"Okay, lets go over this one more time," Sakura said, "The Head will be the
one to test me, the one who I have to fight and try to beat, and the one
who will pass judgment on me. The Adherenters will be onii-chan and Eriol-
kun. They will be the ones in favor for me. The Commencer is the one
against me. His name is Armen, a Fallen. Then there is the Neutralist, he
or she will be on neither side, neither for me nor against me."
"Right," Kero said. They were all in one of Tomoyo's big limousine heading to the heart of Tokyo. There was about an hour's worth of sun. Wakari was the one driving. Tomoyo had to order Yana to stay at the house because they didn't want to reveal their secret to her just yet. They also didn't want to bring her along just to ditch her later in Tokyo. But she did put up quiet a fight when they told her that Tomoyo would be going with them without her and not telling her where to. They didn't want her to follow them and Eriol had to put an illusion spell on the car just to incase.
"Onii-chan, Eriol-kun? What's the point of an Adherenter, Commencer, and Neutralist if I am only going to be facing the Head?" Sakura asked.
"Yeah," Tomoyo agreed. "I've been wondering the same thing."
"To tell you guys the truth, I really don't know why myself either," Touya answered looking away from the car window.
"I don't know the real reason either myself," Eriol said from besides Tomoyo. "But I suspect it is because the Head can't see from all view points about you are the battle while battling you at the same time. He may miss something or never consider something about your fighting skills, personality, or determination that the others may pick up on. They always give different kinds of opinions because of who they are and what they know. Which brings me to the main function of them and why I believe that is their purpose, we tell the Head about what they learned about you. They give you guidance. Well, not really guidance per say, more like truths."
"Truths?" Sakura asked.
"We're here," Wakari called out from the front as the limousine stopped. Everyone got out of the car and looked up at the Tokyo Tower against the nearly setting sun. All around them, they could hear the buzz of the city of Tokyo. So full of life. Kids running around in circles, chasing each other and a lone figure behind them yelling that it was time for them to go back home, a mother pushing a stroller with the baby crying, a group of teens making conversations and laughing loudly, and several other people talking on cell phones, either laughing or yelling. Sakura felt relived that it wasn't like her dreams. 'But for how long will it last?' she wondered.
"Each one of us tells you at the very least two truths. Usually, most tell two truths," Eriol said while Sakura took up the sights and sounds of Tokyo.
"What for?"
"Something along the lines of advice. Either advice to help you during the Trial or help you fail."
Sakura turned sharply to look at him. Tomoyo, Kero (who had an illusion spell on so that anyone but them could see him as well as Suppi-chan), Yukito and Wakari had shocked expression on their faces.
"Help her fail?" Kero voiced out what they all had in their minds. "What do you mean by that? I thought they are supposed to give her advice!"
"Eriol said that they are not really advice, Kero," Touya said. "They are truths. Besides, what good is a Commencer when he gives her advice to help her win the Trial when he is suppose to be against her?"
"Point taken."
"But you also said that the advice is really truths," Yukito said. "It sounds like a double meaning."
Eriol answered, "You are right. It is a bit like a double meaning. You see, the first truth will be their own truths about Sakura-chan herself."
"Their own truths?" Wakari asked.
"Yes, their own truths. You see, many times the truth is about perspective. What may be true for one person may not be true for another."
"Huh? But the truth is truth. If a statement is true, then it's true in all perspective," Tomoyo said confused.
"Not always, and only sometimes it is," Touya said. "Take that man over there," he pointed to a man walk in front of them with a child holding his hand. He had a 'no nonsense' face. "He most likely believes that there is no such thing as magic and that would be his truth. You on the other hand, Tomoyo know there is magic, all around you. That is your truth."
"But that's because it is the real truth. There is such thing as magic and he may be just too blind to believe," Wakari said.
"Then you are implying that many humans are blind," Eriol said. "But does that make them wrong in believing that there is no such thing as magic?"
"No, it doesn't. But I still don't fully understand it."
"Well, I have an American coin in my pocket," Eriol fished out a penny and held it up so that the others could see one side of it. "Pretend for a moment that this coin is a true statement. You only see one side of it, ne?" There were an uninformed hai's. "From your perspective, you can see only one side, the tail's side of the coin and so think that it's the only statement that is true."
"But Eriol, we -know- that there is another side of the coin," Wakari said.
"Yes, but pretend that there isn't."
"But it is a coin. Coins have flat surfaces so there would always be two sides."
"Okay, now you are skewering up the whole point of this."
"Eriol-kun, why is this side of the coin called tails?" Sakura asked.
"I really don't know Sakura-chan. It's what the Americans call that side of the coin," Eriol answered.
"It's a building. How can the Americans call it tails?"
"Again, I do not know the answer. You are going to have to ask the Americans."
"Americans are weird," Touya muttered.
"Well at least the other side of the coin is called heads. It has a head on the back," Nakura said.
"Makes sense," Spinel said.
"So the great and mighty Eriol finally comes across a question that he does not know the answer to. Thought I'd never see the day," Kero said. Eriol ignored him.
"So, do you all understand now?" Eriol asked everyone.
