Chapter 6
'reflections'
The hairs on the back of Li's neck were standing straight up, and his skin was tingling like mad. But this was no time to succumb to nerves.
"Ready?" he whispered, and Sakura's brother nodded. "Okay, then. Here we go."
Li wasn't sure what he was expecting when he opened the door, and when he turned the knob and pushed, he felt disappointed. There was nothing but silence to greet him and Touya - silence, and that concentrated feeling of magic again.
"It feels like your basement," he murmured, which made Touya raise his eyebrows. They crept through the doorway and Li shut the door softly behind them.
"Now what?"
"I don't know."
"This is some rescue."
"Shut up." Li threw him an annoyed look and turned to walk down the hallway. The silence was oppressive and the dark house intimidating, but it was still better than talking to Touya.
*****
"Can't believe how big this place is," Touya muttered after a while. They'd been combing the rooms on the lower floor for several minutes without a word, and he couldn't stand the silence any more. "It's like a maze."
Maze…Something nagged at Li, but it was gone again before he even had a chance to think about it. He shook his head to clear it.
"You've been here before, you know. You starred in a movie in this house."
"A movie?"
"Class project." Li raked his fingers through his hair and looked around, fruitlessly. The shadows weren't revealing anything, threats or clues. "Sakura and Yukito-san were in it too. That was the last day that you could see things – and the first that she even knew you could." He paused, fidgeting. "Are you sure you can't see anything in here?"
"Don't you think I'd tell you if I did?"
"Okay, okay." Li pushed open the door and continued down the hallway, Touya following in a huff. "You don't have to cop an attitude about it."
"Like it's somehow my fault that we can't find her. You're the one with all the answers, I don't see you doing anything useful. At least I could see the house."
"Which has gotten us absolutely nowhe - "
Touya glanced up when Li broke off. He was staring into space and scowling in concentration.
"What?" Li held up a hand, signaling silence, and Touya shut his mouth. They remained still for another minute, then Li shook his head again in frustration.
"I thought I had it, for a second. But it's gone now."
"Had what?"
"Her sense." Li took a step back on the plush red carpet, wrinkling his nose. "For just a heartbeat, I could feel her presence."
But now there was nothing. They weren't even near a room, there was only the long dark hallway. There was nothing to see, except his own puzzled reflection in the mirror hanging on the wall.
Where did it come from? I know I felt it; I felt it as surely as if she was standing right by me. Where is she? Why can't I find her?
Touya finally had to pull him away from the mirror.
"Come on, what are you looking at? We need to get to the rest of this house."
"You're right," Li said uncertainly, gazing at the dusty mirror until it disappeared into the darkness. "We've got to keep going. It's a big house."
It is a big house. Nothing less than grandiose for my old ancestor. But why his place at all? There's a lot of magic lingering in the atmosphere of this building. Like I was thinking yesterday in the park, some places on earth are just more receptive to magic. Perhaps 'his' power is concentrated by dwelling here.
His mind occupied, he almost missed the moving form in front of him and raised his fists in startled reflex. The other one did too, and he realized that he was looking into another mirror, almost of ceiling height. Funny. He didn't remember there being so many mirrors in this house before. Why would the furnishings of the house be different?
Now that he was looking, he could see many more, lining the walls around them. They wandered into a complicated suite of rooms, reflections moving and twisting in their peripheral vision.
"Creepy," said Touya aloud, voicing Li's thoughts.
"These weren't here before. I'm sure of it. We must be getting closer." Touya nodded and reached out to touch one. Li didn't like that and was about to warn him away, but nothing happened when he laid a hand on it.
"Does it feel any different?"
"Nope. Just feels like glass."
"Huh." Li reached out and touched a mirrored surface, tentatively. It tingled and created an uncomfortable buzzing feel in his skin, and he pulled away at first. But then he nerved himself and reached out again, noting that when he moved his hand, the sensation seemed to get stronger. "I think I feel something. Follow me."
His hand hurt, but he ignored the pain as he followed the wall. It was definitely becoming stronger, and he looked over his shoulder to ask Touya if he could see anything yet. That was when he realized that he could no longer see any movement except for his own reflections.
"Touya? Kinomoto?"
No reply, and Li blew his bangs out of his eyes with frustration.
"Damn. Couldn't he have kept up?"
No time to worry about it now; he was on his own to face the threat. With his left hand, he pulled out his pendant and activated his sword.
*****
"Damn. Couldn't he have kept up?" Touya scowled at his reflections upon realizing that he was alone. Where had that bratty kid got off to?
