CCS: A CHANGE OF KINGDOM Chapter 2: Return Oh Challenger, a card captor sakura fanfic

Foreword: A new student, Adelah, seems to be growing suspicious of Sakura…but for what?. Who is she and what could she be plotting?

Card Captor Sakura: A Change of Kingdom

Chapter 2: Return Oh Challenger

Looking outside the window, Sakura smiled pressing the phone close to her ear. The stars were glimmering underneath the velvet sky, beaming even through the clear window. Sakura lightly tapped her left hand against the window pane, seeing her fingers make simple finger marks. Kero pounded the game controller in his hands, trying his hardest to reach the title: Master Record Breaker. Sakura gave a light giggle as she continued to listen intently to the voice in the phone, transmitted from a thousand miles away in the distant land of Hong Kong.

"Why did you laugh?" Li Syaoran asked. Syaoran was Sakura's partner in capturing the cards five years ago and someone whom Sakura felt deep affection for. "Sorry…Kero-chan made a funny expression, trying to master this new game I bought. Tee hee hee, nowadays, I'm buying the games so that he could play and not for me... How is your mother? Is training and studying still hard?"

"Hmm, my mother is doing well. She seems a little ill. My older sisters are trying their best in finding her a doctor. Yet, mother refuses to meet a doctor. She claims it's just old age…um…Training is all right. I've mastered most of the special martial arts that my grand headmaster taught me….I've also developed more of my magic skills and…even new elemental attacks…" Suddenly he fell silent for a moment. "…I- I'm sorry I couldn't call you for the past few months, or even send letters…I would have asked Meilin to write to you for me, but now that she moved, I'm unable to give her any news." Syaoran started scratching his head on the other line. He looked obviously distressed that he had to give such excuses to Sakura, who was always cheerful as she accepted his calls.

"Oh no no it's okay, Syaoran-kun. I'm all right. Knowing that most of my calls couldn't go through to your training school, I didn't really give you too many calls either. Tee hee hee, I…" She blushed lightly as she mustered, "I just want you to train hard…and…do your best. No matter what- I know you could do it! I know you will make it through. I…I trust in you…and…" Towards she end, Sakura started to almost choke. With her sad expression, she stopped and quickly wiped some tears away. Syaoran was silent, feeling equally hurt by the fact that it was extremely hard for them to visit one another. Suddenly Kero's loud voice interrupted them both. Sakura gasped as Kero grabbed the phone away from Sakura's hands and yelled, "YOU BRAT! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH YOU WORRY SAKURA! DON'T YOU EVEN THINK OF COMING BACK HERE, YOU SQUIRT. I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU- ACK! SAKURA, NOT THE TAIL !"

Syaoran stood silent on the other line, listening as he heard his close friend, Sakura and her not-so-adorable critter, Kero, rumble in the background. In the moonlight, only his dark hair could be seen with his body slightly leaning against the wall. Syaoran's lips made a dismal expression as he slightly gripped the phone. He muttered with a sigh, "Sakura…" Suddenly, after a few moments, Sakura returned, panting as she cried out, "I'm SO SORRY, Syaoran-kun! I didn't mean for that to happen! I don't know what got into Kero-chan! I'm really so sorry… (hontoni gomen!) Don't take into heart what he said. He doesn't know what he's talking about!"

"No…I'm sorry, Sakura…" For a brief moment they were both silent, feeling rather awkward and unsure of how to react. "So…um, what were you going to say…before that beast cut you off?"

Sakura blushed furiously and shook her head. "Ah- it was nothing! Hahaha Um, yea, good luck with your training, Syaoran-kun! Sorry, I have to go and get rid of Kero-chan! Good Night!" Before Syaoran could even reply, she quickly hung up, still blushing and gazing outside. Syaoran on the other line looked a little puzzled at the phone. Then he lightly placed it on the receiver as he walked away from the phone booth. Sakura placed her cell phone lightly on her desk and returned to the window. She leaned in as though she was looking for a distant star in the sky. She sighed lightly, as Kero fluttered behind her.

