Chapter 6
To Ashes
Disclaimer: CLAMP owns Tsubasa. They should auction Syaoran though. Replies!
sakura-san19: Thanks for the praise! ^o^ So here's my chapter. Victoria-Hughes: Thanks for the tips. :) I know this fic has to be more expressive; I was going into details after this feather. But I'm happy with your review because you actually took time to write something very useful! ^^
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Chunyan rummaged through her old things in boxes, chests, and just about every corner of the room. I watched her search around the house, searching for something.
"What are you looking for?" I asked Chunyan.
"It's a hand mirror," said Chunyan shortly, her voice a little shaky. She was somewhere between sorrow and rage when Syaoran refused to bring her along. "We have to go help them."
"Go?" I asked blankly. "To the castle?"
"Hai," Chunyan said patiently. "We have to help them. The three of them is not enough to fight the Ryanban's men and his powerful sorceress. Something terrible could happen to them if we just did nothing whatsoever. Magic can only be fought with magic."
There was a big explosion that shook the ground to some extent. There were a few shouts of panic of some villagers. I peered at the window and a mass of black glutinous liquid stretched over the Ryanban's castle like a gigantic spider's web. The magic barrier was broken.
Chunyan looked up. "They must have broken it!" She picked up a round mirror from a closet after digging through a pile of colourful clothes. She shoved them back in hastily. "Let's go."
After a few minutes later we arrived in front of the castle. A huge mob was surrounding the area, circling the castle.
There were muffled shouts and explosions inside the castle, there was a fight going on. The walls of the castle shook, and tiny cracks appeared. "Hayaku." Chunyan nodded and we went in through a gap in the wall. A voice in the crowd warned that it was dangerous, but she merely dismissed it with a wave of her hand.
We walked to a set of double doors and found another set of double doors … and another … The castle was bigger than it looked from the outside; the corridors were long and seemed to go on for miles. Occasionally there was the vibration from the floor probably coming from some people fighting. The floor was slippery and the walls felt strange. It was odd we hadn't met Fye, Kurogane or Syaoran yet. When we reached another pair of doors, there was chaos going in the room. We pushed the door open. Several men looked in our direction. I spotted Syaoran near the Ryanban in the middle of the room circled by many spellbound villagers.
"Minna! Wake up!" Chunyan shouted, and held the mirror high. There were shining beams of light from the magical mirror, bursting from all directions. The men attacking Syaoran stopped mid-strike. They had no memory of being controlled by the Ryanban.
"This is one of mother's special items," said Chunyan. "It can dispel any magic."
"Chunyan! Sakura!" cried Mokona bouncing over the head of a surprised man.
"I can't use any magic, but … as long as I have this mirror, I can reflect your magic!" Chunyan added.
"Kuso!" The Ryanban cowered on the floor shaking, positively shrinking away because he was losing. Syaoran took another threatening stride, obviously interested what would the Ryanban's reaction be. The Ryanban backed off, whimpering. Unable to move his feet, he moved using his hands.
Fye and Kurogane appeared behind the doors, looking very battered. Their clothes were worn to shreds, especially Kurogane. "There's so many people in here?" said Fye, grinning contentedly.
"You're late!" admonished Mokona, leaping up and attacking Kurogane with his head.
"Urusai!" snarled Kurogane.
"We were busy too. Sorry," said Fye.
"Give me back the feather," said Syaoran who had remained silent since we came.
"Ma – matte!" stammered the Ryanban.
"You have Sakura-hime's feather, so I want you to return it now," Syaoran directed, his hand outstretched. The Ryanban looked like he had regretted all his brutal deeds.
"Syaoran-kun …" He had gone through a lot only for my feather. I noticed his battered and torn clothes, and he was limping very slightly, the contortion of a pain faintly overtaking his features. Blood flowed from underneath his hair. Evidently he had been hit many times. I felt accountable to let him suffer all the injuries while I wasn't involved.
"As long as I have the feather, I can bring Chyunyan's mother back," said the Ryanban frantically, as the pieces of glass covering the feather fell down to the floor. "But if you harm me then that will never happen. This feather contains the most powerful magic, it can -"
"You kill my mother, the person who is tried to protect the people of this town from you. And my mother told me, no matter what you do, magic cannot bring a life back! No matter how much I miss my mother, she can never be brought back to life!" Chunyan screamed aggressively, her tears streaming down her cheeks, dripping on the floor. I tightened my grip on her. "How can you lie to me and say that you can bring her back to life?" She wanted to run towards the Ryanban but I pulled her back.
