Different Worlds, Same Connections.

“The bridge is…gone.” Sai told Syaoran, entering the foyer of their small apartment. “The only two ways that we could have gotten home easily, and they’ve both been destroyed in the past fifteen years.” Syaoran, who had been pouring over a map of the Eastern world, glanced up from the living room at her.

“It figures. We should have never let Kai become her protector. We should have known he’d lead them there to prevent anything from getting in the North.”

“It’s not his fault.” Sai protested softly, already feeling the absence of Shay, even though it had only been a few days since she’d disappeared. “He didn’t know that destroying every way in here still wouldn’t keep the Oni out.”

“Are you sure we can even trust him?” Syaoran asked, his eyes on the map again. He’d stolen it from the City’s library, disregarding the crime because it was the last and only useful copy of the Eastern world that existed in the Northern world anymore; he wanted it for their own purposes.

“Beast gave him the task.” Sai replied, placing her hands at her throat, searching for the familiar black cross. She was disappointed when she couldn’t find it, but she knew it was in better hands now. “Kai is obligated to Beast, so I do trust him. It’s Shay I’m worried about though.”

They both smirked mirthfully because both knew Shay would be more of a problem than anything on their journey to Oni, where Beast had promised he’d place Shay under his care until they found a way to get her into Shivé safely.

Their deal had been struck long before they’d even left the Eastern world for the safety of the North, but Sai and Syaoran knew that the Oni Overlord would keep his promised protection, if only because he favored Sai.

“Where do you suppose they are now?” Sai asked, kicking off her boots and dropping her scythe down at the door finally. She and Syaoran had been taking turns trying to rid the City of Oni, but so far all they’d managed to accomplish was media attention to the shadow demons, and sometimes media attention wasn’t the best thing to ask for. Someone would eventually figure it out that the Oni were coming from another world, and therefore they would try to do something about them.

Sai and Syaoran were depending on the Oni to keep coming, hoping that they’d be able to find a way back home first before the two worlds were sealed shut from each other forever.

Syaoran pointed at a dark region on the northern part of the map, drawing a small circle with his pointer finger. “If they’re moving at a steady pace then I assume they’d be somewhere near the edge of Hanshi by now. They’ll go through the Iroh desert in about a week I figure.” Sai closed her eyes tightly, remembering the first time she’d had to cross the desert. It hadn’t been one of her favorite journeys…

“Well, at least she’s not afraid of the dark.” She muttered, sitting down beside Syaoran and letting him hug her gently.

“You’ve gotten better about the dark, Saigan.” He told her, glancing back at the kitchen’s skylight. “It just took a little time. Besides; darkness was what started all this anyway. Anyone would have hated the darkness too if they’d been born to bear something like this.”

Sai knew it was true, but that didn’t mean she was obsessed with the dark now or anything. She still hated it; she could just tolerate it a whole lot better now that she was older. It probably helped that Shay had dragged them to an amusement park every couple of years and they made Sai go through the haunted mansion, which was pitch black most of the time.

Sai was about to let Syaoran do more but the faint patter of wings could be heard from outside the front door. They both sighed and got up from the couch, each parting from the other to get their weapon of choice.

The Oni could find them, they could stalk them, and they could attack Sai and Syaoran all they wanted. What they couldn’t do, though, was get away with it.

XX

“You’re kidding…” Kai breathed, exhaustion instantly leaving him and being replaced with adrenaline. Things, it seemed, were about to get much worse before they got any better. “How come no one ever told me?” Van shrugged, still rubbing his arm.

“I thought you knew.” He replied. “Beast moved everything in our kingdom and took over the Toro Isles right before I left anyway. He had to though, because the Independent Oni were closing in on our nation. They’ve been pressing him for too long I think, and they really want to be in control of their own kingdom. It doesn’t really help that he was a Serpent and only got there in the first place because of a young woman’s mistake.” Shay glared at Van momentarily before turning his explanation over in her mind. What did he mean by ‘their kingdom’? Hadn’t he been kidnapped by the Oni? If so, why was he was loyal to a place that had taken him away from his family?

Well…if Kai and Van were both under the care of the Oni, maybe the Oni weren’t all that awful.

“So…we’re not going to Oni then, are we?” Shay concluded, frustrated. If the Toro Isles weren’t closer than Oni then she would have to have a little chat with their Overlord; she’d have a hard time trying to beat some sense into him but she’d try.

“Nope. We’re going to the Isles if that’s where Beast is.” Kai told her, turning to Van. “That is where he’s residing, right?” Van nodded in confirmation.

“Great. So where is it exactly?” Shay asked, feeling like every time she asked him something it turned into a pop quiz. Kai’s eyes glazed over for a second while he visualized the Eastern world’s terrain in his mind. He ended up pointing eastwards. “Past Hanshi in the Toro Bay, in the Kudan.”

“Kudan? What the hell is that?”

“The ocean, remember?” Kai stood up and shook his legs out, ready to go already despite the fact that he’d just been in a fight. Van stood up too; apparently Shay was the only one who was still tired. She groaned in silent complaint and stood up too, ready to go wherever Kai and Van led her. She didn’t really have an alternative choice so she might as well go with them, right?

