Hey everyone! Only one more chapter and then I'm done! I'm so glad for those that have stuck through to the end! Thank you so much! Also reviewing you guys rock for being so faithful! You know who you are! Thank you-BeautyandYue
The next day after Sakura had woken up, she apologized profusely to everyone, most of all Yue. Unfortunately it would be several weeks before he could even get the courage to call his mistress by her name. In the weeks that followed that crazy night, on weekends Eli would come over and he would lock him and Sakura in Clow's library for hours on end just to see how far her magic now reached. In the process Eli had Sakura work with her star cards changing them into Universe cards, as Madison now dubbed them after she found out. Naturally she was delighted, Madison already had vision and copies of costumes made to outfit Sakura for whatever the situation called for. As the middle of November rolled around, the Avalon family had just gotten down with dinner when Kero asked Sakura what the matter was, after seeing the expression change on her face for the millionth time that evening. "I've gotten a bad sensation all evening but now it's really intensifying. I think it's…" she trailed off looking at Aiden who looked back at her with a worried look in his eyes.
Aiden and Tori looked at each other. Then looked at Julian who sat next to Sakura. He nodded slowly, confirming what Sakura was telling them. Aiden sighed. "Go do what you have to do. I know there's no stopping you. Please be careful and come back." Tori nodded his agreement.
Sakura pushed back from the table as Kero flew to her room to call everyone, she first hugged Aiden then Tori. "Thank you. I will be back." Sakura then nodded at Julian who had stood up also, "Let's go." He and she ran out the room. Julian went outside to wait for the others while Sakura went to her room to grab the Universe cards and the Star cards that had not been changed yet. She then took the outfit Madison had given her not more than a week ago saying, "This is a special outfit for the final showdown. Whenever that is." After she had changed Sakura came down stairs and out the door where everyone had gathered, talking quietly among themselves. Lee was in his traditional robes; Sakura had on the outfit she had used to change the sword card with only it was in sky blue and the star badge now showed a gold moon, sun, and stars, gathered around a red shiny heart.
"I tried calling Ruby on her cell. She was doing some shopping for me, but I couldn't get her. So I left a message." Eli said standing next to Yue, in his slightly smaller version of Clow Reed's robes.
"That's alright, she'll catch up. Ruby won't want to miss this." Sakura said while the talking petered off.
"Well Sakura where too?" Eli asked, sun staff glinting in the setting sunlight.
Sakura point "It's at the shrine."
Kero barked, "Well you heard her. Let's go!" Lee climbed onto his back while Madison and Eli did the same thing to Spinel. Sakura pulled out the Fly card. Soon they were all flying speedily over to the shrine that had been abandoned since Ms. McKenzie had went back to England. She had meant to come back but then she got married and now she lived in Scotland. They landed in front of the entrance to the shrine.
A malicious, cold voice floated down to them. "So good of you to come." There sitting and standing on the stone entrance to the shrine were Salena and Rubius!
Sakura and the others looked confused while Eli didn't look so surprised. Actually he looked like he expected it. The blonde hair on Rubius' head ruffled even though there was no wind. He smiled evilly showing blinding white teeth, his eyes turning a purple and gray-silver while his street clothes shifted to black pants, shirt, and boots. A black staff with a silver moon symbol appeared in his right hand, huge black bat wings sprouted from his back. Rubius shook his, now black streaked purple spiked hair, head at the groups' flabbergasted expression. "I should introduce myself, can't be rude now can I? I am Kazak, soon to be destroyer of you and ruling this world." Kazak gave a mock bow.
"I will rule next to my brother. I am Aurora." Salena closed her blue eyes and her sitting image blurred until jade colored eyes opened. She was dressed like she was when they first met her, all in black this time. Shaking blood red hair out of her face, Aurora planted as black staff with a sun symbol on her left side, standing up she stood next to her brother. Together with their bat wings, they made an imposing pair.
"We've just had the privilege of making a new friend. Only she's sleeping at the moment and doesn't want to be disturbed." Kazak snapped his fingers. In a flash of light and black smoke, a black colored sphere appeared in under the archway of the shrine.
"Ruby!" Yue shouted, as the sphere's walls thinned so that the group could see Ruby Moon in her guardian form, sprawled in a heap at the bottom of her prison. Unconscious but alive.
A new voice reached the cardcaptors. "This is our first meeting." A huge brown and black griffin with gleaming green and purple eyes, planted itself in front of Ruby Moon's sphere.
"This is Nightshade. Our most trusted companion of many years. I think it's time to get this party started." Kazak and Aurora raised their staffs to the sky and chanted a dark spell. The dark energy swirled around their staffs' and up to hit the sky. Dark energy rippled across the sky, entering people and turning them into their worst nightmares.
