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Return to the Labyrinth	By : Capitalist Category: +. to F > Card Captor Sakura Views: 8619 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- 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
- 15
- 16
- 17
Chapter 16

‘fire on high’

Sakura followed Jump past the twists and turns of the labyrinth, stubbornly refusing to give in to her aching body’s pleas for rest. Syaoran had been captured, and there could be no delay. She remembered the trolls and their orders not to harm the Little Wolf, and did not think Rai would actually kill his own son. But he’d been so furious… she was afraid he would hurt him, hurt him badly, and that was why Sakura kept running. Severely winded, she stumbled around a final corner and found herself back in the domain of the Wisdom. Jump simply leapt over another wall and disappeared, not even looking back, and Sakura did not have the breath to shout a ‘thank you’.

Eriol was standing near the pool, practicing his violin, and beamed at her as if there was nothing unusual about the way she collapsed against the wall and panted for air.

“Your highness, welcome back. You’ll never guess who you just missed.”

Sakura ripped Yue’s diamond necklace off, snapping the thin silver chain, and crossed the distance to Eriol’s payment box in two long strides. Without wasting a second on hesitation she shoved it through the slot.

“How can I rescue Syaoran?”

Eriol’s bow paused over the strings, and he threw her an amused look. “A girl, save a boy from a castle? How unthinkable.”

“I paid the price, now tell me!”

“Please, your highness, breathe. You’ll be no good to the Little Wolf if you pass out in my meadow. In situations like this, consciousness is highly desirable. Necessary, even. And also… strings, I think.” He studied his violin appraisingly. “Yes, for someone like you, it’s ideal.”

“What?”

“Your weapon,” Eriol explained. He flipped the violin over one hand and in a trice it had become a long archer’s bow. Experimentally he pulled back on the string and a thin glowing arrow materialized. Satisfied, he nodded and eased the string back into place. “Yes, this will do nicely. Catch.”

Sakura fumbled to catch the bow when he tossed it her way; it was nearly as long as she was tall, and heavier than it looked.

“But- but I don’t know anything about archery!”

“Not to worry, your highness, all royalty of the Labyrinth are experts with the bow and arrow. It’s an inherited gift. Li is currently out in front of the castle, getting a heavy dose of punishment from his father for being the hot-headed and outspoken fool that he is. It’s the ideal location for a rescue, for you won’t even have to get close. One shot will free him, and then you can hold off the chase while he runs. Li will know where to hide once you both get out of the city.”

“But I don’t know the way to the castle.”

“You’ll find it’s rather easy to spot once you’re airborne.”

“What? Oh, the wings! But I don’t know how to -”

“Nonsense, your highness. They are already out and ready to fly.” He nodded to something over her shoulder and Sakura saw that it was true; her white wings had shown themselves again. “You’ll learn how to control them consciously in due time, but for now it seems that the idea of Li in danger is enough to summon them. Romantic. Have I answered your question well enough? Ready to go?”

Sakura’s mouth opened and closed a couple of times, searching for something to say. All the directions had come so fast, and the situation had become slightly unreal. She was just a high school cheerleader. Could she really rescue Syaoran from his terrible father, and those gargoyles?

“Maybe I should practice with this, just for a little while.”

“Your highness, I suggest you hurry.” Without having taken any steps, Eriol was now standing directly in front of her. “When your brother rescued you five years ago, he was barely in time to pry you out of Yue’s grasp. Unless you move quickly, you won’t be so lucky. Li and his father have too much in common.”

“But you said he was hurting him.”

“Exactly.” Unexpectedly Eriol leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. “Go. Go now, and don’t be afraid. Remember that the labyrinth is on your side. Everything will be alright.”

Sakura’s hands had begun to tremble, but she clutched at the bow more tightly and nodded. Tentatively she directed her wings to move, and they flapped once. Abruptly she was yanked up off the surface of the earth, her feet dangling a foot above the grass.

“You were wrong,” she remembered to point out, even as the wings carried her higher. “He didn’t betray me in the end. You were wrong about him.”

“Please don’t tell him. He’ll never let me hear the end of it.” Graciously Eriol bowed and that was the last Sakura saw of him, trying to orient herself and control the wings. Looming on the horizon, over the tops of the labyrinth walls, was the castle. Lightning flashed ceaselessly between the clouds overhead. It was intimidating a picture as Sakura could ever imagine, but Syaoran was there and needed her. She adjusted the angle of her wings, took a deep breath, and flew.

- - - - - - -

It was on the sixth or seventh strike, when Rai’s whip broke the skin and blood began to flow, that a dark hatred began to well up within Li. It blackened and intensified with every fresh bite of the whip, consuming him, just like that day seven years ago when Yue inflicted the same cruelty. It was his lot in life, this whipping post, and no matter what he did Li would never escape it. He would probably die like this, chained and beaten for the crime of existing. He’d always been doomed to suffer at the hands of a king.

Still he had not screamed. With every crack of the whip he clenched his fists more tightly around his chains, grinding the hard metal links painfully into his palms, and clamped his jaws shut against the temptation. Warm blood dripped down his back, on fire with pain, but still he kept the screams inside.

Li was too busy struggling to do this to notice the difference between this whipping and the last. As a boy, dragged here by the trolls for his punishments, the city people were always present to shout and laugh. He’d been their entertainment, in an otherwise menial life, the silly child from the labyrinth caught defying Yue yet again. Now, the crowd was swelling in size as his torture dragged on, but they came and watched in tense silence. The only noise was the eternal snap of the whip, and his own labored breathing.

