The Missing Worlds - Castle In the Air II
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: This story is set in the uncertain period after Piffle World, but before Recourt; in other words, in the same never-neverland that the second season of the anime mostly took place in. This means that Fai has not yet learned to whistle, Syaoran is still the original Syaoran, and nobody knows anything about Kurogane's childhood.
Summary: The travelers are made welcome. Oh yes, very welcome.
The sun was sinking fast as they climbed the translucent staircase behind their host, and Sakura was glad for the ball of light he still balanced in one hand. It was also better not to look down, or to either side; although the stairs felt solid and just slightly rough, like wood or stone, it was dizzying to look down and see the shadows of the ground far below her feet.
She sought distraction by turning her attention to their host, instead. It might have been the light, but it looked like his hair was a darker gold than Fai's had been, his skin a little more ruddy, his eyes a deeper blue. But they had the same bright sparkle as the Fai she knew, and his mouth dimpled when he smiled; she found herself almost mesmerized by the bounce of his impossibly long braid as he easily climbed the stairs.
It was on the tip of her tongue to ask him about the poor little girl she'd found in the village below; he was the only living person they'd found so far, so maybe he knew something… It didn't seem like the right time or place to ask, however; they'd only just met, and she didn't want to be rude. Besides, he'd been so friendly to them; and as she usually did, she wanted to make friends.
"My name is Sakura," she ventured. "Where I come from, that's a kind of flowering tree. What's yours?"
The blond man swung about, a surprised look on his face as he continued walking up the stairs backwards. "Oh, do forgive me," he said. "Where are my manners? I am Wizard Fane. Yes, that's me. That's a name from the old language, and it means 'happy' or 'joyous.' " He laughed. "Appropriate, isn't it?"
"Oh, yes!" Sakura said. Privately, she marveled at the coincidence; even being born in completely different worlds from each other, both the Fai of this world and the Syaoran they had met in China had names that were very similar to the people she knew. Or was it more than a coincidence? None of them fully understood how Mokona's magical translating ability worked, so perhaps that had something to do with it.
"Sakura. Yes. A lovely name for a lovely girl," Fane said. "And who are your handsome companions?" He gave the tall ninja a wink so like what Fai might have done that Sakura marveled, and Kurogane scowled and looked away without answering.
"This is my - my friend, Syaoran. My best friend," she said a little defiantly, but Syaoran only smiled at her and made no protest. "And this is Kurogane-san. He looks after us."
"It's a pleasure to meet you both!" Fane said, and sounded like he meant it. "What about this little one, here? I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like you before." He looked directly at Mokona, aiming a friendly smile towards her. Sakura and Syaoran exchanged a startled glance. Mokona had been playing the part of an inanimate object, as she usually did when they first came to a world and weren't sure yet whether it was safe for her to reveal herself. It was very rare for anyone to realize at first glance that Mokona was more than the stuffed doll she resembled.
But then again, this Fane was a wizard…
"Mokona is Mokona!" the little creature piped up, ears tilting as she hopped forward in Syaoran's arms towards Fane. "There's only one other Mokona in existence, and the black one isn't in this world. Mokona is very special!"
"I'll bet you are," Fane laughed. "Well. It's delightful to meet you all! Yes, so delightful. I hope you'll be happy in castle; I do apologize for making you climb such a long way when you must be very tired already from traveling. Visitors come by so seldom, and it's very convenient in a lot of other ways to have it up here."
"You were the one who made the castle fly, Fane-san?" Syaoran asked eagerly. The wizard nodded.
"I did," he said, "although I wouldn't call this flying, exactly. It pretty much stays in this one spot, and doesn't put out much of a drain on the local field this way. In order to make it move I'd have to play pretty havoc with all the ley line linkages, and even then it would be more of a 'float' than a 'fly.' Indeed, yes. But I won't bore you with the details."
They were reaching the top of the shimmering staircase at last; the sun had gone almost completely behind the horizon, and only the highest tips of the mountains and the undersides of the clouds. As Sakura stepped up above the rim of the floating (not flying) island, she gasped.
All of the details of the castle which had been hidden from view by the angle of the floating rock spread out before them now. There were indeed the soaring spires whose tips she'd seen poking above the horizon, their brass caps burning a rich red in the setting sunlight. The castle was actually half a dozen smaller buildings, all built of the same white marble and flying red and violet pennants, surrounding the main central keep.
