Oh my god! I can't believe I got this far the story is turning out exactly as I planed! Thank-you for choosing Links in a Chain and staying this long to read this story to chapter nine! Give your self a pat on the back or do one better and give your self a hug! Please enjoy the chapter; I know the last one was a major suck fest…

Links in a Chain

Chapter 9

GET LOST!

(In a Café somewhere in Tomoeda.)

"LOST!" The shocked teen yelled in surprise and accidentally smashed his head on the café table they were sitting at. The dull thump was heard throughout the small café, drawing some questioning stares that were ignored.

"Syaoran what is it?" Sakura ducked underneath the table and gasped when she saw the luminescent face of the boy spirit waving at her. This in turn sparked Tomoyo and Eriol's curiosity and both of them came under the table to see what was so shocking.

The young innocent spirit Lost merely stood there under the table smiling brightly at everyone, seemingly oblivious that the four humans staring at him were completely in shock. With the four humans watching Lost gave Sakura a small hug and she giggled as his soft blond hair tickled her chin.

"Lost, what are you doing here!" Syaoran hissed.

"I've come to see you Mr. Syaoran and Ms. Card Captor! I just wanted to make sure that you were okay!" Lost stated cutely. Tomoyo giggled lightly finding the boy spirit irresistibly cute, even if he could be possibly dangerous. Eriol on the other hand looked to Syaoran and mouthed the words, 'Mr. Syaoran?' and Syaoran shot him a glare that only made Eriol chuckle lightly.

"Didn't you just see me a couple of hours ago when you lead Sakura and I to Miaka and Dren's house?" Syaoran growled.

Lost scuffed his feet on the ground and looked away from Syaoran's piercing gaze, "Uhh- well maybe I was worried about if you were alright, I kind of had a feeling that maybe something happened."

Sakura placed her hand on Lost's shoulder, "I think that is so sweet you were worried about us but we are just fine Lost, nothing too big happened." Sakura lied slightly and gave the worried boy a bright smile but Lost's face only became confused.

"But-." Lost began but was cut off by Sakura giving him a slight hug.

"Doesn't it look like we're alright?" She asked lightly, maybe Lost still was able to sense the dark magic on her.

Lost looked Sakura up and down then observed the crouched form of Syaoran who was glaring at him, they both looked fine even if Sakura was little pale. "Okay you two look fine but I was still worried about you."

Sakura smiled sweetly, "How about you tell us what made you so worried about us that you had to come see if we were alright later, okay?" the boy nodded and Sakura saw no need to worry the boy anymore then he already was so she looked to the two friends who were crouched in front of her for something.

Tomoyo caught the hint the hint, "I'm Daidouji Tomoyo."

"Hello Ms. Daidouji."

"Please call me Tomoyo." Tomoyo giggled, too much cuteness.

"Okay Ms. Tomoyo."

Then it was Eriol's turn and he held out his hand to the boy spirit, "So you must be one of the new Clow Cards I've heard so much about today. I'm Eriol Hiiragisawa." Syaoran narrowed his eyes at the dark haired teen that was crouched down in front of him; he was definitely up to something.

Lost, sensing no danger, reached out at shook Eriol's hand, "Hi Mr. Hiiragisawa, I'm The Lost Card!" Suddenly the boy stopped laughing and shaking Eriol's hand his face quickly drained of happiness and slowly became shocked and fearful, " I know you! C- Clow Reed…This is impossible, I didn't think- well I thought you were dead."

The spirit tried to pull away but Eriol gripped his hand harder, "Clow Reed is dead, I am only his reincarnation." At that moment there was a slight glow that came from between Eriol and Lost's hands. The glow didn't last long and it wasn't very bright, but anyone with magical ability could sense the silent incantation weaving its self around Lost.

Eriol took his hand away the instant the spell was done and observed his handy work. Where the Clow Card had stood amongst the teenagers under the table a small human boy now stood shaking, pale and looking like he was about to cry. His cute green swirl patterned robes were now green overalls and his blue lantern now a blue lollipop.

"What did you do?" Lost's lip quivered and he backed away from the crouched sorcerer.

