Happy birthday to me. Happy birthday to me. Happy birthday to meeee-eeeee. Happy birthday to me. I'll be fabulously fifteen tomorrow, May 4th. I'm soooooo happppyyyyyy!!!!. Oh, and guess where I went for spring break. Japan, Nippon/Nihon, the Land of the Rising Sun, Japan!!! I went to JAPAN! It was a lot of fun. I went to Osaka, Hiroshima, Kyoto/Nara, and Ikawa all in one week. My suitcase and backpack were so stuffed with stuff on the way back home, that I had to give away a bag of candy and some sembei (I was in a group since we were visiting our sister city, Ikawa). And I bought some Rayearth manga. It said they were scenario books and I assumed it had a bunch of pictures in it. I didn't know because their books are all shrink-wrapped there. Well, surprise, surprise, when I get home and take off the plastic it was all in Japanese with very few pictures. Now I definitely have to learn Japanese. Enough about me, on with the story!
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It was most definitely the wrong castle. For one, it was white and gold; most unlike the dreary fog gray of England. For another, it curved and spiraled in pleasant designs, something the stone walls of Hogwarts couldn't do.
Sakura sighed and called up the scroll again, holding it between Eriol and herself as if they were two tourists studying a map, which, in a way, they were.
Eriol circled a section with his finger. "Your figures here are off."
Sakura scanned the paper for the cause. "Here," she tapped a spot. "The location was too tight and squeezed us out to this world."
The two seemed not to notice the large unfriendly creature rise up silently behind them, the body like a gangly wolf with a bushy tail and fox-like snout.
Eriol schooled his expression into neutrality, trusting Sakura since he was without magic.
They also didn't seem to notice the three girls racing out of the forest ½ mile away, dressed in school clothes with armored protection on one shoulder and a simple breastplate.
~*~
Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu looked on in horror as they raced toward the couple who didn't notice the slavering monster behind them.
Tears filled Hikaru's eyes, blurring her vision. They would be too late. It wasn't fair! One of the last monsters left on Cephiro and it had ironically appeared in front of the castle to devour two traveling innocents. She dared not scream or the monster, it was called a draifne, might attack the two even more quickly.
Sorrow became determination. Her magic would reach that far; get the monster before it jumped the travelers.
She lifted her arm, never slowing her full-out sprint.
"Honou no…ya!" (AN: It means fire arrow and it's what she says on the Japanese DVD.)
Faster, she urged. Faster!
~*~
Sakura scowled as she studied the paper.
As the giant head bent down with open jaws, the creature suddenly shrank until it was barely two feet tall and found that it had a sunny disposition and its breath smelled like mint.
"Nice touch," commented Eriol when Sakura picked up the creature.
"Well, his breath stank to high heaven," retorted Sakura, as flames seemed to flow off an invisible wall.
"That too," agreed Eriol, watching the three girls that approached them, one of whom had sent the fire at the beast.
~*~
Hikaru would have frozen in astonishment, but her headlong rush carried her to where the couple stood, Umi and Fuu at her heels.
She paused, not quite defensive, but leaving her sword in her hand. "Who are you?" she asked cautiously.
"Sakura Kinomoto," she replied cheerfully. "And this is Eriol Hiiragizawa. Would you mind telling us what world we landed in this time?"
The Magic Knights stared at them, wondering if Sakura was a bit touched in the head. Recalling what she had done to the draifne, they certainly hoped not.
"This land is called Cephiro," answered Fuu with a sweeping gesture, "and we are the Magic Knights. This is Hikaru Shidou and Umi Ryuuzaki. My name is Fuu Hououji. The three of us come from Tokyo, Japan." They bowed politely and Sakura and Eriol bowed back.
"Really?" exclaimed Sakura. "That's near where we're from. Except we're teaching at – at a school in England," she finished hesitantly and somewhat lamely, obviously holding something back. She gave them a critical once over. "Not witches, then. But not sorceresses or enchantresses either. Something in between, I think."
"Magicians? Or mages?" suggested Eriol.
"Mages," agreed Sakura decisively. "Well, then, I guess it's okay to tell you. We're teaching at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to help protect the students from the Dark Lord, and prepare them for the final battle. I'm a sorceress and Eriol's a sorcerer when Tomoyo isn't angry with him. Well, actually I guess he's still a sorcerer, but unable to do magic."
