Note: The title of the last chapter "Wet Glue" referred to Sakura's heart; Sorrow and Illness explain the metaphor near the end of the chapter, if anyone missed that. I apologize for any confusion.
P.S. This chapter may contain mature content; there will be a warning posted before it begins, so read at your own risk.
Links In A Chain
Chapter 35
Stolen Truths Finally Returned
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On the Front Lawn
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Sorrow and Illness held the mundanes captive in their surprisingly strong grasps, Sorrow holding Rika and Naoko's hands while Illness had Takashi's. Chiharu merely limped along after them, whimpering from either her sprained ankle or her new phobia of anything magical. She still seemed to be holding a little apprehension from the little incident in the hall where she first met the twins; every time one of them peered over their shoulder to look at Chiharu and try to say something to her, she'd give off a small squeal and flinch. Eventually, the two learned to focus their attentions on the other three mundanes, filling theirs heads with incessant chatter.
"We're gonna have so much fun!" "We're going to play games galore!"
"Not another game, please! Anything but another game!" Rika cried as she was dragged across the grass into the backyard.
Sorrow and Illness jumped a step, surprised that the human girl would protest their fun games. "But we thought that-," "our games were fun!" Sorrow and Illness pouted. "Don't you want to," "Play with us anymore?"
The mundanes glanced at each other, at a loss; the question the spirits posed had no good answer. If they said they didn't want to play, who knows how the spirit pair would react, but if they lied and said they wanted to play, they were stuck with whatever bizarre game Sorrow and Illness came up with. The longer the silence awkward silence stretched on, the wider and more pitiful the twin's eyes got, their lips quivering, and big, fat, watery tears welling up in the corners of their eyes.
Trying to keep the two spirits happy, the mundanes caved. Naoko forced a strained grin onto her mouth and leaned down to the twin's level. "Of course we want to play with you two," she said, the falsity in her voice obvious to everyone except Sorrow and Illness. "But, we're only human and humans can't play they games that you want to play- I think you might need people of your own kind to play your games with."
Sorrow and Illness froze, staring at each other; apparently it hadn't dawned on them until now that humans didn't have the same abilities that spirits did. Suddenly, their expressions lightened.
Illness grinned, the idea of how to fix their game problem hitting her like bug on a windshield! "If humans can't play the games that we play, we'll just play the games that humans play!" she exclaimed.
"OH! I know! I know! We'll play baseball with our whatamahootermerjig!" Sorrow cheered. Illness gave off a loud yip, like a small dog, and brought out the glowing orb that they found earlier from somewhere within a fold in her dress.
Sorrow cooed and dropped the hands she was holding, plucking the glowing ball from her sister's hand and dancing around with it. Illness tossed Takashi's hand back to him and cartwheeled to Sorrow, the two of them joining to do a stumbling, stuttering, off-balance version of a happy dance; they were really quite pleased to come up with a game that a human could play.
The mundanes blanked, glancing warily at the glowing ball that Sorrow and Illness tossed amongst themselves.
"We're going to play baseball with that thing?" Takashi asked nervously.
"Uh-," "Huh."
"But, what exactly is it?" he asked, watching as the ball pulsed in the bright light of the afternoon.
The Twins of Misery gasped in unison, looking as if Takashi had said something very, very bad to them. Glancing at each other for a split second, they jumped forward and hooked their arms in his so that he was their prisoner.
"Illness, did you hear? The human doesn't know what a whatamahootermerjig is!" Sorrow cried.
"I heard! I heard!" Illness replied. "I guess we'll just have to explain!"
"Quite right!"
Rika and Naoko backed up a few steps so they were on either side of Chiharu, gently placing their hands on her arms to help support her. With alarm written boldly across her face, Chiharu watched the two bizarre little girls toss her man about, helpless to do anything but watch the spectacle. Naoko and Rika glanced at each other behind Chiharu's back, listening as Takashi was spun a tale as tall as one of his own.
"So you see, dear friend of our Masters, every spirit has whatamahootermerjig!"
"We're never without one! They're like clothes; we're naked without them!"
"Whatamahootermerjigs are great toys to play with!"
"We can play catch, or soccer, or baseball, or ping pong! It's an all purpose toy!"
They lifted into the air a few feet so that Takashi dangled from their arms, his grunts of protest fell on deaf ears as he struggled against them. They twirled and looped, tossing Takashi into the air and catching him as if he weighed nothing. Eventually, they came back down to the ground and let the boy sink down to the grass and appreciate terra firma a lot more.
Naoko bit back a giggle as Takashi actually kissed the grass.. "Is that what a whatamahootermerjig is really for?" she asked skeptically.
Illness glanced to Sorrow with wide eyes as Sorrow stared at her with a surprised look of her own, and then their faces melted into twin smiles of mischief as they turned back to Chiharu.
"Of course not, friend of our Masters, we just found it in the grass a little while ago."
"We don't have any idea what it really is, but it's round and it sparkles so we're going to play baseball with it!"Naoko laughed nervously. "Okay…"
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In Sakura's Bedroom
(Questionable Content further on)
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Sakura sat on the edge of her bed staring out the window with s decidedly pensive expression. Absently, her fingers plucked at the bed sheets around her, pulling loose the already worn threads. She was now dressed in a makeshift outfit, since the room had been a guest room it had not been stocked with any clothes, so Sakura had made use of one of the soft bed sheets, turning it into a toga dress that draped over her body nicely, covering everything. Now she sat on the bed, just staring, thinking about why she felt so hurt every time she saw Syaoran with a hard expression. She knew they were not directed at her, but it hurt her all the same to see his hansom face angry.
Sighing, she laid her right hand over her heart gently, feeling for her heartbeat; it was soft against her fingertips, but felt alien at the same time. "Maybe something went wrong when he returned it…" she whispered to herself.
Sakura breathed in deep as she felt Syaoran approaching her door, his aura growing stronger the closer he got. For a brief moment, Sakura allowed herself to appreciate the feeling of her warrior's stronger, green aura weaved into hers. At the moment it was caressing against her aura cautiously, as if begging her to tell him what was wrong. His ministrations left tingles throughout her body, making her smile wistfully. He was trying so hard, and yet she couldn't help him because she didn't even know what was wrong with her exactly.