Eriol smiled, except now his smile was more friendly and less scheming. "There is no need to worry. I performed a simple spell that makes you look human, it makes it a lot less awkward if we could all sit up at the table instead of crouched under it."

What he said made sense as Syaoran glanced out and caught the eye of a couple people staring at them. It was a good thing that Syaoran and Eriol's bodies were preventing anyone from seeing Lost before the spell because it would have been a lot to try and explain the luminescent boy. With a quick glare to the people he straightened himself and sat back into his seat, the others following suit and Lost squirmed his way up on to the seat between Syaoran and Sakura. (Although the boy was so small that his head wasn't even above the table so you couldn't see his face)

"Um- Mr. Hiiragisawa-."

"Eriol."

"Okay Mr. Eriol will I be human forever?" Lost asked.

"No, not forever."

"Oh that's good! I feel a lot better now!" You could here the relived sigh from beneath the table.

The group sat at the table silently glancing at one another then looking to Lost. (Or looking to the top of Lost's head since you still couldn't see his face) What could they possibly say now in front of Lost without the situation getting even more awkward?

Eriol was the one to thankfully break the silence that had come to the table, "About this book, I can't believe that Dren had it in his possession all this time and didn't tell me." He placed the dusty old book on the table.

The girls hadn't been down stairs to know about the book's significance so they stared with mild curiosity, Syaoran glared at the book hard almost like daring it to do something.

"What does it say on the cover?" Sakura asked leaning over the table to see the book better.

"Records of Clow." Stated Syaoran. Both Sakura and Tomoyo gasped, spooking Lost who accidentally slid off his seat and fell on the floor.

"You mean Clow Reed kept a record of the cards? I wish we had this book a few years ago that would have made capturing the Clow cards way easier." Sighed Sakura.

"Yes a lot easier, I wonder if there is anything in there about them?" Tomoyo motioned to the struggling boy who was trying to get up in his seat again.

"Most definitely there would be some sort of record about these new cards." Eriol nodded, "But it is also my belief that this book contains more that just records of the Clow Cards. There could be secrets of Life and Death or ancient powers in there that have long since been forgotten." Eriol's eyes took on a strange light as he spoke like he was drawn to the book. And it was perfectly understandable, this book was a connection to Clow Reed a chance for Eriol to find out more about his incarnation and maybe about himself.

"Maybe it would be safer if we opened the book somewhere that was less out in the open." Sakura offered snapping Eriol out of his slight trance. He nodded his agreement. Sakura smiled and began to nibble on the rice cake that had lain nearly forgotten.

"Someone! Anyone! Please help me!" Lost called pathetically from below the table. The poor boy was trapped under the table and couldn't crawl up onto the seat again.

Syaoran sighed and ducked under the table to rescue the distressed spirit/human boy. As Syaoran came up with Lost in his arms Sakura gasped in shock and quickly took Lost from Syaoran.

Turning him to face her, Sakura looked into the face of a boy who had a developing black eye, multiple dark bruises and scrapes, and an obvious crack going down his lantern/lollipop. Lost refused to meet her eyes as Sakura examined each cut scrape and bruise.

The other three at the table caught sight of the boy and drew in closer to see the extent of the damage. (And to cover Lost from view so no one could see him)

" H- how did this happen Lost?" Sakura asked gently while letting her hand rest on Lost's cheek. The fact these injuries had actually gone unnoticed when the group had been talking underneath the café table really amazed her.

Lost's lip quivered gently and a tear slipped from his eyes, "This is why I was worried about you Ms. Card Captor." He whispered, "I was afraid that something like this had happened to you and Mr. Syaoran."

"Oh Lost, please just call me Sakura!" Sakura cried quickly and brought Lost in for a tight hug, "Who could have possibly done this to you?"

Lost drew away from Sakura's hold to look into the young woman's face, "They found out." He whispered so the rest of the group had to lean in to hear him, "They found out I helped you to- to them. All of them were really mad at me, calling me a worthless traitor and a disgusting human helping imp. All of them grabbed me and dragged me back to the clearing in the woods. Fear and Nightmare somehow got the idea to punish me for what I did..." The small boy broke down in silent tears while recalling his best friends turning on him and beating him.

