Chapter Five: Bad Predicaments
Day 4 - Earth
"Well?" Tomoyo asked when Yue and Nakuru returned.
Yue shook his head. "We cannot do anything until Kaho can figure something out. She said that her research can take quite a while. In fact, it could take weeks!" He cursed silently under his breath. "It would be easier if we had the amount of power that Eriol possessed."
"But we don't," Nakuru continued from Yue's part. "So all we can do is wait. Kaho is our best bet, Tomoyo. Until then, I suggest that we go as if everything was just fine. Please, Tomoyo," she said, turning to look at the girl, all humor gone from Nakuru's face. "I know that it sounds as if I am speaking directly to you, and in a way, I kind of am. We all have no problems with this. I'm not attending school anymore, and Kero can just stay here. Yukito won't remember a damned thing. You, Tomoyo, will remember all that goes on through your life."
Tomoyo nodded. "I can't guarantee anything good, but I'll try. I... oh, I can't believe that this even happened!" she shouted in frustration.
Nakuru crouched down next to Tomoyo and slowly picked her up. "Come now," she said in a surprisingly reasonable tone, "I will bring you home." Nakuru then nodded off to the others. "I assume that you all will do just fine?"
Yue nodded. "I have no worries. Except my borrowed form will have some explaining to do." With those words, he walked back out of the window and flew off into the sky, which was gradually turning into night.
Nakuru sighed. "I guess it is time for us to give up for the night. Let's go, Miss Tomoyo."
*~*~*~*~*~*
Day 4 - Shadow World
"Eriol," Sakura said wearily as they walked down the path, "the sun is going down..." Just as those words came out, the two of them watched as it sunk away from their view.
"Well, I suggest that we put up a camp for the night then. Come on. Let's get off the road." With those words, Eriol gestured to with his head to the side of the road. They walked off the flat, rugged road to a more bumpy one. The forests were about fifty yards away on each side. Eriol sighed. He bent down to the ground as he mumbled a few words. When his wand appeared, he quickly pointed it straight to the ground. Suddenly, a dark circle of twenty feet in diameter appeared, and changed to the shape of a hole. "Come on, Sakura. Jump in."
Nodding silently, she did so. But as she entered the hole, Sakura realized that it was all pitch black. There was no image of a wall to show how far she could go. It showed no steps to get back up, and the entire thing was about nine feet deep. After Eriol jumped in, he waved his hand in the air, still mumbling, and waited for a shimmering shield to appear before he stopped. "We can see out, but nobody can see in," he informed her.
"How do we get back out?" she asked worriedly.
"When I undo the spell, the ground will rise until it is on the right level. Don't worry about a thing, Sakura."
"Well, what about these walls?" she asked, knocking on them in order to show that there was a barrier. "Why can't we see where they end?"
Eriol sighed in exasperation. "Look, it's only a small room to stay in. You don't have to be so picky about it."
"Well, fine," she mumbled as she sat down with her legs crossed.
Shaking his head, Eriol shrunk his wand back down. Then, he blinked. "Oh, darn!" Eriol cursed, slamming the base of his hand to his forehead. "I'm going to go get some twigs and branches to light a fire. I'll be right back, Sakura. Don't move," Eriol said as he started to get up.
"No! But!" Sakura cried, freezing him in his tracks. When she saw that she got his full attention, Sakura continued, "why can't you just... you know, use your magic and all? You can easily just get a small fire started, and just let it float there the entire night."
Eriol shook his head. "I know I can, but it'd be better if I can save my magic for more useful things, Sakura. I brought matches with me, okay? All we need is some wood." With those words, Eriol jumped up, through the shield, and ran off.
Sakura shook her head. "Show off," she muttered when she saw that he could easily get out of this freaking hole. She remember back then, in fifth grade, when he would try his best to conceal his talents. Never showed more than he was supposed to. These days, though... Eh, he didn't do too much, but still! It was more than just smiling and giving her a rose from a bouquet he had.
