Identity's Past
by AlterEthereal
Syaoran returned to find his princess, but discovered she has been missing in action for years. Now, a mysterious, distant girl has arrived in the city... could his princess be right under his nose?
Hey! I would like to thank you guys for all the glorious reviews I got for last chappie; I'M NAMIN' NAMES! Sheruke, sweet-captor, orlha, Crystal, and Tramie!!! Thank you all so much, *sob* from the bottom of my heart! About the story: Things are heatin' up! Whew! *turns on fan* lol. Anyway, everything gets explained next chapter. The supervisor, the Star Cards, why Sakura decided to keep her identity a secret... don't you just wish I'd tell you now? But I won't! BWA HA HA! *laughs maniacally* lol. Read on, ladies and gentlemen. Read on. And enjoy. ^^
Alter-chan: w00t! i just wrote something funny about about the AlterEthereal crew. *ahem* Sleeping Beauty: AE style! Sophia and Anaru are forced to play out the scene where Princess Aurora and Prince Philip first meet--every bit reluctantly. A certain kniving half-owl, half-authoress is there to urge them on!!
So and Anaru: O_O
Alter-chan: shut up. you guys laughed the whole time when you read it.
So and Anaru: -_-;
Alter-chan: *puffs out chest proudly* and, as the "privileged authoress," i now command thee to do disclaimer!
So and Anaru: *walk off*
Alter-chan: hey! where do you think you're going?! get back here! *they don't come back* well, it worked in the story...
Zuri: hey, where's that hot Syaoran guy?
Alter-chan: *smirks devilishly* hm... i might tell you where he is if you do disclaimer for me...
Zuri: O.O REALLY?!
Alter-chan: *nods*
Zuri: DISCLAIMER: Alter-chan does not own Card Captor Sakura. However, she does own AlterEthereal and Sleeping Beauty: AE style!! ^_^
Alter-chan: Syaoran's in the story. sleeping.
Zuri: O_o; *face-faults*
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Chapter 11: Nightmare
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Syaoran was walking down a darkened street, somewhere in the old city he hadn't seen in a long time. It felt awkward, as if he should know something but simply didn't.
The battle cry of a woman shattered the silence, clear to him as a full moon in a cloudless night sky. It came from somewhere ahead of him, he decided. He heard a scream. Then another. He tried, but found he couldn't run--just saunter, as if he were on the way to a park on a summer's day. He recognized the small building ahead of him now: Tomoeda Library.
Why here?
He willed his legs to go faster, but they refused, and the screams only got louder as he approached. When he finally did reach the building, he entered. To his surprise, a figure stood in the darkness, all the way in the back of the room across from the doors. He neared her, trying to make out who the person was.
Sakura?
A girl with short auburn hair stood, bangs over shadowed eyes, seeming to be waiting for something. There was another scream. He could tell that they came from the child in front of him, yet her lips didn't move at all. As if she were screaming from the inside instead. She didn't acknowledge his presence.
Suddenly, a card spun before him. Jerking to a halt, it revealed itself to be a card very familiar to him, as he had helped Sakura capture it long ago: The Time card. Without any help from him or the girl ahead of him, it activated.
He himself seemed to be immune to its effect, but everything else seemed to age and grow--even the girl. Her image morphed, her curves becoming more accentuated, her hair growing long until it reached the middle of her back, and her height increasing considerably as well. She had become much more beautiful; an enchanting lady, if he did say so himself. Suddenly, he realized just what he was staring at: the spit image of Artemis.
Another card appeared before him, but one that he had never seen before. In the center, where a picture should've been, there was nothing. It was completely blank. He looked down for the card's name, and found it quickly enough.
'The Lonely'…
He glanced back up at the figure, only to see that she had disappeared. He heard another scream.
Syaoran's eyes flew open suddenly and he sat up.
A nightmare? His eyes instinctively turned to his side, where he had expected a reddish-brown-haired girl to be sleeping soundly.
She wasn't there.
