Chapter Three: Origins of Darkness
"Sakura……………." A familiar voice calls in Sakura's dreams.
"Clow-san? Is that you? Why are you here?" Sakura asked, as the creator of the Clow Cards appeared before her. He was the same as when she had last seen him, but his expression was different. His eyes had a worried, careworn expression in them that was never there before.
"Clow-san? What's wrong? Why do you look so worried?" Sakura asked, becoming concerned, even though the man before her had been dead for centuries.
"Sakura, there is something you need to see. Come, and I will show you what happened that day when the two dark Guardians were created." Clow said, his voice sounding like the mournful sigh of a dying breeze. With a brilliant flash, Sakura found herself alone in a garden. She could hear Clow's voice inside of the Gothic mansion to her right and could see Clow tiredly sit back in a chair and gaze out the window.
"He looks so weak…………am I looking at Clow Reed in a time shortly before he died?" Sakura wondered, whirling around when she heard hoofbeats on the cobblestones and saw a mounted rider ride up to the main entrance and demand Clow Reed to show himself.
"What is going on?" Sakura thought, as she got closer to where the rider waited and listened as Clow joined him outside.
"Seijun! How good it is to see you! Where have you been hiding yourself?" Clow asked, seemingly pleased to see a classmate from the school he'd attended in England.
"Clow-sama! There's been a mishap at the Fuaru Mansion down the road! Mujaki-sama had heard about how successful you'd been in creating those cards of yours and tried doing the same thing himself! Please, Clow-sama! You're the only chance he's got to survive!" the messenger shouted, sounding very upset.
"Okay, just stay there! I will be right with you!" Clow said, then ran back inside. Sakura could tell that Clow was a bit put off by the other sorcerer's vain attempt to copy what he'd done and the ignorance involved for him to perform such a feat when he came back, grumbling under his breath while leading a horse to where the mounting block was. Within minutes the two men had ridden out of sight.
"Fly!" Sakura shouted, and flew after them. With ease, Sakura kept up with the two riders and watched closely when they stopped at another mansion and dismounted. Without even thinking about it, Sakura went inside with them and followed them to an immense subterranean room. There, in the center, were two pairs of folded black wings. On the far side of the room, was a man struggling to stand, his face a mixture of intense pain and magical strain.
"Mujaki!" Clow shouted, over the roar of the magic swirling around him, as he ran to the other man.
"Clow………….my cards…………..my cards are gone! My Guardians………..help me save my Guardians! Please, Clow!" Mujaki begged, his voice raw with strain.
"I will try to help you, Mujaki. You always were a egotistical fool." Clow said, bitterly, as he threw his magic in and started helping to stabilize the two Guardians. Sakura watched as the two pairs of wings opened, revealing an angelic Guardian and leonine Guardian. With that task completed, both sorcerers fell to their knees, both of them badly weakened by the strain.
"Mujaki-sama!" Seijun shouted, as the two Guardians opened their eyes for the first time and looked at Mujaki. Sakura watched tensely as the two Guardians descended from midair and took their shaky first steps towards their master, Mujaki.
"Mujaki…………….sama…………..?" the angelic Guardian asked, sounding not unlike a young child speaking his first words.
"Oh! It worked, Clow! It worked!" Mujaki said, happily, as he checked over the angel, smiling and laughing as he seemingly regained strength from just seeing the two brand new Guardians.
"Good…………..for you…………Mujaki……….just don't ever………..do anything so stupid…………..ever again! Is that clear?" Clow said, from between gasps. Mujaki didn't answer, nor did he appear to listen to the more powerful sorcerer's rebuke. With stubborn resolve, Clow stood again and walked out of the room, his lavender eyes being the only things that showed his frustration. Sakura winced when another flash of light shone, and transported her to the living room of Clow Reed's mansion.
"From the looks of things, it looks like it is either January or February." Sakura thought, as she watched Clow walk into the room, his face lined with exhaustion and worry. In one he held a piece of paper. Behind him, Kerberos and Yue followed him, in concerned silence.
"Clow-sama? Why are you so worried?" Yue finally said, after Clow had taken a seat beside the fireplace.
"Mujaki is dying." Clow said, his voice almost sounding foreign to him.
"Who is Mujaki, Clow-sama?" Kerberos asked, with curiosity in his voice.
"Mujaki is a rival sorcerer that lives down the road from here." Clow said, as he gazed into the flames.
"Why is he dying, Clow-sama?" Yue asked, looking worried when Clow looked wearily at him.
"He used too much magic trying to copy what I had done when I created you and Kerberos and the Cards. He is dying because of the drain." Clow said, the exhaustion and pain evident in his eyes.
"Clow-sama, are you going to die too?" Yue asked, sounding as though he was on the brink of tears.
"No, Yue……..at least not yet." Clow said, reassuring Yue with a smile. Sakura could feel tears of her own forming as pieces of what had happened before fell into place. She knew what was to come next, and she knew that it was a painful memory to view, much less remember. Then she looked up and found herself in the bedchamber of the foolish and unfortunate Mujaki. His two Guardians stood tearfully by, both of them watching helplessly as their master died, leaving them both alone in the world.
