Chapter 8

"SAKURA!!! NO!!!!" Syaoran cried as Sakura was drawn up into the clouds. The air pressure was beginning to return to normal, and breathing was already getting easier. Obviously whatever had come for Sakura was taking its leave.

"SAKURA-SAMA!!!" the guardians called after her. Syaoran fell to his knees, unable to believe what he just saw. Eriol was shocked as well.

"Sakura-chan," Tomoyo whispered. Her hand was covering her mouth, as she stood in the corner of the room, frozen in place.

Suddenly, a yellow beam of light shot out towards the closing porthole. The group gasped as the porthole was widened by the beam, and the sky was illuminated with its glow. Mesmerized, the group could only watch as Sakura was slowly transported down from the clouds through the beam of light.

"WHO DARES INTRUDE ON ME?" asked the loud and angry voice from the clouds. Lighting flashed and the thunder roared as he spoke, and once more the sky darkened as before. Sakura continued to travel down the beam of light despite all this. Her screams and cries of help had stopped, and she descended soundlessly to the ground, under the shadow of… the guardian.

"It is I, Seika," said the guardian as the group turned to look at the flying being outside the mansion. She was glowing brightly in all her glory. The beam of light was coming from her outstretched hands. Her face was contorted in anger and concentration as she glared at the sky. "YOU are the one who killed Clow aren't you?" she asked.

A booming laughter shook throughout the sky, and the clouds flashed with lighting and claps of thunder. "YES," said the voice, "I AM THE ONE WHO KILLED CLOW! I, THE GREAT AND MIGHTY, AKUMA-SAMA!!!"

Then unexpectedly, the beam of light stopped, and the sky roared with its triumph. Seika was very still, but Eriol could see she was flinching, and her hands were curled tightly into fists. "You killed him… so it was you…" she whispered, so soft that Eriol had trouble making out exactly what she said. Silence followed, and the sky roared again with evil laugher.

"DIE AKUMA!!!!" Seika screamed suddenly, stretching her arms at the porthole again, and out from her hands a large power orb shot towards the sky. The moment the orb hit the clouds, it dispersed them, and the ground and air shuddered at the sound waves that echoed with the impact. "MURDERER!" She cried. "YOU KILLED THEM ALL!" Tears were streaming fiercely down her face, as she shot orbs after orbs of magic at the sky. Yue saw the tears.

"AHHhhhhh!!!" yelled the voice, as the clouds moved aside to reveal a black shadowy figure in retreat. "You got rid of me this time, Seika, and you may have taken the card Mistress. But you can be sure that I'LL COME BACK FOR HER!" and with that the shadow disappeared. The sky brightened instantly as if nothing had happened. The sun was just beginning to set.

Seika landed gracefully beside the collapsed figure of Sakura, and knelt down beside her. "Sakura!!! … Sakura-chan… Sakura!" called the running figures of Syaoran, Eriol, Tomoyo, and the guardians as they came out of the house towards her.

"Sakura!!!" Syaoran lifted her head to look at him. She didn't respond, and her eyes remained closed. "SAKURA!!" he shook her, panicking.

"Daijoubu," said a gentle voice. Syaoran turned to see Seika smiling at him. "She's just sleeping," she said, brushing the hair away from Sakura's face. "She'll awaken in time."

Syaoran nodded, carrying the limp Sakura up in his arms as he stood up. "Are you sure she's ok?" asked Tomoyo who as usual, had her video camera in hand and was taking a close-up shoot of the unconscious Sakura.

Seika smiled. "Yes, she's fine." She turned to look at Eriol. He was staring at her wordlessly.

"We better get back in. Sakura-san may need some medical attention," he said, turning to speak to everyone. Summoning his sun staff, he transported Syaoran, Tomoyo and himself back into the house. The guardians flew behind them.

Yue thought about the mysterious Akuma as he flew, and how Seika had responded to him so… violently. He couldn't remember Clow being killed. So how come she did? He turned behind him to look at her. She was flying diagonally behind him to his right, with this lost look on her face. He shook his head slightly as his attention returned to his flight path, remembering what Sakura had asked of him. Then he heard a gasp. Instantly he turned behind again, and there bellow him, was a falling figure of a wingless Seika.

