The day raged on. They had been practicing outside for hours now going over basic skills of martial arts. It seemed to get hotter after each punch and kick  Sakura gave. The sweat drops on her head became heavier and more agitating.
       " It's been too boring around here, there's no way that nothing good is going on. Li is definitely hiding something from me," Meilin grunted angrily as she walked to Li's house, " no one keeps secrets from Meilin Rae!"
       She walked up to the porch and began to knock on the door until something interrupted her.
       " Meilin," Li's mother called out to her.
       " Oh I didn't see you there, hello, " Meilin answered noticing Li's mother sitting on the shade side of the porch, " Is-"
       " He's out back training."
       " Oh thank you."
`     " If you want to learn how to fight affectively your best bet is to fight against someone at a higher level than you that way your will push you to work harder," Li instructed Sakura.
       " I'm ready when you are," Sakura called out.
       " Ready, lets go," Li called beginning the fight.
       They both got on guard waiting for the other to make a move. Li broke the silence by advancing downward going for a slashing kick at Sakura's feet. Seeing the attack Sakura tried moving back, but her ventures were late. She lost her balance and ended up on the ground. Li quickly took advantage of Sakura's position and quickly went in for a punch. Sakura saw Li's endeavors, but lacked the time for an escape or to make a move, so she put her guard up and closed her eyes. Expecting a powerful hit she tightened the lids of her eyes, and her body flinched. She waited a second or two and nothing happened, so she slowly opened her eyes. She discovered that the clenched fist had stopped a few inches from her face. Slowly the fist relaxed into an open palm.
       " It's your first real fight so I decided to take it easy, but don't expect me to hold back when we fight again," Li said keeping his open palm out to allow Sakura support so she can get up.
       " Don't worry next time I won't need your mercy," Sakura replied beginning to reach out for Li's hand.
       " Li Showron what do you think you are doing!"
       A great voice interrupted them both.
       " Meilin," Li sad  letting go of Sakura's hand.
       " Meilin," Sakura said as she dropped to the ground.
       " I knew it! I knew things were to dry here for there to be nothing going on. And you tried to keep this from me," Meilin ranted,"And You! You have no business what so ever to be here. You stay away from Li and go play with your little stuffed animal!"
       Sakura laughed nervously taken back by Merlin's high strung rave. Li was left speechless obviously overcome by the speech.
       " Don't make me have to force it out of you Li tell me what's been going on," Meilin threatened.
       " All right," Li said with a sigh, " we were about to turn in for lunch anyway we'll talk then."
       Meilin brought sandwiches to the table as they rapped up their discussion about their current situation.
       "That all might be so , but that all doesn't explain you Sakura. I dunno if anyone else has noticed, but those are some awful burn marks you've got there.
       Sakura quickly covered up the vague burns on her arms," I kinda got these from a little accident. It's no big deal," but of course she was stretching the truth on that one.
       "So that's what's been going on. I should have realized that something was going on when things suddenly got dull, there's no possible way things could have actually been that boring. Things are always exciting where Li is involved in fact I know a way I can help," Meilin gushed.
       "What do you mean," Sakura asked.
       " Isn't it obvious? I can help you with your training! Of course I couldn't do the magic part, but when It comes to the martial arts part I'm about as good as LI. This is gonna be so cool I-"
       "No," LI interrupted
       "What do you mean no? I can help you out and get Sakura's training done twice as fast,"
       " Meilin with that strong magical force lurking around somewhere out there it would just put you in danger. I'd feel a need to protect you from it which would slow the pace of the training and we haven't got that kind of time to waste."
       " I have to agree with Li Meilin, I don't want to get anyone involved if I don't have to," Sakura agreed.
       " Are you calling me a nuisance Avalon?"
       " No I-"
       " Suddenly this little mess occurs and your on top of everything is that it?"
       " You may have the upper hand in magic, but I know I can beat you in martial arts. Care to take me on?"
         "Meilin wait," Li interfered.
         "Don't worry Li I need the practice," Sakura reassured him.
         " Why would Li worry he knows that I'll be just fine, but I can't say the same thing about you," Meilin mocked.
         The two of them walked over to the open clearing in which Li and Sakura had practiced before. Sakura assumed the stance Li had taught her for starting matches her guard  was up.
         " I'm ready," Sakura called over to Meilin.
         " Your stance is weak," Meilin laughed," I can already see at least 10 different attacks  I can dish out as direct hits. And just so  know I don't plan to go easy on you like Li."
