"M—Mai? Mai are you okay?" I heard someone ask. They sounded terrified. God, my head hurt. I really didn't want to get up, but I felt the need to let that person know I was all right. I opened my eyes to find myself in a dark and damp room. I looked around and quickly located Sakura.

"I'm fine, are you okay, Princess?" I replied, sitting up and trying to find a way out.

"I'm all right, but the kids… they're here." I jumped up and tried to run to the door to see for myself, but I was thrown to the floor by a chain attached to my ankle.

"What the hell?" I said, tugging at the shackle.

"I'm chained too…" She told me, sadly.

"It'll be okay," I gave her a hug, trying to comfort her, "Come on, lets try and break these bonds!" I smiled, tugging as hard as I could at the chain trying to break it from the wall.

"Yes!" She replied, sounding more determined than ever. She grabbed on to my chain as well and we pulled at it until it broke. We then moved on to her shackles and broke them quickly. Smiling triumphantly at each other we then moved our attention to the door.

"It's locked." I sighed, looking out the small window and seeing the latch on the door.

"It's no use." Sakura said sadly, sinking to the floor in defeat. Before I could object to her giving up, she continued speaking, "But we can't give up! It's up to us to save those children!"

"You're right!" I told her, finding confidence in her determination. As we lowered a rope we found to try and latch onto the door, Sakura asked me,

"Do you think the others will find us?"

"I bet they started looking the second they woke up and I doubt Syaoran would stop at anything until he found you, Princess." I smiled. She seemed to blush at this statement. Before I could ask her about her relationship with the boy,

"I got it!" She announced happily as she lifted the latch off the door and allowed it to fall onto the floor.

"Yes!" I cheered as we pushed the door open and made our way into the hallway. We moved quickly but quietly down the hall and a long staircase. We soon found ourselves in a room with all of the children encircling a tall block of ice.

"It's my… feather…" Sakura said, noticing the decorative feather encased at the top of the icicle. I noticed that Sakura had turned her attention to some unseen entity.

"Is it… The Golden-Haired Princess?" I asked, she nodded wordlessly.

"In the story we heard, after the children had returned home, something about them had changed and they were never the same." She said to the invisible creature.

"So why have they been brought to the castle this time?" She asked, "Did you bring them?" Geeze… Only hearing one side of this conversation is a little eerie. I continued to stand silently next to the princess, looking over the children to make sure they were okay.

"I will." She said after a long time. She moved and joined the children's circle. After a moment, a bright light shone from the feather and it broke away from the ice, remaining in a clear container. She paused for a moment, before grabbing the encased feather and holding it close.

"We got another feather," I smiled at her, "Now, we need to find a way out to get everyone out of here." As soon as I finished talking, all of the children began to walk off.

"Where are they going?" Sakura asked. I assumed the Golden-Haired Princess was answering her, "Yes they are, but we have to take them back." Another pause, "Alright, then we'll get Syaoran and the others!" She looked at me and smiled, "She's going to show us the quickest way out of the castle."

"Thank you, Princess!" I bowed to the invisible being. We followed her out of the room and through several dark hallways. As we rounded one corner, Sakura ran right into a dark figure.

"Oh, it's you!" I said, as Dr. Kyle stepping into the light.

"Sakura! Mai1 Come on, let's get out of here." The doctor smiled, offering a hand to help Sakura up. After a second though, she hesitated, pulling her hand back. The Princess must have said something. But if she didn't want us to go with him then… It was him! He had been abducting the children!

"Is there something wrong?" the doctor asked, "Well? Come on, they're waiting. What's the matter?" I moved and stood protectively in front of the young princess, "So you know? Just hand over the feather Sakura." He moved closer to us, threateningly. I prepared to myself to fight him if necessary. He pushed me back with ease, sending me flying to the floor.

"They're over here!" I heard Syaoran's voice. I tried to get up, but Dr. Kyle's arm was around my throat, chocking me, while he held a gun to Sakura's head.

