Chapter 17
The Parting Gift
They all boarded a train to Tokyo the next evening, after Meilin had found them all a change of clothes, and she insisted on tagging along. They figured it would be better to approach the place at night, where they would have less of a chance being seen doing something illegal- they figured the local authorities wouldn't be too happy with seeing people scaling the outside of a large landmark without permission or safety harnesses. Kurogane complained about the reason for their need for stealth- until Fai and Sakura both pointed out that if they did get caught, even if they could just move on to another world, Syaoran would be returning eventually.
They spent a few hours wandering about the city, window shopping and talking, until the shops began to close and the crowds thinned out. It was just past midnight when they decided to go ahead with what they were there to do.
Fai whistled an impressed note. "This tower is huge. How do we find what we're looking for?"
"Didn't that Eriol kid say Syaoran had a way to locate it?" Kurogane muttered, shifting and pushing his hands into his pockets.
"I wonder what I can do that no one else can..." Syaoran muttered, craning his head back and staring up one of the legs.
"It's too bad the viewing gallery is closed, or we might be able to look around from a higher vantage point," Fai observed, glancing at the closed doors.
"You should've suggested that earlier," Kurogane shot, irritated.
"There's gotta be something," Syaoran muttered, more to himself than anyone. "There's gotta be an access ladder that they use for maintenance somewhere..."
"That would make sense," Fai agreed, and Mokona bounced in his arms.
"But what if what we're looking for is nowhere near the access ladder?" the creature questioned. "And how will we know how high to climb...?"
"We? Who said you were invited, Manjuu?" Kurogane growled.
Mokona whined. "But Mokona loves going on high up adventures!"
Kurogane just glared at the little white fluffball.
"It would be nice if we had some sort of sign that could just point the way there," Sakura noted. "Like a map."
Syaoran straightened, and looked up at the top of the tower, a debate raging in his eyes. "A map... or a compass..."
"A compass would be even better," Fai agreed.
Meilin brightened. "What about the Lashin Board? That's a type of compass, isn't it?"
The youngest male shook his head. "No... the Board I have is only for locating Clow Cards... and they've all long since gone."
"You have a magical compass?" the magician questioned, stepping towards Syaoran.
The brunette nodded. "It's not of much use anymore since all it could do was track down Clow Cards."
Fai seemed to think about it for a moment, then smiled right at the young man. "And how do you think it tracked the Clow Cards?"
Syaoran raised an eyebrow. "It followed their magical signature. They had a very unique presence that it was made to find."
The magician held up one finger. "But, on the most basic level, wasn't all it did was track down one of Clow Reed's magical creations?"
The amber eyed young man hesitated, then nodded once.
"Annnd, if this thing wasn't a magical creation, would it be so carefully hidden? And, if Eriol knew about it, it might just be infused with Clow Reed's magic," Fai swooped his finger through the air once, and held it up. "Therefore, with a little bit of luck, what we're doing is looking for one of Clow Reed's magical creations."
"I'm still not sure it will work to track this particular thing down," Syaoran replied slowly.
"What's the harm in trying?" the fair-haired mage suggested.
Syaoran seemed to think for a moment, then nodded. He held his hands before him, palms toward each other but a bit apart, and began speaking. "Yokute Yuchoku Shiken Shihoku Kin Moku, Sui, Kaze, Raito, Raiden Shinkoku Keina Kifurugi Senkoge Kyu Kyu Yoritsu Yo!!" With every word, a symbol appeared between his hands, until they finally all connected into the familiar compass shape, one which was mirrored by his own magical circle, while at the same time, two beams of light circled the board, struggling for a moment before finally aligning and sending out a thin beam of light. It shot straight up and a bit to the left of where they stood, before pointing to something just below the very top of the tower.
"It actually worked," Meilin muttered, astonished.
Syaoran narrowed his eyes, staring along the beam, trying to find whatever it was they were searching for in the dark. "It's good that it worked... but this implies something that isn't good at all."
"Please don't tell me Clow Reed made more cards," Meilin groaned. "I was tired enough after the last one. What're we going to do if this one ends up like the last one? Or even more powerful?"
The girl's cousin looked at her, eyebrow raised. "Tired enough after the last one?" He paused rather than pointing out she hadn't actually done anything, allowing her to blush and stammer out something incoherent instead.
With a magical flash, the compass disappeared from his hands, and Syaoran approached the tower. "Well, I suppose we should figure out who's going to join me in climbing the tower and looking for whatever it is we're here for."
"I'm going," Meilin stated firmly, her tone daring him to say anything to the contrary. The brunette boy remained silent, waiting for anyone else to say they would go as well.
"I think..." Fai started after a moment, and looking at Kurogane. "That Kuro-wan-wan should climb up there! He's like a big monkey anyway!"
"Big monkey!" Mokona agreed, bouncing from the magician's arm, to his shoulder, before resting on his head.
Kurogane growled. "FINE, I'll go."
"And I'll stay behind to keep the princess company," Fai stated, stepping back to her side.
Mokona looked between the two groups for a moment, then finally bounced back down into Fai's arms. "Mokona will stay with these two for now."
Syaoran nodded, looking back toward the destination pointed out by his compass. "Then let's start looking for a way up there."
