DISCLAIMER: I don't own any CCS characters, they belong to CLAMP or (very unfortunately) Nelvana, so don't sue me.
before i start, I really, really, really want to thank Joanni who was a good listener and encouraged me with this story....thank you thank you thank you!!!
In the beginning, there was only life and death. Then humans came and then they left, but what they left behind was of such an awesome power that those who were called to it ceased to be. They all ceased to be. The prophesies had spoken of the time when two of entities would come to be. The other was just as powerful as the first, but the first commanded more people.
The two clashed many times, each trying to dominate the other, but each time - stalemate. Hundreds of thousands of creatures paid for the battles with their lives. Each was saddened by the loss of life; never again would they battle directly. But no animal, no creature was strong enough for their destiny.
Then there was one.
The one who dared to sacrifice herself. The one who dared to accept the burden she was destined to bear. The one who dared to hope.
Welcome to my story - the story of that one.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
What can you do?
When truths become lies
Can you still hang on?
When you are desparately searching
the answers evade you
But your world is gone
Reality is an illusion
Life is a journey
Searching for the keys
Love's passion gave Pygmalion a purpose and it's exacting hold was the end of Narcissus
Hate's gift is grey
The questionable attribute: Justice
Knowledge, the gift of Solomon, the curse of the Pharoahs
Lust for Power cursed commoners through the ages and gave birth to nations
Hope, the ever shining light, the beacon that has let you down
So when your life is reduced to a quest
What can you do?
Can you still hang on?
The answers evade you
Never forget
Hope
Rika looked at her paper. She must have because her previously blank paper was now filled. She read over her work. A quest? What the heck? She could not remember writing this at all. The prose she had written scared her. She was in the middle of writing in her diary, she was wondering what she could write about for today and the next thing she knew, her paper was full! The world disappearing? Hope? Is something trying to send me a message?
Rika immediately banished that thought from her head. Things like that were fake, yet...
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It was time! Finally, they were going to graduate. Syaoran had come back to Japan at the beginning of High school and he and Sakura had been going out ever since. Eriol and Kaho had broken up. Both had come back to Japan as well. Eriol started dating Tomoyo two years ago. In a week, they would all be going their separate ways.
Sakura sniffled. It was sad that she would no longer see her friends everyday, except for Syaoran. She was moving to Hong Kong near the end of the summer to start college there and get married. Tomoyo was throwing a graduation party. She had wanted to have it at her house, but Sakura insisted on her own house.
Everyone had agreed to come, Chiharu and Takashi, Naoko, Rika, Tomoyo, Eriol, Syaoran. It was going to be fun. Sakura looked at the clock. Oh, no, she was going to be late again! Five minutes to six and she wasn't even sure of what she was going to wear! Syaoran was used to Sakura's tardiness, but she still hated being late for their dates. The doorbell rang.
She sighed. Being the only one in the house, she had to go answer it. It was Syaoran. "Oh, sorry, sorry, I haven't changed yet! I had so much trouble picking out an outfit and I was thinking about graduation next week, and the party, and-"
Syaoran laughed. His darling Sakura's desire to please him was like a puppy's. "Don't worry, Sakura, it's just dinner. And we aren't going anywhere, we're just staying here." He walked in, closing the door behind him. "Besides, you look just fine the way you are."
"Thanks Syaoran. Shoot! I haven't started dinner yet. Make yourself at home." Sakura rushed into the kitchen.
Syaoran followed Sakura into the kitchen. "I can cook too, you know. Let me help."
"Yes, I know, but I wanted this to be special. A week until graduation, a few months until we get married. Our chances to be alone like this are going to be few and far between," she said walking to him and pecking his cheek.
"Well, I'm helping anyways." Syaoran opened the refrigerator and got out some vegetables. They were throwing all the ingredients into a big stew pot when they sensed it. Sakura was so startled that she dropped the lid she was holding and Syaoran temporarily lost his balance. They looked at each other in a mixture of feal and awe. "Did you feel that Sakura?" he asked.
Sakura nodded. "I didn't think there'd be anymore magic after all the cards were transformed."
"It wasn't Eriol's magic. He must have felt it too," he said, picking up the lid.
"Do you think we should call him Syaoran?"
Syaoran smiled. "Let's enjoy ourselves tonight. I think what ever that was can wait until tomorrow. The magic wasn't very strong."
Sakura thought it over. "You're right. Let's wait until tomorrow."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Eriol was in his mansion. He thought about calling Tomoyo, but decided against it; he might accidentally invite her over and accidentally do certain things with her. He felt/saw something with his mind. It was very quick and very weak. It wasn't Sakura or Syaoran. "Nakuru, Spinel, come here!" he called to his gaurdians harshly. "The two of you weren't trying any magic were you?" he asked breathlessly.
"No, why?" asked Nakuru innocently.
Eriol shook his head. "Why are you holding on to Suppi like that?"
"Like what?" Nakuru sounded too innocent this time. Suppi made noises that sounded suspiciously like "Save me, help me!"
"Let him go." Eriol said firmly.
