CHAPTER 12 - Final Encounter
The cold temperatures, even during the day, were an unexpected nuisance, but Yelan hardly felt them. It was hard to fathom for most, but she simply refused to let the cold bother her. It had nothing to do with magic and everything to do with her stubborn personality. The cold did bother her general, however, and the old man entered the tent where she was set up near the army shivering and hugging his arms to his chest.
"What news do you bring?" she demanded of him. He was General Rutiupe, well-decorated for his previous campaigns. Yelan had confidence in him, for his old, soft face and thin, frail body hid a tough-as-nails grizzled war veteran, a man unafraid to press his soldiers just hard enough to make them perform to their best abilities without overexerting them.
"I thought we would gain the upper hand," he started, "by being the ones to declare war. But he must have known and started sending troops here as soon as we started marching! The first wave of armies under Clow are here sooner than we expected, Duchess," he said, never one for softening bad news.
"Probably magic was involved, somehow," mused Yelan. "Looks like the battles are going to take place closer to Turento than I had hoped."
"Clow is very strong, and capable of things unimaginable to others, but he cannot fight an entire war by himself, and our soldiers are much better trained and skilled, if a little outnumbered."
"Of course, General. Carry on."
He bowed and left Yelan to her thoughts. The old man did not know that what he had told her was old news. She had known about the armies Clow was sending to Turento as a way to conquer the land. Fingering the letter from "Clow" delivered by that fool girl who was running around with Syaoran and the fake servant girl with ridiculous magic potential, she couldn't believe the luck that had brought it to her. She had spent the better part of five days trying to come up with a way to rally the army behind a defense against Clow. The men in the army would not believe that Clow would really attack them, unless he sent a letter formally denouncing their treaty. The letter was a fake, probably the brainchild of Syaoran, but no one could tell that except herself.
Still, even with an army fighting hard, trying to protect her honor, it would still be difficult to win. As a realist she knew this to be a fact. Clow had many soldiers who barely received any training before thrust into the role of soldier, but he also used his powerful magic to create weapons that had magical properties for them to fight with, enhancing their meager abilities to the point where they became formidable.
A loud crash interrupted her thinking. It was the beginning of an earthquake! Yelan tried to duck under her solid wood table, but a piece of earth shot up to send her flying in the opposite direction. The tent began to collapse around her, and the earth below her began to buckle and ripple. It seemed to jut around her, and before she could react, the earth had formed solid walls around her that were twenty feet tall.
"Duchess!" called a soldier she did not recognize. "What happened?"
"Dig me out!" she commanded. She heard his footsteps retreat as he went to get shovels and more men to help. Furious over her earthen prison, she barely managed to keep from screaming angrily.
"Yelan," said Clow, floating above her as if suspended. "How is everything?"
Yelan snarled. "It is just like you to enter in a battle so early."
"Your soldiers fight well, and mine do not. So I evened the odds a little. You will be busy trying to free yourself, and not pay as much attention to the battles happening around you. Besides, I wanted to test the power of my Earthy card. It is quite strong."
Clow disappeared from view before Yelan could respond. Humiliated, she listened as the soldiers began digging with the shovels and awaited her release.
*************
"Over there!" cried Kero. He shot off into a nearby forest. "The Earthy card was used there, past this little forest!"
"That means Clow!" said Syaoran, running to keep up with the little winged beast.
The forest they ran through was thick, but Kero could still sense the Earthy card powers being used, so he directed them through the maze the trees made. Tomoyo kept lagging behind, and Kero did slow down occasionally, but he was reluctant to do so. He wanted to get that Earthy card into Sakura's possession so he could transform once again.
"Look out!" called Sakura, as a fireball hit next to Syaoran, who used Sakura's warning as enough to dodge it.
"It must be Clow," said Kero.
"He's flying overhead," said Syaoran. None of them wanted to slow down, despite the possibility they were running right into a trap laid by Clow. Another fireball landed too close to Tomoyo, who although not directly hit was thrown sideways by the shower of dirt the impact threw up.
Sakura was the only one who noticed it, and went back to pick her up. Tomoyo would suffer a couple bruises, but it was nothing serious. What was serious, on the other hand, was that Kero and Syaoran were out of view.
"Where'd they go?" said Tomoyo shakily.
