Chapter 12: Sakura and the Magical Forrest
Tokyo, Japan
"How are you feeling?" Syaoran asked Heero as they walked out of their Economics class after their latest exam.
"I've been in worse shape," answered Heero despite the throbbing pain that still existed in his head. "Although if we hadn't had an exam, I probably would not have attended this class either."
It was the day after the battle with the Ice Card, and Heero was not quite fully recovered from the ordeal. After sleeping the entire night after being knocked unconscious by the Ice Card, Heero had awoken to find Sakura cuddled up against him in his bed. Sakura had woken up a few minutes after Heero, but she woke up with no pain while Heero had a splitting headache and numerous cuts and bruises on his body. After taking a few moments to say good morning, make sure they were both alright, and give each other a kiss, the couple had gone outside to find Duo, Eriol, and Ranma all eating breakfast. The three guys had told them that after they defeated the Ice Card, they had taken them both back to the dorms. The original plan was to put each of them in their own respective beds, but then Tomoyo pointed out that whoever woke up first was most likely going to go straight to the other, no matter how injured they were, so it seemed easier just to put the two of them in the same bed. Heero and Sakura thanked the three guys for their help, before going back to Heero's room to rest some more. They each mutually decided that except for Heero's Economics class, since he had an exam, they would take the day off from school and just relax together.
"Are you heading back to the dorm now?" asked Syaoran.
"Hai. Sakura is waiting there for me," said Heero. "She decided to skip her classes today and just rest. I assume you are going to meet Ami-san outside her Psychology class like usual?"
Syaoran just nodded an affirmative to his cousin. "We'll stop by afterwards and check up on you two. Ami is worried about both of you and wants to make sure you're both alright."
"When you see her, just tell her we are fine and that we just needed some rest."
As Heero and Syaoran were reaching the turnoff where they would split so Heero could go back to Sakura and Syaoran could meet Ami, they both began to notice the sky slightly darkening and there didn't seem to be any people around either. Although Econ was their last class of the day, it was still early enough that it shouldn't have been getting dark yet, and the area they were in was always bustling with students going from place to place.
"Do you feel that?" Syaoran asked Heero once they stopped to examine the situation.
"Feel what?" replied Heero.
"The magical presence."
Heero pushed back all the pain in his head and body and forced himself to concentrate. "It feels faint," said Heero after concentrating hard enough to pick it up. "I can't determine a location, but it doesn't feel far away, just masked somehow."
"I agree," confirmed Syaoran. "But this feeling is unlike any I have felt before."
"It's not a Clow Card," said Heero.
"No, it is definitely not. Something about this feels completely wrong." Syaoran closed his eyes to see if he could get a better feel. "It feels almost like an aura of pure evil."
"You two are more observant than I thought," said a booming voice that seemed to come from all around them. "But that won't be enough to save you; Li Xiao Lang and Li Xiao Long."
"Who are you!?" called out Syaoran into the air as both he and Heero constantly scanned the entire area for the source of the voice that was addressing them.
A loud laughing echoed throughout the air. "You should be more worried about attempting to find a way to save your own useless existences."
"Why don't you show yourself," challenged Heero as he and Syaoran both released their swords. With a grin and a mocking tone, Heero added, "Then we will see who has to worry about finding a way to stay alive."
Heero's taunting obviously angered the voice, as a loud roaring sound filled the area. Heero and Syaoran watched the sky grow even darker with a number of lightning flashes illuminating the ground while thunder boomed across the sky. When they spotted one particularly dark cloud descending toward them, both Heero and Syaoran took ready positions. However, what emerged from the dark cloud was a sight that shocked both fighters. Before them stood a large figure with a demonic expression, a look of pure bloodlust in its eyes, and wearing what looked like a black cloak wrapped around his body.
"Now you will experience the power of Charon!"
At first, neither Heero or Syaoran remembered the name Charon, but the memory quickly returned. "No wonder the aura felt so evil," said Syaoran. "You aren't even human. You are a demon."
A wicked smile spread across the face of the evil demon, showing sharp yellow teeth, stained with spots of dark red blood. "Now you're catching on."
"I thought you were trapped in the spiritual realm," said Syaoran.
