A Place Unknown
Chapter 2
Sakura's eyelids fluttered open. She was staring at the roof of a small room. Where am I? she wondered. This isn't my room.
Suddenly the door opened. The bright light hurt Sakura's tired eyes. All she could see was the silhouette of the person who opened the door. the person walked to where Sakura was lying. They took out a damp cloth and placed it on Sakura's forehead.
Sakura opened her mouth to protest, but the person, who Sakura could now tell was a young girl about her own age told her to stay still.
"You took a pretty nasty fall," she said. "You were a lot worse off than your boyfriend. He's been awake for a while now."
When the girl mentioned boyfriend, Sakura was a bit confused. "What are you talking about? Oh, you mean Syaoran?" She suddenly turned a bright red. "He's not my boyfriend. We're just friends."
"Sure, whatever," she said doubtfully. "He's been trying to come in and see how you were doing, but I had to stop him because I took your clothes to get them washed and you're not wearing anything. Ever since he's been pacing just outside your door."
"He's been worried about me?" Sakura asked.
"Yup. He hasn't talked about anything else," the girl said. "Here. Get dressed and you can go see him." Then she left.
"But I still don't know where am I and who that was," Sakura wondered out loud.
When Sakura had gotten dressed, she left her room. Syaoran was sitting at the table in the middle of the room.
"Sakura!" he yelled and ran towards her. "Are you okay? I've been so worried. You've been unconscious for 4 hours now."
Wow! He does care about me, Sakura thought. "Syaoran, calm down. I'm okay, really."
Syaoran blushed. "Oh, okay. Sorry." He didn't know what else to say.
"Why don't I get you guys something to eat?" the girl broke in, trying to end the awkward moment. "I'll make you something nice."
"Okay, thanks," Sakura said. "Who are you anyway? You never told me your name."
"Oh, sorry. My name is Misumi," the girl replied.
"Where are we, though?" Sakura asked.
"You're in my house," she replied.
"Yeah, but where is that?" Syaoran said.
"We're just outside of Omaska," Misumi said.
"Omaska? Never heard of it. How did we get here, though? The last thing I remember we were in Tomoeda. How did we go this far?" Sakura wondered out loud.
"You've never heard of Omaska? Well, I've never heard of Tomoeda. Wait a minute! That must mean...You came! You came! I can't believe you actually came!" Misumi started screaming and dancing around the two of them.
Syaoran and Sakura both watched her, with confused looks on their faces. "Can you please tell us what's going on here?" Syaoran asked.
Misumi finally settled down. "The only explanation for you not knowing where Omaska is, is that you possess the ancient Spirit," Misumi said to Sakura.
"What are you talking about?" Sakura asked her.
"Ok. Listen up," Misumi said. "I'll tell you the legend. Long ago, only Earth existed. Clow Reed had just created his magical cards. He soon got word, though, that his evil twin, Clow Rood, was trying to take over the world. He took his cards and tried to stop his brother, but he couldn't. Clow Rood defeated his brother and stole the Clow Cards. He decided, though, instead of taking over Earth, he could just create another world for him to rule over. And so Thera was born. After many years and many attempts to defeat him, a young girl warrior took up the challenge. She was an orphan because Clow Rood had murdered her family. One night, she sneaked into Clow Rood's home and stole the Clow Cards. Unfortunately, she didn't get out before she was discovered. But she managed to use the cards against Clow Rood to defeat him. He wasn't dead but he was close to it. Unfortunately the girl warrior used all of her energy and her Spirit went back to Earth. She took the Clow Cards with her, but left a copy set here so we could defend ourselves if Clow Rood came back. And legend has it that the girl's Spirit returned the cards to Clow Reed and ever since she has been waiting for a worthy soul to rest in. And Clow Reed vowed that when she found that special soul his descendant would be her protector."
"So you're saying that this girl's Spirit is inside of Sakura?" Syaoran asked.
"Yes. But don't look so surprised...Protector." Misumi said.
"Protector?" Sakura and Syaoran asked. They both looked at each other and blushed.
