Second Generation Cardcaptors 40
Eriol: Meeko, Makoto and their friends went to save Hitori and her mother, Madoushi, from the Storm card. After sealing it away, Earthy attacked and injured Makoto. Akiko used a combination of Bubbles and Snow to freeze Earthy and sealed it away. Now that almost all the cards are captured, I have only but to begin the judgment, to see for myself if my daughter and the others are worthy of being the new holders of the Clow Cards.
Meeko sat apart from the others as Madoushi did her best to heal Makoto, while Akiko watched over both Makoto and Hitori. She had had this growing sense of something coming, but she didn't know what. It bothered her.
"Something on your mind?"
Meeko looked up and saw Shinji smiling down at her. "Sorry, I just have a lot to think about." She admitted.
Shinji sat down next to her. "You're right you know." She looked over in surprise. "The judgment will begin for you and your brother, just like I had to go through."
Meeko blinked. "Are you supposed to be telling me this?"
Shinji shrugged. "With the Clow Cards attacking like crazy and Abbadon after us, I don't really think I'd be breaking the rules to clue you in a little."
"What will the judgment be like?" She wondered.
Shinji suddenly got very serious. "I'm not sure. That depends on Clow Reed."
Meeko nodded, satisfied with the answers she'd received, for now, and stood up to go and support her brother. She wanted to learn more, but she also knew she didn't have long to wait to get her answers.
Sakura and Syaoran could feel the magic building in the city. They also knew that the judgment was coming soon for their children and that like Mizuki sensei, Keroberus, Syaoran, and Tomoyo all those years ago had to step aside and let Sakura pass the judgment against Yue alone, so did they now had to wait patiently for the news of their children.
While Syaoran read a book in the living room and Sakura dusted (her way of keeping her nerves in check) a knock was heard at the door.
"I'll get it." Sakura volunteered.
But upon feeling this aura, Syaoran got up as well.
When they both went to the door and saw who was there, they gasped and took a step back.
"E-Eriol!" Sakura stuttered. The first thing she and her little wolf noticed was that Eriol's aura had drastically changed.
Eriol didn't respond. Instead he raised his hand and formed a black energy ball, aiming it at Sakura.
"Eriol!!"
Fushuku walked into his Lord's chambers, head bowed. "Sire, shouldn't we go after the sorceress and her kin? Surely they will aide the cardcaptors in their battle against us."
Abbadon laughed, receiving a look of confusion from his forced servant. "We don't need those two anymore!" Abbadon exclaimed, standing up with a large book in his clawed hands. "Those two were only a distraction! I now have the means to summon my minions from the hell below and wreak havoc here on Earth."
"So…using them to defeat the cardcaptors was unnecessary?" Fushuku questioned.
"I never expected them to actually defeat the cardcaptors, no. They are the descendants of Clow Reed, the once most powerful magician in the world. It will take more than a sorceress and her created child to destroy them. So I used them to keep those brats occupied while I searched for this…The Book of the Underworld. It alone holds the incantation to bring my minions to me!"
Fushuku's eyes widened as his magical eye could see the black aura resonating so powerfully off and around the book. "That book holds so great a power?"
Abbadon nodded. "It can open hell and bring down the strongest of magicians." The demon smirked knowingly. "Even Clow Reed…"
Back at the cave, Makoto was now up and feeling relatively fine. "I wouldn't be a Li if I couldn't hold up against a Clow Card!" He'd exclaimed when confronted with the myriad of questions all similar to: "Are you all right?" Or "Are you sure you can walk?" and "Do you need help?"
When Hitori awoke and said she would be fine as well, the group thought they were finally in the clear. But they were wrong, for just as this thought entered all their minds…a huge crashing sound entered their ears. The entire cave shook as something outside attacked.
"What was that!?" Akiko shouted, as the five children ran to the entrance of the cave.
"Has Abbadon found us!?" Hitori shouted ahead of her.
When they finally saw what had shaken such a big cave, they gasped.
Hitori stood there, shaking her head in disbelief. "I-it's me!"
Indeed it was, for standing there wearing the exact same thing as Hitori…
…was
Hitori! It looked just like her but
with an evil grin on her face. "It has
time for you to meet your destiny!"
Hitori clenched her fists and
ran towards her adversary. Shinji
followed as well as Akiko, Meeko, and Makoto.
But as the last three reached the edge of the cave, a shield blew them
back and a sudden magical blackness swallowed them whole.
"No!" Shinji stopped dead in his tracks and spun around, ready to head back inside.
Stop… A voice said in his mind. Their time has come. Shinji looked off to the side where Madoushi stood watching. A silent message was passed between them and she nodded.