The mages listened, dazed and somewhat confused at Sakura's explanation, if you could call it that, since it explained very little. You had to know their background to understand it. They were teachers? They couldn't be more than 17 or 18 years old. Of course there was Clef to consider and he appeared younger than these two. If that was the case they must be centuries old! (AN: Not far off the mark there with Eriol.)
"Come with us," said Umi with a slight trace of uncertainty. "We'll take you to see the Master Mage, Clef."
They trooped toward the castle Sakura and Eriol had first seen.
"That was such a cool spell you did," chattered Sakura happily to Hikaru. "I should try it some time."
The knights exchanged glances. Could she really do that?
Eriol blinked. "You're acting…strange. Perhaps we took a few too many wrong turns."
"Probably," replied Sakura, limbs suddenly weighted with exhaustion. "My magic's a bit low." She looked down at the creature that kept pace next to her. "How about it Hanetsuki? You wanna carry me?"
Hanetsuki chirped in agreement.
Sakura gently unwound some of her magic until he was the size of a horse. She managed to get herself onto his back before passing out.
"Baka," murmured Eriol with a small smile. "We were almost there."
The group soon arrived at the castle. The silence was unnatural. Usually between Tarta, Tatra, Aska, Caldina, and any visitors, the halls would be filled with noise and the soundproof spells activated, while Clef massaged a growing headache, and one or more of the girls would watch to make sure he didn't OD on their aspirin.
"Clef?" called out Umi, pushing open the doors to his private chambers when a knock received no answer. He stood in the center of the room, his staff raised and glowing softly.
Quietly the group filed in and waited for him to finish and become aware of them.
Finally, he lowered his staff and turned with a sigh. He yelped at the sight and Umi quickly clapped her hands over Hikaru's ears, anticipating what he was going to say next.
"Dead Pillars among us!" he cursed. "What the hell (strangely, he had picked this one up from Fuu) is a draifne doing in my bedroom? And who are they?" he added belatedly.
Umi cautiously lifted her hands from Hikaru's ears, when she was sure that Clef was quite through with his profanity, terms from both Cephiro and Earth.
The girl just looked at her quizzically before going into the introductions. "This is Sorcerer Eriol Hiiragizawa, Sorceress Sakura Kinomoto, and her draifne, Hanetsuki."
"She named the draifne," Clef moaned. "It's well behaved, I hope." (AN: Translation: he's potty-trained and won't attack people randomly, I hope.)
Hikaru shrugged and looked at Eriol.
"It's hard to say," he replied, "and she's gone and practically drained her magic again, so I can't ask her. Heck, it's hard enough getting her awake on a good day. I don't think the spell needs to be constantly maintained, but I can't be certain until I regain my magic." Here he muttered under his breath glaring murderously into the air. "Although if it starts attacking anyone within range, that's a pretty good sign."
"I fail to find that encouraging," grumbled Umi.
"So do I," agreed Eriol with a grin. "Don't worry. Trust her if you won't trust me."
"I know that Tarta, Tatra, and Aska have returned to their home countries for the time being, but what happened to Caldina?" questioned Fuu.
"I sent her with Dal Lafarga to find out what the strange spots of foreign magic were," replied Clef, glancing pointedly at the two strangers. "Doubtless, they were sidetracked," he finished wryly.
He sent Fuu to show Sakura and the draifne to the infirmary before turning to Eriol. "So…"
Eriol sighed. "I suppose you want to know all about us."
"It had occurred to me, yes."
So Eriol began a long, lengthy, and somewhat less confusing tale than Sakura's about who they were.
~*~
Sakura slowly regained consciousness, groggily wondering where she was, and struggling to bring the ceiling into focus.
She was lying in a bed covered with white sheets. She supposed it was Cephiro's equivalent of an infirmary and slowly turned onto her side. Eriol was sitting at a desk, frowning at the sheet of paper in front of him as if that would magically sprout the words he wanted.
"What are you doing?" she attempted to say, but it came out as a groan. Her throat was dry and her tongue thick in her mouth.
Eriol turned to grin at her and handed her a glass of water. "So you've finally decided to grace us with your presence."
"Us?" Sakura croaked, putting the glass down.
