VOILA! Here is chapter 21! I'm so proud of myself! But I've been so ill :( Starting to get kind of depressed again… TO NO AVAIL, I SHALL CONTINUE WRITING!
Cheer me up and review at the end 3 (hint hint)
Enjoy everyone!
Many stared at the newcomers as they descended the stairs into the underground city that had been hidden carefully away; houses and cottages had been carefully reconstructed just like that of the city above them, all made of marble and bricks. Above and around the underground walls were beautiful crystals that changed colours and seemed to act as a light source for the people of the new city. It looked simply amazing.
Syaoran ignored the stares as he was used to it, continuing to descend the stairs while holding Sakura close to him. He didn't trust any of the other men considering their leader's attitude and despite his injured shoulder, he was doing just fine carrying Sakura on his own.
"Are you sure you don't want one of my men to carry the princess? That wound looks rather nasty." The black haired elf asked him.
"I'm quite capable of carrying her." Syaoran answered with a hint of bitterness.
"That wouldn't be a good idea; Princess Sakura is very particular about who carries or touches her." Fai intervened.
"I see. I wouldn't want to upset her highness then." He said, ditching the subject.
Chii on the other hand wasn't used to being stared at by such a large crowd as she came from living on the edge of a small town in a forest, and was feeling self-conscious.
"Why do they stare?!" she asked, holding the blanket up so that she couldn't see the crowd.
"They're curious about the arrival of strangers-it's unusual for us to have visitors." The black haired elf answered.
"I'm not surprised considering how carefully you've hidden the city away beneath the surface of the ground." Fai murmured.
"Did you find what you were looking for Cain?" a middle aged looking man stepped out from the crowd, meeting them at the bottom of the long stair case. He too was dressed in the same sort of fine looking clothing as the black haired elf.
"Ah, father, as it turned out we did; it was just a group of travellers. I'm afraid there is no time to explain-we must get the unconscious girl to the care of our healers immediately; she's in critical condition." The black haired elf, or Cain, replied.
Figuring that he would explain the situation later, the man called out to a girl from the crowd; it was the same girl that they had seen up above ground with the basket of herbs and fruit. She was still holding the basket, and inside were the herbs and fruit that she had dropped. Chii was confused as to how she could have collected them without them noticing, but neither of the boys seemed to question it.
"Anna, take these people to the healers." He said with a kind smile.
"Yes sir!" she answered a little awkwardly as she stepped forward, tripping on a stone and then regaining her balance. She blushed, embarrassed by her clumsiness and walked over to the travellers. She noticed Alastor standing beside Syaoran and wondered why they had a wolf with them or who it even belonged to.
"P-please follow me." She stammered.
"Cain will accompany you. I will be there shortly." The man said.
"Thank you." Syaoran replied.
Anna led them to a small cottage with an entrance of black lace curtains, pulling them aside for the travellers and then leading them through to a room where there was an examining table made of marble on the floor. There was a pillow at one end and a bunch of blankets in the middle.
"Lay the blankets out on the table-I'll go get Lady Yuuko." She instructed.
Chii was the quickest to respond to the instructions and had it done within seconds. Syaoran placed the unconscious Sakura on the table gently and felt her forehead for her temperature.
"Her temperature hasn't gone down at all…" he murmured.
"What I gave her should have worked by now…" Chii said, chewing on her nails nervously.
"Normal remedies won't work on elves my dear." A woman's voice came from another room. They looked over as footsteps could be heard approaching, and Anna reappeared with another woman by her side with long black hair and deep red eyes. She wore a black kimono with beautiful blue and purple butterflies on it, though it seemed to be hanging a little off her shoulders. The obi belt was dark purple with lighter purple and blue threads weaved through it in a lovely rose pattern.
"How long has she been sick for?" the woman asked.
"We suspect she's been keeping it from us for quite some time…maybe a little over a week?" Syaoran answered.
"Anna, did you get those herbs I sent you up for?" she asked.
"Yes-I put them in the back." Anna replied.
"Go get them-we're going to need them. But first; how much sleep has she been getting?" the woman asked, walking over to get a closer look at Sakura.
"She hasn't been able to lately." Chii replied sadly.
"Why is that, might I ask?" she questioned.
"A lot of things have happened, and so she's been having nightmares." Fai answered.
"I see. Let's have a look…"
The woman knelt down beside Sakura and put her ear against her chest to check her heartbeat and for wheezing, and then she carefully rolled the unconscious girl over to listen to her chest from her back.
"Hmm…Anna, come here; listen to her chest just like I did and from the information they've given you, I want you to tell me what you think." She said.
Anna nodded and walked over, repeating what the dark haired woman had just done and thought for a moment.
"What's going on?" Syaoran asked, not understanding what was going on.
"Shh!" Chii hissed, understanding exactly what was going on. Anna was an apprentice healer.
"I'd say probably a bad case of the flu." Anna decided.
"Close; she has pneumonia, meaning she's going to need a lot of rest. She's not going to be able to travel for a while. I'd say at least a month." The woman said sternly.
"When will she wake up?" Syaoran asked worriedly.
"No need to worry-She'll be conscious by morning once she has some of the medicine I'm going to make for her." She smiled.
