Eclipse





Syaoran watched Sakura as she fell to her knees and stared blankly at the barren land of Japan. Her arms hung limply at her sides, and he could see the sparkle in her emerald green eyes vanish. They were all gone now. . . Fujitaka, Touya, Yukito, Yue, Kero, Eriol, Tomoyo. . .Her other friends at school; Chiharu, Takashi, Naoko, and Rika. . . Everyone was gone. Her eyes clouded with unshed tears that she would not let fall because she knew they wouldn't want her to grieve over their deaths. Syaoran knelt infront of her and embraced her as she clung to his shirt and burried her head in his chest, shaking violently.

"Syaoran. . . They're gone. . ." Sakura whispered in a cracked voice.

"Shh. . . They're not gone Sakura. . . They're in your hearts forever," Syaoran whispered into her ear, hoping to comfort her. He smoothed her hair down as he continued to rock her. Once her shaking stopped, she looked up at him with dull emerald eyes.

"Arigatou Syaoran. . . " she said.

He smiled. "Your welcome."

They both continued to hold each other as Syaoran sat down and Sakura leaned her head on his chest, snuggling closer to him. Looking up at the sky, both noticed the sun. It didn't have its bright shine, and they couldn't feel its warm rays. It looked dull and dim. They felt as if the sun was sharing their pain, their saddness that all of Japan was destroyed.

"What are we going to do now? We have no where to go, and we don't even know where Zero is," Sakura said.

"I don't really know Sakura. . . " Syaoran admitted. "Demo, we can't just sit here all day, waiting for destiny to take its course. We have to take the path that's infront of us."

"What path?" Sakura grumbled, looking at the barren land in front of her. "All I see is land."

"Ano. . . " Syaoran sweat dropped. "I guess we'll just have to walk forward."

"Hai. . . That seems like the most reasonable suggestion," Sakura said as she sighed and slowly stood up. "We should start now I guess." Syaoran stood beside her. "Let's begin shall we?"

They were about to walk forward when a flash of bright white light appeared infront of them. Both shielded their eyes with their arms. Once it died down, they gaped in shock at what they saw.

"Sakura-sama! Syaoran-sama! It's good to see you two again!"

There, standing feets infront of them, was the same twelve year old girl with ocean bluish-green eyes and bleached blonde hair, except she wore a silky white dress that reached the floor, and on her back were a pair of beautiful snow-white wings. A heavenly aura surrounded her.

"M-Misty?" Sakura gasped, her eyes wide.

Misty smiled up at her. "Well. . . actually I'm the Angel of Faith. But they just call me Hope." Her voice held wisdom beyond comprehension.

"You're an angel!?" Syaoran asked.

"Well, the last time I checked I was," Misty, I mean Hope, replied.

"D-demo. . . How come you lied about your name?" Sakura asked, confused.

"Because I thought it would be fun!" Hope replied with her childish voice and smile.

A smile tugged at Sakura's lips as she chuckled softly. Even if Hope was an Angel, she still acted like a regular child. "So, why do you need to see us?"

"I was sent by the Head Angel to send you two on a journey," Hope replied, this time in her elderly like voice.

"Journey? Head Angel?" Sakura repeated, more confused then ever.

"The Head Angel is in charge of all angels. She is also known as the Angel of Destiny. Her name is Fate, and she could see everyone's fate and destiny if she wanted to," Hope explained. "Now. . . The journey you have to go on will be a long and a hard one."

"Ano. . . Why do we have to go on this, 'journey'?" Syaoran asked.

"To retrieve the four stones," she replied.

"Hoe?" Sakura said, completely bewildered.

"The four stones consists of the four elements: Water, Fire, Wind, and Earth. When the proper spell is said, all four stones will mix to make one stone: The Stone of Life and Death."

"What does it do?" Syaoran asked.

"It's called the Stone of Life and Death because with it, you could destroy one's life, and some people believe that you could actually bring someone back from the dead. Demo, I'm not sure it that's true because it's never been tried before. When you have the stone, you have to choose weather you should let the person live, or die. The stone holds great power, and with it, you can get rid of Lord Hades and Lord Zero."

"That sounds simple enough," Syaoran said.

Hope shook her head. "Iie. It's not as simple as it sounds. Each elemental stone is guarded by something. Like the fire stone, it's guarded by a great dragon. The others, I don't know what guards it. And I'm not sure if the stone is powerful enough to defeat the two. Hades and Zero are strong. . . To strong at that. And soon. . . their kingdom will rise. The Kingdom of the Underworld. . . "

"When will it rise?" Sakura asked softly.