"Shield!" Sakura called the card spun around Madison before the sinister spell could penetrate the girl.
"Madison hide!" barked Eli. She obeyed and went to hide among the trees' the shield card moving with her.
Aurora was tired of waiting. "Come on let's play!" she called spreading her wings to swoop at the group.
Yue rose to meet her. "Charge!" Sakura yelled pointing her staff now a sword. She took after Kazak, rising to meet him in the dusk with a clash of swords. Kero and Spinel went after Nightshade while Lee and Eli stayed behind to harass Aurora as she spun in the air with Yue. Sakura dodged Kazak's staff turned sword. He came in close quarters to Sakura with a slashing motion but Sakura darted away, not before he managed to lope off a couple strands of loose flying hair, in the process.
Sakura glared at him as they hovered in the air. "Where's your peachy now? Even after you got your new power, your still weak. I though must say that your power is impressive, it was hard to tinker with it, there were shields up that even I did not foresee." Kazak taunted.
"That was you? You made my magic go haywire on me?" Sakura asked incredulous swooping at him.
"I wasn't the old man in your head but I caught the tail end of your conversation. So I scrambled your magic a bit. Enough for the magic to get panicky and well you know that results of that." Kazak said, fighting Sakura off.
"How could you do that? I almost destroyed those that I loved!" Sakura cried rushing at Kazak, locking hilts. "Eli get to Ruby Moon!" she instructed Eli.
He turned from fighting Aurora to free the captive moon woman. Eli ran across the expanse of the walk, stopping short as a stream of fire and a rose colored beam, chased Nightshade across the teen's path. Nightshade opened his beck, letting out green colored flames at the two incoming guardians'. "You should really brush that mouth of yours. 'Cause your breath stinks!" Kero shouted as he and Spinel dodged to come speeding in to shove Nightshade out of the way and into the brush with a crash. Kero and Spinel took off after him. Eli ran forward as Kero was shot across the walkway behind Eli's back with a stream of green flames.
Eli reached the sphere holding Ruby Moon captive and raised his staff to shoot fireballs at it. "No!" Kazak shoved Sakura off, realizing that Sakura had attacked him that fiercely as a diversion, with a blast of black purple edged fire. Diving down, Kazak went to stop the young wizard.
"Dash!" Sakura used the card on her speed for just a moment to get in front of Kazak, to stop him from interfering, leveling her sword in front of her. Kazak backpedaled hastily, so as to not impale himself on Sakura's sword. With a snarl he drew back.
Eli sensed that with Sakura hassling Kazak that his attention was diverting so the walls were weakening. "Lee get over here!" Eli called.
Lee raced over to where Eli was firing small lightening bolts at the sphere. Aurora shot a stream of pink shards at Lee's retreating back. Yue swooped in to cover Lee's back with a shield. Lee got an idea. "Hey Aurora! You have the worst aim ever! You haven't even hit me yet!" he taunted her waving his arms. Eli looked at his friend like he had lost his mind. Yue swung around to look at the young man in surprise.
"What are you doing?" Yue hissed as Aurora's eyes narrowed as she screamed in rage.
Lee backed up until his back touched the sphere. "Just trust me! Down!"
Yue dodged out of the way as another stream of now crimson colored shards came flying at the teen that had teased her. Lee and Eli flattened down. The shards whooshed overhead to embed themselves into the sphere upon which they exploded, shattering the dark sphere.
"What are you doing?! Do you want them to win?!" Kazak screamed at her.
Aurora screamed back. "It's not my fault! They moved!"
Eli managed to catch Ruby, easing her to the ground he asked "Ruby? Ruby can you hear me?" Yue kept one eye on Aurora who looked frightened that the sphere had broken and one eye on the motionless Ruby. Ruby's eyelashes fluttered as she regained consciousness.
"Eli, I'm sorry. They ganged up on me." Ruby said as she sat up looking at the scene around her.
"It's alright, you're safe now." Eli told her but a stream of lightening passed overhead as Sakura used the thunder card at Kazak. "Well safe as can be." He chuckled as they rose once more.
"Where's Nightshade? I've got a bone to pick with him." Ruby said. Eli pointed and back away quickly as Ruby exploded towards the creature Kero and Spinel were battling. "You were hurt, you said. I thought you were a baby! You lied! Come here you!" Nightshade slashed at Spinel, cutting into the black panther's wings. With a cry Ruby slashed at the griffin with her ruby colored arm sword.
Kazak managed to land a shot on Sakura. With a cry, not gaining enough lift in time, Sakura crashed into some brush on the side. "Sakura!" Lee shouted but was knocked down by some shards from Aurora. Sakura popped up from the brush.
