VictorianPearl: Here is the newest installment for my CCS fictions. I worked long and hard on this fiction. Many class and work hours were spent creating this fiction X_X

Li: How dare you use the class time you were paying to be in for writing this fiction!

VictorianPearl: How do you think I wrote my Halloween installment for OneShot?

Li: Here is the new and wonderful fiction about love, revenge, and magic.

Eternal Flame

Chapter 1

The Dream

The goddess Artemis was enraged by her brother, grippingly and blindingly enraged. She was a goddess, she could do most anything, and right now she had to prove that she could hit a target in the dark. She stood across the ocean with her arrow pulled tight. The moon, her moon, was barely shinning from behind dark clouds.

Thwang…thud…

Her anger cooled, but before triumph could set in, Apollo laughed, and her horror took its place. Artemis dropped her divine bow and dived into the ocean. She swam to her former target and discovered it with horror. Orion was dead. Her good friend, her best friend, her love that she would not admit to herself, was dead. And she had killed him.

V~V~V~V

Tomoyo woke with a start, covered in sweat and gasping for breath. She quickly kicked her blanket off in an attempt to cool down. She clutched at her mattress and waited for her body to calm down.

The dream, the arrow, the ocean, the body, they had seemed so life-like. Tomoyo remembered them clearly, even through her half awake mind. She could feel something foreign pulsating through her veins.

Her dream, perhaps, hadn't been so ordinary. Tomoyo had had life-like dreams before. There was a heartbeat in her fingers as if she really had let that arrow soar. She shivered.

Her body began to calm and her half conscious mind began to slip. She fell back onto her pillow and quickly fell back asleep. In her slumber, her fingers twitched, still pulsating.

V~V~V~V

The school bell rang, but Tomoyo was already in her seat and ready to begin class. She sat in front of Eriol with Sakura and Syaoran to her left. They were only a week into their final year of high school. Not much had changed from elementary, except that now a few different classmates were dating.

Tomoyo was upright and paying close attention to her teacher. Although she clearly remembered the previous night's dream, it was far from any of her current thoughts, which were all school centered.

After Japanese, Math, and English class, it was lunch time. Tomoyo, Sakura, Syaoran, and Eriol all sat in a circle on the grass, bringing out their lunch boxes. Many of their close friends, like Takashi, Chiharu, and Naoko sat nearby.

Syaoran glanced over his lunchbox at Eriol.

"Haven't you managed to make any new friends yet, Hiiragizawa?" The Chinese boy asked.

Eriol smiled. "I have made many new friends, but I would never forsake lunch hour with you for them."

Sakura and Tomoyo glanced at each other and rolled their eyes. It seemed that this school years was going to go on the same as any other year. Indeed, not much had changed.

Lunch was never quiet, whether for better or worse. Most of the time Eriol was torturing Syaoran or Syaoran was provoking Eriol, but at least it was never boring. Tomoyo had become very close with everyone in her group, they were inseparable.

Sakura and Syaoran got lost in their own conversation. Eriol noticed the dazed look on Tomoyo's face.

"Tomoyo-chan," Eriol said, waving a hand in front of his friend's face. "Are you alright?"

Tomoyo blinked. "Eh? Yes, I'm fine Eriol-kun. I was just…thinking about how much fun I have with all of you at lunch."

They both smiled in agreement. Time was short though and they all shoved their lunches down their throats before running off to their next class. The second half of the day's classes gave much lighter homework than the first half did. Despite this, Tomoyo knew that she was going to be busy with her homework until dinner.

Syaoran managed to get out of his last class first and waited for his three friends to meet him outside in the warm, afternoon sun. Sakura, Eriol, and Tomoyo all approached him together.

"Should I even ask if anyone wants to go get ice cream?" Syaoran asked hopefully.

"You're more than welcome to come to my house for ice cream." Eriol suggested. "Nakuru makes amazing hot fudge sundays."

As much as it pained him to turn down the offer of a free sunday, Syaoran ignored Eriol.

"Sakura, Tomoyo?" Syaoran asked with wide eyes.

"I'll go with you." Sakura gave in. "But, we have to go by my house and get Kero first."

Syaoran's cheers were cut short, but he was still happy. He then dragged Sakura off. She merely waved a frantic goodbye to her two friends.

Tomoyo giggled. "I don't know about you, but I need to get home and finish today's homework."

Eriol nodded. "Shall we go then?"

The two school friends walked in the direction of Tomoyo's house. They walked in silence. Tomoyo was enjoying the walk until her fingers began to pulsate as they had done the previous night, reminding her of her odd dream.

She wanted to tell her friends about it, but felt unusually hesitant. She was used to figuring things out on her own, and although she didn't mind asking for help when she needed it, the feeling in her stomach held her back.

"Tomoyo-chan, you're dazed again." Eriol commented, smiling lightly.

Tomoyo snapped back into reality, catching Eriol's smile and blushing in embarrassment.

"Are you thinking about school again?" He asked, not really expecting her to answer.

The dark-haired girl was quiet.

'What the heck, it's Eriol afterall.'

Tomoyo opened her mouth to ask Eriol about the dream, but he stopped walking. She was confused for a moment, until she realized that they had stopped in front of her house.

"Thank you for walking me home, Eriol-kun." Tomoyo said, bowing and hoping he hadn't noticed her temporary confusion.

Eriol just smiled. "I'll see you at school tomorrow."

Tomoyo waved goodbye before her friend disappeared, teleporting back to his house, she assumed. She frowned slightly now that she was left alone. Perhaps she would call Sakura and talk to her instead.

Later that evening, Tomoyo rested on her bed and speed-dialed Sakura's number. After a few rings she was met with the voicemail. The phone was hung up with disappointment.

