9

A/N Hello again! I am back. Back from where? Who are you and why do you want to know? Haha, no I will give you my excuses. One reason was because I was watching music videos while writing. Multitasking for the win! I mean, I do not have to be looking at the keyboard while typing so why not look at something else? Anyway, I kept watching U-Go-Girl and Lee Hyori's *cough cough* breasts *cough cough* were… um, I think mesmerizing would be the safest word. I kept blanking out… (Scantily clad ladies dancing can be distracting. Who would have known?) The other "better" (a.k.a. less perverted) reason is that I found a glorious game and I tried to level all 4 characters to level 24 with in these two weeks before being told that open beta would be expanded indefinitely. But now I have emerged from my Dragon Nest a new man! (A much thinner and sleepier one that has memorized one Korean dance!) Huzzah! Exclamation points! Alright! On words!

At Sarifina Filth: Hurray! Someone liked it!

Can I just plead "Different environment shaped them differently?" No, I guess not. I hope I captured Fai better in this chapter though. I have a feeling I downgraded in Kurogane but he is just having a bad day that is all. (Or is it that I am have a bad Kurogane week?)

And as a slight spoiler, Ashura will not entirely be main boss. Instead he will be less crazy mid-boss that will not fail so hard (or have penguins thrown at him). As another small spoiler, Fai will try to give up magic. I can guarantee you that he will fail because I know want him to.

I knew that trashcan would come to haunt me. It was a slight inside joke that I could not bare to get rid of. I hope I gave a satisfactory reason why he felt no qualms about doing it.

And the plot has thickened much with foreshowing/hints, questions, and "things that you will probably not notice 'til Kurogane will inevitably point out because you think it is my own incompetence to think of that" that were dropped in the cauldron this chapter. Even with all that I added in this chapter though, I highly doubt you will know where it is going for a good long time. I hope you like plot bunnies twisting around in agony because I am brutally throwing them at this story. I have this entire spreadsheet filled with little bunny parts and am looking at how they all interact. Somehow, I did not realize how complicated the story was getting until now. I really hope nothing will come to bite me. I will try to keep everything as simple and clean as possible as I make it complicated, however possible that is… (Just take it slow I guess.) As a side note, I am so gonna have fun with this.

Chap Warnings for the Sensitive: Woodlin creatures dieing a slow death, swearing, conversations that are just mostly me rambling, eating sweets for lunch, questionably sane tendencies, and that is about it.

DISCLAIMER! I wish I could own Fai but I sadly don't and I also do not own any other Tsubasa and/or CLAMP characters. What I do own is the world that they are in, the countries that they will visit, and all OCs that they may meet during their journey (also, white hot chocolate).

Where definitions of lunch come into play

"Why the hell are we here? I thought you said that we should get lunch." Kurgs gestured around the small shop we were in. It sold nick-nacks and general necessities but no food. "All I see is a bunch of crap for tourists."

"Now, now, Kuro-meanie. You are technically a tourist too."

"Hmph. And why do you think that?"

"Well first of all you do not know the laws around here. Second, your clothes are just way too thin of material. You would freeze to death if you actually lived here. And third of all, which one do you want?" I gestured to the rack of heavy coats if front of me.

"I don't see why I have to get another shitty coat. Mine is fine," grumbled Kurgs.

"No, it is not. You will freeze while we find a way out of this country. Plus, the one you are wearing looks ridiculous." Honestly, it just was more tattered than not. I was not even sure if it gave him any warmth at all. Not to mention, I there were a few noticeable bloodstains. What has he gone through anyway?

"My coat is ridiculous? Yours is at least five times as weird."

I looked down at mine. It was sort of silly looking. At least three sizes too big, it dragged on the floor and my hands did not even reach the ends of the sleeves. Still, it was fluffy and white and warm. That made up for everything. "How about we call it a tie?" I questioned with a laugh. "Now come on. Escape won't come to those who debate who's weirder."

I left Kurgy to pick a coat and skipped around the store. There was a weird feeling about this one. It was if it was covered in magic. Not only that, it felt like the worse type. It was making me uneasy. Actually, this entire day had been making me feel uneasy. Do not get me wrong; I am glad that I could help someone in need but to go as far as I did, I even used magic, all to do something that I could not even tell you why… Not that it really matters anymore. What is done is done.

