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Return to the Labyrinth	By : Capitalist Category: +. to F > Card Captor Sakura Views: 8620 -:- 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
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Chapter 3

‘captive’

Touya thought he must be waking up from a nightmare. The specifics of the dream eluded him, but he had a vivid impression of sharp teeth and raking claws imprinted on his mind, and the terrifying helplessness of winding up on the losing side of a fight. His head throbbed with pain. He made the mistake of trying to move, and the shock of thin air traveled straight from the bottoms of his feet to his stomach.

This was no nightmare. Memories of everything else, Li’s return and the threat on Sakura and desperately fighting off those two gargoyles, rushed back into his head when the darkness ebbed and he knew he hadn’t won that fight. They held him down, those two, and their screams must have attracted a friend because then a third one was swooping down to join them. He remembered it pulling back its arm and swinging a fist towards his temple, but nothing after that. He tried to recall if Li went back to protect his sister instead of sticking around and hollering like an idiot through the hedge, but couldn’t. It was just when he was lifting his head to look around that whatever was carrying him through all that thin air stopped, and Touya tumbled with a yelp onto cold hard marble. The pounding in his head redoubled itself, and he was not inclined to move at first. But there were hideous cackles and whoops all around him, cries of triumph and victory that made his blood chill. Gingerly he picked himself up, onto his hands and knees, and took a look.

Gargoyles surrounded him; they were everywhere. In a wide circle they’d penned him in, pointing and jeering, every awful screech that came out of their mouths only making his headache worse. He thought he also glimpsed some of Yue’s former goblin force, peeking at him between the legs of the others and trying to weasel their way into the circle without much success. This white marble looked familiar too. He raised his eyes and saw the graceful vaulted ceiling over the gargoyles’ heads, the silver chandeliers, and knew he was back in Yue’s castle. This must be a room that opened out onto a terrace, or something, because he could feel a strong breeze at his back.

“Show me,” spoke out a new voice, dark and powerful. At once the gargoyles stopped their clamor, parting to open up the circle, and dipped their heads in subservience.

“Your majesty,” they all chanted in unison, and two of the gargoyles dragged him to his feet. Touya was too surprised to bother resisting, and stared at the new arrival. This must be him, then, the one Li called Rai, who sought to conquer the Labyrinth and make it his own. Here was the king trying to kill his sister.

His immediate instinct was to compare him to the Labyrinth’s king, and they could not have been more different. Rai did not possess Yue’s ethereal, immaculate appearance; his jaw was hard and square, and his strides long and purposeful. Everything he wore, from his boots to his thick, heavy gloves, was as black as Yue’s clothes were white. Even his hair was black, pulled back and tied not very neatly at the nape of his neck.

“We have caught him, your majesty!” crowed another gargoyle, all but dancing in his excitement. “This time we have him, we have caught him at last!”

“Hmph,” was all his monarch had to say, sweeping a perfunctory look over Touya and taking all of a second to do it. Then he closed the rest of the distance between them and grabbed first Touya’s right wrist, then his left, briefly examining his palms.

“Idiots,” he muttered.

“Your majesty?”

“He’s not the Little Wolf, you absolute simpleton. This boy has never even held a sword.” He turned away from Touya and casually knocked his underling to the floor with one hard punch. “Couldn’t you even be bothered to check if he carries a weapon, before dragging me down here to show off your capture?”

Dismayed, the gargoyle tried to push himself away from his angy king. “B-but your majesty! He fought so hard, we thought -”

“You don’t know how to think. It’s the only explanation for how none of you, even combined, can manage to catch one single human rebel. For a month you’ve hunted him, with no success, and now Yue’s appointed him to guard the princess. Tell me, soldiers, how you expect to find either of them when you’re wasting your time catching unimportant humans like this one? Tell me!”

Touya flinched at the sharp rise in volume and so did all of Rai’s minions, patently cowering before his sudden flash of temper. “I will tell you how: by not eating. By not sleeping. By not taking so much as a minute for your own rest until that boy and his princess are lying dead on the stones, because only then can I take total control over my new kingdom. If no one understands, speak up.” He made as if to tug off one of his gloves, and in unison the crowd shouted that yes, your majesty, they understood very well.

