Another story! This one is based off the Magic Stone play from the Cardcaptor Sakura movie 2 :D
Collab with KJC71790 :)
The Magic Stone
Chapter 1
His fist clenched. No one ever took him seriously! And to make matters worse, his father, just to shut him up, gave him a small parcel of land to rule over. Him! He was currently awaiting his carriage that would take him to his new home on the outskirts.
The only thing the location had going for it was the sea that surrounded it. Would be easy to keep invaders away. He would need the help if he was going to show his family.
He was strong! Courageous! Cunning! Why did they laugh in his face at the prospect of ruling part of the country, secluded in a land his father rarely ventured? He was old enough. Wise enough. Not stupid or lazy like the rest of his brothers. They never lifted a finger like true princes would. But he...he was captain of the army! Not to mention, he made half his father's decisions for him when he was too drunk with drink to be remotely coherent.
The thought made him angry. Really angry.
Who the hell did they think they were...
A servant signaled to him that the carriage was ready. Outside, he nodded to his small regiment that he was able to bring. He scoffed at that fact. His father rarely oversaw the army, so why now to limit the men he could take? He was the one who made them into the men they were today. Fierce. Determined. Unwavering. All that work...for nothing!
He settled into the carriage with a scowl on his face. He would show them all!
The countryside passed quickly, the ride bumpy. His thoughts were just as tumultuous. He hadn't calmed down since before the ride started and his thoughts just continued to get darker and darker. He thought of ways to achieve a large army, but not one where he had to enact a draft of all young males like most warring countries had tried and failed. He thought of ways to gain ultimate respect from his subjects. And then...he would conquer and show his father and brothers just how powerless they were.
"I can help with that," a voice uttered in the darkness of the coach. He ripped his face from the window and stared across the seat. A man was seated there, his hands clasped tightly in his lap. He hadn't remembered him when he entered the coach. How did he appear there when the coach hadn't stopped once?
"What are you...? If you are man, then how is it you stole away in my coach so easily? And if not, are you demon?" he asked bravely, his hand resting on his sword. The other man chuckled.
"I am man, I assure you, Prince. A sorcerer, yes, but definitely man."
The prince waved his hand dismissively. "Begone. I want nothing of your sorcery."
The sorcerer laughed. "I most definitely assure you, Prince, after what I have to offer, you will." The prince turned toward the man, a skeptical look on his face. The sorcerer silenced the question on the prince's tongue with a wave of his finger and pulled a glowing red stone from a fold in his robe. The glow intrigued the prince and he leaned forward examining the stone.
It was jagged and rough, but beautiful. He could feel its power radiating from it, almost pulsating with its own desires. The prince reached out to touch it, but the sorcerer pulled his hand away quickly, hiding the stone back in his robes. The coach plunged into darkness with the absence of the bright red glow. It was significantly cooler as well.
The prince let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "What is it? I felt its immense power. What can it accomplish...?"
The other man grinned, producing the stone again. "Power. Immense power. Armies as large as you command. Complete oppression. Ultimate defeat for anyone that stands in your way..."
Both men seemed entranced by the stone's pulsating power.
"And what do you want in return?" the prince asked finally.
"The fall of the current king, your father," the sorcerer said without a doubt. Worry passed over the prince's face. Could he kill his father...? He knew that his father cared nothing for him, but he was still his father...
He stared at the stone and let the power surround him. He felt the anger rise in his chest and before he realized what he had done, he'd reached out and snatched the stone from the sorcerer. The stone clung to him, the power entering his body and surrounding his senses. He felt renowned strength course through him. His arms felt strong. Legs powerful. Body unrelenting. He stood quickly, nearly hitting his head on the roof of his coach, and let out a dark laugh. The sorcerer grinned maniacally, standing next to him. They locked eyes, and the prince nodded to him, grinning evilly.
"I will kill my father. Most definitely..."
He scaled the castle quickly, the stone absorbed almost fully into his hand. It's power was immense and the pulsating never stopped, but the prince loved it's powerful embrace. Within moments he was in his old bedroom. It was dirty now from neglect the past few weeks.
The prince settled in nicely in his seaside castle. Though smaller than his father's, it was grand on the inside and full of wealth and grandeur. He made peace with the townspeople quickly, earning their trust. The stone provided him an army, which he had used to conquer nearby towns. But they, too, followed him nicely, despite the obvious oppression. In fact, the prince was surprised his father hadn't met him halfway with his own army. The very same army that he trained. But it didn't matter. He didn't lose. And his father would rue the day he cast away his youngest son.
