Sorceress Myst: Once again, many apologies for the extremely slow updates. It's getting harder and harder to update this, but I refuse to give up on it. This story will be finished…eventually.

(Total silence in the studio)

Sorceress Myst: Wow, it's really quiet when the crazy assistant and the apprentice have gone on a vacation. Ah, finally I can relax! Anyway I do not own CCS or any of its characters except for all the ones I made up. Now on with the story!

Chapter 18

Yue and the other guardians patrolled the city as they were ordered, searching for anyone who escaped Eiryn's power, anyone who could pose threat. Ramadon eventually ordered for everyone to split up and search on the ground. Half of the High Sorceress' former guardians headed north while the rest went south. Keroberos and Spinel took to the west and Yue and Ruby took to the east. Kalie, Kero, Suppi, Ruby, and Yue resisted Eiryn to the bitter end, until he placed small silver mind control devices upon their foreheads, ensuring undying loyalty from them.

Once every group had gone their separate ways and was no longer seen, Yue grabbed Ruby by her hand and quickly flew into a dark alley. Once they were sure they were alone, they carefully peeled the silver device off their foreheads. Mind control was beneath creatures such as them, but as long as Kero and Suppi were under the influence, they had no choice but to play along.

"What are we going to do, Yue? Eriol and Sakura have been gone for more than two weeks already," Ruby said in a worried tone, "We need to escape somehow and search for them."

"No, we need to wait. They are recuperating for the next battle and we need to keep up this act until they return. What we need to focus on now is how to free Keroberos, Spinel, and Kalie from the mind control."

Ruby examined the silver device in her hand, "All we know is that when we wear this, we can hear Eiryn's voice and he can hear our thoughts."

"And as long as we don't think, he won't know that he has no control over us," he replied as he slid his gaze towards the end of the alley to make sure no one was coming.

"If these things are really controlling their minds, then wouldn't it be hard to get them off?"

"All we need is good aim and timing. They will return to normal once it is removed."

Ruby still looked doubtful and worried, an expression not usually found on her features. Yue slowly moved his hand to brush against hers and then gave it a gentle squeeze.

"We better go, before the madman calls for us." Her eyes widened as a blush formed on her cheeks before she reluctantly nodded and put the mind control device back on her forehead. Once they were ready, the celestial beings flew off to continue their charade.

In a deserted section of town, a golden colored crest appeared on the ground. The crest glowed brighter and brighter as the solid ground slowly appeared liquid. Five figures soon passed through and floated in the air for a moment until the ground was once again solid enough to land their feet. When the light disappeared, Xylona swung her staff around to make the teleportation crest vanish.

"I'm sure all that energy attracted attention," Syaoran warned as he glanced around warily. Sure enough, several spirits gathered around them. Sakura gasped before she ran to stand behind him with wide, frightened eyes. Xylona examined the staff in her hands and then walked in front of everyone.

"Let's see what my siti's weapon can do!" she exclaimed as she raised the golden staff, twirled it in the air, and then slammed the tip upon the ground. A gust of wind shot forth from the head and struck the spirits, defeating them easily.

"Wow! That's so cool!" Tomoyo cried giddily from behind her camera before she switched her view to Sakura.

"I guess that means you are the only one who can fight the undead…at least for now. We need to save our power for Eiryn," Syaoran said as Eriol covered his eyes at the cold realization that they had to rely on her now.

"You can somewhat count on me!" she chirped, earning sweat drops from everyone. Sakura stepped away from Syaoran and looked at the sky.

"I hope Kero and the others are okay…" she muttered in a soft voice.

"We should make it our first priority to go find them," Eriol suggested with a small reassuring smile, "And now that Xylona is the High Sorceress, her guardians should aid us now."

"I can already hear them calling out to me," Xylona commented before she frowned, "All except for Kalie and Diablos. Something may be wrong with them."

"I have a feeling that Sakura and Eriol's guardians won't come to us so easily, otherwise they'd be here already," Syaoran added before turning to Sakura.

"If that's so, then we must hurry and go find them!" the card sorceress ordered, earning nods of agreement from her companions.

"Um, Sakura?" Tomoyo started as she pointed off in the distance. More spirits were coming, walking like zombies. There was only one escape through an alley behind them, but that didn't guarantee that the ghosts wouldn't follow them.

