First draft (11/14/05)
Hi minna! I'm very happy that you stopped by to read my first CCS fanfic. But that doesn't mean you have to go easy on me. ;p I've been wanting to write a CCS fic for a long time, but never got down to write one... so here it is! If you see any mistakes grammar wise, characterization, or anything like that, feel free to correct me. I'm no English major. I know it isn't a proper excuse, but I may be rusty on the CCS story line... A little bit. All right, all right... Maybe more than a little bit. Lol
Summary: Syaoran Li is in a bit of a predicament. It seems he's released set of cards whose power rivals Clow's. To make matters worse, a power-hungry spirit is threatening to consume his mind! It doesn't help that the cards and the spirit are both after one thing. His beloved Sakura. How will he protect her from the enemy when the enemy is he himself?
Disclaimer: Nope, don't own CCS. I'd take my time to babble on about the copyrights and all, but... that's not why I'm here, now is it?
The Thanatos
By: ivolynn
Chapter 1(Syaoran POV)
The need of power.
I can feel it.
It disgusts me as the rotting stench of a corpse. It clouds my mind like the shroud that covers the lifeless body of a dead man.
Just as he does. That thing that has taken residence in the darkest corner of my mind. That is why I am here, in Japan again. I'm trying to get rid of him. For Sakura's sake.
Oh, why had I opened that book? That cursed book that mother had warned me many times not to ever open. I have opened a Pandora's box of evil, or rather a book, of evil. I have released a great evil called the Thanatos, the being that now resides in my mind, along with his own set of fifty-two cards. And now they, in search of power and because of fear of me recapturing them, have fled without a doubt to Tomoeda where the Sakura, the strongest sorceress, lives.
The elders believe that if I recapture all fifty-two cards Thanatos will disappear because by then I will be the new Master.
If I don't, Thanatos will take over my mind. Completely.
As Wei drove us out of the airport, I noticed an ominous cloud hovering about ten miles away at Tomoeda's working district. Could it be a Thanatos card?
"Drive to the working district, Wei," I ordered, taking out the slender black key at my neck and transforming it into a sword shaped baton with a sliver missing. It came with the book, except instead of a stuffed animal guardian I got a ghost.
"Yes sir." Wei got onto a street leading towards the tall gloomy buildings of Tomoeda.
I had to get there right away and seal the card before Sakura came along to stop it or do something stupid like that. That girl attracts more trouble than any creature I've ever seen.
----
(Sakura POV)
I was in my Geometry class when I first noticed a weird cloud hanging over the skyscrapers a few miles away from my school. Odd thing was that it seemed to have appeared just suddenly, because I remember looking out the window a few minutes ago, and the sky was clear, not a cloud in sight.
And it seemed to be heading in this direction. Fast.
Suddenly a ruler rapped loudly against my desk and simultaneously my pencil snapped in half because of the pressure I was putting on it. "Hoe..." That was my last pencil too...
"Kinomoto-san! What do you find so interesting outside that you didn't hear me call you three times?" my teacher Mrs. Tadashi yelled in my face. I heard giggles and whispers around me and suddenly felt heat rush up to my face.
"A cloud," I replied lamely.
"A cloud?" She looked outside. "What is so interesting about a cloud? In less than a month you will take the end of the year exams. You can't be sitting here thinking about a silly cloud. C'mon girl, get with it!" Satisfied, my teacher returned to her place in front of the chalkboard to recap on bisecting angles and all that.
Before I knew it, class was over. The cloud was closer, too. I was starting to get the strange feeling I used to when I felt a Clow card near by.
I leaned back in my chair, waiting for Tomoyo to come in to visit. This year she was in a different class than me.
"Hey Sakura-chan!" she greeted me as she plopped down in the chair in front of me backwards. "Heard that you got in trouble with Tadashi-sensei."
I shook my head. "Not really. She just yelled at me, but no detention."
"You're lucky. She usually hands them out to whoever she has to talk to."
"She usually hands them out to loud obnoxious people, like Michiru over there." I gestured to the class's prep wannabe who was currently flipping her hair and telling her friends about the newest hair products or whatever.
"I don't remember her getting any," Tomoyo said.
"Well... It's just those kind of people she puts in detention." I looked out the window. The cloud was over Penguin Park now. "You see that cloud over there, Tomoyo-chan? There's something weird about it."
"Like a Clow Card? But you already captured all of them." She looked puzzled.
I nodded. "I know. It feels like a Clow Card and it doesn't... It's really weird..."
"Maybe we should go check it out?" Her eyes had a sparkle that I knew she was up to something.
I laughed. "Are you still making outfits? Geez, Tomoyo-chan..."
She grinned. "Aw, c'mon, Sakura-chan! I haven't gotten to you to wear an outfit in five years!" She took out her camera.
I rolled my eyes. "And you're still taping me."
"C'mon Sakura-chaaan!" she pleaded.
I looked outside at the cloud, trying to avoid her eyes because if I looked at her now, I know I would give in.
"Pleeeeeaaaaase!"