"Come in," Sakura whispered when she knew Syaoran was standing on the other side of the door. The door opened slowly, admitting the warrior. Sakura glanced over her shoulder once to acknowledge him then turned back to the window silently. She noticed he had gotten dressed as well, though in actual clothes instead of a sheet. He wore the same cotton pants he had been wearing before, but now he had on a loose black t-shirt as well, probably borrowed from Eriol. He closed the door as quietly as possible.
"Sakura, is everything alright?" he asked, his voice so soft that it nearly made Sakura want to cry. "Did I do something wrong?" In the space of time from when he left Sakura to let her change up to now, he had had plenty of time to come up with every explanation for why Sakura was being so distant. Perhaps it had been the kiss, maybe she hadn't of meant for it to be so intimate- or public for that matter, or it could have been she was just resentful that Syaoran accepted the request for judgment. Whatever it was, Sakura's cold behavior was breaking him up inside; he couldn't stand the way she felt so distant from him.
Sakura shifted on the bed but did not turn to face Syaoran. "I don't know…" she replied. "You didn't do anything wrong, though." There was a long stretch of silence as Sakura stared out at the clear blue sky, watching as a single white cloud floated by on a gentle breeze. Finally she voiced what was bothering her. "I think there might be something wrong with me…"
Syaoran stepped quietly across the room, careful not to disturb the solemn atmosphere that had been created. He slid next to Sakura on the mattress but did not dare look at her; instead he focused on the same white cloud she had been watching.
"What makes you think there might be something wrong with you?" he asked, his voice still keeping its soft tone.
Sakura bit her lip, thinking hard over the last hour or two that she had been awake.
"Because everything seemed… off to me. Small things that I know shouldn't have bothered me made me feel so broken up inside that it hurt- and I'm scared that maybe my heart didn't get put back right, or that I'm missing an important piece of me, or- or..." she trailed off with a shaking breath. Tears welled her eyes but she refused to let them fall.
Syaoran wrapped his arm around Sakura's shaking shoulders, drawing her to his side and letting her rest there as she struggled with her feelings. At first she resisted, but slowly gave in and sunk into the offered comfort, curling up so that her head was in his lap and her legs drawn up tight to her chest. His warmth radiated off him and warmed her cheek; he smelled of autumn and sandalwood, a scent that had become comforting to her over the years.
Syaoran stared down at her with warm eyes, feeling so broken that his Sakura was in so much pain. He stroked her hair gently, just like he had seen his mother do when one of his older sisters were upset. Sakura sighed and allowed him to comfort her. When she relaxed enough, Syaoran closed his eyes and let his aura flow freely from him to Sakura, trying to find out what was truly wrong.
She had erected weak barriers in an attempt to shield herself, but he easily coaxed them to fall, allowing him to delve deep into her. When he came upon her heart he surrounded it, and with gentle astral hands he cupped it, holding it as if it were glass.
In his lap, Sakura breathed in deeply. She could feel him inside of her, caressing her heart, warmth spreading throughout her body. Her hands fisted in the cloth of Syaoran's pants, her entire body loosening to the magic that Syaoran was pouring into her. She didn't try to push him out- whatever he was trying to do inside her, she was going to wait and see what happened…
In his mind, Syaoran could see what was the matter. He held Sakura's heart close and saw that, although it was whole, it was still very fragile from being away for so long. That's why she felt like everything was so off. She wasn't mad at him or anything- it was just that her heart wasn't able to take any strain at the moment.
Without really thinking about it, Syaoran allow himself to fall into the loose bonds to strengthen them. His magic was gentle and worked with expert grace on her, handling her heart as if he had held it for years. Where he sensed her frailty, he strengthened the bonds. Where her fear existed, he soothed and reassured her. Her heartbeat slowly melded to his and they beat as one: steady and rhythmic in each of their ears. Syaoran was so in tuned with helping Sakura, he failed to notice what effect he was having on her...
Sakura squirmed a little in Syaoran's lap, a hot feeling now settling in her stomach. The way he was handling her was making a strange feeling race through her body, but it wasn't a bad feeling or anything! Oh no, on the contrary, what ever Syaoran was doing to her, it was wiping her mind of every bad thought and making her feel really, really good. Her breathing quickened and she closed her eyes to savor what she was feeling, wanting more. Magical fingers caressed her soul and shot sparks through her system, her aura now swirling around her in the whirlwind of feelings she was experiencing. She had never experienced anything like this before.
A small moan escaped her lips as a particularly pleasurable wave of magic passed through her.
Syaoran paused in his ministrations. Slowly, as his aura pressed against Sakura to find out what was wrong, she gave off a louder moan and he became aware of what he had been doing. He had come across a passage about this in an old magic tome he had been studying a long time ago- the book had said that lovers of magical origin were able to have…(Syaoran had blushed considerably when he had read this) "intimate relations" with each other through their auras. Staring down at Sakura in his lap, he knew that he had unintentionally been doing just that with Sakura.
"More," she whispered in a breathy whine.
Syaoran gulped.
He could feel the fire he ignited in her aura like the blaze of the sun. Sakura's fists clenched as she felt Syaoran press in on her aura once again, this time testing what was actually going on; his presence became stronger than ever, she arched her back, her head pressing into his thigh.
He stared down at the writhing woman in his lap. He drew back a little, knowing this had gone on too far, but Sakura's aura shot out and reached desperately for his. Little astral fingers took a tight hold of his aura, caressing it desperately, wanting him to come back. Syaoran groaned as a hot, sensual sensation ran through his body. It wasn't like a physical caress, but all the same, his flesh tingled with the feeling. If this was how it felt when she touched him with her magic once, he could only imagine how he had been making Sakura feel.
With a grin, he deliberately ran his aura along hers in a way that he knew she would like. Sakura tipped her head back and moaned, her body moving in time to the caress.
