**usual disclaimers apply**
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A MAGICIAN'S CURSE
by Yumemi
~Chapter 30~
Sakura stood up, all ready for battle. She looked at the card that she
held in her hand. "Hope." She murmured and smiled. "Hope." She held the
card close to her heart and then put it back on her deck. She then drew
The Lock. "Lock card, release and dispel!" Sakura locked the ropes that
bound the two beings and especially the part where the ropes bound the
mouth.
Everyone turned to see where the new voice had come from. They saw
Sakura - in a very different light. She looked formidable and powerful
- just like when she faced the final enemy during the war.
Saehri smiled at the sight of her - strong like before. "I see your
back, card mistress." She greeted.
Sakura smiled back. "I am too." She then looked at Wu. "I see we have
some unfinished business to do."
Ruriko smiled at her. "Why don't we all work together to defeat this
trash?" she said.
"Sounds good to me." Selphie replied, appearing a few strides behind
Wu along with the others.
All heads nodded in agreement.
Wu smirked despite of her situation. "You think you can defeat me? Try
and get me!" and she immediately jumped away, sending them a few energy
balls while at it.
Yukino raised a hand and blizzards of ice blasted the balls of energy
in the air before they could reach them.
Ruriko looked at the others. "You keep her busy while I will heal
Saehri. I believe that she's the only one who can end her life." She
said.
"Not so true." Saehri replied, "But I am needed."
Everyone just smiled at her and then ran towards Wu's direction. Only
Yukino stayed behind with them.
Shun started the blasting by sending some Vacuum Missiles on Wu's way.
Then, Squall followed with a few hacks and slashes, which were
effectively parried by Wu. Selphie tried to use The End spell on her
but it didn't work. Irvine shot a few rounds, missing Wu by only a few
micro millimeters since she was a fast-moving target. Unknowingly, Wu
had been drawing Rinoa's energy, thus slowly healing herself.
*It would only take a few minutes…* she thought.
Squall then cast reflect and protect on Rinoa, worrying about her
safety and unknowingly stopping the flow of energy from Rinoa to Wu.
Sakura then summoned her Tree Card to try and restraint her but Wu
broke free afterwards. Wu then sends some energy balls along their way.
"SILEO!!" Wu shouted, casting a silencing and paralyzing spell that
hit Irvine.
Selphie was by Irvine's side the next minute, trying to de-silence and
de-paralyze him. "Squall! Our curative spells and potions won't work!"
Squall stopped while the others continued chasing and fighting Wu.
"Bring him to Ruriko. She may be able to heal him!" Selphie obeyed
immediately, casting a float spell on Irvine and dragging him towards
Ruriko.
"Arrow! Release and dispel!" she shouted, summoning the Arrow and
letting its destructive arrows hit their mark. Wu barely managed to escape.
Wu breathed heavily. The healing process had taken longer than she had
anticipated and her wounds weren't getting any better. Her healing
magics weren't like theirs, since she was already a living dead - a
secret that no one knew. Her healing magic required an object from
which to suck life from, and it was very difficult to find a target
helpless enough to allow her to get enough life from. All other people
were already evacuated, so it wasn't po - but then again, something
caught her attention.
It was a little boy. He was hiding behind a bush, possibly overlooked
during the evacuation and chaos. *It will have to do.* she thought,
speedily picking up the little kid, making it scream in terror.
"Hold on!" Sakura called. "She's got a hostage."
All of them stopped.
"Hey! Put down that little kid, you coward!" Shun shouted.
"Put down such a tasty little piece of morsel?" Wu said, "I don't
think so." All at once, she sucked the life force from the little kid,
draining its energy like one sucking an orange. The little kid withered
at once, like a juice bag whose content had already been sucked out.
Sakura and the others cringed as Wu finished her energizing drink and
revitalized herself.
Shun raised his Super Bokutou and shouted, "I'll never forgive you,
you witch! Ultra Whirlwind Slash!"
