Author's Note: This is another challenge fic, believe it or not. Or, at least, the prologue is. I'll be continuing this story. The challenge was to write an AU prologue only 500-1,000 words long...there were other conditions, but those were the hardest to stick to. ~laughs~ I wanted to go over 1,000! And...I *never* write AU fics!
Initial thanks go to the wonderful writers at the Tsukimine Shrine community on LiveJournal. Specific thanks go to L-chan for making the community, Peacewish for saying "If you don't continue, I might." and Cygna-hime for forcing me out of my anti-AU box and getting the ball rolling with this challenge.
Prologue
He held my hand tightly, looking up at me with pain-filled eyes. "We have lost this day," he said with labored breath. I gazed on with horror as the blood bubbled upon his lips, one small river of it running from his mouth, across his pale cheek, flowing into his long black hair as he turned his head to the side.
"Clow! No! You cannot die." My protest could not save him though.
He gave me a weary smile. "I do not die this day. I merely move on."
"I'm not ready for this. I'm only a child. I can't--"
"You will."
With his last shuddering breath he locked his eyes upon mine and I saw--everything. The universe was open upon me in that instant, and I saw everything. I knew all. I had the will, the power, to do anything I wanted. Anything...but undo the event that transferred upon me this power.
It was over in an instant, and locked away within me. An instant was all I had. I had to lead now. Somehow I had to let go my grief long enough to end this conflict and regroup. "Fall back," I roared as loud as I could manage. "Our king is dead, call the retreat!"
Everything that followed was pandemonium. I vaguely remember two soldiers picking up Clow's body, and feeling a strange sense of displacement. It seemed impossible. I felt dizzy at the sight, and my knees nearly buckled. Who was it that took me upon his horse and pulled me to safety? I think it was Crown Prince Touya, but by that time I was so far gone that I could not tell you for sure.
I lost consciousness soon after.
I awoke in the palace, in the king's chambers. Everything was perfectly silent but for the ticking of a nearby clock. I'd always had a fondness for--no; Clow had always had a fondness for clocks.
A wave of nausea wracked my body and I curled up on my side to try to alleviate it. The bed at once felt familiar and strange, and it seemed I saw the world through a strange double vision. This disparity made the nausea increase tenfold, and I dove from the bed to the privacy chambers. I barely made it in time.
When I finished, I felt strong arms pulling me back and steadying me. I tried to stand on my own, but I was too weak. I was caught again, and cradled like a baby in those arms. I blinked, looking up into that stoic face, remembering how he'd intimidated me so--
"Yue," I murmured softly. To me now, he looked like the closest of confidants. He was beloved. He was the most trusted being in my chaotic world. In his arms now, I cried unabashedly. I'd lost him forever, just as he'd lost me.
No. I am not him, I thought firmly. I am me. It is not me who died upon the field of battle. I am alive.
"The ceremony will be held this evening. We need a king as soon as possible."
Yue's words, as always, were direct and to the point. They were delivered with what I'd always assumed was a cold distance, but I recognized now that this was just the way he was. The set of his eyes and the slight tremble in his voice was enough to let me know he grieved deeply.
"Thank you, Yue."
"Will you be able to stand on your own by then, Clow?"
I winced. I am not Clow. I am the vessel. I have an identity of my own...don't I? I wanted to cry, wondering who had actually died. "Yue, Clow is dead."
It was the only time that I had seen his mask of perfect calm crack. "But you...you were there. He entered you, and you have his magic...his memories...right?"
"Yes."
"And yet he is dead?"
"Yes."
Yue set me down on the bed carefully, and knelt down beside the bed. His face, once it showed emotion at all, was now the picture of raw grief. He buried his face in the blankets, and great raking sobs shook his slight frame. I stroked his long silvery-white hair, trying to comfort him as much as I could, but my touch only brought more pain to him.
The chamber doors opened, and we both looked up immediately. Crown Prince Touya stood there, eyes blazing, glaring at me as if all that was wrong in the world was my fault. I felt the automatic urge to get to my feet and bow to him as I'd always had, but the calm center within me held me in place. As that happened, I felt almost fatherly toward him. Another wave of nausea hit me. I fell back on the pillows of the oversized bed, feeling incredibly small...this was all too much for me.
"You will never replace my father," Touya stated in a ringing voice.
"I would never try," I murmured softly, covering my eyes with my arm.
I heard a set of gasps and peeked under my arm in curiosity. The first one was Yue, looking at me in utter and complete shock. The second came from behind Touya. My eyes would not focus that far away, but I didn't have to see to know who it was any more than I'd needed to see the crown prince to know who he was.
Princess.
"Sakura."
"Eriol! I-it's true? Father has fallen?"
I was not ready for this. I was not ready for any of this.
"Yes, Sakura. Father is dead, and his vessel shall usurp the throne."