Of Suns, Moons, and Stars
By moonlight ray
Chapter 10
A Bit More than Bargained For
Disclaimer: I do not own CCS, but I do own Hoshimi and Arashi Tanaka. If you're interested in using any of them, just ask, okay?
[A/N: Arigatou animeandmangafangirl for the review! I really appreciate thos—
Kero: {pops up with a you-ate-sweets-without-me expression} Why!?
MR: …Why what?
Kero: Why does it always happen to Yue? Everything exciting always happens to Yue! You people never pay any attention to me! {sulk}
MR: Ano… I'm not quite sure how to respond to that.
Kero: You all hate me, don't you? Everyone spoils Yue! It's not fair!
MR: {sweatdrop} Kero, dear, I'm trying to—
Kero: {teary eyes, face pressed up close to screen} Nobody likes me!
MR: {double sweatdrop} Uh…
Kero: {bawling}
Mysterious voice in the background: So you want some of the fun, eh? Well, it won't be long now…
MR: {finally gets angsty Kero off set} Ahem. As I was saying, I really appreciate any reviews. {lowers voice to a whisper and leans in} And Kero could use some consolation as well, if you know what I mean. Anyways, even if it's for our little sun guardian's mental health, review, onegai! Note: matte= wait, soka= I see]
The scene around Yue and Touya froze. Literally. Just mere seconds later, Sakura and Kero flew in through the open window of the classroom. Sakura turned Fly back into its card form, and then looked over to her brother and her guardian. "I felt the aura again, and something told me to come here." She explained.
"Looks like we came just in time, too." Kero commented. "What's wrong with Yue?"
"I—" Touya started.
"NANI?!" the sun guardian did a double take. "Yue!? What's he doing here?"
Touya and Sakura sweatdropped.
"Time's magic doesn't last very long," Sakura warned.
"What are we going to do about Yu—" Touya began, only to be interrupted by a certain Seal Beast… again.
"OI, YUE, WAKE UP!" Kero yelled.
Touya winced, his hands flying up to cover his ears. "You could at least give us some warning before you shatter our eardrums," he muttered. Sakura felt her body still vibrating from the shout. It was surprising how such a loud noise could come from a tiny creature like Kero.
But the moon angel didn't stir. He was like an icicle, almost, beautiful and still, frozen in place. "Yue?" Kero's brow burrowed.
"Try telepathy," Sakura suggested.
Yue… Yue… Kero called out mentally. Yue, what's going on with you?
Locked… Can't break… through… Yue's words were faint, distanced, despite the fact that the two creations were right next to each other.
Eh? What on earth does that mean?
Break… lock…
What lock? How? You're not making any sense!
Magic… spell… Mistress must…
Must what?
Cut… Sword…
Are you insane!? Sakura isn't going to cut you!
Bound… locked… Yue's voice was fading, becoming nothing more than an echo. Soon, it disappeared altogether.
Yue! YUE! GET BACK HERE! But the moon being was gone. The only voice in Kero's head was his own. Sighing, the little creature withdrew from his thoughts. "Yue was saying something about a lock. Couldn't get through clearly, but I think he was trying to say that Sakura should use Sword to cut through the spell that binds him." Kero related.
"Hoe? How am I supposed to… matte, this is sort of like the thread that bound Syaoran-kun!" the Card Mistress exclaimed, pulling out Watery. "We should be able to see what's holding Yue-san with this! WATERY!"
The Card circled around her guardian, surrounding Yue with a cage of water. Then it made its way back to its Mistress, returning to Card form once more. Touya, Sakura, and Kero all stared, waiting for the crystalline drops of water to catch onto something. But it didn't. After a while, the water cage dissipated, as if saying, it's no use; there's nothing there.
"Not thread, then. And nothing material, either, or else Watery would've caught onto it." Kero observed. "And we can't use Sword without knowing where to aim it. It could harm Yue if we weren't specific with our instructions, since this Card's under the sun." All three were silent for a moment, each trying to devise a plan. "Try Shield. It blocks out magic, right?" said Kero.
"That's true," agreed Sakura, taking the Card out. "SHIELD!"
A glossy, translucent dome formed over the moon guardian. Slowly, dark shreds of magic appeared, floating lazily around Yue's frozen body, like clouds hovering above Earth.
"We can see the spell now, but the problem is how to break through it." Touya spoke up.
"That's easy; Sakura can use Sword to slice…" Kero trailed off. "Oh. Hehehe, I guess I didn't think this out very well, ne?"
Only then did Sakura and Kero realize their mistake. By casting Shield over Yue, they were now unable to use Sword without breaking through Shield first. And if they did shatter Shield, they wouldn't be able to see the spell anymore, thus risking accidentally harming the guardian underneath. What could they do?
Sakura pressed the back of one hand to her forehead. "Time's giving way; I can't support it anymore." She informed her brother.
