Author's note: THE LONG AWAITED UPDATE IS HERE!
I'm super sorry I haven't updated in such a while! I know I promised a chapter a month, but I just got really tired and lazy. Not to mention my writing skills are horrible as it is. :'D
Time sure flies, doesn't it! We finally reached 10 chapters! For me, 10 chapters is a lot and I want to thank every one of you who have supported me!
Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice or CardCaptor Sakura.
Beta-reader: Argh, Serene-chan is still busy and I don't want to trouble Kairi-san since she seems busy. TAT I need to find a beta-reader.
-| Chapter Ten – The fairest of them all |-
Sakura chuckled to herself, as today was the day of the Performance Festival. It was the third day; well known as the Performance Festival, where each class displays their art and special activities. The Somatic Class is performing a musical, one in which Ruka was staring.
Sakura ran along with Mikan and the others to the second hall in the senior division. They were allowed back stage and so they went in to see Ruka putting on his makeup. The shocked expression on his face was priceless.
"I told you not to come!" yelled Ruka, shooing everyone away. Sakura couldn't help but giggle at Ruka.
"Hmm, what are you all doing here?" asked Narumi, coming over. Sakura glanced at her teacher and tried to keep a distance. She didn't really like Narumi for some reason. She felt as though he had too many secrets hidden.
"We came to see you, Ruka-kun!" cried everyone. "You're so cute, Ruka-pyon!" Narumi laughed. Chuckling, Sakura walked over to Natsume.
"What do you think?" asked Sakura. Natsume didn't say anything. The card mistress sighed and turned to Mikan. "Mikan-chan, I'm going to the bathroom for a minute. I'll be right back, okay?" Mikan nodded cheerfully.
-|φ|-
"Hyuuga-kun…?" stuttered Sakura, shocked at the boy in front of her. Sakura rubbed her eyes. She could not believe that Natsume had dressed up as a cat. She then glanced over to Mikan who was dressed up as the Prince. "Did something happen when I was gone?"
"Ah, the actors got slime-balled and it won't wear off in time for the play" explained Narumi. Sakura sweat dropped, seeing her teacher dress up as the hunter. Sakura glanced over at Natsume and smirked. Natsume frowned.
"Aha, I see," smiled Sakura. "Well, I guess I'll go sit down…" The card mistress stopped talking as she saw Natsume burn in anger.
"Oi Narumi, we're missing the witch right?" he asked. Sakura gulped.
"Uh, not really but it is better to have a student play a role than a teacher…" muttered Narumi, glancing at the substitute witch. Sakura smiled nervously and tried to walk away slowly. "Ah, Sakura-chan," called Narumi. "You can play the witch!"
Sakura sent death glares at Natsume, who in return smirked. "B-but, I can't really…" The Cardcaptor felt arms around her. "E-eh? Mikan-chan?" Mikan had come back from her make-up and hugged Sakura.
"Please Sakura-chan? It'll be fun!" exclaimed Mikan. Sakura sighed and nodded.
"Well alright," said Sakura. She glared again at Natsume, who seemed to be amused. She followed Narumi to a room to get her make-up and costume done. When she walked out, Sakura was dressed in a black robe and a witches' hat. She walked up to Natsume and smirked.
"Well, at least my part is not as bad as yours," she grinned. Natsume showed an expressionless face and walked off.
"Let's do our best everyone!" cried Mikan.
-|φ|-
'Once upon a time, in a land far way, in a place of briar and beautiful princess stayed,' sang the chorus group. Sakura sweat dropped. They had no melody, tune or beat but there was still this feeling that made the song enchanting. 'She'd live forever in eternal sleep, but that all swayed.'
Sumire supposedly woke up, yawning. She was wearing a gown with a bow on her head. A lazy expression was on her face, her hands scratching her leg. Around her were chocolates, boxes of pocky, a television and other unknown things.
