The Cherry Blossom and the Big (Slightly) Bad-tempered Wolf
My first stab at a fantasy. (Mind you, Fantasy is one of my fave genre, so it was only a matter of time until I did one…) The first chap. is more of an introduction to some characters and such, but all the magic/fantasy creatures will come into it eventually
Anyway, sit back and enjoy!
…Thedisclaimer…idon'townnothing,wellexcepttocharactersofmyowncreation,butallothersfromCCSbelongtoClamp^-^…
Ages:
Sakura, Tomoyo, Syaoran…heck, all their classmates etc, are…uh let's say…16…to make things interesting.
Princess Leonora: 14
Princess Hallanna: 12
I'll add in more as more characters come in. ^_^
Let's get onto the basic gist of things shall we?
This pretty much follows the basic CCS storyline, except I've strategically made a few changes here and there. ::clears throat, pulls out and starts to read from scroll:: Sakura has sealed and transformed the cards, Eriol lives somewhere in Tomeoda (coz I said) and has since split (broken up, whatever) with Kaho (coz I also said). Syaoran is in Hong Kong (coz I also also said) coz of Li family stuff (I'll get to that later), and has limited contact with people outside the clan (I'll also get into that later). None of that love confession stuff has happened…yet (^ _~) They're just "good friends"…or so they say.
Expect quite a bit of OOC, but you tend to get that in my stories…I tried to keep them in character as much as possible…but, well…you'll see…
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1st Person POV: Unknown location
My lungs burned, and my legs ached relentlessly, begging me to stop, but I couldn't. I could hear them right behind me, feel their jaws snap at my feet. The sound of their hungry cries urged me on. I was not going to die tonight. Not out here.
Swatting at the branches around me that threatened to slow me down, I slid through the slick mud that covered the land and skidded down a small slope, in a different direction than I had been going. A loud screech and a crash was enough indication to know that my sudden change of direction had slowed the beasts' down, at least for a bit. But I wasn't going to stop. The diversion was just the distraction I needed to form a spell. They had been too close on my heels before, but a quick glance behind me was enough to see that I would be able to get away in time…barely.
Magic crackled around my fingertips as I hastily formed the spell in my mind. Unfortunately for me, the particular creatures that were chasing me were attracted to magic, and it only drove them on faster, but I had no other choice. Trying to ignore the screeching behind me I threw a ball of crackling magic ahead of me and shouted "Portal! OPEN!" The ball of magic hit the ground and exploded, then formed a circular doorway, the centre showing my destination. I didn't know where exactly I was going, but as far as I was concerned, anywhere was better than here.
I dived through, and landed painfully on the hard floor on the other side. I rolled over, just in time to see one of the beasts' leap through, but I was ready for it, and with a twist of magic I closed the doorway before anymore could come through, plunging me into darkness. The demon, since only half was actually through the doorway when I closed it, was now…well… half the demon it used to be. The remaining part hit the ground and dissolved in a flash of purple fire. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding and lay down on the cool hard ground. That was the good thing about demons I suppose, no blood, no gore, they just dissolve and disappear. Made cleaning up after them a heck of a lot easier. My eyes started to droop, my body urgently needing rest after having been running for so long, so ignoring my better judgement to investigate the area I was now in, I closed my eyes and felt myself start to drift off. The last thought that filtered into my mind before I lost consciousness was about the little side effect the portal had…but that was the demon's problem. Or what was left of it anyway.
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3rd Person POV: Li mansion Library, Hong Kong
There was a flare of magic a second before a rippling doorway of some kind suddenly appeared in between a row of books and manuscripts that resided in the vast Li clan library. The doorway shivered and something fell out of it. Or half of something. The thing was black, had a pair of clawed feet and a long tail, and had probably been joined to head and torso at some point. But that didn't last for long. The body started to shiver and warp… before turning into half a very distressed looking black kettle.
