A/N: And the next update is much quicker than the last one. You can thank my dear friends pseudo-quill for forcing me to get this written out and my awesome beta talkstoangels77 for getting this edited in record time. And also a big fat thank you with lots of virtual cookies for everyone who reviewed and let me know they've still stuck by this fic after all this time. You all are awesome!

Now enjoy~

Breakfast passed without further commotion or excitement since the doctor had decided to grace them all with his presence, inquiring about Sakura's vision of the golden-haired princess. The green-eyed girl admitted to having seen the princess in the streets the night before, but she had not seen the child leave with her. Xahra poked at her food, trying not to throw up as her head pounded, the cold air nipping at her exposed face despite the fire roaring in the fireplace. The discussion moved on to the legend of the princess and what had happened three hundred years ago, though she could not keep her attention focused on the conversation for long. With a groan, she dropped the spoon and pushed her plate away, dropping her head down on her folded arms.

She did not know when she fell asleep, the doctor telling the others about the book with all of Jade's history somewhere nearby, but she was woken from her dreamless sleep by someone shaking her shoulder. She groaned, looking up to find Maddy's worried face hovering nearby.

"What did you say?"she croaked, her voice coming out scratchy and hoarse though she felt too miserable to actually care about it.

"You don't look so good," the brunette responded, her hand coming up to touch her forehead before pulling away with a flinch. "You're burning up."

"I feel cold." She admitted, letting her head drop back on the wooden table.

"You have a fever." She felt her friend tug at her arm. "Come on, we need to put you to bed."

"Go away." She groaned, "Leave me alone to die in my misery."

"Quit being such a drama queen, Xahra." She could almost picture Maddy rolling her eyes as she said that before the tugging grew insistent. "Get up. It won't do you any good to you keep sitting at the table."

"What's wrong?" she heard Kurogane inquire as the warrior's footsteps approached them.

"She's sick." Xahra heard the worry in her friend's tone as she answered the ninja. Maybe she looked as bad as she felt for her friend to be this anxious over her.

"We've got a healer living right with us," the ninja responded calmly, "you're acting like she's going to die."

"I definitely feel that way." Xahra interjected weakly.

Strong arms lifted her off the table before she was being slung over Kurogane's shoulder, a pained groan escaping her lips as her throbbing head protested against the movement.

"Fetch the doctor; I'll put her to bed." The warrior ordered her best friend before he began walking, nausea clawing its way up her throat with each step he took.

Thankfully, before she could proceed to empty her stomach, she was being laid on the bed she had occupied the previous night, the princess waiting for them already, worriedly flittering about her as Kurogane pulled the quilt over her shuddering frame.

"She'll be fine. She's just got a fever." He assured the princess just as Maddy returned with the doctor and the rest of their party in tow.

"Oh dear," the doctor exclaimed as he approached her bedside, pushing his spectacles up the bridge of his nose as he pulled a chair next to her bed. "It would appear your sister has measles. There's an epidemic going on with the children in town, which is why I have been making so many visits around the village."

"Symptoms for measles don't develop so fast…" she croaked.

"What are you talking about, Miss Xahra?" the man chuckled in response, "of course they do. Although it takes longer for the symptoms to show in children but everyone knows they develop faster in adults who have never had them before."

"My death will be quick and painless, right?"

"Miss Xahra, measles are not fatal." The doctor assured her as he pulled out a thermometer from his back and stuck it under her tongue. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you all to leave the room while I perform an examination on Miss Xahra."

"What? Why?" Madiha protested.

"Doctor-patient privacy. I'm afraid your presence might make her hesitant to answer some of my questions." He responded evenly, as though he was used to being asked that question on a regular basis. There was some grumbling before everyone proceeded to vacate the room just as the doctor returned his attention to her, taking in the reading on the thermometer as he extracted it from her mouth before putting it away. Taking off his glasses, he smiled at her, his eyes appearing to shimmer before her as an odd blankness began to take over her mind.