         " I don't need you to go easy on me, I plan to give you all I got," Sakura retorted.
         " Well, get ready cause here I come!"
         Meilin zoomed in for a punch towards her face. Sakura saw the punch coming so she shielded her face. It turned out that the punch was a trick it was only a distraction for Sakura's eyes so she wouldn't see Meilin go down for a swiping kick at her legs. Sakura refused to go down like that again. When Meilin's kick hit she stumbled backwards sprung off her hands and flipped backwards and landed on her feet. Meilin was still getting up from her last move, so Sakura had the advantage. Sakura threw a punch at the grounded Meilin. Meilin blocked the fist with her left arm and with her right hand threw a punch at Sakura's chin. This time the punch hit. The punch knocked Sakura back setting her a little off balanced and dizzy. Sakura regained stability just in time to block another one of Meilin's punches. Meilin kept dishing out punches and Sakura kept blocking them. Keeping her feet spaced out so Meilin couldn't easily knock her over with a kick again, Sakura noticed that Meilin was throwing her punches in the same places the only variation was with each punch she blasted more power. Sakura blocked the next punch, but ducked under the nest punch. Since Meilin was off guard Sakura come up with a punch towards Meilin's chin. Meilin stumbled back after the contact of the punch.  Sakura took advantage of Meilin's instability and sent a swiping kick towards her legs knocking her over. Sakura bowed towards her opponent signifying the match was over. Sakura went over to Meilin and held out her hand to try and help her up.
         " Good match Meilin," Sakura said with a smile.
         Meilin smacked her hand away," I don't need your help," she grunted as she helped herself up.
         Meilin walked over to  Li and said, " You do need my help Li and when the time comes I'll be there to help you, remember that."
         Meilin stormed out.
         " Did I do something wrong, " Sakura asked.
         " No, Meilin just doesn't lie to lose, and seems to bother her even more when she loses to you," Li replied," But the way you fought has led me to believe that the next time you and me have a match I can fight you seriously."
         " I look forward to the match."
         Day slowly faded to night while Sakura lay restless in bed. Every single event that occurred since she arrived in Hong Kong buzzed through her head making it impossible to sleep. None of it seemed to add up. How strong was this sorcerer and why does he want her magic? Li's mother had given her plenty of information on how he was doing it, but until she could figure out what this all was about none of it made much sense. It was Indeed quite an enigma. And before when she heard the chanting what was it for and what did it mean, and there was definitely something about that factory because why else would she have been led there. There were too many unanswered questions and it was driving Sakura nuts. " If Kero were here he would know the answers to all my questions," Sakura thought as she stared lazily at the star book. As she stared the book gave off a fluorescent glow. Sakura reached over and grabbed the star book from the stand next to the bed. As Sakura brought the book closer to her she could feel it grow a bit warmer. Sakura got up out of bed and walked over to the window. With each step she took the book grew a tiny bit warmer. " The book is leading me somewhere then I have to follow it's trail because just maybe what I find at the end might answer some  of my questions," Sakura thought as she held on to the book.
         " Forgive me Li for leaving without your consent again, but maybe if I get back in time you won't have to know," Sakura said as she flew out the window.
         The night was brisk and a bit chilly as well. The streets of Hong Kong were brightly lit, so Sakura made sure to fly in the shadows. The star book cradled in her arms, grew warmer and glowed  with more intensity the farther she flew into the city. She had been flying for a while now, and it wasn't fairing well with her magical state. " I'm starting to feel exhausted. Could the sorcerer have already drained that much magic from me," Sakura thought groggily as her flying started to become unstable. Sakura landed just before the wings on her back disappeared. She did not have enough magic to sustain using any more cards so she began walking. Sakura felt so weak and drained, her walking was unsteady and she couldn't see straight. Sakura began stumbling down an ally the book was now burning and became a furious light that led her way. The alley seemed like it went on forever, but Sakura trusted the book and knew that this had to be where she needed to go.
         The alley finally ended, and it ended in a dead end. Sakura  couldn't believe it. " Could it be that I went the wrong way," Sakura thought eager to find an answer, but that couldn't be the book was still burning and glowing with the same immense intensity. " I don't know what else to do I followed the trail and now I can't go any further. I'm just too tired to think let me rest my eyes," Sakura said in a whisper as she let herself go  completely and shut her eyes.
