Chapter 36: Regroup

'Rather, all things considering, it could be exceptionally bad.'

Eriol's words hung vividly in the still of the evening as the last glimmer of blue light from the pillar of minutes before faded into the already energy saturated sky. Words that made even the last vestige of serenity stagnate and uncomfortable.

"Eriol." Said Spinel Sun simply, though concern for his innermost thoughts hung loosely on his voice.

Despite his name being uttered softly into the all encompassing quiet of the moment, he made no motion of acknowledgement, his eyes resting solely upon the greater part of the city beyond. More specifically... over the city, and into the uncertain sky.

"Bad?" uttered Tomoyo meekly behind him—all vehemence of times prior completely resting in the past. She parted company which Ruby Moon, and moved to Eriol's side. "What's bad?"

"Magic likes magic." Eriol murmured, more to himself than the others.

"Eh?"

"I'm sure you remember the discussions from before. That magic will seek other magic and thus is the reason for the massive influxes of atmospheric magical energies." He sighed. "That aside, if a strong independent mass of magical energy emerges from any one source... it will become a focal point, a destination if you will."

Tomoyo tucked back a stray strand of hair absently.

"Destination..."

"Yes. That and the focal energy is not only relatively close to the hunters' intended siphon point, but is now tainted with an energy in which they are already completely integrated. This and the anomalies already in effect..."

"Anomalies?" asked Tomoyo. "Like what?"

"Physical distortions and energy behavioral dissonance. Among other things." Eriol paused a moment in thought of explanation. "For example..." he pointed at the trees next to him, with their leaves rustling and branches swaying, before gesturing to a nearby pond and the small waves that lapped the edges. "The trees and the water..."

"I don't understand..." said Tomoyo softly. "because of the wind?"

"And what wind is there?"

Tomoyo stopped and put her hand to the air, then looked around at her allies. Even in a small breeze one would expect to feel something... even see hair moving. But nothing among them moved because there was nothing to move it in the calm of the night.

Her eyes swung from the water and the trees, to the greater part of the city beyond, where among the taller buildings, lights at the top stories were flickering and even dying out.

"Then...?"

"This is only the beginning."

"If we don't stop the hunters here?" asked Ruby Moon for Tomoyo, for seemed mesmerized beyond speech.

Eriol turned to face her for a moment, before setting his eyes upon the sky once again.

"Then we can expect the worst."

Vijari held his eyes skyward and smiled despite the persistent pain that coursed through his being.

Even if he had no way of tapping into it now, he could feel the revitalizing energy of the sky licking at his every fiber, coaxing him to move forward... urging him to take it for his own. But to be coaxed to that extent—he didn't need. Certainly, regardless of his state now, he would plunge into it in due course.

It was his destiny.

Now however, he was in need of the energies of the living, before partaking of the energies of the fallen and forgotten.

If only he had been stronger, then he would have taken both life forces of the enemy he had just left behind those minutes ago... but there was no reason to dwell upon that now. No, he thought as he closed his eyes to the slowly numbing pain in his wounds, to dwell when there was need for action was simply not allowed.

With his intentions decided in full, he made a great effort to stand—using the side of the nearest building to stabilize his ascent. That's right... were he to remain sitting now, he'd die for certain.

And that just wasn't acceptable.

Exerting great effort, he moved away from his own support in a direction that was of his favor—a direction in which he heard voices.

Elsewhere, cold and lying lifeless in a heap were the bodies of Touya with Yue beneath him.

While it hadn't been long since the leader hunter's departure, it certainly wasn't to their mutual benefit. Even with what wounds they gave him, he would heal them... such was inevitable. And while his wounds were to heal, were theirs to remain open?

So it seemed. As such it seemed that they were just that much closer to their deaths, all the more given were a hunter to appear before them. At this point, with slits for eyes that stared blankly out into the darkness, it was all Touya could do as he fought for consciousness, that should someone appear, he was at least aware of it... especially if it were the end.

The end... the thought of it hung bitterly upon the edge of his awareness. It was true, that even with the powers leant to him that he could do naught but remain in this state of helplessness, while his partner and friend—whose body lay crippled beneath his own—was of an even worsened state of being. An ally he could neither help nor mourn if it came to that conclusion. He was that helpless.

