Author's Note:
So here's Chapter 2 . . . enjoy! (In case anyone's wondering, Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu will make their entrance in the next chapter, meaning Chapter 3, so all events in this chapter will be leading up to when they come.)
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The rain made a gentle pattering sound on the window in Tomoyo's room. The sky outside was full of dark ominous clouds promising even more rain. There was no sign of the rain letting up anytime soon.
"Um . . . hello?" Tomoyo was shifting nervously from foot to foot as she stood in her bedroom, with her cell phone shaking in her hand. It was the first time she had tried to talk to Syaoran ever since he'd gone back to Hong Kong last year. She wasn't really sure what to expect. What she did not expect was what she heard when after she had, in all her anxiety, said hello as soon as she heard the click you normally hear when a phone has been either picked up or put down, before hearing if anyone on the other side had actually answered the call, first
"Hello," came a mechanical voice from the other end, "You have reached a number that has just recently been disconnected. No additional information on this number can be provided at the time. For further assistance, please call your operator. Thank you, and good bye." There was another click and Tomoyo could tell that the machine-recorded voice had hung up.
Tomoyo frowned as she thought over what she had just heard. The number Syaoran had given her couldn't be disconnected, she thought stubbornly, not willing to accept the truth. It just couldn't be! She tried calling again, but heard the same response.
What does it mean "for further assistance" call the operator? Tomoyo thought to herself angrily. It should say "for any assistance" because it's not like the message helped me call Syaoran. It's not even like it tried! If anything, it's just made me more depressed I didn't insist on going to find Kero together. Tomoyo sighed sadly with much regret. Her best friend, Sakura, was in danger, and she needed help, whether she was willing to admit it or not. While she herself may not be able to be of much aid, Syaoran was one who possibly could be. He was the only one. If Kero had disappeared, then there was only one other person Tomoyo knew of, one other person strong enough to help her friend. And that person was Syaoran. But that person was also now beyond Tomoyo's reach, since the only way she could think of contacting him was by phone, and go figure, she thought, his number just had to be disconnected. Couldn't he have gotten a new number? He probably has, she thought sullenly. But since I never called him, he must've forgotten about me and never bothered to call and tell me the new number. He could have an email address, but I never asked him about even that! Why didn't I ever try talking to him? Tomoyo asked herself despairingly. I could've saved myself and everyone else, including Sakura and Kero, a whole lot of grief. But I acted stupidly, and didn't call him even once. And now we all must suffer.
Tomoyo flung herself onto her bed forlornly, feeling quite terrible about herself and the disconnected number.
"WHAT MAKES YOU THINK ALL HOPE IS LOST, DAIDOUJI?"
"Huh?" Tomoyo jumped up from her bed and frantically looked around the room. "Who are you," she asked, trying to keep the quiver out of her voice.
"WHO I AM SHOULD BE OF NO CONCERN OF YOURS. ALL YOU SHOULD WORRY ABOUT IS WHAT I WANT."
"What do you want?" Tomoyo screamed, now very thoroughly scared. She presumed that hearing voices inside your head was not very likely to be something good or normal.
"I WANT YOU."
"Yeek!" Tomoyo shrieked, as her entire room was flooded with darkness. She couldn't even see her hands in front of her face as she tried to feel around. Strong gusts of wind blew all around her, whipping at her clothes and hair. She gasped as she felt a hand grab her wrist. "Let me go!" she cried. "Who are you? What do you want?" She blindly began waving at the air with her other hand. She tried to twist out of the strong grip on her wrist, but failed. She felt another hand on her waist. It squeezed her middle tightly, almost mercilessly, nearly depriving her of oxygen for a few desperate seconds.
Tomoyo felt she was being pulled up, very slowly, but surely. Pulled up where? she thought. Into the darkness? As if there isn't already enough down here. She tried asking out loud, but her voice failed her. She screamed, but the sound was lost in the fierce, roaring wind surrounding her.
Tomoyo started to struggle against the hands around her wrist and waist. She tried pushing her body downwards, but had no success, and instead, she felt she continued to be pulled upward. Up into the endless darkness.
