"Ren! Ren!" a young voice called from the upstairs attic. "Come see what I found!"

The thirteen-year-old sighed. "Yori, you'd better not be getting into trouble. Mom and Dad'll have your hide, and mine!" Even so, Ren turned towards the pull-down ladder and started climbing. "Yori? Where exactly are you?"

The attic was big, but then again, it was a fair-sized house. They were currently cleaning it out so the family could decide what to do with it. Several months earlier, Ren and Yori's grandfather, Li Taizhi, passed away. Their great aunt, Li Natsu, had preceded him. They were Sakura's two youngest children; the oldest, Tsubasa, had disappeared even before they were born, and had become almost like a family legend himself.

The majority of Ren and Yori's family lived in Hong Kong, but they had some relations in Tomoeda, where their family often stayed, and where Ren and Yori were going to school. During breaks they would always visit the main estate in Hong Kong. Ren and Yori's great-grandmother was from Tomoeda, and so was their mother.

As Ren climbed the stairs, Yori's head appeared out of nowhere, a childish grin on his face, nearly causing Ren to lose his balance. "Hey, careful!"

Yori could only grin. "Sorry, Ren! Come see!" Yori backed away as Ren entered the attic. The ceiling's height was a few inches above the thirteen-year-old's head, so even he could move around comfortably, though he was still somewhat restricted in his movements. Unlike Yori, apparently, who had no trouble bounding across the attic floor towards a childish-looking dresser. "I think it was Great-grandmother's. It looks really old, but I can't see it too clearly."

"You know we're not supposed to touch her stuff! Grandfather and Aunt Natsu told us not to! And mother will get mad." The boys' mother was of the Li Clan, who lived in Hong Kong. They were descendants of the great Clow Reed, or so they had been told. Ren and Yori had always been fascinated by the story, but their mother was so down-to-earth, and told them that they could indulge in such childish fantasies for only so long.

Yori just grinned. The bottom drawer of the dresser was slightly open. Ren walked over towards it and peered inside. "It looks like it's just filled with a bunch of old clothes," he said, trying to open it further. "Wow, it's stuck alright. What did you do to it?"

"Nothing…let me help!" Before Ren could answer or move, Yori bounded over to the drawer and placed his hands on the edge. To both brothers' surprise, the drawer slid out with no resistance. Ren nearly fell over, but Yori wasted no time in his investigation. "Heh, wow! Look at all these strange costumes!" Yori and Ren laughed as they held some up.

"I wonder who these belonged to?" Ren asked as he examined one in particular. Then Yori yelped. "What happened?" Ren asked, concerned suddenly for his younger brother.

"Something's…glowing…"

"What?" Ren looked in the drawer, and sure enough, something was indeed glowing. Laying the costume aside, he reached in carefully to pick it up. "It's…a book." Ren's eyes suddenly grew dark, as if in a trance, but only for a few moments.

Yori scrambled over to have a look. The book was mostly red and gold, with a clasp on the front, but when Ren opened the front cover, he found a small stack of cards starkly different from the book. Though they had a similar design, it was obviously not the same, and the cards were pink and yellow. The book felt warm in his hand, as if it were coming alive.

"Wow, so cool!" Yori exclaimed as he scooped out the cards and began shuffling through them. "These are really neat, Ren. Don't you think it'd be cool if they were the cards that Clow Reed created? They certainly look like the cards Grandfather used to tell us about." This was followed by a laugh as the younger boy dropped the cards to the floor, picking up one he wanted. A second card fell out of the stack, away from the rest. Yori waved his card through the air. "Wood!" he yelled, laughing as he did so. He seemed not to notice the slight glow that the cards began to emit at the sound of his voice.

Ren, however, spied the card that had fallen away from the others. He saw them begin to glow, and he carefully picked up the card. "Sword," he said softly, looking at the pink and yellow card with the image of a sword bound by chains. Before either of the brothers knew what was happening, vines and branches and all manner of such things started growing and spreading all through the attic, seeming to tear up boards and break windows.

All the rest of the cards glowed brighter and brighter. "Yori, quick! The Cards, grab them!"

"Ren! What's happening?" Yori screamed. He almost lost hold of his Card, the Wood, but Ren grabbed his hand.