As he stared down at her body, writhing in his lap, mewling every so often, there was something utterly male and satisfying about knowing that he made her like this. Knowing that he didn't even have to touch her to put her such a state of passion.
"S-Syaoran…" Sakura whispered his named feverishly. "Wh-what are you doing to me?" She turned over in his lap so she was staring up at him with half-lidded emerald eyes.
Syaoran ran his hand along the side of Sakura's face, a grin that sent shivers down her spine spread across his lips.
He didn't answer her; instead he sent a hot wave of magic coursing through her. Sakura's mouth opened, but no sound came out; her eyes grew wide and rolled back, her chest arching high off the mattress. Her hands clenched the sheets of the bed and her body writhed as she rode the waves that were passing through her aura and body.
In awe, Syaoran watched as everything played out over Sakura's flushed face. Never had he imagined he would see something so-so…extraordinary… Not a single physical touch and yet he made her… wow…
He watched as she moved, breathing deep, her skin glistening in the light of the afternoon sun. The pale pearl sheet wrapped around her body was tangled tight to her form, stretched taut over some areas and in others it was left ridden up and exposing her soft, pale flesh; a tempting sight to say the least. Her emerald eyes stared up at him in awe, as if she herself could not believe what had just happened to her.
Syaoran leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on Sakura's forehead, she giggled quietly and turned her face to kiss the palm of the hand that was cupping her face.
"S-Syaoran, I've never felt anything like that before…" she whispered. Her body felt like a wet noodle. Her shaking fingers moved up and stroked the flesh of Syaoran's arm. She felt absolutely content. His aura hung heavily around her, weaved in her own intimately. When she gazed up into his burning amber eyes, the way he stared down at her with such intensity, she felt like the only woman on the entire planet.
With a deep breath in, Sakura felt the strange fluttering in her heart cease; the "off" feeling hat she had been experiencing since she had woken up was now gone. She sat up straight and face Syaoran with wide eyes, their faces barely a breath away. "You- my heart… I feel fine again. You healed me…" Sakura tipped her head to the side cutely. "What happened to me… all that you did- was that just to fix my heart?" she asked quietly.
Syaoran shook his head, letting his arms wrap tight around Sakura's lithe body and bring her close to his chest. He savored her being so close, taking in her sweet scent, her soft touch. Bowing his head so that his face rested in the crook of her neck, he chuckled into her sensitive flesh. "No, Sakura. What just happened between us was much, much more than that," he replied.
It was at that very moment that Syaoran felt that he should confess his feelings to Sakura, to waste no more time and announce everything that he had hidden in his heart for so long. But or some strange reason, his mouth wouldn't open, the words were trapped in his throat. He was sacred to tell her anything because if he did he might end up jinxing it, and God only knows how much bad luck they already have without having more. So, instead of saying anything, Syaoran kissed Sakura's shoulder lightly and let her curl up to him as she allowed herself to readjust to her heart again.
'I'll tell you soon, Sakura,' he told himself. 'I promise.'
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Outside
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Sorrow and Illness paused as they swam about the pile of bones they had collected, trying to find the right size bone to use as a bat. Their heads popped up from the mess as soon as they felt the shift in the air, gasping loudly as their heads appeared above the mass of bones, scaring the mundanes considerably.
The twins stared at each other with wide, open-mouthed grins. They both could sense it, the swell of magic coming from the bedroom above them, and the subsequent stable aura they could now sense.
"Yay! Syaoran," "Fixed her!"
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The Looking Room
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Miaka's scream was so loud it echoed off the walls of the Looking Room and shocked Death so thoroughly that he tripped over his chains and stumbled into a bookcase. He recovered quickly and ran to see what was the matter; in a flash he became Dren.
"Miaka! What's wrong!" He yelled frantically as he skidded to a halt next to the reflecting pool she was laying next to.
She didn't answer him with words right away, instead she positively vibrated where she balanced on her knees on the edge of the pool, flailing her arms and gesturing wildly through the air at the pool. Slowly, her ability to speak came back. "Sakura- there! She and Syaoran… they did-it- together! They did, but with magic! No touching; it was magic! And I watched! Oh my God, I watched! Dren, in the pool! Look! Look! Look!" she yelled, pointing to the water wildly. The ridiculously wide, open-mouthed grin that was stretched across her face was positively comical.
Dren only took his eyes off her for a moment to glance at the image in the reflecting pool, watching as Sakura was gathered into Syaoran's arms and held tight to his chest, but when he looked up, Miaka was gone.
Ice dropped into his stomach.
His body switched back to Death's and the spirit sent out his senses in search of the girl. Upon searching the world over, he failed to locate where the girl could have possibly gone, he searched again and again, each time failing to find Miaka.
"No! Not now!" he shouted, frantically searching every nook and cranny of the galaxy in search of Miaka or Life, any sign of them. But they were completely and utterly gone. "Miaka! Life! Come back!" he shouted, his golden chains up in a storm around the room. "You can't fade now! Not when we're so close to being free!"
And then she was back.
Not a word or warning, she just popped back into existence, looking shaken and scared.
Her lip quivered as she stared up at Death with wide, frightened eyes. "Death-?" her voice cracked horribly as she spoke his name.
Death started forward and then jerked to a halt. He reached for Miaka, but seemed unable to reach out all the way for her, looking so afraid that if he touched her he might make her disappear again. Dren arose in Death's conscious and forced himself to the surface, taking back his body by force. He raced for Miaka, catching her before she fell to her side into the reflecting pool, and lifted her off the ground.
Dren's terrified expression mirrored Miaka's perfectly.
"Everything just went black," she whispered, her hands fisting Dren's shirt. "I died, didn't I?" she asked.
Dren tried to relax his face so that he could offer her a comforting smile. "No- no you didn't," he lied breathlessly, shaking his head vigorously. "You just- just blacked out for a moment. You're immortal, remember, you can't die!" He kept lying breathlessly, whispering things in Miaka's ear until the tremors that shook Miaka's body lessened.
The comforting lies Dren was whispering finally filtered into her mind and she slumped against his chest, feeling weak and dizzy and so thin that if there was a wind in the room it could have blown her away.
