A/N: I was about to head to bed right now but then I saw this file lying in my documents and I figured I might as well post it before I go. I'm too braindead to think of anything good to say at the moment except maybe giving a slight reassurance to all those waiting for the next updates on my other fics. I'm working on the chapters, even if progress is a bit slow right now since I'm swamped with work. This new semester schedule is hectic and mentally tiring T_T. I can't find much free time these days so that is my only excuse for not updating timely.
Excuses aside, this chapter finally reveals Syaoran's fate as well as what's going on in the world Fai is in and why Mokona isn't around. So I guess it's safe to say that quite a lot of stuff happens here. I hope you'll enjoy it.
"Oye, Hime! Get over here." He grunted, raising his hand to Syaoran's nose to feel him breathe. "Fuck! The kid isn't breathing."
Sakura's heart skipped a beat, but instead of doing what the ninja had asked of her, she raised her hand and waved it in the air once, a gold staff materializing before her. Taking it in one hand, she slammed one end of it on the ground, looking at the horrified spirit in front of her in an apologetic manner.
"I'm sorry Syaoran-san, but this is the only way," she said to him as the amber-eyed apparition broke out of his stupor and made to move to his son's side. A magic circle appeared beneath his feet, looking very much like the circle that the high priest of the Clow he had lived in had used to send him and his Sakura to Yuuko. "Time flows differently in that world then it does here, but please tell Fai-san we'll come as soon as we can."
Before the spirit could respond in any manner, smoky tendril the shades of a rainbow wrapped themselves around his form, the air around them shimmering before they vanished, taking the spirit of the once-clone Syaoran along with them.
Dropping her staff, Sakura whirled around, rushing to Syaoran, her hands giving off a pale rose-gold glow as she placed them on his chest.
"His heart has stopped," she choked out, her fearful jade eyes moving to the teen's face. His lips were slightly parted, eyes closed in a rather peaceful expression in his death, but Sakura couldn't imagine her future without him in it.
She barely heard Kurogane's swears as she pumped her beloved's chest rhythmically, before pinching his nose as she pressed her lips against his, forcing air in his lungs. Letting go, she moved back to pumping his chest before repeating her earlier motion. It was on her fourth attempt that Syaoran took in a shuddering gasp as soon as Sakura let up, managing to keep on breathing on his own as tears of gratitude and joy welled up in her eyes while Kurogane's shoulder's sagged visibly in relief. But while the chocolate haired boy was breathing again, it did not mean he was out of danger just yet.
Knowing full well that she had almost completely exhausted her magical reserves by sending Syaoran's spirit to the world Fai was in, Sakura started administering healing magic on the teen lying on the bed. Kurogane silently observed her work, not daring to interrupt until she showed signs of passing out. He quietly exited the room, looking for the high priest, Yukito. He returned with said man in tow not five minutes later so that he could relieve the princess and take over the job of healing his student.
Sakura refused to leave Syaoran's side, however, sitting quietly on a chair next to his bed as she held his hand in her own slim fingers, watching the silver-haired man work through tired green eyes.
"Syaoran-san was clearly stronger of the two," she said quietly, feeling the need to explain her actions to Kurogane, "when his spirit was separated from Syaoran's body, he started taking energy from Syaoran to keep on existing in this world."
"I thought you said the bead's energy would have been enough." Kurogane interrupted, narrowing his eyes at her.
"It ought to have been enough, but seeing as how Syaoran-san resisted the separation, it needed more energy to break the bond, thus depleting the amount of energy left behind to sustain his separated soul. Unknowingly, Syaoran-san began looking for alternative sources and began leeching off of the only source available to him at the time."
"You mean the kid's presence was what almost killed this kid?"
Sakura nodded weakly, not tearing her eyes away from the sight of Syaoran. "I'm going to try again and look at his memories in the morning." She announced after a while, just as Yukito was climbing to his feet to leave for the night.
"Sakura-hime, are you sure that's such a good idea?" he asked apprehensively, looking at the ninja for some sort of support.
"I'm sure, Yukito-san." She met his gaze unflinchingly, "It's up to us to heal Syaoran and we can't do that until we know what happened to him in the first place."
"But you don't have to be the one to plunge into his memories." A voice Kurogane had not heard so far spoke as its owner stepped through the doors.
"Touya-nii-san," Sakura greeted him with a strained smile, her exhaustion showing through, "Welcome back."
"We could have one of the priests look at them. With your ability to feel the emotions of everyone around you, you'll be sure to feel whatever it was that the brat went through."
"My powers don't work that way and you know it, Nii-san," she said somberly, refusing to meet his gaze. At that moment she had an uncanny resemblance to Fai when he tried to hide something, making Kurogane suspect that what the prince had said held some merit after all. "Besides, I want to do this for him."
"Kaijuu," Touya started seriously, only to be interrupted by the young princess. "I'll be fine, Nii-san."