         That's all it took to  put her to sleep she began to fall forward with nothing to keep her back. She fell towards the wall of the alley. As soon as she hit the wall she began to pass through! It was like the wall was transparent. She fell right through the wall and landed in a pink sparkling stream. The stream was extremely shallow, not nearly enough to have drowned her. Nevertheless the stream continued down  a shimmering cove with golden mountain like walls. Sakura still lay sleeping as the weak current of the stream continued to carry her farther into the cove. The stream began to narrow as Sakura drifted onward. The stream finally narrowed into a gate. The gate was impenetrable and there was no getting by it, but it did bear a keyhole. The star key around Sakura's neck began to glow with the same intensity as the book. The key loosened from around her neck and slowly, but surely began to float to the keyhole of the door. The key placed itself in the door allowing the gate to open. Sakura drifted through the gate and onto a rocky brook.
         Out from the darkness burst a tiny glow of green light. " That's it," Sakura thought," That's what bears the familiar magic, but it can't find me can it?" The chanting that was in her dreams before began out of no where. " What is he saying? Where is it coming from?" The chanting started out faint, but then it began to become more clearer " You dreams....will not....be....your  refuge......my perfect.......picture........will be.......completed...........you will............help me..........complete the puzzle..........whether.........you.............like it.............or not........." The voice thundered through Sakura's head.
         " I won't let you get to me," Sakura spoke aloud, her voice echoing throughout the emptiness, " I won't help you destroy me!"
         The silence was alarming after Sakura had given her outwardly speech, but ten the silence was broken.
         " Oh......but you will..........RELEASE!"
         Suddenly a storm of bright lights surrounded Sakura as the magic began draining out of her. She had lost control of her body again like she had in the factory. She couldn't move or speak at all, she was totally paralyzed. Sakura was sure that this was the end, she knew of no way to save herself now and Li wasn't around to help this time she stupidly made the mistake of nearing out without his notice. Just as her magic began to shoot out of her the green light had surrounded her, absorbing her magic. Her magic was sucked back into her like a breath of fresh air. Sakura closed her eyes  acknowledging  that the green light had saved her.
         Sakura opened her eyes to the ceiling of the golden cove. Sakura could smell the misty humidity of the shallow depths of the stream and she could feel the dampness of her hair strapped moistly around her face and the heaviness in her drenched pj's. "It was a dream. A dream? It may have been a prophetic dream, but for a dream at all it felt so real," Sakura thought as she removed her feet from the ends of the stream and made her first steps onto the brook.
         " Where am I?" Sakura spoke out as she looked around the room in wonderment, " How in the world did I end up here?"
        All the lost Sakura could remember was the starbook leading her into a dead end. The book! Where was it now? Sakura found the book on the brook where it must have washed up along with her. The book was no longer glowing or burning hot at all. It was moist and cold now leaving he trail cold as well.
         " If this isn't where I'm supposed to be then why am I here," Sakura said aloud in frustration.
         Sakura slumped down in the corner in the hollowed out fortress she had been taken to. The gate had locked behind her after the key had opened the gate, so she was as good as stuck until she could figure out a way out. As Sakura sat in the corner she had noticed something out of the corner of her eyes. There was a pedestal off at the other corner. On top of the pedestal lay a cage kind of like the ones birds live in, and inside the cage was a small glowing sphere of green light floating in the center of the cage. Sakura walked over to the cage. The green light reminded her of the one she saw in her dream. " Could it be the same one?" Sakura opened the doors to the cage. Slowly Sakura lifted a finger to the glowing green sphere until she could feel the warmth of the orb. the glow of the orb went down enough for Sakura to see what it really was. It was a firefly. Suddenly the green light burst all around the hollowed out fortress, the light was blinding. Out from the light Sakura could see the silhouette of a person, a person with wings. " Yue?" But it couldn't be the person was shorter that she and from what she could make out the person was female. The light finally dissolved, and out from it appeared a little girl dressed in a pure white outfit with ruffled short sleeves bad a gown that broaden out into puffy shorts. She wore white tights and golden shoes with star buckled with star buckles and she wore her hair in two side buns tied up with string with star tassel.
         Sakura laughed a little to herself thinking," Madison would have loved this! It's as if she designed it herself."
         The winged girl groggily wiped her eyes as she slowly opened her eyes.
         ' Couldn't you see I was trying to take a nap? You should think twice before you poke someone when they're in a deep sleep," The winged girl spoke out with much irritation in a squeaky little voice," I can't believe this! I've been resting peaceful here for years now just to be bothered by some annoying little girl who somehow got into my fortress a place well hidden and heavily guarded with magic, a place where the only one who can get through is...."