Meilin sighed. "This would be so much easier if we could use Jump or Fly..."
Her cousin nodded in agreement. "Unfortunately, they only come to the call of their master."
"I know, I know," Meilin interrupted. "But it's nice to dream sometimes, you know?"
It took them a few minutes to find what they were looking for, and though it was behind a tall fence, they found a ladder which would allow them better access to the huge metal beams that composed the national landmark.
Syaoran scaled the fence first, Meilin close behind him, and they both made it easily. Kurogane caught his pant leg on the top of the fence and stumbled over, landing harshly after the long drop.
He got up before anyone could inquire to his health and stalked toward the ladder. Unfortunately, as maintenance ladders tended, the bottom rung was quite a distance off the ground, though it wasn't covered or locked- Syaoran wondered about it but didn't linger on the thought.
Syaoran tried from a running start, hit the wall, and climbed two steps, and missed, but just barely. He tried again with the same results, then turned to look at Kurogane.
"You're taller than I am, do you think you could make it?" He asked of the ninja, who 'hmphed' and tried himself.
He hit the side, jumped up, and caught the bottom rung easily, and was just about to begin pulling himself up when Syaoran called out and stopped him.
"What, kid?" He turned to look over his shoulder, only to find the youngest male running right for the ladder again, except this time he jumped early, colliding with Kurogane and sending the ninja's lower half into the beam with a thunk. But he wasn't done there, and in several swift motions had climbed the ninja's back and was partially up the ladder.
"WHAT?!" Kurogane bellowed. "Do I look like a human ladder to you or something?!"
Syaoran turned back to the ninja and pressed a finger to his lips. "You're going to alert the authorities. Just stay there until Meilin can get up."
The ninja opened his mouth to say something in retort, when Meilin bowled into him and began climbing up his back as well, forcing his words into incoherent curses that eventually died down as he muscled his way up the ladder, pulling his weight up on upper body strength alone.
They climbed their way up the covered ladder, passing closed and locked access latches, trying to find the one that would be open and save them the hassle of trying to pry open one of the doors themselves.
Finally, the covering on the ladder ended, and Syaoran took it upon himself to leap a distance that caused everyone to stop breathing for a moment, until he hit the beam opposite the ladder, holding his arms out to balance for a moment, before taking a look around.
"If you guys go up a little farther, it looks like you'll be able to reach one of the beams. Be careful," he informed them, and then began jogging along the beam he was on until he reached one of the diagonal connecting beams and began running up it.
"Us be careful!?" Meilin called after him. "We should be saying that to you!"
"Keep moving," Kurogane ordered, and the woman gave him a displeased look before continuing her climb.
Up and up Syaoran climbed, leaping and running from beam to beam, strut to strut, not even slowing down when the wind began to pick up as he climbed higher. Finally, he paused to look around. Below, he could hear Kurogane and Meilin continue their own climb, squabbling with each other. Out in the distance, the rev of a tuned car's engine being pushed could be heard, behind it the whine of a motorcycle. He summoned his compass again, following the light as it shone a bit above his position, and now far to the right. Without letting go of the compass, he followed the beacon.
It pointed to what at first appeared to be nothing, however movement in the shadows caught his eye, and upon closer inspection he noticed what appeared to be a bird, roosting in the way birds do, neck pulled in, one foot tucked into its under-plumage. A long hooked beak and sharp talons made it to be a raptor of some sort- a hawk or falcon. An eyebrow rose at the sight, and he approached it slowly. Just as he was about to reach out, however, the bird seemed to awaken and fluttered away to another beam, settling itself down again to sleep.
Syaoran followed it, trying an even slower, stealthier approach, keeping his breathing calm and his footsteps silent. Again the bird flew away, alighting on an even higher perch, and again Syaoran chased it. The game continued until there was no higher to go- they had reached the very top of Tokyo Tower.
He tried to grab it again, and this time it took off, flying outward as though to escape. Syaoran narrowed his eyes, balancing himself as he pulled his sword from its magical sheath and gathered his magical energy. "Raitei Shourai!"
Lightning crashed from the sky and hit the bird, which let a piercing scream as it fell from the sky, trailing feathers. Down it spiraled, buffeted back and forth by the wind at the high altitude. The young man felt himself frown. Had it been an ordinary bird?
Then magic surged, and Clow Reed's magical circle appeared in midair, surrounding the falling bird, merging with its body and making it become something much larger, a cat, much like Keroberos, but more tiger than lion. An audible snap accompanied the transformed creature's wings opening, and it wheeled about, headed right for the young man all but trapped at the very top of the tower. It opened its mouth and power gathered, before it unleashed it, and the silvery energy careened for the tower.
Syaoran did the only thing he could- he jumped. The power collided with the lightning rod behind him, close enough he could feel the heat of it along his skin. He hit a beam and leapt off that, letting his momentum build as he continued his descent. Behind him, the creature roared and dove after him.
He miscalculated its diving speed, however, as he felt claws sink into his shoulders and drag him far enough out of the tower he wouldn't be able to continue landing on beams to ease his fall. And then it let him go.
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A/N: Watch now as he falls from an impossible height, while a magical creature of yore attacks the group.