Chapter One-Hundred Fifty-One

As the shadowy mass burst forth, a lattice of blue light gathered in front of them. "Hold on!" Fai yelled, the air around him crackling with energy. The sheer power of his magic, now fully restored, pressed down on Syaoran like the air before a thunderstorm, thick and electric.

An instant later, his parents' magic twined around Fai's spell-work, reinforcing the lattice and anchoring it in place. Syaoran had learned the basics of magical theory from his father—who was really his clone, reborn and existing, in many respects, outside the bounds of what should have been possible—so he knew that the web of energy standing between them and Fei-Wang's sorcery would have been sufficient to stop almost anything. Almost.

The dark magic crashed into the web, spreading out on contact as it searched for a weakness. Parts of the lattice ballooned out, coaxed back into place with thicker layers of magic. Syaoran himself didn't know much defensive magic—he'd had only a short time to train with his father, and most of what he'd learned had been for fighting, not defending. The weave Fai had constructed far exceeded his own abilities, and unlike his parents, Syaoran didn't dare add his own magic to the mix, as doing so could be catastrophic if it didn't mesh perfectly with the lattice.

When Fei-Wang's magic couldn't penetrate the shield, it receded, dissipating like smoke. Beside him, Syaoran heard Fai panting with exertion. Of course, he thought. It would take an incredible amount of power to block even one blow. Even spreading that effort amongst three people, it's not something that can be done easily.

"I will not let anything interfere with my wish!" Fei-Wang shouted as Syaoran darted toward him. He sensed Kurogane following and glanced over his shoulder.

"We can't keep ourselves shielded for long," he said. "We have to strike back now."

"Kid, you sure about this?"

"Yes!" He grit his teeth. "We'll never be safe until he's defeated."

"You ever killed anyone before?"

"No." It doesn't matter, he told himself, thinking of Sakura, of his parents, of Fai and Mokona. Thinking of Kurogane, of their relationship, of everything they stood to lose. I will do whatever it takes to keep us safe.

As they neared the dais, Fei-Wang sent another burst of magic in their direction, this one faster and sleeker than the last. On instinct, Syaoran threw himself into the water. In the same moment, another part of his mind processed the fact that diving into the ankle deep pool would in no way protect him from such a powerful spell. Bracing himself, he covered his head with his arms, reinforcing the air around him with his own pitifully limited magic.

An instant later, he felt Kurogane's arms circling around his torso, an ultimately pointless act of self-sacrifice, given that they'd both be obliterated anyway. It's lucky we survived this long, he thought, just as the spell hit.

Pain.

Yuuko's body jerked, agony radiating from the crown of her head to the soles of her feet. So little time left, she thought, collapsing against the wall. Her breathing came in shallow gasps, the last of her magic expended. Between casting the images' souls into the kingdom of Clow and resetting their lives so that they could be reborn in another world, she had exhausted every ounce of power she'd accumulated since her own time had stagnated. Almost out of time now, she thought, another wave of pain crashing through her.

Her thoughts turned back to Clow—not the country, but the man who had once been so powerful that he had rewritten the rules of the universe simply by accident. The man who had, unintentionally, frozen Yuuko's time stream and allowed her to live on when she should have perished. "Wishes are one of the most powerful things in the universe," he'd told her once, in apology. "Nearly as powerful as memories."

Pain lanced through her chest, and her heartbeat faltered. Only an echo of life remained in her now. Soon, she would fall unconscious. After that, who knew? She herself was an anomaly, existing outside of time. Perhaps she would vanish. Perhaps she would be reborn. Perhaps both or neither, or perhaps she would go to some other place where all the dead went. Despite all the knowledge she'd accumulated over the years, the afterlife remained a mystery. It is better that way, she thought, wishing Clow was here now so that she could say as much. This dream—this wish of yours—has to end. No matter how great our power or how grand our intentions, we cannot escape death.

She coughed—a weak, helpless sound. The last tendrils of magic moving through her body wavered, slipping away. "Your dream ends," she whispered. "Your dream and my life. But the dreams of those children are just beginning." Her eyes strayed to the remains of the capsule where the souls of Syaoran's parents had waited. "May they live a happier life this time."

Her heart clenched, speeding up in a desperate attempt to survive as her magic deserted her. Her lips twitched into the faintest of smiles. Then the dream that Yuuko had become faded to make way for a newer, brighter dream.

Everything stopped.

Syaoran peeked through his bangs. Fei-Wang's magic still hung in the air, a dark, malevolent mass. An elaborate magic circle blocked Fei-Wang's spell, gradually neutralizing it until it withered to nothing. That circle, Syaoran thought, staring at the multitude of lines and symbols etched into the air in front of him. I've never seen such a complex spell before.

