He is a mortal bound to the earth by duty.
She is an immortal bound to the heavens by blood.
They were never meant to be together,
but fate decides otherwise.
Ruat Cælum: Let the Heavens Fall
a Cardcaptor Sakura Fanfiction by S
also known as the ambitious plot bunny that ate Sheila's brains.
Note: This was initially written three or four years ago, abandoned, and finally worked at again for NaNoWriMo2007, yet again abandoned, and now being rewritten.
Dedicated to Babylonian Princess, who has always been a dear friend.
Disclaimer: All characters of Cardcaptor Sakura belongs to CLAMP and affiliated companies. This story is very loosely based on Chinese History. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Thou art mine. I am thine.
Thou art locked within my heart.
Lost the key that let thee in
Needs must thou ever dwell there in.
-Anonymous
The wind is sharp and biting against Eriol's skin. It does not just smell of the sea and of the coming winter. It smells of gunpowder, of metal, and of blood. It is the smell of war – raw, pungent, and haunting.
For the last seven years, he has been breathing in the same air as he leads Xiangbaiqi(1), the fourth banner army under the service of the junwang(2), in defending China's very shores.
Loosening his casque, Eriol looks at the great amount of bodies lining the beach with forlorn navy eyes as his subordinates cheer for yet another victory.
"Hail the great Heir of Ares!" one of them starts cheering in Cantonese. The others cheer as well, and it does not take too long before the cheers start to echo all over the shores.
The Heir of Ares, a name armies have given Xiangbaiqi's dutong(3) after the Roman god of war, for having the gift of being able to simulate and speculate strategies in the battlefield, making him a formidable opponent. The general's talent alone is beyond comprehension, the idea of him being an English of great nobility fighting alongside the Chinese is another.
"General," Takashi, Xiangbaiqi's adjutant general, calls out to Eriol, "one of our men found Lady Nakuru by the coast."
"How is she?" Eriol asks, worry apparent in his features.
"The doctor treating her said she'll be all right. None of her vital organs was damaged; she may be confined in bed for quite some time," Takashi says. Eriol heaves a small sigh of relief and looks down.
"I'm sorry, sir. Things didn't have to be this way. If only…" Takashi says, looking at his superior with sad eyes.
"No one is at fault, Takashi," Eriol says, shaking his head.
"But if…" Takashi argues.
"We've been through an exhausting battle, have the men rest for our return to the Taiji Palace for the junwang's wedding," Eriol cuts in before speeding away.
The Xiangbaiqi is magnificently welcomed by Chang'an(4), showering the men with gold and red confetti. It is a welcome fit for heroes with a band merrily playing as they enter the city's gates.
The same afternoon, Chang'an is celebrating the junwang's marriage to a Japanese noble. It is an unlikely match, and the marriage is one of the many decisions of the junwang that is disapproved of by many conservative Chinese court officials.
Educated by foreign scholars, the junwang recognizes China's need to adjust to the changing times. For China to survive internal and external struggles, the junwang believes that reforms had to be made to the military and the administration, including the imperial courts. With the aid they have been receiving from Japan in improving their military forces, the marriage proves to be promising.
Although the Chinese pride themselves as the inventor of gunpowder, and firearms have been in continual use in Chinese warfare since as far back as the Sung Dynasty, the advent of modern weaponry resulting from the European Industrial Revolution has rendered China's traditionally trained and equipped army and navy obsolete.
With the victories of the army under the junwang's command, it has not been hard for the emperor to see the junwang's point, and to accept his rather liberal views in politics, leading him to give his consent to the marriage, and the junwang's decision of putting a Chinese-English general at the Xiangbaiqi's helm.
Trained and equipped according to western standards, the Xiangbaiqi has been living up to expectations, and has been defending the ports of Canton. Full of dancing and merry-making, the junwang's wedding day is the Xiangbaiqi's break after months of being in the battlefield. Wine from Gansu province is served, and by twilight a fireworks display is expected by the river.
