Boredom.
It was almost as if Sakura were just an ordinary girl again. It had been just a few months since she had sealed the Hope card and the everyday life of a young girl living in Tomoeda, Japan came roaring back like a dragon. There was little to do now, magic wise. Tomoyo was still busy coming up with magical ideas to videotape, staging elaborate scenes starring Sakura and her Guardians saving the town from some new made up threat, but beyond that, things had gone back to normal. Or at least as normal as they ever could be.
Sakura, Tomoyo and Rika were walking together down the street not far from school, talking about school matters, clothes, and boys. Pretty much all the normal stuff eleven year olds talk about. It wasn't that Sakura hated her life. It just wasn't as interesting as it had been. Until they saw the poster.
"Hold it, Rika, Tomoyo, come read this," Sakura said.
The other two girls looked at the poster and all of their hearts skipped. It read, "come one, come all, to see the Magic and sorcery of Joushin the great. See him banish the Blue Elephant to the netherworld. See him escape from the infamous 'upside down water torture chamber'."
"Hoe!" Exclaimed Sakura, and Tomoyo and Rika were equally excited.
"Has a Magician ever come Tomoeda before?" Rika asked.
"Maybe," Tomoyo replied, blushing with joy, "but I don't remember ever hearing of one. Let alone an escape artist."
"What's an escape artist?" Sakura asked as she turned to her old friend.
"A special kind of magician who specializes in 'self liberation'." Tomoyo could see that her explanation was just as confusing as the term she was explaining. "The magician is basically tied up in some way, and has to escape from his bonds before something happens."
"Something?" Sakura asked, "what kind of something?"
"Well," Tomoyo pointed at the poster, "There's a picture of this magician inside a tank of water, hanging upside down. I assume that he has to escape before he drowns."
Both Rika and Sakura gasped.
"Do you think that he uses his magic to escape?" Rika asked.
"Yes," Sakura chimed in, "but I would say it's pretty dangerous, even with magic. Still." She looked at the poster again, fascinated by what she read and saw.
"I'm sure you would be good at it, Sakura, I mean," Tomoyo blushed as she realized she was about to talk about Sakura's magical ability. "With a little practice, I'm sure you would be really good at."
At first, Sakura didn't believe what she was hearing. Was Tomoyo actually suggesting that she try such a dangerous stunt? But as they continued to talk about it on the way home, Sakura thought more and more that she would at least like to know what kind of magic it took to perform such a feet.
When Sakura made it home, she went immediately upstairs to talk to Kero, Beast of the Seal and Sun Guardian. She found him, as always, playing a video game. In truth, even though her father had bought the video game system for her, she didn't get to use it much with Kero around.
"Konnichiwa, Kero-chan," she said, although he ignored her. He was making so much noise, cursing at the video game that he didn't even notice she had come in. "KERO-CHAN!" She repeated, loudly, startling him back to reality.
"WHAAA?" He shouted, and then again, "nooooooo!" His last ship crashed into an asteroid. "Sakura! That was my last my man! Now I have to start over from the beginning." He raised himself up in the air, floating, and hanging his head in a sad manner.
"I'm sorry, Kero," she told him, "but I can't stand it when you ignore me. Besides, I got some wonderful news." She sat down on her bed and smiled a huge smile that only Sakura seemed able to produce. "An escape artist is coming to town."
Kero looked at her. Dumbfounded. His eyes seemed to glow a strange orange, and his face was like a rock.
"Eh," he said, "is that all!?" He began yelling. "You interrupted my game to tell me that?"
"Well, Yes, I did, as a matter of fact. The poster I saw said he can escape from an 'upside down water torture chamber'."
"Oh!" Kero said, smiling his over confident smile. "Clow Reed was an excellent 'self liberator' as well. He mastered all forms of illusion and magic before he created his cards."
"He did?" Sakura was both elated and saddened to learn this. Once again, she faced the fact that she was mistress to magic that had been created by someone else. She often felt a little small and unable to live up to the legend that was Clow Reed.
