Chapter 3: New Arrival

Tomoyo was standing against the wall that surrounded her mansion. She was humming a new song that she had been working on. It was not like the songs she used to sing. Those songs had been so happy and lively. This one was harsher and dark. She had been in this state of mind ever since Laishi Lin had died. Laishi had been Tomoyo's bodyguard for most of her life. With her mother busy with the company, Tomoyo had grown to consider Laishi to have been more of a mother to her than Daidouji Sonomi had.

Tomoyo blamed Sakura for it. Sakura was her cousin, actually second cousin, and had been her best friend. She had been completely devoted to Sakura until Sakura's magic had taken Laishi Lin from her. Now, whenever she thought about anything to do with Sakura, especially her magic, she felt empty and angry. She hated it.

Tomoyo looked up and her long black tresses floated back to reveal her pale face and unusual amethyst colored eyes to the world. Those eyes glanced down the road, where an old house that had once been thought abandoned was being worked on. There were men painting it to bring it up to the community standard and a moving truck was unloading a bunch of antique furniture.

"Good day, Daidouji-san." She turned to see who had spoken. It was a boy with navy hair and eyes that seemed to see everything, though partially hidden by his spectacles.

"How did you know my name?" she asked the newcomer. She didn't know anything about him, but something was off. She didn't like it. Despite them living in Hong Kong, the boy had addressed her in Japanese. It was her native tongue, but there was no way he could have known that.

"I assumed you lived here," he answered, "And Daidouji is the name on the plaque by the gate." He paused and flashed a smile that looked to Tomoyo more like a mask to hide his true thoughts. "I am terribly sorry, I should have introduced myself. I am Hiiragizawa Eriol." He held out his hand.

"Daidouji Tomoyo," she replied. She ignored the offered hand. "You're like her, aren't you?" These words were said in a hostile tone, yet Eriol continued smiling.

"What makes you think I'm like her?" he asked. He did not even sound confused as to whom Tomoyo was talking about. His smile was daring her to expose him.

"The creature in your pocket; I've seen something like him before," she said, glancing at what appeared to be a stuffed animal. It resembled Keroberos, Sakura's own magical guardian.

"Really? Then I guess Spinel does not have to act so stiffly around you." Eriol's expression didn't change and the little black creature still sat stiffly unmoving like a stuffed animal. "Sorry but Spinel can be a little anti-social. Come on Suppi-say hello!" He withdrew the creature from his pocket and held it out. He was gently shaking it, much to the creature's obvious annoyance.

"My name is not Suppi. It's Spinel," the creature finally said irritably.

"But Suppi is so much cuter!" A teenage girl snatched the little winged black cat from Eriol and twirled him around. "My name is Nakuru," she greeted Tomoyo with a sudden hug.

"Let go of me," Tomoyo said. She angrily pushed the unfamiliar girl away.

"Fine!" Nakuru sulked, "You weren't very interesting anyway." She began to annoy Spinel once again as she walked off with him towards the mansion. After a dozen steps, she turned and stuck her tongue out at Tomoyo whille squeezing Spinnel's face into an equally rude expression. When she realized that Tomoyo was glaring at her, she stopped and began to run towards the mansion yelling something about sugar.

"She's going to cause lots of trouble," Eriol said, chuckling in amusement at Nakuru's antics and Spinnel's cries for help.

"Just stay away from me." Tomoyo rudely turned and walked away. "I don't want anything to do with you or your magic."

"And you're going to be lots of fun." Eriol said when Tomoyo was out of earshot. His eyes were narrowed deviously.

"This is where you will be conducting your research," Wei explained as they got out of the car at a two story building, "It has everything you need, including lab equipment. The second floor has been converted into dorms for the students."

Wei turned to Fujitaka, "If it is alright with you, a place at the main house has been prepared for you next to your family." He offered kindly. Kokoru looked disappointed by this arrangement and slouched with a sigh.

"Thank you, Wei-san." They had been conversing in japanese. While Sakura had become fairly proficient at Chinese while she had stayed in Hong Kong, Fujitaka's language skills were limited to Japanese, some broken English, and a surprisingly good proficiency with coptic egyptian which he had learned to help him in his archaeological studies. Luckily for him, this section of Hong Kong did a lot of business with the Japanese, so many people were fluent in the language. Those who weren't could at least speak some english.

"The other students will be arriving over the course of the week from top universities around the world. Invitations were sent to students that were hand picked by Li clan scouts at the universities of Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Oxford, Cambridge, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Kyoto, and other top educational institutions. You of course were given the chance to invite the candidate from Tomoeda University." Wei indicated Furiya with a nod of his head.

