Author's Note: Another chapter? Out? This fast? I know; it's pretty incredible. But just be prepared, my dear readers, you're in for a long and bumpy ride this chapter.

Dedication: This chapter is dedicated to all of the readers who keep reading this story. I will keep writing when I think no one else is reading, even though they may be. Thank you. A thousand times…thank you.

Chapter Eighteen: A Martyr for His Cause is Worth At Least One Free Drink

"What?!" Madison yelled. "What do you mean she just disappeared?!"

In the long red hall that lead to the main room of the prom, Madison, Eriol, and Li stood surrounded by televisions playing and replaying famous scenes from black and white Hollywood movies. It was quite eerie really; dozens of voices and scenes of joy, rapture, and love exploded into the hallway, although none of its inhabitants could say they felt the same benevolence.

Li stood there shaking his bowed head, unable to relive what he had just witnessed moments before. "I already told you!" Li said back, his voice raising. "And it is quite possible for her to disappear if she wants to, which you already know!"

"This," Madison said, pointing an angry finger in Li's face. "This is your doing, you know that? If you hadn't left her heart to die instead of being a real man and—"

"ENOUGH!" Eriol yelled, pushing them apart. "What's done is done and there's nothing that we can do about it," he said, putting his hands out towards either one of them. "Now, follow me."
They did so without contest. In silence, they walked to the end of the hall; television screens around them shut off as they walked by, as if from pure frustration and will alone, the passengers of the hallway refused to listen to one happy voice from around them. At the end of the red corridor, Eriol placed his hand on the door and a wave of electromagnetic energy rippled across the golden paint, turning the door a dark black. As if he was walking into his own house, Eriol opened the door and walked into the darkness beyond.

A little weary but still trusting Eriol, Li walked right after him, pulling Madison behind him. When they had entered the room a few steps, the door behind them shut and lights began to raise from the darkness until the entire front hall was illuminated in a soft glow.

It was Clow Reed's mansion.

"I don't even want to begin to know how that was possible," Madison whispered under her breath. Her pulse quickened as she realized the severity of the situation before her: she was gone and Madison knew that she would do something and yet, she hadn't stopped her. Why? These thoughts and many similar ones raced through her mind as Eriol lead them to an antechamber of the room; comforted in plush couches and a lowly lit fireplace. He gestured for them to sit down and went on without preamble.

"I knew she was leaving," and before Li could jump out of his seat, Eriol raised a hand and continued on. "I know what you're thinking, but nothing we could have done would have made her stay, and don't tell me otherwise because I know this to be true."

"How?" Li said, anger raising in his voice. "How can you be so sure?"

"Well, her hatred towards you wasn't fading away anytime soon," Madison said.

"Oh, don't blame this on me, Madison," Li said, folding his arms. "Like you didn't know she was planning on leaving."

"How could I have known?" Madison said, trying to not let her face betray her accusation.

"You're her best friend. If anyone would have known, it would have been you." Madison neither confirmed nor denied Li's statement; just turned her body away from Li and looked into the flames dancing in the fireplace. "Whatever. It doesn't matter," Li said, sighing. "We just need to find out where she is and get her back."

"And why would you care if she was back or not? You sure didn't care when you ran off to China, and I could be mistaken here, you didn't look so concerned about Sakura when you were dancing with Ms. Prom Queen herself. So don't start acting like you suddenly care when your actions up to this point have proven otherwise."

"Fuck you," Li said and then got up to pace over in the corner, next to two-story tall windows. "I'm sorry," he said after a moment.

"Whatever that means."

"Look," Eriol interrupted. "Neither of you are actually listening to me. This is something she has to do. You could compare it to a Native American vision quest or the three tests of Sir Gawain or any heroic story. The point is, she has always had help from the two of you, Yue and Kerobero, or myself. She has never had to face something completely and utterly on her own thus far, and when she does try, she's chastised for it! How do you expect her to ever do anything for herself?"

"The same could be said about you," Madison said. Eriol furrowed his eyebrows for a moment before shaking his head quickly and continuing on.

"There are no coincidences; only inevitabilities," he said, standing. "You both know this is true. How could you not after all these years?" He stood, looking from Madison to Li and then back again, waiting for one of them to speak to confirm that they understood, but that moment never came.

There was a rustling outside of the door to the antechamber, and then in came a fully transformed Keroberos and Yue trailing behind.

"Thank God," Madison said, running over to Kero and throwing her arms around him. "She's gone, Kero," she said, burying her face into his thick hair. "We have to find her."

"I know, Madison," Kero said, waiting for her to stop crying before he continued. As soon as she backed up a few steps and wiped the tears from her cheeks, he went on: "Madison, I know your gut reaction is to chase her down, but there's nothing we can do. We can't find her."

Madison went to sit on the couch. "Won't anyone help me find her?" she said softly, her voice cracking.

"She's right," Li said, standing up and walking into the middle of the room. "We can't just sit here when she could be a half a world away in whatever kind of danger."

"Relax, Li," Eriol said. "She's not in any kind of danger."

"How can you be so certain?!" Li yelled. Then he stopped and thought for a moment, his face relaxing from sudden anger to intense thought. "Wait…that's the problem," he said, walking towards Eriol. "You know where she is."

"I didn't say where," Eriol said, sighing. "I said that I just know that she's okay."

"But how do you know, Eriol?"

Eriol looked at Keroberos and Yue before responding. "You're going to have to trust me."

