Threads to Life Chapter 22: The Knight and the Guardian, a Prince of Tennis + Gakuen Alice Crossover fanfic

I am back again… tee hee… I am trying my best to update as fast as I could. I hope this will worth the compensation… domo… ^^

sWeEtanGel - I am glad that you like the chapter...

tee hee hee... Avatar lan ang peg... I am not sure about him being the Earth bender though... thank you for suggesting... :)

tee hee hee... kung anu anu lang pumapasok sa isip... sana hindi maging lame...

aww... thank you very much... Salamat sa pagsuporta... tama na sa akin ung sinabi mo na binabasa mo ung mga fics ko... at hindi mo talaga iniwan... I truly appreciate it... domo...

I will and you too...

Next chapter is up now... Domo... ^^

Chapter 22: The Knight and the Guardian

Chapter Summary: They were precious. They should be taken care of. Their lives were vulnerable and fragile. Their hearts were easy to break.

They followed the Jumi running to nowhere. They were fast runners to begin with. Hotaru was using her convention and she was riding on it with her. Mikan and Natsume could run as well as Fuji, Momo and Ryoma for they were runners for laps. Tsubasa could jump from place to place while Kokoroyomi was on top of a large chicken that Ruka called. Youichi was carried by him. Eiji was just flying around looking aerially.

"Where are we going anyway?" Eiji said as he caught the knight.

"I could still feel Pearl's faint jewel core," The knight said looking ahead, "She's heading to the Tower of Leires."

"Tower of Leires?" The flying acrobatic player repeated the words.

"I need to go there and fast." He said narrowing his eyes in the process.

"You're with us, remember," Hotaru said also catching up with him, "We will help you."

"She's right, Elazul-san," Sakuno agreed who was holding to Hotaru's shoulder, "W-we are going to save her, I promise."

Elazul just looked at her. The first time he saw the girl, he thought that she was just an innocent girl with innocent mind but now he realized that she was more than that. He had the slightest thought that they would be good friends with Pearl.

Ryuzaki Sakuno was a sweet girl as he thought of her.

"Anou… gomenasai." She suddenly said cutting the knight's reverie.

"Why are you apologizing?" He said frowning still running to their location.

"I…" She started looking down, gripping Hotaru's shoulder which the latter noticed, "Anticipated that something was about to happen. If I would have been faster then I…"

"…It's not your fault," Elazul said concentrating ahead, "That's bound to happen."

"We could have stopped it," She still insisted looking upset, "If I was faster."

"Stop blaming yourself," Hotaru said looking at her, "Elazul-san already told you that it wasn't your fault."

She was about to say something when she was being lifted from Hotaru's scooter. She shrieked due to shock.

"You are funny, Ryuzaki-chan!" Eiji said. He grabbed her from her armpit a while ago and adjusted when they were on air. He was not holding her to her waist, "Learn to accept what they said."

"K-Kikumaru-senpai, " Sakuno said blushing in the process. She was holding the acrobatic player to his shoulder, "I—I know but—"

"Ne, ne, have you experienced flying before?" He asked her cutting her words.

"E?" She frowned despite the blush that she had. No one could fly at least not in their world. She was about to ask him more when he beat her to it.

"We will be experiencing to fly, nya!" With that Eiji flew upwards making the girl panic.

"S-senpai!" She blushed as she couldn't help but cling to his neck like her life was depended on it.

Eiji was just enjoying the ride and making sure that Sakuno would too. After a series of seconds, Sakuno calmed down and seemed like enjoying herself as well.

The others watched them from below. They sweat dropped at first because of Eiji's antics involving Sakuno in the process. They soon began to accept that it was the only way to cheer Sakuno up which turned to be effective.

…Except for some people out there.

Some person was ignoring the scene but was raging inside while other was just feigning after all. Fuji couldn't help but chuckle at the cute scenes.

"Hmmm."

Ruka looked at his companion who was riding along with him, "What's the matter?"

"I sense something interesting here." The mind reader said.

"What do you mean?"

"I wonder if they would hear about it." Kokoroyomi smiled at him not intending to explain even further. Ruka shrugged it off and continued following the knight.

Tower of Leires:

They reached the tower and everyone was pretty shocked at the appearance of the tower. It was dark and eerie. It was tall and a little dangerous. They felt that something odd filled the entire building. Whatever it was, they didn't want to know about it.

"Are we going to climb up there?" Momo said as he looked up at the tall tower.

