Author's Note (A/N): More apologies… but if this chapter goes up, it'll be with the previous one… so… you've already heard said apologies.

Previously:

Li and Sakura enjoy a great time in the Wind Realm, basically relaxing their worries away. As for Elaine… she's been very… unable to cope with the situation at the moment of her father, her loving, benevolent father, turning on her. Tyrell's going through the Thunder Realm and they find a sick child and decide to take said child with them. On to the chapter…

Chapter 25: Severe Difficulties

Shadow sauntered briskly through the Dark Realm, making his way towards the small village of battle-hardened warriors deep within the Realm. As he walked, Kero, in his backpack, and Yue flying through the air along side him with Eriol's two guardians kept silent. The five of them quickly made their way through the Realm in complete silence, no one caring to speak.

As the five of went along, the scenery changed ever so slightly. Moments ago, they were walking among rolling, bare hills. Now, they strode through slightly less barren mounds of dirt. Ahead of them, the hills slowly become mountains until they would, if continuing on this course, arrive at the single village in all of the Dark Realm, deep within the desolate mountains.

"This is so pointless," Ruby mumbled as she glided backwards through the air as if lying on a bed.

Ignoring her, Shadow continued on his course, heading straight for the village seemingly regardless his companions' conditions. Moments later, he stopped and set up a small camp, lighting a small fire and taking out a cooking pan from his backpack. As he brought out the food, Kero fell to the ground, clinging tight to a cookie larger than himself.

"Hey! I was just getting comfortable!" Kero yelled.

Shadow ignored this as well and continued to prepare a meal for himself and anyone else who would like to eat it. When he had finished, Kero floated up to it with a large plate and beady eyes, all of which had no effect on Shadow who simply spooned out a small portion for Kero. Shadow did the same on a single other plate and pushed it in front of Spinel before civilly, but quickly eating his own food.

When he finished, he quickly washed the plates that had been used, discarding whatever food that had not been eaten, repacked, and headed out again, all without a single word.

"Aaaah! I can't take it anymore! At least say something!" Ruby yelled, sighing heavily when Shadow ignored her as well. Ruby flew in front of Shadow, stopping directly in his path in an attempt to stop him. To this, Shadow simply responded by unleashing a trickle of Dark energy to politely push Ruby out of the way as he continued on his straight course.

"Why don't you just teleport the village to us? You control the Realm, right?" Ruby asked, more than a little irratated.

"I'm sure that if Shadow could have, he would already have done it," Spinel replied, allowing Shadow to maintain his silence.

The five of them continued on their trek, no one stopping unless Shadow did for fear of losing themselves in the accursed Realm overrun by dark, lethal creatures. A while later, as they neared the forest at the foot of the mountains, Shadow suddenly stopped. With a hurried, "wait here," he ran off, leaving his backpack and the guardians to watch over it.

"Where has he gone off to now?" Spinel asked, not the least bit curious.

"Who knows? With someone like him leading us, we won't ever gain any information," Ruby replied.

"He… reminds me of Clow. You could never get a word out of him if he didn't want to talk," Yue said, staring off into the distance in the direction Shadow had headed.

"Yes, he does. He's very much like Eriol: always planning something or another and keeping his thoughts to himself," Spinel said before the lot of them quieted down again to hear nothing but Kero's loud chip-munching noises.

About half an hour later, Shadow returned, carrying with him a girl with light purplish hair, unconscious in his arms. Behind him, a black-haired girl followed, yelling at him and attempting, and failing, to get a word out of Shadow.

"Why won't you talk? You come in, blast the creatures to who-knows-where, abduct Tomoyo, and do all of it without a word. Do you have anything to say?" the girl asked.

"Hey, little girl, come give me a massage," Kero said, transforming into his larger, true form.

"I am not a little girl! Why did you have to bring the stuffed animal? What have you done with Sakura? What are you going to do with Tomoyo?" Meiling asked, slightly enraged and definitely annoyed.

"Carry her," Shadow said to Kero before gently setting Tomoyo on Keroberos' back, grabbing his backpack and walking off.

"Two words. That's all you're willing to say?" Meiling asked, greatly exasperated.

