Fai shook his head to clear out the fog in his mind. His ears were still ringing from the explosion, but he willed himself to focus. They had been attacked after all, he couldn't afford to be distracted. If Ayame hadn't tackled him out of the way… Fai shuddered at the thought.
"Seiichiro-kun!" Primera gasped, "What are you doing here?"
The falcon Kudan swooped down till the man called Seiichiro was eye to eye with Primera.
"It was my idea, Primera-chan" he smiled, "Can't let you do all the work now, can I?"
"So this whole kidnapping thing was your plan?" Ayame asked, still glaring, "What was the point of this?"
"To lure you out, of course!" Seiichiro beamed, "You not only managed to sense my attack, but you also reacted enough quickly to deflect it. Even Shougo can't do it sometimes. I was quite surprised yesterday"
His last sentence piqued Fai's interest. What did he mean by yesterday?
"Yesterday?" Kurogane snarled.
"Oh you didn't tell them?" Seiichiro asked Ayame gleefully.
At this, Fai, Syaoran and Kurogane all turned to look at Ayame, who smiled back weakly.
"Well… yesterday when Syaoran was fighting that guy Shougo, I felt someone aiming an attack at Syaoran. I deflected it"
Fai's eyebrows shot up in surprise, he hadn't sensed anything like that!
"And you didn't tell us because?" Kurogane asked, the accusing tone of his voice unmissable.
"Hey!" Ayame replied, "There was no time! The day was pretty action packed, you know"
Kurogane then turned to Seiichiro, "Who the hell are you anyway?"
Once again, Kurogane's question was met with boos and disapproving shouts from the crowd gathered.
"What kind of an imbecile are you!?"
"That is none other than Seiichiro Aoki! The leaders' right hand man!"
"The only one who has defeated him is the leader!"
Fai assessed the young man, who was still standing on the back of his falcon, watching the scene in front of him with an amused smile. The power that radiated from him was tremendous. However, Fai suspected that Seiichiro was still concealing most of his strength. Not a difficult feat for someone who could launch a powerful attack undetected.
'Well, mostly undetected' Fai thought, giving Ayame a sideways glance. He might have to re-evaluate the brunette.
"Let's get to the point" Ayame said, "Why did you lure me out?"
"Isn't that obvious, I want to fight you of course!" came the reply.
"What is with this country!?" Ayame sighed, shaking her head, "If you wanted to fight, a simple note would have sufficed"
"Now where is the fun in that" Seiichiro grinned.
"Oh, I'll show you fun" Ayame grinned back, "You want a fight, I'll give you a fight"
'Wait, she can't be serious' Fai thought as he turned to Syaoran and Kurogane, expecting them to stop her. Dodging and deflecting attacks is one thing, fighting was completely different.
To his surprise, Kurogane simply said, "Come back in one piece, Princess"
"Do your best, Ayame-san" Syaoran smiled.
"I'll be back before you know it" Ayame winked.
The princess began walking forward confidently. Fai felt energy gushing out of her with every step. When she finally stopped a few feet ahead of them, he could smell ozone as the ground below her feet began to sizzle and crackle. Yellow sparks began swirling around her, twisting and moving and finally taking the form of an enormous, winged horse; Pegasus, it was called, if Fai remembered the fairy tales from Celes correctly.
The Pegasus reared, tossing its silver blonde mane as it neighed, the muscles under its snow white coat rippling. When it brought it's hooves down with a resounding thud, sparks flew in every direction, making the hair on the back of Fai's neck bristle. As Ayame gently patted its nose, the Kudan spread out its wings, amethyst eyes regarding her expectantly.
Seiichiro whistled, "A special Kudan. Impressive"
He then raised his right arm and on cue, the falcon Kudan dissolved into whirling currents of wind. The currents then converged on his hand and solidified into a green hilted longsword. Seiichiro swung the sword forward saying, "You don't mind close range combat, do you?"
