This is actually an excrutiatingly old fic I wrote a long time ago, (probably my second?), so the writing style may be a bit primitive. If you have not seen the last Arc of the series then it is best you don't read, since it will contain spoilers of the final battle although the scenes aren't exactly the same (I quickened the pace and took some artistic liberties to parts of the story). This was written out of pure silliness so don't take anything here too seriously. This fic is also home to poor confused little Eriol, so he is not his usual omnipotent self in this story.
*CCS and anything related does not belong to me yatta yatta*
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The Switch Card
By: Nanashi
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"Mou!..why do we have to clean today Eriol?" whined Nakuru, "It's such a nice day outside!" she continued.
"It's called spring cleaning genius." remarked Spinel as he floated by with a rag.
"But we haven't been in this attic for ages! It will take just as long to clean it out!" she pouted.
Eriol popped out from behind a few boxes. "O.K how about we take a shortcut then.." he suggested while wiping his brow, "You guys can take a break and I will finish up here with some quick magic."
"YAY!" exclaimed the excited Nakuru as she skipped out of the musty old room. "You're the best master!" she squeaked from behind the door.
"I suppose I can stick around and help you finish up." said Spinel as platonically as ever.
"It's ok Spinel, you have done a lot of work today, I think there are some muffins downstairs." tempted the spectacled boy.
Eriol had barely finished his sentence before the little flying cat disappeared from view. He chuckled.
How happy his guardians made him. Sometimes Eriol wondered what life would be like if he hadn't created them. The thought of his old guardians flickered through his mind. "Keroberos..Yue.." he thought to himself. He smiled as he reflected on the past and on the present. He knew they were happy with their new master. What it must be like to be in Sakura's place right now. He stuck the thought behind him as he brought forth his staff. With a flick of his wrist it began to glow and a swirl of wind and sparkles permeated from it as the contents of the room began to float and whirl around in midair. A quick chant and the place was left orderly and spotless. Eriol grinned, pleased with the job and turned to leave, but something caught his eye. A chest was out of place.
For some reason his magic didn't affect it, so he decided to move it manually.
"My powers must be lower than I thought." he sighed as he approached the trunk.
He positioned himself over it, ready to lift but noticed the darn thing would not budge.
"What could possibly be so heavy in there!?" he growled.
Curiosity got the best of him as he broke the lock off and flipped the lid open.
"A..card?" he whispered obviously puzzled. "How could this be.." he continued, picking it up and wiping the dust off of it.
The card began to glow in his hands as he finally read the name of the card.
"Switch?..a switch card?" he gasped, "But..Sakura has captured and converted all the cards.." he trailed off unsure of himself.
He took a quick moment to scan his memories of the time when Clow created his cards.
"What is this?" he said backing off and dropping the card.
"This is not in my memories, this is not a Clow card!" he leered.
The card floated up and followed him, beckoning him to touch it again as light radiated from it. Eriol turned to run but it was already too late. He was enveloped in it's radiance and drawn into the card.
Eriol awoke with a start. He searched his surroundings and a sigh of relief escaped him as he realized he was in his bed, in his room.
~*~
"IN JAPAN?!" he screeched before he had a chance to settle back into bed.
Yue and Kero came running into his room.
"Master!? what's wrong?" exclaimed a worried Yue as he rushed to his side.
"What?! what am I doing here? and why are you here? what is going ON!?" he rambled frantically, "I'm supposed to be in England, how did I get here? where is Ruby Moon? Spinel?"
Yue placed a gentle hand on his master's shoulder.
"Master..calm down, I have no idea what you are talking about. You have been here for ages and there is no such thing as a Ruby Moon." he comforted.
"You must have had a nightmare." smirked the ever cocky Keroberos.
"No..no..this is not right, it's the card!" remarked Eriol searching himself frantically for any trace of the card that had mysteriously brought him there.
Yue held him down gently, "Master..please settle down you are being terribly awkward." he said.
"All your cards are right here.." struggled Keroberos lifting the Clow Book and bringing it to Eriol's side, "Don't worry they are completely safe."
Eriol snatched the book and flipped through all the cards quickly.
"I don't..understand, this is the Clow book, these are the Clow cards. Where is Sakura?" he asked.
Yue blinked, "You're classmate?" he said.
"No, Sakura the Mistress of the Sakura Cards." Eriol grunted.
Kero could barely hold in his laughter. Yue scowled as the lil 'stuffed animal' made an effort to keep his face straight. The long haired guardian made some room next to his master's bed and wrapped his arms around him.
"Yue.." whispered Eriol, "you don't have to.."
But Yue stopped him in his tracks. He brought the boy's head close to him as he rocked him tenderly.
"I am your guardian, master, and I will stay here until you can get some rest. We can talk some more about your nightmare in the morning." he cooed.
"Leave us" he ordered Kero.
The little winged beast pouted and grumbled as he left the room. Eriol surrendered to Yue's gentle caresses. He had almost forgotten what it was like to be comforted by his former guardians. He decided to take Yue's advice and leave matters for the morning.
Eriol found himself awoken by Yue's soft shakes. However, as his vision adjusted to the daylight he noticed it wasn't Yue, but Yukito.
The tall boy smiled, "Breakfast is ready!"
"Yu-Yue? why are you in your false form?" he asked somewhat surprised.
"I have to go to school silly, now go get something to eat." chirped the other before heading out of the room.
Eriol still didn't understand what was going on. Wasn't Yukito supposed to live with his grandparents? What other surprises were in store for him? Kero handed him breakfast as Yukito excused himself cheerfully and headed out the door to meet up with Touya. At least that was still the same.
"But, if there is a Touya there must be a Sakura!", Eriol thought as he hogged his breakfast down much to Kero's surprise and bolted out of the door. Then he poked his head back in and asked Kero if it was Tomoeda Elementary he was heading to.
Kero sweat-dropped and replied "Of course!".
The boy raced to school.