"I just- blacked out, right?" she asked, wriggling to let herself down from Dren's arms. "That's all that happened?"
Dren let a true grin alight his face, glad that Miaka finally believed the lie; if he had continued to allow her to think she had died then she would have thrown up a pandemonium, using up more magic than what she had left. "Yes, yes, only for a moment though," he said, shifting Miaka's body to let her down. "Everything is alright now."
Miaka smiled and opened her mouth to say that she was glad that it was just a brief black out and she didn't really fade away, but her body morphed into Life's and became intangible, slipping through Dren's arms. She landed on the hard floor with a loud thump and groaned.
Dren's expression hardened as he looked down at the spirit, his dislike for her radiating off him.
Life looked up at him with a dour expression. "Don't give me that look, you're the one who let me fall through your arms! I should be the one giving you the dirty look!"
Dren snorted, glaring down at Life. "Miaka wouldn't have fell through my arms- nor would she have faded out for that second- if it wasn't for you," he hissed scathingly.
Life opened her mouth to retort, but found no proper response to say.
Not wanting to stick around any longer around the spirit, he shoved his hands in his pockets and stalked off deeper into the Looking Room. As an afterthought, he paused by a posing mannequin and said over his shoulder, "Now that you've had a taste of fading out, Life, it wouldn't kill you to conserve what's left of your magic."
Life stared at Dren's back stubbornly. "Oh yeah! Well, it wouldn't kill you to be nice to me once in a while!" she screamed, picking herself up and smacking her hands against her clothes to get the dust off. "What did I ever do to you?" she yelled loudly, her voice echoing hauntingly through the room.
Dren's shadowy figure halted, his stance tensing up frighteningly. When he turned to face her, all that could be seen of him was his silhouette, looking far more frightening than Death had ever been. "YOU RUINED OUR LIVES!" he roared. His voice did not echo in the room as Life's did- a bizarre silence cut through the room, heavy and haunting, Dren's hatred for the Life and Death become an almost tangible thing.
Life choked back her startled yelp, spinning on her heel and fleeing for the door to the Looking Room. Dren watched her go, his chest heaving, eyes burning, and a guilt building up in him that almost hurt physically. From within, Death chided him for his harsh words, but Dren refused to let any of the guilt or chastising phase him; his resentment towards Life and Death had been building for centuries now and it was finally hitting its breaking point.
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Eriol's Bedroom
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Tomoyo had already removed the tattered remains of Eriol's robes and was in the process of dressing him again when a shock went through her system. It was a very cold and numbing pain that spread like icy needles through her chest and froze her limbs. She collapsed on top of Eriol, gasping for breath. Eriol's eyes snapped open and a breathless scream passed his lips, his arms wrapping around his own torso, nails biting into the flesh.
They struggled to gather themselves, trying as hard as they could to move or get air into their lungs, but it proved impossible when what felt like a brick wall was weighing down on them.
Right before their eyes, the world around them drained of colour, the light dimmed, and the air grew very, very cold. It seemed that the very world around them was losing it's spirit.
"What's happening?" Tomoyo gasped out, her eyes tearing.
By sheer force of will, Eriol managed to reach out and take Tomoyo's hand, his grip accidentally crushing her petit fingers. "It- it's happening! They've faded!" he managed to grind out through clenched teeth.
Tomoyo crawled up closer to Eriol, her eyes tearing up, face twisted in pain. She tried to force something out, to at least be able to say something, but her vision blackened and her body slumped forward, cold and grey like the world.
'No! Stay with me!' Eriol screamed mentally, watching helplessly as his love wilted against his chest. 'Stay awake- don't faint on me or you'll never wake up again! Tomoyo, please don't do this to me, not when I finally have you!'
Without any magic allowing her a better resistance to the non-existence of life, Tomoyo was unable to hold out any longer; her last breath was a shallow one, coming out in a long, slow whisper.
"NO!" Eriol howled. With all his strength, he gathered Tomoyo's body to him and held her tight. His eyes seared with the hot tears that welled in them, a hot and angry feeling of helplessness and drowning sadness. "C-come back," he muttered into her ear, "please. I need you."
In his anguish, the sorcerer failed to notice the weight slowly being lifted off his chest, his lungs suddenly being able to breath in air. The colors of the room bled back into their proper hues, the grey that had settled over everything, including Tomoyo, slowly was replaced by their proper, lively colors. Light was once again shining in through the windows in its full, mid-day glory, its warmth washing over the room in a friendly, welcoming fashion.
But Eriol was blind to all of it; he was so wrapped up in the passing of Tomoyo that he completely missed her chest raising slowly in a deep, desperately needed breath.
She stared up at him with soft eyes as he wept, his tears falling gracefully down his cheeks to spatter on her own face, his eyes pressed closed so that he could not see her own watering eyes stare up at him. With trembling fingers, Tomoyo reached up and caressed Eriol's cheek to get his attention; the look on his face the instant she touched him was absolutely priceless.
"Tomoyo-?" he asked wonderingly. She nodded slowly, but before she had a chance to say anything his mouth covered hers in a deep, passionate, desperate kiss- not that Tomoyo minded the kiss much…
He pressed quivering kissing against her lips, scared that too much pressure might break her. She returned his kisses passionately, in reassurance that she was alive and well. When Eriol drew back, an open expression of relief and joy had settled on his face. His hands stroked her cheeks with feather light touches; the utter gentleness he was using made her want to cry.
"I thought- Tomoyo- I thought I'd never see you again," he whispered.
Tomoyo let a quiet laugh pass her lips. "You can't get rid of me that easily," she replied.
Before he said anything else, Eriol dropped another kiss to her soft lips. "I love you so much," he said breathlessly, the words coming out in rush. His eyes were wide and desperate, searching hers for any sign of reciprocation.
"I- uh…" It suddenly occurred to Tomoyo that the moment she had almost died, it was not her family or even any of her friends that she would miss the most; it was Eriol and all his mysterious ways, that she would miss the most, and she would regret it forever if she had died and never told him what was in her heart.