Sakura looked to the others is shock, why would this band of Clow Cards beat one of their own kind, it didn't make sense, "Is that why you were concerned about Syaoran and I, Lost?" Lost shook his head.

"No, I knew that you two were strong enough to fend off any stupid attack they throw at you, you're not as weak as they say you are. But while Fear and Nightmare were ganged up on me, Seduce was using her magic. She doesn't have real power or anything, merely the power of suggestion, to make people fall for there own desire with a little coaxing from her." This made Syaoran and Sakura's faces tint a good pink, Lost basically said they wanted to dance with each other like that in their heads and Seduce only seduced them into it. Boy, Syaoran was never going to here the end of it from Eriol; he could already here some snickering coming from him despite the serious mood.

Lost continued with his talk seemly oblivious to the exchanges of glances, blushing, glares and snickering, "I heard Sorrow and Illness cackling about the "Card Capturing kittens," and "their inability to combat a weak possession spell." I thought that it was you two in danger, so I pretended to pass out and watch what Seduce was doing from the ground.

"What happened next really surprised me, out of nowhere Seduce's ribbons snapped back to her and since everyone was crowded around her at the time, well…" Lost giggled lightly for a second, "They were all thrown back across the clearing screeching. It reminded me fireworks although not as nice looking far, far too loud." He paused in his story to look at Sakura and see if he made her smile. She was smiling! Yeah! He made her feel better, mission accomplished!

Eriol leaned across the table to the boy who was across from him, "My guess is you waited till all the other Clow Cards left the clearing you were in, and once it was safe you came to find Sakura and Syaoran to see if they were alright from what Seduce did. Am I right?"

Lost nodded.

"But how did you find us here, in Tomoeda? We could have been anywhere." Sakura questioned. Lost brightened and proudly held out the blue lollipop/lantern.

"I may be called The Lost, but I can still find things. All I have to do is tell my lantern who I want to find and it will take me to who I want to find!" His statement wasn't as impressive as it could have been, holding his cracked lollipop instead of his oversized lantern.

"That's really impressive Lost." Tomoyo complemented.

Lost beamed, but winced in pain after. "Thank you Ms. Tomoyo." he bowed politely. The pure cuteness of the beaten spirit boy attracted both girls to him and left the men feeling slightly jealous.

Not wanting to be ignored any longer while Sakura and Tomoyo fawned over Lost, Syaoran cleared his throat pointedly, "Maybe we should be going now, I thought we all wanted to open the book." Nodding to the dusty old book that lay forgotten near Eriol.

"I agree let's leave now." Eriol nodded quickly.

Both girls gasped and Sakura hugged Lost to her, "We can't just leave Lost here! He's all beat up and defenceless, what if the other Clow Cards come back to beat him up again!" Syaoran snorted something that sounded like, " He's hardly defenceless." Lost was squirmed against Sakura's chest as her protective grasp tightened.

"Ms. Sakura, your breasts are crushing my face!" At this Sakura promptly let the spirit go and blushed a good shade of red. Syaoran shot a death glare to the boy who was gasping for air, in turn Lost sent him a cute 'What did I do?' look. The other occupants of the table politely laughed behind their hands.

"Maybe we can take Lost with us, we can clean him up at Syaoran's apartment and look at the record book at the same time. It's perfect." Tomoyo offered. Sakura brightened and nodded in agreement, but looked to Syaoran with pleading eyes to get him to agree. Syaoran, not being one to resist Sakura pleading, sighed and nodded.

Almost at once he felt to pairs of arms around him in a hug. His face pinked as he saw Sakura hugging him around his torso, but made a strange face when he saw Lost hugging him around his stomach. In the back ground you could here Tomoyo giggling and Eriol was snickering again.

(At Syaoran's apartment)

The door opened to the dark apartment and everyone walked in and took off their shoes. Lost walked up in front of the group and looked to Eriol.