Li scoffed and walked towards the fireplace, staring into the flames; it was soothing, as if he didn't have to think of Sakura being gone. He untied his tie and let it hang loose around his neck.

"I guess we're going to have to," Madison sighed, walking over to Li and putting an arm around his waist. Li smiled down at her and returned the hug, thankful that Madison was finally being kind to him. We're not going to able to do this alone, he thought.

"I know you're both upset, but maybe she's just as hurt as the two of you. Afterall, that disappearing act of hers was something that she wanted to do and must have felt so strongly about that she didn't tell either one of you." Eriol looked down at his watch, wondering how it got to be this late so quickly. "Well, point is, there's nothing we can do about it at the moment, and certainly not tonight," he walked over to Li and Madison and stood next to him, watching the fire. "You're both more than welcome to stay here. I have plenty of room," he said, but neither of them responded to him. "Look," he said softly. "She'll probably be gone for a few weeks, a month or two at the most."

"If you say so," Madison said, a tear flowing down her cheek. Eriol went to wipe it from her face, but she flinched. I'm not the bad guy, he thought to himself as he left the room and ascended the stairs.

Madison and Li stood there for a long time, much longer after Kero had fell asleep on the floor and Yue had left, and they would have remained in their spots until the sun came up if Eriol hadn't given them a tea and forced them into sleep.

A few days had gone by after Sakura disappeared before Tori had contacted the local police. His father had come home only a few days later, welcomed into his house by posters that lined the streets with her face on it staring eerily back at him. The school had been alerted as well, and some of the more dedicated students formed search parties with administrators and teachers to search the surrounding towns, but it was fruitless and Li and Madison knew this. They too had acted their part of "concerned friend and citizen" in the eyes of Tori and his father, but they both knew that she hadn't been kidnapped like sources had said.

"We just have to act like we don't know what's going on…exactly," Li said to Madison one day on their way to school. "We just have to keep hoping she'll come back soon, like Keroberos said."

Madison nodded, but remained silent, pretending she was shielding herself from the rain by looking down at her feet.

Then a few weeks went by, and then a few months, and then the search had changed to something else entirely: a search for a body. Li and Madison ignored what the local and national police were saying to the media and the community as they amassed their own resources to try to find out what really happened to Sakura.

Li was driving, with Madison accompanying him in the passenger seat, as they made their way to Eriol's mansion. It was July by now and Madison stared out the window, thinking about her senior and final year at Reedington High School and how it would not be the same without her best friend.

"So," Madison said, turning to Li, and trying to jostle her mind from such unpleasant thoughts, "what did Eriol say to you on the phone?"

"He didn't call you?" Li asked, shifting gears.

"No," Madison said, going back to staring out of the window. "We haven't been exactly on the best of terms lately."

"Oh," Li said, and then, because he didn't know what else to say, "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Madison said, but knowing in her heart that it really wasn't. Normally she wouldn't have continued discussing it, but her and Li had grown closer within the last few months, only because they had something in common that no two other people in the world shared: that the most important person in their lives were gone and they knew the real reason why that was so. "I mean," she continued quietly. "In my mind, Sakura would still be here if he would have stepped down from the throne of Clow Reed and acted like a real and decent human being." At such an accusation, Li did nothing but continue to listen to her. "How do you forgive someone of such an atrocity?"

"Some say that forgiveness is the highest tone of attainment," Li said, turning into the long black pavement driveway. He put in a predetermined password into a keypad at the beginning of the gates and, as they raised slowly, he pressed on the gas with a small amount of pressure, and he rolled into Clow Reed's Estates.

"Do you remember when Sakura thought she was done with the Clow Cards?" Madison asked while they parked in the driveway. They both sat in the black leather seats, pondering her question extensively.

"Yeah," Li said, turning the ignition off. "She seemed so peaceful."

"I just wonder if…if her leaving had something to do with that."

Li turned to her. "You think she ran away to find peace of mind?" Madison just nodded her head. "I guess it's possible. Eriol did say that, for her, this was some sort of journey." He paused for a moment before continuing. "Anyways…shall we?"

They both exited Li's car and walked up the stone-laden path to the front door of his house. Li raised his hand to knock but the door flew wildly open and Eriol stood in front of them, looking quite disheveled.

"Hurry, we don't have much time." And then as soon as Eriol had appeared, he disappeared back into the house. Li and Madison rushed after him, wondering what was going on to cause Eriol to be any less than reserved.

"Through here," Eriol said, pointing up ahead at a solid wood-paneled wall. He waved his hand slightly as he approached the intricately-carved wall and one of the square panels dissolved into a large red door with black trim and a black doorknob. He opened it quickly and descended the black metal curving stairwell into the darkness below. Hesitant, but curious about Eriol's behavior, Madison took charge and plunged into the darkness after him with Li following her.

At the bottom of the stairs was a long stone tunnel with light sconces hung every fifty feet apart to provide some light, albeit a flickering one. Eriol ran ahead of them, and they did the same to catch up, until they finally began to see a bright glow.

"Is this the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel?" Li asked as he ran.

"If Eriol brought us down here to die, then I will come back to life and kill him myself," Madison said, running next to him. "I can't believe you did this everyday. I've been running for thirty seconds and I already want to collapse."

"Sakura and I used to race every day. I let her beat me once, even."

"How chivalrous of you," Madison huffed, and rolled her eyes.