"Thanks to your Clan I was," hissed Charon with anger and spite in his voice. "But now I am back to exact my revenge." The smile disappeared from Charon's face as he closed his eyes and began to concentrate his energies, chanting some type of spell.
Heero and Syaoran didn't wish to wait for the demon to finish his spell. To counter attack, Heero called forth the Wing Card to give both Syaoran and himself increased maneuverability. With magical wings now attached to their backs, Syaoran and Heero charged their enemy with swords raised, moving at incredible speed.
The two fighters reached striking distance moving at full speed, and were prepared to finish the battle in one powerful strike, when the demon's fiery red eyes shot open. Neither Heero or Syaoran even flinched when they saw Charon's eyes open and a devious grin cross his face, but also neither one was expecting what came next. Mere moments before being simultaneously impaled by the two swords, Charon's cloak unfolded in a single lightning fast motion, knocking Heero to the ground several feet to the right, and Syaoran several feet to the left.
"I just got back to the physical plane," said Charon with a laugh. "You think I will allow myself to be defeated so easily?"
Heero and Syaoran lifted their heads and looked back at their enemy to find what they had previously believed to be a cloak covering the length of the demon, was really a giant pair of black wings that had previously been folded around his body. They could also see that he had a much more muscular physique than they had thought. Their attack plan had been based on the fact that when Charon's wings had been folded around his body he didn't look very physically capable, and therefore they assumed he was more of a magical threat. This development changed their mindset, however, as a giant sledge hammer appeared and the demon grasped the handle tightly with both hands.
Heero was a little quicker to regain his wits than Syaoran, and resumed the assault on the demon alone. Charon turned toward the charging Li Clan member, and with a grin on his face, brought his weapon up in a ready position. As Heero flew toward his enemy, he raised his sword, getting prepared for a slashing attack. Charon saw this and maneuvered his hammer to block the impending strike. However, by doing this, Charon left himself wide open for any number of attacks, and Heero exploited this. Instead of slashing down with his sword, he faked the attack and instead landed a powerful roundhouse kick to the unguarded side of the shocked demon. However, Heero's attack didn't stop there. Taking a step forward to get back into reach of the staggering fiend, Heero followed up his kick with a punch with his free hand, another roundhouse with is left foot, a side kick with his right, and finally a slash with his sword that resulted in a spray of dark black blood from a large gash on the wing of Charon. This strike caused enough pain to the demon to get him very angry, and he released a burst of evil energy that was strong enough to send Heero flying through the air, landing on his face and sliding a few feet on the ground.
The monstrous demon took slow long strides until he was hovering right above Heero, who was struggling to get back up after Charon's attack. "Now, Li Xiao Long," said Charon as he raised his giant hammer above his head. "Now it is time for you to die!"
Just as Charon was about to squish Heero's head like a tomato with his hammer, a bolt of lightning came flying through the air, striking Charon in the back hard enough to stop the execution.
"Sorry to disappoint you," taunted Syaoran, who was standing up with sword in hand. "But I don't believe either one of us plans to die today." During Syaoran's little speech, Heero took the opportunity to roll out of the reach of Charon, and slowly made his way to his feet. "You alright Yuy?"
Heero closed his eyes for a moment to gather himself and then nodded to his cousin before resuming his fighting stance.
At seeing both his opponents taking ready positions, Charon allowed an evil grin to cross his face. "Good. I was hoping for an entertaining fight and you almost let me down."
Syaoran was the first to resume attacking the taunting demon, flying full speed at Charon, forcing him to turn and face the incoming assailant. Just as Charon pulled up his weapon to defend himself, Syaoran stopped on a dime just out of reach, and smiled. Charon took a moment too long to process the action of the Li, and was slow to react when he saw Heero out of the corner of his eye, flying straight at him from behind. Heero landed a solid kick to the open backside of the demon, sending him falling straight at Syaoran, who did a spinning kick to the side of Charon's head, sending him flying off to the side, landing hard on the ground and skidding face first on the dirt until he came to a stop. Before the demon could rise, Heero and Syaoran attacked again.
"God of Wind, Come Forth!"
"God of Fire, Come Forth!"