"Do you think you can lift the spell now please? I think it is starting to make me itch." He then scratched his side.

Eriol chuckled and nodded to the scratching boy in front of him, within seconds the illusion of his humanity faded and his spirit form returned. Delighted that his old was restored Lost reverted to a blue ball and bounced around a few times, landing on Syaoran's shoulders and retuning to his boy form.

Now Sakura could see why she and the other never saw the scrapes and bumps on Lost before, his luminescent skin, combined with all the shade under the table made it so that the bruises and bumps only looked to be shadows and smudges. With careful hands she lifted the boy off of Syaoran's shoulders. (A good thing to since the warrior on which Lost was sitting on looked ready to kill)

"Come on we still need to get you cleaned up, you coming Tomoyo?" Sakura asked, making her way to washroom.

"Alright! I'm coming!" Tomoyo skipped after them and closed the door behind her, leaving two sorcerers just standing there in Syaoran's apartment.

"Imagine that, we were ditched for a small boy. In your own apartment no less." Eriol said.

"We were ditched for a Clow Card boy who we are supposed to capture. Does anyone other than me think he could just be trying to gain our trust?"

Eriol paused for a second and looked at Syaoran. "Okay, if that didn't sound paranoid I didn't know what does."

"Shut-up Hiiragisawa."

Both men walked to the table and Eriol looked to the letter that rested on the table, the letter that Life and Death had left. He read it and looked to Syaoran, he shrugged not wanting to comment on his morning. Just at that moment two familiar high-pitched squeals rang out from the washroom, than loud splashing a couple thumps and gurgling noises.

With a quick glance to each other they were off like a shot to the closed door of the washroom. Wrenching the door open the sight that met them was the last thing that they had actually expected to see. Lost was sitting in the bathtub with only a towel tied tightly around his waist, his lantern was floating off to the other side slowly filling with water from the crack. Tomoyo and Sakura were draped across the edge of the tub, one on either side of Lost, their entire upper side of their bodies soaked. Apparently those three had gotten into a little water fight and Lost ended it by pulling Sakura and Tomoyo into the water with him.

Their laughter at the situation died down as the two men surveyed the situation from the door.

"Do you want to play with us to Mr. Syaoran, Mr. Eriol?" Lost asked while taking the sunken lantern and dumping the water out.

Sakura glanced up at the amber-eyed man who was staring down at her with a strange look, until she realized that her silken dress was sticking to her a lot more snugly then it should. The light blue colour did nothing to help cover what was underneath.

"Syaoran!"

"Sorry!" Syaoran spun around and immediately walked out. Damn, what was he thinking!

"My cute little descendent is a little high strung right now, isn't he?" Eriol smirked and walked to Tomoyo's side to help her up from the tub. Always the gentleman, he kept his eyes averted from Sakura and Tomoyo.

After that fiasco, and once Lost was all bandaged up the group sat down at the table.

"So The Records of Clow, who want to open it?" Eriol asked.

"Well he is your incarnation, why don't you open it?" Syaoran challenged.

"Oh, but cute little descendent, he is you ancestor so you should be the one to open the book."

"Ah, but Sakura is the chosen one and the Master of the Clow Cards so she should open the book!" Tomoyo said merrily.

"Hoe! No Tomoyo I say you should open the book. While capturing the Clow Cards all you did was make the costumes and I say you should have something more to do this time."

"Your incarnation."

"Your ancestor."

"You are the chosen one."

"You didn't have anything to do the first time."

"You're all weird!" Lost exclaimed. For a moment there was silence, in which Lost had to ask, "What?" then came some giggling and chuckles, which lead to a bout of laughter. The tension in the air seemed to have lost its hold on everyone and it made everything so much more comfortable.

"Do you have any idea how stupid we must sound, fighting over who should open a book?" Syaoran sighed.

"Yeah, I don't know why I didn't want to open it. Maybe cause the last time I opened an old book I released all of the Clow Cards." Sakura admitted.

"It only stands to reason that we were all nervous about what we would find in this very record book and if it was something bad, none of us wanted to be responsible for uncovering it." Eriol said matter-of-factly.