After another minute of running, with the light in front of them getting bigger and bigger by the second, they ran right into a circular hole in the wall. They cautiously stepped into a large room that was very unlike the rooms in the mansion above: there were old, worn oriental carpets covering the dirt floor; books lined the dusty shelves, floors, and every available space possible; in the middle of the room, on a high table, stood an odd looking conglomeration of tubes and flasks that was not unlike a chemistry set; on the back wall were shelves lined with varying sizes of corked bottles holding herbs, flowers, roots, and body parts to certain unknown animals; there were desks chaotically spaced around the room; in short, this room was one of the most cramped and disaster-affected places that Li had ever been.

"What is this place?" Li asked.

Eriol lead them to a desk towards the back as he talked. "This is Clow Reed's personal research room. No one else knew about it except for him and, even if someone else managed to find it, he was the only one that could enter here," he said, searching through the desk. "It's a very complicated spell."

"And you can get in here because you're his reincarnation."

"Exactly," he said, and then pulled his hand out of a drawer and showed them a large purple sack that was about the size of a softball. "This is called an Auralis Locater. It can locate any magical person in the world simply based on their aura," he said, opening the sack and producing a black metallic ball that, oddly enough, didn't reflect any of its surroundings.

"I don't like the looks of that," Madison said, stepping back from it as if it were dark magic or a poison.

"It's perfectly harmless. Watch." Eriol tossed the object in the air, muttered a phrase under his breath and the ball stopped falling and suddenly lay suspended in mid-air. He said a few more quiet words and the ball reflected above them a three dimensional map of the world. The picture wasn't solid (it was more like a hologram than anything else Li had seen), but it looked completely geographically accurate. Eriol turned back to them, eager to continue. "I've been using the Auralis to track Sakura; to make sure that she's okay and that the color of her aura doesn't change too dramatically."

"So, what you're trying to say is, you have had no idea that she has been completely safe since she's been gone?" Li said, anger rising in his voice as he stepped closer to Eriol.

"No, it's not that," Eriol said sternly. They act as if I don't even care about her, he thought to himself, but decided not to force an argument if it wasn't necessary. "It's always better to be safe than sorry, is all."

"Right. Whatever," Li said quietly, turning his attention back to the map in front of him.

"Anyways," Eriol continued, pointing towards a specific location on the map and, as if it was alive and capable of mind-reading, the map zoomed in to where he pointed to. "The last time I received an aura reading was here in Sofia, Bulgaria. But as of this morning, her aura has officially gone off the map."

"What do you mean, 'gone off the map?'" Madison asked.

"For the past two weeks she has been steadily progressing through Iraq and Turkey and then suddenly this morning, when she reached Sofia, her aura disappeared."

All the color had drained from Li's face as he heard this and he began to shake his head, not ready to understand what this could possibly mean. "Is she…have you brought us here…to tell us that she's dead?"

"Oh God, no," Eriol said. "She's alive, I just can't find her. And trust me, I've looked. All I've been doing is standing in this room all day trying to find her by any magical means possible."

"Well, what do you think it means?" Madison asked, putting an arm around Li who was still trying to convince himself that Sakura wasn't dead.

"I think Sakura knew that I was tracking her and so she cut off all magical communication," Eriol said. "In short, not only does she not want us knowing where she is, she's become powerful enough to run about the world undetected."

"But she's not simply running about the world, as you put it, isn't she Eriol?" Li asked. "She's been training these few months."

"Yes, and I'm afraid she's been quite aggressive about it, too. Not only has she visited any place where magical persons exist or places where Clow Reed had strong magical connections, the color of her aura has darkened considerably since we last saw her in Reedington."

Li and Madison stood for a moment, taking all this new information in, before Li spoke. "But this doesn't change the fact that we can't go and find her."

"No," Eriol said. "But it does change the fact that she's been gone far longer than I anticipated and now we don't know where she is, how she's doing, or if she's in any trouble."
"That's true," Madison said. "We might not be the only people she's trying to avoid magical detection from."

"Yes, the thought had crossed my mind."

There was a long moment of silence while Eriol packed away the Auralis Locater, which gave Madison and Li some time to think.

"So, now what?" Li asked, turning towards Eriol.

"Now we can take some action. I think I have an idea of a few people she may have tried to contact. If we can persuade them to help us, we can try to track down her last steps."

"Which might include where she's planning on going," Li said.

"Exactly."

"But, Eriol," Madison said. "You were the one that said that this quest of hers is something she has to do. And if that's true, then why are we going to track her down? You said she was fine."

"She is fine."

"Then I still don't understand why we're going to try to locate her. She obviously doesn't want us to find her and if she's doing important work I say let her have at it," Madison said, crossing her arms. "You can't have both, Eriol."

"Both of what?"

"You can't be Clow Reed's incarnation and telling us not to find her; that everything will be alright and then, at the same time, be the concerned friend who wants to find her."

"Why can't I?"

"Because it's contradictory."

"And humans can't be walking contradictions? Tell me how you can be both happy and sad, right and wrong? It's the human condition."

"Look," Li said, interrupting. "This is not the time to talk philosophy. We have to talk to her. If we all know she's alright, and if we try to talk her out of this insane quest she's on, and if she still wants to go on with it, then what else are we to do but let her?" He was met with quiet after this question. "You know Sakura; she's going to do whatever she wants anyways. All I'm asking to do is to speak to her."

"Well, easier said then done," Eriol said.

"You said it was as easy as contacting some of Clow Reed's old buddies."

"Well, it's not that simple," Eriol said, sitting down at the desk. "They might not want to talk to us."

"And why is that?" Madison asked. "Why would they talk to Sakura and not to us? You're Clow Reed's reincarnation…right?"

