Disclaimer: I don't own any IPs that might appear in the story
The Council of Thirteen
Book Three: The First Lord
Restitching the Web of Love
Chapter 6: Consequences and New Paradigms
Beta:
Syaoran walked into his bedroom in the Li mansion after seeing his ex-wife off for her flight back to Japan in Chek Lap Kok International Airport. Yes, his ex-wife. For despite a year of effort at patching up his marriage with Sakura, yes he had kept trying even after the incident at Victoria Park, they had been unable to overcome their differences and had eventually divorced.
And whose fault is that, hmm? The alien voice in his mind whispered teasingly.
"Not mine," Syaroan said firmly. "No matter what the counselors said, I did nothing wrong! All I wanted was what a husband rightfully deserved! Besides, it's not like I forced her! I might have gone too far that one time but that's it!"
Oh, of course. The voice reassured him, its voice a silky imitation of his own. And you might've had a chance at working things out too, wouldn't you? If only there wasn't someone else to catch Sakura's wandering eyes.
"Tomoyo," Syaoran hissed angrily.
He had initially not blamed the Daidouji heiress for her part in things, since she had done nothing to get in the way of, much less hinder, his attempts at a reconciliation but the fact that the woman had spent the bulk of the year since the initial spat between him and Sakura in Hong Kong, 'supporting' his ex-wife was sabotage enough.
Bah! Supporting? More like seducing her! The voice scoffed. You've seen it yourself. How they were all over each other when together!
Even as it said the words, it dredged up memory after memory of the two women's intimacy. Things that he had overlooked as simply the closeness of being best friends, but which in this moment likely meant more. Much more.
They were almost always holding hands, walking arm in arm or just being incredibly close to each other. There was even that one time when they'd been at the beach together, as part of an outing aimed at helping Sakura and Syaoran reconcile, where he was sure they had been fondling each other. Of course, they'd claimed they were simply helping each other with sunscreen but that was likely just a cover story.
Yes, yes! None of this is your fault! The voice coaxed. Everything is that seductress' fault.
"Yes, yes, it is." Syaoran agreed with a dark glare out a window in the vague direction of Japan and the object of his ire. "And she'll pay for it."
I can help with that. The voice said as a white spider the size of a dog literally crawled out a shadow and stood before him.
"And who are you?" Syaoran asked warily as he backed up and prepared to summon his jian.
I, my friend, am an avatar of the Outsider, the Pure White Spider aka Shiro Evileyes and I come offering you a gift of power. The spider said, lowering its body to the ground in an imitation of a bow. Power enough for you to have your revenge and kill the seductress and your adulterous ex-wife.
A part of Syaoran was horrified by her mere suggestion. Despite everything Tomoyo-san was his friend and he still loved Sakura. However, after the past year, that part had been reduced to a small, barely audible part of his being whose screams for him to stop he heard as little more than faint unintelligible whispers. In contrast, the boiling rage that had consumed him at the realization of how Tomoyo had seduced Sakura, and how the Cardmistress had allowed, even welcomed it, filled his mind with cries for vengeance. That these cries sounded suspiciously like that of the spider did not even register to his increasingly addled mind.
"And why would I need your power?" Syaoran asked cautiously. For as tempted as he was by the offer, he knew full well what an Outsider was. Making bargains with these supergods were always Faustian bargains in one form or another.
Would you be able to defeat your ex-wife, the First Lord of the Thirteen, without my offer?
Syaoran moved to counter, to drag this out and try to at least discern what the extradimensional horror that the monstrous spider served wanted from him.
Do you think you'd find anyone else willing and able to offer you the power you need? Hmm…
The Li heir winced. The spider had got him there. Sakura was incredibly powerful. She was the First Lord for a reason. And if he wanted to match that power, he'd need help. However, like the spider said, finding anyone or anything that was willing to offer him the power he needed would not be easy. Not at least for a price he was willing to accept.
"And what is your price for this power?"
Nothing. If you win, the Thirteen are weakened which serves my purposes. If you lose, well, I won't tell you how but it does the same. So either way, it's win, win for us.
"In other words, I am a means to an end?"
Precisely.
Syaoran frowned. This deal sounded too good to pass up and that just made him more wary of it. Nevertheless… Like he said, it was just too good to pass up.
"In principle, I accept." Syaoran said, wording his reply with utmost care. "But let us negotiate the finer points before I commit to anything."
Of course. The spider said, sounding pleased at its victory. That is only prudent.
Syaoran nodded and they got down to hashing out the details of their pact. All the while, he barely managed to contain the glee he was feeling at the prospect of finally being able to deliver the two Japanese women who had hurt him so their comeuppance.
Whilst Syaoran was plotting their demise in Hong Kong, Tomoyo had decided to take Sakura-chan out for a tour of Tomoeda, ostensibly to show her best friend what had changed since she last visited but with the real aim of offering her a distraction from the grief over the failure of her marriage. Despite holding up a strong front first through her attempts at reconciling with Syaoran and then later through the divorce proceedings, Sakura-chan, Tomoyo could tell, was deeply hurt by everything.
"King Penguin Park hasn't changed much, huh?" Sakura-chan noted as they sat in a pair of swings next to each other, and she playfully let her seat swing gently back and forth.
"No, it hasn't." Tomoyo affirmed. "King Penguin and the sculptures got a new coat of paint and the swings and other equipment have been replaced, but everything is largely the same. It's such an icon of our town that I don't think anyone would even consider changing it."
"I know I would be upset," Sakura-chan agreed with a nod. "I have so many memories of this place that I would hate to see it change too much."
A soft pink glow emanated from Sakura-chan's skirt pocket and Tomoyo looked at it curiously.