"Actually it's just me now," replied Eriol cheerfully.
"Peachy," muttered Sakura sourly wondering what ungodly hour it was that she had woken up.
"It's actually 4:00 in the afternoon," said Eriol as if he had read her mind. That was impossible of course. From her magic sight, though faint and reduced, she could tell his magic was still closed off from him. So she was becoming too predictable. She'd have to change that.
Sakura sighed and lay back in bed while Eriol returned to his work.
Click. Click. Click.
She glared at him as he clicked his pen; it had become a bad habit of his. "Nervous twit," she muttered under her breath.
Click-click. Click-click. Click-click. Click-click.
He pretended not to have heard her.
She glared at him a glare she had learned from Syaoran and worked to master. She had grown quite proud of it actually. Unfortunately it didn't find him quaking in his boots.
Clickclickclickclickclickclickclickclickclickclickcli – SNAP!
His pen had been broken neatly in two. Eriol glanced at Sakura before tossing it into the trashcan and returning to his pondering. His fingers began to tap a cadence on the desk.
Tap. Tap. Tappity-tap. Tap. Tap
"Eriol," growled Sakura warningly glancing meaningfully at the pen she had broken telepathically and then back to his fingers. He got the message and forced his fingers to be still, wanting to be able to use them in the near future.
"What is it that you're working on?" she questioned.
"Well, the 6th year classes I'm teaching are studying the magic of the Dark Ages. I figured they needed to know some of the background of that age, and I thought to prepare a quiz. How does this sound?
"1. What color was the Black Death ?
"2. How long did the Hundred Years' War last?
"3. What was the symbol used in the War of the Roses?
"4. Who was captive in the Babylonian Captivity?
"And for the bonus question: When was the war of 1812?"
"You can't be serious. They may be Muggle–, historically–, and hopelessly – ignorant, but they're not that stupid. Hermione Granger will be bored to tears when she sees it."
"Well," replied Eriol defensively, "I didn't want the majority to fail all of my tests all the time."
Sakura rolled her eyes and attempted to go back to sleep. She was in incapacitated for two days and anxious to get back to the school despite the continued assurances of the Magic Knights that they had stayed for weeks and only been gone from Earth for a couple of minutes, so the two of them would only be missed for a couple seconds at most.
The parting was tearful, as they had become fast friends. Remembering the talk of a wizards' war Hikaru turned to Sakura and looked her in the eye.
"If you ever need help, just summon us. We'll do what we can to help."
Umi and Fuu nodded in agreement as Eriol looked on thoughtfully.
Then Eriol and Sakura stood together and waved a last good bye as the two of them disappeared…
And reappeared in front of Hogwarts, having triple-checked the spell's figures.
Or to be more accurate inside Hogwarts' Gryffindor Tower. (AN: Ha ha. Thought I was gonna ship 'em off to another world again, didn't ya? No, they've had their fun for the day.)
~*~
"Oh, come on 'Mione. It can't be that heavy."
"Believe me, Ron, it is. It's even heavier after lugging it up multiple staircases."
"It's just a bag of books."
"But it feels like a bag of bricks. I bet you couldn't even lift it, much less carry it up here from the library."
Ron snorted. "Would you be willing to bet on that?"
Hermione shook her head in exasperation. "You wouldn't have any idea what these weigh. I doubt you've carried a book around that was more than 2 millimeters thick."
"So you admit that it's not as heavy as you're making it out to be?" said Ron smugly.
Hermione's eyes flashed with anger. "Three sickles and you have yourself a deal."
"Good."
Hermione dropped the large, bulging bag of books onto the floor, barely restraining herself from dropping it on his foot.
"Go ahead, you big, strong, manly man" she said sweetly, fluttering her eyelashes at him mockingly. It was enough to make her sick.
Ron just rolled his eyes and bent down to grab the straps of the bag in his right hand, and pulled. Rather than the bag moving, he did, and barely managed to keep himself from falling.
Hermione stifled a giggle as Ron turned red and used two hands to heave it up.
"Remember," taunted Hermione, "lift with your legs, not your back."
He finally managed to get the bag off the ground and his muscles trembled as he struggled to get it on his back.
Suddenly two bodies appeared.
Hermione jumped and Ron lost his balance, falling down with the books on top of him.
