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Syaoran's Angels
Chapter 19: Dreamer
Sakura opened her eyes as bright light assaulted her delicate irises.
"Where am I?" she gasped as she stood up.
She was standing in some strange place she had never been in before. Bright light poured out from some unknown source as Sakura looked around. Tendrils of white mist curled itself around her legs and arms as Sakura strained to see through the ethereal fog.
"Where am I?" she repeated.
"Sakura..." a soft voice said behind her.
Sakura whirled around and gasped her jaws hanging open in shock. A woman was standing behind clad in a long flowing white dress.
Long slightly curly strands of grey-brown hair framed her delicate pale face. A pair of serene violet eyes stared back at her. Sakura tried to speak but failed as a lump formed in her throat finally one single word managed to work itself out of her lips.
"Mom?!"
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Tomoyo awoke with a start. Sitting up in her bed, she frowned trying to figure out what had just woken her. Faintly she could hear the sound of a car pulling up in her driveway, blinking the sleep from her eyes she glanced at her beside clock.
3:00am, the red glowing letters proclaimed.
She frowned wondering who would be coming to her house so early in the morning. All thoughts of the time was chased out of her head as she heard the distinct sound of her front door unlocking and she tensed, ready to spring out of bed and rush to confront this intruder.
Suddenly a familiar laughter penetrated the silence of the house as Tomoyo allowed her body to relax. A broad grin appeared on Tomoyo's face as she wondered idly why Meiling and Marcus were coming home so late.
Lying back in her bed to go to sleep, Tomoyo made a mental late to interrogate Meiling in the morning.
With a loud yawn, Tomoyo drifted off to sleep.
Suddenly a small butterfly with bright sapphire wings flew in through her open window and descended onto Tomoyo's nose. Landing lightly on her, its small wings began glowing brightly bathing Tomoyo's face in bright blue light. After a short while, the glowing stopped and the butterfly flew out through the open window once more disappearing into the night sky.
Unaware of her strange night guest, Tomoyo slept on.
And as she slept, she dreamt.
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"Mom?!" Sakura gasped.
"Sakura," Nadeshiko murmured smiling at her sadly, "My dear daughter..."
"Mom?" Sakura repeated disbelievingly, "I thought... I mean... aren't you... weren't you... dad... Kiyone... Nivaline... told me... dead!"
Nadeshiko smiled sadly at her.
"I am," she said gently.
"But you're here... how can you..." Sakura bit back a sob, "Mom, I've missed you!"
She ran straight at her mother intent to wrapping her up in a hug but to her shock and horror she passed straight through her mother's body. A shudder ran through her body as Sakura struggled to keep her emotions in check.
"Mom?" Sakura asked timidly whirling around to stare at her.
Nadeshiko turned around slowly.
"I'm dead, my dear," Nadeshiko repeated gently.
Sakura stared at her in horror.
"Whe...wher... where am I?" Sakura managed to stammer.
"The limbo."
"Limbo?" Sakura asked faintly trying to figure out what was going on.
"The region between heaven and hell. The grey area so to speak," Nadeshiko took a deep breath, "The domain of ghosts and spirits."
Sakura stared at her.
"Mom?" her voice broke, "Am I dead?"
Nadeshiko stared at her and smiled sadly at her.
"I hope not."
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Lara strolled over to the window and smiled in satisfaction as she saw the Angel's body plummet into the churning ocean followed by a loud satisfying splash.
"Guess Angels can't fly," Lara smirked as she turned around and walked away.
With her back turned towards the window Lara didn't see what happened next. Suddenly beneath the ocean surface a bright glowing light could be seen burning through the water as the ocean seethed and surged as the glowing became brighter and brighter.
With a might roar, the ocean parted rippling out in circular motion leaving behind a tiny path of rock exposed to the air as the water raged against an invisible barrier that had appeared around the bright light. The light formed into a dense ball as it slowly rose into the air pushing the water back even further.
As it floated above the ocean's surface, the light faded altogether revealing Sakura, her body limp and badly battered, seawater streaming down her body. The ocean water below returned to normal as the key around her neck burst into golden light burning like a star in the night sky. Light burst from the key in opaque ribbons wrapping themselves around Sakura's body.
With a final bright flash of light that illuminated the dark sea and sky, the light and Sakura vanished.
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Five seconds later, to the astonishment to the nurses and doctors of Santa Barbara hospital, an unconscious woman was mysteriously find in the car park her body badly bruised.