Ayame only smirked in response. She raised both her arms and her Pegasus Kudan disintegrated into a shower of sparks. The scattered electricity then zoomed towards her and regrouped into two, identical, purple hilted, curved blades, one on each hand. Ayame grasped the blades firmly as the air currents around her lifted her up till she was on eye level with Seiichiro. "What do you think?"
"What kind of swords are those?" Kurogane asked.
"You don't have those kind of swords in your country, Kurogane-san?" Syaoran asked in return. When the man shook his head, he continued, "It's called a scimitar. It is a single edged sword with a curved blade. And it's also lighter in weight when compared to other swords"
"But a curved sword, it's pretty unconventional" Fai said thoughtfully, "It would require a lot of skill to master a sword like that, even more skill to fight with two of those"
"True. Soldiers and warriors who use these kind of swords begin to train with them at a very early age"
"Is that so…" Fai trailed off. 'She is no amateur then. I wonder how good she is...' he thought, turning his attention back to Ayame and Seiichiro.
Both of them had fixed each other with a calculating gaze, working out their opponents' strengths and weaknesses. Not a single soul in the Hanshin Palace complex made a sound; all of them were waiting with bated breath, waiting to see who would make the first move.
As if on the drop of an invisible needle, both Seiichiro and Ayame simultaneously flew towards each other, head on. The swords clashed and there was a brilliant flash of light. Both the fighters were thrown back by the impact. Seiichiro wasted no time and quickly covered the distance between them in two long strides and thrust the sword at his opponent. Ayame deflected it with a flick of her right wrist. Almost immediately, she brought down her left sword, aiming for the chest. Seiichiro jumped out of the way quickly, missing the curved sword by a hair's breadth. In a second, he thrusted his longsword at her again. Ayame crossed her blades and caught the sword between them. Seiichiro freed his sword with one fluid movement and cut at her, but he missed. She jumped up and lanced over him and landed a few feet behind. Ayame leapt forward and slashed, aiming for Seiichiro's jugular. She would have hit her mark if the man hadn't hopped back in time.
"You don't take any prisoners, do you?" Seiichiro blocked another jab aimed at his stomach.
"Not my style" Ayame smiled wickedly as she swung her blade again.
Fai could not help but feel awed by the Princess' grace and agility as she continued to attack Seiichiro. Her petite form obviously didn't have the physical strength of her opponent, but she more than made up for it with her speed, not to forget her unpredictable way of fighting. Somehow, Ayame had combined sword fighting techniques with those of hand-to-hand combat, resulting in a unique battle style which made it very hard to predict where her next attack would come from. To an inexperienced eye, her attacks might seem unplanned, random even. However, Fai could see that every slash, jab, kick, and leap was well thought through; every movement was accounted for, every attack was lethal. It was like watching a deadly dance, a dance whose moves only the Princess knew. Suddenly, Fai felt thankful that he was not in Seiichiro's shoes at the moment.
"She is good, very good" he heard Kurogane say as another flash of light lit up the complex in an unearthly glow.
"Seiichiro-san is very good too" Syaoran said, "I am surprised that he is keeping up with Ayame-san"
Kurogane and Fai both looked at the young boy for more explanation. "Back in Clow, Ayame-san is the best fighter in the kingdom" Syaoran answered their questioning look, "And being the Commander of the Army, she is extremely experienced"
'Commander of the Army' Fai tried to wrap his head around those words. He had grossly underestimated her. From the look on Kurogane's face, he guessed the ninja was thinking the same thing.
Cheering from the men gathered pulled Fai's attention back to the fight. Seiichiro and Ayame were moving in a circle, looking for an opportunity to end the fight with one single blow. Fai figured it was about time. Both of them were short on breath. There were small rips and tears on their clothes and they sported numerous scratches and bruises – Ayame had a bleeding cut on her right forearm while Seiichiro had one on his left thigh.
"It was fun dancing around with you" Seiichiro gave a wicked smile, "But it's time to end this, right now!"
He raised his longsword above his head and on his command, currents of air gathered and swirled around it, slowly at first, then gained momentum till the whirling wind formed a small tornado around the sword.
