Sorry about the long delay but hopefully an uber 43 page chapter will tide you over until the next update (I have no idea when that will be). As always RR and 20 reviews means a new chapter

Disclaimer: Just read a previous chapter's one... okay?

Syaoran's Angels

Chapter 30: Angels on ice

"Stop her!" Nivaline cried.

Syaoran lunged forwards trying to stab the goddess but in a movement too fast to see the Snow Geisha brought her twin katana swords down using one to block the blow and the other to score a bloody cut across Xiaolang's stomach. The man gasped in pain and staggered backwards clutching the long cut as the Snow Geisha smirked.

"Here's some real magic!" she pointed her swords at them.

"Oh…" Sakura whispered.

A blast of ice, snow and wind gushed forwards sweeping over the hapless humans flinging them aside like rag dolls. Tomoyo lost all sense of direction and time as she felt lumps of cold ice batter her body bruises forming everywhere. Meiling was blinded and choking on snow as she tried to claw herself free from the blizzard that had her in its freezing grip. Sakura felt like she was flying borne by the icy blizzard but where to she had no idea.

The Angels and their allies succumbed to the blizzard and all they were aware of was eternal white and a numbing cold that seeped into their bodies.

A A A A A A A A A A A A A

Sakura moaned as she blinked slowly trying to figure out where she was.

"Tomoyo? Meiling?" she stood up and looked around slowly all she saw was snow.

"Sakura?" a weak voice muttered.

"Xiaolang!" Sakura fell to the ground crawling hurriedly to the injured man as he slowly sat up grimacing as the cut on his stomach gave a jolt of pain.

"What happened?"

"I don't know," Sakura replied gingerly probing his wound, "But I can't see the others."

"We're lost?"

"And stranded."

A A A A A A A A A A A A A

"That was some ride," Kiyone muttered looking around.

"Let's never do that again," Meiling moaned.

"Agreed."

"Where are we?" Meiling looked around, for miles and miles on end all she saw was a land frozen in the grips of winter.

"Completely lost," Kiyone sighed.

"The others?"

"Gone."

"We're trapped."

"Oh yeah," Kiyone smiled grimly, "And screwed."

A A A A A A A A A A A A A

Tomoyo come to suddenly feeling an unnatural warmth sweeping through her body.

"Calm down," Nivaline's soothing voice murmured in her ears, "I'm trying to warm you up."

"What happened?" Tomoyo asked dully.

"Don't know. We were apparently swept away by the blizzard," Nivaline sighed, "The Cliff notes? We're lost. The others seemed to have been swept off somewhere. We're no longer in Kansas and the Wicked Witch is onto us."

"Damn," Tomoyo muttered trying to sit up.

"Damn right."

A A A A A A A A A A A A A

The Snow Geisha smiled coldly.

"They're scattered and helpless," she murmured, "Just where I want them to be."

"The good old divide and conquer plan," Psuedo-Sakura nodded her approval, "Yue will be pleased."

"And if I kill them?" the Snow Geisha whirled on her, her blue eyes wide and pleading, "Will he come?"

"When you do," Psuedo-Sakura smiled at her calmly, "He will come. He will see you have protected his gift and is worthy of his love."

"Yue," the Snow Geisha whispered lovingly glancing up at the sky, "We shall be together!"

With that the mountain goddess disappeared in a flurry of wind and snow as Psuedo-Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Fool."

A A A A A A A A A A A A A

"Okay, on a scale of one to ten on the suck-o-metre this rates as 'we're screwed'," Kiyone muttered looking around at their bleak landscape, "And once more, with feeling: We're screwed."

"Not wanting to pile log on the pyre of misery but…" Meiling hesitated, "Well… umm… my magic's kinda… well you know… disabled?"

Kiyone stared at her.

"Jeez, optimism was never your main point huh?" she drawled, "Why?"

"The Snow Geisha's power is everywhere," Meiling swept her arm around encompassing their whole surrounding, "Every flake of snow, every drop of moisture in the air, it's even soaked into the earth on which we walk. It's powerful… too powerful it's like… smothering my own power as well. Even the Clow Sword can't hold its true form here."

She gestured at the ruby butterfly bracelet she swore around her wrist.

"So what do we do?" Kiyone demanded.

"Run and scream in panic?"

"Again with the lack of optimism."

A A A A A A A A A A A A A

Nivaline sighed in frustration.

"I can't even summon a spark," she muttered disgustedly, "The Snow Geisha's focused all her power on dampening on magic and I hate to say this it's working."

"But you warmed me up just then," Tomoyo pointed out sitting up in the snow."

"That was a small piece of magic a novice could do and plus it was done before the Snow Geisha's dampening spell kicked in," Nivaline explained.

"So what do we do?"

"Try to find the others and get the hell of this mountain and possibly come back with a full arsenal hopefully with tanks and flamethrowers?"

"Jeez, overkill much?" Tomoyo muttered.

Nivaline sighed.

"I wish. The Snow Geisha is a goddess and a goddess horrifically cheesed off with us. I for one don't want to stick around when she decides she's done toying with us and makes big with the slaughtering and bloodshed."

"So, which direction?" Tomoyo stood up and glanced at their endlessly white surroundings, as far as her eyes could see there was only snow piled on top of yet more snow with nothing to serve as a landmark to distinguish distinct one section of land to another.

"That way," Nivaline pointed in some seemingly random direction.

"Huh? Why that way?" Tomoyo asked picking herself up off the wet and freezing ground.

"My almost paralysing screaming fear seems to lessen when I look in that direction," Nivaline explained deadpanned.

"That way it is," Tomoyo agreed.

And with that they headed off trudging painfully slowly through the snow.

A A A A A A A A A A A A A

"WORK!" Sakura snatched the Star Key from around her neck and flung it at the snow, "Son of a…"

"Calm down," Xiaolang wheezed clutching his wound tightly trying to stop the bleeding, "There's obviously a dampening spell in place."

Sakura growled under her breath and picked up the Star Key from amidst the snow looping it around her neck again. She grimaced feeling the cold metal touch her skin. She had been trying to heal Xiaolang's wound with the key but it refused to work. There was a slight glowing at first than it stopped and not the key was unresponsive altogether no matter how much Sakura screamed at it… which was a lot.

"So now what do we do?" Sakura muttered disgustedly, "You need to get to a hospital and a doctor quick and unfortunately I don't think watching every episode of E.R. has helped me become a medical professional."

"You watch E.R.?" Xiaolang whispered with a small smile in his voice.

"Not really the issue here," Sakura reminded him with a small smile of her own, "Now what?"

"We find the others," Xiaolang tried to get up and winced as even that slight movement caused pain to roar through his body.

"No, you're staying here and I'll get the others," Sakura told him, "When I find them, we'll come back for you and get the hell of this Winter Wonderland death-trap."

"Meanwhile, whilst you're wandering around in the snow lost and vainly searching for the others. I'll probably die from a) hypothermia, b) blood loss or c) devoured by a pack of hungry wolves," Xiaolang told her dryly.

Sakura snorted.

"Don't be ridiculous," she muttered, "There are no wolves up here."

She paused.

"But the two other options are completely valid and don't forget d) a crazy PMS-ing snow goddess may come along and finish what she started," Sakura sighed, "Stay and wait for the others or move out?"

"We'll basically sitting ducks here," Xiaolang reminded her.

"Ahh… helpless, lost and limping ducks it is," Sakura stood up and gently helped Xiaolang, throwing one of his arms around her shoulders so she could support him, "Are you okay?"

"My ego is badly damaged but I'm okay."

"Okay, now the million dollar question with zero lifelines left," Sakura looked around, "Which way?"

Xiaolang glanced around weakly.

"There."

"Why?"

"Intuition."

Sakura shrugged.

"Whatever, either way we're still bumbling in the proverbial dark," Sakura muttered as she began walking at the way Xiaolang had indicated supporting the man gently, "Let's hope the others are going that way as well."

A A A A A A A A A A A A A

Kerberos emerged in Yue's mystic realm with its serene lake and imposing mountains and was somewhat taken aback to see Ruby Moon there, a seriously displeased look on her face.

"Kerberos," she said shortly seeing the armoured lion guardian.

"Ruby," Kerberos growled.

"I'm guessing you're here to talk to Mr. I'm-so-cold-and-oh-so-frigid," Ruby Moon said dryly.

Kerberos nodded.

"Yue," Ruby Moon cried, "Get your cryptic ass out here."

"Your lack of respect displeasures me, Ruby," Yue murmured appearing above the lake in a blaze of silver light.

"Where did you get that line?" Ruby Moon wanted to know, "Does Lucius Malfoy know you're treading on copyright laws here?"

Kerberos and Yue stared at her, confused.

"Guy off Harry Potter?" Ruby Moon sighed, "Jeez, read a book sometime."

"Insults aside," Kerberos growled choosing to ignore Ruby Moon, "Do you have any idea what you've done?"

"What?" Yue asked mildly.

"Little Ms. Likes-to-Freeze is gunning after the chosen three," Ruby Moon informed him impatiently, "And to add more excitement to the barrel of laughs, you're little challenge is running around telling said Ms. Likes-to-Freeze that if she kills the chosen three and their pals you will come back to her."

Yue's eyes widened.

"What happened between you two?" Kerberos growled, "the Snow Geisha…"

"Ms. Likes-to-Freeze," Ruby Moon whispered.

Kerberos pointedly ignored her.

"Is fixated on you."

"Psuedo-Sakura," Yue hissed, "I warned her not to interfere!"

"Are you so anti-social you didn't even think that this would happen?" Ruby Moon sighed and shook her head, "Men."

"What are you getting at?" Yue spat.

"You told Psuedo-Sakura not to interfere even though she knows if the chosen three succeed she'll cease to be," Ruby Moon sighed, "Hello? Is there even a brain in there! Of course she'll friggin' interfere!?!"
"We stop her," Yue gritted his teeth as he imagined wringing his creation's neck.

"I thought we weren't supposed to interfere," Ruby Moon muttered, her red eyes mocking.

"Shut up," Yue growled before disappearing in a blaze of silver light.

Ruby Moon laughed disappearing as well as Kerberos shook his head, summoned his magic around him and vanished with a burst of golden light.

The guardian were going to join the battle.

A A A A A A A A A A A A A

They had been stumbling through the snow for what felt like an eternity but as the rational part of her brain kept reminding her it was in fact just a few minutes. Xiaolang suddenly stumbled in snow almost falling over but Sakura just managed to keep him upright. Sensing the man's flagging strength, Sakura stopped Xiaolang leaning weakly against her.

"Well this is great," Sakura muttered looking around, "We're in the middle of nowhere."

"We were in the middle of nowhere before," Xiaolang reminded her.

"Okay, now we're further north of nowhere," Sakura glared at the snow as if the pure strength of her gaze could melt it all away, "We're in northern nowhere."

Xiaolang seemed to recover somewhat so they pressed on; knowing that time was of the essence. They struggled through the snow, cold seeping into every part of their body, frigid wind slashing against their face.

"Are you okay?" Sakura asked concernedly helping Xiaolang steady himself once more after he stumbled in the snow again.

"Peachy," Xiaolang wheezed.

"Are you sure?" Sakura pressed, her worry only growing by the weak tone in his voice.
"Sakura," Xiaolang snapped, "I'm injured and stuck in a frigid hell hole. What do you think?"

"Jeez," Sakura murmured, hurt, "Sorry for caring."

They fell silent still trying to press on through the treacherous snow.

"Sorry," Xiaolang whispered, "Pain. Woohoo, making me delirious."

"Do you want to stop?"

Xiaolang sighed, shaking his head.

"No, let's hurry up. I want to got off this mountain before the Snow Geisha cooks up some more frosty fun."

Nodding, Sakura quickened her pacing but all the ensuring Xiaolang could catch up with her. Glancing around at their bleak landscape, Sakura shivered. She instinctively knew that the Snow Geisha was watching them, ready to strike at any second.

So why hadn't she?
Sakura had a feeling she didn't want to know the answer.

A A A A A A A A A A A A A

"You had them!" Psuedo-Sakura demanded, "Why didn't you just finish them off?"

The Snow Geisha glared at her, her hands stroking the handles of her katana, which were in their sheaths again, dangerously.

"You dare question me?"

Psuedo-Sakura sighed inwardly, the Snow Geisha's bizarre mood swings from poor-unloved-me to psycho-god starting to grate on her nerves. Reminding herself that she needed the goddess, she tried to calm down.

"Please get over yourself," Psuedo-Sakura snapped, "Listen up Ms. Claus. The sooner those idiots are iceblocks, the quicker you get your dear old Romeo back."

"Yue..."

Psuedo-Sakura snorted.

"Who do you think I was talking about? Leonardo Dicaprio? Cause honey you ain't Claire Danes... unless she was suffering from hypothermia and a nut job," Psuedo-Sakura reigned her temper in before she said something that would really annoy the Snow Geisha, "Why didn't you finish them off?"

The Snow Geisha glared at her, fury in cold sapphire eyes.

"They're not where I want them," she said shortly.

"Where do you want them?" Psuedo-Sakura demanded.

"Here."

Psuedo-Sakura blinked.

"Here," she repeated not sure if she had heard correctly.

Snow Geisha elegantly nodded her head, her movements liquid and impossibly graceful.

Psuedo-Sakura studied her surroundings. They were in the Snow Geisha's stronghold, a crystalline palace made of solid ice. It was a tower, an immense spike sticking out from the mountains side protected by magic ancient and strong. Sunlight glinted off the palace's harsh, cold edges, refracted and dispersed so sheer veils of rainbows were thrown into the sky. Outside, a veritable army of snarling ice-demons patrolled the snowy grounds ready to tear apart anything that dared trespass the realm of a god. Psuedo-Sakura smiled wickedly.

"Ooo... this should be interesting."

A A A A A A A A A A A A A

Kiyone suddenly decided once this little adventure of theirs was over, she was skipping town and taking the first plane to Hawaii or Tahiti or... or... or... even the bloody Sahara Desert. Anything where there wasn't any blasted snow!

"Now I know why God invented hell!" Meiling yelled frustrated, losing her footing again as she skidded across a small sliver of ice.

