Chapter One-Hundred Forty-Seven

The instant they landed, Kurogane shot forward, Ginryuu raised to strike. Damn it all if he was going to give that monocle-wearing bastard a chance to run. Moments after his feet touched the ground, the viscous fluid that made up the space between worlds dissipated, giving him a clear view of his target. Fei-Wang Reed crouched next to an intricate circular device inscribed with symbols that resembled a bastardized version of the mage's spidery rune-work.

As Kurogane charged in, Fei-Wang turned, his crinkled eyes widening, one hand clamped over the stab wound the kid had inflicted when the barrier between the two worlds had torn. That wound should have killed him, Kurogane thought, springing forward. Before he could strike, Fei-Wang lifted one hand, thick fingers splaying as a web of magic appeared in front of his palm. It deflected Kurogane's attack, turning the force of it against him and throwing him back.

"Kurogane-san!" the kid yelled in alarm.

"I'm fine—go!"

The boy hesitated half a second, then rushed ahead, magic crackling along his sword. He let loose a blast of lightning that shook the room, and the barrier fractured like glass. There. Kurogane surged forward, swinging Ginryuu around to cleave the monster in half from shoulder to hip. The enchanted steel shivered in his hands as it ripped through flesh and bone, but there was something off about the sensation. Something that buzzed along Ginryuu's blade and made his fingers tingle.

For a moment, Fei-Wang didn't move, the life-ending slice seeming to have no effect on him. Then his image wavered, like a mirage, and a new face appeared. Or, Kurogane thought in disgust, an old face. "You soulless creep," he growled as Kyle Rondart lifted one trembling hand to his wound.

The man gave no sign that he'd heard, only collapsed in on himself, blood pouring from the deep cut. "Is this why . . . Is this why you wanted me here, master?" he asked, staring blankly ahead.

Kurogane's eyes tightened. Fool. His master couldn't even be bothered to deal with us personally. The thought set his teeth on edge, and even the dying wheeze Kyle gave didn't sate his growing blood lust. "If he's so powerful, he ought to come out and fight us himself instead of just throwing his minions in front of him."

The kid hustled over to his side, grabbing the sleeve of his shirt. "Look," he said, pointing to the circular contraption Kyle had been looming over before Kurogane's attack had shattered his disguise. The air inside the circle warped and shimmered, not unlike the way the witch's face sometimes did when the meat bun contacted her. A moment later, the image stabilized, and Fei-Wang Reed—the real one, Kurogane thought, unless he had more minions he could send out in his place—stepped through. Kurogane raised his sword, only to let out a sharp breath as a bar of magic slammed into his stomach. His body folded, legs buckling, and the next thing he was aware of was the sudden thud of his back slamming into the wall.

"Kurogane-san!"

"I'm fine," he yelled hoarsely. It was a lie; the impact had dazed him—if he hadn't been wearing his helmet, it probably would've knocked him out—and from the lancing pain in his chest, he guessed that he'd cracked a couple ribs and probably incurred some other internal damage. If I live through this fight, it'll take months to get back to normal.

Beside the portal, Fei-Wang glanced down at Kyle's body. "I allowed him to stay with me in the event that I would need him. But it seems he was useless as a body-double."

"You worthless piece of shit," Kurogane whispered, forcing himself to stand. Fei-Wang reached back through the portal, the air rippling like water around his hand. When a second figure emerged from the portal, Kurogane stiffened.

"Sakura-chan," the mage whispered, stepping forward. Fei-Wang dragged her forward, and she promptly collapsed. From the limpness of her muscles, Kurogane guessed that she'd been asleep for a long time, and that her body had only moved because of the sorcerer's magic. Damn him, using her like a puppet. Several particularly violent images flashed through his mind, most of them involving the bastard dying a slow, horrible death.

Syaoran stalked forward, every muscle taut with rage. He let out a wordless snarl, to which Fei-Wang responded with a chuckle. "Of course, one cannot expect much more from a man-made object," he said, gesturing to Kyle's corpse. He brushed his fingertips over the princess's cheek, casually possessive.

Oh, yes. Kurogane would enjoy killing him.