"Let me see you fight this" Seiichiro brought down his sword with a flourish and the tiny tornado hurtled towards Ayame. But as it got closer and closer to its victim, the tornado got bigger and bigger. The moment it reached Ayame, it was big enough to engulf her completely.
A few nervous seconds passed, but the tornado continued to howl and there was no sign of Ayame. Fai felt goosebumps erupt all over his arms as he anxiously scanned the scene. Had Seiichiro finally gotten the better of her? Beside him, Kurogane had clenched his fists. Syaoran, however, seemed calm.
Seiichiro had a triumphant smile on his face, but it soon turned into an apprehensive frown when small sparks began to buzz around the tornado. The sparks steadily grew into flashes of lightning and the twisting winds of the tornado began to lose momentum.
"How the hell…?" Seiichiro muttered as Ayame shot out of the tornado and made a beeline for him. Within a heartbeat, she stood right in front of him, holding one scimitar to his neck and the other to the wrist of his sword hand.
Fai let out a sigh of relief. She pulled it off after all.
"Looks like I won" Ayame smirked.
Seiichiro's shocked face eased into a smile. "You're pretty amazing!" he said as the sword in his hand melted into the air, "I yield"
"You're not too bad yourself" Ayame winked. She took a step back and the scimitars in her hand fizzled away. "Now that you got the battle you wanted, can you let those two go?" she pointed at Masayoshi and Mokona, who were still dangling from the top of the Palace.
"Yeah, sure"
"No way!" a voice rang out in protest.
Primera was still standing on the roof Fai had left her. She glared at Seiichiro, shaking her fists in anger.
"Seiichiro-kun! You promised to help!" she wailed.
"Now, now Primera-chan. We did all this and he still didn't show up right?" Seiichiro said, trying to calm her down, "Maybe we can plan something else next time?"
Fai couldn't make sense of what they were saying, but he didn't have much time to think about it. Primera burst into tears and in her distress, accidentally yelled into her Kudan, "I WON'T LOSE!"
Fai gasped as the words flew out and hit the support from which Masayoshi and Mokona were dangling. The support broke and both of them tumbled down, screaming… well the young boy screamed while Mokona squealed gleefully. Masayoshi's Kudan appeared beside him and desperately tried to break the fall.
"WATCH OUT!" Syaoran yelled.
Before anyone could react, a stingray Kudan swooped into the scene out of nowhere and caught them both.
"What are you doing Primera?" an annoyed voice asked.
"Shougo-kun!" Primera gasped, while Seiichiro waved enthusiastically, "Hey man! How is it going?"
Fai followed their gaze and saw Shougo and the rest of his crew on the other side of the Palace complex.
"What have the two of you done this time?" Shougo sighed, while his Kudan dropped off Mokona and Masayoshi on the same roof on which Primera was standing, "Seiichiro, did you help Miss Idol pull off some stupid stunt again"
"I did not pull off any stupid stunt!" Primera yelled, "I wanted Shougo-kun to spend more time with me, so I planned all this"
"Well you didn't plan it by yourself" Seiichiro muttered.
"Destroying a part of an important national heritage was also a part of your plan?" Shougo asked, pointing at the broken top of the Palace.
"You break stuff all the time! You have no right to lecture me!" Primera snapped back.
"She has a point you know" Seiichiro interjected.
"Don't agree with her, dammit! You're on my team!"
"So, let me make this clear" Ayame said as she gracefully landed near the boys, "Seiichiro wanted my attention and Primera wanted Shougo's, so both of you orchestrated all this"
"That sums it up" Seiichiro confirmed cheerfully.
As Shougo and Primera continued their bickering, Fai turned his attention to Ayame, who was trying to wave off a concerned Syaoran.
"The cut is not that deep, Syaoran" she said, "Don't worry"
One look at the cut told Fai that she was lying, but he didn't say anything. She probably didn't want the kid to worry.
"We still have to figure out who has the feather though" Ayame said, "Mokona didn't react to Seiichiro-san's Kudan too"
"Then who could it be…" Syaoran trailed off.
