicked another enemy past her who tried to take a stab at my side." As if. Two seconds later and I would have dealt with him like the others. Speaking of which, where is Akira and Alex?" I asked as we had a chance to breathe. "They're with the High Priest in safe hands at the moment," she said. We sighed in relief when King Toya finished off the last of them. Syaoran suddenly ran out of the ruins carrying Princess Sakura. "What Happened…!?" Syaoran exclaimed looking at the bodies on the ground. "You're late, brat; you didn't hurt Sakura did you?" King Toya asked.
"King!" Everyone exclaimed when King Toya collapsed to the ground. "There seems to have been poison on the opponent's swords." Yukito said. "Are you okay!?" Syaoran asked worried. "I won't let the King die!" Yukito thought. "The Princess…?" Yukito asked as he looked over at Syaoran holding her. "There were ruins under the ruins and there…!" Syaoran explained then stopped as Yukito touched Syaoran's head as it glowed. "I will read your memory… the Princess's feathers scattered, didn't they?" Yukito asked. "Yes!" Syaoran said. "This is bad how did this happen in the first place?" I thought worried and stood next to Alex. "Those feathers are the Princess' memories…" Yukito said. "Memories?" Syaoran asked. "The memories from the time she was born are now gone from her and the scattered memories are no longer in this world…" Yukito said. "What!?" Syaoran, Nina, Akira and I exclaimed loudly. "If there are no memories, the body is just a container. Because of this, the Princess…" Yukito said with a solemn look. "Is there something that I can do?! Anything?!" Syaoran asked Yukito franticly.
"There will be no hesitation. I will take all the blame. I will now send you to another world where people live, to the place where somebody has the same power of the moon," Yukito explain as he summoned his staff to himself. "Wait! Can you send four extra people with them?" Akira asked stepping forward while holding her shoulder. "I'm sorry but I'm barely able to send these two alone that would require a lot of magic." Yukito explained. "Don't worry about the magic part… I can handle it," Akira said as her eyes glazed over then she stood next to me, Alex, and Nina… and the strangest thing happened. A weird magic circle formed below the four of us as Akira stood exactly like the High Priest only she wasn't holding a staff. I looked down at her hands noticing a sword of some sort; it had a gold hilt with a crescent moon carved into the center of the hilt. The blade itself was white steel and started to curve at the tip and hanging off the handle were elegant blue and pink ribbons. The sword was giving off a hum of energy and a sort of weird glow. "Who is that person, and what do I do when I get there?!" Syaoran yelled over the wind. "That person is called the Witch of Dimensions; please tell everything to that person." Yukito shouted to Syaoran as he was teleported with Princess Sakura.
Akira nodded her head and then we were teleported to The Witch of Dimensions' location in this sort of dew drop thing. When we landed I felt rain pelting my face and looked around to make sure everyone was ok. Alex was next to me huddled with her cloak hood up. Nina was behind us with a solemn look on her face. And Akira lay on the ground with her eyes shut. "She has a lot of explaining to do, and very soon,"I thought. "Are you the Witch of Dimensions?!" Syaoran shouted from nearby. "I have been called that…" The mysterious woman in black replied. "PLEASE HELP SAVE SAKURA!" Syaoran shouted loudly with desperation in his voice.
Hope you all liked this Chapter of Crimson Drifting Petals. Please review. It makes me more inspired to write the next chapter soon. See ya next Time! In the meantime, I'm going to keep my beta editor, Omega6622 over here, well informed about who the REAL person in control of this fanfic is. *Walks over with Ness' Home Run Bat to Omega6622, who is tied up in a corner with duct tape on his mouth and is currently cowering in fear.*