He blinked as somewhere just beyond his field of vision glowed a familiar color of lavender and footsteps fell upon the ground. His heart began to beat faster.

Not... not like this. Not now...

"Still alive...? Surprising, with what state you're in one could assume otherwise. Well, I guess I'll just have to make it such that assumptions are no longer needed."

Tomoyo bit her lip as she stared at the uncertain sky. Although she had already calmed herself of her own darkness during the fight in the alley, she had come to terms with the scope of her feelings when submerged within the surreal atmosphere of the magically saturated air that surged above them all. Just by being unaccustomed to the feel of it, even a moment subjected to a passing strand of radiant energy made her feel as though she had suffered it for minutes on end, so sensitive to it. Sensitivity that made the powerful quick feel so long... it explained everything.

At that time with the card... where she felt subjected to the eternity that was Clow's past wasn't that she had been present and bore witness, but had merely glimpsed the essence of it and that the power was so beyond her, that she had in that instant felt like she had been confined for that length of time. Just the realization of the bare minimum facts made it all come to light. That the darkness Clow and all the cards had derived power from was simply so raw and dominating that her sensitive non-magical self couldn't handle it. What she had thought and said to be Sakura's fault was a lie.

She herself had been wrong all along.

All along... and Sakura said nothing to convince her otherwise—had said nothing but instead took it in and shouldered it all. That she had succumbed to the darkness that the hunters were had to be a lie, a construct that allowed her a chance to distance herself from the care of her entire support network. But for what purpose? What was it that she was hiding from them still?

It had to be something big. That, or it had to be something that was just that painful.

A lone tear streaked down her cheek as her unblinking eyes continued to stare about the city skyline. A network of blue-tinted white lines arced across in intervals towards the center mass of the teeming confusion. She wasn't sure based on her limited knowledge of the phenomena, but it looked as though it was getting worse.

"Tomoyo." Eriol called out softly from somewhere behind.

"Eh?" she blinked as she turned to face him.

"It's not good to dwell on such thoughts, particularly when they seemed based upon regret. Especially when before battle."

She hesitated with words as he wiped away her tear with a pro's accuracy, perhaps something he had gained experience while with Mizuki.

"I-" blushed Tomoyo as her hand went to her cheek on its own, as though to conceal the red, "it's nothing really..." she said carefully trying to find the right words. "No, actually, thank y—"

"Eriol!" Interrupted Spinel Sun's voice in a soft yet alerting tone. "Kerberos is low in the Southern sky; it looks like Syaoran is with him."

Eriol turned towards the south and spied the bit of white that represented Kerberos' wings against the darkness. "I see. Let us go meet them."

"Ah..." Tomoyo uttered as he started away. She almost didn't want for him to go, but to see at least a few of the others alright was a blessing in itself. Even more to see Kerberos bearing Syaoran... what circumstances led to that? It must have been something quite memorable.

She sighed. What she wouldn't give for a video recorder right about now.

"I'm glad you two are safe," sounded Eriol's voice, as he welcomed the two as they came to a landing upon the ground before him. Where upon touching down, Kerberos sunk to his stomach in such a fashion that Syaoran effortlessly rolled off to the side, looking more like discarded luggage than a passenger. Both were equally exhausted and covered by numerous injuries, none of which were life-threatening.

"Although it is good to see both of you alive, it is rather unfortunate that whatever trouble you had come across forced you into doing something most troublesome." Eriol said as he regarded the southern sky that had bourn the light pillar all those minutes before. I suppose with whatever circumstance presented itself, such a thing couldn't be helped."

Syaoran cast a look to the rug of a beast that had carried him the moments before, as he pulled himself into a one-kneed kneeling position, distributing most of his weight upon his sword which he had already planted in the ground before him. "That aside..." Syaoran started as he clutched a few of the exposed abdominal wounds at his side, "the atmosphere here is rather calm considering. What of the hunters? What of the others? Sakura...?"

