~*~ Eternal Fantasy ~*~
Chapter Three: The Fight
Summary: Sakura just finished her Clow Card journey. Eriol left but Syaoran decided to stay. The auburn-haired girl thinks that her destiny had being fulfilled and that she would return to her normal life. But she is wrong: can a new student who hides her true identity help Sakura find her true destiny?
Disclaimer: ::sigh:: Do we have to keep telling you? I do NOT own Sakura, Tomoyo, Syaoran, Zafara... and so on! So don't even go there... *glares*
Author's Note: I know, I know: in the last 'chapter', I said I was going to quit writing this stupid story... but come on! Think about it: I wasted months... writing this story! So it has to have some value... So I decided not to let it go to waste (even though it deserves to ^_^). Also, I had considered DarknesswithinonesHeart's (did I get that right?) review, and even though it was only a one small one... okay, let's just say that the person will have to be very, very, VERY happy that I posted this chapter. One last thing: when I wrote this, I wasn't the good writer I am now: so don't expect quality work... I don't think I'm even going to read it! So expect it to be filled with mistakes and grammar errors ^_^. Thank-you.
A month passed by since Zafara's arrival. Summer began to appear around the corner. Sakura looked up in the sky from her seat in the classroom. It was a bright sunny day, not a cloud in the sky. She sighed. I can't wait for summer, she thought, nothing had gone wrong for a long time and no sign of the shadow creature. After the day of the trip with Zafara and the others, Sakura never sensed the aura of the creature again. Maybe it decided to leave because he can't stand the summer beauty, she thought, or he really did get blasted off to Jupiter. She smirked at the thought. Then she glanced at Zafara. Since the trip, Zafara was much more friendly to Sakura and her friends. She seemed to forget her troubles. Suddenly, the bell rang.
" OK, class dismissed!" Mr. Terada said.
Sakura got up and began packing her things.
" Hey Sakura," Zafara said.
" Hey," Sakura replied.
" I was wondering if you could come over to my house today," she asked.
" What?"
Sakura couldn't believe her ears. Zafara actually invited her to her house.
" Yeah, sure: that would be great!" Sakura answered.
Zafara nodded and added.
" You could bring Tomoyo with you if you want..."
" Sure… if it isn't a problem to you…"
" No, it's just fine."
Sakura smiled. This was the chance to know Zafara better.
" Should I come over at 7:00 p.m.?"
" Sure, no problem."
" I'll be there!" Sakura declared.
Zafara just laughed and thought: Maybe this will get my mind off my problems.
* * * * ~ ~ ~ ~
Zafara was walking home alone. I wonder why I'm so nervous about tonight, she thought, maybe because I never actually invited someone in my house for a very long time.
Finally, she reached her house. It's always deserted, she thought miserably, I wonder how… She shook her head and was about to open the door when, out of nowhere, a shadow jumped on her.
" AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" she screamed, " Get of me!!"
She lifted the shadow creature away from her and threw it on her fence.
" At last," the shadow shrieked, " I have found my warrior! Now, I shall destroy it!! MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"
Oh great, Zafara thought bitterly, it couldn't be what I think it is.
" If you do not wish to die, hand it over to me NOW!" the creature hissed.
" I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about!" Zafara lied.
Swiftly, the creature came out of the shadows. It was a small dinosaur, grey and black, with two small metallic claws.
" Do not lie to me, warrior," he murmured softly, " I know that you have it."
" And so what if I have?" Zafara whispered coldly, " You're have to fight me to get it!"
" You are so foolish," she creature said, " but I will do what I am told."
He then jumped at her, claws barred. But a beam of light knocked it down.
" Whata-?" Zafara took out something that was shimmering.
" Of course," she understood quietly.
She then held out the shimmering object and yelled:
" Shadow creature, I will now banish you!"
A beam of light came out of the object and hit the monster, sending it flying to Pluto. Zafara then sat down and took her breath. That sure takes a lot of strength, she thought, I hope I won't have to do it again. I hope the others are safe. Just then, she heard footsteps.
