Chapter 24-Spinel
Xuyan was oblivious to it all, though he did sense a feeling of anxiety around Syaoran, but nevertheless he and the other kid went on killing flies. I never took karate, partly because I can't do it anyway, but truly, I don't think karate includes catching flies-I mean, why would you want to catch them for training, especially with chopsticks? The two boys were decent enough to clean theirs after killing about ten flies each, before eating. It was gross. Then came a time when Syaoran and Xuyan was in the yard, and thunk! Syaoran took a knife and hit it against the trunk of a tree. It turned out he was using that knife to kill another fly. And I was thinking, why are they so interested in those little critters? Of course, it was a good thing the knife only cut into the tree and not in the house, otherwise they'll get a lot of scolding.
So it turned out that the boys are still competing, but no longer in a hostile way, but more of play. They're both good at catching flies, there's one time when Xuyan threw a dart at Syaoran and the kid caught it between two fingers. Yukito was really upset. It was pretty dangerous.
There was also one time when I was with Syaoran, and then Xuyan suddenly
blurted out,
" If Yue's your dad, do I have to call him ' uncle'?"
We hesitated. How come no one else thought of that?
" What a big family." I muttered.
" I am so not calling him uncle." Xuyan protested.
Jingxi shrugged. " Whatever. I don't think Yue would be comfortable with
that. He already had to put up with me calling him Daddy."
" You call him ' Daddy'?"
" Nooo, I call him otou-san, well, not usually, anyway."
" Huo jiahuo, now you're more or less related to Kero."
" Hey!"
" Huo jiahuo", by the way, is actually Xuyan's version of " Hoe", although it didn't mean " Ah!" or " Huh?", because it more meant of " My god!"
" One big family." I muttered again. " And all because of Clow Reed, can you
believe it!"
" Hai!" Syaoran threatened a kick, though it didn't come. " Lousy cat." Xuyan
laughed. The child picked me up and he and Jingxi went on throwing knives at flies.
The throwing of knives, the catching with chopsticks, actually turned out to
be useful, because like all things are, there are no coincidences. Fate has it her way
most of the time, ( since Syaoran escaped her) so it turned out that the throwing of
knives went from hitting flies to hitting arms, and the chopsticks went from
snatching wings of insects and birds to pinching noses.
It started when a huge aura appeared in Tomoeda. It wasn't one person, it was many. The auras were intense, and very dark, not black, because you don't see it, as many people think. By this time, Syaoran had a nice pink color to his cheeks, although he was still like Snow White. It turned out the sorcerors were up to something ( good) after all. I think he grew an inch taller over the days ( which was about...two weeks, I think) and he had a little more endurance.
He still has to take the draught though.
So the aura appeared somewhere around August, in the middle, as was
appropriate. Syaoran and Xuyan were outside in the night with me and Kero, at the
park, since that was a public place. Small patches of aura headed over, and Kero
and I warned the two boys.
They waved it off as if it were a joke. We thought, not a good idea at all! But the two boys began to be tense. Even as they chatted merrily. Both had a pair of chopsticks ( although the knife didn't come in yet) and they were catching night moths ( Kero and I got a little use to that already) while sitting on the bench.
The mages turned out to be monks, monks from somewhere I'm not familiar
with. They look Chinese and they look Korean, although not really, well, not
Japanese, nor Vietnamese, nor any of that sort. So to say simply, they were monks,
dressed, not in white, but in black. They got into a fighting stance, there were about
six of them.
" This is not good." Kero muttered.
" What the heck do they want with us?" Syaoran asked, completely at ease, almost
dismissing the monks as if they were children.
" I don't know." Xuyan smiled. They went on catching flies.
" Hiiya!" Cried a monk, as he leaped to the air, his foot aiming for Syaoran's head.
Syaoran simply dodged sideways, and the monk missed him by a mile.
Xuyan got up.
" Okay, they're really bugging me."
I was watching Syaoran. He seemed quite strong, although I knew he still wears down quickly. With one swift motion he got into a fighting stance. One monk challenged him.
Not that I'm saying monks are bad, but these monks really creeped me out. With their dark magic, who knows what their up to.
Syaoran was not nervous at all, that night as I remember. At first he dodged every blow, making comments to mock the monks that surrounded him. Then he flicked his chopsticks at one's head, elbowed another, flipped, stood on his head and spun his feet out, kicking all three that were with him. Then he jumped from his head to his feet, pinched one's nose ( as I had mentioned) with the chopsticks, leaped into the air and kicked two at once, landed, hit one's forehead with the chopsticks, and pinched another's nose, this time not letting to. The monk squealed. The other two monks went for him, and Syaoran let go, ducked, and the two fists collide with the poor man's jaw.
It was truly pathetic to see adults defeated by a pair of eleven year olds.
