Disclaimer: If I had a genie, owning Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles will be one of my wishes.
William is in the background talking to a phone.
Captain: Excuse my master, he is a bit busy at the moment. Anyways he might have something to report later. Till then carry on.
Chapter 14: Music in the Mist.
The next day, the group departed early and met up with Clive. Outside the city, they were joined by Claire, Glive, John and two others, who had agreed to accompany them.
They changed into clothing more appropriate for the weather.
Syaoran wore a gray coat over his gentleman like clothes, and a feathered hat. Fai wore a silver cloak over some loose clothing of the same color. Kurogane was wearing his black coat over some loosely fitting clothing. Sakura wore a beautiful silver gown with gold designs on it, but kept a large silver hooded cloak over it. Mokona was inside Sakura's cloak.
They were on horseback with each of them having one mount. Fai rode ahead with Clive, Claire and the other two soldiers, while Kurogane rode near the rear with Glive and John. Syaoran rode alongside Sakura and helped her with her horse.
"Have I ever actually ridden a horse before?" Sakura asked after her horse refused to obey her for the 5th or 6th time.
"...I don't know princess," Syaoran replied a little stiffly, "here. Let me help you..."
Syaoran took the horse's reigns and guided it slowly forwards.
"I'm sorry Li," Sakura said, "I guess I'm not very good at this."
"It's alright," Syaoran smiled slightly, "I'll help you the best I can."
"Thank you," she said with a smile, "it's really nice to have you around. You came from Clow country too right?"
Syaoran nodded, "Yes."
That and his name, those were the only things that he felt that she should know. If he told her anymore about their past, it would only cause her pain.
"The people from Clow country are really nice," Sakura commented, "though I can't remember their names and faces, I do remember that. Must be because I like sneaking around outside the castle."
She giggled a little while Syaoran watched silently.
"Because of that, I'm familiar with most people in town," Sakura said, then she turned back to him.
"Are you sure we've never met even though we come from the same country?," She asked with a kind look.
Syaoran shook his head lightly, "No we haven't...."
"That's a shame," Sakura replied sadly, "I just thought, you know....that you're familiar somehow..."
Syaoran simply smiled and shook his head while not too far behind them, Glive gazed at them.
"Damn she's cute," Glive said admiringly.
"Don't get any ideas," Kurogane glared at Glive and reached for Ginryuu.
"Easy man," Glive backed off a little, "I'm just kidding!! Besides, I think that boy she's with has it all covered."
Kurogane shrugged, "He's devoted."
"Though he should be a bit more honest with her," John commented.
When Kurogane gave him a questioning look, he continued.
"Would I be correct in assuming that he is lying to her about certain things?"
"What gives you that idea?"
"Intuition," with that, John rode away.
Kurogane eyed him for a moment, then Glive clapped him in the back.
"Don't mind him," Glive motioned to John, "guy can be a bit strange at times. It's probably one of his I-just-know-these-things moments."
Kurogane nodded but kept a wary eye on John. Something about him just didn't feel right...
John rode ahead and stopped by Claire.
"Where are we going might I ask?"
"To the temple ruins," Clive motioned to the distance, "one of the key places of old worship."
Claire nodded, "If there are clues to be found, they will be there."
"And what exactly are we looking for?" John asked.
"Anything out of the ordinary," Fai replied.
John looked to the distance and squinted, "Out of the ordinary huh..."
He smirked and muttered to himself, "Worry not, you'll find plenty."
Their first destination was a small temple near a deep, but frozen, river. The temple was where Cielcia's disciples gathered and trained. Various artifacts had been recovered at the temple and they were here to search for anything that might have been missed.
"Hey, did you find anything Kirgy?" Fai asked from behind a desk.
"I'm looking!" Kurogane was digging through some books, "Why don't you help!?"
"I think Kirgy is enjoying looking around," he opened a few drawers.
Kurogane growled as John walked into the small room.
"All of the rooms on this floor have been searched also," John moved towards a window, "as with the first two floors, there is nothing to be found."
"Except books," Fai motioned to the pile Kurogane was searching in, "lots and lots of books."
"And rotting furniture," John looked around.
"Wonder how the others are doing," Fai looked out the window.
"Glive and the two others soldiers are exploring the spires," John began pulling books out of their shelves, "Claire and Clive are searching the basements while Syaoran and the Princess are exploring the grounds around the temple."
"And the meat bun?" Kurogane flipped trough a few pages.
"Is with them."
Kurogane grunted, "Good."
