Well, Angel has done it and done it, but she just can't seem to find a place to settle down. Hi, everyone. **ducks from flying bananas** You're prolly all mad at me, aren't you? I start a fan fiction and don't finish it. Well, not this time! I will prevail! I should have done this with the other stories…I am over halfway finished with this one, so I'll be able to make updates on it. Hopefully. Geez, is it really 60 pages already?
Anyways, sorry for the absence of updates. Our computer went nutso and basically I had no access to the Internet for a while. When we finally got the computer working again, it had NO RUDDY WORD PROCESSOR! So frustrating.
So, I'm back again from outer space with a brand new story just for you! It's a Harry Potter/Cardcaptor Sakura story with a little twist. Hope ya'll have fun!
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter (belongs to JK Rowling) and I do not own Cardcaptor Sakura (belongs to CLAMP). I most certainly own myself and my brother and any original ideas seen here. If you recognize it, I don't own it. 'Kay?
So, take a chair and a lemonade and feast your eyes on this! New from Angel Sari Neko Jeminie Indigo Productions is…!
Jaded Angels and Silken BlossomsChapter 1: Dreams and Dragons
***
"RUN!"
"IT'S COMING!"
Screams, shouts, and sobs filled the thick, heated air of the main street of Tomoeda. Of course, I've still no idea what they were all screaming about, or running from. I just ran with the crowd, hoping to hear what was going on.
It probably sounds stupid that I don't know what's going on. I don't even know how I knew this was Tomoeda; I don't even know what country it's in. I've never been here before. All I know is one second, I was on my broom, the next, and I'm running for my life.
In all the commotion, I did happen to notice one thing. I'm not overweight anymore. In fact, I'm skinny and pretty strong to boot. All of the sudden, everyone fell down and fell asleep.
That's when I saw it.
It was a tiger.
What the heck is going on?
"Sakura!"
"AIEEEEEEEEE!!!"
A little girl! No more than ten years old, she was falling. A man caught her. A teenager, it looked like, but way too cute. He looked like an angel, with long silver hair and feathery wings.
There was no one else around. It was night, but it was a night I'd never seen before. Like the sun and moon had been totally eclipsed at once. But that was impossible, right?
Since they appeared to be the only ones around, I headed for where I'd seen the tiger, the teenager, and the girl. I wish I were still in school. At least then I wouldn't be trying to act like a Muggle in the middle of the street wearing my robes.
The moment I arrived on the scene, I saw several things. The first was the tower, and the ten-year-old boy who stood upon it. I knew without asking that this was no ordinary boy, though. Then I saw a black tiger and a teenage girl, both with the strangest butterfly wings I'd ever seen.
Then I saw that other tiger again, and the teenage boy. They both had those beautiful feathery wings. The little girl was standing alone in the center of a strange circle, an eastern magic circle. A boy was standing behind her, looking very much like he was going to faint. In her hands was the strangest staff I've ever seen. It was more like an extremely tall staff, with a star at the end. The teenager and the tiger disappeared into the staff even as I watched, and the staff changed.
The little girl held two cards up in her hands. I had learned about them in my studies. A small gasp escaped my lips, but no one paid any attention to me. They were the Clow Cards! The nineteen special cards crafted by the magician Clow Reed, who had passed away hundreds of years ago. But the cards...everyone thought they had long ago disappeared!
But the little girl was...changing the cards. Somehow, they were different. The magic circle below her was not the circle Clow had crafted. I was sure of it!
I looked around the area again, and saw another little girl and another teenage boy, both of which were quite normal looking. Both were fast asleep, like so many others around them. They looked helpless. Seeing that there was nothing I could do for the little girl, who was having trouble changing the cards in all the wind, I went to help the two sleeping ones. It was the least I could do until I could ask questions of the ones who were so busy.
I sat the two up against a nearby tree, just as the entire sky was alit in blazing light. I had no idea how the Clow cards worked, or what was the history behind them. Nor did I know what was going on now. Even as the young boy descended from the top of the tower to the ground, as gracefully as if he were descending a staircase, I did not ask questions.
"As happy as I am that you have at last changed the Light Card, Sakura," said the boy. "The real sun isn't up yet. It would be confusing to people if they woke up."
Sakura nodded, a little confused. She changed the sky back to night and the sun began to rise.
"You...did it?" said the boy in her arms. He seemed so weak.
"Yeah," said the girl.
"I imagine that you all have questions for me," said the standing boy. "You most of all, I think, Sakura."
"I would like to know," said Sakura. "Eriol...Clow
Reed..."
Clow Reed?!
Clow Reed?
Clow Reed...
Clow...Reed...
...Clow...
