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Syaoran's Angels

Chapter 20: Last one standing

"Void card?" Sakura murmured staring at the destructive ball of energy that ripped the city apart building by building.

"The dark card, the corrupted card... the evil card" Kerberos growled inside her mind.

She watched with disbelieving eyes as a huge wave of dark energy soared into the air before crashing down onto a group of buildings like a raging tsunami.

"Oh, my god," Sakura gasped.

Suddenly the sphere of black energy stopped its slow advancement on the already ravaged city. It seemed to pause as Sakura frowned in confusion.

"What's going on?" she whispered.

"Watch" Kerberos murmured softly in her mind.

With a huge explosion, burning tendrils of energy lashed out from the ball heading towards somewhere to the left of Sakura. The American Angel turned around in time to see the energy crash in on one area causing a massive explosion. Concussive waves rippled out from the impact site causing some of the buildings nearby to collapse.

"Holy..." Sakura whimpered staring at the damage the Void card had created.

Suddenly from the smoking crater the attack had created came a massive ball of blue flames that crashed into the side of the Void card's protective sphere. The fire fizzled out as it slammed into the black energy. The Void card turned around slowly inside its sphere and gestured wildly with her hands.

More lances of black energy shot forwards but this time from somewhere within the crater a sparkling barrier of blue energy appeared from thin air. The energy crashed into the barrier as it flickered for a few precarious seconds before throwing the black energy away back straight at the Void card. The black energy was absorbed back into the sphere as the Void spirit frowned.

"What the?!' Sakura gasped watching the events unfold.

From the black smoke pouring out from the crater, a man emerged dressed in a long dark blue robe. The Void's eyes widened in shock as it recognised the man.

So did Sakura.

"Clow Reed!" she exclaimed as the Void glared at the mage.

More bolts of black energy crashed down onto the mage but Clow Reed merely dispersed them with a wave of his hands.

"What's going on?" Sakura whispered watching the fight intently.

"Clow Reed has finally gained the power he needs to seal the Void" Kerberos answered back, "This is the final fight"

The Void charged straight at Clow Reed, tendrils of energy firing out in all directions burning and razing everything in its path. Clow Reed held out his hand and barked something cause another long stream of blue flame to lash the Void's protective bubble. The Void, this time grimaced in pain as some of the powerful flames managed to pierce the energy and wound the spirit itself but it retaliated with a devastating wave of energy that hurled Clow Reed off his feet.

He staggered to his feet and yelled out something in that ancient language that Sakura had heard before and this time a powerful breeze swept through the air as opaque cream-coloured ribbons burst from Clow Reed's hands and ensnared the Void card. The card struggled in the grasp of the ribbons as Clow Reed gestured causing the ribbons to tightened around the malevolent spirit. With a cry of pain and fury the Void card unleashed a powerful blast of the energy that shredded the ribbons as Clow Reed let out a scream of pain and keeled over clutching his stomach. The Void spirit laughed as she pointed at Clow Reed a delicate sneer adorning her young face.

"Shui!" Clow Reed yelled fighting back the pains.

The smile was wiped from the Void's face as an immense wave of water appeared from thin air pounding the card with something akin to a rampant tsunami. The Void card shuddered violently but with one wave of her hand a net of crackling dark energy captured the gushing waves and hurled it straight back at Clow Reed. The powerful mage dispersed the attack with a single wave of his hand.

The Void blasted another wave of black energy at the mage as he jumped nimbly back as the energy crashed into the ground creating a massive smoking trench in the solid ground. The card fired a series of small darts of dark energy at the mage, each burst creating a smoking hole in the earth as Clow Reed raced to dodge the attacks.

Clow Reed bellowed something creating a sparkling blue barrier in front of him; the darts slammed into the shield and fizzled out as Clow Reed smiled in satisfaction. He then raised his hands and yelled something again.

"JIAN!"

Bright light burst from his hands as the Void looked on in horror. The light warped and shifted changing shape and growing as Clow Reed clutched the suddenly tangible light until it finally faded revealing a semi-transparent bow and a quiver of blue arrows.

"What's he doin..." Sakura gasped as Clow Reed plucked an arrow from the quiver and held it aloft as the Void card attacked in desperation throwing wave after wave of dark energy at the mage only to have the barrier absorb and deflect its attack.

"GUANG!" Clow Reed called as the dark clouds above suddenly shifted creating a small hole from which a long stream of brilliant golden light poured down from the skies and struck the arrow filling the wood and metal with glimmering energy. Clow Reed waited a few more seconds until it seemed he was clutching a newborn star in his hands. Lifting the ghostly bow, he fitted the arrow, sighted and fired.

The energy-charged arrow punched through his glowing blue barrier as the Void unleashed an engulfing wave of dark energy that devoured the earth on which it travelled. The arrow sliced through the energy and shattered the sphere of darkness protecting the card before the Void could react the glowing weapon slammed into her chest as she stared down at her gaping wound in horror.

She looked up at Clow Reed with shock violet eyes as the rest of its dark sphere flickered struggling to stay around its mistress before disappearing altogether.

Clow Reed held out his hands and called out something in an ancient language that caused the earth beneath to tremble and the clouds above to roar with unborn thunder.

"What is he saying?" Sakura asked as the Void card cried out in horror and pain.

"Roughly translated it means, 'I, Clow Reed, master of the cards command you. Return to your power confined'" Kerberos murmured.

