"Saburo, what is it?"

"I have just received some good news and some bad news. Which would you like to hear first; what Kazou made a shit out of or what he did not make a shit out of?"

"I see you have some wine next to you. Whatever Kazou has done can't be so terrible for you to drink wine."

"That's because there is the one piece of good news, Taro! Just as I suspected, Kazou has made a huge mess out of things that could have gone so perfectly if only I had been in control of!"

"What are you talking about?"

"The three magical sources. One of which is on its way to meet us as we speak."

"But...they don't exist. You said so yourself."

"Ah, but I was wrong. So wonderfully, incredibly wrong. And though Kazou has screwed things up tenfold, even he did something right this time."

"They exist? How can they exist¬-"

"I don't know for sure, but they must be related to the feather. In any case, we should kill Kazou soon. His laziness and lack of finesse is getting to be uncontrollable."

"What has he done?"

"He had over 300 special service men under his control, along with an assortment of battle armor vehicles and visuals. Enough to cover all the sectors within a few hours. The three magical sources had apparently been moving around today at an amazingly slow rate- suggesting they were on foot, silly them. The report reads, "Upon reaching a cross-section of three sectors, four, not three, moving objects were seen and identified as four humans.""

"Four humans?"

"It gets even better; the report goes on and on, but basically this small group had managed to conceal one trick. Kazou caught it; of course, those tricks truly are very slow.""

"So there are four humans, three with magic and one without? How strange."

"Something is missing from this report, however."

"What?"

"It gets confusing when the squad come in contact with the group. I must remember to replay the visuals later, perhaps they will explain..."

"Since you are not very fore coming with anything that is of any interest to me, I'll ask something else. Who did Kazou catch?"

"Kazou, the swine, only caught the trick and one magician. The other two escaped."

"WHAT! How did they escape!"

"Apparently one or both of those that escaped had the ability to detect a way out. If you remember, Taro, the tricks used the library to enter and leave the city on New Years 8893 for their little massacre."

"Why did we not close that place off?"

"Because your little General Kazou never expected another trick this close to the government towers again. However, these humans seemed to have appeared out of nowhere and confused him."

"Saburo, you do not...you do not think..."

"The tricks are getting smarter with their little antics? Ha, never. They are still sitting dumbly, licking their wounds. There is always the question of what will happen once those two reach their end. Since they are magical, the tricks may treat them with the same amount of hospitality as we have done-"

"Never mind that! Is there ANY good news to this or are you drinking wine to numb the pain?"

"Of course there is good news. General Kazou can't ruin my mood all the time, now can he?"

"Will you stop being amusing with me, Saburo!"

"Patience, dear brother. I am getting to that. My genius has never failed you, has it? I have already formed a plan to insure your safety. Even the Trick is useful in this little brainchild of mine."

"Saburo, if you don't tell me..."

"The magician we caught happens to be the most powerful out of all of them. But most important, it is a woman. A young, pretty woman..."


Tomoyo watched the dancers and clowns with a look of plain disgust, giving the occasional sigh now and then to show how truly upset she truly was.

"Ah, my sweet. Are you not enjoying yourself?" The calm voice, laced with amusement, made Tomoyo scowl. She did not bother to turn her head as she replied with a curt, sharp tone, "As if you can be the gentleman, Sorata. You hate this just as much as I do."

The man beside her mocked astonishment, putting his hand to his mouth. "My goodness! I would have never imagined my little, sweet, kind cousin would ever-ever!- use such vile language. You horrid child, you!"

Tomoyo reached down to pick up her cherry drink. Putting it to her lips, she said, "Where's your fiancée? I would like to further warn her about the mistake she is making marrying you."

Sorata laughed a deep chuckle from his throat. "Arashi? She is around here somewhere, probably talking with Chuu. We're finishing up here, then heading downstairs to our rooms and going to bed. And don't worry; Arashi is more then ready to tear me up if I do something stupid this month."

"I knew I liked her."

"I figured you would, considering she is so much like you." Sorata smiling face droop slowly, his brown dipping low, scrunching up his forehead.

Tomoyo studied his face for a moment, moving to place her hand on his tall shoulder. "Worried about tomorrow?" She knew she did not really need to ask, for his outside anxiety was more than apparent. "Do you have another headache?"

Sorata shook his head, turning to look down at her. His long face and serious eyes stared down at her with a knowledge that made Tomoyo shiver. "I want you to be careful, Tomoyo. The whole time we are here."

