A/N: Hello dear readers. Welcome to another one of my AU CCS fanfics. I wrote this story a long time ago (originally it was titled All For The Fate of the World) but, like all my other stories, it was deleted from ff(dot)net. It was the only story I had posted at the time that was not finished (I was working on the final chapter when it was deleted, grrrr). About a year ago though, I found the old floppy disk it was saved on (I found it moving out of my college apt. since I graduated from grad school) and was able to get most of the chapters back so I decided to do a major overhaul and repost it. I've cleaned up the writing of course as I'm a better writer now, and I've added a lot of stuff (including CCS characters I didn't know about the first time I wrote this as I had only seen a few Japanese episodes and the first season of the English version) to make the plot more in depth. So if you read this before and liked it take another look because it's a lot better this time around and it will also be finished this time as well.
Note:For starters, this is an AU CCS Blue Seed crossover. I'm using the CCS gang, but I'm putting them in the Blue Seed world (no blue seed characters will be in the story, but I do barrow some of their names from time to time if need be). Since this is an AU story, the characters may be a little OOC at times, but nothing too major. Point being you don't need to have seen Blue Seed to read this.
Plot: Sakura Kinomoto was your normal 17 year old girl living in Japan, a Japan being torn apart by a race of mutant plantlike monsters called arigami. She finds out that she isn't as normal as she thought she was though when the arigami come looking for her specifically. Turns out she's the kushinada, the one person that can destroy the arigami, saving Japan indefinitely, and ultimately the world. However, in order to release the power within her that can obliterate the arigami she must be sacrificed. Taking her life is a last resort, and an organization called the T.A.C. is trying to find a better way of killing the arigami then sacrificing Sakura. But if it comes down to it, they'll do what ever it takes to destroy the arigami, including using Sakura as a sacrifice because the needs of many outweigh the needs of one . . .
Disclaimer: "I don't own Cardcaptor Sakura, CLAMP does. And Blue Seed is owned by Yuzo Takada."
" means spoken words
Italics means thoughts
Bold italics means telepathic speaking from the arigami
Defying Destiny
Chapter 1: The Kushinada's Unveiling
Tokyo, the capital of Japan . . .
A young woman in her early twenties sat hunched over a computer screen, her fingers flying over the keyboard in search of something, her long reddish gold hair draped over her shoulders. Though her face was calm, the jiggle of her denim jeans-clad knee betrayed the haste she was really in. She had been at it for hours – forgoing several hours of some much deserved sleep – perusing the Japanese government databases on the lookout for one single name among the millions. They had to find her, the fate of the world depended on it.
Talk about stress.
Suddenly, the name she had been scanning the files for revealed itself to her watchful eye. Unable to contain her excitement and relief, she shot out of her desk chair.
"I found her!" she cried out to no one in particular.
Another young lady, in her late teens, sat at a desk close by filling out a report. Incidentally, she now had a long line of pencil drawn through the middle of the page in response to her teammate's enthusiasm.
"Nakuru, would you please stop doing that?!"
Nakuru put a hand behind her head. "Sorry, Meilin, but I just got so excited!"
The girl named Meilin scowled slightly and began to erase the unwanted pencil mark. "You're always getting excited," she deadpanned.
As she said that, a young man, about the same age as Nakuru, with hair the color of espresso and matching eyes entered the room with a cup of coffee.
"About what?" he asked nonchalantly, taking a savory sip of his hot beverage.
"I found her, Toya!"
He raised a skeptical eyebrow. "No shit?"
"No, I really found the kushinada! Can you believe it?! Mr. Nakamura will be thrilled!" Nakuru's eyes started to shine as she moved toward Toya. "Aren't you proud of me, To-ya?" she asked, drawing out his name the way only she could.
He grimaced in response, sensing the beginnings of a glomping session. Before Nakuru could smoother him in a bone crushing hug, a man appeared in the doorway closely followed by a woman. The pair appeared to be in their late and mid 30s respectively.
The man gave a small wave before saying, "Good morning everybody. Anything worth reporting yet?"
Nakuru stepped forward, her attempts to hug Toya temporarily forgotten.
"You bet! I just located the kushinada, Mr. Nakamura!"
The woman who had entered with Fujitaka Nakamura spoke. "Really? That's excellent news. Nice work, Nakuru."