"The hunters have yet to breach the barrier. I believe it safe to assume that you two have dispatched at least one hunter between you, we destroyed one just before, the rest... we don't know yet. The hope was that if not you, the others would bring information valuable for our efforts.

"At most I was hopeful that Sakura would have found a viable method for artifact extraction, thus aiding in our efforts to decrease their strength, but perhaps that is too much to hope for now. I'm afraid that the time allotted to us for this endeavor has nearly reached a critical point... and that the energy saturation of this region has already tipped the scales in a dangerous direction.

"I'm afraid that if we don't stop the hunters at this next point, then..."

A sudden outpour of lavender light bathed them all as a breach in space opened up in the form of a portal exactly as those used by the hunters, where the silhouettes of three figures began to emerge from within, causing most gathered to lurch in tired anticipation.

"If that happens..." came a voice that forced pause among all to hear it.

"...We may never stop them at all." Finished Sakura as she stepped onto the grass. The limp forms of Touya and Yue supported at her sides.

"Sakura..." whispered Syaoran uncertainly. Though he was happy to see her alright, it was only a physical representation of his love, since what truly mattered seemed lost already behind an uncaring mask of ruthless darkness. Just seeing her now filled him with mixed emotions.

"Though your intended change was to make you stronger in the end," started Eriol in a light humored voice. "It certainly did nothing to accelerate your promptness for rendezvous."

"Heh," laughed Sakura in a slightly annoyed fashion. "I had to take time to heal these two here," she motioned to her brother and guardian before setting them on the ground. "It couldn't be helped."

"Aside from the preservation of our numbers," said Eriol casually, "what did you learn in your battle with the hunters?"

"Che..." Sakura thought to the fight and her inability to extract any of the fragments. "To collect the artifacts, it's already nigh impossible while they live, but in death it is equally difficult if they shift away. However, if we trap the corpse in a shadow-less environment, it should increase our chances of recovery, and to delay the process of regeneration, though to force regeneration is to drain their leader, so the process is encouraged since it is dubious whether we could keep a light prison solid while still fighting the others."

"I see." Murmured Eriol. "Though if the number was low we could force our hand.

"How quickly could we assume the downed hunters' regeneration?"

"It depends on how seriously injured the leader is, but since these two were still alive after facing him, it can be assumed that they dealt him enough damage that he should be preoccupied with his own body before he is at all able to worry about the restoration of his kin."

"Then we'll use that to our advantage, preferably before he restores himself, but most certainly before he manages to penetrate the barrier. However, we'll have to get to him quickly, with the atmospheric energy saturated by that of his own energy, he should be able to manipulate it that much easier with but a little more strength."

"That..." groaned Syaoran as he attempted to pull himself to his feet. "And he still has Ka-sari alive to intercept us, who is virtually uninjured." Syaoran turned his face in bitter resentment to the very fact. "Much due to my own fault."

"Another worry that does us no justice." Eriol said without compassion. "If you feel bitter about it now, just remember to do something about it after Sakura heals your injuries. Which we should all get done quickly, as time is of the essence." He glanced over to Sakura, who was staring past the surrounding trees to the rest of the city. "How's that?"

"It works."

Elsewhere, as the fires from battles prior began to abate, medical teams backed by enforcer units worked frantically to excavate and ferry as many people living from the ruins of what used to be buildings as quickly as possible. Even though these 'dead' areas were free from the unknown disturbances of the moment, it did nothing to calm the already frayed nerves and disheartened spirits of those unfortunate enough to be confined to the streets. Although human and unaware, the strong energies of the sky above had begun weighing heavily upon already unstable souls.

Under concealment of darkness, a nearby presence watched as another armored support vehicle already filled to maximum capacity thundered away into the night, leaving just a handful of those who had stayed to help others in need, the doctors and field medical staff, and a small scattering of enforcers. Having already suffered grave losses and unaccounted for absences, their nerves were the most frayed, as they themselves had already killed a few unfortunate civilians who had come across the wrong way. Just bad luck on their part.

"How much longer until this site is clear?" asked the closest enforcer to the med unit.

