Authors Note: This is an alternate reality fic, meaning that none of what happened in CCS occurred here. The background is similar but also a lot different. The CCS characters are older than in the original series. Comment and criticism is appreciated. I will describe the current world in more detail as the fic goes on, so please bear with me for a moment thank you ^^. without further delay, this is the first part of Ch1.
* is thought
"Do you understand what you have to do? Spinel?"
The small toy cat in question gives his butterfly like wing a slight flutter and look up from where he was studying a spread out map, slitted cat eyes meet that of dark black and he gives a small nod. "Hai, I understand it completely."
Hiiragizawa Eriol gives his glasses a small push and leans back into the large chair he is sitting, the flames in the fireplace flickers and casts strange shadows on his face. Slowly he closes his eyes, a feeling of peace begin to settle over him as the comfortable warmth from the fire envelops him. For a moment, he finds himself lost in the feeling of comfort, and peace, lost in the moment of joy and contentment. It continues to amaze him that such a simple act would have such a strong emotional impact on him. Yet, perhaps its not the act in itself, he suddenly realizes, perhaps it is merely the fact that people feels more comfortable with things that they are familiar. The irony did not escape his notice that such an activity would indeed be familiar to him.
*I have only been doing this for, oh I don't know, a couple hundreds of years?* he thought quietly to himself.
Yet, perhaps it is not entirely correctly to say that it was him who has done those things. It was not Hiirgizawa Eriol who have sat here a hundred years back in this same room with Cerbreus and Yue, but rather the man who he was in a previous life, Clow Read. By the same token, It can be said that it was him who created the Clow Cards and it wasnt him who was the best sorcerer in his time, but more importantly, it wasn't him who meddled with the flow of time and place them all in the predicament they are in today, Right?
If only he don't feel so damn guilty...
A high-pitched cry shatters his train of thought and at the same time threatens to do the same to all the windows in the house. The supersonic vibration which originated from upstairs bounce itself across the hallway , rattling a few windows in its wake and cause the entire house to shake as if hit by an earthquake.
"EEEEEERRRRIIIIOOOOLLLL-KKKUUUNNNNN, HELP ME PICK OUT A DRESS FOR THE PAAARRRTTTYYYYY!!!!!!!!!"
Nakuru, Eriol almost sighed to himself. Sometimes he wishes that he didnt created him to be so cheerful all the time, and now he cant even brood in peace. Sparing a glance at Spinel , he sees the small black toy cat picking himself up from where he has fallen on the floor when the sonic blast struck , and this time he did let out a sigh.
The events are about to come to a close soon , and maybe then he would have some peace. For now, tonights ball marks an important turn of things, if all goes as well as he expects, perhaps everything will turn out fine after all. Slowly and reluctantly he stands up from where he is sitting, leaving the comfort of familiarity behind, and walks to the staircase and begins his ascend upstairs to Nakuru's room. Yes, all is coming to a close very soon.
To correct the mistake that his previous life has made by meddling with the flow of time, he would have to do some meddling as well to set everything on the correct path again.
No, the irony haven't escape him at all.....
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Chronicles From the City
Ch 1:
That which is written in the stars
(part1)
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Smiling softly, Kinomoto Sakura bend down and pats the little girl in front of her on the head. The 4 year old girl lets out a shrilled giggle of delight and then turn back to drawing her picture, stubby hand racing to color up the sketches that she made.
"Keep up the good work Kei-chan!" Sakura says, smiling at the little girl hard at work. She was about to stand up and check on the progress of the children in another table when her coworker at the kindergarden suddenly shouts from the next room.
"Sakura, telephone!"
"Hai, in a sec!" Sakura answers in a clear voice, feeling slightly down at being pull away from these wonderful little creatures, even for just a moment. Clapping her hands ands waits so that she has every childrens attention, She tells the class that they have done a great job and that she will be back very soon, and then walks to the doorway connecting the small class and the office. Kimuno Nasumi, an attractive 28 year old woman and the only other teacher at the small kindergarden where they are both working, is already waiting for her there.
