Seven Deadly Jewels
Chapter 52
Sakura, Tomoyo, and Kero sweatdropped as they stood in the room as they watched Li and his friends. They had been strangling each other in their own way for the past twenty minutes already. They had to wonder how they could stand that long without air. Sakura would have intervened by now if she knew they would hear her. The yelling and ranting from Li, and the squealing from Meilin was loud enough to be heard throughout the entire mansion. The fact that Eriol kept shooting remarks to Li didn't help matters either. How Eriol could talk at all with Li's hands wrapped so tightly around his neck was another baffling mystery to Sakura and Tomoyo.
What exactly Li was so angry about, or why Meilin was clinging to him like her life depended on it was yet another mystery. The girls couldn't be sure what they were saying anymore because all the yelling, squealing, and smart remarks overlapped each other, making it near impossible to make out anything.
"Wow, no wonder the kid is so anti-social. With friends like this, they would drive me to swear off people forever to," Kero said.
"But still, should friends really act like this?" Tomoyo wondered. Kero just shrugged.
"Uh…guys," Sakura said to the hostile group in front of her. "Come on guys, you really shouldn't act like that."
"Don't waste your breath Sakura. Leave it to me," Kero said as he gathered his breath.
"Oh no," Tomoyo sighed and covered her ears, Sakura followed suit. They both knew how loud Kero could get for such a little thing.
"HEY! CUT IT OUT YOU BRATS!" the little beast bellowed, making everything quiet. "See, that's something only a great beast like me can do." Unfortunately for Kero, it was only quiet for a few seconds before he was hurled into a wall.
"Who are you calling a brat you yellow shit!" Meilin yelled. "Just what the hell is this thing anyway!"
"Oh my, such lungs Keroberos has," Eriol sighed as he rubbed his ears, rather than his neck, which Tomoyo saw as another odd thing. Meilin looked over to the recovering beast in disbelief.
"You mean this thing is Keroberos!" she exclaimed.
"Yep. Hard to believe isn't it," Li replied.
"You mean this thing looks like a bath sponge!" Kero was inches away from Meilin's face in a nanosecond.
"Bath sponge! You disrespectful little brat! I ought to transform and combust your ass right now!" A vein popped on Meilin's head.
"You just try it you damn bath sponge!" Sakura and Tomoyo sweatdropped again. Kero had succeeded in breaking up the friends, but now he was locked in an argument of his own. The second Sakura saw Kero's wings grow, she decided to step in the middle.
"Now, now Kero-chan. Li calls you stuffed animal all the time and you don't transform on him. You really shouldn't do that with a girl."
"This stupid girl called me a freakin' bath sponge Sakura! Compared to that stuffed animal is a term of endearment!" A large vein popped on Meilin's head as she growled deeply, enough to make a lion back down.
"What….did….you….call….me…..!" she said slowly. Sakura slowly slinked away when she felt the other girl's unbelievable killing intent.
"Uh oh," Eriol and Li muttered in unison.
"I called you a stupid girl! You got a problem with that?"
"OF COURSE I HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THAT YOU SHITTY BATH SPONGE!"
"WELL I HAVE A PROBLEM WITH YOU, YOU DUMB BROAD!"
"OH THAT'S IT! YOU'RE FRIGGIN' DEAD!" Before Meilin could completely bum rush the beast, Eriol clapped his hands together, making the two freeze completely.
"All right, how about some tea everyone?"
"We just had tea moron," Li pointed out.
"But we have an extra guest, and I have a feeling we should sort everything out before we do anything else. Besides, if Meilin-chan, and Keroberos fought right now, the damage to my house would be terrible don't you think?" Eriol once again got a kick to his face from Meilin.
"How many times do I have to tell you to quit that 'chan' crap!" Li just smacked his forehead as he leaned against a wall.
"Why the hell did I come here?" is what he couldn't help but ask himself.
OOOOO
Ten minutes later they were all sitting in the lounge again with tea. They had somehow managed to get Meilin and Kero separate from each other so they would break out into a fight, but that didn't mean they weren't shooting glares at each other. But the glares were mostly on Kero's side, since Meilin attached herself to Li's arm, and absolutely refused to let go. It was a slight improvement from his neck, but Li wanted her stop all together, even though he knew that was impossible. By now his arm was completely numb.
