-Disclaimers
Matsuo: Wow my first ever fanfic that's not Inu-Yasha! It's actually CCS also something that I don't own. This is a first CCS for me so be gentle.
Sagas of the Blue Moons: When Fire meets Ice
-Chapter 1: My Beloved Sister, Cherry Blossom-
"Eriol, come quickly, your father wishes to see you," a small maid urged her young master to his father before it was too late.
"Of course," Eriol replied swiftly. He could feel tension in the air and hurriedly followed the maid. He was afraid to reach his destination and see what could be happening. He looked at his feet and they ran silently through the night air that filled the castle with the blue light of the moon. They stopped at a pair of large doors that swung open slowly for them to enter, he recognized them as his father's bedroom door and went still for a moment. The room was brightly lit as maids, mikos, monks, and other or sorts rushed about while he saw his father in the middle of it all. His father lay still and pale on the royal velvet bed, he could see sweat roll down the sides of his father's head and on to the bed as the maids tried desperately to replace wet cloths on top of his head as quickly as possible. Immediately, Eriol rushed to his father's side and clasped on to his hand, "Father."
"My son," he acknowledged meekly. He could feel his life energy flow out of his body with every breath he let out. He smiled at his beautiful son that took after him weakly and opened his eyes as wide as he could for they were only able to open half way.
"Father, what is happening to you? Are you sick?" Eriol asked urgently rubbing circles on the back of his father's palm to try and nerve him.
"My son, it is far worse than that, I am dying, my child and I need you to do something for me," even though he seemed weak, it would have been the last thing he was at that moment. The maids and monks knew that what they were doing was a waste of time but if they had any chance of saving their dear lord, they would take it. His voice was strong and clear and it rumbled with hearth for his friends and family but struck fear into the hearts of his foes and enemies.
"Oh, father, you can't be dying! You just can't, you are the most powerful sorcerer of all time, you're the emperor," Eriol cried out, "You're my father!"
"My child I know, but my time has come but before I go, there is something I must tell you to do," said the emperor in deep despair. In his other hand laid a locket with a symbol of a cherry blossom on it. He rubbed it and stared at it with a smile. Eriol could see his father's eyes shimmer with a wet shine.
"Father…"
"You know I am the emperor of the Kingdom of Japan, you know you should be the next ruler of Japan with the help of the daimyo lords and the shoguns—" He was cut off by his brash son.
"But I'm too young to rule Japan! You cannot lay the full responsibility of being emperor into my small hands father," said Eriol with all his might.
"I know, and I'm so glad that you have such wisdom to know that as well, that is why I ask you to seek out your long, lost onee-chan. I'm sure by the description I gave you, you'll be able to find her, she is a hard one to miss Sakura is."
"Onee-chan…" Eriol whispered as though it was a forgotten word. One last time, the emperor looked into the mirror of himself that he called son and said goodbye. Eriol rested his head on top of his father's chest and for once in his childhood, tears rolled down his cheek. The other occupants of the room stopped at once and kneeled on to their knees in deep respect.
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"Have you heard, girls?" said one girl.
"Heard what?" Sakura asked curtly in a disgruntled manner. She was known for her disgruntled manner.
"The emperor has just died," the girl whispered.
"What…" Sakura trailed off trying hard to process the information. The girl shrugged and left as another who stood by Sakura and heard the commotion tried to console her.
"It's okay, Sakura, c'mon we got work to do."
Sakura nodded slowly and followed after her.
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My name is Fujitaka Kinomoto otherwise known as Clow Reed, the Tennou, the Emperor of the Kingdom of Japan. If ye are reading this, then my hougyo has been met and this is my joui.
My daughter, Sakura Kinomoto, is to be Empress of the Kingdom and she is to be found for her death had not been met as of yet. The Kingdom is to be handed down to her and her brother, Eriol Hiragizawa Kinomoto, is to be kept in her care. I fully expect that she will be able to do these tasks I have given her for she is my daughter. If her person is not found then the daimyo lords: Yue-sama, Yelan-sama, Touya-sama, Kaho-sama, and my shoguns, Keroberos and Spinel Sun will battle in a royale to claim reign until my son is of age to rule.
Both my children will be given an equal share or my fortune and to Sakura Kinomoto goes the Staff of Her Star and to Eriol Hiragizawa Kinomoto, my Staff of Sun and Moon.
I bid ye all well and my children good health, may your days be filled with happiness, and I hope that they find my daughter, Sakura. One more thing, expect the unexpected.
Fujitaka Kinomoto
Eriol read and reread the article over and over again. He remembered little of his sister but that she was the one who raised him for more or less a year. He vaguely remembered how she looked like but by his father's description and the child portraits of her, he had a rather good idea. She had been his mother in a sort, she had raised him with her own hands after their mother died and their father took another wife, one person he did remember.