She managed to steady herself as Kiyone stomped across the snow past her.

"This is hell," Kiyone muttered.

"I mean a nice toasty, fiery, warm hell," Meiling glared at the snowy landscape that encompassed their surroundings.

"Maybe we should be quiet," Kiyone said evenly, "You know conserve our energy."

"Maybe if we keep talking, the others might hears us," Meiling suggested.

"Or Ms. Antarctica might hear us and come a-running brining death, destruction and torture in her wake," Kiyone drawled.

Meiling fell silent, digesting that little scenario, the two of them still trying to struggle through the snow.

"All least we won't be cold," Meiling paused, "See, I am optimistic!"

"You need therapy," Kiyone muttered, "Stat."

"Whatever, Dr. Phil," Meiling shot back.

They fell silent again, trying focusing all their energy into making their limbs take the next step through the freezing snow that seemed to be sapping every drop of their energy. And the next step after that and the next step after...

"What was that?" Kiyone said suddenly breaking the silence.

Meiling jumped and almost slipped again at the sudden sound of Kiyone's voices. She recomposed herself quickly and began listening carefully trying to hear what Kiyone was hearing.

"Probably nothing," Meiling said after a short pause.

Suddenly a fist flew into her line of vision from nowhere knocking Kiyone down into the snow.

"Not nothing," Psuedo-Sakura smirked impishly.

Calmly she blocked Meiling's wild swing at her face.

"It's me," Psuedo-Sakura shoved Meiling backwards.

The Angel recovered quickly and was about to leap at her again but froze as her eyes slid past Psuedo-Sakura's shoulders. A pack of snarling white foxes, their fur blending in with the snow, stood there behind her in a threatening triangular formation, their azure eyes alit with blood lust.

"See, frost bitch thinks she can take you all on," Psuedo-Sakura began.

Kiyone staggered to her feet.

"I see a but coming..."

"But she wanted me to soften you up."

Psuedo-Sakura laughed as the foxes leapt towards them as one.

A A A A A A A A A A A A A

Tomoyo sighed, a puff of mist forming around her mouth.

"After this, I'm never touching ice cream again."

"Mmm..." Nivaline murmured distractedly, "Good for you figure."

"What is there something wrong with how I look?" Tomoyo yelped indignantly.

Nivaline ignored her.

'Something's wrong," Nivaline murmured softly.

Tomoyo snorted.

"Hello, we're in Survivor: Ice Hell, of course something's wrong," Tomoyo reminded her.

A small smile flitted across Nivaline's lips over Tomoyo's analogy.

"No," Nivaline sighed trying to put her feeling into words, "It's like something's... I don't know... coming... I guess."

"What do you me..."

Tomoyo suddenly collapsed, sprawling forwards onto her knees.

"TOMOYO!" Nivaline stumbled over to her.

Tomoyo's head snapped upwards staring straight into Nivaline's shocked eyes. The Angel's normally lavender eyes were now blazing silver orbs. Nivaline stumbled back a few steps as Tomoyo continued to stare at her, unblinking.

"They come," she whispered, her voice low and filled the power, "The earth, the sun, the moon."

Tomoyo blinked and the silver in her eyes winked out replaced by the normal soft lavender. She blinked again in confusion looking around, puzzled.

"What?" Nivaline whispered.

"What?" Tomoyo stared at her the ex-Angel confused.

"You..." Nivaline began hoarsely.

"What?" Tomoyo gazed around wildly, still perplexed, "What happ..."

"Mirror!"

"What?!?"

"The mirror," Nivaline explained hurriedly, "It's causing you to have visions."

Still bewildered, Tomoyo began wriggling around freeing her straps from a special carrier bag she wore, strapped to her back. Unzipping the bag, she pulled out the mirror.

"This thing," Tomoyo stared at her, "Nothing's hap..."

The surface of the mirror began glowing brightly.

"They come," Tomoyo whispered dreamily, her voice sounding as though she was very far away, "The Ice Maiden awaits. A cage of winter and cold light. A trap. The butterfly, the lion they flee but the archer; he's..."

Tomoyo gasped loudly.

"Tomoyo?" Nivaline asked gently.

Tomoyo stared up at her, silver blazing in her eyes once more.

"He is snared."

A A A A A A A A A A A A A

Gold, red and silver light blazed inside the icy palace from the blaze three figures emerged.

"Woah," Ruby Moon glanced around at the icy walls and ceiling of the palace, "Someone needs a new decorator."

Yue as usual ignored her.

"Snow Geisha!" he thundered, "Where are you?"

A flurry of wind whistled through the palace.

"Yue," a soft women's voice propelled by the wind echoed from all around them, "You've came... back to me!"

Kerberos and Ruby moon stared at each other, worriedly.

"Snow Geisha!" Yue demanded, 'Stop this!"

The gentle wind suddenly exploded into a howling gale.

"Why?!?" the Snow Geisha's voice was now filled with fury and outrage, "Is this some test? Are you here to test my resolve?"

"What the hell is she going on about?" Ruby Moon demanded.

"It doesn't matter," Yue muttered coldly.

"It does!" the Snow Geisha's voice raged, "You said you loved me!"

Kerberos and the Snow Geisha struggled to smother their laughter.

"Yue? Love? He's as incapable of love as you are of creating fire," Kerberos growled, "It is not in his nature."

Ruby Moon was infinitely harsher.

"Love?!? Whoa, lay off the chick flicks lady. He ain't Tom Hanks and you ain't Meg Ryan. And this sure as hell isn't Sleepless in Seattle," Ruby Moon paused, "You know aside from the snow thing."

This seemed to anger the Snow Geisha even more.

"He loves me!" the wind roared with her voice, "How dare you mock what we have?"

The speed of the wind picked up swirling around them ferociously. Snowflakes and snow beginning to form tossed erratically around by the wind. The wind continued to churn, getting faster and faster with each spin. It seemed to be concentrating right in front of them, more and more flakes of snow and ice being pulled into its vortex. It soon became a funnel of whirling white whilst the room in all the other parts of the room died down leaving behind the one swirling column of wind and snow in front of them. And suddenly with no warning at all, the funnel of wind disappeared altogether, the snow falling onto the ground revealing the Snow Geisha in all her cold glory.

"Yue," she seemed to glide across the ice floor of the palace towards the Moon guardian, "My beloved."

"Stop this, snowflake," Yue growled.

Kerberos and Ruby Moon burst into laughter.

"Snowflake?" they repeated incredulously.

Yue and the Snow Geisha ignored them.

"Why?" the Snow Geisha demanded, "This is the only way to gain your love back.

Yue glared at her.

"That's a lie," he snarled sharply.

"No!" the Snow Geisha roared, "You promised!"

"That wasn't me," Yue snapped.

"Liar!" the Snow Geisha glared at him.

Gusts of cold wing seemed to spring up around her, flitting playfully through her tight fitting kimono.

"Liar! Liar!"

"Okay, is it just me or she's got 'Fatal Attraction' syndrome?" Ruby Moon muttered.

"How dare you mock me?" the Snow Geisha roared turning on her.

Yue broke in before the Snow Geisha could utter another word.

"Stop this at once. Stop listening to lies! Let the chosen do their task as I told you to. Do not listen to my creation."

"If I succeed will you love me?" the Snow Geisha said quietly, a vulnerable look appearing across her face.

"Never."

"Bastard," she said calmly.

Yue, Kerberos and Ruby Moon jumped as the Snow Geisha suddenly turned on them. In a fluid movement, she drew her katana swords from their sheaths and slash Yue in the shoulders. Ruby Moon and Kerberos leapt forwards but was blasted back by a gust of snow and wind.

"You said you loved me!" the snow Geisha raged, "All those centuries ago. Why? What made you change your mind?"

"Things change," Yue snarled through gritted teeth.

"No, we never change! We are immortal! We can't change who we are. That is our curse!" the Snow Geisha spat.

"Then I never loved you," Yue said calmly.

"Liar," the Snow Geisha's word was low but the fury in them evident, "The gift you gave me..."

"You were supposed to protect it!" Yue yelled, "You're a guard I chose! Nothing more, nothing less."

"So I am merely a pawn to you. Something your manipulate for your own perverse fun."

"Fun has nothing to do with it."

The Snow Geisha glared at him.

"Then let me have my own..." a spine-chilling smile flitted across her face, "Fun."

She gestured wildly with her hands and a cage of ice and magic fell from the ceiling of the palace sealing Yue within. The cage was made from shards and blocks of ice thrown hazardously together, there were no regular openings in the cage only a few spaces here and there to left in air and thin shafts of light. Spikes of ice poked out precariously from all sides of the cage forcing Yue into an uncomfortable position to avoid them all. The Snow Geisha gestured again and the cage was levitated into the air hanging about three metres from the icy floor.

"As for you friends..." the Snow Geisha whirled around but they were gone.

The Snow Geisha gritted her teeth.

"NO!" she snarled.

Whirling around, she pointed her twin swords out in front of her aiming towards a rough rectangular space in the ice walls that was suppose to be a window. She concentrated and blasted out a jet of azure magic out into the freezing air.

"Kill them!" she roared.

A A A A A A A A A A A A A

Glancing out the airplane window watching clouds and sky race past the plane, Eriol felt sick, hollow like he was a dead soul that somebody forgot to bury.

"Tomoyo," the name whispered through his lips, unwanted yet inevitable.

Oh god, he had killed countless people before sometimes staring coldly into their shocked faces as he pulled the trigger but those lavender eyes, hurt by his betrayal... it was enough to make him want to put a gun to his own head anything to stop the burning feeling in his heart.

The guilt; it was like an ocean swallowing him with its ferocious power and he was left scrabbling, clinging onto anything to save himself from it. But it dashed him against a cliff, shattering him, his mind... his heart... his soul. Over and over again the scene played in his mind. The gun, Tomoyo, her limp body...

It was done.

She was gone.

And he was drowning in a tempest of guilt and despair that all the alcohol in the world could not anaesthetise. His body felt limp and wooden, like a broke puppet who strings have been cut and callously discarded. Useless, powerless, helpless...

Damn that bitch, Lilia, for doing this to him. Forcing him to work for that bastard Noir, he hated him, that bitch and himself with every ounce of strength in his hollow body. If it hadn't been for Lilia, he would've been in Europe right now drowning his sorrow over Tomoyo in some dingy pub. Now, she was dead. Murdered by him.

And it was all her fault.

Eriol smiled grimly remembering the look on her face when he had executed her. His smile fell, now she and Tomoyo were both gone.

Tit for tat.

Karma?

The world trying to fix some twisted balance between good and evil?

He was jolted from his thoughts as an air stewardess appeared before him. A sickly smile plastered across her face. Eriol looked up at her and noticed with a curious detachment her eyes were glazed and blank.

"Good job," her voice was guttural and low.

Eriol stared up at her eyes, unable to comprehend what was going on.

"You haven't failed me," the possessed air stewardess continued.

Suddenly she stopped and blinked at Eriol, awareness rushing back into her eyes. She blinked again, confused.

"Would you like a drink, sir?"

A A A A A A A A A A A A A

Darkness and shadows swirled around him, thick and syrupy clinging to his body like a dark lover. Power thrummed through the air causing the molecules themselves to vibrate with the strength of it. A crystal on the desk glowed brightly allowing the spell caster to see who he was talking to.

"Good job. You haven't failed me."

Mr Noir, C.E.O of Spinnel Corporation and wielder of dark magic, ended the spell and leaned back in his chair staring straight ahead at something only he could see.

"The chosen three have been shattered," he whispered musing to himself, "That makes my job so much easier."

He stood up and suddenly and walked around his desk, over to an ebony cupboard set into one of the walls of his expansive office. With a whispered word, the door unlocked itself and swung open. Inside spread across the three levels of shelfing were artefacts so rare and ancient, it had been lost in the mists of time. Distorted skulls, blood red crystals that throbbed with power, a mummified hand and rows and rows of wicked knives were just a few of the things lying on the dark velvet that lined the shelves.

He reached into the cupboard and drew out a rolled up piece of parchment carefully. Gently he unrolled the map studying the faint ink markings etched into the paper and noticing the three glowing red dots of light that pricked the map. Two where close by, its location only known to Noir but a third...

It was obscured by magic even beyond Noir's own. The third dot of light had been distorted forming a giant blob that spread across a third of the map.

With the chosen now gone, Noir could get what he wanted.

"The final piece of the tri-sword."

A A A A A A A A A A A A A

"Xiaolang!" Sakura shook him roughly.

He was pale and feverish now, shaking uncontrollably, strings of incoherent words escaping from his blue lips. They had stopped for a rest after Xiaolang began complaining of tiredness but now he refused to even move.

"So tired," he whispered weakly.

"Come on, we've got to keep moving," Sakura urged gently.

Xiaolang continued shaking and shivering, his head tossing violently from side to side.

"So tired... cold... sleepy..."

Sakura froze, horrified.

"Hypothermia," Sakura whispered, "damn."

She ripped off her coat ignoring the bite of cold against her skin and wrapped it tightly around Xiaolang trying desperately to keep him warm.

"Come on, stay with me Xiaolang. Damn it, don't die on me!" a ghost of smile spread thinly across her lip, "I still have to rip you one for abandoning Chelsea and Zachary."

"Sorry," Xiaolang whispered, his eyes still closed and his body still wracked with pain, "So very sorry."

"No, it took me a while," Sakura whispered gently, "But I forgive you, it wasn't your fault but I was blinded by rage and guilt. It's nobody's fault, well... those who are responsible got what they deserved."

"Death," Xiaolang stammered feverishly.

"Yeah, I kinda went Kill Bill volume 1 on them so bit with the slashing and blooding and goring," Sakura smiled softly down at him, "Come on, Xiaolang hang on."

"Sakura," Xiaolang murmured agitatedly.

"Yeah?"

"I love you," he whispered deliriously.

Sakura stared down at him, stunned.

"Wow," she whispered gently, "That wound must be making you go crazy..."

"No..."

"Shhh... don't talk preserve your strength."

"No, I've loved you ever since I first saw you... all those years ago," Xiaolang continued muttering almost incoherently.