"I don't know." Sakura was not much less scared.
"We should keep moving."
"Good idea," said Sakura, fearful of the fireballs the madman Clow...no, it was Eriol...was launching down from above. "But where?"
Tomoyo pointed in the general direction they had previously been running. "We'll find them out of the forest," said Tomoyo. The two ran, Sakura leading Tomoyo by the hand, but stopped when Sakura spotted Eriol blocking their path. "Who's that?" said Tomoyo, half sure of the answer.
"Eriol."
Tomoyo had not expected that. "Who?"
"Eriol!" said Sakura to the magician. "You are Eriol, not Clow!" He faltered, but regained his composure quickly.
"No! I am the true Clow Reed!" he said insanely, launching a fireball. Sakura grabbed Tomoyo and dragged her to the ground under her as the fireball barely cleared their bodies. "You are the impostor!" he said wildly.
Sakura took the key out, and produced the staff. "I don't know how to stop you, but I'll give it a try."
"You can't stop me with my own creations! Those cards are mine, hand them over!"
As response, Sakura took the Fiery card and tossed into the air, her staff hitting it at the apex of its flight upwards. The magic released, and the feminine spirit of Fire was thrust toward Eriol. As counter, he fired his own magic. An explosion was formed that shone so brightly Tomoyo had to turn away and that caused a piece of bark to hurtle toward Sakura and slice her cheek, bringing a trickle of blood. When it died down, the Fiery card returned to her hand, and Eriol remained, unscathed.
Tomoyo tried to check the scratch on Sakura's face, but she shrugged her off. Eriol laughed. "It that the best you have!?" he taunted. "I told you, I cannot be defeated by my own magic. But, you can be defeated by my magic." He removed his clock to reveal a tall staff with a half sun on the end, and pulled out the Earthy. "You won't survive this!"
Not realizing what she was doing, Tomoyo launched herself at Eriol. Stunned, he did not react until she had grabbed the Earthy card from his hand, at which point his fist slammed into her ribs and sent her sprawling aside. Sakura rushed to Tomoyo, checking her for life signs, and was relieved at finding her pulse was still active.
"Take the card," said Tomoyo, thrusting it into Sakura's face.
"Tomoyo," said Sakura, reluctantly taking the card. "How could you do such a thing?"
"I don't know, it seemed right." Sakura could tell she was in serious pain. Her dress was bloody about her side and her ribs caused her to wince every time she moved even an inch.
Eriol was red-faced with anger. "I don't believe what just happened. That girl just stripped me of the last of my cards!"
"You keep hurting people I love!" Sakura screamed, suddenly rounding to face Eriol. "I can't take it, not anymore!" She drew the Sword card, and her staff became as sharp as the best sword and her own skill with the sword became second to none. "Until you realize you are not Clow Reed and will never be, I will have to stop you from bringing your reign of terror on this world!" She rushed to meet Eriol, who dodged her sword and produced one of his own magic. They traded blows, a fast-paced dangerous game in which a tiny mistake would be deadly. Every time Eriol lowered the sword for a blow Sakura was ready to parry, and likewise the other way around. Meanwhile Sakura knew Tomoyo was slipping away into unconsciousness.
Eriol backed off suddenly, sensing their standoff could never end. Both he and Sakura found their breathing heavy. "You are nothing without those cards," he sneered.
"I am just glad to be sane," she countered. This brought a fireball from Eriol, which she managed to avoid. The second fireball, coming right after the first, came as a surprise, and only her sword saved her from serious damage. It sliced through the magic, but enough hit her that it threw her backwards. She landed on her back, temporarily dazed. Eriol ran up and thrust his sword of magic down, but she rolled away in the nick of time and the sword cut easily into the ground where her head had just been a half-second earlier. She continued to roll and then flipped herself upright.
Eriol snarled. He knew as well as she did that she was surviving by the skin of her teeth. "You can't keep this up forever," he informed her.
"Why can't you realize who are you!"
"I am Clow Reed!" He had lost most of his sanity, and was wildly flailing his sword at her. It took all of the Sword card's skill to avoid the lunatic, and even then, once Eriol had let up on his barrage once again, Sakura could count five or six small cuts that were starting to drip blood.