Squall followed his lead. "Ultima!"
"Fiery, release and dispel!" Sakura shouted.
Their spell combined and became an ultimate fiery whirlwind that only
managed to blast Wu back and scratch her a bit.
"Pathetic." Wu said, dusting herself off, "simply pathetic."
"Shoot! She wasn't even hacked or slashed or anything!" Shun shouted.
Wu laughed and blasted them with a couple of medium-sized energy
balls. If it wasn't for Sakura's shield card, they would have been hit
hard. Shun stood up, furious. Squall dusted himself off while Sakura
returned the Shield card to the deck.
"Shoot! What do we do now?" Shun asked.
"I suggest that you let Sakura do all the hacking." Another voice
said. The trio turned to see Saehri and Yukino arriving.
"What happened to Irvine?" Squall asked.
Saehri frowned. "I'm afraid only killing Wu would heal him. Ruriko's
power only manages to slow down the worst effects." She said.
Sakura approached Saehri and asked, "What do you mean I do all the
hacking?"
"Only you can do much damage to her. I need Squall, Shun and Yukino
here." She said, placing a hand on Yukino's shoulders.
Just as they were talking, a great roar of a dragon was heard and
chaos started once again. They looked around to see Wu riding on the
now unbound dragon.
"How…?" Sakura asked, puzzled.
"She's older and knows a lot more spells than you do, Sakura. It's
easy to break your spells. You aren't strong enough yet and now that
she's flying around, we have to hurry. We'll back you up with our
powers." Saehri explained, "I'll start the chant. You guys," turning
to Shun, Squall and Yukino, "don't need to do anything except release
you powers okay?" they nodded in response.
Just then, a blast of fire scorched the cement a couple of meters
away from them.
Saehri acted quickly and drew out a card. She threw the card in the
air and said a single word, "Freeze!" all at once everything froze,
even Sakura and the others. At that moment, Saehri duplicated the
symbol that was located on the back of each Clow card.
Then, the spell wore off and a blast for fire was released at them.
Fortunately for them, Yukino acted quickly and sent a blizzard of
snow, easing the scorching a bit.
"Darn…" Shun said.
"…" said the ever-silent Squall.
"Go, Sakura!" Saehri urged her.
Sakura darted away, running towards the beast-riding Wu. "They say
music soothes the savage beast…" Sakura murmured, "…let's test the
theory now." And at once she drew her Song card. The song came out,
listening for a sound. Then suddenly, the Song sang a strange song…
"Excitate vow e somno, liberi mei.
Cunae non sunt.
Excitate vow e somno, liberi fatali.
Somnus non eat."
…Wake up from your dream, my children.
There is no cradle.
Wake up from your dreams, fated children.
The dream is not going…
All heads turned, and even Wu and the dragon stopped to look at the
Song. Sakura knew that the song only mimicked a song it hears and she
was planning to sing a lullaby. Who was singing this strange song?
"Surgite.
Invenite hortum veritatis."
…Arise.
Discover the truth of the Garden…
The young Zell trapped within the body of the dragon, opened a single
blue eye…
"Ardente veritate
Urite mala mundi.
Ardente veritate
Incendite tenebras mundi."
…Burn with truth
Scorch the world of evil.
Burn with truth
Set fire to the world of darkness…
Saehri took her time and continued her ventriloquism beside the
song's ear and sang on. She was the one who sang. Someone was singing
it to her deep inside her mind. This person knew Zell very well but
Saehri had no idea who it was. Ignoring the questions forming inside
her head, Saehri shook the others back to reality and made them
release their powers as she chanted a spell.
"Valete, liberi,
Diebus fatalibus."
…Goodbye, children,
From the days of destiny.
Sakura didn't notice that the song was actually over until she
noticed the Song right in front of her. She returned her to her card
form and stared at it for a while. Where had it learned Latin?