Sakura smiled at that memory as she huddled her knees to herself, just sitting there. He had such a very warm smile, too. There she was, just sitting there, doing something. She had forgotten what it was. And suddenly, a red rose popped up right in front of her eyes. She had looked up, and saw Eriol smiling with his eyes closed, the rose gently held in front of her. He had such a gentle hold on things... and he still does... Sakura giggled. She had heard later on that Syaoran was fuming when he saw that happen. Oh... back then, she didn't even notice Syaoran's changing emotions, because she was still too infatuated with Yukito. Ah, wonderful life.
Sakura felt the feeling of contentment as she started to remember the basketball game, too. Now she realized how pissed Syaoran was when he realized that he had to go against Eriol. But there he was. Eriol was just standing there and smiling at him. That smile, Sakura realized, never wore off. He'd always have it on him. He had it after she defeated him in their confrontation. He had it when he first came to their school. He always had it. He had it when he joked to her with the whole letting the stick go to see which way they should walk.
"What are you so happy about?" somebody's voice interrupted into her thoughts.
Sakura snapped out of her daydream, and saw Eriol there, kneeling on the ground as he placed the branches in the center of the floor. Smiling at her, the curiosity was shown on his face. Sakura smiled back. "Oh... It's nothing," she said. "It's nothing at all."
*~*~*~*~*~*
Day 4 - Shadow World
Syaoran sat down in front of the doorstep and stared up to the sky. No stars. There were absolutely no stars here. But... "Two moons?" he whispered, and held his arm out, as if reaching towards them. Beautiful... he thought. The other night, he collapsed just when he got to Tgaeh's house. Tonight, he'd stay up for a few more minutes before he'd go to rest.
The prophecy... he remembered, spoke of bringing a 'wizard watch' along as well. That means... that if I AM this so called savior, then... that means that I dragged somebody to this world along with me.
Syaoran shook his head. Nobody could get into this world, right? He doubted Sakura possessed enough magic to get in here. But... she was always tenacious.
What about Eriol? he thought, and got an immediate sense of annoyance surge up in him. Didn't matter if he was his ancestor or not, Syaoran could've sworn that Eriol really DID have a little something for Sakura. But then again, he was always nice like that to everybody. Syaoran shook his head. How did this thought come up again? Oh, yeah!
"Damn it!" Syaoran cursed under his breath. If anybody had enough power to get here to save him from this place, it would be Eriol. But then again... beggars can't be choosers. "Man..." he muttered. "Why do these things have to happen to me?!"
*~*~*~*~*~*
Day 7 - Shadow World
Sakura groaned as she woke up. "Where are we...?" she asked as she sat up, wearing a long t-shirt and sweats for when she sleeps.
"We were always are, Sakura, in the Shadow World," Eriol said, smiling down at her. "Come on. I let you sleep half the day away, and we need to get back up on our feet, on the road."
"What?!" Looking up, Sakura saw that the sun was shining down through the shield. "Why didn't you wake me up, Eriol?! We could've covered a lot of space and road by now! Why, we might've even found civilization!"
Eriol gave her another smile again. "Well, we've been traveling for quite a while in these past days. Last night, you fell asleep without any food, either," Eriol pointed out. "So I just decided maybe you deserve a bit of a rest. But, well, your rest is over. Your lunch is over there, Sakura. I'm going to continue picking up and clean this place out before we move."
Sakura glared at him, not to his surprise at all, and he hastily continued, "it's really no use to yell at me, Sakura. You should be hungry by now. Come on..." he persisted. "Yelling at me won't make it so that we get the time back, okay? So you might as well eat."
Sakura sighed wistfully as she crawled out of her sleeping bag to where the dying fire laid. She stared at the food in front of her, and then looked at Eriol. "You brought sushi with you?" she asked, as she took a small bite out of one.
Eriol turned to look at her from where he was packing, and shook his head. "I found them in your pack, and just thought that I should make them for you."
"Wait a minute..." Sakura whispered dangerously, narrowing her eyes at him, as she started to edge towards him. "You looked in to my pack?!"
"Hey!" Eriol cried hastily. "I didn't see anything! The food was on top! At least, the sushi were. Come on, Sakura! What are you getting so uptight for?!"
