A/N: Remember when I said there would be slightly graphic torture in the fic. Lucky for you we'll be having none of that in this chapter.
Kurogane: But?
Me: Kurgo! Where have you been all these months?
Kurgo: *sighs* I don't even have the energy to bother.
Me: Eh? Why is that?
Kurgalurga: *glares* You locked me in one of your damn closets and forgot to let me out, damn it! That's why.
Me: Oh. *sweatdrops* So that's what I was forgetting. Ahehehe… sorry 'bout that Kuro-burger.
Kuro-chocolate: *sighs* Again with the food names.
Me: Hmm… I should lock you up in closets more often. You are so much more docile like that.
Kuro-frenchfries: *jaw drops* D-docile?
Me: Ahan. I've been mangling your name with food again and all you did was heave a sigh (Fai: Umm… Nims-chan?) which if you ask me is much better. (Mokona: Nims?) honestly, all that running around with you brandishing your sword threatening to slice me into tiny unidentifiable pieces… it's quite tiring. (Fai: Nims-chan, you should-) Not now Fai. I'm trying to explain how his being docile is so much better than his rabid mad-dog self. Now. Where was I? Ah yes. So as I was saying Kurgi-icecream, locking you up in closets is a really good thing. I ought to do it more often because- (Mokona and Fai: Nims-chan!)
Me: *turns around to glare at them* What?
Fai: Just wanted to tell you that Kurgi is umm…
Me: *taps foot impatiently* what is he?
Mokona: *meekly* back to his mad dog self.
Me: *pales* oh um… hehehe… Kurogane, you know what? I just remembered this really important project I had to go work on so… *trails off*
Kurogane: *turning red in the face* So I'm docile, eh?
Me: N-no. I didn't mean that. *loosens hypothetical tie* I umm... I meant that… Tomoyo! Kuro is out to get meee! *bolts*
Fai and Mokona: *watching the authoress as she run for her life*
Fai: Ne, Moko-chan, what was it that Nims-chan was talking about earlier?
Mokona: She was saying that the readers won't have to read any graphic torture scenes in this chapter.
Fai: But?
Mokona: But what she was unable to tell them was that despite her best efforts, the torture scenes in the upcoming chapters might be a bit too graphic for some readers. So she has decided that she will raise the ratings for those chapters to M. and also indicate where the scenes will begin and end to help readers skip over those parts if torture is not their cup of tea.
Fai: Anything else?
Mokona: Nope. Not at the moment. So with that out of the way, Nims would like to tell her readers to go ahead and enjoy this update.
Fai: How are you able to tell what she would like to tell them?
Mokona: *winks* It's one of Mokona's secret techniques. She also says to not forget to leave your loving reviews.
Me: *still running for her life* Happy reading you guys!
The vampire equivalent of adrenaline had been providing his body the necessary energy as he shot past the trees and vines, ducking under low branches and jumping over jutting roots. He had to get to the entrance to Magihidusi before his pursuers caught up with him. His heightened senses could hear them racing after him, even though he was not in their range of visibility he knew they wouldn't have problem catching up with him if he were to slow down.
Exposing this world's safe haven for his kind to those hunters wasn't what he had in mind either so he'd have to find a quick way in. He knew his magic was still being repressed by whatever drugs they had put in him. He could still feel it burning in his blood. But thankfully his vampire side made up for the lack of magic. That was probably the only reason why he was out here right now and not chained in one of those torture chambers.
He came to a halt outside a crumbling door frame with the door missing. Part of the wall it was affixed to had given way long ago, now leaving only a pile of rubble in its place. But the part that was still standing was strong enough to support the rotting frame. Mumbling under his breath, Fai raced right through it, frowning when the scenery around him did not change from the jungle of gnarled, twisted trees trunks and sad, crumbling ruins to that of a dark tunnel.
"Damn it." He hissed, turning on his heels to look at the door frame through slitted, golden eyes. "It won't work …unless I can access my magic…"
Drawing a deep breath he dug deep within himself, hoping to draw upon some hidden reserves of his magic not yet sealed away by those hunters' suppressant. But all he came upon was an inky, black emptiness.
"Shit," he coughed a bit of blood falling to his knees as the sounds of his pursuers drew closer to where he was.
"There he is!" he heard a yell and struggled to push himself back on his feet. He couldn't let them catch him. He'd have to find some other place to hide in until the effects of the drug wore off. Then he'd return here and seek help from the Oracle of Magihidusi to do what he had stayed behind to do in the first place.
His resolve strengthening, he staggered a couple of feet from where he had fallen but the adrenaline was wearing off by now. His tortured and sleep deprived body had been pushed to its limit and was now simply refusing to help him any further as exhaustion began to overwhelm him.
"I am so screwed." He mumbled, feeling the sharp, numbing sensation of something lodging itself into his right leg before the pain began to spread as blood poured from the wound and poison began to seep into his muscles, paralyzing him.
The group of ten hunters was upon him in less than a minute, attacking him with brutal kicks and punches, his paralyzed body unable to move as he was beaten. His eyes widened in shock as a steel toed boot connected with one of his arms and he felt the bone snap with an audible crack, yet no sounds escaped his lips.
In the distance, hidden behind a cloak of the strange grey-shadowed darkness that the trees provided, a pair of violet eyes observed everything from within the hood of a grey cloak. The eyes turned misty and glazed over as the hunters dragged the beaten, barely conscious blond towards a pair of horses and tied his arms to the back of one.
The blond hung limply like a rag doll as the horse took a couple of steps back and the rope loosened a little. The cloaked figure merged back with the shadows as the hunters dragged the mage back towards the Metropolis.
