A/N: I must say it was rather hard to write this chapter down mainly because pretty much all my plunnies went on strike even though I have the plot outline finalized and all. In the two months since I last updated, I only got about four reviews. Normally I'm not once to complain about the number of reviews or anything but since it did have me kind of worried since the number plummeted from an average of 10 or 11 per chapter to a 4. What's wrong guys? Don't you like the story anymore? If you have something to complain about, I won't be able to change it unless you tell me. With that out of the way, enjoy the update.
Sakura hurried along the empty tunnels, trying to figure out where Fai could have gone. Given the fact that she had not been away from him for even five minutes, he could not have strayed too far, but the catacombs were a labyrinth designed to confuse whoever entered them. She could be stuck searching for him for days, maybe even missing him by mere feet. With the battle for Magihidusi having already begun- from the sounds of that explosion- she did not have the luxury of time on her hands. She had to find the blond vampire and get him back to the safe room. He was in no condition to defend himself, let alone fight an opponent on equal ground.
His magic was completely out of control and wild and his vampire half had been locked away. And who knew what might happen if the seal she had placed on him were to break somehow. The spell was not foolproof, after all and-oh, she had to find him as soon as she could. She had been entrusted to keep Fai and Tsubasa safe and she had failed rather spectacularly at that. What if the blond was recaptured? She knew he would never survive another round of the torture he had been put through. His mind was already so broken and fragile. The smallest of things could destroy him completely and it had already taken so much to get him to even be what he currently was.
As she took a quick right in this maze of never-ending tunnels, Sakura vowed to find Fai before anyone else did. They had all done so much to keep her other self safe during that journey, the blond playing the role of the mother that the princess never had- always lending an ear when she had felt insecure about something and always having something positive to say to her to bring her hopes up. She would repay him for what he did. She would protect him and keep him safe now just like he had done for her other self on that journey. She caught a flash of blond a little ways ahead and broke out into a run, just stopping herself from calling out for the blond at the last minute because only an idiot would alert possible enemies lurking about in the shadows to their position that way. She came to a tiny opening- there were numbers of those in these tunnel systems, tiny to medium-sized caverns that could house up to thirty men and still have room to spare-and felt her heart skip a beat.
This can't be happening.
Fai was there in the middle of the cave, looking around with such a hopelessly lost look on his face, blue eyes wandering, searching… but what made her blood run cold was the fact that there had to be at least five men-no, wait- five hunters leering at the magician with their weapons drawn and predatory gazes fixated on him. Only a second seemed to pass as she stood frozen where she was, but in that second, an eternity passed by. All those moments that she or her other self had ever passed with Fai flashed before her eyes: that time he taught her to bake, that time when they painted the sign board for the Cat's-Eye Café, that time when he comforted her as she wept over the loss of Syaoran in Infinity, that time when he brought her a cherry blossom-shaped hair clip from their journey, that time when he- she forced herself to snap out of those recollections because really, this wasn't the time or the place for her to flash back to the past.
Fai seemed to have realized that something was amiss, for he seemed to shrink in on himself before taking a step back. It broke her to see him so afraid, but she drew her swords and mentally promised the blond she'd keep him safe. Then she was racing towards the group of hunters with an enraged battle-cry, descending upon those monsters like a fury, magic automatically crackling above her skin in excitement for the battle ahead. Fai retreated to one of the tunnels leading away from the cavern and Sakura saw two of the hunters break off from the group fighting her to chase after the blond, but she was there before them.
"I'll be your opponent." She hissed in a voice so foreign that for a fraction of a moment even she had to wonder if she had been the one to speak at all. Before she could think on it, though, a bullet whizzed through the air towards her and the fight began.
-0-
Blood rushed through her veins as she ducked under a strike aimed for her head and whirled around with a kick, sending the man flying into the wall. Magic rose at a wordless command from her, dancing around her in crimson threads as tiny shrapnel from the rubble of a destroyed building behind her shot towards the man she had just knocked down. He only had a fraction off a second to widen his eyes in shock before the projectiles were embedded deep in his body, a wordless gurgle emerging from his throat as he slumped back to the ground and moved no more.