"Now then, for a proper introduction," Eriol said motion over to Meilin. "That would be Meilin, Li's cousin…."
"Fiancé!" the girl corrected loudly, making Li grimace.
"Oh yes, forgive me. Fiancé," Eriol corrected
"Eh? You have a fiancé Li?" Sakura asked in awe. Li ignored her, and turned his annoyance to Meilin.
"I told you to forget that! Jeez how many times do I have to tell you!"
"What's the matter with us being engaged!" Meilin yelled back. "It's perfectly fine to me!"
"Well it has to be mutual, and it's far from mutual in my book!"
"Then I'll make you fall in love with me!" Li groaned loudly as he resisted the urge to pull out his hair. This girl was impossible. With a clearing of his throat, Eriol continued the introduction.
"And Meilin-chan," Eriol chuckled when he saw the intense glare from Meilin. "This is Kinomoto Sakura, Daidouji Tomoyo, and you've already met Keroberos. They've been traveling with Li up until now."
"Say what!" the ruby eyed girl yelled.
"Oh god," Li groaned smacking his forehead. "Why you have to go and say that you bastard! Do you have any idea what'll happen!"
"I have a vague idea," Eriol replied. Much to Eriol exceptions, Meilin stomped over to Sakura and Tomoyo and gave them her worst glare for the day.
"How dare you travel with my fiancé! I hope neither of you put your dirty hands on him! If you did I swear to god….!" But before she could continue, Li's sheath collided with her head. "Ow! What you do that for!"
"You're acting moronic," he annoyingly muttered.
"I'm sorry," Sakura apologized. "I didn't know Li was engaged."
"Don't go apologizing to this brat Sakura!" Kero yelled.
"What was that you bath sponge!"
"Again with the bath sponge!"
"Excuse me Meilin-san, and Hiiragizawa-san," Tomoyo piped up before they could go into an argument again. "But how do the two of you know Li?" The anger in Meilin's eyes disappeared, and was replaced with a blissful, dreamy look as he cheeks turned red.
"We've known each other since we were kids," Eriol answered. "It's a strange story really."
"But what a day it was," Meilin sighed. "It started as one of the worst days of my life, but he turned it into one the best!" Li smacked her with his sheath again.
"It wasn't that great. Besides, it was raining when we met. Obviously fate was trying to tell me something, but I didn't get the message," he muttered angrily.
"Now you two answer me something," Meilin started, the fire in her eyes already lit. "How is it that you managed to be traveling with my Li!" Sakura just sweatdropped, while Tomoyo giggled.
"That's an interesting story as well. I guess you could say it was purely accident," she replied. Before Tomoyo could go further, Eriol stood up as if he just remembered something.
"Ah! With all this fuss and excitement, I forgot. I still have to give your examination Li," Eriol said smiling mischievously. Li just sighed as he stood up.
"I'm coming you bastard," he muttered.
"Meilin, could you get dinner started. I have a feeling we'll be hungry once we finish." The younger girl glared daggers at the glasses wearing doctor, before stomping towards the kitchen.
"Let us help," Sakura offered, but Meilin yelled back,
"I don't need help! I'll win Li's heart with my cooking!" Said boy just sighed.
"You had better go help her anyway. She absolute sucks in the kitchen."
"That isn't a very nice thing to say about your childhood friend Li," Sakura scolded. Li just shrugged as he followed Eriol upstairs.
"It's true isn't?" Sakura and Tomoyo sighed when they heard a loud clatter and a string of even louder curses. They had their work cut out for them.
OOOOO
"So care to explain," Eriol muttered in a deep serious voice as he looked over a shirtless Li.
"Explain what?" The swordsman asked as Eriol inspected his arms.
"Care to explain how Sakura-san, and Daidouji-san somehow ended up with you. Because I recall you telling me that you'll always travel alone," Eriol tapped Li's knee to test his reflexes.
"Like they said, it was pure accident," he replied. "Besides, even if did say no, they probably would have followed me anyway, so I save myself the trouble." Eriol gave him a disbelieving chuckle.