"Why?"
"Let him go Ruby Moon." Eriol only used her real name when he was ordering her to do something, so Nakuru let Suppi go.
"You always ruin my fun, master," she pouted.
"Torturing me is not called fun, Ruby Moon!" Suppi said in an injured voice while hiding behind Eriol. Nakuru stuck out her tongue at him.
"All right, you two. Take your bickering else where," Eriol said, leaving. The aura he sensed was so faint that he wasn't sure if Sakura or Syaoran would feel it. He would ask them tomorrow morning.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Rika was over at Yoshiyuki Tereda's apartment. They were in the middle of having dinner. "Yoshi," Rika started, "Sakura is having a party to celebrate graduation next week. Come with me," she asked. For the last few months, Rika had talked to Yoshiyuki about telling her friends about their relationship. Tereda was always supportive of whatever Rika decided, but Rika could never make up her mind on this particular subject.
"Rika, if I give you an answer now, you'll probably change your mind. Ask me again next week." He smiled and Rika smiled back.
Suddenly, Rika got very dizzy. She gripped the table so she wouldn't fall out of her chair. "Rika, Rika?" Tereda asked urgently, "What's wrong?" Rika didn't answer for a while. Lately, she had been experiencing dizzy spells frequently, but never before had it been this bad. Yoshiyuki was scared that maybe Rika had cancer or something, but when she went to see the doctor, he apparently had insisted that everything was perfectly fine with her.
"Nothing, I just got a little dizzy is all," she said, trying to make Yoshiyuki stop worrying.
"Dizzy? Rika, you've been getting a lot lately. Are you sure you don't have some kind of ear infection? Did you ask the doctor about anemia?"
Rika had gone to see the doctor last week and he had given her a clean bill of health. She nodded at Yoshi. "I have the whole medical field stumped." Tereda smiled weakly; she was trying alleviate his worry.
"Well, I'm driving you home tonight. I'm not going to let you walk around by yourself with those dizzy spells all the time."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Eriol called Sakura early the next morning. "Hello?" Sakura said groggily.
"Sakura!" Eriol was wide awake.
Sakura looked at her clock. 8:40. She had another 20 minutes to sleep. "Eriol. It's a crime to be up before nine on Sundays. Call me back in half an hour." Sakura hung up and stumbled back to bed.
"Sakura! Sakura?" Eriol sighed. He dialed Syaoran's number "Syaoran. Don't hang up and tell me to call back in half an hour."
"Eriol? I was gonna call you today, but this early?" Syaoran was an early bird, like Eriol.
"Well, it's really not that early. I called that cute little fiancee of yours and she told me it was a crime to be up this early then she hung up."
Syaoran's jealously got the better of him. "Cute little fiancee? Why don't you just keep your eyes on Tomoyo, huh?"
Eriol chuckled. "It's so fun to mess with your mind though!"
"I don't think it's funny," Syaoran muttered.
Eriol became serious. "Did you feel a strange aura last night?"
"Yeah. That's what I was going to call you about. Sakura and I both were startled by it."
"It was really faint right?"
"Un-huh," Syaoran agreed, "I couldn't tell what the color was. Neither could Sakura."
"Yes, well, since neither of the three of us could tell...we should be on the look out for anything strange."
"Of course. You didn't think we'd just ignore it did you?" Syaoran asked.
"No, no I didn't. Well, I should be going. Should I call Sakura?"
"Naw, I'll call her."
After hanging up, Syaoran looked at the time. Only 8:50. He should wait at least another 15 minutes. He could just walk to Sakura's house. She only lived ten minutes away. He passed five minutes debating with himself and then another five getting ready to leave. It was ten after when he got to her house.
Touya answered the door. "Ah, what do you want?" he said glaring at Syaoran.
"Well, I would like to get in your house," Syaoran started. Then he remembered something. Kero and Yue. "Did Yukito sense anything yesterday?"
"No, why?" Touya answered hostily.
"Nevermind. Can I come in?"
"What for? Why do you want to see my sister so early in the morning?"
"Because I have something to tell her that's why! Since when is there a law that say I can't see my own fiancee?"
"Since right now when you decided to come early in the morning."
"That's it? That's your reason? I really need to tell Sakura something. It's important."
"Did you do anything to her last night?" Touya asked suspiciously.
"What?! No, I did not do anything to Sakura. Can I come in?" Syaoran was getting frusterated.
"I suppose."
"Touya, who is it?" asked Fujitaka. "Oh, it you Syaoran. How nice of you to drop by. I believe Sakura just got up."
Sakura came down the stairs in her pajamas. "Who's here?" Seeing it was her fiancee, she enthusiastically ran up to him, tripping over her slippers and pushing the both of them onto the floor. "Sorry, honey." Sakura kissed him.
"Whoa! That's way too involved!" Touya started stalking towards the couple, but his father held him back.
"Don't worry about Sakura, Touya."
"But-"
"Leave them alone." Fujitaka left the room, dragging Touya with him.
Sakura sighed. "Touya still doesn't like you very much."
