Reunion

Cardcaptor Pandora
Episode X
Reunion


"....but when I saw the ice creature hurt by the wall of ice, I called upon the Twin Card to help confuse it, and they sure did their job well! I just wish I knew why Persephone wants me hurt... or dead... or something... She obviously does, or why would she trap me in her Labyrinth with that monster?"

Rangi sat and listened intently, sitting sort of cross-legged and floating in the air. "Well, she is the Heir of Slytherin, and they tend to like people hurt or dead or something, especially people who are rivals. But I don't think you are her main target."

"Do you think Harry is?" she asked quickly, worried so much that she might try something to hurt him. She would never want anything to happen to Harry...

"No, I don't think so. She is Voldemort's daughter, and I have a feeling he would much rather leave the destruction of Harry Potter to himself. He probably has some other mission for her..." His voice trailed off and he stared at the door to her room.

"What are you thinking, Rangi?"

"Slytherins have always hated Gryffindors, especially along the direct family line. I... I am worried that your friend Lauren may be in danger..."

Pandora nodded solemnly. "Maybe I should talk to her, just to sort of give her a heads-up on it..."

"That would probably be a very good idea," Rangi said, just as the door to Pandora's room squeaked open. He fell limp upon the bed.

"Hey Panda!" Lauren Phillips cried, hurrying into the room with her own 'stuffed animal.'

Rangi sat up after realizing it was her, but was none too happy to see the other addition to the party. "What did you have to go and bring him for, Lauren?"

"Sorry, Rangi. Tu wanted to come and talk to Pandora about Persephone Avaran," Lauren explained innocently, obviously having no clue that her life was at all at risk.

Rangi and Pandora exchanged uncertain looks. "What would you like to know?" she asked Tu politely.

"Do you know for a fact that she is the Slytherin Cardcaptor?" he asked, his voice tight and tense.

"Yes, she wanted to catch the Freeze Card, but I did first. She already has at least one that I know of though, and that is the Labyrinth Card."

"That is a very dangerous card," Tu said thoughtfully. "I take it she's used it against you."

"Yeah, but I manage to find a way around it," she answered with a smile. "Why are you so worried about her being the Slytherin Cardcaptor?" Pandora asked, wanting to find out how much Tu knew and if he had told Lauren anything at all about the immortal feud.

"Because..." he began, but shook his head and fluttered back to Lauren. "You need to sit down, we have to talk."

Lauren, Pandora, Rangi, and Tu all sat down together as Tu began, "By the end of their service to Hogwarts, Salazar Slytherin had become very isolated from the other four, but so much from Godric Gryffindor that a very hard strain of distrust and often hate came between them. One day, the two broke out in a savage sword fight, not bothering with wands or magic, just wanting to see the other dead. It was brought on by Salazar. Lady Ravenclaw came between them though and stopped them, while Helga Hufflepuff tried to reason with them. But nothing would work, for Slytherin continued trying to fight with Gryffindor, but was held back by one of Lady Ravenclaw's very strong and unusual spells. She created many spells which only she could use, thus making herself the only one who could break them. Anyhow, as he was dragged away to a place where he would stay until he decided to be more civil, that is, until the day he died, he vowed that the battle between Slytherin and Gryffindor was not over, even if it had to be carried down for generations to come, and that, eventually, Slytherin would be the ultimate victor."

Lauren sat and stared at him, then smiled and said cheerily, "That was a nice story, Tu! Why can't you tell me stories more often? It is so much more fun than your usual lecturing!"

(@.#) "Lauren! Don't you understand?! She is out to kill you, to fulfill her ancestor's prophecy! She will stop at nothing to triumph over you!" Tu growled.

"Oh... that's what all that meant..."

Rangi was obviously holding his tongue so as not to say anything against the stupidity of complete Gryffindors. "I wonder who her beast is," he said.

"I don't know what her name is," Pandora answered, "but she looks like a little cheetah with black bat wings."

Both Tu's and Rangi's eyes lit up, their faces becoming amusingly dreamy. "That... that's Tangaroa...."

"You sound like you like her or something," Lauren said with a playful grin. "Isn't she evil?"

"Tangaroa? Evil?! No way!" Rangi answered quickly and definitely. "She's rather quiet, really. Very intelligent. But not evil. She does her job as a Guardian Beast and protects her Cardcaptor, but does not help her do whatever evil things she has planned."

"I don't think Persephone's all evil," Pandora said suddenly.

"Not all evil?! She wants to kill me!" Lauren said, a bit proudly, as if she liked the idea of someone thinking she was important enough to kill.

"Really, Pandora," Tu said in his proper drawl, "You shouldn't underestimate her like that. Though Miss Phillips is most likely her first target, I would bet that you are not too far down on the list. You are competition as far as the Hogwarts Cards go."

"What we really need to do," interrupted Rangi, seeing Pandora's uncertain expression, "is talk to Sydney and Holly, and their beasts. Maybe all of us together could watch out for Lauren and help keep Persephone out of trouble."

Sydney was easy enough to find. All you had to do was figure out where Crabbe was, and he did not have a variety of places he was much interested in. Anywhere where Sydney was was fine with him. They were sitting underneath the tree on the grounds where Pandora had first met Sydney when they found her. She and Crabbe were sharing a picnic lunch, while Sydney's beast, Tane, lay limp next to the basket.

