"And now!" The magician spoke to the crowd. He wasn't formally dressed, just a comfortable black shirt with long sleeves and black pants, standard magician clothing. His black hair was slicked back with hair gel, giving it a smooth and reflective look. "With the help of my two assistants, I shall be locked into this enchanted box!" The black box was tall, a bit more than the height of the magician himself, and rectangular, the length and width each measuring about seventeen inches. He slowly spun the box around to show there was no hidden door or anyone hiding behind it. One assistant opened the front door to the box. "I shall now step into this box and shall vanish, only to be found up in the crowd!" The audience made awing sounds in anticipation. "Now I'm sure you all know about how the last three magicians who attempted this trick never reappeared!" The magician cautioned. For the past two weeks, magicians who performed the trick never reappeared to finish their performances, and were never found. "I assure you, I am much more experienced than they were." He said with a grin of satisfaction on his face, a hint of confidence in his voice.
Stepping into the black box, the first assistant closed the door and the second assistant placed three locks on the door, one at the top, in the middle, and at the bottom, and locked them. The two assistants spun the box once more. The wheels moved without squeaks on the floor. After they stepped away from the box, a puff of smoke engulfed the box, followed a minuscule boom. After the smoke dispersed, the two assistants unlocked the door and opened the box, revealing it as empty. The audience members looked around themselves for the magician, who said he'd reappear in the audience.
Saturday began, leaving two more days left before Sarah and Natasha left to return to home for school on Tuesday. Kero told Sarah and Natasha that the cards were also leaving Readington. He figured that the cards must be aware of their movements, following Natasha and Kero to challenge the appointed cardcaptor. Tori was taking Natasha and Sarah to the circus. It was their last day performing in Readington.
"I've gotta go, please take me!" Kero begged.
"It's too dangerous." Natasha told him. "Tori's suspicious of us for asking him to buy so much pudding. He said my mother liked a lot too, whatever that meant. I just know you won't resist the urge for cotton candy and cause a scene."
"Please! Please! Please!" Kero wined. Sarah giggled at Kero from where she laid in her bed, toying with the newspaper's crossword puzzle. "I won't eat anything, not even a blade of grass." Kero negotiated. Natasha looked at Kero questionably as she tried to imagine why Kero would eat grass.
"But don't you need to eat to survive?" Natasha asked.
"Nope, don't need to eat a thing." Kero told her. "Did I neglect to inform you of that?" Kero said smiling. Natasha sighed. Sarah etched the pencil against the newspaper. Kero hovered over to Sarah. "You know, since I've been around for so long, I could probably help you with some of those questions." Kero offered.
Sarah took her eyes off question number seven and turned to him. "Kero, it's about pop culture." Sarah chuckled.
"Meh" Kero replied. He looked down onto the floor, seeing a section of the newspaper discarded by Sarah. On a side column was an article titled, "Circle of Magicians Gather." Intrigued by the title, Kero floated down and skimmed through it. Natasha played with her hair in the mirror. "What exactly is the Circle of Magicians?" Kero asked.
"It's the organization of magicians. Like a counsel just for them. All business have them, Circle of Archeology, Circle of Mathematicians, etcetera." Natasha answered, flicking one of her bangs.
"The non-sorcery kind Kero." Sarah added giggling.
"Yeah." Kero said. "I knew that." He stated hesitantly.
"Why?" Natasha asked, holding the scissors in her right hand; pulling the hair bang that was annoying her with her left hand, preparing.
"This article says something about magicians disappearing when their performing their acts. A forth incident was reported." Kero told her.
"That's kinda one of the things they do Kero, disappear." Sarah said with a smile.
"But they never reappeared." Kero added. Natasha clutched the scissor handles together, successfully trimming the bang. She turned back at Kero who was looking at the article on the floor.
"Well normally they do reappear." Sarah stated. "They must be gathering to talk about what's going wrong with their tricks."
"Or it could be a Sakura card." Kero said, grinning.
"Do we have to investigate now?" Natasha asked. "Tori should be back any minute now." The front door to the hotel room was heard opening.
"Get ready!" Tori's voice called out. Natasha looked at Kero.
"We'll look into it later if….I go with you to the circus." Kero said happily.
"Alright, come on." Natasha told him.
