Disclaimer:
Aestivate: Hi. I was bored and wanted a new disclaimer.
Gladwyn: But you're stupid and unintelligent to think of one.
Aestivate: YOUR MOM IS STUPID AND UNINTELLIGENT.
Gladwyn: …just say you don't anything and be done with it.
Aestivate: You're at a loss for words, and you know it.
Gladwyn: Bite me.
Star – Gazers
A dead silence fell over the group of three. Sakura looked ready to vomit, but regained her regular color when she asked, "Are you sure Moon is here? Are you sure Moon is back again?" There was some hope. What if Moon was just not here and the disturbance and dream of Sakura's were just coincidence?
There is no such thing as coincidence.
Syaoran nodded, conforming what each of them was worrying about. "Yeah. Think about it, Sakura. There has been a lot of magical activity around here. Baka Eriol and you are both Sun and Star. Both of you probably drew the attention of moon. Maybe even her power was awaken with so much magical activity. Especially… since the summer."
Sakura recalled the summertime with little difficulty. There was a lot of magical activity in the summer, and she wasn't talking just about the sparks that had finally been seen between her and Syaoran. They, of course, were realistic and mature about their relationship, and that could definitely be proven by the closeness and formality of their togetherness. But definitely, plenty of magic had been used in the summer. Sakura remembered the dead realization that everyone around her disappeared and she was the only person left in all of Tomoeda.
Tomoyo resumed cutting the cake, and the chocolate slice melted slightly in the sweltering temperature of the tension and Tomoyo's room. Syaoran, Sakura, and Tomoyo were quiet again, feeling quite uncomfortable with the information on the new enemy.
"Will all of us die, Li-kun?" Tomoyo asked. Sakura wished her friend hadn't said it out loud; saying it meant it was so final. It made Sakura shiver, despite the warmth Tomoyo's got from the glass doors that let the sun in.
Syaoran faced Sakura, and saw the terror on her face. "I don't know," he said finally. "But I do know one thing. You can break a link to a death. First Moon must absorb a person's life force, and you can stop the process if Moon is distracted, or the person is moved from her gaze."
"Moved?" Sakura blinked, looking back into Syaoran's solemn eyes.
"You can resume the absorption by looking directly into the person you are absorbing's eyes, and then it would be complete. But if you move the person, you may break the connection. However, you cannot restore the life already taken," Syaoran answered.
"What happens to a person after the connection is broken and some life is taken away?" Tomoyo asked, frightened.
"They will probably be different. I don't know. When Mother and I were discussing this, she said that a person might feel weak and light-headed and sick, if only a small portion of their life force is taken. If a lot of it is taken, and a small bit remains in a person, the person might become very sick, but a doctor or any drugs taken will not help, unless the life force is returned."
"How does one do that?" Sakura demanded.
"Mother suggests that using another magic force, like say a Sakura Card, may be used against Moon's staff. It should release the most recent absorbed life force," Syaoran nodded defiantly at Sakura.
"So we have a new enemy? This one more dangerous than ever?" Sakura asked.
"Oh, but doesn't it bring room for opportunity!" exclaimed Tomoyo brightly. "New costumes, more chances for me to film… The ability of taking more pictures of Sakura-chan and Li-kun… How wonderful!" Tomoyo's eyes sparkled as she clasped her hands together.
"You can't!" Sakura said indignantly, after composing herself from Tomoyo's comment. "What if you get hurt…?"
"Don't worry about me, Sakura-chan. I assure you I'll be absolutely fine!"
Sakura sighed. She knew that she back Tomoyo out on anything. She jumped, as she felt a vibration and ring come through from her bag. "Hoe!" She yelled. "Oh," she said, after Syaoran and Tomoyo looked at her alarmed. "It's my cell phone." She pressed the TALK button, and pressed her ear against it. "Moshi-moshi, Sakura here."
"Sakura-san," came a familiar voice.
Sakura gripped her phone. "Eriol-kun!" She said in amazement. Sakura stood up from Tomoyo's dilapidated couch in haste.