At that exact moment, Mokona called out, "Syaoran! Aya-chan!"
The little creature was hopping excitedly on the roof, her eyes wide open.
"Mokona! Those eyes!" Syaoran exclaimed.
"The feather! The feather! It's here! It's here!"
"Where? Do you know who has it?" Ayame asked.
"I don't know!" Mokona answered, waving her tiny arms frantically, "But I felt a strong presence just now"
"I think it's inside a Kudan" Fai said.
"But how does that explain the change of presence?" Kurogane asked.
Syaoran answered the question, "Sorata-san told me that a Kudan is made to protect somebody. So maybe, a Kudan is strongest when it's protecting its master"
Fai had to admit that it made perfect sense.
"So, to be sure whether a Kudan has a feather or not, we need to fight it" Ayame concluded.
"Hey Syaoran!" Shougo called out, "I'm sorry. What I said really put you in a lot of trouble"
"You can say that again" Ayame scoffed.
"But, I did mean it when I said I liked you" Shougo continued, "Your strength comes not from your fist, but from your heart. That's why I wanted a Kudan battle with you"
"I see" Syaoran replied. Fai felt a stir of energy and then a draft of warm air as fire enveloped the boy. "I accept your request" he finished as the fire took the form of a flaming, one-horned wolf.
"You be careful" Ayame crossed her arms over her chest, "Don't do something reckless, okay?"
Syaoran gave a brief nod and took a few steps ahead.
At Shougo's command all the men gathered in the courtyard of the Palace scattered away and scrambled up the nearby trees to get a better view.
"Ready? GO!" Shougo's Kudan fired an impressive water beam. Syaoran retaliated with an equally powerful fire attack. Both the elements collided with a booming crash. The shockwaves tore open a few stones in the courtyard, sending them flying everywhere. One of them hurtled towards Syaoran, but the boy cracked it in two with an expertly placed kick.
"Wow! That was so cool!" Fai said. He didn't just say that to sound silly, he was truly impressed. Fai saw the boys' smooth movement as he jumped into the courtyard below. The power of his opponents' attack hadn't fazed him the slightest. In fact, determination glinted more strongly in his amber eyes now.
"He's not just some handsome brat" Kurogane sounded equally impressed.
"Though he may seem a little naïve sometimes, Syaoran has been through his fair share of difficulties" Ayame replied calmly, "And he has come out of them stronger"
"You two… are very close, aren't you?" Fai asked.
Ayame only gave a cryptic smile in response.
"Mokona, how's the presence of the feather?" Syaoran asked.
Mokona's face scrunched in concentration. "I can feel it, but I still can't pin-point where it is"
Fai felt a little deflated. He had been almost sure that the feather was in Shougo's Kudan. If it was not him, then who could it be?
"A Kudan is the strongest when it is protecting its master" Ayame said.
"Yeah, we know that part already" Kurogane said, but she ignored him, lost in thought.
"At that time… there were many Kudans… Shougo's Kudan was there… Syaoran's Kudan was there protecting him too…" Ayame continued to mumble to herself, "Which other Kudan was…?"
"EVERYBODY RUN!" Shougo's shout pulled their attention back to the fight. Fai felt the stingray Kudan gather power. At the man's command, the Kudan flooded the entire courtyard in a flash. Fai felt the ground beneath him rumble; the aggressive waves were shaking the foundation of the Hanshin Palace complex. Fai steadied himself and looked around for the chocolate haired boy. But Syaoran was nowhere to be found.
"SYAORAN-KUN!" Masayoshi screamed, panicking.
Ayame, on the other hand, didn't look worried at all. "He is right there"
Fai followed her gaze and saw that in a small area, the water was steaming and bubbling. A second later, a sphere of fire slowly floated out… with Syaoran right in the centre of it.
"Could it be…?" From the corner of his eye, Fai saw Ayame stare at Masayoshi, "It is possible…"
"Quit your mumbling, Princess" Kurogane growled, "If you have something to say then say it"
"I think we are butting heads with the wrong Kudan" Ayame said, "I need to check"
'What does she mean by check?' Fai thought.