In the main ring, three small men on mini motorcycles sped around inside a pink sphere. The crowd was intrigued with the entertainment. Sarah and Natasha, who were sitting next to each other, focused on the events with Sarah recording them. Kero however, was bored. He sat next to Sarah where Tori, who sat on the opposite side of Natasha, would not see him, disguise with dark sunglasses and a small red hat. Kero thought that if he looked around the other activities outside for five minutes, neither of them would miss him. Glancing around, he saw some children behind him, amazed at the performance. Their eyes gazed at the arena as if under a spell not allowing them to blink. Jumping off the bleacher, Kero walked across the floor, around people's feet and carrying bags. Seeing the door, Kero bolted into the air, racing out of the tent.
"Attention all!" called the ringmaster, who was wearing a black and red checkered outfit. "Our Blastmaster will now, for your amusement, voluntarily be shot out of our cannon!" Two girls, unsurprisingly underdressed in their costumes, wheeled the blue cannon into its position on the right side of the arena. A thick rope net was raised in the middle and a bulky bright orange mat lay beneath it. The slender "Blastmaster" wore a red skintight suit. He was also equipped with a red helmet. "Folks, even professionals screw this act up, so don't try this at home." Climbing into the open ended side of the cylinder cannon, the man slid himself into the barrel. His tan hand stuck back out of the opening, giving a "thumb's up" notice. One of the girls lit the string at the other end of the barrel. It sparkled and crackled as the flame burned away at the rope, becoming closer to the end of the rope connected to the cannon. "And in just about three seconds!" The ringmaster announced. The cannon let off a puff of gray smoke and everyone had their eyes locked onto some position between the cannon and the net.
Kero was flying in the air above the people, observing their actions below him. The air was clear and the sun shined, but not too much that the temperature was ultra hot. Venders had set up their concession and souvenir shops outside the blue and orange stripped tents. Kero smelt hot dogs, popcorn, but most tempting of all was that he saw cotton candy. It was left out while the attendant went behind the stall, the pink color reflecting itself in Kero's eyes. Kero thought about it, but then remembered his promise to Natasha. Shaking off his weakness of sweets, Kero looked at other items.
"Oh darn it!" yelled a clown, interrupting Kero's thought. Faces of the crowd turned to the clown and it was seen that he had lost a batch of inflated balloons of various colors. Up into the air they glided. Kero watched, his head following the rising stretched latex. Turning his attention back to what was happening on the ground; Kero looked around at the groups of people. After a couple of seconds, he noticed a juggler with several children lingering around him. Landing in a tree, Kero watched the juggler amazingly toss and catch several balls, but Kero wanted to do more. Kero jumped out of the tree, landing behind a stall which the tree was shading. Kero walked across the dirt path behind all the stalls, where there was no excitement. The crowd was in bundles, gathered in front of the stands and tables, not behind them. Kero walked along the path, unnoticed by workers. He had forgotten it was about time to go back to Natasha. Kero came to the end of the path, which led off into a small area of picnic tables and benches. He noticed something he thought odd. A small boy, about the age of five, was hovering above the ground, and seeming to be having fun. Kero flue over near to the boy for a closer investigation and he began to sense a Sakura Card's involvement in the occurrence. The boy was now raised above the tables and getting higher. The breezes began carrying him away from the circus location. The boy had a smile on his face, the thought that he could have been endanger had not occurred to him yet. "I've got to get to that kid." Kero told himself.
The smoke slowly disappeared, leaving a slightly clear, slightly gray color in the air around the cannon. The audience, along with the circus crew discovered the Blastmaster had not ejected from the cannon. One of the girls looked into the cannon barrel. Starring into it, then looking out, she exclaimed, "He's not in here either!"
The audience was silent as they observed the ringmaster and his assistances look around the arena and backstage. This was not apart of the act. One of the other performers walked up to the ringmaster. They appeared to be having a heated conversation between themselves.
"It is true, the curse is true! It will follow all who perform illusions or anything else extraordinary!" He told the ringmaster, grabbing his arms and shaking the ringmaster; the bells on the performer's hat jingled. "I didn't want to be here today but you made me act!"
"There is no curse, there is no such thing as a curse!" The ringmaster yelled at the unruly performer. Looking around, the two noticed they now had the audience's attention.
"No, but there is such a thing as magic." Natasha told herself. "I'm sensing a Sakura card." Natasha then whispered to Sarah
"Where?"
"I don't know exactly where, but it's here."
Sarah looked beside her for Kero. "Kero's gone." Sarah quickly told Natasha.