"Yeah," Kero replied, "I always assumed that one day you would learn such things. It's a little backwards for you, you know. Getting all the cards long before having really studied magic at all. But you're still young, and there's plenty of time to learn such things."
"Do you think I could learn that kind of magic?" She asked.
"Certainly," Kero said, "Like this upside down chamber thing. It's a matter of having a way to get yourself lose, and holding your breath. If you remember, you held your breath for a long, long time that time in Hong Kong. Remember when the sorceress was trying to drown you?"
Sakura did remember that. What she remembered most was being scared, and her lungs feeling like they might explode.
"Yeah," she sighed, thinking to herself. "I have to go and see this for myself."
"Can I come? I'll be quiet, and I'll stay out of other people's treats." Kero was suddenly blushing at the thought of eating sweets.
"Maybe," Sakura told him, "but don't hold your breath."
Sakura didn't tell anyone, but the night before the show, she dreamed that she was the one on stage, performing the acts of magic. She sawed Tomoyo in half, levitated Rika, Chiharu and Naoko, and made Shaoran disappear before the audiences eyes. Then, came the big escape.
All she remembered about the dream was going in the water, upside down, and hearing the locks click into place. Waiting until the curtain was pulled around the tank, she held her breath, and then quickly used a magic spell to unlock herself. Then, she emerged to music flaring and the crowds cheering. She had awakened very excited indeed.
All of her friends had decided to go to the show, and her, Tomoyo, and Shaoran went together. Seated only three rows back, Sakura and Tomoyo couldn't contain themselves, while Shaoran only sat and listened to them giggle and carry on. They were talking about the water escape when he decided to say something.
"This probably isn't even a real magic show," he said to them, deliberately trying to ruin the mood.
"Shaoran," Sakura said to him, "why do you have to be so negative all the time? Even if it's not real magic, Kero said that the art of self liberation is one of skill and endurance, which is the same as magic."
"That may be, but I really hate fakers."
"Is it fake if you are trapped and have to get out, even if there is a trick to it?" She asked him, getting more than a little annoyed with him.
"I suppose not," he returned, "But still."
"Shush, you two," Tomoyo said to them both, "I think the show is starting."
Indeed the show did start, with much fanfare and noise. Joushin the great took the stage, and never spoke a word during the whole show, save near then end. He levitated a ball, from which birds sprang out and flew away. He set fire to a cauldron, from which Rabbits jumped out and scurried around. He motioned for a member of the audience to come up, and having hypnotized her, raised her body off of the ground and floated it high about the stage and out over the heads of the astonished onlookers. His assistants came out, and an elephant was brought out onto the stage, and before anyone knew for sure what was going to happen, it vanished with a bright flash, only to reappear at the back of the auditorium.
The people in the audience loved it.
But then all grew quiet, as Joushin stood unmoving in a spotlight. Music, strange and pulsing, came out as his assistants moved a large water tank out onto the stage, and for the first time, He spoke to his audience.
"Friends, it has been a joy to perform for you and your families tonight. But now, I may very well be leaving this world. As you see behind me, my assistants have brought out the 'upside down water torture chamber', but, alas, it has been renamed, 'the water chamber of death'."
The audience grew starkly quiet.
"Earlier this evening, my apprentice was testing the tank, performing the trick exactly as I instructed him. But, fate has taken him from us. It was a dreadful accident. But in his memory, I will be performing this escape in spite of the danger."
His assistants came out again, and helped him to get out of his robes. Underneath all of his clothes he was wearing a wetsuit colored blue and black.
"Now, I need some witnesses to come up, and witness the escape close up. You, young man." Joushin pointed to a boy in the front row, and the lad slowly came up on the stage.
"And, uh, you there, kind madam," he pointed to one of the teachers at the school. Finally, he looked around the audience as his assistants prepared the stocks that would hold his feet. "You there." He pointed straight at Sakura.