The grand keep towered several stories above the ground, with round towers at each of the corners rearing up even higher and ending in cone-peaked spires. The evening sunlight washed the snowy white stone walls in gold and rose, and stained-glass windows set into the walls at regular intervals glowed with a riot of colors. Three wings of the castle surrounded an open courtyard filled with beautifully manicured trees and flowers, and the gleaming brass gates were flung wide in welcome.
It looked like a castle out of a fairy tale, every fairy tale, the wishful dreaming of any child's fantasy. Sakura suddenly couldn't wait to get inside and see the rest of it, to see what those beautiful stained glass windows looked like from the inside.
"Do you like it?" Fane's voice said from behind them.
"It's beautiful!" Sakura squealed, embarrassed at sounding like a six-year old but unable to help it.
"It's amazing," Syaoran agreed in awed tone.
"It's the worst castle ever," Kurogane said disapprovingly. "A single warrior with a slingshot could probably storm this place; there's no defenses at all. What's the point of a castle if you can't even close the gates, or can shoot arrows right through the windows?"
"Oh my, so practical," Fane laughed. "Well, that is one of the reasons it's a thousand feet off the ground, Sir Kurogane."
"Why? Are you expecting trouble?" Kurogane asked with interest. Sakura tried to suppress a sigh; how very like Kurogane, to instantly seize on the possible topic of war.
"Not particularly," Fane replied to Kurogane's evident disappointment. "But it never hurts to be prepared, don't you think? Oh yes. Let's go inside; we're losing the light, and it does get chilly up here after dark. Come along, this way…"
The inside of the castle did not fail to live up to the outside. They stepped through the broad gilded doors into a magnificently large hallway. Graceful arches held up the high ceiling, their fluted columns decorated with elaborate carved friezes. The floor itself was shining polished tile, with a thick red carpet so plush their feet actually sank into it by half an inch.
Fane raised his hand, and the ball of magical light he'd been holding flew across the space to alight and kindle in glass lamps set in filigreed sconces on the wall. The light grew quickly into a glittering dazzle that reflected from high chandeliers and tall mirrored panels set between the arches. Sakura caught her breath; there were a lot of mirrors in the hallway, crystalline panels that reflected the golden magical light a hundredfold. Red velvet curtains with gold-braided cords flanked each of the mirrors, giving the hallway a warm and cozy look.
"Welcome to my home," Fane said, smiling. "I'll give you a tour in the morning; but for now, you must be tired, traveling all day to reach this place. Yes, you must be very tired. I'll show you each to your quarters, and - "
"We'll stay together," Kurogane interrupted him.
Fane's light-colored eyebrows lifted in surprise. "That's really not necessary," he said. "We have plenty of rooms. Yes, we do. You can choose any you like. Surely the lady needs her privacy?"
"Um… that's all right," Sakura said hesitantly, casting a puzzled look over at Kurogane. "We're used to all camping out together. I don't mind."
"Are you sure?" Syaoran said in an undertone, shooting her a worried look. "I'm sure it would be all right if we got rooms right next to each other, and -"
"We stay together," Kurogane repeated, in a tone that brooked no argument.
Fane shrugged easily. "Well, you are the guests, so what you say goes," he said. He turned down a second hallway, somewhat smaller but just as richly appointed as the first, and beckoned the travelers to follow. "I'll set you up in our largest guest suite, then, and have the servants bring you some food. Yes. You must be hungry."
"Servants?" Sakura said eagerly, craning her head to look around them. The walls of this hallway were lined with mirrors too, giving her a dizzying image of their party reflect dozens of times into the distance between the velvet curtains. "Oh, there are other people here?" Perhaps Kurogane had been right after all about why the castle had been raised into the air. If something had happened to the town below, maybe all of the people had fled to the castle and lived in safety here…
Her thoughts broke off at the sound of Fane's laughter. "Oh, no," the blond man said, spreading his arms wide and smiling. "No, not at all. These are my servants."
There was a rushing sound, and then the air around them was filled with dozens of fluttering wings, swooping in wild circles around Fane. The light patter of footsteps followed in their wake, and from a side corridor came trotting a dozen small, hoofed animals, none of them taller than Sakura's waist.
