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The Labyrinth	By : Capitalist Category: +. to F > Card Captor Sakura Views: 10491 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Card Captor Sakura, nor any of the characters from it, nor do I own Labyrinth. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 12
- 13
- 14
Chapter 13
‘redemption’

With no hint of the crumbling decay that was so common throughout the labyrinth, the wall bordering the city was straight and smooth, crowned with a forest of nasty-looking barbs. It was the sort of wall designed to repel the most ardent outsider, and fruitlessly Touya ran alongside it, searching for an opening.
It was far too high to consider asking Kero to carry him over; the little creature was still breathing hard from his exertion at the dump and Touya wasn’t ready to risk being dropped on that spiky barrier. The winged beast could at least flutter over the top to perform a reconnaisance, and reported that the inhabitants were still asleep, the city quiet.
“How much farther to the gate?”
“Almost there! But I think maybe…” Kero trailed off as Touya rounded a corner and groaned with dismay. He’d found it: large, solid, and shut tight with nothing like a handle in sight.
“Damn! When do they open it?”
“Daybreak.”
Touya fretted and looked up at the fading stars. “I can’t wait that long. Isn’t there any way to open it from the outside?”
“Hey, you’re asking me?” Kero shrugged, spreading his little paws wide in a gesture of helplessness. “You’re lucky I even remembered where it was; it’s not like I ever have to use it.”
Touya swallowed his frustration and moved closer to examine this new obstacle. Right away he saw that it wasn’t a flat and smooth work of construction, but studded with rectangular panels roughly the size of his own hand. They spanned the breadth of the gate in a single row, about chest height, and experimentally he placed his hand over one.
The low chime that resulted made them both jump. It wasn’t particularly loud but in the comparative quiet seemed to echo for a horrifyingly long time. Touya swore anxiously.
“Did anybody hear that?”
Kero fluttered upwards and scanned the city; nothing moved. “Don’t think so.” Touya relaxed, but only momentarily.
“So that’s it. Some kind of musical code to unlock the gates.” So that even if one was caught outside, they could still enter at night, yet anyone unwelcome would probably wake soldiers. Pretty smart, actually, but it didn’t make things very easy for him. “I don’t suppose you know Yue’s favorite song?”
“Course I do,” Kero chirped, much to his surprise. “It’s always playing at the palace, gets on my nerves.” He rolled his eyes and tapped his chin in thought, then carefully whistled a few bars. Touya caught his breath.
“Again?”
Kero obliged, not missing the stunned expression the human male wore. “What?”
“That- that’s a song my mother composed, before she died. It was my favorite thing to play on the piano.” He tried to repress a shiver. It was Yue’s favorite song because it was his favorite song. He should have guessed as much.
“Oh, so it’ll be easy, right?”
“I haven’t touched a piano since she died seven years ago.” Touya gulped as he brushed his fingers over the waiting panels. He knew the music, all right, he could never forget that melody, but it had been a very long time since he’d played an instrument. Again he pressed the same square, wincing at the noise even as he hummed along.
Hmm… A. So this was B, then C, and then… carefully he counted up and down the row, trying to memorize, wishing he had a way to somehow mark them. But there was no time for that, he had to hurry.
“Here we go,” he muttered, mostly to himself, and began. First E, then D, then E again, then up to G- no! He cringed at the jarring note. He must remember to hit the upper A for a quick half-note before the G. It really had been too long.
Again. E, then D, then E again before A. Luckily there were no octave jumps in the slow tune, but even for someone with Touya’s long arms this was a stretch. Paying fierce attention to the sequence of the panels, he picked his way deliberately through the first measure and the second, in his mind nearing the completion of the first set of melody.
“Uh, Touya?”
“Shh!” He couldn’t let himself be distracted now, he’d have to start all over again. On a razor sharp edge of concentration, he played the final sequence of eighth-notes, and something clicked and whirred in the gate. “Did it!” he announced proudly, exhaling with relief and taking a step back.