Twenty minutes after that and after several tests, the mysterious auburn-haired woman was proclaimed to be in a coma and shifted to the coma ward where she now rests.
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Tomoyo blinked slowly.
"Where am I?" she murmured her voice coming out distorted as though every syllable had been slowed down and dragged out.
She was standing in a forest of some kind. Tall imposing trees with thick round trunks shot up from the grassy, leaf-littered ground their emerald leaves swaying in an invisible breeze. The meagre sunlight that had managed to penetrate the canopy formed thin spears of light that hit the ground causing the watery dew on the ground to glimmer like diamonds and pearls. Tomoyo looked around in confusion as a thick cloud of mist descended onto the forest leaving her impervious of her surroundings.
"What the?" she murmured her voice still distorted.
Suddenly the sound of someone singing pierced through the cloud of grey. The song was in a language that Tomoyo did not understand: it was lilting and flowed like water over smooth pebbles. The singing got louder and louder as Tomoyo tensed. Suddenly with no warning at all the mist dissolved revealing a peculiar woman standing in front of her.
Tomoyo stared at her as a pair of pale green eyes stared back. She wore a light pink ball gown that that billowed out to form a full skirt at the hip. The fabric seemed to glow with some internal light as the woman swayed her body gracefully as she hummed a soft tune. Her hair was a pale cream colour as her skin and was curled in a style that seemed to defy gravity. The only spots of colour on her pale skin were the strange pink-coloured tattoo that rested in between her two eyes and the ruby rose-shaped earrings that dangled from her ears.
"Hello?" Tomoyo said slowly changing her greeting into a question.
She blinked as her voice came out this time undistorted. The woman smiled mysteriously at her.
"Umm... who are you?" Tomoyo asked as the woman continued to smile at her.
Suddenly the air seemed to turn dark and menacing as the woman's soft smile fell. A panicked look came over her face as Tomoyo looked around the hair on the back of her neck rising as the feeling of wrongness and malice increased almost like a pressure on her mind.
The ground beneath her shook as Tomoyo gasped in shock and leapt back. With a loud rumble, the ground split as something shot up into the air. The woman's jaws opened in shock as her pale green eyes stared at the tree that had just erupted from the ground in horror. Tomoyo studied the tree. It was cherry blossom tree: the soft delicate pink of its flowers contrasting against the light grey of its bark as it swayed in a gentle breeze.
Suddenly the sky overhead roared as a massive bolt of blue lightning flew down from the skies and struck the tree. Tomoyo gasped in horror as the tree's trunk was neatly sliced in half, splinters exploding out in all directions as the tree collapsed hitting the ground with a loud thud, small flames racing across its trunk and branches.
"Fox," the strange pink-haired woman murmured speaking for the first time.
Tomoyo looked at her as the woman looked at her seriously.
"The Flower has fallen," she said softly, "The Flower has fallen."
With that the woman gestured as her body dissolved into multi-coloured petals before being swept away by a light breeze. Tomoyo stared at the spot where the woman had just been standing on a second ago as her mind worked furiously trying to figure out what was going on.
"This is a dream..." she realised.
Suddenly she let out a surprised cry as her body began dissolving into grey smoke.
"Wha..." her question was cut off as her whole body dissolved and was borne away by an invisible breeze.
The cherry blossom tree continued to burn as many leagues away Sakura stared at her mother in shock.
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"What?" her voice came out as a tiny squeak.
"Pardon," Nadeshiko corrected sternly, "What is impolite."
Sakura wondered if it was normal for a dead person to be corrected by their also dead mother on the proper language to use.
"Pardon?"
Nadeshiko nodded as Sakura waited impatiently for an answer.
"This is the limbo, the realm that exists between what you would call heaven and hell. I remain here so I can watch over you and your father," Nadeshiko explained.
Suddenly a sad smile adorned her soft lips.
"I miss him so much..." she whispered wistfully as a small tear ran down her face.
"He misses you too," Sakura swallowed the lump gathering in her throat, "I miss you too... a lot."
Nadeshiko looked at her, a melancholy expression appearing on her face.
"I know."
"If I'm here. Does this mean..." Sakura took a second to compose herself before speaking, "I'm dead."
Nadeshiko shook her head.
"Thankfully, no."
"But isn't it only dead people are allowed here?"
