Neo Fallen

Written by: Ciuline Ihmenjo

Card Captor Sakura does not belong to me. The characters in Card Captor Sakura do not belong to me. CLAMP owns CCS. Besides, even if you do try and sue me, I have no money.

- Pre Fiction -

After a catastrophic error that ended in the accidental deletion of all my work on chapters 8 and 9, I had to start over. There goes my Fallen Template and all the grammar checking I had done on the previous chapters. Oh how I hate slow computers that delete the wrong things first, right things second, and then proceed to freeze… so now I can't get back any of my work. It even killed my very limited story notes (just like with Fallen… much to my chagrin). I think that I'll be off to cry now. Well… maybe I'm not.

On a different note, those notes did a sketchy outline of Neo Fallen, so I still know where I'm going with this one. Hope you guys appreciate my tireless work. Either way, thank you for the reviews. I know you all want to kill Sentry about now, but I felt that his character needed to be hated more. But he will go away when he serves his purpose (and may come back though, but that's yet to be determined). He wasn't supposed to be as nice as I portrayed him in Fallen. This way, you guys have someone to hate other than me. On the other hand, chapter 8 is now gotten to the point where it is spiraling to the point where it was so long, that I had to split the think into two parts. So I find it rather amusing that I have more than 10 pages now when I started with the deletion of all my work.

I've cleared 70 reviews! I'm popular, not as much as most others, though. It's still a staggering amount of people who have typed (mostly) nice things to me. Shout outs to the following people for your reviews of chapter 7 (a whole 17 people the last time I checked!): Lain in the Wired; Dark Sephiroth1; Benjamin Lau; DakBug; armageddonangel, sexy-lil-thing-76, Sunnflower, Kurai Ai, pnaixrose, coke24cola, Scorpinac, eyesofheaven, SunMistress, LadyAkina, Hermione8522005, Blueyesangel1186, Helbaworshipper…

If you have any questions for me though, just include them in you review and I'll try and answer them.

Italicized words are thoughts. Bold words are emphasis. CAPS WORDS are shouting.

- Neo Fallen: Healing -

"What are you doing?" Eriol's dark eyes blazed with barely contained fury. He stormed into the room, hands clenching into fists. The door slammed behind him, echoing within the confines of the room.

"I could ask you the same thing, boy," the man growled. He watched Eriol with curious eyes, almost daring him to do something rash.

Sentry looked down at Sakura's shuddering body. Her arms and legs were extended almost parallel to her body as if she had skidded to a stop. She looked completely limp, but at least her chest was rising and falling with shallow breaths. Both eyes were closed, a recent bruise forming on the right side of her face. A line of tears crossed her face, starting at the corner of one eye until it trailed off her cheek. Dust stuck to the mark, and it was the only way he could perceive it in the dim light. The shirt had slid over one shoulder, revealing the pale skin beneath it. And she was shivering. Her entire body quaked, inciting the dust surrounding her to take flight.

"I can't allow you to harm my patient." He glanced at Sakura. Her eyelids were fluttering and she was moaning something incoherent. He caught a few words about safety and hope and the word please multiple times, but the rest was lost in a jumble of babbled words.

"And I thought I told you to wait outside." Sentry lashed out, connecting solidly with the girl beneath him. His foot sank into her, tossing her body a few inches. She gasped, but fell silent. A crystalline pool shone in the sunlight as tears leaked through her closed lids. It slowly spread over the wood. Some of it was absorbed into the clothes she wore, some into her hair. The rest flowed steadily outward, sparkling in the dim light of the room.

"I came in to check on her," Eriol said as calmly as possible. His entire body shook with the effort to keep him from striking this man. "And now, I'm glad that I did. Any longer and I don't know what may have happened to her." His glance attempted to pierce Sentry's skull. "You could have killed her."

Sentry flashed him a smile that was full of teeth. "She woo you over, boy?" he sneered. "Did she promise you free favors?" He jabbed a finger in Eriol's direction and then shrugged. "I mean, she's not the type, but I'm sure that you're not defending her because she's just your patient. You shouldn't care if she gets broken." He hauled back and kicked Sakura's limp form. Eriol winced as her body rolled from the blow, sliding a few feet and leaving a streak in the dust. She remained silent throughout the ordeal. "After all, it is your job to fix her. The more you have to fix, the more compensation you receive."