Nakuru smiled. "Thanks, Dr. Mizuki."
Two more people entered the big office room amidst the talking of the others. One was a young man with grayish sliver hair and glasses. He had a glazed doughnut in one hand and a box full of doughnuts in the other. He was accompanied by a younger man with messy chestnut colored hair and sharp amber eyes.
"Good morning everybody! Would anybody like a doughnut?" he offered.
"Uh, no thanks, Yukito," Meilin answered.
The man shrugged his shoulders. "Suit yourself," he said, and devoured the doughnut in his hand in one bite.
"So? Where is she?" Fujitaka pressed, getting back on the important topic at hand.
"Who?" the amber-eyed boy asked, unsure of what was being discussed.
"It seems Nakuru has finally located the kushinada, Syaoran," Kaho supplied.
"Is that so?"
The boy referred to as Syaoran didn't sound too thrilled. It just meant more work for him. After all, once they found the kushinada it was his job to watch over her and protect her, and that, he was sure, would just be a pain in his side.
"What's with the impromptu meeting?" a new voice from the doorway questioned.
Everyone turned to see a teenager Syaoran's age, with cerulean eyes framed by glasses and navy bluish hair, walk in.
"It's the kushinada, Eriol, I found her," Nakuru explained to her partner.
"That's great!"
"Right?! Her name's Sakura Kinomoto, as we already knew. She lives in a small town called Tomoeda on the outskirts of Tokyo. She's 17 and is a senior at Tomoeda High."
Fujitaka ran a hand through his hair. "I see. So that's where they relocated after leaving Izumo. Well in that case I have a phone call to make."
Fujitaka excused himself to his private office on the other side of the room.
xXxXxXx
The peaceful town of Tomoeda . . .
"Ah, I'm late!!" A girl with dazzlingly clear green eyes cried.
Her long honey auburn hair bounced behind her as she tore down the stairs, nearly running over her mother in the process.
"Sorry, Mom!" she yelled over her shoulder as she kept moving.
Nadeshiko sighed, a delicate hand resting on her forehead. It was the same song and dance every morning with her daughter.
"Sakura, you're 17 for crying out loud! When are you going to start making it to school on time?!"
"Um, when I'm 30?"
"But you won't be in school anymore when you're that age."
Sakura grinned. "Exactly."
She put her shoes on, grabbed her satchel, and scurried out the door. She was wearing a dark green pleated skirt with a white sailor blouse, black shoes and white knee highs. That was the uniform she wore to school everyday. She ran as fast as she could down the side walk, the freshly fallen autumn leaves crunching underneath her pounding feet. Nadeshiko watched her daughter bolt down the road towards the bus stop. The phone started to ring from inside the kitchen, tearing Nadeshiko away from the front door. She hurried to answer it. Upon hearing the voice on the other line her heart stopped. She had been warned that one could not escape his or her destiny but she had to try. She had never wanted to hear the voice on the other end, the voice of Fujitaka Nakamura, ever again because a call from him meant her daughter's fate was sealed.
xXxXxXx
Sakura jumped down the bus steps and walked into her school. Once she reached her classroom and took her seat, she leaned over to her friend's desk in the next isle and greeted her.
Hey, Rika!"
The girl smiled. "Good morning, Sakura! So what topic did you pick?"
"Huh?"
Rika rolled her eyes, "Jeeze, Sakura! Sometimes you're such an airhead. The class is going to the library during first hour to do research on the topics we were supposed to pick last night for our history project."
Sakura sweat dropped. "Ohhhhhh, I forgot all about that!"
"Big surprise," Rika deadpanned.
As soon as the teacher took attendance, the class headed up to the library on the fourth floor. Sakura, with Rika's help, picked a topic and started walking through the library glancing at all the shelves in an attempt to find books that would supply her with some information on her topic. Outside the library, a giant tree began to shift and change its shape.
Kushinada . . .
Startled, Sakura dropped the book she was holding to the floor.
"Huh?"
She bent down to pick it up when she heard the same raspy whisper.
Kushinada . . .
She stopped and looked around.
"What was that?" she asked out loud even though no one was around that corner of the library. The voice she heard – she wasn't even sure she actually heard it, it seemed to be more in her head then spoken out loud – was rasping out a word that was foreign to Sakura's vocabulary.
