Disclaimer; I don't own CCS or CLAMP
(*...* )thoughts, ("...") speech
{Flashback}
Chapter Twenty One
Memories
Previously;
After a few minutes of running, Sakura came to a stop and raised a hand to her chest to help slow down her breathing.
"Spoke too soon." Sakura said gasping for air.
Before having any time to recover from her excitement, a loud scream was heard from one of the bedrooms. Without a second thought Sakura took off down the hallway and burst through the bedroom door, ready to take on what ever was in her way but was stunned by who she saw.
"OH MY GOD. TOMOYO!" Sakura yelled, once her brain recovered from the initial shock of seeing her friend tied up.
Sakura broke into a run across the pitch black room but she wasn't getting any closer. In fact it felt like time was slowing down around her.
"Hold...On...To...Mo...Yo." Sakura called out, her body slowing down with each passing moment.
Back in her room, Sakura was tossing and turning in her bed violently. Kero was flying around her head trying desperately to wake the sleeping girl.
"WAKE UP SAKURA! WAKE UP!" Kero kept shouting over and over again.
Suddenly the young girl bolted straight up in bed, her eyes wide in horror. Panicking Sakura looked around her small pink bedroom before practically jumping out of bed.
"Wow. Wow Sakura. Where's the fire?" Kero asked.
"I saw Tomoyo." Sakura answered, in the middle of changing out of her night dress and into a pair of shorts and T-shirt.
"What do you mean you saw Tomoyo?" Kero asked.
"I saw her tied up in a dark room. I must go to her." Sakura answered, grabbing her magical cards and stuffing them into a small mesh clip-on pocket.
"But it was just a dream, you know your dreams can predict future events." Kero reminded his Mistress.
"I know but It felt real, as if Tomoyo was standing next to me in this very room." Sakura explained, stretching out her arms in demonstration.
Kero's facial expression quickly changed from worry to curiosity back to worry again at this statement. Never before has anyone described a dream so intense and generally couldn't tell it apart from life itself. Even the most powerful magician of all time knew the difference between dreams and reality. *Wow. Maybe Sakura's magical abilities are getting stronger, so strong in fact that I believe she is on the verge of overtaking Clow Reed himself.* Kero thought, as he watched Sakura do her final checks in a mirror before heading to her door.
"Are you coming Kero?" Sakura asked, motioning to her bag.
Kero flew over to Sakura and ducked head first into her small bag. After finding a comfortable spot, Kero poked his head out, so he could see where they were going.
"Sakura?" Kero began.
"Hmm..?" Sakura responded.
"I was just wondering, with Tomoyo gone for the night. Did you come up with a plan to explain her absence to her mother?" Kero continued.
"Already taken cared of." Sakura answered.
"When?" Kero questioned with an inquisitive look on his face.
"Yesterday after dinner, you was eating icecream. I came up with a plan and gave her house a call." Sakura explained.
{Flashback to yesterday}
Sakura, dressed in her regular clothes was sitting on her bed looking down at her magical cards.
*I need to come up with a convincing plan to help with Tomoyo's situation.* Sakura thought to herself as she slowly went through each individual card. After going through them all Sakura had laid out five different cards in front of her.
"I can't use illusion to fool people, they'll all end up seeing something different." Sakura said, putting the card back in the book.
"Time's power is to demanding on my magic to stop time for a long duration and rewinding it won't do any good." Sakura sighed, as she placed the card back in the deck.
"Twin is out of the question. It will just replicate everything around it." Sakura concluded.
"Hmm...Mirror might work, she has replicated me perfectly in the past." Sakura said, sounding hopeful but then frowned. "Then again, I'll be in the same situation as if I was using Time. Not knowing how long I will need to keep the card active and it will compromise my magic."
"What about voice?" Sakura asked herself. "It won't need to stay active and I won't have to worry about keeping an eye on it." Sakura told herself. "Perfect. I'll use the Voice Card and phone Tomoyo's house, telling her mother she be staying at mine tonight."
Several minutes later, Sakura held a small notebook that contained a few bullet points of what she wanted to say. *I hope I can use the Card's power without releasing my staff.*
Grabbing the Sakura Card, Sakura looked over at Kero who was too busy stuffing his face with ice cream that her dad had made the night before.
"Well here goes." Sakura told herself as she held the Voice card in her hand.
"Voice Card." Sakura started. "Please grant me the voice of Tomoyo, long enough so I can help her."
