With the Crown Placed Upon my Head....
By: Sakura1301
Chapter 7 Unwelcome Visitors
Sakura glided down the steps gracefully and carefully with Tomoyo trailing behind her with stars in her eyes. Tomoyo sighed. 'How beautiful...' Sakura had sweat going down her neck. She was nervous. Very nervous. What if tonight's dinner was a disaster like last times? She hoped not. She felt fine. Strange. She was sick just about an hour or so ago. Wasn't she? She mentally shrugged and dismissed the thought and set her thoughts on dinner. She could picture it now.
~Her thoughts of the coming dinner~
She would walk in and be greeted with cold glares and stares by the chef, servants, and of course, Li Syaoran. Then she would sit down and be served. Then for some unknown reason, Li would get mad and try to kill her....again.
~Reality check~
She shivered. The thought was unpleasant. Very. All she could do was hope for the best. Plus, deep down inside of her, she had a feeling that something was gonna happen. 'Wait a minute....wheres Kero!?' She thought.
~Kero's present state~
See's Kero sleeping inside of the cabinet.
~Back with Sakura~
Sakura sighed. Tomoyo looked at her. "Whats wrong Sakura?" Tomoyo asked. "I don't know. Everything I guess." "Everything?" Sakura knodded. Sakura had finally made it to the dinning room door. Tomoyo tugged on her dress. "Allow me Sakura-chan." "Sakura-chan?" Sakura repeated. Tomoyo pushed open the massive doors and bowed. "After you Sakura-chan!" Sakura looked at quizically, but continued to walk into the dinning room.
~Syaoran's P.O.V.~
Syaoran looked up to see an elegant girl walk in. He mentally smiled to himself. Under the table cloth he held a book in his hands. Unaware to him, the book started to glow as soon as the girl walked in. He stared at her as she walked towards the table. His face held an unemotional expression to it.
~Sakura's P.O.V.~
She was suprised when she sat down. Tomoyo had left and no servants could be seen. It was just her and Li Syaoran. Plus he wasn't giving her death glares like when she first met him. She smiled at him. He flinched.
~Syaoran's P.O.V.~
He flinched. That was not expected. They had about ten minutes til the food was served so he thought that was the best time to talk to her about the book. But unexpectedly, Kero flew in. "Hiya! Oh, its you." Kero said as he saw Li glaring him. "Why are you in here!?" Li asked, frustrated that he was cut off by the 'stuffed animal'. "Why would YOU want to know!?" "Because I live here!" "Well, for your info, I was sleeping!" "In the kitchen!?" "Yeah!" Kero froze. "I sense something. I sense....I sense....SOME DELICIOUS FOOD COMING THIS WAY!!!" Kero yelled as he dashed into the kitchen. Li sighed. Stupid stuffed animal. He turned his attention back to Sakura. She sweatdropped. He looked at the book in his hands. He jumped in suprise. It was glowing? It never done that before...strange. He looked at Sakura. 'Could it be her?' He thought. Sakura stared strait into his eyes. He was about to pull the book out to ask her a question but just then the servants came out with platters and platters of food.
~After dinner. Normal P.O.V.~
The plates and platters were cleared along with the forks, knifes, and spoons and all that was left was Sakura, Syaoran, and the book Syaoran was holding. Sakura stood up and was about to thank him for dinner and return to her room, but before she could Li said her name. "Sakura....um....I have some questions to ask you." He said nervously. She nodded and sat back down. "Um...what would you like to ask me?" She asked. He looked straight into her eyes and said, "Do you remember the time you went into the west wing?" She gulped. So this is what this is all about. "Y-yes." "Do you remember the book on the table?" She nodded. "Did you or did you not open the book?" "Yes. I did." He pulled the book out. She was starting to get nervous. This was VERY sudden. He opened the book and pulled out a card. He looked at it. He said while looking at the card, "Only certain people can open this book. I am one of those certain people. There is only one more person in this world that is capable of doing that." "Who?" He looked at her with a stern gaze. He placed the card back into the book and closed it while staring at her. She started to sweat. He placed the book on the table and slid it to her. It stopped in front of her and started to glow extremely bright. "You claimed you could open it. Prove it." He stated. She looked back down at the book. She placed her hand on and as soon as she did, the glow subsided. She slowly slid her hand over the lock and as soon as she did, the lock opened. She jumped at first then slowly and carefully opened up the front cover. Li watched in suprise. He didn't believe her at first, but now he did. She pulled out a card. It was the one he was looking at earlier. It said LOVE at the bottom and had a picture of a heart with wings and a crown on it. "Wow. It's beautiful. What are they?" She asked as she looked up. He grinned. He had finally found her. 'I found her! I finally found her!' He thought. Sakura just looked at him. "Are you okay?" She asked with concern in her voice. He just looked at her. "I am perfectly fine." He said coldly. She flinched. Just a second ago he was all normal like and now he's his old grumpy self. He whispered, "I finally found you." She could barely make out what he was saying. "Wh-what do you mean?" He closed his eyes, bowed his head and chuckled. "I finally found you." He said out loud this time. Sakura just looked at him. "What?" "I've been searching for you for many years." "I don't understand." She said. "Would you like to know?" He asked. She pondered for a moment thinking if it was a good idea to say yes or no. She finally decided on yes. "Yes." "It's a long story. About 7 years ago, I made a mistake. A very terrible mistake.
