2-3a: Tea and Sweets
Sakura balanced the tray of strawberry shortcake carefully onto one hand, hers being the lighter of the two trays that she and Tomoyo carried, and opened the door to Tomoyo's room to find Reios seated on the window-side couch. He was studying what appeared to be a large, leather bound book, and hadn't noticed them entering the room. She kicked the door shut with her foot after Tomoyo had passed through, its resounding thud actually serving to gain his attention this time. Looking up to his two hostesses, Reios set aside his book and looked to them with a somewhat incredulous grin.
"You know, I would have been more than happy to help with that."
Tomoyo placed her tray of tea and cups carefully onto the small black table, looking over to him as she knelt down to arrange them, "You're a guest, and a special one at that. It is not proper for a guest to help with the preparations."
"I didn't do anything overly special, it's just that..." he repeated, for what felt like was the hundredth time, but he hesitated on his words as he realized that he wasn't going to win this one. No matter how many times he tried to get out of being the hero, he knew that there was just no getting through to these people. He also realized that if he kept up the denial, before long his tone would become insistent, and he didn't want to come off as rude. Besides, he got the feeling that these people were far too attached to each other to take this matter lightly, as he supposed best friends should be. He sighed dejectedly, tossing the idea of further resistance out the proverbial window, "Oh, forget it."
"Good," Tomoyo chirped, happy to see that she had been proven right, "Do you take anything with your tea?"
"Oh, uh, nothing, please," he replied, sitting upright to better pay attention to the two before him. Yet as he repositioned himself, the book he had placed on the couch cushion beside him came more clearly into Sakura's field of view. She looked to it curiously as she knelt down to place her own tray onto the table, wondering at what had taken Reios's interest so keenly that he had failed to notice them entering the room. She noted that it had a white, leather cover, with some kind of gold-colored workings along the spine and front.
"Oh, I brought a small something of my own, in return for inviting me tonight," Reios noted, indicating a pair of white cloth bags that were sitting on top of the table, "Scotch mints that I had taken with me when I left home."
Tomoyo and Reios both snapped up with a start as the tray that Sakura had been carrying dropped from her hands, clattering hard to the table as it crashed down from the fall. Having almost placed it completely to the table, Sakura managed not to break anything, but her bug-eyed, deadlocked gaze told them both that she wasn't really paying attention to that at the moment. They stared at her with confused expressions as her facial features started to show signs of concern and wonder. Tomoyo felt an extra concern on her own part, for she was sure that she could detect a thread of fear running through Sakura's eyes as well.
Tomoyo's gaze followed her friend's stare towards Reios, and then to the book that currently laid beside him. She recognized it almost immediately by its size and design, though the coloring and the few symbols that she could see were completely different.
"That's..." Tomoyo started, attempting to put some words to the mystery that Sakura had found herself unable to speak. Sakura's mouth was still trying to work up some form of noise, to voice the question that she so much needed to ask, only to have a thin stream of bewilderment fly out of her instead. All she could do was stare at the book before her, watching in either wonder or horror – of the two, Tomoyo wasn't sure which was the most prevalent – as her dreams started to break through into reality.
Reios was about to try and retract his gift, thinking that there was something about mints that Sakura didn't like, until he realized that they were both staring at the book that he had just placed beside him. He picked it up and examined it again for a moment before looking up to her, "What, this? I found it just last night, actually. Or... rather, it found me, I guess? I remember you mentioning yesterday that your father was an archeologist. Thinking that he might be able to better identify it, I brought it along with me."
Sakura straightened up and pointed cautiously at the book that he held, "Where... did you get that?" she asked.
"That's the strange part about it all... though you'd probably think that I was insane if I told you," he muttered, raising an eyebrow at the book he held.
"Please," was all Sakura could say, though she said it insistently enough that Reios got the message.
Looking down to the book, he lost himself in memory as he recalled the previous night, "Well... it was around ten o'clock or so last night. I was sitting outside on my apartment balcony doing some practice routines on my flute, when I noticed some kind of light moving across the sky. It almost looked to be like a shooting star, except that it was moving far too slowly for that to be right. It didn't burn away after a time, either, as one would think most do.
"It continued to trace a straight path through the sky until it slowed to hover just over the horizon. But then it just settled there, not moving onwards any further than that. I stood up to try and get a better view of it, which was when I noticed that it wasn't hovering on the horizon at all, but that it was hovering just beyond the edge of the balcony. I tried to reach out for it, but ended up stumbling backwards and into the adjacent room when it surprised me with a bright flash of light. And then, when I could see again, this," he held up the white book, "was sitting on the ground nearby me.