"I love you too," she whispered shyly, "with all my heart."
The grin that pasted over Eriol's face bordered on comical as he leaned down for another soul searing kiss.
They were oblivious too, or rather ignored, the gaping stares they were receiving from Nakura and Spinel as they awoke from their unconsciousness. The two guardians slid off the bed and made their way to the door, keeping as silent as possible. They reached the door and shared a glance, Nakura's eyes gleaming with happy mischief and Spinel's merely staring back at her with a raised eyebrow- they noted the rippling wall across the from the bed, signally something fro the Looking Room was coming through.
Spinel turned his back on the room, gliding through the door. "Come on, let's give them some privacy," he whispered. Nakura snickered, following him out.
The mirror to the Looking Room materialized with Dren in it, staring into Eriol's bedroom with a dark look on his face. He allowed the sorcerer to have a few more seconds of time with Tomoyo, hoping to be noticed before he interrupted them, but when his presence continued to be ignored he cleared his throat loudly.
"Eriol, I know that you know what happened," he announced, his irritation carrying over into his voice.
Eriol nearly choked on Tomoyo's mouth in surprise. It took him a moment to gather his wits and figure out what Dren had said.
Tomoyo, it seemed, was quicker to gather her thoughts and suppress her embarrassment. She stared at Dren with a cloudy expression. "I saw you," she said then shook her head, correcting herself. "I just saw the other you… when I-." The words for what happened to her wouldn't form in her mouth.
"That's what I'm here to talk to Eriol about," Dren replied, his voice keeping its unusually sharp tone.
Instantly, Eriol straightened up and gave Dren his full attention. Tomoyo slipped herself off Eriol's lap and tried to slip off the bed as well, but a hand on her wrist stopped her and drew her back to Eriol's side. "She faded, didn't she?" he asked.
Dren's stern expression turned to one of pain. "Yes. She- Miaka, just went out of existence- right before my eyes." Finally, his voice began to lose its edge. "Never have I been more scared than the moment I could not find her in this universe."
"That explains what just happened," Eriol sighed. Tomoyo tipped her head, giving Eriol a look that said she didn't understand; he was more than willing to explain. "When Life went out of existence, all life in all worlds ceased to be." Eriol stated solemnly.
Tomoyo shivered as tried not to think about the whole world all dying at the same time, instead, she chose to focus on how Dren's face was becoming transparent and replaced by Death's. She examined the transformation without listening as the two men spoke, noting that neither man paused during Dren's change to Death, the conversation not even faltering once. Tomoyo tipped her head a little to the side to get a different angle of Death's face, and saw the ghost of Dren's face flickering over his every once in a while.
It was still very hard for her to wrap her mind around that fact that Miaka and Dren shared their existences with Life and Death. It was even harder for her to understand that Life and Death were not just spirits of the concepts life and death, as the Sakura Cards were, but they were the actual concepts themselves. Her mind was still telling her the idea was too fantastical to be real or possible.
Eriol's tightened grip on her shoulder brought Tomoyo back to the conversation.
"Yes, I do see your point of view, old friend. From where you stand, the light wave was undoubtedly one of the best things that could have happened, but from this point it was probably one of the worse. Despite it being an obvious proof that our freedom is near, Life and I were in direct contact with it- our magical hemorrhaging has become critical thanks to it; we've hit rock bottom. Not even the magic supplied through the Looking Room is sufficient to support us anymore."
Eriol growled, looking frustrated. "If nothing is done soon, the both of you will fade away again- and the next time, it may be permanent." Eriol concluded solemnly.
Tomoyo pressed closer to Eriol as ice dropped into her stomach. "Everyone will die?"
Death regarded her with his hauntingly pale eyes; his expression was unreadable. "No, if Life and I fade from existence, your fate will be far worse than death; you will be unable to live and unable to die." For a very brief moment, a frightening look passed over Death's face and a cold shiver ran down Tomoyo's back. "Your existence will be…as Life and I exist." The pain in his expression was enough to tell Tomoyo that she would rather die than try and exist as the poor, cursed spirits did.
Eriol sighed in resignation, the hand that held Tomoyo gently stroked her arm, and the other dug into his pants pocket distractedly. Tomoyo felt him tense up, his hand darting around his pocket in search of something. "It's gone…" he muttered distractedly.
Death twitched and then became Dren. "What's gone?" he asked.
"His memory! It's not in my pocket anymore!" Eriol gasped, now twisting to search over the side of the bed, combing the floor with his hand.
Tomoyo drew back, searching the room absently with her eyes even though she didn't know what she was looking for. "What do you mean?'" she asked. "What is it? What does it look like?"
Eriol sat up straight and twisted around to look at Tomoyo pleadingly. "It's a glowing ball, maybe the size of baseball. Have you seen it? I had it in my pocket when I went into battle- it must have fell out! Did you see anything on the front lawn?"
She shook her head slowly, a little bit confused at how quickly the conversation had taken a turn. "Sorry, I don't think I've seen anything…"
"This is bad- if that orb breaks, the memories will instantly go back-!" Dren looked oddly frightened.
"What's so important about this memory?" Tomoyo inquired as Eriol flung the blankets off him and began searching underneath the bed. His head popped up briefly, regarding her with unusually wide eyes.
"Because, they are Syaoran's memories," Eriol said. He shook his head, and after determining that the orb of memories was not underneath the bed, he got back up and sat on the edge of the mattress. With a quick glance to Dren, who nodded, Eriol began to answer the question that he knew Tomoyo was going to ask. "They were taken from him to preserve the separate identities of Miaka and Dren from Life and Death, he figured out the connection between the two a few weeks back; things would only get more complicated if he and Sakura knew that they were the same, so his memories were taken and given to me for safe keeping."
"Until now."
Eriol chose to ignore the comment.
Tomoyo pursed her lips a little, looking between Dren and Eriol suspiciously. "Then why did you let me in on the secret?" she asked cautiously. "Why do I get to keep my memory?"