"Lee are you okay?" she called flapping her wings to get the sticks and twigs out of them.
"Yeah…uh" Lee got the wind knocked out of him as Ruby crashed into him. Sakura glared at Kazak in the sky.
Kazak laughed hysterically as a stream of crystal shards from Yue hit Aurora hard. "You really are useless!" he called to Aurora who shook her head, bleeding from the many cuts the shards inflicted upon the young woman.
"Don't just stand there, help me!" Aurora pleaded, limping across the sky to her brother.
"Of course, I'll help you." Kazak soothingly said beckoning with his fingers, "Have I told you today, how totally pathetic and worthless you!" in one swift motion, Kazak ran his sword through Aurora. Everyone looked up in shock at these turn of events.
Aurora looked at Kazak in agony. "You son of a-" she choked out. Kazak grinned insanely and charged his sword, once, twice, three times. Aurora screamed in pain and despair, making the hairs on everyone necks stand up, before dissolving in the air.
"I would prefer to rule this world alone, so I had to get rid of the loose baggage." Kazak explained as if he had too, swinging his now black purple edged fire sword, in a practice maneuver.
Nightshade cried out in rage at losing his mistress. Opening his mouth, Nightshade blasted green fire at Yue's back as everyone was still in shock at what Kazak had done. "Look out!" Yue was roughly shoved out of the way. As Yue fell and rolled he saw Ruby take the full force of the blast that was meant for him.
"No!" the anguished cry burst from his lips as Ruby crumpled to the ground. Yue scrambled over to Ruby's frighteningly still form. Sakura and the others raced over. Madison came out of hiding to kneel by Ruby's side, inadvertently bring the shield with her. Sakura, Lee, Kero, Eli, and Spinel form a ring around Yue and Ruby as he knelt to gather Ruby in his arms. "Ruby, why did you do that?" Yue asked, eyes bright as his voice trembled.
Ruby opened her eyes as silver blood seeped from one of her wounds on her side. "Because," she gasped, fighting for each breath, smiling through her hurt, locking eyes with Yue, " People do crazy things, when they're in love."
"Oh Ruby." A lone tear trickled down his pale face as Yue kissed Ruby on the forehead.
Sakura glared at Kazak, if looks could kill, he would be dead right about now and still he would live to be killed again. "This ends now." Sakura said through forced teeth as Yue entrusted Ruby to Madison.
"What? Did I hurt the moon freak's little girlfriend?" Kazak goaded from up in the air.
Yue and Sakura rose up in the sky. Nightshade tried to get in the circle for he could smell someone was hurt. He shot out flames but Kero and Spinel looking just as tired and battered as everyone else brought flames and beams up to bare. Nightshade came charging in but Lee and Eli knocked him down and put the crazed creature out of his misery.
Kazak roared his fury as the last of his allies died, leaving him alone. "Does he need a hug?" he sneered at Yue a weird look in his eyes.
Yue lunged at Kazak, murder in his eyes. Kazak just laughed that insane laugh and shot black purple edged fire at him. Catching him off guard, Yue soared out of the way, not before the fire singed the arm of his once white robe. "Yue! NO! Stop!" Sakura planted herself, sword in hand, in front of the distraught moon guardian as he tried to make another pass at Kazak. Who just threw his head back and laughed. "Remember what the prophecy said? We can't separate wrong from right, if we can't see the light!" Sakura looked into his eyes. "So we'll just have to see the light! Light!" Sakura called on the card. It rose up into the early evening sky to the ripples that still ran across it and enveloped the very center destroying the evil spell. Kazak yelled in outrage. "Yue look at me. Look at me!" Sakura commanded. Yue tore his eyes away from Kazak's hateful eyes. "Day and Night are decided upon light! He can't win! We have the light!"
"Now why would you go and do that for? It's completely not true!" Kazak grabbed Sakura from behind, placing his sword across her exposed throat.
"Sakura!" Lee yanked out a piece of paper ready to burn Kazak to a crisp.
"Don't!" Kazak barked harshly, ever so slightly moving his sword so that it cut Sakura. Lee saw her wince even from up in the air. He swore and lowered his weapon. "Do you know why I'm doing this?" he asked Sakura.
She whispered "No?"
Kazak said, " I wouldn't do that." to Yue.
Yue leveled his moon bow and arrow at where Kazak's heart would be if Sakura's body did not cover it up. "Try me." Sakura shivered. His voice and eyes were so cold, so steel edged.
"I'm doing this because Clow Reed wouldn't take me on as an apprentice!" Kazak spat out.
"What?! You're over three hundred years old?" Sakura couldn't believe it.