"Yes, yes," Eriol said quickly. "But, uh…how do I put this?" he said, more to himself, and stood up and began walking slowly in a little circle. "Well, they're not exactly alive," he said, and then quickly added: "In the traditional sense, anyways."

"Wait…what?" Li said, more confused than ever. "How can someone not be alive in the traditional sense, Eriol? What does that even mean?"

"Well, they're neither alive nor dead, although I guess they are technically dead. At least most of them; I don't think Jing Mao ever really died in the first place but…"

"Get to the point," Madison said, trying to get Eriol back on track.

"Some of them have technically died and then have been reincarnated; much like I have been. Others have found a way to achieve immortality while others still are in between the two world, hovering between the world of the living and the world of the dead. The latter is most dangerous and only the more experienced or thrill-seeking sorcerers use this for a matter of…survival, so to speak."

"So you think she was searching these people out to train? Why not come to you directly?" Madison asked.

"Again, something I'm not sure of."

"So now what?" Li asked, getting impatient. I feel like I'm running around in circles.

"Right," he said. He took out a piece of parchment and a quill, dipped it an ink, and began to write down a list of names. He handed them to Li. "This is a list of all the possible people I can think of and where they might be; although I haven't talked to them in over forty years, so they really could be anywhere," he said, watching Li as he scanned through the list.

"Pan Twardowski, Munich, Germany; Morgan Gwydion, London, England; Padraig O'Gadra…oh great, this one doesn't even have a place it just says 'somewhere in Ireland;' Jing Mao, Hong Kong, China; Ishak Pasha, Bursa, Turkey; Magdalena Ignacia de Borbon, Valencia, Spain; and Lyra Black, Boston, The States," he said, reading off the list. "How am I supposed to find any of these people?" Li said, completely exasperated. "These people are, literally, around the world. How am I supposed to find them?—because I highly doubt they have a little side-street booth set up to read peoples' palms for five dollars," he said and sat down on a desk. "I just feel so lost in all of this."

"Don't worry," Madison said, approaching him. "I'll come with you."

"No, you can't," Eriol said, before he could stop himself.

"And why not? What's stopping me?"

"Madison, I'm sorry, but Eriol's right," Li said, stepping in. "You can't defend yourself nor fight on the offensive, so I would be spending half of my time protecting or worrying about you," he said, quite factually. "I'm sorry, but I have to go after her alone. I owe that to her at the very least."

"Well," Madison said, taking out something from her back pocket. "Then at least let me help you."

"Madison, I can't take your charity. Besides, I have enough money of my own to buy anything I need. Trust me, financial problems is something I'm not worried about."

"No, it's not money, I'm giving you," Madison said, hanging him a slip of paper he didn't recognize. "Go to this address and get a sword."

"But I already have swords; lots of swords," he said, trying to hand back the piece of paper.

"No, keep it," Madison said, smiling. "Trust me; he's a swordsmith unlike any other."

They all sat in silence, contemplating what Li was about to do.

"If you need anything on your journeys, please contact me," Eriol said, grabbing a large bag from the corner and beginning to fill it with various papers and bottles of liquids. "I'm going to put a list of Clow Reed's old houses in here; let's just hope that they haven't been unlawfully sold to other owners. Sakura might have also taken refuge at any of these houses, so I would search them anyways," he said, handing the rucksack to Li. "I'm going to give you no more than a month; if you haven't found her by then, you'll never find her at all. Try to make your last destination Valencia; I have a house there and Madison and I can meet you in a month's time," he said, and then offered his hand to Li, who took it and shook it.

"Thank you, Eriol. You've been very helpful," Li said, turning to leave.

"And remember, Li," Eriol said, stopping him. "Sakura doesn't want to be found and, I'm guessing, you're the last person she wants to be found by, so use any means necessary to remain invisible."

"Don't worry," Li said, slinging the pack over his shoulder and stopping at the hole in the wall. "For the next month, I won't even exist."

And he exited at a run, planning all the things he would need before he took off in four days time. Madison and Eriol just stood behind him, listening to his quick foot steps fade into the distance, while Madison unconsciously reached out for Eriol's hand, not at all comfortable with the fact that two of her friends had both ran away into the night, looking for a most dangerous kind of adventure.

One month later, Li sat at the long dining room table covered in a light layer of dust and debris. He stared down at a list of names in front of him; names that he had long since memorized but still had found a need to look at the crumpled piece of parchment that had dirt and blood stains alike. Li ran a bandaged hand down the list, thinking about what had happened this past month and how wretched he felt that he had still not found Sakura, yet he heard her name whispered upon the wind, or found pieces of her everywhere. One such piece, a thick silver ring, inlaid with red and pink cherry blossoms, was on a chain around his neck, and he refused to take it off for even such mundane activities such as showering, even though showers came few and far between.

His journey had began in China, naturally, as he had stopped to see his mother, sisters, and, most importantly of all, his cousin, Meilin Rae. He had enlisted her help to find the elusive Jing Mao, which he had found in a dive opium bar in the backstreets of Hong Kong, but when Li had inquired about Sakura, the old man, smoking his hookah on an oversized purple pillow, laughed crazily and had disappeared with a puff of smoke. He had continued to Turkey, Germany, England, and Ireland all with similar results, although the monstrous Padraig O'Gadra of Limerick, Ireland had left the most aggressive but helpful remark.