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Sakura knelt near the frozen river and was spending time with several white bunnies. Mokona was with the bunnies and played something reminiscent to tag with them on the ice. Syaoran leaned on a tree some distance behind her.
"I thought you said that the animals around here had become monsters?" she picked up a rabbit and cuddled it.
"Clive said that there are a few that weren't affected," Syaoran looked around.
"That's nice," Sakura kept cuddling the bunnies.
Syaoran leaned on the tree a bit stiffly. He kept his thoughts to himself and instead looked to the distance, then he heard something.
It was a tune. A rather melodic tune no doubt, but it sounded a bit...off.
Syaoran stood in attention and began looking for the source of the sound. He heard some shuffling and noticed that Sakura had also stood up.
"Is something wrong princess?" he approached her.
"That music," she gazed at the distance then turned to him, "can you hear it?"
"Yes I do," he stood next to her.
Mokona jumped into Sakura's arms, "Mokona hears it too! But it sounds weird."
"What is it?" Sakura gazed ahead, "Where is it coming from?"
"I don't know," Syaoran followed her gaze. Then he heard a sound behind him.
He looked over his shoulder and saw the snow moving on the river bank. After a few moments, a door appeared. Claire and Clive emerged from inside.
"That was weird," Clive stepped down and immediately slipped on the ice.
"Are you alright?" Claire stayed on the riverbank and helped Clive up.
"Fine," Clive moved to the riverbank, "why would they put a hidden door near the river?"
"Easy escape route?" Claire looked around.
"Might be," Clive then noticed Syaoran, "Everything okay?"
Syaoran nodded, "It's alright," then he looked back to the distance.
"So you hear it too huh?" Claire said after a moment of silence.
She walked up to him, "The Haunting Tune as they call it."
"Haunting Tune?" Sakura asked.
Claire nodded "Yes the Haunting Tune. People call it such because it sound has been known to lead many adventures and curious people to their deaths."
"It's usually sound sweet and melodic," Claire cupped her ear, "but occasionally it sounds off."
"Really," Syaoran kept looking into the distance, "it seems to be coming from downstream."
"I wouldn't go looking for it if I were you," Claire started up the riverbank, "come on, this place gets dangerous near noon."
Syaoran nodded, "Let's go princess."
"Okay," Sakura moved away, but took one last look at the distance.
The silver orb was floating some distance away.
They next went to a hilltop that had ruins of what appeared to be a small shrine.
They all stood around the pillars arranged in a circle about fifty feet in radius. The roof was long gone along with the various artifacts there. In the middle of it all stood a rectangular pedestal which they used to give out offerings and prayers. A statue of Cielcia was erected on the north side, but it had fallen apart over time.
"Completely empty," Kurogane turned another stone.
"Any luck?" Fai called from behind a pillar.
"Nope!" Mokona called from the top of a pillar.
"None," John examined the pedestal and lifted a small part of it, "though it seems there's a hidden compartment in the pedestal."
"Really?" Glive walked over, "hey there is!"
"Is anything in there?" Claire asked.
Glive shook his head, "Nope. By the looks of it, it's been long gone."
"What do you think was inside," Clive appeared from behind the statue's remains.
"Probably an artifact for worship," John examined it closely, "could've been a box or something like that."
"Where do you think it went?" Fai walked over to take a look.
"The worshipers must've taken it with them when they left," John concluded, "probably in the possession of their descendants."
"Like mementos!" Mokona called out.
"But these marks," Claire motioned the markings on either side of the lid, "they don't look that old."
She looked up, "I mean. Compared to the other marks and ruins here, they aren't that old."
Clive examined them, "Hey, you're right. The edges aren't that smooth."
John ran a finger on them, "Roughly two decades old I'd say."
"John is so smart!" Mokona landed on the said man's head, who didn't look unhappy in the slightest.
"And I suppose you have a knack for that?" Glive asked.
"Yes," John turned around, "Yes I do."
John marched out of the shrine with Mokona on his head. He was soon followed by Claire, Glive and Clive. After a while, Kurogane called out.
"Well? What do you think?"
Fai examined it closer, "I'd say John's estimate is right."
"Then that puts it roughly when the mist arrived," Kurogane walked over, "if there was an artifact here..."
"Someone could've taken it for them use. Which supports Syaoran's theory," Fai looked around, "Hey Kirgy? Where's Syaoran and Sakura?"
Kurogane motioned east, "Somewhere there."
Fai smiled, "Hoping to let them rekindle? You're so nice at times daddy!"
Kurogane growled, "Shut up!"
