Disclaimer: I do not own Tsubasa Chronicles, blah, blah, blah.
c-h-a-p-t-e-r-4
"Hmm…they are coming," someone muttered, staring intently into a basin of clear water. Tiny figures moved about in it, shimmering when the water quivered when an unseen gust of wind passed over its surface.
There were three of those figures, all of them men. The youngest among them was carrying something on his back. The tallest was obviously a ninja judging by his cocky stride and clothes. As for the blonde man, he appeared half-asleep and never failed to smile at his companions.
Their mouths opened and closed as they spoke, but the words were lost to their discreet observer. That did not matter to him. What mattered were their current location and their destination.
The silent observer waved a careless purple-sleeved hand over the water, causing the images to disappear. The three figures dissipated into nothing as the base of the rock basin shimmered into view.
"This will be interesting."
….
"So where are we headed?" Syaoran asked his companions. The princess was safely on his back, deep in her blissful sleep. Syaoran did not have the heart to let her undergo the pain she had gone through all over again when the effects of the sleeping potion wore off.
Her brown hair was lifted by a playful breeze and tickled his chin. Syaoran chuckled and tucked the stray lock behind Sakura's ear. The princess smiled in her sleep. Her warm breath brushed against Syaoran's cheek. It gave him a rush of relief to know that she was free of her troubles for now, whatever they were.
Syaoran smiled. Sakura looked so peaceful…she was a beautiful angel indeed. Her pale caramel skin and deep emerald eyes were enough to leave him breathless. And her smile…her smile was what he craved for.
When those sweet, rosy lips of hers curved upwards and revealed her pearly white teeth, Syaoran felt as though a mountain had been lifted off his shoulders. It was weird. Her smile was so radiant, so simple yet so meaningful to him. It seemed to sap all his worries away, filling him instead with a sense of contentment and peace.
Sakura…the princess meant so much to him. It had really hurt when she woke up and addressed him as 'Syaoran-kun' back in the world with Kudan-wielders. For that one heart-stopping moment Syaoran had nearly let go of her in shock.
Her memories of him…all those bittersweet moments they had shared together since they were children…they were gone. Gone was the time she would play in the royal garden and drag him along with her, showing him how to smile. Gone were her carefree days as a young child without worries, and also…and also the love that had blossomed throughout the years.
She would never remember anything about him now, never. Not even when they managed to retrieve all her feathers. No. Her sweet memories of him were gone forever, a part of the pact they had made with Yuuko in exchange for the ability to travel to different dimensions.
It had hurt. It had hurt worse than all the aches and pains he felt after excavating ruins all day long. Yet Syaoran was determined to bear it like a man. It was for the sake of his beloved, after all.
Yes…this sacrifice was for Sakura. For that he was willing to swallow the bitter pill and stick with her through thick and thin. For her….
Sakura stirred slightly on his back. Syaoran returned to reality and glanced at her face. Her previously peaceful expression was already marred by a light frown, and the corners of her mouth turned down in discomfort.
A tiny whimper escaped her lips and she started quivering. Her lax grip on Syaoran's cloak tightened, her breath quickening. She moaned into the square of his back.
"Fye-san!" Syaoran called urgently. The mage behind him looked up at the mention of his name and inclined his head.
"Anything wrong?"
"Hime…I think the effects of the sleeping potion is wearing off."
"Ah…" Fye smiled and gestured at the half-empty vial in his hand. "Lay her down."
Syaoran obeyed without hesitation. The limp form of the princess slid off his back and into his arms. He single-handedly unfastened his cloak and spread it on the dusty ground before placing Sakura on it, his cloak providing meager bedding for the princess.
Her chest rose and fell in an uneven pattern. Her fingers curled around the rough cloak and held it tight as though her life depended on it. Sakura started gasping for air, her moans of pain growing more pronounced by the second.
"The potion?" Syaoran said briefly, never taking his eyes of her shaking figure. Fye handed the small vial to him without a word.