"Chunyan … do you want revenge on him?" asked Syaoran. "If that would make you feel better. But is he even worth it?"
"No! I don't even want to touch him!" said Chunyan. Her crying ceased to little sobs and her face was turning to its original colour.
Syaoran advanced towards the Ryanban who was uselessly trying to crawl away. "N … no!" shrieked the Ryanban. He backed away. "Don't … don't come near me!"
"Everything ends here," drawled a female voice behind him. A woman emerged, her long-nailed hand tenderly stroking against the Ryanban's face. "How can you seal me in this place?" said the sorceress, in mock distress. Her long nails caressed the his face gently. The Ryanban shook as her nails, brushed against his face. "Just leave him to me. I want to finish serving him," Debonair continued.
"N … no!" he stuttered, eyes widening in fear.
"I guess it's ok, leave him to her," said Fye simply, smiling contentedly.
A big mass of thick gelatinous liquid formed, shaping itself into a sphere. A portal.
"YAMERU!" the Ryanban howled.
"Don't worry," Debonair said sardonically. "I want you and your son to have the best service in my world." She smiled as her enchantment worked.
"NOOO!" he shouted, shedding tears as the dark orb sucked him into the void. But it was too late to ask for forgiveness. He had done too much to receive any mercy. I couldn't feel any kindness for him either. The Ryanban and his son had ruined the lives of so many people, solely because they had the authority to. Chunyan was trembling as I held her.
"You must be Chunyan," said Debonair. She ignored the Ryanban's distressed pleas of help.
"Sou da," she whispered.
"Your mother was a great Shinpan. Even though she past away because of him," said Debonair sympathetically. "In the duel with me she told me that she hopes you can be the best Shinpan as you can be." Chunyan stifled her tears. "Become stronger, strong enough to fight me."
"Yes … I will!" Chunyan said determinedly, clenching her fists, one still holding the enchanted mirror.
"Then goodbye. And come, my cute little insect," said Debonair to the Ryanban. She disappeared into the portal as the Ryanban gave a piercing screech. The gooey substance she created evaporated into thin air, leaving dirty murky blotches on the floor. What remained of the glass orb fractured, leaving the feather no longer concealed. The glass shards fell off, piece by piece. The rays of light from the feather were more brilliant than ever. The feather floated on Syaoran's hand and he held it out to me. It drifted towards me of its own accord. I felt a pleasant sensation as it entered my body.
It was my birthday, the first of April …
"Otanjoubi omedeto gozaimasu, Sakura-hime," said Yukito, smiling.
"Arigatou gozaimasu, Yukito-san!" I answered cheerfully.
"I'll bet she can eat this whole table of food," Touya taunted, laughing. I glared at him, clenching my fist.
"I can't eat this much!" I retorted angrily. It was my birthday. Yet he was still pulling my leg like he would always do every other day.
"It would be an easy task for you," Touya said in a singsong voice.
"Nii-sama is not telling the truth, I truly can't eat all that food!" I said, with a pleading look at Yukito.
"Ouji!" cautioned Yukito. "Well let's eat the food, they're great."
I couldn't describe how happy I felt; everyone was here to celebrate my birthday party. There was a beautiful iced pink birthday cake. There were lots of silver balls and sugar flowers on the cake. It looked too pretty to be eaten. The town chef had carefully chosen my favourite colour. Eventually we ate it.
After that we didn't quarrel anymore. The only noise was from the clattering of cutlery on the white porcelain plates. I finished my cake blissfully. It tasted great, just like Yukito said.
"The town chef said he baked the cake particularly for you," said Yukito.
"And he also said happy birthday," said Touya, grinning.
"Honto!? The chef in the town can really cook, the cake tastes delicious!" I remarked happily. It was the best birthday party ever.
"Ano ne," I began, blushing furiously. "Arigatou for coming today." I turned to the person sitting on my left. "I can celebrate my birthday with –" There was a short pause, barely lasting a second. "I'm really, really happy."
I had been talking to a chair. There was nobody sitting in the chair. Yet I still felt happy. I couldn't feel any happier. "Doushite?" I had been so thrilled. There must be someone there. Someone who was very important to me; someone I had wished could be more than just my best friend. Demo … doushite? Why are they gaps in my memories? Doushite? My feathers, my memories, they were part of my soul.
"I can celebrate my birthday with — I'm really, really happy."
"Dare mo … inai no ni …?"
I slipped into overwhelming blackness clinging at the edge of my mind, slipping away into the emptiness where there was nothing to hold on to.
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Reviews please? :p I'm not pleased with this. More misery? :b