Ignoring her as well, Shadow walked off towards the mountains, forcing Meiling and the guardians to follow him onto the steep slopes. Another hour of trudging through the snowy path up the mountain and they arrived at a small village of hard-faced muscular men, each carrying with him at least one sword.

"Lord… Lord Shadow? When did you arrive?" said a small child, running off to announce to the town's council that the ruler had arrived, all without a response from Shadow who only kept walking towards the tallest building in the middle of the town.

As he walked, whispers could be heard all around him. Words such as "Lord Shadow," "master of combat," "protector of the village," and other gasps of amazement were heard amongst the commoners of the village. Only the battle scarred warriors said nothing and stared after Shadow with an aura of contempt and malice.

As Shadow approached the larger building, the crowds lessened and only the warriors remained, staring after him without a word. A few feet from the building, a man stepped into Shadow's path, blocking his procession. "You. I challenge you to a match. I shall wager loyal service to you for all my life, and you shall do the same."

Shadow, ignoring this as well, only weaved a web of Dark energy around the man and shoved him aside, lacking the time to deal with such antics.

"Then I must do this. I had not wanted to, but now, you leave me with no choice. I challenge you, Lord Shadow, for the throne. According to our ancient laws, you must accept. We will begin immediately," the man said, drawing his sword which promptly broke in half as Shadow skidded to a stop on the other side of him, sheathing his own sword.

"So, the stories are true. We shall fight to the death. The winner will rule the Realm from here on!"

"I have no wish to kill you," Shadow said, keeping his ground.

"You have no choice. According to our ancient laws, when the current ruler is challenged to a match, he or she must accept. The winner is then the true ruler. If you walk away, then you forfeit the match!"

"Does it look like I'm moving? Keroberos, Yue, take Tomoyo and Meiling, keep them safe. You two, stay out of the way," Shadow said, spinning out his longest sentence since the day before. "If you will force me to kill you, then I will show no mercy. I accept your challenge. However, you may forfeit at any point to save your own life."

"You are the most arrogant little…! I will tear you to pieces!" the man said, charging Shadow with a sword in each hand.

"You're fighting in anger. You should calm down," Shadow said, dodging each of the man's slashes in swift, lucid motions.

The man turned around, seeing Shadow behind him, with his sword still sheathed. "Why don't you draw your sword?"

"I've no need to. Until you clear your mind, you are defenseless and I will not, under any conditions, attack a defenseless warrior."

"How dare you call me defenseless? I am the strongest in the village. I have beaten all my opponents, never once showing any mercy. You, you will die at my hand today and I will rule this Realm!" the man yelled, charging Shadow again and again.

"If I allow you to win this match, I would be dooming the entire Realm. The final battle approaches and I require warriors like you to help. If you would waste your life here, then you are betraying the Realm of your birth," Shadow said, weaving his way around every stroke.

The man continued to swing his swords at Shadow, running up at him again and again, full of determination. A few minutes later, Shadow drew his sword and with its blunt side, struck the man's swords from his hands.

"How? How do you read my every move? How did you defeat me so easily?"

"I told you before. You must fight with a clear head. When you fight me in anger, you rely solely on your power and forget everything else. Now, if you still want to die, I can arrange that. If you forfeit now, I will spare your life," Shadow replied, pointing his sword at the man's neck.

"Fine. I concede defeat. You win. This time," the man said, taking his swords and turning around in shame.

Shadow sheathed his blade before turning to the guardians and the two girls with them, motioning for them to follow as he proceeded towards the building. When he arrived, the small child was waiting for him with an elderly man, holding tight to his walking stick.

"So, you have arrived. What is it that you come to seek?" the man said in a deep, shaky voice.

"I need the village's sorcerers and warriors. There will be, as I'm sure you already know, a large war involving all of the Realms. So, if you, as the elder of the village, could provide me with ample troops, it'd be much appreciated."

"Of course. However, you shall hold no power over these 'troops.' You are, ruler or not, still an outsider. How you managed to achieve such levels or power, I do not know. However, as the elder of this village, I must comply with your request. You shall have your men. I will send to the castle fifty warriors and twenty sorcerers. I'm sorry, but that is all that the village can spare and still keep an adequate watch. These mountains are treacherous and we must be prepared to defend ourselves."

