Disclaimer: I do not own CCS (the full name is just to long) nor its characters and its places. It's all Clamps'. I just own the story I made up.

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It All Began With A Dream

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Chapter Twelve: Intense Training

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Eriol and Syaoran stood in a room, both wearing awkward costumes.

Eriol's was mainly blue and black. His legs were covered by white baggy pants. He wore some kind of a long black with blue borders coat that reached his ankles, and had long and large sleeves. Around his stomach, a yellow belt had been tight. On his shoulders was a short poncho, the same colour as the coat, but with a half-sun on the front. On the top of his head rested a olive-shaped hat that, too, had a half sun on one of the edge; the back one this time. Finally, his hand was gripping the handle of a tall staff that had the form of a sun on top.

As for Syaoran, he had a green assortment. His hat was round and green, with a yellow border, two horn-like ornament on each side and two small spirals on the front. His coat was not as long as the blue-haired magician, and had a different shape. The sleeves were larger and had little tinker bells, and instead of stopping on his ankles, it just went to his hips, but there was two longer parts on the front and on the back, that went very low. The ending of the back part was pointed, while the fronts' had been cut in diamond-shape, and embroider with a yellow disc. In the middle of it, was the sign of the ying and the yang. His belt was yellow, and his shoes were green. Under all of this clothing, he wore white baggy pants tighter around the ankles, and a white Chinese shirt. In his hand was the magical sword.

"Do we really have to wear those costumes?" he asked, scratching his arm where the costume was itchy.

The blue-haired boy laughed seeing his friend struggle with the clothes. He was already accustomed to his since he had them since he was a little kid.

"Yes we do." He answered "It's the battle costume you usually wear during fights. I asked your family for it, since I knew something would happen."

Realizing what the wizard had just said, Syaoran's eyes widened.

"What do you mean you 'knew something would happen'? You knew that Sakura would get kidnapped and you didn't do anything to prevent it?"

His face was getting redder and redder as he talked. He was furious.

But the magician in front of him knew from experience that it was not healthy to anger a magical being who didn't know, or, in the amber-eyed boy's case, remember how to control his power.

He raised his hands in defence.

"It's true that I can see the future, but don't get me wrong. I knew something would happen, but I didn't know to whom, nor where, nor when. The only thing I did was to suppose that if it'd involve you, you'd probably want to do something about it. And I was right. In addition, even if I knew that Sakura would be kidnapped, I couldn't intervene in fate. I told you already that no one could fight fate. So even if I had told you, she would still be gone in a way or another."

Syaoran nodded slowly.

"Can we begin with your training now?" added Eriol after a while.

Another nod.

"Good. So, the first thing you need to know is that you can use magic with your sword in three ways. The first is…"

A knock from the door interrupted him. It was Tomoyo. Eriol had asked her to bring something he kept for Syaoran.

The chestnut-haired boy saw the girl handing the magician some rectangular yellowish papers.

"What is that" he asked, pointing the papers, after Tomoyo left.

"It's for later." Came his answer. "Where were we…? Ah, yes. So, there are three ways to use magic with you sword. One of them is with the Clow cards. You can only use it when you have them."

'No duh!' thought the amber-eyed boy rolling his eyes.

"There are many kinds of cards. Elementals, such as Windy—wind—, Watery—water—, Fiery—fire—, and Earthy—earth. These are some of the strongest in the pack, except for Light and Dark. The some of the cards attack and others protect. The attack power of the card depends on the power of the user. You, for example, have the power of the moon: your attacks with the cards that serve under the moon like Watery or Windy will be far more powerful than with the cards that serve under the sun. But be careful. The recipient of the spell can counter an attack if he has the power that the card that attacks him serves. The kind of thing that the card you use will do change with the spell you chant. You have to say the thing you want to do with the card and release the power. The spell must concern the card you use. You cannot make Windy start a fire. To release the power of the card, you chant its name while touching it with the point of your sword, but we'll practice that later."

He stopped talking for a while, letting his 'student' absorb the information.