"Sorata, I know-"

"No. No, you don't. This is your first time to the capital, and things will be happening here that will make you mad and angry. You see all these people around you?" Tomoyo nodded. "These are the worst people in the world, and they will lie and cheat you out of everything you have for power. That's all they want; power. Power that corrupts and ruins lives. They are masters at it, and have been for over 15 years. Yet now we have a chance..."

Sorata bent his tall frame to look her straight in the eye. Tomoyo felt pride swell up in her chest as she looked in his handsome face, searching his eyes for all the rights he would do to correct the wrongs. He was her hope. Everyone's hope.

"Do you think it will finally happen, Sorata?" she dropped her voice to a whisper, leaning into his ear. "Do you think you'll be able to bring down the emperor?"

"Nope." Tomoyo gasped, looking at his face to find him smiling. "Not just me. But, yes, if we can make a difference here in the next few weeks with all of this blood suckers, than maybe, just maybe, we can bring the emperor down in a few years."

Tomoyo could barely suppress the pride that was bursting inside of her. To bring down the emperor! Before it was just a dream, one that one would forget moments after waking. But now! One could hear it being whispered in the tightest of circles, spreading the news of the new revolt, one that might, if continued, bring down the emperor. The amazement that she was in the middle of it was more than she could possibly handle. And her cousin was the star.

"You can do it, Sorata. I know it."

Sorata's lips curved upwards, not in an all out smile, but one that weighed down by worry. "Just be careful, Tomoyo. If anything goes wrong, it's not the end of the world. I want to leave the capital with my family alive."

Squeezing his shoulder reassuringly, Tomoyo smiled at him. "Nothing will happen. The emperor's not going to win this time."

As soon as those words left her lips, she wished she had not said them, watching as Sorata's normally laughing eyes flashed anger. "Don't," he said, in a warning tone, "underestimate the emperor. We being here in the capital should have warned you enough, but maybe you're too young to really understand."

"Understand what?"

"That he has been the emperor for 15 years not on just plain, dumb luck. He and his brother are fooling us now, even as we speak. Ever one of his moves has been planned for, and he for sure has something to surprise us." Sorata's eyes faded out of focus as he spoke, "And I can only pray it is not what I think it is..."

Tomoyo wanted to ask more, but she realized then that she would not get any more out of her cousin. The clock ticked 12 and many people were leaving their tables to go to their rooms downstairs. The show and entertainment were long done, with a few late nighters up drinking by the bar (provided by the emperor, of course).

"Good night, little cousin. Sleep well." Sorata bent down and kissed Tomoyo's cheek. "Will you need me to lead the way to your room?"

She smiled gratefully at him, but shook her head slightly. "No, no, I will be alright, thank you. These halls aren't that difficult to navigate through, and I can always ask one of the servants for help. Say goodnight to Arashi for me."

As she watched Sorata go, Tomoyo thought that her body did not feel as tried as she knew it was supposed to have been. Rather restless, she paused for a moment, thinking about a way to pass the time. Her room seemed too dull, this hall too crowded with people. So she did the only thing she could do in such a large place, she explored.

The capital city was a wondrous place, full of glamour and sparkle-or, at least, the little that she saw from her window on the train ride here. It was a monstrous city, an endless concrete jungle and limitless buildings. And the seven government towers, one of which she was in right now. Well! They were the most extravagant of them all.

Seven government towers! The number it-self spoke of the egoistical attitude the emperor had. They were in the center of the city, Sector number one, with all other sectors surrounding it. The largest, the one where everyone who had come to attended this month's political meetings were being roomed, was the emperor's own brain child, either his or his brother's (they were almost the same person anyways).

Tomoyo touched the walls, feeling a spark of magic and retracting her fingers instantly.

"So, it is true, what they say," she murmured under her breath, all the more astonished by the amount of power the emperor had and hating him more for it.

Tomoyo walked out of the great hallway and began the slow, long walk to her room, taking more than one left and right turn then she needed. She touched the walls now and then, each time retracting her fingers from the spark of magic she felt.

Two left turns and one floor higher, Tomoyo came to a large window that overlooked the city. She had never been afraid of heights, but even one who was used to heights would cower a little at the sight before her. The city was stretch out at her feet, its tall buildings cramped together and reaching for the sky. They were all like small toy blocks she used to play with as a child, building them up, and then crushing them down with a swipe of her hand. Tomoyo could not even see the people below, she doubted there were any.

The six other government towers surrounded her on all sides, each facing the most magnificent. They were impossibly tall; Tomoyo remembered thinking as she arrived earlier that morning. Too tall.