"Years? You met me only a while ago..." Sakura shook herself, "Stop talking. You need to calm down... rest..."

"No!" Xiaolang struggled against her violently, "Must tell."

He gasped loudly rocking uncontrollably in Sakura's eyes as she tried to restrain him.

"It comes... dark wings.... claws... fire... the master... it does as its master bids..."

"Xiaolang!"

He collapsed in her arms as Sakura tried to revive him.

"Xiaolang!"

A A A A A A A A A A A A A

Noir set in the centre of the room, crystal of varying shapes and colours setting in a circle around him alternating with blood-red candles that burnt with a crimson flame.

"Beast of dark wings and ravaging claws," Noir chanted, his voice rough and empowered with arcane enchantments, "Of fire and ancient rage, I summon thee. Beast of hellish realms and forgotten past. Hear my sirens call and come to me.'

The red flames of the candles flared shooting up metres into the air, the crystal began to shake violently rattling against the floorboard.

"By the name of the dragon goddess Tiamat, goddess of pain and chaos I beckon thee! With my words the ancient chains shatter and set thee free!"

The crystal shattered spraying Noir with chips of shrapnel as the candles exploded melting into a river of molten wax. A swirling vortex of dark energy formed in the air in front of Noir, the man feeding the gateway with his energy. With a final burst of energy, the vortex burst open and something shot out.

"You know what I see," Noir whispered, his voice rich with power.

The thing growled.

"Now go, find it."

The creature roared and disappeared in a plume of black smoke.

"Soon, it'll be mine and the skies themselves will tremble!"

A A A A A A A A A A A A A

Tomoyo blinked, her eyes returning to normal again. She gaped at Nivaline as she struggled to her feet.

"What happened?" she whispered.

"Excellent question," Nivaline said calmly.

"What?" Tomoyo asked startled.

Nivaline looked at her gravely.

"I think the mirror sparked another vision."

"Oh, my god I'm turning into Phoebe from Charmed!" Tomoyo gasped.

Seeing the look on Nivaline's face, Tomoyo coughed.

"Really?" she asked interested, "What did I say?"

The Elder shrugged.

"A whole bunch of mumbo-jumbo," Nivaline paused, "I think something went down with the Snow Geisha."

To say Tomoyo was bewildered would've been an understatement.

"Huh?"

"You say something about a lion, a butterfly and an archer..."

Tomoyo allowed a wicked smile to settle on her face

"So I made a copyright infringement on the beloved tale of C.S. Lewis's the Witch, the Lion and the Wardrobe..." Tomoyo muttered, "Some vision."

Nivaline rolled her eyes.

"Try Kerberos, Ruby Moon and Yue."

"Oh," Tomoyo blinked the information not sinking in yet, "OH! They're here? They're going to help us?"

"You also said the Ice Maiden awaits and the archer..." Nivaline trailed off pursing her lips thoughtfully.

"A.k.a. Yue," Tomoyo supplied helpfully.

Nivaline nodded.

"Is snared and also a cypto-gram about a cage of ice and snow light... sounds kinky," Nivaline added almost as an afterthought.

Tomoyo smirked at the older woman.

"You sound like Kiyone."

Nivaline shivered and moaned slightly.

"I've been hanging around her for wayyyy too long," she muttered.

"So are you saying Yue is trapped by I'm-a-crazy-psycho-goddess?"

"Yeah, basically, yeah," Nivaline confirmed.

"Wow, could this get any worse?" Tomoyo muttered.

As if on cue, the sky suddenly lit up with an immense azure light. The two girls looked up and gasped seeing the huge ball of light that was streaking across the sky straight towards them.

Tomoyo sighed.

"I just jinxed us, didn't I?" she asked.

"Oh yeah," Nivaline replied calmly, "Shame on you."

And the ball of light just came closer and closer.

A A A A A A A A A A A A A

Meiling and Kiyone worked together in perfect synchronisation kicking the foxes out of the air with a combination of flying and crescent kicks. Meiling spin-kicked a fox catching it in the chest as Kiyone accounted for another with a well-timed jump kick. The foxes fell to the ground, whimpering but quickly jumped up and stalked towards them, lips curled back to reveal viciously sharp teeth.

"Who's afraid of the big, bad wolf?" Psuedo-Sakura taunted.

Meiling and Kiyone moved into defensive stances as the foxes stalked closer to them, their eyes tracing their every movement.

"They're foxes you moron, not wolves," Kiyone snapped.

"Tsk, tsk," Psuedo-Sakura tutted, "Such temper for one who's going to be fox bait."

"Please, like your overrated fur coats can beat us?" Meiling drawled.

"We'll just see about that won't we?"

Meiling grinned wickedly at her.

"Lets."

The foxes charged at them again. Meiling ducked a fox flying overhead, she lashed out with her feet catching another fox in the jaw forcing it backwards. Rolling around she lashed out twice more striking a fox each time, flipping up back to her feet she raised her arms enough to block Psuedo-Sakura's punch.

"Hey, now this isn't fair," Meiling complained as the foxes leapt at her.

Psuedo-Sakura smirked.

"Since when did I play fair?"

Meiling blocked Psuedo-Sakura's kick and flipped the doppelganger over. Yue's creation landed back onto her on two feet and hit Meiling in the stomach. Kiyone leapt into the fray beating the foxes back allowing Meiling to recover.

"That hurt," Meiling said blithely.

She flew at Psuedo-Sakura with a flying kick striking the doppelganger in the chest. They fell sprawling across each other.

"Get off Angel bitch!" Psuedo-Sakura snarled tossing Meiling off her.

Meiling rolled and back flipped onto her feet rising to meet Psuedo-Sakura's flurry of punches. She blocked most of them but one slid past her defences striking her in the cheek.

"Ouch," Meiling snapped.

She blocked another punch, twisting her arm around Psuedo-Sakura's own arm, grabbing her wrist and forcing that arm down.

"Now you're getting annoying," Meiling growled.

She punched Psuedo-Sakura in the face three times forcing the doppelganger back with each blow before grabbing the mystical creature's hair and yanking her down kneeing her again in the face. She flung her backwards and sent her flying with a small hop kick.

Psuedo-Sakura hit the snow violently.

"Bitch," she gasped staggering up to her feet massaging the wrist Meiling had grabbed.

"Skank," Meiling shot back.

"Oooo... quite the six-year-old aren't we?" Psuedo-Sakura taunted.

"Can you shut up and fight?" Meiling demanded.

"Gladly."

She charged at Meiling grabbing the Angel around the neck before she could react. With an evil smirk, she threw Meiling through the air. The Angel crashed into the snow but quickly recovered gritting her teeth as she forced herself back onto her feet.

Psuedo-Sakura gave a loud warcry and charged again. Meiling fired off a kick but the doppelganger grabbed her leg and tossed her backwards. Meiling turned the fall into a flip striking Psuedo-Sakura twice in the chin with a double kick before landing. She leapt into a cartwheel striking Psuedo-Sakura twice again with another kick before landing nimbly and lashing out with her right foot.

Her boot caught Psuedo-Sakura in the knee with a sickening crunch, the doppelganger let out a roar of pain as she fell to the ground.

"Damn you," she hissed.

Her wound magically repaired themselves even as she began to stand up again.

"Why..." accentuating her words with a punch to Meiling's chest.

"Did..."

A hopping spin kick caught Meiling flinging her backwards.

"You..."

Another punch.

"Have..."

A kick to the stomach.

"To..."

Psuedo-Sakura grabbed Meiling by the arm and yanked her towards her until they were face to face.

"Piss me off," she finished.

She head-butted Meiling in the face and flung Meiling backwards into the snow. The Angel lay there, stunned and dazed.

"Bitch," Psuedo-Sakura gave Kiyone a powerful kick in the back catching the older woman unaware.

The kick hit Kiyone in the kidney drawing a yelp of pain from the ex-Angel. Another kick sent her sprawling forwards.

With growls of victory, the foxes leapt forwards.

"What did you say again about my 'overrated fur coats' again?" Psuedo-Sakura smirked.

A white fox leapt on top of Meiling baring its long incisors. With a growl, it reared its head and prepared to rip Meiling's throat out.

A A A A A A A A A A A A A

Snow Geisha smiled up at Yue, who was imprisoned in her enchanted cage of ice and suspended up in the air.

"Now we shall see how your precious chosen three are handling my power," she jeered.

"Why are you doing this?" Yue demanded, his voice muffled by his icy entrapment.

"They're more important to you than me."

"I don't love you," Yue growled for perhaps the millionth time in the past few minutes."

For a few seconds the Snow Geisha looked hurt but her face hardened replaced by a cold fury that even made Yue shiver.

"Then I'll make you suffer," she said calmly.

"Why are you persisting with this useless scheme of yours?" Yue demanded sounding like a teacher berating an errant student.

The Snow Geisha ignored as she continued to pace around the room, her hands lingering every so often around the handle of her sheathed blades.

"I'll force to you to love," she whispered, a small hopeful smile on her cold face.

"I'll never," Yue vowed hissing at her.

The Snow Geisha whirled on him, her kimono swirling around her like a cape.

"SILENCE!" she thundered.

A blast of freezing air slapping Yue in the face as the Snow Geisha glared up at him. A sinister smile flickered across her face.

"We'll just see about that."

A A A A A A A A A A A A A

Sakura frantically shook Xiaolang trying to revive him.

"Xiaolang! Xiaolang! Xiaolang!"

Xiaolang's eyes fluttered open, his normally amber pupils dull with pain.

"What happened?" he whispered weakly.

Sakura blinked at him.

"Don't you remember?" she asked gently.

Xiaolang slowly turned his head and stared up at her worried emerald eyes.

"Remember what?"

Sakura shook her head.

"It doesn't matter," she told him, "We need to get you help. Here. Soon."

She slowly helped him up taking most of his weight, Xiaolang collapsed against her not having the strength to move on his own accord.

"Come on, just hang on. We'll get you out of here. Just hang on."

Xiaolang mumbled something under his breath, his voice weak and incoherent.

"Shhh... just calm down," sakura soothed.

Xiaolang continued to mutter, Sakura worriedly smoothed his limp hair away from his forehead but jumped as her fingers touched his skin.

"Oh god, you're burning up," she whispered horrified.

She dumped him back into the snow. Xiaolang gave a sharp yelp of pain before let out a low moan.

"Sorry!" Sakura said frantically.

Hurriedly she opens his coat, peeling his torn shirt away from his wound. Sakura gaped at it, it was deep probably needing stitches but that wasn't what worried her the most. The skin around the cut was blue and puffy, abnormally swollen up. A thin layer of yellow liquid coated the wound.

"Infected," Sakura whispered.

A thin river of blood suddenly oozed from the wound staining Sakura's hand.

"And bleeding heavily," Sakura muttered.

She quickly unwound her scarf from around her neck and folded it up, wadding it as tightly as she could. Gently she unwrapped Xiaolang's scarf and looking down at the wound.

"Sorry," she whispered to him, even though he probably couldn't understand her.

She took a handful of snow and crushed it, using her body heat to get some water. Moving quickly and efficiently, she touched the semi-melted ice to Xiaolang's wound. The man gave a low hiss of pain and struggled weakly but Sakura held him down. The blood melted the rest of the snow as Sakura gently bathed the wound trying to get rid of all the infected pus coating the cut. Once it was as clean as she could get it, she took her own folded scarf and pressed it tightly against the bleeding gash, using Xiaolang's scarf she bounded her wadded scarf to the wound tightly slowing the blood flow.

"That should slow the bleeding," Sakura murmured to herself.

Xiaolang began coughing violently, Sakura tried to calm him down but began to panic herself as he coughed out a thin trail of blood that stained his lips.

"Not good, not good," Sakura wrapped her arms around him, trying to comfort him, "Xiaolang! Focus, hang in there!"

She looked around wildly at her surroundings, hoping desperately that by some miraculous chance the others had found them. No such luck.

"Just hang in there okay?" Sakura whispered.

She was torn. Should she stay and look after him or leave and try to find help as quick as she could.

"Well, this is a dilemma," Sakura admitted.

It was an understatement of epic proportions.

A A A A A A A A A A A A A

Tomoyo looked fearfully up at the giant ball of incoming light.

"It's not going to create ice-demons again is it?" she asked worriedly.

Nivaline shook her head.

"Not the same type of magic."

Tomoyo stared at Nivaline strangely.

"You can tell the difference?" she asked genuinely interested.

Nivaline sighed.

"Tomoyo, not really the right time to Scully my powers."

Tomoyo pouted slightly at the older woman's rebuff and quickly switched her attention back to the light.

"Would it be too much to hope that this is just some kind of overgrown Christmas light?" she wondered.

"Way too much," Nivaline muttered.

"So," Tomoyo asked, "What does it..."

Her words were cutting off abruptly as the light faded away revealing a grotesque monster of epic size. Two long twisted horns adorned a bull-like head that came completely with immense jaws that opened to reveal blunt teeth. It snorted loudly flexing its giant bat-like wings as it soared towards them, raking the air with its cloven hands. A long tail swished violently around, poking out from horse-like hindquarters grown to monstrous proportions. Its hoofed foot lashed out violently, preparing to land just a few meagre metres in front of them.

It whole body was crystalline and composed of ice, light glittering along its tetrahedral form giving it a heavenly aura that belayed its hellish appearance and nature.

"... do," Tomoyo finished weakly.

A A A A A A A A A A A A A

It was born of dark magic, given unnatural life by arcane forces beyond comprehension. It was born from hatred, fear, rage and shadows and it had thing single thought revolving over and over again in its mind in an endless cycle: do its master's will.

It flew on following an invisible trail only it could see. In its mind there was only one fixed idea. Follow the trail, reach the keeping place and take back to its master what it had been told to take.

The final piece of the tri-sword.

It had a name once but that had been lost in the mist of centuries past. It had once been a king amongst beasts, fired by the very earth itself. Nothing had dared to cross its savaging claws and razor flags but now it was a mere myth, a tale to fascinate children.

It was supposed to be dead, gone.

But no longer, it had been reborn, made whole in all its terrifying glory.

