"Fly!" Sakura yelled as angelic wings grew unto her back.
She flew left, then right, and then left again to avoid attacks from demons. A feeling of doing this once before came on to her, but she quickly shook the feeling off. Many of the demons appeared to have humanoid forms but others were animal like creatures. Then there were those that were made up from entirely from elements like water and ice.
"Shot!" she shouted again while flying.
The medium size star on her staff glowed yellow and when she pointed it towards the air demons that flew behind her, blasts of energy came out from it. The star was no longer encircled with a pink thing and the wings on the sides were a little bit bigger than it was when she first transformed the Sealing Staff to the Staff of the Stars.
"Alright Sakura!" Tomoyo yelled in encouragement while video taping Sakura flying around shooting demons from the sky.
Then she turned her camera to where Kero was in his true form burning away the lesser demonic creatures and then to Yue who was throwing shards of crystals at others. This was all so exciting and Tomoyo loved every minute of it.
Then there was a flash of blue light right behind her so she turned around to see her lover, Eriol, in his Clow Reed robes.
"Watch out Tomoyo, this could get very ugly," Eriol smiled as he sent another blue flash of light towards an upcoming demon that was heading their way.
"Yes, but I'm sure that either you or Sakura will protect me," Tomoyo said. She was still video taping everything.
"Are you sure that you still want to be here?" Spinel Sun asked as he flew down to where they were.
"Of course! I want to make sure that I get everything! This is going to be one of the most important events that Sakura will have to face as Master of the Sakura Cards and I want to be sure that I can preserve the memory of when Sakura will seal all the demons away. Besides, she will unlock her full power and I will be truly blessed if I was here to record it all. And she is also wearing one of my kawaii costume that I made especially for this occasion," Tomoyo replied, oddly very happily.
"Then you have my blessings to remain here, koishii," Eriol said kissing her.
"Didn't I always have your blessings to be here?" Tomoyo said slyly.
Eriol laughed. "Suppi-chan, please protect Tomoyo while Ruby Moon and I help Sakura, Kero, and Yue."
"I know no Suppi-chan. But I will gladly protect Tomoyo while you blast away all those pesky demons back to where they came from."
Eriol laughed again before flying off to where Ruby Moon was. Tomoyo stayed behind, returning back to what she was doing before and Spinel Sun did what he was asked.
----- Sakura -----
"There are too many of them!" Sakura yelled out to Kero as she called upon Wood to hold off some of the demons from getting close to her.
Both were still in the sky of Toemede (AN: I forgot the spelling) Park. The veil was torn right near where Sakura lived, so it was easier for her to get there and to call her friends. For the pass two years, Sakura had been getting dreams about the demons. At first it was very foggy and unclear. Sometimes she didn't even remember it. But it always came with a strong will to become stronger. Like she needed to get more powerful and know more knowledge about her magic and the cards.
So she started to practice everyday and use her Cards more and more often. She could tell that Kero and Yue were happy with this turn of event. Especially Touya and Eriol. Because after the age of 12, she didn't want to practice magi anymore because it was getting in the way of her life. Now at 18 she was able to work around her schedule and practice. She could also tell that her Cards loved it whenever she asks them to do something for her. It was just a feeling.
She could especially tell that they were happy now. They seem to think that they would be most useful in battle then in any other types of situations. Even Bubble and Sweet, the passive Cards, loved to help out when there was a battle going on. Though they didn't do much of anything until a fight is done.
It disturbed Sakura to think that the Cards where made for a fighting purpose. She didn't like to think that Clow Reed made them for the sole purpose to fight an enemy. But that was part of the reason why they were made Eriol had said. It still made her uneasy to think that such nice Cards, which were also her friends, could be used as a highly dangerous weapon. As Mistress of the Cards now, couldn't she make them have a different purpose other than fighting?
She would have to think about that later because right now there were too many demons to worry about and not enough time to think about something else.
"Every time we destroy one, two or three take their place. And every time we cut one in half, we have two more in its stead running a mock!" Kero yelled in exasperation.
Sakura wasn't the only one having dreams when she was 17. Kero had dreams as well. Though Eriol was sure that they weren't prophetic dreams. They were more like nightmares really. Kero wouldn't say what they were until they got so bad that he refused to sleep.
Apparently they were dreams of food eating him instead of the other way around! Kero claimed that were chasing him for what seemed like hours until he would run into a TV that want to smash him into little portions. Then after he got away from that, he would see this creepy looking man with holes in his head and blood in every part of his body trying to hack poor Kero into pieces so he could eat a part of Kero every day for a month.