"You must be a descendant of Clow Reed otherwise you wouldn't be here," Misumi said. "So that makes you Sakura's Protector."
"Did you say that Thera is identical to Earth?" Sakura asked Misumi.
"Yes and there is a person in Thera for every person on Earth. Kinda like a twin," Misumi said. "I'm Sakura's Theran Twin, that's why I have possession of the Clow Card copies." She took out a card identical to a Clow Card, but it was navy blue.
"So the cards we saw in our dreams belonged to you?" Sakura asked.
"Yes, they did," Misumi answered.
"But if you have the cards too, why do you need us?" Sakura asked.
"Well, because my cards are merely copies of the originals, they are only half as strong," Misumi answered.
"What's the big problem here anyhow?" Syaoran asked.
"Why don't you go see for yourselves," Misumi said. That's when they all heard a loud shriek from outside. Sakura led the way outside. When she got there everything was dark because a huge bird was blocking out the sun.
"What is that?" Sakura yelled over the noise of the wind the bird's wings created.
"That," Misumi said, "is part of Clow Rood's demon army."
"But I thought you said the girl warrior defeated Clow Rood," Syaoran said.
"She defeated him," Misumi said, "but not for good. That's why she left the card copies behind so we could have something to defend ourselves with. I don't think she knew how strong he'd be when he came back though. He knows now that just because he created our world doesn't mean he can control it, so he's trying to destroy it."
That's when they noticed that the bird had lifted its head and was sniffing the air as if it smelt food nearby.
"Oh no," Misumi said. "It must sense the ancient Spirit inside Sakura. Now's your chance to show what you can do."
"Ok," Sakura said. "This bird doesn't look too tough. Let's see just how evil it is." She was trying to sound as confident as possible, so Misumi didn't see that she was scared out of her mind.
That's when the bird flew right over head and shot a stream of fire at them from its mouth.
"Does that answer your question?" Syaoran asked Sakura.
Sakura had stopped trying to pretend she wasn't scared. "What am I supposed to do, Syaoran?" She hadn't fought another living creature before and wasn't sure she could do it.
"Use the Clow Cards!" he yelled. By that time he was ready to fight the bird. "Element! Lightning!" A bolt of lightning struck the bird, but it was only momentarily stunned. "Hurry, Sakura! My magic hardly affects it, and I can only do this for so long."
"Ok. I'll try," Sakura said. "I guess it's not too much different from the Fly Card. Speaking of which... Fly Card! Release and dispel!" Sakura mounted her staff and soared into the air. She flew over the bird and jumped on its back. She tumbled once but grabbed a hold on the bird's feathers.
"Be careful, Sakura!" Syaoran yelled to her. He and Misumi both watched nervously from the ground far below.
I'll be ok, Sakura thought, fighting to keep a hold on the feathers. Time to get this over with. "Release and dispel! Windy!"
The Windy Card formed a chain and tied up the wings of the giant bird. It was unable to stay in the air any longer. Sakura jumped off and flew to the ground.
"Sakura!" Misumi yelled to her and pointed at the giant bird. "The bird is too big and the city's too close. It's going to crash into Omaska!"
Oh no! Sakura thought. I've got to do something, but what? I know! "Float Card! Release and dispel!"
All of a sudden the bird stopped falling. It moved about five miles away from Omaska and then it fell the rest of the way to the ground. "Now what, Misumi?" Sakura asked. "I can't seal it. It's not a card."
"All I know," Misumi said, "is that every member of Clow Rood's army has some sort of mark that is their weak spot. You just have to find it."
"A mark, eh?" Sakura asked. "I think I saw something when I was riding on that bird. I'm not sure though. Come on, Syaoran. Let's go check."
They both mounted Sakura's staff and flew over to where the bird now lay. "There!" Sakura said and pointed to a small red mark on the bird's back. "Hey! that looks like the symbol that represents the Clow Cards," she said.
"That must be the mark that Misumi was talking about," Syaoran said. "Let's do it."
Sakura steered closer to the bird while Syaoran took out his sword. "Element! Lightning!" he yelled. The bolt of lightning struck the bird on the mark. Instantly, the bird dissolved in a cloud of thin fog. The fog gathered itself and flew towards Misumi's house and in through one of her windows.