The air was full of a dizzying profusion of brightly colored wings, and it was hard for Sakura to get a good look at their owners; one of the flying creatures flashed by Sakura's face, and she got a glimpse of a bat-like creature with brilliant butterfly wings. A tiny horse, its hide and mane a soft blue and with a pearlescent horn extending from its forehead, nudged against her hand hopefully, and Sakura couldn't help a delighted laugh as she patted its soft head.
Mokona gave a happy cry as she saw the little creatures. "Wow!" she said enthusiastically. "It's like a magical zoo!"
"Are all these animals native to this world, Wizard Fane?" Syaoran said in astonishment, craning his neck to try to look at all the different winged beasts. "Or did you create them?"
"I did," Fane said, smiling with a certain amount of pride. "They aren't just pets - they're quite clever and useful as well, you'll see. Yes, they are. Come along, your room is just at the end of this hallway!"
"I hope you will be happy in here," Fane said, as he swung open a tall mirrored door to reveal an elegant bedchamber beyond. Somehow, a fire was already crackling in the marble fireplace over by one wall; the light glittered off the colored glass window that kept out the night air. A huge bed dominated the room, but the heavily carpeted floorspace was scattered with low couches and armchairs, as well as a heavy dark wooden dining table and several chairs set around it. Mirror panels spaced along each wall here as well, making the room look much larger than it actually was.
"This looks lovely," Sakura said, remembering to thank her host. "Thank you."
"I'll leave you for the night," Fane said, "and send some of the servants around with food in a little while. Yes, you must be hungry. I hope to see you next morning so that we can discuss the details of your lodgings in greater comfort."
"Of course," Syaoran said courteously. "You seem very wise and learned. I'm sure you would be able to help us with our quest."
"I hope so!" Fane said, and looked towards the last member of their party. Kurogane steadfastly ignored the exchange of pleasantries, inspecting the window casings. "Sir Kurogane, we're a thousand feet in the air," Fane said with a smile. "I assure you, nothing's going to jump out at you through it. No, it will not!"
"I'd be more worried about a bird hitting it," Kurogane said, turning around with a snort, and Sakura had to suppress another sigh. She did love Kurogane and she was very happy he was who he was, but there were some times she really could wish he could at least pretend to be polite.
"Well, I wish you all a pleasant evening," Fane said, and couldn't resist throwing Kurogane a devilish grin and a wink, "especially pleasant in your case, Sir Knight. Oh yes. Sleep well!"
With that he turned and walked out, closing the door behind him; the mirrored panels shivered slightly as the door clicked solidly closed.
"Kurogane-san, why did you insist that we should stay together?" Sakura wanted to know once they were alone."
Kurogane frowned, walking from one of the broad windowsills to the other. He didn't answer right away.
"We still don't know much about this world, Princess," Syaoran said to her. "It's not a bad idea to be cautious. We've been separated before when we slept in separate rooms, even when we were right on the other side of this wall. Remember Spirit?"
Sakura shivered at the memory, the winter-frozen world with the heavy fall of snow; it was her own fault for going out without even stopping to put her shoes on, she knew, but she had been confused at the time and the bone-deep cold of the experience stayed with her. "I guess so," she said.
"Don't forget, we still don't know what happened to cause the town to be abandoned," Syaoran said. "It's possible that Wizard Fane might know something about it."
"Oh, but you don't think he could have anything to do with it, do you?" Sakura protested immediately. Despite his rather odd manner of speaking, Fane had been nothing but pleasant and considerate of them. "Surely not!"
"He's hiding something," Kurogane declared with a firm certainty. "All those smiles are covering up for something. I don't know what it is yet, but I don't trust him."
Sakura sank down onto one of the couches with an unhappy frown. "But he has the same soul as Fai-san, doesn't he?" she said after a moment. "So he can't be a bad person, no matter what. And he's been nothing but kind to us."
"Mokona can tell that Fane is not happy about something," the little critter popped up, showing her usual startling insight into people's hearts. "But Mokona doesn't think he's a bad man."
Kurogane frowned more and crossed his arms over his chest, not arguing, but obviously not willing to accept reassurances that easily.
"In the morning we'll look around this place," Syaoran said. "We'll find out what happened to the town. If -"
He was interrupted by a knock on the doors, snaring all their attention. Kurogane strode forward, hand on the hilt of his sword, and opened the door a cautious crack. The next moment he was almost bowled over by a parade of animals flooding into the rooms, bearing cups and platters and napkins on their backs, hands and mouths.