Then there were days in which this lady without a face would want Kero's soul and then her twin, who had buttons as eyes, would want to eat Kero's eyes because they looked pretty. But not as pretty as hers.
Poor Kero could not look at food the same way again. Or buttons. The dreams were of a variety of kinds, but those two would repeat the most. It only stopped when Sakura used the Dream Card on him every time he went to sleep. So poor Sakura had to use her magic every night for almost a year until Kero's nightmares stopped.
"Sakura-san, I do not see any other way but to use all four of the elemental cards at full power at once," Yue said.
"What?! But that is too much magic to use! Sakura may not have enough power to fix the veil after she destroys most of the demons here. And besides, we don't know if every demon here would die!" Kero yelled.
"Right now I think it is the best shot that we have," Eriol said from behind.
"What you think Sakura-san?" Yue asked his Mistress.
Sakura looked around the park. It was true. The park was covered with demons. Spinel Sun had to summon a shield to protect Tomoyo from demons attacking from every direction. Sakura was glad that it was about 2 o'clock in the morning and that Eriol had put a spell so that no one could be killed by these demons.
Quickly Sakura made a choice. She didn't even tell her friends what it was before she pulled out 5 cards from the Sakura Book.
"Windy, Water, Earth, Fire, and Hope! Unleash your full might and cleanse this park of this demonic sight! Release!"
A blinding flash of white, blue, brown, red, and gold covered the whole park. It destroyed every negative aura it touched and repaired damaged earth and other man-made property in the park. The sight was so amazing and the light beautiful that Tomoyo had tears running down her eyes. Needless to say that there were also stars in her eyes.
"Kawaii...," she whispered. She was so proud of her cousin and best friend.
When the light eventually faded, Sakura wobbled on her knees before falling to the ground.
"Sakura!" everyone yelled in concerned.
"It's okay. I'm alright," she replied to everyone's questions of worry.
She got up once more and mentally prepared herself for another strong spell.
"Sakura, perhaps you should let me-"Eriol tried to say before Sakura stopped him.
"No. It's okay. I could do this." Her appearance said other wise. She was cover with blood that was not her own and she was pretty sure that most of the red blood was her own. Kero and Yue looked better than she did. Though their fur/hair was way out of proportion. Eriol looked as if he had been running for miles none stop.
Never the less, she lifted up her arms and then brought them down in a prayer like fashion.
"Veil that protects our world from theirs. Veil that was, is, and still will be a barrier to their world from ours. Veil that is thin but strong. Veil that is open, close your arms once more. Bring back those who do not belong in this world. I, Sakura, Mistress of the Sakura Cards, shall aid in your healing and allow you to borrow my strength in return that you shall be whole once more!"
The next thing Sakura knew was that blackness had covered her world.
----- Syaoran/Xiao Lang -----
He was just walking. The place was like paper, all white. There were no walls and it seemed like there were no floors beneath his feet or a roof on top of his head. To an on looker, it would seem as if the boy was walking on air. It appeared as if he was actually floating and not walking and that he just giving the illusion of walking on air by moving his feet in a walking like matter.
But he was just walking. In an endless place with no real destination.
As he moved his feet a few more steps, the white turned into a lighter shade of green. He stopped to admire the color for a moment before continuing on.
He reached out his hand as if trying to touch the color and then green color of the place rippled at his touch. Then he moved his hand in a circular motion, an image of a jaded wolf appeared. It had burning amber eyes that glowed. The boy smiled and the wolf pulled its head back in a howl before disappearing.
The boy's own amber eyes glowed briefly before he turned around and continued walking.
"Do you come here all the time or is this visit something special?" a voice asked as part of the green light that covered the place turned a dark, muddy gray.
"It's my first time," the boy admitted.
"Ah, then it's something special," Armen drawled out.
"How many times have you been here?" Syaoran asked. He knew that it was a stupid question, but he just asked solely for conversational purposes.
"Dear little wolf, I was born here," Armen said as if he was correcting a little child.
Then again, Xiao Lang was in the form of a 13 year old. Not quite a child because of his innocent yet stony looking face, but definitely not a teen. His eyes held wisdom far beyond that of a normal teenager.
"I see. But you didn't answer the question, Armen," Xiao Lang observed. Then Armen finally revealed himself in front of the little wolf.
He looked the same as he did on the day of the Trial. Same normal exterior as any other human being. He was good at what he did. He could act so much like a human that many believed that he probably was one. That, perhaps, made him all the more dangerous.
Xiao Lang wasn't scared of him. He had little reason to be so. Even if he was a far cry from being as old as the Fallen and not as powerful yet. He didn't have access to his full power yet. He had to go through a ceremony, or a coronation, to awaken the sleeping power that he was born with. So, compared to the other angels and demons, he was like a baby. Yet he still did not fear the other.
