A/N: Disturbing things ahead. I'm sorry. Thank you to starquestor for the review! I don't have any plans for a threesome...but Touya and Yue already don't listen to me, so who knows what I'll end up writing. Yukito is too agreeable, too nice, I don't think I could ever kill him. But I won't pretend the thought hasn't crossed my mind. It still crosses my mind. You just never know with me. So, you'll know as soon as I do. ~evil grin~

Silent Eyes

Darkest Days

Sonomi paced the room, waiting for whoever Yue and Kero were. She was very upset about what she had learned. Her Nadeshiko's baby girl had been kidnapped, and the tape that had been sent to her was from the monster that had taken her. She shook with rage and reached for her phone for the fifth time since arriving. Why hadn't the police been called? Why were they standing around and waiting for two people she had never heard of to come downstairs before seeing something that could help Sakura? What was wrong here, and why would Sakura have been the one taken?

Fujitaka walked over to Sonomi and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Sakura has been involved in something that she kept secret from people as long as she could. I know you remember how Nadeshiko could see spirits and know things before they happen, and I think that's one of the reasons you were so protective of her."

"I was protective of her, Kinomoto, because I loved her." Her glare was full force, but short lived. "But yes, I do remember her gift."

"Sakura received that gift and years ago used it to unlock the secrets of an ancient sorcerer. I think she didn't want to worry anybody else because she kept it a secret as long as she could."

"Maybe she didn't want everyone to think she was crazy? Or take advantage of her power?"

Fujitaka looked at her through narrowed eyes. "Why would anyone--?"

"Because that's why I was so silent about my own gifts while growing up." She gave him a wink. "I don't have anything near what Nadeshiko had, but I still have feelings about things too. When we were growing up Nadeshiko and I started out being open about things like that, but grandfather was the first to tell us not to make up stories. I understand about keeping such things secret."

He bowed his head. "I didn't. I'm starting to now, but I didn't expect you to understand because I didn't understand at first."

Fire flashed behind her eyes, but instead of being insulted she decided to be amused. "I suppose that's fair because you didn't know. Now, you were saying something about the secrets of an ancient sorcerer?"

It was at that moment that a young man with very long silver hair walked in, trailed by a golden flying teddy bear. Sonomi felt something strange about the two, something that must have been magical, but their appearances alone told of that. "These are Yue and Keroberus," Fujitaka said by way of introduction.

"Secrets?"

"Two of them."