"What the -" Kurogane exclaimed, and Syaoran and Sakura watched with wide-eyed astonishment as the animals set purposefully about the big table. There were more of the miniature ponies carrying special saddles strapped to their backs loaded with plates and cutlery, and pigs whose wings carefully balanced platters above their shoulders. Tiny green monkeys swarmed up the chairs to the table, and set out the dishes and loaded them up with food.
Two bright-eyed fauns, with the lower halves of goats and with curly brown hair and beards, approached the travelers and bowed, then presented them with soft white napkins. "Thank you," Sakura said to the one closest to her; but although he looked at her curiously, he didn't answer or seem to understand. Once the meal was all laid out, the magical servants suddenly organized themselves for a retreat; bowing all the while, the fauns backed out of the room and closed the doors again behind them.
Despite the extraordinary manner of its arrival, when they seated themselves at the table the food all seemed to be normal; fresh bread and steaming stew, a sliced roast with wedges of some crisp vegetable at the side. The smell was mouthwateringly delicious, and although Kurogane looked at the whole affair with deep suspicion, they all tucked in gratefully.
"I'm sure Fane-san isn't a bad man," Sakura repeated firmly as they ate. "But it does seem like an awfully lonely life, up in this castle away from everyone. Whatever it is that's making him so unhappy, I hope we can help him with it."
The next morning dawned as beautifully as the last one; Sakura ran to the window to look out. Some of the panes of glass were clear, and through them she could see over the wall of the keep and the low bumpy roofs of the outbuildings to the edge of the floating island. The world seemed to drop away, giving a clear view of the sky over white-capped mountain peaks, and above them the rising sun illuminated white fluffy towers of clouds.
As they finished getting ready, they heard a knocking at their door; exchanging glanced, Syaoran went to answer it. One of the bushy-bearded fauns was on the other side, ivory-colored horns peeking through his hair as he bowed, and as he trotted off down the hallway he glanced back and beckoned for them to follow him.
The travelers followed their unexpected guide through long stretches of corridor, confusing Sakura thoroughly as to which route they had taken, before they fetched up in a wide dining chamber. One wall contained several long windows overlooking the mountains, and the by-now expected mirrors reflected images of blue sky and white clouds until they almost felt that they were outside. A long table with a snowy tablecloth was set with five places - even one with an extra-tall chair and tiny set of dishes for Mokona! - with steaming dishes of food already waiting for them.
The four of them had just seated themselves around the table when a flicker of motion caught Sakura's eye. She turned her head to see the image in one of the mirrors of Wizard Fane walking towards them, dressed in elegant white and silver today, his long hair caught up in a braid behind him. Sakura glanced over her shoulder, but became momentarily confused when she did not see Fane there.
She looked wildly around, trying to sort out the confusing images and reflections of the room to determine where the wizard actually was - when the man himself walked up to the boundary of the mirror and stepped through it, the glass melting around him
"Oh!" Sakura said in surprise. "How - how did you do that?"
Fane grinned at her, his footsteps now sounding normally on the floor as he approached the table. "Mirror-walking is one of my talents," he explained as he seated himself at the single vacant place. "Oh, yes it is. All of the mirrors within this castle make it very easy to get from one place to the next."
"That's incredible," Syaoran said, looking wildly impressed, and Mokona agreed.
"Oh, that's nothing," Fane said, giving them a sly wink. "You can do many amazing things with mirrors, oh yes you can. Watch this -"
He clapped his hands together, and held them palm to palm for a minute. The air seemed to fizz and hum around them, although Sakura didn't see any of the runes or glowing light she was used to seeing with Mokona's magic.
She was so busy watching Fane, she didn't notice at first the movement in the mirror at the corner of her eye. It was Kurogane's reaction that cued her in, his step back and indrawn breath as their own reflections in the mirrors began to move without them.
Sakura and Syaoran's own reflections began to spin towards them in the mirror, stepping across the floor like they were two dancers in a waltz. They melted out of the mirror in the same way Fane had, and ran on soundless footsteps over towards the table. The mirror of Sakura stepped up to Syaoran and curtseyed sweetly, while the mirror Syaoran reached out to Sakura and bowed.