Wu mentally scolded herself for being drawn to that strange song. Who
sang it? Why did it move her so? What language was that? All questions
bugged her mind but one remained the most mind-boggling: why did it
affect the dragon? Somehow, she felt the change, like something
awakening from within. She wondered what it was but then set it aside
for later. First things first but as she ordered the dragon to move,
it did not obey. Instead, it just stayed right there, floating. Wu got
off it and floated before its eyes. They were glassy and staring off
to space.
"What…?" she asked herself, knowing that she wouldn't find an answer.
Then, she fumed. "Blast it!" she shouted, then floated back down and
faced Sakura.
Saehri noticed Wu heading towards Sakura and decided to hurry even
more. Time was running out for them.
"Well now, card mistress. It seems that you have overcome my beast.
It now time for us to face one another." Wu said.
Sakura looked at her, undaunted. "Well said." At once Sakura jumped
away, summoning the Arrow card and blasting its full fury at Wu.
Wu avoided the shots easily enough and reciprocated Sakura's first
blow with twice the amount of firepower. She barely hit Sakura, who
was running around and jumping everywhere to become a harder target.
Sakura then summoned her sword card and immediately attacked Wu, who
barely - but still managed to - parry her attack.
"Very quick, card mistress." Wu said.
Sakura smiled. "I've been practicing."
Meanwhile, back to where Saehri and the others are, Saehri's cards
surrounded them and circled about them as Squall, Yukino and Shun
released their powers and Saehri chanted on. Suddenly, all four were
surrounded by light, creating four pillars of light that caught the
attention of Sakura and Wu.
"Drats you, Saehri!" Wu muttered. She then left Sakura to attack them
but then she fell unconscious.
"What the…?" Sakura said.
"I only sent her to her past. I know you wouldn't be able to stop
her." Ellone's voice said from behind. Sakura turned around to thank
her - she was looking very tired. "don't thank me yet" she said, "Wu's
still alive and I could only hold her there for a short time - if she
doesn't fight back - and who knows when those four are going to
finish?"
"How are Irvine and the others?" Sakura asked.
"He's fine." Ellone replied, "But I'm afraid Ruriko can't hold it off
any longer." She said sadly.
Just then, Ellone collapsed on the floor, breathing heavily.
Sakura immediately kneeled beside her and asked, "Ellone! What's
wrong?"
"S-she's trying t-to be free! Sh-she's fighting back!" Ellone gasped.
Sakura looked at the jerking body of Wu and faced Ellone again. "Let
her go, Ellone. I can take care of her." Ellone looked at her
questioningly and just smiled. Then she fainted.
Wu woke up screaming in rage. "Foolish little girl!"
Sakura stood up and faced Wu. Just as they were about to fight, a
loud roar was heard. Sakura and Wu looked at the enraged dragon,
jerking around and now causing more chaos. It broke free from the
Garden though its roof and flew, spewing flames everywhere.
"Sakura! Now!" Saehri suddenly shouted, "draw all your cards!"
Sakura looked at Saehri, puzzled. But she did as she was told and
drew out all her cards. All at once a beam of light was released from
Saehri's hand and entered Sakura's body. She felt warm all over and
felt herself getting stronger.
Wu, just stared, still surprised by what had just happened.
"Sakura! Summon all of your cards!" Saehri shouted once again. Sakura
did as was told.
But then, the dragon broke in the Garden again, still spewing fourth
fire. A scream was heard from far away and a sound of spells being
blasted. The sounds of fire burning though combustible items filled
the area as the dragon raged on.
Shun, Squall and Yukino fell on the floor exhausted. Saehri stood up
by her last strength, holding on to it with grim determination. She
cast a spell of protection over herself and the others, protecting
them from the fire. She then ventured forward towards Sakura, the
others still too tired to stop her.
All of Sakura's cards whirled around her, faster and faster until
they seemed to form a pink glowing ring around her. Fire rained down
on Sakura but the cards kept her safe, shielding her with their
combined powers. Then the dragon stopped before her, staring at her
intently. And while that happened, all the cards met and combined into
a single, white and black glowing card. Sakura opened her eyes and did
not notice the dragon but the card.
Wu stared at the card as well.
Saehri arrived at the scene, just to see Sakura get hold of the card.
It was an odd card, unlike anything that Sakura has seen before. Both
sides were painted with a figure with a proper name. And it was
properly colored, unlike the original Clow cards whose figures were
colored an old yellow-orange mix with violet on the background, or
like Saehri's card which was silver in color, or her cards which were
all pink. On one side, the frame of the card was just like the
Original Clow deck - same with the colors of brown and gold with all
the appropriate designs. The figure drawn here was a woman with wavy
golden hair that flowed around her and sparkling green eyes.
Sakura stared again.
She wasn't hallucinating. Her eyes were open and they were green -
very unlike the cards that she'd known whose female figure's eyes were
always closed.
Then, this figure had pink lips forming a smile. Her skin was fair
and she was very beautiful. She wore a white, simple off-shoulder
dress, lined with gold and whose sleeves reached her wrists. A large
golden, diamond-studded sun medallion was chained around her neck, and
little golden stars decorated her loose and flowing skirt. She was
holding a blossom-filled cherry blossom branch on both hands. Her
background was sky-blue sky filled with clouds and below her the word
"Life" was inscribed.
"Sakura," Saehri called her, "look." She said, motioning her to look
at the other side.
The face on the other side of the card struck true fear in her heart.
The frame color was that of Saehri's deck which was a silver and dark
blue theme. It was a picture of a pale-skinned woman with blood-red
lips and piercing ice-blue eyes. Nothing much was to be seen of her,
since she was wearing a black hood and cape that covered most of her
body but Sakura figured that she was wearing something long-sleeved
since her hands, which was holding a glaive, was covered until the
wrists. Around her neck was chained a quarter moon, whose other side -
which in a real quarter moon isn't supposed to be seen - was placed a
large piece of dark-red garnet, making it a whole circle. She had a
dark, lighting-streaked sky and the word "Death" was inscribed below
her.
"What is that?" Wu suddenly said.
Saehri faced her and said, "My brother called it 'The Crossroads', I
call it 'The Card of Life and Death'. Both our decks had one of those.
It can only be summoned if one has enough power and energy - and if
the situation demands it. It is the most powerful card in the deck,
more powerful than the Light and Dark cards." She stopped for a while.
"It is the only two-sided card and it can only be used two ways: just
one side or both."
"Both?" Sakura asked.
Saehri nodded. "Yes. It is very dangerous when used both. As you can
see, it is a double-sided card, it has no back part. If you used only
one side, you will never be able to use the other side as you will be
drained of most of your energy and the deck will then separate again.
On the other hand, if you use both, while one side if affected by
death, the other is affected by life. Be careful of what you choose."
She said.
Wu smiled. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. Such a hard decision isn't it? You think
you can handle it?"
Just then, a soft growling sound was heard and the once-forgotten
dragon was noticed again. Sakura jumped back and staggered a bit. The
dragon looked straight into her eyes.
…just do what you have to do…
Sakura looked around, looking from where the voice came from and
suddenly, she realized that it was from the dragon. Tears filled her
eyes to the thought that Zell's original self was back - though not
physically. Sakura was about to ask help from Saehri when she sees
that she was lying on the ground.
"Saehri!" she shouts.
No reply.
Wu laughed. "No hope. Life or Death?" she asked tauntingly.
The dragon placed itself behind Sakura and they both faced Wu. Sakura
was about to summon the Fiery when she remembered that she couldn't.
She looked at Wu with determination. "Life AND Death!" she shouted,
and she threw the card up high and summoned both sides, with the Death
facing Wu.
"Life and Death! Release and Dispel!"
___________________________________________________________________
ahh yes, let's not forget the epilogue shall we?...
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A MAGICIAN'S CURSE
by Yumemi
~Chapter 30~
Sakura stood up, all ready for battle. She looked at the card that she
held in her hand. "Hope." She murmured and smiled. "Hope." She held the
card close to her heart and then put it back on her deck. She then drew
The Lock. "Lock card, release and dispel!" Sakura locked the ropes that
bound the two beings and especially the part where the ropes bound the
mouth.
Everyone turned to see where the new voice had come from. They saw
Sakura - in a very different light. She looked formidable and powerful
- just like when she faced the final enemy during the war.
Saehri smiled at the sight of her - strong like before. "I see your
back, card mistress." She greeted.
Sakura smiled back. "I am too." She then looked at Wu. "I see we have
some unfinished business to do."
Ruriko smiled at her. "Why don't we all work together to defeat this
trash?" she said.
"Sounds good to me." Selphie replied, appearing a few strides behind
Wu along with the others.
All heads nodded in agreement.
Wu smirked despite of her situation. "You think you can defeat me? Try
and get me!" and she immediately jumped away, sending them a few energy
balls while at it.
Yukino raised a hand and blizzards of ice blasted the balls of energy
in the air before they could reach them.
Ruriko looked at the others. "You keep her busy while I will heal
Saehri. I believe that she's the only one who can end her life." She
said.
"Not so true." Saehri replied, "But I am needed."
Everyone just smiled at her and then ran towards Wu's direction. Only
Yukino stayed behind with them.
Shun started the blasting by sending some Vacuum Missiles on Wu's way.
Then, Squall followed with a few hacks and slashes, which were
effectively parried by Wu. Selphie tried to use The End spell on her
but it didn't work. Irvine shot a few rounds, missing Wu by only a few
micro millimeters since she was a fast-moving target. Unknowingly, Wu
had been drawing Rinoa's energy, thus slowly healing herself.
*It would only take a few minutes…* she thought.
Squall then cast reflect and protect on Rinoa, worrying about her
safety and unknowingly stopping the flow of energy from Rinoa to Wu.
Sakura then summoned her Tree Card to try and restraint her but Wu
broke free afterwards. Wu then sends some energy balls along their way.
"SILEO!!" Wu shouted, casting a silencing and paralyzing spell that
hit Irvine.
Selphie was by Irvine's side the next minute, trying to de-silence and
de-paralyze him. "Squall! Our curative spells and potions won't work!"
Squall stopped while the others continued chasing and fighting Wu.
"Bring him to Ruriko. She may be able to heal him!" Selphie obeyed
immediately, casting a float spell on Irvine and dragging him towards
Ruriko.
"Arrow! Release and dispel!" she shouted, summoning the Arrow and
letting its destructive arrows hit their mark. Wu barely managed to escape.
Wu breathed heavily. The healing process had taken longer than she had
anticipated and her wounds weren't getting any better. Her healing
magics weren't like theirs, since she was already a living dead - a
secret that no one knew. Her healing magic required an object from
which to suck life from, and it was very difficult to find a target
helpless enough to allow her to get enough life from. All other people
were already evacuated, so it wasn't po - but then again, something
caught her attention.
It was a little boy. He was hiding behind a bush, possibly overlooked
during the evacuation and chaos. *It will have to do.* she thought,
speedily picking up the little kid, making it scream in terror.
"Hold on!" Sakura called. "She's got a hostage."
All of them stopped.
"Hey! Put down that little kid, you coward!" Shun shouted.
"Put down such a tasty little piece of morsel?" Wu said, "I don't
think so." All at once, she sucked the life force from the little kid,
draining its energy like one sucking an orange. The little kid withered
at once, like a juice bag whose content had already been sucked out.
Sakura and the others cringed as Wu finished her energizing drink and
revitalized herself.
Shun raised his Super Bokutou and shouted, "I'll never forgive you,
you witch! Ultra Whirlwind Slash!"
Squall followed his lead. "Ultima!"
"Fiery, release and dispel!" Sakura shouted.
Their spell combined and became an ultimate fiery whirlwind that only
managed to blast Wu back and scratch her a bit.
"Pathetic." Wu said, dusting herself off, "simply pathetic."
"Shoot! She wasn't even hacked or slashed or anything!" Shun shouted.
Wu laughed and blasted them with a couple of medium-sized energy
balls. If it wasn't for Sakura's shield card, they would have been hit
hard. Shun stood up, furious. Squall dusted himself off while Sakura
returned the Shield card to the deck.
"Shoot! What do we do now?" Shun asked.
"I suggest that you let Sakura do all the hacking." Another voice
said. The trio turned to see Saehri and Yukino arriving.
"What happened to Irvine?" Squall asked.
Saehri frowned. "I'm afraid only killing Wu would heal him. Ruriko's
power only manages to slow down the worst effects." She said.
Sakura approached Saehri and asked, "What do you mean I do all the
hacking?"
"Only you can do much damage to her. I need Squall, Shun and Yukino
here." She said, placing a hand on Yukino's shoulders.
Just as they were talking, a great roar of a dragon was heard and
chaos started once again. They looked around to see Wu riding on the
now unbound dragon.
"How…?" Sakura asked, puzzled.
"She's older and knows a lot more spells than you do, Sakura. It's
easy to break your spells. You aren't strong enough yet and now that
she's flying around, we have to hurry. We'll back you up with our
powers." Saehri explained, "I'll start the chant. You guys," turning
to Shun, Squall and Yukino, "don't need to do anything except release
you powers okay?" they nodded in response.
Just then, a blast of fire scorched the cement a couple of meters
away from them.
Saehri acted quickly and drew out a card. She threw the card in the
air and said a single word, "Freeze!" all at once everything froze,
even Sakura and the others. At that moment, Saehri duplicated the
symbol that was located on the back of each Clow card.
Then, the spell wore off and a blast for fire was released at them.
Fortunately for them, Yukino acted quickly and sent a blizzard of
snow, easing the scorching a bit.
"Darn…" Shun said.
"…" said the ever-silent Squall.
"Go, Sakura!" Saehri urged her.
Sakura darted away, running towards the beast-riding Wu. "They say
music soothes the savage beast…" Sakura murmured, "…let's test the
theory now." And at once she drew her Song card. The song came out,
listening for a sound. Then suddenly, the Song sang a strange song…
"Excitate vow e somno, liberi mei.
Cunae non sunt.
Excitate vow e somno, liberi fatali.
Somnus non eat."
…Wake up from your dream, my children.
There is no cradle.
Wake up from your dreams, fated children.
The dream is not going…
All heads turned, and even Wu and the dragon stopped to look at the
Song. Sakura knew that the song only mimicked a song it hears and she
was planning to sing a lullaby. Who was singing this strange song?
"Surgite.
Invenite hortum veritatis."
…Arise.
Discover the truth of the Garden…
The young Zell trapped within the body of the dragon, opened a single
blue eye…
"Ardente veritate
Urite mala mundi.
Ardente veritate
Incendite tenebras mundi."
…Burn with truth
Scorch the world of evil.
Burn with truth
Set fire to the world of darkness…
Saehri took her time and continued her ventriloquism beside the
song's ear and sang on. She was the one who sang. Someone was singing
it to her deep inside her mind. This person knew Zell very well but
Saehri had no idea who it was. Ignoring the questions forming inside
her head, Saehri shook the others back to reality and made them
release their powers as she chanted a spell.
"Valete, liberi,
Diebus fatalibus."
…Goodbye, children,
From the days of destiny.
Sakura didn't notice that the song was actually over until she
noticed the Song right in front of her. She returned her to her card
form and stared at it for a while. Where had it learned Latin?
Wu mentally scolded herself for being drawn to that strange song. Who
sang it? Why did it move her so? What language was that? All questions
bugged her mind but one remained the most mind-boggling: why did it
affect the dragon? Somehow, she felt the change, like something
awakening from within. She wondered what it was but then set it aside
for later. First things first but as she ordered the dragon to move,
it did not obey. Instead, it just stayed right there, floating. Wu got
off it and floated before its eyes. They were glassy and staring off
to space.
"What…?" she asked herself, knowing that she wouldn't find an answer.
Then, she fumed. "Blast it!" she shouted, then floated back down and
faced Sakura.
Saehri noticed Wu heading towards Sakura and decided to hurry even
more. Time was running out for them.
"Well now, card mistress. It seems that you have overcome my beast.
It now time for us to face one another." Wu said.
Sakura looked at her, undaunted. "Well said." At once Sakura jumped
away, summoning the Arrow card and blasting its full fury at Wu.
Wu avoided the shots easily enough and reciprocated Sakura's first
blow with twice the amount of firepower. She barely hit Sakura, who
was running around and jumping everywhere to become a harder target.
Sakura then summoned her sword card and immediately attacked Wu, who
barely - but still managed to - parry her attack.
"Very quick, card mistress." Wu said.
Sakura smiled. "I've been practicing."
Meanwhile, back to where Saehri and the others are, Saehri's cards
surrounded them and circled about them as Squall, Yukino and Shun
released their powers and Saehri chanted on. Suddenly, all four were
surrounded by light, creating four pillars of light that caught the
attention of Sakura and Wu.
"Drats you, Saehri!" Wu muttered. She then left Sakura to attack them
but then she fell unconscious.
"What the…?" Sakura said.
"I only sent her to her past. I know you wouldn't be able to stop
her." Ellone's voice said from behind. Sakura turned around to thank
her - she was looking very tired. "don't thank me yet" she said, "Wu's
still alive and I could only hold her there for a short time - if she
doesn't fight back - and who knows when those four are going to
finish?"
"How are Irvine and the others?" Sakura asked.
"He's fine." Ellone replied, "But I'm afraid Ruriko can't hold it off
any longer." She said sadly.
Just then, Ellone collapsed on the floor, breathing heavily.
Sakura immediately kneeled beside her and asked, "Ellone! What's
wrong?"
"S-she's trying t-to be free! Sh-she's fighting back!" Ellone gasped.
Sakura looked at the jerking body of Wu and faced Ellone again. "Let
her go, Ellone. I can take care of her." Ellone looked at her
questioningly and just smiled. Then she fainted.
Wu woke up screaming in rage. "Foolish little girl!"
Sakura stood up and faced Wu. Just as they were about to fight, a
loud roar was heard. Sakura and Wu looked at the enraged dragon,
jerking around and now causing more chaos. It broke free from the
Garden though its roof and flew, spewing flames everywhere.
"Sakura! Now!" Saehri suddenly shouted, "draw all your cards!"
Sakura looked at Saehri, puzzled. But she did as she was told and
drew out all her cards. All at once a beam of light was released from
Saehri's hand and entered Sakura's body. She felt warm all over and
felt herself getting stronger.
Wu, just stared, still surprised by what had just happened.
"Sakura! Summon all of your cards!" Saehri shouted once again. Sakura
did as was told.
But then, the dragon broke in the Garden again, still spewing fourth
fire. A scream was heard from far away and a sound of spells being
blasted. The sounds of fire burning though combustible items filled
the area as the dragon raged on.
Shun, Squall and Yukino fell on the floor exhausted. Saehri stood up
by her last strength, holding on to it with grim determination. She
cast a spell of protection over herself and the others, protecting
them from the fire. She then ventured forward towards Sakura, the
others still too tired to stop her.