"Dead people and those who are in comas," Nadeshiko explained, "Since you can't touch me, I'm believe it's the latter."
"Coma?" Sakura said hesitantly.
Slowly visions appeared in her head. Lara... the Glittering Star nightclub... trap... the Kill Room... Lara hurling her through the window...
"Kiyone gave me a phone number..."
"Kiyone doesn't know your phone number," Nadeshiko interjected gently, "Spinnel Corporation faked her voice and gave you the call to lure you into the trap..."
"Why those nasty god damn son of a..." Sakura began, furious.
"Sakura!" Nadeshiko scolded, "Language!"
Sakura blushed.
"Sorry, mom," Sakura took a deep breath, "She hurled me out of this window. I must've landed into the ocean and... I'm in a coma... but how? I would've drowned in the sea by now."
"Not necessary," a new voice said from behind her.
Sakura whirled around and gasped as she stared at the new voice.
"The key wouldn't allow it," the voice continued.
"Who?" Sakura said faintly.
Nadeshiko smiled at their new speaker.
"Hello Kerberos," she said simply.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Tomoyo woke up slowly blinking her lavender eyes as bright sunlight assaulted them. Stifling a yawn, she sat up in her bed. Frowning she had the distinct feeling there was something she was supposed to remember...
Her dream.
The forest.
The strange woman.
And... and... and...
Blank.
Tomoyo blinked in confusion. There was something important she had to remember, she was sure of it. But she just couldn't put her figure on it... What was it? There was something... the forest... the mist... the woman.
She growled in frustration as once again the answer to her question lingered tantalizingly close to the threshold of her memory but she couldn't figure it out for the life of her.
The Japanese Angel sighed in resignation and shrugged.
It probably wasn't important anyway.
Suddenly a wicked smile appeared on her face as she remembered Meiling and Marcus's late date the night before.
It was time to grill her friend.
Still grinning she exited her bedroom and got ready for the busy day ahead.
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"Aunty 'Moyo!" Lily greeted her cheerfully from her perch on the couch before turning all her attention back to the television grin.
"Morning," Tomoyo said cheerfully to Marcus who managed to fight off his tiredness long enough to send her a small grin.
"Where's Meiling?" Tomoyo asked.
"She's still asleep," Marcus stifled a yawn as he sipped his steaming cup of black coffee.
Pouring herself a cup and loading sugar and milk into it, Tomoyo raised an eyebrow incredulously.
"Still asleep?" she asked surprised, "She's usually up at dawn."
Marcus shrugged.
"We have a late night," he explained.
Tomoyo smiled at him wickedly.
"So what mischief did you get up to last night?"
Marcus blushed as he suddenly became very interested in the way the steam was rising out of his cup.
"I'm in love with her," he quietly confessed.
Tomoyo grinned at him delightedly.
"That's great," she exclaimed, "You're perfect for each other! And I mean it, you're probably the first person to got through Meiling's shell. And she's in love with you too. Really in love."
Marcus looked up at her and smiled at her gratefully.
"Thanks," he whispered.
Tomoyo nodded and poured some coffee into another cup as she left the kitchen and walked to one of her spare bedrooms.
"Knock, knock!" she said cheerfully opening the door.
"Get out," Meiling said groggily without opening her eyes.
"Come on," Tomoyo chirped, "It's morning already and we've got an early meeting with Syaoran at seven-thirty."
Meiling groaned as she somehow levered herself out of bed and sat up wiping the sleep from her eyes.
"What time is it?" Meiling managed to groan.
"Seven," Tomoyo said cheerfully as she pulled back the curtains.
"SEVEN!?" Meiling shrieked, "We're going to be late!"
Meiling hurriedly changed as Tomoyo rolled her eyes and left the room. Drifting into her living room, she noticed that the message light on her answering machine was blinking. Not really focusing on what she was doing, she walked over to it and hit the play button before sitting down beside Lily on the couch.
'You have... one message,' the phone announced.
There was a slight pause as the machine retrieved the message and began playing it.
'Tomoyo? This is Sakura,' Tomoyo winced expecting a tirade from her friend, 'An emergency came up. I have to leave town for a few days. I'll be back soon so don't worry.'
There was a loud bleep as the message ended as Meiling wandered into the living room.
"Who was that from?" she asked curiously.
Tomoyo frowned as she briefly wondered what emergency had come up so suddenly for Sakura to leave without telling them personally.