“Had enough, boy?” Again Rai struck him, and Li gritted his teeth against a fresh wave of pain. “Answer, ‘Yes, Father’, and I’ll stop.”

Li said nothing.

“I had a feeling that would be your answer. Never mind, I’m considerably stronger than you are and I can do this longer than you can take it. Maybe when all of the kingdom has seen you broken and crying at my feet, you’ll understand there’s no more point in trying to fight back. Then you can put all that energy to a more useful purpose, like learning how to really fight with a sword.”

Rai chuckled and that hatred smoldered inside Li with renewed force. Again the whip cracked, again he dug the links of the chains into his palms and fought to voice no sound. Then he lifted the whip again, Li knew it, but the sound that followed wasn’t the same snap of leather. It was a much lighter whistle through the air, something small and fast, and without warning the chain holding up Li split in two.

It happened so suddenly that Li couldn’t adjust his balance, and fell backwards rather heavily on his rear. Reflexively he braced his hands back against the dirt, able to do so because his hands had been freed. A heavy cuff was still locked around each wrist, but the chain linking them together had been severed neatly in the middle, the link sliced apart. Blankly Li looked up, at the post, and saw a thin arrow of light fading away.

Everyone heard Tomoyo’s startled gasp. Li saw her standing on the castle steps, her hands over her mouth, and swiftly twisted around in the dirt to see what she stared at. His heart nearly stopped when he did. Standing perched on the crown of a hut rooftop, her wings outspread, Sakura lowered her bow and met his gaze.

“Quick, Syaoran!” she cried. “Run!”

Everyone was staring, shocked into stillness, even Rai. Eventually he remembered to lower his arm, and smiled at the princess. “Well, this is a surprise, but not an unpleasant one. Saves me the trouble of looking for you, at any rate.”

Sakura’s hands were shaking, but she yanked back on her bowstring and produced a new arrow. Layering one unbelievable act on top of another, she pointed it at Rai.

“Don’t move!” she shouted. “I mean it! I will shoot you if you move. Syaoran, run.”

Rai’s eyebrows rose skeptically. “You? A fledgling princess, shoot at me? You do not have the nerve.”

“The princess!” Li heard several of the city folk whisper to one another, expressions of shock turning to awe and reverence. “The new princess has come!”

Sakura swallowed, but kept her bow trained on Rai. “I will if I have to. I came here to save Syaoran, and I will. I won’t let you hurt him anymore.”

“Let me?” Rai echoed. “My son belongs to me, and I will deal with him as I please.”

“Not if you can’t find him,” Sakura snapped. “Syaoran, run!”

Li still had not moved to even stand. Again the princess begged him to run, and he watched Rai’s gaze move from Sakura back to him. There was a mocking, challenging gleam to those eyes that prompted an involuntary growl in Li’s throat.

“Run, Little Wolf!” several of the city people cried out, taking up their princess’s command. They cried out for him to escape, that they would help. This was not the crowd that laughed when he was whipped here as a boy, something had changed. Li recognized faces in the mob, people that he’d helped, and remembered that he was their hero. He would not let them see their hero run.

Li pushed off the dirt and sprinted to attack. He barely heard Sakura’s scream before he was there, throwing a furious punch at Rai’s face that the king easily parried. One light push was all it took to throw him off-balance, and Li stumbled back a few steps.

“Syaoran, what are you doing?” Sakura wailed. “You have to run, you have to get away!”

“No more running!” Li barked, never taking his eyes off Rai as they circled one another. “This is our kingdom. Why should we hide from him?”

“But you can’t beat him!” she cried, just before Li attacked again. Easily Rai deflected his kick, knocked aside his two punches, and rapped him on the temple with a sharp backfist.

“She’s right, you know,” Rai pointed out, while Li stumbled and tried to keep his balance. “You are years from challenging me, runt.”

“I don’t care. I will not hide anymore.”

“You just can’t stand to run away in front of everyone. I’ve already damaged your pride too much.”

“Shut up.”

“You really are my son.”

“Stop saying that!”

Desperately Li attacked, ignoring his exhaustion and the throbbing pain in his back and Sakura’s pleas for him to run. He tried everything he knew, every kick, every punch, every dirty strike meant for the throat or eyes that he could think of. Nothing touched Rai. The king was too fast, blocking before Li could even throw the punch, sliding out from under every attack with unhurried ease. When he finally counterattacked, one hard palm strike to the chest was enough to knock him to the ground. The packed dirt slamming into his flayed backside might have drawn a scream from him, if he could have drawn breath.

“How about it, your highness?” Rai asked, while Li gasped for air. “My son has made it plain that he won’t be leaving my side tonight. You can come down here and join him, or you can abandon him and do your best to escape my soldiers. I don’t think you can shoot them all.”

He raised his hand as if to signal his troops, and Li could see Sakura was close to panicking. It was beyond him to shout for her to get away, but he was opening his mouth to try anyway when a bolt of brilliant gold light zoomed to land on the rooftop next to Sakura. Kero spread his wings and snarled menacingly.

“Maybe she can’t, but I can incinerate whatever she misses. You don’t have near as many bats as when you first walked into this kingdom, Rai. Better spend ‘em wisely.”

Li attempted a shallow breath and thanked heaven that Kero could, ever so rarely, say something intelligent. Rai glanced briefly at the increasingly restive crowd and knew he’d be needing his soldiers to keep some order. “Then I suppose I’ll just have to come and get her myself.”

