Chapter 5 is up next!
Disclaimer: I don't own CCS.
Chapter Five: The Guardians
'Oh no. The little one forgot her bag,' Syaoran thought as he rode on his bike. He turned it around quickly and headed back to her school. All of a sudden a low sound seemed to get his attention. He dismounted his bike in a trance and stood on the curb. Black wings engulfed him once again and Biketh stepped out from them. Then he started to walk down the street in his trance.
"Oh, no. Something's not right," Sakura mumbled as she held her hands to her head. Dark music played through her head and she raised her hand to be excused. When the teacher didn't call on her name, Sakura looked up to see what was wrong.
She gasped as she saw her classmates hanging over the sides of their desks, and the teacher was on the ground, out cold. Sakura looked around in shock. 'What's going on?'
The she heard the Dark Melody again and knew exactly what it was that had caused this. Sakura felt her body taking over herself again as Rethasa attempted to emerge. Sakura let herself go and the transformation began.
Rethasa stepped out onto the cold, hard floor of the classroom and looked around. The music had gotten louder. Almost like it was moving towards her.
She walked quickly to the open window and took flight. She soared over the rooftops as she looked for the source of the haunting sound. Soon she saw it and flew gracefully towards it.
"Ridym!" her great voice echoed across the quiet city, carrying loudly over the Dark Melody. Ridym didn't look at her but she knew he had heard her from the slight pause in his beautiful song. The small smile that usually adorned her lips was gone and in it's place was a small frown. 'Why would Ridym suddenly wake and call all of the powers for the bells to one area?' Sakura sensed something wasn't right. 'A terrible power would be the only thing that would want the bells,' Rethasa thought to herself.
She lowered herself near him on a second story balcony. She watched what he did carefully; every motion seemed to have her entranced. Another motion caught her eye and she turned her head to look at it wide-eyed. It was the gang in their transformed stages. Rethasa looked closer to see that all of their eyes were glassed over.
She frowned slightly as she counted the powers of the bells. She frowned harder realizing that there were only six including her. One bell was missing. The Seventh bell was missing! That was the Sorrow-bringer!
Rethasa thought hard about where Rastael, the Seventh bell might be hiding when a large hand grabbed her clasped wrists that she held at the front of her gown, and another hand clasped over her mouth. She tried to struggle against her attacker but he only gripped harder on her wrists. A muffled cry of pain escaped her lips.
All of a sudden the hands that bound her let go but the pressure was still there. She looked down to see cords encircling her body. Then she realized that her mouth was again uncovered.
An idea slowly wormed its way into her mind. "Nahma ani makae, Rastael," she spoke again in the tongue of the Guardians. Rastael smirked as he continued to walk towards her. "Rastael, Nahma!" she gasped before he caught her lips in a passionate kiss. She pulled away from him after much struggling. Rastael smirked again as she fought for words.
"Well at least it keeps you quiet," he mocked. She glared furiously at him, but he shrugged it off. "Do you know why I have asked Ridym to call the bells?" he asked.
"No and I really don't care. The only thing that I care about at this moment is that the calling will stop, and it will stop soon," she spat out. She had sunk to her knees and was now sitting on the cold cement of the roof.
Rastael walked towards her again and she looked up at him with her big green eyes. He smirked and continued with what he was saying. "I have a master whose name is Clow Reed. He is very powerful and possesses all seven of the mighty Bells. He has a great plan for the world. But he needs the help of the Mighty Ones," he explained. The he stood in front of her and picked her up off the ground. "Now, let's go help him," Rastael said before he took flight down to where Ridym was calling the bells.
"They have all arrived, Ridym. You may stop," Rastael said. Rethasa watched as the Guardian lowered the horn from his mouth. The other Guardians seemed to start to gain control of their bodies again but then Rastael held out his hand, that he was not holding Rethasa with, to them. Cords sprouted from his fingers and wrapped around them.
Nanra looked frantically around her. Samoel stood but two feet from her. If only she could get to him and talk to him. She fell down abruptly and all of the Guardians turned to look at her. Then Ridym and Rastael turned away to talk again.
Nanra smirked up at Samoel and he bent down to see what was wrong. "Sleep," she whispered in his ear. He stood up and then gasped in realization. Nanra stood up as well and she and Samoel got into position. "Nanre!" she whispered. The sound slowly got louder and louder as it reached the ears of their captors. Ridym and Rastael fell to the ground, both in a very deep sleep.
"Samoel! I'm using my wings!" Rethasa cried out.
"No Rethasa! There's another way!" Samoel said back but it was too late. She had already started to focus hard.
"Baknas fo boud!" she called out in a strained voice. The wings on her back slowly turned to glass and she got ready for the pain that was to come. "Everybody, watch out," she said as she looked at them all. Biketh looked at her in shock as she turned to face them. Nanra had tears in her eyes but she couldn't move. "Natte!" she cried. Her wings burst open instantly and glass shards flew everywhere when the wings and the cords came in contact.
After everything cleared, Biketh looked back to see Rethasa laying face down in her own blood on the ground. Broken glass shards stuck out all over her back and the cords lay cut and in pieces around her.
Then he felt the cords around him loosen, as well. Samoel was cutting his cords with one of the shards. Once he was free he dashed straight to Rethasa, not minding the small pieces of glass that pricked his feet with each step. Once he reached her he held her close to him in his arms.
A flash of bright light entered his eyes and he closed them tightly. When the light died down he looked back at Rethasa. But it wasn't Rethasa anymore. She had changed back into Sakura because of the lack of energy she had left to maintain Rethasa. Her breaths were quick and jagged and her chest heaved rapidly.
Biketh closed his eyes and in a few seconds he transformed back into Syaoran again. The other three Guardians had changed back as well. "We need to get her help," Syaoran said as she started to cough up blood. They all stood around her hand lifted her gently onto Syaoran's back. He carried her as the other three decided where they should take her.
"Maybe to the hospital?" Meiling suggested.
"No, they would ask too many questions," Tomoyo said.
"Well what about the school?" Eriol suggested. Both Meiling and Tomoyo shook their heads.
"Way too many questions," Tomoyo answered again.
"But it's the closest thing to us. If they ask what happened just say she slipped and landed on some glass where people were having a party last night," Syaoran said as he headed in the direction of the school.
"But this is pure crystal glass, made directly from the cave of the Guardians. It shines with the brilliance of 100 suns. I bet the nurse will have questions about that!" Tomoyo retorted. Syaoran rolled his eyes.
"All the pieces are covered in blood anyways, so it's not like she's going to see all of the magical brilliance. Do you want to help Sakura or not?" he said angrily. The girls backed off after that.
In about ten minutes the gang had reached the school building followed by a trail of Sakura's blood that was dripping from her body. They walked through the front door and took a direct left into the office. "Where's the nurse's office?" Tomoyo asked kindly. The receptionist sat wide-eyed with her mouth hanging open as she pointed the way. "Thank you," Tomoyo said again.
The gang walked through the door the lady had pointed to and laid Sakura on the table, belly down. A girl of about 21 came into the nurse's office. "Hi, my name is Nakuru but everyone calls me Nurse Ruby. May I help you?" she said. Syaoran pointed to the table and the nurse looked down. "Oh dear! I guess I'll have to bandage her up! Could you please wait outside? This might take a while," she said as she ushered them out.