"Mai!" I heard Fai call out.

"No one's stopping me now! Stay away! Just give me the feather!" He demanded as I struggled to breathe.

"I won't!" Sakura refused, bravely.

"Really?"

"It's mine!"

"Well then, you die!" Just as Kyle was about to pull the trigger, Syaoran shot forward, avoiding a bullet and grabbing the princess. The distraction was enough for me to get free and move towards Syaoran and Sakura. Suddenly, there was a loud rumbling.

"What's that sound?" Kurogane asked.

"An earthquake?" Fai suggested.

"No… sounds like—" Before Syaoran could finish, water burst through the wall, dislodging several bricks. The castle was falling apart.

"Something must have happened to the gate that was holding back the water from the river!" Mr. Glosam said.

"Well… Actually, now that you mention it…" Fai started.

"Kuro-burrow broke it!" Mokona finished.

"Pretty much." Fai agreed.

"Shut up." The swordsman said angrily. More water poured into the room, bringing large rocks with it.

"Syaoran! Sakura! Mai!" Mokona called out.

"You guys get everyone out!" Syaoran yelled back.

"We can't!" Glosam exclaimed.

"Why not?" Kurogane asked.

"Kurgs." Fai said, with his usual smile.

"You're just going to leave them behind!? They're your friends and your fiancé!" One of the townsmen asked in shock.

"They'll be okay." Fai told him, knowingly, "If Syaoran says he can do something, then he can. That's just how he is."

"Are you two ready? It's time to run." The younger boy said.

"Let's get going!" I replied as we took off down the hallway. It wasn't too long until we got to a point where the hallway broke off into three directions.

"Which way do we go now?" Sakura asked, obviously worried.

"I memorized the map of the castle," of course Syaoran would do that, "If we keep going straight through here it should lead us to the surface." Just as we began to move forward again, the ceiling collapsed blocking our path.

"Perfect." I sighed. Before we had a chance to discuss another option, we heard Dr. Kyle's footsteps as he yelled,

"Stop there! Give me the feather!"

"Let me take care of the doctor. Take the side hall past the rocks, I'll meet you two at the top." Syaoran said.

"I can't. I can't leave you again Syaoran." The princess said.

"You two go ahead then," I interrupted, "I'll catch up, don't worry. I want to repay the good doctor for knocking me out and locking us up."

"But…" Syaoran started to object.

"Princess Emeraude!" Sakura exclaimed. They then took off down that side hallway and I prepared myself for a rematch.

"I found you!" Kyle yelled as he got close enough to see me.

"Yah, but this is the end of the line for you, Doc." I told him. He held a knife, pointing it towards me threateningly.

"I won't kill you if you tell me where the feather is." He bargained. I simply swung my leg through the air, hitting his hand and knocking the knife across the room.

"Yah… how about you just leave them alone?" I asked, kind of impressed with him ability to kick in a Victorian styled dress. He came at me, ready to punch, but I easily dodged it, landing an elbow to his ribs. He staggered back, the wind knocked out of him. He yelled, coming at me again, but his balance was thrown as the castle shook again. A large boulder crashed through the ceiling and headed straight for him. He screamed. I couldn't watch. I seized the opportunity to follow in the direction Syaoran and Sakura went. I made my way to a large room that was steadily filling with water. I noticed a door, but it had been blocked by a large statue. There was no way around it and no way out.

"Oh fuck." I said to myself, "I am so screwed…" I frantically made my way around the room searching for another exit, but with no luck. The ceiling was collapsing and the water level was rising. I was going to die. I heard a loud noise and looked up just in time to see a large piece of ceiling crashing down toward me. This was it. I braced myself for the impact, wanting nothing more than to live just a bit longer. After a long moment, the crash never came, and I could no longer feel the icy water. Was I already dead?

I hesitantly opened my eyes and found myself still in the same room but surrounded by some sort of clear bubble-like substance.

"What in the world…?" I asked myself.

