Disclaimer: I do not own Cardcaptor Sakura
Chapter 9
One down, four to go
--------------------------
Gui Zangs' tomb
The ninja the Regent had struck down was halfway through casting a fire spell, and when he fell the blast was sent upwards towards the ceiling. This caused a large stone block to tear out of the ceiling, which began to fall down towards the Regent and his men.
"WATCH OUT!" Syaoran cried
As Syaoran prepared to run forward, a thick red beam of light cut through the air and struck the stone block, causing it to explode into tiny pieces.
"I see you're in a spot of bother" A familiar voice called in a semi-serious tone
"Eriol-kun! Raine-chan!" Sakura cried in surprise and relief as the two stood by the entrance, Eriol with his sun staff and Raine wielding a shinobigatana (short straight ninja sword)
"I'll help the Regent, you help Li-san and Kinomoto-san"
"Alright. Be careful" Eriol nodded
Before joining Syaoran and Sakura, Eriol sent another blast of red light straight through a crowd of enemies who appeared in front of them, making a space for which Raine could quickly run through and reach the Regent. Weaving and dodging her way through the crowd of enemies, Raine swiftly struck down a few of them before making it to where the guards stood their ground
"Regent Chen, are you all right?" Raine asked as she ran up beside him. It looked like the Regent had taken a few hits, but luckily wasn't seriously injured
"Can't complain. Although nobody listens to me anyway" he smiled jokingly before slamming the staff down onto the top of a ninjas head.
Things were not looking too good for the others, though. Syaoran advised against using really powerful magic techniques seeing as there was a very high risk of the entire tomb collapsing in if they tried them. This restriction along with the amount of enemies and the speed of their movements, the battle was proving to be incredibly difficult
"How many" Syaoran paused while he quickly swirled around to strike an enemy attacking from the left "of these guys are there?"
They were completely surrounded and outnumbered. Whenever one enemy was struck down, many more came afterwards. Sakura, Syaoran and Eriol where standing in a small triangle with their backs to each other while they tried to fight off what seemed to be nearly a hundred ninjas. Tomoyo stood in the centre of the triangle recording whatever she could with her camera, whilst under the protection of the three fighters.
"Dammit, they're getting too close!" Syaoran growled, Sakura quickly turned to him with a proposal
"Syaoran I know you said we shouldn't, but I could use one of my more powerful cards to keep them back" Syaoran looked back to her with a troubled 'it's too dangerous' expression
"I agree with miss Sakura. Besides, things can't get worse than they are now" Eriol stated without taking his gaze away from the enemies ahead of him
"…Alright" Syaoran sighed in agreement
"Stand together everybody and hang on to something!" Sakura pulled out a card and threw it into the air
"STORM"
A humongous tornado erupted from the card, swirling out and upwards around the group. The strong gusts of wind surrounded them protectively and threw back the enemies in multiple directions, all either hitting the walls or the ceiling
"Bloody hell!" the Regent exclaimed in shock as he watched the enormous whirlwind twirl around the room and felt the gusts pushing him backwards slightly
After a minute the fierce winds ceased and STORM returned back into its card form, leaving everyone pretty shaken up and disorientated
"Is everyone okay?" Sakura asked around, receiving 'we're alright' and 'what the hell just happened' looks from everybody
"They're gone" Eriol said aloud, making everyone turn to him questioningly
"What are you…huh?" Syaoran suddenly realised what Eriol was talking about. All of the ninjas, even the bodies, had disappeared from the room "Where'd they go?"
As everyone looked around in curiosity, there was a very low rumbling sound echoing through the room and out of the hallways. The group stood frozen to the spot as a very loud cracking sound surrounded them and small bits of rock began to slowly fall away from the walls and ceiling.
"We need to leave right now!" Raine shouted out
Not even a second later, the rumbling became more violent and larger blocks of stone began to fall from the ceiling. Unfortunately a large pillar collapsed in front of the rooms' entrance, blocking the way out
"Holy crap we're screwed! The place is falling down and the only way out's blocked!" A guard cried out in horror
"Gather around quickly, I'll get us out of here" Raine put away her shinobigatana and held out her hands in front of her face, the right with the middle and index fingers extended while wrapped into the left hand
The group huddled together without hesitation as Raine closed her eyes and began to mumble an incantation. But before joining everyone else Sakura called back her LIGHT card, turning the tomb back in its former state of darkness. In a matter of seconds random Japanese symbols began to appear in puffs of orange smoke, floating and circling the group like fireflies. All of a sudden, a bright sheet of blue light swept up from the ground engulfed them. Everyone cried in surprise at this sudden action, but before long the blue sheet disappeared along with the coldness of the tomb. It was all now replaced with a bright yellowish light and the feeling of warmth, telling everyone that they were now no longer inside, but out in the desert.
"It's okay, we're safe" Raine assured the group as she opened her eyes and lowered her hands. She had used a transportation spell to get them outside.
They had all landed a hundred meters away from the tomb, which could now be seen collapsing and sinking into the ground. They sat on the soft sand in silence, watching as the once impressive structure crumbled away into pieces.