" Oh no…"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sakura and Tomoyo were walking to Zafara's house.
" It was sure nice of her to invite us for supper," Tomoyo said.
" Yeah, I know," Sakura agreed.
Suddenly, she sensed the shadow creature's aura. Oh no! Not again! She thought. Then she realized that the aura came from-
" Something's wrong!" Sakura shouted.
She then ran as fast as possible to Zafara's house.
" Wait Sakura!" Tomoyo cried, " What's wrong??"
But Sakura had no time to answer. I hope Zafara's all right, she thought, what would the creature want with her?
Sakura then saw that she was already at Zafara's porch. There, gasping for breath, was the turquoise-green eyes girl. She was seating down and seemed to have been fighting something.
" Zafara, are you all right?" Sakura asked, worried.
" Yeah… just fine," she answered.
Just then, Tomoyo came.
" Are you guys hurt?" she asked, concerned.
Sakura & Zafara just shook their heads.
" Good, I was really worried about you," Tomoyo sighed of relief.
" Did you see the shadow creature?" Sakura blurted out before she could stop herself.
" How do you…?" Zafara asked, disbelieving.
Sakura sweat dropped. Me & my idiotic, big mouth, she thought angrily.
" Let's talk about that tomorrow, after school, okay?" asked Sakura, " I mean, no one wants to talk about it now, right?"
Sakura didn't know if Zafara would actually agree. Luckily, she shook her head and said:
" I guess not. Now let's go in, shall me?"
Sakura and Tomoyo nodded.
Once they were in, Tomoyo and Sakura settled in the dining room while Zafara cooked their supper.
" Wow! You can cook!" Sakura exclaimed.
" Yeah, I just started learning," laughed Zafara, remembering how she learned.
" Who taught you how to cook?" Tomoyo asked, interested.
" Hum… I taught myself…" Zafara answered slowly.
" Wow, that must be pretty hard," Sakura pointed out.
She remembered how her dad taught her how to cook. It was pretty hard. However, now, she got pretty used to it and cooked often for her family.
Zafara came to the dining room and gave Tomoyo and Sakura a plate of hamburgers.
" Hamburgers?" Tomoyo giggled, astonished.
" Yeah…" Zafara answered timidly, " That's the only thing that I can cook now."
" Okay," said Sakura and she took a bite of her hamburger. " Wow! It's really good!"
" You think?" Zafara asked.
" Yeah, really!" Tomoyo agreed and then whispered to Sakura, " You should bring Kero a batch, he'll love it!"
Sakura laughed. Zafara looked at her curiously.
" Is anything wrong?"
" Hum? No, nothing; it's great."
Zafara nodded. When they were done eating, all three girls started on their homework.
" Oh no!" Sakura shrieked, " We have a math test tomorrow and I'm so not ready!"
" Don't worry, Sakura," Zafara reassured her, " we're help. I know somebody who…" But then she stopped.
" You know somebody who can help me?" asked Sakura remarkably.
" Yeah… but he doesn't live around here," Zafara answered.
" Oh…"
" Don't worry, we'll help you," Tomoyo said, " and if we can't, we'll just call Syaoran."
Sakura nodded. Syaoran was really good at math. He often helped her get ready for math tests such as these.
" We should have invited Syaoran to come over!" Sakura whined.
Zafara & Tomoyo just giggled.
Pretty soon, it was time for Sakura and Tomoyo to leave. While Tomoyo was checking her camera (she always bring it along), Sakura whispered to Zafara:
" Explain to me what happened earlier today tomorrow after school, okay?"
Zafara just nodded. Then Sakura cried:
" C'mon Tomoyo! It's time to go! And thanks Zafara for letting us come to your place!"
" You're welcome," she replied quietly as her friends walked away.
* * * *
" The right angle of a pentagon divided by the axel number of an 4 square meter rectangle equals to what number?" Mr. Terada asked to his class (A/N: don't tell me, I already know it makes absolutely 0 sense).
