The
Small Journey
Syaoran glanced around as Eriol
opened his front door for the both of them. He had a backpack strapped to his
back, ready for the experiment. And money, just in case, although he didn't
really plan on being there too long. Should it work he would most likely return
but at the moment all he wanted was to take a look at this other existence, see
how others lived.
"Nakuru!" Eriol called as he held
the door open for Syaoran to pass through. He shut the front door and glanced
around as well, keys jingling in his hands.
From the second floor of his home a
young woman appeared, hesitating near the banister. "Eriol." She replied,
looking from him to Syaoran. She had long brown hair, a simple braid hanging
out from the rest of her hair, and she was dressed comfortably.
Syaoran knew differently. She looked
like a woman. Acted like a woman while outside in the world. But in this space,
when in the presence of Eriol, she was neither male nor female. Nakuru was a
magical creature, Ruby Moon her true name and form.
But he was used to seeing Akizuki
Nakuru as female and he doubted he would ever change the way he saw her.
"Nakuru," Eriol was continuing,
turning to head down the hallway beside the staircase Nakuru rested on. "We're
going to be downstairs, trying something out."
Syaoran nodded a greeting to her and
she nodded back silently, dark eyes not once leaving his as he followed Eriol.
Halfway to a small door in the side
of the staircase, a small kitten suddenly appeared, coming forth from a shadow.
His blue eyes focused on Syaoran, pupils shifting into ellipses as light fell
upon his tiny face.
"Eriol." The kitten said, voice soft
and almost feminine.
"Morning, Spinel Sun." Eriol said
wryly as he unlocked the basement door. "You know of course you slept the whole
day away."
The cat wound around Eriol's legs,
no doubt with the primitive instinct to trip each and every person he
encountered. "I would not have it any other way." He replied and then he looked
at Syaoran once more, gazing at him. "Welcome, Syaoran."
"Spinel Sun." Syaoran nodded.
The cat tilted his head, looking up
at Eriol once more. And with a small purr he suddenly sprang, coming to a rest
on Eriol's shoulder. "What are we planning here?" he asked slowly.
Eriol glanced at him out of the
corner of his eye, a small smile curling his lips. "Nothing at all, really." He
said in a nonchalant tone as he pulled the door open. "I thought I would show
Syaoran the new experiment." And he began to descend into the darkness of the
basement, the shadows swallowing him up.
"Oh, really?" Spinel Sun asked as
they climbed down. Syaoran followed silently, glancing back over his shoulder
to see Nakuru leaning over the side of the banister, a tiny smile on her face.
He felt a shiver run down his spine but ignored it, straightening firmly.
"Watch your step." Eriol called back
up to him just as he tripped over something. He couldn't see in this
godforsaken darkness and it smelled musty, like old wood and dust.
"Jeez, you practice your magic down
here?" Syaoran asked, wanting to pull forth a ward and light his way. But he
could smell the decay of the wood and heaven forbid he fall and set the place
on fire.
A light went on below and he frowned
at seeing the simple basement. Several old books sat in a bookcase along the
far wall but other than that there was nothing but dust and cobwebs, and an old
rotting table in the middle of the room. He hesitated, finally able to see the
cracking steps underneath his feet, and he glanced back to see that he had tripped
over a rotting footboard. "Are you sure you're the reincarnation of Clow Reed?"
he mumbled, making the rest of the way down.
Eriol smiled at him cheerfully,
touching a dusty old tome resting on the table. "I'm quite sure." He said and
he snapped the fingers of his other hand.
More lights suddenly flared and it
wasn't the artificial light of a lamp that Syaoran saw. All around, candles
came to life, flames bursting from the wicks, and before his very eyes a
strange change seemed to wash over the room. The table suddenly seemed to
gleam, straightening upon sturdy legs, fresh shellac in a mahogany tone
sweeping across its surface. The cobwebs were pushed away, vanishing into the
corners, and the books in the bookcase suddenly seemed new, fresh leather binding
their spine. Syaoran's lips parted at the sudden change, at realizing that the
old musty scene he had witnessed earlier was nothing but a mere illusion.
"Come, Syaoran. Let me show you
something." Eriol said, motioning gently for him to near.
Syaoran did as he asked, still
amazed at the change in the room. He paused next to Eriol and finally turned
his attention to what Eriol was pointing at, long slender finger running
underneath handwritten text. "What am I looking at?" he asked quietly.
Eriol smiled again, faintly. "Your
spell. The one that will let you see Sakura again." He answered, gazing at him
from up close as if to gauge his reaction. "Are you sure you're ready for
this?"
Syaoran didn't understand the
writing that Eriol was pointing to. "What…language is this?" he asked with a
frown, squinting. As if it would help him understand it better.
"Old Latin." Eriol said with a
shrug. "Don't bother trying to understand it. Even if you knew the language you
wouldn't be able to decipher any words."
"It's encrypted?" Syaoran asked with
a lift of his eyebrows.
Eriol's face remained blank. "It's
the handwriting. I believe the term used today is chicken scrawl." He shrugged
once more. "I didn't care about my writing so long as I got the words down."
Syaoran allowed a wide grin to lift
his lips as he glanced at Eriol.
The dark-haired boy studied him,
eyes narrowing the slightest bit. "It's good to see you smile like that." He
said quietly. "You haven't allowed yourself a smile like that in a long while."
Syaoran stared at him, his grin
fading a bit into a knowing smile.
Eriol nodded at him thoughtfully.
"Now, then. I ask again. Are you ready for this?" he repeated. "You can say no
and I would not hold anything against you."
