Hey there! Long time no see, am I right? I know that it's been a while and I kinda missed you guys. I'm sorry for not being able to update sooner. Please just bear with me because it's hard especially when you have writer's block. Another reason is that my computer had had a virus so of course, I wasn't able to access my files because they were all deleted. Since I hated the experience so much, I wasn't able to write. Anyway, never mind that.
Special thanks to: Devie Saves and Onigiri Momoko for the reviews that you sent in. I really appreciate it. For TourmalineMoon, I thank you so much for your review. IT was inspiring and sorry that I wasn't able to update as soon as we both would have liked. There were just so many things I had to do and it's hard to write a chapter when your mind's all messed up. But thanks for helping me clear it out. Hopefully I'll be able to update sooner next time. I truly hope that you guys enjoy this next chapter. It may not compare to the last ones but you know.I hope it'll pass. Anyway, I won't keep this longer than it should be because you guys maybe already wondering what's going to happen next.
Chapter 13 Yue
"So, you are the girl that Keroberos had chosen to claim the cards? We shall now see if you are truly worthy of the title of Card Mistress. Prepare yourself. The hour of judgment is here." The man said.
Sakura was frozen in place.
She couldn't understand the fear that she was feeling.
"I am Yue the Guardian of the Moon. Now we shall begin." The man said.
Light started to shine below Sakura's feet.
Soon, the crest of Clow Reed was seen.
Before she knew it, Sakura was holding her staff, unable to move.
She didn't even realize what was going on around her.
It seemed to her that the whole world had stopped and there were no other people than the two of them.
Meanwhile…
"Kero, what's happening?" Tomoyo asked, fearing for the safety of her best friend.
"It has begun Tomoyo-chan." Kero simply replied.
Then Sakura and Yue disappeared.
"Where did they go?" Rei asked as they approached the place where they had been.
"They are in the Royal Garden Rei-san." Eriol replied.
They turned to him.
"But we must not interfere. This is far too important for anyone to interfere. I assure you that no attacks from the Mulian army will come." He said.
"Magician, you are no ordinary wizard." Kero said as he slowly made his way to Eriol.
He then knelt before him.
"You are our creator, Clow Reed." Kero then said.
All were taken aback.
Eriol just smiled and looked down at the beast.
"Sun Guardian, you have done well. But I'm afraid that it is not the time for you to know of my existence. You will all forget." Eriol just said as he held up his staff.
Soon, all of them were shaking their heads and Kero was no longer on his knees.
"Shall we follow them?" Tomoyo then said.
"If you wish to witness the trial but I must warn all of you not to interfere." Eriol said.
They then made their way to the garden.
In the meantime…
"Now, we shall begin." Yue said.
Sakura then found herself being able to move again.
She didn't know exactly what to do.
But for a brief moment, she felt Clow Reed's presence.
Sakura turned and tried to figure out where it came from.
Yue had felt it too.
"You will not find him no matter what you do. We must now begin the final judgment." Yue said.
Sakura turned to him.
She was very nervous but she knew she had to do it.
Suddenly, without warning, vines started to crawl up her body.
She couldn't move.
She tried to fight it.
But the more she fought it, the tighter it became.
The vines were very sturdy.
It had a firm grip around her body.
Sakura could feel it grow tighter and tighter.
Soon, she was finding it difficult to breathe.
Yue then said, "If you cannot overcome this simple challenge, then you are not worthy to be called the Card Mistress. The Sun guardian's judgment sure has become dull over these years."
Sakura struggled, almost breathless, as she answered him, "If I'm a failure as a Card Mistress, don't go and blame Kero about it."
She then managed to open her staff.
But it took a great amount of her strength just to summon forth the power she needed to transform her staff.
"What a feeble attempt." Yue commented.
'Sakura, think!' She told herself.
Sakura struggled more as the vines nearly covered her entire body.
It was getting tighter by the minute.