Her fingers touched the glass, recoiling once more from the magic she felt. 'And now I know why,' she thought. 'Magic. That is what is holding this huge building up. It would be impossible to build such a large thing and have it standing for more than ten minutes. This whole building is alive with magic.'

Tomoyo continued her walk in the twisting hallways until they began to look like one another.

"Oh, dang it." she double back, trying to hear the sounds of the party. "Where am I?"

The hallways continued to bend, each one smelling of a fresh coat of paint. The soles on her shoes touched brilliant red carpet, never making one single sound. The walls around her were bare and ordinary here, Tomoyo guessing that she must have accidentally stumbled into the working floors in this building. High ceilings were above her head with identical light bulbs in each light fixture.

'I am in a maze' Tomoyo thought. 'The maze of my enemy.'

Down another hallway, she let out pent up air in her lungs. In her state, she had not noticed how tired her eyes had become, not taking in where she was going. So, she really lost. Glancing around, Tomoyo grimaced at the thought of having to ask for help from the servants. It would be a blow to her moral if she had to ask the very people who served the Emperor his afternoon tea and biscuits. It was a matter of principal; if she was going to survive on her own in this blood city, then she would do so every moment. To do otherwise was almost a sign of weakness. And weakness was simply not allowed in the capital city. Not ever.

Pushing onward with renewed energy, she rounded a corner, then froze in fright.

Their black uniforms and helmets were instantly recognizable from a distance. The Emperor's personal army!

And she was standing froze to the ground, right by them. Tomoyo's mind had gone numb to this surprise, before going into a hyper overdrive. 'Hide, damnit, Tomoyo, hide!' The rest of her body, shaking with fear, spun sharply and she dove behind the corner that she had just emerged from.

For heartbeats afterwards, Tomoyo could not have moved even if she wanted to. The sight of such a force was chilling! At one glance, she knew enough to measure the number of soldiers standing there ranged from twenty to thirty. They were standing around, looking strong and invincible, waiting. Even while standing, their erect posture demonstrated their strength and unity. Tomoyo's toes and fingers tingled from the amount of awful magic rippling from them. From under every mask, every helmet, every suit, ruthless, raw power seeped.

She had to leave. Had to leave now! Had to get back! Had to leave before they caught her, before that ruthless power turned its attention towards hers! Before-

"Let me go! Let me GO! Where is he! Where did you take him? LET ME GO!"

A loud feminine voice shrieked part panic, part anger. Tomoyo halted, listening.

Sounds of grunting and groaning, someone wrestling against something came moments before another panic cry from the feminine voice. "Please! Just take me to him! He's hurt! He's hurt!"

The voice startled Tomoyo's so much so that she forgot her own situation. Carefully lowering herself to the carpet, she peeked a glance around the corner, making sure to show as little of herself as possible. She sucked in air at the sight.

The soldiers had parted enough to let through some sort of prisoner. A small, young woman was in the clutches of two tall, built soldiers. Though they towered over her, she was not letting herself be dragged along, struggling every single movement the soldiers made toward the double doors twenty feet away from where the group was. Her arms flapped franticly about, as though she were trying to scratch out the eyes of her captors. She kicked and stomped her feet, then dug them into the carpet to prevent herself from further moving forward.

Tomoyo found herself cheering on this person for no other reason then the fact that she was refusing to give up. Watching her struggle was filling Tomoyo's breast with hope, replacing the fear.

"SHUT UP, GIRL!" A large man, with the body of a bear, thundered. On his arm was a white strip, signifying he was in command. He reared up on the girl, looking down at her, his right hand up by his left ear, preparing. The woman raised her head.

Green eyes! Shocking in their color, those eyes looked out from her head with no shame, daring any other color to show such clarity. They looked at the bear man with such intensity and fire, the very balance of power almost shifted from the soldiers to this defiant girl. Tomoyo stared, mesmerized by the youthful features the woman had.

'She is a girl!' Tomoyo thought, her mind ablaze with fascination. 'She can't be older then me!' The horrified expression on the girl gripped Tomoyo's heart. Her cheeks were dirty and tear stained. As the bear man stood in front of her, her arms stopped their losing battle. Her wrist seemed unusually small in the hard grip of the soldiers holding her. The fire in the girl's eyes evaporated into nothingness, replaced by large, wet tears. 'She's terrified. What in heaven's name is going on here?'