She couldn't believe her luck. She looked at Tomoyo and Shaoran, and beaming a smile wider than the Sea of Japan, she strode up on the stage.
Joushin sat on the floor of the stage, and his assistants placed his feet in the stocks. The Boy and the teacher both helped to make sure that the locks used were real, and they helped lock them in place. Then, one of the assistants handed a set of handcuffs to Sakura. Instantly she went from very, very happy to nervous and shaking.
"Lock my hands behind me," Joushin told her as he put a nose clip on. He laughed at Sakura's expression, and said, trying to calm her, "I can hold my breath a long time, but I can't stand water in my nose any more than you can." Sakura took the cuffs and locked them around his wrists behind him.
"Are," she stammered, "are they too tight?"
"No, indeed, it's just perfect," he replied. Even so, Sakura was beginning to get very nervous. All the excitement of this had caught her now unprepared for what was happening. Joushin could drown, and she had a close up view of it. The assistants attached the stock on his ankles to a crane, then gently lifted the doomed magician up in the air and positioned him over the tank. A large clock was rolled out onto the stage so that all in the audience could see it.
"Now," Joushin announced, "I invite any of you to try and hold your breath as long as I will have to." With that, he took 1. 2. 3 deep breaths before holding it, and he was lowered into the tank. Sakura took a deep breath as well, and held her breath, holding her hands near her mouth as they locked the tank shut, trapping the magician. A curtain was then placed around the tank, and the clock started, counting down the time. One of his assistants stepped up, followed by another hooded person carrying a large sledgehammer.
"In case anything were to go wrong," the assistant said, "I please beg all of you to remain seated until things are under control. We have emergency procedures should the need arise." Sakura stared at him, still holding her breath, and glanced at the clock. It said that 35 seconds had gone by since Joushin had been sealed in the tank. Her heart was going like mad, and she stared out at Tomoyo and Shaoran with a little bit of alarm. It was very nerve racking, waiting for someone to escape or die.
Tomoyo and Shaoran both watched the event unfold, and Shoaran was beginning to rethink how he felt about what he had said. He was impressed so far, but he kept his eye on Sakura. Tomoyo looked at her best friend as well, and found herself counting along with clock in excitement. She thought that it must be so exciting for Sakura, standing there seeing it happen close up.
Time ticked on, 45 seconds. One minute. one minute and 15 seconds. Sakura stared at the curtain, thinking of what horrors Joushin must be experiencing in the tank. Would he get out in time? Her heart was pounding, her lungs were now screaming out to breath, but Sakura stood her ground, waiting for Joushin to either free himself, or.
One minute and 30 seconds. One minute and 45 seconds. Two Minutes! Sakura was growing weak in the knees, but still worrying about Joushin. He hadn't come out of the tank yet. Was he already drowned? She fell to her knees, desperate to hang on, to hold her breath, fearing that if she breathed it might mean that the magician had died, but she couldn't hold out much longer. She looked up at the clock. Two minutes and 25 seconds. She let out her air, and took a deep breath, and cursed herself for no having more willpower.
"Something's not right," the assistant cried out, "he should have come out by now." Sakura looked up, a kind of terror in her eyes. The assistant motioned quickly to the hooded person carrying the hammer, and noise broke out on the stage as the crowd leapt to its feet in anticipation. The curtain was dropped, and there, before them all, stood an empty tank!
A gasp went around the crowd, and a spotlight hit the hooded person, who threw away the cloak to reveal a soaking wet but very much living Joushin the great. Sakura, as well as the crowd, gave a cheer and a sigh of relief, and Sakura jumped to her feet and ran to Joushin. She stopped short of joining him in the spotlight, staring at him as he bowed and gesticulated to the audience. He turned his gaze to her, and winked.
After the curtain came down, he turned to Sakura and looked long and hard at her.
"Could you stay here for a few minutes, young one? I would like to talk to you, if I may?" He said.
Of course, Sakura stayed.