"Li?" he tried again, knowing it was hopeless. Somehow, he'd wandered right into the thick of all the mirrors; he couldn't even see any bare walls anymore. He was surrounded, and the more he tried to find a way out, the closer and closer they stood together until it seemed he was trapped. Trapped in a maze of mirrors.
He clenched his fists, trying to dispel the growing fear. He was being penned in, and he didn't like that. Something was obviously aware that he was here, and determined that he not be allowed to continue any further into the house.
"I don't know who you are," he said aloud. "Or what you are. But I want my sister back."
He had a heartbeat's warning: a bright flash in his mind, a sense of a powerful force rolling in and crashing headlong into his own will. Just in time he ducked and covered his head with his arms. The force hit, and all the mirrors around him shattered. Tiny slivers of glass flew in all directions, and he winced from the sharp pains on his skin.
*****
"Ouch!" There was a sudden burst of pain in his fingertip at the same moment the sensation of magic swelled in his mind, and he cringed. But there was no attack, no bright flash of light, nothing rushed forth from the shadows to challenge him. Feeling almost let down, Li put his finger in his mouth and sucked instinctively.
"Thanks for meeting me here, Syaoran. I wanted to show you something."
"Yeah? What?"
She giggled.
"So impatient as always, Syaoran. I wanted you to be the first to see it. You were the one that convinced me I should go for it."
"Go for what?"
"For this."
Proudly she handed him the photo, and his expression softened as he looked at the beautiful girl posing on the studio stool.
"You're the one that convinced me to try out for the modeling agency, and this is my first professional photo. I want you to have it. As a thank you."
Li felt his cheeks flushing.
"You want me to have this? Really?" She nodded happily.
"Sure. I owe it all to you. You've always been there to back me up and support me, whether it was capturing and transforming Cards, or stuff like this. I don't know where I'd be without you."
She patted his arm and smiled.
"You're one of my best friends, and you always will be."
Li desperately tried to thwart the rush of blood to his cheeks, but he knew it was hopeless. In an attempt to hide his face, he enveloped her in a spontaneous hug. He could feel her muscles tense up in surprise – demonstrations of affection were so rare for him – but then she relaxed and returned the hug, giving a little sigh as she did so.
Funny that she would sigh. Almost as if she wanted it to go further than that, just like he did. She had called him, after all, come to meet him specifically, in a private place so that she could give him this photo. He looked at it again behind her back. She had given it to him. She wanted him to have it. In a way, it was almost as if she'd given him a piece of herself.
"You'll always be more than a friend to me," he murmured in her ear. He felt rather than heard her sharp intake of breath, and felt his face go scarlet again. He hadn't meant to say that out loud!
She pulled away, but not too much. Just enough to look into his eyes, her face so close that their noses were almost touching.
"Syaoran…" The word was hardly more than a breath of air, but there was no mistaking the acute longing in her green eyes. And then Li knew there was no turning back at this point, and he leaned in. His lips brushed over hers, and he half expected her to back away. But her arms were still around his neck, and she pulled herself closer, meeting him in the kiss. And it tasted like heaven.
Li pulled his finger out of his mouth, aware that tears were starting to well up in his eyes.
The kiss seemed to go on forever, but when they finally pulled apart, it hadn't been nearly long enough. He wasn't sure what to say in the silence that followed, as they looked into each other's eyes, yet the pause wasn't awkward. Rather, it seemed expectant.
"I love you," he said, simply. Her eyes widened, but she didn't really seem shocked. She looked blissful, rather, as though she was flying on a cloud of happiness that no one could touch. Li watched her smile grow, thinking that she had never looked more beautiful. And the only thing that could make the moment more perfect was what she said next.
"I love you too."
There was a soundless explosion, a bright flash that seared his eyes and burned into his brain.
And there was darkness.
The tears were running down his face and dripping off now, and Li dropped his sword to the floor, then followed it, sinking onto his hands and knees. He was breathing hard now, wheezing, struggling to maintain control.
I – I told her. I did it! After five long, miserable years of hemming and hawing and watching from the sidelines, I actually had the courage to say it. I told her that I loved her, and she told me she loved me too – and I forgot the entire thing.
He squeezed the thick material of the carpet between his fists, almost tearing it right out. Of all the terrible things that Sakura's kidnapper had done, by far this crime was the most heinous. He had robbed Li of his most precious moment with Sakura, a moment that he had been waiting for for five years.