Syaoran straightened, back down to
business. "I'm ready for this." He said firmly. "It's only going to be a short
trip, no problem. I'll be in and back." He glanced at Eriol, fingers running
across the smooth page of the tome. "What's my time?"
Eriol paused, giving it a moment's
thought. "I'll give you three hours. Three hours to take a look around and take
in as much as you can. Then you come back." He instructed.
"Three hours." Syaoran nodded. "And
if I'm not back in three hours?"
Eriol stared at him. "Do you plan on
staying in a strange world you know nothing about?" he countered simply.
Syaoran shook his head, hesitating
as Spinel Sun fixed him with cold gray eyes. "No, I mean what if I run into a
problem and I can't get back. What if it takes more time?"
The dark-haired boy thought it over
for a second. "Don't worry yourself. I will hold the doorway open for you to
return. But I do expect you to start making your way back to this spot in under
three hours." And his tone was final.
Spinel Sun yawned, tongue rolling as
his eyes slid shut.
Syaoran stared at him and then
nodded. "I understand. Let's just get started." And he turned to face the book
again, only then seeing a deck of red cards lying on the table surface. He came
to a complete stop, his jaw dropping open.
"The…Clow Cards?" he uttered,
staring in disbelief. And then his eyes swept up toward Eriol's face.
"You…changed them back?"
Eriol looked at the deck of Cards
also, eyebrow lifting. "I had to." He said quietly. He threw a quick look at
Syaoran as suspicion entered the auburn-haired boy's face. "I did it for the
Cards." He said by way of explanation. "Without Sakura they would have died
along with her. The only way for them to live was to have a new power source
and I became that power source."
Syaoran stared at him, feeling
suddenly sorry he had thought for a moment that Eriol had done it just for more
power. How thoughtless. He had never really contemplated the consequences of
Sakura's death on the Sakura Cards.
"They are more than just Cards."
Eriol whispered, eyes flicking across the page of the tome.
Syaoran nodded, eyes downcast. "I
know." He murmured sorrowfully. He reached out slowly and ran his finger down
the surface of the top card, lifting it into his hand after a moment and
flipping it to look at the other side.
The Hope Card.
He swallowed, feeling a lump in his
throat. He and Sakura had created that Card. The two of them, with their love
for each other.
He set it back quickly, facing it
down once more. "All right." He sighed. "Get me out of here."
Eriol looked at him, black hair
sweeping across his eyes, candlelight reflecting off his glasses as he placed
them on his face. "Very well." He said. And he shrugged gently, urging Spinel
Sun down off his shoulder.
The kitten hopped onto the table and
then quickly off, trotting off to a darkened corner to play spectator.
Eriol took hold of Syaoran's arm,
pulling him away a bit and then turning him to face the opposite wall,
wordlessly. Once he had Syaoran where he wanted him he returned to the book, taking
it into his hands. He skimmed the words, frowning faintly, the words reflected
in the glasses.
And very softly he began to murmur
something, under his breath.
Syaoran glanced at him out of the
corner of his eye, not wanting to move from the exact position Eriol had put
him in. The dark-haired youth was mumbling something in a different language,
one he didn't recognize but it was beautiful to hear the words spill from
Eriol's mouth. Very soft, almost gentle.
"Release." Came the word then.
Across the table a small black light
sparked, close to Syaoran. He looked at it quickly, staring as it streaked down
the table, a staff forming as it trailed. Not even looking up from his reading
Eriol reached out and took it, holding it as his side as he continued reading.
Syaoran faced forward again,
swallowing. There was the faint prickle in the air, of magic and darkness
mixing and spreading. It hadn't felt like this when Sakura had used her magic.
Her magic had been light, airy almost. Pink or white if it had had a color.
Eriol's magic was blacker than the shadows of night.
One last word came from Eriol's
mouth and he suddenly pointed with his staff, toward a spot before Syaoran. And
as Syaoran looked ahead, a second black spark sizzled, hovering in mid-air. He
stared, eyes widening the slightest bit, anxious of what was to come.
The spark widened, becoming a small
flat sphere. Like a window or a mirror. A flat surface in through which he saw
dark shadows and light at the end of what seemed to be an alleyway. He frowned,
squinting, and took a step forward, wanting to understand.
The light at the end of the darkness
wasn't sunlight, he realized. It was lamplight, throwing shadows across what
seemed to be a street or a road.
"Three hours." Eriol said as he took
another step.
Syaoran looked at him quickly to see
him staring at him, one arm extended, staff pointing the way. His other arm
still held the leather bound book cradled against his body.
"You have three hours." Eriol
repeated.
Syaoran nodded, slowly, to show he
understood and then he faced forward again, taking another step. Standing
before the crackling portal he hesitated, examining it with wide eyes. His
heart was thumping, he realized. Very loudly. He swallowed, licking his lips
absentmindedly and then closed his eyes, inhaling to calm himself.
One step. One step.
With an inhalation he stepped
through, vanishing into the doorway.
He suddenly sat up, chocolate brown
eyes narrowing. Something was wrong. Very wrong. He snapped his head to the side,
seeing guards on either side of him, his advisor hovering directly to the
right.
"Syaoran-sama." His advisor, a young
woman with deep black hair asked, gazing at him worriedly. "Nan desu ka?"
He swallowed, feeling the strange
prickling of magic. Magic not his own. He studied the guards on either side and
then raised his head straight ahead, down toward the double doors of the room.
"Clow." He uttered coldly.
