5. In the Shadow, In the Light
Three days passed and no unusual activity was given. The weather on the other hand, was very uncommon to the young visitors. A thunderstorm came out of God knows where, and had lasted those 3 days and counting. Sakura begged me to train her, but all I could do was give her encouragement to go on. Her true power was in her heart, not in her muscles or mind. Time alone could make it appear.
St. Gabriel's Academy…
With all that rain, field trips were postponed until further notice. In that mean time, extra research was asked from the students on several subjects. The library was filled with students going from one bookshelf to the other.
"I don't get it...I just don't get it" Frustrated, she ran her fingers through her auburn hair
"What? The results or the process?" Tomoyo sat by her side and looked at the notebook.
"The whole subject. Math is so difficult. And I though capturing cards was harsh" Sakura entertained herself holding the pencil between her lips and nose.
"If it helps you...you may come to my house and talk to Mizuki-san"
"Eriol! She's going to be there? Is it ok is we come by?" Sakura tried hard not be a bother, but her friend just smiled politely and agreed with a nod.
"Great! I'll go after practice"
"Practice?"
"Oh! Time for lunch, I'm going to look for Syaoran, he must be around here. See you at the cafeteria!" And with that she quickly picked up her things and searched for her beloved.
Daidouji started to pick up her things as she explained to me. Apparently our darling Sakura had joined the Drama Club in Japan ever since that play Tomoeda put on the Amusement Park. She had played several successful roles in all these years. Things changed quite a bit since I last heard. To not let her passion for acting die, she entered St. Gabriel's drama club for the summer.
Syaoran, in the meantime, was concentrating on a large amount of books that laid on the table. This particular area of the library was on the back, where old, dusty books were. The air smelled dense and antique. If you closed your eyes you could feel Father Time by your side willing to tell you some amazing stories he had been witness to.
"Not much...this is crazy. I'm going in circles. Wait a second...here is something" His brown eyes searched the pages with astonishment and wonder. He was so involved in his lecture he didn't felt a certain presence behind him. It was until her lips touched his neck.
"Sakura! You scared me..." He let out with a nervous smile.
"Boy, are you jumpy or what? What are you reading?" Watching her eased the tension in him a little. Her soft sweet nature made everything seem so...easy.
"Yes...I was looking up some old magic things. Something about Clow"
"Why not ask Eriol?"
A smirk was just the beginning. "You better than anyone should know; Clow / Eriol likes to keep certain things to himself. The purpose of that is to make the trouble we face more...interesting. He likes the plot to thicken" He finished placing the books he had in a cart and collected his belongings to go with her.
"But if it was important he would say something, right?"
The young man just kissed her forehead and replied. "I guess so"
The hours passed and everything went on as usual. Only during a break to the restroom I felt ill. A sweaty, paled reflection left me resting on the floor for several minutes. It was then, when I turned into a certain direction, the pain increased to a climax only to leave me without breathe the next minute.
Today...they would be another catch.
Just then, the door opened for me to see a very worried Li-kun.
"Are you not telling us something?" He blurted out as he was holding me up on our way back to the classroom.
"For example?"
"If you happen to know valuable information about this case, you...would tell us, right?" His lips tighten as the words left his mouth.
"Of course. My health depends on this too, remember?"
"I'm sorry. It's just that this is driving me crazy. I had no intention of offending you like this"
"Don't worry, no hard feelings whatsoever"
"It's just that watching Sakura struggle with herself, in being better makes me want to--"
"do everything in your power to help her. And you are, doing a good job" By this time we were outside the room.
"Well then, I hope you won't decide to make it difficult all of a sudden"
"Love is never an easy pleasure. It has conditions, rules and consequences"
"What the hell does that mean?"
"Nothing, only that you must always keep in mind what lead you to her..." And with that I opened the door for us to rejoin the class.
