Disclaimer: I do not own anyone from "CardCaptor Sakura". They are all owned by the ladies of CLAMP who are much more talented than I. (smile) I also do not own anyone from "Sailor Moon". They are all owned by Takeuchi Naoko whose vision will live eternally. (smile) (Much to Elflina's dismay...) All other characters are my own. Feel free to steal them.
I do not hold chapters ransom for reviews, but I sure appreciate compliments, constructive criticism, and grammatical corrections. So if you feel like it, please press that little review button, and let me know what you think.
Hello to my three reviewers Taeniaea, aserene, and Miss Takin. (smile) Hope this was fast enough for you, hahaha... (wink) Now what kind of fun could I have if I didn't put them in danger, ne, aserene? I'm glad someone likes my new attacks... Haha, I have typical writer insecurity. When I read someone else's work, I think "Why didn't I think of something like that!" I'm even tempted to write and ask if I can borrow one or two. Later, that is. I don't need them just yet. (smile)
Rejoice, CardCaptor fans! Finally a little action on their part! More is coming, I promise. It will just take a while, so please be patient... And now, A Plan and Dinner, Part II: The Reading. Oh, wait, I named it something else... Hahaha, enjoy minna!
- Raya
Moonlit Sakura
Chapter 16 – Questions and Answers
King Endymion peered through the mist in front of him, then swatted at a passing cloud in frustration. The figure in front of him was the strange, regal woman, not his beloved Serenity.
"Where is she?" he growled, clenching his fists. "She feels so close! Why can't I find her!"
Sakura sighed a little nervously as she set the Sakura Book in the middle of the coffee table. As Yukito, Shaoran, Kero, and Tomoyo took their places around her, she opened the book and peered at the top card: Erase/Silent.
"Hu-e…. I wish Eriol-kun were here, too…" she said longingly. Tomoyo cocked her head a little, then smiled, put her camcorder on the table, and rose. Her friends ignored her as she walked out into the foyer to retrieve her bag.
"Eh? Why? What do you need him for?" Shaoran asked a little belligerently.
Sakura blinked at him in surprise. "Why? Because he knows so much about the Cards," she said in a puzzled tone. "He created them, after all. Maybe he would know what is going on, or how to protect them, or…"
Shaoran gave her a reassuring look as he shook his head. "They're Sakura Cards now, not Clow Cards," he said. "You know them much better than he does."
"Yeah, but…" Sakura replied uncertainly. Tomoyo walked back into the room and put her bag on the floor.
"I think Sakura's right," Kero said, glaring at Shaoran. "If nothin' else, he's the most experienced sorcerer we know." Shaoran bristled and opened his mouth to respond.
"Have you tried calling him, Sakura-chan?" Yukito interrupted, trying to prevent another argument between the two antagonists.
"Mm-hmm. He said he doesn't remember anything like this happening before. He was going to do some more investigation and get back with me. Um, Tomoyo-chan? What are you doing?"
Tomoyo smiled at her puzzled friend. "This is a laptop my mother gave me for my birthday last year," she said as she finished running the plug to a nearby outlet. She walked back over to the coffee table, opened the computer, and began to power it up. "It has a digital satellite modem and web-conferencing capabilities. I thought I'd just see if Eriol-san is on-line and available." She looked at Sakura's blank face a moment, and then chuckled. "I'm going to use this to call Eriol-san and see if he can join us," she translated.
"Oh," Sakura said with sudden understanding. Her eyes lit up. "You can do that? Oh, that would be wonderful."
"I am not so sure that will work," Yue said, frowning. Sakura jumped in surprise, and turned to face her newly transformed guardian. "He'll still be too far away to feel the magic," he continued.
"Let's just try, shall we?" Tomoyo asked with a sweet smile.
"Oh," Sakura said sitting up straight, then slouching down. "But he'll be in school, won't he? It's still daytime in England..."