I have no clue what he's talking about, Zafara sighed, but I know somebody who knows. She looked down at her math notebook. She barely understood half the notes she took. Zafara shrugged. I have more important things to worry about, like how to explain to Sakura what's been happening to me ever since… Maybe I should tell her, it'll get a weight of my shoulders but… Suddenly, the bell rang.
" Class dismissed!" Mr. Terada announced.
Zafara stood up and began packing her things. Sakura told Zafara to meet her at Penguin Park right after class was finished. I wonder what I will say to Sakura, maybe: " hey Sakura, you know, I'm a very important person with a very important object that evil people really want, that's why they decided to hunt for my skin for the rest of my life!" Zafara thought, with sarcasm in her tone. Well, partly, that was true but a normal person like Sakura would never believe that. But then, how did she know that I was been chased by the shadow creature? She wondered.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~
" Do you think she'll come, Sakura?"
" I'm not sure but she said she will, Tomoyo."
However, she still looked worried.
" Don't worry; Zafara will come," Sakura declared.
Tomoyo nodded. The two girls were waiting for Zafara on a bridge beside the Penguin Park.
" Is she coming?"
" No, Tomoyo: not yet."
" Err... Sakura; I didn't say that."
Sakura froze. If Tomoyo didn't say that, she thought, who did?
" The voice seems to come from your backpack…"
" You think?"
Sakura pulled her backpack and opened it. Something then zoomed out of it like a rocket.
" WHAT??" Sakura cried, amazed.
" Wazzup, Sakura??" the stuffed animal asked her mistress.
" KERO?! What are you doing here?"
" Oh, me?" he asked, not paying too much attention.
" Yes, you!" Sakura shouted angrily, " You weren't suppose to be here!?"
" I wanted to investigate the girl you were talking about the other day," Kero answered seriously, " the shadow creature must've attacked her because she had a sort of magic in her and that might be a threat to you…" He knew this information because Sakura had told him the event last night.
" What? Kero, that's impossible. And even if she had magic, the shadow creature is the threat here, not her."
" You don't even know what's the limit of harm a magical person can do," Kero pointed out.
" Guys," Tomoyo interrupted, " Be quiet; somebody's coming!"
Just then, a figure appeared at the foot of the small bridge.
" I'm here."
Sakura looked down. It was Zafara.
" Hi," Sakura greeted her while stuffing Kero back in her backpack.
" What do you want with me?"
" We all know that a shadow creature attacked you last night, right?"
Zafara hesitated. It isn't too late to lie to them, she thought, but… maybe I should tell them. I'm tired of living up a lie and they seem to really care. But how do I know that I won't make the same mistake again?
" Do you know why it attacked you?" Sakura asked seriously.
" Maybe…"
I wish that she was more clear to me, Sakura thought, exasperated, maybe she has something to hide like me.
" Do you really want to know?" Zafara suddenly asked.
Tomoyo nodded but Sakura hesitated. I may regret what I hear, but… if I know the truth, I may help with the problems she have. She then nodded after a moment.
OK, here goes, thought Zafara, I may regret this forever, though.
" I'm…"
Suddenly, a gigantic bolt of thunder crashed on the Penguin Slide, blinding the three girls. What happened? Thought Sakura, astonished. When the bolt disappeared, she opened her eyes: it widened when it saw what was in the scene.
" What is that?" Tomoyo gasped.
It can't be who I think it is, Zafara thought, both doubtful and hopeful.
