CHAPTER ELEVEN
Hours later, the WarHawk had landed in the courtyard of Li's home where the shrine used to be. As the team exited the jet, they were all in shock from what they saw before them. Piles of rock, broken asphalt and small flickers of fire were all that remained of the once beautiful center of the Li clan home.
"No…" A very disturbed Li said as he looked around the damage, desperately trying to spot his family. "My family… where… oh, God…"
Sakura looked down and put her hand on his shoulder. "Li, I'm so sorry."
"They can't be dead. They can't…"
Just then, Li's sister Fanren approached the group from inside the house. She ran over to her brother and hugged him tight.
"Are you all right?" She asked him.
Li nodded. "Yes. Are you?"
"I'll be fine."
"Is everyone okay? Did anyone--"
"They're all fine, Li. We just took a beating is all."
Inside the house, which was luckily still intact, Sakura and her friends stood idly by as Li and Meiling went around, making sure their relatives were all right. Shiefa, who had suffered the wall collapsing on her, only had a sprained back and broken leg. Fuutei, Li's first eldest sister, only suffered minor bruising along her body and had a twisted ankle. As for his other two sisters, Feimei and Fanren, they only experienced minor cuts along their bodies and were able to move around more.
"What about mother?" Li asked.
"She'll be all right for now. I had to give her something to dull the pain." Feimei explained.
"What happened to her?"
"I'm afraid she got the worst of it."
"That skeleton thing kept asking where the red gem was. But mother never told him." Fanren added. "He just beat her senseless until he did a mind meld with her."
"So the Blue Knight didn't know where the gem was?" Eriol asked.
"Mistakes have been made." Said Sakura. "And now we have to go back and fix them before it's too late."
"It may already be too late." Yelan said as she slowly entered the room. Her face was badly bruised and her body almost broken but she still managed to walk on her own.
"Mom, what are you doing up?" Li said to her. "You should be resting."
"I had to see if you were okay."
"I'm… I'm sorry I lost the gem."
"You're here now. That's all that matters."
"All right, so what do we do now?" Kero asked as he flew over Sakura's head. "Track down the Blue Knight and hope to God he doesn't release the Red Knight?"
"By this time he probably already has." Eriol said to the doll. "I see no alternative but to wait it out until all of the Knights are revived."
"What!?" Everyone screamed, surprised by Eriol's decision.
Li then grabbed Eriol by the shirt and pinned him against the wall. "Listen, Hiiragizawa!"
"Y-yes?" The blue-eyed boy was now intimidated.
"I am not going to just sit around and wait for more of those things to come back and hurt the people I love! We need to come up with another plan! A better one!"
"It's useless, Li! I don't even know where the other gems are!"
"You have Clow Reed's memories, don't you!?"
"Yes but not all of them!"
"Damn it!" Li let go of Eriol and let out a frustrated sigh.
"Li, I know you've been through a lot." Sakura said. "But I think the best thing for us to do right now is get some rest."
Li nodded and stroked his face. "Yeah, you're right. Come on. I'll show you guys to the guest rooms."
¬¬¬¬¬
Somewhere in an undisclosed location, the Blue Knight slowly got off his demonic horse and held out the Heart of Gold. The red gem then started to glow as the Knight read aloud the scripture encircling the plate.
"Filhos de obscurum desperte . Cubo quicumque foi captus. Nisi vestri rabies. Nisi vestri vires. Exsisto existo quondam iterum. Everto Miles militis."
Seconds later, sparks of electricity surrounded the plate as it levitated out of the Blue Knight's hands. Then, a being of pure energy draped itself over the Heart of Gold as the red gem remained in the center, glowing with an intense light. Afterwards, a skeletal being no bigger than the Blue Knight found himself facing his equal and admired the crimson armor surrounding his bony limbs. The blood red flames surrounding the skull slowly flickered and swayed with the wind as the warrior's scythe was unleashed.
"Welcome, my friend." The Blue Knight said. "The time has come for us to reestablish our band of brothers and lay waste upon those who are loyal to Clow Reed."
"Death to the humans." The Red Knight growled.
"You know where the others rest."
"I do." The Knight nodded as his own red-flamed horse appeared from a stormy cloud. The two riders mounted on their ghost stallions and rode off into the sky, in search of the remaining two Demon Knights.
¬¬¬¬¬
Sakura, Tomoyo, Eriol, Spinel and Kero slowly followed Li down the hall of his home. Touya, Yukito and Nakuru were already shown to their rooms and were probably fast asleep by then. As they walked, Li still couldn't figure out the warning his mother had told him.
"Demon's might is the Demon Knight." Li repeated. "It doesn't make any sense."
"Of course it does." Eriol told him. "It was merely a warning of their arrival."
"Yeah but 'On the darkest day lies a sacrifice'? What the hell does that mean?"
"Could it be something like the Void card?" Sakura suggested. "A sacrifice of total emotion and memory?"
"Oh, who cares!? I say we sacrifice Spinel! Maybe that'll do the trick!" Kero joked.
"Damn you!" Spinel snapped. "You never liked me! Admit it, Kero! You never, ever liked me!"
"You're right. I never did like you."
"You cold, unfeeling bastard!" He started to sob. "I'm ugly, aren't I!? Is that it!?"
"Well, I was just--"
"Don't look at me."
"Oh, come on!"
"I said don't look at me!" Spinel then flew off, crying like a baby.
"Jesus, what a baby! Sakura! Sew me up some stubs! I have a serious need to give someone the finger!"
"Maybe later, Kero." Sakura yawned. "I really need to get to sleep."
"You and me both." Tomoyo followed. "My camera's running low on juice. I need to put her to bed."
The group stopped at the doorway of one of the rooms, which Li unlocked with a key. Upon opening it, he motioned for the girls to enter.
"You two can sleep in here." He told them. "Eriol and I will stay in my room."
"We will?" A disturbed Eriol asked.
"Yeah." Li looked back with a grin. "Although I can't promise to prevent any unfortunate accidents from befalling you."
"Okay then!" Tomoyo said as she gave Li a hug. "Good night, Li!"
"Uh… g-good night…" He responded confusingly.
"Good night, Eriol." Tomoyo said to the boy, weakening him in the knees.
"Good night." He responded confidently.
Sakura wrapped Li in a hug and whispered in his ear. "Don't worry about what your mother said. If worse comes to worse, I know we'll pull through."
"But how can you be sure?" He wondered aloud.
"Because I have you with me." She then kissed Li, releasing all of her passion she had saved up from the time he was gone. At last she was back in his arms, where she felt safe and loved. Of course, as you all know, Li was feeling the exact same way.
"Oh, God…" Kero moaned. "Get a room."
NOTE: THE AUTHOR OF THIS STORY DOES NOT PROMOTE UNDERRAGE SEX. REPEAT. THE AUTHOR OF THIS STORY DOES NOT PROMOTE UNDERRAGE SEX… AT LEAST NOT WITHOUT PARTY MIX. IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THIS ISSUE, CONTACT THE AUTHOR VIA REVIEW OR PERSONAL E-MAIL AND SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS. THAT IS ALL.