Guardian of Godhood

Chapter 2

Enraged by the atrocity, Clow spent the next day and night tending to the boy's wounds, stitching the shredded flesh and applying healing balms. The boy nearly woke a few times during the operation, but Clow simply used the Sleep card. The boy was so dearly in need of rest he dropped instantly to almost comatose levels each time Clow used the spell.

Yue and Kerberus kept asking him who the boy was. So far the guardians did not understand that Clow was not omniscient, and could not seem to accept that Clow did not know the identity of the child. As for the boy himself, Clow had not allowed him to wake during his entire stay, and in sleep he was as silent as he had been when they met.

Clow spent about four hours every day in healing meditation with the boy. There were so many places that required tending, but the most injured one seemed to drown out everything else, and Clow focused on that, deciding to bypass everything else, and let them heal on their own. Eventually, he was able to heal the boy enough that he felt safe allowing the boy to wake, and about a week later, one afternoon, as he sat by the child's side, the boy opened his eyes.

He did not look drowsy. It was a sharp wakening, like he had just remembered something he had to do and must jump up to accomplish it. Clow nearly raised a hand to keep the boy down, half thinking the child was going to move.

But the child did not. For a long time he simply lay there, with his eyes open. Clow waited for the amber orbs to turn to him. They never did.

Then the boy spoke, still staring ahead. " Where am I?"

Clow hesitated. " You are at the village of the Wen Kingdom."

" What do you want?"

Strange question from a ten-year-old, actually. Clow was a little stumped. " What makes you think I want anything?"

" Do not play with me." The boy spat vehemently. All this time he had still been staring straight ahead, his aura a whirlwind of terror. " You sorcerers are all alike. I did not give in before, I will not now."

Give in...did he mean the rape?

" Child," Clow tried again, " You will not be harmed here."

The boy laughed bitterly, only a sob outwardly betraying his hysteria. " That is what they always say. And it is always a lie."

" It is not a lie now." Clow touched his hand. The boy flinched, scaring Clow as well.

" What do you want?!" The boy's voice became high and shrill with fear. " I will not give you the location! So you can just give up now!"

What? " Is that..." Clow hesitated, " Is that why they...hurt you, child? To get the location...?"

The boy started trembling, his little face once again white as the blood left his cheeks. " Are you mocking me?" He snapped, like a caged animal. " Because if you are getting any ideas, let me tell you first: it did not work."

" I can see that." Clow replied patiently. He was grateful he had been wise enough to cover up the boy's birthmark now; perhaps that birthmark had something to do with whatever location the Qin sorcerers were trying to get out of him. " And I promised you already. You will not be harmed." He stood, then inclined his head, puzzled. " What is wrong with your eyes?"

Startled, the boy's eyes flickered in his direction, but aimed at his torso. " Nothing is wrong with them." He said vehemently.

Clow blinked in realization. " You are blind."

The boy was silent. There was no use denying that.

Clow heaved a sigh. This was going to be difficult. " Are you hungry, little one?"

" Go to hell!"

Seeing there was no use reasoning with him, Clow took the initiative and called out for the servants to bring in some light broth. The boy had not ingested anything in a week, with only Clow's magic feeding his body. He needed something light. As he turned around, he saw the boy's forehead was covered with sweat. He had tried to move.

" You are not completely healed yet." Clow told him. " You still need to rest."

Unable to speak from the pain, the child only writhed a little, and tears of despair pooled at his eyes and trickled down his pale cheeks. When Clow brushed them away, the boy flinched violently.

" Do not touch me!" He cried out, tensing, and Clow could sense his magic concentrating itself, preparing to cast a spell.

" Easy." The older sorcerer hushed. " I will not touch you. Do not drain yourself."

The boy seemed to consider him for a while, and Clow sensed his aura relaxing slightly. Clow then moved away to accept the bowl of broth from the servant, who bowed and backed away. He then brought the bowl to the boy.

" Here." Clow set the bowl on the table and then moved to stand in front of the boy's cot. " Can you sit up?"

Of course not. The child could barely move still.

" Will you let me help you?"

" I do not want your poison."

" You have to eat." Clow tried to reason with him again. " You have not eaten in a week, at least. I can continue supplying you magic, but that will not help you heal fast enough. You want to get better, do you not?"

" You eat it first." The boy demanded adamantly. " And I will know if you try anything."

No doubt. The boy could probably sense Clow's aura as well as Clow could sense his. It explained how the boy knew he was there, although Clow's own breathing might have given it away to the blind. He complied. The broth was somewhat tasteless, but that was exactly what he meant by light broth, and it was all the boy could safely have at this point. " There." He said. " And I place the bowl here. Will you let me help you?"

