DISCLAIMER: I don't own any CCS characters, they belong to CLAMP or (very unfortunately) Nelvana, so don't sue me.
a/n: if you've followed me to this part of the story, I want to say thank you. I think some parts of the story, especially in the beginning, are kind of slow, but they're necessary. You'll have to take my word that the story only gets better. ^^ It's also not going to be quite as slow as the beginning anymore.



Power play




Two days passed. Everytime they tried to approach Concha about the keys, she changed the subject or brushed them off. Finally, Rika decided to try by herself. She dressed herself in native clothing, hoping that appearing as closely as a normal person would appear, she would be able to reach Concha more easily. Everyone would have objected to Rika going alone, since she, out of all of them, had not magic, or rather, she had no grasp of her magic. Concha didn't seem to have any magic at all, but that could have just been because she was hiding it well, and it could also have been that she really didn't have any magic and the one who had spelled the fake Key was merely a magician working for her. Either way, Concha was off limits to Rika as long as she was by herself. Of course...no one knew she was going to see her.

As she approached Concha's recieving room, she heard loud arguing between two women. One of the voices was Concha's and the other, Rika didn't recognize. She stopped in front of Concha's door and hesitated for a moment. The yelling stopped abruptly, as if someone inside had heard her. Rika hesitated a moment longer before tapping lightly.

"Come in," Concha's voice answered sweetly. She looked a little flustered and seemed to be more than a little upset over something. Rika went inside and looked around, expecting to see someone else in the room, but seeing only the usual maids. "Have a seat, have a seat," she waved, seeing that it was Rika.

Skipping over the formalities, Rika jumped right in. "Concha, you must be a very powerful magician," Rika half accused.

"What do you mean?" she asked, politely bewildered.

"I mean, to conceal yourself so cleverly and pretending you have no magic."

A panic slowly started to creep into Concha's dark eyes. "I really don't understand..." she trailed off.

"You made a fake key, disguising you magic to feel like someone else's," Rika accused.

"What are you talking about? I have no magic." A slight wrinkling around her eyes showed her increasing distress.

"If you have no magic then, you must have hired a powerful sorcerer. You certainly live lavishly enough to hire one."

"No, no, I did no such thing. I do not know what this..this key you speak of is."

"You have to know what the key is because you are the one who somehow concealed it. You must know!" Rika tried to control her emotions, but Concha's unease was sneaking up on her.

"I do not know. I don't know what you're talking about! I own no talisman that looks like what your friends described to me. I've told all of you that already. Why don't you just go along on your merry little way?"

"Because we know the key is here somewhere. We must have it. It is essential in saving-" Rika cut herself off, not wanting to give away their true mission. She knew, though, that this consistant pleading was wearing down Concha's steely barriers and if she kept it up, Concha would tell her something of interest.

"I sorry that you will not be able to find the key. It is clear that you wish to possess it and it is also clear that I do not have it. I suggest you look elsewhere."

"No," Rika said, her voice lowered so that it was barely perceptible. "No. It is here somewhere. You know where it is. I know you do. Whether you have been bewitched by your magician to keep silent, or whether you gave it to a servant as a gift, you have it somewhere in your house, this I know."

Concha was quiet. Rika could feel her trying to calm herself. Concha was battling herself, trying to surpress a secret. "I...I...kn-" Concha started, but a maid servant suddenly fell over. Concha rushed to her side to help her up.

Rika watched silently. Something about what was happening was wrong. All wrong. Concha helped the maid up. The maid seemed to accept her mistress' help gratefully, but the expression on her face was out of place. For a moment, Rika was almost positive she hadn't seen it, the grateful expression on the maid's face dropped and in it's place, was an expression of hate. Why would the maid hate the help her mistress gave her? It made no sense, but many things didn't make sense.

When Concha returned, Rika felt a new resolve in her. She she would have to start over, softening Concha's will. "I know not what you speak of," Concha said firmly.

Rika turned around, not wanting to speak lest she speak irrationally. After a long pause, "You disappoint me, Concha. I thought you would be a noble woman, and do everything in your power to help us in our mission." Rika paused, wondering where to go next.

"And I have done everything in my power. I have very little power. I have tried to find out what you are talking about...I-" Concha stopped, thinking back to right before Rika came, when she was arguing with the real Concha, the magician Concha, the Concha who was disguised. The real Concha had bidden her to deny the visitors what they wanted and had dismissed her when she inquired what the key they kept referring to was. "I really did try everything in my power. Do you understand, that people expect me to stand around and be beautiful? Do you get it?"