Suddenly, Sakura stopped in her tracks, and something popped into her head. She chewed the sushi. And again. "Tomoyo..." she mumbled in realization. "This is how Tomoyo's sushi tastes like. She must have put them in my bag before we left. But, she could've just left them in her own... Oh, geez." Sakura sighed as she felt herself tear up at the thought of everybody not being here with her. Yeah, she didn't want to get them in danger and all, but it would've been nice, too, to see them here with her. Then, she remembered that she had shoved all her clothes to the bottom of the pack, and a cloth covered them. So there was no way that Eriol could've gone through any of her... private stuff. Oh, God. Now she felt stupid.
Sakura got up abruptly. "I'm going to go find a lake to change and-" she started to inform Eriol when something clattered out of her. The two of them stared at the object that fell out of her clothes. Eriol picked it up delicately and looked at Sakura from where he knelt. Then, he stared at it some more, examining what it was, and what was in it.
"Why did you break this necklace, Sakura?" he asked, holding it up by the locket, with the golden chain broken in two, hanging in the air.
Sakura bit her lip. "I-I was angry, and wasn't thinking right." She then slowly rested her hand on the back of her neck. It turns out that when she tore it off, a part of the chain cut slightly into her neck. It stopped bleeding quickly, but she could still remember the slight stinging pain she felt after she finished crying. There was also a small scar there, but hardly noticeable. At least, that was what she thought.
Until she saw Eriol staring at the results of the small wound.
Eriol got up, took her hand off of her neck with his own, and lifted her hair up with his other to stare at the wound. His closeness caused Sakura's breathing to become unstable, knowing that he was weighing everything he saw. All Sakura could do was look at his shirt, trying her best to not show how jumpy she was with him so close. Thank God she was shorter than him, coming up only to his nose.
"This... you did this on that night, didn't you?" he whispered as he let her hair go, falling back down her back.
Sakura gulped as she shook her head. Maybe he'd believe her.
Then she heard him sigh in exasperation.
Or maybe not.
"Sakura," he said in a clear voice, finally backing up from her, "if we're supposed to do this, then you're going to have to be truthful and trustful to me. I can't do anything if you can't confide or have faith in me." Then, he handed back the necklace to her.
Sakura nodded meekly, her face flushed with embarrassment as she accepted the necklace, which he held in front of her for her to take. Sakura grabbed it back, and was about to stuff it back in her pocket when she noticed something. "Hey," she said, looking at the whole necklace, seeing that the chain was once connecting again. "You fixed it." Sakura looked up at him. "You said that you wouldn't use your magic for such small matters, though."
Eriol smiled considerately at her. "There is a pond just a about ten yards into the forest. It's perfectly safe and pure. I'll wait here for you while I continue to clean up." Then, he stood there thoughtfully, before he continued, "and... that didn't seem to be such a small matter for you, Sakura. Wear it again this time, okay? Wear it with no fear, now. It's all going to be all right."
*~*~*~*~*~*
Day 5 - Shadow World
Syaoran looked at his fingers after he filled up his basket. Ouch... he thought as he saw another cut form.
"Here!" Tgaeh said, throwing him a skin-bag filled with water. Syaoran gratefully took it and splashed the water on his hands, washing away all the dirt he could from the wound. Suddenly, he felt a hand slapped on to his shoulder, and he jumped.
Syaoran quickly turned around, and came face to face with a guard.
"What is it?" he asked.
"You are to come with me," the guard ordered. He wore breeches of white cloth that hung loosely, until they reached his boots of dark, black leather, which were up to his knees. There, his pants gets tucked in to the boots. He had on layers of clothing, and a piece of chest armor on, with a symbol of a two upside-down hooks, connected to look like ram horns. And in between the tips of the horns was a picture of a diamond. On his head, he wore a helmet of gray color, with streaks of silver in random places. Syaoran looked around, and saw that this was what a usual guard had on.
Quickly, he wiped his hands on his dirty jeans, and asked, "why should I?"
"Because, sir, if you do not, I will have to force you to. All we want you to do is to check out your new household. So come with me."
Syaoran muttered as he walked off, following the guard. He found them walking away from the site, towards a large palace. "Do we really have to come all the way here?"
