The full moon last night had fully recharged the moon guardians. Yue, in turn, had fully energized Celeste through their bond. It was now Sunday afternoon and everyone had decided to go on a picnic in the park. This would be fun but it also gave them plenty of room to fight should Soren attack them today.
Sakura, who wore a pair of dark short, dark pink jean shorts and a light pink shirt with long belled sleeves, a ruffle on the cuffs, and the hem tied up in a knot that showed her belly, walked next to Tomoyo, who wore a pair of dark blue coveralls with a mini-design front; the front flap doesn't come up to her chest, but just above her belly button and then beneath it a yellow and white plaid tube top. Shaoran wore black jeans, sort of baggy but not extremely so, a white muscle shirt that fit rather snuggly and then a dark red, short sleeved silk shirt on over that, unbuttoned with a chinese dragon symbol on the back. Eriol wore a pair of coffee colored khaki's and a blue shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, untucked with the first few buttons undone to reveal a white T-shirt on underneath it. They both carried baskets of food for the outing and Eriol, who up until now had always worn his long dark hair up in a ponytail, had been sweet talked by Tomoyo into wearing it down and the long skeins of blue hair now cascaded down his back to nearly his waist.
Yue, wearing snug white leather pants, a very loose and flowing thin white silk shirt that laced up the front and a dark violet vest over that, walked next to Celeste, who wore a dark green velvet halter top and a pair of black hip hugging pants. Yue's outfit made everyone a little surprised and caused Celeste to remark about how hot he was which made him blush slightly. So far, she was the only one that could make him show his emotions, for not even his mistress had seen him blush this often.
Spinel sat calmly on Eriol's shoulder but Yue was holding Kero firmly in hand. He had already tried several failed attempts to get at the pudding Sakura had made.
The group soon reached a lovely spot of grass on a small hill with a single tree to give them shade. Sakura and Tomoyo got a blanket out of one basket and spread it out under the tree. Eriol and Shaoran set their baskets on the blanket and everyone gathered around.
Sakura and Shaoran sat close together on one side of the blanket and Tomoyo and Eriol sat close to each other on another side of the blanket. Yue sat Indian style on the blanket with his back to the tree and Celeste, not wanting to take up much room on the blanket and knowing that Yue wouldn't eat, just plopped down in his lap. Everyone stifled their laughter at the look on Yue's face but they smiled when he put his arms around her waist and smiled.
Ruby hopped up into the tree and just sat on a branch overlooking the group. Spinel stayed perched on his master's shoulder but Kero made a mad dash for the basket the second Sakura opened it. Shaoran stopped him but got bitten in the process, which made Sakura threaten him with no pudding. Meanwhile, Tomoyo opened the other basket and passed out the sandwiches and salads.
Once most of the food was gone and Kero had gotten his fill, Ruby and he had taken to tormenting Spinel who began to fly as fast as he could and begged his master to get the two psychos away from him. Of course, neither had liked being called psychos and were now chasing him with sugary candies.
Eriol wasn't really paying attention to either of his guardians; his eyes never wavering from Tomoyo as she talked about various things with Sakura, who also had Shaoran's undivided attention. Celeste had her input into the conversation every once in a while and she also had Yue's complete attention.
As the day wore on, the sun sank low on the horizon and on the opposite side; the moon began its ascent into the sky. It was still full enough to give off a lot of energy and the moon guardians loved it.
"We'd better be heading back, it's getting late," Sakura said, once she noticed the darkening of the sky. Everyone helped gather the mess and fold the blanket. Just as the last items were place in the baskets, a resounding BOOM sounded from seemingly nowhere causing everyone to cover their ears.
Looking around quickly, the guardians were the first to spot Soren. He stood at the bottom of the little hill, at the edge of a vast forest, his black robe billowing in the wind. He just stood there, watching them with an amused smirk on his face and turned his back to them, disappearing into the shadows of the trees.
"We have to stay together for the plan to work," Eriol said, tying his hair back before he began following Soren into the shadows, followed closely by the rest of the group.