"Sakura-san. Has anything odd happened lately? Sick people, mysterious death stories?" Eriol asked, getting straight to the point.
"No, there hasn't… But Syaoran-kun has just told Tomoyo-chan and me about what's going to happen in the future. Is it true, Eriol? People are going to die?"
"It is very true. My memories have just come back slightly, and I've learned that there wasn't just Clow, but he was the strongest of the three. Sakura, if you release all of the completely absorbed life forces while a person is say, buried after a mysterious death, or burned, their life force will be returned. A person may suffocate to death, right after coming alive again. You must be able to stop the absorption right at the root."
Sakura gave a very audible gasp. Syaoran and Tomoyo looked at her in concern. "Let me talk to him!" Syaoran demanded.
Sakura nodded, unable to stomach the new wave of information. She fell back onto the couch saying into the phone, "Eriol-kun, Syaoran-kun would like to speak with you."
Eriol gave a very sad laugh. "Put my cute descendant on the phone."
Sakura handed the phone to Syaoran, who immediately said, "What have you said and done, you stupid baka! Why didn't you warn this about us first!" Syaoran listened intently, with his eyes flashing, creating the interesting illusion that Syaoran, where his eyes were, were on fire. "…Onore. You GAKI." Syaoran said, remembering the term Sakura's brother always used against him.
Sakura's eyes flashed angrily at him. "Be nice, Syaoran-kun!"
Syaoran appeared to not be listening. And then irritably hit the END button on the phone. "That… baka…" He spat.
"What did he say to you?" Sakura asked.
"He said he told me the same things as he did you."
"Then why were you on the phone for so long?" Surely, Sakura's and Eriol's conversation wasn't that long.
"…He was calling me his cute little descendant." Syaoran's face flushed embarrassedly.
Tomoyo clapped her hands together after seeing the troubled looks on both of their faces. "Let's not let this worry us too much. Let's eat the cake before it gets stale, ne Sakura-chan? Li-kun, your chocolate slice seems to have melted… Would you prefer a mocha slice?" Tomoyo returned to the cake, and added a smile for good measure.
Sakura and Syaoran nodded, and then took the plates and forks Tomoyo handed them. Tomoyo had also brought a new tea kettle, so the one that Syaoran was pouring when Sakura came in was set aside. The cup Syaoran also tipped over was put upright, and the three drank tea and ate cake.
"Sakura-chan, here's a slice you can bring home for Kero-chan," Tomoyo pointed to a nearly perfect slice of strawberry shortcake, and Sakura saw that it was noticeably bigger than the slices in the small assortment Tomoyo had brought up.
Tomoyo, however, noticed that Sakura and Syaoran were not looking at each other; they were both frowning into their cups of tea, only nibbling the edges of their cake slices.
Suddenly they heard a scream.
"What was that?" Sakura asked, looking up from her tea cup.
"I don't know," Syaoran said. "Let's go find out."
Sakura and Tomoyo nodded. They stood up and ran out of Tomoyo's very spacious room, and found pandemonium outside of it. Maids and servants were running around frantically.
"Sir!" Tomoyo yelled, getting the attention of an elderly butler. "What happened here?"
"There was a little girl, Daidouji-sama! One of the maids asked her what she was doing in the pantry, as she thought she was you. The girl seemed to… glow, I guess, and then the maid was unconscious. I don't know the full story!" The butler was in distress and looked as though he were about to collapse or have a heart attack.
Sakura looked at Syaoran and nodded and they looked at Tomoyo. Tomoyo nodded as well saying, "I'll go get my camera."
Sakura dug for the key around her neck. "Key that uses the power stars, reveal your true form to me! I, Sakura, command you under our contract! Release!" Sakura also fished for the card. "Sleep!"
The maids and butlers around Sakura and Syaoran fell asleep in an instant, in choruses of "…I'm feeling kind of… sleepy…"
Syaoran also reached for the pendant hanging around his neck, and it instantly transformed into the gleaming sword.