He exited quickly, padding quietly down the hall. He entered each of his brothers' rooms to find them all fast asleep, most in the arms of a whore. The prince's expression darkened. So stupid these fools! Did they care for nothing?! He slit each throat quickly and effortlessly. His swordsmanship had increased significantly, so much that every swing was efficient and noiseless. The power... it was beautiful.
His father's door loomed over him. Even it, too, was gaudy and large. The sight disgusted him. The prince had put so much work into keeping up the defenses of his father's country that his father had become frivolous and lazy! His death would be a righteous move.
He slid inside the room closing the door soundlessly behind him.
"Have you come for me, Death? I welcome you, but I will put up a fight," his father's voice pierced the quiet air. The prince turned scowling. The man lay slumped over his bed, his face red with drink. The stench in the room suggested he had all ready emptied his stomach of its vile contents. The prince covered his nose and sidled along the right side of the room, keeping away from the bed and the mess of a figure that laid upon it.
"I have come for you." There was a sputtering from the man on the bed, and shuffling as he jumped, frightened to the center of it, searching the darkness for the voice. "But I am not death."
"Show yourself, fiend!"
The prince stepped forward into the waning moonlight and the old man gasped.
"No. It can't be."
"Yes, father, any last words before I kill you?" He raised his sword, glaring at the man below him.
The man grinned evilly. "If only your dear mother could see you now," he said with a cluck of his tongue.
"She'd see a far greater man than the pathetic excuse in front of me. If it wasn't for me, your kingdom would be in peril, if not lost. You should be thanking me. For that, and for this!" he brought the sword down quickly. As soon as he cleaned the warm blood from his sword, his father was dead.
"Good job, my king," the dark voice sounded from behind him. The sorcerer came up aside him and peered down at the former king. The grin on his face widened. "It is complete."
A throbbing in his right hand pulled the prince from his reverie. The glow from the stone was almost gone, a small nub appearing just above the skin.
"What is this, sorcerer?" the prince asked, showing his hand. The sorcerer scooped blood from the old man and poured it over the prince's palm. The glow brightened significantly, then dimmed as the stone last nub retreated into the prince's hand. The power intensified, sending the prince into a blissful, numbing, but powerful reverie.
"From now on, your generations will have power. They will never fail. Always conquer. Always oppress. Always win. They will be strong. Cunning. Smart. They will lead and everyone will follow."
The prince stared at his hand dreamily. "Something so great has to have a weakness."
"Ever smart as always, King. There is but one way to break the spell. One pure of heart will oppose everything you enact. They will be immune to the stone's power. If they are able, they can extract the stone from your body and smash it with one touch of their finger if they wish it."
"And how do you make sure that doesn't happen?"
His grin widened. "Kill them of course! I don't know how often they will appear, but the difference between them and you will be so noticeable that you can't tell who it is. Kill them and your family's reign will flourish with power..."
The King tore down his father's castle and rebuilt a stronger, more formidable castle in the center of the country. He named it Tomoeda after his mother's family, but kept his father's name to remind everyone of his greatest achievement. That would be the last time anyone crossed a Kinomoto and got away with it.
Hundreds of years passed, each king bestowed the power of the stone. They conquered islands and continents and spread their power wherever they could. The people followed nicely and those that didn't were easily swayed or killed. And if there were any that repelled the stone's power were immediately annihilated. The Kinomoto family was all powerful. Nothing could stop them.
It was a glorious day! A new baby princess was born! Her father scowled and refused the see the girl, grumbling about boys and their superiority, but that was fine. The nursemaid carried the quiet, alert child out of the room and held her close as she made her way to the kitchen.
A man was pounding at the door.
The nurse let him inside, quickly shutting the door behind him, for fear of being caught. "She is repelling the stone's power."
"Yes," the maid replied. "Her father doesn't know yet as he refuses to see the child because it is a girl."
"His ignorance will play nicely for us." The man gripped her shoulder. "Sonomi, you must keep this child safe. At all costs! Do you understand?"
She nodded, agreeing. The man stole away into the night. She stared at the young girl in her arms, suddenly missing her own. She had just given birth weeks prior to a baby girl as well. Tomoyo, she named her. In order to fulfill her mission, she had to leave the baby behind with family, only to visit on rare occasions. It would be good for the people. Good for the people, she told herself.
She retreated back to the nursery and laid the baby to rest, before appearing before the king.
"Sire, the princess is asleep and your wife is stable. A name for the princess, milord?" She inwardly winced. She hated that she had to call him that. He was not her king. She was from across the South Sea, from a continent similar to this one. The Li family ruled gloriously and peacefully, not once coming under the rule of the Kinomoto's. But they had decided to weaken them first. They knew of the stone and of its immense power to everyone in the royal family. They also knew it's weakness. They didn't know, however, that the new princess was the one baby that repelled all its power. For years they had checked. Every baby born. For centuries. Not one turned up. Until now.