"I see. I thank you for your services. I take my leave then. Hopefully, the ancient vows still hold true and you are still loyal to he that sits on the throne," Shadow said, turning from the man and the small child.

"Now what? We're going to walk all the way back? You can't arrange for a better mode of transportation?"

"I already have," Shadow said, pulling out a small piece of parchment. Holding two fingers up to his face, he mumbled a few inaudible words and tossed the paper out in front of him where a glimmering portal with a dark, cloudy center quickly formed. Shadow stepped through the portal and waited for the others at his castle. A few moments later, the six of them materialized inside Shadow's castle and the portal snapped shut behind them.

"You couldn't have done that to take us to the village?" Ruby asked, staring crossly at Shadow.

"No," Shadow replied before walking off to his room and leaving the guardians with Meiling and an unconscious Tomoyo.

Shadow stepped into his room and stared at the picture on his desk for a moment before picking up the dusty sword beside it and going through all the different practice formations he knew. As he swung the sword around, images of a former self flashed through his mind and he remembered all the adventures he had had those years ago. Sheathing the golden-hilted sword, he stepped into the bathroom and splashed some water on his face before washing and changing quickly and laying back down on his bed.

"Sakura…"

"We'll be there soon," Matriana said, swimming through the strange water.

Eriol swam along beside her, somehow able to breath under the water without any magical covering. Slowly, a large castle appeared in the distance and the two of them entered, bypassing the few guards at the front entrance.

Upon entering the castle, Matriana ascended and stepped out of the water, holding her hand out to Eriol who gladly took it and stepped out.

"I'm sure you're wondering by now why you can breathe in this water. Well, to tell you the truth, you can't. There just happens to be a spell placed on the water that allows you to. Without the spell, you, like me, would be unable to breathe there. Here, however, it's dry. I never was a big fan of the wet palace idea," Matriana said, leading Eriol to a large room at the side of the castle. "This will be your room. If you feel like a bath after swimming through all of that, feel free to try out the bathroom. Dinner should be ready soon. We'll, believe it or not, be having fish from the Realm. After that, we can head off to my library for some spell books."

"Thank you," Eriol said before turning to the bathroom. "I think I will try that bath. I could use a nice hot shower."

Matriana turned from Eriol upon hearing his response and headed off deeper into the castle. Eriol quickly took a bath and grabbed some dry clothes from his bag, which he had waterproofed upon entering the Realm, to change into.

As he wandered through his room, taking note of where everything was, a woman, dressed as a servant, walked in and invited Eriol to dinner. Eriol followed the woman to the dining room where numerous plates, each containing a different dish, lay in front of him.

"Come, Eriol. We'll have dinner and then do some research before going to my library. You… don't have anything against fish, do you?"

"No, of course not!" Eriol said, smiling. "Fish is fine."

Eriol walked up to the table and the maidservant pulled out his chair for him. As he sat down, another maid came up to him with a bowl of rice. "Thank you," Eriol said as he took the bowl. Moments later, he spooned himself some oddly colored fish and ate in silence. Upon finishing, he thanked Matriana and went back to his room. "Could you call me when you plan on going to the library?"

"Sure. I'll be along in a minute," Matriana replied.

Eriol found his way back to his room and laid down on the bed, wondering whether or not his guardians were safe. For the first time, Eriol was at a loss for what to do. Matriana knocked on the door, disrupting his petty train of thought and led him down a few twisted hallways to a large room, all but filled with books.

"This is my library. Feel free to look at any books you want. If you find something pertaining to the war a while back, bring it to me and we'll take it with us back to Shadow.

"Ok," Eriol replied as he stepped into the room and started pulling books from the shelf.

The next few hours were spent in utter silence as Matriana and Eriol went from book to book, one seeking books about the war, and the other, seeking knowledge. After nearly three hours of searching, the two of them had found only three books pertaining to the war. "Eriol, we should go to bed soon. It's getting very late and we still have another day to search."

"Sure, I know the way back to my room. I'll be along in a bit," Eriol said, staring intently at one of the books in front of him.

Matriana looked worriedly back at Eriol for a moment before heading to her room, leaving Eriol by himself in the library. Thirty minutes later, Eriol decided that maybe it was a good idea to get some rest. He stacked his books neatly on the desk he had been using and walked back to his room, blowing out the candle on his desk as he left.