There was a course of Hai's, but Eriol knew that they didn't fully understand the true meaning of it. 'Oh well, many things were not meant to be fully understood by humans,' Eriol thought.
"Remember Sakura, it is their truths. It may not be true for you, but don't think of it as something that it is the complete and whole truth. Sometimes they don't say the whole thing. But don't dwell on them during the whole Trial. If you do, you will fail." Eriol said after a while.
"Hai," Sakura replied.
"Now, the second truth will be a real truth where there is many, many understandings about it," Touya said. "You may deny like many people do, but it is in fact the truth. This is where the phrase 'the truth hurts' comes from. This truth also depends on each individual. So it may be true for some, and not true for others. The first truth will be before the Trial begins. The second will be after the Trial."
"Okay, now that we established the stuff about the truths, who will be the Head and Neutralist?" Nakura asked jumping on Touya.
Touya made a grunting sound and tried to pry Nakura off of him. Too bad for Touya that Nakura was not human, so she was super strong, thus, he couldn't get her off him. Yukito tried to talk her out of holding Touya in what seemed like a death grip, but of to no use, while the rest of them sweat dropped. Spinel even tried too help, but like Yukito, to no use.
When Nakura finally let go of Touya, he said, "Would you stop doing that? I feel like that you're going to absorb my powers again." He glared at her.
Nakura pouted. "But Touya-kun, I'm not absorbing your powers like last time. I just like to hug you and watch you squirm." She smiled brightly at him.
"Touya, just let her hug you. It's not that bad," Yukito told Touya, trying to calm him down. Also, so he didn't want Touya to do anything rash to his girlfriend. Well, she did have a female form and his male.
Touya turned his glare from Nakura to Yukito, who in returned, backed up a step from the glaring man. Nakura moved from Touya's side to hug Yukito around the waist.
"Anyways, we don't know who the Neutralist is yet. We do know who the Head is though, but we are not allowed to tell you," Eriol said, breaking of Touya's glare from the couple.
"Why not?" Sakura asked.
"He or she will introduce themselves later when it is time," Eriol said.
"Then let's start with the introductions," a voice said from behind.
Everyone turned around and saw a man. An ordinary, plain looking man. Nothing about him made him stand out from other people. Black hair, brown eyes, medium height of about 5.4, and wearing loose blue jeans and a dark red shirt. He stood up straight with confidence and looked to be comfortable while everyone else looking at him like he had seven heads. But the thing that pop onto everyone's mind was that; he is just too ordinary, too normal. An everyday, run in the mill human being.
"Umm, sure, please, introduce yourself," Tomoyo said uncertain. He had to be human. Nothing about him made him seem like anything else. Yet, why was there uncertainty in the air?
The unknown person smirked and did a slight bow. "Why, I am Armen. Once one of the Virtues and now Commencer in the Trial of Kinomoto Sakura."
His voice was light, and just like his appearance, was too ordinary to be anything but human. But at his words, everyone tensed up and Yukito and Nakura transformed into Yue and Ruby Moon. Kero, Yue, and Suppi-chan brought up their guard and mentally prepared for an attack by the Fallen. Even though they knew they would be lucky if they manage to hit him at least once. Nakura went to stand in front of Wakari while Touya, Kero, and Yue stood in front of Sakura and Eriol in front of Tomoyo.
Ever since Armen voiced his true being, his aura was revealed to the mortals and immortal guardians (expect for Tomoyo and Wakari who couldn't since chi). It was dark and cried out of a once being pure and holy, but refused to be so again. His eyes spoke for thousands of years of existing, but also told of lies to confuse and bring down the guard of adversaries. One couldn't fully trust what he said while looking into his eyes, because then he could see your soul and maybe your weakness. Especially mortals.
"You're early. It isn't time to begin yet," Touya growled.
"Isn't time yet?" Armen laughed. "My dear mortals, it is nightfall. Now we only have to wait for the Head and Neutralist, and the Trial will begin."
True to his words, it was night. The sky was black with no sun in sight. There was no moon because there would be no moon that night. The stars could hardly be seen because of the lights of Tokyo made the stars seem dim in the night sky.
"What... How... How?!" Kero stammered out. "There should be about 30 more minutes of sunlight left! What did you do you stupid, God for saken angel?!"
Suddenly, Armen was right in front of Kero with a dangerous look on his face, and then he was back to where he was standing from the start. No one seemed to notice what had happened except for Kero. Kero became afraid. Afraid of Armen and afraid for Sakura. He was only a little bit glad that Sakura would not be facing Armen. But he was not glad for himself because he seemed to have gotten to Armen's bad side and couldn't help but feel that he should -not- sleep that night, or the next week or two for that matter.
"Why Cerberus, I did nothing. Maybe the time flew by without you noticing. You know how time tends to do that a lot. Or maybe you were just too caught up on your dear Sakura-chan to notice what time it was. But I do not like to be insulted by creatures I have no favor for. So I suggest that you watch what you say next time. And try not to get yourself too tired for a week or two. Terribly things can happen to those who are not careful." This only confirmed the suspicion that Kero really should not be sleeping for the next two weeks.