Another pump of its leathery wings brought it closer to its goal. It had passed over wide expanses of writhing oceans, landscapes tainted with human structures and finally mountains armoured in ice and snow. The jutted out from the land, glorious teeth of the ear stretching up to bite the fleecy white stomach of the sky. It lay exposed, the twisted backbone of the earth. It was getting closer, it could tell with all the senses it possessed.

Huge eyes that were neither red nor gold but a curious shade of both were wide open, staring fixatedly at something it alone could see. Its nostrils flared taking in huge gulps of sharp mountain air. Thousands of scents, a riot of perfume flooded its body. It discarded those it did not need but one, the one it was searching for. Its forked tongue flicked out from its fang-lined jaws, tasting the air strengthening its awareness of the scent.

It was here.

So close...

Not once did it cross its mind that it could defy its master's order and give in to the ravenous urges that clawed at the edge of its awareness.

The urge to kill.

To slay.

To feed.

Its will was bound, trapped, it was a slave in scaly skin.

It tasted the air again.

Closer now...

The whole mountain pulsed with power.

Its tongue flicked out.

And suddenly its gold-red eyes widened for a split second. A new scent flooded its senses. It was a scent full of danger and hatred.

It was ice and snow and wind.

It was wrath and fury and hatred.

It was power, undulated, ancient and unmoving.

It was the cold breath of death.

A cold winters wind sweeping over a battlefield of the slain.

It was overwhelming but the dragon did not freeze even for a second. It recovered, the spells holding its will forcing it onwards, ever onward.

Into the realm of a goddess.

A A A A A A A A A A A A A

Meiling's back tingled with the contact from the freezing snow but that sensation was easily overpowered by the feeling of hot breath lapping against her throat. Blunt claws dug into her chest, a strength that belayed the white furred fox's scrawny frame bore down on her pinning her down to the ground. It growled and scraped its molars across her neck not enough to pierce skin but just enough to leave a red raw line across the vulnerable flesh.

"MEILING" Kiyone made to get up.

"Shut and watch your little friend die," Psuedo-Sakura snapped with a vicious backhand.

Kiyone was knocked back down but she instantly tried to get up again.

"Get bent," she snarled, "Tweedledum-ass."

In a blinding move, she kicked out catching Psuedo-Sakura with a leg sweep dumping the Sakura's magical twin onto the snow. Instantly pressing the advantage, Kiyone made a desperate lunge across and tackled the fox away from Meiling just as it was about to chomp down on her.

"Oh cr..." Kiyone cried realising what she had just done.

The fox instantly turned on her going straight for her throat, Kiyone desperately trying to fend it off. They rolled around violently in the snow, locked in combat, a melee of white fur and dark hair. Meiling looked on helpless trying to discern fox from woman but it was impossible to tell, the desperate struggle too fast to distinguish any real details just blurry flashes of fists and fangs.

Psuedo-Sakura sniggered watching the struggle.

"All we need is some mud and an area and I could make some cash of this," she taunted wickedly gracefully getting up back to her feet.

Meiling glared at her as she too jumped up.

"You know what?" she shot shifting into a battle stance, "You really do need to have your pathetic, manipulative, bitchy ass kicked, repeatedly."

Psuedo-Sakura laughed right in her face.

"Uh oh," she put a hand to her chest, adopting a baby voice, "Mommy's all angry and I've been a wicked girl."

She dropped the voice and smirked at the furious Meiling.

"What are you going to do..." Psuedo-Sakura's grin got wider, "Spank me?"

"No, kick the living crap out of you."

Meiling leapt straight at Psuedo-Sakura as the rest of the foxes pounced forwards at her. Meiling easily leapt over one of the foxes and lashed out with her feet using its body as a springboard to gain the extra height she needed.

Psuedo-Sakura's smirk disappeared from her face as Meiling's right foot collided with her face. She flew backwards landing roughly in the snow.

She glared at Meiling, venomous fury blazing in her eyes.

"Get her," she snarled.

The foxes immediately charged straight at Meiling, their maws wide open and ready to tear her to pieces. Meiling steeled her nerves and prepared to meet them head on.

"Wow, look at all those Wile E. Coyotes."

Psuedo-Sakura's head snapped to the side, her dark emerald eyes widening at what she saw.

Before the foxes could reach Meiling, a blast of red glowing crystal crashed into the fox pack knocking them haplessly aside.

"Don't you watch Looney Tones?" Ruby Moon demanded, "He always loses."

Casually she waved her hands at Kiyone and her fox's frantic struggle. A jet of crystal blasted the fox off the ex-Angel. Kiyone let out an audible sigh of relief and slowly crawled to her feet, a raw scratch adorning one cheeks.

"What's with the Madame Butterfly?" she muttered, staring at Ruby Moon.

"Hey, if I were you I would be more grateful towards the chick that just saved your life."

"Chick?!?" Meiling exclaimed incredulously.

Ruby Moon shrugged.

"I'm chic," she smirked.

"And trashy," Kiyone added.

Ruby Moon thankfully ignored her as Meiling tried to wrap her mind around this strange new Ruby Moon.

"How?" she murmured faintly, "How come last time were all..."

Ruby Moon winked at her.

"Mistress cryptic slash Xena? Playing a part, honey."

"Okay..." Meiling trailed off.

She was still trying to digest what she had just seen. She could deal with a mystic, deadly, blade-wielding Ruby Moon but one who acted like someone's hip aunt took some getting used to.

"Oh, come on," Ruby Moon scoffed, "It's not very impressive for the guardian of the earth talisman to be your normal pop culture gal."

"With wings," Kiyone muttered.

"Details, details," Ruby Moon waved her hand at that comments.

"Hello Ruby, fancy seeing you here," Psuedo-Sakura spat breaking into their conversation.

"Nice to see you too, super skank," Ruby Moon shot back.

"Rowr!" Psuedo-Sakura made clawing motions with her hands, "Saucer of milk for Ruby."

"And now I'm thinking why Yue didn't just un-create your sorry, skanky, lopsided, Bette-Midler size ass," Ruby Moon sent Psuedo-Sakura a venomous smile.

"Because he needs me," Psuedo-Sakura snapped.

Ruby Moon smirked at the annoyed doppelganger.

"Well sorry," she pasted a serious expression on her face, "You're fired."

She blasted a stream of crystals at Psuedo-Sakura; the doppelganger tried to leap to the side to dodge the attack but was clipped in the shoulder. The force of the impact spun her around sending her flying backwards into the snow. Psuedo-Sakura crashed into a snow drift and lay there a few seconds gasping for breath but she gritted her teeth and slowly got up again.

"Ouch," she stated calmly, "That stung."

She leapt towards Ruby Moon but before the winged guardian could act, she disappeared with a flash in mid-air.

Ruby Moon rolled her eyes.

"Please, like your Houdini Tricks are going to work," Ruby Moon closed her eyes and focused.

Suddenly her eyes snapped open.

"DUCK!" she roared.

Before Meiling and Kiyone could even blink, Ruby Moon whirled around shooting off another barrage of crystals even as she was moving. Kiyone hurriedly hit the ground as Ruby Moon shot wildly in her direction, the crystals shooting past overhead narrowly missing her head.

Psuedo-Sakura was struck even before she had fully reappeared again.

She fell backwards, crystals tearing into her skin. Ruby Moon cut off the attack allowing the doppelganger to get up again.

"This isn't over," Psuedo-Sakura snapped.

She disappeared in a flash of light teleporting away before Ruby Moon could hit her again with a rain of crystal. Ruby Moon sighed in frustration and turned to the slightly shell-shocked Meiling and Kiyone.

"Come on," she told them impatiently.

She began trekking through the snow, her feet skimming lightly over the ice crystals instead of sinking in them like the two humans who followed behind her. Whilst Meiling and Kiyone struggled, Ruby Moon was as comfortable as if she was just taking a normal stroll through a park on a sunny day.

"Where are we going?" Kiyone called out to her.

"We need to regroup," Ruby Moon replied, talking over her shoulders, "We need to find the others and regroup.

"Then what?" Meiling demanded floundering around in the snow.

Ruby Moon gave them a wicked smile.

"We got Magnum Force on the snow Geisha."

Meiling and Kiyone stared at each other in confusion before staring at Ruby Moon.

"Huh?"

"We attack at dawn..." Ruby Moon paused, "Figuratively speaking."

"Oh."

Their eyes widened.

"OH!"

A A A A A A A A A A A A A

Sakura bit her lip finally making her agonising decision, she shot a final worried look at the shivering and whimpering Xiaolang.

"Be strong, hang on," Sakura slowly got up, "I'll be back."

Her eyes lingered over Xiaolang's feverish face as she forced herself to turn around. She took a reluctant step forwards forcing herself not to look back.

"There's not need for that," a familiar voice called to her.

Sakura whirled around almost tripping over her own feet.

"Kerberos!?!"

A A A A A A A A A A A A A

The crystalline winged monster flew at them, icy claws outstretched ready to crush the pathetic mortals who stood in front of it, cloven feet ready to stomp them into oblivion.

"What is that?!?" Tomoyo cried.

"A monster," Nivaline replied trying to keep calm.

"Jeez, helpful," Tomoyo muttered sarcastically.

The beast let out a thunderous roar and landed several metres in front, quite gracefully for a behemoth of that size. It gave another roar that shook the surrounding mountains before flexing its wings and taking a dangerous step towards them, icy hooves tearing into the rocky hard ground.

"Say," Tomoyo began trying to adopt a cheery, hopeful tone, "You don't happen to have a bazooka with you... do you?"

Nivaline shook her head, her face suddenly pale.

"Fresh out."

The beast hunched over for a few seconds, a deadly calm settling over the surrounding area. Nivaline and Tomoyo stared at it, their faces pale and sweating heavily. It suddenly sprung forwards and took off after them, each pounding step shaking the ear.

"RUN!" Nivaline yelled.

"WHERE?"

"TOWARDS IT!"

They took off towards the uber ice-beast dodging its wild swipes and stomping hooves. They made it just past the beast hurriedly dodging its icy tail that lashed around like a violent whip. The beast roared and tried to turn itself around, its bulk making it unwieldy and awkward in such situations. Nivaline and Tomoyo ran as best as they could, Nivaline several metres ahead of the Japanese Angel.

Just under Tomoyo's foot, the patch of snow she was standing on gave way pitching the Angel forwards.

"TOMOYO!" Nivaline yelled desperately.

The beasts gave a huge bellow and charged at her. It raised its feet ready to grind Tomoyo in the frigid ground, Tomoyo flailed around desperately for a weapon not matter how puny or pathetic but the only thing she had was the mirror, which she was still holding in her hands. Desperately she held it out in front of her as though the thin pane of glass was a shield that would actually protect her.

"TOMOYO!" Nivaline picked out a rock and heaved it at the ice-beast trying to get its attention, "TOMOYO!"
Sunlight struck the mirror's surface and to Tomoyo's astonishment she could feel the metal and glass beginning to vibrate and warm up.

What the? she had enough time to think before it happened.

The sunlight reflected off the glass, concentrating into a beam of pale yellow energy that rocketed up hitting the ice-beast's raised hoof. The beast roared with pain as the blast unbalanced its body. It fell backwards, the earth shaking with the impact of its fall as Tomoyo gaped at the still warm mirror.

"It ain't a bazooka," she whispered.

The beast seemed to recover as it tried to claw back onto its feet. Tomoyo coolly shot another energy beam, this time at its head. It cracked into the icy facade, dazzling the beast and stunning it for a few precious seconds.

"But it'll do," Tomoyo instantly jumped up.

She ran to the stupefied Nivaline.

"RUNNNN!!!!" Tomoyo roared.

They took off across the snow fleeing literally for their lives. The ice-beast got up and instantly gave chase.

A A A A A A A A A A A A A

"Kerberos!" Sakura cried happily seeing the armoured and winged lion guardian.

"Flower," Kerberos inclined his head gracefully.

Xiaolang's eyes snapped open and he began shaking violently, his arms flailing wildly scrambling around in the snow.

"Sakura, " he whispered hoarsely.

"Xiaolang!"

Sakura was instantly at his side trying to soothe him down. She stroked his hair gently murmuring soft words of encouragement rocking him as she tried to desperately cling on to his thrashing body. Once he had calmed down again Sakura looked desperately at Kerberos.

"Kerberos, can you please get Xiaolang off this mountain?" she asked desperately.

Kerberos stared gravely at her.

"I can't do that," he growled gently.

Sakura stared at him.

"Why not?" she demanded.

"I have to protect you."

Sakura glared at him coldly.

"I can handle myself," she informed him frostily.

Kerberos sighed, flexing his feathered wings slowly.

"Psuedo-Sakura is back."

Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Tell me something I don't know," she snapped.

Kerberos glared at her, his amber eyes betraying his frustration.

"Yue's been captured."

Sakura's eyes widened in shock.

"What?!?" she gaped at Kerberos trying to comprehend the bombshell he had just dropped.

"The Snow Geisha, captured him," Kerberos growled low in his throat, thinking about what he would do once he got his paws on the ice goddess.

"Oh god," Sakura whispered faintly, "How?"

A faint smile graced Kerberos's white muzzle.

"Your comment kinda provides the answer."

Sakura allowed a small smile on her face as well before a low moan of pain drew her attention back to Xiaolang. She pursed her lips, her hands still stroking his sweat-soaked hair.

"You still need to get him out of here," she told Kerberos.

Kerberos growled in frustration.

"Weren't you listening?" he demanded, "I need to protect you."

"He'll die if he doesn't get help!" Sakura shot back.

"If I don't protect you, you'll die!" Kerberos roared.

Sakura stared at him calmly.

"I don't care," she whispered.

Kerberos gaped at her.

"Don't you get it?" he snarled, "You're important, no you're vital. You've been chosen by destiny. You have a responsibility to the world. If you die, the world dies with you."

"I don't care," Sakura repeated louder this time.

"The world needs you!" Kerberos argued.

"He needs me to save him."

Kerberos glared at her.

"I don't believe this!" he snapped, "You'll sacrifice the world to save some... brat?!?"
"He's not a brat," Sakura snarled.

Kerberos froze, his amber eyes staring the girl intently.