"Okay." He continued "For the second way to use magic." He lifted his hand, showing the yellow papers Tomoyo gave him. "These are incantation. It's a way of controlling the elements. There are lightning, water, wind and fire." He showed different incantation with every name. "The way you use them is different from the way you use the Clow cards. Instead of touching it with the point of the sword, you flatten it on its side. But then again, I'll show you later on. Also, you chant a spell in Chinese. You cannot order it to do something like for the cards. In fact, it somehow 'reads your mind' and does what you want it to do. I've got no clue how…It's almost the same chant for each incantation. The only difference is for the wind. And you have to name the element you appeal. You can also use the incantations to create a barrier. You just have to place it on something and cast a spell. I'll teach you what you can do with it."

Syaoran was crashed with all the things he had to learn in so little time, but somehow, everything Eriol had said sounded oddly familiar.

He waited for the magician to continue, but in vain.

Raising a brow questioningly, he finally asked

"And what about the third technique?"

"For that, you'll discover it by yourself."

"Huh?" Syaoran was dumbfounded. "What do you mean?"

Eriol sighed deeply and licked his lips, searching for an answer to give him.

"You see," he started after a few seconds of silence "There are powers that are locked inside of you, and only you can release them. I can't explain what they are" he quickly added, seeing him open his mouth to talk "because I don't know. I've seen you use them only once."

He looked like he was going to add something else, but he shook his head and kept his mouth shut.

"All I can tell is that it's very powerful, and I'm sure you'll use them soon." He smiled and made a short pause before continuing "Shall we start training then?"

Excited by the perspective of performing magic, Syaoran forgot about the third magical technique and the questions he had in mind. He grinned at his blue-haired 'mentor', showing perfectly shaped white teeth.

"Whenever you're ready" he answered and he placed himself on position for fighting as if he had done that his entire life, which was, in a way, quite true…

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Syaoran was thrown on the wall by a powerful blast and collapsed on the floor, breathing heavily.

He had been four hours since Eriol taught him how to use the techniques and was now practicing by making duels against the blue-haired wizard.

But the magician was powerful and the chestnut-haired boy was losing pitifully.

"You give up Syaoran?" the wizard asked, he too breathing heavily.

He was slightly bent, resting on his knees. The boy he was fighting against was getting more powerful by the minute and would soon surpass him, which was not surprising. From what he remembered, the boy was always the strongest and he knew he was no match against him.

Syaoran stood up and got in battle position again, his sword in front of him in defence. His face was sweaty, but he smiled nevertheless.

"Never!" he answered challengingly.

He took a Clow card from his pocket and threw it in the air. Then he touched it with the point of his sword and shouted:

"Shot!"

The card transformed into a small moving red light that shot projectiles to Eriol.

"Shield." Eriol chanted, lifting his wand.

The projectiles rebounded on an invisible shield and disappeared in the air.

Syaoran threw another card.

"Imprison the magician. Wood!"

Branches flew out of the card in the direction of the boy, but he called upon Sword and cut them before it could touch him. This time, it was his turn to attack.

"Maze! Illusion!"

'Oh no!' thought the amber-eyed boy.

He was now trapped in a gigantic looking maze that contained monstrous beasts. Of course, the beasts were illusions, so he paid no attention to them.

How was he going to get out of this one?

He called upon Sword, but when he'd tried to cut the walls that kept him trapped, they would just close again as if he had never touched them.

"Make wings grow. Fly!" he chanted.

Immediately, white wings sprouted out of his back like an angel's. He took of and flew toward the top of the walls, but they would grow even more so he gave up.

He had an idea.

"Through!" he touched the card and his body became semi-transparent, like a ghost.

He walked toward the nearer wall and passed through it as if it was nothing.

'Where is that damn Eriol?' he thought, looking around.

He was still in the maze, but he now knew how to get out.

"Show me the man I'm looking for." He chanted, taking out another card. "Mirror!"

A beautiful mirror appeared in front of him and he saw the magician, his armed crossed, waiting for him in a clearing. As if he knew he was being observed, the guy lifted his hand and made a little sign.

"Damn man!" cursed Syaoran under his breath. "Time!"