"Sakura!" The shout came from behind her, where Syaoran and Kero were. At least, she thought it was Kero. He was bigger now, looking like a great winged lion beast. This was his transformed self, she assumed. "Sakura, are you all right?" Concern drove Syaoran's voice.
"I'm fine," she said. Motioning to Tomoyo, she added sadly, "But Tomoyo's not. She got the Earthy card, but it caused her to be hurt."
"Clow!" said Kero, staring intently at Eriol.
"No, that's not Clow," said Sakura. "I met the real Clow, in a dream, or something similar, I'm not quite sure. That man is Eriol. He changed his own body structure and face so he would assume Clow's identity long ago. He's been playing at being Clow for so long he truly believes he his Clow."
"Of course I'm Clow!" Eriol shouted. "You, Sakura, you have the magic of Fujitaka that is meant for Clow! Give it to me!"
"He's gone mad," said Syaoran. He had his sword at the ready. "Time to try a new trick." Raising the sword up high, the blade perfectly horizontal to the ground, pointing toward the sky, Syaoran focused his energy. The blade began to glow a strong and deep yellow. Suddenly, Syaoran yelled, and lowered the blade, with the tip pointed straight at Eriol. He released the energy, and it flowed in the form of lightning from his sword to Eriol. The sorcerer jumped aside, looking to evade, but smaller bolts of lightning branched off the main flow from the sword, striking him. One hit him in the shoulder, another in the chest, still another in the leg. Falling to one knee, Eriol cursed.
"So you have discovered to cast without incantation papers," said Eriol derisively. "And it has made you more powerful." He fired a bolt of lightning of his own, which Syaoran easily avoided. Standing up, Eriol still had that wild look in his eye, but he also had a different look, one of danger. He approached Syaoran, who lined up to fire the lightning from his sword again. "Don't bother," said Eriol, and Syaoran was hit from behind with a fireball. In pain, he fell to the ground, gritting his teeth. Aneko emerged from behind him as the producer of the fireball.
"You!" said Sakura. "You have magic, too?"
"You are crazy to think you can beat Clow Reed," Aneko said by way of greeting.
"But if he isn't Clow," said Kero, "then he is not invincible."
Fireballs came from both Clow and Aneko at the same time from opposite directions, and it was all Sakura could do to get out of the way, as she threw herself to the ground. Kero picked her off from the ground quickly. Suddenly, an idea popped into her head, as if put there by an unseen force. "Kero, can you take care of Aneko?" Sakura asked the beast. "I think I just figured out how to beat Eriol." He nodded, and bounded over to Aneko, who tried to get out of his way. Kero pinned the girl to the ground, where she squirmed under his paws before realizing she was beat and going still, her mouth in a pout.
"I can only think of one thing that will show you who you really are," said Sakura to Eriol. He snarled and glared, the insanity of his mind fully evident. Sakura removed the Mirror card from her pack. "Mirror card," she said, "show the man before you his true reflection!" Her staff hit the card, and its energies flowed out to form a mirror before Eriol. Only he could see what the mirror held, and it caused him to howl. Stumbling, he backpedaled from the mirror, only to have it follow him.
"That's...not me!" he screamed. Whirling on the mirror, he attempted to shatter it, but his fist went right through it as if it were not there. Eriol fell to his knees, sobbing. Then he got up, and ran off into the woods. Sakura started to follow, but Kero told her not to.
"He's discovered the truth," said Kero. "Although it will be painful for him, he will get better."
"I'm glad for that," said Sakura. She was already kneeling next to Syaoran, helping him to sit up.
"What's going on!" demanded Aneko. "Master can never be defeated! ...Right?"
"So, he wasn't Clow Reed," said Syaoran, with difficulty. He shrugged off Sakura's guiding hands. "I'm okay, I'd worry about Tomoyo more." The girl had fallen unconscious during the battle with Eriol, the blood on her drying.
"She'll be okay, I think," said Kero. "Come on, everybody can climb on me and we'll go to the nearest town."
*********************
The tiny town of Curestry was home to little more than a few farms and a glass worker, but it also had a healer, an old woman who used a variety of herbs on Tomoyo's side and Syaoran's back. Kero had never been one to trust a healer and their herbs, no matter the skill level or experience, but he admitted that they had little choice with Tomoyo's condition.