"I was going to say that…I love you…that I miss you so much…but…" Sakura let her head fall, feeling her hair flow over her face. "But…" Sakura bit her under lip and she began to tremble. Kero flew closer to her with a worried expression. Though Sakura's hair was covering the majority of her face, Kero saw the drops of painful tears fall. Kero-chan had a distressed expression on his face and started to fumble with his paws. "Um…Sakura, I'm…I'm sorry for what I said…um…I…I…BUT that Brat Deserved IT! HE DID TOO!" Sakura sniffled and wiped away her tears. She turned to look at Kero-chan with a smile. Kero turned away and looked bitterly guilty, but Sakura came from behind and lightly grabbed his wings and carried him. She sat on her bed and placed Kero-chan on her lap. Kero smiled back at her asking, "You're not mad at me, are you?" Sakura shook her head.

"I'm not that angry at least." She sighed as Kero resumed flying. "I guess I just don't know… it's been five years. Do you think he still feels the same way for me, Kero-chan? I don't know how to bring up the conversation without sounding as though I lost interest in him or something. I don't know how to talk about our feelings for each other without sounding like I don't trust him…I just don't know…" Kero looked at her intently and thought for a moment. "Hmm, well, it's probably because you guys separated so quickly, right after you guys told each other your feelings. BUT You never know SAKURA during those five years, HE MAY HAVE BEEN-"

Unfortunately, before Kero could finish, Sakura intervened looking awfully angry, "KERO-CHAN! MUO why do you keep thinking such bad thoughts about him. I trust Syaoran-kun, He's not like that!" Kero shirked away and let down a sweat drop of unease. "Hehe…then again, maybe not" He fluttered away and went inside his little home, which was the bottom drawer of Sakura's new desk, more fit for a growing teenager. He looked back, "Sakura, I don't know what the heck you saw in that brat but you shouldn't worry about it too much. You're living your life, He's living his, simple as that. If fate calls for it, you guys will be reunited again, I'm sure." He grinned brightly and Sakura smiled, feeling at least somewhat reassured by Kero's seemingly useless advice. 'Then again, Kero-chan is not going to really understand a girl's feeling…tee hee hee.' Sakura thought. 'I shouldn't worry…yea, I guess…I should just let go and worry about it when I really see him…'

After changing into her pajamas, she got into her bed. Before she shut her eyes, she looked over to Kero's bed and whispered, "Kero-chan? Are you asleep?" Kero lifted his head over the drawer and looked towards Sakura. Sakura softly told him, "Tomorrow's is going to be the Basketball tournament. I'm not going to come home from after school and I might be a little late, okay?" Kero nodded and quickly went back to sleep, snoring. She smiled and turned to face the ceiling and started to let her mind wander off again.

'I wander when I will see him again…'

'And I still can't get that dream out of my mind…the darkness…it was so real, and I can't understand what Light was trying to say…I don't know…everything seems so vague…'

Suddenly Sakura got up and looked towards her Sakura book, consisting of her Sakura cards. She picked it up and looked through each cards. Finally, she found The Dream card. Taking her keys, she closed her eyes and focused upon her star. Without shouting in a commanding tone, she whispered, "Release…" Her key was transformed into a long staff as she raised it and called upon The Dream card. Dream appeared before her, filling the room with a grand fog. Sakura looked at Dream as the spirit returned the gaze.

"Dream…did you know what dream I got last night…do you think you could somehow tell me what it's about?" Sakura asked. Suddenly, she felt a light tap on her shoulder. She turned to look and found a small golden butterfly. The butterfly flapped and lightly touched Sakura's head, but quickly lifted up and disappeared. Sakura looked confused at Dream, but Dream did not return any answer. Dream simply shook her head as though she did not know what Sakura was talking about.

"Are you saying…you don't know what kind of Dream I had?" Dream nodded slightly as Sakura looked even more confused. "But…it was…as though it was a prophetic dream…I could have sworn I saw all my cards and … it was…" Dream simply shook her head and Sakura realized that Dream was confused as well. Dream didn't seem to even know what kind of dream Sakura had. If she didn't know about the dream, there is no way for her to interpret it either. Sakura sighed and the spirit returned the card. Sakura returned the card back into the book and placed it back in it's original place.

