The Angel of Black Wings Chapter 7 – Means of Travel
Author: See? I haven't forgotten about you.
Syaoron: Shocking.
Sakura: You're referring to yourself differently now...
Author: I'm aware of that.
Kero: Why, exactly?
Author: Well, calling myself "Me" all the time sounds really unprofessional...
Meilin: But you're not...
Author: UNPROFESSIONAL!
Meilin: ALRIGHT ALREADY!
Author: Glad we have an understanding. Story time is now.
It was 10:32 on Saturday morning in Tomoeda, roughly four hours past the end of the conversation between Death, Sakura, Syaoron, Tomoyo and Keroberos. Four hours since they had resolved to leave town and visit a so-called 'Shop of Wishes'.
Death was extremely skeptical about the whole 'Wish Granting' ordeal. Having lead a harsh life from the age of 5 on, he believed not in wishes, but only in making one's way through life on their own. Even at Sakura's home when he learned exactly what their destination was, he had shown nothing but utter disbelief and scorn towards the idea of a 'Shop of Wishes'. Of course, this Realm, like all others before it, was different. For all he knew, in this world it could be very possible. Death resigned himself to this plan, a fact proven by his presence in their meeting place, the track field of Tomoeda Elementary School.
Sakura, Syaoron, Tomoyo and Kero all arrived at 10:45, the scheduled time of their rendezvous. Despite their presence, there was hesitation circling between them. Not only were they out to protect Tomoeda from a type of foe they had never so much as seen in their lives until that day, but they were about to set off with the young man who, to date, made two separate attempts to rob Sakura of her cards. But if they were going to achieve their goal and preserve the safety and well-being of their city and it's residents, this was something that had to be done.
Sakura sighed gently as she came to a stop on the dusty field, her hands in the pockets of a pair of light blue jeans. Dust rose around a pair of white sneakers with pink wings on the sides. A white long-sleeved shirt with a pink collar and wrist cuffs waved softly in the passing breeze. On her hip she wore a leather case containing all 52 of her cards. She perked an eyebrow in the direction of the young man dressed in black, wearing her regular smile. "I can't say that I'm surprised you're here before us..."
Death glanced out the corner of his eyes with a grin. He pushed himself off the school wall he was previously leaning against into an upright posture, his feet planted firmly in the ground. "I was half-hoping you slowpokes would get here early too so we could get a move on..."
Syaoron smirked slightly at the other young man's remark. "We had more preparations to make than you did, apparently." Syaoron tapped the flat side of his sword's blade upon his shoulder, greatly satisfied with it's presence in his hand. It had been ages since he had last brought the weapon out into the open air. He dipped his free hand into the pocket of a dark green sweater he wore over a white undershirt. Within the sweater's pocket were at least two-dozen of his spell talismans. He had a feeling in his gut that a mere one or two would probably not make the cut for the journey they were about to take. A pair of dark blue jeans and black boots concealed his legs and feet from the dust swirling about in the air.
Kero hovered in place behind Sakura, keeping his eyes fixated upon Death. Whether or not they had resolved to work together, the little Guardian still had his suspicions. He wouldn't be so foolish as to drop his guard just because of they all shared a common problem. "Alright, we're all here and accounted for, so let's get going. We can probably get to the shop by nightfall if we catch a bus in the next half hour."
Death chuckled softly, scratching the back of his head. "We COULD do that, or we COULD go about getting there within the next three minutes."
Tomoyo tilted her head only slightly to the side as she heard this, raising a question that was now on not only her mind, but the minds of the others as well. "Um, excuse me, but, how would we go about doing that? I don't believe Sakura has any Cards that could take us to our destination in such a short amount of time."
The half-Angel half-Incubus nodded, his arms crossed firmly over his chest. "That's very true. Which is exactly why I'm going to do it... Tell me, do you four know what Chaos is? And not just the textbook definition, I mean to you truly know what creates Chaos in our world?"
There was only silence between them for a few moments as they pondered over this question. In the end, not even Kero, senior to the teenagers by a count of centuries, could answer.
Death sighed, shaking his head softly. He turned his back to them, a serious expression growing upon his face. "Chaos. Chaos is not just a state of panic brought on by stressful events. In fact, Chaos is a rip in the fabric of reality was we know it. It's created when the powers of Light and the powers of Darkness meet and clash. Normally the energies cancel one another out, or the more powerful of the two would dominate the fight. On extremely rare occasions though, the powers will actually merge. When the powers DO join, a tear in the fabric of space and time is created. Those who enter it are able to travel to different times, places, or even different Realms in which you may find creatures that did not exist in one particular Realm, or you may find ones identical to those in your Realm, but who serve different purposes. Get all that?" Death glanced over his shoulder, an embarrassed look finding it's way onto his face at what he saw. Apparently, while he had put Kero to sleep in mid-air, the three teenagers just stood there with dumb looks on their faces.
Syaoron raised his right hand slowly, just staring at Death for a moment before he spoke. "Can you say that again and break it down so you don't go entirely over our heads with this?"
Death smacked himself in the forehead as he groaned in frustration. He thought silently for a moment before turning his attention to the Chinese boy. "I'm Half-Demon and Half-Angel, I can rip apart time and space and go where ever and when ever I please. Better?"
Sakura nodded swiftly, sighing in relief. "Much."
Syaoron sighed as well, a look of distrust on his face. "I'm going to love seeing this..."
