Hello everyone! I'm alive, but just barely. Anyway, anyone who has read my profile will know that I no longer have the internet, but I was trying to get a chapter in before the end of July. Well, it is now the end of August, and I'm just getting one chapter one in, and it's not even the one I said I would finish first. -- --' So sorry!

Currently for my other story, The Heartless Soldier, I have the worst case of writer's block on it. I'm stuck at one point, and it will take quite a while for me to figure out how to get over that very high hurdle to finish it. So instead, please enjoy this chapter of The Problem From Within.

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The Problem From Within

Chapter 7: Fading Sanity

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Sakura diligently climbed down the cliff, increasing the distance between her and the others, and not just in the physical sense. The only time she stopped was to look at the place Touya had landed. All that was left was a dark stain on the ground that was really a dried puddle of blood. When she and Syaoran had climbed down the morning after his death his body was already gone. Syaoran had just shrugged and said, "we aren't the only people living in the area. Lots of people with magic can find uses for a corpse, if they're powerful enough. Don't think too much of it." Sakura shivered, envisioning a zombie version of her brother. Sakura hesitantly looked back, before furiously shaking her head. If they didn't need her then she didn't need them! Sakura, after pumping herself up, began to run as fast as she could, in the direction she believed that Yue and Kero would be.

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Back in the cavern, Syaoran was checking if everyone was ready to leave. They needed to leave by dawn at the very latest. When everything was secured and ready to be taken at any moment in their escape, Syaoran asked, "Meiling, is there any cards in the area?"

Meiling, after closing her eyes in concentration, replied, "No, there isn't a single card in the field of my ability to sense them." She opened her eyes to look at him. "I guess they're re-co-operating from their last attack." Syaoran smiled as a feeling of relief spread through the others.

"Syaoran?" Eriol said, getting Syaoran's attention. Tomoyo position her head, which was on Eriol's shoulder, so that she could see his face better. Meiling was now crouched over her bag, listening intently while double-checking that she had everything.

"Yes Eriol? What is it?" Syaoran asked, picking up his bag, and positive that he had everything, swung it over one of his shoulders.

"Sakura has just left my field of telepathy," Eriol said slowly. Syaoran stiffened at the sound of Sakura's name, and Meiling stopped looking through her bag all together. Eriol knew that everyone, especially Syaoran, felt guilty about just letting her go like that, but it had to be done. Tomoyo took Eriol's hand and squeezed it lightly for support and comfort.

"And her direction?" Syaoran asked, steeling himself to show he didn't care. Right now Syaoran needed to concentrate on their own safety. Meiling now had her bag over her shoulders, and was near her cousin, lending him any strength he needed.

"The opposite that we are planning to head. She seems to be taking the most round-about route to the top of the cliff." Eriol said thoughtfully, believing that that was the only possible route she could take in the direction she was heading.

"All right, we should leave now, just in case. Are we ready to leave?" Syaoran asked, looking in the direction of Eriol and Tomoyo. Eriol looked at Tomoyo, and while getting up, he released her hand, and she smiled, relieving everyone. Tomoyo then got up herself, using the wall of the cavern as support. Knowing that Eriol and Tomoyo needed no help, Syaoran turned, placing his hand on Meiling's shoulder, heading her and himself towards the cavern's entrance.

When Syaoran and Meiling were out of the cavern and out of earshot, Tomoyo began to voice her concern. "I'm worried about Sakura." Eriol had picked up their bags and was moving back to Tomoyo when he answered, "I know, I am too. Even though it was the best choice, I fear we sent her to her doom." Handing Tomoyo her bag, she and Eriol exited the cavern, hand in hand.

When they were outside, Eriol used his powers of the earth to call upon the roots that were living in the cliff to form something very close to stairs. Syaoran and Meiling had already climbed down when Eriol and Tomoyo had exited, so they waited patiently as the two lovers walked cautiously down the cliff, still hand in hand. After reaching the bottom, everyone looked back at the place they had called 'home' for the past few months. Readying themselves, they began to walk, in search of a new place they could call home 'home'.

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After running non-stop for fifteen minutes, Sakura slowed down before stopping completely. She may have great endurance, but she had been running as fast and as strong as could move. She definitely needed a break to catch her breath. When she finally caught her breath, Sakura looked around, and that's when it hit her. She had absolutely no clue where she was! "Oh no," Sakura mumbled to herself, desperately looking for anything in this barren wasteland that wasn't a mountain.