The grip didn't loosen one bit as the darkness swallowed Tomoyo. She screamed once more. But it was useless. No one could hear her now.
She finally felt the grip loosen once her feet were on solid ground. Tomoyo opened her eyes, which she had been keeping shut tight, in an attempt to ease the darkness pressing on her eyes. All she saw was a hand in a black glove fly at her face, viciously backhanding her, before her vision left her again, and she was knocked out by a terrible feeling of overwhelming pain in her head.
Sakura stood on the front porch waiting. After a few more minutes of standing around she rang the doorbell a second time. When no one answered after five more minutes, Sakura decided no one must be home.
Sakura sighed. Now she was even more worried. Yukito was normally home around this time. Even if he had stayed after school for something or other, he should have been back by now. School closed for the night a few hours ago.
Well, thought Sakura, I now know for sure. Whatever or whoever took Kero must also have taken Yue. But why? What would someone want with them?
Sakura looked out into the sky. The near black clouds totally obscured the moon and stars from view. It was so sunny and bright today, she thought. What is up with the sudden weather changes? Sakura stared at the clouds for a bit longer, but she was not thinking about the weather anymore.
"I am alone now," she whispered to herself. "Kero left today and didn't come back, and now Yue's disappeared. They've all gone and abandoned me." Sakura didn't know how she knew, but she just had a gut feeling that Yue was with Kero, and that if she found one of them, she would find the other. After a while longer of feeling sorry for anyone she had ever cared about, Sakura scolded herself, "Of course they haven't abandoned me. What am I thinking? By losing hope and thinking like this, I'm the one who's abandoning them! I have to go save them. I have to search for them, I have to find them, and even if I have to do it by myself. I know I can do it by myself," Sakura said to herself strongly, "Was I named the Master of the Clow because I chickened out every time a card showed up?" After a moment of thinking it over, she sadly said, "No. I went out and fought and captured it. But Kero and Syaoran helped me, and Tomoyo gave me the encouragement I needed. Who's going to do all that now? Can I really rescue Kero and Yue all by myself? Could I have captured the cards and be named the Master of the Clow if I was all by myself? All alone with no help or anything? I wonder, can I really do anything alone?"
"You never know what you can do until you try Sakura, and you must never stop trying."
Sakura was surprised. Her father used to tell her the same thing when she was younger. But who was talking now? She whipped around. But as far as she could tell, no one was there.
"Of course you can do things by yourself. You passed Yue's judgment all alone, didn't you? And you did it without any help. You also retrieved plenty of cards without aid or interference. You underestimate yourself, Kinomoto. I can assure you, there is absolutely no way you could have been able to become the Master of the Clow simply by fluke. Absolutely no way."
Sakura looked around, but still no one showed up. Until she saw a faint glimmering in the air. Sakura looked closer. "M-m-mother?" she asked unbelievingly, squinting at the being who had suddenly appeared before her. The image in front of her eyes did indeed look like her mother. Yet that was impossible, her mother was dead. But then who was this person in front of her?
"No, I am very sorry Sakura, but I am not your mother. I am a messenger."
"A messenger," Sakura said softly, "from whom?"
"That is something I am forbidden to say."
"B-b-but . . . then what do you want?"
"Please listen to me, for I don't have much more time. I cannot explain very much to you, and you already know some things, but I will do my best to tell you what I can. Someone is after you."
"After me?" Sakura asked, surprised, "what on earth would someone want with me?"
"He is after the Master of the Clow, the cards, and heaven know what else. This person is very evil and will stop at nothing to get what he wants, even if it means destroying the very Earth itself. You must stop him, though. You must save this world from this threatening evil. You, alone, Sakura, Master of the Clow, are the only who, who has the power to stop him. At least, you are for the time being, the only one we are aware of."
"Who's we," asked Sakura, "and who is this evil person? And why does he want me and the cards?"
"I cannot tell you, for the truth is unknown and the evidence is questionable. My time is up, I must go now. Farewell, young Sakura."
