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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
- 3
- 4
- 5
Chapter 4
‘renegade’

When the opening closed above him and that last ray of light vanished, most of Touya’s hope went with it. For a long time afterwards he didn’t move, just huddled listlessly there on the floor and waited for something else horrible to happen. When nothing descended from the shadows to attack him, and he began to feel a little stiff, he realized there was nothing for it but to get up and start walking again.
That had been at least an hour ago. Little by little he crept his way through the network of catacombs, feeling his way gingerly along the rough earthen and stone walls, stepping as carefully as he could in his socks. The darkness was not as absolute anymore; his vision had adjusted so he could at least see his immediate surroundings. But that wasn’t much of a help when there was nothing to see but endless black tunnels webbing out in every direction, with no hint of light or sound to guide him. For all he knew, he was going in circles, or worse, headed right back in the direction he’d come. Someone could easily wander down here for days, and Touya’s stomach knotted up in panic every time he tried not to think about his deadline.
So absorbed was he in his self-pitying misery that he almost missed it when he heard a snatch of sound ahead. He hesitated, brushed it off as wishful thinking, but made his way toward it anyway with no other place to go. When he heard it again he was sure it was a voice, more than one in fact, several loud voices. Hope flickered up again and he almost broke into a run, following the echoing sounds down one tunnel and then another, coming close enough to make out individual words. They really were noisy, no doubt why he’d heard them from so far away, and moving, which was why he had difficulty locating them at first. Some persistent voice of caution in the back of his mind prompted him to approach carefully, coming just close enough so that he wouldn’t be seen, and it was a good thing.
Just in front of him a party of four exceptionally heavy-set and ugly troll-like creatures were making their way through the passage, jeering and laughing at something. It was difficult to see, but it looked as though the two in front were struggling with something. They turned into another opening, but this was no passage. It was another round cave, like the one Touya had first fallen into, and he peeked warily around the edge of the wall in time to see the trolls throw down their prey in the center.
“Now we’ve got a little room, haven’t we, boys?” sneered one of them, brandishing a heavy mace. “Time to have some fun!” They put up a lusty cheer, and the boy sprawled across the ground raised his head.
“I’m not afraid of you,” he snarled, and tensed in readiness. Touya barely had time to recognize him as the boy practicing outside the labyrinth before he pushed off the ground and tackled the closest troll headlong, ramming his shoulder mercilessly into the creature’s gut. He howled in pain and doubled over, no small thing considering he was half again as tall as the scruffy looking kid. The victim didn’t look too happy but the other three just whooped and laughed even harder, clearly enjoying the entertainment.
“Brat,” he gasped, and struck the boy across his face with the back of his hand, knocking him effortlessly to the ground. He uncoiled a whip from his belt, snapping it loud and hard with a sneer of anticipation. “I’ll learn you good for that.” The kid rolled away and tried to bolt, but the others cornered him and caught hold of his arms, forcing him to stand opposite the whip and facing away.
“Hold still!” one of them barked, when he continued to twist and struggle, his booted feet scrabbling across the stone floor. “Or it’ll be worse for you. And start counting.” He moved his scaly hand to pull up the back of the kid’s shirt, and the one with the whip raised it in preparation. Without giving himself anymore time to think about it, Touya barrelled straight into him.
He couldn’t have weighed any more than the thickly built creature, but his momentum was enough to send them both crashing to the ground and elicited a surprised grunt from the troll. Touya rolled away before a hammerlike fist came crashing down where his head used to be, putting a crack in the floor. Now that he’d started this, he really wasn’t sure what to do next, and it was only luck that his hand happened to fall on the troll’s club. It was almost too big around for him to grasp and extraordinarily heavy, but a sheer burst of adrenaline shot down his arm and he swung it at the ugly domed head. There was a satisfying crack and the eyes rolled back in the thing’s head before he dropped back to the floor.