"Thank goodness!" Chii sighed with relief.
"Now, may I ask your names? I already know who she is-she looks just like her mother, the queen." She said.
They hadn't expected that. They all looked at each other, the boys trying to hide their expressions of shock unlike Chii whose eyes were as wide as an owls and her jaw hanging open.
Fai shook his head at her and spoke; "I'm Fai, the Princess's royal guard, and this is Chii; she's a healer whom we met a little while ago, and that's Syaoran-he's a ranger." Fai introduced.
"Nice to meet you; I'm Yuuko. I'm Anna's mentor and the head of this place." She smiled lazily.
"We really appreciate what you've done for us." Syaoran said.
"It's my job, it's what I do. Now; come follow me and bring her with you-she needs to be put somewhere more comfortable. I'll look after her until she's well enough to be under your care." Yuuko said as she walked over to the doorway she had appeared from and waited for them to follow.
Syaoran picked up Sakura carefully and the group followed Yuuko into a room with a large, soft comfortable bed with deep silk purple sheets and blankets. The curtains that hung over the open windows were also a deep purple with a rose pattern on them, and the carpet was black. Anna pulled back the blankets for him to place her in the bed; he did so with care, worried about Sakura and feeling a little annoyed with her for allowing herself to get so sick. The young apprentice pulled the blankets over the Princess's body, and Syaoran noticed the quilt that was made up of deep purples, blues and greens. The fabrics used had floral patterns, butterfly patterns, nature patterns and towards the centre was a large black square with a peacock with gorgeous blues and greens in its feathers, surrounded by cherry blossoms and other flowers and nature in its centre.
"Yuuko, I see you've seen to our guests." The man from before had entered the room.
"I guess I'll have Watanuki fix up the medicine for her then." Yuuko sighed.
"Would you like me to go tell him?" Anna asked.
"That would be wonderful of you to do so, thank you Anna. As for you lot, we shall go into the living room-terribly sorry for that joke-since I believe some things need to be explained." Yuuko said.
"What about Sakura?" Chii asked, knowing that Syaoran wouldn't want her left alone.
"No need to worry; Princess Sakura is in good hands." She smiled.
They moved to another room that already had a tray of tea and refreshments set out on the small coffee table waiting for them and they each made themselves comfortable, sitting down on the soft velvet cushions on the floor.
"Pardon me Yuuko, but did you call her Princess Sakura?" the man asked.
"Of course I did-she looks just like her mother, the late queen. Not to mention the pendant around her neck; there's no doubt that she's the princess." Yuuko answered.
Cain looked away from him as he received a look of 'you should have told me sooner'. "So how is she-was it just fatigue from a long journey?" he asked the woman.
"I'm afraid it's much more serious; she seems to have pneumonia-I won't know for certain how bad it is yet since she's unconscious and won't be awake until morning, but from what I've been told by her companions, she seems to have been hiding it for quite some time." Yuuko replied much more seriously.
It was at that point that the man turned to the travellers, "Forgive me, for I have not yet introduced myself; I am Cain's Father, Feredir. May I ask your names?" He introduced himself.
This time Syaoran was the one to speak. "The somewhat dim witted one is Chii, and that's Fai who is also Sakura's royal guard. I'm Syaoran, a ranger and Sakura's fiancé." Syaoran said, adding extra emphasis on the word fiancé at the end to ensure that the message got across that nothing weird was to happen between his son and Sakura.
"Fiancé?" Cain repeated with a hint of disbelief.
"You heard right." Fai replied-it appeared he'd developed a certain disliking for Cain as well. He seemed to be a rather odd character, and something felt off about him. Even Chii felt a disliking towards him.
"I'm afraid we can only give you a brief overview right now sir, as Sakura is actually the one who leads us and holds most of the information you'll be after. Sorry." Syaoran answered Feredir's unspoken question.
"I guess it will have to wait until morning then." He smiled.
"Or when she's feeling better-don't harass my patients you fiend!" Yuuko snapped, hitting him over the back of the head with her hand.
"Yes, yes, we'll be leaving now. We shall see you tomorrow and see how the Princess is feeling. Until then, have a good night." Feredir bid farewell and left with Cain.
"Did you call me dim witted!?" Chii growled at the ranger.
"Wow, you were actually listening." Syaoran smirked.
"Of course I was! I don't trust them in the least!" Chii snapped.
"There's definitely something off about Cain and his father." Fai agreed.
Yuuko sighed and shook her head, "The Princess arrives and suddenly he must speak with her as soon as she wakes up, even if she's as sick as a toad. How rude. Anyway, I'll let you stay here as long as you help out around the house-deal?" she smiled.
"Sounds fair." Fai smiled.
"Thank you so much!" Chii beamed.
Syaoran was grateful, but all he could think about was Sakura-was she really going to be alright? And what she had said about Feredir wanting to speak to Sakura as soon as she woke up definitely added to their suspicions. Something was just off-especially if someone who had already been living there for a long time was discretely agreeing with the group.
If a cold is deadly for an elf, then what does that make Pneumonia? WILL SAKURA BE ALRIGHT? WILL SHE? And what about Cain and Feredir-what do you make of them?