"Because you are mundane," Dren replied, his voice laced with that of Death's. "Without any magic what so ever in you, the instant Life and I are gone it will be as if we never existed to you; you will not remember a thing, so what does it matter if you know or not?" His image once again changed into Death. "Knowing that, Life and I saw it fit that you should know for now, so as Eriol would not have to carry his burden alone."
Tomoyo's expression grew unreadable "I see…"
Eriol shook his head, sensing the brewing discontent in his love. "It's not like how it sounds," he said. "You weren't a relief effort. You have no idea how grateful I am that I am able to share this part of my life with you." He begged her with his eyes to see that she lightened his burden by simply knowing and being there for him. "Even if you do forget when this is over, I love the fact that you know for now."
Her expression softened as she stared into his mid-night eyes. She was about to say something when Death cleared his throat pointedly, interrupting whatever she was going to say.
"I have located Syaoran's memories," he said. Both Eriol and Tomoyo turned at the same time to fix Death with expectant stares. "I sense that they are outside and… dammit! Eriol, you may want to get outside, now-!"
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Sakura's Room
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They slowly caught their breath, clutching each other tightly, afraid to let go. Although they didn't know that Life had faded, they knew something very bad had just happened. Looking to each other for answers, they found nothing but more questions. When the closet door rippled and morphed into the beautiful ebony, they hardly noticed; they practically jumped off the bed when someone knocked from the other side.
"Come in," Syaoran called, his voice coming out a lot calmer than he felt.
The door opened a crack and Life slunk in, sliding down the wall and slumping to the ground. "Is everyone alright?" she asked, her eyes settling on Sakura with a concerned expression.
"Y-yes, but what happened?" Sakura asked, sliding off of Syaoran and making her way over to Life. The spirit beckoned the girl closer, and when she was within arm's reach, Life grabbed a corner of the sheet she was wearing and dragged Sakura into a tight hug.
"I'm so glad you're alright!" She sighed, but her voice came out oddly different; it sounded younger, somehow. "Just for a second back there- just a second, of course, I sort of faded out." She sounded breathless and shaken up. "Don't worry, it's all okay now. I'm glad nothing bad happened as a result."
Syaoran kept his growl to himself as he watched Life cuddle Sakura; the spirit was obviously shaken up and deserved some leeway. He watched through narrowed eyes as a strange thing happened to her face, it almost looked like another face was superimposed on top of it. His glaring eyes caught hers and the ghost image disappeared, but the warrior couldn't shake the feeling that the other face looked familiar…
"Why are you here, anyways?" Syaoran asked, trying to draw Life away from fondling his Sakura further.
Life pulled out of the hug, reluctantly so, and shrugged. "You know how it is, fading in and out of existence takes it out one's self. I needed to see a friendly face to help recover from the experience." The way the spirit ran her hand along Sakura's chin made the hair on the back of Syaoran's neck stand up. He kept glaring at her. She ignored him, but kept talking. "I also needed a little time apart from Dr-ah, Death." She said. "I got in a little tiff with him- but lately it seems his tolerance for me has worn very thin." A wistful sigh escaped her lips.
Syaoran narrowed his gaze further, to a point where he was almost squinting at her. "Death" was not what she was going to say in the first place. 'Dr…' Who could that possibly be? The name was on the tip of his tongue! But, again, that annoying blankness in his mind prevented him from answering his own internal questions.
Instead of straining himself more by looking for answers he wouldn't find, Syaoran decided to drop the subject. He observed the damage done to her chains from the light wave and inquired about her remaining magic and how her condition was, all the while silently beckoning Sakura back into the protection of his own arms.
"Ah, you know, shaky, weak, kind of faded, but I'm still here so that's a good sign," Life replied off-handedly. As she spoke, again Syaoran had the feeling of haunting familiarity, as if he saw someone he knew in Life, but where he tried to make the connection it was a big, black void in his mind. It was beginning to become bothersome. "Although, I don't know exactly how much time either I or Death have left… not much, I figure."
Sakura leaned into Syaoran's side and allowed him to wrap his arm around her waist, his hand settling possessively over her hip. "Pain and Evil are all that's left- but they're powerful. I don't know how long it will take to defeat them."
Life nodded, giving them a warm smile despite how ill she looked. "I have faith in you, Sakura," she replied.
The room fell into a type of content, almost dull silence. Life merely sat where she was against the wall, watching as Syaoran held Sakura close to his side. Her black eyes flickered blue in the light, but she kept her form together as best as she could. A small smile haunted her lips as she observed how Sakura and Syaoran's aura's interacted, the flow from one another closer than usual; she could sense what they had done as if a neon sign was hanging above them.
Syaoran continued his wary watch of Life from his seat on the bed, trying in vain to figure out who exactly Life reminded him of. Sakura sensed his agitation and mistook it for him being jealous over Life for cuddling her; as a way to try and sooth her warrior, Sakura ran her fingers over his face, neck and arms in a gentle, soothing caress. She absently smoothed her fingers over his flesh and drew magical designs of her own invention. Amazingly, even though she managed to get Syaoran to relax a little, she remained oblivious to tense air between him and Life.
From outside, the baseball game with the Twins of Misery and their new mundane friends was finally getting underway, the first snatches of the game floating up into the room.
"Hey, batter! Batter! Batter! Batter! SWING! Batter! Batter! Batter!"
"Throw the whatamahootermerjig and I'll have something to swing at!"The ebony door to Life's left slammed open, the resounding bang of the door of the wall made everyone jump. "Life, you have to get in here, quick!" Death yelled.
In the hall, Eriol and Tomoyo's footsteps stampeded loudly, flying over the wood floor and thundering down the stairs. They sounded like they were heading for outside, fast.
Life pursed her lips, glaring up at Death with a look of resentment. "Why should I?" she asked contemptuously. She was not being forced into the Looking Room only to have to face Dren again- she's rather change into Miaka in front of Sakura and Syaoran then talk to that stick in the mud at the moment.
Death growled at her non-compliance and reached down to drag her into the room. She resisted. Syaoran stood and made a move to help Death drag Life away.
And then Sorrow pitched the whatamahootermerjig at Illness, as fast and as hard as she could, and in one mighty swing Illness connected the femur bone/bat with the memory orb and-,
CRACK!
