Wow, chapter 9! Yknow I've never written this many chapters before! Shocking…very shocking. (shrug) or maybe it's not for all you wonder-writers out there just blinking. Whatever. Read on and please enjoy!
--------------------------------Hidden Power: Chapter 9…Surprises Unforeseen
"Who are you?" Eriol asked the boy. "A-are you the Guardian of Water?"
The boy stared at Eriol, with the oddest look in his eye. For a moment he didn't say anything. Then he snapped out of it, "Guardi…? Ah, no."
Then he looked at Eriol specifically. "Um…actually my name is Gabriel. I'm…I'm your son."
At first no one said anything. It seemed as though they were afraid to talk. Eriol looked at Syaoran wildly as though hoping that he'd bust out laughing and proclaim, 'April Fools!' Syaoran shook his head and stepped back, uncertain of what to do.
"Don't look at me! He's YOUR son, isn't he?"
Eriol looked back at Gabriel, "You CAN'T be my son. I've never…I've never been with a girl before!" he finished turning a bright shade of pink.
"Oh, really?" Pyro smiled mischievously. Eriol wanted to shoot the little sprite out of the sky.
"Really. I could not have possibly produced this boy standing in front of me. How old are you, Gabriel?"
"I'm 13," he said with a smile. "And you haven't had a girlfriend yet, because I'm from the future, so I'm not your son YET. But I am your son," he added.
"WHAT?" Syaoran said blankly. You have a boy in the future? With whom, can I ask?" a grin was spreading on his face.
Gabriel opened his mouth to answer and Eriol stopped him, "No, you cannot, I don't want to know!" he spit out all at once. Gaia and Aquia both resolved into a fit of giggles and Eriol glowered at them both.
"Weeeell, looks like you're not as stupid as you look," Gaia said loudly pointing to the once-annoying babysitter who was sitting on the ground. "That was pretty cool was you did back there," she complimented him with a smile on her face. Obviously she had a newfound respect for him.
The youth looked up at her from where he was attempting to squash some ants with the flat of his dagger and smiled broadly, as though sensing this.
"I was kind of shocked, too," Eriol admitted. He seemed to be very relieved that the focus had suddenly shifted away from the mystery woman who would possibly bear his child. "I had no idea that you could actually prove to be useful. But then again I don't think that the Prophet would have sent you to watch over us without a very good reason."
"I good! choo!" he declared proudly and flew at the 4 sprou—sprites.
"So what are you doing here?" Skye asked curiously, bringing the attention back to Gabriel.
"I'm supposed to find someone. But I can't tell you who yet."
"Then how do we know to trust you?" Gaia demanded.
"Well, he does have your looks, Eriol," Syaoran remarked Pyro muttered under his breath, "Thank you Captain Obvious," Eriol looked momentarily pained when Syaoran added, "I wonder who is the mother of your child?"
It seemed as if the conversation were going in circles so Pyro decided to point out, "Are you the Guardian of Water or what?"
"Nuh-uh. I'm not. But…"
"I am," a voice declared from the mouth of the alley.
Syaoran, Eriol, Gabriel, and the four spirits turned to look who had spoken and Eriol gaped in obvious surprise. The Guardian had been right beneath their nose the whole time!
"D-Daidouji-san!" he cried. "You are the Guardian of Water?"
"I suppose so. I seem to have the power of water, if that's what it is. I think that fire that happened at the school helped me to realize it," Tomoyo Daidouji admitted. "See?"
Tomoyo's hair, which lay hanging down her back, seemed to take a life of its own as she lifted up her palm. A little sphere of water bubbled above her palms and then it opened to reveal a tiny fairy. Skye moved up close to the little fairy. When it collapsed into nothing he gave a little squeak of surprise and flew into the other sprites, immediately causing them to flare up in defense.
Gabriel laughed softly and Daidouji gave him a kind smile. The boy flushed pink and Eriol frowned looking from Daidouji to his supposed-son. Did Gabriel have a crush on Daidouji-san? He didn't even know her!
"Soooo, we've found the Guardian of Water. Now what?"
The air turned very cold and as you might guess the figure on the throne sat before them once again. Much to his surprise Syaoran noticed that there were no longer 4 hooded figures, but three. The red and light blue hooded figures seemed to have disappeared altogether.
Tomoyo, who seemed quite ready for this immediately, sank into a graceful curtsy.
"Lady Cordelia, greetings. I see you have your memory," there was definitely pleasure in the Prophet's voice.
Syaoran found himself wondering whether the Prophet looked anything human. Whether it was female or male. It presently sounded like a male, but there really was no judging as the tone of its voice changed with time.
"Yes, your lordship I have regained my memory as you have said and inquire your well-being."
Syaoran raised an eyebrow. Wow, she was pretty damn sure of herself, he thought. Why didn't the rest of them have their memory back too?
"I am well pleased with you and your fellow Guardians. Your Chooser has indeed made progress and I am very glad." This raised a smug look from Syaroran and Pyro grinned, "Yeah, though he had PLENTY of help." Syaoran proceeded to swat at the giggling spirit and missed altogether.