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"Princess are you sure about this?"
"Yes I am," Sakura didn't move, "it needs our help."
Syaoran remained silent. Sometime ago, they had stumbled upon a heavily wounded wolf. But instead of leaving or letting him finish it, Sakura had opted to help the creature. Syaoran was uneasy about it. The wolf probably had its pack nearby. And if it came to recovered it might attack them, or worse, get its pack to help.
So he stood there keeping one hand on Jian's handle while Sakura healed the wolf.
"Good thing I can still remember some of my training," Sakura continued healing the wolf, "I only learned this recently."
Syaoran nodded lightly then turned to the sound of rustling.
Glive was making his way towards them, "Hey come on! We don't have all day!"
Upon seeing the wolf, he stopped dead.
"What the hell are you doing?!" his hand moved to his waist, "What the? Where's my sword?!"
"You left it, along with your sword belt, back at the horses," John appeared behind him with Mokona still on his head, "though you are right. Why are you healing this wolf?"
"Because it's hurt," Sakura responded, "I can't just leave it like this."
"Sakura is so kind!" Mokona jumped down to Sakura.
"Ever the kind hearted one are we?" John pulled out his spear, "Though I'd rather be dealing with these thing my way, I suppose I have no choice. Right kid?"
Syaoran narrowed his eyes and nodded, "No. You don't."
John smirked and moved away, "Your call."
A little while later, the wolf got back up on all fours. It stood there for a moment looking carefully at them. Sakura smiled at it, "It's okay. You're free to go."
After a moment of slight hesitation, it moved back into the woods.
"Do you think it'll be alright?" Syaoran asked.
"I'm sure it will be," Sakura started back towards the shrine.
"Does she do that a lot?" Glive asked while they made their way back.
"Yes," Syaoran replied, "She's able to easily understand others. Even if they're not human."
He walked with the two of them while Sakura was a bit ahead with Mokona.
"You seem to know a lot about her," John said, "Yet you claim to not know her."
"Because I don't," Syaoran moved ahead and joined Sakura.
After a while, John spoke silently, "If you're going to claim that, at least distance yourself from her."
"Give him a break already," Glive patted John's back, "Maybe he's one of those castle guards that spend a lot of time around the royals."
"Then explain his overprotective and caring nature about her," John shot back, "The way he addressed her while she slept shows that he had a more casual relationship with her in the past. To me that indicates he's lying."
Glive rolled his eyes, "Whatever..."
They returned to their horses.
About a quarter of an hour later, they arrived near the old keep. As much as they would've liked to explore the inside, they couldn't. Because instead of a moat that they could easily find a way to cross, they stood on the edge of a cliff.
"Stay back princess," Syaoran moved Sakura away from the cliff edge.
Fai moved closer and tossed down a pebble.
"How deep is this?" he asked, watching the pebble tumble down into the darkness.
"About a kilometer and a half," Clive consulted a small book, "approximately."
"Who the heck builds a castle on a cliff?" Kurogane eyed the broken drawbridge.
"Apparently the morons we so loosely call our ancestors," Glive commented.
"At least they actually managed to build something that stands," Claire walked around.
"I can build things that stand," Glive protested, "Like that house I built. It stood didn't it?"
"Yet abruptly collapsed due to a light breeze," John a low monotone, "Indeed, it is the epitome of sturdiness..."
"Hey!?" Glive shot back.
"We need to get across," Syaoran declared.
"How?" Clive asked, "the bridge is gone."
"We could try making a simple rope bridge," Fai suggested.
"But we need someone on the other side to tie the other ends of the rope," Claire looked at the other end of the cliff almost a hundred fifty meters away.
"Unless one of us can fly there's no way we can do that," Glive replied.
"Don't be so sure though," Kurogane said eyeing Sakura's cloak.
They all followed his gaze, Syaoran raised an eyebrow.
"Why is everybody looking at me?" Sakura asked uneasily.
"I'm not looking at you," Kurogane reached into Sakura's coat and pulled out Mokona.
"I was talking to you," he said addressing Mokona.
"What do you intend to do with Mokona?" she asked.
"Simple," Kurogane reached for a rope, "we need you to fly."
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"Mokona does not like this!!"
Kurogane was on horseback riding at full speed towards the cliff edge. His right hand was raised over his head and he held Mokona with it. Tied to Mokona was a long length of rope and a lantern. As he neared the edge, he threw Mokona at full strength.
She sailed overhead and into the blackness. A loud thud told them that she landed on the other side.
"Is she alright?" Sakura asked.