Soon morning came and Sakura quickly got into her clothing and dashed out of her room, crashing into her brother in the process. "MUO Oniichan! brother" She quickly ran around him and headed off. He simply grinned, "Watch where you're going, you little monster!" He heard her yell in the distance, "I'm not a monster!" He heard the door slam. As he started getting his bag ready, Touya looked at a picture with him, Sakura, and Yukito, who was his best friend. He stood silent for a moment, but turned and headed off towards his college, which Yukito also attended. Sakura, on the other hand, was running towards school. Finally making it through the door, she quickly ran into her seat. Tomoyo turned around and grinned. "Well, that was fast- at least you're not late. How are you today?" Sakura panting, put her head on her folded hands, "Ugh…tired and sleepy…I don't seem to get enough sleep for some reason." Tomoyo and Sakura started to share their usual conversation, giggling occasionally and frequently making funny expressions. Tomoyo then turned and noticed Adelah in the corner of the room, looking outside the window.

"Yoshinada-chan?" Adelah stirred and turned around. "Come join us. Don't stand alone, looking outside the window. Let's get to know each other better." Adelah smiled at Tomoyo's warm gesture and sat next to Tomoyo and in front of Sakura. "Thank you, Daidouji-chan" Tomoyo smiled and turned to Sakura.

"Sakura-chan, have you spoke to Yoshinada-chan, yet?" Adelah looked towards Sakura in a rather bold but at the same time cold stare. Sakura smiled and said, "Actually, I haven't." Sakura took her hand out, "Hello, my name is Kinomoto Sakura. I heard so much about you." Adelah took the hand and shook it, "Yes, same goes for you. You seem quite popular among the students." Sakura returned a confused gaze as Tomoyo looked a little uncertain. Deciding to change the subject, Tomoyo decided to start a nice crisp conversation.

"So Yoshinada-chan, what were you doing at the window?" Adelah smiled sweetly, "Oh, I was just thinking…" As they continued their conversation, Sakura noticed such a change in her expression. For some reason, Sakura didn't want to trust her. She felt as though Adelah may be hiding something. Yet, seeing how she treats others and how she speaks, Adelah seemed to be a wonderful person, actually, a great person- almost as nice as Tomoyo! Adelah looked at Sakura, which made Sakura jump a little. Sakura decided to talk, "Uh…so where do you live right now?"

"I live close to the grocery store that is a few blocks away from the school." Sakura smiled excitedly as she exclaimed, "That's close to where I live!" Adelah's expression changed again, her eyes squinting as though she was scrutinizing something. "Is that so?"

Tomoyo got an idea and leaned towards Adelah. "Yoshinada-chan, do you-" Adelah giggled and intervened, "You don't have to keep calling me by my last name. Please just call me Adelah. I feel more comfortable that way." Tomoyo and Sakura smiled.

Tomoyo resumed her statement, "Adelah-chan, do you want to watch tonight's basketball game. It's actually an important match I heard." Adelah looked concerned for a moment but sighed, "Actually, I was wanting to go, but I didn't want to go alone. Thank you for asking me, Daidouji-chan!" Tomoyo laughed this time and said, "Since you said I could call you Adelah, please call me Tomoyo too!" Adelah nodded, "Okay, thank you so much!" For some reason, Sakura felt very out of this conversation, but she quickly shrugged the feeling away. Sakura looked at Adelah again and again, but no matter how she saw it, something was strange. Sakura simply sighed and decided to hold this thought for now.

As the day ended and it was time to prepare for the game, Sakura changed into her cheerleading costume, which Tomoyo truly admired. Tomoyo and Adelah decided to go sit on the stands first, since Sakura had to get prepared with her other cheerleading friends, Naoko and Chiharu. Naoko in all her knowledge decided to name their little social group, Takashi's angels, but Sakura and Chiharu had to persuade her to stop embarrassing them with that title. Of course, Takashi, on the other hand, didn't mind the attention, especially the attention given from Chiharu. As the cheerleaders went and cheered for their teams, Sakura turned around occasionally to look at Tomoyo and Adelah, who seemed to be having an enjoyable conversation. They were both giggling, pointing at some players and clapping when shots were being made.

