[A/N: IIIIIIIII'M BAAAAAAACK!!! I LOVE MY REVIEWERS!!! *extra glomping and random Lemon Pocky is distributed* ^_^ Wee…this chappie will have some Angst, then they'll finally get out of Syaoran's apartment! Yay! (XD not that I really mind them there…) On a quest to find the cards!! *dances around* Anywhoosles…Sorry Ewen, I don't know if Syaoran's gonna show Sakura up… (damn…), but I'll kinda excrete her from the story (o_O;; after this chappie that is…). Okee, I can't really think of anything else to say, so I'll be off…enjoy!]
Disclaimer: …I don't own CCS already… *goes of into a corner and sulks*
Title: Love Painted BlackChapter VII: Mirrors and Unshed Tears
Syaoran's eyes wearily opened, slowly shedding the bliss of sleep to adjust to the scant lighting of his room. Unable to remember why he had woken up, he slowly shifted his weight to roll over and go back to sleep. Expecting at least a small jolt of pain to shoot through his wounded back, he realized with a start that it didn't hurt any more.
"Nani?" He whispered absently, sitting up and turning his torso slightly to stretch the knotted muscles. //Humph. Hiiragizawa healed it, I bet…Damnit! I owe him enough already!!//
After coming to that conclusion, a loud, shrill ring of the phone shattered the room's silent calm with its piercing cry, reminding him why he had woken up in the first place. Grumbling, he reached over to lift the offending receiver up to his ear with a groggy; "Moshi moshi?"
"Ne? Li-kun?" It was a soft, worried, and all-to-familiar voice…Sakura's.
Syaoran did all he could to keep from letting his heart jump in excitement. "What?" He deadpanned, though there was a smile in his voice. Sakura was calling him!
"Um…Li-kun…I…" The voice on the other end grew uneasy, slightly shaky. She took a deep breath, as though steeling herself for what was to come.
"Sakura …?" He questioned hesitantly…she sounded so scared…
"Li-kun…I…" A sniffing, then a muffled 'He'll understand, you can do this' in the background…it sounded suspiciously like Tomoyo's voice…
His heart could have stopped then and there. In fact, he was vaguely suspicious that it did, seeing as suddenly he found it nearly impossible to breath.
"I…I can't go out with you any more Li-kun…" She finally blurted, it was evident she was crying now…Syaoran could practically see the tears flowing out of those amazing emerald colored eyes…
"I know." He whispered back.
"N-nani?" She sniffed.
"You love Tomoyo." He was getting his voice back, and the accusation came out in a colder tone than he had intended.
"H-how did you know? Li-kun?" She let out a miserable hiccough, a loud sniff, then a shaky breath. "Li-kun, I'm so sorry, I--"
She was cut off with a shattering crack followed by a distinct static. Syaoran stared straight ahead, the receiver shattered and broken in his clenched fist, auburn eyes blank and dry. He wouldn't cry…not over something that he had known for a very long time…
But it hurt so much to hear her say it.
Because she didn't love him. Had she ever really? It was hard to say.
The door cracked open, and in popped a smiling face. "Li-kun? Wei made soup, and…" Eriol stopped, blinking as he spotted the broken phone in Syaoran's fist.
"She broke up with me." the smaller boy deadpanned to answer the unasked question, not even turning to regard the mage as he slowly unclenched his fingers, allowing the remaining shards to litter the bedspread. "She loves Tomoyo…and I…I'm…"
He stopped speaking, slowly exhaling and flopping backwards forcefully into the pillow and mattress beneath him. Casting the mage a sideways glare completely devoid of any emotion, he turned the auburn stare towards the ceiling once again. "Why are you still here anyway?"
Eriol blinked, sweatdropping. "Never let it be said that you're not full of tact, Syaoran."
"Well, I mean…I already owe you to much…and why? Why do you stay, anyway? You have a home, don't you?" For once the objection to the mage's use of his first name simply didn't exist.
Eriol smiled his infuriatingly charming, calm smile. ^_^ "I know you have your pride Li-kun, but accepting kindness from another human isn't always a bad thing."
Li opened his mouth to protest, though after a moments contemplation he seemed to decide that the silent treatment was more effective.
Eriol sighed and finally entered the room, setting the tray that he carried next to the more or less moping boy. "You really should eat Li-kun," He said quietly, flicking an attentive navy colored glance towards the door for a moment. Then quite suddenly he added; "There's another card."