"Go! I'll hold them off!" Xylona shouted as she held out her staff. Sakura froze to the spot, she didn't want to leave her friend behind and in harm's way, but Syaoran did say that she was the only one who could fight spirits right now. Plus, Sakura was still deathly afraid of ghosts and knew she wouldn't be much help by standing in the back shaking like crazy. Eriol quickly got over his shock and reached over to grab Tomoyo's hand before he began leading her out. Syaoran was already at the mouth of the alley waiting for Sakura when she began to make a move.

"Be careful," she whispered before she ran to catch up with the others.

Once they were gone, Xylona turned her attention back to the encroaching enemy. She brought her hand to up to the tip of the staff and drifted it off in a slight arc as a silver blade followed her movements. Her staff now looked more like a scythe.

"Who knew Siti owned the Grim Reaper's Scythe. …Return to where you belong!" she cried as she began her attack.

Xavier crashed to the ground as the girl above him cackled evilly. The Manacles of Kazan were glowing faintly as he slowly pulled himself up into a sitting position. He used too much power on this Xylona, he needed to rest before he ran out completely. The real Xylona stopped to examine her hands with a grin.

"Power…I only dreamed of such power when I was alive!" she declared as she prepared another fire ball, "I used to be a mere human hoping to use you for financial power, but this is far better!"

"So Blane was right. You are a corrupted brat. I'm glad they replaced you before I arrived," he let out through deep breaths. The spirit's eyes narrowed.

"You will pay for those words, insubordinate mortal!" she screamed as the fire ball grew in size and was thrown at him, "Die!"

Xavier was already on his feet and squeezed in a narrow passage between two buildings. He continued running as the fiery explosions followed him into the crevice.

"Come back here!" the evil Xylona demanded, but he didn't even pause. He glanced back briefly and wondered if she really expected him to do as she had said.

"Good Lord, I could have been married to a power hungry psychopath." Had Syaoran or Eriol been present, they would have been more than happy to point out that he was getting married to a psychopath, but she wasn't power hungry.

Xavier nearly tripped as he rushed out of the other side of the passage. He could sense the spirit was not to far behind and quickened his pace as he found another alley that was wider than the one he had been in. When he reached the end, however, he found the area surrounded by ghosts, ones that seemed weak enough for him to handle. He prepared himself to charge through them, but before he could move an inch, a girl's battle cry echoed nearby. It wasn't long before he detected a golden scythe sweeping through the enemy in an arc. The threat was gone in an instant, leaving a girl clad in a dark tank top and skirt standing in the center. At first, he thought that it was his pursuer, but this Xylona had a circlet on her head. …The High Sorceress? All thoughts stopped when a pair of olive green eyes focused on him.

"Xavier?" she called out in surprise before her expression turned grim, "So you did come here after all."

He noticed that she was staring at the manacles on his wrists and opened his mouth to explain, but then he ran out of time as the ghost of the former Xylona appeared.

"Oh-ho! So this is my copy. How fortunate for you Prince Xavier, you can die together!" the spirit yelled as she summoned a great amount of energy.

"…Mysty!" Xavier called as he ran to his fiancé. The young High Sorceress's eyes widened at the sound of her birth name on his lips and was even more stunned when he wrapped his arms around her, hoping to protect her from the spell. She broke out of her stupor in time to move her staff in front of them so she could create a barrier to protect them from the blow.

"How did you know my real name? I never told you," she whispered softly near his ear.

"My father said that it was the name of High Sorceress Dimitri's granddaughter and successor. He always knew it was you, but I was a bit skeptical until now. Plus, I recall hearing it from an evil black bird," he replied, referring to Eiryn.

"I'm sorry for not telling you."

"It's okay, I never asked anyway."

"Hey! What are you two whispering about? How dare you ignore me!" the ghost screeched as she charged towards them. Xavier's eyes gained a mischievous glint before he pulled away and snatched the scythe out of the High Sorceress's grasp.

"Hey!" she complained before he swung the weapon and knocked the attacker down. The spirit let out a shrill cry of rage as she got back up.

"…A stronger spirit," the living Xylona gasped. The ghost growled and prepared for another attack. Xavier held the scythe up in the air and implanted the blade in the hard concrete before he pulled it back, creating a rip.

"Return to the Netherworld where you belong!" he proclaimed. Several skeletal hands protruded from the rip and started grabbing the evil ghost.