~Flashback~
A young Li Syaoran sat lazily in his chair. "How boring. Theres nothing to do." He said while sighing. Just then, a young Eriol walked up to him. "Sir, you know you have to pick a bride." "Yeah yeah. But im too young to get married! Plus, their all sluts." "Yes, I know sir. But its been in the Li tradition for many centuries. You don't want to break the old tradition, would you?" "I want to, but if my parents were here, they would be disappointed in me." Li sighed. "Okay, send them in." Eriol walked away and seconds later, a bunch and I mean a bunch of girls raced in. He slumped in his chair. Eriol stood in front of them and said, "Okay people, make a line! C'mon! We haven't got all day!" The girls hurriedly got in a line. The first one batted her eyelashes at Li. He sighed. "Next." He said. The girl looked sad and slowly walked away. The next girl had tons of make-up all over her face. "Next." The next girl smiled and she had a few teeth missing. "Next." The next one was wearing clothing that was very revealing. For a young girl, that was just sick. "Next." It went on like this for a long time. Finally the last girl came up. Nope. Too fat. Li dismissed her also. "Is that all?" Li asked. Eriol nodded. "Except for a village not far from here." "Like that counts." Li said. It started to rain outside. Li straightened up. "Eriol, could you go get me a book?" "The usual book sir?" "Yeah." Eriol bowed and left to go fetch the same book Li always looked at. He returned a few minutes later with it in his hands. "Here sir." He handed the book to him. Li opened the book and pulled out a card. It was totally blank. Li had been trying to create another card but was having no idea what to make. "Eriol, what do you think I should make?" Eriol shrugged. Suddenly, a knock at the door could be heard. Eriol was about to go and answer it but Li stopped him. "I'll do it. I need the exercise anyways." He walked to the door and opened it. There at his door was an old woman holding a person in her arms. The person was wrapped in blankets, laying limp in her arms. "Please kind sir, help my little girl." She said. Li looked at her. "And why should I?" He asked coldly. "I am an old woman, I cannot afford to feed her and give her the proper medicine to get well. Please, all I ask of you is to take her in. Please!?" Li glared at her. He looked at the person in the blankets. The blankets were wet and the girl couldn't be seen. But for some strange reason, he could barely make out a faint aura emitting from the girl. It was pink, but very faint. He didn't really care. "Please, I have enough things to do already and I don't need another mouth feed here. Goodbye." And he closed the door. He lied. The woman stared at the door then at the figure in blankets and broke down crying. In the bushes, a figure stared at the old woman and its face grew sad. Anger grew inside of it. It had noticed the blank card Li was holding. It chanted a few words and disappeared.
~Inside~
Eriol's expression grew sad. He had watched the whole thing. Li was chuckling to himself. "That was great! Don't you think Eriol?" Li asked. Eriol looked towards the floor. "I cannot answer that sir." He said with his head bowed. Eriol then walked out of the room. "Whats his problem?" Li said aloud to no one in particular. He looked down at his card. He jumped. It had changed! He read, "Love?" Then the card flashed a bright light. Li used his arm to shield his eyes. "W-whats going on?!" He said. Just then, an angel appeared in front of him. It said, "Li Syaoran, for your punishment, you will become the beast of which your name implies." Li stared at it. "What did I do!?" He yelled. It pointed towards the door. Then the book of Clow appeared in its hands. "The curse shall break when the chosen one comes. Only til then, you will become human once again. And til then you will stay the beast you are now. If you do not find the chosen one by your seventeenth birthday, you will remain a beast forever." Suddenly, it disappeared and the book fell to the ground along with the card and a scroll. "Whatever. I don't see myself turning into some beast." He looked at his hands and screamed. They were now paws. Then he heard screaming from other parts of the castle. He passed out.
~Outside~
The old woman held the girl tightly as she walked. The woman had walked to many houses in search for a home for the child. But to no avail, she was rejected every time. The woman sat on her feet and stroked the young girls hair. They were leaning against the side of the towns bakery shop wall with a small portion of the roof that was sticking out shielding them from the rain. The small girl started to cough. The old woman started to pat her back. "Its okay little one. Everything will be all right." Just then, the shadowed figure from before walked up to them. The woman looked up. The figure smiled. "Here. I will find a good home for the child." The stranger said. The woman stood up. Her pleading eyes begged. "Please kind sir, would you?" He knodded. He opened his arms and the woman placed the girl in his arms. "Please, find a good home for her." The man nodded and the woman smiled and slowly walked away. The man turned and turned the corner to where his carriage was. He climbed in. "Driver, head to the small village north of here." He commanded. The driver snapped the reins and off the went.
The man pulled the wet blanket away from her face. The child was special indeed. He noticed a small piece of paper sticking out below. He pulled it out and read it. It said, "Please take care of this child. Her mother, Nadshiko died a few months ago." And thats all the letter said. The man pulled out a cloth and dried the kids forehead. Then he placed his index finger there. It started to glow. "Done. Now she will have no memories of her past."
~An hour later~
They had arrived at a small cottage. The man stepped out of the carriage and walked up to the door. He set the girl on the door step and rung the doorbell. He then disappeared along with the carriage. Just then, the door opened. Fujitaka opened the door. He looked around. No one was there. He looked down and there was a figure laying on his door step. He picked it up and brought it into the house and closed the door with his foot. He went into the living room and set the 'package' on the couch. There was a small piece of paper attached to it. He read it. He was shocked. He thought it was a bunch of wet blankets. Just then, it started to cough. He jumped. He looked down. It was starting to move. He removed the wet blankets. The girl was still dry though. He carried her up to the guest room and set her on the bed. He checked her temperature. She was burning up. He quickly wrapped the covers around her and placed a cold towel on her head. She started to open her eyes. "Papa?" She said. He blinked. 'Papa?' "Little girl, do you remember you parents?" She looked at him. "Huh?" He thought for a moment and finally came up with one word: Amnesia.
~End Flashback~
Li told her what he knew of. But nothing of what happened to the little girl. Sakura listened very intently. Several times she gasped but other than that, she remained quiet. "So thats why I look like this today." He said. "But, what did you mean I was the one?" Sometimes Sakura could be such an airhead. He fell over anime style. He quickly got up. "What im trying to say is, your the one to break the spell. You are the chosen one!" "Really?" He fell over again. Such an airhead. He got up. Again. "Really." He said.
~Later that night~
Sakura laid wide awake on her bed. She was still in shock that she was the chosen one. If she was the chosen one, then she would never be able to leave to see her father again. All she wanted was to see him again. It was nice being here and junk but she really wanted to see him. She rolled over in bed and sighed.
~Out in the forest~
"Ugh! Meeko, wait up! Im stuck!" Duan yelled. Meeko groaned and walked back to Duan. "Stop fooling around. We don't have time." "Sorry but the branch snagged my shirt." Meeko rolled his eyes. "Come on. I see a house up ahead." They made their way towards the house.
