"And this is where we grow our food." Masooma told him with a hint of pride to her tone as she stopped the wheelchair next to a seemingly endless pasture. She had decided to bring him out of his room after feeding him and letting him rest for a little while. "The sunlight is plenty thanks to the enchantments placed on the ceiling of this cavern so even if this light is only magical in nature it's almost like we're growing food on the surface. It's pretty convenient I'd say. We can have the sun at any time of the day that we want."
"Masooma-san…" his throat flashed as he struggled to speak, his eyes dully staring at his knees, "why are you… helping me?"
"Because even if you don't remember it," she replied softly, "we were friends, Syaoran. And you are very important to someone I love."
"Who… is it?" he asked hesitantly, almost looking like he expected her to hit him for his question. She only gave him a sad smile in return as she shook her head.
"I'll tell you about him someday." She perked up, "now, how about we go soak in a little bit of sunlight, hmm? You sure look like you could use a few hours' worth."
"…okay." He nodded slowly.
"Great." She beamed brightly, pushing the wheelchair towards the small walkways built in the middle of the field that led to a raised platform with a few tables and chairs set up on it. "We'll enjoy some sun and I'll tell you about a few of misadventures as an apprentice to a High Mage. There was this one time I was practicing transportation spells and…" Chattering animatedly, she led him into the magical sunlight, mentally working on her plans to go about his healing.
-0-
Fai was dragged out of his tiny cell with his arms still tied behind his back. He could hear Syaoran following right behind him as he was moved through various corridors and down various stairways until they reached a corridor that smelt musty and damp, the stench of blood permeating the air like a thick cloud. His captors' destination seemed to be the heavy-looking door at the end of the corridor. It had a small square glass panel fit near the top but apart from that panel, it was made completely out of metal. A muffled yelp escaped his throat as he was unceremoniously pushed through the doorway before it closed behind him. Just as his captors grabbed him arms once more, it hit him like a punch to the gut that Syaoran had frozen in the hallways outside. Fai struggled against his captors' hold, trying to attract the spirit's attention without drawing the attention of the hunters, panic setting it's on his mind. He couldn't be leaving him, not now!
In a desperate attempt to capture the apparition's attention, he cried out the brunette's name, though it came out as nothing more than a gurgle. Whatever they had given him made his tongue feel like it had swollen to twice its usual size. Ignoring his struggles, they hoisted him upwards onto a long, flat, metal table, quickly untying his hands and clicking thick metal cuffs around his wrists and ankles, pulling a leather strap over his abdomen. He squirmed uselessly in his place as the fear he had been working so hard to keep at bay threatened to overwhelm him.
"Now, no more of that jerking around, Fai." Said the voice that had been crooning inside his head all night. "After all, you move around too much and I might damage that precious magical core."
"You know you like it Fai."
A strangled gasp escaped his lips as the woman stepped into his line of vision, grinning widely as she held up a thin silver blade with a tapered edge. He shook his head, struggling to push away from her but held in place by the metal cuffs. Eyes wide with fear, he watched she brought the blade to his face. He flinched as she drew a thin line along his left cheek, slowly licking the blood off the metal tip. It became harder and harder to draw every successive breath as she grinned at him, growing closer and closer until their noses almost touched. "What's the matter, Fai?"
"Not so powerful now, are you Fai?"
No! Struggling to shake his head, he opened his mouth trying to scream as he failed to call on his magic. Why wasn't it coming? Why couldn't he feel it? Where… where was his magic? He had to get away. He needed to get away. He did not want her to be near him. He… he did not want to stay there. He had to find a way out of that place. Away from her. Somewhere far away where she wouldn't be able to… why wasn't his magic coming forth? And where was Syaoran? He had promised he'd stay with him but he had left him alone. He had told him to hold on and wait for the others but… he had just left him alone. With her! Why… Why had he gone back on his word?
"You're weak."
Why hadn't the others come for him? Where were they? He knew how hard it was to break in to this place. What if… what if they had decided he was not worth the effort? What if they thought he wasn't important enough to be saved? What if they didn't care for him anymore… it had been so long ago since he had come here to save Syaoran.
"Pathetic."
Trembling uncontrollably, he could only look as she reached inside her jacket and brought out the same blade as the one she had used on him numerous times before. Eyes wide, he shook his head as she brought the knife to his chest, carving a shallow cut in his skin that stung when she traced it with a nail. Grinning ferally, she met his stare for a moment, something shifting behind her eyes as she plunged the nail into his flesh, ripping a strangled cry from his throat. It hurt. It hurt so much.
Pain. That was all he had known for so long. How long ago had it been now when it had all started? Three months? Four? A year perhaps? He couldn't recall anything anymore.
"What's wrong, Fai?" her breath brushed against the shell of his ear as her hair tickled his flesh. He froze, the feeling of phantom hands roaming all over him, robbing his frozen body of all warmth as they raked patterns across his skin, her teeth, biting, nipping and scratching, her lips… something inside of him snapped, letting forth a side of him that only ever came out to protect him. Growling like a deranged animal, he arched his back against the table, muscles straining as strength born of fear and desperation worked to break his bonds.
"Still fighting, Fai?" the woman crooned, laughing in delight as he snapped his teeth at her just as she drew back. His claws gouged deeply into the metal surface with sickening screeches as he pushed against it. Thrashing wildly against his bonds, he snarled at the woman when she came close again, "Go to hell!" the paralyzing effect of the Cerelium cuffs diminished enough for him to be able to speak when his vampire side came forth.