"Wha? Keep your filthy hands off of me!" she yelled indignantly as she tried to free herself from their grasp. More hands came out after further resistance and slowly began dragging her to the underworld.

"Unhand me! No! I don't want to go back there! I have power here!" She was now halfway into the portal and the hands were not showing any mercy. She tried to cling to anything that could pull her out of the predicament, but to no avail. Once her hand passed through, the crack disappeared, leaving no evidence that there ever was an opening.

"Huh? Hey!" Xylona shouted in an offended tone, "How did you know it could do that?"

"Well there were scrolls the successor was supposed to study, detailing every weapon and spell to use and since there was no one around to take the honor…I've kinda read through them," Xavier explained as he avoided her gaze.

"…Okay so you know how to use my weapons…"

"You had no idea it could do that, did you?" he inquired dryly, earning an embarrassed cough from her.

"Anyway…why did you take the Manacles of Kazan?"

"Isn't it obvious? To take down Eiryn and to save you. With them, I have enough power to take him down."

"Sure, if you fought him one-on-one," she agreed before she crossed her arms, "But you didn't expect it would be easy when he has my guardians and other defenses at his disposal, did you?"

"…Well that thought did elude me," he admitted sheepishly.

Xylona only shook her head before she ordered, "Hold out your wrists."

"Huh? Why" he asked as he complied with her request.

"I'm gonna remove them," she replied as she raised the scythe. Xavier immediately pulled his wrists back.

"…What? I thought you knew about the scythe? It can't hurt the living."

"It's not that, I just want to help out." His eyes traveled away from her and stared intently at the ground.

"But you already have. You got rid of that crazy guard of Eiryn's. …Besides, you're almost out of power."

"Alright…" he finally agreed, "These shouldn't exist anyway. They are cursed just like the Relic of Zebas."

Xylona brought down the bladed staff and they went through the manacles as if they were transparent. Almost immediately, a man's voice cried out in agony as smoke surrounded the dissolving cursed item. Xavier sighed as he rubbed his bare wrists while Xylona ran her hand along the blade of the staff, making it vanish.

"Well come on. Let's go find my double crossing guardians. I can hear all but Diablos and Kalie calling out to me," she stated as she turned away.

Xavier froze at her words as he remembered his last meeting with her guardians, "Diablos is gone. I don't know where he is, but he's not in Japan. As for Kalie…she's under some kind of mind control."

"Mind control?" she echoed with a confused expression, "What mind? Eiryn would have to create a brain for her before he could take over her mind."

Xavier smirked despite the grim situation, "You would think, but it seems he mastered the impossible."

"Ah," Xylona added in a smart aleck's tone as she wandered away. He followed close behind her as she thought about the ghost he defeated. There was something familiar about that spirit, "So…who was that crazy spirit that was chasing you?"

He blinked in surprise. He thought she would have had an idea who she was, after all, they were nearly mirror images of each other, "…No one important."

"Sakura!" Syaoran shouted as he pulled her out of harm's way. The possessed Keroberos had almost blasted her with his fire breath.

"Kero! Don't you recognize me?" she cried before dodging an attack from Spinel.

"I think Eiryn is controlling them. Look at those orbs on their foreheads," Syaoran said as he pointed them out to her.

"Controlled? How do we get them off?"

"I don't know…maybe if you distract them, I can sneak up on them and knock those things off of them," Syaoran suggested as he side stepped another attack.

"Good idea, let's split up," she announced as she ran off in another direction.

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, Eriol and Tomoyo were following Yue and Ruby. Eriol had taught Tomoyo how to mask her power so they wouldn't be caught by the celestial beings.

"It's as I feared. They are under mind control," Eriol whispered as he watched the two guardians search the town.

"So what do we do?" she inquired as she out down her camera. He glanced at her for only a second, but that proved to be a fatal move because when he looked back, they were gone.

"Very careless of you…master," Ruby droned in a monotone voice as she suddenly appeared behind them. Yue soon flew up next to her before they both began summoning a spell.

"Now you will die," Yue said as they both brought their hands down. It all happened so fast, that Eriol didn't know how to counter it. He was only able to grab Tomoyo and hope that he could shield her from the blow.

"Uh… Hey! Kero! Suppi! Over here!" Sakura called out, hoping to get the guardian beasts' attention. It seemed to work as the two began charging towards her. She stood firmly in place with the Jump Card ready just in case as Syaoran appeared at the top of a building from behind.