A few days later, Syaoran was practically back to normal, and Tomoyo could even walk around a little bit, although each step seemed to bring a fresh wince. "Eriol really gave me a good shot," she joked.
When Tomoyo finally felt well enough, the group of friends decided to return to Maighan. It had been over a month since the battle with Eriol when they reached the city. Eriol had still not shown up. The king, used to doing whatever his advisor had said, came to enjoy ruling without Eriol's 'input' and announced he would refuse Eriol his return, if that should ever happen.
Rumor around the town spread that the king had had his advisor killed. Everyone still assumed the advisor was Clow. Only Sakura, Syaoran, Tomoyo and Kero knew better than that.
It was a rainy day when Eriol did return to Maighan. No one recognized him, however. He had removed the magical aura that gave him the appearance of Clow, and was now using his own face and body. He was six inches shorter, his face more round. His hair was black like Clow's, and he showed the signs of his age. He had wrinkles, with gray spotting that black hair. He searched out Sakura and Syaoran, finding them at one of the inns.
"Sakura," he said, when she answered the door to her room. "You do not recognize me, do you?" His voice was gentle.
"Eriol?" she said, unsure. He nodded, and she let him in, and called for the others to join them.
"Where have you been?" demanded Syaoran.
"I have been trying to come to terms with everything that has happened with me," he said. "For the past month or so I have thought back to everything I've done and all the lives I've hurt or taken, and I realize that there is nothing I could possibly do to make up for it." Syaoran's face was hard, his lack of forgiveness clear. Sakura's was blank, searching him. "And I've done it all in the name of Clow Reed. I thought I was Clow Reed, and was so sure of it that I just became Clow.
"When the Mirror card showed me the face you see before you now, my real face, the one of a fifty-seven year old man, it shattered the prison I had put myself into. I have tried to rediscover who I am."
"You are a reincarnation of Clow," said Sakura. "But he told me you got his bad qualities, and that led you to do all the things you've done."
"That's no excuse," said Eriol, clearly agitated. "What I have done in my life is despicable. Sakura," he said, turning to her and producing a knife from his belt, "I took from you your entire family and almost killed you, too. So I want to give you the opportunity to avenge those deaths." Eriol pressed the hilt of the knife into Sakura's hand. "Kill me," he said.
Sakura tossed the knife to the ground. "I most certainly will not."
"Why?"
"Because, that wasn't you, that was the twisted mind that used to control you."
Eriol sighed. "You don't understand. I am fine now, but I was fine before. The twisted part of me isn't gone, it only exists in the background, waiting to strike and overtake me once more. I can feel it. Once it does strike, I will only become what you despised once more. So you must, to protect your world, destroy me."
"I...cannot," said Sakura. "I don't want to kill anyone. And I think, that with help, you won't turn into what you were..."
"Well, I gave you the opportunity." Eriol got up. "If you do not do it, I will have to, to protect you from me. I am not someone who should be allowed to live, and I will take care of that while I still realize it to be true."
Tears formed in Sakura's eyes. "I know what you have done, but you've changed! You aren't that man anymore!"
"I can't live with the memory of it!" he said. "Before I go, I want to give you your father's magic, the part I got from him when he died."
"Eriol..."
"Don't say anything more." Eriol leaned close to Sakura, the pure white energy of her father's magic in the palm of his hand. He placed the ball on her chest, and it entered, similar to the transfer Mizuki had done to her earlier. "There, it is done." With the new magic in her, Sakura was now sound asleep as her body got used to the introduction. "Keroberos," Eriol said, the beast having been wordless since he had arrived, "I have explained everything to Yue. He did not take it well, so I put him to sleep. He is now in an alternative form, one of a normal human male. Perhaps one day he will realize who he is, but when or if, I cannot say."
"Yue was just another of those whose existence you ruined," said Kero harshly.
"Yes," said Eriol somberly. "I understand he was your friend, since you were created at the same time by Clow."
"What are you going to do now?" said Syaoran, reentering the conversation.
"I will leave this earth, as I must," said Eriol. "She would try to stop me, had I not given her the magic," he said, looking at Sakura's sleeping form. "She is so kind. I wish that I could be like her, but I cannot."
With that, Eriol got up and left, not saying another word.
