"I feel like a prisoner of war." The air around Sakura was cold and the day was dreary. Hashi lay beside her silently, sipping hot tea. Last night Sakura had seen Eriol. She hadn't spoken to him, but she saw him. She made sure that he did not see her, but the cat, Spinel Sun she found was its name, talked the man into taking him in, which shocked her almost to the point of no return. This morning when she returned to her host's home, she ranted for hours about frustrating nothings and flashbacks to the past.

Nothing was going the way she had planned.

"Don't we all, Akane?" he muttered. "This place is based off of the tyranny of a cold queen with an evil plan for us all." Sakura glanced at him from his bedroom window. She knew his secret, and she knew that he knew hers. But Touya was completely clueless. Anyone that had powers like theirs were attracted to each other. And they always kept each other's secrets.

"And yet no one does a thing," she spit. Glaring a hole into Hashi's forehead, Sakura folded her arms across her chest. "I saw you that night, you know. You're different from everyone here. You aren't even from here, are you?" She still couldn't get the scene of the night the Seers came out of her head. Sakura already knew the answers. But she felt as if she needed to ask.

Hashi watched the girl steadily. "No, I am not. But neither are you. Jiro is not. Neither is your crippled friend. And yet, here we are, in a hateful city with a hateful monarchy and an even more hateful burden." Sakura snorted.

"Burden?"

"You realize that folks like us are not welcome here," Hashi said.

"I have no clue what you're raving about," Sakura concluded. She turned swiftly and stomped out of the room, unable to contain her anger.

Sakura wondered if Hashi understood why she felt the dire need to deny the fact that she wasn't the only sorcerer running away from the kingdom. Like they both didn't possess the power to create an earthquake. To make a flower bloom. To fly, even. But when Sakura entered Hashi's room that morning, some invisible barrier had broken and now Hashi treated Sakura as an equal and as if the two of them shared some special secret that bound them together.

That forced her to realize that maybe she couldn't trust anyone.

People like her and Hashi somehow already knew about each other. She knew before she entered this godforsaken city that Touya, Tomoyo, and she would find a safe refuge. She didn't know how it worked. But right now her mind was a jumbled mess that she couldn't sort out. And she knew it was because of the key around her neck.


"What is it, Eriol?" a beautiful woman murmured his name, leaning back menacingly in her throne, a cold look etched on her face.

"Queen Yelan," Eriol knelt on one knee. "Thank you so much for seeing me on such short notice." He was freaking out on the inside. Last night Spinel had showed up to his room when Eriol was sure that he would never see the guardian again.

Eriol had welcomed Spinel into his home. He had learned many new things last night and it scared him. He was so much closer to being found out now. What would they try him as? A traitor? Because that is what he is. Betrayer of his country. But thinking like this was too fast. What he needed to focus on was the fact that Spinel Sun was back. After he had made that life changing decision, a decision which resulted in Eriol losing his guardian, he was positive that redemption would never be an option.

"What is it?" the Queen growled. Eriol flinched, sure that that must have been the second time she had asked.

"Y-Yukito-sama wishes to meet with you as soon as possible," he spit out quickly. Perhaps too quickly. Could the Queen tell how nervous he was? But she was silent for a few moments. Eriol scrutinized her angry gaze as she thought this request through. He knew she would grant Yukito permission. Yukito received everything he asked for. Eriol was sure that Queen Yelan was wrapped around his finger.

"Yes…" she muttered. "Yes, it's probably about…" she trailed off. Eriol couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "Clow Reed…" she mumbled. He barely heard it, but he did, and from that he froze. "Dismissed." She announced clearly. Slowly and rigidly Eriol nodded and stood. With a well-practiced bow, he swept out of the room, now in a hurry.

As Eriol closed the door, he took off in a mad dash toward his room. He was breathing deeply. Hyperventilating, even. Was that why the Seers were all here? Was that why the tension in the palace has been so great?

He could remember the one memory he had of her vividly.

Eriol whispered to the bird, reassuring its safety. Meilin giggled psychotically next to him as she nudged him, making him send the bird into the young man's room. The new recruit they were hoping to get. After about a minute, Eriol heard the bird burst and with the cold grip of the dead, Eriol found himself in the young man's room, staring at him cower under his desk.

"Stop hiding, you coward," Meilin growled. Eriol could tell she was having fun. The man, who was at least a year older than Eriol, stood slowly and his eyes widened.

"Seers!" he gasped, his hand shooting for his dagger. Eriol slowly moved toward him, ready to take action if anything got violent. The man took an involuntary step back.

