Alright! This chapter is a little bit longer. Not much though. I just finished it not too long ago and it's getting closer to the end. Two more chapters to go and hopefully they will be long like this chapter or longer like my other stories. Again I apologize. I don't know what happened. I just didn't want to write long chapters today. It's that ghost writer I have LOL. The next chapter should be out no later than Friday and hopefully the last chapter will be finished on Saturday. I started working on the next chapter already and it's moving smoothly. Stick with me I'm almost done. Thank you all for getting this far. I hope you're enjoying it.

------------------------------

Chapter Eight

The third time through the portal didn't pose any trouble for the Judge of the Clow Cards. His body grew used to the pull of gravity and the visional swirling multicolor lights. He unfolded his wings just as the colors cleared up, anticipating another fall to the ground. Floating safely down, Yue looked around at all the tall rose bushes surrounding the square area. They bushes were slightly dead with barely any roses blooming on them, and they stood taller than him, forming a maze. Most of the dead flowers lined the walkway and the base of the bushes. Glancing up, he noticed vines tangled together into a roof; the roses that hung on them were in the same shape, dying. There was no way he could fly in this world.

He walked over to the only exit. It was a golden arch with various colorful flowers tied around each bar. It looked more like a garden paradise than a place to cause misery. Peeking around the corner, Yue looked left then right and spotted three other exits. "A maze," he thought. He had to find something to mark the doors or ground around him. This felt and looked familiar to Yukito.

"It's my dream," Yukito said, remembering the horrifying events that led them to this place.

"We must be getting close to Toya and the man responsible for everything. I don't sense any danger. Do you want to take over for awhile so I can recover my energy? If someone attacks you, I'll take back over." Yue felt his magic failing. He didn't know how much longer he had with the approaching end, Yue wanted to ensure he had enough energy to win a battle against their enemy.

Yukito switched places with Yue and stood in the middle of the area. He found a branch lying near the entranceway and picked it up. Carving the direction he came from, Yukito moved over to the right and went through the first door. Confirming Yue's theory, there were no creatures to defend against. In fact it seemed like the maze was his biggest threat. He placed his hand on the vines, sensing no magic from them. Yukito concluded that none of the cards were responsible for this. The world was naturally like this. It was like another dimension. Admiring what's left of the beauty to the place, Yukito carved a second arrow in the ground and walked through another door.

He continued to move through door after door after door, but noticed he was getting nowhere. He found his way all the way back to the beginning and managed to narrow down the possibilities. Stepping through the middle door, Yukito entered into a glamorous garden with a stone fountain in the center. The water was dirty inside the bowl and didn't flow through the angel that stood in the middle. He could barely recognize the flower carvings on the bowl's stone. It was like this place was dying or someone was neglecting it. Feeling sorry for the place; he brushed some of the dirt off the fountain. Smiling as a beautiful array of pink gemmed flowers were revealed, Yukito felt a strange sense of longing to revitalize the garden. Using the water from the fountain, he entered into a trance. None of Yue's attempts would rouse the young man and he couldn't take over. The barrier surrounding his subconscious was too strong. Once the fountain was completely cleaned and sparkling hours later, Yukito snapped out of the trance. "It's about time."

"What are you talking…" Yukito's eyes widened as he stared at the fountain. "Did I do that?"

"Yes. I couldn't stop you or take over. We might need to switch. I think this place is affecting you."

Yukito shook his head. "I know where Toya is. I know what this person wants. It all makes sense now!"

"What? Wait a minute." Yukito took off through the maze, turning left and right, blindly running in no real direction. He found himself right back where he started at the fountain. "Explain yourself, Yukito. Stop running blind."

"The garden is dying. This was all a lure to get me to come here. I could do so much for this place. It could be a stunning garden again. It'll take some time, but I know I can do it."

Yukito, listen to yourself. Do you want to remain here away from everyone you know? What would happen to Toya? You know he won't stay here, and he couldn't live without you. What about Sakura? How am I to protect her if you trap me in this world?" Yukito stopped dead in his tracks. Yue was right. He couldn't remain here. He had obligations. His love or Toya was too great to sacrifice him. He missed Toya greatly. He wanted to see him again. The yearning was becoming too great for him to just stand around. He felt guilty for the wasted time. How could he lose himself in cleaning the fountain when the love of his life was somewhere in this maze, calling out to him.

"This place is messing with your mind. Focus on what you came here to do." Yukito moved swiftly through the passageways again.

"Toya is close by. I know he has to be." Taking a different door from his last rampage through the maze, he walked more carefully and kept Toya fresh on his mind. He refused to focus on the flowers or any of the garden statues as he moved through the maze. They called for his attention, but Toya was pulling his heart away from the misfortunate garden. He wasn't going to stop until he had Toya back. Coming to a stop right at the end, he noticed the maze opened up into a large field. Large bushes lined the stone walkway leading to a platform at the top of the stairs in the distance. Two men walked out from behind the bushes. One man was tall and dressed completely in silver armor while the other man, taller than the first, was in gold armor.

Yue swapped with Yukito and stood before the two men, not surprised that the young man let him switch without any struggle. Neither one of the guards moved, nor did they say anything. It was as if they were waiting for him to approach or attack. Taking a few steps closer, Yue challenged them, but they still didn't move. He walked by them and got a few feet closer to the platform. He turned around quickly when the silver one swung his spear at Yue. Blocking it with his arms, Yue jumped back and landed a few feet away from the advancing men. The gold man loosened his whip and snapped it around Yue's ankle, pulling him to the ground. His body collided with the strangely soft ground. He rolled out of the way of the silver guard's spear and managed to shake off the whip by pulling on his ankle and kicking the leather whip away.

Even with his rest, he didn't have enough energy to fight the two people off. They continued to strike him with everything they had. Breaking through all his barriers and avoiding every ice shard he threw, nothing seemed to penetrate their defenses. "Yukito, any ideas?" Silence. "Yukito?" Yue dodged another blow and flew up into the air, barely out of reach of the gold one. "Yukito, are you okay?" Silence continued to follow all of his attempts to contact his borrowed form.

Dodging another stab from the spear, Yue countered by kicking his head and knocked the helmet off the silver guard. His eyes widened, instantly recognizing the person. "Yukito! How?" The gold guard bent down and helped Yukito up, holding him close to his body. He recognized the loving touch. "Toya," he whispered, knowing that if the silver one was Yukito, the gold must be Toya.

"Enough!" a deep voice shouted, echoing around the area. The two guards moved over to the base of the platform and knelt down on one knee, anticipating the one they were protecting. A black mist rose from the ground and swirled on the platform at the top of the stairs, not taking on any form. Yue continued to float while he tried to understand how Yukito vanished from the corridors of his mind after the two guards revealed themselves. He didn't understand how it was possible when Yukito was in control of the body when they first appeared. It made sense on how he managed to take back control easily, but it was confusing still. Why would Yukito attack him? If he knew that it was Yue in front of him, he would never attack him. Not even Toya would fight him. In fact, Toya wouldn't do anything to jeopardize Yukito's body. Nothing made sense. Not even the cloud that floated on the platform.

---------------------

Sorry for the little cliffhanger. Like I said the next one will be out on Friday so it wouldn't be too much of a wait. I hope this chapter was alright. I did have a little difficult describing the platform. I hope it came out fine. It's not vital though so it's okay if it didn't. Thank you for reading please review.

Angel Dove