Armen laughed. "I've been here many times. And even though I've been here so many times before, this place never ceases to amaze me. All the colors it could change into with just a mere presence. All the images it could produce with just a hint of power to one's wish. But then the image only lasts for a few moments no matter how much power one puts on the image."
"Is there a point here?" Xiao Lang asked patiently.
"Were you always a patient boy when you were human? Or did our young Sakura- chan change you?"
Xiao Lang just raised his left eye brow.
"That's it? No 'Leave Sakura out of this?' Or even a growl? Come on Seraphim, throw me a bone." He made a mock pleading face.
"Did you really have to make Sakura blind?"
"It was only for a month."
"And paralyze her left arm?"
"She didn't have enough battle wounds."
"What about the multiple cuts and bruises everywhere on her body?"
"I did not do any of those but they weren't good enough."
"She also has a huge black and blue bruise on her lower abdominal."
"They would have used magic so that it only stay there for a week at most."
"And the scar on the back of her right leg?"
"The one that looks like a star on fire?"
"You were being very precise."
"I do try."
"But I think that they think of the burning star as something that means that Sakura is strong."
"Then I would have to change their way of thinking so that the scar will serve as a reminder of who isn't as powerful as they thought," Armen smirked.
"Then there was a gash on her right arm that almost cut off a vein," Xiao Lang continued.
"Not my work."
"You made the cut bigger."
"Did I? Maybe I should have cut the arm off completely while I was at it."
"Your friends did mange to give her a slight concussion."
"Of that, I am proud."
"I'm sure you are."
"Why? Aren't you proud that your Sakura-chan managed to defeat my demonic friends and repair the veil?" this time it was Armen's turn to raise an eye brow.
"At the price of you injuring her like you did?" Xiao Lang half asked and half stated.
There was a pause before Armen said, "Yes."
"Well then. No. Not really," was the answer.
"You meant to fail her, ne?" Armen said. He had known that the Chinese boy was going to pass Sakura before the Trial even started. He had read the profile of both before hand and of that of the coordinators. With this new revelation, he had to change his mind.
"Yes. I was meaning to fail her," Syaoran, not Xiao Lang, head of the Li Clan and Seraphim of the Light's holy order, said.
This defiantly was something new and surprising. He knew that the boy loved the Card's Mistress. That he would do almost anything for her. But to have him say that he wanted to fail her. That he originally planned to have her fail the Trial was something else.
"So why did you change your mind?" Armen had to ask.
"Because," Syaoran looked at Armen in the eye, "she grew up."
"Is that the lone reason why you passed her?" Armen knew that there had to be something more. He moved back a couple of steps.
"I wasn't allowed to bring them back to the past if I failed her," Xiao Lang said as he too, moved back a couple of paces. He gave a small smile.
"I see. That is very interesting," Armen smiled as well. Then bended down a little and summoned two daggers.
"I suppose it is," Xiao Lang's sword appeared.
"I never did finish telling what I said earlier," shadow like wings appeared on the back of Armen and looking very sharp.
"And that is?" light like wings appeared on the back of Xiao Lang looking almost as sharp as the other.
"This place also shows what one truly feels. The hidden ones most especially," Armen smirked once more before both flew at each other.
The place that was once white, and then green, then half gray with the green, turned into a mixture of green, gray, and red as wolves and angels clashed.
----- China/Li mansion -----
A figure in mild pain, tattered clothes, and stains on his skin stumbled into the room where a late 40 year old woman was currently reading.
"Xiao Lang, ni hao ma? Are you okay?" she asked in Chinese.
"Wo hao. I'm good," Xiao Lang smiled ruefully.
"If you're good than I'm a parrot's mother," she replied in a business like tone.
"You probably were," he said knowing that she didn't like parrots.
"If your mother was here, she would have frowned upon such oddities," was the tart reply.
Xiao Lang chuckled. "If mama was here, she would have smacked my head lightly."
A longful look was on the older woman's eyes. "Yes. I suppose that she would."
"Auntie Da Ma, I really shouldn't be seen like this to the others."
"Yes, you really shouldn't," Xiao Lang looked behind him to see his younger cousin, Ming. "You'll scare the rest of the family if they see you like that," she continued.
"Can you walk?" his aunt asked.
"I'm not in that much pain as I look," Xiao Lang said blankly.
"Always the warrior," Ma Da said rolling her eyes.
"Would you have me any other way?" he smirked.