Ayame placed the index and middle fingers of her right hand on her forehead and closed her eyes. Her brow furrowed in concentration. Immediately, Fai felt small tendrils of magic creep out of her, slowly at first. After cautiously nudging the space around her, they fanned out more confidently, searching.
Fai's breath hitched when one of the tiny feelers came dangerously close to him. He quickly put up a shield – he couldn't risk one of those things touching him. Fai didn't want his lie to be caught. He sighed softly as the feeler took no heed of his shield and lazily drifted past him.
Fai focused his attention on the other tendrils. When one of them gently reached out and touched Masayoshi, Ayame's eyes snapped open and the feelers melted away.
"It's him. Masayoshi is the one who has the feather"
"How do you know?" Kurogane asked, steadying himself as the ground rumbled again, "Even that pork bun can't figure out who has it"
"That's because Mokona's senses are scrambled and all over the place" Ayame explained, "I focused my magic at a certain point, that's why I could feel the feather"
"So you used magic?" Kurogane probed further, "I thought you didn't have any powers. That's what you said yesterday, right?"
Fai had to admit, the ninja was sharp. He was right, of course. Fai recalled the conversation the had the previous day – when they were sharing the story of how they got to Yuuko's shop from their respective worlds, Ayame had mentioned in passing that she didn't possess any magical abilities. But she had definitely used magic just now. So what was the deal?
Ayame's eyes flitted between Fai and Kurogane as she cautiously answered, "It's… complicated" She then added, "But that's not important right now! We are wasting our time! I have to tell-"
She didn't get to complete the sentence. Another wave of tremors shook the entire complex as the waves Shougo unleashed continued to lash out aggressively. The top few floors of the Palace, which were already damaged from Primera's unintentional attack, couldn't hold on any longer and crumbled. Masayoshi, Mokona and Primera screamed in different pitches as the wreckage began raining down on them.
Amidst all the chaos, Fai thought he heard Masayoshi scream, "I have to be stronger" He hoped his Kudan would pick on his sentiment and do something incredible.
But nothing prepared him for what happened next.
Masayoshi's Kudan grew bigger and bigger in size and continued to grow till the Hanshin Palace looked like a toy house in comparison. The Kudan slowly placed one hand protectively over the three tiny, terrified people on the roof, while pushing away the broken bits of the Palace with another.
"This is not what I expected…" Fai said to himself as the Kudan straightened up to full height.
"Aya-chan! Syaoran!" Mokona shouted, struggling to make herself heard above all the din, "The feather is in this Kudan!"
"I thought so" Ayame breathed, her wide eyes staring at the overgrown Kudan.
"It makes sense" Fai tilted his head slightly before continuing, "The last time Mokona felt the feather, Masayoshi was in trouble. Now too, the Kudan is protecting him"
As they watched, the Kudan swooped Masayoshi into its gigantic hands, leaving a hysterical Primera, and Mokona stranded on the roof. Then, without warning, the Kudan shot a beam of energy out of its mouth, aimed at nowhere in particular. A part of the energy attack hit the already delicate palace. The roof which was supporting Primera and Mokona gave way, and they both hurtled towards the ground screaming, clutching each other.
Once again, Shougo swooped in to save the day. He caught Primera before she could be harmed in any way.
"Way to go boss!" Seiichiro cheered, "You scored some points there!"
Shougo glared daggers at him before he gently patted Primera's head, who clung to him and bawled. "There, there, sweetheart. I was surprised too"
"Guys" Ayame called out. When Kurogane and Fai turned to look at her, she gestured at the overgrown Kudan and said, "There's another one of those attacks coming. We need to get out of the way"
Fai quickly summoned his Kudan's powers and flew out of the way, while Kurogane and Ayame jumped, as another energy beam screeched past the point where they stood moments ago.
"What is up with that Kudan?" Kurogane asked as they re-grouped around Syaoran, who was standing in the courtyard staring at Masayoshi's Kudan. It had turned away from them now and was slowly trudging towards the city. The ground trembled slightly with every step it took.
