The First Installment of Card Captor: New Beginnings
Episode One- Meeting of the Guardians
The rain beat mercilessly on the window of a shiny black Porsche as it flashed through the wet streets. Inside, a man with a menacing expression smiled darkly. A bright bolt of lightning slashed through the stormy sky, casting his face into vivid contrast. Whoever would have chanced to see him at that very moment would have been scared: the man had cold, brooding eyes, and a mouth cast in an almost perpetual grim smirk. Worst of all, there was a large scar slicing through his shadowed right eyebrow, a gash extending to his cheek. Anyone would have been frightened. He seemed to be looking for something, someone. As the lightning bolt's brilliance faded, the man melted once more into the shadows of his unlit Porsche. Waiting.
A mansion stood high up on the hill many people said was haunted. It was said that this mansion only appeared every thousand years or so; also, that strange things happened whenever it did. But on this stormy day, like any other residence in the area, Crystal Mansion had its windows shut. Like all of the other houses, it was dripping wet. Even the trees that stood as if to guard the mansion, the trees that people said were alive, were not exempt from the rhythm of the storm. The rain made the trees in front of the large mansion flail their branches in a wild dance.
Inside, looking out through a window on the third floor, the young owner of the mansion gazed out at the trees swaying in the gale. As cold as it was outside, the teen held an iced glass of chocolate in one hand and a cone of vanilla ice cream in the other, licking it contentedly now and then. He seemed to be expecting something as he contemplated the flooded road.
After some time, the black Porsche slid to a halt in front of the mansion, and the scarred man stepped out of it. The owner of the mansion snapped his fingers, and a silent, formal servant quickly sprang down the stairs to open the door for the somewhat-expected guest. Later, as the scarred man dried himself out in front of the first floor front lobby fireplace, the teen himself came strolling down the luxurious banistered staircase that spiraled gracefully through all three floors of the manor. "Ah, so you're here, monsieur---"
"Agnus Darkyce, please. It's a strange name, but well, I was born with it."
"Monsieur Darkyce, then. Strange indeed, but rather fitting, if you are what I think you are… I am the master of Crystal Mansion, and am called Neptune Liquicia. Pray, make yourself at home."
"Well, then, Sir Liquicia…"
"Neptune, please."
"Neptune. If I may, who or what is it that you take me to be? You are younger than I, by about fifteen years as I see it. I think it impossible that you would know my secrets."
The boy laughed, a cultured and yet childishly merry peal. "I have many useful spies, Monsieur Darkyce. Do forgive me." Then, with a sudden twist of unexpected candor, he said, "You see, monsieur, I thought you might be one of the three so-called Guardians, in secret. It has been predicted for a very long time that the Three would meet here at Crystal Mansion today…"
"You got me there," replied Darkyce, nonplussed by the teen's frank admittance. He did not even seem surprised. "You must be the Book Guardian, are you not? For one so young as you, only the Book itself could have made these things known. And yet, the day draws to a close quickly! Already it is five minutes to tomorrow. The last Guardian, I am afraid, might not come after all."
"No." said Neptune, shaking his head. "Five minutes is a long time."
There was a rap at he door, and a soft, plaintive voice calling, "Please let me in!" Neptune smiled knowingly at Darkyce. "See? There he is now."
But even the Book had not prepared Neptune for the sight that greeted his eyes. Instead of another man, at least as old as he was, powerful and wise, there stood a ten-year-old girl forlornly dripping rainwater on his plush front lobby carpet. She looked very scared, very small (which, indeed, she was), and very uncomfortable.
Finally, good manners got the best of the teen's disappointment and surprise. "Do come in," he told the girl. "I'm terribly sorry for making you wait in that cold outside. Welcome to Crystal Mansion. Please, feel free to dry yourself out in front of the fire."
The girl's dripping countenance immediately cleared. "There's a fire here? Good. I thought I'd have to freeze to death. My name is Aurora Brimstone. My dad calls me Spark. I hate the cold!"
She ran to the fire and promptly dried herself. Staring at the girl, half bemused and half in amazement, Neptune noticed tiny tongues of flame licking at her clothes, at her hair. Even more surprising was that the fiery tendrils actually seemed to be coming out of her! Unbelievable… but perhaps it was only his imagination…
Darkyce was speaking; apparently Neptune had missed a bit of conversation between his two unlikely guests. "You can't be the third Guardian," the scarred man insisted. The girl was irate. "Why ever not?" she pouted.
"Well… because you're young. You're small--- as in, tiny…" Neptune supplied helpfully (if a trifle rudely --- the girl flared up at the interruption and looked about to pounce). Then, with a disbelieving, incredulous shake of his head, he continued. "And… you're a girl!" Still, almost as he said the words, tiny tendrils of flame seemed to be springing out of his memories, coating her, drying her, belonging to her…
Ouch!
She'd stepped on his foot, bringing him out of his reverie. Hard. Hoo boy, this girl was something. Some tempest! Okay fine. So she was the third Guardian, if she so wished it.
A glance at the luminous grandfather clock in the corner showed that it was exactly one minute past midnight. The prophecy had been fulfilled.