"There are always ways to get around rules," Rika said softly.

"Not here there aren't," Concha said hesitantly, as if she wasn't sure whether or not there were.

"Yet you sound so unsure. Tell me Concha, what do you not want me to know?"

"What do I not want you to know? See here, I've been perfectly reasonable with you. I've told you a dozen times that I haven't the slightest clue what you speak of, yet you insist that I somehow magically know what you are talking about. Why? Why?"

"Because you do. You know it, I know it, but you're fighting yourself on the inside, because you don't want to tell me." Concha looked stricken. So, Rika had guessed what was so distressing to Concha. "I know I'm right. I can see it on your face, so you'd best just tell me what you're trying to hide." Seeing that Concha wasn't about to speak, Rika continued, stretching what she knew a little to make her word more intimidating. "My friends and I, we all have great magical powers. All of us. If you will not tell us, we can easily tear apart your house and look for the talisman, brick by brick, plank by plank."

"I-I-"

"Tell me what's bothering you," Rika modulated her voice so that it sounded like honey. "That internal conflict of yours will stop if you just tell."

"I-I-"

"Will you please-" Rika was inturrupted by a frantic Concha.

"I'm not the real Concha. The real Concha-ah--ah----ah---" her had flew to her throat as she lost her voice.

Rika rushed to her side, cursing to herself. A crash behind her caused her to spin around. But Rika turned too late. All she saw was a door closing, but the maid was missing. The maid that had fallen over a few minutes before. She had not given the fake Concha a look of hatred, but a warning look. "This is just a wild guess, but that maid. She was the real Concha wasn't she?" The fake one nodded. Then what happened makes sense now, Rika's thought's raced. She wanted to sit down and sort through them, but there was no time for that. She rushed out of the room, promising to be back as soon as she found the real Concha and ran straight to find everyone else.

"Sakura, Syaoran, Kero, Eriol, everyone," she panted, "we have to go looking for this - this maid. She looks kind of like Concha, except with darker hair and skin that's a touch lighter...."

"What for?" Nakuru demanded.

Rika shook her head. "Questions later, we have to find her. Now!"

No sooner had she said that, then she was on her way too look for her, everyone else following. They split into two groups, heading in two opposite dirrections. Rika, so absorbed in sorting out her thought of the treachery and finding her way, did not notice Sakura, Yue, Nakuru trailing after her.

Sakura suddenly stopped them. "Syaoran says they found someone trying to leave...in a hurry," she looked meaningfully at Rika.

"Let's go then."

"Don't you want to know where she is?" Sakura called after Rika, who had rushed off.

"Oh....yeah," Rika grinned sheepishly.

"Stables."

"Cool. By the way, how did you talk to Syaoran?"

"Oh...that...I don't know, we were just able to do it one day..."

When they got to the stables, they saw Suppi and Kero watching a woman draped in a dusty, ragged cloak, looking sullen and spiteful. Rika took one look and confirmed her identity. "You're Concha aren't you?"

"So what if I am?" she spat.

"If you are then you can help us," Sakura said.

"No one says I'm going to help you," Concha lifted her chin stubbornly.

"We'd like it if you would help us.

"I know it."

"Do you know what we're looking for too then?" Yue asked.

"Of course I do. I know lots of things."

"Will you tell us where it is?" Rika asked.

"I'd rather die than give my talisman to you."

"Oh would you?" Rika asked, bemused. She obviously didn't think that Concha would really die for the key of power.

"Yes, I would," she declared, pulling out a dagger.

Oh dear, I had no idea it would come to this, Rika thought to herself. "What-" she cleared her throat. "What's so special about this key that you don't want to give it up?"

Concha did a double take. This girl, who was bending so kindly over her, was...she wasn't...it was...she was Jadis! In Concha's mind, Rika's face became infused with Jadis'. "You," she whispered. "You said you would be back for this. I didn't believe you," Concha pulled the talisman out from her dress.

Rika stepped back in confusion. "What? What are you talking about?"

"You! Get out of here! I got rid of you once, I'll do it again," Concha yelled. To her, Rika was completely Jadis now; Jadis was all she saw.








a/n: well? What are you waiting for? revieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeew!!!!!!!!!!! *falls over anime style from holding breath too long*