DISCLAIMER: I don't own any CCS characters, they belong to CLAMP or (very unfortunately) Nelvana, so don't sue me.
YES! a chapter spelling-error free!!! (i'm pretty sure it's free of sp. errors, that is...)
They followed the beam of light for a very long time. Rika was doubtful about trusting a light coming from a board, but since all the others did, Rika was reassured a little bit. Soon, they could see a tree. A single tree. As they drew closer, the tree's actual size became evident. The trunk of the tree was as large a house and it was taller than any tree they had ever seen before. A strange warmth exuded from the tree, a warmth that was not quite warmth.
They all looked up at the tree in awe. Rika started getting dizzy again. She almost fell down except Sakura held on to her. Rika leaned against Sakura. A woman started materializing in front of them. Everyone except for Sakura, got ready to defend the group.
"I'm not dangerous...I'm just a simulation," the woman said after she had fully appeared. She had brown hair, rainbow eyes that were dark near the pupil, green, then yellow, orange and red, and bronze skin. She carried herself in such a manner that they all had to trust her. She turned around and groped about the air for something. A look of intense concentration crossed her face as her hand gripped and turned something. A door showed up on the side of the tree and opened. "Please, welcome to my abode."
Rika caught her breath. "Can you feel it? Coming from in there?"
"Feel what?" asked Sakura.
"Something....something...I don't know how to describe it."
"Does it feel good or bad?"
"Warm...it feels warm." Rika walked into the room. Everyone else followed closely behind, her trance-like state worried all of them. The inside of the tree was spectacular: a single heptagonical room that seemed to reach the heavens. The Spartan severity of the room was off set by the walls, each glowing a different color.
The woman popped up in front of them. Rika became normal again, her light-headedness was gone; to everyone else, Rika had snapped out her trance. "I was told that this might happen one day," the woman frowned, "I was not told that almost everyone would disappear. Oh, I'm sorry," she said, as if noticing them for the first time, "I'm forgetting my manners. I am the Rowan. Are you tired? hungry?" She waved her hand and nine, rather elegant chairs appeared along with a steaming pot of tea and a tray of sandwiches.
"Do help yourself while I try to explain what's happening. Before I start though, I'd like to say that I'm not sure exactly what's going on. I can only give you a general idea of what's happening, technically."
As soon as everyone had settled down, Rowan began her story. "I presume most of you are human?" she asked, eyeing Kero and Suppi. "I am almost human. In fact, I'm about as human as a simulation can get. Watch," Rowan cut herself with a knife she magiced out of the air. "See? Blood, Just like you. The only thing that's different between me and a real human is that I have a switch. I'm only turned on when this happens," she waved her hand around so they weren't quite sure what she meant by "this".
"A system malfunction. The magic that binds your world together is doing something funny-"
Eriol interrupted. "You used a technical term: 'system malfunction'. Why?"
Rowan looked confused for a minute. "Because this isn't the real earth, well, it is the real earth to you all, but it's not where humans originated." Since everyone had completely clueless looks on their faces, Rowan sighed and apologized, "Sorry again. I've made a mess of things. I need to start at the beginning beginning."
She took a deep breath and dived into the story. "One thousand nine hundred fifty years ago, about, a few select people on earth realized that we were destroying ourselves. That much wasn't exactly rocket science, many people realized that, but the difference was power. These people were high government officials who had access to top secret scientific information..such as the existence of parallel universes. Their plan was to create another earth and put enough humans on the planet to keep the human race alive. You have to remember that government officials back then hated admitting there was anything wrong with anything. Those politicians drove me crazy," she added more as a comment to herself.
"Our science was such that we had the ability to complete billtions of years of evolution in a few years. Twenty five to be exact. The next twenty five fears were devoted to research: what would be an approproate time period to start this planet?? These people settled on the year 100 AD. So, fifty years after the start of the project, they were ready to start stage two, population. This was even harder because those people would disappear for ever, at least, in the eyes of the people they left behind."
"At almost the same point in history, strange things were happening to the people of earth, the earth I come from. Some were beginning to evolve mental powers. At first, these people were locked up in asylums, people were afraid that they would no longer have privacy with telepaths running around. But our society gradually began to change. An unwritten code of moral conduct began to evolve amongst the empowered ones. They learned to shut out the surface thoughts of others and it was taboo to invade deeply into the minds of those around you, purposely or accidentally. So it became that the ones with these extraordinary abilities were more polite and easy to be around since they were more conscious of those around them. More and more people had these powers and eventually, it was considered odd if you didn't have some sort of magic."