The maze would not move now that the time had stopped. He called upon Jump and quickly joined the blue-haired-man by passing over the tall walls.

When he arrived, he saw that the spell hadn't worked on Eriol. He was still moving freely, smirking when he saw his 'apprentice' arrive.

He clapped lazily his hands in a slow applaud.

"Nicely done Syaoran. You're becoming better."

The chestnut-haired boy glared at him, but smirked as well.

He took out an Incantation and threw it in the air. Before it fell on the floor, he pressed the flat of his sword on it and chanted:

"God Of Fire, Come Forth!"

He did it so quickly that Eriol didn't have the time to react properly. He managed to avoid the flame that charged him, but not before getting a light burn.

Seeing that he was destabilised, Syaoran took advantage of the situation by casting a second incantation.

"Wind, Descend!" he shouted and a miniature tornado rushed toward the wizard who got caught in the swirls and lifted in the hair. He yelped in surprise, but he regained his composure and made a movement with his staff that he hadn't let go.

Suddenly, the tornado let him go and went against Syaoran, who reacted instantly.

"Make me move. Dash!" he shouted before disappearing.

In fact, he had vanished, but was moving so fast that even a cheetah couldn't follow him. But Eriol was well trained and he could still see him move. Nevertheless, he wasn't quick enough to block the boy.

He had stopped in front of him and defied him with his look.

"Watery! Freeze!" he heard the boy's voice say.

But it didn't come from the one in front of him. Instead, it came from behind. He turned his head just in time to see Syaoran, panting, and two blasts—a blue and a white—heading toward him. He didn't have the time to avoid them and they hit him fully, soaking him at first, and then freezing him.

The imprison man broke his prison and shouted toward the amber-eyed fighter:

"Thunder!"

A powerful blast made his way to Syaoran, but before it could hurt him, he took an Incantation and chanted:

"King Of Thunder, Come Forth!"

The two blasts got in contact and an incredibly powerful explosion came from the impact. Normally, it would have caused the two fighters to fall back, but they held on and the blasts were fighting to get the top on the other.

Syaoran clenched his teeth and tighten his grip on the sword, giving the blast more power to overwhelm Eriol's.

And it worked, as he watched the bright lightning pushing the other toward the blue-haired boy who was sweating heavily.

Finally, it seemed that his energy wore of and he lowered his staff, letting the blast hit him at full power. He flew backwards and landed on one of the wall of the maze, but his head hit the wall as well, and he fell unconscious.

Immediately, the maze and the monsters disappeared, as well as his staff, and he fell on the ground, like a dead corpse.

Seeing that, Syaoran rushed toward his friend and lifted his head. He approached his ear to Eriol's mouth and heard a faint breath.

Phew, he was still alive.

He shook his shoulders lightly and gave him small slaps on the face to wake him, but nothing seemed to work. He was beginning to panic when he had an idea.

Taking out a card, he called upon Watery, that threw water on him, causing him to wake up, to the amber-eyed boy's relief.

He posed a hand on the magician's shoulder, and lowered his head with a deep sigh.

"I'm glad you're awake" he said, Eriol looking at him a bit surprised from having fainted. "I don't know what I would have said to your fiancée if you had died."

He helped him stand up and guided him to the door, before calling Tomoyo for assistance.

They sat him on the couch, the raven-haired girl a worried look on her face.

"Your training is complete" Eriol said to Syaoran's surprise. "You succeeded to beat me; there is nothing else I can teach you. You better get some sleep, because we have a long journey awaiting for us tomorrow."

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(A.N: hello there. I can't stay long, so I'll just say hi. "HI!" (lol) I hope you like this chapter, since it's his training. I love magic, so I really enjoyed writing this. If you're confused with Syaoran appearing in front of Eriol and then behind him, it's because he used the twin card to make two of him. In the next chapter, they'll go to search for Sakura and try to rescue her (yay) Since you didn't answer my demand with whether or not I shall tell the Kinomoto family about Sakura's disappearance, I decided not to. That's it for now, I'm awaiting for your reviews! I'll start school on Monday so I won't be able to write as much. So, 'till then, see ya! This has been Suohfei.)