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Chapter Ten - Dreams Within Shadows
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The shadows creep behind my desk
I ask, whether they be of the dark
It comes with no answer
Some things are meant to not be known.
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I held my breath, and jumped into the bluish pool that lay in front of me. I landed, seeing that I was standing on the top of the pool somehow. As if I were walking on water....
Yumiko jumped down as well, and my eyes turned to the Chronos sword. I kneeled down and picked it up, its blade gleaming with the sun's light.
Then, as quickly as I picked up the sword, the bluish liquid we stood upon began to fall, as if suddenly a floor had been pulled out from under it. I could hear Yumiko scream, and I tried to catch a breath of air, as we plummeted down..
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I shook my head, holding it because it seemed to be injured. I sat upright, and stood up, looking around myself. I was in a field, a large field may I add. Surrounding the field,. strangely, were mountains..as if it were a small 'island' of a grassy field. Yumiko lay against a single tree, which was located in the middle of the field. Looking down, I saw that the Chronos Sword lay on the ground I had awaken on.
A small door suddenly appeared next to where Yumiko was standing, as I could see it open. Out come a foot, and Naroays' wolfish head was revealed to me. She looked towards Yumiko and smiled, simply standing there and admiring something about her. From the way he looked...it seemed as if it were something special to him to be able to see Yumiko.
'Arukas...' I heard him say to Yumiko. 'Arukas...wake up'
Yumiko started to move her jhead a little, and then blinked her eyes. She gave out a scream, as Naroays covered her mouth. He whispered something into her ear, and suddenly, she became quiet. In fact, soon after, they each gave eachother a hug. I could see tears in Yumiko's eyes.
So...I ran towards them both, but was stopped somehow. I couldn't move...as if I were frozen in place by some kind of magic...
...I couldn't even speak...
Naroays took Yumiko's hand, and they both walked through the door which had appeared only recently. Finally able to move, I ran towards the door, but was seconds too late. The door disappeared before me, disapproving of any way of following them. Where had Naroays taken Yumiko...?
...somehow...it was starting to make me question who my allies really were...
Then, I could feel a sudden strong surge of wind. It knocked me off my feet, as the leaves from the single tree blew towards me. What could THIS be now?
A large ring of fire sparked, surrounding me within a flaming cage. I pulled out my Chronos Sword, its very blade seemingly distorting the laws of space and time.
'Sakura....do you learn nothing in your training?' someone asked me from the fire. I turned my head this way and that...but I couldn't find where the voice was comming from. It sounded like it was comming from just about everywhere.
A shadow appeared amongst the fire, as I watched the shadow move through the blazingly hot embers. Holding the sword in front of me, all I could do was hope that this man...wasn't the man I thought it was.
His face, etched with a small scar on his chin, stood tall with his usual long sword in his left hand. His long hair flowing freely among the fire. The embers slowly rising above his feet.
Kenji...
Without even letting him say a word, I lunged and attacked.
'I see you welcome my welcome very well, Messenger.' he said to me in his own little tone. I backed away from him and spun my sword around.
He pointed his hand towards me and a small ball of ice appeared in his palm. He threw it at me, as my feet couldn't move. They were frozen...
I fell over, my feet trapped in their icy cage. Kenji walked all the more closer to me, knowing I was completly vulnerable to attack. In vain, I lifted the sword towards him, my hand shaking with the pain that filled my body.
'Should you be one that I kill now?' he asked me, hitting my sword away. It gave off a small sound as it hit the ground, and i could only sit there helpless as he empowered me, domoinated my crippled self. I was shackled..and completly at Kenji's mercy.
He put his sword down in a way that it touched the top of my nose, in between my eyes.
'What a beautiful girl you are' he said, slowly dropping the tip of his sword down to the top of my lips. I could feel myself sweating. It couldn't end this soon. Not after all of whats happened. 'It is much too bad you've put yourself in this situation.'
'I will let you know that your search for Syaoran's soul and body will only come with me finishing this fight. if it comes to it, I will not be held back.' He explained to me, as he sheathed his sword. 'Go home' he then added.
The fire vanished, the ice around my feet vanished, and I was able to move again. I stood back up, the field slowly disolving from around me. instead, I found myself in another completly white room with a bus stop located right in the center.