"Don't worry," Kurogane rode next to her, "its been through worse."
"Hey Mokona!" Fai called out, "are you alright? Can you hear us?"
"Mokona is alright," a voice called from the other end of the cliff, "Kurogane is so mean!!"
"Yeah, yeah!" Kurogane picked up the other end of the rope and tied it to a sturdy tree, "Just make sure you tie that to something sturdy!"
They watched as the small lantern light moved around and finally settled down.
"Okay the rope is secure!!" Mokona's voice called out.
John and Fai picked up bows and arrows. The arrows had long lengths of rope tied on their ends.
"Heads up Mokona!" Fai and John released the arrows and they sailed towards the other end.
"Did you find them?" John called out.
The light on the other side shuffled around a little, "Yes! Mokona found them!!"
"Good," John began tying the other end of the ropes, "now tie those ropes in an upside down triangle with the first one serving as the bottom one."
After the ropes were secured, Kurogane attached his lantern to his side, tied a short length rope on his waist and attached the other end to one upper ropes. He balanced himself on the base, and held onto the other one.
Glive walked over holding an extremely long piece of rope, "You know pal, we usually use another length of rope to try and make a base for it."
Kurogane started inching forward, "No time. You coming or what?"
Fai shook his head and did the same, "So impulsive are we daddy?"
Clive followed suit, "See you guys on the other side!"
Syaoran tied a rope around his and Sakura's waist then attached it to the makeshift rope bridge.
He stood onto the bridge and swung a little, "Looks stable enough, come on princess."
He held out his hand which Sakura accepted. Keeping one arm around her waist, they shuffled along.
"How sweet," Glive commented as he prepared himself.
"Hard to believe that he doesn't know her," Claire replied as she attached her makeshift harness to the rope.
"Tell me about it," Glive moved ahead of her, "I'm starting to believe John."
"About what?" Claire followed behind.
"Maybe the kid is lying."
Claire eyed John for a moment, "Maybe..."
John, on the other hand, was addressed the two other men.
"Stay here and keep watch on the bridge."
They saluted. John jumped, did a back flip, and landed on the bottom rope put his hands into his pants pockets and started forwards.
"Tch," one of the men grunted, "showoff."
"More like risk taker," the other one commented.
The man shook his head and kept a wary eye out.
Syaoran arrived on the other side and helped Sakura down.
They looked around. Fai was brushing dirt off his clothes while Kurogane was attempting to retrieve Mokona.
Syaoran examined the place. The castle gate loomed fifty feet in front of them. To their left and right stood the ruins of two towers. There were several old and decaying trees in the clearing.
Sakura moved to one of the trees and gently reached out to it.
"This land," she said as she gently brushed it with her hand, "has been suffering..."
"Yes princess," Syaoran moved towards her, "they say that it's the work of the curse that the mist carries."
"A curse in the mist," Sakura repeated looking to the sky, "when did it come?"
"Around twenty two years ago ma'am!"
Syaoran turned and saw Glive untying the rope around his waist. He was shortly followed by Claire. Clive was making his way towards the gate.
"Twenty two years," Sakura muttered, "but this land has been suffering far longer than that."
"Well," Clive began poking the door, "this country has a bit of a history."
"We all set?" Kurogane's hand was tapping Ginryuu's hilt.
"Kurogane is exited!!" Mokona now found herself inside Fai's coat.
"He sure is. Maybe he feels that this place isn't going to be as peaceful as the others," Fai responded warily eying the keep.
"What are you waiting for?" Glive motioned to the keep, "Come on!"
Syaoran started forward, "Let's get going then."
"Wait, wait," Claire pointed back at the mist, "we still have to wait for John."
At that moment, John came into view. He was walking with his hands in his pocket on one rope with perfect balance.
"Show off," Glive muttered.
"How can you do that?" Mokona asked in interest.
"Dragoons are experts at keeping their balance," John replied as he jumped down, "Are we or are we not entering the castle?"
"As soon as I get this door to open," Clive was pulling on the door, "it might take a while."
"Let me," Kurogane moved Clive to one side.
"Okay but you might want to be careful," Clive examined the hinges, "the hinges are all rusted up. Must be the result of several hundred years of disuse. Try not to dama-"
He was interrupted when Kurogane kicked down the door.
Clive's jaw dropped, "Did you just-!?"
"Yeah I did," Kurogane started forward then paused and bent over. He picked up what appeared to be a small silver and blue piece of metal. It had a round base that was about the size of a small coin. There was a small hollow cylinder, about an inch tall, attached in the middle of it. The inside of the cylinder was black and looked like it had been burned. Judging from the dirt on it, it had been there for a while.