~At the house~
Meeko looked at the windows. The lights were still on. He knocked at the door. A few seconds later, a gypsy lady answered. "Come in. Come in." Meeko and Duan stepped in. "Have a seat." The lady said. "We really don't have..." He was cut off by the lady. "I said, have a seat!" She growled. They quickly sat down. The lady then sat down at the table with them. "Now, may I ask what you are searching for? Oh, wait, wait, I sense your searching for a person. Am I correct?" The two nodded. "Well, in this case, a person search will cost you 15 silver coins." Meeko nudged Duan. Duan mumbled under his breath and pulled out 15 coins. He handed them to the lady. The lady examined them. She then placed then in a bag and placed her hands on the table. Duan and Meeko didn't even plan on this. They just wanted to know if a girl had come through the area. "Now, lets look into the crystal ball." Duan and Meeko looked at it. They sweatdropped. Then, it started to glow. The lady said, "I sense your looking for a girl." Meeko nodded. "She is young. About the age of 16 or 17. Am I correct?" Duan nodded. "She has auburn hair and sea green eyes. Correct?" They nodded. Again. "She went that way." Said the lady pointing north. "Go north from here, and if you keep on going, on your right you should see a large haunted castle. Not far from here. Can't miss it. Now goodbye." She said quickly before ushering them out. She was a fraud. Of course. She had seen the girl enter the castle gates while she collecting berries.
~Outside~
Meeko and Duan just stood there. Meeko cleared his throat. "We should be going." He said as he took the lead and Duan right behind him.
~An hour later~
"I thought the lady said it wasn't far. She did say that. Didn't she?" Meeko asked. Duan nodded. Just up ahead, they was a large castle. "Hey Meeko! Look! There it is!" Meeko looked up. He grinned.
~Inside the castle~
Meeko grinned. They had finally made it. They were inside. They grabbed a nearby candle holder with seven candles in it. He lit em. He looked around. The place was huge! He called out, "Sakura?" No answer. "Sakura? Are you there?" Nothing. "She must be asleep in this place." Duan said. "Yeah. Lets go search for her." Meeko said. Duan agreed.
~Li's room~
Li's ears twitched. His eyes snapped open. His head shot up. He thought he heard something. He set his head back on the bed. Just then, he heard a door down the hall creak open. He stood up. He jumped off of the bed and headed towards the door. He could see easily in the dark because he was a wolf. He opened it and looked out. He saw Sakura's door open. He walked quietly and slowly down the hall towards the door.
~Inside Sakura's room~
Meeko handed Duan the candle holder and he made his way to Sakura's bed. After about an hour searching the castle, they had finally found Sakura's room. Meeko lifted the girl into his arms. He gulped. Sakura was laying limp in his arms with a silk nightdress on that went past her feet. "Wow. She is HOT." Meeko breathed. "C'mon. Lets go. We got what we want." He said. Duan and Meeko made their way out with Sakura limp in Meeko's arms.
~In the Hall~
Li was almost to Sakura's room but just a few feet away, he saw two men walk out of her room. He squinted. He growled as he realized that the tall guy was holding Sakura in his arms.
The two guys turned around to see a HUGE wolf standing there with its fangs bared. Li growled, "Put. Her. Down." Meeko let go as soon as that was said from the Wolf. Li jumped just in time to catch Sakura before she hit the hard ground. He looked at Sakura to see if she was okay. She was. He turned his head to look at the two guys but they were gone from sight. Sakura was on his back. Still out like a light. He carried her on his back to her room and set her on her bed. He nuzzled her face gently. He was definantly falling for her.
~In the hall~
Duan and Meeko were still out there. They were looking into the room where the wolf carried Sakura. They saw the wolf nuzzle her. Meeko clenched his fist.
~Sakura's room~
Sakura woke to the soft feel of Li's muzzle on her face. He backed away. "Li. Whats wrong?" "I was just worried about you. Thats all." She smiled and stroked his head. "Im fine. Im not going anywhere." "Yeah I know." He said. He didn't want to worry her about the intruders so he left that unsaid. "Go back to sleep." "Okay." She said as she yawned and fell asleep again. Li smiled. He walked to the door and took one last glance at her.
~In the hall~
Meeko grabbed Duan by the collar and pulled him down the stairs when he saw Li heading towards the door. This was very unexpected. A talking wolf. And it seems the wolf has fallen in love with the girl. How strange. When they were outside. Meeko dropped Duan in the snow. "We finally find her but she's guarded by some psycho wolf! That can talk also!" "What are you planning?" Duan asked. Meeko rubbed his chin. "C'mon. Back to the Village. I have a plan."
To be continued....
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How was the chapter? It was a long one. It took me since 8:27 pm to 2:48 am to finish this. So be thankful. Please R+R. Next chapter out soon. Ja ne!