-0-
"Wow," Fai exclaimed in barely concealed amazement as they passed through the rotting door frame and emerged inside what appeared to be a magnificent tunnel, lit by torches places in brackets along the length of it at a distance of every few feet.
The archeologist in Syaoran itched to examine the carvings lining the entirety of the walls but he suppressed that feeling when he noticed his companions head towards the end of the tunnel where it seemed to be opening up into a cavern of some sorts. He could see people bustling about, going about their daily lives.
The injured girl in Kurogane's arm stirred a little but did not wake. Looking over his shoulder, he noticed that he could not see the entrance to the tunnel. Nothing but darkness was present where there should have been that rotting wooden frame.
As soon as they stepped past the dark threshold of the tunnel and into the comparatively brightly lit cavern, the people closest to them, stopped to turn and look at them through guarded eyes. Syaoran noticed that the area the tunnel had led to was a market place of sorts with wooden and metal poles holding up tents that housed the stalls of various vendors.
The cavern itself was at least a couple of hundred feet tall, if not more and several times that number in width and breadth. In the very centre, near the roof top, he spotted a crystal of sorts, providing the yellow glow that lit the space like a miniature sun.
As a group of men armed with staffs began advancing towards them, Syaoran felt his companions slide into defensive stances with him following suit seconds later.
"What business do you have here strangers?" the tallest man, apparently the leader, asked in a rough manner as he stepped forward, the lower end of his staff colliding with the floor in a threatening gesture. A crowd began forming a little distance behind the men.
"Oh god!" before any of them could answer him, a woman in the crowd gasped loudly. "It's Violetta!"
Hearing this, the leader let out a snarl, immediately going on the offensive as he swung his staff and a bright beam of pale purple energy seemed to shoot in the direction of the three dimension travelers.
Fai brought up his own hand in a sweeping motion to erect a shield that deflected the attack. Seeing their leader's attack dissipate into thin air, the other men sprang into action, swinging their staffs in the group's direction, several beams of crackling pale purple energy heading their way.
"Stop!" a calm authoritative voice rang out across the cavern and immediately the guards- that is what Syaoran assumed the armed men to be- stood down, their attacks fizzling out on the shield Fai had erected.
A low murmur began to ring throughout the crowd before sounds of shuffling feet reached the group's ears. Warily turning their heads in that direction, they noticed that the crowd had parted to make way for someone. "As the commander asked you before strangers," a tall, lithe figure stepped through the crowd and into their line of vision, "what business do you have here?"
This newcomer had his head bowed, his features hidden behind slightly long, dark yet unruly bangs, but he exuded an aura of incredible power. Something almost similar to what Syaoran was sure he had felt in the presence of the dimensional witch or that mirror-seer.
"Are you Blaze-san?" Fai inquired politely as he stepped in front of Kurogane and Syaoran, partially in an indication for them to let him do the talking and partially in an attempt to be able to counter any offensive moves sent their way by this newcomer.
"Who wishes to know?" the newcomer questioned in a calm tone and Syaoran for a moment thought he saw a flicker of recognition across Fai's face.
"Fai D Flourite," Fai gave a small flourishing bow as he introduced himself, "High Mage of the Royal Court of Celes at your service."
Hearing Fai's formal tone, Syaoran wondered just who exactly this person was. For Fai to be showing him this level of respect meant he had to be someone important and probably someone Fai knew of. His musings were cut short when the man lifted his head and the teen caught his first glimpse of the others face. Prepared as he was for this, he was definitely not expecting this person to be younger than Fai, even if he was a few years older than Syaoran himself.
"A dimension traveler," The young man said with a small nod. The age factor wasn't really what had startled him however. The thing that really threw him off was the pair of sparkless, grey eyes staring right through the blond mage. His sightless gaze flickered in Syaoran's and Kurogane's direction before moving back to Fai, "and who would those two be?"
"These are my companions, Syaoran Li, a renowned archeologist from Clow and Kurogane, a noble warrior of the Land of Nihon." Syaoran's brow shot up at hearing this but managed to keep the surprise from showing on his face. He had never been the archeologist in Clow. It was his father and cloned-self from the warped timeline that had been in that profession.
"A bit far from home, are you not, High Mage?" the grey-eyed teen questioned lightly.
"I have travelled much further, Oracle." Fai responded in an equally light yet formal tone confirming Syaoran's earlier suspicion of the magician knowing the teen.
"I can tell." The young man, Oracle, as Fai had addressed him, replied in a humorous tone. "Commander, order your men to stand down," he ordered, turning his sightless gaze towards the leader of the group of armed men, "These travelling mages mean no harm. Please bring Violetta to the healing chambers, Masooma will oversee her treatment."
With a brisk nod, the commander stepped forward and took the unconscious girl from Kurogane, turning on his heels as he raced down one of the many streets branching off the mouth of from the part of the market where they stood. The rest of the crowd dissipated slowly upon hearing the Oracle deem the dimension travelers harmless.
"It has been a while, hasn't it?" the Oracle grinned at Fai, once they were alone.
"It has been indeed," Fai replied, dropping the formalities as his trademark grin returning to his face, "Though I must say. I didn't expect to run into you, here of all places."
"Knowing me," the Oracle laughed, confusing Syaoran and -judging from the expression on his mentor's face- Kurogane to no end, "you should have come to expect it, Fai."
A/N: So I wonder who this Oracle is. And how does Fai know him? What's going to happen to Fai now that he's back in the hunters' clutches? Tune in next time to find out.
Till then. Ciao!