" Aiiya, you should practice more!" Syaoran mocked playfully as he dodged
another blow. He spun a sidekick, flicked his wrist up and flicked his arm upwards,
hitting the guy's chin. He did a high kick, and then punched forward, jumped and
landed on a branch of a tree.
" Yoga!" he called, " And Taichi! Hey Xuyan, don't they work for this one?"
" I think they're more for karate!" Xuyan called, swinging a monk over his shoulder
and onto the ground.
" Bakas!" Syaoran laughed as he jumped onto one.
And Kero and I were standing like idiots. But the boys seemed to handle it pretty well.
And then Syaoran began to tire out.
One monk managed to grab him by the waist. Syaoran did a cartwheel and
he followed.
" Xuyan!" He called for help.
" Syaoran!" Xuyan turned. He kicked aside a monk, but by now four monks were
surrounding Syaoran and the boy was tiring quickly. Kero blew a fireball at one of
the monks and that was when they first recognized us. That was when they decided
to back off. Very smart.
Syaoran collapsed, panting to the ground, and we received a harsh reminder
that Syaoran still was not cured.
I told Eriol about these monks. His reaction did not surprise me.
" I knew all along."
" Are they a threat?" I asked.
You see, with someone like Eriol, you can always expect him to know such things. ( Except for Syaoran, he's different.) So the questions no longer become " How did you know" or " When did you know", but " What are they" or like the question I just mentioned. So " I knew all along" no longer was new to me. In fact, the real new ones are " Really?" or " I can't believe that!" or " Nani?"
" Of course they are a threat." Eriol answered simply. " They're not just monks. They are immortals, believe it or not, although they're not the most desirable."
He was not smiling, in fact, he looked concerned. " I'm not sure how we can
get rid of them." He said. " In Clow Reed's time, they were simply a nuisance, but
now they have grown stronger, and I have grown weaker. Sakura's the only one
who could defeat them." He said this mournfully. " I guess I still hope Syaoran
could bring her back, but then it wouldn't be fair for him if he has to sacrifice
himself. First of all, he's not really ready to leave yet, believe it or not. Second, Yue's
becoming very protective. The odds are simply against us."
" Oh gee, you don't seem worried." I muttered. I was sounding more and more like
Kero, to my disgust.
" I'm worried." Eriol admitted after some hesitation. " But they're not a threat to us,
unless we protect Syaoran. I've known for a long time that some people have their
eyes on the half mortal. There was an ancient legend that to eat the flesh and drink
the blood of a half mortal will give anyone who feeds the power to return to life
whenever they die, even if they eat it only once, and it can give a mortal
immortality."
" That is just simply sick." I groaned. " So you're telling me that those monks want
to eat Syaoran?"
" Iie, I'm only suggesting a possibility. There are a lot of things that half mortals are
good for, however rare they are. Some people say that they have even more power
than immortals, because they store both mortal and immortal magic, if the mortal is
a sorceror or sorceress. I highly doubt that, though, because even if it's true, if every
half mortal is like Syaoran, then they won't be able to use it."
" That sounds reasonable enough." I muttered. " And?"
" Well, the rest is all common, you know what they ask of stones and artifacts,
except for one really nasty and sick one-some people say that half mortals are
really...beautiful, I should say, in a manner that satisfies...a mortal's lustful needs."
" Alright. You don't have to say it again. I think I get it. You mean that they get half
mortals, as rare as they are, to share a bed with."
" Hai...although I don't think that's what the monks want Syaoran for-they're
monks, after all."
" Do you have any idea how sickening that is?"
" Hai, I do know. Don't press any more questions, Spinel. You know how I am to
such things."
" And I also know of some Roman Catholic priests and what they do to children."
" They're monks, Spinel, and close enough to Asian, and you know that Asian
monks starve themselves to death to worship Buddha."
" Not really, sooner or later they'll lift the standards. After all, in the beginning the
kung fu monks weren't even allowed to drink wine."
" That's true, but do you honestly think that an eleven year old can provide such
satisfaction for those needs?"
" Syaoran can, if he reached puberty."
" Thank you very much. That is one reassuring thought." Eriol looked extremely
uncomfortable, as appropriate.
" He can't have reached puberty, Spinel, if he still looks so feminine, for one thing, as bad as that may sound in which in this case it might prove to be...fairly to our advantage, plus the fact that he looks like one who suffers from malnutrition. He doesn't even have enough food to digest everything. What makes you think he can process hormones?"
Good point.
" So the third possibility, thankfully, is not the likely one." I admitted, relieved. "
And the second, is not...so wait, they're going to eat him?"
" They're monks..."
" They're immortal, Eriol-sama. Who do they have to worship? Mortals?"
" I know." Eriol looked very uncomfortable. He, appropriately, had been trying to
deny the fact, but of course, me, being so nice and plus, in a form of a cat, didn't
allow him to comfort himself.
And just then, ring ring, our everyday technology signaled a message, and I think this is where Eriol should take over.