The place was still intact, everything was familiar. The building looked the same as he ran up to it. The kids, the hallway and finally the classroom were all there. He flung the screen open to reveal the kids chatting like normally. He was promptly greeted by..
Syaoran?
"Eriol!? where have you been.." he said blushing slightly.
"You promised to meet me at the usual place before school." he gulped.
Eriol did not understand.
"Syaoran?" he asked waving his hand in front of his face.
"Of course who else?" he sweat-dropped.
Now Eriol knew things where whacked. Then she walked in.
"Sakura-san!" he smiled waving at her.
"Well, hello Eriol-kun!" she greeted cheerfully.
Syaoran balled up his fists as his face turned red. He rushed up to them both.
"Eriol class is starting we should sit." he blurted.
"But I need to ask Sakura something." huffed the blue haired boy.
Syaoran pulled him aside.
"What exactly do you need to ask?" he questioned with a pained look on his face.
"About the cards, I need to know what is going on with them." he whispered back.
Syaoran's eyes widened. "..And why would Sakura know anything about that? You're not gonna tell her our secret are you!?" he warned.
Eriol jumped back.
"So Sakura doesn't know?" he gasped.
"Know what?" she said coming up behind him.
"N-nothing! Kinomoto-san" said Syaoran covering up for Eriol's mistake nervously.
"Whatever" she said shrugging and taking her seat.
Kinomoto-san? why was Syaoran being so formal all of a sudden?
"Ohayo Eriol-kun, Syaoran-kun!" beamed the sweet Tomoyo.
"Hi to you too, Tomoyo." smiled Syaoran.
Eriol waved sweat-dropping. He was utterly baffled at the scene, what was going on???
"I have a new costume for whatever happens tonight!" she whispered in the bewildered boys ear cheerfully. Sakura gave them all a mischievous grin.
After class Eriol walked out to the usual meeting spot he remembered. Tomoyo and Syaoran were already sitting and chatting. It seems he surprised them because Syaoran turned a bright scarlet when he approached. Then he said he had something to get back to in the classroom as he ran off wildly. Tomoyo giggled.
"Ne, Daidouji-san.." he started sitting next to her, "What did we do yesterday?".
She blinked at the boy overriding his initial question.
"Daidouji-san?! Are you sick? it is the first time you have ever called me anything other than Tomoyo-chan." she pouted.
This was definitely some alternate dimension or something, because he knew he had never reached that kind of familiarity with the girl before. He saw Sakura walking up to them. A red faced Syaoran was inconspicuously watching her, from behind a bush. Eriol giggled. At least his crush was still the same.
"Syaoran never changes, he still gushes over that girl." he sighed.
Tomoyo turned to him curiously, "which girl?" she asked.
He pointed briefly to the rapidly approaching Sakura. Tomoyo laughed.
"No! that's not it." she choked.
"You are in such a weird mood today Eriol, you know Syaoran and Sakura don't exactly get along very well." she continued giggling holding her hand up to her mouth.
He fell over.
Sakura hovered over him smiling sweetly.
"Eriol-kun, what are you doing down there?" she asked.
He quickly recovered and played it off.
"Practicing for ..umm" he tried to think.
"Touya's theater rehearsals, Eriol might get a part in it." chimed in Tomoyo giving the boy a worried look.
"Ah I see, so nice of your brother to include you in his plans." beamed Sakura.
"B-Brother?!?!" he yelped.
"Eriol, you should really get some rest you seem to have some kind of temporary amnesia, yes, your brother Touya, lives a short distance away from you?" she recited.
"Kinomoto-san, it makes sense that Eriol would try to forget his brother, he is always teasing him and calling him a monster!" giggled Tomoyo.
Sakura brought her finger up to her temple.
"Oh that's right, sorry for bringing him up then." she apologized smiling as Tomoyo eyed him curiously.
Syaoran came bounding up to the group.
"That's riiiight" mused Tomoyo, "Weren't you going over to Syaoran's house this afternoon?" she questioned innocently in Eriol's direction.
Syaoran blushed.
"I think I will excuse myself then." rang Sakura turning to leave.
Syaoran let a 'hmph' slip out as she passed by before turning to Eriol and shyly suggesting that they should get on their way.
Tomoyo gave Syaoran a quick whisper before skipping off and reminding them to call her if something came up. Syaoran seemed edgy the whole time they walked to the house, but Eriol was so deep in thought that he barely noticed. After a few hard gulps Syaoran spoke out.
"You know, pretty soon all the cards will have changed to Eriol cards, and I will have no reason to remain here." he started.
Eriol jumped at his words and grasped his shoulders shaking him lightly.
"Eriol cards? did you say Eriol cards?" he demanded.
Syaoran freed himself from his grip, "Eriol, what is wrong with you today?" he questioned in a worried tone.
Then he frowned as he realized the other boy had paid no attention to the second part of his statement.
"You're right how silly of me!" Eriol shrugged playing it off "I..I must be sick or something."
"I see.." mumbled a hurt Syaoran.
Eriol decided that it was best not to try to understand the situation but to play into it. After all if this really was an alternate dimension he did not want to change the course of events drastically before he left. That is..IF he could leave. He sorely missed the life he was used to.
"Here we are." said Syaoran as they neared the gates of his house.
They were greeted by Wei as they made their way in the house and to the living room.
"I'll go bring us some tea." suggested a blushing Syaoran.
"Sure." responded Eriol.
This would give him some time alone to sort his thoughts.
"So in this world"..he thought to himself, "Yue and Kero are my guardians, Tomoyo is my best friend, Touya is my brother who lives on his own, Sakura knows nothing of the cards,.. strange things have been happening, Syaoran loathes Sakura, it's like I've switched places with her!" he exclaimed mentally.
"But if this is going the way I think it is that means..Sakura is in my place! So she is behind all the attacks and.."
He looked up at a blushing Syaoran who was carrying in a tray of tea.
"This can't be happening.." he sweat=dropped.