"Broken?" Eriol managed to sputter though clenched teeth. "Fix her?"

"I assure you, though, that nothing is broken at the present moment. I wouldn't break anything on her. After all, when I break something, she decreases in value." Sentry shrugged. "It's as simple as that."

Eriol almost lunged across the room. One clenched fist twitched with the urge to slam into this arrogant bastard's face. "Value?" he roared. "Is that all that you can think about? You and your damned money?" He snorted, folding his arms over his chest. "Who died and left you…" his finger wavered accusingly toward Sentry. "Who left you in charge of deciding the value of a teenage girl's life?"

"As long as she works, she receives shelter, food, and water. I can't guarantee anything beyond that. After all, the money she and the others make funds these buildings as well as guarantees their safety. They just have to reach the quota." He looked down at the girl, shivering at his feet. Her eyes squeezed further shut and her arm twitched again, but she showed no further sign of motion. No further signs of consciousness. "So, yes, in this case it is about the money, doctor. And, since I see no omnipotent, omniscient being present… do you, doctor? No. So, that leaves me in charge of deciding the price of this girl. That leaves me in charge of her life."

"Price?" Eriol fumed. His finger shifted from its target until it was aimed at the door. He was barely able to keep the rage from exploding from his body. "Get out… get out this instant!"

"What if I refuse?" His gaze hardened.

Eriol only returned the glare with equal severity. He unfolded his arms, spreading them out from his chest. "You can find another doctor."

"Sounds good enough to me." Sentry shrugged. "Then, I guess your services are no longer needed in this establishment."

Establishment? He makes this horrid place sound legit! Eriol cringed inwardly… this was not the way it was supposed to go. "Any other man would expect much more pay and would not be so trusting of you."

"Corruption, my boy, exists everywhere, even in doctors. I suggest you leave so I can finish her punishment." Sentry picked Sakura up by her wrists, a rope grasped in his hand. He brought her hands over her head and bound her arms at the wrists. After this action, he dragged her over to the wall and hung her on a hook set in the wall. She let out a slight puff of air and sagged limply in her bonds. He stepped back a fair distance – measuring the length with his foot – before cocking his fist.

"Stop it!" he shouted, surging toward Sentry. He stopped when the man brought his fist within centimeters of the defenseless girl. Something shone in the dim light of the corner where Sakura had been placed. For the first time, Eriol could see that some of the red on the rags she wore was not, as he had thought, part of their previous design. Some of the ruby-colored liquid, pulled by gravity, had begun to run down her legs, off her ankles, and into a small puddle on the floor. "If you continue to do this too her, you may actually – as you put it – break her."

"Fine, have your little slut back." He picked her up off the hook by her collar. Sakura swayed limply in his grasp. Her bound arms flopped against her thighs and her legs were left to dangle with her feet dragging against the ground. He tossed her body through the air, the motion accompanied by a choking noise by the victim. Eriol rushed to catch her, wincing as she impacted with his body, slamming them both into the floor. Her landed on his rear, but Sakura was cradled in his arms. Sentry walked past him and out the door. "She was getting boring anyway," he added.

Eriol shuddered, dark eyes smoldering. Gently picking up the comatose girl, he cradled her body in his arms.

She stirred, but her eyes refused to open. "Sentry?" she moaned, shaking her head wildly so her long honey-brown locks whipped him across the face, "please… give me a chance… to do it right… stop… don't… one more chance?" The words were faint, barely distinguishable over the roaring sound of his breath and pounding of his heartbeat in his ears. He felt his sleeve dampen where her head rested against it. Glancing down, he saw that it was not blood but her tears, leaking out from the firm line made by her eyelids. Her hand weakly clutched at his shirt, gathering the material on his chest into a clump of crumpled folds. Eriol could feel a puddle of liquid spreading on his chest and immediately knew that it decidedly was not her tears. He could always wash the shirt later. She squeezed a little harder, as if to enforce his thoughts. The gesture almost said, here I am… I'm okay… But he didn't trust her gesture for a minute, fully knowing the girl's attempts to make everything seem all right. He knew how hard she tried to keep everyone at peace. This time, he would not believe her words or motions.

