Prologue

"Embrace the Void…"

Sakura kept a tight grasp on the Star Wand as she bounded through the empty streets, keeping a wary eye to her back. The voice that followed chilled her to the bone, its monotonous droning seemingly devoid of life — much like the being that owned it.

"Kero-chan…" Sakura gasped for breath before continuing, "who IS that?"

The winged lion following alongside turned towards her without slowing. "I don't know! That presence…it's like nothing I've ever felt before!" He frowned harder than he already was. "It just appeared out of nowhere — I didn't even sense it until it was right next to us! And your Cards didn't even have any effect on it!" Casting another nervous glance to the rear, he then turned to look past Sakura to his counterpart. "What do you think, Yue?"

The other Guardian of the Cards already appeared to be deep in thought. "It does not feel like a creation of Clow's — I cannot sense anything like his presence from this being." He looked at Kerberos, a strangely unnerved expression on his face. "However, it radiates a peculiar presence that is quite similar to that of the last Clow Card."

Sakura, despite her terror, asked: "What presence?"

Yue's eyes narrowed. "Nothingness."

"Nothingness…"

Sakura recalled vividly her confrontation with the fifty-third and final Clow Card, which had been sealed away by Clow Reed himself long before she was born. The seal had been broken after her classmate Eriol Hiiragizawa — the reincarnation of Clow — had returned to his native England and his home had been demolished. The unnamed Card – a 'negative' force equal in power to the first fifty-two Clow Cards combined – had devastated Tomoeda, wiping out large portions of the city and sealing away nearly all of Sakura's friends and family, all in the name of reuniting herself with her 'friends', the Clow Cards. It was only with the help of Syaoran Li – and the Card created from Sakura's feelings for him – that she was finally able to seal away the misguided Card and transform it into the Hope.

Without slowing, Sakura allowed her senses to expand, using her innate ability to detect the presence of nearby magic. What she felt sent a shudder through her spine; a presence vaguely similar to the sealed Card, but somehow…colder, more empty, infinitely more sinister… and a lot closer than she had thought.

Instinct and reflex were all that saved Sakura from the bolt of black energy the spectre had silently loosed towards her, as she deftly changed course. Kerberos and Yue, also caught off-guard, turned on the being, unleashing a dual barrage of magically-charged crystal shards and powerful flames. Twisting in mid-air, Sakura pulled a Card from her vest.

"Thunder!"

The three-pronged attack slammed into the cloaked figure simultaneously, obscuring it momentarily beneath a flash of intense magical light so bright it momentarily blinded Sakura. The light quickly faded, and she blinked a few times to clear her vision. When she looked at where the figure had been standing, she saw nothing there; nor could she sense its presence anywhere nearby. Could we have finally…?

"Kero-chan? Yue-san? Did we…is it gone?"

Kerberos cautiously walked over towards where the spectre had been standing, while Yue hovered in place a short distance away, eyes closed in concentration.

"Looks like we got 'im," Kerberos said, with a relieved expression. "Nothing less from our Master, of course. I had perfect faith in you, Sakura!"

Yue, however, did not share Kerberos' optimism. "We should be careful. It may still be somewhere nearby."

His four-legged counterpart, though, was having no part of his pessimistic assessment. "…I knew we were going to win all along! After all, nothing can stand against my incredible power and unrivaled intellect!"

Sakura allowed herself a sigh of relief, though she was still quite troubled by the sense of deadly purpose she had felt from the spectre during their retreat. It's nothing like I felt from any of the Cards, not even that one… She couldn't suppress a shiver at that feeling. It really felt like it wanted to hurt us. It was trying to…to…! She couldn't bring herself to think of that possibility. At least it's gone, now…

She turned to the guardians, her companions. "It's getting pretty late…maybe we should go back home."

Kerberos, having returned to his disguise form, hovered over to Sakura's side and let out a yawn. "Yeah, let's go. I could use a nap…and maybe some sweets as a midnight snack…"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Kero-chan, is that all you ever think about? There's more to the world than swee…ah!"

A jarring flash of alarm from her heightened senses was her only warning. Bringing the Star Wand to bear, Sakura spun about…and before she could even complete the movement, she froze, held in place by an irresistible force. Before she had time even to utter a sound, a lance of purest darkness pierced her immobile form, sending waves of icy coldness throughout her body. If there was any pain, she could not perceive it; only an all-emcompassing emptiness, slowly enveloping her. As her sense of the world around her diminished, she could only barely hear the anguished cries of Kerberos and Yue as they tried to rush to her rescue. As her vision faded to nothing and consciousness slipped away, she heard one final voice as oblivion took her…

The Void welcomes you, my mistress.


So, now for the story behind the story...essentially, the idea for the Book of Sakura was pulled from the aether during an all-nighter at work a few weeks back (there wasn't much going on at the time); I started writing, came up with a basic story outline, and this was the initial result. It isn't actually as finished as I had originally intended, though I may just leave it as-is as it opens the story more or less adequately.

As to the timing of its posting...well, I'm actually here at Anime USA at present, and I figured that now is as good a time as any. As per the usual routine: read, review, comment, et al. Constructive criticism is absolutely welcome.