"It's rather unlike you to give in to anybody. Especially two young girls. Lay down." Li did as he was told as he gave his answer.
"Don't take it the wrong way. I really just wanted to see how long they would last until they went home crying for their parents." Eriol chuckled again as he looked over his friend's legs.
"Obviously they haven't yet. And the fact they've made it this far with you must mean they're much stronger than you thought." Li just scoffed as he rolled over to show his back.
"Yeah right. They still complain about every damn thing."
"Are you sure about that?" With that Eriol fell silent as he continued the examination, leaving Li with his own thoughts. He wouldn't admit it, ever, but he had to say Sakura and Tomoyo had gotten stronger, well at least less annoying. When they had first started off he had to resist the serious urge to slash off their head every single morning. They would complain about waking up at the crack of dawn, complain about all the walking, Sakura would whine about how hard the training was, and Tomoyo would bitch about his so called 'cruel' treatment of Sakura.
But now, they would actually get up before him to break camp, and bribe Kero into getting something for breakfast. Sakura still complains about her training, but not nearly as much, at least not enough for him to want to kill her. Now all he wants to do is smack her one, it was an improvement in his opinion. And the girls would actually prove useful in fights, much in contrast to their practically hiding behind him. Li just let out a groan before Eriol spoke up again.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, so much abuse you give your body. Some of these bones look like you fell from at least 50 feet!"
"That's actually a distinct possibility." Eriol shook his head. "So how's my back?"
"Besides horribly scarred?" Li shot the doctor a glare, silently telling him to get serious. Eriol sighed and granted his request with his deeper voice.
"Well the scars certainly haven't gotten better. And your aura is even more erratic than before. Just what have you been doing? And how many times have you used your lighting magic with the talisman?"
"A couple," Li muttered, making Eriol shake his head.
"You know what'll happen if you use too much. You should really focus on control yourself." Li gave him a look.
"You're one to talk about control, you damn hypocrite." The doctor just laughed as he rolled up his sleeves to revel two sliver cuffs around his wrists.
"Hey, hey, I'm working on it. But still Syaoran, all these built up wounds will seriously catch up to you. I mean any normal person would have been by now. That necklace really has saved you." Li fingered the crystal with a wistful look on his face.
"Yeah," he muttered. "So can you heal me?" Eriol's bright smile returned as he put his hands on his back.
"That's why I'm here."
OOOOO
Dinner was as Eriol would put it, an interesting experience. The spread was nothing really special, it was some simple soup, some bread, chicken, and some rice. But the kitchen seemed like there was a major battle. Pots, plates, and charcoal were everywhere. Pieces of food, and puddles of soup covered the counters, and there were silverware impaired in the wall. Eriol didn't really want to know what during the course of cooking, but another part of him really wanted to know. But judging from the tired look from Sakura and Tomoyo, and the angry look in Meilin's eyes told Eriol what he needed to know.
Once they were ready to eat, Kero all but dove in, stuffing his face like he hadn't eaten in weeks. Sakura had to wonder where he was putting it all. Meilin jumped at the chance to feed Li, who bluntly refused, but the girl wouldn't take no as an answer. She jumped on his lap practically forced fed the swordsman for the entire meal. Eriol couldn't help but smile brightly, even brighter than the smiles he had during the day, Tomoyo noticed. It was obvious to her he wasn't accustomed to such lively company for dinner.
In the middle of the meal, Sakura began the story of how she and Tomoyo joined up with Li, and all their adventures up until now. All throughout the story, Meilin kept shooting the two girls glares filled with jealously, and contempt. Sakura had to resist hiding behind Tomoyo. The ruby-eyed girl could be much scarier than any demon or ghost in her opinion.
Once the meal was finished, Eriol invited the group to stay since it had gotten so late, and would be midnight by the time they returned to town. Sakura and Tomoyo quickly agreed, excited they'd be able to spend the night in such a large house. Li just let out a tired sigh as Meilin clutched to his arm again in complete bliss.
OOOOO
It was early morning when Tomoyo was awakened by a sweet echoing sound. The dark haired girl got up and entered the long hallway on the third floor of the house. The sound seemed to be coming from the fourth floor. Tomoyo climbed the winding stairs to enter another long hallway. The sound came from the end of the hall. Tomoyo had long identified it as a piano. The girl opened the door to see who the player was, and her eyes widened at the sight.