"Wind…" he whispered before the spell surrounded him and ejected him into the air.

"Syaoran! Don't use your power yet!" Sakura scolded before she clamped her mouth shut as she realized that she gave away his position. Spinel quickly turned around and headed for Syaoran as Kero continued on towards Sakura.

"Ah! Jump!" Wings appeared at her feet in time for her to escape. Syaoran wasn't so lucky. He had no way to maneuver in midair, so he steeled himself for the attack.

"Syaoran!" Sakura screamed as she jumped towards him. Suddenly a bright arrow shot through the darkness and struck the silver device on Spinel's head, freeing him from the spell. The panther-like creature shook his head before he realized what was going on. He caught Syaoran and helped him get his feet back on solid ground.

"Syaoran!" Sakura called again as she pounced on him and gave him a big hug. He pulled away slightly to survey their surroundings. Keroberos had disappeared and there was no one else around who could have freed Spinel.

"Who shot that arrow?"

"I don't know, but I owe whoever it was. It was frustrating not being able to control my own body," Suppi commented before Sakura glanced up. She was able to sense a familiar presence.

"Yue!" Just as his name was called, he appeared from the shadows with Ruby, Eriol, and Tomoyo, "…Everyone else is here too!"

Sakura and Syaoran ran up to them before Sakura and Tomoyo hugged each other happily.

"I'm so glad you are all safe!" she cheered as she let her dark haired cousin go. Eriol and Syaoran only nodded at each other, both relieved that the other is safe, but not enough to embarrass themselves by hugging each other.

"How did you fare in getting those mind control things off of them? Or did they not have any?" Syaoran wondered before Eriol chuckled.

"Actually, we didn't have to lift a finger."

(Flashback)

Time seemed to stop as the guardians struck, Ruby aiming at Tomoyo and Yue aiming at Eriol. Nothing came. When the humans dared to look up, they found them crushing the small devices. The attack was a ruse to throw off Eiryn.

(End Flashback)

"So they had no effect on you? …That doesn't seem fair…" Suppi pouted as Ruby giggled at him. Soon she looked up and her eyes detected something heading towards them.

"Incoming!" she alerted. Keroberos reappeared for a sneak attack. Yue prepared another arrow and shot it, only to have it miss its target as Kero evaded it. Tomoyo glanced around until she found a pebble on the ground and got an idea. She threw the rock up in the air and used her powers to move it around the guardian beast and knock off the silver ball from behind just as he was about to strike again.

"Huh? What was I about to do?" Kero paused as he darted his head in all directions to figure out what was happening.

"Wow! That was so cool Tomoyo! And best of all, I got it on tape!" Xylona exclaimed as she held up Tomoyo's video camera. No one else had noticed Xylona, Xavier, or Xylona's guardians had arrived and were caught off guard at the sound of her voice. Tomoyo gasped as she stared at Xylona with horror written all over her features. She still remembered what happened last time Xylona had her camera. Eriol stormed over and snatched the little machine out of her hands.

"Must you always play around with things that are not yours?" he sneered as he gave the camera back to its rightful owner.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm happy to see that you're alive and well too," Xylona muttered sarcastically before adding in a more serious tone, "So are all the guardians here?"

"I'm afraid not, mistress, Kalie is still under the influence and Diablos has not yet returned from his mission," Siva replied.

"What is this mission he was sent on anyway?" Xylona inquired as she crossed her arms and stared at her guardians skeptically.

"I know not," Ramadon responded in a deep bellow, "The Relic had chosen him for a special mission outside of this country and did not bother to inform us of the details."

"I see…"

"We may have difficulty getting Kalie back to normal. She has more agility than all the guardians combined," Xavier warned as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Um, maybe there is some word we can say that will make it come off," Sakura suggested before Teum shook his head.

"The only other way to get it off is to make the victim feel intense emotion, like fear or anger."

"Emotion, huh?" Xylona smirked. Eriol, knowing that the look on her face meant certain doom for Kalie, stared at her with a wary expression.

"Whatever you're planning, hurry and do it because she's coming now," he said dryly before gathering everyone and pulling them out of harm's way. Xylona remained before her council of protectors as she briefly glanced at Yue.

"Now how do you do that…" she muttered to herself before she closed her eyes and concentrated hard. She then held out her hands and wove a bow made of gold colored light like Yue's weapon. Just as she created an arrow and prepared to aim, Xavier finally caught on to what she was about to do.