"So Bauld was right about you after all," drawled the silver-haired woman from where she stood, coal-colored eyed narrowed at Masooma in what could have been a contemplative look before she glanced at the party of four hunters standing next to her. "Well, boys, looks like the little Guardian-bitch has finally gotten some guts. How about you put her back in her place? Whoever knocks her down can have the first round with her."
Masooma shot a glare at the woman that could have burnt the entirety of Magihidusi a hundred times over in the blink of an eye if such a thing were possible before the witch had to divert her attention towards the hunters coming her way. She could not afford to lose. Not here. Not like this. Not to someone like them.
Deciding she did not actually want to keep any of these monsters alive-for they were not human, not with those leering grins and those hate-filled eyes- she spun around her staff, an arc of crimson slicing through the air though the hunters raised their respective weapons to neutralize the magical attack. Not pausing for even half a breath, she blasted off another spell, intent on using the magic as a distraction for her physical attacks. Blocking a battle-axe with her staff, Masooma rolled out of the trajectory of the brown-eyed man attacking her, flipping to her feet and bending backwards the next moment to avoid the sword that tried to slice her in half. A heavy war-hammer slammed into the ground where she had been only a second later as the close proximity of the Cerellium weapons seemed to drain her of her magic.
Dodging out of the way of more attacks, Masooma slowly began to lead her attackers towards the unstable building she had had some of the patrol guard rig for her earlier in the day. Her gaze flickered to where the silver-haired woman stood, observing the fight with a gleeful expression. Blocking the battle-axe swinging towards her head using her staff, she concentrated on a rune-less spell, activating the trap as she pushed the man back with a cry and jumped out of the way as an unstable wall came crashing down on two hunters. She smiled grimly as flecks of blood sprayed her face. Two down, three to go.
The apprentice licked her lips as she met Masooma's cool gaze, anticipation lighting up the former's dark eyes as her mouth formed a twisted smile. Unwinding the whip she had attached to her belt, she cracked the Cerellium weapon in the air as she took a step towards the witch.
"They say never send a man to do a woman's job."
A whoosh through the air alerted Masooma of the sword coming for her head- all of them seemed rather intent on decapitating her. Hurriedly erecting a shield behind her, she tried to slow the weapon's progress even as she brought her staff around to block the strike.
"But then again," she heard the woman say as the witch tried to push the burly man away,"men do seem to have their uses."
-0-
Kurogane was pissed. No. He was beyond pissed. That useless Oracle had told him to find the fucking Essence and unseal the damn thing. How the hell was he supposed to do that when he didn't even know just what the hell it was supposed to look like or what this spell he supposedly could use was? It should have been the Oracle coming here after the Essence with Kurogane back in that cave fighting the hunter and buying him time, not the other way around.
He clambered to his feet, eyes slowly adjusting to the seemingly-dark cave, though the longer he stood where he was, the more he could feel the vibrations of… something, warm and gentle, playful and innocent-yet indescribably unyielding and cruel. He looked up and past the veil of darkness that seemed to blind his senses, he could sense the thing. Well…it looked like he had found the Essence. Closing his eyes, he tried to locate the foreign warmth that had buried itself inside his body in the other cave when he had the vision, but the power was nowhere to be seen. On top of that, melting into shape right in front of him was the Shaman without her cloak.
It's not Tomoyo, he mentally reminded himself even as her familiar face seemed to observe him rather closely. This…this thing…it wasn't the princess. It wasn't even anything like any other world's version of his princess. It was her complete opposite in everything except its looks. Its aura was violent and dark and angry, magic too inhuman and behavior too…unlike the Nihonian priestess for him to actually connect the two on any level beyond their physical appearance. Immediately on guard, he brought his sword up in a defensive stance that could just as easily be switched to something offensive as he glared at the apparition through narrowed eyes.