The game was close to ending, and as Sakura was cheering, she felt as though she was zoned out. Everything seemed to be going in slow-motion as she watched the players run and defend their basket. She seemed to have stood silent as she noticed all the vast sounds around her, the children complaining to their parents, the parents cheering their sons on, the sound of the basketball against the gym floor, the sound of their shoes rushing across, the sound of people arguing, laughing, and the bells ringing. 'Sometimes I wonder…everyone living their own lives…everything in constant motion…everything changing and …and…' Sakura's thoughts were interrupted as she saw one of the players from the other school fall on the floor injured. The crowd gasped as the fellow teammates surrounded their fallen friend. The referee checked up on his condition and look towards the coach, who came to help him settle down on the bench. 'The human body is so fragile…we all get injured once or twice…sometimes it doesn't hurt and sometimes it's fatal…and we all try to just…keep our body healthy…to live on…' Sakura suddenly stopped cheering, repeating her last thoughts 'living…on?' over and over, as it echoed in her head. Chiharu and Naoko noticed Sakura's strange reaction. Adelah, though Tomoyo was speaking joyfully, even looked towards Sakura's direction with a grim look.

'…to live on…but…why…' Suddenly Chiharu grabbed Sakura and pointed to the score board, "LOOK, Sakura-chan. Out team can WIN!" Sakura blinked, shaking herself away from her thoughts and looked at the scoreboard. While the opponent had scored 40 points, their team has scored 52 points. Having only five minutes left, there was a chance still for the opponent team to catch up. Naoko chirped in, "I hope that they could really make it into the Championships."

Sakura smiled, "Yea, they really deserve it for all those long hours of practice they had to endure…" Suddenly as Sakura looked at the members of their school team, she noticed an unfamiliar person in the middle of the court. The figure moved along with the players, but seemed somewhat transparent. The players seemed oblivious of its presence and it also ran through it as though it wasn't there. As the players moved furiously forward, the dark figure, cloaked in a large black silver cape, followed quickly behind. Adelah and Tomoyo were watching the game silently. All of a sudden, Adelah jerked up as though she wanted to get out of her seat but stops herself really quick. Tomoyo, looking a little surprised, turns and asks, "Adelah-chan, is everything okay?" Adelah fixed her eyes towards the court. Sakura looking shocked and puzzled, pointed to it and said, "Who is that?" Adelah whirled her head, hearing Sakura ask her fellow cheerleading friends.

Naoko looked around and so did Chiharu, wondering what Sakura was talking about. "Who are you talking about, Sakura-chan? We don't see anyone…unless you just mean the basketball players" Sakura looked shocked and then pointed but realized that she must have been the only one who could see the mysterious figure, since everyone else was watching the game as though nothing was wrong. She examined the mysterious figure and noticed how the mysterious figure did have a face. It appeared to be a man, or perhaps a spirit. That couldn't be possible, she's captured all the spirits already and turned them into Sakura cards. For some reason, she was able to see clearly everything; everything began to run in slow motion again and Sakura saw the figure hover over a player and whisper something into his ear. As though she was watching a movie, she noticed how the player became violent, fouling and growing bitter over his own mistakes. Sakura gripped and thought to herself, 'This is not right…the figure is doing something to the players…but…I don't understand…what's going on!' Everything returned to normal pace and she noticed how a few players began to start fighting, fist to fist. The other players tried to separate them and the coaches, alarmed at their reaction reached in to stop them. Sakura quickly ran in amidst the court. Chiharu and Naoko called her name but she did not look at them or answer. She fixed her gaze on the dark figure, which stood a distance away from the fight, as though it was waiting for the results of this disaster. Sakura stood in front of it, between the brawl and the figure. Though the face was not visible under the dark shadows, Sakura felt familiar with this mysterious person. Tomoyo looked concerned, "Why is Sakura-chan in the middle of the court?" She turned and looked to where Adelah was sitting, but to her surprise, Adelah was gone. "Huh? Adelah- chan? Where did you go?"