Bright light burst from Clow Reed's hands and washed over the Void as it let out one last pitiful cry before the light devoured its body. Sakura had to look away as the light threatened to blind her incorporeal eyes. When the glowing finally faded she looked back in time to see Clow Reed hold a glowing card in his outstretched hands.

"The Void cards is sealed" Kerberos said ominously, "And the creation of the books begin"

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Meiling gently closed the door and stifled a yawn as she made her way to the brightly lit living room where she could see the top of Marcus's head over the top of the couch.

"She's asleep," she reported to Marcus who smiled his thanks.

"It's about time she got to bed before nine," Marcus noted as Meiling laughed and walked over to the couch and casually vaulted over headrest to land lightly beside Marcus.

"You can't blame her," she said impishly grinning at him, "Lily's still excited about having three new aunts to spoil her."

"She's not the only one," Marcus smirked smiling flirtatiously at her.

"Hmm... what do you mean?" Meiling asked blinking innocently.

Marcus kissed her passionately as Meiling sighed against his lips.

"Mmmmm..." Meiling sighed contently then groaned in disappointment as Marcus pulled away.

"I love you," he said softly.

"Ditto," Meiling whispered leaning forwards again, "I love you too."

They kissed again as Marcus wrapped his arms around her hugging her tightly to him. Meiling smiled against his lips as she wondered how on earth someone like him could fall in love with someone like her... She shoved those thoughts out of her head instead just allowing herself to simply enjoy this romantic moment.

Suddenly with no warning at all, a high-pitched scream pierced the air as both adults jumped at the unexpected sound.

They broke off the kiss as Meiling and Marcus looked around in confusion.

"LILY!" Marcus yelled suddenly as she screamed again in the bedroom she was supposedly sleeping in.

With out another word, both of them jumped up and raced to the little girl's bedroom.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Tomoyo smiled politely at the waiter who gave her a charming smile in return before departing. The Japanese Angel allowed her eyes to wander around the candlelit surroundings of the expensive French restaurant Eriol had taken her to before turning back to her date. She couldn't help the burst into laughter as she noticed the sour look on his face.

"What?" Eriol demanded, "What's so funny?"

"You," Tomoyo sniggered.

Eriol blinked at her in confusion as Tomoyo fought to keep herself from bursting into laughter again.

"You're jealous," she said with a sly smile.

"Me?" Eriol asked surprised, "Why would I be jealous?"

Tomoyo batted her eyelids.

"Hmm..." Tomoyo pretended to think, "Would it have anything to do with a certain cute waiter that must flirted with me?"

"You think his cute?!" Eriol spluttered.

Tomoyo could help it. She burst into laughter again as Eriol flushed realising what he had just done.

"Sorry," Tomoyo gasped.

"Don't be," Eriol reassured, "But I'm much cute than that waiter."

"True," Tomoyo acknowledged as she sipped her champagne.

Eriol smiled warmly at her as he sipped from his glass as well. He studied his 'date' who looked ravishing in a tight fitting purple dress that highlighted her beautiful lavender eyes, which were now shining with laughter. Suddenly he felt a tight feeling in his chest as he realised he would have to kill this beautiful woman.

What was wrong with him?

He never felt this way before, never ever in all the time he had been an assassin had he ever reacted so violently at the idea of killing someone. He took a deep breath and looked up to stare in Tomoyo's worried eyes.

"Are you okay?" she asked concerned.

Eriol pasted a charming smile on his face as he reassured her.

"I'm fine."

As Tomoyo's worried look slipped off her face, Eriol took a deep breath and felt for the tiny vial of poison tucked into his pants pocket. Clutching the tiny glass vial tightly, he let out his breath in one long sigh and waited patiently for an opportunity to present itself and all the while Tomoyo chatted on unaware of the fact that she was dating the enemy.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Bright light claimed Sakura's body as the bleak surroundings of the ravaged city of Anyang faded away.

She blinked in confusion as she looked around. She was back in the mist-filled realm of the limbo.

"Kerberos?" she asked tentatively.

"I'm here," Kerberos's voice rumbled through the limbo as a ball of golden light appeared before her.

The ball expanded and began warping shape as the distinct outlines of a feline body and long bird-like wings began taking form before her. The light faded as a pair of intelligent amber eyes stared back at her.

"Is that all?" Sakura demanded, "Cause that was kinda anticlimactic."

Kerberos snorted as the red gem embedded in the centre of his metal helmet glowed brightly.

"My role in the telling of this story is over," Kerberos informed her, "Somebody else is taking over."

"The Ghost of Christmas Present?" Sakura guessed.

Kerberos glared at her as another ball of light appeared before them. Sakura was forced to look away as the bright white light intensified becoming so powerful that it gave off giant waves of shimmering heat. Like before with Kerberos, the sphere of light began changing shape right in front of Sakura's eyes as the glowing faded.

A tall woman with long tresses of white glowing hair stood before her, a small mysterious smile decorating her creamy face. A golden crown rested in her hair as Sakura's eyes travelled down the length of the woman's body taking in the white and gold flowing dress that encased her body.

"Who is this?" Sakura asked.

"I am the Light card," the woman replied, "One of the most powerful of the Clow Spirits."

"Okay..." Sakura muttered, "Want to elaborate."

The woman laughed, her voice soft and musical.