It was getting harder to stare out the window, and I felt my eyes were drawn over to her making such a racket. She had attracted the stares of the others in my class as well. My eyes fell on her. Her eyes were wide as she could possibly make them and her lips were in a pout. Full puppy dog-Tomoyo mode.
I sighed and relented. "Fine--Hey!"
I found myself hauled up to my feet and unceremoniously dragged out of the room to her locker a hall away. She opened the locker in a whirl of combinations and pulled out one of her odd outfits.
At my weird look, she explained. "Been saving it for a day like this." It was a yellow rubber ducky raincoat outfit complete with a duckbill hat. I face faulted.
"There's boots, too," she added cheerfully, dropping a couple waterproof boots that looked like they would go just below my knees.
And all I could say was: "It's gonna rain?"
She shrugged. "Who knows? I have several other ones in here, too." She showed me the others, but I finally opted for the ducky outfit because it was the least outlandish one.
"Good choice," she said with a nod of approval. "'Cause I made one for me too." She showed me hers, except it was blue.
I wondered how the heck she fit all that stuff in her locker, but the best answer I could come up with was because it was Tomoyo.
After going to the bathroom to change, I donned my key and cards and said, "Let's go then!"
--
When we got to Penguin Park, it began to rain. And this was not like a light sprinkle either. It was a torrential downpour! Why couldn't Tomoyo have made an umbrella too...?
"How did you know...?" I rasped, slogging through the muddy puddles towards where I felt the presence strongest.
She shrugged, her camera (which had a rubber ducky coat sorta thing too) held up to her eye and a smile on her face.
When I almost slipped on a particularly slimy patch of grass, I growled at the sky, "Could you possibly rain any harder!"
As if answering, it did.
I sighed and stopped to get my key out.
"Key of the star,
with powers burning bright,
reveal the staff,
and shine your light,
Release!"
With my staff in hand, I trudged along, looking for signs of whatever was causing this rain.
Suddenly I heard a shout somewhere near. I headed in that direction with Tomoyo in tow.
"Key of Death,
and western magic of night,
relinquish the sword,
and vanquish the light,
Release!"
"Who was that?" Tomoyo asked worried. "It sounded like your battle chant."
"I don't know," I replied. "Come on. I think I heard it in this direction." I helped her down a muddy hill and walked down to a thick tangle of trees, vines and bushes. The odd thing was that the plants were weaving amongst each other as if they were trying to block our way. I moved to push a vine out of the way, but a thorn, about an inch long, jabbed out at me.
I felt a small twinge of magic from it.
"Whatever's causing this storm doesn't want us to go through," I commented to myself, readying my staff.
"Sword, Release and dispel!"
As soon as the staff transformed, I slashed at the tangle of vines, successfully cutting through them. Only, there were more in my way. Slightly annoyed, I hacked at the obstacles and we passed through.
When I got to the other side, a strong wave of magic crashed into me, causing me to stumble backwards into Tomoyo. She helped me up.
"What's that?" she asked, pointing somewhere in front of us.
I tried to see, but all I could see was the blur of rain until I spotted two figures, seemingly in a battle.
"That's probably who's causing this." I started on towards the figures.
--
(Syaoran POV)
As Wei drove me towards the working district, I noticed that the cloud was steadily moving eastward. Towards the park.
"Wait, Wei. Go to the Penguin Park instead."
He nodded and got off on a street towards the park.
Tomoeda sure hasn't changed in the last five years.
---------
As soon as we got there, I threw on my green robes hastily and ran towards where I felt the magic strongest. What was odd, was that as soon as came under the shadow of the cloud, it began to rain. The flooding sort of rain.
The fact that it was so dark, even though it was one in the afternoon, and that all I could hear was the loud pattering of rain gave the place an eerie sort of feeling.
When I finally stopped, I found myself in front of a jungle gym. Lightning crackled against the sky, and my eyes caught sight of a lone figure sitting atop a slide.
I narrowed my eyes to get a better look.
It was a young girl, maybe around nine or ten, wearing an odd combination of orange tights and a bellowing blue tunic. She turned her head in my direction and acknowledged my presence by nodding.
"Are you Li Syaoran?" she called out.
That put me on defensive. A kid that I've never seen in my life knows my name.
"Who wants to know?" I asked gruffly.
A small smirk came on her face. "Why I do, of course. Silly." She leapt off the pole and somersaulted with amazing grace to land perfectly on her feet like a cat.
"Who are you?" I demanded, ready to transform my key.
"Who I am, is not important," she replied, approaching me. I noticed she wore a half mask.
I took out my sword pendant, knowing that if she struck now, I wouldn't have enough time to transform my key. "What do you want then?"
She laughed quietly. "Questions, questions, questions... I just want to know if you are who I think you are. You wouldn't happen to know the Card Mistress, would you?"
She knew about the cards? I transformed my sword.
The girl whistled. "I take that as a yes. I'm flattered that you would think of fighting with me, but I have more important matters to take care of with the ol' man up there." She looked up to the cloud.
At my confused look, she answered, "Zeus. One of the fifty-two cards of Thanatos."