"It looks like even the Cards agree," Sakura-chan said with a giggle.
"You brought them along?" Tomoyo asked, curious. Especially since Kero-chan had waved off coming, citing a desire to spend some time reacquainting himself with the Kinomoto house again instead though Tomoyo suspected he just wanted the chance to play some games without his Mistress knowing. Perhaps some that Sakura-chan would disapprove of him owning.
"Yeah," Sakura-chan nodded, offering a grin. "They deserve a tour of Tomoeda too."
"That's true," Tomoyo said, grinning back. "So where would you and the Cards like to go next?"
"Since we're at the park, let's make a circuit of our old haunts nearby." Sakura-chan suggested. "There's still a couple hours before the school day ends and everything gets swamped with school kids, so let's make use of that window."
"Sure," Tomoyo said, as she stood from her swing and Sakura-chan did the same. "Any preference on where you'd like to go first?"
"Surprise me," Sakura-chan said, in a teasing sultry voice.
Tomoyo giggled and turned to walk off, but was surprised when Sakura-chan grabbed her hand and pulled her close.
"Let's hold hands," the Cardmistress suggested. "It'll be just like old times."
Tomoyo just smiled and nodded, fighting down the blush that threatened to creep up her face.
"Like old times," she said in reply as she led them to the Tomoeda Zoo.
After stops at the zoo, library, aquarium, Tsukimine Shrine, and a short hike in the forested area around King Penguin Park, the two women finally decided it was time to stop for a late lunch.
"I am so glad we decided to hold off for lunch," Sakura said as they settled into their booth inside a newly opened cafe in the shopping district. "Fighting for space with the school kids would've been hell."
"You make us sound so old," Tomoyo-chan said with a giggle as she finished relaying their order to a waitress. "We're not even thirty yet."
"That's true," Sakura agreed. "So is this place good?"
"I honestly don't know," Tomoyo-chan admitted with a shrug. "I've never eaten here before. It opened up while I was in Hong Kong with you."
"Oh~! Then we can try it out together."
"Yup," Tomoyo-chan agreed, giggling at Sakura's enthusiasm. "Though why did you order the twin special? You know that's usually for couples, right?"
Yes, I know. Sakura thought, but held back from saying instead choosing to be coy.
"It's designed for two, isn't it?" She deflected. "Besides it's value for money."
Tomoyo frowned.
"Sakura-chan, is money an issue?" The heiress asked worriedly. "I mean the alimony and the division of assets from the divorce was generous wasn't it?"
"No, no, that wasn't what I meant." Sakura said, raising her hands defensively. "I'm not having financial problems. The money from the divorce is more than enough, you should know, you were there. That's more than enough for me to survive without having to work a day in my life and that's before all the money and assets Great Grandfather willed to me."
And hadn't that been a surprise. In his will, her mother's estranged Grandfather, that is to say her and Tomoyo-chan's Great Grandfather, had apparently set aside a very significant portion of his holdings in trust for Sakura which would be dispersed to her in the event of her needing it. And her divorce met the criteria for it to be released to her. This was in addition to the small fortune he'd bequeathed her already when he'd first passed. Honestly, if she didn't know better, she'd think he had somehow known her marriage to Syaoran would not last.
"That's good to hear." Tomoyo-chan said, breathing a sigh of relief. "You had me worried for a second."
Sakura just shook her head. Considering how much help her best friend had provided her through sorting things out in regards to her divorce, she should've known that Sakura was fine financially. Then again, Tomoyo-chan fretting at the slightest hint of Sakura being in trouble, of any kind, was just par for the course.
And I was blind to not have noticed what that meant. Sakura berated herself. But not anymore.
"Ladies, your order." The waitress said as she returned and began laying out their order. It consisted of one large plate of spaghetti that was meant to be shared.
"It looks good," Sakura commented, offering the server a smile.
"Thank you, Miss." The younger woman, probably a teenager working a part-time job, replied with a genuine smile as she finished. "Enjoy your meal."
Offering them one last polite bow, the server left the two older women alone.
"Let's dig in," Sakura said enthusiastically, spearing one of the meatballs. "I want to see whether this tastes as good as it looks. Open up, Tomoyo-chan!"
A bemused Tomoyo-chan obliged and allowed Sakura to feed her the meat ball.
"How is it?" Sakura asked, absently as she admired her best friend's beauty.
"Wonderful," Tomoyo-chan said after swallowing, before she smirked teasingly and continued. "But anything Sakura-chan feeds me would be delicious."
Two can play at this game, Tomoyo-chan. Sakura thought even as she blushed.
"Really?" Sakura said, a teasing smile of her own gracing her face. "Then why don't I feed you all of lunch today then? So that everything is delicious?"
Tomoyo-chan couldn't fight the blush at that suggestion and Sakura enjoyed the sight immensely. Despite that though, the heiress wasn't backing down yet it seemed.
"But then how will Sakura-chan eat herself?" She asked, cocking her head in mock confusion. "Will I have to feed her like she feeds me?"
"I wouldn't mind," Sakura declared easily, causing Tomoyo-chan's eyes to widen slightly in surprise and for her blush to intensify.
"Y-You're serious?" The heiress stuttered out.
"Yes," Sakura said without hesitation. "Is that okay with you, Tomoyo-chan?"
Tomoyo-chan just nodded, her mouth hanging open slightly in shock.
Giggling at her usually well composed best friend's uncharacteristic expression, Sakura hooked some of the pasta with her fork and raised it to Tomoyo-chan's mouth.
"Say 'ah'!" She said teasingly.
Tomoyo-chan didn't say 'ah' but she did open her mouth and sucked the noodles off the fork anyway, all whilst blushing more furiously than Sakura ever remembered.