Bear man swung his hand down, the back of his hand smacking the girl in the face, sending her whole body back. Her head whipped to and fro from the impact, her tears cascading from her eyes, down her cheeks, on her chin, onto the carpet.

"I told you, SHUT UP!"

Holding her hand to her cheek as best she could, the girl glanced up once more, asking a question unlike any before. "Why are you doing this?" Her voice was still filled with the same panic as before, though the energy in it was gone. She was defeated. Her terror had gone beyond her to a point where she seemed almost calm.

Tomoyo's chest deflated, her hope dashed when the girl spoke. The will to fight was gone, thus, so was the hope. In spite of it all, Tomoyo remained where she was, praying the girl would continue to fight, knowing that she would not.

"Take her in." Bear man commanded, and all the soldiers parted to let the girl and her captors through. The girl did not attempt to disrupt them any further, realizing how fruitless such a waste would be. They marched the rest of the twenty feet down to the double doors, which opened slowly. From her angle, Tomoyo could not see what was inside the room, but the tingling in her fingers and toes warned her enough to not attempt to move to a better position. Following them with her eyes, she watched as they went through the double doors. Once the door closed, the rest of the soldiers left quickly at the barking orders from the bear man.

Tomoyo waited for another five minutes before she got up from her position, deeming it safe. She crawled around the corner, tip-toeing her way with the stealth a cat would use to catch her prey. Glancing down and back several times to make sure there were no more soldiers, Tomoyo walked up to the double doors, letting her fingers run over the fine wood. Powerful magic tingled up her arm into her mind. 'I might not be able to remember this place again, but my body will', she thought, continuing to run her fingers over the door. 'I just hope I can find this again.' she thought.

Tomoyo stepped back from the door, turned and ran. Her heart tore at the thought of leaving the poor girl to whatever evils were in that room.

'I love you.' Running down the stairs, Tomoyo could still hear the girl's high voice calling out for 'him', whoever 'he' was. 'I have no idea who you are, but I love you. Please, keep fighting'


"Hiiragizawa! Hiiragizawa!" A static voice chirped. "Eriol, damn you, wake up!"

The man the voice was referring to was, at the current moment, slouched over the controls, drooling slightly. His glasses hung down from the bridge of his nose as he lifted his upper body and pressed his finger down on a red button with the words, 'Reply', above it.

"Waz is it?" Eriol took off his glasses, rubbing his eyes. "Wass...(yawn)...going on?"

"Finally! I've been trying to reach you for the past 15 minutes!"

"I was on very...official business," replied Eriol, not bothering to hide the laziness in his voice.

"Yeah right. Anyways, get everything ready down there, you have a visitor coming."

"What?" exclaimed Eriol. He twirled around in his chair, reaching back for a clipboard. Scanning his eyes down the sheet, he pressed the button once more. "There's nothing here on the sheet. I was not expecting anyone for at least...well, never, really, to be quite frank with you."

"Don't worry. This guy's pretty easy, I heard. Wand-up-his-ass-Kazou caught him today on a special assignment of some sort, so you better be nice to him."

Eriol rolled his eyes upwards, finding the tackles humor somewhat disgusting. It unnerved him that there were such idiots in this building as the one talking to him right now. However, Eriol's reasons for putting up with such working conditions numbered many, starting with easy money. The capital city was no joy, and jobs with the government were easy to find, so after getting kicked out, his mind put two-and-two together and signed up.

Only later did he realize the absolute lack of humor this place had to offer. By the time his mistake in work was discovered, however, he had already undergone 5 months of training and he had signed up for a total of two and half years. 'It'll be okay, Eriol, buddy,' he told himself repeatedly, 'as soon as your done, you can do whatever you want. Don't worry about those fools. You'll be gone in two years and you'll never see them again.' The only joy in his monotonous life was his dream of getting as far away from the capital city as possible. That, and the fact that during the two and a half years, the idiots could not reproduce their stupefied spawn into the population, thanks to the really bummed down government military code. A silly code that many tried avoiding, but that proved handy in controlling the young men and women for their two and half years of service.

"When's he coming?" Eriol asked.

"Right now."

Sure enough, as soon as the words were spoken, a loud boom vibrated off the metal door containing Eriol. Jumping up from the control desk, he scampered to the door, flicking his small wand once to unlock the doors before he replaced it in his front jacket pocket. The doors opened to four hulking men, each wearing black suits and helmets. Two of them dragged a man in the room by his wrists, the rest of his body lifeless on the floor.

'Whoa, Special Service', thought Eriol as he stepped aside to let the men in.

