Chapter 2 - Regal

"What do you mean by that?"

"Just what I mean," the lady replied. She stood, her long black hair sliding through her deep red kimono. Just the way she looked, her aura, her clothes. It just reminded Watanuki too much of her.

"What?"

"This world is never to receive travelers unless they are dead." She looked at all of them dead in the eye.

"I'm actually quite surprised that whatever brought you here, transported you here, right inside my house."

"I'm sorry, I'm still confused." Syaoran stared at the lady in front of him. Such aura, he never met anyone with such power before. This person was even more powerful than Yuko.

The lady sighed, and went back to sit down on her chair, beside Fye's twin brother.

"This world is only for the dead. Those who died from any other dimension are eventually transported here. Though their bodies have been buried and rotten, their souls are sent here to be judged. Kind of like heaven or hell." Fye's twin brother explained while looking at his brother. He smiled at him, causing Fye to bite his lip.

"So you mean, this is the spirit world?"

"It is similar, but very different. Souls come and go in this world after being judged. The judgment of the souls are quite crucial and is performed immediately right after they are sent here." Fye's brother further explained.

"And that's why you guys shouldn't be here," the lady spoke once again.

"Because we aren't dead." Watanuki confirmed. "The fact that we aren't sent to judgment right after transporting here confirms that."

"Correct."

"Who would send us here then, if this is only for the ones who passed on?" Kuro asked no one.

"It is unknown yet. It is quite troubling. Somebody might be trying to trample the balance again."

Every one remained silent. Everything was too much to take in, nevertheless the group understood as much.

"Anyways, you are allowed to stay here for awhile. There are not many rooms available, but I hope it is enough." The lady offered.

"Thank you." Syaoran smiled at the lady. The lady stood up and held on to Fye's brother, about to leave.

"Mistress?" Watanuki called.

Fye's brother stopped and waited for his beautiful lady. "Yes?" the lady spoke without looking.

"Um, nothing. Nevermind." Watanuki smiled at her. The lady looked back at the young boy.

"You've grown."

Puzzled as to what the lady meant, Watanuki observed the woman. She was definitely not Yuko-san, but the lady held almost the same aura as his beloved Yuko. And yet, this woman was different. Way different.

"Fye, will you show our guest their rooms?" The lady spoke to her assistant as she held on to him.

"Of course, your majesty."

"I told you not to address me that any longer."

"To me, you are still the queen of this world. No one can ever replace you, your majesty." Fye replied.

"Well then, make yourselves at home. I'm sorry for the cluttered mess of my house. Nonetheless, don't be shy to ask my assistant for anything." The lady left the room, the dark aura of the place vanishing.

"So shall we go on ahead?" Fye's brother smiled.

Fye, the assistant, lead the group to the rooms. "There are only 3 available rooms. They have never been used, but we had these extra rooms in case travelers like you would come to this world."

None of the group wanted to forget what Fye's brother implied.

Syaoran's group chose to stay in one room, and Watanuki in the other. "Doumeki?" Watanuki called.

"Hm?"

"Why don't you go ahead with the Mokonas in the other room?"

Doumeki and the Mokonas went ahead to the other room as they were told.

"So what do you think of this place?" Syaoran asked Watanuki.

"It seems we are safe here. Although this is an odd world to be in. I've never heard of this dimension before."

"Neither have we, this is the first time we've been here." Syaoran replied.

"I'm a bit troubled why it even transported me and Doumeki here."

"How did you even get transported here?" Syaoran asked.

"We were having dinner until all of a sudden a wind picked up and dragged everyone in. I hope Maru and Moro are okay back home."

Meanwhile, Kuro tapped Fye's shoulder. "You okay?"

Fye snapped from his reverie and glanced at his close friend. "Yeah. I was just..surprised."

"Most people would be after seeing their dead brother alive and talking."

"I just never would have thought I'll see him like this. For a second I thought he was alive."

"But he isn't," Kuro continued, "The lady did say only dead people come here."

"So should we call you by your real name then?" Kuro asked. "It'd be confusing if you guys have both had the same name."

"…yeah." Fye's eyes cast down. "It's not my real name anyways. Call me Yuui."

"Yuui's a nice name." Syaoran commented. Fye looked up at him as Syaoran smiled at him, hinting him that Fye shouldn't be affected by the current events.

"I do wonder who that woman is. And why my brother would be servicing her." Yuui wondered

"From what we heard, she used to be the queen of this world." Watanuki mused. "Someone with authority. For someone like her to have such great unimaginable power…"

"And her power is really different from the usual power we've seen so far," Kuro commented.

"You felt it too, right?" Watanuki asked Syaoran, to which he nodded. "Yeah, very different. Her aura was mixed with something dark and it seemed malicious, yet all I felt was.."

"Loneliness." Yuui finished, eyes cast down once again.

Everyone was silent for awhile, till Kuro broke the ice.

"Yo kid, who was with you? That definitely wasn't Doumeki."

"Ah well, he's a Doumeki. He's the great grandson of the Doumeki you know."

"Wait, so you mean…"

"Yeah.. Maybe Doumeki and Kohane-chan is here as well." Watanuki smiled at them.

"Anyways," Watanuki stood up, "We should try to rest first. We should ask the lady the details tomorrow. For now, take a rest. I'm sure you had a rough journey." With that, he left the room.

"That kid," Kuro observed, "has matured a lot."

"Yeah…" Syaoran smiled that did not reach his eyes.

"Whatever problem we have to face, I hope it won't hurt Watanuki."