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Continued in Chapter 13 - Epilogue
The cold temperatures, even during the day, were an unexpected nuisance, but Yelan hardly felt them. It was hard to fathom for most, but she simply refused to let the cold bother her. It had nothing to do with magic and everything to do with her stubborn personality. The cold did bother her general, however, and the old man entered the tent where she was set up near the army shivering and hugging his arms to his chest.
"What news do you bring?" she demanded of him. He was General Rutiupe, well-decorated for his previous campaigns. Yelan had confidence in him, for his old, soft face and thin, frail body hid a tough-as-nails grizzled war veteran, a man unafraid to press his soldiers just hard enough to make them perform to their best abilities without overexerting them.
"I thought we would gain the upper hand," he started, "by being the ones to declare war. But he must have known and started sending troops here as soon as we started marching! The first wave of armies under Clow are here sooner than we expected, Duchess," he said, never one for softening bad news.
"Probably magic was involved, somehow," mused Yelan. "Looks like the battles are going to take place closer to Turento than I had hoped."
"Clow is very strong, and capable of things unimaginable to others, but he cannot fight an entire war by himself, and our soldiers are much better trained and skilled, if a little outnumbered."
"Of course, General. Carry on."
He bowed and left Yelan to her thoughts. The old man did not know that what he had told her was old news. She had known about the armies Clow was sending to Turento as a way to conquer the land. Fingering the letter from "Clow" delivered by that fool girl who was running around with Syaoran and the fake servant girl with ridiculous magic potential, she couldn't believe the luck that had brought it to her. She had spent the better part of five days trying to come up with a way to rally the army behind a defense against Clow. The men in the army would not believe that Clow would really attack them, unless he sent a letter formally denouncing their treaty. The letter was a fake, probably the brainchild of Syaoran, but no one could tell that except herself.
Still, even with an army fighting hard, trying to protect her honor, it would still be difficult to win. As a realist she knew this to be a fact. Clow had many soldiers who barely received any training before thrust into the role of soldier, but he also used his powerful magic to create weapons that had magical properties for them to fight with, enhancing their meager abilities to the point where they became formidable.
A loud crash interrupted her thinking. It was the beginning of an earthquake! Yelan tried to duck under her solid wood table, but a piece of earth shot up to send her flying in the opposite direction. The tent began to collapse around her, and the earth below her began to buckle and ripple. It seemed to jut around her, and before she could react, the earth had formed solid walls around her that were twenty feet tall.
"Duchess!" called a soldier she did not recognize. "What happened?"
"Dig me out!" she commanded. She heard his footsteps retreat as he went to get shovels and more men to help. Furious over her earthen prison, she barely managed to keep from screaming angrily.
"Yelan," said Clow, floating above her as if suspended. "How is everything?"
Yelan snarled. "It is just like you to enter in a battle so early."
"Your soldiers fight well, and mine do not. So I evened the odds a little. You will be busy trying to free yourself, and not pay as much attention to the battles happening around you. Besides, I wanted to test the power of my Earthy card. It is quite strong."
Clow disappeared from view before Yelan could respond. Humiliated, she listened as the soldiers began digging with the shovels and awaited her release.
*************
"Over there!" cried Kero. He shot off into a nearby forest. "The Earthy card was used there, past this little forest!"
"That means Clow!" said Syaoran, running to keep up with the little winged beast.
The forest they ran through was thick, but Kero could still sense the Earthy card powers being used, so he directed them through the maze the trees made. Tomoyo kept lagging behind, and Kero did slow down occasionally, but he was reluctant to do so. He wanted to get that Earthy card into Sakura's possession so he could transform once again.
"Look out!" called Sakura, as a fireball hit next to Syaoran, who used Sakura's warning as enough to dodge it.
"It must be Clow," said Kero.
"He's flying overhead," said Syaoran. None of them wanted to slow down, despite the possibility they were running right into a trap laid by Clow. Another fireball landed too close to Tomoyo, who although not directly hit was thrown sideways by the shower of dirt the impact threw up.
Sakura was the only one who noticed it, and went back to pick her up. Tomoyo would suffer a couple bruises, but it was nothing serious. What was serious, on the other hand, was that Kero and Syaoran were out of view.
"Where'd they go?" said Tomoyo shakily.