Bed sheets scattered, forgotten, as he grabbed his sword belt and ran out the door of the room. Once he was outside, he slipped it on over his clothing, which hadn't changed since the night before. His legs kept moving, though he didn't really know where he was going. He didn't need to--he followed the trace of a powerful aura that was slowly appearing nearby. There was something wrong though. The aura wasn't that of Sakura, but someone else; someone very powerful. And… Star Cards?!
He understood now. Or at least he understood partially. Firstly, Artemis and Sakura were, indeed, the same person. Somehow, she had lost the Star Cards to another, and whoever that person was, he had come back. The Star Cards must've called out for Syaoran's help through his dreams.
But would he make it in time?
He forced his legs to run faster, past grocery stores, past the school that they had both grown up in. Sakura's aura got stronger, but so did the other mysterious presence. He saw it--Tomoeda Library. He unsheathed his sword as he ran, completely disregarding the old "don't run with sharp objects" rule. It didn't take him long to reach the small, run down building and burst inside, knowing fairly well what he'd find.
There was Artemis, or rather, Sakura. She stood, just like she had in the dream, but the piercing screams were replaced by an even worse silence. He began to move toward her, but as he did, he was stopped in his tracks by a sharp pain in his chest. He collapsed to one knee just from the pain. It felt worse than the beatings he received as a child when he didn't train hard enough. No, this was far worse. It felt like knives in his gut. He leaned on the sword, trying to make it hold him up, and lifted his eyes to see if the girl in the darkness was alright. She was, but something had appeared at Syaoran's side.
A brightly-colored, long robe met his eyes.
His gaze traveled upward, over an ankle-length, white beard, various embellishments, and the same terrifyingly dark aura he had sensed on his way there. By the time his eyes stopped their brief journey, they were staring at the face of an aged man, with eyes like stone and a complexion to match. His skin was as just as white as…
Sakura! What did she have to do with this man? And why was she just standing there?
The old man gave Syaoran a disdainful look, as if to smirk at his pain, then began walking toward the girl. The girl he had vowed to protect.
He tried to do something, anything to keep him from getting close to her, but the pain in his chest was agonizing. He could barely breathe, let alone move. It was all he could do to support himself, and he was forced to depend on his sword for that, as well.
So he watched as the mysterious figure approached the girl. To his surprise--and relief--he merely glanced at her before turning the corner and raising his hands to a shelf. There was a small, wooden drawer situated there, complete with a lock. The man extracted a key from his robes, thick and laden with gold. Opening the chest, he drew out a long, pink rod, which appeared to have a star-like decoration adorning one end.
The Star Wand!
The man thrust the wand toward the pale girl, who, moving for the first time since Syaoran's arrival, hesitantly accepted it.
He was finished sitting around like a cripple. He could deal with this pain, just like he was forced to deal with the emotional pain of Sakura being gone for so long. Sure, it sounded corny, but it was all the strength he needed to reach into his coat pocket and use his sword to activate the only solution he could think of.
"Hope!"
~*~
Sakura's eyes bolted opened, and her head jerked in the direction of the sound. Her emerald orbs glistened for a moment, but they suddenly squinted shut as she was pinned against a bookshelf. When she opened them, she found herself staring into the intense, amber eyes she knew could only belong to one person.
"Li…" she whispered.
He was so close that she could feel his breath on her lips. She hadn't meant for it to be this way; she had meant to leave without having to say goodbye to him. Now, he was so close to her…
For a brief, selfish moment, she didn't want to leave him behind. Her heart began to race.
"Sakura…"
Almost as if on cue, she felt her body becoming swallowed up by the now familiar sensation of the crimson hole sinking into oblivion. She gripped her slender, pink staff tightly as she began falling backward with an awkward rising feeling, as one would note when he or she becomes dizzy. At least, this time, she wasn't alone.
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Alter-chan: sorry folks, but i'm too lazy to do after-chapter duties today.
audience: HIP, HIP, HOORAY!!!
Alter-chan: -_-; gee guys, don't look so disappointed... *rolls eyes*
review button: click me... CLICK ME... *mesmerizing swirlies*
~AlterEthereal