"Oh Sakura," he cried. "I love you. I finally said it and I almost forgot it! I want to say it again. I want to see you again. Where are you?"
*****
He didn't know how long he remained there, on his hands and knees, fighting off this bleak depression. But gradually his heavy breathing slowed, his muscles relaxed, and he became aware of himself. There was still a job to be done, Sakura still needed to be found. It was pointless to stay here on the floor feeling sorry for himself.
Wearily he climbed to his feet and gripped his sword. The mirror still burned under his touch, but he set his jaw against the pain and started walking.
The mirrors were everywhere, but he kept his hand on the glass, following the trail of power, and didn't get lost in the maze. He was so sure that it would end with an enemy, or a threat, or something, that when he finally reached an empty room he almost started crying again. There was nothing in this little room, nothing but a velvet lounge and mirror that completely covered one wall. And no way out except that that he had come in.
Now what?
Overcome with despair, he sat down on the carpet with a thump and leaned against the lounge, staring miserably at his reflection.
What am I going to do? This is it – I'm out of ideas. I've got nothing left, no way of finding her. It's the end of the line.
Panic brushed the edge of his mind, but he would not give in, not yet.
What's the one thing I've been trained to do since I was a child? Never give up. Even if my only recourse is to sit still and think, then that is what I will do.
He shut his eyes and concentrated, stretching out with his senses and trying to relax. He kept his breathing light but steady.
In and out. In and out.
His eyes opened. Was it his imagination or –
No. No, he could definitely hear it. Extremely light, shallow breathing that was matching his own.
He held his breath and listened. After a moment he could hear a whisper of a sigh, and then the rhythmic breathing again. A stray memory clicked: listening to Kero, snoring in the basement as Sakura crept down the stairs.
It's someone sleeping.
He glanced around, but he was alone in the room. There was nobody there, and yet he could hear it. Unconsciously he matched his own breathing to the other, inhaling and exhaling in unison.
In and out. In and out.
He was falling into himself, focusing on the breathing until there was nothing else in the world. It was just him, and the faint exhalation. Nothing but Li and the sounds. Everything else was gone. There was nothing…
In and out. In and out.
It was barely a whisper, but it had become a roar in his ears. It was in front of him. He knew it, knew it as sure as he knew his own name. His eyes were open, unseeing, in his meditation, and he had to refocus his vision on the mirror in front of him.
And there she was. In the same white cotton blouse with crochet trim that she'd been wearing on Saturday, and the full, long white skirt. The lounge behind him was empty, but the mirror's reflection showed her draped across it like a Persian cat. Her eyes were closed and her expression peaceful as she slept.
Sakura. My love. You're alive after all, and you're not hurt.
The relief and joy of seeing her was overwhelming, and at first all he could do was look. He wanted to fill his eyes with the sight of her, drink her in. It was a full minute before he stood and crossed the room to rap lightly on the glass.
"Sakura," he whispered. "Sakura, wake up." He tapped harder, not wanting to alert whoever it was that kept her there, but anxious to get her attention. He felt a twinge of concern that she wouldn't be able to hear him, trapped in the mirror like she was, and then another greater one. What if she opened her eyes and had no idea who he was? What if she looked at him uncomprehendingly?
He swallowed his fear and spoke louder.
"Sakura, can you hear me? Wake up, please, wake up!"
He was louder than he intended; fear had lent volume to his voice. But it had the desired effect, at least. Her eyes fluttered slightly and she murmured something.
"Sakura, please, you've got to wake up! Can you hear me, Sakura?" She twitched, and then her eyes opened. For a moment she just stared at him, confusion evident in her green eyes. Li's breath caught in his throat and he placed both hands on the glass in a futile attempt to reach out and touch her. She didn't know him. She didn't know him. She didn't know –
"Syaoran?"
He let out a shuddering breath and whispered a prayer of gratitude. Thank god.
"Yes! It's me. Are you all right? I've come to get you."
She rose from her position, a little unsteady on her feet, but glowing with happiness to see him.
"You came," she whispered. "Oh god, you're here. Syaoran…" She wanted to throw herself in his arms, but it was impossible. All she could do was place her hands against his on the glass and press close, as if by sheer force of will she could break through. There was a strange look in his eyes.
"You know me."
"Of course I know you. Why wouldn't I?" He gazed down at her with a tender expression of longing.
"And – you remember what I said to you on Saturday?"
A faint blush appeared on both their faces, and she nodded.
"How could I forget?"
Indeed, thought Li. How could she? She knew, finally, after all these years, she knew the truth. But he said it again anyway, just because he wanted to.