'Sleeping Beauty was what she was called, the sleeping curse meant; lazing and lounging like a cat, sleeping and weeping on her mat. Sloth was the curse's name, which hid her beauty in shame.'
Sakura was impressed; Narumi had somehow gotten Sumire to act this out. "Man, where did all the hot guys go?" moaned Sumire, pressing her remote control to switch the channels on the television.
'Thanks to the curse, her personality got worse.'
"Pathetic!" cried Sumire, frowning in frustration. "Thanks to this curse, everyone in the castle in slothful except me!" She turned around to watch the maids sigh and clean the place. "And since everyone's too scared of falling under the curse, no one will come near the castle!"
Sakura smiled nervously. 'Why do I get the feeling that it's not because of the curse that no prince will dare to come break the spell?'
"Damn, at this rate, there's no chance of getting true love's first kiss to break the spell..." muttered Sumire, putting her hand on her chin. Sakura smirked, surprised at Sumire's acting ability. She looked back at Mikan and the others; they were also impressed.
'One day, the princess finally...'
"ALRIGHT!" screamed Sumire. "You think you can HIDE from me? You've got guts, princes!" Everyone sweat dropped. "You can run, but you can't hide! I'll follow his scent and track him myself! If you want something done right, might as well do it yourself!"
'Meanwhile the prince had taken a wrong turn and was at the neighbouring kingdom to the East. He had a fateful encounter with the one and only Snow White.'
Sakura looked at Mikan who was standing still, holding a rose to Ruka. It was a freeze frame, though Sakura couldn't help but think deeply. 'A fateful meeting...' thought Sakura. 'Now where have I heard that from?' She was distracted by the yelling of Sumire.
"WHY YOU!" she screamed, looking like she was about to attack the poor prince. "I like them cute and dumb, but not to this point!" Sakura stared at Sumire in surprise. "Snow White has seduced my prince, and she shall pay! No one has an affair with my prince and gets away with it!"
'Mad with rage, Sleeping Beauty swore revenge. Revenge made her forget about her curse and rushed off to the kingdom to the East to see Snow White.'
The set changed and entered Snow White. Sakura giggled, seeing how cute and girly Ruka looked. She thought about it, Ruka's aura was a light yellow colour; pure and innocent, while Natsume was a mixture of black and red; corrupted and confused. However, day by day, the colours would soften. Sakura instantly thought it was due to Mikan. Mikan's aura was bright orange, full of happiness and pure innocence.
'Lovely, pure Snow White; comes to the forest to pick flowers for her stepmother. We animals of the forest love Snow White!'
Ruka's animals ran up to the stage, and he transformed. Everyone made noises of adoration and cuteness. She peeked outside to see everyone in the audience blushing. Hotaru tapped Sakura on the shoulder and pointed to the stage, indicating it was almost her turn. Sakura nodded and straightened her attire and walked out. "Your step daughter had tricked my beloved, so I expect you to take full responsibility before I infect your kingdom with my curse!"
'How dreadful is she; menacing the kind hearted stepmother Queen, defeating her with torment and fear! How terrible indeed!'
Sumire looked at the mirror on the wall and smirked. "Mirror, mirror on the wall? Who is the fairest of them all?" The mirror turned out to be Kokoro. He smiled.
"It sure ain't you," he answered bluntly. Sumire smashed her head in the mirror and threw it away. She turned around to glare at the queen.
The poor person playing the queen was truly terrified of Sumire. "Y-yes miss." Sumire looked at the queen before standing up.
"I heard you got a witch, summon her in!" commanding Sumire. "The mirror is of no use!" Sakura popped from behind Sumire.
"You called?" asked Sakura, smiling. Everyone looked at Sakura in awe. Even though she was wearing a black dress, a black cape and a witch's hat, the audience still gazed at her beauty.
"The witch is even prettier than the princess..." muttered a person from the audience. Sumire twitched.
