Chapter Eighty-Five

Fai's scream dragged Syaoran back from unconsciousness. He lifted his head, body responding sluggishly. His limbs felt heavy, as if his veins had been pumped full of lead. I have to do . . . something, he thought, as Fai's shriek died away. Part of him wondered why Fai was yelling his own name. But . . . no, that didn't make sense. Right. He's not Fai. He's Yuui. The other twin.

Yes, that sounded right. Syaoran took a deep breath, trying to hear what Kurogane was snarling at the magician. Through the sound of breaking glass—of fracturing memories—he could barely make out one word in five. Only when Kurogane raised his voice and turned to Ashura could Syaoran make sense of the words. "Do you really have to keep this farce going? All of this is being ripped apart by the seams! What are you plotting that forces you to show us the past?"

The king smiled, and though his voice sounded soft and polite, Syaoran could detect the faint echo of magic making it audible across the whole room. "All I ask is for my wish to be granted." His dark eyes flitted to Fai's crumpled form. "Fai. You promised, did you not? You promised you would bring death to anyone who threatens the people of our country, no matter who that person may be."

The oppressive magic flared again, and with it came a barrage of images: the king's hand, dripping blood; Fai's face, tight with the pain of betrayal; coils of magic twisting around the king, nudging him into a deep slumber. Syaoran closed his eyes, sorrow flooding his chest as the visions burned themselves into his mind.

"I can't do it!" Fai cried, still lying on the floor where Kurogane had pinned him. "You're the one who took me away from that valley. You were the first person who treated us with anything approaching kindness, whatever your motives. I can't kill you."

The king smiled, his face unchanging. "Then I shall continue what I started." He raised a hand. Syaoran braced himself for another wave of dizziness. He still felt the taint of the king's magic pressing down on his mind. It was taking everything he had to stay focused, to keep crawling toward the center of the chaos in the hopes that he'd be able to do something about it.

But the crushing weight didn't come. Instead, the pool next to Ashura erupted, water gushing upward like a fountain. A figure emerged from the pool, a slight body covered in black and white, arms bare. And then the shapes and colors came together, and Syaoran recognized the figure.

"Sakura-chan!" Fai cried.

"Sakura . . ."

"Amazing, isn't it?" Ashura remarked, looking at Sakura as if studying a piece of art. "She has no soul, yet still she lives."

"You—" Fai began. Ashura cut him off.

"This is the same as the magic you used when you changed that feather into human form, Fai. You created that child—Chii, was it?—to resemble your late mother."

Fai shot to his feet, his arm streaking out in a wide arc. Magic, raw and unshaped, exploded from his fingertips, shooting toward his king. At the same time, Kurogane charged, sword in hand.

The game has changed, Syaoran thought, rebelling against the darkness threatening to drag him under. Ashura deflected the magic missiles, summoning translucent disks in the air to absorb them. One of the spells broke through, grazing the king's side.

"It seems this young girl is very important to you," Ashura said, looking toward Fai. He raised one hand, etching runes in the air in much the same manner Fai had. Rippling spheres of energy shot toward all of them.

Syaoran reacted instinctively, raising an arm to cover his face. He heard a sickening thud, like a bird flying into a window, then felt the gentle ripples of Fai's magic near his face. A shield, Syaoran realized. A moment later, another barrage of magic forced him to duck behind the force-field. It's not going to hold for long.

He sucked in a deep breath, wincing as the shield fractured down the center. The next attack shattered it, leaving him exposed, and Syaoran felt the dark magic slicing into his skin.

"Syaoran!" Fai shouted Ashura's magic smashed through the barrier.

Kurogane turned, nausea roiling in his stomach. He'd seen the shield collapse from the corner of his eye, heard the sizzle of magic. No, he thought, heart racing. No. Not the kid. Not now. Please, not the kid . . .

Tendrils of magic wrapped around Kurogane's body, pinning him where he stood as spears of ice shot toward the boy. Syaoran looked up, his eyes glazed with pain. The sharpened icicles struck him in the shoulder, the chest, the face. Blood spattered across the floor.

"Don't do it!" Fai shouted suddenly, and Kurogane almost yelled at him. Couldn't he see that the damage was already done? Didn't he realize how badly the kid was hurt?

Still conscious, the kid lifted his head, blood dripping down a cut on his cheek. His dark brown eyes flickered to Kurogane's face, and if he hadn't been trapped by Ashura's magic, he'd have placed himself between the king and the boy, as he had in Infinity to protect him from Fai's hurricane of magic.

Then the kid turned toward the king, raising one arm in a gesture Kurogane recognized from Tokyo. Electricity crackled in the air, then surged forward as he commanded it. "Raitei Shourai!"

The spell rocked the throne room. Stone pillars cracked. The floor buckled. Kurogane turned back to the king and realized with some shock that he was holding the princess in his arms, a knife poised over her throat.