Tomoyo just gave her another smile and continued to type. A little pensively, Sakura began to remove the Cards from the Book. She laid Erase/Silent, Light/Dark, Power/Earthy, and Dream/Firey in the middle of the table, then began to play with the remaining Cards.
Meanwhile, Shaoran placed a bowl in the middle of the table. In it, he put a small incense charcoal and lit it while Kero, Yue, and Sakura watched curiously.
"Ah..." Tomoyo said with happy satisfaction. "There we go. Can you hear us, Eriol-san?"
"Quite well, Tomoyo-san, thank you." As Eriol's voice floated out of the computer, Kero, Yue, Sakura, and Shaoran turned to look at in surprise. On the screen, Eriol sat in front of some sort of tree. He was wearing a school uniform, and smiling his amused smile. "Greetings, everyone. And how are all of my long lost relatives doing today?"
"Eriol-kun!" Sakura exclaimed happily. "But... Shouldn't you be in school?"
Eriol chuckled, and held up a sandwich for the group to see. "Even in England we get some time off for lunch," he said sounding amused. "But if you will pardon me, I will continue eating. We do not get very long, and I would hate to miss any of the delicious lunch that Ruby Moon went to so much effort to prepare."
"Mmmm… Speakin' of food…" Kero said. He floated up and out of the room as everyone looked at him in surprise.
"We just finished a delicious, big meal topped off with cookies and ice cream, and he's still hungry?" Shaoran asked in amazement. Sakura just hung her head and shook it helplessly.
"That's Cerberus for you," Eriol replied with a smile.
Shaoran turned back to face the computer. "So… Sakura said that you were investigating this… problem. Have you found anything yet?" he asked civilly as Eriol raised his sandwich to his face.
Eriol's face became serious as he lowered the sandwich again. "No. Nothing at all. I have had Spinel and Kaho helping me with the research, but so far we have not found anything similar to this. I do not remember anything like this happening in my past life, so we are looking at similar creations. The Cards are unique, but Clow got the idea from Tarot cards and such. And then, there are the mini-Cards like you use, Shaoran. We have not found any reports yet, but we will keep looking. Have any of the other cards changed?"
"Mmm…" Sakura said, shifting uneasily. "Erase has merged with Silent," she said softly gazing at the new Card sadly.
Eriol's eyes widened. "Erase and Silent? And the result…"
"Death," Shaoran replied as Sakura continued to look silently at the new Card.
"But not a scary Death," Sakura said abruptly. Her friends looked at her in surprise. Kero came close to dropping his load of candy as he heard this statement, but managed to float the rest of the way to the table with it. Sakura looked up at them and blinked.
"It's not," she insisted. "It feels… almost warm…" She waved her arms around, trying to think of another word to describe the way the Card felt to her.
Tomoyo cocked her head to the side. "Like…a natural death? A welcome end to a long, full life?" she asked tentatively with sad eyes.
Sakura looked over at her in surprise, and nodded. "Yeah, something like that. It's powerful, but not freezing cold or evil. It doesn't want to go around killing people. It just… ends life."
"That's the way it was for my uncle," Tomoyo said quietly, answering the silent question in her friends' eyes. "He had been ready for so long, and when it finally came he went happily." Everyone was quiet for a moment, uncertain what to say. Then, Tomoyo smiled softly. "It's okay," she reassured them. "It happened six months ago, around Christmas. I just remember how happy he was when the pain finally stopped and he knew that the end was near."
"So…" Eriol said, finally breaking the silence. "We have Moon, Earth, Fire, and Death…" He stopped as he saw Sakura shaking her head.
"No, it's Moon, Sun, Fire, and Death," she corrected.
"Sun?" he asked uncertainly. "I thought you said Light had covered Dark, and this Card is Power over Earthy."
The group in Tomoeda nodded. "It is," Yue said. "But, the Card feels like the Sun," Kero added with a serious look towards the Card in question.
