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.
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As always, greetings to Taeniaea and aserene. (grin) You two always make me impatient to check my e-mail, hahaha... Thank you for reviewing so faithfully. And for my other reviewers, (wink) your reviews are icing on the cake. I hope you all enjoy this one! - Raya
Moonlit Sakura
(A/N: Vital is pronounced Vee-TAHL, not VEYE-tahl as in 'vital signs'. I'm not sure what the true Brazilian way of pronouncing it would be, so I am borrowing on those years of Spanish from school so long ago.)
Chapter 21- Meetings
Ami jumped as an alarm began to echo around the central security room. "What now?" she wondered a little irritably as she turned from her attempt to trace Haruka's and Michiru's last location and hit the acknowledge button. On the central screen, the defense computer showed the image of a tall man dressed all in white and reported on his suspicious activity.
Ami stared at the screen in surprise, and then began to smile in delight. "Helios?" Her eyes stayed glued to the screen as she keyed a restricted authorization into the system for him. When he ran a hand through his pale golden hair and glared directly into the video pickup with a frustrated expression, she laughed.
"Oh, come on in, Helios-san. Your Maiden is waiting for you most impatiently," she said softly. Her smile faded as he turned and walked away from the Palace once more. Puzzled, she watched him disappear from view. When he did not reappear, she replayed the activity data. It showed that he had approached the Palace several times over the past 48 hours, each time from a different direction, but had never made any attempt to enter.
After it finished scrolling in front of her once more, she looked contemplatively in the direction he had walked. "You don't remember?" she asked softly. Her only reply was the soft hum of the computers around her.
Vital Ensoleillé ran a frustrated hand through his hair once more, then turned his back on the Crystal Palace and walked back into the confusing city. 'Why do I always end up here?' he wondered to himself with a tired sigh. 'The woman crying for my help can't be in the Palace can she?' He shook his head at this thought then stopped in the middle of the sidewalk to yawn and stretch.
'Gah. Jet lag is such a drag! I need some coffee,' he thought as he began to walk again, ignoring the hidden stares of the natives around him.
Dressed casually in white shorts and a navy blue and white striped top, Pallas pushed open the doors to yet another bookstore. With a stern, determined look on her face, she headed towards the language section. 'Maybe this time,' she thought to herself as she walked through the store ignoring it's comfy, old-style reading room feel. 'Gohommoto is supposed to have the best language research selection outside of Babel University. Surely I can find some sort of trigger here.'
On her head, her headphones allowed her to block out the distractions of the world around her, but were otherwise becoming unnecessary. The words on the disc filled her brain, repeating themselves over and over. She was so focused on where she was headed that she didn't see the tall, blonde foreigner in her way.
Vital studied the selection of old science fiction books with interest as he raised his double espresso to his lips for a sip. 'Hmmm…. Some old McCaffrey might make a nice distraction… She did a collaboration with Mercedes Lackey?' he thought to himself in surprise and a little bit of excitement. As he was reaching for the book with his other hand, however, a small body crashed into him.
"Aaaa…." Pallas cried out in surprise as she flew backwards, then was caught and brought forward into a steadying embrace.
"Ich-chya!" Vital cried in pain as his espresso sloshed out of the cup and spilled down his face and chest. Instinctively, he dropped the cup and grabbed to steady the person who had run into him. He looked down into the wide periwinkle blue eyes of a girl with light blue hair.
Headphones askew, Pallas looked up in shock at the tall man who held her loosely. 'Good looking…' she thought absently to herself.
"Are you all right?" Vital asked, wiping at the espresso on his chin as he let her go.
Pallas blinked, and then nodded. "XGIFRA XTEC HO MRIL!" squawked out of her headphones.
Vital spun around to face her again, and stared at her in shock. Then, he frowned. "Hey, it wasn't my fault. You ran into me, remember? No need for that."
Pallas blinked in confusion. "What? No need for what?" Shaking her head, she remembered her manners. "I'm so sorry," she said with a deep bow. "I wasn't watching where I was going. Please forgive me."