At this point, Syaoran cut in. "What kind of magic?"
"Telekinesis, telepathy, a few more powerful individuals could make things out of thin air. I can do all of them. Oh, and there were a few who could see the future. possibilities, mind you, but still...That, I cannot do. The future one didn't come about until later and there was always opposition. I believe in the history of your earth there's a guy named Nostradomus....," she shook her head, "I don't know how magic got to him because we made sure the people who came had very little magic, except for....nevermind."
Syaoran nodded and Rowan continued. "This group of scientists-"
"Can you make pudding?" asked Kero who cheered when a huge bowl of his favorite snack appeared before him.
Rowan smiled indulgantly. "At any rate, this group realized the power of such a tool as magic, but they weren't sure what to do with it...yet."
"They picked about 100,000 people in the racial ratios proportionate to what it would have been like in 100 AD, turned this world on, erased their memories and replaced them with new ones that would be more appropriate to the time zone."
"Every few years or so, someone would drop by and influence history here and there, but on the whole, we pretty much left you alone. So, then a few hundred years later, a guy comes along with this completely revolutionary idea for the world; a way to integrate magic into the very core of its existence. If any of the technical things stopped working, there would be a back up." Rowan pointed to the wall behind her. It was glowing white except for a halo of gold in the middle. Rowan brought the golden circle down. It was a gold chain with a very small key hanging off the end. Then she called forth a little box of ornately carved wood, no bigger than the palm of her hand.
It was made of the deepest ebony any one had ever seen, the black was beyond black and seemed to suck you into its nothingness. On the top of the box was a gold sun coming out from behind gray clouds; gold and dull silver inlaid in the wood and painted over. The sides of the lid had a painted design of squared S's. The body of the box was carved and painted with little figures: a green serpent, red fire, yellow star, pink flower, blue shield, and a tan scroll. The immaculate detail of the box was awe inspiring and impressive for such a small article. Rika longed to touch the sparkling container; it was calling to her. She was feeling the same way she did whenever she started feeling dizzy, but now, she wasn't feeling dizzy. There was a sense of completeness Rika had never felt before, and she savored it.
"The box itself is a work of art no?" Rowan commented. "Six keys. That was what he called them, keys. Love, hope, knowledge, hate, justice, and power were what they represented. One for each wall here. He told me once that these were the best and worst of human nature, not exactly good things, and not exactly bad things. I always though this was rather confusing, and he always quoted this poem, by an author he loved:" she struch a dramatic pose,"'When the prophet, a complacent fat man, arrived at the mountain-top he cried: "Woe to my knowledge! I intended to see good white lands and bad black lands- but the scene is gray."' Not much of a poem, but, hey."
"This man was also a seer, what we called those who can see into the future, and he forsaw a possibility that has apparently become reality..." She left off there.
"So what happened to the original Earth?" Sakura inquired.
"I don't know. I lost contact with them approximately 900 years after I was made, so that's...six hundred years ago. I would presume they finally killed themselves," she sounded rather sad.
"Let me guess. We have to get the keys back right?" Suppi asked.
"That would be it. And it would also be the problem. See, the box will only open with this key if the person who's opening it is the right one. Funny," she said, the look on her face grew intense. "He always referred to this person as if he or she was two different people."
"What did he say?" Rika was captivated by Rowan's story.
"Child of Light and Child of Dark. I always asked him why he didn't just say Child of light and dark. He's just smile and say, 'you'll understand when the time comes.' Maddening! I still don't understand either."
"Geez, that sound a lot like someone we know," Nakuru commented staring pointedly at Eriol. Yue agreed, remembering that Clow Reed had the tendency to do the same thing.
"What was this man's name anyhow?" asked Yue, not wanting Nakuru, Suppi, and Eriol to start arguing.
"I can recite his descendants," Rowan said proudly. "But his line dies out. He settled on this earth and promised that he would not tell anyone about the truth. He had a considerable amount of magic and he actually brought a friend with him who had a lot of magic too. The two settled in different places and I never really kept track of the other guy's family; he moved around too much. But anyway, the one who made the box, his name was Darwin Schweed..." Rowan's melodic voice chanted out the names of his children and grand children for generations, until a change in beat brought Syaoran back to attention.
"When did his last name change to Reed?" he demanded.
"Oh, one of ole Darwin's descendants decided that Reed sounded better than Schweed," and she kept on reciting until, "here's the last one. Clow Reed."
Everyone immediately straightened up. Rika caught onto the sudden tension in the atmosphere and paid attention as well. "Did you say Clow Reed?" asked Kero solemnly.