His father's new bride was a witch; she was bitter and hated everything but money and fame. She especially hated children, and most of all she hated them. Sakura and Eriol. When Sakura was only ten and he two, their mother died, their father took a new wife and Sakura was sent away all in one year. From the day their real mother died, Sakura had been his ever loving caretaker and cherished him so, she was kind and beautiful yet headstrong and believed highly in their rights. At his young age, Eriol had been known for his expertise in mischief and would always find himself trouble. However, she would always defend him or take the blame for herself. Would she still remember him? He walked through a series of corridors that took him through a hall and at the very end of that hall was one painting he loved best. It was the only painting of him and Sakura together as children. They were outside by a koi pond with many beautiful rocks where Sakura rested her knees on while she pointed to a jumping koi. She was clad in a summer orange kimono with checkered yellow on it and small embroidery of butterflies the tailor had had sewed on especially for her. She had a childish smile on as she watched him flutter his fishnet about to try and catch a koi.
"Sakura…" Eriol uttered like it too was a forgotten word; no one spoke of her as though it was forbidden. Sometimes he would hear tidbits from the maids and the servants about how magnificent and fantastic she was but he heard her most when he spoke to his father or his governess named Tomoyo, who happened to be Kaho-sama's youngest daughter. Tomoyo was sent here for further schooling for out of the six daughters, she was both youngest and most clever. She was assigned to be Eriol's governess before Sakura took her leave, she had been Sakura's best friend and when telling some stories to Eriol, she would often cry. She was Sakura's age with long and wavy ravenous hair; her face was pale and white with beautiful sapphire eyes adorned on it.
Tomoyo was youngest so she had no chance of becoming a daimyo lord; instead, she indulged herself in the fine arts of literacy and music. She was talented in every way; she was the actual painter of that portrait of him and Sakura at just the age of ten, she sang to him every night when he was younger with her beautiful voice, and she had taught him how to read and write. To him, she was very special.
She was best friends with Sakura, perhaps he could ask her if she knew where she was.
"Tomoyo-san," he called out, "Tomoyo-san!"
Tomoyo heard a distant voice calling to her from down the hall, she turned around and it was her young master, "Eriol-sama."
"No need for formalities, Tomoyo, you never used them on me before," Eriol stopped and spoke. They had always been friends, suffixes like that were never used.
"But, you would be an Emperor soon and you must learn to hear this often," Tomoyo informed.
"However, with you, I wish that you don't," Eriol said gently, his voice soft and silky coming to her ears, "Especially when I will certainly not become emperor."
"All right, what is the matter, Eriol-chan?" Tomoyo asked with a bright smile.
"I was wondering…well, my sister…she is to be empress if she is found, however, even with the cavalry out looking for her I wish to look for her as well and I believe my father would want me to too."
Tomoyo's eyes darkened at the subject. Sakura she thought, she knew where their stepmother had sent her but she had promised Sakura she would never tell. Eriol looked at her desperately, she must tell for if Sakura were to die she would also be held by fault. Eriol's eyes continue to plead and she led him to the gardens, nodding at a few passerby servants.
She led him to the gardens and pulled him down for him to sit on the stone bench with delicate carving and wisteria vines wrapped loosely around it. He sat down beside her, their height the same and they looked each other deep in the eye, her mist of blue encountering his own dark blue. Her posture was straight and perfect while his was eager and anxious, "Please, tell me."
"Yes, of course, Eriol," Tomoyo replied as she continued looking deep into his eyes, then she averted her eyes towards the afternoon sun that hung high above, "Your sister, Sakura, I hope you know what had happened to her."
"I didn't but I had found out," Eriol said softly and sadly, his tone turned harsh at his next statement, "it was completely outrageous."
"Yes, I agree, Mistress Ye Ying was quite intolerable," Tomoyo remarked, her voice cold at the thought of her previous mistress, "The bitch dared took the liberty of selling your sister to a prominent teahouse a yonder south of here. The teahouse gladly bought her and a marvelously high price for Sakura was the most beautiful girl they had yet bought and she was of high stature. I assume that you've heard once your father heard of this incident, he banished her."
"Yes, I was there."
"You were?" Tomoyo inquired, slightly surprised.
"Yes, I was just beyond the door of his study while he did it," Eriol replied, a sad twist of euphoria tingled through him.
Flashback
Eriol, age of two and a half, watched his father's rage bestowed to the beautiful bride of his. Lady Ye Ying stood straight and defiant against his father, her long hair bundled on to the top of her head in an ancient Chinese style while the rest swept on to the floor. Her Chinese robes lay bountiful over each other as her white sashes hung over her arms. She dared stood so straight to match his father's level of importance. But for her stubbornness, she was backhanded violently as she fell to the floor.