"Back for more?" he growled low in his throat, pushing away everything about this thing before him that tried to remind him of Tomoyo. No one had ever seen the Shaman's face before, so…maybe this was just the bastard's way of throwing him off guard. It was taking on the face of someone he cared about just to mess with his head. Yeah, that was probably it.
"What are your intentions for the Essence, mortal?" the thing asked in her voice, though it was still far too cool and inhuman. It was like someone had taken the princess and morphed and mutated her into this thing that stood before him. There was no way at all that this could ever be Tomoyo.
"You damn well know what my intentions are." He responded. Still on guard, he took a calculated step in the Shaman's direction.
"You are correct. We do know." The Shaman nodded, "But we do not believe you. Prove to us that you truly are worthy of this task the Oracle has entrusted you with."
"What are you getting at?" he couldn't help but narrow his eyes in suspicion. "Are you saying that if I prove myself worthy you'll let me get on with the unsealing? I won't be letting you go back on your word to heal the mage."
The Shaman merely quirked the right edge of its lips in something resembling the mockery of a smile before magic from all around the cave rushed towards him in a torrent of blinding, scalding light. Closing his eyes against the assault, he turned to his sixth sense, yelling out the name of a technique that would hopefully be strong enough to defend him from the assault. "Chi Ryu Jinenbu!"
Golden light erupted from his blade, swirling around him in a torrent of power, snarling and raging like the most ancient of dragons as it pushed back against the Shaman's attack. Sweat began to bead his brow as he tried to concentrate on keeping the technique up long enough for the attack to fizzle out. Unable to see any way out of the assault, the ninja shifted his stance and sliced through the air. "Hikougeki!" he cried, cutting a way out of the trap as he raced after the lightning dragon and swung his sword at the Shaman's head. The being merely swung its hand and a dark spell sent the warrior flying across the cavern and crashing into the wall.
The Essence above him began to grow agitated, snake-like tendrils reaching out to probe the cavern beneath it before retracting as an angry buzz echoed all around the cave, like a swarm of angry bees just waiting to strike.
"No mortal has ever dared to set foot in this sacred place without our permission." The Shaman drawled in a condescending manner as it slowly approached Kurogane who struggled to climb back to his feet. Every inch of his body hurt and his muscles and bones screamed in protest against all movement even as he pushed himself off the ground. "Did you really think a weakling like you could just walk in here and undo what we have spent a millennia protecting? This is your last chance to forfeit. Leave before our hand is forced."
"You immortal bastards think you're so high and mighty." He spat a mouthful of blood and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand as he glowered at the thing that dared to wear his princess's face. "I'd die before turning my back on my friends."
"Very well then," the Shaman drew itself to its full height as the Essence itself began to trickle down the walls and envelop the entity within its cocoon as it walked towards the panting Kurogane, "this cave shall be your grave." It said, pausing only half a foot away from the warrior, cold, lavender eyes boring into his own as he tried not to flinch at the raw power now radiating off of the thing. The Tomoyo look-alike summoned the darkest of spells in the palm of her hand as she looked at him without any emotion whatsoever. Knowing he was dying either way, he turned Ginryuu and thrust the sword hilt-deep into the Shaman's chest just as the spell shot off towards his head. The last thing he saw was the slightest widening of Tomoyo's- no, the Shaman's eyes-as the world vanished around him.
A/N: Sakura is being a total badass but will she be strong enough to protect Fai from the hunters? And will Masooma be able to take on the hunter's apprentice and her lackies at the same time? So Kurogane stabbed the Shaman but did he succeed in defeating it? Or did they both kill each other off? I left you off on a cliffie here but hopefully my plunnies will be inspired enough for me to actually finish this fic off sooner than later. Remember, reviews feed and inspire the plunny so let's all help them out by leaving more reviews.
P.S. Guys, check out the companion fic I wrote to this titled 'The Breaking'. It covers the reason why Shaman shares Tomoyo's face. ;)