"Good luck," Tomoyo hollered at their retreating backs. She had agreed not to accompany them after Soren and to run for cover should anything start to happen. She didn't want to possibly be used as a hostage.
As they made their way into the forest, the darkness thickened and it became harder to see for the humans. The guardians could see fine and Ruby Moon led Eriol, Spinel Sun led Shaoran, Keroberus led Sakura, and Yue led Celeste through the thick trees. Eriol would occasionally tell them to change direction, using his other senses to look for Soren's aura.
They soon came to a small clearing and saw Soren standing in the center, with his back to them. It obviously looked to be a trap and they were not about to fall for it. They decided to try and surround him and each person and guardian walked around the clearing, through the woods, to another side of him. Shaoran and Spinel Sun stayed at his back while Sakura, Keroberus, Eriol, and Ruby Moon took either side. Yue and Celeste moved quietly through the forest to stand before him, hiding behind the trees.
Soren stood there for some time, just seeming to stare into the sky, looking at nothing in particular but the stars. He did not even flinch when a fiery blast erupted from behind him, right in the spot where Shaoran and Spinel Sun had been hiding. The blast caused Shaoran to come tumbling out of the trees and Spinel Sun to shoot up into the sky, his wings spreading wide. They did not appear to have sustained any injuries but Shaoran began favoring his right foot. Soren didn't turn around but Shaoran drew his sword and faced the forest.
From the shadows of the forest, what looked to be a man emerged, wearing a blue robe, but his face stayed in the shadows. The moons rays did little to illuminate his features and no one could tell who it was.
Knowing that he already knew they were there, everyone else emerged from the forest, surrounding Soren. Eriol and Sakura used their magic to try and put a shield around him but he floated up into the sky, away from their efforts. From behind Yue, a bright flash of lightning jumped through the air but Celeste felt it in time and lunged at Yue, knocking them both out of the way. The lightning beam continued on and was seemingly caught by Soren.
Yue flew into the air above Celeste as she moved away from the area the lightning had come from. Another man stepped out of the forest, his face still hidden in shadows, wearing a green robe.
Eriol noticed that Ruby Moon's eyes showed surprise as she watched the man in the blue robe. He was curious what she had seen and so he asked, "what is it Ruby? What did you see?"
"H-he looks just like Soren," she stuttered out, causing Eriol to gasp in surprise and look closer and deeper into the shadows at the man in blue.
Sakura called on The Light card to illuminate the clearing and then they noticed that the three men that they were now fighting all looked the same. They all looked like Soren and couldn't be told apart.
The three of them suddenly attacked. The Soren in green fired a dark beam from his hand, straight at Celeste. Yue lifted her up and the two flew above the beam. They continued to dodge the beams as best they could but eventually one of them hit Yue's back causing him to begin a rapid descent to the ground. Using her magic, Celeste slowed their fall and gently set them on the forest floor, several feet away from their attacker, with a tree between them.
The Soren in blue went after Eriol and dodged the red ice shards that Ruby Moon shot his way. He fired a dark beam at them and they deftly evaded it only to be fired at several more times. Ruby kept Soren busy enough to allow Eriol to attack with an ice beam, hitting him at the feet and pinning him in place as well as one arm with ice.
The Soren in black fired lightning at Sakura and she blocked it with The Shield card. Keroberus then opened his mouth and fire poured out, straight at Soren, catching the edge of his robe and igniting it in flames. He scowled and patted at the fire trying to put it out, but this made him lose his concentration and allowed Sakura time to use The Wood card. Once he had the flames out and straightened back up to ready an attack, branches came out of the woods and surrounded him, grabbing his arms and legs and holding him tightly.
Meanwhile, Shaoran just looked on, his ankle was in immense pain, not like he would ever admit it hurt. Spinel Sun flew at the Soren in green, claws extended, and stopped the attack from attempting to hit Yue and Celeste. Given the distraction, Celeste called on her own powers and caused the ground below him to rise and trap him within the dirt, holding him on the spot.