-0-

Madiha had opted to stay behind to look after her sick friend while Syaoran and the others had decided to head out to get the book on Jade's history from the mayor. Doctor Jekyll had admitted that the landlord possessed another copy of the book but the man refused to lend the book to anyone else which was why it would be best if they asked for the Mayor's copy. Something about the way he had said the part about Mr. Kuerlson refusing to loan out his book made Syaoran think the doctor spoke from personal experience, though he couldn't quite understand why the doctor would have wanted the book.

Fai inquired about his interest in history as they made their way over to the mayor's house, their horses snorting in the cold as they clip-clopped their way across the snow. Syaoran suspected their mode of transport might have been another reason behind Madiha's refusal to come along. He admitted that he enjoyed learning about the history of all the places he had visited with his father, this one being another indulgence of sorts, though he had another reason for wanting to check the book out. He wanted to read the original legend about the princess, to confirm for himself that the feather that they were chasing after was indeed Sakura's and if the golden-haired princess's intentions had indeed been as malicious as the townsfolk had claimed them to be. In all his travels with his father, if there was one thing Syaoran had learnt, it was that things were never what they appeared to be. Taking what they heard at face value would be an amateur's mistake and it never hurt to do a bit of independent research.

Presenting the same excuse to the maids at the mayor's home as the one that they had given to the townspeople the previous day, they were led to the parlor where the aged mayor joined them after a short wait. The man admitted to things being just as bad as they had been three hundred years ago with the crops failing and children falling sick as an epidemic swept through the lands. The same was happening now, with children disappearing in quick succession. The mayor was eager to share his troubles with them, answering all their questions about how the children had begun disappearing a couple of months back, even though their parents had warned them not to go out with strangers after dark.

The perpetrator never left behind any clues and it was almost as if the children had vanished into thin air.

"After you are finished with your research on the princess's legend," the mayor said, looking at their group imploringly, "you must leave town. The people are already very worried about the missing children. A group of strangers appearing out of nowhere in these troubled times does not sit well with many. I do not wish you any harm, so please leave as soon as you finish that book."

Agreeing to the mayor's conditions, even if none of them had any intentions of following through with that promise until they located Sakura's feather, Syaoran took the book, thanking the mayor for his kindness as they left. Once again climbing on to his horse's back, Syaoran flicked the book open, reading through the passages eagerly as Sakura was helped onto Fai's horse. Absently guiding his horse towards the north, the brunette soaked in all the information the book had to offer, ducking down under random branches almost on instinct as their rides trotted along the snow-covered road.

Fai was rather amazed by Syaoran's skill, something which had become almost like second nature to the brunette by now. Syaoran wasn't quite sure why the blond would be so astonished by something like that. but apparently riding a horse while reading a book and avoiding all possible obstacles at the same time was a very big deal. Frowning to himself as he noticed a page torn from the book, Syaoran finally looked up, his gaze settling on the crumbling ruins of the once-magnificent castle, momentarily taking his breath away. The archeologist in him wanted to cross the raging river and study the building up close, but that seemed almost impossible to do with the frothing water that separated the castle from the nearby town. He could spot the remains of a broken bridge in the distance but it was obvious there would be no way to cross the river.

Searching around and unable to find any other ways to cross the river, they gave up, deciding that there was no way for the kidnapper to bring the children across the river in such cold weather without catching their own death. As they made their way through the nearly-overgrown path, they discovered the landlord making his way through the forest towards the castle on his own horse, though the man did not notice them as he determinedly rode by them. It was rather strange for the landlord to be going in that direction, but Syaoran dismissed the occurrence as the man searching for clues on his own.

They hurried back to the village as the sun began to set over the horizon. They came across Dr. Jekyll just as he was returning from visiting his patients. Together, the group returned to the inn for some warm supper before gathering in the sitting area to discuss all that they had discovered over the course of the day. Dr. Jekyll was eager to offer his help to find the missing children as Syaoran relayed all that he had found to the doctor and Madiha who had finally left her friend's side to join them in their discussion. She was the one to voice the thought that maybe Mr. Kuerlson was somehow involved with the missing children, even though Syaoran knew everyone was thinking that at some point. The others began discussing how the landlord could have gone about pulling off such a feat, though Syaoran himself was hesitant to share any of the theories that were forming in his head. Something about the whole situation just didn't seem to add up.