“It’s not your kingdom.”

The gargoyles went silent, and Rai whipped around to face Touya again. He hadn’t meant to speak but the words had come out on their own, and now every pair of eyes in the room had fastened onto him with shocked disbelief.

“It’s not your kingdom,” he repeated, louder. “It’s Yue’s. You don’t even belong here; you’re nothing but a thief trying to take something that’s not yours. And if all it takes is one single human rebel to make you this nervous, I think you know you’re not doing too good a job of it. Makes me wonder how nervous you are about Yue.”

Rai kept coming closer while Touya spoke, gaze fixed on his face with deadly menace, never making a sound. By the time Touya finished he was standing directly in front of him again. His eyes were the color of the weather outside, dark and grainy like a gathering storm, with maybe even the occasional flicker of lightning somewhere in their depths. It took all his nerve to stand there and face them, but Touya had decided he would not be afraid of Yue’s enemy any more than he’d ever been for Yue himself. So stand there and face them he did.

“This one is different,” Rai murmured. “This one has spine. Rare for a human.”

“Yes, your majesty,” that first gargoyle hurried to say. “He fought us, he fought all three of us, that’s why we were so sure -”

“I was not talking to you.” The creature gulped and backed away, bowing obsequiously. “You hold your head up and speak your mind. Are you a friend of the Little Wolf?”

“Not hardly.”

“But you know him. Where is he?”

“I don’t know, but it wouldn’t matter even if I told you. Send as many soldiers as you like, he’ll just rub all their noses in the dust. You’re not going to get the girl you’re looking for.”

“The new moon approaches, and I’ll take a personal hand in the matter if I need to.” He dropped one hand onto the hilt of his sword, strapped to his hip. “I hear he’s good, but I promise you I’m better.”

“Yue will stop you.”

“If he could, he would have done so already,” Rai said dismissively, and smiled mirthlessly at Touya’s expression. “Control over the kingdom will be mine, and if I keep you alive long enough you’ll even get to watch it happen. You’ll be begging for death a long time before that, of course.”

“I don’t beg.”

“Then I will take that as a challenge. I wouldn’t mind watching you break under the whip, tears running down that pretty face…” Rai moved to touch Touya’s cheek and reflexively he jerked his head back out of reach, his muscles tensing to strike back even though a gargoyle still held each of his arms. Rai’s lips had been quirked up in a small smile, but at Touya’s sharp movement he froze and the smile fled.

“Just a moment- what’s this?” His attention shifted to Touya’s neck, and against his will Touya swallowed. He struggled, but he had no way to stop Rai from pulling aside his collar for a better view of the crescent moon. “Yue,” the king breathed, and his eyes glittered ominously.

“You belong to Yue.”

“I- what? No I don’t!”

“Oh this is too delicious. I’d heard the Angel King lost his heart to some stranger from another realm, but I did not expect to find him here in the Labyrinth. So that’s why you speak so bravely for him.”

“But I don’t belong to him, I won the bet and -”

“Take him to my personal chambers,” Rai ordered the pair holding him. “If you are Yue’s then of course I must have you. I came here to take everything that’s his. And perhaps I can make you beg while doing it.”

Touya tried to bolt, but his socked feet had no traction on the slick marble floor and his captors had no problem holding him back. Snickering amongst themselves, they dragged him out of the room and up two flights of stairs, then threw him into a lavish bedroom and locked the doors behind him.

- - - - - - -

She came running the second she saw him, her eyes wide and dilated with fear for the worst when she saw Li was alone.

“What happened?” she shrieked. “Where’s Onii-chan?”

“I’m sorry,” he wheezed, helplessly watching the color drain from her face. “I’m so sorry, your highness.”

“What happened?”