Heero's wind attack and Syaoran's fire spell combined and struck Charon straight on, engulfing the entire area in flames. However, when the flames dissipated and the smoke cleared, the site before Heero and Syaoran was not what they were expecting. Instead of the figure of Charon lying on the ground in pain, he was standing straight up with his arms crossed across his chest and had a fire burning in his blood red eyes. "Do you really think a fire attack will work against me?" said Charon with a smirk. He then unfolded his arms and closed his eyes and in a flash his previously jet black wings erupted in a frenzy of bright orange flames. "You best learn more about your opponent. I am a great demon of fire. Your attacks mean nothing to me." Both Heero and Syaoran got back into ready stances as they realized the fight was far from over. "Now let me show you what a fire attack is supposed to be." Charon closed his eyes once again, and concentrated his magical powers. The result was a pair of glowing red fireballs, one in each of his hands. The same evil smirk again crossed Charon's face, as he heaved both fireballs simultaneously at the pair of college students. Heero and Syaoran quickly dove out of the way of the incoming attack, but their struggles didn't end there. Instead of impacting the ground as their original trajectory would have led them, the two fireballs changed direction and flew straight at Syaoran, forcing him to jump out of the way again. This same pattern continued, with the fireballs gradually gaining ground on the dodging magician.
When Syaoran's luck had finally run out and he had no time left to dodge the deadly balls of fire, Heero finally took action. "Be a protective barrier. Wall!" When Heero released the Wall Card, a giant white wall barrier erected itself right between Syaoran and the two quickly approaching fireballs. The first of the two attacks struck full force on the magical barrier, creating a loud booming sound as it exploded in a flaming spectacle. After the explosion of the first fireball, the second came streaking in right after it. Heero expected the same result with the second fireball, but once it was too late he noticed that the explosion of the first attack had caused a giant hole to appear in the barrier he had put up, and the second fireball flew right through it. Completely unhindered, the second fireball impacted right on Syaoran, who only had enough time to raise his sword and arms in front of his face to provide what little protection he could manage. The fireball exploded with just as much force as the first, and sent a now unconscious and very injured Syaoran flying through the air. Syaoran landed unceremoniously on the ground with a thump and laid there completely unmoving as thin streams of smoke rose from his badly burned and injured body.
Heero looked on in shock at his roommate, that he recently found out was also his cousin, laying on the ground unconscious and obviously in very bad shape. Heero quickly regained his composure and turned to face the one responsible for the attack that injured his cousin. Charon stood still, admiring his handiwork, with his trademark evil grin plastered on his face. "One down," said Charon as he turned toward Heero. "One to go."
"Don't think it will be that simple," growled out Heero. He then pulled out one of his Clow Cards he had not yet transformed. "Card Created by Clow. Discard Your Old Form and be Reborn, Under the Name Heero; Your New Master." The Clow Card Heero was holding glowed a bright white for a moment as it changed itself into a Heero card, then dropped back into the hand of its new master. "See how this feels," said Heero directly to the demon in front of him. "Douse that demon. Tsunami!" Heero unleashed the Tsunami Card, seeing its true form for the first time since he wasn't there for its capture. The giant wave of water steadily made its way toward Charon before collapsing against the ground, submerging the demon underneath its watery mass. Charon had been caught completely off guard, since in his previous fights with the Li Clan many years ago; he had learned that almost none of the Li's had good control over the element of water. This made his fights against the members that much easier, since water was his one and only weakness. All Charon had had enough time to do was close his fiery wings around his body and try to protect himself from the falling wall of water. While the Tsunami Card wasn't strong enough to kill him, it was powerful enough to cause him substantial damage.
When the water from the Clow Card finally disappeared, Charon was on one knee, obviously shaken up, but not destroyed. "You win this round, Li," muttered Charon. "I will not underestimate you next time." With that, Charon concentrated his remaining magical power and transported himself away from the scene.