"What!" Natasha yelled. Several audience members looked at her. "Sorry, um Tori. Could we get some popcorn or something?"
"Sure." Tori replied. "I think their going to close the show anyway." Tori told them. "Not too many people enjoy being scared by stories of a curse." Tori added, shaking his head. Natasha and Sarah stood up, preparing to leave when Natasha noticed a white fairy flying in the air, sprinkling dust throughout the tent. The audience members began feeling overcome by sleepiness and no longer had the energy to keep their heads up. Each one falling asleep before anyone figured out something was wrong. Natasha looked back at Tori and saw he was hunched over sleeping as well. The stage crew had fallen on the arena floor, the only motions from them was now breathing.
Walking off the bleachers, Natasha and Sarah ran into Kevin, who was entering the tent with his trident in hand. "There's a Sakura card in here."
"We already know that." Natasha told him.
"Then where is it?"
"I don't know." Natasha said. "I think it's over in the arena." Kevin walked to the arena followed by Natasha and Sarah. They walked around acrobat's equipment and other entertainment tools. Up in the air, there were hanging swings that the acrobats would have swung from, if they had gotten the chance.
"Um, Natasha?" Kevin said, sounding concerned. "Just how many people were sitting on the opposite bleachers of you?"
"It was a full crowd, why?" Natasha asked looking up. Her expression changed to shock, her eyes opening wide and her jaw dropping.
"Oh my." Sarah gasped, the hand holding the camcorder slowly dropped to her side under gravity's pull. The entire side of people, who had been asleep, were no longer there. Natasha, Sarah, and Kevin watched as the rest of the audience slowly became transparent and disappeared. They were alone in the tent and the chatter of the crowds outside was also fading from their ears. "What type of card could do this?" Sarah said slowly.
Kero soared into the open sky, racing to try to prevent the boy from getting too high. The boy was now sleeping, not noticing just how high he really was. Kero thought the excitement of flying tired out the boy. Kero recognized the emblem of the Float Card as it appeared, lifting their altitude at a steady pace.
A tall woman standing on the ground observed what was happening high in the sky. Her red hair was tied back in a pony tail. She rubbed her orange eyes and looked back up; making sure what she saw was not a dream. "Chau?" She said curiously.
Reaching the boy, Kero grabbed his orange shirt and attempted pulling him back down. The Float Card, too powerful for that, resisted Kero's efforts. They were getting too high and soon Kero would fall unconscious. "I need help." Kero said to himself. "Stupid Float Card!" Higher into the air, Kero saw most of the people on the ground were asleep, except one woman who was following the boy in the air.
"Chau!" The woman called out. Kero pondered. Where had he heard someone call him that before? Kero thought back, to a time long ago. Memories flashed before him and Kero came to a vision of a small girl who had adopted him and also had an encounter with the Float Card.
"Chau?" He said to himself. "The girl…Akane!"
"Chau! Please bring him down!" Kero felt renewed determination and felt confident.
"You know, it's a good thing I'm allowing you float this boy." Kero said aloud, to anything that could hear him. "You're so lucky I'm being so nice today"
The transparent emblem of the Float Card became visible again and then vanished. The boy stopped floating and began to fall. Kero now pushed back up against the boy to try to slow his fall. "I should have thought this through more…" Kero said, struggling.
Down on the ground, Akane had her arms spread out; maneuvering to where she thought her child would fall. "Chau!" She yelled. "Guide him to me!"
Kero observed Akane on the ground. He shifted the boy slightly, pushing him. Approaching the ground, Kero knew there was no time left for anything else. Closing his eyes, he continued to push up on the boy. Finally, Kero felt they had crashed on the ground. Opening his eyes, he noticed they were in Akane's arms, caught by her. She was lying on the ground as well. She had her arms wrapped around the boy who was now slightly awake and still carefree of what he thought had happened. Akane looked at Kero.
"I thought I'd never see you again." She told Kero. Kero stood on the ground by her. "I wasn't even sure if you were still alive. But thank you for coming to me again."
"Chau." Kero said, smiling and nodding.
Natasha, Sarah, and Kevin looked around them. Not just the people, now the bleachers and props were all vanishing.
"Whatever card this is, it's getting stronger, quick." Kevin told them.
"How are you going to fight something you cannot see?" Sarah asked Natasha.
"I suppose we could always…….." Natasha paused. "Run away!" Natasha bolted for the exit, Stunned, Sarah and Kevin chased after her.
