Another cold morning in England…
Beeeep. Beeeep. Beeeep.
"Wah…" Umeko rubbed her eyes groggily. "Darn…I wanted to sleep in a little longer."
The brown-haired sat up and stretched. Today winter break was officially over. Umeko only had a few days until she would leave England to study abroad in Japan. She packed her Japanese-English translator, in hope that she could study again today. Lately, Eriol had been tutoring her. It was nice having someone fluent in Japanese to help, it made it so much easier to learn.
Umeko looked at the clock. "Maybe if I hurry, I can do a little studying…"
She flipped open the tiny notebook translator and began to type. Umemi did not notice the passing time.
"ACK! I'm going to be late!!!" Umeko dashed to the door.
Her mother sighed. "I can't believe you, Umeko. You're in your last year of Junior school and you still get up late."
"Sorry, Mom, I have to go! I'll see you after soccer practice!" Umeko waved to her mom, and then ran out the door.
She just barely made it to class on time. Letting out a sigh of relief, Umeko sat down next to her friend. "Good morning, Umeko." Anne smiled. "G-good morning…" Umeko paused to take a breath. That studying hadn't been all that great after all. Now she was worn out, and the school day hadn't even begun yet!
"Today's math is…um…algebraic equations." Anne told her friend, who was sulking in her chair. "Great. I always did like math…" Umeko grimaced. She pulled out a sheet of paper and a pencil and prepared for a long day.
"That's it for today. I'll see you all tommorrow." The teacher said.
Beeeeeeeeep. The bell rang, dissmissing school for the day.
"See you later, Umeko!" Anne called. "Good luck with soccer today!"
Umeko waved. "Thanks, Anne! Bye!"
"What a gruelling day..." she sighed. "I'm not sure I even want to go to soccer practice today..." She began to pack her bookbag.
"That's too bad, isn't it?"
"Huh?"
A boy with dark hair and glasses had just finished packing his bag and had walked over to Umeko's desk. Umeko turned around. "Oh, hello Eriol." she said.
"Konichiwa, Reed-san." he replied.
"eh?"
"You call people by their last name in Japan."
"Oh. That's good to know. Thanks."
"No problem. But that's not the reason I waited for you. There's something I need to tell you about."
"What is it?"
"I can't tell you while we're here. Can you come over today?"
"Uh, ok."
"That's great." I'll see you later, then." Eriol waved. Umeko watched him walk away, confused. What the heck had just happened?
"..."
Umeko took a deep breath as she looked at Eriol's house. The old, classic mansion was gigantic.
"Hey, Umeko. I see you like the grounds." Eriol said, opening the door.
"Oh...yeah! I do like them...uh..." The air was somewhat awkward as she made her reply.
"Come in here." Eriol told Umeko. His face seemed to have become more serious, really, why was she here?
Stepping in the house, she heard a voice confront her...
A girl with reddish-pink hair regarded her...was she a girl? She had to be, but there was something about her...
"Eriol, is this that friend of yours?"the girl asked.
"Yes, the one I told you about." Eriol grinned.
"...She's just...so...CUTE!!!!" The girl grabbed Umeko and nuzzled her. "Um..." Umeko sweated.
"Nakuru, that's not the way you treat guests." Eriol told her. Umeko looked at the girl. "Nakuru?"
"Oh, sorry, I forgot to introduce myself! I'm Nakuru Akizuki. Pleased to meet you." Nakuru greeted Umeko.
"Akizuki? Isn't your last name Hiiragizawa, Eriol?" Umeko asked, puzzled.
"Yes, but we are still related. I'll explain that to you in a minute." Eriol replied.
Eriol sat down on a chair in the large living room, Umeko sat on a couch across from him.
"So...what was it that you wanted to talk about?" She asked nervously.
"Your father once told you a story about some mystical cards of sorts, right?" Eriol said.
"Yeah, she did. I don't really remember, but I think they were called...Clow Cards?" Umeko wondered aloud.
"Yes, that's the story. What were the 'Clow Cards'?"
"I-I think they gave the user certain powers, like controlling water and fire, give them incredible speed, making them fly, and--" Umeko looked at Eriol. He seemed to be studying her, to say the least.
"That's right. Was there anything else?" Eriol asked her.
"The cards...they were made by a man named Clow Reed. He had the power of the Sun and moon, and there were two guardians under the same powers. And...there would be a catastrophe which affects the entire world, should the cards be scattered." Umeko answered him. She thought for a minute.
"Eriol, what does the myth about the Clow Cards have to do with anything?" Umeko asked. Eriol's only reaction was to smirk at her.
"The Clow Cards are real. They are not a myth." A small voice told Umeko. She stiffened. Then, slowly, she looked to her right.
A small black cat with wings stared at her as if she she was a lunatic.
"WAAAAGH! THAT CAT JUST SPOKE TO ME!!! WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON????" She cried, freaking out on the spot.
"There is nothing to be afraid of." Eriol said. "I just have some of Clow Reed's power. That is one of the guardians I made to replace the ones Clow left in Japan. And the other..." He pointed to Nakuru.
"My real name is Ruby Moon." She smiled slyly. "The cat is Spinel Sun."