"Not much longer now." Stated the medical personnel in a downcast tone. He lowered his voice for the next statement. "I'm afraid that the entire bottom two floors are too severe, if there's a chance that anyone is alive... if these were normal conditions, we'd do everything possible, but now..."

"I understand." Without attempt at consoling words or awkward air, he turned about and gave a hand signal to his partner across the way. The message was simple and not at all difficult to follow. It was time to wrap it up.

As the med unit began to escort those of the last few survivors towards the last support vehicle, the lone enforcer began to sweep the perimeter for any last signs of life before calling it quits.

It was horrible... these things. Though he thought he would be used to it, since he was no stranger to the battle field, he just couldn't believe this to be a domestic scene. Here where the buildings were as though they were shelled to the point of collapse, where the light of common electric was replaced with that of fire as a cold atypical of the summer months caused his breath to hang visibly on the air. That and the feel of the air was strange and made him sick, not so much as the blood and other scatterings of fluids upon the ground. It made him think of cattle in a slaughter yard, and not so much his beloved city.

Just as it was now, it was no longer the city he knew it to be.

He was just about to turn away when his foot lost traction on a bit of ground, causing him to slide a bit. Curious, he swung his gun downward, the attached light illuminating the ground at his feet. Blood. Like the rest of it. But...

He bent down for closer inspection.

This blood was fresh, and from a free flowing source, as it was still flowing across the ground.

He swung his light across the ground and up the small trickle in search of the source, more from morbid curiosity than from hopes of finding anyone still living. However, when his light washed over the body, just tucked within the shadows of a nearby alleyway, he had found much more than he had expected.

The body... this body, was much bigger than the average person. The guy could be a wrestler, for certain. However, that in size alone was certain, but what was a person like this doing here? There didn't seem to be anyone aside from the norm, so it was a bit suspicious... all the more so with the majority of his body covered by what looked to be rags at first was something closer to a... cloak?

He stepped back as though confronted with an unknown pathogen hung upon still air.

Was this person actually homeless? That such a large individual could survive on the meager offerings of street life was beyond the absurdity of the joke. If not that then, perhaps he had dragged himself from the building?

The enforcer swept his light over the ground from the direction he had come. The blood was still there, but only having flowed there. There were no signs other than his foot prints that anything had disrupted the flow. Then... this body was from somewhere else?

He swept the light down the alley. There was no truth of blood there either, but then where?

He moved the light on that of the body.

Upon closer inspection, he found a large patch of crimson soaked through the material of the cloak—somewhere around where an arm would rest? If true, then there was a possibility that the injury wasn't fatal. Using the end of the gun barrel, he pushed the cloth to the side and gasped in sickened silence.

His arm...

His arm—if it could be called an arm—was free of its crude sling and hanging partially in pieces at his side, large chunks of flesh obviously charred, split, and—in some cases—pulled away from the bone. That such a wreckage even be called an arm was pushing it.

Suddenly the body shifted without warning, causing a very nerve weary enforcer to back so hard he slammed into the alley wall behind him and dropped his weapon with an echoing clatter at the ground beside him.

That the body moved—was the body he thought a corpse alive!?

Forgetting his momentary fear, he dropped to his knee quickly and set his hands upon where the shoulders sat, where he hoped to get response.

"You there... can you hear my voice... are you conscious!?"

"Ah." Came the man's reply, though weak, it had the sound of someone that still had enough life left that he could risk asking movement without much difficulty, else salvage this time may be out of the realm of possibility.

"Good, then stay with me. I don't know how you managed to get yourself this far with such severe injuries, but you can relax, we'll get you out of here.

"Wait a moment."

The enforcer retracted his hands and activated his intercom link to his fellow, explained the situation and position, then ended the call. Then he readdressed the man before him.

"If you think you can move, additional aid will be here shortly. And then we can get out of this place." He glanced around nervously, the eerie sense of peculiarity weighing heavily on him as he waited for his partner's arrival. The sooner he could get this guy and the others out, the better for all of them.

"I..."

The enforcer paused at the man's voice. Was he really going to make it?

"I... think I'll stay here... actually."

"Eh? You'd stay... but risk your life in doing so? Don't you want your arm treated?"