The wedding dinner is lavished and is well-attended by high-ranking officials in the administration and the military. It is to last for several days.
Lady Sakura, the junwang's bride, is the sole daughter of the third son of the Kinomoto Clan, a sub-branch of the Minamoto Clan(5). She is known for her bright green eyes which is said to be just like that of her mother's, the favorite daughter of a known family of merchants in Japan. With her wedding day just a couple of days after her arrival in Chang'an, the preparations prove to be exhausting to her small body. On the third day of the feast, she excuses herself in the middle of the dinner to retire to bed early.
On her way to her chamber, she finds herself stopping in front of an empty hall.
Apart from the faint tinkle of musical instruments playing from the main hall, she can hear a muffled eerie sound coming from an abandoned hall at the far end corner of the corridor. Curiosity getting the better of her, she cautiously takes one of the lamps and walks in. The wind blowing harshly against her face, she finds a leather bound book on top of a mahogany console.
As if in a trance she reaches for the cover, light coming from different directions wrapping the room. The guests outside cheer, mistaking the light for the fireworks.
Lady Sakura struggles to close the book, the light blinding her, and her body shaking in fear.
"Sakura!" the voice of the junwang exclaims as he rushes to help her close the book. Using an ofuda(6) he pulled out from his robes, he succeeds in closing it.
"Xiaolang!" Lady Sakura exclaims, burying her face in her husband's shoulder.
"I'm so s-sorry... I-I didn't know what it was," she frantically says, tears streaming from her eyes, "I heard this sound...and..."
"Ssshhh... It's okay, Sakura," the junwang calms her, deep inside worrying over what just has happened, "stop crying now."
Outside, the moon is gleaming beautifully as the fireworks started.
Chapter I: Deus Absconditus
A god who is hidden from man
.
Her eyes can remind anyone of heliotropes blooming in winter. It is a rich shade of purple, and catches light easily, making it glimmer indistinctly. Even among celestial beings, it is an unusual eye color. It is the manifestation of a taboo-relationship between a mortal and an immortal. She is a forbidden child, yet she remains a member of the aristocracy, the insignia of the dii majorum gentium right upon her forehead.
Apart from her eyes, she looks just like any godly being, her wan skin a sharp contrast to her long dark locks. To her uncle, the current head of the nobility, she is Celestina - of the heavens; but to her father, the deserter and abdicator to the throne, she is worldly wisdom, Tomoyo.
As she tucks a sun pendant under her silken robes, she cannot tell if she is one or the other, or both or neither. She has never really understood what set her apart from the others. For her, it could not just have been her eyes, nor could it just have been her blood.
"Mistress, it's almost time for the ceremony. Are you ready?" a man with long silver hair, blue cat-like eyes and a towering pair of wings, asks her from a slightly opened door.
"Yue," she says, turning to the man as she swiftly pulls her hair up in a chignon, "I'm almost finished. Is Cerberus with you?"
"I'm here, mistress," a deep baritone answers, opening the door wide-open revealing a winged lion next to Yue, "Everything is ready."
"We should go," Yue says, extending a hand to his lady, his eyes partly covered by silvery strands of his hair as they exit the room, "are you nervous?"
"What makes you think so?" she asks, answering his question with another question, avoiding his skeptical gaze.
"Instinct," he bluntly answers, causing her to stop on her tracks as she laughs gleefully much to the surprise of the two. With bewildered eyes they watch her freeze for a moment and contemplatively gaze at her reflection along the glass walls.
"I do not know," she says in a bare whisper, her dainty fingers gingerly fiddling the metal panes of the walls.
"Something tells me I shouldn't be here," she says, her voice trailing off. Yue furrows his brows.
"What are you saying? You are of this heaven, by your veins run immortal blood," he argues.
"And mortal blood, Yue," she points out, looking at him with consequential eyes.
Gently circling a lock of Yue's hair in her finger, she says, "Remember that even if my father is heir of this heaven, my mother is mortal."