It was almost as if Sakura were just an ordinary girl again. It had been just a few months since she had sealed the Hope card and the everyday life of a young girl living in Tomoeda, Japan came roaring back like a dragon. There was little to do now, magic wise. Tomoyo was still busy coming up with magical ideas to videotape, staging elaborate scenes starring Sakura and her Guardians saving the town from some new made up threat, but beyond that, things had gone back to normal. Or at least as normal as they ever could be.
Sakura, Tomoyo and Rika were walking together down the street not far from school, talking about school matters, clothes, and boys. Pretty much all the normal stuff eleven year olds talk about. It wasn't that Sakura hated her life. It just wasn't as interesting as it had been. Until they saw the poster.
"Hold it, Rika, Tomoyo, come read this," Sakura said.
The other two girls looked at the poster and all of their hearts skipped. It read, "come one, come all, to see the Magic and sorcery of Joushin the great. See him banish the Blue Elephant to the netherworld. See him escape from the infamous 'upside down water torture chamber'."
"Hoe!" Exclaimed Sakura, and Tomoyo and Rika were equally excited.
"Has a Magician ever come Tomoeda before?" Rika asked.
"Maybe," Tomoyo replied, blushing with joy, "but I don't remember ever hearing of one. Let alone an escape artist."
"What's an escape artist?" Sakura asked as she turned to her old friend.
"A special kind of magician who specializes in 'self liberation'." Tomoyo could see that her explanation was just as confusing as the term she was explaining. "The magician is basically tied up in some way, and has to escape from his bonds before something happens."
"Something?" Sakura asked, "what kind of something?"
"Well," Tomoyo pointed at the poster, "There's a picture of this magician inside a tank of water, hanging upside down. I assume that he has to escape before he drowns."
Both Rika and Sakura gasped.
"Do you think that he uses his magic to escape?" Rika asked.
"Yes," Sakura chimed in, "but I would say it's pretty dangerous, even with magic. Still." She looked at the poster again, fascinated by what she read and saw.
"I'm sure you would be good at it, Sakura, I mean," Tomoyo blushed as she realized she was about to talk about Sakura's magical ability. "With a little practice, I'm sure you would be really good at."
At first, Sakura didn't believe what she was hearing. Was Tomoyo actually suggesting that she try such a dangerous stunt? But as they continued to talk about it on the way home, Sakura thought more and more that she would at least like to know what kind of magic it took to perform such a feet.
When Sakura made it home, she went immediately upstairs to talk to Kero, Beast of the Seal and Sun Guardian. She found him, as always, playing a video game. In truth, even though her father had bought the video game system for her, she didn't get to use it much with Kero around.
"Konnichiwa, Kero-chan," she said, although he ignored her. He was making so much noise, cursing at the video game that he didn't even notice she had come in. "KERO-CHAN!" She repeated, loudly, startling him back to reality.
"WHAAA?" He shouted, and then again, "nooooooo!" His last ship crashed into an asteroid. "Sakura! That was my last my man! Now I have to start over from the beginning." He raised himself up in the air, floating, and hanging his head in a sad manner.
"I'm sorry, Kero," she told him, "but I can't stand it when you ignore me. Besides, I got some wonderful news." She sat down on her bed and smiled a huge smile that only Sakura seemed able to produce. "An escape artist is coming to town."
Kero looked at her. Dumbfounded. His eyes seemed to glow a strange orange, and his face was like a rock.
"Eh," he said, "is that all!?" He began yelling. "You interrupted my game to tell me that?"
"Well, Yes, I did, as a matter of fact. The poster I saw said he can escape from an 'upside down water torture chamber'."
"Oh!" Kero said, smiling his over confident smile. "Clow Reed was an excellent 'self liberator' as well. He mastered all forms of illusion and magic before he created his cards."
"He did?" Sakura was both elated and saddened to learn this. Once again, she faced the fact that she was mistress to magic that had been created by someone else. She often felt a little small and unable to live up to the legend that was Clow Reed.