“But Touya!”
“What, what?”
“I just thought you should know that -” The gate swung outward, allowing him free access to the city at last. Unfortunately, it also allowed the waiting squad of trolls and goblins free access to him. And they did not look happy. “- you woke them up,” Kero finished lamely.
“You!” the troll in front grunted, pointing. Heart sinking, Touya recognized him as one of the group he’d attacked in the Underground. “Yer goin’ straight to the dungeons!”
“Oh great,” Touya groaned, and took a wary step back. “I don’t suppose you’d look if I told you your shoes are on fire?”
They all barked with laughter, a particularly grating and unpleasant sound that made him want to cover his ears. “Nice try,” the troll scoffed. “But I ain’t fallin’ for that.”
“Too bad,” Touya commiserated. “Because they really are.” Strong in the arm and determined though they were, Yue’s soldiers had never been known for their powers of observation. At this point a wisp of smoke and the odor of burnt leather finally wafted their way up past the number of hooked and scarred noses, and everyone looked down. Small flames were licking at every boot in the company, and simultaneously they shrieked and jumped in the air. Touya took the chance to sprint past them, knocking over a couple of howling goblins in his way and pounding into the nearest side alley that he could see.
A few moments later Kero caught up with him, flapping to keep pace and chuckling gleefully.
“Thanks!”
“No problem, it was fun!” He flashed a wicked grin and raised his paw, summoning another tiny spurt of fire. “They really are slow to catch on though, I’m gonna have to talk to Yue about that.”
“Some other time, okay?” He could hear the grunts and shouts of pursuit now, and not very far behind. The castle wasn’t visible anymore, and he darted into the next intersecting alley. “Quick, which way, which way?”
“Away from the soldiers, or towards the castle?”
“Either one, I don’t care!”
“Um, right.” Touya rounded a hut and found himself facing a pair of goblins wielding axes. “I meant my right,” Kero clarified, and Touya would have groaned in exasperation if he had the time. Instead he broke his stride and doubled back, shouts for him to stop ringing in his ears. The goblins scurried after him and around another corner, only to run directly into the heavy iron pot he’d found hanging over a banked fire. Mercilessly he swung it into the face of the closest one and then wheeled into a side kick, pushing the second soldier to a safer distance before he clocked it upside the chin. There was a particularly satisfying clang as his beady orange eyes rolled back in his head and he dropped to the ground.
“Hey, cool moves!” Kero praised.
“I do what I can.” It was too heavy to run with and Touya dropped the battered pot where he stood before running lightly down the remainder of the alley. Two he could fight, but a whole troop? Never. If he could just somehow make it to the castle unnoticed…
He was approaching a larger thoroughfare and slowed, edging cautiously up to a thatched hut’s corner. They were close, here, he could hear the grunting and snuffling.
“Keep looking, keep looking!” the leader bellowed. “On his majesty’s orders, he must be brought to the castle alive!”
Touya closed his eyes and rested his head against the clapboards behind him. No, of course they wouldn’t kill him, maybe hurt him a little but never kill him. They would drag him to the castle in chains, a helpless prisoner for their king, his dignity and chance to rescue Sakura gone forever.
He wouldn’t let it happen. He didn’t care how hopeless it was, he wasn’t going to give up, not when he’d come this far. Heart thumping, he peeked around the edge and saw that they’d dispersed again.
“Come on,” he whispered, and crept out into the open. “Which way?”
“Umm…” Kero floated upwards, and gave a low whistle. “Man, you are surrounded.”
“I know.” He could hear them, snorting and shuffling, their armored shoulder plates clinking as they roved through the narrow lanes. The light was getting better and he didn’t dare linger long in the open, but sidled up to another squatting hut. “Just tell me which way the castle is. I’m running out of time.”
Kero shrugged. “Follow me, then.”