"Yes," she answered as if it were the most unremarkable thing in the world. "Why are you all looking so pale?"
They all glanced uneasily at each other. Finally, Eriol spoke up cautiously. "Because, Clow Reed was a very powerful magician. His line didn't exactly die out. He was reincarnated into myself and Sakura's father. He also created the Clow cards, now called the Sakura cards. Yue and Keroberos are his creations as well, made to guard the master of the cards as well as the cards. Clow never said anything about this," Eriol paused wondering if Rowan had an answer.
Rowan nodded. "There would be a reason Clow never said anything. He didn't know about it," Eriol raised his eyebrows, "See, as a result of his staying on this planet, Darwin had to swear not to tell anyone what was the truth was. Anyway, back to the box," Rowan brought their attention back to the little box. "Like I said. The box will only open if the right person is trying to open it. I'm assuming one of you is that person..." She handed the box to Nakuru. Yue tried next, then Kero, Sakura, Syaoran, Suppi, and Eriol. Each time, there was a click, but the lid wouldn't open.
When Eriol handed the box to Rika, she accepted with a trembling hand. Rika looked around her, every one seemed to be holding their breath. "What are they expecting?" Rika thought, "A miracle? I'm just normal, no magic, Rika Sasaki. I'm not special like them. I don't even know why I'm here!" Try as she might though, Rika was having a hard time convincing herself that she was just a useless extraneous member of the group, so she picked up the key. A chill ran down her spine. By putting the key in the lock, she would be changing her life forever in goodness knows how many ways, but she was past the point of no return now. She put the key in the lock. She turned the key.
The lid of the box opened slowly. Rowan gasped audibly. "Child of Light, Child of Dark."
Rika uttered a short, nervous laugh. "Impossible. I'm just normal. Normal Rika Sasaki." There was no conviction in her voice and her wild, disbelieving eyes conveyed her conflicting emotions.
Rowan ignored her assertion. "That means you can activate the walls," she whispered. Almost completely ignoring everyone she said, "everyone up." The room returned to normal.
"What did you want me to do?" Rika asked whe Rowan looked at her questioningly.
"Follow your heart. What do you think?"
Rika looked at her friends and at their guardians. She wondered what they were thinking. Tentativly taking a step forward, Rika almost felt the walls vibrating with joy. Taking another stop, the walls whispered her name, "Rika, Child of Light, Child of Dark, come..." She reached out a quavering hand, her fingertips lightly brushed the wall that was glowing pink.
She sharply drew in her breath. The walls. They were ALIVE! They were warm, pulsating, vibrating, alive! Something inside her grew bold and daring and she resolutly stepped forward and firmly placed her hand on the wall.
A surge of power swept through her body. Her head tilted back slightly and her eyes closed. Starting from where her hand made contact with the wall, it stopped glowing. The wall itself turned into stone with colored writing. An invisible wind swpet about her as the true form of the walls was revealed. The electrifying change went slowly from wall to wall. The glowing seemed to transfer to Rika, for as the changes progressed, Rika glowed brighter and brighter.
When it was over, the light in Rika condensed and flew to the key Rowan was holding. She dropped it as if it were on fire. Rika fell to the ground, blinking. She looked around at her changed surroundings in awe; if she hadn't felt so exhausted, she would never have believed that she had caused the walls to change.
Something, also, was different about her. The Rika Sasaki that struggled to get up from the ground was a different than the Rika Sasaki who had first walked into the tree. She exuded a sense of fantastic self-assurdness that had never appeared before, she carried herself more regally, and when she walked to the Rowan, she seemed to be gliding on air.
Rowan picked up the key. The rounded end now bore the same design as the top of the box: a sun coming out from behind clouds. Eriol was holding the box, which had snapped shut when Rika handed it to him. He gave it back to her after she had fastened the key around her neck.
She thanked them and then proceded to commune with the walls. She walked around the room, touching here, brushing there, absorbing information as she went. Rika didn't glow anymore, but she still stood out. The writing on the wall looked like a smashed together combination of cryllic and chinese letters. It was hard to believe, but the walls seemed to be talking to her. The others heard a soft, warm, vibrating note whenever Rika touched a wall.
When she reached the wall with the star though, she stopped completely, looking up at the wall. She placed both her hands on the wall with a frown on her face. Then she turned around, eyes flashing. "Why does this wall not reveal itself to me?"
Rowan shook her head. The way Rika spoke, too, was different. She spoke of the walls as if they were alive. Walls were just walls weren't they? So what was actually going on? Rowan didn't know anything anymore, not that she knew very much to begin with.