-0-

Maddy stifled a yawn as she climbed up the stairs, her feet taking her to Xahra's room instead of the one she was sharing with her 'husband'. She knocked on the door once, hearing the princess's affirmation to enter before pushing on the wood and stepping inside. Xahra was finally awake, sipping on some clear broth, her stomach too upset to be able to handle anything else. Her whole body was covered in bright red boils and for some reason the sight was suddenly hilarious to the brunette, though her best friend did not hesitate to glower at her when Madiha burst into a fit of laughter.

"You look ridiculous!" She couldn't help but exclaim as she approached her friend. Xahra merely huffed in response as she dipped her spoon into the broth and brought it to her lips. "Are you going to start ignoring me now?" Xahra pretended not to hear her, "Oh, come on, Xahra, I was merely joking. Well, no actually, I was kinda serious when I said you look ridiculous but that's beside the point. You can't get mad at me for something like that when you're the one making fun of me all the time. Not to mention the fact that now that you're sick, I can't even get angry at you for the stupid stunt you pulled with Kurogane yesterday. I mean, really… did you have to say I was his fiancé?"

"Well, you did make me your servant." She shot back indignantly.

"Because you wouldn't stop teasing me about Fai!" Maddy cried. "Hey, Sakura, tell her how I was completely justified in having my revenge when I made her my servant."

"And could you please tell her that I was justified in engaging her to Kurogane because she made me her servant."

"Xahra-san, Maddy-san, I, umm…" the girl trailed off helplessly, looking between the two friends like a deer caught in headlights. "Umm…"

"Is this the thanks I'm going to get for spending the whole day by your sickbed?" Madiha rounded back to her friend. "I mean, I didn't go out with the others to look around the town because of you, and now that I've come to check up on you because I'm worried about you, you start arguing with me over the fact that you weren't wrong, even though we both know that you were."

"Well, I wouldn't know if you were here or not because I was sleeping and I was not wrong. You were!" the raven-head replied, "and besides, everybody knows that the only reason that you did not go with them was because they would probably ride on the horses."

"For the last time, Xahra, I'm not scared of horses." She climbed to her feet, "and you know what, I think spending time with my dear, not-so-sweet and very, very grumpy fake husband would be a hundred times better than sitting here and listening to you accuse me of such horrendous lies. Good day to you."

"Maddy, you do realize it's night time, don't you?"Xahra responded with an amused quirk of her eye.

"I said good day to you!" she declared in fake anger as she whirled around on her heels and began marching towards the door, "I prefer my husband's company to yours at the moment." Stopping by the door, she turned to smile at the gaping princess, "Good night, Sleeping Beauty. Could you keep an eye on that idiot for me tonight? Even though Dr. Jekyll says there's nothing to worry about what with all the medicines he's prescribed her and whatnot, it'd still be good if there's someone around when she's sick."

"Good night, Maddy-san," the princess let out a relieved sigh as she seemed to realize their fight had not been serious at all, "Of course, I will be here all night."

"Just make sure you get some rest too, okay? We don't want to worry Syaoran dearest if you come downstairs resembling the walking dead in the morning, do we?" she smirked as the princess blushed at the mention of the brunette. Giving her a wave over her shoulder, she then made her way back to her room, stifling another yawn as she took off her shoes and climbed under the covers.

-0-

Sakura woke to the feeling of cold wind biting at her face. Rubbing at her eyes sleepily, the girl sat up, her gaze automatically flickering to her roommate's bed only to jolt wide awake when she realized that the bed was empty. Hurriedly pushing off the bedcovers, she frantically looked around the room, her sight freezing at the open window through which tiny white flecks of what appeared to be snow were floating inside. Wondering if this was the first time she was seeing snowfall, she cautiously approached the window. She lived in a desert country, but she had not yet retrieved all of her memories. It was entirely possible that she might have travelled to some country where it snowed, but she just couldn't remember now. Or maybe she had always remained in Clow and never seen snow before. A creak came from outside, causing the princess to peek out of the window, her eyes widening at the sight of Xahra clambering down the leafless branches of the tree that grew right outside the window.