Sigma stepped through the Portal for the third time that day, this time bringing with him a large dragon that he refused to ride. A little ways from the Portal, Sigma met up with Candice again, holding a sleeping Elaine in her hands. "Took you long enough!" Candice whispered fiercely.

"I… ran into some problems…" Sigma said, holding a burnt hand behind his back.

"Of course… she must've been hungry. Weren't you?" Candice said in a coddling voice.

"Either way, let's get going. I've got to hurry back to the Earth Realm and gather my supplies and hopefully some troops. You have to do the same, so let's tell the people here what we need to, and we'll deal with everything else later," Sigma replied, pulling loose a large boulder and floating it in front of him.

"Oh, come on. Ride with me!" Candice said indignantly.

"No thanks. I'd rather keep my limbs, thank you. However, you can ride with me. There never was a need for your pet dragon," Sigma replied.

"You can take Elaine then. It's easier to take a sleeping child on a floating rock than it is on Flame. Let's get going," Candice said, having her dragon fly up into the air.

Sigma followed Candice and the two of them glided through the Light Realm, confusing a number of people that took enough time out of their busy lives to look up and find two powerful rulers in their Realm. Most thought nothing of it and went back to work, deciding that the two rulers had some business with their own ruler and not worrying about it any longer. As Sigma traveled across the skies of the Light Realm, he remembered, once again, the final battle that had taken place here. Knowing the truth now, he began to resent the Realm in all its beauty, acknowledging for the first time the truth behind Abner's statements.

I only wish that he wouldn't have done that. I know there must have been some good in him. Elaine describes him as a loving father, someone that she would want to be with more than anything in the world. How could someone like that, someone so pure ever fall so far? There must be some reason: some family member he was trying to protect, some form of blackmail… The Abner I knew… There was only one thing he was willing to sacrifice everything for. The most precious thing to him was his one and only family, his wife and daughter Elaine. All those many years ago… Something must have happened during the war… Sigma thought, sighing heavily.

"Sigma?" Candice asked, suddenly at his side.

"Huh? Oh, Candice. Is there something you needed?"

"No, but you were just staring off into space and I wanted to make sure you weren't too lost in your thoughts. Remember, if you crash, so does Elaine," Candice warned before flying ahead. "Let's hurry. We still need to get back to our Realms and make preparations." At that, Candice urged Flame forward and the two of them sped towards the castle, leaving Sigma with Elaine on the large rock.

When Candice was just a speck in the distance, Sigma decided it was a good idea to begin catching up. A moment later, he was no less than 100 feet away from where he had started and still gaining on Candice's dragon. Little more than ten minutes later, the two of them arrived, almost simultaneously, at the Light Realm's castle.

"I though I'd left you behind. How did you catch up so quickly?"

"You never could beat me in a race," Sigma said, smiling nostalgically.

"I suppose you're right. Well, we're here," Candice said, walking into the castle.

"Who are you and what business do you have here?" came a gruff voice from within the castle.

"I'm Candice, ruler of the Fire Realm, and this is Sigma, ruler of the Earth Realm. We bring with us Elaine, daughter of Abner, the former ruler of the Light Realm," Candice said, loudly enough for most of the castle to here.

"Ok, now let's drop the formalities. I hate formalities," the guard said, beckoning them inside. "But there is one thing I find interesting about what you just said, Lady Candice. What did you mean by 'former' ruler of the Light Realm?"

"Abner has turned from his old ways. He has… become a little less capable than he was before. Putting it shortly, he is in league with a crazed man, wanting to destroy the Realms. A few days ago, he attacked his own daughter and all the other rulers that were present at the time, proving to us that he was no longer capable of ruling. Elaine is to be his successor, but she refuses to take the throne, still longing for her father and clinging to hope," Sigma replied, feeling a sense of regret for the way things had turned out.

"I see. I have two problems with your story. First, how do I know it's not just a story? And second, if it's not, who will take the throne?"

"First, you don't. You'll just have to take our word for it. Second, we've decided to just leave the throne empty for now. We, meaning the two of us and the rest of our council, can elect a ruler later. For now, we need some cooperation from the people of the Light Realm. Hopefully we can get some help in the upcoming war. If not, we'll leave Elaine here and be on our way," Sigma replied, laying Elaine down on the sofa and sitting down next to her.