Touya felt a rush of exhilaration and jumped to his feet, acutely aware that there were three others to deal with and now the advantage of surprise was gone. But he wasn’t fighting alone. Displaying some impressive agility, the kid managed to kick his feet straight over his head and catch both his captors in the nose. They cried out and dropped him to clasp their snoutlike noses, and he rolled gracefully over the floor to back against the wall near Touya.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he fumed, glaring up at Touya from his dimunitive height.
“Uh, saving you?”
“Nice job,” the kid said contemptuously, blowing his messy bangs out of his eyes with an impatient puff. “Now what?” Touya eyed the three, rather annoyed looking, trolls that blocked their way to the exit of the cave.
“I don’t know, where’s that sword of yours?”
The effect of his words was instantaneous and dramatic; stunned silence filled the little cave and the kid caught his breath, taking half a step back.
“Sword!” bellowed one of the trolls, and whipped out a thick but sharp edged blade, his large pale eyes focused murderously on the boy.
“Oh great,” he muttered, and threw himself to the side just before the creature lunged forward and slashed, clearly intent on killing him. Touya stumbled over his feet and fell back against the wall but Touya he ignored, lumbering forward and striking clumsily with his weapon. The kid scrambled backwards on his hands and feet, narrowly dodging each slash, until he was trapped against the back of the wall. For some reason he was clawing at the collar of his shirt, and mutely he watched the troll’s blade begin the downward arc to his throat.
At the last possible second Touya flinched and looked away, sure the kid was going to die. But instead of a splatter and an agonized death gurgle, a loud metallic clang echoed in the small chamber. Swiftly Touya returned his gaze and saw that, somehow, that same sword had materialized in the boy’s hands and he held it braced across his body, keeping the troll’s blade just above his neck.
He was struggling with the effort of it and Touya realized there was no way he could push off the muscular troll on his own, sword or no sword. Before his defense broke down completely, Touya snatched the whip lying on the ground and threw himself against the troll’s back, pulling it tightly against the thick neck. He roared with displeasure and groped unsuccessfully for the irritation on his back, but Touya hung on doggedly and ducked his head to avoid the murderous swipes. Vaguely he thought he could hear the sound of clashing metal, but it was impossible to see anything as the troll grunted and twisted madly, trying to free himself.
Finally it occurred to him to throw himself back against the wall, slamming Touya between his body and the stones. It felt as though he’d been crushed between two piles of bricks and all the wind was knocked right out of Touya. He dropped to the floor like a stone, momentarily incapable of motion, struggling to breathe. The troll tried to step away and turn around at the same time, forgetting the whip that had fallen around his feet when Touya hit the ground. Not a creature known for its grace or sure-footedness, the troll tangled his feet in it and crashed heavily against the floor. He looked a trifle dazed and Touya hauled himself to his feet, ready to run while there was still time, even though it hurt to draw breath. For a moment, though, he forgot his pain as he watched the scene near the cave exit.
Between the two of them, the pair of trolls must have weighed as much as a hippo. They dwarfed the shrimpy human boy between them as they hacked away with their swords and yet neither could touch him; his longer and far more elegant sword met each strike with a block or parry, expertly deflecting every blow from both attackers. Together they had advanced and pinned him against the wall, where he fought like a raging cornered wolf but couldn’t break through to escape. Behind Touya, the troll snarled and waved his limbs in an attempt to right himself, and Touya did the only thing he could think of to do. Picking up the abandoned mace and wincing at the protest in his lungs, he hurled it as hard as he could at the closest troll, aiming for his broad green back. It hit lower than he intended, more on the waist, but it had the desired effect of making him scream in rage and stumble against his partner, distracting them both. The kid saw his chance and darted around them, sprinting out of the cave without waiting to see if Touya followed or not.
Another muscle in Touya’s ribs was cramping up, but now all three of them were righting themselves, and the first one Touya had fought was beginning to stir.
He split.

For someone with short legs, the kid had gotten a pretty fair distance already, and Touya had to push himself to catch up. Behind him was a cacophony of angry bellows and furious stamping, making his ears ring with the noise down in these cramped tunnels.