Ming wrapped her smaller arms around her cousin. "Of course not. But you better get cleaned up soon. If anyone else saw you, they would think that you were dying."
"Think of the chaos you would bring upon this family if they did," Ma Da pointed out.
"Chaos is sometimes good for a family," Xiao Lang said releasing his Ming's hold on him. Of all the family now currently living on the Li territories, Ma Da and Ming were the closest to him. Ma Da had no magic and was in America with her two adult sons when the family was attacked. Ming was living in Russia her whole 11 years of life before her father moved his family back to the Li mansion. She had little magic. Meilin would sometimes visit them as well, but that is becoming rarer and the visits short. And Wei had died with the rest of the family.
"By the way Xiao Lang, where were you?" Ma Da asked her nephew as he headed out of the room.
Xiao Lang stopped by didn't turn back. "I was at the place where the first war between Heaven and Hell had their draw."
----- Heaven -----
Long ago, existence created life. Life in return created God to make life grow. God then created angels that became his (he really has no gender but this is easier) people. They were all holy and lived in a very peaceful way. But once peace was born, so to was corruption.
The first to be corrupted was the very first being, God himself. It happened after billions of years after God and his angles came to existence. For it grew slowly underneath their smiles and joy. God became consumed with wanting more and more. He wanted his people to do his every biding. He wanted to grow stronger and powerful than he already was. He became cruel and demand that all he's wants be met. Some of the angels saw the wrong in what their God wanted. The first to take action against God's unfair wants and saw the born of corruption was Lucifer.
Lucifer gathered other angels who too, saw the wrong in God's way and started the first war ever. The made a place that was to be their way home and called it Hell. During the final battle between God and Lucifer, Lucifer found a way to purify the first being to come to life by sacrificing his own purity.
But before Lucifer fully accomplish in purifying God, God made sure that the rest of Lucifer's followers would also suffer the same fate as the one who led them. So Lucifer and all of his followers became dark, evil. They were demons.
Existence saw what had happened and saw how Life became tired and unfair Life was. The only outlet for Life to rest was the War where angels entrapped their fellow angels for all entireties. So existence created Death for Life to rest. Death was also the ultimate fairness because existence reason, that everything and every being could die. No matter what. Death would balance Life.
And so, balance was then born.
Lucifer and his followers were then condemned to Hell. They were evil while Heaven, once again, were good. God became sorrowful with what had happened, so he created Earth where both angels and demons could freely go.
"Xiao Lang, are you ready?" Meilin asked interrupting Xiao Lang's thoughts about the past.
"I'm ready," he nodded.
"This is a very big day for you. You'll have more responsibilities and more power than you know what to do with. Are you sure that you are ready?" Meilin asked again. She kept fidgeting and wringing her hands.
"You act as if you are the one who the ceremony is supposed to be for you," Xiao Lang made a small smile.
"Well I would be nervous if this ceremony was for me," she snapped back. "This is when they are going to unlock your real power."
"Hn."
"Hn? You are going to be a true full Seraphim and all you could say is Hn?!"
"Well, what do you want me to say?" Xiao Lang turned his head so he could look at the beauty that was Heaven.
Where he and Meilin were currently were, was a beautiful field and a water fall close by. It was the dream of any animal that loved sun and grass.
Meilin scowled. Then she paused for a moment before smirking. "So I hear that you got into a brawl with Armen a few months ago. How did you fair?"
It was Xiao Lang's turn to scowl, but his was softer. "I was beaten so you don't have to rub it in."
"After this is over, are you going to have a rematch with him?" Meilin questioned.
He thought it over. "Perhaps. It was fun battling with him. We should do it again Though I did not fight with him so I could avenge Sakura when she finished closing the veil and he made her unconscious for two weeks, if that is what you were thinking."
"I wasn't. You going to beat him this time?"
"Maybe."
"What about Sakura? Are you going to visit her again?"
"I don't know."
"I think that you two would have made a cute couple," Meilin slyly stated.
"And I think that you and Touya would have made cute children," Xiao Lang sated back.
Meilin blushed.
"Do you think that she would fall in love with someone else?" she asked as she fought to regain her composure.
"She could if she really wanted to," he answered.
"Then what do you think?"
"I think that it's time to go," he smiled and then disappeared.
Meilin scuffled at her cousin before she too disappeared.
------------------------
AN: That's it. It's done. You know how much of a relief it is for me to type out this chapter? Only because I was so proud with my fics of a Syaoran central thing. And because like many of you said, THERE ARE JUST TOO FEW SYAORAN FICS THAT HAS HIM AS THE MAIN CHARACTER!!
So if I get another burst of inspiration again about Syaoran, you can count on me to type it up for you to enjoy.