"That's all right. It's a habit. Eriol said to tell you we should be on the look out." Syaoran sat up.
"Oh? Did he call you?"
"Yeah. Right after he called you."
"Oh, that's right, I just remembered. Kero said he didn't sense anything last night."
"Touya says Yukito didn't either." Pause. "What do you think is going on?"
Sakura shrugged. She got up and pulled Syaoran up. "Do you want to stay for breakfast?"
"I don't think you're brother would appreciate it," Syaoran hesitated. "And I ate already."
"Do you want to stay anyways?"
"Touya would probably kill me."
"Over my dead body!" Sakura said possisively. She dragged him into the kitchen. "Dad! Can Syaoran stay for breakfast?"
"Sakura!" Syaoran whispered, turning red.
Fujitaka laughed. "Of course." Touya glared at Syaoran and Syaoran glared right back. "Touya...be nice. Syaoran is going to be family!"
"Yeah, well, doesn't mean I have to like him."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The week past all too soon and Before they knew it, it was Satuerday again. The graduation ceremony was that afternoon and they were finally highschool graduates. The doorbell rang. "HI SAKURA!" Tomoyo said. Eriol and Syaoran were right behind her.
"The three of you are the first people here. Come in, come in!" said Sakura. She kissed Syaoran's cheek.
"Where's the rest of your family?" asked Eriol.
"Ummm...Touya went to work, Dad is in his study and Kero...well, I left him in my room with a huge tray of cakes and my video games," Sakura chuckled.
"I have something for Kero." Tomoyo pulled out a stack of tapes from her bag.
Syaoran's eyes widened. "You still have those?"
"Of course. Why would I get rid of them?" Tomoyo got all starry eyed. "Those were the good ole days. Sakura had all those chances to wear my outfits and I could video tape her!"
Sakura laughed nervously "I'll just go upstairs and give those to Kero."
The telephone rang. "Hello?" Sakura answered. "Rika!....yes...of course...it's not a problem...no, you aren't late...don't worry about it Rika...yes...see you soon." Sakura hung up.
"What was that all about?" Asked Syaoran.
"Rika's bringing a friend." Sakura rushed upstairs to drop off the tapes.
"I wonder if it's going to be the guy she's been seeing." Tomoyo said. Eriol and Syaoran shrugged.
Right as Sakura was coming back down stairs, the doorbell rang. "I got it," said Syaoran.
It was Naoko. "Hey Syaoran. Is Rika here yet?"
"No...She called and said she was bringing a friend."
"I thought she'd be here before I would. Oh, well."
Takashi and Chiharu drove up in Takashi's car. "Syaoran! Sakura!"
Sakura waved. The two came in. Sakura stuck her head out and looked around to see if Rika was near. She wasn't so Sakura closed the door. Everyone was gathered in the living room talking and laughing. Suddenly, she felt the strange magic again. Syaoran and Eriol looked at each other and then at Sakura. The doorbell rang three times.
Sakura opened the door. "Rika! Mr. Tereda! Mr. Tereda? What?" Typical of Sakura not to understand the obvious.
"Sorry I rang the door bell so much. I got dizzy." Rika said apologetically.
"Do you need to rest or anything? Who's the person you were going to bring?"
"No, no I'm fine. Yoshiyuki Tereda is the person I brought."
"Ummmm. I don't get it."
Rika laughed. "Sakura, I'm going out with Mr. Tereda!"
"Rika, are you sure this was a good idea?" asked Yoshiyuki
"Of course it was silly, come on. I can hear the party going on." Rika pulled Tereda into Sakura's living room with Sakura trailing behind.
When he walked into the living room, everyone was shocked. "Mr. Tereda. This is a surprise," Tomoyo said.
"He's with me," said Rika.
"Mr. Tereda is who you've been seeing?" asked Chiharu. "That's sooooooo cute!! Isn't that right Takashi?"
"You know, in some cultures-"
Chiharu slapped his head. "Don't even think about starting." Everyone, even Mr. Tereda laughed.
Close to eleven, Touya came home with Yukito. Touya was looking annoyed. "Nakuru followed us home."
Tomoyo leaned over to Eriol. "She has Suppi with her too. Look."
Sure enough, Nakuru had a death grip on a "stuffed animal". Eriol walked over to her and raised an eye brow "Suppi?"
Nakuru looked indignant. "He wouldn't let me leave, so I had to kidnapp him."
"Put him in Sakura's room. Keroberos is there too." Eriol whispered.
At midnight, everyone was getting ready to get home. Rika was almost out the door when she got dizzy again. The world swirled around her. The yellow of the room and the faces of her friends became a jumbled mess. Her eyes closed slightly as she sank to the floor. Yoshi caught her, but the he wasn't there anymore. The yellow was gone, the faces were gone, as if it had all been a fantastic illusion. Rika looked around in panic, but another wave of disorientation washed over her and she fell to the floor, unconcious.
a/n:Woah...this is a long chapter....what do you think?????????????????????????? revew review!!!!!! i can't spelll!!!!!!!!!!!!!111