"As soon as the sun reaches its full point," the angel replied in a grim voice. "I wish you the both of luck. I can not company you on your journey. You two must go on yourselves. And keep hope and faith in your hearts. The stones are in the north, so north you must walk. Syaonara and may the Heaven's Light shine on the both of you."

"Syaonara Hope," Sakura said. A bright light envoloped Hope, and in a flash, she was gone, and as was the light. After a few minutes of silence, she looked up at Syaoran. "Do you think we should begin? Or do you want to wait to see the kingdom rise?"

"I think we should begin as soon as possible. We can't risk them finding us," Syaoran replied. "Come, we have to get as far away as possible before the sun reaches its full point, and according to how high it is right now, it will be only at least one more minute before it reaches it."

She nodded in agreement and both broke into a run. Their hearts pounded heavily in their chest as they raced against the sun to get as far away from where they use to stand. Then, Sakura looked up and gasped in shock. Grabbing Syaoran's arm, he looked at her questioningly as they halted to a stop.

"Look!" Sakura cried out, pointing up.

Tilting his head back, Syaoran's eyes widen in shock at what he saw. There was not only the sun, but on its right, was the moon. They could see the moon slowly inching its way to the sun.

"An eclipse!" Syaoran said in realization.

Both continued to stare at the sun and moon as the moon started to cover the sun, but slowly. Sakura and Syaoran put their hands over their eyes to see better through the brightness of the sun. Then the earth under them started to shake and Sakura gripped Syaoran's arm.

"What's happening?" Sakura asked in a shakey voice.

"I don't know. . . but it probably has something to do with the eclipse, and the rising of the kingdom," Syaoran replied in a grim voice as he continued to stare at the scene displayed above.

Both chosen ones held their breaths as what felt like an eternity pass by. Only a quarter of the sun could be seen, but that didn't last long. Soon the moon covered all of the sun, but it didn't move away, it stayed that way, and the sky was blanketed by darkness. The earth shook violently and Syaoran had to hold onto Sakura to keep her from falling. Then, yards away from them, something slowly started to make its way above the ground. Sakura stared in horror at it as it finally made its way to its full extent. There, just yards away from them, stood a tall castle. It seemed to reach the sky, and it looked dark, dreary, and cold. She cowered under its gaze. Sakura felt as if she were being watched.

"Syaoran. . . I want to get out of here. . . " she said, looking up at him with fear in her face.

He nodded and led her away at a fast run. She kept her eyes tightly closed, not wanting to look back at that dreadful castle that sent shivers up her spine. They ran North, to where their journey awaited them. As they ran, everything around them looked like a dark-greyish land, so cold and deserted. Stumps of broken trees could be seen, and trees as dark as ashes, with no leaves what-so-ever were seen once in a while. After a long while of running, Sakura felt tired, and scared. She just wanted to break down and cry as all hope left her when she looked at the Kingdom of the Underworld. Without warning, her knees buckled under her and she fell on her knees, letting herself cry freely. Syaoran came to a halt and ran to her, kneeling infront of her as he placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Sakura, what's wrong?" Syaoran asked gently.

"I can't go on," Sakura said between sobs, covering her face with her hands. "I just can't go on. . . "

"And why's that?" he asked.

"Because I'm scared!" she exclaimed. "When I looked at that. . . that castle. . . I felt as if we were being watched by a pair of eyes. . . Evil eyes. . . Dark eyes. . . I felt cold. . . Alone. . .Scared. . . I just can't go on. . . "

"Sakura, look at me," Syaoran stated firmly. She removed her hands and looked up at him. "You're not alone, I'm here. And me and you are going to do this together. Remember what Hirrigazawa said? Remember what we promised him?"

She looked down. Of course she remembered. Her and Syaoran promised Eriol that they'd never give up hope, but here she was, already giving up. "Gomen nasi Syaoran. . . ."

"It's alright," Syaoran said, smiling at her. "Now are you with me?"

Her eyes burned with a new light. . . hope. . . revenge. . . . and determination. She wipped her tears away and smiled back at him. "I'm with you all the way."

"Now let's go. The sooner we get farther from this place, the better," Syaoran said. The castle still hovered far away from them, but they could still see it. Helping Sakura up, they both were about to start on their journey when. . .

"Sakura-sama! Syaoran-sama!"

They turned around to see Hope. Her aura shined brightly through all the gloom and darkness. "I have gifts from some of the gods and goddesses." She held out her hands, and on them were folded cloaks. "This is from the Goddess of the Wheather. She woved it by her own bare hands. It'll keep you warm on cold days, and on hot days it'll keep you cool. I myself don't know how she did that. . . but oh well." Hope then handed them each one of the cloaks. Then she reached from behind her and pulled out a silver pendent, that had a silver chain strapped on it. On the pendent held four gems, one green, one red, one blue, and the other white. "This is from the God of Fire, Goddess of Water, and Goddess of Windy."

