The first spell hit Syaoran squarely in the chest, sending him flying a good distance back. He dodged the accompanying torrent of magic by simply allowing himself to fall to the floor of the water room.
This attracted Fai's attention before the smoke had a chance to clear. Throwing another volley of attack spells, Fai only hit Syaoran once or twice. What the boy was standing in front of, however, split open. It was a large cocoon-like shell, whose arms extended to the walls, pillars of matter upon which Kurogane laid, bleeding. Inside this cocoon was a girl, who had watched the whole battle.
"Fai-san! Syaoran-kun!" Sakura cried, her hands shaking. "You've got to stop, please!"
Syaoran spun to look at her, and she shied away. Behind her, in the cocoon was a glow- it was a feather, the feathers they had been searching for. He grabbed it in his fist and pulled Sakura close to her, forcing the feather into her chest. She was asleep again before she could even attempt to protest.
----
"Wha—but he—but what about—" Watanuki stammered dumbly, staring at the screen. After a while, he ran out of unfinished sentences and just started opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water.
"But wait," Yuuko said, crossing her arms. "Another player is about to appear."
"What? More bad guys?"
"No." she replied. A dragonfly landed on the rim of the basin, illuminated from below. "The real Syaoran is about to make his appearance, although all he comes to find is the aftermath."
----
"You get away from her." Fai whispered, watching Syaoran set the princess down on the ground.
"I have to gather the princess' feathers. No harm will come to her." He stated impassively.
"And how many people have to die for you to collect them all?"
"As many as it takes." Syaoran looked up to where Kurogane was; his blood was now dripping to the floor below. From there, his gaze turned to the onlookers, who collectively shuddered as his eyes fell on them.
"And his blood's not enough?" Fai held up his hands. "IS HIS BLOOD NOT ENOUGH FOR YOU?!" The spell exploded from the wizard's hands with enough force that the whole building quivered. Words made of light wrapped themselves around Syaoran's body, and a circle appeared on the floor below him. A circle used for transportation.
Suddenly, above him, a similar circle appeared, and an identical boy fell from it. The only difference was a black eye patch that was wrapped around the right side of his face. He surveyed the situation quickly.
"Wait!" He yelled. "He has something of mine!"
Fai stared at him, trying to understand how he'd arrived, and he finally just yelled, "Go!"
The second Syaoran ran to his double, who was struggling to free himself and pried something from his hand. He ran back, and Fai pulled his fist into the air. The first Syaoran suddenly vanished, leaving only a puddle of Kurogane's blood on the floor where it had dripped from his hand.
"Explain later," Fai said sharply. "I'll hear your story later."
----
The water-mirror suddenly fell from the air and landed back in the basin, not a drop falling onto the grass around it. Watanuki gave a strangled holler of surprise and jumped back. Yuuko did not move; she seemed to have expected it. The fireflies had seemed to vanish like the mirror, and the only source of light was in the center of the water.
"What was that?!" The teenager yelped. "What happened?"
"A part of the fate was left unchanged."
"And that caused the whole thing to go away?"
Yuuko knelt on the grass, and put two fingertips on the surface of the water. "It thinks that it's pointless to just show you the same thing, so it doesn't wish to continue." Watanuki knew better than to question what 'it' was. The witch stood, and the water clung to her fingers like a spider's web. "The unchanged aspect was someone you didn't see. His name is Kamui, and he has been guarding that cocoon for some time; his brother was locked away in it and kept in a deep sleep. Subaru was awoken when Sakura was freed."
"All right," Watanuki watched her create a spiral of water-ribbon.
"This is significant, as they are both vampires."
"V-vampires? Like, 'I vant to suck your neck…!'" Watanuki drew his arm around his face as though he were hiding it in a cloak. "Like that?"
"Not quite. Though, they do feed from human blood." Yuuko placed her palm in the center of the spiral, and the screen re-formed. "We will continue the story now."
The picture flowed into existence, and the fireflies appeared again.
----
"People die from these kinds of wounds from shock alone," Fai heard the person saying. "With our limited supplies, I don't know what we can do."
Kurogane's black hair made the white bandages stand out, an effect like snow on new asphalt. Fai was running his fingers through the ninja's thin bangs— the strands were still slightly sticky with blood. Perched on the edge of the bed, one arm around his knees, the wizard didn't want to make a decision. He didn't know what decision to make. If Kurogane was to live in pain for years to come… if more ill came of this.
A decision had been made for him once.
He stared at the window in the dirty flesh-colored wall. The acid rain had begun to fall again, splashing against the windows in an angry torrent. Fai stared at them, imploring each drop for an answer. Each thunderclap held a resolution, but none cared to share, leaving Fai alone, until the voices around him silenced; a deep, throaty snarl came from the bed.
"Hey."
The wizard stood bolt upright and was at Kurogane's side in a flash of lightning.
"I don't want to die in this place." His voice was weak, horribly weak, just above a whisper. Normally Fai could hear the confidence in his voice, the strength of the sword just behind his sarcasm. There was nothing like that here: it was almost a child's plea, though Kurogane made it a demand. Don't let me die. I'm not dying in this place.
Fai couldn't form the words to reply.
Kurogane's breathing was weaker than his voice; it seemed to take what little energy he had to fill his huge chest with air.
"You won't." The wizard finally said. "You won't."
Satisfied with this answer, the ninja fell silent again.
"Mokona-chan," Fai murmured, looking around. He'd finally become uncomfortably aware of his surroundings. He hadn't noticed any of the people in the room before, but there were a great number of people: Sakura and the other Syaoran, Kamui and some other boy… he skimmed the unfamiliar faces until he saw Mokona, still dozing in that same boy's arms. His knees shaking slightly, Fai crossed to the boy. "May I see Mokona-chan?" He forced a smile, he must have looked awful, covered in dirt and fingertips stained with Kurogane's blood.
He felt guilty asking for the little pork bun to wake up, but it was overjoyed to see someone alive.
"Moko-chan, I need to speak to Yuuko-san."
Wordlessly, Mokona nodded, its ears flailing behind it. As it looked up, a red beam shot forth from the gem on its forehead. Standing in the center of the beam of light was the figure of a woman. A few people in the room gasped.
----
On Yuuko's right, a second "screen" appeared, and Watanuki had to slap his hands over his mouth to stifle his yelp of surprise. This one was made of light and coming from the porch, where the black Mokona was dead asleep.
"Good evening." Yuuko murmured to the figures in the light's circle. Watanuki saw the blond wizard, and behind him was the second Syaoran, Sakura, and some other people he did not recognize. Looking to the water-screen, he could see that Kurogane was in front of Fai, and out of Mokona's range of view.
"I have a wish, Yuuko-san."
His voice is so calm, Watanuki marveled. It's so calm, yet there's so much wrong…
As he stared into the wizard's tired face, Watanuki liked to think that behind those blue eyes, he was sobbing. That's all he should be doing. Watanuki wouldn't blame him in the least if that was exactly what he did.
Yuuko's reply was the same as it had ever been, though perhaps a shade quieter. "There is a price."
Fai looked grave.
"Name it."