A few minutes later, a youngish looking man walked into the library, having sensed the strange surge of power only minutes before. He frowned and brushed a few locks of long messy brown hair out of his eyes and bent down to pick up the small beaten black kettle off the ground. The slightly bent-in-the-wrong-direction-spout fell off and landed on the hard wood floor with a clatter. The young man blinked and was about to lean over to pick up the wayward spout when the kettle in his hand, as well as the spout on the ground, dissolved in a flare of purple flames. He blinked again and frowned, before mumbling in a deep voice, "Well…that's something you don't see everyday…"
~~~~~~~
Sakura's POV
Why does everything have to happen when I'm by myself? When I was ten, there had been strange noises coming from my Dads' downstairs library and of course, I had been by myself…with only my cheerleading baton to protect me…which would have done a whole lot of damage if I were up against, say, an axe-wielding maniac. Fortunately for me, the strange noise actually led me to my destiny, led me to the Clow Cards, now known as the Sakura Cards, and well…you know the rest.
But anyway, back to the present. I had been idly flicking through a magazine when a sudden surge of magic almost made me jump right out of my skin. Kero had found it particularly amusing when I fell off the couch I had been lying on, but had gone serious when the level of magic dropped, but didn't disappear.
I silently summoned my wand, a little peeved that my formally relaxing holidays' were going to be disrupted and crept down the hall, "What do you think it is?"
Kero, having changed into his true form crouched and stalked towards the door that led into the basement. "Dunno…ready?"
I nodded silently as he pushed the door open with his muzzle. The door creaked quietly in protest as we crept through. I couldn't see anything yet, but I could sense a presence in the room. Strangely though, I couldn't sense any movement…in fact it almost felt…
"She's unconscious…"
Kero was crouched beside the body of a girl who looked to be in her teens, probably a few years younger than I was. She was dressed in torn, muddy, but very unusual looking clothing. I couldn't get a good look though; the light coming through the doorway wasn't enough, so I mentally turned the lights on in the room. Kero changed back into his false form as I placed my fingers on her throat to check her pulse. "Her pulse is good…she looks pretty beat up though…do you know where she's from?"
Kero shook his head slowly, as if he wasn't really sure if he did or not, then sat back in the air rubbing his chin in thought. "She's defiantly has magic, it feels familiar somehow, but I'm not sure... and her clothes. I dunno, looks like something out of a Shakespeare play" He snorted "Or maybe she just got attacked by Tomoyo…she can be pretty scary when she's got a new line of clothing…" He ignored the dirty look I gave him and continued "I mean, the outfit practically screams Tomoyo…"
I decided to ignore the comment, even though he did have a point, and got back to the crisis at hand. I frowned in concentration and checked her aura. "I can't sense any evil in her…"
Kero snorted again and replied, "Yeah but that's what you said about the brat and look at all the trouble he caused…"
I glared at Kero as I lifted the girl off the ground with the Float Card. "He didn't cause any trouble, in fact as I recall, he actually helped us on more than one occasion."
"Yeah yeah, whatever"
I placed the girl gently on the couch and cleaned and repaired her clothing with a twist of my magic. Her clothing was pretty unusual, well, in comparison to our styles. Her outfit reminded me a lot of what Link form the Legend of Zelda wears, except the girls tunic thing was dark blue in color, and she had on slightly baggy pants instead of the white leggings that Link has. Actually, the outfit didn't look as though it fitted her properly; it seemed more to be cut for a guy, not for a girl.
"Kero, could you keep an eye on her, I'm going to call Tomoyo."
He nodded and settled himself on the coffee table as I stood up and went to find the phone.
I dialed her number, then leaned up against the wall as I listened to the tone. It rang for a few times before it was picked up. "Hello, Tomoyo speaking"
"Hey Tomoyo, it's Sakura"
"Hi Sakura! Finished the chores early today?"
"Yeah, but…::short pause:: are you doing anything right now?"
"Not at the moment, do you want to go to the park or something"
"No…something happened. Can you get here as soon as possible?"