In the morning sunlight was Eriol playing a smooth gentle melody on a large black piano. The doctor eyes were closed, and seemed to relaxed as his hands flowed with grace as he pressed the keys. Tomoyo leaned against a wall and allowed herself to be spellbound by the music. A loud relaxed sigh escaped her lips as the notes circled around her, slowing her heart, and making whatever unconscious tensions she had disappear completely. The girl was so taken away by the music that she didn't even notice when the music stopped.
"I see you like music," Eriol spoke up, breaking her out of the trance.
"Oh yes. Very much." Eriol smiled at her as he ran his fingers along the keys.
"That's good. It's good to see someone enjoying it so much," the doctor chuckled again as he started up a new tune. "Actually I'm relieved. This is the first time in a long while that I've played. I thought I would be rusty."
"You haven't played in a while?" Tomoyo repeated. "But you have such a talent? Why would you stop?"
"I just lost the inspiration," he whispered as the melody took form into a song Tomoyo knew.
"In the moonlight I felt your heart
Quiver like a bowstring's pulse
In the moon's pure light, you looked at me
Nobody knows your heart," she sang beautifully, making Eriol stop playing in amazement.
"You know that song?" Tomoyo nodded.
"My mother would sing it to me almost every night. I practically know it by heart. How do you know it Hiiragizawa-san?"
"My sister taught it to me," he whispered as he started to play again. Tomoyo couldn't help but notice the wistful almost regretful look in his eyes. She decided to not say anything. Eriol passed his finger across the keys as his smile returned. "Enough of that, I'm sure you hungry. I'll go make breakfast."
"ERIOL HIIRAGIZAWA!" a loud voice boomed.
"Oh my, aren't I popular these past two days," Eriol chuckled as went to answer the door. By the time he reached the door the others were already awake, wondering who the heck would be yelling at this hour.
"Damn it, and I was having great dream too!" Kero groaned.
"Sorry," Eriol apologized, opening the door. "I'll settle this quickly." A tall bulky man with his body covered by a black cloak met the young man. The look of annoyance, and his gritted teeth was enough proof he wasn't a patient.
"Eriol Hiiragizawa," the man repeated, his gritted teeth turning into an odd smile.
"Oh, if it isn't Mr. Kirto!" Eriol greeted. "What can I do for you?" His already small eyes narrowed into small dots in annoyance.
"You already know what I'm here for! So don't play dumb!"
"Huh?" Kirto smacked his forehead with his large hand.
"You fool! You know I want your property! I gave you three full days to think about it! And today is the promised day! What is your answer!"
"Ohhhh! That!" Eriol snapped his fingers as if he just remembered. "My answer is the same as when you first came to me with that idea."
"You're a bigger fool than I thought!"
"Hiiragizawa-san, what's going on?" Sakura asked worriedly. Eriol smiled as if nothing serious was happening.
"Oh nothing. Everyone, this is Mr. Kirto. A demonic bandit leader, and quite the famous one as I've heard," the doctor introduced like he was good friend. "Apparently since he and his gang was chased from the mountains, he wants to use my house as his new base of operations. I was given only three days to respond." Kirto gritted his teeth.
"Stop playing around! My patience is wearing thin! What is your answer!"
"Like I said my friend, no," Eriol replied. Kirto just laughed, and snapped his fingers.
"I knew you would say something like that! Which why I came prepared!" With that, the entire field was covered with countless, fierce looking bandits, armed with weapons. "Now what is your answer!" Eriol whistled in amazement.
"Wow! So many people for my little old house? I should feel honored!" Kirto obviously had more than he could take with Eriol.
"All right! That's it! I gave you a decent chance, but now we do this my way! Men! Charge the house! Kill all inside!" Without a second word, the bandits charged the doctor's house like a castle. Sakura and Li quickly jumped in front, along with a transformed Kero.
"Hiiragizawa-san, Meilin-san, please stay inside with Tomoyo," Sakura instructed, only to be met with a laugh, which confused the young girl.
"We were about to tell you the same thing Sakura-san," Eriol chucked as he stepped in front of her. "It is my house, I should be the one to protect it."