" Do not think just because you are kind to me now I am going to give you anything."

" I am not asking for anything in return." Clow wondered if perhaps he should use a different approach. " My task is to ensure you recover to full health."

The boy stiffened at his words, but ironically, seemed to accept them more easily. At his silent assent, Clow slid his hand under the boy's body. The child freaked again, but bravely bore the touch. Clow slowly sat him up, and awkwardly reached over the boy with his other arm to adjust the pillows so the he could lean back comfortably.

The boy gritted his teeth in pain. Clow reached for the broth. He allowed the boy to take it and sip from the bowl directly.

" What is your name?" Clow asked.

" What does it matter?"

" I would like to know what to call you. It would make things easier."

The boy huffed in contempt. " What is your name?" He asked challengingly.

Clow felt pity at this evidence of long suffering. " My name is Clow Reed." He said. " I come from the West, where the sun sets."

Again, the boy surprised him. " Clow Reed." He lowered the bowl a little, and Clow caught the bowl before the child's hands faltered. There was a new dread in the young, green aura now. " Clow Reed." The child repeated. He was silent for a moment. " No wonder."

Surprised that his reputation preceded him this much, Clow inclined his head. " You know of me?" He asked.

" The half-breed." The boy replied. " Yes, I have heard of you. They say you weild the power of the world."

Really? " That is flattering, but I cannot accept such a compliment. I am merely capable of using both Oriental and Western magic."

" What more do you want?" The boy's eyes managed to be piercing, despite their lack of focus. " Immortality is a curse as well as a blessing."

Confounded yet again, Clow was forced to be silent.

" You do not know what I mean." The boy realized. " Huh. So you are not after me then."

" Why would I be after you?"

Instantly, Clow noticed the boy regretting his words. " I am not going to give you a reason, Master Li." Funny how they always translated to 'Li'.

" I can always find out on my own." Clow told the boy. " I have good connections, if that was what you meant by 'power of the world'."

" Perhaps. And I would be in the same position I started with. But I will be damned if I help you along."

" Easy." Clow soothed. " I did not say that to be threatening. I merely wish to help you."

" Ha!" The boy barked a bitter laugh, tears streaming down his face. " I am beyond help now." He started trembling. " They always lie. And they do something to me–I do not know what they did to me. You saw. What did they do to me?"

Saddened by these words, Clow could only listen as the boy began to hyperventilate. " I know they did something to me. They kept threatening, and after everything that has happened, I thought, how much worse could it get? But it was worse, and they would not tell me what they were doing." His voice had crescendoed, but then diminished again towards the end. He swallowed thickly, blinking a tear onto his cheek, and fell silent.

Silence fell for a time.

Clow resisted wiping the boy's cheek. " What is your name?" He asked gently.

The child inhaled shakily. " I do not know." He said finally. " They called me Syaoran."

" Who?"

" The brothers at the temple."

" I see." Clow actually did not understand, but at least he had a name now. " Syaoran, you have my word: I will help you recover. I do not want anything from you, and I will not harm you in any way."

" How much is your word worth, Master Li?" Syaoran sneered. " They always say it like it means anything."

" I pledge my very magic." Clow vowed. " If I lie, may thunder strike me down." A phrase they often used in China, and, from accounts, thunder actually strikes those who break their oaths.

Syaoran, in any case, seemed assured by this. Still, the boy's latent fear must make itself noticed. " Even if you lie, it would do you no good. I will not give you anything."

Clow stood. He had said what he needed to say. He handed the bowl back to Syaoran, who started sipping it. " The table is over here." He used a bit of aura to mark it. " You should get some rest when you are done."

oO

Though Clow made sure to tell Kero and Yue to be careful around the boy, the two guardians failed to comprehend how getting tortured in any way translated into mental trauma. They felt once the boy had recovered it should all be over and everything would go back to normal, and had no understanding of mental scars. As a result, Clow decided it was probably best to just leave them some instructions on what not to do.

" No sudden moves," Clow told Yue and Kero, " And no physical contact. Keep your words low and be patient with him, no matter what he is doing. If you are at a loss, be honest. Treat him as you would a frightened card."

" Is he dangerous?" Kero asked, misunderstanding what Clow meant when he said 'careful'. " Should we restrain him?"

" No." Clow emphasized. " It is more that we are dangerous to him."

Amazingly, this seemed to clear it up for both of them. " Oh." The two chorused, and proceeded to get very nervous, so Clow had to reassure them that it was alright for them to interact with the boy.