Syaoran uncorked the bottle, allowing the ethereal smoke to escape from the slender mouth. The silvery white mist undulated and dissipated into thin air to reveal the crystal clear liquid within the glass casing.
Tipping it so that it hovered above Sakura's slightly open mouth, he prepared to pour it into her throat. More swirls of gas spewed out and sparkled in the humid air.
Just as the tip of the vial rested on Sakura's parched lips, something knocked against Syaoran's arm, causing the bottle to fly out of his hand. Syaoran tried to catch it but failed miserably. His horrified gaze trailed the vial as it smashed into a million pieces, the precious liquid spilling out and disappearing underground, now utterly useless.
One big, wet, sloppy tongue licked his face, covering it in drool. Two padded paws landed on his shoulder blades and knocked the breath out of him.
"Nani -" Syaoran gasped, struggling to get out from under the creature.
"Shiro! Come back to Kimiko!" a young girl called. She had beautiful eyes the colour of deep violet with a dash of indigo in them, and her skin was of the palest shade of caramel, something unbelievable for an inhabitant of this world to possess due to the burning sun. "Oh my…" she gasped at the sight of her huge canine crushing Syaoran under its weight.
The dog looked up at the mention of his name. He bounded happily towards his mistress the moment he caught her scent in the still air, landing on her with all four paws and proceeded to lick her face.
"Eew. Get off me! Are you all right, sir?" she yelled, trying to push her dog away. Syaoran did not hear her. His attention was focused once more on Sakura, unmindful of the sticky saliva and drool that covered his face.
She was tossing and turning restlessly, straining as though to escape from something. Her lips were already stained red with her own blood where she had bit down too hard.
Her moans grew more and more incessant. It had risen by a crescendo since the effects of the sleeping potion Syaoran had administered her started to fade.
Almost inevitably, the screaming began.
Sakura thrashed about on the cloak, her eyes scrunched up in pain. Syaoran was by her side in a moment, holding her shaking hands in his. A worried expression marred his face.
The newcomer was by his side in an instant, peering intently at Sakura's thrashing figure. She then thrust her hand before her, palm upwards, and uttered an incantation.
Her silvery hair was blown back in a magical halo as white magic materialized in the palm of her hand. It spat and crackled angrily.
Without further ado the girl crouched down beside the unconscious Sakura and laid her palm on her chest, right over Sakura's heart. The magic frizzed and settled on Sakura's trembling body before entering it and disappearing without a trace.
Once again, Sakura's muscles relaxed, her painful expression giving way to peace. Her grip on Syaoran's cloak loosened, hands dropping to lie beside her prone body. Syaoran was prepared to bet that he had heard a sigh escape the princess' lips.
"Wh-What did you do?" he asked, too busy staring at Kimiko to notice the small frown on her forehead.
"Me?" Her voice was high-pitched like a child's should be, yet it held a sense of maturity in it that no child's voice should have. "I cast a calming spell on her, of course. What did you expect me to do when I saw her screaming like that? Stand aside and watch?"
Syaoran was silent for a while. So was Fye. Kurogane, however, was naturally more suspicious of her than his two companions were.
"And how were we supposed to know what spell you cast on her? You could've placed any spell on her, and we wouldn't have an inkling about what you did, little girl," he growled, his eyes narrowing into slits.
The girl was undeterred. In fact, she stared right back at him before glancing to his left, where Fye stood watching her with his half-lidded eyes. Suddenly she raised a finger and pointed at him.
"Him. He should know."
Fye was taken aback. He smiled down at the girl, cerulean blue eyes dancing. "And why do you think so?"
"You're familiar with magic. The scent of it lies heavily on you."
"Yes, you're right," he admitted.
"Then you should be able to detect the cause of her illness," the girl said purposefully, pointing at Sakura's limp form.
Syaoran's head snapped back to stare at Fye. "Can you?"