The kid's attack distracted the king for a precious moment, and the spells binding Kurogane's body in place relaxed enough for him to rip free. He shot forward, propelled by adrenaline. One shot. He just had to get close enough for one clean shot, and this would be over.

Ashura's eyes flickered to him, glittering with amusement. He lifted one slender hand and sent a burst of magic toward him. Kurogane started to turn, gritting his teeth as he realized he wouldn't be able to dodge the attack, then felt the savage, blistering agony of the king's magic ripping into his side.

"No!" Syaoran screamed as Kurogane fell. Drops of blood arced through the air, splashing against the floor like macabre raindrops. The ninja's body hit the floor with a dull thud, like a hammer wrapped in cloth. "Kurogane-san!"

The ninja didn't answer. Didn't move. The room itself seemed to go still, time freezing as it had in Clow. The magic firefight raged between Fai and Ashura, a storm growing more intense with every second. But none of the explosions reached his ears. It was as if he'd gone deaf after hearing Kurogane hit the ground.

Head swimming, Syaoran crawled forward.

It took a long time to get there, and he wondered how much longer the battle could go on. Fai had said he'd used up a lot of magic already, and what he still had weakened every time he tapped that limited reservoir. Adrenaline and anger would fuel him only so long.

Eventually, Syaoran reached the spot where Kurogane had fallen. He stopped there, collapsing as he caught his breath, then skimmed his hand along the man's sleeve. "Kurogane-san . . ." he whispered, unsure what else to say. His fingers curled around the ninja's sword arm, trembling.

Kurogane stirred, and Syaoran's heart jumped into his throat. "Ugh . . . What the hell . . ."

"You're alive," Syaoran whispered, still clutching the man's arm as the relief washed through him. "I wasn't sure that you . . . I'm so glad."

"Yeah." Kurogane rolled to his feet, planting his hand on the floor to stabilize himself. "I'm glad you're alive, too, but let's not get sappy about this. We need a plan."

The words brought him back to the present, and he winced as another crash shuddered through the throne room. I can't believe the palace hasn't collapsed yet, he thought. It must be magically reinforced.

"Look," Kurogane said. Syaoran glanced up as Fai landed lightly in front of them, holding Sakura's body in his arms. His expression looked hollow, broken.

"Take Sakura-chan," he said quietly, setting her down between them. "I can—"

"Don't even start," Kurogane growled. "Don't you even fucking start with whatever self-sacrificing bullshit you're about to spout off."

Fai said nothing. He drew back, as pale and graceful as a wraith, and turned to his king. "You were wrong about me, Ashura. I have never been kindhearted. All I've been is weak. And it's that very weakness that brought us to this point. Let's end this, Your Majesty. Let's fulfill your wish." He raised his chin. "And mine as well."

Fai moved fast, his vampire speed kicking in as runes flew from his fingers. He didn't even seem to be writing them out now, but rather crafting them with his mind alone. They slammed into the sphere of energy surrounding Ashura, then erupted in white flames, ballooning out from the point of impact. That has to be it, Syaoran thought. No one could survive that.

The magic broke apart, repelled from within. Ashura's pale, delicate hand shot out of the smoke and coiled around Fai's throat. "I explained it once, did I not? That the more people I murdered, the more powerful I became." He squeezed, making Fai gasp. Syaoran watched in mute horror, one hand wrapped around Sakura's, the other resting on Kurogane's shoulder.

"You have to attack," Kurogane hissed, glancing at him.

Syaoran's head snapped up. "What?"

"Attack. Magic. Now."

"But Fai-san's in the way!"

"Just do it!"

Syaoran winced as Fai gasped in pain. The veins in his neck pulsed visibly as the king's grip restricted circulation. Kurogane's right. If I don't attack now, Fai will die. He raised his hand, concentrating his energy in his fingertips. "Raitei . . ."

He never finished the spell. Ashura flicked his fingers in his direction, freezing water from the pool and flinging jagged clusters of ice at him. They struck, carving gashes wherever they met flesh. A deep, numbing chill seeped into his bones wherever the ice touched him, and he found himself lying on the floor, pinned to the tile as he bled from dozens of different cuts. A circle of light formed in the air in front of him, surrounded by runes. It's over, he thought as the king's magic wound around his body, holding him down. I've cheated death too many times today. I've used up all my luck.

Spears of ice emerged from the circle, pointing toward his heart.

His vision blurred for a moment, and a black smudge skated across his field of vision, shearing through the runes as if they were made of paper. Syaoran blinked rapidly, then froze as the world came back into focus. Kurogane glanced back at him, sword in hand, eyes burning with something between relief and pain.

"I will always protect you," he said, his voice soft, tender.

Syaoran swallowed, trembling. "And I will always love you."

Kurogane nodded once, then looked toward Ashura. "All right. Time to end this."