"You're in love with him."

Sakura's eyes widened for a fraction of a second but it was enough to tell Kerberos the answer.

"No... I..."

She falls silent trying to find the right words to describe her emotions.

"Yes," she admitted softly.

"I knew it!" Kerberos pounded the snow with his paw, "You must not let emotions freeze your judgement. Be strong, listen not to your heart but your mind. Flower... Sakura, there is more at stake then your heart. What you have spent your whole life walking towards... the world is at stake here."

Sakura stared down at the ground lost in thought, Kerberos fell silent and relaxed thinking he had finally got through to her. She slowly looked up at him, determination blazing in her eyes.

"Then let it burn."

It could sense it. The power growing stronger with every flap of its wings. It was so close...

There!

The power, undeniable, a beacon of energy pulsing amongst a scape of snow. It called to it, a song as enchanting as that of a siren's. it pumped it swings once more and roared loudly.

Its gold-red eyes blazed with triumph as it folded its wings and dropped from the skies charging straight at it target: a wounded man lying helpless in the snow.

It gave another loud roar and attacked.

A A A A A A A A A A A A A

"ROOOOOOWRRRRRRR!!!"

Sakura's eyes widened in shock at the sound that thundered through the mountains shaking the very foundations of the monoliths.

"What the?"

The ground around her turned dark as an immense shadow fell over them. Sakura looked up and freaked.

"Oh god!"

Kerberos stared up at the flying creature and growled.

"Sakura, get back," he snarled, his wings snapping open.

He planted himself right in front of Sakura ready to do battle with the incoming beast. The dragon, its gold-red eyes a stark contrast to its black as night scales, completely ignored them swerving expertly away from the guardian and its charge and headed straight for...

"Xiaolang!" Sakura cried.

The dragon gave a huge roar of triumph as it swooped down on the hapless human.

"Xiaolang!" Sakura screamed desperately.

Kerberos gave a huge roar and shoot a stream of fire at the dragon. The dragon instantly broke off its dive and changed trajectory narrowly missing the fire. Kerberos flexed his wings and with a mighty pump flew into the air.

"Get him! RUN!" Kerberos roared.

The dragon whirled on him as Kerberos roared back ready to do battle. Sakura roughly dragged Xiaolang to his feet supporting him as she took off doggedly across the snow, lion and dragon doing battle overhead.

She prayed they could get away in time.

A A A A A A A A A A A A A

"Where are we going?" Meiling demanded, the cold shortening her already short temper.

"To find the Fox and the Elder," Ruby Moon replied distractedly.

"The who and the what now?" Kiyone asked confused.

"Tomoyo and Nivaline," Meiling whispered.

"Oh."

She mulled over that little bit of information.

"What about Sakura and Xiaolang?" she asked.

"Kerberos is with them. They'll be fine," Ruby Moon assured them.

They continued walking in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. Suddenly an ear-splitting roar filled the air; Kiyone and Meiling clapped their hands over their ears trying to block out the deafening sound.

"What the?"

"There!" Ruby Moon pointed towards the direction of the sound.

They all ran as fast as they could towards the origin of the roar and soon reached a cliff overlooking a gentle valley bellow.

"It's them!" Kiyone gasped seeing Nivaline and Tomoyo below.

They watched in horror as the ice beast emerged from around a bend, slowly gaining of the feeling duo.

"TOMOYO!" Meiling yelled.

The Japanese Angel suddenly whirled around and fired a blast of energy from the mirror at the ice-beast slowing it down somewhat.

"What is that thing?" Kiyone whispered, staring at the monster.

"I'm taking a wild stab and saying monster," Ruby Moon muttered.

Without any word, Ruby Moon leapt off the cliff and flew straight at the ice-beat. Meiling and Kiyone immediately began to climb down the cliff.

Ruby Moon flew straight in front of the beast trying to distract it.

"Hey! Popsicle Breath!" Ruby Moon taunted throwing a fistful of crystals at the monster.

The beast roared and flailed wildly trying to swat Ruby Moon out of the air but the guardian skilfully ducked its wild attacks and fired another torrent of crystals chipping slivers of ice away from its body. Tomoyo and Nivaline stopped and watched the battle as Meiling and Kiyone sprinted over to them.

"Tomoyo!" Meiling cried.
"Kiyone," Nivaline sighed with relief.

"Meiling," Tomoyo gasped.

"Nivaline," Kiyone gave Nivaline a sharp nod.

"Meiling!" Nivaline exclaimed.

"Tomoyo," Kiyone gave her a warm smile.

"Kiyone," Tomoyo returned the smile.

"Nivaline!" Meiling hugged the woman.

They stared at each other.

"Are you okay?" they all demanded at once.

Suddenly behind them the beast gave a roar of fury and swatted Ruby Moon out of the air with its icy claws.

"Wait," Tomoyo gave them a dazzling smile as she aimed her mirror.

Sunlight powered up the mystical talisman as Tomoyo concentrated, a beam of pale energy blasted forwards crashing into the ice-beast, knocking it backwards. It stumbled awkwardly and lost its footing tumbling down onto one knee. Tomoyo fired another beam hit its again in the gut causing the icy behemoth to keel over and roar in pain.

"Does anybody disagree when I say we do the catch up thing after we run for our lives?" Tomoyo asked.

"Way ahead of you," Kiyone muttered sprinting off.

They fled as Ruby Moon recovered fluttering her butterfly wings gingerly before taking to the air again.

"Lucky shot," she muttered as the ice-beasts recovered from the energy blasts and righted itself.

It started to give chase after the girls again.

"Go!" Ruby Moon roared, "I'll hold it back!"

With that she unleashed an onslaught of crystal blasts stopping the ice-beast for now.

"How come Tomoyo's magic works?" Meiling demanded wheezing for breath.

Nivaline struggled to keep up her speed as she answered Meiling's question.

"I don't know," she frowned thoughtfully, "Maybe the presence of the guardians nearby boosts the talismans' powers allowing it to break through snow Geisha's hampering spells."

Meiling stopped running and tossed them a wicked smile.

"Alright, come on Clow Sword!" she ripped the bracelet away from her wrist.

The others stepped back.

"Blade of Clow, power of magic, power of light, surrender the sword! The force ignite! RELEASE!" Meiling yelled.

The bracelet glowed brightly as a magical wind sprung up around Meiling. Light blazed around her as Meiling held out her head ready to receive the sword and suddenly with no warning at all, the wind, the light, the magic all died out leaving a confused Meiling to stand there, bracelet in hand.

"What?!?"

"Maybe it's broken," Kiyone suggested, "Hit if a few times."

"It's an ancient mystical artefact, not a television," Nivaline snapped.

"Hello?" Tomoyo broke into their bickering, "More fleeing for our lives, less talking."

Reminded of the ice-beast, they immediately took off again.

"Wait," Meiling yelled.

"What?!?" Kiyone shouted at her, "Keeping running, you idiot!"

As if to emphasis her point, behind them Ruby Moon was knocked silly as another of the ice-beasts swipes made contact. The beast roared and immediately took flight after them, icy wings slicing through the air.

"What were the sword's latent powers again?" Meiling demanded.

"Power to control and protect the wearer from the elements," Nivaline recited.

Tomoyo stared at Meiling incredulously.

"You're not going to try and control that monster!" she yelled knowing what was on her friend's mind.

"What its basically ice, isn't it? That's an element and I can supposedly control that," Meiling argued.

Kiyone sighed in frustration waiting to hit Meiling over the head for her narrow mindedness.

"It's an ice shaped as a living Godzilla with bat wings!" she yelled, "It's made of magic and might I remind you a god's magic so do you really want to mess with that?"

Meiling fell silent at that piece of logic.

"That's probably the smartest thing she's ever said," Nivaline muttered to herself but Kiyone overheard her.

"Hey, back off Gandalf!" she snapped.

"I don't have a beard!" Nivaline cried.

"No, but you're old enough to!"

Ignoring them, Tomoyo whirled around and fired off another blast of energy stopping the monster in its tracks for a few valuable seconds.

"Again with the running," Tomoyo snapped cutting into their bickering.

"Wait, I think I can slow it down," Meiling concentrated.

The bracelet began glowing as Meiling tried to harness the power of the elements. With so much snow and ice around, Meiling went for that thinking it would be less draining than trying to summon something like fire or thunder, which was really what she needed. Energy flooded through her body, the bracelet amplifying it as Meiling focused conjuring up images of ice and snow in her mind. She pictured a blast of frigid wind hitting the monster and freezing it and willed it to happen. Her eyes flew open and she gasped as she felt power roar through her body. With a cry, she flung the energy at the monster.

Everybody gaped as a blast of snow and ice shot forwards and slammed into the ice-beast. The coldness of its icy body only helped Meiling's attack allowing ice to freeze itself around the monster in the blink of an eye.

"It's frozen," Nivaline noted eyeing the ice-beast, which was encased in a solid tomb of ice.

"Kinda ironic," Kiyone added.

They stood there, Meiling smiling happily about her success but suddenly a loud crack filled the air. They jumped as the ice prison shattered, the beast roaring as it escaped from its icy grip. With another roar, the beast glowed and seemed to take the extra ice into its body.

Everybody gaped at the monster as it sucked in the ice growing even bigger. An extra pair of horns sprouted as it shot up an extra metre into the air, its claws began more long and sharp, the curve more pronounced as its tail split into three growing two more whipping appendages.

Ruby Moon suddenly appeared beside them.

"Nice going," she muttered sarcastically.

"Whoops," Meiling whispered.

The now even bigger monster roared and charged straight at them, eager for blood.

A A A A A A A A A A A A A

Sakura and Xiaolang fled for their lives as overhead Kerberos did battle with the immense black dragon that had just seemed to appear from nowhere. It was huge about the size of a bus equipped with long claws and a mouth teeming with sharp teeth. Four twisted horns grew from its triangular head, a ridge of smaller horns sprouting out from the thick armoured scales that coated the top of its head all the way down to the bottom, where its two nostrils were flaring.

Curved horns also adorned its back from head to its long tapering tail, which ended in a bony curved triangle with razor sharp edges. It was this razor implement that was used to attack Kerberos, the flying guardian barrelling away from the whipping tail and retaliating with a tongue of golden flames. It lashed the dragon's back scoring the tough membrane that stretched across the thin bones that made up its wing. It howled with rage and twirled around with unexpected nimbleness, its jaws wide open ready to devour Kerberos. The guardian beat a hasty retreat diving down to avoid the incoming danger, the dragon instantly following behind jaws snapping on empty air.

Kerberos suddenly banked left, the dragon shooting past him until to stop its trajectory. The winged guardian swerved around behind the dragon and let loose with another burst of fire hitting the dragon from behind. The dragon roared in pain but the thick scales on its body blocked most of the damage. Kerberos hovered in the air as the dragon regrouped itself.

It charged at him again and the fight continued, neither winning nor losing.

Below them, Sakura was almost dragged down into the snow as Xiaolang slipped falling over.

"Xiaolang!" she grabbed his arm keeping him upright.

The jerk of movement on his clothes caused his coat to slip back revealing a patch of his chest. Sakura gasped as she saw blood staining through the rough scarf bandage she had bound to his wound.

"Oh god."

She moved to check his wound but a roar of pain overhead drew her back to reality. She risked a quick glance up and saw that Kerberos was now grimly clinging onto the dragon's back, claws tearing through thick scale as the dragon tried to throw him off.

"Come on," Sakura whispered hauling Xiaolang along.

Xiaolang muttered something incoherently to her as she half-dragged, half-carried him along trying to put as much distance between them and the fight above as possible.

"Don't die on me," Sakura whispered, "Don't die, damn it."

She paused to readjust her grip on him and he fell sideways into her. Sakura could feel blood seep through Xiaolang's clothes staining hers before the warm liquid touched her skin. She shivered at the feeling, a grimace crossing over her face but she continued to carry him throwing fearful looks at the dragon and Kerberos fight overhead every few seconds.

"You can't die," Sakura whispered fiercely, "I need you to be alive. I need you."

She looks at his feverish face and felt fear clench her body. How long could he last like this?

"You know Kerberos made me realise something... I love you," she confessed.

She gave him a small smile.

"You hear that?" she steadied him again as he stumbled, "I love you and I can't love you if you're dead. So you can't die, you've got something to live for."

They continued struggling through the snow.

"Awww... that so sweet," a mocking voice said from behind them.

The back of Sakura's head exploded with pain as something punched her from behind. Her knees buckle as her body went numb for a few seconds, just long enough for her to lose balance and fall in the snow taking Xiaolang down with her. Twisting herself free of Xiaolang's grip, she turned around in the snow and glared at who had attacked her so cowardly from behind.

"Interesting fact about predators," Psuedo-Sakura said innocently batting her eyelids down at her twin, "They pick off the sick and dying first."

Sakura glared at her, her fists clenching into tight fists.

"You still have to get through me."

Psuedo-Sakura smirked at her.

'Well, doesn't he have an adoring protector," she mocked.

Psuedo-Sakura's grin got wider and more vicious.

"Oh, I love you so much!" she taunted, mockingly her voice melodramatic and high-pitched, "I can't love you if you're dead. How sickeningly pathetic."

She looks down at Xiaolang.

"Oh no, that wound looks... mortal," Psuedo-Sakura switched her gaze back to Sakura, "Guess you do have to love a dead man."

"Get away from him," Sakura snapped.

"Make me," Psuedo-Sakura hissed.

"Gladly."

Sakura jumped up and punched Psuedo-Sakura in the jaw. The doppelganger's head snapped back, Sakura hitting her twice more with a left-right combination jab. Psuedo-Sakura grabbed her wrist and yanked her away from Xiaolang, easily tossing her into the snow. Sakura landed flat on her back as Psuedo-Sakura leapt into the air, balling her two fists together and bringing it down into an overhead strike trying to crush Sakura's chest. Sakura's eyes widened in shock seeing the incoming attack and she managed to just roll away in time.

Psuedo-Sakura hit the ground, her attack missing Sakura's head by inches. Sakura elbowed Psuedo-Sakura in the face knocking the doppelganger down. She leapt up and pressed an elbow against the mystical creature's chest trapping her down as she repeatedly punched her in the face.