Crabbe looked very uneasy as Pandora came closer with Lauren right next to her. "Do I... need to go somewhere...?" he asked Sydney.

"No, Vincent! Please stay..." she said in a sweet, airy voice.

Rangi made a "gag-me" motion, and Pandora thwacked him on the head for not being careful enough. "Actually, Sydney, we do need to talk."

Sydney looked up at them a little sadly, but nodded. "Okay, I get it. When can I...?"

"It will probably be a while."

Crabbe stood up to go, but Sydney caught him just before he walked off and gave him a timid kiss on the cheek. He left with a very bright red face and quite a stupid grin.

They ended up holding their quiet meeting in one of the most deserted sections of the library, for that was their final stop. Where else would the genius nine-year-old Heir of Ravenclaw be but the library? There was hardly anyone there anyway, considering it was a weekend and all. No students spent their weekend in the library unless it was a life or death situation... or if they were Holly Daimen.

They sat in a circle on the floor in an area farthest away from the main desk, where nobody ever went. The four beasties sat in the middle: Rangi, Tu, Tane (Sydney's dragonfly-winged tiger), and Tawhiri (Holly's black-winged white leopard). Rangi explained the situation, though it was almost useless trying to get anything across to Tawhiri and Tane, who were quite content left to their own devices. It seemed as if they had not seen eachother in centuries, and were quite glad to be reacquainted.

"Will you two please listen?" Rangi asked loudly, causing Pandora to shush him with another thwack. "This is important and you're distracting your Cardcaptors!"

"You're just jealous because you and Tu are still fighting over Tangaroa, and Tane and I have found happiness," Tawhiri said smugly.

"Shut up. Just shut up."

"Perhaps," Holly interrupted, not concerned in the least with the love lives of little beasties, "we should actually talk to Persephone. It could not hurt as long as we are on Hogwarts grounds, she cannot do anything to us. Just to be safe, we can talk to her during dinner or something with all the teachers nearby."

All four agreed that it was probably the best option. That night, after much persuading, they finally managed to get Persephone alone with them in an unoccupied corner of the Great Hall. Tangaroa was also with her, much to the delight of Rangi and Tu.

"What do you want?" Persephone asked in her usual low, bitter voice. "I have better things to do than talk to you four... and your pathetic beasts."

"The rest of us hadn't met you yet, Persephone!" Sydney said cheerily. "Since we will all be working together, I figured we..."

"Who said anything about me working with you?" she asked, her eyes glazed with icy resentment. "I have my own tasks. My own mission. I don't need you, not alive, anyway. You will only be worthwhile to me dead. Especially you," she said, turnng her cold, black eyes on Lauren.

Lauren shrank against Pandora and asked, "Why? I didn't do anything!"

"You're the Heir of Gryffindor, I'm the Heir of Slytherin. That is plenty enough of a reason."

Pandora listened as Lauren and Persephone continued to fight. The cold expression changed rarely, as did the low, icy voice which spoke in a steady rhythm like water. The black eyes stared coldly at Lauren, rarely blinking. Everything about her seemed so very cold. It was so unnatural.

"And you had better watch out for yourself too, Little Malfoy," she said, suddenly turning her chilling gaze on Pandora. "You are not the priority, no, but you certainly are becoming a nuisance."

Pandora straightened, not knowing how to respond. "I am only doing what I have been told is my duty as a Cardcaptor. I would expect you to do the same."

"That is a much expected answer from someone like you," Persephone sneered. "The almighty wonderful Center, aren't you lucky. Don't think it will be easy for you. I already have a nice collection going, and for you to complete your duties, you will have to get them from me. You probably don't even know how to do it, let alone have what it takes."

"She'll be ready, Avaran, now you stay out of it!" Rangi shouted suddenly, very angry at the way Persephone was treating his pupil. He realized that his outburst was directed towards Tangaroa's master, but was rather relieved to see an almost approving smile on her sleek face.

"We'll see about that..." she said softly, just as Draco Malfoy caught sight of the group and headed over.

"I have been looking everywhere for you, what are you hanging out with these three losers and my wonderful sister for?" he asked, his usual Malfoy smirk on his face.

"We were talking without you Dray, I know you feel left out and neglected," Pandora said with a smile, trying to pretend like nothing out of the ordinary was going on.

"Right... well, are you coming back or not, Persephone?"

Her eyes stared into his, her lips shut for a very long time. Amazingly, her expression seemed to soften just a bit... but not much... and it certainly didn't take long for her to get it back. "Of course I'll come. What else do I have to do?"

Pandora watched her brother disappear into the crowds with Persephone after Tangaroa was quickly tucked into a pocket in her robe. "I'm not too sure I like that relationship at all..."

"Perhaps it is for the best," Rangi said with a wink. "He can help keep an eye on her in a round-about way."

Pandora nodded. "I guess that's all, girls. Thanks for talking."

Sydney and Holly nodded and went on their way, but Lauren stayed behind, staring at the floor.

"What's wrong, Lauren?"

"Huh?" she asked, as if being brought back from a very deep thought. "Oh... I... I was just waiting to walk back with you!"

Pandora heard the uncertainty and fear in her friend's voice, but knew there was plenty reason for it. "Come on, then, and don't worry. We'll look out for you, Kid."

((It's another shorty, I know. I had to have a few fillers, you know how it goes. But you hadn't met the beasties yet, so it was important! ^_^ ))