Syaoran snapped out of his trance "Wha-what's wrong? is the tea not ok? should I get something else, maybe lemonade?" he rambled trying to please his guest.
Eriol had always wondered what it would have been like to have Syaoran act more friendly towards him, but this was..ridiculous! Eriol didn't like being at the opposite end of the game. In his world he had relished being the mysterious one with the hidden motive. In this world, he felt so much like..Sakura. Completely, clueless.
The sky turned a light orange as the late afternoon lingered. Syaoran shifted around in his chair, not knowing where to look or how to keep himself busy. It seemed there was something important he wanted to say. From experience Eriol knew what it was. Finally feeling confident enough the brown haired boy stood up.
"Eriol.." he began "I..I.." he stuttered balling his fists.
Eriol sweat-dropped not sure if he wanted to hear this sort of thing, at least not while he was still sorting things out for himself.
"I feel that presence again!" blurted out the shorter boy as he wheeled around to face the balcony.
"Sakura.." Eriol whispered, he felt her presence too.
"Let's go!" Syaoran grunted as he took the other boy by the hand and ran towards the presence.
"This can't be happening.. this can't be happening.." uttered the freaked out mage.
~*~
Eriol blushed at the costume Tomoyo had made for him.
"Ne..Tomoyo-san, these shorts seem a little high for me, don't you think?" he asked tensely.
Tomoyo just waved her hand in the air as her eyes became starry.
"It's my best one yet!" she said taping him, "Don't you think Syaoran-kun?" she winked.
"Uh..well" he blushed.
"I'm so happy you called me, I wouldn't want to miss another one of Eriol-kun's battles!" she continued holding her cheek.
"It's nothing" smiled Syaoran.
Eriol was paying more attention to his surroundings. Both of them had felt Sakura's presence before but as they waited for her to appear they realized nothing was happening.
"Syaoran be on your guard." warned Eriol gripping his newly designed sun staff tightly. Syaoran positioned himself.
"Whoever it is, he is blocking us from sensing him." he growled.
"She.." corrected Eriol before catching himself.
A fireball appeared out of nowhere and Syaoran lunged at Eriol just in time to push him out of the way. Tomoyo screamed and took refuge nearby. Another one was shot and the boys huddled together preparing themselves for the impact but it never came as it was thwarted by Yue. Keroberos landed beside the two and asked them if they were ok.
"Kero, Yue!" exclaimed a relieved Eriol.
Then they heard the ominous laughter, "O ho ho ho ho ho!".
They all whirled around in time to see the silhouette of a figure standing on the top of the shrine post.
"Well done, Eriol.." said the female voice.
"Sakura!" growled Syaoran stepping in front of Eriol protectively.
"Just what do you think you are doing?" he yelled.
"She is behind all the attacks.." muttered Eriol.
Syaoran whipped around to face him, "You mean..you knew all along?" he asked shocked.
"It's not like that Syaoran." he said picking himself up off the floor.
"Very perceptive.." she mused.
Eriol sweat-dropped as he realized he had not only gone to an alternate dimension, but he had also gone back in time slightly. Two other figures came out from behind her.
"Spinel! Ruby Moon!" exclaimed Eriol as he recognized his old guardians.
Sakura's eyebrows lifted in surprise as he stole the words right from her mouth.
"How did you?.." she started but shook her head.."let's get on with this!"
She lifted her staff into the sky and commanded the darkness to swallow the town.
~*~
Eriol could not believe what he was seeing.
"Hey! that's MY role!" he growled.
Sakura smirked at his remark.
"What are you talking about? It is your job to dissipate the darkness if you want to wake everyone from my spell."
Eriol grimaced, "Hey this is copyrighted material you are spouting!" he shouted.
Everyone looked at him oddly as the mage sweat-dropped.
"Tomoyo!" exclaimed Syaoran as he noticed the girl had fainted beside a tree.
"OK..this is going too far.." growled Eriol as he pointed at Sakura, "I'm going to do away with this and stop the madness!" he shouted wielding his staff.
"Master, what are you doing?? use your cards!" suggested Yue.
Eriol noticed his staff was not working like he previously used it. Keroberos held his Clow Book in his mouth and handed it to his master. Eriol inspected the book closely. He hadn't noticed before that the name on the book wasn't Clow but Eriol. It had been too dark that first time he had inspected his book and cards. He held the cards in his hands.
"Eriol..cards.." he mumbled.
"Quickly! defeat her!" exclaimed Keroberos.
"Not so fast.." continued Sakura with an eerie giggle. "These, are your sparring partners." she said motioning for Ruby and Spinel to attack.
The guardians began to fight each other as Eriol helplessly watched the scene from below. He brought out his cards and noticed two of them had not been changed. The light and the dark.
"You have to change them to undo this Eriol" said a struggling Syaoran.
He was fighting hard against falling asleep.
"This scene is just so similar.." thought Eriol as he watched what was going on, "My power is so different in this world. I'm not used to it..I don't know if I can do this. I create cards not change them!" he finished.
"Please..Eriol..do it!" spouted Syaoran who anchored himself against his sword. Eriol flung the cards into the air and recited his spell. Sakura smiled as his first attempt failed. Eriol stomped the ground obviously frustrated. Yue and Keroberos landed next to him.
"It's time Eriol, you know what we have to do." they said smiling at their master.
Eriol could not believe it had come down to this.
"Very well.." he sighed holding his staff out.
The two guardians merged into his staff. Eriol chanted his spell again trying to change the last two cards. He knew now what Sakura had felt in his true world, but at the time he knew it was all for the best. The cards refused to change fully. Eriol began to struggle as his grip loosened on his staff.
"Why?..WHY wont they change..I am the reincarnation of Clow himself..I created these cards..CHANGE!" he ordered them..but they continued to hold their form.
Eriol began to lose hope..he rebuked himself "I'm..not strong enough" he grunted.
This was too much for him..