"WHICH ONE OF YOU SAID THAT" she roared. Everyone sweat dropped. Sakura waited. "I hear you got special powers, tell me; who is the fairest?"
"She has lips red as blood, skin as white as snow and hair as...bright as...day," answered Sakura, tilting her hat to cover her eyes. "Snow White is the fairest of them all." Sumire frowned and crossed her arms. "Face it, you and the prince were never meant to be..." added Sakura. Sumire twitched and glared at Sakura.
"Watch me."
'Thus the princess ordered the Queen to murder Snow White. The Queen cried and wept and sent the most useless person to kill Snow White.'
Another scene was put and Ruka entered again, this time with his animals. Narumi, dressed as an archer walked in. Sakura suddenly had to go to the bathroom, so she ran off; regretting the chance to see it.
'Damn,' thought Sakura, rushing to the bathroom. 'I missed Hyuuga-kun's scene.' She walked into the bathroom and looked in the mirror, sighing. After finishing her business, she walked out of the bathroom and caught sight of a shadowy figure that just turned a corner. Sakura tried to chase after it, but it was futile.
'Who was that?' thought Sakura.
-|φ|-
Sakura returned, just in time to see the ending.
'But perhaps it was a trick of fate. The prince had no sense of direction and got lost. He happened to just pass by the tomb the dwarves had made for Snow White.'
"Oh my, its Snow White; the girl I met the other day. What happened to her?"
"She has poisoned to death by Sleeping Beauty!"
"How dreadful!" acted Mikan, trying to look shocked. "At least let me give her a farewell kiss..."
The lights went off and Sakura turned to look at Hotaru. Sakura frowned when she heard the audience murmur and whisper so she released her staff and called out the GLOW. A small sprite emerged from her card and bowed to her mistress. It then flew up into the ceiling and spun around, release little orbs of glowing light. Everyone gasped and Sakura giggled when she saw the audience trying to touch and catch the orbs.
'The price's kiss awakened the princess from her eternal sleep. And they lived happily ever after.'
The lights turned back on and everyone applauded. GLOW had returned back to its card. Sakura smiled as she looked at Ruka and Mikan blushing. 'I wonder how they will act in class later on,' smirked Sakura.
Anyhow, the taishitsu-kei's musical performance turned out quite well. Unexpectedly well.
-|φ|-
"Here you go," smiled Narumi, handing Sakura a book. Sakura tilted her head and looked at the teacher. "It's a present from your parents and friends," smiled Narumi. "It's a novel that just came out recently in Tomoeda I presume." Sakura nodded and took the book.
"Thank you," she smiled. Narumi noted that Sakura looked delighted.
'How odd,' thought Narumi, feeling suspicious about the book. 'Although, the teachers examined it and found it to be nothing out the ordinary. No letters hidden inside, just a plain old novel'. Narumi frowned and decided to let it off, but he could not shake the feeling he had about the book.
Sakura smiled as she hugged the book. Mikan jumped up on Sakura from behind. "What do you have there, Sakura-chan?" Sakura turned around and saw that Mikan was in a cheery mood.
"Ah, it's a present from my friends," replied Sakura, showing Mikan the book.
"That seems like an interesting book," murmured Hotaru, scaring Mikan and Sakura. "What is it called?" Sakura looked at the book's cover.
A Dark Curse
A.R
Sakura gazed at the title and the word 'A.R'. She raised her eyebrow and wondered if that was the author's initials. Hotaru frowned. "A Dark Curse?" she asked. "I've never heard of that book, or that author." Sakura shrugged.
"Maybe she/he just started writing and their book just got published?" smiled Sakura. "Either way, it's really thoughtful of them." Hotaru stoically nodded and walked off, dragging Mikan back to class. Sakura literally skipped back to her dorm room, wondering why her friends had sent her this book.
Kero was sitting on the window ledge, eating pudding and gazing outside. "Kero-chan, guess what I received from everyone?" Kero turned around and dropped his spoon.