"How do you do that?" her tone took a curious edge as she fingered his face, her nails tracing down his right cheek. Growling deep in his throat, he snapped at her hand again. "You truly are one of a kind, Fai." She grinned as she withdrew her hand, twirling her knife in the fingers of her other. "It's too bad we have been ordered to do this now. I would have loved to push you to your limits."
He cried out in pain as she slammed the knife in his shoulder, the metal grinding nauseatingly against bone. Even as he struggled to free himself, he could feel its paralyzing effects acting on his body. He caught a flash of silver as the woman turned away from him and began fiddling with something in a metal tray on a smaller table a little ways away from him.
"What is the source of your magic?"
His breath froze inside his chest. It all made sense now. They… they no longer needed him alive. They had found other uses for him… Oh God! They were- the woman placed the tapered blade in his field of vision as she grinned at him before turning back to the smaller table. He heard the snap of rubber as the woman pulled on a pair of white gloves. Humming cheerfully, she delicately picked up the blade and circled around the table he was strapped on to, to the wall above his head. There was a soft click that interrupted her humming as a glaring light pierced his eyes. Automatically his lids slid shut to protect his eyes from the assault of that blinding light.
"Ready Fai?" she crooned as he cracked his eyes open.
No! He struggled to shake his head, only managing in making her grin wider, Oh God, please no. the grin transformed into a frown as he began to fight off the effects of Cerelium embedded in his shoulder, struggling wildly. The strap around his torso tore apart with a loud snap as his back arched impossibly high. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't… oh God, he couldn't find his magic. He had to get away. He… had to get away! She was going to kill him. He couldn't die. Masooma was waiting for him to come back. He couldn't leave her waiting for him forever. He had promised her he'd be okay. He… he promised her and he- where was his magic!
The shackles began to creak as he pulled, blood flowing freely from the wounds around his wrists and ankles, the metallic odor consuming his senses as he fought, causing his mind to blank out for a moment.
He did not feel it as the metal pierced his flesh, tearing open the muscles with its sharp tip as he thrashed about but he definitely felt the burning liquid as it flowed through his veins, paralyzing his body as it spread through his bloodstream. Fear like he had never felt it before, violently clenched its icy claws around his heart, squeezing painfully hard as he fell limp against the metal surface, with only his eyes retaining their ability to move. All expressions of mirth gone from her face, the woman stepped into his field of vision once more.
"What a curious creature you are." She murmured, her eyes roaming all over his body as her cold, icy fingers traced his cheek, trailing down his jaw-line to his neck to his chest all the way to his navel. "Such a pity we have to do this now." She breathed almost regretfully as she raised the tapered knife and lowered it to his skin.
Oh God… she was going to slice him open. She was going to slice him open while he was still awake!
"No matter," She shook her head positioning the blade properly and pressing down lightly, "I'm still quite curious to find out what makes you tick."
-0-
"You pick up a few things when travelling with that idiot," he grumbled in a way of explanation as the two of them trudged through the tunnels that led to the underground city. Unfortunately, they ended up getting rather lost when they took a wrong turn, making the walk that should only have been about five minutes long take thrice as long.
"I see." She nodded, "I thought it was because you had been part of Tomoyo-hime's guard for so long, you had been able to intimidate them so easily."
"Being Tomoyo-hime's most trusted bodyguard helped as well," he responded gruffly, "I was put in charge of a bunch of morons. Although, they were a little less dumb when compared to the ones we came across today." He added with a little scoff as they came upon the entrance to a brilliantly lit cave.
"I thought it was night." Sakura murmured in confusion as she squinted at the sun glaring down at them from the middle of the opening in the cave.
"Enchantments," Kurogane grunted, "this is the place where they grow their food since they sure as hell can't do it outside."
"It's quite an amazing piece of magic," she commended, "I've never seen anything like it before."
"You should see some of the other things these mages have done," he shook his head, "I still don't understand why they don't just fight back against those hunters. The Mage kept blabbering about some pact with the Shaman. If I were in their place, I'd cut off the head of that damned bastard and go after those hunters."
"Maybe the Shaman is too powerful for them to oppose?"
"Then why doesn't that bastard do something to help these idiots himself? It's almost like he enjoys their misery."
"…"
"Princess?" Kurogane turned his gaze away from the magical sun and turned to look at the girl beside him. She seemed to be staring at something in the field with bloodshot eyes. He followed her line of vision and felt his breath catch in his throat.
"Syaoran…" right there in the middle of the fields on a raised platform sat the brunette in a wheelchair with the medic seated o,kn bench. The raven-head appeared to be talking rather animatedly, though her voice was too soft to carry over to them. He saw the crippled boy nod lightly at various intervals- a small, barely there smile adorning his lips. Though his eyes still held that vacant look.
"Come on, Princess," he said, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder, "We should leave before he sees us." As though drawn by the ninja's words, Syaoran turned to look in their direction, the smile vanishing from his face as he grew white as a sheet.
"Kurogane, Miss Sakura," Captain Numero's voice interrupted whatever the two were about to do. "Nixon has requested you come to his chambers immediately. It is a matter of utmost importance that you speak with him as soon as possible. He asked me to pass on a message. 'Time's up.'"
"Direct us to our rooms first." Kurogane ordered as he followed the man, pulling the princess along before she could have done something foolish like going after Syaoran. There was the issue of their wish to consider after all. "We need to pick something up before we go meet with him."
A/N: Things are going hell in a hand basket for Fai. In the words of my Beta, it's a race against the clock now. Who think the others will beat it and make it to Fai in time? Pretty much everyone wants a piece of her by now but who should be the one to kill the nameless woman in your opinion? I have someone in mind but I'd still like to hear who you think deserves to strike that blow.