Hiya peoples! This chapter draws from the book, but of course I had to shorten some parts. We have an interesting story to get to! I'm not about to go about explaining every detail of the book.
I'm super sorry for not updating sooner, but you know, school. Ugh! Well, Here it is!
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Tsubasa or any of its characters, other than my own. Any resemblance to characters in other books or real people is absolutely coincidental. I do use lines from the book, but I DO NOT OWN THEM.
I could hear laughter. Not a straight out, lean-your-head-back-and-laugh kind of laugh, but a faint chuckle. I tried to sit up, but I found that my limbs were numb from impact, and if I tried to sit, my spine would wiggle like jello, and I would drop to the floor. No use trying again. A female's voice sort of floated in and out of my ears, but the words were inaudible. Whatever hit me must have hit me hard, because the last time I felt like this was when I fell off a building two summers ago, in an attempt to escape a mob of angry villagers.
The first thing I could actually hear was a thud, as though something had fallen. No, whatever had dropped had fallen on its feet, because I could hear it fall to its knees. The voice of this thing was so aggressive that I almost bolted upright, but the only thing that kept me stapled to the floor was the thought of turning into jello again. "Are you the Space Time Witch?" He yelled, his voice overflowing with anxiety.
The silvery voice of the woman who laughed earlier replied in a calm tone, "I have been called that." It almost made me chuckle, hearing such contrast in their voices.
"Would you please…" He dropped off, and started over, getting straight to the point this time. "I need you to save Sakura!"
I opened my eyes, and rolled on my side to get a better view of whatever they were doing. My vision was slightly blurred, but I could just barely make out the figures. There before me was a tall, beautiful lady, a witch, by the looks of her clothing. She was knelt down beside a young boy, his eyes wild with anger and something else that I cannot name. I saw in his arms a delicate girl, unconscious.
When my vision cleared up, I looked again at the faces of these strangers, and found that the boy and the girl were the two faces I had seen in my head. The girl was definitely just as frail and helpless as I remembered her to be, and, for a moment, I felt a strong urge to reach out to her and hold her. But I knew that I could never do that. No touching anyone. Just being in a person's presence can cause them trouble for years. The witch put a loving hand on the boy's shoulder, and asked, "This child's name is Sakura, isn't it?"
The boy replied, "Yes!" His voice was impatient and anxious. It was clear to me that this girl would die very soon, if nothing was done.
The witch turned to the boy himself, and asked, "And you?" The boy replied with a terse, "I'm Syaoran."
She lightly stroked the fragile girl's face, and thought for a moment. Without taking her eyes off of the girl's face, she whispered, "This child has lost something very precious."
The boy nodded fiercely, obviously growing edgy with impatience. "Yes."
The woman nodded once more, and sighed, "And, that something has been scattered to many different worlds." The she looked up at the boy, to make sure he was following her. "If nothing is done, this child will die." She stated. Harsh. To say something like that to this Syaoran in his time of weakness only crumbled a bit of hope from his heart. But it was all so true. I watched in sympathy as Syaoran held Sakura closer to him in pain.
The witch turned around to check on me, and saw that I was awake. "Oh! I see you are awake." She said. I sat up with much ease, and glanced around my surroundings.
I wanted to keep my act convincing, so I rubbed my eyes sleepily and groaned, "Wh-Where am I?" She took my hand and helped me to my feet.
A timid looking boy walked out of a little shop I had not noticed before. The witch called to him, "Watanuki?"
"Y-Yes?" He stammered.
"Go to our treasure room; there is something I need you to bring back." She turned back to Syaoran. "You wish to save this child?" She asked, the expression on her face never-changing.
"YES!!!" Syaoran yelled determinedly.
I thought I saw the witch smile for a moment, but it instantly faded away. "There is a price…" She paused, watching for a reaction from Syaoran, who remained solemn. "Are you still willing?"
"I will pay whatever price I can!" He said.
At that moment, I felt something strong. It was a magic so powerful that it nearly knocked me over. But even though it was hard to tell, I was sure that it was the same magic as the magic in the feather I had held earlier. Yuko smiled now, the first that even came close to a genuine smile. "Here they come."