"No!" Sakura shouted as the woman in front of her eyes started to disappear, "Wait! What do you mean by 'truth is unknown and the evidence is questionable'? Please don't go," Sakura looked helplessly at the woman as she totally vanished, leaving no trace that there was ever anyone there.
After a while longer of staring into space, Sakura muttered a curse under her breath, even though it was against her principles to curse. "I'm so stupid," she muttered to herself, "I didn't even ask where I should go to start looking for this evil dude and Kero and Yue, I didn't even ask what I'm expected to do. Baka!"
Sakura walked away from Yukito's house, practically dragging her feet across the neatly trimmed lawn. The future looked bleak as Sakura thought about what to do next. I know I have to rescue Kero and Yue, first of all. Then I can think about defending myself against this evil person, or whatever he is. But I don't think defending myself will be enough, the lady or whatever she is, told me I would have to stop him from destroying the world. Can I really do that?"
Sakura sighed and looked around. There wasn't a single living creature to be seen. She quickly ducked behind a bush and took out her staff. "Fly!" she yelled. After she had successfully acquired her wings, Sakura released another card, "Shield! Shield me from everything around me including the eyes of passerby!" Once she was fully shielded and ready to fly, Sakura did one more thing with her magic. She took out a miniature lasin board Syaoran had given to her shortly before he had left. "Lasin board!" she yelled, "Show me the way I should travel!"
The board sent out a beam of bright light straight up into the air, which disappeared. Then, after a few seconds, another beam of light shot out of the board. This light pointed in a direction that was suspiciously familiar to Sakura. It was the direction she had come from, her own house.
Not wanting to waste anymore time, Sakura immediately flew towards the direction the lasin board had given her. She passed house after house. One of them was oddly recognizable as Tomoyo's house. Sakura stopped for a second, hovering in midair. It was Tomoyo's house! But while the rest of the house was lit, Tomoyo's room was dark, pitch black even. Sakura flew to her friend's bedroom window. There was a large lock, but Sakura knew a way to deal with that. She minimized her staff and used her Star key. Thankfully, the lock clicked open as soon as Sakura inserted the key and turned. Sakura opened the window and rushed in. The sudden momentum from her wings made her crash into the wall opposite the window. A voice from downstairs shouted, "Tomoyo! What on earth are you doing up there?"
Wait a minute, thought Sakura. Something very fishy is going on. If someone is calling Tomoyo from downstairs, she should be upstairs. But there's no one here. Sakura walked over and flipped on the light switch next to Tomoyo's bedroom door. The lights sparked once then died. Something's definitely wrong here, Sakura thought as she stood in complete darkness, where is Tomoyo?
"THE GIRL IS WITH ME, KINOMOTO. SO ARE YOUR GUARDIANS."
"What?" Sakura spun around, but all she saw was darkness. The second time I've heard voices in my head, today, she thought. This is so not a good sign. At least the first time the voice belonged to someone. Where's this one coming from? I can't even see or tell. I know, "LIGHT! Release!"
The released Light card flew around the room, making the room brighter than it was even in the daytime. But try as she did, Sakura could still see no one. She peered at the bed and the closet, but there was nothing there.
"Who are you?" Sakura demanded, more annoyed than scared, "Where are you? Quit playing games like hide-and-seek, I'm too old for that, and I have other things to do. What do you want, anyway? And where is Tomoyo?"
"IMPATIENT, ARE YOU?"
"No, I just like to get down to business right away, instead of fooling around."
"VERY WELL THEN, LET US GET DOWN TO BUSINESS. I HAVE ALREADY TOLD YOU ONCE BEFORE, I HAVE THE GIRL AND THE TWO GUARDIANS, THE BEAST AND THE JUDGE."
"You mean Tomoyo, Kero, and Yue?"
"CALL THEM WHAT YOU WISH, I JUST WANT TO TELL YOU I HAVE THEM AND THAT THEY ARE IN DANGER. IF YOU DO NOT FOLLOW MY COMMANDS, I WILL HURT THEM."