"So we should get the only person who hasn't been complaining about the book to open it." Tomoyo purposed.

"Who?"

"Lost. Wait where did he go?" The gathering of teens looked about for the Clow spirit until they heard his childish voice not far from the table.

"What does this button do…?"

"You have 15 messages, first message…" Toya's voice filled the room.

"SAKURA! I KNOW YOU ARE THERE! THE CHINSES GAKI BETTER NOT HAVE DONE ANYTHING TO YOU! YOU BETTER GET HOME NOW OR YOU ARE BOTH DEAD!" "End first message."

"Second message…" This time is was Kero.

"HEY BRAT! I KNOW YOU HAVE SAKURA THERE YOU BETTER SEND HER HOME! Oh wait she was cover in cuts and bleeding everywhere… YOU BETTER ESCORT SAKURA HOME RIGHT NOW! DON"T MAKE ME COME OVER THERE OR I'M GONNA OPEN A CAN OF WHOOP ASS ON YOU!" "End second message."

"Okay I think it is safe to say that they want Sakura home right now." Eriol muttered as Syaoran got up and pulled the plug on the message machine so they didn't have to listen anymore.

"Hoe… If the rest of the messages are like that one I think it is safe to say that Toya and Kero want me home right now." Sakura giggled slightly.

"I suggest that you go home, the book isn't going to go anywhere so it's safe. But if either of those two decide to come here looking for you, none of us are safe." Tomoyo said looking to Sakura with a smile.

"Alright, let's do as Kero said, Syaoran you have to escort me home!" Sakura got up and went to the door for her shoes. Syaoran blushed a little but followed after the girl. After they put their shoes on Syaoran turned to the two teens still at his table.

"Don't worry, we can let ourselves out. Now go escort the beautiful Lady Sakura home." Eriol waved, Syaoran glared.

"Wait I want to come too! Please Miss. Sakura!" Lost pleaded. He looked up at her with big puppy dog eyes and stuck out his bottom lip.

"I want you to come but I don't know how to make you look human so you don't draw any attention to your self." Sakura patted the boy's head.

"Oh that is really quite easy, all you have to do is focus on what he would look like as a human." Eriol instructed. Sakura looked at him a little surprised, she hadn't expected the spell to be as easy as that.

"Okay, let me try…" Sakura kneeled down and took Lost's hands in her own. After a second of concentration a glow of pink magic began where their hands were clasped. Another moment later, a boy with a lollipop, overalls and green band-aids all over his face stood there.

"I feel tingly all over now!" Lost laughed, causing some giggles to come from the girls.

Syaoran only rolled his eyes and left, letting Sakura and Lost catch up on their own.

(On the way to Sakura's house.)

"How are we going to explain things to Toya and Kero?" Sakura asked.

"We?" Syaoran looked to her.

"Yes we! You are so coming in with me, I'm not facing Toya or Kero alone!" Sakura hissed.

" Then take Lost with you."

Sakura stopped for a second and thought about the offer, "Okay I'll take Lost but you're still coming as well." Syaoran groaned. "But that reminds me…" Sakura glanced to the human Lost frolicking in the bushes ahead of them, "How do we explain him to my family, what do we call him, because we very well can't call him Lost all the time."

"Uh Lost come here for a second!" Syaoran shouted to the small boy. Obediently he came trotting back to the teens with a bouquet of flowers for Sakura.

"What is it Mr. Syaoran?" He squeaked, handing over his bouquet.

"While at Sakura house we have to pretend that you are my cousin who is up from Hong Kong to visit me, is that okay?"

"Sure!"

"We can't call you Lost but will Li Shieng be alright?" (A/N I do believe that is the best name that my brain could come up with. I know it sucks, but please can you live with it?)

"Cool!" The new Li Shieng did a little dance for his new name but tripped and skidded on the ground, "Owww…."

Syaoran sighed and picked his up, "If you would stop dancing and twirling you would fall down like that." And to everyone's surprise (A/N even mine!) Syaoran lifted the boy higher and placed him safely on his shoulders.