"I don't know." Sakura was not much less scared.
"We should keep moving."
"Good idea," said Sakura, fearful of the fireballs the madman Clow...no, it was Eriol...was launching down from above. "But where?"
Tomoyo pointed in the general direction they had previously been running. "We'll find them out of the forest," said Tomoyo. The two ran, Sakura leading Tomoyo by the hand, but stopped when Sakura spotted Eriol blocking their path. "Who's that?" said Tomoyo, half sure of the answer.
"Eriol."
Tomoyo had not expected that. "Who?"
"Eriol!" said Sakura to the magician. "You are Eriol, not Clow!" He faltered, but regained his composure quickly.
"No! I am the true Clow Reed!" he said insanely, launching a fireball. Sakura grabbed Tomoyo and dragged her to the ground under her as the fireball barely cleared their bodies. "You are the impostor!" he said wildly.
Sakura took the key out, and produced the staff. "I don't know how to stop you, but I'll give it a try."
"You can't stop me with my own creations! Those cards are mine, hand them over!"
As response, Sakura took the Fiery card and tossed into the air, her staff hitting it at the apex of its flight upwards. The magic released, and the feminine spirit of Fire was thrust toward Eriol. As counter, he fired his own magic. An explosion was formed that shone so brightly Tomoyo had to turn away and that caused a piece of bark to hurtle toward Sakura and slice her cheek, bringing a trickle of blood. When it died down, the Fiery card returned to her hand, and Eriol remained, unscathed.
Tomoyo tried to check the scratch on Sakura's face, but she shrugged her off. Eriol laughed. "It that the best you have!?" he taunted. "I told you, I cannot be defeated by my own magic. But, you can be defeated by my magic." He removed his clock to reveal a tall staff with a half sun on the end, and pulled out the Earthy. "You won't survive this!"
Not realizing what she was doing, Tomoyo launched herself at Eriol. Stunned, he did not react until she had grabbed the Earthy card from his hand, at which point his fist slammed into her ribs and sent her sprawling aside. Sakura rushed to Tomoyo, checking her for life signs, and was relieved at finding her pulse was still active.
"Take the card," said Tomoyo, thrusting it into Sakura's face.
"Tomoyo," said Sakura, reluctantly taking the card. "How could you do such a thing?"
"I don't know, it seemed right." Sakura could tell she was in serious pain. Her dress was bloody about her side and her ribs caused her to wince every time she moved even an inch.
Eriol was red-faced with anger. "I don't believe what just happened. That girl just stripped me of the last of my cards!"
"You keep hurting people I love!" Sakura screamed, suddenly rounding to face Eriol. "I can't take it, not anymore!" She drew the Sword card, and her staff became as sharp as the best sword and her own skill with the sword became second to none. "Until you realize you are not Clow Reed and will never be, I will have to stop you from bringing your reign of terror on this world!" She rushed to meet Eriol, who dodged her sword and produced one of his own magic. They traded blows, a fast-paced dangerous game in which a tiny mistake would be deadly. Every time Eriol lowered the sword for a blow Sakura was ready to parry, and likewise the other way around. Meanwhile Sakura knew Tomoyo was slipping away into unconsciousness.
Eriol backed off suddenly, sensing their standoff could never end. Both he and Sakura found their breathing heavy. "You are nothing without those cards," he sneered.
"I am just glad to be sane," she countered. This brought a fireball from Eriol, which she managed to avoid. The second fireball, coming right after the first, came as a surprise, and only her sword saved her from serious damage. It sliced through the magic, but enough hit her that it threw her backwards. She landed on her back, temporarily dazed. Eriol ran up and thrust his sword of magic down, but she rolled away in the nick of time and the sword cut easily into the ground where her head had just been a half-second earlier. She continued to roll and then flipped herself upright.
Eriol snarled. He knew as well as she did that she was surviving by the skin of her teeth. "You can't keep this up forever," he informed her.
"Why can't you realize who are you!"
"I am Clow Reed!" He had lost most of his sanity, and was wildly flailing his sword at her. It took all of the Sword card's skill to avoid the lunatic, and even then, once Eriol had let up on his barrage once again, Sakura could count five or six small cuts that were starting to drip blood.