"You will be traveling to Beijing for one week initially, and then returning on alternate weekends using the Li Corporation's private jet. Your travel time will be a little over two and a half hours when you have good conditions. The details of the expedition will be left to you. Here is the key to the building. Each room also has a key in the door for whoever uses it."

Tomoyo sat in her room, looking out her window. She could see the new boy's house through her window and it filled her with a mixture of rage and sadness. Last year, she probably would have found the boy to be a good friend, but now, he was just a reminder of the pain she felt every day.

She closed the drapes. It was bad enough when Sakura had been there, but this boy... the expression on his face was as if he was taunting her. It was bad enough that he used magic, but his attitude infuriated her even more. It almost brought her to tears, like on the nights when she cried herself to sleep.

"Thinking of me, are you?" Eriol'ss voice said mockingly. Tomoyo whipped around and opened her mouth to scream, but no sound came from her lips. Her window and door were closed. There was no way for him to have gotten in without her noticing… At least no natural way. Now, he was standing right next to her. He was leaning on his golden staf an smiling a creepy smile.

"No need for that now. I'm not here to cause trouble... Oh wait, yes I am," He chuckled. Tomoyo scrambled away from him as quickly as she could. Eriol, taking this as an invitation, sat down on the bed next to her. He let his staff lean against his hand and spun it around playfully. "Why don't you tell me what's bothering you? Maybe I can do something to alleviate your hatred."

"You could leave me alone and give up magic forever." Tomoyo stood up angrily and walked towards the door. It wouldn't open. "Open the door!" She practically screamed at him. She didn't know how much she could take. She just wanted to be rid of him. He could have her room for all she cared; she just wanted to be alone.

"Why should I?" he asked as he joined her by the door.

"This is my house and I told you to leave!" she was screaming at him angrily now.

"I don't think that is a good enough reason," Eriol said. He advanced uncomfortably close to Tomoyo. She tried to slap him but he caught her hand. Eriol reached out and wiped a tear of frustration from where it had begun to slide down her cheek "However, if you promised to talk to me, civilly, at lunch, let us say a week from tomorrow, perhaps I might be convinced to let you go."

"Fine! I don't care… Just go," She said. Her body slumped limply against the door in defeat

"Excellent. I knew you would agree." His sinister tone assured Tomoyo that it was more than a figure of speech. He really had known what her answer would be. Eriol backed away. Any sinister intentions were once again hidden by his calm mask of a smile. "There is a nice cafe that I want to try. I am sure it will be an interesting time." He tapped the wall with his staff. A hole appeared for mere moments and he jumped through it without another word.

Tomoyo's heart beat fiercely. She was hyperventilating. There was something about this boy. It was as if he had no regret and, it felt to Tomoyo, as if he was even more powerful than Sakura. He scared her. It wasn't right that he was using his magic with impunity.

It was like he just didn't care who saw him, or perhaps he just didn't care if she saw him. Was he trying to impress her? That couldn't be. He had seen from the beginning what her feelings about magic were. There had to be another reason.

The facilities were not exactly state-of-the-art, but they were certainly more than adequate for Fujitaka's needs: magnification equipment; spectral, infrared and, x-ray scanners. There stacks of laptops at workstations which each held tools to clean and examine fragile artifacts.

"I hope that you have been provided with everything necessary. If there is anything else you need, some money has been set aside to purchase equipment or to send away samples for testing." Wei led them to a central table where there was a binder. "There is a copy of this information every dorm room as well as in a few other central locations and it has been loaded onto every computer for quick reference. It outlines the resources that the Li family has devoted to this project, the scope and purpose of the expedition, as well as some behavioral restrictions for this building and especially for your time within the Forbidden City."

Wei opened the binder and withdrew a pair of loose sheets. "Each member of the team will have to read and sign one of these contracts. It says that you will not mention the inhabitants of the Forbidden City, nor anything you learn of the past hundred years, nor will you write any information pertaining to it in any of your papers. One student is in the employ of Li Corp. That is to say that he is a member of the extended family, and he will be watching to ensure that all the rules are followed. If the rules are broken, the rule breaker will be sent home, or jailed, depending on the severity of the infraction."

Furiya took only a moment to scan the paper with his eyes before signing it without hesitation. Fujitaka was a slower reader and took longer to consider the clauses of the contract. He signed as well.

"Good," Wei said, "Might I suggest you explore the lab or begin reading the manual? I will take Sakura home in the meantime." He said and gestured for Sakura to follow him.