Sakura was also looking at the Cards again. "Purity, Life, War, Destruction…" she said absently to herself.
"Eh?" her friends asked, turning to look at her. She blinked a little in surprise and confusion. "That just came to me…"
"Hmm…" Shaoran and Kero turned to glare at the Cards.
"Um, I am sorry, but is there anything else you wanted from me?" Eriol asked, looking at his watch. "Lunch time is almost over."
"Um, well, I was going to try to use the remaining Cards to do a reading on these four," Sakura replied. "I had kind of hoped you could watch?"
Eriol looked again at his watch and frowned. Then, he closed his eyes a moment in thought. "I would hate to miss Calculus," he said tentatively, "but maybe I can come up with a good excuse for being late."
Sakura and Shaoran gave him a look of disbelief, and then smiled. "Thank you, Eriol-kun," Sakura said. After a pause, she continued. "So…"
She stopped again as Shaoran reached out and placed a bit of bark on the incense coal he had started. "Hu-e, Shaoran-kun… What is that?" She watched curiously as a thin tendril of smoke began to rise and drift out of the bowl. She sniffed experimentally then took a deeper inhale. "It smells familiar…"
"Yeah," Kero said, sniffing also.
"It's..." Shaoran started, but was interrupted by Yue.
"Star Anise bark," the silver haired guardian said looking at the bowl in surprise. "It is used to enhance psychic awareness and for meditation." He turned a curious somber eye towards his mistress' love. "Are you sure that is a good idea? These Cards are already pretty powerful, and Mistress Sakura is already very sensitive to them. Enhancing her psychic awareness may cause her to black out again."
Shaoran met his gaze steadily, and nodded. "I know. I considered that. But this will also help to enhance our awareness as well. We may be able to catch something this time."
"If nothing else, it will help me relax," Sakura added as she took another deep breath. She closed her eyes and smiled. "It reminds me of temples and festivals and such."
"A-hem…" Eriol coughed, looking again at his watch.
"Oh yeah. Sorry Eriol-kun," Sakura said opening her eyes and giving her distant friend an apologetic look. Quickly she began to shuffle the unchanged Cards. As she took a deep, meditative breath, her shuffling slowed down. Finally, she began to place the cards on the table in a simple cross and shield pattern.
"Okay..." she breathed quietly. "Cards of Sakura... answer my question. What is happening to your friends?" Slowly, she opened her eyes and reached for the Card at the left side of the cross. "Change."
"Well we know that," Kero said impatiently. "Two Cards mergin' and becomin' one... That's a big change!"
Sakura slowly shook her head. "No... Not just that... Remember... Remember when we were chasing Change? It made you and Shaoran-kun switch bodies."
"Does that mean that someone or something has switched places with the Cards?" Shaoran asked in confusion. "Or that the Cards are switching places with each other? Or..."
Sakura shook her head. "That's all I'm getting. Just the memory of the two of you swapping bodies." She focused on the Cards again. "Who caused this?" She flipped over the Card at the top of the cross. Yue and Shaoran took a deep breath as Shot was revealed. Carefully, Sakura held it up for Eriol to see.
As she held the Card, she heard that chilling laughter from her dreams once again. Shivering, she quickly put Shot back on the table.
"Sakura-chan?" Tomoyo asked, eye pressed against the viewfinder of her camera as she recorded the scene.
"A laugh. A terrible, cold, evil laugh that I hear in my dreams," Sakura said shakily. A flash of memory made her gasp. "A man. A tall man in his mid-twenties, I think. He has spiky orange hair and a scary black wand that gives off black light."
Kero, Yue, and Shaoran nodded as they made a mental note of the description. "Does not sound familiar," Eriol said, looking at her intently. "Did you get a name? What was he wearing?"
Sakura shook her head. "No, no name. And he's wearing..." Her face creased in puzzlement. "He's wearing a suit. Like a business suit. It's black with some sort of pattern on it, but I can't make it out."