"Sakura!" The shout came from behind her, where Syaoran and Kero were. At least, she thought it was Kero. He was bigger now, looking like a great winged lion beast. This was his transformed self, she assumed. "Sakura, are you all right?" Concern drove Syaoran's voice.
"I'm fine," she said. Motioning to Tomoyo, she added sadly, "But Tomoyo's not. She got the Earthy card, but it caused her to be hurt."
"Clow!" said Kero, staring intently at Eriol.
"No, that's not Clow," said Sakura. "I met the real Clow, in a dream, or something similar, I'm not quite sure. That man is Eriol. He changed his own body structure and face so he would assume Clow's identity long ago. He's been playing at being Clow for so long he truly believes he his Clow."
"Of course I'm Clow!" Eriol shouted. "You, Sakura, you have the magic of Fujitaka that is meant for Clow! Give it to me!"
"He's gone mad," said Syaoran. He had his sword at the ready. "Time to try a new trick." Raising the sword up high, the blade perfectly horizontal to the ground, pointing toward the sky, Syaoran focused his energy. The blade began to glow a strong and deep yellow. Suddenly, Syaoran yelled, and lowered the blade, with the tip pointed straight at Eriol. He released the energy, and it flowed in the form of lightning from his sword to Eriol. The sorcerer jumped aside, looking to evade, but smaller bolts of lightning branched off the main flow from the sword, striking him. One hit him in the shoulder, another in the chest, still another in the leg. Falling to one knee, Eriol cursed.
"So you have discovered to cast without incantation papers," said Eriol derisively. "And it has made you more powerful." He fired a bolt of lightning of his own, which Syaoran easily avoided. Standing up, Eriol still had that wild look in his eye, but he also had a different look, one of danger. He approached Syaoran, who lined up to fire the lightning from his sword again. "Don't bother," said Eriol, and Syaoran was hit from behind with a fireball. In pain, he fell to the ground, gritting his teeth. Aneko emerged from behind him as the producer of the fireball.
"You!" said Sakura. "You have magic, too?"
"You are crazy to think you can beat Clow Reed," Aneko said by way of greeting.
"But if he isn't Clow," said Kero, "then he is not invincible."
Fireballs came from both Clow and Aneko at the same time from opposite directions, and it was all Sakura could do to get out of the way, as she threw herself to the ground. Kero picked her off from the ground quickly. Suddenly, an idea popped into her head, as if put there by an unseen force. "Kero, can you take care of Aneko?" Sakura asked the beast. "I think I just figured out how to beat Eriol." He nodded, and bounded over to Aneko, who tried to get out of his way. Kero pinned the girl to the ground, where she squirmed under his paws before realizing she was beat and going still, her mouth in a pout.
"I can only think of one thing that will show you who you really are," said Sakura to Eriol. He snarled and glared, the insanity of his mind fully evident. Sakura removed the Mirror card from her pack. "Mirror card," she said, "show the man before you his true reflection!" Her staff hit the card, and its energies flowed out to form a mirror before Eriol. Only he could see what the mirror held, and it caused him to howl. Stumbling, he backpedaled from the mirror, only to have it follow him.
"That's...not me!" he screamed. Whirling on the mirror, he attempted to shatter it, but his fist went right through it as if it were not there. Eriol fell to his knees, sobbing. Then he got up, and ran off into the woods. Sakura started to follow, but Kero told her not to.
"He's discovered the truth," said Kero. "Although it will be painful for him, he will get better."
"I'm glad for that," said Sakura. She was already kneeling next to Syaoran, helping him to sit up.
"What's going on!" demanded Aneko. "Master can never be defeated! ...Right?"
"So, he wasn't Clow Reed," said Syaoran, with difficulty. He shrugged off Sakura's guiding hands. "I'm okay, I'd worry about Tomoyo more." The girl had fallen unconscious during the battle with Eriol, the blood on her drying.
"She'll be okay, I think," said Kero. "Come on, everybody can climb on me and we'll go to the nearest town."
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The tiny town of Curestry was home to little more than a few farms and a glass worker, but it also had a healer, an old woman who used a variety of herbs on Tomoyo's side and Syaoran's back. Kero had never been one to trust a healer and their herbs, no matter the skill level or experience, but he admitted that they had little choice with Tomoyo's condition.