"But. . . what about the other god?" Sakura questioned.

"Oh, I'm not sure if you two already know. Well you two being the chosen ones, are also gods and goddesses. Sakura-sama, you are the Goddess of Light, and Syaoran-sama is the God of Earth. The other gods of the elements put all their powers combined to make the earth gem. When a stone is near, one of these will glow, showing you which stone it is. But I forgot to mention, Syaoran-sama, being the God of Earth and all, holds the power of all four elements." She handed the pendent to Syaoran and he put it around his neck. Then she pulled out something else from behind her. It was a beautiful silver flute with carvings of angels engraved on it. She handed the flute to Sakura. "This, is a flute that I made with my magic. You can use it to call for help and Syaoran-sama will hear it no matter how far the distance, or you can just play it for fun." She smiled up at the two. "And there's one more gift the God of Nature wants me to give you two." She snapped her fingers, and two beautiful horses appeared on both of her sides. Both horses had silvery manes, and their coat was white. One horse had eyes that shown like the moon, and another had bright green eyes.

"This is Jade," she said, indicating the green eyed horse, "and this is SilverFox. These horses are the most fastest and swiftest horses you'll ever find." Jade trotted softly to Sakura's side and nuzzled her cheek, while SilverFox trotted just as softly as Jade to Syaoran's side, doing the same thing to his cheek.

"There's also something else that someone wishes to give you," Hope said.

They looked at her questioningly, but she just smiled. A bright light appeared behind the young angel and from that light, a women of pure beauty stepped out. Her yellow gown that shined brightly brushed the ground, and her long wavy violet hair ran up to her waist. On her back were wings and on her face was a warm smile. She looked at the two teens with kind emerald green eyes.

"Hello Sakura-san, Syaoran-san," the lady said in a melodic voice.

Sakura's eyes widen as her heart beated rapidly. "O-Okaa-san?" Her emerald green eyes glistened with tears. "Is it really you?"

The lady nodded. "Hai, it is."

Sakura's bottom lip quivered as she stared at her mother, Nadishieko. She walked gracefully up to her daughter and placed a hand on her head. "No don't cry my dear."

Staring up at her mother, she couldn't hold it in anymore. She threw her arms around Nadishieko's waist and cried freely. She wrapped her arms around Sakura's shoulder, glad that she could hold her daughter once again after all these years. Mother and daughter with drew from the hug, staring at each other with indentical smiles.

Nadishieko reached her hand behind her and then pulled it back, and in her hand was a silver chain that had a diamond on it. She handed it to Sakura and said, "This use to belong to me, and now I'm giving it to you." She leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead, then she walked to Syaoran. He looked up at her and bowed. "Quit the formality Syaoran-san. No need to bow. I have a message for you." He looked at her confused. "From your father." Syaoran looked at her in shock and bewilderment. "He would've been here right now talking to you but he is busy at the moment. He told me to tell you that he loves you dearly. And. . . " She leaned forward so that their faces were only inches apart as she said in a whisper that only he could hear, "don't let the cherry blossom get away." His cheeks flushed and Nadishieko pulled away as she took a couple steps back. "May the light guide the both of you and good luck on your journey."

"Syaonara Okaa-san," Sakura said.

"Syaonara. . . for now," Nadishieko replied.

"Bye Sakura-sama! Syaoran-sama! Best luck to the both of you!" Hope exclaimed in her childish voice as her and Nadishieko stepped into the light, and along with it, disappeared.

Sakura and Syaoran stared at the spot where the two angels use to be. Looking down at her, Syaoran said, "Well. . . Let's get going."

Gripping the diamond necklace her mother gave her, Sakura nodded. "Hai, let's."

They both put on their cloaks. It was a chestnut brown and had hoods on them. Then, they looked at Jade and SilverFox.

"Ano. . . Syaoran-kun? How are we suppose to get onto them and ride them?" Sakura questioned, noticing that there were no reins or saddles on the two horses.

He stared at the horses blankly. "I have no clue."

They blinked their eyes, and before they knew it, saddles and reins were already set on the horses, as if they've been there the whole time.

"Hoe?" Sakura cried in suprise.

-Oops! Gomen! I forgot to put those on Jade and SilverFox earlier!- rang a voice in their minds, Hope.

Sakura smiled and shook her head. -It's alright Hope.- Sakura thought. "Okay! Let's get going!"