"I think maybe you're too powerful for your own good, Miss Sakura" Eriol said as a light joke, breaking the silence
"I-I'm really sorry about that" Sakura apologised heartily to the Regent, feeling really terrible for destroying the resting place of a legendary hero. Syaoran placed his right arm over her shoulders and hugged her closely in an attempt to try and make her feel better
"Don't worry about it, you had no choice. Besides, this whole mess is my fault anyway" The Regent admitted, his eyes dropping to look at the weapon he held in his hands
"Oh, Stranger asked me to give you this" Raine took out the canteen Stranger gave her and handed it to the Regent. A large smile grew on his face as he opened the top and quickly drank most of its contents, not stopping for air until Raine took it back from him in concern for his health.
"God bless that man" he coughed out, wiping his mouth with his sleeve
Syaoran took one last look over at the collapsing tomb, then turned his head back
"Come on, we should be heading back now. The others might be worried"
--------------------------
The city of Shenhua
It had been six hours since they had left. A huge crowd of no less than thousand people surrounded the Lion gates, eagerly awaiting the return of the travellers along with the Regent. At the very front of the crowd stood the other half of the group, the six members of the Shenhua council, Captain Terada, Mrs Chen and her daughter Maggie.
"Hey, I can see them coming! The Regent is with them!" a man shouted from a rooftop overlooking the desert
"Alright, open the gates" Terada ordered the gate guard who immediately flipped the opening switch
The large doors opened slowly, allowing the group to enter the city. The Regent shared Raines horse; while despite protests from the other members of the group the guards said they were all well enough to walk the way back.
"Roy!" Mrs Chen cried out in happiness as she and Maggie ran towards the Regent with arms stretched out as he dismounted the horse
"Olivia, Maggie…I'm so glad to see you two again" he immediately hugged the both of them as they ran into his arms
Everyone else began to dismount their horses, and where immediately greeted by the council members
"Thank you, thank you so much. You have helped us in so many unimaginable ways! Thank you" They seemed to be incredibly happy and extremely thankful. They kept bowing, smiling and shaking everyone's hands
"You really don't have to thank us" Syaoran said
"That's very modest of you, Wolfie" Stranger grinned as he wandered over towards them and stopped in front of the head council member
"We held up our end of the bargain, now…"
"Certainly, of course" The head turned towards Terada "Captain Terada, please lead them inside the Hall"
"Yes sir" He smiled happily and saluted them
--------------------------------
Hall of Heroes
Captain Terada led Syaoran, Sakura, Tomoyo, Eriol and Raine to a large temple-like building in the very centre of the city. Six guards stood on patrol outside who each saluted their captain before opening the large wooden doors, allowing the group to enter. The inside of the building was very interesting; it wasn't very wide but it was extremely long. Light shone through hundreds of small rounded windows housed on the tall ceiling, illuminating the room and giving view to the large stone statues that were lined up against the walls. Every statue was of different men and women, each in a variety of poses and stances.
"Who are these statues of?" Tomoyo asked Terada, who was leading them through the hallway
"These are some of the greatest men and women in history. They are people who have done many great things for our city and our country, true heroes of the ancient times. Many people come here in memory of these fine warriors" he replied, with both happiness and pride clearly in the tone of his voice
"Some of them are broken…" Sakura noticed as her gaze moved from one statue to another
"It all happened during the attack two months ago. They're in the process of being repaired though, so soon everything will be back to normal" Terada added before turning his back to look at Syaoran and Sakura "You know, it's possible that you guys could end up being remembered here"
"What do you mean?" Syaoran asked curiously
"You're all heroes. You have done our city a great deed by risking your lives to rescue the Regent. In a couple of weeks, there's bound to be statues of you put up here"
"I don't think there's any need for that…" Sakura smiled unsurely while Tomoyo burst into a fit of laughter
"A monument of the wonderful Sakura-chan wearing one of my costumes to be remembered for eternity…it's so exciting!"
They had been walking through the hall for a good couple of minutes before Terada stopped at a larger statue that stood at the very end of the hall. It was a heavily damaged statue of a man wearing Chinese style robes and wielding a large staff, all detailed with finely drawn symbols and insignias. Engraved on a pedestal in front was the name 'Gui Zang'
"Here we are. I'll leave you to it" Terada smiled before he turned around and walked back the way they came, leaving the others to view the sculpture in amazement
"So that is Gui Zang" Eriol grinned, folding his arms across his chest
"Where's the seal?" Sakura asked no one in particular, staring at the statue in awe
"The statue is the seal" Raine pointed out as she stepped closer to it
"So what do I have to do now?" Syaoran asked
"It is very simple. Just place your hands onto the pedestal and let your aura channel through it. Being a descendant of Li Kai Ku, the seal should gain power from you and reactivate"
Syaoran felt unsure at first, but then agreed to it. He stepped forward and placed his hands down on the pedestals' face, and allowed his aura to channel through. The others stood back and watched as the statue began to glow a bright green, the chips and scratches disappearing as it began to rapidly repair itself. It didn't take more than thirty seconds for the statue finish its' repairs, then Syaoran slowly removed his hands from the pedestal and stepped away. The first seal had been restored.