No, that was wrong. Rowan did know something else. She called up a star chart and motioned for Rika to come over. Rika glanced at the chart and imediately knew what to do. Touching different points, she called out the names of the keys and their symbols appeared: a fire for hate, a scroll for knowledge, a shield for justice, a flower for love, and a serpant for power. "No Hope?" asked Rowan.
"I can't read hope," Rika replied sadly.
"How...how did you...how did you make those symbols appear?" asked Kero from his pearch on her shoulder. Rika shrugged.
"Very well. Let us begin," Rowan led the group outside of the tree in a strangly formal fashion. "Stand back." She muttered something under her breath and a huge swath of ground started glowing and shking. It disappeared and in its place a huge airplane-like contraption appeared. Shorter than an actual air plane, but almost four times wider. "Come"
The Inside of the ship was like a huge house. Rowan gave them a tour of the general functions of each part of the ship. When she came to the command center, she pulled up a copy of the starchart Rika had worked with. "The computer knows where each of these places are. It also know the fastest, most time-efficient way to get to each place. You don't have to pilot anything."
"Is that safe?" Nakuru was doubtful of the trustworthyness of mere machine.
"Perfectly. The ship makes its own fuel and recycles it, so you won't need anything. Everything replenishs itself, so there won't be a need to take on supplies. And there's things like clothes, pajamas, pots, pans, washing machines, so on and so forth. There won't be anyneed to worry about not having things."
"What about you?" asked Sakura. "What do you do?"
"I stay here, on this planet. There's another version of me in the ship's programming. I don't think you'll need her though," Rowan looked at Rika, who looked at her shoes.
"The keys. They are little round disks with a symbol on one side and.........and..... well, to tell the truth, I was never told what the other side would look like."
"Then how will we know if we have the right key?" Suppi protested.
"Rika will know. You must go now. We have waited too long already." Rowan faded amidst protest. They all still had so many questions. Would Rika be sufficient to answer them? No one, especially Rika, wanted to find out. Things like that always happened when one was in dire straits.
So, as the door to the ship closed, and a soothing voice intoned instructions no one heard, Sakura turned around and looked at her companions. "What do we do now?"
"Get settled I suppose," Yue answered.
There were enough rooms that everyone could have their own, but Kero insisted on having a guardian in everyone's room, so Sakura, shared a room with Kero, Yue with Syaoran, Suppi with Eriol, and Nakuru with Rika. They couldn't feel the ship leaving their earth, but Rowan was watching them leave. She had no power to stop the ship, but there was something, she had not told them, she was so human that she was even subject to forgetfulness. Something, about someone, they needed to be looking out for.
Rowan looked up at the stars. Some where out there, he would know that the Child had come and he would be ready. "Lord, Gods, and minor Dieties, protect them all."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
He sat, watching the Child of Dark manifest. The only definate light in the room was from the crystal he was gazing at. A bauble of darkness floated around his head, quavering indecisivly between his left shoulder and right shoulder. He's had enough. He banished the crystal with a wave of his hand and pointed a clawed finger at the fire pit. A cold purple fire sprang to life, dancing onminously among the tinders.
He surveyed the scene before him. The fire barely lit the room, but then, the darkness suited him. He had lived so long in the darkness that it was all he saw. He held out his hand, palm facing up. The bauble flew to his hand and settled. "The Child will interfere, will she not, my pet?" he hissed. The bauble quaked in agreement. He called forth his crystal once again. The humans were leaving their earth, of course, the Child was with them. He had waited for this day for many many years. He wanted to get his revenge. He stood up and moved a little ways away from his chair and raised his hands as if assailing the heavans for assistance.
A ring of sickly yellow fire formed around his feet, slowly growing fiercer and brighter, yet it didn't cast light into the room. In fact, the fire was using heat as fuel. The bauble of darkness stayed close to him. For a second before he vanished, the fire illuminated his flat, triangular, reptilian face.
a/n: I know, i know, the clow reed thing is kind of cheesy...too bad...doesn't the bad guy sound ominous?
the poem (the one about the prophet) is an actualy poem written by Stephen Crane, author of the red badge of courage I hated that book, but i liked this "poem" he wrote. and the rainbow eyes, i'm not making those up...one of my teachers had the niftiest rainbow eyes...and then that one really famous picture of the Afghan girl from National Geographic (it was a cover shot for a 1985 issue and it was in another article from a few months ago and is gonna be on the cover of the april issue...they found out that she's still alive too!), she had eyes like that too.