"Hmmm." She paused for a moment with a thousand questions running through her mind, but came to a decision quickly. "As much as I'd like to have this spelled out for me right now, it will be a waste of time. I hope the tape has a key to finding Sakura, so let's watch it now." She was all business as she put the tape in and turned the TV on, sitting next to her daughter to see what would be revealed.

~~~~~@~~~~~

Yue stood behind the couch while everybody else sat down in front of the TV. He knew he should be sitting with the rest, but he wanted to pace the floor instead. Standing was the closest he could handle to a compromise. It took willpower to stand still as the tape started, but that was nothing new. Then, as events began to unfold, he lost awareness of his body...all he could think about was the horror on the screen.

Sakura had been placed in chains. She was centered on the screen, and as they watched a person in dark robes walked over and waved a crystal ball in front of the unconscious girl. She twitched a bit, and a glow seemed to drain from Sakura into the crystal. The dark figure chuckled with a deep rumble as he turned away and walked off. It was clear that he was siphoning off her magic.

Another camera angle showed Yukito sprawled on the cold floor and Yue's stomach fluttered. They watched him rise, groggy, and saw Sakura stir from behind him. When Yue heard Sakura's trembling request for her key he knew what would happen next. He had to bite his lower lip to keep from crying out when she turned the key to a staff and then unlocked the first cuff around her wrist. He was the only one that did not gasp in shock when Yukito passed out, and then every eye turned upon him to see what reaction he would have to seeing his other self fainting. He waved them off weakly, keeping his eyes on the screen. He did not want the attention right now.

Then they heard the enemy's voice for the first time. "What? Not going to free yourself Card Mistress?" Yue glanced over in Eriol's direction to see if there was a hint of recognition there. He wanted to know if this was an old enemy or a new threat. Eriol's glasses flashed, but that was just from a slight shift of position. He found that Eriol was too much his own person, not enough like Clow, to read his expression.

They all watched in horrified fascination as Sakura talked to the unseen person behind the camera. She was strong and determined, but they could see that she was also scared. Her unknown adversary taunted her, spelling things out to her about how nothing she did mattered. It all depended on what the reincarnations of Clow did. She was defiant, and Yue wanted to cheer her for that show of defiance, but he was afraid for her. This could go very badly for her, especially if she showed such bravado. She would be pushed further in order to "put on a show" for those who loved her. It was something he had become too familiar with from Clow's days. Yue stole a glance at Fujitaka and knew that the memories were reaching her father's mind too. It seemed that enemies of Clow Reed, past or present, tended to be of the ruthless type.

Fujitaka winced and Eriol jumped to his feet as they heard the following:

"You have no idea what I'm capable of. They will do what I want because Clow Reed himself thought of you as a daughter, and neither your real father nor your old friend would dream of letting you come to harm. When they see the harm I can inflict they will do whatever I say."

"No!"

"Oh yes."

With that the strange man walked in front of the camera and stood before Sakura. He held a wand in one hand and a key in the other. He kept the wand trained on Yukito's still form while he used the key to unlock Sakura. "If I hit your friend right now he will die. Poof, and no more friend into a puff of nothing. You do understand that, right? So, be a good girl and lay on that table for me. I'll tie you up and then we'll start this for real. Don't hesitate...I can zap your friend in an instant."

Syaoran growled. Someone else muttered something about killing the bastard. It didn't matter who said it, for it was a sentiment shared by them all.

Sakura nearly ran to the table and waited, eyes large and locked on Yuki the whole time. The fear in her eyes was clear. Whoever this enemy was, he had watched her carefully to find the perfect person to capture and manipulate her with. Without his true form he was perhaps the most vulnerable of them all, and one of the people Sakura cared about the most deeply. The person that everybody cared deeply about.

Finally, Yue realized that he wouldn't be able to take the rest of this standing up. It was too emotional. He walked to the side of the couch and gracefully slid to the floor next to Touya. He pulled his knees up to his chest and leaned slightly against the couch. He wasn't surprised that Touya's hand landed soon after on his shoulder, and he found it very comforting. Even if he was just a surrogate for Yukito, it was something.

~~~~~@~~~~~

Sakura couldn't take her eyes away from Yukito. She was terrified that this sick monster would do something to him while he was weak. Without Yue he couldn't protect himself, and since she was so drained of magic she couldn't protect him. She had no idea when this nightmare would end, but she was determined that it wouldn't end on her captor's terms.

Rope was wrapped around her ankles and forearms this time. Her hands dangled off the sides of the table the way she was tied. She imagined that it would be very uncomfortable after a while, but her raw and bleeding wrists were spared.

"Now we get to the fun part, where I get to play with fire. See, fire is such a pretty thing. It dances, it excites, and it warms us. Without fire we would be nothing, the whole human race would be a bunch of animals still hunting and foraging in the forests. And, I have a special rapport with fire. It likes me. I like it. And I like to use it."

"What do you mean?"

"I am going to burn you. And then I'm going to heal you. And when I heal you the skin and tissues will still be intact. It will be perfectly healthy. But it will still burn. You will still feel it. And that will break you down. The burn will stay in the same place for as long as I will it, but it won't do any damage so it can just keep burning and burning and burning. I can stop it so you can recover some strength, and then start it up again and it will just keep burning and burning. And that is just the first part of the show. I will delight in watching you writhe in agony."

"You're sick."

"Yes, thank you. But, I wouldn't be so quick to judge. You are powerless."

With that he used his wand and set fire to her left hand. There was real fire there, real blisters, real smell of burning flesh, real skin charring, peeling back, blood boiling, and--

Sakura screamed.