'If I don't do something now, I'll…NO! Don't think that way! There is so much at stake here! I can't afford to lose! I promised Onii-chan, I promised Shaoran. I promised Rei-san, Tomoyo, Eriol-san and most especially myself. I can't end up like this. I WON'T END UP LIKE THIS!' Sakura's thoughts persisted.
At that very moment, Eriol and the others had arrived at the garden.
Tomoyo could barely believe her eyes that her best friend was slowly dying in front of her.
She nearly ran to help but Eriol caught her by the arm.
Tomoyo, half-angry, half-pleading, turned to Eriol.
"You mustn't go to her, Tomoyo-chan." He said calmly.
Tomoyo was nearly in tears.
She had almost lost Sakura once and she was determined that she would not let that happen again.
"Why Eriol-san? I must help her! She almost died before and I wasn't able to help her. Now that I could, why mustn't I?" She said as she fought off Eriol's grasp.
But Eriol held her firmly and simply shook his head.
"He's right. We mustn't help her. This is a challenge that she must face alone." Shaoran said.
Tomoyo then turned to him.
Shaoran just watched at the scene in front of them, not turning to face Tomoyo.
He knew exactly how she felt even though he didn't understand why.
'You can do it, Sakura. I know you can.' Shaoran silently said.
Tomoyo finally gave in.
She held back her tears.
She believed that Sakura would get over this like the things that she was able to overcome in the past.
Sakura was a strong girl and she won't give up that easily and Tomoyo knew that personally.
Rei then said, "Isn't there anything we could to do to help her?"
Kero then stepped forward.
"No, Your Majesty. She must overcome this on her on. All we could do is believe in her." He said.
Rei turned to face the Sun guardian.
He understood what he meant.
He just gave a nod and a small smile.
'I believe in you, Sakura-chan.' Rei said.
Suddenly, Sakura's body was engulfed by a bright, soft, pink light.
The vines around her break and she slowly glides back onto the ground.
She fell to her knees.
Suddenly, icicles were showered upon her.
Sakura nearly escaped with her life.
"Well done but do you really think that the trial will be over just like that?" Yue said.
"No, I didn't think so." Sakura answered.
"Prepare yourself. It only has begun." Yue said as he started to summon his powers again.
Sakura clenched her staff tighter.
She knew that he wouldn't go easy on her.
'What can I do? I can't just stay like this or it will never end.' Sakura thought.
Sakura then took out four cards, the Watery, The Firey, the Windy and The Earth.
She threw them in the air and all at once called upon their powers.
With full force, Sakura directed her aim at Yue.
They seemed to have hit Yue directly.
After they had cleared out, Sakura was stunned as she saw that there weren't even scratches on Yue.
"Foolish girl! Didn't you know that the watery and the windy are under my power? It's no use using the firey and the earth at me. Now you will suffer for your ignorance." Yue said.
He then attacked her again but this time he used her tactic against her.
Ice, fireballs combined with strong gusts of wind flew her direction.
She quickly summoned the shield.
But Yue's power was stronger than she could ever imagine.
The moon was starting to rise in the horizon.
This worked in Yue's favor since it would be a full moon that night.
Sakura wasn't aware of this.
Soon her shield had failed and she was thrown backwards.
She knew that another attack was on the way.
In the split second that the impact was going to hit her, she used the fly card and was able to narrowly escape.
'What cards aren't under his power?' Sakura questioned.
'I don't remember Kero ever telling me that there were cards under his control.' She said to herself.
Yue continued to attack her.
Sakura tried to evade as much of it as possible.
'What card can I use together with the fly in order to stop him?' She asked herself.
"Had enough?" Yue then said.
Sakura then set herself on the ground.
She looked up at him.
Determination was in her eyes.
Without warning, the earth began to tremble beneath her.
Sakura noticed that it wasn't only happening around the area in which she was standing but also in the place where her friends were.
Fear for her friends wrapped in her heart.
She knew that Kero wouldn't be able to assist them all.
She knew that Eriol possessed power but she just couldn't take the chance.