"CLOW! Why is this happening to me!" he screamed into the sky, throwing his head back in anger before being enveloped in a swirling light.
Eriol found himself in a surreal dreamlike environment. Stars twinkled around him like fireflies. He walked among the black space astonished at his surroundings.
"Where am I? How did I get here?" he thought inwardly.
Before his eyes appeared a reflection of himself. The other Eriol spoke.
"Welcome to your subconscious. I am you and you are me." he smiled.
Eriol reached out to touch his pseudo-self.
"This can't be real, only I am me" he said uncertain of himself.
"You are right, I am more like the part of you who holds Clow's soul, so you can call me, Clow" he echoed, "nice to meet you..Eriol.."
"Why am I here?" gulped the astonished mage.
"You wanted to know why you ended up in an alternate reality..right?" said Clow.
He held the switch card in his hand.
"This is actually a Clow card like your instincts first presumed. I'm truly sorry, but I had blocked the memory of its creation from you on purpose." he smiled.
"WHY!? What is the point to all this..what is your purpose?" he snapped at the figure.
Clow smiled, "I had anticipated that after Sakura had changed all the cards that your life would become normal and stagnant." he said.
"Clow had a secret last resort weapon against this, he created this card after all the initial cards were made and locked it away in case the day ever came where you questioned your life. We both know that Clow loved adventure and new things. A normal life is what he wanted but at the same time someone as young as you should not live a grown-up boring existence just yet."
He paused..
"So I give you this choice to make right now before this reality is affected permanently. You may return to your usual life in England, or..you can stay here." he said handing him the switch card.
"Think deeply and choose wisely".
He stepped back into the shadows and left Eriol to himself.
~*~
Eriol could hardly take in everything his other self just told him. How easy was this quiz to him? he almost laughed at the challenge until he looked outside his consciousness at the scene below. All the events that were going on had frozen in time. He saw himself holding his staff, he felt the exhilaration of actually doing something important. He saw the smirk on Sakura's face and the great overwhelming power she imposed on him. He felt the determined souls of his two past guardians and the strong belief they had in him within his staff. Was this the same thing Sakura felt back in his own world? Did he feel this way with his own creations? He saw Ruby Moon and Spinel watching the scene intently. God how he missed them. He couldn't tell if this world's Sakura was good to them, like he knew he was in his own world. But they seemed to share the same competitive spirit as their new master. This world's Sakura was very different from his own. Then he saw Syaoran. He caught something in him as he studied him carefully..his eyes..he focused in on his eyes. They were filled with..love. Is this the way he looked at Sakura in his world? Had anybody ever looked at him that way? He thought back to Kaho. But it was different for her..she seemed to look past him and into who he used to be. Syaoran was looking at him the way he would have looked at Sakura, for who he was.
"Love.." he whispered as the card shattered into pieces and enveloped him in light once more.
Eriol's grip continued to slip from his staff, then two hands shot up around him and gave him support. Eriol knew who it was.
"Syaoran.." he smiled.
"I can help..Clow's blood runs through my veins. Let me try.." he winced.
Eriol knew everything would be all right now, as it was in his old world.
He positioned himself.
"Ok let's do it!" he commanded as he willed his cards to change.
Both of them gave it all they had and at the last moment when Eriol could no longer doubt his power..they transformed. Once he saw them turn blue he ordered the light out and it quickly took over the darkness in the sky, brightening everything in sight and shining it's radiance over the city. Eriol couldn't help but gaze in awe at the scene he had witnessed so long ago, this time he was looking at it from a different point of view, it was now his victory.
Sakura and her guardians applauded him as her spell broke. The people in the city slowly awoke to the new day. Yue and Kero reappeared before him good as new. Eriol rushed to Tomoyo's side as she awoke. Everything was ok. Sakura had some explaining to do to his comrades and they gave chase.
"Eriol.." gasped a weakened Syaoran.
Eriol ran over as the shorter boy collapsed into his arms.
"You used up a lot of energy Syaoran, take it easy." he cautioned gently.
Syaoran clung to his robes.
"Eriol.." he began again "I have something to tell you.." he winced as his face reddened.
Eriol stopped him as he pulled the boy into a deep embrace.
"Eriol!?" gasped Syaoran.
"Shh..I know.." said the mage holding him tight, "I know what you want to say.." he whispered as Syaoran closed his eyes.
Tomoyo taped them from her spot by the tree as the sun set on the two boys.
By that night they had all made it to Sakura's house where she proved to be a quaint host. Yue and Keroberos demanded to know why she had caused so much trouble. Eriol was only paying attention to the shy boy next to him as he already knew how the story went.
"There were certain things I did not predict.." smiled Sakura.
Eriol scoffed lightly "I did.."
But he caught himself and diverted their attention back to Sakura's explanation. Eriol still amused himself by the fact everyone was so clueless and how well Sakura played his part. He couldn't help but sigh as he gazed at his two former guardians, Nakuru..Spinel. Then he looked at his two current ones..yes, he was content with his choice. Besides it was an alternate world he was living in.. Sakura would remain in Japan and become a good friend and ally of his.. so there was no need to miss his old guardians. Of course he was pleased with his newly acquired ones..as it brought back old memories and made new ones. He was now surrounded by friends where before he had been more of a loner. Tomoyo proved to be very supportive of the two and the one who had persuaded Syaoran to pursue his true love. Speaking of Syaoran..
Eriol and company left Sakura's house that day with their questions answered. But Eriol still had one lingering. He walked Syaoran to his house.
"Will you be returning to China?" he asked knowing how things had turned out in his old world.
Syaoran sighed, "Now that all the cards have been changed..my family will want me back."
Eriol's eyes softened.."No.." he whispered.."This can't turn out exactly the same, it is a different world.."
He looked away.
"But.." continued Syaoran who lit up with joy, "I can make an exception.."
And with that said he lunged himself at his new love. Eriol swung the boy around in his arms.