The guard nodded shortly. "It is necessary."
They walked up a long marble stairway, leading up to higher ground, and up to the crystal white castle. Syaoran felt embarrassed as he realized that he was like a stick in the eye here, with his muddy and rag-like clothes. Heck, even his jeans didn't look like jeans anymore. He takes bathes every day, but still, even with an hour of work, the sweat and dirt comes right back on to him, as if he were a magnet or something.
Suddenly, they stopped at the main doors, which reach up so high that Syaoran could've sworn there became part of the roof.
"Clearance," the guard said to two other ones standing in front of the doors. They nodded, and moved quickly out of the way.
He opened the doors, and led Syaoran in, who's curiosity couldn't be held back as he stared around. He stared around, and gasped at the strong magic he felt in here, which almost brought him to his knees and caused his head to reel. There were floating pillars of clear crystals to hold the entire place together. The ceiling was decorated with a colorful painting of angels, where they flew around, as if they themselves were alive. The window panes rippled, as if they were water. The floor itself glimmered of glitter and jewels, even though there were none. Syaoran felt sweat trickling down his face as he tried to take control of himself. Strong magic... TOO strong... he realized. Tgaeh was right when he said 'master' was very powerful. Damn! How am I supposed to go against her and walk out alive?!
Syaoran then looked back at the guard, and his eyes widened when he saw a protective shield over him. No wonder he was able to walk so casually without needing to strain anymore than he did. Why didn't they give him one? Couldn't they see that he was struggling to just walk?! They walked up another flight of stairs to a hallway which Syaoran couldn't see down on the first floor. Illusions as well?! he thought. They walked all the way down to the end of the hallway, to a pair of golden doors. By now, Syaoran figured that this couldn't be about his household at all.
Who'd figured.
"Umm..." he managed to pick up his voice. "What's your name?" he asked as casually as he could with his strained voice.
"It is not for you to know."
"So... Can I call you Mushi?"
"Mushi?" he asked.
"Yes," Syaoran grinned. "In my language, that means bug." The guard was silent. This proved it. Syaoran had a more important reason to be here. If the guard didn't even attack him, then it meant that Syaoran was important, and was not meant to be harmed. "Oookay," Syaoran quipped. "Mushi it is."
When they got to the doors, 'Mushi' turned to glare at him, though the rest of his face remained the same. Then, he kneeled to the ground, with his head bowed as the doors swung open to his back. Syaoran just stood there, not knowing what to do.
"Thank you, bahrrn. You may go now. I shall speak to him myself," a numinous voice whispered softly, but able to be heard, even from such a distance.
The guard stood back up, never turning around. He looked at Syaoran. "Go."
Syaoran nodded. "See ya, Mushi." After he watch Mushi leave, Syaoran turned back to look in through the doors. An illusion appeared of a gray-colored rose, blood flowing from the bud, down the stem, and dripping from its tip. Syaoran narrowed his eyes, and walked in through the illusion.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Day 5 - Earth
"Hey, Eriol," a girl grinned and winked at him.
"Eriol!" another waved from across the yard as he, Sakura, and Tomoyo walked to class.
He rolled his eyes. "Disgusting," he spat.
"Well, Mr. Spinel, what do you expect?" Tomoyo smiled. "They're girls. So what if they find you hot?"
"They do not find me so-called 'hot.' They find my master hot!! I cannot tolerate this!!!" he said, his voice getting higher and higher in pitch and sound with each voice.
"Whoa! Whoa, calm down, Mr. Spinel," Tomoyo hushed, and then turned to Sakura, who was silent as she stared at her surroundings. "Mirror, how are you doing in Sakura's appearance?"
"Everything is fine, Miss Tomoyo," she smiled. "Hopefully I can do a good job of imitating her."
"Mr. Spinel sure isn't. Mr. Spinel! Eriol is constantly smiling! Not frowning!"
"Yooohooooo!! Yo, Eriol!" another one cooed.
Spinel turned to smile at her, his eyes narrowing and his mouth curving up to a sneer. "I shall kill you for looking at my master this way..." he whispered low enough for only Mirror and Tomoyo to hear. Then he turned to them. "How was that?" he asked.