The card glowed brightly in her hand and a little orb rose out from the card and made it's way to where Sakura's throat was. Feeling the Card's magic Sakura smiled to herself, happy that the Voice Card worked.
"Okay." Sakura said, now sounding exactly like her best friend. "Wow. Weird." Sakura continued.
Once mentally prepared of sounding like Tomoyo, Sakura picked up her mobile phone that was lying on her desk and scrolled down to Tomoyo's home phone number. Once the call button had been pressed Sakura didn't have to wait long until someone picked up.
"Hello Daidouji residence." A woman's voice spoke. "Who may I ask is calling?"
"Hello. It's Tomoyo." Sakura managed to say, after a brief pause.
"Tomoyo, dear. Is everything alright?" Tomoyo's mother asked concerned.
"Yes. Everything is fine." Sakura lied, feeling uneasy about lying to Tomoyo's mother regarding her daughter. Sakura made a mental promise to herself and Tomoyo that she will do anything to bring her back safely. "We got a lot of homework from school today and I've been studying at Sakura's house but I fear we won't get it all done before dark. So I thought rather than rushing, It would be best if I just stay for the night."
"Oh, that's fine dear. Glad to know you're safe and do say hello to Sakura for me will you?" Tomoyo's mother said before saying her goodbyes.
Sakura closed her eyes, trying not to allow any tears to escape but was unsuccessful and a few droplets found their way down her soft pink cheeks before falling onto the floor.
After the phone call had ended, Sakura released the Card's magic and returned it back into the deck of cards.
{End of flashback}
"You managed to do all that without my knowledge?" Kero asked, feeling a little sheepish that he didn't notice.
"Yes." Sakura replied bluntly.
Now outside Sakura started heading down the street, making sure not to get into anyone's way. Not really knowing where she was heading, Sakura just allowed her feet to lead her in a random direction as if being guided by someone or something. Turning a left here, a right there and followed by another left turn that led down a side street which continued until blocked by a huge grassy lawn. Looking to see if anyone was watching, Sakura pulled out the Dash Card and released it's magic. The Card glowed brightly and a cat-like creature appeared and started to circle Sakura giving her the ability to run at super fast speed. Sensing the Card's magic, Kero popped his head back out of the bag to see exactly what was going on. Only to witness Sakura's whole body surrounded by the card's magic before slowly returning to normal.
"I hope you know what you're doing?" Kero asked, before he felt his body get forced backward as Sakura raced through the long grassy lawn at superhuman speed. After a few minutes of being subjected to what felt like being hit by a ton of bricks, Kero ducked back inside the bag for safety. The sun was starting to set by the time Sakura had made her way out of the fields and through many more side streets. Sakura wasn't worried about being seen by anyone at this point as she was nothing more then a blur to anyone who did see. Feeling the speed slow down slightly Kero hoped that his Mistress was coming to a stop soon but it didn't happen. Instead he found himself getting thrown around like a ragdoll, banging his head against everything that was in the bag. Rubbing his now sore head, Kero saw a hand or what appeared to be a hand reach in and grab a box that he was using to support himself. Not even a second later the box was back in the bag and facing him. Kero's nose started to twitch at the smell coming from inside. Noticing the lid wasn't properly sealed, Kero didn't waste any time in finding out what was hidden. Pushing the lid completely off Kero eyes grew in amazement at it's contents.
"FOOD!" Kero yelled in delight.
There was a peanut butter and Jelly sandwich still wrapped up neatly. Next to it there was a full size pork pie that looked delishus, alongside that there was a small tub of strawberry yogurt with a spoon strapped to it's side and to wash it all off Sakura had packed of fizzy pop. Grabbing the sandwich in both paws, Kero unwrapped it and took a big bite right in the middle. Savouring the taste in his mouth, Kero's eyes started to water with delight. Swallowing Kero processed with another big bite, followed by another and then another until there was nothing left. Throwing the cling film away, Kero grabbed the drink that was lying on it's side in the box. Eyeing up the size of the bottle Kero frowned, he knew it was far too big to pick up and with all the banging around from Sakura's movements it would be impossible to balance.
"Think Kero, think." Kero told himself, he had never been outsmarted by food before and he wasn't going to start now.
Kero started to rummaging through the bag looking for something, anything that he could use to his advantage. Pushing the pink Sakura book aside, Kero spotted something small and thin hiding underneath a note pad. Slowly pulling it free from it's place, Kero examined it closely.