"Seika!" he called, swooping down to catch her in his arms. The tired guardian sighed as she landed in his strong arms.

"Gomen nasai…" she said softly. "I just felt… tired…" then her head rolled back and her eyes closed as her body relaxed itself.

"Seika!" he called her again. In, his mind Yue knew this could only be a sign of one thing: lack of energy. It was quite obvious to him, being a victim of those same symptoms before. What is she? He thought mentally as he flew back with her in his arms.

"My my! What happened?" exclaimed Ruby moon who flew up next to him. "Did angel girl lose her balance or something?"

"No," said Yue, slightly annoyed at the butterfly girl. Is she normally this stupid or does she do it just to irritate me? "I think she has some lag in her energy supply," he explained. "You did see her wings disappear didn't you?"

"They did? Oh I guess they did, after all I can't see them anymore can I?" Ruby moon paused to let in a giggle. "I was well… looking at that dress in the shop window just now… so I didn't see."

[sweat drop]
"But yeah I guess that must be the problem, I mean the same thing happened to you last time didn't it?" continued Ruby moon.

Yue flinched. She just HAD to remind me of that. It wasn't exactly one of the memories on his 'To Keep' list. Being weak was embarrassing enough. But being weak and having people see you… that was past the limit for him. At least Sakura-sama had no idea about it. That was one of the times his 'cool act' really paid off. Though that didn't really apply for that ridiculously emotional other half of his. He cleared his throat. Never mind Ruby moon… never mind… "We need to get her to Sakura-sama, or Hiragizawa-san."

With a flap of his magnificent wings, Yue was once again, way ahead of Ruby moon. All the better, he thought. He never could stand butterfly-girl anyway. She was always 'accidentally' flapping the dust from her confounded wings into his face. Reaching the Daidouji residence, he flew in through the broken window from which Sakura had been taken from, careful not to hurt the sleeping being (or beauty) in his arms. The room was in an obvious mess from the whirlwind that had taken Sakura. Bookshelves were toppled, books scattered, sheets of paper strewn on the ground. But none of these were of Yue's concern as he looked around. The bed. Sighing with relief that the bed was still intact, he laid the guardian down. True, the sheets and blankets were all messed up, but it was a bed nonetheless. He would have to wait till his mistress aroused first, then something could be done about Seika. A bed would be the best place to rest her; he couldn't be carrying her around all day long while waiting now could he?

*~*~*~*~*

The flame was flickering in the fireplace, a clear sign that danger was not gone yet, and Eriol knew that. The wind always spoke of things to come, and it was displaying its warning in the fire.

Eriol was tired. Sleep seemed to be calling him gently into her dreamy wonderland, but he couldn't let himself go. Not until Sakura-san wakes up. If she didn't, it would be a fatal sign that this Akuma guy was stronger than she was. Sitting beside her bed was Syaoran, still holding her hand tenderly even as he was nodding away into sleep. Eriol sighed, restless with boredom. Now would be a good time to think about what just happened actually, even if he wasn't out jogging.

Akuma. The name itself meant the Devil, and Eriol wondered if it were a coincidence. One thing he knew though: that guy sure had a big ego. After all, who goes around introducing himself with the '-sama' honorific? But more surprisingly was that the guardian, Seika, could actually have the power to drive him away. Neither Yue nor Ruby moon were capable of doing the same. She was even able to stand against the strong air pressure. How she did it was a wonder. And to think she was supposedly made by him. Or Clow actually. Same difference.

It was obvious to him though, that he wouldn't be able to get any answers to his questions about Akuma and Seika by just stoning in front of the fireplace. So fine! I shall do something else. The thing about Akuma… perhaps looking at some of Clow's memories would help. He couldn't seem to remember anything just then anyway. With a snap of his fingers, a large leather-bound photo album appeared on his lap. Dusty no doubt, but still in great shape. Eriol chuckled to himself. I bet nobody but myself knows that Clow had an album full of snapshots from his life. Not even the guardians. The photos were black and white of course, but still they were of good use, especially when people expected him to remember things about Clow he still had no idea about.