“A gargoyle attacked him. He was fighting it off but he took too long; they can hear each other’s screams and will come to help, you have to finish them off quickly and he didn’t. Another one came, and I tried to tell him he was running the wrong way but he just wouldn’t listen, and then a third came and I couldn’t get there in time…” He stopped to take a shaky breath. “I’m sorry, your highness. They took him to the castle. There was nothing I could do.”

Sakura clapped both her hands over her mouth, silently trembling for several seconds, and then burst into tears. The suddenness of it took Li, who had very little experience with females, by surprise and he froze.

“Uh… I’m sorry. Please don’t cry.”

She ignored him and sank into a huddle on the grass, her face buried in her hands while her shoulders shook. Li knelt by her side and wondered if he ought to touch her, if it would even help, though he did not know how. Awkwardly he placed a hand on her shoulder.

Still she cried. The Clipper, that ancient creature with long blades for hands, shuffled past on his rounds to trim his bush sculptures, and his curious appearance seemed to distract Sakura from her own despair. She noticed it, hiccuped, and wiped her cheeks.

“Is that dangerous?”

“The Clipper? Nah, he doesn’t care about anything but his gardening. He won’t hurt us.”

She nodded, and exhaled with a shudder. “He’s my brother. I never wanted anything to happen to him.”

“I know.”

“He came because of me, just to look out for my safety. He didn’t have to.”

“I know.”

“And you wanted to help him.”

“Yes, I swear I -”

“So, we’ll go to the castle to rescue him?”

Li gulped and pulled his hand away, trapped under her fiercely hopeful green gaze. “Your highness, I don’t think we should -”

“But we have to! He’s my brother!”

“And you are the princess. My task is to protect you, and I cannot do that and take you to the castle where Rai is. It’s too dangerous.”

“Do you want me to just abandon my brother to die? When he risked so much to rescue me? Are you going to make me go alone? Because I will if I have to!”

She jumped to her feet and tried to march away; hastily Li snagged her arm.

“Your highness, please, listen to me! Your brother never ever listens to me and that’s why he keeps getting into so much trouble… Why do you think he got caught in the first place?”

“What?”

“He wouldn’t listen. I tried to tell him to run the other way, so I could help him fight, but he did the opposite because he wanted to lead them away from me, and you. He was trying to keep you safe, even if it meant getting captured himself.”

“Onii-chan did this… on purpose?”

“Are you surprised? I’m not. He only spent one night here but I got plenty of chances to observe his extreme talent for idiocy.”

Maybe that wasn’t the best way to put it. Sakura’s face was white like porcelain. “Will they hurt him?” He hesitated, and saw the panic rekindle in her eyes. “They will, won’t they? We have to help him, Li-kun! I- I’m the princess here, right? So I’m ordering you to take us there!”

Miserably Li watched their best chance at safety evaporate into the air, unable to stop it. He was not bound to obey her orders, anymore than he’d been inclined to obey Yue’s, but it was her tears that made it impossible to refuse. With every sob something deep in his chest hurt, and Li didn’t like it.

“Let’s go.”

With an air of resignation he stepped back, and she hastily wiped at her eyes. “Go? You mean- go to the castle?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, Li-kun! Thank you!” Irrationally overjoyed, with tears of despair still wet on her cheeks, she unexpectedly leapt on him and squeezed him in a tight hug. At once all the air fled his lungs and Li froze, unreasonably aware of his thudding heart. Luckily she pulled away before it could explode in his chest, as it seemed very near doing, and shot him a dazzling smile.

“I know that you can rescue him. You won’t lose to anyone.”

“I hope -” His voice came out like some hideous, strangled squeaking sound, and he had to clear his throat and try again. “I hope that you are right.”

“I know I am.”

Li had to tear his gaze away from her face before he could even remember which way they needed to go, and with a deep breath began walking. He could just barely hear the scuff of her slippers in the grass behind him, and prayed he’d made the right decision. If he hadn’t, Yue would kill him for sure.

But then, he thought grimly, Yue was probably going to kill him for letting Touya get snatched, anyway.