“Oh, yeah, the big ocean…great.” She muttered, sticking her hands in her skirt’s jean pockets and shuffling towards the door. “Christ, this planet has more water than it knows what to do with…”

Van and Kai looked at each other before laughing at her. She whipped around, irritated that they thought this was so hilarious. “What? What’s so funny?”

“We’re not going anywhere until we rest Shay.” Kai said while Van picked her up around the waist and hauled her over his shoulder. “Jeez, you think we’d be that stupid? We’ve hardly had a chance to sleep since we got here!” She shrieked in play fright as all three headed down the hallway, looking for someplace to rest for the rest of the day, and possibly the entire night.

What any of them would do for a proper bed was indescribable at this point.

XX

They found a rather large living room before the bright sky turned dark and used a great stone fireplace to keep themselves warm all night. Van kept them up though for the most part, attempting to fill them in on everything that had been happening in the Eastern world.

While it was true he hadn’t been in the Eastern world for a while either, his history was more accurate than Kai’s, who had become depressed with catastrophic events Van shared with them.

The Kingdom of Oni hadn’t encouraged any fighting whatsoever. It was the independent Oni, the ones who roamed the encompassing world that had attacked the kingdom and its inhabitants.

Beast, their powerful Overlord, managed to stop the independent forces with the help of the so-called last mortal of the Oni bloodline, Raul de Feroa who was Sai’s father, but he was not the last if Sai was still alive, as well as her younger siblings, Tachs and Gloria. Shay had never heard Raul but she had heard Sai talk of her younger siblings frequently. Sai missed them dearly, but of course there was no turning back after they’d journeyed into a completely new world.

The Oni didn’t trust Raul or Beast-the independent ones at least-and so they banded together and pushed inland towards the borders until there was no other choice but for Beast to order a temporary displacement for the kingdom. Raul had disagreed, saying that they couldn’t possibly abandon the land they’d claimed as their own. Beast had to move the citizens though; the independent Oni were too numerous, too large, and too much for the floundering kingdom to handle since all this occurred a few years after Beast had gained control and begun to rebuild Oni after the last Overlord.

Shay wanted to know who this last Overlord was but she noticed neither of her friends had yet spoken his name. Maybe they didn’t know; maybe she just wasn’t supposed to know.

Maybe yes, maybe no; either way she had a feeling she wouldn’t know the Overlord’s name anytime soon.

The Oni kingdom, at any rate, had been temporarily banished from their own home to the Toro Isles in hopes that the independents would lose interest in their pursuit. Until then, Beast and Raul continued to send troops home to infiltrate and cause trouble. It was all they could do at the moment.

Beast was the one who usually ordered the real, true attacks. He had been an independent Oni until Sai had defeated him during a fight in the Kudan ocean, and he knew that the independents did not appreciate being ruled by anyone in general. The only reason they’d come to attack now was because they saw Beast’s move from independent Serpent Oni to Overlord of an entire nation as a betrayal.

The way Van explained it gave Shay an entirely new view on her guardian. Sai had gone up against a demon in the middle of a storm just to get to Shay a little faster. All the trouble she’d gone through…the whole reason she and Syaoran were stuck in the Northern world…it was because they’d gone to get Shay back.

If there was any way to pay them back for doing all this for her, Shay would do it. If she didn’t, she was afraid she might be more angry with them than anything for letting her live in a false world for so long without even telling her. Sai and Syaoran had always told her that they weren’t her real parents though, and they’d always been truthful about whatever she wanted to know.

They just tended to keep the details hidden.

Van told her it was the only way for them to keep her safe, however. They didn’t want her to try and get back here before the time was right; if she were to come back early she would surely be assassinated the second someone recognized her.

Luckily, she’d aged in a different world and, as different worlds will do, she turned into a young woman that was dramatically different than what creatures in the Eastern world expected her to look like.

She had inherited her father’s black hair, this was true, as well as her mother’s odd green eyes. Her body had been shaped like her grandmother’s, the last living Queen of Shivé, and even the structure of her face was different than the royal family. Her taste in clothing, her hairstyle…everything that was interchangeable had been changed and molded into what Shay wanted over the years, not like how her mother or father would have wanted.

Plus she was wearing a purple jacket top with a black Hoodie. As everyone in Shivé knew, purple and black were not their patriotic colors; red and gold were. Purple and black were the national colors of Pantahn, not Shivé. Shay couldn’t have looked more different from what she was supposed to look like if she’d even tried.

To Van and Kai, that factor could be used to their advantage. If no one could recognize her then they would be able to travel through Hanshi and Pantahn with ease. Perhaps they would even make it to the Toro Isles without being discovered by anyone who wanted Shay dead. While it was extremely unlikely, they could always hope. Shivé had made too many enemies during the last war, and even if they had been consigned to peace by treaties, many countries were still smarting over Shivé’s unwise lash out.

All the three of them had to do was make it out of the Hanshin forest, through the rim of Pantahn, and finally get to Tahn, capitol of Hanshi. If they got to Tahn, they would be able to procure a ship and sail to the Toro Isles, which would only take a day or less. And if Kai had calculated correctly, they would be within the Overlord’s presence within the end of two weeks at least. After all, they were already nearing the edge of the Hanshin forest. He’d conveniently forgotten to tell Shay that, since he knew she loved this place so much.