Disclaimer: Card Captor Sakura the series does not belong to me; it belongs to Clamp.
Chapter Two: Disappearance
Day 2 - Earth
"What are you doing back here, Eriol?" Sakura asked, confused.
After taking out a tissue, handing it to her, and hearing her mumble something close to a thanks, Eriol said, stuffing his hands back into his pockets, "Well, I guess you won't believe me if I say that I'm here to see how well you're doing?"
Shaking her head, Sakura led Eriol out of the school so that they could talk. "Was never your style, Eriol," she told him. "So what is it this time? Another test for me? Another rogue card for me to capture? Or aliens from outer space? Because that last choice would be very interesting."
"Maybe you and I should wait for your current, ah... emotional outburst to simmer down before we get into any talks," he suggested.
Rubbing her eyes, Sakura said stubbornly, "I'm just fine. I... I just..."
"Oh," he then said. "Have you seen Syaoran around? I wish to have a word with him. Unless, of course," he said, turning to her, "you can tell me yourself why you're crying your head off."
"Look," Sakura growled, "can we just lay off this whole Syaoran thing? I don't want to talk about him." God. Even just hearing his name caused unusual emotions to gather inside of her and curl her out of her guts. Oh, man... Sakura groaned inwardly. I can't believe that this is happening to me...
Raising an eyebrow, Eriol handed her another tissue, just in case. "I see..." he mumbled.
"There's nothing to see, Eriol," Sakura sighed as she gratefully took the tissue from him. "I'm glad to see you again, and I am sorry that we did not do that huggy-huggy thing, but I'm just not in the mood."
"I can tell," he told her. "You never snapped at me before when we were in fifth grade."
Her hair flying as she jerked her head to turn to him, Sakura felt a small smile come upon her lips, as she started to remember what it was like back then. Even if back then WAS a test and all. "That was before," she said, and felt herself frowning again, "before Syaoran loved me..."
"Would you want me to punch him in the face, demand a straightforward statement and make him pay for making you cry?" Eriol suggested, feeling his throat tighten up. What in the world was going on?! He adjusted his glasses and they continued walking around the school. "I have not heard anything about it; do you want to tell me?"
Sakura shook her head. "No," she said. "Not yet."
Nodding, Eriol obliged to her answer. "You have strengthened, Sakura. Magic-wise, of course."
"How do you know?" she asked.
"I keep in track and touch with people who know you, and I keep in track with you. Need to know what one such as you is doing over the years."
"You do that, and you never tell me how you are doing? I don't hear a word from you after that disconnected phone call about four or five years ago?" she demanded, her tone now getting a bit angry. "So you thought it was okay that you knew everything that I was doing, and I don't have to give a damn about what's going on in your life?"
Gulping, Eriol smiled. "I didn't know you cared," he said casually.
"Well, I do," Sakura said, her tears finally drying up. "I don't get it. Did you forget about us, because you had bigger fish to fry or something? I mean, I know we're not really that 'important' and all, but it's still harsh that you just stop talking to us after all the danger was over. Not even a congratulation after I captured that last card. Not a telephone call at all."
Eriol shrugged as they continued to walk around the school. "I didn't think that you really cared," he repeated. "I mean, with Syaoran there, I thought he was enough to keep you happy and oblivious."
Sakura sighed. "It worked too well," she whispered.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Day 3 - _____ World
Syaoran woke up to the sounds of someone banging the bars to his cell. Jerking up, he stared around, and found the same woman staring and smirking at him. Quickly, he ran up to her, and grabbed her hand before she was able to react. "Who are you?!" he asked. "I am not letting you go until you tell me who are you, and what in the freaking world you did to me!"
Shrugging, the girl took out a key and unlocked a door. "Come," she commanded.
"Why should I?" he asked, not planning to move at all. Well, freedom was great of course, but who knew where this road was going to lead, and he was not going to take any chances. "I think that standing here will be just fine with me."
Feigning an obvious sigh, the girl said, "Well, I guess that Sakura can just die for all you care-"
Eyes widening in a second, Syaoran rushed out of the door, and grabbed her by the throat with one hand. "What did you do with her?! Where is Sakura?! I swear to God if you did ANYTHING to her-" Suddenly, the girl grabbed his arm and squeezed it, when an electrical surge went through him. "AHHHH!!!" Syaoran yelled as he loosened his grip on the girl's arm and kneeled onto the ground with her still holding on his own.
"Nobody - and I mean NOBODY! - threatens me but those who are higher than me," she said in a crystal, clear voice. "I suggest that you get used to that. Now, if you want nothing to happen to your cherry blossom girl, then you get on your feet and move. RIGHT NOW!"