Clow then went to meet with Mian. He wanted to disclose the birthmark, without implicating Syaoran, and the best way is to pretend he had seen it in a dream.

" The birthmark of the Dao Guardians." Mian recognized. " Strange. They are all the way down south."

" Dao Guardians?" Clow blinked. " What are they?"

" Supposedly about thirty years ago, a sorcerer mastered the energies of magic and created the Pills of Immortality." Mian told Clow. " The skill of creating such pills, however, cannot be reused, because it was said the sorcerer mastered eight different elements of the Dao, and when he created these immortal pills, one of those elements was used completely, thus making it impossible to create more pills. For this reason, these pills are extremely rare and extremely valuable. Knowing their worth and their danger, the sorcerer's disciples formed a league, and called themselves the Dao Guardians. They hid the pills and scattered throughout the land to confuse any sorcerers seeking them. Every year, they change posts, with one guarding the actual hidden cache, while the temple trains new Dao Guardians and add more to the league."

" That is confusing." Clow agreed. " I am surprised they did not confuse themselves."

" Perhaps they did." Mian, who had no idea Clow's current charge bore the mark, went on to explain, " About two years ago the Temple of the Guardians was attacked. They say the Qin Lord was the one who led the assault. There were no survivors, which is strange, because the guardians are a formidable force. Perhaps there is yet one alive, or perhaps you are destined to have the pills, if you saw this mark in such a dream."

" I do not know." Clow replied. " I do not wish for immortality."

" That is your wisdom then." Mian looked at the drawing again. He then lit the paper on fire with a candle. " Others are not so wise. You best keep this to yourself, Master Li. There is enough trouble in these lands."

" I have no intention of inviting trouble." Clow assured him.

oO

Syaoran slept after drinking the broth. Nightmares haunted him, visions of dread, apprehension, then cold, pure terror. Yue and Kero, frightened by the boy's screams, hurried to the boy's room in case someone was hurting him.

" What do we do?" Yue asked Kero in a panic. " What is he doing?"

" Why is he yelling like that?" Kero was also confused. He had never seen Clow so unrestful when he slept, and Clow made no mention of nightmares to these two guardians, so neither Kero nor Yue understood what they were.

" Is he being attacked while asleep?"

" We better wake him up if he is!"

Yue reached over, then froze. " But Master said we are not allowed to touch him."

" Well how else are you going to wake him?" Kero pointed out.

Yue struggled internally. The child kept screaming.

" What is he saying?" Kero asked. " 'I will not tell you'?"

" Tell us what?"

" Well, maybe he can explain if we wake him up."

" But we are not allowed to touch him!"

" He is not going to quiet down, you know." Kero flicked his tail anxiously. " Come on! Just a little shake! I am sure it will not do much!"

Yue hesitated, but then quickly took the boy's shoulders. " Wake up!" He urged, shaking the boy a little.

At the physical touch, Syaoran instantly woke, but his blindness prevented him from realizing where he was. With a cry, he uttered a spell and sent it directly to Yue, crashing the guardian into the wall. Bits of straw and dirt fell down.

" Ugh," Yue moaned, not overly hurt, for Syaoran's spell was relatively weak.

" Did you have to do that?" Kero complained.

" Who are you?!" Syaoran cried out hoarsely, blindly turning his face around to listen from all angles. " Who is there?"

" It is just us." Kero got up grumpily. " Master Clow's guardians, who you just abused."

" Guardians?" Syaoran blinked, confused. " Clow Reed has guardians?"

" You bet he does!" Kero nudged Yue's legs. " You alright?"

" Yes." Yue brushed himself off, a little rattled. " I was just trying to wake you so whoever is attacking you in your sleep would stop." He sulked. Then he glared at Kero. " And you said a little touch would not hurt!"

" How was I supposed to know he would try to blow you up?" Kero shot back indignantly. " Besides, Master Clow said he was not dangerous!" He sniffed in Syaoran's direction. " If it were me, I would say he is dangerous, not the other way around!"

Yue turned to look at the boy, noticing his glistening cheeks. " Why are you crying?" He asked innocently, not understanding Syaoran was crying because of the nightmare. " Are you hurt too?" Yue had accidentally released spells of his own, when he was upset. " Did I hurt you?" He asked, worried that Clow Reed's warning of 'no touching' might have such dire consequences.

" He is crying?" Kero was also confounded. " Why are you crying?"

" I am not," Enraged, because Syaoran felt like they were mocking him, he seethed, " Get away from me, you freaks, whatever you are!" His magic was once again poised, ready to release another spell.

" But you are crying..."

" We are not freaks, we are Clow's guardians!"

" He would not create us to be freaks..."