"Uwah! Did they send letters?" Kero asked, flying towards Sakura. The card mistress shook her head.
"They sent in a novel," explained Sakura, sitting down on the floor before placing the book in front of her. Kero sat down as well.
"That's strange…" Kero muttered, leaning in for a closer look. "It's just a normal novel?" Sakura nodded in confusion as well. Kero opened the book and flipped to the index page. On the bottom of the page, there was a symbol.
"E-eh, Clow Reed's magic circle?" Sakura asked. Kero smiled in joy.
"It's Eriol! He casted a spell on book!" exclaimed Kero, pointing to the symbol. "It must be it! Only Clow Reed has a magic circle like that!" Sakura's eyes widened.
"He casted a spell…?" Kero nodded and closed the book.
"When one casts a spell on a book, that means there are secret contents hidden in it," explained Kero. "You can still read the book as per normal though…" Kero stopped explaining and looked up at Sakura. "Let me show you what I mean…" The card guardian closed his eyes and concentrated his magical energy. Sakura looked at the book cover, and saw that the title letters were beginning to move.
Dear Sakura
C.R
Sakura gasped. "The title changed…and it's…written to me?" Sakura sat speechless and stared at the book.
"Unfortunately, Eriol's magic on this book is strong and I was only able to break the title," said Kero. "But look," smiled Kero, pointing at the letters 'C.R'. "Can you guess whose initials they are?" Sakura's eyes gleamed with excitement.
"Clow Reed! That means Eriol-kun must have placed a spell on it!" confirmed Sakura.
"Sakura, surely you can break it?" asked Kero. Sakura looked at Kero in confidence and smiled. She closed her eyes and tried to focus her magic powers into the book. Pretty soon, gusts of winds was surrounded the book.
"Power of the stars, hear my plea!" chanted Sakura. "Show me the true form of this novel!" Sakura's magic circle started to appear and the book started to hover. The pages flipped open as what seemed to be streams of words started to rearrange. Kero smirked to himself.
'She's gotten stronger,' thought Kero. 'I've never imagined she's come so far…'
"There!" exclaimed Sakura, watching the book hover slowly to the ground. "I think I did it!" Kero smiled and watched as Sakura picked up the book and stood up.
"E-eh, aren't you going to read it?" asked Kero. Sakura shook her head and sighed.
"I'm too tired," muttered Sakura, collapsing on the bed. She hugged the book and placed it under her pillow. "Removing Eriol's spell was difficult! But, it's so strange. I felt Eriol's magic, but I also felt…I don't know how to explain it…but someone else's magic…"
Kero flew to Sakura and sat down on the bed. "Maybe he did that so the school wouldn't notice?" suggested the guardian. "Or, the reason why it's so strong is because he had help?" Sakura raised her eyebrow.
"Help from whom though?" asked Sakura. Kero shrugged.
"Possibly someone with stronger magic," said Kero, flying towards the drawers. He gestured a paw and the draw opened. "I don't think it's anything to worry about kiddo." Kero flew into his bed and lied down. "Get some sleep, we'll read what the book says tomorrow."
Sakura nodded and closed her eyes. She couldn't wait to read what was in the book.
'What is in the book?' thought Sakura, slowly drifting to sleep. 'A warning…? New spells…? Or maybe…?'
She couldn't finish her thoughts, as soon enough she was falling into a peaceful sleep.
-|φ|-
"Sir, all preparations have been made."
The elementary principal smirked and nodded in confirmation. "Good, now all that's left is to tell them." He ushered the messenger out and smiled darkly. "Sakura Kinomoto, I do wonder if you'll fulfil my expectations. You're quite an interesting one."
-|Chapter Ten END|-
Author's note: Aha, I wonder if the next chapter's going to take as long to update as this one. Sorry if this feels rushed but I wanna get this arc all over and done with! Just one more chapter and new arc! :D
Anyway, thank you for all your reviews and support!