"A straw?" Kero questioned, confused why Sakura had a random straw laying in her bag. Kero's eyes then widened in delight. "Perfect. I can use this."
Looking down at his paw, Kero extended a single claw so he could poke a tiny hole into the plastic bottle.
"Steady…" Kero told himself, waiting for just the right moment to pierce the plastic. "Got it."
Keeping the hole plugged with his claw, Kero swiftly replaced it with the straw before it had a chance to leak. Satisfied Kero gulped down as much of the drink that his body allowed him too, resulting in a huge burp and half a drunk bottle.
After a moment of rest, Kero was just about to start on round two of scoffing his face when his magical senses picked up on his Mistress's aura.
"Finally. Sakura has stopping using the Dash card." Kero said to himself, feeling relieved that he was no longer going to get knocked about anymore.
As Kero got ready to get back to eating again an unsettling thought crossed his mind. *Wait. Why did Sakura stop using the card all of a sudden?*
Closing his eyes and concentrating on the surrounding environment. Kero frowned, he couldn't get a read on anything other than Sakura's aura and that wasn't as strong as he would of liked.
"What was that?" Kero asked himself, unsure of what he just felt.
It was just for a brief moment, if he wasn't using his magic at that particular second he would've completely missed it. *Did Sakura notice it too?* Kero wondered.
A feeling of uneasiness washed over Kero, he couldn't put his paw on why he was feeling it, he just knew he needed to go topside. Just as Kero was about to open the zipper, he was flung to the other side of the bag, landing face first onto the Sakura book.
"OUCH!" Kero moaned aloud, rubbing his now sore head. *Well that answered that question.*
Managing to open the bag safely, Kero poked his head out. There wasn't much he could see due to the surrounding trees blocking out any remaining light from the setting sun. Was Sakura in a forest of some kind? Kero didn't know any forests that were this dense, where you had to climb over tree trunks just to be able to move forward. Looking up to Sakura, Kero tried to make out her facial expression but all he was able to see were glimpses of her face that didn't tell him much at all.
"Sakura?" Kero whispered, not wanting to attract too much attention in case there were people around.
Keeping her eyes focused straight ahead, Sakura continued to walk, making sure not to trip over anything that was in her way.
"Where are we?" Kero asked, still keeping his voice low.
Sakura's eyes darted down for a brief moment, telling Kero that she had at least acknowledged his question.
"I don't know." Sakura answered. "Although it feels familiar, like i've been here before."
"Perhaps in a dream of some kind." Sakura concluded, letting out a small chuckle to herself. It didn't last long before Sakura's face dropped and she became serious.
"If that is the case, why is it always the bad and never the good?" Sakura groaned.
"I don't know." Kero answered, unsure what else to say.
After climbing over yet another tree trunk, Sakura pushed aside a big branch that was blocking her view. Seeing a clearing in front of her, Sakura sighed in relief. Finally trailing through what felt like an endless woodland had ended. Able to see ahead of herself now, Sakura spotted what looked like an abandoned house or villa in the far distance. Making her way through the tall grass, the wind started to pick up and was gently blowing through her long strands of hair.
It didn't take to long for Sakura to reach a tall metal fence covered in vines that stretched around the house preventing any trespassers wondering onto the grounds.
"Why are we here Sakura?" Kero asked.
"I was following a very faint magic trail and it lead me here." Sakura explained, as she reached out and held onto the metal railings.
Closing his eyes Kero concentrated on the house. After a brief few moments his eyes opened, frowning at the aura he had felt.
"I couldn't sense much of anything." Kero said. "Although what I was able to feel was ancient magic, really ancient magic. Perhaps dating back as far as Clow Reed's time"
Hearing what Kero had concluded about the house, Sakura started to look for a way to get past the metal railings but wasn't able to find a viable entrance to the house.
Seeing what Sakura was trying to do, Kero flew out of her bag and hovered around her shoulder.
"Hey, wait a minute. What do you find you're doing?" Kero said, with concern growing with each passing moment.
"Well, you said it yourself. There is ancient magic coming from this house and I have a feeling that's where Tomoyo is." Sakura answered, checking the railings as she walked along them.
"If that's the case, what's your plan to rescue her?" Kero asked.
"I don't really have one." Sakura answered, not giving it to much thought.