“No you won’t,” Li snarled, and threw himself in a headlong tackle when Rai took a step toward Sakura. Rai seemed to disappear out from under him, though, and next thing he knew he was face-first in the dust.

“Pathetic,” Rai commented, and dragged Li off the ground by his hair. “If you could see yourself, what you’ve been reduced to, you would agree. You are going to get yourself killed for that girl, is that what you want?” When Li was on his feet again he let go, only to slap him soundly on the face. “Don’t you know how dangerous it is to love, what a weakness it is? You should be stronger than that, my son is stronger than that.”

“If it’s such a weakness,” Li panted, “then why can’t you stop it?”

The king’s eyes flashed furiously and he hit Li hard enough in the jaw to send him sprawling.

Sakura swallowed a cry when she saw Li go down yet again, her heart pounding with sheer terror for him. Kero was trying to nudge her back, using his big head to push her away.

“Don’t watch, Sakura. We have to go, quick.”

“What! How can you talk about leaving him, we have to help! You can get him out of there!”

“I wish to God I could, but I can’t, there’s no time.” Kero shoved her again, more urgently, and she almost lost her balance. “You have to get out of here while I can still protect you!”

Sakura’s gaze flew to the western sky, where the sunset was throwing its last few golden gleams over the Labyrinth. “No… oh no, Kero-chan, not yet!”

“I’m sorry, Sakura. I can’t help Li, but he’ll kill me if I don’t help you, so please go!”

He pushed her clear off the edge of the roof and Sakura had to fumble to flap her wings and keep herself airborne. On the other side of the hut, she heard Li hit the ground again with a grunt.

“No,” she whispered. “I won’t. I won’t leave him!”

“Sakura!”

Kero tried to leap after her when she darted around him, but the sunset had caught up to him. His wings engulfed him, and Sakura alit on a stone chimney. With renewed determination she pulled back on her bowstring. If Syaoran would not run, then she had to shoot. There was no other way. She had to.   Heart hammering away within her chest, Sakura bit her lip and prepared to release.

The gargoyle popped up in front of her so suddenly, so close, that all the tension within her snapped in the wrong way. She shrieked and fell backwards, her arrow careening off somewhere towards the castle.

Lying in the dirt, Li watched her struggle to get away from the pair of gargoyles, unsuccessfully. An angry shout went up from the crowd, and some of the bats snarled and slashed at a few of the closest city folk, forcing them back. Li could do nothing for her. He couldn’t even get up.

“She’s a surprisingly spirited little girl,” the king commented, moving between them and blocking his view. “My respect for her is growing. But she was out of her league, thinking she could go against me. Even you can’t go against me, as you have very painfully learned. I will have my son. I will have this kingdom. And there is no one that can stop me.”

He hauled Li to his feet and threw him halfway across the courtyard, everything flying past him in a blur before he crashed into the dirt. He hit the ground and rolled a couple times, and the world suddenly got very quiet.

Silent, even.

His first thought was that Rai had hit him over the ears too hard. Or maybe he was on the edge of passing out. All the noise of the yelling crowd had stopped, abruptly, like it was switched off. Those screeching gargoyles, mute. His own breathing was the only sound left.

Li opened his eyes. Everyone, the city people and gargoyles, had frozen. Why were they all looking at him like that? Sakura was staring too, no longer struggling against the gargoyles that held each of her arms. Even Kero, with his toothy jaws prepared to clamp down on the ear of one of her captors, had stopped short to stare in astonishment. Rai looked stunned.

Li looked back. Yue was standing behind him, startlingly white against the dimming twilight, cool and dispassionate as ever. All of his kingdom was staring, shocked senseless, and the son of a bitch didn’t even let on that he noticed. Instead he just looked at Li, lying at his feet, and clucked his tongue twice.

“I had hoped, Little Wolf, that experience would teach you to pick your battles more carefully. I suppose you have a ways to go.”

Bastard. Li wanted to say it but he couldn’t, because in truth he’d been stricken mute like everyone else, unable to do anything but stare. Yue stepped over him like he was nothing more than scrap junk, his gaze now on Rai.

“Greetings, king of storms. I see you have been busy this past month: invading and terrorizing my kingdom, making yourself at home in my castle, persecuting my princess. And now, apparently, intent on beating your own son half to death. Were you really careless enough to believe I would not come to stop you?”

“Just another ‘family quarrel’, Yue,” Rai answered coolly, his surprise now tucked out of sight. “I’ll thank you not to interfere this time, as you shouldn’t have fifteen years ago.”

“What bothers you more, Rai? That I gave the woman refuge, or that she knew to come to me at all?”

Rai scowled. “I could have told her, had she asked, that any favor from you was a favor only to you. What were you planning to use him for? A bargaining chip?”

“I suppose you’ll never know.”

“That’s right, because I’ve found and taken him back.” Languidly the two of them circled about the yard, expressions cool but eyes wary. Very slowly, Rai was peeling off his leather gloves. “Just like I’ll be taking your Labyrinth, and your princess. I will take your handsome toy, too, just because I feel like it and because I can. Five years you’ve been gone, Yue, and you reappeared just one day too early. It’s a new moon tonight, and I am stronger than you. You’re a fool to confront me.”

“Then it seems your question has finally been answered,” Yue answered crisply, and Li thought he felt the stirrings of a new breeze. “Apparently, there is something that will make me consider it after all.”