Sakura shivered, but put on a strong face. "Just how can I be sure you have them? For all I know, you're lying to me, just to try and get me to do what you want."
"YOU DO NOT BELIEVE ME. HOW AMUSING. VERY WELL, KINOMOTO. I WILL GIVE YOU THE PROOF YOU WANT. COME TO TOKYO TOWER RIGHT NOW AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. AND KINOMOTO . . . JUST FOR THE SAKE OF YOUR FRIENDS, YOU MIGHT WANT TO HURRY."
A terrible laughter echoed all around the tiny room. Sakura recognized it as the laughter she had heard in her dream. It was very cold and evil sounding, empty of anything but contempt. Not wanting to endanger her friends even more, Sakura flew out the window and headed over to Tokyo Tower. To increase her speed, Sakura released the Dash card.
She made it to the entrance of the tower in record time. As Sakura looked up at the tall tower above her, she gasped. It was the exact same as the one in her dream. There was no black ocean around, though. She tilted her head back to look at the top. There he was, just as he was in her dream, standing on the top of the tower, shoulders stooped just a little. The wind whipped his black robes and black gems glittered all over his body. He laughed once more. A chill went up Sakura's spine. The man jumped down with surprising grace. He landed on his feet with impossible ease. "Well met, Kinomoto." The man's voice was a soft purr, misleading, but still very lethal. "What have you done to them?" Sakura shouted, though the man was not more than a few feet away from her. "They are still safe and sound, do not worry." "Where are they?"
"Look, up there," the man said as he pointed to the top of the tower from where he had jumped down. Sakura followed his finger to see two indistinct figures tied to tall stakes. The wind blew their hair wildly around their heads, and thick, heavy ropes around their necks, middle, and feet, tying them to the stakes. Their hands were wrenched behind them and tied behind their back. There was a third figure, a large, and beautiful creature with his paws chained and a collar around his neck. The creature's wings were tied down with weights. The once beautiful silvery wings were now bent and looked broken.
Sakura tore her eyes off the horrible sight in front of her. "What have you done to them?" she screamed at the man.
"Cooperate with me, and I shall release them."
Sakura looked around hopelessly, but did not dare look up. She could not bear to see the sight of her friends all shackled up like that again. I guess I have to listen to him, thought Sakura. If I don't he'll hurt them even more, and I don't want that. By the way, where are all the people? As Sakura looked around, she could tell the tower had been deserted a while ago. The man had probably done something.
"What do you want me to do?" Sakura asked.
"Good girl, then I take it you've decided to cooperate? Good, now this task will be much easier. First I want you to hand over the Clow book."
"The Book of Clow? I don't have it with me." But after she saw the hungry, almost eager look on the man's face, Sakura hurriedly added, "But I can go and get it right now if you want."
The man laughed that horrible laugh again. He took out a long, black staff and pointed at the three figures above the tower. Black lightning crept over their bodies, occasionally turning crimson. Sakura heard someone scream, it sounded like Tomoyo.
"Stop," Sakura cried, "please don't hurt them!"
The evil laugh continued as the black staff glowed and even more magic appeared on her friends' bodies, this time much of it was pure crimson.
"No," Sakura screamed. She fell to her knees. "Please stop, I'll do anything, I swear!"
"Anything?" asked the man. He walked over to her and raised his staff above her head, and laughed again.
Sakura looked up. The man's evil face looked down at her. His left hand held the staff raised above her, poised to bring it down onto her head. The blow would knock her out, maybe even kill her. But there was nothing she could do now; she had placed herself in an awfully vulnerable position.
Is this really the end? thought Sakura.
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Well, this ends the second chapter, I hope I didn't sound too sadistic with my descriptions of pain and sadness or anything, because I have seen worse, much worse. I know this wasn't really that good of a chapter, but please don't give up on me, I promise the next chapter will be a LOT better. The only reason this one sucked is because I kind of had a serious case of writer's block, so I had to force everything out of my head. (I know that sounds so wrong, but . . .) Anyways, plz review! And the next chapter will be up as soon as I finish it and find time to go post it. (Expect it in like around two to three weeks)
So here's Chapter 2 . . . enjoy! (In case anyone's wondering, Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu will make their entrance in the next chapter, meaning Chapter 3, so all events in this chapter will be leading up to when they come.)