"It was Sakura," Tomoyo said distractedly.
Meiling's eyes widened.
"Is she alright?" she asked hurriedly, "Is there som..."
Tomoyo waved her hand to cut her off.
"She's fine, she just called to tell us some emergency came up."
"Why didn't she tell us personally?" Meiling demanded.
Tomoyo frowned as she thought back to the night before.
"She probably tried to..." Tomoyo said slowly, "Remember last night..."
Meiling hung her head in shame as she remembered what she had said to Sakura.
"But we never gave her the chance," Meiling finished off miserably.
Marcus frowned hearing Meiling sounding so depressed but wisely decided not to interfere.
"Come on," Tomoyo urged trying to rouse her friend from her depressed state, "We've got to go or we'll be late."
Meiling looked at the clock and began panicked whilst Tomoyo hid a smirk and grabbed her car keys disappearing into her garage as Meiling turned to Marcus who was still sitting at the kitchen counter.
"Bye," she said shyly giving Marcus a quick kiss before darting out the door after Tomoyo.
Slipping into the car beside Tomoyo, Meiling hurriedly strapped herself in as Tomoyo started the engine.
"So how did your date go yesterday?" Tomoyo asked casually.
Meiling glared at her.
"None of your business," she said waspishly.
"Awww... Meiling!" Tomoyo batted her eyelids, "Please? Just minor details."
Meiling was adamant.
"No."
"Plllleeeeassseeee??"
"No."
"Awww..."
"Let's just go," Meiling growled.
"No fun," Tomoyo pouted as she reversed out of the driveway and they were on their way.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Lilia smiled wickedly as she hung up on her mobile phone. Still smiling she picked up the phone lying on her desk and punched in a series of numbers.
"William," she said smoothly into her phone.
'Yes, Ms. Faren?' Her secretary asked.
"Send in a bottle of champagne," Lilia ordered, "I'm celebrating."
Leaning back into her chair, Lilia smirked. Her plan was foolproof. It was absolutely perfect. An absolute stroke of genius.
Once again, Lilia congratulated herself for coming up with such a wonderful plan. If she didn't get promoted for this... One of the Angels was now dead thanks to Lara and the fake call she had placed on the other Angel's phone must've thrown the other two off the trail.
Smiling contently, she put another phase of her plan in motion. Picking up her mobile phone, she dialled in another number.
"Rika?" she asked as someone picked up on the other side.
There was no answer aside from the quiet sound of someone breathing gently down the line.
"Take care of the others," she ordered before hanging up.
Lilia smiled.
The promotion was definitely hers now. All her opponents had been eliminated and now the Angels were as good as dead.
"It's good to be me!"
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
"What?" Sakura demanded turning to her mother, "Kerberos?! You're th.. the..."
"Greetings, Flower," the creature behind her spoke.
Sakura whirled around and face the beast standing behind her. It looked like a massive lion with intelligent amber eyes and silky golden fur, its tail swishing the mist around impatiently. A pair of immense feathered wings sprouted from its hackles as the large ruby set into the metal helmet adorning his head glowed with an internal light. More armour plates with strips of gold inlaid into the metal protected his neck and shoulders as Sakura gaped at him, studying him.
"The Book..." she murmured slowly trying to absorb what she was seeing.
"Correct, I'm Kerberos," the winged-lion growled, "The Beast of the Seal."
"Seal?" Sakura asked images of swimming mammals appearing inside her head.
"I'm the guardian that the Elder spoke off, the guardian of the Book of Fei Lao Shi," Kerberos continued ignoring Sakura's question, "I come to you in these dire times to show you something."
Elder?! Then Sakura remember that Nivaline was the Elder Kerberos was talking about. How did he know what Nivaline had told her? Sakura was jolted out of her musings as Nadeshiko spoke.
"Sakura, my dear," she said gently, "You, my daughter are part of an ancient prophecy that has existed for millenniums ever since the Shang Dynasty of China."
"Shang?!" Sakura gasped, "But tha.. that... that's like 3000 years ago!"
"Yes, it is," Kerberos said gravely, "By the prophecy is only coming to fruition now."
"What is the prophecy about?" Sakura demanded, "I've heard of it but it doesn't make sense... all this talk of shadows and the world being engulfed..."
Kerberos sighed.
"Perhaps we should start at the beginning," he sighed.
The mist around them began to swirl as an invisible breeze swept through Sakura's hair.