He pocketed it and motioned, "Let's go."
Claire shook her head and followed. Fai laughed a little then moved on.
While he was passing Clive he said, "Come on Clive. Kirgy isn't one to wait."
"It's just that..." Clive stuttered, "I can't believe he just knocked down a centuries old door."
"I can't believe you care," Glive walked by with John.
"Come, come," the latter said.
Clive stood there in shock for a moment. Then, shaking his head, followed.
Syaoran started forward, but paused when he saw that Sakura was still standing by the tree.
"Is something the matter princess?" Syaoran approached her.
Sakura's eyes were closed, "I can hear it again..."
Syaoran looked around then realized; that music was here again. He felt uneasy, it was almost like the tune was following them.
"Princess, let's hurry inside."
"I feel like...I feel like its calling me," Sakura muttered.
"Princess let's go," Syaoran gently took Sakura's arm and led her into the keep.
After a bit of a sprint, they caught up with the others. They were in a long entrance corridor made of brown brick. Tapestries were hung on either side of the corridor while rusting chandeliers hung from the ceilings. Bricks and other rubble lay on the ground around them. And several parts of the walls were peppered with uncountable small holes. Whatever made those holes appeared to have had a lot of force behind them judging from the cracks on the walls.
"Syaoran," Glive was at the rear, "what kept you?"
"Nothing," Syaoran grinned.
Kurogane was looking around, "This place looks just as run down as all those other places we were at."
"We're the first people to set foot here for centuries," Clive informed him.
"The loss of the drawbridge made this place inaccessible," Claire eyed some of the decaying tapestries, "what did you expect to see? Meticulously manicured lawns?"
Kurogane grunted and ignored her. After a while, they arrive at a large circular room with many other corridors spreading out.
"Look there," Claire motioned to the corridors on the second level, "those do not look man made."
They studied the corridors for a moment. They were too rough and inconsistent with the other corridors they just passed.
"If those aren't part of the castle," Glive voiced out, "what made them?"
"Mayhap those," John motioned to a pile of bone on one side.
"What the heck are those!?" Glive shouted.
"Perhaps that is a question for their living relatives," John motioned to the upper corridors.
On the upper corridors, giant bug like creatures began emerging. They were had a dark yellow carapace with several spines protruding from the back. Large orbs were located just below of equally large antennas and they also had large pincer like fangs. From their backs, large crab like claws extended to reach over their heads.
"Oversized bugs?" Kurogane pulled out Ginryuu, "What's the worst they could do?"
"Those are avirions," Clive backed away, "large insects natural to this country."
Fai lifted his hands, "So these ones are immune to the effects as well?"
"Something like that."
Fai smiled, "They don't look too happy to me."
"We must've trespassed on their nest," Claire drew her own saber, "they're very territorial."
"Like Kurogane!!" a voice from inside Fai's cloak called out.
"Not now!" Kurogane shouted.
Fai took Mokona and gave her to Clive, "Stay here for a moment Mokona."
"Princess please stay back," Syaoran summoned Jian.
"But what about you?" Sakura still clung to him.
"Don't worry," he gently pushed her back, "we'll be fine."
"One thing I don't get," Glive stood on one side with his sword drawn, "these things are bugs, how can they leave skeletons?"
"I was not referring to them when I said living relatives," John was in the rear facing the door with his lance in both hands, "I was referring to him."
They turned to the corridor to see what he meant.
Standing in the corridor, was a large blue scaled dragon like creature. It had four large bat-like wings and five sharp claws per foot. It was muscular and appeared to be capable of standing on two legs had it not been for the low ceiling. It had four eyes of varying colors and rows upon rows of razor sharp teeth. The spines protruding out of its back appeared to be fully capable of extending and retracting to grab opponents and pull them apart.
"You said living relatives," Fai looked down the corridor with the dragon in it, "do you mean that-"
"Yes, there about three more behind it," John flexed his arms.
"This should be interesting," Kurogane said with a smile.
Captain: Who were you talking too?
William: Your insurance company.
Captain: I have insurance?
William: (smiles darkly) Now you do.
Captain: I get the odd feeling something is going to happen to me.
William: We'll just find out...
Captain: Anyway, thank you for reading.
William: The author likes your support. And he also wants to know what you think of that weirdo John.
Captain: He is not a weirdo. More of a truthful, wise, and skilled man.
William (Walks away): Whatever.