The sound was pure bloodlust by now, and Touya never knew he could run so fast without shoes. Ahead of him the kid darted into a side tunnel and Touya followed, but stopped short when he saw nothing but empty space. The boy had disappeared.
The pursuit was nearly upon him but uncertainly he lingered just a second longer, trying to see. There was nothing but blank rock walls, but then someone muttered an oath from within one of them and a hand shot out from the shadows, closing around his wrist and yanking him in. It was another well-crafted illusion, a stone formation designed so perfectly that it was indistinguishable from the wall behind it. The kid shot him a warning glare and put his finger to his lips, as if Touya needed the instruction. Their search party was lumbering past them right now, going a little slower now that they couldn’t see their prey any longer. He could hear them grunting and sniffing, occasionally snapping at one another, and the kid raised his sword a little in tense readiness. But after what felt like forever, they shuffled on and their voices were absorbed by the silence of the catacombs.
He breathed a sigh of relief, which quickly turned into a pained exclamation when the boy hit him smartly in the ribs.
“Idiot.”
“What was that for?” Touya demanded, still too busy trying to catch his breath to bother about hitting back. The boy glared out darkly from behind his bangs.
“Stupidity.”
“I was only trying to help.”
“Help? You nearly got me killed!”
“I nearly got you killed?” Touya repeated in disbelief. “How was that my fault?”
“You just had to bring this up, didn’t you?” He whipped his sword up to point at Touya in an accusing manner, and then the entire thing glowed and disappeared. All that was left in his hand was a tiny trinket dangling from a cord, and this he pulled on over his head to tuck under his shirt. “No one other than Yue’s stupid minions can carry weapons, it’s forbidden.”
Touya looked at him blankly, and he elaborated impatiently. “Crime punishable by death. Why do you think I was practicing outside the labyrinth?” He didn’t wait for a reply, but turned on his heels and stalked away.
Suddenly the darkness and solitude didn’t seem so bad anymore, and Touya wavered indecisively. But he had a deadline to consider. He hesitated just a second before hurrying to follow the kid. The latter favored him with a withering look over his shoulder.
“Can I help you?”
“Actually, I was hoping you could show me the way out of this place.”
“Oh were you?”
“Well I didn’t get you out of there for the pleasure of your company, kid.” The boy stopped in his tracks and whipped around, bristling.
“I’m not a kid!”
“Oh yeah?” Could have fooled me, short stuff. “Then you got a name?”
The boy lifted his chin pridefully, doing his best to ignore their vast differences in height.
“Call me Li.”
Touya nodded once. “Name’s Touya.” His muscles cramped up painfully again and without thinking he placed a hand over his ribs, wincing. Li’s eyes followed the movement.
“You all right?”
“Fine. Just got body slammed by something the size of a gorilla, that’s all.” Something that looked vaguely like concern flitted through those dark brown eyes, and he uttered a noncomittal grunt before he started walking again.
“Try to keep up.”
It wasn’t the warmest of invitations, but at least he wasn’t lost anymore. Thankfully Touya ignored the aches in his body and fell into Li’s stride. Together they made their way down one tunnel and then another, before Li hopped lightly up a pile of rubble and into a wider passage. This one was more earthen than stone, and the air smelled fresher. Li’s boots ate up the distance with long and confident strides. Touya couldn’t make out how he knew his way around so well, everything looked the same to him. He must spend a lot of time down here.
“So, if they didn’t know about your sword, why’d they bring you down here?” Li snorted derisively.
“I was mouthing off to them and they wanted to push me around a little. –t’s no big deal, happens all the time.” Without breaking stride he lifted up the back of his shirt some, enough for Touya to see the long red scars crisscrossing his lower back. Moodily he kicked a small rock against the wall. “I hate them.”
Touya raised his eyebrows at the short and cocky figure marching in front of him. “You pick fights with them a lot?”