'She's probably making out again…'

Somehow, the homework managed to be finished by dinner. Tomoyo was now mentally exhausted. She decided to give up on deciphering the dream for now. She was just too tired to worry about it.

V~V~V~V

Tomoyo sat in her last class on Friday afternoon. She watched as the clock ticked slowly.

Only 20 more minutes to go.

She couldn't remember feeling so eager to get out of class before. The teacher was just droning on and on. She had tried to listen, but everything was going straight through her head.

She looked around the room. She focused on each of her friends, one at a time. She thought on how they had all changed, and then again how they were still the same as the first day they met in kindergarten and elementary school.

Tomoyo's eyes traveled the room slowly. She paused for a long time when she came to a person that she had only known since high school. Her eyes paused on a boy that she had seen around campus throughout the last couple of years, but had never talked to. She realized that she had never gotten a very good look at his face

He's kind of cute. Tomoyo thought lightly.

The "new" boy's features were somewhat delicate. He had a smooth oval face with wide brown eyes. Because Tomoyo was viewing him from the side she could see that his eye lashes were fairly long. His black hair fell lightly around his face, the ends barely brushing against the base of his neck. He was tall and thin…

Tomoyo shook her head.

I hope nobody noticed me staring. I've got to focus!

The bell rang soon enough though, and everybody left in an eager rush to start the weekend. Tomoyo walked with her friends until they were outside. Sakura was saying something to Syaoran about a study date at her house. The dark-haired girl didn't listen though, she was paying attention to where the boy from class was going. He was making his way to the library…

Eriol noticed Tomoyo seemed distracted and he gave her a light nudge with his elbow. She looked up quickly, trying to put her former thoughts from her mind.

"What are you thinking about, Tomoyo-chan?" Eriol asked kindly.

Sakura and Syaoran stopped walking and turned to give their attention to their friend. Tomoyo blushed at the intense gaze that Syaoran was giving her, thinking that something might be wrong.

Tomoyo raised her hands and laughed. "I'm fine. I was just thinking about what I wanted to do this weekend."

Sakura shrugged. "We can hang out at my house. Kero wants you to bring more sweets."

Tomoyo nodded. "Alright,"

"Can we go to the arcade this weekend?" Syaoran asked (mostly to Sakura) as they began to walk again. "I want to practice my DDR skills. I'll beat Yamazaki-kun soon enough."

"Actually," Tomoyo started, causing her friends to glance back at her, "I think I'm going to run to the library really fast."

"Do you want us to come with you?" Sakura asked.

Tomoyo shook her head. "No it's fine. I'll just see you tomorrow. Bye."

Sakura, Syaoran, and Eriol waved goodbye, a little confused at Tomoyo's odd behavior.

Tomoyo walked briskly to the library. She put the back of her hand to her forehead, wiping off a little sweat caused by the heat of the dying summer. She pushed her way through the doors of the school library, welcoming the feeling of the school air conditioning.

She walked slowly, carefully searching the tables and aisles for the boy she had seen in class. She couldn't say why, but she felt an inspiration to find this boy and find an excuse to talk to him.

The library was fairly empty. Not many students stayed behind on Fridays after school. Tomoyo waved to Naoko who was putting some books back on the shelves.

"Hi," Naoko whispered. "Are you looking for something, Tomoyo-chan?"

"Yes," Tomoyo whispered back, "I was meaning to talk to a boy from our government class."

Naoko thought a moment. "The only boy from our government class that is here is Chan-san. He works at the front desk."

"Oh," Tomoyo mouthed. "Thanks Naoko-chan,"

Tomoyo made her way through the aisles to the front desk. Sure enough, the boy she had been inspecting earlier was working at the front desk, checking out a book to a freshman boy.

She waited in line, quickly searching through her mind for something she could say to this boy. The freshman boy in front of her took his book and left. Tomoyo stepped up to the counter and quickly read Chan-san's nametag.

Keung Chan

"Hello, I was wondering if there were any Greek or Roman mythology books available." Tomoyo asked, her mind full of the dream that was very similar to a myth she was sure she had read in the past.

"Let's see." Keung said in a tenor voice. He tapped away on the computer before waiting a few moments.

"Nope, sorry." Keung said, shaking his head. "We only have two books that fit that category and they're both currently checked out. They should be returned in two weeks if you want to check back."

Keung met Tomoyo's eyes and she suddenly felt a blush creeping into her cheeks. She couldn't figure out why she seemed to be reacting to this new boy.

"Oh, alright then." Tomoyo said, a little disappointed. "I guess I'll just come back later then."

"You don't need the books for a class, do you?" Keung asked softly.

Tomoyo shook her head. "No, I was just…interested in reading them."

Keung nodded. "I know what you mean. By the way, I'm Chan Keung, I think we have a couple of classes together, don't we?"

Tomoyo nodded back. "Yes we do, and I'm Daidouji Tomoyo. It's nice to meet you."

They smiled at each other. "Well, I'll see you in class then." Tomoyo said, making to leave.

"I'll see you in class." Keung replied, raising his hand in a goodbye gesture.

Tomoyo left the library, heart beating fast with a smile plastered across her face. She couldn't believe she had just done that, and without sounding stupid or awkward or anything. She didn't even know where the inspiration to talk to him had come from, or how she was able to make the connection between her dream and the old myth she was sure she had read a long time ago.

V~V~V~V

VictorianPearl: And so ends chapter one. Tomoyo is falling for a new boy and is acting very strange with all of these new emotions running through her.

Li: And what's up with that dream she had?

VictorianPearl: You will soon find out. All (or at least more) will be revealed in chapter two! As for a side note, the myth at the beginning was only one of the many variations of the story, and that variation best fits this story.