Blowing the layer of dust off the cover, he flipped the book open. It had been some time since he last had reason to use the book. That was of course, during the Clow card days. On the front page was a picture of Clow's family. The little known about Mother, Father, Sister and Brother. Pity he wasn't familiar with them either. He knew that Yelan, Syaoran's mother, was from the line of Clow's sister though. Clover was married off to one of her cousins from her mother's side, and therefore Syaoran was a descendant of Clow's maternal side.

Flipping through the pages of the album, he browsed through the great magician's life from a birds-eye view. His family, his friends, his girlfriend(s) and later wife… that wife one was a pretty hard-to-miss fact. Not after they took such effort to put in a large photo the size of the whole page itself. She looked beautiful in her wedding gown, alongside the smart-looking Clow in his tuxedo. Strange to say, Eriol didn't remember her name either.

The photos after the huge wedding one were mostly of Clow and his wife together, until they suddenly stopped, as if a portion of his life was cut out. The photos which continued after which weren't cozy home-photos anymore, instead, they were of Clow beginning his magician training. Sadly, Eriol knew the reason. It was well known then that Clow was a womanizer, and the line of girls that had fallen for him was uncountable. But only one of them could change him from the loose playboy he was into a man with a true heart. And she won the title as his beloved wife. The one who stole his heart, and in return, gave him a reason to live.

She died tragically… not too long after their marriage. The blow had left Clow helpless, in a state no man could imagine himself in. He neither ate nor slept, and was more or less, a spectacle of evidence that the living dead still existed on the Earth. That was the missing chapter in his life that the album failed to record. His depression.

Only Eriol knew of this secret about Clow. Just the same as he was the only one to have ever set eyes on the photo album. During his depression, Clow had attempted suicide, but he was stopped in time. Not by anyone, but it was believed that he saw the spirit of his wife, and she stopped him. The story the photos told after that was of the change in Clow. He trained to become the greatest magician with the goal to be able to see his long lost wife again. Of course he never really did, but that was the reason he lived on. And the reason his wife had given to him that saved his life.

Over the course of time Clow did become the greatest magician, and it was all recorded in the album, all the way until the day he sealed everything and awaited his death. The day he was finally reunited with his wife.

Eriol browsed through the pages one by one. Clow's wife was really beautiful. In all the photos there were of her, she wore this smile that was both charming and warm at the same time. Hey wait a minute… he looked closer at one of the photos. In it, Clow was helping his delighted wife put on a necklace. Most probably a gift from him to her. It looked like a really pricey one too. But that wasn't what caught Eriol's attention. The gem attached on the necklace looked vaguely familiar. The light reflected off the gem from the camera flash was black. It was hard to pick out at first, because it could've been easily assumed that the black colour was part of the gem. Besides, the photo was in black and white, so the gem could've been multi-coloured. Eriol knew better though. He wasn't equipped with Clow's power for nothing, though it was ridiculous how he hadn't spotted it before. The gem in the photo was the same one Seika bore on her chest.

*~*~*~*~*

Translations (actually there aren't many in here are there?)
Akuma-sama: Lord Devil
Akuma: Devil
Daijoubu: It's alright
Gomen nasai: I'm sorry

Notes
 Ok, how many of you out there think this chapter is way too short and are dissatisfied about it raise your hands. (everybody raises their hands). *sigh* yes this chapter is short, I admit it. So sue me ok? But the reason why this chap's so short is cuz the good part will be in the next chapter. (so you guys better come back and read it).

Right. Well in my last chapter I asked for ideas on a name for the baddy guy. Since I had no entries, I had a friend to help me get this 'Devil' name out. It's your own fault you didn't want to get credit for the name! hehehhe... just kidding. Really I'm kidding (can you stop whacking me already?)!!!

Well I think I'm pretty satisfied on the whole about the umm... Clow's history thing. I did make it up on the spot, so I guess it sounds quite alright. I think his sister's name sounds pretty good don't you? Clover. ^_^ at least it's got the same 'Cl' in it (and besides the fact that its the name of one of CLAMP's series of manga too). What do you guys think about it on the whole? Review please!

Lastly, in the next chapter, I'm planning to reveal Seika's identity. So please please continue reading cuz i really love your reviews and your attention XD heheheh... :x ok, I've spoken enough (cuz I have an idea you guys think I'm mad by now). Remember to review even if u think this is a super sucky story and please stay tuned for the upcoming chapter... ^_^