Hi!!! I've been lazy lately, so it's been awhile. To recap, Clef has told Nadeshiko the she is the savoir or destructor of Cephiro and gave her a very old song by the first Master Mage. This song has summoned a mysterious flute. While the others are shocked at the revelation of Nadeshiko's destiny, she took it calmly, saying that she had suspected her ultimate destiny would be different, only she thought that her death would spur world peace for Earth or something like that. Hope ya guys like this chapter!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Chapter 3: A Visit To the Water Shrine~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Perfect pitch" murmured Nadeshiko. She examined the flute. Noting the beautiful cat carving on it. The cat was stretched out, like it was running. She looked up and saw Clef staring at her. Or was it the flute? She couldn't tell. She felt her self blush and looked around the room. Hikaru and the others were staring and then Clef cleared his throat. "Nadeshiko, the legend says that the one who will decide Cephiro's fate is a Magic Knight. That flute you hold is made of Escudo and it will evolve as you do. Do you understand?" she looked at the flute and nodded. "Very well then." Said Clef. He raised his staff and shouted "BESTOW MAGIC!" White jagged swirls surrounded Nadeshiko, and then she was standing, wearing armor like the Magic Knight's when they first got it, but hers had white jewels in it. She was also wearing high-heels with gold decorations around small white jewels. She gasped, falling to the ground as she whispered "sorry . . ." there was a flash of light, and Clefa was standing there, smirking. "Hello, Clef." She purred seductively, walking slowly towards him. "Thank you for giving that girl some magic. Now I can use it too!" she laughed, but it was one of those psycho laughs that made you want to duck and cover. "Stop it!" yelled Hikaru, "you aren't going to torture her any more! FLAME ARROW! YAAAAAH!" "BARRIER SHEILD!" yelled Clefa in response. The flames that Hikaru had shot out were absorbed by Clefa's shield. "Silly little girl." Cooed Clefa, "I know all your weaknesses. And here's one now!" Clefa lunged at Lantis, forming an energy/beam sword thingy. She managed to hit him in the chest, and he dropped like a bag of bricks. "Lantis!! NO!!!" screamed Hikaru. She fell to the ground, sobbing. She ran up to Lantis, and saw that he was bleeding heavily. "Hikaru." Lantis managed to say, "Hikaru, don't give up . . ." he was fading fast, and Hikaru could feel his life force leaving him. Unheard by all but Makona, Lantis muttered "Verona." And died.
"LANTIS!" screamed Hikaru. A wall of fire suddenly appeared behind her and enveloped her. When she emerged, she was wearing a dress of fire, and pink wings had appeared from her back. Her eyes were blank. Out of nowhere, a song started to play. It spoke of pain and battle. And it was played on a flute. Clefa backed away, muttering something about the Goddess of Flame. All of a sudden, Hikaru collapsed. And all gathered could have sworn they heard a voice yell out "ICY CLAW!" instantly, Clefa was torn apart, but it was like she was only a piece of clothing for the one inside. Standing there was Nadeshiko, tears on her face, trembling with anger. She walked over to Hikaru, and put a hand on her neck to see if her heart was still beating. She smiled softly, and turned to Lantis. She raised her flute and played a dismal tune that turned happy suddenly. She lowered it and held it loosely with her left hand. She raised her right over her head. "WINTER'S END!" she shouted, as all the magic she had gathered released in one instant, assaulting everybody's magical senses. A white, sparkling mist descended over Lantis, and Nadeshiko collapsed. Clef managed to catch her with a shield, and Lantis suddenly opened his eyes. "Lantis?" asked Clef, "Are you all right?" Lantis nodded, sat up, saw Hikaru, and was running to her side. He picked her up, not bothering to wake her up. He knew that she had exhausted herself doing whatever it was that she had done. He saw the shock in Clef's eyes and knew that he must have died. But then why was he alive? Not even the pillar could revive the dead. So how had he come back to life? He saw that Lafarga was holding Nadeshiko. 'Poor kid.' He mused to himself, 'I wonder what Clefa did to her this time. And how come Clef doesn't have a scratch on him? Surely Hikaru tried to attack. How else could she have burnt herself out like that?' He continued his musing until he reached Hikaru's room. Setting her on the bed, he tucked her under the covers and kissed her forehead. But she did not stir.