I could practically hear her eyebrow rise at that last comment, but Tomoyo simply replied. "Sure, be there in 5"
I placed the phone in the cradle and walked outside to the gate to wait for Tomoyo. Her limo pulled up a few minutes later. Tomoyo, smiling a bit too happily for my liking, said hello and stepped out of the limo after telling her driver and bodyguards something. I noticed with a bit of trepidation that she had her camera along with her, but I think it would probably take a lot of major surgery to separate the two. "So, what's the emergency? Did Syaoran call and propose and you two have decided to elope, or has he just called and proposed and now you two want me to design your wedding?" I blinked and stared blankly at her hopeful expression. "Uh…no…not quite…it has nothing to do with Syaoran"
Tomoyo let out an exasperated sigh and gave me a slightly irritated look. "Then what's with all the mystery? The last time you where this secretive was the night before the dance where you were going with Syaoran, and you were embarrassed because you still hadn't found anything to wear."
Ignoring the comment about Syaoran (which didn't actually happen as she was suggesting mind you), I sighed and rubbed my temples. "I know I know, I'm sorry…come in, I'll show you."
She obediently followed me inside and towards the couch.
"Well, the whole outfit is just wrong for her, much too masculine for her physique, it's a good thing you called me Sakura, this girl is in serious need of some fashion advice."
I rubbed my temples again and muttered. "Not the clothes Tomoyo, the girl in the clothes…"
She arched an eyebrow and gave the girl another once-ever. "What about her?"
Kero floated up from his spot on the coffee table. "We found her unconscious in the basement, and she has some pretty strong magic in her."
"Is she…you know…evil?"
I shook my head. "No…I haven't felt magic like this before but it doesn't feel evil"
That was one of my many, more useful traits, I had an ability to sense whether something was good or evil. Comes in real handy when you need to know whom you can trust.
"Do you have any idea where she comes from…or how she actually ended up in your basement?"
Kero and I both shook our heads at the same time. "We won't find out until she wakes up, and I think it will be best if we let her sleep. She seems pretty exhausted."
Tomoyo nodded and smiled. "Well, while we wait, I'll just whip up a few kawaii outfits for her to wear!"
I blinked as Tomoyo whipped a tape measure from her purse and start to take measurements of the still unconscious girl. I shook my head and sat in an armchair as Tomoyo started muttering to herself, and begin to pull swatches of material from her bag.
~~~~~~~~~~
Mysterious girl person's POV
I felt myself start to awaken, but my eyes felt as though they were weighed down by lead weights, and they refused to open. I heard voices above me and stiffened. * Oh no…What have I gotten myself into now? * I sat perfectly still, pretending to be asleep, and listened in on the conversation at hand.
"…can't believe you have all that material with you Tomoyo…it's actually kind of frightening…"
A girl, she sounded a bit older than I was, answered, whom I assumed to be this 'Tomoyo' person. "But Sakura, you know it comes in handy…remember that time when you were going out on a date with Syaoran and Kero accidentally spilt chocolate pudding on the only good clean pair of clothes you had? Who was the ever trusting faithful friend who stood by you and provided you with a really kawaii little outfit that took Syaoran's breath away" short pause, "Hmmmm?"
I heard a sigh, probably this 'Sakura' girl, who sounded the same age as the Tomoyo girl. "Tomoyo, firstly, it wasn't a date. As I correctly recall, the whole group was going. Secondly it wasn't an accident because, as I recall, you were the one who told Kero that Syaoran was coming. And that was after I specifically told you not to because, as I also remember telling you, Kero was in a real bad mood with Syaoran after he locked him in the cupboard for a day. And as a consequence of that, sprayed the chocolate pudding over me when Syaroan's name was mentioned by you." Sakura took a deep breath, before continuing, "Thirdly, the only reason it 'took Syaoran's breath away' was because Touya saw him gawking at me and tried to strangle him."
I heard a male-like voice start to chuckle. "Heh heh, that was pretty funny"
"Just…stay out of this Kero…"
* Kero?…waaaiiitt…I know that name… *
"Okay okay, but still, wherever this girl is from, she'll draw too much attention to herself wearing that…" short pause "so that's where I come in!"
