Hey everyone! Thanx for da reviews! I was so happy, getting them right after it came up! (Sniffles, happy tears streaming.) I love u guys!
Adriana: Sure thing, I'll send it when I finish with it! That'll be soon, I promise!
Fantasy-Seal: Thanks! I didn't think it was so good, cuz it was so short. I promise, the next chapters will be longer!
Starbolt1218: Later, it'll make sense why I made them young. I can't spoil it yet, can I?
Kei: Yes, coming! (Giggling like a madman)
LiL:.CaT:.AnImE: yes, I will type as fast as I can. I don't have mush homework, and what I do get is easy, so you can expect fast updates! Unless, of course, writer's block comes moving into my head . . .
So, on with da chapter!
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Sakura woke slowly, body aching. "owwwwww. Tomoyo-chan?"
"Mmmmm? Owwwww."
"Yeah. Where are we?" They were tied up by their wrists and ankles, but were close together, so they weren't freezing.
"The last thing I remember is being taken . . ." Sakura groaned at Tomoyo's comment.
"Tomoyo-chan, what if we won't be able to go back home?" She sniffled, and started crying.
"Daijobu, Sakura-chan. We'll get out of here. At least it isn't winter. That would be cold."
"Very cold!" They giggled tensely, not knowing what their fate would be.
"Mother, why can't I visit the dungeons? Mei Ling is allowed." Syaoran scowled at his mother.
"Because she's a girl, and doesn't have to take as many lessons as you. Go on, get to the training ground. You're to look over the troops for a semi-annual Royal Inspection. They expect you in full armor." He groaned. 'So much for getting answers from her. Wonder if Hiiragizawa has anything?' Syaoran walked off, going to change in his room. On the way, he ran into Eriol.
"Before you ask, yes, but I can't tell you here. After the inspection, during training?"
"Yeah, we can always get the old fart to get things we don't need."
"Right. Well, off you go. Need to be in your prime for the inspection."
"Cut it out." Eriol laughed as Syaoran stalked off. Hiiragizawa went to the training grounds.
"I think he'll be surprised. They look three years younger than us. How could she be so cruel . . .?" He asked no one in particular.
"Up! UP! You two aren't going to laze around! First, you get to go and clean my son's room." Yelan came into the cell Sakura and Tomoyo were being held in. They didn't dare look at each other. Plain gray garments were given to them, and they understood perfectly, despite being so young.
"May I ask a question?" Sakura asked feebly when she had changed.
"You already have. Fine, I'll hear you."
"Where is this room we are to clean?" Yelan looked surprised.
"A guard will show you. It had better be perfect when I check on you!" She slapped the two, hard, on the cheeks.
As soon as Yelan left and was out of earshot, Tomoyo asked, "Are we servants now?"
The guard chuckled. "Yes, and you won't be expected to talk. Whatever you learned from wherever you were will be useless here. You might as well do as your told. You might live longer that way." They didn't bother why he said 'might.' They were forming their own conclusions about the lady that had brought them there.
"This room is so dirty! How can anybody live in such a haystack?"
"The lord has been quite angry of late. He tends to break things. Now, no more talking! Everything you need is inside! Please, don't let Mistress see a spot of dust. If you do, you'll regret it."
"Thank you." He closed the door, and they got to work. They couldn't help but notice the view.
"Wow, Sakura-chan! Look at that!" Sakura came over, and gasped.
"They got a biiiiiig army. Bigger than mine . . ."
"It's going to be ok. We'll get out of here, but not before we clean up! Let's forget about home, we'll only be sad."
"Can we remember our birthday?"
"Of course! We can never forget!"
"Okay. Let's clean!" Comforting each other, they left the balcony and got to work.
Below, Syaoran stole a glimpse of his balcony, and almost fell off his horse. There were two little girls, and they looked no older than three. After a few seconds, they disappeared. He found himself wishing this Inspection was over with. After an hour, he was finally able to leave. Eriol met him at the main training grounds.
"I think she put the two to work already."
"Ho did you know there were two?" Eriol was shocked.
"I saw them on my balcony. I hope they don't throw anything away that I need . . ."
"Well, if you didn't let your room look like a tsunami had swept through, she wouldn't send servant girls into your room." They left quickly, Li leaving his armor on the hook in the equipment area.
"My Lord! Shouldn't you be training?"
"We finished early. May I go in?"
"My lady said . . ."
"I don't care what my mother said, it's my room!" The guard stood quickly aside as the young master opened the door to his room.
Inside, the two heard the commotion, and quickly stood together, the way they saw servants at their castle did when they were surprised by a sudden entry. They looked down as Syaoran and Eriol came in. Syaoran took one look at them, at his almost-clean room, then went back outside, leaving Eriol with the girls. They heard him shouting, and Eriol sighed.
"That was Master Li. He's not too happy today. I'm Hiiragizawa, Eriol. What are your names?" He smiled down at them, sitting on Li's bed. They didn't move. Finally, Tomoyo spoke up.
"Mistriss Yelan has not told us if we have new names. We can't answer your question until she tells us we can." Eriol frowned.
"How old are you?" Again, a pause. Sakura spoke up this time.
"Three."
"Three?! Damn her!" He got up in a flash and ran after Syaoran. The two looked at each other. The guard looked in.
"You'd better be cleaning when she gets here! No telling when that might be."
"Thank you." He shut the door, and they got back to work. A few minutes later, Syaoran returned, this time with his mother. They took the same pose as before. Eriol walked in, obviously angry.
"If we don't have any new servants, explain these two!" Syaoran shouted angrily at his mother.
"And tell me why you are making them work when they're only three!" Yelan turned on the two girls.