"Makura, Ankoku, I loved you both. I wish I could have been as strong as Clow, that way I wouldn't have to leave you." Mujaki whispered, painfully.
"Master……….." Makura sobbed, as he kneeled beside his master's bed, while Ankoku laid his head next to his master's hand. Sakura watched as Mujaki lingered for a few hours more, then peacefully passed away. Makura let out a wordless cry of grief, while Ankoku joined his voice to Makura's, both of them mourning their master's death. Then an inky blackness stole into the room, and hissing laughter surrounded them.
"Poor little innocent children! Their loved one murdered as they watched!" the voice said, in false sympathy.
"Who are you?! What do you want?" Makura demanded, angrily, as he wiped tears from his eyes.
"Why, I am the one who has the power you need to survive!" the voice sneered, making a chill run down Sakura's spine.
"What do you mean?!" Ankoku asked, with a growl.
"What I mean is this; you two will not survive long without your master. I will give you the power you need to survive and you will still have control over your own destinies! You can even avenge yourselves on the one who ripped your master from you, Clow Reed!" the voice said, with malice in its voice. The two Guardians looked at one another, exchanging a 'what have we got to lose' look. Then Makura smiled, his eyes filled with the desire to get revenge.
"We'll take your power, dark one." Makura snarled, with evil emerging in his own voice already.
"Good." The dark voice said, then released some energy into the two Guardians. At first there were screams of pain, then silence fell, as the two Guardians accepted the energy and flew into the night.
"Fly!" Sakura shouted, again, with fear in her heart. Before she could get very far, another brilliant flash of light transported her to Clow's bedroom. He was alone, save for one servant, having already sealed Yue and Kerberos away into their positions.
"Meian………..can you do something for me?" Clow asked, his voice soft and weak.
"Anything, Clow-sama. What is it that you wish?" Meian asked.
"Mujaki's Guardians are on their way here. I need to seal them away so they will not endanger the world." Clow said, as he sat up, painfully, and struggled to get out of bed.
"But you are very weak, Clow-sama! You could die instantly from that!" Meian objected, but helped her master stand anyway.
"I am going to die, anyway, Meian! I'd just as well die trying to save my legacy than not die trying!" Clow said, as he took up his staff and waited. As expected, the two now evil Guardians crashed through the plate glass window, sending shattered glass flying in every direction.
"I call on thee, magic of my mother! I call on thee, magic of my father! Seal away this terrible evil and spare the world of its emergence until the special star is born!" Clow shouted, releasing a powerful sealing spell on the two dark Guardians. The Guardians screamed as they were imprisoned, directing glares that were filled with hatred towards the sorcerer.
"We'll get you for this, Clow!" Makura screamed, before he vanished from sight.
"And when we do get out of this, your Guardians will die!" Ankoku shouted, as he too faded from view. With a sigh, Clow collapsed to his knees, with a concerned Meian by his side.
"Clow-sama!" Meian said, as she held her dying master in a sitting position. Sakura watched with tears in her eyes, as Clow gently smiled at his servant, then closed his eyes, passing away quietly in her arms. As the scene faded to black, Sakura turned around to find Clow standing behind her, his eyes still sad.
"Clow-san…………….." Sakura murmured, as he kneeled before her, so he could be at eye level.
"Card Mistress Sakura, I know how hard it is for you to fight, but this is something you must do. I care very deeply about Yue and Kerberos, but there is nothing I can do for them now. Their future lies with you, Sakura. When the time comes, will you protect them?" Clow asked, seriously. Sakura's face took on a determined look and she nodded.
"Hai! I'll do everything I can to protect Yue-chan and Kero-chan!" Sakura promised. Clow smiled, the act brightening his handsome features.
"I have faith in you, Sakura. Your star's light will overcome the darkness." Clow said, as he started fading away.
"And everything will be all right." Sakura and Clow both said together, as Sakura's mind returned to wakefulness.
"Sakura-chan! Did you have a good nap?" Tomoyo asked, as she came inside and shook off her umbrella (she'd gone home to get some extra clothing earlier and had just been dropped off at Sakura's house). Sakura nodded.
"I had a strange, yet sad dream, though." Sakura said, as she went about fixing some hot chocolate for herself and the rest of her house-guests.
"Oh? What was your dream about, Sakura-chan?" Tomoyo asked, keeping her voice down because she knew that Eriol was asleep on the couch.
"I dreamed about how the two evil Guardians were created and what led to Clow Reed's death. It was a very sad event." Sakura said, looking up when she saw Yue standing there, with Ruby Moon at his side.
"Yue-chan! What are you doing up?! You should be resting!" Sakura scolded, awakening those who had been asleep until then.
"I needed a change of pace." Yue said, simply, as Ruby Moon gently helped him sit in one of the chairs in the living room.
"But still! Your wounds haven't all healed yet!" Sakura objected, but draped a blanket over Yue's shoulders anyway. Yue offered her something of a ghost of a smile then looked away, as though slightly embarrassed by the show of emotion. Little did they realize that the darkness that had tried to destroy Yue a short time before was now overhead, contemplating it next move!