Kushinada . . .
Sakura thought she saw something move past the nearby window. Just as she moved closer to investigate several thick green vines burst through the window. Glass rained down and books were scattered across the floor as Sakura was thrown back into the bookcase behind her. In the blink of an eye vines started coming from everywhere, busting through the rest of the windows and walls, knocking over all the book shelves and tables as they went. The students started panicking as they scrambled towards the exit. Sakura was among them, trying to get out, when she was knocked down a different hallway then the rest of the students. She was up and running towards the nearest flight of stairs in a heart beat. As she reached the middle of the staircase, a bunch of vines lashed out at her and she tumble down the rest of the stairs. Upon reaching the bottom her body slammed into the stairwell wall.
xXxXxXx
The shrill sound of an alarm interrupted the low chattering taking place. Nakuru ran back over to her computer and hit a few keys.
"Oh great!" she whined and hit another key.
"What's wrong?!" Meilin asked.
"It's the arigami, they're on the attack!"
Toya scoffed. "Yeah, that's generally what's happening when the alarm goes off!"
"Yeah but, the attack is several miles north, outside of Tokyo, in Tomoeda . . ."
Everyone fell silent.
"Looks like we're not the only ones to discover the kushinada," Kaho said forlornly.
"Alright everybody, get your gear and let's go!" Fujitaka ordered.
Everyone in the office scrambled for their weapons and such before heading to the roof to board the UH-1 Iroquois chopper. They took off immediately. As soon as the helicopter reached it's destination it flew up fast and circled the premises of Tomoeda high. It then proceeded to hover a few feet off the ground. Five figures jumped to the ground before the chopper headed back up into the air. Nakuru carried a black, metallic suitcase, Eriol had a laptop in his hands, Kaho had a first aid kit along with Yukito, and Toya was packing some serious heat. Fujitaka flew the helicopter over the roof of the school that was now incased in thick green vines. Syaoran was hanging out of the wide doorway, ready to jump down as soon as they were close enough. Meilin was also in the doorway with a handheld canon of some sort lying across one of her shoulders.
"As soon as I blast a hole through the roof, you jump in, find the girl, and get out, got it?!"
Syaoran nodded his head. He put a hand on his sword for reassurance. Meilin noticed.
"I still don't get it, why don't you carry a gun?!"
"I have my reasons," was his curt reply. It left little room for argument, and they didn't have time for one anyway.
xXxXxXx
Back inside the school, Sakura shook her head as she sat up, dazed and confused. She noticed the vines around her immediately and started to edge along the wall in an attempt to go unnoticed. She had only taken a few steps before come face-to-face with a thick, forest green vine. Startled, she tried to press herself further into the wall. The vine danced around in front of her then spoke, but not aloud. She could hear it in her head.
So, you are the Princess Kushinada . . . I can feel that disgusting pulse residing inside you . . .
"I don't know what you're talking about! I'm not a Princess! I don't even know what a kushinada is!!"
She was so terrified that she failed to realize the irrationality of her predicament. The fact that she was verbally arguing with a plant escaped her.
"What are you, some kind of monster?!"
The creature snickered. Monster, demon, arigami, you may call me what you like Princess Kushinada. It makes no difference to me.
"I told you you've got the wrong person! I'm no princess!" Sakura insisted, her voice shaking with fear.
So slowly . . . that's how I'll kill you . . . I long to watch you die . . . in excruciating agony . . .
The vine started shifting erratically and Sakura could see something moving along the inside towards the tip. Suddenly a grotesque eye popped out of the vine and was staring at her intently. Sakura screamed in disgust and kicked it away before she hurried down the hall. She ripped open the first door she came to and bolted inside the room. A quick glance let her know she'd entered a chemistry lab. The vines weren't far behind her and, as they came through the door, Sakura hurled all the beakers and test tubes she could find at them. The chemicals contained in the tubes splashed the vines as they shattered, burning through some of the vines and wilting others, keeping them at bay. When Sakura was left with nothing else to throw, she ran to the other side of the room where there was another door. She threw it open, practically knocking the door off its hinges in her haste, and dashed out into the hallway again, the vines hot on her trail. As she turned the corner she saw a huge section of the roof blow open a few feet away. A figure jumped through the hole and faced her. Sakura couldn't stop herself in time and plowed right into the person. He automatically wrapped his arms around her waist to stop them from falling down. As soon as her body made contact with his she pushed off of him and tried to turn the other way. She didn't know if he was here to help her or hurt her and she didn't want to stick around to find out if it was the latter. As she pushed off Syaoran's chest he grabbed her wrist so she couldn't run. Sakura started struggling like mad screaming and yelling at him to release her.