I stopped moving. I had instinctively gone to where the magic felt strongest, and it really was strong in the shop. The air practically shimmered with it; or maybe the magic was so strong, it made my vision swim. That really was not the issue. I felt my heart begin to pound and my skin prickle as I looked down at the shelf. It was filled with small wood statues that Velhielk was famous for.

Truthfully, they were amazing. They looked so life-like that I could swear that they were alive. I leaned down to get a better look at them all. I could not help myself. My hand drifted over one of them, a carving of two rabbit like creatures doing something that possibly looked like dancing. I leapt back quickly. There was a heartbeat in the wood. Not the normal type you find in all wood, but one of a living animal. It was faint like they were close to death but it was still there. That would mean that they are not carved of wood but…

"Hey, are you done yet? I want to leave already."

I jumped at the voice. I tried to throw up a nonchalant façade before turning to my new saved companion. "Whoa, Kuro-sneaky! You surprised me. You are so quiet, you should be a ninja," I joked as I turned to him.

Kurgs snorted but then looked down on me with a slight worried expression. "Hey are you okay? You don't look so good."

"What are you talking about, Kurgs? I am fine." I needed to be more careful. I had let down my mask. I knew I did. It mattered to keep it up more now then ever if I was going to be with this man for any amount of time. I would like not to deal with the questions. I looked behind me at the reason for my discomfort. It was not my responsibility, yet… I hesitated a moment before grabbing it. "You are right. We should leave. Did you choose a coat?" I looked back at him. He was glaring but I just put up the biggest fake grin I could muster. He growled in what could mean yes or that he was angry with me. By the fact that he threw a coat at my face, I supposed he meant both.

I bundled everything together as well as I could and pranced to the register, only knowing that Kurgy was following by his ever present grumblings. He was very silent on his feet and had very little presence to give him away. He really could be a ninja if he could stop yelling and complaining.

A teen with green hair spiked to kill and enough piercings and buckles to start a jewelry shop was managing the cash register. She seemed to be trying to ignore us, choosing that her fingers were much more interesting than anyone that could possibly come here. "Thanks for shopping with us. I hope you found what you were looking for and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah," the bored girl recited as she studied her sequined covered nails.

"Actually, I found more. If you could though, do you happen to know who makes these wood carvings?" I asked, placing down the coat and the little figurine on top with a smile that was wasted.

She barely gave the statues a glance before saying, "I don't know. All I know is that we can't get anymore. Something about the maker getting arrested or something. Don't really know." She finished her 'I don't know, don't care speech' with a yawn as if she was trying to accentuate the point of her not caring.

Kurgy growled, "Well thanks a lot. That was really helpful."

"In fact, it was. Thank you," I said with a smile. Maybe the person making the statues was already put to justice. It was a pleasant enough thought so I tried to believe it.

"Yeah sure mister. Is this all?" she asked as she rang up the two items.

"Ye…" A small book stack on the counter caught my attention, atlases. "This too." I moved one of the tiny books of maps onto our small pile of merchandise.

"That will be thirty skuels exactly."

"Um…" I dug into my pockets for some money. I pulled out a crinkled bill. It was the wrong currency but I hoped she would not mind. She obviously did.

"God! Tourists..." She took it anyway. She ducked under the counter for a second but reappeared again with a small pamphlet. She flipped through it for a moment before opening the register. "Here. Change," as she dropped a small coin with a five imprinted on it.

"Thank…"

"Yeah, yeah. Just go already and stop bothering me," the girl snapped, reaching for a magazine with a giant headline of "10 ways to kill those pesky rats!" and a picture of one of the dead rodents.

"Friendly girl…" muttered Kurgy.

I laughed. "You should take notes Kuro-social."

"What the hell does that mean?" Kurgs shouted.

I just laughed harder as a response. I grabbed the newly acquired gear and headed for the door. "Now it is food time. I know a good place," I said as I slipped the little figurine in my pocket. There was no use worrying about it now. Without looking at it further, there was no way for me to break the spell so I tried to forget about it.

"Hey, wait a sec! Come back here, you." I heard Kurgs stomping after me and smiled at him. Honestly, it was easier to forget all the unpleasantness of the world while teasing him. Plus, it was more fun than it should be. I stepped out of the shop and waited the moment it took for Kurgy to catch up. He visibly shivered so I handed him his new coat. He growled and grabbed it. I smiled at him as he slipped it on.

"Isn't that better?'

"Yeah, sure."

"You don't talk much do you, Kuro-grumbly?"