"You can wait here if you like, senpai." Ryoma said walking ahead of him.

"Oi, I didn't say anything like that." Momo said catching up with him.

"Anou, Elazul," Sakuno asked tugging his coat, "Can I… ask you something?"

"What is it?" He said still walking to enter the tower.

"What happened to Pearl-san? Why was she saying that she's BlackPearl now?"

He didn't say anything for a few seconds before he sighed and told everyone who could hear him;

"That's her real form."

"What?!"

"Pearl is only made from the shattered pieces of BalckPearls's core," He explained, "She isn't supposed to exist in the first place."

They remained silent after they discovered about Pearl's true identity. They continued walking until Fuji broke it;

"Why was she saying about new powers then? Didn't she know who she was?"

"That's probably be the case," He said staring up ahead, "BlackPearl seems to be different than before."

"I think Sandra drew a different BlackPearl from Pearl's core," Tsubasa commented, "We are not sure if it was the right thing to do or not."

"What will happen to Pearl-san now?" Sakuno couldn't help but ask.

Elazul didn't answer her. From his reaction, they knew what would be the fate of the white Pearl if things would go on like that. They looked away especially Sakuno. She didn't know what to do at that very moment. She wanted to help the knight and she wanted to see Pearl too. What could she do to convince her to go to back to her old self.

The shy, the quiet and the kind side of Pearl that they knew.

"No, I cannot let her," Elazul suddenly said catching their attention, "She will not leave me. I mean, I am her knight and she's my guardian. I will not let her disappear like that."

The others heard what he had said. The knight was loyal to her despite that he kept scolding the girl. The girl was clumsy and she often made mistakes. They even remembered Pearl telling that she could easily lose her way.

At that point, the regulars started to laugh including Ryoma. Pearl was shy, kind, blushes at times and would lose her way everytime. It would ring a bell to them especially when they looked at Sakuno who blinked back at them.

At first, Sakuno didn't know what they meant about their stare but when Fuji explained it, her descriptions mentioned above surfaced on her.

They continued climbing the tower when Elazul suddenly stopped.

"What's the matter?" Tsubasa asked him.

"I remembered Sandra saying that the core she got from Pearl wasn't the exact core," He said turning around to face them, later looking at Sakuno, "and it went inside you. What really happened back then?"

They looked at each other before Fuji explained it to him.

"You see, we are looking for seven sins that turned into stones."

"Seven sins?" The knight frowned still trying to understand what was happening, "What are these sins?"

"The one that you've seen a while ago was one of the seven sins," Tsubasa said, "It's a black stone so I guess that's the 'wrath'."

"I… don't understand." He said honestly.

"The stone that entered Sakuno was a magical stone that we needed to collect," Fuji said, "It reacted to her that was why it entered her body, meaning it wasn't a core that Sandra was looking for."

"We need to collect all seven to save Sakuno's life." Mikan explained this time.

"Save?" He looked at her, "Why would these stones need for her to be saved?"

"It's a long story," Mikan answered, "All we need to do is to find those seven stones and find hope."

"Hope? Now what's that?" Elazul asked slowly getting to their explanation… at least.

"That was the last sin inside Pandora's box," Tsubasa explained, "We need to have this hope so that Sakuno-chan's life would be spared."

"You collect these sins to find hope?" He said having the slightest idea of their mission.

Everyone nodded at his question.

"But why would BlackPearl revive after pulling the stone from her?" Momo suddenly asked catching everyone's attention.

"It's the stone's dark power," Hotaru said making everyone look at her, "Pearl is pure while the BlackPearl isn't. When the stone was being pulled out from her body, its power emerged reviving her in the process."

"The dark power revived BlackPearl?" Elazul couldn't believe it, "She shouldn't be revived in the first place."

"Why?" Natsume suddenly asked who was just at the bottom part of the area.

Everyone waited for the knight's answer which he didn't fail to give.

"I… killed her three years ago."

The area became quiet after he confessed that. Sakuno covered her mouth with her hands due to shock while the other girls just remained stunned at their location.

"It was Diana, her former guardian and our kind requested me to do that," He said looking away, "I was reluctant at first but since BlackPearl was doing evil deeds I didn't have a choice but to do it. She was our friend but we couldn't let the other suffer and die because of her."

"BlackPearl was doing evil things?" Mikan muttered.

"She used to do what Sandra is doing now," He said, "Diana discovered that and tried to stop her but it was useless."