Struggling to get up, Syaoran supported his weight on the bars as he glared at her, breathing hard.
"Now don't look at me like that; I know you love me," she smiled and turned around. "Follow me. And do not worry. There are many other scars to follow these, and there is also much work to be done. Oh, and since you sooo wish to call me something, you can think of me as 'Master'."
*~*~*~*~*~*
Day 2 - Earth
"Class, please welcome Hiiragizawa Eriol to this school. He has just transferred here from England."
Bowing to the class, Eriol smiled at them. "Thank you for making this a wonderful welcome. Hopefully, I'll be able to get to know you all." With those words, the teacher assigned Eriol his seat.
Smiling at Sakura, he sat down next to her again. Sighing, Sakura turned away, not wanting to really see anybody's face right now. They had to finish their conversation early, considering how school still started at the same time as always. Eriol didn't seem to have an answer for the response she gave him before.
Eriol shrugged as they continued to walk around the school. "I didn't think that you really cared. I mean, with Syaoran there, I thought he was enough to keep you happy and oblivious."
"It worked too well," Sakura whispered.
Silently, Eriol stared up at the sky. Sakura slumped as she realized that this time, Eriol would not be able to comfort her. He would not give her a rose from a bouquet that he had brought to class. He would not smile at her. Not that all that stuff was sincere, either. Feeling all these emotions come up in her, Sakura felt like digging up a hole and crawling in there. Maybe if she did, she can stay there forever.
"Kinomoto," her teacher's voice suddenly rang clear in her head. "Can you please tell me the answer to the problem on the board?"
Blinking for a second, Sakura suddenly felt an answer burst out of her mouth. "The current answer is negative. But since that doesn't fit in the requirements, considering how each answer is supposed to come out positive, it will remain undefined."
Nodding his head in satisfaction of the answer, the teacher turned his head back to the class and started lecturing on how that worked.
Swerving her head to her side, she turned to look at Eriol. He was wearing The Smile as he turned to look at her. "It seemed as if you needed a little boost, is all," he whispered softly to her.
Biting her lip, Sakura turned back to look at the teacher's mouth move.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Day 3 - _____ World
Syaoran hurried to throw the rock onto the second basket until he knew that was as much as he could carry for one round. He could not feel anything in his fingers as the cold wind suddenly blew against him. Hard. Syaoran groaned as he carried the two baskets of rocks on a rod, hanging on his shoulders, to the destination. When he got there, he quickly dumped the contents out. "Why in the freakin' world are we doing this in the first place?!" he grumbled, starting to pick up his baskets.
"The Master is making a new home for herself," somebody answered his unexpectedly. "And she needs this place to be cleared out. Never wanted to do things the easy way, you see." Syaoran turned around, and saw a guy around his age staring back at him.
"Who are you?"
"Tgaeh," the guy replied. He was about Syaoran's height, maybe an inch taller or so. He had deep black hair tied in a thin, long ponytail, wearing a plain white, ragged t-shirt, and slacks. "You new here?" he asked as he dumped his share of rocks in as well.
Syaoran nodded cautiously. "Who is she?" he asked Tgaeh.
The guy shrugged. "Dunno," he replied, "but she's been here for quite a while."
"How do you know?"
Tgaeh smiled at him ironically. "Because I was born into this job, and she was still the Master."
"Whoa," Syaoran murmured. "I can't believe that people put up with her."
"Hurry up. Come gather the stones again. We can't have the guards catch us being lazy, you know." As they walked, Tgaeh continued in a low voice, "she has magic."
"Magic?"
"Yep," he nodded. "Always did. I heard that about twenty-five years ago, some tried to escape. You know, rebel against her. Of course, I wasn't there to see it, but I heard it terrified lot of everybody else. The group whom tried were never seen again. Of course, they have tales about it. Some say that the Master has a scepter which she wields, and lightning bolts fly out. Other say that she can create monsters out of it. Don't matter what kind of stories they are, she's always carrying a scepter in them."
Picking up a rock, and feeling it slip in his hands, Syaoran quickly dumped it in his basket. "Why does everybody call her Master?" he asked.
"Has always been her name," Tgaeh shrugged. "My mother and father called her Master. Their mothers and fathers before them called her Master. She's just been Master and mastered us since anybody can remember. And if you call her anything else, by the way, you'll have Solitary."
"Solitary? What's that?"