"You brat!" this statement was accented by a slap on her face. "How dare you interfere like that! I have told you far too many times that you are no match for me! I will have to teach you another lesson. Now, hold still!" Instantly, vines tied up the growling Nadeshiko. She struggled, but it was in vain. Clefa, on the other hand, was planning on how she was going to break the girl's spirit again. Once she had been transferred to Cephiro, Nadeshiko had become unruly and her spirit had been put back together. On impulse, she yelled, "CHASAM OF PAIN!" the spell hit Nadeshiko, but the girl refused to scream. Instead, she only glared.
'Oh my God! This hurts! Please, my guardian, come to this anguished mind and body! I will not give into Clefa again! I remember that lesson that you taught me before I fell to her! Please! Help me!' the floor beneath her glowed, and white light lashed out at Clefa, stunning her. 'Little Lady, it has been awhile. Tell me, where are you? I cannot sense you on Earth.' 'Guardian, I am in a world called Cephiro.' 'Cephiro!' 'Yes, do you know of that world?' 'Yes, I do. Little Lady, the only advice I can give you is to never scream. No matter how confused your heart or mind becomes, do not scream. If you do, dire things will happen and you will die. That is all. I have banished the demon for tonight. Sleep well.' and with that, Nadeshiko's mind fell happily into the oblivion of deep sleep.
**The Next Morning**
'Do not scream.' With her guardian's instructions rooted deeply into her mind, Nadeshiko walked down the hall to breakfast with Hikaru. Her friend had woken up and smelled breakfast cooking, so she had gone to her room to make sure she wasn't sleeping through it, like she did most of the time during the school year and summer. She smiled, and face Hikaru. Smiles felt strange. She hadn't truly smiled in years. "Hey Hikaru! I'll race you to breakfast!" Hikaru smirked, and added "First one there gets the loser's pastry!" 'Well then, don't lose.' The dark voice inside her muttered. She forced it aside, and focused on the race. She nodded, and they lined up on a crack on the floor in between the tiles. "On your mark, get set-GO!" yelled Hikaru. In a flash, both of them were racing down the hall. Hikaru had the advantage of being a Magic Knight. All the fighting and usage of magic had made her endurance levels shoot through the roof. Nadeshiko had the advantage of loving pastries, and the thought of having two made her run faster. Plus, being newly freed from Clefa, had extra energy that she usually used to fight her. Still, it was pretty close. Nadeshiko burst into the hall a second before Hikaru. While everybody stared at her, she jumped up and yelled "Yes!" Clef rolled his eyes while every one else sweat dropped. "Competing again ladies?" said Clef, his voice indicating that he didn't approve. Hikaru nodded and Nadeshiko just smiled. What was that feeling? Thinking about Clef just made her insides flip-flop. But she felt no stirring in her heart. 'Crud.' She thought. 'I'm physically attracted to Clef. And it's wreaking havoc on me. Oh well.' she looked up and blushed. She and Hikaru sat down and ate breakfast, with Hikaru giving up her pastry with a smile. "Betting?" asked Fuu. "Yeah. We betted on the race. Winner gets an extra pastry. Oooh, custard filled today!" and Nadeshiko wolfed down her pastries.
Clef had turned strangely silent after asking the girls about the race. "Hey Clef, are you okay?" asked Umi. "Yes, Umi, I am all right. Everybody quiet please!" the table was silent, except for Nadeshiko trying to talk Ferio out of his pastry. When Hikaru nudged her, she quieted down, but still tried to steal his. She almost got her hand chopped off by Ferio for her trouble, and shot him a black look. "Everybody," began Clef, "I will be going to the three shrines in an attempt to find a charge of mine. This charge will be shown to me in the Shrine of Fire if I cast the spell correctly. I was wondering if you all would like to join me." "Sure!" said Nadeshiko, Hikaru, Fuu and Umi in unison. The others mutely nodded. "Yay!" said Nadeshiko. "Gee, Nadeshiko, you seem really cheerful to day. What happened? Usually, you look so sad." Nadeshiko just smiled mysteriously.
**A Couple Hours Later**
They were flying in a larger version of Makona's egg flier that Hikaru, Umi and Fuu had used on their first trip to Cephiro. And a lot of things were happening. It was enough to give Clef a bad headache. He was sure that these could not be the same, sane people he had talked to at breakfast. Except for Nadeshiko. She had been hyper the whole day and he thought that she was emotionally unstable because of having Clefa torturing her in her dreams. Instead of acting like the sad young woman he had come to know, all weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She was acting even more hyper that Makona, whom was being chased by Umi. Hikaru was fighting Nadeshiko, both of them sharpening their skills while Lantis, Ascot and Sierra watched, and most likely, bet on as well. Caldina had asked Sierra to watch her daughter, and since then, had disappeared with Lafarga. (AN: the flying egg has rooms okay!) and Ferio and Fuu were busy talking and kissing in a secluded part of the main room. As they neared the first shrine, Umi stopped chasing Makona and simply stared out the window. When they plunged under water, Caldina and Lafarga appeared from their room. Nadeshiko, having just pinned Hikaru for the twentieth pastry let her go and they shook hands. Lantis and Ascot groaned, while he saw Sierra thumbing through an extraordinary amount of money muttering something about suckers and grinning crazily, like a woman who's gotten her hands on a large amount of money just as she reached her favorite shopping center that was having a sale.