"Are you having doubts in pursuing the apotheosis?" Yue asks his voice slightly crestfallen.
He does not get a reply.
"But if you do not undergo the apotheosis, you'll die!" he exclaims, his cool demeanor broken.
The Apotheosis is a long gone ritual for immortality. With her uncle having no heir, nor relative apart from Tomoyo who is a half-blood, she needs to undergo the ritual and inherit the throne that is initially her deceased father's.
"Yue! You don't talk to our mistress like that!" Cerberus scolds Yue.
"How can I? I am not going to watch her die!" Yue yells back.
"I have been having that dream again," Tomoyo butts in, returning her gaze back to the glass walls, "that dream of drowning in a pool so deep, I felt like suffocating in it… drawn to it."
"Something tells me that pool is not here, Yue. Not here…" she softly tells Yue as she looks at him.
Just as Yue is to say something an outburst is heard and the walls break into pieces, sending shards of glass in every direction. Instinctively, the two guardians flap their wings wide open to protect the young goddess as the whole of the glass heaven is wrecked into pieces.
"What's going on?" Cerberus exclaims in the middle of the commotion. No one answers his question as sharp glass prick their skin, drawing blood, which fades quickly faster than when it came.
"Mistress, don't move. The chandelier," Yue warns, looking up at the chandelier in the brink of crashing them into pieces. Just as it is about to crash into them, they hear the sound of a bell followed by the clink of small pieces of glass against the floor.
As the dust and debris settle they find a tall woman with flaming red hair, dressed in white robes with the moon embroidered in it.
"Lady Kaho," Cerberus manages to mutter under his breath when she turns to check on them.
"Was anyone hurt?" she worriedly asks.
"How did you do that? I thought you were..." Cerberus asks, still surprised.
"I used this," Kaho says, showing them a golden bell with purple tassels.
"The moon bell," Yue says, recognizing the object.
"Celestina!" a dark haired man calls out, rushing to them. Clasped in his right ear is a gem framed in silver, similar to the one in Tomoyo's forehead, the insignia of the dii majorum gentium.
"Lord Yuli," Yue and Cerberus say in unison, getting on their knees.
"Uncle," Tomoyo says, upon recognizing the man followed by three of his subordinates.
"Are you hurt?" he asks Tomoyo, holding her by the shoulders.
"No, Lady Kaho saved us," Tomoyo replies, eliciting a sigh of relief from Yuli. "What happened?"
Yuli does not say anything as he helps her stand up.
"Uncle?"
"There has been a disturbance," Lady Kaho answers in Yuli's place, melancholy in her eyes. Everyone looks at her.
"The book that should have sealed years ago... was opened," she continues, looking at no one in the eye.
"What?" Yue asks.
"The book? You mean the book of the cards? Wasn't it burned years ago?" Tomoyo asks, befuddled.
"Kaho," Yuli interrupts her. Kaho looks at him somberly, daring him to cut in.
Yuli turns his gaze to the floor, and Kaho continues, "It didn't. Apparently, it was salvaged and was kept by a mortal, something must have gone wrong and the book after years of silence is opened."
Tomoyo closes her eyes, her hands clasping her pendant. "What will happen then?"
"The ultima ratio regum will ensue..." Kaho says, feeling a lump on her throat as she speaks. The last argument of kings will ensue.
"Shouldn't we be doing something then?" Yue asks.
Kaho walks towards Tomoyo and places a hand on top of Tomoyo's.
"This key started it all, and will end it all," she inexplicably says.
"Stop it, Kaho!" Yuli exclaims, clenching his fists.
"Only she can do it, Yuli. You know it. She has to go," Kaho says straightforwardly.
Yuli freezes.
"Go where and do what?" Cerberus asks.
"To the land of the mortals - where the forbidden book is. It has to be put into eternal sleep together with the rest of the cards," Kaho answers.
"Are you out of your mind? It's dangerous down there!" Yue exclaims, baffled.