She's adorable. Sakura thought as she prepared to deliver another serving to her best friend, only to be preempted when Tomoyo-chan beat her to the punch.
"I-It's Sakura-chan's turn," Tomoyo-chan said as she raised her own forkful of pasta to Sakura's mouth.
"Ah~!" Sakura said happily, earning a giggle from Tomoyo even as she pushed the food into Sakura's mouth.
The rest of the meal continued in this playful back and forth as the two fed each other. All whilst oblivious to the bemused attention of the restaurant's other patrons and its staff.
After a whole day exploring Tomoeda, Tomoyo had brought Sakura-chan to the Daidouji mansion for dinner with her mother. Her mother had insisted. Having not seen Sakura-chan outside of a video call for years the older woman was very eager to see the daughter of the woman she'd loved and lost. It was therefore somewhat of a surprise that as they sat down for dinner that Daidouji Sonomi shot Sakura-chan a dark look.
"Sakura-chan, Tomoyo-chan, I've heard interesting stories about your day in town." She said as the servants laid out the first course.
"Stories?" Tomoyo asked, blinking in confusion.
"I can imagine," Sakura-chan nodded in understanding, confusing Tomoyo. "I take it that our behavior is all over social media?"
"Yes, it is." Mother confirmed with a nod. "You noticed people watching and yet you continued?"
"I didn't see the harm in it," Sakura-chan said with a shrug.
Mother sighed and rubbed her temples.
"Sakura-chan," she said in a tired voice. "The two of you aren't schoolgirls anymore. Being so intimate with each other in public at your age won't be seen as you two being close friends. It will be interpreted as romantic gestures."
Finally getting what was going on, Tomoyo leapt to her feet.
"That's not what we meant," she said hastily. "We got carried away is a-"
"Again, I don't see the problem." Sakura-chan deliberately cut in before Tomoyo could finish. "I was trying to be romantic."
Her words left a shocked silence in its wake, one that was only filled when after sighing in relief(?) Sakura-chan continued.
"To be honest, I'd almost forgotten what it was like to feel romance." Sakura-chan said, before turning to look at Tomoyo meaningfully. "So I was probably a little rusty today. Sorry about that, Tomoyo-chan."
Tomoyo ignored the apology. All she could focus on was what Sakura-chan was implying and her mind veered towards an impossible conclusion.
Were Yue-san and Kero-chan right all along? Has Sakura-chan's feelings towards me really changed?
"Sakura-chan," Mother said, her eyes narrowed. "What exactly do you mean?"
"What I mean is that I've been more happy with Tomoyo's company in the past year than all the time I've ever spent with Syaoran as a romantic partner."
"Phrasing it like that makes it sound like you are comparing your time with Tomoyo-chan this past year as if you two were a couple." Mother pointed out, causing Tomoyo's heart to skip a beat in anticipation of Sakura-chan's answer.
"That's probably not too far off the mark. Even if neither of us were willing to admit it at the time." Sakura-chan admitted with a sigh."It's likely why the attempts at reconciling with Syaoran never worked, with Tomoyo-chan around… I could see what I really wanted"
"And what is that?" Tomoyo asked in a soft, tentative voice. Fearful and hopeful all at once of what Sakura-chan would say next.
Sakura-chan looked Tomoyo straight in the eyes before she replied.
"Tomoyo-chan, would you like to be my girlfriend?"
Tomoyo felt lightheaded, which was perhaps to be expected since it seemed all her dreams were suddenly becoming a reality. Thankfully, she retained enough of her wits to reply.
"Yes~!" She shouted with joy as she threw herself into her girlfriend's arms even as the entire dining room exploded into applause.
Syaoran teleported in front of the gate of the Daidouji mansion where he knew Sakura was visiting her girlfriend.
And hadn't that bit of news from his acquaintances in Tomoeda come as a surprise. The Li heir thought sarcastically as he used his Rashinban to double check that his targets were where he thought they were.
Once he'd have needed to recite a relatively lengthy incantation just to activate the magical compass' power. However he had long since grown beyond that, so he simply held the artifact up at chest height. The board shaped like an 8-sided star with the cardinal points on the edges and the symbols of Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth, Clouds, Rain and Electricity on the 8 points glowed along Ching Divination lines beneath the other symbols. This glow was especially powerful around the Tao symbol in the centre of the board from which a beam shot forth and streaked inside the Daidouji property. In a direction that, if Syaoran's memory served, corresponded with the seductress' bedroom.
I wonder, are the two harlots engaged in debauchery right now? The sorcerer thought with an angry sneer. If so, killing them now would truly be poetic justice.
"Syaoran?" Sakura asked in surprise as she teleported to stand across from him through the closed Daidouji mansion gate. "What are you doing here?"
Syaoran's reply was to dismiss his Rashinban, causing it to disappear in a swarm of light motes, freeing his hands so he could slam his closed right fist into his open left palm. Accompanied by a burst of lightning, he grew his jian from his palm and prepared for a fight.
"Syaoran! What are you doing!?" Sakura demanded even as she used one of her Sakura Cards, The Maze, to warp the reality around them to trap them in a labyrinthine sealed space ensuring what was about to transpire would not affect others.
Again Syaoran replied not through words but with action.
Conjuring a jufu (呪符), a slip of paper with various runes written on it, in front of him, he slammed the side of his sword into it.
"Raitei Shourai!" He incanted, sending a burst of electricity shooting towards his stunned ex-wife.
She might've been surprised, but her familiars were not. The moment that his jufu had materialized, her pants pocket, presumably where she had placed her Cards had glowed pink, and even as his lightning shot forth so too had a bestial, lion-like creature composed of electricity which glowed an icy-blue color.
