Disclaimer: As these characters belong to CLAMP, I am required to put this as the heading. They are not owned by me, but by CLAMP. However, the characters I create do belong to me, not CLAMP, even though those characters would be not be around if CLAMP hadn't created their characters, which in most cases are the parents of my characters, thus making them the reason for my characters' existence both in the story and out of it.
A/N: A few hours later....
Episode 10: Partying Around The World
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Kero cracked open his eyes, yawning and stretching as he did so. He looked around to see what had woken him up. His mistress was coming down the stairs, followed closely behind by her husband. He turned to the other direction and looked out the window; the snow was piled three feet high already. It reminded him of a similar incident, over twenty years ago. Only there was rain this time, and clouds, wind, thunder, and there wouldn't be a fire to melt it all this time. Normally, the rain would've turned it to slush, but this was not normal rain, and all these weather patterns seemed to be working in perfect harmony. The cards were having a party, and unfortunately, Kero thought, he wouldn't be getting any cake out of it.
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Ohayo Kaa-san!! was the first thing Sakura heard as she reached the bottom of the stairs, and she turned to see her daughter running up to her, a smile on her face.
Ohayo, Sera-chan, Sakura replied joyfully, kneeling down to hug her.
Did you sleep well? Syaoran asked her, though he already knew the answer.
Iie...I had this really weird dream.... she replied, a sour look on her face. Behind her, noticed only by Sakura, Kero nodded his head. Sakura turned to Syaoran, and slowly yet subtly nodded her head at him. Sera looked at her parents quizzically.
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Azure sat in the kitchen, still considering the implications of their shared dream, when the rest of his family walked in, closely followed by the cat. Sera walked up to him, a curious, as well as almost worried, look on her face. His parents stayed back, just watching. Azure wondered what was going on, and why they were acting so strangely. His sister was staring at him like he was a creature from another world.
Did you have a dream last night?
About the warded room?
Sakura walked up behind Sera, a sad look on her face. Syaoran looked at the two of them, also with a sorrowed, yet also slightly angry, expression on his face.
Sera, onegai, sit down. Sera complied, and then the cat jumped up onto the table, carrying something in his mouth. Azure was about to shoo it off, knowing his parents wanted to discuss something important, but his mother put out a hand to tell him not to. The cat slowly padded over to where Azure was sitting, and dropped what was its mouth right in front of him, than sat down on its hindquarters and looked at him expectantly. He looked down at it, a confused expression on his face after seeing the cat do something so, well, organized, as if he had rehearsed it. But then, shock filled him when he recognized the object laying on the table. It was the key from his dream the previous night. He raised his head, to see the cat staring right at him. Then, it talked.
It was no dream, kid.
* * * (some short time later)
.....thus, as you are the one who set the cards free, you are the one who must recapture them, Kero finished. If you don't succeed, a terrible catastrophe will befall this world, and even before then, these cards are made with powerful magic. They could cause an extreme amount of damage on their own,
It can't be that bad.... Azure replied, although a bit unsure, having just had to absorb quite a bit of strong information, but wanting to find a way to discount it, lessen what it really was, if only to assure himself that it wasn't as big a problem as they were telling him. I mean, look outside. Sure, the weather may not be so good, but it isn't causing any real damage. I'm sure the other ones won't even be this strong, ne? he said, looking at his parents, a worried expression on his face. Syaoran turned on the TV, changing it to the news channel.
...late last night. Since then, more reports have been coming in from all parts the world, speaking of an alarming amount of natural disasters. Just outside of Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, a large vortex of sand is currently causing it to be a major hazard travel into or out of the city, and borders of the vortex are slowly widening; city officials have begun evacuating sections of the city that the vortex will soon touch. In the city of New York in the United States, all semblance of sound has left the halls of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and all those attempting to speak are thrown out of the Museum by some unknown force. Also in the United States, the town of Sleepy Hollow is actually living up to its name, for no amount of force has been able to wake the residents therein. Over in Japan, the entire island of Shikoku has been partially submerged for the better part of the last four hours, similar to Sydney, down in Australia, where all waterfront property has been sunk by the constant onslaught of forty-story waves that have been relentlessly attacking them for the past two hours straight. Quite the opposite is occurring in Ireland, where huge forest fires have spread across half the nation. In Italy, the town of Rome has been shrouded in complete darkness all morning, and the rescue parties sent in to find the citizens earlier today have not returned. Disastrous weather fronts have covered the entirety of Hong Kong, and they do not seem to be following any pattern of logic. Lastly, an old man wearing a ratty green robe has supposedly been seen flying, yes, flying around Big Ben in London. While this report has been attributed mainly to overzealous dealers of Harry Potter merchandise who are trying to capitalize on the strange occurrences today, there are a surprisingly low amount of skeptics. Renowned Oxford Professor of History and the Occult, Eriol Hiiragizawa, has been questioned concerning the almost magical' nature of all these happenings, and his only response was that, quote This day is getting extremely tiring...', unquote. Apparently stress has been getting to him lately, culminating last night, when he was reported as almost randomly going into fits of anger and accusing cherry blossoms of being irresponsible'... Sakura and Syaoran both sweat-dropped at this, ..one time almost striking a reporter. His wife, nationally renowned fashion designer Tomoyo Hiiragizawa, has not given any comments as to what may be causing such outbursts. And, this just in, large, green-glowing spheres, starting just minutes ago, have been covering the skies above Paris, France. More on this story as i- Syaoran finally turned off the TV, staring angrily at his son.
Well, that last one didn't sound so bad... Azure ashamedly remarked.
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