It ate her hand. She had never felt anything so painful. Tears poured down the sides of her face. She pulled against the ropes, trying to get free somehow to put the fire out, but there was no escape. She couldn't roll her hand against the table to put it out because of the angle her arm was held. She had to hold her hand up helplessly as her hand was consumed. Time stood still as her universe became the hand and her agony.

And in a small place in the back of her mind she calculated. It was a magical fire. It was energy. She could draw upon the energy. She was still the most powerful sorceress in the world, even if her tools were removed. Even if this clown didn't believe it fully. The cards were her friends, the cards were her tools, but the cards were not her magic. Otherwise she would never have been able to convert them into Sakura Cards in the first place. This small part of her mind locked everything else out and drew that power in. And then that small part reasoned that this adversary must have a way to draw her energy out, so holding reserves would be useless. It then channeled the energy into Yukito a little bit at a time so that the enemy couldn't sense it. It would seem like the natural bond they shared.

And then all of Sakura passed out from the pain, stopping the power transfer.

~~~~~@~~~~~

Yukito woke up, smelling burned flesh. He didn't have to open his eyes to know what was happening, something whispered all he needed to know to him. Sakura was being tortured. That's all he really wanted to know.

He pretended to still be out, hoping he'd be ignored if he didn't seem like a threat. He slowly opened his eyes a sliver and saw a tall, heavyset man with curly blond hair and glittering dark eyes bent over Sakura, extinguishing flames on her left hand. As the flames went out he pulled out a sphere. It glowed and gathered magic into itself, then restored Sakura's hand.

"Sakura has passed out, but that is only a short reprieve for her. You, dear observers, will soon watch as I put the pure pain to use. If you give me the secret of the cards now I will release her and that will be all there is. If you don't, this will be a pain that will hit her over and over and over again for the rest of her life. Do you want that? Can you sacrifice your little Sakura's left hand for your secrets?"

He waited for an answer, his eyes growing distant as if listening to something very far away. Yuki knew though that their captor wasn't aware that he had awoken, so it must be someone else he wanted an answer from. Yuki looked around, trying to figure out who this madman could be talking to…when he saw cameras appear out of nowhere. Suddenly the whole dungeon looked like a poorly done movie set. It had all been illusion.

What else was this trickster up to that was illusion? As soon as the fire had gone out the smell had left also. It should have lingered, but Yuki was sure that it was an illusion also. He looked into the nearest camera and shook his head. It was a great show, but their captor must have used his only serious magic in taking them in the first place. Otherwise...otherwise...what? He was missing a step in his logic, but he was sure he was on to something.

He closed his eyes again. "Illusion," he muttered under his breath. "All if this is an illusion, but why? And how do I know?"

Dammit, Yue would know! But, that had to be why he was here and Yue wasn't.

Then he heard Sakura whimper from the table she was on. He immediately felt more awake, stronger, and somehow more alive. She was somehow giving him her power. That must be why he was awake, but their captor thought he shouldn't be. Yuki fought to keep his eyes closed, gathering his strength for when he would need it. He didn't know what he'd be able to do, but he figured that the element of surprise was always helpful in situations like this.

~~~~~@~~~~~

Yue was staring intently at a part of the screen he was sure no one else had noticed. His other self, his counterpart, had opened his eyes much sooner than he otherwise should have. Yue knew immediately what that meant. Sakura was feeding Yukito power.

Then he saw, very slightly, Yuki say something. Something about illusion.

Something suddenly clicked in the back of Yue's mind. He sat still for a few more moments, making sure all the pieces of the puzzle fell into place right. It all fit. Knowing that they were being monitored while they watched what was on the tape Yue left his face neutral. He stood.

"I can't sit here anymore and watch this. I'm going to go fix lunch. To-ya, Syaoran, would you like to help me?" Yue didn't bother looking at their faces. He knew they'd be surprised to both be included, but he needed to talk to them both. He had a plan.