"What's going on... wha..." Sakura didn't even have time to finish her sentence as a bright white light illuminated the area eliciting a surprised scream from the Angel. When the light finally faded, she was gone.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
"Good morning, Angels."
"Good morning, Syaoran!" Tomoyo chirped as Meiling mumbled her greeting.
"It's great to hear from you girls again," Syaoran said warmly, "Have you got the book?"
"Right here," Tomoyo replied cheerfully patting the velvet wrapped package on her lap.
"Good keep it safe," Syaoran ordered, "I suppose the first book is still hidden."
"We've got it hidden in a secure location," Meiling assured him.
There was a slight pause as Syaoran fell silent.
"Where's Sakura?" he asked, "She's there isn't she?"
"Ummm..." Tomoyo and Meiling blinked at each other.
"An emergency came up. She had to leave town for a couple of days," Tomoyo explained.
"Oh," Syaoran murmured.
He took a deep breath.
"Anyway, I've put everybody at my disposal to help me research the third book. I've also drained all my sources..." Syaoran sighed.
"You haven't find it?" Meiling asked with a sigh of her own.
"No."
"Damn," Meiling hissed, "We've got two out of three and the third one is nowhere to be find!"
"And we still don't know why Spinnel wants them," Tomoyo pointed out wisely.
"Pfft.." Meiling snorted, "They want it cause the books are worth a lot of money on the black market. Do you need any other reason?"
"I suppose," Tomoyo said slowly stilled troubled.
"Angels," Syaoran said gently breaking into their conversation, "Unless you have further information about the third book, I've got no more missions or news to give you."
"We've got nothing," Meiling replied.
"Okay, goodbye Angels."
"Goodbye Syaoran."
As the on light of the speaker went dull, the two Angels sighed.
"Guess it's time to hit the books," Meiling groaned.
Tomoyo nodded and the two Angels began researching.
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"What?!" Sakura finished her sentence and looked around slowly as she realised she was no longer standing in the mist-filled limbo.
"Whoa..." a small gasp of astonishment escaped her lips as she stared at what was standing right in front of her.
It was a palace made out of intricately carved blocks of stones shaped into walls and column, some of which were painted a rich crimson that matched the bright gold of the slanting roofs. An immense stonewall stood guard at the perimeter of the palace encompassing a vast garden filled with bright flowers and spectacular water features that threw water into the air.
"Where am I?" Sakura murmured looking around.
"The year is 1225 BC and this is Anyang, the capital of the Shang Dynasty" Kerberos's rough voice spoke into her mind.
"Kerberos?!" Sakura gasped looking around, "Where are you? What's going on?"
"I've sent you back in time to see how the prophecy and the books came to be. But be warned, you are just merely a watcher in these events. To them you are invisible" Kerberos explained, "Watch carefully because you'll learn everything you need to know"
Sakura whirled around and saw a tall man dressed in richly embroidered clothing walking calmly up the path towards her. Even though Kerberos had told her she was invisible to them, she leapt off the path just in case. As the man walked past, she caught sight of a pair of serene blue eyes and long purple-blue hair that was pulled into a braided tail.
"Who's that?" she whispered.
"Clow Reed," Kerberos's voice took on the tone of reverence and respect, "The creator of the clow cards and consequently the books, the key and me"
"He created all of those things?!" Sakura gasped astonished.
Then something occurred to her.
"Cards?!"
"Hush!" Kerberos growled "Watch!"
The man that Kerberos had named Clow Reed now appeared to be talking to another man.
"Who's that?" Sakura asked curiously studying the dark-haired man.
"Heilang" Kerberos practically spat out the name.
"Who?"
"Clow Reed is in service of the Emperor as a healer. Heilang previously held the role but when Clow Reed healed the Emperor of a disease that nobody could, Heilang was cast from his position and the job was given to my master" Kerberos explained.
Sakura sneaked up to the two men who were talking animatedly but both spoke in a form of ancient Chinese that Sakura didn't understand at all.
"Heilang is accusing Clow Reed of dabbling in the dark arts, which Clow Reed denies saying what he is practising is not a 'dark art' at all" Kerberos told Sakura giving her a running commentary on what was happening.
Clow Reed broke away from the man and walked off as Heilang yelled angrily after him, his face as dark as raging thundercloud. Sakura followed the purple-blue haired man as he entered the palace and walked briskly down a hallway. Unlocking a door, he stepped into the room as Sakura hurried in behind him.