"Yeah," Kero replied, "I always assumed that one day you would learn such things. It's a little backwards for you, you know. Getting all the cards long before having really studied magic at all. But you're still young, and there's plenty of time to learn such things."
"Do you think I could learn that kind of magic?" She asked.
"Certainly," Kero said, "Like this upside down chamber thing. It's a matter of having a way to get yourself lose, and holding your breath. If you remember, you held your breath for a long, long time that time in Hong Kong. Remember when the sorceress was trying to drown you?"
Sakura did remember that. What she remembered most was being scared, and her lungs feeling like they might explode.
"Yeah," she sighed, thinking to herself. "I have to go and see this for myself."
"Can I come? I'll be quiet, and I'll stay out of other people's treats." Kero was suddenly blushing at the thought of eating sweets.
"Maybe," Sakura told him, "but don't hold your breath."
Sakura didn't tell anyone, but the night before the show, she dreamed that she was the one on stage, performing the acts of magic. She sawed Tomoyo in half, levitated Rika, Chiharu and Naoko, and made Shaoran disappear before the audiences eyes. Then, came the big escape.
All she remembered about the dream was going in the water, upside down, and hearing the locks click into place. Waiting until the curtain was pulled around the tank, she held her breath, and then quickly used a magic spell to unlock herself. Then, she emerged to music flaring and the crowds cheering. She had awakened very excited indeed.
All of her friends had decided to go to the show, and her, Tomoyo, and Shaoran went together. Seated only three rows back, Sakura and Tomoyo couldn't contain themselves, while Shaoran only sat and listened to them giggle and carry on. They were talking about the water escape when he decided to say something.
"This probably isn't even a real magic show," he said to them, deliberately trying to ruin the mood.
"Shaoran," Sakura said to him, "why do you have to be so negative all the time? Even if it's not real magic, Kero said that the art of self liberation is one of skill and endurance, which is the same as magic."
"That may be, but I really hate fakers."
"Is it fake if you are trapped and have to get out, even if there is a trick to it?" She asked him, getting more than a little annoyed with him.
"I suppose not," he returned, "But still."
"Shush, you two," Tomoyo said to them both, "I think the show is starting."
Indeed the show did start, with much fanfare and noise. Joushin the great took the stage, and never spoke a word during the whole show, save near then end. He levitated a ball, from which birds sprang out and flew away. He set fire to a cauldron, from which Rabbits jumped out and scurried around. He motioned for a member of the audience to come up, and having hypnotized her, raised her body off of the ground and floated it high about the stage and out over the heads of the astonished onlookers. His assistants came out, and an elephant was brought out onto the stage, and before anyone knew for sure what was going to happen, it vanished with a bright flash, only to reappear at the back of the auditorium.
The people in the audience loved it.
But then all grew quiet, as Joushin stood unmoving in a spotlight. Music, strange and pulsing, came out as his assistants moved a large water tank out onto the stage, and for the first time, He spoke to his audience.
"Friends, it has been a joy to perform for you and your families tonight. But now, I may very well be leaving this world. As you see behind me, my assistants have brought out the 'upside down water torture chamber', but, alas, it has been renamed, 'the water chamber of death'."
The audience grew starkly quiet.
"Earlier this evening, my apprentice was testing the tank, performing the trick exactly as I instructed him. But, fate has taken him from us. It was a dreadful accident. But in his memory, I will be performing this escape in spite of the danger."
His assistants came out again, and helped him to get out of his robes. Underneath all of his clothes he was wearing a wetsuit colored blue and black.
"Now, I need some witnesses to come up, and witness the escape close up. You, young man." Joushin pointed to a boy in the front row, and the lad slowly came up on the stage.
"And, uh, you there, kind madam," he pointed to one of the teachers at the school. Finally, he looked around the audience as his assistants prepared the stocks that would hold his feet. "You there." He pointed straight at Sakura.