Syaoran mounted SilverFox while Sakura mounted Jade and held onto the reins. They clicked their heels against the horses' sides and the two horses ran swiftly Northward. Their hooves hit against the earth softly that you could barely hear them. A cold wind blew at them gently and Sakura shivered lightly.

-I hope we could gather all the stones. . .- she thought to herself, -'cause if we don't. . . The whole world is doomed.- Her eyes darted to the sky, and there she could still see the moon that covered the sun, which looked like a huge ball of darkness. She sighed deeply. -I just wish that none of this happened. . . That I was never a chosen one. . . Or that Zero and Hades never rose. . . Demo, if none of this happened. . .- Sakura took a side glance at Syaoran. -I would've never met Syaoran-kun. I'm just glad I'm not doing this alone.- She turned her gaze back forward. -I wonder. . . Could the Stone of Life and Death really revive people back from the dead. . . . ? Maybe not. . . Hope said it's never been done, but has it ever been tried? Oh great! Stop trying to fill yourself with these thoughts Kinomoto Sakura! You can never bring back the people of Japan that's been destroyed. . . - A sad expression crossed her face. -I'll just have to face facts. . . They're dead, and that's all there is to it. They're never coming back. I only have Syaoran left. . . - Her gaze once again fell on him. -And I'm going to make sure nothing happens to him. I don't know what I'd do if he's gone.-

Sighing once again, her eyes darted to the ground. She strained her ears to hear the horses' gallops, but couldn't hear it. It suprised her. Usually you could hear the gallops of horses, but these two horses were different. . . -No duh Sakura! They're horses from the God of Nature! A god!!! So of course they're different!!!- A voice in her mind scolded. -Great! Now look at me! I'm talking to myself! Baka conscience! Can't my conscience ever leave me alone?-

-No we can't- the voice continued.

-We're your conscience, so we'll always be here- another voice said.

-Now it doesn't take a genius to figure out that they're different horses!- the first voice said.

-Shut up!- Sakura shouted in her mind.

-Yeah! Leave her alone! Not everyone would've figured that out!- the second voice said.

-A child would've known that!- the first voice said.

-No they wouldn't!- the second voice shouted.

-Hai they would!- the first voice snapped.

And it went on and on and on. . . Sakura's eye brow started to twitch as she rubbed her temples, listening to the battle that went on in her head. -I'm driving myself crazy! Why can't my conscience just shut up and leave me alone!?!?!- With that thought, the two voices in her mind went quiet. "That's better," she said out loud.

"What's better?" Syaoran questioned.

"Hoe? Oh. . . ano. . . nothing," Sakura replied, blushing in embarrasment. He raised an eye brow. "It's nothing Syaoran-kun, I was just thinking. . . " Well, that was the truth. He stared at her for a while, then turned his gaze away. "Syaoran-kun?"

"Nani?" he questioned.

"Do you think we'll gather all four stones?" Sakura asked softly.

Syaoran stayed silent for a while. Then he said, "Hai, I do."

She looked at him, determination evident on his face. Sakura envied Syaoran. While he had hope in finding the four stones, she completely doubted they'd actually collect it. -I should probably stop worrying. With the help of each other, I know we could find them,- Sakura thought silently, new determination burning in her. -And I can't break my promise to Eriol-kun. We promise we wouldn't loose hope. And I'm not about to break it!-





A/N: Ah! Gomen nasi for posting this soooo late! I would've posted it long ago but I was busy working on my other stories, and for some reason, my computer wasn't working! And gomen if this is to short, I just wanted to save all the adventure for the next chapters! And I'll TRY to make the next one longer if that's what you'd like. Also. . . On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate my story so far? (include your rating in your review.) Please tell me so I could know if I need to do anything to make it better!!!! Here is a list of all the angels, gods and goddesses (I made 'em up!) just to give you an idea as to what kinds of angels/gods/goddesses there are-----

Goddesses:

Sakura - Goddess of Light

Nadishieko - Goddess of the Sky

Ray - Goddess of the Sun

Gem - Goddess of Wind

Crystallight - Goddess of Water

Jasmine - Goddess of Wheather

Gods:

Syaoran - God of Earth

Leo - God of the Galaxy

Rage - God of Fire

Shinto - God of Nature

Kinto - God of the Moon

Head Angel:

Fate - Angel of Destiny (She is the ruler of all angels)

Other Angels:

Hope - Angel of Faith

Harp - Angel of Music

Briar - Angel of Honor

I still have more angels and I think gods and goddesses, but I still need to think about it. I'll probably include the rest in the next chapter or whenever. And if you have any ideas of angels/gods/goddesses, then include it in your review! ARIGATOU! AND PLEEEEAAAASSSSEEEE REVIEW!!!! ^-^