"There's nothing we can do about it, then." Kero said, hiding himself in the folds of Sakura's skirt. "Let's leave, quickly, before we cause even more questions."
"We can't just leave Yue like this," Touya opposed.
"No, you can't."
Sakura gasped, swiveling around. She recognized this voice. It was one she hadn't heard in a long time, but she was happy to hear it again. "Eriol-kun!"
Hoshimi didn't know how much time had passed since she'd been captured. Minutes felt like hours, and days like weeks. All she knew was that her captor wasn't about to let her go. The last time he had visited her, she had questioned him about exactly that.
"Your friends are taking longer than I expected. But no matter, I'll wait a thousand years if that's what it takes to get what I want." He had replied.
"What do you want?" she'd asked.
"I can't have you knowing that just yet."
Hoshimi was struggling not to cry from frustration and fear. "Please," she breathed. "I don't have what you want. Please let me go."
"I wouldn't say that. You have your Mistress' love. And that's what I'm counting on."
That conversation seemed extremely distant now. Like it had happened ages ago. Actually, everything she could recall seemed like forever ago, another life. Meeting her half-brothers, training, school… Perhaps it had only been a days since those things occurred, but to the star being, it felt like an eternity. "Yue-san, Kero-san, Mistress…" she whispered, hot tears stinging her amber eyes. "Help me."
"Soka," Eriol murmured. "If that's the case, then first remove Shield. I should be able to dispel the magic."
Sakura had just explained to her friend the situation. Eriol, in turn, responded with an explanation of his own: that he had had an uneasy feeling for the last week, and some part of him told him to come to Tomoeda. He then sensed a somewhat mysterious aura and came to investigate, only to be lead to Seijouu High. Now both magicians were working together to devise a plan to free Yue.
"Touya-kun!" Nakuru latched herself onto the elder Kinomoto's back. "I've missed you!"
"I can hardly say the same for you," Touya mumbled under his breath.
Spinel Sun watched, shaking his head in disapproval. Sometimes his counterpart was so immature…
"Hey ya, Suppi!" an Osaka-accented voice greeted him.
At the nickname, a crossvien popped on the black cat's head. "My name is Spinel Sun, Keroberos."
"You were the one who first told me your name was Suppi!" Kero retorted.
"I couldn't risk having you know my real identity at that time!"
"Whatever you say, Suppi."
Another crossvein appeared, even bigger than the previous one.
But the golden bear-like creature remained oblivious, taunting his fellow sun guardian. "Suppi, Suppi, Suppi…" Kero sang.
"I would murder you right now, but I've got better things to do." Spinel replied briskly.
Eriol chuckled, watching his creations get reacquainted with Sakura's brother and sun guardian. Focusing his attention back on Yue, the reincarnation summoned his magical staff. Sakura lowered Shield. Immediately, Eriol chanted a spell in a language foreign to Sakura. The black wisps of cloud began to disperse.
Yue lifted his head from his folded arms. His normally neat features looked a little fuzzy, as if he had just woken up from a nap. The feathers of the moon angel's great wings were a bit ruffled, a few creases were in Yue's robes, and there was a tired look in his violet silver eyes. But other than that, everything else seemed to be alright with the guardian. "Clow?" It was a question, not a statement; as if Yue couldn't quite trust what his eyes were showing him.
Eriol nodded, a gentle smile on his face. "It's good to see you again, Yue. It's been a while."
Before the moon being could say any more, Nakuru jumped onto him. "I'm back!" she announced.
But, unlike Touya, Yue stood as still as a statue, not even flinching. "What happened?" the question was directed towards Touya, his brother, and his Mistress. "The last thing I am able to recall was Yukito falling asleep under some spell."
"The enemy must have more power than I gave him credit for." Kero mused. "Hoshimi was an inexperienced guardian, still in training, but Yue… he's had about two centuries of experience, dammit!"
"Hoshimi… was that what you'd named the new guardian, Sakura-san?" Eriol inquired.
"Un," the Card Mistress responded. "I was going to write about this to you, but recently, just two days ago, she'd been kidnapped."
"Kidnapped?" Spinel echoed.
Sakura nodded in confirmation. "Please come over to my house. I'll explain everything there. This time spell must be exhausting to you, ne, Eriol-kun?"
Eriol, who had frozen the course of time with his own spell after the Time Card wore off, smiled gratefully. "Arigatou. We would like that." The four guardians, two mages, and one brother exited the classroom, Eriol releasing his spell, resuming time to its usual course.
"Hmm?" The sensei walked over to Touya's desk. "When did this get here?" In her hand, there was a hurriedly written note stating that he and Yukito were not feeling well that afternoon and decided to go home and rest. "Weren't both Kinomoto and Tsukishiro here just a second ago…?"