A beam of energy came from one of the figures, attacking the Thunder head on. Although it did little damage, it was enough to knock the large cat-like beast off of Darian. Darian moaned and struggled to sit up, sporting lightning burns on his arms and legs where the beast had landed. Some of his pants legs had been torn away near the ankles, and Sakura could see the marks where the vines from the Wood had injured him as well.

Sakura looked up. "What?" Her confusion became even greater as the shapes revealed themselves. They were not Yue and Keroberos, as she had thought briefly, but they were quite familiar. The young woman's eyes widened. "You're Eriol's Guardians! Ruby Moon! Spinel Sun!" As the two landed, they landed on either side of Darian, staring at Sakura. Their eyes were dull and they did not seem to actually see her. "You're being controlled.." Sakura said.

Darian stood up, though it pained him to do so. He leaned on Spinel Sun for support. "How observant of you. They answer to my magic now. What good are Guardians without something to rule over? But I was fortunate they came. Just as the Clow Cards," Darian adjusted his glasses, "excuse me, Star Cards, needed a Master to control them and Guardians to balance, so do my Nova Cards. Ruby and Spinel joined me at the perfect time. Their power is growing, actually, just as poor Keroberos and Yue's is waning."

"What did you do with Eriol!" Sakura demanded, brandishing the Sword.

"Eriol is safe... as safe as he can be." Sakura charged forward, but Ruby Moon and Spinel Sun jumped in the way of Eriol, both summoning their energy for an attack. However, the Thunder and the Earthy came forward to take them on, along with the Wood attacking from below.

Sakura came closer, and Darian gasped, using his Staff to block Sakura's Sword. "You're persistent, aren't you?" Darian demanded. Locked in the struggle, Darian sought an escape. "Fly!" he shouted, and wings sprouted on his Staff, lifting him high up above Sakura, who nearly fell forward from the sudden lift off. Her sword caught his thigh, however, as he moved, cutting a large gash and even leaving drops of blood on the blade.

Seeing their master take off, Ruby Moon and Spinel Sun followed quickly, the moon guardian taking one of Darian's arms in hers, and her sun counterpart flying close by on the other side. As they rose higher, they finally disappeared, as did the spirits of the Nova Cards.

Sakura watched them go, her eyes narrowed and enraged. Not knowing what else to do, she placed the remaining Star Cards inside the Book of the Star. Beside her the Light and the Dark appeared, looking solemn. "We lost even more," Sakura said. The Light and the Dark placed their hands on her shoulders.

We will get them back.

"Sakura!" Kero and Yukito said together as the young woman's eyes fluttered open and she stood up. "Sakura's back!" The door burst open, revealing Syaoran, Toya, and Tomoyo.

"Well?" Syaoran asked as he helped Sakura steady herself. She had been sitting in one position for quite a while; she had no idea for how long.

"He got away..." was her reply. Tomoyo sighed and Toya punched the wall. "But.. I think I can find him now.. I think I've found a way to track him down."

"What are you saying?" Syaoran asked.

"I'm not sure.. not entirely.. but, Yue and Kero are still somewhat connected to Clow Reed, who was reborn as Eriol. Darian is keeping Eriol somewhere, I know it.. if we can find him, then perhaps it will lead us to Darian and the Nova Cards!"

Syaoran looked at Kero and Yukito expectantly. Kero crossed his arms and flew up to float near Yukito's shoulder. "I can't say it's an exact art.. but it might work. But we would need Yue, as well as the help of the remaining Star Cards."

There was a silence, then Tomoyo spoke. "This Darian.. can we be sure he's even in Hong Kong? Or China for that matter. That dimension you crossed could easily put us and the other side of the world next to each other. He might even be in England, where Eriol was."

Sakura sighed, and went to sit in the high-backed chair, nearly collapsing in it. Then, to everyone's surprise, Toya looked up. Until now he had been deep in thought, not registering much around him.

"Tell me something.. this Eriol guy.. would he have the same exact aura as Clow Reed, or would it be different?"

"Toya?" Yukito asked, but Kero raised a brow.

"It is difficult to explain. Whenever Eriol works his magic, we sense Clow Reed entirely. But Eriol is just Eriol.. it's Clow Reed, but it's not.." At Kero's answer, Toya's eyes widened.

"I think I know where he is."

"Why can't we just cross dimensions, like Clow Reed?" Kero was not having a good time. Sakura had only once successfully crossed dimensions, and that was only with herself and the Star Cards. She dared not try it with other people, especially not Tomoyo and Yukito. So, the group boarded a plane that would take them directly to Tomoeda.

"Kero! Keep quiet," Sakura said, trying to stuff him inside her purse. Syaoran and Toya passed by her without so much a glance at Kero, and when they came to the door to the plane, they stopped. They could not go through at the same time, but neither would yield. Yukito came up and excused himself, passing between them.

"No! I don't wanna go back in there!" Kero nearly cried, that is, until Madison came up.

"Hey, Kero-chan.. if you stay in there for the duration of the trip, I'll buy you a whole dessert platter at a restaurant of your choice!" This bribe, of course, caused Kero to stop in his tracks. He mumbled something about it being stuffy and hot, but without much more trouble, zipped himself inside Sakura's purse. Sakura and Tomoyo exchanged smiles, and a bit of laughter. The two proceeded to the entry, where Syaoran and Toya were still struggling to be the first one on the plane.

"Toya! You're holding up the line!" Sakura reprimanded from inside the plane, causing Syaoran to grin. However, Toya saw his chance and slipped past Syaoran, sticking his tongue out as he did.

"I think we should have just tried crossing dimensions," Syaoran said as he approached Sakura to sit next to her, but stopped. Toya was sitting where he should. He clenched his teeth and his fist, but Sakura seemed to pay him no mind. Yukito, who sat behind Toya, waved Syaoran over.

"Syaoran-kun! You can sit here! Toya said the seats were switched around!" With apparently nothing to say, Syaoran stiffly approached the seat and sat down next to the window, behind Sakura. Tomoyo sat on the other side of the aisle.

"Come on, Syaoran! Just enjoy the plane ride!"

"I still think crossing dimensions would have been easier," Syaoran said sulkily. "No extra baggage," he added with a glare at Toya's head. Kero popped his head out of Tomoyo's bag, because sometime during the seat hopping he had hopped bags as well.

"Don't sweat it kid! You're still Sakura's number one!" Syaoran sighed and crossed his arms. Perhaps he could just sleep the whole way to Tomoeda.

A/N: Alright! Here is finally the real chapter 10! I hope you enjoy the end of the fight! Now, it's on to the next quest: Finding Eriol!

I apologize deeply, again, for the delay in writing! I might be taking a semester off from school to work, which will give me plenty of time to write, both in my fanfics as well as for work! Updates should *hopefully* become more frequent~