He opened his mouth to argue some more, but seeing the look of desperation in his sister's face as she finally looked at him and the sight of the brat's unmoving, pale body lying on the bed in the background made him relent. "On one condition, you won't look through his memories in their entirety."
"What? But, Touya-" she started to protest only to be cut off by the dark-haired prince, "Let me finish, Sakura." Hearing the use of her actual name, Sakura fell silent. "I said you won't look through his memories in their entirety. Just long enough for you to get an idea of what happened to him. I don't want you to suffer unnecessarily."
Hearing his consent, she flashed him another smile, this one, tinged with happiness and gratitude.
"We should respect the brat's right to the privacy of his memories. When you're done healing him, he'll tell you about it himself, if he feels the need to share. Don't take that away from him." Then without another word, he turned around and left.
-0-
"Yes, and get the fifth squad to reinforce the wards on the southern entrance."
"Nixon." The blind Oracle felt the familiar, deep crimson aura approach him from the distance.
"Our provisions are cutting short as well." The captain walking alongside him, Neumro of squad one, informed him.
"Get Violetta to assemble a raid party in that case." Nixon said in response, as they slowed down and came to a halt outside the central building, "The hunters have increased their security, so include four Concealers in the group."
"Nixon," Masooma called out again as she caught up with the Oracle and Neumro.
"Come find me after an hour's time," Nixon told the captain calmly, ignoring his healer friend for now, "I'll be outside the council's chambers."
"Sir," the captain saluted, nodding his head once in the direction of a rather incensed Masooma before taking his leave. Once the sound of his footsteps receded, fading away to silence, Nixon turned his sightless gaze in her direction expectantly, waiting for her to start.
"It's been three weeks, Nixon!" she exploded, "How much longer are we going to sit around and do nothing at all? We can't keep on waiting and hoping his companions will come and rescue him from that place."
"Masooma," he sighed tiredly, pinching the bridge of his nose with his forefingers. "listen-"
"No!" she yelled angrily, "You listen to me. You have no idea what it's like in that place. Those bastards will destroy him like they did with Syaoran. We can't let that happen to Fai, too."
When Nixon remained silent, she plowed on, "You said so yourself that time flows differently in worlds. What's been three weeks here might just be four days in Clow. Bearing that in mind, we can't just hope for his friends to pop up all of a sudden."
"…."
"Every second we waste doing nothing could bring him closer to…" she trailed off, blinking back tears as memories of her own time in captivity threatened to surface, "it might be too late by the time his companions get here." She whispered pleadingly.
"Masooma," he said in a tone she knew far too well. "You know I'm helpless in this case."
"That's a load of bull and you know it!" she shrieked angrily, repeating what she had been telling him every single day for the last three weeks. "You're the Oracle, for crying out loud!"
"And that is precisely why I can't do anything!" he exploded all of a sudden, a magical whiplash leaving deep gouge-like marks in the stone wall behind them as his emotions got the best of him. "You say I have no idea about what he's going through? I am the Oracle, Masooma." Masooma took a step back in alarm, her anger dissolving into a look of fear and bewilderment, "The fucking Oracle, damn it! You think I want for him to suffer like that? You think I enjoy knowing what Syaoran went through? What Violetta went through? What you went through? What… what he's going through?"
He took in a deep breath, hoping to calm his raging feelings before he ended up tearing the building apart. Putting the destroyed buildings back together was not fun at all, "I may not be all seeing and I may not be able to feel what those around me feel," he sighed, speaking in voice of forced calm, "but don't forget that I still know what's happening to those connected to me. All the time."
"Nixon," she stared in an apologetic tone, realizing just how bad the Oracle had it in this case.
"The feeling of helplessness, knowing about the pain your loved ones suffer yet being unable to do anything about it. That's the worst kind of torture." He said softly, "There is a reason why Yuuko wanted for that wish to end. She knew the fates of those who stepped in her shop yet the price for knowing just that forbade her from ever telling them about it."
"I'll just end up upsetting this world's already precarious balance if I try to interfere any more than I already have." He sighed, turning around to leave. "You know how things work in this world. Those sworn to the Magihidusi cannot help anyone captured by the hunters."
"That's what landed us in this hellhole in the first place," she agreed bitterly, remembering what Nixon had to agree to in order for that old man to help him rescue her from the hunters all those years ago.
-0-
"Can you tell me where you guys landed when you came to this world?" Masooma asked as she held her glowing hands in place above Mokona's immobile body. The magical creature had yet to wake up from the state of unconsciousness that it had been knocked into upon their arrival.
"It appeared like a square in the city." Syaoran answered helpfully.
"Did you pass through any glowing silver shield as you came here?" she asked sharply, her eyes narrowing in alarm.