She had to do something to protect them.
Sakura just didn't know what was the right thing to do.
"Now, if you don't do something soon, I'm afraid your friends will also suffer the consequences." Yue said.
"Leave them out of this. They have nothing to do with this." Sakura said.
"Well now you must decide what to do. Time is running out." Yue replied.
Sakura bit her lip.
'The earth is trembling under us. What card should I use to stop this?' She asked herself.
Sakura then took out the earth again and the wood cards.
'Please, lend me your powers. Save my friends for certain harm. That is all I ask.' Sakura said as she stared at the cards in her hand.
She then threw the cards up and called forth their powers.
Slowly the ground stopped trembling but Sakura didn't know that it was only the beginning of what Yue really intended.
"Fool. Did you think that you could simply stop that with that simple method? You better think again." Yue said.
Sakura stopped in her tracks.
She then turned to him.
Suddenly, the ground beneath her feel collapsed.
Sakura could feel herself fall backwards but luckily she was able to grab on a vine.
As the others watched, horror struck their faces.
"Sakura!" Tomoyo yelled.
She tried to run towards her but Shaoran held her back.
Tomoyo turned to him.
Shaoran was as serious as ever.
"We must not come to her aid. She must do this alone." He said.
"How can you say that? Can you see that she fell? That vine she grabbed on wouldn't last that long!" Tomoyo said.
"I know. But there is nothing we could do for her right now other than believe in her. I also want to help her but do you think, leaving this barrier she created would help her? Do you think seeing you in danger would help her?" Shaoran said.
Tomoyo then noticed that there was a shield protecting them.
She didn't notice that it was created.
"We all want to help her and we could do that if we stay here. Before she fell, she summoned the shield card so that to protect us from falling also." Kero said.
"You should know among all of us that she doesn't surrender easily. Trust her, Tomoyo-chan. If anybody can get out of this, Sakura can." Eriol said.
Tomoyo just nodded.
Sakura used the fly card again but this time, she asked the card to help her by making her staff free.
"The final challenge is this. . . if you can answer this before the sun rises, you would have proven your worth but if you don't you will lose the thing that you treasure the most. Either way, this all will end before the sun rises." Yue said.
"I am ready." Sakura replied.
Yue nodded.
"Ebony is ivory, ivory is ebony. To see is to lose sight and to lose sight is to see. It is there but once you speak it, it disappears. To end this is to start, to start this is to end this. Answer it wisely. You have until the sun rises. The clock is ticking." Yue said.
Sakura found herself lowering her staff.
Suddenly it was peaceful.
Sakura couldn't help but turn around and glance around.
It was as if nothing has happened.
Sakura glanced at the other's direction.
Then a strong gust of wind came.
It threatened to blow her away.
It was so strong that she wasn't able to see anything.
Sakura used every last bit of strength to seek refuge from the terrible gust of wind.
As quickly as it started, it all disappeared.
Sakura fell to her knees.
She could here them calling to her.
But she had used so much of her strength that she couldn't even look up at them.
They continued to call her.
But the wind was starting to get stronger again.
As it got stronger, their voices faded in them.
It grew fainter and fainter.
Soon they're voices were gone.
Strong rains started to fall on her.
She was soaked to the bone.
'What must I do? What?' Sakura asked herself.
She looked up and was started to find that it was a nice clear sky and yet the rain continued to fall.
She no longer could see the others but she was confident that the barrier she had put up earlier would protect them.
'Ebony is ivory. Ivory is ebony. To see is to lose sight and to lose sight is to see. It is there but once you speak it, it disappears. To end this is to start this and to start this is to end this. What does he mean? I only have a few hours more.' Sakura repeated to herself as she pondered for an answer.
She stood but quickly fell as the ground beneath her began to be so soft that her foot went through it.
Suddenly there was a bolt of lightning that struck almost on her.
It was only a few inches away when it struck.
Sakura gathered her strength and stood.
She grabbed her staff.
