Thank you to Thaliel for reviewing. I'll work on the paragraphs. Thanks for your suggestion.

The traitor is finally revealed. Who could it be? Read on to find out.



Turncoat
by Yami Yue

Chapter Three: Betrayal

The next morning Sakura awakened to find Kero fast asleep in his bed. She decided to wait until her dad and Toya were gone for the day to wake him. He needed his rest. She watched him sleep for a moment, when he shivered. Immediately Sakura pulled his blanket up to his shoulders. Her hand brushed the sun guardian's cheek as she pulled her hand away. She instantly felt added warmth and placed the back of her hand against his forehead. He was burning up. Her eyes widened in shock. Kero had a fever! The card mistress quickly got to her feet and threw on her robe. She headed to her brother's room first, sure that's where Yukito would be, but it was the sound of voices downstairs that drew her attention first. She headed toward the sound of the voices as silently as Kero himself. There in the kitchen was Yukito, along with Sakura's older brother and her father. She had to get his attention or rather Yue's, without peaking the interest of her brother or father. Taking a deep breath she entered the kitchen. "Good morning." She called in greeting. "Good morning." The three men called back. "Yukito I could use your help with something." She said, turning to face him alone. Yukito's alter ego could see the worry in her eyes. "Sure Sakura." Yukito said as he stood and followed her out of the kitchen. Immediately after they were out of sight, Yue returned to his true form. "What's wrong?" he asked softly. "He's worse." Sakura whispered. "I think he's got a fever." Yue didn't reply. He silently headed up the staircase to Sakura's room. She followed and found the moon guardian placing a cool hand against Kero's forehead. "Something doesn't feel right." Yue said. "His magical energy feels…..different." "Could it be what's making him sick?" Sakura asked. "Perhaps." Yue answered. "For now I can only try to cool him down." The angelic guardian closed his eyes and stayed absolutely still. Sakura waited anxiously for what seemed an eternity, though it was only a mere five minutes before Yue opened his eyes and stood. "He should awaken soon." Yue said. "His fever has gone down some, but I'm not sure it will break just yet." Sakura sighed with relief. "Thanks Yue." She said, then kissed him on the cheek. If Sakura had been looking at him a moment later she would have seen Yue blush. "I will be downstairs if you need me." He said, then headed back downstairs and returned to his borrowed form. Sakura took one last look at the peacefully sleeping Kero and decided to shower and get dressed and let him rest.

"Kerberos." A voice whispered. Kero opened his eyes and looked around. He was in Sakura's room but he was the only one there. "Kerberos." The voice whispered again. He could feel an unfamiliar magical presence. "Come to the window." It instructed. The little guardian beast frowned. "Who are you?" he demanded. Suddenly he felt the headache from the day before return with a vengeance. "Ask no more questions." The voice hissed. "Just come." The pain was gone as quickly as it came. Kero was smart enough to realize he had to play along. He climbed out of bed and flew towards the window. He was halfway there when Sakura re-entered the room. "You're up." Sakura said in surprise. The unfamiliar presence vanished. Kero turned to face her. "Did you feel that?" he asked. "What?" Sakura asked. "Did you feel another presence here, an unfamiliar one?" Kero responded. Sakura shook her head. Kero felt tired and sat down on the floor. Sakura noticed his sudden fatigue. "What's wrong?" she asked him. "I dunno. I just feel very tired all of a sudden." Gently, Sakura picked up her friend. She put her hand on his forehead. The fever was gone. "Do you want me to bring you some breakfast? I was on my way downstairs." She offered as she laid him back down in his bed. "Maybe later." Kero said as he closed his eyes. By the time she had placed the blanket over him, the guardian beast was fast asleep.

