_____________THE MYSTICS SAGA: CHAPTER 1: SAKURA AND THE SIGNS OF AGES__________

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I do not own Cardcaptors, or any part of Nelvana Inc. No character belongs to me,
blah blah blah, yada yada yada. Distribution of perrenial consequenc is strictly defractured in all mental
states, including Serenity at the Avenue
Usual legal mumbo-jumbo down,
let's get going, shall we?
This is set 15 years after Cardcaptors. Sakura and the others are 28 now, and
all have parted ways. Well, most of them...
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A tiny petal hit Sakura on the nose, and she looked up. She saw the tower, the one from her days as the
Cardcaptor, and three circles behind it. Then, the Sakura cards flew about. 'What's happening? Why are
the cards...' but then the cards formed a path to the circles, which had now reached each other. Sakura
stepped onto the bridge, and......

BRING! BRING!
Sakura slammed down on the alarm clock, panting in fear. She slowly regained composure, and got up.
She quickly changed into a pair of khaki jeans and a plain white top. She looked into the mirror
thoughtfully. She had changd in the ten years since being a Cardcaptor. She was taller, of course, and her
body had slimmed out of youthful plumpness. Her hair hung down to the middle of her back, and it looked
quite like Ms Mackenzie's. The thought of her made Sakura remember when she had met the teacher.
Pushing those thoughts from her mind, Sakura stepped out of her room. She walked over to the elevator,
and went to the lobby. Stepping out into the streets of Egypt.

"Good morning, Proffesor Avalon," said aa young man about 5 metres away. Sakura waved, and went over
to him.
"So, what are we doing today, Proffesor?" asked the young man.
"We'll be digging around the northeast corner today, Markus."
"Right." The young man hurried off to the main site to let the other excavators know. Sakura stretched
out, enjoying the Cairo sunlight. She walked down after Markus to help with the supplies.

The pyramids always overwhelmed her. Sakura walked quickly to the northeast side of the pyramid, and
got out a shovel. She dug at the sides to check the firmness, then called the others over.
"Alright. Today we are taking the northeast side. We know the clue said 'The side that faces fire and ice
shall open'. We have to hope that means towards the rising sun and the North Pole. The other two failed,
and we are running out of time, so let's get going!"

They found the entrance two hours later.

Sakura lit the torch, and the darkness instantly receded. She walked slowly down the corridor, all the
while studying the hieroglyphs that covered the walls. She made her way to a large chamber, and waited
for the others to come. When they had caught up, Sakura continued.
After a long trek through winding passages, the group came to the central chamber. Sakura gazed around
in awe. This was her first time at the great pyramids, and she could see wy so many longed to see them.
The others in the group caught up with Sakura quickly, panting for breath.
"Sakura, you can't just run off like that," scolded a colleague
"I ran? I really didn't notice. Sorry." Sakura smiled and rubbed the back of her head.
Another member had already found something, though.
"Proffessors! I have something strange here!" The others ran over to see what it was. Sakura gasped in
shock. She read out the glyphs, "This shall be read by the Star Goddess, who holds the..." and there,
unmistakable, was the Clow Key.

That night, in the hotel lounge, the archeologists were having a heated discussion about the hieroglyph.
One proffessor, Dr. Jules, thought it to be a magical object in their religion. Sakura choked on her coffee
when she heard this.
"Is something the matter, Sakura?" asked Proffessor Graham, with a concerned look on her face.
"Oh, nothing," she lied, "Just a little hot. Nothing to worry about."
"Well, what do you think it is? This hieroglyph?" asked another proffessor.
"Well... uh..... I really couldn't say, but it sounds like they thought a god would come to help them."
"Yes, it did read 'This shall be read by the Star Goddess, who holds the,' whatever that glyph was, 'and
will come to release the greatest power and destroy the Black One when the three lights are as one'."
Sakura and the proffessors talked late into the night, when the peace was interrupted by a swarm of
reporters. Sakura looked up. There seemed to be a familiar life force here, but....
"Sakura-chan?" came a voice. Sakura jumped to her feet, yelling "TOMOYO-CHAN!!!"
She ran over to her lifelong friend, and the two hugged tightly. "What are you all doing here?!" Sakura
asked, realising the media flurry around them.
"Well, we heard that there was a discovery today, so we came to have a talk."
"But, we didn't tell anyone. But Tomoyo-chan I need to talk to you. *Alone*" Sakura said, with a
meaningful glance at the cameraman behind Tomoyo.
"Off the record?" Tomoyo asked, puzzled.
"It was off the record when we were 12," Sakura whispered harshly. Tomoyo's eyes bulged in registration
of what Sakura had just said.
"Karu, take a break. I'm getting the times for an interview," Tomoyo ordered.
"Sure boss," The cameraman took off.
The pair ran to the lobby, and Sakura felt a twinge of guilt at leaving her friends to sort out the mess that
was there. They ran into the elevator, and ran into Sakura's room when they got off. Once inside, Sakura
plonked down on the bed. Tomoyo sat down on a nearby chair, breathing fast. Sakura looked at her
friend. Tomoyo was now had a body quite like her mother's, and she now wore a long red skirt and blouse.
Her hair was tied back with a red hairband now, the old style long forgotten
"It's good to see you again, Tomoyo-chan. I thought you'd go into film making when we left high school."
The two had parted ways at the end of high school, when Sakura had been accepted to a university in
Tokyo, and Tomoyo had stayed in Reedington.
"I thought about it, but this seemed better. Well, what's this about the cards?"
"We did find the entrance to the pyramid today.."
"I KNEW it!" exulted Tomoyo.
"But there was something in the central chamber. It was.... the Clow Key, and there was writing near it."
"What? The Key? What did it say?"
Sakura told her friend all about the writing on the wall, expressing her confusion at the part about the
Black One and the three lights being one. Tomoyo leaned back, absorbing what Sakura had said.
"We need to see Kero, fast."
"I know, but I can't go! They'll notice!"
"Sakura-chan, you have the cards, remember?" Tomoyo reminded her friend. Sakura flushed with
embarassment and grabbed out the Key from a drawer. But Tomoyo was always good to have around in a
crisis, that hadn't changed at all.
"Key of the Star,
with powers burning bright,
reveal the staff,
and shine your light.
RELEASE!"
The magical energy swirled around the key, and it burst into the powerful staff. Sakura lifted it into the air.
She prepared to bring it down, when...
"Uh, Sakura-chan, don't you need a card?" Tomoyo asked carefully.
Sakura smiled at her friend. Tomoyo wasn't there when Sakura had released the spirits into her
grandfather's home, and let them live happily. She brought down the cane as she cried, "Fly, come the the
Star!"