         The small girl stopped dead in her sentence, " Tell me girl what is your name," she asks.
         " My name," Sakura asks dumbly," it's Sakura."
         " Sakura, then it it's true you are her, of course, although I probably would never have recognized you dressed like that."
         Sakura glanced down at her damp night garments, " I'm her? Who do you think I am?"
         " Don't act so sheepish girl, excuse me I meant mistress. Of course you are the proven mistress of the star cards."
         " That I am, but who might you be?"
         " Aren't you a bright one," the girl spat sarcastically, " do you not recognize my power at all? I bet it feels kind of familiar huh?"
         " yes it does I fell it before when I first arrived in Hong Kong only I couldn't find it."
         "Well, mistress, since you probably haven't figured it out yet I am your distant star guardian"
         " Your my distant star guardian? Then you're the one that I was supposed to find to supply me with a secondary supply of magic."
         " That's my job after all. To help you if in any case the magic supplied to you by your star is threatened, it's been forever since I've been out and about I'll answer more questions later lets get out of here."
         " If I could I would fly us out, but I burned all my magic flying here and I haven't retained enough back to be able to use any magic at the moment." 
         Sakura was now in quite a big predicament now until she thought of something, " Wait a minute couldn't you supply me with enough magic to get us out of here?"
         " No can do."
         " But why not?"
         " Because, there are rules you know certain procedures that we haven't gone through yet, and you can't take advantage of any of the magic of the distant star until you do."
         " Now what do we do?"
         " Hello," The winged girl called to Sakura's attention, " These wings aren't just for show you know."
         " But aren't you too small to fly us both out," Sakura asked quizzically overlooking the winged girl who was half her size.
         " Don't be so narrow minded mistress, you should know by now that not everything is what it seems. This is not my true  form at all I guess you could call it my borrowed form."
         " But I thought that firefly you were before was your borrowed form."
         " Your mistaken. My transformations are different than  those of Keroberos and Yue. Because I am not needed as often as the two of them I take on 3 forms, my conservation form, my borrowed form, and my true form. I saw my conservation form most of the time, in that form I use no energy, I store magic, and become stronger. The borrowed form I appear in now is a step up, but limited, I can only use a little magic and energy in this form. Now my true form is where I can use the most power, but if I use too much of course I would have to go back to my borrowed form. For me to get us out of here I would need-"
         Suddenly the girls wings came up around her body and out from her wings appeared a beautiful winged lady. She looked just like an angel. Her Guardian was now wearing a beautiful strapless white gown with a golden ring around her waist. She wore white gloves that went a little past her elbows. She bared a golden star crest on her forehead which sprung into a wired tiara that started from the ends of the star crest and went back to tie up a single bun of hair with star tassels.
         " My true form," her guardian finished in her newly matured voice, " Shall we go now?"
         " Wait I just remembered something. The gate won't budge which means were still stuck here."
         " Not so fast mistress. The gate won't open because it's locked which means we need a key."
         "A key?"
         " How do you think you got in? To get in you need the key of the star, but to get out you need the key of the distant star," the guardian said as she lifted open her palm. An orb of light began to form and out from the light appeared a key laced on a necklace of a miniature star with wings laced the whole way down the wand part of the key.
         Her guardian walked towards the gate and placed the key in the hole and the door swung open. Sakura could see the star key in the hole on the other side.
         " So, the star key must have opened the door for me before," Sakura said as she removed the key from the door."
         " Well what are you waiting for hop on. Unless you'd rather swim," her guardian yelled as she quickly removed the distant star key from the keyhole and advanced towards the stream.
         " I'm  coming," Sakura replied as she quickly hopped onto her guardian's back and they took off.
         " You know now that I think of it I never got you name," Sakura asked as they flew down the tunnel of the cove.
         " Oh, you're right  my name is Celestial. My main purpose is o serve you in times of need mistress.
         " Celestial you don't have to call me mistress I'd rather have you call me Sakura."
         " Alright Sakura."
         Sakura began to see the wonderment of the cove that she missed coming in. She acknowledged the golden mountainous walls and the sparkling pink stream, and she almost missed the huge brick wall they were headed for.
         " Watch out we're going to crash into that wall," Sakura yelled gripping on Celestial's back.
         " Relax," Celestial replied as they zoomed right through the wall," With a little magic anything can look solid."
         The two raced back to the house to try and make it back before sun rise.