"Are you okay?" he asked, not expecting an answer, though he already knew what it would be if she had given a response. He wasn't surprised at all when her mouth didn't move to form words. He set her gently down on the bed. Her grip tightened. The bunched material of his shirt only slipped through her fingers as he pulled himself away. Walking over to the sink, he took a moment to pick up one of the empty metal bowls on the floor. The other contained some sort of hardened rice pudding – he recognized it as the gruel served to the girls in this damned place. He groped around in his bag, nearly forgotten where it lay on the floor, but was unable to find a rag or cloth. He didn't want to rip her clothes any more than that already were. Even then, it would be entirely unsanitary with the knowledge he had of the Houses. One hand, seemingly on its own power, dove into his pocket and pulled out the object there. Holding the thing up to the light, the lavender kerchief shone in the rays of the sun. Eyes closed, he breathed a silent sigh, clutching the strip of lavender to his chest. I wasn't able to keep her safe Daidouji-san… I'm sorry that I couldn't keep her safe. He opened his eyes. Filling the bowl with warm water, he walked back to the bed. He set the bowl on the nightstand with a dull clink.

"No washcloths." He looked down at the flimsy scrap of purple cloth in his hand. "I guess you'll be happy to know it went to a good purpose Daidouji-san." He dipped the kerchief in the water and began to scrub the blood and dust from her body.

Her eyelids fluttered again, slowly opening to settle a bleary gaze on his face. She opened her mouth for a moment, but nothing came out. Her expression flashed puzzlement for a moment. Whether the expression was from his actions or her lack of speech, he could not tell. Eriol continued to clean her, dabbing at the bruise on her cheek. He slid the cloth down to wipe the blood away from her split lip.

She clutched his arm again, lifting her arm slowly to do so. "Please," she rasped, "stop."

"Does it hurt?" he asked.

She nodded and began to cough. She tried to smile at him, but winced when she opened her mouth. "It's not that bad."

"I don't believe you." He continued, not breaking a stride with his words, "Try not to move." What in the hell is this man? How can someone have so little regard for human health and well being? He began to wipe away the dirt that had stuck to the lines of tears on her face. She gasped, swallowing audibly.

"Water?" she croaked, reaching her hands out toward him. They were still bound and he took care of the ropes with the scalpel. The blade took a minute to saw through the rough cord, dulled as it had become from its previous endeavors. When he released her arms, they fell to the bed. She gave a strangled cry of pain but quickly pursed her lips together, biting down on the lower part and somehow maneuvering around the split there.

"I'm afraid that I don't have any clean water." He looked around, but she spotted the bowl first. "No, wait… that's—"

But it was too late. Her hands seized the bowl, dragging it toward her with strength that he didn't think she still possessed. It fell with to the bed, bouncing once and ejecting its contents onto the sheets. She grimaced in frustration, but drank the small puddle of warm liquid still left in the bowl. She grimaced again, this time in offense to the difference of temperature.

"It's warm," she stated. This time her voice was much clearer. He could still detect a slight scratchy undertone to her words, but ignored it. She dropped the bowl, suddenly loosing her brief boost in strength. The metal object slid through her fingers. It rolled off the bed to clatter against the floor. An irritated frown marred her face. "That… wasn't supposed to… to happen."

"What was?" His hands traced her body until they came to her arms, still trying to find the source of the bleeding.

"Not that." She coughed, her throat obviously still paining her. The frown wavered for a moment. "Cold water. Need sleep." She closed her eyes, laying her head back on the mattress. The clock on the wall ticked a full minute before she spoke again. "That good enough?"

"Where are you hurt?" He held the cloth up to her face, the blood clearly visible in the light. "I need to stop the bleeding."

"NO!" she cried out with such fervor that it surprised him.

"You don't seem to understand…"

"I do." She nodded vigorously. "You don't… need to… need to see." She swallowed again, wincing as she did so. "I'm okay. It stops… the pain and bleeding… they stop."

"I do understand," he said. "And what I understand is that you need to be treated for all your wounds."

"Why?" He opened his mouth to speak, but she continued before he was able to get any words out. "So you'll be paid more?" Her biting tone left a dull ache in his chest.