The Thunder easily deflected Syaoran's attack by slamming into it, even as a single winged shield with a red jewel with a star in the center flashed into being in front of Sakura. The Shield manifested its true form for only a moment however before it transformed into a blue-white-green aura that wrapped itself protectively around its mistress.
"Thunder? Shield?" Sakura gasped, even as without her command, the elemental Card leapt at Syaoran.
The sorcerer was unfazed and just fired off another, more powerful Raitei Shourai that dispelled its true form, forcing it back into its Card and shooting back as a pink beam into Sakura's pocket.
It had bought time though and with a frown Syaoran noticed that whilst he had been dealing with Thunder, Yue and Cerberus had both teleported in to stand protectively in front of their still confused looking mistress.
"You don't take rejection well, do ya brat?" The feline Guardian Beast snarled as he spat a barrage of fire balls at him.
"Rejection I can accept. Betrayal not so much," Syaoran shot back as he conjured a new jufu at his feet and stabbed it with his sword. "Tsuchinushi Shourai!"
At his incantation, a wall of earth shot out of the ground and intercepted Cerberus' attack. The defense did not hold long however as a storm of crystals shot by Yue reduced it to rubble. It had however served its purpose for behind it, Syaoran was nowhere to be seen.
Tomoyo was standing on her balcony looking out at the gate of her family mansion as Sakura confronted Syaoran. Not that she could actually see anything. The moment Syaoran had begun summoning his jian, Sakura had used The Maze to take them both into a sealed space where whatever happened wouldn't endanger innocents. All she could see was a multicolored haze that hung over the area of distorted space.
Tomoyo had always been able to see or otherwise sense when magic was at work, though she didn't always recognize the feeling for what it was nor act on it. It was an ability that Tomoyo had taken for granted as being something everyone had. The ability to notice if not fully recognize when magic was at work. After all, it was not until very recently that she really put together what it actually was. Thanks in no small part to the very liberal way her girlfriend was with her magic since returning from Hong Kong.
She'd explained that back in Hong Kong, the Lis, who basically ran the local magical world, strongly discouraged casual use of magic. Sakura had never really agreed with it since she felt that so long as one was discreet then one should be free to use their gifts freely. She had however bowed to their tradition, even continuing to do so after ascending to the rank of First Lord. Now that she was back in Tomoeda and was arguably the local magical authority, she was able to do as she liked even if it meant letting The Bubbles, The Wave and The Watery have fun helping her clean her house or The Flower help her out in the garden or just letting the other Cards hang out doing whatever they liked out of sight of mundanes. The Light, The Dark and the Shadow had even started a book club based in the Kinomoto house basement library!
It was this heightened exposure to magic, more so than in her childhood where Sakura was a lot more restrained, that seemed to kick start Tomoyo's magical senses and get her to notice just what they really were. The discovery had greatly excited Sakura who had explained to her that it was the sign of latent magical potential and had prompted her to offer to train her. It was in fact for her very first magical lesson that Sakura had come over today.
And now this momentous occasion is ruined. Tomoyo thought with a slight frown as she continued to eye the distortion signifying the sealed space created by The Maze.
She probably should be worried but honestly she'd seen Sakura in action. Both in Hong Kong and since their return to Tomoeda, despite her trying personal circumstances Sakura had not once shirked her duty as First Lord of the Council of Thirteen. This meant not just serving as a mediator and peacemaker between rival magical factions but occasionally that she'd had to fight quite a few rogue magicians and out of control magical creatures, ranging from necromancers to dragons. All of which Tomoyo had seen Sakura defeat with ease. So if Syaoran was here for a fight, she was confident her girlfriend could deal with him.
"You've unlocked your magic." A familiar male voice said from behind Tomoyo suddenly and discarding her thoughts, she spun around to see Syaoran standing there with his jian drawn.
"Syaoran? Ho-" Tomoyo began, only to cut herself off when she was forced to dodge out of the way of a fireball the sorcerer sent her way, only managing to do so thanks to the fraction of a second of lead time that her magical senses gave her as the spell formed.
"You're a sensor type?" Syaoran mused coldly. "Then again, you might be something else. Judging by the unrefined magic in your aura, I can presume that you have barely started learning. Not that I will give you the chance to figure out what your talent is. Raitei Shourai!"
Tomoyo tried to get up and run, but she knew it was hopeless. Lightning simply travelled too fast for her to manage to get away in time. Thankfully, she didn't need to.
"Kero-chan, Yue-san, keep Tomoyo safe." Sakura ordered as she and her Guardians teleported in between her and Syaoran, casually deflecting his lightning with The Sword which rested in her hand as an elegant rapier.
"I don't know what's got into you Syaoran, but I will not let you hurt Tomoyo." Sakura said as she charged her ex-husband, sword thrusting forward.
"What's got into me?" Syaoran said with a snort as he parried the blade with his jian. "The desire for vengeance against the two whores who betrayed me that's what!"
Sakura heard Syaoran's hurtful declaration as he parried her thrust but paid it little heed, instead focusing on pressing her attack. At the same time, she ordered The Maze to shift its position to entrap them in its sealed space once more.
As it did, she fought the frown that came from it informing her that somehow Syaoran had tagged Tomoyo so that she was trapped with them as well. It seemed her ex-husband was determined to include her girlfriend in whatever insanity had overcome him. Her distraction cost her though as it resulted in her easing the pressure of her attack enough that Syaoran was able to disengage from the furious exchange of blades they'd been engaged in so that he could cast a spell.
"Fukka Shourai!" He incanted, sending a powerful blast of wind that sent Sakura flying back.
Without her conscious command, The Fly and The Wind loaned her their power. The latter using her mastery of her namesake element to negate Syaoran's attack whilst the former granted her wings that emerged from her back that she used to stabilize her tumble through the air and land gracefully.