"I know, I can sense it." Li snapped back. "Which one do you think it is this time?"
"I don't know. It has a fluctuating aura. Perhaps it is the Illusion. Or the Mirror? Hard to tell. It could even be the Change." Eriol was smiling calmly, as though he were talking about something as trivial as the weather.
Li nodded, sitting back up. "…And it's coming closer. We're going to have to get out of here you know. The cards just keep coming and coming. Maybe if we leave Japan we can lure them away from any populated areas…"
"Hai." Eriol had suddenly lifted his pale hand, the sun tipped staff appearing in his slender grip. "I believe it is the Mirror card." He said simply as a form stepped silently into the room, smiling cruelly.
The Mirror card, or rather the Fight card, advanced upon them. Mirror's uncanny ability to make an exact copy of anything held true.
"Another fight?" Syaoran asked, sounding slightly bored.
The Mirror only smiled. "Yes. Another fight." There was a blue blur, and before either Syaoran or Eriol could move, the mage's body was being pummeled by an onslaught of powerful punches and kicks.
Eyes widening, Syaoran instinctively called his sword and pulled out the two cards he had already captured. Unable to waste time weighing his options, he decided to take the risk of momentary insanity in order to save Eri—err.. stop the Mirror card. [XD]
"RELEASE!!" Smoke spiraled up and around, colors flew blindingly, power clashed through his veins. The world around him plummeted into endless black, sharp numbness filling through him with painstaking slowness that was unmistakably swift. Everything was gone, but objects littered and crowded him. The air was tinged with scents both sweet and bitter, the air was icy hot, the wind powerful and gentle. His sight was blurry, and at the same time sharp. He was floating while rooted in one place. He was scared and filled with courage.
And standing across the vast chasm of darkness and light was a single figure. The Fight card. It regarded him intently.
'You wish to use my powers.'
"You are mine." His voice was loud and soft, harsh and timid. He commanded her and pleaded. Three simple words into the darkness.
'I am no one's.'
"You are mine."
'Why?'
"I defeated you. With my own hands. You. Are. Mine."
The blackness faded, the light spiraled away, and quite suddenly he felt real again. The room jerked back into his view, and with it the Mirror and a very bloody looking Eriol Hiiragizawa.
A voiceless whisper echoed in his ears, another presence shared his body. He had merged with the Fight card.
Turning from her already beaten foe, the Mirror regarded Syaoran calmly before lifting her fists into the air and charging towards Syaoran.
Li ducked, dodging to the left before bringing his foot flashing upwards to smash into Mirror's jaw. There was a resounding crack. Syaoran and the Fight's powers in the martial arts were much more powerful than the Mirror's imitation. A solid, formidable force.
Two more punches, a powerful roundhouse kick, and one uppercut later, the Mirror lay across the room, sprawled haphazardly, her dazed cerulean eyes slowly fading as her image was once again as the Mirror.
The small circular mirror was laying at her feet, and when Syaoran took one step closer, he caught his reflection. Blue. A light, sharp blue were his eyes. A small red diamond glowed through the thin fabric of his shirt, and his hands were clad in the sapphire fingerless gloves that he knew the Fight wore. Taking only a moment to consider this before his form reverted back to it's original amber-eyed, messy brown haired normal state.
Grabbing his forgotten sword from the floor, he raised it high above his head and shouted the powerful incantation; "By the power which flows through my bloodline, I command you, Mirror, to return to your power confined!"
There was a slow moment, a dragging second, where the Mirror's form slowly liquefied and slid from her position on the floor to creep through the air and fold herself within the card that was now sealed beneath the point of Syaoran's sword.
Snatching it from the air, Li turned his attention towards the corner, where the utterly battered (and quite beyond any repair that Li could administer) mage lay, unconscious and bleeding rapidly. "My god, Eriol…"
[A/N: Ack, 'tis not my fault that this chapter didn't get out till now this time…FF.Net was going haywire every time I tried to upload it (stupid AOL)! ;-; Dun blame me!!!]
^_^ I'll be adding the URL for a picture of all of the cards used in this chapter from now on…check back to earlier chapters to see pics of the cards used there.]
The Mirror:
http://www2.msstate.edu/~rel4/ccs_c-mirror.jpg
The Fight: