Prologue
Clow Reed had been sleeping peacefully that night. There had been nothing but good dreams about what situations he could imagine for the young candidate he had chosen only a fortnight before. It happened in the blink of an eye: the sealed Clow Cards had disappeared from his desk...
The rivaling sorceress had stolen them for her own devious scheme. The next morning, she locked herself away in her chamber and began to put her plan into motion. One by one, the Clow Cards were copied. It took a lot out of her, but she managed to complete her conspiracy. Several months later, Clow Reed found her sitting in his armchair with The Clow in hand. She had come to return it. Clow knew she was up to something, but he had no need to ask. She revealed her own version of The Clow which was surging with negative energy and dark magic. The darker cards were itching to get out of the book that bound them.
A challenge was issued by the rival sorceress. They would rest for two weeks before pitting their magical cards against each other. Whoever won would have both decks named after them. Clow Reed would wait until the day of the actual battle to refuse her challenge; he could tell she needed her rest. Unfortunately, the sorceress never arrived for the challenge. Clow Reed, knowing she would not have missed the chance to fight him, went to her castle. She was dead.
The spirits of the cards had released themselves from their card forms and had apparently murdered her. Clow Reed could see that they were greatly injured. He knew what had happened: she had mistreated them. It was sad that she had been so caught up in trying to defeat him that she had mistreated the very spirits who were to help her. For the sake of the dark cards, Clow Reed sealed them back into their card forms and sealed them away in their book. This time, he created two guardians to protect the seal of the book: Tsuki-Yomi, the Guardian Beast of the Seal, and Amaterasu, the Final Judge. Neither one of the Guardians knew the history behind the dark cards they would be protecting, but they did know of Clow Reed, his guardians Yue and Keroberos, and the Clow Cards.
Clow Reed sealed them in the book and set up a system just like that of his own Clow Cards: the candidate, the situations that would allow her to capture the dark cards, and even the Final Judgment. He titled the book "The Dark" when it was all finished. After that, waiting was all he could do...