"You have fire," the Light card noted, "that will serve you well."

Before Sakura could reply, the Light card gestured causing a ball of burning white light to appear in front of her. The Light gestured again and the ball of expanded to create a window of glowing light. Through it, Sakura could see images moving around inside the light.

"After the Void was sealed, Clow Reed knew he could not keep the card trapped forever," the Light began her voice filled with sorrow, "But one day whilst scrying, he saw something."

A picture appeared in the window of light as Sakura gasped seeing Clow Reed bent over a pool of water.

"He saw that one day in the distant future, three girls chosen by fate would be the only ones who would have any hope of destroying the Void card," the Light explained, "In his visions he saw the many perils that faced these girls and he knew that he had to aid them in someway thus the books were created."

Sakura watched fascinated as the image of the three books appeared in the light. One was the book they had take from the Paris Museum and the other was the Book of the Hong Bao Shi Hu Die. The third... Sakura sucked in her breath as the studied the light blue cover of the third book, her eyes rested on the silver stamped into the leather of the book the metal twisted together to form the visage of a winged angel.

"The book of Yue Gong Jian Shou," Sakura whispered looking at third book in awe.

"Yes," the Light said softly as the light rippled and the images disappeared, "Clow Reed foresaw the creation of the books and knew that one day the three chosen would wield his cards and their powers would combine together to destroy the Void. To ensure the Void would remain trapped until its destruction, he crafted a fourth book. The book of the Hei Lang, designed to trap the Void until the time came for the three chosen to wield the cards."

Sakura gaped at the next image that appeared in the light. A black leather book appeared strands of dark grey metal and black glowing rocks was embedded into the black leather creating the image of a snarling wolf that glared at her with malicious eyes.

"Obsidian..." Sakura whispered recognising the rocks that decorated the cover.

"The Void was placed into the book of the Hei Lang," the Light continued, "And into the other three books he placed the other cards. For the Book of Fei Lao Shi, he placed the Clow cards that were tied to the light, to metal and to the sky. For the Book of Hong Bao Shi Hu Die, the cards of the earth were placed and finally the cards belonging to the spiritual and dream realm were kept in the Book of Yue Gong Jian Shou. For each book he created a guardian. He entrusted the guardian with the safe keeping of the books until the time came for the chosen to find them and use the cards within."

Sakura stared at the card as she tried to absorb everything she was being told.

"Wait..." she paused as she realised something, "If they were supposed to be kept safely how come the Book of Fei Lao Shi ended up in that museum."

The Light smiled.

"Because its guardian, Kerberos took a nap."
"A short nap," Kerberos growled.

"That lasted thirty years," the Light finished off, "But eventually you stumbled upon it so it all ended well in the end."

"What about the talismans?" Sakura demanded, "What are they?"

The Light took a deep breath.

"The cards cannot be wielded by anyone unless that person have spent decades training in the arts of magic. But Clow Reed created the talismans, which were designed tap into the magic of the cards and allow the chosen ones to wield the cards with ease," the Light explained, "Only with the book, the talismans and the right words can one wield the power of the cards. According to Clow Reed, each of the three girls will possess one of the books and one of the talismans giving them powers over the sky, the elements or the powers of the dreamscape."

"Okay..." Sakura said slowly, "Because I have the key and I was the one to take the book from the museum, I'm guessing I'm supposed to wield the cards in the Book of Fei Lao Shi?"

The Light nodded.

"The Flower is to have the Book of Fei Lao Shi, the Fighter is supposed to have the Book of Hong Bao Shi Hu Die and the Fox is supposed to wield the power of the Book of Yue Gong Jian Shou," The Light confirmed.

"Sooo... Meiling is supposed to have the elements and Tomoyo the other cards," Sakura blinked, "That's great to know... where is the other book?"

The Light sighed.

"We do not know but we know the Yue, the guardian of the book, hid it well and that the talisman of the book, which is the mirror would lead the Fox to the hiding place of the third book."

"Okay..." Sakura pursed her lips, "Where is the mirror?"

The Light shrugged delicately.

"The sword, which is the talisman of the second book is supposed to help find the mirror."

"Great, where the hell is the sword?!" Sakura demanded getting frustration.

The Light smiled.

"Ruby Moon, the guardian of the second book also hid the talisman but she isn't as cryptic as Yue. She left us a clue."
"What was it?" Sakura asked eagerly.

The Clow card cleared her throat before speaking in her usual soft, melodious voice.

"Under ice, over fire."

Sakura stared at her.

"That's it?" she spluttered, "If that's not cryptic I hate to see what Yue is like."

The Light shrugged again.

"I wasn't the one to come up with it."

Sakura sighed.

"Oh great," she muttered, "Cryptic clues. Just great..."

"And now," the Light said gently breaking into her tirade, "It's time for you to wield the power of cards."

"What?!"

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"Lily?" Meiling yelled as she threw the door open.

The little girl was sitting in the middle of her bed, her bright blue eyes wide with fear.

"Lily?" Meiling repeated more gently as she and Marcus moved towards the little girl who stared at them with terror in her eyes.

"He was here," she whispered her voice filled with tears, "The bad man."

"Bad man?" Marcus repeated, "Who..."

Meiling's eyes widened in shock as red point of light appeared on Marcus's chest.

"DOWN!" she yelled pushing him and Lily down as the window shattered.