I heard an exasperated sigh then, "Wouldn't it be easier if she just borrowed some of my clothes?"
"Of course not, her physique is different to yours. The clothes won't fit properly."
I heard another, quieter sigh, then Sakura mumbled in a tired sounding voice. "Okay Tomoyo, you're the fashion designer…"
This was followed by an excited giggle, then the sound of fading footsteps.
"I don't know why you bother Sakura, I mean how long have you known Tomoyo?"
"I don't know, I've lost count, what's your point?"
"My point is, you should know you can't convince her not to make clothing…you'd have a better chance convincing the kid to give up martial arts and join The Wiggles."
There was another sigh; then the one called Kero spoke up again. "So why did you call Tomoyo anyway?"
"She's my best friend, I tell her everything. And besides if she found out something magical happened, resulting in strange people turning up in my basement, and I didn't tell her about it, she'd never speak to me again."
"…Good point"
"So…how long do you think she'll be out for?"
There was a pause "It's strange, she feels as though she's recovered sufficient strength and magic to at least wake up…but she's still out…" The voice got a little louder, as if he was leaning closer or something. "Maybe we should just tie her up in the chamber and leave her until she comes to." I flinched. * chamber? * His voice sounded amused. "Or should we just torture her for a bit? It's your choice Sakura…" At that, my eyes flew open, and I scrambled away from whoever had been talking. "St-stay away from me!"
The girl looked a little surprised to see me awake and reached out a hand to stop me. "Hey, hey, it's okay, he was just kidding!" I continued to scramble back, and the girl turned to scowl at the thing that was hovering in the air. It was small and yellow, and had a pair of white wings. "Nice one Kero, now look what you've done."
The little flying thing she was referring to; Kero, smiled and sat back in the air. "Hey, at least I got her to wake up…she wasn't asleep by the way, just pretending."
The girl, Sakura, blinked. "Oh…right." Turning back to me, she smiled reassuringly and offered a hand to help me sit up. "It's okay, we won't hurt you. And don't mind Kero, he's just like that."
I hesitated for a second, but used the time to search their auras. The girl was amazingly strong, and was surrounded by a bright pink aura. The small animal thing, Kero, wasn't quite as strong, but strong none-the-less, and was surrounded by a gold aura. But neither had anything negative about them. Letting out a mental sigh of relief, I took the hand the girl offered, and allowed her to pull me into a sitting position. She smiled and introduced herself.
"My name is Sakura, and this poor excuse for a stuffed animal is Kero…"
Kero glared at her "Hey!"
She ignored him and smiled, before turning to look into another room and called out. "Hey Tomoyo, she's awake!"
A voice, one of the voices I heard before when I was first waking up, called back "Really? Great! I just finished an outfit."
Sakura turned back to me, and smiled slightly at my confused expression as Tomoyo came in carrying a pile of clothing. "This is my best friend Tomoyo…"
I looked from Tomoyo, to Kero, then back to Sakura, and hesitantly answered. "Um…hello…my name…is Leonora…"
They all smiled and Tomoyo replied. "Nice to meet you Leonora."
I smiled shyly, then tried to compose myself. "Um, this might sound a bit silly, but…where am I?"
Sakura blinked and replied. "Well, currently, you're at my house, in Tomoeda, which is in Japan…you…don't come from around here do you?"
I expelled a breath then slumped against the chair I was sitting in. "No…I'm so sorry for intruding on your home like this…but…" I paused and sighed, looking at me hands. "I didn't have much of a choice"
Sakura eyed Tomoyo and Kero, then asked. "Do you want to tell us about it?"
They had magic…well the one called Tomoyo didn't, but she was obviously a good friend with the other two, so she would know about it. By the style of clothing and my surroundings, I figured I was pretty far away from home. I continued after a short hesitation. "I suppose I'd better…I come from a place called Forlynn. This might sound a little unusual, but I think it's another dimension to yours."