"Let me go! Get away from me! Leave me alone, please!"
Syaoran recognized her face from the picture Nakuru showed everyone on the flight over from Tokyo. "Stop! I'm here to help you!"
"No! Let go of me!"
Aggravated, Syaoran growled, "Listen I'm-"
The persistent vines turned the corner and headed straight for them.
Don't interfere! She belongs to me!
"Get down!" Syaoran ordered as he tackled Sakura to the ground and rolled out of the way. As soon as the vines passed over their heads he yanked her to her feet and dragged her down the hallway.
"Who are you?! What do you want?!" Sakura cried.
Without looking back Syaoran answered. "I'm with an organization called the T.A.C. and I'm here to rescue you!"
Trying to exit the building, Syaoran pulled Sakura down a flight of stairs leading to the second floor, but, due to all the damage the building had already sustained, the stairs crumbled beneath their feet. Sakura let out a terrified scream as they fell and Syaoran cursed vehemently. He quickly grabbed on to Sakura before everything went black.
xXxXxXx
Outside, Nakuru had opened the black metal suitcase to show some kind of computerized machine with several knobs, switches, and wires running from it. Eriol was helping her hook it up to the laptop he held while Toya sent several rounds of armor piercing bullets at the vines protruding from the now condemned school building to keep them at bay. They were squatting down in front of what used to be a normal tree in the school courtyard.
Toya looked back at his companions. "Are you two ready yet or what?!" he barked.
"Patience is a virtue, Toya," Eriol replied calmly without sparing even a glance at his frustrated comrade.
"Not when you're fighting a giant monster made out of plants it's not!"
"Now that we found the root of all this evil, no pun intended," Nakuru let out a little chuckle, "we should be able to take it down completely so just hold it off a little longer, Honey!"
"I'll do what I can, and don't call me honey! We aren't dating, Akizuki."
She gave a small pout but continued working. "Well we should be, and I told you to call me Nakuru!"
"Let's focus on the task at hand, shall we?" Eriol suggest putting an end to the familiar argument before it could begin.
Toya snorted and loaded another round into his automatic rifle. "This invention of yours better work you two!"
Nakuru pressed a few buttons and turned a couple of knobs on the black box machine. A low humming noise filled the air amongst the gunshots.
"There, it's ready!" she exclaimed. "First step we stabilize the vector, then we inject the T. I. Plasmets into the arigami! If our calculations are correct, this should induce a spontaneous gene mutation that will destroy the host's cellular structure."
"Meaning?!" Toya asked as he took out another vine.
"Meaning the original tree the arigami has latched onto should rapidly age and die. Eriol, stick it with the red wire so I can initiate the first step."
Eriol grabbed the red wire that was connected to the machine and jammed it into what used to be the trunk of a tree.
Nakuru flipped a switch on the machine. "First step initialized, the machine's reading the cellular make up of the tree!"
xXxXxXx
Inside the school, Syaoran's head was pounding as he came to. He tried to move his hands to his head but found that he couldn't. On closer inspection he realized that he was in the school gymnasium and was tied to the pole of one of the basketball hoops by several slimy vines. He started struggling against his restraints when he heard the high pitched wail of a girl. His head snapped up – doing loads for his headache – and he saw Sakura dangling from the opposite basketball hoop. She was held a good five feet in the air at least by several vines with more vines wrapped around her arms and chest. Of what he could see, her uniform was in tatters, but she looked fine otherwise, at least for the time being. Despite the futility of her situation she kicked and twisted in the air, demanding to be let down. Syaoran had to give her props; she had quite the fighting spirit. All around her in a circle were gigantic crystals with silky smooth surfaces. They appeared to be made of glass. Positioned in front of Sakura was the head and body of the monster. It looked like a dragon, but made of plants oddly enough. Syaoran knew in an instant what was going on.