"Ow," came a weak voice. And then, "Help. I'm stuck."
Sakura brushed herself off as Eriol looked around in amusement. "Still a little off," he said. "We were supposed to be in our rooms, not the Gryffindor Commons.
"Oh shut up," muttered Sakura. "I ought to send you off to Balboa and see how you fare there, Eriol I-can't-use-magic-to-save-my-own-freaking-life-because-I-was-drunk-again-and-tried-to-kill-my-half-daughter-again-and-pissed-off-my-girlfriend Hiiragizawa."
"A little help would be appreciated," called Ron, his face red in embarrassment.
"I believe you owe me 3 sickles," said Hermione, quickly recovering from her surprise. She had, after all, had practice with such stunts as these since school began, though they still made her jump.
"Get these bloody books the BLOODY HELL away from me!!" roared Ron.
Hermione grinned as she complied.
"Where's Harry?" asked Eriol, looking around for the third member of the trio.
Ron shrugged, both to answer the question and to relieve the soreness from his shoulders.
Sakura closed her eyes, seeking him out, and then sighed. "Severus is chewing him out again. I'd better go fix that." She slipped out into the corridors.
Eriol smiled at the two students before waving and heading back to his own rooms, presumably to go beg Tomoyo for his powers back.
~*~
"Mister Potter. Running around the hallways during study period?"
"Er…um…" stuttered Harry.
Snape waved away his excuses. "This will be costly I'm…." He trailed of looking at someone behind the boy. Harry was most definitely relieved to have the honor (ha!) of Snape's attention away from him.
Sakura had arrived on the scene and was holding up the Watery behind Harry's back and giving the Potions Professor a warning look.
Harry turned and saw Sakura with her hands behind her back. "Er, hello Professor."
Snape shook his head, understanding Sakura's threat.
"Hello Harry," she greeted pleasantly. "Severus." She nodded cordially and Harry turned his attentions back to Snape.
Sakura nodded her head vigorously as Snape stared wide-eyed at her past Harry.
Confused, Harry turned and saw nothing unusual.
Snape shook his head before Harry turned back to him.
"Potter," he attempted in an unusually high voice, trying to ignore Sakura's enthusiastic nodding. He cleared his throat. "Potter, whatever special privileges you believe you have," he began with a half-hearted sneer. He gave a very un-Snape-like yelp, as he was soaked with cold water.
"Ta ta, Harry," Sakura said cheerfully, leading her fellow professor down the hall. Snape muttered something that sounded oddly like, "Well, I had to try."
Once Sakura was sure Harry was gone and no one was around she turned to the professor. "I told you to go easy on him. Trouble is coming faster than any of us realize and he needs any support he can get. You were doing okay until now. So. Watery will do the same to you whenever she or I believe you're going to far. I'll prove that you can teach an old dog new trick," she finished with a grin.
Severus glowered at her. "He was wondering the halls when he was supposed to be studying in the Gryffindor Tower. I will not give him special privileges."
"Deducting house points – fine, detention – okay. But chewing him out for it, drawing it out past where it should be is something you need to stop, Severus. You may think of him as a cocky little git, and they may think of you as a slimy git, but they need support. Starting now, if not sooner."
His expression softened. "It's coming that soon?"
Sakura looked away. "My dreams are vague, undefined images as of yet, but I need to call him and his army here before school is out or he'll be at his peak when Harry has fallen from his. I've seen death. I've been training Harry in his sleep, honing his talents. He's almost ready to sense auras, though it's impossible for him – or any wizard – to see them. I need to quicken the pace now, though I'm afraid to exhaust him. Syaoran's dealing with his physical skills; I must see to his magical ones. I'll work with him on a shield as soon as he can sense when any of my group appears. He doesn't know it's me, of course," she added quietly.
She shook herself and smiled brightly. "Well, I guess I'll see you later," she said before parting.
He watched her leave, concerned.
~*~
"Sakura," called Syaoran, shaking her. "Sakura," he said again louder.
"Let me try," said Eriol pushing him aside with a grin. He was in a good mood because Tomoyo had let him use his magic again, although he had yet to get her to terminate the I can do anything better than you spell.
"SAKURA KINOMOTO, GET YOUR ARSE OUT OF BED! YOU'RE LATE!!!" he bellowed.