Sakura raised an eyebrow. "Don't worry, nothing strikes me as unusual anymore, go on…"
"Well, I'm a princess…my Mother and Father are the King and Queen of the Forlynnian Kingdom. I have sister, Hallanna, but she is younger than I am, so I'm the next in line for the throne. Anyway, because of that, I have certain…obligations…because I'm destined to be the next ruler of our kingdom. I have to be strong in both mind, spirit, magic and physical strength. I'm good in the physical strength department, my father and his best knights taught me to fight and defend myself, and he's the strongest in the land. My tutors say I'm very intelligent, and that I have a strong spirit…it's just…" I paused and looked guiltily down at my feet. "I'm not…very good when it comes to magic…"
"Is that why you ended up here?"
"It is part of it. I tried all the best magic tutors, and I learned how to do everything easy enough, it's just there's a big difference between knowing how to perform a spell and actually performing a spell. I spent every waking hour practicing, some things I finally got, but others seemed to constantly backfire on me. One in particular…I was practicing in the woods near our castle, when a transport spell backfired."
"And that's how you ended up here…"
"No, it worked, more or less. But instead of taking me back to the castle like it was supposed to, it sent me to the Forsaken Lands, that's the home for demons, and all the really nasty evil things of our world. I am lucky to be alive; I had been running for days, when I finally managed to lose most of the creatures. So I tried the transport spell again, but I didn't have time to concentrate on where I was going to end up. As far as I was concerned, anywhere was better than the Forsaken lands. Luckily, I managed to shake off most of the creatures, and I got through. One managed to get through with me, but I closed the doorway in time." I smirked slightly and continued. "Let's just say…he isn't exactly whole anymore…"
Sakura screwed up her nose. "Are you saying there's half a demon thingy sitting in my basement?"
"Oh no, when they are killed, they dissolve."
"Oh…right…that's handy…so that's how you ended up here."
I nodded.
"Wow…that's pretty intense Princess," Tomoyo smiled reassuringly at me and continued. "But don't worry your safe with us now!"
I smiled, probably for the first time in days. "Thank you, and please, just call me Leo. Princess is too formal, and umm…people usually only call me Leonora when I'm in trouble."
"Okay, no problem."
I smiled. It seemed the Gods were finally smiling down on me. Although I wasn't exactly sure where I had ended up, I was fortunate enough to have stumbled into a place that seemed really friendly. I was about to start asking my new found friends a few questions, when my stomach quiet rudely started to growl. I sweatdropped.
Sakura grinned and stood up. "Hungry? I'll go and whip up something for you…"
I smiled guiltily and looked at my feet. "I'm sorry…I haven't exactly eaten properly for a few days…"
"It's no problem, cooking is one of my specialties!"
Kero snorted and called after her as she left the room. "Yeah, that's only if you don't manage to burn it first…"
"Hey! Right, that's it, no pudding for you"
Kero's face fell. "Aahh…I was only kidding Sakura…" He floated off and into the kitchen, leaving me with Tomoyo. She smiled and kneeled on the ground next the couch. "They'll be gone for a while…here, I made you some clothes to wear." I glanced down, and was momentarily surprised to see that the outfit I was wearing was clean and repaired. * …one of them must have used magic, good thing to, otherwise Garret would have killed me…* I glanced at Tomoyo, she was laying out the clothing on the floor. It was the first time I had been able to get a good look at their clothing. It was unusual compared to what I'm used to, but I liked the look of some of the things.
I smiled slightly, "I don't normally dress like this. My mother insists on me wearing these elegant gowns where ever I go, but I kept setting them alight whenever I practiced my magic." I smoothed a wrinkle in the blue tunic and sighed. "This belongs to Garret, he's an apprentice of one of my father's knights." Tomoyo eyed my face as I felt my cheeks start to flush as I continued. "Mother is perfectly okay with me acting as I like, as long as I at least look like a lady."