It had been a proverbial dark and stormy night, and Li, already fatigued and frustrated from his failures, had found an Irish castle that was, reportedly, home to Padraig O'Gadra. The reports, he had quickly found, were true, and not only was Padraig O'Gadra an excellent sorcerer, but an esteemed swordsman. Li had walked away with quite a few fleshwounds, including a rather deep gash to the arm that he had sewn together himself, but today, sitting in a small town just north of Valencia, Spain, he had realized that his arm was becoming worse by the day, no matter how many of Eriol's liquids he had poured into it. He had even taken bloodmoss and other herbs and simply stuffed them into his wound, which had helped significantly, but his stores were out and he felt that he couldn't last another few days without his arm getting infected to the point of uselessness.

Tonight, Li sat at the table of a house that Eriol had pointed out was Clow Reed's, pondering his next move, but he was preoccupied by the list of crossed out names, all too aware that only one name remained uncrossed: Magdalena Ignacia de Borbon of Valencia, Spain. You are my only hope, Li thought, staring at the name for a few more seconds before folding up the tattered piece of parchment and stuffing it into his rucksack. He pondered for a long time of what he should do, but his mind was too weary and his bones ached even from sitting in the padded chair at the head of the dining table. He glanced at his watch and noted that it had not yet reached nine, and he also knew that Valencia was a daunting five hour walk yet, he figured, he could probably hire a horse and carriage from one of the local townsman to bring him to the town border where he could hail a taxi into the city.

Picking up his things, he stumbled to the door but, as soon as he turned the door knob, he stood upright and flung on his black traveling cloak, aware that a local farmer would not want to drag a sick man to town.

"Gracias, senor. Buenos noches," Li said, stepping out from the cab and stuffing his cloak into his sack. It was still early for a Saturday night, only midnight, which meant that Li had only a few more hours until he was unable to find any information; there was no point in wasting the night.

"Excusarme," he asked the nearest young person he could find. " De donde es la barra mas cercana? Uno sin turistas?"

The young girl nodded and pointed down a street off the main road they were on; Li nodded and thanked her, walking quickly towards the bar she had described. He saw the wooden sign with the name "Finnegans" singed into the oak and he stepped down a short flight of stairs and into the underground bar.

It was surprisingly empty for a Saturday night, at least empty in comparison with all the other nightclubs and tourist-mobbed bars that lined the main roads. There was no line outside in the street; there wasn't a dance floor, yet everyone in the bar didn't seem to be in the mood for dancing; anyone that was laughing was far too drunk for their own good; Johnny Cash played in the background; and it was quite obvious to Li that every person in this bar was a local, and not only locals, but streetfolk.

Li walked up to the bar, completely aware that more than a few people were staring at him, probably because he was obviously not from around Valencia, or any place close to it. He asked for a drink in the best Spanish he could muster and the bartender, a long-haired guy with a few too many gold rings, gave him a jack and coke without the jack and with some sort of whiskey that was a little too strong for Li's taste, but he pretended not to wince as he took the first swig and sat in the back of the bar. He observed the people in the bar nonchalantly, noticing the sociology of these people and if maybe any of them were connected to Magdalena Ignacia de Borbon. As if on cue, a dark-haired woman came to sit next to him, bearing two drinks.

"Para tu," she said, sliding him a drink, obviously another whiskey and coke.

"Gracias, senorita," he said under his breath, and then waited for her to make the next move.

They sat for some time and he was wondering whether she was testing his patience, and it took all of his effort not to jump up and demand to know where her mistress was. But he sat quietly, finishing his first drink and starting on another.

"Li Showran," she said in her heavy Spanish accent. "I have heard so much of you. So much so that my lady would like to see you very much."

"That can be arranged," Li said, and then remembering his manners, "If your lady wills it so, then it must be done." Li had spent so much time underground this past month that he had almost forgot what a high-statured person he was going to see.

The woman next to him smiled and he finally got a look at her for the first time. She had long black hair, dark chocolate eyes, and olive skin and he could finally understand why so many of his friends had signed up for the class trip to Spain in the Fall.

"She would like to meet with you tomorrow night and, until that time, she asks you to be her personal guest at the Eurostars Gran Valencia, to which she is the owner of," she said, giving him a small box wrapped in a white and silver print wrapping paper. Upon opening it, he noticed three things: a key (to what he assumed was the room to his hotel), a plastic card with the name Burberry on the front, and a pair of exquisite diamond earrings (which he could assume was nothing but the best). "The key is obviously for your hotel room; one of the luxury suites that she had furnished especially for your needs. I assume that your favorite color hasn't changed recently, so it should suit you quite nicely," she said as Li tried to not betray what would be unmistakably perceived as astonishment on his face. "What that card is worth is none of your concern, but I will let you know that you will never be able to maximize it out. When you see my lady, you will also make sure to thank her extensively for both things, seeing as how she has been more than overly generous for you, though I cannot understand why."

"That makes two of us," he said quietly, finishing his second drink.

"Would you like another?" she asked, but before he could answer, she finished her drink and walked up to the bar, ordering two more.

"Bad night?" he asked, trying to make conversation.

"No, just an end to an era," she said, taking a deep gulp from her drink. She continued without letting him ask more. "The earrings are a simple gift of friendship and trust, although you must promise me that you cannot tell her that I gave them to you."

"No, I can't accept these," he said, taking the card and key out of the box and handing the earrings back to her. "She'll know they came from you right away and then the trust will be gone. No, I'll pick out something myself."

"Are you sure you can handle that?" she asked, skepticism lining her eyes.

