Note: Well, this will be the last chapter in this current world.
Disclaimer: Same old, same old… I do not own anything here… blah blah blah… you get the drift…
TSUBASA RESERVOIR CHRONICLES
SEARCHING FOR THE LIGHT
CHAPTER 6: EPILOGUE: ERAUNDIA
Syaoran and co. were heading towards the inner rooms of the palace, still following the king who had taken Sakura's feather. They had been running for some time now but all that they could hear were the loud footsteps of the king and the woman who was the queen.
Sakura was beginning to tire and Syaoran was worried about her. She was not meant to go through all this hardships. He even contemplated on telling Sakura to wait for him in the room but was deterred from it by the look of determination she had put on. She probably felt that she was partly responsible for asking Syaoran to trust the king in the first place…
As the footsteps in front of them began to stop, they had reached their destination. A vacant area situated in the depths of the palace was before them, the walls were carved in strange figures and symbols. The king was standing in the middle of a wide circle that was drawn hastily on the ground and he was holding out the orb that contains Sakura's feather.
As the queen moved to approach him, she was flung back by a barrier surrounding the king. Digging the heels of her shoes into the stone floor, she managed to stop her sudden propulsion backwards and turned her face to the group.
"He's trying to summon the creator Aegis! He must be planning to destroy the Great God so that he would succeed as the next God," she informed them grimly.
As soon as she had finished saying that, the orb in the hands of the king emitted a sickly green glow and the walls around them starts to crumble. The circle in which the king stood on was beginning to crack due to the tremendous power released by the feather.
"Now! Now appear before me, the Creator Aegis! You who rules over this world! I will defeat you with your own power (meaning the feather. They believe the feather was God's gift, remember?) and succeed you as the Father of all creation!" the king screamed with his eyes facing upwards, as if he could see God descending from that position.
"He's gone mad!" Kurogane yelled amidst the noise of the violent wind swirling around the king and the ever-depreciating condition of the walls in big chunks.
Syaoran resolved to do something about it before it was too late and after making sure that Sakura was a safe distance away, he fingered his sword that Kurogane had returned to him a moment ago.
Better do something now before this all gets worse… Sakura will be fine with them…
Strange clouds formed above the king and they could see a dark form materializing inside it. As the speed of the wind picked up, a large, square object began to descend from the ominous cloud.
This is their God? Syaoran thought to himself as he watched the roof start to fall in due to the great gathering of power in the area.
Grasping his sword firmly in his left hand and his right hand placed on the hilt, he stooped, waiting for an opening in the barrier created by the king. Fai noticed his stance and discreetly pulled Sakura further away so she wouldn't notice it. Kurogane however just looked at Syaoran expressionlessly but did not move to stop him.
The woman was not aware of the things happening behind her as she kept on shouting to her husband to stop his 'mad scheme'. When her pleas were ignored, she picked up a small stone by her feet and flung it towards him with all her might. The stone was not able to pass through the barrier as expected, but did manage to catch the attention of the king.
As he turned around angrily to face her, Syaoran spotted his chance and sprint forward as he unsheathed his sword in one fluid movement. The king noticed this sudden move and directed a huge blast of energy in his direction. Syaoran saw it speeding towards him and dodged in time.
"You dare defy me!" he shouted as he aimed the orb at Syaoran.
Before the king could release another attack, Syaoran rammed into the king, knocking him off balance and he accidentally dropped the orb.
"The God's gift!"
The descent of the world's God was halted and the square-like object began to disperse as the both of them scrambled for the orb. When the dark cloud disappeared altogether, a large piece of the ceiling fell in and almost hit them but for the intervention of Kurogane.
He had perceived the danger and had used his katana to slice through the falling object before it fell on anyone. Syaoran then made a grab for the orb and threw to Fai who was standing next to Sakura, shielding her from the crumbling pieces of rubble.
At that moment, the structure failed to support itself any longer and began to fall apart. Kurogane dragged Syaoran and ran towards the exit as Fai ran with Sakura in tow.