"So this is what love really feels like?..was this my purpose for staying here all along? I suppose..it is" he remarked mentally.
It was the start of a new life for him, a new existence full of future adventures and, a new love.
"Thank you Clow, for the creation of your best card ever, The Switch."
~Owari
*CCS and anything related does not belong to me yatta yatta*
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The Switch Card
By: Nanashi
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"Mou!..why do we have to clean today Eriol?" whined Nakuru, "It's such a nice day outside!" she continued.
"It's called spring cleaning genius." remarked Spinel as he floated by with a rag.
"But we haven't been in this attic for ages! It will take just as long to clean it out!" she pouted.
Eriol popped out from behind a few boxes. "O.K how about we take a shortcut then.." he suggested while wiping his brow, "You guys can take a break and I will finish up here with some quick magic."
"YAY!" exclaimed the excited Nakuru as she skipped out of the musty old room. "You're the best master!" she squeaked from behind the door.
"I suppose I can stick around and help you finish up." said Spinel as platonically as ever.
"It's ok Spinel, you have done a lot of work today, I think there are some muffins downstairs." tempted the spectacled boy.
Eriol had barely finished his sentence before the little flying cat disappeared from view. He chuckled.
How happy his guardians made him. Sometimes Eriol wondered what life would be like if he hadn't created them. The thought of his old guardians flickered through his mind. "Keroberos..Yue.." he thought to himself. He smiled as he reflected on the past and on the present. He knew they were happy with their new master. What it must be like to be in Sakura's place right now. He stuck the thought behind him as he brought forth his staff. With a flick of his wrist it began to glow and a swirl of wind and sparkles permeated from it as the contents of the room began to float and whirl around in midair. A quick chant and the place was left orderly and spotless. Eriol grinned, pleased with the job and turned to leave, but something caught his eye. A chest was out of place.
For some reason his magic didn't affect it, so he decided to move it manually.
"My powers must be lower than I thought." he sighed as he approached the trunk.
He positioned himself over it, ready to lift but noticed the darn thing would not budge.
"What could possibly be so heavy in there!?" he growled.
Curiosity got the best of him as he broke the lock off and flipped the lid open.
"A..card?" he whispered obviously puzzled. "How could this be.." he continued, picking it up and wiping the dust off of it.
The card began to glow in his hands as he finally read the name of the card.
"Switch?..a switch card?" he gasped, "But..Sakura has captured and converted all the cards.." he trailed off unsure of himself.
He took a quick moment to scan his memories of the time when Clow created his cards.
"What is this?" he said backing off and dropping the card.
"This is not in my memories, this is not a Clow card!" he leered.
The card floated up and followed him, beckoning him to touch it again as light radiated from it. Eriol turned to run but it was already too late. He was enveloped in it's radiance and drawn into the card.
Eriol awoke with a start. He searched his surroundings and a sigh of relief escaped him as he realized he was in his bed, in his room.
~*~
"IN JAPAN?!" he screeched before he had a chance to settle back into bed.
Yue and Kero came running into his room.
"Master!? what's wrong?" exclaimed a worried Yue as he rushed to his side.
"What?! what am I doing here? and why are you here? what is going ON!?" he rambled frantically, "I'm supposed to be in England, how did I get here? where is Ruby Moon? Spinel?"
Yue placed a gentle hand on his master's shoulder.
"Master..calm down, I have no idea what you are talking about. You have been here for ages and there is no such thing as a Ruby Moon." he comforted.
"You must have had a nightmare." smirked the ever cocky Keroberos.
"No..no..this is not right, it's the card!" remarked Eriol searching himself frantically for any trace of the card that had mysteriously brought him there.
Yue held him down gently, "Master..please settle down you are being terribly awkward." he said.
"All your cards are right here.." struggled Keroberos lifting the Clow Book and bringing it to Eriol's side, "Don't worry they are completely safe."
Eriol snatched the book and flipped through all the cards quickly.
"I don't..understand, this is the Clow book, these are the Clow cards. Where is Sakura?" he asked.
Yue blinked, "You're classmate?" he said.
"No, Sakura the Mistress of the Sakura Cards." Eriol grunted.
Kero could barely hold in his laughter. Yue scowled as the lil 'stuffed animal' made an effort to keep his face straight. The long haired guardian made some room next to his master's bed and wrapped his arms around him.
"Yue.." whispered Eriol, "you don't have to.."
But Yue stopped him in his tracks. He brought the boy's head close to him as he rocked him tenderly.
"I am your guardian, master, and I will stay here until you can get some rest. We can talk some more about your nightmare in the morning." he cooed.
"Leave us" he ordered Kero.
The little winged beast pouted and grumbled as he left the room. Eriol surrendered to Yue's gentle caresses. He had almost forgotten what it was like to be comforted by his former guardians. He decided to take Yue's advice and leave matters for the morning.
Eriol found himself awoken by Yue's soft shakes. However, as his vision adjusted to the daylight he noticed it wasn't Yue, but Yukito.
The tall boy smiled, "Breakfast is ready!"
"Yu-Yue? why are you in your false form?" he asked somewhat surprised.
"I have to go to school silly, now go get something to eat." chirped the other before heading out of the room.
Eriol still didn't understand what was going on. Wasn't Yukito supposed to live with his grandparents? What other surprises were in store for him? Kero handed him breakfast as Yukito excused himself cheerfully and headed out the door to meet up with Touya. At least that was still the same.
"But, if there is a Touya there must be a Sakura!", Eriol thought as he hogged his breakfast down much to Kero's surprise and bolted out of the door. Then he poked his head back in and asked Kero if it was Tomoeda Elementary he was heading to.
Kero sweat-dropped and replied "Of course!".
The boy raced to school.
The place was still intact, everything was familiar. The building looked the same as he ran up to it. The kids, the hallway and finally the classroom were all there. He flung the screen open to reveal the kids chatting like normally. He was promptly greeted by..
Syaoran?