"The feather's power is too strong. He can't control his Kudan" Fai's eyes quickly scanned his surroundings to assess the damage. It was considerable. The once regal Hanshin Palace was now reduced to a smouldering stump. Many of the trees surrounding the complex had been scorched and a few small fires had broken out. If the Kudan continued this way, it could destroy the entire city.
"What the hell are you gonna do?" Kurogane asked Syaoran.
"I'm gonna get the feather back" If Syaoran felt even a little afraid, he didn't show it. His jaw was set, eyes glinted with steely determination.
"How are you going to fight something that big? You can die" Kurogane's eyes darkened as he waited for the boy's response.
"I won't die" came the calm reply, "I won't die till I have finished what I have set out to do"
Syaoran didn't waste another second. He wrapped his arms around the flaming wolf. The Kudan leaped away, leaving an impressed Fai behind.
Syaoran was still so young, he had so much of his life to look forward to. But that didn't stop him from diving into danger to fulfil his wish. It took courage to do that. Courage that Fai never had… a courage he knew he could never have. Fai was the one who ran away from his past and his problems. He was the restless, ever changing, ever fleeing wind. He felt a little ashamed of himself when he realised he could never possess the fire that burned in the heart of that brave young boy.
"I understand… why he got the fire Kudan… and I got the air Kudan…"
"I don't believe this" Ayame let out an exasperated sigh.
"Aya-chan?"
"He just sprinted away and completely forgot about me! Strong or not, that boy sure has a big case of tunnel vision"
"And you think you can help against something like that?" Kurogane asked.
"I won't know till I try, right?" Sparks buzzed around the Princess as she summoned the power of her Kudan again. There was a flash of light and this time, instead of two curved blades, a recurve bow crackled into existence. "You two take care of each other" she teased as she prepared to fly off.
"And what if you ended up getting badly injured in the process? What about your sister?" Kurogane questioned.
Ayame slowly turned around to look the ninja in the eye, the expression on her face unreadable.
"I came on this journey not only to save Sakura, but also to protect Syaoran. If anything were to happen to him, I will never forgive myself"
With that, Ayame flew away to catch up with Syaoran.
"It's curious, don't you think?" Fai said, "Both Sakura-chan and Aya-chan are from royalty, while Syaoran-kun is a normal citizen. Still, not only is Sakura-chan his most important person, he seems to share a deep bond with Aya-chan as well"
"Deep bonds or not, they both are complete idiots" Kurogane huffed, "But it is odd. In my world, the nobility did interact with the commoners, but not this way. I'm guessing it's the same in yours?"
Fai only nodded in response.
Syaoran had somewhat halted the raging Kudan in its tracks by creating a few explosions in its path. But that didn't stop it from shooting energy beams relentlessly in every direction. Syaoran bounced from one lamp post to another, from one billboard to a tall tree, in an attempt to dodge the attacks. He couldn't get anywhere close to the Kudan.
"Syaoran! Get back!" At Ayame's call, Syaoran leaped a good distance away from the Kudan. She quickly took aim and fired a lightning arrow. The arrow hit the Kudan right in the middle of its forehead. Thin electric currents fanned out all over its body from the point of impact and the Kudan froze in its tracks.
"Ayame-san, what are you doing here?" Syaoran asked, surprised.
"What am I doing he asks" Ayame sighed, "Never mind that. Let's momentarily forget what an idiot you are. Masayoshi's Kudan shouldn't be able to move for a while. Go get the feather!"
"Right"
Syaoran's Kudan enveloped its master. The boy dived straight into the bigger Kudan's chest. Syaoran reached out his hand and inched towards a small, glowing point right at the heart of the Kudan. He had almost reached his target when Masayoshi screamed. The boy curled into a ball and clenched his chest, panting.
"It hurts" Masayoshi gasped.
Syaoran jumped back immediately and perched himself on a nearby pillar, "Masayoshi-kun? Are you alright?"