Everyone stepped forward and Sakura rushed to Shaoran's side asking him if he was all right and if he needed anything. He, of course, said he was fine but he leaned a little on Sakura just to take some of the weight off of his sore foot.
Yue leaned on Celeste a little bit and limped his way over as well, his wings hanging limply on his back. Celeste was very worried for him but even more worried about their present predicament. How were they going to tell which Soren was the real one?
"There has to be some way to tell them apart," Celeste said, a worried tone evident in her voice. "We can't do anything until we find out which is the real Soren."
"Sakura," Eriol said, "you have a card that can help us."
"I do?" Sakura questioned in a confused voice. Comprehension soon dawned on her and she said, "Oh, right, that card."
Sakura released The Libra card and it floated above each Soren before choosing the Soren in black as being the true Soren. The real Soren scowled and his eyes turned black in his rage. His power grew and expanded until he shattered the branched holding him in place until they were nothing more but twigs. His power caused the other two Soren's to disintegrate into dust.
"We have to say the spell now," Eriol yelled out.
"Right!" Celeste and Sakura hollered back and the three of them surrounded Soren, keeping a safe distance away, and began to say the spell.
Before they could finish Soren, they had to remove the curse that he had placed on Rakesh's soul that kept it from moving on. The spell that Eriol had found would turn the curse back upon the person who said the curse and would therefore free Celeste's soul.
Just as they had ended the spell, Soren practically exploded with energy and it surrounded him, giving him the appearance of glowing. At the same time, energy from the three magicians shot out at him, making him scream in pain.
Soren felt as though his body and soul were being torn apart from the inside. Once the pain ebbed away, he growled and unleashed a very powerful energy beam, straight at Celeste. Unfortunately, everyone was quite weak from the large amount of energy that had been used and Celeste barely moved out of the way of the beam.
Soren was even more enraged by the fact that she dodged his attack and made his next attempt. In his rage, he completely forgot about the others, and focused his entire attention on Celeste. He wanted her dead more than anything and, at the moment, his mind thought of nothing else. This was a bad move.
Spinel Sun flew at him from behind but bounced off of the energy surrounding him. Ruby Moon and Keroberus fired their own weapons but nothing got through the barrier. Sakura and Eriol were to weak to try anything at the moment and were on the ground, trying to get enough energy to help.
Soren concentrated on his intended target and extended his arms, all the while he began to chant a spell. He aimed straight at Celeste and fired the strongest beam he could, using most of his energy in the process.
Celeste pulled energy from every part of her body as well as the energy from Yue that she could obtain through the bond to for a shield against the energy beam heading straight for her. It was too immense to dodge and there was no where to run from it.
The beam hit her, much to everyone's dismay, and she flew back into a tree, landing hard on the ground below it. Soren collapsed to his knees and then he hit the ground with a thud, his form not moving except to breath.
Yue practically crawled over to Celeste, his energy almost completely gone but for the moon shining down on them all, replenishing him slowly. He saw that Celeste was still breathing and carefully, being wary of any injuries, picked her up into his arms, holding her against his chest.
"Celeste," he whispered, looking into her face for any signs that she heard him.
Celeste could hear a voice through the darkness that seemed to surround her. She carefully opened her eyes but her vision was slightly hazy and all she saw was a white blur. The blur soon began to come into focus and she smiled up at the angelic face that greeted her.
"Yue," she whispered and then winced as pain laced through her body. It hurt to talk or do anything for that matter.
Yue noticed her wince and asked, "Are you all right?"
"I don't know," she replied truthfully. She remembered how much pain Rakesh had been in when he had died and this felt somewhat similar but not quite as painful. "I just need to rest."
Yue smiled at her, knowing that she wouldn't leave him like Rakesh had. He picked her up and held her in his arms, enough strength returning to him from the moon to allow him to do so, and walked back to the others.
Shaoran and Sakura held onto each other, each of them trying to keep the other standing, and Eriol was between his guardians, using each of them to hold himself up. They all looked down at Soren and Keroberus asked, "what do we do with him now?"
"I have an idea," Eriol said, his infamous smirk crossing his features.