“They’re just stupid, ugly bullies. It feels good to fight them. You weren’t so bad,” he added after a few moments’ silence, in a nonchalant tone. It was probably the most he ever gave of a compliment, and Touya rolled his eyes in the darkness.
“I’ve had practice. God knows I get into enough fights back home.” Also with stupid, ugly bullies. But they’d never been quite so big. He was just thinking that when Li stopped to briefly examine another tunnel offshoot, then turned into it. “How do you know your way around so well?”
“Have to know my way out when they let me go, don’t I?” He was walking slower now, brushing his fingertips along the wall and squinting as if he were searching for something. Touya slowed too, trying to keep his tone casual.
“You know the rest of the labyrinth too?”
“Do I know it?” Li echoed mockingly. “I grew up in the walls of the labyrinth. I dare you to find someone that knows it better than me. What do you care?” He was concentrating on the texture of the wall and didn’t notice the answering silence at first. But when the quiet stretched awkwardly for more than a few seconds he looked up, annoyed. “I asked you a question.”
Touya didn’t say anything, or even look at him. In the dim light of the underground maze his face had gone a little pale, and his eyes were fixed on something on the ground. Li followed his gaze and stiffened when he saw it: a long and elegant white feather, bumping and tumbling lazily past them in the near nonexistent movement of air.
Uh-oh.

Li stared at the feather for a frozen moment, then forced himself to turn around. Yue’s shimmering white presence was almost painful to look at, his eyes so accustomed to the dark and grimy catacombs. The great wings were folded behind him now but no less intimidating, flowing down his back and onto the floor, unstained by the dirty ground they brushed over. Yue wore only simple white garments trimmed in blue; his cloak of feathers and the luxurious crown of silver hair were the only symbols of royalty he would ever need.
Li dropped to his hands and knees like a puppet with its strings cut.
“Your majesty,” he managed to greet, groping for something more to say but failing at it. Yue looked down at him with his cool stare and allowed another second of tense silence to tick by.
“Li Syaoran,” he finally said, his voice even and full of quiet menace. “How very unexpected, to find you here. If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were helping this boy through the Underground. You weren’t, were you?”
Li’s eyes narrowed in a quick, hate-filled glance before they skittered away from Yue’s face.
“I don’t help anyone but myself,” he muttered. “He was just following me, that’s all.”
“I see. You should be more careful of such things in the future; dangerous company could land you in my dungeons.” Li’s fingers curled against the ground until they turned white and his back went rigid, but all he did was bow his head.
“Yes, your majesty.”
Breathlessly Touya watched the exchange: this scrappy and tough boy who made a sport of fighting trolls, kneeling subserviently at Yue’s feet and calling him ‘majesty’. It was obvious from his posture that he was very, very afraid.
Then Yue turned his attention to Touya, and he quickly forgot all about Li.
“And you, Toya.” He sauntered closer and Touya took an instinctive step backward, back against the wall. “How are you enjoying my labyrinth?”
They were too close, here in the dark passage, he could feel every hair on his skin rising under Yue’s frosty stare. His mouth was too dry to answer and through sheer force of will he managed to lick his lips and swallow. Yue’s catlike pupils contracted slightly at the sight, but he said nothing.
“No sweat,” Touya finally managed, though even he could hear how stiff and unconvincing the words were. Yue’s lips curved into that barely noticeable and predatory smile, showing his amusement.
“Is that so? Then you won’t mind raising the stakes just a little; say, moving up your deadline four hours?”
An image of the same clock appeared in the darkness and Yue twirled his finger, swinging the hands backward. Touya’s mouth fell open.
“But- you can’t do that!” he spluttered, acutely aware of how childish he sounded but too panicked to care. He couldn’t lose so much time, he just couldn’t. His progress was uncertain enough as it was. Yue’s smirk told him that he knew this, and Touya regretted the words the moment their eyes met again.