"Amazing!" Sakura exclaimed as the once semi destroyed statue was now back to it's former glory, with the detailed symbols and insignias glowing a light blue colour
As Syaoran gazed upon the seal he just restored, he began to feel a little light-headed and dizzy
"…?" He slightly stumbled as his head began to ache
"Syaoran!" Sakura immediately rushed to his side
"Something…my head…" he mumbled, before snapping his eyes shut
A voice of man echoed through his aching mind
'Thank you…you have restored my seal and my powers…many dangers and greater foes await you ahead of your journey…train hard and grow stronger, descendant of Kai Ku…thank you, once again…'
As the echoing voice and the headache disappeared, Syaorans eyes flung back open to meet a pair of worried emerald eyes.
"Syaoran, are you okay? What happened?" Sakura held her hands firmly but gently to the sides of Syaorans head
"It was…I was…N-nothing, It's all right" he sighed, straightening his posture and taking Sakuras hands into his own away from his head
"Are you sure? It didn't look like it was nothing" Eriol said with suspicious eyes
"It was nothing, really. Come on, let's just get out of here" Syaoran turned away and walked off, leaving the others to follow behind with confused and worried expressions.
After leaving the hall they were greeted outside by Meilin, Yukito, Nakuru, Stranger, Spinel, Kero and the Chens'. They were extremely happy to see them all safe after their journey out into the desert
"It's good to see that you guy's are alright…oh, what's this?" Meilin asked as she lightly took hold of the small necklace Sakura was wearing
"Syaoran gave it to me" Sakura responded shyly
"That reminds me" Syaoran turned to Tomoyo and Eriol with an accusing glare "Earlier, you said something…"
He paused as Tomoyo giggled and pulled out a small videotape from her pocket, inserting it into her camcorder. She held up the camera screen in full view of everyone and pressed the play button.
The camera was scanning the outside of a large house, illuminated by the silver moonlight. There were hundreds of windows on the side of the building, but it seemed the camera was looking for just one
"Which room did you say it was?" Tomoyos' voice whispered from behind the camera
"That room, it has to be…look I was right! Up there!" This time it was Meilins' voice, and the camera aimed up to an open window of a room which Sakura and Syaoran were standing in
"Tomoyo-chan, Meilin-chan…you didn't…" Sakura whispered to her friends, her voice getting quieter. After receiving no answer other than large grins from the both of them, Sakura continued to watch the footage silently along with Syaoran whose eyes were wider than saucers
"She's already given Li-kun his bear back" Tomoyo noted
The camera slightly zoomed in on the two as they conversed, unaware of those outside recording them. After a few seconds of talking, Syaoran handed Sakura a small package
"What's in the package?" Meilins voice came from the side, while the camera stayed fixed on the couple
"We're bound find out what it is tomorrow" The clear sound of Eriols' voice was then present on the tapeSyaoran immediately glared at Eriol, who was grinning slyly back at him
The recording carried on in silence up until the point where Sakura had fallen asleep on Syaoran, which then resulted in quiet chuckling session from the three spies"Would you look at that!" Tomoyo giggled ecstatically at the moment she had victoriously caught onto camera
"That is SO adorable!" Nakuru squealed in delight as she hugged a bright red Sakura tightly
A final note from Eriol was at the end of the tape
"I really do wonder what my cute little descendant will do when he finds out about this"
"How about I show you then, you bastard!" Syaoran exploded and began to chase Eriol through the streets, who was chuckling and throwing back comments about how cute Syaoran looked and that he was going to make hundreds of copies to send out to his friends, family and just about anyone else who was interested in viewing them
"I must say…the descendant of Kai ku is quite an interesting fellow" The Regent smiled to his wife and daughter, who both agreed with him as they watched Sakura, Yukito, Meilin and Stranger try to hold back Syaoran in order to prevent him from brutally murdering a laughing Eriol.
----------------------
Elsewhere
Jigoku sat half asleep on his throne, listening to a mission report from a ninja who knelt before him. The report was not a good one, as it was filled with news of failure. Failure to kill the Li clan heir, Li Syaoran.
"There wouldn't be any trouble like this if Ginryu done his job properly" he growled tiredly "For now, take your men and assist the efforts at Dobuita. I want the Tamashii clan destroyed" the tone in his voice indicated annoyance
"Ah…yes my Lord. Oh…" The ninja suddenly remembered some information he had learnt just before his report, hoping that it would enough to redeem him for his failure "We've heard that another group of travellers are heading towards Kowloon, two of which bear a resemblance to the Li clan heir and the card mistress. They are apparently collecting items like the one which was discovered inside the Monastery"
The ninja then stood quietly, watching his master lower his head slightly as if in deep thought. It took a few moments before he received a reply
"Really?" The old man raised his head and looked back to the ninja with a slight grin replacing his former expression of annoyance "That is interesting…"
A/n You can probably guess which group of people is going to appear in the next world. I have made a start on the next chapter and hopefully it'll be up quicker than this one was (it was a crazy week. My team came 2nd place in the paintball tourney and I've been practicing hard for my karate-grading exam)