"No, Yori, don't let go!" Together the brothers held on tightly. Ren shouted, "Sword!" in hopes of something happening, and something did. The Card transformed, and in Ren's hand was a sword just like that on the Card itself. He had no time to react, however. The Wood, once docile, tried to trap the other cards inside but to no avail. The rest of the cards escaped. The last to leave, a tiny fairy-like creature, came towards Yori, and gently kissed him on the cheek before disappearing with the rest.

"Yori," Ren said gently, admiring the sword in his hand. "I think these are the Cards that Clow Reed created."

"But, that can't be! Mother said it was all just a legend…a family fairy-tale!"

"It's no fairy tale," came a small voice from behind. The brothers turned around to see a small, yellow-furred creature with wings rising up out of the Book.

"Who are you?" Yori asked timidly, holding Ren's hand tight.

"Keroberos," Ren said quietly.

At the name, Kero turned his tiny eyes towards Ren, and before Ren could do anything, he flew straight at his face. "You! You look just like that brat! No matter, who released the Cards, and how did you manage to do it?"

"W-well, I…" Yori began, but Ren cut him off.

"I did," he said. "I apologize. I am Ren, may I ask, who are you?" He had an idea, but he wanted to be sure.

"I am Keroberos, Guardian of the Seal. Which is now broken thanks to you! But how? Sakura set a new seal in place on the cards so that they wouldn't release like that again!" Kero groaned and grabbed his head in his paws. "And it took so long to capture and transform them!" he wailed.

"Wait- Sakura? Li Sakura?"

"Yes of course! The last Master of the Cards! And powerful too! How would you know anything about her?" Kero asked, eying the boys.

"She was our great-grandmother, Kero-chan," Yori said proudly. "We didn't know her though, we were born after she died."

"You were, Yori," Ren said, smiling down at his brother. "I was two. I don't remember her well."

Kero pondered this for a moment. "I see. So not only are you descendants of Clow Reed but also of Sakura. I can't believe I've been in there such a short time- it feels like eternity."

"Why would our ancestor Clow Reed have anything to do with it? He was just an astrologer, or so Mother says."

"Clow Reed was no mere astrologer! Clow Reed was one of the most powerful sorcerers in the world. His power was matched only by Sakura, his heir, though she was not descended from him. It's surprising that you, his true descendents, would not know of him."

Ren was slightly flushed with embarrassment. "We heard stories from Grandfather and our aunt about him, but Mother always told us it was a family legend to make the Li Clan feel proud of something they had not done."

"I see. That's too bad. Either way it doesn't matter. The Cards must be recaptured. You two, stand up!"

A/N:
Dear me! What's happened to Ren when he blacked out? Is it significant? Perhaps not. We'll see! Which one will be chosen? :D I hope it's not too terribly obvious!

A/N2:
Okay, so this chapter was written quite a long time ago. The prologue and all following chapters have been written in the last few days. Not sure why that matters, but it seemed important.
Second, there will be a LOT of originals in this fic- mainly because, well, Sakura is dead, so all of her friends and family that had lived when she did, are dead. Eriol had promised Yuuko as part of his payment that he could no longer help the Master of the Cards. Whether this is/was limited to Sakura, or all future Masters, I haven't quite decided yet, but certainly Sakura did not make that promise. So, most of the characters will be original characters, though obviously the Guardians will appear for the CCS storyline, as will Watanuki and Mokona for the xxxHolic storyline. Kikuko is my original character for Watanuki's assistant at the House.

I have some interesting things in mind for Ren and Yori. Reiterating the chapter, Sakura is their great-grandmother on their mother's side. In my fic, Sakura and Syaoran have at least two children, Natsu, the daughter, and Tai Zhi, the son, who is the father of Ren and Yori's mother. Their father is Japanese. Unlike my last fic, there will not be a human who fights against the Captor or tries to challenge them.

And a quick visual for the boys:
Yori is said to look just like Eriol, and therefore by extension, he looks very much like Clow Reed. He has a very timid personality most of the time, though is very prone to laughter and looks up to his older brother. He's small for his age and doesn't have much stamina, so he's not good at sports. He was also never any good at martial arts because he has some medical problems.
Ren looks more like Syaoran, but he has green eyes like Sakura. He is tall and incredibly talented. Though neither of the boys grew up practicing magic, he did grow up with martial arts and excelled, and he also has a very powerful sense and sight of other-worldly things. He protects his younger brother because Yori is afraid of so many things.

Also, yay for Li Tsubasa :D