"Xahra-san, what are you doing?" she called out, feeling worried for the older girl's well-being and wondering why in the world she was heading out into the cold in the first place, especially when she was already unwell. Her attention was suddenly drawn away from the raven-head towards the bright light that suddenly appeared in the middle of the street.

"The Golden-Haired Princess?" she couldn't help but gasp. Sure enough, the apparition of a beautiful princess with flowing locks of spun gold, dressed in an elaborate dress that seemed quite out of fashion in that world, was smiling up at her. Black birds flew around her in restless circles as, one by one, children slowly began to appear from their homes. "I should get the others." Sakura decided, turning on her heel to hurry out the door before freezing in her footsteps. "It's snowing… what if by the time I get the others they're already too far out for us to track. And I promised Maddy-san that I would look after Xahra-san… and all those children… they're following after the princess." She hurried back to the window, her eyes catching sight of the last of the children vanishing around a bend up ahead on the street. "At this rate, I'll definitely lose them."

Deciding that maybe she could follow after the children and then return to get the others once she found out where they all were, Sakura climbed on top of the windowsill before carefully leaping onto the branch that was closest to the window with a small shriek. Struggling to keep her hold on the branch, she tried to clamber onto it. She'd be of no use to anyone if she fell. Gritting her teeth in determination, Sakura pulled her body over the branch before beginning her carefully but hurried descent down the tree. She had to catch up with the children and Xahra.

-0-

He was running as fast as his feet could carry him, using a burst of magic to force his body to move even faster. His heart shuddered inside his throat, fear sinking its claws into his gut and twisting rather viciously as he thought over the report he had received upon his arrival to the castle. The beast had been sighted in the Western mountain range, mere hours ago. And she had responded to the distress call on her own. She was a C-rank witch and she had gone on ahead to take on the beast on her own without even so much as waiting for back up! Oh, the trouble she was going to be in when he found her, because he was going to find her. And then she was going to receive the scolding of her life before he set her up with the most mundane of tasks as punishment. How dare she break protocol again and leave on her own?

She was supposed to stay safe, damn it! What if…what if something happened to her? No! That was impossible. She had probably scared the beast away by now and was probably looking around the village for survivors. Yes, that was why she had not returned to the castle till now. She was fine and he was getting all worked up over nothing. His heart skipped a beat as he arrived at the village, the fires dying out in the crumbling ruins of what had apparently been a thriving village up until a few hours ago. Trying not to stare at the carnage as torn limbs littered the crimson-stained snow that had turned to a dark, sticky mess thanks to the ash now raining from the sky, Fai searched around for nearby magical signals. He could easily detect her magic in the air, the residue of the powerful spells she had cast, some protective, others offensive but there was no sign of her anywhere.

Something painful squeezed his heart as he walked through the destroyed village, gaze searching for some sign, any sign that she wasn't there, that that was why he had not sensed her. That he was probably just worrying over nothing. He reached the end of the village, heaving a sigh of relief when he did not find her body amongst the dead villagers, just about ready to turn and return to the castle when he spotted it, the metal gleaming in the light of the slowly-descending sun, the staff dented and bent in a bizarre looking L, the crimson stone that powered the magical object completely shattered and littering the snow in broken shards that made a mockery of the blood spilt all over the village. The ground seemed to slip right from underneath his feet as he stared at her staff for nearly an eternity before he was tearing through the streets, screaming out her name like a madman.

