CH35: Drained
"Meiling!" Sakura shook the girl in an attempt to wake her.
"She'll be alright." Li said as he scanned the woods for the illusion card.
"But... She just fainted and won't wake up."
"Just give her time." Syaoran said, "She is out of energy. Once she has rested and eaten, she'll be fine."
"How can you be so sure?"
Nine years earlier…
"Take the ball in your hand and focus your energy on it." Li Xian instructed. Syaoran and Meiling complied. The ball in Syaoran's hand began to glow brightly, but the one Meiling held remained dull stone.
"It's glowing." Syaoran announced. His break in concentration caused the glow to fade. Within a few minutes, he had figured out how to control the luminescence both in intensity and in hue.
"Very good, Xiao Lang." The elder said, "You have an excellent grasp of using your magic. Your power and control are excellent for your age." Meiling, however, had so far failed to produce even a single photon from her stone. She was squeezing it tightly with her eyes scrunched up and her face red from her attempt. "You don't seem to have any control whatsoever, perhaps it is too early for you." He directed towards Meiling.
"No! I can do it!" She concentrated even harder.
"Try this. If you are having trouble accessing your power, this should help." Li Xian said. He handed the young Meiling a medallion. On one side of the medallion was a golden sun and on the other was a silver moon. Meiling took the proffered object and clutched it tightly. It began to glow and the center of the medallion began to spin around. The stone in Meiling's hand began to glow brighter and brighter until it was blindingly strong, and then it went out as Meiling collapsed.
"It has happened before… Twice." Syaoran replied.
"Meiling! What are you doing?"
"Training." She replied seriously. She was holding the sun and moon medallion, causing the center of it to begin revolving.
"You shouldn't be using that. It's too dangerous."
"I can do it." Meiling said. She was holding up the ofuda of wind.
"But Xiao Fang…"
"Doesn't know how strong I really am." Meiling grinned, "I've been training every day; my magic's strong now. Just watch this."
"This isn't a good idea…"
"Wind!" Meiling summoned wind using the ofuda. "See, I'm fine." She drew out another ofuda. "Fire!" It blazed brightly with fire. "Lightning!" Nothing happened.
"Meiling, you don't look so good… You should stop." Her constant training had kept Meiling thin and light, but now she was even more so and had dark circles under her eyes.
"I've never… Felt… Better!" Meiling panted, "LIGHTNING!" A bolt arced out and struck a tree. Meiling dropped to her knees. "Maybe I am just a little tired…" Syaoran caught her before she could completely collapse.
"Baka!" He began dragging her back towards the house.
"She seems to be malnourished, possibly anorexic." The old man said, inspecting the unconscious girl. "Has she been eating properly?"
"She has." Yelan stated in a tone that indicated that there would be no more discussion of the cause of Meiling's condition.
"She needs food and rest." The doctor informed Yelan after he finished inspecting the unconscious girl. "I doubt she would pull through if she went on like this much longer." The man scribbled some unintelligible notes on a black pad labelled with the name Dr. Ling Kue. "For the next few weeks, you should have her take some energy supplements. Sugar water would be fine, but she may enjoy something a little more appealing to the palette."
"She didn't use much magic this time, so it shouldn't be as bad as it was last time. Hopefully she'll wake up soon on her own."
"What if she doesn't?"
"Then, I'll have to call Okaa-san. I just hope it doesn't come to that. She is the reason that Li Xian has so little sway with the council. After that incident, she made sure that he was held back from any advancement. Before that time, he was actually next in line to be the head Elder. The incident resulted in Li Xiao Fang being chosen when the council leader stepped down two years after. He was so thoroughly humiliated that he never regained his standing with the other council members."
"If you are going to stick around and chat, at least you could search for the illusion card." Kero said.
"I'll stay with Meiling-chan and make sure nothing happens." Tomoyo offered.
"Are you sure?" Sakura asked.
"It will be fine." Tomoyo replied.