"Wait! The woman…" Syaoran protests as he looked back.
"Don't worry, I saw them going out by another route…" the ninja assured him as he continues to drag Syaoran out of the collapsing building.
Finally making their way out, they saw the many people of the city were staring at the top of the crumbling palace. Turning their attention upwards, they saw the king and the woman standing on the roof of the structure.
"The king!" a voice cried and they saw Phil running towards the falling palace.
Syaoran moved to stop him but the entrance caved in behind Phil. The populace watch in horror as the royal couple stumbled on their way down and fell into a hole in the deteriorating roof. With a deafening crash, the palace fell apart and left a cloud of dust in its wake.
"Phil-san…" Mokona said worriedly as it watched the destruction in front of them.
The next morning, they were helping the people of the city to clear up the remains of the palace when a sudden movement under a large stone slab gained their attention. Gathering some amount of people, they lifted the slab and found the bodies of the king, the queen and Phil.
As the crowd swarmed towards the bodies, the queen made a slight movement before lying still once again. A few of the men ran over to their city's doctor while the others carried the queen to a nearby house.
Syaoran bend over the remaining bodies and tried to check their pulse.
"Syaoran-san… are they really…" Mokona asked pathetically as it watched sadly from Sakura's arms.
Syaoran got up and facing Mokona, he shook his head slowly, a sign that they were indeed… dead.
"Phil-san…"
After three days of lying unconscious in the bed, the queen finally awoke on the fourth day. Hearing about the death of her husband and Phil cause her to visibly pale but she insisted to meet the other survivors of the palace's downfall.
As Syaoran, Sakura, Fai and Kurogane (and Mokona of course) entered the room, she gestured them to be seated as she told them what had actually happened as they tried to escape.
"My husband… he… he returned to normal in his final moments… He told me to apologize to all of you… for deceiving you… He's… a kind man…
"Phil was loyal to the end… He was always loyal to the royal family… Did he tell you? He was the one who secretly opened the city gates that night to let us escape… He was also the one who told the scouts that my husband sent not to give out my location…
"Phil told me before he… that you are not from this world… The feather in the orb… it belongs to you, right?" she asked, looking at Sakura who nodded slowly.
"Then… take it… I… our kingdom… don't need it… Power only brings so much grief…" she finished sadly as they were escorted out of the room.
That night, as they prepare their things to leave the next morning, Syaoran returned the feather to Sakura. As Sakura opened her eyes after the feather had turned itself into her memories, she looked at Syaoran cheerlessly.
"Syaoran-kun… I… must get all of my feathers back… I don't want… other people to suffer anymore… because of me… everyone… I…" she broke down and covered her face with her hands, sobbing.
"Hime…" Syaoran tried to place a comforting hand on her shoulders but stopped.
"The memories that you share together will be no more…" Yuuko had said, during the start of their adventures. "Even if you retrieve her memories, she will never be able to remember you,"
Clenching his hand, he abandoned the thought of ever touching Sakura. He did not want her to experience another of that incident…
"Hime… we will get your feathers back… I promise," he said simply as he looked at Sakura, trying to comfort her with his words.
Sakura looked up at him and wiped away her tears with her hands. She smiled at him genuinely.
"Syaoran-kun… You're the kindest person ever… Thank you… I feel much better now…"
"Ready? Let's go to the next world!" Mokona said cheerfully, as if everything that has transpired had never happened at all.
The next world… this time I will not let Sakura to be sad anymore…
Note: Oh yeah! Finally done! Phew, it's tiring… It's a bit sudden though, the ending, don't you think? Hm… I've been having writer's block the whole three hours I sit in front of my PC typing this whole thing out… Ugh! Writer's block…
Right, the next world will maybe (MAYBE) be a bit light… I think this is too depressing… It's so cruel of me to suddenly kill two characters suddenly… Oh, cruel, cruel me!
Anyways, reviews please! If you have any ideas to give me or anything… Thanks for reading!