"No, the house was still in perfect shape so it wouldn't be sold without permission," she explained with a shrug.

Kero huffed smugly with a grin. "Besides, you know that Sakura's brother would never let you stay here, and Sakura's dad is off working so that puts him in charge."

Sakura pouted up at him, but Kero continued his smug poster because he knew he had been right. She sighed and turned back to Syaoran. "Anyway, at least it is a safe, warm place for you to stay as long as you're here, right? At least we can still visit each other this way."

He shrugs. "Yeah." He grabs Kero by his tiny head and squeezes lightly. "I suggest you shut up, before you make me angry." Seeing Kero's nod, he releases the familiar's head and offers her his arm. "So, shall we go?"

Sakura gave him a nod and stood up. "Kero-chan, we should be back before Oniisan gets home but you  should go back up to my room in case he comes back early,"

"Fine," Kero let out a small huff. "but you should at least bring your cards with you just in case."

She gave another small nod. "I will, don't worry. I'll be back soon," Sakura assured him before she happily took Syaoran's arm and the two exited the house together. Once outside, the blue robed figure of Eriol reappeared, standing on the roof of the house. He sneered when he saw the two of them arm in arm and raised his staff.

"Outmatched?" Eriol repeated with a huff. "Hardly. That was just my way of getting your attention after the way you treated me earlier. You're not the only one who has been practicing, you know, and your anger is nothing compared to his!"

He raised his staff with both hands this time and bough it down with a loud thud. The ground began to shake violently until both Sakura and Syaoran stumbled to the ground. Finally, the earth split and began to drive them farther and farther apart while Eriol lept down from the roof with his staff held out for another attack.

He stabs his sword into the ground enough to where it can stand of it's own power, backs up, then starts running, steps onto the hilt of the sword, jumps, spinning in mid-jump and grabbing the hilt to pull it with him, and he goes flying across the chasm before landing on the other side and skidding to a stop next to her. "If that was your best, your best simply won't do." He charges the lightning up once more, holding it in the sword, then focuses magic into his legs and jumps at Eriol, his sword clashing with the staff in a shower of sparks as he uses it to block, and the two are at a stalemate in terms of strength, surprising him. Taking advantage of this opening, Eriol pushes him away and spins the staff above his head before focusing magic into the head of it and swinging it down towards him, one of the larger spikes speeding towards his head, and he quickly brings his sword up and rams it between two of the spikes sideways, causing it to bite a bit into the metal of the staff, and then he shifts it slightly to his right, causing it to leave a good-sized, somewhat deep scratch along the side of his face from just below his eye to his jaw, and he twists his sword so the edge is facing normally again, snapping the two spikes off before pulling his sword away and jumping back to put some space between them.

"You see? You're on the deffensive already," Eriol smirked as he stood up straight. "It's no different than when we were kids. I bested you at every turn then and I can still beat you now, thanks to my new master."

He tightly gripped the pole of his staff, gathering his magic in the large sphere that was the center of its sun shape once more.The two broken rays instantly repaired themselves, a feat that should have been much, much more difficult for someone who drew their power from the sun while their as no visable sun in the sky.

"I have no personal grudge against you, Li Syaoran. Other than this morning, the only thing you ever did wrong was get in my master's way. It's the clow Cards we want, so our business here is with Sakura..." Eriol continued

Sakura flinched at the sound of her name. She pulled her own staff closer to her body defensively in preperation to use her own magic.

"However, since you seem to be so intent on dying along with her, I'd be more than happy to oblige."

Eriol uses the magic charged into the staff to fire a large fireball at him, and upon it being fired, he pushes her to the side, then he points his sword in her direction and it starts to glow. "Shield!" The glow from his sword transforms into a clear, hardened half sphere around her, and then he takes his sword and swings it before placing it into a blocking position in front of him, and the fireball hits it, making him slide back a few feet as he attempts to hold it back, but it eventually overpowers him and engulfs him before fizzling out shortly after, sending him flying back with singed clothes and 1st degree burns, and he goes flying into a pair of black-clad arms right as he passes out. The last thing he sees before his eyes close is a blurry image of a red metal forehead protector with a black moon on the forehead and a pair of black eyes.

The instant Eriol's flames had penetrated Syaoran's defenses the shield surrounding Sakura had vanished. While Syaoran had taken the brunt of the impact and the mojority of the flames there was still enough magical force behind the attack for Sakura to get caught in the aftermath as well before she had a chance to use her own Shield Card. While he hadn't been able to block the attack entirely, Syaoran had suceeded in in ensuring that Sakura's burns were not as severe, but she had still recieved a handful of scorches before roughly hitting the ground.

"...Syaoran-kun?" She asked as she lifted her head to see where he had fallen. When she saw the tall, dark figure that had caught Syaoran she immediately attempted to lift herself up, but this proved to be difficult.

A second figure wearing a long, white robes lined with fur with blond hair and blue eyes approached and crouched down beside her. "Don't worry, we're here to help," the young man smiled. He placed a hand on her shoulderand his hand glowed with an icy blue magic that soothed her injuries, but it still wasn't enough to heal them completely. Sakura closed her eyes as well.

Kurogane leans him against a tree, then turns back to Eriol. "Well, kid, now you're up against us." He draws Ginryu and enters his normal stance before shooting a glance at his companion. "You ready?"