A metal bullet shrieked through the air narrowly missing Marcus as it slammed into the wall creating a gaping hole in the plasterboards.

"God damn it!" Meiling yelled, "Come on!"

She yanked Marcus up as the man scooped up his daughter and they fled out of the door as more bullets ripped through the window.

Lily clutched her father's arm tightly as soft whimpers escaped from her throat as both Marcus and Meiling stumbled towards the living room.

"Who are they?" Marcus asked.

Meiling shook her head.

"I don't know," she whispered back, "But they're obviously after you or Lily."

Her eyes widened with shock as she realised what she had just said. Hatred caused Marcus's eyes to burn with demonic light as he gritted his teeth tightly.

"Mallus," he spat as Meiling briefly wondered how it would feel to have that man's scrawny neck in between her fists.

"We have to get you out of here," Meiling decided as she raced to the front door flinging it open.

Her jaws dropped in shock as she stared at the various dark-coloured vans that were parked on Tomoyo's impeccable front lawn and the street running past down the house. Her sharp eyes caught movements in the shadows as Meiling threw herself onto the ground.

And just in time.

"BANG! BANG! BANG!"

At least a dozen guns went off as holes began riddling Tomoyo's expensive mahogany front door.

"Okay, so we can't get out that way," Meiling gasped as she crawled back to the living room careful to keep her head down as more bullets shot past overhead.

"What's going on?" Marcus demanded as he hugged his daughter to him.

"We're trapped," Meiling said grimly as she jumped up, "We'll have to fight our way out."

Before Marcus could reply, the kitchen window shattered as something round and black sailed in through the broken glass.

"Holy..." Meiling swore as she shoved Marcus away before springing away herself.

The grenade exploded, the concussive waves shoving Meiling violently away as all the windows in the living room shattered glittering chips of glass cascading to the ground as Marcus struggled to protect his daughter from the flying debris.

"Meiling?" he called as Lily echoed his concern, "You okay?"

"I'm fine..." Meiling groaned as she struggled to stand up, "I think."

"We can't stay in here, it's too dangerous," Marcus said worriedly.

Meiling nodded as she slowly flexed her arms trying to get rid of the tingling numbness in them.

"Man, these guys are determined," Meiling muttered as she blinked to clear her fuzzy vision.

Marcus nodded as the three of them ran from the living room and into the hallway leading to the bedrooms.

"Go into the laundry," Meiling instructed, "There's no windows there and it's the furthest from any entrances into the house. Hurry!"

Marcus looked at her worriedly as Meiling smiled, touched at his concern.

"I'll live," she reassured him, "Now go!"

Lily clung to her father as he nodded before leaning over and giving her a short sweet kiss.

"Be careful," he warned.

Meiling smiled nodded before giving him a gentle shove towards the general direction of the laundry. Marcus departed deeper into the house as Meiling took a deep breath and steeled herself for a lengthy battle.

"Ready or not..." Meiling called allowing a wicked smile to appear on her face, "Here I come!"

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"Oh please, since when did you become a food critic?" Tomoyo teased as Eriol grinned back at her.

"I'm just saying I've tasted better," Eriol sniffed, "I paid good money for this!"

Tomoyo laughed.

"Oh great, I'm dating a cheapskate," she muttered with mock horror.

Eriol pretended to glare at her.

"I'm not a cheapskate," he retorted, "Just tasteful."

"I'll be the judge of that," Tomoyo teased as the two of them dissolved into laughter.

As their laughter died down, Tomoyo glanced at Eriol and couldn't help but think how handsome he was especially in the exquisite designer label suit he was wearing. Those intensive dark eyes...

Tomoyo sighed dreamily.

"Something wrong?" Eriol asked staring at her worriedly.

"Nothing," Tomoyo reassured him.

Eriol grinned at her warmly as Tomoyo's eyes were drawn towards his lips as she remembered how they felt on hers.

Maybe he is the one... Tomoyo thought dreamily.

As Tomoyo smiled back at him, all her hell broke loose inside her house.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Meiling rolled her eyes as the man who had just burst in through the front door unleashed a series of stylish punches and kicks in the air trying to intimidate her with his fierce warcry.

"Oh please..." she drawled as she elbowed her in the face before throwing him into the wall, "Is this all you've got?"

His head smacked into the hard wall as he slumped to ground, out cold. Meiling's sensitive ears picked up the sound of glass being crushed underfoot as she ran back to living room in time to see a veritable army of heavily armed thugs slide in through the broken windows.

"What is this?" Meiling muttered, "Gangster central?"

She charged straight at one thug and nimbly ducked the wild right hook that whooshed past overhead as she landed a solid uppercut to the thug's many chins. His head snapped painfully backwards as he let out a painful gasp before toppling over backwards. Meiling jumped down onto the ground and like an expert gymnast supported her weight on her arms as she whipped her legs catching one of thugs in the knee sending him crashing to the ground. Jumping up she sent another intruder flying with a powerful snap-kick to the chest.

"CRACK!" her vision went grey as one of thugs charged forwards managing to penetrate her defences and land a painful head-butted to face causing her to stumble backwards.

"Son of a..." she swore as she held her throbbing nose with one hand before dispatching the thug who attacked her with a spin kick to the groin.

He keeled over in pain as Meiling smiled at him sympathetically.