Death chuckled softly, turning his back to the teens once more. "Yeah, you will..." The half-Angel half-Incubus shut his eyes, holding his hands out to his sides as he began to concentrate. An aura rose from his feet, slowly crawling up his body, consisting of swirling black and white energies. Within seconds, two spheres appeared in his hands, one containing purely Demonic energy, the other containing that of Light. The spheres floated away from his palms, coming to a stop roughly 7 feet from his body. With his arms at his sides, he opened his eyes slowly, bringing his hands together and clapping them powerfully. As if attached by an iron bar, each respective energy ball followed his hands, both of them crashing together. Where one would expect a noise at this point, though, there was only silence. There was no more Black or White in the energy, only a shimmering gray orb. This orb expanded outward, stretching and growing until it was standing at a dead even 10 feet both tall and wide. Death grinned slightly, looking over his shoulder. "Figured out how to make this back when I was 10 years old. It was kinda an accident when I was training, but it's safe to say now that it proved beneficial to me... Let's get a move on now!"
Sakura stood in awe of the gate, even after Death's call for them to move. She had never felt magic like this before. It disturbed her horribly, yet at the same time in a contradictory manner, she had never been calmer. It actually took Syaoron giving her a quick shake by the shoulder to snap her out of her state of admiration. "S, sorry..."
The young man watched as the other three teenagers walked up towards the gate, Kero following closely behind Sakura. As soon as Tomoyo made her way forward, Death shot his arm out before her, bringing her to a dead halt. The instant her gaze focused upon him, Death shook his head slowly, a horribly serious expression upon his face. "You can't enter. It's not a place for someone without so much as basic combat experience, much less a significant Aura. You're soul would be ripped from your body the very instant that you stepped foot inside, and your body would merely be discarded as a piece of garbage..."
This statement shook Tomoyo to the core. She stumbled backwards at these words, nearly losing her balance and falling to the ground. She shook her head as she came to a stop 5 feet away from Death, trying to discard the fear within her heart. "B, but... I can't just..."
By this time, Sakura had made her way from the gate and up to Tomoyo. She smiled gently at her dear friend, reaching up and grasping her gently by the shoulders. "Tomoyo-Chan... it's alright. We'll only be gone for a little while. In the meantime, please try to be patient. I promise you, we'll all come back."
The Onyx-haired young lady sniffed slightly as tears came to her eyes. She suddenly stepped forward, embracing Sakura tightly. She was scared, afraid that she would lose the person she held closest to her heart forever. Even more so, she was tormented by the feelings of helplessness, that she could be of no assistance. "S, Sakura-Chan..."
Death groaned softly, rubbing the back of his head as he thought. After a moment, he snapped his fingers, digging down into the pocket of his black jeans and pulling out a small object. He walked to the two girls' sides and came to a halt, tapping the teary-eyed one on the shoulder to get her attention. "Hey, look... I know it ain't much comin' from me and all, but I can promise you she's going to come back in one piece." He then reached out and opened his hand, revealing a small crystal no larger than a common house key. "This is an extremely rare gem known as the Tracer. You simply hold it to your forehead and focus on who ever it is that you want to check up on. Once that's done, you can watch the person as they do whatever it is that they're doing. I use it to keep tabs on clients I can't trust, but I'm going to lend it to you so you can watch Kinomoto here. I'll be back for it when this is all over though, so don't you DARE lose it, or break it. It took me ages to get an artifact that rare. Clear?"
Tomoyo just stared at the crystal in Death's palm. She slowly dipped her hand down and grasped it, taking it and holding it firmly against her chest. A weak smile crept across her lips as she looked up, nodding ever so slightly. "Yes... thank you very much... I'll be sure to take good care of it."
Death sighed softly, crossing his arms over his chest as he glanced towards the pulsing portal. "Alright then. Let's get going. The gate's not gonna stay open forever, you know." He turned and walked towards Syaoron and Kero, who had been patiently standing at the gate while waiting upon the last two members of the group.
Sakura smiled, hugging Tomoyo once more before she made her own way towards the gate. "I'll be back, I promise!"
Death nodded as Sakura stopped beside him, looking between his three travel companions. "Alright, I'm going to go in. You follow IMMEDIATELY after me in a single file line. Keroberos, I recommend you ride your Mistress' shoulder or something. It'd be easy for a tiny body like yours to be swept away in the dimensional currents. And most importantly, don't stray from the path I take at all. If you do, you could end up God only knows where, and the chances of me ever finding and rescuing you from being stranded where ever are slim to none. Now, with all said, let's get a move on!" The instant he said these words, he turned on his heel, making his way into the gate. Syaoron followed not two footsteps behind him, vanishing into the mass of gray energy as well. Sakura sighed softly, clutching her Star Pendant as Kero landed on her shoulder. Taking one deep breath, she walked in swiftly, vanishing from sight.
Tomoyo watched in silence as the four vanished from view. She clutched the Tracer in one hand held firmly against her chest as the other hand came to rest atop it's sibling. There she remained, watching the gate begin to fade, blinking out of existence in a matter of seconds. She squeezed her eyes shut, lowering her head as she stood alone in the track field. 'Everyone... be safe.'
Eriol: Not a very exciting chapter was it?
Author: Hey, sometimes ya gotta make that kinda sacrifice to get the story rollin'.
Eriol: How true.
Sakura: So, the 'Shop of Wishes' is...
Author and Kero: You'll see in the next chapter.
Sakura: Hoe! You too, Kero!
Kero: I like idea of suspense for those who don't read x—
Author: #Clamps his hand over Kero's head# CRAM IT!
Syaoron: ... do I even want to know?
Author: Like it or not, you and the readers who don't know will know next chapter.