"I will look after them for you, Sakura-san"
"Agriato, Nasumi-san." Sakura says politely and give the older woman a bright smile.
Nasumi gives her a slight nod in acknowledgement and then walk pass her to supervise the class as Sakura walks over and picks up the phone.
"Moshi moshi? Kinomoto Sakura desu."
"Sakura-chan." A familiar voice gushes out from the listening end of the receiver.
"Tomoyo-chan?"
"Hai Sakura-chan, just calling to confirm that you are still coming with me to the charity ball tonight. You are free tonight, right?"
*Well It's not as if I can go anywhere you know. I am already 23 years old and still havent gone on a date, not to mention a boyfriend. My best friend just so happens to be you and let's just so not forget the fact that you probably know all my schedules before I do, since you would not leave me alone!! I wouldn't be surprised that you have people following me and hidden camera set out with the way you have been obsessing over me since Gr.3 WHY DONT YOU JUST GO AWAY!!* The tiny part that made up of Sakura's sarcastic/whiny/meany mind tries to get her to say. Which she would have, had not the nice/kawaii/sugary part of her mind, which makes up an overwhelming majority of her mind by the way, bundle the idea up and toss it in the psyche furnance to burn immediately. Thus the idea never crosses her mind and she have had no idea of the extremely mean/unkawaii/sour thing that she could say. So instead she just say. "Hai Tomoyo-chan, It sounds like its going to be a great night. What time should I come over?"
"The reception starts at seven, but you need to get your dress at my house so you should come at around six." her voice suddenly becomes more excited and Sakura thought that she might be hearing her best friend swooning on the other ending. "Sakura-chan, I just finished your dress that you promised me that you'll wear, and it's so so so ..... KAWAII."
Yep, definitely swooning.
"To.. To... Tomoyo-chan" Sakura manages to say in midst of heavy sweatdropping.
"And tonight, I'll capture everything on camera too!! I'll call it , Sakura's Big night at the Charity Ball!!"
"Hooooooooooooooooooiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii."
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Deep inside the Li's family complex a thing that is neither human, nor animal stirs from its long sleep. Through the long years it had suffered under the experimentation of the hated humans called the scientists. This time however, it knows that it's liberation is at hand, the simple fact that the cards tells it the same thing confirms its own instinct. It would have wrapped its pure white wing around its tiny yellow body right now, but the stasis tube keeps its body in a state of suspended animation. Hence it simply allows its mind to drift back to it's half sleep, waiting for the moment of freedom.
Soon.
Elsewhere in the same complex, a young man looks up to the ceiling of his small prison. The state between dream and wakefulness is has lost its perspective so that he can no longer distinguish whether or not he is asleep. There are some moments of completely clearness and awareness in his blurry memory. Yet those times are rare and long in between these days, kept away by the increase of drugs they gave him. Yet even in his semi-awake state, he can feel the shift of destiny as the gear of fate is put into motion. His freedom might be yet for a time to come, but he know that first he must complete an important task first. The task that will ultimately set everything back on track, and as the destiny have ordained it. Oh, to be able to see the sun and the moon again....
Very soon now.
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Under any other circumstance she would have screamed. But since she is in another's house, she thought it would be impolite to scream her hosts ear off. So she just stared with her jaw open at the horror in front of her, she stared and stared, and stared.
It is fluffy.
It is frilly.
It is pink.
and no it isnt giant sized Mr. Bubbles dyed in peach juice, though right now she wishes it is.
it is her evening dress.
With her jaw still hanging open, she run through the possible implication of wearing..THAT to a ball where just about every single rich/famous/influential person on this side of the globe will attend. The picture is just... well not pretty.... will be a rather mild word to describe it, it will be like saying that the sun is just 'hot'.
"Isnt it Kawaii!!" Tomoyo exclaimed, and for a moment Sakura could have swear that she saw stars in her eyes.
