Chapter 6-Sakura
" So there is someone who is trying to hurt Syaoran, or terrify him, and is
succeeding." I licked my lips nervously. " What am I supposed to do then?"
" Your cards." Eriol thought for a while. " You're now able to combine your cards.
Syaoran gave you two more. You can try to protect him and shield him from the
deadly voice. It was not the dead, the dead know it, but it was not they."
" I see." I nodded. " But what cards should I combine?"
" Let's see, you're guarding against sound, or voice," Xuyan thought for a minute. "
You can have ' Silent Voice', as a card. And to prevent him from physical harm, use
Shield and Invisible."
" That takes a lot of energy." Eriol said with worry. " I don't know if you can
handle it."
" We'll all handle it." Xuyan said simply. " I've read about combining strengths.
Anyone who wants to sacrifice a piece of their magic for a spell can combine a little
with the rest so the spell could retain its effectiveness until a word from all."
" Hai..." Eriol nodded slowly, " But who will do it? I definetely will, you will, and I
don't doubt you will too," He turned to me, " But who else? We're not enough."
" Are you kidding me?" Kero cried. " Of course I will! We all will."
" Can I do it too?" Tomoyo asked.
" Ano..." Xuyan turned to Eriol, who was shaking his head solemnly. " Gomen
nasai, Tomoyo-chan. You can, however, keep an eye on Syaoran. Trust me, you'll
know when the spell is starting to wear off." At this, Tomoyo beamed. I could tell
that she was feeling a little left out.
" I'll do it." Kaho nodded.
" Be quiet, we all will." Spinel rebuked. " Does Syaoran know about this?"
" Iie."
" Nani?!" They all cried. I winced.
There was a bright lightning, and a thunder crash.
" It's raining?" Kero blinked. " Whoa, that was sudden."
Eriol stood up and walked over to the window, looking out.
" The truth is," He answered softly, " Syaoran has gone. He is now as dead as he
ever will be. Right now, he can't take anything. Not even something that's good for
him."
" Voice Card." I placed it in the middle of the floor. The card glowed and the picture
became one like a carving in a stone wall.
" Silent Card." I put the card right next to it. " Shield Card." I put it under. "
Invisible." I put it on top. Then all of us, Xuyan, Eriol, Kaho, Spinel, Ruby Moon,
Yue, who looked pretty tired already, Kerberus, and I joined hands above the cards
that seemed to be carved into stone.
" From the depths of our magic,
We summon a barrier,
Against the enemy that attacks by terror.
We summon the powers, of the moon,
Sun,
And Star,
Protect the one that we mean to protect,
From darkest shadows, near and far.
Cards of Sakura, Mistress of the Star,
Obey the command of us mages here.
Voice, Silent, Invisible, Shield,
Release your magical power,
With the magic of the sun, star, and moon!"
I felt the flash. It was like en explosion, more deadly than lightning. Yet none of us were harmed. There was more to the incantation, though.
" Son of darkness, son of light,
Protect with the guardian beast of gods,
Voice, to find the owner's tongue,
And Silent, to fight against all odds-"
There was another flash. It was different from all the other spells I had
spoken. Eriol stretched out his hand and placed another card on top of mine.
That was Syaoran-kun's card...
" Shield, protect from coming vengeance,
Invisible, conceal from darkness' eye,
Cards of the Star, reveal the might,
Let powers greet the day and night!"
The next morning Syaoran looked a little better, although he was still
cautious. The spell, undoubtedly, had worked. He suddenly looked more tired than
scared, and I wasn't sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing. He was not afraid of
Tomoyo anymore, but he still eyes Kaho suspiciously. Poor Kaho, I could tell she
was a little hurt this time. There was something about him that seemed strange. It
should be normal that he was on guard. But now that I think of it it wasn't normal
at all. I guess it was because he was supposed to trust us.
" I figured out why Syaoran's behaving like this this time." Xuyan pulled me closer,
whispering. " It's the Dragon."
" The dragon?"
" Hai. The Dragon is protecting him. We casted the spell, the dragon got uneasy and
I think offended."
" Why?" I asked.
" Because he was supposed to protect him." Xuyan said uneasily. " By casting the
spell, we are like saying ' you're no good.'"
" Hoee..." I blinked. " So what do we do?"
" I don't know. That's what I think." Xuyan snuck a peek at Eriol, who was talking
with Tomoyo. " And something is troubling Eriol-kun as well."
" Does the dragon's rage affect Syaoran?" I asked.
" Depends. Once I saw the dragon on Syaoran's robes writhing. The thing is in his
robes, Sakura. That was why it needed to change in the first place."
" So...it is actually right there, in front of us?"
" Hai. How else? The dragon does not care that we are helping Syaoran. The dead
know, but the dragon doesn't. It is simply protecting Syaoran, as intelligent as it
may be. To the dragon, all of us, except Tomoyo, since the dragon can't see her,
Eriol, whom the dragon is familiar with, you, me, because the dragon knows who
we are, and Yue, since Syaoran and Yue share the same blood, are Syaoran's
enemies. Which is kind of why the three shamans couldn't go near him, why
Syaoran's distrustful of Kaho-san, Nakuru and Spinel, along with Kero."
" That's true. Could Yamazaki have magical powers?"
" If he does, he would stop blabbering." Xuyan chuckled. " Iie, he doesn't have any,
but I have a hunch that he has some item that is magical."
" The good part of Syaoran avoiding Yamazaki," I began, " Was that he is no longer
led the wrong way-"
" He never was." Xuyan snorted. " He simply didn't know what to believe.
Although the sloth thing was stupid. I still can't believe you were dumb enough to
challenge the Power Card in a tug of war, Sakura, that was also quite retarded. But
no matter. Syaoran helped you win anyway-"
" Nani?"
" Now, somehow we have to get the Dragon to calm down," Xuyan changed the
subject dramatically. " So at least he'll recognize people."
" Right now, it seems to just snarl."
" That's true. It's not too serious as of yet, but you never know." Xuyan sighed.
Then he turned to me.
" Sakura-chan," He began, " We're all going to try to help Syaoran. But the rest of
us can only do so much. Right now, Syaoran trusts you, Eriol, Yue, and me. And so
far, I guess we're the only one that can help him. Out of us, you are the most
powerful."
" So...I have to try harder."
" Harder than the rest of us, Sakura. Other than Yue, Syaoran trusts you the most."
" But you're his cousin!"
" I was also his rival."
" And Eriol-"
" Eriol was a threat. Listen, Sakura. Syaoran loves you deeply. No doubt the
dragon feels it too. You have to try to get the dragon to calm down."
" How?"
But Xuyan was already walking away.
It was amazing, actually, how quickly Syaoran recovered, if Kaho, Nakuru,
Spinel, the three sorcerors and Kero left him alone. He had added a little flesh to his
bones and actually looked a little more normal. But once Kero appeared, or Kaho,
or Spinel, Syaoran flinched, backed away, remained as mute as still stone. Most of
the time he hid behind Yukito, or Yue.
And in the back of my mind, there was a smooth wall, and Syaoran, in his robes, was carved into the smooth stone, his hands covering his face from some unknown attack.