Instead of attacking her whilst she recovered, much to Sakura's surprise Syaoran had instead turned his attention to Tomoyo and with a cry of Kashin Shourai had sent a firestorm roaring towards the neophyte magic user. Fortunately, Kero-chan and Yue-san's barriers easily kept her safe.
"Maze keep him away from Tomoyo!" Sakura ordered needlessly as her Card was already doing just that.
Not that this seemed to hinder Syaoran as he took a step forward, and with space distorting around him, he closed the distance and negated Maze's effort entirely.
He has learned Spatial Magic and mastered it to this extent? Since when? Sakura thought incredulously as with the help of Maze removing much of the intervening space and the use of The Dash's power, she closed the distance and engaged Syaoran again before he could launch another attack on Tomoyo.
"Syaoran! Why are you doing this?" Sakura asked, as she was forced to step back to avoid being cut open when a misjudgement on her part allowed Syaoran's jian to slip past her guard. Even then, the tip of his sword scraped along the protective aura Shield was maintaining around her body, sending a shower of sparks flying, before she could fully escape his sword's reach.
"Not enough!" The deranged man shouted, as he pressed his advantage and even with The Fight adding its skill to her abilities, Sakura found herself barely keeping up. "I need more. More power! White Spider give me more!"
"White Spider?" Sakura asked, confused by the unfamiliar title.
"Syaoran who in the world have made a pact with?" She added as The Jump acted on its own initiative and had her leaping away from her opponent.
It was just in time to allow her to escape the explosion of elemental fury that centered around Syaoran. A rainbow of elemental energy swirled around him like a cocoon. Streams of water and fire, howling winds, chunks of floating earth and metal all orbited around a kaleidoscopic sphere of light that now surrounded the man.
"I have a bad feeling about this," Sakura muttered to herself warily as she prepared for what might be coming.
Her fears were proved right when just as suddenly as the cocoon appeared, it imploded and from its remnants emerged a colossal arachnid, as gargantuan as an elephant. It had an overall form resembling a spider, but a long scorpion like tail with a stinger coiled up on top of his abdomen and massive club-like forelimbs. Its grey exoskeleton was covered in intricate white, crimson, green, black and yellow patterns. Each of the various patterns pulsing with elemental energy in accordance with their associated color according to the wuxing theory.
"Now you die, you harlots!" Syaoran's voice roared from the abomination and Sakura's heart sank.
"Syaoran, what have you done to yourself?" She asked sadly even as she called on The Earthy to create a barrier of rock to protect her from the rainbow colored ball of elemental power that the transformed Syaoran spat at her.
She'd have used Shield, but her Card refused to leave her body and leave her vulnerable to attack. Even if it was to protect her from one already headed her way.
It was a wise move too, as Syaoran's stinger grew to ridiculous proportions so it could arch over Earthy's barrier to stab at her. Fight and Jump had pulled her out of the way of the physical element of the attack, but the aura lashed out at her and it was only Shield's protective aura that kept her safe from its power.
The stinger attack was followed up almost immediately by Syaoran smashing through Earthy's rock wall with its club-like forelimbs and its own elemental command over the earth which it then proceeded to swing at Sakura. Without the continuing support from Fly, Fight, Dash, and Jump, Sakura would have had her head caved in. Thanks to them however, she was able to gracefully dance around the arachnoid monster her ex-husband had transformed himself into.
I have to reverse that transformation somehow. Sakura thought as she dismissed Sword so she could use both hands and do a handstand like Fight recommended to evade a swing of Syaoran's clubs.
This form seems to be elementally based, Sakura mused as she flew through the air at high speed thanks to Fly and Dash, narrowly avoiding the metal javelins that Syaoran had launched at her. If that's the case...
"The Light, The Dark, The Hope, lend us your power." Sakura commanded, unleashing the power of her three most powerful Cards. The two regally dressed women with their spiked crowns that were Light and Dark appeared on either side of Sakura as she soared through the air, still evading the varied elemental projectiles Syaoran was shooting her way. Behind her appeared The Hope, a young girl with long, silvery hair with wings atop her head, wearing a frilled dress and who was cradling a winged heart in her hands.
Under the influence of Light and Dark's mere presence, the entire sealed space created by Maze was transformed. All colour was leached from the surroundings, and everything became monochrome.
"What do you hope to achieve with this, Sakura?" Syaoran taunted. "Light and Dark aren't offensive Cards. Neither is Hope!"
Hope shot Syaoran an offended frown and a sphere of nothingness began to form in front of the heart she carried so protectively, a reminder of her power as the former The Nothing.
"Don't Hope." Sakura chided her friend. "Stick to the plan."
Hope shot her Mistress an apologetic look and dismissing her building attack, nodded.
"The Windy, The Watery, The Firey, The Earthy, drain Syaoran of your elements." Sakura commanded and the four elemental Cards manifested around her in their angelic forms with their hands outstretched towards Syaoran's form below them.
For a moment nothing happened and Syaoran kept up his attack, though his missiles were now being intercepted by varied Cards. With the elementals busy, Shot, Freeze, Thunder, Sand, Storm, Arrow, Snow, even Bubbles, Flower and Cloud stepped up and fired off bullets of their respective power at his attacks, negating them.
Sakura telepathically sent them her thanks when the work of the elemental Cards finally began to bear fruit and streams of elemental energy began to flow out of Syaoran's transformed body.
"No, no, what is happening!?" He howled as he body began to turn to metal, the only element that was not being drained. "This cannot be happening! I was promised power enough to destroy you harlots!"
"Stop calling Sakura that!" Tomoyo shouted suddenly.