The breeze exploded into a violent wind, swirling around Yue in a miniature maelstrom. A thought crossed Li’s mind that if he didn’t grab onto something, he’d be blown clear off the ground, but before he could try to move the force of the wind spun up and away from the earth. It tore into Rai’s heavy storm clouds, ripping them into shreds, and in the space of a few heartbeats had cleared the eastern half of the sky completely. For the first time in a month, stars shed their light onto the Labyrinth.

Li heard himself swear softly under his breath, gaping at the spectacle. Rai didn’t blink, but his glare darkened and thunder crashed, making several of the city people jump. Lightning crackled between the clouds at an even wilder pace in the western half, stopping short at the sharp and straight edge that divided the sky. It was one of the strangest sights Li had ever seen.

It was battleground.

Rai’s black wings sprouted from his back with a snap. Almost faster than Li’s eyes could follow he shot up from the earth, and so did Yue. Again thunder shook the world, and the cloud-covered half of the sky burst open with its contents. Li had just one last glimpse of the two kings hurtling skyward before rain fell and pelted the city, obscuring his vision.

“Li!” Someone was kneeling beside him, grabbing him roughly by the collar and pulling him up off the ground. Through the dusk and the driving rain he could barely recognize Touya’s face, tight with barely-controlled fear. “Fuck, look at you. Are you alive? Never mind, I don’t care. Where’s my sister?”

Sakura! Li twisted away from Touya and raised his hand to point, but the driving rain and thickening dusk made it nearly impossible to see. Li blinked water out of his eyes, squinting, but could see no sign of her.

“Sh-she’s gone.”

“What?” The hand still on his shirt collar tightened dangerously.

“She was right there, just a minute ago, I don’t know what happened -”

“Come on.” Touya dragged Li roughly to his feet, only for Li to nearly collapse the second he let go. Growling impatiently, Touya grabbed his arm and slung it over his own shoulders. As if triggered by the sudden upheaval in weather, the city around them had exploded into violent chaos. Yue’s subjects were awed by the arrival of their new princess, emboldened by the return of their king, and would stand to be browbeaten no more. Not quite able to believe his own eyes, Li watched them stream over and around the gargoyles trying to force them back, a suddenly unstoppable flood. Hoes, shovels, and woodaxes became weapons. Sharp teeth and deadly claws no longer inspired fear and submission.

“What are you doing?” Li demanded, reaching out to grab the arm of the first peasant he could catch. “They’ll kill you; all of you, get back in your homes!”

“No, Little Wolf.” The burly man tugged his arm away and gripped his makeshift club with renewed determination, but he was grinning. “All this time you’ve fought them for our sake. It’s our turn now. You are the one that must get inside; you’re badly injured.”

“He’s right,” Touya panted, when the man had rushed past. “You’re a mess. I’ll take you to that nearest hut and you’ll be safe.”

“Hide?” Li echoed, affronted. “Me? Now?”

“You can’t even stand up!”

“I don’t care! I won’t hide, not while Sakura is out here. I have to keep her safe!”

“No, I have to -” Touya broke off and shot Li a venomous glare. “Sakura?”

Li swallowed, but kept his chin high. “You’re not leaving me behind, Touya. So let’s just find her.”

The gale-force winds had swept past Sakura too suddenly for her to brace for them, even if she’d been in any kind of a position to try. They caught her feathered wings and ripped her away from the distracted gargoyles, and Kero-chan, tossing her into the air like an origami kite. Sakura shrieked and scrambled instinctively to reach for the rooftops beneath her, too late. Caught in a vicious gust, Sakura was blown clear of the city completely, and the huts dwindled to a tiny size at a frightening clip as she spiraled ever higher. Helpless to stop it and sure she’d be blown into the stars, Sakura screamed for help.

“Gotcha!” Unexpectedly, a gloved hand snatched hers, and Sakura hiccuped with surprise. A pretty girl in pink with huge butterfly wings grinned and winked at her, coasting easily to lower altitudes as if it were no task at all. “You’re new to the wings, aren’t you? Don’t worry, you just need more practice! You’ll learn soon enough how to tell them what to do.”

“Th-thank you,” Sakura gasped, fighting for breath and aware that her free hand was shaking. “You saved me.”

“Well, I don’t normally bother helping others out, but since you are the new princess, I’ll do this much for free. You’re even cuuuuter than your older brother, did you know that?” Enthusiastically the pretty girl rubbed her cheek against Sakura’s hand. “Let’s be good friends when all this is over, okay?”

“Um -”

“Just a second.” She flung her other hand at something over Sakura’s shoulder, and several sharp rubies sliced through the air. The gargoyle bearing down on them squawked with pain and tumbled to the earth. “Stupid ugly little monsters. Guess I’ve got to go help sort this mess out. You’re okay now, right? Bye, cute little princess!”

As suddenly as she’d come she was gone, the fluttering pink wings vivid against the dusk. A panther with matching butterfly wings in blue zipped past Sakura, nodding courteously with a gruff “your highness” before he was gone too, shooting red bolts of deadly lasers at any gargoyle that tried to attack him.

Sakura clutched at the nearest stone chimney, determined not to be blown away again, and looked unsuccessfully for Syaoran. The city had turned into a roiling war zone, people were fighting gargoyles in all the tiny little streets, beating at them with farm implements when they could catch them, and ducking and hiding from their aerial attacks when they could not. Syaoran had been so badly hurt; how could he be okay in this mess?