Psuedo-Sakura struggled and finally managed to pressed a knee against Sakura's stomach and heaved with all her might throwing the Angel off her. Sakura landed in the snow and instantly flipped back up onto her feet meeting Psuedo-Sakura's next wave of attack.

A spin kick knocked Sakura backwards followed by a mid-air horizontal flip that resulted in two more kicks hitting Sakura. She tried to press the advantage throwing a left hook at her but Sakura steadied herself and flipped straight over Psuedo-Sakura landing safely on the other side. She spun around and kicked Psuedo-Sakura's back knocking her forwards before leaping up and firing off two small kicks that hit Psuedo-Sakura twice again before she landed again nimbly. Psuedo-Sakura steadied herself and came back with a mid-flip kick hitting Sakura in the chest.

Psuedo-Sakura threw a volley of punches, Sakura blocking each other kicking one arm away before head-butting Psuedo-Sakura. The Angel came in with two punches and a hop-kick that knocked the doppelganger back.

Psuedo-Sakura licked her lips tasting her own blood before shooting Sakura a wicked smile. Sakura leapt forwards but Psuedo-Sakura sidestepped her lunge grabbing the back of her jacket as she shot past and tossed her through the air.

Sakura slid through the snow stopping about two metres away as Psuedo-Sakura stalked towards her, wicked malice dancing in her eyes.

Suddenly a low triumphant roar filled the air, both girls turning around to see what was going on. The dragon whacked Kerberos with its tail knocking him down into the snow before charging straight at Xiaolang, a black missile of teeth and claws.

"NO!" Sakura jumped up and tried to get at Xiaolang but Psuedo-Sakura blocked her, grabbing her arm and twisting it behind her back.

She pulled Sakura to her until her back was pressed against the doppelganger's chest. Psuedo-Sakura smiled wickedly as she leant down and whispered in Sakura's ears.

"Why is it everybody you love gets hurt?" she asked, murmured softly.

She threw Sakura down into the snow.

"Your mom, your dear old dead brother," Psuedo-Sakura smirked at Sakura's shocked face, "Oh yes I know about him. Then there's your dad, Zachary, Chelsea and now him. Face it, you kill everyone you love."

Sakura glared up at her twin as Psuedo-Sakura smiled venomously at her.

"Well, this is pathetic," she taunted, "Look at you. Just a pathetic little girl, your family gone, your friends gone, no magic, no weapons, nothing. You have nothing left to fight with."

Psuedo-Sakura lashed out with her right foot.

Sakura grabbed it, inches from her face.

"There's still me," Sakura whispered.

She dumped Psuedo-Sakura down into the snow.

"And sometimes that's enough."

Sakura got up and calmly walked towards Psuedo-Sakura. She stared down at her calmly, Psuedo-Sakura glaring up at her. With a low growl, Sakura raised her right foot and stomped down on Psuedo-Sakura's neck. It snapped with an audible crunch.

"That's not enough to stop me," Psuedo-Sakura managed to croak out hoarsely, her wind pipe crushed, "it'll heal."

Sakura ignored her and turned towards the dragon.

"Get away from him!" she screamed, power rolling through her words, "JUST GO AWAY!"

Her eyes turned pure gold as her key unleashed a pulse of energy. Gold light surrounded the roaring dragon and with a flash of light it disappeared. Behind her Psuedo-Sakura was getting up massaging her neck gingerly.

"That was a nice trick but your boy is still going to die," Psuedo-Sakura smiled up at Sakura's furious face.

"Get out of my face," Sakura snarled.

Psuedo-Sakura's grin grew wider and she disappeared in a flash of light. She instantly reappeared at Xiaolang's side.

"Gladly," she grabbed Xiaolang's arm, "Ta ta for now!"

She disappeared taking Xiaolang with her. Sakura's eyes widened with shock as they returned to their normal grin, she stared at the spot where Xiaolang had laid trying to understand what she had just seen.

"Xiaolang," she whispered brokenly.

Kerberos glided to her side.

"Kerberos..." Sakura began calmly.

She turned and stared straight into the guardian's eyes, her own eyes turning pure gold once more.

"You're going to take me on your back. We're going to fly around and we're going to find my friends," Sakura commanded coldly.

"Then we're going to kill that bitch."

Kerberos hesitated.

"Understand?" Sakura barked.

The lion nodded and allowed Sakura to mount his back, with a powerful pump of his wings they took off.

A A A A A A A A A A A A A

They stared at the incoming danger, the ground shaking under their very feet with every pounding step the now even bigger ice-beast took.

"Not good," Meiling whimpered.

"Great plan moron," Kiyone muttered.

"Let's save our lives before we starting playing the blame game people, okay?" Nivaline snapped.

"Good plan," Ruby Moon agreed.

She raised her arm and unleashed a hail of ruby crystals at the monster. It knocked chips off the beast's armoured body but did little to affect or slow it down.

"Oh, screw this," Ruby Moon muttered.

She fired attack, this time a beam of ruby light powering forwards and colliding with the ice-beast. The ice-beast was thrown back slightly but it steadied itself quickly ploughing its way through the attack albeit a little slowly this time.

"Wow, you actually slowed it down," Kiyone muttered.

"Like to see you do better," Ruby Moon retorted.

"Give me an Uzi," Kiyone challenged.

The monster took flight dodging Ruby Moon's second beamed attack and landed only three metres in front of them.

"GO UNDER!" Ruby Moon roared raising her arm again.

"WHAT?!?"
"JUS GO!"

Ruby Moon unleashed her attack; it cleaved off one of the beast's horns as she coolly kept firing aiming for the face each time. The four of them took off racing towards the monster, Ruby Moon providing the diversion. Soon they reached the monster dodging and ducking wildly as the monster thrashed hooves stomping down, its three tails thrashing about violently. Tomoyo held up her mirror as she sped past one of its legs.

"DIE!" she screamed

She fired an energy blast that tore one of the tails in half. The loss of this seemed to unbalance the beast giving them just enough time to race past the monster. With a roar, it whirled around, its tails tearing chunks from the ground and valley walls as it gave chase.

Ruby Moon fired another beam at it but it easily dispersed the attack with a flick of its tail. Ruby Moon swore and charged straight at it but a casual backhand of its claw sending her flying.

Tomoyo fired another beam but the beast gave a powerful stomp, conjuring up concussive waves that ripped through the air and ground at her. It hit her head on tossing her backwards as her attack went wild shooting up into the sky. Meiling tried to summon another elemental attack anything to slow the beast down. She managed to unleash a freezing blast but her inexperience show, the attack backfiring on her and flinging her backwards. She was knocked into Nivaline and Kiyone throwing both of them down. Hitting the snow painfully, they looked up just in time to see the beast's hoofed foot coming down at them.

"NOOOO!!!" Tomoyo cried.

A gush of flames lashed the beast's head. It pitched sideways hitting the low valley ways with a thundering crash.

"LEAVE! GO BACK TO YOUR MISTRESS!" a familiar voice cried.

Gold light wrapped itself around the struggling beast and with a pulse of light it disappeared. Everybody glanced up searching for their saviour.

"SAKURA!" Meiling cried.

Kerberos glided in landing gently as Sakura leapt off his back. Meiling, Nivaline, Kiyone and Tomoyo got to their feet and raced towards their friend. Sakura laughed as they tackled her into a massive group hug.

"Sakura, where's Xiaolang?" Tomoyo asked worriedly.

Sakura's smile disappeared.

"They got Xiaolang."

"Who?" Tomoyo pressed confused.

"Psuedo-Sakura and since she's working with the Snow Geisha, I bet she's where she is and I bet Xiaolang's with them."

"So what do we do?" Meiling asked.

"We launch an all-out offence at them."

"Whoa, kamikaze much?" Kiyone demanded.

"I'm doing this even if I'm going alone."

"We're with you," Meiling, Tomoyo and Nivaline said firmly.

"Me too," Kiyone chimed in.

Ruby Moon fluttered over to them.

"You made it," she told Sakura and Kerberos, "Finally."

Sakura and Kerberos rolled their eyes at her.

"The way I see it..." Kiyone began.

"What?" Sakura asked curiously.

Kiyone beamed at them, Nivaline groaned inwardly not liking the impish look on her face.

"No time for subtleties or spy work..."

"So?" Tomoyo asked.

"We go in and blow the living hell out of everywhere that gets in our way," Kiyone finished.

"That's our plan?" Nivaline demanded.

"I like it," Meiling smirked.

Tomoyo sighed.

"When do we do this?"

"Now."

A A A A A A A A A A A A A

"What's this?" the Snow Geisha glared at Psuedo-Sakura.

Casually Psuedo-Sakura dumped Xiaolang onto the ground.

"Bait."

"What?" the Snow Geisha demanded, annoyance flashing in her blue eyes.

"Those Angels and their little friends?" Psuedo-Sakura explained with a sigh, "They will charge in at any moment to save him and this gives you the chance..."

"To kill them once and for all," the Snow Geisha whispered coldly.

"Very good," Psuedo-Sakura praised.

The Snow Geisha smirked up at Yue.

"And you're going to watch them die," she taunted.

Psuedo-Sakura followed the Snow Geisha's gaze and smiled wickedly seeing who she was talking to.

"Hey, if it isn't my old boss!"

"I'll kill you," Yue snapped coldly.

"Awfully non-threatening. Must be the stuck in the cage thing," Psuedo-Sakura taunted.

Yue opened his mouth to deliver something venomous but was stopped as the whole ice palace shook.

"What..." the Snow Geisha glided over to the rough opening that served as a window.

An immense horned ice-beast lay sprawled across the snowy clearing where the ice palace sat. Psuedo-Sakura frowned.

Where had that thing sprung from?

The Snow Geisha hissed in fury upon seeing the beast.

"They managed to stop it," she spat.

"You sent that after them," Psuedo-Sakura let out a low whistle, "Nasty."

"Get up!" the Snow Geisha commanded.

The monster lumbered to its feet.

"Stand guard," the Snow Geisha continued, "We'll have some guests arriving. And I want you to kill them."

The ice-beast roared and Psuedo-Sakura smirked wildly at the thought of the Angels tangling with that thing.

"This is going to be very interesting."

A A A A A A A A A A A A A

It had taken them a while to get across the vast snowy plains but they had finally made it to a rocky overhang that overlooked the stronghold of the Snow Geisha. Upon seeing the immense icy apex of the spike-like palace and the army of ice demons and white foxes guarding it, Kiyone paled.

"That's going to be a tough puppy too crack open," she said flatly.

"Oh yeah," Meiling agreed, "But what's a little kamikaze spirit between friends?'

"So what's the sitch?" Ruby Moon asked.

They stared at each other.

"Kerberos, Ruby Moon, Sakura, Tomoyo and Meiling combine their attacks and try to punch their way through the army?" Nivaline suggested.

"Are you sure you can stop that?" Kerberos asked.

They turned to see what he was staring at. The massive ice-beast they have faced before also stood guard over the palace, a mountain amongst the ice-demons.

"How about Meiling tries an elemental blast?" Tomoyo asked.

"Yeah, the last time she tried that she just super-sized the beast," Ruby Moon nodded her head, "Great plan.'

"How about Kerberos flies us across?" Sakura tried.

"Sakura, those things can fly," Kiyone reminded her.

"Is there anybody who feels that coming back with an A-bomb is a good idea?" Ruby Moon asked, "Cause this little scene is reminding way too much of the Two Towers."

"We're going to need a lot of fire power," Meiling admitted, "And I haven't seen the movie."

"I have," Kiyone perked up, "And the numbers are even more unbalanced."

"Thanks for the Lord of the Rings analogy," Nivaline snapped, "Really helpful."

"Well, we could trying to get in from behind..."

"There's a sheer cliff face from behind..."

"Hey, I don't see you come up with a better pla..."

"Guys!" the note of panic in Tomoyo's voice got their attention.

Tomoyo was looking up at the sky.

"Tomoyo, what's wr..."

They all looked up, a lone ice-demon was gliding towards them.

"A sentry," Kiyone whispered, "Shi..."

The demon suddenly let out a high-pitched screech.

"They're onto us!" Meiling yelled.

Kerberos baked the ice-demon in midair with his flames but it was too late the message was out. They all looked back at the clearing and gulped as hundreds of ice demons took flight at them, the white foxes tearing through the snow running straight for them.

"We're on higher ground," Nivaline said hurriedly, "That should gives us an advantage over the foxes..."

"The ice-demons?" Sakura whispered.

"Pray?" Nivaline suggested weakly.

"We need weapons!" Kiyone snapped.

Ruby Moon gestured and five swords flew into the hands of the mortals.

"Much better," Kiyone noted satisfied as she tested her blade.

Meiling stared down at the sword.

"These are like the ones..." she looked up and frowned at the butterfly guardian.

"I used to fight you? Yeah?" Ruby Moon shrugged, "If you've got issues with, dump them and fight bare hand. It's up to you."

Meiling took an experimental swing and find that it was exactly how she liked how swords.

"Nice," Sakura noted.

"First wave!" Tomoyo yelled.

Kerberos and Ruby Moon took the air decimating the first few rows of ice-demons with a combined crystal and fire attack. Tomoyo used her mirror for the time being, her energy beam raking through the ice-demons, shattering every monster it touched. Meiling, Sakura, Nivaline and Kiyone stood guard at the edge of the overhang ready to do battle with the foxes that were now bounding up the cliff.

"Hold the line," Nivaline commanded softly as they started down at the carpet of white fur that swept up the rocky cliff.

The foxes hit the overhang with a flurry of snarls. Sakura kicked one back down as she swiped another, razor blade tearing through flesh and fur. Meiling backhanded a fox that leapt at her, throwing her sword through another.

They fought on valiantly slowly being overwhelmed with sheer numbers as the same thing happened in the skies above.

Ruby Moon had switched to her beam attack desperately trying to beat back the seemingly endless army of ice-demons that just kept flying in at them. Tomoyo was splitting her time between blasting the demons and blasting the foxes trying to keep both at bay, Kerberos seemed to be having the most effect on the ice-demons with his flames so the crafty ice monsters focused most of their numbers on him trying to swamp him with their numbers.