"And you..Hiiragizawa Gabriel, this IS a surprise," the Prophet ignored Syaoran's attempts to climb atop the pillar nearby and continued on.
"Shut up you little ball of gas! I haven't been doing NOTHING!" Syaoran growled as he stretched his fingers out to Pyro, inching himself higher up on the pillar. The little fire spirit grinned horribly.
For a moment Skye had a bad feeling and almost opened his mouth to say so, but stopped when Gaia nudged him. She was obviously looking for a good show.
"So this kid… he's really my child?" Eriol gulped. Daidouji frowned.
There were little squeals of glee when both Syaoran and the pillar fell with a thud. The hooded figure in white and black stared down into the mist hovering over the ground where Syaoran obviously lay.
"You have a kid? Come to think of it he does look like you," she said sounding a little disappointed.
"He is. Although why he is here I cannot say," the Prophet was either unsure or just unwilling to tell. Syaoran had a feeling that the Parfeit was not letting on as much as he knew, but gave it the benefit of the doubt (He seemed to have recovered from his fall and was now laying against the fallen pillar).
"What you will say when the time comes will be up to you, Hiiragizawa-san and only you."
A soft smile touched Gabriel's lips and for a moment, something stirred in the corner of Eriol's mind. He somehow recognized that smile, but could not place it.
"However what concerns me the most is the coming of the last Guardian."
"I think you're right. To find the Guardian of the Earth and Stars might be harder than finding the previous three Guardians has been. Especially since Chaos' cohorts are advancing on us."
"Chaos' cohorts? That's what you call that girl who attacked us? Kotoko was a cohort of Chaos?" Syaoran asked incredulously. If that was true, then Chaos was closer than he had thought and he needed to get cracking.
Speaking of getting closer, nothing seemed to confirm that statement more than what happened next. Eriol and Syaoran never thought that Chaos would be able to touch them with the Prophet nearby, but was surprised when the ground suddenly started to quake.
Horrible screams of agony filled the air and pillars fell over. As the sky began to flash ominously images of people screaming appeared. Syaoran heard very clearly a girl crying out his name. The image of the emerald-eyed girl he had first seen when he met the Prophet briefly flashed into his mind. Only this time, she was no longer smiling at him. She was crying.
Emboldened, he leaped to his feet and covered the floating sprites with his body. Chaos could not, must not, know about the little sprites, Syaoran found himself thinking.
Abruptly the Prophet stood up from its throne and Syaoran saw that it was not very tall at all. With just a point of his finger the grounded stopped shaking.
Shadowy figures leapt from behind the evil-looking throne and soared swiftly into the air. Oddly enough, Syaoran was quite sure that these were angels and that they looked nothing like the beautiful figurines with white wings that he had always admired on his mother's vanity. These angels were not heavenly women with dove soft wings. They were almost the exact opposite. They were translucent and dark and beautiful with wings that were not clearly defined. What sex they were, Syaoran couldn't make out.
And then as quickly as the screams began they stopped. Syaoran was finally able to take his hands away from his ears and when he looked around he saw Eriol flinch away from Daidouji-san, whom he had been instinctively protected.
With a sigh the Prophet sank back onto the throne and dropped his head into his hands, a gesture of weariness.
"Time is running out for us, as you can all very well see. We must find the final Guardian. Obviously it is the last thing that Chaos would want and they will do all in their power to prevent you from telling him or her the truth."
"Why? What is it about the last Guardian that's set them off so much?" Eriol asked.
"This last Guardian alone has the power that not even God himself has. He or she has the power to unleash Salvation. The power to push Chaos back," the Prophet said finally.
For a while nobody said anything. Daidouji seemed to be waiting for their reaction, Gabriel stood by expectantly. Eriol felt as though his son…that was weird…. might already know all of this.
"So…this person. This person has the power to end all this?" Syaoran started. The idea that one person might hold such power was unnerving. He sincerely felt bad for the Guardian (whoever he or she was).
"Yes. He/she has the power to push back Chaos and prevent our destruction, not to end it once and for all. Chaos is evil, and we will never be rid of evil forever. Unfortunately, sin already flows through our veins. For those of us who have veins," it added in the spirits' direction.
"Fun-neeh," Aquia muttered.
"So we're just doing this to seal Chaos temporarily?" Syaoran asked.
"Unfortunately that is pretty much all we can hope for now. That is why you are the Seeker and a Guardian. You promised to protect the world from Chaos for all time," the Prophet reminded him.
"I DID? WHEN!"
"You would not remember. Lady Cordelia was given the privelage to keep her memory and seek you out when the time was right so that she might show you the promise you once made."
"Okay, I'll accept that for now, but what if I die? How will I protect earth from Chaos then?" Syaoran was utterly confused.
"You are a Guardian. You will reincarnate into history again and again to protect what you swore to. I too have sworn to guide you for eternity. And for that we will always be in debt to all four of you."
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Basically I figured that I owed you guys an explanation for what was going on, so there it is. That's the story. Some of it is a little cryptic and there's a little more to it, but I've pretty much laid it out for you. All that's left is to see what will happen. I loved writing this chapter. I'm sorry it was a little late, but there you have it!
3 Ana-malia