“Syaoran!” she screamed into the wind, uselessly. Nothing could be heard over the noise of the battle. But the last time she’d seen him, he’d been lying in the dirt before the castle entrance, and she could see that well enough. Nerving herself, Sakura ran lightly across the thatched roof of this hut and leapt to the next, preferring to risk the dangerous winds rather than the fighting in the streets. Surely Syaoran would stay away from that in his condition, right?

A gargoyle swooped low over the melee and nearly clawed Li’s eyes right out of his head. He was starting to feel dizzy from blood loss and pain and didn’t have his usual reflexes, and if Touya hadn’t yanked him back just in time the gargoyle would have succeeded. Swearing most colorfully, Touya threw him – not gently – against the nearest wall and snatched a fist-sized rock off the ground. When the gargoyle tried to dive in again Touya nailed him right in the face with a perfect pitch.

“Damn it, Li, what the fuck is the matter with you? Don’t you get that you shouldn’t be here? You can barely walk.”

“I can still fight,” Li wheezed, even though he’d slumped to the ground while Touya was dealing with the enemy. Unsteadily he tried to get at least up on his knees. “I can always still fight.”

“You’re thinking of argue,” Touya corrected tersely, moving between Li and the rest of the street. All that rock had done was anger the first gargoyle, and now it was circling again with two friends. Frustration balled up bitterly in Li’s throat as he watched Touya’s fists clench in preparation, hating his own weakness and wishing he held his sword in his hand. He was weaponless, and as Touya was so happy to point out, practically defenseless as well. What good would he be to Sakura even if he could find her?

“I found her!” Kero sang out, soaring below the line of rooftops and circling Li’s head once. “Saw her heading for the castle courtyard! I’ll lead the way, come on!”

“Look around you, Kero,” Touya hissed. “We’ll be lucky to get out of this alley alive.”

“Lemme at ‘em, I can take ‘em!”

“We’ll need more than a few scorch marks to stop them.” Touya glanced from them back to Li, still struggling to stand. “Maybe they’ll follow me if I run…”

“No! No running, no hiding! I can fight!”

“Kid, I swear to God I will leave you behind if you don’t -”

“Do it and I’ll just find her on my own, I don’t care -”

“Watch out!” Kero yelped, and in the darkness Li saw all three hurtling toward Touya with claws outstretched. Panic and adrenaline sparked his frustrated eagerness to join the fight, and without thinking Li lunged forward. His hand shot out on its own accord, and something like the heat of a hundred fires burned painfully between his fingertips. White fire exploded in front of him, searing his unprepared pupils with such bright light, and the force of it knocked him right back over onto the ground.

Li managed to swallow most of the yell, gritting his teeth against the pain, and carefully pushed himself up to sit again. His vision was swimming with purple spots and he had to blink a few times to see the alleyway again. He saw motion first, and wondered why two of the gargoyles were flapping so frantically to get away. The third of them wasn’t moving anymore, plastered against the opposite wall… not even breathing anymore. Dead. Its body had blackened considerably, and as Li stared part of a wing crumbled into loose ash.

“What happened?” he finally managed, his tongue feeling very thick and dry in his mouth. Kero and Touya were staring at him with identical stunned expressions, eyes round as the full moon.

“You shot lightning,” Touya said stiffly.

“Out of your hand,” Kero added.

“It was…” Touya held up his own hand, thumb and pointer finger an inch apart. “This close to my face.”

“Oh,” Li said, not sure what else to say. “Sorry.”

“Do you know how you did that?”

Li stared at his hand, looking and feeling as normal as ever, and shook his head. “I don’t.”

“Then I suggest,” Touya said acidly, and held out his hand for Li to grab, “that you don’t do it again.”

The courtyard before the castle was an eerie spectacle: half drenched with rain, half dry under the starlit sky, and nearly empty of life. A few broken weapons littered the edge, but the fighting had moved into the city. The only heartbeat still there was Tomoyo, standing just outside the rainfall with her face tilted up towards the sky.

“Tomoyo-chan!” At last Sakura dropped back to the ground and scurried across the distance between them. She had to repeat herself before Tomoyo seemed to hear, tearing her gaze away from the heavens just in time to recognize her before Sakura threw herself upon her with a hug.

“Sakura!” She returned the hug almost painfully, squeezing Sakura with the strength of desperation. “Oh, Sakura, I finally get to see you again after all this time. I wish it were better circumstances.”

“Me too. What are you doing out here, it can’t be safe. Come, let’s get inside the castle, I don’t think any of the gargoyles are still in there.”

“There aren’t,” Tomoyo answered automatically, but when Sakura tugged on her hand she didn’t move. Her eyes were fixed on the skies again. “They’re fighting, Sakura. Can you see them?”

Sakura looked up. It was difficult, against the backdrop of flashing clouds and brilliant stars, but she could see the two kings. Like faraway hawks, one black and one white, she watched them darting back and forth between the two halves of the sky, wheeling about and occasionally crashing against one another.

“Don’t worry,” she said, in her best attempt to sound comforting. “I’m sure Yue will win.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about,” Tomoyo said quietly. “Sakura, I think… they’ll fight to the death, won’t they?”

“I don’t know, Tomoyo-chan.” Sakura hated to think of such a thing, but these were two powerful kings battling for control of a kingdom. “Maybe. Probably.”

She seemed so pale, Sakura suddenly noticed, pale and still as a fragile porcelain doll. “I don’t want anyone here to die, Sakura.”

“Of course you don’t, how could you ever…” Sakura trailed off when she saw Tomoyo’s gaze attach itself to the battle above again. Even in the fitful light she could see the anxious fear in her eyes. “Tomoyo-chan?”