After frantically running around for about five minutes, Sakura calmed down. She just thought of an idea that could help her out. Summoning her new gift of wind, Sakura rose in to the sky, high enough to see about five kilometres in every direction. Sakura slowly turned in a circle, looking very closely, hoping to see anything. Just as Sakura was to make a complete circle she saw something that didn't look quite like mountains. Squinting harder, Sakura concentrated on that something instinctually moving closer. When she had moved about three metres, that something had focused enough for Sakura to make it out. It was a forest! Sakura dropped down, but instead of completely landing, she began to glide just above the ground in the direction of the forest. The way that she was gaining speed, Sakura estimated that she could reach the entrance of the forest within ten minutes.

Sakura did make it to the entrance of the forest within the ten minutes she unconsciously set for herself. She landed, but with using so much of her wind ability, Sakura's legs couldn't support the weight of her own body and she collapsed, falling backwards. Leaning upon her arms behind her for support, Sakura began to take long, deep breaths of air, in hopes of gaining some of her strength back.

After Sakura was sure she could stand up, she did get up, but slowly. Looking closely at the forest, Sakura felt a forbidding presence that made Sakura hesitate into entering. Shaking away such negative thoughts, Sakura entered the forest anyway. She didn't have to walk very long before reaching a beautiful glade. In the middle of the glade were two figures: Yue sitting on a chair, his wings hidden away, and Cerberus lying at Yue's feet, his eyes closed. Yue was the first one to notice Sakura. "Hello Sakura," Yue said casually. Upon hearing Yue speaking Sakura's name, Cerberus opened his eyes.

Sakura hesitantly moved closed to them. She still remembered what the cards told her about them hating her. Not to mention them killing Ruby Moon and Spinel Sun. "H-hello Yue, K-Kero," Sakura stammered out, taking another step towards them. Cerberus' growl stopped her dead in her tracks.

"Now, now Cerberus, where are you're manners? Sakura is our guest," Yue said mockingly, smirking at Cerberus. Cerberus smiled back, stopping his growling. Looking back at Sakura, Yue commanded, "come here Sakura." Yue waved his arm and a chair appeared in between Sakura and 'her' guardians, facing them. "Sit." Sakura moved closer, before sitting down on the chair, almost never keeping her eyes off of 'her' guardians. What was going on? Sakura thought to herself. She was very confused, they seemed to be angry at her one moment and nice at her the next. Yue began speaking to her again. "Sakura, you are in a lot of trouble, do you realize that?"

"Um… no?" Sakura said, clearly confused.

"You don't belong here," Cerberus stated, not looking at her. He seemed more interested in licking his front paws.

Sakura thought on this. I know I don't belong here, so… does that mean they'll be able to take me home? Sakura had seemed to forget that they weren't her guardians anymore, so she voiced her thoughts. "Does that mean I can go home?" she asked, her voice and face so full of hope.

Yue and Cerberus smiled at each other in a way that Sakura couldn't see. What a stupid question. "But, Sakura, you don't belong there anymore," Yue said, his voice full of mocked concern. Sakura's face fell dramatically.

"W-what do y-you mean b-by that?" Sakura asked worriedly. She can't not belong there! She had to go back, everyone had to be worried about her by now. She had been gone for almost three weeks! They needed her, and she needed them! It was the only place she would ever call home! The only place!

"You don't belong anywhere," Cerberus said, finally looking up at her. He paused, staring at her, "Sakura." Maybe it was Cerberus' stare or how he said her name, but something in Sakura began to crack. Tears welled up in Sakura's eyes when she realized it was her heart that was beginning to crumble under their cruel words.

"N-n-no," Sakura mumbled, the tears falling freely now. 'Her' guardians' smiles grew into very large and wicked grins.

"Oh, it's quite true," Yue stated, watching Sakura hastily get up, frantically trying to wipe her flow of tears. Before Sakura could recover from Yue's jab, Cerberus added, "nobody wants or needs you." Sakura gave up on trying to stop her tears, as she just stood there, as her heart was just about to fall apart. Cerberus' next words were, "in both worlds." That was their final jab, for Sakura's heart was destroyed, they could see it on her face.