"So Garret loaned it to you so you could practice properly? …Seems like a nice guy this Garret…"
I felt my face burn up slightly more. "Oh yes, he's very kind, and very brave…There was this one night when I was 14, I had broken my leg in a ::cough:: err magical accident…anyway, rebels stormed the castle…he stayed by my side all night, to protect me because I wasn't in a condition to protect myself…" I sighed, perhaps a bit too dreamily than I had intended. I paused mid sigh and glanced at Tomoyo. She had this…unusual expression on her face…I wasn't exactly sure what it meant. She seemed to break herself out of whatever thoughts were occupying her attention and eyed me. "Seems like you and Garret have a little…magic… going on between the two of you…" She raised an eyebrow and smiled slightly…I couldn't help thinking it looked rather predatory. "Wouldn't you say?"
I looked at her with an expression that was half embarrassment, half mortification. "Oh no! No…we are…we are just…friends." I was hoping she would just forget it…
"Sounds to me like it's a bit more than friends…"
Nope, no chance of that happening…
Sakura and Kero, who entered the room carrying food, saved me any further explanation. "Don't mind her, she's like that with me and one of my friends too. It's useless trying to convince he otherwise. She's stubborn."
Tomoyo looked indignant. "I am not stubborn, I am merely stating a well known fact."
Sakura gazed at Tomoyo with a weary expression. "Oh and what fact would that be Tomoyo?"
"That you and Syaoran are most definitely a couple."
Sakura let out a sigh that suggested that this was an argument on which she had fought many times before. "Tomoyo, we've been through this, we are just good friends." She shot Tomoyo and Kero a look as they simultaneously rolled their eyes, although Kero looked a bit more angry than Tomoyo who just looked like she didn't believe a word Sakura was saying. I could sympathize with Sakura; my sister was like this. Sakrua sighed and looked pointedly at Tomoyo. "I don't care what you say Tomoyo, and besides, if it does actually turn out to be more than that…he's in Hong Kong, I'm in Japan…we're too far apart…"
Tomoyo seemed to be satisfied with that confession and dropped the subject.
Sakura changed the subject and started spreading out a few plates. "So…who's hungry?"
The food was a little different to what I was used to, but it was still delicious. I was quite happily making my way through my third helping when there was a sound of a doorbell. Sakura frowned and wiped her hands on a napkin and stood up. "I wonder who that is…"
~~~~~~~~~
Sakura's POV:
I frowned slightly as I walked briskly down the hallway. We usually didn't get visitors this late in the evening. * Probably people trying to sell something * I opened the door preparing myself for a speech on the wonderful world of steak knives when the person looked up to face me.
My eyebrows shot up in surprise. "…Eriol? What are you doing here?"
He smiled and half-bowed in greeting before presenting me with a beautiful bouquet of flowers. "Our dear Tomoyo called and said something about you, Syaoran and proposal. I am here to congratulate you two on a long and prosperous life together."
I blinked and scowled slightly. "Firstly, when I called Tomoyo, I didn't mention anything about Syaoran…she's been reading between the lines again…although which lines I'm still trying to figure out. Secondly, Syaoran is still in Hong Kong, and for the hundredth time, we are just friends…Clear?"
Eriols' eyebrow rose. "Crystal" His trademark smile returned to his face. "Keep the flowers anyway"
"Right…errr…thanks…" I sighed and allowed him to enter as I stumbled down the hall with the oversized bouquet. "Umm, it's actually a good thing you came, there's someone I'd like you to meet…"
His eyebrow rose again in interest as he followed me into the kitchen, then into the lounge room after I'd deposited the flowers into a vase. "Eriol, meet Princess Leonora…but she prefers to be called…"
"Leo?"
I blinked in surprise. "Yeah, how did you know?"
Leo tilted her head to the side as if confused, but a happy smile lit her features as she stood up. "Master Eriol, it is so good to see you!"
"Huh?"
Tomoyo glanced from Leo to Eriol, then back to Leo. "You two…know each other?"
Leo beamed a smile and replied. "Of course! Master Eriol was one of my tutors for magic!" She clasped her hands together. "I haven't seen him in years…you have grown up Master Eriol, I almost didn't recognise you!"
I blinked and eyed Eriol. He simply smiled calmly back at me.
"Um…care to explain Eriol?"