At that instant, two blobs seemed to appear. One globbed up out of the ground, while the other swirled from the sky. Syaoran was sandwiched in the middle of them, and I giggled at the look of shock that had plastered his face. But as suddenly as they came, the blobs were gone, leaving two people in their places. I stood close to one of them, but took a step backwards at the sight of them. One was tall, relatively spiky haired, and black-clad. He wore a band around his head with a moon, and in his right arm he carried a long, sharp blade, that look similar to the ones in antique stores or history books. I thought it looked an awful lot like a Katana, but then again, weren't those only used by samurai?
The other man was not quite so tall and intimidating; he was fair haired and blue eyed, and wore what I thought was a heavy winter coat, but with strange markings on the shoulders. In his hand, he carried a staff, with a beautiful, intricate carving at the top. He stood closest to me, and from him, I could feel a great amount of magic. But what surprised me was that only some of it was his own, and the rest of it was a feather's. Did he know about the feather?
The tall man growled, "Who the hell are you?" To the witch, while as the fair haired asked a polite, "Are you the dimension witch?" The two of them looked at each other, and I could see that the tall one had been through a lot, just looking at the hatred embedded deep in his eyes.
The witch said, "Please give me your names, first."
Nobody else was talking, so I chirped, "I'm Hua."
Yuko nodded, and turned to the other three. The tall one growled, "Me? I'm Kurogane…I mean…what is this place?" He took a moment to stare at the tall buildings that surrounded, and let the rain plip on his cheeks.
"It's called Japan." The witch responded. For a moment, my heart froze. Japan? My mind raced furiously. How in the world did I get to Japan? Dimension switching isn't supposed to switch your whereabouts, too!
"Eh? My country is called Japan, too." Kurogane said, trying to make sense of what she was saying.
"Yes. A different Japan." She turned to the other man. "And you?" She asked.
He bowed respectfully. "The Wizard of Seresu. Fai D. Flowright. And who are you?" He asked the witch.
"My name is Yuko." She turned to the three of them. "Do you know where you are?"
Three of us shook our heads, but Fai jumped in. "Yes. A place where any wish can be granted if a suitable price is paid."
Yuko smiled. "That's exactly it. And so, the reason why you all are here, is because each of you has a wish."
The two men thought that was a signal to tell her their wishes. Kurogane growled in a frustrated tone, "My homeland is where I want to be!" Fai wore a grin on his face as he said, "My homeland is where I don't want to be!" Night and day.
"That is a tall order for both of you…" Yuko said. "No, for all 3 of you, perhaps." Syaoran's face fell. "Even if you offered the most precious things you own, none of you has enough to pay. But if all three paid together, you may just be able to afford it." A slimmer of hope glistened in the depths of Syaoran's eyes, and he looked up at the sound of those words. The three of the travelers scrutinized each other. Kurogane looked at the others with a critical eye, his arms folded firmly across his chest. Fai smiled and shrugged innocently, and Syaoran was just as clueless as I.
Yuko paused, and then continued. "All three of your wishes are the same." She said, turning to Syaoran. "You want to go to many worlds in order to restore the memory of this child." To Kurogane, "You want to return to your own world." And to Fai, "You want to go to different worlds to avoid returning to your own. You all have different reasons, but the method is the same. Travel to different dimensions…that is what you need."
At this point, I had to cut in. "Excuse me," Yuko raised an eyebrow, telling me to continue. "I would like to make a wish as well." She nodded, urging me forward. "I want…I want to be free of my magical abilities."
She stopped me, "Why would you want to do that? To have magic is a gift. It is not common, and you should be grateful."
I shook my head. "You don't understand. You see, all magic has ever brought me was despair and agony. Magic separated me from my family, made them hate me." Tears popped up from an invisible spring in my eyes. Shoot. "It made me do a many terrible things. I went from being an innocent girl to a blood thirsty serial killer, who couldn't stop murdering good people."
"I see…. Go on."
"So now, my wish is to be relieved of these abilities, to be free of this curse, and to make up for all of the bad things I have ever done in my life. I wish to start a new life, somewhere else, and to earn a good reputation." I said, and wiped my tears away with the heels of my hand. It must not be every day that you see an eighteen-year-old girl cry. I looked up at Yuko. "Can you help me?"
"As a matter of fact, I can. You will have to pay a price, like all of the others, of course, but I'm sure you'll be able to handle it." I nodded. She went on, "As for the gaining your reputation back…you will have to travel with these three." She gestured to the three travelers.
"How will that help me?" I asked.
