Zagato noticed that the third girl had moved, finally. He sensed an uncertainness from her, and also a great source of power. Immediately, he was certain.
She has the artifact! This is good. Now I can capture her and return to the princess.
Raising his hands, he crafted a net out of his dark magic.
-0-0-0-
There is no time. The last act must happen NOW!
-0-0-0-
Hikaru's kick connected with the creature's thick hide, but it was a glancing blow. Recovering immediately, she spun around for another strike, but the monster slammed its claw into her back. She fell, hitting the ground awkwardly. The loud snap of her leg bone was audible.
Fuu stared at her, frozen in disbelief. Hikaru, the strongest of the three, had been injured? Worry washed over her in a flood, and she darted over to her friend's side.
"Hikaru, a-are you..."
In the background, Umi still sparred with the monster, trying to protect the other two. As the sound reached her ears, her eyes flickered for but a fraction of a second, and the creature struck her down. She landed hardon her shoulder, trying to use it to absorb the impact, and slid a few meters, tearing her shoulder open.
Though the monster was not very intelligent, to say the least, it could sense their strength waning. Clumsily, it pounded forward, until it towered directly over them.
Fuu slowly raised her head, stiff with fear and worry. She desperately wanted, no, needed to save her friends, but she didn't know how. Meanwhile, the monster was going to kill them all! Forcing herself to look away, she shut her eyes and clenched her fists, trying to call on the power again.
Um... I really need your help this time... Please, tell me what I should do!
"Winds of Healing!" An answering flow of light came again from her heart. It ran through her arms and out of her hands to wash over the fallen. Umi and Hikaru rose in the air, completely covered by the green light. Their wounds faded as if they were mere scratches. Fuu let the glow fade, amazed at this other component of her power.
At the same instant, a red streak cut across the sky and hit Hikaru, who promptly burst into flame.
"Hikaru!" yelled Fuu, horrified.
The flames subsided quickly, as another mysterious spirit breathed into Hikaru's mind:
The third, and the last. You are the Chosen of Fire. Bear this power well, for it can be the strongest, as well as the most terrifying of the three.
The voice faded to a whisper, dying away.
Return...
-0-0-0-
Zagato felt the immense surge of power enter the girl. Instantly, his magical sense was overwhelmed with the now-enormous amount of his target's strength.
It's... so much... I must use more of my magic in this trap so that she won't be able to break out.
He poured more of his darkness into the net, to strengthen it against that girl.
No, it can't be... I'm... afraid?
-0-0-0-
When Hikaru opened her eyes, she saw a shining sword with a red hilt floating before her eyes. It seemed to blaze with an internal flame. She grabbed it, remembering the danger to her, Umi, and Fuu. Instantly, she was on her feet again, ready to re-enter the battle. Suddenly, a shadow from the trees in front of them barreled into the monster, bowling it over.
"Just as I thought. Zagato." The voice came from the direction of where the figure had landed.
As the dust cleared, all three of them could see the young man with a tattered cape, standing over the creature, sword-point at its neck. His eyes were blue-green, but much more green than blue. A peculiar white creature sat on his shoulder, which turned and waved to them.
"Hi, I'm Mokona Modoki, and this is Syaoran-kun!"
Th-that white puffy thing waved! the girls thought simultaneously.
"...I thought it was you, Zagato." The young man turned his head so that he stared directly into the shadows of the forest. Chuckling evilly, a black, man-shaped figure slowly emerged.
"So you survived, Syaoran? Such a pity." Zagato held a spell wrought of his own magic in one hand, bound to his power before it was to be used, but he could still cast spells with the other. Shaping the runes of lightning, the fingers of his left hand flew rapidly through the air. Sparks crackled as his power flowed through the focus rune, at the beginning of every spell.
"Kuro Rai!"
Syaoran barely dodged the barrage of lightning spears that shot toward him, though they all hit the weakened creature behind him. He spun in the air to avoid another, and landed behind Zagato, Hien raised for a killing blow. The sunlight slid down the polished blade as Syaoran held his posture completely still.
