Pharaoh

Chapter Twenty Nine


Sakura suddenly noticed how damp the air was, how a mildew smell clung to the rough walls around them, how it would probably cling to her clothes and her skin too, even after she got out of there. A strained silence also hung heavily in the air.

"No," Eriol said, his voice shaky. "No, I don't believe you."

Daidouji opened his mouth to respond but Eriol pounced on him, yelling, and in a detached moment Sakura thought that this was probably the most wild, the most uncontrolled she had ever seen him, even more so than that night he had kissed her. But Daidouji raised his hand and shot Eriol backwards, so that he slammed against some cell bars with a loud grunt. He opened his eyes, staring at Daidouji, and his jaw clenched as he conjured and sent a volley of ice shards, sharp and steaming with frigidity, right at the other man. They shattered before reaching Daidouji, the air shimmering in front of him. He waved his arm and Eriol was gripped by the throat and raised into the air, until his head crashed into the cavernous ceiling. Sakura cried out, her hands flying to her mouth. Tomoyo remained impassive, staring blankly as though she couldn't see at all. Sakura felt a burning within her—did Tomoyo really not care about them at all? They were going to protect her, they were her friends, how could she have done this? Daidouji curled his fingers slowly, and Eriol choked and yelled in response. Syaoran slashed his hands downward and invisible, searing heat went in Daidouji's direction. Caught off guard, he dropped his hold on Eriol and held up his forearms in an x to block the wave of heat, but some of it burned his skin, leaving an angry red mark that instantly blistered on the side of his face.

Sakura exclaimed and made a cushion of air for Eriol to fall onto, but her gaze had fixated on Tomoyo. She was slumping, her eyes dimming, energy seeming to just seep out of her. What was happening to her? Daidouji poured magic at Syaoran now, and the crescent shadows beneath Tomoyo's eyes darkened, her eyelids drooped. And then the skin on her cheek bubbled slightly, and suddenly coloured, to the same stark red of the scorchmark on Daidouji's face.

"When he uses magic," she whispered to herself, working through it in her head, "she's almost . . . wilting." She ran through all the encounters she'd had with Daidouji and one stuck out in her mind—when he'd fixated on how she wielded the Clow magic through her staff. Her fingers found it on her hip, unthinkingly. "He wields his magic . . . through her."

Eriol was staggering to his feet, his hands swirling rapidly around one another, conjuring energy to blast at Daidouji.

"STOP!" Sakura shouted, the word echoing around the cavern-like dungeon. To her surprise, everyone did stop—even Daidouji, who seemed quietly alarmed, narrowing his eyes at her and flexing his fingers, shifting his hand in her direction. "Stop. When you hurt him, or make him defend himself, it's—it's hurting Tomoyo too."

"What?" Syaoran demanded, stiffening.

"She is his power source," she announced confidently, staring Daidouji down directly. "All of his magic is planted within her. All this time, she's been a way for him to know what was going on here. That beacon of ancient magic we sensed—it's always been her. He wields his power through her."

"She didn't betray us, then," Eriol breathed, his eyes bright.

"No. She's just always been an unknowing slave to her father, hasn't she?" Sakura spat at Daidouji.

Daidouji clapped, slowly, loudly. "Congratulations. You've figured it out. So, now you're welcome to try and kill me." He grinned and threw his arms out, leaving his body exposed. "Go on. Do it. Can you? Knowing you'll take Tomoyo's life with mine?"

"You are despicable," Touya growled.

"Sticks and stones," Daidouji said mockingly, smiling at Sakura as he used her own words against her. He waved his hand and a cell door opened. "March nicely into that cell and wait here like nice little urchins. Unless you'd rather try and harm me again?" He raised his eyebrows.

Touya spat at his feet and then spun on his heel and walked into the cell, sitting down hard on the stone floor. Oddly, Sakura felt a blossom of pride in her chest. Her brother wasn't afraid to seem cowardly or weak—he knew that he wasn't, and recognized the situation was lost. Even in what was apparently giving up, he seemed like he hadn't lost at all. It helped Sakura stand straighter. The rest of them followed his lead, and the cell door shut magically behind them.