The King scowled, his expression darkening. "I wanted a damn son! Girls are worthless and needy!" He pounded his fist upon the armrest of his throne. "Name her after some godforsaken flower or something! I don't care!"
Sonomi backed away out of the throne room, smiling. It was almost too easy.
Sixteen years later...
Sakura stared out her window into the dismal morning fog. She was cold in her nightgown and pulled the thin blanket closer to her, but cold as she was, she couldn't pull herself away from her window. Day after day, she watched her people suffer. But there was nothing she could do. She was just a weak, dumb woman. The thought brought tears to her eyes.
Her door suddenly opened. Her nursemaid, Sonomi, walked in carrying her breakfast tray. "Princess, are you crying again?"
"Sonomi, this is horrible," she said, putting her hand on the cold window. "My people...they're so sad. Why does father treat them like that. Keep them in such filth..."
Sonomi closed the door and rushed over to the princess. "Princess, do not fret. The time is almost come to make wrongs right and bring peace to your lands! You don't know how powerful you are!"
"Sonomi, I don't know what you mean. My father thinks me stupid and weak. I have to read and write in darkness and I don't even know how to wield a sword! How can I change anything...?" she asked dejectedly. She pulled her legs up and rested her chin on her knees. "I want to help them, but I don't know where to start..."
"Princess, you are stronger than you realize. You have a gift that no one else possesses."
"Oh yeah? And what's that?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest in a huff.
Sonomi looked about and sat down in front of Sakura, pulling her hands to her. "Princess, your father can do as he pleases because he possesses a magic stone. It is very old, but very, very powerful. A pure soul can break the stone in pieces and bring peace back to these lands. All you have to do is touch the stone and it'll shatter." Sakura had the most skeptical look on her face.
"I have to touch it and it breaks...? Great. Now I'm dumb, weak and I manage to break stones with one finger!" she huffed, getting up from the window seat. Sonomi followed her and stopped her before she reached her bedroom door.
"Princess. I'm not joking. You are a pure soul and I was entrusted to keep you safe from your father. He would kill you if he found out you are not swayed by the stone." Sakura stared at her almost afraid.
"Kill...?"
"He has killed more under that pretense. Many people have been killed because of your ancestors all fearing that one person would live and succeed in destroying the stone. And now, they have you. You can destroy the stone. You can save everyone!" Sonomi said, happily.
Sakura stared at her. "I wish to be left alone now..." she said quietly. Sonomi looked shocked for a second before closing her mouth and retreating out of the room with Sakura's uneaten breakfast. Sakura dressed quickly in a simple white, long-sleeved gown. She ran out of the room still tying the pink ribbon on the front of her dress.
The throne room soon appeared in front of her and she pushed the door open. Her father looked up from his throne, before giving her a look and returning to his generals. Then as she made her way to him, he stood quickly, staring ahead.
"I've got it! They'll never know what hit them! Damn bastards think they can outsmart me!" He sat back down and threw Sakura an aggravated, yet evil look. "I have use for you yet, daughter!"
"Father, I need to talk to you."
"What do you have to talk to me about? Nothing a woman says is ever important. Now get ready. In another month, you shall be married! And the poor sap that has to deal with you will deal with my army up their asses! Shows them to block trade routes to the west and south! And this way, I won't have to rampage. It'll be so easy to take their kingdom right out from underneath their noses!"
The generals around him agreed with him wholeheartedly, clapping at his smart suggestion. And that was when Sakura saw it. The faint red glow surrounding her father's skin. She felt the power emanating from him so much that it was almost stifling. She thought back to what her father had said.
"But, father. I'm only sixteen! I can't get married!" He growled at her.
"You can and you are. If you are no use to me, then why are you even here?" The powerful aura increased and Sakura felt like she was suffocating. Tears pricking at her eyes, she ran from the room.
Back in her room, Sakura couldn't stop crying. Sonomi was right. She saw it. Well, not the stone, but she felt it's aura. And it was powerful! And not to mention the fact her father didn't care about her at all! She didn't want to get married and she definitely didn't want to be used as a pawn for her father's evil schemes. She walked over to the window, her mind set on a new vow.
She would bring peace back to her people. Order. Love. Purpose. And she would do it by destroying the magic stone that had wrapped its fingers so tightly around her father. She would save everyone. And she'd do it being the young, sixteen-year-old, weak woman that she was.
Completed! Yay!
So tell me what you think! Please review! :)