“I,” the king said coolly, “can do anything I want. There is no fairness here, Toya, there is only my word and my word is the law.” Without warning Yue’s hand brushed over his, and every drop of blood in Touya’s body jolted. His breath hitched in his throat and refused to budge, and his heart hammered a frantic staccato in his chest. Yue’s long fingers slipped around his hand and raised it to hold between them, pressing it firmly between both of his hands and rubbing it tenderly, stroking it. Touya was sure he’d asphyxiate and still he couldn’t draw a breath, helplessly ensnared in that diamond gaze.
“Your hand,” the king murmured, voice now soft as his touch. “It’s so cold. It’s too chilly for you down here, Toya, would you like to be warmed up?”
Fear blossomed in Touya’s chest and his skin crackled with adrenaline, going inexplicably hot under the caress of Yue’s glacial eyes. The invitation in them slipped around Touya and drew him forward, helpless. To resist was impossible…
Distantly, as if from another world, Touya heard Li cough discreetly. He didn’t know whether it was on purpose or not, but the sound broke the reverie and he inhaled a lungful of air gratefully. Heart still thumping, he pulled his hand out of Yue’s grasp without breaking his gaze. There was a flicker of annoyance, and perhaps even hurt, through those dangerously glittering eyes, and Yue’s expression hardened.
“Very well then. Cold it is.” He flung his arm toward the darkness that stretched behind them, and a flash of light streaked from his palm into the black beyond. Automatically Touya’s eyes followed it until it was just a twinkle, but it didn’t disappear. Instead it started moving toward them again, but no longer was it a solitary sparkle. Now it was something much bigger, something moving, flashing as it rolled toward them at some incredible speed –
“Come on!” Li yanked on Touya’s arm, dragging him out of his dazed stupor. Yue was nowhere to be seen and Touya forced his legs to move, his stunned mind wheeling as it tried to catch up with events. When he was satisfied that Touya could move on his own Li released his grip and started roaming over the wall with his hands, desperately prodding at the solid earth.
“What are you doing?”
“The door, it’s right here, I just have to find it!” Li slid his palm over a flat rock and uttered an exclamation of delight, then pushed.
Nothing happened.
“Now what?” Now Touya could clearly see what was coming; a solid moving wall that filled the tunnel from side to side, spiked with long and jagged shards of ice that glistened as they spun and rotated, ready to skewer them both. “We have to run!” He turned to sprint but Li pulled him back.
“No, we’ll never outrun the Cleaners. This is it, it’s just stuck. Help me!” Fruitlessly he dug his shoulder into the wall and pushed. Touya still couldn’t see anything, but it was too late to run now. He pushed against the wall too, to no avail, then tugged on Li’s arm to get his attention.
“On three.” The lethal icicles were bearing down on them, he could hear the gears rotating in whatever machinery moved it. “One, two…” So close now, stabbing eagerly through the empty air to reach them. “Three!”
They both threw themselves against the tunnel wall with everything they had, and miraculously something gave way. The door disguised as ordinary earth swung open and they fell through it, collapsing against the hard ground rather painfully. On the other side, the wall of icicles creaked past, a pair of dwarves methodically cycling at a steady pace to keep it moving.
Touya drew a shuddering breath and exhaled, feeling limp. He would have happily curled up and taken a nap right there on the floor, but Li just pushed himself to his feet, scattering dirt over Touya as he brushed himself off.
“Thanks,” Touya panted. He wasn’t just referring to their close call with death, but to Li’s intervention earlier, with Yue. It was difficult to know if Li understood that, but then the younger boy grunted and smacked him neatly in the head.
“Ouch!” Touya jumped to his feet and glared at Li. “Now what?”
“You could have mentioned that Yue took such a special interest in you,” he snarled. “Didn’t think that was important enough to bring up, that he might be coming by? Or were you looking forward to it?” Touya flushed and hoped it didn’t show in the darkness.
“Well, what about you?” he demanded. “You were the one kneeling at his feet.”
“He’s the king, stupid.”
“You fight with his soldiers, right?”
Li rolled his eyes in disbelief. “Those are his stupid lackeys, he is Yue. Do you see a difference?”