Furiya and Fuitaka both opted to study the expedition manual while Wei led Sakura away, but towards the back of the building.

"I thought that you were going to take me back to the mansion." Sakura glanced around.

"I told your father there would be a Li spy. He will need to go to the main house to address the elders without being noticed." Wei opened a door to a closet. "Come this way."

"Uhm..." Sakura looked nervously at the confined space within.

"Trust me." Wei encouraged as he squeezed into the back of the closet. He was backed up against the shelving, and Sakura still had trouble closing the door after squeezing up against him. The closet obviously was not meant for habitation, especially not for occupation by more than one person.

"A magic circle." Sakura said as she noticed it carved into the door. Sakura did not recognize the pattern, but some of it reminded her of the magic circles that adorned magical Li heirlooms. This meant that it probably descended from Li clan magic. Had she not been so accustomed to magic, or had the lab belonged to anyone else, Sakura would have been surprised to find the magical symbol, but now she was merely surprised at the odd and inconvenient location of the circle.

"I am afraid that you must activate it," Wei interrupted Sakura's examination of the circle. "I do not have the ability to do so."

"Okay." Sakura placed her hand on the symbol and focused her energy. The magical circle began to glow with a golden light.

"Now open the door." Wei commanded. Sakura complied, and instead of seeing the hallway from which they had just entered, she saw darkness and a doorway in the distance.

"This is the Li's method of magical transportation. It takes a lot of energy, but is much less draining compared to creating a portal. As I understand it, they create a permanent link between two doors, and then you travel between the two through a tunnel. It resembles the wormholes used in some science fiction shows."

Sakura's brow furrowed in evident confusion, so Wei tried to explain it more. "That is to say that it is not a direct link between two places, but it folds space so that the distance between them is shorter."

"Let's go!" Sakura said. She walked towards the other door, still not comprehending the exact mechanism that the magic used, but trusting that the Li's did.

Tomoyo looked at her rack of clothes. Nothing seemed right. She had some bright, colorful dresses, but those would give the impression that she wanted to go. She had considered just not showing up, but she was fairly certain that it wasn't going to work, not that she wouldn't try anyway. If Hiiragizawa caught up with her, she would have no choice but to go on his, as she suspected it was to him, date. But to her, it was just a means of getting rid of him. None of her clothes gave that impression; in fact, many of them were not even tailored to fit her.

She slammed the door of the closet. She would have the outfits burned later. She didn't even know why she had kept all those outfits this long, Sakura could go into battle naked for all she cared.. If she did not have an appropriate outfit, she would just have to make one; a week of lead time was plenty.

"Let me out!" Kero cried as he clawed unsuccessfully at the inside of the bag with his paws, "Why does everyone forget about me?"

Touya heard a strange scratching coming from the back of the car. He and Yukito had stayed behind to talk, which had been interrupted when Yukito noticed a cafe across the street that served some healthy portions of food.

"A good appetite is a sign of good health," He excused himself to go get some food. He had always eaten a lot, and could never resist when he saw good food, though he was always more than happy to share. Touya wondered if it had anything to do with what had happened. Yukito's other self had come out and fought with Sakura and the gaki. The boy, of course, had lost and his sister had won. They still had not gotten a chance to talk about it, and Yukito showed no signs of remembering the incident. He had dropped a few sublte hints, but Yukito didn't even seem to realize that he had another form.

Touya opened the trunk of the limousine and the sound stopped. The sound had come from Sakura's suitcase. He had not actually heard it coming from there specifically. He just knew, as he sometimes did when strange things happened. He reached for the bag.

Kero froze. He could feel the oppressive force of Touya's magical aura slowly reaching for him. Despite not having any knowledge or training, Touya's aura control was impressive. He was able to subdue others with just his glare if their magical aura's were no powerful, and it could still make them feel nervous. Kero did not want to be the one to try and explain everything to him. It was Sakura's responsibility, even if the opportunity had not yet come up. Kero stiffened and pretended to be a stuffed animal as Touya began opening the bag.

"Want some?" Yukito waved a bowl of dumplings under Touya's nose and he begrudgingly accepted them and closed the trunk. It did not latch properly, and Kero could see out a tiny crack. His belly rumbled hungrily as the delicious smell of the dumplings wafted in to him. He sweated nervously as he felt Touya's attention return to him for a moment. He couldn't have heard that could he?

Kero glaned around his tight enclosure. He had eaten all the snacks before they had even reached the airport in Tomoeda. Now he had nothing to satisfy his slowly began forcing the zipper open. He snuck to the crack and perred out, hoping to be given a chance to snatch a few of the dumplings away.