Yue, sensing the conflict going between Armen and Kero, looked at Kero with sympathy and with a promise in his eyes to help.
"So, mortals, guardians, are you all ready for what is going to happen?" Armen asked cheerfully.
They all shifted uncomfortably. What were they suppose to do? Start a casual conversation with one who is supposed to be considered evil? One who supposedly betrayed the Holy light and became dark. They all felt unease around him. But all they could do is wait for the other two and hope they will be there any second now.
Any second now.
Any second now.
"I can't take it anymore!!!" Kero yelled, putting his paws in the air and bring them hard to the ground.
The others jumped back and Sakura yelled, "Kero-chan!"
"Gomen Sakura-chan. But I'm tried of all this waiting! When will they get here?!" Kero aggravated said.
"Cerberus, it has only been about 10 minutes," Ruby Moon said.
"Yes, but it has been so long!" Kero whined.
"Patience, Cerberus. After all, patience is a virtue," Armen smirked.
Kero growled at him in response and said, "Oh, like you of all people would know."
Armen looked at Kero dangerously again. Kero gulped and knew that he had gotten on the Fallen's bad side again. Looks like he wouldn't be sleeping for three weeks now. If he kept this up, he wouldn't be sleeping for a whole month.
"Maa maa, Kero-chan. I'm sure that they will be here soon," Sakura said trying to calm Kero down. She was oblivious to the exchange of both immortals. Even more so to the Fallen's look on Kero. Mainly because the Fallen meant for only Kero to see and to receive it, no one else.
"Uh, Armen-san, is you don't mind me asking, I would like to ask you a question," Wakari asked the Fallen nervously.
The Fallen smirked and nodded at Wakari's request.
"Well, it just that, you look... you look... well you're appearance is just so... so... plain," Wakari said, weary that Armen might take offense in it.
"I was wondering when someone was going to ask that," Armen said.
"Well, in all movies and books, they always described angels and demons who take the forms of humans to be enormously beautiful. We all expected you be, well, beautiful, handsome," Tomoyo said for Wakari who lost his nerve.
"Mortal authors who know nothing about us all have the same idea bout us. If we were all exceedingly beautiful, we would stand out wouldn't we? People would think that there was something about us that would us so special and would watch our every movement. They would be attracted to our looks and follow us everywhere. Then when will do our jobs? What we were made to do?" Armen said.
"You could use your powers to make sure that no one follows you," Wakari said regaining his nerves.
"Smart man, but not smart enough. People would notice something different. If all of us very beautiful, as you say, then many people would notice us. But, if we were so plain that we looked dull, they would ignore us. We would be easily trusted," he said, sounding like the whole thing was a game and that he just explained the rules.
The others shifted even more. Even Yue and Ruby Moon appeared to be slightly shaken. They had just gotten a glimpsed of how a demon, or Fallen, works. Eriol and Touya exchanged glances. He was dangerous. There was no mistaking it. In their eyes they had the same question; what had they gotten themselves into?
"Um, Armen-san? Do you know who the Head or Neutralist is?" Sakura asked. Sweet, innocent Sakura. Always thinking that everyone had at least a little bit of good in them and is really nice deep down inside them and that if you look hard enough, they would bring that part of them out more. In many cases, that is true. For mortals. For those who are not even humans, that's a completely different story.
Unfortunately for Sakura, Armen did not take kindly to innocents. He looked down on them. But, he decided to hold his nasty retort to Sakura and save his words until the Trail. Until then, he decided to act as a nice Fallen and then let her know exactly what he thinks of her when the Trial begins. That would put a knife to her heart.
"Yes, I do know who they are. Would you like to know Sakura-chan?" Armen smiled sweetly at her, to which she returned the smile. The others glared at him. Touya seethed when he called her chan.
"Don't call her Sakura-chan!" Touya yelled at the Fallen before Sakura could answer. The Fallen just smirked again, amused by his over protectiveness over Sakura.
"Why not? You are not Sakura," Armen said. He smiled sweetly at Sakura again. "Can I call you Sakura-chan?"
Sakura nodded. Touya growled. He trusted Armen as much as the chances of him killing off the Fallen angel. Sakura didn't know how he became a Fallen, and if she knew before the all of this began, she might have been more cautious.
"Enough with these games Armen," Eriol seriously said. There was a threat behind his words.
"Who's playing games, half soul?" Armen asked, a little too innocently.
Eriol growled low in his throat in respond just like Touya had done. They may be on the same assembly for the Trial, but that did not mean that they had to like each other.
"Half soul?" Tomoyo asked.
"Koishii, you know that I am the half reincarnation of Clow Reed, ne? Well the other half of me is another soul. My soul," Eriol answered.
"Two souls? How is that possible?" Sakura asked.
"It's complicated. I'll tell you all later. Now, we have to worry for you Sakura-chan." Sakura nodded, accepting Eriol explanation for later.
"So, who is going to be the Neutralist?" Sakura asked, breaking the silence.
"I am," a voice said from behind Armen. They all turned to where the voice came from and were surprised to see Yana.
"Yana-san!" Sakura and Tomoyo said in surprise.
