Author's Notes:
Hello, everyone! I'm writing to you on this last day of November to announce my NaNoWriMo victory. For those of you who have been keeping track, I achieved the standard NaNo goal of 50,000 words on the twelve day of the event, which prompted me to shoot for 100,000 words. I accomplished that tonight at ten o' clock, and I plan to continue with this story and try to see it through to publication (although that will be a big challenge all on its own, as many of you know). Anyway, I just wanted to share this moment, since you've all been so patient and understanding as I worked on this project at the expense of stories like this one. I'm planning on doing one more round of weekly updates after this, then it'll be back to the 3-day update cycle I usually try to maintain. Also, I plan to update Reversal of Fate, as well as several projects from other fandoms, within the next week or two, so if you're waiting on any of those, rest assured that I am getting there. And thanks, as always, for your reviews, support, and general awesomeness.
Chapter One-Hundred Thirty-Five
Kurogane woke with the sunrise, his mind jumping from dreams to reality with the immediacy of a wildcat startling awake. Today's the day, he thought, rising from his bedroll and gathering up his few belongings—several pairs of clothes, most of them from different worlds; a stack of those adventure books he liked; a few things he'd found useful to carry around. But very little beyond that. The only thing he had with any real sentimental was the sword laying next to his bedroll—the original Ginryuu, the blade his father had once wielded.
He packed everything he wouldn't need on hand into a bag; he'd give it to the meat bun when they met up in the garden. Then he headed down to the dining hall, figuring he might as well eat. There was precious little time left to deal with the little things.
He found the boy sitting near the edge of the dining hall, a tray of assorted cuisine in front of him. Syaoran didn't look up from his tray, instead staring at it absently as he ate, unaware of the world around him. A stray thought about how easy it would be for an enemy to sneak up on the boy passed through Kurogane's mind, but he shook his head. The kid got absorbed in his thoughts sometimes. Better for him to take his time thinking rather than act carelessly.
Kurogane told one of the serving girls to fetch him a tray of whatever was good this morning, then walked over to the kid's table. The boy finally glanced up, his expression unreadable. "Good morning."
"Morning." Kurogane sat next to the kid. "Ready?"
The boy nodded. "As ready as I can be."
Kurogane studied him for a moment, his eyes pausing as he recognized the ratty green cloak and worn clothes the other kid had started this journey with. "Your clothes . . ."
"Yuuko-san has been holding onto them since . . . For a while now. I thought, since we were going to Clow, it might be appropriate to wear something suited for the climate."
"That's not why you decided to wear them, though, is it?"
Surprise flickered across the boy's face. As one of the serving girls set another tray in front of Kurogane, the kid shook his head and plucked a wad of rice from his bowl. "I feel strange, wearing these clothes. They fit perfectly, but it feels like I couldn't possibly fill them."
Hearing the desolation in his voice, Kurogane took his hand. "They look good on you."
A faint blush rose to the boy's cheeks. "Thank you."
They said no more about clothes, and the boy didn't comment on the fact that Kurogane had donned the same outfit, armor and all, that he'd started this journey with. He hadn't really thought about it when he'd been getting dressed, but it felt right. The clothes marked the beginning and end of a journey.
They ate. When they were finished, they stacked their trays with the others that needed to be washed, then headed out to the garden, side-by-side.
Fai waited for them under the sakura tree that had once held the princess's body. The trunk had already healed from the battle a few days ago, its natural magic restoring the bark without leaving a scar. "It's almost time," Fai said. Mokona hopped down from his shoulder and into the kid's arms.
"Here," Kurogane said, thrusting a bag of nonessential supplies at the meat bun. "Store this for a while."
The creature bobbed her head, sucking up the bag in her usual manner. As she did, Kurogane saw the palace doors open. Tomoyo emerged from within, flanked by Souma. Moments later, her sister, Amaterasu, followed with Fuuma, who had evidently decided to stay for a while. Weird, Kurogane thought. "What are you doing here?" he called to Tomoyo.
"Seeing you off. I see you found the sword."