The few remaining students in any of the four houses woke up with a start, but Sakura only stirred slightly.
"Just…just five more hours, Touya," she mumbled before dropping off to sleep.
The two boys sweatdropped.
"Sakura!" yelled Syaoran shaking her repeatedly.
His reward was to get thrown back into a wall.
Eriol laughed until he too was thrown away from the bed, this time at the door. He sighed and picked himself up. "You leave me no choice," he told the sleeping figure before dousing her with ice cold water.
"HOOOOOEEEEEE!!!! I'm late! Why didn't you two wake me up sooner?" cried Sakura before rushing into the bathroom and slamming the door.
~*~
Later that afternoon Tomoyo and Meiling were sitting outside the main doors, chatting happily in Japanese. They were one of the few professors with that period off and Albus Dumbledore had requested that they meet a guest he was expecting: Cornelius Fudge. He had even made a small hole in the spell that prevented people from Apparating to the school for the Minister of Magic's convenience.
Neither of them batted an eye when two people arrived on the doorstep. They bowed to them and were about to speak when the older, larger man (Fudge, they presumed) said loudly and slowly, "WE…NEED…TO…SEE…HEAD…MAS…TER…DUM…BLE…DORE."
"Baka desu ne," glowered Meiling, gesturing in the Minister's direction.
"Hai," nodded Tomoyo. She turned to him with a frown. "We're not deaf," she said, irritated and in perfect English. "Follow us."
Fudge looked surprised for a moment before walking after them. When they stopped in front of the statue he turned to his partner. "Percy, why don't you go look for your brothers? I'm sure you're looking forward to seeing them and the class should be almost over with."
Tomoyo examined the redhead thoughtfully. This must be another one of the Weasleys.
Percy looked absolutely horrified. "But, but sir, you might need some…er…assistance. I can help with the tea or –"
"No, no," interrupted Fudge. "We have house elves for those sorts of things. Now, off with you. Take a break."
Percy unhappily headed out toward where Sakura and Syaoran now held their Care of Magical Creatures class.
"Twinkies," said Meiling clearly and led the way up the passage to the Headmaster's office. Fudge followed, wondering exactly what Dumbledore thought he was doing telling a student his password. Why, the whole school would soon know it if he was so free with it.
"We've brought him, Albus," announced Meiling, her tone of voice telling him exactly what she thought of this incompetent wizard.
Fudge glared at her. "Show some respect for your Headmaster. Really, Albus, I don't know what you're thinking, telling these two students your password and allowing them to be so informal."
To his annoyance the three of them chuckled.
"They are not students, Cornelius. I've hired them and three others to teach and help protect the school."
Fudge turned purple. "I believe I've been more than lenient with you, Albus, but I draw the line at this. Hiring five children to teach your students and insisting that You-Know-Who is still alive?"
"We are not simply 'children' Minister. One of our number is the reincarnation of Clow Reed himself and he's not even the most powerful. If you had half a brain you would understand what all of the killings and dark marks mean. I assure you, the Death Eaters wouldn't be so confident if Voldemort" – Fudge flinched – "were dead," hissed Meiling.
Cornelius didn't believe a word of what they were saying. "Now you listen here –"
"No, you listen," interrupted Tomoyo, eyes flashing in anger. "There is no time left! You must gather your allies and you must do it now! What must we do to get it into your thick head? Death is coming and we must meet it head on."
Fudge had turned a very interesting shade of red. "I would insist that you hold your tongues!"
"Tomoyo, Meiling, it would be better if I talked with him alone," suggested Professor Dumbledore tactfully.
"No, Albus. This has gone on far too long. You hired us to help protect the school and we will not stop now when the Minister of Magic is trying to work against us," said Tomoyo softly. "We had planned to do this only if he would not see reason. Stand back. We will handle this. All of our kind against this poor representative of yours."
Before Cornelius could sputter himself into comprehension Meiling called out, words ringing with magic, "Sakura. It is time. The wizards' Minister of Magic is here."
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Ooooohhhhh. A cliffhanger. Say it with me now, "eeeeeeevvvvvviiiiiiiilllllllll." Please review. It would be such a nice birthday present. I'll try my best to get the next chapter out within two weeks, but I can't promise anything. Ja ne.