"After Clow Reed wouldn't take me on, I went away, with my sister to learn the dark arts on my own!" Kazak said.
Eli spoke up, "Clow Reed wouldn't take you on because he knew that you would abuse your power."
Kazak continued on as if he had not heard Eli. "But when I came back to show that good for nothing warlock, that I could do magic without his help, I found up that he had up and died! So Aurora and I waited until the cards resurfaced three years ago, keeping this age so we could get close to the young card mistress, destroy her, take the cards and destroy the world with the cards Clow loved so much!"
Eli shouted up at him, "That's exactly why he didn't take you on! He knew that you would come back in the future and make trouble for his successor. That's why he waited giving Sakura all her power until now!"
"Don't think I'm so ignorant of you, Eli Moon!" Kazak screeched. "I know you are the reincarnation of that idiotic wizard with only half his power because you gave it up. Split up by this little lady." He placed his free hand on Sakura's hip. She closed her eyes in revulsion. "I have the decency to go after a pure blood! The reincarnation is a laughing stock because he is in love with a girl that has no magic at all!" Eli reddened and looked down.
"That's not true! Eli has more love and compassion about people then you'll ever have! He wouldn't kill his own sister because then he'll get more ruling power!" Sakura burst out unable to hold it in any longer.
Kazak glared at the back of Sakura's head. "I grow tired of these games, time to have dinner and start on dessert." He declared sliding his hand lower.
"No! Sakura!" Lee shouted.
Kazak moved as to get a better grip on his sword, so he could kill Sakura cleanly, when he made an odd choking sound. Sakura still had her staff so she called the sword card silently. While Kazak had moved then Sakura had moved. Lightening fast she jabbed back, running Kazak through. Sakura pulled away flying the short distance to Yue, who still had his bow raised, bringing her sword with her.
Kazak smiled, blood trickling out, down the side of his mouth. "So the rose has thorns. Does she?" he spat lunging at her but was jerked to a halt. He looked down in shock at the glowing blue arrow sticking out of his chest. Kazak fell to the ground laughing wildly, until there were no longer any breath in his body.
Yue lowered his bow slowly and it disappeared. Sakura and Yue watched wordlessly as Kazak's body crumbled to dust and blew away.
The silence was broken by Eli's frantic call. "Guys get down here quick!"
Yue rushed to gather Ruby as she lay gasping in the twilight. "Sakura, you must do something!" Yue said looking at her over Ruby.
Tears rolled down Sakura's dirty cheeks, "I don't have enough power." as she looked helplessly at Yue.
"But you must do something! She'll die!" Yue provoked her. Sakura just cried harder.
"Sakura," a soft voice said.
Sakura and the others looked around for the voice. Aurora appeared sitting on her knees next to Sakura, looking thoughtfully at Ruby Moon before her. Lee jerked forward but Eli grabbed is arm and shook his head mutely. "I can help you." Aurora's voice was wispy and echoed.
"How can you help?" Sakura asked.
"I was once a good sorceress but my brother, slighted by Clow Reed, led me astray with ideas' of grandeur. I would like to make up for the trouble, the damage, he and I caused." Aurora said. She was different. Gone were the bat wings, black clothes, and hateful expression. In place angel wings and a white loose dress was all that she had. Her red hair shined like fire as it cascaded down her back in loose waves while she glowed faintly.
"Still the question, how? We're losing her." Yue harshly answered, gripping Ruby's shuddering frame to him. Not caring if her blood got on his robes.
"I can give her my life flower. But it comes with a price, each of her minds will have a body all her own." Aurora opened her right hand to reveal a sparkling white lily. Aurora placed it on Ruby's chest. "Goodbye…" with that she disappeared.
Sakura looked at Yue, determination in her eyes. "Yue, I want you and Julian to make a decision. Do we do this for Ruby? Will you split so that you can be with her?"
Yue's eyes dimmed as he mind spoke with Julian. After a moment Yue gave one of his rare smiles, Ruby looked into his eyes as he said, "People always do crazy things, when they're in love."
Sakura nodded, placing her hands on Ruby and Yue's conjoined hands. "Night becomes Day, two worlds collide, soiree of emotions pours into a bottomless love potion." Sakura spoke, the flower slowly melted into Ruby's body, spreading its white sparkling glow to Yue through their hands. They lit up the entire area. Yue and Ruby's eyes had closed. Yue's head had tilted down till his chin rested on his chest. "Night becomes Day, deep inside and out, there will be a divide. It is how day warmth of the sun beams on your hide. No one shall come asunder. Two minds drawing apart. Night becomes Day!" Sakura shouted as blindingly white light filled the area.
To Be Continued…