"That is Clow's magical circle," Fei-Wang whispered, seemingly unaware that his own magic carried his voice throughout the whole reservoir. "But that's impossible. How is it you are able to use it?"

Syaoran followed Fei-Wang's gaze. His father stood tall, staring down at his enemy from within a bubble of magic. "It is because the person my form is based on is a descendant of Clow himself. He knew that someday his descendants might need the knowledge to face down a great evil, and so he passed his magic down through the generations, until I was created." He stepped forward, the air around him seeming to still. "Both good and evil come from the same source. They come from a wish, a desire, a dream. They come from things so powerful that reality will bend and break under their weight. It is unfortunate that Clow's own wishes—his good intentions—ended up creating something so dangerous as you."

Fei-Wang flinched, then raised his hand. Half submerged in the reservoir, Syaoran grabbed Kurogane's arm, bracing himself, but rather than attacking, Fei-Wang summoned several mirror-like shards from the dais. Each hummed with magic, and each displayed images from one of the worlds they had visited in their journey. On the largest fragment, images from Yuuko's shop flashed, coming and going almost too quickly to process.

"She's gone." Even with his magic magnifying his voice, Fei-Wang's words came out as a thin whisper. "The Space-Time witch is gone."

"Gone? Dead?" Kurogane looked down as Syaoran. "Can that even happen? I thought she was immortal."

"She can't be," Syaoran said, understanding. "To be immortal is to be undying—the universe would break if such a thing were allowed. It . . . That must be why. Yuuko chose to die, at this moment. And if that's the case, then . . . Then Fei-Wang failed. He can't bring her back."

"I will not accept that!" Fei-Wang's voice boomed throughout the ruins. "She must be revived! That is the one thing that will prove that I have surpassed Clow! Power that goes beyond dimensions. Power that surpasses time. The power hidden in these ruins . . . it will not be for nothing!" Magic swirled between his hands, gathering together to form a cylinder no longer than Syaoran's forearm. He squinted, trying to get a closer look. "I will revive her," Fei-Wang continued. "For the witch to vanish . . . I will not allow such a reality to exist! I will turn back time again. Your freedom will be the price." His eyes, wild with desperation, fell upon Syaoran, then his parents behind him. This isn't good, he thought, swallowing.

"The kid's not going anywhere," Kurogane snarled, brandishing his sword.

Fei-Wang ignored him, eyes refocusing on Syaoran. "Until that happens, you and the princess will be within my grasp. You will never be able to touch. You will never hear each other's voice. But be at ease: when you are no longer useful to me, I will kill you." Shadows curled around the glass cylinder between his hands. At the same moment, something cold wrapped around Syaoran's ankles, slithering up his legs with alarming speed. He struggled to pull himself free, but the shadowy tendrils continued their ascent, dragging him closer to the capsule.

"Kid!" Kurogane's arm closed around his wrist, his fingers digging into Syaoran's skin. Desperately, he grabbed the ninja's arm, fear making his throat close up. I can't, he thought. I can't be imprisoned again. I can't be put into another tube and forced to watch this nightmare play out.

It had been that possibility which had prompted him, in Nihon, to ask Kurogane if he would kill him if such a thing seemed likely to occur. It was that possibility which made him cling to the ninja as Fei-Wang's magic curled tighter around his legs. "Please," he whispered, voice breaking. "Please don't let him do this to me."

Horror flashed in Kurogane's eyes, hidden almost immediately by a look of determination. "You won't be alone this time."

He shook his head. "That's not what I meant! I can't go back to that! I can't go back to being helpless. Please . . . I know you said you wouldn't, but please . . . I'd rather die than be his prisoner."

For just an instant, Kurogane wavered. His eyes flickered to the smoky tendrils crawling up Syaoran's hips. Then he shook his head. "I'd rather die than lose you."

The words sent a spasm of grief through his chest. "No. You can't. He'll dispose of you."

"Don't you trust me?" the ninja demanded.

"Of course, but—"

"Then trust me." Kurogane pulled him close, wrapping his arm around Syaoran's chest so that Fei-Wang's magic had no choice but to wind around both of them. "I will never abandon you. Not even if it means we both end up dead."

Heat gathered in his eyes. "Kurogane-san . . ."

"Stay with me." Kurogane tilted his head forward until their foreheads touched. The tears in Syaoran's eyes overflowed. "Stay with me."

The shadows crept up his neck, as cold as death. Slowly, he nodded. "Okay," he whispered. Then the magic gathered around them in a cocoon and pulled them away to another world.