The card captors stared blankly into the abyss. Ahead lay a forest full of unimaginable
things, making Sakura rather tense. Misho was blank, Madison was nervous, and
Meilin was less than enthusiastic.

"Well," started Sakura, "let's go, team. We can't let a forest scare us off." She calmly
entered the thick, huge masses of trees.

All around them, darkness blanketed the forest. Sakura open the Clow and pulled out
the Glow card. Once freed, the Glow led the team through the forest with her lights.
Sakura glanced further into the blackness that had yet been untouched by Glow's
light. Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She yelped and jumped forward.
"Misho! Don't do that!"

"It wasn't me, Sakura."

"Umm... okay. Meilin, Madison!"

"I didn't do it," the two responded in unison.

"Then... who..." Sakura stuttered. A hand fell on her shoulder again. She spun
around. The trees were moving! It was Infinity using the Wood card!

Sakura jumped away. As she did so, the trees began to encompass the group, trapping
them all inside a wall of the forest. They stood on all sides, encommpassing them
within their wooden bonds. Sakura pulled out another card. "Fiery!!" she shouted as
she let out the winged Clow of fire. It sprayed the trees with a heavy layering of
flames, burning them to the ground, one by one. Yet still more came.

A tree lashed out at the Fiery, knocking it to the ground. The trees moved in and
began to smother it, as Sakura drew yet another card, this time the Shadow card, and
released it upon the trees, wrapping them up in the shadows of the citadel. Suddenly,
the trees were still and silent.

"The trees all stopped," said Madison.

"Yeah. I guess we can move on," Sakura remarked. The Shadow and the Fiery
returned to their card forms and the glow card led them further into the trees. Soon,
the group was at a door. A large, heavy lock held the door shut. Sakura drew the
Sword card, slashing easily through the metal hold. Misho forced the door open.

Inside the room was a world of perfect snow. White sand covered the entire region,
and snowflakes fell from overhead. Sakura motioned the others to follow closely as
she confined the Glow card once more.

Sakura felt a chill. She whirled to her left. A lone figure stood across the room. Its
familiar garments displayed a fighting warrior. The small girl turned her head up at
Sakura.

Sakura gasped. "The Fight card! But how can the Infinity make a double of the real
card's appearance?"

"It must be some sort of illusion. He's probably masking himself behind the card,"
observed Misho.

Suddenly, Madison felt a rush of cold spring up behind her. She turned and
screamed. Behind the group, a giant mountain of snow stood ready to crash upon
them.

"RUN!!" screamed Madison. The others followed her as the wall collapsed on the
ground with enough force to crush a house. The Fight card darted across the icy
waters between her and the card captors. It blocked their path.

Sakura stared angrily at the Fight card and drew her own Fight card. The two cards,
both equal members in strength and skill, gazed at each other without the smallest
hint of emotion. Of course, what was to be expected by two such cards created merely
as a tool of battle?

Sakura's Fight sprang at the Infinity with a sense of intense mental havoc. It struck
Infinity in the face with an incredible force as it pushed the Infinity backward. The
Infinity card, angered beyond belief, began fighting back with equal force.

A hand thrust forth from the snowy ground and grabbed Madison's leg. She screamed
as she was pulled beneath the blanket of white.

Sakura watched her friend fall in horror. "MADISON!!" she screamed as she dove for
her friend's outreaching hand... and missed.

The Infinity grabbed the Fight and put it into an armlock, keeping it from fighting
back. It forced the Fight to its knees and shoved its head beneath the icy waters. The
Fight card struggled to escape the depths of the water, and the intense cold, but it was
futile. Soon the Fight card lay unmoving on the ground, the Infinity by its side.

Sakura gasped. Misho grabbed her arms. "Sakura, we can't stay here! It'll kill us all!
Come on!"

Meilin was waiting by the exit to the room as Misho and Sakura came running up,
the fake Fight card hot on their trail. Meilin stepped forward, standing between the
Fight and Sakura. "You two go ahead! Save Syaoran! I will remain here and fight the
enemy! Syaoran is the only thing that matters now! Go!"

Sakura reached for Meilin, but Misho pulled her through the door.

In the next room, the only apparent feature was a long silver bridge. Beneath it, the
cavernous mouth of total blackness loomed. Who knew what horrors might lay
within.

"Come on, Sakura. Let's go save your friends," remarked Misho as he stepped onto
the bridge and began walking toward the other side.

A hissing sound caught Sakura's ears. She searched the thick nothingness. She didn't
see any sign of a card. But what was the sound?

The Shadow?

Misho's shrill scream brought her back to reality as she saw him, struggling to break
free from hands out of the darkness. The hands were as black as that which was
around them. They gripped Misho's body as though they had the command to rip
him to pieces. They yanked at him, pulling him toward the edge, not bothering
releasing him no matter how much he struggled. Sakura drew the Light card. She
knew it was risky to release such a powerful card, but it was the only way to save
Misho. She wouldn't let him go like all the others.

"I summon you... Light Card!!"

The Clow broke its seal, releasing the powerful Light card. Its energy instantly lit up
the room, destroying the power of the Shadow. Sakura ran up to Misho and helped
him to his feet. "Misho, are you... okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine, Sakura."

"Then get up and let's get going. When I confine the light card, we have to make a
run for it. You got it?"

Misho nodded his head in agreement.

"Light card... return to your power-- CONFINED!!!" shouted Sakura as the Light's
power was reabsorbed into its contained form. Sakura pocketed the card and then
shouted. "RUN!!"

The ground began to break away from the bridge as the two remaining heroes ran for
the door at the end of the room. The Shadow card ate away at the floor behind them,
approaching with the shatter of stone. Sakura and Misho dove toward the door,
breaking it open and tumbling through on the other side. They rolled a distance, then
finally came to a halt on the smooth floor.

"Ow." Sakura rubbed her head as Misho rose to his feet and closed the door quickly.
He rejoined Sakura and the two looked around the new room.

It was a large room, with huge, Gothic-like windows all across the walls. Rich designs
in the stone ceiling bore the facades of dragons and other creatures. Drapes hung
open at each window which looked out onto a frozen city of lifelessness. It seemed as
though the effects of the Time card had yet to wear off. A pentagram lay as a sort of
imprint on the floor.

Sakura stopped in the middle of the room. She noticed a sight that chilled her blood.
Against the wall adjacent to herself, there hung the unmoving forms of three figures.
Syaoran, Madison, and Meilin all hung lifelessly from chains locked around their
wrists. A cage lay at their feet. The unconscious form slumped within was none other
than that of Keroberos, the guardian of the Clow.

"Oh my God... Misho..." started Sakura.

Misho set his right arm on her shoulder. "Don't worry, Sakura. They're not dead. Yet,
that is."

Sakura whirled around and gasped at Misho, his once hazel eyes burning with a
redness unknown to her until now. His head hung toward the floor and he stared at
her with the most wicked of smiles, one so wicked that it made her shiver like she had
been covered in a wave of ice.

"Now, Sakura, you can stay here... with me... forever."