This seemed to remind Syaoran that she was there too and turning away from Sakura, he faced his increasingly metallic body at her girlfriend, Yue-san and Kero-chan.
"You are what you are!" He shouted angrily as she spat a storm of metal shards at Tomoyo and Sakura's two Guardians. "Die!"
The Guardians had maintained barriers around them ever since they'd taken over guarding Tomoyo but this metal storm fired their way proved their better and blasted them apart like so much glass. Yue-san and Kero-chan seemed to have expected this though and even as Syaoran's projectiles began impacting their barriers, they threw themselves over Tomoyo to use their own bodies as a last line of defense.
"No!" Sakura shouted as she saw her Guardians, her friends, bloodied by the dozens of metallic shards that made it through their barriers. "Hope!"
The most powerful of Sakura's Card's face was just as twisted as her mistress's snarl as she fired off a bolt of pure nothingness at Syaoran. The miniscule bolt, originally the size of Sakura's pinkie at best, grew rapidly such that by the time it impacted its target it had grown to become a sphere large enough to utterly consume his twisted arachnoid body.
He howled in agony as Hope's power over the void stripped him of the last vestiges of the alien magic that was empowering him and reverted him to his true form. Not that Sakura paid that much mind, as she used Move to teleport next to Tomoyo and her Guardians to find her girlfriend tending to them and thankfully unscathed herself.
"Time, heal them please." She ordered with a sigh of relief even as she pulled Tomoyo into a hug.
"Thank you, Mistress, Time." Yue-san said as Sakura pulled away from Tomoyo, looking as pristine as ever.
"Not that we really needed it since it was all just flesh wounds that we'd have healed up on our own." Kero-chan said with an amused shake of his head. "But yeah, thanks."
Sakura rolled her eyes at Kero-chan's antics.
"More importantly," the Guardian Beast continued. "I think you might want to stop Hope. She's done draining the brat of the alien magic so if she keeps going…"
A quick glance at the sphere of nothingness and a peek with her magical senses told Sakura that Kero-chan was right. A part of her really wanted to let Hope keep going though. She wanted to hurt Syaoran for what he'd done. Even giving that he was under the influence of that mysterious White Spider being, what he'd done was beyond the pale. But that dark side of hers was a small thing and even inflamed by the situation, Sakura easily squashed it.
"Hope please stop."
The Card pouted but nodded and dispersed her power, causing the sphere of nothingness to collapse.
In its wake, stood a battered looking Syaoran who was using his jian as a makeshift cane to keep from falling over.
"He's still standing even after all that?" Tomoyo said, shocked.
Sakura nodded, equally impressed. She knew that Syaoran was strong but to survive what he'd just been subjected to and still remain standing? That was well beyond her expectations.
"I-I will not be denied my vengeance!" Syaoran shouted as he suddenly burst into a sprint, his body shrouded in lightning he shot across the distance between him and Tomoyo in seconds.
It should've been too fast for anyone to react, but Sakura was still being empowered by Fight and Dash. They enhanced her senses enough that she was able to call Sword back into her hand, push herself in front of her girlfriend and parry his thrust.
Syaoran was not done though and still using whatever lightning based spell he was using to enhance his speed, he tried to get around Sakura and once more target Tomoyo. Sakura wouldn't let him and intercepted him once more, slashing at him to force him back. He blocked Sword though and they locked blades. This impasse did not last though as Sakura activated Power, surprising the Card which rarely saw its strength added to the already deadly skill of Fight and Sword, to allow her to not only overpower Syaoran but even cut straight through his jian.
He staggered back and looked at his destroyed Mystic Code in shock.
"It's over Syaoran, surrender." Sakura told him, brandishing Sword warningly even as Windy, Watery Firey, Earthy, Light, Dark and Hope descended from their place in the air to surround him.
If he heard her, he made no sign, instead just tossing the remains of his weapon aside as if it was nothing and fully transforming into lightning surged towards Tomoyo once more. Thunder was ready for this and leapt out of Sakura's pocket to intercept him, but Syaoran seemed to expect it and a lightning bolt forked from his mass and struck Thunder, forcing him to a stop.
This allowed Syaoran to slam into Yue-san and Kero-chan's freshly created barriers which strained under the force of his impact, with cracks spider webbing across their surface. They held though and after a few moments of crackling against them, Syaoran returned to normal and slumped to the ground, his fists still futilely pressed against the panes of magic.
"Surrender, Syaoran." Sakura urged as she cautiously approached the man. "Please stop fighting."
Syaoran ignored her, just looking down at the ground of Maze's sealed space with a defeated expression. That is until Sakura got within twelve feet.
"Die!" He shouted suddenly as his body began glowing red.
"Shield!" Sakura shouted as she recognized what Syaoran was trying to do.
Her Card knew exactly what to do and detaching itself from its mistress' body it wrapped itself around Syaoran's body. Thus as it exploded in a fiery detonation, the blast was fully contained within its protective barrier.
"D-Did S-Syaoran-kun just?" Tomoyo asked as the Maze finally returned to Card form as did the other manifested Cards.
"Y-Yes," Sakura said, nodding shakily. "He just blew himself up in a final bid to kill us."
"But why!? What did we do that would make him do something like that!?" Tomoyo asked as she slumped to the ground, looking horrified by what had transpired, tears streaming down her face.
Sakura wanted to follow Tomoyo's lead and become hysterical too. But she couldn't. One of them had to keep their head. So even though her heart ached like it had been stabbed and her mind was awhirl with countless emotions, she pushed everything aside. She had to support Tomoyo. Had to be her rock in this madness. Had to be there to guide them through sorting through this mess.
"I don't know." Sakura said as she sat down beside her girlfriend and pulled her into a hug.