Standing thirty meters away from each other stood two huge monsters. One was grey and black, its face covered in an armoured mask. It also had a huge metallic claw, which looked seriously deadly. He also looked like a dinosaur. He had his sharp teeth bared. The other one was orange and red. It had a strange beak and large, orange phoenix wings. His hands (or paws or whatever ~) seem to be armed each with a fire pistol. He looked more like an overgrown lizard and had a very long tail, muscular and ready to strike. He also had his fatal teeth bared and was getting ready to attack. Sakura recognized the aura of the first one. It's the aura of the shadow creature, she thought, incredulous, but how can it be? The creature was small and this one is HUGE!! Sakura then looked at the other monster. Its aura is very unfamiliar, and also, I sense as if… he isn't evil but that couldn't be right…
The people around the environment screamed in terror as they saw the monsters. Tomoyo was staring at the monster with very large eyes. However, Zafara seemed only mildly surprised. Does she know them? Sakura wondered. But then she realized that she couldn't let these innocent people get hurt. So she took her key and chanted:
" Oh key of the Star,"
" Power of Magic, Power of light"
" Show forth your magic,"
"Reach light from my star,"
"Obey your Mistress,"
" RELEASE!"
As her key turned into a staff, Sakura took out the Time Card and ordered:
" Time, freeze the moment! Release & Dispel, Time!"
She looked around her. Tomoyo and the other people near her were all frozen. Sakura sighed of relief. Then she took out the Sleep Card and shouted:
" Sleep, make everyone fall asleep! Release & Dispel, Sleep!"
The Sleep Card took her true form and flew around the park, sprinkling magic powder along the way. Sakura took a deep breath and then ordered:
" Time, unfreeze!"
Everybody fell on the ground, asleep. Kero then got out of the backpack.
" Don't you know how stuffed I was in the backpack?" he shouted at Sakura but, just then, he spotted the monsters and froze: " WHAT'S THAT???"
" I don't know Kero," Sakura replied.
The monsters, meanwhile, started fighting.
" Metallic Claw!!" yelled the first monster, rearing its claw towards its opponent.
However, it quickly dodged the attack and released its own:
" Fire Tsunami!!!!"
That attack hit the first monster in full blast.
" AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!" it screamed, terrified.
" We have to stop the fight!" Kero declared and then looked at Sakura.
She was on the ground, gasping for air.
" OH NO!! Sakura, are you all right??"
" Don't worry: I'm just fine. The Time Card just drained my energy, that's all."
" But you can't fight in this condition," Kero said, worried.
Neither of them knew that somebody was watching them. She seemed to be unaffected by the Time or Sleep Card. I hope he wins, she thought hopefully.
In the battlefield, it seemed that neither monster had the advantage.
" Ultimate Fireball Blast!!!" screamed the armour-masked dinosaur, unleashing its mighty attack, which knocked the phoenix-winged monster over.
" HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!" the first monster laughed, " Before long, I shall take your spirit and give it to my master!!"
The second lizard-like creature just growled. Then it stood up and was getting ready to unleash its final attack.
" Have you not learned?" the black and grey dinosaur mocked, " That you have absolutely no chance against me?"
" We'll just see about that!" the second monster replied and then he yelled: " Fire Barrage!!"
This attack completely caught the first metallic-clawed creature by surprise and he got knocked out entirely by his adversary. While the attack blasted him, a metallic blue aura appeared around him. The second monster was holding a shimmering object and ordered:
" Fractal Code digitized!"
The shimmering object that the strong creature was holding sucked the metallic blue aura from the first unconscious creature. When the metallic blue aura disappeared, the creature was no more.
" What happened?" Kero asked, amazed.
The second lizard-like creature was then surrounded by a similar metallic blue aura. When it disappeared, a boy took the place of the monster.
" Who is he?" Sakura asked, confused and curious.
He had dark, tanned skin and short maroon hair. He also had flaming red eyes. Somebody snorted behind Sakura and Kero. Both of them turned around. There stood Zafara, leaning against a cherry blossom tree, looking at the mysterious boy.
" Zafara?" Sakura gasped.
" I told you she wasn't normal!!" Kero hissed.
" Hello, Izumi," the boy greeted her.
" Hello," Zafara replied coolly.
" Izumi?" Sakura repeated, " Hum… you have the wrong person," she said to the boy.
Instead of looking amazed, or even puzzled, he just smirked.
" I guess Koji did teach you something," he snickered.
" Shut up, Takuya," was all Zafara said.