"Not for someone with her power," Kaho interjects.
"What do you mean?" Yue asks.
"Though a half-blood, our dear Celestina is still the daughter of the head of the dii majorum gentium, only she can use the power of the key," Kaho explains.
"Even if she is the only one who can use the key, I cannot let her go and seek her death!" Yue argues.
"I have to agree with Yue. No one can tell what can happen down below," Cerberus says.
Kaho looks at them squarely as the tension thickens.
"I-I will go," Tomoyo declares much to her guardians and Yuli's surprise.
"Mistress!" Yue exclaims in disbelief.
"No, Yue. You heard her," Tomoyo says with all firmness, "only I can do this."
"But mistress!" Yue exclaims. "It's dangerous. We've lost Lord Emilian already. We can't afford to lose you too."
"I know you're all worried, but Lady Kaho is right, I need to go. Only I can use the key," Tomoyo says, clasping her uncle's hands. "Please let me go."
Yuli looks at the determination in her eyes, and he sighs with a small smile on his face. Sixteen years ago, he has seen the same look of determination in her eyes.
"Two winters," he says, "if you do not get to complete your task by then, you are to immediately undergo the apotheosis and take over the throne."
"But.." Yue mutters.
"I will say no more on the matter, and no one else may speak further." Yuli silences him.
Linking heaven and earth is a handsome tree located at the far-off corner of heaven, in a small patch of land surrounded in water. Its branches are smooth and light grey, and its leaves are wide and spreading. It is towering in height, providing heavy shade. Tomoyo remembers hiding there as a child, playing with its browning flowers.
"Can we really not go with you?" Yue asks her as they walk their way towards the tree, "It is bad enough that you have to descend."
Tomoyo shakes her head. "I need to do this on my own, Yue."
"We know how humans are. There is no telling what can happen down there."
Tomoyo clasps Yue's hands with her own, and prompts Cerberus to join them.
"A part of me wants to believe in the race my father has loved. I want the two of you to do the same too."
"The race your father has loved is the same race that has killed him." Yue says with spite. "Have you forgotten what has happened 12 years ago?"
"No," Tomoyo replies with conviction, "that is why I am going to descend; to put an end to all of this."
Cerberus nods in understanding. "You have made up your mind. We shall be waiting for you. Please take care while you are there."
Tomoyo smiles and strokes Cerberus' head. Yue, on the other hand, crosses his arms and looks away.
"I will have to go now. Please watch over my uncle while I am away," Tomoyo says, giving one last glance to her guardians before she touches the tree and being enveloped in blinding light.
Eriol smells strongly of alcohol and smoke. He is red from too much drinking, and is sweating from the heat. It is almost midnight and the wedding banquet is at its peak. Loosening the collar of his robes, he walks out of the hall, and takes out a small vial from one of his pockets. The pharmacist has given it to him as a tonic whenever he gets inebriated to prevent a splitting headache in the morning.
With one quick sip he takes the contents and groggily walks his way to the veranda.
"It has been a while since the last time I have seen you drunk," he hears a voice from behind him say. He turns and is surprised to see the junwang walking towards him.
"I am sorry to hear about what happened to your cousin."
"It is not your fault. Did you come here just to tell me that?"
"No. I have an assignment for you."
Eriol watches the junwang pull out a leather-bound book from his robes.
"I want you to take this to Xianyang Palace," the junwang instructs him. Eriol looks at him with surprised eyes.
"I want you to take it to Tai Zai before the month ends."
"You could have asked your…"
"This is important, and I know this is important to you too. I am not letting anybody else do it."
"I understand."
With a nod, the junwang returns to the hall, leaving Eriol by himself.
"Mizuki, where are you?" he mutters under his breath, securing the book inside his robes as he walks his way to the river with a heavy heart. Desolately looking at the sky, he notices light coming from a distance, and hastily runs after it.
The first thing he sees is a cloaked figure with purple eyes which has glowed brown for a fraction of a second.