As he closed the door, Sakura quickly looked around. It was like so kind of ancient laboratory filled with glass containers of all sorts containing exotic looking substances. Clow Reed gestured at the unlit fireplace and the logs sitting inside suddenly burst into flames.
"Whoa!" Sakura gasped amazed.
Clow Reed sat down at a cluttered desk and began writing upon a series of long strips of dried bamboo using a traditional Chinese styled brush. Gracefully his nimble fingers manipulated the brush as he wrote his eyes narrowed in concentration. Halfway through a sentence he suddenly froze. Sitting up and straightening his back, he frowned as he turned his head towards the open window. The sky outside was suddenly turning a dark grey as thunder rumbled distantly. Clow Reed closed his eyes and several seconds later; he got up and dashed for his door. Flinging his door open he darted into hallway and sprinted down it as Sakura struggled to follow.
Racing out of one of the doors, Clow Reed rushed in an open courtyard. The sky outside seemed to turn even darker as the rumbling of the thunder got louder and louder. Suddenly Clow Reed flung his arms open and yelled something in a language that sounded like nothing Sakura had ever heard before.
The sky roared as lightning flashed. Suddenly a massive bolt of thunder lanced down from the skies and struck the paved ground causing splinters of broken and charred rock to fly into the air. To his credit, Clow Reed stood there calmly as the bolt of lightning faded revealing a snarling creature.
Sakura stared at the monster, it looked like some kind of tiger/wolf hybrid except it was a bright blue and its eyes were a burning white. It roared at Clow Reed as bolts of lightning crashed down fro the skies.
Clow Reed merely held out his hands as the bolts of lightning seem to hit an invisible barrier and fizzled out to harmless sparks. The monster roared in fury and lunged at Clow Reed.
The man barked out another word in the language he had spoke before to summon the beast and a massive ball of fire suddenly gathered in his hands. He hurled it straight at the monster catching it in the chest as it flew backwards the ball of fire throwing it across the courtyard. It crashed into the wall of another building causing a massive dent in the wood and stone structure as Sakura's eyes widened in shock.
"Kerberos?" she whimpered.
"Don't talk!" Kerberos commanded, "WATCH!"
The beast summoned more bolts of lightning from the skies but Clow Reed leapt nimbly to the side as the bolts crashed into ground creating smoking craters in the rock. Clow Reed hurled another immense ball of fire at the beast and smiled in satisfaction as the creature screamed in pain.
Suddenly he held his hands out and muttered something under his breath as his eyes began glowing a bright gold. The same coloured light surrounded the downed creature as Sakura watched in astonishment. Clow Reed yelled someday and the lightning beast seemed to fold in on itself, the gold light glowing brighter and brighter.
With a final brilliant flash that blinded even Sakura, the light faded as the dark skies overhead cleared instantly. Clow Reed calmly held out his hands as some glowing object flew into his hands.
Sakura studied the object closely and saw that it was a card of some kind. Clow Reed held it up as the glowing faded; he smiled in satisfaction and tucked the card into his pocket as he waved his hands around. Bright azure blue light burst from his fingertips and washed over the courtyard. The smoking craters the wild bolts of lightning had caused and the dent in the building caused by beast disappeared completely as Clow Reed smiled and turned back to walk away.
"This story does not end here" Kerberos informed her, "Come"
"Kerberos, what was that?!" Sakura demanded as she felt her body being yanked by an invisible force back to Clow Reed's room.
Stopping in front of his room, Sakura gaped seeing the man, Heilang rummaging around in Clow Reed's desk.
"Kerberos?" Sakura asked as Heilang grabbed a bundle of bamboo strips with ink writing on them and laughed in triumph.
Hurriedly he stuffed the strips in his clothing before dashing out the door.
"Kerberos?" Sakura repeated.
"That creature was a Clow Spirit" Kerberos explained "Clow Reed is a powerful mage but his speciality is creating magical beings. When he was younger and less experience with life, he managed to create manifestations of various aspects of nature. He called these manifestations Clow Spirit but the spirits were mischievous and very powerful and eventually Clow Reed lost control of them and they began harassing Anyang and other surrounding cities but Clow Reed eventually learned that he could control these spirits by imprisoning them into cards so slowly one by one he confronted the spirits capturing more and more of them into cards."
"What about Heilang, what did he steal?" Sakura asked.