"That is not a genuine happy smile!" Tomoyo protested.
"It is a very genuine smile," Spinel sniffed, turning back to her. "It shows how I really feel about that teenager over there."
"Oh..." Tomoyo said worriedly, "I sure hope that we can hurry up to go find Eriol and Sakura to go find Syaoran. I don't think I can keep up this charade for very long... Including the bad cast..."
"Hey!" Spinel glared at Tomoyo. "Are you saying that I'm very bad at acting?!"
"We're never going to make it through this..." she continued to worry, not noticing that Spinel was still glaring at her.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Day 7 - Shadow World
"Oh, man... I can't believe it," Eriol whispered, looking and pointing ahead. "Look!"
Sakura squinted her eyes, and she gasped. "There's smoke. So... there must be a town there! Let's go!"
Eriol started to run, when he shouted to her, "wait a minute, Sakura! Stop!"
Sakura jerked around to look at him, her hair now tied in a very loose ponytail. "What is it, Eriol? Look! We're almost in civilization! We're almost there!"
Eriol nodded. "But what if they find that we don't wear the same clothes as they do? What are we going to do then? I mean, look at us! We're wearing jeans and a t-shirt. Something tells me that this place is more medieval than modern. We need to think this through first. Do you have a long cloak of any sort?" Seeing Sakura shake her head, Eriol continued, "okay. I have an extra one. Come on. Let's put them on first."
Sakura sighed as she crouched down next to him. "And you say that you're getting irrational," she muttered. "Nice way of showing it, Eriol."
"I just thought that we might need it, you know. Here. It's a blue one." With those words, Eriol handed her a long, blue cloak, while he took a black one for himself. Sakura put it on, and realized that it was so long that there was about two feet left to be dragged on the floor.
Eriol bent down and waved his hand on the extra cloth. It receded, leaving it to be just the right size for Sakura. Eriol then stood back up, putting his hood on. His cloak was just right for him. He looked at Sakura, who was doing the same thing, and said, "now we can go."
"Oh, Eriol," she said thankfully as they started to walk, instead of running all the way there like before, "where would I be without you?"
"Um... Well, for one thing," he said, starting to count off on his fingers, "you wouldn't have a nice, black, dark place to sleep in at night. You wouldn't have had nice sushi to eat this afternoon. You wouldn't have gotten out of the Crossroads. You wouldn't have-" "See?" she said hastily, purposely interrupting him, "I rest my case. Thank you. Thank you very much."
"Yes, well, I'm here to help you, Sakura, just as anybody else would. After all, we are all friends, are we not?"
In ten minutes, they found their assumptions to be true. "YES!" Sakura laughed. "We found a town. Maybe we can ask questions about-"
Suddenly, when the two of them took one more step, a loud, alarming noise shrieked from all over. They looked around, and saw spears shoot out from the ground, surrounding them into a circle. Eriol narrowed his eyes and threw his hand out, ready to knock them down to run for it. Sakura watched as his magic fizzed and turned down to the ground, disappearing.
Sakura gulped. "Eriol? What's wrong?! Get us out of here!"
Eriol turned to look at her, his eyes shining with alarm under his hood. "I don't understand!" he whispered urgently and loud enough for her to hear only. "My magic faded. It seems that my powers don't affect these traps..."
Sakura grabbed onto his arm. "Eriol, give us weapons, then!" she cried desperately.
He quickly nodded, and twirl his hand in front of him, instead of attacking anymore. Two sleek, sharp swords appeared. They were of a clear color, showing no details, but could see the outline of where to hold it and where to avoid to touch. "Here," he said, and handed one to her. "Please, Sakura. Be careful. They may not look it, but they can really hurt a person if you truly tried. It's a matter of will, remember? Be in control."
Sakura nodded. "I understand," she whispered. "But... I don't understand how we got into this."
"Well, we're going to find out," Eriol muttered as a small handful of troops started to walk towards them. "Get ready, Sakura."
Then, the two of them stood back to back, ready for the spears to fall, and the soldiers to come.