Doing the first thing came to her broken self, Sakura turned tail and ran, followed by the cruel laughter of her old guardians, and once close friends. Wishing to as far away as she possibly could, she called upon every ounce of strength she could muster, and began to glide away, dangerously close to the ground. Tears blinding her, she had no idea the direction she was going, but it wasn't like she cared anymore. Her heart had been shattered, and her mind was wild with thoughts of pain, sorrow, and rage. Nothing made sense anymore to Sakura, all she could think about was how she was so unwanted.

When her strength finally gave out, she fell, but from how fast she had been going, Sakura slid painfully on her stomach across the hard the ground. When she finally stopped, she noticed that the arms above her head couldn't fell the ground the rest of her body was on. Sakura raised her head just enough to see that her arms were dangling off a cliff. Somewhere in her mind she realized that she was on top of the cliff. Slowly getting up, Sakura looked down, almost mindlessly, over the cliff's edge. "If I don't belong anywhere then maybe I should just die," Sakura mumbled to herself. She then jumped off the cliff.

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At the bottom of the cliff, Eriol suddenly stopped and looked up. "What is it Eriol?" Tomoyo asked, concerned by his strange behaviour.

"I sense Sakura, she's above us." Eriol said, straining to concentrate on Sakura's mind. "H-her mind is crazed… Oh no! She jumped off the cliff!" He exclaimed. Everyone looked up to see something falling towards them, and they knew it was Sakura.

Without even thinking, Syaoran called upon the powers of the Jump card. Syaoran jumped straight up, as high as the card could go, catching the semiconscious Sakura. On the way down something passed through Syaoran's mind.

A younger version of himself and Sakura are in a cave. Sakura is crying, and Syaoran gives her a handkerchief. She takes it, smiling sweetly. "Thank you," she says as she uses it to wipe the tears from her eyes. Syaoran blushes, before turning away. "I'm just a…

The scene melted away when Syaoran landed. What was that? Syaoran mentally asked himself. Syaoran placed Sakura down on the ground as Meiling, Eriol, and Tomoyo approached. Meiling voiced the question that was on everyone's mind. "Why would she jump off a cliff?" Eriol crouched over Sakura as he placed his hand on her forehead. Not even thirty seconds in, Eriol flung his hand off her forehead, a pained look on his face.

"Eriol!" everyone exclaimed worried over their friend. Eriol looked up, his face pained and very worried. "H-her mind… there is something wrong with her mind," Eriol said, placing his hands on his face before running them through his hair.

"Is there anything we can do?" Syaoran asked, his face still a little confused from what he had just seen.

Taking a deep breath, Eriol began speaking again, his voice stronger now, more serious. "Yes, but not here. I know it was the best choice, but with Syaoran using the jump card, the cards will now know where we are." Syaoran hung his head in sorrow. He hadn't meant to endanger them. "Our best bet is to find a place that is close, but where we can hide, and I can conduct a much stronger glimpse into Sakura's mind. But I don't know of a place…" Eriol finished, looking away in shame.

"Umm… I know a place," Tomoyo said quietly. Everyone looked at her in surprise. They had forgotten that Tomoyo was born and raised here, even if the terrain did change. "My home town… it's in ruin, but it was a pretty large city. I-I bet we could find something there."

"All right, lead the way!" Syaoran said as he and Meiling picked up Sakura's body. It would be faster if two carried her, instead of switching her between each person. Eriol and Tomoyo got up as the others were picking up Sakura, so when Meiling and Syaoran were ready to go so were they.

Tomoyo began to speed walk as fast she could, followed closely by the others. She veered more to the right than they had originally planned to go, but luckily the path they were taking seemed less rugged then the path they would've taken. If anyone had looked at the ground they were now travelling on close enough they would realize that merged into the terrain was pavement. Tomoyo was the first to notice this, for she was purposely looking for it. Adrenaline pumping, Tomoyo sped up even more, knowing that they were close to her home town. The others noticed this, and sped up as well, encouraged by Tomoyo's exuberance.

Within ten minutes of their speed walk turning into a jog, they begun to see the tops of buildings. Encouraged even more, they pushed themselves harder, ready to stop only when they were sure they were safe. That was until they reached the town. Tomoyo stopped dead in her tracks when she made it to the entrance. She had known her town was in ruin, but she had not seen it in over a year, and it looked more desalinate and… dead than ever before. Tears threatened to fall down Tomoyo's face as she stared helplessly. She looked up at Eriol, whose hand was now on her shoulder, his comfort bringing her back to reality. As Syaoran and Meiling lightly placed Sakura on the ground to catch their breath, Eriol and Tomoyo scanned the area for a good place to hide.