His touch felt airy and insubstantial, not warm and alive, but Sakura nonetheless found herself blushing fiercely as mirror-Syaoran took her hand and kissed it formally. Then both mirror images sprang into action, dancing around the table as they served up the food. Mirror Syaoran pulled back a chair and ushered Sakura into it, then rapidly served up a dish in front of her and poured her a glass of something bubbly. Across the table, her own mirror image was doing the same for Syaoran, who was blushing twice as hot as herself.
Only two reflections had emerged from the mirror; Sakura tore her eyes away from Syaoran's image to look over at the wall. Kurogane's own reflection was sitting with his back to the room, obviously sulking, even though Kurogane himself was staring at the mirror (and at the wizard) in disbelief. Fane laughed at his incredulous expression. "Oh, my, it looks like Mirror Kurogane doesn't want to come out and play," he said. "You don't relax and enjoy yourself very often, do you, Sir Knight?"
Kurogane huffed in annoyance and turned his back on the mirror, unconsciously mimicking the reflection's own pose. His reaction just made Fane laugh all the harder, and Sakura couldn't help but giggling at the picture of injured dignity the bigger man made.
Once the food was served, the images bowed again, then smiled at the guests as they twirled together back into the mirror. Sakura watched, fascinated, as they resumed their place; then Fane clapped again and let his hands fall. Her reflection fell back into mimicking her own movements exactly, mirroring her own fascinated gaze and waving as she waved.
"You really can do amazing things with mirrors, Fane-san!" Sakura exclaimed, as she began to eat the delicious food.
"Yes, they are my specialty," Fane said with a smile. "Oh yes, they are. This castle is the perfect place to extend my studies."
"You put up all those mirrors yourself, then?" Kurogane said without looking up from his food. He was scowling at the toast and eggs, struggling to use the knife and fork to manage the slippery food. "This place seems awfully big for just one man."
Fane sighed and shook his head, placing one hand dramatically over his chest. "Alas," he said, "you have uncovered my secret. This palace was not originally my home."
"It wasn't?" Sakura said in surprise, while Syaoran nodded triumphant satisfaction.
"No." Fane shook his head, making his blond tail twitch. "The truth is that I am a traveler, a wandering mendicant just like yourselves. Many years ago, I came to this valley and found the castle and the town standing empty. I searched for a long time in every direction for the original inhabitants, but found none. And, being weary of my travels, I decided to stop my wandering journey and make this place my new home."
He spoke in a precise, almost rehearsed cadence, without any of the verbal tics he usually expressed. Finished with his tale, he gave them a cheery smile. "I'm sure you are equally weary of your long travels. I hope you will consider it your home as well."
"Oh, I see!" Sakura said, although she couldn't help but feel a little dissonance. Why was Fane going out of his way to tell them this? Just last night they had been talking about him, wondering what secrets he might be hiding; it seemed odd that now he was just volunteering them up front. "So you don't know what happened to the people who used to live here?"
"I'm afraid not," Fane replied. "Oh no. I don't know at all."
"You found this place empty and decided to just move in?" Kurogane repeated disbelievingly.
"Well, why not?" Fane said reasonably. "It was empty. It's not like the original owners needed it any more. Oh no, they didn't."
"Where did you originally come from, then?" Syaoran wanted to know.
"Oh - a country very far away from here," Fane said vaguely. "You probably wouldn't know it."
"Try us," Kurogane said, a slight edge in his voice. Sakura looked at him in some surprise; since they were from another world themselves, there was no way they would recognize the name of Fane's home country, was there?
"It's very, very far away, and it's a very tiny country, and I'm sure you wouldn't recognize the name," Fane said in a firm voice. "Not at all. Now that that's all cleared up, why don't we enjoy our breakfast? I did promise you that tour of the palace in the daylight, once we're finished here. Oh yes. It's very lovely. The sooner you get the know the castle, the happier you'll be, and I want you to be very, very happy here!"
He reached for the box he'd brought with him, and opened it to reveal a brace of rich golden apples. "I thought you might enjoy these," he said, and slid them forward onto the table between the travelers. "I picked them from the palace orchard just today. They're very delicious, and very good for your health. Oh, they really are, so very good for you. Please, try some."