Shuddering, Tgaeh said, "it's the worst. I had it for five minutes, and I came back looking all blue. At least, that's what mum and dad said. I don't remember anything about it, though... All I remember was that it was very bright, but very dark as well. Kind of glad that I don't remember, really. Don't think that I'd still be here if I did."
"Are you saying that people have died before from this... Solitary thing?" Syaoran asked, going to fill the second basket already.
"Oh, yes, yes. There were some would didn't even make it back! Why, I was just a lucky one. Some never came back out, and others die a few minutes after they stumbled back into their home. If their lucky, they're just broken and cry all the time. Who knows. It's always a different reaction when each one comes back, but they're always worse than before. I remember how my own parents choked me to death with their arms around me when I came back," he admitted sheepishly.
"Where are they now?" Syaoran asked. "Does everybody just go wherever they want?"
Tgaeh nodded. "We work wherever we want, as long as we are working. But that's not it." Sucking in some air, he picked up his share and walked back to the destination with Syaoran. "It's just that... my parents are dead. They died around five years ago."
"How?" Syaoran asked. When he saw Tgaeh raise an eyebrow and look at him, he realized that maybe that wasn't exactly a casual question to ask.
Shrugging, as if saying that it was okay anyway, Tgaeh replied softly, "they were the second wave of rebels since twenty-five years ago. It happened just about five years ago, and I have never seemed they ever again. They tried to bring me and my siblings with them, but somehow we escaped death when we were caught and, well, Brache, Sharhn, and I are still here. But they are dead. They're dead dead."
*~*~*~*~*~*
Day 2 - Earth
"I can't find him," Yue rushed his words out.
"What?!" Sakura asked. "Are you saying that he ran away?!" Sakura had ran all the way home from after school. Ironically, Eriol was in more than half of her classes. She'll just talk to him tomorrow. There was just too much happening to her today. No sooner had she thought that, she found Yue sitting on the window in her room.
Yue shook his head. "He left everything behind. I did not see anything out of place. He's just... not there."
"Are you sure that you checked everywhere?" Sakura asked, surprised that she heard a tone of worry in her voice. Either way, she couldn't calm herself down or shove this feeling away. "I mean, he couldn't have just... vanished, Yue. That's pretty impossible. Have you checked..." Taking in a breath, she tried again. "Maybe he's still with... You know. That girl," she finished lamely and quietly.
To her surprise, Yue said, "No. I have checked everywhere, and Kero is coming back right now. He fell asleep at Tomoyo's house." If he could add anything, Sakura thought, he'd probably call him an irresponsible git. But Yue isn't like that. "And about the impossibility, Sakura... I think that when it comes to you, with your magic, impossible things can, um... bend the rules a bit."
"Are you saying that..." Sakura whispered. "That he could have..."
"Vanished?!" another clear voice put in. "Oh, no! No, no, no, no! Um... no."
Turning around, Yue looked out the window, and his eyes narrowed. "Nakuru! What are you doing here?!"
"Please, Yue," she smirked, in her true form, floating outside of the window. When she flew forward, Sakura gave her some space to land in her room. "You don't have to look so happy to see me. Really. I mean, control yourself sometimes." Sakura could have sworn that she saw a glimpse of anger flash through Yue's eyes. "Well," Nakuru said, turning to look at Sakura, "I'm here to inform you something. Before the master gets home, of course, and realizes that I am gone."
"What?" Sakura gasped, her eyes widening. "Why?! You never really disobeyed Eriol before, have you?"
Nakuru shook her head. "I'm pretty sure Kaho knows I'm here, though. But then again, what doesn't she ever know," she muttered in annoyance. "Well, back to the subject... I know where your Li kid is. I know where you'd want to go to find him, and I don't want you to drag my master in to it with you."
Sakura shook her head in anger. "I wouldn't want to bother Eriol about this. Besides, after what Syaoran did to me..." she whispered. "How can I-"
"Oh, stop moping!" Nakuru yelled at her. "Did you really think that that stupid boy could've REALLY cheated on you?! Sheesh! Don't make me think that you're even MORE stupid that I thought!" Sakura glared at her. Man, now she knew how Spinel and Yue could dislike her so much. "I'm here to tell you that on the night you found him with that woman, which was just yesterday, a spell was put on him. Do you recognize that girl at all?"
Sakura shook her head. "I... I sensed that I knew her, somehow, but I just can't put my finger on it..."
"And I am not surprised, too," Yue put in.
"You're not supposed to be," Nakuru replied, moving to sit on Sakura's desk. "You see, Mistress Card Captor, there are other worlds besides this one. Others that parallels this one. Others where different creatures live in. I guess you can call them different dimensions, but they're actually different worlds."