"Moko-chan might have warped us through one." Fai responded, his tone lacking its usual cheerfulness. Kurogane's frowned deepened. So the mage had noticed something funny about those seemingly innocent-looking shimmering sheets of silver in the city. If the look on his face was anything to go by, this was rather serious.
"The hunters erected those shields after the last Great War," Masooma told them sadly, "they're meant to put any mage using magic within their parameter into a non-reversible coma."
"Isn't there any way to counter its effects?" Syaoran asked, his eyes darting worriedly at the stiff form of the white dimension hopper.
"The only known cure lies deep within the heart of the Metropolis." She answered, shaking her head.
"Then we'll just go and get that." Kurogane said simply, climbing to his feet, not missing the look of fear on the raven-haired healer's face as she jumped to her feet.
"What? You can't just walk into the Metropolis and come out unscathed."
"Listen, girl," Kurogane said in a somewhat irritated tone. The manju bun needed help and here this witch was being over-dramatic and stopping them from doing something to help the magical creature. "I really don't see what the big deal is about going to some place if we want to."
"No!" she hissed angrily, her amber eyes glaring at him in a mixture of fear and hatred, "you will not go to the Metropolis, understand?" she looked at Fai and Syaoran, "none of you will, you hear me?" and then without waiting from a response from any of them, she stormed out of their chambers.
"You were right about one thing, Nixon," Fai said seriously, his confused gazed fixed on the door Masooma had just vanished through. "She has changed. What happened to her?"
"Wouldn't it be better if you told your companions of our history before we delve into that?" the Oracle responded, "I'm sure they'll be able to better understand the significance of the change in her if they know about it."
"I can always tell them about it later," Fai quipped, crossing his arms across his chest, narrowing his eyes at the blind man, who for some reason seemed to be fidgeting under the blonde's gaze even when he couldn't see Fai.
"I'd appreciate it if you told them now instead of later."
"You were never one to stall, Nixon," the blue-eyed mage spoke. "What happened to you two?"
"Oye, Mage, since it's clear he's not going to talk until you do," Kurogane decided to interrupt, not willing to sit around and watch the two argue while they could be helping the meat bun. The kid would begin to feel the effects of his wish pretty soon, so they had to be sure they could leave this place when the time came. For that to happen though, they would need a conscious bejeweled dimension hopper. "Why not just get it over with and tell us what he wants us to know. What's such a big deal with this whole Oracle shit and how do you know this guy and that bipolar girl?"
Shooting one last look in the blind Oracle's direction, Fai turned to pout at him.
"Impatient as always, ne, Kuro-tan?" sitting down on the bed Mokona had been placed on, he gestured for the two to sit down as well. This was clearly going to take some time. "As you already know, I was the Celesian Court's High Mage. Not to brag or anything, but I was considered to be a true prodigy by my teachers and when I was still around the same physical age as Syaoran-kun at the beginning of our journey, I had already earned my title of the D-type magician."
"You mean the D in your name is actually a title?" Syaoran seemed surprised by this little piece of information.
"As a matter of fact, Syaoran-kun," Fai laughed in response, "it is. The highest order any Mage can hope to achieve."
"So you were a brainy runt," Kurogane scoffed, "Big deal. What's that got to do with him?" he cocked his head in at the Oracle.
"I was getting there, Kuro-grumpy," Fai responded lightly, "Now as I was saying, I had earned my title by the time I was the physical age of Syaoran-kun at the start of our journey, which would be around fourteen years I think, right, Syaoran-kun?" For some reason, Kurogane couldn't help but feel that the smug tone was not directed at him, but their grey-eyed host.
"I thought you promised to stop rubbing it in my face after I saved your ass?" Nixon's irritated response confirmed the ninja's theory.
"Hmm… you're right. I did promise that, didn't I?" the magician responded thoughtfully, continuing before he got hurt. Kurogane was clearly losing his patience with the blond seeing how easily he kept on drifting off topic. "Well, anyhow, my memories never covered these points of my life for some reason when Ashura-ou showed them to you. I guess he never thought them to be as important or relevant to the point he was trying to make at the time, but life in Celes wasn't just limited to me going out to help a few stricken villages and battling monsters and magical menaces." He paused for a couple of seconds, "I was also training to compete for the place of the next Oracle."
A/N: A surprising lack of torture in this chapter, I know, but the next one will hopefully make up for it. As it's all going to be about Fai. ;) ;)
Speaking of our favorite mage, Fai was going to be the Oracle! Next chapter's sneak peeks and dedications for anyone who can correctly guess why he never became the Oracle. I've actually been dropping major hints about the reason ever since the current Oracle, Nixon was introduced but you guys might have to look a little deeper into it to find out.
Anywho, I'm really getting sleepy so I'm off to bed now. Don't forget to leave a review and your thoughts on why Fai failed to make it. Don't worry about getting it wrong. I swear I won't bite. ;)
-Nims