Quietly as a mouse he trailed the floating beast along the twisting paths, freezing against the wall whenever one of Yue’s minions clanked past. It was the most heartstopping game of hide-n-seek he’d ever played. Kero was forced to keep low as well, in order to avoid being spotted, and sporadically fluttered above roof level to check on their progress. And all the while the light became less blue and more gray. This was taking too long.
Another pair of goblins clumped their way around the corner and Touya threw himself behind the nearest hut, struggling to keep his breathing light. They were coming this way. Kero hovering just over his shoulder, he slunk to the far side of the dwelling. They were noisy, it was easy to guess where they were and stealthily he moved to the opposite wall as they passed. Now all he had to do was get back to the lane, and he rounded the last corner without looking, going too fast, and promptly collided with the lead troll.
“Oof!” The sheer bulk repelled him and he stumbled backwards, not fast enough to escape the equally-surprised troll’s clutches.
“Here you are!” he cried triumphantly, and clamped his meaty hand around Touya’s throat before slamming him against the stone wall behind him. All the wind was knocked right out of Touya and he fought for another breath, clawing at the giant hand without success. “I owe you some pain for this,” the troll growled, indicating a faint bruise around his own neck that was the result of Touya’s attack with the whip. “Yue won’t mind if yer just a little passed out.”
“Let him go!” Through a dim fog Touya saw Kero bite savagely down on the troll’s ear, and the soldier howled in pain. He released his grip and Touya dropped to the earth, wheezing, vaguely aware that he needed to get away. Clumsily he staggered to his feet and tried to take a step, and that was when the troll’s arm connected with the back of his head in a vicious swipe that knocked him right off his feet. He hit the street hard and rolled twice, unable to completely swallow the exclamation of pain.
“Get off!” the flailing troll roared, and finally managed to yank Kero free of his ear. With a snarl he flung him as hard as he could at the nearest wall, by chance just over a bucket half full with rain water. He fell in with a plop and a sizzle. Lungs burning with the motion, Touya tried to push himself to his knees and almost fell over again.
“Now then,” the troll grunted, looking satisfied. His loud yells had drawn his compatriots, and dully the trapped human watched them scuffle into the intersection, surrounding him. “Yer goin’ to yer cell and the less you fight the better off you’ll be.”
“I won’t give up,” Touya panted, his ragged breathing a roar in his own ears. The soldier’s face twisted in an ugly sneer.
“Then we get to have more fun.” The others snickered in delight.
“This is bad,” Kero declared, hauling himself partway over the rim of the bucket and gasping for air. He held up a paw – nothing. “I’m soaked through, can’t get a spark!”
Yes, it was bad. But Touya wasn’t ready to despair, not just yet. Maybe because he’d realized that roar wasn’t just his own breathing after all. The surrounding soldiers heard it too, and looked up, baffled. They couldn’t see its source but it was a cry for war, a feral yell bearing right toward them.
“I think,” Touya muttered, “the cavalry’s here.”
Li shot out of the shadows too fast for the troop to react, tearing through the nearest goblins like they weren’t even there. Somehow he was everywhere, sword flashing in the growing pre-dawn light, untouchable, almost too fast to see let alone fight. Astonished and demoralized they counterattacked clumsily, falling prey to his blade before they even knew he was close and then he was gone again before they could surround him.
Breathing carefully, Touya righted himself and grabbed a fallen club. No one was even paying attention to him anymore and he took a great pleasure in cracking the lead troll across the back of the skull. His mighty bulk collapsed against the stones with a thud, and then Li was there, pulling at his arm.
“Come on, come on, let’s go!”
More were coming, he could hear them easily, the city reverberated with their call to battle. Drawing on the last of his stubborn strength, Touya forced his legs to move and sprinted behind Li down one road, then another, before they took cover in the corner of a crumbling wall and decrepit old house.
Neither could say anything for a moment, still too busy catching their breath, and then Kero caught up with them.
“Hey, kid! You’re back!”
“Yeah… I’m back.” A pair of haunted and remorseful brown eyes sought Touya’s. “I figured, what good is a sword if I never use it?”