"I didn't give you permission to say anything! You had better be lucky you still have your voices!" She advanced upon the two girls, but Eriol and Syaoran had other ideas. They threw a stop spell at her at exactly the same time, and the aftershock of such a force sent Sakura and Tomoyo flying. They hit their heads on the balcony rail and didn't move. Yelan hit the ground, unconscious.
"Are they all right?" Eriol asked as they ran to the girls.
"Just hit the rail a little too hard. Good thing it was there."
"What's this? Li, being sentimental to someone outside the family? That's rare."
"Shut up, they're half our age, and already working! Hey, my stuff's fine, and where I can find it."
"I can't believe this. Oh, well, they need a warm room, and we should bind them to us, so your mother can't." Syaoran nodded in agreement, and they started the complicated spell that was the Binding of Servant to Master.
"Master Li?" Sakura looked up to Syaoran. He didn't do anything, busy writing something. She continued anyway. "How is Hiiragizawa related to the Li clan?"
"I've explained it already. He is an indirect member of the Li clan because he is the reincarnation of Clow Reed, of whom the Li clan descended from."
"I'm sorry, Master Li." He looked up at her. She was scribbling it down on a piece of paper. He had been teaching her how to write at Eriol's nagging. It wasn't as hard as he originally thought. She seemed to catch on quick, how, he didn't know. He returned to his writing.
"I'm going to have to ask you to leave in a little while. You shouldn't be in here when I come back from my errands."
'That's the third time this week! I wonder what's wrong? Maybe I can ask Tomoyo.' "Yes, Master Li." Sakura said aloud. He left the room. After finishing her day's lesson, she left the room, making sure it was clean. 'I've only been here a year. Maybe he has parties that girls aren't allowed to go to. Or maybe just servants.'
"Sakura-chan! There you are! I've only been waiting for 10 minutes!"
"Hey, Tomoyo-chan. Let me put my stuff inside." Her room, and Tomoyo's, were a couple floors above their masters. It was warm, when it needed to be, and the view was great, so they never said anything.
"Come on! Hurry! We gotta go to the gardens today!" Tomoyo pulled Sakura down the stairs.
"Huh? Why today? Why now?"
"Silly, have you forgotten? Oh well, you can't remember everything! Come on!" They finally got into the gardens. "Now, all you have to do is find the center. Go on, it'll be fun!"
"What about you?"
"Silly, I did this earlier. Go on!" Sakura was shoved inside, and gasped. Tomoyo had thrown her into a maze.
"What's going on? It wasn't like this before. I don't wanna do this." Reluctantly, she started down the path. As she came to the first t-junction, something told her to go left. She did. Another junction, this time right. "This is so weird! I've never been here before! What's telling me to go these ways?" She followed the "voice" in her head.
"Amazing. She's going the right way, without hesitating."
"I told you, she isn't slow. She's already at our level of school."
"Already?" Eriol looked at Syaoran dubiously.
"Yeah, why?"
"So is Tomoyo. You think they have a Mind Bond or something?"
"No, I just think it's the way they have to survive this castle." Eriol opened his mouth to reply, then decided against it. Tomoyo came up to them.
"Where is she?"
"Don't worry, she's following the path just fine. Quickly, at that. I don't think she likes our trick."
"I didn't, so of course Sakura-chan wouldn't, either." She stood on the opposite side of Eriol from Li. He was too busy watching Sakura to notice anything. She took the chance to cuddle close to Eriol. He smiled down at her, then returned his attention to the maze.
"I'm almost there, I think. Hey, wait a minute, what is today?" She counted her fingers. "Oh, I get it. It's a silly birthday gift. It's so weird. Wonder what's at the end?" She went faster, finally understanding the test she was undergoing. At least, she understood part of it. "Hey, that's pretty! This is the middle!" She ran up to a podium. There was a book on it. Next to the book was a locket. She picked it up, and held it up in the sun.
"The locket you now hold is a promise from someone special to you. Though he doesn't know it yet, it will be a gift to you, and the only thing that may help you finish your quest. Now open the book." A voice in her head again, this time as loud as if someone was next to her, which was what she thought. She looked around, but didn't see anybody. The locket disappeared.
"Hey, wait! What was that about? Open the book? This one?" She touched it, and the lock came off. She jumped away, surprised. "Whoa! What's this?" She opened the book and saw cards. She picked up the first one. "Windy?" Suddenly, a strong gust of wind blew around her. The last thing she remembered before blacking out was clutching the card as tightly as possible in one hand, the book in the other.
"What's wrong? Eriol-sama! Why aren't we going to help Sakura?" Tomoyo protested as Eriol scooped her up and ran inside with Li.
"We didn't think it would show up so soon, but that would explain a few things . . . I'm sorry, Tomoyo, I can't answer your question right now. Later, I'll answer it. I promise." Not really satisfied, Tomoyo didn't reply.
"Take her to her room. I have to get there before mother does. Hopefully, she didn't release all of them." Li ran down the stairs while Eriol carried Tomoyo quickly up to her room. (A/N: In case you're wondering, He and Li are seven, Sakura and Tomoyo are four)
"Stay here, Tomoyo. Don't let any one in unless they knock three times, understand?" She nodded, and he left here, carefully closing the door. Meanwhile, Li raced to the gardens to get to Sakura before his mother did.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! I am soooooo evil! I left you hanging! Hahahahahaha! I love writing cliff hangers! So, will Syaoran make it to the gardens? Or will his mother get to Sakura first? Oh, yeah, before I forget, Can someone e-mail me the names of the Cards? I know a few, but not all, and it will be important later on. Oh, and I still love reviews, especially when they offer ideas! I love you all! Oh, and if your name isn't at the top of the page, it's cuz you reviewed at the same time I posted this chapter. Sorry, I'll put you on the next one if I missed you!