"Yana," Touya whispered. "What... you are... Neutralist?"
"Hai. I'm the Neutralist. I was one of the perfect candidates to be one," Yana said.
"What? You knew all along whom we were didn't you?" Kero said.
"More than 'all along' Kero. I knew whom all of you are long before I became Tomoyo's personal body guard," Yana impassively said.
"Since when?" Eriol asked. He felt a blow to his pride that he didn't sense who she was sooner.
"You'll find out when," Yana said again emotionless.
"But we thought you were our friend! How could not take Sakura's side on this!?" Wakari yelled out in disbelief. He had taken a liking to Yana. Not in a romantic way, but as a really good friend. He felt his trust in her shattered.
"I am sorry if you all feel as if I betrayed your trust in me. But I was not allowed to you who I was before the Trial," Yana said.
"Why not?" Tomoyo asked. She too, felt as if she was betrayed. She looked over to Touya and saw that he was sadden by this turn of event.
"It was against the rules," that was Yana would say.
"But what I don't understand is," Eriol said, half to himself, "Is that you of all people would be picked to be the Neutralist. You are a good friend of Sakura-chan, so how could you not pick Sakura's side? And more importantly, how did you get picked to be the Neutralist?"
"Who are you Yana," Touya asked. He looked straight into her eyes. Searching her. He knew that she was hiding something else.
Yana flinched inside, but didn't let it show. "You will know when the Head is here and when we have made formal introductions."
"Speaking of which, when is the Head going to be here?" Spinel asked.
"Right now." A voice said from behind Yana.
Tomoyo and Sakura gasped. It was Li Syaoran. Wakari didn't recognize him since he only saw pictures of Syaoran when he was 10 years old. Everyone else knew that he was going to be the Head from a message that he sent them the other day, but didn't tell Sakura. They wanted Syaoran to tell her.
"Syaoran-kun," Sakura whispered. Wakari looked closely at Syaoran when he heard Sakura.
Tomoyo noticed that the others did not look the least bit surprised. "You knew!" she accused. "You knew who the Head was going to be, but didn't tell us!"
"I'm sorry Tomoyo. But we aren't allowed to tell you," Eriol apologized.
"You and Touya knew. But that doesn't explain for Yue, Kero, Ruby Moon, and Spinel," she said. Sakura listened with only one ear. She was too busy looking at Syaoran to really care what they said.
"Syaoran," Sakura said one more time before she ran up to him a hugged him hard.
Syaoran stood there a bit awkwardly before encircling his arms around her. Then, he pushed her away gently. He gave a gentle shove for her to go back to the group who were trying to explain to Tomoyo about the note that they received from him while Tomoyo taped the hug and listened to them at the same time. Wakari just watched Sakura hugged her long time friend and made a little smile.
"Good evening everyone," Syaoran said. His voice, deep from over the years. He also grew taller, about 5.11 or 6 feet. "It is good to see all of you again. But it is now time to start the formal introductions, and then we will start the Trail. After the Trial is over, you may ask as many questions as you want."
"You certainly waste no time in saying hello after not seeing most of us for about 13 years," Kero said. Syaoran ignored him and continued on.
"I was known as Li Syaoran to you all years go. Now I am Li Xiao Lang, head of the Li Clan, one of the Seraphim as mortals may call us, and now, Head of the Trial of Kinomoto Sakura."
When they heard 'one of the Seraphim', they looked sharply at him. What did he mean by that? Seraphim were angels, the highest ranking angel. To be an angel, one would have to be.... Dead. But before they could think any further about it or say anything, Eriol and Touya began to speck. They didn't even notice the two move in front of them to where Xiao Lang, Armen and Yana were.
"I am Hiragizawa Eriol, half reincarnation of Clow Reed and half father of Kinomoto Touya and Sakura. I am the first Adherenter of Kinomoto Sakura," Eriol said with just as much authority as Xiao Lang, but with less force.
"I am Kinomoto Touya, brother of Kinomoto Sakura, I am the second Adherenter of the Trial of Kinomoto Sakura," Touya said.
"I am Armen, Fallen of the Virtues. I am the Commencer of the Trial of Kinomoto Sakura," Armen said. His mirth gone, on his face was the look of a Fallen. Hard, cold, emotionless, menace, no patient, and no sympathy. Sakura shivered as she looked at his face.
It was Yana's turn. An orange, red glow surrounded her, and then drained away until it left another young woman. Gone were the brown hair and eyes women. Instead, a long, black hair and ruby red women stood in her place. Her robes of orange and yellow, similar to the one worn at the age of 10, but with the ends a little bit longer. Like shorts. There were small bells at the end of her sleeves that made a soft chime every time she moved them.
"I am Li Meilin, Sentinel from this realm. Neutralist of the Trial of Kinomoto Sakura," she said. Her voice was richer than it had been before.
Everyone looked at her stunned and surprised. She has once been dead. Touya couldn't take his eyes off of her. Meilin did not look at him. She was afraid to. She did not want to break down and cry an endless apology to him. Not now. Now was the time of the Trial.
