Lotus Cards
Chapter Three
- - -
China - Present - 9:03 A.M.
Meilin's hand went though, through, the back of the front cover. When it happened, she left it in there for a few seconds from shock, before her hand brushed against something solid. She quickly snatched her hand back out of the cover and jumped back. Her eyes wide with fright and caution. Magic. Although she had seen her family members perform it, it was still a foreign thing to her. She, herself born as a semi-bastard child without magic, never got over the fear of knowing exactly what magic could do to harm her.
"Okay..." she whispered to herself reassuringly. "No biggie. Whatever it was, it's probably... important!"
Her eyes widened even more with realization. Whatever it was, it was probably very powerful. Syaoran would probably need it to maybe activate the cards. She should get it for him... but... She was afraid and remained confused. She sat there, crossed-legged and contemplated whether or not she should stick her hand back in and get the solid object out.
Her last thought was Syaoran's praise when she finally put her hand back into the back of the front cover and searched for the solid object. Not being able to see exactly what was on the other side, she moved her fingers around, hoping to brush against the object. Then she felt it! A shiver of anticipation ran up her spine, her fear forgotten as she grabbed hold of the object and pulled.
Meilin was surprised, it was a silver chain with two rings on it. One was black, the other white, both looked like ordinary bands. She was... a bit disappointed. She had hoped that it was some sort of secret weapon that would make the other clans quake in fear at the Li Clan's wake. She had hoped that it was something extraordinary so that the Elders might slacken their hatred upon her. Or even... Syaoran...
"Stop," she snapped at herself.
But she continued. Memories of Syaoran rushed at her all at once until she got up and stamped her feet in frustration.
"Grow up!" she spat.
Breathing heavily, she snapped the Book of Lotus shut, placed it up on her book shelf and flung the necklace onto her desk carelessly. All these memories were not going away, what she needed was a comforting activity. An activity that would distract her mind from her cousin. An activity where there would be lots of noise and lots to see.
This meant only one thing: shopping.
- - -
There she was, after talking to Xing Xing and leaving very routine instructions of keeping the doors locked, she was in the middle of a giant mall with escalators and elevators. People and children rushed around in hurry to get their shopping done or some were simply browsing around. The place was filled with conversations, debates and children having temper tantrums. Yes, perfect place to get him out of her mind. Now, the question is...
"Where do I start?" she asked no one in particular. Since she was well trained in the martial arts, she needed no bodyguards, not that her family would hire any for her. However, now that she was an aristocrat herself, she did not want bodyguards, therefore she had no bodyguards.
She smiled as she entered a small shop that sold designer clothing.
"Mmm... perfect."
- - -
Japan - Present - 2: 40 P.M.
"What could it be?" Sakura Kinomoto, the Card Mistress of the Sakura Cards - previously known as the Clow Cards - asked as she cutely cocked her head to the side.
"It's a card, Sakura," Tomoyo Daidouji said with a sweet smile and soft giggle, not at all meaning to insult.
"Hm..." Kero said, one of his hands under his chin, the other prompting it up. He was thinking hard, and he knew what it was... but it just escapes him.
"Tell us about it again, Syaoran," Sakura requested.
"Alright," Syaoran began, his brown eyes blurring as he remembered. "I was sleeping, and had a dream of a girl stumbling down a flight of stairs before hitting the ground. She got up and looked at an object on a pedestal. She reached for it, but tripped. Just before hitting the ground again, she had touched the object. The object on the pedestal then glowed white and black and then, suddenly, a single white and black light shot out from it. When I woke up after it, I found in my hand this."
He was referring to the card on the table. It was a black and white card, and written on it was one word: Yang. Yang was the black side of the ying-yang, the dark and it represented males. On the card was the picture of the yang side of the ying-yang being held in the hands of a Black Garbed Man, and the back had a pink lotus flower with a split-up ying-yang as well. It held everyone's attentions in the living room of the Kinomoto residence, even Yue's.
The angel looked at the card. He too, felt it familiar, but just couldn't place it.
"Maybe it's another Clow Card?" Tomoyo asked aloud.
"No," Kero said with certainty. "There are only 52 Clow Cards. It has always been like that."
Sakura nodded. She could feel the energy coming off of the card, and it was nothing like the cards she had. It was more serious, calculating and had more logic in it. Her cards were caring, fun and loving. She also knew that her deck was complete. They told her that they were complete, and the aura around them told her so also. Then what was this card? She eyebrows furrowed together with each confusing thought.
"Master Li," Yue, the angel, spoke to Syaoran, "Perhaps you should speak to the Elders about this. They may know the answer."
"Or maybe Eriol," Sakura piped up.
Syaoran's eyes narrowed upon hearing the name. Although the blue-haired English male teenager was, in some weird distorted way, his ancestor, Syaoran considered the reincarnation of Clow Reed his rival also. He did not want to talk about Eriol, and so he did not. The others didn't mention Eriol's name again, knowing that it'll upset the heir to the Li Clan.
"I will contact my mother," Syaoran concluded the meeting with a promise of answers soon.
- - -
China - Present - 5: 24 P.M.