"Are you saying... that this is where Syaoran was taken to? Against his will?"
"Well, basically, yes. That's exactly what's happened to him. Of course, I didn't sense it at first, either. Kaho did. I just felt that maybe I should tell you, in case you'd ever want to get him outta there and all. Doesn't seem like a good idea for someone to slip between worlds, after all."
Feeling a surge of happiness go through her, even though it was just a small bit, Sakura smiled up at Nakuru. "How do I get there?" she asked. "How can I get into one of those worlds? And do you know which one Syaoran's in? Like, specifically?"
"There are ways," Yue said, "that one can open a portal to one of these other realms. You certainly have the ability to do so. But... these things are very uncertain, and very random. When a portal opens, depending on one's will and level of magic, it can stayed open, or close right away. This type of stuff is very unstable, Sakura, and takes a great deal of risk."
"But how was she able to get to our world in the first place?" Sakura asked.
"Kaho said that she's been here for quite a while, living in this district. And she's obviously very powerful," Nakuru said, nodding to what she said, "or you'd have been able to sense her. I guess that we should have done something about it before, call you or something, but even we didn't sense it. In fact, our master had only suggested to come back here yesterday. Meaning that when she was making her move and returning to her realm, that was the only time he sensed her."
Sighing, Sakura slumped down onto her bed. "That means that I have another quest up ahead, huh?" she mumbled sadly.
Nakuru shrugged. "You don't have to go get him, you know. You can just leave him there."
"I can't do that!" Sakura cried, sitting up abruptly.
"Not to a descendant of Clow Reed!" Yue yelled as well.
Raising an eyebrow, Nakuru said to Yue, "Wow, Yue. I can't believe it. You actually sound as if you cared about what happened to this runt." That shut him up.
Sakura shook her head. "I can't leave him there," she said determinedly. "Even after what he did, I can't just leave him in some kind of a hell place and have him rot there. He is somebody that I still care about, and I need to do something about this. Now how to you two suggest that I open up this portal to the other world?"
"But we don't even know which world he's in," Nakuru argued.
Sakura blinked. "How many different worlds are there?!"
"And you do not know if he is happy there or not, Sakura," Yue added.
Nakuru groaned. "Great going there, idiot!"
Taking in his words, Sakura realized what Yue was saying. It's true, isn't it? she thought. I mean, well, Syaoran can be happy wherever he is right now, and it wouldn't matter to him what happened to the rest of us. I mean, just because he was taken there, doesn't mean that he didn't want to go himself. And even if he was put under a spell and kissed that girl last night, doesn't mean that he can't be doing it right now because he wants to. God... But... But what if he's not happy there? What if he's sad? How... How in the world can I know?! How-
"Hey! Girl!" Nakuru yelled, looking into her face. "Look," she said, getting up from the desk and sat down right in front of Sakura. "Trust me on this, okay? You're little honey-buns is not happy there. Wherever he is, he wants out. He wants nothing to do with that place, and he means it when he thinks that. You need to go get him outta there. There is no way that you can just leave him there. I know it sounds like I'm trying to get rid of you, but I'm not. Trust me on this. He loves you, okay? And there is nothing he wants more right now than to see your cute little face."
Looking up at her, Sakura whispered, "but how can you be sure?"
"Hey!" Nakuru said, shuffling her feet a bit as she got back up. "I know some of this stuff, okay? Now, I'll come back tomorrow and see if I can help you with anything. Maybe get up an image of where he is and what he's doing before we jump into anything which we can't get out of. When we are sure of which world he's in, then I'll help with that as well. Heck, I may even go in with you. But right now, just don't do anything except brood over him, all right? Don't do anything rash."
"I never do, anyway," Sakura mumbled.
"Yeah, but this involves the Li kid. That's different. Now I gotta go. I don't want my master to think that I came to see you or anything."
"Thanks," Sakura said in that same, dead tone of voice.
As Nakuru stepped out of the window, Yue whispered, so that only she could hear, "I didn't know that you would come all this way to cheer somebody up, Nakuru."
Glaring at him, Nakuru said, "Shut up. Everything I said is true. I wouldn't tell a lie. Well, not a big one, anyway." With those words, she opened up her wings and flew away from the house.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Day 3 - _____ World
"Ahh... Sunset, my friend," Tgaeh smiled contently.
Syaoran collapsed onto the rubble, not giving a damn that it was hurting his behind as he sat on it. "Are we done?" he asked wearily.
