The first story in My Shadowy Secrets Trilogy

This fan-fiction is set as though the second movie never happened. Li and Meilin are still in Hong Kong, but all is not well – and with Yelan out of town it's up to them to find out what the magical power Li's sensing is.

Back home in Readington, Sakura dreams an upsetting dream, then receives a disturbing phone call from Meilin. Did her dream come true?

Darkness is never as far away as you think…

Chapter Five; Cry Of Revelation

The Li mansion stank of grief and sorrow. The normal homely feeling was gone, leaving only despair. Everyone was gathered in the enormous sitting room – well, nearly everyone. Meilin was in bed, recovering from the cruel attack. Li's four sisters had been sent upstairs. They wanted to know what had happened to their younger brother, but no-one had told them. It was too hard. Kero, despite his wounds, had opted to stay with the group.

The walls seemed to press in around Sakura as she looked around the group. Where once there were smiles, there were now only frowns. Kero was propped up against a cushion, his injuries bandaged. Madison sat on the sofa, silent except for the occasional sniffle. For once in her life, she'd turned the video camera off. Julian stood by the window, his eyes a turbulent mixture of himself and Yue.

As for herself…Sakura felt like she was drowning in a pit of despair. She held it inside of her for as long as she could, but finally had to ask the question that had been tearing her apart.

"Why? Why Li? What went wrong?"

Yelan looked up in surprise at the outburst. >Man, she looks tired.> Sakura thought. And indeed, Li's mother had had better days. Her normally vibrant eyes were dull and lifeless, with her black hair (usually tied back tightly) loose around her shoulders. Sakura had never seen her so empty of hope. Yet Yelan still had the strength to smile softly.

"I remember that you always did ask the obvious questions that no-one else had the strength to ask. Like Li…" With a muffled sob, Yelan rocked slightly, as if trying to hold back the fear she felt for her child.

"Yelan…I'm sorry, but you never replied to Sakura's question." Julian gently prodded. The woman looked up at the compassionate young man, startled, before nodding.

"Nonsense. I sincerely apologize for my silence. I must be strong – for both my son and I." Yelan took a deep breath to steady herself.

"You may not believe it, but I've seen Li like this before. Just once – but that was more than enough. Just after his father died, he was angry at everything and everyone. I think he was even angry with me. Then one day…I sensed a disturbing aura in the grounds….


Flashback

Yelan hurried along the sunlit paths of the family grounds. Despite the beautiful flowers that surrounded her, she was not here for pleasure. She had sensed a strange aura in the Rose Garden – something not quite dark, but leaning that way. Nearing the gate, she slowed down, and peeked around the corner, fully expecting to see some sort of evil magician. If it was, she'd summon help. But she ended up surprised.

"Li?" Her son slowly turned round at his mother's call. Yelan saw the tearstains on the little boy's cheeks, and felt her heart jolt in pity. Li had been shattered by his father's death, and often spent long periods alone. But recently, she'd begun to feel as though her son was drifting further and further away. His mood swings were becoming more frequent, more violent. As Yelan stared at the boy, her own tears began to fall, and she stepped forward in sympathy.

"Mother, why did Father die?" Yelan froze in shock at her son's words. Yet he seemed so earnest…

"I don't know, Li. I guess that our ancestors thought the time was right to call him."

"Don't use your weak teachings on me!" I've already heard it all from the Elders, and I know it's a lie! Tell me the truth!"

"Li…I don't know…I'm sorry…I..." Yelan stammered, caught off guard by his sudden change of mood.

"It's not good enough!" Yelan looked on in amazement at Li. His amber eyes burned with rage, his little fists clenched, and he jutted out his chin in a defiant way (that unknown to them would become his usual expression for the next three years) and carried on with his rant.

"You treat me like an idiot! Wake up Mother! I'm 7 years old! I know he's not coming back! I know!" Li paused to finger a beautiful red rose, before letting his eyes narrow in rage again.

"All these flowers – they're so vibrant and full of life. Yet how can this be when Father's dead? It's wrong - wrong, wrong, wrong! WRONG!" Yelan stepped back in surprise as she sensed something dark rising inside of Li. >Was it you I sensed after all?> Shock turned to horror as Li's eyes glowed red, and he released a mass of power. The dark shockwave rippled out of him, sweeping over the garden. And every plant it touched withered away into ash.

Yelan waited with her hands over her eyes until the power subsided, before gazing at the destruction caused by her most precious creation. Li swayed unsteadily for a while, and then finally collapsed into his mother's waiting arms.

End Flashback


"He destroyed them all. Every plant and tree, not just in the Rose Garden, but in the entire grounds. Such was the anger and pain that he'd bottled up inside him. Before then, we'd had no idea that he had that much power."

"His brush with darkness terrified with him, and he threw himself into his studies, until the event was just a distant memory. But I had to watch as Li hid a little more inside himself each day, until he was the solemn boy you first met all those years ago."

The silence was almost deafening as everyone absorbed the story that Yelan had told them. Sakura almost felt sick. >I never knew…he never told me. Surely he didn't forget that day? No, he must have remembered. It's my fault for never asking why he was the way he was.>

"Li's become the dark magician that he always had the potential to be. He could have been this powerful, but he chose the side of light instead. But it's been so sudden, unnatural…almost like…"

"He's being influenced by a mystical force!" Kero interrupted Yelan, wounds forgotten as he realised what was going on.

"Years ago, Clow Reed was horrified at the amount of evil in the world. So he sealed it in a card, and bound it in another dimension – possibly Su Young's, which tie in with Meilin's story of a dark presence coming from there to whirl inside of Li."

"The Evil is the most powerful card of them all – and the most dangerous." Kero paused, as though he didn't want to say what was on his mind.

"Dangerous? How is it dangerous to me?" Sakura asked. Kero simply looked away, obviously feeling uncomfortable.

"Sakura, it's not you who's in danger. It's the Kid." Sakura felt her heart lurch as Kero took a breath before continuing.

"The Evil Card has the power to bring anyone's dark side to the surface. And if Li's already experienced darkness, it probably felt drawn to him. But the longer it's bonded with Li, the more permanent his change will be. Sakura…if we don't seal the card soon, Li will remain an evil magician…forever."