"I shouldn't have put everybody asleep!" Sakura regretted. "How are we supposed to find the woman in time?"
"Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo appeared suddenly, with two costumes in one arm and her camera in the other. She also pointed towards another door. "In here!"
Sakura and Syaoran ran into the door that Tomoyo was pointing in and a girl was floating next to them. The realization hit Sakura with a pang. "The girl in my dream! Moon!"
The girl was wearing a long, almost weightless dress. It was true about the staff. It had a gleaming, glowing crescent ornament at the top. Her features were very visible, and it was clear that she was the same age as Sakura and Syaoran, although her long, flowing dress looked rotten, like the clothes of the dead. There was something definitely strange.
Sakura clutched her staff. Syaoran tensed beside her, and looked at her with terror in his face. "You can't hurt a little girl!"
"But… Syaoran-kun!"
Then Sakura knew what she should do. "Return!" She yelled. "Return the opposing staff to what it used to be!"
Syaoran looked at her tensely. What if… What if it wouldn't work? Sakura would only have one shot. But thankfully, it seemed to be working. The Return card swirled against the staff and ectoplasm came pouring out in a foggy, sultry liquid. The liquid returned to the eagle-spread body beside the floating girl, which had been invisible to Syaoran and Sakura until the ghostly substance came to it.
The girl, before Syaoran or Sakura could face it, disappeared without any warning.
"Wonderful shot!" Tomoyo cried, leaping into the room. "Sakura-chan, you looked so brave. I'm going to edit the film right now!"
Tomoyo smiled at her new prize and jumped out of the room, accidentally blowing the door shut. The body was beginning to stir, and the color was being to return to the maid's face. She was still unconscious, so Sakura and Syaoran could talk freely.
"Are you alright?" Syaoran asked, as he saw Sakura sink to the floor wearily. His face looked stricken, but he sighed in relief. He nodded to her, satisfied that she was alright; just a bit tired. "You did well out there, Sakura. I didn't think the Return card would be any use. I thought maybe a more aggressive card… But you did well," Syaoran said. He smiled, but then frowned as he saw the pale look on Sakura's face.
"That was so scary, Syaoran-kun. I've never seen a dead body before." Sakura looked nauseated, and tears sprang to her eyes. "It was terrible…"
She was cut off as Syaoran silenced her. It bothered him, too. Instead of saying anything, he sat down next to her and swept her into his arms. Sakura was startled at his openness and suddenness, but then returned the hug. She realized Syaoran needed it just as much as she did. They embraced for a while, and then broke apart at the same time.
There was another scream, and Sakura and Syaoran stood up quickly? "What now?" Syaoran asked, releasing his sword again, having retracting it only moments before.
The sounds were coming from upstairs, from Tomoyo's room. "Tomoyo-chan!" Sakura yelled. Several of the maids and servants around the pair were beginning to wake up.
They burst into Tomoyo's room. She wasn't anywhere in sight.
"Where is she?" Syaoran looked around cautiously.
What were her words before leaving? "Edit the tape," were they?
"Ah!" Sakura said. She opened the door of the darkroom and saw Tomoyo's frightened face. Relieved, Sakura wrapped her arms around her best friend. "Are you alright? We heard you screaming."
"I'm fine but… The tape…" Tomoyo pointedfearfully to the fuzzy screen. Sakura turned to it, retracted her staff, and rewound the tape, and played it.
The first sight was Sakura releasing the key of the stars, and then Syaoran calling out commands, and then Sakura and the Return card. There was a staff, yes, but where was the girl? There was nothing there. There was only a very long wand, and a crescent at the top.
Sakura felt her knees weaken. Impossible! How could there be nothing there? A ghost? That's what Sakura and Syaoran were fighting?
A ghost?
Someone already dead, was feeding off of the life of another living thing?
A ghost?
Sakura's knees buckled as and she hit the ground, mesmerized by what she had seen. Tears trickled down her cheeks and Syaoran enveloped her in his arms.
"Syaoran-kun…" Sakura sobbed into his ear. "I'm very scared now."