He knew what she meant. Gritting his teeth he ran to aide Hitori as he prayed for his other friend's safety. Right now all he could do was protect their friend, he knew they would want him to.
When the three opened their eyes they found themselves in total blackness. They could see each other, but nothing of their surroundings was apparent.
"W-where are we?" Akiko stuttered. She was scared. She didn't like being in the dark.
Makoto heard the fear in her voice and walked over to her. "Hey come on. I'm here with you. I won't let anything happen to you."
Meeko smiled in agreement. "How about we find our way out of here, huh?" Akiko nodded, reflecting Meeko's smile after a while. "It can't be the Maze Card, so I'm sure we'll get out just fine."
Akiko and Makoto nodded and the three walked around in a straight line, trying to find the way out.
They walked for a while, Makoto never letting Akiko out of his grasp, for fear of loosing her, like on so many other occasions, but also keeping his senses on a alert for any on coming danger.
Meeko stopped just ahead of them and held up a hand to stop her friends. "There's something very powerful up ahead."
Makoto slowly came up with Akiko behind Meeko and stretched out his senses. "It's a magical barrier of some sort. I can't sense anything past it."
Meeko narrowed her lips to a thin line and bravely walked forward.
"Meeko…" Akiko warned quietly, scared as if a loud shout would trigger off another booby trap in this strange place.
When she was close enough, the barrier revealed itself. It was a huge ice wall that blocked their path. "At least we know we're going the right way." She said in all serious and in a strange optimism.
Makoto took his arm away from around Akiko, only for a moment, and took out his card. "This'll be easy." He called out his sword and threw the card forward. "Fiery!"
As Fiery dove forward, something unexpected happened. Instead of melting the ice wall, it was bounced back, heading straight towards the cardcaptors.
"Watch out!" Meeko dove to the side, as Makoto grabbed Akiko and dove to the other side.
"Why didn't it work!?" Akiko shouted, as Makoto pulled her to her feet.
"It has to be combined with another power!"
"Is there some way we can destroy it from the inside out?" Makoto wondered.
Meeko thought for a moment. They could do that…but they'd need a way to get through the outer barrier to get to the ice.
Through…
Meeko snapped her fingers and smiled. "If I can just get to him!" She closed her eyes and sent a silent message to Shinji…
Hitori stood face to face with herself and felt a strange sense of unease from her doppelganger.
Her double smirked as it crossed its arms. "I know what you truly are, cardcaptor, and I will finally put to test if you can except that yourself."
Shinji held his staff out and ready if Hitori needed any help, but knew he really couldn't interfere. Somehow he knew this was her judgment, and he could only help her minutely.
Shinji…
Shinji gasped and turned inwardly for a moment. Meeko?
Shinji…I need you to lend me a card. Can you release Through?
Shinji frowned. Could he? Was that going too far? Thinking about it, he didn't think so. It was she who had made the suggestion and after he released it, it would be her to ask it to do what she needed.
Hai, I can. Chotto matte.
While Hitori stood off against her double, trying to think about what to do, Shinji quickly pulled out the Through card. Onegai, help Meeko. Through! He silently asked, striking the card with his staff. It appeared, then disappeared to go do as its Master wished.
Back in their realm, wherever that was, Meeko saw Through appear and both Makoto and Akiko smiled widely. "Makoto, on my mark."
"Hai." Her twin replied.
Meeko told the card what to do, and it nodded. "Now!" Through flew toward the ice wall, at the same time Makoto released Fiery. The two cards combined and as through opened a hole in the ice wall, Fiery went inside and destroyed the wall from the inside out, melting it and making it vanished.
"Arigatou." Meeko thanked the card. "Now, return to your Master."
Through smiled and disappeared to go back to Shinji.
"Shall we go on?" Meeko smiled and continued out their journey.
Outside, as Hitori understood it, all she had to do was answer three questions truthfully and she could seal the two cards. One, she already knew was Mirror, which is how it was able to take her form, but the other eluded her.
"If it wants to pass judgment by questions, then it can tell if you're lying or not." Shinji hinted.
Hitori's eyes widened. "Libra!" Libra had the ability to see into a person's soul and tell if they were lying or telling the truth, then punish them accordingly. "Fine mess I've gotten myself into."
"First question! Did you have any attraction towards the Cardcaptor Li Makoto?" Libra asked.
Hitori gasped, along with Shinji. Averting her gaze, Hitori nodded. "Yes…yes I did." Then she looked up with determined eyes. "But I didn't want to hurt my friend Akiko! They were destined to be together and I was not going to break them apart!"
Mirror nodded, satisfied. "Very well, next question!"