"A-anything?" Meiling asked her breathing irregular and fast. She was sitting right beside the now unconscious Sakura. Syaoran was on Sakura's other side and while he was still standing, his hands were on his knees. He was breathing just as fast and irregular as Meiling's.

"I found something that would work," Eriol said, pointing to a building where half of it had fallen over, obscuring most of the inside of the lower half of the building. The entrance was still intake as well. Looking back at his tired friends, then to Tomoyo, who understood what he wanted, said, "Tomoyo and I can carry her the rest of the way. We all know you two can use the break."

"Thanks," Meiling and Syaoran said, looking up at the others. Syaoran helped Meiling up, as Eriol and Tomoyo picked up Sakura. The building wasn't that far away, so no one's strength gave out on the way.

In the building, there was some furniture that had remained intact, including a couch, which they laid Sakura on. Eriol was on his knees, beside Sakura, getting ready to do thorough look into Sakura's mind. Tomoyo was beside Eriol on the only chair that seemed perfectly all right. Meiling and Syaoran were sitting side by side, against the wall that was closest to the couch that Sakura was laying on. "Any cards?" Syaoran whispered to Meiling, watching Eriol intently.

Meiling's eyes were already closed from how tired she was. She opened them, and answered, "No. Luckily, since there were no cards near us when you used the jump card, they did sense us, but there is no way they can reach us this fast. At the moment we're safe." Syaoran sighed in relief. "Oh, good."

Calling out to Eriol, Syaoran asked, "How is it?" Eriol looked up, his face full of dread. "Not good, I'm afraid. Something in Sakura's mind is blocking me. I can't get through," Eriol said, pausing to sigh. "But what I can gather, she is, well the proper term is, 'within'. She is inside herself fully aware of what has happened to her, but chooses to live within her mind to not deal with reality. Normally, I could reach someone in this state, but with her I cannot."

"But what has the power to block Eriol's telepathy?" Tomoyo asked, slightly worried.

Meiling then began to stand up. "Meiling?" Syaoran asked, confused as what she was doing. Walking towards Sakura, Meiling said, "there has been something bothering me since she returned." Meiling stopped, kneeling down beside Eriol, and she placed her hand on top of Sakura's forehead, where Eriol's hand just been. Meiling closed her eyes, concentrating harder than she has ever done before. Everyone watched her intently, not sure of what she was doing.

"Meiling?" Syaoran asked again worried over his cousin's safety. Meiling was silent, concentrating solely on Sakura. After a few minutes, Meiling opened her eyes, looking surprised, but satisfied. "Meiling?" Syaoran asked one more time.

"I'm all right," Meiling said, smiling softly, but not really looking at anyone. She didn't seem entirely back to the present.

"What were you doing?" Eriol asked, he wasn't sure how Meiling could help Sakura. Meiling seemed to return to reality, for she looked directly at Eriol. "There's a card in Sakura," was all Meiling said.

"How can that be?" Tomoyo asked, looking at Meiling then to the unconscious Sakura. Eriol looked deep in thought. "Eriol?" Syaoran asked, a little on edge. If a card was in Sakura then he would need to capture it, but how?

"Meiling is right. The only thing that can block my telepathy is a clow card, and with it being in Sakura, it would be hard for Meiling to sense. But a clow card going into a human being is unheard of!" Eriol said, thinking some more. "I think if we somehow capture the clow card in Sakura, she might come out of her mind all by herself."

"How do we do that, though?" Meiling asked, moving slightly away from Sakura, closer to another couch that couldn't be sat upon. She then leaned against one of its legs that was still sturdy enough to hold her weight.

"Well, there are ways of going inside a person when they are 'within' themselves, but that would require an expect and a lot of magical focus. It would be difficult for us to manage," Eriol said, sighing. "But it is the only way of capturing the card, and freeing Sakura from her own mind. That I can think of."

"We should at least try then," Tomoyo said, gaining everyone's attention. "It may be difficult, but we need to try. It's important that we at least try."