I looked around, and walked towards the bus stop. It was empty, and a single bench sat there. The sign on the stop clearly gave out the address of my own home, and a small bag lay on the bench.
I gave out a sigh, as I sat down on the bench. For the first few minutes of waiting, it came to me that I was giving up with Li...but I knew I was...Could I possibly defeat Kenji?
It didn't hit me...if he were refraining his true power at the time, how powerful could he possibly become if he were to be fighting for real?
...would I get killed...? Should I just live on without Li...?
...or is that a fate worse than death...?
...should it even be something to be compared with...?
I waited there beside the small bag on the bench. The bus never seemed to come...and it had been a long time since I had been here. Curious, I opened the small bag to examine what was inside.
The music box..the old music box was in that bag...
I lifted the top of it to listen to its tune, but no sound came out. I tried to put my ear closer to it, but still could hear absolutly no sound. Still, the gears were turning and the tuning bars were being struck.
I set it down, crossing my legs and waiting for the bus to come. It slowly began to rain, and I had to sit under the small shelter in which the bench was located under. The music box right next to me, still not playing, being my only company. Hours later, I found myself waking up from sleep on the bench...
This bus didn't take its own time to pick me up and get me out of the Cosmos.
'Dammit!' I yelled, and threw the music box out of the bus stop. It hit the ground, and I heard a single low note tingling . Curious once again, I picked it up, as it played louder and smoother. I took a step away from the bus stop, as it played then even louder.
Does the Cosmos want me to come back or something?
...or do I simply want to go back?
I stood there, frozen, listening to the music box. The door to go back still stood in front of me, and I could still open it. Perhaps...I ... need Syaoran...or at least....I need to find out what exactly is happening here...
The small music box let out a short silence, as the lid opened and out came a gust of wind.
Sakura...
It was a voice...it was...
Syaoran's voice...
Kinimoto Sakura...
'Syaoran?!' I yelled. The small music box let out a soft tune, as Syaoran somehow spoke to me.
Sakura...Naroays...Naroays has a secret he is hiding from you...
'Secret? Like what...is he...' I asked.
Kinomoto Sakura...keep Yumiko away from Naroays...and Kenji...
'Why? What do they want with her?!' I screamed. 'Who the hell do they think they are...?!'
Sakura...thank you...
...and the lid closed. I shook the small music box furiously, but it only rang out a jumble of mixed notes.
'Am I to understand that the music box just spoke to you?' a voice asked from behind me. I turned around to see Yumiko, her hair tied back, holding a small bag and the Chronos Sword.
'Yeah, I'd have to say it did' I replied, walking towards her.
Then, the small flakes of snow started to fall again, as Yumiko reached her hand out.
'The snow...its back...' she said, looking up.
In the distance, as the snow blew, I could see a shadow of something gleaming. It looked as if it were a large building...one that shone with the sunlight. I took a step, as a trail of snow melted away, giving me a clear path to the structure.
Maidel was clearly in the foreground, still a crumbling wreckage. I looked behind me and noticed that the bus stop was still there, just in case if I wanted to go back. I wasn't too sure if I wanted that though...
'What should we do...?' Yumiko asked me, as my eyes were fixed on the structure dead ahead. Another path, however, also led back to Maidel. The sky slowly turned black over our heads, as the clouds came togethger to unleash a thick flurry of snow upon us both.
'Yumiko...go to Maidel...' I ordered her. She just stood there, as if she couldn't hear me. maybe as if she didn't want to hear that from me at all.
'Sakura...why do you want me to stay in Maidel?' she asked me in a very unexpected tone. The snow came down even harder, and I continued to not even look at her. I knew Kenji had to be at that building so far away. Yumiko would be in danger...
'Yumiko...just go. You'd only be in danger if you came with me...' I told her, as she refused to do so.
Then, I turned to her, and she looked at me as well. 'Syaoran told me it was best...'
Yumiko walked up to me and took off her necklace. She opened my hand, and placed it in my grasp and closed it.
'You'll most likely need this' she told me, as she started to walk back to Maidel.
I watched her take pace and walk back, the snow falling behind her.
'Yumiko...I'll be back...just let me finish what I came here to do...' I whispered, as I walked towards the dark shadowy structure in the snowy distance.
~to be continued
