Am I in heaven? It's chapter 11!

~~~~~

Chapter 11

~~~~~

As the gang continued their way to south, they came across a huge, crowded city ---- the capital city of Ometin: P.H.H. City.

"Wow…" They all exclaimed when they arrived. Chocobos were zooming by, and the markets were full of people, selling anything and everything you can imagine. "Cool," Syaoran said. "All the places we've ever been to were just small villages or underwater." A big wagon that was filled with dead birds zoomed by, leaving some feathers behind, Syaoran brushed the feathers off his shirt. "I've never seen anything like this…in Ometin, I mean."

"Yeah, not even Tokyo is this crowded." Sakura agreed. "Have you ever been to a place like this back on earth?"

"It sure reminds me of Hong Kong, it was so crowded, you can hardly breath. No matter where you go, there are people."

"Hard life." Sakura commended.

"You kind of get used to it when you've been there all your life." He signaled Chocy to move on.

They looked around for a moment. The city seems to get more crowded as they moved towards the market. There were so many kinds of goods; you can buy anything you can image. Stores were all over the street; they were tent like buildings that can be easily taken down. "Wow," Sakura exclaimed. "This stuffed animal looks like Kero-chan!" She joked as she held up one of the toy from the toy store.

"So it does~" Syaoran said, he petted the toy. "Hey, hey, hey!" The owner said. He was big, has black beard, and looks pretty mean. "This isn't a playground, you'd either buy it, or leave it." Sakura looked at him, and then put down the stuffed animal. "Oh, I…I'm sorry, I wasn't going to buy it, anyway."

"What?" the owner leaned forward. "If you ain't gonna buy it, why the hell were you playing with it?" He sounded old and grumpy. Sakura got scared, and backed away. It's time for Syaoran to the rescue. He jumped between Sakura and the salesman. "Hey, back off!" He yelled, "Pick on someone your own size!" The salesman waved his humongous hand, "Get outta here! If you're not buying, then stay out!"

Everyone was watching them; a hand reached out and took the most valuable accessory in the store. The salesman and his argument caught everyone's attention at the moment, and no one saw the hand, or even realizes the accessory was gone.

"You guys are no good…" the salesman turned around, and realized something was missing. "What the…" he said. Then yelled, "Where the hell is my expensive gold teddy bear??!! That thing worth a fortune!!" Syaoran picked on him, "Ha ha, the bad guy got bad luck. You deserved it!" He made a face. The salesman turned around with an extremely angry expression, "It's you…isn't it?!" He yelled.

"It's me…. what?!" Syaoran asked. The salesman walked slowly towards him. "You stole it!!" He accused. Syaoran put two palms in front of his chest, both for defense, and also to prove that he has nothing to do with it. "How on earth can I steal it when I was standing over here?!" He shouted. The salesman pointed towards the place where the bear used to be. "You were creating a distraction so your partner can steal my precious bear!!"

A person in the dark was watching, he realized the boy was getting framed, because of him. [Oh, well.] He thought, beginning to leave.

"Do you know what the penalty for stealing is?! Death! I'll get you! And your girlfriend too!" He said, and began to grab Syaoran's arm. "Hey!" Syaoran yelled. "I didn't do it!" Sakura held Syaoran's hand. "Syaoran, I'm so scared!"

[…] the guy thought, he covered his face with his scarf, and went forward…to kick the supporting pole of the toy store. "I am soooooo gonna get you for that!" The salesman said. Then the masked guy stabbed him on the shoulder. "Umm…I believed that is your store…or used to be?" He pointed towards the store. "What the…" The salesman didn't know what on earth was he talking about until he turned around, and saw his store had totally collapsed. Things were broken and scattered everywhere. Everything was a mess. He let go of Syaoran; and ran towards his store. "NOOOOOOOOO!!!! WHAT ON EARTH HAPPENED??!!" The masked guy grabbed Syaoran's hand, and ran for it. "Now's our chance!!" Syaoran pulled Sakura with him, and Chocy can do nothing, but follow.