At that, the man smiled as his chilling eyes locked onto the eyes of the enforcer before him with a look of absolute confidence. "I'd stay..." he said softly, squaring his body more soundly to look at the other before him. "But not with question of life... but that of my arm...?"

Without warning or expectation, using his bloodied and corpse-like arm, shot his hand out and clenched the other man's face to his palm, the meeting of flesh colliding between each other accompanied with a sickening splattering sound. Where with surprising strength, didn't even think to release his would-be-savior though met with such adversity.

"About the arm..." the lead hunter said as a white glow began to emanate from between serrated palm and captive face, a smile forming upon his battered face as the skin began to pale and re-attach itself to the bone once again.

"About this arm... I thank you for the treatment."

Elsewhere, a large lavender opening in the fabric of reality heralded the arrival of Sakura and the others, not far from the edge of the barrier itself. The loud squelch from the displaced air pushed against the magically saturated air and caused the resulting push to wash through the immediate surrounding area, causing a rippling effect evident in the series of flickers of light in street lamps and buildings down the line.

"Well..." stated Syaoran with a look of tired amusement. "Whether magically oriented or not, everyone will know we're here now."

"Can't be helped." Said Eriol with his standard matter-of-fact attitude. "At least we won't have to search the woodwork as thoroughly before the bugs come to us."

"So what's the plan from here?" asked Kerberos without much appreciation for the dry humor. He cast a look one way towards Eriol, and the other way towards Sakura, uncertain which to consult first. "Shall we split into groups once again, or—"

"A division in power is meaningless at this point." Sakura said bluntly. "To cover a vast area isn't necessary now. Since we are in the vicinity of the lead hunter, it is best to concentrate the strength of our force directly against the weakening in the pillar."

"Should the leader fall, they all will." Eriol said as though to finish her unsaid thoughts, as well as to dispel any latent confusion. "Besides, it would only be luck if we were to confront the leader directly as one, now."

"Why's that?" asked Tomoyo as she came beside him.

"Ah. That's because..." Eriol started, though he stopped mid-thought as the presence all too familiar to him cascaded through the air around them. Exactly according to their predictions prior.

He, like Sakura before him, forced his eyes skyward as a voice drifted down from above them.

"That...

"That is simply because he knows that I am here to prevent such a scenario from ever unfolding." Sounded Ka-sari's voice as he looked down from his position on the rooftop edge three stories above them. His shoulder-mounted blades glowed with an ominous shade of an all-too familiar blue color. Like the epitome of calm, he seemed to only look down upon what numbers they now possessed as that of the group on a whole. "From one who has held sway over my body once before, he only knows the shell of what my true power amounts to, and holds the fear over the potential if released in full."

"Tch..." Syaoran sounded through clenched teeth as he raised his sword edge higher. "Ka-sari..."

"A power that is made all the greater when not dispersed over and throughout the rest of my family. Though..." he regarded the energy saturated night sky for a moment before returning his gaze to those beneath him, "if all goes well tonight, then it will be a power easily achieved not only by I, but all in my extended family as well.

"But before that happens, I would consider myself blessed if only to see but for a moment the true strength of another whose shell has only been seen thus far. Although I wonder if even I am enough to be deserving of such a sight."

Ka-sari shrugged off a laugh as the shoulder blades slid to their forearm mount position and interlocked with the chain delivery system beneath it, before flashing a smile uncharacteristic of his person.

"Well... of that I'll just have to find out... won't I?"

The second enforcer who had arrived moments after the demise of the first now rejoined his comrade upon the alley floor. Both men—living men no longer—decorated the already blood strewn concrete as mere hollowed uniforms, as their stolen essence had reduced them to mere bones, of which were already eroding and escaping with the wind.

They were good, and served their purpose well, for the strong are always above that of the weak for purposes involving the re-growth of lost flesh. Flesh of which had been restored to the weakened Vijari by re-supplying him of his own energy reserves by breaking down and converting the flesh of others to that very needed energy.

However, this by itself was nothing more than a moment's triumph.