A few days later, Syaoran was practically back to normal, and Tomoyo could even walk around a little bit, although each step seemed to bring a fresh wince. "Eriol really gave me a good shot," she joked.
When Tomoyo finally felt well enough, the group of friends decided to return to Maighan. It had been over a month since the battle with Eriol when they reached the city. Eriol had still not shown up. The king, used to doing whatever his advisor had said, came to enjoy ruling without Eriol's 'input' and announced he would refuse Eriol his return, if that should ever happen.
Rumor around the town spread that the king had had his advisor killed. Everyone still assumed the advisor was Clow. Only Sakura, Syaoran, Tomoyo and Kero knew better than that.
It was a rainy day when Eriol did return to Maighan. No one recognized him, however. He had removed the magical aura that gave him the appearance of Clow, and was now using his own face and body. He was six inches shorter, his face more round. His hair was black like Clow's, and he showed the signs of his age. He had wrinkles, with gray spotting that black hair. He searched out Sakura and Syaoran, finding them at one of the inns.
"Sakura," he said, when she answered the door to her room. "You do not recognize me, do you?" His voice was gentle.
"Eriol?" she said, unsure. He nodded, and she let him in, and called for the others to join them.
"Where have you been?" demanded Syaoran.
"I have been trying to come to terms with everything that has happened with me," he said. "For the past month or so I have thought back to everything I've done and all the lives I've hurt or taken, and I realize that there is nothing I could possibly do to make up for it." Syaoran's face was hard, his lack of forgiveness clear. Sakura's was blank, searching him. "And I've done it all in the name of Clow Reed. I thought I was Clow Reed, and was so sure of it that I just became Clow.
"When the Mirror card showed me the face you see before you now, my real face, the one of a fifty-seven year old man, it shattered the prison I had put myself into. I have tried to rediscover who I am."
"You are a reincarnation of Clow," said Sakura. "But he told me you got his bad qualities, and that led you to do all the things you've done."
"That's no excuse," said Eriol, clearly agitated. "What I have done in my life is despicable. Sakura," he said, turning to her and producing a knife from his belt, "I took from you your entire family and almost killed you, too. So I want to give you the opportunity to avenge those deaths." Eriol pressed the hilt of the knife into Sakura's hand. "Kill me," he said.
Sakura tossed the knife to the ground. "I most certainly will not."
"Why?"
"Because, that wasn't you, that was the twisted mind that used to control you."
Eriol sighed. "You don't understand. I am fine now, but I was fine before. The twisted part of me isn't gone, it only exists in the background, waiting to strike and overtake me once more. I can feel it. Once it does strike, I will only become what you despised once more. So you must, to protect your world, destroy me."
"I...cannot," said Sakura. "I don't want to kill anyone. And I think, that with help, you won't turn into what you were..."
"Well, I gave you the opportunity." Eriol got up. "If you do not do it, I will have to, to protect you from me. I am not someone who should be allowed to live, and I will take care of that while I still realize it to be true."
Tears formed in Sakura's eyes. "I know what you have done, but you've changed! You aren't that man anymore!"
"I can't live with the memory of it!" he said. "Before I go, I want to give you your father's magic, the part I got from him when he died."
"Eriol..."
"Don't say anything more." Eriol leaned close to Sakura, the pure white energy of her father's magic in the palm of his hand. He placed the ball on her chest, and it entered, similar to the transfer Mizuki had done to her earlier. "There, it is done." With the new magic in her, Sakura was now sound asleep as her body got used to the introduction. "Keroberos," Eriol said, the beast having been wordless since he had arrived, "I have explained everything to Yue. He did not take it well, so I put him to sleep. He is now in an alternative form, one of a normal human male. Perhaps one day he will realize who he is, but when or if, I cannot say."
"Yue was just another of those whose existence you ruined," said Kero harshly.
"Yes," said Eriol somberly. "I understand he was your friend, since you were created at the same time by Clow."
"What are you going to do now?" said Syaoran, reentering the conversation.
"I will leave this earth, as I must," said Eriol. "She would try to stop me, had I not given her the magic," he said, looking at Sakura's sleeping form. "She is so kind. I wish that I could be like her, but I cannot."
With that, Eriol got up and left, not saying another word.
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Continued in Chapter 13 - Epilogue