"Ahhhhh! Let me go!!" Sakura cried, continuing to kick at nothing.
I can't do that. Not after I've prepared this special coffin just for you.
A low growl escaped from Syaoran's throat.
Sakura stopped moving, her eyes growing wide. "Coffin?"
That's right. You are the kushinada. If your blood is spilt then my kind will be eradicated from this world. For years we had to worry about the humans using you as a sacrifice to destroy us. But now, we've discovered a way to counter the poisonous energy your blood will release when you die. By merely placing a few pieces of this special glass all around you we can create a ceramic field. Ironic that a human invention born from science will be mankind's undoing. It will absorb the energy your blood will release when I kill you, preventing you from destroying my race!
Sakura listened to the beast in front of her but was more confused than ever.
"What are you talking about!?"
"The death of any human releases certain energies! The death of the kushinada produces a pulse of electro-magnetic energy that forces the arigami into an eternal sleep!" Syaoran explained.
"But you've made a mistake! I'm not the kushinada! I'm just a normal teenage girl!"
That's where you're wrong. Once you are gone my arigami brethren will rise up and wipe out the human race starting with Japan and moving across the globe until the entire planet is inhabited by us. You humans don't deserve it anyway, the way you've taken care of it. You had your chance, and now we shall have ours! the voice roared in their minds.
"Run, get out of here!" Syaoran shouted, still trying to free himself.
"Run?! How can I!?" Sakura yelled back.
The arigami's main body moved to the side as it raised some of the vines behind it up high. The vines twirled together and made a sharp tip, like the point of a sword.
For seventeen, no, for a thousand years I've dreamed of the day I could kill you myself! The domination of your race is over! Say your goodbyes, Kushinada!!
The vines rushed towards Sakura as she let lose a blood curdling scream.
"No!" Syaoran cried.
He watched in horror at the scene playing before his eyes. This girl was Earth's last sure fire chance of beating the arigami. It was his mission to save her, to keep her safe. The fate of the world had been placed in his hands, and he had failed.
xXxXxXx
"The vector has determined the genetic composition of the tree and is stabilized! Now we can inject the appropriate plasmets into the body to disrupt the original genetic makeup of the tree. Eriol, stick it with the blue wire!" Nakuru ordered.
He rammed the blue wire into the trunk right next to the red. Just as he moved away, Nakuru threw another switch on the machine. A few seconds later, the arigami's skin – if you could call it that – started to bubble up everywhere. Then it started to wilt, like dead branches of a tree. Meilin, who had joined the group with Fujitaka after he landed the helicopter, kicked one of the vines and watched as it crumpled into dust.
"This one's dead," she said in a light, surprised tone.
Nakuru clapped her hands together. "Alright! When mixed inside the concentrated vector, the mutagens were injected so quickly that the original tree had no way of correcting the error that was created in its cellular structure and so it died instantly!"
Meilin raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"
"Just think of it as an extremely strong weed killer," Eriol smiled.
"Riiiighhhht."
Eriol adjusted his glasses. "However, the arigami itself has not been killed since it's a parasite. It has simply lost its current host."
Toya snorted. "Well it's better than nothing. At least it can't attack us anymore."
"Yes," Eriol admitted, "for now. The situation can be rectified though. The arigami is a mutation of the host body's genetic structure, so all it has to do is latch on to a new host as soon as it gets the chance and it will be up and running again if it so desires."
"Well then let's quit wasting time and see if we can find the seed!" Meilin shouted
xXxXxXx
Inside the gym, just as the vines were ready to hit Sakura, the skin of the arigami started to bubble up and the vines stopped. The monster wailed in agony. The green ropes holding Sakura and Syaoran prisoner loosened in response. Syaoran jumped to his feet and ran for Sakura just as the vines that held her dropped her to the floor. So shocked by the sudden turn of events she didn't even bother to scream. Right before she hit the ground, Syaoran caught her. Not wasting a moment, he swiftly headed for the emergency exit, Sakura still in his arms.
I will make you pay for ruining my chance to kill the kushinada!