Sakura wasn't really in the mood to eat any more, but Fane was their host and it would be rude to refuse him. She reached out to take one; it was soft and smooth and heavy in her palm, and it made her fingers tingle as she raised it to her lips. Fane clasped his hands together and leaned forward, watching her with a strange intensity.
Kurogane stood abruptly from his place, his chair scraping backwards over the tile. "No thanks," he said. "We're not hungry anymore." His voice was kind of funny, and Sakura shot him a quick look, trying to figure out what had prompted this refusal.
"Oh, no, I insist," Fane said, with an odd edge to his voice. Sakura looked between them, confused. What was going on here? "I really do. They're my specialty. Please do go ahead and try one. As a personal favor to me?"
"We wouldn't want to be greedy," Kurogane said through his teeth. "So - no, thanks."
For a long moment the two men locked gazes - Fane smiling broadly, Kurogane glaring, and an indefinable tension stretched between them.
"Fane-san," Sakura said hesitantly, not wanting to worsen the awkward situation, but not wanting to put this off any longer. "When we were down in the village the other day, we found… we found a little girl."
Fane tilted his head to the side, regarding her in puzzlement. "What do you mean?"
Sakura sent a pleading look to Syaoran, who set down his knife and fork and turned to face Fane, placing his palms flat on the table. "To be more precise, we found the body of a little girl," he said calmly.
All the humor faded from Fane's face, to be replaced with an expression of urgent concern. "You did? Where?"
"In - in a closet, in one of the rooms upstairs," Sakura said in a small voice.
"Oh, dear." Fane's expression was overwhelmed with sorrow, and he covered his face with both hands for a moment. Then he took a breath, lowered his hands, and gave them both a wan smile. "Thank you for telling me. I had no idea I'd missed one. Oh, dear, I had no idea at all. I'll go take care of her at once."
"What do you mean, you missed one?" Kurogane demanded, his posture tensing. "And what do you mean, 'take care of her?' "
Without answering, Fane pushed himself away from the table and took a few steps away, facing towards the windows. A couple of the jewel-eyed hummingbirds flitted about his head, but he seemed not to see them as he stared into the great blue distance.
"I wasn't entirely honest with you before," he admittedly quietly after a long moment of silence. "I wasn't - When I said that no one was here when I arrived, that wasn't quite true. The truth is - the truth is - that when I arrived here a few years ago, before I lifted the palace out of the earth, there was no one living here. Only - only - other people. All of the townspeople… all of the people in the castle had died, so many years ago."
"Died?" Mokona cried in dismay. "What happened to them?"
Fane shrugged. "Who knows?" he said. "Perhaps a plague of some kind. Who can say? It all happened so many years ago… I found them - I found them - in the streets, in the hallways, in the rocking chairs in their front rooms. I couldn't - There was nothing that I could do for them, except… to find them a better resting place."
He stretched out a long arm and pointed out the window, at the long rolling hills below covered with a green velvet sward. "There they sleep," he said in a barely audible voice. "They were - they were - there was nothing else I could do for them. It took a long time, but… I thought I had gotten them all. I must have missed this little girl because she was hidden in that closet. I thought I had gotten them all. Don't worry about it. I'll get her back with her family soon, I promise."
"That's so terrible," Sakura said, her voice wavering. She brought her hand up to her mouth and blinked as her vision went blurry with tears.
Fane turned quickly and saw her crying, and he gave her a reassuring smile. It sat a little oddly on his face. "Don't cry, little lady," he said. "These things happen. It was so long ago."
"But this means you're really all alone," Sakura realized aloud. "That's so sad. Don't you get lonely up here?"
For a moment Fane's smile crumpled, and his face twisted and writhed oddly, as though two different emotions fought for supremacy. The next moment it was gone, and his happy smile snapped back into place on his face. "Oh, no," he laughed. "I'm not alone. I have all my friends. Yes." He lifted his hand, and a swift line of birds looped about his head, the winged pigs nudging at his elbow. "And now, I have you."
"But, we can't stay," Sakura objected. "We're just travelers, passing through. We'll have to leave before long, we can't stay anyplace for more than a few days."
Once again there was that strange flicker of emotions across Fane's face - for just a moment his face was completely blank, before the smile locked in again. His hands tightened on the arms of his chair "Leave? How absurd," he said with a chuckle. "You can't leave. - Why would you want to leave? This castle and valley are just perfect, lovely places to live. I'm sure you would love to stay here as well, and not have to keep traveling onto weary toil and danger."