"Do I really have any other choice?" he said quietly.

She finished her drink quickly. "We will be in contact, I'm sure. She'll want to meet with you tomorrow night to discuss Sakura—"

That was all it took. His face winced and then he turned to her and grabbed ahold of her arm. "She's seen her?" he asked. The girl said nothing and kept her face as rigid as possible. "I'm sorry," he said, retracting his arm and going back to his drink. "That was very rude of me."

"I should say so," the girl said, gathering her things in her arms. "One would hope that you would not act such a way towards my lady." Li bowed his head in shame, hoping that he had just not blown the only lead he had this past month. Then, slowly, he felt something on his hand and looked down to see the girl's hand squeezing his. "Although, after meeting Sakura, I must say, I do not blame you for feeling in such a way."

And with that, she was gone.

Li woke up in a very comfortable khaki-colored comforter, probably down, and turned over onto his back, his head aching. Slowly, he pieced together what had happened the night before. There was a third drink, then a fourth, then a fifth, and then I walked, what seemed for miles, and I walked here and, thankfully it must have been early in the morning because I don't think I saw too many people.

"God, I hope I didn't do anything stupid," he said aloud, angry at himself for doing something so stupid. He sat up and looked around: to his left was a bathroom with two sinks and two circular mirrors above them; in front of him looked to be a large sitting room with a modern looking brown couch, mounted flat screen t.v., and a mahogany table with a bundle of white lilies atop it; and next to that, he could see a hint of a kitchenette and island table with bar stools. Forcing himself out of bed, he took a quick shower and then stumbled to the kitchen, hungover and still extremely tired, hoping that there was some sort of food or drink in the fridge. He opened the double-doored steel machine and frowned; it was empty.

Thinking that he might just go back to bed, as he was still in his boxer shorts with nothing else to wear, he started walking to his new bed, but a knock on the door interrupted his movement. Not wanting to answer the door in his boxers, he quickly ran into the bathroom and found a plush white bathrobe with the insignia of the hotel on the upper left hand corner.

"Coming!" he yelled from the bedroom and walked to the door, not even bothering to look in the peephole before opening the door. There stood the woman he had met from the night before, clothed in black dress pants, black high heels, a white button-down blouse, and a tight black vest.

"So, last night you were a woman drowning her sorrows and today you are the woman in black?" Li asked, and then remembered his manners. "I'm sorry, again," he said, as she crossed her arms. "Look, I've been in a perpetual underground of society for the past month and I've dealt with people who never had an iota of politeness inside of them, so once again, I apologize for my Neanderthal-like behavior," he said, and when she didn't do anything, he gave a slight bow. "Your majesty."

Weirdly enough, the woman laughed. "You might want to save that for my lady; she is quite obsessed with the ancient world, and addressing her as 'your majesty' might please her."

"Are you serious?"

"Quite."

There was a moment of silence before the woman handed him a folded t-shirt, jeans, and a pair of black boots. "Until you can go to Burberry, I figured you might be wanting some clothes; on an apparent lack of having any clean ones," she said, looking at him. "And you might want to take a siesta at some point during the day; my lady would like to meet you at 1:30am."

"Why so late?"

"Let's just say that my lady is not exactly a day person, as you might call it," she said smiling. "Take the elevator to the top floor; I will meet you there then. And don't be late. My lady does not like tardiness."

"Sure, of course," Li replied. But before she left, he asked, "Again, I must apologize for my manners, but I have never asked for your name."

"Mary," she said quickly, and walked away.

Li stood in front of a large white wooden door that had a semicircle for the top of it. He didn't know whether to knock; it was only 1:20am, and he had ten more minutes until he was supposed to meet with Magdalena Ignacia de Borbon. His nerves were getting the better of him as he paced in the hall, hoping the door would open at any moment. But it didn't…so he sat on a wooden bench to the side of the door, just waiting. Before long, he heard a swishing sound from around the corner and he saw Mary, dressed in a white long dress with flowing sleeves, walking towards him.

As if she didn't even see him, she walked up to the door and then right through it. Li blinked his eyes a few times and then wondered if he ought to follow her, but decided that not only could he not replicate that cool trick of hers but that he should wait until someone came for him. Doing the wrong thing with Ms. Borbon could mean the difference between finding Sakura and never seeing her again. So he sat there, for nearly another hour, his palms sweating profusely, until Mary floated through the doors again.

"Magdalena Ignacia de Borbon will see you now," she said, and then, to his relief, she grasped the large and black metal rings to the white doors and pulled them open. As Li looked to the spectacle before him, he tried not to drop his chin in astonishment.

It was as if he had been transported back in time. In front of him was not the woman he had imagined, but a queen whose image and wealth rested between the worlds of ancient Spain and, oddly enough, India. There were large red and gold pillows, some sat two or even three people, lining a red carpet that led down the center of the rectangular room. Some people sat in these pillows, while others stood, but Li couldn't have tried to count how many people were there as he stood still in awe of the strange mix of Spanish and Indian décor that lined the hall from top to bottom. Unaware of how to move on properly, he looked to Mary for guidance, but found none. With nothing else to do, he followed her down the long red carpet, trying to look as professional and regal as he could in his classic black Burberry suit with matching tie.

As Mary approached the end of the red carpet, he noticed that, forty feet from the carpet's end, there were two large men dressed in white Indian traditional robes holding two large fans in front of what, most obviously, was Ms. Borbon. At the end of the carpet, Mary stopped. "Rules dictate that we cannot get any closer to the Empress."