Touya met his gaze directly and after a short silence, nodded. “What good indeed?”
Li’s eyes lit up with hopeful relief and then Touya hit him hard across the jaw, almost knocking him to the ground.
“Sorry,” he offered, “but I just had to.”
Li looked a little shaken, holding a hand to his face, but he nodded. “I know.”
Kero looked mystified at this exchange, but the shouts and cries of Yue’s soldiers demanded most of his attention. “Uh, don’t look now, but we’ve still got company.”
He was right, they could hear the pursuit stampeding everywhere around them. Touya wondered that the civilian inhabitants of the city hadn’t woken, but then, they were probably hiding under their beds by now. He really didn’t blame them.
“They’re calling out their backup,” Li predicted. “They’ll flood the streets, we can’t fight them all.”
Touya peeked over the edge of their shelter. From here he could see two skulking goblins and another troll, methodically searching every nook and cranny of the lane. They’d be on them in a minute.
“So there’s no chance?”
“Pretty much.”
“Ready to run?”
“You bet.”
“On three,” he directed, with a trace of déjà vu. “One, two…” Almost there, on the verge of discovery. “Three!”
All three of them launched over the wall at a speed and ferocity that took their hunters by surprise, knocking them over before they could react. Touya smashed the club into the face of one goblin and then pushed him into the other, sprawling them across the ground, while Li sprang for the troll.
“I see them!” cried another voice. “This way!”
Li looked up from his victim and saw a fresh batch of soldiers pounding toward them.
“Go, go, go!”
Touya obeyed, running for all he was worth, the other two right on his heels. More of the enemy poured in ahead, blocking their path, and they bolted down a side street. He was just so tired, it had been such a long night, and frantically he tried to dredge up one last remaining spurt of energy. There wasn’t one, and he knew the pursuit was gaining.
The three of them burst free of the alleyways and into a more open space, a round clearing amidst the houses with a well in the center. Like the spokes of a wheel several lanes emptied into it, and Touya made for one before it too was blocked off by the opposition.
Automatically Li turned to go another way but then more trolls spilled through, ringing them completely, surrounding them. Thirty at least, too many to fight, and instinctively both boys backed up to the well.
Li swore colorfully and raised his sword in defiance, ready to fight to the last. “I guess this is the end.”
Kero coughed and cleared his throat in a rather self-important way. “No. This is the part where you leave it to me.”
Li favored the little creature with a scathing glare before he returned his attention to the shrinking circle of soldiers. Kero didn’t seem to notice, but turned to face Touya with an uncharacteristically serious expression on his round face.
“Hey Touya, can I talk to you?”
“Huh?”
“I know Yue comes off kinda cold, and mean, and… well, lacking in any social skills whatsoever. But, when you get to know him, he’s really not that bad. Just lonely. If you could, maybe, try and give him a chance?”
Touya could only stare blankly. Kero coughed again, the serious look gone and a fiendish gleam in his eye.
“Now then!” he announced, throwing out his little arms as if to halt the enemy’s advance, “this is your last chance. Throw down your weapons, and I promise to be merciful.”
Li’s jaw dropped in disbelief and the gathered troop roared with laughter. The sky above was growing more pink, and Kero shrugged with a nonchalant air. “Well, I tried.”
A ray of morning sunlight edged over the rooftops and bathed Kero’s tiny body in its golden light, almost the same color of his own fur. To Touya’s numb stare it seemed as though his wings were growing and he blinked, sure that couldn’t be right. But Yue’s minions had stopped their approach, and even Li lowered his sword in astonishment. Kero’s wings had grown bigger, almost to the size of Yue’s vast wings, and they enveloped Kero completely and cut him off from view. No one had a chance to react to this before they spread open wide again – and revealed a fantastic lion in ruby-studded armor.
Displaying an impressive set of teeth.