Far away, a great bird launched itself into the air, and vanished.

Sakura's wand sprouted wings suddenly. Sakura smiled at the shocked reporter. "I let them free into
Grandad's house five years ago," she said cheerfully. Tomoyo wondered why the cards didn't run amok,
but she realised, quite correctly, that Sakura had prevented them from going to far from the house.
Sakura quickly called up the Mirror, which instantly became a copy of her. Sakura informed the Card about
what was needed while she met up with the other Cards. Mirror smiled and told Sakura to say hello to
Touya for her. Sakura promised to let him know, and flew off. Mirror and Tomoyo headed off downstairs,
to the throng of reporters.


The two figures rocketed down the slope, the snowboards spraying up clouds behind them. The lead
figure pulled further ahead. The one behind, still unsure, called out.
"SYAORAN!" The other boarder pulled to a halt ahead, and turned around
"What is it, Mei-" but the other rider crashed into him, and the two slid down the last part of the mountain.
As Syaoran pushed himself up from under his cousin, He noticed they were in a part of this area he had
never seen before. Before them stood a small stone shrine, made of a thick red stone, with a rectangular
gap that served as a doorway. Cautiously, Syaoran stepped inside. Meiling scrambled up and hurried after
him. Inside stood a tiny altar, that did not even come up to Syaoran's knee. But on it rested an idol,
seemingly too big, it's head and one hand long faded. It stood with a robe flurrying about it's ankles, and
the remaining hand was held high, holding a tiny rectangle of marble, shining brightly.
"Syaoran-chan, what's that on the wall?" asked Meiling. Syaoran looked up, and saw the ancient Chinese
characters some on must have carved centuries ago, written into the wall. Slowly, lips moving silently,
he translated the script.

Read, O child of sorcery,
Read, O warrior of light.
For the time draws nigh
For the fight.
The Star Goddess shall give her birth,
The greatest magic of all,
They must be found, or for sure the Earth,
Will eventually fall.
So go now to the great one's aid,
For the time of the three is nigh,
Else all the price of loss be paid
And bring eternal night.

Syaoran paused, and read over the text again. At the word Goddess, he stopped. This character was
raised, not carved. And not raised at all, simply missed in the carving of something...else. Li refocused,
and saw what the carved area around the character was. It was the Clow Key.
His mind suddenly froze. Everything revolved around the character and the carving. Then, his mind raced
to a single thought: Sakura's in trouble. He grabbed Meiling's arm and dragged her on, despite her loud
protests. He raced back to the entrance, and let go of Meiling.
"SYAORAN! What did you do that for?!!" she yelled, rubbing her aching arm.
"Because," he replied harshly, his voice barely a whisper, "Sakura needs us."
"Sakura?" All traces of anger in Meiling were gone. (A/N Yes, that is the REAL Meiling Li. She doesn't
need to please stand up. Hmm, songfic idea)
"Yes! Something big is about to happen, and we need to see the High Mages."
"Why? Couldn't Yue tell us when we get to Sakura?" Syaoran looked at her in shock. He had never even
thought of that.
"Fine," he said, "Let's get packed. We have to cut this vacation short."


Sakura was tired. She had spent most of the night on the wand, and she had only just passed the borders
of Egypt. Maybe I should have caught a plane. The thought came to her grogilly, and she knew she
couldn't stay up any longer. She brought Fly in for a landing, and looked around. Great. A desert. More of
it. Sakura became frustrated at the fact she couldn't reach Kero. She needed to go faster. Much faster.
The staff glowed, and the wings beat irritably. Sakura stared. The wings were beating like a hummingbird.
Sakura hesitantly slid on, and the staff shot off for Japan.

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What the hell is happening? You were going to ask that, I take it. Well, just wait for Episode 2 of
Cardcaptors: The Mystics Saga

Anyway, write a review or email Shinwa14@hotmail.com with comments. Thanx!