His hand automatically went to Ginryuu's hilt. "Yeah. Thanks." He struggled for words for a moment, trying to find a way to express his gratitude. "There's no other weapon I'd rather go into battle with."
A relieved smile spread across Tomoyo's face. "I'm glad."
"Yuuko is calling," Mokona interrupted.
Kurogane nodded once to Tomoyo, then turned toward the meat bun. "Let's hear it, then."
The jewel on the meat bun's forehead began to glow, throwing a circle of light onto one of the smoother tree trunks. The witch appeared, her face as grim as ever. Kurogane wondered how much worse things had gotten in her world since the beginning of their journey. Every time they spoke, the witch looked more and more somber.
"Yuuko-sama," Fai said, bowing his head in greeting.
She nodded back, then shifted slightly to address the whole group. "In a few minutes, you will go to the kingdom of Clow at the point where time is stopped," she said, looking at each of them in turn. "But this chance can come only once. Do you understand?"
There were nods and murmurs of assent throughout the whole group. Even the pork bun stiffened and said, "Understood!" as if taking orders from a military commander.
The witch nodded. "Watanuki paid for this chance by forfeiting his own memories. Do not waste it."
As if any of us would waste this chance, Kurogane thought, clamping his mouth shut to keep from pointing out the obvious. The witch's eyes slid between them once more, then closed for a moment, her head inclined forward as if in prayer. "It is time. Go." Her image wavered, disappearing as magic wove through the air. A sensation Kurogane recognized from countless jumps between worlds surged down the back of his neck, cold and electric all at once. White, feathered wings appeared from Mokona's back, encompassing all of them, then stretching outward, larger than Kurogane had ever seen. The magic in the air thickened, and the space around them began to warp, as if pieces of it had been magnified, while others had shrunk in response. Dark liquid from the place between worlds spread through the air, gathering around them.
Kurogane caught a glimpse of Tomoyo through the storm. But rather than looking only at him, her lavender eyes touched on the kid. "I pray that which is most precious to you is returned."
Glancing to the side, Kurogane saw the boy nod back. "Thank you."
The air thickened, the magic forming a smoky cage around them. The last thing Kurogane saw before they were propelled into the space between dimensions was Tomoyo bowing her head in prayer. And then the ground disappeared under his feet.
He was never quite sure how much time they spent between worlds. Like the darkness between dreams, he processed those moments of travel as simultaneously stretching on for hours without ever lasting more than a few seconds. Yet this jump felt longer somehow. Magic pulsed against his skin, a physical force that he felt only in this place in-between.
And then, just like all those other times, he saw a patch of light emerging from the very heart of the darkness, revealing a distant picture of their destination, which expanded rapidly until, suddenly, he found himself standing on shifting sand, squinting against a glaring sun. A second later, he heard the meat bun cry out, her wings fragmenting as she plummeted through the air.
"Mokona!" The kid rushed forward, skidding down the side of the dune they were standing on and catching the creature before she could hit the ground.
"Mokona's powers have been used to their very limit," the meat bun said weakly.
Kurogane stiffened. It had never occurred to him that the meat bun could run out of magic. I should have thought about that. He grit his teeth at his own foolishness. A mistake between worlds could have killed us.
"Are you all right?" the kid asked, eyebrows slanting with worry.
"Fine." The creature's voice wavered. "Mokona only did as much as Mokona could. Did Mokona get us there?"
The boy climbed back to the top of the sand dune, looking out. After a moment, his eyes focused on something in the distance, and Kurogane turned. A giant pair of wings rose out of the sand, crafted from pale stone. The grooves in the wings cast dark shadows over the rock, giving the wings definition. Kurogane felt a tingle of foreboding.
"Yes, you did," the boy said, in response to the meat bun's question. "This is the kingdom of Clow."
Kurogane walked up to stand at Syaoran's side. "So where do we go from here?"
The boy pointed, not at the ruins, but slightly to the left. "You can't see it from this angle, but there's a city near the ruins. I don't know what we'll find there," he added, uncertainty creeping into his voice. "But there may be clues that will lead us to the right place."