- - - - - -

The sun was dropping closer to the earth, and again Touya frantically beat his fists against the ungiving doors. They were bruised and tender but he could not make himself give up, desperate to escape this place before Rai came. He’d already checked the balcony, and the lethal drop underneath, and all the windows too. That’s when he returned to the doors and did everything he could think of to pry them open – picking the locks, trying to unscrew the hinges, kicking his strongest karate kicks and then finally throwing his whole weight against them. He was exhausted, out of ideas, and beginning to leave traces of blood on the doors where he struck.

Limp and panting, Touya backed away and tried to think. He shouldn’t waste all his energy trying to get through doors that were obviously not going to open, much as the idea of giving up revolted him. He should save his strength for when Rai came, because if the Storm King thought Touya would quietly surrender to him in bed then he was one seriously mistaken king.

Staying well away from that particular piece of furniture, Touya leaned against the wall instead and tried to get his breath back. It was not just for his own safety that he had to get out of this place; his sister was now out there somewhere in that godforsaken labyrinth with just the one suspicious runt to keep her safe. True, Touya had ordered him to go back to her during the attack, in the heat of the moment, but that didn’t mean he had to be happy about it. He had to get back to Sakura’s side, no matter what.

Thoughts elsewhere, he didn’t feel the movement of the wall behind him until it was too late, and his bone-tired body didn’t have its usual reflexes. With a yelp he tumbled backward through empty air and hit the stone floor hard.

“Oh!” A pretty teenage girl looked as surprised as he felt, standing at his head and peering down at him with startled violet eyes. “Oh, good, here you are! We have to go, quickly!” She flipped a lever and Touya jerked his legs in just in time before they were crushed by the closing secret door. She snatched his hand and tried to drag him to his feet, but of course she couldn’t begin to lift his weight. “Quickly, quickly, we have to hurry! He could come any moment, come on!”

She looked terrified. Stiffly Touya got to his feet and allowed her to pull him deeper into this secret passage, their only light provided by glowing lichens spread along the walls. Down the corridor they stumbled, then up a tiny twisting staircase. Touya knew they were out of immediate danger when her grip on his hand relaxed, and she seemed to breathe a little easier, but still she didn’t slow down. He was getting tired of stubbing his toes on the rough stone passage, so finally he dug his heels in and brought them both to a halt.

“Wait.”

“Just a little farther, please, we’re very close -”

“No, wait! I don’t want to go one more step until I know who you are. I mean, thank you and all, but what are you doing inside the walls of the castle? Who are you?”

“Please forgive my lack of manners, Touya. I apologize.” She dropped into a neat curtsy, which looked slightly out of place in such dingy surroundings. “I am your servant.”

“Say what?”

“I am your- oh, I suppose you want my name. Just like your sister.” She dimpled with amusement and curtsied again. “I am Tomoyo. From this moment forward, I am yours to beckon and command as you like. Our circumstances are a little difficult just now, but I promise to obey to the best of my ability.”

“What?”

“From this moment -”

“I heard, I heard. I meant, what makes you think you’re my servant? And how did you know my name?”

“Sakura mentioned it, the night we met. Do you wish me to call you by another name? Master?”

“Touya’s fine,” he was quick to assure her. “So you knew my sister?” Now that he thought about it, he remembered Sakura chattering about what a terrific friend she’d made while staying at the castle. But just like Li, she’d grown, and had developed into a lovely young woman with hair tumbling all the way down her back. Her eyes sparkled.

“Yes, we grew to be very good friends when she stayed here before. Sakura is wonderful! I was so sad when she left. But his majesty had me trained to serve a young man, not a girl, and I knew Sakura was not the one he had intended to bring to his castle. I have heard the rumors, and I see you bear his mark, so I presume you are the one he always meant for me to serve. His majesty is not here to formally order it, but you may consider me your servant all the same.”

Touya’s mouth was hanging open, slightly, but she just smiled and gestured for him to keep following. Occasionally this passage intersected with others and they turned once or twice, always heading steadily upwards.

“How did you know I was here?”

“I heard the racket. Those awful gargoyles are so noisy about everything! It’s irritating, but I miss very little of what’s going on in this castle. I was horribly scared of being discovered, I’ve never dared go near the king’s quarters, but you are Sakura’s brother and I didn’t want anything bad to happen to you.”