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The rain made a gentle pattering sound on the window in Tomoyo's room. The sky outside was full of dark ominous clouds promising even more rain. There was no sign of the rain letting up anytime soon.
"Um . . . hello?" Tomoyo was shifting nervously from foot to foot as she stood in her bedroom, with her cell phone shaking in her hand. It was the first time she had tried to talk to Syaoran ever since he'd gone back to Hong Kong last year. She wasn't really sure what to expect. What she did not expect was what she heard when after she had, in all her anxiety, said hello as soon as she heard the click you normally hear when a phone has been either picked up or put down, before hearing if anyone on the other side had actually answered the call, first
"Hello," came a mechanical voice from the other end, "You have reached a number that has just recently been disconnected. No additional information on this number can be provided at the time. For further assistance, please call your operator. Thank you, and good bye." There was another click and Tomoyo could tell that the machine-recorded voice had hung up.
Tomoyo frowned as she thought over what she had just heard. The number Syaoran had given her couldn't be disconnected, she thought stubbornly, not willing to accept the truth. It just couldn't be! She tried calling again, but heard the same response.
What does it mean "for further assistance" call the operator? Tomoyo thought to herself angrily. It should say "for any assistance" because it's not like the message helped me call Syaoran. It's not even like it tried! If anything, it's just made me more depressed I didn't insist on going to find Kero together. Tomoyo sighed sadly with much regret. Her best friend, Sakura, was in danger, and she needed help, whether she was willing to admit it or not. While she herself may not be able to be of much aid, Syaoran was one who possibly could be. He was the only one. If Kero had disappeared, then there was only one other person Tomoyo knew of, one other person strong enough to help her friend. And that person was Syaoran. But that person was also now beyond Tomoyo's reach, since the only way she could think of contacting him was by phone, and go figure, she thought, his number just had to be disconnected. Couldn't he have gotten a new number? He probably has, she thought sullenly. But since I never called him, he must've forgotten about me and never bothered to call and tell me the new number. He could have an email address, but I never asked him about even that! Why didn't I ever try talking to him? Tomoyo asked herself despairingly. I could've saved myself and everyone else, including Sakura and Kero, a whole lot of grief. But I acted stupidly, and didn't call him even once. And now we all must suffer.
Tomoyo flung herself onto her bed forlornly, feeling quite terrible about herself and the disconnected number.
"WHAT MAKES YOU THINK ALL HOPE IS LOST, DAIDOUJI?"
"Huh?" Tomoyo jumped up from her bed and frantically looked around the room. "Who are you," she asked, trying to keep the quiver out of her voice.
"WHO I AM SHOULD BE OF NO CONCERN OF YOURS. ALL YOU SHOULD WORRY ABOUT IS WHAT I WANT."
"What do you want?" Tomoyo screamed, now very thoroughly scared. She presumed that hearing voices inside your head was not very likely to be something good or normal.
"I WANT YOU."
"Yeek!" Tomoyo shrieked, as her entire room was flooded with darkness. She couldn't even see her hands in front of her face as she tried to feel around. Strong gusts of wind blew all around her, whipping at her clothes and hair. She gasped as she felt a hand grab her wrist. "Let me go!" she cried. "Who are you? What do you want?" She blindly began waving at the air with her other hand. She tried to twist out of the strong grip on her wrist, but failed. She felt another hand on her waist. It squeezed her middle tightly, almost mercilessly, nearly depriving her of oxygen for a few desperate seconds.
Tomoyo felt she was being pulled up, very slowly, but surely. Pulled up where? she thought. Into the darkness? As if there isn't already enough down here. She tried asking out loud, but her voice failed her. She screamed, but the sound was lost in the fierce, roaring wind surrounding her.
Tomoyo started to struggle against the hands around her wrist and waist. She tried pushing her body downwards, but had no success, and instead, she felt she continued to be pulled upward. Up into the endless darkness.