It shot the few vines it had left at Syaoran's retreating back. He was able to dodge most of them, but the last one punctured his left shoulder. The impact caused him to dropped Sakura and fall to the ground a few feet away from her. The vine dried out like the rest and broke off in his shoulder. The arigami opened its big mouth to reveal one last vine with a blue type of bead attached to the front of it. The bead was shinny and had a shape similar to the number nine with a slightly curved tail.
Die!
The vine sped towards Syaoran's back, going for the kill, but Sakura got up and ran in front of him to intercept the oncoming threat. Her arms spread out wide in an attempt to shield him.
"Don't hurt him!"
Syaoran turned around to see the girl he was sent to protect blocking him.
"No don't! Get out of the way!"
In an instant, the vine ran threw Sakura's chest and out her back. Her eyes widened and grew foggy.
"You . . . you lose," she gasped out through the intense pain.
Very clever, you know I can't kill you outside of a ceramic field, the monster growled.
The arigami's vine started to glow as it pulled itself back out of her body. The hole in her back was healed but, as the vine retracted from her front, the shinny, blue bead was left attached to Sakura's chest.
We will be back for you Kushinada, you can be sure of that!
The rest of the arigami finally turned a sickly yellow-brown and took out another wall of the school as it crashed to the floor. Exhausted from the ordeal and the throbbing pain she still felt in her chest, Sakura passed out and fell backwards into Syaoran's arms. He hosted her up, wincing at the pain that ran through his injured shoulder. He looked down at the figure in his arms and glared. How could one girl cause so much trouble? Yet his glare softened a bit as he remembered how she was willing to sacrifice herself for him even though she didn't even know him. Sakura's body was suddenly engulfed in a soft pink glow, her aura, and the beadlike jewel centered above her breasts turned the same shade of pink, showing that the bead was now a part of her.
The building started to rumble and Syaoran realized the whole school was coming down. He hustled over to the emergency exit, kicked open the door, and ran out of the building just as it completely collapsed. The rest of the T.A.C. members saw him carrying a girl in his arms and knew he had succeeded in his mission. Kaho and Yukito immediately ran over to check both of them.
xXxXxXx
Several hours later, Sakura awoke with a start. She sat up in bed and looked around the room. There were a few pieces of furniture aside from the twin bed she was lying in and a window with the shades drawn. The room and all its contents were foreign to her.
"Where am I?"
When she was sure she could stand without falling over she got out of the unfamiliar bed and headed towards the window.
"I wonder what happened to that guy that helped me . . ." she wondered absentmindedly.
Sakura yanked open the window curtain only to yank it closed again.
She swallowed nervously. "No way . . ."
Taking a deep breath she opened the curtain again. It was a beautiful sight but one she'd never seen before. Instead of seeing her tiny hometown of Tomoeda she saw a hug city full of lights and tall sky scrapers. The sky was a deep black and all the buildings were lit up. There was hardly a star in the sky thanks to all the ambient light the city buildings created. Sakura gasped as she came to a conclusion.
"I don't believe it, I'm in Tokyo!!!"
To be continued . . .
Next time: Chapter 2: Welcome to the T.A.C. Sakura's in Tokyo but why? What's the T.A.C. and why are the arigami suddenly so interested in her?? What the heck's a kushinada??? So many questions not nearly enough answers . . . Sakura meets the members of the organization bent on protecting her and learns of her mysterious heritage and her unfortunate destiny from a special legend.
A/N: Well that's it for the first chapter. Reviews would be greatly appreciated as I'd love to know what you think. A lot of the things I used in this chapter came directly from the first episode of the Blue Seed anime. It's an interesting show and it's only 26 episodes long. What makes it so interesting is that it's steeped in the mythological Japanese legend of the storm god Susano-O and his battle with the Yamato-no-Orochi. Most of the stuff I barrow is going to be from the anime, as the manga seems quite a bit different from what I've read, but this story isn't an exact recreation of the original Blue Seed just so you know. There will be many differences. In fact, the farther this story gets the farther it gets from the original Blue Seed. I intend to update this story once a week, at least for 10 weeks as that's how many chapters I have done (basically the 1st of what will be two arcs). I'm going to shoot for every Wednesday, but even if the day changes it should be once a week. I hope you enjoyed the first installment and are looking forward to the next :) See you next Wednesday!!
SakuraJade