An explosion like a series of fireworks went off in the backyard, all other noise drowned out by its intensity. Accompanying the bang was a bright flash of light, blinding everyone, and Syaoran's stolen memories were released into the air like a shower of fireflies. Spiraling up into the sky, the memories formed a magnificent column of swirling and sparkling green before funneling them selves through the whole in the wall and surrounding Syaoran, finally returning to where they belonged.
Seeing that there was no further point in dragging Life into the Looking Room anymore, Death dropped her arms with a sigh. "Never mind," he muttered.
Realization slowly dawned in Syaoran's eyes. His memories settled themselves back into his mind like puzzle pieces sorting themselves out. As Syaoran stood, frozen, with his arm outstretched to help Life up, the big, black void in his mind slowly became lighter; all the answers came flooding back; that night out on the roof top, that was when it happened, his memories were taken from him! The sanctity of his mind had been violated and pillaged in the highest order, all for the truth about who Miaka and Dren really were.
Dawning realization turned to fury as it instantly clicked who took his memories in the first place. His outstretched hand turned into an accusing finger pointed directly at Life.
"YOU!" He roared.
For an instant, Life lost concentration and right before Sakura and Syaoran's eyes became Miaka.
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Tomoeda
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Seduce covered her nose with her sleeve, squinting through the gloom of the destroyed apartment. "Ghastly," she muttered as she gazed around at what was left of her Master's home. "Simply awful." She refused to go any further into the apartment beyond the balcony that they had set down on. "Pain and Evil's doing, I presume."
Nightmare toed his way through debris to get to what was left of the kitchen. "This has black magic written all over it," he hissed, "of course it was them." Wrenching open cupboards and scouring for edible things humans would eat, he used his striped bat robe as a bag and filled it with everything he could find. "Those bastards, they destroyed the entire town! When Master Syaoran and Mistress Sakura find out about this I have no doubt that they are going to be livid!"
Seduce watched Nightmare carefully through the dim light, his navy aura flaring ever so slightly so that he looked like he was engulfed in a blue fire. "You're livid enough for the both of them," she pointed out. A thin smile decorated her ruby lips. "You're acting like Fear when he used to have tantrums."
Nightmare paused his rhythm of jamming things into his makeshift bag, staring over his shoulder at Seduce with unreadable eyes. "Don't even get me started with him! We could use all the magical help we can get at the moment, and what does he want to do? Kill himself, that's what! Ridiculous! It's absurd!" With a huff, he returned to throwing food into his bag, albeit a little more aggressively this time.
"Nightmare! Seduce! Look what I found, it's completely unharmed!" Lost called out gaily as he scampered from Syaoran's bedroom, ducking to avoid the hanging door. In his hands was a large, leather bound book.
Seduce leaned further into the room to see what Lost was holding. "It's a book," she stated.
"It's the Records of Clow!" Lost crowed. "This is awesome!" he cheered and danced around, the flooring around him cracking dangerously.
Nightmare lifted off the ground and floated over to Lost, grabbing him before he fell through the floor. "Stop goofing around, pip-squeak. The supports in this building are shot, so if you don't want to go from the top floor to the basement in less than ten seconds, I'd stop fooling around."
Lost wiggled out of Nightmare's hold but remained in the air, at least a foot off the floor. "Sorry, I'll be carefuller," he mumbled. Holding out the book for Nightmare, he smiled shyly. "I found this in Mr Syaoran's bedroom! It's Clow Reed's records of us, there's even pictures." The spirit flipped the book open and revealed the page he had folded in, the image of his small self grinning up from the yellowed page.
"Well, that's quite a find," Seduce said warmly. "Congratulations."
Lost bubbled with happiness.
Nightmare plucked the book from Lost's hands and flipped through the back pages, seemingly looking for something. He passed over various sketches that Clow Reed had done of them and of the other Clow Cards, until he came upon a certain page. "Ah, here we go, Fear's original profile!" he exclaimed. His eyes darted over the page as he read through the ancient writing, the grin on his face widening. "We can use this to show that Fear was once a good spirit, and can be again if he's given the chance!"
"Hey, now! Don't you dare!" Seduce called. "He asked for a trial without his past being brought up, you could at least respect his wishes!" She tried to use her ribbons to steal the book from Nightmare, but he was faster and shot backwards, away from her reaching magic.
"No way, if this is the only chance to keep my friend alive then I'm taking it," he said, tucking the book into the folds of his robe.
Seduce growled and stomped into the living room, despite her earlier apprehension about entering. "Now who's being ridiculous?" she hissed, hopping over the debris littered floor to try and snatch at Nightmare's robe. "Come down here this instant, you know I can't fly!"
Lost glided out the way before he got caught up in the two spirits' fight. He was accidentally kicked by Seduce and he banged into the TV, which miraculously turned on.
"-I am reporting to you live from the outskirts of the now deserted town, Tomoeda. Some sort of force field is stopping my crew and I from going any further, but perhaps it is better that way since whatever destroyed the town may very well still be in there!" A pretty female reporter placed her fingers to the earpiece concealed behind her glossy black hair, listening as someone fed her information. "Ah, yes, reports from the evacuated citizens of Tomoeda say that shortly before they were able to get away, the town had come under siege by demons!"
The screen split to show the reporter in one panel and her counterpart behind a desk in the other.
"I'm sorry, Akira, did you say 'Demons?" The other news reporter asked skeptically.
"Indeed I did, Hanjinea- and wait! What's that in the distance- quick, get a close up of it!"
By this time, Nightmare and Seduce had both settled down and were now avidly watching the disaster take place on the screen. The camera slowly focused in on two rough shapes floating in mid-air in the distance, stark contrasts to the bright daytime sky. As the image grew clearer, it felt as if ice had dropped down the backs of each of the spirits; the camera focused in on Evil's face as it he smirked darkly.
"This is unbelievable! There are two people floating in mid-air over there! Are you getting this, Hanjinea?!"
"Yes! Yes, I'm seeing it but I'm not believing it!" Hanjinea replied.