"You should keep Kero with you. It might be spooky if you are out here with no one to talk to."
"Arigatou." The raven-haired girl smiled.
"You ready?" Syaoran asked.
"Hai." Sakura replied. Syaoran already had his laizen board out and it was pointing back in the direction from which they had come.
They walked, following the board's light and followed it back into the depths of the woods where it just seemed to get spookier and spookier.
"Hoe..." Sakura complained as the sun's rays began dimming and making the darkness of the woods even more dark and menacing. An owl hooted, startling Sakura.
"Don't worry." Syaoran said as he took her hand, "were almost…"
"GHOST!" Sakura shrieked as a pair of glowing green eyes appeared. They were hovering mysteriously in the air before them.
"It's not a ghost." Syaoran said steadily, "It's the illusion card." If you seal it, it will go away." Translucent, glowing, green tentacles began slinking out of the shadows towards Sakura.
"I can't. It's too scary." Sakura now cowered behind Li like a small child. The ghostly image shimmered slightly and then began to recede into the forest.
"We have to go after it before it gets away."
"No!" Sakura shook her head violently and tried to run in the opposite direction. Li was still holding her hand, and despite her desire to run away, her fear made her clasp his hand back all the more strongly to the point that his fingers had begin to go purple.
"Sakura!" Li yanked on her arm. She was sent colliding roughly into him. "If you can't see it, it can't do anything to you. Just close your eyes and hold on to me."
"Hai…" She agreed tentatively.
Syaoran picked Sakura up and began to run in the direction the card had gone. "Just keep your eyes closed. When I tell you to, swing the sealing wand in the direction I'm running in." He veered to the right. "I can see it now… We're almost there." Sakura peeked at the apparition and screamed. She buried her face into Li's shoulder.
"Stop!" Sakura whimpered as she peeked and saw tentacles that narrowly missed touching her.
"No, we've got to capture it. Now!" Li ordered. Sakura swung the staff wildly in all directions. "Don't forget the spell."
"Return to the form you were meant to have! Clow Card!"
"You missed. Again!" Syaoran leapt into the air and Sakura swung the staff of sealing a second time, striking the centre of the illusion.
"Meiling!" Sakura exclaimed, seeing Li's cousin stirring as they returned, with The Illusion safely signed by Li. "Are you okay?"
"I'm just a little tired..." Meiling yawned, "and hungry." Meiling's stomach growled in agreement with this remark.
"The class was a bit worried about you when you fell behind." Miss Mizuki said, startling the four of them. "It's time for dinner. You should hurry up."
"Hai!" The girls responded. Syaoran merely grunted as Miss Mizuki walked the path towards the camp and beckoned for them to follow.
By the time they had gotten to the hot springs, the sun had almost completely disappeared over the horizon. "I am going to find my cabin. I'm exhausted." Li said. He immediately headed off to search for his assigned cabin. The rest of them went to the main building to get to the buffet. It was just being opened for their group, now that the 'lost' members had been found.
"Sakura, you're a pig." Meiling said as she was staring at the pile of plates the girl had accumulated, "You might want to slow down a bit, I am not the only one who has noticed."
"It's not my fault," Sakura whined, "Kero just keeps eating. I have barely had a thing."
"Excuse me," The manager of the hot springs addressed the room, "I am sorry for the inconvenience, but it seems that the hot springs have dried up. If the problem has not rectified itself by morning, we will refund your money and send you home." Murmurs of disappointment echoed around the room.
"Do you think it's a 'you know what'?" Tomoyo asked hopefully.
"I don't know, I guess I can check it out tonight." Sakura said.
"Then I have the perfect outfit for you!"
That evening, the girls left their cabin, stopping at Li's cabin so that he could come to investigate the possible Clow Card as well.
"This is Li's cabin." Meiling whispered. The girls peeked in through the window.
"His bed is empty." Tomoyo said.
"Maybe he already there." Sakura suggested.