"Well, guess you won't have any kids," she smirked as she kicked him in the face.

Her ruby eyes widened in shock as she saw one of the intruders standing at the window level an assault rifle at her.

"Damn," she cursed as she whirled around and raced towards the kitchen.

Nimbly vaulting over the counter, she hit the ground just as the thug pulled the trigger. Tomoyo's expensive marble countertop exploded as bullets slammed into it spraying the air with dust and shattered marble.

"This sucks," Meiling muttered as she crawled on her stomach over to one of the cabinets lining the kitchen wall. Opening it, she discovered several metal platters lying inside smiling wickedly as she noted the moonlight that danced along its silver surface.

"Hmm... this could be useful," she noted as she grabbed one of them and waited for an opportunity to attack.

Suddenly the gun attack died down as the man began running out of bullets. With a triumphant cry, Meiling leapt up and flung the platter at him. The metal plate sliced through the air and slammed into the man's throat dislocating his windpipe as Meiling smiled in satisfaction.

"I've always loved Frisbee," she smirked.

She froze as Lily's piercing scream rended through the air.

"Lily!"

Before she could vault over the counter again more thugs poured in from the windows as gunshots could be heard from within the house. Meiling cursed violently as she yanked a drawer open revealing several sets of knives. With no warning at all, she hurled them straight at the thugs not really caring if they hit or not. Several of the thugs screamed in pain as the blades left bleeding cuts on their arms and faces as Meiling charged straight at them.

Grabbing one of the thugs, she kneed him in the face and hurled the dazed man straight into the rest of the pack creating confusion as several of them lost their balance and toppled over. Leaping gracefully over the fallen thugs, she dashed straight to the laundry as the distinct sounds of guns being cocked could be heard behind her.

She ducked into a room just in time as bullets raced down the hallway smashing into the walls and floor as the thugs began firing wildly.

"I don't have time for this," she growled as she considered her next move.

Meiling studied the room she was in. It was one of the spare bedrooms; Meiling's eyes fell onto the window as a plan began forming inside her head. Yanking the window open, she kicked the flyscreen out as she ducked out into the night air.

"Freeze!" a guttural voice growled as Meiling froze seeing the rings of cars that surrounded the house.

"Or what?" Meiling snapped back, "You'll spank me for being a bad girl and send me up to my room with no supper?"

The man roared in rage and fired as Meiling jump out of the way of the bullets. Rushing straight at the man, she slapped his gun out of the way causing him to fire into the air as she head-butted him before flipping him onto his back. A swift kick to the head finished him off as she grabbed his rifle.

"Thanks," she muttered as she ran off again.

Racing along the wall of the house she stopped when she reached another window leading into an ominously dark room. Using the butt of the gun she smashed the glass and crawled in through the window ignoring the bite of the broken glass against her skin as she landed onto the carpeted floor on the other side.

Striding forwards towards the door of the room, she opened it cautiously and peeked out. Seeing nobody was around, she dashed out of the wall and headed towards the laundry.

Reaching the door and hearing the yelling going on inside, Meiling hurled the door open and swung her rifle around clocking one of the thugs in the head. Another thug who had been menacing Marcus with his gun stared at her in surprise as she thrust the rifle into his stomach before following up with a vicious kick to his knee. He screamed in pain as she dislocated his kneecap. Ruthlessly ignoring the man Meiling turned to Marcus.

"We've got to get out of here," she yelled as Marcus nodded.

Lily remained silent as Meiling ran out of the door with Marcus closely following her, his daughter still clinging to his neck.

Concentrating on the task at head, Meiling was unaware that several thugs were hiding in one of the room until it was too late.

"MEILING!" Marcus yelled as the thugs surged out of the room crashing into the Angel.

She was pinned against the wall as she frantically fought back trying to defend herself as best as she could.

"GET OUT OF HERE!" she yelled as Marcus stood frozen to the spot, unsure of what to do.

One of the thugs aimed at her and prepared to pull the trigger as Marcus hurriedly dumped Lily onto the ground.

"Go hide!" he yelled as Lily scuttled into one of the rooms as her father leapt at the thugs.

"MARCUS! NO!" Meiling yelled, "GET OUT..."

The thug fired as Marcus shoved the man who was pinning Meiling to the wall away violently. Desperately trying to push Meiling away, he put himself into the line of fire.

"NO!"

A low gasp of pain escaped from his lips as the bullet slammed into his side.

"Marcus!" Meiling cried as crimson blossomed onto his shirt.

Marcus opened his mouth to speak but blood flooded into his mouth and spilt down his chin as he stared at Meiling with dim eyes.

"Go," he whispered as he toppled to the ground.

"MARCUS!" Meiling yelled, "YOU!"

She whirled onto the man who had fired the gun and leapt at him all thoughts of strategies and skills jumping out of her head as she attacked him with vicious power. Pushing him to the ground, she proceeded to load all of her fear and pain onto him beating him to a bloody pulp as in her fury she was unaware of the thugs sneaking up on her.

"CRACK!"

A rifle butt slammed into the side of her face and the last thing that Meiling was aware of was the evil smirk of the thug who had attacked her.

They had won.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Gripping the key that was still somehow with her in the limbo, Sakura closed her eyes and began chanting.

"Key of stars with powers burning bright, reveal the staff and shine your light," Sakura chanted repeating the words that the Light had told her, "RELEASE!"