Sakura looked up to Syaoran knowingly and smiled, 'Just because you are rough and tough on the outside doesn't mean you don't have a soft spot on the inside. I guess Lost, I mean Shieng, just found that soft spot.'

(At Sakura's House)

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!" Toya's voice traveled throughout the house down the street and roughly was able to be heard at Miaka and Dren's.

"Calm down Toya and let Sakura explain herself." Fujitaka Kinomoto put a hand on his son's shoulder and guided him to the living room, motioning for everyone at the door to follow.

"So, I myself have been a little worried about your well being Sakura, from what Toya has told me it sounded like Syaoran here snuck into your room last night and kidnapped you straight out the window." Fujitaka chuckled a little, "I think I might want to hear the true events, then maybe you could introduce me to your little friend here." He waved to Lost, who waved back enthusiastically.

"Sorry dad, this is Li Shieng, Syaoran's cousin who is up visiting from Hong Kong." She leaned in close to her dad to whisper, "Don't mention the bruises or cuts, he got in a fight at his school."

Fujitaka looked surprised for a second but recovered to greet the small boy. "Well hello Shieng, it is very nice to meet you." Fujitaka shook hands with the boy while Toya tapped his foot impatiently for thing to being.

At last Sakura cleared her throat and began the strangest story she ever told, possibly worthy of Yamazaki Takashi and his tall tales. It started with Sakura realizing that she and Syaoran had a project due the next day that they hadn't finished. Without thinking she immediately called Syaoran and he agreed that they should finish the project, so he rushed over. But when he got here they both realized that all their stuff was back at Syaoran's apartment and instead of making Syaoran go get the stuff and come back, they just should take one trip to Syaoran's. That would be when Toya walked in and got the wrong idea.

"That's all good and well Sakura, but how would you explain the blood on your sheets huh?" Toya gave a death glare to both guilty teens. This cost Sakura dearly in the embarrassment department but she took a deep breath and stated in a deathly calm voice,

"It isn't my fault that it is my time of the month." The colour inn her face was at an all time high. Why? Why did it have to be her to say something like that!

The three older guys in the room were silent as death that was the one thing guys never spoke about, even with the opposite sex. It got them every time when any girl started talking about their 'time of the month' but Lost just had to ask.

"Time of the month for what, Miss. Sakura?"

All the guys tensed but Sakura only patted Lost on the head, "You will find out when you are a little older, Shieng." There was a collective release of breath.

"Well, I hope you learned your lesson Sakura, please finish your school projects ahead of time. I don't want to be repeating this affair again." Fujitaka rose from his seat but glanced over at the two male guests that Sakura had brought home with her.

"Would you two like to stay for dinner?"

Toya shot a poison filled glare towards Syaoran, a look that promised pain later on.

"No, I think that I should be going Mr. Kinomoto. I promise that if Sakura and I ever have to complete another school project together that we won't leave it to the last second." Syaoran bowed slightly and motioned for Lost to follow him out.

"But I want to stay with Miss. Sakura!" he squealed and ran to hide behind her skirt.

"Sorry Shieng, but you have to come home with me or your mom might get worried."

"But I want to stay and protect Miss. Sakura!" Lost shouted. Toya and Fujitaka shot the group questioning glances.

"We recently told him about bed bugs and the boogie-man." Syaoran quickly explained.

"What if they come in at night and try to get her, you already know they can!" Lost squeaked and hugged Sakura around the legs.

Fujitaka couldn't help but smile at the sweet situation; it reminded him of when Sakura was afraid of things that went bump in the night. She was so terrified one night that Toya was gonna get eaten by a bed bug that she stayed in his room that night to protect him, even though she was scared. Maybe it was the same thing with little Shieng.

"Shieng, if we call your mother maybe she would allow you to stay over the night with us so you can look after Sakura. Is that okay?"

Lost looked absolutely delighted. Turned out when they phoned Syaoran's apartment Shieng's mother wasn't in, but his father was (Thank god Eriol had stuck around that long in Syaoran's apartment) and he gave his permission for Shieng to stay.

(That night in Sakura's bedroom.)