He nodded then sat comfortably on a chair. "I trust Leo has filled you in on the basics of her origin…" he glanced at her, "Correct?" She nodded, so he continued. "The place she comes from is like a parallel to Earth. An opposite, magically speaking, is probably the best way of putting it. They use magic like we use electricity. In her home the majority of people have magic like the majority here don't. Understand?"
"Yeah, but that still doesn't explain how you know her."
He waved his hand around in the air as if it was all old news. "People…or should I say magicians, sorcerers and such have been 'crossing over' between worlds for centuries. It's a fairly difficult spell to do, so it's only performed by upper level sorcerers." He looked at Leo and smiled. "I must say I'm proud of you Leo, you have certainly come a long way if you've managed to master a transport spell that allowed you to cross worlds." Leo looked uncomfortable and glanced down at her feet. "Uh…well, I wouldn't say…master…exactly…uhh…"
Eriol gazed at her with an expression of interest. Leo sighed then told him what she told us.
Eriol frowned when she got to the part about the portal closing and the demon consequently getting…err…downsized.
"What's wrong?"
He rubbed his chin. "There's a side effect when using a portal that crosses between worlds. We're not really sure why it happens, but it happens. Possibly something to do with magical residue…that's not important. Anyway…" He paused and flicked his fingers. A piece of paper and a pen appeared on the table. He knelt down and drew a long tunnel on the paper as he explained. "Basically the portal…" He pointed to one end of the tunnel, then to the other. "Takes you form place A, to place B. But…" He drew another tunnel, this one branching off form the first. "There is always a second destination…it isn't as stable as the original but it is still powerful enough to do some pretty strange things."
I eyed the drawing a little confused. "So what prevents you from going through the unstable one?"
"The only way you go to the unstable one is if the destination portal is closed before you get through, or if you are close enough to the unstable one and get sucked into it. But that is rare. The other half of the demon would have been dropped off somewhere and dissolved."
"Oh…well that's good…but what about the strange things you mentioned?"
"Well the unstable one has been known to…change things…it's reversible, but that is difficult to do." He glanced at Leo. "The things you were chasing, from what you described…they were Keetle's…am I correct?" She nodded, as Eriol explained, smiling slightly. "Our dear half a demon probably turned into a kettle then…it has a tendency to turn you into something that is similar to your spirit or your name." He looked at me and smiled. "If it was you, it probably would have turned you into a bunch of Cherry blossoms, as that is what your name means."
I blinked and nodded slowly, "Okay, I think I get it…but what makes you think the keetle thing turned into a kettle?"
"Experience, and the name 'keetle' comes from 'kettle'…they called them that because that particular demon shoots steam at you…they are sometimes called 'steam demon's'…the steam's hot enough to strip the flesh right off the bone in mere seconds."
"Oh…how nice."
Leo snorted ruefully, "Yeah, lucky for me they just wanted to eat me, otherwise they would have just saved the energy and melted me on the spot."
"Oh…how nice…"
Leo smirked ruefully. "That's why they call them the Forsaken lands, and why they tell you to avoid that place at all costs…it gets pretty nasty."
Kero popped up from his spot among the food and spoke up, although it was a little difficult since his mouth was still considerable stuffed with food. " 'I oou ay oob onei…"
"Swallow Kero, then speak…"
He stopped, gulped down the food and began again, this time in something that we could actually understand. "I was saying, I would pay good money to see the look on that poor saps face when a half beaten black kettle suddenly appears then burst into flames for no good reason." He smiled then continued to stuff hi face with food.
Leo was gazing at Kero as he managed to cram something bigger than his head into his mouth, then shifted her gaze to Eriol. "Kero…isn't that the same name of one of your guardians?"
Eriol nodded, glanced at Kero and smiled.
Leo blinked. "Him?…But…I thought he was supposed to be…bigger…"
I smiled and replied. "He is…this is just his false form…Kero, quit jamming your food hole and show her." Kero shot me a dirty look but a second later and in a flurry of feathers, a considerably large, less-stuffed-animal-like winged lion was sitting in the lounge room…and still sorry to say, stuffing his face. The food was gone in a flash and a satisfied looking giant winged lion changed back into a satisfied looking yellow stuffed animal. "Ahhhhh, that was good Sakura, you should cook like this more often."