"It hurts. But it's okay" Masayoshi said, "Get what you are looking for. I will be alright"
"Even though a Kudan is a spirit, it still is a part of the person" Ayame, who was hovering next to Syaoran, explained, "If you hurt a Kudan, the user will also feel the pain. It's inevitable"
"I want to get the feather" Syaoran began slowly, "But…"
"But you don't want to hurt him in the process" Ayame finished, giving Syaoran an indulgent smile.
Fai couldn't help but smile too; Syaoran was righteous to a fault.
"Alright" The bow in Ayame's hands disappeared.
"Ayame-san?"
Ayame flew over to Masayoshi. She took the boys' trembling hands in hers and said, "Sit tight, okay? This will be over soon"
She then called out to Syaoran, "When I tell you to, dive in and get the feather. Do not hesitate. Got it?"
"Okay"
Ayame took a long, deep breath and closed her eyes. A moment later, her hands began to emit a soft, lilac tinted glow. It pulsated and grew till Masayoshi was completely enveloped by it. What on earth was she doing?
"Syaoran! Go now!"
Syaoran lunged again without delay. Fai expected Masayoshi to cry out in anguish again, but there was no sound. As a matter of fact, Masayoshi did not even flinch. The boy just blinked at Ayame, whose eyes were still closed. As Syaoran got closer to the sparkling point of light in the Kudan, the halo around Masayoshi grew in response. When Syaoran finally reached close enough to clasp his hands around the light, a wave of energy leapt out of Ayame and rolled out in every direction. As it passed by him, Fai inhaled sharply. He finally understood – Ayame had used her magic to shield Masayoshi from damage.
"You felt that too then?" Kurogane was watching him from the corner of his eye. Fai chose to keep his mouth shut. "That power was not from her Kudan, it was her own"
"It would seem so" Fai answered vaguely.
Now free from the influence of the feather, Masayoshi's Kudan shrunk back to its normal size. Ayame's Pegasus flickered into existence and caught Masayoshi, Ayame and Syaoran and carefully deposited them on firm ground. Seiichiro and Shougo took up the task of dousing the small fires that had erupted all over the area.
When the dust and steam cleared away, Fai finally got a good look at Syaoran. The boy was covered in soot and his clothes were singed at random spots. Small, deep red bruises began appearing all over his hands. But Syaoran payed no attention to all this. His eyes were fixed on the beautiful, delicate white feather that sat on his palm. Syaoran's face reflected all the relief he felt. Ayame's face shone with similar relief as she fondly ruffled the boy's hair.
"You got it, Syaoran"
"We did it together, Ayame-san"
Fai couldn't agree more. Both of them worked together as a team and blew away all the hindrances with an awe inspiring storm and retrieved the feather. A storm of lightning and fire.
XXX
A/N: Hey guys! Sorry you all had to wait a little longer than usual for this chapter. After I had finished the previous chapter, I was overcome by this urge to read Tokyo Babylon. Then I went ahead and read X/1999 too. Then I was swimming in my feels for a couple of days. Oops *laughs stupidly*
Anyways, a couple of points I want to make. I know Seiichiro is completely OOC here, but I have a good reason. The Seiichiro we know from X is this super calm guy, right? I always thought that was because he was kinda wild in his younger days. In my mind, I pictured him as this troublemaking making youngster who did plenty of mischief and then finally settled down to the sweet guy we know. That's where the inspiration came from.
Also, Ayame's scimitars. Nothing special really. If you guys had trouble visualising them, do a Google image search for scimitar. The first couple of pictures will give you a fair idea.
So, what did you guys think? About Seiichiro… about the sword fight (I hope you guys liked that part. I did a little research into writing action scenes before I wrote it. I hope it paid off *fingers crossed*)… or about anything else at all. Leave me a review, please! I would love to know your thoughts.
Until the next time :)
P.S: A lovely guest reader pointed out to me in a review that in the previous chapter, the google translation of 'What the hell is going on here?' to Japanese might be incorrect. It would be of great help if any of the Japanese speaking readers could confirm this for me and give me the accurate translation. Thank you :*