"Elazul-san…" Sakuno muttered sensing the burden that the knight had.

"I would stop her again if I must," Elazul said gripping his hands tight, "then I'll save Pearl."

The others looked at him and had the same countenance on their faces. They hadn't moved from their location when they heard something explode. They almost lose balance for the impact was pretty close to their location.

"What was that?" Kokoroyomi asked looking at the ceiling.

"Monsters in the tower." He said drawing his sword from its sheath and dashed forward, "Be careful! All of you!"

"M-monsters?" Sakuno couldn't believe what she was hearing. She was leaning on the wall at that very moment as she was not actually moving.

"Ryuzaki!" Ryoma suddenly walked towards her and grabbed her shoulder, "Stop daydreaming and move!"

She looked at Ryoma and blushed a little, "G-gomen." With that she started moving upward and followed the rest.

As long as they reached the next floor, Sakuno's eyes widened. It was indeed a monster blocking the door to the next floor. Elazul, Natsume and Momoshiro were fighting against it. Hotaru was assisting them while Fuji was just… watching them.

"What is that, senpai?" Ryoma asked as he approached the tensai.

"A monster." Fuji answered the obvious.

"What type of monster?" Ryoma asked him again.

"A dangerous monster." The tensai answered once again.

"Senpai!" He looked at him frowning this time.

"Hai, hai," Fuji said as he was still smiling, "It's a raw type of monster that governs this tower. It never let anyone enters its lair without passing it first."

"Will they make it?" Sakuno asked worried already to their friends.

"Trust them, Ryuzaki-chan," Fuji said smiling at her, "They can make it through."

"So sounded so confident there," Tsubasa interrupted, "Fuji-san."

"Of course," He said nodded as he watched them, "I would have been helping them by now if they couldn't."

Ryoma and Sakuno looked at their senpai. That reminded them, what was Fuji's alice? Of all the people there, Fuji's alice was the only one who wasn't using his own. No one had seen his alice yet well except for the person who inserted the alice inside him.

"Ne, senpai," Ryoma called to him, "What is your alice?"

"Saa… I wonder." Fuji just gave him the same answer.

"I shouldn't have bothered asking you." Ryoma narrowed his eyes at him.

Sakuno just sweat dropped. They weren't be able to see his alice unless he would use it.

When? They didn't know.

Not a minute past, the monster was defeated. They called the others to continue walking and headed upstairs. They encountered several monsters and even Sakuno used up her barrier alice to protect them. She was scared but she would do anything to help them at all cost.

They continued climbing upward until they reached the top floor where BlackPearl was there… along with Sandra.

"BlackPearl! Sandra!" Elazul said catching their attention, "Stop where you are!"

"Well, what do you we have here?" BlackPearl smirked when she spotted him, "Are you here to pick me up, Elazul?"

"I am here for Pearl, not you?"

"Not me?" BlackPearl mocked him, "I am the original Pearl, Elazul if you have forgotten about that. White Pearl never existed in the first place."

"Shut up!" He hissed as he readied his sword towards her.

"What? Are you going to pierce that sword to me again," She said walking closer to him, "Just like what you did three years ago?"

Elazul hissed as he gripped the sword tight.

"Please, stop this." Sakuno said trying to convince the two.

A whip suddenly hit Sakuno to her side making her stumble down on the ground and shrieking in the process.

"Ryuzaki!" Ryoma ran to her and saw the red marks on her arm. He glared at the culprit, "Kono yarou!" He threw a tennis ball at her but BlackPearl shattered it into pieces.

Everyone was shocked at what BlackPearl did, especially Ryoma. She totally ruined the tennis prodigy's alice.

"I told you people not to mind my own business but you didn't listen."

Natsume created fireballs at both of his hands and glared at the jewel hunter, "You'll pay for this." He threw it at her but she only blocked it.

"Is that all you've got?"

"You little—"

"Stop Hyuuga-san," Fuji stepped forward and looked seriously at Sandra, "She's not easy to deal with."

Sandra looked back at Fuji and smirked, "I like your eyes. It's clear as the ocean."

Fuji smiled at her, "Why thank you, I appreciate it."

Sandra placed a hand to her waist where her whip was residing and continued talking to him, "You should join me instead."

"I appreciate the offer but I humbly decline." Fuji replied as he even bowed at her.

"Too bad then." She said as she raised the whip and hit towards him. Fuji was able to avoid it and move fast from the ground.