Nightmare tensed as he watched Evil turn to Pain and whispered something to the demon. "This does not bode well for those reporters… he sighed, condemning the humans to whatever fate Evil and Pain had planned for them.
Just as Nightmare feared, Evil raised his arm slowly and pointed it directly at the camera, around him the air rippled and a zigzagging bolt of black lightening left his hand. Akira and her team hardly had time to react before the black magic was on them and their side of the screen went black.
Hanjinea appeared too shocked to say anything at the moment. He stared dumbly out of the television with wide eyes, rocked to the core that he had just witnessed his co-worker's death. Suddenly, a hand slipped in front of him and laid a sheet on paper before him, automatically he picked it up and began to read.
"The government has now declared Tomoeda a severe danger zone and should be avoided at all costs; the military will be mobilizing as soon as possible to combat this new threat…"
Seduce sighed and flicked off the TV so that the room was washed over in shadows once more.
"Those people…" Lost whimpered.
"This isn't good; the military doesn't stand a chance against Evil, he's too powerful for mere mortal weapons to effect him!" Nightmare growled, his fists clenching in frustration. "If nothing is done soon, a lot more people are going to lose their lives to that demon!"
Seduce switched off the TV and gently rocked Lost in her lap as he sniffled. "Then we must return to the mansion and inform everyone of this," she said. Her eyes widened as a peculiar sense ran through her, as it ran through nightmare and Lost. "Besides, nightmare, I have a feeling something just happened that we really must return for…"
Nightmare nodded and picked himself up off the floor, summoning his robe from the kitchen with a beckoning flick of his finger. He tieded the robe expertly so that it could rest over someone's shoulders like a backpack. "Lost, you'll have to carry this back to Eriol's since I will have to carry Seduce."
Lost sniffed a few last time times before scrambling off the ground and taking the bag, slipping it onto his shoulders and flying out through the balcony.
Nightmare watched him go before crouching to allow Seduce onto his back, making sure the record book was well out of her reach. The spirit slide on and got comfortable- or as comfortable as she could being on a humanoid spirit's back when she was so accustomed to ridding on Fear; she cursed herself momentarily for not being given the gift of flight like the other spirits. Nightmare shifted her light body gently, taking to the air if she weighed nothing.
Before they caught up with Lost, Seduce leaned in closely to Nightmare's back and stretched her neck out to whisper in his ear. "Do you think Syaoran has been able to help Miss Sakura by now?" she asked.
Nightmare grunted. "Undoubtedly," was his replied. "It is not that I am worrid about that one problem; it is what has happened now. It seems that every time one problem is solved, another jumps up in its place, along with a handful of other problems to deal with... With all that has already happned, I'm afraid nothing much worse than Master Death and Mistress Life's other selves being revealed can happen..."
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Hiiragisawa Eriol's mansion
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Syaoran growled like a feral wolf as his accusing finger turned into a tightly clenched fist. He stared down at Miaka's trembling body with a mix of fury, indignation, and utter shock. She stared back at him with wide eyes, unsure of how the warrior was going to react now that he had his memories back; the anger burning in his amber eyes was like staring into the fury of the sun.
"I can- I can explain-!" she squeaked.
"I bet you can!" Syaoran retorted scathingly. "But I don't feel like listening to anymore more of your lies!"
Time appeared to have slowed down as Syaoran's cocked fist now dived for Miaka, her scrambling body tripping over the silver chains littered around her. The door to the room slammed open and surprisingly, Toya dived in, hooking his arms beneath Syaoran's and hauling the boy away from the spirit before he was able to land his punch.
"Calm down, you damned brat! Stop struggling!" Toya commanded, his death grip on Syaoran slowly choking the warrior. "Don't do anything you'll regret!" he hissed.
Syaoran jerked against Toya's grip. "I won't regret it!" he roared in return.
Sakura, who had been enraptured with the transformation of Life to Miaka, finally snapped out of it. "Yes you will, Syaoran. You'll regret it for the rest of your life."
Syaoran froze, and then dropped his fists.
Eriol and Tomoyo appeared in the open doorway, panting and flushed. "We're too late, aren't we?" Eriol asked.
Death nodded sadly. "Yes," he replied.
Syaoran growled, executing a move that allowed him to slip from Toya's hold and move away from the man, only to move to Sakura's side. "I should have guessed you had a hand in taking my memories, Hiiragisawa," he hissed.
Eriol fixed him with a dark, unreadable expression. "It wasn't supposed to turn out like this," he muttered.
Sorrow and Illness appeared in the hole in the wall, they swayed in the air blindly before dropping into the room in a heap. "We didn't-," "Do it!" they exclaimed dazedly as they tried to untangle themselves. From behind Eriol and Tomoyo, the faces of curious mundanes peered in, watching the scene with intense curiosity. Out of the blue, Nightmare, Lost and Seduce suddenly flew through the hole and landed on Sorrow and Illness; Nightmare's robe turned bag burst open and prepackaged, dry goods flew everywhere. Lost squealed as Sorrow's lavender shoe booted him in the nose. Seduce groaned and slithered off the top of the pile, allowing Nightmare, who had been directly below her, to get up. Evaluating the sitution quickly, Nightmare concluded his worse fear had come true; he placed himself between his Master and the two spirits by the Looking Room door.
"I know this looks bad, Syaoran, but please, hear them out!" Nightmare pleaded.
Sakura kept a firm hold of Syaoran's hand to make sure he didn't leap forward and try to attack again, this time through Nightmare. The building fury that she felt boiling in Syaoran was reigned in just barely. Sakura stared down at Miaka blankly, looking as if she still couldn't believe what she saw; several times she tried to say something, but only broken noises formed in her throat.
Death ran his hands through his hair, Dren finally overpowering him for dominance; the boy took over and caused a shocked rippled to pass over the room. Syaoran's body tensed, ready to launch another attack, but Sakura's grip held stronger than Toya's ever could. Death's transformation into Dren appeared to have brought Sakura back into her own her mind.
She cleared her throat lightly. "Maybe… maybe it's time you two explained some things…"