"Kinomoto Sakura," Xiao Lang said in his authority voice, "You are trialed for not using your powers, mind, body, and spirit to defend this realm. You will now battle me to show your worth and prove yourself to who you really are. You will have no help. The error that was made will be fixed. Let the battle begin!"
"Right," Kero said. They were all in one of Tomoyo's big limousine heading to the heart of Tokyo. There was about an hour's worth of sun. Wakari was the one driving. Tomoyo had to order Yana to stay at the house because they didn't want to reveal their secret to her just yet. They also didn't want to bring her along just to ditch her later in Tokyo. But she did put up quiet a fight when they told her that Tomoyo would be going with them without her and not telling her where to. They didn't want her to follow them and Eriol had to put an illusion spell on the car just to incase.
"Onii-chan, Eriol-kun? What's the point of an Adherenter, Commencer, and Neutralist if I am only going to be facing the Head?" Sakura asked.
"Yeah," Tomoyo agreed. "I've been wondering the same thing."
"To tell you guys the truth, I really don't know why myself either," Touya answered looking away from the car window.
"I don't know the real reason either myself," Eriol said from besides Tomoyo. "But I suspect it is because the Head can't see from all view points about you are the battle while battling you at the same time. He may miss something or never consider something about your fighting skills, personality, or determination that the others may pick up on. They always give different kinds of opinions because of who they are and what they know. Which brings me to the main function of them and why I believe that is their purpose, we tell the Head about what they learned about you. They give you guidance. Well, not really guidance per say, more like truths."
"Truths?" Sakura asked.
"We're here," Wakari called out from the front as the limousine stopped. Everyone got out of the car and looked up at the Tokyo Tower against the nearly setting sun. All around them, they could hear the buzz of the city of Tokyo. So full of life. Kids running around in circles, chasing each other and a lone figure behind them yelling that it was time for them to go back home, a mother pushing a stroller with the baby crying, a group of teens making conversations and laughing loudly, and several other people talking on cell phones, either laughing or yelling. Sakura felt relived that it wasn't like her dreams. 'But for how long will it last?' she wondered.
"Each one of us tells you at the very least two truths. Usually, most tell two truths," Eriol said while Sakura took up the sights and sounds of Tokyo.
"What for?"
"Something along the lines of advice. Either advice to help you during the Trial or help you fail."
Sakura turned sharply to look at him. Tomoyo, Kero (who had an illusion spell on so that anyone but them could see him as well as Suppi-chan), Yukito and Wakari had shocked expression on their faces.
"Help her fail?" Kero voiced out what they all had in their minds. "What do you mean by that? I thought they are supposed to give her advice!"
"Eriol said that they are not really advice, Kero," Touya said. "They are truths. Besides, what good is a Commencer when he gives her advice to help her win the Trial when he is suppose to be against her?"
"Point taken."
"But you also said that the advice is really truths," Yukito said. "It sounds like a double meaning."
Eriol answered, "You are right. It is a bit like a double meaning. You see, the first truth will be their own truths about Sakura-chan herself."
"Their own truths?" Wakari asked.
"Yes, their own truths. You see, many times the truth is about perspective. What may be true for one person may not be true for another."
"Huh? But the truth is truth. If a statement is true, then it's true in all perspective," Tomoyo said confused.
"Not always, and only sometimes it is," Touya said. "Take that man over there," he pointed to a man walk in front of them with a child holding his hand. He had a 'no nonsense' face. "He most likely believes that there is no such thing as magic and that would be his truth. You on the other hand, Tomoyo know there is magic, all around you. That is your truth."
"But that's because it is the real truth. There is such thing as magic and he may be just too blind to believe," Wakari said.
"Then you are implying that many humans are blind," Eriol said. "But does that make them wrong in believing that there is no such thing as magic?"
"No, it doesn't. But I still don't fully understand it."
"Well, I have an American coin in my pocket," Eriol fished out a penny and held it up so that the others could see one side of it. "Pretend for a moment that this coin is a true statement. You only see one side of it, ne?" There were an uninformed hai's. "From your perspective, you can see only one side, the tail's side of the coin and so think that it's the only statement that is true."
"But Eriol, we -know- that there is another side of the coin," Wakari said.
"Yes, but pretend that there isn't."
"But it is a coin. Coins have flat surfaces so there would always be two sides."
"Okay, now you are skewering up the whole point of this."
"Eriol-kun, why is this side of the coin called tails?" Sakura asked.
"I really don't know Sakura-chan. It's what the Americans call that side of the coin," Eriol answered.
"It's a building. How can the Americans call it tails?"
"Again, I do not know the answer. You are going to have to ask the Americans."
"Americans are weird," Touya muttered.
"Well at least the other side of the coin is called heads. It has a head on the back," Nakura said.
"Makes sense," Spinel said.
"So the great and mighty Eriol finally comes across a question that he does not know the answer to. Thought I'd never see the day," Kero said. Eriol ignored him.
"So, do you all understand now?" Eriol asked everyone.
There was a course of Hai's, but Eriol knew that they didn't fully understand the true meaning of it. 'Oh well, many things were not meant to be fully understood by humans,' Eriol thought.