With a scowl, Vijari regarded the still motionless relief vehicle and the medical personnel busy with the treatment of those inside, as well as those still at another site altogether.

If he were at full strength, such weak life energies he'd pass up without a second thought. But as he was now...

...tonight the weak would have to do.

That, and the best of his most trusted... he would have to do his part as well.

And then the night was theirs... the night, just before that of the world.

"Scatter!"

It was a simple warning but given the timing, it was all Sakura could do before the bladed chain attack struck the ground amidst her and her company, a discharge of energy causing the ground to rupture around them, making standing next to impossible, fire and water abundant with the ruptured mains beneath the street. Ascertaining her own safety was easy enough, but for everyone else, she didn't have the time to check.

But what was that attack?

Without further warning of intent, Ka-sari had acted almost as spontaneously as Faski, yet with much greater effect, using the short lived vertical dive from the building as means of heightening his bladed chain attack, coupling its destructive damage with whatever new effect his 'full' ability bestowed upon him. However, instead of following through with his assault, he instead anchored himself to the side of the building with a second bladed chain and repelled off the side to get into a new position, though leaving the first bladed chain where it landed, his item to regenerate metals quickly producing a replacement set of that which he lost.

To Sakura, who had little patience of late, it was extremely annoying.

However, before she could think through the next step, Ka-sari had renewed his attack once again, this time in favor of striking at her directly once he had twisted free of his preset tether. With the added momentum generated from twist, the blade soared effortlessly full frontal; with a secondary strike set to catch her from the side should she try to avoid it. But that's only if she truly wanted to avoid. For her, it was just as simple to—

She had just barely raised her hand to defend herself when a hint of steel flashed before the front, and a generation of crystalline shielding resulted in a dual explosion of sparks and magic with a resulting cover of dust and debris that obscured her view completely. But that didn't mean she didn't know the ones who stepped in.

"You two..."

"Sa... Sakura!" grunted Syaoran as he not only staved off the attack's momentum, but the discharged energy as well. "Like you or not... accept you or not... I-I don't have a choice as of the moment!" he said heavily as he flung the blade aside and parried the excess chain that carried through. "But... But!!" He declared as though the act pained him to do so. "I have accepted that you are most aware of yourself, and though you close yourself off from us, you do it for a reason!

"Show me... show us that reason! And maybe you can remember how to accept your heart once again."

Sakura stared at him for a moment, as though without all thought of feeling, as she considered his words. That if she was thinking of the words, by her expression it was a wonder if she had even heard them.

"I... I guess not then?" Syaoran asked half exasperated. His blade remained hanging on the air as he awaited the next strike. Perhaps he spoke too soon? Though he had started to wonder... perhaps it was too late for her after all?

But could he actually give up entirely... that's where his thoughts were starting to reside when he heard something he hadn't heard in quite a while. A Sakura-ish sigh.

"Eriol?" she questioned, though her voice was still far from what the gentle her should be.

Eriol watched as the lights on the taller buildings continued to die and turned back to her.

"He's on to you I suppose. Though sooner than I would have thought."

"At least partially." Sakura stated with a hint of smile.

Syaoran's eyes flickered to her form as a drop of sweat rolled down his forehead. Was he hearing right?

Then?! Tomoyo thought hopefully. Was this to say that there was something more to it after all?

"Considering normal circumstances," Eriol said calmly, "I would definitely advise against it.

"But now that our time is as it is... it might be our only option left to us."

Syaoran felt the strain of metal against his sword slacken.

Was the hunter so interested that he had become lax in his attack? Or was he redoubling? Switching targets...?

"If that's how it is..." she said as all eyes save Syaoran's drew near her and away from the foe at hand. "Then..."

In a split second, Ka-sari had redirected his feint attack at the distracted Yue, and Syaoran was too far away to intercede, the blade accelerating towards a direct mark. And then—! Yue was on the ground, and the blade rested in Sakura's bare hand!

She smiled as she tilted her head in an almost bored manner as she stared down the length of the chain to the hunter on the other end.

"...So be it."

A/C (9/27/07): Long time delay... not so long chapter. But I've since changed a whole aspect of this next step from my original plans, so it needs to be special.