"We're going to lose," Nivaline gritted her teeth as she came down on a fox with an overhead swing.
It jumped aside dodging the strike but Nivaline kicked it down the cliff.

"Then let's try to take out as many as possible," Kiyone gave a loud war cry and crashed into the foxes numbers, her sword a silver blur as she struck over and over again.

Sakura jumped into Nivaline's line of vision cleaving a fox in two, kicking another away.

"BACK!" Sakura roared, her left hand shooting forwards.

The key let out a pulse of energy and flung the foxes back giving them precious seconds of calm. Tomoyo blasted a beam towards the foxes holding them back for a few more seconds, overhead the screech of ice-demons were grating as Kerberos and Ruby Moon fended them off.

"We need some bigger weapons," Kiyone growled.

Meiling gritted her teeth in frustration. If only she could control the bracelet's power but it was hard, the elemental magic coursing through it was strong, wild and unpredictable. It was hopeless.

"No," Meiling whispered.

She was strong than it. She would force it to bend to her will. Meiling focused her attention onto the tiny ruby butterfly hanging around her wrist even as a new wave of foxes leapt over the edge at them.

She had to concentrate...

She gritted her teeth forcing everything out, the growl of foxes, the screech of ice-demons, the multiple explosions as the guardians and Tomoyo released their attacks.

There!

It was like a dam had burst in her mind.

The energy, the power it coursed through her filling her very soul.

The air around her thrummed with power as Meiling smiled knowing that she was the master of this energy.

Meiling's eyes snapped open and stared straight into the lightning blue eyes of the fox standing right in front of her.

"Earth," she said calmly.

Nivaline, Kiyone and Sakura stared at her all of them feeling the power rolling off her in invisible waves. The ground beneath them shook as Meiling focused. The earth itself shook and trembled as Meiling bore her will down on it forcing it do what she willed. The foxes climbing up the cliff was knocked back down as the shaking became more and more pronounced, more violet.

"Bury them," Meiling commanded.

A huge section of the cliff they were standing on exploded forwards burying the foxes in an avalanche of ice and rubble. The others stared at Meiling in shock as the Asian Angel looked up at the sky and the battling ice-demons.

"Strike."

There was a clap of thunder and a white flash so bright it almost blinded the others. The ice-demons shrieked as their bodies melted and instantly vaporised unable to stand up to the magical attack. When the light cleared about a quarter of the ice-demons had been eradicated, just like that in the blink of an eye.

"Whoa," Kiyone murmured.

"Let's go!" Sakura yelled jumping down.

She landed on the huge pile of debris that now stood at the edge of the overhang and ran down its gentle slope towards the palace. The immense ice-beast standing guard moved to intercept her.

"BACK!" Sakura commanded.

The key flashed the ice-beast was hurled backwards straight into the palace, its weight punching a whole in one of the walls forming a door for Sakura.

"Thanks," she called up at the dazed monster.

Before it could react Sakura, Meiling, Kiyone and Nivaline were inside and up in the tallest part of the palace the Snow Geisha roared with rage.

A A A A A A A A A A A A A

"Damn it!" the demonic goddess of ice and snow roared with fury, the wind outside echoing her rage, "How can those..."

"They are the chosen," Yue informed her from above.

The Snow Geisha glared at him before switching her attention back to the battle outside. Four of those damn mortals had made their way into her palace whilst the last one and the two guardians were still doing battle destroying the remainder of her ice-demon army.

"Attack them!" she roared at her ice-beast.

The icy behemoth ambled towards the remaining three as the Snow Geisha whirled around and glared at Psuedo-Sakura.

"You stand guard," she snapped as she moved towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Psuedo-Sakura demanded.

"To kill those damn mortals."

With that she glided out of the door as Psuedo-Sakura smirked at the unconscious Xiaolang and the imprisoned Yue.

"Well, boys. We are going to have fun."

A A A A A A A A A A A A A

"Incoming!" Tomoyo yelled as the ice-beast lumbered towards them.

Kerberos sent a final gust of fire at the ice-demons wiping out another row of them before turning one the ice-beast. Tomoyo expertly flipped her mirror around, aimed and fired. Ruby Moon unleashed another blast of ruby energy.

The three attacks him simultaneously each striking a different part of the monster. Kerberos's flames lashed its face, Tomoyo going for the legs as Ruby Moon's attacks hit one of its hands cleaving off two claws but still the beast kept coming.

"Attack again!" Ruby Moon yelled, "Aim for the legs!"

"WATCH OUT!" Tomoyo yelled.

The ice-demons had taken advantage of their inattention to rain down on them. It took a few precious seconds to beat them off allowing the ice-beast to come even closer towards them. Another wave of attacks splashed forwards striking the beast slowing it down but with a swipe of its claws it dispersed the attacks.

"Uh oh," Tomoyo whispered.

"TOMOYO! RUN!" Ruby Moon yelled.

Tomoyo took off at a dead sprint sliding down the debris pile standing in front of the cliff. Her wild slide took her within three metres of the beast as it moved to attack; Tomoyo swung her mirror up in front of her and discharged another energy beam attack.

The monster bellowed, the attack crashing into its face. It tore a huge chunk off, Tomoyo taking advantage of its pain to race past the beast. It tried to stomp on her but Tomoyo leapt to the side hitting the ground rolling and reeling off another beam in mid-roll.

This one struck its leg knocking it unbalance, Tomoyo hurriedly got out of the way as the beast fell. With the monster temporarily disabled it was an easy run towards the gaping hole in the palace wall.

When she was inside, Tomoyo finally let out a sigh of relief.

Phase one was complete.

A A A A A A A A A A A A A

Sakura, Meiling, Kiyone and Nivaline ran across the slippery icy surface balancing themselves expertly as they made their way to what roughly looked like a set of stairs carved from ice.

"You dare invade my palace?" a booming voice roared.

"Not her again," Kiyone moaned.

The Snow Geisha appeared before them in all her cold beauty, her katana swords drawn and ready to fight.

"Mortals, you shall face the full power of my wrath," the Snow Geisha hissed.

"Saku, we'll hold her. You find Xiaolang okay?" Meiling whispered.

Sakura nodded, bringing her sword up in a defensive stance. As one the quartet charged, the Snow Geisha laughed as she met their attacks.

She blocked Kiyone's swing with her left sword and parried Nivaline's with her right, with a roar she heaved both of them away. Both women hit the ice non too gently as Sakura and Meiling lunged at the Snow Geisha.

"CLANG!"
"CLANG!
Both Angel's swings were blocked by the Snow Geisha's swords. The goddess whirled around gracefully, her kimono spinning around her like a dress as both girls were forced to back off away from the snow queen's twirling swords. The Snow Geisha stopped suddenly and lunged forwards.

"CLANG!"

She brought both blades down in an overhead swing, Meiling block them with her own sword.

"SAKURA! GO!" Meiling yelled straining against the goddess.

Sakura gave her friend one last helpless look before sprinting towards the stairs and disappearing up them, the Snow Geisha howling with rage. But before she could do anything to stop them, Nivaline and Kiyone leapt into the fray. The Snow Geisha broke away from Meiling and met both of their swings leaving Meiling free to attack. The Snow Geisha glared at them.

"This is unfair," she hissed, her blue eyes cold.

"You're a god," Meiling snapped.

"Stop it with the boo-hoo act," Kiyone growled, "And fight!"

The Snow Geisha glared at them and threw Kiyone and Nivaline's swords away from her. She spun around gracefully and blocked Meiling's incoming blow.

"Pathetic," she whispered.

Nivaline came at her with a thrust, the Snow Geisha gracefully bending her stomach to avoid it. The metal sliced through air as the Snow Geisha smirked at Nivaline.

"Mortals, you think you can beat me."

She swung one of her swords at Kiyone using the other to block Meiling's second strike. Kiyone blocked the Snow Geisha's attack as the goddess elbowed Nivaline in the face knocking her back.

"I'm the goddess of the mountains, this is my realm," the Snow Geisha whispered, "There is no way you can beat me."

"I like to test that theory," Nivaline hissed.

All three women came at her thrusting their sword outwards; the Snow Geisha gracefully bent backwards, all of the blades shooting past over her harmlessly.

"Please fight," the Snow Geisha taunted, "It's much more fun to kill you that way."

A A A A A A A A A A A A A

Sakura raced up the flight of stairs that went round and round along the inner walls of the palace. Down below she could see the Snow Geisha fighting the others and grimaced seeing that the goddess was truly skilled managing to fend off all three of them at once.

She winced seeing all three of them being sent flying across the room. She reached the top the stairs and immediately headed straight to the open doorway right in front of her.

"Well, if it isn't dear sweet me," Psuedo-Sakura drawled.

"Bitch."

"Uh, uh," Psuedo-Sakura waved a finger at her, "Is that really the way to talk..."

She hauled Xiaolang up to his feet and trapped him to her as she produced a knife.

"... to the girl with a knife to your boyfriend's throat?" Psuedo-Sakura taunted.

She pressed the blade tightly against Xiaolang's skin. The man thrashed wildly, not really understanding what was going on in his feverish state but enough to know he was in danger.

"I'll kill you," a voice said from above them.

"Shut it, Jackass-in-a-box," Psuedo-Sakura snapped.

"Yue!" Sakura gaped at the winged guardian who was trapped in a cage suspended in the air above them.

"So, Sakura," Psuedo-Sakura smirked, "Isn't this a fun little game?"

"What game?" Sakura narrowed her eyes at the doppelganger as she brought her sword up to a defensive position.

"A fun game," Psuedo-Sakura let out a short trill of laughter, "The rules are quite simple, give me the star key and I'll let your boy live."

"Why?" Sakura demanded.

"Why?" Psuedo-Sakura smirked wildly, "it's a thing of power and I need that power to extend my life. See once you morons get your hands on the third book, I'm done. I'm finished. I'm gone. I need one of the talismans to keep me alive and since you're here... I guess it's the key I'll be taking."

"Don't listen to her," Yue called from above them, "She won't let him live. She's lying."

Sakura glared at Psuedo-Sakura as she answered Yue.

"I know. She's talking isn't she?"

"Tick, tock, Sakura," Psuedo-Sakura taunted, "My dagger hand's kinda twitchy. I might accidentally slice his throat from ear to ear if we don't hurry this up."

"How do I know you'll let him live?" Sakura demanded.

"Scout's honour."

Sakura raised an eyebrow at her.

"Oh yeah, really assuring," Sakura spat.

"That's all the assurance you're going to get," Psuedo-Sakura retorted coolly, "What's it going to be? You're going to give up the key or the man you love? Ooo... isn't this just a swell little Hollywood blockbuster scenario?"

Sakura stared at Psuedo-Sakura, who smiled calmly back at her. She waved the dagger at her twin.

"Come on, Sakura," Psuedo-Sakura taunted, "Make your choice."

"Fine," Sakura said finally.

Psuedo-Sakura cocked an eyebrow.

"Fine, I'll get the key or fine as in I start making big with the blood and the slashing?" Psuedo-Sakura laughed, "I'll be happy either way."

"We'll make a trade," Sakura slowly looped the key from around her neck, "I'll throw you the key, you push Xiaolang towards me."

"Don't do it!" Yue yelled punching the icy bars of his cage, "Don't listen to her!"

"Shut up!" Psuedo-Sakura barked.

She turned her attention back to Sakura.
"Deal," she pulled the dagger away from Xiaolang, "On the count of three. One... two..."

Sakura cocked her arm back ready to thrown the key across, Yue looking on helpless. He tried one more time.

"Don't do this! The world will be destroyed!"

"Three," Sakura and Psuedo-Sakura said at the same time.

Psuedo-Sakura roughly pushed Xiaolang across to Sakura as the Angel hurled the key at her doppelganger.

"Xiaolang," Sakura caught the man gently as Psuedo-Sakura laughed with triumph.

"In your face, Yue!" she taunted as she reached out to the catch the key

Sakura smirked at Psuedo-Sakura.

"You know what?" Sakura tossed her an evil smile, "You're a moron."

Psuedo-Sakura's eyes widened in shock as she realised she had been tricked.

"FLY!" Sakura yelled.

Sakura's eyes blazed with gold. The key even without any contact with its wielder instantly reacted flaring with power. A flash of gold light struck Psuedo-Sakura and she was knocked backwards into an icy wall.

"You betrayed me," Psuedo-Sakura stared at her, a hurt look on her face, "That was my plan!"

"Once again, you're a moron and you underestimated me," Sakura reached out with her hands, "TO ME!"

The key flew back into her hands.

"SHATTER!" Sakura commanded.

The ice cage Yue was trapped in instantly exploded spraying ice everywhere, with a yell of triumph the moon archer broke free landing gently on the ground.

"So you tricked me," Psuedo-Sakura smirked at her, "But even if you beat me. It ain't over. You still got the big bad Void to beat."

"We'll beat her," Sakura snapped.

"Then what," Psuedo-Sakura laughed at her, "Oh god, you don't know do you. Either way you're going to lose your boy."

Sakura stared at her.

"You'll die or you'll lose him," Psuedo-Sakura whispered venomously, "Don't you know the curse?"

"Enough!" Yue thundered, "You have meddled for the last time."

"You sound so shocked," Psuedo-Sakura laughed, "I am what you created me to be. I can't change, that is my curse and yours. You're doomed to be forever cryptic, cold and never tell secrets to the chosen three. Secrets like the curse of the Void card."

"What curse?" Sakura asked fiercely.

"It is nothing," Yue said coldly.

"Nothing?!? I'm going to lose Xiaolang either way because of a curse and that's nothing?" Sakura demanded, "What curse?"

Psuedo-Sakura laughed.

"Squirm your way out of this one, Yue," Psuedo-Sakura taunted.

"I'll kill you," Yue howled.

"You can't kill me," Psuedo-Sakura shot back, "I'm your challenge as long as the third book remains hidden, I live. You made but you can't destroy me. I know that. You know that."

"Oh, I'm so going to love it when we get the book," Sakura snapped, "Just to see you die once and for all."

Psuedo-Sakura smiled at Sakura as her dagger appeared in her hands again.