"Eriol!? where have you been.." he said blushing slightly.
"You promised to meet me at the usual place before school." he gulped.
Eriol did not understand.
"Syaoran?" he asked waving his hand in front of his face.
"Of course who else?" he sweat-dropped.
Now Eriol knew things where whacked. Then she walked in.
"Sakura-san!" he smiled waving at her.
"Well, hello Eriol-kun!" she greeted cheerfully.
Syaoran balled up his fists as his face turned red. He rushed up to them both.
"Eriol class is starting we should sit." he blurted.
"But I need to ask Sakura something." huffed the blue haired boy.
Syaoran pulled him aside.
"What exactly do you need to ask?" he questioned with a pained look on his face.
"About the cards, I need to know what is going on with them." he whispered back.
Syaoran's eyes widened. "..And why would Sakura know anything about that? You're not gonna tell her our secret are you!?" he warned.
Eriol jumped back.
"So Sakura doesn't know?" he gasped.
"Know what?" she said coming up behind him.
"N-nothing! Kinomoto-san" said Syaoran covering up for Eriol's mistake nervously.
"Whatever" she said shrugging and taking her seat.
Kinomoto-san? why was Syaoran being so formal all of a sudden?
"Ohayo Eriol-kun, Syaoran-kun!" beamed the sweet Tomoyo.
"Hi to you too, Tomoyo." smiled Syaoran.
Eriol waved sweat-dropping. He was utterly baffled at the scene, what was going on???
"I have a new costume for whatever happens tonight!" she whispered in the bewildered boys ear cheerfully. Sakura gave them all a mischievous grin.
After class Eriol walked out to the usual meeting spot he remembered. Tomoyo and Syaoran were already sitting and chatting. It seems he surprised them because Syaoran turned a bright scarlet when he approached. Then he said he had something to get back to in the classroom as he ran off wildly. Tomoyo giggled.
"Ne, Daidouji-san.." he started sitting next to her, "What did we do yesterday?".
She blinked at the boy overriding his initial question.
"Daidouji-san?! Are you sick? it is the first time you have ever called me anything other than Tomoyo-chan." she pouted.
This was definitely some alternate dimension or something, because he knew he had never reached that kind of familiarity with the girl before. He saw Sakura walking up to them. A red faced Syaoran was inconspicuously watching her, from behind a bush. Eriol giggled. At least his crush was still the same.
"Syaoran never changes, he still gushes over that girl." he sighed.
Tomoyo turned to him curiously, "which girl?" she asked.
He pointed briefly to the rapidly approaching Sakura. Tomoyo laughed.
"No! that's not it." she choked.
"You are in such a weird mood today Eriol, you know Syaoran and Sakura don't exactly get along very well." she continued giggling holding her hand up to her mouth.
He fell over.
Sakura hovered over him smiling sweetly.
"Eriol-kun, what are you doing down there?" she asked.
He quickly recovered and played it off.
"Practicing for ..umm" he tried to think.
"Touya's theater rehearsals, Eriol might get a part in it." chimed in Tomoyo giving the boy a worried look.
"Ah I see, so nice of your brother to include you in his plans." beamed Sakura.
"B-Brother?!?!" he yelped.
"Eriol, you should really get some rest you seem to have some kind of temporary amnesia, yes, your brother Touya, lives a short distance away from you?" she recited.
"Kinomoto-san, it makes sense that Eriol would try to forget his brother, he is always teasing him and calling him a monster!" giggled Tomoyo.
Sakura brought her finger up to her temple.
"Oh that's right, sorry for bringing him up then." she apologized smiling as Tomoyo eyed him curiously.
Syaoran came bounding up to the group.
"That's riiiight" mused Tomoyo, "Weren't you going over to Syaoran's house this afternoon?" she questioned innocently in Eriol's direction.
Syaoran blushed.
"I think I will excuse myself then." rang Sakura turning to leave.
Syaoran let a 'hmph' slip out as she passed by before turning to Eriol and shyly suggesting that they should get on their way.
Tomoyo gave Syaoran a quick whisper before skipping off and reminding them to call her if something came up. Syaoran seemed edgy the whole time they walked to the house, but Eriol was so deep in thought that he barely noticed. After a few hard gulps Syaoran spoke out.
"You know, pretty soon all the cards will have changed to Eriol cards, and I will have no reason to remain here." he started.
Eriol jumped at his words and grasped his shoulders shaking him lightly.
"Eriol cards? did you say Eriol cards?" he demanded.
Syaoran freed himself from his grip, "Eriol, what is wrong with you today?" he questioned in a worried tone.
Then he frowned as he realized the other boy had paid no attention to the second part of his statement.
"You're right how silly of me!" Eriol shrugged playing it off "I..I must be sick or something."
"I see.." mumbled a hurt Syaoran.
Eriol decided that it was best not to try to understand the situation but to play into it. After all if this really was an alternate dimension he did not want to change the course of events drastically before he left. That is..IF he could leave. He sorely missed the life he was used to.
"Here we are." said Syaoran as they neared the gates of his house.
They were greeted by Wei as they made their way in the house and to the living room.
"I'll go bring us some tea." suggested a blushing Syaoran.
"Sure." responded Eriol.
This would give him some time alone to sort his thoughts.
"So in this world"..he thought to himself, "Yue and Kero are my guardians, Tomoyo is my best friend, Touya is my brother who lives on his own, Sakura knows nothing of the cards,.. strange things have been happening, Syaoran loathes Sakura, it's like I've switched places with her!" he exclaimed mentally.
"But if this is going the way I think it is that means..Sakura is in my place! So she is behind all the attacks and.."
He looked up at a blushing Syaoran who was carrying in a tray of tea.
"This can't be happening.." he sweat=dropped.
Syaoran snapped out of his trance "Wha-what's wrong? is the tea not ok? should I get something else, maybe lemonade?" he rambled trying to please his guest.