"Angel, wake up! Wake up! A letter came for you, it looks important!" The ground shook beneath me in a trembling earthquake. Sakura and Eriol and the tigers and teenagers and the other little girl and little boy swam together in a finger-painting of colors before fading to black.
"Wake up! Wake up!"
Stinging pain stung my face again and again, and suddenly the ground started to roll, like waves beneath a boat. The black became white before instantly becoming a watercolor world.
"Finally, I thought you'd never wake up!" My little brother David rolled his eyes as he came into a clearer focus than ever before. At least, I think ever before. "There's a letter for ya. Here ya go. Come on, let's play Final Fantasy!!" He threw a thick envelope over my head and under my bed.
"Nooooo..." I moaned. "Lemme wake up firs', kid."
"M'kay!" he jumped off my bed and turned around, his fists planted firmly on his waist. "You gots five minutes!"
I moaned again in protest, but he was already gone. Even now, I can't believe that was all just a dream. The little girl, Sakura, the boy, Eriol...no, Clow Reed was his name. What was this significance to me? Nothing. Nada. I have no idea who Clow Reed is, or who any of those other people were.
I'm back in my chubby little body again. Thick wrists, plump tummy, and those cheeks that your grandma just loves to pinch, yeah, that's me. Lucky for me, I don't get to see my grandparents very often. They go and see my cousin Whittney more often than not.
And what the heck was I thinking? I distinctly remember remembering myself on a broom, high above the ground. Then there were the clothes I was wearing; I'd called them "robes". And I remembered a school, a castle that got me thinking about the Celts of ancient England. Above all, what the heck's a Muggle?
I shrugged it off and got up. It was summer time and the sun was already high in the sky, telling me it was way past my normal rising hour of six o'clock sharp. That dream must've kept me asleep.
"Angel, hurry up! You're late!" David said from the other side of the door. He knew better by now to never come barging into my bedroom.
"Lemme get dressed and read my letter, Dee, I just woke up!" I said. He did not answer, but I heard his feet pounding the ground. He was retreating.
Every summer morning happens exactly like this. I wake up and David begs me to play some miscellaneous game. This year, it's actually three games, Final Fantasy VII, VIII, and IX.
Anyways, I climbed out of my bed, which is actually very firm and uncomfortable (I'd rather sleep on the floor). The numerous mirrors around me all reflected a different angle of myself, but the all portrayed about the same thing. Me.
The brown hair's cool, neither curly nor straight, but very thin. I tied it up in a ponytail, but left it in a sort of held loop bun. Most people would wonder why I'd ever wear it in a ponytail in the first place, with my pudgy face and wide shoulders. It's just me.
Pulling on a pair of old, worn out jeans while stepping into a pair of flip-flops and pulling on a T-shirt may sound hard to you, especially if you had my bulk. Actually, I'm so used to getting dressed quickly that I don't even notice.
I finished getting dressed and reached behind my bed to retrieve the heavy envelope that David had thrown. The envelope was brown, like some kind of really cool parchment. After studying it a moment, I realized that it was a piece of parchment. The envelope was sealed with an important-looking crest and a bit of red wax. It must be a donation calling for an ancient Celt project or something. Who would go to so much trouble?
On the front, printed carefully in green ink, was the to address. It stated my name, my address, you know the gig. But peculiar as it may seem, it stated one extra piece of information. The Mirrored Bedroom. How weird. The return address was from some weird name I didn't want to try to pronounce.
Only someone who was used to it could seal an envelope like this, though. My eyes rolled again and I fell back on my bed, staring into one of the mirrors. The mirrors reflected back my chubby face, with my strangely colored eyes staring right straight back at me. The one on my right was blue, while the one on my left was green. Strange, huh?
Finally, I just carefully opened the envelope. I really didn't want to rip that seal, it was kind of cool. Especially the lion. It was so cool! The snake was cool, too, but its eyes were creeping me out. Weird, isn't it? I get little feelings like that. The badger seemed to smile at me, while the bird, I think it was a raven of some kind, just stared back at me, like it was studying me.
But that snake. The snake looked like it just wanted to kill me right now. Like something sinister was watching me, ready to strike, like that one kind of snake in Australia, the Death Adder.
But that's silly! Isn't it?
"Angel, get a grip," I said to myself, pulling out two more sheets.
Dear Ms. Indigo,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As you are to be our first foreign exchange student, we wish to welcome you especially into our country. Your parents have been contacted previously with more information.
Due to the distance, you will be given a wizard host family for your seven-year stay here in England. Your parents have all other information pertaining to your host family.
All first years are required to have the supplies listed on the paper accompanying this letter. We await your owl no later than July 25.