"Remember Sakura, it is their truths. It may not be true for you, but don't think of it as something that it is the complete and whole truth. Sometimes they don't say the whole thing. But don't dwell on them during the whole Trial. If you do, you will fail." Eriol said after a while.
"Hai," Sakura replied.
"Now, the second truth will be a real truth where there is many, many understandings about it," Touya said. "You may deny like many people do, but it is in fact the truth. This is where the phrase 'the truth hurts' comes from. This truth also depends on each individual. So it may be true for some, and not true for others. The first truth will be before the Trial begins. The second will be after the Trial."
"Okay, now that we established the stuff about the truths, who will be the Head and Neutralist?" Nakura asked jumping on Touya.
Touya made a grunting sound and tried to pry Nakura off of him. Too bad for Touya that Nakura was not human, so she was super strong, thus, he couldn't get her off him. Yukito tried to talk her out of holding Touya in what seemed like a death grip, but of to no use, while the rest of them sweat dropped. Spinel even tried too help, but like Yukito, to no use.
When Nakura finally let go of Touya, he said, "Would you stop doing that? I feel like that you're going to absorb my powers again." He glared at her.
Nakura pouted. "But Touya-kun, I'm not absorbing your powers like last time. I just like to hug you and watch you squirm." She smiled brightly at him.
"Touya, just let her hug you. It's not that bad," Yukito told Touya, trying to calm him down. Also, so he didn't want Touya to do anything rash to his girlfriend. Well, she did have a female form and his male.
Touya turned his glare from Nakura to Yukito, who in returned, backed up a step from the glaring man. Nakura moved from Touya's side to hug Yukito around the waist.
"Anyways, we don't know who the Neutralist is yet. We do know who the Head is though, but we are not allowed to tell you," Eriol said, breaking of Touya's glare from the couple.
"Why not?" Sakura asked.
"He or she will introduce themselves later when it is time," Eriol said.
"Then let's start with the introductions," a voice said from behind.
Everyone turned around and saw a man. An ordinary, plain looking man. Nothing about him made him stand out from other people. Black hair, brown eyes, medium height of about 5.4, and wearing loose blue jeans and a dark red shirt. He stood up straight with confidence and looked to be comfortable while everyone else looking at him like he had seven heads. But the thing that pop onto everyone's mind was that; he is just too ordinary, too normal. An everyday, run in the mill human being.
"Umm, sure, please, introduce yourself," Tomoyo said uncertain. He had to be human. Nothing about him made him seem like anything else. Yet, why was there uncertainty in the air?
The unknown person smirked and did a slight bow. "Why, I am Armen. Once one of the Virtues and now Commencer in the Trial of Kinomoto Sakura."
His voice was light, and just like his appearance, was too ordinary to be anything but human. But at his words, everyone tensed up and Yukito and Nakura transformed into Yue and Ruby Moon. Kero, Yue, and Suppi-chan brought up their guard and mentally prepared for an attack by the Fallen. Even though they knew they would be lucky if they manage to hit him at least once. Nakura went to stand in front of Wakari while Touya, Kero, and Yue stood in front of Sakura and Eriol in front of Tomoyo.
Ever since Armen voiced his true being, his aura was revealed to the mortals and immortal guardians (expect for Tomoyo and Wakari who couldn't since chi). It was dark and cried out of a once being pure and holy, but refused to be so again. His eyes spoke for thousands of years of existing, but also told of lies to confuse and bring down the guard of adversaries. One couldn't fully trust what he said while looking into his eyes, because then he could see your soul and maybe your weakness. Especially mortals.
"You're early. It isn't time to begin yet," Touya growled.
"Isn't time yet?" Armen laughed. "My dear mortals, it is nightfall. Now we only have to wait for the Head and Neutralist, and the Trial will begin."
True to his words, it was night. The sky was black with no sun in sight. There was no moon because there would be no moon that night. The stars could hardly be seen because of the lights of Tokyo made the stars seem dim in the night sky.
"What... How... How?!" Kero stammered out. "There should be about 30 more minutes of sunlight left! What did you do you stupid, God for saken angel?!"
Suddenly, Armen was right in front of Kero with a dangerous look on his face, and then he was back to where he was standing from the start. No one seemed to notice what had happened except for Kero. Kero became afraid. Afraid of Armen and afraid for Sakura. He was only a little bit glad that Sakura would not be facing Armen. But he was not glad for himself because he seemed to have gotten to Armen's bad side and couldn't help but feel that he should -not- sleep that night, or the next week or two for that matter.
"Why Cerberus, I did nothing. Maybe the time flew by without you noticing. You know how time tends to do that a lot. Or maybe you were just too caught up on your dear Sakura-chan to notice what time it was. But I do not like to be insulted by creatures I have no favor for. So I suggest that you watch what you say next time. And try not to get yourself too tired for a week or two. Terribly things can happen to those who are not careful." This only confirmed the suspicion that Kero really should not be sleeping for the next two weeks.
Yue, sensing the conflict going between Armen and Kero, looked at Kero with sympathy and with a promise in his eyes to help.
"So, mortals, guardians, are you all ready for what is going to happen?" Armen asked cheerfully.