She couldn't believe her luck. She looked at Tomoyo and Shaoran, and beaming a smile wider than the Sea of Japan, she strode up on the stage.
Joushin sat on the floor of the stage, and his assistants placed his feet in the stocks. The Boy and the teacher both helped to make sure that the locks used were real, and they helped lock them in place. Then, one of the assistants handed a set of handcuffs to Sakura. Instantly she went from very, very happy to nervous and shaking.
"Lock my hands behind me," Joushin told her as he put a nose clip on. He laughed at Sakura's expression, and said, trying to calm her, "I can hold my breath a long time, but I can't stand water in my nose any more than you can." Sakura took the cuffs and locked them around his wrists behind him.
"Are," she stammered, "are they too tight?"
"No, indeed, it's just perfect," he replied. Even so, Sakura was beginning to get very nervous. All the excitement of this had caught her now unprepared for what was happening. Joushin could drown, and she had a close up view of it. The assistants attached the stock on his ankles to a crane, then gently lifted the doomed magician up in the air and positioned him over the tank. A large clock was rolled out onto the stage so that all in the audience could see it.
"Now," Joushin announced, "I invite any of you to try and hold your breath as long as I will have to." With that, he took 1. 2. 3 deep breaths before holding it, and he was lowered into the tank. Sakura took a deep breath as well, and held her breath, holding her hands near her mouth as they locked the tank shut, trapping the magician. A curtain was then placed around the tank, and the clock started, counting down the time. One of his assistants stepped up, followed by another hooded person carrying a large sledgehammer.
"In case anything were to go wrong," the assistant said, "I please beg all of you to remain seated until things are under control. We have emergency procedures should the need arise." Sakura stared at him, still holding her breath, and glanced at the clock. It said that 35 seconds had gone by since Joushin had been sealed in the tank. Her heart was going like mad, and she stared out at Tomoyo and Shaoran with a little bit of alarm. It was very nerve racking, waiting for someone to escape or die.
Tomoyo and Shaoran both watched the event unfold, and Shoaran was beginning to rethink how he felt about what he had said. He was impressed so far, but he kept his eye on Sakura. Tomoyo looked at her best friend as well, and found herself counting along with clock in excitement. She thought that it must be so exciting for Sakura, standing there seeing it happen close up.
Time ticked on, 45 seconds. One minute. one minute and 15 seconds. Sakura stared at the curtain, thinking of what horrors Joushin must be experiencing in the tank. Would he get out in time? Her heart was pounding, her lungs were now screaming out to breath, but Sakura stood her ground, waiting for Joushin to either free himself, or.
One minute and 30 seconds. One minute and 45 seconds. Two Minutes! Sakura was growing weak in the knees, but still worrying about Joushin. He hadn't come out of the tank yet. Was he already drowned? She fell to her knees, desperate to hang on, to hold her breath, fearing that if she breathed it might mean that the magician had died, but she couldn't hold out much longer. She looked up at the clock. Two minutes and 25 seconds. She let out her air, and took a deep breath, and cursed herself for no having more willpower.
"Something's not right," the assistant cried out, "he should have come out by now." Sakura looked up, a kind of terror in her eyes. The assistant motioned quickly to the hooded person carrying the hammer, and noise broke out on the stage as the crowd leapt to its feet in anticipation. The curtain was dropped, and there, before them all, stood an empty tank!
A gasp went around the crowd, and a spotlight hit the hooded person, who threw away the cloak to reveal a soaking wet but very much living Joushin the great. Sakura, as well as the crowd, gave a cheer and a sigh of relief, and Sakura jumped to her feet and ran to Joushin. She stopped short of joining him in the spotlight, staring at him as he bowed and gesticulated to the audience. He turned his gaze to her, and winked.
After the curtain came down, he turned to Sakura and looked long and hard at her.
"Could you stay here for a few minutes, young one? I would like to talk to you, if I may?" He said.
Of course, Sakura stayed.