Chapter 14

"Are we almost there?" Kero asked. They were in the other world looking for her palace. Sakura was leading, Yue was behind her, Tomoyo was second to last and Kero was the caboose. Li wasn't with them, he was guiding Sakura in her head so that they could find the place but Kero wouldn't have to loose his memory.

"Yes Kero, We're almost there." Sakura and them were hiking up a hill now and Sakura was almost at the top. She finally reached the top and stopped. She gasped for air. She felt as if she would faint. She lost her balance and fell backwards down the steep hill. She screamed. Yue looked up and caught her. When she regrasped reality she thanked him.

"So what did you see up there kid?" Kero asked.

"A horrifying, dead, waste land and a dark palace sitting in the middle of it. It didn't seem to have any life at all." She explained what she saw. She looked back up the hill. She didn't want to go back up there but the Li inside her told her to go back. She listened to him and trusted him so she hiked back up. They all stood at the top and looked around.

"Is this it?" Kero asked looking around the deserted, gloomy place.

"Yes. It is." Sakura said sadly. She turned to her friends with a smile of encouragement. "Well what are we doing standing here?! If we want to make this place beautiful again, lets move our feet!" She encouraged.

Everyone smiled and nodded. Sakura pulled out her key and transformed it into her staff. She used the fly card and carried Tomoyo on her staff with her to the palace. It seemed the only way to get there was to fly. Everywhere around it was rotting and decaying.

They were all inside and Sakura used the illusion card on all of them so no one would see them. They would just see the hallways. They could freely walk around but they still had to be quiet. They roamed the halls until they found a huge door that had dragons and symbols all over it. They looked around and made sure there were no guards, they then opened the door slowly. When they opened it all the way, they found swordsman and warriors of all kinds looking straight at them ready to fight. They didn't make a sound. They were going to run back the other way when a voice stopped them.

"Don't be so rude princess, come in and great these people that have been awaiting your arrival." She said with a wave of her hand. The doors closed before they could leave or even move. They turned to face, a not too pleased, Meiaku. She had an evil glare in her eyes, directed perfectly at Sakura. Sakura took her past of the illusion card off and revealed herself.

"Yes, your right, its me." In the back of Sakura's mind, she could hear Li yelling at her.

'What are you doing?!' he yelled.

'I'm saving my friends.' she yelled back.

'How is u getting caught helping your friends?' he asked confused.

'Because the others won't be spotted and they can go look for my Li and our Meilin.' she answered like it was obvious. Meiaku sent some soldiers to tie her up and hold onto her.

"My my, a princess as famous as you all here by yourself? Where are your loyal subjects? What ever are you doing here? This is my palace now. This is my world." She spat.

"Oh really? I thought that only when the royal heirs to the throne die, could you be called the next ruler." Sakura shot back.

"Hm.... Well I changed that rule. The new rule is, whoever's here and strong enough is the new ruler. That would make me the ruler."

"Hardly!" Sakura stepped on one of the guards' foot. He screamed out in pain and fell back. "A princess with no feelings and without kindness can never expect to have loyal subjects. My people will never follow you!" Another guard came over to detain her but she kicked him in the stomach. Her hands were already tied behind her back so she couldn't do anything about that. She could only fight back with her legs. She kicked another in the face and slowly made her way up to Meiaku. One soldier after another fell.

"These subjects of yours seem to see it my way. Just look at how many are bowing to me." She mocked. That pissed Meiaku off. When Sakura finally made it up to Meiaku, Meiaku had a surprise waiting for her. She had her little friend out in a matter of seconds. A knife. With some struggle, she grabbed Sakura and in a threatening way held the knife to her throat. She looked back down at the doors.

"If you want her back, you'll have to come and get her!" She yelled down. Tomoyo couldn't take it anymore. She revealed herself.

"No! Stop Meilin!" She screamed running up the stairs to Meiaku.

"Guards!" Meiaku yelled. The guards were tying her up and taking her away in a matter of minutes. She didn't stand a chance but she tried. Meiaku looked back down at the doors. "There are two more down there still in hiding. Dispose of all of them except Miss Daijoubi." Meiaku said heartlessly. "Take Miss Daijoubi to my room and make sure she's comfortable but don't let her leave your sight." Meiaku disappeared with Sakura still in hand.

Sakura could hear the slow dripping of water against the floor. She had a headache. She pulled herself up and found herself in that same room. She searched the room but saw nothing but darkness. Did she actually die? She heard a noise to her left and glared that way, trying to see through the thick darkness. A person appeared in front of her.

"Where am I?!" She yelled afraid of the answer.

"You? You are in my lair. In another world." They snickered.

"No! That can't be! Not again!" She pleaded.

"Yes, you are here so I can kill you. Help these days are pathetic, don't you agree?" Yet again, the person charged at her and grabbed her throat trying to strangle her.

She winced from the pain. She couldn't breathe. Where was Li when she needed him? She tried to say his name but it wouldn't come out. It came out as a whisper the next time, just like in her dreams. She all of a sudden

remembered that she never finished her dream.

"L-L-Li." She tried to say over and over. With the last bit of breath and strength in her, she screamed a dying scream. "Li!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Oh you poor thing. You actually think that Li is going to help you?! He can't even leave your body right now. There's a force keeping him inside you. You will die here and never see Li's face again. I will prevail." A vicious voice escaped the other person's mouth. It was Meiaku! But Sakura couldn't do anything about it now.

Her skin started to heat up. She was dying now, from spontaneous combustion. Or maybe from the pain of it all. She cried and couldn't breathe. When it seemed that she had fell into a deep sleep, the hands around her throat loosened up and then let go all together. In the back of her head, someone was calling her name over and over. It must have been Li but Sakura couldn't hear him. Sakura was left in the dark, sprawled out on the floor, lifeless. Blood was coming out of her mouth from her throat. She was bleeding internally. Sakura still had a little air in her lungs, but that wouldn't help her much.

In other words, Sakura was dead.

TO BE CONTINUED