They all shifted uncomfortably. What were they suppose to do? Start a casual conversation with one who is supposed to be considered evil? One who supposedly betrayed the Holy light and became dark. They all felt unease around him. But all they could do is wait for the other two and hope they will be there any second now.
Any second now.
Any second now.
"I can't take it anymore!!!" Kero yelled, putting his paws in the air and bring them hard to the ground.
The others jumped back and Sakura yelled, "Kero-chan!"
"Gomen Sakura-chan. But I'm tried of all this waiting! When will they get here?!" Kero aggravated said.
"Cerberus, it has only been about 10 minutes," Ruby Moon said.
"Yes, but it has been so long!" Kero whined.
"Patience, Cerberus. After all, patience is a virtue," Armen smirked.
Kero growled at him in response and said, "Oh, like you of all people would know."
Armen looked at Kero dangerously again. Kero gulped and knew that he had gotten on the Fallen's bad side again. Looks like he wouldn't be sleeping for three weeks now. If he kept this up, he wouldn't be sleeping for a whole month.
"Maa maa, Kero-chan. I'm sure that they will be here soon," Sakura said trying to calm Kero down. She was oblivious to the exchange of both immortals. Even more so to the Fallen's look on Kero. Mainly because the Fallen meant for only Kero to see and to receive it, no one else.
"Uh, Armen-san, is you don't mind me asking, I would like to ask you a question," Wakari asked the Fallen nervously.
The Fallen smirked and nodded at Wakari's request.
"Well, it just that, you look... you look... well you're appearance is just so... so... plain," Wakari said, weary that Armen might take offense in it.
"I was wondering when someone was going to ask that," Armen said.
"Well, in all movies and books, they always described angels and demons who take the forms of humans to be enormously beautiful. We all expected you be, well, beautiful, handsome," Tomoyo said for Wakari who lost his nerve.
"Mortal authors who know nothing about us all have the same idea bout us. If we were all exceedingly beautiful, we would stand out wouldn't we? People would think that there was something about us that would us so special and would watch our every movement. They would be attracted to our looks and follow us everywhere. Then when will do our jobs? What we were made to do?" Armen said.
"You could use your powers to make sure that no one follows you," Wakari said regaining his nerves.
"Smart man, but not smart enough. People would notice something different. If all of us very beautiful, as you say, then many people would notice us. But, if we were so plain that we looked dull, they would ignore us. We would be easily trusted," he said, sounding like the whole thing was a game and that he just explained the rules.
The others shifted even more. Even Yue and Ruby Moon appeared to be slightly shaken. They had just gotten a glimpsed of how a demon, or Fallen, works. Eriol and Touya exchanged glances. He was dangerous. There was no mistaking it. In their eyes they had the same question; what had they gotten themselves into?
"Um, Armen-san? Do you know who the Head or Neutralist is?" Sakura asked. Sweet, innocent Sakura. Always thinking that everyone had at least a little bit of good in them and is really nice deep down inside them and that if you look hard enough, they would bring that part of them out more. In many cases, that is true. For mortals. For those who are not even humans, that's a completely different story.
Unfortunately for Sakura, Armen did not take kindly to innocents. He looked down on them. But, he decided to hold his nasty retort to Sakura and save his words until the Trail. Until then, he decided to act as a nice Fallen and then let her know exactly what he thinks of her when the Trial begins. That would put a knife to her heart.
"Yes, I do know who they are. Would you like to know Sakura-chan?" Armen smiled sweetly at her, to which she returned the smile. The others glared at him. Touya seethed when he called her chan.
"Don't call her Sakura-chan!" Touya yelled at the Fallen before Sakura could answer. The Fallen just smirked again, amused by his over protectiveness over Sakura.
"Why not? You are not Sakura," Armen said. He smiled sweetly at Sakura again. "Can I call you Sakura-chan?"
Sakura nodded. Touya growled. He trusted Armen as much as the chances of him killing off the Fallen angel. Sakura didn't know how he became a Fallen, and if she knew before the all of this began, she might have been more cautious.
"Enough with these games Armen," Eriol seriously said. There was a threat behind his words.
"Who's playing games, half soul?" Armen asked, a little too innocently.
Eriol growled low in his throat in respond just like Touya had done. They may be on the same assembly for the Trial, but that did not mean that they had to like each other.
"Half soul?" Tomoyo asked.
"Koishii, you know that I am the half reincarnation of Clow Reed, ne? Well the other half of me is another soul. My soul," Eriol answered.
"Two souls? How is that possible?" Sakura asked.
"It's complicated. I'll tell you all later. Now, we have to worry for you Sakura-chan." Sakura nodded, accepting Eriol explanation for later.
"So, who is going to be the Neutralist?" Sakura asked, breaking the silence.
"I am," a voice said from behind Armen. They all turned to where the voice came from and were surprised to see Yana.
"Yana-san!" Sakura and Tomoyo said in surprise.
"Yana," Touya whispered. "What... you are... Neutralist?"
"Hai. I'm the Neutralist. I was one of the perfect candidates to be one," Yana said.
"What? You knew all along whom we were didn't you?" Kero said.
