A/N: So I recently read Of Magic Cards and Jewel Shards by Gemini14. I loved the story, so I asked to adopt it and fortunately for my muse she agreed. This is going to be my first fanfiction so go easy on me please. The prologue and first 2 chapters are Gemini14's.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything you recognize. Anything that you don't is either Gemini14's or mine.
Prologue
Clow Reed panted harshly as he ran in the direction of Kikyo's village. His heart raced when he saw the smoke rising from the center of the village, exactly where the Shikon no Tama was being stored.
"Clow-sama! Slow down! If you keep using the Dash Card, you're gonna—!" a concerned voice shouted, as its owner struggled to keep up with him.
"I can't think about that right now, Kerberos! Keeping the Shikon no Tama out of the hands of youkai is of the utmost importance!" Clow said sharply, as the leonine owner of the voice ran alongside the sorcerer.
"Then at least let us help you. It was what you summoned us for, after all." A second voice said, calmly yet urgently. Without saying a word Clow continued his mad dash to the village, knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that he would be too late to stop the theft of the Sacred Jewel.
With concern in his silver/violet eyes, Yue watched as his and Kerberos' master raced the wind to get to the stricken village. He knew deep down that his master could not take so much strenuous activity; his heart was at the point of failure already. Yet it was his deep devotion to his friends that kept him going…and it would prove to be his undoing.
"Yue, we're not gonna make it! Can't Clow-sama see that? Even if he poured all of his power into Dash, he won't make it in time! Even he said that!" Kerberos shouted in dismay.
"But that won't stop him from trying. Kikyo-dono is one of the few friends he's got left. Of course he's going to try to help her. Even if it costs him his life." Yue replied grimly, as they finally arrived in the village.
Clow could tell right away that something dramatic had happened. The shrine where the Shikon no Tama had been held was now nothing more than a pile of smoking rubble, and Clow had a gut feeling that this wasn't an accident.
"Fly." Clow murmured, as wings appeared on his back and he flew up and over the shrine keep, still searching for the miko that guarded the Sacred Jewel. In short order he found her; but not the way he'd hoped. She was surrounded by the townsfolk and guardians of the shrine, her shoulder torn open and bleeding profusely. Not too far away, a silver-haired hanyou hung lifelessly from a tree trunk, an arrow protruding from his shoulder. He'd obviously been slain by Kikyo.
"Kikyo…." Clow whispered, as he silently descended from the air and approached the stricken miko on foot. Reacting to hearing her name, Kikyo looked up to see the sorcerer standing there, and her warm brown eyes saddened when she saw the look of anguish on his face.
"Clow Reed….you came." Kikyo murmured, as though stunned by this fact.
"Of course. I had a vision of something dire that involved the Shikon no Tama. I just never imagined it would be this bad." Clow replied, not even noticing when Yue and Kerberos arrived behind him, nor when they both uttered gasps of shock when they saw what condition Kikyo was in.
"Clow-sama, can you save Kikyo-nee-sama?" Kaede, Kikyo's younger sister, asked, with hope in her only remaining eye. Clow shook his head.
"I can't, Kaede-chan. Even as I stand here, my own body is dying. I have hastened my own demise by rushing here." Clow said, as he slowly sank to his knees, this action alone getting looks of alarm from both Yue and Kerberos.
"But why? Why did you come, if your health was so fragile?" Kikyo asked, sensing that Clow's time was as short as her own, if not shorter. Clow smiled gently at her and took her left hand, the one that wasn't holding the Shikon no Tama, and held it over his heart. Kikyo's eyes widened when she felt the fluttering, rapidly weakening pulse beneath her fingertips.
"I wanted to die in the presence of friends." Clow answered, as he looked at her, then Yue and Kerberos, and at last at the still form of the hanyou behind him. For a moment, Kikyo's eyes filled with bitter tears; then a serene look took over her features.
"Kaede, I give this to you….the Shikon no Tama, which you must burn with my body. It must not fall into the hands of those who would abuse it." Kikyo said with some command in her voice, before both she and Clow Reed finally breathed their last.
"Kikyo-nee-sama!" Kaede cried tearfully.
"Clow-sama!" Kerberos and Yue shouted, before a brilliant light surrounded them both.
"Sleep, my loyal friends. Guard Inu-Yasha's slumber side by side, as you have guarded me. Guard him…..when he awakens….and when the next master of the Cards comes into the world." Clow's voice whispered, as the world faded away from around the two Guardians.
"We'll do as you command…Clow-sama" Yue promised, before silence surrounded them both.
"Thank you…" Clow's voice said, before it also echoed into nothingness.