**Inside the Shrine**
"Wow! This place is so pretty!" Caldina sighed. That was the fifth time that Sierra had said that. Lafarga was holding on to her arm, and carrying their daughter in her basket in the other. Umi was wandering around with the two other little girlies, Hikaru and Fuu. Ferio was keeping half an eye on Fuu and exploring. Clef was looking around every what way, searching for something or other. Ascot was staring at something, and she was relieved to see that it wasn't Umi. So he had moved on. That was good. She hated seeing sweet little Ascot pining over Umi. So she followed his line of sight, and realized that he was staring at the new little girlie, Nadeshiko. Nadeshiko was looking at a mosaic that portrayed a dragon in flight. She looked somber. 'That's odd.' She thought to herself 'The poor girlie's been so cheerful for the whole day so far. I wonder why. She used to be gloomy all the time, even when she smiled. And Master Mage Clef said that she was possessed almost by Clefa. That must have been terrible for the girlie."
'Come now, Nadeshiko. Don't be foolish. Restraining me is foolish. I will have revenge on you. You will suffer every night in your dreams until you are under my control. Save your self some pain. GIVE IN!' Nadeshiko felt Clefa start to rebel against the cage that she had put her in. she remembered, ten years ago, when Clefa had finally broke her will. Since then, Clefa had controlled her. Clefa had allowed her to remain in control of her body. But Clefa had tainted her personality. She became moody and somber, not the kind of person she truly was. The only person who Clefa had allowed her to show a small part of her true self was Hikaru. Then, a wave of pain hit her. She gasped and fell onto her knees in pain. "Nadeshiko, what is it? What's wrong?" Hikaru yelled. "Clefa . . . she's trying to . . ." she had to stop because the pain had increased. "she's trying to break free. Don't touch me. I'll be fine." She arched her back as more pain rolled over her. 'Don't scream, don't scream, don't scream." She repeated in her mind. Her vision had gone black. And she slowly sank into oblivion.
When she awoke, she saw a girl with black hair tied up in buns with ponytails coming out the ends. She was wearing a short tunic, which came to just below her thigh. The tunic was mostly cream, but it had red shoulders. She was also wearing short shorts underneath the tunic. She laughed, and turned around. She had amber eyes and had a yin-yang on the front. The sleeves on her tunic were long and had a bell on the end. "Hello there." She snapped in a whiny, bratty voice. "My name is Meilin, from the world of Nelvanna. I want this world, and I won't stop until I get it!" Nadeshiko rolled her eyes. And then she saw what she had done to the others. She had tied them up and made them listen to the Cardcaptors theme until they passed out. Talk about evil! They had even started muttering the words in their shock. Nadeshiko felt fury rise. "You're gonna pay!" she started to play a song, but Meilin beat her with a evil spell. "EDIT ATTACK!" Nadeshiko screamed as visions of the edited episodes flashed in front of her. "You can't win!" shouted Meilin. "Well I'm not gonna give up until I do!" She played the battle song again, and shouted "ICY CLAW!" Meilin disappeared in a puff of smoke. All of a sudden, her armor changed. It looked like the second stage armor of the Magic Knights. Her flute got longer and more finger holes were added. Image of the cat changed to a sitting cat. All the others started to wake up. "Hey look guys! I think my armor and flute just evolved! Cool, huh?" Everybody else just nodded. 'Well, it looks like they'll need therapy.' She thought. 'And maybe a lobotomy.' She added when they started humming the song with looks of horror on their faces.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~End Chapter Three~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hey! How was it? Wasn't Meilin evil? Which dubbed, mutilated, character from Nelvanna's Cardcaptors should I have next? Oh, and I don't own Cardcaptors (thank god!) or Card Captor Sakura. Sorry to those of you who like Cardcaptors, but trust me, read the manga or watch the subbed version. Trust me. It's much better. And don't forget to review! 0.~
-Daine