"Heilang was jealous of Clow Reed and one day managed to sneak into Clow Reed's room and stole his notes concerning the creation of the Clow Spirits," Kerberos's voice turned grim, "He tried to create his own spirits... with disastrous results."
"What happened?" Sakura whispered chills running down her spine at Kerberos's foreboding words.
Rather than hearing an answer from the guardian beast Sakura felt the familiar sensation of being teleported away as bright light surrounded her body.
She sighed as she realized what was happening.
"Here we go again..." she moaned.
And with that she disappeared.
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"Anything?"
"Nothing."
"Arrghhhh!!" Meiling let out a small cry of frustration and hurled her book onto the desk.
The two Angels had dug up every book they could get their hands on about anything to do with Chinese history but none of the books no matter how much they looked had anything remotely to do with the three books. Tomoyo wearily stretched her arms and casually looked at the clock. Realising the time she freaked.
"Oh my god!" she yelled shooting up onto her feet, "I'm going to be late!!"
Meiling looked at her curiously.
"Late for what?"
Tomoyo blushed and started to mumble something under her breath.
"Tomoyo," Meiling prodded, "Hello?"
"Fine," Tomoyo sighed, "I've got a date."
Meiling smiled wickedly at her.
"With who may I ask?" she asked innocently.
"You spill dirt on your date and I'll spill my," Tomoyo zipped back as she began packing the books away, "Hurry up, I want to go home and change."
The Asian Angel stood up as well and began stacking the books up.
"Just leave them like this for tonight," she suggested, "We'll probably need them for tomorrow."
Tomoyo nodded and soon they were walking out of the front door of their headquarters.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
"You know you really should warn someone before you teleport them aw..." Sakura's jaw dropped in shock as she studied her new surroundings.
She had been teleported away from the magnificent palace of 1225 BC Anyang and into a war zone. The buildings surrounding her were all blackened as though fire had swept over them; the ground was broken and cracked with no hint of paving to be seen at all. The sky above was ominous black and the few plant life that was around was all wizened as though stricken by some kind of mysterious disease. People huddling into badly damaged buildings protected themselves from their elements as best as they could as winds howled and raged against the already battered structures sweeping away handfuls of dirt into the air and flinging them into the faces of the already besieged people.
"What..." Sakura trailed off, "Where am I?"
"Anyang" Kerberos replied.
"What?! This is Anyang but the palace, where is it?" Sakura asked looking around.
An invisible force gently grabbed Sakura's head and turned it so she was staring at a blackened stonewall that shot up from the broken ground standing alone admit the ruin of Anyang like solitary guard.
"That is all that remains of the palace of Anyang"
"What happened?" Sakura whispered.
"The year is 1227 BC, two years of the fateful day in which Heilang stole the notes from Clow Reed. For a whole year, Heilang dabbled in the dark arts trying to recreate what Clow Reed had done with ease. To create his own manifestation of natures, to create his own Clow Spirits but Heilang's soul was corrupted and he schemed to create a spirit so powerful, so destructive, so deadly that not even Clow Reed's cards could stand up against the monster he hoped to create..." Kerberos's voice trailed off and when he spoke again it was filled the barely suppressed fury, "And he succeeded. His Clow Spirit was a creature born from lies, deceit, corruption and hatred. Heilang lived long enough to see what he had wrought with his own hands. He saw the falling of Anyang palace and the destruction of much of its people until he died at the very hands of what he created..."
"What did he create?" Sakura demanded.
"That"
Once again a gentle invisible force made Sakura look to her left and she gasped at what she saw. An immense ball of crackling black energy hovered above the earth as Sakura watched in horror long tendrils of burning energy shot out from the ball and whipped the earth leaving burning trenches in its wake. The people screamed in panic and began to flee as the energy ball drew closer and closer.
Suddenly Sakura could see that the ball was semi-transparent and through the shroud of energy Sakura could see something moving within the destructive sphere of power. Sakura could see a pair of melancholy purple eyes and long curly ash brown hair that fluttered in an invisible breeze. And finally she the owner of those eyes and hair: a young girl dressed in a light blue and purple dress with, most strangely of all, a pair of long white wings sprouted from her head which were now flapping frantically as though they were trying to take flight, Sakura watched in horrified fascination as the young girl inside the sphere held out her hands and said something under her breath. A massive blast of black energy burst from the bubble of energy surrounding her, obliterating everything in its path.
