Syaoran watched in horror as the girl fell, over and over, in his vision. From somewhere, a feminine form with wild black hair shot down the building, glowing eerily as she sought her prey. Syaoran shook his head to clear the image, running down the steps. Japan was haunting him, driving him insane.
He reached the bottom. There…there she was. A crumpled figure. He forced himself to walk towards her body. The dead needed proper respect. He looked at the figure. Pale skin contrasted softly with honey brown hair, cut short to her chin. Suddenly her eyes fluttered open. Emerald green, and tinged with confusion, she looked at Syaoran.
"Are we in Heaven? Did you kill yourself too?"
"Iie…you are still in Japan…"
"I…I'm not dead?" Syaoran shook his head, "Then the lady wasn't an angel?" Syaoran looked at her strangely. She must have hit her head somewhere, he mused.
She shivered and sneezed, diverting Syaoran's attention.
"You are sick." Not a question. A statement. Chiaki nodded, terrified. What would this mean looking boy do to her? "I'm taking you to my house. You know that you will be dead soon, if you don't get inside?" Chiaki barely heard the statement, already nodding off into a feverish sleep.
At his house, Syaoran laid the girl down on his bed. She relaxed a bit, snuggling into the soft covers. Syaoran left her. Where was Wei?
A note on the refrigerator said that he would be back in a few days, since Li-sama needed him to go see someone. *So I am alone in the house with a sick girl. Perfect.* He grabbed a snack and went to the living room. He bounced onto the couch, upon which the bell was. As the box bounced, the bell rang again.
Kerberos…
Yue…
Final Judgement…
In the next room, Chiaki moaned slightly as someone moved in the room. Suddenly, the clear sound of a bell rang through the house.
A huge yellow lion…
Cards…
A boy with amber eyes…kind, warm, friendly amber eyes…
A man with cold eyes… fading away as green vines closed over her, choking her until it was hard for her to breathe…
Chiaki screamed, as she struggled to pull off the alien sheets covering her, which were smothering her. Cool hands steadied her, calmed her, until she sat up, breathing heavily. She turned. There was the boy… She screamed again, tears starting to run from her eyes.
Syaoran ran to the next room as soon as he heard her scream. She looked like she was having a convulsion, but he realized that she was actually only trapped in her sheets. He soothed her, and then waited for her to sit up. He shrank from her, as she screamed once again.
"Hey, hey! Calm down. Don't cry." Chiaki calmed down. She must have hallucinated or something…this boy did not have the warm, friendly eyes that she had seen; his eyes were cold and foreboding.
"I…saw things…people…"
"When?"
"After the bell was rung…"
"After…after the bell was rung?"
"Un." Syaoran turned back to the living room. Fingering the box, he flipped it open. The bell lay there, polished with its symbols. Carrying it back carefully, he showed it to the girl.
"This bell…" Syaoran stopped, transfixed from what he saw happening. The air around the girl seemed to shimmer, then go solid. Looking closer, he accidentally rang the bell again. Stopping it in mid-ring, he looked at her.
A black wrapping seemed to appear around Chiaki like a second skin when she heard the ring. It seemed to vibrate in and around her, reaching deep into her being, as if looking for something. Suddenly, the black binding seemed to quiver, as if it wanted to rip free from her. She gasped; she couldn't let it go! It was part of her, she couldn't change that. Pain coursed through her body as the binding became a double-sided enigma, struggling to go; yet staying part of her. She cried out in pure agony as parts began to tear off her skin.
Syaoran stood transfixed. Mists of memories, long thought of as dreams, surfaced to lie within his active thoughts.
~*flashback*~
His mother stood in front of him, a black stone in each of her hands.
"Xiao Lang, which has the more powerful spell placed upon it?" He concentrated for less than a second; only one had any aura.
"That one."
"Positive?"
"Yes, mother."
"Then watch, Xiao Lang." His mother pulled out her fan. He gasped. She never used the fan, except for fortune telling and the most powerful of spells. She held it out in front of her, concentrating hard. Suddenly she darted forward, the fan outstretched. A shimmer, a burst, and something flew off the second rock. Now it shone brightly, its power apparent.
"You see, Xiao Lang, magical strength lies not only in what appears, but also on what doesn't. A sealing spell can seal anything, from magic to memories. They are the most powerful spells anyone can accomplish. The small one you have just seen has drained me, sorceress that I am."
"So that was the most powerful spell? I could do that!" His mother suddenly got up from her chair and knelt down, level with his eyes.
"No, Xiao Lang. The most powerful spell…can only be attempted by the best of us. And only once, by Clow Reed."
"What does that do?"
"Seals away everything. Your memories, magic, your life. Sealing someone like that is placing a bind on them. Taking one off is a risky step. If the sealed person has no wish to be unsealed, the results are catastrophic. The person is destroyed from the inside out. Do not take me lightly, son." Syaoran looked up. Son, she had said. Son.
~*end flashback*~
Syaoran looked at the girl. The bell…it was made to get rid of this girl's constraints. She did not want to. Demo…this girl's unsealing would answer his questions, defog the mystery of his life. He lowered the bell. He couldn't! He muffled it and began to run, run to the tower and destroy the bell.
Chiaki calmed down when the boy put down the bell. She was about to question him, when he ran out of the room. She ran after him.
At the tower, Syaoran stopped to catch his breath.
::You must do it!::
Syaoran looked around. Who was there?
::You must ring the bell, free her!::
Syaoran distrusted the voice. He looked around once more.
"Who are you?"
::I am…I am the previous owner of the bell::
"She's…she's dead…"
::True::
"So…you're her ghost?"
::Hai. Syaoran, listen to me. The world rests on your shoulders! You must free her!::
"Doushite?"
::You will find out… Trust me, this once, Syaoran…::
The voice disappeared. A picture of a tall, red-haired lady came to his vision, smiling at him.
::It was my fault…I am the one who died. You can reset the balance!::
"I don't trust you." He said blatantly.
The apparition smiled. ::Trust me, just this once, Syaoran. Trust me.:: She disappeared.
Syaoran's last doubts cleared away. He must free the girl.