"There's nothing to fear," Meilin said seductively. The man studied Meilin suspiciously and as he did Eriol disarmed him and threw the dagger to the other side of the room. The young man clenched his teeth and stood with his fists tight at his sides.

"What do you want?" he demanded. Out of the corner of his eye, Eriol noticed movement at the door. A girl. Had she been here the entire time? Meilin slipped her hood off. "You look like… That means…" the man's eyes were wide and Meilin's cruel smile lit up her face.

"Do you know what it means to be a Seer, Touya?" she asked him. So that was his name. Touya. Kinomoto, if he remembered correctly. As Meilin made her way toward Touya, and he muttered a no, Eriol's gaze was locked on the girl in the doorway, mostly hidden. She didn't notice him, which wouldn't surprise him because the conversation between Meilin and Touya was a sight to behold. But this girl, a young beauty, intrigued him.

"Seers are the people in the world that have the abilities you do, Touya. We can see the evil of magic and speak to the spirits who wish to show themselves." As Meilin spit out the word magic, Eriol flinched. Magic? Evil? The thought of such a thing was almost laughable.

"But the spirits who want to contact the living are evil," Touya pointed out gruffly. Good, he's been taught correctly.

"Of course they're not!" Meilin looked personally offended. "Poor, innocent souls like you are only taught such things because of the power those spirits have to offer," Meilin started laughing as if this were obvious. Eriol tried not to flinch.

"Then that is magic," Touya said indignantly. Eriol silently cheered him on.

"No, it is not. We use the abilities that everyone acquires after death, by using the dead," Meilin justified. Is that what she had been told? Lies. Eriol wanted to see the girl's reaction and looked. The girl hiding in the doorway was frowning and then he knew.

"Who are you?" Touya asked.

"Meilin Li."

"Li! Then you are of the royal family!" Eriol snorted.

"Thus the only reason she leads us," he put in. He would probably be punished later.

"Hold your tongue, Eriol!" Now they knew both of their names. Great. "And soon enough, you will be part of a royal family. Am I right?"

"I… I don't know what you mean. King Reed teaches all—" Now he was positive.

"You know exactly what I mean!"

"My sister." The heir. The girl in the doorway.

"Yes. She's very powerful, isn't she? Having tricked you like that." Meilin was very confident. Touya saw the girl in the doorway. Eriol grew tense.

"What do you want?" Who was the question directed at? Meilin or the heir? Eriol was clenching his teeth.

"We need a new recruit. We need you." And the reason they're here is revealed.

"Me?" Touya's reply was meek. Meilin nodded. Touya's eyes fell on the girl's. She looked so terrified. Eriol couldn't help but think of how beautiful she was. How he wanted to go to her, tell her that at least he didn't want to be in this game. Meilin noticed Touya's wandering eyes and following their gaze. And she saw.

In a fit of worry, Eriol burst, "The heir!" How stupid of him.

"What do you say Touya?" Meilin ignored the girl at the door. She wanted her to see.

"I accept." Touya. Eriol felt the girl's pain. The sister of a man who surely hates her.

"She's here!" Eriol burst into his room. "How could you not tell me? After everything you dumped on me last night, you left that out?" Spinel looked up lazily from his perch on the windowsill.

"Who?" he purred. Eriol slammed his door closed. He glared heatedly at the guardian.

"You know exactly who I am talking about," he growled in a dangerously low voice. Spinel was silent for some time.

Eriol kept his eyes trained on him. He had grown up with Spinel. Spinel had always been by his side. But then when he chose to do what he did, Spinel left him to fend for himself. And although Eriol knew that it was his fault, a part of him would always hate his guardian for it.

"I brought her here last night," Spinel explained solemnly. Eriol grit his teeth.

"Where was she?" he demanded. Spinel looked out the window. Eriol walked over to him and looked.

"Over where that guard is now," Spinel explained. There was only one guard in view. "I meant to show her to you. But for a reason I do not know, she left." Eriol stared at a tree, a place with a perfect view of his window.

"I know why," he muttered. She must have seen him. With such a horrible memory to relate him to, there's no way she wouldn't have recognized him. With a sigh, he sat on the edge of his bed and took off his glasses, rubbing his eyes. "I must see her."

"You must see her tonight," Spinel added. Eriol nodded slowly. The sooner the better.

"Where is she?"

"With Hashi." Eriol flinched. Of all people. Hashi was the last person Eriol wanted any encounter with.


