The Disease that Killed Love

Chapter 4-Tomoyo

We had already gotten over our scare with the Erase Card, seriously we did. But when Sakura and I heard about the changing paths, walls that had a mind of their own, we really freaked out, I mean, truly, underground tunnels are not my favorite site to live in, and I am neither a mole or an earthworm, nor do I have a mind of one. I did not intend to live the rest of my life eating raw fish eggs and fish, drink cave water, or feed on bacteria and batwings, the maze card without Kaho's bell did not seem worth encountering yet again. With Sakura and her scare of ghosts, to which Syaoran's encounters did not relieve her much, we paired up perfectly in a protest of not going.

But then Eriol pointed out that if it is too dark for us, we can use the Light Card to light up the place, and if we do get lost, Sakura could use the Maze Card to let the paths go her way.



So in the dark of night we arrived at the mouth of the cave. I had my trusty video camera, Sakura her staff and cards, Syaoran and Yue along with Ruby Moon with their nightvision, and we went in.

At first, it was like any regular cave. But the paths changed from Yue and Syaoran's experience.
" This is a magical cave, obviously." Eriol had stated. " And a prophetic one. Sakura, you can use your card now."
Sakura, more than willingly, lighted up the place, and we instantly saw that the cave was actually a temple.

" Ah, now that explains everything." Eriol nodded. " This is the Temple of Fates. There was a story much different from Greek, about the fates that live in a temple. These fates are not exactly spirits, but forces, mystical and mysterious."
" And you suppose they live here." Tomoyo guessed.
" Iie, not exactly. I never believed that myth. Or rather, I didn't..." Eriol looked carefully. " Hm? What's this?"

We ventured to look.

She was very pretty, the carved lady on the wall. From the pictures, she happened to be half mortal and half god as well.
" Are you sure?" I asked Eriol.
" Hai." He nodded, being the one who told us that. " It seems here," He looked at the pictures, drawing his finger or the carvings, " Her mother had moon magic, her father was a sun immortal, so she was able to live quite peacefully without harm. But,"

That ' but' dragged on for some time, as Eriol focused on the carvings. " Some immortals captured her and held her hostage for a time, when she was rescued she was dispirited...she began using her powers to disturb the dead."
" Bad idea." Syaoran muttered. At first I didn't know what he meant.
" And then...the dead rose against her, and she became a full mortal, immediately dying."

Syaoran, I could tell, got a little scared. Eriol moved on to another section.
" This one," he started, " Was about the Great Dragon. It lived alone and free for millions of years, but one time it was summoned to guard an immortal child from harm. This child eventually grew mad and killed himself, but earlier, five sorcerors from across the world gathered to destroy the boy. The Great Dragon, angered, sensing its...treasure, was in danger, cursed all five sorcerors into living death, in which they were invisible, untouchable, and pass through anything solid or liquid, or even gas, and their movements produce no effect, fully and truly ghosts."

" Alright," I said after a moment, " Now Syaoran's not the only one who's nervous."
" This cave senses the people it contains." Kero looked up. " So right now it only shows what we need to know."
" So far, it seems like that's how it behaves." Eriol looked closely. " These carvings are not eroded at all. And it's mighty strange how almost all of these carvings contain no inscriptions or runes. Every story was inscribed purely on pictures and symbols."
" Alright, so what does the sword through the heart mean?"

That question came from Yue. And it was urgently asked.

" A sword through the heart?" Eriol turned slowly to face Yue. Sakura's card glowed and flickered faintly.
" There are several meanings for that." Eriol said slowly and carefully, and I saw his hand clenching. " One is heartbreak, another is a weak heart, and..."

Sakura shifted uneasily. " And?"

Eriol did not answer at once, but stared steadily at Syaoran, studying him. Syaoran stared blankly back. Eriol blinked, looked away.
" Someone could be hurting him." Eriol said tiredly, his voice strangely weak. " Someone or something."

We hesitated. " None of them sounds good." I stated the obvious. " Where is the wall with all the carvings of Syaoran?"
" The wall changes." Yue replied. He was holding Syaoran's hand tightly. " I do not know."
" Can we go now?" Xuyan asked. " Even with Sakura's wonderful card this place is still creeping me out."
" Hai, there is a feeling about there that seems so ancient, so ancient it seems...dead." Sakura agreed. She turned to me. " Do put that camcorder down, Tomoyo-chan, I don't want to watch myself freak out."
" You know," I began, in my ordinary logical manner, " You are so kawaii when you do freak out, in front of Syaoran especially."

This raised a burst of laughter from everyone, except from Yue, Syaoran and Sakura. Yue only smiled. Syaoran and Sakura blushed bright red. The laughter quickly died down, but it had raised the spirits of everyone.
" That was a good one Tomoyo." Touya smiled. " So when do we get out of here?"
" When we find the carvings of ourselves, according to Syaoran and Yue." Eriol replied. " Yue said there was no story after the present, because it was all scratched and eroded. I want to see for myself, perhaps I could see it, I'm not sure."
" Exactly what do you hope to find?" Xuyan suddenly asked. " If the rock says that Syaoran's going to die, what will you make of it? You can't change fate."

Eriol's head snapped up and looked long and hard at Xuyan. For a moment I didn't know what he was thinking, either of them.

" I hope to find out," Eriol began, slowly and quietly, " If Syaoran was going to suffer pain, if Syaoran can die peacefully if he should die, and see if there is any way out of this mess. There is a reason why the cave drew Syaoran and Yue. The forces are trying to tell us something, and I hope to find out what it is."
" Syaoran! Jingxi, where are you going?" Sakura suddenly cried.
" There's something down there." Syaoran answered, panting, running off. Sakura followed and the light went along with her.