"Magic." I heard the word whispered in the back of my mind, almost like an echo of a memory. I had no idea what I was doing, but I willed myself to move toward the surface. As the water completely drowned the castle, my tiny air pocket shot upward like a bullet. In a matter of seconds, I was propelled out of the water and straight up into the air. For a brief moment, I could see Fai standing on the bank of the shore, a worried look quickly turning into a joyous smile as I came crashing back down into the ice-cold water. The wind was knocked out of me as I tried my best to swim to shore. Halfway through the short swim, my vision started to blacken and I have very little recollection of how I actually got out of the water, but I soon found myself wrapped up in Fai's dry coat, leaning against him on the shore. I could hear the others asking about the doctor and how we all escaped, but I was too exhausted to answer.

"How did you get out, Mai-chan?" Fai asked me, speaking softly in my ear. He must have realized how weak I suddenly felt.

"Magic." The word escaped my lips before I was able to think of any other explanation. I saw Fai's eyes widen slightly in surprise. As Sakura said goodbye to the Golden-Haired Princess, Fai helped me to my feet, not questioning my response. He kept an arm around me, allowing me to lean into him. I was grateful and fairly certain had he not done that I would have been back on the ground.

"So, how is Sakura able to see this princess?" Fai asked, trying to keep any attention off of me, "Isn't she dead?"

"Maybe she was hypnotized." Kurogane offered up as an idea.

"I don't think that's it." Syaoran said.

"Perhaps it was connected to sensing the feather." Fai suggested, keeping a tight hold on me as we began walking away from the castle.

"If that was it, wouldn't Mokona have seen it too?" Kurogane pointed out.

"I think what Sakura saw, could have been the spirit of the Princess Emeraude." Syaoran said.

"You mean like a ghost?" Fai asked.

"What are you? Eight years old?" Kurogane sighed.

"Sakura has an unusual gift." Syaoran explained, "Every since she was a kid, she's been really in tuned with the spiritual world."

"Hmm. Interesting. Can all the people from her home country do that?" Fai asked.

"Oh, no. As far as I know the only ones who can do that are Sakura and the High Priest Yukito." Syaoran said. Sakura suddenly stopped and turned around, having heard none of the conversation.

"That's odd. I can't feel Princess Emeraude's presence anymore."

"She's at rest now." Mokona told the young princess, "Yuuko told me that a trapped spirit can leave when the danger is gone!"

"So she's at peace." Kurogane said.

"She must have been really worried about the children." Fai added, "She stayed a long time."

We made it back to town just after all the children arrived and watched as they ran to their parents. The reunion was enough to make me tear up a bit.

"Are you alright?" Fai leaned down and asked me quietly. I nodded.

"It's just so sweet." He held me a bit tighter. I smiled happily as we decided we should head on to the next world. We began walking outside of the town again once everyone had changed back into their original clothes. Fai kept a close eye on me the whole time, almost as if he was afraid I would disappear again. I felt bad that I caused him to worry. Even though he wasn't saying anything I could tell a great deal of stress was lifted off his shoulders when I returned.

"We still don't know who told the doctor we were looking for Princess Sakura's feathers." Syaoran said, bringing me out of my thoughts, "All we know is it wasn't one of us."

"Maybe they're the same person. You know? The one who's watching and the one who told the Doc." Kurogane suggested.

"That's what I'm thinking." Syaoran agreed.

"Well, whether one or two, it seems someone has taken an interest in our little search party." Fai said.

"Yes, but who?" the youngest boy asked.

"I guess there is no use in worrying about it now." I suggested as Mokona prepared for us to travel again. As we were sucked into the vortex, Fai wrapped both of his arms around me, pulling me into him. I blushed, confused and surprised.

"I don't want to risk being separated form you again." He whispered, sending shivers down my spine.

"O—Okay…" I replied, hugging him back and allowing myself to relax a bit. There's no use in worrying about things right now. Everything will turn out okay.