"Yeah, just stay back," Meilin said as she stepped up.
"But there's so many! You can't handle them alone!" Sakura pointed out. Eriol just waved her off.
"Leave it to us." The girl turned to Li, who just motioned for her to stay back. She just sighed and stepped back with Tomoyo. "How many would you say there are?"
"I'd say about 600," Li replied as he drew his sword.
"So 200 for each of us eh? Just like old times," Eriol sighed as he reached into his shirt, to pull out a small key. Meilin smirked as she cracked her knuckles and neck.
"This is great! I've been feeling rusty for a while now! And even better, I get to fight with Syaoran again!"
"Ready…." Li started as he shifted into a stance.
"Set….." Eriol continued as the key bean to glow. Once the demon bandits were almost inches from them, Meilin yelled the signal.
"GO!" With that they split into three streaks that ran though the approaching group in three different directions. The girls' eyes widened in shock at the speed of the three. Once they reformed, all those they passed collapsed like rocks.
"Wow," was all Sakura could think to say. But her shock and amazement was replaced with concern when she realized they had separated. "Oh no! They're easy targets now!" But the three didn't look concerned, in fact, they looked almost excited.
"Hey Syaoran!" Eriol called as the bandits surrounded him. "Want to play the game?" Li let out a groan as he went into a stance as another group surrounded him.
"Fine," he muttered. "Loser gets no dinner!" Meilin let out a confident laugh even as more bandits surrounded her.
"This will be no problem for me then!"
"Hey!" one of the bandits yelled. "You shouldn't be worry about wining your little game! You should be worried about living to see tomorrow! Let's get them boys!"
"Oh brother…." The three sighed at once, just as they were completely engulfed by the bandits.
"Oh no!" Sakura exclaimed.
"They'll be killed for sure!" Tomoyo gasped. But their fears were put to rest when the bandits suddenly flew though the air, and started to fall like rocks. A burst of flying back bandits revealed Meilin's legs spinning and flailing about like a helicopter as she spun on her hands.
With Eriol, a long spinning golden staff that seemed to appear out of thin air threw the bandits that attacked the attack back. Once he stopped spinning the staff, they saw it was about as tall as he was. The odd design of the sun at the top. And of course, Li's bunch fell because of deep sword wounds.
"That's 60!" Eriol announced.
"Damn! I only got 43!" Meilin groaned.
"36," Li muttered.
"From the looks of things, you'll be starving all night," Eriol chuckled. Li just smirked as he shifted into a another stance.
"Don't worry, there's still plenty more. The game just started after all."
"Oh yeah!" Meilin said excitedly. "This will be fun!"
"Well let's not delay any longer. Shall we?" The other two nodded with smirks.
"All right."
"Let's go!" As Sakura, Tomoyo, and Kero watched as they became fast streaks again, they couldn't help but wonder,
"Who are these guys?"
AN: Eh, not exactly what I envisioned for this chapter, but at least it makes the next chapter completely fight oriented. The current fight was originally supposed to be only this chapter, but I put too much in this chapter, and have to extend it to the next, but it's okay. You've probably noticed the fast update, well that's because I had a day off today. Yep I wrote this chapter in one day's time. A couple reasons for that. One, I didn't have any homework, and decided to get this chapter out before I was tied down by homework again. Two, this fight has been in a head for the longest time, and found it very easy to write since I knew exactly to put in it. Only problem is, I wanted to put too much in one chapter. And three, like I said, it was easy to write. Hopefully next chapter will be just as quick and easy since it's going to be one of my favorite chapters. So without further ado, here's the preview for next chapter!
Sakura: Wow! Eriol and Meilin are just amazing! The two of them along with Li are blowing apart the bandits as if they're nothing!
Tomoyo: And they each have their own amazing ability too! It seems if you want to be Li's friend you'll have to be able look after and defend yourself, since you'll obviously be fighting about.
Kero: HA! They're still nothing compared to me though!
Sakura: But before it can be written off as a complete win, they'll have to beat Kirto's two best officers and Kirto himself.
Meilin: Keh! No problem!
Tomoyo: So be sure to join us for "Demonic Property Battle part 2!" See you there!