" Get away!" Syaoran shrieked, panicking. " Get away from me!"

Startled, Yue and Kero quickly shuffled out of the room, but watched from the doorway cautiously. Syaoran was breathing quickly, eyes blindly flickering back and forth, but he gradually calmed down a little.

" Are you alright?" Yue asked, remembering his master's instructions to be patient with the boy.

Calming down enough to recognize his magical surroundings, at least, Syaoran took a deep breath and tried to relax. " Who are you?" He asked again.

" I am Yue, Clow's moon guardian." Yue replied, puzzled.

" I am Kerberus." Kero followed. " Clow's sun guardian."

" He is a lion." Yue suddenly remembered Clow mentioned the boy was blind, and that it was like having his eyes permanently closed and hands covering his eyelids, with no way of opening or taking the hands away. " Can you see? You cannot see? Master Clow said you were...blind, whatever that means."

Syaoran took another shuddering breath, mentally going over everything he had heard so far. " No, I cannot see." He frowned. " You are not human either." He noted.

" Well," Yue blinked, " Clow said I am a magical being, but he said I was not sorcerer, and he said I was not male or female so I do not have male or female parts." After completing this awkward sentence in a perfectly practical way, the young moon guardian then added " But he said I was as good as a human, and that if anyone says otherwise to just ignore them. He said that to Kerberus too, which is strange, because Kerberus does not even look human."

With a look of complete bemusement on his face, Syaoran remained still for a moment, before inquiring, " Clow created you?"

" Yes," Kero sniffed. " I smell blood."

" Where is it coming from?" Yue asked.

" From the little thing," referring to Syaoran. Kero nudged Syaoran's legs, " Are you hurt by your own blast?"

Syaoran flinched at the touch, which startled Kero, causing the beast to jump back.

" Kerberus!" Yue remonstrated. " Can we come in?" He asked the boy, even though Kero was already in the room. " Are you alright?"

Syaoran had calmed down by now to think rationally. " When did Clow create you two?"

" Four years ago."

" Five."

" I am younger than Kero."

" Kero?" Syaoran blinked. " Kerberus?"

" Yes." Yue inclined his head. " Why? How old are you?"

Syaoran suddenly laughed. He was getting more comfortable with these two. " I am ten." He said. " Just turned ten. Or maybe it was a while ago, I do not know."

" Master Clow said humans are considered young until they are fourteen." Yue remembered.

" Yes, and even after fourteen they are still considered young, but they are no longer children."

" They are called...adolescents?"

" Young adults."

" Still children to most people."

Morosely, Syaoran said quietly, " I can no longer be a child, whether I am one or not."

" Why?" Yue asked. " Did you do something wrong?"

" Master Clow will take care of you." Kero urged. " Why stop being a child? Being young is fun. Clow said adults have all these responsibilities."

" Ha," Syaoran laughed again. " A four-year-old and a five-year-old." He lifted his hand. " Yue, come here and let me see you."

" I thought you could not see?" The guardian was stumped.

" The blind have their ways of seeing." Syaoran replied. " Unless you are uncomfortable?"

Yue glanced nervously at Kero.

" What are you going to do?" Kero asked.

" Feel his face." Syaoran said simply.

" But Clow Reed said we are not allowed to touch you." Yue protested.

" Really," Syaoran's hand lowered.

" He said we would hurt you."

" Bad."

Syaoran considered this. " I know what he means." He said carefully. " It is alright. Yue? I just want to know what you two look like."

" You can tell by feeling his face?" Kero blinked. " Are you going to feel mine?"

Syaoran smiled. " Perhaps."

Yue knelt by Syaoran's cot, and Syaoran moved his hands till they touched his face, and felt his features the way a blind person feels.

" It is strange." Yue declared.

Syaoran laughed again, amused.

" Can you really tell what he looks like?"

" You have long hair, long eyes and high nose." Syaoran blinked. " I am not sure how to describe you. You are very delicate, but you are a man."

" What about me?" Kero poked his face into Syaoran's hands. " Tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me!"

Unlike before, Syaoran did not flinch at the touch. He felt Kero. " You have the head of a lioness." He said. " With a helmet..."

" A lioness?" Kero turned to Yue. " I am a lioness? I thought I was a lion."

" I do not know." Yue shrugged.

" Yue and Kero." Syaoran murmured. " Sorry about earlier."

" Master Clow said you were 'traumatized'."

" Yes, so it is alright."

Syaoran laughed again, wincing this time. " Thank you, you two." If this Clow Reed could create two such fellows, he thought, perhaps he is not like the other sorcerers after all. The thought felt like the most cheerful notion he had ever felt in years.