Ryoma and the others heard the entire conversation and how Fuji avoided her attack. He hadn't used his alice yet but judging from the way he moved, he was already strong enough to fight.

He was indeed the tensai.

Ryoma looked at Sakuno's arm and worried especially when her red marks had started to fade. It was minor but it healed by itself.

No, she was unintentionally using her healing alice at her minor injury.

He gripped her shoulder making her notice it. He faced her completely seeing that she was a little curious, "Build a barrier around us."

"W-what? Why?"

"Just do it!"

She bit her lower lip before she nodded. She raised both of her hands and created a barrier around her covering the two of them. Seeing that everything was fine, he looked back at her;

"Make an opening for me, I'll go out."

"R-Ryoma-kun…" She said grabbing his arm with worries.

"I'll be fine." He said giving her the assurance. He stood up and walked near the barrier. When she was not doing anything, he looked back and called her attention.

"H-hai…" She created a small opening and let him out of the barrier. She only watched the rest from the inside and looked down. I am useless to them. I can't help them at all. Her feelings were dawning upon her as she gripped her hands tight to her lap. I couldn't do anything for them. I am just useless.

"Pearl!" Elazul called out, "Wake up!"

BlackPearl smirked at him as they collided their swords together, "Your Pearl would never wake up. She's long dead now!"

"No!" He pushed her really hard creating friction with their own swords.

"If there's water here, I would have helped them," Momo said looking around, "Arrgh!"

"You are useless when there's no water," Kokoroyomi suddenly said, "Too bad, senpai."

"Shut it!"

"All I could do is to fly," Eiji said, "I am no help to them either."

"Don't say that senpai-tachi!" Mikan heard them and approached the two, "Your alices are useful. Don't look down on it."

"Mikan-chan…"

"You'll be helping us," Mikan encouraged them, "Sakuno needs us the most."

They looked at Sakuno who was just looking down and was completely covered with her alice. Momo and Eiji stared at her and even Kokoroyomi, Youichi and Ruka were doing that same thing.

"You are right," Momo said, "Ryuzaki-chan needs us the most."

"Yosh!" Eiji said who was starting to fly, "Let's help them in some way."

"I'll come with you." Ruka said leaving Youchi with Mikan, Momo and Hotaru who was preparing her gun.

Sakuno was still looking down when she sensed a disturbance to her alice. She looked up only to see Youichi knocking on it. She gave the boy a weak smile as she waved her hand to open the part where the boy was standing. Youichi went in and sat beside her.

"Are you here to guard me?"

The boy just nodded his head and looked ahead. Sakuno stared at the boy and couldn't help but feel a little sad about it but at the same time, thankfully of the kid. The kid was there to guard her… in place of the people outside the barrier. Then, something hit her. She could create barrier for them even though she was inside her own protection. Sandra was about to hit Eiji from above and she used that chance to cover him up.

Eiji was shocked at first but looked at her and thanked afterwards. Sakuno placed her hands in front of them in case they needed her help. At least she could help them but what she didn't know was BlackPearl was pissed at her assistance. At her last draw, she threw her jumi sword to her location. Sakuno was shocked and tried to concentrate.

"You are such a burden to our plans!" BlackPearl shouted, "Stay away from this!"

She lost her concentration causing for the barrier to break. She gasped as she saw the sword thrusting from the broken barrier piercing towards her. Her eyes widened and everything was slow for her.

"RYUZAKI!"

She could hear Ryoma call her name before she covered the boy with her body closing her eyes in the process and waited for the next incident.

The place was quiet after that. She was thinking that she was dead but all she could feel was… cold.

Cold?

She slowly opened her eyes and saw mist around her. She touched her body as well as Youichi's. They were still alive. Then, she noticed that someone was standing in front of them her eyes widened when she recognized the person.

Sandra was the one who welcomed the newcomer;

"Hmm, did the Snow Queen let you out from your cage," She mocked grinning at the newcomer. The others were also shocked to see the person who saved Sakuno, especially Mikan and Natsume. No one said a word so the jewel hunter completed her words;

"Ice Princess?"

Done! How was this chapter? A battle which is not tennis… hahaha… Well, find that out… Still wondering what Fuji's alice would be… :3

Reviews please! I need to hear your thoughts… and thank you for the people who stayed with me until today especially to the readers who leave reviews in every chapter… I salute and love you all… ^^

I don't own the characters, the place and the game being used here… Zero-related, capiche?

Next Chapter: The City of Flickering Destruction