"I don't know." The mage shrugged. "Do you know, Kuro-rin?"
Kurogane bristled, hand resting upon Souhi's hilt. "You're the mage, you figure it out," he hissed. "And I am not Kuro-rin. I am Kurogane. Ku-ro-ga-ne. Get that into your head."
Fye smiled, watching Kurogane's reaction with interest evident in his features. "You know I can't use magic," he said in barely a whisper.
"You can't?" Kimiko asked with her arms folded across her chest.
The older magic-user shook his head.
"Oh well," she muttered discontentedly. "There's another way to show you. You, as a mage, will realize it. I think."
Fye gave her another of his smiles. "We'll see about that."
Kimiko nodded and closed her eyes, hands glowing. Her hair was blown back once more, whipping about behind her.
Sakura's limp body frazzled with the same brand of magic that emanated from the child's hands. Syaoran was by her side in an instant, his amber eyes watching his princess with concern etched into every inch of him.
Her spine arced as her hands dangled in the air. Her legs slowly left the ground as Kimiko used her magic to suspend her in the air. Higher and higher she floated, until Sakura was hovering in the sky, too high for any of them to grasp her leg even if they had wanted to.
"What are you doing?" Syaoran asked urgently, watching the princess floating in the air with a sense of unease. It reminded him too much of that fateful night when Sakura's memories had been scattered across various dimensions in the form of feathers they now sought to retrieve.
Kimiko opened her startlingly deep eyes to look at Sakura. "Can you spot it?" she murmured huskily.
The three travelers peered up at the floating silhouette, shading their eyes from the blinding sun. Try as they might, Syaoran and Kurogane could decipher nothing unusual about her, except for the fact that she was unconscious without a reason.
Fye scrutinized her carefully. Not only her body, but also the area surrounding her. His usually dreamy features were unusually sharp and grim.
"Well?" the girl pressed.
"Where is her shadow?" he asked, shocking his traveling companions. Syaoran and Kurogane glanced at the dusty ground. Sure enough, Sakura's body did not throw a shadow on the grass, nor anywhere near it.
"You figured it out, haven't you?" Kimiko said. "But you need to reconstruct your question."
Fye looked at her quizzically.
"The question is not the location of her shadow. More importantly, where is her body?"
"Are you joking, little girl? Her body is there," Kurogane growled, pointing at the limp figure in the air.
"Let me rephrase that. Where is her other half?"
"Stop going in circles. You magic-handlers are all the same. Twisting and turning about the truth."
Fye threw him a reprimanding look. "Keep quiet, Kuro-pii." His voice was so cold and unrelenting that Kurogane actually obeyed.
Shrugging, Fye turned to face Kimiko. "So what is missing? Her body, or -" he took a deep breath. "Her soul?"
The girl stared at him dolefully. "Both, I'm afraid. Her soul is still intact within her body. Since her body isn't here, her soul isn't either. That -" she indicated the girl floating in the air "- is her shadow."
"Prove it," Kurogane challenged.
"I will, soon. Before I do, do you have any questions?"
"Yes," Syaoran said abruptly. "Please. Please tell me…where we can find her, or at least let us see her for a while."
The girl shook her head. "I can't do that. The most I can do is to show you her present condition through a medium. The medium will have the opportunity to see through the girl's eyes."
"I will be the medium," he volunteered without hesitation.
She shook her head again. "I'm sorry, but no. My spell requires a magical medium."
All heads swiveled to look at Fye.
"I cannot use magic," he said softly. "Remember?"
"I do not need you to perform magic, simply as a medium for my powers."
Fye chuckled. "I have no choice then." He stepped forward so that he stood directly in front of her.
"Are you sure? You will experience anything she is experiencing now, and it will not stop until my power is drained."
"Yes."
"Wait," Syaoran intervened.
"What is it?" Kimiko asked, looking at him full in the face.