As they headed to Eriol's home, the rain increased it's power making it more difficult to get there. A taxi cab was called on by Syaoran as they waited near a peculiar site. Sakura got a slight chill and turned to see the place. A beautiful victorian cemetery that seemed to glow with all that rain: Highgate Cemetery.
"This is very...uh.." Some discomfort arose from Sakura.
"Oh! That's a great place to take video or pictures. I have read that some people have the tendency to look for supernatural forces in gloomy places like this one"
"Tomoyo?"
"Sometimes a ghost appears or objects fly by..."
"...Tomoyo?"
"In occasions a medium or psychic is involved to help the investigators be more precise in their locations or to find out more about the 'unknown presence'"
"To...mo...yo?"
"Yeah! Maybe we should come one of these days and tape. Maybe something eerie and mysterious might show up! ^_^"
By this moment her friend just muttered a 'please don't' as her complexion got pale. Eriol giggled for a second and went dead silent the next second. Everyone's attention was on him. The taxi cab arrived just in the nick of time. While the others made him comfortable and made up an acceptable reason for his condition to the driver, Sakura was pulled by some source of dimension. A screeching voice called her from the cemetery, a foggy, dark, cold atmosphere was around her and only her.
"Sakura! What's wrong? You're getting wet and we need to hurry, Eriol is in a lot of pain. SAKURA!!"
Without a doubt she was in a trance of some sort. Rain dripped from every inch of her body and no answer was given on her behalf. My descendant got worried and got out of the cab to get her. I sensed it...I felt it.
That presence...
In a few seconds it was gone like my pain. Everyone was inside the vehicle. An embarrassed and slightly shaken Card Mistress was apologizing to all. By her eyes I could tell she wanted to talk to me about it. But this wasn't the time...not yet.
Bates Residence
"Sakura! Tomoyo! Welcome home. My dears...you're soaking wet. Hurry up and get changed. I'll fix you girls something delicious"
"Thank you ma'am"
"...I'm.."
"Yes?"
"I'm going to take a bath. Got...really wet"
"Sure Sakura dear"
Tomoyo made a gesture asking her if everything was alright. The auburn haired girl just nodded and asked to be left alone. Her best friend respected her wish and helped Mrs. Bates in the kitchen as she dried her wet hair with a towel.
Once upstairs she immediately got a big hug from tiny Kero-chan. He was so delighted to see her again. Her mistress smiled and told him to wait for her outside. She took the portable phone that was upstairs and dialed to Hiiragizawa.
"I'm sorry I disturbed you after...I mean, you must be tired but I have to ask you"
"Yes?"
"Was that?..."
"Yes..."
"Wow...I mean, I was totally into this, it was like a trance. I snapped out of it when Syaoran gave me a quick kiss"
"I guess he wanted to wake you without making a harsh move"
"What happened today...I felt it. The card itself showed me the way, the sense of the force that controls it...I couldn't move or think straight for a second"
"I know "
"I could feel great power behind this; it can't be just one person doing this, it would be too dangerous to hold so much magic...wouldn't it?"
"It is dangerous, but whomever is behind this knows what they're doing. Be cautious, time is upon us with each passing day.."
"Yes, I know the consequences of letting this get out of control would be dreadful on you and the world."
"...beyond of what you think...You're learning. Are you returning to the place tonight?"
"Absolutely, all right see you later. Bye"
After that was over a sweet smile appeared, she soaked her troubles away and thought to herself that from that moment on, every little feeling or thought counted for her powers were great and she needed to trust them in order to get the cards.
Nighttime came in a few hours. The group at Hiiragizawa's place had already gone to the area making sure no one was there. It was by Eriol's request that only Spinniel would accompany Yue. Tomoyo charged her cam's battery in time, gave Sakura a new outfit and explained the events to Kerberos as well.
The rain was still on their trail so some arrangements were made to travel. Sakura used her Fly card while Tomoyo hold on to an umbrella and Kerberos as they traveled side by side.