Eriol had always wondered what it would have been like to have Syaoran act more friendly towards him, but this was..ridiculous! Eriol didn't like being at the opposite end of the game. In his world he had relished being the mysterious one with the hidden motive. In this world, he felt so much like..Sakura. Completely, clueless.
The sky turned a light orange as the late afternoon lingered. Syaoran shifted around in his chair, not knowing where to look or how to keep himself busy. It seemed there was something important he wanted to say. From experience Eriol knew what it was. Finally feeling confident enough the brown haired boy stood up.
"Eriol.." he began "I..I.." he stuttered balling his fists.
Eriol sweat-dropped not sure if he wanted to hear this sort of thing, at least not while he was still sorting things out for himself.
"I feel that presence again!" blurted out the shorter boy as he wheeled around to face the balcony.
"Sakura.." Eriol whispered, he felt her presence too.
"Let's go!" Syaoran grunted as he took the other boy by the hand and ran towards the presence.
"This can't be happening.. this can't be happening.." uttered the freaked out mage.
~*~
Eriol blushed at the costume Tomoyo had made for him.
"Ne..Tomoyo-san, these shorts seem a little high for me, don't you think?" he asked tensely.
Tomoyo just waved her hand in the air as her eyes became starry.
"It's my best one yet!" she said taping him, "Don't you think Syaoran-kun?" she winked.
"Uh..well" he blushed.
"I'm so happy you called me, I wouldn't want to miss another one of Eriol-kun's battles!" she continued holding her cheek.
"It's nothing" smiled Syaoran.
Eriol was paying more attention to his surroundings. Both of them had felt Sakura's presence before but as they waited for her to appear they realized nothing was happening.
"Syaoran be on your guard." warned Eriol gripping his newly designed sun staff tightly. Syaoran positioned himself.
"Whoever it is, he is blocking us from sensing him." he growled.
"She.." corrected Eriol before catching himself.
A fireball appeared out of nowhere and Syaoran lunged at Eriol just in time to push him out of the way. Tomoyo screamed and took refuge nearby. Another one was shot and the boys huddled together preparing themselves for the impact but it never came as it was thwarted by Yue. Keroberos landed beside the two and asked them if they were ok.
"Kero, Yue!" exclaimed a relieved Eriol.
Then they heard the ominous laughter, "O ho ho ho ho ho!".
They all whirled around in time to see the silhouette of a figure standing on the top of the shrine post.
"Well done, Eriol.." said the female voice.
"Sakura!" growled Syaoran stepping in front of Eriol protectively.
"Just what do you think you are doing?" he yelled.
"She is behind all the attacks.." muttered Eriol.
Syaoran whipped around to face him, "You mean..you knew all along?" he asked shocked.
"It's not like that Syaoran." he said picking himself up off the floor.
"Very perceptive.." she mused.
Eriol sweat-dropped as he realized he had not only gone to an alternate dimension, but he had also gone back in time slightly. Two other figures came out from behind her.
"Spinel! Ruby Moon!" exclaimed Eriol as he recognized his old guardians.
Sakura's eyebrows lifted in surprise as he stole the words right from her mouth.
"How did you?.." she started but shook her head.."let's get on with this!"
She lifted her staff into the sky and commanded the darkness to swallow the town.
~*~
Eriol could not believe what he was seeing.
"Hey! that's MY role!" he growled.
Sakura smirked at his remark.
"What are you talking about? It is your job to dissipate the darkness if you want to wake everyone from my spell."
Eriol grimaced, "Hey this is copyrighted material you are spouting!" he shouted.
Everyone looked at him oddly as the mage sweat-dropped.
"Tomoyo!" exclaimed Syaoran as he noticed the girl had fainted beside a tree.
"OK..this is going too far.." growled Eriol as he pointed at Sakura, "I'm going to do away with this and stop the madness!" he shouted wielding his staff.
"Master, what are you doing?? use your cards!" suggested Yue.
Eriol noticed his staff was not working like he previously used it. Keroberos held his Clow Book in his mouth and handed it to his master. Eriol inspected the book closely. He hadn't noticed before that the name on the book wasn't Clow but Eriol. It had been too dark that first time he had inspected his book and cards. He held the cards in his hands.
"Eriol..cards.." he mumbled.
"Quickly! defeat her!" exclaimed Keroberos.
"Not so fast.." continued Sakura with an eerie giggle. "These, are your sparring partners." she said motioning for Ruby and Spinel to attack.
The guardians began to fight each other as Eriol helplessly watched the scene from below. He brought out his cards and noticed two of them had not been changed. The light and the dark.
"You have to change them to undo this Eriol" said a struggling Syaoran.
He was fighting hard against falling asleep.
"This scene is just so similar.." thought Eriol as he watched what was going on, "My power is so different in this world. I'm not used to it..I don't know if I can do this. I create cards not change them!" he finished.
"Please..Eriol..do it!" spouted Syaoran who anchored himself against his sword. Eriol flung the cards into the air and recited his spell. Sakura smiled as his first attempt failed. Eriol stomped the ground obviously frustrated. Yue and Keroberos landed next to him.
"It's time Eriol, you know what we have to do." they said smiling at their master.
Eriol could not believe it had come down to this.
"Very well.." he sighed holding his staff out.
The two guardians merged into his staff. Eriol chanted his spell again trying to change the last two cards. He knew now what Sakura had felt in his true world, but at the time he knew it was all for the best. The cards refused to change fully. Eriol began to struggle as his grip loosened on his staff.
"Why?..WHY wont they change..I am the reincarnation of Clow himself..I created these cards..CHANGE!" he ordered them..but they continued to hold their form.
Eriol began to lose hope..he rebuked himself "I'm..not strong enough" he grunted.
This was too much for him..
"CLOW! Why is this happening to me!" he screamed into the sky, throwing his head back in anger before being enveloped in a swirling light.
Eriol found himself in a surreal dreamlike environment. Stars twinkled around him like fireflies. He walked among the black space astonished at his surroundings.