“I’m sorry, Sakura,” she whispered. “I didn’t want it to happen. I am your loyal servant, always and forever. I will keep my feelings in my heart and never speak about them again, if I must, but I still don’t want anyone here to die.”

She was talking about Rai, Sakura finally realized, the man that beat Syaoran bloody on this very spot. The man that nearly killed her, the king responsible for the war raging all around them. Tomoyo was looking at her again, waiting for her reply, but when Sakura opened her mouth nothing came out. What could she say to that? What could anyone say?

She was saved from having to try when she heard her name, being shouted over the din of the storm. Someone that she knew very well was calling out to her.

“Sakura!”

Touya nearly collapsed with relief when he dragged Li around the last cottage and saw his sister, standing almost underneath the rainfall with that servant Tomoyo. It was no exaggeration on his body’s part; after three days of constant hiking, frequent hard running, and very little rest, Touya was nearly ready to drop. Li, a dragging weight on his shoulders, was not helping. But he was so close, finally within sight of Sakura after all this time; everything would be alright now.

“Sakura!”

He was too far away; she couldn’t hear him over the racket of thunder and rain. Wheezing for breath, he hiked Li up yet again and struggled a few steps forward. “Sakura!” Still no luck. “Damn it, they shouldn’t just be standing out in the open like that. Kero, if we make it inside the castle, will it be safe?”

“Probably – there’s no reason for Rai’s army to stay inside. You want me fly in and check?”

“Do it. I’ll get everyone through the front doors. I not want to walk into a nest of gargoyles, so make sure.”

“Aye-aye!” Cheerfully Kero saluted and whisked off into the gloom, with a speed and energy Touya envied. Wearily he hauled Li a few more steps forward.

“Not far now, kid, we’re almost there. We found Sakura! Why the hell does she have wings? Can you see her? Say something if you can.”

Li’s head lolled against Touya’s shoulder, his eyelids drooping alarmingly low. “Hey, none of that! You can’t go passing out on me now, not when you’ve lost so much blood. I don’t know if you’ll wake up. Li! Open your eyes!”

Touya stopped dragging Li forward so he could slap him soundly on the face. “You will not die on me; I can’t kill you later if you die now, and if half the things those worms have been saying about you and my sister are true, then I really want to kill you. So stay awake!” Again he slapped Li, and was rewarded by rapid blinking and a flash of irritation on the kid’s face.

“Stop that,” he mumbled.

“Stop passing out and I will. We’re almost to the castle, and I need you conscious. Now come on, one foot in front of the other.”

“Mm.” Obediently Li stumbled forward, but then he flinched and nearly collapsed. “No… no.”

“What?”

“Can’t,” Li wheezed. “Too dangerous. The lightning, there’s too much. I can hear it.”

“Hear lightning?” Baffled, Touya looked from Li up to the sky, where he could see the two kings in combat. Sporadically lightning sizzled in long streaks from the nearly-invisible king in black to the one in white, deadly looking attacks that made Touya’s throat go dry with dread. With some difficulty he swallowed. “Yeah… he’s using lightning, but it’s all up there. We’re fine, just keep going, we’ll be okay inside the castle.”

Li was shaking his head, feebly trying to resist Touya’s determined pull. “Too much of it, he’s losing control… shouldn’t be here.”

“I know. That’s why I’m trying to get us inside!”

“No Touya.” His face was rapidly losing color, and he was having a hard time keeping his eyes open again. “Listen… the lightning. Get away.”

“Oh for God’s sake, I do not have time for this. Sakura!” This time she finally heard, tensing and turning her head at the sound of her name. “Sakura!”

At last she saw him, startled recognition crossing her expression. He raised his hand to beckon her closer, but at the same time Li closed a surprisingly strong grip on his shirt and swept his foot against Touya’s ankle. Both of them hit the dirt hard, but Touya didn’t even have the chance to yell at Li. Half a heartbeat later a bolt of lightning lanced down out of the sky and hit the closest of the huts, demolishing it in an explosion of white fire. Stones and chunks of charred wood flew everywhere, raining down around them, and instinctively Touya covered his head and Li’s.

“Shit.”

“Storm,” Li breathed, not even looking at the lethal debris scattered around them. He did not lift his head from the dirt or open his eyes. “Worse now. Get her. Quick.”

Sakura shrieked and twisted away when the cottage exploded, but luckily she and Tomoyo were too far away to be hit. Onii-chan and Syaoran, though, were much closer. Her heart thumped with fear when she saw them lying in the dirt and she took a step forward, only to flinch when Tomoyo screamed in pure panic.

“Sakura! Sakura, help!”

Sakura felt it, before she’d even turned around. The strong winds of the storm had gathered themselves into a tight funnel, the rain twisting sideways at such a speed as to flay their skin raw. Tomoyo was plucked right off the ground and frantically she screamed for help, reaching out for Sakura to save her. Unthinkingly Sakura leapt and grabbed her wrist, her wings beating wildly to keep herself close to the earth, struggling to pull them both back to the safety of the ground. A terrified Tomoyo held on to her arm with both hands, the weight of her body dragging Sakura inexorably up into the tornado no matter how hard she fought to bring them both back down. She was just too light, and too new to her wings. Helplessly Sakura felt her control slip.