"Even if we wanted to stay, we can't stay for more than a few days," Syaoran spoke up. "We're on a quest - we came here looking for something. We can't stop or rest while we're still searching."
"Looking for something?" Fane sat back, his shoulders relaxing and his head tilted to the side. "Looking for something? So if you found it, you wouldn't have to journey on, would you? What exactly is it that you're looking for?"
"We're searching for a magical item," Syaoran explained earnestly. "They belonged to Lady Sakura originally, but there was an accident - a terrible accident, and they were scattered to all sorts of different places. With Mokona's help, we are searching for them, and we have reason to believe that one might have ended up here."
"It's somewhere in this castle!" Mokona piped up. "But Mokona can't be sure of where, because there's just too much magic power everywhere!"
"Well, I have quite a lot of magical items in this castle," Fane said, smiling in a puzzled sort of way. "Oh yes, I do."
"It's a feather," Sakura answered. She held out her hands to show the size of it. "About this long, and with black markings along the spine."
"Hmm." Fane tapped his finger against his lips, looking abstracted. "Now that you mention it, that does ring a bell. Yes, I remember it. I believe an item like the one you describe appearing rather abruptly over the valley some years ago." He looked quizzically at Sakura and Syaoran. "Are you sure this was the same one? It was almost ten years ago; you would have still been just children. Yes indeed, you might not even have been born at that time."
Sakura and Syaoran exchanged glances. "It's still possible that's the right one," Syaoran explained. "Some of the feathers, when they were scattered, landed in very strange places - some of them even went… even went back in time, if you understand what I mean. At least one arrived almost three hundred years before we were born."
Fane's eyebrows lifted, and Sakura could imagine what he must be thinking; that a much more likely explanation was just that they were thieves trying to steal a magic artifact that didn't belong to them. She met Fane's gaze, pleading with her eyes. "Please, Fane-san, it's very important to me. It's my memory. We've been traveling for ages in search of my lost memories. I know it's not easy to give up such a beautiful and useful thing, but…"
The wizard's expression softened, and he pushed himself back from the table. "Well," he said. "I can at least go check in the attics where I put it away. I can do that, indeed. If it is the item you are seeking, then there's no more need to talk about leaving, yes?"
"Oh, yes!" Sakura and Syaoran nodded eagerly. Fane smiled at them both and stood, turning to walk towards the nearest mirrored wall. Sakura stared in fascination as the wizard stepped casually into the glass pane without breaking his stride, saw the light flicker and flow as the mirror closed around him. Then his rapidly dwindling image was on the other side of the mirror, striding away as though down a corridor.
As soon as he was out of sight, Kurogane reached across the table and grabbed the apple out of Sakura's hand. "Don't eat it," he said harshly. To Sakura's shock, he flung the apple away towards a distant corner of the room, then slammed the box shut and shoved it away. "Don't eat anything that guy gives you."
Syaoran and Sakura both stared at Kurogane in shock. "But, why not?" he asked. "We already ate dinner last night and breakfast this morning and nothing bad happened…"
"Oh, Kurogane, I'm sure Fane-san wouldn't try to poison us or anything!" Sakura exclaimed. "I mean, why would he? He's been a perfectly good host so far!"
Kurogane shook his head, but declined to explain.
"Do you think he's really got the feather right here?" Syaoran said. "I mean, if he's willing to just give it to us, then this might prove the easiest world we've ever been to!"
"Don't plant your flag before the battle's even joined," Kurogane warned them grimly. "I don't like this. Something about this whole place is -"
Before he could explain his reasoning - assuming he was going to explain at all - Mokona suddenly leapt up onto the table, eyes flying open as her ears went stiff. "It's here!" she cried out. "The feather is coming!"
A flicker of motion just out of the corner of their eyes, and they turned as Fane stepped back into the room, a bundle of white cloth under his arms. "Well, I found it," he said. "Yes, I found it. Or at least I found what I did with it. Is this the sort of marking that was on your feather?"
He unrolled the bundle of cloth, which resolved itself in a silky rippling fall into a snowy white hooded cloak. It wasn't very long, seeming more for a child or a lady than a full-grown man, with delicate white embroidery and a gently waving fringe at the hem. Splayed out across the back, in elegant sharp black lines, was the design of Sakura's feathers, and the whole cloak gave off a soft pearly radiance.