A ball of light appeared around the key as it floated above her palm. It began spinning around crazily as the key began lengthening and changing colour as Sakura watched with fascination.

"Take it," Kerberos commanded as Sakura stared at the pink and gold staff that floated in the air before her.

Gingerly, she clasped the staff with shaking hands. Holding it aloft, she studied the so-called Star Wand admiring the strange runes that ran down the length of the staff. Twirling it above her like a baton, Sakura noted that it was almost weightless.

"Cool," she murmured.

"Now for the book," the Light stated, "Kerberos?"

The lion-like guardian growled under his breath as the gem on his head began glowing. Gold light burst from the ruby and gathered in the air above his head as Sakura watched. The light faded revealing the red-leather and gold decorations of the Book of Fei Lao Shi.

"My brothers and sisters, it is time," the Light commanded, "Come forth!"

The book burst open as its ancient pages fluttered in an invisible breeze, Sakura gaped at the book as the writings on the page began glowing brightly. The words vanished as glowing rectangular objects flew from the book as Sakura gasped in shock as they swirled around throwing gold light onto her face as the Light smiled.

"It's not time for games now," she reprimanded gently "Behave!"

The gold light vanished as the cards flew into Sakura's hands.

"What are these?" Sakura muttered.

"The Clow cards. Those that are concerned with the power of the light and the power of the skies," the Light murmured, "Now it is time for you to leave this limbo as Clow Reed had foretold it."

Sakura stared at her.

"He predicted all of this?!" she gasped.

The Light nodded, a mysterious smile dancing across her lips.

"Please pick out the Fly card," she commanded.

Sakura sifted through cards noticing that each of their names was written along the bottom. Seeing the card that the Light had told her to pick out, Sakura pulled it from the stack and studied it.

"Summon it," Kerberos growled.

Sakura stared at him.

"How?"

The Light sighed.

"Throw the card onto the ground and say after me."

Sakura threw the card onto the ground as she waited for the Light's next instruction.

"Say release and dispel and hit the card with the Star Wand."

The Angel nodded as she held her wand tightly.

"FLY CARD! RELEASE AND DISPEL!"

She brought her wand down and gasped as bright light burst from the cards. Glowing runes appeared beneath her feet as strands of thick white smoke burst from the card, they flew into the air twining together to form complex shapes as Sakura looked on in stunned silence. Two immense pairs of feathered wings appeared as a long swan-like neck took shape. Wicked talons appeared at the end of its long feet as a pair of red eyes studied Sakura carefully, intelligence gleaming in its ruby depths.

"Flower, meet the Fly," the Light murmured.

Sakura waved nervously at the card.

"Hi," she said weakly as the bird-like spirit screeched its greeting.

"Normally the Fly card only has the power to fly and give the power of flight to its user however Clow Reed saw that one day one of the chosen would enter the limbo and he gave the Fly the ability to move across the realms," the Light took a deep breath, "However the Fly only has the power to do this once. It can only move you back to the real world, once and that is all."

Sakura stared at the Fly as it flexed its long wings after long centuries of imprisonment within the confines of its card.

"What?" Sakura whispered.

"Command the Fly to take you back to the real world and you will awake from your coma," the Light said calmly, "Go on."

Sakura nodded and opened her mouth to tell the Fly what to do but suddenly she was struck with a random thought.

Zachary...

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Tomoyo smiled politely before slipping out of her seat and heading towards the bathroom as Eriol quickly pulled the vial of poison out of his pocket. Quickly scanning the restaurant and seeing no one was around, he unscrewed the lid and tipped the blue liquid into Tomoyo's half-filled wineglass.

Screwing the lid back on and slipping the vial back into his pocket, Eriol waited.

It was done.

Tomoyo was going to die.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Lying in the ruined remains of Tomoyo Daidouji's house, Meiling groaned in pain. Her eyes flickered open as she struggled to seat up.

"Marcus," she whispered looking around, "Lily?"

They were gone.

So were the thugs.

"No! No! No!" Meiling growled jumping up.

She raced through the house but all traces of Marcus, Lily and the thugs had disappeared all that remained of the fight were the broken windows and ruined furniture.

"Marcus..." she whispered, "Oh god..."

Suddenly she froze as a piercing howl fill the air. Slowly she relaxed as she realised it was just the wind.

"It's just the wind," she muttered to herself, "It's just the wind."

"Actually," a quiet voice muttered from the shadows, "It's the Windy."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Zachary...

Sakura gasped.

"Kerberos?" she asked.

"Yes?"

"Do all people that fall into comas end up in the limbo?"

The lion beast nodded.

"All," he confirmed.

Suddenly his amber eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Why?" he demanded, "Why did you ask something like that?"

Sakura shrugged as she smiled innocently at him.

"Nothing, just nothing..." she said sweetly.

Kerberos continued to eye her.

"What are you up..."

"Hurry up mistress," the Light urge, "You must get out of here. Now."

Sakura nodded as she turned back to the Fly who waited patiently for her command.

"Fly card," she said loudly and clearly, "I want you to find my friend, Zachary in this limbo and take him back to the real world. That is my command."

"NOOO!!" Kerberos roared as the Light gasped in shock.

The Fly nodded and spread its wings. With two powerful beats of its wings, it launched into flight gliding off into the mist of the limbo as Sakura waved after it.