"Come on let's see how well it fits you!" And without another word she pushes Sakura into the change room. Sakura would have protested, but the feeling in her jaw is just coming and in a blink she finds herself facing the large vanity mirror in the change room.
Sighing in resignation and seeing no way out of this predicament, Sakura resign herself to the inevitable. She puts on the dress. A short scuffle and a few tumbles later, she manages to put on the pink fluff. A good look in the mirror tells her that Tomoyo has indeed outdone herself this time, the dress certainly fits her perfectly, highlighting everything that the designer wishes to highlight of her natural beauty. She estimates that she has as much chance of getting noticed as she herself would have in a room full of Tomoyos. In short, she is now the equivalent of a 10 000 megavolt lightbulb in terms of Kawaiiness. Oh yes, just great.
Tomoyo literally swooned when she steps out, putting her hand on her forehead and sink to the floor dramatically, muttering kawaii all the way. Sakura has to fight the urge to run back into the change room and cover herself up with anything and everything she can lay her hands on, preferably something thick and heavy. It is at that time that Tomoyo's butler chooses to inform them that the limo is waiting. After giving a few minutes for Tomoyo to compose herself ( from the goo puddle that she melted herself in), they were well on their way to their evening entertainment.
*I had a good feeling about this night, I had hope I will finally be able to meet THE ONE.* Sakura silently thought to herself as the limo races toward it's destination. * In this dress, I will be lucky if everyone I meet dont think of me as their kawaii lil sister.* She can't help but let out a sigh.
And Ladies and Gentlemen, we all know about the saying: Be careful what you wish for.....
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Many would argue about the history of Li's Financial Corp. , making wild rumors and allegation on the possible origin of the mysterious organization. Yet it is a well known fact that the organization first became actively involved in the affairs of Japan 8 years ago. It's rise in power coincides with the disaster known as the Shino Earthquake. It is then that Li's Financial Corp. made its move. Coming onto the scene right after the disaster created by the Shino Earthquake, the mysterious organization invested large sums of money in the financing of several construction companies to help rebuilding the ruin caused by the disastrous quake. Yet, the crowning achievement of the organization did not come until some month later, when the company announces the activation of the Mystic Reactor in replacement of the old nuclear reactors. This cheap, efficient and clean source of energy soon becomes the driving force in the reconstruction of Tokyo and the rest of the Japan, in a few months all the old nuclear reactor plant was either demolished or replaced by the new mystic reactors. Through it all, the Financial Corp. continues to spread it's influence and soon distinguishes itself as the most influencial and wealthy company in all of Japan.
The main office of the organization is located in the heart of downtown Tokyo, deep within the main complex that is separated from the rest of Tokyo, and used specifically by the Financial Corp. . The complex is usually quiet and devoid of visitors, yet today seems to be an exception as visitors floods in the normally quiet complex.
Because tonight there is going to be a party.
Too bad that not everyone is here to have fun.
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"Hooooooiiiiiiiiiiii, this is wonderful, Tomoyo!" Sakura exclaims in a shrill tone as they enter the ballroom. Her eyes wide to take in all the elaborate decors of the room. "I have never been to a place like this one before."
"I knew you would like it, Sakura-chan." Tomoyo says, closing her eyes and gives her best friend a gentle smile.
"Anno." Sakura blinks as she suddenly notices how foreign everything is. The groups of strangers talking in different circles, and all at once she realizes exactly how out of place she is. Turning around to face her friend, she whispers in a nervous voice "Tomoyo-chan, how am I suppose to act here? I feel like I am going to make a fool out of myself."
"You dont have to do anything, Sakura-chan. Just relax, you wont make a fool out of yourself."
"But...."
"So this is where our beloved singer is hiding herself." A third voice suddenly makes itself known, cutting off Sakura's objection.
"Kobanwa, Li-San" Tomoyo bows to the intruder politely.