Unfortunately, a man covered in heavy black robes can be faster than he looks, and Zagato leaped forward to the girls while evading Syaoran's sword at the same time. His right hand was thrust in front of him, laced with thin strings of blackness. Suddenly, the power in his hand was repelled and it expanded outward to form a cage-like structure that floated in the air for a few moments before descending on Hikaru.
She rolled away, slashing with her blade on instinct, but her attack did no damage. Meanwhile, the cage still followed her. Hikaru quickly got to her feet and vaulted over the dark magic, trying to confuse it. What good that did, she'll never know. The cage was waiting for her as she landed, wrapping around her and constricting her body. No matter how much strength she used, it wouldn't break, contrary to its decieving consistency when it had trapped her. In fact, the more effort she spent, the tighter it became.
Syaoran, still beset by lightning, tried to strike Zagato, in the hopes that he could break the magic, but the Sol felled him with a particularly high-charged bolt. Sparking slightly, Syaoran skidded on the concrete, adding scrapes and burns to his collection of injuries. His shoulder began to bleed again as his cut reopened. He tried to stare intimidatingly at Zagato while sprawled out on the ground with Hien held out in front of him so that he wouldn't hurt himself.
Obviously, by now, Mokona had hopped off of Syaoran's shoulder and found safer ground. In fact, Mokona had escaped to Umi and Fuu even before the lightning had begun. Now, he opened his mouth and sucked in the air around Hikaru, dissipating the cage and once again proving his conveniency.
Umi and Fuu stared at the white creature, amazed, as Hikaru lay gasping on the ground.
"What... did..."
Mokona grinned at them, mouth as wide as he could stretch it. "It's one of Mokona's 108 secret techniques!"
Narrowing his eyes at the loss of the cage-spell, Zagato turned abruptly from his current opponent, Syaoran, to face his target. He must return to his princess with what she had asked for, at any cost! Otherwise, she would surely turn on him. He reached out a hand, activating his trademark spell. A shadow of his hand shot out and seized Hikaru by the neck. Zagato quickly pulled her into the dark portal that he had left open for a quick departure. Struggling mightily, she was helpless against the otherworldly strength of the dark magic.
"Hikaru! No!"
Fuu and Umi both leaped up at this, but the High Priest's figure receded faster than they had anticipated. Mokona hopped up and down in agitation. "That man took the fire! He's a bad man!"
-0-0-0-
Zagato warped back to Cephiro, arriving in the same place that he left. As he expected, Princess Emeraude was waiting for him, arms folded and foot tapping impatiently.
"So, did you find it?" she demanded.
He wordlessly dumped Hikaru onto the grass in front of the princess, having slung her over his shoulder on the way back. The girl somehow still held her blade, but it had been useless during the journey through the void. Hikaru attempted to shift her position so that she was facing the two others, but the burn on her arm from Zagato's magic scraped on the ground, preventing unhindered movement.
"Tsk... Feisty, isn't she?" Emeraude cast a paralysis over the girl before her with a wave of her hand. "Are you sure this is it? This is all of the little brat's magic?"
"Your majesty, it was all I could get. There were some... complications. Apparently-"
Emeraude abruptly cut him off. "Excuses? You dare feed me excuses? The reason I made you High Priest was because I thought you were capable enough! Are you saying that I had erred in placing my trust in you?"
"N-no, milady, I-"
"Enough! Get me the rest of the magic soon, or you will regret the day you were born." She pointed at Hikaru, who glared at her, still paralyzed. "In the meantime, I will absorb the magic from this girl." At her command, two castle guards carried Hikaru to the dungeons, disarming her at the same time.
-0-0-0-
"We must follow him."
Umi and Fuu both jumped at the quiet voice. They'd been in shock, when Hikaru was taken away. It wasn't possible; Hikaru had always been the strongest. But if she hadn't been able to win, then how could they?
"It's the only way," Syaoran continued. "Zagato works for an evil sorceress who fancies herself a princess. If you want your friend back, then we'll have to go after him." And there's no telling what Emeraude will do with the feather, he added silently. Though he himself was magic-less, Syaoran had seen the familiar light that had appeared when Hikaru had summoned the sword. He had to get back to Clow as soon as possible!
"But..." whispered Fuu, "how will we get there?"
"Don't worry! That's one of Mokona's 108 secret techniques!"