"Do you have a place to stay?" Tgaeh asked.
Looking up in disbelief, Syaoran replied, gasping for his breath, "No! I was kidnapped to this place, Tgaeh, by people that I don't even know! I don't even know if I did anything to them or not, and I really doubt that I did! Do you think that they'd be generous enough to give me a shelter place to stay?!"
"Ahh... so they didn't. Then come. You should stay with me until they inform you of your household. Really, since this was your first day, you'd be quite sore afterwards. I can give you some ointment."
Smiling up at him tiredly, Syaoran only managed a small, "Thanks." Then, getting up, he said, "lead the way. But slowly, please. I find that walking faster causes black dots to appear in my eyes, and that's usually the first symptoms of fainting and black-outs, something that I don't wish to experience."
"You seem to have quite a sense of humor for one as weary-lucked as you are," Tgaeh remarked.
"Yeah, well, I'm kind of in denial right now. Give me a day or two and I'll even have to strain all my muscles to just smile for ya."
*~*~*~*~*~*
Day 3 - Earth
"Here. Take some of this powder, and sprinkle it onto the Book," Nakuru said. It was after school already, and Sakura had rushed home. She had finished all of her work, and cleaned everything up before she did this. The sun had already set, and it was almost nine at night. But still, she'd have done this no matter what the time was. There was no way that Sakura was going to miss this.
"Why?" Sakura asked as she dotted some onto her hand, and sniffed it cautiously. "I didn't know that we needed this stuff for magic."
"Hey. You can't always just pull out a card and ask for it to become a tracking device." The two of them were sitting on the ground, with the book on the ground, with Cerberus and Yue watching from corner of the room. Nakuru smiled at them. "You guys knew this stuff already, right?"
"Hah!" Cerberus said haughtily. "Of course we did! Why, weren't we Clow Reed's guardians before YOU? Why shouldn't we know this stuff? We just didn't have any, is all."
"We never learned of this magic," Yue said stonily. "When we were by Clow Reed's side, I do not think that he learned of it yet."
Face-faulting, Cerberus glared at guardian. "Yue!" he growled loudly. "You didn't have to tell her that! She probably wouldn't have known anyway!"
Shaking her head, Sakura said, "Continue. I want to get this over with."
Whispering and murmuring a few words of chant, Nakuru motioned for Sakura to sprinkle the blue sparkling colored dust onto the book. After she did so, Nakuru whispered, "Book to show for me to see."
After the pause, Sakura realized that she was supposed to repeat along. Quickly, she sat up and said, "Book to show for me to see."
"Things to see, show me what they'll be."
"Things to see, show me what they'll be."
"Questions I ask, show me what I need to know."
"Questions I ask, show me what I need to know."
"Book of magic, show me where I need to go."
"Book of magic, show me where I need to go."
Gasping, Sakura saw a sudden beam of light from the engraved circles on the book shoot up to the ceiling. As the light dimmed a bit, she noticed movements inside. Squinting her eyes, she said, "I can't see that well."
"Wait. Just wait a minute," Nakuru mumbled. "I just can't believe that we got through, though." Looking up at the girl's face, Nakuru thought, her magic... It truly is getting stronger.
Suddenly, the light cleared, and the images were detailed... Too detailed. "Oh, God..." Sakura whispered, covering her mouth with her hands. There he was: Syaoran Li. "What happened to him?!"
Nakuru nodded, as if she was answering questions she herself had asked. "He was taken there, and now he is a slave. It seems that he can't get out. I wonder where all his magical equipment went..."
"It was all probably taken from him, most likely," Yue put in.
Nakuru nodded. "Yes. They probably knocked him out and searched him. Whoever brought him there obviously knew what she or he was doing."
Sakura shook her head wildly, feeling tears swell into her eyes. "He... he looks awful! What world is this? Can you guys identify it?!" she asked hastily.
"I can," a fifth voice put in.
Turning to look at her door, Sakura's eyes widened.
"M-master!" Nakuru choked, surprise on her face as well.
"Eriol?! What are you doing here?!"
"That doesn't matter," he said, no smile on his face this time. "I know which world that is." He walked up to them, and casually sat down next to the surprised Sakura and flabbergasted Nakuru.
"Which one?" Sakura whispered.
"It is the world which I knew of since I can remember. That, Sakura, is the Shadow World. You want to go get Syaoran from there? Fine. I'm just gonna be going with you."
*~*~*~*~*~*
Done! Hehe. What's Eriol going to do? What's NAKURU going to do? She's the one who wanted to keep him out of it. *shrugs* Please review now!