"Mizuki?" he mutters in disbelief.
In panic, the figure runs away from him, deep into the forest, where the moon gives but a glimmer of light to its small frame.
Eriol, on the other hand, being under the influence of alcohol is confused by her reaction and runs after her in a tangle of branches and vines.
"Why are you running away?" he shouts.
"Mizuki!" he cries out.
The figure freezes.
"That aura…" she says to herself, looking around. Then and there the ground begins to shake and break apart.
Fractions of the ground soar to the sky with great speed and the two lose their balance. The young general barely manages to grab hold to an edge of the ground as it soars higher, sending the book tucked in his robes falling with a thud to the ground.
He finds the cloaked figure shoved to the ground due to the impact, its hood removed revealing dark locks of hair.
"The book!" she says, surprised upon the sight of the book a couple of feet from her. Hastily, she grabs it and scans its contents.
Windy, Fly, Sword, Shield, Illusion and Song.
"There are only six of them! I knew it!" she exclaims.
The ground shakes again, and she is thrown out of balance. Just in time, someone grabs hold of her arm.
"Hold on," the young general tells her, struggling to yank her to safety.
"Why do you have the book?"she demands in fury, trying to free herself from his grasp.
"What on earth are you talking about? Do you want to die?" Eriol exclaims. "I said hold on!"
"That's it!" she exclaims, realization dawning at her. In haste, she grabs her necklace under her robes and a magical formation that of the sun, moon and stars intertwined appears upon her feet.
"Key which conceals the power of the heavens, reveal thy true form before me, I command thee under contract."
"Release!"
"Fly!"
For a moment, Eriol sees nothing as light engulfs the place. The first thing he sees when he opens his eyes are ash-colored locks blown by the wind as a woman flies with her wand.
"Stay there, and stay out of trouble," she says flying high above the sky.
"What the…" he mutters, not believing his own eyes.
Scanning the area, the woman flies in haste. "This is definitely a card. I'll need to seal it right away."
Within a matter of minutes, plenty of damage has been done, and more will likely follow if she fails to seal the card.
Tension eating her up, and her breath faster than normal, she closes her eyes, and clears her mind. Sensing a powerful aura by a far-off part of the forest, she flies her way and pulls out two cards. "I only have one chance on this."
"I will need wings and chains. Fly! Windy!"
In a blink of an eye, wings flutter open behind her back, and a gush of wind forms chains to a faint figure of a nymph clad in a translucent gown that of gossamer material, emanating streaks of light as it thrash about to break free in vain.
"I command you to return to your true form, Earthy!" she orders, raising her wand.
Light flashes and disappears as quickly as it came with a card falling to the goddess' palm.
With the card sealed, the ground starts changing forms and the young general, then in awe, loses his balance and plummets to the ground.
"Oh no!" she mutters, rushing to his aid, catching him in time, and ascending back to the sky.
"Are you all right?" she asks upon grabbing hold of him by the waist.
Before the young general can answer, she, however, faints and the two fall.
"Hey! Wake up!" Eriol orders in panic as they fall in midair.
"Darn it" he curses as he impulsively shields her with his body as they crash to the river, the book of the cards falling on the ground centimeters from the shore.
.
To be continued.
(1) The Xiangbaiqi in English translates to "Bordered White Banner." It is the fourth of the eight divisions of the Qing Dynasty's military organization.
(2) The junwang is the prince of a commandery or prince of the second rank of the Qing dynasty.
(3) The dutong is the Commander-in-chief of a military banner (see (1)), and stayed under the authority of the emperor or one of the imperial princes.
(4) Chang'an is now currently known as downtown Xi'an, where the Taiji Palace (later known as the Daming Palace) is located.
(5) Minamoto was one of the honorary surnames bestowed by the Emperors of Japan of the Heian Period on those of their sons and grandsons who were not considered eligible for the throne. The Kinomoto Clan is fictitious.
(6) An Ofuda is a talisman.