"Where am I? How did I get here?" he thought inwardly.
Before his eyes appeared a reflection of himself. The other Eriol spoke.
"Welcome to your subconscious. I am you and you are me." he smiled.
Eriol reached out to touch his pseudo-self.
"This can't be real, only I am me" he said uncertain of himself.
"You are right, I am more like the part of you who holds Clow's soul, so you can call me, Clow" he echoed, "nice to meet you..Eriol.."
"Why am I here?" gulped the astonished mage.
"You wanted to know why you ended up in an alternate reality..right?" said Clow.
He held the switch card in his hand.
"This is actually a Clow card like your instincts first presumed. I'm truly sorry, but I had blocked the memory of its creation from you on purpose." he smiled.
"WHY!? What is the point to all this..what is your purpose?" he snapped at the figure.
Clow smiled, "I had anticipated that after Sakura had changed all the cards that your life would become normal and stagnant." he said.
"Clow had a secret last resort weapon against this, he created this card after all the initial cards were made and locked it away in case the day ever came where you questioned your life. We both know that Clow loved adventure and new things. A normal life is what he wanted but at the same time someone as young as you should not live a grown-up boring existence just yet."
He paused..
"So I give you this choice to make right now before this reality is affected permanently. You may return to your usual life in England, or..you can stay here." he said handing him the switch card.
"Think deeply and choose wisely".
He stepped back into the shadows and left Eriol to himself.
~*~
Eriol could hardly take in everything his other self just told him. How easy was this quiz to him? he almost laughed at the challenge until he looked outside his consciousness at the scene below. All the events that were going on had frozen in time. He saw himself holding his staff, he felt the exhilaration of actually doing something important. He saw the smirk on Sakura's face and the great overwhelming power she imposed on him. He felt the determined souls of his two past guardians and the strong belief they had in him within his staff. Was this the same thing Sakura felt back in his own world? Did he feel this way with his own creations? He saw Ruby Moon and Spinel watching the scene intently. God how he missed them. He couldn't tell if this world's Sakura was good to them, like he knew he was in his own world. But they seemed to share the same competitive spirit as their new master. This world's Sakura was very different from his own. Then he saw Syaoran. He caught something in him as he studied him carefully..his eyes..he focused in on his eyes. They were filled with..love. Is this the way he looked at Sakura in his world? Had anybody ever looked at him that way? He thought back to Kaho. But it was different for her..she seemed to look past him and into who he used to be. Syaoran was looking at him the way he would have looked at Sakura, for who he was.
"Love.." he whispered as the card shattered into pieces and enveloped him in light once more.
Eriol's grip continued to slip from his staff, then two hands shot up around him and gave him support. Eriol knew who it was.
"Syaoran.." he smiled.
"I can help..Clow's blood runs through my veins. Let me try.." he winced.
Eriol knew everything would be all right now, as it was in his old world.
He positioned himself.
"Ok let's do it!" he commanded as he willed his cards to change.
Both of them gave it all they had and at the last moment when Eriol could no longer doubt his power..they transformed. Once he saw them turn blue he ordered the light out and it quickly took over the darkness in the sky, brightening everything in sight and shining it's radiance over the city. Eriol couldn't help but gaze in awe at the scene he had witnessed so long ago, this time he was looking at it from a different point of view, it was now his victory.
Sakura and her guardians applauded him as her spell broke. The people in the city slowly awoke to the new day. Yue and Kero reappeared before him good as new. Eriol rushed to Tomoyo's side as she awoke. Everything was ok. Sakura had some explaining to do to his comrades and they gave chase.
"Eriol.." gasped a weakened Syaoran.
Eriol ran over as the shorter boy collapsed into his arms.
"You used up a lot of energy Syaoran, take it easy." he cautioned gently.
Syaoran clung to his robes.
"Eriol.." he began again "I have something to tell you.." he winced as his face reddened.
Eriol stopped him as he pulled the boy into a deep embrace.
"Eriol!?" gasped Syaoran.
"Shh..I know.." said the mage holding him tight, "I know what you want to say.." he whispered as Syaoran closed his eyes.
Tomoyo taped them from her spot by the tree as the sun set on the two boys.
By that night they had all made it to Sakura's house where she proved to be a quaint host. Yue and Keroberos demanded to know why she had caused so much trouble. Eriol was only paying attention to the shy boy next to him as he already knew how the story went.
"There were certain things I did not predict.." smiled Sakura.
Eriol scoffed lightly "I did.."
But he caught himself and diverted their attention back to Sakura's explanation. Eriol still amused himself by the fact everyone was so clueless and how well Sakura played his part. He couldn't help but sigh as he gazed at his two former guardians, Nakuru..Spinel. Then he looked at his two current ones..yes, he was content with his choice. Besides it was an alternate world he was living in.. Sakura would remain in Japan and become a good friend and ally of his.. so there was no need to miss his old guardians. Of course he was pleased with his newly acquired ones..as it brought back old memories and made new ones. He was now surrounded by friends where before he had been more of a loner. Tomoyo proved to be very supportive of the two and the one who had persuaded Syaoran to pursue his true love. Speaking of Syaoran..
Eriol and company left Sakura's house that day with their questions answered. But Eriol still had one lingering. He walked Syaoran to his house.
"Will you be returning to China?" he asked knowing how things had turned out in his old world.
Syaoran sighed, "Now that all the cards have been changed..my family will want me back."
Eriol's eyes softened.."No.." he whispered.."This can't turn out exactly the same, it is a different world.."
He looked away.
"But.." continued Syaoran who lit up with joy, "I can make an exception.."
And with that said he lunged himself at his new love. Eriol swung the boy around in his arms.
"So this is what love really feels like?..was this my purpose for staying here all along? I suppose..it is" he remarked mentally.
It was the start of a new life for him, a new existence full of future adventures and, a new love.
"Thank you Clow, for the creation of your best card ever, The Switch."
~Owari