Gracefully returning the bow, the man gives the two young woman a wide smile. "It's been a while, I haven't seen you since your concert in Oasaka 7 month ago, have been taking some time off?" Turning toward Sakura he gives her a thoughtful look. "By the way, why dont you introduce me to your beautiful companion there? Daidouji-san, I dont believe we have met before."
"Sakura-chan, this is Li Kunan. Li-san, this is Kinomoto Sakura."
"It's nice to meet you , Li-san." Sakura tries to give him a polite smile, but is frozen when she meet his eyes. Jade green eyes meeting deep black eyes, and suddenly Sakura feels as if she is being plunged into icy water. Cold fear swell up deep from her heart and permeate through her being, before she know it, she has taken a half step back away from the man in front of her.
"A pleasure indeed." Li Kunan gives a slight nod in agreement, seemingly unaware of Sakura's action. " I certainly hope that you will enjoy this small gathering of ours."
"I am sure that I will err, Li-san." She has to fight her nervousness to get these words out evenly.
"Certainly, after all you are here to have fun." A frown crosses his face briefly as he spots something but quickly changes back to his pleasant smile. " Now if you will excuse me, ladies. I see that I am needed elsewhere. Perhaps I will have the chance again to speak to either one of you later tonight?" With that , he made his way towards the center of the ballroom and quickly disappears into the crowd.
"That's him? The head of the Financial Corp?"
"One and the same, he scares me sometimes."
Sakura turns to her friend, surprised at hearing Tomoyo being afraid. Nothing ever seems to scare Tomoyo, and to hear that she is scared, makes Sakura feels even more awful. The festivities of the ball continues rage around them, the laughters and the noises, but despite all the crowd and all the laughing, Sakura feels colder than ever before in her life.
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Peaking around the corner, Aizuki Nakuru eyes the hallway up and down for signs of human activity. Certain that there are no others present, Nakuru quietly slips around the bent and walks briskly down the hall. A small ruffle in her red dress informs her that the passenger she is currently carrying wants out. Reaching inside her dress, she pulls out the wiggling Sun Guardian from where he was stuffed.
"Suppi!" She admonishes wiggling her index finger. " Dont make such a scene, what if someone was looking?"
"ACk... airrrrrrrr swweeettt airrr, finally can breath again.... out of that... horrible horrible place." The Sun guardian swivels and wavers in midair, both eyes swirling as he tries to catch his breath.
"Hey! what is that suppose to mean?"
"Nothing" Spinel replies calmly and innocently, suddenly all composed and tranquil like usual.
"For some reason , I don't believe you."
"Do you know where we are going?" The winged cat asks, suddenly changing the subject.
"Sure I do! Seeeee we are here already." Nakuru answers in her usual all too genki voice and points to the door in front of them.
"The woman's washroom?" Raising an eyebrow the little stuffed cat turn and looks at his partner with a questioning glance. "Shouldn't you go to the man's instead.?"
Finger raise in a lecturing pose, Nakuru has a expression that says: 'It's so obvious why do you need to ask'. "But man's washroom is so icky, and completely unsuited for such a beauty like myself."
"Let's just go in."
From within her dress, Nakuru produces a small sign, one that says 'Temporary out of order' and hangs it on the door. Locking the door behind her as she enters the washroom she quickly scans the place to see if anyone is using the room. Spinel floats from her shoulder where he was pretending to be a normal toy and shoots Nakuru a questioning glance.
"Here?"
Rather than replying, Nakuru simply walks to the far wall opposite of the door and ran a hand down it's tiled surface. Knocking on several places, Nakuru gives herself a satisfying nod of confirmation and speaks in an unusually serious tone.
"Yes, this is the place."
Reaching into her skirt, Nakuru pulls out a sledgehammer and swung it against the wall. The hammer strikes the wall full force and creates a large hole in a shower of broken tiles. Through the hole, one can see the pipes and power lines behind the wall, running down into the basement. Pulling the hammer back and swinging at the wall again, she proceeds to enlarge hole further.