"It will help, because along the way, you will learn some skill that will be very important in your life. You will make life-lasting friendships, romances, and acquaintances. You will perform good deeds for the people you meet along the way, to help build a good reputation in the places you visit. You will also do whatever you can to protect them, and make sure they are safe, which will also strengthen the trust between you." I nodded, and Yuko smiled mysteriously. "Are you willing to devote your life to the doing of good deeds and to the protection of these travelers?"
I thought about it, and made my decision. "If I can be away from this curse," I made a small gesture to myself, "Then I will do anything."
She nodded curtly, and said, "You realize that this is not your price, and that you will have to pay something of much greater value than your time?"
"Yes, and I am prepared."
"Very good." Yuko turned back to the others. "Each of you must make a payment."
Kurogane stepped forward angrily. "Yea? Then what would MY payment be?"
"Your sword."
Kurogane was taken aback. "I'd never sell away my Ginryu!" He cradled his sword in his arm as though it were his only child.
Yuko shrugged, making Kurogane boil with fury. Guilt trick. "Fine. Instead, you will wander this world looking like a costume-contest loser, and get picked up by the police for carrying an unlawful sword, and get plastered all over the TV for being a freak! Is that what you want?" Part of her charm was that she sure knew how to make one feel trapped. "You realize that you are trapped here, and I am the only person in the world who can get you out?"
"That's a lie!" Kurogane yelled.
"It's all true!" Fai piped in cheerily, and I could see the want to strangle Fai in Kurogane's eyes.
Yuko held a hand out, waiting for the sword. "What will you do?" She asked.
"Dammit!" Kurogane yelled, shoving the sword into Yuko's hands. "When I am free from this curse, I'm coming back for it!"
Yuko held the sword for a moment, but let it disappear. She turned to Fai. "You price is you marking."
Fai looked lost for a few moments, but then returned to his jolly state. "I don't suppose this staff would do instead?" He smiled, waving it in the air.
"It won't." Yuko sighed. "I told you, the price is the thing you value most."
Fai shrugged. "I guess I have no choice." I watched in horror as he removed his coat and unbuttoned his shirt. The marking on his back floated up into the air, and disappeared like the sword.
Yuko turned to me. "Hmm… Let's see, now. What should your price be?" I shrugged, but immediately felt stupid, for she had already known the answer to her own question. "Your price is your name."
My rain-soaked hair fell in my face. I flipped it over my shoulder. "My…name?" I asked, and listened to the steady beat of the rain hitting the ground. It was definitely picking up pace. The different voices in my head were making a racket, and all the clamor was making me dizzy. Yuko only gave a small nod. "So…I…I don't get it." I said stupidly. "My name." I repeated dubiously.
"Yes. Your name." She held out a waiting hand.
"How do I…give it to you? It's my name." I said cautiously.
"Easy. You see, when you give it up, your brain will automatically tell you what your new name is. You'll know all about it later." Yuko responded. Suddenly I could feel a strange feeling take over my body, like I was being possessed by some spirit. My heart thudded as quick as a rabbits for a few moments, then died down. I listened to my steady breathing become ragged, and I felt something rip from my body. I couldn't tell if it was a good feeling or a bad one. Every organ in my body stopped functioning, and everything was silent. Even the chattering voices in my head shut up.
All of a sudden, there was a blast of magic. It spouted from my mouth, straight up into the sky. It was leaving. No more sparkly, tingly feeling in my veins. It was like light, a beautiful, dazzling beam of an assortment of colors. Something floated out of it. My name. When the magic was gone, the clamor in my head started up again, only twice as loud. I could hear Yuko saying something, but it came out in a muffled whirr. Nothing but a couple of choked words. She saw that I couldn't hear her, and seemed to be shouting over the noise. No, the noise in my head was gone, that was all.
"Your price has been paid." Yuko said calmly. "Tell me what your name is."
"Wha—?" I asked. Crazy, right? I mean, didn't I just tell her my name? "Why are you asking again? I told you, it's Izumi." Something wasn't right. Normally, you can feel the magic in your own name, but there was none. What was wrong? I had been telling people my name since I could talk, and never had I ever had this blank feeling before.
Yuko smiled smugly. "Brilliant. Now, I'll have to put you out for a while, so your name gets into your system, and to make sure any doubts about it are nonexistent."
"Put me…out? But what about Syaoran's wish?"
"You'll know about that later. Stay still." I saw a bright blue orb of magic fly at my head. I wondered how I got on the ground so fast, as I felt life drain from my blood. It wasn't a good life anyways, and I smiled.
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