"Well at least I don't talk nonstop! And stop with those weird nicknames already. I told you it is Kurogane," Kurgs shouted.

I could not help but laugh again. I bounced backwards and headed to the café that I had gone to yesterday. I felt like their white hot chocolate and their cake was amazing. I tried to imagine Kurgs eating something so sweet but couldn't. He just seemed to be the meat eater over anything else.

"What the hell are you smiling about now?"

"Hmm?"

"You are doing that annoying smiling again."

"I do not think there is anything wrong with smiling Kuro-frowny-face."

"Why won't you stop with those damn nicknames already?" he yelled once more.

"Oh, we are here." Ignoring his question, I pushed the door open. We were immediately assaulted by calming singing, a strong smell of sweets, and warmth. I skipped to one of the many open tables near a window. I pulled out the closest chairs. The shape of a chipmunk was carved into the wooden back and its seat was a very comfy red floral cushion. I jumped down on it, feeling the chair bounce a little. Kurgs followed with a little less enthusiasm. He pulled out the other chair with a scowl.

"Hehe, you got a doggy, Big Dog," I giggled causing Kurgy to deepen his grimace.

"Where the hell did you take me?"

"It is just a restaurant, Kuro-silly." Abet, it was a unique restaurant. It felt like it did not belong in the cold city from outside. Here it had warmth and a relaxed feel that you could only find in a very special place. As most would say, it reminded you of home. In my case, it was much more comfortable. It made you feel like you belonged. Even if the red walls and wood floor that made it look like it should fit in the sleepy city which you could see out the windows, it did not feel artificial like the town did. The town had long past a backwoods settlement and had gone onto much more advanced. Yet, it tried to keep an old town in the middle of nowhere look because that is what attracted the tourists.

Truthfully, the town really used to be a peaceful place like that, the old pictures on the wall showed it clearly. The reason why the restaurant had those pictures was because it had not forgotten when life was simpler. This place was one of those old relics that soon would be pushed out due to the lack of tourists who truly wanting to experience a different way of life then what they were used to. Already, there were restaurant chains that you could find in every big city. Soon, the residence would decide they liked that type of food to and old eateries would be forgotten about or forced to incorporate the modern, thus losing part of their soul.

However, in reality, it was not the tourists fault. Humans in general desire to be liked. Humans in general detest anything that they do not understand. Therefore, it is understandable that humans try to be as similar to others as possible, to be normal. If you are not, there is a greater chance that someone will not understand how you act and what you think, thus not caring for you.

Of course, this all translated into why human hate magic. Magic was unexplainable. A little was in everyone yet there was only a small amount of people who could really use it and even fewer that could utilize it. From what I could gather, magic only truly revealed to those in need of it. That may be the reason why people became scared of it in the first place, before we even understood our basic surroundings and the only fact we knew was our names. Magic showed you who was unlucky.

But, people were right about being scared of magic. Magic was a curse. An amazing curse, but a curse all the same. It could do wonderful miracles but it always had hurt someone for it. Magic, in short, was cruel and it loved to show that.

"It is just a restaurant, Kuro-silly," I repeated with it sounding just a touch more solemn then I had meant. Kurgs glared at me for it or maybe it was his normal expression. It was hard to tell yet. I was saved by a waitress coming to take our orders. "Two white hot chocolates and two slices of angel cake, please!" I told her forcing myself to sound as happy as possible.

"You better not be ordering that crap for me too," Kurgy grumbled.

"But it is delicious," the waitress and I chimed together causing her to blush and mumble some apologies. I just smiled at her with a little laugh.

"Who even eats sweets before dinner?" asked Kurgs.

"Gasp! Kuro-forgetful did not yell or grumble."

Kurgs made a choking sound. "So? Why is that so weird?" Kurgy yelled at the waitress, "I don't want anything so just leave all ready."

She squeaked and hurried to comply, making Kurgs growl more. "Aw, Kurgs, you are so mean." He just grumbled. We sat there like that for a few minuets not really knowing what to say, where to start. Eventually I said, "You know, I am curious. What were you doing wandering around the train station with a sword anyway?"

"It wasn't a sword. It was the Silver Dragon. Or at least is should have been."

"Should have been?"

"Fake."

"Oh." I waited a moment before asking the more ridiculous sounding question, "What were you doing wandering around the train station with a fake sword?"

