Chapter Eleven: The Book

……

Sakura huffed, placing her hand on the brick wall. She had been running for the past fifteen minutes, and she still hadn't gotten anywhere. "What is up with this place?" She muttered, looking around. "I feel like I'm going around in circles."

Wanting nothing more then to collapse to the stone floor and wait for her fate to strike her in two hours time, she couldn't do that! She would accept her fate, looking for the Clow Book. Shaking her head, she pushed herself off the wall, debating whether she should go forward or the way she came. She looked around her; the only thing that was constant was the… torches on the walls. A light bulb seemed to appear over her head, as she had a sudden idea, shaking her head that she hadn't thought of it sooner.

"I can see Meiling laughing at me for not thinking of it sooner!" Sakura muttered, reaching up and grabbing one of the torches.

Grabbing the torch from the torch hanger, Sakura continued down the way she was going, stopping as soon as she got around the next bend. There it was, set between two torches that were set farther apart, looking like a few of the torches in the middle were burnt out, was another corridor. Sighing at the idea that she had probably spent the last half hour walking around in a circle, she made a sharp turn, going down the corridor instead, torch held out in front of her.

"The teachers sure went to a big expense to hide this; I can't believe how much they're doing this for a silly boo… hey! There's probably more then just the Clow Book down here!" Sakura said, thinking that all this work couldn't just be for a silly book that held no danger to them, just Sakura, and perhaps the rest of the world if this retrieving mission failed.

The corridor was dead quiet, as her feet didn't even make a sound as they hit the pavement slabs below her feet. Trailing her arm along the brick wall, in case another corridor separated off again into another one. However, the corridor just kept going on forever, no bumps, no ledges, and no nothing. Sighing, she switched hands, running her hand along the opposite wall trying to find anything that could lead somewhere else.

After about five minutes of searching the left wall, she found something. It felt like a small ledge, not knowing what to do next Sakura blew out the torch, leaving it lying on the ground. She placed one hand on the ledge, her other hand finding another ledge, her feet finding some an inch above the floor. Shaking her head at the amount of protection around this area, she started the slow climb up the ledges hoping this was the last leg of her journey to finding the allusive Clow Book.

"What is with this place? Such high security for a… scary, powerful book!" She muttered, looking up the wall, wondering how long the climb would take her, she only had till sunset, which was two hours when she first ended up here in the corridors. Things were looking horrible as time was running out quicker then she had originally hoped for.

……

Eriol leaned against a cheery blossom tree, waiting for Syaoran and Tomoyo to get out of detention for talking sure class. Meiling was sitting up in the tree branches waiting for her 'beloved' to come out of the detention room, with the detention he wrongfully got regarding Kinomoto.

"It shouldn't have taken Sakura this long, I sensed the Clow Book where the darkness dropped her…" He muttered, clutching his necklace where his staff resided, through his shirt. "Hey Meiling," He said, looking up into the trees. "I'll be back in a moment, if Syaoran and Tomoyo come out, wait for me alright?"

Meiling nodded, looking down at the blue haired boy. "Sure, don't make us wait forever though!" She hollered, as he walked away.

Eriol nodded, listening to the call of Meiling as he made his way around the schools' corner, pulling his necklace out and calling his staff. Clutching the gold rod in his hand, he waved it in front of him calling the darkness to connect him to Sakura. The darkness started to take over his vision, seeping into his eyes from the corners, and soon everything went black. Once feeling the connection to the past, and brunette locked away in the past, he grinned, but he could sense a great trouble and turmoil within the girl.

"Still struggling, I see."

Sakura looked around wildly at the return of the voice and the darkness that took over her once again. "I am! I got myself into a circle, I couldn't do anything! I found a ledge, but I can't see the top!" She called, clutching what must have been the wall before the darkness set in.

Eriol sighed, seeing what was taking so long. The Book was hidden away very hard, no wonder why this was taking so long. "Time is running out, you've wasted a whole hour!" He shouted, aggravated at Sakura.

"Wasted! I can't see in the darkness! It's not as easy at it sounds!" She shouted, reaching a hand out to try and feel the next grove above her head.

Eriol ran a hand though his hair, this wasn't working out to well. "Use this well," He muttered, muttering a spell under his breath, bringing another bright ball of light into the darkness. "This is the last gift you shall receive, the map needed to get to the Book. The magic will last for the next hour, before hope is gone."

"A map! Why didn't you give it to me before!" She shrieked, but no voice returned to her, as everything went quiet, the darkness seeping away from her vision.

Eriol slumped against the wall, his vision coming back to him. Sakura was on the last leg of her journey, the power of the Clow Book was stronger then it was before… but she only had an hour left, time was against them now. Hopefully, the map would work, or else, they would be doomed.

"Eriol! C'mon, lets go!" Tomoyo's voice called, as her purple haired girl appeared around the corner.

"Hey Tomoyo,' He greeted, walking over to her. "Out already? That wasn't too long, was it?"

Tomoyo nodded. "You got it, all we had to do was sit there quietly for an hour with Kaho-sensei thinking about what he did."

"Sounds like a lot of fun…"

"No not really."

Eriol laughed. "You're right, it probably wasn't!"

……

With the light that was shinning from the light the darkness gave her, she could see a large cutout a little ahead of her. Smiling, she quickly climbed up the remaining meters before the light vanished, and an arrow floated in front of her.

"So this is the map! An arrow showing me which way to go," She grinned at the idea. "I love magic! So much for normal maps!

She quickly followed the floating arrow in the direction she was being pointed in. The arrow led her through another corridor; a lot thinner then the other corridors she had traveled down. The arrow jetted left when they reached the end, then a right, and another left. Then it just pointed straight forward.

"Way easier! I'd still be climbing if it wasn't for this arrow!" She grinned, as the arrow was slowing down a head of her. "The end! Looks like I made it!" Sakura beamed, running to catch up with the now silent arrow.

Looking ahead of the arrow, she saw a stone, steel door, about six times the height of her. "Woah… very large." She commented.

"Aha, so the Card Captor finally decided to grace us with her presence."

Sakura whirled around, looking for the person who had spoke; no one was behind her, or on either side of her. "Who's there?" She demanded, her eyebrows knitting together in confusion. Then, slowly she tilted her head upwards, nothing there. "Where are you? I can't see you!"

"I'm in front of you." Surprised, Sakura whirled around again. No one was there. Her eyebrows knitted together once more, what was going on? "Still don't see me? Oh well…"

The steel door began to ripple as a shape started to make its way out of the steel door as if it was merely a blanket being pushed aside. That person must have strong magical powers to be able to do that. The more the shape protruded for the steel door, the more details she could see. Grey hair… glasses… built like a male teenager…

When the figure was fully out of the steel door, she gasped backing up in surprise. Tripping on a rock, she lost her footing as she fell to the ground, a look of horror on her face.

"What are you doing here!"

The figure just smiled at her, not answering her as it came closer to her.

"Answer me! Yukito!"

……

A/N: I know that this was such a short chapter, but I thought that that would be a good cliffhanger for you all! The next chapter should be longer as it will either be the last or second-to-last chapter! We're starting to wind down here people!