The whole day, Kero drifted in and out of sleep and ate nothing. Sakura and Yue took turns watching over him. The sun was setting as the two of them sat near Kero's bedside. Suddenly, the drawer where Sakura kept the star cards opened and the cards flew out of the drawer and circled around her. "You're worried too." She said softly as she held out her right hand. "Don't worry we'll figure out what's wrong and get him well again." She said. The cards placed themselves into her hand, regrouping into a deck. She slid the magical cards in her pocket. She sighed as she looked at the clock. "I'd better start on dinner." Sakura said as she stood. "Yue, don't you think you should keep her company?" Kero asked with a yawn as he opened his eyes. "You two don't need to keep hovering over me." He said as he sat up. Yue looked to Sakura who nodded. "I'll be down in a minute." Kero assured him. "Go on." Reluctantly, Yue stood and followed Sakura out of the room. Kero climbed out of bed, feeling like his old self again. He stretched, then turned to go downstairs when the voice called him again. "Kerberos." The voice called, this time very feminine and sweet. "Come to the window." Kero froze. "Not again" he thought. "Come to the window Kerberos. Come and see the beauty of the sunset." The voice said, this time pleading. Kero had a bad feeling about this, still his natural curiosity and the fact that the owner of the voice could inflict very real pain won over his mind and he flew toward the window. "Kero!" Sakura called from downstairs. "Tell her you'll be right down." The voice instructed. Kero blinked in surprise. He was even more surprised at what he did next. "I'll be right down." Kero called back. He'd said it without hesitation, and before he'd realized the words had come out of his mouth. "Someone please tell me I didn't just say that." Kero thought to himself. "Hurry Kerberos." The voice said. "You don't want to keep the young lady waiting." The sun guardian did as he was told. The window opened and down below him was a woman. There was no way he wanted to go out to her in his borrowed form, but the window wasn't big enough for him to fit through in his true form. He'd learned that lesson trying to get into Sakura's home, one rainy night. He watched the woman below. She was standing with her eyes closed. Quickly, he darted out the window and returned to his true form. He glided down to the woman and landed a few feet away from her. "We finally meet." She said turning to face him. Kero didn't reply, instead he studied her. She was the same height as Yue, with a face and body that even the moon guardian would find irresistible. Her most striking feature was her hair. It was long and looked as soft as silk. The woman's hair was a deep red color, such a deep red it was the color of blood. If Kero had been human he would have been very attracted to her. "What do you want with me?" Kero asked, keeping his deep voice low. The woman studied the guardian beast with her gray eyes. Kero nearly shuddered looking at them. They were cold, not a trace of warmth was in them. When she smiled at him it only intensified the effect. She walked toward him, her every move fluid, graceful and seductive. The short tunic she wore only enhanced the effect, making her look like some dark goddess out of a Greek myth. "This is one of those times I'm glad I'm not human." Kero thought to himself as he watched the temptress walk toward him. Every part of Kero's mind was telling him to get away, get back to Sakura, but that stubborn side of him refused to let this woman scare him off, as much as she unnerved him. He was actually tempted to move a few steps back, but stood his ground. Even when she reached him she didn't stop moving. She reached out and touched the massive lion's right cheek, dangerously close to those very sharp teeth. Kero kept his golden eyes on her and stayed in place. "You wouldn't think of doing something foolish, would you?" she cooed. "You weren't thinking of attacking me were you?" "It never crossed my mind." The guardian beast answered honestly. "What do you want from me?" he asked again. "I don't want anything from you." The woman answered as she continued to circle him like a wolf circling its pray, her hand stroking the fur on his back. Still Kero didn't move "What a fine beast you are." She said moving back toward his face again. This woman was beginning to annoy Kero. The woman touched his left cheek this time. "If you don't want anything from me then why did you call me out here?" Kero demanded, still keeping his voice low. The woman crouched in front of him and put her right hand on his cheek. "Like I said I don't want anything from you." She answered. "What I want is you." Her cold gray eyes stared into his golden feline ones. Suddenly, they began to change, a blood red light began to show on the outer edges of the gray irises, gradually coloring her eyes to a blood red. For once in his life Kerberos was terrified.

"Kero!" Sakura called from the kitchen. "What are you doing up there?" She received no reply. "Kero!" Sakura called again. "Perhaps I should check on him. "Yue said. "I'll go check on him. Just make sure the food doesn't burn." Sakura said, then left the kitchen. "Kero." She called as she headed up the stairs. "He must have fallen asleep again." She thought as she opened the door to her room. "Come on Kero, time to wake up. You need to eat something today." She said as she walked to his bed. Instead of a sleeping Kero, there was an empty bed. A cool breeze from outside brought her attention to the window. "Oh no." she said, moving swiftly to the window. "What on earth would have possessed him to go outside?" From the window she looked down to the yard below. It was empty. Sakura looked to the sky to find some sign of her lost guardian but it was too dark to see anything there. She heard a door close downstairs. "Great, now someone's home early." She grumbled as she headed down the stairs.

 When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she saw no one. The living room was still bathed in darkness, the only light coming from the stairwell and the kitchen nearby. "Must of imagined it." She thought as she went into the kitchen, hoping to find Kero there. "I think this is done." Yue said as she entered. Sakura checked and indeed the food was done. She removed the food from the stove and placed it into a serving dish. "Where is Kerberos?" Yue asked. "I don't know." Sakura said, trying desperately to think of where her friend might have gone. "He wasn't in my room." She told him. "And the window was open. Where do you think he might have gone?" "To stretch my wings." Kerberos' deep voice replied from the living room. Sakura went into the living room to see the guardian beast of the seal standing in front of the glass patio door. The light of the full moon shone upon him in the dim room. "I was worried." Sakura said, moving to the middle of the room. Kero didn't move. "I'm sorry." The guardian replied. Yue came out of the kitchen next. The light from the kitchen creating a glowing effect making Yue look more angelic than usual. Kero was a stark contrast, looking more like a one headed, feline version of Cerberus, the dark guardian of the underworld. A shiver went down Sakura's spine. "I didn't mean to worry you." He said, his deep voice, the only sound of the room. His golden eyes reflected the light, in that eerie feline fashion. He was watching his mistress. "You shouldn't have gone out like that." Yue scolded. "What if someone had seen you?" Kero didn't so much as glance at him, he sat still unmoving, his eyes were still on Sakura.

Sakura hadn't moved since she stopped in the middle of the room. Something was telling her not to move any further. "Are you angry with me Sakura?" Kero asked, the tone of his voice was the same as when he first spoke to her. "No." Sakura replied honestly. "Then why haven't you come any closer?" he continued. Sakura tried to read Kero's expression, but the shadows of the room shrouded his face. She could see his graceful lion's body highlighted by the moonlight, but his face was in shadow, the eyes were the only thing she could see clearly. "I can't see you very well." She said. "I wouldn't want to bump into anything." As she spoke her hand reached up and touched her necklace, the other reaching into her pocket for the Light Card. Kero's body tensed. Sakura didn't bother with the incantation, she willed the staff to become it's full size. Something about Kero wasn't right. "What's wrong?" He asked as Sakura pulled out the first card that touched her fingertips. "Are you afraid of me…." he continued, moving closer to her. "Mistress?" the last word was spoken coldly, as if in contempt. Before Sakura could react, Kero leapt into the air and pounced upon Sakura as though she were a mouse, knocking her to the ground. He had her pinned beneath his massive paws. The last thing Sakura saw before her world faded to black was Kero's eyes, they were glowing blood red.


To Be Continued …