"Thanks," Touya said and began to eat, ignoring the feeling that a pair of beady little eyes were watching him. He made a show of enjoying them, both to show his appreciation to Yukito and to torture the stuffed animal that was sure to be watching. Yukito smiled happily and ate his own, much larger, portion.

"Touya-kun!" This voice had haunted his nightmares. He didn't have time to turn before he was tackled onto the car by Nakuru. "I missed you!" The dumplings spilled across the ground.

Kero screamed in pain as the trunk slammed down upon his paws, and in horrow as he heard the splat of the dumplings upon the ground.

"I didn't," Touya grumbled. Nakuru had a stuffed animal on her shoulder that reminded him strangely of the one Sakura had forgotten in the trunk of the car; the one he suspected was like Yukito.

Kokoru chose a room that was equidistant from the showers, the kitchen and the stairs to the lab. It was the perfect location. He claimed the key and attached it to a clip that hung from his belt loop. The room had a bed, a desk, and a chair, as well as an adjoining closet and a bathroom that was shared with the next room. Not exactly first class accommodations, but it was better than what he was used to. He sat at the desk and opened the binder, beginning to put his photographic memory to work. Fujitaka-sensei would see that he was the best in the class, or in this case, the world.

"It's been a long time since I've seen this place," Eriol said to Spinel. Eriol was sitting in a tall, throne-like chair in front of the fireplace.

"You could have at least kept the maids employed." The large butterfly-winged panther sneezed, sending a cloud of dust billowing out from the thickly woven rug.

"I guess nostalgia only applies to those who remember a place."Eriol said with a smile, but his voice betrayed a hint of lingering sadness.

"You only created us seven years ago. You've not been here for five hundred." Spinnel said irritably. He wrinkled his nose in an attempt to avoid sneezing again.

"Very well." Eriol tipped his staff and a wave of magic washed through the house. Once it had passed, the deep red of the carpet became apparent, where before it had been obscured by the layer of dust.

"Hey! You said I would get to do the cleaning!" Nakuru whined as she entered the room.

"Reading through my journal is not cleaning." Eriol grinned mischievously. "Besides, the dust was too much for Suppi's sensitive nose."

"Poor Suppi." Nakuru said with a mocking sadness as she fondled his furry cheeks, "How about I make you a cake!" She suggested energetically.

"You know I don't eat sweets," Spinel said grumpily, "Why waste the food? Our master provides all the energy we need."

Nakuru's eyes narrowed and she smirked. "Because it's fun."

The door led Sakura to an empty room that was only a few paces long and wide. She did not recognize it, but the style was definitely that of the Li's main complex. It appeared to be part of the Main house, but Sakura had not even seen all of that because it was so expansive.

"Just close the door and open it again. The stairs are on the left. I have to return for your brother." Wei informed her kindly.

"Thank you." Sakura told the butler before he left, closing the door behind him. When Sakura opened the door, she found a hallway rather than the passage she had come through. There were many doors, each marked with a number, and many hallways crisscrossing in a maze-like fashion. Sakura suspected that most of the buildings owned by the Li Corporation had been connected to this network. In the center of the floor were a stairwell and a simple wooden table which held an index book. She found that the book listed the destinations of each of the doors. Some had been scratched out, others listed places that Sakura was only barely surprised that the Li's had connections to.

"Interpol, United Nations, Pentagon, Forbidden City, White House, Louvre, Tokyo Train Station, Trans-Siberian Oil Pipeline..." She read aloud when she recognized a name.

"Miss Davidson's Daycare?" Sakura wondered why they would have a location like that linked to the Li house. She couldn't remember why, but it had been in the news at some point. It was not particularly important. It was just a small daycare business run out of a home somewhere in the United States. In any case, it didn't matter.

She could sense Syaoran above her and headed up several flights of stairs, only to be ambushed by Syaoran's hyper-active sisters.

"You're back!" Fanren exclaimed, giving Sakura a tight hug.

"We missed you," Feimei pinched Sakura's cheek.

"We're really glad you're back," Sheifa told her.

"Let's just hope you're not too late," Fuutie said dispassionately.

"Too late?" Sakura asked, her voice wavered slightly. All the fears and doubts she had been feeling began welling up inside of her again.

"For Syaoran. He's really messed up and won't listen to anyone. He's in his room right now, but you-" Fuutie continued. She looked away sadly.

Sakura wrenched herself from the girls' grasp and ran as fast as she could towards Syaoran's room.

"-should probably wait a little bit."