The weather became more difficult once they arrived at the site. Sakura was the last one to arrive by Daidouji's request to tape her 'as she would make her big entrance form the sky'
The outfit was made from an impermeable material. She had a lovely round neck blouse with 3/4 sleeve, the tips of the garment had 2 fine navy blue strips, hugging the fabric horizontally, to contrast with the baby blue of the blouse itself. A navy blue skirt with a slight puff made the combination dazzled as well as the shiny navy blue boots that went just above her knees. A dark colored cape was also provided to help her stay more dry.
Her soft landing made way to thunder and lighting making her squeal in fear. Kerberos rushed to her along with Li-kun.
"Are you ok?" Both asked making some annoyance at each other possible.
"Yes...just a bit frighten. Wow! This place gives me the creeps. Hope no ghosts are around"
"Don't worry Sakura I'll be here to protect you"
"Thank you Kero ^_^"
"...Show off"
"Can it Spinniel!"
"Enough you two, you're giving me a headache. We need to concentrate" The young asian man interrupted.
"Right. I know it's around here I felt it this afternoon. I just hope it doesn't suck me into that dimension thing again. Alright! So what did your found out about this place?"
"Well, this is a map. As you can see it's quite big. This is considered a tourist sight by many. It holds the resting place of many of the most prominent men and women of the Victorian era. Since it's popular there are guards around here" Li informed
"We checked the lapses of time between each round: Half an hour is taken to check just one side. That's two...one hour" Kerberos added.
"Right, so...the next round will start in 20 minutes, let's split up to get this much quicker" Everyone agreed to her request and spread out in two groups, East and West: Sakura, Kerberos and Yue on one side and Li, Spinniel and Tomoyo in another.
As they kept on the look out for anything suspicious and moving forward on, Sakura kept herself quiet and thought of the afternoon incident and Eriol's words. The other group kept themselves quiet as well and looked around, just then a quick flash attracted their attention.
"What was that? Lighting?" Tomoyo prepared her camera as she turned to Li
"No...and it came from Sakura's side. Let's go!"
Sakura was sin the process of concentrating with her eyes closed for any signs of danger. Yue was keeping guard of any civilians while Kerberos got closer to her.. In that precise second, a flash made the mausoleum behind them glow with power.
"Watch out!"
She snapped her eyes open as Kerberos warned her and she felt a presence. The Sun Guardian got her out of the way in time, knocking her to the ground. The Card Mistress watched in amazement as the construction glowed with an eerie light while letting a slight whisper fill the air. She got on her feet without taking her eyes off the mausoleum.
Little by little, she got closer.
"Wait! Sakura!" Both guardians wanted to help her, but she simply made a hand motion telling them to cease the warnings and let her act on her own.
"SAKURA!!"
"...Syaoran, it's calling for me"
"Wait!" He tried to catch his breath desperately "I'll go with you, this is not safe" And with that he caught her arm to stop her.
She turned to him with sad eyes "Do you trust me?"
"What?"
"How can I prove myself worthy of being the Card Mistress if I can't do this on my own?"
"What? Putting yourself at risk?"
She took his arm off, "This isn't about honor all right? This is about learning how far I can go. Going to the distance, making myself something"
"I can't believe you're telling me you--"
"ENOUGH!" With courage in her eyes and pleading him to let her be, she ran towards the luminous place.
In an instant she enter some kind of portal dimension, where everything was still and bright. Hesitating at first where to go, she decided to go forward step by step and keeping her senses open.
"Welcome girl..."
"Who is there?" The voice echoed all around her.
"Always relying on others, always holding back some truth. Spoiled, clumsy, bratty parasite!!!"
"WHO IS THERE?!"
"You think you can do SO well. By putting others in danger? Can't you do your job right?!"
Just then a dense fog covered her all around making it impossible for her to move, speak or hear but just watch as a blurry vision was reveled before her: An old woman dressed in fancy victorian clothing was having a discussion with a young man, in front of a grave. Sakura couldn't see the man's face but only his back. And by the movements on both individuals the discussion was turning ugly. The woman had the upper hand in the fight for she slapped and tugged the man around, humiliating him in great fashion.