“I appreciate it. You’ve been trapped here this whole time, haven’t you?”

She nodded somberly. “I hid in one of the passages when they came, the Storm King and his soldiers. I was so scared, I didn’t know what else to do! I’m very lucky, though, compared to the city dwellers; those creatures will abuse anyone that they can.”

“But you’re a prisoner now.”

“I’ve always lived in this castle,” she answered practically. “It doesn’t feel like a prison, it feels like home. I have to sneak into the kitchen at nights to find food, but I’m really doing fine. Here we are! Please do sit. I am so sorry that it is poor and uncomfortable.”

She bowed her head in apology, but Touya was taken aback by the lavish nest she’d arranged for herself up here in the eaves of the castle. The tiny space opened directly out to the air without so much as a rail for safety, and the drop was dizzying. Touya sensed this was about as high as one could get in the castle, and probably most of the gargoyles flew in and out at a lower level. She’d arranged stolen cushions and rugs to imitate a sitting room, and hung drapes to set aside her sleeping space. Dumbly he sank onto a big cushion and crossed his legs, glad to have just a moment for rest.

“Tea?”

“Sure, thanks.”

He watched her pour water from a jug into a kettle, and arrange it over a pile of glowing coals, then blow on them. Soon small flames were dancing, just small enough not to make much smoke.

“Not bad. You really know how to look out for yourself.”

She blushed. “I was trained to take care of any domestic need you might have, Touya, I had to learn many things. It was easy to apply my training to this new situation.”

“Uh-huh. So, was it Yue that trained you?”

“He ordered the others to train me. The older servants taught me how to cook, and to read, and to sew.”

“Have you seen him? Since that… earthquake, I mean?”

She shook her head. “I kept waiting and waiting for him to return, and I just didn’t know what to do with myself. I made lots of new dresses for Sakura, hoping she might come back someday, but I never thought she’d have to come back to the Labyrinth like this! That wicked king is hunting her, I know, because Yue made her his princess. But why are you here?”

She poured steaming water into a teacup and passed it to him, the contents clouding up in a delicate shade of green. He made a face at his reflection. “To look out for her. I haven’t been doing a great job.”

“Where is she now?”

“Somewhere out in the labyrinth. I’ve got to get back out there and find her, soon. Do any of these secret passages lead out of the castle?”

Tomoyo looked dismayed. “You want to go already? You just got here!”

“Sorry, but I’m worried about Sakura. I’ve got to find her again.”

“But I heard the gargoyles saying that she’s with the Little Wolf now. Everyone knows about him, he’s the hero that none of the trolls could ever defeat, nor any of Rai’s soldiers. She’s sure to be safe if she’s with him.”

“It’s because she’s with him that I have to hurry and find her again,” Touya grunted. “Can I get out of the castle or not?”

“It’s possible,” Tomoyo admitted reluctantly. “But how can you be sure you’ll even find her? I’d never dare go into the labyrinth, but I’ve heard stories about how impossible it is, how you can get lost forever.”

“I’ll just have to try my hardest. I can’t sit here and do nothing, not if she might be in danger.”

Her face fell, but she nodded. “I understand. After all, you love her very much. I’m just… a little lonely these days. It’s been a long time since I had anyone to talk to.”

“You can come with me.”

“And leave the castle? Oh no, I couldn’t. I hardly ever left the castle, even before, and now it’s more dangerous than it’s ever been. I just can’t -” She clapped a hand over her mouth and ducked her head, looking suddenly ashamed.

“I’m very sorry, sir, I forgot myself. I am your servant. If you command me to go into the labyrinth, then I will do so.”

“Relax, stay here.” Tomoyo seemed like a sweet girl, but Touya didn’t feel like baby-sitting her out in the maze, not when it was going to be hard enough keeping himself out of trouble. “I think it’d be better for all of us.”

She looked relieved. “I’m very sorry that I’m a coward.”