"Sleep well, children," Daidouji said, and snuffed out all the light in the dungeon.


The five of them passed the remaining hours of the night in relative silence, to conserve their strength and entertain the idea of sleep, which none of them did. Eriol cast an excellent spell that would restore energy to their minds and bodies as though they had actually gotten rest.

"Thank you, Eriol," she whispered to him, though keeping her voice low was not much use.

"It's the least I can do," he murmured back. "Since both of you were such terrible students, someone has to know the more delicate spells."

That drew a laugh from Sakura and Syaoran both, and they were grateful for the pretense of calm in the cell as the night drew on.

When morning came, they were not even aware of it in the sprawling blackness of the dungeon. But a soft light leaked in from the top of the staircase when Daidouji descended it to inform them that the sun had indeed risen, and they were to face their fates. Guards chained the group of them and marched them all the way to the town square where Daidouji had proclaimed himself Pharaoh.

A crowd had gathered there again. There was a much larger presence of armored guards throughout, as though they had corralled the citizens there like sheep. The people's faces were confused and wary, like they'd been dragged from their homes and even their beds to come view whatever the new Pharaoh had in store for them.

"My good people," Daidouji announced, his already over used address, "I bring before you today this unholy troupe of traitors to the state, to me, and to all of you." Some of the people frowned and glanced over at them, as if to say, but isn't that the Pharaoh? It gave Sakura hope that perhaps they weren't all prepared to be brainwashed and taken hostage in their own city. "And so we must devise a proper execution for them."

Sakura stiffened, and she heard Touya swear loudly behind her. Their alarm was reflected in the crowd.

"I think that I shall begin this event with a trial by combat," Daidouji went on, "in which the traitor Syaoran can fight for his life against the best of my guardsman." He beckoned a large man in his liveries forward. Syaoran glanced worriedly at Sakura. He was not a bad fighter, and he had his magic, but she could see that he disdained the idea of battling another person, one of his own people, to the death, even if they were serving Daidouji.

Syaoran was unshackled and made to stand, then walked over to a makeshift platform that had been built overnight, presumably for this exact spectacle.

There was a bit of a commotion somewhere in the crowd. A man came forward, concern in his eyes, which were trained on Syaoran. "May Ra bless you," he said, bowing. It was repeated indistinctly in various other parts of the crowd. Immediately guards stepped forward and cut the man's throat, as easily as though they'd just swatted a fly.

The real Pharaoh blanched at the sight before him, and his fists clenched so hard Sakura saw blood trickle over fingers from where his nails must have dug into his palms. She looked around for Tomoyo, and saw her seated behind where her father stood, looking a bit replenished from the night before but with a bandage over the burn on her cheek. She looked paralyzed with fear, watching everything unfold, her hands gripped taut on the arms of her chair. Sakura thought of how she had gone into Yukito's mind and broken the connection with Daidouji. Perhaps she could do the same with Tomoyo.

"Ra blesses me," Daidouji emphasized shortly, a steely glint in his eyes as they swept over the crowd, which had fallen silent in fear. The sound of the man's last chokes and gurgles came from the ground near the platform. "Let us begin."

"Wait," Sakura blurted, before she could stop herself. "I offer myself as a stand-in for Syaoran. I will fight the trial by combat." She stepped forward, tugging against her restraints. "And I demand to meet you in battle as the guardsman's stand-in."

Syaoran's head whipped to face her, his eyes wide in disbelief and probably anger. He shook his head vigorously at her but she ignored him. "Do you accept?" she prompted Daidouji.

He frowned at her, and then chuckled. "Why, yes." He seemed half-confident of his not being hurt by her, knowing as she did the consequence to Tomoyo, but also partly confused by her demand.

Already Sakura had begun her infiltration of Tomoyo's mind. She was only half aware of everything going on around her, of her chains being removed and her being led on to the platform, as she dug and prodded at the adamant barrier around the other girl's imprisoned thoughts. Panic settled in her chest.