With the staff released, Natasha called on the Fly Card. The star spun and the wings of the staff extended fully.
"You're not going to be gaining anything running away from this card. If anything, it'll only catch you." Kevin told Natasha. Sarah got onto the winged staff, preparing to go up with Natasha.
"Kero will know what to do; I just have to find him. I just know he's here somewhere." Natasha told him.
"You are not going to get anywhere as a cardcaptor if you always rely on Kero." Kevin told her. "Sometimes you just have to believe in yourself. You don't need Kero to capture cards. You need to have faith in yourself."
"You're right." Natasha said confidently. "Let's get back in there!" The three slowly went back into the tent, looking around for a card of whose appearance they were unsure of. Nothing else was left in the tent except the blue cannon. "I'm sensing a card from it." Natasha whispered, pointing at it. Natasha and Kevin walked forward to the cannon.
"Natasha….." Sarah gasped.
Natasha paused and peered back. She turned in time to see Sarah's shape disappear. Kevin tapped her arm. Natasha remained frozen.
"You cannot be distracted now." Kevin told her. "If you don't capture this card, we'll all disappear." Natasha looked at him and nodded. They both continued to the cannon. Sneaking up on it, they observed it made no attempt of escape or care of their presence.
"It's definitely in here." Natasha confirmed. Kevin loaded the blue trident with a red cube.
"Flame Blast!" Kevin called out, pointing the trident at the cannon. A red hot flame burst from the tridents tips, scorching the cannon until it cracked and crumbled. On the floor, the pile of materials used to make the canon lay lifelessly. Natasha and Kevin slowly approached the pile for closer examination. A yellow gas combusted into the air, causing Kevin and Natasha to jump back as it engulfed them.
"Shield! Defend and Protect!" Natasha called out. The star on the staff spun and two bubbles surrounded Natasha and Kevin, removing all of the yellow gas from harming them. Natasha raised the staff outside of the Shield's defense. "Return to your power confined!" The yellow gas quickly melded with the formed card. Returning the Shield card, Natasha picked up the mystery card lying on the floor. "The Erase." Natasha said, showing it to Kevin. From out of no where, everything reappeared in its place, followed by the people, who still were asleep, affected by Sleep's spell. Sarah walked to Natasha and Kevin.
"Ah, I missed it, but I'm glad to see you caught it." She told Natasha. Kero flue back into the tent. He saw the look on Natasha's face and knew he
was in trouble now. He flue up to her.
"Hey kid!" Kero said smiling. I see you caught a card."
"I see you ditched us." Sarah pointed out. "Where'd you go?"
"Well, I just saw someone from long ago." Kero told them. The audience members began to wake up.
"Come on, we'd better get off the arena." Kevin told them.
"I say it's time to leave." Natasha said, going to retrieve Tori from the bleachers. Tori wondered what had happened in the moment of elapsed time.
"I get it, Sakura sent you here to get back at me for all those times I said she was a monster." Tori chuckled to himself.
Author's notes: yeah, I had to go back and watch the episode of the storm/float card to get the float card's and Akane's info. Reason the float card stopped it's attack (if you've forgotten like I did): It floats things without permission.
Sarah:
Favorite subject: art
Least favorite subject: math
Average grade (on a A,B,C,D,F scale): B+
Best friend: Natasha
Favorite pastime: meddling in social matters
Least favorite pastime: serious topics
Current missions: Recording Natasha's adventures of capturing Sakura Cards, thinking of new excuses to baffle Tori/any caretaker.
Favorite color: Robbins Egg Blue
Eye color: brown
Hair: Black, naturally lightly curled, extends to her lower back.
Most often asked of: "Who have you heard likes me?"
Other facts: Sarah is an intelligent person and is organized mentally, but is often distracted by other pursuits. She is quick minded and can sometimes be found interrupting herself. She is also described as always cheery and has a face looking like it could never be sad. Sarah creates her own fun, acting first and dealing with the damage control later as opposed to Natasha whose amusement comes to her. While sometimes she may seen as if in another world, Sarah is very aware of her surroundings and is attached to close friends. Although she was never interested in image editing, she does know how to do some questionable things with a computer. Sarah often hears a lot of social gossip about classmates, making her the one people go to when they wish to know something about another. She is very humble about her family being wealthy and doesn't go out of her way to make it obvious. Sarah and Natasha have known each other since kindergarten.