“You came to get me out of Rai’s room, Tomoyo. I don’t think you’re a coward. And for taking care of my sister, five years ago, I want to thank you. She told me she was really scared until she met you, and you comforted her.”

“I did my best.”

“You were there for her when I couldn’t be. That’s enough.”

Tomoyo beamed, but bowed her head humbly. “I am happy to be of service.”

She absolutely refused to go anywhere until the sun had set, so Touya took the opportunity to rest, drink her tea, and let her wash and bandage his bleeding hands. Once the last of its wan light had disappeared and the labyrinth was safely obscure in twilight – no sign of moon or stars behind that dark cloud – she began to lead him back down through the castle. She kept putting her finger to her lips to signal silence, and tip-toed as softly as humanly possible, not that it was necessary. The castle was a cacophony of screeching gargoyles flying in and out, and one floor nearly shook with the force of Rai’s furious yell. Tomoyo cringed when they got close enough to pick out the words.

“How did he do it? How did he get past you? Answer me! No answer?” Something heavy crashed just on the other side of the wall, and Tomoyo stifled a squeak. “Search the castle! Find him, find him now! I will not be made to look a fool by Yue’s pet human!”

“I am not -” Touya started to protest, and Tomoyo flapped her hand in panic.

“Shh!”

Rai’s tantrum faded as they continued to descend, but Touya’s pride was too stung to let him be concerned about staying quiet.

“I do not belong to Yue,” he informed Tomoyo testily, “and I am most definitely not his pet. You got that? We had a bet, five years ago, and if I lost then things would be different. But I won, even Yue had to admit it, and sent both me and my sister home like he promised. I don’t belong to anyone.”

“Touya, please! Shh!”

He huffed and stomped after her. Down, down they went, and then eventually they must have hit bottom because Tomoyo turned down a new passage that remained level. “This runs underneath the city,” she explained, still in hushed tones though it didn’t seem possible someone could hear them. “The exit is just outside the city walls.”

Touya swallowed a groan when he thought about that bruising fight in the city five years ago, how close he came to being stopped almost on the castle steps. He’d have given anything to know about this secret passage then. “How did you know about all these?”

“I was cleaning, several years ago, and opened one of them by accident. I might not have explored them, but really… I was bored. I didn’t have much else to do.”

“Well, I’m grateful for it, anyway.”

Several minutes later, the passage ended rather abruptly in what felt like the bottom of a well. A fragile looking ladder led up to a trap door, which Touya knew from experience was probably disguised as a statue or an urn or something.

“This is it,” she announced, unnecessarily. “Good luck, Touya, truly. I hope you will find your sister, and that she’s safe and well. Will you give her a message from me when you do?”

“Of course.”

“Tell her…” Tomoyo hesitated. “Please tell her that I miss her very much, and that I think about her every day, and hope to see her soon. But only after Yue has returned and defeated the Storm King, of course.”

Touya paused, one hand on the ladder, and looked back. “You don’t doubt he’ll come back? Even after all this time?”

“He is the king,” she answered simply, faithful and sincere. “We are his people. He has to come back.”

“I hope for your sake that you’re right.” Touya was not really a touchy-feely kind of guy, and Li had always understood that just fine, but Tomoyo chose to say farewell by squeezing him hard around the chest with a hug. He winced, and settled on ruffling her hair in vague affection. “So long, Tomoyo. Stay safe.”

Even after he’d reached the top, and climbed back out into the labyrinth, her little white face was still visible below. He waved, and shut the lid.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters

Sorry to those who were hoping Rai would have his way with Touya, try not to be too disappointed. As it turns out, Yue has something else that Rai’s going to want even more. What could it possibly be?

Taboo found the story, so it looks like the gang’s all here. Yay! Sounds like some of us are having a rough time of it lately (hugs cherrixwolf), myself very much included. I hate the IRS. Nuff said. What matters is that we can all gather here and derive comfort and pleasure in watching our protagonists go through hell and nearly get killed several times over as they scrape their way to an ending that may or may not be happy. Bonding! It’s healthy. See you next Friday. (blows a kiss)
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