"I love you."
"Yes. I love you too." He leaned down slightly, knowing that he couldn't kiss her but so desperate to do it anyway that he pressed his lips on the glass. His eyes were closed, but he knew she was doing the same thing.
Finally he pulled away and straightened.
"We've got to figure out a way to get you out of this mirror. Who put you in there?"
She looked puzzled.
"I'm not in the mirror."
"Yes you are," he protested. He could see it, she was right in front of him. Wasn't she?
She frowned slightly, looking at the room behind her and then the room that she could see behind him.
"I think – I think you're in the mirror, Syaoran. You're the one that's trapped."
He felt a flicker of surprise, then realized that it made perfect sense. Of course. That was why everything felt the same. This world was a creation, the product of one magical source. How was he supposed to escape?
"You have to get out, Syaoran, but I don't know how. He's taken the Cards - "
"Who?"
She bit her lip and looked down.
"He only calls himself my new master. I don't know what his name is. But he's powerful. He's also coming."
It took a second for that last part to register, and he just barely had time to notice her muscles tensing up in fear before a shadow fell across the doorway of the room. Her kidnapper, the one who had inflicted so much pain on all her friends and family, the one that had attacked and left Li for dead, stepped into the room.
He was hardly more than a teenager. Li inhaled sharply, and the young man glanced his way with a mild expression of surprise on his handsome features. Surprise, but not apprehension. Li's presence obviously didn't threaten him at all.
"Well, well. So you did find your way here. I wondered if you would. Clever of you to use the brother."
"Who are you?" Li snarled. "What do you want?" The blonde young man gave him a patronizing smile but didn't answer his questions. Instead he asked one of his own.
"How does your head feel, Li? Nasty knock you got there."
Sakura glanced back at Li and for the first time noticed the bandage on his head.
"Oh Syaoran…" Unconsciously she reached forward, but she couldn't touch. "Are you hurt? Is it bad?"
He shook his head.
"No, it's not bad." Then he noticed something too, little red flecks across the front of Sakura's blouse. That was his blood. With a rush, the rest of the day spilled into his mind – the sudden feeling of magic, the premonition of an attack. Himself, slipping the photo into his pocket before reaching for his sword and shouting a warning to Sakura and then –
"And then the bright flash," finished her captor, with a lazy wave of his hand. "It didn't quite finish the job. It was meant to kill you. Your magic was stronger than I thought." A little smile tugged at the corners of his cruel mouth. "But you were knocked into my little world, and I think that's even better. Poor Li, trapped forever in a dimension with no Sakura. Most amusing."
Li slammed his fists into the mirror in a sudden burst of fury, but the glass was implacable and solid. It didn't crack.
"Who are you, dammit?"
"I'm the thief in the night, Li. The one who gets whatever he wants. Speaking of which…"
He took a step closer to the mirror and held out his hand for Sakura, who shrank back.
"No," she whimpered. "Not again. Stay away!"
Not what again? fretted Li, pushing his hands against the mirror fruitlessly. He wanted to take her in his arms, carry her away from their enemy, but he was powerless.
"Come now, Sakura, I used up a lot of energy attacking your brother just now. I need a recharge."
She tried to bolt away, but he was too quick for her. His hand closed over her wrist, and the effect was immediate. She staggered and almost dropped to the floor, and he pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her, both of them facing the mirror.
"My name is Vispilio," he said calmly to the fuming Li. "I take what I wish, when I wish."
Sakura looked terrified, but she was having trouble keeping her eyes open. She struggled feebly in his arms to no avail.
"I have a unique ability," Vispilio continued, "to draw power from those around me. It's what's enabled me to live as long as I have." He was squeezing tighter, and Li watched Sakura's eyes start to close. "I never dreamed Sakura had so much power to give, or I would have come to Japan much sooner, but no matter. There's plenty now for me to consume. And as I'm sure you've noticed, one of my more interesting abilities is to snatch my prey whenever I choose, whatever moment in time they are most vulnerable."
He stressed the word vulnerable ever so slightly, and leaned down to kiss Sakura lightly on the neck. Sakura's head dropped back against his shoulder; she was asleep once more.
"Stop it!" Li barked and banged his fists against the mirror again. "Stop that, let her go!"
"Not likely, Li, her power is much too delicious. The more I taste the more I want." He kissed her again, this time on the top of her head, and she went totally limp. Gracefully he picked her up off her feet and held her in his arms. Li was kicking and punching the mirror now, despite his aching hands, but his furious strikes only drew a smile of complacence from Vispilio.