I sighed, then glanced around the room. Leo was looking at me with this weird expression on her face. "What? What's wrong"
"It's just…your aura…it's very powerful…and Kero is staying with you and everything…" She hesitated then asked. "Do you have the Clow Book? Master Eriol was telling me about it last time he came to visit."
"Uh…well technically now it's called the Sakura book…I transformed them years ago…"
She looked nothing short of shocked. "You transformed them?! Wow…you're more powerful than I thought…" She giggled then grinned slightly evilly, "My sister is just going to die when I tell her I met the card mistress…"
"What's so big about that? I thought Eriol said that most people from where you come from have magic…"
"Well yeah, but only a few are strong enough to do something like that…I mean, you would have had to face Final judgement…and then whatever Master Eriol threw at you to change them and everything….wow…and he's one of the strongest people I know…well now one of the second strongest people I know…No offense Master Eriol"
"None taken"
"Oh…" I tried to say something remotely enthusiastic "go me", pity my tone didn't feel the same way.
Tomoyo, who had used her silence to soak all this in, finally spoke up. "Wow Sakura, you're pretty famous…" She smiled at my rueful expression, then turned her attention to Leo. "Here, you should go get changed, these will probably be a bit more comfortable than what you're wearing." Leo looked down at her outfit, blushed slightly then stood up to follow Tomoyo out the room. I smiled a little, then eyed Eriol and Kero as a thought occurred to me. "You've obviously known about this other world for a long time right?…So why didn't you tell me about it?"
Kero glanced at Eriol, so he answered. "A number of reasons. Firstly, I figured you had enough on your plate than having to think about parallel universes and such. Secondly, I didn't really think you'd believe me"
I fixed him with a blank stare. "Eriol, remember who you are talking to for a second. I spent a majority of my pre-adolescence chasing around mutant tarot cards on a pink wand with wings. Nothing strikes me as unusual anymore. And besides Syaorans' the one that doesn't trust you, not me"
He smiled benignly. "Point taken."
Tomoyo returned and a few minutes later Leo shyly came back out into the lounge room. She seemed a little uncomfortable in the clothing, a shortish pale blue skirt, white above-the-knee stockings, and a white top. "It's a little shorter than I'm used to…all my clothes are floor length and require assistance and a lot of patience to get into…" She brightened up and did a little twirl. "But this is great! And so comfortable too, thank you Tomoyo…"
Tomoyo smiled, "No problem at all, maybe you could show it to your mother, she might let you design something like it to train in"
"Oh no, my Mother won't allow it. She already knows about other fashions from both our worlds, but she still insists that I wear the gowns. She says it's 'princess-like', and 'upholding tradition'. Personally I don't think it's very 'princess-like' to run around practicing self-defense and magic in seven layers of flammable material. She's very stubborn. I don't know how she managed it…but I guess I'll have to manage to, if I want to be as great a ruler as she and Father are" Her expression turned sad for a moment. "I miss them…they must be worried sick about me. I haven't been able to contact them in days." She frowned then continued. "I'd try now, but I'm not very good at communication magic, let alone communication magic across dimensions…" She sighed, then flopped back on the couch. "Why is magic so difficult with me…"
Eriol sat back and smiled slightly. "Don't worry, I'll contact your parents and tell them everything that happened."
She looked relieved and smiled her thanks. "Thank you Master Eriol."
"No problem at all"
* Well, my holidays just got a whole lot more interesting…
*~~~~~~~~
That's it for this lil chappie…hmm, trust me it gets more interesting in the next chapters…but I'll upload those later (I've actually finished th next chapter, and am about ¾ through the third one…but I'm not going to post em yet, coz the contents is subject to change ^-^
Okay! Please read and review, constructive criticism, any kind words and all that jazz and whatnot. Ciao till later StarDragon ^-^