She flew left, then right, and then left again to avoid attacks from demons. A feeling of doing this once before came on to her, but she quickly shook the feeling off. Many of the demons appeared to have humanoid forms but others were animal like creatures. Then there were those that were made up from entirely from elements like water and ice.
"Shot!" she shouted again while flying.
The medium size star on her staff glowed yellow and when she pointed it towards the air demons that flew behind her, blasts of energy came out from it. The star was no longer encircled with a pink thing and the wings on the sides were a little bit bigger than it was when she first transformed the Sealing Staff to the Staff of the Stars.
"Alright Sakura!" Tomoyo yelled in encouragement while video taping Sakura flying around shooting demons from the sky.
Then she turned her camera to where Kero was in his true form burning away the lesser demonic creatures and then to Yue who was throwing shards of crystals at others. This was all so exciting and Tomoyo loved every minute of it.
Then there was a flash of blue light right behind her so she turned around to see her lover, Eriol, in his Clow Reed robes.
"Watch out Tomoyo, this could get very ugly," Eriol smiled as he sent another blue flash of light towards an upcoming demon that was heading their way.
"Yes, but I'm sure that either you or Sakura will protect me," Tomoyo said. She was still video taping everything.
"Are you sure that you still want to be here?" Spinel Sun asked as he flew down to where they were.
"Of course! I want to make sure that I get everything! This is going to be one of the most important events that Sakura will have to face as Master of the Sakura Cards and I want to be sure that I can preserve the memory of when Sakura will seal all the demons away. Besides, she will unlock her full power and I will be truly blessed if I was here to record it all. And she is also wearing one of my kawaii costume that I made especially for this occasion," Tomoyo replied, oddly very happily.
"Then you have my blessings to remain here, koishii," Eriol said kissing her.
"Didn't I always have your blessings to be here?" Tomoyo said slyly.
Eriol laughed. "Suppi-chan, please protect Tomoyo while Ruby Moon and I help Sakura, Kero, and Yue."
"I know no Suppi-chan. But I will gladly protect Tomoyo while you blast away all those pesky demons back to where they came from."
Eriol laughed again before flying off to where Ruby Moon was. Tomoyo stayed behind, returning back to what she was doing before and Spinel Sun did what he was asked.
----- Sakura -----
"There are too many of them!" Sakura yelled out to Kero as she called upon Wood to hold off some of the demons from getting close to her.
Both were still in the sky of Toemede (AN: I forgot the spelling) Park. The veil was torn right near where Sakura lived, so it was easier for her to get there and to call her friends. For the pass two years, Sakura had been getting dreams about the demons. At first it was very foggy and unclear. Sometimes she didn't even remember it. But it always came with a strong will to become stronger. Like she needed to get more powerful and know more knowledge about her magic and the cards.
So she started to practice everyday and use her Cards more and more often. She could tell that Kero and Yue were happy with this turn of event. Especially Touya and Eriol. Because after the age of 12, she didn't want to practice magi anymore because it was getting in the way of her life. Now at 18 she was able to work around her schedule and practice. She could also tell that her Cards loved it whenever she asks them to do something for her. It was just a feeling.
She could especially tell that they were happy now. They seem to think that they would be most useful in battle then in any other types of situations. Even Bubble and Sweet, the passive Cards, loved to help out when there was a battle going on. Though they didn't do much of anything until a fight is done.
It disturbed Sakura to think that the Cards where made for a fighting purpose. She didn't like to think that Clow Reed made them for the sole purpose to fight an enemy. But that was part of the reason why they were made Eriol had said. It still made her uneasy to think that such nice Cards, which were also her friends, could be used as a highly dangerous weapon. As Mistress of the Cards now, couldn't she make them have a different purpose other than fighting?
She would have to think about that later because right now there were too many demons to worry about and not enough time to think about something else.
"Every time we destroy one, two or three take their place. And every time we cut one in half, we have two more in its stead running a mock!" Kero yelled in exasperation.
Sakura wasn't the only one having dreams when she was 17. Kero had dreams as well. Though Eriol was sure that they weren't prophetic dreams. They were more like nightmares really. Kero wouldn't say what they were until they got so bad that he refused to sleep.
Apparently they were dreams of food eating him instead of the other way around! Kero claimed that were chasing him for what seemed like hours until he would run into a TV that want to smash him into little portions. Then after he got away from that, he would see this creepy looking man with holes in his head and blood in every part of his body trying to hack poor Kero into pieces so he could eat a part of Kero every day for a month.