"How can she be so mean?" She thought to herself "Her lips move rather quickly I can't...tell...what is she..."
The thought was interrupted by a loud scream that covered the portal and traveled all the way to where the others were. The high pitched sound was so strong it made the ground rumble. The vision disappeared with the fog to let the portal glow.
"OH MY GOD! WHAT IS THAT?" Tomoyo asked while covering her ears just like the rest of the group did.
"SOUNDS LIKE A BANSHEE IF YOU ASK ME"
"DON'T BE STUPID SPINNIEL! THOSE ARE IN IRELAND!!"
"ALL RIGHT FUR BRAIN, THEN WHAT IS IT?"
"STOP YOUR BICKERING! KERBEROS, LET'S GO!" Both guardians ran to reunite with their mistress, hoping she was ok.
Sakura was able to move just a little with the rumbling around her. Little by little her hand moved to get a certain card.
"I...got to stop this..." Trying hard she got the card and with all her strength and power within her she was able to shout.
"VOICE! FIND THE SOURCE OF SUCH SOUND WITH YOUR TALENT! VOICE!!!"
In an instant the tiny bright colored being with wings for arms appeared, only to show disgust in her face. But being the loyal servant she was, Voice moved like a shiny ball of light towards the source of the sound. She let her Mistress know the location by shining in the distance like a star. Right then the screaming stopped, Sakura recovered her senses and the Guardians arrived on each side.
"Over there!!" But before they could go over, a being passed by knocking them to the ground, and crossing to the normal dimension. The Voice returned in bad shape, with a dimmer presentation and scratches and bruises all over.
"Dear Voice!! You're hurt!" Sakura picked her up in her arms with love and told her aids to help the others. "You did a very good job. Rest now" And with that the card returned to it's confined presentation. Urgently she went to the other side. The rain had stopped.
"This ends now! YOU THERE! UNKNOWN CARD! I CHALLENGE YOU!"
The dark being turned into the form of the old woman in the vision, with the exception of not having legs, with a large cape as clothing and just floating over the ground. Her amber eyes opened wide with her mouth to let go a painful scream. The same sound that made everyone shiver and the ground rumble once more.
But the young girl had a card up her sleeve, literally. In a dash she pulled out her helper.
"SHOW HER SOME MANNERS! SILENT!!"
The card transformed into the long haired woman with the fan. She flew to the other entity just to crash in a spectacle of light. But as soon as she did so, the loud form was trapped into lovely silence.
"Kero! Yue! Now!"
Although she felt weak, she managed to make her seal appear and the confinement chant began.
"ANCIENT FORCES OF DARK AND LIGHT,
BRING ME THE POWER TO MAKE THIS RIGHT,
SEAL THIS BEING TO WHICH I ASK
DEVOTION AND TRUTH IN ITS TASK
MAGIC OF EAST
MAGIC OF WEST
LET THIS ENERGY BE CONFINED
TILL ITS TRUE MASTER MAY BE FOUND…
SAKURA SEAL!"
Silent let the entity go till it formed a card with eh same characteristics as the ones before and showing its name on the base: The Scream.
"We did it...we..." The long evening took effect on her body as she fell unconscious in Syaoran's arms who was ready to catch her. Everyone got near to see if she was ok without noticing a slender figure watching them from a tree in the area.
"Not bad...I'll see you again" And the shadow disappeared into the clear sky of the night.
End of Chapter 5
Song: "In the Shadow, In the Light" by Enigma
Author's Note: Wow...that was dramatic, I hope. It looks like our friends had some company. We can see now that Sakura is being a little bit more serious about her job but if you think she is taking it too far, it's just that she is scared of making a mistake and wants to do her best. I'm SO sorry I took long to add chapters. By this weekend (first one of March 2004) you shall have another chapter. ^__^ Keep reviewing!