He found her body draped in the arms of the statue of village's local god of protection, making a joke out of everything the villagers had believed in. Unable to contain the choked sobs that formed in his throat, he staggered to the statue, noticing the odd angle at which her neck hung over the arm, white bone peeking through the torn flesh of her right leg as blood continued to slowly drip from her limp fingers to form a crimson puddle at the statue's feet. The beast had used magic to ensure her body would not freeze in the sub-zero temperatures. Her eyes were wide open, staring sightlessly at nothing at all, a gaping hole in her chest right where her heart was supposed to be. He pulled her into his arms with shaking hands, something inside him shattering and breaking as he laid down her still-warm body.

Calling out her name through trembling lips, he caressed her cheek, softly pleading for her to answer him. He asked again and again but she never did. Her blood stained his white coat, getting soaked up in the fur lining his sleeves as he pulled her limp form to himself, an animalistic cry ripping itself from him as his magic went wild and began escaping from him in wild torrents of dark, spiraling patterns that slowly began to eat away at the world around him. A familiar hand landed on his shoulder, bringing him back to himself as he realized what he was doing and reigned his magic back in, his devastated gaze rising up to meet the sad one of Ashura-ou.

"I'll kill it." He swore viciously, "The thing that did this. I'll destroy it."

The king offered him a sad smile that suddenly did not feel enough, "I'm sure you will, Fai."

The blonde's eyes snapped open, the nearly-choking covers of the pillow pressing against his face. Carefully pushing away from the bed, he risked a glance in his roommate's direction, only to find the brunette sleeping the night away. It was only the sound of his soft snores that assured Fai that the boy was still alive and not dead, though he appeared to be still enough. The dream still fresh in his memory, Fai swung his legs over the side of the bed, deciding that it might be best if he just left the room. Syaoran looked far too…dead, even if he wasn't. He did not need any more reminders. Quietly making his way out of the room, he proceeded to head downstairs. He was quite sure there was a fire merrily cracking away in the main sitting area of the inn.

Feeding a couple of logs into the fireplace, he sunk into the armchair place before it, trying and miserably failing to keep his thoughts from returning to the past. He had failed to keep his promise to her. He had failed to kill the beast…

-0-

Maddy was woken from her peaceful slumber by a girlish shriek. Dismissing it as a dream, she turned on her side to return to sleep before she heard the sound of a door being closed nearby. Feeling curious about who might be up at that hour of the night, she pushed back the covers and pulled on her shoes, carefully making her way across the room and hoping she wouldn't wake the ninja as she left.

Silently closing the door behind her, she spied a mop of blond hair vanishing around the corner in the direction of the stairs. Why in the world would Fai be awake at this time? She hadn't had a chance to give the blond a piece of her mind all through the day and now the man seemed to have unknowingly presented the perfect opportunity for her to let her displeasure at her current sleeping arrangements known to him. Deciding that she wasn't sleepy enough to miss out on this perfect opportunity, she followed him down the stairs.

She found him sitting in an armchair by the fire, his gaze pensive and his face devoid of the near-constant smile he had plastered on his face up until that point in their journey. Ducking back into the shadows, Maddy peeked out to observe the blond in his moment of inattention. His expression appeared rather melancholic, a touch of guilt and regret coloring the whole thing as the firelight danced across his pale features. He appeared to be in deep thought, and for some reason Maddy felt like she was intruding on something very private. Thinking better of the rant she had planned for the blond, she slowly retreated back up the stairs, cursing to the heavens high when a loose floorboard creaked loudly under her foot.

"Maddy-chan?" she heard the blond say in surprise, forcing her to abandon her plan of retreating quietly as she turned around to face the man with a sheepish grin.

"Hey there, Fai." She said, scratching the back of her head as she met his gaze, the shutters suddenly back in full force as his customary smile was also plastered in place. "What are you doing up so late? I just came down because I couldn't sleep but then I saw you sitting by the fire and you seemed to be having a private moment so I decided I should probably head back up but then the floorboard creaked and well…there goes that plan."

"You're welcome to join me if you wish." He offered pleasantly, gesturing at the sofa with one hand.

"You sure?" she asked hesitantly, "I can totally leave if you want."

"A little company might be nice." He replied with a nod.