“It’s playtime!” Kero declared, in a thundering bass that made their ears ring. Looking absolutely delighted, he opened his mouth and spewed flame over the nearest goblins, dousing them in fire. Instantly panic smote the ring of soldiers and they scattered, knocking one another over in their bid to escape Kero’s ferocious attack. Stunned, Li and Touya stood in the center of the melee and watched him swoop back and forth over his prey.
“What do you know,” Li finally ventured. “He really does have a strong daytime form.”
“Mm.”
“What are you hangin’ around for?” Kero bellowed impatiently. “Go on, get to the castle already! And tell Moody Moony I said hi!”
Li shook off his stupor and tugged on Touya’s sleeve. “He’s right, come on! This is our chance.”
Something about Yue and Kero still nagged at Touya, but then he too shook his head and turned to follow Li. Goblins and trolls were everywhere but too distracted to put up much resistance. Li effectively dispatched any that got in their way and soon they were sprinting down one final lane that emptied into the castle’s courtyard.
The structure seemed huge so close, almost glowing in the rosy dawn light. Touya slowed for just a few steps, taking it in. He recognized its beauty, but it was more than that. This castle represented everything he’d fought for tonight, was all that he’d struggled to overcome. After so many hardships he’d finally made it, and his sister was waiting for him inside.
Almost there…
Part of him sensed that Li was no longer next to him and he turned his head to look. The younger boy stood in front of a thick wooden post, a pair of manacles dangling from its side, his face scarred with bitter loathing. As Touya watched, he took a small step back and then slashed near the base, his sword slicing easily through the whipping post. It toppled over onto the dirt with a dull smack.
Neither said anything, it wasn’t necessary. The bitterness fled his eyes and Li lifted his chin, expression even and determined. Together they crossed the courtyard and climbed the marble steps, entering under the great arched doorway unaccosted. Evidently Yue didn’t feel the need to guard his front doorway, or the guards had left their post to join the hunt in the city. Either way, Li and Touya met no one as they dashed through the huge entrance hall.
“Oh god,” Touya moaned, pausing long enough to check a giant pendulum clock in the wall. “Just twenty minutes!” Li spun in a circle, helplessly scanning the marble corridors.
“I’ve never been inside the castle before. Which way?”
Touya didn’t know the answer either, of course, but all the same… he could feel something. A mostly unused sense tugged at him, calling him up the broad staircase.
“Um, this way. Up the stairs.” Li looked surprised but didn’t question him and they hurried up the short stairs to the next level. A pair of solid wooden doors beckoned and Touya crossed the hall, placing his hand on one.
“He’s in here.” His heart beat faster, nervous sweat tickling his palms again. “And so is my sister.”
“Let’s go!” Li reached for a handle but Touya knocked his hand aside.
“No.”
“What?”
“You can’t go in there, Li.” The young warrior looked at him incredulously, but Touya shook his head. “He’ll kill you if you try and interfere now.”
“I’m not afraid of him,” Li insisted, and Touya believed it. But he could also feel the dangerous power emanating from these doors and knew that the Little Wolf was not welcome.
“I know. But he’ll still kill you. I have to face him alone.”
Li wavered uncertainly. “You’re sure?”
“Yeah,” Touya sighed, “I’m sure.”
“Well… okay. Good luck.” Li backed away. “And- take care of your sister.”
Touya’s hand was on the handle, ready to push, when he said that and abruptly the teen stiffened, comprehension filtering through. His head jerked up, but Li only shrugged with a faintly regretful smile clinging to his lips.
So that was what – but, there wasn’t anything to be done about it now. He was waiting.
Touya nodded once and then pushed, opening the massive door just wide enough for him to slip through. He could see only darkness beyond.
This was it.
He went in.

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters

Sorry I forgot to update on Friday, guys! I spent all last week moving (yes, again!) and had so many last-minute errands to run before leaving town on Saturday I just forgot all about it. Plus I’ve been hacking up a lung. I feel miserable. Might as well get this story all up this week, since it’s Christmas and we’re all off from school, so I’ll have the last two chapters up by Friday. Almost done!
- 12
- 13
- 14
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The Labyrinth