Sakura laughed delightedly. She was surrounded by children reaching their arms out to her. She spun around. She and Tomoyo were outside the shop being pretty and welcoming. As long as they were without work, they might as well make more for Hashi and Touya. After they had spent some time outside playing with children (whose parents neglected them in favor of other shops that caught their fancy), a group of talented beggars had set up shop and started playing fun, upbeat music. Sakura was dancing with the children while Tomoyo was braiding a little girl's hair. A group of men across the way, customers for the other, more commercial blacksmiths, had been eyeing her hungrily. She didn't care. But one of the men broke from the group for her. As he moved, a man behind him caught Sakura's eye. Tall stature, silver hair, and a handsome grin filled her vision as she danced.

"How about a little something special?" the man who had approached regained her attention, showing that he was holding a gold coin. With a hidden shudder, she snatched the coin from his hand before he could react and cartwheeled away from him, to the amazement of some of the smaller children. She smiled brightly at him and waved. Angry and red in the face, the man stomped away, knowing it wouldn't be a good idea to make a scene in such a place.

Once again the man with silver hair caught Sakura's attention. As she danced with the children she kept her eyes on him, as his never left her. Soon, she noticed the sun was setting and the kids around her were grudgingly beginning to disperse. The orange glow of the setting sun reflected off of the man's hair and glasses. As all of her little companions left, she watched the stranger. With a handsome smile and a nod, the man held up a slip of paper. Setting it gently on the ground under a pebble, he straightened up, placed his hands in his pockets, and slowly walked away.

Waiting until he had turned a corner and disappeared, Sakura raced to the pebble and knelt beside it, picking up the paper. It was money. And a lot of it.

"Princess."

Startled, Sakura's head shot up. She assumed she was the only one on the street, remembering vaguely that Tomoyo had gone inside. And there he was. The man that had helped in ruining her life. The man that she could never mention to Touya. The man that was here, handsome and dangerous.

"Why…" Eriol hesitated. Now that he was standing before her, he was incredibly nervous. Sakura could see it. "Why did you leave?"

"Which time?" she stated bluntly. He laughed nervously, running his fingers through his hair.

"Both times."


Here is a preview of my new story:

Saving Grace

A Death Note fanfic.


A shaky lens focused on a girl with long red hair tied in an intricate braid, resting over her right shoulder. She was looking down, trying to secure a small microphone to the front of her white formfitting t-shirt. She shooed away a helping hand as she made a grunt of success, looking up and squinting into the camera with bright green eyes. The lighting around her was immediately adjusted.

"Is this mic on?" she asked when she could see clearly. The camera man nodded to her as he secured a small, high tech camera on a tripod and adjusted the height to include both the girl and her interviewer. A drab looking young man sat next to her, pushing his glasses up his nose with one hand and mussing up his tangled brown hair at the same time. Once he felt comfortable and the girl was looking at him expectantly, the interviewer nodded. The camera man got the attention of those around him and shushed them, proceeding to silently count down from three.

"Hello viewers. My name is Jiro and I'm here with Akira Amamiya, this world's greatest mystery. It is my absolute pleasure to be the first person to speak to Akira as Kira no Musume, or the Daughter of Kira. No mask. No voice distorters. Just the cold hard truth. And while the world may be on the verge of breaking, we've decided that you all need to understand the situation as much as possible. We want you, the general public, to be the ones to make the important decisions. Informed decisions." Jiro pushed his glasses up his nose again. The young woman waited patiently, looking pleasantly radiant in front of the camera.

"First I would like to notify the audience that this entire interview will take place as if this legendary notebook of death is, in fact, real. We will not request any proof, nor will we ask to see it," Jiro continued, looking sternly at the camera. "Now, let's start off simply. Akira, how old were you when you discovered the notebook?"

"Seventeen years old," Akira replied without hesitation. She had a voice that sounded almost musical.

"So you were still attending secondary school?"

"Oh, no, I was attending University by then," Akira smiled. Jiro looked shocked.

"Well, congratulations. Was that a difficult feat?" he questioned. Akira laughed lightly and shook her head.

"No, I've always had a love for learning. But I ended up dropping out anyway, like all of my family and friends at the time expected. I'm just not the University type. I prefer doing things my own way, in my own time," Akira smiled. "My father was the same way."

Jiro looked impressed. "You're nineteen now, correct?" Akira nodded. "And I heard that your father had passed away. Did this happen before or after you found the note?" Akira's smile remained on her face, but her eyes pierced through Jiro menacingly. He stiffened and opened his mouth to move on, but Akira responded without missing another beat.

"Before, of course. It was quite tragic. He died of cancer," she said. Jiro nodded and cleared his throat.

"And your mother?"

"Never knew her." Akira's smile never left her face. Jiro nodded.

"And what did you do when you dropped out of University?" he asked. Akira looked into the camera.

"I cleansed the earth."


Please review! I'd like to know what you all are thinking so far. It's very encouraging.