"No! Don't! You have terrible aim, you might hit her!"

Xylona glared at him, but didn't lower the bow, "Oh come on… It's not that bad."

"If hitting Syaoran with a paper wad when you were aiming for me across the room is 'not that bad', then we may have to expect casualties all around instead of just Kalie," Eriol retorted, his words alarming most of Xylona's guardians.

"Shut it!"

"Mistress," Siva started, not hiding the worried sound in her voice, "Maybe we should find another course of action…"

"Are you kidding?" Luna squealed excitedly, "I can't wait to see the outcome!"

"Luna!" Siva hissed before the wolf bowed her head.

Kalie charged forward, swooping in from the sky as Xylona pulled the arrow back. Most of the witnesses present closed their eyes as Luna grinned as best as she could.

"Here I go!" she announced as she prepared to fire. Suddenly the tiger creature's eyes widened before she tried to halt in midair. Her struggling made her end up being dropped to the ground when her fiery colored wings lost wind.

"DON'T KILL ME!" Kalie screamed at the top of her lungs, earning a frown from her mistress.

"Damn it Kalie! Don't return to normal yet!" She released the arrow and it amazingly hit the device. Both objects vanished upon contact with each other.

"Wow! How did you do that?" Sakura inquired in shock. She was so surprised that Kalie was still in one piece that she forgot to berate Xylona for her choice of words earlier.

"I also copied Ruby's targeting spell so no matter where I aimed, it would hit its mark," the High Sorceress explained with a smirk.

"Hey! You copy cat!" Ruby growled before she sweat dropped nervously, "I-I mean-I have no such spell! Why would I need a targeting spell when I am a master archer?"

Eriol slowly shook his head, "Because both you and Xylona have lousy aim and you don't want your male counterpart to know that he's better than you at archery."

Ruby only blushed as she turned to Yue, who only raised his eyebrow at the new information. She could have sworn she saw a tiny smirk tug at the corner of his lips.

"I wonder what's next. Surely that couldn't have been the last obstacle," Xavier said as he stepped forward and glanced at the radio tower.

Syaoran walked up to Sakura and stood beside her as he thought over the red haired boy's words, "What makes you say that?"

"There were two human spirits that were with Eiryn, both looked identical to Xylona. I already defeated one of them, but there still is the other one we might have to deal with."

"Wait, back up, you mean that crazy psycho? She looked like me?"

"What do you mean 'that crazy psycho'? We all know that you are the only psycho present," Eriol taunted in the back, earning a glare from her.

Xavier held back his laugh before he continued, "The spirit that attacked me said that she was the original Xylona that you replaced. …Oh, and the other spirit was a little different. She had blonde hair."

Xylona visibly paled, "D-did you say blonde hair?"

Sakura remembered the story Xylona told them a few days ago and then remembered that the Relic of Zebas summoned the dead. She pieced the information together and soon found out why Xylona was shaking, "Oh-no, we may have to fight…"

"So…it seems that you have defeated Xylona and retrieved your guardians." A new figure materialized before them, "I suppose I will have to deal with you, though I must warn you that I'm stronger than the others."

"It's her!" Xavier confirmed before he noticed Xylona was about to fall. He caught her easily and heard her last words before she fainted.

"…Onica…"

Sorceress Myst: What dangers will they have to overcome with Onica? Will everyone have enough power to fight Eiryn when it's all over? Find out in the next chapter… (Fagtron and Apprentice Jed enters the studio)…Darn it.

Apprentice Jed: We're back! And guess what? I gave Fagtron all the sugar I could get my hands on!

Sorceress Myst: (backs away fearfully) …And how does that help society?

Apprentice Jed: It doesn't work until she uses up all energy. Which will happen in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1… (Fagtron stops shaking and falls asleep)

Sorceress Myst: …Well, that seems to work, but I wouldn't want to be around her to give her more sweets!

Apprentice Jed: I wouldn't try it again either. I only did it so she wouldn't bother you.

Sorceress Myst: That's nice of you.

Apprentice Jed: Really? Does that mean I get a raise?

Sorceress Myst: …I knew that was your ulterior motive. I just knew it. (Apprentice Jed give her puppy dog eyes) Okay fine!

Apprentice Jed: Yea!

Sorceress Myst: (sighs) …Thanks for reading! C ya next chapter…now where did I put my purse?