He hesitated for a second, before adding, "That must sound crazy, right?"
Sakura was visibly stunned. Everything Reios had just described was a decently close match to what her dreams had shown her, and it had her wondering about just how much of her dream was to be realized. A star shooting through the night sky, a blinding flash of light, and the appearance of a white book. It was all out of order, granted, but who cared?
"May I see it?" she asked, stretching her hand out slowly. Reios wasn't exactly sure of what she was so afraid of, but that was no reason to deny her the request. He held up the book for her to take, which she claimed after a notable stretch of hesitation.
She turned the book about in every which way, examining both the front cover and the back, and what she saw only confirmed those related parts of her dream. The magic circle inscribed onto the back cover, and the blazing sun with the nine, orbiting circles on the front, they were all there. It was all as she remembered. Even the nameplate, which on her own book had her name engraved in Roman lettering, was blank, just like the dream. All that was left was for the varied illusionary images to start flying out at her.
A thought suddenly struck her, causing her head to snap up and made a quick scan of the room. Spotting Reios's belongings stacked into a corner, she made a visual check, cross-referenced it with her memory, and found a match. The reddish-brown staff that he always carried around with him, the one that hid within it a bladed edge, was a close if not exact match to the image that had jumped out at her from the dream-book's front cover.
But that was not the only image that had appeared to her. There was also the silver object that looked like a hand (or had it been a claw?), the one that was holding some kind of crystal. It had floated out of the latch that had kept the book sealed, releasing the lock within the latch and revealing the presence of some form of collective entities within the book's pages. And even though the dream had never really specified as to the purpose of them, she had the distinct feeling that those entities were very similar to her own Sakura Cards.
On a whim, she set the book in the crook of her right arm and tried to free the latch with her left hand, pulling gently at first and then with a greater force when it refused to release. She grunted with an effort as she tried for a third time, but still it was to no avail.
Reios leaned forward, his elbows resting upon his knees, watching Sakura intently to see if she could open it. After she had given up, he noted, "I tried that myself, though I gave it a shot with a small crowbar on my third attempt. That didn't work either."
She ultimately tossed aside the idea of opening it by force after hearing that, flexing her hand to release the tension that had built up from the effort of straining against the lock of the book. Looking up to return the book to Reios's possession, she stopped her arm halfway as she spotted a thin, silvery snake chain peeking out from underneath the collar of his dark-gray shirt. It might not have meant anything to her before, but things were matching up much too closely to be able to continue on as a mere coincidence. She retracted her arm, and instead moved to take a seat beside him.
She looked over to Tomoyo, who had moved to sit in her favorite chair at the end of the table, hoping to find the idea that always seemed to come from her best friend at the right moment. Yet those purple eyes were sadly showing nothing short of confusion, and she knew that she was on her own to figure this out. This was going to be a very long night...
Taking in a calming breath, Sakura finally handed over the book before asking, "That necklace you're wearing... what's on it?"
"What, this?" he asked, and pulled the silver length out from under his shirt. What soon came into view only confirmed what Sakura had originally suspected. Hanging upon the chain was a small silver pendant, of what she could now clearly see was a dragon's claw tightly grasping a crystalline orb. The entire pendant was a fair size smaller than her own key that she wore around her neck, and it wasn't an actual key like her dreams had shown her (it was lacking the small key shaft and the dragon-like pair of teeth), but it was close enough.
"Do you want to see this, too?" he asked, finally sensing that something was up. He was beginning to suspect that Sakura, or perhaps even the both of them, knew what was going on with how his new book had just suddenly appeared to him as though by magic. When Sakura nodded slowly, he reached behind his neck to release the catch on the chain, and being careful not to accidentally release the ends of the chain from his fingers, held the pendant up for her to take.
She held out her hand and scooped the silver pendant out of the air where it hung, and started in fright as the world around her instantly went pitch black. Moments later it was replaced with the more familiar environment of stars and nebulae. Not even a support for sitting down was left behind her, which was when she realized that she was already standing on her feet. She didn't even remember getting up.
The existence of outer space was all around her, but she knew very well where this was. It was an environment that she had experienced twice before, a dream world reserved exclusively for spiritual meetings.
"Alright, this is getting a bit creepy."
The English language was still mostly indecipherable to her, but Sakura still recognized both it and the voice. Reios, for whatever reason, was within this dream-like space with her. But if Reios was here, then...
"Tomoyo!" she cried out into the distance, straining her ears for a familiar reply. Yet nothing returned to her except for the sounds of their own quiet breathing. Not even the expected echoes of her shouting managed to return to her. She called out again, louder and with more effort, but again she came to the same result.