Then there were days in which this lady without a face would want Kero's soul and then her twin, who had buttons as eyes, would want to eat Kero's eyes because they looked pretty. But not as pretty as hers.
Poor Kero could not look at food the same way again. Or buttons. The dreams were of a variety of kinds, but those two would repeat the most. It only stopped when Sakura used the Dream Card on him every time he went to sleep. So poor Sakura had to use her magic every night for almost a year until Kero's nightmares stopped.
"Sakura-san, I do not see any other way but to use all four of the elemental cards at full power at once," Yue said.
"What?! But that is too much magic to use! Sakura may not have enough power to fix the veil after she destroys most of the demons here. And besides, we don't know if every demon here would die!" Kero yelled.
"Right now I think it is the best shot that we have," Eriol said from behind.
"What you think Sakura-san?" Yue asked his Mistress.
Sakura looked around the park. It was true. The park was covered with demons. Spinel Sun had to summon a shield to protect Tomoyo from demons attacking from every direction. Sakura was glad that it was about 2 o'clock in the morning and that Eriol had put a spell so that no one could be killed by these demons.
Quickly Sakura made a choice. She didn't even tell her friends what it was before she pulled out 5 cards from the Sakura Book.
"Windy, Water, Earth, Fire, and Hope! Unleash your full might and cleanse this park of this demonic sight! Release!"
A blinding flash of white, blue, brown, red, and gold covered the whole park. It destroyed every negative aura it touched and repaired damaged earth and other man-made property in the park. The sight was so amazing and the light beautiful that Tomoyo had tears running down her eyes. Needless to say that there were also stars in her eyes.
"Kawaii...," she whispered. She was so proud of her cousin and best friend.
When the light eventually faded, Sakura wobbled on her knees before falling to the ground.
"Sakura!" everyone yelled in concerned.
"It's okay. I'm alright," she replied to everyone's questions of worry.
She got up once more and mentally prepared herself for another strong spell.
"Sakura, perhaps you should let me-"Eriol tried to say before Sakura stopped him.
"No. It's okay. I could do this." Her appearance said other wise. She was cover with blood that was not her own and she was pretty sure that most of the red blood was her own. Kero and Yue looked better than she did. Though their fur/hair was way out of proportion. Eriol looked as if he had been running for miles none stop.
Never the less, she lifted up her arms and then brought them down in a prayer like fashion.
"Veil that protects our world from theirs. Veil that was, is, and still will be a barrier to their world from ours. Veil that is thin but strong. Veil that is open, close your arms once more. Bring back those who do not belong in this world. I, Sakura, Mistress of the Sakura Cards, shall aid in your healing and allow you to borrow my strength in return that you shall be whole once more!"
The next thing Sakura knew was that blackness had covered her world.
----- Syaoran/Xiao Lang -----
He was just walking. The place was like paper, all white. There were no walls and it seemed like there were no floors beneath his feet or a roof on top of his head. To an on looker, it would seem as if the boy was walking on air. It appeared as if he was actually floating and not walking and that he just giving the illusion of walking on air by moving his feet in a walking like matter.
But he was just walking. In an endless place with no real destination.
As he moved his feet a few more steps, the white turned into a lighter shade of green. He stopped to admire the color for a moment before continuing on.
He reached out his hand as if trying to touch the color and then green color of the place rippled at his touch. Then he moved his hand in a circular motion, an image of a jaded wolf appeared. It had burning amber eyes that glowed. The boy smiled and the wolf pulled its head back in a howl before disappearing.
The boy's own amber eyes glowed briefly before he turned around and continued walking.
"Do you come here all the time or is this visit something special?" a voice asked as part of the green light that covered the place turned a dark, muddy gray.
"It's my first time," the boy admitted.
"Ah, then it's something special," Armen drawled out.
"How many times have you been here?" Syaoran asked. He knew that it was a stupid question, but he just asked solely for conversational purposes.
"Dear little wolf, I was born here," Armen said as if he was correcting a little child.
Then again, Xiao Lang was in the form of a 13 year old. Not quite a child because of his innocent yet stony looking face, but definitely not a teen. His eyes held wisdom far beyond that of a normal teenager.
"I see. But you didn't answer the question, Armen," Xiao Lang observed. Then Armen finally revealed himself in front of the little wolf.
He looked the same as he did on the day of the Trial. Same normal exterior as any other human being. He was good at what he did. He could act so much like a human that many believed that he probably was one. That, perhaps, made him all the more dangerous.
Xiao Lang wasn't scared of him. He had little reason to be so. Even if he was a far cry from being as old as the Fallen and not as powerful yet. He didn't have access to his full power yet. He had to go through a ceremony, or a coronation, to awaken the sleeping power that he was born with. So, compared to the other angels and demons, he was like a baby. Yet he still did not fear the other.