"Mekyo!" Mokona chirped. "That's it, all right!"
"But that's -" Syaoran said in confusion. "I mean, the design is the same, but that's not -"
"How is that a feather?" Kurogane demanded incredulously.
Fane laughed merrily. "Sorry about that," he said. "It was indeed a feather when I got it - and it still is, in its fundamental nature. I just… changed it a little. Oh, just a little. I simply didn't expect anyone to come calling for it, and it was so interesting that I just couldn't resist doing a few experiments with its nature."
"So it's like a magic cloak?" Sakura managed to tear her eyes away from the cloak to look back at Fane. She was torn between amazement and dismay. This had never happened before. Although various other people had captured, imprisoned, and misused her feathers in the past, none of them had ever changed them before. The intrinsic magic of the feathers was so powerful that she hadn't even realized anyone could change a feather into another form.
"Of course. Yes. Would you like to try it?" Fane beckoned her forward, and with some trepidation Sakura stood while he draped the cloak over her shoulders and tugged the hood up over her head.
The cloth of the cloak was incredibly soft, and faintly warm as though someone else had just been wearing it. She felt an overwhelming sense of peace and comfort, but despite the slight tingle where the soft fibers touched her skin, it seemed in no hurry to be absorbed back into her body. She touched the hem of the cloak, then took hold of the tassels and tugged. Despite the appearance of cloth, there didn't seem to be any weave to the cloak, no loose threads to grasp to unravel it.
"Mokona has never seen anything like this before!" The white creature hopped forward, and began scratching at a panel of the cloak, ears tilted curiously to the side.
"Oh, Mokona -" Sakura said uncertainly.
"Don't worry, you can't hurt it," Fane reassured her smilingly. "Really, the feather I made it out of was an amazing thing. Truly, such an amazing thing. I'd never encountered such a concentration of protective magic before, you see. I wanted to try transforming it into a shape where it could provide that protection to the wearer."
"That flimsy little thing is supposed to provide protection?" Kurogane said dubiously.
"Oh yes," Fane said, standing back and clasping his hands, beaming at her companions. "Now, if Sir Knight here were to draw his sword and take a chop at her pretty head right now - not that I'm suggesting he should do so, of course! But if he did - why, such a blow would just bounce right off that cloak. I guarantee it."
Kurogane snorted skeptically, no doubt unwilling to slight the prowess of one of his sword blows.
"It's very beautiful," Sakura said. "Thank you, Fane-san."
"Is it all right to take it?" Syaoran said anxiously.
Fane opened his hands expansively. "If you desire it so much, then yes, it's yours," he said. "Of course. After all, it's what you were searching for, isn't it?"
"But you must have gone to so very much trouble to make it like this," Sakura said. She wondered how she could bring it up to ask him to change it back. Or maybe Yuuko would be able to do it once they got back to the Witch's shop? "And you've been so very kind, and given us so much already. Please, isn't there anything we can give you in exchange?"
"Yes, I agree with Sakura," Syaoran said, nodding his head. "After all, you can't expect to give something of great value without getting something in return.
"Well, if you insist," Fane said slowly. "There is one thing of equal value I'd be willing to accept in exchange. Oh yes. One thing."
"Keep in mind we just arrived here yesterday," Kurogane growled warningly. "We don't have all that much to give."
"Don't worry, I wouldn't ask for anything that isn't yours to give," Fane said, still smiling.
Sakura took a breath, and let the silky hem of the feather-cloak slide from her fingers. "Of course, Fane-san," she said. "For all your wonderful hospitality, and help in reclaiming the feather so quickly, we'd be happy to give you anything you want."
"Good!" Fane said, and his smile changed slightly, widening and sharpening in a way that Sakura couldn't quite identify. His blue eyes seemed to light up with an eagerness, almost a hunger.
He wheeled on the spot, raising his arm, and his outstretched hand came to rest pointing directly at Mokona. "That," he said. "I want that."
~to be continued...
Author's Notes: Apologies if Fane's verbal tic annoyed any of the readers half as much as it annoyed me. Sakura has got to be the most trusting and credulous POV character I've ever written; in order to get a sense of Fane's not-quite-on-the-levelness through that fog of friendly guillibleness, I had to give him something.