While it did take some time to convince Kero that Sakura was a hundred percent fine and that the Lost was perfectly safe, once the two boys got acquainted they hit it off fine with Zailon Warriors 5.

(Deep in the woods, in that far to familiar clearing)

"If that is not the most disgusting thing I have ever saw, I don't know what is." Fear gagged. Through a viewing glass that one of the spirits had stolen they had been spying on the traitor spirit.

"Oh Miss. Sakura! Mr. Syaoran! Save me from the big bad Clow Cards, cause they're gonna kick my ass again!" Nightmare mocked in a high pitched voice that somewhat sounded like Lost, "That imp has got far to big a heart and an even bigger mouth!"

"Maybe be should do something about it." Gurgled Illness who was currently hanging off of Sorrow who was hanging off of Illness; it was a continuous circle of drunken hanging and swaying.

"Yeah we should tie him up and burn him with lit cigarettes!" Proclaimed Sorrow. Both Spirits wobbled dangerously from laughing.

"That is a prefect idea Sorrow!" Illness punched the air triumphantly.

"I Know!" Sorrow squealed. Both spirits attempted to turn so they could hug each other but they ended up falling over in a heap on the ground. From off to the side Pain was watching the proceedings, 'How pathetic.' He thought and shook his bronze hair.

"Fear, Nightmare, separate those two or we'll never have a decent word from either of them!" Pain barked.

At once the two male spirits chose a female and dragged then to separate sides of the clearing. Nightmare took Sorrow by the arm and guided one way, Fear grabbed Illness by the back of her dress and dragged her the other way. When they had gotten far enough away from each other the strange spell that seemed to be draped over the two insane spirits was lifted. Sorrow and Illness straightened themselves respectively and glared at the two male that had taken them away from each other.

Nightmare scratched his head underneath his jester's hat, "It's funny how easy all of us forget that you two are actually sane." Nightmare chuckled, "You two are together so often that I just think you're permanently smashed."

Sorrowed growled and stomped on Nightmare's foot, "Stuff it, clown boy! You know that when a human gets sick and depressed they tend to act a little out of character, that naturally would only be reflected in us since we are the to who cause such misery. It was the limitation that Clow Reed put on us!"

"Yeah, stuff that in your hat and eat it!" Illness threw a well-aimed rock towards Nightmare's head. Only one made contact before Nightmare had enough sense to duck out of the way.

"Bitch! Dammit, I also forgot how nasty you two are when you're separated!" Nightmare yelled. Fear pointed one of his mangled paws at his companion and laughed heartily until Illness preformed an extremely actuate chokehold on the beast like spirit.

Seduce watched her fellow companions quarrel until the idea came to her. "We can get him back."

"What did you say Seduce?" Fear looked up from his wrestling match with Illness.

"I said we can get him back, and cause some damage to." The lovely spirit said.

"Why would we want the imp back?" Sorrow snorted.

"Because he is valuable now. Both of those idiot card captors now trust him so if we were to turn him against them, they wouldn't have the heart to hurt him."

"How do we get him back though?" Nightmare asked.

"You." Seduce pointed her finger to the jester styled spirit. "Sneak into Sakura's dreams tonight, Lost is there to protect her so when he goes in to fight you grab him. It's as easy as that, once we have Lost here the rest is easy." Seduce paused before continuing, "Evil will most likely have to force Lost to see it our way, but after that it's clear sailing."

"All I have to do is sneak in sneak out? Where's the fun in that, if I do this job I'm gonna make sure I have some fun, Nightmare style." Nightmare smirked.

END OF CHAPTER 9! Wow it didn't take me that long to write! Not as long as the Last chapter did! Okay I just want to say well Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukah and good tidings to all the other religious celebrations that I wasn't able to write.

Thank-you to my dearest (and most annoying) friend Talum, you have been so consistent in telling me that Illness is yours and that you have been too lazy to read my story. Another big thank-you to the best person in the world, Illusion Dragon, you have been so kind and very sweet to me and with your last review in mind I wrote this chapter as quick as I could, school, work, and family permitting. I LOVE YOU!