She couldn't believe it. Meilin couldn't believe that she had been shopping for more than seven hours... and ended up with nothing. Nothing. It was so agonizingly painful to realize such an idiotic event. She spent almost no money except a few yen on lunch and a small dessert, but that was it. She dragged her feet along the mall's floor as she stared up at the busy people finishing their shopping, and in some cases, starting their shopping, on the second floor.
Meilin stopped and exhaled a deep sigh. She was becoming exhausted. In fact, she was exhausted three hours into the shopping from the beginning, but continued to push herself forward and to push thoughts out. She heaved a sigh when, suddenly, she felt a jolt run through her veins. She shuddered a shiver and the minute she looked up at the second floor again, a giant brown limb bore through the second floor and sprang similar limbs to shatter the windows of the shops. The earth underneath the mall shook and she feel, pain shooting across her back. She was certain that she'd feel that in the morning.
"Earthquake?" she thought in alarm, but the brown limb abruptly looked recognizable to her. It was a large tree root that shot from the earth, all around her were tree roots breaking the walls of the mall as citizens ran screaming. She struggled to stand up, but the earth shook again, again bringing her back down. All around her, tiny roots began to sprung out of the tiled floors of the wall, making them resemble veins.
"MOMMY!" a boy, no less than five, aimed to run towards his mother, tripping along the rooted floor.
"JASON!" the mother screamed as she stretched her arms towards him, and desperately tried to move through the shaking ground.
Meilin watched in slow-motion horror as the roots came alive on their own accords and shot forward, each tip as sharp as needles. All were aiming for their hearts. She stiffled a gasp, heart stopping and beating against her ears. Her eyes went wide as the Fate of mother and son became evident to her. It was too late. They were to die.
"NO!" she screamed in anguish.
Time stopped for a brief moment, and everything around paused. The flying roots were suspended in the air, still targeting the mother and son, and the scrambling people stopped in mid-step. She spun her head around to look at the frozen area around her, it was strange and made her fear. A white and black light appeared in front of her and immediately, with a flash, was replaced by the two rings she had drawn from the cover of the Book of Lotus. Quickly, the Ying Card revealed itself behind the two bands. Another flash and the black ring was wrapped around her ring finger at the left hand, and the white ring around the middle finger of the right hand.
"Use them, young Phoenix. Let the Lotus consume thee from within and let it guide thee to your want."
It was a thin whisper and she was about to obey, but hesitated. First, she did not know what to do. Secondly, she did not want to do it. Why should a mere voice decide for her? However, staring at the desperate faces of the mother and son struggling to meet each other while piercing-sharp root were going to stab through them, all paused in mid-action because of this strange force, she knew what she had to do. She had to save them.
"I have to save them," she voiced her thoughts.
Without thinking, as if it was a sixth sense. She clapped her hands together, the rings at either hand, hit each other with a distinctive "clack". When she drew her hands away, a glowing black and white orb formed and expanded, giving way to a long white bow and a black arrow. She grabbed the bow and arrow from midair, nocked the arrow, drew it back and aimed at the center of the still floating Ying Card. A magic circle formed at her feet, resembling the ying-yang symbol.
"Let the Lotus be mine guide, and like a Phoenix I shall rise. Grant me thy light, and I shall show thy might! Ying!"
She released the arrow and it struck the card, and upon contact a black and white light broke out. The arrow seemed to tremble as it tried to cut through the middle of the card, making Meilin's breathing stagger, it was drawing its strength from her and it was towing her down. But one brief glance at the two people who were about to die, made the arrow harden its attack on the card and ran through the Ying Card. It shot through, dragging the Card's powers with it, binding the Ying onto the arrow. She watched in amazement as the Card tore into thin, wispy strips and attached itself onto the arrow. When the black arrow completely went through the Card, it expanded into the White Maiden that was holding onto the ying symbol illustrated on the Card.
"G-go," Meilin's shaky voice commanded. "H-help... th-the-m."
The White Maiden did not need to hear what her Mistress bade her to do, she knew, from the newborn connection between them, what she had to do. She flew, quick as lightning in front of the mother and son as Time went back to its usual course. The roots were not stopping, they were going to kill the White Maiden in order to get to the family. Meilin watched through half-lidded eyes the White Maiden holding up both her hands and struck the roots with a blinding white light.
The earth beneath Meilin shuddered and groaned in pain as she shuddered and groaned alongside it. The White Maiden struggled to continue her attack but knew that her Mistress was unable to fuel the attack for much longer. The roots have begun to fight back and she did not know how much longer she could keep the attack going. As a twig nicked her cheek, she let herself a short glance at her Mistress, who was breaking into cold sweat, and was just about to stop when her Mistress gave her a hard frown.
"W-we a-re go-ing... to finish this!" Meiling shouted, letting what little strength she had left filter into the White Maiden's attack.
The bark coiled and squirmed and knew that it was the end. It could continue to struggle, but Ying was more powerful, and Ying's Mistress was more unrelenting. Another black arrow was suddenly in her left hand. She nocked it and aimed at the floor below her, in the middle of the ying-yang symbol that formed below her when she first settled the arrow against the thin, almost transparent string of the bow.
"Lotus bind me to thee as I, the Phoenix, rise from mine ashes. Let thy Card be the execution, to mine evolution! Nature!"
She shot the arrow and saw, through bleary eyes, as wisps of string detached itself from the ground and roots to form the outline of a Card.
And then, there was black.
- - -
the point