The dark figure whirled past Sakura, which surprised her. Sakura ran after it quickly, which simply confused the crowd and all of her friends. Chiharu and Naoko called after her and then looked to each other, "What was she doing alone in the middle of the court?" Noticing the dark figure dashing outside the gym into the halls and through stairs, Sakura chased after it, knowing that she had to stop it before it hurt anymore people. Reaching into her pocket, she took out her key, calling upon the power of her star, "RELEASE!" She grabbed her staff and chased after the figure. She reached into her pocket and grabbed her cards. She was quite relieved that she decided to bring them along for the occasion. "Okay, I have to somehow corner it. I know, I'll make a barrier!" Flipping out THE LOOP card, she called out, "LOOP!" As the figure kept rushing, it fell into the trap that Sakura designed and it went around in circles, as it kept running through the same hallway over and over again. As it was dashing, it was right about to crash into Sakura, but it halted. Sakura stood before it, ready to conjure up any magic if necessary. Then the dark figure raised its black hand and Sakura noticed The Loop card flashing crazily. "Loop? What the-!" The figure dashed past her and Sakura saw that spell was somehow broken, and the power of Loop card has been dispelled.

Sakura resumed her chase, wondering how this could be possible. The dark figure flashed outside through a window, so Sakura, who could not keep running, called, "JUMP," and followed it into the night. The dark figure was able to penetrate through everything, walls, trees, benches…'Darn!' Sakura gripped her staff and chased it faster by using "DASH!" Finally, she was able to quickly catch up, as she took out her card, "WOOD!" A great amount of vines sprung from the ground and tied the figure. The figure halted, as though it expected the attack and let the wood cover almost every part of its body. "WINDY!" Sakura didn't want to take any chances and quickly used Windy to bound the figure tighter. Windy circled around the figure as Sakura stepped closer. Before she could speak, however, she saw bright red eyes, glaring back at her under the hood. Suddenly, a tremendous force broke the Wood's spell of binding the figure, and Windy also was unable to withstand and was flown away, only quickly returning to the card. Sakura flew back and fell on the floor. The figure did not run. Instead, this time it started to walk closer to Sakura. Sakura, confused and also intimidated by the figure's dominating powers, started to fluster. 'It's been so long that these things happened. How am I to beat something that can withstand almost all my magic.' Suddenly, the dark figure reached out and from its fingertips sprung out arrows of fire. Sakura jumped back and quickly dodged all five arrows. 'It's stronger than I expected…oh, what do I do…Kero-chan…Yue…' Feeling discouraged, she grabbed her most powerful elemental cards, Firey, Watery, Windy, and Earthy. Before she could summon them, the dark figure continued to shoot its arrows, even creating a dark atmosphere by surrounding her in darkness, in the midst of the park. Sakura in the process of dodging them, tripped over the roots of the trees. "Oh no!" Whirling around, she saw five arrows coming directly for her.

"TIME!"

Sakura cringed but when she opened her eyes half-way, she saw that the arrows stopped nearly over half way through the distance between her and the figure. Sakura gave a quick sigh but noticed that the arrows began to quiver and Sakura saw her The Time card flashing wildly. She gasped, 'NO!' Sakura whirled and covered her face with her arm, realizing the card had already lost its effect. 'This is the end!' Hearing sounds of the arrows hitting everything but her, she was confused and looked upwards. Her gaze was upon a boy with a sword in his hands, with dark colored hair, wearing jeans and a sporty jacket. It was hard to describe who it was from the back and in the dark- but it didn't take Sakura long before she realized who it was. The dark figure lowered its hand and stood calmly hovering before them. Sakura looked around, finding the arrows broken into two. Her eyes started to water, as she looked back up.

"Syaoran…-kun…."