Vital relaxed as he recognized her sincerity. "Forgiven," he said and smiled as he watched her stand back up. Then, he looked down at his white shirt. "Oh…" Quickly, he bit off the French and Portuguese swear words that started to come out of his mouth. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and sighed. "Guess I'll have to go back to the hotel and change."
"Huh?" Pallas asked as she looked away from his face and down towards his shirt. As she saw the coffee stain, she raised her hand to her mouth in embarrassment.
Vital sighed again as he twisted to and looked down the side of his pants. "And my pants, too. Shoot. Next time, I'll have to remember to hold onto the espresso."
"I'm so, so sorry," Pallas said again with wide-eyed sincerity. "Do you think it will come out?"
Vital smiled a little wryly as he stooped down to pick up the cup. "I guess so, if I can find some Silver Imperial bleach. That stuff's supposed to be able to remove any stain." He breathed a sigh of relief as he inspected the books on the lower shelves. "Oh good, none of it splashed on the books."
Pallas looked towards the books then nodded her head. "Yes, that is a relief. I don't know if I could afford to pay for all of them. They look pretty rare. You didn't get burned, did you?" she asked belatedly.
He shook his head as he stood back up. "Just a little. Nothing to worry about. The sting is already fading," he replied.
"LMYTH ITK XTECLES. XGIFRA XTEC HO MRIL!" Pallas' headphones squawked again. Vital flashed her another irritated look, and looked around at the empty aisle.
"Okay, who said that? That's not funny," he called.
Pallas blinked, and then raised her hand to her headphones in sudden comprehension. "This?" she asked fighting against hope. "Is this what you hear? Can you understand it?" She pulled off the headphones, and handed them to him.
He gave her a puzzled look, but obediently put the headphones up to his ear. His eyes widened as he heard a man's voice rattle off words in a language he hadn't heard in almost ten years.
"Where did you get this?" he asked in surprise. "And why on earth are you listening to it?"
Pallas kept her eyes fixed on his as she shook her head. "Do you understand it?" she asked again urgently. "What language is it? Can you tell me what he is saying?"
Vital studied her a moment more, taking in her air of desperation and need to know. "It's an old tribal dialect. Most of it is lost now, but a few fragments still survive. My grandmother used to mutter some of those phrases every now and then if someone made her really, really angry."
"It is! She did!" Pallas asked eagerly reaching out to clutch his arm. "What tribe? Where? How much can you understand? Do you speak it?"
"Hey, hey, calm down," he replied with a laugh. "I forget the name of the tribe, but they were decedents of a prehistoric kingdom that occupied the Amazon, including the section of Brazil where my grandmother was born and raised. I only know a few of the phrases I could get her to teach me when she was feeling ornery," he continued more seriously. "Again, where did you get this? And why is it so important that you know what he is saying?"
Pallas shook her head once more, and then looked back towards the linguistics section of the bookstore. "I probably won't find anything on it in here, will I?" she asked rhetorically.
Vital snorted softly and shook his head. "I seriously doubt it. I don't think anyone has studied that civilization, although I might be wrong. I know no-one has studied it enough to write even an article on its language, much less a whole book. If they could even find enough to write a book on..." He trailed off as he noticed that the girl's eyes were fixed on him once more.
She studied him intently, as if trying to make a decision. Finally, she nodded to herself. "Please, I need your help. Can you come with me?" She looked at him more pleadingly as she noticed the suspicion and uncertainty in his expression. "Please, it's really important. I have to know what this man is saying, and anything more you can tell me about that ancient tribe," she begged.
Vital looked at her a moment more, and then sighed. "Okay, okay, you can stop with the baby eyes. Can I at least change first?"
Pallas grinned in excitement, joy, and relief. "Of course. But please, hurry. It's so, so important!"
Vital nodded as he led the way towards the door. "By the way, my name is Vital Ensoleillé of Montreal, Canada. And you are?"
"Oh... Sorry... I am Pallas Nychta of Crystal Tokyo."
"Pallas Nychta? That doesn't sound Japanese at all," he replied holding the door open chivalrously for her.
She laughed as she nodded her thanks and walked through. "No, it's Greek. I was born in Athens, but I moved here several years ago for training," she said.