"Still gives me to time to at least kill one of you," she hurled the knife at Xiaolang.

Sakura moved instantly kicking the blade out of the air as Psuedo-Sakura shot forwards. Yue made a gesture and a gleaming silver bow appeared in his hands. He stretched the string back and a crystal arrow appeared ready to fire. He let loose but Psuedo-Sakura disappeared in mid-air the arrow embedding itself into the ice.

"I'm over here!' Psuedo-Sakura reappeared again and punched Sakura in the face.

The Angel fell backwards as Psuedo-Sakura fell on her. Yue stepped back unsure of what to do, unable to get a clear shot as both girls tumbled around on the icy floor trying to beat the other one down.

"God, you're so blood annoying!" Sakura hissed grabbing Psuedo-Sakura's head and slamming it against the floor.

"So much suppressed anger," Psuedo-Sakura noted, Must be that time of the month ago."

She head-butted Sakura and threw her away. Yue charged at her seeing an opening.

"Get lost, Sailor Moon," Psuedo-Sakura snapped.

She leg-swept him sending him tumbling down before kicking him in the face with the back of her heel knocking him out.

"Just you and me sunshine," Psuedo-Sakura taunted slowly getting up, "This is going to be fun."

She came at Sakura, hitting the Angel with a flurry of punches and kicks too fast for the girl to block. She slammed Sakura against the wall, choking her slowly with her right hand.

"Hmmm..." Psuedo-Sakura whispered, "Should I kill you by choking you or by beating you to death?"

She slammed Sakura against the wall rattling the Angel's skull. Sakura's vision began to dull as she gasped for air; she struggled weakly against the doppelganger's powerful grip.

"What will it be?"

A A A A A A A A A A A A A

Kiyone hit the wall for perhaps the tenth time in as many minutes and swore loudly.

"Damn it!" Kiyone yelled leaping back into the fight.

The Snow Geisha was no doubt a goddess, her speed, her fighting technique, her strength just a little too perfect than was humanly possible. She had fended off... no beaten off all three of them and she still hadn't broken a sweat.

Meiling parried the Snow Geisha's upward strike and had to hurry to block her crescent sweep that came flying in from the side. They locked blades, straining against each other the Snow Geisha slowly overpowering the Asian Angel. Nivaline tried sneaking in from behind but the Snow Geisha's socked and sandalled foot shot up hitting her in the knee. Nivaline fell clutching her injured leg.

"Sticking behind the enemy is dishonourable," the Snow Geisha lectured.

"And throwing tonnes and tonnes of magic isn't?" Meiling hissed.

The Snow Geisha glared at her and sprung from their tangle, her twin blades hissing through the air. Meiling back-pedalled to avoid the two swipes and lost her balance hitting the icy ground heavily.

"I'm a goddess, I don't adhere to pathetic mortal rules," the Snow Geisha announced arrogantly, "You're beneath me anyway, I don't have to battle you as if you were equal."

She flipped one sword over until the blade was pointing towards and with a loud yell she sprung at Meiling ready to ran the downed girl straight through. Meiling rolled away hurriedly, the blade punching into the ice floor as Kiyone leapt at the goddess. Using the stuck sword as a balance, the goddess leapt into the air kicking out with both feet. Kiyone was sent flying backwards, her body slamming into an ice wall and the force of the impact causing a considerable chunk of it to rain down on her as she slid to the ground, dazed.

Meiling came at the goddess with a head-height side slash but the sword was blocked by the Snow Geisha's lone katana sword. Letting go of the sword embedded into the ice, the goddess's white hands snaked past the two straining swords and grabbed Meiling's neck. With vicious speed and strength, she hurled the girl across the room. Meiling hit another wall and achieved a similar result to Kiyone's, chips of ice falling from the ruined wall and onto her.

Nivaline jumped into a fencer's position trying to hold the snow goddess back with shift jabs of her sword but the Snow Geisha caught the blade with her bare hands and yanked it away from Nivaline. She cracked the Elder across the face with a backhand sending her flying. Another wall was ruined as Nivaline slid to the ground.

"Pathetic mortals," she sighed, "None of you have the power to defeat me."

A blast of pale energy slammed into the Snow Geisha's body sending her flying backwards. Her sword flew out of her hands as she slid across the ice finally come to an abrupt stop as she hit a wall.

"Do you want to say that again?" Tomoyo snarled, "Bitch."

A A A A A A A A A A A A A

"End of line, Sakura," Psuedo-Sakura sighed, "Your life flashing before your eyes. Nerd, nerd, nerd, nerd, being an Angel, getting your ass kicked, almost getting shagged... kinda boring isn't it?"

Sakura's face was going red and her eyes began to water as she struggled to break free. Psuedo-Sakura shook her violently.

"Stop that, I'm being nice. You know I could just snap your neck like a twig," Psuedo-Sakura laughed, "Hey! That's an idea! I should do that."

Sakura's fists weakly rained down on Psuedo-Sakura's arm as the doppelganger laughed.

"Wow, that is weak," she pulled a sad face, "Guess dolly's all broken now. Better put it out of its miser..."

"Source of light with ancient spin, send forth the magic power within, oracles of gold, wood, fire, earth, clouds, wind, rain, and electricity... force, know my plight; release the light," a weak voice chanted from behind them.

Psuedo-Sakura was jerked roughly away from Sakura.

"What the?" the doppelganger gasped as she was roughly pushed against the wall.

"Stay away from her," Xiaolang was almost about to fall over, he was shaking that bad, but his amber eyes blazed with an inner strength.

He ran Psuedo-Sakura through with the sword he had conjured into his hand pinning her down onto the ice wall.

"Ow!" Psuedo-Sakura gasped.

Xiaolang purred the sword up to its hilt trapping her. He stumbled away from her and almost fell but Sakura caught him.

"Xiaolang," Sakura gasped.

"Saved you," Xiaolang gave her a weak smile but succumbing to his wounds and falling unconscious again.

Yue was slowly coming to.

"What the?" he stared at the sword that was pinning Psuedo-Sakura to the wall.

His eyes widened in recognition.

"The tri-sword!" he gasped.

"What?!?"

"The tri-sword," Yue repeated again.

"Huh?"

"This is the tri-sword?" Psuedo-Sakura demanded still pinned to the word, "It bloody hurts!"

"What is the tri-sword?" Sakura asked frantically trying to understand.

"It's a thing of power and is needed to revive the Void."

"What?" Sakura yelped.

"It's long and compli..."

Outside a thundering roar filled the air, Sakura ran to the window and stared in horror.

"Oh god," she whimpered.

The black dragon was back.

A A A A A A A A A A A A A

"You pathetic mortal!" the Snow Geisha crawled to her feet, "How dare you harm me with your parlour tricks!"

Tomoyo calmly put the mirror down by her side.

"What are you doing?" the Snow Geisha cried, "Attack me, damn it!"

"No."

"What?" Meiling, who was coming to, stared at her, "Why not?"

"She wants us to."

"Duh, she wants to kill us," Kiyone muttered.

"No, if she wanted to she would have just frozen you into ice blocks," Tomoyo stared at the Snow Geisha, "She wants to die."

"LIAR!" the Snow Geisha roared collapsing to her knees.

"You feel betrayed, don't you?" Tomoyo continued, "You thought there was this wonderful man who loved you..."

"Liar..." the Snow Geisha whispered.

"But he didn't. He led you on and when you thought he felt the same for you, he betrayed you," Tomoyo closed her eyes trying to fight back the pain at Eriol's betrayal, "He ripped your heart out."

The Snow Geisha's act of defiance was slowly melting away.

"No..." her voice a ghost of a whisper.

"I've been standing here a while, I was going to attack you but something are you puzzled me," Tomoyo said slowly, "You're hurting, you're bleeding on the inside and it's killing so much, you wish you could just die."

"You don't understand..."

Tomoyo laughed harshly.

"Of course I understand," she snapped, "It's hell, it's a living hell from which you can't escape. You want to hurt him but you can't, you want to hate him but you can't. You're scared because he has all this power over you and you can't do a goddamn thing about it. You're scared because you know if he just appears at your door, you'll take him back no matter what he's done to you."

The Snow Geisha was crying.

"He said he loved me," the Snow Geisha cried violently, "He even gave me a gift."

"He was using you," Tomoyo took a step towards the Snow Geisha, "I've been used. I know what's it like. I know my emotions are probably not as strong as yours but I know what you're feeling. I've been there."

She took another step.

"There's all this pain but most of all guilt. Did I do something wrong?"

She took another step.

"Was it something I did?"

She was close enough to touch the goddess now.

"It's like a drug. You know you shouldn't think about him or the things you shared because it just hurts you more than you can every say but you can't. It sucks you in again and you're caught in this cycle of pain, anger and betrayal."

She knelt down and touched the goddess gently noting the woman's skin was as cold as ice.

"The only way to heal. The only way is to give it up, give up everything he gave you, and try to deal with your memories because you know you can never forget them. Give up everything you shared because somehow it'll weaken the memory of the betrayal. It takes time but just accepting that it's over and never was is the first step."

The Snow Geisha was crying weakly.

"He said he loved me."

"He said that to me too," Tomoyo whispered trapped in her memory of Eriol.

"The key to healing is to give everything up?" the Snow Geisha asked gently with all the vulnerability of a child.

"If the memory it conjures is too powerful and poisonous. Yes."

"Then take this," the Snow Geisha held out her hand, an orb of silver floated there several inches above her palm, "He gave this to me as a token of our love. If I keep this, it'll just eat at me making me remember for eternity about the pain and anger I feel now."

Tomoyo took the orb and started as the light began transforming. It grew bigger, losing its round edges and forming a rough rectangle. Silver glinted in the light as Tomoyo studied the light blue leather cover noting the way the silver was intricately manipulated to the show the form of a winged archer.

The book of Yue Gong Jian Shou.

It was finally hers.

"I'm sorry," Tomoyo whispered, a world of sadness in her voice.

"I am too," the Snow Geisha murmured.

"It'll take time but someday you'll be able to lessen the pain."

The Snow Geisha bowed her head.

"You're not a mortal," she whispered, "You're a goddess."

"Thank you."

"Way to go, Tomoyo," Meiling cheered gently.

Tomoyo stared at her.

"Thank you."

Suddenly the whole palace shook as if something heavy slammed into it.

"What the?"

The Snow Geisha looked up and narrowed her eyes at something only she could see.

"Dragon..." she hissed, "A dragon dares defile my domain!?!"
She made a wild gesture with her hand as azure light blasted out from her, punching through a wall and shooting off into the air outside. The Snow Geisha turned to look into their stunned faces.

"It's been taken care of."

A A A A A A A A A A A A A

"Dragon!" Sakura gasped, "That's the dragon that attacked Xiaolang!"

"Why him?" Yue demanded, "A dragon would never come here."

They backed hurriedly away from the window as the dragon slammed into the palace shaking it to its very foundation as it tried to squeeze its snout through the tiny window. It gave up and backed away a little ready to charge again.

"Unless it was sent," Sakura gasped, "What if it is from Noir, what if he is after the tri-sword? Xiaolang had it with him all along that why it came after him."

"Noir's after the tri-sword," Yue cursed, "He's trying to resurrect the Void."

A gasp of surprise behind them made them whirl around, Psuedo-Sakura's skin was glowing a brilliant white.

"What the?" Sakura gasped.

Yue smirked.

"It is done."

"What?"

"The third book is in the possession of the Fox. My creation is no longer needed. She is done."

"NOOOO!!!" Psuedo-Sakura yelled, "DAMN IT! NO!"

She thrashed against something only she could see but it was inevitable. White light consumed her body and with a brilliant flash she disappeared, once and for all.

"So she's taken care off," Sakura smiled wickedly.

A worried look flitted across her face.

"But the dragon," she turned to look outside just in time to see a bright burst of azure light consume the dragon.

The light flashed away and disappeared. Sakura and Yue gaped at the results: the dragon was now encased in a solid block of ice. It immediately plummeted straight down from the air shattering on the cold hard ground below. Sakura stared down at the mess below and grimaced.

"Ewww..." she wrinkled her nose.

"It's dead?"

"It's dead."

A silence descended onto the room. Sakura glared at Yue.

"What was that curse of the Void card she was talking about?" Sakura demanded.

"It was no..."

"Don't lie to me. What was that about?"

Yue sighed as he reluctantly began talking.

"There is a curse," he admitted.

"What does it do?"

Yue stared at her sadly.

"The curse of the Void card is the ones who seal it will be forced to lose everyone they love."

"Huh?"

"If you seal the Void card away and save the world, all the people who love you will lose their love for you. They will turn away from you, even shun you. Everybody," Yue paused "If you win. You'll lose everyone you care about. You will be forced to live in this world alone... unloved."

Sakura stared at him.

"Oh."

A A A A A A A A A A A A A

CLIFFHANGER!!!!! SORRY ABOUT THE MASSIVE DELAYS!!! SORRY!!!! Yes, I tweaked the Void card's curse thing a little instead of the most powerful person losing their ability to love. This new curse means that if the Void card is sealed all the people who love the Angels (Marcus, Xiaolang/Syaoran, Lily, Zachary, Diana, Fujitaka, Kiyone, Nivaline etc.) will lose their love for the Angels and will even reject them! Now isn't that screwed? They win, they lose everything they love, they lose and the whole world is destroyed. Ahhh... dilemmas, don't you love them?

Next chapter:

With only 24 hours left until the prophesised reawakening of the Void card, the Angels have to say goodbye to the ones they love knowing that if they succeed the love between them will disappear once and for all. Reflections, flashbacks and conversations abound as the Angels prepare themselves for war. Find out what happens in... The calm before

A/Notes: Sorry for the massive delay. I was hit with a bout of I-don't-want-to-do-anything and then when I began writing again, my Internet went screwy. This was actually ready two weeks ago but I couldn't post it... sorry!

For all who are interested there are two chapters left the next one and the grand finale, which will be called Full Circle and then the final epilogue! Hope you've enjoyed the story so far.

No! Psuedo-Sakura (one of my fav. characters) is gone... or is she? (Dun, dun, dun... okay I'll stop)