"More than 'all along' Kero. I knew whom all of you are long before I became Tomoyo's personal body guard," Yana impassively said.
"Since when?" Eriol asked. He felt a blow to his pride that he didn't sense who she was sooner.
"You'll find out when," Yana said again emotionless.
"But we thought you were our friend! How could not take Sakura's side on this!?" Wakari yelled out in disbelief. He had taken a liking to Yana. Not in a romantic way, but as a really good friend. He felt his trust in her shattered.
"I am sorry if you all feel as if I betrayed your trust in me. But I was not allowed to you who I was before the Trial," Yana said.
"Why not?" Tomoyo asked. She too, felt as if she was betrayed. She looked over to Touya and saw that he was sadden by this turn of event.
"It was against the rules," that was Yana would say.
"But what I don't understand is," Eriol said, half to himself, "Is that you of all people would be picked to be the Neutralist. You are a good friend of Sakura-chan, so how could you not pick Sakura's side? And more importantly, how did you get picked to be the Neutralist?"
"Who are you Yana," Touya asked. He looked straight into her eyes. Searching her. He knew that she was hiding something else.
Yana flinched inside, but didn't let it show. "You will know when the Head is here and when we have made formal introductions."
"Speaking of which, when is the Head going to be here?" Spinel asked.
"Right now." A voice said from behind Yana.
Tomoyo and Sakura gasped. It was Li Syaoran. Wakari didn't recognize him since he only saw pictures of Syaoran when he was 10 years old. Everyone else knew that he was going to be the Head from a message that he sent them the other day, but didn't tell Sakura. They wanted Syaoran to tell her.
"Syaoran-kun," Sakura whispered. Wakari looked closely at Syaoran when he heard Sakura.
Tomoyo noticed that the others did not look the least bit surprised. "You knew!" she accused. "You knew who the Head was going to be, but didn't tell us!"
"I'm sorry Tomoyo. But we aren't allowed to tell you," Eriol apologized.
"You and Touya knew. But that doesn't explain for Yue, Kero, Ruby Moon, and Spinel," she said. Sakura listened with only one ear. She was too busy looking at Syaoran to really care what they said.
"Syaoran," Sakura said one more time before she ran up to him a hugged him hard.
Syaoran stood there a bit awkwardly before encircling his arms around her. Then, he pushed her away gently. He gave a gentle shove for her to go back to the group who were trying to explain to Tomoyo about the note that they received from him while Tomoyo taped the hug and listened to them at the same time. Wakari just watched Sakura hugged her long time friend and made a little smile.
"Good evening everyone," Syaoran said. His voice, deep from over the years. He also grew taller, about 5.11 or 6 feet. "It is good to see all of you again. But it is now time to start the formal introductions, and then we will start the Trail. After the Trial is over, you may ask as many questions as you want."
"You certainly waste no time in saying hello after not seeing most of us for about 13 years," Kero said. Syaoran ignored him and continued on.
"I was known as Li Syaoran to you all years go. Now I am Li Xiao Lang, head of the Li Clan, one of the Seraphim as mortals may call us, and now, Head of the Trial of Kinomoto Sakura."
When they heard 'one of the Seraphim', they looked sharply at him. What did he mean by that? Seraphim were angels, the highest ranking angel. To be an angel, one would have to be.... Dead. But before they could think any further about it or say anything, Eriol and Touya began to speck. They didn't even notice the two move in front of them to where Xiao Lang, Armen and Yana were.
"I am Hiragizawa Eriol, half reincarnation of Clow Reed and half father of Kinomoto Touya and Sakura. I am the first Adherenter of Kinomoto Sakura," Eriol said with just as much authority as Xiao Lang, but with less force.
"I am Kinomoto Touya, brother of Kinomoto Sakura, I am the second Adherenter of the Trial of Kinomoto Sakura," Touya said.
"I am Armen, Fallen of the Virtues. I am the Commencer of the Trial of Kinomoto Sakura," Armen said. His mirth gone, on his face was the look of a Fallen. Hard, cold, emotionless, menace, no patient, and no sympathy. Sakura shivered as she looked at his face.
It was Yana's turn. An orange, red glow surrounded her, and then drained away until it left another young woman. Gone were the brown hair and eyes women. Instead, a long, black hair and ruby red women stood in her place. Her robes of orange and yellow, similar to the one worn at the age of 10, but with the ends a little bit longer. Like shorts. There were small bells at the end of her sleeves that made a soft chime every time she moved them.
"I am Li Meilin, Sentinel from this realm. Neutralist of the Trial of Kinomoto Sakura," she said. Her voice was richer than it had been before.
Everyone looked at her stunned and surprised. She has once been dead. Touya couldn't take his eyes off of her. Meilin did not look at him. She was afraid to. She did not want to break down and cry an endless apology to him. Not now. Now was the time of the Trial.
"Kinomoto Sakura," Xiao Lang said in his authority voice, "You are trialed for not using your powers, mind, body, and spirit to defend this realm. You will now battle me to show your worth and prove yourself to who you really are. You will have no help. The error that was made will be fixed. Let the battle begin!"