"That's right." the cat replied. "And I would like if you call me by--"
"You can just call him Suppie!" Nakuru said, reverting to her cutesy personality. "Oi, oi..." Suppie grimaced.
"Anyway, the reason I called you here..." Eriol said, "is that the Clow Cards have been scattered."
Umeko blinked. "No way...that just...why!? What kind of catastrophe will happen?"
"I cannot tell you that." Eriol smiled. "But, if you become a cardcaptor, you can help stop the catastrophe from happening. Tell me, do you have that ring your father always had with him?"
"The one with the amber?"
"Yes."
"I don't."
"Could you bring it with you tommorrow?"
"Sure, I guess."
"Then, I will see you after school again tommorrow."
"Ok..."
The next day, Umeko once again was at Eriol's house.
"You wanted to see this, right?" Umeko asked.
She opened her fist. In her palm, a golden-colored crystal with a sun inside it embedded in a gold ring.
"That's the one." Eriol took it from her hand and looked at it in the light. Then, he pulled a key out from his shirt. Eriol held the key in the plam of his hand, and recited the words:
"The key which hides the powers of the dark
show your true form before me.
I, Eriol, command you under our contract.
...Release!"
A magic circle with a sun and moon appeared beneath Eriol, and the key grew into a large staff. Suppie transformed into a black panther with blue butterfly's wings, and Nakuru, into a black clothed form with red butterfly's wings. Eriol turned towards Umeko. "I suppose I need to explain to you what is going on."
"Please do." Umeko said.
"Clow Reed was born of two different ethnicities; His mother was Chinese and his father was English. The power of the moon which he possessed came from the Li clan in China, the sun, from the Reed family. And your last name is...?"
"Oh...that..."
"That's right. Umeko, you are a decendant of one of the families which Clow Reed decended from. Therefore, Umeko...you carry the power of the sun."
"I carry...the power of the sun." Umeko whispered.
"Yes." Eriol smiled. "Now, should we go on?"
Eriol held out the tiny golden stone.
"A person under the sun who stands before this stone is here.
Her name is Umeko Reed.
She wishes to make a contract."
A magic circle appeared beneath the two. Then, there was a flash of light. "Grab a hold of it." Eriol said. Umeko blinked. Then she took the stone into her own hands. The magic circle beneath the two faded. In place of the ring was a necklace, with the same crystal attached to it, only now it had a tiny pair of white wings. "Try it out." Eriol said. Umeko stared. "But, I don't know how...?" she told him.
"Concentrate on it. The magic will form itself to fit you." Eriol said.
"Ok. I will." Umeko touched the stone. She closed her eyes. "Please...change..." she thought. She sensed a change in the magic around her, and opened her eyes. A wand was forming in front of her eyes. She grabbed a hold of it, and it materialized.
The wand was yellow-orange, with three gold shapes at one end. The other end had two wings and a crystal containing a two-colored sun shape inside, which was giving off a warm, golden light.
"Has this crystal...always been this way?" Umeko asked, examining it.
"No, the power inside it was sleeping. It was waiting for someone like you. But the power was only there to make a contract, this wand you created yourself, using the power that already existed in it." Eriol replied. "Your power will form itself in a way that fits you. You may even discover you have a few tricks up your sleeve."
"Really? That's...kind of cool." Umeko sat down, tired from lack of magic. "Say, Eriol. Will it always be this tiring to use magic?"
Eriol smiled. "No, it's only because it requires a lot of magic to shape something new from a pre-existing power."
"I see..." she said, watching as the wand simply faded away to be used again later. Spinel Sun and Ruby Moon returned to their original forms.
"You never know when a clow card may show up...so until you meet Kerberos, it would be best if Spinel Sun stayed with you." Eriol told her.
"Hey! Why Me?" Suppie asked.
"It's not like Nakuru could stay with her or anything. And neither can I. So the only only one left is you."
Suppie grimaced. "I'm not going."
"Yes, you are!" Nakuru grabbed Suppie, unzipped Umeko's bag, and stuffed him in, zipping the bag afterwards. Muffled cries came from the bag. Umeko sweatdropped.
"Well then...see you later, Reed-san." Eriol said.
"Ok. I'll see you later." Umeko replied.
"Ja-neee!!!" Nakuru waved.
"Jeez. What a day..." Suppie plopped onto Umeko's pillow.
"Yeah...for both of us." Umeko sighed, taking her hair out of a ponytail.
"For both of us?! At least you didn't get shoved into a crowded bookbag!!" complained Suppie.
"Get used to it, Suppie. You can't be seen in public, and from what Eriol said, you're going to have to stay with me at all times." Umeko told him.
"Oi,oi..." groaned Suppie. "Now you're calling me that too."
"Sorry. Spinel Sun is just a bit of a mouthful, and this form is more Suppie-ish than Spinel Sun-ish."
"What did you say?!!!"
"Er...Good night." Umeko switched off the lights.
"Feh. Good Night." Suppie said.
That's the end of the first chapter.
For those of you who need to know, this takes place between episodes 35 and 36, after the first movie.
I do not own Cardcaptor Sakura.