We followed, me with my camera. It must have been quite shaky, the footage, I mean. I'm not a smooth runner. Syaoran was the one. Sakura also.

" I have to tell you this," Eriol whispered to me, as he dropped down to my pace, which was at the end of the group, " I'm pretty nervous about seeing that thing. If it turns out Syaoran is going to die a painful death and there's no way around it, I don't know what Yue and Sakura will do."
" Or any of us." I answered. " He's like our family."
" The source, anyway, for the time being." We slowed to a walk, for the others have.
" You know Tomoyo-chan, you really shouldn't have come here." Eriol looked at me. " You have no magic. Forces cannot sense who you are or where you are."

I gulped. I knew what he meant. Eriol said it anyway.
" I don't want you to get lost, which will happen if you're separated from the rest of us. Touya does not have magic but he has an identity. That the forces could recognize. You, you have no identity. You never had magic in all your life. So I want you to do this one favor for me, Tomoyo-chan."
" Ano...hai?"
" Stick with me. At all times. The forces know who I am. If we get separated from the others, I could get you out of here. So stick with me at all times. You got that? You can't depend on anyone else. Ruby is worried about Yue, Spinel and Kero about Syaoran, as Yue is, Sakura is worried about Syaoran and Touya is worried about Sakura. They are all looking out for others, you can't always count on them."
" Alright." I agreed. Eriol took my hand and he caught up with the others.
" Oh my god..." Sakura's voice whispered in the light. " This is so creepy..."
" The carving is so like a one or two D version of Syaoran and the rest of us." Touya observed. " How come I'm not in it."
" Because you're not important." Sakura teased.
" Enough." Yue snapped. I have never heard him snap before.
" He's right." Eriol led me to the front, still clenching my hand while studying. For some reason, I felt that he didn't know he was still holding my hand. There was a tiny giggle from Sakura, and I could feel myself blushing.
" I suppose this part never came out before." Eriol began. " Every carving shows Syaoran in his robes for some reason, so I suppose that this one," He pointed to the carving of something exploding on Syaoran's chest, " Is that time at the soccer game."
" Oh." Syaoran blinked. " That is quite an exaggeration."
" It's not. The truth is, you nearly died again. The Renague stone started glowing. I had trouble hiding it." Eriol answered in a matter of fact tone. " Now what's this? You're able to ride the wind? Literally?"
" Oh." This time, it was Yue, and he stammered slightly. " I guess, I forgot to mention."
" You don't need to. It's all right here." Eriol smiled. " You flew with him. Now that is so sweet, father and son thing," From the looks of both Syaoran and Yue I could tell Eriol was beginning to embarrass them. " You know, I always thought flying was the best gift any type of magic can bring, and I guess Clow agreed. That's why, after all, you guardians are all born with wings."

I don't know if Eriol was doing this on purpose or is he merely throwing stuff out of his mouth. But his words made all four guardians feel very self conscious.

" Now," Eriol began, " I could make out a little of what happens next. It's all a blur though. Syaoran-wait a minute!"

He yelled so loud it echoed eerily in the cave, Syaoran cringed against Yue and Sakura against Touya.
" Did you have to yell so loud?" I asked, truly annoyed.
" Gomen." Eriol said, a little preoccupied. " I just found out why these marks are eroded in the first place. They show what is going to happen, but the reason why they are eroded is because they are leaving a hole to widen. We are able to go on a different path."
" Are you sure?" Xuyan asked, not wanting to take any chances. Kaho studied Eriol silently.
" I think so." She said. " But we might need a different situation to see. We need something that's happening-"
" Chiharu!" Sakura cried. " Chiharu and Yamazaki-"
" Iie. You need something about magic to be in this cave." Eriol rubbed his chin. " Let's see, I had agreed with Xuyan about not changing fate, but if this goes for all, we can't be sure anymore. I know a friend, you remember her, Kaho, don't you? I want to see if her future is planned out for her."
" There's that glow again!" Syaoran pointed. " You know, Eriol, you command the forces really well."
" I don't command. They just comply. I guess it's all because of you." Eriol said simply, and, still holding my hand, which I had gotten use to, he dragged me and the rest of us over to where the glow, now dimmed, had come from.

" Perfect." Eriol announced. " This decision of paths only goes for Syaoran. Hold it!"

And we ran back. Where did Eriol get all these whims from?"


Hidden by a corner, was another few frames of pictures that Syaoran and Yue never saw before. It showed Yue and Yelan-san, Yue's feather and Yelan's hair entwined together, and glowing. Then it showed a small baby, with dead, dull eyes, and two souls, one soul pushing the other in. It jumped into Yelan, with a surprised look on her face, and embracing her child. Yue became Yukito.

" What do those mean?" I asked.
Eriol didn't answer. He simply nodded to himself, mumbling something, and I heard something like " I wish I saw what would happen to Anna," and then he turned away.
" What is that supposed to mean?" Syaoran asked. Eriol still did not answer. Instead, he said,
" I think we can leave now."
" Good." Sakura nodded. " I don't like this place."
" You still don't?" Touya asked.
" Hey, I'm the one producing light here." Sakura protested, and at her protest, she put away her card and all was dark.
" Domo arigatou." Syaoran said dully. " Now we're all in the dark. But I guess you're tired."

Saying this, he smited his hands together and out came a spark. A small flame, blue and whitish, burned in his hand, or rather, on it, floating, producing enough light for all of us to see.
" Come." Eriol finally let go of my hand and led the way. Up ahead, there was light. It was morning.