Armen laughed. "I've been here many times. And even though I've been here so many times before, this place never ceases to amaze me. All the colors it could change into with just a mere presence. All the images it could produce with just a hint of power to one's wish. But then the image only lasts for a few moments no matter how much power one puts on the image."
"Is there a point here?" Xiao Lang asked patiently.
"Were you always a patient boy when you were human? Or did our young Sakura- chan change you?"
Xiao Lang just raised his left eye brow.
"That's it? No 'Leave Sakura out of this?' Or even a growl? Come on Seraphim, throw me a bone." He made a mock pleading face.
"Did you really have to make Sakura blind?"
"It was only for a month."
"And paralyze her left arm?"
"She didn't have enough battle wounds."
"What about the multiple cuts and bruises everywhere on her body?"
"I did not do any of those but they weren't good enough."
"She also has a huge black and blue bruise on her lower abdominal."
"They would have used magic so that it only stay there for a week at most."
"And the scar on the back of her right leg?"
"The one that looks like a star on fire?"
"You were being very precise."
"I do try."
"But I think that they think of the burning star as something that means that Sakura is strong."
"Then I would have to change their way of thinking so that the scar will serve as a reminder of who isn't as powerful as they thought," Armen smirked.
"Then there was a gash on her right arm that almost cut off a vein," Xiao Lang continued.
"Not my work."
"You made the cut bigger."
"Did I? Maybe I should have cut the arm off completely while I was at it."
"Your friends did mange to give her a slight concussion."
"Of that, I am proud."
"I'm sure you are."
"Why? Aren't you proud that your Sakura-chan managed to defeat my demonic friends and repair the veil?" this time it was Armen's turn to raise an eye brow.
"At the price of you injuring her like you did?" Xiao Lang half asked and half stated.
There was a pause before Armen said, "Yes."
"Well then. No. Not really," was the answer.
"You meant to fail her, ne?" Armen said. He had known that the Chinese boy was going to pass Sakura before the Trial even started. He had read the profile of both before hand and of that of the coordinators. With this new revelation, he had to change his mind.
"Yes. I was meaning to fail her," Syaoran, not Xiao Lang, head of the Li Clan and Seraphim of the Light's holy order, said.
This defiantly was something new and surprising. He knew that the boy loved the Card's Mistress. That he would do almost anything for her. But to have him say that he wanted to fail her. That he originally planned to have her fail the Trial was something else.
"So why did you change your mind?" Armen had to ask.
"Because," Syaoran looked at Armen in the eye, "she grew up."
"Is that the lone reason why you passed her?" Armen knew that there had to be something more. He moved back a couple of steps.
"I wasn't allowed to bring them back to the past if I failed her," Xiao Lang said as he too, moved back a couple of paces. He gave a small smile.
"I see. That is very interesting," Armen smiled as well. Then bended down a little and summoned two daggers.
"I suppose it is," Xiao Lang's sword appeared.
"I never did finish telling what I said earlier," shadow like wings appeared on the back of Armen and looking very sharp.
"And that is?" light like wings appeared on the back of Xiao Lang looking almost as sharp as the other.
"This place also shows what one truly feels. The hidden ones most especially," Armen smirked once more before both flew at each other.
The place that was once white, and then green, then half gray with the green, turned into a mixture of green, gray, and red as wolves and angels clashed.
----- China/Li mansion -----
A figure in mild pain, tattered clothes, and stains on his skin stumbled into the room where a late 40 year old woman was currently reading.
"Xiao Lang, ni hao ma? Are you okay?" she asked in Chinese.
"Wo hao. I'm good," Xiao Lang smiled ruefully.
"If you're good than I'm a parrot's mother," she replied in a business like tone.
"You probably were," he said knowing that she didn't like parrots.
"If your mother was here, she would have frowned upon such oddities," was the tart reply.
Xiao Lang chuckled. "If mama was here, she would have smacked my head lightly."
A longful look was on the older woman's eyes. "Yes. I suppose that she would."
"Auntie Da Ma, I really shouldn't be seen like this to the others."
"Yes, you really shouldn't," Xiao Lang looked behind him to see his younger cousin, Ming. "You'll scare the rest of the family if they see you like that," she continued.
"Can you walk?" his aunt asked.
"I'm not in that much pain as I look," Xiao Lang said blankly.
"Always the warrior," Ma Da said rolling her eyes.
"Would you have me any other way?" he smirked.
Ming wrapped her smaller arms around her cousin. "Of course not. But you better get cleaned up soon. If anyone else saw you, they would think that you were dying."