If I could only tell you who I am. He reached up to brush her long bangs out of her eyes and slid the strands behind her ear, fully revealing a pair of piercing emerald orbs. And his hand encountered a damp warmth there. He drew his hand to his face and peered at it in the light. Sticky red fluid coated the side and back of each of his fingers. She knew something was wrong and began to moan softly.

"No… no… no…" she repeated the words over and over like a mantra, hoping it would persuade him to halt his motions. "Please don't." She paused. "I'm okay!" she piped up. Her voice was shaking. "Really, I'm okay."

"Roll over, please." He tried to push her, but she had somehow wedged her hands between the bars. Her fingers were curled around the small metal rods, white-knuckled and tightly gripping the black iron. In seconds, he could probably pry her fingers away from the bars, but those seconds would waste valuable time where he would have to convince her of his trustworthiness. He decided against it, unless it was needed as a last resort.

"No… no… no…"

"Please, I just need you to roll over." He reached over to gently try and pry her fingers away from the bars. "Just so I can check the injuries there."

"Th-there are n-no… no injuries." He pressed her back in the mattress and she squeezed her eyes shut. "Please," she whispered, "just trust me."

"I've heard those lines before," he said softly. "It's not going to work." He held the bloody palm before her. "You're still bleeding."

She thought about his words for a moment and took up her 'no' mantra once again. He slowly uncurled her fingers from the bars and then moved her hands to her side. She began to twist and writhe in his grasp, struggling to get loose. In one fluid motion, he rolled her onto her stomach. Her hands immediately went to protect the edges of her shirt.

Her entire back was red, and the navy skirt had begun to darken at many points around the waist as blood slowly seeped through her clothes and along the sheets. Pinching the cloth between his thumb and forefinger, he lifted the wet material from her back. She squealed out of both pain and surprise as a response to his action. He tried to lift the material from her, but her hands had enough of a grip on it to stop him. She shook her head again.

"Please don't." Her voice had gone below the volume of a whisper now. Her entire body was quivering, the whole bed shaking from the motion. "I'm okay," she repeated. He gently lifted the material away from her back and turned immediately away in disgust.

"What happened to you?" he breathed. Storming over to the sink, bowl clenched in his fist, he filled it with warm water once again. With that task finished, he returned to the bed and was surprised to find her still lying on her stomach.

"Don't do anything to him," she mumbled. "It's my fault that he does this."

"Who does what?" He began to lift the shirt over her head, but found her fingers interlacing with his own in an attempt to stop him. She looked up at him, twisting her body to do so. Her hands tried to pull his away from her body.

"Sentry… he beats me… you know?" The tears had never come. She gave him a sad half-smile and sat up, pushing her body upright with arms that did not want to listen to the commands coming from her brain.

"What in the hell merits this type of punishment?" Eriol asked in disbelief.

She stared into his eyes, uncertainty clouding her gaze. "I-I don't know." She hung her head. "You know, this is the fist real conversation I've had in months." She laughed softly, her expression brightening just a little. He returned the expression, but she shrunk away from him. "It's scary… I don't even know if my limbs remember what it's like to walk. I don't know if I even remember how to walk." She laughed nervously. "I mean, I just crawl mostly. They don't give me the chance to get up. Besides, I'm too weak to move any other way. I'm too weak to do anything."

He stopped her before she could continue. "You're not weak."

She looked up at him, the same sad smile gracing her face before slowly lifting her shirt. She turned around so her back was facing him. Peeling the fabric from her body where blood had adhered it to her skin, she began to remove the garment. She turned her head over her shoulder. "You will help me, right?"

"I'll do what I can." He turned away, flushing slightly.

"It's better than what they do." She looked surprised at the tone of her voice and shook her head. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that."

"I know." He walked back to his bag, making sure to keep his back to her while she finished stripping off her shirt. "You finished yet?" He rooted through his bag for nothing in particular, but came back with a few rolls of gauze and a roll of medical tape.

"Yeah." He turned around. She was lying on her stomach as if sunbathing. The light played over her back, highlighting the lingering scars and half-healed wounds that marred her skin. He poured the water over her back, letting the rivulets flow off her body. He shuddered with every glance at the wounds. It was becoming increasingly difficult to keep his eyes on her for the duration it took him to finish wrapping the soft cloth around her. He secured the white gauze with a few long strips of medical tape. She sighed slightly and rolled over.