The grip didn't loosen one bit as the darkness swallowed Tomoyo. She screamed once more. But it was useless. No one could hear her now.
She finally felt the grip loosen once her feet were on solid ground. Tomoyo opened her eyes, which she had been keeping shut tight, in an attempt to ease the darkness pressing on her eyes. All she saw was a hand in a black glove fly at her face, viciously backhanding her, before her vision left her again, and she was knocked out by a terrible feeling of overwhelming pain in her head.
Sakura stood on the front porch waiting. After a few more minutes of standing around she rang the doorbell a second time. When no one answered after five more minutes, Sakura decided no one must be home.
Sakura sighed. Now she was even more worried. Yukito was normally home around this time. Even if he had stayed after school for something or other, he should have been back by now. School closed for the night a few hours ago.
Well, thought Sakura, I now know for sure. Whatever or whoever took Kero must also have taken Yue. But why? What would someone want with them?
Sakura looked out into the sky. The near black clouds totally obscured the moon and stars from view. It was so sunny and bright today, she thought. What is up with the sudden weather changes? Sakura stared at the clouds for a bit longer, but she was not thinking about the weather anymore.
"I am alone now," she whispered to herself. "Kero left today and didn't come back, and now Yue's disappeared. They've all gone and abandoned me." Sakura didn't know how she knew, but she just had a gut feeling that Yue was with Kero, and that if she found one of them, she would find the other. After a while longer of feeling sorry for anyone she had ever cared about, Sakura scolded herself, "Of course they haven't abandoned me. What am I thinking? By losing hope and thinking like this, I'm the one who's abandoning them! I have to go save them. I have to search for them, I have to find them, and even if I have to do it by myself. I know I can do it by myself," Sakura said to herself strongly, "Was I named the Master of the Clow because I chickened out every time a card showed up?" After a moment of thinking it over, she sadly said, "No. I went out and fought and captured it. But Kero and Syaoran helped me, and Tomoyo gave me the encouragement I needed. Who's going to do all that now? Can I really rescue Kero and Yue all by myself? Could I have captured the cards and be named the Master of the Clow if I was all by myself? All alone with no help or anything? I wonder, can I really do anything alone?"
"You never know what you can do until you try Sakura, and you must never stop trying."
Sakura was surprised. Her father used to tell her the same thing when she was younger. But who was talking now? She whipped around. But as far as she could tell, no one was there.
"Of course you can do things by yourself. You passed Yue's judgment all alone, didn't you? And you did it without any help. You also retrieved plenty of cards without aid or interference. You underestimate yourself, Kinomoto. I can assure you, there is absolutely no way you could have been able to become the Master of the Clow simply by fluke. Absolutely no way."
Sakura looked around, but still no one showed up. Until she saw a faint glimmering in the air. Sakura looked closer. "M-m-mother?" she asked unbelievingly, squinting at the being who had suddenly appeared before her. The image in front of her eyes did indeed look like her mother. Yet that was impossible, her mother was dead. But then who was this person in front of her?
"No, I am very sorry Sakura, but I am not your mother. I am a messenger."
"A messenger," Sakura said softly, "from whom?"
"That is something I am forbidden to say."
"B-b-but . . . then what do you want?"
"Please listen to me, for I don't have much more time. I cannot explain very much to you, and you already know some things, but I will do my best to tell you what I can. Someone is after you."
"After me?" Sakura asked, surprised, "what on earth would someone want with me?"
"He is after the Master of the Clow, the cards, and heaven know what else. This person is very evil and will stop at nothing to get what he wants, even if it means destroying the very Earth itself. You must stop him, though. You must save this world from this threatening evil. You, alone, Sakura, Master of the Clow, are the only who, who has the power to stop him. At least, you are for the time being, the only one we are aware of."
"Who's we," asked Sakura, "and who is this evil person? And why does he want me and the cards?"
"I cannot tell you, for the truth is unknown and the evidence is questionable. My time is up, I must go now. Farewell, young Sakura."