"How dare you."
"How dare I send—no sold that worthless wretch that you call daughter to a teahouse? Because she was unruly and insolent and was not fit to be Empress of the Kingdom of Japan! I was and only I will be the Empress!"
"Why you insubordinate wench!" His father's voice rose. She giggled with mirth and weakly made her way up on her feet.
His father's fury radiated off him like the aura of his power but his face lay expressionless. He snorted silently as he watched Ye Ying make her attempts to get up. Once up, she used her magic to try and defeat him, the same magic he had taught her but once more, he overruled her and sealed her into another dimension within the contents of an empty and untitled book but as soon as she was concealed with magic ofudas, a title page inked it's way on from the inside of the book showing Ye Ying sitting on a well of water. His father simply replaced the book on the shelf to collect dust and sat down while Eriol saw his father's rage receding and despair permeating, "My dearest daughter, where will I find you now?"
End of Flashback
"So she was sent to another dimension in a book? Which one?" Tomoyo asked curiously.
"I'm not sure," Eriol replied with slight wonder himself, "But surely it would take a lifetime to find it in the library."
"True," Tomoyo agreed.
"So you know where Sakura is?" Eriol asked again.
"Yes, I do. But I made an oath to keep it unknown, however, if it would come to her death and your early coronation, that so be it that I should break my oath," Tomoyo confessed, "She is in the Teahouse of Mochi, perhaps you have heard of it?"
"Yes, many things, for one, I have heard that there is one girl that is extraordinarily defiant yet beautiful and the most popular among the guests of the teahouse," Eriol replied, hearing such things would only trigger such a thought.
"That is Sakura," Tomoyo smiled brightly once more before she got up, she bowed and spoke, "I must be off to study now, I hope you succeed in your quest."
"I do too."
That night, Eriol lay in the grand bed while fiddled with the locket that his father had told him to give to his sister, Cherry blossoms, Eriol thought when he fingers rubbed the pink carving of said flower. The night was still young and he lacked of any ideas to do anything, so he lay in his bed, contemplating on what to do on his journey. Would he need any assistance? Most likely and an idea popped up into mind. He beckoned for a messenger and gave him a message to deliver.
"Make sure that you can get this to him before dawn, we'll be leaving tomorrow," Eriol commanded and dismissed the messenger.
"Yes, milord."
Eriol looked out the window and watched the messenger on his horse ride away to the Northern lands belonging to Yelan-sama. Then he looked up at the starry sky and spotted the crescent moon in all its glory as it shone a magnificent blue and cast it's light all around.
"I hope we're under the same moon tonight, sister," Eriol whispered enchantingly and closed the window to return to his bed where he instantly fell victim to sleep.
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Sakura lay on the small futon by the shoji door that led out to the balcony of the teahouse; she spied on the blue moon from within the thin tinted window doors. She had worked many an hours and was finally given time to rest, her faithful friend Mei-Ling soon joined her, "How do you feel?"
Sakura took notice in the soft tone she did not often use, "I'm fine, I just wished I could have seen him before he went."
'You know, they're probably searching for you," Mei-Ling stated the obvious, her voice full of concern.
"Yes, but the teahouse will never allow them to find me, they've paid a high price on me anyway and they'd rather sell Ruby off then me," Sakura remarked, slightly proud of herself.
"I don't know, you know what tomorrow is," Mei-Ling said, her tone was back to its rowdy teasing sound.
"Yeah, but let's see how mad Ruby can get, you say?" Sakura insisted. Mei-Ling nodded and they giggled merrily to sleep that night.
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"Syaoron!"
"Yes, mother," replied the dull and sleepy voice.
Yelan looked at her boisterous son and sighed, "You have a message from Eriol-san."
"Eriol?" Syaoron immediately woke from his lazy daze and took the messaged from his mother.
It read:
Dear Syaoron,
As you might have guessed, the land is looking for my sister and I wish to join in on the hunt and I ask of your assistance to aid me during my pursuit. I know you will willingly agree to join as well, I'm sure you are enjoying yourself in the palace learning your manners. Well, please reply soon because I am leaving tomorrow.
Eriol Hiragizawa Kinomoto
Syaoron jumped with joy at the thought of leaving the boring palace. He grinned and started off until his mother called for him, "Syaoron!"
"What does the message say, it has the royal imperial crest on it."
"Eriol-san had requested that I lend a hand in his own journey for hi sister," Syaoron said.
"Very well then just make sure you don't get into trouble," Yelan warned.
"Yes, mother."
Matsuo: there ain't no hells way am I gone be finished by February 10!!! But the story is up now and I'll keep working on it. I hope I win the contest D BTW remember to read and review CIAO!