"Better?" She nodded again, her mouth open with a silent thank you. He checked the class of his work and noted that her blood wasn't seeping through the cloth. A good sign if anything. He placed the remaining gauze and tape back into his bag. Taking a seat next to her on the bed, he watched as she rolled over and sat up, pulling the shirt back over her head.

"I have nothing to offer." She sniffled, pausing with the shirt still halfway down her face. Her mouth was covered, muffling her words. "You want your payment," she coughed, "right?" A few tears slid down her face as she lay back on the bed, arms stretched out over her head. He shook his head, even as he looked down on her. She had closed her eyes. "Do it quickly." She smiled softly and added, "Please?" She lowered her arms and slowly spread them out from her sides. "You've been nice to me. I won't forget that"

The realization slammed into him much like a bird into a glass widow. "I've already told you, I'm not here to hurt you. I won't do anything to you." He paused, reaching into the bowl and wringing out the kerchief. The water rolled off in bright red spurts, and he offered it to her with an extended arm. Her eyes had opened narrowly at the noise of the water dripping off the cloth. She observed him curiously. "I was told to give this to you."

"Give?" Her eyes lit up as she spoke. "As in, a present?" She reached out, timidly taking the object from his hand. Even as he nodded in response, she snatched the scrap of damp cloth to her chest. Her fear was that he would take it back, telling her it was all a joke. But those words never came and she hugged the object closer to herself, murmuring thank you over and over again. He regarded her strangely, but left her alone, instead walking to the door. He walked slowly over to the door, opening it and discussing something with Sentry that Sakura could hear, but not interpret. From the tones of their voices, they seemed to be in another heated argument. And then she saw it, the surreptitious exchange of money. Her entire form slumped, slowly backing into the corner. The door closed softly and she jumped.

"No," she cried out, "don't… don't come any closer!" Though, what can I do if he does? She watched him close the distance between them and chewed nervously on her lower lip. Her eyes darted around the room. As he stepped up to the bed, she dove forward, propelling her body off the sheets and onto the floor. She landed with a sharp cry on her shoulder and tried to crawl away. He didn't go after her, only stood by the bed, utterly stunned by her behavior. He walked over to her and knelt in front of her. Her head thumped into his knee.

"I'm not here to hurt you."

"YOU ARE!" She looked up at him, tears already starting to flow from the emerald puddles. "YOU'RE JUST LIKE THE REST OF THEM!" she screamed. He lifted her – it was too easy – so her face was level with his own and helped her into a kneeling position. "Go away," she commanded. She swung, putting all her weight behind her fist. Even then, it seemed to move sluggishly, taking forever to cover the less-than-half-meter distance that separated them. He was able to easily block it, grasping her wrist in one hand. She swung again with equal results. He held her arms where he had blocked them and neither teen moved for a long moment.

"Will you at least listen to me?" She shook her head, glaring at him. Her lips were pursed into a thin line. "I just purchased you for 10 hours. Take the time to rest." He patted her on the head, tousling her hair. She squeezed her eyes shut. And then they shot open.

"You what?" she asked cautiously. She squirmed and he released her arms. He flashed her a slight smile.

"I can't buy your freedom, but this is the best I can do for now." He pulled out a leather wallet, holding it out to show her the empty pocket where bills would normally be kept. He mirrored her smile and quickly shoved the wallet back in his pocket. A few more steps took him to where his bag and coat lay draped across a table. "Just get some rest, you'll need it, right?"

I haven't really gotten any sleep in the last month or so. She looked up and nodded meekly, crawled away from him to curl into a small ball in the corner of the room.

"Good night," she whispered.

"Pleasant dreams," he said, tossing his coat over her body. It floated down, settling over the small lump she had curled into. A slight sigh of content emerged from her lips and she snuggled deeper into the warm fabric.

She opened one eye – almost to assure herself that he was still there – and then closed it. "Thank you," she said softly. By the time the words reached his ears, she had fallen asleep.

- Post Fiction -

Sorry for taking so long to get this out. I just couldn't decide where to stop… and ended up splitting chapter 8 into two separate chapters. That said, finally, a chapter without a cliffhanger… of course, the big one is in the next chapter. You just have to keep reading to find out what happens! The usual read and review rules apply!

See you next update: Ciuline Ihmenjo