"We were just in her room, sitting on the sofa, and I hand you my pendant," Reios muttered to himself, though he was speaking again in words that she could understand, "and then suddenly we're... in outer space? With the ability to breathe, no less."
His pendant... Sakura realized that she was still holding onto his pendant, and she was clenching it rather tightly within her fist at that. She forced her hand to relax its grip, and opened her hand to return the pendant back to him.
Breaker of seals, he before you guards the morning and the dawn. Release the light...
The two of them looked up instinctively, both attempting to trace the voice that had suddenly poured down upon them. It was definitely that of a male, a light and melodic tone that seemed to just float all through the infinite space around them. Gentle in form, yet with a strength that neither could ignore.
"Who's there?" Sakura called out into the backdrop of stars and gas clouds, yet her cries for a response from the unfamiliar voice went as unanswered as her calls for Tomoyo had been.
"That voice... Gr–... no, it couldn't be him..."
She turned to Reios, who had a look of wonder upon his face. Yet confusion was also evident in his features, as his eyes continuously scanned the universe all around him. He spun about without warning, trying to catch the unknown voice off guard, perhaps to find it hiding behind some kind of illusion or trick of mirrors. It was obvious enough to her that he had recognized that voice, though once again he had spoken in English. If he had mentioned anything of its identity just now, she wouldn't have understood it anyway.
Power of the Stars, unite yourself with those that hold the balance. Release the light...
This time, it was Sakura's turn to stand in amazement, looking back up into the stars above as a second voice washed over them. She easily knew that one. The deep-toned, kind and all-knowing voice, the same one that had haunted her and encouraged her ever since she had defeated Yue at the Final Judgement. It was Clow Reed himself, and suddenly she half-expected him to just materialize out of nowhere to offer up some cryptic advice on what was going on.
"Clow..."
"It looks like you knew that one..." Reios commented, noticing that Sakura had gone stock still when the second voice had resounded through the starry field they inhabited, "Clow, huh?"
Release the light...
Both of the voices sounded out together, marking their request in a single, unified call. Sakura got the feeling that whatever it was that they wanted, it had something to do with Reios, or else he wouldn't have been taken into this dream-world with her. They had asked for her to "release the light," yet how was she supposed to do that when she had no idea of where, or what, this light was? She had no idea of what she had to do, or of what she could do for that matter, to release it. To make things worse, did she really have to reveal the existence of her magic to Reios, here and now?
Release the light...
She stopped her swirling thoughts before they could spiral themselves out of control, and instead concentrated on her past experiences. Whenever she had been made to do things before that she had had no idea of what to actually do, her own powers had seemed to guide her thoughts and actions. It was as if all the knowledge that she would ever require was imbedded within her very soul. Taking that to heart, she closed her eyes and allowed her heart and mind to guide her along the path she needed to take.
Disregarding her previous fears of having her magical abilities discovered, she began to chant, "Energies hiding beneath the seal..."
Reios stepped back reflexively as his pendant started to glow within Sakura's upheld hand. He gasped aloud as the pendant then flew away from her hand of its own volition, sliding free of the silver chain that had originally held it. He shook his head in denial, trying not to believe what his eyes were now showing to him.
"Now discard your chain and shackle, and awaken to he whom seeks your favor!"
A wave of visible energy shot out from the floating pendant, causing Reios to go on the defensive as he reached to his side for a weapon that was not there. What the hell is going on!?
"Guidance of the stars, break free from imprisonment this newborn power...
"Release!"
Sakura's magic circle, the symbol of magic that she had inherited from Clow Reed, and recreated by the power of her own Stars, flared into being beneath her. Her inner energies soon began working tirelessly to unbind the seal that had been placed within the silver pendant that was now floating before her. Though she barely understood the workings of what she saw through her mind's eye, she witnessed as her power pierced through the magical barriers placed within the crystalline orb, utterly shattering the lock that had held the power of the pendant in place. Again a wave of visible energy shot forth from the pendant between them, but this time it brought with it a lasting radiance as powerful as the sun itself.
Surrounded as she was within the strength and protection of her Stars, Sakura felt and saw nothing. But as the world began to whitewash all around them, Reios found himself being absorbed into a searing light that was sending waves after waves of scorching heat into every pore in his body. He would have cried out in agony for all the sheer pain that he felt, except that his mind somehow never registered any sensation of pain at all. Instead, there was only the realization of something far greater...
Breaker of the seal, guide the Light onto the path towards the dawn....
The first voice that had sounded out, the one with the light and melodic tone, trailed along after them even as all awareness began to fade away.