"Well, sorry to say this, but you won't be leaving. You see, we knew this was going to happen. I, however, did not believe one bit of it until now. The two of you will be staying here until Lord Abner has time for a proper trial. I never thought that you, Sigma, or you, Candice, could fall so far from your values. I, as the leader of the guard, hereby sentence you to life imprisonment within our castle dungeon. Don't bother trying to escape. We have the entrances well guarded and our armies are ready to attack at a moment's notice. Now, surrender peacefully and you'll save yourself from further harm."

"Wait. What are you talking about? You don't honestly believe that we've done something wrong? Can you at least tell us what you claim we've done wrong?"

"You need me to tell you? Sigma, how long ago was it that you started down this path? Do you no longer realize that seizing power in another Realm is wrong? Or are you just trying to buy time? Perhaps you have friends coming to back you up?"

"What? You think I'm trying to seize the throne? Why would I want to do something like that? The Earth Realm is already enough for me to deal with!"

"Sure. So explain something, Lord Sigma. If what you say is true, why is Elaine unconscious? Why do you and Candice come here alone, without the other rulers? Why is it that off in the distance, we can see an army of Fire and Earth creatures, waiting to assault the castle?"

"What are you talking about? We brought no monsters with us! The only thing we brought was my dragon, and that's just to make for an easier trip! As for Elaine, she fell asleep crying in my lap! You don't honestly believe that we would do something to harm the future ruler of the Light Realm, do you?"

"Yes, I do. In fact, I–"

"That is enough!" came a voice from the nearby marble stairs. Slowly, a pair of feet stepped down, followed by a man's torso and a face, all of which belonged to Abner.

"Abner!" Sigma and Candice yelled simultaneously, embracing their energy Spheres.

"Watch it, you two. Our bowmen are right up on the balcony. One wrong move and you'll be riddled with arrows!" the guard said.

"You two come and abduct my child from me at the false meeting you called in the Dark Realm, attempt to take my life, then bring my daughter back here, claiming that I've turned from all that is pure, try to put yourselves on my throne, and, just in case, bring an army of backup monsters? Do you realize what you've done wrong? If there's one thing you've done that's worthy of respect, it's bringing my daughter back here, but you only did it to take the throne! You wicked creatures that dare call yourselves rulers! You planned to play on my daughter's emotions, trifling with her still young mind, and feeding her lies, telling her that her loving father is evil and ruling through her! What do you have to say for yourselves?" Abner asked, yelling at the top of his lungs by the time he finished.

"I have nothing to say to you, you worm!" Sigma spat, turning indignantly from Abner.

"Nor have I. It's one thing to lie to us, but to be able to lie to the entire Realm… You're despicable!" Candice replied, staring Abner in the eye.

"And now, you come and insult me. You have to sense of respect, do you? You should be grateful that I don't have you executed on the spot! Take them away! Let them think over what they've done!" Abner yelled, walking over to his daughter.

"No! Elaine! What are you going to do to her?" Sigma yelled, fighting with the guards that had rushed into the room and grabbed him.

Abner ignored Sigma's pleas and took Elaine in his arms, shooting a look of pure malice at Sigma before slowly ascending up the stairs. The guards, paying no attention to Sigma's constant pleas, ushered him down a few flights of stairs, with Candice silently at his side, and locked him in a cell. Candice was thrown in the cell across the hall and two guards placed in front of each of their doors.

"You two will be here for a while, but Abner is a forgiving man. He may let you off easy if you go up to him and beg for your forgiveness. I'll take you to him whenever you're ready. Besides, we used to be good friends, right Sigma?"

"You… How can you not believe me? You and I grew up together. You know that I would never do anything like this!"

"Yes, which is why I'm no longer sure that I'm still speaking to the Sigma that I knew," the guard, the same one they had spoken to before, said, shutting the door to Sigma's cell and taking his place in front of it.

Great… now they're captured… anyhow, this is another one of those times where I wish my computer were working… sigh…

Well, good luck with everything… I hope that everything works out with my computer, in the story, and in your guessing of the challenge…