I glared at her. How the heck did she know about them anyway? I decided to ponder that later, because right then I had a card to capture.
"I don't know how you know about them," I said slowly. "But if you don't get out of my way right now, I'll have to make you."
She giggled. "I knew it! You're him! You have the Thanatos key, don'cha, don'cha?"
I ignored her and began my incantation:
"Key of Death,
and western magic of night,
relinquish the sword,
and vanquish the light,
Release!"
The key elongated into a sword like staff. I shrunk my other sword down to a pendant and put it back in my shirt.
I felt Thanatos stir within my mind as I said these words. Power... He said. Suddenly a familiar aura of magic washed over me. Sakura... My mind was jumbled at the feelings I was now experiencing. Happiness, excitement, and worry.
"That idiot," I muttered lowly for only myself to hear. "She's coming. I need to capture this one quickly."
"The Thanatos key..." I heard the girl breathe. "Give it to me."
I was surprised at her sudden change of emotion.
"Demeter, give me strength." She said simply and the trees that surrounded the jungle gym and us became a tangled mess. "So that no one bothers us while we fight," she said as an afterthought. "Heracle! Give me strength!" She began at a ground-pounding run towards me.
I sidestepped and she dug her feet into the ground to stop her momentum. She threw a punch.
I blocked, but I was knocked off my feet into a seesaw nearby. I was temporarily stunned and she took advantage of that to jump on the other side; therefore flinging me up a few feet into the air. When I came back down, I quickly jumped off and waited for her to attack me. Wait for them to make the first move, as they say.
The girl obviously was too impulsive to remember that because she came towards me once again. I sidestepped, but this time I stuck my foot out and tripped her.
She flew face first into a waterlogged sandpit.
"Wai! I got sand in my mouth!" the girl cried, spitting out sand. I approached her as she was doing this and picked her up by the back of her collar. I made her face me.
"Who are you, little girl? How do you know about the Thanatos cards?" I demanded.
For the first time, the girl lost her confident smirk and glared. "I'm not telling you."
I heard a voice behind me. "Hey! Who are you!" I turned to look at whom it was.
Two girls dressed in ridiculous raincoats with duckbill hats. One had a pink staff with a star tip. The other was equipped with a camera.
"Whoa! Look at the rain! It's stopping!" The girl with the camera said, directing her camera towards the sky. "Where'd that weird cloud go?"
The girl with the staff also looked up to the sky. "Maybe it ran away?"
This caused me to examine her closer. Short brown hair matted to her forehead and flushed cheeks. Bright green eyes... Sakura.
Without noticing, I dropped the girl in a heap in the sand. She scrambled to her feet and ran off.
I turned around, ready to go after her, "Hey! Where do you think you're going!"
A couple rectangular papers flitted to the ground. I picked them up.
Thanatos cards.
"The Heracle and the Demeter," I read aloud. I looked up to the sky. The Zeus had fled.
"Who are you!" Sakura demanded.
She doesn't even remember me.
Has my worst fear come true?
I sighed as I willed the staff to become a pendant and faced her.
The dark haired girl, who I recognized as Tomoyo, came up closer, her camera still held up to her eye. "Li-kun? Is that you?"
"Glad to know at least one person recognized me," I muttered.
Sakura's eyes widened. "Syaoran-kun?" She approached, stopping only a foot from me.
"Oh my god, it is you!" She and Tomoyo let out a squeal of happiness... I shook my head at their antics. Same old, same old.
Sakura inched near me and for a moment I thought she would hug me... but to my disappointment, she didn't.
"I'm so glad to see you," she whispered, staring at her feet, her wet forelocks hiding her face.
"So... cute..." I heard Tomoyo murmur quietly.
"Why are you here, Sakura?" I asked, trying to ease off the tension.
She looked up and then looked back down again, her face a wind burned red. "I sensed... a presence."
I sneezed and that's when I realized I was soaked to the bone.
"You look cold, Syaoran-kun," Sakura commented, concern in her eyes. "Do you want to go to my house to dry off?"
I shook my head. "I just arrived here-," She looked disappointed, "but I think I might be able to come over tomorrow after school."
Her expression brightened considerably. "You're staying? When are you starting school?"
"I'm staying, but I'll explain that later and," I looked down at the key in my hand, "What you saw earlier. I'm starting school tomorrow. Wei already enrolled me. I just have to go pick up my schedule, and I'm set."
She twisted the star staff in her hands. "Well, okay. I guess we'll see you tomorrow... See ya! C'mon, Tomoyo-chan!" She dragged Tomoyo off over the hill to the direction of the high school waving with the staff.
I allowed a small smile come to my lips. Same old Sakura.
I wonder if she remembers that I told her I loved her...
Finito!
That's it. About the Thanatos cards... I'm doing a little research and using my knowledge from my Mythology class.
And don't worry; I don't plan on making this fic fifty-two chapters long (with the cards and all). That would take a long time, and I'm afraid that many of you wonderful people would abandon me if I drag out the ending like that.
Feeling generous today? Please review!
(If it's not too much to ask, I'd like you to recommend some good CCS stories to me, preferably S+S. Thank you.)