A solid grip latched itself around her ankle before she could scream. Her brother’s heavy weight dragged her right back down and he wrapped a firm arm around her waist, spluttering as her feathered wings repeatedly battered his face, and brought her all the way back down to the ground so he could press down on her shoulders. Keeping her firmly against his chest with one arm, he grabbed Tomoyo’s arm with the other hand and dragged them both back out of the rain.

“I don’t know how you got them, but get rid of them, Sakura,” Touya barked into her ear. “They’re only making it more dangerous for you!”

“I’m sorry, Onii-chan, I don’t know how to -”

“Well, figure it out! And both of you, get inside the castle now. The storm is getting worse, this whole city might get destroyed.” He was towing them both up the steps to the arch of the castle entrance, and Sakura saw Syaoran still lying out in the middle of the courtyard.

“Syaoran!” She lunged for him only for Touya to yank her right back. “We can’t leave him! He’s -”

“He’s fine; I’ll get him. But first you go inside.”

“Onii-chan, please, he could -”

“Sakura, listen to me!” Touya reached the doors at last and shoved both her and Tomoyo back against the wood. “He’s hurt, and you can’t carry him. I can. But I swear to God I won’t do it unless you promise to go inside and stay there. Do you understand?” He almost shook her, his eyes dilated wide with fear, and a shaken Sakura nodded.

“Good. Tomoyo, you can take her into one of those secret passages; you two should be safe enough in there. I’ll get the kid and -”

A tremendous explosion shook the castle and Touya was nearly thrown off his feet, halfway down the steps like he was. Sakura’s first thought was that it was some kind of earthquake, but it was too fast and too confined. The city’s huts did not shake. They all heard a deep cracking sound under the noise of the storm, like something massive had just been broken, and large stones began raining out of the sky above. Touya’s face went white and he scrambled back under the cover of the arch, just before an entire tower of Yue’s castle came crashing down on the yard.

Sakura screamed Syaoran’s name, but it was lost to the wind.

Exhiliration flowed over Rai like the hard, cold rain as he rocketed skyward, every snap of his giant wings triggering a fresh surge of adrenaline. Yue had returned. It was the last night Rai would have ever expected him to, but Rai had long since been accustomed to Yue doing and saying the unexpected. It didn’t matter; Yue had returned. Rai’s chance had come at last.

He was not afraid. Unexpected or not, Rai was prepared for this fight. He was faster, stronger, and smarter than he’d been all those years ago when he first met Yue, and if the Angel King did not realize that then he was about to very soon.

The chilly dampness of the storm clouds enveloped him. Rai twisted and banked hard to the right, rapid bolts of lightning flying from his hands to his opponent. Yue was faster than his attacks, though, twisting and skimming in and out of the clouds like a white swallow and narrowly evading every bolt. These clouds were his realm, and he would not allow Yue to use them to his own advantage. With a wave of his arm he parted and reformed them, depriving Yue of cover, and fired again. This time Yue could not avoid it, and raised a hand to deflect the bolt. His shield flickered in and out of sight, a pale orb of hazy white light that absorbed his attack and vanished along with it.

Rai growled. “You are not strong enough to keep up that shield forever, Yue.”

Yue, looking far too calm and cool considering his dangerous situation, just smirked. “If I thought you had the focus and discipline to keep up those attacks forever, I would be concerned.”

Furiously Rai stepped up his assault, the very air around him crackling with electricity, but nothing touched the elusive Yue.

“Still the same Rai,” Yue chided. “So temperamental, so quick to anger. You’ll be pleased to hear your son is just like you.”

Rai snarled and leapt after Yue, slashing with his sword and very nearly catching one of Yue’s wings. Yue twisted out of the way and swept his hand through the air, rain droplets freezing and coalescing into a solid sword of ice. It formed barely in time to block Rai’s second attack, his blade stopping just short of Yue’s neck.

“I know what you’re trying to do. You know you can’t win this fight and you’re trying to distract me, make me too angry to concentrate.”

“Then why are you letting it work?”

“I’m not!” Rai’s sword glided off Yue’s and he renewed his assault, slashing and stabbing in bursts of speed. His skill with the sword was unequalled, across all the kingdoms, and relentlessly he pressed Yue back. “I know your mind games, Yue. I won’t let them beat me, not tonight. I warned you, didn’t I? I warned you that someday I would take your kingdom and all because you underestimated me.”

Again he attacked, driving all his considerable strength into the blow, and shattered Yue’s ice sword. Triumphantly he thrust the sword point to Yue’s neck, but Yue fell back and dropped beneath the fatal attack, rapidly putting distance between them. Frustrated, Rai swore under his breath as they swept around one another in a wide circle.

“Why do you run, Yue? Are you afraid of me, of what I can do?”

“How many times, Rai,” Yue tsked, “did I remind you that raw force does not always win?” Out of the clouds now, and surrounded by the stars, Yue swept his arm again in a vertical motion. An arc of blue light materialized in its wake, and when he pulled his arm back so did a familiar glowing arrow.

As well as about a dozen more, poised all around Yue and ready to fire. Rai barely brought his sword up in time before they all sprang at once, slashing at a desperate speed to deflect each of them safely away. He barely managed it, but he did succeed, and hefted his sword with renewed determination.

“Too slow, Yue,” he panted. “You are feeling weak, if I could see them coming. I wonder if you even have the strength to shoot any more.”

In silent reply Yue pulled his arm back again, summoning another handful of arrows. This time Rai darted forward before he released, using his speed to confuse Yue’s aim and his momentum to cleave his way through the onslaught when he did fire. Arrows fell by the wayside and Rai closed in on Yue at an unmatchable speed, an unstoppable force. Yue’s eyes glowed coldly and something shifted in Rai’s mind, a momentary disorientation. For a brief second he hesitated in his flight, suddenly unsure which way was forward, and in that brief second Yue was away again.