The group continued on until they finally met an area that was barely lit. It was a large clearing. As the three walked through it, continuing straight past it, two forms materialized at the end. Meeko knew them and gasped.
Makoto beat her to the accusation, though. "Mom! Dad!"
He was right, but their auras were darker, Syaoran's being a dark forest green, and Sakura's being an even darker blood red.
"What's wrong you guys!?" Meeko questioned.
"You are not the Chosen Ones." Syaoran said in a monotone, his head coming up and his eyes glazed over.
"You're destiny is death." Sakura said, her eyes just a blank.
"Iie! Mom and Dad, what are you saying!?" Meeko couldn't believe it.
Akiko leaned in towards the still shocked Makoto. "Is it really them?"
Makoto nodded and tried to hold back his fear. "It's them, but they seem to be controlled the same way Eriol was before."
"Well, what are you waiting for!?" Meeko growled. "Let's break them free of it!" Meeko ran forward, calling out her bow and arrow.
"No! Meeko! Wait!" Makoto ran after his sister, not wanting her to have to fight alone.
Meeko ran to her mother and looked worriedly at her. "You are the original Clow Card Mistress! You can't give into Abbadon so easily!"
Sakura didn't answer, but simply called forth Sword and came slashing down at her daughter.
"Mom!" Meeko exclaimed, dodging to the side.
Makoto faced off with his father. "After all this time, of finding out our lineage, our true lineage, you're planning on giving up and shooting this all out to hell!?" He was mad at his father and attacked. If it was a fight his father was after, it was a fight he was going to get.
Abbadon smiled as he looked through the Dragon's Mirror in front of him. "This is perfect! I won't have to lift a finger to kill the cardcaptors. Clow Reed will do it for me!" Then his evil laugh echoed through his unholy chambers.
"Questions #2!" Hitori's twin announced.
Hitori tensed up, knowing it was going to be hard and readying herself for it.
"Did you not enjoy seeing the cardcaptors struggled and cry out in pain while battling cards you yourself combined and controlled!?"
Shinji gasped and looked at Hitori in shock. "H-hitori?"
Hitori met his gaze with denial, but wasn't sure if that was the true answer.
"Answer the question, creature." The cards told her.
She shook her head, refusing to saw what she knew in her heart to be true.
"Hitori…" Shinji said sadly. "Answer the question…"
Hitori winced at the pain in his voice and looked down at the ground. "Yes." She stated. But then her head shot up and she glared at her twin. "But that was before I saw them show sympathy towards Dash! Watch them bring in cards carefully that they knew were gentle but acted aggressively. After that, I knew I was on the wrong side." She looked over at Shinji with a weak smile, one that, after a moment, he returned.
"Very well! The final question is at hand!"
Meeko was slammed into the outer wall and slumped to the floor dazed. Akiko ran to her side and blocked Sakura's path with her sun staff. "How can you do this!?" Akiko asked. "She's family! If there is a shred of your former self in there, you won't do this!"
Sakura paused for a moment, the words seemingly sinking in, then her aura flashed and Akiko was slapped to the side by an invisible force.
"Akiko!" Makoto barely blocked his father's attack. Instead of using brute force against Syaoran, Makoto diverted it to the side, throwing his father's balance off just enough to buy him the few precious seconds he needed to back flip to his sister's side. She was just getting to her feet.
"Akiko! You okay!?" Makoto's first reaction had been to run to the aid of his love, but then he realized that he and Meeko were the targets and as long as she stayed out of the fight, Akiko would be fine.
"Yeah great," Akiko replied. "I feel like I just got hit in the head with one of your sister's hoe run softball hits."
"I'll show you how it's done as soon as we get out of this." Meeko added as she used her staff to hold herself up.
But to do that we have to go through Mom and Dad… Makoto told her.
I…I can't… Meeko replied in growing fear. I can't take my own parent's life!
You think I want to!? But if we don't we won't make it out of here!
Maybe if we give up, they'll snap out of it! Meeko suggested.
If that worked, don't you think Mom and Dad would have won against Eriol all those months ago?
Well…
We have to do this…
Both twins held their weapons out to the side in a non-threatening manner and closed their eyes.
Akiko saw Sakura and Syaoran raise their weapons ready to strike down at their children. "No! Makoto! Meeko!" Are they going to surrender??
But her cries went unheard as the swords came down and were about to split the children in half.
At the last moment, both children moved as one and struck fatal attacks to their hearts. Meeko, using Arrow, had embedded her sharp projectile right through Sakura. Makoto had used his sword and stabbed his father also through the heart.
Time stood still as everything before Akiko's eyes vanished.
"YES! Abbadon boomed in his lair. "I've won! The Clow Descendant and Mistress are no more!!!"
To be continued…