" Hello? Can somebody explain what's happening??" Sakura asked, irritated that she was ignored.
The boy just raised his eyebrows at her and shook his head.
" Izumi, you have a lot of things to explain…" he said.
" Yes, you do," Sakura hissed.
Izumi sweat dropped. Now is the time when I regret lying to everyone, she thought.
" Where did you come from?" she asked to the boy.
" That doesn't really seem to matter," he yawned, " what does matter is that I came looking for you and now that I've found you, it's time to go."
" Where are the others?"
The boy looked at her seriously.
" After your disappearance, they all evaporated like you," he answered coldly.
" NO!" she cried.
The boy nodded.
" And what happened to you?"
" Hum… I disappeared too?"
" It isn't funny, Takuya!" Izumi shouted at him, exasperated.
Suddenly, Tomoyo started to stir.
" Uh-oh," Kero started, " the spell is wearing off, Sakura…"
" I know but what I really want to know is what is he doing here!" Sakura replied, pointing to the maroon-haired boy.
" Grrrrrrr… Izumi, you had to bring your friends to see this idiotic event, right?" he replied angrily.
" Sorry… I started looking for you guys and I found a portal, but it closed before I could reach it," Izumi mumbled.
" Where am I?"
Sakura looked down. Tomoyo was awake. Oh no, she thought, I don't even know what's happening and it's not going to get better when Tomoyo asks the same thing.
" You were the monster that defeated the metal-clawed one??" Sakura then realized.
He smacked his head.
" Oh great, you know now!" he said furiously, " I now have to options: one, to destroy you utterly and completely (Izumi glared at him) or two, blackmail you. Oh wait: there's a third option, to make you mute."
" None of that would work," Sakura whispered dangerously, and then took out the Firey Card, " I can play dirty too, you know."
" C'mon guys, fighting will do us no good," Izumi protested.
However, Kero had a totally different idea.
" GO SAKURA!! FINISH THE GAKI OFF!!! FINISH IT, I TELL YOU!! DESTROY, KILL & ANNIHILATE!!!" he roared to Sakura.
" Ooh, this is going great on tape!"
Sakura, Izumi, Kero and the strange boy turned around. Tomoyo was filming everything.
" OMINGOSH!!" the boy cried, " She has evidence of what I said!! I must destroy that camera!!"
He made a grab for it, but Tomoyo quickly dodged.
" No! Don't take my camera; I love it!" she cried.
While Tomoyo and the odd boy struggled against each other, Sakura sweat dropped. OK, I have no idea who that boy is and what's going on, she thought, and unless things get sort out, I will never know. Meanwhile, Kero had joined the camera fight.
" Don't you dare hurt that innocent girl, gaki!!" he charged at the boy's face, but he easily threw the flying animal off.
" FREEZE PEOPLE, NOW!!!!!!" Sakura suddenly shouted.
Everyone froze.
" I want a clear explanation, now," she continued, " and for that to happen, we have to stop fighting!"
Izumi nodded and pulled the boy off Tomoyo. Sakura then prevented Kero from charging at the mysterious boy again.
" But first; we have to make a deal," the boy said.
" What kind of deal?" Tomoyo asked, suspicious.
" Well, you know about our 'secret' and we know about yours," he said, glancing at Sakura's staff.
Oh great, she thought, I forgot to put it away. Good thing that the people are still asleep. She then hastily turned her staff back to a key.
" The deal is this:" the boy continued, " me & Izumi don't blab on your secret and you & the other camera girl (he glanced at Tomoyo who sweat dropped) don't blab on ours."
" And what if we do?" asked Sakura.
He shrugged.
" Then we blab on yours…"
Kero's eyes bulged, but Sakura said:
" Fine, we agree."
Izumi & the boy nodded.
" OK, now all we need is an explanation, I still don't know who, why and where did he come from," Sakura then continued, " but I don't want to get my explanations here…"
" Then where?" Izumi asked.
" At my house."
The boy shrugged and Izumi nodded.