Enlivened by fury, the kid rushed forward. Kurogane did the same, ignoring the fierce pains of his body, the haze in his brain. As he advanced, the boy loosed a bolt of lightning from his sword. Fei-Wang deflected the attack with nothing more than a raised hand and a smirk. "Foolish child. You may be Clow Reed's descendent, but you are still nothing more than a mouse to me. I could crush you underfoot without even trying." As he spoke, shadowy tendrils wrapped around the princess's body, lifting her up. The kid reeled back, switching focus, reaching for Sakura as the magic lifted her out of reach. Fei-Wang lifted his head, anticipation and greed gleaming in his eyes. "It begins."

What begins? Kurogane wondered, scanning the room for other threats, other traps. When he heard the sound of running water behind him, he turned.

The portal bridging this world to Clow had reopened, giving them a window to the reservoir frozen in time. Except time wasn't frozen anymore. The fountains streaming down from the sides of the chamber had begun to flow again, water flowing across the stepped surfaces, cascading down to form larger waterfalls. The reservoir rippled, finally responding to the distortions caused by fallen objects and the movements of battle. And as the water began to move, the shadowy mass that contained the younger version of the princess—the one who had apparently been branded with some sort of death-seal in the moments after time had been cut off in Clow—sunk deeper into the writhing ball of darkness Kurogane had seen when they'd entered the reservoir.

"Sakura!" Her name tore from the kid's mouth as he sprinted toward the still-open path between worlds. The mage followed, not hesitating for a moment. Only Kurogane paused, looking over his shoulder at the man he'd hated for so many years. For a moment, he wavered, caught between staying behind to face his enemy or going after the kid.

Fei-Wang Reed smirked, folding his hands in front of his chest. "I will admit, I am curious about you." When Kurogane stiffened, the bastard let out a dry laugh—the sort of laugh noblemen affected at social gatherings, in order to express amusement at a rival's misfortune. "Does that surprise you?" Fei-Wang asked. "Why wouldn't I be interested in the one pawn who refused to obey me, who refused to even acknowledge my hand in his destiny?"

"You don't have a hand in my destiny, so cut the crap."

"Defiant to the end." He turned, the air beside him shimmering, like fragments of a broken mirror, reflecting Kurogane's face from a dozen different angles. Fei-Wang stroked his finger across the edge of the display. "I manipulated all the others, playing on their weaknesses, their insecurities, their fears. I broke them down to their core, then offered to remake them. To fix them by saving those people they loved most—those people they sought to make proud. It shouldn't have mattered that I was the cause of your tragedy—you should have been no different." A thread of anger wove through his voice. "You should have begged me to bring your parents back to life. You should have suffered every night, dreaming about a life that could have been, so that when I offered you a chance to have it back, you would take it without hesitation. Yet you don't even remember—" He broke off suddenly, the rising anger in his voice cooling. "That's what it comes down to, isn't it? Memories. It's what started this journey. It's the tool I used to manipulate that magician into believing he had caused his own brother to die. It's what should have brought you under my control—memories of your loved ones hanging over you, always present, perhaps even comforting, but never quite enough." The man paused, his eyes sliding back to Kurogane's face. "And yet still you defy me."

Damn right I do, Kurogane thought, refusing to let the words get to him, refusing to acknowledge that tiny voice that agreed that memories weren't enough, that he wanted to see his parents smile at him one more time, or to hear their voices, or to know that they were proud of him.

He pushed the thought to the darkest corner of his mind and left it there to die.

"All I want to know, Kurogane," Fei-Wang went on, voice pleasant, "is why. Why do you defy me?"

"You wouldn't understand even if I told you," he growled, walking backward toward the portal. Time moved differently here, and while over a minute had passed here since the others had rushed back into Clow Country, only a few seconds had passed in the reservoir. I still have time, Kurogane thought, eyes flickering to the portal. Through it, he could see the boy running in slow motion toward the roiling black mass that had taken hold of the princess. If I go now, I can still catch up to them.

"Tell me," Fei-Wang said, his voice frigid with dawning rage. "Is it stubbornness or stupidity that makes you think you can stand up to me? Answer me!"

"No."

"You . . . insolent . . . little . . . child!" the sorcerer roared. "Do you want to know why everyone else obeys me? Do you want to know just how insignificant you are?" The air around him warped, and a deep rumbling filled the room. "I can twist time and space! I can break your soul into a thousand pieces and send it tumbling through the multiverse! I . . ." Eyes blazing, he drew in a deep breath. "I cannot be defied! You cannot defy me!"

"Yeah?" Kurogane grinned. "Watch me."

And then he stepped through the portal.