"Alright guys! You did it!" Misumi yelled excitedly. "That was the most amazing thing I've ever seen. You're better than I thought. I admit I had my doubts at first, but now I can tell that you must have the Spirit. You guys are a great team."
Both Syaoran and Sakura blushed fiercely at the last part. "Thanks Misumi," Sakura said. "By the way, why did that fog go into your house?"
"Oh. Come in and I'll show you," Misumi answered. They followed her into her house. Sitting on the table in the kitchen was a small gem that was glowing a bright pink.
"Ohhhh!" Sakura exclaimed when she saw it. "Pretty!"
Syaoran then muttered something that sounded distinctly like "Girls."
"What's it for?" Sakura asked.
"This gem stores the demon's spirit once it has been destroyed," Misumi answered. "The spirit was that fog that you saw," she added when she saw the confused looks on their faces. "You'll have to take it with you when you go on your journey. Don't worry, it stops glowing a few minutes after the spirit is absorbed. Once it absorbs enough of the demon spirits, this gem will be able to transport you back home. Until then there is no other way back."
"Why are you telling us all this?" Sakura asked. "You're coming with us aren't you?"
"Unfortunately, I can't. I have to stay," Misumi said. "I'd love to come and see you fight again."
"Are you sure you can't come along?" Sakura asked, hopefully.
"No, I'm sorry. My place is here. I'm sure you guys will be just fine on your own," Misumi said. "It's getting late though. We should probably get to bed. You'll want to get up early so you can leave right away."
While they were talking they moved into the bedrooms' hallway. "You guys can sleep in here," Misumi said, motioning towards the room Sakura had been in earlier.
"Uh, Misumi," Syaoran said. "There's only one bed in there."
"Huh? What's the matter?" Misumi replied.
"Well, it's not that I don't like Sakura or anything," Syaoran said, blushing, "but she's a girl and I'm a...well, you know."
"Oh, I get it," Misumi said. "Don't worry. That's my fault. I forgot. You can sleep in my room and I'll sleep on the couch. It's no problem. Good night, Syaoran."
"Good night, Misumi," he said.
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"Come on, Sleepyheads!" Misumi said knocking on Sakura's and Syaoran's bedroom doors. "Time to get up. You'll have to leave in a couple hours."
"Uhhhhhhh. I'm up. I'm up," Sakura said, groaning into her pillow. She hadn't slept that well during the night.
"Sakura! Hurry up," Misumi yelled from the kitchen.
Sakura dressed quickly in the new clothes that Misumi had laid out for her and made her way into the kitchen.
"Good morning, Syaoran," Sakura said. He too had new clothes given to him by Misumi.
"Good morning, Sakura," he replied.
"You guys look great," Misumi said. "You'll have no problem blending in now."
"Ok, so where are we supposed to go anyway?" Syaoran asked, once he had finished
eating
"Well, Clow Rood's lair is in the western-most part of Thera. So that's where you'll want to go," Misumi answered.
"How long do you think it'll take us to get there?" Sakura wondered.
"Considering Omaska is about as far east as you can go in Thera, it'll take you no less than a few months," Misumi answered casually.
"A few months?" Sakura said.
"Maybe more," Misumi said. "It depends on how much trouble you run into on the way. Don't worry though. I'm sure you two will be fine as long as you stick together."
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About an hour later, Misumi stood in her doorway, waving goodbye to her new friends. "I really hope they'll be ok," she said to herself.
When Sakura and Syaoran reached the other side of Omaska, they stopped and turned to look back at Misumi's house. By then she had gone back inside.
"Do you think we'll see Misumi again, Syaoran?" Sakura asked quietly.
"I certainly hope so Sakura."
To Be Continued...
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Whew! Finally finished. I know the ending
kinda sucks, but by that time I was running out
of ideas. Any ways, Chapter 3 will probably take
more time than Chapter 2, so please be patient.
In the mean time, e-mail me to let me know
what you think so far.
– Keroberous
October 7, 2001