As they got to a safe distance, they stopped and tried to catch their breath. They were in an ally, behind a three-floor building. Syaoran thanked the masked guy, "Listen…thanks for the help, I really appreciate it." The guy couldn't resist, he stood up, and acted like a super hero. "Ha ha, no problem, I'm glad to help." He swan his scarf like a hero cape, and laughed loudly. "Umm…" Syaoran said. "You don't have to be so dramatic."

"Oh, yeah, sure. Ah, I have to go now, see-ya!" He tiptoed away, something in his scarf reflected the sunlight, and Chocy saw it. He pulled at the scarf with his beak. "Hey~what gives…!" the masked guy said; then the golden teddy bear fell out of his scarf.

"Huh??" Syaoran looked at the bear as that guy quickly slipped it back into his shirt. "Ah, um…that's…" the masked guy said. Syaoran finished the sentence for him. "You're the one who stole it!!" Sakura looked at him with a mad glare. "What? You're the one who got us into trouble in the first place!!"

The man backed up, and took his scarf off. "Alright, alright, chill man, already...it's no big deal~!" Just then, a hook shape stone that's tided around his wrist was shinning. He looked at the stone with a surprise face. "What is that?" Sakura asked. Syaoran made a face. "Did you steal that too?"

"NO!" He yelled. "This is…inherited by my mother…if this is glowing, then that means…" He looked at Sakura and Syaoran. "You're the legendary heroes!!" He almost yelled it. Syaoran ran forward to cover his mouth. "Oh, great! Yell louder why don't you, I believe a grandmother in the next village didn't hear you!!" The man choked, and whispered. "Sorry…" Sakura asked. "But how on earth could you tell?"

The man raised his wrist. "This stone is a detector, it response to the 'Angel's wing' when it's near by." Sakura tilted her head. "What's 'Angel's Wing'?" The man gave her a look. "Oh, come on, you don't even know what 'Angel's Wing' is?? It's the crystal that brought you here in the first place! Also sucks in the missioner's soul?"

"Oh, the crystal!" Syaoran said. He turned to Sakura, "Do you know that thing is called 'Angel's Wing'?" Sakura shook her head. "I have no idea."

The man sat down. "Well, I don't blame Shi Shi for not telling you, after all, she's just a kid." Both Sakura and Syaoran faced him and asked. "You know Shi Shi?" The man nodded. "She's my cousin."