"Hmm... Not a Classicist then. They prefer to wear robes. Maybe a Neo, since he still patterns his clothing and uses a wand. I will pass the description on to Spinel and Kaho. Perhaps it might help," Eriol replied.
Sakura stared at him blankly a moment before responding. "Okay. Thank you." She looked at the Cards again. "How is he doing this?" she asked, and reached for the card on the right side of the cross. "Through," she said as she flipped the Card over.
Her friends looked at her expectantly. After a few moments, she shook her head. "All I can see is the crystal hallway from my dreams and the mist surrounding it. I don't understand," she added sadly looking at the Card.
"Don't worry, Sakura-chan," Tomoyo said encouragingly. "I'm sure you will figure it out."
Sakura nodded then gave her best friend a small smile. She looked back down at the Cards and asked her next question. "How can I stop him?"
She reached for the Card at the bottom of the cross and flipped it over. "Shield," she read, and then blinked uncertainly. "Protect the Cards... Ah..."
"What? What did you see?" Kero cried, flying over to hover near his mistress' face.
"That dream... I did dream last night. That evil man was in it. And a girl. No... A princess. A princess with long pink hair and a white dress." She paused a moment, trying to interpret the feelings that the Card was sending to her. "We have to protect the Cards and the Princess," she said finally.
"But, who is the Princess?" Shaoran asked studying her face intently.
Sakura shook her head. "I don't know." She looked down at the Cards. "Who is the Princess?" she reached for the Card in the middle of the cross. As she flipped it over, she realized that two Cards were stuck together. "Eh? Twin... and Hope." She stared at the two Cards a moment, and then shook her head again. "All I can see is a big, full moon."
"How does it make you feel?" Yue asked quietly.
"Happy... and hopeful," she replied, blinking. Carefully, she put the two Cards back in the middle of the cross. "Only two Cards left," she said.
"How are you feeling?" Eriol asked, studying her with concerned violet eyes.
She looked up at him and smiled. "I'm okay. Not too tired yet." She turned her focus back to the Cards. "How can I change the Cards back?" Slowly, she reached for the top card of the shield. "Time," she read as she flipped it over. As she felt the message from the Time Card, she sighed. "Only time will tell, he says. They aren't too sure either."
"Well, they can't know everything," Shaoran said comfortingly. "At least now we know that they don't know either."
Still looking disappointed, Sakura nodded then turned to ask her final question. "How can I help your friends now?"
The Card at the bottom of the shield trembled slightly, waiting eagerly to be turned over and acknowledged. "Windy."
A breeze blew across the room, and Windy assumed her bodily form. With an intent look, she gestured towards the changed Cards. They floated up from the table and began to glow cherry pink.
Suddenly, Moon flashed and began to glow silvery white. Sakura gasped as Sun quickly turned and, glowing bright gold, flew across the small gap which divided it from Moon. The two Cards joined face to face, almost as if they were embracing. Fire (glowing red) and Death (glowing purple) quickly pressed themselves against the other side of Moon, as if to form two wings. The four Cards twirled as one for a long moment then slowly broke apart. As Sakura and her friends watched in amazement, Sun, Fire, and Death began to twirl and spin around Moon, close enough that they touched more often than not.
Suddenly, the Cards began to tremble. Sakura gasped then shook her head holding out her hands protectively over them. A flash of emerald green light blinded them a moment. "Noooooo," Sakura wailed.
When the light died down, all of the Cards lay scattered across the table. Moon, Sun, Fire, and Death lay in the center near Shaoran's incense bowl. On the other side of the bowl, another Card lay face down. Crying, Sakura tentatively reached for it. Fearfully, reluctantly, she turned it over.
"What? What happened? What is it?" Eriol called, unable to see what the others saw.
Slowly, Sakura raised her tear-filled eyes to his image on the laptop. "Another Card... has changed," she choked. She held up the new Card for him to see. "Shield has merged... with Wood."