"No!" Sakura shouted as the woman in front of her eyes started to disappear, "Wait! What do you mean by 'truth is unknown and the evidence is questionable'? Please don't go," Sakura looked helplessly at the woman as she totally vanished, leaving no trace that there was ever anyone there.
After a while longer of staring into space, Sakura muttered a curse under her breath, even though it was against her principles to curse. "I'm so stupid," she muttered to herself, "I didn't even ask where I should go to start looking for this evil dude and Kero and Yue, I didn't even ask what I'm expected to do. Baka!"
Sakura walked away from Yukito's house, practically dragging her feet across the neatly trimmed lawn. The future looked bleak as Sakura thought about what to do next. I know I have to rescue Kero and Yue, first of all. Then I can think about defending myself against this evil person, or whatever he is. But I don't think defending myself will be enough, the lady or whatever she is, told me I would have to stop him from destroying the world. Can I really do that?"
Sakura sighed and looked around. There wasn't a single living creature to be seen. She quickly ducked behind a bush and took out her staff. "Fly!" she yelled. After she had successfully acquired her wings, Sakura released another card, "Shield! Shield me from everything around me including the eyes of passerby!" Once she was fully shielded and ready to fly, Sakura did one more thing with her magic. She took out a miniature lasin board Syaoran had given to her shortly before he had left. "Lasin board!" she yelled, "Show me the way I should travel!"
The board sent out a beam of bright light straight up into the air, which disappeared. Then, after a few seconds, another beam of light shot out of the board. This light pointed in a direction that was suspiciously familiar to Sakura. It was the direction she had come from, her own house.
Not wanting to waste anymore time, Sakura immediately flew towards the direction the lasin board had given her. She passed house after house. One of them was oddly recognizable as Tomoyo's house. Sakura stopped for a second, hovering in midair. It was Tomoyo's house! But while the rest of the house was lit, Tomoyo's room was dark, pitch black even. Sakura flew to her friend's bedroom window. There was a large lock, but Sakura knew a way to deal with that. She minimized her staff and used her Star key. Thankfully, the lock clicked open as soon as Sakura inserted the key and turned. Sakura opened the window and rushed in. The sudden momentum from her wings made her crash into the wall opposite the window. A voice from downstairs shouted, "Tomoyo! What on earth are you doing up there?"
Wait a minute, thought Sakura. Something very fishy is going on. If someone is calling Tomoyo from downstairs, she should be upstairs. But there's no one here. Sakura walked over and flipped on the light switch next to Tomoyo's bedroom door. The lights sparked once then died. Something's definitely wrong here, Sakura thought as she stood in complete darkness, where is Tomoyo?
"THE GIRL IS WITH ME, KINOMOTO. SO ARE YOUR GUARDIANS."
"What?" Sakura spun around, but all she saw was darkness. The second time I've heard voices in my head, today, she thought. This is so not a good sign. At least the first time the voice belonged to someone. Where's this one coming from? I can't even see or tell. I know, "LIGHT! Release!"
The released Light card flew around the room, making the room brighter than it was even in the daytime. But try as she did, Sakura could still see no one. She peered at the bed and the closet, but there was nothing there.
"Who are you?" Sakura demanded, more annoyed than scared, "Where are you? Quit playing games like hide-and-seek, I'm too old for that, and I have other things to do. What do you want, anyway? And where is Tomoyo?"
"IMPATIENT, ARE YOU?"
"No, I just like to get down to business right away, instead of fooling around."
"VERY WELL THEN, LET US GET DOWN TO BUSINESS. I HAVE ALREADY TOLD YOU ONCE BEFORE, I HAVE THE GIRL AND THE TWO GUARDIANS, THE BEAST AND THE JUDGE."
"You mean Tomoyo, Kero, and Yue?"
"CALL THEM WHAT YOU WISH, I JUST WANT TO TELL YOU I HAVE THEM AND THAT THEY ARE IN DANGER. IF YOU DO NOT FOLLOW MY COMMANDS, I WILL HURT THEM."