"Empress?" Li whispered.

She ignored his question and continued, rather quickly, "Don't speak unless spoken to, bow when she is revealed to you, and don't, under any circumstance, directly look her in the eyes."

"What is she, Medusa? Am I going to turn to stone?" Li asked, before he could help himself.

"Talking like that won't get you answers," Mary whispered angrily.

"That is enough," came a voice, and Li looked up to see the giant fans being swept away and, in its place, was a woman sitting on a golden throne. She wore a traditional gold Sari, but upon her head was a matching gold crown that was unmistakably of Spanish origin. Behind her was a picture of a Hindu God holding hands with a portrait of a Spanish Queen; a visual homage to the symbolism surrounding Li.

The Empress Borbon stepped forward and approached Mary and Li, who was shaking on the inside. I already screwed this up; why couldn't I keep my mouth shut?! he thought, scolding himself.

"Li Showran," the Empress Borbon said, approaching him. He kept his head bowed, but he couldn't help but to feel her aura; one of the largest he had ever encountered. "Come with me," she said, and to his surprise, many of the guests began whispering. He even felt Mary stiffen in response. The crowd around them began to quiet as the Empress reached out her hand and Li, uncertainly, took it in response and let himself be lead out of the hallway by two large Spanish men carrying swords.

This is all a dream, he thought, letting himself be brought by The Empress and her two guards down a long hallway.

"No, Li," the Empress said; her voice thick and smooth with a deep Spanish accent. "This is all quite real, I can assure you."

Unsure of how to respond, he stated the obvious: "You read minds."

"It's amazing what hundreds of years of education will bring you," she said, as they were brought through two wide doors, a short flight of stairs, and onto the roof of the hotel. "You may leave now," she said to the two guards that had brought them there, and they left unquestioningly.

Now, alone with the Empress, Li had so many questions, but didn't know how to voice them.

"It's alright," the Empress said, walking towards the side of the building. She rested her hands on the high stone ledge and let her hands curl around the grittiness. "You may speak freely with me," she said and turned around to face him. "Although I am almost seven hundred years old, I stopped aging at twenty-four and I've been trying to act more and more how I look than how old I actually am…as of late anyways," she added quickly.

"I don't know where to begin," Li said. Okay, calm yourself, he told himself. You're not going to get any answers about Sakura if you keep blabbering like an idiot. "Okay," he said and took a few simple breaths, regaining his composure. "I need to find Sakura and I have reason to believe that she came for you."

"And you are correct."

"Can you tell me where she is now?"

"No," she replied. "But I have my guesses." The Empress walked towards Li, coming within a foot of him. "Clow Reed was a fool."

"There were many things he was, a fool was not one of them."

"Sooner or later you will come to realize that the oldest, wisest, and the most powerful of us sorcerers are also the most stubborn, immature, and, of course, foolhardy. Clow Reed, like myself, is not exempt from these characteristics, and nor is Sakura. But Sakura did something that Clow Reed, myself, and all the other people on that list of yours could not do: pull herself closer to the truth while the rest of us simply spent our lives running away from it."

"What do you mean?" Li asked, trying to take in what she had said. "How is she better off than Clow Reed himself?"

"Towards the end of his life, Clow Reed had met a woman; decided to settle down somewhere in the English countryside and live a relatively normal life. Unfortunately, his enemies had other plans."

"If Clow Reed wasn't practicing magic, then they couldn't suck off all his secrets. They didn't want him to be normal, did they?"

"They couldn't function without his magic—the very magic they wanted to steal. They needed him on their side and, like most evil people, they had delusions of grandeur. They failed of course, as you well know; Sakura and Eriol are living proof of that. But ever since Clow Reed, every moral and ethical magician since him ran from who they were, trying to gain what he had, even for a few moments."

"A normal life," Li said. Whatever that means. "But why? They saw what happened to Clow Reed when he tried to obtain normalcy. Why would they follow in his footsteps."

"So, your reasoning is, if Clow Reed can't be normal, than no one else even has a chance?" Li nodded. "Well, as you already know, humans aren't rational people. Especially when they're in love." Li looked at her, unable to separate the image of Sakura from his head. "So they all tried to succeed where he had failed, but they could not separate themselves from their own destiny, although they tried…so hard. And I was one of them." She raised her hand and, with one fluid movement, two glasses of wine appeared. She offered one to Li who took it gratefully.

"I think our conversation deserves some," he said and took a sip.

"My thoughts exactly," she said, taking a long, deep drink. Magically, the glass refilled itself. "I met him six hundred and eighty years ago. In India. I'm sure that explains a lot about the hotel décor," she said, and took another deep drink before she magicked her glass away. "I too wanted a peaceful life; live out my days running a hotel and remembering my dead Chandra by immersing myself in his world, instead of fighting the good fight with those like you and Sakura. My destiny is to not sit and be comfortable and idle in Valencia, Spain, but to protect those who can't help themselves and stop those who help themselves a little too much. I haven't been a good person," she said, a few tears spilling from her eyelids.

"Empress, are you—"

"No, please," she said, not even bothering to wipe the tears from her eyes. "Please, call me Magda. It's what she called me."

"Sakura," he whispered.

"Yes," she said, taking his hands in hers. "She's alive and she's doing things that I never had the strength to do. She's not fighting it anymore, Li. She's taken hold of her destiny and she's running with it," she continued. "She's becoming more powerful by the day. With every sorcerer and sorceress she meets, her energy increases ten fold."