Floating besides Nakuru quietly as she makes the hole bigger, Spinel asks a bit curiously. " How did you hid That in your dress anyways. "one paw gesturing towards the sledgehammer.
"It's ...... a.......secret." Nakuru replies cheerfully and then move closer to inspect her handy work.
"I suppose its time for me to go" Spinel Sun says as he slowly floats toward the hole.
"Good luck, Suppi-Chan"
"Who are you calling Suppi?" Spinel replies, a vein pops up on his tiny black head as he disappears into the wall.
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Hiiragizawa Eriol quietly slips amongst the party goers and makes his way towards the desserts table. Absent mindedly, he wonders if everything is going well for his two guardians. Nakuru should be back soon to tell him if everything is proceeding as planned. Grabbing a glass of wine off the tray on the table, he takes a small sip and wets his mouth with the cool liquid.
"Really, Tomoyo-chan I don't think I can dance like this."
The familiar voice cuts through his thought like a hot knife through butter. Can it be her? The one that his vision told him about? Slowly he turns around to peek at the source of the voice with the corner of his eyes. One look of them confirms his suspicion.
"But Sakura-Chan I want to tape you dance."
"I can't, Tomoyo. I don't have anyone to dance with anyways."
*It seems that everything is getting more interesting by the minute." Grinning slightly to himself, Eriol downs the rest of his wine in one gulp and makes his way to the two ladies.
"May I have this dance, Miss?"
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"May I have this dance, Miss?"
Sakura blinks at the young man in front of him, staring at his outstretched hand in confusion. For a moment she felt panic at this sudden turn of event, surprised by the suddeness of the invitation.
The young man closes his eyes and gives her a gentle smile. "I can't help but overhears that you need a dance partner, so I thought maybe I will try my luck."
"Go for it , Sakura-Chan." Her friend urges her, the V8 in her hand running at full capacity to capture every moment.
"I suppose it's okay." She feel as if she is being bullied into doing this somehow. "Ugh , certainly I'll dance with you, sir.."
Making an elaborate western bow, he introduces himself. "Hiiragizawa Eriol, at your service."
"Kinomoto Sakura, umm pleased to meet you." Sakura replies, curtsying as she has seen it done on T.V. before.
With that gentle smile still on his face, Eriol leads Sakura onto the dance floor by the hand. A soft tune begins to play then, allowing the couples on the dance floor to slow dance. Red crept onto Sakura's face and she made a motion as to leave. Before she can take a step, however, Eriol steps closer to his partner and wraps his hands on the blushing girl's shoulder and waist. Holding her close, he gently leads her through the swaying of the gentle tune. For what seems like an eternity, they danced , neither speaking a word to each other. Finally, Sakura seems to get over her embarrassment, and asks in a low voice.
"Do I know you? I feel as if I have met you before."
"Maybe we have, Kinomoto-san, in a past life, or maybe it was in a dream."
Sakura opens her lip as if to say something more, but then close it with a thoughtful expression on her face.
"Whats wrong? Kinomoto-san? you look as if something is troubling you."
"It's nothing." The brown haired girl in his arm replies with a sigh. "It's probably nothing, but I have a feeling that something is about to happen, something bad."
Eriol spots Nakuru entering from the other side of the room. The moon guardian seems to have spotted him ,and gives him a big wave. A knowing smile creep onto his face at the sight and he nods back to his guardian in acknowledge.
"Don't worry, Kinomoto-san. I am sure that everything will be alright."
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Spinel Sun peers down through the air duct opening into the room below. Certain that no one is around to see him, Spinel dislodges the cover and flies down into the room. Thus far the map has been correct in the layout of the complex, and according to the schematics, he should be in the underground lab of the Li's complex. Running through the entire plan within his head one more time, Spinel prepares himself for his given task. A cacoon sprangs up around the small black cat, covering him from head to toe like a giant caterpillar about to turn butterfly. An alarm goes off suddenly, indicating that the complex security has already detected his use of magic, and no doubt a security is on its way to his location right now. Spinel pays it no mind, because in a few moment it wouldn't have mattered either way. Stepping away from the transformation cacoon, in his true form, Spinel Sun, the sun guardian, lets out a loud roar and a red blast of energy at the door. His mission here is to create havoc, and he will create havoc. Stepping through the ruin of the doorway, Spinel Sun trots into the corridor, letting out ruby blasts at everything in sight.
