CHAPTER FOUR
Somewhere in London, a gathering was beginning to take place inside an old cathedral. Two men stood outside the entrance and greeted the various magicians who walked past them. Sakura, Li, Tomoyo and Kero followed Eriol as he led them through the city streets.
"Where are we going?" Sakura asked.
"I already told you. The meeting starts in a few minutes. We can't be late." Eriol responded.
"So your dad just let you come all the way to England?" Li asked.
Sakura nodded. "Not exactly. I didn't even tell him, really."
"You didn't?" a surprised Tomoyo asked.
"No. I just left the Mirror card behind." Sakura said as everyone paused in the middle of the sidewalk and looked at her. She giggled nervously as she tried to explain.
"Well… I… you see…" she stammered but nothing could come out.
Tomoyo suddenly went into a panic. "Sakura, my mom knows I'm here! And I told her that you were coming too! I thought we were sticking to our plan! What happened? Why didn't you tell me? What do I do? Where do we go? Will we run away? Will we…"
Li grabbed Tomoyo by her shoulders and tried to calm her down, shaking her like a rag doll. "Hey, hey, hey! Calm down! Everything's going to be okay! Just relax!"
"It's kind of hard to relax when you're shaking me like a man with Parkinson's!" she shouted. Li noticed what he was doing and let her go. "Oh. Sorry." He said.
Sakura sighed and finally managed to explain. "Look, I took care of everything. You don't think I'd come all the way here without planning things ahead, do you? Trust me. They won't suspect a thing."
Tomoyo nodded and smiled at her friend. "Yeah. You're right."
Eriol blushed once again at Tomoyo's gorgeous face but shook it off, desperately trying to get things back on track. "Are we all set now? Can we go, please? Thank you."
They all nodded and continued walking down the sidewalk as Kero poked his head out fom Tomoyo's bag and looked around. "I don't get what's so special about this place. They drink tea. We drink tea. They were in a war. We were in the same war. They got tall buildings. We got tall buildings. No change, man. No change. I should have just stayed home."
Tomoyo could hear Kero's rant and looked down on her bag. "Who are you talking to?"
Kero tucked his head back in. "No one."
Inside the cathedral, hundreds and hundreds of people were sitting around and socializing as Sakura and her friends arrived. They were all amazed at the different kinds of people that showed up. Sakura noticed several hanging around, who for some reason struck her as important.
One man, somewhere in his mid thirties with brown hair and wearing a simple shirt and tie, nervously looked around and kept his hand firmly on the trunk he brought with him. The trunk was big, black and on the side had huge letters that read: MARVIN THE MAGNIFICENT.
Sakura then noticed another magician, one who looked very familiar. One who looked like someone she saw on the television recently. He was about as old as Marvin the Magnificent but had a certain ruggedness to him. He was well built and wore a skintight black sweater.
A girl, a bit older than Sakura, also caught her attention. She walked around in a simple matching blue outfit, her long blond hair hanging down her back. For some reason, Sakura felt a strange connection to all of them. Possibly because of their magic abilities.
"That's a lot of people." Sakura said as she took a seat.
Eriol nodded and grinned. "It gets bigger every year."
Tomoyo pointed out to someone in the crowd, excited and surprised at the same time. "Hey, look who it is!"
Sakura turned her head and was surprised to see her old teacher, Kaho Mizuki and Eriol's moon guaridian, Nakuru, approaching them.
"You made it." Eriol said as he greeted the two.
"You know I wouldn't miss it, Eriol." Kaho said. She then turned to her old students and smiled at them. "Hello, Sakura. It's good to see you again."
Sakura smiled back and nodded. "You too."
Kaho noticed Sakura holding onto Li's hand and grinned. "Oh, so you two finally got together? Well, I knew it was just a matter of time."
Nakuru looked around and asked Sakura, "Hey, where's your brother?"
"He didn't come." Sakura said. "And anyway, I don't think he's too fond of you the way you are to him."
Nakuru shook her head in an aggravated manner. "No, it's not that! The bastard still owes me money! Excuse me, I have to make a phone call!" She ran off as an old man in a suit and tie approached the altar.
"Who's that?" Sakura asked Eriol.
The blue-eyed boy looked up at the old man and explained. "That would be Mr. James Elliot Graham. He's the one who funds these meetings, making sure he gets as much people to attend as possible. He even flies in some of his own men from the farthest of countries when it's absolutely imperative."
"His own men?" Sakura asked.
"Mr. Graham runs an accountancy firm but also studies magic on his spare time. He has a few men trained to assist him whenever necessary. Luckily, it's never come to that." Eriol waved his hand at the old man as he gathered everyone's attention.
Mr. Graham spoke with a deep British accent and clarity rarely found in old people. Because you know how they like to slobber and slur their words! I mean, just because you don't have teeth doesn't mean you can go around wetting everything! That's how mildew starts, man! It's nasty! But Mr. Graham spoke clearly. End of story. I mean not this story. But… oh, God. Just keep reading.
"Welcome, everyone. I trust all is well in your own backyard." Mr. Graham said with a cheeky grin.
Tomoyo nudged Sakura and whispered, "Yeah, if you like potholes the size of pickup trucks."
"This year we will bring up the discussion we left open from our last meeting: Whether or not to expose our world to the rest of humanity in the name of good. To use our abilities for those who need help. I'll open the floor to any comments or suggestions." Graham pointed out to a young man in a black coat. "Yes?"