"FLOWER!" The Light managed to gasp at last, "Do you know what you have done?"

Sakura smiled at her.

"I saved my friend."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Eriol studied Tomoyo's face as they walked down the moonlit pathway of the silent park admiring the way the plants looked in the pale light of the moon.

The toxin he had used was slow acting usually taking at least an hour or two to work, so Tomoyo, according to his calculations, had around ten more minutes before the poison struck.

"What are you thinking about?" Tomoyo asked softly.

"You," Eriol replied without thinking.

Tomoyo smiled at him sweetly as she leaned up to give him a soft kiss on the mouth.

"I'm thinking about you too," Tomoyo glanced around the still park until her eyes fell upon a cherry blossom tree, its flower-laded branches swinging in the gentle breeze.

A small frown appeared on her face.

She seemed to be remembering something.

A dream.

From the night before.

The forest...

The woman...

The tree...

The cherry blossom tree!

"Tomoyo?" Eriol murmured.

"Yeah?" Tomoyo replied distractedly as she fought to remember the rest of her dream.

"I love you."

The Flower has fallen the phrase suddenly appeared in her mind as Tomoyo's eyes widened in shock.

"Tomoyo?" Eriol asked gently, "Did you hear what I said?"

Tomoyo wasn't listening.

The Flower... Sakura... she was in trouble.

Sakura!

"Sakura!" Tomoyo gasped.

"What?" Eriol asked confused as Tomoyo blushed.

She opened her mouth to tell him a lie but suddenly she felt a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. Her vision began to dim as a strange coldness invaded her body. Her body began shivering and trembling as beads of cold sweat appeared on her face.

"Eriol?" she whimpered.

Eriol stared at her calmly as the poison began savagely attacking her body.

"Eriol?" she whispered.

She let out a small scream of pain as her heart began fluttering wildly as darkness clawed at the edges of her consciousness.

"Tell Meiling... tell her..." Tomoyo bit down onto her lip to pain wracked her body, "Tell Meiling... Sakura... Sakura is in trouble."

With that Tomoyo's eyes fluttered shut as darkness claimed her senses.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"WINDY?!" Meiling spluttered.

"Please," the voice pleaded, "Calm down."

Meiling's jaw almost dropped to the ground as something stepped out from the shadows. A tall woman with long golden hair and peaceful gold eyes appeared in front of her as the semi-transparent dress she wore fluttered in a breeze, coming from some unknown source. Two dragonfly-like wings sprouting from her back flapped lazily as Meiling stared at her.

"What the?!" Meiling yelled, "Oh my god, that knock to the head was worse than I thought!"

"No please," the 'Windy' pleaded, "Calm down."

"Oh, let me handle it!" another voice yelled.

A ball of fire appeared from the thin air in front of Meiling as she took a terrified step backwards. The flames grew and grew until it exploded throwing a wave of incredible heat at Meiling, a red-coloured creature with burning red eyes and pale pink skin and hair appeared in front of her. Staring at her with its red eyes as Meiling's eyes were drawn to the dancing red flames that raged where its legs should've been.

"Sorry," a second voice squeaked, "We tried to hold her back!"

Another creature appeared, this time its body was composed of various shades of blue with a dark ultramarine blue appearing on its fish-like tail and with a light shade of azure for its skin. Two fin-like ears poked out from its long blue hair as its fish-like tail waved lazily from side to side.

"Don't worry," the Windy reassure, "Fiery is always like that."

"Hey!" the red creature snapped, its pair of large red-feathered wings flapping impatiently causing waves of heat to wash over Meiling.

"Where's Earthy?" the Windy asked.

"Here," a fourth figure appeared.

This time a tall woman with light brown skin appeared, an emerald studded crown decorating her hair as an emerald-coloured gown covering her body glowed with an internal light. It studied Meiling with cool green eyes as a small smile appeared on her face.

"Hello, mistress," the Earthy greeted.

"Who... wha... who are you?!" Meiling demanded.

"Sorry," the Windy said apologetically, "I'm the Windy, that is the Fiery..."

The red winged creature waved at her.

"That is Watery."

The mermaid-like girl smiled at her as the Windy finished its introductions.

"That is the Earthy."

The tall brown-skinned woman bowed respectfully to her.

"As for what we are, we're the elemental Clow cards from the Book of Hong Bao Shi Hu Die."

"WHAT?!" Meiling exploded.

The Windy raised a hand to cut of Meiling's surprised shout.

"There will be a time for explanations later but for now Ruby Moon, the guardian of the second book sends us to you. We're to take you to her domain so you can retrieve the talisman of the earth."

Meiling stared at the Clow card, shocked into silence.

"We're to take you to her, now," the Fiery cut in.

"But... I can't..." Meiling took in a deep breath and tried to calm down, "Can we get Sakura or Tomoyo or..."
"I'm afraid both of them are otherwise..." the Watery trailed off, "... occupied?"

"What?" Meiling demanded.

"Well... you see..." the Earthy cleared her throat nervously, "The Flower is now lying in a coma in Santa Barbara hospital."

Meiling stared at her.

"And the Fox... she's been poisoned," the Fiery finished off bluntly.

All four elementals watched her as Meiling struggled to speak.

"What? HOW?!" she demanded.

"It doesn't matter," the Fiery cut her off, "They're fine. We need you. Ruby Moon awaits."

