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LOST IN TIME
: Lucille Lee
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SUMMARY: AU WIP Sakura:Clow Sixteen-year old Kinomoto Sakura discovers a strange book in her father's library. As soon as she begins reading it, she faints…
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AUTHOR'S NOTE: I have no idea about Japanese language norms – or any words from it either. So you are going to have plain old English stories from me.
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ONE
AUTUMN
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Sakura sighed as the cool wind caressed her face. Autumn was here. Sakura loved autumn. It was her favourite season.
"That's it!" thought Sakura excitedly. "I am going to write something about autumn… but what?"
It was about her Creative Writing project. Each student had to write a novella this semester. Sakura's best friend, Tomoyo had already started on hers, although to Sakura's annoyance, she won't tell her what it was about. Sakura had tried hard to come up with something. And she had. The only thing was that none of the ideas she had were that good.
Now that she had decided that she was going to write about something to do with autumn… maybe a romantic story? She loved one of those. But she really had no idea where to begin. She knew that there would be a lovely scene in a beautiful garden when the leaves would fall about the beautiful heroine when the handsome man would confess her love for her.
Hmmm… but where to begin? You couldn't very well start with that. That was always supposed to come in the middle of the story. She knew just what she needed right now. Food. She could never think well on an empty stomach.
So she went down to get something to eat. However, just as she had stepped down the last step, she heard some noise from the library.
Wondering, she went to see what it was.
Seemingly, nothing. Everything was just as it should be. Maybe she had just heard the wind outside and thought that it had come from her father's library-cum-study. Now that she was here, she might as well browse among some books. Maybe she could find something to feed her muse here.
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She had found a very ancient looking text. She wasn't sure why she had selected that – maybe because it stood out because it was so different from other books there. And it had no name.
"Where does dad get these books?"
The first few pages of the book were illegible – the writing was so faint. However, Sakura brought the book over closer to the lamp and stared hard, trying to read the first line.
"Clow… Reed…"
Just as she said those words, dizziness overpowered her. The book fell down at her feet and a moment later, Sakura had fallen down on it.
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It was so cold… shivering, Sakura turned over. She must not have closed the window again, she thought vaguely.
As she tried to burrow in deeper into the covers, she found that she wasn't on the bed… her bed wasn't that hard.
Slowly, she opened her eyes.
Leaves… brown leaves of autumn met her eyes… they seemed to be everywhere around her.
Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, she sat up. She seemed to be in a huge garden. However, it had the bleak look of autumn. A few leaves still remained on the bushes and trees. But they would soon fall. Winter would then cover the whole place with its pure white cloak.
Wondering where she was and how she had gotten there, Sakura got up. She felt scared. What had happened?
She remembered opening the book and reading 'Clow Reed'. Then everything had faded. Was it some… magic or something? As such, she didn't really believe in the supernatural. She hoped her situation had some… sensible explanation.
Although, she thought, as she saw a great shrine at some distance, she would be extremely surprised if she found out that this situation could be clarified rationally.
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It was a beautiful place even though it wasn't at its best look. She thought that it would look very well in spring – in fact, it would probably be the most beautiful place that she would ever see in her life.
She had decided to go towards the shrine although she wasn't sure. But there seemed nowhere else where she could go. And she wanted to be doing something to get herself out of this predicament. She wanted to go home.
Now that she was just yards away from the open door, she debated what she ought to do. Go in? Well, she could… But there could be something really, really dangerous in there.
"What should I do?"
"Tell us who you are."
Startled, she turned around to see a tall young man with the longest white hair she had ever seen dressed in a costume of ancient style. His serene eyes were a deep grey – she found them quite mesmerizing.
"What is this place?" she asked, shuddering slightly as the wind blew around them.
"This is Master Clow Reed's shrine," he said, looking pensively at her. "How come you are here?"
"I am Sakura… Kinomoto Sakura. I…" She stopped, not knowing what to say. Clow Reed? Who was this person? How had she come here?
"Why don't you come inside?" he said after a while. "Maybe you are the person…"
"What person?"
"You had better talk to Master Reed," was all he said and then he led her inside.
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Sakura looked around warily as they made their way through the shrine. Her mind was working furiously, but she was getting no results. It was just filled with myriads of questions which got weirder by second.
It was a simple, but beautiful place – unadorned but fascinating in its simplicity. There were mostly sceneries on the wall or hangings with intricate designs. She could smell a faint floral odour as they passed through a room than came to a narrow corridor. However, the place wasn't very warm. There was a chill in the air.
"Stay here while I let Master Reed know about you, Sakura."
She nodded and sat down on the futon.
The room into which she had been shown was a small, cosy one. It felt as if it was a personal room, though it obviously wasn't. There was a basket of fruits and flowers kept on a low table near the window. A few thick books and a quill rested near it. She observed with some interest, an oval bureau kept in one corner. It had many small fairies and angels carved on it. Sakura thought it was rather cute.
As the door opened, she stood up.
This must be Clow Reed, she thought. The man, who had entered, seemed no older than the one with white hair she had met before. However, Clow Reed had raven hair, pulled back from his sharp-featured face. As his dark eyes rested on her, she felt a shiver go up her spine.
"Miss Sakura," he said softly, as he closed the door behind him. "A pleasure to meet you. I am Clow Reed. Please, sit down."
He himself settled on a low chair facing her.
As the last rays of the sun fell on his eyes through the window, Sakura felt that he would make a most wonderful hero for her story. He seemed the embodiment of what she would wish for in a character. She shook her head at the eccentric thought.
"I know you are much puzzled by… everything. I think I had better first explain everything."
She could only nod. His voice was soft and soothing. Her spirit was immediately calmed.
"It all began a few days ago…"
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AUTHOR'S NOTE: My first attempt at a CCS story. I know the story is strange, but it has been in my mind for a long time, and finally, I have arranged my thoughts enough to make a story out of it. So please tell me how you like the beginning.
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