"Can…can you think of any way to reduce her suffering? I think she's in pain, wherever she is, because…" he gulped. "Because Hi – the shadow kept screaming unless we give her – it – a sleeping potion."
The girl smiled, but it was grim. "When your friend is linked to her, he will share her pain and any other emotion she undergoes. For that short while, everything will be halved."
"I – thank you." Syaoran bowed. She inclined her head graciously and returned her attention to the mage.
"Are you ready?"
Fye smiled. "Yes."
"Be prepared."
"Mm."
"Stand there," she said, indicating the space before her. "Oh yes, and whatever you do, whatever his reactions are, you must not disturb him. It will bring grave danger to both him and the girl you call Sakura."
Syaoran nodded whereas Kurogane grunted, his eyes closed.
"Hey Kuro-pon! Are you going to wish me luck?" Fye called, waving at the ninja.
"In your dreams, mage."
"Arigatou!"
"Baka," Kurogane breathed.
"Let's start," Kimiko intervened, getting a little more than irritated with the ninja.
"Go ahead, Kimiko-chan."
The girl nodded and closed her eyes, murmuring under her breath. A golden triangle appeared on the ground near Fye's feet, flaring like a sheet of golden fire.
A shimmering word appeared on Fye's forehead before sinking into his skull as though the thick bone was not there.
Sweat started to form on the mage's brow as Fye struggled with an invisible force. Syaoran watched him anxiously. Kurogane, on the other hand, peeked at him through one open eye.
Fye started to moan, first incomprehensibly then loudly. His figure shook and trembled like a leaf in the wind. Kurogane's closed eye snapped open.
"What are you doing to him, girl?" he growled.
"Do not…disturb," Kimiko grated. "At mortal peril…"
"If anything happens to the princess and the mage, I'll -"
Syaoran silenced him with a glance. "Trust her, Kurogane-san."
The ninja growled. "You're too soft."
"I have to trust her…for hime."
Kurogane watched the boy with a serious eye before giving his assent. He grunted and placed Souhi on the ground, sitting in a lotus pose.
"If you say so."
"Arigatou Kurogane-san," Syaoran replied tersely. Hopefully, everything will be all right.
….
(A/N: This will be in Fye's POV, but on the whole it will be as normal. Fye will be seeing through Sakura's eyes)
"Pleasant news for you, Sakura," her captor called amicably from one end of the room.
A pathetic-looking figure in chains shifted a little, revealing a pair of distorted emerald eyes. A trickle of blood ran from her mouth to her chin, tracing her jaw like a crimson snake. She appeared broken, yet she refused to yield.
She had strong will power indeed. But that was to be expected of her, the princess of Clow who had managed to uphold her dignity despite the suffering she was put through.
Her captor smirked and waved a careless purple-clad arm in the air. Suddenly Sakura's arms were free of the stone slabs and she fell to the floor, screaming when her burning skin made contact with the ice-cold floor.
It felt as though my skin was on fire. Every inch of exposed flesh touched the brown craggy floor and sent searing pain up my nerves and injected pure anguish into my brain cells.
I would have screamed. In fact, I did not know if I did or not. The blinding pain was enough to shut down my remaining senses.
"That hurt, didn't it now?" the man cooed. "But this will not benefit either of us, so I'll help you up again."
With a snap of his fingers, the stone slabs disappeared. Sakura watched them with disbelief mirrored in her tired eyes. Did he not say he would imprison her? Then why had the stone slabs faded away?
A pair of coal-black metal cuffs fastened themselves around Sakura's slender wrists and clicked shut. The chains that connected them to the wall started withdrawing into the slimy wall, pulling Sakura painfully up by her wrists.
The metal dug into her wrists and ate at her flesh, adding to her pain. Sakura bit her lip to refrain from expressing her agony. It was nothing compared to the blasts of magic that bombarded her anyway.
Through her eyes, I watched as her memories surfaced to torment her and felt the pain she went through during those moments. To say that I was horrified would be the understatement of the year.