Sakura shivered, but put on a strong face. "Just how can I be sure you have them? For all I know, you're lying to me, just to try and get me to do what you want."
"YOU DO NOT BELIEVE ME. HOW AMUSING. VERY WELL, KINOMOTO. I WILL GIVE YOU THE PROOF YOU WANT. COME TO TOKYO TOWER RIGHT NOW AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. AND KINOMOTO . . . JUST FOR THE SAKE OF YOUR FRIENDS, YOU MIGHT WANT TO HURRY."
A terrible laughter echoed all around the tiny room. Sakura recognized it as the laughter she had heard in her dream. It was very cold and evil sounding, empty of anything but contempt. Not wanting to endanger her friends even more, Sakura flew out the window and headed over to Tokyo Tower. To increase her speed, Sakura released the Dash card.
She made it to the entrance of the tower in record time. As Sakura looked up at the tall tower above her, she gasped. It was the exact same as the one in her dream. There was no black ocean around, though. She tilted her head back to look at the top. There he was, just as he was in her dream, standing on the top of the tower, shoulders stooped just a little. The wind whipped his black robes and black gems glittered all over his body. He laughed once more. A chill went up Sakura's spine. The man jumped down with surprising grace. He landed on his feet with impossible ease. "Well met, Kinomoto." The man's voice was a soft purr, misleading, but still very lethal. "What have you done to them?" Sakura shouted, though the man was not more than a few feet away from her. "They are still safe and sound, do not worry." "Where are they?"
"Look, up there," the man said as he pointed to the top of the tower from where he had jumped down. Sakura followed his finger to see two indistinct figures tied to tall stakes. The wind blew their hair wildly around their heads, and thick, heavy ropes around their necks, middle, and feet, tying them to the stakes. Their hands were wrenched behind them and tied behind their back. There was a third figure, a large, and beautiful creature with his paws chained and a collar around his neck. The creature's wings were tied down with weights. The once beautiful silvery wings were now bent and looked broken.
Sakura tore her eyes off the horrible sight in front of her. "What have you done to them?" she screamed at the man.
"Cooperate with me, and I shall release them."
Sakura looked around hopelessly, but did not dare look up. She could not bear to see the sight of her friends all shackled up like that again. I guess I have to listen to him, thought Sakura. If I don't he'll hurt them even more, and I don't want that. By the way, where are all the people? As Sakura looked around, she could tell the tower had been deserted a while ago. The man had probably done something.
"What do you want me to do?" Sakura asked.
"Good girl, then I take it you've decided to cooperate? Good, now this task will be much easier. First I want you to hand over the Clow book."
"The Book of Clow? I don't have it with me." But after she saw the hungry, almost eager look on the man's face, Sakura hurriedly added, "But I can go and get it right now if you want."
The man laughed that horrible laugh again. He took out a long, black staff and pointed at the three figures above the tower. Black lightning crept over their bodies, occasionally turning crimson. Sakura heard someone scream, it sounded like Tomoyo.
"Stop," Sakura cried, "please don't hurt them!"
The evil laugh continued as the black staff glowed and even more magic appeared on her friends' bodies, this time much of it was pure crimson.
"No," Sakura screamed. She fell to her knees. "Please stop, I'll do anything, I swear!"
"Anything?" asked the man. He walked over to her and raised his staff above her head, and laughed again.
Sakura looked up. The man's evil face looked down at her. His left hand held the staff raised above her, poised to bring it down onto her head. The blow would knock her out, maybe even kill her. But there was nothing she could do now; she had placed herself in an awfully vulnerable position.
Is this really the end? thought Sakura.
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Well, this ends the second chapter, I hope I didn't sound too sadistic with my descriptions of pain and sadness or anything, because I have seen worse, much worse. I know this wasn't really that good of a chapter, but please don't give up on me, I promise the next chapter will be a LOT better. The only reason this one sucked is because I kind of had a serious case of writer's block, so I had to force everything out of my head. (I know that sounds so wrong, but . . .) Anyways, plz review! And the next chapter will be up as soon as I finish it and find time to go post it. (Expect it in like around two to three weeks)