“You’ve got a sword.”
“What, this?” Li tapped his chest and arched his eyebrows, unable to believe Touya’s naivete. “Yue could turn this – and then me – into dust before I even got a swing at him. If you understood how powerful he really is, you’d know just how screwed you are.”
Li threw him a scorching glare and turned to the side wall of the little annex, against which hung a rickety ladder. His last statement made Touya’s stomach turn with dread, and he gulped, but when Li’s boots scraped against the bottom rung he snapped to attention.
“Wait, where are you going now?”
“Don’t know and don’t care, just so long as it’s far away from you. You are dangerous.” He clambered easily up the ladder and threw open a trap door, letting in some real light at last. Hastily Touya scrambled after him.
“Wait! Don’t -” Li swung gracefully over the edge of the opening and disappeared from view. Sure that he would lose him if he couldn’t keep him in sight, Touya climbed faster and hauled himself through the exit. It was an immediate relief to be under open sky again, but Li was already marching away at a clipped pace and he hurried to follow. What he was about to say galled him, but Touya couldn’t afford pride right now, not with so little time.
“Li, wait. You can’t go, I need your help.”
“Help?” Li repeated scathingly. At least he paused in his long strides and half turned to face Touya. “Weren’t you listening back there? I don’t ‘help’ anyone, especially not someone as risky as you.”
“But you know this place.” Touya took a step closer, trying to keep the desperation out of his voice. “I don’t even know where I am anymore, and I’ve got to get to the castle.”
“Are you joking?” Li asked incredulously. “Me, take you to Yue’s castle? All the gems in the world couldn’t convince me to do that. It would be suicide.”
“Then take me as close to it as you can, it’s all I’m asking. I don’t have much time.”
“Forget it.” Li snorted and turned away again. “You know you don’t have a prayer, don’t know why you’re trying so hard to get yourself killed.”
“He’s got my sister.”
The measured words fell across the distance between them, and Li stopped walking again, although he didn’t turn around. “She’s about your age, likes teddy bears and the color pink. And now she’s a prisoner there, god knows what happening to her right now, and finding her before my time is up is the only way Yue will let her go.”
He couldn’t bring himself to admit his own freedom was on the line too, the thought of it made his palms sweat and his stomach flutter uncomfortably. Li still hadn’t moved, either forward or to turn around.
“She’s depending on me, I have to do this. Don’t you have a family?”
“Do I look like I have a family?” Li spat, but not before hesitating just a little. “I’m sorry about your sister, I really am, but I’ve got myself to look out for. And you don’t have a single good reason why I should risk everything to help you.”
“Then do it because you want to defy him.”
Li tensed a little, and clenched his fists. Touya sensed he’d struck a nerve and pressed harder. “You just don’t know how to do it.”
Li still didn’t turn around and the ensuing silence was deafening, but Touya refrained from opening his mouth again; he knew when to press and when was too much. Anxiously he watched this kid, both wild child of the labyrinth and Yue’s subject, struggle to decide.
After what seemed forever his shoulders slumped a little, and he looked back. “Come on, already. It’s this way.”
Touya let out his breath, unaware he’d even been holding it. “Thank you.”
“Whatever.” Li disappeared around a corner, and he quickly moved to follow. For the first time since he’d fallen into the Underground, Touya felt hope again.
He just might make it after all.

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters

One aspect of Labyrinth that trumps Pleasure Slave, in my opinion, is that Li and Touya get to spend a lot more time together in this story and their famous personality conflict is a significant relationship in the plot. It was a pity they didn’t get more face time in PS (that’s my opinion, of course, not theirs).
Also different, I’m sure you’ve noticed, is the Li/Yue dynamic. In PS it was something like respect and affection, respectively, while here Li is a born rebel and makes no secret of his hatred for the king. And yet, in a weird way, I do think Yue entertains some affection for this upstart human troublemaker. You’ll see for yourself as the story unfolds.
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The Labyrinth