"But I can't go!" Meiling exploded, "Marcus and Lily have been kidnapped and now I find out that Sakura and Tomoyo..."

"It doesn't matter!" the Fiery snarled back, "You need to go... NOW!"

"Why you little..." Meiling took a menacing step forwards.

"Come on, I dare you!" the Fiery growled raising its tiny hands.

"Fiery! Fighter!" Windy yelled, "Stop it!"

The Fiery back off as Meiling continued to glower at the card.

"We know you care for this... Marcus," Watery said gently, "But something more is at stake."
"Read my lips," Meiling growled, "Until Marcus and Lily are safely out of danger I. Will. NOT. GO."

She glared at them as the Fiery glared back. Watery, Windy and Earthy sighed in frustration.

"Perhaps we can help," another voice murmured.

"Wood?" Windy asked, "What's going on?"

"Ruby Moon sent us. She knew this was going to happen."

"How many of you are there?!" Meiling demanded.

"Many," Fiery snapped back.

Two many figures appeared. One of them was a woman with long emerald hair and light green skin, her clothing seemed to be completely composed of leafy branches twined together to form some kind of dress. The other woman smiled at Meiling mysteriously, she was dressed in an Arabian-style clothing with a golden vest and long baggy cream-coloured pants.

"Wood? Sand?" Earthy asked puzzled, "What's going on?"

"Fighter," the Wood called.

Meiling stared at her.

"If you go with the elementals, I swear Sand and I shall rescue your lover for you."

"How do I know if you can..." Meiling began angrily.

"We're Clow cards," the Wood cut in gently, "I know where they're. You know even if we allow you to rescue Marcus and Lily, it would take you days even weeks to find Mallus's stronghold. And even then you couldn't rescue them."

"I could rescue them right now, if I wanted to," Meiling snapped.

"Weren't you listening to us?" the Earthy asked, "The Flower and Fox are out of commission. They are in the limbo between life and death, you Fighter is the only one left. You're the last one standing."

"What's wrong with them? Are they okay?" Meiling asked worriedly looking at the cards.

"They're fine. Sakura is with the Light card and Kerberos. What the Light is teaching her is vital to your mission and Tomoyo... we don't know about her yet but she seems to be fine," the Earthy replied.

"You promise you'll save them?" Meiling asked, her voice sounding more vulnerable then she'll like it to.
The Wood and Sand nodded.

"Fine," Meiling sighed, "I'll go with you."

"Good," the Windy smiled.

"Wait," Meiling demanded, "Where are we go..."

Opaque ribbons of wind swirled around her as Meiling's question was cut off.

"Wha..."

With a bright flash of light she disappeared.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"...t?" Meiling trailed off as she stared around.

"Where am I?" she wondered as she stared at her surroundings.

She seemed to be in a rocky cavern of some sort, red light danced along the rocky walls as waves of immense heat rose from the ground. She peered down at the ground and freaked as she realised she was standing on top of a rocky ridge. Below her, a massive sea of magma seethed and surged releasing huge clouds of smoke and steam.

The elementals cards suddenly appeared beside her as the Earthy spoke up.

"You're now in Ruby Moon's domain."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Whoa! That was probably the longest chapter I've written so far and guess what? MORE CLIFFHANGERS!

Next chapter:

As Meiling with the help of the elemental cards fights Ruby Moon for the second talisman, the Wood and Sand card mount a ruthless attack against Mallus Harrason. As for the other two Angels, Sakura is trapped in the limbo thanks to her selfless sacrifice. As Tomoyo lies dangerously close to death, Eriol begins to realise the true depths of his feelings for her. Will Meiling win against the powerful might of Ruby Moon? Find out in... Under ice, over fire.

A/Note: Okay, for the readers who may be confused by the books and the history of the Void here is a summary of it:

Clow Reed originally lived in the Shang Dynasty and worked for the emperor at the time. He experimented with the creation of magical beings and created the Clow cards, who are personifications of nature. But they got too mischievous and he had to seal them into cards to keep them from harming people.

At the same time, Heilang, a rival of Clow Reed, stole his notes on the creation of the Clow cards and tried to create a card of his own. Heilang wanted to create a card that was more powerful then the other cards and so he created the Void.

The Void card was really powerful but it was also evil eventually Heilang lost control over it and the Void killed him and began destroying Anyang, the capital of the Shang Dynasty. Eventually Clow Reed managed to seal the card but didn't have the power to destroy it.

One day, he received a vision that told him that one day in the future, three girls (the Angels) would appear and they would have the power to destroy the Void. Clow Reed then created the prophecy and the books to aid the girls in their quest to destroy the Void. The books were designed to hold certain cards in them. The first book (Fei Lao Shi) is designed to hold cards belonging to the light (the Light, the Libra etc.), to metal (the Lock, the Shield etc.) and the sky (the Rain, the Cloud etc.). The second book (Hong Bao Shi Hu Die) is designed to hold cards belong to the earth (the Elementals, Wood, Sand etc.) and Yue Gong Jian Shou is designed to hold cards of the spiritual realm (Shadow, Dark etc.) and the dreamscape (the Dream, Sleep etc.). The fourth book (the Book of Hei Lang or Black Wolf) is designed to hold just the Void card and is designed to trap the card until the three girls find it and destroy it.

So there it is, the history of the books and the cards! Hopes it gives you a better sense of what's going on.