Ignoring any more of Kero's questioning, Sakura kept checking the railings to see if there was some way through but found nothing. Coming to the conclusion that she would have to jump the railings, Sakura pulled out her Star key and started the process of activating its magic.
"Woah! Woah! What do you think you're doing?" Kero chimed in, trying to keep his voice down.
"I need to get over the fence." Sakura explained, continuing with the task at hand.
"RELEASE!" Sakura commanded.
Sakura's unique magic circle appeared under her feet as her Star key glowed and transformed into the Star Staff in a matter of seconds.
"Why do you have your Star Staff out. I thought you was using the Cards without it?" Kero questioned, eyeing up the pink Staff in Sakura's hand.
"I don't want my magic to go out of control and by using the Staff it helps channel it." Sakura explained.
Kero nodded in understanding, he felt better about his Mistress's judgement on her magical abilities and was relieved that she was starting to learn her limitations.
"Alright. As long as you don't go overboard with using the raw magic of the Cards and you do indeed use your Star Staff when the Cards require a lot of your magic. Remember if your magic gets too low than neither one of us will be much help." Kero informed his Mistress. Sakura broke into a smile and thanked Kero for his support.
With one last glance around to assure no one was near by, Sakura pulled out one of her Cards and threw it into the air.
"JUMP!" Sakura called out, activating its magical properties by using her Staff.
Tiny white wings appeared on the back of her heels, giving Sakura the ability to jump much higher than she could originally. Leaping over the tall railings, Sakura landed safely in grass that had not been cut in decades. Kero flew over and quickly joined Sakura on the other side.
Now without the railings blocking most of the view, Sakura was able see the house much clearly.
The house was three stories tall and was covered in overgrown vines that spread across the entire building. From what was visible, Sakura could tell the building was made out of mostly stone and had a very old fashioned feel to it. As Sakura started to walk through the garden, she noticed a fairly large patch of grass growing that was different from the rest. On a closer inspection, Sakura realised that it was originally a pond or maybe even a lake once upon a time before the weeds had started to grow out of control. As the sun started to set behind a few trees, the light had reflected off something causing it to gleam. Sakura noticed this with the corner of her eye and walked over to the object to get a better idea what it was. At first glance, all that could been seen through the vines were two metal poles that ran upwards on either side of one another. Curious Sakura pulled at the vines that covered the front of the structure to reveal a connecting metal bar at the top and chains that hung in the middle.
"Is that a child's swing?" Kero asked, staring at the now visible swing set.
"Yeah. I guess so." Sakura replied, removing the last pile of leaves and vines from the seating area.
Taking a seat on the swing, Sakura started to move it aimlessly back and forth with no effort at all. A high pitched squeaking began as the swing moved causing Kero to cover his ears from the pain. Looking around the garden again, Sakura imagined what it might of looked like if someone had maintained it.
"I bet this place was beautiful back when people were living here." Sakura stated. "It's a real shame noone was around to keep it in order."
"Now, Now Sakura. There's no point entertaining the what if factor." Kero said. "We are here now, we might as well keep exploring."
With one hand still firmly clasped around the chains of the swing, Sakura nodded and rose up from where she had been sitting. Kero let his paws drop back down, relieved that the piercing sound of the chains had finally stopped.
Now making her way through the long grass, Sakura grabbed her bare leg, wincing in pain. Instantly Kero flew down to Sakura's now inflamed leg, to see what had happened.
"I am not wearing the right outfit for this." Sakura moaned, rubbing her now blistered leg.
"You have strung yourself on nettles, which is no surprise given the state of this place." Kero said, as he flew over to adjacent plant.
Carefully examining the plants that towered over him, kero pulled some of their leaves off and flew back. Sakura watched as Kero crushed the leaves onto the blistered area, releasing its inner juices.
"Keep the pressure on the area." Kero instructed. "The pain will subside in a few minutes."
Sakura did as she was told and held the leaves firmly to her leg. Feeling the pain slowly getting better, Sakura's face relaxed as she used up the last remaining plant juice on the worst parts. Able to focus more clearly now, Sakura spotted an old stone path just a few feet to the side of her. Rolling her eyes in frustration, Sakura made her way to the path and followed it all the way up to the house.
It didn't take long to reach the big wooden double doors. The doors had markings that were crafted into them, creating swirling patterns that stretched all the way up to the top and to the sides. There were two big round knockers that were made from iron and looked very heavy to use. Just underneath them were two old fashioned iron door handles, that had spider webs all over them.