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The ballroom shook repeatedly as a series of explosion rocks the complex. The crowd, having experienced the horror of the Kinto quake, is whipped into a frenzy. Screams and shouts echoes throughout the room. Sakura has can barely fight off the urge to bolt for the nearest exit.
"Sakura!"
Sakura turns to see Tomoyo running up to her, a worried expression on her face.
"Are you alright? Sakura?"
"Yeah I am fine."
Li Kunan's voice suddenly comes over the loudspeaker, apologizing for the inconvenience and instructing his guests to leave the complex in an orderly fashion.
"I guess the party is over? hmm Tomoyo?"
"Hai, I guess so. But where is Hiiragizawa-kun?"
Blinking, Sakura looks around for the dark haired young man, but no matter where she looks there is no sign of her dance partner for the night.
"I think he has already left, I think we should do the same."
Nodding in agreement, Tomoyo grabs Sakura by the hand and leads her toward the exit as another explosion rocks the complex.
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" I WANT AN ANSWER RIGHT NOW!" Li Kunan screams into the monitor screen.
"Sir ugh, there appears to be a security breach, sir.." Isowa Kaji, the head of security of the Financial Corp, fidgets nervously under the scrutiny of his boss. Although he is on the other end of the intercom he can clearly feel the heat of the other man's gaze.
"Give me a full report." Though no longer yelling, the anger is clear in his voice.
"Yes sir, at 21:23 we detected a heavy concentration of magic the lower level of the research facility. Security camera footage, along with the data reading we have gathered lead us into the conclusion that the intruder is nearly identical to subject Cer-Alpha."
"The Sun Guardian of the Clow?"
"That is correct sir. The intruder, after demolishing the security robots we sent to investigate, made its way to the main generator of the lab, and destroyed it completely. The magic dampening field in the central containment area was shut down momentarily due to the loss of the main generator. It is during this time, we believe , that subject Sya-0000 made his escape."
"With most of our resources diverted to stop the intruder we were unable to allocate enough force to prevent his escape. The escaped subject easily blasted his way into the stasis chamber and took subject Cer-alpha and the 'Key' with him and then use the parking elevator at section 13-C to leave the complex."
"And the intruder?"
"Vanished without a trace sir, one moment our security force was pinned down by blasts from the creature. The next moment he just disappeared."
"I want them found and brought back unharmed, the escaped subjects and the 'key', do you understand?"
"Of course sir."
"And if you fail me one more time, you WILL wish that you were never born, do I make myself clear?"
"Yes sir, but what if Sya-0000 and Cer-alpha has already made contact with the outside world, what should we do with witnesses?"
In a cold voice that could have freezes the world several time over. "Kill them all."
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Warily, Sakura trudges out from the elevator. Tomoyo has had the limo took her back to her apartment right after the party. For some reason, the moment she stepped into the building she felt tired, and now she just wants to go home and drops dead onto the sofa. Reaching into her purse, she fumbles around for the keys to her apartment. Since she isn't paying attention to where she is walking, but rather searching around in her purse, she never notice the man until she ran full force into him. Stumbling back from the force of the collision, it takes a few moments for her to steady herself once again. Muttering an apology for her clumsiness, she lifts her head up to see which one of her neighbor she collided with. But in front of her is not one of her neighbor, it was a stranger she had never seen before. A handsome young man stands before her, about a head taller, with short brown hair and deep brown eyes. Sakura feels a blush forming as the young man meet her gaze, brown eyes meeting her jade green.
"I have finally found you." The young man whispers softly, and then promptly collapses forward into her arms...
-to be continued.