Satisfied, Kurogane started walking. The witch had said Clow would be in a "time removed," whatever that meant. He'd have thought it meant that time had stopped here, but judging by the way the wind blew bits of sand all over the place, that wasn't entirely accurate. The real question, then, is whether there are any people here.
The thought made him apprehensive. If there were people here, then it was possible they'd find themselves among servants of the sorcerer they'd come to fight, which could get dicey even if the man behind them didn't step in to make things worse. But if he'd pissed off as many people as their enemy had, he'd sure as hell have some security measures in place. A whole city full of warriors would be the least of his preparations.
As they walked, he rested a hand on the kid's shoulder. "You sure this is a good idea? Going to the city, I mean?"
"I . . . I think it's wiser to gather what information we can from there before we try going elsewhere." His eyes slid to the wing-shaped ruins that they'd seen when they'd arrived.
"The city might be populated," the vampire said, stepping up to walk to Kurogane's left. "Populated with who, well, that's the question I'd be asking."
"Clow has always been a peaceful country," the boy said, his voice firm. "If we run into trouble, we'll retreat and change tactics."
They kept walking, the desert sun beating down on them. Kurogane began to wish that he hadn't worn so much armor—under the sun, the metal plates began to heat up until every time his skin brushed up against the undersides of the plates, he felt like he was going to get burned. The mage didn't fare much better in his snowy-white coat. "Hyuu! It's hot out here, isn't it, Kuro-pon?"
"Can't you do something about that?"
"Nope. No magic, remember?"
"I'm starting to wish you'd paid for my new arm with something else," he grumbled, shifting the prosthetic. It ached more than usual, probably because of the heat, and he could tell already that the discomfort was going to grow tiresome after a few hours.
They crested another dune and got their first glimpse of the city. Kurogane stared, startled by the shape of it. A stone arch curved above the city, thinning out until it looked as if it couldn't have been more than a few feet thick. It looked like it ought to crumble in the middle and crash down on the buildings below, but it held, providing a band of shade over the middle of the city. Even stranger, narrow bridges flanked the sides of the city, despite the fact that there was no river in sight. He'd seen a lot of weird architecture in his travels, so it wasn't so unnerving, but it did seem strange.
The city proper seemed to consist of three levels stacked on top of each other, like steps. On the top level, he saw a structure with a domed roof and elaborate stained windows, which he assumed to be the palace. The next level down looked rich and prosperous, but even the lowest level looked lively, with tiny, distant people milling around in clusters, like a crowd at a festival. So there are people here, he thought, running his hands over Ginryuu's hilt. The boy touched his forearm and shook his head. "I don't think they're hostile."
"What makes you so sure?"
The boy looked toward the city. "If they were soldiers, or enemies, they would be more disciplined and watchful. They wouldn't be moving around so freely."
"Guards can get lazy."
The kid shook his head. "We shouldn't go in with our weapons drawn. That could attract attention we don't need right now. It's better to try to blend in as much as possible until we have more information."
Kurogane almost rolled his eyes at the thought of them blending in. They had yet to land in a world where the people didn't look at them and ask where they'd come from or why they all looked so different from each other.
"We'll have to pass through the gates to enter the city. It's the capital, so security is a bit tighter in general than it would be elsewhere in the country. If we get attacked at the gates, we'll know it's too dangerous to go in, and we'll try the ruins."
"And past the gates?"
"There's a residential district and, above that, the commercial part of the city. And then the palace, which you can see from here." He pointed to the domed structure Kurogane had noticed before, confirming his guesses.
The meat bun poked her head out of Syaoran's cloak, and Kurogane was relieved to see that she looked less exhausted than she had in the moments after they'd landed. Apparently, Mokona ran on solar power. "But what does it mean to be cut off from time?" she asked.
No one answered for a moment. Eventually, Fai shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe it means that time has stopped somehow, or . . ." He trailed off, frowning at the city, probably questioning how time could be stopped when the city was so lively.
"Whatever it means," Kurogane said irritably, "we have to check it out."
The kid nodded, glancing over his shoulder at them before sliding down the sand dune. "Let's get going. It's not safe to spend too much time out in the sun at this time of day."