"Why?" Li asked, tightening his grip on her hands. "Why is she doing this? Because I've been running this through my head since the day she left and it can't just be because she wants to stand on her own." The Empress dropped to the ground suddenly and Li sunk down with her, still holding her hands. "What is it? What's happening?"

"Just listen," she said, breathing erratically. "There's not much time."

"No, you're going to be fine," he said, and then realized that, where he was holding her hand, blood was flowing freely. "You're going to be just fine," he repeated, unsure of what to do.

"The least you can do is to not lie to me," she said, and then gasped as blood began pouring out of her abdomen, staining her gold sari. "Megumi," she whispered. "She has answers. You must find her."

"Megumi," he said, the rage breaking every syllable he uttered of her name. "Is nothing but a liar and a coward; she is pure evil incarnate. She has this tattoo."

"Oh," The Empress said, grabbing her right side. "You mean, this tattoo." She raised her sari to reveal black ink in the shape of a coiled snake around a ring of red words that was in a language Li could not understand.

"What are you playing at?" Li asked, uncertainty lining his eyes. "Has a word out of your mouth been the truth?"

"It has, "she said, blood beginning to pour from her mouth. "It has all been true. Unfortunately, it has become too late for me to help," she said coughing. "Find Megumi. She is on your side."

"How can I trust you?" Li asked.

"Because Sakura did," she said and coughed again. "You must find Megumi She will help you."

"I need to find Sakura."

"Find…Me…Me…gumi," she said and then relaxed in his grip. Li tried to shake her awake, but he knew it was all in vain.

"I knew it would happen eventually."

Li turned around and saw Mary behind him. He didn't know what to do with The Empress, but as soon as he laid her on the concrete ground, white pillows appeared and surrounded her body.

"How long has she known?" Li asked, walking over to Mary.

"For hundreds of years, I suspect," she said and sat on a stone bench, beckoning him to do the same. "Li, I know this must all seem so strange to you, and it is getting late and I know it is also imperative of you to find Sakura, but also Megumi. But before you can do any of that, I am instructed, by The Empress, to inform you of the dangers ahead."

"Yes, of course," Li said, not knowing what else to say. She is right. This is all so strange.

"The Empress has told me that, when she first discovered her abilities, she found it necessary to create an alliance of sorcerers and sorceresses to combat all the evils in the world. Because, for every good person in the world there is a bad counterpart. The world of wizardry is no exception, as I'm sure you are aware." Mary took a moment to look over at the body of The Empress before continuing. "This alliance began underground but, when evil began to arise throughout the plains of Europe and Japan, they surfaced and began to battle everything that threatened to destroy all the positive things that humanity had worked towards. All of the people on Sakura's list are the remaining members of the alliance and all of these people have the tattoo that you saw today."

"So, Megumi is part of that alliance."

"Yes," Mary confirmed. "The tattoo was a way for members of the alliance to recognize each other in a quiet fashion. Sakura didn't know about the entire significance of the tattoo until she came here, but it was only after Sakura left the hotel that The Empress became active in the alliance again."

"You mean…all those people on the list. They are still active?" Mary nodded. "Then, after all these years, why haven't Sakura nor I heard about them? Come to think about it, if there was this alliance out there of good magicians, then they haven't they helped us before?"

"They were ordered not to."
"By who?" Li asked incredulously.
"Clow Reed, one of the founders of the alliance," Mary replied.

"But why?"

"Because Sakura must be part of the hero's journey. If everyone always came to her rescue, how could she ever learn to use her powers? How could she ever learn to be herself? The same goes for you as well. You are who you are because of what you have been through," she said with conviction. Mary stood up and walked over to the body of The Empress and knelt beside it. "Now you must find Megumi."

"I don't even know where to find her. She left sometime during the end of the school year."

"Well, there are a few places you might try. Tokyo was one of her favorite places, although, a few hundred years ago, she did enjoy the old architecture of Turkey…"

"So, in other words, you have no idea where Megumi is."

"No. Not so much."

"Right," Li said, and pulled out a cell phone. He pulled off a piece of tape from the back of it and then pulled a piece of paper from out of his left jacket pocket.

"What are you planning on doing?" Mary asked, walking over towards him.

"If anyone knows where Megumi would be, it's Eriol," he said, looking at the piece of paper and dialing the number on it.

Mary looked at him, a solemn look on her face. If only The Empress had warned him of the truths that lie ahead, then maybe he would understand, she thought as she watched Li talk into the phone. All the answers are so close to him, yet he traversed the lands of Europe to find the answers here…in Valencia, Spain. How far away he is. Mary turned away from Li, looking up towards the sky. Sakura, if you can hear me, please don't let Li suffer anymore. This could be solved so quickly.

Mary didn't expect a response, so when one came, she was caught completely off guard.

His suffering will end when mine does, an unmistakable voice said, as if Sakura was speaking into the wind and letting the message fly to Mary. They say that time heals all wounds…so I shall see him in two years time. And with that said, the voice was gone and Mary fell to the ground in tears.

Author's Note: I know this was a long chapter, but I thank you all for staying with me after all these years…if there is an "all" to address. I don't care how many people are NOT reading my story, I shall finish it anyways, because it is almost seven years in the making.

For all of my readers who have stayed with me throughout, you are the reason I go on.

Crystal Cat-chan: Thank you for your reviews and your support to continue on when I think no one else is reading. I appreciate it more than you will ever know.

To everyone else: Thank you for your reads as well.

don't take this away I could finish you