"Well… It's your funeral." She warned him, walking towards the proffered seat as she looked at him, "Don't say I didn't give you a way out of this later on."

"What do you mean, Maddy-chan?"

"What I mean is how in the world did you decide it would be a good idea to tell the doctor I'm married to Kurogane of all people!?"she hissed in a near shriek, trying not to wake anyone up with her screaming as she recalled the doctor's words about having his quarters near the entrance which was only down the hall from the room they were in. "It was bad enough that Xahra decided that we're engaged, but for you to start saying that we wanted to share a room?! Seriously, Fai, do you have any idea how awkward you've made everything for the two of us?"

"Oh." And the bastard had the gall to laugh at that.

"This isn't funny, damn it!" she growled. The blond sobered up in response but only just a little as he kept on chuckling.

"But, Maddy-chan, it's pretty funny to me."

"Oh, yeah? Well the next world we come to how about I declare it to everyone that you and Xahra are married, hmm? Do you think it'll be funny then?" she said hotly.

"Well, Xahra-chan will have gained a handsome husband and I will have a very pretty wife." He continued to grin, "I'm sure neither of us would mind."

"You're impossible!" she declared, throwing up her hands in exasperation.

"On the contrary," he shook his head, a teasing glint in his eyes as he drew closer towards her, "I believe the term women generally use to describe me is irresistible."

"You do realize you're trying to come on to a married woman, don't you, Mr. Flourite?" she couldn't help but say in response, her voice automatically going down to a whisper.

"Ah, but you said so yourself," he drew back, grin widening just a little bit more, "you do not like your dear husband."

"Doesn't mean I'm willing to cheat on my fake husband and have an affair with someone like you." She said coolly.

"Ouch." He chuckled, "you know how to reject a guy, don't you, Maddy-chan?"

"I try." She said airily. Neither of them said another word for quite some time, somehow feeling content to sit together in silence, the only sounds being that of the fire crackling away merrily in the hearth and the wind moaning outside the windows as snow continued to descend from the sky. Her gaze slowly drifted towards the blond, who had gone back to staring at the fire. His expression was a lot more guarded now that she was sitting right there, as though even while he thought about whatever it was that he was thinking about, he was still very much aware of her presence beside him. Observing the man's face, she came to the conclusion that the blond had decidedly aristocratic features with high cheekbones and a pointed nose. With the way his hair fell into his eyes, some would go so far so as to even consider him quite handsome.

He could very well look intimidating if he so ever wanted to do so. That much was clear. It wasn't quite as obvious with the way he normally behaved but Fai definitely was no ordinary man. When he wasn't busy prancing around or draping himself over other people or objects, he carried himself with a certain amount of grace and finesse that could only be cultured in someone of high upbringing. Considering the fact that he'd confessed he had been a High Mage at the royal court back in his home world, she wondered what it had been that had caused him to run away.

"You know, some may consider it rude if you stare at them for too long, Maddy-chan." The blond said, finally tearing his gaze away from the fire to look at her. "Am I too irresistible, for you to stare at me like that?"

"Now I'm sure you're running away from an angry girlfriend." She declared triumphantly before rolling her eyes, "You're such a shameless flirt. If she ever finds out where you are, I'm going to help hold you down as she chops you to bits and pieces. In fact, I might even lend her a rusty knife to hack at you with."

A/N: I know measles doesn't actually show this soon or develop this fast but this could be a different strain of the same disease. Like it developed differently in Jade then it did on earth as a result, it's much faster and much different her than on earth. Sakura and Xahra both have gone missing and one of them was hypnotized to leave. How will everyone react to their missing companions and what does Dr. Jekyll want with Xahra? All that and a lot more in the next chapter. ;) ;) I'd love to hear your thoughts on this chapter so please don't forget to review. Remember, reviews help the plunnies to grow.

Oh and to answer the question I was asked by someone last chapter, Maddy won't remember anything from her dreams from here on out and it might end up costing them all dearly. *wink wink* but that is something to explored at another time. Till next time guys. Don't forget to review~