"Perhaps, I can explain then." A projection of the Twelfth Lord said as he materialized inside Tomoyo's bedroom beside the two women.
Said room's owner was so shaken that beside glancing at him briefly, she barely registered his presence, choosing instead to continue crying in Sakura's arms.
"What do you know?" Sakura demanded, shoving aside her own shock in a quest for answers.
"As I am sure you've realized, Li Syaoran was being manipulated by someone. Specifically he was essentially mind controlled, though the extent to which is debatable, to come and attempt to kill you two by the White Spider, the Outsider Shiro Evileyes."
"An Outsider?" Sakura asked, with a frown as she pondered on what she knew of the anthropomorphised universes and how they went around interacting with mortal planes. "Is it invading?"
"I am uncertain." The Twelfth Lord said with a shrug. "Their behavior is strange. I will investigate and get back to you once I know more. In the meantime, there is one other task besides relaying this information to you for which I have come here."
"Wha-"
Before Sakura could even finish her question, a mass of magical energy suddenly swelled into being where Syaoran had died. A spot which thanks to Shield and Maze, there was no sign of the tragedy at all but which was a location that would be etched into Sakura's memory forever.
This mass promptly shot towards Tomoyo and before Sakura or her Guardians could do anything poured into her body. The heiress cried out as the magic flooded through her body, triggering a surge of her own previously suppressed magic. It was too much however and the raven haired beauty passed out.
"It seems the new Seventh Lord has passed out," the Twelfth Lord said with a sigh. "I suppose I will welcome her at a later date."
"The Seventh Lord, the Illusionist Lord?" Sakura asked, before shaking her head and picked up the unconscious Tomoyo. "No, that's not the issue. Did you have anything to do with that mass of magic?"
"Hardly," the Twelfth Lord said with a shake of his head. "That was entirely Li Syaoran's doing. In death, he was freed from the White Spider's control and so decided to give his magic to your girlfriend, accelerating her magical awakening and triggering her ascension to the long vacant seat of Seventh Lord. Which I might add saves you plenty of trouble discerning her speciality. Illusionists are notoriously difficult to pick out."
"You knew this would happen?" Sakura asked, knowing it wasn't the case. The Twelfth Lord might play at being aloof and jaded but he maintained enough of his humanity to have intervened if he had known beforehand about the disaster which had just unfolded.
"No, I was aware that your girlfriend would become Seventh Lord just moments ago. And pieced together what Li had done about the same time his magic coalesced. I am no diviner. If I was, I would be the Tenth, not the Twelfth." He said with a chuckle.
Sakura nodded, glaring at his attempt at a joke considering the circumstances.
The ancient sighed.
"I suppose now isn't the time for humor." He admitted. "I will take my leave now. And I know you're putting up a strong front for your girlfriend, but please do let it all out. Bottling it up isn't healthy."
"Later," Sakura agreed, even as she suppressed the churning grief, anger and other emotions that threatened to overwhelm her. "And yes, you better leave."
"Farewell then, Sakura. Take care."
With that final goodbye, he departed leaving Sakura alone save for the unconscious Tomoyo and her loyal Guardians.
"Yue-san, please clean up for me. I am-"
"Not in the right state of mind to be worrying about it," Yue-san agreed. "I will ensure that you and Tomoyo have the space you need."
Sakura nodded gratefully before turning to her Guardian Beast, even as Yue-san turned to leave and deal with any Daidouji staff or anyone for that matter that might come asking questions
"Kero-chan, could you stand guard outside? I think we need to be alone, but we weren't expecting Syaoran either. So-"
"I'll be just outside the door." Kero-chan told her as he followed after Yue-san. "No one's getting pass me."
"Thank you." Sakura said with a tired smile. "Thank you both."
"We are just doing our duty." Yue-san said as he offered her a nod that Kero-chan copied before they both slipped out of the room.
Sakura waited until the door to the room closed and The Lock sealed it before she collapsed to her knees and began to cry.
Even as Sakura finally broke down, universes away in the dining room of a certain Witch's House a stunningly beautiful young girl with ghost-white skin and extraordinary long silver-white hair stood by a window dressed in an elegant pure white Victorian outfit.
It consisted of a fitted polonaise bodice in richly textured velvet decorated with spider web patterns that had a high neckline and sleeves with a gentle pouf at the shoulders. The sleeves were caught just above the elbow, and then continued with a ruffle of the same lush velvet fabric. The hemline of the bodice cuts away from the center front to form deep points on either side, and a deeply pleated long peplum that has the look of a trained overskirt at the back. The entire hemline had a deep flounce of the same velvet fabric as the bodice. Taffeta covered buttons closed the front and a skirt of similar material featuring a deep band of ruching over an equally deep flounce at the hemline finished off the outfit.
Turning away from the window, revealing her eyes were closed, she addressed the House's owners. Its legendary Mistress, who wore the guise of a young woman with fair skin, waist-length purple hair fashioned into a Hime cut, topped with a large red bow, and golden cat-like eyes dressed in a simple V collar knitted dress decorated with a bow tie and tie split cuffed long sleeves. As well as her wife, who appeared as a blonde woman with green eyes, fair skin and a slender frame. Following her spouse's lead, she was dressed relatively simply in a double-breasted tied skater dress.
"That was underwhelming," the white haired woman said in a quiet, disappointed whisper. "I was hoping to force the Seventh Lord to awaken her power at least. Like this, we cannot even be sure that she'll master her power or fail to do so and be quickly replaced."
"At least the fact that the First and Seventh Lord getting together shows our influence is expanding," the blonde offered. "The first dominoes have fallen."