"You can beat your head against the wall all you like, but a dimensional barrier simply isn't that easy to break. Go back to Hong Kong, Li, forget about Sakura. She's mine now, and will be for the rest of her life. She's my new source of power, and with the strength of the Cards, she's going to last a long, long time."
"No!" In desperation he swung his sword at the glass, and winced at the recoil. Pain reverberated up and down his arm, but he couldn't give up now. "You can't do this, she's not yours!"
"She is now."
Tenderly Vispilio laid her down on the velvet lounge again. Her expression was calm and untroubled despite all the noise that Li was making. How often had he stolen her power, how often had she been reduced to this state? Would it happen again, over and over for the rest of her life, until he'd depleted her completely? Was that how it would end?
He stopped struggling and stood still for a moment, glaring at her tormentor and clutching his sword while he tried to get his breath back.
"You're nothing," he said in a low, bitter voice. "You're just a thief who can't even generate his own magic. You have to steal from others, take what's rightfully theirs. You're just a parasite. And I could kill you so easily if I had the chance."
Vispilio just gave him another mocking smile.
"But you're not going to get the chance, are you? You're trapped forever… helpless…alone…."
Li tried to ignore his smirk as he gripped his sword tighter. There had to be a way. He just had to think. Think, damn it, think! There's always a way, there's always a way, there's always a –
Way. He had to have a way here. He created it when he took her and set this dimension down an alternate path, but he had to have a way to the other side of the mirror.
Vispilio must have sensed the difference, and his smile turned uneasy.
"Go home, Li. You'll never find the way here, you aren't nearly strong enough. Just forget, and go home."
"I'm not as helpless as you think I am," Li corrected him. "And you're not the first to make that mistake."
He leveled his sword at the mirror with cold determination in his eyes.
"I'm coming for her." Before the other man could reply, he turned and dashed out of the room. Behind him, he could hear an authoritative shout for him to stop, but he paid no attention. He raced down the corridor of mirrors, pouring every ounce of energy he still had into running. He'd been one of the best, once, only Sakura had ever beat him in a sprint.
He ducked his head and tried to cover his eyes as the mirrors around burst apart with loud shattering sounds. Shards of glass flew everywhere, but he would not be detained. Instead he just pumped harder, a heartbeat ahead of the mirrors exploding behind him.
Abandoning all pretenses of subtlety, Vispilio was turning and twisting the mirrors, throwing dazzling bright lights into Li's eyes. It would blind him, he knew, so he shut his eyes and let his senses lead him.
He knew where he was going, all of his earlier confusion had been swept away. He should have realized at the time, of course, but he'd been distracted. The one time, the only other time he'd sensed anything at all besides Vispilio's magic was when he passed that first mirror. In the brief second that he'd felt it, he'd recognized it as hers, but it was too quick for him to grasp the implications. He should have known…
His senses clamored a warning and he skidded to a halt before turning a sharp right, his eyes still firmly shut. He heard something crack and explode a second later.
All I felt was something that was different from the rest of this world. It was so quick, or I might have realized that it wasn't her after all. After so many years, they almost feel the same. They practically are the same. They feel just like her. It was the Cards that I sensed.
And now he could feel them again. Just a quick flicker, barely registering on his radar, but he jerked to a stop and opened his eyes. It was the same mirror, but in his heightened state of awareness he was no longer looking at his reflection. He was looking at the book. It was pink, it was the book of Cards that he knew, which he found confusing. Why were Sakura and the book the same – it seemed as though they should be products of this new world.
In his mind's eye, Li saw the baffling puzzle that the Maze Card had once created. The twisting stairways that defied gravity and connected to each other in ways that were incomprehensible were an analogy for these twisted realities. He didn't understand how it all worked, but he knew that he was a disruption in the perfect connections. He was the only thing that didn't fit. He had no way of knowing what would happen when he raised his sword to stab the Gateway; he only knew that he had to try.
Nothing happened at first. The metal tip slid smoothly through the glass as though it were only water. Li heard a howl of frustration from somewhere in the house just before his sword touched the floating book, and he felt a rush of power travel up through his arms. It felt a little like when he used to activate a Card by touching one with his sword, but different, more powerful. Li shut his eyes again when a peculiar nausea overtook him, a strange feeling like he was being turned inside out. When it passed, he dared to open his eyes and found himself staring at his reflection once more.
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Disclaimer: I do not own these characters