Heero watched as the demon retreated from the battle and then rushed over to his fallen comrade. He gave Syaoran a quick once over, but his knowledge of medicine was not extensive enough to determine exactly how badly he had been injured from Charon's blast. His first instinct was to just bring him to a hospital for care, but didn't know what kind of questions he might be asked if he did that. He then thought that Ami would probably be able to figure out just how injured Syaoran really way, plus she was very close to the guy so Heero figured she should know what happened. Taking a glance at his watch he noticed it would be at least half an hour before Ami got out of class and Heero knew she turned off her cell phone when she was in school. He then remembered the Telepathy Card and pulled it out of his pocket. "Card Created by Clow. Discard Your Old Form and be Reborn, Under the Name Heero; Your New Master." The Telepathy Card turned a bright white momentarily and then turned back into a normal card. "Give me a telepathic connection with Ami-san. Telepathy!" When Heero released the Telepathy Card, he saw the little boy that first showed up when he captured the card appear for a split second, and then disappear again. Heero wasn't sure if the card had worked but knew there was only one way to find out. "Ami-san. Can you hear me?"
"Heero-kun?" came a thought in Heero's head in a voice that sounded just like Ami's.
"Hai. I'll explain the telepathy thing later. Right now, I need your help in the clearing between the math and science buildings. Please come as soon as possible."
"Alright," answered Ami. "I'm on my way."
When the short conversation was over, Heero recalled the card and immediately started to feel the effects of changing such a powerful card. Heero forced himself to ignore the feelings of weakness as he awaited Ami's arrival.
Ami had been listening intently to the lecture of her professor when Heero's telepathic call came through. She was very startled at first, but did a good job of keeping her composure as she talked to Heero through the temporary link. After the conversation was over, Ami packed her bag in lightning fast time and then quickly made her way out the door. When she heard Heero ask her for help, she knew it must be some sort of an emergency since Heero wasn't the type of person to ever ask for help. She ran as fast as she could to the area Heero had mentioned, hoping everything was alright, although already knowing something must be very wrong.
When Ami first caught sight of Heero, she began to breathe a sigh of relief since it looked as if he was alright. However, when she allowed her focus to drift downward slightly, her breath caught in her throat and her heart began beating at an unusually high speed. What she saw was Syaoran on the ground with Heero kneeling over him, obviously unconscious and he looked to be injured quite badly. Ami started running even faster than before and since she was running on adrenaline she didn't even notice her lack of oxygen when she finally reached her fallen boyfriend. "What happened?" Ami asked in a hurried and worried voice.
"We were attacked by a demon," answered Heero. "Li got hit pretty hard and you know much more about injuries than I do, so I called you. I didn't know if taking him to a hospital was necessary, since they will ask lots of questions we wouldn't be able to answer. Li is breathing and has a heartbeat, but I don't know to what extent his other injuries might be."
Ami bent over Syaoran and tried to examine him as carefully as she could. It turned out to be more difficult than she imagined it to be, since her hands were trembling from fear and her eyes were starting to water making it difficult to see clearly. She did manage the examination, even in her state, and was at least a little relieved to discover that it didn't seem like Syaoran had any life threatening injuries. "I think his arm is broken and he probably has a concussion, but it doesn't seem as if his injuries will be fatal."
"Is he safe to move?" asked Heero.
"As long as you are careful, it is probably a good idea to get him out of here and back to the dorms," answered Ami. Heero nodded and then picked up his roommate, making sure not to aggravate his broken arm. "You don't look too good either, Heero-kun," said Ami when she noticed his slightly pale complexion and saw that he wasn't moving with the exactness and precision he normally demonstrated.
"I had to change two Clow Cards," answered Heero. "It takes a lot out of me. But I'll be fine." Ami hoped Heero was right, but couldn't think about it for long since worrying about Syaoran was a little more important at the moment, since Heero would definitely be alright after a day or two. Heero and Ami then made their way, quickly but carefully, back to the dorms to take care of Syaoran's injuries.
Author's Notes:
Oh no! Syaoran got hurt! But it's ok, cause he'll be back to his usual self in no time. Now, to answer the question that many of you have asked, and probably the rest of you have thought. Charon is a fictional character that I created. He's based on some Greek myth or something like that, but he has no association with any anime series. Anyway, for the reason he is even in the story, it is because I needed something to create the need for Heero to change all of his Clow Cards into Heero Cards. Charon is not a part of the Li Clan or anything like that. He is just an evil demon who got into a fight with the Li Clan a number of years ago. So, I hope this answers all your questions about Charon. If not, just leave another question in your review and I'll try to answer it in my notes that go along with my next post. Hope you all enjoyed the first part of Chapter 12!