As she took a step, the ground crumbled.
She then summoned forth the power of the fly.
But Sakura found it very hard to fly.
The others watched her as she struggled to find a solution.
Tomoyo just bit her lip.
She wanted so much to help her.
But she knew very well that she couldn't.
Also, the others would not let her.
But Sakura had enough.
She knew that if she stayed that way, she would not accomplish anything.
She made a bold decision by setting down on the ground.
Just then her thoughts flared.
Sakura smiled and felt relieved.
She was confident that she had indeed thought of the right answer.
"Yue!" She called out.
Sakura stood tall and waited.
Yue then gracefully landed in front of her.
"What is it? Have you given up?" He asked.
Sakura smiled.
"Certainly not. Silence." She said.
Yue stared at her, not uttering a word.
"Ebony is ivory. Ivory is ebony. To see is to lose sight and to lose sight is to see. It is there but once you speak it, it disappears. To end this is to start it and to start it is to end this. Silence isn't it not?" She said.
Yue shook his head once.
"You only have half the answer. I'm afraid that doesn't make you pass this judgment." He said.
Yue then summoned a great amount of power and aimed at her.
Sakura quickly took out the light and the dark cards.
She asked them to lend her their powers.
Soon, there was an explosion of warm light.
It stopped all the unusual things that were happening and things seemed to get back to normal.
After a while, when things have settled down . . .
"Light and darkness is the answer to silence. Silence disappears once you speak its name. It is what makes both light and darkness. The two are intertwined. To end it is to start it and to start it is to end it. You can only see light in darkness and vise versa." Sakura explained.
Kero then stepped forward.
"You have passed the final judgment, Kinomoto Sakura. I have found you worthy and from this moment on, own the Clow cards and its guardians." Yue said as he knelt before her.
Sakura smiled and stepped closer to her.
She bent and offered him a hand.
"What I want is for you both to be my friends, not my servants. There is no need for you to kneel before me." Sakura said.
Yue looked up at her.
She just smiled at him.
He then looked at her extended hand.
He took it and stood.
"You are our new master now and we must call you - " Yue started.
"No. Please just call me Sakura. Friends need no formalities." She replied.
The others came to their side.
Sakura just smiled at them.
"Sakura, you did it." Rei said.
Sakura smiled and replied, "No, Rei-san. We did it."
Tomoyo just gave her a big hug.
"Sakura you're so wet. You should get into something dry." She said.
"I think you're right. It is getting quite cold." Sakura admitted.
"I think cold is an understatement Sakura-chan. You're shaking." Kero replied.
Tomoyo started to drag her away.
They followed them after a few minutes.
"Yue, we need to talk." Kero said once they were alone.
Yue knew why.
"We both know that this is only the beginning of her challenges." Kero said.
"Yes. We will be with her throughout it if that is what you're worried about." Yue replied.
"We should go back to our other form for her sake." Kero said.
Yue just nodded.
"She seems to be attached to my other self."
"She is. Your other self was her brother's best friend." Kero said.
"I can feel it." Yue replied.
"We should go." Kero said.
Before they headed inside, they first transformed to their other selves.
Clow Reed's symbol appeared beneath them.
They were engulfed by light and it was completed.
"Yukito-san, are you alright?" Kero asked.
Yukito smiled and nodded.
"I knew for a long time that this day would come. Touya even reminded me. He asked me to take care of her. I hope Yue didn't hurt her." Yukito said.
"No he didn't. He did what he had to and Sakura passed it all just fine." Kero assured him.
Yukito smiled.
"That's not a surprise. She is Touya's sister." He commented.
"We should get inside before she gets worried." Kero suggested.
Yukito just nodded as they made their way inside.
( To be continued. . . )
Well I know that this isn't as long as the other chapters but I really have to end it here. I really do hope that I could update faster than what it took me this time. I'm really sorry for the long update. It's just hard. Anyway, I do hope that you guys send in your reviews. I want to know what you think about it before I post the next chapter.
Michiko