She couldn't do it.

The bond between Tomoyo and Daidouji's magic was inseparable. He must have fused it with her from the moment of her birth. It was rooted in every part of her being, every fibre, every atom. No wonder she was so beautiful, so elegant, so amiable. She was half enchantment, had always been. If Sakura wanted to tear the magic from Tomoyo . . . she would shatter her mind.

Her hands began to tremble, so she balled them into fists. Her plan had gone very awry. Now she had to just face Daidouji with no magic—and she was certain he would not play fairly.

"Well, then," he said, grinning widely, "let us really begin now. Let us see who Ra truly smiles upon."

"No!" Syaoran struggled against the guards holding him back. Sakura didn't look at him.

Her hand went to her belt, for her staff, and she paused. She couldn't. Tomoyo was her friend, her best friend. She couldn't hurt her. She dropped her hand.

And then Daidouji launched a large, invisible fist that hit Sakura squarely in the chest. She went flying backwards, flipping off the edge of the platform into the sand. A guard hauled her smarting body back onto it. She managed to dodge the next blow, but another was right after it, feeling like a claw raking down the length of her arm. Sakura cried out, clutching at her now bleeding wound, and steeled herself. She found her footing and charged at Daidouji, hoping she could perhaps gently knock him out, catch him off guard. But it was useless. He continued pelting her with magical attacks, leaving her battered and bleeding, panting on the platform.

Once more Sakura tried to get into Tomoyo's mind, thinking perhaps as he used the power he'd stored in her, the barrier would deplete. But it hadn't. Tomoyo's essence was the only thing that weakened when he used his magic. Sakura was disgusted all over again, and found the gall to spit at his feet. He made an enraged noise and hit her, this time with his plain fist, sending her sprawling. Sand had gotten into her mouth, making her teeth feel gritty. She tasted blood, as well. She raised her eyes to the crowd, who all looked white faced and frightened. At least she could serve as a wake up call as to who Daidouji really was. She didn't mind being made a martyr if Egypt ended up back where it was supposed to be in the end.

While she had been distracted, Daidouji had approached her, and now he latched an invisible vice around her neck and squeezed with crushing force.

"Now you will die," he snarled.

Sakura glared up at him, mustering all of the hatred she felt for him into one piercing gaze, even as blood roared in her ears and her vision went double.

"Ra has blessed you with the power to win!" A clear voice rang out suddenly over the silent mass. Tomoyo. "Mistress Sakura, I know you can do it! I know that he will choose you! You cannot give in!"

Affection swelled in Sakura's chest for her friend. Tomoyo stood on top of her chair, addressing the crowd. "This man is an imposter," she announced gravely, her eyes bright. "He is not a real Pharaoh. The magic he uses is dark and dead and evil. The magic Sakura has been blessed with is granted by the gods themselves."

"Sit down, you insolent girl!" Daidouji barked, rage reddening his face, making the veins in his neck bulge. "Shut up or I shall have you whipped!"

Tomoyo only looked at him, her countenance calm, but Sakura saw the loathing and the pain in her amethyst eyes. And then they were not amethyst. They were glowing, filling with light from inside of her. Soon her skin lit up, as well, becoming translucent as the power was unlocked and released within her.

"Stop," Daidouji said. "Stop!"

And then Sakura clued in. Tomoyo was destroying the magic in herself. Purposely burning it all up, so her father could no longer use it. Tears leapt to Sakura's eyes.

The light now shone through Tomoyo's body entirely, blinding Sakura, and heat began rolling from her, both rising in intensity until a deafening explosion blew everyone back.

When it was over, Sakura dared to open her eyes, blinking, ears ringing, and moisture already wetting her cheeks.

Tomoyo, looking serene as ever, had collapsed to the ground, now only a beautiful corpse.


OH NOOOO. Things are heating up. In fact, the next chapter will likely be the last. Keep your eye out for THAT update! Please review, and tell me all your thoughts!