Behind them, the store owner noted Vital's newly stained clothes and muttered an angry curse. Grabbing some paper towels from under the counter, he hurried to the aisle the two had come from. Quickly, he spotted the small spill. As he knelt to clean it up, he glanced fearfully at the books on the shelf, and then breathed a sigh of relief. "Thoughtless kids," he muttered as he slowly climbed back to his feet. "Anyone could have slipped on that. Well, at least they didn't ruin the books then run."
King Necro moaned as he slowly regained consciousness. Groggily, he opened his eyes and looked around his makeshift bedroom. "Fey?" he croaked uncertainly.
"Nowhere to be found," a childish voice replied.
King Necro looked towards the foot of his bed in surprise. "You... You are..."
"King Wisp," the ten-year old, golden headed boy replied. "The Emperor sent me when Queen Geist sensed that Queen Fey was gone and you were severely wounded." He held up a small bottle of glowing green liquid. "That must've been some fight. It took almost a half a bottle of Dyltha juice to heal you."
King Necro slowly sat up and leaned against the wall behind his bed. "The ones who did it are gone," he said flatly. "I take it you are to be my new partner?" he asked distastefully. He grimaced as the child nodded. "Just what I need..."
Distantly, Queen Fey felt a soft, cool hand rest against her forehead, and then pull away again. "She's starting to run a fever," she heard a familiar voice say worriedly. "She might be getting an infection."
Something was pulled away from her face. She heard the sound of something being dipped in water, and then something cool was placed back on her forehead. As she drifted back to her restless sleep, she heard the voice again. This time, it was tentative and full of doubt. "Maybe we should ask them for help..."
"I'm home," Sakura called out as she walked into her house after school. She looked around the living room, and then walked over to the kitchen area.
"Welcome home," her father called. He stood next to the stove dressed in an apron with a testing dish raised to his face. "How was school today?"
"Pretty good," she replied, standing in the doorway. "The teachers were still a little concerned about my fainting spell the other day, but other than keeping a close eye on me they're beginning to treat me like normal again." Her father nodded then sipped from the dish. "Is there anything I can help with?" she asked, shifting her bag to her other hand.
Fujitaka shook his head. "No, everything is under control. Why don't you go change and relax? Dinner will be ready in about half an hour."
Sakura nodded, and turned towards the stairs. She paused, and then turned back. "Are you all set for your trip?" she asked tentatively. She relaxed a little as he nodded, and turned back towards the stairs to climb to her room.
A short time later, she began to set the table for dinner. She blinked as she saw the number of plates waiting on the counter for her. "Um, Dad? Are Yukito-san and Onii-chan joining us for dinner today?"
Her father paused as he stirred the miso soup, and then continued. "Yes. I've asked them to stay with you while I'm gone."
"Oh..." she said softly, and continued to set the table.
"Sakura-san," her father began, but she cut him off.
"It's all right," she said with a smile. "I know you're worried about me, and so are they. Besides, it'll be fun having them around for a little while. I'm just glad you didn't cancel your trip because of me. I know how much you've been looking forward to this conference."
Fujitaka looked at her then turned back to the stove. "I considered it, but... There isn't much that I can do to help."
"Dad... Really, it will be all right," Sakura said gently. "Last time, there was a long break after two Cards changed at the same time. It will probably happen again. It takes a lot of energy to transform the Cards." She gave a small laugh as she remembered her "trials" a few years ago. "I should know. So don't worry. Go enjoy your conference," she said with an encouraging smile.
Fujitaka smiled back, and nodded his head slowly.
After her father left to catch his train, Sakura brought down the Sakura Book and laid it on the table in the living room. Yukito, Kero, and Touya looked at her curiously as she opened it and removed the Cards.
"Moon, Sun, Fire, Death, Strength," she said as she laid the Cards on the table in front of them. They leaned forward as they realized that she had the new Cards in her hands as well. "Metal, Air, and Water..." She looked at her Guardians and her brother as they quietly studied the new Cards. Fight and the little white cat hid Glow, Sword had covered Windy, and Mirror had appeared in Watery's place.
She pointed to each of the Cards again. "Purity, Life, War, Destruction, Protection, Beauty, Rebellion, and Affinity." She looked down and sighed. "I just wish I knew what it meant."