Yours Sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress
What in the world does that mess mean? What's a "Hogwarts"? And what did the mean by "owl?" Was I really going to England for seven years? There was only one way to find out.
"MOM! DAD!!!" I ran out of my room, carrying the envelope, the papers, and my bodyweight with me.
"Honey, what is--oh! Tim, she got it! She got the letter!" Mom started jumping up and down with my dad, both of them excited. What in the world???
"Angel, I'm sorry for not telling you earlier, darling," Mom said. "Sit down, and we'll explain everything."
"It's so marvelous!" Dad gleamed with a new spunk I'd never really seen in him before. An ex-Navy aircraft tech, Dad has always been one for discipline and order. I got all my math and organizational skills from him. Unfortunately, I also got his slow metabolism rate and thin hair.
"Darling, sit down, she's no idea what we're talking about," Mom scolded him. Mom, a college dropout with all kinds of creative backgrounds, is a sunshiny, ever-smiling person. She loves to sew, draw, read, and write, all of which she passed on to me. Unfortunately, I also got her double-colored eyes and streaking brown/blond/red hair. She, too, has a slow metabolism rate and some muscles to boot. She and I share the same size.
All in all, we're a pretty weird family, especially if you throw David, a fluke of nature, into the mix. He has Mom's sunny disposition and creativity, but none of either of my parents' attributes. You know how some things skip a generation? He's got white-blond hair, inherited through my dad's dad. Also through my dad, he got the skinny but powerful body of my grandmother.
"So what is going on?" I asked.
"You remember when you said you'd do anything to be a foreign exchange student?" Mom asked.
"Well, yeah," I said. And I'd meant it, too.
"You know my father is British, right? And that my brother still lives in England?" Dad said. He looked, in all honesty, as though he was going to burst in happiness.
"Yeah." How could I forget? I'd always envied my cousin Draco. He got to live in England! It always had creeped me out a little when he came over to visit us once, though. He was such a cruel person! When he was here, he left a scar on me that I doubt will heal very soon.
"Darling, you know all those strange things you often do, when you're angry, or scared?" Mom asked, now trying to sound gentle. I knew what she meant. One time, I accidentally lit a man on fire because he'd scared me. How was I supposed to know he was a clown trying to make me laugh?
"Yeah."
"I don't know how to tell you this without being blunt, so,"
Mom paused. "Angel, you're a witch."
"A witch?! Coming from my own-"
"Not that kind of witch, Angel," Dad interrupted sharply.
"My brother is a very famous wizard in England. But you won't be going to
stay with Lucius. A nice family has agreed to take you on as their own during
the summer months. The other nine months out of the year, you will be in
school."
"What? You mean I have to go to school and stay there?" I
asked.
"Well, yes," Mom smiled. "It'll be an adventure, darling. You have no idea how much this means to me. You're going to learn magic and find something you can use your talents for. You're the first in the Marling family tree to have magic in you!"
"Magic? Like, what kind of magic, Mom?" I asked. "How
will I get there? Who's going to take me?"
"Why, I will be," said a voice behind me. I turned around and there
was my Uncle Lucius and my Cousin Draco.
"Lucius! I didn't hear you come in!" Mom shouted in surprise.
She hopped out of her chair. "We didn't expect you to come so soon, it's
only eight o'clock."
"I'm sorry, Molly, forgive my rudeness," Uncle Lucius said. "We
saw that the door was open, and so..."
"Quite all right, quite all right," Dad said, smiling. "How have
you been, Lucius? How's your lovely wife?"
"Oh, she's fine," Uncle Lucius nodded.
"Draco, why don't you and Angel go and play?" Mom said, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Of course, Aunt Molly," Draco bowed his head. "Hello, Angel. How have you been?"
"Well, Draco," I smiled half-heartedly. Even being in his
presence again was unnerving. "Come on, would you like to see my room?"
"Sure," he shrugged.
"SISSY!!! I thought we was gonna play Final--oh, hello!" David came to a halt in the dining room entranceway. "Who're you guys?" David was born after the last time Uncle Lucius and Draco had visited.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Mom smiled. "Draco, Lucius, this is our
son, David. David, why don't you and Angel show Draco around the house? I'm
sure Draco's never played Final Fantasy before, either."
David's eyes went round as saucers as he stared at our cousin. Actually, I
could tell that Draco and Lucius both had that same white-blond hair as David
did. In fact, I'd say that David and Draco looked more like brothers than David
and I did.
"You've never played Final Fantasy before?"
"No. Should I have?" Draco stared at David with a simper that I was sure couldn't be confused with a smile. David just grinned again.
"Yeah! It's the bestest game there is!"
"David, let's show Draco around the house first, okay?" I said. Draco
probably wouldn't like Final Fantasy all that much.