Using her t-shirt to remove them, Sakura pulled a disgusted face as she watched the webs fall freely to the floor. Satisfied that all the webs had been cleared, Sakura placed her hand on one of the handles and tried to push the door.
It took a few attempts before the door successfully opened with a loud creaking sound that echoed down the halls. Pearing through the small gap, a tingly sensation ran up her spine, causing the hairs on the back of her neck to stand on end. Taking a nervous look around the dark hallway, Sakura cautiously stepped forward gripping her Staff tightly.
"looks like this place hasn't been clean in years either." Kero pointed out, seeing more cobwebs hanging down in every corner.
Using her hand to feel her way around the walls, Sakura came across a metal light switch that had two small oval pins protruding from it's center. Without thinking Sakura flicked one of the pins upwards, expecting the lights to come on but the room stayed in darkness. Puzzled Sakura flicked the second switch but nothing happened. After a few more tries of flicking the switches just to be sure, Sakura gave in and proceeded to walk around in the dark.
Placing one foot in front of the other, Sakura carefully walked around, trying not to bump into anything along the way. For a brief moment something distracted her attention and Sakura collided right into the corner of an object. Causing something to fall and land on the ground.
"You okay?" Kero asked, flying next to her.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Sakura replied, gliding her hands along side what she had bumped into.
"I think It's a table that I walked into." Sakura said, analysing the cold wood surface.
Feeling a handle on the front of the table, Sakura pulled at it and a draw opened. Reaching inside, Sakura found a long candle and next to it a metal candle holder.
"Perfect. Just what I need." Sakura exclaimed. Placing the candle in it's holder. "Kero. Will you do the honours?"
Kero flew over to where the candle was and stretched out his paw. A tiny fire like flame appeared just above the tip of his paw, bathing the area in a warm orange glow. Sakura tilted the candle close to the flame, successfully lighting the candle stick. Moving the candle from side to side, Sakura and Kero were now able to see items and close objects around them. After looking around what was visible, Sakura turned her attention to a picture frame that had fallen on the floor. The glass had a crack in it from the impact and was covered in dust.
Taking in a deep breath in, Kero blow over the photo frame, scattering the years of dust that had accumulated on it into the air. This caused both of them to cough uncontrollably and Sakura tried to waft away some of the dust with her free hand, so she could breathe easy again.
"What...Was...Wrong...With...Just..Using...Your...Paw?" Sakura managed to ask in between coughs.
"And...Get...It...Covered...In...Dust?" Kero replied, coughing throughout. "No...Thank...You."
"It...Would...Of...Been...A...Better...Choice...Than...This." Sakura said, still coughing.
Kero refused to answer back and decided to wait for the dust to settle before attempting to speak.
As the cloud of dust started to clear up, the picture in the photo was now visible with the help from the candle light. Staring at the photo, Sakura raised an eyebrow in amazement. The photo was of two adults and one child that was sitting on the swing outside.
"What a lovely photo." Sakura said, looking down at the photo.
"Wait a minute." Kero chimed in, examining the photo more closely. "That looks like Clow Reed, well a much younger version of him anyway."
Sakura's eyes widened as realization dawned, Kero was right. The man in the photo was definitely Clow Reed, he didn't look that much different from what she had encountered over time. How did she not realize it was him? Off to his side stood a young woman with long hair, she had one arm wrapped around the child and the other waving to whoever took the picture.
"I don't remember this been taken." Kero said.
"Could of been before you existed." Sakura said casually, still studying the old photograph.
"I suppose." Kero replied, a hint of sadness lingering in his voice.
The conversation was cut short by a loud banging noise emanating from upstairs, shortly followed by someone screaming.
"TOMOYO!" Sakura yelled, dropping the candle onto the floor.
Sakura ran off in the now darkened room followed by Kero, who desperately tried to keep her in his line of sight. In the end he had to rely on tracking her aura, just to be able to locate where she had ran off too.
Running down different hallways, Sakura began to fear the worst. Tomoyo wasn't the type to shout or scream, even in the face of danger. Something or someone must be really terrifying her in order to make her react like that.
"Hold on Tomoyo, please. Just hold on."Sakura begged, as tears started to roll down her soft cheeks.
A/N: Thank you for waiting, sorry it took so long to upload. I've been really busy with getting my home ready for the baby, who is due in 8 weeks. Anyways I hope you enjoyed this extra long chapter.