"Yes! She's right, we to try!" Syaoran said, getting up from the wall. "Eriol! What do we need to do?" Eriol looked at everyone; they wanted to help. Eriol smiled, "first, we need to draw a pentagram on the floor. Then we to get Sakura off the couch and onto the pentagram." He and Tomoyo got up and with some white rocks that they found drew the pentagram on the ground. Then Syaoran and Meiling picked up Sakura and placed her gently on the pentagram, her head on the top point of the star.

"Good, since Syaoran is the only who can capture the cards, you're going to have to the who goes inside. Is that okay?" Eriol asked, looking at Syaoran. Syaoran nodded, waiting for the next instruction from Eriol, as were everyone else. "Right, Syaoran, get onto the pentagram with Sakura. You need to be holding her head, foreheads touching. Meiling, Tomoyo, you two and I need to make a triangle around the pentagram."

When everyone was in place Eriol said, "Sadly, I don't the spell for getting inside someone's mind, but if we concentrate on getting Syaoran into Sakura's mind, I think that we can do it. Everyone ready?" Everyone nodded, prepared for the worse. Eriol then took Tomoyo's hand, then she took Meiling's hand, and then Meiling took Eriol's hand. As they began to concentrate, everyone, especially Syaoran, felt a pull on their magic. Closing their eyes, Eriol, Tomoyo, and Meiling concentrated harder hoping that it was working. The pull became increasingly stronger, until some force pushed the three around the pentagram outwards. Eriol and Meiling were forced into a wall, while Tomoyo was miraculously forced into the chair she had been sitting on.

The first to gain her sense of where she was, Tomoyo asked, "is everyone all right?" Looking to see that both Eriol and Meiling were shaken, but not hurt, Tomoyo breathed a sigh of relief. Getting up herself, Tomoyo went to help Eriol up, for Meiling seemed to have no trouble getting up on her own.

Placing one hand over her face to stop her mind from spinning. When she was steady, Meiling then asked, "did it work?" Everyone looked over to where Syaoran and Sakura were. Both were unconscious, Syaoran completely fallen on Sakura.

"I think so," Eriol said, his voice still a little shaken. "We truly won't know until they wake up. All we can do is wait." Eriol and Tomoyo then moved to the couch Sakura had been lying, before they sat down.

"All right," Meiling said, sliding down to sit against the wall she had hit. She could be patient, they all could.

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wake… up…

Syaoran twitched. He thought he heard something.

Wake Up

Syaoran moved sluggishly. Was someone calling him?

WAKE UP!

Syaoran jumped up his eyes wide in shock. "Ow... my head," he mumbled, rubbing his forehead. Moving his hand from his face, he noticed it was very bright. Squinting, he got, noticing he had no clue where he was. Looking around, he realized that he was in the same building had been when the others had done that spell on him, but it wasn't in ruin, it was… perfectly intact. "Okay…"

Exiting the building, he looked around. He definitely was in the same town, but nothing was damaged, nothing in ruin, it was perfect, almost too perfect in his opinion. Weird. He thought. Trying not to think about why he was in this town in Sakura's mind he said, "right, I need to find Sakura, and that clow card, and then get out here." Syaoran sighed. "That may take a while."

Sighing again, Syaoran began walking down the sidewalk, and after five minutes he noticed how eerily quiet it was. Syaoran had not seen one person since he had come here, and that was starting to worry him.

Turning the corner, he saw two schools side by side, and that's when he saw someone. It was a boy about his height looking at one of the schools. The boy had his back to Syaoran, but for some reason the boy looked familiar to him. The boy began to turn around, and that's when Syaoran knew why that boy looked familiar. The boy was him, down to the last strand of hair! And the other him seemed to have noticed Syaoran for he begun to walk towards him. But Syaoran couldn't seem to move, for seeing himself here seem to have caused his legs to stop working.

"Oh, shit."

To be continued…

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So, how did you guys like it? I'm sorry for just a long update, damn you internet! I'm going to work really hard now to finish The Heartless Soldier, so if anyone who is reading this reads my story The Heartless Soldier, I'm just letting you know I'm working on it. I'll try to update faster now, so please be patient!

Reviewers:

FloriaCharms: Thanks, I'm glad you could continue to read this. I'm trying really hard to finish it.

gogokitty: Thanks for the suggestion, I'm trying to make them longer and longer. I believe this is my longest chapter yet for this story. I know it's different, that was what I was going for, and I'm glad you like it.

Sunnflower: Thanks for the review! Here's my next chapter, sorry about the wait!

Angel of the Fallen Stars