"Maybe but we had to intervene directly, and rather clumsily, just to make it happen, it isn't worth it." The purple haired woman countered. "We should have waited until more of us were gathered before making our move."
The woman in the Victorian dress shrugged.
"Perhaps," she allowed. "But as an opening move, this wasn't too bad. We were only testing the waters after all."
"Maybe," the blonde said, offering her tentative agreement. "But our next move has to be better organized."
"It will," her spouse agreed. "Won't it, Shiro?"
The woman by the window nodded her agreement.
Months later, Sakura and Tomoyo were enjoying a picnic with the Twelfth Lord in his sanctum in Sanctuary. It was a celebration of sorts on their part to informally declare to him that they were mostly over Li Syaoran's death. Only mostly, because there was no way to ever be completely over something like that.
Whatever the case, the Twelfth Lord enjoyed the company of his colleagues especially when they were such nice people as Sakura and Tomoyo were and thus was more than happy to entertain them.
"So Sakura will be adopted into the Daidouji family as a way to legalise our 'marriage' since Japan does not recognize same-sex marriage." Tomoyo explained to the ancient as they sat on the roof of his tower enjoying Sanctuary's fine weather today and the impressive view the spot offered.
"You two have not even had a ceremony yet but are already considering yourselves married?" The Twelfth Lord teased with a pleased grin, obviously happy for them.
"We have been married in spirit and that's all that matters to us," Sakura said with a shrug.
The Twelfth Lord nodded.
"Yes, being one in spirit is more important than any piece of paper or recognition from any government," he agreed. "But couldn't you just get married in another country which does recognize same-sex marriage and enjoys reciprocal legal recognition of marriage back in Japan?"
"We're doing both actually." Tomoyo explained. "We're going to cover all our bases."
"You two sure do know how to be prepared," the Twelfth Lord laughed goodnaturedly.
"Thank you," Sakura said with a smile as Tomoyo nodded.
The alarm on Tomoyo's phone going off, had her pulling it out to disable it and also check what it was about.
"Sorry Twelfth," she said as she put it away. "But we need to go. We've a meeting with our lawyers to discuss the legalities of our marriage plans."
"Important matters indeed," the Twelfth Lord said with a grin. "Go then. But before that just something that might be relevant soon. The new Thirteenth Lord is about to rise and if what I've heard about her situation is anything to go by, she'll need your help."
"She?" Sakura asked, confused. "Isn't the heir to the House of Tredecim a boy?"
"That is what everyone thinks and that is the problem." The Twelfth Lord said with a shake of his head. "The corruption in the House of the Thirteenth has struck again."
In hindsight granting them a permanent seat on the Council might have been shortsighted. Jambres' House had been the perfect enforcers for the Compact for ages. Honorable and fair just like Jambres' had been. But time changes everything.
Something that became all too clear as Jambre's descendants in recent years, the House of Tredecim as they had come to style themselves, had increasingly become twisted. Less and less were the Thirteenth Lords noble enforcers of the Council's will. Instead they had become assassins killing any who would dare defy it instead, acting often without input from their peers on the Council. A fact that had earned them the moniker 'Assassin Lords'.
It is truly a distasteful distortion of their purpose,
He had tried his best over the years to rectify, even reverse this decline. But despite his best efforts, he had been unable to change things.
Though if all goes well, perhaps Sakura and Tomoyo will succeed where I have failed.
Unaware of his thoughts, Tomoyo just looked confused by his statement about the House of Tredecim. Unsurprisingly as despite her rank as Seventh Lord, she was in truth barely an apprentice in the ways of magic and thus not particularly well versed in its factions. Sakura though was much more well informed and knew exactly what he was talking about as evidenced by the frown that stretched across her face.
"I'll be back after our meeting with the lawyers," Sakura told him firmly. "When I do, I want you to tell me everything you know."
"Of course, Sakura." He said with an agreeing nod.
Shortly after Sakura and Tomoyo had left and the Twelfth Lord had retired to his chambers to organize his thoughts in regards to what he would need to tell Sakura later. He was just sitting down behind his desk to write up a list when a young girl with blonde hair, blue eyes, dressed in a black sailor top, a pleated skirt, a pair of pumps, dark-colored pantyhose and a dark-colored beret materialized out of nowhere on the other side of the table.
"Are you lot invading already then?" He asked, glancing at the new arrival before summarily dismissing her to pull over a piece of paper and writing implements to get started on that list.
The new arrival laughed at his question. "No, no, we haven't sufficiently pierced the veil to do that. I'm just stopping by to deliver a message."
"Spit it out and leave. I have actual work to do."
The girl's face twists with mock hurt. "How can you be so rude to a little girl?"
"You're my enemy." He reminded her. "And will get no pleasantries. Besides, I know your true form, ruler of Hell."
"Just one of them, actually." The girl said with a laugh.
"Just tell me your message and-"
"Leave. Yeah, yeah. I know." The girl stopped laughing abruptly to cut the Twelfth Lord off. "So here it is-"
She cleared her throat and puffed up her chest, as if she was about to make some very important declaration. When she finally spoke though, it was in a sing-song tone. "Our influence is growing and there is nothing you can do about it, Thirteen~!"
With that she burst into laughter and vanished, her laugh echoing in her wake.
"She came here just to tell me that?" The Twelfth Lord said incredulously. "What a waste of my time."
And that's the chapter and 'book' folks!
Hope you guys enjoyed the fight scene. I know I've been depriving any action junkies among my readers of one for some time so I hope this whetted your appetites.
Beyond that… Honestly not much to say that I didn't already say in the story itself. But if anyone wants me to clarify things just drop me a review or PM and I'll explain things in an upcoming AN (if I feel it needs clarification to everyone) or via PMs.
Well till next time Vidā'ī!