"You, Hiiragizawa Eriol." One of them stated. Before Eriol had a chance to nod, the man dumped folders and papers into his arms. "Top priority mission. Orders are to maintain state of condition with limitless use of drugs and/or spells. Constant supervision, regular reports and updates, and no action shall be taken unless order by top military officials. Death acceptable, but keep alive as long as possible."

While one of them was drawled onwards, the other three men taking the prisoner to the room next to Eriol's control panel, lifting him on top a medical platform.

Eriol's office consisted of a platform and small medical room. There was only one way in or out of Eriol's workplace, and that was the door which the men caring the prisoner came through. The door opened up onto the platform, which contained a chair and the control desk. Directly to the left of the platform was the medical room where Eriol had the unpleasant job of cleaning up badly bruised or damaged people. On the right side of the platform came a small staircase with wide steps which led down to the row of cells.

The men left with saying much more, not that Eriol would have cared to listen. He walked over to the body, grabbing a sponge, alcohol, and band aids, stating, "Welcome to the Eriol's Splendid Detention Block! Your stay here will be marvelous, I can tell you. You'll have top-of-the-line drugs to keep you in that wonderful comatose state, along with a prefect little bed with nice strong ropes to keep you tied down, and comfy!"

Eriol took the band aids out of the box, placing them in a neat line, one after the other, and continued chattering to himself. "Oh, not to worry, you'll have fun here! You don't have to do anything really, other than die soon. Can't have you alive and breathing, now can we?"

Eriol allowed himself a chuckle before actually getting down to work. He examined the man's clothes, his brows dipping low when he saw how ragged and poor quality they were. His eyes traveled over the man's chest and shoulders. 'He has quite a small build,' thought Eriol, continuing his examination over the man's shoulders, around his collar bone, up his neck, to his face-

Eriol froze.

'This is no man.'

A young face stared back at him. The age was not hard to determine, somewhere from 15 to 18, not much older. His skin was smooth and creamy, besides the most recent open cuts, no wrinkles or scars. Brown hair, brown eyebrows, and high cheekbones gave him a handsome appearance. From his body size and age, it was no wonder he had a small build. He was still growing.

'Why did they bring me a boy?'

Eriol cleaned up his face first. There was one large wound, as though someone took a rock and rubbed it roughly up and down on his skin. Bits of skin that were ripped off were hanging loose, and dirt and bits of concrete had found themselves in the cuts that were left opened. Eriol treated his face quickly, using once or twice a healing spell to make the process speed up. Minor cuts and breaks he was fine to leave alone, it was better they healed on their own anyways.

The rest of the boy's body was a mess. Eriol felt himself growing sick as he slowly removed outer layers of clothing to get to injures that needed attention. Darkly colored bruises along his chest and abdomen made his skin bloated and shiny. There weren't that many broken bones here, beside two rib bones. Eriol healed those instantly with two flicks of the wand.

The boy's right leg bent the wrong way, and Eriol had to cut up the pant seam to view it. It was the worst sight out of everything he had seen tonight. Eriol gagged, but held his stomach. At one point the bone actually stuck out of the skin. It was swollen, shattered, bloody. This explained the boy's unconsciousness. The leg was so badly injured it was putting his very life in peril. Too much blood loss and the leg itself was beyond useless now. Had Eriol not been there to cast a slow healing spell, he estimated the prisoner would not have lived past the night. He patched up the rest of the wounds.

Suspension as to what led to the boy's current state of being grew in Eriol's mind, though deep down he knew the answer. The Special Service was all too egger to get the job done and they tended to do a hackles job of it. It was not unusual for a prisoner to come in beaten, though hardly as badly as this.

'Either this boy did something very wrong, or there is something wrong going on now.'

It was not until much later, after Eriol had wrapped up the boy's last injure, his wrist, in cloth that he finally noticed one trivial detail. There was no tingle at his fingertips when he touched the boy's skin. Nothing. Not one ounce of magic. Eriol panicked.

'HE'S DEAD? ALREADY!' He grabbed his wand from his pocket, putting his ear to the prisoner's chest, listening intently. Very slowly, faintly, the chest rose up and down. Eriol looked up, scratching his head, musing. 'How can he be alive without magic? Is he so far gone that...'

He paused.

"HE'S A TRICK!"


Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original characters. Any new characters, however, are a figment of my insane mind. Trust, not even I can control them.

Author's note: Happy Holidays. check my profile page for any updates, and see you in 2006