"Okay!" David grinned again. "Hey, Sissy, Mom said that you're going on a trip! Where are you going?"
"She's going to school in England with me," Draco said. He did smile this time. "Perhaps you will join us in...how old are you?"
"I'm nine," David smiled.
"Two years, then," Draco said. "We'll be third years."
"Third years?" I asked.
"We do things differently in England, I suppose," Draco said importantly. He studied his nails, which were perfect compared to mine, which were all chewed and jagged. "Hogwarts is a special school for witches and wizards of eleven years of age. They enter at the age of eleven and graduate after seven years."
Although he was creepy, Draco was very informative.
"Dad decided to go ahead and buy your books," Draco said.
"He said that you'd be like your mom. Wanting to read at any given
turn."
"How'd he know that?"
"Uncle Tim."
"Oh."
"Sissy's leaving at the end of the week, right?" David asked.
"I guess so, babe," I shrugged. "Looks like it."
"Didn't your parents tell you anything?"
"Nope."
"Figures. It wasn't a sure thing that you'd get in. After all, you live in
the States."
"What's that mean?"
"Hogwarts has never taken on a student from this far
overseas," Draco answered. "It just was never possible."
"Why?"
"The Headmasters."
Like that helped. Draco never liked telling it straight. He would simply give
an answer that could go either way.
"So, how come my dad didn't become a wizard, if our family's so strong?" David asked.
"Uncle Tim is a Squib. That means he can't do magic."
"Oh...So what do you call a person who can't do magic if he wasn't born in a magic ancestry?" I asked.
"Muggle."
That word! Muggle...The dream flashed back to me in an array of splendor. Sakura...Clow Reed...the Clow Cards...the tigers...the teenagers...
Maybe Draco would know something about it.
"Hey, Draco, do you know who Clow Reed is?"
"Yeah. He's famous, of course I know him. How'd you find
out?"
"Ah...Internet?" I lied.
"You don't know exactly who he is," Draco guessed.
"No, I don't."
"Hey, Sissy, I thought we were going to show Draco the house," David
said. "Why are we standing in the hall?"
"Sorry, kitsune," I smiled. "Let's go sit on the couch. I'll play Final Fantasy IX with you while Draco explains whom Clow Reed is. Sound good to you, Draco?"
"Sure."
"So, who's Clow Reed?" I asked, seated on the couch moments later. Draco was sort of mesmerized by the intricate controller and console I was plugging into the TV set.
"He was a famous magician, with an English father and a Chinese mother. He crafted nineteen magic Clow Cards using both Eastern and Western magic."
Well, that explained the Clow Cards.
"How long ago did he live?"
"About seven hundred years ago. The Clow Cards have been lost for
a long time, but there's rumor it's in Japan now."
Seven hundred years?
"What about tigers?"
"Tigers? What about them?"
"Well...I saw a picture of the Clow Cards on the Internet, and
there was a picture of what looked like a tiger beside them."
"You mean Cerberus. He's the Creature of the Seal, the Guardian of the
Sun. He protects the front cover of the Clow's book. There's also Yue, the
Guardian of the Moon. He looks like a teenage boy with long white hair and
angel's wings, or so the legends say."
"Speaking of legends..." David smiled. "Sissy, look! It's Kuja!!!"
"Kuja? Oh, not him again," I muttered under my breath.
"Who's Kuja? Where?"
"On the TV," I pointed. "Hold on, I gotta read. 'You will never win, Monkey Boy! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!'. 'Come back here! Come back!'
'Oh, Zidane, what'll we do?' 'We're going after them. Come on!'"
And the screen went black. The Hilda Garde III appeared and suddenly I had control of it. David had handed me the controller. Again.
"You play a good villain," Draco smirked.
"Ya think?" I asked. It was as close to a compliment as Draco has ever paid me. "I'm only reading it."
"Do you act?"
"Nah, I'm a writer. But it's just as important to know character voices and traits as it does to act," I shrug. "After all, I control the actor."
"True. Maybe I'll read your stuff," Draco shrugged. "So
what is this Final Fantasy thing?"
"It's a game. You play by using this controller to control the characters.
Final Fantasy is what's known as an RPG--a role playing game. In this one, we
play Zidane, that guy right there," I pointed at the blond monkey-tailed
boy. "As he helps Princess Garnet fight the evil Kuja, who happens to also
be his brother. There are other characters and stuff, but that's the main
plot."
"Like playing a story out yourself," he nodded. "Wicked cool."
***
So, what do ya'll think? Cool? Cool? It gets better. Believe me! Review, please. I love reviews, I thrive on their very existence! Strawberry Cheesecake and Double Chocolate Chips! ^_^