All of Sakura's cards whirled around her, faster and faster until
they seemed to form a pink glowing ring around her. Fire rained down
on Sakura but the cards kept her safe, shielding her with their
combined powers. Then the dragon stopped before her, staring at her
intently. And while that happened, all the cards met and combined into
a single, white and black glowing card. Sakura opened her eyes and did
not notice the dragon but the card.
Wu stared at the card as well.
Saehri arrived at the scene, just to see Sakura get hold of the card.
It was an odd card, unlike anything that Sakura has seen before. Both
sides were painted with a figure with a proper name. And it was
properly colored, unlike the original Clow cards whose figures were
colored an old yellow-orange mix with violet on the background, or
like Saehri's card which was silver in color, or her cards which were
all pink. On one side, the frame of the card was just like the
Original Clow deck - same with the colors of brown and gold with all
the appropriate designs. The figure drawn here was a woman with wavy
golden hair that flowed around her and sparkling green eyes.
Sakura stared again.
She wasn't hallucinating. Her eyes were open and they were green -
very unlike the cards that she'd known whose female figure's eyes were
always closed.
Then, this figure had pink lips forming a smile. Her skin was fair
and she was very beautiful. She wore a white, simple off-shoulder
dress, lined with gold and whose sleeves reached her wrists. A large
golden, diamond-studded sun medallion was chained around her neck, and
little golden stars decorated her loose and flowing skirt. She was
holding a blossom-filled cherry blossom branch on both hands. Her
background was sky-blue sky filled with clouds and below her the word
"Life" was inscribed.
"Sakura," Saehri called her, "look." She said, motioning her to look
at the other side.
The face on the other side of the card struck true fear in her heart.
The frame color was that of Saehri's deck which was a silver and dark
blue theme. It was a picture of a pale-skinned woman with blood-red
lips and piercing ice-blue eyes. Nothing much was to be seen of her,
since she was wearing a black hood and cape that covered most of her
body but Sakura figured that she was wearing something long-sleeved
since her hands, which was holding a glaive, was covered until the
wrists. Around her neck was chained a quarter moon, whose other side -
which in a real quarter moon isn't supposed to be seen - was placed a
large piece of dark-red garnet, making it a whole circle. She had a
dark, lighting-streaked sky and the word "Death" was inscribed below
her.
"What is that?" Wu suddenly said.
Saehri faced her and said, "My brother called it 'The Crossroads', I
call it 'The Card of Life and Death'. Both our decks had one of those.
It can only be summoned if one has enough power and energy - and if
the situation demands it. It is the most powerful card in the deck,
more powerful than the Light and Dark cards." She stopped for a while.
"It is the only two-sided card and it can only be used two ways: just
one side or both."
"Both?" Sakura asked.
Saehri nodded. "Yes. It is very dangerous when used both. As you can
see, it is a double-sided card, it has no back part. If you used only
one side, you will never be able to use the other side as you will be
drained of most of your energy and the deck will then separate again.
On the other hand, if you use both, while one side if affected by
death, the other is affected by life. Be careful of what you choose."
She said.
Wu smiled. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. Such a hard decision isn't it? You think
you can handle it?"
Just then, a soft growling sound was heard and the once-forgotten
dragon was noticed again. Sakura jumped back and staggered a bit. The
dragon looked straight into her eyes.
…just do what you have to do…
Sakura looked around, looking from where the voice came from and
suddenly, she realized that it was from the dragon. Tears filled her
eyes to the thought that Zell's original self was back - though not
physically. Sakura was about to ask help from Saehri when she sees
that she was lying on the ground.
"Saehri!" she shouts.
No reply.
Wu laughed. "No hope. Life or Death?" she asked tauntingly.
The dragon placed itself behind Sakura and they both faced Wu. Sakura
was about to summon the Fiery when she remembered that she couldn't.
She looked at Wu with determination. "Life AND Death!" she shouted,
and she threw the card up high and summoned both sides, with the Death
facing Wu.
"Life and Death! Release and Dispel!"
___________________________________________________________________
ahh yes, let's not forget the epilogue shall we?...