"The princess of my country sent me on some crappy mission to find what true strength was. She must have switched my sword so that I would not be able to kill anyone before she forced me off. It was completely useless."

I pretended to whistle before proceeding in a sing song voice, "Kuro-puu got scolded."

Kurgs yelled, "Shut the hell up!" before complaining about crazy people and awful nicknames. After a minute, he looked back at me. He took a deep breath like he was preparing for a calamity. "So, why are you wandering around helping strangers?"

"Hmm, oh well, just trying to see the world. Helping you was just…" I tried to think of what to call it. The more I thought about it the less I could come up with a reason. It had been like…

'…puppet…'

I blinked. I had not heard that voice since… "I just felt like I should help you. That is all," I finished. That voice… I thought he had given up on me long ago. Why show up again now?

'Sleeping… Sleepy'

"Liar."

Huh? "What do you mean by that Kuro-suspicious?"

'…rule breaker…'

Go away again. I am busy, I tried to think viciously to the voice but failing. I did not want to admit it be I had missed him. He had been since the… accident….

"As in, you are not traveling for sight seeing." He stared at me intently.

'Trying to help.'

I stared at Kurgs. How did he know that? More importantly, how should I respond? Luckly, the waitress saved me from answering. She placed a plate of delicious looking cake and a steaming mug of white chocolate in front of me. Then, much to Kurgs and my surprise, she placed a cup of coffee in front of Kurgy. "On the house, since you seem to be having a bad day." She blushed and quickly went back to the kitchen, likely to escape from the possible wrath of the Kurgs. Luckily Kurgy just stared at the cup with a contemplative expression before taking a sip.

I waited a second as I dug into my cake. to see if that little voice in my head had anything to say. Silence. I figured it would be best to get Kurgy talking about something other then the reason I was traveling so I asked, "How are you planning to find true strength anyway? Seems like a difficult thing to catch."

"I just want to get back home. I will try to find it as I go."

"Oh! Where is Kurgy's home?"

After a short glare, "Japan."

I thought about it a moment. I could not remember a country called Japan. I pulled out the atlas that I had bought. I opened it to the map of the world. It showed all the small islands and every one of the train tracks that connected them. I put it in front of him. "Now, point, Big Dog!

'…won't…'

"Why are my nicknames getting worse?" Even complaining, Kurgy leaned over to study the map for a moment. "Next page?" he asked eventually.

"There is no more. This is the world. If you try to go farther then the edge of the page, you will go off the sides, Kuro-silly."

"Huh?"

"Well, if you do not see the name of your country, there is a possibility that the common name and the actual name are slightly different."

'No.'

Shush. "We may just have to ask around but we will probably need to be close for people to know what locals call the country. How did you get here and how long did it take?"

"The princess summoned a portal and threw me down it."

"You mean magic?" I asked without completely failing to keep my surprise out of my voice. That would explain why he had seemed so unaffected by the bit of magic I preformed in front of him.

"Yeah, I guess that will make it harder to find because it could literally be anywhere."

Kurgs concentrated on the map. He obviously did not realize how bizarre he sounded throwing out that he knew a magician, not only that, he knew a strong one. He did not seem to be scared of magic. Not even any of the magic users I had met seemed so willing to accept their powers. I never met anyone like him.

'He's special…'

Special? How so?

"I think I have seen this before."

"Well of course, Kuro-silly. It is a map of the world."

"No. I have seen it as something else. I just can't remember where."

'Trust him, help us all…'

What do you mean?

'Tired…'

And then felt the voice go, for today at least, leaving me with more questions then I had answers for. I looked at Kurgs how was still very engrossed in the map. Special? That was very cryptic. It could mean a lot of things; I could not even begin to guess yet not knowing was killing me. You better hurry back…

End A/N I was going to explain the world, the tides and the changes with a slight possibility of some more in depth magic explanation this chapter but Fai's little comatose friend's leaving felt like as good as place to end as any so you will live 'til later. Anyways, I feel better about this chapter. Not perfect by any means, there are those shaky moments that I hate but I can't seem to improve. It will get easier over time right? Yes? No. Maybe? No. Whatever… If you can see any blindingly obvious awful atrocities, mention it to me please. Right now though, I need sleep. I have not slept right for so long now, I do not even know if my bed will remember me. But I have somehow managed to write something over three times the length of last thing! I met a goal of the chapter. Next one? Hmm. To meet another CLAMP character/s? I did that is this episode though… Goals people?