"What is that?" Sakura managed to whisper.
"That is the Void card"
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Eriol was silent as he drove to Tomoyo Daidouji's house. He still didn't know what had prompted him to ring her up and invite her onto a date. For crying out loud, he was an assassin! And he was supposed to kill her not date her!
But somewhere, somehow along the way, she had wormed her way into his heart.
Well, it stops tonight Eriol thought grimly.
Marcus Ruflac had rung him up again and told Eriol flatly if he did not kill the Angels within a week their deal was off. And if anybody ever fined out that Eriol failed to kill one of his quarries, he was finished in the assassin world. His reputation would be in tatters and nobody would ever hire him again. And if nobody ever hired him again...
Eriol sighed in frustration as he got out of his car and began walking towards Tomoyo's front door.
Damn it! He was supposed to be an assassin! He had to kill Tomoyo Daidouji sooner or later.
He just had to keep reminding himself of that.
He just had to.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Mallus Harrason gritted his teeth as he remembered how the Angels had duped him out of the pathetic fool of a man, Marcus Flaron. But he will have his revenge, oh how he would have his revenge.
It had taken him several weeks to assemble the most deadliest team of mercenaries and assassins money could buy and it had taken him another week along to track down the Angel's home but now his plans were coming to fruition.
"Mr. Harrason?" a small voice reminded him.
"Continue," Mallus snapped.
The small scrawny weasel of a man standing before him bowed repeatedly as he fought to keep his voice steady.
"Your intel was correct. Marcus and his daughter is now staying at one of the Angel's house," the man stuttered.
Mallus nodded.
"Good, send in the team. If you don't have Marcus and his daughter with you when you come back..." Mallus trailed off letting the threat hang in the air.
The man gulped.
"Yes, sir," he managed to stammer.
And with that he scurried away as fast as his thin legs could take him.
"Really dear," a feminine voice drawled from the shadows, "Is this necessary?"
"Shut up," Mallus spat at his blonde-haired wife.
The beautiful emerald-eyed woman laughed as she sashayed towards her husband.
"Awww..." she cooed, "Poor Mr. Mallus allows a bunch of little girls to steal away with his prey. Oh boohoo baby."
"If you want that diamond necklace you've been bugging me about, you better shut the hell up," Mallus snarled viciously.
To her credit his wife didn't even blink instead she let out a long melodious laugh.
"Don't worry your little bald head about that," his wife smirked, "I'll just get my latest lover to get it for me."
And with that she strolled away as Mallus glared after her.
"I have to kill her someday," he growled as he turned back to his plan.
"You wish," his wife called scornfully from the shadows, "You couldn't kill a fly with that scrawny, bony bodies of yours."
Mallus gritted his teeth.
His wife always had to have the last say.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Tomoyo opened the door and beamed at Eriol had stood there looking dashing in a dark-coloured suit.
"You look beautiful," he whispered as Tomoyo closed the door behind her.
Tomoyo blushed.
"Thank you," she said charmingly, "You don't look bad yourself."
Eriol chuckled.
"I'm glad you approve."
As Eriol lead Tomoyo to his car, he made a decision.
He was going to kill her.
He had to kill her.
It was either his job or her.
Eriol had finally made up his mind.
Tomoyo would die.
Tonight.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Hahaha!! Multiple cliffhangers! Am I evil or what? Well at least the history of the three books have been partly told, the rest is still to come.
Next chapter:
As Sakura delves further into past, she finally discovers the reason behind the creation of the books and why Spinnel wants them however she is not the only one in danger. Tomoyo is on a date with Eriol as he tried to kill her off once and for all and for Meiling she would have to make a heart-wrenching decision as the four Elemental Clow Spirits pay her a visit. What does the Elementals want? And what dilemma now faces Sakura? Find out in... Last one standing
A/Note: This is probably the last update for a little while because school starts again for me and then its homework, homework, homework. Sigh... So sorry if there is a delay between now and the next update.
And please, please REVIEW!
And just as a warning, the next several chapters will contain a lot of the Clow Cards and magic so... if you don't like magic. Don't read (but since CCS is all about magic it really shouldn't bother anyone... I hope...)
And finally, the butterfly that visited Tomoyo to give her the dream was of course... the Dream card. The woman in her dreams was the Flower and the monster that Clow Reed faced was the Thunder card.
And when you review, please, please, please tell me what your fav. chapter is!