I was traumatized. Was that what Sakura-chan had undergone ever since she had fallen unconscious? That…that was terrible.
My vision shifted when Sakura stemmed the flow of thoughts to glare at her captor. This time, I managed to catch a glimpse of his face. I lodged it firmly in my mind. Perhaps I could use it to my advantage later….
"Before I break the news to you, I ask you one more time. Do you give up?" he said.
Sakura glared daggers at him. I did likewise, mostly because I was tied to her by the means of this connection. Her body trembled with exultation and hatred for her tormentor.
"I…will never…give up!" she snarled through gritted teeth. I could feel her energy being sapped by her effort to talk. I shuddered. My body – and hers as well – felt so weak.
A small part of her mind entertained the notion of surrendering to him. She was so tired. She was tired of all this torture, all the shocks she received that shook her to the bone and the torments from her captor.
The rest of her repulsed that thought and pushed it away, refusing even to glance at it. She wanted to live, she told herself. She wanted to live; she did not want to court death just yet.
There was a sudden jerk to my navel just before a blast of fizzling reddish-blue magic – which I instantly recognized as the mark of an enchanter's – hit Sakura's body. I would have screamed at the impact, but when I opened my eyes, I was no longer linked to the princess.
She was left alone, once again, with her captor. Hopefully, we will invade her prison soon. I do not know for how much longer she could last.
….
Fye crouched on all fours in the magical triangle, shaking and convulsing with sweat covering every inch of his skin. His fists grabbed the dirt that was scattered around him and held them tightly, gritting his teeth against the pain.
"Fye-san!" Syaoran called urgently, a hint of concern in his voice. The boy reached the mage a split second after the flaring triangle collapsed.
Kimiko allowed her arms to fall to her sides, her head bowed. A moment later she staggered and started to fall backwards, right into Kurogane's waiting arms.
"You idiot," he hissed. "Using your power to that extent. You should've known better."
All the girl could manage was a protesting whimper. Her small hands curled around her dress and threatened to rip them apart.
Fye flinched when he felt a hand rest on the square of his back. Turning his head with much difficulty, he made out Syaoran's silhouette right beside him.
"W-What happened then?" the mage asked, trying to smile. With a small groan his limbs gave way and he fell onto his side. Syaoran was by his side in an instant, propping him up with a knee under his blonde head.
"You were screaming and flailing, that's what happened," Kurogane grunted.
"Are you all right Fye-san?" Syaoran queried. Fye smiled, showing off his white teeth.
"I've…been better."
The small figure in Kurogane's lap stirred. "That was…only half of what…she is experiencing," she informed them through gritted teeth.
Fye's expression froze in the middle of a smile, his cerulean blue eyes portraying shock and…horror? His face, already pale, grew several shades paler.
"N-Nani?!" he gasped. Placing a hand over his eyes, he groaned.
"Are you sure you're all right?" Syaoran repeated.
"Hai. Kimiko-chan…are you able to cast a small spell?"
The girl struggled to sit up and flexed her fingers. She frowned for a moment before nodding.
"I think so."
"Good. Can you assist us?"
Kimiko stared at him, taking in Syaoran who was holding Fye up, and Kurogane, who was sitting behind her with his arms folded across his chest. Finally her gaze traveled upwards to look at Sakura – her shadow anyway.
She took a deep breath before choosing to reply.
"Yes."
',',
Okay. It wasn't too bad, I hope. I'm sorry I did not specify the world with the Kudan-thing, I seldom pay attention to names and stuff. My fault.
As usual, tell me if any of them are out of character, please. You're all welcome to point out my mistakes, in fact they are very much appreciated.
Arigato gozaimasu! Oh, and by the way, I accept flames ONLY with a reasonable, uh, reason?
Review? Please! Click on the 'Go' button and tell me your rating/suggestions/ideas for this story ya?