The boy turned around and it was indeed Syaoran, the same eyes and face, which distinctly aged five years. "Sakura…" He kneeled to help her up. Sakura didn't know what to say but she quickly wiped away her tears. "Are you all right? Are you hurt?" Syaoran grabbed her hand and lifted her up gently, as she looked deeply into his face. Syaoran was a few inches taller than Sakura now, and Sakura noticed a distinct change in his voice, different from the voice on the phone. Syaoran stared back into Sakura's face, shaking her lightly, "Sakura…? Are you okay..?" Sakura coming back to reality, nodded. "Uh…yea, I'm okay, Sy..Syaoran-kun." Suddenly Sakura noticed that the black figure wasn't before them anymore. Sakura looked around and then immediately Syaoran pushed Sakura down, "Watch OUT!" Ducking, they both looked up and found the dark figure looming, throwing flames upon them. Sakura and Syaoran quickly dashed away. Syaoran stood in front of Sakura with his sword, and took out his usual talismans from his family arts. Before the dark figure could throw another fire blast, Sakura summoned "WATERY!" Immediately Watery came and tried to douse the flames that soon started to consume parts of the park. Syaoran using his talisman, summoned the powers of the wind. Together, the forest was calm but the dark figure still remained.

"He's strong…damn…" Syaoran looked distressed and his deep voice revealed that he wasn't too happy with how things seemed to be turning around. "What cards have you tried on him?"

"Almost all the cards used for combat, our magic seems to not have any effect on him. He can penetrate through anything! What should we-" Sakura's words stopped because the dark figure shrieked and raised both of its dark hands in the air. Suddenly a large black massive force came upon Sakura and Syaoran. Sakura quickly ran in front of Syaoran and called, "LIGHT!" Light shined forth and penetrated through the darkness and shined upon the figure. The figure cringed and shrieked loudly. Sakura noticed that Light had some sort of effect on the dark figure. Suddenly, the light disappeared and the Light spirit convulsed as though it was attacked. "Light! What's wrong?" The Light spirit became but a mist and returned to its card. "No…even Light…but…but…" Sakura and Syaoran screamed and flew back as the figure blasted more powerful dark attacks. Syaoran grabbed Sakura and covered her as the dark figure who seemed to have become a large giant came their direction to devour them. Sakura and Syaoran cringed but noticed how the figure was hindered before it reach a few inches away from Sakura and Syaoran. The dark figure whirled around, as though it was looking for something or someone. It trembled as though it was confused. Syaoran noticed that some sort of barrier was placed in front of them. Sakura noticed the darkness slowly disappearing, finding themselves back into their usual environment.

The dark figure stepped backwards slowly and finally, whirled around and disappeared into the trees, hissing. Syaoran and Sakura slowly got up, finding themselves deep inside the park area. "What happened? Syaoran-kun, did you…did you-?" Syaoran shook his head.

"I didn't do anything, for a moment I thought it may have been your SHIELD…but-whatever happened, the power was different from ours."

"I noticed that too…" Sakura looked around and noticed someone standing against the tree. Her eyes locked on the figure and as she closely looked on, the familiar face was no other than Adelah, looking towards the direction where the dark figure ran away in an angry expression. Sakura was going to say something but Adelah quickly rushed away. Syaoran noticed her too and turned to look back at Sakura. "Sakura, who was that?"

"…Adelah…cou- could she have been a part of all this…?" Sakura shook her head, unsure how to take in all that has happened. From a distance, Sakura and Syaoran heard their names. When they both looked up, they saw Tomoyo and Kero-chan running towards them. So the long night has finally ended and Sakura had yet another ordeal to face. She looked at her cards and clutched her staff tightly…inside her heart, demanding answers to fight this battle.

--------Preview of Next Chapter----------

"HOEE! WE ARE LATE! HURRY, SYAORAN-kun!" Sakura and Syaoran both started running and right before the school gate closed on them; they dashed in and starting madly climbing the stairs.

As she was ready to grab the door knob of her classroom, she stopped and whirled her head to her right. She stopped as she saw Adelah stop in her tracts as well.

Sakura: "I don't know why you were there in the first place… but I'm going to let you know that things are becoming suspicious--"

Adelah: "Do you think you can actually fight that spirit with your cards?"…"Face it; you don't have what it takes…"

Sakura: "What makes you think you can talk as if you know about the cards and spirits!"

As Sakura got up from her faint position the same dark figure from yesterday stood right in front of her. As it loomed over her, she felt herself being plunged into the darkness. She gasped for air, finding none but the hands of the being wrapped around her neck.

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