Damn! Rai shook his head to clear it, furious because he’d forgotten Yue’s talent for hypnosis.

“So easily misled, Rai?” Yue remarked idly, coasting in a wide oval around him. “Your frustration is only making it easier for me to play with you.”

“Your games are only making me want to kill you all the more.” Rai resettled his grip on his sword, mentally barricading himself against any more attacks from that direction. “And proving to me how much you really don’t want to meet me head-on. I may be frustrated… but I think you’re scared.”

Rai turned slowly mid-air, watching Yue circling, no longer inclined to rush forward at top speed. “No more tricks, Yue. I can feel your strength fading; I know you never meant to confront me tonight. You let your pride trump your good sense, and that was a fatal mistake. Watch me show you just how fatal.”

Rai pointed his sword at the king in white, fresh power welling up within him. Conducted and focused by the metal of his blade, lightning burst out of the swordtip and shot toward Yue. He raised his shield again but Rai did not let up, firing one blast after another, never allowing himself a moment’s respite because he could not allow Yue to rest either. He was weakening, Rai knew it, could feel that shield giving a little more with every blow.

Shards of ice flew through the air but Rai just raised his body temperature, tapping into his magic, and turned the air around him so hot they simply melted away. More lightning streamed through his sword and on to Yue, biting away at his shield.

“You’re beginning to lose control,” Yue murmured, his voice carrying across the distance though it was hardly more than a whisper.

“Shut up. Do you think I will listen to you anymore? After everything you did to me? All that you took from me?”

Yue’s eyes closed to mere slits, standing unflinching in the sky even as his shield flickered and faded around him. “Killing me will undo none of it.”

“You’re wrong. Even if you get no more than a split second to appreciate it, you will die and in so doing you will finally know that I am more than your plaything. I am a king, the King of Storms! And the world will know I defeated you.”

The lightning crackled in the air around them, too frenzied to be contained by Rai anymore. It was spilling down to the earth below, but Rai did not care. Yue was not even trying to fight back anymore, what little strength he’d had was gone for good. Just a few more minutes and this battle would be over.

“Is that all you live for, Rai? Conquest?”

“Isn’t that all you live for?”

“Of course.” Yue’s eyes opened and even now, somehow, that smile of his chilled Rai’s blood. “But I was always prepared to pay any cost to get what I wanted. I wonder if you are.” Somewhere beneath him Rai heard a massive crack as his lightning splintered Yue’s castle.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“It means you’re going to kill your son. That’s all.” Just once his gaze flicked downward, a simple casual glance. It was the stupidest thing Rai ever did, to take the bait and look down too, it was a mistake that could easily reverse this fight. But he did it anyway, expecting to see nothing and then find Yue attacking him in his distraction. Instead he saw the tower tipping forward, crumpling in on itself, giant white stones raining everywhere. His son was collapsed in the middle of the yard, unmoving, soon to be crushed to death.

Rai folded his wings and dove out of the sky. His power flowed from the clouds back into him unconsciously, every last spark regathering itself in his blood before it shot out both his outstretched arms. His lightning smashed into the falling tower, pulverizing the stones into dust one after another. It was too big, he’d never make it, but still Rai hurtled earthward. The strength that fueled him was draining away with every bolt, he’d never pushed himself so hard, but he did not think to stop. At his command the storm winds whipped themselves into a tight cyclone around his child, blowing aside falling stones, and still he kept throwing lightning, never mind the dark spots crowding the edge of his vision or that he was really more falling than purposefully diving by now. He blew apart half the tower before it finally came crashing down around the unconscious boy with inches to spare.

Rai crashed to the earth a second later. He’d extended himself too far, spent too much magic, he was not far from unconsciousness himself. But he could drag himself to Li’s side and check his pulse, just to reassure himself that he still lived. It was faint, but it was present, and though his face was deathly pale he still breathed. Exhausted beyond all hope of moving anymore, Rai collapsed next to his son and tried to draw a full breath.

Moments later something sharp pricked him in the throat, just under the jaw, and he opened his eyes again. Yue stood over him, not so much as a stray emotion anywhere on that face, and he was holding Rai’s own sword with calm purpose.

“You lose.”

Rai tried another breath, wincing at the effort of it and knowing it might be his last. He waited, but Yue did not move.

“Won’t you kill me?”

“And deprive your son of his rightful chance? Even I won’t do that to him.” The tip twisted, digging just a little into his flesh. “You will surrender. You will order your army to stand down, and to leave my kingdom quickly and quietly. You will do it now.”

“Yes.” Rai almost tried nodding, but thought better of it. “And me?”

“You are not going anywhere,” Yue informed him coolly. “I am not nearly done with you.”

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Disclaimer: I do not own these characters

Whew! Got it done with just one day to spare. I can’t believe you guys caught up to me after such a huge lead; writer’s block sucks. And this was a hard chapter. I don’t think I’ve ever had to do such a fragmented, multi-pov fight scene before. The good news is that we’re almost done.

So, I haven’t even started 17 yet, of course. It is my hope that it will be up next Friday at the usual time, but if it’s not, you’ll know why. Know what helps keep the fire lit? Awesome reviews! Thank you, Vix, for noticing the title of the last chapter and totally getting it. I was nervous that no one would.
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