"Cousin??!!"

~~~~~

They settled down in a local restaurant. "The name's Jon, nice to meet you." He said while stuffing food down his mouth. He eats like a pig. "One more dish of these delicious thingy, please!" He ordered the waiter. Sakura and Syaoran stared at him as he chewed the food in a very fast pace. Sweat drops rolled down. "Aren't you going to eat?" He asked with his mouth full. Syaoran and Sakura gave the same answer. "Oh no, I'm fine..." they even waved their hands. Then Syaoran talked quietly to himself. "After...seeing you…it kinda…makes someone lose their appetite..." Jon lifted his head. "You said something?" Syaoran shook his head wildly. "Oh… no, nothing at all." Sakura looked at his face and asked. "How'd you mange to not choke?" she turned to Syaoran. "Does he remind you of someone? You know; someone who eats a lot?"

Syaoran though, a piece of cloud appeared above his head, and inside the cloud was...Yukito. He laughed, and the cloud popped. "Hee hee..." Sakura asked. "Yeah...? Don't you think so...?" she smiled. Syaoran chuckled, "hehe...yeah."

"I want you to know..." Jon said, wiping his mouth. And talked in a serious manner, "I am here to help you, this stone, in my hand is given to me by my mother. When she gave it to me, she told me that it's my destiny to help the heroes in their journey. I was so excited, I mean, I was still a child. But now I know it's a reasonability and a must complete mission, it's kind of a rip-off. I mean I have to help you guys, and I don't get zip, nothing." Sakura and Syaoran eyed each other. Sakura lowered her head. "Well...if you have to put it that way..."

"Oh don't worry." He casually waved his hand. "It's not your fault." He called the waiter. "Can I have the receipt, please?" Syaoran reached into his pouch to get his wallet. Jon put a hand in front of his face. "Oh no, I got it." A fat and wealthy customer came in. When he went pass Jon and the group, Jon smoothly slide his hand in the fat man's pocket under the table, and brought out his big fat wallet. Everything was done so precisely; and so professionally. It's like a magician exhibiting his trick in front of his audience. He removed a bill from the wallet, and put it on the tray. "Keep the change." He said, as if he was a wealthy merchant. The waiter bowled for his generousness. They all stood up, ready to leave when the wealthy man yelled with eardrums-breaking noise. "MY GOD!! WHERE IS MY WALLET?? IT'S GONE!!" Syaoran looked at Jon with a suspicious glare, but Jon just walked out as fast as he could.

They walked down the crowded market street. "So, how exactly, are you going to help us?" Syaoran asked, breaking the silence. Sakura joined in. "Definitely not by stealing…"

"Actually," Jon said, picking up a piece of bread on a near by store when the owner wasn't looking. "I've been working on that." He tore a piece of bread and started eating. Syaoran looked at him with a mad glare. [This guy steals whenever he can get his hands on…] Sakura was thinking about something different. [That guy sure can eat…he just finished a whole meal…]

"You see...this country's princess is a beautiful woman. As a result, a lot of princes from other countries are asking her to marry them. There's a lot of people who came this month...and do you know what I'm thinking?" Jon looked at them. Sakura and Syaoran looked at each other, then looked back at Jon, shaking their head. Jon continued, "One of the missioner could've been there, too. If he did get the princess, then it'll be a lot easier messing up the whole country."

"How can you tell which one of is him?" Sakura asked. Jon tapped his nose. "I have a pretty darn good idea of who it it..." Just then, a soldier with a whip passed by. "Hey, get out of the way! The governor's cart is passing by!" He brandished his whip around to show his power and what he is capable of. People obeyed his orders and got out of the way fairly quickly. The cart passed by, everyone can tell that someone important is inside because of the fancy decoration around the cart. Beautiful shiny curtains covered the cart's window, covering it so well, it's almost as if the governor's face would wrack when commoners see it. Jon looked at the cart; his eyes never left it until it went out of his sight. Sakura saw the way Jon looked at the cart, "Is he the one?" She asked. Jon turned around, and explained. "At least I think so. He just came to the country half a month ago; just like any other man who came for the princess's heart, but the king already trusted with a job like this." He looked back at the direction the cart had gone to, " I don't think he earned it. He must've some how tricked the king into doing this. The worst thing is, I don't think he's here for the job of governor."

"He's here for the princess, isn't he?" Syaoran asked. Jon looked at him. "That's not all, if he does get the princess like he wishes, he'll be our king!"

~~~~~

"If a missioner becomes a king of a powerful country like this, then we'll be in serious trouble." Sakura said. "How are we going to stop him?"

"We can't go into the palace and stop him, we're just commoners!" Syaoran added.

"I told you, I've been working on it." He pulled out an ad out of his pocket, and handed it to Syaoran. Sakura and Chocy moved close to see what it is. Syaoran scanned it, and looked up to face Jon with a confused look. "Fighting competition?"

"It's a competition held by the king himself." Jon explained. " It's so big, the whole country knows about it. Whoever wins gets to stay at the palace for vacation. Hey, in a week, we can find out that governor's identity, and kick his lousy butt out of the country." He kicked his foot, pretending he was actually kicking the governor. Syaoran nodded. "Okay, so you're going?"

"Me? What are you, kidding? I can't go. I'd be down on the first round with out even know what a K.O. is." He said. Sakura, Syaoran and Chocy almost fell on the ground. "Then why on earth would you even consider this plan???" Syaoran asked. "Oh," He said, with a sly voice. "I'm not going, but you are!" He slapped Syaoran's back. Syaoran jerked. "Me?!"

"Of course~" Jon said as if it's no big deal. "I mean, you did come this far defeating all the missioners along the way, right?"

Syaoran looked at him with a big sweat drop.

Well, that's it for now, I'll add in some more later.-_-'
To tell you the truth, I think I drew Jon a little...just a little like Ashley...(for those of you who is thinking who the heck is Ashley, he's the main character from Wild Arms 2, I finished that, btw...)

July 12, 2000