"Think of the chaos you would bring upon this family if they did," Ma Da pointed out.
"Chaos is sometimes good for a family," Xiao Lang said releasing his Ming's hold on him. Of all the family now currently living on the Li territories, Ma Da and Ming were the closest to him. Ma Da had no magic and was in America with her two adult sons when the family was attacked. Ming was living in Russia her whole 11 years of life before her father moved his family back to the Li mansion. She had little magic. Meilin would sometimes visit them as well, but that is becoming rarer and the visits short. And Wei had died with the rest of the family.
"By the way Xiao Lang, where were you?" Ma Da asked her nephew as he headed out of the room.
Xiao Lang stopped by didn't turn back. "I was at the place where the first war between Heaven and Hell had their draw."
----- Heaven -----
Long ago, existence created life. Life in return created God to make life grow. God then created angels that became his (he really has no gender but this is easier) people. They were all holy and lived in a very peaceful way. But once peace was born, so to was corruption.
The first to be corrupted was the very first being, God himself. It happened after billions of years after God and his angles came to existence. For it grew slowly underneath their smiles and joy. God became consumed with wanting more and more. He wanted his people to do his every biding. He wanted to grow stronger and powerful than he already was. He became cruel and demand that all he's wants be met. Some of the angels saw the wrong in what their God wanted. The first to take action against God's unfair wants and saw the born of corruption was Lucifer.
Lucifer gathered other angels who too, saw the wrong in God's way and started the first war ever. The made a place that was to be their way home and called it Hell. During the final battle between God and Lucifer, Lucifer found a way to purify the first being to come to life by sacrificing his own purity.
But before Lucifer fully accomplish in purifying God, God made sure that the rest of Lucifer's followers would also suffer the same fate as the one who led them. So Lucifer and all of his followers became dark, evil. They were demons.
Existence saw what had happened and saw how Life became tired and unfair Life was. The only outlet for Life to rest was the War where angels entrapped their fellow angels for all entireties. So existence created Death for Life to rest. Death was also the ultimate fairness because existence reason, that everything and every being could die. No matter what. Death would balance Life.
And so, balance was then born.
Lucifer and his followers were then condemned to Hell. They were evil while Heaven, once again, were good. God became sorrowful with what had happened, so he created Earth where both angels and demons could freely go.
"Xiao Lang, are you ready?" Meilin asked interrupting Xiao Lang's thoughts about the past.
"I'm ready," he nodded.
"This is a very big day for you. You'll have more responsibilities and more power than you know what to do with. Are you sure that you are ready?" Meilin asked again. She kept fidgeting and wringing her hands.
"You act as if you are the one who the ceremony is supposed to be for you," Xiao Lang made a small smile.
"Well I would be nervous if this ceremony was for me," she snapped back. "This is when they are going to unlock your real power."
"Hn."
"Hn? You are going to be a true full Seraphim and all you could say is Hn?!"
"Well, what do you want me to say?" Xiao Lang turned his head so he could look at the beauty that was Heaven.
Where he and Meilin were currently were, was a beautiful field and a water fall close by. It was the dream of any animal that loved sun and grass.
Meilin scowled. Then she paused for a moment before smirking. "So I hear that you got into a brawl with Armen a few months ago. How did you fair?"
It was Xiao Lang's turn to scowl, but his was softer. "I was beaten so you don't have to rub it in."
"After this is over, are you going to have a rematch with him?" Meilin questioned.
He thought it over. "Perhaps. It was fun battling with him. We should do it again Though I did not fight with him so I could avenge Sakura when she finished closing the veil and he made her unconscious for two weeks, if that is what you were thinking."
"I wasn't. You going to beat him this time?"
"Maybe."
"What about Sakura? Are you going to visit her again?"
"I don't know."
"I think that you two would have made a cute couple," Meilin slyly stated.
"And I think that you and Touya would have made cute children," Xiao Lang sated back.
Meilin blushed.
"Do you think that she would fall in love with someone else?" she asked as she fought to regain her composure.
"She could if she really wanted to," he answered.
"Then what do you think?"
"I think that it's time to go," he smiled and then disappeared.
Meilin scuffled at her cousin before she too disappeared.
------------------------
AN: That's it. It's done. You know how much of a relief it is for me to type out this chapter? Only because I was so proud with my fics of a Syaoran central thing. And because like many of you said, THERE ARE JUST TOO FEW SYAORAN FICS THAT HAS HIM AS THE MAIN CHARACTER!!
So if I get another burst of inspiration again about Syaoran, you can count on me to type it up for you to enjoy.