The young man stood up from his seat and addressed everyone. His short blond hair and sapphire blue eyes immediately caught Tomoyo's attention, much to Eriol's horror. "I think we shouldn't have to worry about this so-called 'exposing' ourselves. I mean, few of the people who come to these meetings are regular blokes anyway. If there comes a time when we have to use our magic in front of the general public then I say we do it, no questions asked. Let the rest of them judge us anyway they want." The boy said in his charming Irish accent.
Tomoyo couldn't take her eyes off the boy even when Li tried snapping his fingers back and forth, trying to break the trance. No use. "Damn. She's glued." He muttered. He then noticed Kero sitting on Kaho's lap, whispering something to her and making quick glances at him. "Hey, what are you talking about?" Li asked.
"Nothing." Kero said as he went back to whispering to her. Kaho giggled and shook her head. Li watched on as he tried to understand what they were saying.
"One year!?" Kaho blurted out as everyone in the church turned their attention to them.
Eriol got up and tried to change the subject. "There's something I'd like to say."
"Yes, Mr. Hiiragizawa?" Graham said. "What is it?"
Eriol took a deep breath and spoke. "I'm sure you're all aware of the legend of Faust, alchemist and Black Magic practitioner."
Graham and the others nodded as Eriol continued. "I have reason to believe the Dark Lord has returned to power and is ready to carry out his army to pick up the pieces and finish the job."
Graham shook his head as everyone in the room started to whisper amongst themselves. "Mr. Hiiragizawa, are you suggesting that a man who has been dead for centuries has somehow come back to life and is ready to start a war?"
Eriol shook his head. "No, sir. He never died. Clow Reed spared his life and imprisoned him in a tomb. A tomb that, until a few days ago, was thought to have been untraceable. I have seen the signs, sir. He's back."
"And what signs would those be?" Graham asked in that pompous way old people do when they think they're right and you're wrong because you're young and don't know any better. You ever feel like that? Sucks, don't it?
Eriol motioned Sakura to get up. She looked at everyone and tried to help Eriol with his cause. "My name is Sakura Kinomoto. I live in Japan. A few days ago an earthquake set forth a series of events that I thought were just coincidental. But they weren't."
"Young lady, how do you even know who Faust is?" The old man questioned.
Sakura took out her magic key and showed it to him. "I'm the keeper of the magic book that once belonged to Clow Reed. And I have in my possession all of the cards that obeyed him. I am the card captor."
Everyone in the room was surprised by Sakura's revelation and continued to chat amongst each other. Eriol looked over to Kaho. "Kaho. The folder, please."
The teacher handed Eriol a manilla folder as the Irish boy sat back down and noticed Tomoyo glaring at him. Tomoyo immediately caught herself and quickly looked away, blushing.
Eriol took a few photos out of the folder and handed them to the old man. He went over them and was confused at what he saw. "I don't understand." He grumbled under his breath.
Eriol took the photos and waved them in front of everyone. "These are satellite images taken the day after the earthquake. Tomoeda was attacked by a swarm of demonic beings linked to the Dark Lord. If you look closely, they formed a burning image of Faust's symbol."
"Allow me." The blond girl in the blue outfit said as she got up from her seat. She took out a wand and chanted a phrase, wich caused a magic beam to shoot out against the picture. In a matter of seconds, the image projected itself from the flat surface of the photo and illuminated the entire room. Everyone gasped at the sight of Faust's legendary and menacing symbol: A demonic skull with razor sharp wings and horns arched upward.
"Oooohhh... Shit." Everyone in the room said in unison.
Just then, the two men guarding the entrance were sent flying through the windows of the old church, glass shattering everywhere. Everyone looked up to see several of Faust's cloaked minions swooping in, destroying everything in sight. Some of the magicians armed themselves and fought back while those who were defenseless either watched in horror or fled. Sakura unleashed her magic staff and caught the attention of the hooded men.
"That's her! That's the girl!" One of them said as they all came her way.
"Oh crap." Sakura said as she was suddenly picked up and taken away. The cloaked men flew off, carrying Sakura as her friends helplessly looked on.
Kero flew out of Tomoyo's bag and went after them. "Don't worry, Sakura! I'm-a coming!" He shouted as Li and the others stayed behind.
"We've got to do something!" Li said to Eriol, who couldn't grasp what had just happened. Li grabbed him by the shirt and started shaking him. "Hiiragizawa, do you hear me!?"
Eriol was speechless. "H-how… how did they know?" Was all he could say.
Frustrated, Li shoved Eriol and rapidly paced back and forth, trying to think of some way to get his beloved back. "Okay… Kero went after them. Maybe he'll scout the area and come back."
"Do you really think so?" Nakuru asked.
Li nodded and tried to hold back his tears of worry. "I trust him."
They all heard an explosion coming from outside. Everyone ran out and saw the city being terrorized as more and more people fled the streets, scared and in a panic. Some of the cloaked men were flying around, carving Faust's symbol into the ground using their Black Magic. Li summoned his sword and looked over to Eriol, who was still in a bit of a shock.
"We don't know where Sakura's going. But I bet you one of these guys do." Li said as he readied for battle.
Eriol nodded and unleashed his magic staff. The other magicians noticed this and all had mixed feelings about it. The television magician shrugged and walked away unconcerned as the Irish boy and the blond girl decided to go into battle as well. Even old Mr. Graham armed himself with a rather odd-looking wand and called forth his associates.
Nakuru transformed into her guardian form and charged her fists with a magic energy. "All right, kiddies! Let's go have some fun!"